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well acquainted with its value, and have engaged yourselves to conform to it by solemn subscriptions and declarations. But you must avoid diversities of customs, and attempts at novelty or singularity, in the administration of the Sacraments and the performance of divine service; and you must be careful to speak the same language, and to teach the same doctrines, in the pulpit, which the church prescribes to you in the reading desk, at the font, and at the Communion table.-P. 21.

To this the Bishop of Chester accords.

A strict and punctual conformity to the Liturgy and Articles of our Church, is a duty, to which we have bound ourselves by a solemn promise, and which, while we continue in its ministry, we must scrupulously fulfil. Conformity to the Liturgy implies, of course, an exact observance of the Rubrics. We are no more at liberty to vary the mode of performing any part of the public worship, than we are, to preach doctrines at variance with the Articles of Religion. If there be any direction for the public service of the Church, with which a clergyman cannot conscientiously comply, he is at liberty to withdraw from her ministry; *but not to violate the solemn compact which he has made with her.

His Lordship introduces as a note, with obvious approbation, the following remarks of Bishop Elrington's:

"In the service he is to alter nothing -no, not so much as a word. Of the importance of checking such alterations a remarkable instance occurs in the

*Is not his lordship here conceding rather too much? A clergyman of the Church of England detecting somewhat he cannot approve, is placed in a very difficult situation. He can scarcely continue without doing violence to his conscience, or exposing himself to ecclesiastical censures. He can scarcely withdraw without a breach of the solemn vows and engagements into which he has entered at the altar of God, and from which we know not where he can procure a dispensation. There are some indeed who, engaging in other communions, prefix to their publications, Once a Minister of the Establishment; but such an appendage is any thing rather than a commendation, and reminds us of the effrontery of one who should glory in avowing that he had dealt treacherously against the wife of his youth.

Communion Service. To shorten it, a practice was introduced, in some places in England, of giving the elements to more persons than one at a time, under a change in the words from the singular to the plural. This was considered as improper indeed, but was not interfered with, till it was observed to be resorted to, and that even so far as to give to all who knelt at the rail at once, by clergymen who held peculiar opinions as to the extent of the satisfaction made by our Redeemer on the Cross; and it was then perceived that the practice was connected with doctrine, and that too a a doctrine of vital importance."-Pp. 22, 23.

Now while we

are very far from being advocates of irregularity or of disorder, we cannot conceive that their Lordships are here perfectly correct. We know that in the earlier, shall we add the better, days of the Church of England the clergy were expressly allowed to substitute a chapter out of the New Testament, instead of the first lesson, and we are not aware that the illegality of such a practice has ever yet been decided, though the opinion of civilians is against it. But the Bishop of Chester obviously uses too strong language, when he says, conformity to the Liturgy implies of course, an exact observance of the Rubrics. In point of fact some Rubrics are illegal; and others are invariably disregarded; thus the warning for the celebration of Holy Communion, is expressly directed to be after the sermon or homily ended. It is always given, if given at all, before the sermon and the exhortation is usually mutilated. The offertory is seldom read except on Sacrament Sundays, and then only when the greater part of the congregation is withdrawn, to whom therefore no opportunity is given of presenting their weekly alms and other devotions.' The Bishops at confirmation do not repeat, as the rubric obviously requires, the prayer, Defend, O Lord, this thy child (or this thy servant) to each individual; and it were easy to enlarge on this subject,

