REESE LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Accessions Mo.Z-fyy Shelf No. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS 
 
 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS, 
 
 BY ALBERT BARNES. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES, VOL I. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 IVISON & PHINNEY. 
 
 CHICAGO: S. C. GRIGGS & CO BUFFALO: PHINNEY & CO. 
 
 LONDON: LOW, SON & CO. 
 
 1855. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by 
 ALBERT BARNES, 
 
 in the Clerk s Office of the District Coxirt of the United States for the Eastern 
 District of Pennsylvania. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BT L. JOHNSON AND CO. 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE Essays and Reviews in this volume are pub 
 lished in this form at the suggestion of others. They 
 have been revised and corrected with such care as I 
 could bestow upon them by having them read to me. 
 Most of them were received favourably at the time 
 when they were first published; and now, after the 
 lapse of many years since they were first presented 
 to the public, they have accomplished a purpose which 
 was never contemplated at the time when they were 
 written by furnishing occupation when unable, by an 
 afflictive dispensation of Providence, to read or write. 
 I would hope, however, that they may subserve a 
 higher end than this, and that they may do something 
 to diffuse and perpetuate correct sentiments on the 
 various points which are discussed. 
 
 Such as they are, they are now submitted to the 
 public. Few men have greater occasion for gratitude 
 for the manner in which their writings have been re 
 ceived, than I have had ; and it is not improper, in this 
 
4 PEEFACE. 
 
 manner, to record the deep sense of the obligation 
 which I feel. At a time of life, and in circumstances in 
 which I can now hope to do little in what has occupied 
 so many hours of my life, and filled up the interstices 
 of professional pursuits, I may be permitted to hope, 
 that these Essays, most of them the productions of 
 earlier years, may be made useful, especially to those 
 who are to occupy the places of men who are soon 
 
 to pass away. 
 
 ALBERT BARNES. 
 
 Philadelphia, Dec. 14, 1854. 
 
CONTENTS OF VOL. I. 
 
 [CHRISTIAN SPECTATOR, 1830.] 
 
 PAGR 
 
 THE ANALOGY OF RELIGION, NATURAL AND REVEALED, TO THE 
 CONSTITUTION AND COURSE OP NATURE. By JOSEPH BUTLER, 
 LL.D... 7 
 
 II. 
 
 [CHRISTIAN SPECTATOR, 1832.] 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY, WITH AN INQUIRY INTO THE CAUSE 
 OF ITS INEFFICIENCY. By the Rev. CHARLES BRIDGES, B.A., 
 Vicar of Old Newton, Suffolk, and Author of "Exposition of 
 Psalm cxix." New York: Jonathan Leavitt. Boston: Crocker 
 and Brewster, 1831. In two vols. 12mo 90 
 
 III. 
 
 [CHRISTIAN SPECTATOR, 1832.] 
 
 THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. Fourvok.fol. London: 1730... 123 
 
 IV. 
 
 [CHRISTIAJf SPECTATOR, 1833.] 
 
 How CAN THE SINNER BE MADE TO FEEL ins GUILT. A Discourse 
 prepared at the request of the "Revival Association," Andover.... 165 
 
 1* 5 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 V. 
 
 [CHRISTIAN SPECTATOR, 1834.] 
 
 PAGE 
 
 EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. By the Right Reverend HENRY 
 U. OXDERDONK, D.D., Assistant Bishop of the Protestant Episco 
 pal Church, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. New York : 
 published by the Protestant Episcopal Tract Society, pp. 46 200 
 
 VI. 
 
 [CHRISTIAN SPECTATOR, 1835.] 
 
 SCRIPTURAL ARGUMENT ON THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. An 
 swer to a Review (in the Quarterly Christian Spectator] of "Epis 
 copacy tested by Scripture," first published in the Protestant 
 Episcopalian, for May, 1834. Philadelphia: Jespcr Harding ; 
 1834. pp. 19 252 
 
 VII. 
 
 [NEW ENGLANDER, 1844.] 
 
 THE POSITION OF THE EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL 
 CHURCH .. 317 
 

 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 i. 
 
 [CHRISTIAN SPECTATOR, 1830.] 
 
 The Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the 
 Constitution and Course of Nature. By JOSEPH BUTLER, 
 LL.D. 
 
 IN directing the attention of our readers to the great work 
 whose title we have placed at the head of this article, we sup 
 pose that we are rendering an acceptable service chiefly to one 
 class. The ministers of religion, we presume, need not our 
 humble recommendation of a treatise so well known as Butler s 
 Analogy. It will not b*e improper, however, to suggest that 
 even our clerical readers may be less familiar than they should 
 be with a work which saps all foundations of unbelief; and 
 may, perhaps, have less faithfully carried out the principles 
 of the Analogy, and interwoven them less into their theo 
 logical system, than might reasonably have been expected. 
 Butler already begins to put on the venerable air of antiquity. 
 He belongs, in the character of his writings at least, to the 
 men of another age. He is abstruse, profound, dry, and, to 
 minds indisposed to thought, is often wearisome and disgust 
 ing. Even in clerical estimation, then, his work may some 
 times be numbered among those repulsive monuments of 
 
8 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 ancient wisdom which men of this age pass by indiscrimi 
 nately, as belonging to times of barbarous strength and 
 unpolished warfare. 
 
 But our design in bringing Butler more distinctly before 
 the public eye has respect primarily to another class of our 
 readers. In an age pre-eminently distinguished for the short 
 lived productions of the imagination; when reviewers feel 
 themselves bound to serve up to the public taste, rather the 
 desserts and confectionaries of the literary world, than the 
 sound and wholesome fare of other times; when, in many 
 places, it is even deemed stupid and old-fashioned to notice an 
 ancient book, or to speak of the wisdom of our fathers, we desire 
 to do what may lie in our power to stay the headlong propen 
 sities of the times, and recall the public mind to the records 
 of past wisdom. We have no blind predilection for the prin 
 ciples of other days. We bow down before no opinion because 
 it is ancient. We even feel and believe, that in all the mo 
 mentous questions pertaining to morals, politics, science, and 
 religion, we are greatly in advance of past ages; and our 
 hearts expand with joy at the prospect of still greater simpli 
 city and clearness in the statement and defence of the cardinal 
 doctrines of the Reformation. Most of the monuments of past 
 wisdom we believe capable of improvement in these respects. 
 Thus we regard the works of Luther, Calvin, Beza, and Owen. 
 We look on them as vast repositories of learning, piety and 
 genius. In the great doctrines which these works were in 
 tended to support we do firmly believe. Still, though we 
 love to linger in the society of such men, and though our 
 humble intellect bows before them, as in the presence of trans 
 cendent genius, yet we feel that in some things their views 
 were darkened by the habits of thinking of a less cultivated 
 age than this; that their philosophy was often wrong, while 
 the doctrines which they attempted to defend by it were cor 
 rect ; and that even they would have hailed, on many topics, 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 9 
 
 the increased illumination of later times. Had modern ways 
 of thinking been applied to their works, had the results of a 
 deeper investigation into the laws of the mind and the princi 
 ples of biblical criticism, been in their possession, their works 
 would have been the most perfect records of human wisdom 
 which the world contains. 
 
 Some of those great monuments of the power of human 
 thought, however, stand complete. By a mighty effort of 
 genius, their authors seized on truth ; they fixed it in perma 
 nent forms ; they chained down scattered reasonings, and left 
 them to be surveyed by men of less mental stature and far 
 feebler powers. It is a proof of no mean talent now to be 
 able to follow where they lead; to grasp in thought what 
 they had the power to originate. They framed a complete 
 system at the first touch; and all that remains for coming 
 ages corresponds to what Johnson has said of poets in respect 
 to Homer, to "transpose their arguments, new-name their rea 
 sonings, and paraphrase their sentiments/ 5 * The works of 
 such men are a collection of principles, to be carried into every 
 region of morals and theology, as a standard of all other views 
 of truth. Such a distinction we are disposed to give to 
 Butler s Analogy; and it is because we deem it worthy of 
 such a distinction, that we now single it out from the great 
 works of the past, and commend it to the attention of our 
 readers. 
 
 There are two great departments of investigation respect 
 ing the u analogy of religion to the constitution and course of 
 nature/ The one contemplates that analogy as existing 
 between the declarations of the Bible and ascertained facts in 
 the structure of the globe, the organization of the animal 
 system, the memorials of ancient history, the laws of light, 
 heat, and gravitation, the dimensions of the earth, and the 
 
 * Johnson. Preface to Shakspeare. 
 
10 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 form and motion of the heavenly bodies. From all these 
 sources, objections have been derived against revelation. The 
 most furious attacks have been made, at one time by the 
 geologist, at another by the astronomer on one pretense by 
 the antiquarian, and on another by the chemist, against some 
 part of the system of revealed truth. Yet never have any 
 assaults been less successful. Every effort of this kind has 
 resulted in the establishment of this great truth, that no man 
 has yet commenced an investigation of the works of nature, for 
 the purpose of assailing revelation, who did not ultimately 
 exhibit important facts in its confirmation, just in proportion 
 to his eminence and success in his own department of inquiry. 
 We are never alarmed, therefore, when we see an infidel phi 
 losopher of real talents, commence an investigation into the 
 works of nature. We hail his labours as destined ultimately 
 to be auxiliary to the cause of truth. We have learned that 
 here Christianity has nothing to fear ; and men of science, we 
 believe, are beginning to understand that here infidelity has 
 nothing to hope. As a specimen of the support which Christi 
 anity receives from the researches of science, we refer our 
 readers to Ray s Wisdom of God, to Paley s Natural Theology, 
 and to Dick s Christian Philosopher. 
 
 The other department of investigation to which we referred 
 is that which relates to the analogy of revealed truth to the 
 actual facts exhibited in the moral government of the world. 
 This is the department which Butler has entered, and which 
 he has so successfully explored. It is obvious that the first is 
 a wider field, in regard to the number of facts which bear on 
 the analogy : the latter is more profound and less tangible, in 
 relation to the great subject of theological debate. The first 
 meets more directly the open and plausible objections of the 
 blasphemer; the latter represses the secret infidelity of the 
 human heart, and .silences more effectually the ten thousand 
 clamours which are accustomed to be raised against the peculiar 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 11 
 
 doctrines of the Bible. The first is open to successive advances, 
 and will be so, till the whole physical structure of the world is 
 fully investigated and known. The latter, we may almost infer, 
 seems destined to rest where it now is, and to stand before the 
 world as complete as it ever will be, by one prodigious effort 
 of a gigantic mind. Each successive chemist, antiquary, astro 
 nomer, and anatomist will throw light on some great depart 
 ment of human knowledge, to be moulded to the purposes 
 of religion by some future Paley, or Dick, or Good ; and in 
 every distinguished man of science, whatever may be his reli 
 gious feelings, we hail an ultimate auxiliary to the cause 
 of truth. Butler, however, seems to stand alone. No adven 
 turous mind has attempted to press his great principles of 
 thought still further into the regions of moral inquiry. 
 Though the subject of moral government is better understood 
 now than it was in its day ; though light has been thrown on 
 the doctrines of theology, and a perceptible advance been made 
 in the knowledge of the laws of the mind, yet whoever now 
 wishes to know " the analogy of religion to the constitution 
 and course of nature," has nowhere else to go but to Butler; 
 or if he is able to apply the principles of Butler, he has 
 only to incorporate them with his own reasonings, to furnish 
 the solution of those facts and difficulties that " perplex mor 
 tals." We do not mean by this, that Butler has exhausted 
 the subject. We mean only that no man has attempted to 
 carry it beyond the point where he left it; and that his work, 
 though not in our view as complete as modern habits of 
 thought would permit it to be, yet stands like one of those 
 vast piles of architecture commenced in the Middle Ages 
 proofs of consummate skill, of vast power, of amazing wealth, 
 yet in some respects incomplete or disproportioned, but which 
 no one since has dared to remodel, and which no one, per 
 haps, has had either the wealth, the power, or the genius 
 requisite to make more complete. 
 
12 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 Of Butler, as a man, little is known. This is one of the 
 many cases, where we are compelled to lament the want of a 
 full and faithful biography. With the leading facts of his 
 life, as a parish priest and a prelate, we are indeed made ac 
 quainted. But here our knowledge of him ends. Of Butler 
 as a man of piety, of the secret, practical operations of his 
 mind, we know little. Now it is obvious that we could be in 
 possession of no legacy more valuable, in regard to such a 
 man, than the knowledge of the secret feelings of his heart ; 
 of the application of his own modes of thinking to his own 
 soul, to subdue the ever-varying forms of human weakness 
 and guilt ; and of his practical way of obviating, for his per 
 sonal comfort, the suggestions of unbelief in his own bosom. 
 This fact we know, that he was engaged upon his Analogy 
 during a period of twenty years. Yet we know nothing of the 
 effect on his own soul; of the mode in which he blunted and 
 warded off the poisoned shafts of infidelity. Could we see the 
 internal organization of his mind, as we can now see that 
 of Johnson; could .we trace the connection between his 
 habits of thought and his pious emotions, it would be a trea 
 sure to the world equalled perhaps only by his Analogy, and 
 one which we may in vain hope now to possess. The true 
 purposes of biography have been hitherto but little under 
 stood. The mere external events pertaining to great men are 
 often of little value. They are without the mind, and produce 
 feelings unconnected with any important purposes of human 
 improvement. Who reads now with any emotion, except 
 regret, that this is all he can read of such a man as Butler 
 that he was born in 1692, graduated at Oxford in 1721, 
 preached at the Rolls till 1726, was made Bishop of Durham 
 in 1750, and died in 1752. We learn, indeed, that he was 
 high in favour at the university, and subsequently at court; 
 that he was retiring, modest and unassuming in his deport 
 ment; and that his elevation to the Deanery of St. Paul s, and 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 13 
 
 to the princely See of Durham, was not the effect of ambition, 
 but the voluntary tribute of those in power to transcendent 
 talent and exalted though retiring worth. An instance of 
 his modest and unambitious habits, given in the record of his 
 life, is worthy of preservation, and is highly illustrative of his 
 character. For seven years he was occupied in the humble 
 and laborious duties of a parish priest, at Stanhope. His 
 friends regretted his retirement, and sought preferment for 
 him. Mr. Seeker, an intimate friend of Butler, being made 
 chaplain to the king in 1732, one day, in conversation with 
 Queen Caroline, took occasion to mention his friend s name. 
 The queen said she thought he was dead, and asked Arch 
 bishop Blackburn if that was not the case. His reply was, 
 " Xo, madam, but he is buried/ He was thus raised again 
 to notice, and ultimately to high honours in the hierarchy of 
 the English- church. 
 
 Butler was naturally of a contemplative and somewhat me 
 lancholy turn of mind. He sought retirement, therefore, and 
 yet needed society. It is probable that natural inclination, as 
 well as the prevalent habits of unbelief in England, suggested 
 the plan of his Analogy. Yet, though retiring and unambi 
 tious, lie was lauded in the days of his advancement, as sus 
 taining the episcopal office with great dignity and splendour 
 as conducting the ceremonies of religion with a pomp ap 
 proaching the grandeur of the Roman Catholic form of wor 
 ship ] and as treating the neighbouring clergy and nobility 
 with the " pride, pomp, and circumstance/ becoming, in 
 their view, a minister of Jesus transformed into a nobleman 
 of secular rank, and reckoned among the great officers of state. 
 These are, in our view, spots in the life of Butler and all 
 attempts to conceal them have only rendered them more 
 glaring. Xo authority of antiquity, no plea of the grandeur 
 of imposing rites, can justify the pomp and circumstance 
 appropriate to an English prelatical bishop, or invest with 
 
14 REVIEWS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 sacred authority the canons of a church that elevates the 
 humble ministers of Him who had not where to lay his head, 
 to the splendours of a palace or the pretended honours of an 
 archiepiscopal throne to a necessary alliance, under every 
 danger to personal and ministerial character, with profligate 
 noblemen or intriguing and imperious ministers. But Butler 
 drew his title to memory, in subsequent ages, neither from the 
 tinsel of rank, the staff and lawn of office, nor the attendant 
 pomp and grandeur arising from the possession of one of the 
 richest benefices in England. Butler the prelate will be for 
 gotten : Butler the author of the Analogy will live to the 
 last recorded time. 
 
 In the few remains of the Life of Butler, we lament, 
 still more than any thing we have mentioned, that we learn 
 nothing of his habits of study, his mode of investigation, and, 
 especially, the process by which he composed his Analogy. 
 We are told, indeed, that it combines the results of his 
 thoughts for twenty years, and his observations and reading 
 during that long period of his life. lie is said to have 
 written and re-written different parts of it, to have studied 
 each word and phrase, until it expressed precisely his moan 
 ing, and no more. It bears plenary evidence that it must 
 have been written by such a condensing and epitomizing pro 
 cess. Any man may be satisfied of this who attempts to 
 express the thoughts in other language than that employed in 
 the Analogy. Instinctively the sentences and paragraphs will 
 swell out to a much greater size, and defy all the powers we 
 possess to reduce them to their primitive dimensions, unless 
 they be driven within the precise enclosures prescribed by the 
 mind of Butler. We regret in vain that this is all our know 
 ledge of the mechanical and mental process by which this 
 book was composed. We are not permitted to see him at his 
 toil, to mark the workings of his mind, and to learn the art 
 of looking intensely at a thought until we see it standing 
 
BUTLEll S ANALOGY. l-> 
 
 alone, aloof from all attendants, and prepared for a permanent 
 location where the author intended to fix its abode, to be con 
 templated, as he viewed it, in all coming ages. AVo can 
 hardly repress our indignation that those who undertake to 
 write the biography of such gifted men, should not tell us 
 less of their bodies, their trappings, their honours, and 
 their offices, and more of the workings of the spirit, the 
 process of subjecting and restraining the native wanderings 
 of the mind. Nor can we suppress the sigh of regret that 
 he has not himself revealed to us what no other man could 
 have done, and admitted subsequent admirers to the inti 
 macy of friendship, and to a contemplation of the process 
 by which the Analogy was conceived and executed. Over 
 the past, however, it is in vain to sigh. Every man feels 
 that hitherto we have had but little biography. Sketches 
 of the external circumstances of many men we have gene 
 alogical tables without number and without end chronicled 
 wonders, that such a man was born and died, ran through 
 such a circle of honours, and obtained such a mausoleum to 
 perpetuate his memory. But histories of mind we have not; 
 and, for all the great purposes of knowledge, we should know 
 as much of the man, if we had not looked upon the misnamed 
 biography. 
 
 We now take leave of Butler as a man, and direct our 
 thoughts more particularly to his great work. 
 
 Those were dark and portentous times which succeeded the 
 reign of the Second Charles. That voluptuous and witty 
 monarch had contributed more than any mortal, before or 
 since his time, to fill a nation with infidels and debauchees. 
 Corruption had seized upon the highest orders of the state, 
 and it flowed down on all ranks of the community. Every 
 grade in life had caught the infection of the court. Profligacy 
 is alternately the parent and the child of unbelief. The un 
 thinking multitude of courtiers and flatterers that fluttered 
 
16 REVIEWS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 around the court of Charles, had learned to scoff at Christian 
 ity, and to consider it as not worth the trouble of anxious 
 thought. The influence of the court extended over the nation. 
 It soon infected the schools and professions; and perhaps 
 there has not been a time in British history when infidelity 
 had become so general, and had assumed a form so malignant. 
 It had attached itself to dissoluteness, deep, dreadful, and 
 universal. It was going hand in hand with all the pleasures 
 of a profligate court ; it was identified with all that actuated 
 the souls of Charles and his ministers; it was the kind of 
 infidelity which fitted an unthinking age scorning alike 
 reason, philosophy, patient thought, and purity of morals. 
 In the language of Butler, "it had come to be taken for 
 granted, by many persons, that Christianity is not so much as 
 a subject of inquiry, but that it is now, at length, discovered 
 to be fictitious ; and, accordingly, they treat it as if, in the 
 present age, this were an agreed point among all people of 
 discernment, and nothing remained but to set it up as a prin 
 cipal subject of mirth and ridicule, as it were, by way of 
 reprisals for its having so long interrupted the pleasures 
 of the world." In times of such universal profligacy and 
 infidelity arose, in succession, Locke, Newton, and Butler; 
 the two former of whom, we need not say, have been unsur 
 passed in great powers of thought and in the influence which 
 they exerted on the sentiments of mankind. It needed such 
 men to bring back a volatile generation to habits of profound 
 thought in the sciences. It needed such a man as Butler, in 
 our view not inferior in profound thought to either, and 
 whose works will have a more permanent effect on the desti 
 nies of men than both, to arrest the giddy steps of a nation ; 
 to bring religion from the palace of a scoffing prince and 
 court to the bar of sober thought, and to show that Christian 
 ity was not undeserving of sober inquiry. This was the 
 design of the Analogy. It was not so much to furnish a 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 17 
 
 complete demonstration of the truth of religion, as to show 
 that it could not be proved to be false. It was to show that 
 it accorded with a great system of things actually going on in 
 the world, and that attacks made on Christianity were, to the 
 same extent, assaults on the course of nature and of nature s 
 God. Butler pointed the unbeliever to a grand system of 
 things in actual existence, a world with every variety of cha 
 racter, feeling, conduct, and results a system of things 
 deeply mysterious, yet developing great principles, and bear 
 ing proof that it was under the government of God. He 
 traced certain indubitable acts of the Almighty in a course 
 of nature, whose existence could not be denied. Now, if it 
 could be shown that Christianity contained like results, acts, 
 and principles ; if it was a scheme involving no greater mys- 
 tery, and demanding a correspondent conduct on the part 
 of man, it would be seen that it had proceeded from the 
 same author. In other words, the objections alleged against 
 Christianity, being equally applicable against the course of 
 nature, could not be valid. To show this was the design 
 of Butler. In doing this he carried the war into the camp 
 of the enemy. He silenced the objector s arguments; or, 
 if the objector still continued to urge them, he showed him 
 that, with equal propriety, they could be urged against the 
 acknowledged course of things ; against his own principles of 
 conduct on other subjects; against what indubitably affected 
 his condition here, and what might, therefore, affect his doom 
 hereafter. 
 
 We are fond of thus looking at the Bible as part of one 
 vast plan of communicating truth to created intelligences. 
 We know it is the fullest and most grand of all God s ways 
 of teaching men, standing amidst the sources of information, 
 as the sun does amid the stars of heaven, quenching their 
 feeble glimmerings in the fulness of its meridian splendour. 
 But, to carry forward the illustration, the sun does, indeed, 
 
 2* 
 
18 REVIEWS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 cause the stars of night to " hide their diminished heads ;" 
 but we see in both but one system of laws ; and whether in 
 the trembling of the minutest orb that emits its faint rays 
 to us from the farthest bounds of space, or the full light of 
 the sun at noon-day, we trace the hand of the same God, and 
 feel that " all are but parts of one stupendous whole/ 7 Thus 
 it is with revelation. "We know that its truths comprise all 
 that the world elsewhere contains ; that its authority is su 
 preme over all the other sources of knowledge, and all the 
 other facts of the moral system. But there are other sources 
 of information a vast multitude of facts that we expect to 
 find in accordance with this brighter effulgence from heaven ; 
 and it is these facts which the Analogy brings to the aid of 
 revelation. The Bible is in religion what the telescope is in 
 astronomy. It does not contradict any thing before known ; 
 it does not annihilate any thing before seen : it carries the eye 
 forward into new worlds, opens it upon more splendid fields 
 of vision, displays grander systems, where we thought there 
 was but the emptiness of space or the darkness of illimitable 
 and profound night, and divides the milky way into vast clus 
 ters of suns and stars, of worlds and systems. In all the 
 boundlessness of these fields of vision, however, does the teles 
 cope point us to any new laws of acting, any new principle by 
 which the universe is governed ? The astronomer tells us not. 
 It is the hand of the same God which he sees, impelling the 
 new worlds that burst on the view in the immensity of space 
 with the same irresistible and inconceivable energy, and en 
 compassing them with the same clear fields of light. So we 
 expect to find it in revelation. We expect to see plans, laws, 
 purposes, actions, and results, uniform with. the facts in actual 
 existence before our eyes. Whether in the smiles of an 
 infant, or the rapt feelings of a seraph ; in the strength of 
 manhood, or the power of Gabriel , in the rewards of virtue 
 here, or the crown of glory hereafter, we expect to find the 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 19 
 
 Creator acting on one grand principle of moral government, 
 applicable to all these facts, and to be vindicated by the same 
 considerations. 
 
 When we approach the Bible, we are at once struck with 
 a most striking correspondence of plan to that which obtains 
 in the natural world. When we teach theology in our 
 schools, we do it by system, by form, by technicalities. We 
 frame what we call a " body of divinity," expecting all its 
 parts to cohere and agree. We shape and clip the angles and 
 points of our theology, till they shall fit, like the polished 
 stones of the temple of Solomon, into their place. So, when 
 we teach astronomy, botany, or geography, it is by a regular 
 system before us, having the last discoveries of the science 
 located in their proper place. But how different is the plan 
 which, in each of these departments, is pursued by infinite 
 wisdom. The truths which God designs to teach us lie spread 
 over a vast compass. They are placed without much apparent 
 order. Those of revelation lie before us, just as the various 
 facts do which go to make up a system of botany or astro 
 nomy. The great Author of nature has not placed all flowers 
 in a single situation, nor given them a scientific arrangement. 
 They are scattered over the wide world. Part bloom on the 
 mountain ; part in the valley ; part shed their fragrance near 
 the running stream ; part pour their sweetness on the desert 
 air, "in the solitary waste where no man is;" part climb in 
 vines to giddy heights, and part are found in the bosom of the 
 mighty waters. He that forms a theory of botany must do it, 
 therefore, with hardy toil. He will find the materials, not 
 the system, made ready to his hands. He will exhaust his 
 life, perhaps, in his labour, before the system stands complete. 
 Why should we not expect to find the counterpart of all this in 
 religion ? When we look at the Bible, we find the same state 
 of things. At first but a ray of light beamed upon the dark 
 path of our apostate parents, wandering from Paradise. The 
 
20 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 sun that had stood over their heads in the garden of pleasure, 
 at their fall sunk to the west, and left them in the horrors of 
 a moral midnight. A single ray, in the promise of a Saviour, 
 shot along their path, and directed to the source of day. But 
 did G-od reveal a whole system ? Did he tell them all the 
 truth that he knew ? Did he tell all that we know ? He did 
 just as we have supposed in regard to the first botanist. The 
 eye was fixed on one truth distinctly. Subsequent revela 
 tions shed new light; advancing facts confirmed preceding 
 doctrines and promises ; rising prophets gave confirmation to 
 the hopes of men ; precepts, laws, and direct revelations rose 
 upon the world, until the system of revealed truth is now 
 complete. Man has all he can have, except the facts which 
 the progress of things is yet to develop in confirmation of the 
 system, just as each new budding flower goes to confirm the 
 just principles of the naturalist, and to show what the system 
 is. Yet how do we possess the system ? As arranged, di 
 gested, and reduced to order? Far from it. "We have the 
 book of revelation just as we have the book of nature. In the 
 beginning of the Bible, for example, we have a truth ab 
 stractly taught ; in another part it is illustrated in the. life of a 
 prophet ; as we advance it is confirmed by the fuller revelation 
 of the Saviour or the apostles, and we find its full development 
 only when the whole book is complete. Here stands a law ; 
 there a promise \ there a profound mystery, unarranged, undi 
 gested, yet strikingly accordant with a multitude of corres 
 pondent views in the Bible, and with as many in the moral 
 world. Now, here is a mode of communication which impos 
 ture would have carefully avoided, because detection, it would 
 foresee, must, on such a plan, be unavoidable. It seems to us 
 that, if men had intended to impose a system on the world, it 
 would have been somewhat in the shape of our bodies of 
 divinity, and, therefore, very greatly unlike the plan which 
 we actually find in the Bible. At any rate, we approach the 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 21 
 
 Bible with this strong presumption in favour of its truth, that 
 it accords precisely with what we see in astronomy, chemistry, 
 botany, and geography, and that the mode of constructing 
 systems in all these sciences is exactly the same as in dogma 
 tical theology. 
 
 We have another remark to make on this subject. The 
 botanist does not shape his facts. He is the collector, the 
 nrranger, not the originator. So the framer of systems in 
 religion should be, and it is matter of deep regret that such he 
 has not been. He should be merely the collector and the 
 arranger, not the originator of the doctrines of the gospel; and, 
 though we think him of some importance, yet we do not set a 
 high value on his labours. We honour the toils of a man 
 who tells of the uses, the beauties, and the medicinal properties 
 of the plant, far more than of him who merely declares its 
 rank, its order, its class in the Linnean system. So in theo 
 logy, we admire the greatness of mind which can bring out an 
 original truth, illustrate it, and show its proper bearing on 
 the spiritual interests of our race, far more than we do the 
 plodding chiseller who shape sit to its place in his system. It 
 makes no small demand on our patience, when we see the 
 system-maker remove angle after angle, and apply stroke after 
 stroke to some great mass of truth which some mighty genius 
 has struck out, but which keen-eyed and jealous orthodoxy 
 will not admit to its proper bearing on the souls of men until 
 it is located in a creed, and cramped into some frame-work 
 of faith that has been reared around the Bible. Our sympa 
 thy with such men as Butler, and Chalmers, and Foster, and 
 Hall, is far greater than with Turretine or Ridgely. With 
 still less patience do we listen to those whose only business it 
 is to shape and reduce to prescribed form; who never look 
 at a passage in the Bible or a fact in nature, without first 
 robbing it pf its freshness, by an attempt to give it a sectarian 
 location ; who never stumble on an original and unclassified 
 
22 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 idea, without asking whether the system-maker had left any 
 niche for the late-born intruder; and who apply to it all 
 tests, as to a nondescript substance in chemistry, in order to 
 fasten on it the charge of an affinity with some rejected con 
 fession or some creed of a suspected name. This is to abuse 
 reason and revelation for the sake of putting honour on 
 creeds. It is to suppose that the older creed-makers had 
 before them all shades of thought, all material and mental 
 facts, all knowledge of what mind Jias been and can l>e, and 
 all other knowledge of the adaptedness of the Bible to every 
 enlarged and fluctuating process of thought. It is to doom 
 the theologian to an eternal dwelling in Greenland frost and 
 snows, instead of sending him. forth to breathe the mild air 
 of freedom, and to make him a large-minded and fearless 
 interpreter of the oracles of God. 
 
 It is not our intention to follow the profound author of the 
 Analogy through his laboured demonstrations, or to attempt 
 to offer an abridged statement of his reasoning. Butler, as 
 we have already remarked, is incapable of abridgment. His 
 thoughts are already condensed into as narrow a compass as the 
 nature of language will admit. All that we purpose to do is 
 to give a speci mew of the argument from analogy in support 
 of the Christian religion, without very closely following the 
 book before us. 
 
 The main points at issue between Christianity and its oppo- 
 sers are, whether there is a future state ; whether our conduct 
 here will affect our condition there ; whether God so controls 
 things as to reward and punish ; whether it is reasonable to 
 act with reference to our condition hereafter; whether the 
 favour of God is to be obtained with or without the mediation 
 of another; whether crime and suffering are indissolubly united 
 in the moral government of God; and whether Christianity 
 is a scheme in accordance with the acknowledged laws of the 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 23 
 
 universe, and is supported by evidence so clear as to make it 
 proper to act on the belief of its truth. 
 
 Infidelity, in its proper form, approaches man with the 
 declaration that there cannot be a future state. It affirms, 
 often with much apparent concern, that there can be no satis 
 factory evidence of what pertains to a dark, invisible, and 
 distant world ; that the mind is incompetent to sot up land 
 marks along its own future course ; and that we can have no 
 certain proof that in that dark abyss we shall live, act, or 
 think at all. It affirms that the whole analogy of things is 
 against such a supposition. We have no evidence, it declares, 
 that one of all the millions who have died has lived beyond 
 the grave. In sickness and old age, it is said, the body and 
 soul seem alike to grow feeble and decay, and both soon to 
 expire together. That they ever exist separate, it is said, has 
 not been proved. That such a dissolution and separate ex 
 istence should take place is affirmed to be contrary to the 
 analogy of all other things. That the soul and body should 
 be united again, and constitute a single being, is said to be 
 without a parallel fact in other things to divest it of its inhe 
 rent improbability. 
 
 Now let us suppose for a moment, that, endued with our 
 present powers of thought, we had been united to bodies of 
 far feebler frame, and much more slender dimensions, than we 
 now inhabit. Suppose that our spirits had been doomed to 
 inhabit the body of a crawling reptile, scarce an inch in 
 length, prone on the earth, and doomed to draw out its little 
 length to obtain locomotion from day to day, and scarce 
 noticeable by the mighty beings above it. Suppose in that 
 lowly condition, as we contemplated the certainty of our 
 speedy dissolution, we should look upon our kindred reptiles, 
 the partners of our cares, and should see their strength gra 
 dually waste, their faculties grow dim, their bodies become 
 chill in death. Suppose now that it should be revealed to us 
 
24 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 that those bodies would undergo a transformation ; that at no 
 great distance of time they would start up into .new being; 
 that in their narrow graves there would be seen the evidence 
 of returning life } and that these same deformed, prone, and 
 decaying frames would be clothed with the beauty of gaudy 
 colours, be instinct with life, leave the earth, soar at pleasure 
 in a new element, take their rank in a new order of beings, 
 be divested of all that was offensive and loathsome in their 
 old abode in the eyes of other beings, and be completely dis 
 sociated from all the plans, habits, relations, and feelings of 
 their former lowly condition. We ask whether against this 
 supposition there would not lie all the objections which have 
 ever been alleged against the doctrine of a resurrection and a 
 future state ? Yet the world has long been familiar with 
 changes of this character. The changes which animal nature 
 undergoes to produce the gay colours of the butterfly have as 
 much antecedent improbability as those pertaining to the pre 
 dicted resurrection, and, for aught that we can see, are impro 
 babilities of precisely the same nature. So in a case still 
 more in point. No two states which revelation has presented, 
 as actually contemplated in the condition of man, are more 
 unlike than those of an unborn infant and of a hoary man 
 ripe with wisdom and honours. So far as appears, the state 
 of the embryo, and that of Newton, Locke, and Bacon, in 
 their mature powers, have, at least, as much dissimilarity as 
 those between man here and man in a future state. Grant 
 that a revelation could be made to such an embryo, and it 
 would be attended with all the difficulties that are supposed 
 to attend the doctrine of revelation. That this unformed 
 being should leave the element in which it commences its 
 existence ; that it should be ushered in another element with 
 powers precisely adjusted to its new state, and useless in its 
 first abode like the eye, the ear, the hand, the foot ; that it 
 should assume relations to hundreds and thousands of other 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 2o 
 
 beings at first unknown, and these, too, living in what, to the 
 embryo, must be esteemed a different world ; that it should be 
 capable of traversing seas, of measuring the distances of stars, 
 of gauging the dimensions of suns; that it could calculate 
 with unerring certainty the conjunctions and oppositions, the 
 transits and altitudes of the vast wheeling orbs of immensity, 
 is as improbable as any change which man, under the 
 guidance of revelation, has yet expected in his most sanguine 
 moments. Yet nothing is more familiar to us. So the ana 
 logy might be run through all the changes which animals and 
 vegetables exhibit; nor has the infidel a right to reject the 
 revelations of Christianity respecting a future state, until he 
 has disposed of facts of precisely the same nature with which 
 our world abounds. 
 
 But are we under a moral government ? Admitting the 
 probability of a future state, is the plan on which the world is 
 actually administered one which will be likely to affect our 
 condition there? Is there any reason to believe, from the 
 analogy of things, that the affairs of the universe will ever, 
 in some future condition, settle down into permanency and 
 order? That this is the doctrine of Christianity none can 
 deny. It is a matter of clear revelation; indeed, it is the 
 entire basis and structure of the scheme, that the affairs of 
 justice and of law are under suspense; that "judgment now 
 lingereth and damnation slumbereth ;" that crime is, for the 
 present, dissociated from wo, for a specific purpose, viz. that 
 mortals may repent and be forgiven; and that there will come 
 a day when the native indissoluble connection between sin and 
 suffering will be restored, and that they will then travel on 
 hand in hand forever. This is the essence of Christianity, 
 and it is a most interesting inquiry, whether any thing like 
 this can be found in the actual government of the world. 
 
 Now it cannot be denied that, on this subject, we are 
 thrown into a most remarkable, a chaotic mass of facts. The 
 VOL. I. 3 
 
26 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 world is so full of irregularity the lives of wicked men are 
 so often peaceful and triumphant virtue so often pines ne 
 glected in the vale of obscurity, or weeps and groans under 
 the iron hand of the oppressor, that it appals men in all their 
 attempts to reduce the system to order. Rewards and punish 
 ments are so often apparently capricious, that there is pre 
 sumptive proof, in the mind of the infidel, that it will always 
 continue so to be. And yet what if, amid all this apparent 
 disorder, there should be found the elements of a grand and 
 glorious system, soon to rise on its ruins ? What if, amid 
 all the triumphs of vice, there should still be found evidence 
 to prove that God works by an unseen power, but most effec 
 tually, in sending judicial inflictions on men even now ? And 
 what if, amid these ruins, there is still to be found evidence 
 that God rewards virtue even here, and is preparing for it 
 more appropriate rewards hereafter like the parts of a beau 
 tiful temple strewed and scattered in the ruins of some ancient 
 city, but which, if again placed together, would be symmetri 
 cal, harmonious, and grand ? 
 
 Christianity proceeds on the supposition that such is the 
 fact; and, amid all the wreck of human things, we can still 
 discover certain fixed results of human conduct. The conse 
 quences of an action do not terminate with the commission of 
 the act itself, or with the immediate effect of that act on the 
 body. They travel over into future results, and strike on 
 some other, often some distant part of our earthly existence. 
 Frequently the true effect of the act is not seen except Icyond 
 some result that may be considered as the accidental one : 
 though for the sake of that immediate effect the act may have 
 been performed. This is strikingly the case in the worst 
 forms of vice. The immediate effect, for example, of intem 
 perance is a certain pleasurable sensation, for the sake of 
 which the man became intoxicated. The true effect, or the 
 effect as part <>f moral government, travels beyond that 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 27 
 
 temporary delirium, and is seen in the loss of health, charac 
 ter, and peace ; perhaps not terminating in its consequences 
 during the whole future progress of the victim. So the direct 
 result of profligacy may be the gratification of passion ; of 
 avarice, the pleasurable indulgence of a grovelling propensity ; 
 of ambition, the glow of feeling in splendid achievements, 
 or the grandeur and pomp of the monarch or the warrior ; 
 of duelling, a pleasurable sensation that revenge Las been 
 taken for insult. 3>ut do the consequences of these deeds 
 terminate here ? If they did, we should doubt the moral 
 government of God. But in regard to their ultimate effects, 
 the universe furnishes but one lesson. The consequences 
 of these deeds travel over in advance of this pleasure, and fix 
 themselves deep, beyond human power to eradicate them, in 
 the property, health, reputation, or peace of the man of guilt ; 
 nay, perhaps the consequences thicken until we take our hist 
 view of him as he gasps in death, and all that we know of 
 him, as he goes from our observation, is that heavier thunder 
 bolts are seen trembling in the hand of God, and pointing 
 their vengeance at the head of the dying man. What infidel 
 can prove that some of the results, at least, of that crime, may 
 not travel on to meet him in his future being, and beset his 
 goings there ? 
 
 Further, as a general law, the virtuous are prospered, and 
 the wicked punished. Society is organized for this. Laws 
 arc made for this. The entire community throws its arms 
 around the man of virtue; and, in like manner, the entire 
 community, by its laws, gathers around the transgressor. Let 
 a man attempt to commit a crime, and, before the act is com 
 mitted, he may meet with fifty evidences that he is doing that 
 which will involve him in ruin. He must struggle with his 
 conscience. He must contend with what he knows to have 
 been the uniform judgment of men. He must keep himself 
 from the eye of justice. He must overcome all the proofs 
 
28 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 which have been set up that men approve of virtue. He must 
 shun the presence of every man, for, from that moment, every 
 member of the community becomes, of course, his enemy. 
 He must assume disguises to secure him from the eye of jus 
 tice. He must work his way through the community, during 
 the rest of his life, with the continued consciousness of crime ; 
 eluding by arts the officers of the law, fearful of detection 
 at every step, and never certain that, at some unexpected 
 moment, his crime may not be revealed, and the heavy arm 
 of justice fall on his guilty head. Now all this proves that in 
 his view he is under a moral government. How knows he 
 that the same system of things may not meet him hereafter, 
 and that in some future world the hand of justice may not 
 reach him ? The fact is sufficiently universal to be a proper 
 ground of action, that virtue meets with its appropriate 
 reward, and that vice is appropriately punished. So universal 
 is this fact, that more than nine-tenths of all the world have 
 confidently acted on its belief. The young man expects that 
 industry and sobriety will be recompensed in the healthful- 
 ness, peace, and honour of a venerable old age. The votary 
 of ambition expects to climb the steep "where fame s proud 
 temple shines afar," and to enjoy the rewards of office or 
 fame. And so uniform is the administration of the world 
 in this respect, that the success of one generation lays the 
 ground for the confident anticipations of another. So it has 
 been from the beginning of time, and so it will be to the end 
 of the world. We ask why should not man, with equal 
 reason, suppose that his conduct now may affect his destiny 
 at the next moment or the next year beyond his death ? Is 
 there any violation of reason in supposing that the soul may 
 be active there, and meet there the results of conduct here ? 
 Can it be proved that death suspends or annihilates existence? 
 Unless it can, the man who acts in his youth with reference 
 to his happiness at eighty years of age, is acting most un- 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 29 
 
 wisely if he does not extend his thoughts to the hundredth or 
 the thousandth year of his being. 
 
 What if it should be found, as the infidel cannot deny it 
 may be, that death suspends not existence so much as one 
 night s sleep ? At the close of each day we see the powers 
 of man prostrate. Weakness and lassitude come over all the 
 frame, A torpor, elsewhere unknown in the history of animal 
 nature, spreads through all the faculties. The eyes close, the 
 cars become deaf to hearing, the palate to taste, the skin to 
 touch, the nostrils to smell. All the faculties are locked in 
 entire insensibility, alike strangers to the charms of music, the 
 tones of friendship, the beauties of creation, the luxury of the 
 banquet, and the voice of revelry. The last indication of mind 
 is apparently gone, or the indications of its existence are far 
 feebler than when we see man die in the full exertion of his 
 mental powers, sympathizing in the feelings of friendship, and 
 cheered by the hopes of religion. Yet God passes his hand 
 over the frame when we sleep, and, instinct with life ? again 
 we rise to business, to pleasure, or to ambition. But what 
 are the facts which meet us as the result of the doings of yes 
 terday ? Have we lost our hold on those actions ? The man 
 of industry yesterday, sees, to-day, his fields waving in the 
 sun, rich with a luxuriant harvest. The professional man 
 of business finds his doors crowded, his ways thronged, and 
 multitudes awaiting his aid in law, in medicine, or in the arts. 
 The man of virtue yesterday, reaps the reward of it to-day, 
 in the respect and confidence of mankind, in the peace of an 
 approving conscience, and the smiles of God. The man of 
 intemperate living rises to nausea, retching, pain, and wo. 
 Poverty, this morning, clothes in rags the body of him who 
 was idle yesterday ; and disease clings to the goings, and fixes 
 itself in the blood of him who was dissipated. Who can tell 
 but death shall be less a suspension of existence than this 
 night s sleep ? Who can tell but that the consequences of our 
 
30 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 doings here shall travel over our sleep in the tornb ? and greet 
 us in our waking in some new abode ? Why should they not / 
 Why should God appoint a law so wise and so universal here, 
 that is to fail the moment we pass to some other part of our 
 being ?* 
 
 Nor are the results of crime confined to the place where the 
 act was committed. Sin, in youth, may lay the foundation 
 of a disease that shall complete its work on the other side 
 of the globe. An early career of dissipation in America may 
 fix in the frame the elements of a disorder that shall complete 
 its work in the splendid capital of the French, or, it maybe, in 
 the sands of the Equator or the snows of Siberia. If crime 
 may thus travel in its results around the globe j if it may 
 reach out its withering hand over seas, and mountains, and 
 continents, and seek out its fleeing victim in the solitary 
 waste, or in the dark night, we see not why it may not be 
 stretched across the grave, and meet the victim there : at least 
 we think the analogy should make the transgressor tremble, 
 and turn pale as he flies to eternity. 
 
 But it is still objected that the rewards given to virtue and 
 the pain inflicted on vice are not universal, and that there is 
 not, therefore, the proof that was to have been expected that 
 they will be hereafter. Here we remark that it is evidently 
 not the design of religion to affirm that the entire system can 
 be seen in our world. We say that the system is not fully 
 developed, and that there is, therefore, presumptive proof that 
 there is another state of things. Every one must have been 
 struck with the fact, that human affairs are cut off" in the 
 midst of their way, and their completion removed to some 
 other world. No earthly system or plan has been carried out 
 to its full extent. There is no proof that we have ever seen 
 
 Iliad, H. 231. 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 31 
 
 the full result of any given system of conduct. We see the 
 effect of vice as far as the structure of the IjoJij will allow. 
 We see it prostrate the frame, produce disease, and terminate 
 in death. We see the effect on body and mind alike, until 
 we lose our sight of the man in the grave. There our obser 
 vation stops. But who can tell what the effect of intempe 
 rance, for example, would be in this world, if the body were 
 adjusted to bear its results a little longer ? AVho can calcu 
 late with what accelerated progress the consequences would 
 thicken beyond the time when we now cease to observe them? 
 And who can affirm that the same results may not await 
 the mind hereafter ? Again we ask the infidel why they 
 should not ? He is bound to tell us. The presumption is 
 against him. 
 
 Beside, the effect of vice is often arrested in its first stage. 
 A young man suddenly dies. For some purpose, unseen to 
 human eyes, the guilty man is arrested in his career, and the 
 effect of his crimes is removed into eternity. Why is this 
 more improbable than that the irregularities of youth should 
 run on, and find their earthly completion in the wretchedness 
 and poverty of a dishonoured old age ? So virtue is often 
 arrested. The young man of promise, of talent, and of piety 
 dies. The completion of the scheme is arrested. The rewards 
 are dispensed in another world. So says religion. And can 
 the infidel tell us why they should not be dispensed there, as 
 well as in the ripe honours of virtuous manhood ? This is a 
 question which infidelity must answer. 
 
 The same remarks are as applicable to communities as to 
 individuals. It is to be remembered here that virtue has 
 never had a full and impartial trial. The proper effect of 
 virtue here would be seen in a perfectly pure community. 
 Let us suppose such an organization of society. Imagine a 
 community of virtuous men, where the most worthy citizens 
 should always be elected to office; where affairs should be 
 
32 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 suffered to flow on far enough to give the system a complete 
 trial; where vice, corruption, flattery, bribes, and the arts 
 of office-seeking should be unknown; where intemperance, 
 gluttony, lust, and dishonest gains should be shut out by the 
 laws and by the moral sense of the commonwealth where indus 
 try and sobriety should universally prevail and be honoured. 
 Is there any difficulty in seeing that, if this sj stem were to 
 prevail for many ages, the nation would be signally prosper 
 ous, and gain a wide dominion ? And suppose, on the other 
 hand, a community made up on the model of the New Har 
 mony plan, the asylum of the idle, of the unprincipled and 
 the profligate. Suppose that the men of the greatest physical 
 power and most vice should rule, as they infallibly would do ; 
 suppose there was no law, but the single precept enjoining 
 universal indulgence ; and suppose that under some miracu 
 lous and terrible binding together, by divine pressure, this 
 community should be kept from falling to pieces or destroying 
 itself for a few ages, is there any difficulty in seeing what 
 would be the proper effect of crime ? Indeed we deem it 
 happy for the world that one founder of such a community 
 has been permitted to live to make the experiment on a small 
 scale, and but one, lest the record of total profligacy and cor 
 ruption should not be confined to the singularly-named New 
 Harmony. All this proves there is something either in the 
 framework of society itself, or in .the agency of some Great 
 Being presiding over human things, that smiles on virtue 
 and frowns on vice. In other words, there is a moral 
 government. 
 
 It is further to be remarked, that, as far as the experiment 
 has been suffered to go on in the world, it has been attended 
 with a uniform result. Nations are suffered to advance in 
 wickedness until they reach the point in the universal consti 
 tution of things that is attended with self-destruction. So 
 fell Gomorrah, Babylon, Athens, Rome, expiring, just as the 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 33 
 
 drunkard does, by excess of crime, or by enervating their 
 strength in luxury and vice. The body politic, enfeebled by 
 corruption, is not able to sustain the incumbent load, and 
 sinks, like the human frame, in ruin. So has perished every 
 nation, from the vast dominions of Alexander the Macedonian, 
 to the mighty empire of Napoleon, that has been reared in 
 lands wet with the blood of the slain, and on the pressed and 
 manacled liberties of man. In national, as well as in private 
 affairs, the powers of doing evil soon exhaust themselves. 
 The frame in which they act is not equal to the mighty pres 
 sure, and the nation or the individual sinks to ruin. Like 
 some tremendous engine of many wheels and complicated 
 machinery, when the balance is removed, and it is suffered to 
 waste its powers in self-propulsion, without checks or guides, 
 the tremendous energy works its own ruin, rends the machine 
 in pieces, and scatters its rolling and flying wheels in a thou 
 sand directions. Such is the frame of society, and such the 
 frame of an individual. So, if God gave up the world to 
 unrestrained evil, it would accomplish its own perdition. We 
 see in every human frame, and in the mingled and clashing 
 powers of every society, the elements of ruin ; and all that is 
 necessary to secure that ruin is to remove the pressure of the 
 hand that now restrains the wild and terrific powers, and 
 saves the world from self-destruction. So, if virtue had a fair 
 trial, it would be as complete in its results. In heaven it will 
 secure its own rewards ; like the machine which we have sup 
 posed, always harmonious in its movements. So in hell there 
 will be the elements of universal misrule, and all the foreign 
 force that will be necessary to secure eternal misery will be 
 Almighty power to preserve the terrible powers in unre 
 strained being, and to press them into the same mighty prison- 
 house , just like some adamantine enclosure that should keep 
 the engine together, and fix the locality of its tremendous 
 operatiocs. 
 
34 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 Long ago it had passed into a proverb, " that murder Trill 
 out." This is just an illustration of what we are supposing. 
 Let a murderer live long enough, and such is the organization 
 of society, that vengeance will find him out. Such, we sup 
 pose, would be the case in regard to all crime, if sufficient 
 permanency were given to the affairs of men, and if things 
 were not arrested in the midst of their way. Results in 
 eternity, we suppose, are but the transfer to another state 
 of results which would take place here if the guilty were 
 not removed. We ask the infidel, we ask the Universalist, 
 why this state of things should be arrested by so unimportant 
 a circumstance as death ? Here is a uniform system of things 
 uniform as far as the eye can run it backward into past 
 generations uniform, so as to become the foundation of laws 
 and of the entire conduct of the world and uniform, so far 
 as the eye can trace the results of conduct forward in all the 
 landmarks set up along our future course. Unless God 
 change, and the affairs of other worlds are administered on 
 principles different from ours, it must be that this system will 
 receive its appropriate termination there. It belongs to the 
 infidel and the Universalist to prove that the affairs of the 
 universe come to a solemn pause at death \ that we are 
 ushered into a world of different laws and different principles 
 of government ; that we pass under a new sceptre a sceptre, 
 too, not of justice, but of disorder, misrule, and the arrest 
 of all that Grod has begun in his administration; that the 
 results of conduct, manifestly but just commenced here, are 
 finally arrested by some strange and unknown principle at our 
 death; and that we are to pass to a world of which we know 
 nothing, and in which we have no means of conjecturing 
 what will be the treatment which crime and virtue will 
 receive. We ask them, can they demonstrate this strange 
 theory? Are men willing to risk their eternal welfare on the 
 presumption that God ivill be a different being there from 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 35 
 
 vltaf, lie is here, and that the conduct which meets with ico 
 here will there meet ivith bliss? Why not rather suppose, 
 as Christianity docs, according to all the analogy of things, 
 that the- same almighty hand shall be stretched across all 
 worlds alike, and that the bolts which vibrate in His hand 
 now, and point their thunders at the head of the guilty, shall 
 fall with tremendous weight there, and close in eternal life 
 and death the scenes begun on earth ? "We know of no men 
 who are acting under so fearful probabilities that their views 
 are false, as those who deny the doctrine that crime will meet 
 with its appropriate reward in the future world. Here is a 
 long array of uniform facts; all, as we understand them, 
 founded on the presumption that the scheme of the infidel 
 cannot be true. The system is continued through all the 
 revolutions to which men are subject. Conduct, in its results, 
 travels over all the interruptions of sleep, sickness, absence, 
 delirium, that man meets with, and passes on from age to age. 
 The conduct of yesterday terminates in results to-day ; that 
 of youth extends into old age ; that of health, reaches beyond 
 a season of sickness , that of sanity, beyond a state of delirium. 
 Crime here meets its punishment, it may be, after we have 
 crossed oceans, and snows, and sands, in some other part of 
 the globe. Far from country and home, in lands of strangers 
 where no eye may recognise or pity us but that of the unseen 
 witness of our actions, it follows us in remorse of conscience, 
 or in the judgments of the storm, the siroc, or the ocean. 
 We are amazed that it should be thought that death will 
 arrest this course of things, and that the mere act of crossing 
 that narrow vale will do for us what the passage from yester 
 day to to-day, from youth to age, from the land of our birth 
 to the land of strangers and of solitudes, can never do. 
 Guilty man carries the elements of his own perdition within 
 him ; and it matters little whether he be in society or in soli 
 tude, in this world or the next, the inward fires will burn, 
 
36 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 and the sea, and the dry land, and the burning climes 
 of hell, will send forth their curses. to greet the wretched 
 being who has dared to violate the laws of the unseen God, 
 and to "hail" him as the "new possessor" of the "pro- 
 foundest hell." 
 
 But the infidel still objects that all this is mere probability, 
 and that, in concerns so vast, it is unreasonable to act without 
 demonstration. We reply, that in few of the concerns of life 
 do men act from demonstration. The farmer sows with the 
 probability only that he will reap. The scholar toils with the 
 probability, often a slender one, that his life will be prolonged, 
 and that success will crown his labours in subsequent life. 
 The merchant commits his treasures to the ocean embarks, 
 perhaps, all he has on the bosom of the deep under the pro 
 bability that propitious gales will waft the riches of the Indies 
 into port. Under this probability, and this only, the ambi 
 tious man pants for glory the votary of pleasure presses to 
 the scene of dissipation ; the youth, the virgin, the man of 
 middle life, and he of hoary hairs, alike crowd round the 
 scenes of honour, of vanity, and of gain. Nay more, some 
 of the noblest qualities of the soul are brought forth only on 
 the strength of probabilities that appear slight to less daring 
 spirits. In the eye of his countrymen, few things were more 
 improbable than that Columbus would survive the dangers 
 of the deep, and land on the shores of a new hemisphere. 
 Nothing appeared more absurd than his reasonings, nothing 
 more chimerical than his plans. Yet, under the pressure 
 of proof that satisfied his own mind, he braved the dangers 
 of an untraversed ocean, and bent his course to regions whose 
 existence was as far from the belief of the old world as that 
 of heaven is from the faith of the infidel. Nor could the 
 unbelieving Spaniard deny, that under the pressure of the 
 probability of the existence of a western continent, some 
 of the highest qualities of mind that the earth has seen were 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 37 
 
 exhibited by the Genoese navigator; just as the infidel must 
 admit that some of the most firm and noble expressions of 
 soul have come from the enterprise of gaining a heaven and a 
 home beyond the stormy and untra veiled ocean on which the 
 Christian launches his bark in discovery of a new world. Wo 
 might add also, here, the names of Bruce, of Wallace, of Tell, 
 of Washington. We might remark how they commenced the 
 great enterprises whose triumphant completion has given 
 immortality to their names, under the power of a probability 
 that their efforts would be successful. We might remark 
 how many more clouds of doubt and obscurity clustered 
 around their enterprises than have ever darkened the Chris 
 tian s path to heaven, and how the grandest displays of 
 patriotism and prowess that the world has known have grown 
 out of the hazardous design of rescuing Scotland, Switzerland, 
 and America from slavery. But we shall only observe that 
 there was just enough probability of success in these cases to 
 try these men s souls; just as there is probability enough of 
 heaven and hell to try the souls of infidels and of Christians, 
 to bring out their true character, and answer the great ends 
 of moral government. 
 
 But here the infidel acts on the very principle which he 
 condemns. He has not demonstrated that his system is true. 
 From the nature of the system he cannot do it. He acts, 
 then, on a probability that his system may prove to be true. 
 And were the subject one less serious than eternity, it might 
 be amusing to look at the nature of these probabilities. His 
 system assumes it as probable that men will not be rewarded 
 according to their deeds ; that Christianity will turn out to be 
 false ; that it will appear that no such person as Jesus lived, 
 or that it will yet be proved that he was an impostor ; that 
 twelve men were deceived in so plain a case as that which 
 related to the death and resurrection of an intimate friend ; 
 that they conspired to impose on men, without reward, con- 
 
 V.u T. 4 
 
38 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 trary to all the acknowledged principles of human action, and 
 when they could reap nothing for their imposture but stripes, 
 contempt^ and death ; that religion did not early spread over 
 the Roman empire j that the facts of the New Testament are 
 falsehood, and, of course, that all the contemporaneous confir 
 mations of these facts, collected by the indefatigable Lardner, 
 were false also; that the Jews occupy their place in the nations 
 by chance, and exist in a manner contrary to that of all other 
 people without reason ; that all the predictions of their dis 
 persion, of the coming of the Messiah, of the overthrow of 
 Babylon, and Jerusalem, and Tyre, are conjectures, in which 
 men, very barbarous men, conjectured exactly right, while 
 thousands of the predictions of heathen oracles and statesmen 
 have failed ; that the remarkable fact should have happened 
 that the most barbarous people should give to mankind the 
 only intelligible notices of God, and that a dozen Galilean 
 peasants should have devised a scheme of imposture to over 
 throw all the true and all the false systems of religion in the 
 world. The infidel, moreover, deems it probable that there is 
 no God ; or that death is an eternal sleep ; or that we have no 
 souls ; or that man is but an improved and educated ape ; or 
 that all virtue is vain, and that all vice stands on the same 
 level, and may be committed at any man s pleasure ; or that 
 man s wisdom is to disregard the future, and live to eat and 
 drink and die ; and all this, too, when his conscience tells him 
 there is a God, when he does act for the future, and expects 
 happiness or wo as the reward of virtue or vice ; when he is 
 palsied, as he looks at the grave, with fears of what is beyond, 
 and turns pale in solitude as he looks onward to the bar of 
 God. Now we hazard nothing in saying that the man who is 
 compelled to act as the infidel is ; who has all these probabili 
 ties to cheer him with the belief that infidelity is true, and 
 this when it has no system to recommend as truth, and when 
 it stands opposed to all the analogy of things, is engaged in 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 30 
 
 a, most singular employment, when he denounces men for acting 
 on the probability that there is a heaven, a God, a Saviour, 
 and a hell. It seems to us that there is nothing more at war 
 with all the noble and pure feelings of the soul than tin s 
 attempt to "swing man from his moorings," and send him 
 adrift on wild and tumultuous seas, with only the M/mV,s 
 probability that he will ever reach a haven of rest. It is 
 launching into an ocean, without a belief that there is an 
 ocean , and weathering storms, without professing to believe 
 that there may be storms ; and seeking a port of peace, with 
 out believing that there is such a port; and acting daily with 
 reference to the future, at the same time that all is pro 
 nounced an absurdity. And when we see all this, we ask 
 instinctively, can this be man ? Or is this being right, after 
 all, in the belief that he is only a semi-barbarous ape, or a 
 half-reclaimed man of the woods ? 
 
 But we are gravely told, and with an air of great seeming 
 wisdom, that all presumption and experience are against the 
 miraculous facts in the New Testament. And it was, for 
 some time, deemed proof of singular philosophical sagacity in 
 Hume, that he made the discovery, and put it on record to 
 enlighten mankind. For our own part, we think for more 
 attention was bestowed on this sophistry than was required ; 
 and, but for the show of confident wisdom with which it was 
 put forth, we think the argument of Campbell might have 
 been spared. It might safely be admitted, we suppose, that 
 all presumption and experience were against miracles before 
 they were wrought : and this is no more than saying that 
 they were not wrought before they were. The plain matter 
 of fact, apart from all laboured metaphysics, is, that there is a 
 presumption against most facts until they actually take place, 
 because, till that time, all experience was against them. 
 Thus there were many presumptions against the existence 
 of such a man as Julius Caesar. No man would have ven- 
 
40 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 tared to predict that there would be such a man. There were 
 a thousand probabilities that a man of that name would not 
 live ] as many that he would not cross the Rubicon ] as many 
 that he would not enslave his country ; and as many that he 
 would not be slain by the hand of such a man as Brutus; and 
 all this was contrary to experience. So there were innume 
 rable improbabilities in regard to the late Emperor of France. 
 It was once contemplated, we are told, by a living poet who 
 afterward wrote his life on a different plan, to produce a bio 
 graphy grounded on the improbabilities of his conduct, and 
 showing how, in fact, all those improbabilities disappeared in 
 Hie actual result. The world stood in amazement, indeed, for 
 a few years at the singular grandeur of his movements. Men 
 saw him ride, as the spirit of the storm, on the whirlwind of 
 the revolution ; and, like the spirit of the tempest, amazed and 
 trembling nations knew not where his power would strike, or 
 what city or state it would next sweep into ruin. " But the world 
 has since become familiar with the spectacle ; men have seen 
 that he was naturally engendered by the turbid elements; 
 that he was the proper creation of the revolution ; and that 
 if lie had not lived, some other master-spirit like him would 
 have seized the direction of the tempest, and poured its deso 
 lations on bleeding and trembling Europe. So any great 
 discovery in science or art is previously improbable, and con 
 trary to experience. We have often amused ourselves with 
 contemplating what would have been the effect on the mind 
 of Archimedes, had he been told of the power of one of the 
 most common elements an element which men who see boil 
 ing water must always see : its mighty energy in draining 
 deep pits in the earth, in raising vast rocks of granite, in 
 propelling vessels with a rapidity and beauty of which the 
 ancients knew nothing, and in driving a thousand wheels in 
 the minutest and most delicate works of art. To the ancient 
 world all this was contrary to experience, and all presumption 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 41 
 
 was against it, as improbable, certainly, as that God should 
 have power to raise the dead; and wo doubt whether any 
 evidence of divine revelation would have convinced mankind 
 three thousand years ago, without the actual experiment, of 
 what the school-boy may now know as a matter of sober and 
 daily occurrence in the affairs of the world. So, not long 
 since, the Copernican system of astronomy was so improbable, 
 that, for maintaining it, Galileo endured the pains of the dun 
 geon. All presumption and all experience, it was thought, 
 were against it. Yet, by the discoveries of Newton, it has 
 been made, to the great mass of mankind, devoid of all impro 
 babilities, and children acquiesce in its reasonableness. So 
 the Oriental king could not be persuaded that water could ever 
 become hard. It was full of improbabilities, and contrary to 
 all experience. The plain matter of fact is, that, in regard to 
 all events in history, and all discoveries in science, and inven 
 tions in the mechanic arts, there may be said to be a pre 
 sumption against their existence, just as there was in regard 
 to miracles ; and they are contrary to all experience until disco 
 vered, just as miracles are until performed. And, if this be all 
 that infidelity has to affirm in the boasted argument of Hume, 
 it seems to be ushering into the world, with very unnecessary 
 pomp, a very plain truism that a new fact in the world is 
 contrary to all experience ; and this is the same as saying 
 that a thing is contrary to experience until it actually is 
 experienced. 
 
 AVe have another remark to make on this subject. It 
 relates to the case with which the improbabilities of a case 
 may be overcome by testimony. We doubt not that the 
 wonders of the steam-power may be now credited by all man 
 kind, and we, who have seen its application in so many forms, 
 easily believe that it may accomplish similar wonders in com 
 binations which the world has not yet witnessed. The incre 
 dulity of the age of Galileo, on the subject of astronomy, has 
 
 4* 
 
42 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 been overcome among millions who cannot trace the demon 
 strations of Newton, and who, perhaps, have never heard his 
 name. It is by testimony only that all this is done ; and on 
 the strength of this testimony .man will hazard any worldly 
 interest. He will circumnavigate the globe, not at all deterred 
 by the fear that he may find, in distant seas or lands, different 
 laws from those which the Copernican system supposes. We 
 do not see why, in like manner, the improbabilities of religion 
 may not vanish before testimony; and its high mysteries, in 
 some advanced period of our existence, become as familiar to 
 us as the common facts which are now the subjects of our 
 daily observation. Nor can we see why the antecedent diffi 
 culties of religion may not as easily be removed by competent 
 proof, as those which appalled the minds of men in the gran 
 deur of the astronomical system, or the mighty power of 
 the arts. 
 
 We wish here briefly to notice another difficulty of infi 
 delity. It is, that it is altogether improbable, and against the 
 analogy of things, that the Son of God, the equal of the 
 Father of the universe, should stoop to the humiliating scenes 
 of the mediation should consent to be reviled, buffeted, and 
 put to death. We answer, men are very incompetent judges 
 of what a Divine Being may be willing to endure. Who 
 would suppose, beforehand, that God would submit to blas 
 phemy and rebuke? Yet what being has been ever more 
 calumniated? Who has been the object of more scorn? 
 Yv r hat is the daily offering that goes up from the wide world 
 to the Maker of all worlds ? There is not a nation that does 
 not daily send up a dense cloud of obscenity and profaneness 
 as its offering. 
 
 Scarce a corner of a street can be turned but our ears are 
 saluted with the sound of blasphemy curses poured on 
 Jehovah, on his Son, on his Spirit, on his creatures, on the 
 material universe, on his law. To our minds, it is no more 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 43 
 
 strange that the Son of God should bear reproach and pain 
 with patience for thirty years, than that the God of creation 
 should bear all this from age to age, and as an offering from 
 the wide world. We have only to reflect on what the blas 
 phemer would do if God should be imbodied, and reveal him 
 self to the eye in a form so that human hands might reach 
 him with nails, and spears, and mock diadems, to sec an illus 
 tration of what they actually did, when his Son put himself 
 in the power of blasphemers, and refused not to die. The 
 history of the blasphemer has shown that, if he had the power, 
 long ago the last gem in the Creator s crown would have been 
 plucked away ; his throne would have crumbled beneath him ; 
 his sceptre been wrested from his hand ; and the God of crea 
 tion, like his Son in redemption, would have been suspended 
 on a " great central" cross ! When we see the patience of 
 God toward blasphemers, our minds are never staggered by 
 any condescension in the Redeemer. We see something in 
 the analogy so unlike what we see among men, that we are 
 strongly confirmed in the belief that they are a part of one 
 great system of things. 
 
 We have thus presented a specimen of the nature of the 
 argument from analogy. Our design has been to excite to 
 inquiry, and to lead our readers to cultivate a practical ac 
 quaintance with this great work. We deem it a work of prin 
 ciples in theology a work to be appreciated only by those 
 who think for themselves, and who are willing to be at the 
 trouble of carrying out these materials for thought into a 
 daily practical application to the thousand difficulties which 
 beset the path of Christians in their own private reflections, 
 in the facts which they encounter, and in the inuendoes, jibes, 
 and blasphemies of infidels. We know, indeed, that the argu 
 ment is calculated to silence rather than convince. In our 
 view, this is what, on this subject, is principally needed. The 
 question, in our minds, is rather, whether we may believo 
 
44 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 there is a future state, than whether we must. Sufficient for 
 mortals, we think is it, in their wanderings, their crimes, and 
 their sorrows, if they may believe there is a place where the 
 wicked cease from troubling and the weary may be forever at 
 rest; and if the thousand shades of doubt on that subject 
 which thicken on the path of man, and which assume a deeper 
 hue by infidel arts, may be removed. We ask only i\iQ privi 
 lege of believing that there is a world of purity ; that the trou 
 bled elements of our chaotic abode may settle down into rest ; 
 and that from the heavings of this moving sea there may 
 arise a fair moral system, complete in all its parts, where God 
 shall be all in all, and where all creatures may admire the 
 beauty of his moral character, and the grandeur of his sove 
 reign control. We watch the progress of this system much 
 as we may suppose a spectator would have watched the process 
 of the first creation. At first, this now solid globe was a wild 
 chaotic mass. Darkness and commotion were there. There 
 was a vast heaving deep, a boundless commingling of ele 
 ments, a dismal terrific wild. Who, in looking on that 
 moving mass, would have found evidence that the beauty of 
 Eden would so soon start up on its surface, and the fair pro 
 portions of our hills, and vales, and streams, would rise to 
 give support to millions of animated and happy beings ? And 
 with what intensity would the observer behold the light 
 bursting on chaos, the rush of waters to their deep caverns, 
 the uprising of the hills clothed with verdure, inviting to life 
 and felicity ! With what beauty would appear the millions 
 sporting with their new-created life in their proper elements ! 
 Myriads in the heaving ocean and gushing streams myriads 
 melodious in the groves myriads joyful on a thousand hills 
 and in a thousand vales. How grand the completion of the 
 system ! man, lord of all, clothed with power over the bursting 
 millions ; the priest of this new creation, rendering homage to 
 its Great Sovereign Lord, and " extolling him first, him midst, 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 45 
 
 and him without end." Like beauty and grandeur, we 
 expect, will come out of this deranged moral sysfeTBv Our 
 eye loves to trace its development. With tears we look back 
 on u Paradise Lost;" with exultation we trace the unfolding 
 elements of a process that shall soon exhibit the beauty and 
 grandeur of "Paradise Regained. " 
 
 There is still a most important part of the subject un 
 touched the analogy of the Christian scheme, as we under 
 stand it, to the course of nature, and the fact that all the 
 objections urged against Calvinism lie against the actual 
 order of events. This part of the argument Butler has not 
 touched. To this we propose now to call the attention of our 
 readers in some respects the most interesting and important 
 part of " the analogy of religion, natural and revealed, to the 
 constitution and course of nature." 
 
 Thus far we have had our eye fixed on the infidel. We 
 wish now to direct our attention to the opponents of what we 
 consider the Christian scheme, and inquire whether Butler 
 has not furnished us materials to annihilate every objection 
 against what are called the doctrines of grace. We say mate 
 rials, for we are well aware that Butler did not complete the 
 argument. We suppose, that had his object been to carry it 
 to its utmost extent, there were two important causes which 
 would have arrested its progress where it actually has stopped. 
 The first is found in Butler s own views of the Christian 
 scheme. We are not calling in question his piety, but we 
 have not seen evidence that he had himself fully embraced the 
 evangelical system, and applied his argument to the peculiar 
 doctrines of the gospel. We fear that he stopped short of 
 such a result in his own feelings, and that this may have been 
 the reason why that system had not a more prominent place 
 in his work. Still we would not apply the language of severe 
 criticism to this deficiency in the Analogy. We know his 
 design. It was to meet the infidelity of an age of peculiar 
 
46 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 
 
 thoughtlessness and vice. He did it. He reared an argu 
 ment which infidels have thought it most prudent to lei alone. 
 They have made new attacks in other modes. Driven from 
 this field, they have yielded it into the hands of Butler, and 
 their wisdom has consisted in withdrawing as silently as pos 
 sible from the field, and losing the recollection both of the din 
 of conflict and the shame of defeat. It has always been one 
 of the arts of infidelity and error, to forget the scene of pre 
 vious conflict and overthrow. Singular adroitness is mani 
 fested in keeping from the public eye the fact, and the 
 monuments of such disastrous encounters. Thus Butler 
 stands as grand and solitary as a pyramid of Egypt, and we 
 might add, nearly as much forsaken by those for whose benefit 
 he wrote. And thus Edwards on the Will is conveniently 
 forgotten by hosts of Arminians, who continue to urge their 
 arguments with as much self-gratulation, as though previous 
 hosts of Arminians had never been prostrated by his mighty 
 arm. Could we awaken the unpleasant reminiscence in the 
 infidels of our age, that there was such a man as Butler, and 
 in the opposers of the doctrines of grace, that there is extant 
 in the English language such a book as " A Careful Inquiry 
 into the Modern prevailing Notions on the Freedom of the 
 "Will," we should do more, perhaps, than by any one means 
 to disturb the equanimity of multitudes, who live only to 
 deal out dogmas as if they had never been confuted; and 
 we might hope to arrest the progress of those destructive 
 errors which are spreading in a thousand channels through 
 the land. 
 
 The other cause of the deficiency which we notice in the 
 Analogy is, that it was not possible for Butler, with the state 
 ments then made of the doctrines of grace, to carry out his 
 argument, and give it its true bearing on those doctrines. 
 The philosophical principles on which Calvinism had been 
 defended for a century and a half were substantially those of 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 47 
 
 the schoolmen. The system had started out from darker ages 
 of the world ; had been connected with minds of singular 
 strength and power, but also with traits in some degree stern 
 and forbidding. Men had been thrown into desperate mental 
 conflict. They had struggled for mental and civil freedom. 
 They had but little leisure, and less inclination to polish and 
 adorn to eo into an investigation of the true laws of the 
 
 & o 
 
 mind, and the proper explanation of facts in the moral world 
 little inclination to look on what was bland and amiable in 
 the government of God. Hence they took the rough-cast 
 system, wielded in its defence the ponderous weapons which 
 Augustine and even the Jansenites had furnished them, and 
 prevailed in the conflict, not, however, by the force of their 
 philosophy, but of those decisive declarations of the word of 
 God, with which unhappily that philosophy had become iden 
 tified. But when they told of imputing the sin of one man 
 to another, and of holding that other to be personally answer 
 able for it, it is no wonder that such minds as that of Butler 
 recoiled, for there is nothing like this in nature. When they 
 affirmed that men have no power to do the will of God, and yet 
 will be damned for not doing what they have no capacity to 
 perform, it is no wonder that he started back, and refused to 
 attempt to find an analogy; for it is unlike the common sense 
 of men. When they told of a limited atonement of con 
 fining the original applicability of the blood of Christ to the 
 elect alone, there teas no analogy to this, in all the dealings 
 of God toward sinners ; in the sunbeam, in the dew, in the 
 rain, in running rivulets or oceans; and here Butler must 
 stop, for the analogy could go no farther upon the then pre 
 valent notions of theology. 
 
 Still we record, with gratitude, the achievements of Butler. 
 We render our humble tribute of thanksgiving to God that he 
 raised up a man who has laid the foundation of an argument 
 which can be applied to every feature of the Christian scheme. 
 
48 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 "We are not Hutchinsonians, but we believe there is a course 
 of nature most strikingly analogous to the doctrines of revela 
 tion. We believe that all the objections which have been 
 urged against the peculiar doctrines of the Christian scheme, 
 lie with equal weight against the course of nature itself, and, 
 therefore, really constitute no objections at all. This point of 
 the argument Butler has omitted. To a contemplation of the 
 outline of it we now ask the attention of our readers. 
 
 We are accustomed, in our ordinary technical theology, to 
 speak much of the doctrines of Christianity ; and men of sys 
 tem-making minds have talked of them so long, that they 
 seem to understand, by them, a sort of intangible and abstract 
 array of propositions, remote from real life and from plain 
 matter of fact. The learner in divinity is often told that there 
 is a species of daring profaneness, in supposing that they are to 
 be shaped to existing facts or to the actual operations of moral 
 agents. All this is metaphysics, and the moment he dares to 
 ask whether Turretin or Ridgeley had proper conceptions of 
 the laws of the mind, of moral agency, or of facts in the 
 universe, that moment the shades of all antiquity are sum 
 moned to come around the adventurous theologian, and charge 
 him with a guilty departure from dogmas long held in the 
 church. 
 
 Now, we confess, we have imbibed somewhat different 
 notions of the doctrines of the Bible. We have been accus 
 tomed to regard the word as denoting only an authoritative 
 teaching (dida%TJ, Matt. vii. 28, compare v. 19, xxii. 33, 
 2 Tim. iv. 2, 9,) of what actually exists in the universe. We 
 consider the whole system of doctrines as simply a statement 
 of facts. The doctrine of the Trinity, for example, is a state 
 ment of a fact respecting the mode of God s existence. The 
 fact is beyond any investigation of our own minds, and we 
 receive the statement as it is. The doctrine of the mediation 
 is a statement of facts respecting what Christ did, and taught, 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 49 
 
 and suffered, as given by himself and his followers. So of 
 depravity, so of election or predestination, so of perseverance, 
 so of future happiness and wo. What, then, are the doctrines 
 of Christianity ? Simply staments of what has been, of what 
 is, and what will be in the government of God. In this every 
 thing is as far as possible from abstraction. There is as little 
 abstraction, and, why may we not add, as little sacredness, in 
 these facts we mean sacredness to prevent inquiry into their 
 true nature as there is in the science of geology, the growth 
 of a vegetable, or the operations of the human intellect. 
 We may add, that in no way has systematic theology 
 rendered more essential disservice to mankind, than in draw 
 ing out the life-blood from these great facts unstringing 
 the nerves, stiffening the muscles, and giving the fixedness 
 of death to them, as the anatomist cuts up the human frame, 
 removes all the elements of life, distends the arteries and 
 veins with wax, and then places it in his room of prepara 
 tions, as cold and repulsive as are some systems of technical 
 divinity. 
 
