{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_62185/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_62185","id":"gutenberg_62185","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62185","summary":null,"tags":["British and Foreign Bible Society","Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: History - British","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Teignmouth, John Shore, Baron, 1751-1834"],"text":"Transcribed from the 1805 F. C. and J. Rivington edition from Bodleian\nLibrary scans by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org\n\n                        [Picture: Pamphlet cover]\n\n\n\n\n\n                                    AN\n                                 ADDRESS\n                                    TO\n                            _LORD TEIGNMOUTH_.\n                             PRESIDENT OF THE\n                    BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY,\n                              OCCASIONED BY\n                               HIS ADDRESS\n                                  TO THE\n                                  CLERGY\n                        OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.\n\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                        _BY A COUNTRY CLERGYMAN_.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n          PRINTED FOR F. C. AND J. RIVINGTON, No 62, ST. PAUL\u2019S\n                               CHURCH-YARD;\n          _By Bye and Law_, _St. John\u2019s-Square_, _Clerkenwell_.\n\n                                  1805.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n\n\n\nAN ADDRESS, _&c._\n\n\nMY LORD,\n\nTHE emotions of my mind, upon receipt of your Lordship\u2019s address as\nPresident of the British and Foreign Bible Society, were such as I am not\ninclined, for several reasons, to describe.  Your friends represent you\nas not hostile to the established church: nay, some assert that you are\nits firm supporter; and doubtless it never could have entered your\nLordship\u2019s mind to address a clergyman with proposals of lending his zeal\nand exertions for the promotion of religion, but in the character of the\nchurch\u2019s friend.  Judge then, my Lord, at my surprize, to see your\nLordship\u2019s name at the head of such a list of subscribers as that\nenclosed to me; to find your Lordship\u2019s patronage and protection bestowed\nupon every description of its enemies, and your request that I would\npromote their design.  Judge, my Lord, what must have been my grief, to\nfind a man of your Lordship\u2019s respectability deserting the cause of sound\nreligion, and our poor country\u2019s best defence, and confederating with\npersons openly labouring the destruction of all that is sober, or\nestablished!\n\nMy Lord, I presume to address you, invited by your Lordship\u2019s known good\nsense and candour, and much emboldened by a strong conviction that some\nenemy hath craftily obtained your Lordship\u2019s countenance to his project;\nwhich, I am sure, if your Lordship knew all, you would spurn with\nindignation and contempt.  I am persuaded that you know not the men and\ntheir communication, to whom you have joined yourself.  Let this then be\nmy excuse for intruding myself upon your notice; and if I fail to\nconvince your Lordship, at least let me promise myself that patience and\nrespect which is always due to sincerity and good intention.  At present,\nmy Lord, you appear as the head of a party, (rather, should I say, a\nlegion of parties) by whom every opponent is sure to be reviled, as\nilliberal and uncharitable, and as an enemy to the gospel.  I confess I\nexpect the honour of their reproaches.  I am thankful that I have enjoyed\nthem before.  \u201cIf they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how\nmuch more shall they call them of his household?\u201d  From you, my Lord, I\nexpect the treatment of a Gentleman and a Christian; and if I fail in the\nrespect which is due to those honourable characters, I sincerely profess\nit shall be contrary to my resolved purpose; and I beg your Lordship to\nlet Charity do its perfect work, and cover this failure among the\nmultitude of my other sins.\n\nIt is very true, my Lord, that \u201cto promote the circulation of the\nscriptures at home and abroad, is an object in which every one who\nprofesses the religion of Christ, must feel a deep interest.\u201d  But the\n_object_ of a society, my Lord, is not to be known from its public\ndeclaration in print.  Your experience of the world will suggest to you,\nthat the most important objects, whether of a good or evil tendency, have\nbeen prosecuted, and are now continually pursued in a close and\nclandestine manner, under favour of public declarations of a different\nand often of a contrary character.  It is impossible for any man to say\nwhat shall be the _real_ object of any society, till he be in possession\nof the favourite object of each of its members; for although a body of\nmen may at first associate for, and appear to bind themselves to the\npromotion of some specific common object, we well know, that in process\nof time, this common object is generally lost in neglect; and at last,\neach individual pursues that particular object which, as a private man,\nengages his affection and preference.\n\nTo say, therefore, what is or shall be the _object_ of a society, is no\neasy matter, if we mean to guard against delusion.  The _real object_\nwill take its colour from the opinions and pursuits of those effective\nmembers who shall contrive, either by an actual majority, or an\n_assiduity and activity equivalent in force to the power of a majority_,\nto give direction to the energy of the association.  Into how many\nProteus forms has Jesuitism wrapt itself, upon different occasions?  So\nthe monster Jacobinism has insinuated its poison, at one time or other,\ninto almost every species of society in Europe.\n\nIt is to little purpose we use our eyes, if we see this destructive\nprinciple only in clubs and lodges, and spouting societies.  This serpent\nhas a far wider range; wherein there is a place and room to coil in,\nthere let the passenger beware, _latet anguis in herb\u00e1_.  And if your\nLordship will please to call to mind, the warnings of a learned prelate\nof our church, you will remember that he is now in a remarkable manner,\nand with much aggravation of malice and impudence, detected lurking\nbehind the cross.\n\nYour Lordship cannot be ignorant how many hundred public declarations it\nhas set forth, to convince the world how simple are its designs, how pure\nits intentions!  Need we be directed to consider, can we avoid\nconsidering, those several political societies of the present day, which,\nwith the most enchanting titles, and with avowed objects of the fairest\nsort, have perpetrated atrocities of the foulest dye?  