IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 I.I 1.25 " 112 2.5 •^ liSi ill 2.2 ^ ii& 111112.0 i.8 U III 1.6 V] <^ /^ ^;j '^# >y 'W .-u" ^> '^> o^^ /A Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 873-4503 > / o t^ M^ ^^ ///// ^ m « % \ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques '"A Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a iti possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mithode normale de filmage sont indiqu6s ci-dessous. D D D D D D D n Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagie Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurie et/ou pellicul6e Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes giographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Pianches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Relii avec d'autres documents □ Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur v/ Pages damaged/ Pages endommagies □ Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaurdes et/ou pellicul^es Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages dicolorSes, tachetdes ou piqu6es I I Pages detached/ Pages ddtachdes Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of prir Quality inigale de I'impression r~~\ Showthrough/ r~n Quality of print varies/ □ Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du materiel supplementaire D D Tight binding may cause f hadows or distortion along interior margin/ La re liure serrde peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distorsion le long de la marge intdrieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouties lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela dtait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6td filmdes. D D Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont dt6 film6es d nouveau de facon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. D Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppldmentaires; This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est filmd au taux de reduction indiqud ci-dessous. 18X 22X 10X 14X 26X 30X 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Library Dalhousie University L'exemplaire film6 fut reprodult grAce i la ginirositi de: Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Library Dalhoutie University The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol —►(meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec ie plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetd de l'exemplaire film6, et en conformit6 avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimie sont f ilm6s en commence it par Ie premier plat et en terminant solt par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'iilustration, solt par Ie second plat, salon Ie cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont fllmis en commen^ant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'iilustration et en terminant par la derniire page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles sulvants apparaftra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, seion Ie cas: Ie symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", Ie symbols V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s A des taux de reduction diffirents. Lorsque Ie document est trop grand pour dtre reproJuit en un seul ciichd, il est filmd A partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant Ie nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 6 '*.■ iQlaaaM JdLd'B^K.'Bl HEAR THE CHURCH. » . or SE K M O N, PREACHED AT THE CHAPEL ROYAL, IN ST. JAMES'S PALACE, ^ ON THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY, JUNE XVII, MDCCCXXXVIII. V BY WALTER FARilUHAR HOOK, D.D. CHAPLAIN IMEimDINARir TO HER MAJESTY. NEW CANADIAN EDITION. TORONTO: # PRINTED AT THE DIOCESAN |||p:8S, BY H. &. W. ROWSELL, KING|p:REET. 1842. Price 2d. eachf or \s. 9a. per dozen. t # r «> • # • o A SERMON, Matt, xviii. 17. — Hear the Church. This little sanctuary, in which we are now assembled, will always be regarded by the English Churchman with feelings of pious sentiment and respect. Here from time immemorial, our sovereigns have worshipped, and our bishops preached ; and these walls were the first which heard the sound of our English Liturgy. Here young Edward imbibed the principles of Divine Truth from the lips of Ridley and Cranmer ; and here, in the reign of Elizabeth, her bishops, supported by her united firm- ness, wisdom, and piety, manfully upheld the principles of the English Reformation, maintaining the equipoise against the Papist on the one hand, and on the other, against those ultra-protestants, who were anxious to introduce the foreign system, and to revolutionize religion instead of reforming the Church. Here loo, Charles, who died a martyr for the principles of the Church, — for the Church of England boasts the only royal martyr in the calendar,— sought that strength from on high, which enabled him to lay down his " grey