1811.] Review of Hodgson's Life of the late Bishop Porteus. ships were prepared to say, that public diversions ought to be allowed in this country, they must resist this artful attempt to introduce them under the specious name of a promenade, and the sacred plea of religion. "It has been said, indeed, that this Bill is a restraint upon religious liberty. It is no such thing. It restrains no one from professing that mode of religion, and joining in that form of public worship, which his conscience best approves. It restrains no one from speaking, conversing, or writing upon religious subjects. It imposes no other restraint than this, which is surely no very great hardship, that no one shall either pay or be paid for talking blasphemy or profaneness in a public room on the Lord's Day. It takes away, in short, no other liberty, but the liberty of burlesquing Scripture, and making religion a public amusement, and a public trade, which I was inclined to think their Lordships would not consider essential marks of religious freedom." pp. 77-82. There follows soon after (p. 85) an interesting account of his exertions for the religious instruction of the Negroes in the West-India islands; but as his works contain a pamphlet upon the subject, which has been long before the public, we shall not make any quotations from it. It may not be amiss to present to some of our readers, both lay and clerical, who may question the expediency of some improvement in our parochial psalmody, the sentiments of so calm and cautious an observer as the late Bishop of London. "Of all the services of our Church, none appeared to me to have sunk to so low an ebb, or so evidently to need reform, as our parochial psalmody; more especially, as Dr. Burney, in his History of Music, had very injudiciously taken great pains to ridicule and discredit the use of psalmody in our churches, and to introduce in the room of it cathedral music. In consequence of this, Anany churches and chapels in London had already adopted his ideas; and at their charity sermons, professional singers, both male and female, were brought from various places of public entertainment, to sing hymns and anthems for the benefit of the children. Nay, in one or two churches, there had been musical entertainments upou Sunday evenings, without even prayers or a sermon. I therefore thought it highly necessary, in order to prevent our places of public worship from being converted into CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 119. 701 concert rooms, to endeavour to check this musical madness, and if possible to bring our psalmody to its antient purity and simplicity." pp. 108, 109. The next extract is from his speech in 1800, on the Marquis of Buckingham's motion to prevent the intermarriage of persons divorced for adultery. When we call to mind some members of his audience, we cannot too much applaud the dignified and Christian manliness of the mind which produced this speech. Whatever some individuals may be disposed to think of the Bishop's want of courage in other instances, Latimer himself might have been contented to borrow his expressions on this. "After the very able manner in which the clause proposed has been now supported, I certainly do not mean to take up much of your Lordslips' time, in prolonging the discussion of it. But on a question of such importance, in which the interests of morality is impossible for me, in the situation which and religion are so essentially concerned, it I have the honour to hold in the church, to give a silent vote. I therefore rise merely for the purpose of declaring publicly my entire concurrence in the clause proposed by the Noble Marquis. I have on former occasions fully explained my sentiments on this subject, and every thing I have heard in the course of this day's debate confirms me in those sentiments. The clause, though it will certainly not go to the root of the evil, yet will surely be some check to adul tery, at least on the part of the female. It will take away the encouragement at present given to that detestable crime, by the pro spect of a future marriage of the adulteress, with her seducer; which is in fact offering a reward to vice, and holding out a premium to adultery. This premium operates most forcibly on the female mind, and tends to destroy that connexion, which God and nature have established between guilt and disgrace; a constitution of things, much wiser, [ apprehend, and much more conducive to the general welfare of mankind, than that very liberal system of modern ethics, which incul cates so much pity and tenderness and indulgence to crimes of the very worst complexion. I am aware, my lords, that this clause is only a partial remedy. It does not go to the pu nishment of the seducer, who is, 1 confess, generally the most culpable of the two guilty parties. But this may be brought forward on some future occasion. In the mean time 4 Y circumspection of her future conduct, of covering in some degree her former characte and re-establishing herself in the good op nion of the world." pp. 150-150. let us do something; let us do what we can. To crusn an evil of such magnitude, we must go on gradually, and proceed step by step. The hydra of adultery cannot be subdued all at once: but we may cut off the many heads of the monster one by one, till at last it may become a lifeless trunk. "My Lords, I shall only detain your Lord ship a few moments