 In the doctrines of Christianity, as given us in the Bible, 
 we find nothing of this abstract and unreal character. The 
 whole tenor of the Scriptures prepares us to demand that theo 
 logy be invariably conformed to the laws of the mind and the 
 actual economy of the moral and material universe. * The 
 changes which have taken place in orthodox systems of divi 
 nity since the era of the Reformation have been chiefly owing 
 to the changes in the system of mental and moral science. 
 Whenever that system shall be fully understood, and esta 
 blished on the immovable foundation of truth, all who love 
 the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, will be of one mind in 
 their mode of stating the doctrines of the gospel, as they 
 already are in their spiritual feelings. Till then, all that can 
 be done by the friends of truth will be to show, that the 
 objections which are urged against the doctrines of grace, can 
 VOL. I. 5 
 
50 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 be urged, with equal power, against all the facts in God 7 a 
 moral government. 
 
 From the beginning, formidable objections have been 
 brought against what are called the Doctrines of Grace, or the 
 Evangelical System, or Calvinism. These objections have 
 seldom, if ever, been drawn from the Bible. Their strength 
 has consisted in the alleged fact, that these doctrines are in 
 opposition to the established principles by which God governs 
 the world. We concede that there is just enough of apparent 
 irregularity in those principles to make these objections plau 
 sible with the great mass of men, just as there was enough 
 of irregularity and improbability in the Copernican system of 
 astronomy, to make it for a long time liable to many and plau 
 sible objections. Certain appearances strongly favoured the 
 old doctrine, that the sun, moon, and stars travelled, in mar 
 shalled hosts, around our insignificant orb, just as, in the 
 Arminian system, certain appearances may seem to indicate 
 that man is the centre of the system, and that God, and all 
 the hosts of heaven, live and act chiefly to minister to his 
 comfort. But it is now clear that all the proper facts in 
 astronomy go to prove, that the earth is a small part of the 
 plan, and to confirm the system of Copernicus. So we affirm 
 that the Calvinistic scheme, despite all Arminian appearances, 
 is the plan on which this world is actually governed ; and that 
 all the objections that have been urged against it are urged 
 against facts that are fixed in the very nature of things. And 
 we affirm that a mind which could take in all these facts, 
 could make up the Calvinistic scheme without the aid of reve 
 lation, from the actual course of events; just as in the ruins 
 of an ancient city the skilful architect can discern in the 
 broken fragments, pillars of just dimensions, arches of proper 
 proportions, and the remains of edifices of symmetry and 
 grandeur. 
 
 In entering on this subject, however, we cannot but remark, 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 51 
 
 that the evangelical scheme is often held answerable for that 
 which it did not originate. We mean that, when opposers 
 approach the Christian system, they almost universally hold it 
 responsible for the fall, as well as the recovery of man. They 
 are not willing to consider that it is a scheme proposed to 
 remedy an existing state of evil. Christianity did not plunge 
 men into sin. It is the system by which men are to be reco 
 vered from wo wo which would have existed to quite as 
 great an extent, certainly, if the conception of the evangelical 
 system had never entered the Divine mind. The theory and 
 practice of medicine is not to be held answerable for the fact 
 that man is subject to disease and death. It finds men thus 
 subject; and all that can be justly required of the art is, that 
 to which it makes pretensions, viz. that it can do something 
 toward removing or alleviating human suffering. So in 
 Christianity. That men are, in fact, in the midst of sin ? 
 suffering, and death, is undeniable. The doctrine is common 
 to the deist, the atheist, and the Christian. For that Chris 
 tianity is not answerable. It proposes a remedy, and that 
 remedy is properly the Christian system. Still we shall not, 
 in our present discussion, avail ourselves of this very obvious 
 remark j but shall proceed to notice the objections to the 
 entire series of revealed facts,- as if they constituted one sys 
 tem : and the rather as the evangelical system proposes a 
 statement respecting the exact extent of the evil, which has 
 an important bearing on the features of the remedy proposed. 
 1. The first fact, then, presented for our examination is the 
 fan of man. The Scriptures affirm that a solitary act an 
 act in itself exceedingly unimportant was the beginning of 
 that long train of sin and wretchedness which has passed upon 
 our world. Now, we acknowledge that to all the mystery and 
 fearfulness of this fact our bosoms beat with a full response to 
 that of the objector. We do not understand the reason of it; 
 and what is of more consequence to us and to the objector, is, 
 
52 ESSAYS AND KEVIEWS. 
 
 that an explanation of this mystery forms no part of tlie sys 
 tem of revelation. The only inquiry at present before us, is, 
 whether the fact in question is so separated from all other 
 events, as to be expressly contradicted by the analogy of 
 nature. 
 
 We know there has been a theory which affirms that we are 
 one with Adam that we so existed in his loins as to act with 
 him that our wills concurred with his will that his action 
 was strictly and properly ours and that we are held answer 
 able at the bar of justice for that deed, just as A. B. at fifty is 
 responsible for the deed of A. B. at twelve. In other words, 
 that the act of Adam involving us all in ruin, is taken out of 
 all ordinary laws by which God governs the world, and made 
 to stand by itself, as incapable of any illustration from ana 
 logy, and as mocking any attempt to defend it by reasoning. 
 With this theory we confess we have no sympathy ; and we 
 shall dismiss it with saying, that, in our view, Christianity 
 never teaches that men are responsible for any sin but their 
 own; nor can they be guilty, or held liable to punishment, in 
 the proper sense of that term, for conduct other than that 
 which has grown out of their own wills. Indeed, we see not 
 how, if it were a dogma of a pretended revelation that God 
 might at pleasure, and by an arbitrary decree, make crime 
 pass from one individual to another striking onward from 
 age to age, and reaching downward to " the last syllable of 
 recorded time/ punished in the original offender; re- 
 punished in his children ; and punished again and again, by 
 infinite multiples, in countless ages and individuals and all 
 this judicial infliction, for a single act performed cycles of ages 
 before the individuals lived, we see not how any evidence 
 could shake our intrinsic belief that this is unjust and impro 
 bable. We confess we have imbibed other views of justice ; 
 and we believe that he who can find the head and members 
 of this theory in the Bible, will have no difficulty in finding 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 53 
 
 there any of the dogmas of the darkest night that ever settled 
 on the church. 
 
 But that the consequences or results of an action may pass 
 over from one individual to another, and affect the condition 
 of unborn generations, we hold to be a doctrine of the sacred 
 Scriptures, and to be fully sustained by the analogy of nature.* 
 And no one who looks at the scriptural account of the fall and 
 recovery of man, can doubt that it is a cardinal point in the 
 system . We affirm that it is a doctrine fully sustained by the 
 course of events around us. Indeed, the fact is so common, 
 that we should be exhausting the patience of our readers by 
 attempting to draw out formal instances. Who is ignorant 
 of the progressive and descending doom of the drunkard ? 
 Who is a stranger to the common fact that his intemperance 
 wastes the property which was necessary to save a wife and 
 children from beggary ; that his appetite may be the cause of 
 his family s being despised, illiterate, and ruined ; that the 
 vices which follow in the train of his intemperance often 
 encompass his offspring, and that they, too, are profane, un 
 principled, idle, and loathsome ? So of the murderer, the 
 thief, the highwayman, the adulterer. The result of their 
 conduct rarely terminates with themselves. They are lost to 
 society, and their children are lost with them. Nor does the 
 evil stop here. Not merely are the external circumstances 
 of the child affected by the misdeeds of a parent, but there is 
 often a dark suspicion resting upon his very soul j there is felt 
 to be in him a hereditary presumptive tendency to trime, 
 which can be removed only by a long course of virtuous con- 
 
 * Rom. v. 12-19; 1 Cor. xv. 21, 22, 49 j Josh. vii. 24, 25; Ex. 
 xvii. 16 ; 1 Sam. xv. 2, 3 ; Matt, xxiii. 35. This view is by no means con 
 fined to revelation. The ancient heathen long since observed it, and 
 regarded it as the great principle on which the world was governed. Thus 
 Ilesiod says, " mAXim Kal ^v^naaa TTO\IS KaKoii ai/dpoj ixavpov." And Horace 
 says, " Quicquid delirant reges plectuntur Achivi." 
 
 5* 
 
54 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 duct, and which even then the slightest circumstance re- 
 excites. Is an illegitimate child to blame for the aberration 
 of a mother ? Yet who is ignorant of the fact that, in very 
 few conditions of society, such a son is placed on a level with 
 the issue of lawful wedlock ? So the world over, we approach 
 the son of the drunkard, the murderer, and the traitor, with 
 all these terrible suspicions. The father s deeds shut our 
 doors against him. Nor can he be raised to the level of his 
 former state, but by a long course of purity and well-doing. 
 Now in all these cases, we see a general course of things in 
 divine providence corresponding in important respects to the 
 case of Adam and his descendants. We do not deem the 
 child guilty, or ill-deserving, but society is so organized, and 
 sin is so great an evil, that the proper effects cannot le seen, 
 and the proper terror he infused into the mind to deter from 
 it, loithout such an organization. It is true, that these results 
 do not take place with undeviating certainty. It is not 
 always the case that the child of a drunkard is intemperate, 
 idle, or illiterate, while it is always the case, that a descend 
 ant of Adam is a sinner. In the former case, there may be 
 other laws of government to prevent the regular operations of 
 the plan. In the latter, God has not seen fit wholly to inter 
 rupt the regular process in a single instance. Even when 
 men are renewed as the child of the drunkard may be 
 removed from the regular curse of the parent s conduct 
 the renewed man still is imperfect, and still suffers pain 
 and death. 
 
 But, we know, there is an appearance of much that is for 
 midable in the difficulty, that a single act, and that a most 
 unimportant one, should result in so many crimes and calami 
 ties. But the objection, as we have seen, lies against the 
 course of nature as truly as against the revealed facts resulting 
 from the connection of Adam and his descendants. To lessen 
 the objection, we would further remark, that it is not the out- 
 
BUTLERS ANALOG!. 55 
 
 ward form of an action which determines its character and 
 results. The blow which, in self-defence, strikes a highway 
 man to the earth, may have the same physical qualities as that 
 which reached the heart of the venerable White of Salem. It is 
 the circumstances, the attendants, the relations, the links tliat 
 bind the deed to others, the motives, which determine the 
 character of the action. Adam s act had this towering pre 
 eminence, that it was the first in the newly-created globe, and 
 committed by the first of mortals ; the prospective father of 
 immense multitudes. In looking at it, then, we are to turn 
 from the mere physical act, to run the eye along the conduct 
 of his descendants, and to see if we can find any other deeds 
 that shall be first in a series, and then to mark their results, 
 and in them we shall find the proper analogy. Now it is evi 
 dent, that here we shall find no other act that will have the 
 same awful peculiarity as the deeds of our first father. But 
 are there no acts that can be " set over against this to illus 
 trate its unhappy consequences ? We look, then, at the deed 
 of a man of high standing whose character has been blameless, 
 and whose ancestry has been noble. We suppose him, in an 
 evil moment, to listen to temptation, to fall into the wiles of 
 the profligate, or even to become a traitor to his country. 
 Now who does not see how the fact of this being the first and 
 characteristic deed may entail deeper misery on his friends, 
 and stain the escutcheon of his family with a broader and 
 fouler blot ? Or take an instance which approaches still 
 nearer to the circumstances of our first parent s crime. One 
 false step, the first in a before-virtuous female of honourable 
 parentage, and high standing, spreads sackcloth and wo over 
 entire families, and sends the curse prolonged far into advanc 
 ing years. It needs no remark to show how much that deed 
 may differ in its results, from any subsequent acts of profli 
 gacy in that individual. The first act has spread mourning 
 throughout every circle of friends. Lost now to virtue, and 
 
56 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 disowned by friends, the subsequent conduct may be re 
 garded as in character } and the results terminate only in the 
 offending individual. It is impossible, here, not to recur 
 to the melancholy case of Dr. Dodd. His crime differed 
 not from other acts of forgery except in his circumstances. 
 It was a first deed, the deed of a man of distinction, of sup 
 posed piety, of a pure and high profession, and the deed stood 
 out with a dreadful . pre-eminence in the eyes of the world ; 
 nor could the purity of his profession, nor the eloquence of 
 Johnson, nor the voice of thirty thousand petitioners, nor the 
 native compassion of George III., save him from the tremen 
 dous malediction of the law a death as conspicuous as the 
 offence was primary and eminent. 
 
 We think, from this peculiarity of a first offence, we can 
 meet many of the objections which men allege against the 
 doctrines of revelation on the subject. If further illustration 
 were needed, we might speak of the opposite, and advert to 
 the well-known fact, that a first distinguished act in a proge 
 nitor may result in the lasting good of those connected with 
 him by the ties of kindred or of law. Who can reflect without 
 emotion on the great deed by which Columbus discovered the 
 Western world, and the glory it has shed on his family, and 
 the interest which, in consequence of it, has arisen at the very 
 name, and which we feel for any mortal that is connected with 
 him ? Who can remember without deep feeling the philan 
 thropy of Howard, and the deathless lustre which his benevo 
 lence has thrown over his family and his name ? Who thinks 
 of the family of Washington without some deep emotion run 
 ning back to the illustrious man whose glory has shed its 
 radiance around Mount Vernon, around his family, around 
 our capitol, and over all our battle fields, and all the millions 
 of whom he was the constituted political father ? There is a 
 peculiarity in the great first deed which sheds a lustre on all 
 which, by any laws of association, can be connected with ii 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 57 
 
 Compared with other deeds having, perhaps, the same phy 
 sical dimensions, it is like the lustre of the sun diffusing his 
 beams over all the planets, when contrasted with the borrowed, 
 reflected rays of the rnoon which shines upon our little globe. 
 
 Now we think there is an analogy between these cases and 
 that of Adam, because we think it is a fixed principle in 
 moral as in natural legislation, that the same law is applicable 
 to the same facts. "We find a series of facts on the earth, and 
 a similar series in the movement of the planets, and we have 
 a single term to express the whole gravitation. We deem it 
 unphilosophical to suppose that nature is there, in the same 
 facts, subjected to different laws from what passes before our 
 own eyes. So when we find one uniform process in regard to 
 moral conduct when we find results, consequences, and not 
 crimes, travelling from father to son, and holding on their 
 unbroken way to distant ages, why should we hesitate to 
 admit, that to a great extent, at least, the facts respecting 
 Adam and his descendants fall under the same great law of 
 Divine providence ? "We do not here deny, that there may 
 have been beyond this a peculiarity in the case of Adam, 
 which must be referred to the decisions of Divine wisdom, and 
 justified on other principles than those of any known analogy. 
 But we never can adopt that system which tramples on all 
 the analogies which actually exist, and holds men to be per 
 sonally answerable, and actually punished by a just God, for 
 an act committed thousands of years before they were born. 
 Such a doctrine is nowhere to be found in the Scriptures. 
 
 2. As the result of this act of Adam, Christianity affirms 
 that man is depraved. It has marked the character and ex 
 tent of this depravity, with a particularity which we wonder 
 has ever been called into debate.* It affirms that man is by 
 
 * Rom. i. 21-32 ; iii. 10-19 ; v. 12; viii. 6, 7 j Gen. viii. 21 ; Ps. xir. 
 1-3 ; Eph. ii. 1-3 ; 1 John v. 19 ; John iii. 1-6. 
 
58 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 nature destitute of holiness, and it is on the ground of this 
 fact that the Christian scheme was necessary. There is one 
 great principle running through the whole of this scheme, 
 which renders it what it is, viz. the appointment of a Media 
 tor. It regards man as so fallen, and so helpless, that but for 
 an extraordinary intervention the appointment of some being 
 that should interpose to save it was impossible that any 
 native elasticity in the human powers or will, or any device 
 which human ingenuity might fall on, should raise him up, 
 and restore him to the favour of God. Now the thing which 
 most manifestly characterizes this system is the doctrine of 
 substitution or the fact that Jesus Christ lived for others, 
 toiled for others, and died for others ; or, in other words, that 
 God bestows upon us pardon and life in consequence of what 
 his Son has done and suffered in our stead.* The peculiarity 
 which distinguishes this system from all others, is, that man 
 does not approach his Maker directly, but only through the 
 atonement of the Son of God. 
 
 Now in recurring to the analogy of nature, we have only to 
 ask, whether calamities which are hastening to fall on us are 
 ever put back by the intervention of another ? Are there any 
 cases in which either our own crimes or the manifest judg 
 ments of God are bringing ruin upon us, where that ruin is 
 turned aside by the intervention of others ? Now we at once 
 cast our eyes backward to all the helpless and dangerous 
 periods of our being. Did God come forth directly and pro 
 tect us in the defenceless period of infancy ? Who watched 
 over the sleep of the cradle, and guarded us in sickness and 
 helplessness ? It was the tenderness of a mother bending 
 over our slumbering childhood, foregoing sleep, and rest, and 
 ease, and hailing toil and care that ice might be defended. 
 
 * John i. 29; Eph. v. 2; 1 John ii. 2; iy. 10; Isa. liii. 4; Rom. iii. 
 24, 25 ; 2 Cor. v. 14 ; 1 Peter ii. 21. 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 59 
 
 Why, then, is it strange, when God thus ushers us into exist 
 ence through the pain and toil of another, that he should con 
 vey the blessings of a higher existence by the groans and 
 pangs of a higher mediator ? God gives us knowledge. But 
 does he come forth to teach, us by inspiration, or guide us by 
 his own hand to the fountains of wisdom ? It is by years of 
 patient toil in others, that we possess the elements of science, 
 the principles of morals, the endowments of religion. He 
 gives us food and raiment. Is the Great Parent of benevolence 
 seen clothing us by his own hand, or ministering directly to 
 our wants ? Who makes provision for the sons and daughters 
 of feebleness or gayety or idleness ? "Who but the care-worn 
 and anxious father and mother, who toil that their offspring 
 may receive these benefits from their hands ? Why, then, may 
 not the garments of salvation, and the manna of life, come 
 through a higher mediator, and be the fruit of severer toil and 
 sufferings ? Heaven s highest, richest benefits are thus con 
 veyed to the race through thousands of hands acting as me 
 diums between man and God. It is thus, through the instru 
 mentality of others, that the Great Giver of life breathes 
 health into our bodies and vigour into our frames. And why 
 should he not reach also the sick and weary mind the soul 
 languishing under a long and wretched disease, by the hand 
 of a mediator ? Why should he not kindle the glow of spi 
 ritual health on the wan cheek, and infuse celestial life into 
 our veins, by Him who is the great physician of souls ? The 
 very earth, air, waters, are all channels for conveying blessings 
 to us from God. Why, then, should the infidel stand back, 
 and all sinners frown, when we claim the same thing in re 
 demption, and affirm, that, in this great concern, " there is 
 one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, 
 who gave himself a ransom for all ?" 
 
 But still it may be said, that this is not an atonement. 
 We admit it. W r e maintain only that it vindicates the main 
 
60 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 principle of the atonement, and shows that it is according to a 
 general law, that God imparts spiritual blessings to us through 
 a mediator. What, we ask, is the precise objectionable point 
 in the atonement, if it be not, that God aids us in our sins and 
 woes, by the self-denial and sufferings of another ? And we 
 ask, whether there is any thing so peculiar in such a system, 
 as to make it intrinsically absurd and incredible? Now we 
 think there is nothing more universal and indisputable than a 
 system of nature like this. God has made the whole animal 
 world tributary to man. And it is by the toil and pain of 
 creation that our wants are supplied, our appetites gratified, 
 our bodies sustained, our sickness alleviated; that is, the 
 impending evils of poverty, famine, or disease are put away 
 by these substituted toils and privations. By the blood of 
 patriots he gives us the blessings of liberty ; that is, by their 
 sufferings in our defence we are delivered from the miseries 
 of rapine, murder, or slavery, which might have encompassed 
 our dwellings. The toil of a father is the price by which a 
 son is saved from ignorance, depravity, want, or death. The 
 tears of a mother, and her long watchfulness, save from the 
 perils of infancy, and an early death. Friend aids friend by 
 toil ; a parent foregoes rest for a child ; and the patriot pours 
 out his blood on the altars of freedom, that others may enjoy 
 the blessings of liberty; that is, that others may not be 
 doomed to slavery, want, and death, 
 
 Yet still it may be said, that we have not come, in the 
 analogy, to the precise point of the atonement, in producing 
 reconciliation with God by the sufferings of another. We ask, 
 then, what is the Scripture account of the effect of the atone 
 ment in producing reconciliation ? Man is justly exposed to 
 suffering. He is guilty, and it is the righteous purpose of 
 God that the guilty should suffer. God is so opposed to him, 
 that he will inflict suffering on him unless by an atonement it 
 is prevented. By the intervention of the atonement, there- 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 61 
 
 fore, the Scriptures affirm that such sufferings shall be averted. 
 The man shall be saved from the impending calamity. Suffi 
 cient for all the purposes of justice, and of just government, 
 has fallen on the substitute, and the sinner may be pardoned 
 and reconciled to God. Now, we affirm, that in every 
 instance of the substituted sufferings, or self-denial, of the 
 parent, the patriot, or the benefactor, there occurs a state of 
 things so analogous to this, as to show that it is in strict 
 accordance with the just government of God, and to remove 
 all the objections to the peculiarity of the atonement. Over 
 a helpless babe ushered into the world naked, feeble, speech 
 less, there impends hunger, cold, sickness, sudden death 
 a mother s watchfulness averts these evils. Over a nation 
 impend revolutions, sword, famine, and the pestilence. The 
 blood of the patriot averts these, and the nation smiles in 
 peace. Look at a particular instance. Xerxes poured his 
 millions on the shores of Greece. The vast host darkened all 
 the plains, and stretched towards the capitol. In the train 
 there followed weeping, blood, conflagration, and the loss 
 of liberty. Leonidas almost alone stood in his path. He 
 fought. Who can calculate the effects of the valour and 
 blood of that single man and his compatriots in averting cala 
 mities from Greece, and from other nations struggling in 
 the cause of freedom ? Who can tell how much of rapine, 
 of cruelty, and of groans and tears it turned away from that 
 nation ? 
 
 Now we by no means affirm that this is all that is meant 
 by an atonement as revealed by Christianity. We affirm 
 only, that there is a sufficient similarity in the two cases, to 
 remove the points of objection to an atonement made by 
 the infidel, to show that reconciliation by the offerings of 
 another, or a putting away evils by the intervention of a 
 mediator, is not a violation of the analogies of the natural and 
 moral world. Indeed, we should have thought it an argument 
 VOL. I. 6 
 
62 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 for the rejection of a system, if it had not contemplated the 
 removal of evils by the toils and pains of substitution. We 
 maintain that the system of the Unitarians, which denies all 
 such substitution, is a violation of all the modes in which God 
 has yet dispensed his blessings to men. In the nature of the 
 case, there is all the antecedent presumption there could be, 
 that, if God intended to confer saving blessings on mankind, 
 it would be by the interposition of the toils, groans, and blood 
 of a common mediating friend. The well-known case of the 
 King of the Locrians, is only an instance of the way in which 
 reconciliation is to be brought about among men. He made a 
 law that the adulterer should be punished with the loss of his 
 eyes. His son was the first offender. The feelings of the 
 father and the justice of the king conflicted. Reconciliation 
 was produced by suffering the loss of one eye himself, and 
 inflicting the remainder of the penalty on his son. 
 
 But still, there are two points in the atonement so well sub 
 stantiated, and yet apparently contradictory, that it becomes 
 an interesting inquiry, whether both positions can find an 
 analogy in the course of events. The first is, that the atone 
 ment was originally applicable to all men that it was not 
 limited by its nature to any class of men, or any particular 
 individuals that it was an offering made for the race,* and is, 
 when made, in the widest and fullest sense, the property of 
 man ; and the second is, that it is actually applied to only a 
 portion of the race, and that it was the purpose of God that it 
 should be so applied.f 
 
 Now in regard to the first aspect of the atonement sug 
 gested, we can no more doubt that it had this original, uni- 
 
 * 2 Cor. Y. 14, 15; 1 John ii. 2; Heb. ii. 9; John iii. 16, 17; vi. 51 j 
 2 Peter ii. 1. 
 
 f Isa. liii. 10 ; John xvii. 2 j Eph. i. 3-11; Rom. viii. 29, 30; ix. 15-24; 
 John vi. 37, 39 ; 2 Tim. i. 9. 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 03 
 
 vcrsal applicability, than we can any of the plainest proposi 
 tions of the Bible. If this is not clear, nothing can bo clear 
 in the use of the Greek and English tongues and we discern 
 in this, we think, a strict accordance with the ordinary provi 
 sions which God has made for man. We look at any of his 
 gifts from the smallest that makes life comfortable, to the 
 richest in redemption, and we shall not find one that m i/s 
 naty c, is limited in its applicability to any class of indivi 
 duals. The sun on which we look sheds his rays on all on 
 all alike ; the air we breathe has an original adaptation to all 
 who may inhale it, and is ample for the want of any number of 
 millions. From the light of the feeblest star, to full-orbed 
 day; from the smallest dew-drop, to the mountain-torrent; 
 from the blushing violet, to the far-scented magnolia there is 
 an original applicability of the gifts of Providence to all the 
 race. They are fitted to man as man, and the grandeur of 
 God s beneficence appears in spreading the earth with fruits 
 and flowers, making it one wide garden, in place of the strait 
 ened Paradise that was lost. We might defy the most acute 
 defender of the doctrine of limited atonement to produce an 
 instance in the provisions of God, where there was a designed 
 limitation in the nature of the thing. We shall be slow to 
 believe that God has not a uniform plan in his mode of 
 governing men. 
 
 But still it will be asked, what is the use of a universal 
 atonement, if it is not actually applied to all ? Does God 
 work in vain ? Or would he make a provision, in the dying 
 groans of his Son, that was to be useless to the universe ? We 
 might say here, that in our view, there is no waste of this provi 
 sion, that, the sufferings which were requisite for the race were 
 only those which were demanded in behalf of a single indi 
 vidual ; and that we are ignorant of the way of applying gauges 
 and decimal admeasurements and pecuniary computations to a 
 grand moral transaction. But we reply, that it is according 
 
64 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 to God s way of doing things that many of his provisions 
 should appear to us to be vain. We see in this, the hand of 
 the same God that pours the rays of noon-day on barren sands, 
 and genial showers on desert rocks, where no man is to our 
 eye, though not to liis, in vain. Who knows not that the sun 
 sheds his daily beams on half the globe covered with trackless 
 waters; and around thousands of dungeons where groans in 
 darkness the prisoner ? But some Solon or Cadmus maj^yet 
 cross those oceans, to bear law and letters to the barbarian ; 
 some Howard to pity and relieve the sufferer ; some Xavier or 
 Vanderkenip to tell benighted men of the dying and risen Son 
 of God. So we say of the atonement. It is not useless. 
 Other ages shall open their eyes upon this Sun of righteous 
 ness ; shall wash in this open fountain ; shall pluck the fruit 
 from this tree of life ; shall apply for healing to the balm of 
 Gilead, and find a physician there. 
 
 But still it was the purpose the decree of God, that this 
 atonement should be actually applied to but a part we 
 believe ultimately a large part of the human family. By 
 this we mean, that it is in fact so applied, and that this fact 
 is the expression of the purpose or decree of God. So it is 
 with all the objects we have mentioned. Food is not given to 
 all. Health is not the inheritance of all. Liberty, peace, 
 and wealth, are diffused unequally among men. We interpret 
 the decrees of God, so far as we can do it, by facts; and we 
 say that the actual result, by whatever means brought about, 
 is the expression of the design of God. Nor can any man 
 doubt that the dissemination of these blessings is to be traced 
 to the ordering of God. Is it owing to any act of man, that 
 the bark of Peru was so long unknown, or that the silver of 
 Potosi slept for ages unseen by any human eye ? Is there not 
 evidence that it was according to the good pleasure of the 
 giver, that the favour should not be bestowed on men till 
 Columbus crossed the main, and laid open the treasures and 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 65 
 
 the tnateria medica of the West, to an avaricious and an 
 afflicted world ? We are here struck with another important 
 analogy in the manner in which God s plans are developed. 
 Who would have imagined that so important a matter as the 
 discovery of a new world, should have depended on the false 
 reasonings and fancies of an obscure Genoese ? Who would 
 have thought that all the wealth of Potosi should have de 
 pended, for its discovery, on so unimportant a circumstance as 
 an Indian s pulling up a shrub by accident in hunting a deer? 
 So in the redemption of man in the applicability of the 
 atonement. Who is ignorant that the Reformation originated 
 in the private thoughts of an obscure man in a monastery ? 
 A Latin Bible fallen on as accidentally, and a treasure as 
 much unknown, as Hualpi s discovery of the mines of Potosi, 
 led the way to the most glorious series of events since the days 
 of the apostles. 
 
 But it is still said, that it is unreasonable for men to suffer 
 in consequence of not being put in possession of the universal 
 atonement ; and that Christianity affirms there is no hope of 
 salvation but in the Son of God.* So it does. But the affir 
 mation is not that men are guilty for not being acquainted 
 with that scheme, but that they lie under the curses of the 
 antecedent state before mentioned, from which Christianity 
 came to deliver. The Hindoo suffers and dies under the rage 
 of a burning fever. The fault is not that he is ignorant of 
 the virtues of quinine, nor is he punished for this ignorance 
 of its healing qualities ; but he is lying under the operation 
 of the previous state of things, from which medicine contem 
 plates his rescue. Half the world is shut out from benefits 
 which they might enjoy by being made acquainted with the 
 provisions for their help. Their sufferings are not a punish 
 ment for this want of knowledge. They are the operation of 
 
 * Acts iv. 12. 
 
66 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 the system from which they might be delivered by the provi 
 sions made for their welfare. How much suffering might have 
 been saved had Jenner lived a century earlier. Is it contrary, 
 then, to the analogy of nature, to suppose that men may suffer 
 in consequence of the want of the gospel, and even that in 
 eternity they may continue under the operation of that pre 
 vious state of things to which the gospel has never been 
 applied to relieve them ? He who opposes Christianity be 
 cause it implies that man may suffer, if its healing balm 
 is not applied, knows not what he says, nor whereof he 
 affirms. He is scoffing at the analogy of the world, and calling 
 in question the wisdom of all the provisions of God to aid 
 suffering man. 
 
 3. On the ground of man s depravity, and of the necessity 
 of an atonement for sin, the gospel declares that without a 
 change of heart and life, none can be saved.* It affirms that 
 contrition for past sins, and confidence in the Son of God, are 
 indispensable for admission to heaven. Now we scarce know 
 of any point on which men so reluctate as they do here. 
 That so sudden, thorough, and permanent a revolution should 
 be demanded, that it should be founded on things so unmean 
 ing as repentance and faith, that all which man can enjoy or 
 suffer forever, should result from a change like this, they 
 deem a violation of every principle of justice. And yet, per 
 haps, there is no doctrine of revelation which is more strongly 
 favoured by the analogy of nature. Can any one doubt that 
 men often experience a sudden, and most important revolution 
 of feeling and purpose ? We refer not here to a change in 
 religion, but in regard to the principles and the actions of 
 common life. Who is ignorant that from infancy to old age, 
 the mind passes through many revolutions that as we leave 
 the confines of one condition of our being, and advance to 
 
 * John iii. 3, 5, 36; Mark xvi. 16. 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 67 
 
 another, a change, an entire change, becomes iflcttspensable, 
 or the whole possibility of benefiting ourselves by the new 
 condition is lost. He who carries with him into youth the 
 playfulness and follies of childhood, who spends that season 
 of his life in building houses with cards, or in trundling a 
 hoop, is characterized by weakness, and must lose all the bene 
 fits appropriate to that new period of existence. He who goes 
 into middle life with a " bosom that carries anger as the flint 
 bears fire"- 1 who has not suffered his passions to cool, and his 
 mental frame to become fixed in the compactness of mature 
 and vigorous life, gives a pledge that the bar, the bench, or 
 the desk the counting-room, the office, or the plough, have 
 little demand for ILLS services, and that his hopes will be for 
 ever blasted. The truth is, that at the beginning of each of 
 these periods, there was a change demanded that on that 
 change depended all that followed in the next succeeding, 
 perhaps in every succeeding period, and that when the change 
 does not exist, the period is characterized by folly, indolence, 
 ignominy, or vice. The same remark might be extended to 
 old age, and to all the new circumstances in which men may 
 be placed. We ask, then, why some revolutions similar in 
 results we mean not in nature should not take place in 
 reference to the passage from time to eternity ? 
 
 But our argument is designed to bear on the great moral 
 change called regeneration. Now no fact, we think, is more 
 common than that men often undergo a complete transforma 
 tion in their moral character. It would be difficult to meet, 
 in the most casual and transitory manner, with any individual, 
 who could not remark that his own life had been the subject 
 of manv similar revolutions, and that each change fixed the 
 character of the subsequent period of his existence. At one 
 period he was virtuous. Then temptation crossed his path, 
 and the description which we would have given of him yester 
 day, would by no means suit him to-day. Or at one time, 
 
68 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 he was profligate, profane, unprincipled. By some process 
 of which he could, perhaps, scarce give an account, he became 
 a different man. It might have been gradual the result of 
 long thought, of many resolutions, made and broken, of 
 many appeals, of much weeping, and of many efforts to break 
 away from his companions. Now, what is important for us to 
 remark is, that this change has given birth to a new course 
 of life, has initiated him into a new companionship, and has 
 itself fixed all the joys or sorrows of the coming period. 
 Such revolutions in character seem like the journeyings of 
 the Arabian, wandering he knows scarcely whither, without 
 compass, comfort, or food, till in his progress he comes to a 
 few spreading oases in the desert. His reaching this paradise 
 in the wide waste of sand decides, of course, the nature of his 
 enjoyments till he has crossed it, and secures a release from 
 the perils of the burning desert. In human life, we have 
 often marked an ascent to some such spot of living green ; we 
 have seen the profligate youth leaving the scene of dissipation, 
 and treading with a light heart and quick step, the path of 
 virtue, beside cool, living streams, and beneath refreshing 
 bowers. Christianity affirms that a similar change is indis 
 pensable before man can tread the broad and peaceful plains 
 of the skies. And it affirms that such a change will fix the 
 condition of all that new state of being, or, in other words, 
 will secure an eternal abode beneath the tree of life, and fast 
 by the river of God. We wait to learn, that in this, religion 
 has made any strange or unreasonable demand. 
 
 It is a further difficulty in Christianity, that it should make 
 such amazing bliss or wo dependant on things of apparently 
 so little consequence as repentance and faith. We shall not 
 here attempt to show the philosophy of this, or even to set up 
 a vindication. We affirm only that man s whole condition in 
 this life often depends on changes as minute, apparently as 
 unphilosophical, and as unimportant. What is seemingly of 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 69 
 
 less consequence in our view, when we tread the vale of years, 
 than the change from infancy to childhood and again to boy 
 hood and then even to manhood a change from one unim 
 portant object to another? What is often apparently a matter 
 of less magnitude, than for a young man to withdraw from 
 some haunt of pleasure a thing requiring but little resolu 
 tion ; but it may be stretching in its results to all his coming 
 life ? A change of an opinion, or a habit, or a companion, 
 may be often a most unimportant circumstance; and yet it 
 may determine one s character for the entire life. It is 
 recorded of Paley, one of the acutest and most powerful men 
 of the Christian church, that he was, when in college, idle 
 and a spendthrift. One morning a rich and dissipated fellow- 
 student came into his room with this singular reproof: "Paley, 
 I have been thinking what a fool you are. I have the means 
 of dissipation, and can afford to be idle. You are poor, and 
 cannot afford it. / should make nothing if I were to apply 
 myself. You are capable of rising to eminence, and, pressed 
 with this truth, I have been kept awake during the whole 
 night, and have now come solemnly to admonish you. 77 To 
 this singular admonition, and to the" change consequent upon 
 it, Paley owes his eminence, and the church some of the ablest 
 defences of the truth of religion. Now who, beforehand, 
 would have thought that the labours of such a man, perhaps 
 his eternal destiny, and so many of the proofs of Christianity, 
 would have been suspended on a change wrought in a manner 
 so singular and surprising. If, as no one can deny, man s 
 doom in this life may depend on revolutions of such a nature, 
 we are ignorant of any reason why the doom of another state 
 may not be fixed by a similar law. 
 
 Perhaps the doctrine which has appeared to most infidels 
 entirely unmeaning and arbitrary, is that which demands faith 
 as the condition of salvation. Repentance is a doctrine of 
 more obvious fitness. But the demand of faith seems to be an 
 
70 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 arbitrary and unmeaning appointment. And yet we think it 
 indubitable, that on man s belief depends his whole conduct 
 and destiny in this life. What enterprise would have been 
 more unwise, than that of Columbus, if he had not had a 
 belief that by stretching along to the West, he might reach 
 the Indies ? W^hat more foolish than the conduct of Tell, 
 and Wallace, and Washington, if not sustained by a persua 
 sion that their country might be free ? What more mad than 
 the toils of the young man bending his powers to the acquisi 
 tion of learning, if he were not sustained by faith in some yet 
 unpossessed honour or emolument? What more frantic than 
 for the merchant to commit his treasures to the deep, if he did 
 not believe that prosperous gales would re-waft the vessel, 
 laden with riches, into port? We might also say, that faith 
 or confidence in others is demanded in every enterprise that 
 man ever undertakes, and is the grand principle which con 
 ducts it to a happy result. We need only ask what would be 
 the condition of a child, without faith or confidence in a 
 parent; of a pupil, without reliance on the abilities of his 
 teacher; of a subject, distrusting the sovereign; of a soldier, 
 doubting the skill or prowess of his commander ; of a trades 
 man, with no reliance on those whom he employs? What 
 would be the condition of commercial transactions, if there 
 were no established confidence between men of different 
 nations ? What the condition of arts, and of arms, if this 
 great pervading principle were at once cut off? In all these 
 instances, moreover, this principle of faith is the index and 
 measure of the aid to be expected from others. Is it any new 
 principle that the child who has no confidence in a father, 
 usually fails of his favour ; or that the pupil should fail of 
 benefit, if he doubts the qualifications of his teacher ? And 
 would any single desolating blow so cripple all enterprises, 
 and carry such ruin into the political, the military, and the 
 commercial world, as to destroy the faith which one man 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 71 
 
 reposes in another ? Is it, then, a strange and unknown doc 
 trine, when religion says, that the most important benefits are 
 suspended on faith ? Is it any thing more than one instance 
 of a general principle, which confers peace and wealth on 
 children ; learning on the scholar ; success on the tradesman ; 
 liberty on those who struggle for it; and even laurels and 
 crowns on those who pant in the race for honour and in the 
 conflicts of war ? We do not deem it strange, therefore, that 
 God should have incorporated faith into a scheme of religion ; 
 and proclaimed from pole to pole, that he who has no confi 
 dence in counsellors and guides, shall be without the benefit 
 of counsel and guidance ; and that he who has no confidence 
 in the Son of God, shall be dissociated from all the benefits 
 of his atonement. 
 
 Let it be remembered, also, that the faith which is de 
 manded in the business of life is very often reposed in some 
 persons whom we have never seen. How few subjects of 
 any empire have ever seen the monarch by whom they are 
 governed ? Nay, perhaps the man who holds our destiny in 
 his hand may be on the other side of the globe. Under his 
 charge may be the property which we embarked on the bosom 
 of the deep ; or, it may be, the son whom we have committed 
 to him for instruction. Mountains may rise, or oceans roll 
 their billows forever to separate us ; but the bonds of faith 
 may be unsevered by the coldest snows, unscathed by the 
 most burning sun, and unbroken amid all the rude heavings 
 of ocean, and the shocks of nations. We ask, why may not a 
 similar bond stretch toward heaven, and be fixed to the throne 
 of the Eternal King ? Is it more absurd that / should place 
 my confidence in the unseen Monarch of the skies, whom I 
 have not seen, than that my neighbour should place reliance 
 on the king of the Celestial Empire, or of Britain, or of Hawaii, 
 alike unseen by him ? 
 
 But there is an amazing stupidity among men on the sub- 
 
72 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 ject of religion; and it cannot be, we are told, that God 
 should make eternal life dependant on matters in which men 
 feel so little interest. We might reply to this ; that it is not 
 the fault of God that men are so indifferent. He has done 
 enough to arouse them. If the thunders of his law, the reve 
 lation of his love in redemption, and the announcement that 
 there is a heaven and a hell, are not adequate to arouse the 
 faculties of man, we know not what further could be de 
 manded. God has no other system of wrath to bear on 
 human spirits ; and heaven and hell embosom no other topics 
 of appeal. But we reply further, that no fact is more familiar 
 to us, than that all men s interests in life suffer for want of 
 sufficient solicitude concerning them. By mere heedlessness 
 a man may stumble down a precipice, nor will the severity of 
 the fall be mitigated by any plea that he was thoughtless of 
 his danger. Thousands of estates have been wrecked by want 
 of timely attention. Character is often ruined by want of 
 proper solicitude in selecting companions. Nay, the king 
 of terrors comes into our dwellings, perfectly unmoved by any 
 inquiry whether we were awaiting his approach or not; and 
 stands over our beds, and wields his dart, and chills our life- 
 blood, with as much coolness and certainty as if we were 
 paying the closest attention to the evidences of his approach. 
 And why should we expect that mere indifference, or want of 
 anxiety, should avert the consequences of crime in the eternal 
 world ? 
 
 It is also, we think, an undoubted doctrine of the Christian 
 scheme, that the great change required in man is the work of 
 God.* And it is no small difficulty with the infidel, that so 
 important results are dependant on a change which owes its 
 existence to the will of a distant being. Yet we cannot be 
 
 * John i. 13; iii. 5, 8; Rom. ix. 16, 18 ; Eph. ii. 1 ; 1 Peter i. 3 ; 1 John 
 v. 1 ; Ezek. xi. 19 ; John vi. 44, 45. 
 
73 
 
 insensible to the fact that all our mercies hang on the will of 
 this great, invisible God. When we say that the salubrity 
 of the air, the wholesomeness of water, the nutrition of plants, 
 and the healing power of medicine, all owe their efficacy to 
 his will, we are stating a fact which physiology is, at last, 
 coming to see and acknowledge. At all events, man does not 
 feel himself straitened in obligation or in effort, by the fact 
 that the success of his exertions depends on causes unseen and 
 unknown ? All but atheists acknowledge that health flows 
 through the frame of man because God is its giver. Infancy 
 puts on strength and walks; childhood advances to youth; 
 man rises from a bed of sickness, or fractured limbs again 
 become compact, because God sits in the heavens, and sends 
 down his influence to rear, to strengthen, and to heal. Yet, 
 does any one hesitate to put forth his energy for wealth, or 
 his kindness to his children, to take medicine, or to set a 
 bone, because all these will be inefficacious without the bless 
 ing of God ? But in all this, he is as invisible, and for aught 
 that Christianity teaches to the contrary, as truly efficient, as 
 in the work of saving men. And against all exertion in these 
 matters, lie the same objections that are urged against efforts 
 in religion. 
 
 Nor do we deem the doctrine that man may be changed 
 suddenly, and by an influence originating from some other 
 source than his own mind) at variance with the analogy of 
 nature. "We have already spoken of the fact that sudden 
 changes often take place in the minds of men ; and that it is 
 a doctrine of the Scriptures that such a change is indispen 
 sable to an admission into heaven. We now proceed to 
 remark, that such revolutions often bear the marks of being 
 brought about by an external, and often an invisible agency; 
 and that there are revolutions where it is not unphilosophical 
 to ascribe them to the great and eternal Being in the heavens. 
 Changes of opinion are almost uniformly the result of an 
 Tor, r. r 
 
74 ESSAYS AND KEVIEWS. 
 
 influence foreign at first to our minds. It is the parent, the 
 friend, the advocate, the flatterer, or the infidel, that has sug 
 gested the train of thought which results in an entire revolu 
 tion in our ways of thinking. It is some external change in 
 our business; some success or disappointment; some cutting 
 off our hopes by an agency not our own; or some sudden 
 enlargement of the opportunities for successful effort, that 
 fixes the purpose and revolutionizes the principles or the life. 
 Or it is a voice from the tomb the remembered sentiment 
 of the now speechless dead that arrests the attention, and 
 transforms the character. Zeno and Epicurus have thus 
 spoken to thousands of men in every age. Cicero in the 
 forum, and Plato in the schools, still put forth an influence, 
 stretching down from age to age, and in tongues unspoken 
 by them and unknown. Voltaire and Hume still lift their 
 voices, and urge the young to deeds of shame and crime, and 
 Volney and Paine still mutter from their graves, and beckon 
 the world to atheism and pollution. Man may send an influ 
 ence round the globe, and command it to go from age to age. 
 Now, in all these instances, the influence is as foreign, and as 
 certain, as in any power of God contemplated in revelation. 
 To our view, it is quite as objectionable as a part of moral 
 government, that men should thus dispose each other to evil, 
 and ultimately to ruin, as that GOD should incline them to an 
 amendment of character, and a deliverance from the "ills 
 which flesh is heir to." 
 
 But how is man s freedom affected by all this ? We reply, 
 equally in both cases, and not at all in either. Who ever felt 
 that he was fettered in deriving notions of stern virtue from 
 Seneca, or of profligacy from Epicurus ? Who dreams that 
 there is any compulsatory process in listening to the voice 
 of Hume, or imbibing the sentiments of Yolney ? Peter the 
 Hermit poured the thousands of Europe, and almost emptied 
 kingdoms caparisoned for battle, on the plains of Asia. But 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 75 
 
 he moved none against their will. Patrick Henry struck the 
 notes of freedom, and a nation responded, and were changed 
 from subjects of a British king to independent freemen ; but 
 all were free in renouncing the protection of the British crown, 
 and their reverence for a British ruler. God influences count 
 less hosts } pours upon darkened minds the love of more than 
 mortal freedom ] opens upon the soul the cc magnificence of 
 eternity," and the renewed multitude treads the path to life. 
 Prompted to intense efforts by the voice that calls to heaven . 
 as he is who is led by the voice of his country to the field of 
 blood, and who is changed from the peaceful ploughman to 
 the soldier treading in the gore of the slain they dream not 
 that there is any violation of their moral freedom. In all 
 these cases the foreign influence exerted (from whatever 
 quarter it may have come) has only convinced them as to the 
 path of duty and honour, and secured a conformity of their 
 wills to that of the unseen and foreign power. 
 
 Nor does it alter the case that in regeneration a higher 
 infmcnce is exerted than that of mere moral suasion, since 
 that influence operates in perfect conformity with the laws 
 of moral action and the freedom of the will. In all the cases 
 supposed, the mind acts equally under the impulse of a 
 foreign, unseen influence ; and in all these cases we know, by 
 the testimony of consciousness, that we are equally free. Any 
 objection, therefore, against the existence of such an influence 
 in regeneration, lies with equal force against the analogy of 
 nature, in the whole world of mind around us. 
 
 4. Religion affirms that G-od exerts the power which lie puts 
 forth, in pursuance of a plan, or purpose, definitely fixed 
 before the foundation of the world. It affirms, in as intelli 
 gible a form as any doctrine was ever expressed in any of the 
 languages of men, that in regard to the putting forth of his 
 power in saving sinneis, there is no chance, no hap-hazardj 
 that the scheme lay before his eyes fully ; and that his acts 
 
76 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 are only Ohe fitting up of the plan, and were contemplated dis 
 tinctly when Grod dwelt alone in the stillness and solitude of 
 his own eternity.* If such a doctrine is not revealed, we 
 think it impossible that it could be revealed in any language ; 
 and we know of no single doctrine that has been more univer 
 sally conceded by infidels to be in the Scriptures ; none in the 
 Bible that has been so often brought forward among their 
 alleged reasons for rejecting it as a revelation; none that has 
 so frequently crossed the path of wicked men and revealed 
 the secret rebellion of their hearts ; none that has called forth 
 so much misplaced ingenuity from Socinians, and Arminians, 
 and timid men who were afraid to trust the government of the 
 world in the hands of its Maker, as if he were not qualified 
 for universal empire; and none, therefore, which has, in our 
 view, such primci facie proof that it is manifestly a doctrine 
 of truth and excellence. But the outcry, it seems to us, 
 against this doctrine has been altogether gratuitous and un 
 wise. For who is a stranger to the fact that, from infancy to 
 old age, we are more or less influenced by the plans or piwyoses 
 of others? The plan or purpose of a parent may determine 
 almost every thing about the destiny of a child. The purpose 
 to remove from regions of pestilence and malaria may secure 
 his health ; the change from one clime to another may deter 
 mine the liberty he shall enjoy, the measure of his intelli 
 gence, the profession he shall choose, and ultimately his doom 
 here and hereafter. Nay, the parent s plan may fix the very 
 college where he shall study; the companions he shall choose; 
 the law office, or the seminary where he shall prepare for pro 
 fessional life ; and, finally, every thing which may establish 
 his son in the world. So the plan of the infidel is successful 
 in corrupting thousands of the young ; the purpose of Howard 
 
 * Eph. i. 4, 5; Rom. viii. 29, 30; ix. 15, 16, 18, 21: John xvii. 2 ; 
 2 Thess. ii. 13 ; John vi. 37-30 ; 2 Tim. i. 9. 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 77 
 
 secured the welfare of thousands of prisoners ; the determina 
 tion of Washington resulted in the independence of his coun 
 try. In all these, and ten thousand other cases, there is a 
 plan formed by other Icings in respect to us which finally 
 enters as a controlling element into our destiny. If it be said 
 that they all leave us free, so we say of the decrees of God, 
 that we have a like consciousness of freedom. In neither 
 case does the foreign purpose cripple or destroy our freedom. 
 In neither case does it make any difference whether the plan 
 was formed an hour before the act, or has stood fixed for ages. 
 All that could bear on our freedom would be the fact that the 
 purpose was previous to the deed a circumstance that does 
 not alter the act itself, whether the decree be formed by our 
 selves, by other men, or by God. 
 
 But we remark, further, that it is perfectly idle to object to 
 the fact that a plan or decree is contemplated in revelation ; 
 and that God should confer benefits on some individuals which 
 are withheld from others. Did any man, in his senses, ever 
 dream that the race are in all respects on an equality ? Has 
 there ever been a time when one man has had just as much 
 health as another j when one has been as rich as another, or 
 as much honoured ? To talk of the perfect equality of men, 
 is one of the most unmeaning of all affirmations respecting the 
 world. God has made differences, is still making them, and 
 will continue to do so. The very framework of society is 
 organized on such a principle that men cannot be all equal. 
 Even if the scheme of modern infidelity should be successful 
 if all society should be broken up, and all property be meted 
 out in specific dollars and cents to the idle and the indus 
 trious alike, and every man should lose his interest in his own 
 wife and daughter, and they should become the common inhe 
 ritance of the world, and all law should be at an end, if this 
 scheme should go into disastrous accomplishment, what prin 
 ciple of perpetuity could be devised ? Who knows not that 
 
 7* 
 
78 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 such a chaotic mass would settle down into some kind of order, 
 and rnen be put in possession again of property, and some 
 of the benefits of social life be again restored ? Man might 
 better attempt to make all trees alike, and all hills plains, and 
 all fountains of the same dimensions, than to attempt to level 
 society, and bring the race into entire equality. To the 
 end of time it will be true that some will be poor while 
 others are rich ; that some will be sick while others are 
 well; that some will be endowed with gigantic intellects, 
 and enriched with ancient and modern learning, while others 
 will pine in want, or walk the humble but not ignoble vale 
 of obscurity. 
 
 Now we might as well object to this fixed economy of things 
 as to that which affirms that God dispenses the blessings of 
 redemption according to his good pleasure. If God may 
 confer one blessing on one individual which he withholds from 
 another, we ask why he may not be a sovereign also in the 
 dispensation of other favours ? We ask what principle of jus 
 tice and goodness is violated, if he imparts penitence and faith 
 to one individual, that is not violated also if he gives him 
 health, while another pines in sickness ? We ask with em 
 phasis, where is there more of partiality in giving the Chris 
 tian s hope to Brainerd or Martyn, than there is in giving 
 great talents to Newton or great wealth to Croesus ? And we 
 put it to the sober thoughts of those who are so fond of repre 
 senting the doctrine that God bestows special grace on one, 
 and not on another, as unjust, tyrannical, and malignant, 
 whether they are not lifting their voice against the manifest 
 analogy of nature, and all the facts in the moral and material 
 world ? We ask such a man to tread the silent streets of one 
 city where the pestilence spreads its desolations, and then 
 another filled with the din of business, and flushed with health 
 and gain; to go through one land and see the fields smile 
 with golden grain, and rich with the vine and the orange, or 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 79 
 
 fragrant with aroma-tics, and then through another where the 
 heavens are brass, and the earth dust, and every green thing 
 withers, and every man weeps while the horrors of famine 
 stare him in the face ; to go amid one people and hear the 
 clangor of arms, or another and see the squalidness of poverty, 
 or another and see every river studded with villages, and 
 every village pointing its spire to heaven, and universal peace 
 in all its borders, and education diffusing its blessings there 
 such observers we ask to tell us whether the destiny of all 
 men is equal, and why in religion God may not do as he does 
 in respect to health, to freedom, and to law ? 
 
 We go further. We affirm that unless this doctrine of elec 
 tion were found in the Scriptures, the scheme would be taken 
 out from all the analogy of the world. No man could recog 
 nise a feature of the plan on which God actually governs the 
 universe, unless he found there the distinct affirmation that 
 God had " chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the 
 world/ and that it is " not of him that willeth, nor of him 
 that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." The system 
 of conferring favours as he pleases, of giving wealth, and 
 vigour, and talent, and success, is so much a matter of sove 
 reignty, and the secret who shall possess these endowments is 
 so completely lodged in his bosom, that any scheme, to be 
 conformed to the constitution and course of nature, must 
 recognise this great principle, or we are shut up to the alter 
 native that the present doings of God are wrong, or the consti 
 tution of nature one of decisive evil. To us it seems, there 
 fore, that they strike a blow of no ordinary violence and 
 boldness, who denounce the purposes of God in the Bible as 
 dark, partial, and malignant. Nor can we conceive a more 
 rude assault on the whole framework of things, than the 
 popular scheme which denies that God has any purposes of 
 special mercy, and that he confers any spiritual blessings on 
 one which he does not on all, or, in other words, which 
 
80 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 attempts to separate the scheme of redemption from the whole 
 analogy of things actually carried on in the world. 
 
 But on this point the entire movement of the world bears 
 the marks of being conducted according to a plan. We defy 
 a man to lay his finger on a fact which has not such a relation 
 to other facts as to show that it is part of a scheme and if 
 of a scheme, then of a purpose formed beforehand. Alexander 
 the Great, in the vigour of life, and in the full career of con 
 quest, was cut off by the act of God. Julian the Apostate, in 
 the same regions found also an early death, and gigantic plans 
 were arrested by the hand of God with reference to other great 
 purposes in the liberty or religion of man. Napoleon met the 
 mighty arm of God in the snows of the North, and the vast 
 purpose of his life was defeated by a purpose superior to his 
 own. In the midst of daring schemes, man often falls. God 
 wields the dart to strike in an unusual manner, and the victim 
 dies. He falls in with the great plans of the Deity, meets 
 snows, or lightnings, or burning heats, or piercing colds that 
 come round by the direction of the Governor of the world, and 
 the man sinks and his plans give way to the higher purposes 
 of the Almighty. 
 
 Now we know that at any particular stage of this process 
 we could not discover that there was a plan or a scheme. And 
 we know also that all the objections to such a scheme result 
 from looking at single portions of the plan, parts dissociated 
 from the whole. In this world we think there is this uni 
 versal principle to be discovered APPARENT IRREGULARITY, 
 RESULTING IN ULTIMATE ORDER. During any one of the 
 six days of creation we should scarcely have seen even the 
 outlines of the world that ultimately started up. Fix the eye 
 on any single hour of the state of the embryo, the egg, or the 
 chrysalis, and who would suppose there was any plan or pur 
 pose with reference to the man of godlike form and intelli 
 gence; or the beauty of the peacock, the speed of the ostrich, 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 81 
 
 the plaintive melody of the nightingale, or the gay colours 
 of the butterfly ? We might illustrate this fully by a reference 
 to the process of digestion. "Who could suppose, from the 
 formation of the chyle, that there was any thing like & plan 
 laid to supply a red fluid, or to give vigour to sinews, or firm 
 ness to the bones ? So in all the works of God. We are not 
 surprised that unthinking men have doubted whether God had 
 a plan or decree. So unlike the termination is the actual 
 process, and so little apparent reference is there to such a ter 
 mination, that we are not amazed that men start back at the 
 annunciation of a decree. The truth is, that God has laid the 
 process of his plan and decrees much deeper than his common 
 acts. They require more patient thought to trace them 
 they are more remote and abstruse and they cannot be seen 
 without embracing at once the commencement and termina 
 tion, and the vast array of improbable media by which the 
 result is to be secured. Yet to deny that God has a plan ; 
 that his plan may be expressed by the vtmdi purpose or decree, 
 is as absurd as to deny that the embryo is formed with 
 reference to the future man, or the chyle to future blood, 
 muscles, and bones. Who, in looking upon a complicated 
 piece of machinery, would suppose that a plan was in operation 
 tending to the manufacture of cloth, or the propelling of 
 vessels, or the minuter works of art ? What strikes the eye 
 is a collection of wheels moving without apparent order. Two 
 wheels shall be beside each other moving in contrary direc 
 tions ; yet all shall ultimately combine to the production of 
 the contemplated result. Thus move the events of the world 
 and so apparently irregular and unharmonious, but ulti 
 mately fixed and grand, are the ways of God. As in a rapid, 
 swollen stream, while the current rolls onward, here and 
 there may be observed in the heaving waters a small portion 
 that seems to be setting in a contrary direction an eddy that 
 revolves near the shore or that fills the vacancy made by some 
 
82 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 projecting tree or neck of land, yet all setting towards the 
 ocean ; so roll on the great events in God s moral and material 
 universe setting onwards toward eternity in furtherance of a 
 plan ; awful, grand, benevolent. 
 
 A large field is still open on which we can make but a pass 
 ing remark we mean the analogy of the laws of Christianity 
 to those suggested by the constitution and course of nature. 
 If our remarks in the former part of this article were correct, 
 then it is fair to expect that religion would reveal such a set 
 of laws as would be in accordance with the course of nature ; 
 that is, such as the actual order of events would show to be 
 conducive to the true interest and welfare of man. We think 
 it could be shown that the actual process of things has con 
 ducted mankind, after the shedding of much blood, and after 
 many toils of statesmen and sages, to just the set of rules 
 which are revealed in the Old and New Testaments to regu 
 late human conduct. And it would be no uninteresting 
 speculation to inquire into the changes in opinions and laws 
 suggested by the history of events among nations, to see how 
 one set of enactments struck out by the toils of some philo 
 sopher and applied by some moralist or statesman, were perse 
 vered in until set aside by some opposing event in the govern 
 ment of God, and exchanged for a better system for one 
 more in accordance with the course of nature until the revo 
 lutions of centuries have brought men to the very laws of the 
 Scriptures, and the profoundest wisdom has been ascertained 
 to be to sit at the feet of Jesus of Nazareth and receive the 
 law from his lips. We might remark on the law of theft in 
 LacedcEmon ; on the views in relation to rapine and war; on 
 the seclusion from the world which guided the Essene of 
 Judea, and the monk of the early and Middle Ages ; on the 
 indulgence of passion, recommended by the Epicureans ; on 
 the annihilation of sensibility, the secret of happiness among 
 the Stoics; on the law of universal selfishness, the panacea 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 83 
 
 of all human ills recommended by infidelity and on the laws 
 of honour that have guided so many men to fields of disgrace 
 and blood, and filled so many dwellings with weeping. In all 
 the different codes, we think we could show that the course of 
 nature has ultimately driven men from one set of laws to 
 another, from one experiment to another, until every scheme 
 terminated in its abandonment, or in shaping itself to the 
 peculiar laws of the Bible. But on this point, which is capa 
 ble of very ample illustration, we can do no more than simply 
 point out the principle, and leave the reader to pursue the 
 subject for himself. 
 
 We now take our leave of the Analogy of Butler. We 
 have endeavoured to state the nature of the argument on 
 which it rests. We would say, in conclusion, that it is one 
 of easy and universal application. We know of no argument 
 that is so potent to still the voice of unbelief in the heart to 
 silence every objection to all the doctrines of Christianity or 
 to subdue the soul to a humble, reverential belief, that the 
 God of creation is the God of redemption ; and that he who 
 clothes the sunbeam with light, and the flower with its beauty, 
 is the same All-present Being that goes forth to the grander 
 work of delivering the soul from sin. As God will continue the 
 process of his government, as he will make the genial shower 
 to rise and fertilize the earth, as he will clothe the hills and 
 vales with verdure and beauty, despite of all the blasphemies 
 of men ; as he will cause new flowers to spring forth, however 
 many the foot of hard-hearted man may crush, and as he will 
 cause the glory of the material system to roll on from age to 
 age, in spite of all the opposition and malice of devils and 
 men, so, we believe, he will also cause this more glorious 
 system to ride triumphantly through the earth, and to shed its 
 blessings on all the nations of the world. Man can triumph 
 over neither. They are based on the solid rock. The plans 
 of men reach them not. Parallel systems of providence and 
 
84 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 redemption, liable to the same objections, and presenting the 
 same beauties, testify that they have come from the same 
 God, and are tending to the same high development. 
 
 We are of the number of those who do not shrink from 
 avowing the opinion, that the system of Christianity, as it has 
 been held in the world, is capable of progressive improve 
 ments in the mode of its exhibition. This system, in the 
 mind of the Son of God, was complete, and was so given to 
 mankind. But we think that the world has availed itself 
 fully of the scheme. No earthly being ever yet so well un 
 derstood the laws of the mind as the Son of God ; and the 
 system as held by him was adapted to the true nature of 
 created spirits, and to the regular course of things. But 
 Christianity has often been attached to schemes of mental and 
 moral philosophy as remote from the true one as "from the 
 centre thrice to the utmost pole/ Now, the improvement 
 which we anticipate, is, that men will consent to lay aside 
 their systems of mental science ; and with them, much also 
 of the technicalities of their theology and suffer religion to 
 speak in the words expressive of what Locke calls "large, 
 round-about sense ;" that they will be willing to inquire, first, 
 what philosophy religion teaches, and then ask, if they choose, 
 whether that philosophy is to be found in the schools. Could 
 all the obstructions in the way of correct mental philosophy 
 and natural science be at one removed, we have no doubt that 
 the Christian system would be seen to fall at once into the 
 scheme of material and mental things. Now this is the kind 
 of improvement which we expect will take place in theology. 
 An analogy could never be established between theology as it 
 has been held, and the common course of events. Religion, as 
 it has been often presented, has been unlike all other things 
 so cold, distant, unliving, and formal, that we wonder not that 
 men who have had tolerably correct notions of the laws of the 
 mind and of facts, should have shrunk from it; nor do we 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 85 
 
 wonder that the preaching of no small number of ministers 
 should have been fitted to make men Arminians, Socinians, or 
 Deists. 
 
 We have sat down in pensive grief, when we heard from 
 the lips of tyros in divinity (as the first message which they 
 bring us) solemn and measured denunciations of reason in 
 religion. We have asked ourselves, whence the herald has 
 derived his commission to commence an assault on what Las 
 been implanted in the bosom of man by the hand of the 
 Almighty ? Has the book which he holds in his hand told 
 him to utter unfeeling and prescriptive maledictions on all 
 just views of mental operations? Has God commissioned 
 him to summon the world to a rejection of all the lessons 
 taught by the investigations of the mind, the decisions of 
 conscience, and the course of events ? Is the God who has 
 hitherto been thought to be the God of creation and provi 
 dence, coming forth in the old age and decrepitude of the 
 world, to declare that the fundamental principles of civil 
 society, the judicial inflictions of his hand, the lessons taught 
 us in parental and filial intercourse, and in the reasonings 
 of sober men with the eye upturned to heaven, have all been 
 delusive ; and that the new revelation is to set at defiance all 
 that has been ascertained to be law, and all that the world has 
 supposed to be just maxims in morals ? We marvel not that 
 thinking men shrink from such sweeping denunciations. Nor 
 do we remember that the ministry is often despised, the sanc 
 tuary forsaken, and the day-dreams of any errorist adopted, 
 who professes to give them proper place to the inferences 
 drawn from the government of God. 
 
 It is a maxim, we think, which should rule in the hearts 
 of Christian men, and 
 
 " Most of all in man that ministers, 
 And serves the altar/ 
 
 that the world is to be. convinced, that Christians are not of 
 
 VOL. I. 8 
 
86 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 necessity fools. And, in doing this, we care not bow much 
 of sound reason, and true philosophy, and the analogies of 
 nature, are brought into the sacred desk. The truth is, that 
 religion sets up its jurisdiction over all the operations of mind. 
 And the truth is, also, that those who have done most to vilify 
 and abuse the use of reason, have been the very men who 
 have incorporated the most of false philosophy into their own 
 systems of divinity. It is not to be concealed, that the most 
 ardent desire of the enemies of religion is that its ministers 
 and friends should deal out fierce denunciations against reason, 
 and set up the system of Christianity as something holding in 
 fixed defiance all the discoveries of knowledge and all the 
 schemes of philosophy. More than half the work of Atheism 
 is done, if the world can be persuaded that Christianity con 
 templates the surrender of the deductions of reason, and the 
 course of the world, into the hands of infidel philosophers; 
 nor do we know a more successful artifice of the enemy of 
 man, than the schemes which have been devised to effect such 
 a disjunction, and to set up the Christian plan as something 
 that stands in irreconcilable opposition to the course of nature 
 and the just process of thought. 
 
 But, if the view which we have taken of this matter is cor 
 rect, then all the works of God, far as the eye can reach, and 
 far on beyond, are in strict accordance with the Christian 
 scheme. One set of laws rules the whole ; one set of princi 
 ples reigns everywhere; one grand system of administration 
 is going forward. Apparent differences between the Christian 
 scheme and the course of events, are daily becoming rarer, and 
 soon the whole will be seen to harmonize. The laws of mental 
 action are becoming better understood, and are found to coincide 
 more and more with the plain, unperverted declarations of the 
 Bible. The laws of nations are growing more mild, tender, 
 bloodless, and forbearing. The great principles of morals are 
 laying aside the ferocity of the darker ages, disrobing them- 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 87 
 
 selves of the principles of the Goth and the Vandal, and 
 returning more and more to the simplicity of primeval life 
 to the principles of Abraham, " that beauteous model of an 
 Eastern prince, of David the warrior-poet, of Daniel the far- 
 sighted premier, of Paul the mild, yet indomitable apostle, 
 and of Jesus the meek Son of God." 
 
 We anticipate that the order of events, and the deductions 
 of reason, and the decisions of the gospel, will yet be found 
 completely to tally ; so that Christianity shall come armed 
 with the double power of having been sustained by miracles 
 when first promulgated, and when appearing improbable, and 
 of falling in at last with all the proper feelings, and just views 
 of the world. As one evidence that the world is hastening 
 to such a juncture we remark, that the views entertained of 
 moral character have undergone already a transformation. 
 tl What mother would now train her sons after the example 
 of Achilles, and Hector, and Agamemnon, and Ulysses ?" 
 Other models, more like the Son of God, are placed before 
 the infant mind. Society in its vast revolutions has brought 
 itself into accordance, in this respect, with the New Testament. 
 And we cannot doubt, that though the affairs of the church 
 and the world may yet flow on in somewhat distinct channels, 
 yet they will finally sink into complete and perfect harmony ; 
 like two streams rising in distant hills, and rendering fertile 
 different vales, yet at last flowing into the bosom of the same 
 placid and beautiful ocean. Men will go on to make experi 
 ments in geology, and chemistry, and philosophy, in order to 
 oppose the Bible, till scheme after scheme shall be abandoned. 
 They will frame theories of mental science, until they arrive 
 at the scheme of the New Testament. They will devise modes 
 of alleviating misery, until they fall on the very plan sug 
 gested more than two thousand years before them. And 
 they will form and abandon codes of morals, until they shall 
 come at last, in their international and private affairs, to the 
 
88 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 moral maxims of the New Testament and the world shall 
 arrive at the conclusion, that the highest wisdom is to sit down 
 like children at the feet of the Son of God. 
 
 And here we conclude by saying, that the men who pro 
 mulgated this system were Galilean peasants and fisher 
 men. They had indubitably little learning. They were 
 strangers to the doctrines of the schools, to ancient and 
 modern science, to the works of nature and of art. No infidel 
 can prove that they knew more than the science necessary for 
 the skilful management of a fishing-boat, or the collection of 
 taxes. And yet they have devised the only scheme which 
 turns out to be in accordance with the course of nature : a 
 scheme which has survived the extinction of most others pre 
 valent in their day, a system in advance still, no one can 
 tell how much, even of our own age. Now it is a well- 
 known fact, that in the progress of discovery hitherto, no man 
 has gone much in advance of his own generation. Society 
 and science work themselves into a state for the discoveries 
 which actually take place, and hence it happens that, about 
 the same time, the same invention is often made on both sides 
 of the globe. A controversy still exists respecting the dis 
 covery of the art of printing, and gunpowder, the application 
 of steam, the invention of the quadrant, and many of the im 
 provements in chemistry. We ask, then, how it has happened 
 that these Galileans stepped over all the science of their own 
 age j established a system in strict accordance with the course 
 of nature ] disclosed elementary principles of morals, entirely 
 unknown to the philosophy of that age, and arrived at, in the 
 history of man, only by long and painful experiments of many 
 thousand years ! Why, let the skeptic tell us, has not science 
 struck out principle after principle, that could long since 
 have been organized into a system which should accord 
 with the constitution and course of nature ? To our minds, 
 the greatest of all miracles would be, that unaided and un- 
 
BUTLER S ANALOGY. 89 
 
 inspired fishermen should have projected such a scheme of 
 Christianity. 
 
 Revealed religion, then, is in accordance with the course of 
 nature. To reason against or reject it, on the principles com 
 monly adopted by infidels, is to call in question the whole 
 system of things around us. Nor will it answer any valuable 
 purpose to laugh or mock at it. " There is argument neither 
 in drollery nor in jibe." If, in spite of this striking accord 
 ance with the course of nature, it can be proved false, let the 
 evidence be fairly brought forward. Let its miracles be set 
 aside. Let its prophecies be shown not to have been uttered. 
 And then let it be shown Jioio it is that such a system has 
 originated from such a source a system which has bowed the 
 intellects of such men as Bacon, and Locke, and Boyle, and 
 Hale, and Boorhave, and Newton, and Edwards, and Dwight. 
 But if the demonstration cannot be made out, if a single 
 doubt remains, it will not do to deride this religion. It will 
 no more do to meet the announcement of hell with a jeer, 
 than to stand and mock at convulsions, fevers, and groans; 
 nor should men laugh at the judgment any more than at the 
 still tread of the pestilence, or the heavings of the earthquake; 
 nor will it be at all more the dictate of wisdom to contemn 
 the provisions of redemption than to mock the pitying eye of 
 a father, or to meet with contempt the pensive sigh of a 
 mother over our sufferings, or to jeer at the physician who 
 comes reverently, if it may be, to put back from us the heavy, 
 pressing hand of God. 
 
 8 
 
90 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 II. 
 
 [CHRISTIAN SPECTATOR, 1832.] 
 
 The Christian Ministry, with an Inquiry into the Cause of its 
 Inefficiency. By the Rev. CHARLES BRIDGES, B.A., Vicar 
 of Old Newton, Suffolk, and Author of "Exposition of 
 Psalm cxix." New York : Jonathan Leavitt. Boston : 
 Crocker and Brewster, 1831. In two vols., 12mo. 
 
 THIS work has been republished in this country, with a 
 recommendatory notice by the Bev. Dr. Milnor of New York. 
 "We invite the attention particularly of our clerical readers to 
 it, as a practical work of high value on the duties of their 
 calling. It is plain, simple, and thorough in its character; 
 evidently the production of a man ardently attached to the 
 ministry abounding in scriptural views of the nature of this 
 great office ; and illustrating those views, in a full and inte 
 resting manner, by the sentiments of eminent ministers of the 
 gospel, and by pertinent anecdotes from the lives of distin 
 guished pastors and preachers. It is not such a work, indeed, 
 as we should expect from those profound British thinkers, 
 Foster and Hall ; but it is such a book as we most love to pe 
 ruse in those moments of care and perplexity, of doubt and 
 despondency, when we seek not for profound discussion, or 
 new views, but when we wish for scriptural encouragement in 
 our work, and ask for the friendly aid and counsel of an expe 
 rienced pastor, and the voice of Christian friendship to cheer 
 us in the arduous toils of this self-denying office. To induce 
 our readers to become possessed of a book eminently adapted, 
 we believe, to do good, we shall give its outlines by recording 
 the titles of the chapters, and by a single extract presenting 
 
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 91 
 
 views which we wish particularly to commend to the attention 
 of our readers, and which may serve as a fair specimen of the 
 general style of the work. The volume contains a discussion 
 of the following subjects : General view of the Christian 
 ministry General causes of the want of success in the Chris 
 tian ministry Causes of ministerial inefficiency, connected 
 with our personal character The public work of the Christian 
 ministry The pastoral work of the Christian ministry Re 
 collections of the Christian ministry. 
 
 The extract which we shall present relates to habits of 
 study : 
 
 " Nor let it be thought, that studious habits must necessarily 
 infringe upon the more active employment of our work. What shall 
 we say to the nine ponderous folios of Augustine, and nearly the 
 same number of Chrysostom, volumes not written like Jerome s, in 
 monastic retirement, but in the midst of almost daily preaching en- 
 gagemlnts, and conflicting, anxious, and most responsible duties, 
 volumes not of light reading the rapid flow of shallow declamation, 
 but the results of deep and well-digested thinking ? The folios, also, 
 of Calvin, the most diligent preacher,* and of Baxter, the most labo 
 rious pastor of his day, full of thought and matter, bearing the same 
 testimony to the entire consistency of industrious study with devoted 
 ministerial diligence. The secret of this efficiency seems to have 
 much consisted in a deep and important sense of the value of that 
 most precious of all talents time, and of an economical distribution 
 of its minutest particles for specific purposes. Mr. Alleine would 
 often say, Give me a Christian that counts his time more precious 
 
 -: "\Vhat shall I say of his indefatigable industry, even beyond the 
 power of nature, which, being paralleled with our loitering, I fear will 
 exceed all credit? and may be a true object of admiration, bow his lean, 
 worn, spent, and weary body could possibly hold out. He read every week 
 in the year three divinity lectures, and every other week over and above; 
 he preached every day, so that (as Erasmus says of Chrysostom) I do not 
 know whether more to admire the indefatigableness of the man, or his 
 hearers. Yea, some have reckoned up that his lectures were yearly one 
 hundred and eighty-six, his sermons two hundred and eighty-six, besides 
 Thursday he sat in the presbytery," &c. Clark s Lives. 
 
92 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS 
 
 than gold. Mr. Cotton would express his regret after a departure 
 of a visitor, I had rather have given this man a handful of money, 
 than have been kept thus long out of my study. Melancthon, when 
 he had an appointment, expected not only the hour, but the minute 
 to be fixed, that time might not run out in the idleness of suspense. 
 Seneca has long since taught us, that time is the only thing of which 
 it is a virtue to be covetous. And here we should be like the miser 
 with his money saving it with care, and spending it with caution. 
 It is well to have a book for every spare hour, to improve what Boyle 
 calls the parentheses or interludes of time, which, coming between 
 more important engagements, are wont to be lost by most men, for 
 want of a value for them : and even by good men, for want of skill 
 to preserve them. And since goldsmiths and refiners, he remarks, 
 are wont all the year long to save the very sweepings of their shops, 
 because they may contain in them some filings of dust of those richer 
 metals, gold and silver, I see not why a Christian may not be as careful 
 not to lose the fragments and lesser intervals of a thing incomparably 
 more precious than any metal time; especially when the i^prove- 
 ment of them by our meletetics may not only redeem so many por 
 tions of our life, but turn them to pious uses, and particularly to the 
 great advantage of devotion. " pp. 58-60. 
 
 The work is designed evidently for the clergy of Great 
 Britain, and particularly those of the Established Church. 
 Coming from the bosom of that church, and designed for its 
 members, we hail it as an omen of great advancing good. We 
 regard it as an indication of no small progress toward a better 
 state of things there, that such a work as this is patronized, 
 and that, in less than five months, a second edition has been 
 demanded. But though intended particularly for that church, 
 it is adapted to Christian ministers of all denominations. 
 Indeed, it contemplates the work of the ministry as it was 
 appointed by the Lord Jesus, and, wherever read, it will 
 do good. 
 
 With one thing we have been particularly struck in its 
 perusal, viz. that no small part of its illustrations, and of the 
 anecdotes and authorities introduced on the subject of the 
 
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 93 
 
 ministry, are taken from this side the ocean. This fact is a 
 voluntary tribute to the descendants of the Puritans, which we 
 were not quite prepared to expect from England, and espe 
 cially from the bosom of the Established Church. As a people, 
 we are young. We have no established religion. We have 
 been without ecclesiastical patronage, without the fostering 
 care of government, without sinecures, and without such inde 
 pendent provision for the ministry as to give leisure for that 
 intellectual advancement which might be expected under an 
 established religion. Preachers in this land are doomed to 
 toil ; and one of the most laborious and active occupations 
 here is, without doubt, the Christian ministry. It is a tri 
 bute of which we would speak with deep interest it is a 
 voice which we desire all men to hear in favour of our free 
 institutions, when foreigners turn their eyes to this country 
 for illustrations of the true nature of the pastoral office, and 
 for examples of self-denying industry and faithfulness among 
 the heralds of salvation. We turn instinctively fo our free 
 institutions, and look over our history with new gratitude and 
 delight, to trace the moulding power of their organization in 
 this country, in forming the ministry. We ask ourselves 
 whether the nature of our institutions is fitted to give appro 
 priate beauty and largeness to the embassy which the preacher 
 bears ? And what is the kind of ministry which is best 
 adapted to our civil and religious organization, and connected 
 with the preservation of our civil rights, and the welfare of 
 the church of G-od ? 
 
