CHURCH OF ENGLAND BIGOTRY.

To the Editors of the Nottingham Review.

GENTLEMEN,—A scene was acted in the afternoon of last Sunday week, the 27th ult., in the parish church of Stanton-by-Dale, which deserves to be exposed throughout the length and breadth of the land. The actor was the Rev. Mr. Wawn, domestic chaplain to the Honorable the Earl Stanhope. That the work of a Christian minister is both important and honourable, will be readily and cheerfully acknowledged by every subscriber to the truth of the Christian religion; and so long things “cultivates a right spirit, and directs his energies to the accomplishment of the legitimate object of his work, the salvation of immortal souls, he has a claim to the prayers of the faithful, and is entitled to our respect and esteem. But when, instead of “calling sinners to repentance,” and feeding his flock with the “sincere milk of the word,” he indulges in ill-directed sarcasms and bitter reflections, affecting the characters of those who may happen to differ from him in sentiment or opinion, and who may have adopted a mode of worship different from his own, we naturally conclude, in such a case, that there is something wrong—that the individual is utterly destitute of those qualities and dispositions which ought to be possessed by those who are the “spiritual guides of the people,” and that he is better fitted for a political brayer, than for a minister of the genuine Christ. Such, Gentlemen, is the opinion which I and a great many others have formed, respecting the reverend individual whose name I mentioned at the commencement of this communication

It is not my design to trouble you with any lengthened detailed account of the statements made by the reverend gentleman, on the occasion referred to, especially as your space is valuable. I deem it right, however, that some exposure of his conduct should take place, in order to teach him better manners in future. Suffice it, then, to say, that without any provocation of any kind, and without any reason whatever, he proceeded, at the time before specified, to heap, on the Dissenters, the grossest abuse and the vilest insults, pouring forth his invectives and opprobrious epithets without measure. Hedeclared, that the “dissenting ministers are the veriest slaves on the face of the earth;—that they are under the tyrannical trammels of their oppressive deacons, &c.;—that there are numbers of dissenting ministers who have applied to the Bishop of Exeter, for places in the Established Church, in order that they might be released from their present galling yoke, &c.;—that the number of evangelical clergy in the church is more than double the number of all the dissenting ministers put together;—that all our charitable institutions are supported principally by Churchmen, and to a very small extent only by Dissenters;—that out of the ninety thousands a year subscribed to the Bible Society, seventy thousands are furnished by Churchmen;—that without an Established Church, nearly all our rural districts would be left without any means of spiritual instruction;—and woe to those who shall live at the time, if it ever arrive, when the Church shall be separated from the State,” &c. &c. These, Gentlemen, are some of the statements made by this rev. divine of the Church of England. Now I would respectfully put it to the domestic chaplain to the Honorable the Earl Stanhope, whether he thought that this was preaching the gospel? And by what motive could he be influenced? Was it by a desire to advance the glory of God, or to profit his heavers? Surely not. I cannot suppose that he was so far mistaken as to believe, that such an harangue, delivered on so holy a day, would answer any of these ends. Perhaps he felt useful to subsercive the interests of his party, and to please his superiors. I think, however, he might have done it in a better way. As to his assertions relative to the comparative good effects of Churchmen and Dissenters, they are not worthy of notice: an intelligent child would know that they are false. If he had said that nine-tenths of the real good effected in the world, is done by Dissenters, he would have been much nearer the truth. When the Dissenters have as much false-swearing, immoderate card-playing, fox-hunting, &c. &c. as is practiced among the clergy of Mr. Wawn’s beloved church, then he will have some room to talk. Leaving him, at present, to his own reflections.

Dec. 8th, 1836. VERITAS.

📚 Sources

• Type: newspaper
  Title: Nottingham Review
  Date: 1836-12-16