more, just to notice an argument, which has been very much relied upon by the noble Lords, who object to the clause in question, and which appears to me wholly gratuitous and unfounded. They have always taken it for granted, and assumed it as a kind of postulatum, that if the adulteress be not permitted to marry her seducer, she is necessarily and of course driven into prostitution for life. Now this I hold to be an assumption which cannot be maintain ed. Is there no alternative, no middle and better course between marriage with the seducer and a life of prostitution? Is it not possible, that the adulteress may be struck with horror, with contrition and remorse for her crime? May she not even wish to seelude herself for a time from the world; to withdraw herself from the observation of mankind, and endeavour to recover in the privacy of retirement those virtuous habits which she has unfortunately lost? Instances of this sort are undoubtedly to be found, especially amongst those, who have been educated in principles of virtue and religion, but in some unguarded hour have, by the vile arts of an abandoned man, been betrayed into guilt. This, my Lords, has, I know, sometimes happened; and sure I am, that this temporary seclusion gives a woman an infinitely better chance for recovery, than a marriage with her seducer. For, can your Lordships suppose, that the conversation and society of a man, who has shewn himself destitute of every principle of honour and virtue; who has been guilty of so foul and base a crime, as to corrupt the wife, of perhaps his dearest friend, and plunge the very object of his affection into a gulf of sin and Inisery; can your Lordships, I say, suppose, that the society of such a man can possibly be the means of restoring to her that purity of mind which he has himself destroyed; or that his house should be the proper school for repentance and for reformation? No, my Lords, the true, the only way to bring the unhappy victim back into the path of virtue, is to separate her from the arms of her vile betrayer; to lead her into retirement; to place her under the protection of a few kind relatives or friends, and thus give her an opportunity of making her peace with her of fendød Maker; and, by the discreetness and At p. 100, is an account of an is terview with the Princess Char lotte of Wales, which is too inte resting to be withheld from o reader. "Yesterday, the 6th of August, I pass a very pleasant day at Shrewsbury How near Shooter's Hill, the residence of the Pi cess Charlotte of Wales. The day was fine and the prospect extensive and beautis. taking in a large reach of the Thames, which was covered with vessels of various sizes and descriptions. We saw a good deal of young Princess. She is a most captivati and engaging child, and, considering high station she may hereafter fill, a ni interesting and important one. She repeat to me several of her hymns with great c rectness and propriety; and on being t that, when she went to South End in Est as she afterwards did for the benefit of bathing, she would then be in my diocese she fell down on her knees and begged my blessing. 1 gave it her with all my and with my earnest secret prayers to Gal that she might adorn her illustrious statin with every Christian grace; and that, ifer she became the queen of this truly great and glorious country, she might be the means diffusing virtue, piety, and happiness through every part of her dominions!" pp. 160–16 润 The address on confirmation, p 166; his letter to an anonymou correspondent in a state of religiou despondency, p. 295; and his œ lebrated letter, p. 188, to three ladies of quality who had opened their houses for Sunday evening concerts, we should also give, but that their length forbids it, and that we may think them suitable ex tracts at some future period, for another part of our work. A passage, in which he speaks of the Bible Society, will shew that we ourselves have not taken a stronger part in this controversy than is sanctioned by the judgment of our authorised teachers. "It,' (the Bible Society) he says, now well known and firmly established, and has completely triumphed over all the attempts made to destroy it. None of those secret dark designs, none of the with ection du plots and conspiracies to subvert the Establishment and devour both the shepherds Fay and their flocks, which were so confidently predicted by a certain set of men as the inevitable effect of this society, have yet been discovered in it. It is, in fact, much better employed. It goes on quietly and steadily Wain the prosecution of its great object, and ʼn be pays no sort of regard to the sneers and cavils of its intemperate opponents.'