 Commending the book which is the occasion of our remarks 
 to the cordial notice of our readers, we desire, at this interest 
 ing period of the history of our republic, to do as much as in 
 us lies to hold before our countrymen what we deem to be 
 the appropriate character of this class of men, and from the 
 memory of the past, the aspect of the present, and the anticipa 
 tions of the future, to keep full in the public eye a subject on 
 
94 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 which we mean frequently to dwell the importance of an able 
 and well-educated clergy. 
 
 It is impossible to contemplate the history of this republic 
 without feeling that the whole of its organization has been 
 such as to give development to the proper powers and influ 
 ence of the Christian ministry. From its settlement a series 
 of events has been in progress demanding profound wisdom, 
 indefatigable activity, rich and varied learning, and indomit 
 able courage and integrity. Every one knows that the whole 
 system of society in New England was framed under the au 
 spices of the Christian religion, and, of course, under the 
 direction, in no small degree, of those whose office it was to 
 preach the gospel. Nor was it possible that ignorant or in 
 active ministers should have been adapted to that state of 
 things, or that they could have met the crises which occurred 
 in the foundation of a mighty empire. The constitution of a 
 vast civil polity was to be framed. The formation of churches 
 was an object of deep solicitude, and required profound wis 
 dom. Laws adapted to a new and peculiar community were 
 to be enacted. The earth was to be subdued and cultivated. 
 Morality, chastity, industry, intelligence, and order, were to 
 be promoted among the people. The eye o.f the lawgiver and 
 the Christian could not but run along future ages, and antici 
 pate the grandeur of a mighty Christian empire. For the 
 enjoyment of freedom, they had sought the dreariness and 
 solitude of a vast wilderness, and they were conscious of 
 living to mould the destiny of countless millions. 
 
 Many would have thought that to preach to a handful of 
 people on the shores of Plymouth, to instruct the little flock 
 that came across the waters, and who were encountering all 
 the perils of the wilderness and the privations of a life in a 
 strange and inhospitable country, an ignorant ministry would 
 have been sufficient. Thus many think now about our Western 
 World. But our Puritan fathers had different conceptions of 
 
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 95 
 
 the nature of this office. Profoundly learned when they came 
 to these shores, they have been unequalled in this country 
 or any other for patient study and toil, even after their 
 arrival. Till within a few years, there were no men in this 
 country, and scarcely in any other, who have been so pro 
 foundly skilled in the Oriental and ancient languages, or so 
 laborious in writing books, as the men who came first to 
 New England. 
 
 Here we are happy to record the high eulogium of a man 
 than whom no one in our country is better qualified to speak, 
 or whose opinions in the literary and political world have more 
 the authority which, by common consent, has been conceded to 
 him on the bench. 
 
 " They were so fortunate," says Chancellor Kent, " as to enjoy the 
 presence and guidance of one man who had been early initiated in 
 university learning, and proved to be one of those superior and de 
 cided characters, competent to give a permanent direction to human 
 affairs. No sage of antiquity was superior to him in wisdom, mode 
 ration, and firmness ; none equal to him in the grandeur of his moral 
 character, and the elevation of his devotion. This learned audience 
 will have perceived that I allude to the Rev. Thomas Hooker, whom 
 his distinguished biographer has termed the light of the Western 
 churches, and oracle of the Connecticut colony."* " The leading Puritans 
 of New England, and the great body of Protestant clergy everywhere, 
 no less than the fathers of the primitive church, were scholars of the 
 first order. Let us take as a sample from among ten thousand, the 
 Rev. John Cotton, styled the father and glory of Boston. He was ad 
 vanced in early life, by reason of his great learning as a scholar, to 
 a fellowship in the English University of Cambridge. His skill in the 
 Hebrew, Greek, and Latin languages, as well as in textual divinity, 
 was unrivalled. His industry was extraordinary. He wrote and 
 spoke Latin with ease, and with Ciceronian eloquence. He was dis 
 tinguished as a strict and orthodox preacher, pre-eminent among his 
 contemporaries for the sanctity of his character, and the fervour of 
 his devotion. He died, as he had lived, in the rapturous belief that 
 
 * Address before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, 1831. p. 9. 
 
96 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 lie was in reality to join in the joys and worship of the saints in 
 glory."* 
 
 Nor did they deem any of their acquisitions to be useless in 
 the wilderness. One of the first of their measures was to 
 found Harvard College. Never did a Puritain conceive that 
 a minister of the gospel could be fitted; even for the Western 
 wilds, without a long and profound training in the schools. 
 Every idea which he had of the perpetuity of liberty was 
 blended indissolubly with the thought that the ministry should 
 be profoundly trained for their work. 
 
 Under auspices such as these our country rose. There are 
 few subjects from which the mind less willingly departs, than 
 from the contemplation of that peculiar and wonderful race 
 of men. We feel that the ministers and people of that age 
 had been formed for each other, and both had been formed to 
 meet the toils and hardships connected with the subjugation 
 and culture of the rocky soil to which God directed them. 
 And though they were a sect which has been " everywhere 
 spoken against," yet their memorial is the virtue, the order, 
 the intelligence, and the piety of the Northern States, and no 
 small part of the results of the effort to spread the knowledge 
 of the gospel, and religious freedom, among all the empires 
 of the earth. 
 
 It would almost seem as if the conceptions of our fathers on 
 this subject, had been formed by a prophetic anticipation of 
 what this republic is destined yet to be. One can hardly 
 help reflecting on what might have been the state of things in 
 this land, if they had possessed different views respecting the 
 nature of the gospel ministry. Had they believed that an 
 ignorant ministry would be adapted to the New World ; had 
 they been men of limited views, or weak judgment, or slender 
 learning and piety, these qualities would have gone into all 
 
 * Address before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, 1831. pp. 25, 26. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 97 
 
 the veins and sinews of our empire. Had the Catholic placed 
 his foot on the rock of Plymouth, instead of the Puritan, New 
 England would have been now what South America is. Igno 
 rance and superstition would have spread over all the hills and 
 vales, and the intellect, now so free, so enlightened, so manly, 
 would have been prostrate beneath a base and grovelling su 
 perstition. We cannot but add, had they possessed the views 
 which have prevailed among some Protestant denominations 
 in our country, in regard to the Christian ministry, those 
 views would have done more than all the subsequent efforts 
 of the statesman could have undone, to form a wild and fanatic 
 population, and to shed over all this nation the elements of 
 ignorance and misrule. 
 
 It was the glory of New England, that her first preachers 
 were fitted to any possible intellectual or moral growth of this 
 republic. There has not been, and there will not be, a state 
 of the public mind, in which the first preachers of New Eng 
 land would not have been competent to meet all that could be 
 demanded of ministers of the gospel. First in industry, first 
 in toil, first in piety, they stood at the head of this republic, 
 not only as leading the way to this "Western World, but as 
 illustrating most impressively, what America must have, and 
 must be, if her institutions are to be free ; if her schools are to 
 flourish ; if her science and arts are to be under a mild and 
 wholesome discipline ; and if her broad fields and streams are 
 to continue to invite from afar the stranger, the oppressed, 
 and the fatherless, to the hospitalities of freedom, and the 
 dwelling-place of virtue and peace. Our eyes delight to dwell 
 on the wonderful sagacity of those men, in foreseeing what 
 our country would demand in her religious teachers ; and upon 
 that stern and indomitable firmness which sustained them in 
 the perils of the Western wilderness, that we might be blessed 
 with the labours of a ministry which should blend all that is 
 profound in learning, courteous in refined life, eloquent in 
 Vur.. 
 
98 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 persuasion, bold in investigation, and mild and lovely in the 
 religion of the Son of God. We give humble and hearty 
 thanks to the great King of Zion, that we are permitted to 
 look back to an early history like this. And we cannot but 
 be struck here with the indications in our national infancy, 
 that the God of nations contemplated in the formation of our 
 republic some gigantic purpose respecting the future condi 
 tion of all mankind. Under what different auspices has our 
 country risen, from those of the Greek, the Roman, and even 
 the German, the French, and the British people. Age after 
 age, in all those nations, rolled away with no such command 
 ing elements of formation as we have seen here. Their early 
 history was amid fables and poetry, and day-dreams, and a 
 wild and fanciful mythology ; and even after the lapse of cen 
 turies, there has not existed among any other people, though 
 enjoying all their laws, and learning, and religion, any power 
 to mould advancing generations, to be compared with what 
 attended the very first touch given to the principles and des 
 tiny of Americans. Here, a sun rose bright and full to shed 
 its beams all along the path of those who were laying the 
 foundation of a mighty empire ; there, millions toiled age after 
 age, in " disastrous twilight," and scarcely did centuries dis 
 close on their lands what shot by one steady effulgence, 
 from the beginning, across the bosom of the dark Western 
 forest. 
 
 The extraordinary circumstances under which the American 
 church has gone forward, have changed somewhat the views 
 of the ministry, and given a new direction to the minds of our 
 countrymen. Our country is fitted for enterprise. Every 
 active power is called into requisition. Boundless Western 
 prairies stretch out their uncultivated bosoms, to be traversed 
 and tilled by civilized man. Vast streams roll their waters to 
 the oceans, rising in the interior of yet impenetrated forests, 
 and laving by their rolling floods lands unequalled in fertility 
 
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 99 
 
 on the banks of the Nile or the Jordan. On the borders of 
 those streams, men are invited to plant towns and cities; and 
 the bosoms of those internal floods they seek to cover with 
 the fruits of husbandry, and the productions of art. Over 
 lands fertile beyond the conception of the ancient Roman and 
 the colonizing Greek, still repose the shades of a dark wilder 
 ness, where have not yet been heard the axe of the pioneer, or 
 the song of the ploughman. But soon, those forests will dis 
 appear, and the habitations of men will take the place of the 
 lair, and the cry of the beast of prey give way to the busy 
 scenes of commerce, of husbandry, and of art. Never have 
 the powers of a people expanded so rapidly as in America 
 since the War of Independence. The energies of the nation 
 were before pent up, and confined to the states that now merely 
 skirt the Atlantic. Once free, American enterprise burst every 
 barrier. The flood rolled westward ; and all the previous con 
 ceptions of political economists were outstripped by what an 
 amazed world has seen to be fact, in peopling the new hemi 
 sphere. 
 
 It was impossible but that this state of things should affect 
 the ministry. Men began to inquire, whether the somewhat 
 staid and leaden habits of the pulpit should not be broken up ; 
 whether the active powers might not be put to greater tension, 
 and gain an ascendency over the contemplative habits of our 
 fathers ; and whether it was not demanded that the ministry 
 should keep pace with the state of things that has unexpect 
 edly grown up around us. Rules which apply to the fixed 
 and Gothic habits of the darker ages, apply with but little 
 force to our own times. Guages with which we could mea 
 sure the ministerial duties of other days, little befit our own 
 country. We have, in law and in legislation, broken up the 
 older habits of thinking among men. We are striking out 
 new modes of freedom; new tracks of thought; new measures 
 to be applied to the capabilities of men. We arc forming a 
 
100 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 state of things, in this republic, very mucli as if we had nob 
 the memorials of past ages. The maxims of the Roman do 
 not apply to us, for his purpose was conquest, and monuments, 
 and laurels. We have nothing to conquer but the sturdy oaks 
 of our mountains, and the obstructions of our streams, and the 
 barriers to the free access to a soil given to us fresh from the 
 hand of God. The principles of the Greek have as little ap 
 plicability to us. He adorned the stinted territory which God 
 gave him with temples, and arches, and altars, and then 
 sought adjacent lands where to place the monuments of his 
 wisdom, and the proofs of his art, the beauteous forms which 
 the hands of Praxiteles and Phidias taught to start breathing 
 from the marble. We have no such breathing forms of statu 
 ary y we are not pent up in a straitened territory ; we need not 
 seek other lands to proclaim our wisdom, or to deposit the 
 monuments of our art. Least of all do the maxims of the 
 schools, the thoughts that have received their forms beneath 
 the eye of monarchs, and amid the remains of Gothic gran 
 deur, apply to us. We have emerged in our learning, our 
 laws, and our religion, from the dark cells of the monastery, 
 and bid farewell to the lucubrations of the anchorite. Man 
 stands here erect in all the dignity of the purest freedom that 
 God has ever conferred on mortals. In his habits, his reli 
 gion, and his laws, he has broken away from the iron sceptre 
 and stern usages that tyrannize over all other men. This 
 change has come into the church. An unusual spirit of reli 
 gious enterprise has marked the present age. All former 
 habits are broken up ; and in our religion as well as in our 
 liberty and laws, we are developing principles to which all 
 other men have been strangers. Every thing is laid bare 
 to this spirit of active exertion. Every opinion which has 
 hitherto been held sacred among men, is to be subjected to the 
 test of a new investigation. The result of this active state 
 of things will be, probably, like that of applying the fires 
 
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 101 
 
 of the compound blowpipe to mineral substances. What shall 
 be found to abide the test of this scrutiny may be regarded as 
 safe from the investigations of future ages of men. What 
 shall be dissipated or converted into dross, however long 
 it may have been venerated, and however sacred the names 
 that have been applied to it ; will hereafter be rejected and 
 forgotten. 
 
 Now, to many pious and thinking men, it has become a 
 matter of deep deliberation, whether, in this state of things, it 
 is proper to occupy eight or ten of the most vigorous years 
 of life in the mere training of the ministry for future labour. 
 It has been made a question whether it were not best to ab 
 stract a large part of these years from the college and the 
 seminary, to be employed in the active business of winning 
 souls to Christ. And especially has this been pressed with 
 great weight on the mind, when it is remembered that the 
 whole process of education is expensive ; when there are, per 
 haps, not more than seven millions of our population who are 
 in any tolerable way supplied with the preaching of the gospel, 
 and when almost the entire Pagan and Mohammedan world is 
 open for the speedy and rapid propagation of Christianity, 
 if more were ready to bear to them the message of life. It is 
 not wonderful, therefore, that the sentiments of men on the 
 subject of preparation for the ministry are undergoing a rapid 
 change. And it is an interesting subject of investigation, 
 whether there should be an effort to arrest the progress of that 
 change, or whether the efforts to educate more thoroughly for 
 this work should be abandoned. We wish to state some of 
 the reasons which should influence Christians still to seek for 
 a laborious and profound preparation in those who are trained 
 up for the gospel ministry. Those views have originated from 
 the nature of the ministerial office, and from the state of our 
 country. 
 
 The ministry is appointed to explain and vindicate the 
 9* 
 
102 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 Christian religion. That religion, like every other system, 
 may be contemplated in a variety of aspects. A man may 
 look at it with the cold eye of speculation ; he may regard the 
 historical documents which contain its record ; he may con 
 template it as fitted to make external changes in society ; he 
 may survey it as an assemblage of moral precepts ; or he may 
 look on it as fitted to make an immediate and permanent im 
 pression on the spirits of men. He may contemplate it as the 
 fairest system of morality which the world has known, or as a 
 grand and amazing plan to produce immediate reconciliation 
 between God and man, through the blood of the Mediator, 
 offered in atonement for the sins of the world. 
 
 Those who are preparing for the ministry may also look at 
 Christianity in all these lights ; and from this point of obser 
 vation, they will judge of the kind of qualifications which are 
 indispensable to fit them for their work. Nor can it be 
 doubted, that candidates for the ministry may make of them 
 selves whatever they wish ; and come into this work with just 
 such aims and attainments as they choose. It is easy, for ex 
 ample, for a young man to fix his eye on the profound acqui 
 sitions of mental science, and in religious themes he shall find 
 ample scope for subtle distinctions; and this propensity shall 
 give the entire cast to his studies and his ministry : or he may 
 contract a fondness for a dry and lifeless system of divinity, 
 having just the same relation to the Christianity of the Bible 
 which the stiff and frightful preparations in the room of the 
 anatomist have to real life ; and every truth that comes under 
 his eye shall be divested of half its freshness and its power by 
 the process of giving it its location in his arrangement of doc 
 trine. Every lineament of beauty and of strength, every thing 
 that speaks of life, and raciness, and vigour, shall vanish under 
 the mere anatomy of the theological system; and the preaching 
 shall be known only by dry detail, and minute dissections, and 
 the cold and heartless laying bare of bones and sinews and 
 
THE CIIEISTIAN MINISTRY. 103 
 
 muscles. Or lie may strike into the regions of fancy, and cul 
 tivate the graces of elocution, and all that shall be known 
 of him is, that he is a splendid dcclaimer, followed and ad 
 mired by multitudes, but most unsuccessful in winning souls 
 to Jesus. Or he may deal only in moral precepts, like those 
 of Seneca, and call in the name of Jesus to give sanction to 
 the cold and unmeaning essays which his own mind has ori 
 ginated. Or he may be a warm-hearted friend of the conver 
 sion of sinners. He may mingle together just as much of the 
 other characteristics which have been suggested as shall be 
 necessary to Jill up this single purpose of his soul. And this 
 design to save souls, and to labour for revivals of religion, and 
 to advance the latter-day glory of the church, will be the best 
 of all guages in his inquiries how much of the other qualifica 
 tions he should seek : just as the great purpose of a warrior 
 to make a permanent aggression on a marshalled foe shall 
 measure the nature of his studies ; the amount of his repose ; 
 and the character of the force he shall bring into the field 
 the heavy, slow-moving, dense column of artillery, or the light 
 squadron of dragoons, or the well-disciplined infantry. 
 
 This, then, is the starting-point from which we are to con 
 template the kind of preparation needed in the ministry. If 
 Christianity is a mere system of morals, as many would per 
 suade us, then let our days and nights be spent in frozen and 
 distant climes of thought, having as little to do with the Bible, 
 and as much converse as possible with the shades of pagan 
 men. If it is a system of teaching men that they have no 
 capacity to repent and believe ; that men are bound by ada 
 mant , that laws are enacted which cannot be obeyed, and a 
 heaven offered which cannot be won; and that diadems of 
 glory are offered as if to mock our helplessness ; and harps 
 of praise as if to deride our groans and tears; that men are to 
 wait God s time for conversion, and are lound to make no 
 effort till a foreign power reaches the heart, as the lightning 
 
104 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 rives the oak, then the right kind of training is to discipline 
 the mind unhappily the easiest of all modes of training for 
 this work to this posture of inactivity and delay : then let 
 it be the design of preaching to repress the ardour of the soul ; 
 to clip the wings of faith ; and to keep back from every process 
 of investigation founded on a belief that man has a con 
 science ; that he is a moral agent ; that he is under obligation 
 to repent, and that he is invested with any power to do 
 his duty. 
 
 If it is a system whose power was appropriately displayed 
 on the day of Pentecost, and under the labours of Luther, and 
 Edwards, and the Tennants, then it demands in the ministry 
 all the culture which can find mind to conflict with mind, 
 which can so shape and direct truth that it shall reach the 
 conscience, and shall make the sinner tremble when the law 
 speaks out its thunders, and be filled with joy when the gospel 
 whispers peace. Our belief is that the gospel is such a sys 
 tem, and that its general characteristic is, that it is a scheme 
 fitted to make an immediate impression on the souls of men. 
 It is an annunciation of a plan of mercy which supposes a 
 decided act of the mind in its reception, or its rejection. It 
 can never be presented without calling forth such an act. It 
 is the proclamation of a Sovereign, demanding an immediate 
 return of revolted subjects; the tender voice of a Father, 
 inviting his wandering children to the parental arms; the 
 mandate of the Lawgiver, prescribing the way of obedience ; 
 and the awful annunciation of a great Prophet, lifting the 
 veil from the future, and disclosing the tremendous realities 
 of hell, and the unutterable glories of heaven. It appeals to 
 the sober judgment of the mind, to the voice of conscience, to 
 the inextinguishable desire of happiness, to the dying love 
 of the Son of God, to all our hopes and all our fears, and 
 solemnly commands men to turn and live. This is the mes 
 sage which the ministry bears. Compared with the induce- 
 
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 105 
 
 mcnts to become Christians, and Christians at once, how feeble 
 arc those things which do actually influence and control men ! 
 Man, for the hope of gain, will brave all the dangers of the 
 seas, and all the colds of the north, and the fiery sands of the 
 burning zone. The clarion of battle, or the sweet name of 
 liberty, will rouse nations to arms, and fire the most listless 
 with the hope of victory. The hard-hearted man melts at the 
 pleading of the orphan ; the stern brow is relaxed at the tears 
 of impoverished age ; the iron nerves of the guilty tremble as 
 the lips of a witness sworn to declare the truth open to hasten 
 his condemnation ; the rebel son is humbled at the pleadings 
 of a father, or the tears of a mother. But, in all these cases, 
 how powerless are the motives which press men to action, 
 compared with those which the ministry should use to urge 
 them to enter into heaven. Yet, what advocate, patriot, 
 parent, or even pauper, hesitates to approach men with the 
 expectation that an immediate impression may be effected by 
 the eloquence of argument, and the tears of persuasion ? 
 Why, we ask, should not the ministers of religion appeal to 
 men to rouse them with like decisiveness to action, and with 
 like success ? 
 
 When John the Baptist proclaimed the message of God, he 
 expected an immediate movement on the minds of a wicked 
 generation, and thousands encompassed the man rudely attired, 
 and trod penitent in his footsteps to the waters of Jordan. 
 When the Son of Man came, he also proclaimed the need 
 of immediate repentance. Every word he spake took effect. 
 Every reproof was felt. His voice always found its way to 
 the human heart. Thousands gnashed upon him with their 
 teeth, and indignantly turned away from the Prophet of Gali 
 leo ; but thousands also mourned in bitterness over their sins, 
 and came for salvation to the meek and lowly Lamb of God. 
 A single interview with him seemed to seal the character. 
 The Scribe turned away more indignant. The Sadducce 
 
106 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 sought not his presence again. The fishermen of Galileo 
 heard his voice at once, and followed him. Was the gospel 
 proclaimed in Jerusalem, in Arabia, in Corinth, in Philippi, 
 in Rome ? Who is stranger to the fact that it made its way 
 at once to the heart, and that the apostles never admitted a 
 debate, or a moment s deliberation, about putting away idols, 
 and turning to God ? When Luther, and Calvin, and Knox 
 rose from the oppression of the Romish hierarchy, they pur 
 sued their labours with the expectation that their voice would 
 be heard in all the vales and in all the mountains of the Old 
 World. It was heard. It sounded in the glens and glaciers 
 of Switzerland ; it was borne over the plains of France, and 
 along the banks of the Rhine and the Danube ; it shook the 
 throne of England s king, and echoed along the Highlands 
 of Scotland, and moved in all Europe a heavy mass on which 
 had been recumbent the shades of a long and chilly night, 
 and roused no small portion of the world to life, to energy, to 
 regeneration. When Whiteficld spoke, when Edwards rea 
 soned, when the Tennants pleaded, no small portion of the 
 people of America were roused to seek the path of life, and 
 peeans of thanksgiving rose from thousands of tongues taught 
 to sing the power of the gospel, brought to bear directly on the 
 consciences of men. We might a*dd to their honoured names 
 those of many living men, who, like them, have come into the 
 ministry with a belief that the gospel is fitted to make an 
 impression on men. Few are the older villages in our country 
 which have not been blessed with the labours of such men ; 
 and from their labours and the attending agency of the Holy 
 Ghost, an awful sacredness seems to encompass the rising 
 towns in this land. Seldom do we tread the streets of a city, 
 or town, or peaceful hamlet, that has not been hallowed by re 
 vivals of religion ; and in this fact we mark the evidence, at 
 once, that a God of mercy presides over the destinies of this 
 people, and that the gospel is indeed " ih& poicer of God unto 
 
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 107 
 
 salvation." And while we live, an unusual power has gone 
 forth in illustration of this great point, that the gospel is fitted 
 to make an impression on the souls of men at once, and that 
 in the hands of a faithful ministry, it can draw men with a 
 resistless power , weeping, to the cross. 
 
 Now, if this is the nature of the ministry, and if every man 
 who enters upon this work bears a message thus fitted to 
 make an impression at once on the heart, fitted completely to 
 revolutionize the man, and stamp the features of that revolu 
 tion eternally on his soul, then it is proper to ask, whether 
 this is a work which demands any special training, or whether 
 men are formed for it by native endowments, or by any extra 
 ordinary communication of the Holy Spirit. Here we shall 
 call the attention of our readers to a few principles on which 
 the world has hitherto acted. 
 
 A comparatively long and tedious training, involving often 
 an apparently great waste of time, is the allotment of man. 
 What would seem to be a greater waste of more precious time, 
 than that twenty years, or one-third of the ordinary life of 
 man, should be employed in infancy and youth in the slow 
 and cumbersome process of learning to talk, to move, to read, 
 to think, and to become acquainted with the elements of the 
 mechanic arts ? Yet the humblest occupations, the profes 
 sions demanding the lowest amount of intellect and skill, are 
 subjected to this long and tedious pupilage. Is it, then, a 
 departure from the established laws of the world, when men 
 are called to prepare, by long and weary toils, for the mo 
 mentous work of leading sinners, weeping and humbled, to the 
 altar and the cross ? In every other department of action, 
 in all the mechanic arts, in every thing demanding strength, 
 and skill, and power over men, from the child, the ancient 
 wrestler, and the soldier, to the advocate, the physician, and 
 the senator, there is but one process of training men, 
 and that is by long and weary years of probation and toil. 
 
108 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 Who knows not how much more was gained on the field of 
 Waterloo, or in the strife at Trafalgar, by regular and disci 
 plined troops, than could have been done by raw and undisci 
 plined men ? And who, when the banners of victory float 
 over the fields of the slain, or the acclamations of emancipated 
 freemen greet the returning conqueror, regrets the days of dis 
 cipline, or the time spent in preparing for conflict ? 
 
 We may weep over the desolations of our country ; we may 
 wish that many more heralds of the cross were in the field ; 
 we may be disposed to chide the dilatory steps of those who 
 devote years of preparation to this work ; but we should not be 
 unmindful that in like manner every father might weep that 
 so many years are requisite to fit his son to aid him, or that so 
 tedious a process had been appointed by God to fit him to 
 adorn the walks of public or private life. 
 
 Let it be remembered that it is a great law of nature, that 
 eminent success is not to be measured by the years that men 
 occupy in the field. It is by the power of concentration which 
 men possess, by the direct and efficient might which they 
 bring to bear on a particular object, that their conquests are 
 marked. The power of the blowpipe is not from the length 
 of time during which it is applied to metals ; it is the intensity 
 and condensation of the flame. The power of an army is not 
 from the time it has been in the field ; it is in the nature 
 of its discipline, and the concentrated energy of its leaders. 
 Alexander and Napoleon gained their chief laurels while yet 
 young j one decisive action gave immortality to the name 
 of Nelson, and in our own country, to those of Macdonough 
 and Perry. Yet who would aver that the time spent in pre 
 paration for these scenes of victory was lost, or should have 
 been employed for years in feeble and misdirected sallies. 
 So Newton turned the concentrated power of his mind, with 
 amazing intensity, on the subjects of science, and before the 
 age of thirty, had almost completed his discoveries, and given 
 
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 109 
 
 a finish to the glories of his imperishable name ; and Milton 
 devoted a long and toilsome life in slow preparation for 
 writing a book, which, he foresaw, "the world would not 
 willingly let die." We might remark, also, that our Saviour 
 judged in this manner of the power of concentrated action ; 
 and of the time when men should labour in the gospel. In 
 three years, his voice and his omnipotent arm made an im 
 pression on the condition of mankind, that gave a new and 
 ever-abiding direction to human things. Nor has that exam 
 ple been unblessed in the ministry of those who have pro 
 claimed his gospel. It remains yet, to be proved that they 
 who go forth in the fulness of their strength, and the maturity 
 of a long preparation for their work, accomplish less in the 
 ministry, than they who diffuse their work over more years, 
 and enter this great office with diluted powers and feeble 
 preparation, with acquisitions which scarce remind us that 
 learning or discipline are in any way connected with the 
 
 Now, let it be remembered, that this ministry is called to 
 act on mind ; that it is sent forth to encounter every class of 
 men; that it meets every form of prejudice; that it falls in 
 with all the power of sophistry, all the art of sin, all the pride 
 of intellect and of passion, all the sottishness and brutality 
 of life; all the forms of learning, and all the subtlety of 
 schools, and all the pedantry of the world ; and that they who 
 are to proclaim the gospel are required to teach all nations, 
 and the necessity of such a training as we advocate will be at 
 once apparent. How shall he seek to bear the gospel to the 
 minds of men, who is ignorant of the laws of the mind ? 
 How is he to answer the cavils of skeptics, who is ignorant 
 alike of their cavils, and the sources of their plausibility ? 
 How shall he meet their prejudices, and surmount their real 
 difficulties, who has yet to learn what they are, and what is 
 their strength ; and how shall he present a system who knows 
 VOL. I. 10 
 
110 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 not what the system is, or tell men of laws, and usages, and 
 claims in the Bible, who has yet himself to look into those 
 laws, to learn the existence of those usages, or to see argu 
 ments which support those claims ? 
 
 Every man who stands before others to preach the gospel, 
 stands there professing his ability to explain, defend, and 
 illustrate the book of GOD ; to meet the cavils of its enemies, 
 and to press its great truths on the hearts and consciences 
 of men. His very profession implies that he not merely 
 beliei-cs, but is able to show to thinking men that this is a 
 revelation of God. Why should he attempt to explain a 
 book which he can neither vindicate nor understand ? It 
 implies that he is familiar with the ever-varying forms of ob 
 jection and cavil; that he is not merely convinced, but is able 
 to convince others, that this is a book of GOD, and that Chris 
 tians are not of necessity fools, but that religion commends 
 itself to the sober judgment and conscience of men. What 
 right has a man in this holy office to assume that his word is 
 law, and his opinion infallible ? What right have we to ad 
 vance to our fellow-men, and claim that what ice say is to be 
 received without argument, and that men are not to call it in 
 question without being charged with fighting against God ? 
 The age has gone by when declamation could be passed off for 
 argument, when dogmatism could sit down in the place of 
 thought, and when pride and pomp could bow the souls 
 of men to the dictation of the priesthood. Men will think, 
 and will reason henceforward ; and the truth has gone forth, 
 never more to be recalled, that there are henceforth to be no 
 trammels on the freedom of the mind, but such as reason, and 
 conscience, and thought can fasten there. And if we, with all 
 the advantages of learning and science, and the amazing but 
 just power of a Christian pulpit, in "its legitimate and sober 
 use," cannot persuade men, by the blessing of God, to think 
 as Christians, they will be persuaded by others to think liha 
 
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. Ill 
 
 infidels. Thought will be untrammeled, and an ago has 
 arrived when the refuse of other professions will not do for 
 the ministry; when the man who at the bar, or in the senate, 
 could not gain a livelihood, might perform the office of a men 
 dicant or a curate. 
 
 Far from us, and from our friends, and from this age, be 
 the ministration of men of dull and stupid intellects ; of cold 
 and phlegmatic hearts ; of a dogmatical and aristocratic cast 
 of mind ; of lofty and self-assuming dictation ; of barren and 
 technical statements of dogmas, unsustained by thought and 
 unsupported by sound argumentation. The world is becom 
 ing more and more sensitive to the truth that he who enters 
 not upon this work with somewhat of the fixedness of 
 purpose that characterized the youthful conqueror of Italy, 
 or Washington struggling for freedom, or that gave firmness 
 to the indomitable minds of Hancock, or Henry, or Hamilton, 
 or rather to the burning ardour of Paul, has fallen below the 
 aim demanded of the heralds of salvation, and had better find 
 an occupancy and a livelihood in any of the less conspicuous 
 kinds of employment. 
 
 It might seem almost needless to add, that the man who 
 goes forth to proclaim the gospel should be able to read it, at 
 least, in the language in which it was originally penned. 
 Why should a man go to expound a message to others, which 
 he can neither read nor understand, as it came from the hand 
 of Him who commissions him ? Can there be a more evident 
 unfitness in regard to qualification for a work, than to be 
 ignorant of the very document which it is the main business 
 of his life to present to others ? It is almost too absurd for 
 grave remark, to speak of an ambassador who cannot, except 
 by an interpreter, read his credentials ; of a lawyer who cannot 
 read the laws which he expounds ; of a teacher who cannot 
 read even the books which he professes to teach. And yet 
 the melancholy fact has existed in this land, and still exists, 
 
112 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 that to multitudes of those who are public teachers, the 
 original languages of the Scriptures are unapproached trea 
 sures; and that the confidence with which they speak, is that 
 of men who depend on the testimony of others, for a know 
 ledge of that which it is their appointed business to explain. 
 
 Who knows not how reluctantly this whole subject is 
 approached even in the seminaries of Christian theology ? 
 And who knows not how it is laid aside as soon as the depart 
 ing evangelist has bid adieu to the place of his theological 
 training ? And who knows not that the whole arrangement 
 of the study afterward contemplates the removal of all books 
 written in the Greek and Hebrew tongues, into the most 
 remote and unfrequented departments of the library ? And 
 who knows not how much there is to excite compassion, if not 
 ridicule, ever afteward, in the effort to trace out the meaning 
 of a Hebrew word, or to catch the thought couched in the 
 phraseology of the forgotten Greek ? 
 
 The main business of the ministry is to study and to ex 
 plain the Bible; and it is idle to talk of studying the Bible, 
 unless the language of its original composition can be under 
 stood. The great truth is impressing itself more strongly on 
 this generation that sublime truth which achieved, under 
 God, the glories of the Reformation that the Bible is the 
 foundation of theological knowledge. And it has not failed to 
 attract attention, that, in proportion as the Scriptures have 
 been brought into view, systems of technical divinity have 
 retired into the back ground; the mind has been unloosed 
 from trammels ; and new views of truth have presented them 
 selves to the understanding and the heart. Indeed, from age 
 to age, the propensity to bury the Bible under a cumbrous 
 load of standards and systems of divinity has been so great; 
 so much care has been taken to shape and direct every great 
 mass of truth ; so solicitous have men been first to form the 
 mould of the system, and then to run the system into it, that 
 
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 113 
 
 it has ceased to be matter of marvel that Christianity has been 
 so little free and unfettered in its movements, and that the 
 growth of knowledge in this grandest of all departments of 
 science, has been so slow and stinted. One great truth is 
 standing before this age. It will be in vain for us to refuse 
 distinctly to contemplate it. It will work its way into all our 
 pcliools ; it will occupy all our seats of learning ; it will seize 
 upon all our seminaries. It is not that the sentiments of tho 
 past are to be treated with contempt and disregard. It is not 
 that men are indignantly to trample on all the monuments of 
 wisdom and all the standards of Christian doctrine. It is that 
 the J^ible is the great original source of truth in this world; 
 that it is to be investigated by all the aid which learning, and 
 piety, and toil can bring to bear on it; that its great and 
 unchanging decisions are to be listened to with profound 
 deference, and without theological gainsaying and that its 
 unbending sentiments are to give shape to every system 
 of truth to remould, if necessary, every form of doctrine ; to 
 repress every vagary of ancient imagination; and to chain 
 down every fancy of daring metaphysics, of theological poetry, 
 romance, and knight-errantry ; and to demolish every Gothic 
 pile that stands to awe the human mind, or that stretches 
 its lengthened shadows over any of the paths of human 
 thought. Let the ministry, as they will, and must, and 
 should do, in this and every coming age, approach the book 
 of God as Bacon, and Boyle, and Newton approached the world 
 of matter and of mind before them, as simple interpreters, and 
 the outer limit of theological attainment will have been gained. 
 The human mind will be emancipated, and the strength of the 
 human faculties in theology will be demonstrated by sitting at 
 the feet of Christianity, evincing the higher laws of the uni 
 verse, just as men who sat down before the works of God, 
 evincing its lower laics, with childlike simplicity, learned what 
 was the order of his material creation. 
 
 10* 
 
114 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 Now we know not a stronger argument for education than 
 this. The mind icitt be free. It is the charter of this 
 age. Shall it be a wild and erratic freedom ? Shall it be 
 suffered to rove undisciplined over all the works and word 
 of God ? Or shall it be disciplined and subjected to sober 
 laws, and bound by the restraints of a thorough education 
 the only proper restraints of thought ? Shall men be taught 
 to approach the Bible, subjected to just rules of exegesis, 
 fitted to defend the truth, and commend it to every man s 
 conscience; or shall men start forth by hundreds as they 
 will into the ministry, exalting every vagary of the fancy into 
 a Scripture truth ; deeming every crudity of the mind a reve 
 lation from heaven, and subjecting the Scriptures to every 
 vain, foolish interpretation that a heated fancy and fanaticism 
 may engender ? The truth is, men must be educated, or the 
 very principles on which the world is acting, will work its 
 ruin. Fix a vast wheel in complicated machinery, for a check 
 and balance, and it produces equality and order. Loosen 
 that same wheel from its axis, and send it with the same mo 
 mentum at random, and it will carry desolation to the entire 
 fabric. 
 
 We shall close this discussion with a reference to the 
 singular aspect of our land, in other respects bearing on this 
 subject. The star of our freedom moves westward. It has 
 gone from the graves of our fathers, and now stands over the 
 valleys of the Mississippi. The hand that is to guide us, is 
 henceforward to be stretched out far beyond the mountains; 
 or the chains that are to bind us will be forged in the regions 
 of the setting sun. 
 
 We remark, then, that the ministry is called to act on the 
 destinies of an age, a predominant characteristic of which, we 
 fear, is likely to be, that it will be infidel. Every man who 
 can cast an eye over this land, knows that infidelity here will 
 not be of a character that can be encountered by those who 
 
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 115 
 
 are not trained for the conflict. It is not merely that ancient 
 infidelity which loved to sit among ruins, like the satyr and 
 the owl, and the bittern and the cormorant, in the lonely 
 palaces of Babylon. It is not simply that of France, whose 
 fabric was reared and cemented by the blood of millions, and 
 which traced its eulogium in a nation s tears and pollution. 
 It is not merely the sentiment of Hobbes, that all property is 
 the right of every man, and may be taken if it can ; nor the 
 dying maxim of Hume, that precious legacy which the his 
 torian of England left that suicide is lawful, that adultery 
 must be practiced, if a man would secure all the benefits of 
 life. It is not merely the unbelief which visits the palace in 
 the writings of Voltaire and Gibbon, or which travels down 
 into the brothel and the sty in the works of Paine. It is all 
 combined ; the precious offering of entire ages of infidelity, 
 poured, in the fulness of its measure, on our shores, and 
 rearing its temples of pollution and crime in our villages, our 
 cities, our theatres, our palaces, our schools, and our prisons. 
 It comes to us with the learning of the past, and the scoffing 
 of the present ; arrayed in wealth and in rags ; now seating 
 itself in the place of power, and now uttering its oracles from 
 the dunghill; now flowing in rills of oily eloquence; now 
 putting on the aspect of reason and learning ; now seen in the 
 pleadings for licentious indulgence ; now lurking in the smile 
 of polished contempt ; and now pouring forth its piteous wail- 
 ings in the name of liberty, and rallying our countrymen to 
 the Standards of freedom, when it has known no freedom, and 
 attempting to sit down in the abodes of learning, when its 
 reign there has been always that of ignorance and death. 
 
 The inquiry is, whether we shall send forth young men un 
 trained and unfitted to grapple with this hydra, or whether 
 we shall act on what has hitherto been deemed the dictate 
 of common sense, to train them for their work, and fit them 
 for the portentous aspect of the times ? It is too late to dream 
 
116 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 that ignorance can cope with learning, or unskilfulness with 
 cunning; or that darkness can supply the place of light; or 
 dogmatism can settle questions in religion ; or men be over 
 awed by the terrors of anathemas and chains. Men will be 
 free. And unless you can train your ministers to meet them 
 in the field where the freedom of mind is contemplated] and 
 let argument meet argument, and thought conflict with 
 thought, and sober sense and learning overcome the day 
 dreams and dotage of infidelity, as it has done the strength of 
 its manhood, you may abandon the hope that religion will set 
 up its empire over the thinking men of this age. 
 
 Again : Ministers act in an age remarkable for the subtilty 
 and cunning of error. It weaves itself into our learning. It 
 is intrenched in the ramparts reared to confine thought, and 
 to fetter, the human faculties, in a darker age. Ancient sys 
 tems raise their affrighting forms over the men who dare to 
 break away from the consecrated modes of thought and ex 
 pression. Error hides itself in specious pretences. It comes 
 in the glow of pious feeling. It awes us by telling of the 
 venerated names of men that the world loves and delights to 
 honour. It summons to its aid authority, law, ecclesiastical 
 censures ; profound regard for order ; veneration for the past, 
 and great apprehensions of the future. On the other hand, 
 it calls to its defence new modes of reasoning ; the latest forms 
 of mental science ; the philosophy of the schools, and the pro 
 found learning of an age unequalled in power of thought, 
 rapidity of conception, grandeur of enterprise, and deep re 
 searches into the laws of matter and of mind. If there ever 
 was an age when a man, to be any thing, must think for him 
 self, this is that age. Yet who is he that thinks for himself? 
 Only he whose mind you discipline ; whose fancy you chain 
 down to sober investigation ; whose veneration for names and 
 systems you merge in the grand enterprise of looking at 
 things as tliey are. This object is contemplated in every 
 
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 117 
 
 design of education; and our only security against error, 
 under God, is to train men to habits of sober and patient 
 thought ; to teach them that argument is not in names ; nor 
 religion in dictation; nor piety in cant phrases and stereo 
 typed expressions of regard for what the world has admired, 
 "time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the con 
 trary/ but in a conscience made quick to love the truth, and 
 habits of industry, and patience, and prayer that shrink 
 from no obstacles, and that persevere until the mind is fixed 
 in the truth, and the message is borne to the soul fresh 
 from God. 
 
 Again : No eye can be closed to the fact that the emissaries 
 of a church which, in much darker times than ours, called for 
 all the skill of Luther, the learning of Calvin, and the elo 
 quence of Melancthon, are coming" in upon this land. Nor do 
 we send forth many men into the field, who will not encounter 
 others trained for the conflict ; plausible in argument ; smooth 
 and winning in eloquence; mild in manners; rich in learning; 
 subtle in sophistry; and commanding in talent; schooled in 
 the nurseries of the delusive arts, and in colleges formed to 
 teach the real cunning of the serpent, and the apparent harm- 
 lessness of the dove. "Who knows not that the Jesuit is at 
 our doors, and is hastening to embrace the pillars of the state, 
 and enter into the temple of our liberty? Who knows not 
 that, with skill adapted to our times, he comes with art, with 
 eloquence, and with power ; that he selects the richest vales 
 for his abode, and draws to the places of fascination and ruin, 
 our sons and daughters ? And shall Protestants go forth to 
 meet him unapprized of his arts, unskilled for conflict, un 
 guarded with the panoply with which teaching and prayer 
 can furnish the champion of truth in this holy war ? Our 
 countrymen may slumber over this. Our churches may repose 
 in security. But if there is an eye to catch the prospect of 
 danger, or an car open to alarm, the Christian will feel that 
 
118 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 they who are defenders of the truth, cannot be fitted for this 
 conflict by ignorance, or marshalled for the battle by piety 
 alone, however ardent. 
 
 We before remarked on the prodigious expanse of the active 
 powers in this land. We might dwell on this, and show fliat 
 this untiring activity demands correspondent learning and 
 discipline, in our ministry. Our countrymen stretch their 
 way to the West, and found cities, and towns, and colleges 
 there. Who is to attend them ? Who to counsel, who to sit 
 in the seats of learning ? Shall ignorance ; shall infidelity ? 
 Counsellors they will have, and men of learning they will have 
 to teach their youth, and lay the foundation of their own 
 society. Can any American, any man who has ever cast a 
 glance at Plymouth, doubt whether they should be men of 
 learning and talent who are to direct the destinies of the 
 West, and mould the character of that population ? Be igno 
 rance and fanaticism anywhere else rather than in the minis 
 try of the rising empire of the West. He that by a touch, 
 may control the destiny of millions, should not be a pedant, a 
 conceited fanatic, or a stranger to the power of moulding the 
 elements of political and religious society, with reference to 
 the destinies of the rising empire. 
 
 Our country is connected with the world. We owe a debt 
 to all nations. Our name is everywhere known. Our influ 
 ence stretches across the waters. Every nation looks to us ; 
 and it must be ours to furnish men who shall bear the gospel 
 from pole to pole. The name of an American preacher should 
 be in religion, what the name of an American citizen is, a 
 passport to all climes, and an honour in all the kingdoms of 
 the earth. Let men be trained as they should be, and it will. 
 Even now it is an honoured name, and is beginning to be 
 known in all the empires of men. Missionaries, nurtured by 
 our education societies, are encountering the dangers of 
 every ocean j treading every region of sand, or snows j ascend- 
 
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 119 
 
 ing every hill, and going down into every valley ; exploring 
 every island, and in almost every language proclaiming the 
 wonderful works of God. 
 
 Whose heart does not beat with holier and happier emotion, 
 when he remembers that America is rearing men to carry the 
 gospel through every zone ? And who would limit the efforts 
 of any association that sought to fit heralds of salvation to go 
 forth to benighted nations, and to tell of a dying Saviour in 
 the snows of Siberia, and on the banks of the Senegal and 
 the Ganges ? Every American Christian must love his reli 
 gion and his country more when he remembers, that even now 
 the voice of the American is heard in the islands of the ocean, 
 and that our country s blood, consecrated by piety and learn 
 ing, flows amid all the people of the earth. We live with re 
 ference to future times, and distant men. We know how the 
 voice of the American is heard abroad. We love our country 
 more when we remember that the example and the eloquence, 
 the learning and piety of the Mathers, and of Eliot, and 
 Hooker, and Edwards, and Davies, and Brainerd, and I) wight, 
 and Payson, strike across the waters, and shall be borne on 
 to other ages and other men. It shows that we arc not un 
 mindful of our birthright, and that we remember that we are 
 the descendants of the people honoured by the names of 
 Baxter, and Owen, and Barrow, and Taylor. We love our 
 country more when we remember, too, that Fisk, and Parsons, 
 and Hall went from our shores, and have not been deemed 
 unworthy coadjutors in the cause for which Martyn, and 
 Swartz, and Vanderkcmp toiled and died. To furnish more 
 such men is the noblest object of the toils and prayers of 
 American Christians. 
 
 There is an entire field of thought connected with this sub 
 ject, into which we cannot now enter. We refer to the ques 
 tion, whether this object will not take care of itself; whether 
 there is need to aid those who arc coining forward ; or whether 
 
120 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 numbers sufficient would not of themselves seek a preparation 
 for the holy ministry. We can only advert to the well-known 
 facts, 1. That true worth is retiring and modest, and needs 
 to be sought out, and urged onward. 2. That talent and 
 piety are often found in humble life, and encompassed with 
 poverty. 8. That there is an alarming want of ministers in 
 this land, of those who are qualified for their work, and that 
 the increase by no means keeps pace with that of our popula 
 tion. 4. That the way to prevent the land from being overrun 
 with preachers of every character and qualification, except the 
 right, is to raise the standard of the ministerial character, to 
 diffuse knowledge, and make the people restless and dissatisfied 
 under an ignorant or a bigoted ministry j to Jit men for their 
 office, and to furnish the churches with men of sense, and 
 piety, and learning. Ministers enough of some order there will 
 be. Every land is furnished with priests of religion ; and the 
 number of such priests is in exact ratio to the ignorance of the 
 people, and the corruption of the form of religion. Infidelity 
 has its priest in every man, who is sworn, by his talent and 
 influence, to propagate the scheme. Paganism has its thou 
 sands of altars, and its array of priests to attend on every 
 altar. In France, under the Romish Church, four hundred 
 thousand, or one man in every sixty-two of the inhabitants, 
 are ecclesiastics ; in Spain, one hundred and eighty thousand, 
 or one in every sixty-one of the population, are supported by 
 the church ; and so, under the same system, it will be in this 
 country, unless Protestants betake themselves to their duty, 
 and train up men well qualified for the ministry. Every man 
 knows, also, that ignorant and unqualified preachers abound 
 in all Christian denominations. The question is not, whether 
 there will be ministers of religion. It is, whether they shall 
 be qualified for their work ; whether the Protestant churches 
 of this land will train men for the holy office ; or whether the 
 disciples of fanaticism and of ignorance, the high-priests 
 
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 121 
 
 of infidelity, and the vast array of secular clergy, and 
 monks, and nuns, under the guidance of the Jesuit, shall 
 take possession of the country, and prey like the locust on 
 the avails of our toil, and abide in the dwelling-places of 
 our wealth and our arts. The Christian world has but to 
 take its choice. The churches have the great question before 
 them. It is, whether this land shall submit to the teach 
 ings of ignorance, the ravings of fanaticism, the dogma 
 tisms of infidelity, the guidance and support of numberless 
 hordes of Jesuits ; or to the instructions of a pious, educated, 
 and sober ministry. 
 
 Our land has been blessed hitherto with the toils of 
 holy men. They live in memory, and in the fruits of 
 their deeds. 
 
 " We give in charge 
 
 Their names to the sweet lyre. The historic muse, 
 Proud of the treasure, marches "with it down 
 To latest times." 
 
 We seek that other men may be reared to occupy the place 
 of the illustrious and the pious dead; to spread the triumphs 
 of the gospel through all the vales, and in all the hills of this 
 land, and throughout the world. No more deep-felt and ever- 
 abiding desire dwells in our bosoms, than that revivals of 
 religion may diffuse their rich and peaceful fruits in all the 
 mansions, and schools, and towns of our republic. We have 
 no more fervent prayer to offer for the land which gave us 
 birth, and which has been rendered sacred by the blood shed 
 by our fathers, and by the prayers which they offered, and by 
 the descent of the Holy Ghost, than that it may be continually 
 blessed with the ministrations of the gospel of peace, pro 
 ducing its appropriate, its immediate effect on the souls of 
 men. In all our visions of the future glory of America; all 
 
 VOL. I. 11 
 
122 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 our conceptions of the magnificence of our power ; the monu 
 ments of our arts ; the blessings of our liberty ; we anticipate; 
 as chiefest and brightest in the splendid prospect, the time 
 when the gospel of peace shall be borne from the lips of every 
 herald of salvation, with the directness and power which have 
 crowned it in the days of our Edwardses, our Tennants, our 
 Dwights, and our Paysons. 
 
THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. 123 
 
 III. 
 
 [CHKISTIAN SPECTATOR, 1832.J 
 
 The Works of Lord Bacon. Four vols. fol. London : 1730. 
 
 THE connection between philosophy and theology has been 
 felt and acknowledged in all ages. Most Christians have 
 deplored the influence of the former upon the latter ; but even 
 those who have been loudest in their complaints, and strongest 
 in their expressions of grief on this account, have given often 
 the most melancholy proofs of this very influence. In view 
 of this long and intimate union, however, and of the fact that 
 philosophy may take its complexion from religion, as well as 
 religion from philosophy, it becomes a question of no ordinary 
 interest, whether God did not intend that the one should be 
 perpetually a check upon the other? Did he not design 
 that the strange tendency in philosophic minds to perverse- 
 ness, pride, and atheism, should be continually restrained by 
 the overawing influence of the proofs of religion everywhere 
 present ? And did he not intend, also, that the vagaries 
 of the human mind in religion, the romance and knight- 
 errantry of theology the tendency to fanaticism, and dogma 
 tism, and mysticism, should be held in check by the influence 
 of common sense, the knowledge of the true laws of mind, and 
 the investigations of science from age to age ? The relation 
 of the sciences the vinculum commune between them, was 
 long ago remarked by Cicero. The mutual influence of 
 modern sciences on each other, and of all on religion, is a 
 much more important inquiry to a Christian. 
 
 We have neither the time nor ability to enter into a full 
 investigation of this subject. Nor indeed do we conceive that 
 
124 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 a detailed inquiry would so effectually answer the end we have 
 proposed to ourselves in our work, as some other mode. To 
 meet the demands of the present state of theological science, 
 and to turn theological inquiries to the best practical account, 
 it is not necessary, in our view, to proceed into much actual 
 detail. We address ourselves to an age of inquiry. We speak 
 in our pages to those who, we believe, are qualified, and are 
 disposed, to think for themselves. We contemplate the exist 
 ence of no barriers to investigation ; no fetters to free inquiry ; 
 nor want of diligence or disposition to follow out any train of 
 thought which may be suggested for practical use. It is our 
 province to furnish topics for such inquiries ; and the design 
 which we have in view in our labours in the Christian Spec 
 tator, will not have been accomplished unless we have laid the 
 foundation for investigation, and for active Christian effort, 
 long after our humble labours on earth have closed. 
 
 It is under the influence of reflections like these, that we 
 wish to call the attention of our readers to the works. of Lord 
 Bacon. Our object will be accomplished if we can briefly 
 exhibit his character; and can state the influence of his 
 writings on science, and the kind of influence which the 
 inductive philosophy is destined to exert, particularly on the 
 science of theology. 
 
 " For my name and memory," said Bacon in his will, 
 "I leave them to men s charitable speeches, and iQ foreign 
 nations, and to the next ages/ The reason of a part of this 
 remarkable bequest is to be found in the melancholy fall of 
 this illustrious man, to which we shall have occasion again to 
 advert. In the close of the bequest the legacy of his name 
 to future times we discover proofs of the same consciousness 
 of immortality that prompted Milton to compose a work that 
 the world " should not willingly let die." Yet more than 
 two centuries have passed away, and we have as yet no well- 
 written biography of this greatest of British philosophers. 
 
THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. 125 
 
 
 
 Till within a year, indeed, we had nothing that deserved to 
 be called a life of Newton. Still it is not a little remarkable, 
 that no one, prompted either by fame or usefulness, has pre 
 sented to us a biography of such a man as Bacon. In the 
 whole range of literature there is not a finer unoccupied field 
 than would be presented in the attempt to give the public a 
 well-written account of the author of the Novum Organum ; 
 of the state of science at the time he lived, and of his influ 
 ence on the interests of science, of literature, and of religion. 
 Yet, perhaps, we shall ever be compelled to regret, in regard 
 to him, a thing by no means uncommon in biography, that 
 of his peculiar habits of life, his changes of opinion, the pro 
 gress of his discoveries, and their immediate influence on men, 
 we are to know nothing but a few most meagre facts which 
 have been rescued from oblivion. 
 
 There is another remark which we are here compelled to 
 make respecting the works of Bacon. Few modern scholars, 
 we fear, are acquainted with them, even with the Novum 
 Organum. The study of them requires more time, patience, 
 industry, perhaps conscience, than most men of modern habits 
 are willing to appropriate to them. Bacon is regarded as be 
 longing to a distant age and to long-past times, and though 
 his name is in every one s mouth, and his praises in all 
 nations ] yet how few are there who could give an intelligent 
 account of his principles of philosophy ! How few theologians, 
 we are compelled to ask, have ever looked for a moment at the 
 Novum Organum ? Yet we are aware of its difficulty; and we 
 are not disposed to utter the language of complaint against the 
 men of our own times. "We are convinced that though our 
 generation should not sit down to the formal perusal and 
 study of this profound work, yet there has gone forth from it 
 an influence which reaches our age, and that we are, though 
 unconsciously, reaping its benefits, as the Nile long shed fer 
 tility on the fields of Egypt, while the source of its waters 
 
 11* 
 
126 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 
 
 was unknown ; and as the rain and light of heaven diffuse 
 their influence over the earth, while that influence may be un 
 noticed or forgotten. It has been asked with emphasis, " who 
 now reads the Rambler?" And it is indubitable that this 
 book, which once exerted so mighty an influence on the Eng 
 lish language and people, has given place, at least in general 
 reading, to works of far inferior merit and interest. The reason 
 seems to be, that its object is well-nigh accomplished. It 
 commenced with a standard of morals and language elevated 
 far above the prevailing style of morals and of writing. It 
 has elevated both, and has brought the English language and 
 notions of morality to its own level. Nor is it wonderful that 
 men should regard with less interest a work which now is seen 
 to have no very extraordinary elevation. It is a component 
 part of English literature, having fixed itself in the language, 
 the style, and the morals of the English people, and taken its 
 place as an integral and almost undistinguished part of the 
 national principles of writing and morality. The result is, 
 that while the benefits of the Rambler may be diffusing them 
 selves, unperceived, to almost all the endearments of the fire 
 side and virtues of the community, the book itself may be 
 very imperfectly known, and unfrequently perused. Johnson 
 may be almost forgotten, except in praise ; but his mighty 
 power is yet sending forth a mild influence over lands and seas, 
 like the gentle movements of the dew and the sunbeam. The 
 same is true of Bacon. He has incorporated himself into all 
 our science. He has imbedded his principles in the very 
 foundation of all our improvements in astronomy, natural phi 
 losophy, and chemistry, and, to a great extent, of mental 
 science and theology. It is related of Phidias, that in con 
 structing the statue of Minerva at Athens, he so wrought 
 his own image into her shield that it could not be removed 
 without destroying the statue. Thus Johnson has wrought 
 himself into our language and morals ; and Bacon into our 
 
THE WOBKS OP LORD BACON. 127 
 
 science. We have often endeavoured to follow out the effect 
 of his labours, by taking our present science and literature, 
 and attempting to go back and remove step by step, year by 
 year, and age by age, all that may have resulted from the 
 influence of the "Installation of Learning," by Bacon. No 
 one can be aware of what he owes to that man, who is not 
 able to thread all these mazes, and to trace all the unseen 
 progress of his principles that have thus found their way, 
 though from an unknown benefactor, into English science and 
 literature. 
 
 The leading facts of Bacon s life are soon told. He was 
 born on the 22d day of January, 1560. At an early age he 
 graduated at Cambridge, and after having travelled for some 
 time on the Continent, became a student at law, and was at 
 the usual period admitted to practice. During the reign of 
 Elizabeth, in consequence of having rivals and enemies at 
 court, he was either overlooked, or purposely prevented from 
 obtaining offices of standing and honour. This period of his 
 life was passed chiefly in the practice of the law ; in writing 
 some treatises on jurisprudence; and in preparation for the 
 more elevated offices in the government which he afterward 
 filled, and the more important advances in the sciences which 
 he was destined ultimately to make. But though he was 
 thus neglected by Elizabeth, and undistinguished by any 
 external and substantial marks of her favour, he was often 
 admitted as her counsellor, and enjoyed to a considerable 
 degree her confidence. On the accession of James I., Bacon 
 advanced rapidly through various offices in the gift of the 
 crown. Of James he says in a letter to him, that "he had 
 raised and advanced him nine times : thrice in dignity, and 
 six times in office." He was successively counsellor extra 
 ordinary to his majesty; king s solicitor-general; attorney- 
 general ; counsellor of state ; lord-keeper of the great seal ; and 
 lord chancellor. From this last office he was degraded for 
 
128 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 corruption, after having held it two years, and devoted the 
 remainder of his life to the pursuits of philosophy. During 
 this period of four years, his principal philosophical works 
 were written. He died on the 9th of April, 1636. 
 
 There is little pertaining to the early life and actions of 
 this illustrious man, on which we wish to offer any remarks. 
 Indeed, it would be difficult to present to our readers any thing- 
 like a just biography of his early years. There are no memo 
 rials of those years ; no records of his mode of study, and his 
 advances in science ; of his changes of views, and his projects 
 of ambition ; nothing that will acquaint us with the manner 
 by which his mind was trained to the amazing stature which 
 it afterward obtained. Nothing could be more interesting or 
 useful than to follow out the development of such an intellect, 
 and to trace the influence of external causes, and internal 
 principles and emotions, in framing a character whose influ 
 ence has been already felt in all the departments of science 
 and of morals. But we are doomed to sigh unavailingly over 
 the lamentable defects of the biography of illustrious men. 
 One hint only is recorded, which sheds some light on the 
 development of his early powers. It is said of him that at 
 the early age of sixteen years, while at the university, " he 
 fell into the dislike of the philosophy of Aristotle ; not for the 
 worthlessness of the author, to whom he would ever ascribe all 
 high attributes, but for the unfruitfulness of the way, being a 
 philosophy only strong for contentions and disputations, but 
 barren of the productions of works for the benefit of the life 
 of man/ At a time when the philosophy of Aristotle was 
 enthroned in the universities of Europe ; when his decision 
 was law in all the investigations of philosophy; when for 
 almost two thousand years he had swayed ah undisputed 
 sceptre over all that part of the world which claimed to be 
 civilized, it was no slight indication of independence of mind 
 even to doubt the infallibility of his decisions, and no unpro- 
 
THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. 129 
 
 mising omen of the advance which was afterward to bo made 
 by him in the sciences. Aristotle and Bacon now stand at the 
 head of the two great sects of philosophers that have divided 
 mankind. It was the high honour of the one, that mankind 
 for ages yielded their heads and hearts to his decisions, and 
 bowed to his authority. It was the unrivalled glory of the 
 other, that he displaced him from his proud elevation, and 
 introduced a new method of investigating truth, that has 
 forever broken the sceptre which the philosopher of Greece 
 so long swayed over mankind. 
 
 It is not our purpose to offer any remarks on the character 
 of Bacon as a lawyer. He was the rival of Coke ; and it is 
 not easy to estimate which of the two was the more eminent 
 man in this department of human science. Had Bacon con 
 fined his researches to that which seems to have limited the 
 ambition of Coke, it would be a matter of more moment to 
 institute the comparison. The admirers of legal attainments 
 might then delight to inquire which of these two men was 
 entitled to the highest honours of his profession. But the 
 name of Bacon naturally suggests to us far different attain 
 ments from those which adorned the bar or the bench. We 
 forget the robes of the lawyer, and the dignity of the ermine. 
 The advocate, the counsellor, the chancellor, the titles of 
 nobility are lost in the profound attainments of the man 
 of science, and the restorer of learning. We may just remark, 
 however, that the united testimony of Bacon s contemporaries 
 award to him the highest attainments as a lawyer, and a full, 
 rich, and flowing eloquence, that placed him deservedly beside 
 the Roman pleader ; and that, while he was speaking, " the 
 only fear was lest he should make an end." Of the correct 
 ness of his legal opinions and decisions, as chancellor, we 
 have the highest proof that has ever been furnished in any 
 case. Though he was accused and convicted of receiving 
 bribes ; though he confessed the crime, and was sentenced to 
 
130 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 a heavy penalty ; and though some were given pendentc lite, 
 and probably with the express intention on the part of those 
 who offered them to influence his decision in their favour, yet 
 it is recorded to his lasting honour, and it comes to us as a 
 solace when we think of the fate of this illustrious man, that 
 not one of his decisions was reversed or called in question 
 as unjust. 
 
 Bacon was not only a man of profound legal attainments, 
 but also eminent in the various departments of general litera 
 ture. With the classic purity and elegance of his Latin style, 
 every man must be struck who has read the Novum Organum. 
 But we feel more interest in remarking, that there is nowhere 
 to be found a better exhibition of the power of the English 
 language, than in his prose writings. For manliness and 
 strength ; for purity and occasional elegance of diction for 
 copious and varied illustration ; for terseness, compactness, 
 and the absence of all expletives, and the use of such words 
 and phrases as leave the thought clear and transparent to the 
 view, we know not where there can be found better models 
 than his Essays. Less full and flowing than Milton; less 
 dense and compact, perhaps, than Butler; less filled with 
 varied imagery, and the creations of fancy, than Taylor ; less 
 argumentative and stately, it may be, than Barrow ; and less 
 majestic and pompous than Johnson, he had yet in a rare 
 union what we most admire in all. He has placed on his 
 pages, in wonderful combination, those excellencies of style 
 which have given immortality to so many other men. And 
 if any one wishes to understand the beauty and force of the 
 English language, we know not how he can better do so than 
 by becoming familiar with the writings of this illustrious man. 
 Nor was his excellence in this respect apparently a matter of 
 particular study. His mind was full of thought, and he gave 
 utterance to his thoughts in pure and majestic English, that 
 makes us love our language more, and exult in the possession 
 
THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. 131 
 
 of so noble a medium of conveying the loftiest conceptions 
 and the most enlarged philosophy to mankind. 
 
 But it is not as a lawyer, or a man of literature, that we 
 wish now to contemplate this illustrious man. We wish to 
 look at the influence of his philosophy on that holy cause to 
 which our pages are consecrated. We believe that this influ 
 ence has gone far, and is destined to go still farther, into all 
 the departments of Christian theology. We believe it is in 
 evitable that the prevailing philosophy shall exert a wide 
 influence over the theology of our age. We do not doubt that 
 it ought to do so. Not that it is to control the Bible, or set 
 aside its decisions, but that it is to hold in check certain 
 vagaries of the human mind, which bigots, and zealots, and 
 theological antiquarians would persuade us are conformed not 
 only to the tradition of the elders, but to the testimony of the 
 Scriptures themselves. There is a wonderful charm to many 
 minds in a theological dogma, where it can be pretended that 
 it has been held " time whereof the memory of man runneth 
 not to the contrary." And there is a marvellous shrinking, 
 and expression of abhorrence, when philosophical dogma is 
 summoned to meet dogma, and the rules of a correct philo 
 sophy are employed to uncauonize and dethrone these elements 
 of ecclesiastical tyranny. Our remarks, then, are designed to 
 lead to a just estimate of the influence of the philosophy of 
 Bacon on the science of Europe ; of his religious character ; 
 of the applicability of his philosophy to theology; and the 
 effect which would be produced by an unsparing application 
 of those principles to the theology of modern times. 
 
 We do not deem it necessary to enter at large into the 
 inquiry about the state of science when Bacon wrote his 
 Novum Organum. There are two great departments of know 
 ledge on which such a mind would act the one pertaining to 
 the physical sciences, the other embracing the vast depart 
 ment comprehended under the general term of metaphysics. We 
 
132 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 have given a full statement of the condition of the latter when 
 we say, that this entire department was, till the time of Bacon, 
 under the influence of the philosophy of Aristotle.* He reigned 
 in the schools ; he controlled the systems recorded in the books ; 
 he fixed the metes and bounds of inquiry ; he swayed a sceptre 
 over the entire invisible world into which man might be dis 
 posed to push his investigations. More than all, this philo 
 sophy had incorporated itself with all the religious dogmas 
 of Europe, and was imposed on the belief of men with all the 
 sanctions of the most terrific and iron-featured superstition 
 that has ever extended a sceptre of night over the world. 
 During centuries of darkness this system had been compacted, 
 and with infinite toil of profound metaphysicians had received 
 its shape, 
 
 " If shape it might be called, that shape had none 
 Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb ; 
 Or substance might be called that shadow seemed." 
 
 It is common now to speak of the system with contempt. "We 
 
 * "Toward the close of the fifth century, the influence of Aristotle 
 began to prevail over that of Plato in the Christian world. After consi 
 derably declining in the sixth century, it again revived ; and in another 
 century it had gained such an ascendency, that Aristotle seems every 
 where to have been triumphant. Glosses, paraphrases, summaries, argu 
 ments, and dissertations on his works, were composed without end, as if to 
 make darkness visible. Many of the inhabitants of the West learned 
 Arabic, in order to read a translation of them into that language. Men 
 were everywhere taught to believe in matter, form, and privation, as the 
 origin of all things ; that the heavens were self-existent, incorruptible, and 
 unchangeable: and that all the stars were whirled around the earth in 
 solid orbs. Aristotle s works were the great text-book of knowledge, and 
 his logic was the only weapon of truth. Christians, Jews, and Moham 
 medans united in professing assent to the great lawgiver of human 
 opinions ; not Europe alone, but also Africa and Asia, acknowledged his 
 dominion ; and while his Greek originals were studied at Paris, transla 
 tions were read in Persia and Samarcand." Brougham s Account of Bacon s 
 Novum Oryanum, 
 
THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. 133 
 
 despise it because it Las passed out of view, and we deem it 
 not worth inquiry. We look on it as we do on desert sands 
 which we are not bound to traverse ; and on dark and pesti 
 lential and frightful abodes which we are afraid to enter. 
 But they who have looked at the system are the last to hold 
 it in contempt as an effort of profound and subtle argumenta 
 tion, and the last to wonder that it exerted such an amazing 
 influence on mankind. We have only to remember that it 
 required the best part of a man s life to become acquainted 
 with the dialectics of Aristotle and his commentators ; that it 
 was deemed indispensable to education to be master of the 
 philosophy of the schools ; that it was linked by a thousand 
 ties to the reigning superstition j that the colossal power 
 of the Roman See was sustained chiefly by the prevalence 
 of this philosophy; and that to doubt the dogmas of that 
 superstition, and of course the philosophy of Aristotle, sub 
 jected a man to the horrors of the Inquisition, and we 
 shall cease to wonder that it so long swayed its sceptre over 
 mankind. 
 
 The Reformation had made an incipient aggression on the 
 authority of the Stagyrite, at the same time that the Re 
 formers had defied the thunders of the Vatican. But no 
 mighty genius had yet arisen who was competent to strike an 
 effectual blow at its colossal power. It was reserved for 
 Bacon to put an end forever to the system, and to introduce a 
 method of inquiry which was to annihilate the dominion of 
 Aristotle. At the early age of sixteen, as we have seen, he 
 called in question the correctness of this mode of investiga 
 tion ; and his philosophical life was little more than an effort 
 to rescue the world from the protracted tyranny, and to lay 
 the foundations of a nobler method of inquiry. 
 
 It will be recollected that the difference between Aristotle 
 and Bacon related to the proper mode of investigating truth. 
 The philosophy of the schools dealt in abstractions. It did 
 
 VOL. I. 12 
 
184 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 not look at facts, but at theories ; not at visible and tangible 
 realities, but at fancied essences; not at the world as it is, but 
 at an ideal world ; not at things which God had formed, but 
 at the creations of a subtle and refined philosophy, which age 
 after age had laboured to reduce to consistency and to form 
 The designs and labours of the schoolmen we cannot better 
 present than in the words of Bacon : 
 
 "Surely like as many substances in nature which are solid, and 
 do putrify and corrupt worms ; so it is the property of good and 
 sound knowledge to putrify, and dissolve into a number of subtle, 
 unwholesome, and (as I might term them) vermiculate questions, 
 which, indeed, have a kind of quickness, and life of spirit, but no 
 soundness of matter, or goodness of quality. This kind of dogmatic 
 learning did chiefly reign among the schoolmen, who having sharp 
 and strong wits, and abundance of leisure, and little variety of 
 reading, but their wits being shut up in the cells of a few authors, 
 (chieflly Aristotle, their dictator,) as their persons were shut up in 
 the cells of monasteries and colleges, and knowing little history 
 either of nature or time, did out of no great quantity of matter, 
 and infinite agitation of wit, spin out into those laborious webs 
 of learning which are extant in their books. For the wit and mind 
 of man, if it work upon matter, which is the contemplation of the 
 creatures ,of God, worketh according to the stuff, and is limited 
 thereby; but if it work upon itself, as the spider worketh his web, 
 then it is endless, and brings forth indeed cobwebs of learning, 
 admirable for the thread and work, but of no substance and pro 
 fit." Advancement of Learning,, vol. ii. p. 428. 
 
 Yet, in regard to their talent, Bacon renders the following 
 just acknowledgment. 
 
 " Notwithstanding, certain it is, that if the schoolmen, to their 
 great thirst of truth and unwearied travel of wit, had joined variety 
 and universality of reading and contemplation, they hud proved 
 excellent lights, to the great advancement of all learning and know 
 ledge ; but, as they are, they are great undertakers indeed, and 
 fierce with dark seeking. But as in the inquiry of the divine truth, 
 their pride inclined them to leave the oracle of God s word, and 
 
THE WORKS OF LOUD BACON. 135 
 
 to varnish in the mixture of their own inventions ; so in the inqui 
 sition of nature, they ever left the oracle of God s works, and adored 
 the deceiving and deformed images, which the unequal mirror of 
 their own minds, or a few received authors or principles did re 
 present unto them." Vol. ii. p. 429. 
 
 One can scarcely help reflecting here, what an amazing ad 
 vance the unwearied toils of the schoolmen might have made, 
 had their efforts been directed by some such work as the 
 Novum Organum. Had the profound talent of Duns Scotus 
 been employed on the works of nature, or in investigating the 
 properties of mind in any useful way, it is possible that wo 
 might never have heard the names of Bacon, Locke, or 
 Newton, or have heard of them only as carrying the dis 
 coveries of science far into the regions that are now untrodden 
 by living men, and clothed, to human view, in the shades of 
 profound and " ever-during darkness." 
 
 We do not deem it necessary to dwell on the state of science 
 in Europe when Bacon lived. We have not room to do it. 
 Those who wish for detail on this subject perhaps the most 
 interesting that the history of mind and opinions furnishes 
 will find it in the works which have, in modern times, at 
 tempted to establish just views of mental and moral science. 
 Reid and Stewart have presented this in ample detail. 
 
 The grand achievement of Bacon was to break the power 
 of this despotism over mind. To this work no small part 
 of his active life was devoted. In the midst of the toils of 
 office and of law, while seeking for preferment at the feet 
 of his sovereign, (for this was the grand foible of this illus 
 trious man,) and while discharging the duties of a profession 
 which at all times has been deemed enough to occupy the 
 time and energies of the profoundest and most active minds, 
 did this distinguished lawyer lay the foundation of that system 
 on which now rests his fame. He then conceived and di 
 gested the plan of his great work on the Advancement of 
 
136 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 Learning; and he had so looked over the field of human 
 science ; so estimated its defects and its wants ; and so con 
 templated the objects at which science should aim, that 
 nothing was needed but a few years of leisure to establish 
 principles which should ultimately change the entire aspect 
 of human science and opinions. 
 
 It is to one of those strange and mysterious events which 
 we are perpetually called upon to deplore in the history 
 of man, that we owe the accomplishment of this great design. 
 "While making these preparations, Bacon was in the enjoy 
 ment of offices and preferments that would have satisfied any 
 man of moderate ambition. But he sought a seat near the 
 ear of majesty, and aspired to the highest offices to which a 
 British subject can be elevated. He obtained his wishes; 
 James advanced him. to the dignity of lord chancellor; and 
 conferred on him the keeping of the great seal of England. 
 Had his life been spent in the duties of that high office, it is 
 probable that his name would have been known to us, if at all, 
 only in British heraldry, or in the books and records of juris 
 prudence. But this illustrious man, to use an expression 
 applied by the profligate Horace "Walpole to every man, " had 
 his price ;" and, in two years, the chancellor of Great Britain 
 was degraded from his office; fined to the amount of fifty 
 thousand pounds ; sentenced to be imprisoned at the king s 
 pleasure ; and forever excluded from holding any office under 
 the British government. Of the justice of this sentence 
 which, so far as the fine and imprisonment were concerned, was 
 soon remitted no one ever entertained a doubt. Of the nature 
 of the offence, and the influence which it should have in form 
 ing an estimate of his character, we shall have occasion to 
 speak in the course of this article. 
 
 After a fall like this, most men would have abandoned 
 every effort ; and, sunk in hopeless despondency, would have 
 blushed to give publicity to their names even by the most 
 
THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. 137 
 
 splendid discoveries of science. After such a fall most of the 
 ancients would have put a period to their lives. Cato fell by 
 his own hand, unaccuscd of the crime that dishonours the 
 name of Bacon ; and Cassius sought his own death amid mis 
 fortunes that, to a sensitive mind, would have been less over 
 whelming, than was this degradation to the chancellor of 
 England. But it was here, that the nobleness, and, we hope, 
 the religion also, of this illustrious man triumphed. He gave 
 himself not up to despondency. He laid aside the insignia 
 of office, and sought honours beyond what the courts or cabi 
 nets of kings could ever bestow. 
 
 After his deposition from ofijce, Bacon lived about five years. 
 The closing years of his life he gave entirely to the pursuits 
 of philosophy, and the perfecting and completing of his great 
 works on science. During this period it does not appear that 
 he ever sighed for the honours which he had once so ardently 
 sought, or that he ever wept over the favours of royalty which 
 he had so ignominiously lost. His great mind sought em 
 ployment in contemplating the advances which science might 
 make, and in laying the foundation for those astonishing 
 improvements which science in all its departments has since 
 made. 
 
 The principles of the inductive philosophy, which Bacon 
 reduced to a system, if he did not originate, are easily told 
 and easily understood. To us, therefore, at the present day, 
 it is not very easy to understand why the establishment of 
 such a system should have given to him a celebrity which 
 surpasses all that had before been regarded as great among 
 men. To understand it, it would be necessary to go back to 
 the early periods of science, to watch its slow advances, to 
 look at the mistakes which have been made in all the eras 
 of philosophy. At every step, we should pause and wonder 
 that the obvious principles of the inductive method should 
 not sooner have presented themselves to men. At almost 
 
 12* 
 
138 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 every step we should see philosophy approaching the very 
 principles of the Novum Orgamim we should see men half 
 disposed to leave the trammels of theories, and to go forth in 
 the manliness of just philosophic inquiry to look at nature as 
 she is % ; and at every step we should be amazed that men drew 
 back from these obvious paths of inquiry, and retreated into 
 the dark shades and bewildering paths of abstract speculation. 
 This tendency of the human mind to frame theories, rather 
 than to look at facts, to forsake the obvious and plain paths 
 of inquiry for vain and delusive vagaries, we regard both in 
 the scientific and theological world, as one of the most remark 
 able and melancholy perversities of the human intellect any 
 where presented in the history of the race. 
 
