"And largely discourse upon morality": in defence of practical Christianity

From Henry Handley Norris , a leading figure in the Hackney Phalanx, A Manual for the Parish Priest (1815), a defence of the 'practical Christianity' of the High Church tradition against evangelical (and later Tractarian) critiques: Some years ago an outcry was raised against the great body of the clergy for preaching too much on the subject of morals, and neglecting the leading doctrines of the Gospel. The outcry I fear was raised with no good intention, and the charge I am persuaded was, in general, without foundation. I believe however, sober churchmen were at that time so disgusted with the sermons of some preachers, who were unceasingly bringing forward certain doctrines for the sake of perverting them, that there were parochial ministers who, through fear of running into this, were verging toward the opposite extreme: in avoiding the whirlpool they approached perhaps rather too near the rock; they allotted more than the just proportion of their discours...