A SERMON PREACHED BEFORE THE SONS OF THE CLERGY.

THE ſuperintendency of divine providence over all the affairs of mankind, is a point ſo fully proved by experi⯑ence, that it is ſeldom called in queſtion, but by the moſt thoughtleſs and abandoned. The great diſpoſer of all things hath, in various parts of holy writ, graciouſly promiſed his kind interpoſition, to counteract the deſigns and oppreſſions of men; in a more eſpecial manner hath he frequently declared to aid and protect thoſe who ſtand moſt in need of his aſſiſtance; to be [6] the father of the fatherleſs, and to defend the cauſe of the wi⯑dow; to deliver the poor that cry, and him that hath none to help him. On this comfortable aſſurance we may ſafely rely, un⯑der all our plagues, ſorrows, and calamities; for God is not a man that he ſhould lie, or the ſon of man that he ſhould repent: hath he ſaid, and ſhall he not do it: hath he ſpoken, and ſhall he not make it good?

Leave thy fatherleſs children, ſays he, I will preſerve them, and let thy widows truſt in me.

Now, though theſe words were at firſt addreſſed to a parti⯑cular nation, the promiſe contained in them doth moſt certainly extend to all the ſons of men, and may, I think, with the ut⯑moſt propriety, be applied to the occaſion of this day's ſolemnity, when we are met to commemorate, ſupport, and encourage an inſtitution, raiſed up, and inſpired by the providence of God, in favour of his choſen ſervants and miniſters, the perſecuted diſ⯑ciples and followers of his beloved Son; who, as I ſhall endeavour in the following diſcourſe more fully to prove, could not poſſibly have carried on the great taſk allotted them, without the mani⯑feſt and frequent interpoſition of divine providence exerted in their favour.

THERE is not perhaps, upon the face of the earth, any order of men, much leſs the teachers and preachers of any religion, [7] ſo poorly and ſo contemptuouſly treated as the regular and eſta⯑bliſhed clergy of the church of England: provided for in a man⯑ner ſo inadequate to their ſervices, ſo unworthy of their dignity, ſo unſuitable to the uſe and importance of their profeſſion: the little patrimony allotted to them, is ſo unequally divided, that whilſt a few, a very few, are adorned, rewarded, loaded with dignities and preferments, all the reſt are either confined within the pale of bare competency and ſubſiſtance; or, which is more generally the caſe, languiſhing in vile obſcurity, and reduced to the utmoſt ſtreights of penury and diſtreſs, obliged at the ſame time to contribute out of their ſcanty revenues, in as large a pro⯑portion to all the exigencies of the ſtate, as thoſe whoſe fortunes are entailed on their poſterity.

IN a country where chriſtianity, in its pureſt form, is univerſally profeſſed; where the obligations, which the civil power lyeth un⯑der to the influence of religion, is every day acknowledged; where the ^†church is ſo ſerviceable to the ſtate, it is aſtoniſhing that the ſtate ſhould be ſo forgetful of the church; that it ſhould have made no public parliamentary proviſion for the widows and or⯑phans of a body of men, to whom it is ſo greatly indebted for its ſafety and preſervation.

[8] THE clergy have withal the heavier cauſe of complaint, as they are perhaps almoſt the only perſons, whoſe diſtreſſes have not at ſome time or other engaged the general attention. A kind and neceſſary relief hath, we know, been provided for the wi⯑dows of thoſe who hazard their lives in the defence of their country; the ſtate, no doubt, wiſely conſidering, that thoſe, who generouſly ſacrificed their private happineſs and comfort to the good and welfare of the community, had an inconteſtable right to public favour and protection; that, however warmly attached the gallant officer might be to his king and country, the ties of nature might ſtill prevail; that deep care and anxiety for the intereſt and ſafety of a beloved wife might unnerve the ſtrongeſt arm, and depreſs the braveſt heart; that, on the other hand, the ſatisfaction of leaving her poſſeſſed of a moderate com⯑petency, might ſmooth the rugged paths of danger, and animate him in the purſuit of glory That aſſiſtance therefore, which, though imperfect, the legiſlature have here afforded, is noble and praiſe-worthy.

BUT, whilſt thoſe who fight the battles of earthly princes, and vindicate the cauſe of men, are thus beneficently and piouſly re⯑membered, the ſoldiers of Chriſt, the champions of the Lord of Hoſts are neglected and forgotten: is there nothing due to thoſe who guard the principles, and watch over the morals of a na⯑tion; nothing to the inſtructors of our youth, and the advocates [9] of our religion; to them who check the progreſs of incroaching vice, and cheriſh the bloſſoms of riſing virtue? In our army, muſt the generals alone enjoy all the honour and all the profit in our triumphs over atheiſm and infidelity, and no civic crown be given, as of old, to the private ſoldier, to him who defends with bravery the cauſe of his divine Maſter, bears the ſhield of faith, and fights the battles of the Almighty?