Look into the\npublic addresses of those societies, sometimes decorated by honourable\nand responsible signatures.  See the printed declarations of their\n_reasons_, _objects_, and _principles_; then repair to the Old Bailey, or\nthe Maidstone assizes; there compare the acts and deeds of those\nassociations, with the plausible professions of their printed schemes and\ndeclarations, and say, my Lord, whether it be prudent, at least in this\nour day, to consider all as honest and true that meets our eye in print,\nshouldered by the well-known signatures of respectable presidents and\nvice-presidents?\n\nMy Lord, give me leave to say, you cannot answer for the _real_ object of\nany association, but by being able to answer for the _real_ principles\nand pursuits of its individual members; you may heartily wish, and\nsincerely endeavour to promote the _avowed_ object of _this_ society:\n(and I know no man more likely to do both, than your Lordship.)  Secure\nthose principles, be able to controul those pursuits, and no man who\nknows your Lordship\u2019s high character, would hesitate a moment to believe\nthat your society will be what it proposes.  If Lord T. will pledge\nhimself that the six hundred members of his society are, like himself,\nhonourable and upright men, who speak what they mean, and practise what\nthey profess; who abhor duplicity and deceit, and know no discordance\nbetween the object they _profess_, and the object they _pursue_;\u2014if Lord\nT. can assure me this, I shall be proud to rank my name, and make\nexertion under his protection.  If this he cannot do, at least let him\ntell me where is my security that my contribution to the institution,\nwill not be turned to support some object, which I never intend to\nsupport; and to promote not the object proposed to me in the letter, but\nanother, and perhaps a detested one?  Your presidency, my Lord, is not\nexactly of the sort to which you have been accustomed, and which you have\nmuch adorned.  But far be it from me to say, that you preside over an\nassociation of men, combined for designs altogether bad; that you\npatronize, and protect a society, whole objects and principles are\nwilfully nefarious: All that I here assert, is this; that your Lordship,\nfor whose head and heart I have the highest respect, appears to have\nundertaken the patronage of you know not whom or what; and, confident in\nyour own good intentions, you have recommended me to do the same.\n\nBut when I cast my eye over the list of your officers, and subscribers,\n(over which your Lordship\u2019s eye has undoubtedly passed,) I am really in\ndoubt, whether your Lordship be in jest or earnest, when you recommend\nthe institution to the attention of a Clergyman of the Church of England;\nand, I wonder much, what arguments your Lordship can use, to press it\nhome.  In this list, I must acknowledge, I see many respectable names,\nwith which I should be happy to place mine.  But I likewise see a very\nlarge proportion of others, with which, as an honest man, I can have\nnothing to do; I see many names of persons, whose objects and pursuits\nhave been diametrically the opposite of mine: what I build, they pull\ndown: what I teach, they mock, and endeavour to render ineffectual.  The\nsacred cause, which as a Clergyman of the Church of England, I have sworn\nto serve and support, (and which, with the best talents I have, I will\nsupport, as long as I have my life,) they hold up to scorn, and abuse\nwith hard names and jeers.  They vilify my character, as a servant of the\nMost Highest, and set me forth to the world, as a dishonest man.  Now\nwere I, my Lord, allured by your Lordship\u2019s invitation, and tempted by\nthe sound of what you call the \u201cliberal basis of your establishment;\u201d\n(the sense of which I have not yet apprehended:) should I be induced, I\nsay, to venture myself into the company of men, of whom I have hitherto\nalways been horribly afraid, being frightened at the idea of having the\nNational Establishment blown up, as one of them said, clergy and all: can\nyour Lordship afford me protection and safety?  Can your Lordship shew\nme, that our days are so evangelical, that the lamb may now dwell with\nthe wolf in safety?  I see your Lordship is ready kindly to allay my\nfears; and to demand, if persons associating for the _simple_ and _pure_\npurpose of disseminating the scriptures, ought to be suspected of such\nviews and projects?  My Lord, since I have been a shepherd, I have seen\nso many wolves, and have undergone such terrors for my poor sheep, that\nyou must have the charity to pity my weakness, and excuse my\nunconquerable fears.  Those who are old in the business, have a right at\nleast to be attended to, in matters which concern their experience.\nWolves, my Lord, our great Master has warned us, sometimes put on sheep\u2019s\nclothing; and we find, I assure you, much harder work with these crafty\nbeasts, than with those, which, without disguise, prowl about in their\nproper character.  But have I not too good reason to be afraid of those\nwho openly, and fairly _avow_, that their object is to eat us up, both\nsheep and shepherd too?  In plain terms, if your Lordship can demonstrate\nto us, that those persons with whom you invite me to associate, under\npretence of doing God service, have at any time really revoked their\nhostility to the church and ministry, which they have so frequently, and\nso fully avowed; shew us the time when, and the place where, they have\ndeliberately recanted their well-known threats and projects, repented of\ntheir numerous slanders and calumnies, and have as solemnly sworn peace\nwith the church and clergy, as before they have sworn and pursued their\nenmity.  Nay, my Lord, I ask no unreasonable thing; if you can only shew,\nthat upon this present occasion alone, they have explicitly and solemnly\nput off their old man of hostility and hatred, and have put on the new\nman of peace, and love, and concord\u2014I am silent.  I request your\nsecretary will please to insert my name, and accept my donation.  But, my\ngood Lord, if the enmity of these men has never been revoked; if their\nhostility, and destructive resolutions have never been cancelled; if no\nproof to the contrary can be adduced, but we are still left in possession\nof the thousand well-known proofs; nay, in many places, of the open\nconfession of their intentions of undermining and destroying both church\nestablishment and clergy too: I then will leave it to any person of sane\nintellect to determine, whether it be prudent, whether it be upright,\nwhether it be safe, to accept your Lordship\u2019s proposal.