—-In another passage, written at a still later date, he says, that he cannot but add in justice to this society, which has been so much opfal posed, misrepresented, and traduced, that all the important works in which it has been engaged, have been carried on with the utmost harmony and unanimity; without any difference of opinion; without the slightest symptom of any hostile or treacherous design against the church; and without any other idea upon their minds, but that of extending, as widely as possible, the knowledge of the Christian Scriptures. The Bishops of Durhain and Salisbury attended several of their meetings, and were delighted with the decorum, calmness, and good temper with which their proceedings were conducted. In short, all the apprehensions, to which this society has given rise, are now found to be but vain terrors; and all the prophecies of the mischief and evil, that would result from it, are falsified by facts. It is rising uniformly in repata tion and credit; gaining new accessions of strength and revenue; and attaching to itself more and more the approbation and support of every real friend to the church and to religion.'" pp. 213–215. His applause of Mr. Wilberforce, whom Mr. Hodgson also entitles "the illustrious Champion of the Abolition," and his exultation on the passing of the Abolition Act, deserve to be recorded. "Of the conduct of Mr. Wilberforce in the prosecution of this great cause, I cannot express my admiration in adequate terms. The applause he received was such, as was scarcely ever before given to any man sitting in his place in either house of Parliament: but, had it been even greater than it was, he would have deserved it all, for the unceasing efforts, the firm, unshaken, intrepid perseverance, with which he main tained, and finally brought to a successful issue, the most glorious battle that ever was fought by any human being.'" pp. 221, 222. His description of the consecra tion of the church he had erected in the hamlet of Sunbridge, is very characteristic of the writer. "On the morning of the 12th,' he says, the principal gentry of the neighbourhood assembled at my house, to attend the Archbishop of Canterbury to the chapel. The day was fine. The sun shone gloriously on the extensive vale below, and brought out all the beauties of that enchanting prospect. Great crowds were assembled on the hill, and presented a most cheerful and animated scene. It was, I confess, a most joyful and gratifying day to me; and I thank God most devoutly, that he inspired me with the resolution to undertake the work, and prolonged my life to see it finished. It will, I trust, under His gracious superintendence, contribute materially to the present comfort and future happiness of some hundreds of poor ignorant people, who, from their remote and almost inaccessible situation, and their distance from the parish church, were too often destitute of that relief which their extreme indigence required in this life, and of that religious instruction which was necessary to their salvation in the next. The clergyman, who will now be fixed among them, and who is bound to reside constantly iu the parsonage-house, will, it is hoped, by his doctrines, his exhortations, and his example, be the means of remedying these evils, and will, both in their temporal and their spiritual concerns, be their guide, protector, benefactor and friend.”” pp. 229, 230. The last extract we shall make, is that in which he gives an account of one of the last and most impressive acts of his life, his conference with the Prince of Wales on the subject of a military dinner, proposed to be given on the Sabbath. "I had for some time past,' he says, 'observed in several of the papers an ac count of a meeting, chiefly of military gentlemen, at an hotel at the west end of the town, which was regularly announced, as held every other Sunday during the winter season. This appeared to me, and to every friend to religion, a needless and wanton profanation of the Christian Sabbath, which by the laws both of God and man was set apart for very different purposes; and the bishops and clergy were severely censured for permitting such a glaring abuse of that sacred day to pass without notice or reproof. I determined that it should not; and therefore thought it best to go at once Thus auspiciously ended this interview; and during the whole time, I was charmed with his fine, open, manly countenance, the peculiar mildness and gentleness of his manner, the elegance of his language, and the clearness and precision with which he gave me the history of the whole meeting. Surely, adds the Bishop, in language, the truth of which will be universally ac knowledged, it is in the power of such a man, in a station of such eminence, and formed as he is to be the delight not only of this country, but of all Europe, so to win the public affection, as to bow the hearts' of all the people of England, as it were the heart of one man."" pp. 249-251. To this mass of extracts, we shall have only space enough to subjoin a few observations; first, on the subject of these memoirs; and, secondly, on the writer of them. It may be easily discovered, then, we conceive, by what qualities the deceased Bishop won the esteem of the more seriously disposed part of the population. There is little risk in saying, that his virtues fairly deserved it. Let some features of his character be delineated. He displayed, then, in an eminent degree, that "ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God" and, indeed, of most classes of society, "of great price." He was, besides, according to the statement made, and we are persuaded accurately made, by Mr. Hodgson, truly generous and disinterested. Any rumour of an op posite nature, may fairly be set down to the illiberality of those who impute to avarice every sum which is refused to the maintenance of a profuse table, or a splendid appearance. There is little to choose between the man who spends for himself, or who saves for himself. The Bishop hit the happy mean, if he did neither. Occasionally, also, a tide seemed to arise in the calm of his onnary character, which