discrowned head" upon the block, with a blessed peace of mind, which a rebel nation while depriving him of everything else, was unable to take away. Here, ever since, by faithful pastors, our British Sovereigns have loyally, duti- fully, and respectfully, but, at the same time, I hope with firmness and fearlessness, been reminded of that solemn account they will one day have to render to Him who is King of kings, and Lord of lords, and the Ruler of princes, — here they have been admonished of the awful responsibility of high office, of the temptations by which they are surrounded, of the example they are bound to set, of their duty as the nursing fathers and nursing mothers of the Church— and here those Sovereigns, m the ordinances and sacraments of the Gospel, have sought for that Divine Grace, of which they have stood in need as much as, yea, from their increased responsibility, from their greater temptations and difficulties, if possible, more than the very meanest of their subjects. In such a place then it cannot be deemed improper, if I briefly lay before you the claims, the character, and the privileges of the Church. May God the Holy Spirit be with me while I speak, and with you while you hear ; with me, that I may speak boldly as I ought to speak ; with you, that you may receive the word with pure affec- tion ; with me that I may not give, with you that you may not take, offence. Now, at the very outset, I must state that I refer to the Church, not a& a mere National Establishment of Religion, but as the Church, a religious CQmmunity» in- trinsically independent of the state; that is to say, I am about to treat of the Church, not in its political, but simply and solely in its religious character. No one, who reads the Bible, can for one moment doubt, that Religion is or ought to be a national concern, 80 long as the Bible contains such awful denunciations against national apostacy and national vice, and while among the predicted blessings of Christianity, it was foretold as one, that Kings should be the nursing fathers, and Queens the nursing mothers of the Church, And to desire to belong to that religious society which happens to be established in our native land, is a sentiment patri- otic, praiseworthy, and honourable. But there is always a still further question to be asked ; namely, whether the society of Christians established by the Government, and invested with certain emoluments and privileges, be a pure branch of that Church which was instituted by our blessed Lord and his Apostles. Ard if it be not such, however willing we might be to preserve the peace of society, by refusing to injure a national institution, we should, nevertheless, be amply justified as Religion- ists, in refusing to conform to it. If ihe m^re fact that a religious society is established by the civil government, be sufficient to claim for it our adhesion, see what the consequence must be; we should be obliged. )> ' > on such principles, to become Presbyterians in Scotland and Holland, Papists in France and Italy ; nay, in some parts of the world, worshippers of the Mosque, and vo- taries of Brahma! whereas the consistent Protestant could not, of course, conform to the established Church in France or Italy, until those Churches have undergone a thorough reformation ; the consistent English Church- man cannot conform to the Presbyterian establishment in Scotland, but in that part of the island, attends the services of the Scottish Episcopal Church, which though at one time established, was, at the Revolution in 1688, from political considerations, deprived of its endowments, which were then given to the community of Presbyterians, which has there become the established religion. Bless God, then, we may, that the true Church is established here in England, and that while as patriots we would support its establishment for our country's good, we can also, as Christians, conscientiously conform to it ; yet it is not on the ground that it is established by the State, but on grounds much higher and holier than these, that in this sacred place we are to state its claims. So entirely independent is the Church (as the Church) of the State, that were all connexion between Church and State at this very moment to cease, (though we may be sure the monarchy would be destroyed,) the Church, as the Church, would continue precisely as she now is j that is to say, our Bishops, though deprived of temporal rank, would still exercise all those spiritual functions, which, conferred by higher than human authority, no hu- man authority can take away ; still to the vacant sees they would consecrate new bishops, still ordain the clergy, still confirm the baptized, stiU govern the Church ; oui priests, assisted by the deacons, would still administer the sacraments and preach the Gospel ; our Liturgy, even though we were driven to upper rooms of our towns, or to the very caves of the desert, would still