\n\nA notion prevails in the world, but a very mistaken one, that the\nassociation of such a body of persons as appears upon the list, is the\nunity so much recommended in scripture.  We are perpetually called upon,\nin the name of Christian charity, to throw aside prejudices and\ndissentions, and to unite for some common religious purpose.  Your\nLordship must know, that there is more of sound than sense in this\nfashionable project.  That union enjoined in scripture, is not of the\nhand and purse, but of the heart and mind.  Christian charity no where\nrecommends associations of discordant principles, combinations of men\nprofessedly at variance, and in hostility with each other: but Christian\ncharity enjoins that which renders all these elaborate societies useless;\nit teaches and obliges Christians to be _like-minded_, to have one faith,\none baptism, one speech, and one hope of their calling.\n\nBut I feel very strong objections, my Lord, to the whole plan: Not indeed\nto the simple, pure object of disseminating the scriptures: one of these\ndays I hope to see the earth full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the\nwaters cover the sea.  The mischief lies in the _manner_, and the\n_means_, of carrying that object into effect.  Your society is composed\nof not only many secret foes, and treacherous familiar friends, but of a\nvery large proportion of sworn enemies of the church; to which enemies, a\nmuch larger share of influence is given by the rules and regulations of\nyour society, than naturally they have any right to.  The consequence of\nwhich measure is this: that your society, so far from being in amity with\nthe constitutional church of this kingdom, upholds and promotes the cause\nof its adversaries; and consequently seeks and assists in its\ndestruction.  No one can for a moment imagine, that all this you intend:\nfor myself, it is as far from my thoughts, as I trust it is from yours.\nLet me therefore crave your Lordship\u2019s attention, only for a few minutes;\nand let me have it pure and perfectly disengaged of all partiality for\nyour project.  Be not then deceived, my Lord, with the notion that the\n_bare act of distributing Bibles_, _is the act of disseminating the\nsacred truth_.  The word of God in itself is pure and perfect, and more\nto be desired than much fine gold: but as the finest gold may be turned\nto base purposes, so may the scriptures.  For, alas! through the lusts of\nmen, and the covetousness of the world, the precious book of life is made\nthe instrument of error, as well as of truth; of much evil, as well as of\ninfinite good.  When it is remembered, that to the scriptures, not only\nthe true church of Christ appeals for confirmation of its divine\ndoctrine, but likewise that every sect and heresy, by which it ever was\ndefaced, has regularly pretended likewise to deduce its error; when we\nobserve the Papist, and Puritan, the Socinian, and Calvinist, the\nBaptist, and Quaker, all appealing to the Bible for the truth of their\nprinciples, and pretending to prove them thereby\u2014it will not be\nmaintained, I think, that the _mere distribution of Bibles_, under the\npresent circumstances of the times, is likely to spread the truth.  On\nthe contrary, it is to be expected, that each member of your\nheterogeneous society, will draw his portion of books for the promotion\nof his particular opinion: for it is easily seen, that a Bible given away\nby a Papist, will be productive of popery.  The Socinian will make his\nBible speak, and spread Socinianism; while the Calvinist, the Baptist,\nand the Quaker, will teach the opinions peculiar to their sects.  Supply\nthese men with Bibles, (I speak as to a true churchman) and you supply\nthem with arms against yourself.\n\nFor what reason have we to suppose, that your _simple_, _pure_, and\n_important_ design, will be exactly prosecuted by all the various\ndescriptions of your society?\u2014What security have we, that each zealous\nreligionist will not, according to the nature of his particular creed,\naccompany his pious donation of the scriptures, with his own peculiar\ninterpretation and comment?\u2014As a Church-of-England man, and sadly\nexperiencing daily before my eyes, that the Holy Book is made a nose of\nwax, by the various discordant and opposite sects, I should deem it my\nindispensable duty, not only to diffuse the text of scripture, but to\nguard my people against what I consider as misinterpretations of it.\nDoes not this, indeed, constitute by far the greater part of the\nChristian minister\u2019s duty?  Is not this the chief design of most sermons\npreached, and of most of the religious tracts, which issue from the\npress?  And can we suppose that any conscientious and careful dissenter\nwill not do the same?  If he be indifferent to the prevalence, either of\ntruth, or error; that is, if he be hypocritical and insincere, he may not\nperchance give himself the trouble: but if he be honest, and is warmed by\nthe least spark of zeal, he cannot do otherwise.  Were the Bible so\nmiraculously contrived, that it were impossible to misinterpret or\nmisunderstand it; that is, were it impossible to abuse it, all other\nreligious societies might be saved a vast expence of trouble and revenue,\nby relinquishing all their former plans, and falling into yours.  But if\nit be possible from the scriptures, not only to draw the word of truth to\nsalvation, but to support so much error and delusion, as every\nreligionist is ready to see any where, or every where but at home,\nsomething more is required, than a Bible society, to secure the faith\nonce delivered to the saints.  If your Lordship sees no impropriety in\nrequesting a clergyman to aid and assist in the promotion of the various\nhostile sects, which war against the church, and sound religion; if you\nsee no harm in his becoming the patron and fellow-worker, together with\nPapists, Socinians, Quakers, &c. your Lordship, I am sure, will not\nrefuse to enlighten my mind upon the subject, and prove it to me from the\nword of God.  At present, believe me, I am fully purposed, by God\u2019s help,\nnever wittingly to lend my hand to sow tares in the church of God.  Quote\nnot, that the wheat and tares must grow together till the harvest, if by\nthat you would wind me to your present plan.  Tell me not that heresies\nmust needs come\u2014I know it.  But by _my_ means they shall never come.  You\nknow, my Lord, it is the _enemy\u2019s_ part to sow tares; heresies descend\nnot from heaven.  How then can you invite me to do the enemy\u2019s work?  How\ncan I do this, and be innocent?\n\nPermit me, my Lord, now to say a word or two upon the \u201cliberality of the\nbasis of your establishment;\u201d which is held out as \u201cgiving additional\nforce to the claims arising from the simplicity, purity, and importance\nof the design.