schism, or on the authority of the Church, and the duty of obedience to it. Indeed, a man ought to consider very seriously what account he can give of his faith, who is so far both Churchman and Dissenter, and so far disposed towards both as to attend indiscriminately one or other place of worship, who also could give very little better explanation of the difference between one and the other, than a statement of the difference in the public services of each, and other particular matters of form, and of external observance. Such a person can be neither a true Churchman nor a conscientious Dissenter. He cannot be a true Churchman, for if he was he would not attend a Dissenting place of worship. For Dissent from the Church must imply a condemnation of something or other, be it of more or less importance, in the doctrines or discipline of the Established Church. And whoever attends service in a Meeting-house, when he has the opportunity of going to the Parish Church, does by so doing give his silent approbation to the principle of Dissent, and shows that at least he does not disapprove the opinions of the particular body, to whose Meeting he goes. He cannot be, on the other hand, a conscientious Dissenter, or he would not frequent the Church, i.e. a place of worship, which is supported by a system, which he considers one of injustice, and which excludes and condemns[1] that to which he himself belongs; to say nothing about the probability of his hearing something, which though not directly levelled against Dissent, still is in spirit a reproof and protest against it.
2. When I say that Dissent is a sin, I by no means thereby imply, that for that reason every Dissenter is at once and necessarily a sinner. To say that a particular thing is a sin, is a very different thing from saying that every one who does it is a sinner. It will be as well to make this quite clear to you, and therefore I will give you some cases, in which you would, without hesitation, make the same remark that I have done.—To kill a fellow-creature is undoubtedly a crime; but you would not say that the person who killed another by accident, or in defence of his
- ↑ E.g. by the sentences in the Litany against "false doctrine, heresy, and schism," and that God may "bring into the way of truth all such as have erred and are deceived," and by the prayers for the unity of the Church.
