doctrine was assumed: "it is not lawful for any man to take upon him the office of public preaching or administering the Sacraments in the congregation before he be lawfully called and sent to execute the same. And those we

ought to judge lawfully called and sent, which be chosen and called to this work by men who have public authority given unto them in"-not by, but in-" the congregation to call and send ministers into the Lord's vineyard." ”米 But the point being settled that there are some persons in the congregation or Church who have powers to ordain, the question is who those persons are? This was the question in debate at the Reformation, and it is easily answered so far as the Church of England is concerned, since it was settled, before the Thirty-nine Articles were received, in the ordinal, in which it is affirmed: "It is evident to all men diligently reading the Scriptures and ancient authors, that from the Apostles' time there have been these three orders of ministers in Christ's Church, Bishops, Priests, and Deacons."+ In the order for consecrating Bishops, as well as in the Ordination Service, she speaks of the offices of Priests and Deacons as offices divinely instituted; and, if instituted by God, of course they cannot be lawfully abolished. But it is a point not controverted, that wherever these officers exist, the power of ordination rests with the first, assisted by the second. And accordingly, in legislating on

Article xxiii. + Pref. to the Ordinal.

this subject, the Church of England ordains that "no one shall be accounted and taken to be a lawful Bishop, Priest, or Deacon, among us, or be suffered to execute any of the ministerial functions, except he be called, tried, examined, and admitted thereunto, according to our form of episcopal ordination, or hath had formerly episcopal consecration or ordination."* A more complete answer to the question, who are they that have authority in the congregation, could not be given by a Church which reverences Scripture and the ancient authors. And hence it is, that while a Minister of the Roman Church officiates among us, upon the renunciation of his errors, without a further ordination, a converted Presbyterian Minister is unable to do so. The one has had, the other has not had, episcopal ordination.

Now this regulation very naturally offends the various self-appointed ministers and teachers who have, of late years, abounded in the land. They accuse the Church of intolerance, bigotry, and illiberality, since they conclude that she implies, by this regulation, the invalidity of all but episcopal ordination; and in this conclusion they are the rather confirmed when they find our Canons denouncing, as ipso facto excommunicated, not only those who affirm that the Church of England is not a true and apostolical Church,† or that the form of God's worship in the Church of England is corrupt, but also those who, not being of the Church of England, challenge to *Pref. to Ordinal. + Can. ii. + Can. iv.

C

themselves in England the name of true and lawful Churches.* Under such a reproach some of the members of our Church are impatient, and deny that the conclusion must of necessity be drawn. Others, rejoicing in every thing to bear the scandal of the cross, admit the justness of the conclusion, but contend that the Church is no more to be blamed for this than a mirror for the wrinkles or deformities it may bring to view. The Church injures no one by asserting the fact, for, if it be a fact, a fact it is whether she asserts it or not. It either is a fact that a society of believers, organized without the episcopal order, is not a Church, but merely a sect not organized according to apostolical and scriptural rule, as our Church insinuates, or it is not a fact. It is open to discussion whether it be a fact; there is no want of charity in our declaring what we believe to be such. As maintainers of God's truth we are to declare it in this as in every other instance, and in God's good time the truth will be known and recognized, and those who have deserted it will perceive that Christian unity is to be restored, not by our yielding to them, but by their returning to us. As we may preach that faith in the Lord Jesus is necessary to salvation, without denying the salvability of the heathen; so none will refuse to admire and reverence and love the pious and consistent Christian of every communion, whether Romish or Protestant; none-God forbid,-will doubt of his being capable of salvation, though we may still

* Can. xi.

believe that in many respects he may have fallen short of gospel truth. But be this as it may-it is a principle to be discussed with those who are in principle separated from us,-it is certainly no just cause of angry dispute among ourselves, who have declared our unfeigned assent and consent not only to our Articles, but to our ordination offices, the first of which declare that those only may minister in sacred things who are duly ordained, and the second that those only are to be considered by us as duly ordained who have received episcopal orders. The only legitimate subject of discussion among us is, how are we to meet the objection to our principle as urged by Dissenters-a mere matter of opinion, not a fair plea for division.

I will only advert to one point more, and then hasten to a conclusion. I allude now to the angry debates which contentious men would raise among us with reference to the Ceremonies of the Church. On this subject, too, we are in principle united. We all agree that forms and ceremonies are in themselves things indifferent, unless they have been divinely prescribed, as in the case of the Sacraments, and some of the Sacramentals. We are all of us also agreed in admitting that when we have solemnly vowed as bishops, priests, and deacons of the Church of England to adhere to the forms and ceremonies, rubrics, usages, and regulations of the Church of England, these ceremonies, relatively to us, cease to be things indifferent. If we make a vow, we are, of course, bound to keep it, and they, therefore, if such there

For example, we find now sung as a regular which they originally

be, who think that they shew their wisdom by a studied disregard of the decent ceremonies of the Church, do, in reality, only shew the little respect they have for their declarations and oaths. But it is notorious, from whatever circumstances, that, since the reformation, the ceremonies of the Church of England have been, in several respects, altered, either by the introduction of new practices, or by the neglect of old ones. that metrical Psalms are part of our service, of formed no portion.* This innovation is one of ancient date, and I am not complaining of it, but still it is an innovation, and like most innovations it has gradually led to another of a very questionable character; I allude to the introduction of unauthorized hymns of human composition. Another innovation since the time of our reformers is the use of extempore prayer before or after the sermon. Now these are very serious innovations, since they afford to an individual minister more liberty than the Church allows, and enable him to blend his private opinions with the acknowledged principles of the Church in such a manner as to confound the one with the other. Many other innovations of minor importance might easily be pointed out, such as the prevailing practice for the minister to turn in prayer to the people:† in the days of the reformers, and for some time after, the minister turned from the people in prayer, to them in exhortation, so that

*Note N. + Note O.