be solemnized. "We may be sure of this, for this very thing has happened in 'times past. When the United States of America were English colonies, the English Church was there established : at the revolution, the State was destroyed. Monarchy has there ceased to exist ; but the Churchy a2 c though depressed for a time, remained uninjured : so that there — among the American repubh'cans — under the superintendence of no fewer than sixteen* bishops, you will find her sacraments and ordinances administered, and all her ritual and liturgical services administered, with not less of piety, zeal, and solemnity than here in England ; there you may see the Church, like an oasis in the desert, blessed by the dews of heaven, and shed- dingheavenly blessings around her, inaland where, because no religion is established, if it were not for her, nothing but the extremes of infidelity or fanaticism would prevail. And so you may perceive what is meant, when we say, that we wish to speak of the Church, not as an establish- ment, but as the Church, a religious society, a particular society of Christians. We will commence with an indisputable fact. In this country there is at this time a religious society, known by the name of the Church. The question is, when and by whom was this society instituted ? Now the Roman Catholics or Papists assert that it was instituted and founded, like the generality of Pro- testant sects, by certain Reformers in the 1 6th century, and thence they would deduce a strong argument against us. They would ask us, whether any man can take unto himself the office of the ministry, unless he be sent by God ; and if we are scriptural Christians, if we take the Bible for our guide, if we act on that sound Protestant principle, with the fifth chapter to the Hebrews open before us, we must answer, no. Then they proceed to ask, how can you prove that your ministers are called of God to the office ? And if their assertion were true that our Church was founded at the Reformation, we could give them no answer at all. But at the period of the Reformation, when Cranraer land Ridley flourished, there was a Church existing and established in England,and as Archbishop of that Church, Cranmer, our celebrated Reformer, was consecrated. That Church had existed, as all parties admit, from the first planting of Christianity in England. But Arch- . 4 Now [May, 1842] there are twenty-one bishops. 4 ,u 4 I bishop Cranmer found, that in his time, it had become in certain respects corrupted ; tliat the Uishop of Rome, for example, had usurped over it an authority and influence which he did not possess by right ; that many practices prevailed, some of them contrary to Scripture, and some of them much abused to superstition ; such as the wor- shipping of saints and images, and the use of the Liturgy in a language not understood by the people, — while opinions were prevalent, (such as those relating to tran- substantiation,) decidedly erroneous, which the Church did not protest against, but, on the contrary, rather seemed to sanction. Now when once these errors were pointed out and proved to be ur.scriptural, our Divines would have been guilty of heresy had they pertinaciously adhered to them. Before the Reformation, those who adhered to them were 7iot guilty of heresy, for they held the doctrines which (ever since the Reformation) wc have renounced, from a mere error of fact. They sup- posed them to be revealed doctrines, and therefore they in humble faith received them; we, on the contrary, have ascertained that these doctrines were not revealed, and therefore influenced by the same faith, we reject them; so that it was by one and the self-same principle, that both before and since the Reformation, the true members of the Church of England have been actuated. They said, and we say precisely the same, whatsoever is re- vealed, that we will not question but believe. But as to the fact, whether this or that doctrine was revealed, they were less cautious than we are now; we who, per- haps, err on][the very side of caution. But, to return to the Archbishop and the Prelates who aided him in the work of reformation. They dis- covered that all the errors which they detected in their Church were innovations gradually and imperceptibly introduced, and not belonging originally or essentially to the Church of England; that, even in the seventh century, five councils were held in England, when the doctrines denounced by the Reformers were unknown. What, then, did the Archbishop and his associates determine to do? They determined, as they had an undoubted right to do, not to overthrow the old Church and estab- 8 lish a protestant sect in its place, but merely to reform, to correct abuses in the existing Church. And .M bv the civil powers, this they did, by asserting, first, their own independence, as Ui.hops, against the usurped authority of the Pope, who had no more authority of right in