Subscriptions and Donations in aid of the General Baptist Missionary Society will be thankfully received by Robert Pegg, Esq., Treasurer, Derby; and by the Rev. J. C. Pike and the Rev. H. Wilkinson, Secretaries, Leicester; from whom also Missionary Boxes, Collecting Books, and Cards may be obtained.

THE

GENERAL BAPTIST

MAGAZINE.

MAY, 1864.

COMPULSORY AID FOR THE SUPPORT OF A NATIONAL RELIGION.

HOWEVER protected by the laws of a nation any human system may be which compels mankind to contribute pecuniary aid for the support of what is termed "the National Religion," it is, in our judgment, not only an evident violation of Christian principle, but is calculated to encourage and extend infidelity in the world, and to retard the progress of pure Christianity. Englishmen are not only allowed but encouraged to prosecute their inquiries into all the arts and sciences; but are prohibited from exercising that freedom of thought and action which results from a close investigation of the principles of the New Testament. On occasions of political excitement, it is not uncommon for "stanch Churchmen," who are soliciting the votes of the electors, to promise to uphold "Our glorious constitution in Church and State." Christianity, which is the source of comfort and the guide of conscience to all who embrace it, is thus considered merely as an engine of State to be guided at will by those whose worldly interests are identical with an "established religion." To those who are ignorant of the requirements of this "glorious constitution," who believe that the temporal power ought not to be identified with, or employed in the act of enforcing the payment of money for religious purposes, it may be interesting, although painful, to be made acquainted with a circumstance which has recently transpired in the quiet town of Broseley, in Shropshire. The following account is taken from the Birmingham Daily Post of the 18th of March, 1864: The churchwardens of Broseley have carried ruin and desolation into the abode of at least one family of the class that Christianity is supposed to aid rather than oppress; they have actually looted the cottage of a labourer. On Thursday, the 10th inst., the churchwardens of Broseley levied a distraint VOL. LXVI.-NEW SERIES, No. 5.

on the goods of James Clark, a poor labouring man, for the non-payment of the sum of one shilling and threepence halfpenny, which the said James Clark was called upon to contribute towards expenses which are annually incurred by the congregation that worships in Broseley parish church; the articles seized in satisfaction of this claim consisted of a cloak, an oak chest, an oak cupboard, two tables, seven chairs, a tea tray, a looking glass, a smoothing iron, and a straw mattress. Clark has a family of seven children, who, together with his wife, his bedridden mother aged eighty-three, and his idiotic sister aged forty three, constitute the household which has thus been deprived, at an inclement season of the year, of so many humble but to them valuable necessaries, in order that the Church of the State may profit to the munificent amount of one shilling and threepence halfpenny. Putting what would seem to be the smallest selling value on the articles enumerated, we cannot estimate their worth at less than between two and three pounds, and such is the amount of the sacrifice that has been made in a labouring man's homestead because the Church should not lack a paltry contribution reckoned in coppers."

We hear frequently of the "Church Defence Association." Is there a single member of that body who will attempt to defend this unexampled instance of ecclesiastical freebooting? If there is, perhaps he may be found on the platform at the annual meeting of that Society. On the 15th March, 1864, the annual meeting of the " Church Defence Association" was held in Bristol, under the presidency of Rev. Canon Moseley, and in the report read at the meeting there is a clause or two which it may not be inappropriate to notice, as they appear to exhibit, to some extent, the true basis upon which the Society is founded. With reference to the defeat of the Church Rate Abolition Bill the committee of the "Association" congratulate "their friends and supporters for their well bestowed exertions in the good cause." "Church Rates were but a means to an end, and that end was the maintenance by the realm of a system of religious truth." Alluding to the efforts which the Society had put forth in furtherance of its aims, the report "expressed the sympathy of the committee with the work which, with God's blessing, might be made effectual in the promotion of His glory, and in the good of His church, and the salvation of souls." With regard to the defeated Church Rate Abolition Bill-the bill which, had it passed into law, would have prevented the seizure of Clark's goods-the committee of "The Association" rejoice in the happy position they occupy, having been instrumental in causing its defeat, and consequently removing from their view those spectres in the shapes of Truth, Justice, and Liberty, at which they had been terrified, hastening to the law for what they term "the maintenance by the realm of a system of religious truth."

The overthrow of this bill may appear to the members of "the Association" very auspicious to their designs. It may induce them to continue on their posts, still anxiously watching further opportunities to infringe upon religious liberty; but the light of reason and of common sense are too widely diffused to be extinguished, and will still shine, more and more unto a perfect day. The time is not far distant when the clergy of the Church of England, one and all, will be compelled to rely for temporal support, not upon the arm of the law, not upon the wealthy patrons of church livings, but upon their own mental resources, in an honest independence, in the possession of true experimental christian

Compulsory Aid for the Support of a National Religion. 163 knowledge, arising from contemplation and study, in everything which adds vigour to thought, and above all, upon the care of an ever kind providence. Then will their work be attended with "God's blessing," if they be truly his servants, and then will it "be made effectual in the promotion of His glory, and in the good of His church, and the salvation of souls."

Returning to the platform of "The Church Defence Association," we find the Rev. J. B. Clifford, in moving the adoption of the report, made some remarks which the members of "The Liberation Society" will doubtless consider singularly ridiculous, coming, as they do, from a clergyman of the Church of England who considers "that if the friends of the Liberation Society wished to increase the interests of the Church of England they had only to work their society well, for the moment the Church was attacked, it begun to put forth its strength, and the attacks result in the manifestation of life in the Church which it had not previously evinced, and there was a striking and wonderful increase in the number of churches from the moment these attacks were made upon her." We learn in heathen mythology that when Jupiter himself could not force certain obstacles by his thunder-bolts he found easy admission in the shape of a golden shower. It appears as if these opponents of religious liberty, when they cannot persuade men by straight forward argument that their principles are just, when they cannot succeed by fairly meeting the objections which are brought forward in opposition to the continuance of that system which they attempt to defend, turn round and quietly suggest, as a remedy for the benefit of the "Established Church," that the Liberation Society should continue to work well in opposition to Church Rates, because, from "the moment the Church was attacked it began to put forth its strength, and the attacks result in a manifestation of life in the Church which it had not previously evinced." Are we to conclude, therefore, that the Church is some huge monster, so overgrown, and so manifestly strange to every thing life-like, that it is only when "attacks" are made upon it, that it gives the least sign of life? Does "a striking and wonderful increase in the number of churches" indicate religious progress or prosperity in the Church? Certainly not. It is a fact well known that men who, by no merit of their own, inherit wealth and high station, frequently contribute to the erection of churches as a matter of policy, while at the same time there are no symptoms of spiritual health or vigour to be discovered in them. But the question under consideration is not whether "the number of churches is increasing," but whether the time has not fully arrived when compulsory payments for the support of religion should for ever cease?

Religion is a personal concern, and no human law ought to interfere with the conscientious convictions of an individual. Man is responsible to the Almighty alone for what he believes and practices. It fully admitted by General Baptists that the union of the Church with the State is one of the grand defects of the British constitution. This being the case, consistency demands that no endeavour should be lost which is calculated to sever the unholy alliance. The true Church of Christ is founded on a basis more stable than that of human policy or power, and its objects are far superior to those of civil institutions. In such cases as the recent one at Broseley there is sufficient to arouse every right-minded dissenter. There is a principle involved in such a transaction. Silence