upon this great and momentous question, the time is not far distant when, too late, they may have to lament their apathy.

Let it not be supposed that I am unfriendly to order-far from it; I have been an attached, and an active friend of the Church Pastoral Aid Society from its commencement; and, what is rather a singular coincidence, I was, I believe, its very first subscriber. But this Society cannot undertake the work,-it does not profess to do so; nay, it would violate its own principles to attempt it. If the Church indeed were in a healthy state, the two Societies I have named would be the best adapted to meet the wants of the whole population; but, diseased as she is by the prevailing heresy, they can offer no remedy; and I will again add, that no other society in the Church is competent to the task. What a spectacle must the Church of England be in the eyes of all Christendom, when it is known that, for the last ten or twelve years, she has had a pernicious heresy destroying her very vitals, and yet that no movement, on the part of the clergy or laity, has been made to arrest its progress!!!

My Lord, I know what the Continental Christians think of our position. I recently had an opportunity of conversing with one of their most celebrated professors upon this very question, and I felt that it was quite impossible for me to give

any satisfactory solution of the anomalous state of things in our Church. I think I hear some one exclaiming, "But you cannot adopt any plan that does not infringe upon the Order of the Church."

Without dwelling, at present, upon the fearful disorders which already prevail in Tractarian parishes,-witness the late proceedings in that of Leigh, in Essex,-I will meet this objection by a quotation which, some time ago, I obtained from a friend: it is ascribed to the Bishop of Cashel, from his work, "On the Church." His Lordship remarks, "I find in our Church two things for which I love her, scriptural truth and scriptural order; I love her for both. But when I find these two separated, and I shall be obliged to decide whether I will hold to the truth, and give up the order, or hold to the order and give up the truth, I shall feel myself bound to hold to the truth." Few persons, I believe, who are not tainted with the heresy in question, will impugn this decision. And, with regard to the abstract question of employing Scripture readers, (almost the only instrumentality suited to the present circumstances of the country,) I scarcely need remind your Lordship, that no layman necessarily requires a license from a Bishop, or from any other human authority, to do that, which it is every Christian's privilege and duty to do, upon a much higher authority, viz. that of the Scriptures them

selves; and this view of the case is confirmed by the Bishop of Exeter. His Lordship, in his late Protest against the "Declaration," signed by the twenty-three Bishops, thus observes, "I will not affect to" permit "what I have no right to forbid." This is an admission of no ordinary value. It implies just what I infer, that it is the right and duty-the scriptural right and duty-of “private Christians," to exhort and edify one another. His Lordship thus argues the case:-"Do the Bishops who have subscribed this paper say that they mean to 'call and send' these Scripture readers to be ministers? If they do not, what are these persons but private Christians, who may exercise the right, or if you will, perform the duty, of private Christians, privately exhorting one another, edifying one another? For this duty no mission by the Bishop is necessary." (The italics are mine.) This is what I have always contended for. But, still I admit that, under ordinary circumstances, that is, when it requires no compromise of truth, it would be most desirable to work with and under the clergy, as in the Church Pastoral Aid Society.

Before I conclude, I will make one observation with respect to the "Declaration" referred to.-I believe that it is an almost unanimous opinion that, as far as any practical good may be expected to result from it, it will be a mere dead letter,

unless it be followed up, on the part of their Lordships, by an exhortation to their clergy, to invite their respective parishioners to join one or other of the societies already established. Without further drawing upon your Lordship's time, I will now bring the letter to a close, by recommending the "Appeal" to your special attention.

Should the fact of my having associated your Lordship's name with this undertaking be the means of giving it greater publicity, my object will be gained; and should the cause of God be, in the smallest degree, promoted by the circumstance, I am sure you will be the last person to regret the course I have taken,

I have the honour to be,

MY LORD,

Your Lordship's most obedient

and faithful servant,

London, Jan. 1848.

GEORGE ATKINSON.

APPEAL.

MY CHRISTIAN BRETHREN,

"I HAVE long felt, and every day increases my conviction of its truth, that not only the safety, but the very existence of the Church of England, is, under God, in the hands of the laity. According to the course which they shall pursue within the next few years will, I verily believe, depend, whether the Church of England is to prove a blessing or a curse to our land." Such were my sentiments, contained in a pamphlet which I published in 1846. And in order to show that my views, with reference to the dangers which then menaced our Church, were not unsupported by similar testimony, I deemed it right to quote an observation which had been recently made by a Bishop whose praise is in all the churches-I mean the Bishop of Calcutta. His Lordship's observation, like my own, had reference to the Tractarian heresy. It was of this false and fatal system

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