 There are but two ways of attempting to understand the 
 works of nature, or of ascertaining the relations and properties 
 of things. One is for the philosopher to sit down in his grove 
 or closet, and attempt to frame in his own mind what nature 
 ought to be ; the other, to become the interpreter of nature, 
 and to tell the world what she is. The one attempts, on 
 the basis of a few facts imperfectly ascertained, isolated in 
 their character, and little understood in their connections, to 
 frame a theory that shall account for all the facts in the world, 
 and to construct a bed of Procrustes to reduce all the theories 
 and facts to the same dimensions \ the other approaches the 
 works of creation as the Son of God directed his disciples to 
 come to him, with the spirit of little children, and humbly to 
 sit down at his feet. The former course was the most diffi 
 cult, the least obvious, and w;as capable of being made to 
 amaze and confound the intellects of men. It would give the 
 longest and most profound employment to the intellect ; 
 would most effectually separate philosophers from other men, 
 and introduce what men of philosophic temperament have 
 commonly sought the honours of caste ; an elevation above 
 the millions of humbler mortals beneath their feet. This 
 
THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. 139 
 
 strange obliquity of the human mind we are compelled to 
 trace, country after country, and age after age, in the history 
 of science. It is constituted alike the teaching of Aristotle, 
 of Pythagoras, of Plato. The only man in antiquity who 
 seems in any measure to have been free from it, was Socrates ; 
 and even his instructions referred almost solely to morals. 
 We arc often led to wonder at the little advances which 
 science made in antiquity. We go to Egypt, the parent 
 of civilization, of learning, and even of art. What has ever 
 been found there, in relation to the sciences, that would 
 entitle her to the very lowest place now in our schools ? When 
 we admire the monuments of her power ; when we look upon 
 her pyramids, or enter them j or when we wander among the 
 broken columns of Thebes, and are impressed with the proofs 
 of her vast physical power, we are instinctively prompted to 
 pause and ask ; where are the monuments of her science ? 
 What advances did she ever make in the knowledge of that 
 which could ultimately contribute to the spread of true know 
 ledge among mankind ? Of what use was it to the world to 
 construct her pyramids, her obelisks, her sphynxes, or her 
 labyrinths ? The playthings of kings, fit monuments of chil 
 dren, or fit tombs of mortals who could seek immortality in 
 them, while the great mass of intellect beneath them grovelled 
 in the most revolting idolatry, and only lived to accomplish 
 what we now do much better by the help of the steam-engine. 
 We are not less struck with the absence of the plainest 
 principles of science even in Greece and Rome. We do not 
 undervalue classic learning, or wish to banish it from the 
 schools. Yet we cannot but be struck with the almost total 
 want in the classic remains of antiquity, of any very valuable 
 explanation of even the more common phenomena. What a 
 conception far, far beyond the loftiest thoughts of antiquity, 
 is presented by the simplest truths of modern astronomy? 
 Though this science among the Chaldeans, the Persians, and 
 
140 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 the Greeks, was that to which most attention had been paid, 
 and on which they would probably have rested their highest 
 claims to celebrity, yet to what did it amount ? To a few 
 theories, involved, unintelligible, and undemonstrated, about 
 the possible order in the movements of the heavenly bodies ; 
 to the formation, with infinite toil and childish care, of pic 
 tures of the heavens arranging the stars into constellations, 
 and giving them outlines, having a fanciful resemblance to 
 some object among animals or reptiles. What was more ob 
 vious in the healing art, than to approach the human frame 
 and examine it by dissection? Yet this was never done. 
 AVhat more plain than to collect facts in regard to diseases, 
 and arrange them by patient induction, and from the science 
 of physiology, and the recorded facts, to attempt to cure men ? 
 Yet the ancient practice of medicine under Galen, and in the 
 ancient world, was simply to prevent disease, and not to cure it. 
 By rules of hygiene, and systems of dietetics, they sought to 
 parry and ward off the attack, and were strangers to the art 
 of restoration. One of the most obvious and amazing in 
 stances of the want of science in antiquity, related to the 
 simplest laws of hydrostatics. The aqueducts of Jerusalem, 
 of Rome, and of Gaul of all ancient cities and towns, are 
 probably among the most striking monuments on earth, of an 
 entire ignorance of the most simple laws of science, among 
 people so refined and intelligent as they are acknowledged to 
 have been. So amazing has it appeared that one of the sim 
 plest laws of hydrostatics should have been unknown to them, 
 that their admirers have sought in vain for some reasons 
 of pride or state, to account for such vast expenditures in sup 
 plying their cities with water. 
 
 The ancients knew nothing of the present system of arith 
 metic. The science of numbers among them was exceedingly 
 complicated, and never carried beyond what to us are its sim 
 plest elements. They knew nothing of algebra, and, of 
 
THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. 141 
 
 course, nothing of the stupendous calculations to which it has 
 given rise, and nothing of the easy and extended advances 
 which it could give to geometry. They had not learned to 
 simplify profound and laborious calculations by the aid of 
 logarithms, and were utter strangers to fluxions. They had 
 not attained to any just mode of the mensuration of the earth; 
 a matter of so great moment to astronomy, navigation, and 
 commerce. They had not been made acquainted with the 
 mariner s compass } and their navigation was confined to nar 
 row streams, or to the vicinity of the mainland. The laws 
 of gravitation were to them unknown ; and, of course, all the 
 science and all the useful arts now dependant on those laws. 
 Nothing can be more complicated or unsatisfactory, than the 
 cycles and epicycles of ancient astronomy, and though in all 
 this, as well as in the labours of Aristotle, we discern proofs 
 of profound talent and indefatigable toil, yet we find also con 
 vincing proofs that we are contemplating there what Bacon 
 insists should be called the infancy, and not the antiquity 
 of the world. 
 
 We are struck with the same thing in the mechanic arts. 
 The application of water, for example, to turn a mill a thing 
 so obvious to us, is not known to have been accomplished in 
 Greece, and was not attempted at Rome till near the age of 
 Augustus. The propulsion of the saw by any other power 
 than by the hand, was a novelty in England so late as the 
 sixteenth century. Nothing like the pump an instrument 
 so obvious to us was known to any of the ancient nations.* 
 
 These observations might be extended to almost any length. 
 But it is sufficient here to ask of any student of the ancient 
 classics, what valuable fact, or just philosophic theory has he 
 ever found in all the ponderous tomes that have travelled 
 down to us from Greece and Rome ? For what single, just 
 
 * Webster s Lecture before the Mechanics Institution. 
 
142 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 theory is he indebted to all the master-spirits of the ancient 
 world ? We have often been amazed at the slow advances 
 which science made. With all that we admire in the acute- 
 ness of their intellect, the richness and splendour of their dic 
 tion, the profoundness of their moral sayings, the grandeur of 
 their military achievements, and the unrivalled beauty of their 
 specimens of art, we have still seen that there was some mighty 
 spell over all their attempts at science ; that there was some 
 spirit of darkness that blasted all their efforts, and withered 
 their energies, and completely stayed their advances in the 
 march to those high attainments which now so dignify and 
 ennoble man. We know no reason for this but the dominion 
 which a love of theory had gained in all the nations of anti 
 quity. We see there the first movements of that despotism 
 which was destined to reign over Europe for many centuries, 
 and to bury at last in one common grave just mental philoso 
 phy, large and liberal views, national freedom, and refinement, 
 as well as to stay all advances in science and the arts. 
 
 We might also apply these remarks to other nations, and 
 we should find the same fondness for theory extending itself, 
 and spreading a baleful influence over all the efforts of science 
 and of art. It is customary to acknowledge with gratitude 
 our obligations to Arabia for some of the most important ad 
 vances in science, particularly the science of chemistry. It is 
 not our wish to lessen this feeling of gratitude. But we can 
 not withhold the expression of our regret, that the principles 
 of the philosophy of induction were unknown to the Arabians. 
 Even in that land, so remote for a long time from the influ 
 ence of the Aristotelian philosophy, we discern traces of the 
 same unhappy tendency first to construct a theory, and then 
 to examine nature to establish it. The Arabian assumed that 
 all metals might be transmuted into gold. He framed a 
 theory that all metallic substances could be traced to a single 
 basis, and that the purest metals could be produced from the 
 
THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. 143 
 
 least valuable. Nature was subjected to tlie torture, to 
 establish this theory ; and the discoveries which were actually 
 made, were the result of accident, and made, not because they 
 were sought, but because in the endless investigations which 
 were set on foot, it was impossible that they should entirely 
 escape notice. It was assumed that there was somewhere an 
 elixir of life, a universal preventive of disease, and prolonger 
 of life. To discover this, was the object of the toil of centu 
 ries. It of course failed \ but, in the vain and Quixotic effort, 
 many important facts could not but force themselves on the 
 attention of mankind. What would not half the talent and 
 skill expended in these vain and fruitless pursuits, have pro 
 duced under a happier and wiser system of philosophy ? It is 
 needless for us to dwell on the unhappy influence of the philo 
 sophy of Aristotle during the Middle Ages. There never has 
 been so long and unbroken a spell over the energies of man 
 kind, as during that dismal period. The human mind has no 
 where else exhibited so remarkable a perversity ; nor is there 
 anywhere to be found so sad a commentary on the influence 
 of a false philosophy. Age after age was employed in com 
 pacting and digesting the dark and terrible system. As it 
 came from the hand of Aristotle, it had much to command 
 admiration. It was, to appearance, a harmless system. Had 
 it remained in Greece, it would not, probably, have greatly 
 fettered the minds of men, or retarded the progress of science. 
 The truth is, that the philosophy of Plato, and Aristotle, and 
 Pythagoras, did not much affect the common mind. It was 
 understood to be adapted only to the Grove and the Lyceum. 
 The great mass of mind was to be unaffected by it ; and we 
 do not know that the majority of the Greek population was 
 influenced at all by all the labours of those illustrious men. 
 But during the rise of the papal dominion in Europe, it be 
 came indispensable that some system of philosophy should be 
 at the control of the priesthood, that would extend and pro- 
 
144 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 long the shades of darkness as far as the sceptre of the papal 
 power could be made to extend. Some scheme was necessary 
 that should repress investigation ; that should convince man 
 kind that all wisdom, as well as power, was located near 
 the Vatican; and that should effectually fetter and bind 
 human faculties ; and stay for ages the advance of thought. 
 The grand thing needed to give ascendency and stability to 
 the papacy, was some system that should treat inquiry as con 
 structive heresy, and brand novelty of opinion as dangerous to 
 the purity and power of the church. Had this been left to 
 the invention of the friends of the rising spiritual tyranny, we 
 believe that there was not cunning or talent enough among all 
 the adored and canonized fathers of the church, to have de 
 vised any effectual scheme. But the work was made ready to 
 their hands, long before even the coming of Christ. The 
 scheme had been framed by one of the profoundest minds that 
 ever approached the topics of human inquiry. Nothing more 
 was wanting effectually to confirm the aspirations of the 
 papacy \ to repress inquiry } to chain the mind down to igno 
 rance ; to prepare it for all the legends and fooleries of the 
 monastic life, and to fit it to receive all the claims of the 
 papal power, than to give such a direction to the philosophy 
 of the Stagyrite as to adapt it to the common mind, and 
 bestow on it all the tremendous sanctions of religion. This 
 was done. Its reign was secured, and when we see what it 
 was expected to accomplish by it, we cease to wonder that it 
 should call forth the profound talents of such men as Duns 
 Scotus, and even the devoted piety of Thomas Aquinas. 
 When these shades were stretched over the church ; when 
 it was understood that this withering philosophy was to 
 attend the dogmas of the papal See, we cease to wonder 
 at its long and gloomy reign. It was sustained by the 
 mightiest talents then on earth ; it was urged forward by all 
 the learning that lingered in the monastic cells ; by all the 
 
THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. 145 
 
 achievements of the papal arms ; by all the mighty power of 
 religious principle when misdirected ; by the energies of a dark 
 and dismal superstition ; and, finally, by all the terrors of the 
 Inquisition, and the flames of persecution. Every engine of 
 cruelty in the Spanish dungeons tended to confirm the reign 
 of Aristotle ; and every flame kindled in the valleys of Swit 
 zerland was designed to confirm and prolong the dark and 
 gloomy domination. It became necessary to fetter and bind 
 all the faculties of the soul. Scientific investigations would, 
 at any period, have overthrown the power of the papacy. 
 Large and liberal indulgence given to the cultivation of any 
 single faculty of the mind, would have ultimately set the mind 
 wholly free. The improvement of any single department of 
 science or learning, would have emancipated the human powers, 
 and stayed the desolating reign of the papal supremacy among 
 men. You cannot give enlargement to one of the faculties of 
 the mind, without affecting all. You cannot emancipate man 
 in one department of learning, without ultimately sending a 
 healing and redeeming influence over all that gives rise to in 
 quiry, or that ennobles and purifies man. Hence we see how 
 difficult and slow was the progress of the Reformation. 
 On any effort to emancipate the mind in any department, 
 there rested this superincumbent mass, consolidated for ages. 
 Wherever there was in any department, however obscure, a 
 disposition to inquire, or to doubt, it was the certain precursor 
 of the thunders of the Vatican, and of the terrors of the In 
 quisition. Every nook and corner of the Roman dominion 
 was searched as with the hundred eyes of Argus; every 
 change of opinion, or advance in science, called to the spot 
 the concentrated vigilance and power of the whole Roman 
 See. Roger Bacon early made advances in science, and was 
 one of the first who acted on the principles of the inductive 
 philosophy, but his improvements died with himself, and for 
 ages his was a solitary name connected with philosophy, in 
 
 VOL. T. 13 
 
146 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 the whole compass of the Roman domination. Jerome of 
 Prague, and Huss, and Wlckliffe, dared to think for them 
 selves, and to doubt the infallibility of the prevalent opinions; 
 and the flames of persecution terminated the lives of two 
 of them, and indignity was offered to the bones and the works 
 of the other. Galileo constructed a telescope, exposed to the 
 eye of man the absurdities of the prevailing philosophy, and 
 laid the foundation for the modern discoveries in astronomy; 
 and he was rewarded with a place in the dungeons of the 
 Inquisition. With so keen an eye did the Roman See discern 
 that the slightest advance in science would tend to destroy its 
 far-spread domination, and liberate man from the ignoble and 
 slavish chain. And we may here remark, that the distin 
 guishing features of the papal See in modern times, though 
 varied, are not essentially changed. It is still true, that the 
 philosophy of Aristotle holds as real a sway over the Romish 
 Church as ever ; and it is true, that it looks with as real a 
 jealousy as ever on the advances which men are disposed to 
 make, and on freedom of opinion, as it did on the opinions of 
 Wickliffe or of Galileo. 
 
 The Reformation under Luther broke this mighty power. 
 It was necessary that some tremendous shock should be given 
 to the Roman See, and set the human mind at liberty, and it 
 was done. God raised up men formed for those times, men 
 evidently adapted to make vast changes, and originate stu 
 pendous revolutions among men. The papal power once 
 broken ; the project of confining all learning to the cells 
 of the monastery being for ever put to an end by the dis 
 covery of printing; the terrors of the Inquisition, and the 
 anathemas of the triple crown being ineffectual to prove the 
 telescope to be false ; and the superincumbent load of super 
 stition nnd crimes in the papal dominion beino; beyond human 
 endurance, the Reformation by one mighty effort threw off 
 the incumbent IIUUSH, and man walked forth dignified with tho 
 
THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. 147 
 
 privilege withheld for centuries, of thinking for himself. The 
 great truth went forth, never more to be recalled, that man 
 was to be at liberty to frame his own opinions, and that the 
 last successful effort had been made effectually to fetter and 
 paralyze the human powers. 
 
 It is interesting to the friends of science, to trace the slow 
 advances which were made toward the great truths which now 
 ennoble science. We have already adverted to the labours of 
 Roger Bacon, and the discovery of the telescope by Galileo. 
 We may now remark, that many of the maxims of the induc 
 tive philosophy were acted on before they were collected and 
 arranged by Bacon. Thus in the year 1596, John Kepler 
 published his peculiar views on the Harmonics and Analogies 
 of Nature. This was a book constructed wholly on the pre 
 valent system of philosophy, in which he attempts to solve 
 what he calls " the cosmographical mystery of the admirable 
 proportion of the planetary orbits " and by means of the six 
 regular geometrical solids he endeavours to assign a reason 
 why there are six planets, and why the dimensions of their 
 orbits, and the time of their periodical revolutions, were such 
 as Copernicus found them. Perhaps not even in the trifling, 
 but more laborious toils of the schoolmen, could there be 
 found a more melancholy illustration of the prevalent philo 
 sophy. A copy of this work was presented by its author to 
 Tycho Brahe, who had been too long versed in the realities 
 of close observation to attach any value to such wild theories. 
 He advised his young friend, " first to lay a solid foundation 
 for his views by actual observation, and then by ascending 
 from these, to strive to reach the causes of things."* On this 
 principle Brahe had long acted, and by the aid of it had 
 reached a distinguished elevation in the philosophical world. 
 On this principle Kepler appears afterwards to have acted, 
 
 * Browstcr s Life of Newton, p. 120. 
 
148 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 and under the guidance of the Baconian philosophy thus com 
 pressed into a single paragraph, he abandoned his visionary 
 inquiries, and laid the foundation of that distinguished cha 
 racter for philosophic inquiry which he subsequently obtained. 
 Philosophers were beginning gradually to abandon the long- 
 established maxims of the schools. They began to discover 
 the inutility and barrenness of their speculations. Incident 
 ally, and at intervals, they expressed some great sentiment, 
 which, if followed out, would have freed them from the domi 
 nation of the prevailing systems. They saw that under the 
 advancing prevalence of the new principles of inquiry, the 
 universe began, to their view, to assume a new aspect; dis 
 coveries in science had already characterized the sixteenth 
 century, far more in number and importance than had marked 
 the whole reign of the philosophy of Aristotle, and the way 
 was manifestly opening for some still more splendid advances 
 in science. 
 
 At this auspicious period Bacon rose. The world had 
 manifestly worked itself into a form adapted to the moulding 
 of some such mighty mind. Some comprehensive genius was 
 demanded by the circumstances of the age, that could look at 
 once at all the departments of science, ascertain and record all 
 that had been done and that was still defective; point out the 
 errors that had pervaded all the investigations of past genera 
 tions, expose the causes of the slow progress of science, of its 
 repeated defeats, its little utility, and disclose the true paths 
 of philosophic research. Some single mind of vast native 
 powers and attainments was needed to collect the incipient, 
 though scattered maxims of the true philosophy, and present 
 them in an embodied form ; that should trace their real in 
 fluence in the hands of Friar Bacon, of Galileo, of Tycho 
 Brahe, and of Kepler; and that should show in what way the 
 same principles might be applied to all the departments of 
 human investigation. Such a man was Bacon. Nor was 
 
THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. 149 
 
 there ever a human being so well adapted to occupy this 
 ground as he. He seems to have been fitted by a wise Provi 
 dence, to stand at the base of the towering and superincum 
 bent system, which had so long held in ignoble bondage all 
 the human powers, and to hasten its decline ; and to frame a 
 scheme that should be adapted to all future times, and to set 
 up land-marks along the paths of all the departments of 
 science. Nor do we know that there have ever been put forth 
 more vast and comprehensive views/ than those which charac 
 terized this illustrious man. The principles of his philosophy 
 are simple, even to the comprehension of a child ; and yet 
 vast enough to meet all the investigations of the modern 
 astronomer, to direct all the inquiries of the natural philo 
 sopher and chemist, and to give law to all the investigations 
 of mind. 
 
 The two great departments of Bacon s work were designed 
 to state what are the proper objects of science, its advances, 
 and its defects; and to submit the outlines of a new method 
 of philosophic inquiry. The first of these he accomplished in 
 his treatise on the Advancement of Learning; the latter in 
 the Novum Organum. The first of these we regard as pre 
 senting, even now, by far the best view to be found of the 
 various objects of human pursuit. With a comprehensiveness 
 of mind which shows that he had looked at all the inquiries 
 of the illustrious men of other times, at their successes and 
 their failures, at the true compass of the field of inquiry, and 
 at its actual results, he states what are the proper objects 
 of human pursuit ; what advances had been made ; and what 
 remained yet to be accomplished. It is lamentable, in look 
 ing at this work, to see how little had been accomplished by 
 the toils of so many centuries ; and no survey could more com 
 pletely have shown the necessity of some new mode of inves 
 tigation. Men had speculated and framed visionary theories 
 age after age, and yet scarcely a truth in the science of 
 
150 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 astronomy had been established ; and few of the facts of the 
 universe had been subjected to the test of the inductive philo 
 sophy. Men had been so bewildered in the pursuit of sub 
 stantial forms, and real essences ; they had been so tossed in 
 vortices, and had listened so anxiously to the imagined music 
 of the spheres ; they had so loved the great maxim of the 
 Aristotelian philosophy, that the way to investigate truth is to 
 frame a theory, and construct a syllogism ; that science, even 
 down to the time of Bacon, was a vast chaos, and the entire 
 field was to be resurveyed, and subjected to a better and 
 different test. 
 
 This test he proposed in the Novum Organum. Never was 
 there a more comprehensive maxim, or one more fitted to 
 revolutionize all the prevalent systems of philosophy though 
 to us perfectly simple and obvious than the first sentence 
 of this wonderful work. Never was there an announcement 
 more fitted to arrest the thoughts of a philosophic mind, or to 
 produce a pause in all the inquiries that the world was then 
 making, than when he proclaimed, " Homo, natura) minister 
 et interpres, tantum facit et intelligit, quantum de naturae 
 ordine, re vel mente observaverit ; nee amplius scit, aut 
 potest." It is not our purpose to attempt an analysis of this 
 vast and comprehensive work. It is, perhaps, of all works, 
 except Butler s Analogy, least capable of abridgment. Our 
 regret is that it is so little known and so little understood by 
 theologians. Its great principles are better understood in all 
 other departments of inquiry than in theology. We were 
 about to add that divinity is almost the only science on which 
 it has not cast a flood of light. Our object in this article will 
 be accomplished, if we can direct the attention of our readers 
 to this great work. 
 
 The great principle of the Baconian or inductive philosophy, 
 we have already stated in the advice given by Tycho Brahc to 
 Kepler. It consists in o careful and patient examination of 
 
THE WORKS OF LOUD BACON. 151 
 
 fdcts, or the phenomena of the universe, and deriving from 
 the observation of those facts the principles of a just philoso 
 phy, or the laws by which the natural universe is governed. 
 It supposes that God acts on the same principles in the same 
 circumstances, in all places and at all times j and that when 
 we have carefully examined one phenomenon, and have ascer 
 tained its cause, we arc qualified and authorized to apply the 
 same explanation to all similar facts in the universe. Till 
 then, we arc not qualified to frame a theory. Till then, a 
 theory would be visionary, useless, wild, and probably erro 
 neous. On this simple precept the whole of the Baconian 
 philosophy rests, and the wonder to us is, that so much time 
 was necessary in the history of philosophy to bring it out, and 
 that the talents of sucli a man as Bacon were demanded to 
 establish it on an imperishable foundation. Yet it was long 
 before the world saw its value ; and to the mistakes and errors 
 of mankind in regard to this single principle, we arc indebted 
 for that stupendous production of the human mind the 
 Novum Organum. 
 
 It was sufficient honour for one man to have laid the foun 
 dation of the inductive philosophy ; in other words, to have 
 taught the race in what way to approach the works of God 
 with the hope of success. This was the honour reserved for 
 Bacon. Hence we are not to expect that he himself would 
 make great advances in experimental philosophy. His disco 
 veries were few, and many of his experiments incomplete. 
 Yet it is amazing that he subjected so many objects to the 
 test of experiment that with so incomplete and clumsy an 
 apparatus as could be possessed in his time, he attempted an 
 examination of so many phenomena, and even with so much 
 success. 
 
 From the time, however, of the publication of the Novum 
 Organum, the progress of the sciences is well known. As 
 if by the wand of magic, Bacon laid open for correct human 
 
152 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 investigation all the departments of the material and mental 
 worlds. Galileo had already pointed the telescope to the 
 heavens ; and by a single glance had exposed to contempt all 
 the cycles and conjectures of the ancient astronomy. Bacon 
 taught mankind how to look at the stupendous facts which 
 the telescope laid open to view; how to classify and arrange 
 the amazing phenomena which now burst upon the eyes of 
 mankind ; how to subject nature to the torture, and how to 
 penetrate into all elements, look at all worlds, and how to 
 listen to the universal voice which the heavens and the earth, 
 the air, the ocean and the land, were ready, with a harmony 
 more grateful than the feeble music of the spheres, to pour on 
 the human ear in relation to science. Europe was prepared 
 to follow her illustrious guide. Centuries had been opening 
 the way for the Novuni Organum ; and it was impossible but 
 that the boundaries of human science should at once be en 
 larged, far, far beyond what the world had ever known. A 
 mighty engine was brought to bear on the works of creation ; 
 and never before had man been armed with like power in 
 questioning the elements of the universe. We regard the rise 
 of such a man as Newton, who has, by common consent, been 
 placed at the head of the race, as an event which the crisis of 
 the world was just fitted to produce. A peculiar juncture 
 of political affairs has commonly raised up men adapted to 
 their times. Such men as Caesar and Napoleon, as Hannibal 
 and Scipio, as Leonidas and our own Washington, are formed 
 often by great crises in the history of the world. The frame 
 of things makes their existence indispensable } and calls out 
 talent, prowess, and patriotism, which, but for such events, 
 would have slumbered unknown. 
 
 Newton we regard as indebted to the state of things formed 
 by Wickliffe and Luther ; by Galileo, Kepler, Brahe ; by John 
 of Salisbury, Roger Bacon, Ludovicus Vives ; by Gilbert, who 
 had investigated the laws of magnetic attraction ; by Coper- 
 
THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. 153 
 
 nicus, who had revived the ancient Pythagorean doctrine of 
 astronomy; by Francis Bacon; and by the prevalence of just 
 principles of philosophy in Europe, for the station which he 
 occupies in fame as at the head of mankind. The develop 
 ment of some such mind, we consider as inevitable in the 
 progress of events, as the formation of the character of Napo 
 leon, fitted to control the whirlwind and direct the storm of 
 revolution in France. And while we wish to concede all 
 honour to his immortal name, we cannot but remark that, 
 under other auspices, Aristotle, or even John Duns Scotus, 
 might have filled the space which Newton s name now fills; 
 and that most certainly some La Place, or Herschell, would 
 have opened the eyes of mankind on the modern astonishing 
 theories of the heavens. In less than half a century from 
 the publication of the Novum Organum, Newton had developed 
 the laws of light, strictly on the principles of the inductive 
 philosophy ; had invented the science of fluxions ; had dis- 
 coverered and demonstrated the grand principles of the mo 
 dern astronomy and by one transcendent effort of intellect, 
 had opened to human view the sublimest scenes which had 
 ever appeared to mortal eyes ; and while he told us of the 
 amazing distances and magnitudes of the heavenly bodies, 
 seemed almost to annihilate their distances, and made man 
 feel for the first time that he was an inhabitant of the universe, 
 and bound by indissoluble ties to distant worlds. It would be 
 easy to extend our remarks to the improvements in chemistry 
 and the kindred sciences. Perhaps in no way would the 
 benefit of the inductive philosophy appear more striking than 
 on a comparison of the labours of Sir Humphrey Davy, with 
 the toils of the alchimists of the dark ages. With the simple, 
 and to us very obvious, principles on which Davy proceeded 
 in the construction of the safety lamp, it is now impossible to 
 conjecture what the Arabian chemists would have produced. 
 We can scarcely help pausing to contemplate what a different 
 
154 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 destiny might have awaited mankind, if those principles had 
 been understood by the Mussulman. The followers of the 
 impostor might then have been put in possession of the 
 amazing mechanical powers and chemical processes which now 
 distinguish and adorn Christian lands. Science would have 
 returned, perhaps, to its native Egypt; have spread over 
 Arabia; have travelled eastward to Persia, to Hindoostan, to 
 China. The magnetic needle might have pointed the ships 
 of Islam to the distant Western World, and established the 
 religion of the prophet here. Our streams might have been 
 navigated, and our lands filled by the Mussulman ; and the 
 Tigris, and the Euphrates, and the Ganges, perhaps, might 
 have been the first to open their bosoms to bear the vessel 
 navigated by steam. God designed, doubtless, that these 
 sciences should start up, and receive their form and consum 
 mation on Christian soils ; and we love to trace the wonderful 
 means by which he has directed man in science and the me 
 chanic arts, as he has in religion ; thus showing that the 
 worlds of nature and of grace arc under his control. Our 
 limits forbid our following out the bearing of the principles 
 of the inductive philosophy on the arts and sciences. To our 
 mind there is nothing more interesting than to observe the 
 amazing changes which the inductive method has made in the 
 opinions, the philosophy, and the arts of mankind, and in the 
 ultimate effect which we believe those principles will have in 
 sending the gospel around the globe. Hand in hand with the 
 Christian religion, we believe that those arts and scientific 
 results will yet encompass the world. Already we trace their 
 influence in enlarging and liberalizing all the usual modes 
 of thinking among men ; in lessening the distances between 
 nations ; in rendering it easy to cross seas and plains ; in 
 forming neighbourhoods of what were remote districts; in pro 
 ducing sympathy and a rapid interchange of feeling between 
 the distant parts of republics and remote kingdoms; and in 
 
THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. 155 
 
 forming facilities for carrying the gospel around tlie globe. 
 That these improvements have been made on Christian ground, 
 we regard as proof at once of the large and liberal influence 
 of true Christianity, and at the same time as evidence that it 
 is the intention of God that this religion should encompass the 
 world. We do not adduce this as & proof that the Christian 
 religion is true ; but we cannot but regard it as one of the vast 
 array of circumstances that God has placed everywhere around 
 the Christian scheme, evincing that it is under his benignant 
 care j that all those great advances which tend to exalt and 
 adorn human nature, tend also to the spread of the Christian 
 system ; and that such is the economy of things, that no great 
 advance can be made in true science which shall not contri 
 bute to strengthen and confirm the evidences of revelation ; 
 no facility of communication be opened among mankind no 
 process of breaking down existing barriers, and annihilating 
 prejudices, and of cementing man and man, of binding nations 
 in one universal brotherhood, which shall not contribute to 
 the spread of the Christian scheme ; and no spread of Christi 
 anity in its purity which shall not also convey to benighted men 
 letters, science, mechanic arts, and liberty. We discern here, 
 we think, evidence that the scheme has the approbation of 
 God ; and in the staid and motionless formality of China, in 
 the corruption of Hindoostan, in the wretchedness of pagan 
 islanders, and Africans, and in the dark features and bloody 
 hands which are everywhere seen under the reign of Islam, 
 we think we discern the frown of God on the schemes of reli 
 gion which thus fetter and bind down the faculties of man, 
 and which never have been, and never can be, connected with 
 true science and the mechanic arts. 
 
 But one other topic remains, pertaining to the character 
 of Bacon. We refer to his moral and religious character 
 unhappily the most difficult part of our inquiry. That dark 
 shade which passed over his name toward the close of his life, 
 
156 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 which hurled him degraded from the office he had so long 
 and so earnestly sought, which led Pope to characterize him 
 
 as the 
 
 "Wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind," 
 
 has rendered it almost impossible to estimate his moral and 
 religious character. To this sad period of Bacon s life, his 
 character, so far as we know, except as a man fond of display, 
 and ambitious, was beyond reproach. In the offices which he 
 held, and in his private deportment, he was never suspected 
 of a want of integrity. Hume declares that he was not only 
 the ornament of his age and nation, but also " beloved for the 
 courteousness and humanity of his behaviour." It is natural 
 for us to seek some palliation for Bacon s great offence ; and, 
 happily, there were circumstances, which, while they by no 
 means justify his crime, yet serve in some measure to modify 
 its character, and render it much less base and ignominious 
 than such an offence would be deemed in our times. 
 
 The parliament which was assembled by James in 1621, 
 entered immediately into an investigation of the existing 
 abuses of the nation. Unhappily they found in this, their 
 favourite employment, an ample field of labour. Abuses had 
 crept into the government under James, which this vain mo 
 narch either would not believe could exist under his wise 
 administration, or which he was unwilling to correct. The 
 necessity of the case, however, compelled him to yield to a 
 determined and inflexible House of Commons. That House, he 
 already saw, was disposed to apply an unsparing hand to all 
 the abuses of the government, and even to most of the royal 
 prerogatives. The necessity of the case compelled him to ex 
 press his royal gratification with their labours, and to encou 
 rage them in their work. (( I assure you/ said he, " had I 
 before heard these things complained of, I would have done 
 the office of a just king, and out of parliament have punished 
 
THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. 157 
 
 them, as severely, and peradventure more, than you now 
 intend to do." 
 
 Encouraged in this manner, and resolved to strike an effec 
 tual blow, they commenced their investigations respecting the 
 character and deeds of the lord chancellor. Unhappily, here 
 also they found an ample field for the work of reforjn. The 
 result is well known. Charges of extensive bribery were 
 brought against him. It was alleged that he had received 
 money and other presents, to the amount of many thousand 
 pounds, while causes in chancery were depending on his deci 
 sion. As to these charges, Bacon made a general acknow 
 ledgement of guilt. With this confession the parliament was 
 wholly unsatisfied. Determined to humble the greatest man 
 of their time, thev demanded an explicit confession, in detail, 
 of each act of corruption. Power they knew was in their 
 hands. A weak, vain, and silly, though learned monarch, 
 trembled before them. They had commenced a process which 
 could terminate only in the fall of the reigning sovereign ; 
 and they resolved that the highest man in the realm should 
 feel the weight of their power. Bacon made them an inge 
 nuous, frank, full, and most mortifying confession of guilt, 
 and bowed himself before the representatives of the people. 
 He acknowledged his guilt in twenty -eight articles ; specified 
 the amount he had received; detailed, as far as was then 
 practicable, the circumstances, and left himself at the mercy 
 of an indignant parliament. " For extenuation/ says he, "I 
 will use none concerning the matters themselves ; only it may 
 please your lordships, out of your nobleness, to cast your eyes 
 of compassion upon my person and estate. I was never noted 
 for an avaricious man ; and the apostle saith that covetous- 
 ness is the root of all evil. I hope also that your lordships do 
 the rather find me in a state of grace ; for that in all these 
 particulars, there are few or none that are not almost two 
 years old ; whereas those that are in the habit of corruption 
 VOL. I. 14 
 
158 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 do commonly wax worse ; so that it hath pleased God to pre 
 pare me by precedent degrees of amendment to my present 
 penitency ; and for my estate, it is so mean and poor, as my 
 care is now chiefly to satisfy my debts." Being asked by a 
 committee of the House of Lords, whether this was his true 
 and real confession, he used the following noble and touching 
 language, " My lords, it is my act, my hand, my heart ; I be 
 seech your lordships to be merciful to a broken reed." The 
 sentence for the crime we have already recorded. 
 
 We have no wish to justify these deeply humiliating and 
 disgraceful crimes. We know not an instance in all history 
 where we could weep over human weakness, as over the fall 
 of this great man. It is one of the thousands of instances 
 that everywhere meet us of human depravity ; but, if it fixes 
 us in grief, and appals the soul, it shows us man, scarcely 
 tl less than an archangel, ruined," and arrests our thoughts, 
 not like the obscuration of a planet, or the withdrawal of the 
 beams of a twinkling star, but with the deep melancholy which 
 is shed over created things, when the sun 
 
 "In dim eclipse disastrous twilight sheds 
 O er half the nations, and with fear of change 
 Perplexes monarchs." 
 
 The only way in which this offence can be in any manner 
 palliated, is by a detail of the acknowledged circumstances 
 of the case. 1. Bacon was distinguished for want of economy 
 during his whole life. It is clear, as he says, that he was not 
 te an avaricious man," but his great error was a love of office 
 and honour; his great foible, a fondness for display. This 
 fondness had involved him in debts which he was unable to 
 pay. 2. The affairs of his domestic economy, it appears, he 
 intrusted to servants who were regardless of expense, and, 
 probably, unconcerned about the dignity, virtue, or solvency 
 of their master. One article of the charge against him was, 
 
THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. !;">!) 
 
 .that " the lord chancellor hath given way to great exactions 
 by his servants." To this he replies, "I confess it was a 
 great fault of neglect in me, that I looked no better to my 
 servants." 3. It is indisputable that Bacon was not enriched 
 by these bribes. 4. It is more than probable, that Buc;n 
 only followed a custom which, until that time, had been 
 regarded as no violation of the oath of the lord chancellor. 
 Hume affirms that " it had been usual for former chancellors 
 to take presents/ If this was the case, it lessens greatly the 
 enormity of the crime. It also casts much light on the cha 
 racter of the parliament which was thus resolved to make him 
 a victim. 5. It is said that the presents which Bacon re 
 ceived did in no instance influence his decisions. It was 
 never alleged, even by parliament, that he had given ail 
 unjust or erroneous sentence. None of his decisions were 
 ever reversed ; and it is affirmed that he had given just 
 decrees against those very persons from whom he had received 
 the wages of iniquity."* It is further to be remarked, that of 
 the twenty-eight charges of corruption against Bacon, but seven 
 occurred during the existence of the suit. It remains yet to 
 be demonstrated a thing which he did not acknowledge, and 
 which neither the witnesses in the case, nor the nature of his 
 decisions proved that even those presents influenced in the 
 least his decisions. The more we contemplate the case of 
 Bacon, the more we are disposed to think that injustice has 
 been done to his character. We believe, in relation to the 
 errors and failings of the men of those times of such men as 
 Calvin, and Cranmcr, and Luther, and Bacon, that men have 
 pronounced sentence with a severity drawn rather from the 
 present views of morals, than from the sober estimate which 
 we oiujht to make, if thrown into the circumstances of their 
 times. This we think particularly true with regard to the 
 
 * Hume. 
 
160 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 crime of Bacon. While we feel assuredly that crimes such 
 as those with which he was charged deserve the abhorrence 
 of niankind ; and go to impair and destroy all justice in the 
 administration of laws, we are still inclined to look upon the 
 errors of that age, and in those circumstances, with less 
 severity than we should be disposed to apply in the more 
 enlightened periods of the world. It is not easy to form an 
 estimate of Bacon s religious character. We are favoured 
 with so few and imperfect details of his private habits ; we 
 have so little that tells us the true biography of the man his 
 feelings, his usual deportment, his private modes of action ; 
 we are let so little into the interior arrangements of his life, 
 that we cannot easily pronounce on his personal character. 
 Charity would lead us to hope, notwithstanding his fondness 
 for preferment, and the great error of his life, that he may 
 have exemplified in his private life, the principles which he 
 has so ably and so constantly inculcated. On the subject 
 of his religious opinions he has left us no room to doubt. 
 There is scarcely to be found in any language or in any writer, 
 so constant a reference to the great religious interests of man, 
 as in the writings of Bacon. There is nowhere to be found a 
 more profound deference to the authority of the Bible. There 
 is, perhaps, nowhere more caution displayed, lest the pro 
 foundness, variety, compass, and originality of investigation, 
 should lead the mind astray, than in his investigations. It 
 was one of his recorded sentiments one of the results of his 
 investigations, which he has expressed without hesitancy or 
 qualification, " that a little philosophy inclineth a man to 
 atheism j but depth in philosophy bringeth men s minds about 
 to religion ; for while the mind of man looketh upon second 
 causes scattered, it may sometimes rest in them and go no 
 farther; but when it beholdeth the chain of them confederate 
 and linked together, it must needs fly to Providence and 
 
THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. 161 
 
 Deity."* His belief he has left us in a well-written confes 
 sion of his faith, embracing the usual articles of the Christian 
 religion. His prayers, which are preserved, breathe a spirit 
 of true devotion, in a style and form which are not surpassed 
 by any compositions of that period, in our language. It 
 would be easy to transcribe page after page of his recorded 
 sentiments ; and we might trace, at every step of his life, his 
 profound deference for the theology of the Bible. 
 
 We do not believe that the Christian religion depends for 
 its evidences on the suffrage of any one philosopher ; or on the 
 bright constellation of names which have expressed their pro 
 found regard for the truths of revelation. Still a Christian 
 cannot but look with deep interest on the fact that such men 
 as Bacon, and Boyle, and Newton, bowed their mighty intel 
 lects to the authority of revelation \ came and brought all the 
 rich and varied treasures of their profound investigations, and 
 laid them at the foot of the Cross; and spent their lives 
 increasingly impressed with the belief that the God of Nature 
 is also the God of the Bible. While we do not claim that on 
 their authority the Scriptures should be accredited as the 
 word of God, we do claim that they should be allowed to 
 rebuke the flippancy of youthful and unfledged infidelity that 
 they should be permitted to summon men to inquire, before 
 they pronounce; we claim that their authority is sufficient to 
 call on the youthful skeptic to pause, and to suspect that 
 possibly he may be wrong. When mighty minds like these 
 have left their recorded assent to the truths of the Christian 
 scheme, it is not too much to ask of minds of far less power 
 to sit down and inquire, at least, whether Christianity may 
 not have come from God. When Newton, after having sur 
 veyed world on world, and measured the heavens, and placed 
 himself for profound inquiry at the head of mankind, sat down 
 
 * Essays, Civil and Moral. 
 14* 
 
162 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 in the full maturity of his days, and passed the vigor of his 
 life, and the serene evening of his honoured age in the con 
 templation of the New Testament; when Bacon, after having 
 rescued science from the accumulated darkness and rubbish 
 of two thousand years, after having given lessons to all man 
 kind about the just mode of investigating nature, and after 
 having traversed the circle of the sciences, and gained all that 
 past generations had to teach, and having carried forward the 
 inquiry far into nature, bowed at every step to the authority of 
 the Bible; when Hale, learned in the law, not only believed 
 Christianity to be true, but adorned the Christian profession 
 by a most humble life ; when Boerhave, profoundly acquainted 
 with the human frame, and skilled in the healing art, sat with 
 the simplicity of a child at the feet of Jesus Christ; when 
 Locke gave the testimony of his powerful mind to the truth 
 of the Christian religion ; when Davy, first of chemists, came 
 on this subject to the same results as the analyzer of light, 
 the inventor of fluxions, and the demonstrator of the theory 
 of gravitation as the author of the Novum Organurn and 
 the writer of the treatise on the Human Understanding ; when 
 each science has thus contributed its founder, its ornament, 
 and its head, as a witness to the truth of the Christian reli 
 gion, it is not too much to conclude that it may be something 
 different from priestcraft and imposture. When we turn from 
 these lights of men these broad stars that spread their beams 
 over all the firmament of science, and seek after the wander 
 ing and dim luminaries of infidelity ; when we make a sober 
 estimate of what the high-priests of unbelief have done for the 
 advancement of science, and the welfare of man, we are struck 
 with the prodigious advance we have made into chilly and 
 tenebrated regions. We have passed amid spirits of another 
 order. We wander in climes as remote almost from science, 
 as from Christianity. We should know where we are as rea 
 dily by their superficial, but pompous pretensions ; by dark, 
 
THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. 163 
 
 but most confident scientific claims; by erroneous, wandering, 
 but most flippant demands in science, as we do by tlicir infu 
 riated aud bitter raging against the claims of the Christian 
 religion. Who are these men ? Volney, Diderot, D Alem- 
 bcrt, Voltaire, Paine ; Herbert the best and greatest of them 
 Shaftesbury, Tindal, Morgan, Bolingbrokc, Gibbon, Hume. 
 What have they ever done for science ? What advances have 
 they ever made ? So far as we know, not one of them has 
 any pretensions to what gives immortality to the names of 
 Boyle, Locke, Newton, Bacon, Hale. What valuable fact 
 have they ever presented in science ? What new principle 
 have they originated or illustrated ? What department of 
 science have they adorned ? Not a man of them has ever 
 trod the regions that constituted the glory of England and of 
 the world the regions of profound science } of deep and 
 penetrating investigation of the works of nature. In spite 
 of such men, science would still have slumbered in the regions 
 of eternal night ; and infidelity, but for Christian men, might 
 have swayed a sceptre, as she desired, over regions of profound 
 and boundless shades of ignorance and crime. We care little 
 for names and authorities in religion. We believe that reli 
 gion, natural and revealed, accords with the constitution and 
 course of nature. We believe that it is sustained by a force 
 and compass of argument that can be adduced for the truth 
 of no science. On the ground of the independent and impreg 
 nable proof of revealed religion, we are Christians. But there 
 are men who pride themselves on names. There arc those 
 whose only reason for an opinion is, that it was held by some 
 illustrious man. None are really so much under the influence 
 of this feeling as the infidel. That Hume was a skeptic ; that 
 Gibbon was capable of a sneer ; that Paine was a scoffer ; that 
 Volney was an atheist, is to them strong as proof of holy writ. 
 Hence they feel that to doubt is the most exalted state of 
 man ; that there is argument enough for mortals in a sneer 
 
164 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 and a jibe; that scoffing becomes a human being; and that to 
 come to the conclusion that man has no Father and no God, 
 that he dies like kindred worms, is the supremacy of felicity, 
 and the perfection of reason. When such have been the apos 
 tles and high-priests of unbelief such the hosts which they 
 have mustered we feel that apart from all argument in the 
 case, we would rather accord with the sentiments of the great 
 luminaries of mankind in science ; and that it is not unworthy 
 of reason and elevated thought to suppose, that true religion 
 may be found where we have found every other valuable 
 blessing for mankind ; and that the system, attended every 
 where with science, refinement, and art, and that has shed 
 light on the intellect, and honour on the names of Locke, and 
 Boyle, and Bacon, is the system with which GOD intended to 
 lless men. 
 
THE SINNER MADE TO FEEL HIS GUILT. 165 
 
 v^t < v 
 
 (TJ " 
 
 TV 
 
 s^ ^ i Lin ^ * :; 
 
 [CHRISTIAN SPECTATOR, 1833.] 
 
 ffmo can the Sinner be made to feel his Guilt. A Discourse 
 prepared at the request of the " Revival Association," 
 Andover. 
 
 THE question, " How can the sinner be made to feel his 
 guilt ?" is one of the most momentous, in many respects, that 
 can be presented to the human mind. On a correct answer 
 depends the success of the gospel in every nation and in every 
 age. Unless men are made to feel that they are guilty, in 
 vain do we offer them pardon, and in vain is the standard 
 of the cross lifted up in their view. At the present day, espe 
 cially, this question is invested with a deeper interest, by the 
 revivals of religion with which the church is favoured ; and 
 which we have reason to believe will extend from land to 
 land as the great means of ushering in the millennial glory. 
 The reign of Christ on earth must obviously be introduced by 
 great excitement; by profound and anxious inquiry; by a 
 movement throughout all Christendom, and reaching into 
 heathen lands; by the application of some power that shall 
 unclench the grasp of men from the world, alarm their fears, 
 awaken their hopes, and lift their thoughts to GOD. But in 
 any great religious movement, the depth, genuineness, and 
 lasting efficacy of the change produced, must depend on men s 
 views of their guilt, and their need of pardon. As a mere 
 question, then, in the advance of Christianity, the subject 
 before us has an interest commensurate with the value of 
 Christian truth. No preacher can be successful who is not 
 able, with the divine blessing, to lay open the sources and the 
 
166 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 hiding-places of guilt ; to bring the transgressor out to light, 
 and to hold liim there, while eternal truth, with a full and 
 overpowering blaze, shall do its work, and justice shall shake 
 his frame, and conscience shall make him pale, and mercy 
 shall find out the place of grief, and the memory of crime shall 
 wring tears from eyes unused to weep. The question is often 
 put to ministers, by the awakened sinner, " How may I FEEL 
 my guilt, and be brought to repentance ?" The inquiry is 
 made with deep emotion ; there is some honesty and sincerity 
 about it, though much less than the inquirer supposes ; but, 
 we need hardly add, there is nothing holy in the feelings from 
 which it springs. Yet a condition in which a man will ask 
 the question, is far more promising than the leaden sleep in 
 which most men lie. It is the business of the ministry to 
 answer this question, and happy will it be if even in a single 
 case, the answer shall give light to a benighted and anxious 
 mind. We shall attempt to do it, by showing what obstacles 
 prevent men from feeling their guilt; that Christianity con 
 templates the removal of these obstacles ; that it has power 
 to demolish them ; and that, when they are removed, the 
 gospel is fitted to meet the state of the soul, and to overwhelm 
 it with the consciousness of guilt. 
 
 1. The first obstacle to conviction of sin, is the instinctive 
 reluctance which all men feel to the consciousness of guilt. 
 The dread of this, indeed, is one of those deep and immova 
 ble safeguards which God has laid in human nature itself, for 
 the welfare of society. So painful and terrific is this con 
 sciousness of guilt, that many men avoid it by refraining from 
 open transgression, when there is no better principle to guard 
 them. The certainty that if they commit iniquity they must 
 yet feel it; that conscience has an ever-goading sting, and a 
 whip of scorpions ; that there is an unseen hand to reach a 
 fugitive a finger that can write his crime on every wall; and 
 , voice of blood that can cry from the earth beneath his feck 
 
THE SINNER MADE TO FEEL HIS GUILT. 107 
 
 may deter a man from guilt, when no higher principle re 
 strains him. 
 
 This same fear, however, may be turned to the most perni 
 cious uses. There may be such a determined purpose of 
 wickedness ; such a rush of passion and headlong indulgence ; 
 such a propensity to evil that none of the safeguards of virtue 
 will restrain the man. Then, when the crime is committed, 
 it becomes a question how he may avoid the consciousness 
 of it ? How he may put back the hand of justice ? How 
 silence the voice of blood ? How still the thunders of con 
 science and of law ? How go on still in crime, and yet not 
 be harrowed with remorse ? Here originates the desire for 
 all those arts of evasion, those subterfuges of guilt, those self- 
 delusions which are made to set in upon the soul, like a mist 
 from the ocean, to shut out the sun of truth, and to elude the 
 eye of justice. Here is the source of all the superstition 
 of misguided men, of all the arts of the pagan and the Jesuit, 
 to ward off the convictions of a man s own guilt ; and of all the 
 false systems of morality and theology; and here, too, origi 
 nates the accelerated love of pleasure and amusement; the 
 plunging into deeper schemes of gain or ambition, that a man 
 may escape from the memory of his crimes, and live at case, 
 while he violates the laws of man and of God. 
 
 Such, too, is the case with a sinner, when God commands 
 him to repent. He fears the consciousness of guilt. lie 
 dreads the alarms of conscience. He starts back from the 
 process of repentance and of a return to God. That instinctive 
 dread of this consciousness which was one of the safeguards 
 by which God would have deterred him from the commission 
 of crime, he now perverts to a hinderance to his return. He 
 looks upon this return, upon a state of conviction for sin, as a 
 dark and starless way; a condition of gloom and sadness; 
 a course of terror where no light shines on the patli but the 
 Hashes of the lightning of justice, leaving the darkness deeper 
 
168 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 and more dreadful. " The spirit of a man/ says Solomon, 
 " can sustain his infirmity, but a wounded spirit, who can 
 bear ?" He anticipates a protracted process in the work of 
 conviction what he has learned in the books of an older 
 theology, but not in the Sacred Scriptures, to dread as a long 
 and perilous "law-work" on the soul; a dark and dismal jour 
 ney for weeks, or months, or years, across a barren waste, till 
 he emerges at last in the region of light and peace. The 
 necessity of feeling guilty, even for a few moments, would 
 deter and frighten him. How much more so, when he has 
 been led to suppose that he must go bowed down with this 
 consciousness for months or years, before he can find peace 
 of conscience or reconciliation with God. 
 
 Now it is clear that with this apprehension, no man will go 
 through the process of repentance, if he can help it. It is 
 clear, too, that in the workings of human wickedness for six 
 thousand years, more than one way will be found out to avoid 
 it. Hence every man has a shield to throw before himself, to 
 ward off the consciousness of guilt. And hence we are com 
 pelled to make our way to the conscience, against this barrier 
 which the sinner has raised ; in the face of the mighty deter 
 mination not to be lashed with a whip of scorpions ; and to 
 follow the man through a thousand hiding-places, and in a 
 labyrinth of evasion, before the arrows of truth reach the 
 victim, and the quiver is fixed in the panting heart. 
 
 One part of the sinner s apprehension is true ; the other is 
 not. It is true, that we seek and desire to overwhelm him 
 with the consciousness of .guilt ; and that we wish to inflict 
 pangs in the soul that shall start him from his seat of ease, 
 and teach the tear of penitence to flow down the cheek of 
 guilt. But it is not true, that religion seeks to throw him 
 into a land of storms, and gloom, for weeks and years. 
 Religion comes with pardons in her hand and peace in her 
 train. The sunshine of mercy beams through the storm, and 
 
THE SINNER MADE TO FEEL HIS GUILT. 1(39 
 
 even while the tempest pours, and the thunder rolls, it has 
 already, though unseen, painted the bow of hope in the dis 
 tant sky. The idea that men must suffer pangs and gloom 
 for years ; that they must go through the tremendous and 
 protracted process of what, in old theology, is called " the 
 law-work/ is what a false philosophy has added to the Sacred 
 Scriptures. Nothing there forbids the thought, that they 
 may at once exercise repentance and be pardoned. One emo 
 tion of genuine sorrow for sin ; one act of faith in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, will secure pardon and eternal life. Nor will 
 the soul be better fitted for the change by long rebellion in a 
 state of anxiety and gloom ; by stern and stubborn resistance 
 when sinners know their duty; by a war against the Holy 
 Ghost protracted for months and years, than by a frank and 
 ingenuous acknowledgment of guilt at once, and a rushing to 
 the arms of Christ s outstretched mercy. We speak much 
 of the improvements of theology in modern times. Perhaps 
 the greatest practical advance consists in removing this cum 
 bersome burden from the gospel of Christ ; and in the grand 
 truth, now beginning to be felt, that the gospel may convey 
 the balm of consolation to a wounded spirit at once; and that 
 the Great Physician of souls needs not that the gangrene of 
 sin should prey on the vitals for years; that the leprosy 
 should spread and rage, and torment the soul, through many 
 dark and gloomy months, before the healing hand can. be 
 stretched out to restore. The sinner may be relieved at once. 
 The first terrific view of guilt may be followed by the tender 
 voice of pardon, and the sight of a merciful Redeemer speak 
 ing peace. 
 
 2. Closely allied to this, is the second obstacle which I shall 
 mention, viz., An unwillingness to avow and confess guilt, even 
 when the mind is conscious of it. This also is an instinctive 
 feeling, and is another of the safeguards thrown around the 
 human heart, but capable also of great perversion The fact 
 VOL. I i; 
 
170 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 that guilt must be avowed if felt, that others must know it, 
 and that the condition of the world is such as to extort the 
 confession of it, is one of the many means which God has em 
 ployed to prevent its commission. Every man knows that 
 if he is guilty and is conscious of it, it must be revealed. 
 The burning cheek, even when he wishes to drive the blood to 
 the heart, will betray him. The eye, when he would have it 
 fixed and calm, will be distracted and turn away. The brow 
 that he would have smooth and calm, will be clouded. The 
 thoughts, which he would " drive down into the soul," will 
 start up with living power, and shed a trembling influence 
 over the whole frame. lie will be betrayed. God has guarded 
 this matter too well to suffer him to escape. Society is organ 
 ized to bring him out. Laws, and jurors, and judges; the 
 injured man or society, become spies upon his movements, 
 and have an interest in bringing guilt from its hiding-place; 
 and all the array of witnesses, and all the terrors of conscience, 
 and the processes of judgment, and justice, are pressing upon 
 the man to make him confess his crimes. 
 
 Yet there is nothing which a man is less willing to do. 
 And hence arise all the evasions in court, and in common life, 
 to suppress the evidence of crime ] all the arts of dishonest 
 trade, and no small part of the wiles of policy, and ambition, 
 and of the perverted codes of morals and religion among men. 
 Hence, too, the efforts of guilty men to obliterate the marks 
 of a guilty conscience which God has fixed in the eye, and on 
 the cheek, and in the tremblings of the frame, to proclaim a 
 man s own guilt. Thus guilty youth must proclaim its crime, 
 but hardened villany shall have learned to fix the eye, and 
 command the nerves, and fortify the cheek against the rush 
 of blood at the consciousness of guilt. And the most hardened 
 villain may sometimes go through society, or rise to posts 
 of honour, accredited as a man of virtue, until his crimes shall 
 be too much for the earth to bear, and an unexpected array 
 
THE SINNER MADE TO FEEL HIS GUILT. 171 
 
 of circumstances shall engulf his soul, and his name, in the 
 depths of infamy. 
 
 All this operates with tremendous power in religion. There 
 is no man on earth who more dreads an ingenuous avowal 
 of guilt ; who is more reluctant to admit the full charge of 
 (jlod against himself, than the immoral, or the moral man. 
 To admit that he is guilty and lost; that all God has said 
 of the worst of men, and nothing worse could be said, is true 
 of him; to admit that his heart has been proud, selfish, un 
 grateful, unsubdued ; that he has violated all laws ; despised 
 all " entreaties ;" held in contempt prophets, martyrs, and the 
 Son of God ; and that the eternal home of the drunkard, the 
 adulterer, and the pirate whom he would not admit into his 
 presence, would be the abode jit for him : all this is too 
 humbling, and before a man will come to this, he will flee to 
 every hiding-place of guilt; adopt any system of religion, 
 however absurd ; or associate with any society, however much 
 he may despise it. Hence one class of men pray us to pro 
 phecy to them smooth things. Another become angry at 
 faithful dealing. Another run away from the sanctuary, and 
 seek smoother preachers. Another devote the Sabbath to 
 gain, or study, or reading novels, or newspapers, or books that 
 lie along the borders of religion, that they may not wholly fall 
 out with their consciences for violating the Sabbath. Another 
 seek refuge in a form of godliness ; and another in those 
 places where the Saviour is denied, and they are told there 
 is no danger that a these shall go away into everlasting 
 punishment." 
 
 Yet in a return to God, it is indispensable that there should 
 be a full and frank confession of guilt. The very idea of re 
 pentance involves it, and the man must be the herald of his 
 own guilt, as far as the knowledge of his penitence may go. 
 It must be made in the face of companions who will regard 
 him as weak and superstitious ; before even parents who may 
 
172 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 despise religion and its God ; in view of elevated and refined 
 society amid which, the penitent has moved; before asso 
 ciates, partners in crime or amusement ; in the face of thought 
 less and deriding men ; and before the wide world. Nay, 
 more, it must be made before the universe, with a willingness 
 that every created intelligence may mark the flowing tear of 
 shame and grief; every eye witness the heavings of the guilty 
 bosom ; and every ear hear the sigh of the soul contrite for 
 sin. God himself, the great Being who surveys all hearts, 
 and against whom the soul has long sinned, is also to witness 
 the subdued and humble tread of the haughty man, as with 
 bending head and a face bathed with tears, and with faltering 
 steps, he approaches the throne of grace, confessing that God 
 is right, and he is wrong, even when he has no assurance yet 
 of his favour, or that he may not frown him into hell. 
 
 Now it is clear that against this avowal of guilt, there will 
 stand opposed all the hatefulness of shame; all the pride 
 of rank and wealth ; all the influence of miserable self-valua 
 tion; all the flattery of friends and of men s own hearts; all 
 the pride of station and office; all the incense offered to 
 splendid talents and attainments; all the aspirings of ambi 
 tion; and all the allurements of pleasure. Where is the man 
 that would not rather climb the steeps of praise with incense 
 burning around him, and the multitude rendering homage at 
 his feet, than be found pleading for mercy with bitter tears, 
 or weeping in the prayer-meeting, or in his office, or counting- 
 room ? Where is the man that would not rather recline on 
 his bed of down, and seek enjoyment in his splendid abode, 
 than weep with Jesus Christ in the garden or on the moun 
 tains? Where is the daughter of gayety that would not 
 rather seek for pleasure in the theatre, or be the admiration 
 of the splendid circle, than like Mary bathe the feet of Jesus 
 with tears ? 
 
 3. A third obstacle to conviction of sin, is the influence 
 
THE SINNER MADE TO FEEL HIS GUILT. 173 
 
 of false philosophy and unscriptural opinions. These I shall 
 just enumerate. 1. The ancient Pharisee had his system 
 of self-righteousness reduced to statute, and intrenched with 
 subtle arguments, to oppose the claims of God. The modern 
 man of self-righteousness has a system just like his, and one 
 equally insurmountable by human means. 2. The apostles 
 found the world organized into sects, and names of philosophy 
 all standing in array against the command to repent. The 
 Stoic held that all things were ordered by the Fates over 
 which he had no control ; and, of course, he had no conscious 
 ness of crime. The Epicureans held that pleasure is the 
 summit m bonunij and the common interpretation was, that all 
 pleasure was to be enjoyed, and, of course, he felt no guilt for 
 sensuality and gross indulgence. The gods of the Greeks 
 were represented to be as bad as any man could wish to be ; 
 and as the standards of morals among all men will be formed 
 from the character of the gods, they felt no obligation to 
 repent until they reached a point which they were sure not to 
 reach a descent to the same level of depravity as their gods. 
 Thus Augustine says that " the Gentile gods are most unclean 
 spirits, desiring under the shapes of some earthly creatures, to 
 be accounted gods, and, in their proud impurity, taking plea 
 sure in those obscenities, as in divine honours. Hence arose 
 those routs of gods, and others of other nations as well as 
 those we are now in hand with, tlie senate of selected gods 
 selected not for virtue, but for villany"* The same thing is 
 to be encountered in all pagan lands ; and hence one of the 
 peculiar difficulties of the missionary is to make the heathen 
 feel their guilt. 3. The same thing is true of the false sys 
 tems of civilized lands. Systems of morals are so framed as 
 to evade the conviction of guilt. This is eminently true of 
 most of the forms of infidelity. An absolute and decided 
 
 City of God. Book vii. chap. 33. 
 15* 
 
174 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 fatalism has found its way commonly into the scheme of the 
 Deist. If he has admitted the existence of guilt at all, it has 
 been only of those enormous crimes which a proper regard to 
 the opinions of men would not allow him to deny. The ten 
 dency of the scheme has been to obliterate the memory of 
 crime, and to leave men to the indulgence of all mad and fero 
 cious passions. Hence France, under the reign of this terrible 
 system, was drenched in blood, and men were taught to feel 
 that carnage and lust were not offensive in the eyes of heaven. 
 Hence Hobbes held that all property should be common, and 
 that a man had a right to it wherever he could find it the 
 same doctrine that we have had among us ; and hence Hume 
 left it as his recorded opinion, that adultery should be prac 
 ticed if men would obtain the chief benefit of life, and that 
 suicide is lawful. With such views of laws and morals, re 
 pentance was out of the question. When a man by his very 
 system was allowed the indulgence of every passion, for what 
 was he to be grieved at the close of life ? 4. Men often adopt 
 systems of physical philosophy whose tendency is to destroy 
 all sense of obligation to repentance. One man believes the 
 soul to be material, and, of course, that he is under no obliga 
 tion to seek any moral change. Another supposes disease 
 of the mind to be like that of the body; a misfortune indeed, 
 but not truly criminal. A man of science will often run his 
 views of materialism through the subjects of morals. Thought 
 is but some motion in the brain or nervous system. Passion, 
 or emotion, is but a movement of animal spirits. Reason, 
 fancy, conscience, are but some comformations of matter, and 
 in these certainly no man is bound to make a change. An 
 other holds that depravity is the very nature of man. That 
 he is born with it as an original propensity of the same kind 
 as that of the tiger or adder. He holds that no human power 
 can reach that ; that it must be counteracted by the infusion 
 of some principle equally independent of the will, of a contrary 
 
THE SINNER MADE TO FEEL HIS GUILT. 175 
 
 tendency ; and that all his efforts would be like attcr&jrtg4e 
 aid the Almighty in propelling the planets. With such views 
 we call on him in vain to exercise repentance towards God. 
 f). A fifth perversion respects the doctrine of ability. The 
 man avers that he cannot repent, and while this stands in the 
 way, there is an end of the matter. It would be in vain to 
 call on a man to remove a mountain, or to raise the dead. 
 We might as well proceed to the tombs, and summon their 
 lifeless tenants to come forth. And especially is this true 
 when the plea of inability is one which the man has not made 
 up for himself, but has learned from others in places of spi 
 ritual power, and can defend by the endless dogmas of the 
 church, and find in the almost infinite tomes of theology. No 
 man would dare to invent such a plea for himself; nor could 
 he keep himself long in countenance with such a pretence, 
 if he were left alone. It is so obviously a reflection on the 
 goodness and justice of God; such a manifest violation of all 
 his own views of right, and of all the dictates of his own con 
 science ; so plainly in the face of the Bible, that a man would 
 be compelled to forsake it if he had not the countenance of 
 some of the better class of Christians. I verily believe, indeed, 
 that Satan never furnished to sinners a more obvious, useful, 
 and unanswerable defence of impenitence, than has thus been 
 furnished by the ministry of the gospel. Tell a man that he 
 cannot repent, or love God, or obey him, and your work will 
 be done. The effect of one such dogma will go through life ; 
 will shed a baleful influence on large regions of Christian 
 truth ; and, like the tree of Upas, or the Siroc of the desert, 
 will shed a desolation all around the moral feelings of a man in 
 regard to his duties towards God. G. Men pervert the doc 
 trine of election and decrees, and either with mistaken views 
 of the doctrine, or by design, bar up all access to their souls 
 against truth adapted to produce the conviction of guilt. 
 4. A fourth reason why men do not feel their guilt, is 
 
176 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 found in the fact, that they have different views of sin from 
 those of God. He commands repentance on the ground of 
 what He believes to be the human character, and repentance 
 naturally results from the sinner s entertaining the same views. 
 When our feelings coincide with those of God, it is impossible 
 but that men should repent. Yet on no subject do men differ 
 more from their Maker, than on this. He has declared His 
 view in every possible form. No man can mistake what God 
 thinks of him, if he will give credit to his declarations. He 
 has expressed views of every man, which no human law, and 
 no poetic description, has ever expressed of the worst of men. 
 To charge a man with being a hater of God, is to sum up all 
 crimes in one ; and beyond that charge you cannot go. Yet 
 God has charged this on man. He has done it not as an 
 abstract and cold proceeding ; not as a matter of poetry, ro 
 mance, or declamation ; not merely to produce terror, but as 
 the result of his profound knowledge of the human heart, and 
 of the secret deeds of every man. He has done it, too, in the 
 most solemn and tender manner. In the midst of judgments, 
 in his threatenings, in his promises, and in the dying groans 
 and agonies of his own Son. 
 
 "We might ask of sinners, have you ever sympathized with 
 God in his views of sin, as expressed in the cross of Jesus 
 Christ? Have you never practically felt that God was mis 
 guided and deceived in supposing that your sins demanded 
 such a sacrifice ? Have you ever looked on the dying suffer 
 ings of the Son of God, bleeding between murderers ; cursed 
 by men; rejected by his nation; subjected to the malignant 
 devices of the enemy of God ; and forsaken by his Father, 
 and felt that your sins deserved woes like these ? Have you 
 ever felt that it would be right that God should subject you 
 to woes like those of Gethsemane prolonged through revolv 
 ing ages in eternity ; that it would be right in him to waken 
 his " thunder red with uncommon wrath/ and summon the 
 
THE SINNER MADE TO FEEL HIS GUILT. 177 
 
 universe to witness your sufferings for sin ; that it would be 
 right to forsake you, and to pour into your own soul the deep 
 sorrows of abandonment, as he did into the bosom of his Son 
 on the cross ? Have you ever felt that it was right in God to 
 annex eternal woes to crime committed in this world, and that 
 your sins deserved the endless damnation of hell ? Have you 
 ever gone and cast an anxious eye into the world of wo, and 
 realized that infinite despair and gloom were the proper recom 
 pense of unbelief and sin in this life ? We should not need to 
 pause for a reply. Every impenitent sinner knows that he has 
 never felt this. On this whole matter he has differed from his 
 Maker. The sentiment of his heart is that God is severe, arbi 
 trary, and cruel in dooming the soul to penal and inextinguish 
 able fires. Had he the views of sin which Jesus Christ had 
 when he bled on the cross, he would repent. Had he the views 
 which the eternal Father had when he appointed endless woes 
 as a recompense, he would weep that God is laid under a 
 necessity, if I may so speak, to defile and mar the beauty 
 of his universe with the smoke of an eternal hell. With 
 those views he has commanded men to repent. And it is 
 needless to add, that while they differ from their Maker, " far 
 as from the centre thrice to the utmost pole;" while they 
 regard sin as a trifle ; hell as an arbitrary appointment, a place 
 of holy martyrdom in the cause of injured innocence; and the 
 scenes of Calvary as a pompous show, an unmeaning display, 
 and a gorgeous parade, they will not repent. This single 
 reason would account for the fact that men will not repent 
 of their sins. 
 
 5. A fifth cause is found in absorption in the things of this 
 world. How can a man repent whose mind is wh.olly occu 
 pied with the business of gain ? It fills all his time ; engages 
 all his energies ; taxes all his powers. The world addresses 
 him a thousand times where the gospel does once, and with 
 prodigious advantage. It is with him in his family ; amid his 
 
178 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 friends ; in his counting-room ; in the sanctuary ; in solitude ; 
 on the Sabbath ; and in all the periods when other men find 
 leisure for reading or devotion. How can a man repent whose 
 soul is engrossed with the wily policy of ambition ; who seeks 
 office, fame, applause; on whose favours flatterers hang, and 
 around whose steps thousands are offering the incense of adu 
 lation j whose very business is a species of evading the right 
 road of honesty, and travelling in just such a devious path as 
 the sinner loves to tread ? How will the man repent who is 
 wholly engrossed with the toils of professional life ? Every 
 moment calls him from the great work of the soul, and de 
 mands his time in the business of his calling. How will she 
 repent who gives her life to amusement ? Will she enter the 
 theatre, or the gay circle, with the tear of penitence on her 
 cheek, or her eyes red with grief for sin ? Will she seek her 
 closet, and her Saviour, and bedew his feet with tears, as a 
 preparation for the scenes of gayety, and of song ? And when 
 such scenes engross the soul, we wonder not that the command 
 of God is unheeded, and the ways of impenitence still loved; 
 we wonder not that repentance is postponed from youth to man 
 hood from manhood to old age and again in old age is still 
 deferred to some future time. Now is the time for innocent 
 pleasure, is the language of the young, and not the time 
 of sorrow forgetting that there is no innocence but in the 
 love of God, and no true enjoyment but in the hopes of reli 
 gion. Now is the time to attend to my great affairs of life, 
 says the man in middle life forgetting that there is no affair 
 of life so great as that of religion, and that to provide for 
 future years may be to lay up gold for some thankless heir, 
 a wretch, ruined by this very gold, when he is in the grave, 
 and when to him gold may be valueless. Now is the time, 
 we hear even from the faltering lips of old age, for me to 
 enjoy the results of a life of industry, and to find repose in 
 my declining years when he has no repose, and every 
 
THE SINNER MADE TO FEEL HIS GUILT. 179 
 
 thing in his circumstances admonishes him to prepare 
 to die. 
 
 We repeat, we wonder not that men do not repent. And we 
 add, that all this is so absorbing, so well arranged, so interwoven 
 with all the business of this life, so adapted to every passion, 
 to every age, to every employment, that it bears indubitable 
 marks of being under the guidance of some presiding spirit of 
 evil. It is part of one great plan, bearing the impress of one 
 master-mind of wickedness, and arraying all the mighty pas 
 sions of men, and all the ofliccs and employments of life, in 
 one gigantic enterprise against God. See how these things 
 meet a man on every hand, oppose all our appeals, stand alike 
 to resist the impression when the law speaks out its thunders, 
 and when "the gospel, in strains as sweet as angels use, whis 
 pers peace/ These temptations arise from all that is winning 
 and attractive in the eyes of men. In moments of seriousness, 
 when the mind is disposed to thought, and half resolved to 
 repent, some new form of vanity, or some new scheme of gain, 
 with gaudy colours, will burst upon the view, and, at once, all 
 serious thought is banished. In times of deep anxiety, some 
 friend invites the sinner to a scene of amusement ; or derides 
 his thoughtfulness ; or calls him a Methodist or a Puritan ; 
 and, ashamed of religion, he snaps the silken cord that was 
 drawing him to God; thrusts back the hand that was dissolving 
 the chains of the world ; puts out the sun that began to shed 
 its beams on his path ; and covers with a frown the counte 
 nance of God which had begun to beam benignantly on his 
 return. All these temptations come under the influence of 
 the tendercst earthly friends. The authority of a father may 
 recall him from the place of prayer, and demand his continu 
 ance in the ways of sin. The example and entreaties of a 
 brother, or a sister, or the loved or tender voice of a mother, 
 often check all seriousness ; and her hand, awful abuse of a 
 mother s power, opens new sources of pleasure, and demands 
 
180 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 the presence of a daughter, while, even in advancing years, 
 she seeks the insipid and senseless joys of a gay and mis 
 guided world. 
 
 6. A sixth reason why men do not feel their guilt, is found 
 in the ascendency and power of some plan of unfinished crime; 
 in some scheme of known and deliberate wickedness that re 
 quires months or years for its completion. To repent now 
 would demand that the man should break off that plan, arrest 
 his gains, or stifle his ambition. He is now engaged in a 
 successful scheme of gain or gratification. Some passion he 
 fully resolves to indulge, even at the expense of virtue and his 
 soul. Some scheme of vengeance he intends to fill up and 
 accomplish, even should he die in the attempt. Some work 
 of supplanting a rival, and of humbling a foe, he intends to 
 effect though by the toil of years, and at the peril of his 
 soul. Thus the man engaged in the slave-trade ; in the traffic 
 of ardent spirits; in unlawful speculation; in unjust gains in 
 merchandise ; in a career of licentious pleasure ; in the hall 
 of gambling; in the business of rapine, murder, and blood, 
 intends to complete his scheme ; and in vain does conscience 
 now lift its voice, and the heavy thunders of justice echo from 
 heaven; or even damnation roll its terrors along his path. 
 Now there is no voice of tenderness or of justice no appeal 
 to his conscience, his fears, or his hopes that can reach 
 his heart. 
 
 Yet nothing is further from this man s feelings than an 
 intention never to repent. No man has more good designs; 
 none more pious purposes ; none more heavenly resolves. 
 Good intentions are made every day, renewed each periodical 
 season of his life, with the solemnity and regularity of the 
 mile-stone that moves not, but will tell you how far you have 
 gone, and how near you are to your journey s end. There he 
 stands filled with good resolves ; fired with noble purposes 
 always for future years, and, if intentions constitute goodness, 
 
THE SINNER MADE TO FEEL HIS GUILT. 181 
 
 one of the best of men. Little do we wonder that God grants 
 to so few men repentance unto life. In all the catalogue of 
 crimes of which mortal men stand accused, we deem tJiis state 
 of mind least to be envied, and lying least near the fountains 
 of mercy. We love an honest man we were about to say 
 honest even in sin. But who can love a man whose purpose 
 now is to rebel against God; to devote his strength and talent 
 to the business of setting aside the plain demands of con 
 science and of duty, with a cold, unfeeling resolve a biting 
 sarcasm on the claims of the Almighty to abuse his patience 
 as long as he can, and then give to him the tears of the croco 
 dile for doing what he always meant to do ; and the whimper 
 ing grief of enfeebled age, when the hands are no longer 
 strong enough for purposes of evil, and the palsied tongue can 
 no longer calumniate his name. 
 
 O 
 
 The work of evading the demands of the gospel is, there 
 fore, one of time, and toil, and skill. The obstructions which 
 the gospel meets every time it is preached, are the accumula 
 tions of centuries, and the result of no small part of the plans 
 of men. It is the profoundest scheme in this world of sin, 
 the most gigantic enterprise that men ever formed, to go 
 through this world, committing sin every day, and yet evad 
 ing remorse of conscience ; indulging in guilty passions, and 
 yet escaping the thunders of the law; gaining as much of the 
 world as a man pleases, and yet not harrowed in his solitary 
 moments by the accusings of conscience ; passing amid the 
 blightings of God s indignation, and yet not terrified; and 
 hearing all the time the appeals of mercy, and yet not moved. 
 Never was there so vast a scheme of wickedness, so compli 
 cated, elaborate, and compacted on any other subject. Philo 
 sophy here has lent its aid ; poetry its charms ; eloquence its 
 appeals ; false theology its alliance ; learning its skill ; age its 
 experience ; and youth its ardour, in forming plans to oppose 
 the obvious claim of the gospel. And it is complete. While 
 
 VOL. I. 16 
 
182 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 this influence governs the sinner, what cares he for the groans 
 of Jesus Christ , or the offers of mercy ; or the judgment-seat 
 of G-od ; or the glories of heaven ; or the pains of hell ? What 
 cares he that we appeal to him by every thing that is sacred 
 in heaven, and terrible in despair; that is tender in love, and 
 bleeding in mercy, or that is infinite in the interests of his 
 own soul, or terrible in the future scenes of wo ? To all 
 these appeals he is indifferent. His Protean scheme meets 
 all this. He has heard it a thousand times ; and a thousand 
 times been practicing the art of hearing it with unconcern. He 
 has learned to meet God at every point to parry the gospel at 
 every turn ; and to go from the sanctuary as coolly as if he 
 had listened to an address to sepulchral monuments. In this 
 unholy work men pass their lives ; and some of their last 
 efforts in sinking to the grave, are to frame excuses for not 
 repenting and turning to God. We marvel not, that no man 
 was ever renewed to repentance but by the Spirit of God; and 
 we love to leave our ministry there, and to feel that there 
 is one power that can crush the excuses of the sinner at 
 once, and bend him, weeping, at the feet of mercy. It is 
 a work worthy of God. And, assuredly, if there is any 
 doctrine whose necessity is laid in the wickedness of man, 
 it is that the Holy Ghost alone will ever renew the sinner s 
 soul. 
 