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and point out sundry variations. But to us they all appear trifling; they have arisen out of circumstances not always easy to be accounted for, but in some cases obviously justifiable by the necessity of the case, conducive to doing all things decently and in order, favourable to devotion, and therefore acceptable to him who will have mercy and not judgment. Thus for instance in country parishes, where the number of communicants is small, there is no reason why every word of the address should not be repeated to every individual who receives the Lord's Supper; and the same remark may apply in large towns, where the decay of piety has reduced the communicants to a mere handful; but let religion revive, and let the communicants amount to two or three or five or more hundreds, with perhaps one, or at the most two officiating ministers, and then a case of pressing and urgent necessity arises for adopting every reasonable expedient for abridging the service. We have known the afternoon service so encroached upon as to be relinquished on sacramental Sundays; this so far relieved the minister, but to the serious injury of the parish; and we have also known various instances where the physical powers of communicants were unequal to the delay, and they have consequently been compelled to retire, after receiving the elements, without awaiting the post communion. Such inconveniencies it may also be remarked, especially arise under the labours of devoted and pious ministers; men who are most conscientiously desirous of conforming in every respect to the established rules, and who never deviate but with the utmost reluctance.

The second point to which we object, is thus stated in the Bishop of Gloucester's charge.

Another practice of late growth, which has, I am persuaded, an evil aspect upon that unity which ought to

subsist between brethren and fellowworkers, is the custom of receiving into your pulpits the advocates of Societies, whose merits and claims upon the support of churchmen are not generally admitted. This is a practice which cannot fail to introduce invidious com parisons and doubtful disputations. But, with respect to sermons of this description, I object not merely to particular instances, but to the system itself, which seems likely to be carried -in some places has been already carried -to an extent inconvenient to the congregations, and interfering with the ends of regular public instruction. Charity sermons should be confined to local purposes, and such cases as are recommended by the King's Letter. Your Infirmaries, for instance, and the other institutions for the relief and comfort of your poor neighbours, your schools, and the district committees of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, have a fair claim upon this indulgence. But when carried beyond these limits, the practice is irregular and improper, and such as I can by no means encourage or sanction. Pp. 22, 23.

Now this goes either too far, or not far enough. If charity sermons should be confined to local purposes and such cases as are recommended by the King's Letter; then the District Committees of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge have no claim for such indulgence. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge descrves high praise. Its District Committees justly are entitled to liberal support. But the Society has in itself no legal claim. His Lordship's recommendation

can

give it no such claim. Nor has he any right, further than as an adviser and a friend, to interfere at all in the matter of charity, except when a King's Letter is sent round. The fact is, that after every morning sermon the sentences of the Offertory ought to be read; alms ought to be collected for the poor, to be appropriated at the discretion of the minister and the churchwardens; and other devotions should be col-, lected, that is, we conceive, free will offerings of Christian people

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for specific purposes-the ransom of slaves from the Turks; the building of churches; the poor persecuted Protestants in Roman countries; the propagation of the Gospel by Missions, &c. The word of God appoints a weekly collection, and the Church of England appointed a weekly collection also, and entrusted that not to episcopal jurisdiction, but to the care of the ministers and churchwardens.

His Lordship is we conceive equally in error, as to the admission of strangers into pulpits. An ordained priest may, we apprehend, preach in any pulpit to which he can obtain access; and a specific, not a general inhibition must issue, before he can be legally prohibited. The provisions indeed of the Curate's Act place all curates in a situation in which no British subject ought to be placed, and therefore they must proceed with caution.

On the subject of Hymns, we have elsewhere spoken. A due regard to the interests of the Church would induce a Diocesan, after the example of his Grace the Archbishop of York, rather to obviate the difficulty arising from this subject, than to increase it; to suggest the omission of certain Hymns in a selection, rather than by prohibiting it altogether, to afford an example of a junior Bishop protesting against a practice which a senior and immediate predecessor had expressly sanctioned. Such proceedings are indecorous, and highly injurious to the interests of the establishment.

From these episcopal charges we turn with unmingled pleasure to the charge of the venerable the Archdeacon of Ely. The author's object is to elucidate the fundamental doctrine of justification by faith only, through the meritorious righteousness of Christ, and to show its indissoluble connexion with the best interests of morality. When we consider the importance of this doctrine, both to the Church at large, and to the individual believer, we cannot

but express our satisfaction that the reverend author has embraced this opportunity of impressing it upon his clergy, and the more so when we recollect that justification by faith only is essentially a protestant doctrine; directly opposing the favourite tenets and the prevailing dogmas of the Church of Rome, and cutting up by the very roots the heresies of purgatory, intercession of saints, the sacrifice of the mass, &c.