bore him o to a higher ground of labour and duty. His zeal, in many instances, is of no ordinary character. When he calls upon the University to reform their plan of study for dirinity students; when he strongly rebukes the public neglect of Good Friday (p. 35); when he comes for ward for the correction of the Liter gy and Articles (p. 39), (though we differ from him as to his principle of correction); when he presses the Sunday bill (p. 71); toils in the Pro clamation Society (p.100); lashes adal tery and adulterers to their faces p 148); when he calls upon society for a public signature of their reverence of the Lord's-day (p. 138); when he urges the religious instruction of the Negroes (p. 85); when he breaks in upon the too stately quies cence of modern episcopacy, to give his Lent lectures; when he promotes Sunday schools; increases the solemnity of confirmation by a very solemn address to the children (p. 166); when he aids the Bible Society; writes to ladies of high rank on their violation of the Sunday (p. 188); ventures, in defence of the Sabbath, to the very foot of the throne, in his interview with the Heir Apparent :-on all these occasions, he commands that tribute of reverence and affection which is always due to the man zealously affected in a good cause."—It is dif ficult to estimate the public debt due to him on one score alone; in what degree that glorious peculiarity of Great Britain, the strict outward observance of the Sabbath, is, under God, perpetuated to us and to our children by his exertions. He appears, more. over, to have been in a high de ing-house, instead of those of the cathedral. Now the church is certainly vindicated by a multitude of her children. But the army of saints and martyrs who muster under her banner, is certainly not so great as to make us indifferent to the addition of any fresh levies. In this light also, the life of the Bishop is valuable. His virtues would constitute a sort of trophy to any church of which he was a member. He was truly a good man. And it must be recollected in what circumstances he was good. It is comparatively easy to be virtuous, where our party is small, is select, is struggling to rise. It is easier to be great on the steps than on the seat of the throne. To be vigilant where many sleep; spiritual when many are worldly; to stem the torrent to which others are yielding; to be liberal in an atmosphere somewhat tainted with bigotry; to scatter blessings; while others roll a sort of Vatican thunders; to be lowly, sincere, and sim gree conscientious-carefully, in his own conduct, following out his The principles to their practical consequences. And conscientiousness is ara feature which, especially where the possessor does not too loudly insist upon its being introduced into the character of all his associates, is likely to attract the esteem of the by-stander. Another source of popularity in the Bishop, was his freedom from high party feelings. Though a fast friend to the Establishment, as he was bound to be, he, on no occasion, betrayed a spirit of intolerance. If he required that the dissenting minister should be subjected to the general test of Scripture, it was on grounds, and in a spirit, of which the Dissenter himself could not complain. If he resisted the claim of the Catholic for emancipation, it was because he thought (justly or not) that our freedom and their emancipation (if it is to be called by that name) were incompatible. Party, besides that of the church, he plainly had none. No polemics were retained or abet-ple, in the sunshine of a court; are ted by him; no set of men, or of notions, exclusively upheld; nor any banner elevated in his camp, but that of the establishment and the Cross. Such being the leading features of the character of the Bishop, it is not, we think, a matter of wonder that the public eye always pursued him with fondness, and saw him at last sink, as it were, in the horizon of one world, to arise with renewed splendour in another, with all the regret which may be felt for a change, which, however painful to us, is, we trust, so glorious to him. The portrait presented of the Bishop by his nephew, is highly interesting in a variety of views. -It is gratifying to have (as we have seen) the foundation of our esteem revealed to us. But there is another point, in which it is not less satisfactory. It has been sometimes charged upon the Establishment, that we are compelled to search for the portraits of pious men, upon the walls of the meet rare attainments;-but they were to a great degree the attainments of Bishop Porteus. He was not like a pillar at Rome, where every fresh step presents some new specimen of architectural grandeur; but rather like some rare and precious fragment in the wilderness, where almost all around is gloom and desolation. Having thus endeavoured to convey our estimate of the personal character of the Bishop; our readers may next require our judgment of him as the teacher of others, as a writer and minister. Here, we regret to say, our estimate is not altogether so favourable. The same candour which has compelled us hitherto to applaud, compels us now somewhat to limit our approbation. We shall simply state our reason for this restricted applause. In the first place, although we concur in the plan of the Bishop, as a writer and minister, seldom to obtrude those controverted topics in theology to which mere partizans |