system of spiritual tyranny over the whole church of God. The succession here is, as Gregory Nazianzen describes it, "the succession of sickness to health; darkness succeeding to light; a storm to a calm; and spiritual derangement to the spirit of health, and of love, and of a sound mind." Or, as Bishop Jewel states it, "it is like Caiaphas succeeding to Aaron; Manasses succeeding to David; or antichrist sitting in Peter's chair."

The Protestant churches are one in their rule of faith. Chillingworth's immortal words shall be here inserted: "Know then, sir, that when I say the religion of Protestants is in prudence to be preferred before yours, as, on the one side, I do not understand by your religion the doctrine of Bellarmine, or Baronius, or any other private man among you, nor the doctrine of the Sorbon, or of the Jesuits, or of the Dominicans, or of any other particular company among you, but that wherein you all agree, or profess to agree, the doctrine of the COUNCIL OF TRENT: so accordingly, on the other side, by the religion of Protestants, I do not understand the doctrine of Luther, or Calvin, or Melancthon; nor the confession of Augusta, or Geneva; nor the Catechism of Heidleberg; nor the Articles of the Church of England; no, nor the harmony of Protestant confessions; but that wherein they all agree, and which they all subscribe with a greater harmony, as a perfect rule of their faith and actions, that is, the BIBLE. The BIBLE, I say, the BIBLE only is the religion of Protestants! Whatsoever else they believe besides it, and the plain, irrefragable, indubitable consequences of it, well may they hold it as a matter of opinion: but as matter of faith and religion, neither can they with coherence to their own grounds believe it themselves, nor require the belief of it of others, without most high and most schismatical presumption. I, for my part, after a long and (as I verily believe and hope) impartial search of the true way to eternal happiness, do profess plainly, that I cannot find any rest for the sole of my foot, but upon THIS ROCK only. I see plainly, and with mine own eyes, that there are popes against popes, councils against councils, some fathers against others, the same fathers against themselves, a consent of fathers of one age against a consent of fathers of another age, the church of one age against the church of

another age. Traditive interpretations of Scripture are pretended, but there are few or none to be found: no tradition but only of Scripture, can derive itself from the fountain; but may be plainly proved, either to have been brought in, in such an age after Christ, or that in such an age it was not in. In a word, there is no sufficient certainty but of Scripture ONLY, for any considering man to build upon. This, therefore, and this only, I have reason to believe this I will profess; according to this I will live; and for this, if there be occasion, I will not only willingly, but even gladly, lose my life, though I should be sorry that Christians should take it from me. Propose me any thing out of this book, and require whether I believe it or no, and seem it never so incomprehensible to human reason, I will subscribe it with hand and heart, as knowing no demonstration can be stronger than this,-God hath said so, therefore it is true. In other things, I will take no man's liberty of judgment from him; neither shall any man take mine from me. I will think no man the worse man, nor the worse Christian; I will love no man the less for differing in opinion from me. And what measure I mete to others I expect from them again. I am fully assured that God does not, and therefore that men ought not, to require any more of any man than this, to believe the Scriptures to be God's word, to endeavour to find the true sense of it, and to live according to it."*

The true Protestant churches, then, have the true succession, the succession of the faith of the apostles, the doctrine of truth as taught by the apostles. This is in the Bible, and in the Bible alone. All held besides this, as articles of faith, or as divinely binding in obedience, is a CORRUPTION of CHRISTIANITY.

Let the Protestant churches remember their high privileges let them bless God for them, and endeavour to the utmost to keep their trust pure and undefiled. Let the

PEOPLE HONOR THEIR MINISTERS AS AMBASSADORS FOR

CHRIST. The great aim of Papists and Semi-Papists is to lead the people to DESPISE THEIR MINISTERS. Why do they do this? Why? that they may make a prey of the people. Do they offer to feed them as pastors ?-it will be with the husks of tradition. Do they claim to govern

* The Religion of Protestants, c. 6, sec. 56.

them?-it will be as lords over God's heritage. Do they offer them liberty?—it is that they may lead them to bondage. God has made the Protestant churches free; may they stand fast in their liberty, and never be entangled again with the yoke of bondage!

God has always had a church, a spiritual people; he always will have a spiritual people, a true church. This church is a holy church: no body of people, as distinguished by human arrangements, is so. Ungodly people are found among all denominations; most particularly among Papists and high Churchmen.