 Such are the obstacles which prevent men from feeling 
 their guilt. These must be taken away, and we proceed to 
 show how this may be done. The ministers of religion must 
 be qualified not merely to declaim, but convince ; not only to 
 weep and plead, but to stand up against philosophic men and 
 convince them that they are wrong ; to show that the fatalism 
 of the Stoic, and of the better kind of Deists ; the sensuality 
 of Epicureans, and of the mass of infidels; and the dogmas of 
 a theology founded on ancient and false philosophy, are as 
 much in the face of true science as they are of the Bible. 
 
THE SINNER MADE TO FEEL HIS GUILT. 183 
 
 If iii this pursuit we arc drawn into the regions of metaphy 
 sics, the fault is not ours but that of those who led us there. 
 If the sinner, like hunted game, will flee to dens and hiding- 
 places, we must follow him ; and he should be the last to 
 complain that we preach to him metaphysics. It must bo 
 proved to men that they are wrong. The time has gone by 
 when declamation can be substituted for argument. Dark 
 dogmas, however pompous, statuary, and solemn, will not 
 supply the place of evidence in an age of light. Men will 
 think and reason, and draw their own conclusions ; and this 
 must be fully understood by the ministry. Man must be 
 made to feel that God s view of sin is just; that w T hat he has 
 expressed is the true measure of human guilt ; that the dying 
 agonies of the Redeemer were but a fair expression of the 
 guilt of men ; that God has a right to affix the penalty to 
 crime ; and to declare that these shall go away into everlasting 
 punishment. Men must be roused, and severed however 
 rudely from earthly things ; and hurried onward, and thrown 
 into the deep solemnities of a universe where the God of jus 
 tice reigns; where every thing is full of God; and where 
 voices from earth and heaven and hell mingle and fall on his 
 ear, and tell him to hasten away from his delusions, and be 
 prepared to die. Man must be brought to a willingness to 
 arrest his plans of wickedness where they are ; to abandon the 
 unfinished scheme; to stop in his career of pleasure; to relin 
 quish a plan of gain, however flattering, and a scheme of am 
 bition, however imposing, and pause, and turn to the living 
 God. The purpose must be one that shall be executed now. 
 Like an honest man, he who has been meeting God with the 
 ironical and sarcastic purpose to repent at some future time, 
 must resolve to do it uowj and just as he is : resolve to 
 forsake every sin, and devote himself to the serious work of 
 repentance. 
 
 This is the work to be done. We admit that if done it will 
 
184 ESSAYS AND EEVIEWS. 
 
 not be by mere human power, but by the Spirit of God. Still 
 it is done under the influence of a system of truth adapted in the 
 highest degree to remove the obstacles, and to find its way to 
 the soul of man. That truth, it is the business of the minis 
 try to wield. Under that truth, these obstacles are to be 
 taken away; and he is the most skilful preacher who so un 
 derstands the human heart and the power of the gospel, as to 
 adapt the message to the varying forms of iniquity, and make 
 the sinner tremble and weep before God in view of sin. Our 
 next object is to show what the state of the soul is, if these 
 obstacles be removed; or what capacities or susceptibilities it 
 has, on which the call to repentance may be made to act. 
 Here we must be brief. And it is not needful at great length 
 to present this part of our subject. "We remark, then, 
 
 1. That a man is endowed with reason. Reason coincides 
 with the doctrines of God when fairly presented ; and when 
 reason is convinced, and its suffrage is secured in favour of 
 truth, no small advance is made in the work of the gospel. 
 When a man is convinced of what you say; when he sees all 
 the arguments which in other minds have produced convic 
 tion, and when his understanding accords with yours, the way 
 is prepared for any impression which the truth is fitted to 
 produce. When you have convinced the man of pleasure that 
 he will waste his estate or health ; a young man that he is in 
 danger of intemperance or ruin; or a magistrate that the 
 cause you plead is one of justice or of law; or a man of pro 
 perty that you are poor and unfortunate, and that your helpless 
 wife and children are perishing with want; when you have 
 convinced a man s sober judgment that his country calls him 
 to the field of blood, you are prepared to make any thrilling 
 appeal, and to excite all that is tender and philanthropic in 
 his bosom. Thus the gospel addresses men, and it expects 
 that those who proclaim its truths shall be able to convince 
 men that the Bible is a revelation from Heaven. It expects 
 
THE SINNER MADE TO FEEL HIS GUILT. 185 
 
 that they will go forth conscious that they arc called to preach 
 a system which supposes that men are rational, and that tho 
 system is one that will bear the test of the science of all ages ; 
 of all the arts of criticism ; all the advances in the knowledge 
 of the human mind ; all enlarged views of physical researches 
 and refinement, in all coming ages of the world. The ministry 
 arc expected, therefore, to be men not fitted merely to declaim, 
 but to sit down coolly and convince men : to sit down with 
 them at any department of investigation, and to show them 
 that this and that science leads to no fair results that do not 
 coincide with the oracles of God and to show to infidelity 
 that it arrays itself as much against the fair deductions of 
 science as against the Bible. It is needless to add, that if this 
 be the case, the danger is not that the ministry will be too 
 thoroughly imbued with sound learning; and that the kind 
 of learning wanted, is the bearing of the existing state of science 
 on the evidences and doctrines of revelation. 
 
 2. A second power of the mind to which the system of 
 divine truth adapts itself is that of conscience. Its province 
 is not to communicate t v uth, but to coincide with it and press 
 it with convicting power on the mind. It seems almost to bo 
 an independent agent, which God has fitted up for the special 
 designs of moral government answering the purposes of an 
 ever-present Divinity : using the language which God him 
 self would use ; and performing the office which the divinity 
 would perform, if he attended us every moment, spoke in our 
 listening cars in solitude, or when allured by the world, or 
 when under the influence of mighty and infatuating passions. 
 It performs to men the office which Socrates fabled to be per 
 formed by his attending genius. There is no more striking 
 proof of God s power and wisdom, than in placing this tre 
 mendous witness in any part of his moral government ; and in 
 making the guilty mind to be its own tormentor and execu 
 tioner. Its power its full power has not yet been known. 
 
 16* 
 
186 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 Intimations of its terrible inflictions Lave been given in tins 
 world, just enough to tell us what it may be in hell. We 
 have only to see its power in heathen lands, where man at 
 bloody altars will offer his first-born son and his dearest 
 objects of affection to obtain peace we have only to follow a 
 convicted sinner through the gloom of many weeks and years 
 in that starless night when he is professedly inquiring the 
 way to God ; we have only to look upon the pale face, and 
 trembling limbs, and retreating eye of the murderer, who, 
 though the crime was long since committed, finds that the 
 blood of innocence will still be in his path, and the stains, to 
 his eye, WILL NOT be wiped out, and who at last yields him 
 self to justice and flees to the grave as if this reprover would 
 not follow him. there, to see what the power of conscience 
 may be, if rightly used, as a means of leading the sinner back 
 to God. Its whole testimony coincides with the appeals of 
 the gospel. Never do we preach a sermon, however severe 
 and cutting its truths, that does not find the concurrence of 
 conscience. And the gospel comes to avail itself of this 
 power, and to excite and direct it, till the man cannot but feel 
 his guilt and tremble. It seems almost as if in the constitu 
 tion of man before, his fallthere was laid the foundation 
 for his recovery and that God deposited there, in innocence, 
 an ever-abiding principle, which, while man was innocent, 
 might be innocuous or consoling, but which was fitted also for 
 terrible inflictions in the days of guilt ; as beneath a city he 
 may lay sulphur, and pent-up gases, and nitre, innocent or 
 useful while the city is innocent; but terrible when some 
 sinful Lisbon or Calabria shall demand that God shall kindle 
 the elements and whelm guilty men in ruin. 
 
 3. Man is a creature of emotions, of hopes, and fears, and 
 love; susceptible of pain, and joy; of anxiety, or sorrow; 
 seeking peace here, and capable of immortal joys in another 
 world. The gospel addresses itself to all these ; and it is the 
 
THE SINNER MADE TO FEEL HIS GUILT. 187 
 
 gospel alone which meets them fully. The utmost power 
 of fear may be felt when man looks at an eternal hell. The 
 farthest limit of hope may be met when he looks at an eternal 
 heaven. All the desires of sympathy, friendship, love, may 
 be gratified in the prospect of an eternal heaven. The utmost 
 intensity of love may be exhausted in the effort to love God. 
 And all the mightiest powers of the soul may be summoned in 
 an effort to understand the works and word of God, and to do 
 his will. Man is in ruins but the ruins are mighty, and arc 
 grand, and tell us what he was, as broken arches and columns 
 tell us what once Thebes was. And ruined as he is, there is 
 no object in this world that satisfies the original suscepti 
 bilities of the mind. After men have sought the world, 
 gained its wealth, run its round of pleasure, and climbed its 
 steeps of ambition, still they sit down in the evening of life, 
 and the big tear steals down the cheek when they reflect that 
 not one single propensity of the mind has been met and grati 
 fied. Wealth had no such happiness to bestow as it promised ; 
 and the theatre and assembly-room never met and filled up 
 the desire of joy; the toils of professional life have not filled 
 the measure of the soul ; the country s call to the field of 
 liberty and victory has not satisfied the desires of the immortal 
 mind. And there sits the man great in the ruins of sin, and 
 even of age, still showing desires of something unreached and 
 untasted, and still as restless, and unsatisfied as he was in all 
 the aspirings of youthful ambition. There he sits wailing, as 
 it were, on the shore of a boundless and unpassed ocean, for 
 some new bark to bear him to climes he has never trod, and to 
 an Elysium he has not yet found. How do the Leavings of 
 his bosom, and the last kindlings of his eye, and the last sighs 
 of ambition, show that he has never found what was adapted 
 to ALL the original propensities of men. That is the gospel 
 of the blessed God the voice of pardon the hope of immor 
 tality. There the mind reposes, and is at ease. There like 
 
188 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 the weary traveller at the end of his journey, not among 
 strangers, but at last at home, it finds that which meets his 
 demands ; nor is there a desire of happiness, or peace ; a sus 
 ceptibility of hope, of fancy, of friendship, of love, of bound 
 less wishes, that is not fully met by the gospel of God, and 
 the looking forward to immortality. When man feels this, he 
 weeps over the sins which so long shut it from his view, and 
 repents and turns to God, He reclines his head on his Re 
 deemer s bosom, and every desire is satisfied, and he calmly 
 waits his change. 
 
 On a soul thus endowed with reason, conscience, and the 
 strongest susceptibilities, the gospel is fitted to act. To the 
 soul thus endowed, it brings its appeal, that man may feel his 
 guilt, and turn to God by repentance. Our last inquiry, 
 then, is, what does the gospel bring adapted to produce repen 
 tance in such a state of mind. Here we remark, 
 
 1. That the gospel comes to men under the full benefit of a 
 concession to its demand. The man knows, sees, admits that 
 he ought to repent. He feels that it is right to weep at guilt, 
 and turn from it. He knows he ought to be humbled before 
 God, and seek pardon for his sins. Here we have an advan 
 tage that is felt scarcely anywhere else but in religion. We 
 may urge the duty on sinners as ingenuous men who have 
 conceded all we ask of them, and who are pressed with all the 
 considerations drawn from heaven, earth, and hell, to repent 
 and turn to God. On a man s own admission of guilt, we may 
 press upon him a return by every thing sacred in religion, 
 tender in the love of God, and momentous in the eternal 
 destiny of the soul. 
 
 2. The gospel comes with all the terrors and the demands 
 of law. The thunders of Sinai were preliminary to the de 
 signs of the gospel. They denounce, for the purpose of 
 arousing men to seek for mercy. The law was a schoolmaster 
 to lead us to Christ. It is designed to aifect the hearts of men 
 
THE SINNER MADE TO FEEL HIS GUILT. 189 
 
 with a consciousness of guilt, that they may be led to seek for 
 pardon. Men are called upon to repent by all the evils of 
 violated law; by all its solemn and awful claims; by the 
 beauty and order which obeyed law would confer on the uni 
 verse. That law, if obeyed, would have diffused peace and 
 happiness in all worlds. That law, broken, has been the 
 source of all our woes, and is now the great terrifier of men in 
 view of future calamities. Man may be made to feel that this 
 law is right. His reason, his conscience, his fears may all be 
 roused, and his eye be fixed on the terrors of justice, and the 
 pains of hell, till he trembles, turns pale, and his heart sinks 
 within him, at the remembrance of his sins. Yet we do not 
 mean that the preaching of terror is the only, or the happiest 
 way of bringing men to see their guilt. It is not simply to 
 terrify that the claims of law are urged. It is that men may 
 see and feel, that that sin which has broken in upon the 
 order of the universe, is an evil of amazing magnitude ; and 
 while the sinner looks upon the tide of woes which is rolling 
 onward here ; and the broad, and deep, and turbid tide of 
 guilt and despair, that is hour by hour, and day by day, and 
 age by age, pouring by a measureless cataract into eternity, 
 that the eye may weep, and the heart relent. We do not be 
 lieve that great good results to the cause of religion from a 
 very frequent use of vivid pictures of future misery ; still less 
 that these should be used to round or point a period, or to 
 supply materials for an awful or imposing declamation. God 
 never used them with such an intention. He never held them 
 up to view merely to frighten men. In his word they have a 
 meaning. They are full of significancy to the entire measure 
 of the language ; and they seem to be drawn from his bosom, 
 and uttered with a suppressed aud solemn voice, when the 
 benevolent God must speak of the endless wretchedness of his 
 creatures. So they should be used by us with the deep con 
 viction that ice deserve all that they convey, and that in using 
 
190 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 them of others, we are expressing the measure of our own guilt. 
 Yet that men should hear those truths, and see that law, and 
 be fixed in contemplation of them, is indispensable, in order 
 that they may see their guilt. And we come to men with this 
 advantage presenting a law which conscience approves, and 
 whose penalty has been fixed by the unerring decision of the 
 wisest mind in the universe. When a man sees that he has 
 injured a friend or a benefactor, he will weep. When a child 
 is made conscious that he has violated the law of a parent, and 
 that that law is good, he will weep. When a felon feels that 
 he has injured his country that he has aimed a blow at its 
 interests ; that, in violating law, he has aimed a stab at all 
 which gives to his fellow-men security of property, reputation, 
 or life ] when a man can be made to see that, you have found 
 the way to bring him to repentance. And, when to all this 
 you add the higher laws of the universe, you have completed 
 the pressure on the man s conscience, and the mighty sinner 
 must bow before God and bewail his crimes. 
 
 And here we may remark, that the gospel owes much of its 
 success in modern times, to the doctrine of the immediate 
 obligation of man to obey that law. In the preaching of the 
 most successful ministers, and in the revivals of religion which 
 have characterized this age and land, this doctrine has mo-re 
 prominently than any other been kept before the view. Nor is it 
 known that any marked success has attended any other preach 
 ing than that which is based on this doctrine. This we regard 
 as the cardinal point ] the limit which separates schools of 
 divinity ; and draws the boundaries around the places where 
 God eminently blesses the ministry. Let a man honestly 
 and fully press this point, and on other subjects of practical 
 preaching he will not be likely to go wrong. It was this 
 which was connected with the prototype and grand exemplar 
 of all true revivals of religion on the day of Pentecost. Acts 
 ii. 37, 08. And the reason of this fact is easily understood 
 
THE SINNER MADE TO FEEL HIS GUILT. 191 
 
 Leave a man with the impression that it is not his duty NOW 
 to repent and believe, but that it may be at some future time, 
 or under some more favourable influence from heaven, and 
 you send a paralysis through his whole moral frame. No man 
 will feel it, and no man will care about future duty. No man 
 will tremble or be alarmed unless he feels that he is guilty 
 now, and now bound to obey. What cares the sinner for that 
 future? At that time he will attend to it. Now he is too 
 busy, or too thoughtless, or he feels that the time has not 
 come, and he will concern himself in the affairs of his mer 
 chandise or farm. Wo to the ministry which, by indolence, 
 or false doctrine, or the fear of man, makes an impression like 
 this ! That cold, abstract, and formal doctrine, which directs 
 men only to the future ; that miserable perversion of the doc 
 trine of the> Spirit s influence which directs the eye onward 
 and permits him to wait; diffuses the chills of Greenland over 
 the soul, and the long death of the tomb over a congregation. 
 Glad would be any assassin or murderer ; glad would be any 
 drunkard or gambler who may now be lashed and scourged by 
 the stings of remorse, to find such a preacher, who would tell 
 him not to feel or be disturbed now, but to wait God s time in 
 this matter. A more consoling minister of peace you could 
 not send into any prison, or den of wickedness ; into any band 
 of highwaymen, or pirates, or into a slave-ship, than would be 
 these. But, oh ! let not the Christian ministry be charged 
 with folly and guilt like this. On a sinner s soul there is 
 NOW pressing all the elements of obligation that can sink it 
 down in any future scenes. Duty relates not to the future. 
 It presses NOW ; and that amazing pressure the sinner must 
 be made to feel, or must jeopard the eternal interests of 
 his soul. 
 
 3. We approach men with all the proofs of the truth of 
 revelation ; and the end of those proofs is to teach men to feel 
 their guilt. The argument from miracles and prophecy is not 
 
192 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 a speculative inquiry, like the cold and formal steps of mathe 
 matical science, or the researches of philosophy. Each argu 
 ment is a part of the vast array of proof, to show that the 
 declarations which affirm the lost condition of men are con 
 firmed by demonstration. It is an array of evidence to prove 
 that the account given of their guilt is really the judgment 
 of Almighty God ; that the declaration that men hate God is 
 one that has been breathed from his lips, and has come from 
 his profound view of all human hearts ; that such was his view 
 of their guilt that there was no Kay of expressing it but by 
 the very scenes which the infinite love of Christ, and the 
 retributions of eternity laid open. Language could not do it. 
 Human speech faltered ; and the poetic fancy of the singers 
 of Israel, the dark and awful flights of prophetic description, 
 and the eloquent tongue of apostles could not do it. There 
 was a mode. God s infinite Son could become incarnate. And 
 it was by giving a living demonstration in the groans of G eth- 
 semane, and when the dead were rising in that ill-fated city 
 where the Saviour died, that he could tell the sinner what his 
 sins deserved ; and point him to those scenes, and say, in that 
 garden and on that cross you may see what your sins de 
 served. There was one more mode. It was possible that men 
 should suffer forever and the infinite God has told us that 
 such are his views of human guilt, that nothing but that will 
 be a fair expression of that evil to other worlds. Now every 
 time we press the evidences of religion it is with reference to 
 just this result. And this was the use the apostles made of 
 it and this is the way in which they convinced men of their 
 guilt. They urged the proofs of the resurrection of the 
 Saviour ; and, on the ground of that, they pressed the guilt 
 of man who had crucified him. And the result was that thou 
 sands of his murderers trembled, and asked with deep solici 
 tude what they should do. 
 
 4, We come to men with all the evidence drawn from the 
 
THE SINNER MADE TO PEEL HIS GUILT. 
 
 history of the world, that they are gui-lty, and that the guilty 
 must suffer. All this analogy belongs properly to the pro 
 vince of religion. God has left his views of sin in no mea 
 sured or doubtful form in the history of devils and of man. 
 The sinner himself is ruined, and he feels it and knows it. 
 His alarms of conscience; his humbling anticipations; his 
 calamities, his sickness, and bereavements; his wasting 
 frame, and his approaching death, all admonish him of it. 
 Man is a sinner, and the earth, arched with the graves of the 
 dead ; and the plague, the pestilence, and war, prove it. 
 Man is a sinner, and each ruined capital, each desolated city, 
 each town reeling beneath the upheaving earth, or falling by 
 its own crimes, proves it. The broken columns and mighty 
 fragments of arches in ancient towns, are monuments to pre 
 serve the memory of the guilt which caused their ruin, and 
 are emblematic of the broken and prostrate character of man. 
 To each vice God has affixed its own marks of crime. The 
 drunkard proclaims everywhere in his face and frame, that 
 God thinks him to be an evil man, and hates his crime. And 
 so each gambler, pirate, murderer, becomes everywhere the 
 herald of his own sin. The entire history of man lies before 
 the ministry, as constituting materials of the proof of guilt. 
 In every age, every nation, God has written with his own 
 finger his view of the guilt of men ; he has uttered it in every 
 language ; and we come to men with the demonstration drawn 
 from the experience of six thousand years, to press this mighty 
 argument on their minds, to show that God esteems them to 
 be sinners, and that except they repent, they shall all likewise 
 perish. 
 
 5. The gospel, in the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ, 
 has exhausted all the appeals which can be made to men s 
 sensibilities to make them feel their guilt. It comes in at the 
 end of law ; and when all the other topics of persuasion have 
 been found to be ineffectual. For four thousand years, in pagan 
 VOL. J 17 
 
194 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 and Jewish lands, law had uttered its denunciations almost in 
 vain. God had exhausted the forms of those appeals in the 
 terrors of Sinai; the inflictions of a guilty conscience ; and the 
 threatenings of hell. Men were guilty they felt it knew it. 
 They mocked him with vain oblations; sprinkled impure 
 altars with the blood of innocence offered by unholy hands, 
 arid then returned to their pollution. It became needful that 
 some other plan should be tried to see whether men could be 
 made so effectually to perceive their guilt, and ill-desert, as to 
 hate it, and abandon it. That plan is what was expressed in 
 the cross of Christ. The essence of that plan consists in 
 man s being made to see an innocent Being suffering un 
 utterable agonies in his stead, and as the proper expression of 
 his crime. 
 
 Now the value of that plan may be seen by supposing, that 
 human law had some such device. One thing strikes every 
 man on going into a court of justice. It is that the criminal, 
 who knows his guilt, and who may expect to die, is so un 
 moved by the scene, and the danger ; and especially that he 
 seems to have so little sense of the evil of the crime for which 
 he is to die. One reason is, that there is little in the law that 
 will make him feel ; and less in the proceedings. His mind 
 is taken off from his guilt, by the technicalities of the law ; 
 by the contests of advocates; by the discrepancies of wit 
 nesses ; often by the coldness and want of feeling in the judge, 
 the jury, and hardened spectators. But suppose there could 
 be placed in full view, where the man alone could see it, some 
 innocent being voluntarily suffering what his crime deserved 
 illustrating on the rack, or amid flames- -just what he 
 ought to suffer, and bearing this so patiently, so mildly, as he 
 sank into the arms of death, as to be the highest expression 
 of pure friendship. Suppose this was the brother, or the 
 father of the man he had slain, and that the dying man should 
 (ell him that he bore this to show the importance of main 
 
THE SINNER MADE TO FEEL HIS GUILT. 195 
 
 taining violated law, and that ~but for these sufferings the 
 guilty wretch could not be saved from death, and how much 
 more affecting would be this, than the mere dryness of statutes, 
 and the pleadings of counsel, and the charge of the judge. You 
 may find here, perhaps, a slight illustration of the principle on 
 which the gospel acts. Law had tried its power in vain, and 
 the only effectual scheme is to place before the sinner the 
 innocent Lamb of God, bleeding for his sins. Thus it was 
 said of him, " He shall be set for the foil and rising again of 
 many in Israel, and for a sign to be spoken against, that 
 thereby the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." And 
 thus also it was prophesied : " They shall look upon him 
 whom they have pierced, and shall mourn." Hence the 
 apostles met with such success ; whose preaching was a little 
 more than a simple statement of the truth that Jesus died, 
 and rose. And, however it is to be accounted for, it is this 
 which has in all ages been attended with the convictions of 
 guilt among men. Gosner, the celebrated Bavarian Catholic 
 priest, at present a Protestant clergyman in Berlin, who has 
 probably been the means of the immediate conversion of more 
 souls than any man living, is said seldom to vary in his manner 
 of preaching. The love of Christ is almost his constant theme, 
 and his preaching is almost a constant pouring out of the warm 
 effusions of the heart in the love of God, the preciousness of 
 the Saviour, and the desirableness of heaven.* The affecting 
 experience of the Moravian missionaries in Greenland is well 
 known. For many years they endeavoured to teach the be 
 nighted pagans the existence and attributes of God, and the 
 doctrines of retribution. Never was work more unsuccessful 
 than this. The heart of the Greenlander, cold as his own 
 snows, was unmoved, and the missionaries appeared to toil in 
 vain. On one occasion it happened that one of them read in 
 
 Biblical Repository, vol. iii. pp. 535, 536. 
 
196 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 the hearing of a savage, the account of the Saviour s sufferings 
 in the garden and on the cross. u How is this ?" said one of 
 the savages. " Tell me it once more, for I would be saved"- 
 and laid his hand on his mouth and wept. Here was learned, 
 almost by accident, the great secret of their success in the 
 world. Here was illustrated anew the principle of the gospel, 
 adapted to all ages and people, that the account of a suffering 
 liedeemer is to be the grand means of teaching sinners every 
 where their guilt j and of drawing forth tears of repentance 
 from eyes that, but for this, would never weep. Our own ex 
 perience in the ministry has been short. But we may, perhaps, 
 be allowed to say, that the only revival of religion in which 
 we, as a pastor, have been permitted to engage, began in the 
 progress of a series of sermons on the work of Christ ; and 
 that the effect of that truth was visible through the series, till 
 almost the entire congregation bowed at once before the cross, 
 and a deep and awful solemnity pervaded all ranks in the 
 community. Nor do we doubt that this is the way in which 
 men must be taught to feel their guilt, as the gospel spreads 
 over the world. If you wish to make men feel the evil of sin, 
 go and tell them that its magnitude is so great that none but 
 God s own Son could undertake the task of bearing the bur 
 den of the world s atonement. Go and remember that angelic 
 might was not equal to this ; that all on high but God was 
 incapable to breast the tide of human sins; that so great were 
 the plans of gigantic and all-spreading evil, that it was needful 
 that God should become incarnate, and in our nature meet the 
 evils of sin, aimed at his head and his heart. Go and look on 
 embodied holiness the august blending of all virtues in the 
 person of the Son of God, moving a present deity through the 
 scenes of earth ; and himself the only innocent being that had 
 blessed our world with his presence. Then go and see inno 
 cence itself in torture, and ask, why was this ? Is this the 
 fair expression of the desert of our sin ? Did God judge 
 
THE SINNER MADE TO FEEL HIS GUILT. 197 
 aright when he deemed that woes like these should tell Iww 
 
 O 
 
 much man ought to endure ? If so, then bitter sorrows should 
 come over our souls at the remembrance of all these sufferings, 
 and of the sins that caused the death of this stranger-friend 
 that came to seek out the guilty, and to die. 
 
 6. One other mode consists in bringing before a man, so 
 that he must sec it, the tremendous scenes of the judgment. 
 We must diminish the apparent journey which he has to tread, 
 and place him amid the scenes of the judgment day. This help 
 religion furnishes to bring guilty men to repentance. It as 
 sures us that we shall be there ; and that that tribunal is a 
 place where the sinner must feel. You perhaps have marked 
 in a court of justice some guilty man, who, at the beginning 
 of his trial, assumed the Stoic, and was bold, and, apparently, 
 unconcerned. Yet you have marked the change in the man 
 when the witnesses have been called; when one circumstance 
 after another has pointed at his guilt ; when an argument to 
 condemn him might already have been made out. And you 
 may have marked the cloud on his brow, and the paleness on 
 his cheek, when he sees some witness advance deliberately, 
 who, he knows, is acquainted with his guilt, who he hoped or 
 believed would not have been there, and who now solemnly 
 swears to declare the whole truth. His last refuge has failed, 
 and he must die. So the sinner must be made to draw near 
 to the judgment. His delusions and evasions must be swept 
 away. He must be borne onward, and must look at those 
 scenes. Time, and friends, and pleasures, and honours, must 
 be made to leave him, and he must be shut up and encom 
 passed in the still, solemn scenes, where conscience shall no 
 more be silent ; where the eye of the all-seeing Judge shall be 
 witness enough of guilt ] and where he must stand riveted by 
 that eye, quailing beneath its piercings, horror-stricken at an 
 opening hell ; and amid that vast multitude, trembling by 
 himself surrounded by numberless millions, yet weeping 
 
198 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 apart. All this power the gospel wields; and, with this it 
 intends to jircss on the soul till the haughty man is bowed 
 down ; and the hardened man melts into tear?, and the profli 
 gate man trembles in view of judgment and of hell. 
 
 The gospel is, therefore, a simple device,, though mighty, 
 adapted to the state of man. It was originated by him who 
 knew what was in man ; and who knew the way to the human 
 heart. It is founded on the manifest guilt of men ; it meets 
 the susceptibilities of men ; enlists on its side all that is tender 
 and thrilling, and awful in the human bosom ; and has devised 
 a plan calling in from three worlds, all that can move, excite, 
 win, or awe. Could this plan have been invented by men t 
 Is it like any thing that men ever have invented ? 
 
 The work of the ministry is one of great difficulty, and 
 demanding great skill. It is no light work to wield that which 
 is designed to effect great changes in the human bosom, and 
 to revolutionize the world. It is no unimportant task to be 
 engaged in applying that which has called forth all the wisdom 
 of God, and which must affect forever the destinies of men. 
 But this is not the only difficulty. It is a work of laying open 
 human guilt; bringing out secret offences ; revealing crime; 
 attempting to excite the energies of conscience ; to inflict the 
 pangs of remorse on men ; and to bring them to the posture 
 of grief, and the bitterness of penitence. It is not to be won 
 dered at if we are regarded as ministers of gloom, and " sus 
 pected of taking a pleasure in attempting to overwhelm the 
 soul in dark and melancholy forebodings." Nor are we to be 
 disappointed if one man thinks we are close, or personal, or 
 severe; or another would like smoother prophesyings ; and 
 another be uneasy that his repose is disturbed ; and another 
 attempt to suppress his ill-concealed feelings; and another 
 find quietude in some place where the mighty and pungent 
 doctrines of the cross are concealed, or men are taught not to 
 be afraid of the declaration that God is a consuming fire. 
 
THE SIXNER MADE TO FEEL HIS GUILT. 109 
 
 We see here what makes death so terrible to a sinner. The 
 mask is then oft*. The world recedes and appears as it is. Its 
 delusions have vanished. The mist is gone, and the naked 
 soul, the conscience, the feelings, the apprehensions, arc laid 
 bare to the insufferable blaze of truth, and the piercings of the 
 eye of God. The tossed sinner cannot help himself, then. 
 There is no delusion; no new mist; no cavern there; no far 
 projecting rock ; no way to silence the voice, or turn away the 
 eye of God. There it is everywhere. The sinner dying, may 
 roll and toss, but the eye of God is there everywhere just 
 as bright, as keen, as riving as justice and indignation can 
 make it and as it will be in an eternal hell. And there, too, 
 is a finger mysteriously moving on the wall, nor can he turn 
 from that, and writing his damnation. The man is afraid to 
 live and afraid to die. Verily it is a fearful thing to die a 
 sinner, and to lie on such a death-bed as that. God grant 
 that no such struggling spirit of any of our readers may go to 
 the judgment-seat of the eternal God ! 
 
200 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS, 
 
 V. 
 
 [CHRISTIAN SPECTATOR, 1834.] 
 
 Episcopacy tested l>y Scripture. By the Right Reverend 
 HENRY U. ONDERDONK, D.D., Assistant Bishop of the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church, in the Commonwealth of 
 Pennsylvania. New York : published by the Protestant 
 Episcopal Tract Society, pp. 46. 
 
 THE history of this tract is this. It was first published as 
 an essay, in the " Protestant Episcopalian," for November 
 and December, 1830. It was then issued in a pamphlet form, 
 without the name of the author. It was next requested for 
 publication by the "Trustees of the New York Protestant 
 Episcopal Press/ and, after being amended by the author, 
 with an addition of several notes, it was printed in the form 
 of a tract, and as such has had an extensive circulation. 
 
 The tract is one which has strong claims on the attention 
 of those who are not Episcopalians. The name and standing 
 of the author will give it extensive publicity. The fact that it 
 comes from the " Press 7 of the Episcopal Church in this coun 
 try that it is issued as one of their standing publications, and 
 that it will, therefore, be circulated with all the zeal which 
 usually characterizes associations organized for defending the 
 exclusive views of any religious body ; and, most of all, the 
 character of the tract itself, and the ground assumed by it, 
 give it a title to our attention, which can be claimed by hardly 
 any single tract of the kind ever published in our country. 
 Our views of it may be expressed in one word. It is the best 
 written, the most manly, elaborate, judicious, and candid dis 
 cussion, in the form of a tract, which we have seen on this 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 201 
 
 subject. Our Episcopalian friends regard it as unanswerable. 
 They Lave provided amply for its circulation, and rely on its 
 making converts wherever it is perused; and, in a tone which 
 cannot be misunderstood, they are exulting in the fact that, to 
 this day, it lias been left entirely unnoticed by the opponents 
 of prelacy.* And we wonder, too, that it has not been noticed. 
 There are men among us who seem to consider the external 
 defence of the church as intrusted to their peculiar care ; who 
 delight to be seen with the accoutrements of the ecclesiastical 
 military order, patrolling the walls of Zion j who parade with 
 much self-complacency, as sentinels in front of the temple 
 of God ; who are quick to detect the movements of external 
 enemies ; and who are admirably adapted to this species of 
 warfare. They seem to have little heart for the interior ope 
 rations of the church, and seldom notice them, except to 
 suggest doubts of the expediency of some new measure pro 
 posed, or to promote discord and strife, by laying down rules 
 for the conduct of those who are labouring in the direct work 
 of saving souls. Much do we marvel that these men have 
 suffered this tract to lie so long unnoticed. 
 
 We have never regarded the Episcopal controversy with 
 any very special interest. Our feelings lead us to dwell on 
 subjects more directly connected with the salvation of the 
 soul. We have no taste for the species of warfare which is 
 often waged in guarding the outposts of religion. Christianity, 
 we have supposed, is designed to act directly on the hearts of 
 men ; and we regard it as a matter of very little moment in 
 what particular church the spirit is prepared for its eternal 
 rest, provided the great object be accomplished of bringing it 
 fairly under the influence of the gospel. 
 
 * "Has the tract Episcopacy tested by Scripture, been answered? 
 This, \ve believe, is neither the first time of asking, nor the second, nor the 
 third." Protestant Episcopalian. 
 
202 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 But, we propose, for the reasons already suggested, to exa 
 mine the arguments of this tract. We do it with the highest 
 respect for the author; with a full conviction that he has 
 done ample justice to his cause ; that he has urged on his side 
 of the question all that can be advanced ; and we enter on the 
 task with sincere pleasure at meeting an argument conducted 
 with entire candour, without misrepresentation, and with a 
 manifest love of truth. Our wish is to reciprocate this can 
 dour; and our highest desire is to imitate the chastened 
 spirit, the sober argumentation, and the Christian temper 
 evinced in this tract. It is firm in its principles, but not illi 
 beral ; decided in its views, but net censorious j settled in its 
 aims, but not resorting to sophism, or ridicule, to carry its 
 points. There is, evidently, in the author s mind too clear a 
 conviction of the truth of what he advances, to justify a resort 
 to the mere art of the logician ; too manifest a love of the 
 3ause in which he is engaged, to expose himself to the retort 
 which might arise from lofty declamation, or the expression 
 of angry passions towards his opponents. 
 
 One object which we have in view, in noticing this tract, is 
 to express our gratification that the controversy is, at last, put 
 where it should have been at first on an appeal to the Bible 
 alone. Never have we been more digusted than at the mode 
 in which the Episcopal controversy has usually been con 
 ducted. By common consent, almost, the writers, on both 
 sides, have turned from the New Testament, where the contro 
 versy might have been brought to a speedy issue, to listen to 
 the decisions of the Fathers; and, as might have been ex 
 pected, have 
 
 "Found no end, in wandering mazes lost." 
 
 It was the policy of the friends of prelacy to do so ; and it was 
 the folly of their opponents to suffer them to choose the field 
 of debate, and to weary themselves in an effort to fix the 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 203 
 
 meaning, to secure the consistency, and obtain the suffrages 
 of the Fathers. Full well was it known, we believe, by the 
 friends of Episcopacy in other times, that the New Testament 
 could furnish a most slender support for their claims. In the 
 times of the Papacy, it had always been defended by an appeal 
 to the Fathers. The system had risen, sustained, not even 
 professedly, by the authority of the Bible, but by the tradi 
 tions of the ciders. The ranks and orders of the papal priest 
 hood could be defended only by the authority of a church 
 which claimed infallibility, and which might dispense, there 
 fore, with the New Testament. The Reformers came forth from 
 the bosom of the Papacy with much of this feeling. They 
 approached this subject with high reverence for the opinions 
 of past times ; with a deference for the Fathers, nourished by 
 all the forms of their education, by all existing institutions, and 
 by the reluctance of the human mind to break away from the 
 established customs of ages. On the one hand, the advocates 
 of Episcopacy found their proofs in the common law of the 
 church, the institutions which had existed " time whereof the 
 memory of man runneth not to the contrary;" and, on the 
 other hand, the opponents of prelacy were equally anxious to 
 show that tlicy had not departed from the customs of the 
 fathers, and that the defence of their institutions might be 
 found in times far remote, and in records which received the 
 veneration, and commanded the confidence, of the Christian 
 world. Into this abyss both parties plunged. In this im 
 mense chaos of opinions and interpretations; into these mov 
 ing, disorganized, jostling elements, where, as in the first 
 chaos, light struggled with darkness and confusion reigned, 
 they threw themselves, to endeavour severally to find the sup 
 port of their opinions. " Whatsoever time, or the heedless 
 hand of blind chance," says Milton, " hath drawn down from 
 of old to this present, in her huge drag-net, whether fish or 
 seaweed, shells or shrubs, unpicked, unchosen, those are the 
 
204 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 Fathers." With those who, according to Mosheim,* deemed 
 it not only lawful, but commendable, to deceive and lie for 
 the sake of truth and piety, it would be singular if any point 
 could be settled that involved controversy. With men who 
 held to every strange and ridiculous opinion; to every vagary 
 that the human mind can conceive ;f it would be remarkable 
 if both sides in this controversy did not find enough that had 
 the appearance of demonstration, to perplex and embarrass an 
 opponent ad libitum. In examining the controversy, as it 
 was conducted in former times, we have been often amused, 
 and edified, at the perfect complacency with which a passage 
 from one of the Fathers is adduced in defence of either side 
 of the question, and the perfect ease with which, by a new 
 translation, or by introducing a few words of the context, or 
 more frequently by an appeal to some other part of the same 
 author, not studious himself of consistency, and probably 
 having no settled principles, the passage is shown to mean 
 just the contrary; and then, again, a new version, or yet 
 another quotation, shall give it a new aspect, and restore it to 
 its former honours. J Thus the Fathers became a mere foot 
 ball between the contending parties ; and thus in this contro 
 versy the weary searcher for truth finds no solid ground. 
 Eminently, here, a he which is first in his cause seemeth just; 
 but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him/ 7 Prov. xviii. 17. 
 To this wearisome and unsatisfactory toil he is doomed who 
 will read all the older controversies on Episcopacy. There he, 
 
 " O er bog or steep, through strait, rough, dense or rare, 
 With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way, 
 And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps or flies." 
 
 Were we to adduce the most striking instance of the plastic 
 
 * Murdock s Moshcim, vol. i. p. 159. 
 
 f See Tillemont s Ecclesiastical History, passim. 
 
 J See the Letters of Dr. Miller, and Dr. Bowclen, on Episcopacy, jiassim. 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 205 
 
 nature of this kind of proof, we should refer to the epistles 
 of Ignatius. To our eyes they seem to be a plain, straight 
 forward account of the existence of Presbyterianism in his 
 time. They are substantially such a description as a man 
 would give, writing in the inflated and exaggerated manner in 
 which the Orientals wrote, of Presbyterianism as it exists in 
 the United States. Yet it is well known that, with the utmost 
 pertinacity those letters have been adduced as proving the 
 doctrine of Episcopacy. And so confident have been the as 
 sertions on the subject, that not a few non-Episcopalians have 
 given them up as unmanageable, and have stoutly contended, 
 what may be very true, that no inconsiderable part of them 
 are forgeries. 
 
 Any man can see what a hopeless task is before him, if he 
 endeavours to settle this controversy by the authority of the 
 Fathers. The waste of time, and talent, and learning, on this 
 subject, is fitted deeply to humble the heart. And even yet 
 the passion has not ceased. Even now, men high in office 
 and in rank, leave the New Testament and appeal to the 
 Fathers. Episcopacy is discarded, not principally because 
 the New Testament is a stranger to it, but because Jerome 
 was not a prelatist; it is rejected, not because it cannot be 
 made out from the Bible, but because it is a matter of debate, 
 whether the Fathers teach it or not. 
 
 From this unprofitable and endless litigation, we are glad 
 to turn to the true merits of the case. We rejoice sincerely 
 that one man can be found who is willing to bring to this 
 subject the great principle of the Protestant Reformation, that 
 all religious opinions are to be tested by the Scriptures. And 
 we especially rejoice to see this principle so decisively ad 
 vanced by a man of the talents and official rank of Dr. Onder- 
 donk ; and that it is so prominently avowed by sending forth 
 from the " Protestant Episcopal Press," a tract in its defence. 
 It indicates a healthy state of things in the Episcopal Church 
 
 VOL. I. 13 
 
206 ESSAYS AND KEVIEWS. 
 
 in this country. It will save endless disputes about words, 
 and much useless toil in endeavouring to give consistency and 
 sense to the Fathers. This mode of reasoning, too, will soon 
 decide the controversy. Long have we wished to see this 
 matter brought to so obvious and so just an issue; and long- 
 have we expected that when this should be the case, the 
 matter would be soon decided. Hereafter let it be held up as 
 a great principle, from which, neither in spirit nor in form. 
 we are ever to depart, that if the peculiar doctrines of Episco 
 pacy are not found in the Scriptures, they are to be honestly 
 abandoned, or held, as Cranmer held them, as matters of mere 
 expediency. Let this truth go forth, never to be recalled; 
 and let every man who attempts to defend the claims of 
 bishops, appeal to the Bible alone. On this appeal, with 
 confidence, we rest the issue of this case. 
 
 The great principle on which the argument in this tract is 
 conducted, is indicated in its title; it is further stated at 
 length in the tract itself. Thus, in the opening sentence, 
 " The claim of Episcopacy to be of divine institution, and, 
 therefore, obligatory on the church, rests fundamentally on the 
 one question, " Has it the authority of Scripture ? If it has 
 not, it is not necessarily binding/ Again, on the same page, 
 " No argument is worth taking into the account, that has not 
 a palpable bearing on the clear and naked topic the scrip 
 tural evidence of Episcopacy/ Having stated this principle, 
 the writer proceeds to remark, that " the argument is ob 
 structed with many extraneous and irrelevant difficulties, 
 which, instead of aiding the mind in reaching the truth on 
 that great subject, tend only to divert it and occupy it with 
 questions not affecting the main issue." The first object of 
 the " essay" is then stated to be, " to point out some of these 
 extraneous questions and difficulties, and expose either their 
 fallacy or their irrelevancy/ " The next object will be, to 
 state the scviptural argument/ 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 207 
 
 In pursuing this plan, the writer introduces and discusses, 
 as one of these extraneous difficulties, the objection that Epis 
 copacy is inimical to a free government. He next notices, as 
 " another of these extraneous considerations, the comparative 
 standing in piety as evinced by the usual tokens of moral and 
 spiritual character, of the members respectively of the Episco 
 pal and non-Episcopal churches." A third "suggestion" 
 noticed is, " that the external arrangements of religion are but 
 of inferior importance, and that, therefore, all scruple concern 
 ing the subject before us may be dispensed with." p. 5. A 
 fourth, " apparently formidable, yet extraneous difficulty, 
 often raised, is, that Episcopal claims unchurch all non-Epis 
 copal denominations." p. 6. This consequence, the author 
 of the tract says is not by him allowed. " But granting it to 
 the fullest extent," it is asked, " what bearing has it on the 
 truth of the single proposition than Episcopacy is of divine 
 ordinance ?" A fifth among these extraneous points, is, " the 
 practice of adducing the authority of individuals, who, although 
 eminent in learning and piety, seem at last to have contra 
 dicted themselves on their public standards on the subject of 
 Episcopacy." p. 7. The last objection noticed, as not affect 
 ing the ultimate decision of the controversy, is, " that though 
 the examples recorded in Scripture should be allowed to favour 
 Episcopacy, still that regimen is not there explicitly com 
 manded." p. 9. 
 
 To most of the observations under these several heads, 
 we give our hearty assent. And it will be perceived, that the 
 controversy is thus reduced to very narrow limits ; and that, 
 if these principles are correct, numberless tomes which have 
 been written on both sides of the question are totally useless. 
 AVe are glad that all this extraneous matter is struck off, and 
 should rejoice if every consideration of this kind were here 
 after to be laid out of view. 
 
 In discussing the second topic proposed, " the scriptural 
 
208 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 evidence relating to tins controversy," (p. 11,) the first object 
 of Dr. Onderdonk is to state the precise point in debate. It 
 is then observed, that " parity declares that there is but one 
 order of men authorized to minister in sacred things, all of 
 this order being of equal grade, and having inherently equal 
 spiritual rights. Episcopacy declares that the Christian minis 
 try was established in three orders, called ever since the apos 
 tolic age, bishops, presbyters or elders, and deacons ; of which 
 the highest only has a right to ordain and confirm, that of 
 general supervision in a diocese, etc." p. 11. The main ques 
 tion is then stated, correctly, to be, that " concerning the su 
 periority of bishops;" and the object of the essay is to prove 
 that, according to the New Testament, such an order existed, 
 and was clothed with such peculiar powers, p. 11. Let it not 
 be forgotten that this is the main point in the case ; and that 
 if this is not made out, so as to be binding on the church 
 everywhere, the claims of Episcopacy fall to the ground. 
 
 In endeavouring to establish this point, the author main 
 tains, a that the apostles ordained," and denies that elders 
 (presbyters) ever did. p. 14. In supporting this position, the 
 plan of argument is to show, that a the apostles and elders had 
 not equal power and rights, p. 14. An attempt is, therefore, 
 made to prove that the difference between the two orders is, 
 that the former had the power of ordination, the latter not. 
 In pursuing the reasoning, (p. 16,) the writer endeavours to 
 show, that " there is no scriptural evidence that mere elders 
 (presbyters) ordained." Under this branch of the argument, 
 he examines the texts which have usually been adduced in 
 favour of Presbyterian ordination. Having shown, as he sup 
 poses, that these passages do not prove that they did thus 
 ordain, Dr. Onderdonk next proceeds to the last branch of 
 the subject, viz., that " this distinction between elders and a 
 grade superior to them, in regard especially to the power of 
 ordaining, was so persevered in, as to indicate that it was a 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 
 
 2)crmancnt arrangement, and not designed to be but tempo 
 rary." p. 23. 
 
 This is the outline of the argument. It manifestly em 
 braces the essential points of the case. And if these positions 
 cannot be maintained; Episcopacy has no binding obligation 
 on men, and such a claim should be at once abandoned. This 
 argument \ve propose, with great respect, but with entire free 
 dom, to examine. And we expect to show, that the point is 
 not made out, that the New Testament has designated a 
 superior rank of church officers, intrusted with the sole power 
 of ordination, and general superintendence of the church. 
 
 In entering on this discussion, we shall first endeavour to 
 ascertain the real point of the controversy, and to show that 
 the Scripture authorities appealed to, do not establish the 
 point maintained by Episcopalians. In pursuance of this, we 
 remark, that the burden of proof lies wholly on the friends of 
 Episcopacy. They set up a claim, which they affirm to be 
 binding on all the churches of every age. It is a claim which 
 is specific, and which must be made out, or their whole 
 pretensions fall. In what predicament it may leave other 
 churches, is not the question. It would not prove Episcopacy 
 to be of divine origin, could its friends show that Presbyte- 
 rianism is unfounded in the Scriptures ; or that Congregation 
 alism has no claims to support ; or that Independency is 
 unauthorized ; or even that lay-ordination is destitute of direct 
 support. The question, after all, might be, whether it was 
 the design of the apostles to establish any particular form 
 of church government, any more than to establish a fixed 
 mode of civil administration ? This question we do not 
 intend to examine now, neither do we design to express any 
 opinion on it. We affirm only that it is a question on which 
 much may be said, and which should not be considered as 
 settled in this controversy. The specific point to be made out 
 is, that there is scriptural authority for that which is claimed 
 
 16* 
 
210 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 for the bishops. And we may remark, further, that this is 
 not a claim which can be defended by any doubtful passages 
 of Scripture, or by any very circuitous mode of argumentation. 
 As it is expected to affect the whole organization of the 
 church to constitute, in fact, the peculiarity of its organiza 
 tion and to determine, to a great extent at least, the validity 
 of all its ordinances, and its ministry ; we have a right to 
 demand that the proof should not be of a doubtful character, 
 or of a nature which is not easily apprehended by the ordinary 
 readers of the New Testament. 
 
 We repeat, now, as of essential importance in this contro 
 versy, that the burden of proof lies on the friends of Episco 
 pacy. It is theirs to make out this specific claim. To decide 
 whether they can do so, is the object of this inquiry. 
 
 The first question, then, is, What is the claim j or, what is 
 the essential point which is to be made out in the defence of 
 Episcopacy ? This claim is stated in the following words : 
 (p. 11 :) " Episcopacy declares, that the Christian ministry 
 was established in three orders, called, ever since the apostolic 
 age, bishops, presbyters or elders, [if so, why do they now 
 call the second order priests?] and deacons; of which the 
 highest only has the right to ordain and confirm, that of the 
 chief administration in a diocese, and that of the chief admi 
 nistration of spiritual discipline, besides enjoying all the 
 powers of the other grades." The main question, as thus 
 stated, relates to the authority of bishops; and the writer 
 adds, "If we cannot authenticate the claims of the Episcopal 
 office, (the office of bishops,) we will surrender those of our 
 deacons, and let all power be confined to the one office of 
 presbyters." The same view of the main point of the con 
 troversy is given by Hooker, in his Ecclesiastical Polity." 
 b. vii. 2. 
 
 It will be seen that several claims are here set up in behalf 
 of bishops. One is, the right of ordination ; a second, that 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 211 
 
 of confifmation a third, that of general supervision; a fourth, 
 that of the general administration of discipline. These arc 
 separate points to be made out ; and a distinct argument might 
 be entered into, to show that neither of them is founded on 
 the authority of the Scriptures. To enter on this discussion, 
 would require more time and space than we can now spare. 
 Nor is it necessary, for we presume the Episcopalian would bo 
 willing to stake the whole cause on his being able to make out 
 the authority of ordination to lie solely in the bishop. For, 
 obviously, if that cannot be made out, all the other preten 
 sions are good for nothing ; and, as the writer of this tract 
 limits his inquiries to this single point, we shall confine our 
 remarks to that also. 
 
 The question, then, is, Has a bishop the sole power of or 
 daining? Is setting apart to a sacred office, to the office 
 of preaching and administering the sacraments, confined in 
 the New Testament exclusively to this order of ministers ? 
 The Episcopalian claims that it is. We deny it, and ask him 
 for the explicit proof of a point so simple as this, and one 
 which we have a right to expect he will make o-ut, with very 
 great clearness, from the Sacred Scriptures. 
 
 The first proof adduced by the author is, that the apostles 
 had the sole power of ordaining. This is a highly important 
 point in the discussion, or rather, as already remarked, the 
 very hinge of the controversy. We cannot, therefore, but ex 
 press our surprise that a writer who can see the value and 
 bearing of an argument so clearly as Dr. Onderdonk, should 
 not have thought himself called upon to devote more than two 
 pages to its direct defence; and that, without adducing any 
 explicit passages of the New Testament, The argument 
 stated in these two pages, or these parts of three pages, 
 (14, 15, 10,) rests on the assumption, that the apostles 
 ordained. " That the apostles ordained, all agree." Now, 
 if this means any thing to the purpose, it means that they 
 
212 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 ordained as apostles ; or that they were set apart to the apos 
 tolic office for the purpose of ordaining. But this we shall 
 take the liberty to deny, and to prove to be an unfounded 
 claim. Having made this assumption, the writer adds, that 
 a distinction is observed in the New Testament between " the 
 apostles and elders," the apostles and elders, and brethren." 
 He next attempts to show, that this distinction was not made 
 because they were appointed by Christ personally," nor be 
 cause "they had seen our Lord after his resurrection;" nor 
 " because of this power of working miracles :" and then the 
 writer adds, "It follows, therefore, or will not at least be ques 
 tioned, a qualification which, by the way, seems to look as 
 if the writer had himself no great confidence in the consecu- 
 tiveness of the demonstration, "that the apostles were dis 
 tinguished from the elders, because they were superior to them 
 in ministerial power and rights." p. 15. This is the argu 
 ment; and this is the whole of it. On the making out of this 
 point, depends the stupendous fabric of Episcopacy. Here is 
 the corner-stone on which rest the claims of bishops ; this the 
 foundation on which the imposing and mighty superstructure 
 has been reared. Our readers will join with us in our amaze 
 ment, that this point has not been made out with a clearer 
 deduction of arguments, than such as were fitted to lead to the 
 ambiguous conclusion, " it follows, therefore, or ." 
 
 Now, the only way of ascertaining whether this claim be 
 well-founded, is to appeal at once to the New Testament. The 
 question, then, which we propose to settle now, is, Whether 
 the apostles were chosen for the distinctive and peculiar work 
 of ordaining to sacred offices ? This the Episcopalian affirms. 
 This we take the liberty of calling in question. 
 
 The Evangelists have given three separate and full accounts 
 of the appointment of the apostles. One is recorded by 
 Matthew, ch. x. ; another by Mark, iii. 12, etc; the third by 
 Luke, ch. vi. They were selected from the other disciples, 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 213 
 
 and set apart to their work with great solemnity. Luke vi. 
 The act was performed in the presence of a great multitude, 
 and after the Saviour had passed the night in prayer to God. 
 Luke vi. 12. The instructions given to them on the occasion 
 occupy, in one part of the record, (Matt.) the entire chapter 
 of forty-two verses. The directions are given with very great 
 particularity, embracing a great variety of topics, evidently 
 intended to guide them in all their ministry, and to furnish 
 them with ample instruction as to the nature of their office. 
 They refer to times which should follow the death of the Lord 
 Jesus, and were designed to include the whole of their pecu 
 liar work. Matt. x. 17-23. 
 
 Now, on the supposition of the Episcopalian, that the pecu 
 liarity of their work was to ordain, or that " they were dis 
 tinguished from the elders because they were superior to them 
 in ministerial powers and rights/ (p. 15,) we cannot but re 
 gard it as unaccountable, that we find not one word of this 
 here. There is not the slightest allusion to any such distin 
 guishing u power and rights/ There is nothing which can 
 be tortured into any such claim. This is the more remark 
 able, as on another occasion he sent forth seventy disciples at 
 one time, (Luke x. 1-16,) usually regarded by Episcopalians 
 as the foundation of the second order of their ministers ; (see 
 " The Scholar Armed / ) and there is not the slightest inti 
 mation given, that they were to be inferior to the apostles in 
 the power of ordaining, or superintending the churches. We 
 do not know what explanation the Episcopalian will give of 
 this remarkable omission in the instructions of the primitive 
 bishops. 
 
 This omission is not the less remarkable in the instructions 
 which the Lord Jesus gave to these same apostles, after his 
 resurrection from the dead. At that time, we should, assuredly, 
 have expected an intimation of the existence of some such pe 
 culiar power, But, not the slighest hint occurs of any such 
 
214 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 peculiar authority and superintendence. Matthew, (xxviii. 
 18-20,) Mark, (xvi. 15-18,) and Luke, (xxiv. 47-49,) have 
 each recorded these parting instructions. They have told us 
 that he directed them to remain in Jerusalem (Luke) until 
 they were endued with power from on high, and then to go 
 forth, and preach the gospel to every creature : but not a soli 
 tary syllable about any exclusive power of ordination; about 
 their being a peculiar order of ministers ; about their trans 
 mitting the peculiarity of the apostolic office to others. We 
 should have been glad to see some explanation of this fact. 
 We wish to be apprised of the reason, if any exists, why, 
 if the peculiarity of their office consisted in " superiority of 
 ministerial powers and rights/ neither at their election and 
 ordination, nor in the departing charge of the Saviour, nor in 
 any intermediate time, we ever hear of it ; that even the advo 
 cates for the powers of the bishop never pretend to adduce a 
 solitary expression that can be construed into a reference to 
 any such distinction. 
 
 We proceed now to observe, that there is not anywhere else, 
 in the New Testament, a statement that this was the peculiarity 
 of their apostolic office. Of this any man may be satisfied, 
 who will examine the New Testament. Or, he may find the 
 proof in a less laborious way, by simply looking at the fact, 
 that neither Dr. Onderdonk, nor any of the advocates of Epis 
 copacy, pretend to adduce any such declaration. The apostles 
 often speak of themselves; the historian of their doings 
 (Luke) often mentions them; but the place remains yet to 
 be designated, after this controversy has been carried on by 
 keen-sighted disputants for several hundred years, which 
 speaks of any such peculiarity of their office. 
 
 This point, then, we shall consider as settled, and shall feel 
 at liberty to make as much of it as we possibly can in the 
 argument. And we might here insist on the strong presump 
 tion thus furnished, that this settles the case. We should be 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 215 
 
 very apt to regard it as decisive in any other case. If two 
 men go from a government to a foreign court, and one of them 
 claims to be a plenipotentiary, and affirms that the other is a 
 mere private secretary, or a consul, we expect that the claim 
 ant will sustain his pretensions by an appeal to his com 
 mission or instructions. If he maintains that this is the 
 peculiarity of his office, though he may " enjoy all the powers 
 of the other grades," (p. 11,) we expect to find this clearly 
 proved in the documents which he brings. If he is mentioned 
 by no name that designates his office, as the Episcopalian 
 admits the bishop is not, (pp. 12, 13,) if his commission 
 contains no such appointment, and if we should learn that 
 specific instructions were given to him at his appointment, 
 and again repeated in a solemn manner when he left his native 
 shores ; we should at least look with strong suspicions on 
 these remarkable claims. Would not any foreign court decide 
 at once that such pretensions, under such circumstances, were 
 utterly unfounded ? 
 
 We proceed now to inquire whether it is possible to ascer 
 tain the peculiarity of the apostolic office ? for it must be 
 conceded that there was something to distinguish the apostles 
 from the other ministers of the New Testament. Here, hap 
 pily, we are in no way left in the dark. The Saviour, and 
 the apostles and sacred writers themselves, have given an 
 account which cannot be easily mistaken ; and our amazement 
 is, that the writer of this tract has not adverted to it. The 
 first account which we adduce is from the lips of the Saviour 
 himself. In those solemn moments when he was about to 
 leave the world j when the work of atonement was finished j 
 and when he gave the apostles their final commission, he in 
 dicated the nature of their labours, and the peculiarity of 
 their office, in these words : (Luke xxiv. 48 :) "And yc are 
 WITNESSES of these thin f/s. And, behold, I send the promise 
 of my Father upon }ou," etc. The object of their special 
 
216 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 appointment, which he here specifies, was, that they should 
 be WITNESSES to all nations. (Comp. v. 47, and Matt, xxviii. 
 18, 19.) The " things of which they were to bear witness, 
 he specifies in the preceding verse. They were his sufferings 
 in accordance with the predictions of the prophets : " thus it is 
 written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer;" and his resur 
 rection from the dead: "and to rise from the dead the third 
 day." These were the points to bear "witness" to which 
 they had been selected ; and these were the points on which 
 they, in fact, insisted in their ministry. See the Acts of the 
 Apostles, passim. 
 
 We would next remark, that this is expressly declared to 
 be the " peculiarity" of the apostolic office. It was done so 
 at the election of an apostle to fill up the vacated place of 
 Judas. Here, if the peculiar design had been to confer 
 " superiority in ministerial rights and powers," we should 
 expect to be favoured with some account of it. It was the 
 very time when we should expect them to give an account of 
 the reason why they filled up the vacancy in the college of 
 apostles, and when they actually did make such a statement. 
 Their words are these : (Acts i. 21, 22 :) " Wherefore, of 
 these men which have companied with us, all the time that 
 the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the 
 baptism of John, unto that same day when he was taken up 
 from us, must one be ordained to be a WITNESS WITH us 
 of his resurrection." This passage we consider to be abso 
 lutely decisive on the point before us. It shows, first, for 
 what purpose they ordained him, and, second, that they were 
 ordained for the same purpose. Why do we hear nothing on 
 this occasion of their " superiority of ministerial rights and 
 powers?" why nothing of their peculiar prerogative to ordain? 
 why nothing of their " general superintendence" of the 
 church? Plainly, because they had conceived of nothing 
 of this kind as entering into their original commission and 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED 13 Y SCRIPTURE. 217 
 
 peculiar design. For this purpose of bearing testimony to 
 the world of the fact of the resurrection of the Messiah, they 
 had been originally selected. For this they had been pre 
 pared by a long, intimate acquaintance with the Saviour. 
 They had seen him ; had been with him in various scenes, 
 fitted to instruct them more fully in his designs and cha 
 racter; had enjoyed an intimate personal friendship with 
 him, (1 John i. 1,) and were thus qualified to go forth as 
 " witnesses" of what they had seen and heard to confirm the 
 great doctrine that the Messiah had come, had died, and had 
 risen, according to the predictions of the prophets. We just 
 add here, that these truths were of sufficient importance to 
 demand the appointment of twelve honest men to give them 
 confirmation. It has been shown, over and over again, that 
 there was a consummate wisdom in the appointment of wit 
 nesses enough to satisfy any reasonable mind, and yet not so 
 many as to give it the appearance of tumult or popular excite 
 ment. The truth of the whole scheme of Christianity rested 
 on making out the fact that the Lord Jesus had risen from 
 the dead : and the importance of that religion to the welfare 
 of mankind demanded that this should be substantiated to the 
 conviction of the world. Hence the anxiety of the eleven to 
 complete the number of the original witnesses selected by the 
 Saviour, and that the person chosen should have the same 
 acquaintance with the facts that they had themselves. 
 
 It is worthy, also, of remark, that in the account which the 
 historian gives of their labours, this is the main idea which is 
 presented. Acts ii. 32. " This Jesus hath God raised up, 
 whereof ice are witnesses." v. 32. " And we are witnesses 
 of these things." x. 30-41. " And we are witnesses of all 
 things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in 
 Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree." " Him 
 God raised up the third day, and showed him openly not unto 
 all the people, but unto WITNESSES chosen Ix forc of GoJ, cr< it 
 VOL. T. 10 
 
218 ESSAYS AND HE VIEWS. 
 
 unto ws/ etc. In this place we meet with another declaration 
 that this was the object of their original appointment. They 
 were u chosen" for this, and set apart in the holy presence of 
 God to this work. Why do we not hear any thing of their 
 superiority in ministerial rights and powers ?" Why not an 
 intimation of the power of confirming, and of general super 
 intendence ? We repeat, that it is not possible to answer 
 these questions, except on the supposition that they did not 
 regard any such powers as at all entering into the peculiarity 
 of their commission. 
 
 Having disposed of all that is said in the New Testament, 
 so far as we know, of the original design of the appointment 
 to the apostolic ofiice, we proceed to another and somewhat 
 independent source of evidence. The original number of the 
 apostles was twelve. The design of their selection we have 
 seen. For important purposes, however, it pleased God to 
 add to their number, one, who had not been a personal attend 
 ant on the ministry of the Saviour, and who was called to the 
 apostlcship four years after the crucifixion and resurrection of 
 Christ. Now this is a case, evidently, which must throw very im 
 portant light on our inquiries. It is independent of the others. 
 And as he was not a personal observer of the life and death 
 of Jesus j as he was not an original "witness" in the case, WG 
 may expect in the record of his appointment, a full account 
 of his " superiority in ministerial rights and powers." If 
 such superiority entered into the peculiarity of the apostolic 
 office, this was the very case where we expect to find it. Ili.s 
 conversion was subsequent to the resurrection. He was to be 
 employed extensively in founding and organizing churches. 
 He was to have intrusted to him almost the entire pagan 
 world. Comp. Rom. xv. 16. His very business seemed to 
 call for some specific account of " superiority in ministerial 
 rights," if any such rights were involved in the apostolic 
 ofiice. llow natural to expect a statement of such rights, and 
 
\\ ^ " 
 
 EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 210 
 
 an account of the " general superintendence" intrusted to him 
 as an apostle ! Let us look, therefore, and see how the case 
 stands. We have three distinct accounts of his conversion 
 and appointment to the apostleship, in each of which the 
 de&tyn of his appointment is stated. Acts xxii. 14, 15. In 
 his discourse before the Jews, he repeats the charge given to 
 him by Ananias, at Damascus: "The God of our fathers hath 
 chosen thcc, etc. For thou shalt be his WITNESS unto all mm 
 of iL-ltat thou h(ist seen and heard." Again, (Acts xxvi. 16,) 
 in his speech before Agrippa, Paul repeats the words addressed 
 to him by the Lord Jesus in his original commission : " I have 
 appeared unto thce for this jpw^asc, to make thee a minister 
 and a WITNESS of those things," etc. Again, (Acts xxiii. 11,) 
 in the account which is given of his past and future work, it 
 is said : " As thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must 
 thou bear witness also at Home." 
 
 This is the account which is given of the call of Saul of 
 Tarsus to the apostolic office. But where is there a single 
 syllable of any "superiority in ministerial powers and rights," 
 as constituting the peculiarity of his office ? We respectfully 
 ask the writer of this tract, and all other advocates of Episco 
 pacy, to point to us a " a light or shadow" of any such Epis 
 copal investment. We think their argument demands it. 
 And if there is no such account, neither in the original choice 
 of the twelve, nor in the appointment of Matthias, nor in the 
 selection of the apostle to the Gentiles; we take the liberty to 
 insist with firmness on a satisfactory explanation of the causes 
 which operated to produce the omission of the very essence 
 of their office, according to Episcopacy. We insist on being 
 told of some reasons, prudential or otherwise, which made it 
 proper to pass over the very vitality of the original com 
 mission. 
 
 But we have not done with the apostle Paul. He is too 
 important a " witness" for us, as well as for the purpose for 
 
220 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 wliicli lie was appointed, to be dismissed without further 
 attention. It has been remarked already that he was not a 
 personal follower of Jesus of Nazareth, and was not present at 
 his death and ascension. It may be asked, then, how could 
 he be a witness, in the sense, and for the purposes already 
 described ? Let us see how this was provided for. We tran 
 scribe the account from his own statement of the address made 
 to him by Ananias. Acts xxii. 14. " The God of our fathers 
 hath chosen thec, that thou shouldst know his will, and SEE 
 that Just One, and shouldst hear the words of his mouth." 
 That he had thus seen him, it is not necessary to prove. 
 See 1 Cor. xv. 8 ; Acts ix. 5, 17. The inference which we 
 here draw is, that he was permitted to see the Lord Jesus 
 in an extraordinary manner, for the express purpose of 
 qualifying him to be invested with the peculiarity of tlie 
 apostleship. This inference, sufficiently clear from the very 
 statement, we shall now proceed to put beyond the possibility 
 of doubt. 
 
 "YVe turn, then, to another account which Paul has given 
 of his call to the apostleship, 1 Cor. ix. 1, 2 : " Am I not an 
 apostle ? Am I not free ? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our 
 Lord?" We adduce this passage as proof that to have seen Jesus 
 Christ^ was considered as an indispensable qualification for the 
 apostleship. So Paul regarded it in his own case. We adduce it 
 also for another purpose, viz., to strengthen our main position, 
 that the apostles was designated to their office specifically as wit 
 nesses to the character and resurrection of Christ. If this was 
 not the design, we ask, why does Paul appeal to the fact that 
 he had seen the Saviour, as proof that he was qualified to be 
 an apostle ? And we further ask, with emphasis, if the apos 
 tles, as Episcopalians pretend, did, in virtue of their office, 
 possess li superiority in ministerial powers and rights," why 
 did not Paul once hint at the fact in this passage ? His 
 express object was to vindicate his claim to the apostleship, 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 221 
 
 In doing this, lie appeals to that which ice maintain to have 
 constituted the peculiarity of the office, his being "witness" to 
 the Saviour. In this instance we have a circumstance, of 
 which Paley would make much in an argument, if it fell in 
 with the design of the " Horse Paulina)." We claim the pri 
 vilege of making as much of it, upon the question whether the 
 peculiarity of the apostolic office was " superiority of minis 
 terial powers and rights/ 7 
 
 We have now examined all the passages of Scripture which 
 state the design of the apostleship. And we have shown, 
 if we mistake not, that the ground of the distinction between 
 the " apostles and elders," "the apostles and elders, and 
 brethren," was not that the former had superiority of " minis 
 terial powers and rights." We might leave the argument 
 here ; for if the Episcopalians cannot make out this point to 
 entire satisfaction, all that is said about successors in the 
 apostolic office, and about perpetuating apostleship, must be 
 nugatory and vain. But we have an independent topic of 
 remark here; and one which bears on the subject, therefore, 
 with all the force of a cumulative argument. To the consi 
 deration of this we arc led by the next position of Dr. Onder- 
 donk. This is stated in the following words : that " there 
 was continued, as had begun in the apostles, an order of 
 ministers superior to the elders." p. 10. This he attempts 
 to prove, on the ground that " there is no scriptural evidence 
 that mere elders (presbyters) ordained." pp. 16-23. And 
 that " the above distinction between elders and a grade supe 
 rior to them, in regard especially to the power of ordaining, 
 was so persevered in as to indicate that it was & permanent 
 arrangement, and not designed to be but temporary." pp. 23- 
 29. We shall reverse the order of this argument. 
 
 In the inquiry, then, whether this distinction was continued 
 or persevered in, we might insist on what has been alr,eady 
 shown, as decisive. If the original distinction was what we 
 
222 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 have proved it to be. it could not be persevered in, without 
 (as in the case of Paul) a personal, direct manifestation of the 
 ascended Saviour, to qualify every future incumbent for the 
 apostleship. 1 Cor. ix. 1. No modern "bishop," we presume, 
 will lay claim to this. The very supposition that any such 
 revelation was necessary, would dethrone every prelate, and 
 prostrate every mitre in Christendom. 
 
 But we have, as before remarked, an independent train of 
 arguments on this point. It is evident that the whole burden 
 of proof here lies on the Episcopalian. He maintains that 
 such an original distinction existed, and that it was perpe 
 tuated. Both these positions we deny. The first we have 
 shown to be unfounded, and have thus virtually destroyed the 
 other. We proceed, however, to the comparatively needless 
 task of showing that Dr. Onderdonk s second position is 
 equally unfounded. His evidence we shall examine as we 
 find it scattered throughout the tract before us. 
 
 The first argument is, that " some are named apostles in 
 Scripture, who were not thus appointed, (/ . c. by the Saviour 
 himself,) as Matthias, Barnabas, and probably James, the 
 brother of our Lord, all ordained by merely human ordainers. 
 Silvanus also, and Timothy, are called apostles; and, 
 besides Andronicus and Junia, others could be added to the 
 list," p. 15. 
 
 The argument here is, that the name (i apostle" is given to 
 them, and that they held, therefore, the peculiar office in ques 
 tion. But the mere circumstance that they had this numcj 
 would not of itself establish this point. It is not necessary, 
 we presume, to apprize our readers, that the word aposfle 
 means one who is sent, and may be applied to any person cm- 
 ployed to deliver a message ; and in a general sense, to any 
 ministers of religion, or to any one sent to proclaim the 
 message of life. Thus in John xiii. 16, it is applied to <my 
 messenger, sustaining the same relation to one who scuds him, 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 223 
 
 that the servant docs to his master. "The servant is not 
 greater than his lord, [master,] neither he that is sent, 
 a-i KT-o/.uq, greater than he that sent him." Thus it is applied 
 (Phil. ii. 25) to Epaphroditus, not as an apostle, in the spe 
 cific sense of the term, but as a mcwiif/cr, sent by the church 
 at Philippi, to supply the wants of Paul. (Comp. Phil. iv. 18.) 
 " Epaphroditus, my brother and companion in labour, but 
 your niesscnyer" b/j.ajv Si d-offrolov, your apnslle. Thus also 
 in 2 Cor. viii. 2o, it is applied to the " brethren," " the mes 
 sengers of the churches;" " our brethren are flu; vu;x*cny< rs 
 of tlie clinrlies" a-oato/M h.xXr^ .w^. These passages show 
 beyond a question, that the name is often used in the New 
 Testament in its ycneric signification, and consequently the 
 mere fact that it is applied to an individual, is not proof that 
 he was an apostle in its specific sense, the only sense which 
 would be of value in the argument of the Episcopalian. The 
 connections } the circumstances, are to determine its meaning. 
 AVe make this remark, in accordance with the judicious ob 
 servation of Dr. Ondcrdonk, p. 18 : "A little reflection and 
 practice ic ill enable any of our readers to look in Scripture 
 for the several sacred OFFICES, independently of tlic NAMES 
 there or elsewhere yiucn to them." 
 
 The question then is, Whether the name apostle is so given 
 to the persons here designated, as to show that it is used in its 
 strict, specific sense ? 
 
 The first case is that of " Matthias." The reason why the 
 name was given to him, we have already shown. He was an 
 apostle in the strict j proper sense, because he was chosen to be 
 a " witness" of the resurrection of the Saviour. Acts i. 22. 
 
 The second is that of Barnabas. He is once called an 
 apostle. Acts xiv. 14. That he was not an apostle in the 
 strict, proper sense, Dr. Ondcrdonk has himself most labo 
 riously and satisfactorily proved. In his argument against 
 Presbyterian ordinances, (pp. 10, 17,) he has taken much 
 
224 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 pains to show that Barnabas was set apart (Acts xiii. 13) 
 " to a special missionary work ;" " was merely set apart to a 
 particular field of duty;" that is, was sent as a messenger 
 of the church to perform a particular piece of work. It is 
 observable that before this, Barnabas is called merely " a pro 
 phet and teacher;" (Acts xiii. 1-11;) that he is called an 
 apostle in immediate connection with this designation, and no 
 where else. Acts xiv. 14. How Dr. Onderdonk, after having 
 shown so conclusively, as we think, that the transaction at 
 Antioch. was not a Presbyterian ordination ; that it was a mere 
 designation to a particular field of labour, should persist in 
 maintaining that Barnabas was an apostle, in the strict sense, 
 as having a " superiority of ministerial rights and powers/ we 
 profess our inability to conceive. We shall thus dismiss the 
 case of Matthias and Barnabas. 
 
 The next case is "probably James, the brother of our 
 Lord." The use of the word probably, here, shows a wish to 
 press cases into the service, which we regret to see in a tract 
 making strong pretensions to strict demonstration, (comp. pp. 
 3, 11, 16, 23, etc. ;) but it evinces a deficiency of strong, pal 
 pable instances, which betrays the conscious feebleness of the 
 argument. " James, the Lord s brother," is once mentioned 
 as an apostle. Gal. i. 19. But it could not have escaped the 
 recollection of Dr. Onderdonk, that there were two of the 
 name of James among the apostles in the specific sense of the 
 term ; viz., James the brother of John, and son of Zebcdee, 
 and James tlie son of Alpheus. Matt. x. 3; Luke vi. 15. Nor 
 can it be unknown to him, that the word brother was used by 
 the Hebrews to denote a relative more remote than that which 
 is designated by the ordinary use of the word among us; and 
 that Alplieus was probably a connection of the family of our 
 Lord. What proof, then, is there, that he was not referred to 
 in the passage before us ? As this case is alleged to have 
 only a probability in its favour, we consider it disposed of. 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 225 
 
 Silvanus and Timothy are the next mentioned. As their 
 claim to be considered apostles rests on the same foundation, 
 so far as the name, is any evidence, we shall dispose of theso 
 cases by considering that of Timothy at length in a subse 
 quent part of the argument. 
 
 The remaining cases are those of Andronicus and Junia. 
 The foundation for their claim to be enrolled as apostles, is the 
 following mention of them by Paul : (Rom. xvi. 7 :) a Salute 
 Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, who are of note amony 
 the apostles" ot-wiq eifftv i-iffr^wi iv rolq d-offroZo .q. On this 
 claim we remark: (1.) Admitting that they are here called 
 apostles, the name, as we have proved, does not imply that 
 they had any " superiority of ministerial rights and powers." 
 They might have been distinguished as messengers, or labour 
 ers, like Epaphroditus. (2.) It is clear, that the apostle did 
 not mean to give them the name of apostles at all. If he had 
 designed it, the phraseology would have been different. Comp. 
 Rom. i. 1; 1 Cor. i. 1 ; 2 Cor. i. 1; Phil. i. 1. (3.) All 
 that the expression fairly implies, is, that they, having been 
 early converted, (Rom. xvi. 7,) and being acquainted with the 
 apostles at Jerusalem, were held in high esteem by them; the 
 apostles regarded them with confidence and affection. We 
 consider this case, therefore, as disposed of.* 
 
 The next point of proof in the tract before us, " that the 
 distinction between elders and a grade superior to them, in 
 regard especially to the power of ordaining, was so persevered 
 in as to indicate that it was a permanent arrangement," is 
 drawn from the charge given by the Apostle Paul to the ciders 
 of Ephesus, Acts xx. 2835. The point of this evidence, as 
 we understand it, is this. Paul charges the elders at Ephesus 
 
 * Dr. Onderdonk says that Calvin, in his Institutes, "allows Andro 
 nicus and Junia to have been apostles ;" but he ought to have added that 
 Calvin,, in his Commentary on the passage, written at a later period, denies 
 that they were apostles in the specific sense of the term. 
 
