| MR. NOEL A DISSENTER.-The following manful and Christian avowal, by MR. NOEL, in a letter to the Bishop of London, displays at once a readiness to proceed lawfully to the position of a Dissenting Minister; or in case that be found impracticable, a resolution to share the fate of MR. SHORE, and to suffer imprisonment for conscience' sake. The letter appears in the "Christian Times," to which it was sent by the writer; TO THE BISHOP OF LONDON MY LORD, - As a dissenter from the doctrine and discipline of the Establishment, I have taken before a magistrate the oaths prescribed by 52 George III; yesterday I preached for Mr. Binney at the Weigh-house Chapel, and received the Lord's Supper with the members of that Church; and I am ready to do any other proper and lawful act which your lordship may suggest, by which I may publicly declare my dissent. I had intended to be silent for some time, but the progress of Mr. Bouverie's Bill has changed my intention, because, as that will doubtless pass through the House of Lords without material alterations, and I am unable to avail myself of it, I wish to ascertain, as soon as possible, whether its effects will be to sentence me to imprisonment for preaching the gospel. Had the act simply declared that the seceding clergyman is deprived of all offices and emoluments within the Establishment, and incapable of them for the time to come, I should have thoroughly approved it. Had it further enacted that each seceder, upon proof of his secession, should be deposed from the ministry, I might have thought that the Legislature was intruding into matters beyond its competence, when it ordered bishops to depose ministers of Christ, and that this afforded new proof of the bondage of the Church to the State ill spiritual things; but I should have submitted cheerfully to its enactments. But this bill makes me a party to my own deposition from the ministry. I am to certify to your lordship my avowal of dissent, upon which you are ordered to "depose me from holy orders," and then I am to be free from all pains and penalties. To avail myself of this act is to purchase exemption from legal penalties by consenting to my deposition from the ministry; it is to avow, not that I have ceased to be a minister of the Establishment, but that I have ceased to be a minister of Christ. Were deposition from orders merely an act of exclusion from the body of the established clergy, I should willingly consent to it; but as it is an act which declares me to be no longer a minister of Christ, I cannot do so; because, with every wish to pay due respect to the Legislature, I cannot purchase exemption from any penalties by a lie. When I was ordained, I was required to declare my belief that I was "inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon me this office and ministration," and that I was "called according to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ to the ministry of the Church." Those who lightly enact the deposition of a minister may think that this declaration is a farce: but in my case, at least, it was a solemn declaration of the truth. That call of Christ, determined by the influence of the Holy Spirit in the heart, with other suitable qualifications, seems to me the substance of ordination; and the recognition of this call by a bishop is one among several modes in which the call of the Church is added to the call of God. As I believed then, I believe now, that I have been called to the ministry by Christ; and no prelate, Church, or Parliament, can either exonerate me from the obligations of the ministry, or deprive me of its privileges, and if I should say, as this bill invites me, that I have ceased to be an ordained minister of Christ, I should lie. Although I attach no especial value to episcopal ordination, yet it is valid; and I can no more be a layman, than a Presbyterian or Congregational minister is so. Whatever, therefore, Parliament may enact, I can neither cease to be a minister nor cease to preach; and, if the law requires it, I would rather suffer any length of imprisonment for preaching the gospel, than purchase an exemption from trouble by either declaring that I am no minister, or by ceasing to preach. I shall take the liberty of sending this letter to two or three newspapers, because I wish the character of the "relief" afforded to seceding clergymen, by the bill now passing through Parliament, to be known. I remain, my dear Lord, Your Lordship's faithful servant, BAPTIST W. NOEL Hornsey, May 7th. Mr. Noel's objections to the "Clergy Relief Bill," clearly shew, that that Bill, in its present state, will be of no service whatever, to pious, conscientious clergymen, seceding from the Establishment; as they cannot repudiate their Divine call to the work of the ministry, in order to escape the consequences of secession. We have received this letter since our review of MR. DODSON'S pamphlet was in type; but it seems to be another of those "concurrent events," which are urging on this "question of questions," the separation of church and state, to a "final decision." This magnanimous step of Mr. Noel will keep the question before the public; and we confidently anticipate beneficial results. It is time to look the question fully in the face; and the more vigorously attempts are made to silence seceding Clergymen, the more vividly will the enormous sham of a state religion be made to appear before the eyes of a discerning public. Perhaps, the imprisonment of Mr. Shore by the Bishop of Exeter, will awaken such agitating discussions, and set such a variety of influences in motion, as may render that occurrence as subservient to the severance of the union between church and state, as the Potato blight was to the repeal of the Corn Laws! |