12 DECEMBER 1835, Page 10

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

CHURCH AND STATE.

UNTIL it became doubtful whether the members of the Estes Wished Church, or the Dissenters of various denominations, pre- dominated numerically in England, Wales, and Ireland, it was assumed as an axiom both in High and Low Church polemics, that the religion of the majority should be the religion of the State. In discussions of this question Scotland was set aside, as having an Established Church of her own ; for it would have been very inconvenient to class the Presbyterians of North Britain among the Dissenters of the United Kingdom; at the same time, it was not pretended that the men who had resisted Episcopacy to the death could be reckoned among the members of an Episcopal Church—that absurdity was reserved for the close of the year 1835.

There is much to be said in favour an Established Church which inculcates the faith of the majority ; but to compel the majority to maintain at a vast expense, or at all, the Church of the minority, must strike all disinterested persons as unjust and tyrannical. This injustice, however, is chargeable upon those who support the Church in Ireland; for it is not disputed that the Catholic Dissenters far outnumber the Protestant Episcopa- lians in that country. There are two ways by which the advocates of Protestant

Ascendancy in Ireland endeavour to escape from the odium attached to the maintenance of it. They say that the Churches of England and Ireland are one : there is no Church of Ireland, but a Church of England in Ireland. They add the members of the Establishment in England to those of the.same communion in Ireland, in order to make out a majority. Such, however, has been the growth of Dissent in England and of Catholicism in Ireland, that it has become more than doubtful whether even by this assumption their ground can be maintained; and they are driven to class Scotch Presbyterians among the English Churchmen- IC:sox with LAUD, isl`Ceix with BLOMFIELD!

Now, perhaps, to persons who view the theological differences

of Christians with philosophic coolness, there may appear to be no essential or important cause of disunion between the Episcopa- lians and Presbyterians ; but the vast majority of the latter, at all events, hold an opposite opinion. In the seventeenth century, the power of England could not force Episcopacy on the Scotch, and insanity itself would hardly dream of making the attempt now. The Scotch preferred death, exile, and the desolation of their country, to what they deemed a damnable offshoot of Popery. Is it not then most impudent in any writer to pretend that the Scotch Presbyterians should be called in to swell the numbers of

the English and Irish Protestant Episcopalians ? On the contrary, if it be persisted in that the inhabitants of

England, Ireland, and Scotland, are to be considered as one people, it is plain that the Scotch Presbyterians must be counted among the Dissenters. Then, taking the whole population at twenty-four millions, we shall be far within the mark in putting down the English Dissenters at 5,000,000 The Irish 6 500,000 The Scotch 2,000,000

13,500,000

Thirteen is more than the half of twenty-four ; so that the Church of England, even on this too favourable showing, is the Church of the minority. But the fair way of making the calculation is to take England, Ireland, and Scotland as distinct nations of the British empire ; for such in fact they are, though ruled by one Government. In that case we shall find, that the only rational principle on which Establishments can be defended, is acted on in Scotland, probably in England also, but grossly violated in Ireland, where the mem- bers of the Establishment are but a small proportion of the in- habitants.

Pressed by this fact,—conscious of the danger with which the comparatively pure and respectable Chinch of England is threat- ened by the alliance with that of Ireland,—some of the Ascend- ancy writers have been driven to deny the soundness of the principle which inculcates that, if there is to be an Established Religion at all, it must be that of the majority. WARBURTON and PALEY were adduced by the Courier in defence of this prin- ciple; but the Standard, in a luckless hour for itself and its cause, intimated doubts as to whether these eminent divines of the Church really held the opinions imputed to them, and chal- lenged the production of evidence from their writings, " in specie." Never, as respects WARBURTON, was a challenge more triumphantly met. The Courier quoted passages from the 'Bishop's Essay on the Alliance between Church and State, which put the Standard completely out of court. We alluded in our second impression last week to this crushing answer of the Cou tier, with the intention of copying it entire; but we think its pith and spirit will be sufficiently exhibited in the following copious extracts.

" Dr. Warburton's Essay on the Alliance between Church and State (says the Courier), has always been allowed to contain the ablest defence of our Established Religion that is to be found in the English language. Now, what is the principle on which this famous treatise is founded? Let the Bishop an- swer for himself—' I request my reader to have this always in mmd, THAT THE TRITE END FOR WHICH RELIGION IS ESTABLISHED IS NOT TO raovItts FOR THE TRUE FAITH, BUT FOR CIVIL UTILITY, [the capitals are in the ors., gittal,1 asthe key Mt open to him the whole mystery of this controversy ; and the .clew to !end him safe through all the intricacies and periplesities in which it has been involved.'—( Warburton's 1Vorks, Vol. IV., p. 240, 4to edit. London, 1788.) '" This is pretty well for a beginning ; and we can assure our readers that The upper parts of the building perfectly harmonize with the foundations. 4 Hitherto,' says Dr. Warburton, ' I have considered that alliance betwe..m Choral, and State which produces an Establishment, only under its more simple form, i. e. that is where there is but one religion in the State; but it may so happen that either at the time of convention, or afterwards, there may be more than one. " if there be more than one at the tune of convention, the State allies it- self with the largest of these religious societies. It is fit the State should do so, because the huger the society lr, where there is an equality in other points, the better enabled it will be to answer the ends of an alliance, as having the greatest number under its influence. It is scarcely possible it should do other- wise ; because the two societies being composed of the same individuals, the greatly prevailing religion must have a majority of its members in the assem- blies of state, who will naturally prefer their own religion to any other. " From hence may be seen the reason why the Episcopal is the Established Church in England, and the Presbyterian the Established Church of Scot- land t and the equity of that conversion which our adversaries have repre- sented as so egregious an absurdity, in point of tight, that it is sufficient to dis- credit the reason of all Establishments.