226 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 to "take heed to themselves," Cl to take heed to all the flock 
 over which the Holy Ghost had made them overseers, to 
 feed the church of God, to watch against the grievous wolves 
 that would assail the flock," etc. In all this, we are told, 
 there .is not a word respecting the power of ordaining, nor any 
 thing which shows that they had the power of clerical disci 
 pline. "No power is intimated to depose from office one of 
 their own number, or an unsound minister coming among 
 them." They are to " tend" or " rule" the flock as shep 
 herds; "for shepherds do not tend and rule shepherds." 
 pp. 23, 24. 
 
 This is affirmed to be the sole power of these elders. In 
 connection with this, we are asked to read the Epistles to 
 Timothy, the power there given "personally to Timothy at 
 Ephcsus" (p. 23,) or as it is elsewhere expressed, " Compare 
 now with this sum-total of power assigned to mere elders, or 
 presbyters, that of Timothy at Ephesus, the very city and 
 region in which those addressed by Paul, in Acts xx., resided 
 and ministered." p. 25. In those epistles it is said, that the 
 " right of governing the clergy, and ordaining, is ascribed to 
 him personally;" and numerous undisputed passages arc then 
 adduced, to show that Timothy is addressed as having this 
 power. 1 Tim. i. 18; iii. 14, 15 ; iv. 6; 1 Tim. i. 3 ; v. 19- 
 21, etc. etc. 
 
 Now this argument proceeds on the following assumptions, 
 viz. : 1. That Timothy was called an apostle*; was invested 
 with the same powers as the apostles, and was one of their 
 successors in the office. 2. That he was, at the time when 
 Paul gave his charge to the elders at Miletus, bishop of Ephe- 
 sus. 3. That the " elders" summoned to Miletus, were 
 ministers of the gospel of the second order, or as they are 
 now termed, usually, priests, in contradistinction from bishops 
 and deacons. If these points are not made out from the New 
 Testament, or if any one of them fails, this argument for 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 227 
 
 " Episcopacy tested by Scripture/ will be of no value. We 
 shall take them up and dispose of them in their order. 
 
 The first claim is, that Timothy is called an " apostle/ and 
 was, therefore, clothed with apostolic powers. This claim is 
 advanced on p. 15 : li Silvanus, also, and Timothy, are called 
 apostles/ " and the claim is implied in the whole argument, 
 and is essential to its validity. The proof on which this claim 
 is made to rest is contained in 1 Thcss. i. 1, compared with 
 1 Thcss. ii. 6. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, are joined to 
 gether in the commencement of the epistle, as writing it to 
 the church at Thessalonica ; and, in ch. ii. 6, the following 
 expression occurs: "Nor of man sought we glory, when we 
 might have been burdensome as the apostles of Christ." 
 This is the sole proof of the aposil&iliip of Timothy, of 
 which so much is made in the Episcopal controversy, and 
 which is usually appealed to as itself sufficient to settle the 
 question. 
 
 Now, without insisting on the point which we have made 
 out, that the apostolic office was conferred not to impart " su 
 periority of ministerial rights and powers," but to establish 
 everywhere the great doctrine of the truth of Christianity, and 
 that consequently if Timothy is called an apostle, it is only in 
 the generic sense of the word, to which we have adverted, and 
 that Paul might also on this occasion speak of himself, as 
 joined with Timothy and Silvanus, as a messenger of the 
 churches ; (comp. Acts xiii. 2 ; xiv. 14 ; Rom. xvi. 25 ; 2 Cor. 
 viii. 23 /) not to insist on this position, we shall dispose of 
 this claim by the following considerations : 1. The passage 
 does not fairly imply that Timothy was even called an apostle. 
 For it is admitted in the tract, (p. 15,) that "it is not unusual 
 for St. Paul to use the plural number of himself only." It is 
 argued, indeed, that the words "apostles" and "our own 
 souls," (v. 8,) being inapplicable to the singular use of the 
 plural number, hence the " three whose names arc at the head 
 
228 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 of the epistle, are here spoken of jointly/ But if Paul used 
 the plural number as applicable to himself, would it not be 
 natural for him to continue its use, and to employ the adjec 
 tives, etc., connected with it in the same number? Besides, 
 there is conclusive evidence that Paul did not intend to in 
 clude the " three" named at the head of the epistle, in this 
 expression in v. 6. For, in the verses immediately preceding, 
 mention is made that "we had suffered before, and were 
 shamefully treated, as ye know, at Philippi," etc. Now it is 
 capable of demonstration that Timothy was not present at 
 that time, and was not engaged in those labours, or subjected 
 to those sufferings at Philippi. Acts xvi. 12, 19; xviii. 1-4. 
 It follows, therefore, that Paul did not intend, here, to imply 
 that "the three named at the head of the epistle 7 were apos 
 tles ; and, that he either intended to speak of himself alone, 
 in v. 6, or what is more probable, that he spoke of himself as 
 one of the apostles, and of what the apostles might do in 
 virtue of their office ; that is, that they might be burdensome, 
 or might "use authority," as in the margin. 
 
 Our next proof that Timothy was not an apostle, is, that he 
 is expressly distinguished from Paul, as an apostle ; that is, in 
 the same verse, Paul is careful to speak for himself as an 
 apostle, and of Timothy as not an apostle. Thus, 2 Cor. i. 1, 
 " Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother. 
 Again, Col. i. 1, " Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ, and 
 Timothy our brother." Now our argument is this, that if 
 Paul regarded Timothy as an apostle, it is remarkable that he 
 should be so careful to make this distinction, when his own 
 name is mentioned as an apostle. Why did he not also make 
 the same honorable mention of Timothy? Will some of our 
 Episcopal friends be kind enough to state why this distinction 
 is made ? The distinction is the more remarkable, from the 
 next consideration to be adduced, which is, that Paul is so 
 cautious on this point so resolved not to call Timothy an 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 229 
 
 apostle, that when their names arc joined together, as in any 
 sense claiming the same appellation, it is not as apostles, but 
 as servants. Phil. i. 1 : " Paul and Timotheus tJie sorrows of 
 Jesus Christ." See also 1. Thess. i. 1 ; 2 Thcss. i. 1. These 
 considerations put it beyond debate, in our view, that Timothy 
 is not called an apostle in the New Testament. This, it will 
 be perceived, is an important advance in our argument. 
 
 The second claim for Timothy is, that he was bishop of 
 Ephcsus. This claim is essential to the argument of Dr. On- 
 derdonk, and is everywhere implied in what he says of Timo 
 thy. See pp. 23-25. Proof is not, indeed, attempted ; but it 
 is assumed as a conceded point. Now this point should have 
 been made out, for it is not one of those which we are dis 
 posed by any means to concede. It is to be remembered, too, 
 that it is a point which is to be made out from the New Testa 
 ment, for our inquiry is, whether Episcopacy can be defended 
 " by Scripture/ Let us sec how this matter stands. 
 
 It may be proper here to remark, that the subscription at 
 the close of the second Epistle to Timothy, " ordained first 
 bishop of the church of the Ephesians," etc., is admitted on 
 all hands not to be inspired, and, therefore, is of no authority 
 in this argument. Assuredly Paul would not close a letter in 
 this way, by seriously informing Timothy that he wrote a 
 second epistle to him, etc., and by appending this to the 
 letter. By whom these subscriptions to the epistles were 
 added is unknown. Some of them are manifestly false; anil 
 none of them, though true, are of any authority. The sub 
 scription here belongs, we believe, to the former class. 
 
 Now, how docs the case stand in the New Testament, with 
 respect to Timothy ? What testimony does it afford as to his 
 being "bishop of Ephesus ?" A few observations will save 
 further debate, we trust, on this subject. 
 
 1. It is admitted that he was not at Ephesus at the time 
 when Paul made his address to the elders at Miletus. Thus, 
 VOL. I. 20 
 
230 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 p. 25, " Epliesus was without a bishop when Paul addressed 
 the elders, Timothy not having been placed over that church 
 till some time afterward." Here, then, was a diocese, or one 
 collection of churches, which is admitted to have been consti 
 tuted without a bishop. The presumption is, that all others 
 were organized in the same way. 
 
 2. The charge which Paul gives to the elders proves that 
 Timothy was not there j and proves further, that they, at that 
 time, had no bishops, and that they previously had none. 
 They are charged to take heed to themselves, and to all the 
 flock, "to feed" or " to rule" the flock, etc. But not one 
 word is to be found of their having then any prelatical bishops ; 
 not one word of Timothy as their episcopal leader. Not an 
 exhortation is given to be subject to any prelate; not an inti 
 mation that they would ever be called on to recognise any 
 such bishops. Not one word of lamentation or condolence is 
 expressed, that they were not fully supplied with all proper 
 episcopal authority. All of which is inexplicable, on the 
 supposition that they were then destitute, and that they would 
 be supplied with an officer C( superior in ministerial rights and 
 powers." Nay, they are themselves expressly called bishops, 
 without the slightest intimation that there were any Ju yhe) , 
 or more honourable prelates than themselves, (Acts xx. 28 :) 
 " Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock 
 over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you lisliops" 
 
 i~t(77.6~OU$. 
 
 3. It is admitted by us, that Timothy subsequently was at 
 Ephesus, and that he was left there for an important purpose, 
 by the Apostle Paul. This was when Paul went to Macedo 
 nia. 1 Tim. i. 3. This is the only intimation that we know 
 of in the New Testament, that Timothy was ever at Ephesus 
 at all. It is important, then, to ascertain whether he was left 
 there as a permanent Lislwp. Now, in settling this, we remark, 
 it is nowhere intimated in the New Testament, that he was 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY buRIPTURE. 231 
 
 such a bishop. The passage before us, 1 Tim. i. 3, states, 
 tliat when they were travelling together, Paul left him there, 
 while he himself should go over into Macedonia. The oljrrf, 
 for which he left him is explicitly stated, and that object was 
 not that he should be a permanent bishop. It is said to be 
 "to charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither to 
 give heed to endless genealogies," etc.; that is, manifestly to 
 perform a temporary office of regulating certain disorders in the 
 church ; of silencing certain false teachers of Jewish extraction : 
 of producing, in one word, what the personal influence of the 
 apostle himself might have produced, but for a sudden and 
 unexpected call to Macedonia. Acts xx. 1. Hence it is per 
 fectly clear that the apostle designed this as a temporary 
 appointment for a specific object, and that object was not to 
 \>Q prdute of the church. Thus he says, 1 Tim. iv. lo, "T!U 
 I come, give attention to reading," etc.: implying that his 
 temporary office was then to cease. Thus, too, referring to the 
 same purpose to return and join Timothy, he says, 1 Tim. iii. 
 II, 15, "These things I write unto thce, hoping to come unto 
 tlicc shortly; but if I tarry long, that thou mightcst know 
 how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God," 
 etc. ; implying that these directions were particularly to serve 
 him during his appointment to the specific business of regu 
 lating some disordered affairs produced by false teachers, and 
 which might require the discipline of even some of the bis/tops 
 and deacons of the church, eh. v. vi. These directions, in 
 volving (jcncral principles, indeed, and of value to regulate his 
 whole life, yet had, nevertheless, a manifest special reference 
 to the cases which might occur there, in putting a period to 
 the promulgation of erroneous doctrines by Jewish teachers. 
 I Tim. i. 3. 
 
 4. It has been shown by the late Dr. AYilson, of Philadel 
 phia, from the New Testament itself, that Timothy was not 
 the bishop of the church at Kphcsns. To this argument, 
 
232 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 which is too long to be inserted here, and which cannot be 
 abridged, we can only refer.* 
 
 5. The claim that Timothy was bishop of Ephesus, is one 
 that must be made out by Episcopalians from the New 
 Testament. But this claim has not been made out, nor can it 
 ever be. 
 
 6. The Epistle to the Epliesians shows further, that at the 
 time of writing that, there was no such bishop at Ephcsus. 
 Though the apostle herein gives the church various instruc 
 tions about the relations which existed, there is not the 
 slightest hint that Timothy was there ; nor is there the least 
 intimation that any such officer ever had been, or ever would 
 be, set over them. 
 
 Now, if it cannot be made out that Timothy was bishop of 
 Ephesus, if the point is not established beyond a doubt, then 
 in reading Paul s charge to the elders at Miletus, we are to 
 regard them as intrusted with the care of the church at Ephe 
 sus. It is not necessary to our argument to inquire whether 
 they were ruling elders, or presbyters ordained to preach as 
 well as to rule. All that is incumbent on us, is to show that 
 the New Testament does not warrant the assumption that they 
 were subject to a diocesan bishop. We affirm, therefore, sim 
 ply, that Paul addressed them as intrusted with the spiritual 
 instruction and government of the church at Ephesus, without 
 any reference whatever to any person, either then or after 
 ward placed over them, as superior in ministerial rights and 
 powers. And this point is conclusively established by two 
 additional considerations ; first, that they are expressly called 
 "bishops, k-Kr/.o-ooq, themselves a most remarkable appellation, 
 if the apostle meant to have them understand that they were 
 to be under the administration of another bishop of superior 
 ministerial powers and rights; and, secondly, that they are 
 
 * The Primitive Government of the Christian Churches, pp. 251-262. 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 233 
 
 expressly intrusted with the whole spiritual charge of the 
 church, ~oifj.a{yty rr t v i /.y.l.r^iw^ x. r. A. But every thing in 
 this case is fully met by the supposition that they were in 
 vested with the simple power of ruliny. Dr. Onderdonk him 
 self admits that the word translated " feed/ -mtj.aivziV) may 
 be rendered to "rule." p. 37. And if this point be conceded, 
 the idea that they were ciders in the Presbyterian sense, is all 
 that can be proved from the passage. It is essential to the 
 argument of Episcopalians, that they should be able to make 
 out that these ciders not only rulcJ, but also preached the 
 gospel, and performed the other functions of their "second 
 order 7 of clergy. 
 
 Let us now gather the results of our investigation, and dis 
 pose of the case of Timothy. We have shown that he was 
 not an apostle. We have further shown that he was not 
 bishop of Ephesus. We have thus destroyed the claim of 
 the 2>c* mun<">i<- y of the apostolic office, so far as Timothy is 
 concerned. And we now insist that the readers of the New 
 Testament, they who wish to defend Episcopacy by " Scrip 
 ture/ should read the two Epistles to Timothy, without the 
 vain and illusory supposition that he was bishop of Ephesus. 
 Agreeing with Dr. Onderdonk that this point must be settled 
 by the New Testament, and that " no argument is u-orth 
 taking into tlie account which has not a palpable bearing on 
 tlic cl< r (tnd naked topic the scriptural evidence of Episco 
 pacy ," (p. 3,) we now insist that these Epistles should be read 
 without being interpreted by the unsupported position that 
 Timothy was the permanent bishop of Ephesus. We insist, 
 moreover, that that supposition shall not be admitted to 
 influence the interpretation. With this matter clear before 
 us, how stands the case in these two Epistles ? We answer, 
 thus : 
 
 (1.) Timothy was sent to Ephesus for a special purpose 
 to allay contentions, and prevent the spreading of false doc- 
 
 20* 
 
234 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 trine. 1 Tim. i. 3. (2.) This was to be tcmfrorary. 1 Tim. 
 i. 3. Comp. iii. 14, 15; iv. 13. (3.) He was intrusted with 
 the right of ordination, as all ministers of the gospel are, and 
 with the authority of government. 1 Tim. i. 3; v. 10-21 ; 
 v. 22 ] 2 Tim. ii. 2. (4.) Laying out of view the gratuitous 
 supposition that he was bishop of Ephesus, the charge given 
 to Timothy was just such a one as would be given to any 
 minister of the gospel authorized to preach, to ordain, to ad 
 minister the ordinances of the church and its discipline. It 
 is just such as is given now to men who hold to the doctrine 
 of ministerial parity. The " charges" which are given to 
 Presbyterian and Congregational ministers at ordination, are 
 almost uniformly couched in the same language which is used 
 by Paul, in addressing Timothy; nor is there any thing in 
 those Epistles which may not be, and which is not, in fact, 
 often addressed to ministers on such occasions. With just as 
 much propriety might some antiquarian hereafter some fu 
 ture advocate for Episcopacy collect together the cJmrr/c-s 
 now given to ministers, and appeal to them as proof that the 
 churches in New England, and among Presbyterians, were 
 Episcopal) as to appeal now to the Epistles to Timothy, to 
 prove his office as a prelate. (5.) The Epistles themselves 
 contain evidence of the falsehood of the supposition, that there 
 was an order of men superior to the presbyters in " ministe 
 rial powers and rights/ 7 There are but tico orders of minis 
 ters spoken of, or alluded to in the Epistles- bishojifs and 
 deacons. There is not the slightest allusion to any other 
 order. We call the attention of our readers here to an em 
 phatic remark of Dr. Onderdonk, p. 12 : " ALL that we read 
 in the New Testament concerning bishops/ is to be regarded 
 as pertaining to the middle grade: i.e. nothing in these 
 epistles or elsewhere, where this term is used, has any refer 
 ence to a rank of ministers superior in ministerial powers 
 and rights. ; The case here, ihen, by the supposition of the 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 
 
 Episcopalians, is this : Two epistles are addressed by an 
 apostle to a successor of tlio apostles^ designated as such, to 
 retain and perpetuate the same rank and powers. Those epis 
 tles are designed to instruct him in the organization and 
 government of the churches. They contain ample informa 
 tion, and somewhat protracted discussions on the following 
 topics : The office of a presbyter. The qualifications for that 
 oflice. The office of the deacons. The qualifications for that 
 office. The qualifications of deacon s wives. 1 Tim. iii. The 
 proper discipline of an elder. The qualifications of those who 
 were to be admitted to the office of deaconesses. \ Tim. v. 
 The duties of masters and servants. 1 Tim. vi. The duties 
 of laymen. 1 Tim. ii. 8. And of Christian females. 1 Tim. 
 ii. 9-11. Xay, they contain directions about the apostle s 
 d<Hik, and his parchments, (2 Tim. iv. 13 ;) but from the 
 beginning to the cud, not one single syllable respecting the 
 existence of a grade of officers in the church superior " in 
 ministerial rights and powers;" not a word about their qualifi 
 cations, of the mode of ordaining or consecrating them, or of 
 Timothy s fraternal intercourse with his brother prelates ; 
 nothing about the subjection of the priesthood to them, or 
 of their peculiar functions of confirmation and superintend 
 ence. In one w T ord, taking these Epistles by themselves, no 
 man would dream that there were any such officers in ex 
 istence. AVe ask now, whether any candid reader of the New 
 Testament can believe that there were any such officers ; and 
 that two epistles could have been written in these circum 
 stances, without the sliyldcst allusion to their existence or 
 powers? u Credat JuJseus Apclla." We ask whether there 
 can be found now among all the charges which Episcopal 
 bishops have given to their clergy, any two in which there 
 shall not also be found some allusion to the "primitive and 
 apostolic order" of bishops in the churches ? It remains for 
 our eyes to be blessed with the sight of one Episcopal charye, 
 
236 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 reminding us, in this respect, of the charges of Paul to 
 Timothy. 
 
 We now take our leave of the case of Timothy. The case 
 of Titus, the next in order, (pp. 26, 27,) we must despatch in 
 fewer words. The argument of Dr. Onderdonk, in defence 
 of the claim respecting Titus, docs not vary materially from 
 that used in reference to Timothy, p. 26. It is, that he was 
 left in Crete to ordain elders in every city, and that the powers 
 of "ordination, admonition, and rejection, are all committed 
 to Titus personally." Titus i. 6-9 ; iii. 10. The only point 
 here which requires a moment s examination, in addition to 
 what we have said on the case of Timothy, is the purpose for 
 which he was left at Crete. Titus i. 5. The claim of the 
 Episcopalians here is, that this indicates such a perseverance 
 in the u distinction between elders and a grade superior to 
 them," as to prove that it was " to be a permanent arrange 
 ment." p. 23. In other words, Titus was to be a permanent 
 bishop of Crete, superior to the elders (( in ministerial rights 
 and powers." This claim it is necessary for them to establish 
 from the New Testament. If there are any intimations that 
 it was not designed to be permanent, they will be fatal to the 
 argument. We affirm, then, in opposition to this claim, that 
 the case is fully met by the supposition that Titus was an ex 
 traordinary officer, like Timothy, at Ephesus, appointed for a 
 specific purpose. 1. The appointment itself looks as if this 
 was the design. Paul had himself commenced a work there, 
 which, from some cause, he was unable to complete. That 
 work he left to Titus to finish. As it cannot be pretended 
 that Paul had any purpose of becoming the permanent bishop 
 of Crete; so it cannot be pretended that Titus s being left to 
 complete what Paul had begun, is proof that Paul expected 
 that Titus would be permanent bishop. An appointment to 
 complete a work which is begun by another, when the original 
 designer did not contemplate a permanent employment, cannot 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 237 
 
 surely be adduced in proof of a permanent office. If T am 
 employed to complete an edifice which is commenced, it does 
 not suppose that I am to labour at it all my life; still less, 
 that I am to have successors in the undertaking. We pre 
 sume that this passage, to most unbiassed minds, would imply 
 that Paul expected that Titus, after having completed what he 
 had left him to do, would leave the island of Crete, and 
 accompany him in his travels. 2. That this was the fact; 
 that he had no expectation that Titus would be a permanent 
 bishop of Crete, superior in " ministerial rights and powers," 
 is perfectly apparent from the direction in this same Epistle, 
 (ch. iii. 12 :) " When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or 
 Tychicus, be diUyent to come unto me at Nicopolis" Here we 
 find conclusive proof, that the arrangement respecting Titus in 
 Crete was temporary. To suppose the contrary, is to maintain 
 a position in the very face of the directions of the apostle. 
 Every thing in the case shows, that he was an extraordinary 
 officer, appointed for a specific purpose ; and that when that 
 work was effected, which the apostle supposed would bo 
 soon, he was to resume his station as the travelling compa 
 nion and fellow-labourer of the apostle. 8. That this was 
 the general character of Titus ; that he was so regarded by 
 Paul, as his companion, and very valuable to him in his work, 
 is further apparent from 2 Cor. ii. 12, 13; vii. 6-13. In the 
 former passage he says, that he expected to meet him at 
 Troas, and intimates that his presence and help were very 
 necessary for him. "I had no rest in my spirit, because I 
 found not Titus my brother." In the latter place, (2 Cor. 
 vii. 6-13, ) we find him the companion of the Apostle Paul, 
 in Philippi. Again, (2 Cor. xii. 18,) we find him employed 
 on a special embassy to the church in Corinth, in respect to 
 the collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem. Comp. Rom. 
 xv. 26. And again we find him on a mission to Dalmatia, 
 2 Tim. iv. 10. Assuredly these various migrations and cm- 
 
238 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 ployments do not appear as if he was designed by the apostle 
 as the permanent bishop of Crete. 4. It is to be presumed 
 that Titus regarded the apostolic mandate, (Titus iii. 12 ;) 
 that he I ft Crete in accordance with Paul s request ; and, as 
 there is no intimation that he returned, as the New Testament 
 throws no light on that point, as indeed there is not the slight 
 est proof anywhere that he died there, we come to the conclu 
 sion that he was employed for a temporary purpose, and that 
 having accomplished it, he resumed his situation as the com 
 panion of Paul. Comp. Gal. ii. 1. It must be admitted, on 
 all hands, that the Episcopalian cannot prove the contrary. 
 Since, moreover, our supposition meets all the circumstances 
 of the case as well as his, and we are able to show that this 
 was the general character of the labours of Titus, we shall dis 
 miss his case also. 
 
 The last argument of Dr. Ondcrdonk is derived from the 
 epistle to the seven churches of Asia. Rev. ii. iii. This 
 argument is embodied in the following position : u Each of 
 those churches is addressed, not through its clergy at large, 
 but through its angel/ or chief officer; this alone is a very 
 strong argument against parity in favour of Episcopacy. ;; 
 " One of those churches is Ephesus ; and when we read con 
 cerning its angel, tliou hast tried them which say they are 
 apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars/ do we require 
 further evidence that what Timothy, the chief officer there, 
 was in the year 65, in regard to the supreme right of disci 
 pline over the clergy, the same was its chief officer when this 
 book was written, in 96 ?" The singular number, it is added, 
 is used emphatically in the address to each of the angels, 
 and " the individual called the angel/ is, in each case, 
 identified with his church, and his church with him." 
 pp. 27, 28. 
 
 This is the argument ; and this is the whole of it. Y\ r e 
 have sought diligently to see its bearing; but our labour, in 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 239 
 
 doing it, lias not been crowned with very flattering success, 
 We can see, indeed, that those churches were addressed 
 through their ministers, or pastors, called "angels;" but it 
 requires more penetration than we profess to have, to discover 
 how this bears on the precise point, that there is an order of 
 men superior to others " in ministerial rights and powers." 
 Such an argument can be founded ority on the following as 
 sumptions : 1. That there was an inferior body of clergymen, 
 called here " clergy at large." Assuming this point, it would 
 not be difficult to make out an argument from the address 
 "to the angel." But this is a point to Leprowil, not to be 
 assumed. We would respectfully ask the writer of this tract, 
 where he finds an intimation of the existence of an order of 
 "clergy at large" in these churches. In the Epistles them 
 selves there is not the slightest hint of the existence of any 
 such personages distinct from " the angels." Nay, the very 
 style of address is strong presumption that there were not any 
 such inferior clergymen. The only mention -which occurs, is 
 of the angi l and the church. We hear nothing of an interme 
 diate order; nothing of auy supremacy of "the angel" over 
 "the clergy at large;" not the least intimation of any duty 
 to be performed by the supposed prelatical " angel," toward 
 the inferior presbyters. Why is a reference to them omitted, 
 if they had any existence ? Is it customary in addressing 
 "bishops" noic, to omit all reference to their duties over the 
 inferior " clergy at large ?" This is a point of too much con 
 sequence to be left now so unguarded ; and, accordingly, the 
 rights and duties of the order, superior " in ministerial rights 
 and powers," are sedulously marked out and inculcated.* 
 2. It must be awumed, in this argument, that there were in 
 
 * We, of course, lay out of view, here, the case of the "ciders at Ejihc- 
 Sus," as being already disposed of; and as not being relevant to Dr. Onuer- 
 donk s argument, since that they \vorc " clorgy at lar^e," i? to be ^-orrc/. 
 not assumed. 
 
240 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 each of those cities more churches than one ; that there was a 
 circle, or confederation of churches that would answer to the 
 modern notion of a diocese, over which " the clergy at large" 
 of inferior " ministerial rights and powers/ might exercise a 
 modified jurisdiction. If this is not assumed, the argument 
 has no force ; since if there were but one church in each of 
 those cities, the "angel" was not a bishop in the Episcopal 
 sense, but a pastor in the ordinary acceptation. Now this is a 
 point which, in an argument like this, should not be assumed. 
 It should be proved, or at least rendered highly probable from 
 the New Testament. But there is not the slightest hint of 
 any such divided and scattered diocesan organization. In 
 each instance, the church is addressed as one, and undivided. 
 " The angel of the cliurcli" not the churches of "Ephcsus." 
 Rev. ii. 1. li The angel of the church in Smyrna," (ii. 8 j) 
 "the angel of the church at Thyatira," (ii. 18;) "the angel 
 of the church in Sardis," (iii. 1,) etc. In every instance the 
 address is the same. The point of inquiry now is, whether in 
 this address the Saviour meant to intimate that there was a 
 plurality of churches, an ecclesiastical, diocesan organization ? 
 This is a point for Episcopalians to prove, not to assume. 
 Light may be thrown on it by comparing it with other places 
 where a church is spoken of. The presumption is directly 
 against the Episcopalian. It is, that the apostles would not 
 organize separate churches in a single city ; and that, if it were 
 done, they would be specified as the churches. Accordingly, 
 we learn that the apostle organized "a church" at Corinth, 
 1 Cor. i. 1, 2. Thus, also, at Antioch. Acts xiii. 1. Thus, 
 also, at Laodicea. Col. iv. 16. And in the Epistle to one of 
 the very churches under consideration, that at Ephesus, it is 
 mentioned not as the churches of Ephesus, but as the church. 
 Acts xx. 28. When Paul addressed this same church in an 
 epistle, it was directed, not to the churches, but to the saints 
 at Ephesus. Eph. i 1. But where there were distinct churches 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 241 
 
 crganized, there is a specific mention of the fact of the plu 
 rality. They are mentioned as being many. Thus, Acts 
 xv. 41 : "Paul went through Syria confirming (i.e. strengthen 
 ing, establishing) the churches." Horn. xvi. 4 : "the churches 
 of the Gentiles." 1 Cor. xvi. 1 : "the churches of Galatia." 
 19 : " the churches of Asia." 2 Cor. viii. 1 : " the churches in 
 Macedonia." See also 2 Cor. viii. 19, 23; xi. 8; Gal. i. 22; 
 Rev. i. 4. Now if it is neither proved that there was a body 
 of "clergy at large/ nor that there were separate churches in 
 each of those cities, we ask, What is the force of the argu 
 ment of Dr. Onderdonk from this case ? How does it bear on 
 the point at issue ? What has it to do with the subject ? 
 
 With one or two additional remarks, we shall dismiss this 
 point. The first is, that it cannot be argued from the term 
 angel, given to those ministers, that they were Episcopal 
 bishops. That term, as is well known, has no such exclusive 
 applicability to a prelate. It is nowhere else applied to the 
 ministers of religion ; and its original signification, " a messen 
 ger," or its usual application to celestial spirits, has no special 
 adaptedness to an Episcopal bishop. An ordinary pastor a 
 messenger sent from God; a spiritual guide and friend of the 
 church, will as fully express its sense, as the application to a 
 prelate. Without invidiousness, we may observe, that prelates 
 have not usually evinced any such extraordinary sanctity as to 
 appropriate this title to themselves alone by prescriptive right. 
 Our other remark is, that the supposition that these anych 
 were pastors of the churches presbyters on a parity with 
 each other, and with all others will fully meet every thing 
 which is said of them in the book of Revelation. This sup 
 position, too, will meet the addresses made to them, better 
 than the assumption that they were prelates. Their union, as 
 Dr. Onderdonk remarks, to the church is intimate. " The 
 angel is in each case identified with his church, and his church 
 with him." Now to which does this remark best apply? to 
 
242 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 the tender, intimate, endearing relation of a pastor with his 
 people; to the blending of their feelings, interests, and 
 destiny, when he is with them continually ; when he meets 
 them each week in the sanctuary; when he administers to 
 them the bread of life ; goes into their abode when they are 
 afflicted, and attends their kindred to the grave ? or does it 
 best apply to the union subsisting between the people of an 
 extended diocese to the formal, unfrequent, and, in many 
 instances, stately and pompous visitations of a diocesan bishop; 
 to the kind of connection formed between a people scattered 
 into many churches, who are visited at intervals of a year, or 
 more, by one claiming u a superiority in ministerial rights 
 and powers/ robed in lawn, and perhaps with the crosier and 
 mitre, as emblematical of office, state, and power; who must 
 be a stranger to the ten thousand tender ties of endearment 
 which bind as one the hearts of a pastor and his people ? To 
 our minds, it seems clear that the account which Dr. Oncler- 
 donk has given of the "identity" of the angel and the church 
 applies to the former, and not to the latter. It speaks the 
 sentiments of our heart, as respects the union of a pastor and 
 people. And, while we would not allow ourselves to speak 
 with disrespect of the episcopal office, we still feel that the 
 language of the Saviour, by the mild and gentle John, to the 
 churches of Asia, breathes far more of the endearing "Iden 
 tity" of the pastoral relation, than it does of the comparatively 
 cold and distant functions of one, who, in all other lands but 
 this, has been invested with his office by the imposing cere 
 mony of enthroning, and who has borne, less as badges of 
 affection than of authority, the crosier and the mitre. 
 
 We have now gone entirely through with the argument of 
 Dr. Onderdonk, in proof that there is an order of men supe 
 rior " in ministerial rank and powers." We have intended 
 to do justice to his proofs, and we have presented the whole 
 of them. 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 243 
 
 Our readers have all that Episcopalians rely on from the 
 Scriptures in vindication of the existence of such an order of 
 men. It will be remembered that the burden of proof lies 
 on them. They advance a claim which is indispensable to the 
 existence of their ecclesiastical polity. These are the argu 
 ments on which they rely. Whether their arguments justify 
 the language of assumption which we sometimes hear; whe 
 ther they are such as to render appropriate the description of 
 all people but the members of Episcopal churches, as left to 
 the uncovenanted mercies of God;"* whether they are such 
 as to prompt, legitimately, to a very frequent reference to 
 "the primitive and apostolic order" of the ministry; or to 
 the modest use of the term " the church," with an exclusive 
 reference to themselves, must now be left to the judgment of 
 our readers. 
 
 It was our intention, originally, to have gone somewhat at 
 length into a defence of the Scripture doctrine of ministerial 
 parity. But the unexpected length of our article admonishes 
 us to close. We are the less dissatisfied with this admonition, 
 because we conceive the point already made out. If Episco 
 palians cannot make good their claims in reference to their 
 bishop, it follows of course that ministers are on an equality. 
 
 * Wo do not charge Dr. Onderdonk with having any such views and 
 feelings. We have great pleasure in recording his dissent from the use 
 of such language, and from such consequences, p. G. "An apparently 
 formidable, yet extraneous difficulty, often raised, is, that Episcopal claims 
 unchurch all non-Episcopal denominations. By the present writer this con 
 sequence is not allowed." We simply state this with high gratification. Wo 
 are happy also that wo are not called upon to reconcile the admission with 
 the claim set up in this tract, that "the authority of Episcopacy is perma 
 nent, down to the present age of the world," (p. 40;) that the obligation 
 of Christians to support bishops i. c. to conform to Episcopacy is not 
 ended, (p. 40 :) that of "any two ministries now existing, the former 
 (Episcopacy) is obligatory, to the exclusion of the latter," (parity, p. 39:) 
 and that "the position cannot be evaded, that Episcopacy is permanently 
 bin<iin<j even to the end of the world. " 
 
244 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 The whole argument is concentrated in their claim. We take 
 our stand here. It is admitted on all hands, that there is 
 somewhere in the church a right to ordain. Episcopalians, 
 with singular boldness, in not a few instances with professed, 
 and in all with real cxclusiveuess, maintain that this power 
 lies only in the bisJiop. They advance a claim to certain 
 rights and powers , and if that claim is not made out, the 
 argument is at an end. The power of ordination must remain 
 with those over whom they have set up the power of jurisdic 
 tion and control. This claim, as we have seen, is not made 
 out. If, from the authority of the New Testament, they 
 cannot succeed in dividing the ministers of religion into 
 various ranks and orders, it follows that the clergy remain on 
 an equality. 
 
 On this point, also, they are compelled, as we conceive, to 
 admit the whole of our argument. So manifest is it, that the 
 sacred writers knew of no such distinction ; that they regarded 
 all ministers of the gospel as on a level ; that they used the 
 same name in describing the functions of all ; that they ad 
 dressed all as having the same episcopal, or pastoral supervi 
 sion, that the Episcopalians, after no small reluctance, are 
 compelled at last to admit it. They are driven to the conclu 
 sion that the term bishop, in the New Testament, does not in 
 a single instance, designate any such officer as now claims 
 exclusively that title. Thus Dr. Onderdonk says, that " that 
 name (bishop) is there, (i.e. in the New Testament) given to the 
 middle order, or presbyters } and ALL that we read in the New 
 Testament concerning bishops, (including of course the words 
 overseers and oversight, which have the same derivation,^) is 
 to be regarded as pertaining to that middle grade. It was after 
 the apostolic age that the name l bishop was taken from the 
 second order, and appropriated to the first." p. 12. This 
 admission we regard as of inestimable value. So we believe; 
 and so we teach. We insist, therefore, that the name bishop 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 245 
 
 should bo restored to its primitive standing. If men lay claim 
 to a higher rank than is properly expressed in the New Testa 
 ment by this word, we insist that they should assume the name 
 apostles. As they regard themselves as the successors of the 
 apostles; as they claim that Timothy, Titus, Andronicus, 
 Junia were called fipostlcs, why should not the same be re 
 tained ? The Christian community could then better appre 
 ciate the force of their claims, and understand the nature 
 of the argument. We venture to say, that if the name 
 " apostles" were assumed by those who claim that they arc 
 their successors, Episcopacy would be soon " shorn of its 
 beams," and that the Christian world would disabuse itself 
 of the belief in the scriptural authority of any such class of 
 men. We admit that if " the tliiny sought" (p. 12) were to 
 be found in the Scriptures, we would not engage in a contro 
 versy about the mere name. But we maintain that the fact 
 here conceded is strong presumptive proof that " the thing 
 sought" is not there. The name, therefore, is to be given up; 
 that is, it is conceded by Episcopalians, that the name bishop 
 does not anywhere in the New Testament designate any such 
 class of men as are now clothed with the episcopal office. 
 
 "We remark now, that the thing itself is practically aban 
 doned by Episcopalians themselves. If other denominations 
 can be true churches, (see the remark on p. 6, that the Episco 
 pal claims do not unchurch all non-Episcopal denominations/ ) 
 then their ministers can be true ministers, and their ordi 
 nances valid ordinances. Their minister may be ordained 
 ivitlwut the imposition of the hands of u a bishop;" and thus 
 the whole claim is abandoned. For what constitutes " non- 
 Episcopal denominations" churches, unless they have a valid 
 ministry, and valid ordinances ? Still further : It is probably 
 known to our readers, that even ordination is never performed 
 in the Episcopal Church by the bishop alone. In the " Form 
 and manner of Ordering Priests," the following direction is 
 
 21* 
 
246 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 given: (( The bishop, v:illi tlic priests [presbyters] -present, 
 shall lay their hands severally upon the head of every one 
 that receiveth the order of priesthood ] the receivers humbly 
 kneeling, and the bishop saying : Receive the Holy Ghost, for 
 the office and work of a priest in the church of God, now com 
 mitted unto thee by the imposition of OUR hands/ etc. We 
 know that there is among them a difference of opinion about 
 the reason why this is done. One portion regard the bishop 
 as the only source of authority.* The other suppose that the 
 presence and act of the presbyters express the assent and con 
 fidence of the churches, and that it is essential to a valid ordi 
 nation. But, whichever opinion is maintained, it is, infacf, 
 a Presbyterian ordination. If not, it is an unmeaning and idle 
 ceremony; and the presence of the presbyters is mere pa 
 geantry and pomp. 
 
 We have now passed through the argument. Could we 
 enter farther into it, we could prove, we think, positively, 
 that there were no ministers in the apostolic churches superior 
 to presbyters "in ministerial powers and rights/ and that a 
 presbytery did actually engage in an ordination, and even in 
 the case of Timothy.f But our argument does not require it, 
 nor have we room. We have examined the whole of the 
 claims of Episcopalians, derived from the New Testament. 
 Our readers will now judge of the validity of those claims. 
 We close, as Dr. Onderdonk began, by saying, that if the 
 claim is not made out, on scriptural authority, it has no force, 
 or binding obligation on mankind. 
 
 Who can resist the impression, that if the New Testament 
 had been the only authority appealed to in other times, Epis 
 copacy would long since have ceased to urge its claims, and 
 have sunk away with other dynasties and dominations, from 
 the notice of mankind? On the basis which we have now 
 
 * Hooker s Eccl. Pol., book vii. 6. f 1 Tim. iv. 14, 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 247 
 
 examined, this vast superstructure ; this system winch has 
 in other ages spread over the entire Christian world; this sys 
 tem which, in sonic periods at least, has advanced most arro 
 gant claims, has been reared. The world, for ages, has been 
 called to submit to various modifications of the episcopal 
 power. The world, with the single exception of the Wal- 
 denses and Albigeuses, did for ages submit to its authority. 
 The prelatical domination rose on the ruins of the liberties 
 of cities, states, and nations, till all the power of the Christian 
 world was concentrated in the hands of one man " the ser 
 vant of the servants of God!" The exercise of that power in 
 his hands is well known. Equally arrogant have been its 
 claims, in other modifications. The authority has been deemed 
 necessary for the suppression of divisions and heresies. "The 
 prelates," says Milton, "as they would have it thought, are 
 the only mauls of schism." That power was felt in the days 
 when Puritan piety rose to bless mankind, and to advance 
 just notions of civil and religious liberty. Streams of blood 
 have flowed, and tears of anguish have been shed, and thou 
 sands of holy men have been doomed to poverty and want, 
 and imprisonment, and tears, as the result of those claims to 
 supremacy and validity in the church of God. It may sur 
 prise our readers to learn, that all the authority from the 
 Bible which could be adduced in favour of these enormous 
 claims has now been submitted to their observation. And we 
 cannot repress the melancholy emotions of our hearts, at the 
 thought that such power has been claimed, and such domina 
 tion exercised by man, on so slender authority as this. 
 
 We have little love for controversy; we have none for de 
 nunciation. We have no war to wage with Episcopacy. We 
 know, we deeply feel, that much may be said in favour of it, 
 apart from the claim which has been set up for its authority 
 from the New Testament. Its past history, in some respects, 
 makes us weep; in some others, it is the source of sincere 
 
248 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 rejoicing and praise. We cannot forget, indeed, its assump 
 tions of power, or hide from our eyes the days of the Papacy, 
 when it clothed in sackcloth the Christian world. We cannot 
 forget the days, not few or unimportant, in its history, when 
 even as a part of the Protestant religion, it has brought " a 
 numb and chill stupidity of soul, an inactive blindness of mind 
 upon the people, by its leaden doctrine / we cannot forget 
 11 the frozen captivity" of the church, u in the bondage of pre 
 lates;"* nor can we remove from our remembrance the suffer 
 ings of the Puritans and the bloody scenes in Scotland. But 
 we do not charge this on the Episcopacy of our times. We 
 do not believe that it is essential to its existence. We do not 
 believe that it is its inevitable tendency. With more grateful 
 feelings we recall other events of its history. We associate it 
 with the brightest and happiest days of religion, and liberty, 
 and literature, and law. We remember that it was under the 
 Episcopacy that the church in England took its firm stand 
 against the Papacy; and that this was its form when Zion 
 rose to light and splendour from the dark night of ages. We 
 remember the name of Cranmer, Cranmer first, in many 
 respects, among the reformers ; that it was by his steady and 
 unerring hand that, under God, the pure church of the Saviour 
 was conducted through the agitating and distressing times of 
 Henry VIII. We remember that God watched over that won 
 derful man ; that he gave this distinguished prelate access to 
 the heart of one of the most capricious, cruel, inexorable, blood 
 thirsty, and licentious monarchs that has disgraced the world ; 
 that God, for the sake of Cranmer and his church, conducted 
 Henry, as " by a hook in the nose," and made him faithful 
 to the Archbishop of Canterbury, when faithful to none else ; 
 so that, perhaps, the only redeeming trait in the character of 
 Henry is his fidelity to this first British prelate under the 
 
 * Milton. 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 249 
 
 Reformation.* The world will not soon forget the names of 
 Latimer, and llidley, and Rogers, and Bradford; names 
 associated in the feelings of Christians, with the long list of 
 ancient confessors "of whom the world was not worthy/ and 
 who did honour to entire ages of mankind, by sealing their 
 attachment to the Son of God, on the rack or amid the flames. 
 Nor can we forget that we owe to Episcopacy that which fills 
 our minds with gratitude and praise, when we look for exam 
 ples of consecrated talent, and elegant literature, and humble, 
 devoted piety. While men honour elevated Christian feeling ; 
 while they revere sound learning ; while they render tribute 
 to clear and profound reasoning, they will not forget the names 
 of Barrow and Taylor, of Tillotson, and Hooker, and Butler ; 
 and when they think of humble, pure, sweet, heavenly 
 piety, their minds will recur instinctively to the name of 
 Leigh ton. Such names, with a host of others, do honour to 
 the world. When we think of them, we have it not in our 
 hearts to utter one word against a church which has thus done 
 honour to our race, and to our common Christianity. 
 
 Such we wish Episcopacy still to be. We have always 
 thought that there are Christian minds and hearts that would 
 find more edification in the forms of worship in that church, 
 than in any other. We regard it as adapted to call forth 
 Christian energy that might otherwise be dormant. We do 
 not grieve that the church is divided into different denomina 
 tions. To all who hold essential truth we bid God-speed; 
 
 * It may be proper here to remark, that Cranmer by no means enter 
 tained the modern views of the scriptural authority of bishops. He would 
 not have coincided with the claims of the tract which is now passing under 
 our review. He maintained " that the appointment to spiritual offices 
 belongs indifferently to bishops, to princes, or to the people, according to 
 the pressure of existing circumstances. He affirmed the original identity of 
 bishops and presbyters j and contended that nothing more than mere elec 
 tion, or appointment, is essential to the sacerdotal office, without consecra 
 tion or nny other solemnity." Le Unit s Life of Cranm-er, vol. i,. p. 197. 
 
250 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 and for all such we lift our humble supplications to the God 
 of all mercy, that he will make them the means of spreading 
 the gospel around the globe. We ourselves could live and 
 labour in friendliness and love in the bosom of the Episcopal 
 Church. While we have an honest preference for another 
 department of the great field of Christian action ; while provi 
 dential circumstances, and the suggestions of our own hearts 
 and minds, have conducted us to a different field of labour, we 
 have never doubted that many of the purest flames of devotion 
 that rise from the earth, ascend from the altars of the Episco 
 pal Church, and that many of the purest spirits that the earth 
 contains minister at those altars, or breathe forth their prayers 
 and praises in language consecrated by the use of piety for 
 centuries. 
 
 We have but one wish in regard to Episcopacy. We wish 
 her not to assume arrogant claims. We wish her not to utter 
 the language of denunciation. We wish her to follow the 
 guidance of the distinguished minister of her church, whose 
 book we are reviewing, in not attempting to "unchurch" 
 other denominations. We wish her to fall in with, or to go 
 in advance of others, in the spirit of the age. Our desire is 
 that she may become throughout as we rejoice she is increas 
 ingly becoming the warm, devoted friend of revivals and 
 missionary operations. She is consolidated well marshalled ; 
 under an efficient system of laws ; and pre-eminently fitted for 
 powerful action in the field of Christian warfare. We desire to 
 see her what the Macedonian phalanx was in the ancient army; 
 with her dense, solid organization, with her unity of move 
 ment, with her power of maintaining the position which she 
 takes ; and with her eminent ability to advance the cause of 
 sacred learning, and the love of order and of law, attending or 
 leading all other churches in the conquests of redemption in 
 an alienated world. We would even rejoice to see her who 
 was first in the field at the Reformation in England, first, also, 
 
EPISCOPACY TESTED BY SCRIPTURE. 251 
 
 in the field when the Son of God shall come to take to him 
 self his great power ; and, whatever positions may be assigned 
 to other denominations, wo have no doubt that the Episcopal 
 Church is destined yet to be, throughout, the warm friend 
 of revivals, and to consecrate her wealth and power to the 
 work of making a perpetual aggression on the territories 
 of sin and of death. 
 
252 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 VI. SCRIPTURAL ARGUMENT ON THE EPISCOPAL CON 
 TROVERSY. 
 
 [CHRISTIAN SPECTATOR, 1835.] 
 
 Answer to a Review (in the Quarterly Christian Spectator) 
 of "Episcopacy tested by Scripture:" first published in the 
 Protestant Episcopalian, for May, 1834. Philadelphia : 
 Jesper Harding; 1834. pp. 19. 
 
 WHEN the review of the tract, " Episcopacy tested by 
 Scripture/ was prepared,* it was not our design to engage in 
 a controversy on the subject there discussed. "We well knew 
 how unprofitable and how endless such a controversy might 
 become ; and we felt that we had more important business to 
 engage our attention, than that of endeavouring to defend the 
 external order of the church. The subject attracted our notice, 
 because, on two different occasions, the tract which was the 
 subject of the review, had been sent to us, in one instance 
 accompanied with a polite request evidently from an Episco 
 palian to give to it our particular attention ; because, too, the 
 tract had been published at the " Episcopal Press," and it was 
 known that it would be extensively circulated ; because it has 
 been the subject of no small self-gratulation among the Epis 
 copalians, and had been suffered, notwithstanding the manifest 
 complacency with which they regarded it, to lie unanswered ; 
 mainly, because it made an appeal at once to the Bible, and 
 professed a willingness that the question should be settled by 
 the authority of the Scriptures alone. This appeared to us to 
 be placing the subject on a new ground. The first emotion 
 
 Christian Spectator, vol. vi. 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 25o 
 
 produced by the title of the tract was one of surprise. We 
 had been so accustomed to regard this controversy as one that 
 was to be settled solely by the authority of the Fathers ; we 
 had been so disheartened and sickened by the unprofitable 
 nature, the interminable duration, and the want of fixed 
 bounds and principles, in that investigation we had seen so 
 little reference made to the Bible, on either side of the ques 
 tion, that it excited in us no small degree of surprise to learn 
 that a bishop of the Episcopal Church should be willing to 
 make a direct, decisive, and unqualified appeal to the New 
 Testament. It was so unusual it gave so new a direction to 
 the controversy ; it promised so speedy an issue, and one so 
 little auspicious to the cause which the bishop was engaged in 
 defending, that we were not unwilling to turn aside from our 
 usual engagements, and to examine the proofs adduced in this 
 somewhat novel mode of the Episcopal controversy. 
 
 Shortly after our review was published, an " Answer" to 
 the article appeared in the " Protestant Episcopalian," under 
 stood to come from the author of the tract. With a copy of 
 this the writer of the review was politely furnished by Dr. 
 Onderdonk. The "Answer" is marked with the same general 
 characteristics as the tract itself. It evinces, in general, the 
 same spirit of Christian feeling and of candid inquiry; the 
 same calm, collected, and manly style of argument ; the same 
 familiarity with the subject; and the same habit by no 
 means as common as is desirable of applying the principles 
 of the inductive philosophy to moral subjects. To this general 
 statement, perhaps, should be made a slight exception. A 
 candid observer possibly would discern in the " Answer," 
 some marks of haste, and some indications of disturbed repose 
 possibly of a slight sensation in perceiving that the material 
 point of the argument in the tract had not been as strongly 
 fortified as was indispensable. As instances of this sensa 
 tion, we might notice the train of remarks in pp. 8, 9, and 
 
 VOL. T. 22 
 
254 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 especially in the following expressions : " The reasonings 
 throughout his article (the reviewer s) are much the same as 
 those usually brought against Episcopacy ; and where they are 
 not the same, they are so much minus the former ground," 
 etc. " No one, for three years, brought these old reasonings 
 against the tract, no one till the reviewer fancied he had 
 discovered a weak spot in it, and might, therefore, reproduce 
 some of them with effect." li The present is only a start in 
 its slumber." And again, on p. 15, the author of the reply 
 speaks of the reviewer, as one whom he suspects " to be a n&io 
 comer into this field of controversy," if not with the intention, 
 at least with the appearance, of designing to disparage the 
 force of the arguments which the reviewer had urged. Now, 
 it is unnecessary for us to remind Dr. Onderdonk, that the 
 inquiry is not, whether the arguments are old or new, but 
 whether they are pertinent and valid. Nor is the question, 
 whether one is a " new comer" into this controversy. Argu 
 ments may not be the less cogent and unanswerable, for being 
 urged by one who has not before entered the lists ; nor will 
 arguments from the Bible be satisfactorily met by an affirma 
 tion that they are urged by one unknown in . the field of 
 debate. It may be proper, however, for us to observe, in 
 self-vindication, that the arguments which we urged were 
 drawn from no other book than the Bible. The " Tract" and 
 the New Testament were the only books before us in the pre 
 paration of the article. The course of argument suggested 
 was that only which was produced by the investigation of the 
 Scriptures. Whether we have fallen into any train of thinking 
 which has been before urged by writers on this subject, we 
 do not even now know, nor are we likely to know ; as it is our 
 fixed purpose not to travel out of the record before us the 
 inspired account of the matter in the sacred Scriptures. If, 
 however, the arguments which we have urged be " the same 
 as those usually brought against Episcopacy," (p. 8,) it fur- 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 
 
 nislics a case of coincidence of results, in investigating the 
 New Testament, which is itself some evidence that the objec 
 tions to Episcopacy are such as obviously occur to different 
 minds engaged in independent investigation. 
 
 When the reply appeared, it became a question with us, 
 whether the controversy should be prolonged. A perusal 
 of the " Answer" did not suggest any necessity for departing 
 from our original intention, not to engage in such a contro 
 versy. It did not appear to furnish any new argument which 
 seemed to call for notice, or to invalidate any of the positions 
 defended in the review. Almost the whole of the (( Answer" 
 appeared to be simply an expansion of a note in the tract, 
 (p. 12, note 2,) which, when the review was prepared, seemed 
 riot to furnish an argument that required particular attention. 
 The fact, too, that then the argument was expressed in a note, 
 in small type, and at the bottom of the page, was an indica 
 tion that it was not of much magnitude in the eye of the 
 author of the tract himself. Why it is now expanded, so as 
 to constitute the very body and essence of the reply, is to us 
 proof that the subject, on the Episcopal side, is exhausted. 
 This fact is of such a nature, as to impress the mind strongly 
 with the belief that, henceforth, nothing remains to be added, 
 in the eifort to " Test Episcopacy by Scripture." 
 
 In departing from our original purpose, it is our wish to 
 reciprocate the kind feeling and candour of the author of the 
 "Tract" and of the "Answer." Truth, not victory, is our 
 object. We have but one wish on this subject. It is, that 
 the principles upon which God designed to establish and 
 govern his holy church, may be developed and understood. 
 We resume the subject with profound and undiminished re 
 spect for the talents, the piety, and the learning of the author 
 of the Tract and Answer, and with a purpose that this shall 
 be final, on our part, unless something new, and vital to the 
 subject, shall be added. In this, as well as in all other 
 
256 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 things, our desire is not to write one line, which, dying, or 
 in heaven, 
 
 " We would wish to blot." 
 
 Still, this desire, so deeply cherished, does not forbid a full 
 and free examination of arguments. Our conscientious belief 
 is, that the superiority "in ministerial power and rights/ 7 
 (Tract, p. 15,) claimed by Episcopal bishops, is a superiority 
 known in the Episcopal churches only, and not in the New 
 Testament ; and this we purpose to show. 
 
 In entering upon our examination of the u Answer," we 
 may remark, that the scriptural argument for Episcopacy is 
 now fairly and entirely before the world. On the Episcopal 
 side, nothing material to be said can remain. The v:lwle 
 argument is in the Tract and in the Answer. If Episcopacy 
 is not established in these, we may infer that it is not 
 in the Bible. If not in the Bible, it is not " necessarily 
 binding." (Tract, p. 3.) To this conclusion that the whole 
 of the material part of the scriptural argument is before the 
 world in these pamphlets we are conducted by the fact, that 
 neither talent, learning, zeal, nor time, have been wanting in 
 order to present it ; that their author entered on the discus 
 sion, manifestly acquainted with all that was to be said ; that 
 the subject has now been before the public more than four 
 years, (see advertisement to the Tract ;) and that, during that 
 time, it is to be presumed, if there had been any more mate 
 rial statements to be presented from the Bible, they would 
 have appeared in the " Answer." There is much advantage 
 in examining an argument with the conviction that nothing 
 more remains to be said; and that we may, therefore, 
 contemplate it as an unbroken and unimprovable whole, 
 without the possibility of any addition to the number of 
 arguments, or increase of their strength. On this vantage- 
 ground we now stand, to contemplate the argument in 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 257 
 
 support of the stupendous fabric of Episcopacy in the 
 Christian church. 
 
 In entering upon this examination, we are struck with 
 what we had indeed anticipated a very strong inclination, on 
 the part of the author of the tract, to appeal again to certain 
 " extraneous" authorities, of which we heard nothing in the 
 tract itself, except to disclaim them. The tract commenced 
 with the bold and startling announcement, that if Episcopacy 
 has not the authority of Scripture, it is not "necessarily 
 binding," p. 3. " No argument," the tract goes on to say, 
 " is worth taking into the account, that has not a palpable 
 bearing on the clear and naked topic the scriptural evidence 
 of Episcopacy," p. 3. We have italicised part of this quota 
 tion, to call the attention of our readers particularly to it. 
 The affirmation, so unusual in the mouth of an Episcopalian, 
 is, that no argument is WORTH TAKING INTO THE ACCOUNT, 
 that does not bear on the scriptural proof. Now we antici 
 pated that, if a reply was made to our review, from any quar 
 ter, we should find a qualification of this statement, and a 
 much more complacent regard shown to the Fathers, and to 
 other " extraneous considerations," (Tract, p. 4,) than would 
 be consistent with this unqualified disclaimer in the tract. 
 The truth is, that the Fathers are regarded as too material 
 witnesses to be so readily abandoned. The " tradition of the 
 elders" has been too long pressed into the service of Episco 
 pacy ; there has been too conscious a sense of the weakness 
 of scriptural proof, to renounce heartily, entirely, and forever, 
 all reliance on other proof than the New Testament. The 
 "Answer" would have lacked a very material feature which we 
 expected to find in it, if there had been no inclination mani 
 fested to plunge into this abyss of traditional history, where 
 light and darkness struggle together, and no wish to recall 
 the testimony of uninspired antiquity to the service of 
 prelacy. Accordingly, we were prepared for the following 
 
258 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 declaration, which we quote entire, from pp. 3 and 4 of the 
 Answer : 
 
 "Because the author of the tract rested the claims of Episco 
 pacy finally on Scripture, because he fills a high office in the 
 church, and because the tract is issued by so prominent an Epis 
 copal institution as the Press, the reviewer seems to think that 
 Episcopalians are now to abandon all arguments not drawn di 
 rectly from the Holy Volume. Not at all. The author of the tract, 
 in his sermon at the consecration of the four bishops, in October, 
 1832, advocated Episcopacy, besides on other grounds, on that of 
 there being several grades of office in the priesthoods of all reli 
 gions, false as well as true, and in all civil magistracies and other 
 official structures, and, in his late Charge, he adverted to the 
 evidence in its favour contained in the Fathers. And the Press, 
 at the time it issued the tract, issued also with it, in the Works 
 on Episcopacy, those of Dr. Bowden and Dr. Cooke, which embrace 
 the argument at large. There is no reason, therefore, for think 
 ing that, however a single writer may use selected arguments in a 
 single publication, either he or other Episcopalians will (or should) 
 narrow the ground they have usually occupied. The Fathers are 
 consulted on this subject, because the fabric of the ministry which 
 they describe forms an historical basis for interpreting Scripture. 
 And general practice, in regard to distinct grades among officers, 
 throws a heavier burden of disproof on those whose interpreta 
 tions are adverse to Episcopacy : this latter topic we shall again 
 notice before we close." 
 
 This passage, so far from insisting, as the Tract had done, 
 that no argument ivas worth taking into the account, except 
 the scriptural proof, refers distinctly to the following points, 
 which we beg leave to call "extraneous considerations," as 
 proof of Episcopacy. (1.) The fact that there "arc several 
 grades of office in the priesthood of all religions;" (2.) That 
 the same thing occurs " in all civil magistracies and other 
 official structures;" (3.) The evidence of the Fathers; and, 
 (4.) " Other grounds," which the author informs us he had 
 insisted on, in an ordination sermon, in 1832. And in this 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 259 
 
 very passage, he makes the following remarkable statement, 
 which we propose soon to notice further : " The fathers are 
 consulted on the subject, because the fabric of the ministry 
 which they describe, forms an historical basis for interpreting 
 Scripture." 
 
 Slight circumstances often show strong inclinations and 
 habits of mind. How strong a hold this reference to other 
 > considerations" than the Scriptures, has taken upon the 
 mind of the author of the Tract, and how reluctant he was to 
 part with the u extraneous" argument from the Fathers, is 
 shown by the fact, that he again recurs to it in the "Answer," 
 and presents it at much greater length. Thus on pp. IS, 19, 
 at the very close of the Answer, we are presented with the 
 following recurrence to the argument from other considera 
 tions than the Scriptures : 
 
 " One word more concerning the burden of proof, as contrasted 
 with the presumptive argument. The tract claimed no presump 
 tion in its favour, in seeking for the scriptural proofs of Episco 
 pacy. We do a presumption founded on common sense, as indi 
 cated by common practice. Set aside parity and Episcopacy, and 
 then look at other systems of office, both religious and civil, and 
 you find several grades of officers. In the Patriarchal church, there 
 was the distinction of high-priest and priest. In the Jewish 
 church, (common sense being, in this case unquestionably, divinely 
 approved,) there were the high-priest, priests, and levites. Among 
 the Pagans and Mohammedans, there are various grades in the office 
 deemed sacred. Civil governments have usually governors, a pre 
 sident, princes, a king, an emperor, etc., as the heads of the ge 
 neral, or state, or provincial magistracies. In armies and navies 
 there is always a chief. If the reviewer should claim exceptions, 
 we reply they are exceptions only, and very few in number. The 
 general rule is \vith \is. That general rule, next to universal, is, 
 that, among officers, there is a difference of power, of rights, of 
 rank, of grade, call it what you will. And this general rule gives 
 a presumption that such will also be the case in the Christian 
 church. We go to Scripture, then, with the presumptive argu- 
 
260 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 ment fully against parity. If we should find in Scripture neither 
 imparity nor parity, still common sense decides for the former. If 
 we find the tone of Scripture doubtful, on this point, imparity 
 has the advantage, common sense turning the scale. If we find 
 there intimations, less than positive injunctions, in favour of im 
 parity, common sense, besides the respect due to Scripture, de 
 cides for our interpretation of them. And if any thing in Scripture 
 is supposed to prove or to justify parity, it must be very explicit, 
 to overturn the suggestion of common sense. The presumptive 
 argument, then, is clearly with us, and the burden of proof lies 
 on parity. Let the reviewer peruse the tract again, bearing in 
 mind the principles laid down in this paragraph, and he will, we 
 trust, think better of it." 
 
 These observations, it will be remembered, are made by the 
 same writer, and in connection with the same subject as the 
 declaration, that " NO ARGUMENT is WORTH TAKING INTO 
 THE ACCOUNT, that lias not a palpable bearing on the dear 
 and naked topicsthe scriptural evidence of Episcopacy." 
 
 Now, against the principles of interpretation here stated, 
 and which the Tract led us to suppose were abandoned, we 
 enter our decided and solemn protest. The question the 
 only question in the case is, Whether Episcopacy "has the 
 authority of Scripture ? 77 (Tract, p. 3.) The affirmation is, 
 that if it has not, "it is not necessarily binding, 7 (p. 3.) The 
 principle of interpretation, which in the Answer is introduced 
 to guide us in this inquiry, is, that "the Fathers are con 
 sulted on the subject, because the fabric of the ministry which 
 they describe, forms an historical basis for interpreting Scrip 
 ture/ 7 (Answer, p. 3.) In order to understand the bearing 
 of this rule of interpretation, it is necessary to know what it 
 means. A "basis 7 is defined to be "the foundation of a 
 thing ; that on which a thing stands or lies ; that on which it 
 rests; the ground-work or first principle; that which sup 
 ports." (Webster.) An "historical basis 7 must mean, there 
 fore, that the opinions or facts of history that is, in this 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 2G1 
 
 case, the testimony of the Fathers constitute the foundation, 
 the ground-worJc, or first principle of the intepretation of the 
 Bible ; or that on which such an interpretation rests, or by 
 which it is supported. It would seem to follow, therefore, 
 that, unless we first become acquainted with this " historical 
 basis," we are wholly in the dark about the proper interpreta 
 tion of the Bible, and that our interpretation is destitute of 
 any true support and authority. To this principle of inter 
 pretation, in this case and in all others, the objections are 
 obvious and numerous : (1.) Our first objection lies against 
 the supposed necessity of having any such previously ascer 
 tained basis, in order to a just interpretation of the oracles 
 of God. We object wholly to the doctrine that the Scriptures 
 arc to be interpreted by historical facts to be developed long 
 after the book was written. The great mass of men are 
 wholly incompetent to enter into any such (C historical" 
 inquiry ; but the great mass of men are not unqualified to 
 understand the general drift and tenor of the New Testament. 
 (2.) The statement is, "that the fabric of the ministry which 
 they describe" is to be the basis of such interpretation. But 
 who knows what the fabric of the ministry which they de 
 scribe is ? It is to be remembered, that the question is not 
 respecting the ministry in the fourth century and onward. 
 But the inquiry and the only one of material value on any 
 supposition pertains to the Fathers previous to that period. 
 And there every thing is unsettled. Prelacy claims the Fa 
 thers in that unknown age. The Papacy claims the Fathers 
 there. Presbyterianism claims the Fathers there. Congregation 
 alism and Independency, too, claim them there. Every thing 
 is unsettled and chaotic. And this is the very point which 
 has been the interminable subject of contention in this whole 
 inquiry, and from which we hoped we had escaped, by the 
 principles laid down in the Tract. Yet the position now 
 advanced would lead us again into all the difficulties, and 
 
262 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 controversies, and jostling elements, and contradictory state 
 ments which have always attended the appeal to the Fathers. 
 If we are to wait until we have ascertained " the fabric of the 
 ministry" which these Fathers describe, before we have a 
 basis" for interpreting Scripture, we may close the New 
 Testament in despair. (3.) This canon of interpretation is 
 contrary to the rule which Dr. Onderdonk has himself laid 
 down in the Tract itself, (p. 3.) In that instance, the au 
 thority of the Scriptures was declared to be ample and final. 
 And throughout the Tract, there is a manifest indication of a 
 belief, that the Bible is susceptible of interpretation on the 
 acknowledged rules of language, and the principles of common 
 sense. We hailed such a manifestation, not only as auspi 
 cious to the cause of truth in regard to the claims of Episco 
 pacy, but because it evinced the spirit to which the church 
 must come, of a direct, unqualified, and final appeal to the 
 word of God, to determine religious doctrine. To that 
 standard we mean to adhere. And, as far as in us lies, we 
 intend to hold it up to the view of men, and to insist on the 
 great truth, from which nothing shall ever divert us, and from 
 which we fervently pray the church may never be diverted, 
 that we are not to look for the discovery of truth, by ascer 
 taining first an " historical basis/ or a set of instruments by 
 which we are to measure and adjust the proportions of truth 
 which we find in the revelation of God. Without any design 
 to disparage or undervalue the Fathers, whom we sincerely 
 reverence, as having been holy, bold, and venerable men ; 
 without any blindness, as we believe, to the living lustre of 
 that piety which led many of them to the stake; without any 
 apprehension that their testimony, when examined, would be 
 found to be on the side of Episcopacy, for it remains yet 
 to be seen that the Fathers of the first two centuries ever 
 dreamed of the pride and domination which subsequently 
 crept into the church, and assumed the form of Prelacy and 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 263 
 
 Popery; without any tiling to influence us, so far as we know, 
 from any of these " extraneous" sources, we intend to do all 
 in our power to extend and perpetuate the doctrine that the 
 ultimate appeal in all religious inquiry, is to be the Bible, and 
 the Bible only. "The Bible/ said Chillingworth, "is the 
 religion of Protestants/ We rejoice to hear this sentiment 
 echoed from the assistant bishop of Pennsylvania. And, 
 without meaning to insinuate that this sentiment is not as 
 honestly acted on by Episcopalians as by any other denomina 
 tion of Christians, we may add, that we deem the first sen 
 tence of the Tract worthy to be written in letters of gold on 
 the posts of every Episcopal sanctuary, and over every altar, 
 and on the cover of every " Book of Common Prayer." " The 
 claim of Episcopacy to be of divine institution, and, there 
 fore, obligatory on the church, rests fundamentally on the one 
 question, Has it the authority of Scripture ? If it has not, 
 it is not necessarily binding." (4.) Our fourth objection to 
 this rule of interpretation is, that it is, substantially, that on 
 which rests the Papal hierarchy. We do not know that the 
 Papist would wish to express his principles of interpretation 
 in stronger language than that " the Fathers are consulted 
 on this subject,, because the fabric of the ministry which they 
 describe forms an historical basis for interpreting Scripture." 
 To us it seems that it would express all that they ask; and, 
 as we doubt not that Dr. Onderdonk would shrink from any 
 approximation to the Papacy quite as firmly as ourselves, we 
 deem it necessary merely to suggest the consideration, to render 
 the objection at once satisfactory to his own mind. 
 
 We object, also, to the principle of interpretation advanced 
 on p. 18 of the Answer, which we have already quoted. The 
 fact there assumed, is, that various orders of men are observ 
 able in civil governments, etc.; and hence, that there is pre 
 sumptive evidence that such orders arc to be found in the 
 Scriptures. We are not ignorant of the purpose for which 
 
264 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 this fact is adduced. It is to show that the "burden of proof " 
 does not lie so entirely on the Episcopalian, as we had affirmed 
 in the review. We admit, to some extent, the modifying 
 force of the circumstances, so far as the " burden of proof" is 
 concerned. But it merely lightens the burden; it does not 
 remove it. Presumption, in such a case, is not proof. When 
 the fact affirmed relates to a doctrine of the Bible, it is not 
 sufficient to say that that fact occurred elsewhere, and, there 
 fore, it must occur in the Bible. It is still the business of 
 the Episcopalian to prove his affirmation from the New Testa 
 ment itself, that bishops are superior to other ministers of the 
 gospel, in ministerial power and rights. This is his affirma 
 tion ; this is the point which he urges ; this is to be made 
 out from the Bible only ; and assuredly the fact that there are 
 dukes, and earls, and emperors, and admirals, and nabobs, 
 forms at best a very slight presumption in favour of the 
 affirmation, that the ministry of the gospel consists of 
 three " orders." But our objections may be further stated. 
 So far as the presumption goes^ it is not particularly in 
 favour of Episcopacy, as consisting in THREE orders of the 
 clergy. For, (1.) The fact is not, that there are three orders 
 observable everywhere. It is, that there are nmny orders and 
 ranks of civil officers and of men. (2.) The presumption 
 drawn from what has taken place, would be rather in favour of 
 despotism, and the Papacy. (3.) The presumption is equally 
 met by the doctrine of Presbyterianism as by Prelacy. Pres 
 byterians hold equally to a division of their community into 
 various ranks, into bishops, and elders, and people. The 
 presumption, drawn from the fact that civil society is thus 
 broken up, is as really in their favour, as in favour of Episco 
 pacy. (4.) The Congregationalist may urge it with the same 
 propriety. His community registers the names of his minis 
 ter, and deacons, and church, and congregation, each with 
 distinct privileges and rights. If Dr. Onderdonk should 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY 265 
 
 reply to this, that his remark referred only to the disttnctron 
 of " systems of office, both religious and civil/ (p. 1S ; ) and 
 li that among officers, there is a difference of power and 
 rights," (p. 19,) we reply, that the distinction of officers pertains 
 to other churches, as well as the Episcopal. No non-Episco 
 palian, perhaps, can be found who holds to a parity of office. 
 He will refer, at once, to his minister, to his elders, to his 
 deacons, as evincing sufficient disparity, to meet the full force 
 of the presumption alleged by Dr. Onderdonk. But our main 
 objection here, as before, is to the principle of interpretation. 
 We respectfully insist that it should be laid aside, as an " ex 
 traneous consideration" in the inquiry whether Episcopacy 
 " has the authority of Scripture." 
 
 In our review we stated that the burden of proof, in this 
 inquiry, was laid wholly on the friends of Episcopacy, (p. 209.) 
 This point was so obvious, that we did not think it necessary 
 to illustrate it at length. Nor do we now intend to do more 
 than merely, by adverting to it, to recall it to the attention of 
 our readers. The author of the " Answer" has endeavoured 
 to remove this burden from himself and his friends, (p. 4 and 
 p. 18.) This he has done, by attempting to show that there 
 is a presumptive argument in favour of Episcopacy ; which 
 presumption throws the task of pro vine/ the parity of the 
 clergy on those who advocate it. Now we are not disposed to 
 enter into a controversy on this point. To us it seemed, and 
 still seems, to be a plain case, that where it was affirmed that 
 the clergy of the Christian church was separated by divine 
 authority, into three grades, or orders, and that one of those 
 orders had the exclusive right of ordination, of discipline, and 
 of general superintendence ; it could not be a matter requiring 
 much deliberation, to know where rested the burden of proof. 
 If a man assumes authority over an army, demanding the 
 subordination of all other officers to his will, it is not a very 
 unreasonable presumption that the burden of proof lies with 
 
 VOL. I.. 
 
266 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 him nor would it be the obvious course to expect the entire 
 mass of officers to show, that he had not received such a com 
 mission. We shall, therefore, feel ourselves to be pursuing a 
 very obvious course, if we do not recognise the authority of 
 Episcopal bishops, unless there is proof positive of their com 
 mission. We may add, further, that in the supposed case 
 of the commander of the army or the navy, we should not 
 regard that as a very satisfactory proof which was pursued 
 with as little directness and explicitness as are evinced in the 
 argument to establish the original domination and perpetuity 
 of the prelatical office. And in this connection we may re 
 mark, that it is perfectly immaterial, as to the main point, 
 what may be the opinion of the man who calls the claim in 
 question, or what may be the particular denomination to 
 which he is attached. Whether he is an Independent, a Pres 
 byterian, or a Congregationalist, it may be equally true that 
 the bishop of the Episcopal Church is unable to make out his 
 claims from the New Testament. The only material point, in 
 which all other denominations are agreed, is, that the minis 
 ters of the New Testament are on an equality in the respect 
 under consideration ; that the power of ordaining and admi 
 nistering discipline, and of superintending the concerns of the 
 church, is intrusted to them, as equals, in opposition to the 
 exclusive and exalted assumptions of a few who claim the 
 right to deprive them of these powers, and to make their 
 ministrations null and void. And when claims of this order 
 are advanced claims designed to dispossess the great mass of 
 the ministry throughout the world, of the right of transmitting 
 their office to others; of exercising government and discipline 
 in their own pastoral charges; of superintending and con 
 trolling the affairs of the particular portion of the church 
 universal with which they are specifically intrusted ; when 
 claims like these are presented, tending to degrade them from 
 their office, to annihilate their authority, and to leave their 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 267 
 
 charges without a ministry; we may respectfully insist that 
 the proof of this should be drawn, by no circumlocution, from 
 the Bible. We wish to see, with an exact specification, the 
 chapter and the verse we would respectfully urge that, in 
 such a claim, it should be done tot idem vcrbisj or at least so 
 nearly so that there could be no possibility of mistake. 
 
 We may here remind our readers of the precise points 
 which Episcopacy is called upon to make out. The first is, 
 that the apostles were " distinguished from the elders, because 
 they were superior to them in ministerial power and rights." 
 (Tract, p. 15.) The second is, that this distinction "was so 
 persevered in, as to indicate that it was a permanent arrange 
 ment/ 7 (Tract, p. 23.) These are independent propositions. 
 One by no means follows from the other. Should the first be 
 admitted, yet the second is to be established by equally expli 
 cit and independent proof. Nay, the second is by far the 
 most material point, and should, as we shall show, be fortified 
 by the most irrefragable arguments. The third point, indis 
 pensable to the other two, is, that there is no evidence in the 
 New Testament that presbyters or elders discharged the func 
 tions which are now claimed for bishops ; that is, that they 
 either (1) ordained, or (2) administered discipline, or (3) ex 
 ercised a general supervision. (Tract, p. 11.) Unless, then, 
 it is shown that not one of these functions was ever performed 
 by presbyters, the Episcopal claim fails of support, and must 
 be abandoned. These are independent positions, and a failure 
 in one is a failure in the whole. 
 
 To a cursory review of what can be said on these points, we 
 now propose to call the attention of our readers. 
 
 The first claim asserted is, that the apostles were (( dis 
 tinguished from the elders, because they were superior to 
 them in ministerial power and rights. " (Tract, p. 15.) The 
 points of their alleged superiority are, exclusive ordination, 
 exclusive discipline, exclusive confirmation, and exclusive 
 
268 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 right of general superintendence. The question is, whether 
 this is the nature of the superiority with which, the apostles 
 were intrusted ; or, which is the same thing, Were these the 
 purposes for which they were set apart to the apostolic office, 
 and for which they icere called apostles f Dr. Onderdonk 
 affirms it ; we take the liberty, most respectfully, of calling 
 for explicit proof of it from the New Testament. 
 
 His direct proof is contained in a nutshell. It consists of 
 one expression of Scripture, (Acts xv. 2, 4, 6, 22 ; xvi. 4 :) 
 "Apostles and elders," "apostles, an d elders, and brethren ;" 
 and a note on p. 12 of the Tract, and in the reply, expanded to 
 more than two pages, showing that, in his apprehension, they 
 administered discipline. As this is the basis on which the 
 whole fabric is reared, and as it embraces the very gist of the 
 " Answer," we shall be pardoned for adverting to it with 
 some particularity. 
 