\u201d  Not satisfactorily apprehending at first, what might be\nsignified by the expression of a _liberal basis_, I had recourse to a\nwell-known lexicographer, who under the word liberal, gives us these\nmeanings:\u2014\u201cnot mean, not low in birth;\u2014becoming a gentleman;\u2014munificent,\ngenerous, bountiful:\u201d\u2014then successively applying these several meanings\nto the subject, I find the address to signify either one, or all of these\npositions: that the basis of your establishment, is not a mean basis, nor\na basis of low birth; it is a basis becoming a gentleman, or it is a\nmunificent, or a generous, or a bountiful basis.  My author assists me no\nfurther, these being all the senses that he has included under the word.\nHere, I confess, I was a little posed, my mind remaining still\nunsatisfied, that any of these meanings were intended, although I felt\nthat all the epithets, could they be applied to the subject, were such as\nmust recommend the basis of any thing.  It struck me suddenly at last,\nthat your Lordship must intend, by these classic words, only what the\nvulgar would call \u201cbroad bottom.\u201d  _The broad bottom of the\nestablishment_ \u201cgives additional force,\u201d &c.\n\nNow, if your Lordship designs to recommend your establishment by its\nbroad bottom, permit me to say, it has no charms for me.  I know the\nliberal basis, or broad bottom, is very much the vogue in all religious\n(and chiefly in religious) projects; the reason of which, if this were\nthe proper place, I think I could unfold.  But do you really mean to\ntempt a clergyman to join your society, by seriously holding out to him\nthe opportunity of joining his \u201czeal and exertions,\u201d as you speak, with\nthe zeal and exertions of all sorts and descriptions of men, who pretend\nto be Christians?  Do you imagine, my Lord, that your invitation can\nderive additional force, from the prospect of meeting (when I must have\nthe honour of meeting your Lordship, as president of the motley group)\nand associating with all sorts of preachers and teachers, from the\npreaching blacksmith up to the fanatical ranter in holy orders?  Those\nwho are used to good company, know how to behave.  I must confess, that\nbeing unfortunately not bred in such liberal-basis\u2019d, or broad-bottomed\nprinciples, I should not.  I should feel uneasy, my Lord; I should be\nilliberally, perhaps, looking towards the door; I might uncharitably call\nto mind that bigot Polycarp, and actually make my escape.  And what would\nyou have me do?  You have condescended to persuade me to meet my\ninveterate foes, who have repeatedly declared their intentions of pulling\nthe church about my ears, and starving all the clergy; and who are\nactually and openly perpetrating their fatal project; could you not bring\nabout a reconciliation, my Lord, before we meet?  Do you not think that\nthis would vastly promote and strengthen your present scheme?  At present\nwe are all to meet, it appears, each retaining his wonted mind, and\ncontinuing his usual exertions; that is, we all meet under your\nLordship\u2019s auspices, still to continue pulling, with all our might,\ndifferent ways!\n\nSurely, to every thinking man it must be plain, that although your\nLordship should call upon such a babel of lips and languages, with all\nthe powers you have, for zeal and exertions united, there appears not the\nleast probability that that unanimity will come when you do call, till\nyou can prove that those very means which the Almighty adopted to\nconfound and divide, have changed their nature, and now may be used to\ncollect, and unite, and carry on a simple plan with effect.\n\nMistake me not, my Lord, as intending to deny the possibility of any\n_sort or degree_ of union among certain descriptions of persons composing\nthe society.  This, I am sure, would be to deny that which authentic\nhistories have abundantly proved to be true.  I am perfectly aware, that\nall the various and discordant tribes of dissenters from the Church of\nEngland, may unite, from the Papist down to the Quaker; for they\nfrequently have, and frequently do unite _against_ the Church.  \u201cMany\ntimes have they consulted together with one consent, and have been\nconfederate against the church,\u201d saying, \u201clet us take to ourselves the\nhouses of God in possession.\u201d  But when was it ever known, that they have\nunited _with_ the church?  Shew me the history, lay your finger upon the\npage, and say, my Lord, _when_, _where_, and upon what _occasion_, did\nthey ever unite _with_ the church, for any important and righteous\ndesign.  I must be satisfied upon this point; I must request some fair\nexample and precedent, to prove that the thing is neither impossible nor\nimprobable, before it can be even prudent to listen to your Lordship\u2019s\nproposal!\n\nAlas! my Lord, you well know how many sad examples might be brought to\ndemonstrate the reverse: why then put me to the needless task of\nreminding you of the many times and occasions when the \u201cseveral\ndenominations of Christians have united, upon a liberal basis, their zeal\nand exertion, to an unexampled degree,\u201d for the utter destruction of\nchurch and state?  Why should I be forced to enter upon the disgraceful\nhistory of men, who, with words smoother than butter, and softer than\noil, with fair promises of taking sweet counsel together, and walking to\nthe house of God as friends, have put forth their hands against such as\nbe at peace with them, have broke their covenant, and drawn their swords\nagainst them?  The church\u2019s many scars and wounds as yet unhealed, and\nsores that are daily vexed, have taught her not to lean upon every arm\nthat is held out to support her weak and tottering strength.  Experience\nalways begets caution; and knowledge of degenerate human nature, brings\nwith it circumspection.  She reads in the sacred volume written for our\nlearning, of Joab\u2019s slippery trick with Abner; and till she can be\npersuaded that he who speaks quietly and peaceably means no mischief, it\nwould now be worse than imprudence to turn aside to speak at all.  The\nchurch, my Lord, is not solicitous for such companions as these; and why\nshould your Lordship be solicitous to bring her sons and servants into\nfamiliarity with those who despise her, and are plotting her destruction?\n\nPermit me to address you as a Church of England man; as a man who fears\nGod, honours the king, and hears the church.  Allow us, my Lord, to\nreason together a little, upon this project of yours, to which you call\nmy attention, and endeavour to engage my feelings.  