England, than the Bishop of Canterbury had in Rome; by discontinuing practices which led evidently to un- scriptural superstitions; by protesting against certain prevalent erroneous doctrines; by translating the Scrip- tures and the ancient Ritual and Liturgy, which latter, (the Ritual and Liturgy we still retain,) besides transla-. ting, they re-arranged. But, though they did this, they stiU remained the same bishops and divines of the same Church. An attempt was made to revive the old super- stitions in Queen Mary' s reign, but, by the pious firniness of Elizabeth, her Bishops were enabled to cotnplete he work so happily commenced in the reigns of her father and brother. ., ^ Now, from this historical statement, you see the absurdity of which the Papists are g^il^'/^^^J^^J, accuse us of having deserted or dissented from the old Church, ami of having reared a new Church of human origin— the absurdity of their speaking of theus as the old'church and the old religion. About two years ago, this very chapel in which we are now assembled, was repaired; certam disfigurements removed; certain improvements made; would it not be absurd, on that account, to contend that it is no longer the Chapel Royal? Would it not be still more absurd if some one were to build a new chapel in the neighbour- hood, imitating closely what this chapel was five years aco, and carefully piling up all the dust and rubbish wliich was at that time swept from hence, and then pro- nounce that, not this, to be the ancient chapel of the sovereigns of England? The absurdity is at once appa- rent; but this is precisely what has been done by the Roman Catholie or Papist. The present Church of England is the old Catholic Church of England, reformed, in tie reigns of Henry, Edward, and Elizabeth, of certam sunerstitfous errors; it is the same Church which came down from our British and Saxon ancestors, and, as suca* t J I -4 e ►f 1, Q le 1* . it possesses its original endowments, which were never, as ignorant persons foolishly suppose, taken from one Chuieh and given to another. The Cliurcli remained the same after it was reformed as it was hefore, just as a man remains the same man after he has washed his face as he was before ; just as Naaman, the leper, re- mained the same Naaman after he was cured of his leprosy, as he was before. And so regularly, so canoni- cally, was the Reformation conducted, that even those who thought no reformation requisite, still icmained for a time in the ('hurch ; they did not consider what was done (though they did not approve of it) sufficient to drive them into a schism. It was not till the twelfth year of Queen Elizabeth's reign, that, listening to the exhortations of the Pope, they quitted the Church and formed a new sect, from which the present Romish dis- senters have descended, and in which were retained all those errors in opinion and practice, all that rubbish, which the Catholic Church in England had at the Re- formation corrected and swept away. Let it always be remembered, that the English Romanists separated fVoni us, not we from them ; we did not go out from them, but they from us. The slightest acquaintance with that neglected branch of learning. Ecclesiastical History, will convince us of this. They left the Church of England, to which they originally belonged, because they thought their bishops had reformed too much, had become too Protestant; just as Protestant Dissenters left us, because they thought we had not reformed enough ; that wo were, as they still style us, too popish. The one party left us because they wanted no reform, the other because, instead of a reformation, they wished a religious revolu* tion — the Reformers of the Church of England care-, fully preserving the middle path. The Church of England, then, that Church to which we belong, is the old Catholic Church which was origin nally planted in this country. But the Founders of the Church of England— remember I do not mean the Re-, formers — for nothing but ignorance, the most gross, wiU speak of them as our founders ; ignorance, which cor^« cedes to the Papists an argument of the very greatest 10 f. England, bo.b S "'n^H^"'""'"'' "' '■'"' Church "J-'-ed by other bishop^ . f ""'■ "^'^ Wshopa or v.de„„a„y preserved S fb'' 'T™ '"'^''""^ and p „! b^hops who ordained .hZ hlj ,'"'S"""''g- And the „^'«''<'ps, and so back to thp 4 f " "'^''''"^ ^ other «-« bishops, being therasehlP."'!'''' "'"' ^''-lained the " "hat is called t°he doc.rin^nr'.'' ''^^''™'- This !!<>".• which is a doctr e of CO '/P"""''"' Succc . Fo-- unless the n.inisters of ,h» /^ '1""'"'= importance 'ha. right have the/t^ ac i^ n""'" "^^ ^^-^ ''^ Chrisf passing ihrough a forel„ i ."" ""'"'' •' I*" we were ™n>pe,cnt to act as amb- ^ '-*' "'8'" ''^ P^^a v -" ■■ but would anTf It?; "" «""" "^ S 4 - ''^^^ we could Vod fe „r''''.''V^«"e us fs \ •^''ybeaswellml^r^''^'^™'''''^-' Many _ of -e Lord Chancellor r^f^'" P^'''''™ the duties 's be able to act as Th ,, *^'"'"<=''"or himself but -'-s he has Z receded"! "' • ''"■ "="'-""':^ S '««"•• And so „ithX4tr"r.