The author after a suitable introduction defines the meaning of justification; demonstrates that man is not justified by works alone; nor by faith and works conjointly ;-and then proceeds to show in what manner faith alone justifies; to develope the nature and origin of a justifying faith, and to point out its connexion with sanctification.

Before the foundations of the world were laid, God foresaw the fall of the first parent of the human race, whom he created in his own image and likeness, and stationed in the garden of Eden: and while, for purposes inscrutable to us, he permitted through his means the introduction of sin and death into the world, he devised a plan for reversing the disastrous effects of his apostacy. In the contemplation of this amazing scheme, we cannot forbear exclaiming with St. Paul: O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judg

ments, and his ways past finding out! No sooner had Adam, through envy of the devil, and the peccability of his own nature, transgressed the covenant of works under which he was placed with the inherent power of observing its stipulations, than the covenant of grace, though in dim and distant perspective, was disclosed to his view. According to the mysterious economy of these covenants as Adam was constituted the federal head and representative of the lapsed creatures of God, so Christ was ordained the federal head and representative of all his ransomed and redeemed creatures. Hence it followed, that as in Adam all die, even so in Christ, all who believe in him shall be made alive. By virtue of the covenant made with Adam, his disobedience entailed sin and guilt upon all his posterity: on the other hand, by virtue of the covenant which God

entered into with his beloved Son, his active obedience to the law for man, and his passive submission to its penalty, became the means of introducing everlasting righteousness, and of making reconciliation for iniquity. For these reasons he was styled the Lord our righteousness, and in him it is declared that we have righteousness and strength.

Although the Messiah had been announced to the Jews under this exalted title, and his offices had been prefigured under a great diversity of types: yet, their implicit dependance upon their descent from Abraham, their blind partiality to the law of Moses, their scrupulous adherence to the rites, ceremonies, and letter of the law, while they at the same time explained away its meaning, their proud and self-righteous spirit, their lofty notions of their own national privileges, combined with their fallacious expectations of a temporal instead of a spiritual deliverer-all these causes conspired to render the cross of Christ a stumbling-block to them, and led to their rejection of the humiliating doctrines connected with it. They being ignorant of God's righteousness, (i. e. of the way of justification which God had appointed, provided, and exhibited in the Gospel,) and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

How then, let us inquire, shall they who perceive the folly of relying, like the Jews, upon any external privileges whatever, and are convinced of the insufficiency of their own righteousness either alone or in part to procure the remission of their sins and eternal life, become interested in the righteousness of their Redeemer, and be justified by faith alone? If we assert that faith justifies absolutely of itself, as an act of our own, we attribute that to the act which ought to be ascribed to the object, and, under a specious guise virtually maintain the doctrine of justification by works. If we allege that we are justified by faith as a grace inherent or implanted in us, we then hold the doctrine of justification by an infused instead of an imputed righteousness, which is the fundamental error of the Church of Rome. When, therefore, it is declared that we are justified by faith alone, it is to be understood that we are justified by faith with reference to its object, and to the entire exclusion of our own works, righ

teousness, or merits. The author of our justification is God, who justifies us freely by his grace, through the redemp"tion which is in Christ Jesus. But the special objects of a justifying faith are the meritorious obedience and the vicarious sacrifice of our blessed Redeemer. These being received, apprehended, or embraced by faith, make us just or righteous persons in the sight of God,-not by a righteousness inherent in us, but by a righteousness imputed to us.-Pp. 22-26.

To the charge the author has annexed an appendix, in which, amongst other important matter, he animadverts very strongly upon the Harmonia Apostolica of Bishop Bull, pointing out the remarkable coincidence between the Bishop and the Romanists; a coincidence by no means creditable to the reputation of the prelate or his professed admirers.