 We may then inquire, why the apostles were distinguished 
 from the elders or presbyters. Dr. Onderdonk affirms that 
 it was because they were " superior in ministerial power and 
 rights." The argument on this subject, from the New Testa 
 ment, is, that the two classes of men are distinguished from 
 each other, (Acts xv. 2, 4, 6, 22 ; xvi. 4,) by the following 
 expressions: "apostles and elders," "apostles, and elders, 
 and brethren." Now, in regard to this proof, we beg leave 
 to make the following remarks : 
 
 (1.) That it is the only direct passage of Scripture which 
 Dr. Onderdonk is able to adduce on the subject of the alleged 
 superiority of the apostles. Its importance, in his view, may 
 be seen from the fact, that it is not merely the only proof, 
 but that it is repeated not less than five times in the space of 
 less than a single page of the Tract, (pp. 14, 15 ;) and that it 
 occupies a similar prominence in the Answer. The Tract has 
 been written four years. Diligent research during that time, 
 it would be supposed, might have led to the discovery of some 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 269 
 
 other text that had a bearing on the point. But the matter 
 still rests here. There is no other text ; and the fabric is to 
 be sustained on the solitary expression, " apostles and elders," 
 "apostles, and elders, and brethren." 
 
 (2.) What does this passage prove ? It proves this, and 
 no more, that there was a distinction, of some sort, between 
 the apostles and elders, which is a point of just as much 
 importance as when we affirm, that one class were called 
 apostles, and another called elders. But it is difficult for us 
 to see how this determines any thing respecting the reasons 
 of the distinction. In Ephesians iv. 11, the apostle affirms, 
 that God gave " some, apostles; and some, prophets; and 
 some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers." Here 
 a distinction is made out. But is the nature of the distinc 
 tion thereby ascertained ? I speak of guineas, and doubloons, 
 and guilders. I affirm a distinction, indeed ; but is its nature 
 ascertained ? Have I determined that the guinea is, there 
 fore, superior in weight or value to the others ? 
 
 (3.) We have never denied that there was a distinction 
 between the apostles, and elders, and brethren. The very 
 fact that they had the same apostles, shows, that there must 
 have been some distinction, or some reason why they were so 
 called. "Unusual discernment, or laboured argument, surely, 
 are not necessary to perceive this. But the very point is, 
 what is the nature of this distinction ? And this is to be 
 settled, not by the use of the word, but by the statement in 
 the New Testament ; and it is incumbent on the Episcopalian 
 to show, \>j proof -texts, that it was because the apostles were 
 superior, in the power of ordination, of confirmation, of disci 
 pline, and of general superintendence of a diocese. Dr. On- 
 derdonk affirmed that the name was not so given, because 
 they were appointed by Christ personally ; nor because they 
 had seen the Lord after his resurrection ; nor because they 
 had the power of working miracles ; and then observed, that 
 
 23* 
 
270 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 " it followed, OR would not be questioned, that it was because 
 they were superior in ministerial power and rights." (Tract, 
 p. 15.) It seems not to have occurred to him, that they 
 could be appointed to be WITNESSES of his entire ministry, 
 including the fact of his resurrection, as a main point. We 
 took the liberty, therefore, of examining this matter, as very 
 material to the argument. We proved, (1.) That in the 
 original appointment of the apostles, there was no reference to 
 their superiority, in the powers of ordination, discipline, etc. 
 This position we supported by the three separate accounts of 
 Matthew, Mark, and Luke. (2.) That no such thing oc 
 curred in the instructions of our Lord, after his resurrection 
 from the dead. This also we confirmed by an examination 
 of the testimony of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, in neither 
 of whose gospels was there found a vestige of such instruc 
 tions. (3.) That there was nowhere else, in the New Testa 
 ment, any account that what Dr. Onderdonk affirmed, as the 
 peculiarity of the apostolic office was known to the writers. 
 This conclusion we rested upon our own examination, and the 
 fact that Dr. Onderdonk had not adduced any such passage. 
 (4.) That the reason of the appointment to the apostolic 
 office icas expressly affirmed; and, that it was not that which 
 Dr. Onderdonk supposed it to be. We showed, (a) that it 
 was expressly affirmed, in the original appointment, (Luke 
 xxiv. 48 ; Matt, xxviii. 18, 19,) that they should be WIT 
 NESSES of these things; (K) that this was expressly provided 
 for, in the case of the election of one to fill the place vacated 
 by Judas, (Acts i. 21, 22;) (c) that this was the account 
 which the apostles uniformly gave of the design of their ap 
 pointment, (see p. 217 ;) (d) that the same thing was again 
 expressly provided for in the case of the Apostle Paul, and 
 that, in order to a qualification for that office, he was per 
 mitted to "SEE the Just one/ the Lord Jesus, (Acts xxii. 14;) 
 and, (e) that he himself expressly appeals to the fact, as a 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 271 
 
 proof t luit ho was fully invested with the apostolic office. 
 1 Cor. ix. 1, 2. In the course of the argument, we adduced 
 not less than twenty explicit passages of Scripture bearing 
 directly on the point, and proving, beyond dispute, that this 
 was the design of the appointment to the apostolic office. 
 Our purpose, in this, was evident. It was to show that the 
 peculiarity of the apostolic office was of such a nature, that it 
 could not be transmitted to distant generations; but that it, 
 had a specific, yet very important design, which, as a matter 
 of course, must cease. 
 
 With deep interest, therefore, we opened the " Answer," 
 to ascertain how this array of scriptural argument was met. 
 "We did not deem it unreasonable to suppose, that there would 
 be some new attempt to show, that the peculiarity of the apos 
 tolic office was to ordain ; that the passages of Scripture on 
 which we had relied, were irrelevant ; or, that other passages 
 might be adduced in proof of what Dr. Onderdonk had 
 affirmed to be the peculiarity of the apostolic office, and which 
 we had respectfully denied. Our readers will join with us in 
 our "amazement" to find the following as the result of an 
 examination of the " Answer :" 
 
 (1.) A solemn, and somewhat pompous, readducing of the 
 expression, (Acts xv.,) "the apostles and elders," " the apos 
 tles, and elders, and brethren," (Answer, p. 7;) a passage, 
 maintaining still its solitary dignity, and reposing in the 
 "Answer," as it had in the "Tract," in its own lonely gran 
 deur. We could not restrain our "amazement," that no 
 other passages were even referred to, on this material point ; 
 and we came to the conclusion, that we had reached an end of 
 the argument, so far as direct Scripture proof was concerned. 
 
 (2.) We found a notice of our extended array of proof- 
 texts, showing what was the design of the apostolic appoint 
 ment, of a character so remarkable, that we shall quote it 
 entire : 
 
272 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 " The reviewer, in order to show what he thinks was the point in 
 which the apostles excelled the elders, in the matter in question, 
 dwells largely on the fact, that they were special witnesses of our 
 Lord s resurrection, and with the help of CAPITAL and italic letters, 
 he has certainly made a showy argument. But nobody denies that 
 they were the special witnesses, or, that they were distinguished 
 from the elders, as well as from others called apostles, the Tract 
 gave due attention to both these particulars. The point is, was 
 this distinction the one that led to the expression apostles and 
 elders ? Surely not. Among those apostles was Barnabas, and 
 perhaps Silas,* neither of whom was a special witness of the resur 
 rection. Besides, the expressions apostles and elders, apostles, 
 and elders, and brethren, are used with immediate reference to the 
 council at Jerusalem, and the reviewer is more acute than we pre 
 tend to be, if he can say why, in a council, acting on questions 
 concerning idols, blood, things strangled, and licentiousness, the 
 special witnesses of the resurrection should, as such, have peculiar 
 authority. We really think the Tract argues with more consistency, 
 when it says, that the apostles were ministerially above the elders." 
 Answer, p. 16. 
 
 Here, it will be observed, there is no notice taken of the 
 texts which he had adduced, as irrelevant, or unsatisfactory 
 in number, or as unfairly interpreted. Dr. Onderdonk, if he 
 was the writer of the Answer, deemed it an ample notice of 
 those texts to remark that, " with the help of CAPITAL and 
 italic letters, he (the reviewer) had certainly made a showy 
 argument/ (Answer, p. 16.) That our agument was thus 
 noticed, was, indeed, to us a matter of (( amazement." It 
 was, however, an indication of which we were not slow to 
 avail ourselves, and the hold upon which we shall not be 
 swift to lose that our proof-texts were ad rein, and that they 
 settled the question. When all that the assistant-bishop of 
 Pennsylvania deems it proper to say, of our array of more 
 than twenty explicit declarations of the word of God, is, 
 
 * Acts xiv. 14; xv. 2, 4, 22; 1 Thess. i. 1; ii. 6. 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 273 
 
 that by the help of capitals and italics, they constitute 
 a "SHOWY argument/ (we mean no disrespect, when we 
 display the word in a showy form,) we deem the conclusion to 
 be inevitable, that our texts are just what we intended they 
 should be that they settled the question and, to use an 
 expression from the favourite chapter of the Acts of the 
 Apostles, we "rejoice for the consolation." Acts xv. 31. 
 
 (3.) Though we were not met by any new proof-texts, or 
 by answer to our own, we were referred to the sentiments 
 of the following distinguished men, viz., the late Dr. Wilson, 
 Dr. Miller, Dr. Campbell, Matthew Henry, "the dii-incs who 
 argued with Charles I. in the Isle of Wight," and Calvin, to 
 prove that the apostles were superior to the elders and the 
 evangelists. (Answer, p. 10.) Respecting these authorities, 
 we may be permitted to remark (1) that we shall probably 
 not yield, out of regard to their names, to any persons. With 
 us, they have all the authority which uninspired men can ever 
 be allowed to have. The writer of the review may be per 
 mitted to remark, perhaps, that he has occasion of peculiar 
 respect for two of those venerable men. By one whose 
 superior, in profound powers of reasoning, in varied and 
 extensive learning and in moral worth, he believes is not now 
 to be found among the living in any American church he 
 was preceded in the office which he now holds. At the feet 
 of the other, it has been his privilege to sit, for nearly four 
 years, and to receive the instructions of wisdom from his lips ; 
 and, whatever skill he may have in conducting this argument, 
 on the government of the churches, he owes to the " basis" 
 which was laid by those instructions. Whatever may be said, 
 therefore, of these authorities adduced in the "Answer," will 
 not be traced to want of respect for these venerable names. 
 But (2) we may remark, that, in this argument, the authori 
 ties of uninspired men are to be laid out of the account. 
 With all due deference to them and to Dr. Onderdonk, we 
 
274 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 must be permitted to believe that their authority belongs to 
 the "extraneous considerations/ as well as that of the 
 opinion of Cranmer, (Answer, p. 5,) which,, by common con 
 sent, it had been agreed to lay out of the controversy. (See 
 Tract, pp. 3-10.) Our wonder is, that, after the disclaimer 
 of relying on these extraneous considerations, in the Tract, 
 the author of the Answer should have occupied nearly two 
 pages with the statements of these distinguished men. 
 (3) Their authority, even when adduced, docs not bear on the 
 point before us. The question is, whether the apostles were 
 superior to other ministers of the gospel in ministerial power 
 and rights; that is, the power of ordination, confirmation, 
 discipline, and general superintendence. Their authorities 
 adduced prove only that, in the judgment of these venerable 
 men, they were superior, in some respects, to evangelists and 
 teachers ; or, that there was a distinction between them a 
 point on which we make no denial. On the only question in 
 debate, they make no affirmation. On the claim set up by 
 Episcopalians, that the apostles were superior in ordination, 
 etc., they concede nothing, nor did they believe a word of it. 
 
 Having thus noticed the " Answer" on this part of our 
 argument, we shall dismiss it. We do it by simply remind 
 ing our readers, that the solitary text, which undisputed 
 learning, talents, and zeal have discovered, during a period 
 of more than four years, since the discussion first commenced, 
 the lonely Scripture proof of the sweeping claims that the 
 apostles only had the power of ordination, and that this was 
 the peculiarity of the office, stands forth in the Tract and in 
 the Answer: "the apostles and elders," "apostles, and elders, 
 and brethren !" 
 
 But the author of the " Answer" complains, (p. 11,) that 
 we did not give the "whole" of his argument on the subject; 
 and he refers to a note on p. 12 of the Tract, designed to show 
 that the apostles had the power of administering discipline, 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. Z75 
 
 and that, therefore, they were superior to the presbyters, or 
 held a more elevated grade of office. The note is this : 
 
 " That the apostles alone ordained, will be proved. In 1 Cor. iv. 
 19-21 ; v. o-5 ; 2 Cor. ii. G ; vii. 12 ; x. 8 ; xiii. 2, 10 ; and 1 Tim. 
 i. 20, are recorded inflictions and remissions of discipline performed 
 by an apostle, or threatenings on his part, although there must have 
 been elders in Corinth, and certainly were in Ephesus." 
 
 This note he expands into 1111 argument, which constitutes 
 the most material part of the "Answer." It is incumbent 
 upon us to examine it, and to ascertain how far it goes to 
 settle the point under discussion. Before examining the par 
 ticular cases referred to, we would remind our readers, that 
 the purpose for which they are adduced, is to show that the 
 apostles were superior to presbyters in powers and rights; and 
 the alleged proof is, that they administered discipline. To 
 bear on the case, therefore, the passages must prove not only 
 that they exercised discipline, but (1) that they did it as 
 apostlcSj or in the virtue of the apostolic office ; (2) that they 
 did it in churches where there were presbyters ; and (3) that 
 presbyters never administered discipline themselves. The 
 second point here adverted to, is all that the author of the 
 " Answer" feels himself called upon to make out. (Answer, 
 pp. 11-13.) Now in regard to this point of the proof, we 
 make the following general remarks : (1.) There were cer 
 tainly, in all, fourteen apostles; and, if we may credit the 
 writer of these pamphlets and reckon Timothy, and Barnabas, 
 and Sylvanus, and Apollos, and Andronicus, and Junia, and 
 Titus, and perhaps half-a-dozen others, there were somewhat 
 more than a score invested with this office ; yet it is remark 
 able that the only cases of discipline referred to, as going to 
 prove the superiority of the whole college of apostles, are cases 
 in which the Apostle Paul only was concerned. (2.) There 
 are accounts in the New Testament of perhaps some hundreds 
 of churches ; and yet we meet with no instance of the kind 
 
276 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 of discipline relied on, except in the single churches of Corinth 
 and Ephesus. It is incredible that there should have been no 
 other cases of discipline in these churches. But if there were, 
 the presumption is, that they were settled without the inter 
 vention of an apostle. (3.) These very cases, as we shall 
 presently show, were cases in which Paul administered the 
 rod of discipline in the churches where Titus and Timothy 
 apostles also and bishops were present, by the showing of 
 the author of the " Answer/ and thus were acts of manifest 
 disrespect for the authority of those prelates. And if the fact 
 that the discipline was administered where there were presby 
 ters, (Answer, pp. 11, 12,) proves that the apostle was supe 
 rior to them, the same fact proves that he was superior to 
 Timothy and Titus. The course of the argument urged by 
 the author of the " Answer/ would be, that Paul was dis 
 posed to assume the whole power into his own hands, and to 
 set aside the claims alike of bishops and presbyters. It has a 
 very undesirable looking toward the authority claimed by the 
 Papacy. 
 
 The two cases alleged as proof that the apostles only had 
 the power of administering discipline, are those at Corinth and 
 at Ephesus. Paul wrote fourteen epistles, and wrote them to 
 eight churches. In all these epistles, and in all the nume 
 rous churches of which he had the charge, (2 Cor. xi. 28, 
 "the care of all the churches/ ) these are the only instances 
 in which he was called, so far as appears, to exercise disci 
 pline. We now inquire, whether he did it for the purpose of 
 showing that the apostles only had this power. 
 
 The first case alleged is that at Corinth. " In 1 Cor. 
 iv. 19-21, etc., are recorded inflictions and remissions of dis 
 cipline performed by an apostle, or threatenings on his part; 
 although there must have been elders at Corinth." (Note z, 
 Tract, p. 12.) The argument here is, that there must have 
 been elders at Corinth, and yet that Paul interposed over 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 277 
 
 their heads to inflict discipline. This is the whole of the 
 argument. (See Answer, p. 11.) 
 
 In reply to these we observe : That there were ciders, 
 teachers, ministers, instructors in Corinth, we think it placed 
 beyond a question, by the argument of the u Answer" and by 
 the nature of the case. This fact we do not intend to call in 
 question. The argument of the u Answer" from this fact, wo 
 state in the author s own words : 
 
 " Yet, without noticing these elders in the matter, so far as the 
 epistles show though they doubtless were noticed and consulted, 
 as much as courtesy and their pastoral standing made proper 
 without putting the matter into their hands, or even passing it 
 through their hands, Paul threatens, inflicts, and remits discipline 
 among the people of their charge. This is a ministerial act. And 
 Paul s doing it himself, instead of committing it to the elders, shows 
 that he, an apostle, was superior to them in ministerial power and 
 rights. " p. 11. 
 
 Further, if there were elders there, there was an " apostle;" 
 a prelatical bishop, according to the Tract, there also. This 
 is shown by a quotation from the Epistle itself, relating to this 
 very time, and in immediate connection with the case of disci 
 pline. (1 Cor. iv. 17.) " For this cause, [that is, on account 
 of your divided and contending state,] have I sent unto you 
 Timothcus, who is my beloved son and faithful in the Lord, 
 who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be 
 in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church." Now, as 
 it will not be pretended by Episcopalians that Timothy was 
 not an "apostle," and, as it is undeniable that he was at that 
 time at Corinth, the argument will as well apply to set aside 
 his right to administer discipline in the case, as that of the 
 elders. Borrowing, then, the words of the Answer, we would 
 say : " Yet without noticing" this apostle " in the matter, so 
 far as the epistles show though" he was t( doubtless noticed 
 and consulted, as much as courtesy and his" apostolical 
 VOL. I. 24 
 
278 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 " standing made proper, without putting the matter into 7 his 
 li hands, or even passing it through" his " hands, Paul 
 threatens, inflicts, and remits discipline. This is a ( ministe 
 rial act. And Paul s doing it himself, instead of committing 
 it to Timothy, "shows, that he, an apostle, was superior to" 
 him " in ministerial power and rights." Now no Episcopa 
 lian will fail to be at once deeply impressed with the fallacy 
 of this reasoning, in regard to the "apostle" and "bishop" 
 Timothy. And yet, it is manifestly just as pertinent and 
 forcible in his case, as it is for the purpose of the Answer in 
 regard to the elders of Corinth. It cannot be pretended that 
 a difference existed, because the "elders" were permanently 
 located there, and Timothy not; for the argument of the 
 " Tract" and the " Answer" is, that the apostles were supe 
 rior, as oj)osths } and, therefore, it made no difference on this 
 point, whether they were at Corinth, or at Crete, or at 
 Antioch they were invested with the apostolic office every 
 where. Our conclusion, from this instance, and from the 
 fact which we have now stated, is, that there was some pecu 
 liarity in the case at Corinth, which rendered the ordinary 
 exercise of discipline by presbyters difficult ; which operated 
 equally against any interference by Timothy; and which 
 called peculiarly for the interposition of the founder of the 
 church, and of an inspired apostle, for one clothed with 
 authority to inflict a heavy judgment, here denominated 
 " delivering unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh," 
 (1 Cor. v. 5,) a power which could be exercised by none 
 then in Corinth. Our next inquiry is, whether there are 
 any reasons for this opinion. The following we believe 
 satisfactory : 
 
 (1.) Paul had founded that church, (Acts xviii. 1-11,) and 
 his interference in cases of discipline would be regarded as 
 peculiarly proper. There would be a natural and obvious 
 deference to the founder of the church, which would render 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 279 
 
 such an interposition in the highest degree appropriate. We 
 are confirmed in this view, because he puts his authority -in tliis 
 K i )/ case, on such a fact, and on the deference which was due 
 to him as their spiritual father, (1 Cor. iv. 15 :) " For though 
 ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not 
 many FATHERS ; for in Christ Jesus 1 have begotten you 
 through the gospel." 
 
 (2.) The circumstances of the church at Corinth were such, 
 evidently, as to render the ordinary exercise of discipline, by 
 their own elders, impossible. They were distracted ; were 
 rent into parties ] were engaged in violent contention; and 
 the authority, therefore, of one portion of the " teachers" and 
 "instructors" would be disregarded by the other. Thus no 
 united sentence could be agreed upon; and no judgment of a 
 party could restore peace. An attempt to exercise discipline 
 would only enkindle party animosity and produce strife. (See 
 chap. i. 1117.) So great, evidently, was the contention, arid 
 so hopeless the task of allaying it by any ordinary means, that 
 even Timothy j whom Paul had sent for the express purpose 
 of bringing them into remembrance of his ways, (1 Cor. 
 iv. 17,) could have no hope, by his own interference, of allay 
 ing it. It was natural that it should be referred to the 
 founder of the church, and to one who had the power of 
 punishing the offender. 
 
 (o.) It is material to remark, that this was not an ordinary 
 case of discipline. It was one that required the severest 
 exercise of authority, and in a form which was lodged only 
 with those intrusted with the power of inflicting disease, or, 
 as it is termed, " of delivering to Satan for the destruction of 
 the flesh." 1 Cor. v. 5. Such cases would inevitably devolve 
 upon the apostles, as clothed with miraculous power; and 
 such, beyond all controversy, was this case. It therefore 
 proves nothing about the ordinary mode of administering 
 discipline. This case had reached to such a degree of enor- 
 
280 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 inity; it bad been suffered to remain so long; it had become 
 so aggravated, that it was necessary to interpose in this awful 
 manner, and to decide it. Yet, 
 
 (4.) The apostle supposes that they ought to have exercised 
 the usual discipline themselves. This is evident, we think, 
 from a comparison of the following passages : 1 Cor. v. 9, 10, 
 11, 12, with v. 2. In these verses it is supposed that they 
 did themselves usually exercise discipline. Paul (ver. 9) 
 gave them the general direction not to keep company with 
 fornicators ; that is, to exercise discipline on those who did. 
 In ver. 11, he asks them, in a manner showing that the 
 affirmative answer to the question expressed their usual prac 
 tice, whether they did not a judge those that were within?" 
 that is, whether they did not ordinarily exercise discipline 
 in the church? And in ver. 2, he supposes that it ought to 
 have been done in this case; and as it had not been done by 
 them, and the affair had assumed special enormity, he exercised 
 the miraculous power intrusted to him by inflicting on the 
 offender a grievous disease, (ver. 4, 5; comp. 1 Cor. xi. 30.) 
 
 (5.) It is evident that other churches did, in ordinary 
 cases, exercise discipline without the intervention of an apos 
 tle. Thus, the church in Thessalonica where Episcopacy, 
 with all its zeal, has never been able even to conjecture that 
 there was a diocesan bishop was directed to exercise disci 
 pline in any instance where the command of the inspired 
 apostle was not obeyed. (2 Thess. iii. 14.) We shall soon 
 make this point incontestable. 
 
 (6.) The circumstances of the early churches were such as 
 to make this apostolic intervention proper, and even indis 
 pensable, without supposing that it was to be a permanent 
 arrangement. They were ignorant and feeble. They had 
 had little opportunity of learning the nature of Christianity. 
 In most cases their founders were with them but a few weeks, 
 ani then left them under the care of elders ordained from 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 281 
 
 among themselves. (Comp. Acts xiii. xiv., et passim. } Those 
 elders would be poorly qualified to discharge the functions of 
 their office ; and they would be but little elevated, in charac 
 ter and learning, above the mass of the people. The churches 
 must be imperfectly organized; unaccustomed to rigid disci 
 pline -j exposed to many temptations ; easily drawn into sin, 
 and subject to great agitation and excitement. Even a great 
 many subjects which may now be considered as settled, in 
 morals and religion, would appear to them open for debate; 
 and parties, as at Corinth, would easily be formed. (Comp. 
 Acts xiv. xv. ; Horn. xiv. ; 1 Cor. vii.) In these circum 
 stances, how natural was it for these churches to look for 
 direction to the inspired men who had founded them; and 
 how natural, that such persons should interpose and settle 
 important and difficult cases of discipline. And after these 
 obvious considerations, are we to suppose that the fact that 
 the Apostle Paul, in two cases, and two such cases only arc 
 recorded, exercised an extraordinary act of discipline is to be 
 regarded as proof that this power appertained only to the 
 apostolic office, and was to be a permanent arrangement in the 
 church? We confess our u amazement" that but two cases- 
 of apostolic interference are mentioned, during the long and 
 active life of Paul ; and we regard this as some evidence that 
 the churches were expected to exercise discipline, and actually 
 did so, on their own members. 
 
 (7.) We arc confirmed in our views on this point, from 
 what is known to take place in organizing churches in heathen 
 countries at the present day. Since we commenced this 
 article, we were conversing with one of the American mis 
 sionaries, stationed at Ceylon.* In the course of the conver 
 sation, he incidentally remarked that the missionaries were 
 obliged to retain the exercise of discipline in their own hands; 
 
 Rev. Mr. Winslow. 
 
 24* 
 
282 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 and that, although the mission had been established more 
 than fifteen years, yet the exercise of discipline had never 
 been intrusted to the native convert?. He farther observed 
 that the missionaries had been endeavouring to find persons to 
 whom they could intrust the discipline of the church as elders, 
 but as yet they had not found one. The native converts were 
 still so ignorant of the laws of Christianity; they had so little 
 influence in the church ; they were so partial to each other, 
 even when in fault, that, thus far, discipline though some 
 what frequent acts of discipline were necessary was retained 
 in the hands of the missionaries. Substantially the same 
 thing must have occurred in the early churches in Asia Minor, 
 in Syria, and Greece. Will Dr. Onderdonk infer that because 
 Mr. Winslow, Mr. Poor, and Dr. Scudder, in Ceylon, have 
 found it necessary to retain the power of administering disci 
 pline, that therefore they are diocesan bishops, and that they 
 do not contemplate that the churches in Ceylon shall be other 
 than prelatical ! If not, his argument in the case of the 
 church in Corinth can be allowed no weight. 
 
 We have now done with this instance of discipline. We 
 have shown that all the circumstances of the case can be 
 accounted for, without any such conclusion as that to which 
 the author of the Tract is desirous to conduct it. We 
 turn, therefore, to his other case of discipline, in the church 
 at Ephesus. 
 
 The case is thus stated in 1 Tim. i. 20 : " Of whom is 
 Hymeneus and Alexander; whom 1 have delivered unto 
 Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme." His argu 
 ment is, that " it is the apostle who inflicts the discipline ; the 
 elders do not appear in the matter. And discipline is a minis 
 terial function, and excommunication its highest exercise." 
 (Answer, p. 13.) In reply to this case, we make the follow 
 ing observations : 
 
 (1.) It occurs in a charge to Timothy, Timothy, on the 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 283 
 
 supposition of Episcopalians, an apostle co-ordinate with Paul 
 himself; Timothy, prelate of Ephesus. If Timothy was an 
 apostle and diocesan bishop, and if the exercise of discipline 
 pertained to the apostle and bishop, why did Paul take the 
 matter into his own hands ? Why not refer it to Timothy, 
 and repose sufficient confidence in him to believe that he was 
 competent to fulfil this part of his Episcopal office? Would 
 it now be regarded as courteous for the bishop of Ohio to 
 interpose and inflict an act of discipline on some Ilymcneus or 
 Alexander of the diocese of Pennsylvania? And would there 
 be as cordial submission of the bishop of Pennsylvania, as 
 there was of the bishop of Ephesus ? If Timothy was at 
 Ephesus, and if the case of discipline occurred at the time 
 which Dr. Onderdonk supposes, this case appears, to our hum 
 ble apprehension, very much as if Paul regarded Timothy as 
 neither an apostle nor a prelate. 
 
 (2.) If the exercise of the authority in this case of disci 
 pline by Paul proves that the presbyters at Ephesus had no 
 right to administer discipline, for the same reason it proves 
 that Timothy had not that right. By the supposition of Epis 
 copalians, Timothy was there as well as the presbyters. The 
 assumption of the authority by Paul proves as much that it 
 did not belong to Timothy, as that it did not belong to the 
 presbyters. 
 
 (o.) This was a case such as occurred at Corinth. It was 
 not an ordinary act of discipline; it was one which supposed 
 the infliction of the judgment of God by a miraculous agency : 
 "Whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn 
 not to blaspheme." Compare this account with the rfcord 
 of the case in Corinth, (1 Cor. v. 5,) and it is evident 
 that this was not an ordinary act of discipline, but was 
 such as implied the direct infliction of the judgment of the 
 Almighty. That such inflictions were intrusted to the hands 
 of the apostles, we admit; and that Paul, not Timothy, 
 
284 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 inflicted this, proves that the latter was neither an apostle nor 
 a prelate. 
 
 (4.) Dr. Ondcrdonk supposes that this occurred at Ephesus, 
 and while Timothy was there. But what evidence is there 
 of this ? It is neither affirmed that the transaction was at 
 Ephesus, nor that Timothy was there. His argument pro 
 ceeds on the assumption that Timothy was bishop there when 
 this Epistle was written, and that the case of discipline oc 
 curred there. And the proof of this would probably be, the 
 subscription at the end of the second Epistle, and the " tradi 
 tion of the elders." But that subscription has no authority; 
 and it is not to be assumed, but proved, that Timothy was 
 there in the capacity of a prelate, or there at all, when this 
 Epistle was written to him. The demonstration that a bishop 
 only exercised discipline, it must be admitted, rests on slender 
 grounds, if this be all. 
 
 (5.) But if this case did occur at Ephesus, what evidence 
 is there that it occurred at the time that Bishop Onderdonk 
 supposes ? The account in the Epistle to Timothy by no 
 means fixes the time of the transaction. a Whom I have de 
 livered (j:a.pida)-/.a) unto Satan," etc. It was already done ; and 
 the presumption is that it was done when Paul was himself 
 present with them. It is morally certain that it was not an 
 act of discipline that was then to be done. 
 
 Our readers have now the whole case before them. Epis 
 copacy affirms that prelates only have the power of administer 
 ing discipline. It affirms that the churches are prohibited 
 from exercising it on their own members; that those ap- 
 poinfcd to preach the gospel, to administer the sacraments, 
 and to be pastors of the flock, and who may, therefore, be 
 supposed to understand the cases of discipline, and best qua 
 lified to administer it, have no right to exercise this act of 
 government over their own members ; but that this exclusive 
 prerogative belongs to a stranger and a foreigner, a prelatical 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 285 
 
 bishop, whom the churches seldom sec, and who must be, 
 in a great degree, unacquainted with their peculiar wants and 
 character. All power of discipline, in an entire diocese of 
 some hundreds of churches, is to be taken away from tho 
 members themselves, and from the pastors, and lodged in 
 strange hands, and committed to a solitary, independent man, 
 who, from the nature of the circumstances, can have little 
 acquaintance with the case, and possess few of the qualifica 
 tions requisite for the intelligent performance of his duty. 
 And does the reader ask what is the authority for this as 
 sumption of power ? Why are the churches and their pastors 
 disrobed of this office, and reduced to the condition of hum 
 ble dependents at the feet of the prelate ? Let him, in asto 
 nishment, learn. It is not because there is any command to 
 this effect in the New Testament ; it is not because there is 
 any declaration implying that it would be so ; it is not by any 
 affirmation that it ever was so. This is the reason, and this is 
 all : The Apostle Paul, in two cases, and in both instances 
 over the heads of presbyters, (and over the head of Bishop 
 Timothy, too,) delivered men " to Satan for the destruction 
 of the flesh, that they might learn not to blaspheme ;" and, 
 THEREFORE, Bishop Onderdonk, and Bishop Griswold, and 
 Bishop Doane, only have power to administer discipline in all 
 the churches in Pennsylvania, and in the Eastern diocese, and 
 in New Jersey ; and, THEREFORE, all the acts of discipline 
 exercised by Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, etc., in 
 Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and by the Congregationalists 
 of New England, are null and void. The disposal of such 
 antecedents and consequents may be safely left to all who hold 
 that " no argument is worth taking into the account that has 
 not a dear and palpable bearing on the naked topic, the 
 scriptural evidence of Episcopacy." (Tract, p. 3.) 
 
 But we have not done with this subject. We are now 
 prepared to show not only that there is no evidence that the 
 
286 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 apostles exclusively exercised discipline, but that there is 
 positive proof that all the acts of discipline were, in fact, 
 exercised by the presbyters of the churches. To put this 
 matter to rest, we adduce the following passages of Scripture : 
 
 Acts xx. 17, 28 : " From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus, 
 and called for the PRESBYTERS of the church, and said unto 
 them : Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock over 
 which the Holy Ghost hath made you BISHOPS, (l7T<rx07rou,) 
 to feed (rcotfj.aivetv } like good shepherds, to provide for, watch 
 over, and govern) the church of God." It would be easy to 
 show that the word translated feed includes the whole duty 
 which a shepherd exercises over his flock, including all that is 
 needful in the supervision, government, and defence of those 
 under his care. Proof of this may be found in the following 
 passages of the New Testament, where the word occurs in the 
 sense of ruling or governing, including of course the exercise 
 of discipline for how can there be government, unless there 
 is authority for punishing offenders ? Matt. ii. 6 ; John xxi. 16 ; 
 1 Peter v. 2; llev. ii. 27 : "And he shall rule them (Koitj.wli 
 av-ooq) with a rod of iron " an expression which will be 
 allowed to imply the exercise of discipline. Rev. xii. 5; 
 xix. 15. Comp. Ps. ii. 9; xxiii. 1; xxvii. 12; xlvii. 13. 
 And the Iliad of Homer may be consulted, passim, for this 
 use of the word. See particularly I. 253 ; II. 85. 
 
 1 Pet. v. 2, 3 : " The PRESBYTERS who are among you 
 I exhort, who am also a PRESBYTER. FEED (rroj/jtezvare) the 
 flock of God which is among you, taking the OVERSIGHT 
 (ixiffxo- juvTsi;, discharging the duty of BISHOPS) thereof, not 
 by constraint, but willingly," etc. Here the very work which 
 is claimed fur prelates is enjoined on presbyters, the very 
 name which prelates assume is given to presbyters; and Peter 
 ranks himself as on a level with them in the office of exer- 
 ct;;i;i<j discipline.) or in the government of tJte church. It is 
 perfectly obvious that the presbyters at Ephesus, and the prcs- 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 287 
 
 byters whom Peter addressed, were intrusted with the pastoral 
 care to the fullest extent. It is obvious that they were re 
 quired to engage in all the work requisite in instructing, 
 directing, and governing the flock. And it is as obvious that 
 they were intrusted with a power and an authority in this 
 business, with which presbyters are not intrusted by the 
 canons of the Episcopal Church. We respectfully ask, 
 Whether the bishop of Pennsylvania, or New Jersey, would 
 now take 1 Pet. v. 2, 3, for a text, and address the "priests," 
 or " second order of clergy," in these words, without consi 
 derable qualification : " The PRESBYTERS who are among you 
 I exhort, who am also a PRESBYTER. Feed (Troc^dvare) the 
 flock of God, -ifTx<>-owT<;, discharging the duty of BISHOPS, 
 over it, not by constraint, neither as being LORDS over God s 
 heritage." 
 
 Ileb. xiii. 7 : " Remember them which have the rule over 
 your : ra>v yyourjL&ws uriwy, YOUR RULERS/ Verse 17 : 
 " Obey them that have the rule over you." (7/t#e<r#e rol^ 
 frfdUfi&oiz 6uo>v.) That bishops are here referred to no one 
 will pretend. Yet the office of riding certainly implies that 
 kind of government which is concerned in the administration 
 of discipline. 
 
 1 Thess. v. 12 : " We beseech you, brethren, to know them 
 which labour among you, find arc over you in the Lord." 
 (y.ai ~p<n<7~at}.i^oo~ ufj.cov &v x6y>Eo>.) 1 Tim. v. 17 . u Let the 
 PRESBYTERS that rule well (r/wscToiTgs) be counted worthy 
 of double honour." There can be no question that tlicte. 
 passages are applied to presbyters. We conic, then, to the 
 conclusion that the terms which properly denote government 
 and discipline, and on which alone any claim for the cxerci.se 
 of authority can be founded, the terms expressive of govern 
 ing, of feeding, of ruling, of taking the oversight, are all 
 applied to presbyters; that the churches are required to 
 submit to them iu the exercise of that office \ and that the 
 
288 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 very term denoting* episcopal jurisdiction is applied to them 
 also. We ask for a solitary passage which directs apostles, or 
 prelates, to administer discipline ; and we leave the case of 
 discipline, therefore, to the common sense of those who read 
 the New Testament, and who believe that presbyters had any 
 duties to perform. 
 
 We have now examined the essential point in Episcopacy ; 
 for, if the claims which are arrogated for bishops are un 
 founded, the system, as a system, is destroyed. We have 
 examined the solitary passage urged directly in its favour, 
 " the apostles and elders/ " the apostles, and elders, and 
 brethren/ and the claims set up in favour of their exclusive 
 right to administer discipline j and, if we mistake not, we have 
 shown that hitherto, so stupendous claims have never been 
 reared on so narrow a basis. 
 
 The next point which it is indispensable for Episcopalians 
 to make out from the Bible, is, that it was intended that the 
 superiority in ministerial rank and power should be a per 
 manent arrangement. This, it will be perceived, is a distinct 
 and independent inquiry. It by no means follows of neces 
 sity, even if all that the Episcopalians claim for the apostles 
 had this superiority, and yet, that it was designed merely as 
 a temporary arrangement. As the "Answer" has added 
 nothing material to the argument of the Tract on this subject, 
 we shall not long be detained on this point. The sole argu 
 ment in the " Tract" is drawn from the claim that Timothy 
 was bishop of Ephesus, and Titus of Crete ; and that the 
 "angels" of the seven churches were prelatical bishops, 
 (pp. 23-29.) In our review, we examined these several 
 claims at length, (Review, pp. 223-242.) As the writer of the 
 Answer has not thought proper to notice our argument here, 
 we are left to the presumption, that an obvious or satisfactory 
 reply was not at hand. The train of our reasoning, then, we 
 shall take the liberty of regarding as unbroken and untouched. 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONT110VEHSY. 289 
 
 The only appearance of argument on this subject, in the 
 Answer, is found on p. 14, and it is this : that its author 
 supposes our argument to have been that Timothy and Titus 
 had a temporary and extraordinary office, because they were 
 " migratory ;" and, as many of the presbyters Apollos, for 
 example were migratory, hence it would follow that the 
 office of presbyter also was temporary. Now. in reply to this, 
 we observe, that although we did affirm the appointment of 
 Timothy and Titus to have been " temporary," yet we were 
 not so weak as to suppose that it was because they were migra 
 tory. That this fact indicated that they had not a permanent 
 prelatical office, we assuredly did, and still do believe. But 
 we showed in a manner which we marvel the author of the 
 Answer did not notice that Timothy was sent to Ephesus 
 for a special purpose, and that he was to execute that office 
 only until Paul returned. (Review, pp. 230, 233 ; 1 Tim. i. 3 ; 
 iv. 13 ; 1 Tim. iii. 14, 15.) The same thing we showed, from 
 the New Testament, to be the case with regard to Titus, 
 (Review, p. 236. See Titus i. 6-9; iii. 10, 12.) We never 
 so far forgot ourselves, as to suppose that because Timothy 
 and Titus were " migratory/ that, therefore, they were not 
 bishops. We put the matter on wholly different ground ; and 
 in the course of our argument, we quoted no less than forty- 
 six passages of the New Testament, containing, we believe, all 
 that can be supposed to bear on the point. We cannot with 
 hold the expressions of our u amazement," that an author 
 whose express object was to " test Episcopacy by Scripture," 
 should have left unnoticed this argument. Never was there 
 invented a shorter and more convenient mode of avoiding such 
 an argument, than by saying of something which we never 
 intended to urge, that the whole of it was founded on the fact 
 of their being " migratory." We would now remind the 
 author, that our argument was not of such a character; but it 
 Vva. : s, (1) That Timothy is not even called an apostle ; (2) that 
 
290 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 he is expressly distinguished from the apostles; (3) that 
 there is no evidence that he was bishop of Ephesus ; (4) that 
 the Scripture affirms he was sent to Ephesus for a special and 
 temporary purpose; and (5) that the Epistles to Timothy 
 contain full proof of the falsehood of any such supposition as 
 that he was a prelatical bishop ; because (a) there are but two 
 orders of officers in the church spoken of in those Epistles; 
 (6) they contain no description of his own office as a prelate ; 
 (c) they contain full and explicit directions on a great variety 
 of other topics, of far less importance than the office which, 
 according to Episcopacy, was to constitute the WTJ peculiarity 
 of the church ; and not a word respecting his brother bishops 
 then existing, or any intimation that such an order of men 
 ever icould exist. 
 
 In regard to Titus, we proved, (1) That he was left in 
 Crete for the special purpose of completing a work which 
 Paul had begun ; (2) that Paul gave him express directions, 
 when he had done that to come to him ; and (3) that he 
 obeyed the command, left Crete, and became the travelling 
 companion of Paul ; and that there is not the slightest reason 
 to suppose that he ever returned to Crete. 
 
 In regard to the " angels" of the seven churches, we showed 
 that the whole of Dr. Onderdonk s argument was a mere 
 assumption, that there was an inferior body of the " clergy at 
 large;" that they were in each of those cities more churches 
 than one, a fact which should be proved, not assumed ; 
 also, that the style of the address to the (( angel," was that 
 of the u angel of the church," evidently referring to an indivi 
 dual congregation, and not to such a group of churches as 
 constitute a modern diocese ; and that the application of the 
 term (( angel," to the pastor of a single church, was more 
 obvious, and much the more probable supposition, than to 
 a the formal, unfrequent, and in many instances, stately and 
 pompous visitations of a diocesan bishop." 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 291 
 
 To this argument there is no reply, except by an assump 
 tion that Timothy was bishop of Ephesus; that the same 
 thing must be presumed to exist in the year 96 ; and that 
 the "elders" at Ephesus being there also, and being ministers, 
 any direction to the "angel/ must suppose that he was supe 
 rior to the presbyters. (Answer, p. 17.) Now the whole of 
 this argument proceeds on the supposition that the elders at 
 Ephesus were ordained ministers of the gospel, a distinct rank 
 of the clergy, and sustaining the same office as the " second 
 order" in the Episcopal Church. But this is assuming the 
 very point in debate. In our review, we showed, (p. 232,) 
 that all the facts in the case of the ciders at Ephesus (Acts 
 xx. IT, etc.) are met by the supposition that they were 
 ruling elders, or persons appointed to govern, guide, and 
 secure, the spiritual welfare of the church. Our argument 
 is, (1.) That Dr. Onderdonk admits, that the word rendered 
 " feed," (xoi/j.atvetv, ) may mean to rule, (Tract, pp. 24, 37.) 
 (2.) That the idea of ruling is the one which is there specifi 
 cally dwelt on. That he directs them to " feed," or exercise 
 the office of a shepherd over them, that is, to guard, defend, 
 provide for them, as a shepherd does in the care of his flock. 
 He directs them to watch against the grievous wolves which 
 should come in, and against those who should rise up from 
 among themselves, to secure parties, etc. (3.) There is no 
 counsel given them about the proper mode of administering 
 the sacraments, the peculiar duty of the " second order" of 
 clergy. (4.) There is no expression of lamentation that they 
 had not a prelatical bishop; or any intimation that they 
 should soon be furnished with one. (5.) It is evidently im 
 plied that the number of these elders was considerable. They 
 are addressed as such; and yet they are addressed as in 
 charge of one " flock," over which they had been placed. 
 Now it is incredible that any considerable body of the 
 " second order of clergy" should have been ordained in an 
 
292 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 infant church like Ephesus. And it is equally incredible, 
 that if Paul had so ordained them, he should have set them 
 over one flock, in a single city, collegiate " rectors" in a 
 single church in Ephesus, under a " diocesan" also, of the 
 single " flock," or church ; a diocesan not then present, and 
 concerning whom not the slightest hint was dropped by Paul, 
 either of lamentation or promise. So that, on the whole, one 
 knows not at which to be most surprised the number of 
 assumptions indispensable to the purpose of " enthroning" 
 the Bishop Timothy at Ephesus, or the singular coolness with 
 which Episcopalians urge all these assumptions, as if they 
 were grave matters of historical record. 
 
 In reference to the term "angel/ as used in the Apoca 
 lypse, we have only to remark, further, that the interpretation 
 which makes it refer to a prelatical bishop, is so unnatural 
 and forced, that Episcopalians are, many of them, themselves 
 compelled to abandon it. Thus Stillingfleet, than whom 
 an abler man, and one whose praise is higher in Episcopal 
 churches, is not to be found among the advocates of prelacy, 
 says of these angels : " If many things in the epistles be de 
 noted to the angels, but yet so as to concern the whole body, 
 then, of necessity, the angel must be taken as a representative 
 of the whole body; and then, why may not the word angel 
 be taken by way of representation of the body itself, either 
 of the whole church, or, which is far more probable, of the 
 consessorsj or order of presbyters in that church ? We see 
 what miserable, unaccountable arguments those are, which 
 are brought for any kind of government, from metaphorical 
 or ambiguous expressions, or names promiscuously used." 
 Irenicum. 
 
 In regard to this second point, which it is incumbent on 
 Episcopalians to make out, we are now prepared to estimate 
 the force of these arguments. The case stands thus : 
 (1.) There is no command in the New Testament to the 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 293 
 
 apostles to transmit the peculiarity of the apostolic office. 
 If there had been, the industry of Dr. Onderdonk would have 
 called it to our attention. If the peculiarity of the office was 
 to be transmitted, it was required that such a command should 
 be given. (2.) There is no affirmation that it would be thus 
 transmitted. If there had been, Dr. Onderdonk s Tract would 
 not have been so barren on this point. And we ask him 
 whether it is credible that the apostles were bishops of a 
 superior order, and that it was designed that all the church 
 should be subject to an order of men " superior in ministerial 
 rank and power/ deriving their authority from the apostles ; 
 and yet not the slightest command thus to transmit it, and 
 not the slightest hint that it would be clone ? We say again, 
 Credo t Judge us Apdlal (3.) It was impossible that the 
 peculiarity of the apostolic office should be transmitted. We 
 have shown, not by assumptions, but by a large array of pas 
 sages of Scripture, what that peculiarity was,*-- to bear witness 
 to the great events which went to prove that Jesus was the 
 Messiah. We have been met in this proof by the calm and 
 dignified observation that this was a a showy" argument; and 
 we now affirm that the peculiarity of that office, as specified 
 by Jesus Christ, by the chosen apostles, by Paul, and by the 
 whole college, COULD NOT be transmitted ; that no bishop is, 
 or can be a iritnrss, in the sense and for the purpose for which 
 they were originally designated. (4.) We have examined the 
 case of Timothy, of Titus, and of the angels of the churches, 
 the slender basis on which the fabric of Episcopal preten 
 sion has been reared. We now affirm, (5.) That, should we 
 admit all that Episcopalians claim, on each of these points, 
 there is not the slightest proof, as a matter of historical 
 record, that the Episcopal office has been transmitted from 
 prelate to prelate ; but that the pretended line has been often 
 broken, and that no jury would give a verdict to the amount 
 of five dollars, on proof so slender as can be adduced for the 
 
 25* 
 
294 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 uninterrupted succession of prelates. As satisfactory evidence 
 on this point, we repeat the following passage, contained in 
 the September number of this journal : 
 
 " We are informed by many ancient historians, and very ex 
 pressly by Lode, in his famous Ecclesiastical History, that at the 
 request of Oswald, King of Northumberland, certain presbyters came 
 (in the seventh century) from Scotland into England, and ordained 
 bishops ; that the abbot, and other presbyters of the island of Ily, 
 sent Aydan for this express purpose, declaring him to be worthy 
 of the office of bishop, and that he ought to be sent to instruct 
 the unbelieving and the unlearned. He informs us, that those 
 presbyters ordained him and sent him to England on this errand ; 
 and that Finan, sent from the same monastery in the same island, 
 succeeded him in the episcopal office, after having been ordained by 
 the Scottish presbyters. 
 
 " Upon this testimony of Bede, Baxter remarks: You will find 
 that the English had a, succession of bishops by the Scottish presbyter s 
 ordination; and there is no mention in Bede of any dislike or scruple 
 of the lawfulness of this course. The learned Dr. Doddridge refers 
 us to Bede and Jones to substantiate the fact that the ordination 
 of English bishops cannot be traced up to the Church of Rome as its 
 original ; that in the year 668, the successors of Austin, the monk, 
 (who came over A. D. 596,) being almost extinct, by far the greater 
 part of the bishops were of Scottish ordination, by Aydan and Finan, 
 who came out of the Culdee monastery of Columbanus, and were no 
 more than presbyters. 
 
 11 And is it verily so, that the Episcopal blood was thus early 
 and extensively contaminated in England ? Is it verily so, that 
 when the effects of pious Austin s labours had become almost im 
 perceptible, the sinking church was revived again, by sending to 
 Scotland or presbyters to come and ordain a multitude of bishops ? 
 Then it is verily a fact that presbyterian ordination is one of the 
 sturdiest pillars that support the vast fabric of the Church of Eng 
 land. No matter if only ten bishops Avere thus ordained, the con 
 tamination (if it be one) having been imparted more than eleven 
 hundred years ago, has had a long time to diffuse itself, and doubtless 
 has diffused itself so extensively from bishop to bishop, that not a 
 single prelate in Great Britain can prove that he has escaped the 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 295 
 
 infection. For what oue of them can tell, if he was not consecrated 
 by bishops, who were themselves consecrated by bishops, and they 
 by other bishops, to whom all the ordaining power they ever had, 
 was transmitted from the presbyters of Scotland? I5ut this is not the 
 whole of the evil. As no one bishop can trace his episcopal pedi 
 gree farther back, perhaps, than two or three centuries, so lie 
 cannot certainly know that any presbyter, on whose head he has 
 imposed hands, has received from him any thing more than pres- 
 byterian ordination. Nor is this all the evil. The Protestant Epis 
 copal bishops and presbyters in America are in the same plight ; 
 for I am told that all their authority came from England. But as 
 the English bishops who gave it to them, could not I hen, and cannot 
 now, certainly, tell whence it came, so who knows but all the Epis 
 copal clergy in the United States of America are originally indebted 
 to the hands of the Elder Ay dan and Elder Finan for all their minis 
 terial powers ? I tremble for all Protestant Episcopal churches 
 on both continents, if Presbyterian ordination be not VALID and 
 SCRIPTURAL. : pp. 480, 487. 
 
 One point more, in the argument for Episcopacy, remains. 
 It is, that none Lut prelates ordained. It is incumbent on 
 Episcopalians to prove this, as essential to their argument. 
 For if presbyters or elders exercised tlie office of ordaining, 
 then the main point claimed for the superiority of bishops 
 is unfounded. We aim, therefore, to show that there is posi 
 tive proof that presbyters did ordain. We have shown in the 
 course of our argument, that they exercised the office of disci 
 pline, one of the things claimed peculiarly for bishops ; we 
 now proceed to show that the office of ordaining was one 
 which was intrusted to them, and which they exercised. If 
 this point be made out, it follows still further, that the 
 peculiarity of the office of the apostles was not that they 
 ordained, and that the clergy of the New Testament are not 
 divided into " three orders," but are equal in ministerial rank 
 and power. The argument is indeed complete without this ; 
 for, unless Episcopalians can show, by positive proof, the 
 superiority of their bishops to the right of ordination and 
 
296 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 discipline, the parity of the clergy follows as a matter of 
 course. 
 
 The writer of these articles is a Presbyterian. But the 
 argument does not require that he should go largely into the 
 proof of his own views on church polity. The object is to 
 disprove Episcopacy. If this is disproved, it follows that the 
 clergy are on an equality. If it is shown that the doctrine of 
 the New Testament is, that presbyters were to ordain, it is a 
 sufficient disposal of the "feeble claims of lay-ordination," 
 and of all other claims. It will follow that a valid ordination 
 is that which is performed in accordance with the direction 
 that presbyters should ordain. What particular churches, 
 besides the Presbyterian, accord in their practice with the 
 direction, it is not our business to inquire. It is sufficient for 
 our purpose that the Presbyterian churches accord with that 
 requirement, and follow the direction of the New Testament, 
 in the ordination of their ministry by presbyters, and in their 
 ministerial equality. This is all the reply that is necessary to 
 the train of reflections in the "Answer," (pp. 5, 6.) We 
 have seen, also, that Episcopal ordination is valid, not because 
 it is performed by a prelate, but because it is, in fact, a mere 
 Presbyterian performance. 
 
 In proof of the point now before us, therefore, we adduce 
 1 Tim. iv. 14: "Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which 
 was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands 
 of the presbytery." Of this passage, which, to the common 
 sense of mankind, affirms the very thing under discussion, it 
 is evidently material for Episcopalians to dispose; or their 
 claims to exclusive rights and privileges are forever destroyed. 
 We shall, therefore, examine the passage, and then notice the 
 objections to its obvious and common-sense interpretation, 
 alleged by Dr. Onderclonk. 
 
 W r e observe, then, (1.) That the translation of the passage 
 is fairly made. Much learned criticism has been exhausted, 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 297 
 
 to very little purpose, by Episcopalians, to show .that a differ 
 ence existed between " with/ (/ -",) in this place, and 
 "by," (&,) in 2 Tim. i. 6. It has been said "that such a 
 distinction may justly be regarded as intimating that the 
 virtue of the ordaining act flowed from Paul, while the pres 
 bytery, or the rest of that body, if he were included in it, 
 expressed only consent." (Tract, p. 22.) But it has never 
 been shown, nor can it be, that the preposition u with" does 
 not fairly express the force of the original. The same obser 
 vation may be applied to the word " presbytery," (-pzffpurs- 
 fAov. ) It denotes properly a body, or assembly of elders, or 
 presbyters. In Luke xxii. 66, it is applied to the body of 
 elders which composed the Sanhedrim, or great council of the 
 Jews, and is translated " the elders of the people/ (TO -xpsff- 
 pvripiov TOO /aoD.) See also Acts xxii. 5 : " The estate of the 
 elders." The word occurs nowhere else in the New Testa 
 ment, except in the passage under consideration. Dr. Onder- 
 donk has endeavoured to show that it means <( the office to 
 which Timothy was ordained, not the persons who ordained 
 him ; so that the passage would read, l with the laying on of 
 hands to confer the presbyter ate, or presbytership, or the 
 clerical office / and appeals to the authority of Grotius and 
 Calvin in the case. (Tract, pp. 19, 20.) In regard to this 
 interpretation, we observe, (1.) That if this be correct, then 
 it follows that Timothy was not an apostle, but an elder, he 
 was ordained to the office of the presbyter ate, or the eldership. 
 Timothy, then, is to be laid out of the college of the apostles, 
 and reduced to the humble office of a presbyter. When pre 
 lacy is to be established by showing that the office of apostles 
 was transmitted, Timothy is an apostle ; when it is necessary 
 to make another use of this same man, it appears that he was 
 ordained to the presbyter ate j and Timothy becomes a humble 
 presbyter. But (2) if the word " presbytery" (xpefffivTfytov) 
 here means the presbyterate, and not the persons, then it 
 
298 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 doubtless means the same in the two other places where it 
 occurs. In Luke xxii. 66, we shall receive the information, 
 that "the presbyterate/ "the presbytership," or "the cleri 
 cal office" of the people, that is, the body by which the 
 people conferred " the presbyterate," came together with the 
 scribes, etc. In Acts xxii. 5, we shall be informed, that " the 
 presbyterate," or the " clerical office," would bear witness 
 with the high-priest to the life of Paul. Such absurdities 
 show the propriety of adhering, in interpretation, to the 
 obvious and usual meaning of the words. (3.) The word is 
 fixed in its meaning in the usage of the church. Suicer 
 (Thesaurus) says, it denotes " an assembly, congregation, and 
 college of presbyters in the Christian church." In all the 
 instances which he quotes from Theodoret, (on 1 Tim. iv. 14,) 
 from Chrysostom, (Homil. xiii. on this Epistle,) from Theo- 
 phylact, (in locum,) and from Ignatius, (Epis. to Antioch and 
 to the Trallians,) there is not the slightest evidence that it is 
 ever used to denote the office, instead of the persons, of the 
 presbytery. (4.) As the opinion of Grotius is referred to by 
 Dr. Onderdonk, we beg leave to quote here a passage from his 
 commentary on this place : " The custom was, that the pres 
 byters who were present placed their hands on the head of the 
 candidate, at the same time with the presiding officer of their 
 body," cum ccetus sui principe. " Where the apostles, or 
 their assistants, were not present, ordination took place by the 
 presiding officer (prsesidc?n) of their body, with the concur 
 rence of the presbytery." We were particularly surprised 
 that the authority of CALVIN should have been adduced, as 
 sanctioning that interpretation, which refers to the word pres 
 bytery to office, and not to persons. His words are : " They 
 who interpret presbytery, here, as a collective noun, denoting 
 the college of presbyters, are, in my opinion, right." Our 
 first argument, then, is, that the word " presbytery," 
 denoting the persons who composed the lody or college 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 299 
 
 of elders, is the proper, obvious, and established sense of the 
 passage. 
 
 (2.) It is evident from this passage, that whoever or what 
 ever else might have been engaged ill this transaction, a 
 material part of it belonged to the presbytery or eldership 
 concerned. "Neglect not the <jift that -is in thw, irhtch icas 
 given tliee ly prophecy; WITH THE LAYING ox OF THE 
 HANDS OF THE PRESBYTERY." Here it is evident that the 
 presbytery bore a material part in the transaction. Paul says 
 that the gift was in Timothy, was given him by prophecy^ 
 with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. That is, 
 that prophecy, or some prophecies relating to Timothy, (comp. 
 1 Tim. i. 18, " according to the prophecies which went before 
 thee/ ) had designated him as a proper person for the minis 
 try, or that he would be employed in the ministry but the 
 prophecy did not invest him with the office did not confer 
 the gift. That was done that formal appointment fulfilling 
 the prophecy by the imposition of the hands of the presby 
 tery. It was necessary that that act of the presbytery should 
 thus concur with the prophecy, or Timothy had remained a 
 layman. The presbyters laid their hands on him; and he 
 thus received his office. As the prophecy made no part 
 of his ordination, it follows that he was ordained by the 
 presbytery. 
 
 (8.) The statement here is just one which would be given 
 now in a Presbyterian ordination; it is not one which would 
 be made in an Episcopalian ordination. A Presbyterian would 
 choose these very words to give an account of an ordination in 
 his church ; an Episcopalian would not. The former speaks 
 of ordination by a presbytery ; the lajter of ordination by a 
 bishop. The former can use the account of the Apostle Paul 
 here, as applicable to ordination, without explanations, com 
 ments, new versions, and criticisms ; the latter cannot. The 
 passage speaks to the common understanding of men in favour 
 
300 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 of Presbyterian ordination of the action of a presbytery in 
 the case : it never speaks the language of Episcopacy, even 
 after all the torture to which it may be subjected by Episco 
 pal criticism. The passage is one, too, which is not like 
 the "apostles and elders/ "the apostles, and elders, and 
 brethren," the only direct passage on which Episcopacy 
 relies a passage which has no perceptible connection with the 
 case; but it is one that speaks on the very subject; which 
 relates to the exact transaction ; and which makes a positive 
 affirmation of the very thing in debate. 
 
 (4.) The supposition that this was not a presbyterial tran 
 saction renders the passage unmeaning. Here was present a 
 body of men called a presbytery. We ask the Episcopalian, 
 why they were present ? The answer is, not for the purpose 
 of ordination, but for " concurrence. " Paul, the bishop, is 
 the sole ordainer. We see Timothy bowing before the pres 
 bytery. We see them solemnly impose their hands on him. 
 We ask, Why is this? "Not for the purpose of ordination/ 
 the Episcopalian replies, " but for concurrence/ Paid is the 
 ordainer/ But, we ask, Had they no share in the ordina 
 tion ? " None at all." Had they no participation in con 
 ferring the gift designated by prophecy? "None at all." 
 Why then present? Why did they impose hands? For 
 "concurrence/ for form, for nothing! It was an empty 
 pageantry, in which they were mistaken, when supposing 
 that their act had something to do in conferring the gift; 
 for their presence really meant nothing, and the whole trans 
 action could as well have been performed without as with 
 them. 
 
 (5.) If this ordination was the joint act of the presbytery, 
 we have here a complete scriptural account of a Presbyterian 
 ordination. It becomes, then, a very material question, how 
 the Episcopalians dispose of this passage of Scripture. Their 
 difficulties and embarrassments on this subject will still farther 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 301 
 
 confirm the obvious interpretation wliicli Presbyterians suggest 
 and bold. Tbese difficulties and embarrassments arc thus pre 
 sented by Dr. Onderdonk : 
 
 He first doubts whether this transaction was an ordina 
 tion. (Tract, pp. 18-19.) To this we answer, (1) That, if 
 it were not, then there is no account that Timothy was ever 
 ordained; (2) that there is no specific work mentioned in 
 the history of the apostles, to which Timothy was desig 
 nated, unless it was ordination; (8) that it is the obvious 
 and fair meaning of the passage; (4) that if this does not 
 refer to ordination, it would be easy to apply the same denial 
 to all the passages which speak of the " imposition of hands," 
 and to show that there was no such thing as ordination to 
 the ministry in any case; (5) that it accords with the com 
 mon usage of the term " imposition of hands," (t/rctf^n? TWV 
 /stpwv, ) in the New Testament. The phrase occurs but four 
 times : Acts viii. 18; 1 Tim. iv. 14; 2 Tim. i. 6; Hcb. vi. 2. 
 In all these places it evidently denotes conferring some gift, 
 office, or favour described by the act. In 2 Tim. i. G, it 
 denotes, by the acknowledgment of all Episcopalians, ordina 
 tion to the ministry. Why should it not here ? (6.) If, as 
 Dr. Onderdonk supposes, it refers to " an inspired designa 
 tion of one already in the ministry, to a particular field of 
 duty/ (Tract, p. 19,) then, () we ask, why we have no 
 other mention of this transaction ? (6) we ask, how it is to 
 be accounted for that Paul, while here evidently referring 
 Timothy to the duties and responsibilities of the ministerial 
 office in general, should not refer to his ordination, but to 
 a designation to a particular field of labour? His argu 
 ment to Timothy, on such a supposition, would be this : 
 " Your office of minister of the gospel is one that is exceed 
 ingly important. A bishop must be blameless, vigilant, 
 sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach, 
 not given to wine, etc. (chap, iii.) In order to impress this 
 VOL. I. 26 
 
302 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 more deeply on you, to fix these great duties in your mind, 
 I refer you not to the solemnity of your ordination vows 
 but I solemnly remind you of an inspired separation of one 
 already in the ministry to a particular field of duty. " 
 We need only observe here, that this is not a strain of argu 
 ment that looks like Paul. But, 
 
 Secondly. Dr. Onderdonk supposes that this was not a 
 Presbyterian ordination. (Tract, pp. 19-21.) His first sup 
 position is, that the word "presbytery" does not mean persons, 
 but the office, (p. 19.) This we have already noticed. He 
 next supposes, (pp. 20, 21,) that, if "the presbytery" here 
 means not the office given to Timothy, but a body of elders, 
 that it cannot be shown "of whom this ordaining presbytery 
 was composed/ (p. 21.) And he then proceeds to state that 
 there are "seven modes" in which this " presb} T tery" might 
 be composed. It might be made up of "ruling elders ;" or, it 
 might be composed of the " grade called presbyters ;" or, as 
 Peter and John called themselves "elders/ 7 it might be made 
 up of "apostles;" or, "there may have been ruling elders 
 and presbyters; or presbyters and one or more apostles; or, 
 ruling elders and one or more of the apostles ; or, ruling 
 elders, and presbyters, and apostles," (p. 21.) Now, as Dr. 
 Onderdonk has not informed us which of these modes he pre 
 fers, we are left merely to conjecture. We may remark on 
 these suppositions, (1.) That they are mere suppositions. 
 There is not the shadow of proof to support them. The 
 word "presbytery" "a body of elders" does not appear to 
 be such a difficult word of interpretation, as to make it neces 
 sary to envelop it in so much mist, in order to understand it. 
 Dr. Onderdonk s argument here is such as a man always em 
 ploys, when he is pressed by difficulties which he cannot meet, 
 and when he throws himself, as it were, into a labyrinth, in 
 the hope that amid its numerous passages, he may escape 
 detection and evade pursuit. (2.) If this " body of elders" 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 303 
 
 was made up of "ruling elders/ or, "of the grade called 
 presbyters/ then the argument of Episcopacy is overthrown. 
 Here is an instance, on either supposition, of Presbyterian 
 ordination, which is fatal to the claims that bishops only 
 ordain. Or, if it be supposed that this was not an ordination, 
 but "an inspired separation of one already in the ministry to 
 a particular field of duty," it is an act equally fatal to the 
 claim of prelates to the general " superintendence" of the 
 church; -since it is manifest that these "elders" took upon 
 themselves the functions of this office, and designated " the 
 bishop of Ephesus" to his field of labour. Such a transaction 
 would scarcely meet with Episcopal approbation in the nine 
 teenth century. 
 
 But in regard to the other suppositions, that a part of all 
 the " presbytery" was composed of apostles, we remark : 
 (1.) That it is a merely gratuitous supposition. There is not 
 an instance in which the term " presbytery/ or " body of 
 elders," is applied, in the New Testament, to the collective 
 body of the apostles. (2.) On the supposition that the 
 " presbytery" was composed entirely of apostles, then we ask, 
 how it happens that, in 2 Tim. i. 6, Paul appropriates to him 
 self a power, which belonged to every one of them in as full a 
 right as to him ? How came they to surrender their power 
 into the hands of an individual ? Was it the character of 
 Paul thus to assume authority which did not belong to him ? 
 We have seen already how, on the supposition of the Episco 
 palian, he -superseded Bishop Timothy in the exercise of disci 
 pline, in Corinth and in his own diocese at Ephcsus: we have 
 now an instance in which he claims all the virtue of the 
 ordaining power, where his fellow-apostles must have been 
 equally concerned. 
 
 But if a part only of this "presbytery" was composed of 
 apostles, and the remainder presbyters, either ruling elders or 
 " the second grade," we would make the following inquiries : 
 
304 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 (1.) Was he ordained as a j_>rdaic? So the Episcopalians 
 with one voice declare, prelate of Ephcsus. Then it follows 
 that Timothy, a prelate, was set apart to his work by the 
 imposition of the hands of elders. What was then his prela- 
 tical character? Does the water in the cistern rise higher 
 than the fountain ? If laymen were concerned, Timothy was 
 a layman still. If presbyters, Timothy was a presbyter still. 
 And thus all the power of prelates, from him of Rome down 
 ward, has come through the hands of humble presbyters, 
 just as we believe, and just as history affirms. (2.) Was he 
 ordained as a presbyter ? Then his Episcopal character, so 
 far as it depends on his ordination, is swept away ; and thus 
 we have not a solitary instance of the consecration of a prelate 
 in all the New Testament. 
 
 Which of these suppositions of Dr. Onderdonk he is dis 
 posed to receive as the true one, we are unable to say. All 
 of them cannot be true ; and whichever he chooses is, as we 
 have seen, equally fatal to his argument, and involves a refu 
 tation of the claims of prelacy. 
 
 The only other reply, with which Dr. Onderdonk meets the 
 argument for Presbyterian ordination, from this passage, is, 
 by the supposition that the virtue of the ordaining act was 
 derived from the Apostle Paul. The passage on which 
 he rests the argument is, (2 Tim. i. 6:) "That thou stir 
 up the gift of God which is in thee, by the putting on 
 of MY hands." On this passage we observe, (1.) Paul does 
 not deny that other hands were also imposed on Timothy ; 
 nor that his authority was derived also from others, in con 
 junction with himself. (2.) That, by the supposition of 
 Episcopalians, as well as Presbyterians, other hands were, in 
 fact, imposed on him. (3.) It was perfectly natural for Paul, 
 in consequence of the relation which Timothy sustained to 
 him, as his adopted son, (1 Tim i. 2 ;) as being selected 
 by him for the ministry, (Acts xvi. 3 ;) and as being his 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 305 
 
 companion in tlic ministry and in travels, to remind him, 
 near the close of his own life, (2 Tim. iv. 6,) that he had 
 been solemnly set apart to the work by himself, to bring his 
 oic n agency into full view, in order to stimulate and encou 
 rage him. That Paul had a part in the act of the ordination, 
 we admit; that others also had a part, the u presbytery," 
 we have proved. (4.) The expression, which is here used, is 
 just such as an aged Presbyterian minister would now use, if 
 directing a farewell letter to a son in the ministry. lie 
 would remind him, as Paul does in this Epistle, (2 Tim. 
 iv. G,) that he was about to leave the ministry and the world; 
 and, if he wished to impress his mind in a peculiarly tender 
 manner, he would remind him, also, that he took part in his 
 ordination; that, under his own hands, he had been desig 
 nated to the work of the ministry; and would endeavour to 
 deepen his conviction of the importance and magnitude of the 
 work, by the reflection that he had been solemnly set apart to 
 it by a father. Yet who would infer from this, that the aged 
 Presbyterian would wish to be regarded as a prelate? 
 
 Dr. Onderdonk remarks on this case, (Tract, p. 22,) that, 
 if Paul was engaged in the transaction, it was the work of an 
 apostle, and was " an apostolic ordination/ 7 We admit that 
 it was an " apostolic ordination ; ; but when will Episcopalians 
 learn to suppose it possible, that an "apostolic ordination" 
 was not a prdatical ordination ? Did not Dr. Onderdonk 
 see that this was assuming the very point in debate, that 
 the peculiarity of the apostolic office was the power of or- 
 daiuiny? We reply, further, that whoever was engaged in 
 it, a " presbytery" was concerned, and it was a Presbyterian 
 ordination. 
 
 We have now considered all the objections that have been 
 made to the obvious interpretation of this passage; and we are 
 prepared to submit it to any candid mind, as a full and un 
 qualified statement of an instance of Presbyterian ordination, 
 
 26* 
 
306 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 Whichever of the half-dozen suppositions assuming a hue, 
 chameleon-like, from the nature of the argument to be refuted 
 which Episcopalians are compelled to apply to the passage, 
 is adopted, we have seen that they involve them in all the 
 difficulties of an unnatural interpretation, and conduct us, by 
 a more circuitous route, only to the plain and common-sense 
 exposition of the passage, as decisive in favour of Presbyterian 
 ordination. 
 
 Having thus shown that there was one Presbyterian ordi 
 nation, in the case of Timothy, claimed by Episcopalians as a 
 prelate, and this, too, in perhaps the only instance of ordina 
 tion to the ministry recorded in the New Testament ; we now 
 proceed to adduce the case of a cJiurcli that was not organized 
 on the principles of Episcopalians, with three orders of clergy. 
 We refer to the church at Philippi. " Paul and Timothy, 
 servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, who 
 are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons." (aov l-urxd- 
 7:00; xai 8tax6 soi~. ) In regard to this church, we make the 
 following observations: (1.) It was organized by the Apostle 
 Paul himself, in connection with Silas, and was, therefore, 
 on the truly "primitive and apostolic" plan. (Acts xvi.) 
 (2.) It was in the centre of a large territory, the capital of 
 Macedonia, and not likely to be placed in subjection to a 
 diocesan of another region. (3.) It was surrounded by other 
 churches ; as we have express mention of the church at Thes- 
 salonica and the preaching of the gospel at Berea, (Acts xvii.) 
 (4.) There is mention made of but two orders of men. What 
 the deacons were, we know from the appointment in Acts 
 vi. 1-6. They were designated, not to preach, but to take 
 care of the poor members of the church, and to distribute the 
 alms of the saints. As we have there, in the original appoint 
 ment of the office, the express and extended mention of its 
 functions, we are to infer that the design was the same at 
 Philippi. If we admit, however, the supposition of the Epis- 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 307 
 
 copalians, that the deacons were preachers, it will not at all 
 affect our argument. The other class, therefore, the u bishops/ 
 constitute the preaching order, or the clergy, those to whom 
 were committed the preaching of the word, the administration 
 of the sacraments, and of the discipline of the church. Now, 
 cither these bishops were prelates, or they were the pastors, 
 the presltytcrs of the church. If Episcopalians choose to say 
 that they were prelates, then it follows, (a) that there was 
 a plurality of such prelates in the same diocese, and the same 
 city, and the same church which is contrary to the funda 
 mental idea of Episcopacy. It follows, also, (U) that there is 
 entirely wanting, in this church, the " second order" of clergy ; 
 that an Episcopal church is organized, defective in one of the 
 essential grades, with an appointment of a body of prelates, 
 without presbyters; that is, an order of "superior" men, 
 designated to exercise jurisdiction over "priests" who had no 
 existence. If it be said that the " presbyters," or " second 
 order," might have been there, though Paul did not expressly 
 name them, then we are presented with the remarkable fact, 
 that he specifies the deacons, an inferior order, and expresses 
 to them his Christian salutations; that he salutes and addresses 
 also the saints, and yet entirely disregards those who had the 
 special pastoral charge of the church. Paul thus becomes a 
 model of disrespect and incivility. In the Epistles to Timothy, 
 he gives him directions about every thing else, but no counsel 
 about his brother prelates : in the epistles to the churches, he 
 salutes their prelates and their deacons, but becomes utterly 
 regardless of the "second order of clergy," the immediate 
 pastors of the churches. 
 
 But if our Episcopal brethren prefer to say that the 
 " bishops," here, mean, not prelates, but presbyters, we, so 
 far, shall agree with them ; and then it follows, (a) That here 
 is an undeniable instance of a church, or rather a group of 
 churches, large enough to satisfy the desire of any diocesan 
 
308 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 bishop for extended jurisdiction, organized without any pre 
 late. None is mentioned ] and there are but two orders of 
 men to whom the care of the u saints at Philippi" is intrusted. 
 (6) If there was a prelate there, then, we ask, why Paul did 
 not refer to him, with affectionate salutations ? Why does 
 he refer to a the second and the third orders of clergy," 
 without the slightest reference to the man who was u superior 
 to them in ministerial rank and power?" Was Paul jealous 
 of the prelate ? or have we here another instance of indecorum 
 and incivility ? (c) If they had had a prelate, and the see 
 was now vacant, why is there no reference to this fact ? why 
 no condolence at their loss ? why no prayer that God would 
 send them a man to enter into the vacant diocese ? (d) Epis 
 copalians have sometimes felt the pressure of these difficulties 
 to be so great, that they have supposed the prelate to have 
 been absent when this Epistle was addressed to the church at 
 Philippi ; and, that this was the reason why he was not 
 remembered in the salutation. Of this solution, we observe 
 only, that, like some other of their arguments, it is mere 
 assumption. And even granting this assumption, it is an 
 inquiry of not very easy solution, why Paul did not make 
 sonic reference to this fact, and ask their prayers for the 
 absent prelate. One can scarcely help being forcibly re 
 minded, by the ineffectual efforts of Episcopalians to find a 
 prelate at Philippi, of a remarkable transaction mentioned 
 1 Kings xviii. 27, 28, to which we need only refer our readers. 
 It is scarcely necessary to add, that if a single church is 
 proved to have been organized without the " three orders 
 of clergy," the parity of the ministry is made out by apos 
 tolic appointment, and the Episcopal argument is at an end. 
 
 We may add, that our view of the organization of the 
 church in Philippi, is confirmed by an examination of the 
 organization of the church in its immediate neighbourhood, 
 in Thessalonica. In the two epistles which Paul directed to 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 309 
 
 that church, there is not the slightest reference to any prcla- 
 tical bishop; there is no mention of " three orders of clergy / 
 there is no hint that the church was organized on that plan. 
 But one order of ministers is mentioned, evidently as entitled 
 to the same respect, and as on an entire equality. They were 
 men, clearly of the same rank, and engaged in discharging the 
 functions of the same office : a And we beseech you, brethren, 
 to know them which labour among you, and are over you in 
 the Lord, and admonish you ; and to esteem them very highly 
 in love, for their work s sake." 1 Thess. v. 12, 13. Will our 
 Episcopal friends be kind enough to inform us why there is 
 no mention of the prelate, whether present or absent? 
 
 We are here prepared to estimate the force of the unde 
 niable fact that there is no distinction of grade or rank by the 
 name* which are given to the ministers of the gospel in the 
 New Testament. It is admitted by Episcopalians themselves 
 that the names bishop, presbyter, etc. in the Bible, do not 
 denote those ranks of church officers to which they are now 
 applied, but are given indiscriminately to all. On this point 
 we have the authority of Dr. Onderdonk. " The name 
 bishop/ " says he, "which now designates the highest grade 
 of the ministry, is not appropriated to this office in. Scripture. 
 That name is given to the middle order, or presbyters ; and 
 
 ALL THAT WE READ IN THE NEW TESTAMENT CONCERNING 
 
 BISHOPS, (including, of course, the words overseers and 
 oversight/ which have the same derivation,) is TO BE 
 
 REGARDED AS PERTAINING TO THIS MIDDLE GRADE." (Tract, 
 
 p. 12.) "Another irregularity of the same kind occurs in 
 regard to the word elder. It is sometimes used for a minis 
 ter, or clergyman of any grade, higher, middle, or lower ; but 
 it more strictly signifies a presbyter." Tract, p. 14. 
 
 In accordance with this fact, which is as remarkable as it is 
 true, we have seen that Peter applies to himself the name 
 of presbyter, and puts himself on a level with other presbyters : 
 
310 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 " The presbyters which are among you I exhort, (not ; I com 
 mand, or enjoin, as a prelate would do,) who am also a pres 
 byter." 1 Pet. v. 1. And in the very next verse, he exhorts 
 them (the ciders or presbyters) to "feed the flock of God, 
 taking the oversight, (i-Kr/.o-owrsq, exercising the office of 
 bishop,) not by constraint," etc. 
 
