in vestments more splendid than he ever wore; and children owning him for their sire, more numerous than descended from his loins. Could Moses follow in the steps of his brother, he would find a legislator, claiming powers more extensive than he ever possessed; and behold him assisted by his seventy elders, the cardinals, determining all questions which are too hard for ordinary judicatories to decide. Could the pagan

Numa rise up from his urn, he would find his Pontifex Maximus still in office, and the college of subordinates still dependent upon him; and were he to accompany them to the respective temples in which they officiate, and observe the numerous statues and altars, and smoking censers around; he might bless himself, that, though names had altered, and temples and ceremonies a little increased, yet, that the substantial parts of the service were much the same as when he fell asleep in the city, which, by religious rites, he had attempted to refine; and that he had been happy enough to establish a perpetual priesthood. And were any of the humble brethren of Judea, who were present at the council which was held to settle the question about circumcision, to come forth from their graves, and inquire for the church-the church, which could meet and deliberate, and send forth messengers and letters to the brethren in other cities, they also must go to Rome; for no where else in the Romish communion could they find a church that can perform the functions which belonged to that with which they were

once connected. But there, although their knowledge of Peter had been intimate and familiar, they would seek admission to his successor, and to the deliberations of the church which is now under his exclusive care, altogether in vain.

It is a remarkable fact, in the history of the delusions of which the human mind may become the subject, that, just in proportion as ecclesiastical men have succeeded in subverting the constitution of the church, have they also succeeded in possessing the public mind with the idea, that what they designate their church, is purely apostolic in its substance and form. Those who eulogize the Church of England as being the only church purely apostolic in its constitution and character, and who can scarcely allow that safety or rational piety are to be found out of her pale, should be prepared, before they give those up to the uncovenanted mercies of God who separate from her communion, to shew us in what that which is the object of their glory and tower of their confidence and safety substantially consists. Were we to admit that our beloved sovereign has the same right to be head of the church as he has to be possessor of the throne; which we hesitate to allow, not because we yield to any of our fellow-subjects in loyalty to his person and government, but because we cannot, in religious obligations, give a divided allegiance between God and man: were we to admit that the orders of the clergy, in all their various degrees, are as unimpeachable as are the piety,

zeal, and learning of a considerable proportion of their number and we wish we could say of the whole: were we to admit that the liturgy is not only scriptural and truly devotional in its general character, but also that it is so faultless, that no conscientious individual, however scrupulous, need falter at the solemn utterance, before God and his fellow-men, of a single word or syllable which it contains: were we to admit that the whole of the Thirty-nine Articles are as accordant with the oracles of truth as we allow the greater part of them to be: could we admit that the Canons breathe the mild and gentle spirit of the gospel, instead of the blind intolerance of antichristian Rome; excommunicating, ipso facto, those who have light enough to see, and honesty enough to affirm, that "the Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments," does contain some things which are repugnant to the Scriptures:* were we to admit all which the warmest advocate of the system could wish to advance in ref

* “Whosever shall hereafter affirm, That the Form of God's worship in the Church of England, established by law, and contained in the Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, is a corrupt, supersti tious, or unlawful worship of God, or containeth any thing in it that is repugnant to the Scriptures; let him be excommunicated, ipso facto, and not restored but by the Bishop of the place, or Archbishop, after his repentance, and public revocation of such his wicked errors.”—Fourth

Canon.

erence to the head, the dignitaries, the subordinate ministers, and the formularies,—still we have not yet come to the church. At Jerusalem there were the apostles, and elders, and the whole church. Now the king is not the church, any more than the apostles were; nor the ministers, whatever be their numbers and orders, any more than the elders were; nor the formularies, for no mention is made of any as existing in the church at Jerusalem; and the question again returns, Where is the church? If it must be confessed, in opposition to the whole current of thought, and feeling, and language commonly employed upon the subject, that the church consists substantially of the people who unite in commemorating the death of the Lord at his table; then, a number of questions again arise. Have they, in any way, become actually incorporated? How do they receive those who from time to time are added to their number? What qualifications do they require in those who are admitted to their communion? What kind of pastoral inspection is exercised over them, or what discipline administered amongst them? When do they meet to deliberate; to transact their affairs ;-to send letters or messengers to the brethren of other places;—to choose deacons to distribute their bounty;-or to receive, if they must not choose, the ministers who may be provided for them? Now since few, if any, of these inquiries could receive a satisfactory answer, it might become a question demanding serious discussion, how

far there is, within the pale of the establishment, that which, in the scriptural acceptation of the term, is entitled to the designation of a Church. It is matter of notorious fact, that there has been no coming together of what, in common parlance, passes for the Church of England, for upwards of a century; that when its convocations were accustomed to be held, the brethren had no place nor voice in them; and that so far from the assembly having been more harmonious, dignified, and heavenly, because the unlearned laity were excluded, the dissensions were so protracted and unappeasable, that the then head of the church, despairing of being able to govern its superior members, adjourned their meeting, sine die; and suspended, if he did not virtually abolish, the constitution of the church, as by law established.

Those who expatiate so eloquently upon the guilt of schism, should place themselves occasionally at those points from which nonconformists are accustomed to contemplate the communion to which they belong; and either prove that it is substantially and truly apostolic in its constitution, or labour to make it so, before they censure and condemn others, who, enjoying the liberty which the members of the first churches practically claimed, tread in their steps, and combine, in voluntary union, to obey the laws, and enjoy the ordinances of Christ; cheerfully yielding to Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's, but to God only the things which are God's.