The church of God is a catholic church, consisting of all the true worshippers of God everywhere: no denomination of Christians ever was catholic, that is, universal. The expression, Roman Catholic, is a solecism—is nonsense is absurd! It is as much as to say, A PARTICULAR UNIVERSAL, that A PART IS THE WHOLE, that A CITY IS THE WORLD!!

The true Catholic church is the same in all ages, as well as in all places. It is made up of patriarchs and prophets, martyrs and confessors, and true believers: "I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven," Matt. viii, 11. "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb," Rev. vii, 9, 10.

CONCLUSION.

THE argument of this Essay is now finished; and the high Church scheme of an order of bishops, by divine right, distinct from and superior to presbyters; possessing prerogatives incompatible with presbyters; having the rights and authority of apostles; which order of bishops is to be traced by a PERSONAL succession, through an unbroken line from Peter to the present bishops of England; and whose ordinations are so essential to the validity of a true gospel ministry, that without them all preaching and ordinances are "VAIN," and without the "promise of Christ:" this scheme has been examined in its fundamental positions, and has been shown to be a BASELESS FABRIC, calculated only to destroy the peace of the church, and to promote pride, bigotry, exclusiveness, intolerance, and persecution; in one word, TO DESTROY PROTESTANTISM, AND TO PROMOTE POPERY. It has been proved, on the other hand, with all the evidence of a catholic or universal doctrine of the Christian church, that bishops and presbyters are, by divine right, ONE and the SAME. Presbyters have been shown by the Scriptures, the only and sufficient authority in such matters, to have, by DIVINE RIGHT, EQUAL power and authority with any bishops to perform ALL the acts of the Christian ministry; instancing, especially, that of ORDAINING ministers. Presbyters are equally as much successors of the apostles as bishops are. only essential succession is the succession of FAITH. churches are apostolical or not, in proportion as they approach to, or recede from, the doctrine of the apostles. An unbroken line of personal descent of spiritual power to ordain in the English bishops, is a fable. No man ever did, or ever can prove it. In addition to all this, we have shown, that when examined by the Scriptures, and the doctrine of the reformers, the POPISH ordinations of the English bishops, before and at the Reformation, were, from the monstrous wickedness, heresy, and simony of the persons concerned, NULL and VOID to all intents and purposes

The

All

The validity of the ordination of the ministers of the Church of England, as well as that of the ministers of all other churches, must be judged, therefore, according to the Scriptural rule of the succession of doctrine; the qualifications of the men in personal piety, ability to teach, ministerial grace, the call of God, and their appointment to the work in a manner suitable to the Scriptures.

A few brief observations, as COROLLARIES, may be added. Ministers are God's gifts, and God's stewards in the church:

The Scriptures regularly speak in this style :-The Lord sends the labourers into his vineyard. Matt. ix, 28. The Lord appoints ministers as the stewards of his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season. Matt. xii, 42. Jesus, as the chief Shepherd, brings in by himself, as the door, all true shepherds. When he ascended up on high, HE gave to the church pastors, &c. Ephes. iv, 11, 12. They are to rule by His word and will. Their office, we have shown, is a limited office: they are servants, not masters, nor lords over the heritage. None but such as these can be true ministers of the gospel. GOD QUALIFIES THEM, MOVES THEM, AND SENDS THEM. Where no church is formed, they gather one. Where churches are formed, he moves and directs his church, if attentive to his will, to receive all he sends.

Every minister of the gospel must be a real Christian, not a wicked man; a man of some natural ability, not a fool; endowed with knowledge of the gospel, not a novice; able to teach and to convince gainsayers. Besides all this, he must have a special gift of the Holy Ghost for the work. Rom. xii, 6; 1 Cor. xii, 4-7; Ephes. iv, 7, &c. Every such man has a divine commission in GENERAL to preach the gospel: but he has no AUTHORITY in any PARTICULAR church, as a pastor or governor over that church. To constitute him a regular pastor in a particular church, he must be solemnly received as such by the regular authority of that church. The mode of constituting a minister in a particular church may vary according to circumstances. If it be in a state of persecution, or reformation, the full reception of his ministry establishes him as the minister of that church: if it be in a settled state, he must be constituted or instituted a minister according to the