You propose an\nalliance between the churchman and every description of religionists, who\neither use or abuse the name of Christ; that is, in the new phrase,\nbetween Christians of the \u201cseveral denominations.\u201d  Has your Lordship\nweighed well the advantages and disadvantages that are likely to accrue\nto the church?  Supposing the design of this proposed association to be\nas pure as it appears to your Lordship, and that the exclusive object be,\nto disseminate Bibles throughout the world; will this new connexion\nempower the church to extend its bounds, and to confer its salutary\nblessings upon those who sit in darkness?  Is this likely to be effected\nby the aid and assistance of those whole delight has always been to clip\nthe silver wings of the heavenly dove, and to pluck her golden feathers\nfrom her breast?  When did she ever soar, but to encounter a cloud of\nenemies, to tempt the rapine of every bird of prey under heaven\u2014to offer\na luscious and inviting morsel to all the several hungry \u201cdenominations\nof christians, to whom the happy constitution of this country,\u201d your\nLordship says, \u201caffords _equal_ protection with herself?\u201d  If the church\nto which you profess to belong, be really a part of the Holy Catholic\nChurch, that kingdom of Christ in which we are promised pardon and\nsalvation\u2014is it likely to be enlarged and promoted on earth, by a\ncoalition with those who profanely hold it in derision, and disdainfully,\ndispitefully, and cruelly load her with all the ill names that the most\nvindictive malice can suggest?  Look to all the public acts of your new\nfriends; observe the spirit of all their various and varying\npublications; and what do we find, but one steady and unremitting plan of\nhostility; sometimes marked with smiles and proffered fraternity;\nsometimes ferocious and formidable, with open mischief and attack?  And\nif by this connection, it be impossible to enlarge the pale of the\nchurch, there appears no probability that its interests of any sort can\nbe safe and secure; for that opposition which would prevent its\nextension, must infallibly operate, and does indeed operate, to produce\nits destruction.\n\nIn this projected association, indeed, the danger of final destruction to\nthe established church is scarcely concealed; it is open and evident even\nto him who runs and reads its proposals.  It scarcely needs a suspicious\neye; it only needs the attentive one.  How this has escaped your\nLordship, and several other illustrious friends of this association, I\ncannot explain; unless we bear in mind, that those who mean well\nthemselves, are the last to suspect evil in others.\n\nBut let us see, my Lord, how the case stands, and examine what claim I\nhave to credit, when I assert, that your society is in direct opposition\nto the interests of the established church.  In this association, with no\nprevious reconciliation between the church and her acknowledged\nadversaries, the church is invited, by your Lordship, to meet the several\ndenominations of Christians in all their avowed and secret enmity.  Thank\nheaven, the gates of nonconformity have never, since the grand rebellion,\nprevailed against the church; and if her members were true to themselves,\nand to the cause they profess to espouse, in this happy country they\nnever would.  But if such projects as this, which your Lordship\nrecommends, become popular and numerous, and are supported by such\npatronage as appears at the head of this\u2014with tears, and many an\nheart-rending pang, I must soon bid a last farewell to that venerable\nmother, that chaste spouse of Christ, who hath borne many an illustrious\nchild of God, and many an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven!\n\nWhat your Lordship, who has seen a little of the world, can expect from\nsuch a meeting, but the usual manners and actions of those several\ndenominations you convene, what you can possibly calculate upon, but the\nscratchings and sightings, which you know are usual with the parties when\non the outside of the tavern walls, it is difficult to guess.  Not one\nfriend do you attempt to gain for the church, nor to conciliate a single\nfoe.  They are to meet; and by the sweet call of charity, chanted most\nmusically from your Lordship\u2019s lips, peace is to be preserved, and war is\nno more to be known.  But it was to have been expected, that your\nLordship, who professes to be of the _established denominations_ of\nChristians, if you had been disinclined to _assist_ the church, would\ncertainly not have _betrayed_ her, in any degree or mode; much less have\naddressed a clergyman, inviting him to do the same.  My Lord, this I\nnever will believe was your own act and deed.  You have lent an\nincautious ear to some insidious friend, who abuses your respectable name\nto purposes of his own.  How else is it possible to conceive that your\nLordship could have invited me into an association, under such a\nregulation as that which is numbered eleven? in which the committee,\n(which is \u201cto conduct the business of the society, appoint all officers,\nexcept the treasurer, have power to call special meetings, and are\ncharged with procuring for the society suitable patronage) shall consist\nof thirty-six laymen; of whom, twenty-four who shall have most frequently\nattended, shall be eligible for re-election for the ensuing year; six\nshall be foreigners, resident in London or its vicinity; half the\nremainder shall be members of the Church of England, and the other half\nmembers of other denominations of Christians!!!\u201d\n\n_We have here a standing majority against the church_!  Oh, my Lord, how\ncould you join in such a plot?  What could induce your Lordship to lend\nyour name to such a business as this; and why should you think so basely\nof the clergy, as to tempt them, by you own example and fair reputation,\nto sign the death warrant of the established church, and the instrument\nof their own ruin?\n\nIt cannot escape you, my Lord, that at present (and thank God for it) the\nchurch enjoys a very large majority against the combined members of all\nthe several tolerated denominations of Christians.  According to the most\nauthentic calculation, she can produce more than four of her members to\none dissenter.  So that if the constitution of your committee had been\nformed upon a fair and righteous basis, there plainly should have been at\nleast _four_ churchmen to _one_ of the other denominations.  But here, my\nlord, strange to tell, you propose to deprive the church of her natural\nnumbers and strength, you take from her, her best means of defence, and\ninvite her into the midst of her sworn enemies!  Where is the liberality\nof this, my Lord?  Where is the justice?  