The next specimen1 is of a similar character. I had said, in my Letter, that as the promoters of the public examination in St. Andrew’s Hall had, in order to effect it, “received assistance from their dissenting2 fellow citizens, as well as from others,” our “friendly proceedings” would be “used against ourselves,” if they “were to be rewarded by our utter exclusion5 from all future participation6 with Churchmen in the system of Infant Education.” “Brethren!” exclaims p. 26Mr. Perowne, “Brethren! here you have a truth of the utmost importance, plainly told you from the pen of a Dissenter7.” And what is the truth that my dissenting pen has told? Why, that the conduct of the church, in excluding Dissenters8, would be “against” those “friendly proceedings” which we had shewn towards the church. But because it would be against our courtesy, Mr. Perowne, in the might and majesty9 of his logic10, jumps to the conclusion that it would be against our nonconformity! And then, having made this notable discovery, for which he certainly deserves a patent, he blows his “penny trumpet,” and summons the whole hierarchy11 to listen to his proclamation, that if the church will uniformly treat Dissenters as they have been treated in this business, the “venerable Establishment” is secure. “Brethren! here you have a truth of the utmost importance!”
Mr. Perowne complains of the pain which I have produced in him, by what I have said “about love and union.” “Such things,” says he “painfully remind us of the days of Charles the first.” This Charles, it will be remembered, as the “head of the church,” in his days, and “out of a like pious12 care for the service of God, as had his blessed father,” published the “Book of Sports,” which authorized13 the people to amuse themselves with all sorts of games, &c. on the Lord’s day, and which the clergy14 read to their congregations after divine service. I have no wish, however, to mention “Charles the first” to any man of acute sensibility, and I was not aware that my recommendation of “love and union” would remind any one of that ill-fated monarch15. Mr. Perowne’s peculiar16 sensibility on this subject, and the remarkable17 fact that, in writing a pamphlet on Infant Schools, he p. 27should twice refer to “Charles the first,” and “our martyred Charles,” is calculated to excite strange suspicions in the mind of a believer in the doctrine18 of metempsychosis. Why should Mr. Perowne feel pain when he is reminded of “Charles the first?” or why should “love and union” remind him of “our martyred Charles” at all, except on the principle of the Bramins, that “we should never kill a flea19, lest we inflict20 pain on the soul of some of our ancestors.” It is true that Charles frequently boasted that he was “a true son of the church.” It is true that Charles entertained the very same feelings against Puritans, as Mr. Perowne does against Dissenters. It is true that some of the sentiments in Mr. P’s. pamphlet are as precisely21 Icôn Basilikè as if they had been dictated22 by the soul of the headless monarch. It is true, as Bishop23 Burnet says, that Charles the first “loved high and rough measures, but had neither skill to conduct them, nor height of genius to manage them. He hated all that offered prudent24 and moderate counsels; and, even when it was necessary to follow such advices, he hated those that gave them.” It is true—but, to use Mr. Perowne’s language, “I forbear to finish a picture so painful to contemplate,” and shall only add, that David Hume, in his history of England, states that the last word the king said, was, “Remember”—and that “great mysteries were supposed to be concealed25 under that expression.”
Mr. P. appeals to the Collect which I quoted, and which he says I have “mutilated,” as affording evidence that “exclusive Churchmen, are consistent Churchmen;” thereby26 leading us to infer that the church teaches her members to shew their consistency27 by their exclusiveness, even in the exercise of prayer, and p. 28in the presence of Deity28! Supposing, however, that the Collect afforded evidence of the charity of the church, rather than of her bigotry29, I advised her members to act in accordance with its spirit, and thereby to “add practice to profession and to prayer.” This advice, Mr. P. intimates, is, on my part, an assumption of infallibility—as if none but a Papist could consistently enjoin30 practical piety31, or admonish32 his hearers to shew their faith by their works. “Is Mr. A. infallible?” my inquisitor asks, and immediately adds, “The Pope of Rome could not have gone further!” I have not heard much of the Pope lately, but in former times he was a tolerably far traveller, especially when he was in the pursuit of Dissenting heretics. But as Mr. P. may perhaps claim an acquaintance, as well as a relationship with his Holiness, I shall not dispute the matter, but humbly33 submit to the decision, that the Pope of Rome never went further than I have gone in my “Letter.”