If the religion of Jeſus Chriſt hath any thing in it ſacred or re⯑ſpectable; if it has a right to command deference and veneration from thoſe who profeſs and embrace it, ſurely the preachers and teachers of that religion, the miniſters and diſpenſers of God's holy word and ſacraments, have a title to ſome regard and eſteem amongſt men; if they perform their duty, as worthy and conſcientious ſer⯑vants, for their maſter's ſake, they deſerve ſome degree of reſpect, ſome regard for their welfare, ſome compaſſion for their misfor⯑tunes, ſome relief of their neceſſities. But it is too truly and univer⯑ſally obſerved, that the clergy have of late years fallen into moſt undeſerved neglect and contempt; even the poor tribute of external reſpect, formerly paid to their character and function, is with⯑drawn from them, and the ſacred order itſelf treated by too many as an object of ridicule: a conduct, partly owing to the low and indigent ſtate of many of our unfortunate brethren, and partly, I believe, to the dangerous influence acquired over the minds of the multitude by our new ſectaries and enthuſiaſts, [10] who make it their chief buſineſs to inſpire their followers with an utter abhorrence and contempt of us.

To deſcribe the miſeries and diſtreſſes that attend the lower part of the clergy, would preſent a picture to your eyes too gloomy and terrible to behold. Let us then, the better to illuſtrate and confirm the melancholy truth before aſſerted, ſelect one from the middle rank, one of thoſe happy few, whom ſome lucky incident, the favour of ſome powerful friend, or the beneficence of ſome kind relation hath advanced to what is generally termed a good living ^*; let us ſuppoſe him poſſeſſed of a moderate income, and bleſſed in the comforts and conveniences of life; even this much envied ſtation, which ſo many look up to with an eye of hopeleſs de⯑ſire, is by no means ſo eligible as we may be at firſt inclined to think it. Excluded by the nature of his function, by laws and ſtatutes, which he is bound to obey, from all farther views of intereſt or advantage in any other profeſſion; ſhut out from every other avenue to riches and independency, and confined to the narrow path which he is obliged to tread in; defrauded, perhaps, of half his ſcanty pittance, by perverſe and litigious men, and compelled either to ſacrifice a part of his legal rights, [11] or the whole of his much dearer peace and tranquillity, obliged to act in all things agreeably to his rank and character; to main⯑tain in his habit, appearance, and converſation, the decency and dignity of his profeſſion, to live with ſome degree of taſte and elegance ſuitable to his education and connections, and to join his richer brethren in all the acts of charity, hoſpitality, and be⯑neficence required of him; his family and expences increaſing, his means to ſupport them at beſt continuing the ſame, perhaps every year diminiſhing; unable to guard againſt arts which he is incapable of practiſing, or to ſtruggle with difficulties which he has never experienced; he ſinks by ſlow and inſenſible degrees into poverty, deſpondency, and deſpair; ſcoffed at, deſpiſed, and trampled on by every other order of men, and, which is ſtill more grating, it may be, treated with contempt, inſolence, and op⯑preſſion, by the ſuperiors of his own.

IF to all theſe bitter and galling calamities, he adds alſo the melancholy reflection, that thoſe who are neareſt and deareſt to him, the wife of his boſom, and the children of his loins, hang but on the ſlender thread of his life, and depend on that alone for their maintainance and ſupport; that the moment it ſhall pleaſe the Almighty to take him hence, they muſt change the pleaſing ſcene of domeſtic happineſs and comfort; all the conveniencies of moderate competency, for a diſtreſsful ſtate of penury and de⯑pendance; [12] every misfortune heightened by their reflections on loſt happineſs; every ſorrow embittered by the cruel remem⯑brance of paſt felicity. Under theſe gloomy and dreadful ap⯑prehenſions, what ſhall ſupport him in his labours, what ſhall animate him in the chearful exerciſe of his function, remove his fears, and leſſen his affliction, but the firm confidence in, and re⯑liance on, his divine maſter, whoſe eyes are ever watchful to guard and protect his ſons and ſervants; who hath promiſed to be a fa⯑ther to the fatherleſs, and to defend the cauſe of his widow: were it not indeed for this comfortable aſſurance, he muſt inevitably ſink beneath the weight of his misfortunes.

To mitigate the rigor of theſe diſtreſſes, to ſoften the preſſure of theſe calamities, is the buſineſs which has this day called us together. Thanks be to God, the defects of the whole com⯑munity have been ſupplied by the generoſity of individuals, and the evils ariſing from public parſimony in a great meaſure re⯑moved by private beneficence.