The first temptation held out\nto the public, is the _liberal basis_ of your establishment.  Is it\nliberal, my Lord, to deprive one party of more than three fourths of its\nstrength, and to throw it among the others, who have no other right to\nit, nor expectation of it, but what they derive from your Lordship?  No\ndoubt, my Lord, if you can gain your point, and can tempt the clergy into\nyour scheme, there will not be a single Nonconformist, Papist, Socinian,\nor Quaker, silent in your praise.  No doubt your unbounded liberality\nwill be sounded forth, by every gospel-preacher in the church, and every\ntwanging teacher in the conventicle.  Ungrateful wretches would they be,\nwere they to pass by unnoticed, and un-eulogised so great a friend to\ntheir cause.  A friend indeed; whole unexampled zeal and exertions in\ntheir favour, must raise their memory to their halcyon days of 1648, and\nfill their beating bosoms, with well-grounded hopes of once more\nrealizing those scenes, which, but for your Lordship, and a few other\n_liberal_ men, they little expected to see.  But what will the _church_\nsay?  What will _four-fifths of the nation_ think of your Lordship\u2019s\n\u201cliberal basis,\u201d which is treacherously withdrawn from the established\nchurch, to build up the walls of conventicles and meeting-houses?  Do you\nexpect that any honest clergyman, in his sound senses, can relish your\nLordship\u2019s liberality, for such conduct as this?  It is too gross, my\nLord, to pass.  I am lost in astonishment and grief, when I see a man who\nprofesses so much good-will to the pure Christianity of the country;\nwhole well-known integrity and respectable talents, might have tempted\nthe woe-worn church to look up to his piety and pity for relief; whose\nrank and credit in the world, afford him much ability to bestow it; when\nI see such a man engaged in a fearful scheme, by which our Zion may be\npulled down, and her enemies exalted upon her ruins\u2014alas! for these\nthings I weep: \u201cmine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the\ncomforter that _should_ relieve my soul, is far from me.\u201d\n\nMy Lord, I repeat it again, I am convinced you have been deceived.  Were\nyou a known enemy to the church, or even a suspected one, doubtless it\nwould be highly gratifying to your Lordship and companions, to accomplish\nthe object to which you solicit my concurrence.  At present, the church\nis far too strong for her combined adversaries; the contest is unequal.\nConfident, I am, there is none but an enemy could have advised this:\u2014an\nenemy, with whom it is far more dangerous to treat than to fight;\ntherefore let her take a friend\u2019s advice, for once, and stand upon her\nguard.  Let her be _true_ to herself, and the gates of hell shall never\nprevail against her.\n\nIn point of strength, therefore, to establish herself, and to resist her\nnumerous foes, it is impossible that the church can be any gainer by your\nLordship\u2019s heterogeneous society; on the contrary, it is perfectly\nevident that she would be extremely injured; in as much as she is\ndeprived of _more than three-fourths_ of her natural strength, which is\ngiven by your Lordship to the general mass of her avowed enemies.  A\nstanding majority of dissenters is constituted _against_ her.  Nor can I\ndevise one argument sufficient to tempt her, unshielded as she is, by\nwant of discipline and good government, to throw away that natural\ndefence which God Almighty has given her, and trust to the liberality and\nprotection of those who threaten, and are daily compassing her\ndestruction.\n\nNor is the church more likely to gain any thing to her dignity by her new\nassociates, than to her interest.  It is prophesied in scripture, as a\ncomfort to the church, that one day she should have \u201ckings for her\nnursing fathers, and queens for her nursing mothers.\u201d  Your Lordship\nholds out nothing of this sort in your society.  It cannot be denied that\na few nobility are found in your list, and some other folk of high rank,\nbut of such a description as we should not have expected to find there.\nBut, my Lord, as it is not the mere presence of a nobleman that can make\nthe company which he honours with his presence, either creditable or\npolite, so I presume at once, that I am not required to consider your\nassociation as a creditable one, merely because I find at its head your\nLordship, and a few other respectable names.  For when I cast my eye\ndownwards to the motley list of subscribers, I find such names as can\ncertainly reflect no credit upon the church.  There I recognize the\ndissenting teacher, the Methodist preacher, the preaching blacksmith, &c.\nwho can make but awkward nurses of the church.  But one thing is plain,\nthat although _our_ credit will be no gainer by the company you propose,\nit is not so with _them_.  If we may take their account of themselves,\ntheir doctrines and communications have hitherto been confined chiefly to\nthe inferior ranks.  If your society succeeds, it will be a society for\n\u201cbettering their condition;\u201d a thing to them, it may be presumed, by no\nmeans unpleasant or ineligible.  The scriptures promise to none called\nChristians but in the church; and history proves that none but the church\nhave enjoyed the splendor and favour of princes.  If, therefore, these\nseveral denominations have not, and cannot procure, the nursing of kings\nand queens, is it to be wondered at that they should be glad to share the\npartiality of a nobleman or two? the benign influence of some wandering\nstar?\n\nMoreover, as it is notorious that several _liberal_ friends of rank have\nstrenuously defended the dissenting denominations of Christians against\nthe one established, but scarcely any have been persuaded to quit their\nconnection with the church, and honour the meeting-house with their\npresence; it would not be an easy thing for those several denominations\nto prove their connection with their friends in the church, were it not\nfor the opportunities afforded them by societies established upon\n\u201cliberal basis.\u201d  Here, indeed, it is with all the members, as the\nproverb goes, \u201chail-fellow well met.\u201d  All is unity and charity, and\nChristian benevolence; and every thing that is good!  Here is realized\nthe pretty hand-in-hand frontispiece to the Christian Ladies Pocket Book,\n1803.  In sweetest harmony we view the preaching shopman and the British\npeer; the Methodist, and Baptist, and Independent, the Antinomian, &c.\n&c. &c. and a venerable Bishop of the Church of England.  