you ought to endeavour, that such benefactions be first preserved and then applied in a proper manner. in If it be doubtful, whether such or such a donation hath been given to your church or poor, or the support of a school in your parish, you will make proper enquiry concerning the matter. If it be given by any writing, you will procure that writing, or an attested copy of it, to be laid up safely, either in the parish chest, or the bishop's registry; indeed a copy in each place would be best; and an account of the gift should be inserted in your parish book. For if deeds are left in private hands, and especially without authentic notice where they are left, they are sometimes designedly suppressed: and often undesignedly destroyed or lost, through the ignorance or carelessness of the persons possessed of them. It will also be very proper, to have a table mentioning the charity, hung up your church, that a grateful remembrance of the benefactors may be continued to posterity, and others incited to follow their good example; as a paper of directions drawn up by the lower House of Convocation in 1710, hath well expressed it *. If the benefaction be an estate vested in trustees, it will be very material to get the trust renewed in due time: else in all likelihood there will be expence, if not danger; and to trustees of as good credit and ability, as possible. They must likewise be warned, never to let out such lands in long leases, or at very low rents, in favour of any body: but to raise the rents when they can; at least to vary them, which will make it easy to raise them, when there is opportunity: otherwise it will soon be pretended, that they have no right to raise them; of which there are some unhappy instances in this diocese. If the gift be in money, you * See Wilkins, vol. iv. p. 638. must press to have it placed in the public funds, in case it be considerable enough; or else in the best private hands, and on the best security that can be obtained paying no regard in such cases to personal friendships; and being particularly careful that parish-officers do not keep it in their own custody. If they do, the interest will usually be paid out of the public money, and most probably the principal will be lost in a few years. But charities are preserved in vain, unless they are well applied; and they are often sadly misapplied. Gifts to the church, where it is not otherwise expressed, must be supposed intended for beautifying the church: else it would be never the better for such gifts for it will be equally repaired without them; the parishioners are bound to that: and the chief of the burden usually falls upon the richest, for whose relief charities were certainly not intended. And yet such benefactions are too commonly employed, not only in mere repairs, but in what hath no connection with the fabric; in providing bread and wine for the communion, in paying churchwardens' bills for all sorts of things, it may be for extravagant and riotous entertainments amongst the rest, in easing the poor's rates, in I know not what; and the church all the time, instead of being any way improved, suffered to grow dirty and even ruinous. A lamentable abuse of this kind (where a steeple fell down, and was in part rebuilt by contribution, while an estate, more than sufficient to have kept the whole building in good order and beauty, was perverted to other uses) I have taken much pains to rectify, but fear it is not thoroughly rectified yet. Again, gifts to the poor were certainly intended for the benefit of the poor; to make provision for such of them as are not on the parish-list, or a better provision for such as are. And yet they are sometimes embezzled and squandered, in a great measure, if not wholly; sometimes bestowed to serve private or party purposes: and very frequently sunk into the legal rate: so the wealthy are benefited; and the needy have not a farthing more, than if nothing had been given for them. I know it is not always easy, perhaps not always possible for you, to remedy these ill practices. But a real part of the blame will be laid on you, right or wrong, unless you try to remedy them. And it may prove less difficult than you imagine. Churchwardens and overseers perhaps are ignorant, or going on thoughtlessly, and would be thankful to you for good advice or however would be ruled by it, on your representing to them the heinousness of robbing God or the poor; and the consolation it will afford them, to have put things into a right channel. Or supposing them backward to comply, you may be able to get considerable persons in the parish or neighbourhood to second you. At least you will get the reputation of a most laudable zeal, and if you conduct that zeal aright, of discretion also: and these together may produce unexpected success; especially where the abuse is not yet become inveterate. But if nothing else will do, and the case be plain, and the object of sufficient importance: recourse should be had to the authority of the law and you should be willing to bear a proportion of the charges, if it be requisite, and you are able; only taking the strictest care to proceed with mildness and fairness. I have now finished the course of directions to you, which I began fifteen years ago. And as I can truly say, that in this and every part of my behaviour as your bishop, I have, through the Divine assistance, diligently laboured to do my duty with uprightness, and promote your good and that of your parishioners, present and future; so I hope you will accept my endeavours with candour, and study to profit by them; excusing my failings, which I know have been many, and will now be too likely to increase. I am advancing apace into the decline of age. Three of my brethren *, my oldest and best friends, have gone before me in less than twelve months. I must expect to follow them soon. Whether I may live, or, if I live, whether I may be able, to meet you thus again, God only can foresee. May he grant us to meet in a better world! But before I conclude, permit me to subjoin to these general admonitions, a few words concerning two particular occurrences. In the first place I return you my hearty thanks for the pains which you have taken in behalf of the Society for Propagating the Gospel. The collection hath upon the whole been made very successfully throughout the kingdom; and amounts to almost 19,0007. if not more: whereas ten years ago it fell short of 15,000l. But I believe the contribution of this county had been in proportion the largest of any. The last time it was barely 300l. nor was that to be accounted small and now it is very near 500l. I mean in both cases exclusive of the university; which distinguished itself very honourably then, and I doubt not, will at present. May God increase, and bless, and reward, the zeal of all his servants every where for supporting and enlarging the kingdom of his Son, and making the confession of his name effectual to the salvation of mankind. The other subject, on which I would speak to you, * is the contest about representatives for this county in the next parliament. Let no one be alarmed. I need not, and I do not mean, to give you at a meeting of this nature, my opinion which of the candidates you ought to prefer: of that I say no more here than that you ought to regard, in the first place, the inseparable interests of the excellent church we are members of, and, its only human support, the just and gracious government we live under; than other subordinate considerations. My purpose is merely to exhort you (and I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation*), that on this occasion, your conversation be such as becometh the Gospel of Christ: in doing which, I have neither one party nor one person amongst you, more in my view than another: but if I may use the Apostle's words, am jealous with a godly jealousy over you all †. I cannot indeed suppose, that any of you would be guilty of the grosser faults too common at such times, or any wilful wrong behaviour. But in the midst of so many clashings, provocations, and disappointments, as will happen, so many mistakes and misrepresentations as arise one knows not how: the incitements to uncharitable and contemptuous thoughts, to unadvised and injurious words, in anger or in mirth, nay to unkind and hard and even unjust actions, are very great, and the best of us all should be continually suggesting to our minds proper cautions for avoiding these dangers. Else we shall fall into sin against God and our neighbour: we shall lose the esteem of part of those whose improvement by us depends on their esteeming us; and set a bad instead of a good example to the rest. Let every one of us therefore be very watchful over our conduct or if we have not been so, let us amend Heb. xiii. 22. + 2 Cor. xi. 2. * |
