Such, then, being the case, we ask by whom this blow was struck, where was the scene of it, and by what means has the blow produced those extraordinary results? Some will say, men began to see the evils because they began to feel their consequences, and thereupon they determined to apply a remedy. Certainly, but what enabled them to take such cognisance of their position? A philanthropist here, and a moralist there, drew attention to the misfortunes which prevailed, and suggested means of improvement. True; but whence did these men draw their inspirations? and by what power was the effort after amendment carried out? No one who professes to be a Christian will for a moment suppose that those abilities were self-created things; all know that every good and perfect gift cometh down from the Father of light: the Lord is the primary source of every advantage that is enjoyed by mankind: He therefore must have restrained those causes which had induced that disordered condition of society to which we have referred, and, by removing them, His final judgment of them must have been declared. But what were those causes? The answer has been given; and we repeat our belief that they were evil spirits in the world of spirits, who had, as it were, intrenched themselves in
in regard to ordination, is well known. Let any man read the early life of John Wesley, if he would gain any due estimate of the then current state of things. Or, if he would see how, even among the best bishops, down almost to our own days, all living consciousness that they were the spiritual instructors of the people, had well-nigh faded out of sight, let him weigh the fact that, with London multiplying all but visibly under his eyes, Bishop Porteus bequeathed a princely fortune to a nephew, but never built or endowed a single church to the vast metropolis entrusted to his charge; whilst so little was he a preaching bishop, that he could reply to the request for a charity sermon, "I only give one a year, and the next is promised."