°'' '■'•''"' '''^^ove haf a man to take upon Wm'!,f , ''"''«'°"- "'bat right sador, unless God has coZ- • °f ' ^' ^o^'s ambf". o'oqnent man he ma; Z T""""^ ^''^ «» '» act rf„ '"^-», but he has no ^V""* ""« ""8'"^ in the ScnV ""'i' God has given h^;L'>' '° '1'^^'= ■"" God's name f<- Paul, shall tVyZeZ ' """"""'y- How, a^' tur? \7'' '•• '■ -n« by G d'';P^^f '-'•""^■. e»ep «"ie, taketh this honn-r L,° . "" "an, says Serin. o*^ God. Nay, even Ch? "" ' ''"' ^' "'^' '« ^a"Td "ot Himself to be made »?k-T "■" ^Po^'e, glorified ;;:">,«'-. "thou a™ „;'so„'' hftS""' I- .hatsaM bee," even //. entered Lt on M °^ ''"''" ^ ''^gotten jend I you... j,;, bow had rTT''"' "''^^" »» lie had sent Him to act afb' *""'" *<"" "i"? «?rth,- as such to apDol^ "" '"« /"preme minister on "--. and to do wtr H Tb ^d ":,:"^--'"- ™-- ■ "^'^^ ^^^en liis work oa r\, of the Church ere bishops or- he case at the efulJj and pro- '&• And the lined by other • ordained the Christ. This 3iical Succes- ■ importance, ■nt by Christ, If we were be perfectly een of Eng- eceive us as i^s? Many ' the duties limself, but a'%; not « his sove- ^[hat right ^'s ambas- >act? An the Scrip- 'd's name, low, asks 'j) except Ks Scrip- is called glorified that said begotten ice until ther, so er hath even so Him ? ster on ite mi- ork on 11 Thf InLtl'"'' *'r^"^ °" ^'' '^^"'"i^^ion to others. Ihe Apostles, m hke manner, were sent by Christ to ac as h,s chief ,ninisters in the Church, Vppoit subordmate mm.sters under them, and then, as He had done, to hand on their commission to other^ And on his commission, after our Lord had ascended up on high the Apostles proceeded to act. They formed S baptized believers, to officiate among whom subordinate ministers, priests and deacons, were ordained, whHe the ;td ovJr h '"' '"r ' ^"^ P^'^^^"'^' ^^^"-h -- an cccLInll 'K""^"^ superintendence, either holding him, (as St. Paul summoned to Miletus the clergy of adi ess!'- ' v'r *T^'"'"^"S "" ^^-" ^h-« Pastora addre ses, which, under the name of Epistles, form so important a portion of Holy Scripture. At lengthXw! ever it became necessary for the Apostles to poVeld yet further, and to do as their Lord had empowered them to do, to hand on their commission to othersXt at their own death the governors of the Church m gh not be extinct. Of this we have an instance in S pasiror 'kT " ?''' '^ ^'- P-^' ^« -^ - S pastor or Bishop, and another in Timothy, who was in jkemannersetovertheChurchofEphesus' Andwhen fmiothy was thus appointed to the iffice of chief pltor rhilippians, conimences his salutation thus: "Paul and Timotheus to the servants of Jesus Christ who are at Philippi, with the Bishops and Deacons " Now we have here the three orders of the ministry clearly alluded to. The title of Bishop is, to be sur7 given to the second order; but it is not for words but' chanlerVf V '" ^° ^^"^^"•^- titles may b changed while offices remain: so senators exist, though they are not now of necessity old men ; and mos absuf d would It be, to contend that when we speak of the Em- fha7h.H'"'''/'^"l' ""i '"^ ™*^^""« «ther office than 'r':l':i!l^V^^ ^°-- republic, because we find .,.,.. Tvr tiiov oaiutea as emperor. So stood the matter in the apostolic age, when the 12 chief pastors of the Church were generally designated Apostles or Angels, i. e. messengers sent by God him- self. In the next century, the office remaining, the de- signation of those who held it was changed, the title of Apostle was confined to the twelve, including St. Paul ; and the chief pastors who succeeded them were thence- forth called Bishops, the subordinate ministers being styled Pnests and Deacons. And thus we see, as Christ was sent by the Father, so He sent the Apostles ; as the Apostles were sent by Christ, so did they send the first race of bishops; as the first race of bishops was sent by the Apostles, so they sent the second race of bishops, the second the third, and so down to our present bishops, who can thus trace their spiritual descent from St. Peter and St. Paul, and prove their divine authority to govern the Churches over which they are canonicallv appointed to preside. Like the Apostles, they have the right to appoint under them the subordinate ministers; and so, let the Papists say what they will, the clergy of England can establish their right by commission from Christ to minister in sacred things. Such was originally the constitution not of one or two Churches only, but of the Church Universal— the Church Catholic. Against the Church so constituted in various places, sectarians arose, even in the apostolic age. These sects were generally like modern sects, distinguished by the names of their founders. -But true Churches dis- dained to be called after any human being whatever, since of them Christ was the Author and Finisher. The episcopal Churches