But, my Lord,\nif it be fact that few men of opulence, and fewer still of rank, frequent\nthe conventicle or meeting-house, although several are well-known\nsupporters of the cause; if men of influence and consideration, who\ncontinue to revile the church, still think proper to remain nominal\nmembers of her communion; till I am favoured by your Lordship with a\nbetter reason for this strange inconsistent behaviour, I am satisfied\nwith this; that _her_ society is that, which in spite of calumny is to be\npreferred, that still, in their sober moments, even men of the world do\nthink it more creditable to be accounted members of our venerable church,\nthan a subscriber to the meeting-house; they proceed as if they adopted\nthe idea of the gay king, and thought that the church was fitter for\ngentlemen than the conventicle.\n\nIt cannot, therefore, be upon the notion of adding respectability to the\nchurch, that your Lordship fosters this institution: although it is\nevident that much respectability may be reflected upon our dissenting\nbrethren by a connexion with the church.  This they know and feel, and by\ntheir conduct avow; and certainly no man could object to see their\ncondition improved by connection with good company, were it not that the\nsociety by which they are benefitted, must feel exactly the reverse by an\nassociation with them.  The question in short must be put, who are the\ngainers by this new connection?  The answer will direct us to the party\nto which your Lordship, either by chance or design, has condescended to\nfavour, at the expence of the other.\n\nMay I crave your Lordship\u2019s attention to consider another material point.\nI speak as to a true Churchman; judge you what I say.  How is it likely\nto fare with true religion, as to _purity_, when your association shall\nbe arranged and perfected according to the proposed plan?  A man of your\nLordship\u2019s known integrity and serious turn of mind, cannot be supposed\nto be a member of the church but from conviction; upon conviction, that\nof all the several denominations of Christians, that established is the\npurest and best; of course, that all others are not so pure, and, upon\nthe whole, are worse.\n\nNow we read in the sacred volume, that evil communication corrupts good\nmanners.  \u201cHe that toucheth pitch,\u201d saith the son of Sirach, \u201cshall be\ndefiled therewith.\u201d  Shall we not then extremely endanger the rectitude\nof our opinions and manners, by constant and intimate communication with\nall sorts of impure and erroneous religionists?  Familiarity would soon\nlesson the deformity of the most abhorred doctrines, and daily\nintercourse would in time smooth the way, first with ease to tolerate,\nand then to favour acknowledged and pernicious errors.  And this I speak,\nnot with relation to that denomination alone, to which your Lordship\nbelongs; it holds with all the others in common.  The Socinian, for\ninstance, charges idolatry upon the Calvinist; the Calvinist returns the\ncharge, and accuses the other of denying his Saviour.  And is it\npossible, that two such opposite sects can cordially unite for religious\npurposes, and enter into familiar friendship, without considerable danger\nto the purity of that creed, which each of them deems the true one?  Will\nthe Socinian deem it safe to give the right hand of fellowship to an\nidolator; and will the Calvinist do the same to the despiser of his\nredeemer?  Surely not; if they meet upon such terms as shall secure to\neach party the purity of his faith, they must meet upon the ground of\nreligious indifference: for if each party be hearty in his cause, and\nzealous for his religion, he will not only stiffly maintain it against\nhis friend; but, if he be touched with one feeling of benevolence, he\nwill endeavour to gain his friend to that side, which he considers as the\nreligion of God; and then, I presume, it is evident, that all security is\ngone, with respect to the other\u2019s faith; for the zeal of his friend will\nbe perpetually assailing what he deems the truth; and, doubtless, each\nparty will be always ready to quote against his friend, the strong words\nof the Apostle Paul.  \u201cWhat concord hath Christ with Belial?\u201d  \u201cWhat\npart\u201d will the Calvinist say, \u201chath he that believeth, with an infidel?\u201d\nWhilst the Socinian with equal spirit may retort, \u201cWhat agreement hath\nthe temple of God with idols?\u201d  To speak in no hardier terms of your\nLordship\u2019s invitation into your association, than I feel by conscience\nbound to speak; do you not my Lord, at least, lead the clergy into\ntemptation, a thing against which they daily pray?  And is it not\npresumption, to trust themselves in the company of so many agreeable\ngentleman, who, if they be honest, must infallibly endeavour to seduce\nthem from their first faith?  The divine grace is no where promised to\nthose who sin wilfully: and surely, it is to tempt God\u2019s providence, to\nexpect to come off harmless, where we know he has in general made no way\nto escape.  My Lord, \u201cyou _know_ your strength, and I know mine: neither\nour own, but given.\u201d  Nothing with me has such fascinating charms as good\ncompany; and nothing sooner would seduce me from my principles.  Feeling\nmyself, therefore, too weak to say, that it is positively out of the\npower of any of your friends to persuade me out of the means of\nsalvation, or to defraud me of the all-sufficient merits and atonement of\nmy adored Redeemer, I must in prudence, and in conscience, decline your\nLordship\u2019s invitation.  I am perfectly aware that there are some chosen,\nfavoured persons, who seem to possess much greater fortitude and\nspiritual strength, than I can boast, or than I judge, the bulk of\nmankind can pretend to; doubtless, (for charity compels us so to\ndetermine) they have by some revealed means, secured a more than ordinary\nmeasure of grace, and so can safely make a bolder flight in the thickest\nof this world\u2019s temptations and trials; else, might we ignorantly ask,\nwhat concord hath a mitre with a meeting-house?  Why should a clergyman\nof the Church, be unequally yoked with a lovely sister of the\nconventicle?  But upon these heads, my Lord, I refer you to a certain\nofficer of the society.  Perhaps, he can resolve us how a clergyman of\nthe church, can attend the meeting-house, without danger to his\nprinciples, or gross indecorum towards the church, and its spiritual\nsuperior.  He perhaps, can shew us too, how a clergyman of the church,\ncan securely, and without breach of trust, take his pupils to hear the\nharangues of those who daily revile her.  This to common understandings,\ndoes not appear to be the likely way \u201cto banish and drive away all\nerroneous and strange doctrines, contrary to God\u2019s word,\u201d which every\nclergyman at his ordination solemnly promises to do.  It wants some\nclearing up.  