" Hence, too, may he seen, the truth of what was before observed, con- cerning the duration of this alliance, that it is perpetual, but not irrerocable ; that is, it subsists just so long AS THE CHURCH THEREBY ESTABLISHED MAINTAINS ITS SUPERIORITY OF EXTENT; which, when it loges to any considerable degree, the alliance becomes void. For, the United Church being no longer able to perform its part of the convention which is formed on reciprocal conditions, the State becomes disengaged ; and a new alliance is of course contracted with the now unrolling church, for the reasons which made the old. Thus formerly the alliance between the Pagan Church and the Empire of Home was dissolved, and the Christian established in its place ; and of late the alliance between the Papish Church and the Kingdom of England was broken, and another made with the Protestant in its stead.' And thus, may we add, will the alliance between the Protestant Church and the Kingdom of Ireland be broken and the Catholic established in its stead. (Vol. IV. p. 203.)

• • •

"But Dr. Warburton goes further than this. Not satisfied with laying it State down, in accordance with the dictates of common sense, that the Stshout] ally itself with the largest sect, he goes ou to show, that an Establishment founded on the principle advocated by the Standard, of protecting a religion because it is true, is, to use his own words, 'full both of absurdity and mis- chief.' " Thus we see, that the truth or falsehood of a religion is put out of the question; and that the largest sect, whatever may be its doctrines, ought, in the opinion of WARBURTON at least, to be the established one. But the Standard complained that no evidence of PALEYS views on this question was brought forward by the Courier; who relied on the general notoriety of the fact, that the Archdeacon coincided with the Bishop. It is easy to satisfy the Standards craving. In his chapter on " Religious Establish- ments and Toleration," Dr. PALEY, after laying it down as a fun- damental principle that " the authority of a Church Establishment is founded in. utility," and arguing that it is desirable and proper that some form of Christianity should be established, goes on to say- " But, after the right of the Magistrate to establish a particular religion has been on this principle admitted, a doubt sometimes presents itself, whether the religion which he ought to establish be that which he himself professes, or that which he observes to prevail amongst the majority of the people. Now, when we consider this question with a view to the formation of a general rule upon the subject, (which view alone can furnish a just solution of the doubt,) it must be assumed to be an equal chance whether of the two religions contains more of truth—that of the magistrate or that of the people. The chance, then, that is left to truth being equal upon both suppositions, the remaining consi- deration will be, from which arrangement more efficacy can he expected— from an order of men to teach the people their own religion, or to concert them to another' In my opinion, the advantage lies on the side of the (breve scheme: and this opinion, if it be assented to, makes it the duty 411 the Magis- trate in the choice of the religion he establishes, to consult the faith of the minion, rather than his own."

This is sufficiently decisive as to the opinion of PALEY. Both he and WARBURTON would, on their own principle, be obliged to advocate the establishment of the Catholic faith in Ireland, as that is the faith of the Irish people. Moreover, WARBURTON would be obliged to give the Catholic religion so established all the security that a Test Act against Protestants could confer. PALEY would not go so far ; fur he only defended the laws of exclusion against Catholics on the ground that the Papists were also Jacobites, and supported the right of a foreign Pretender to the Throne.

" But (he adds) it should be remembered, that as the connexion between Popery and Jacubitism, which is the sole cause of suspicion, and the sole just:- cation of those severe and jealous laws which have been enacted against the professors of that religion, was accidental in its origin, so probably it will he temporary in its duration; and that these restrictions ought not to continue one day longer than sonic visible danger renders them necessary to ther- vation of public tranquillity "

So that, although PALEY may be cited as an authority for making the Catholic the Established faith in Ireland, he is nit bound to advocate laws of exclusion for its security. Had WARBURTON lived to our times, he would have seen the Test Act swept away by public opinion, and the Church maintained without it. Ile would have perceived that he must either take an Establishment unsupported by Tests, or no Establishment.

The Standard endeavours to evade the argument in favour of establishing Catholicism in Ireland, from the fact that we have established Presbyterianism in Scotland, by pretending that, whereas Scotland, while yet a distinct state, stipulated for Pres- byterianism as a condition of Union, Ireland, when a distinct state, stipulated for incorporation with the Church of England. But the fact is, that the Union with Ireland was carried, against the Al of the enslaved people, by the bribery of a faction. Ireland had no means of resistance. Scotland, in the days of the STUARTS, had conquered Presbyterianism for itself; and the wishes, interest, and advantage of the Scottish people, were attended to in the bargain. Ireland was treated like a conquered province. The only rights recognized by law were those of usurpers and robbers : the robber faction stipulated for itself, not for the Irish people. It has been found, however, that the rubber system cannot be main- tamed, and that England and Scotland as well as Ireland are in- terested deeply in the reconsideration and readjustment, on the pinciples of equity and common sense, of that article of the print by which the Church of the minority was established on the necks of the majority. It is found to be no longer practicable to enforoc the submission of the Irish to an injustice which roused the Scottish nation into successful rebellion against the power of England.

We would not be understood as advocating the establishment of the Catholic re!igion in Ireland. The Irish themselves are averse to it, and prefer the Voluntary system. But if it was right in the Scotch to resist the attempt to force Episcopacy on them,—and no one at the present day regards their conduct as other than noble and praiseworthy,—it would be difficult to deny the right of the Irish to overturn the Protestant Establishment and replace it by a Popish Church, even by force of arms. Fortunately, however, there is little temptation to proceed to such extremities. The Church in Ire!and totters, and will soon tumble : it will ere long receive its final doom from the voice of the High Court of Parlia- ment.