persevering in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, were styled collectively the Catholic Church ; and in order to distinguiph it from the sur- rounding sects, the true orthodox Church in any parti- cular country was sometimes called a branch of the Ca- tholic Church, sometimes the Catholic Church of that place, and hence the term Catholic came by degrees to signify (as Bishop Beveridge remarks) much the same as our term orthodox— the orthodox Church, and ortho- dox members of the same— that Church which adhered to the scriptural discipliue and doctrine universally re- 13 ceived, as distinguished from the discipline invented, and the doctrine propounded, by individual teachers. You see here, by the way, the folly (if it be not a sin, for it is calling "evil, good — and good, evil") of styling the Romish Dissenters in England, as some persons in extreme ignorance, and others perhaps with bad inten- tions do. Catholics ; for this insinuates, that we of the Church of England are heretics, whereas you have seen that ours, not theirs, is the true and orthodox Church of Christ in this country, the real Catholic Church in and of England. If they dislike the name of Papist, we may speak of them as Romanists, or even Roman Catholics. Roman Catholics they may be styled, for (though schis- matics and dissenters in England) in France, and Italy, they belong to a Church true by descent, though corrup- ted by Roman or popish superstitions. A bad man is still a man, and you may refuse to associate with him before he reforms, — but still you will never permit him so to style himself a man as to imply that you yourself are an inhuman being. Pure in its doctrine, apostolic in its discipline, and edifying in its ceremonies, this Catholic and Apostolic Church diffused its blessings, and preserved its purity for many hundred years. In the middle ages it existed, still working good and administering grace according to the exigence of the times ; emitting a ray of light when all around was dark. But the surrounding ignorance and gloom prevented the detection of various corruptions and disfigurements which by degrees crept into it, until in the sixteenth century, the sun of learning having dawned upon Europe, its defects in this country began to betray themselves too obviously to be any longer tole- rated. Of these defects, so far as the English branch of the Church was concerned, the Bishops of the Church of England, as I have before stated, by degrees became aware, and while they venerated the fabric which apos- tles had reared, and of which Christ himself was the chief corner-stone, they carefully removed the incrusta- tions whmh rliiaficrnrpfl if pnA amoaninrf n^s'i" fV.^ ...,uu:~i. - ...3 jj„. — X i,j K..ia ■jTT'>^^piii^ dWaj tijc luuuisn by which it had been overlaid, displayed the real Rock upon which it had been built. Thus was the Caiholic and Apostolic Church, of which we profess our belief in B 14 the creeds, rescued in England from Popish domination, and (reformed or brought back to its primitive purity, dignified in its simplicity) it retained the ministry in regular succession from the Apostles, and a Ritual and Liturgy, which can themselves in great part be traced back to the Apostolic age. Although causelessly to separate from such a Church must be a schismatical act, yet we do not uncharitably pronounce sentence of condemnation upon those who have by circumstances over which they have no control, been brought up without its pale. In error, of course, we believe them to be, but certainly not in such error from that circumstance as to endanger their salvation : and if we suppose them, as we must do, to lack our pri- vileges, this ought only to make us respect them the more, if at any time we find them (with fewer advan- tages) surpassing us in godliness. We do not confine God's grace and favour to the Church, for we remember that though Job was not a member of the then Church of God, still he was a man eminently pious and highly- favoured ; we remember, that though Balaam was not in the Church, yet he was an inspired Prophet : we remember, that Jethro also, the father-in-law of Moses, though not a proselyte to Israel, (and the Church at that time was confined to the Israelites,) was yet a servant of God ; we remember, that the Rechabites were actually com- mended by God at the very time He passed censure upon those who were then his Church — the people Israel. Remembering all this, we say not that other denomi- nations of Christians are cast out from the mercy of God through the Saviour, because they belong not to the Church ; all that we say is, that it does not follow that these concessions must render void the divine appoint- ment of the Church, the divine command to all nations, and of course to all mankind, to be united with it, or the scriptural evidence for episcopacy as the divinely sanc- tioned organization of its ministry, — and we contend, that