AMONGST all the fair daughters of charity that adorn this bene⯑volent nation, and ſhine forth as the poliſhed corners of the temple, there is not one whoſe charms are more ſtriking, whoſe beauties are more attractive, than the noble and excellent inſtitution which we are this day met to encourage and ſupport. A deſign, which, in ſpite of all the attempts that have been made to ſub⯑vert, [13] and all the arts which have been practiced to undermine and deſtroy it, hath hitherto anſwered the warmeſt wiſhes of its friends, and defeated the malice of its enemies: like that reli⯑gion whoſe cauſe it eſpouſes, and whoſe miniſters it relieves, it is built upon a rock, even the rock of Chriſt, and can never fail.

THE excellent charity now under our conſideration doth naturally addreſs itſelf to three orders of men, namely, the laity, the ſuperior, and the inferior clergy; what claim it may with juſtice lay to protection and ſupport from each of them, will perhaps appear more evident from the following conſide⯑rations.

THERE was a time, when the ſecular intereſts of the clergy and laity of this kingdom were entirely ſeparate, and diſtinct from each other: in the days of popery and ſuperſtition, the clergy received great and manifold advantages from the commu⯑nity, and returned nothing to it; that celibacy, which brought ſhame and diſgrace on themſelves, was attended alſo with the moſt pernicious effects to ſociety.

BY the reformation, this wall was broken down; the holy inſti⯑tution of marriage, which had been long with-held, and was now reſtored to the miniſters of the goſpel, opened a ſocial intercourſe and free communication between them, which was ſoon produc⯑tive of the greateſt benefits and advantages to the common-weal. [14] The clergy, notwithſtanding, who by their labours and aſſi⯑duity in the cauſe of truth, had been the chief inſtruments in perfecting that noble and ſalutary work, were themſelves (with reſpect to temporal affairs) the leaſt gainers by it; they, who had freed others, continued ſtill in a ſtate of bondage, and groaning beneath the yoke of penury and oppreſſion; the lands and reve⯑nues which had been unjuſtly wreſted from them, inſtead of be⯑ing reſtored, were laviſhed away by a licentious and deſpotic ſo⯑vereign, amongſt his greedy courtiers and dependents, and the clergy left from that time, even unto this day, the ſad and re⯑proachful monuments of public ingratitude.

YOU, my brethren of the laity, received the benefits of the reformation, whilſt they, and they alone, who had beſt deſerved the reward, were unjuſtly and uncharitably deprived of it: on you, therefore, it is in ſome meaſure incumbent to repair the injury, and as you contributed to our poverty, to relieve the in⯑conveniencies and diſtreſſes ariſing from it.

TO thoſe amongſt the laity, who are deſcended from the clergy, I am ſatisfied, it is needleſs to add any exhortation: their noble and liberal contributions, their unwearied pains and aſſi⯑duity, their chearful acceptance of that expenſive office, which they ſo readily every year take upon them, with their conſtant appearance at this ſolemnity, do moſt abundantly teſtify their [15] good-will, tenderneſs, and affection towards us. So far are they from being aſhamed of their birth and origin, that they openly and zealouſly proclaim it, ſtanding forth with joy and alacrity in the defence and ſupport of their diſtreſſed and unfortunate bre⯑thren. There are indeed amongſt them ſo many of high rank and fortune, that a partial obſerver might be almoſt tempted to doubt the truth of what hath been before advanced, and to ima⯑gine, that the ſons of the clergy, far from being the moſt indi⯑gent and oppreſſed, are the richeſt and happieſt of men; but this would, notwithſtanding, be a falſe and ill-grounded concluſion; as moſt of thoſe, whoſe ^*ample fortunes enable them ſo generouſly to contribute to this charity, are not indebted to the church for their affluence, not to the eccleſiaſtical preferments of their fa⯑thers, but either to their family eſtates and poſſeſſions▪ or to their own induſtry and ſucceſs in more lucrative profeſſions.

THE ſuperior clergy of the church of England, enjoy many and great temporal advantages; ſome of them bear a part in the le⯑giſlature of the kingdom; others, by their rank and dignity, their fortunes and preferments, are enabled to aſſociate with, and con⯑ſequently, in ſome meaſure, to influence and direct the rich and [16] great. Honour and reſpect, eaſe and affluence, all the good, and all the deſirable things of this life are in their poſſeſſion; but of all their valuable pre-eminences, doubtleſs the moſt to be envied, is their extenſive power of doing good, the power of aſſiſting and relieving their indigent and diſtreſſed brethren.

A GENEROUS contribution towards the ſupport and encourage⯑ment of this peculiar branch of chriſtian charity, may be conſi⯑dered in others as an act of kindneſs, humanity, and benevolence, but with regard to them it is certainly a debt; a debt of honour, a debt of gratitude, a debt of piety, which they are bound by the moſt ſacred ties, punctually, faithfully, and religiouſly to perform.

