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conviction. But furely never does the human mind fo much expofe its weakness, as when it deferts the public road of long-established knowledge, and ventures to strike out new paths for its devious movements; entangling itself with briars and thorns, and ftumbling over ftones, and stumps of trees, till it at laft lofes itself in an impervious wilderness. It being, however, our object to point out the beaten path of truth, rather than to trace the wandering course of error; to the objections that cavillers are continually bringing forward on this controverted subject, relative to the platform of Church Government not being found totidem verbis laid down in the facred writings; and the order of Bishops not being to be clearly traced up to the Apostles; it is enough to fay, that to us fufficient information appears to have been communicated in them to determine both those points. But were the information conveyed in the Apoftolic writings on these fubjects more scanty than it really is, this deficiency has been abundantly made up by the unequivocal testimony borne to these points by subfequent writers; fome of whom were contemporaries with the Apostles, and fupreme administrators of that government of which they fpeak. Proofs on this head will be found in their proper place. Suffice it for our prefent purpose to obferve, with Bishop Taylor, that either CHRIST hath left no government for his Church, and in fuch case the Apostles must have greatly misunderstood an effential part of

their high office; or most certainly the Church hath retained that government, whatfoever it is: becaufe it is unreasonable to fuppofe, that the original Founder of the Church would be wanting to the prefervation of his own institution.

Admitting, then, that Clemens, Ignatius, Irenæus, and Cyprian, were honeft men, and no fools, their testimony on this fubject ought to be completely fatisfactory to every reasonable man. And if to their testimony be added the concurrent uniform practice of fifteen centuries, the conclufion from fuch premises will follow, in the words of an ancient author;* that we must take care above all things to adhere to that which has been believed in all places, at all times, and by all perfons; for this is truly and properly Catholic; and confequently, that " it never was, nor is, nor ever shall be, lawful to teach Christian people any other thing, than that which has been received," from a primitive fountain.

In a word, the strength of the argument, in defence of the Apoftolic Government of the Church, lies in this undoubted truth, that the Christian priesthood. tione. is a divine institution; which, as it could have no beginning but from GOD, fo neither could it be continued, but in the way appointed by GoD for

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'Magnoperê curandum eft, ut id teneamus quod ubique, quod femper, quod ab omnibus, creditum eft. Hoc eft enim verè propriequè Catholicum. Annunciare ergo Chriftianis Catholicis, præter id quod acceperunt, nunquam licuit, nunquam licet, nunquam licebit.” -Vincent. Lirin. adv. Hæres, cap. 5-14.

that purpose. What that way was, the Apoftolic practice has plainly fhewn. For CHRIST was in all that the Apostles did; and "GOD was in CHRIST, reconciling the world to himself." The miniftry of. this reconciliation was committed by CHRIST to his Apostles; and that ministry was confeffedly branched out by them into three diftinct orders, diftinguished from each other by the appropriate titles of Bishop, Prefbyter, and Deacon. From whence it follows, in anfwer to the objections above referred to, that from what our LORD faid to his Apoftles, and from what they did in confequence of his directions, fufficient information was conveyed, to enable the governors of the primitive Church perfectly to understand the plan, and continue the form of polity which the Apostles had begun; which form, the uniform hiftory of the Church for fifteen centuries has demonftrably proved to be, what that of the Church of England now is, in the true fenfe of the word, Epifcopal.

This argument, three centuries ago, would have been confidered unanswerable: But fince men thought proper to depart from the government of the primitive Church, and to erect a new platform of Church difcipline, it has become neceffary that their reafoning fhould correfpond with their practice. Hence it has happened, in defiance of the undeniable pofition, that what was once truth on this head must be truth ftill, that Epifcopacy has in thefe

later days become a fubject of less established reputation than it heretofore was. "The Reformation

(as an able Divine of our Church long fince remarked) gave fuch a turn to weak heads, that had not weight enough to poize themselves between the extremes of Popery and fanaticifm, that every thing older than yesterday was looked upon to be Popish and anti-Chriftian. The meaneft of the people af pired to the priesthood, and were readier to frame new laws for the Church, than obey the old."SHERLOCK.

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The progress of error, however, in this cafe, as in most others, has been gradual. Those foreign reformers who were the first establishers of a new form of government in the Church, pleaded neceffity for their conduct. It is not our bufinefs to examine the justice of that plea, but in candour to admit it. We therefore fay for them, what on this occafion they faid for themselves, that they confidered it to be a most unjust afperfion of their character to fay, they were anti-Epifcopalians, or that they condemned or threw off Epifcopacy as fuch; on the contrary, they lamented their unhappy circumstances, that they were not in a fituation to partake of that advantage, which England fo eminently enjoyed in this refpect; confidering their want of Epifcopacy to be more their misfortune than their fault. Such was at one time the declared language of Calvin and Beza. And Jong after their day, when the affembly of divines

*

at Westminster, under the influence of the Scotch Covenanters, applied to the learned Blondel to bring forward what could be faid in favour of the Prefbyterian form, with the view of giving countenance to the plan then in agitation for overturning the ancient Apoftolical Church government in England, he concluded his apology for the opinion of Jerom with words to the following purpose: "By all that we have faid to affert the rights of Presbytery, we do not intend to invalidate the ancient and Apoftolical conftitution of Epifcopal pre-eminence; but we believe, that wherefoever it is established conformably to the ancient Canons, it must be carefully preferved; and wherefoever, by fome heat of contention, or otherwife, it has been put down or violated, it ought to be reverently restored." This conclufion, not

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* Dr. Munro, in his Enquiry into the new Opinions, &c. makes the following juft obfervation on this work of Blondel, entitled, Apologia pro fententiâ Hieronymi." Amftel. 1646. "When (fays he) the government and revenues of the Church were facrilegiously invaded by atheifts and enthufiafts, under Oliver Cromwell, the learned Blondel employed all his skill to make the ancients contradict themselves, and all contemporary records; and though every line that he had written, with the least colour of argument, had been frequently anfwered and expofed, it was ftill thought enough for the enemies of Epifcopacy to fay, that Blondel had. written a book of 549 pages to fhew that Jerom was of their opinion, and had sufficiently proved, that this ancient monk was a Prefbyterian."-Would my reader wish to form a particular judgment refpecting the validity of Blondel's fentiments on the fubject of Epifcopacy, he will be qualified for the purpose by an appeal to Dr. Hammond's learned Differtations, entitled "Differtationes Quatuor, quibus Epifcopatûs Jura ex S. Scripturis et primævâ antiquitate adftruuntur, contra fententiam D. Blondelli," &c.

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