a treasure having been committed to us, we are not to undervalue it lest we should offend others, but are to preserve it in its purity, and in all its integrity to transmit it to our children and our children's children. And let me ask, Is not the privilege of belonging to a Church thus orthodox in its doctrine, and true by de- .1 A 15 scent, thus both Catholic and Protestant, a privilege for which we should be deeply grateful to the providence and grace of God? And will not the account we shall have to render be awful, if we neglect, despise, or forego the advantages thus placed within our reach ? Let us ever remember, that the primary object for which the Church was instituted by Christ, its Author and Finisher, and for which the apostolical succession of its ministers was established, — that the primary object for which through ages of persecution, and ages of pros- perity, and ages of darkness, and ages of corruption, and ages of reformation, and ages of Latitudinarianism, and now in an age of rebuke and blasphemy, now when we have fallen on evil days and evil tongues, the primary object for which the church has still been preserved by a providential care, marvellous sometimes, if not miraculous in our eyes, was, and is to convey supernaturally the saving merits of the atoning blood of the Lamb of God, and the sanc- tifying graces of his Holy Spirit, to the believer's soul. In the church it is, that the appointed means are to be found by which that mysterious union with Christ is promoted in which our spiritual life consists — in her it is, that the third person of the Blessed Trinity abideth for ever, gradually to change the heart of sinful man, and to make that flesh which he finds stone — gradually to prepare us for heaven, while our ascended Saviour is preparing heaven for us. And, oh! my brethren, what a privilege it is to have this well of living waters, in which you may wash and be clean! You know that you are sinful creatures, very far gone from righteousness; you know that your condition is such, that you cannot turn and prepare yourselves by your own natural strength and good works to faith and calling upon God; you know that by nature you cannot love the Lord your God with all your heart, and soul and strength : you cannot discharge the various duties of your various situations in life; you know that whatever yot .on- dition now may be, the hour must come of affliction and sorrow, of sickness and sadness, the inevitable hour of death; and the Church is instituted to convey to you pardon upon your repentance, and grace in time of need; it is instituted to instruct you in your ignorance, to IG comfort you in your sorrows, to elevate you in your devotions, to bring you into communion with your Sa- viour, your Sanctifier, your God ; to prepare you for the hour of death, yea, for the day of judgment; and this she chiefly does through the sacraments of the Gospel, and the other divinely appointed ordinances of religion, if of them you will but avail yourselves. But this is not all; while the Church thus ministers grace to individuals, it is part of her business to pre- serve, hand down, and proclaim the truth, the whole truth, as it Is in Jesus. And our duty, therefore, it is — especially, if we happen by God's Providence to be called to situations of influence, rank, or autho- rity — by all the means in our power, to increase her efficiency in this respect, to place her on the watch-tower, that her voice may be heard through the length and the breadth of the land; our duty it is, to take care that her faith be preserved intact and pure; our duty it is, to vindicate her from the glosses of ignorance, and the misrepresentations of prejudice and malice ; our duty it is, clearly to define, and zea- lously to maintain those peculiar doctrines and that pe- culiar discipline, which have always marked, and do still continue to mark, the distinction between the Church of Christ, administered under the superintendence of chief Pastors or Bishops who have regularly succeeded to the Apostles, from those sects of Christianity which exist under self-appointed teachers. Against the Church the world seems at this time to be set in array. To be a true and faithful member of the Church, requires no little moral courage. Basely to pretend to belong to her while designing mischief against her in the heart, this is easy enough ; but man- fully to contend for her because she is the Church, a true Church, a pure Church, a holy Church, this is dif- ficult to those who court the praise of men, or fear the censure of the world. May the great God of heaven, may Christ the great Bishop and Shepherd of souls, who is over all things in the Church, put it, my brethren, into your hearts and minds to say and feel (as I do), " As for me and my house, we will live in th» Church, we will die in the Church, and if need shall be, like our martyred forefathers, we will die for the Church."