The next paragraph, in Mr. P’s. “Observations,” is chiefly historical, and he has contrived34 to give us “a bird’s eye view” of the state of religion in this country, from the days of “our martyred [28] Charles” downwards35. It thus begins. “It is said that our church ought to set an example of meekness36 and conciliation37. I SAY she has done so to an extent unparalleled in modern times.” In proof of this oracular declaration, he shews in the first place, what the church has done. “And what has been her conduct while attacked by the army of the aliens?” To this question, I will first p. 29give my own answer, and then Mr. Perowne’s. My own answer is this. She “excommunicated, ipso facto,” whosoever affirmed “that the Church of England, by law established under the King’s Majesty, is not a true and an apostolical church.” She erected38 a spiritual court, in which her ministers sat in judgment39 on men’s consciences. She maintained a star chamber40, where she slit41 men’s noses, and cut off their ears. She passed corporation and test acts; and an act of uniformity, by which two thousand godly ministers were driven from her pulpits, and in some cases persecuted42 unto death by her virulence43. Mr. Perowne’s account of her conduct amidst all these transactions is this. “Confiding in her God, she has continued her labour of love, scarcely raising her hand to ward4 off the blows that have been aimed at her!” But her historian goes on to inform us that her acts of “meekness and conciliation,” in former days, are far surpassed by her present conduct; for this is what I suppose Mr. P. intended to mean when he said, “She has done so to an extent unparalleled in modern times.” Whatever his ambiguity44 may mean, he certainly endeavours to represent the church as greatly increasing in “meekness and conciliation;” for now, when she sees the wicked Dissenters attempting to assassinate45 her, she does not even “lift her hand” as she did formerly46; but, like a true member of “the Peace Society,” she merely “withdraws from such” persons; and she thus withdraws, says her historian, “not in a spirit of revenge and bitterness, but in the spirit of Him who prayed for his enemies!” I shall refrain from commenting on this concluding declaration, any farther than to ask, whether the remotest comparison between the spirit breathed throughout p. 30Mr. Perowne’s pamphlet, and the dying prayer of the Redeemer, is not an insult to the “meek and lowly” Jesus.
We now proceed to what may be appropriately called “the patronage48 paragraph.” It was occasioned by the following sentences in my Letter, “addressed to the members of the Established Church.” “I know well that such an exclusive system is not the desire of you all. There are some among you who wish to see the Church of England ‘national’ in her feelings and in her philanthropy, as well as in her name, and who would be glad to co-operate with other Christians49 in educating and in evangelizing the people; but who at the same time deem it desirable, on the whole, to submit to other parties in the church, whose patronage and support are valued.” “This passage,” says Mr. Perowne, “I consider in itself a sufficient reason for my publishing to the world my own views and feelings on the subject in question. The parties alluded50 to must be clergymen.” Why must they be clergymen? Merely because I had used the words “patronage and support.” I used the words in their general acceptation, just as any person, in “pretended holy orders” would use them, little thinking of the ecclesiastical meaning which “a real reverend” might put upon them. I knew that if Dissenters were excluded from the committee of Infant Schools, such a proceeding3 would obtain for the schools the “patronage and support” of such persons in the church as would unite only with Episcopalians; and as some of those persons have influence and property wherewith to help the schools, I supposed that such “patronage and support” would be “valued.” But my words happened to be read by p. 31a man who understands by “patronage and support” the means of obtaining a better living than “Saint John’s Maddermarket.” And, with this idea in his mind, he begins to reason on the subject with a sagacity all his own. “The parties alluded to,” says he, “must be clergymen.” And his argument in proof is this—“Patronage” is no temptation to laymen51. They therefore never act dishonestly to gain it. It never deters52 them “from following out the convictions of their own minds.” None but clergymen can be guilty of this. Now I, “the Rev47. John Perowne,” am a clergyman—and, referring perhaps to the principle that “blessings brighten as they take their flight,” he adds, “my character is of some value to me”—and then, wishing to be thought as pure as Cæsar’s wife, he declares, “I cannot allow myself to be even suspected.” No, indeed. Were a patron to become suspicious, it might prevent the desired “patronage” from being bestowed53. And should any “exclusive Churchman” ever offer this “senior wrangler” a better living than he now possesses, we shall all see the triumph of principle, and the “value” of “character,” displayed, by his declining it. He will say, “Nolo Episcopari” in the presence of a mitre—whenever it is offered to him.
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1
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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dissenting
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| adj.不同意的 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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exclusion
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| n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行 | |
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participation
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| n.参与，参加，分享 | |
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dissenter
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| n.反对者 | |
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dissenters
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| n.持异议者，持不同意见者( dissenter的名词复数 ) | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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hierarchy
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| n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层 | |
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pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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authorized
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| a.委任的，许可的 | |
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clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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flea
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| n.跳蚤 | |
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inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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consistency
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| n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度 | |
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deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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bigotry
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| n.偏见，偏执，持偏见的行为[态度]等 | |
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enjoin
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| v.命令；吩咐；禁止 | |
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piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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admonish
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| v.训戒；警告；劝告 | |
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humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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meekness
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| n.温顺，柔和 | |
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conciliation
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| n.调解，调停 | |
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ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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43
virulence
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| n.毒力，毒性；病毒性；致病力 | |
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ambiguity
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| n.模棱两可；意义不明确 | |
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45
assassinate
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| vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤 | |
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46
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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48
patronage
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| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
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49
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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50
alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
laymen
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| 门外汉，外行人( layman的名词复数 )； 普通教徒（有别于神职人员） | |
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52
deters
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| v.阻止，制止( deter的第三人称单数 ) | |
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53
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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