I am sure I have no such extraordinary grace, as to justify\nme in any such dangerous experiments; and therefore, I dare not expose\nmyself to such temptations, as I see persons more spoken of for piety,\npractice every day.  In short, my Lord, I confess my great fear, that\nfrequent communication with those whom we both consider as corrupt\nconcerning the faith, would in the end defile the purity of my own; and\ntherefore, without presumption, I cannot join myself to your Bible\nSociety.\n\nBut, permit me, my Lord, to state a still more important objection to\nyour proposed society, than any already mentioned.  How is the purity\neven of the Holy Scriptures themselves to be secured, if the translation\nand edition of the sacred book, are to be entrusted to all the different\ndenominations of Christians?  The translation of any book, is in effect,\nand in a certain measure, neither more nor less, than an interpretation,\nor exposition of the original; for what does the translator set forth,\nbut that which he thinks fit to consider as the sense of his original?\nAbout the original of the scriptures, there can be no dispute, except as\nto the genuine text; which we know is now so accurately ascertained, that\nvariations of any importance, are very few, and have very little effect\nupon the essentials of religion.  But of the several possible senses\nwhich may be given of text acknowledged to be genuine, there are a\nprodigious number; and such variety, as are capable of affording a\nspecious proof, for the most pernicious errors.  Hence it has happened,\nthat christian princes have usually considered the translation, and\nprinting the Holy Scriptures, as fit objects for their interference and\ncontroul.  Your Lordship will recollect the history of the Rhemish\nTestament, and of other popish translations, and will not be ready, I\nshould imagine, to entrust either the translating or the editing the Holy\nScriptures, to the care of that denomination of Christians called\nPapists.  You will call to mind the crafty trick practised by another\nparty, of substituting one little monosyllable for another, for the\npurpose of quashing one of the strongest proofs of episcopacy, and\nforcing the text to speak in favour of presbyterian ordination: and, it\nis to be hoped, your Lordship would not wish to see a repetition of such\ntransactions, nor be willing to confide in such translations of God\u2019s\nsacred word, as might issue from the hands of that denomination of\nChristians, which has been guilty in _our_ opinion of such unjustifiable\nliberties.  But what has been, my Lord, may be again; nay, if these\npeople sent forth their several translations, as those which, in their\nsincere judgment gave the truest sense of scripture; they acted at least\nlike honest men: and who will say, that the denominations of Christians,\nwho, in these times, have adopted all their doctrines, books, and\npractices, are less honest than their predecessors?  And therefore, we\nmust expect, if the power be put into their hands, that they will give us\nthe same translations and editions of the Holy Book, as were given\nbefore!  Hitherto, my Lord, all sober Christians have considered the\nchurch, and not the conventicle, as the only pillar and ground of the\ntruth; the best witness, and keeper of Holy Writ.  But when the oracles\nof God are forced from the hands of those who are appointed to keep them,\nand are thrown to a mixed multitude of contending religionists, to give\nthem out in what shape they please, as the genuine and pure word.\u2014My\nLord, you see the consequences, as clearly as I can.  And when it is\nremembered, that in your society, there is _a standing majority against\nthe church_, what can we expert, if the plan become general, but that in\ntime our present pure English Bible will be thrust aside, to make way for\nothers, translated and annotated to the different tastes of Papists and\nPresbyterians, and all the other denominations, to which this happy happy\ncountry is laid to afford equal protection?  Every different party, has\nnow its doctrine, has its interpretation;\u2014but then each will have its\nBible too.\n\nI shall here, my Lord, put a period to my address, not because I have\nenumerated all the evils, which I see must follow such projects as that\nyou recommend; I have mentioned not a tenth part; but, because I am\npersuaded, that if your Lordship be decidedly averse from listening to\nany representation, in prejudice of your society, I have said enough to\nexhaust your patience.  If you be inclined, (notwithstanding your present\nengagement to patronize the scheme,) candidly to listen to the\nsuggestions of those who are unfriendly to it; I have said more than\nenough, to awaken your Lordship\u2019s apprehensions, and to procure your\npatient, and very serious investigation of my objections.\n\n                              I am, my Lord,\n\n                                         Your Lordship\u2019s obedient Servant.\n\nSince these sheets were sent to the press, the author has been credibly\ninformed, that the British and Foreign Bible Society are at this time\npreparing an edition of the Holy Scriptures in the Welch language, in\nwhich, such liberties are taken in the translation as are by no means\nwarrantable.  He here gives it merely as a report, himself being\nunacquainted with the Welch language, and therefore unable to examine it,\nand determine how far it be true.  If however, it be in the least degree\nfounded in fact, Lord T., he presumes, will feel himself irresistibly\ncalled upon to bestow his very serious attention upon those pages of the\naddress, which allude to this important subject; especially, when he is\ninformed, that the same representation has been made to the Society for\nPromoting Christian Knowledge, who have thought proper to make further\nenquiries upon the subject.\n\nThe author has been likewise told, that the distribution of tracts, as\nwell as bibles, was in the original plan of some of the first projectors\nof this scheme, one of whom is known to be a zealous adversary of the\nestablishment.  Lord T. doubtless, has full information upon all points,\nrespecting the characters of the projectors, and will be able to\ndetermine what degree of attention is due to those fears and forebodings,\nso strongly suggested upon this head.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                  FINIS.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                        _Bye and Law_, _Printers_,\n                   _St. John\u2019s-Square_, _Clerkenwell_.","title":"An Address to Lord Teignmouth, president of the British and Foreign Bible Society, occasioned by his address to the clergy of the Church of England","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":8868}