We proceed next to Mr. Burrow's visitation sermon. The text of this discourse is Acts xx. 28. which the preacher considers as an admonition to personal circumspection, and to pastoral care.

The admonition (Mr. B. says) strongly implies, that the persons admonished are in circumstances of apparent danger. This danger arises out of the evil of apostacy from God and rebellion against him, with which we are surrounded in the world-the scene of our ministrations: -as it is written concerning men, when they are contemplated in their natural union with Adam, and their participation of his fallen nature.-P. 8.

After enlarging on these topics,

he adds,

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deliverance and grace, and proceeds in scriptural and emphatic language to call upon them to take heed unto themselves. Under the second head Mr. B. considers the objects of pastoral care, and adverts somewhat briefly to the mode in which it is to be exercised. The sermon is eminently scriptural, and as such deserves commendation; but at the same time we conceive those not previously acquainted with the author's sentiments, would scarcely apprehend them with sufficient clearness, from the discourse which he A circumstance has published.

which, considering the varied nature of his audience, is very deeply to be lamented.

Dr. Mac Donnell's Sermon is a masterly argument in favour of Episcopacy. The subject is Acts i. 21.

The author deduces the institution of the Episcopal order; First, "from the peculiar character and office of the apostles, whose representatives, in the order of succession, we assert the bishops to be:" and the distinction of orders amongst the apostles themselves is thus argued from the text.

A place becomes vacant among the apostles; the successor is not considered as a person coming into the general list of the remaining eleven, and of the seventy as one aggregate body, for Matthias when chosen is said in express words to have been numbered with the apostles. Now, if in forming the lists of the twelve and the seventy, the only original distinction was as to priority of being called, then would the insertion, in the earlier list, of an individual who was the very latest in his nomination, be in itself a matter contradictory. When we find him numbered with the eleven, the passage has really no meaning, unless we suppose a classification founded upon some specific difference of character and of function."-P. 5.

The seventy are further distinguished from the one hundred and twenty then assembled; the individual to be elected into the class of the twelve is to be taken from the class of the seventy; inferring a permanent distinction between

the two classes, beyond the mere difference of number, or date of the origin.

Second; Apostolical usage favours the episcopal institution.

We find the apostles instituting bishops to succeed them, as Timothy at Ephesus, and Titus at Crete. It appears that these were superior to the class of presbyters: Timothy was empowered to preside over the presbyters at Ephesus, &c. &c. and Titus for the express purpose (among others) of ordaining presbyters in every city.

"The Greek word for bishop signifies an overseer, and the Greek for presbyter or priest signifies an elder. Either of the original words would have been proper to designate a minister of religion: the one term marking an important range of duty, the other a gravity of deportment. It is puerile to suppose that we are much concerned to know, whether in the first establishment of Christ's church, certain names, from which ours are derived, were then appropriated to the several orders; but the essential question is, Whether there was not a certain number of persons set apart for the holy office of the ministry; and whether amongst those so set apart there was not a superior and governing order? The superiority of order we consider as proved by the acts performed and the jurisdiction exercised.-P. 9.

3. The third argument is drawn from Ecclesiastical History.

The distinct succession of bishops we find unequivocally noticed by Irenæus and Tertullian, both of the second century; and the manner in which it is stated, is peculiarly persuasive; for the derivation of the episcopal order from the apostolical times is not itself the subject matter of discussion, but is referred to as a recognized fact, in discussing that which was the immediate point of dispute....

In the next and succeeding ages, we find an overpowering mass of testimony to the same fact; and we may rest in the conclusion, that during fifteen centuries, no other form than the episcopal was known, in any Christian church whatever.-P. 10.

In an Appendix, we have some judicious notes: we select the following. It refers chiefly to the objection, that nothing is expressly stated in Scripture upon the form of Church Government.

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