WHEN indeed they conſider, as no doubt they do, and muſt conſider, that the more is given, the more will be required; that whilſt their fellow-ſervants (for fellow-ſervants we all are, and fellow-labourers we ought to be) are toiling in the vineyard of Chriſt, and bearing the heat and burthen of the day, their happier lot has exempted them from all the bitter hardſhips and cruel in⯑dignities incident to their profeſſion; indignities which few know or attend to, but thoſe who feel and experience them:—that while their diſtreſſed brethren, the inferior part of the clergy, are lamenting their unfortunate condition, and trembling at the melancholy proſpect of future miſeries, they are looking [17] forward towards the honours, and dignities, the riches, afflu⯑ence and happineſs of their poſterity. With what grateful hearts ſhould they acknowledge the goodneſs of that divine Be⯑ing, who hath caſt their lot into ſo fair a ground, and given them ſuch a goodly heritage: doubtleſs, in proportion to their advantages, ſhould be their benevolence, in proportion to their abundance, ſhould be their generoſity.

TO the inferior clergy, I have only to add, that the cauſe, which we are here pleading, is peculiarly their own, and that it would be highly unreaſonable in them to expect, that others will aid or aſſiſt thoſe who will not help themſelves. If they caſt their bread on theſe waters, they may find it again after many days. Such indeed is the uncertainty of all human bleſſings, ſo va⯑rious are the changes and chances of human life, that thouſands, who are not now in that ſtate or condition, which can entitle them to a part or portion of this charity, who now give freely, without the leaſt diſtant proſpect of receiving, may yet one day be indebted to it for the preſervation of thoſe who ſhall here⯑after be dear unto them, of widows yet unſeen, and children yet unborn.

BUT thoſe, to whom I am now addreſſing myſelf, are too well acquainted with the difficulties and diſappointments, the ſorrows and diſtreſſes, all the dangers which accompany their [18] ſpiritual warfare, not to make uſe of every method in their power, to lighten, if poſſible, the general burden. Thoſe, who have ſmarted beneath the rod of affliction, are ſeldom inſenſible to the miſeries of others; they have hearts ever ready to com⯑paſſionate, hands ever open to relieve the diſtreſſes of their fel⯑low-creatures.

FROM the pious deſigns and zealous endeavours of theſe men, the charity I am here recommending is indebted for its origin and foundation; to this they have always chearfully contri⯑buted, in proportion to their ſeveral abilities: theſe little rivulets have, from time to time, ſupplied and repleniſhed that large and copious ſtream which glideth through our fertile ſoil, bleſſeth our earth with increaſe, and watereth the furrows thereof.

TO conclude therefore by an earneſt exhortation to this whole aſſembly;

AS we have begun, let us endeavour to perfect this labour of love: let us remember, that thoſe, whoſe cauſe we are now pleading, were ſtewards and diſpenſers of the myſteries of God, and that their names are worthy to be had in remembrance. Let us remember, that whilſt upon earth, their prayers were ſent up to God for our welfare, their faculties dedicated to our ſervice, their hours employed in the pious endeavours to promote our true happineſs, and enſure our everlaſting ſalvation. Many [19] of thoſe, whoſe widows and children now ſolicit our bounty, were themſelves kind and conſtant contributors to this charity: in proportion to their abilities, they threw in their mite, not grudgingly, or of neceſſity, but as chearful givers.—What they beſtowed on others, they have doubtleſs a right, when they ſtand in need of it, to demand for themſelves: he that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth unto the Lord, and look, what he layeth out, it ſhall be paid him again.—Let us imagine, the parents of thoſe orphans, the widows of thoſe huſbands, for whom we are now ſoliciting, ſtill preſent before us; let us imagine them with their laſt breath, bequeathing to us the dear pledges of their love, and the objects of their affection, imploring us, by all the tender ties of humanity and compaſſion, by our enjoyment of preſent bliſs, and all our hopes of future happineſs, to viſit the fa⯑therleſs and widow in their affliction, to relieve their neceſſities, mitigate their ſorrows, and alleviate, if poſſible, their terrible misfortunes.

CONSIDERABLE as the ſubſcriptions have been to this excel⯑lent inſtitution, they are ſtill found inſufficient. This noble cha⯑rity, which, like an aged and venerable oak, ſpreads its luxuriant branches on every ſide, wide and extenſive as it is, cannot cover all thoſe who fly to it for ſhelter.

[20] LET us then ſtrive, my brethren, by every method in our power, to render it more uſeful and more effectual, that it may relieve every object worthy of its protection, and anſwer every end deſigned by its pious and worthy ſounders; till finiſhed to the higheſt degree of human perfection, it ſhall imitate the ex⯑ample, and adopt the words of the great Creator of all things, and ſay unto the ambaſſadors of Chriſt, in the words of my text, Leave thy fatherleſs children, I will preſerve them alive, and let thy widows truſt in me.