 Now let these conceded facts be borne in mind. The term 
 presbyter is applied to the apostles : " All that we read of in 
 the New Testament concerning bishops/ is applied to the 
 middle grade." The apostles address each other, and their 
 brethren, by the same terms by no words or names that 
 indicate rank, or grade, or authority. We maintain that this 
 fact can be accounted for, only on the supposition that they 
 regarded themselves as ministers, as on a level. If they 
 meant to teach that one class was superior in rank and power 
 to others, we maintain that they would not have used terms 
 always confounding such distinctions, and always proceeding 
 on the supposition that they were on an equality. It will not 
 be pretended that they could not employ terms that would 
 have marked the various grades. For if the term " bishop" 
 can now do it, it could have done it then ; if the term presby 
 ter can now be used to denote " the middle grade," it could 
 then have been so used. We maintain, too, that if such had 
 been their intention, they would have thus employed those 
 terms. That the sacred writers were capable of using lan 
 guage definitely, Dr. Onderdonk will not doubt. Why, then, 
 if they were capable, did they choose not to do it? Are 
 Episcopal bishops, now, ever as vague and indefinite in their 
 use of the terms "bishop" and "presbyters," as were the 
 apostles ? Why were the latter so undesirous of having "the 
 pre-eminence?" 3 John, 9. 
 
 It is remarkable that the mode of using these terms in the 
 New Testament is precisely in accordance with the usage in 
 Presbyterian and Congregational churches. Thc.y speak, just 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 311 
 
 as the sacred writers did, of their ministers indiscriminately as 
 te bishops/ as " pastors/ as " teachers/ as " evangelists." 
 They regard their ministers as on an equality. Did not the 
 sacred writers do the same ? 
 
 It is as remarkable, that the mode of using these terms in 
 the Episcopal churches is NOT, ex concessis, that which occurs 
 in the Bible. And it is as certain that were they thus to use 
 those terms, it would at once confound their orders and ranks, 
 and reduce their ministers to equality. Do we ever see any 
 approximation, in their addresses and in their canons, in this 
 respect, to the language and style of the New Testament ? 
 Do we ever hear of Bishop Tyng, or Bishop Hawkes, or Bishop 
 Schroeder, or Bishop Croswell ? Do we ever hear of Presbyter 
 Ives, or Doane, or Onderdonk? How would language like 
 this sound in the mouth of a prelatical bishop? Would not 
 all men be amazed, as if some new thing had happened under 
 the sun, in the Episcopal Church ? And yet, we venture to 
 presume that the terms used in the New Testament, to desig 
 nate any office, may be used still. We shall still choose to 
 call things by their true names, and to apply to all ranks and 
 orders of men the terms which are applied to them by the 
 spirit of inspiration. And as the indiscriminate use of these 
 terms is carefully avoided by the customs and canons of the 
 Episcopal Church; as there seems to have been a presenti 
 ment in the formation of those canons, that such indiscrimi 
 nate use would reduce the fabric to simple "parity" of the 
 clergy; and as these terms cannot be so used, without re 
 ducing these " ranks and orders" to a scriptural equality, we 
 come to the conclusion that the apostles meant to teach that 
 the ministers of the New Testament are equal in ministerial 
 rights and powers. 
 
 We have now gone through this entire subject. We have 
 examined, we trust, in a candid manner, we are sure with 
 the kindest feelings towards our Episcopal brethren, every 
 
312 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 argument which they have to adduce from the Bible in favour 
 of the claims of their bishops. We have disposed of these 
 arguments, step by step. We have done this, remembering 
 that these are ALL the arguments which Episcopacy has to 
 urge from the Bible. There is nothing that remains. The 
 subject is exhausted. Episcopacy rests here. And it is 
 incumbent on Episcopacy to show, not to affirm } that our 
 interpretation of those passages is not sustained by sound 
 principles of exegesis. 
 
 The burden of proof still lies on them. They assumed it, 
 and on them it rests. They affirm that enormous powers are 
 lodged in the hands of the prelate every thing pertaining to 
 ordination, to discipline, to the superintendence of the Chris 
 tian church. They claim powers tending to degrade every 
 presbyter in the world to the condition of a dependent and 
 inferior office ] stripping him of the right of transmitting his 
 own office, and of administering discipline among his own 
 flock. They arrogate powers which go to strip all other pres 
 byters, except Episcopalian, of any right to officiate in the 
 church of God ; rendering their ordination invalid, their admi 
 nistrations void, and their exercise of the functions of their 
 office a daring and impious invasion of the rights of the 
 priesthood, and a violation of the law of Christ. The founda 
 tion for these sweeping, and certainly not very modest claims, 
 we have examined with all freedom. At the conclusion we 
 may ask any person of plain, common sense, to place his 
 finger on that portion of the book of God which is favourable 
 to Prelacy. 
 
 The argument for Prelacy having been met and disproved, 
 we have produced an instance of express Presbyterian ordina 
 tion, in the case of Timothy. Two churches we have found 
 that were organized without prelates. We are thus, b} T an 
 other train of argument, conducted to the same result that 
 prelates are unknown in the New Testament. And to make 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 313 
 
 our argument perfectly conclusive, we have shown that the 
 same titles are applied indiscriminately to all. 
 
 Our argument may be stated in still fewer words. The 
 Episcopal claims are not made out and, of course, the clergy 
 of the New Testament are equal. The Episcopalian has 
 failed to show that there were different grades ; and it follows 
 that there must be parity. We have examined the only case 
 of ordination specified in the New Testament, and the consti 
 tution of the churches, and find that it is so \ and we are 
 conducted inevitably to the conclusion that Prelacy is not in 
 the Bible. 
 
 We now take our leave of the Episcopal controversy. As 
 Episcopacy has nothing which it can add to the scriptural 
 argument, we regard our labours in this department as at end. 
 The whole scriptural^ argument is exhausted, and here our 
 inquiry ends, and here our interest in this topic ceases. We 
 take leave of the subject with the same kind feelings for that 
 church, and the same respect for the author of the " Tract," 
 with which we began the inquiry. We remember the former 
 services which the Episcopal Church rendered to the cause 
 of truth, and of the world s redemption ; we remember the 
 bright and ever-living lights of truth which her clergy and 
 her illustrious laymen have, in other times, enkindled in the 
 darkness of this world s history, and which continue to pour 
 their pure and steady lustre on the literature, the laws, and 
 the customs of the Christian world ; and we trust the day will 
 never come when our own bosoms, or the bosoms of Christians 
 in any denomination, will cease to beat with emotions of lofty 
 thanksgiving to the God of grace that he raised up such 
 gifted and holy men, to meet the corruptions of the Papacy 
 and to breast the wickedness of the world. 
 
 In our view of ecclesiastical polity, we can have no unkind 
 feelings toward any branch of the true church of God. We 
 strive to cherish feelings of affectionate regard for them all, 
 Tor,. T. 27 
 
314 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 and to render praise to the common Father of Christians, for 
 any efforts which are made to promote the intelligence, the 
 purity, and the salvation of mankind. In our views of the 
 nature of mind and of freedom, we can have no unkind feelings 
 toward any denomination of true Christians. " There are 
 diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. And there are dif 
 ferences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there 
 are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which 
 worketh all in all." We have no expectation that all men 
 in this world will think alike. And we regard it as a wise 
 arrangement that the church of God is thus organized into 
 different sections and departments, under the banner of the 
 common captain of their salvation. It promotes inquiry. It 
 prevents complacency in mere forms and ceremonies. It 
 produces healthy and vigorous emulation. It affords opportu 
 nities for all classes of minds to arrange themselves according 
 to their preferences and their habits of thought. And it 
 is not unfavourable to that kindness of feeling which the 
 Christian can cherish, and should cherish, when he utters 
 in the sanctuary the article of his faith "I believe in the 
 holy catholic church, the communion of saints." The attach 
 ment of a soldier to a particular company or squadron need 
 riot diminish his respect for the armies of his country, or ex 
 tinguish his love of her liberty. Being joined to a company 
 of infantry, need not make me feel that the cavalry are use 
 less, or involve me in a controversy with the artillery. 
 
 We ask only that Episcopacy should not assume arrogant 
 claims ; that she should be willing to take her place among 
 other denominations of Christians, entitled to like respect as 
 others, to all the tender and sympathetic affections of the 
 Christian brotherhood ; and willing that others should walk 
 in the liberty wherewith Christ has made his people free. 
 We shall have no contest with our Episcopal brethren for 
 loving the church of their choice, and the church in which 
 
THE EPISCOPAL CONTROVERSY. 315 
 
 they seek to prepare themselves for heaven. We shall not 
 utter the language of unkindness, for their reverencing the 
 ministerial office in which the spirits of Cranmer and Leighton 
 were prepared for their eternal rest. Content that other 
 denominations should enjoy like freedom, while they do not 
 arrogate to themselves unholy claims, and attempt to " lord it 
 over" other parts " of God s heritage," we shall pray for 
 their success, and rejoice in their advancement. But the 
 moment they cross this line; the moment they make any 
 advances which resemble those of the Papacy ; the moment 
 they set up the claim of being the only " primitive and apos 
 tolical church;" and the moment they speak of the " invalid 
 ministry" and the " invalid ordinances" of other churches, 
 and regard them as "left to the uncovenanted mercies of 
 God," that moment the language of argument and of Chris 
 tian rebuke may properly be heard from every other denomi 
 nation. There arc minds that can investigate the Bible as 
 well as the advocates for Episcopacy ; there are pens that can 
 compete with any found in the Episcopal Church ; and there 
 are men who will not be slow to rebuke the first appearance 
 of arrogance and of lordly assumption, and who will remind 
 them that the time has gone by when an appeal to the infalli 
 ble church will answer in this controversy. Arrogant assump 
 tions, they will be at once reminded, do not suit the present 
 state of intelligence in this land, or the genius of our institu 
 tions. While the Episcopal Church shall seek, by kind and 
 gentle means, to widen its influence, like the flowing of a 
 river, or like the dews of heaven, we shall hail its advances ; 
 when she departs from this course, and seeks to utter the 
 language of authority and denunciation, to prostrate other 
 churches as with the sweepings of the mountain-torrent, she 
 will be checked by all the intelligence and piety of this land; 
 and she will be reminded by a voice uttered from all the insti- 
 
316 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 tutions of these times, that Episcopacy has had its reign of 
 authority in the dark ages and at the Vatican ; and that the 
 very genius of Protestantism is, that one church is not to utter 
 the language of arrogance over another ; and that not au 
 thority or denunciation, but SCRIPTURAL EXPOSITION, is to 
 determine which is in accordance with the book of God. 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 317 
 
 VII. 
 
 [NEW ENGLANDER, 1844.] 
 
 The Position of the Evangelical Party in the Episcopal 
 Church. 
 
 IT is from no desire to intermeddle with the internal affairs 
 of another denomination of Christians, that we introduce to 
 our readers the subject which we have placed at the head of 
 this article. Nor is it from any wish to take advantage of the 
 present troubles and growing dissensions of the Episcopal 
 Church to make converts to our better faith, or to make repri 
 sals for the accessions which they have sought to gain from 
 the disputes and divisions of other denominations. We have 
 listened in calmer times with proper interest to their procla 
 mations of their own unity, while other churches have been 
 rent into factions or threatened with schism. We have seen 
 a few from other churches, charmed with this proclamation of 
 unity, and professedly won by the hope of peace, leave the 
 connections in which they were trained, and attach themselves 
 to Episcopacy. I3ut they have not been men whose departure 
 the churches have had occasion to regard as a serious calamity, 
 or whose recovery would be worth any very serious effort. 
 We are content that they should minister in their new con 
 nection, we hope with greater success than was promised in 
 their former relations, and with all the peace and comfort 
 which it may be possible for them now to obtain. 
 
 We feel that we have a right to advert to this subject only 
 so far as it pertains to the cause of our common Christianity. 
 In their internal affairs ; their questions of precedency and 
 order; their family affections or alienations; their domestic 
 
318 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 difficulties, troubles, or joys; their questions about tho relative 
 rights and powers of bishops, priests, deacons, or laymen, we 
 claim no right and have no disposition to interfere. The 
 limits of courtesy and propriety on such matters are settled. 
 With the domestic concerns of a neighbour the family jars, 
 loves, alienations, modes of living, style of dress, or inter 
 course we have no right to intermeddle. It is their own 
 concern, and they have a right to manage it their own way. 
 We are not to be "busybodics in other men s matters." We 
 are not to attempt to foment divisions; or to aggravate a 
 family quarrel or to utter the note of triumph over their 
 dissensions though it should be to meet and ward off re 
 proaches on account of our own ; nor are we to interfere with 
 a view of encouraging a feebler party against a stronger, in 
 order to prolong the strife and rend the family asunder, or to 
 make needless proclamation of what we may happen to know 
 of the family jar. We go even farther than this. We should 
 not feel ourselves at liberty in such a domestic difficulty to 
 lend our aid or to give our counsel to one of the parties that 
 we regarded as indubitably right, and that held opinions in 
 accordance with our own, in order to prolong the difficulties 
 there, or to prevent a reconciliation in any way which they 
 might regard as proper. 
 
 But there is a sense in which this becomes a matter of 
 common interest, and in reference to which there is common 
 ground. If the community is to be affected by this difference, 
 we have a right to express our views. If there are common 
 interests pertaining to the good order of society that are in 
 danger of suffering, we have a right to lift up the voice in 
 their defence. If principles are advanced by either party 
 which may affect the welfare of the community, we are not at 
 liberty to be silent. If the difficulty is the regular and inevi 
 table result of certain views which both parties publicly pro 
 claim that they hold, we have a right to say so. And if one 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 819 
 
 party is aiming at an impracticable tiling; endeavouring, 
 though in the most peaceful manner,, and with the purest 
 motives, to maintain principles and to accomplish objects 
 which are in their nature wholly at variance with those on 
 which the family has been uniformly administered, and to 
 which that party also has solemnly expressed its assent, we do 
 not suppose that we are forbidden by any law of courtesy to 
 express our convictions on these points, and to endeavour to 
 derive from this inevitable want of harmony lessons that shall 
 be of value to the common cause. 
 
 Such we consider to be the present condition of the Episco 
 pal Church. A crisis has occurred in that communion such as 
 it could have been foreseen, by a moderate measure of sagacity, 
 must sooner or later occur, and which, however it may be for a 
 time suppressed, we venture to foretell will in some form con 
 tinue to break out, until " the church 7 is thoroughly reformed 
 and Prelacy abandoned. 
 
 In the controversy now waging there, the great interests of 
 our common Christianity are affected. There are momentous 
 questions at stake in which all who love the religion of the 
 Saviour are interested. There are points of much more im 
 portance than any which can be raised about the qualifications 
 of Mr. Arthur Carey for the " diaconatc." There are ques 
 tions respecting the working of the system; its fitness to 
 promote unity; the measures which are adopted to secure 
 harmony ; the effect of those measures in suppressing the 
 truth, preventing free discussion, and fostering error; and, 
 above all, the general effect of the system of Episcopacy on 
 evangelical religion, which it is the duty of every man who 
 conceives it possible as it may be that he or any one of his 
 friends should be invited to become an Episcopalian, to exa 
 mine, and which the present outbreak furnishes an appropriate 
 opportunity to examine. We have never had any sympathy 
 for Prelacy. We have never believed that it was the form of 
 
320 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 religion prescribed in the New Testament. We have always 
 regarded it as a system adapted to cramp and crush the free 
 spirit of the gospel. But we have had no doubt that there 
 were many of the intelligent and the good among the fol 
 lowers of the Lord Jesus who regarded it conscientiously as 
 the system prescribed in the Bible; and we have supposed 
 that there were minds so formed that they would be better 
 edified in connection with that form of religion than under a 
 different method of organization. "We think the time now 
 has come to examine the influence of that system on evan 
 gelical religion ; and in order to make our inquiry definite, we 
 propose to inquire into the present position of the evangelical, 
 or as it is often called, the low-church party in the Episcopal 
 Church. We shall inquire whether the objects at which they 
 aim can be secured in that communion, or whether they do 
 not necessarily meet with obstructions in the organization 
 of the Episcopal Church which will certainly prevent the 
 accomplishment of those objects; whether there are not in 
 their forms of worship things which will inevitably cramp 
 and crush the free spirit of religion ; and whether the Epis 
 copal Church is not so organized as effectually to secure 
 the ultimate ascendency of the objects aimed at by the high- 
 church party. In other words, the question is, whether Tract- 
 arianism is not a fair development of the system, and whe 
 ther those views, if the present organization of that church 
 should be continued, are not destined to be ultimately tri 
 umphant. 
 
 It is well known that there have been, perhaps from the 
 commencement of its existence in this country, two parties 
 in the Episcopal Church. These parties are generally known 
 by the names of the high and the low church or, as the 
 latter prefer, we believe, to be called, the evangelical party. 
 These parties have grown up, not from the nature of Prelacy, 
 or by any tendency in the Episcopal Church to foster the 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 321 
 
 aims sought by the evangelical party, but from the contact 
 of Episcopacy with the spirit of our age, and with the free 
 developments of Christianity among the other denominations 
 with whom Episcopalians come necessarily in contact. It is 
 possible that the germs of these parties existed in the Epis 
 copal Church in its incipient state in this country ; but that 
 which has now grown up into the evangelical party, we sup 
 pose would have been suppressed by the overshadowing of 
 the religion of forms, if it had not been excited and kindled 
 by the reflected influence on the Episcopal Church of the 
 views and objects of evangelical Christians in other denomi 
 nations. It has been apparent that other denominations 
 greatly surpassed the Episcopal communion in zeal for those 
 things specially commended in the New Testament; that they 
 sought a more spiritual religion than had been common in 
 the Episcopal communion ; that they aimed more to convert 
 and save the souls of men; and that they sought in methods 
 that had the undoubted sanction of the New Testament, to 
 spread the gospel around the globe. The question arose 
 whether these objects could not be grafted on Episcopacy, 
 and whether without producing schism, and with the main 
 tenance of the highest respect for Prelacy and for the forms 
 of religion, it was not possible to introduce the evangelical 
 spirit into the bosom of the Episcopal Church, and to add 
 to what was regarded as the nobleness, venerableness, and 
 authority of her ancient forms, the life and vigour, and 
 elastic energy which reigns with such power in other denomi 
 nations. If so, it seems to have been supposed that there 
 might bo urged in favour of Prelacy all that is now urged 
 from the necessity of the "apostolic succession;" all the 
 authority of the Fathers ; all its boasted power to preserve 
 the unity of the church ; and all the advantages derived from 
 a staid and regular organization, united with all that com 
 mends evangelical religion to the hearts and consciences of 
 
322 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 men. It is not to be denied that there have been and are 
 still in the bosom of the Episcopal Church men who strive 
 sincerely, and with a zeal not surpassed by those of other de 
 nominations, for the conversion of souls. They are men who 
 would do honour to any cause, and whose life and labours 
 would be a blessing to any communion. It is this party 
 which has endeavoured to engraft the spirit of evangelical 
 religion on the forms of Prelacy ; and it is to their holy and 
 devoted efforts that the result has already more than once oc 
 curred that the Episcopal Church has been in danger of being 
 rent in twain. It is not that they have aimed at such a dis 
 ruption, but it has been the kind of danger which would exist 
 in a statue of marble that a fissure would be caused by apply 
 ing intense heat to one portion and not to the other. It has 
 required all the power of numbers, influence, and prelatical 
 authority on the part of the high-church party, united with 
 all the veneration of the low-church party for the church and 
 her forms, to prevent such a rupture. Thus far this has been 
 successful, and in every controversy of this kind the high- 
 church party has secured the victory, and the unity of the 
 church has been preserved. AYe think the history thus far 
 furnishes an omen of most portentous character in regard to 
 the issue of such contentious at present and in all time to 
 come. We have no expectation that the low-church party 
 will ever gain the ascendency, or carry ultimately a single 
 point. Our reasons for this opinion will be seen in the pro 
 gress of our remarks. 
 
 The present position of the parties in the Episcopal Church 
 is not determined precisely by the different views which cha 
 racterize the high church and the evangelical party. There 
 has been to some extent a breaking up of the old lines of de 
 marcation, and a somewhat modified arrangement. The con 
 troversy respecting Puseyisin is not precisely the same as the 
 controversy which has hitherto prevailed. To a superficial 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 823 
 
 observer it might have been anticipated, perhaps, that the low- 
 church party would have been found, without an exception, 
 arrayed against the doctrines of the Tractarians, and that the 
 high-church portion would have been as uniformly friendly to 
 the Oxford theology. But this, if we correctly understand 
 the matter, has not been precisely the case. A portion of 
 those who have been regarded as high church have made as 
 strenuous opposition to the advances of this system as have 
 been witnessed in any other quarter; and some who have been 
 regarded as leaders of the evangelical party have shown a 
 decided inclination to vindicate the most arrogant form in 
 
 o 
 
 which the spirit of the Oxford theology could manifest itself 
 in this free country. Those of the high church, moreover, 
 who have resisted these aggressions, have shown no more 
 affinity for the evangelical portion than they did before. In 
 the possible, but not probable, event of a rupture in the Epis 
 copal Church, they would undoubtedly be found ranged with 
 the friends of the Tractarian cause no matter what their 
 arrogance, and no matter how near they approximate to Home, 
 rather than with the evangelical party. This they would do, 
 not because they love Puseyism mow, but because they love 
 the low-church principles less. We apprehend also, that, if 
 the question of a possible rupture should actually come up in 
 the Episcopal Church, it would be found that rather than 
 such a crisis should occur, what there is of the evangelical 
 spirit in the other party would be suppressed or crushed, 
 rather than that matters should come to such a result. Such 
 is the inborn horror in the mind of a genuine Episcopalian at 
 the very word schism though the whole system of Episco 
 pacy is a schism of the worst kind from the proper sense 
 of the unity of the church ; such the love of forms and of 
 order; such the desire not to expose themselves to the pos 
 sible danger of vitiating the " succession ;" and such the 
 belief, in spite of experience, that the free-born spirit of 
 
324 ESSAYS AND KEVIEWS. 
 
 Christianity may live and breathe under all the incumbent 
 pressure of these antiquated forms, and may move on to the 
 conquest of the world, fettered and manacled as it must be, 
 that these difficulties with Puseyism would be greatly dimi 
 nished in their view, and that no one would dare to mention 
 the word separation. 
 
 But our business now is not directly with Puseyism. We 
 wish to refer to the lines which existed before the slight irre 
 gularity in the ranks of the parties, caused by the prevalence 
 of the Tractarian theology, occurred. The characteristics of 
 the two parties before the present difficulties arose in the 
 Episcopal Church, we shall proceed to state as we understand 
 them. 
 
 The views of the high-church party are accurately defined, 
 and the points in which they differ from their low-church 
 brethren, as well as from all the denominations of evangelical 
 Christians, are well understood. They have never made any 
 secret of them, and have never propounded them as if they 
 wished to practice any concealment, or regarded them as mys 
 teries to be made known only to the initiated. They hold, 
 if we understand them aright, to the necessity of an actual, 
 uninterrupted succession from the apostles, in order to the 
 validity of the ministry. They hold, that the ministry of the 
 church consists of three orders, and that the supremacy is in 
 the bishop ; that all the power of ordaining is in him, and 
 that no one has any right to officiate as a minister of religion 
 in any form, except in virtue of the imposition of his hands. 
 They hold, that to him alone appertains the right of confirma 
 tion j and that grace, quite desirable, if not essential to salva 
 tion, is conveyed by that rite. They hold, that there is no 
 church but the Episcopal Church, and that in any other body 
 of persons there is no valid ministry, and that there are no 
 valid sacraments. They hold to the doctrine of baptismal 
 regeneration, and to the efficacy of the sacraments by some 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CIIUHCH. 325 
 
 kind of opus operation. They hold, that those who have 
 teen, baptized in a proper manner are to be brought to 
 the bishop and confirmed, as soon as they can say the 
 creed, the Lord s prayer, and the catechism, and arc to be 
 admitted to the church without any special inquiry into 
 their spiritual state, or without giving any distinct evidence 
 of a change of heart. They hold, that such is the efficacy 
 of baptism thus administered, of confirmation, of the ob 
 servance of the eucharist, and of a connection with the 
 true apostolical church, that by this process their salvation 
 will be secure. 
 
 They are opposed to revivals of religion, as the term is com 
 monly employed j to prayer-meetings to " night-services/ 
 and to all " voluntary" societies for the spread of the gospel. 
 They utterly refuse, as a body, to give the Bible without the 
 Prayer-book, and religiously abstain from all connection with 
 any association for promoting any religious object out of " tlte 
 church." They take no part in a Bible, Sunday-school, tract, 
 or missionary society, where persons of other denominations 
 are concerned in the directorship, or where their appearance 
 could be construed as an admission that other denominations 
 appertain to the church of Christ. They are seen on no plat 
 form mingling with other Christians in the promotion of the 
 common cause ; and neither by their contributions, their pre 
 sence, nor their names, do they lend any countenance to any 
 meeting or association which can be construed as a union 
 of different denominations of Christians for any object what 
 ever. As members of the church of Christ, as ministers 
 of his religion, they hold that there can be no common 
 ground on which they can meet others. As citizens, as 
 neighbours, as friends of literature, as those who may be 
 engaged in the business of mending a road, or building a 
 bridge, they may be connected with others, because these 
 things cannot be Episcopally done ; but they go no farther. 
 You I. 28 
 
826 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 Not even in the temperance cause will they associate with. 
 others. Of this we know not exactly the reason, whether 
 they are unfriendly to temperance principles themselves, or 
 whether they regard temperance as a part of religion, and 
 consider that it is not desirable to promote it except somehow 
 through the apostolic succession. We do not recollect that 
 they have given to the public an opportunity of forming an 
 opinion on these points. 
 
 As a consequence of these views, they regard all other asso 
 ciations of men, however numerous and respectable, as left 
 " to the uncovenanted mercies of God." They are in this 
 respect on the same platform with the Jew and the Mussul 
 man; the Japanese and the Caffrarian. From the true church 
 they are a dissenters." They are without valid ordinances, 
 without a valid ministry, and without the promises. They 
 meet in conventicles, not in churches; they listen to the 
 arguings of laymen, not to the teachings of the authorized 
 ministers of religion. They are sprinkled in infancy, or 
 immersed in riper years, by those who have no authority for 
 doing either; they partake of bread and wine which in no 
 wise differs from common bread and wine, except that they 
 arc taken in smaller quantities and in a "meeting-house;" 
 they are ministered unto by those who would commit sacrilege 
 by putting on the surplice or by going into a pulpit duly con 
 secrated ; and they are buried in ground that has never been 
 consecrated, and by those who, as they have no right to 
 address the living in the name of Christ, have no right 
 to officiate at the graves of the dead. They may indeed 
 be saved but who may not be ? God is merciful, and 
 they have the same chance of salvation th.it the better 
 part of the heathen have and no other. These, if we un 
 derstand them, are the leading views of the high-church 
 party. We have designed not to do injustice to them, and 
 we have the means of substantiating the correctness of 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 827 
 
 tins representation by the highest authorities in the Episcopal 
 Church. * 
 
 Thc views of the low-church or evangelical partv are n<;i, 
 less accurately defined. In most of those things which cha 
 racterize the high church they are united with them. TIK-V 
 are not (: a whit behind the chicfost" of that party in tho 
 belief of the apostolic succession; in glorifying the Prayer- 
 book; in attachment to " flic church;" in the faith that a 
 valid ministry is found only in connection with Prelacy; find 
 in strenuous endeavours to promote the interests of the i^pis- 
 copal sect. They do no more than the highest Puseyite 
 would do in recognising the ministers of another denomina 
 tion as authorized to preach the gospel, or to administer the 
 sacraments. They never invite them to preach, and never 
 appear with them in any such connection as to show that they 
 regard them as the ministers of the Lord Jc.sus. They 
 
 * To the view here presented, that the tendency of the high -church 
 opinions is to " unchurch" all others, justice requires that we should 
 notice one exception. It is the only one which has fallen under our obser 
 vation. It is that of the Ptev. II. TJ. Onderdonk, D.D., of the diocese o( 
 Pennsylvania. lie says, (Tract on Episcopacy,) "By the present writer 
 this consequence" [that of unchurching other denominations] "is not 
 allowed." He states no reasons why it is not allowed, nor does he attempt, 
 to show how this admission of the fact that others are not unchurched, is 
 consistent with certain principles which he has laid down. We have never 
 been able to make out the consistency of the admission with the views 
 which he defends in that Tract/ and we merely record it as af<t<:t which 
 we regard as an exception to the general views of that party. We see no 
 way of explaining it, except by ascribing it to the promptings of a heart 
 of kindness, which shrank from the conclusion to which his reasoning was 
 tending, and which led him to express the feeling of charity even at the 
 sacrifice of logic. Such an expression of feeling wo will always honour, 
 wherever we find it. We only wish, as the feeling is undoubtedly right, 
 that the logic in the Tract had been such as would have been consistent 
 with it. Is that logic likely to be correct, which would require a man 
 either to suppress such a feeling, or to give vent to it in the face of all bis 
 reasoning ? 
 
328 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 recognise their baptism no more, we believe, than they would 
 that of laymen, and, in common with their high-church 
 brethren, they expect that those who come among them from 
 other churches, if private members, will submit to the rite 
 of confirmation ; if ministers, that they will abjure their 
 former ordination, and submit to the imposition of the hands 
 of the prelate. We do not know that in a single instance 
 they have ever protested against this as improper, or even 
 hinted that they regarded the previous ordination as differing 
 in any way from lay-ordination. While they allow one who 
 has been ordained by papal hands to minister at their altars 
 without being reordained, and offer no remonstrance against it, 
 we suppose that there is not a low-church minister in this 
 land who would not be shocked if a Presbyterian minister 
 should be admitted to the rank of a " priest," or even of a 
 " deacon," without being reordained. We think, too, that 
 they are as zealous for the Episcopal Church, and for its up 
 building, as any high churchman can be. It is an object 
 never lost sight of by an Episcopalian; and whatever may be 
 the place in which he is ranked in his controversy between 
 the high and low church, or in the disputes respecting the 
 Oxford theology; and whatever may be the style of his inter 
 course with other denominations, the obligation to remember 
 the interests of the Episcopal Church is never for a moment 
 forgotten. 
 
 But with these views the low churchman has endeavoured 
 to blend certain others, in which he greatly diverges from his 
 high-church brethren, and in which he assimilates himself to 
 other denominations. He does not believe in the efficacy of 
 forms for justification. He does not believe in baptismal 
 regeneration. He holds to the doctrine of regeneration by 
 the agency of the Holy Spirit; to justification solely by faith; 
 to sanctification, not by any opus operatum of the sacraments, 
 but by the word and Spirit of God ; to the necessity of 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 329 
 
 spiritual religion ; to the duties of a holy life ; to tlic obliga 
 tions of steady self-denial and a separation from the world. 
 He believes that they who come to the Lord s table should be 
 converted as a qualification, not that they should come to be 
 converted. He claims the right of not " bringing those to the 
 bishop to be confirmed whom he does not regard as having 
 evidence of true conversion. He would guard the church 
 from the admission to its ordinances of any who do riot give 
 evidence of true piety. 
 
 The low churchman is, in general, a Calvinist, and fre 
 quently of the highest order. He preaches the humbling 
 doctrines of the cross, and advocates the lofty themes of 
 Divine sovereignty in the salvation of men. 
 
 The low churchman believes in the necessity of special efforts 
 for the salvation of men. He believes that prayer-meetings 
 arc adapted to promote the edification of believers, and to 
 secure the salvation of sinners. He is no enemy of (( night 
 meetings, and is so much the friend of "protracted efforts," 
 that he unites cheerfully in " associations" with his own bre 
 thren, and in Episcopal churches, and seeks to turn the bad 
 and unauthorized arrangements of his own church, for the 
 observance of saints days, and especially of Lent, into a scries 
 of protracted preaching efforts to promote revivals of religion. 
 
 The low churchman is one who is willing to act with the 
 friends of religion, where he can meet them on common 
 ground. He is willing to engage in the circulation of the 
 Bible, though it have not the Prayer-book attached to it 
 reserving his zeal for the latter to be manifested through a 
 society in his own church specially organized for that purpose, 
 and reserving to himself the right to manifest as much zeal 
 for that as shall seem to him to be meet. He is willing to act 
 with others in the distribution of tracts on the common topics 
 of religion, and in the establishment of Sabbath-schools, even 
 should they not be connected with the Episcopal denomination. 
 
 28* 
 
330 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 In the cause of temperance, of the Sabbath, of promoting the 
 gospel among seamen and in opposition to the arrogancy 
 and the aggressions of the Papacy, he will meet with other 
 Christians in the same committee-room, or on the same plat 
 form, but never as clergymen, or in such a way as to imply 
 that those with whom he associates are to be regarded as au 
 thorized ministers of the gospel. 
 
 We see thus in the Episcopal Church two distinct classes 
 of men classes that must, from the nature of the case, come 
 into frequent collision. We propose now to examine the posi 
 tion of the latter class, especially in regard to their relation to 
 their own church, and to the question whether they can ever 
 succeed in the objects at which they aim. We regard the 
 question as one of great interest and importance, not doubtful 
 in our minds as to the issue, but as a struggle throwing light 
 on the nature of religion, and as adapted to aid us in deter 
 mining whether Prelacy is the form of religion that is re 
 vealed in the New Testament. If the experiment should be 
 successful, it would do something to make us less doubtful 
 whether the ministry was organized with "the three orders;" 
 if it always has been and must be a failure, it is to us a 
 clear demonstration that the church was organized on some 
 other foundation. 
 
 We need not say that in the main our sympathies are 
 wholly with the low-church party. With the aim of the other 
 party we have none ; but the low-church party, so far as they 
 differ from their brethren in the Episcopal communion, are 
 aiming at the same objects as all the rest of the evangelical 
 world, and are endeavouring to promote those views of religion 
 which, we believe, will ultimately triumph. The question 
 with us is not whether the objects at which they thus aim are 
 right, and will ultimately be somehow secured on the earth, 
 but whether the Episcopal Church can be imbued with these 
 principles, and whether they will triumph in the controversies 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 331 
 
 which inevitably arise in their own denomination. Now, in 
 reference to this question, we shall state freely some views 
 which seeni to us to put this question to rest. 
 
 The first is, that the object at which they aim has never yet 
 been accomplished. The experience of the world has been 
 against it. We state a position here which we think is the 
 result of all experiments, and which we challenge the advo 
 cate of Episcopacy to refute. It is, THAT IT HAS NEVER 
 
 BEEN POSSIBLE PERMANENTLY TO CONNECT THE RELIGION 
 OF FORMS WITH EVANGELICAL RELIGION ; or, what amounts 
 
 to the same thing, that the Episcopal mode of worship has 
 been permanently blended with the objects at which the low 
 churchman aims. We will first refer to a few facts sustaining 
 
 O 
 
 this position. We shall then take occasion to show why 
 it is so. 
 
 The attempt to unite the religion of forms with the gospel, 
 has often been made. There have been good men connected 
 with every form of worship. There have been in all ages of 
 the church men who have held to the doctrines of grace ; men 
 who believed in all that constitutes evangelical religion ; men 
 holding to the entire depravity of man, the doctrine of rege 
 neration by the agency of the Holy Spirit, the necessity of 
 holy living and of a close walk with God who have endea 
 voured to unite these things with the religion of forms. 
 There have been, as there are now, those who have been 
 warm friends of prayer-meetings, and of revivals, and of 
 efforts to spread the gospel around the world, who have sighed 
 for the spirit of freedom amid the pompous and imposing 
 ceremonials of the worship of forms. They have loved sin 
 cerely the forms of religion; and they have loved, with an 
 ardour which nothing could extinguish, the pure doctrines 
 of grace and the holy aspiration of Christianity. Trained in 
 the bosom of a church prescribing pomp and splendour in 
 public worship, they have brought to its favour all the 
 
332 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 prejudices of education; accustomed to use a Prayer-book 
 from childhood, they love it as they do the home and the 
 companions of their youth ; sincerely believing that Epis 
 copacy is the form of worship prescribed in the New Testa 
 ment, they have become bound to it by all the strength of 
 conscience; or in lands where this is prescribed by statute, 
 and where it is the religion of the state, they have felt that 
 every thing of a temporal nature depended on adhesion to it, 
 and have sincerely desired its perpetuity. At the same time 
 they have loved evangelical religion. They have believed 
 that it is the religion of the Bible. They have not doubted 
 that it would finally prevail. They have sought, therefore, to 
 spread its spirit in the bosom of the Episcopal Church. What 
 now has been the lesson which history has taught us in 
 regard to the relation of the religion of forms to evangelical 
 religion ? 
 
 The Jewish religion, in the time of the Saviour, was a 
 religion of forms. It had a strong resemblance, in many 
 respects, to Episcopacy ; and indeed Episcopacy has avowedly 
 borrowed much from it, and often defends itself by a reference 
 to the divinely-appointed pomp and pageantry of the temple 
 service. There were, in the time of the Saviour, as there 
 always had been, some pure worshippers of God in connection 
 with that system ; for Zecharias and Simeon, Anna, Elizabeth, 
 and Mary were of that number. But the Saviour originated 
 the evangelical system, and detached it at once, wholly and 
 forever, from the Jewish forms. He severed his whole 
 church from it; required his people to come out of it; pro 
 nounced his gospel to be free, and never meant that its free 
 dom should be cramped by the religion of forms. The rites 
 which he appointed for his religion were as few as possible, 
 and the most simple that can be conceived. He designated 
 but two as permanent in the church, nor did he appoint any 
 other that can with any propriety be designated as "sacra- 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 333 
 
 incuts," even if these should be. The two which he specified 
 are baptism and the Lord s supper, and we venture to say 
 that if every form of religion ever propounded among men 
 were examined, two more simple or unostentatious rites could 
 not be found. As the rites themselves, also, are the extreme 
 of simplicity, so he made every thing about them as plain as 
 they possibly could be. He prescribed no baptismal font of 
 massive gold, silver, or marble ; but the water taken from a 
 running stream, or from a fountain bursting forth in the 
 desert, would answer all the purposes of the emblem. He 
 ordained no splendid communion-service to contain the sym 
 bols of his body and blood ; but the plainest cup and platter 
 would suit the design. As these rites are as simple as pos 
 sible, so it was reasonable to suppose that they would be as 
 remote as any could be from abuse. They are the last things 
 on which it could be conceived to be possible to rear a gor 
 geous superstructure of spiritual pomp and power. Who 
 could have imagined that the simple rite of water baptism 
 could ever be magnified into the doctrine of baptismal regene 
 ration, or could become the instrument of giving dignity and 
 supremacy to the holy hands that were appointed to admi 
 nister it, and thus of sustaining the arrogant claims of a 
 priesthood in the religion of forms, and be so tortured by the 
 "cunning craftiness" of men, as to be a substitute for the 
 regenerating influences of the Holy Spirit ? And what finite 
 mind could have anticipated the history of the Lord s supper? 
 Who could have foreseen what the simple emblems of bread 
 and wine would be made to become when attached to a reli 
 gion of forms, and what use would be made of them in 
 banishing evangelical religion from the world ? Who could 
 have imagined that they would become the principal support 
 of the most extraordinary claims ever set up by a priesthood 
 over men; that the doctrine would be gravely taught and 
 believed, that by words of ceremony they would be changed 
 
334 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 into " the very body and blood, soul and divinity of the Son 
 of God;" that they would be borne along in gorgeous proces 
 sion, and that princes and kings would prostrate themselves 
 before them ; and that the power of making this wonderful 
 transmutation would be supposed to give to any one class of 
 men a sanctity above all others, and a mysterious connection 
 with the Deity elsewhere unknown among mortals ? If rites 
 so simple, and so little susceptible of abuse, have been thus 
 made the means of excluding the agency of the Holy Spirit 
 from the soul, and of establishing the power of the most 
 mighty hierarchy on earth, we see one reason why Christ 
 established no more, and why his whole arrangement was such 
 as most effectually to detach his religion from all connection 
 with the religion of forms. The Jewish religion, eminently a 
 religion of forms, accomplished its object in separating that 
 people from all others, and in adumbrating a future spiritual 
 system. It was adapted to the age of the world during which 
 it was designed to continue, and to the purpose of preparing 
 for a better system ; and though it is undeniable that there 
 were holy men under that system, yet its history served, 
 among other instructive lessons, to teach its own tendency to 
 sink into heartless ceremony, and the difficulty of maintaining 
 spiritual religion in connection with forms and the Saviour, 
 therefore, detached his religion from it forever. As soon as 
 possible, the Jewish altar was thrown down, the priests were 
 disrobed of their gorgeous vestments, the smoke of incense 
 ceased to ascend, and the temple itself was demolished to be 
 built no more. The spirit of the gospel separated from forms 
 then, nor was it ever to be united with the pomp and ceremo 
 nies of the ancient worship. 
 
 From the days of Constantine, Christianity became a reli 
 gion of forms. But where was the spirit of the gospel ? 
 Where during the dark ages did it live ? Has it ever been 
 known in permanent connection with the papal communion, 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IX THE EPISCOPAL CHUHCII. 385 
 
 or in the Greek, the Armenian, or the Nestorian churches ? 
 In all these churches the religion of forms has prevailed, and 
 still prevails, and their history has been characterized by an 
 almost entire separation from the spirit of Christianity. There 
 has been no permanent connection, and if, under the influence 
 of the Spirit of God, there has been at any time a reviving 
 spirit of piety, after a few efforts to diffuse itself through the 
 cold and slumbering church, it has either died away or with 
 drawn where it could breathe the air of freedom. To see this, 
 let a few facts be submitted to the attention of candid men. 
 
 Far back in the history of the papal communion, there 
 was a reviving spirit of the gospel. Some pure spirits arose 
 imbued with the same love of Christ, and feeling the same 
 power of religion, which prevailed in the days of the apostles; 
 but could they blend their religion with the prevailing reli 
 gion of forms ? They withdrew, and in the peaceful valleys 
 of Piedmont the Waldenses worshipped God "in spirit and in 
 truth/ until the fires of martyrdom were lighted on all their 
 hills and through all their vales, by the advocates of the reli 
 gion of forms, and Rome succeeded in nearly exterminating 
 them. 
 
 Again the spirit of vital piety was rekindled in the bosom 
 of the papal church. Simultaneously, and without concert, 
 a heavenly influence breathed upon the souls of Zuingle, 
 of Luther, of Melancthon, and of Farel. They were all in 
 the bosom of the papal church ; all had been reared in con 
 nection with the religion of forms ; all had every thing to 
 lose and nothing to gain by a separation ; and all by a se 
 paration exposed themselves to the thunders of the Vatican 
 the fearful power that could shake the thrones of princes 
 and cause monarchs to turn pale in their palaces. Yet, with 
 every inducement from education, from their belief of the 
 heavenly origin of the Papacy, from the love of peace, and 
 from the dread of martyrdom, to remain in the bosom of the 
 
336 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 papal communion, an attempt to blend the spirit of the gospel 
 that now filled their hearts with holy fire, with the cold spirit 
 of the religion of forms, was hopeless and hence the Refor 
 mation. In Germany, in Switzerland, and in France, as far 
 as the Reformation extended, there was a final separation 
 of the two; nor was there any power of argument, or art, 
 or interest, or arms, that could there unite them. 
 
 In England the experiment was to be tried in another 
 manner, and with a much better prospect of success. It 
 was the experiment that was made under Henry VIII., 
 Edward VI., and Elizabeth. There was the genuine spirit 
 of the Reformation in the Anglican church. It reigned not 
 indeed either in the heart of Henry or Elizabeth, but it did 
 in the heart of Edward, and more illustriously still in the 
 hearts of Latimer, Ridley, Bradford, and Cranmer, and with 
 these men there was a sincere effort to blend the two together. 
 There was every facility for making the experiment in as 
 satisfactory a manner as possible. Every thing in the protec 
 tion of the laws in the power of talent, eloquence, learning, 
 and piety, that could be demanded for the successful prosecu 
 tion of the effort, existed, nor could circumstances ever be 
 well imagined that were more favourable to success. What 
 was the result ? It is before the world, and the world has it 
 by heart. The Puritan spirit gradually rose and increased. 
 It became chafed, and galled, and was impatient under the 
 fetters of form. It sighed for freedom; and in a single clay 
 two thousand of the best men in the English church left their 
 livings exposed themselves to poverty, persecution, and im 
 prisonment, only because the spirit of the gospel could not be 
 permanently blended with the religion of forms Part of 
 those men went to prison; all were subjected to privations 
 and sorrows in their external circumstances ; but the evan 
 gelical spirit was free, and the " church" was left a cold, 
 dead, dull, formal thing. The vital power of the Episcopal 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. oo7 
 
 communion had withdrawn, and there were no earthly tempta 
 tions that could ever again induce the Puritan to seek a union 
 with the religion of forms. The experiment had been made 
 under the most advantageous circumstances possible, and it 
 was decisive. 
 
 A portion of the band of Puritans, driven from their coun 
 try to Holland, and then across the ocean, found a refuge on 
 the rock of Plymouth, and gave their religion to this great 
 Western World. Here all was free and vast. A boundless 
 territory was spread out before them, and they laid the foun 
 dation of a religious system which they intended should be 
 forever separated from a religion of forms. Its effect is 
 seen in the religious activity and zeal, the intelligence 
 and order, the revivals and the efforts to spread the gospel 
 abroad, which distinguish our republic among the nations 
 of the earth. 
 
 But the history of the religion of forms in our father-land 
 is not completed. The separating of the Puritans had left the 
 church a dry, cold, dead thing. Again, however, God visited 
 that church with the special influences of the Holy Spirit, and 
 there was a reviving and quickening spirit of religion. God 
 breathed upon the heart of the Wesleys, and of Fletcher, and 
 of Whitefield, and fired them with as devoted a zeal as had ever 
 warmed the bosom of a Puritan. They were In the church, 
 and were converted when connected with it. They loved it. 
 They shrank back from the very thought of a separation. 
 John Wesley lived and laboured, and prayed night and day, 
 that he might not separate himself from the church in which 
 he was reared, but that there might be diffused through all 
 that communion the spirit of evangelical religion. Never was 
 there a more honest, vigorous, or persevering effort to unite the 
 spirit of the gospel with the religion of forms, but in vain. 
 That vital part of the Church of England which had been 
 Muickoucd by the Spirit of God, in spite of every effort to bind 
 
388 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 them together, drew off by itself, breathing the air of freedom 
 and spreading the heavenly fire over continents. 
 
 Until the present time, the result of the experiment has 
 been uniform. The religion of forms has never been perma 
 nently blended with the gospel. The experiment is again 
 made in our land and in our father-land, with what result is a 
 matter of great interest to the whole Christian world, but what 
 that result will be no one can reasonably doubt. That there 
 should be outbreaks and collisions ; that the love of revivals 
 and of prayer-meetings, and the purpose to mingle with other 
 denominations in great efforts to spread the knowledge of the 
 truth, should bring the patrons of these things into conflict 
 with the high-church party, is to be expected. They are 
 the regular results of the existing state of things in the Epis 
 copal Church, and they cannot be avoided. Such conflicts 
 will arise, and however much they may be suppressed for a 
 time, and however all parties may unite in singing paeans 
 to the a unity" of the church, yet the elements of collision, 
 like the pent-up fires of the volcano, rage within. To keep 
 these elements under; to prevent entire separation and a pros 
 tration of the whole fabric, requires all the power of authority 
 on the one side, and all the yielding of a Christian spirit on 
 the other, and a devout attachment to Prelacy in both. It is 
 the spirit of the gospel struggling in bonds and sighing for 
 freedom. The present state of the Episcopal Church is but 
 the acting over again of scenes which have been played from 
 the beginning. The spirit of the true faith will not be bound. 
 It does not breathe and act freely when fettered with forms. 
 It cannot go forth freely to the conquest of the souls of men, 
 or to the subjugation of the world. If it lives, it will be the 
 spirit of the Apostles unfettered by forms ; the spirit of the 
 Waldenses, of WicklifFe, of Luther, of Farel; of the Puritans, 
 of Wesley, of Whitefield. Every controversy thus far waged, 
 where the spirit of the gospel has come in conflict with the 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 339 
 
 religion of forms, has had one of two results either the spirit 
 of the gospel is suppressed and dies away, or the one is 
 severed from the other, never to be united again. They never 
 have been, they never can be permanently blended. Such, it 
 requires little sagacity to foresee, must be the result of the 
 present controversy between the two great parties in the Epis 
 copal Church. It is just a struggle whether the love of Pre 
 lacy, and the cry of unity, and the power of numbers, and of 
 wealth, and of the " bishops," shall be sufficient to crush the 
 rising spirit of the gospel, or whether there will be vital 
 energy, and independence, and the love of the pure doctrines 
 of the gospel, enough to break away from all this, and be 
 free. We should rejoice in the latter result we anticipate 
 the former and we fear the Episcopal Church will still conti 
 nue to be " one." 
 
 We have thus stated one truth, as it seems to us, of great 
 importance in regard to the position of the evangelical party 
 in the Episcopal Church, and to the probable result of their 
 struggles. In illustrating the nature of their relative position, 
 and the difficulties with which they have to contend, we now 
 proceed to remark, that tliey are compelled to use a liturgy 
 wliich counteracts the effect of their teaching. We have 
 stated that they are no less sincerely attached to the Prayer- 
 book, and no less disposed to laud its excellence above all 
 other uninspired productions, than the most staunch defender 
 of high-church principles. And yet, what is the effect of the 
 perpetual use of this book on an attempt to diffuse evangelical 
 doctrines through the Episcopal Church. 
 
 The prescription to use the liturgy in the worship of God 
 is binding religiously on all the ministers and members of the 
 Episcopal Church. The whole service for public worship, for 
 marriages, for baptisms, for funerals, is prescribed. Every 
 prayer to be offered is set down; every portion of Scripture 
 to be read is designated ; and every address, with the single 
 
340 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 exception of the sermon, is already composed. At a baptism, 
 a marriage, or a funeral, it does not appear from the canons 
 that a minister is to be allowed either to offer an extemporary 
 prayer, or to make an extemporary address. Even the form 
 of prayer in a family is prescribed, and the " master or mis 
 tress having called together as many of the family as can con 
 veniently be present, is to say as follows" morning and 
 evening. The directions for public worship are all positive 
 and explicit : (( The minister sliall begin the morning prayer 
 by reading one or more of the following portions of Scripture." 
 u Then the minister shall say." " The people shall answer 
 here." " Then the minister shall kneel and say the Lord s 
 prayer;" "then likewise he shall say;" "then shall be said 
 or sung the following anthem ;" " then shall follow a portion 
 of the Psalms;" "then shall be read the first lesson according 
 to the table or calendar," and " before every lesson the minis 
 ter shall say, Here beginneth such a chapter or verse of such 
 a chapter of such a book" and so on to the end of the 
 Prayer-book. All the discretion which is allowed, appears to 
 be the following : that he may choose some one of half a 
 dozen a collects" of half a dozen lines each ; that at the end 
 of the Venite, Bencdicite, Jubilate, Benedictus, Cantate Do 
 mino, etc., there "may be said or sung the Gloria Patri;" 
 that he has a choice between two forms of the creed a longer 
 and a shorter form and that he may introduce into the morn 
 ing service more or less of the quite tedious communion ser 
 vice. With these quite unimportant discretionary powers, 
 the prescriptions are absolute, and the design was undoubtedly 
 to render the service of the church wholly uniform. There is 
 no discretion given in regard to extemporary prayer. There is 
 no permission on any occasion to go beyond what is written 
 down. If there is any special emergency requiring a form of 
 prayer different from any of those which are printed, it is 
 necessary to wait until it can be prepared in the authorized 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 341 
 
 quarter, and sent down to the inferior clergy. There is no 
 permission to hold prayer-meetings, and the liturgy docs not 
 contemplate any such thing as a prayer-meeting. There is not 
 even permission given to the minister to select and read a por 
 tion of Scripture that shall have any relation to the subject on 
 which he is to preach. If his text should happen to be "God 
 ,so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son/ and 
 the "lesson" for that day should happen to be that chapter 
 of the book of Chronicles which commences thus, u Adam, 
 Slictli, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalaleel, Jered, Henoch, Methuse- 
 leh, Lamech," all that the minister is to do, is to say, " here 
 beginneth such a chapter," and read on. 
 
 We are aware that the low-church party do sometimes hold 
 prayer-meetings, and that occasionally an extemporary prayer 
 is offered after sermon ; and we will do them the justice to say, 
 that, so far as we have heard, their prayers are models of a 
 simple, pure, and holy worship, and arc such as to prompt 
 irresistibly to the expression of regret that they are not per 
 mitted by their book to pour out their souls in this manner, 
 and that they are fettered by forms. But we believe that 
 they themselves regard such prayers, and such prayer-meet 
 ings, as a departure from the prescribed mode of worship. 
 We know that the high-church party consider them a direct 
 violation of the prescribed rules of the church. We consider 
 them as wholly unauthorized by the church. We see no per 
 mission of such things ; we see no latitude of discretion in 
 regard to such things; we believe that such a thing as a 
 prayer-meeting, where extemporary prayer should be offered, 
 and especially by laymen, is a thing not contemplated by the 
 canons of the Episcopal Church. 
 
 What then is the inevitable tendency of the constant use 
 of the liturgy according to the manner prescribed? Or, 
 which amounts to the same thing so far as the subject before 
 us is concerned, what must be the effect of its use even as it 
 
 29* 
 
842 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 is employed by the low-church party, in regard to the preach 
 ing of evangelical doctrines ? They hold, we have conceded, 
 the great doctrines of grace. They teach the necessity of 
 regeneration by the agency of the Holy Spirit. They insist 
 on the doctrine of justification by faith. They are friendly 
 to revivals of religion. Do the arrangements in the liturgy 
 harmonize with these efforts ? So far from it, we think, that 
 their teaching and the Prayer-book come into perpetual con 
 flict and where the Prayer-book is to be perpetually used, 
 the result of such a conflict cannot be doubtful. 
 
 We do not advert now to the fact, though we might do it, 
 that preaching in the Episcopal Church is quite a secondary 
 thing, and that the arrangement is so made as to allow it to 
 produce as little effect as possible. A whole hour of the ser 
 vice, if performed with any degree of deliberate solemnity, is 
 occupied inevitably with the prayers and other forms of devo 
 tion. After this protracted and wearisome service, it cannot 
 be supposed that the mind will be in a very desirable state to 
 listen to a sermon of any considerable length. The ordinary 
 length of Episcopal sermons from fifteen to twenty minutes 
 we regard as in entire accordance with the arrangements in 
 the Episcopal Church; a sermon of fifty minutes or an hour, 
 becomes intolerable. In another communion the mother of 
 Episcopacy the pulpit is placed in a corner of the church ; 
 in the Episcopal Church the sermon is designed to occupy the 
 same relative position. 
 
 But the difficulties encountered by the evangelical party lie 
 deeper than this. We mean, that they are compelled perpe 
 tually to use a liturgy which counteracts all their teaching. 
 The liturgy is opposed to the views of the low-church Episco 
 palian, and to the whole influence of his teaching, and is a 
 constant influence. To some of the views thus constantly 
 brought before the people in the Prayer-book, opposed to the 
 evangelical teaching, we will now advert. 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CIIUUCII. 848 
 
 There is, first, the doctrine of baptismal regeneration a 
 doctrine which we regard as the undoubted teaching of the 
 Prayer-book, and which presents a constantly counteracting 
 influence to the doctrine of the necessity of a change of heart 
 by the agency of the Holy Spirit accompanying the truth. 
 The doctrine of the Prayer-book is, that a child that is bap 
 tized in a proper manner, is (< regenerated by the Holy Ghost." 
 The language of the liturgy on this subject is as explicit as 
 language can be, and we have never seen any explanation by 
 the advocates of low-church views, which seemed to us to have 
 the least degree of plausibility. The language on this subject, 
 in respect to the public baptism of infant children, is the 
 following : The " minister," after the baptism and making 
 the sign of the cross, is commanded to say" " Seeing now, 
 dearly beloved, that this child is regenerate, and grafted into 
 the body of Christ s church, let us give thanks unto Almighty 
 God for these benefits/ etc. " We yield thee hearty thanks, 
 most merciful Father, that it hath pleased thee to regenerate 
 this infant with tliy Holy Spirit, to receive him for thine own 
 child by adoption, and to incorporate him into thy holy 
 church." The same doctrine is expressed in reference to the 
 "private baptism of children." After the baptism, and the 
 sign of the cross, the " minister" is directed also to " say" 
 " this child is regenerate, and grafted into the body of Christ s 
 church;" and in like manner to give thanks, " that it hath 
 pleased thee to regenerate this infant with thy Holy Spirit, to 
 receive him for thine own child by adoption, and to incorpo 
 rate him into thy holy church." But this doctrine, that by 
 baptism there is regenerating grace bestowed by the Holy 
 Spirit, is held not only in reference to infants and children, 
 but, if possible, still more clearly in reference to " those of 
 riper years." In the canonical directions on this subject, we 
 find in the Prayer-book the following things : (1.) The peo 
 ple are told that "all men are conceived and born in sin," 
 
344 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 tliat " none can enter into the kingdom of God, except they 
 be regenerate and born anew of water and of the Holy Ghost," 
 and are exhorted to " call upon God the Father through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, that of his bounteous goodness he will 
 grant to these persons that which by nature they cannot have, 
 that they may be baptized with water and the Holy Ghost." 
 (2.) The following prayers are then directed to be offered : 
 " Mercifully look upon these thy servants ; wash them, and 
 sanctify them with the HoJg Ghost; that they being delivered 
 from thy wrath, may be received into the ark of Christ s 
 church." And again : " Give thy Holy Spirit to these per 
 sons, that they may be born again, and be made heirs of ever 
 lasting salvation, through our Lord Jesus Christ," (3.) After 
 baptism, and the sign of the cross, the minister is directed to 
 say : (l Seeing now, dearly beloved, that these persons are 
 regenerate, and grafted into the body of Christ s church, let 
 us give thanks unto Almighty God for these benefits." The 
 thanksgiving then follows, and then this prayer : " Give thy 
 Holy Spirit to these persons; that, being now lorn again, and 
 made heirs of everlasting salvation through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, they may continue thy servants," etc. Here is a regu 
 lar order in the teachings., prayers, and thanksgivings, all 
 implying the doctrine of baptismal regeneration, and all 
 implying that that regeneration is accomplished by the Holy 
 Ghost. There is the exhortation to the people to pray for 
 this ] then the prayer actually offered for this ; and then a 
 solemn form of thanksgiving that it has been done. And that 
 this is the true teaching of the liturgy on this subject, and that 
 the meaning is not, as some Episcopalians have endeavoured 
 to show, that the word " regeneration" here means a mere 
 " change of state," or a transition from the world into the 
 church, seems to us to be perfectly clear ; for, (1.) Such is 
 not the meaning of the Scripture terms, " regeneration," and 
 "being born again," employed in this service. In the Bible 
 
F.VAXGK LICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 345 
 
 tin y cannot be understood to have tins meaning, and there is 
 no evidence that the framcrs of the liturgy meant to depart 
 from the Scripture usage. (2.) The regeneration here spoken 
 of, is not a mere "change of state or relation. " It is a change 
 of regeneration l>y the Holy Ghost. This is what is prayed 
 for; what is taught as having been accomplished; and that 
 for which " hearty thanks" are given when the form of bap 
 tism is passed through. Now regeneration by the agency of 
 the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures, means a definite thing 
 It is not a transition from heathenism to nominal Christianity; 
 it is not a mere profession of religion ; it is a work on the 
 heart itself, by which that is changed, and by which the soul 
 begins to live anew unto God. (3.) This cannot be the mean 
 ing in the liturgy. Is it possible to believe that sensible men 
 should gravely entreat a whole congregation to offer fervent 
 prayers, that certain persons then present might be enabled to 
 Join a church? Is it necessary for all this parade and cere 
 mony, and all this solemn invocation of the special aid of 
 God s Holy Spirit, that they might be enabled to chanye their 
 relation? x ls this a work so difficult to be performed as to 
 need the special interposition of heaven in the case, and that 
 no one could hope to be able to cb it without the particular 
 influences of the Spirit of God ? And is religion in the Epis 
 copal Church such a solemn trifling as this representation 
 would imply? We do not believe it; and despite all the 
 efforts of low-church Episcopalians to explain this, we believe 
 that the high church and the Puseyites have the fair interpre 
 tation of this part of the liturgy, that it is intended to teach 
 the doctrine of baptismal regeneration, and that this will be 
 the impression ever made on the great mass of those who use 
 the Prayer-book. 
 
 Now these prayers, teachings, and thanksgivings, occur 
 constantly. Whenever an infant or an adult is to be baptized, 
 the low churchman, as well as the high churchman, is com 
 
346 
 
 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 pelled to publish this doctrine. He has no discretion. The 
 whole service, from beginning to end, is to be read through, 
 and no matter what may be his public teaching as a preacher, 
 or his private views, he is under a necessity of teaching the 
 doctrine of baptismal regeneration. He gives public thanks 
 in reference to every child as well as every adult that is bap 
 tized and sealed with the sign of the cross, that he -is regene 
 rated by the Holy Ghost and made an heir of everlasting life. 
 What will be, then, the force of his preaching, on the subject 
 of the new birth or the change of heart, in the proper sense 
 of the term ? What impression will be made on those already 
 " regenerated by the Holy Ghost" in baptism, in regard to 
 this ? Can such preaching be intended for them ? Can it be 
 applicable to any but the heathen and the unbaptized; for 
 pagans, scoffers, and l( dissenters?" Are not all others already 
 born again ? 
 
 A second difficulty of a similar kind derived from the 
 liturgy, with which the evangelical churchman is obliged to 
 contend, relates to the doctrine of " confirmation." If we un 
 derstand the views of low churchmen, they accord with our 
 own in regard to the necessity of a change of heart, and of 
 evidence of personal piety, as qualifications for communion. 
 They do not suppose that regenerating grace is conferred 
 either by confirmation or the " eucharist," nor do they hold 
 that persons should be admitted to either without evidence of 
 personal religion. We believe that they are sincerely aiming 
 to guard the Lord s table from the approach of all who do not 
 give evidence that they are truly " born again" not of bap 
 tism, but by the Holy Spirit of God. 
 
 They are undoubtedly right in these views ; but are these 
 the views of their liturgy? Does the Prayer-book contem 
 plate this ? Have they, as Episcopalians, a right to rest in 
 this, and to exclude from " confirmation" and the Lord s sup 
 per all who do not give them evidence that they are truly 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 347 
 
 converted, or are truly pious? We think they have not; and 
 that in their efforts on this subject they arc not only departing 
 from their own standards, but arc in the very matter compelled 
 to use a liturgy, tjie tendency of which is to counteract and 
 render nugatory all their own instructions and efforts. We 
 believe that the Prayer-book does not contemplate, in order to 
 confirmation, any other regeneration than that of water-bap 
 tism, or any other qualification than that of following out the 
 arrangement at baptism. In support of this, we turn at once 
 to the Prayer-book itself, and find the arrangements there 
 contemplated in reference to -"confirmation" and the Lord s 
 supper, to be the following: The minister is directed to say, not 
 to the parents of the child, but to the "godfathers and god 
 mothers, after baptism is administered, "Ye are to take care 
 that this child be brought to the bishop to be confirmed by 
 him, so soon as he can say the creed, the Lord s prayer, and 
 the ten commandments, and is sufficiently instructed, in the 
 other parts of the church catechism set forth for that pur 
 pose." We observe here no requirement of any change of 
 heart, or of any evidence of piety whatever. We do not 
 believe that an acquaintance with the creed, the Lord s prayer, 
 the ten commandments, and the church catechism, necessarily 
 infers the possession of renewing and saving grace ; and, as 
 these are all that is specified, we do not see what right any 
 churchman has to add thereto. To us, the only question 
 which it would seem to be proper to propound to a candidate 
 for confirmation would be, whether he could " say the creed, 
 the Lord s prayer, the ten commandments," and the "parts 
 of the church catechism set forth for that purpose." Why 
 has any minister a right to require any thing more ? Why is 
 he any more at liberty to demand evidence of what //" regards 
 a>$ a change of heart, than he has to insist that tho candidate 
 shall be familiar with the Westminster Confession or the Say- 
 brook Platform? As these are all the requirements specified, 
 
848 ESSAYS AND 11EVIEWS. 
 
 we naturally turn to "the other parts of the church catechism 
 set forth" with reference to the rite of confirmation, to inquire 
 whether that contemplates a change of heart as a qualification 
 for that rite. 
 
 The church catechism has the following title in the Prayer- 
 book : "A Catechism; that is to say, An Instruction, to be 
 learned by every person before he is brought to the Bishop to 
 be confirmed by the Bishop." The qualification which is 
 here specified, in accordance with that which is stated at the 
 baptism as necessary in order to confirmation, is not that there 
 shall be evidence of a change of heart, or any vital transfor 
 mation of character after baptism, but that this catechism has 
 been learned; that is, committed to memory, before he is 
 brought to the bishop. 
 
 This catechism contains the creed, the ten commandments, 
 the Lord s prayer, and a few questions and answers growing 
 out of each, and on the nature of the sacraments. The 
 inquiry now is, with what qualifications and character one 
 would " be brought to the bishop" who should have strictly 
 complied with the directions in the Prayer-book ? Would it 
 be necessary that he should furnish evidence of a change of 
 heart; or would it be right to reject his application for the 
 communion if he could "say the creed, the Lord s prayer, 
 and the ten commandments, and had learned the other parts 
 of the church catechism set forth for that purpose ?" These 
 qualifications may be learned from a few of the questions 
 directed to be proposed to the candidate, and the answers 
 which he is required to give. The first thing which we meet 
 with is the odious doctrine of baptismal regeneration the 
 elementary idea of Episcopacy as it is in the Prayer-book, and 
 a doctrine on which all that is required to be said by the can 
 didate is based. (( Question. What is your name ? Ans. N. 
 or M. Quest. Who gave you this name ? Ans. My sponsors 
 in baptism; wherein I was made a member of Christ, the 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 349 
 
 child of God, and the inheritor of the kingdom of hcaren." 
 Then ice. would propound a "question" to those Episcopalians 
 who endeavour to show that regeneration in the Prayer-book 
 does not mean a change of heart, but a change of state. It 
 is this : What more can there be in the new birth, or in rege 
 neration as effected by the Spirit of God, than to be made "a 
 member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the 
 kingdom of heaven ?" Yet all this the candidate is to affirm 
 was secured to him in baptism. The same doctrine we have 
 affirmed again in still stronger terms, if possible, in this same 
 catechism which is to be "learned." " Quest. What is the 
 outward visible sign or form in baptism? Ans. Water; 
 wherein the person is baptized in the name of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Quest. What is the 
 inward and spiritual grace ? Ans. A death unto sin and a 
 new birth unto righteousness : For being by nature born unto 
 sin, and the children of wrath, we are hereby made the chil 
 dren of grace." That all this is supposed to be conferred by 
 baptism, is apparent from the previous answers on the nature 
 of the sacraments. " Quest. How many sacraments hath 
 Christ ordained in his church ? Ans. Two only, as generally 
 necessary unto salvation ; that is to say, baptism and the 
 Lord s supper. Quest. What meanest thou by this word Sa 
 crament? Ans. I mean an outward and visible sign of an 
 inward and spiritual grace, given unto us, ordained by Christ 
 himself; as a means whereby we RECEIVE the same and a 
 PLEDGE to assure us thereof." The necessity of grace is not 
 indeed anywhere denied, but it is affirmed here, as it is im 
 plied everywhere in the Prayer-book, that the grace is imparted 
 at baptism, and the " invisible sign" and the "inward grace" 
 go together. 
 
 With these views, and having "learned" to say these 
 things, the candidate is to be brought to the bishop to be con 
 firmed. Y\ r e are ready to acknowledge that many or most 
 Vor,. T. 30 
 
350 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 of the questions directed to be propounded to the candidate 
 are solemn and pertinent. On the supposition that they were 
 propounded to one who had been truly converted, they arc 
 such questions as ought to be proposed to all who make a 
 profession of religion. But what is their weight, or power, 
 or pertinency, when addressed to one who is taught to say 
 that by infant baptism he was " made a child of God, a 
 member of Christ, and an inheritor of the kingdom of hea 
 ven," and that his sponsors made certain promises for him 
 in baptism which he has come now to relieve them from, 
 by ratifying f em himself? 
 
 Now what will be the effect of this standing and stereo 
 typed system of instruction, on the preaching of the evan 
 gelical part of the Episcopal Church ? They aim to teach 
 a different thing from this. They strive to teach, and they 
 really believe, that water baptism, however administered, does 
 not impart all the grace which is needful to the salvation 
 of the soul. But here stands this catechism which they are 
 to teach, and which conveys lessons so plain that it is sup 
 posed a child may understand them, and, alas ! so plain that 
 we fear they are understood and believed by the great mass 
 of those who are " brought to the bishop to be confirmed." 
 We can easily imagine what the effect would be, if, in a Con 
 gregational or Presbyterian church, all the children were to 
 be taught that regeneration was imparted by baptism properly 
 administered, and that all they had to do in order to be quali 
 fied for the communion, was to u learn to say" this. Where 
 would be our revivals of religion ? 
 
 We are aware that the evangelical party in the Episcopal 
 Church endeavour to evade this. We know that many of 
 them insist that the candidates for confirmation shall give 
 evidence to them that they are truly converted, and that by 
 the exercise of what they seem to regard as their right, they 
 restrain those from confirmation whom they do not judge to bo 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, ool 
 
 qualified for the communion. Aware of the obvious and dan 
 gerous tendency of the system as set down in the Praycr-hi-uk, 
 they claim the right of not presenting to the bishop for con 
 firmation, those whom they do not regard as qualified for it. 
 We have no doubt that in doing this, they are acting in 
 accordance with the New Testament, which plainly teach o.-; 
 that repentance and faith are indispensable qualification 
 the Lord s table. But is this Episcopacy ? Have they this 
 right according to the canons of their own church ? We 
 think not. We are willing to allow that there must be some 
 discretion allowed to the officiating minister or rector of a 
 parish in regard to those who are to be presented, as the foil- 
 rules of interpretation seem to demand that he shall not be 
 required to present those who arc open infidels, or who are 
 grossly immoral. But has he a right to put his own interpre 
 tation on what constitutes a proper qualification ; to say that 
 baptism does not mean regeneration; that the child that was 
 baptized, was not u made a member of Christ, the child of 
 God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven ;" that it has 
 not "pleased God to regenerate him with his Holy Spirit" 
 when he was baptized, but that another kind of regeneration is 
 necessary, and to withhold him from confirmation until he 
 has himself the evidence that he is born again ? Has ho a, 
 right to set his own views thus against the teaching of tlio 
 church, and to insist that his views shall be complied with 
 contrary to the obvious meaning of the canons, and to the 
 almost unbroken custom of the church ? We think not. We 
 think that, by becoming an Episcopal minister, he binds him 
 self to act in accordance with the obvious meaning of the 
 
 O 
 
 liturgy in this respect, and that, however his soul may revolt 
 at it, and however contrary all this may be to his convictions 
 of what is taught in the New Testament, as long as he chooses 
 to remain in the church, he has no discretion. He is the 
 servant of the church. He has received this Prayer-book as 
 
852 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 his guide, and it is his to carry out its views. If he is dissa 
 tisfied with them, the way is clear. It is to leave the commu 
 nion it is not to introduce and defend practices contrary to 
 the elementary conceptions of Episcopacy. 
 
 There is another thought. The church may be regarded as 
 making a sort of compact with every child that is duly bap 
 tized, that, if he will comply with her regulations, he shall 
 be entitled at the proper time to whatever advantage there 
 may be in her full fellowship and favour. There is a pledge 
 given, through the sponsors at baptism, that if the course of 
 life which is then recommended is pursued, the child, as soon 
 as he can say the creed and the ten commandments, and has 
 been suitably instructed in the other parts of the catechism, 
 shall be entitled to the privilege of confirmation. We believe 
 that he may forfeit this by an unholy and wicked life, but not 
 by any interpretation which his pastor may choose to put on 
 the terms of the compact implying that he was not made a 
 member of Christ and a child of God. On this subject, we 
 think, the case is wholly parallel with that of one who becomes 
 a li candidate for orders" in the Episcopal Church and as 
 such a candidate, if he complies with the canons in the case, 
 has a riglit to ordination in the church, so has a youth who 
 has been baptized, and who has learned to say what is taught 
 him, a right to confirmation. The right in the one case is as 
 clear as in the other. On this subject, and with reference to 
 this principle, we shall here submit the views of a gentleman 
 who deservedly occupies a very prominent position, not only 
 in the evangelical portion of the Episcopal Church, but in the 
 ministry of this country, in regard to the ordination of Mr. 
 Arthur Carey. The reasoning, mutatis mutandis, applies as 
 well to the case before us as to the ordination of Mr. Carey : 
 
 "It becomes, therefore, a very important question to consider, 
 what are the rights of a candidate for orders. In doing this, I 
 shall not deem it necessary to refer to particular canons, which 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 353 
 
 are well known, but to consider the course through which a caiv 
 (Mate is led by the authority and the appointment of the church. 
 Our canons lay open this path with great distinctness. They also 
 guard it, and limit it, with marked and peculiar restraints. The 
 question is, does a perfect compliance with all these, directions and 
 restraints give, from the church to the candidate, a right to expect 
 and to claim his orders at the last, nothing appearing in any legal 
 way to vitiate this performance of his required course ? A young 
 man is invited to become a candidate for orders, for the plan laid 
 fiut for him amounts to an invitation. He obtains his certificates 
 of personal character, and is regularly received and recorded by 
 the bishop as a candidate. He pursues his prescribed course of 
 studies under the direction of his bishop. lie passes satisfactorily 
 to the bishop arid presbyters his required examinations. lie pre 
 sents his regular certificates for ordination. lie subscribes the 
 required declaration of conformity. lie has thus finished and com 
 pleted his prescribed course of education to the satisfaction of the 
 authorities under which he has been placed. Now has he acquired 
 a right upon the faith of the church, with whose prescriptions he 
 has fully complied, to the ordination which he seeks ? It must be 
 granted, of course, that if his qualifications, mental or moral, are 
 ultimately found insufficient, he may be justly rejected. If his ex 
 amining bishop and presbyters are dissatisfied with the one, they 
 have certainly the right to reject him there. If any persons are 
 acquainted with moral crimes, which, if known, would actually over 
 turn all the worth and influence of his certificates of character, 
 they may declare them at the very last moment, and he may be 
 arrested there. But if his examinations have been satisfactory to 
 the persons appointed to direct them, and his character is un 
 stained with moral crime, has he not a right secured to him to 
 the ordination, for which he has fulfilled his appointed prepara 
 tion ? Or is it to be considered by him, and for him, utterly un 
 certain, to the very last moment, whether he shall be allowed to 
 gain the object of his wish ? May he finish his curriculum of study, 
 and fulfil every requisition of the church under whose care he is 
 placed, receive the approbation of the chief ministers appointed 
 over him, gain all the required certificates of unspotted character, 
 raid be admitted to record his name in the bishop s register, to the 
 constitutional promise of conformity to the doctrine and discipline 
 
 30* 
 
354 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 of the church, and thus have his acceptance to orders, as it Avere, 
 acknowledged to him, and his mind authorized to rest in peaceful 
 expectation of his ordination, and yet may he be exposed to be ar 
 rested, in the very attainment of his desire, by the possible judg 
 ment of two persons in the assembled congregation, that he is 
 deficient or erroneous in religious doctrine, or theological training? 
 I confess this amounts in my view to extreme oppression. What 
 young man of honourable and ingenuous feelings would be willing 
 to expose himself to this possible disgrace, and this entire uncer 
 tainty of prospect ? Or what Christian parent would be willing, in 
 the face of such a hazard, to commit his son to the faith and guar 
 dianship of a church, whose system of law was so insecure and so 
 destitute of all protection to his character or prospects ? Yet if the 
 principle that a final protest, founded upon the personal suspicion 
 or conviction of any persons, that the theological attainments and 
 preparation of the candidate are insufficient or unsound, is to be of 
 necessity regarded, and acted upon by the bishop ordaining, to what 
 other result than this shall we be brought ? Will it not completely 
 unsettle our whole church, in thus undermining the just prospects 
 and rights of the ministry at the very commencement of their 
 course ? Will not the secret reservation of such arbitrary and irre 
 sponsible power, amount to a complete exclusion of desirable candi 
 dates from our ministry ? I am necessarily led, therefore, from 
 these considerations to the conviction, that there are rights secured 
 to the candidate, upon the implied faith of the church. The con 
 nection seems to me to have the aspect of a mutual contract. The 
 candidate voluntarily yields himself to restraints and laws, to which 
 he was not before subject, to gain advantages and benefits, which 
 are thus promised and secured to him. The church, therefore, 
 comes under an obligation to bestow upon him, on the fulfilment 
 of his part of the contract, the advantages of a ministry, to which 
 it has encouraged him to look ; and he, in consequence, has a right 
 to the result of his labours, which cannot be justly withheld from 
 him ?"# 
 
 * Letter of the Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, D.D., in relation to the ordina 
 tion of Mr. Arthur Carey, published in the Episcopal Recorder, October, 
 1843. This letter was understood at the time of the publication to have 
 been written by Dr. Tyng, and in a subsequent number of the Recorder 
 this is admitted. 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CIIUHCH. 355 
 
 Now with these principles, we do not see how a minister 
 of the Episcopal Church can refuse to present a candidate for 
 confirmation who has complied with the directions in the 
 rubric, even though he should not give him evidence that his 
 heart was changed. One of the difficulties, then, with which 
 the evangelical party has to contend, is, that the grand, the 
 leading object of an evangelical ministry everywhere the 
 conversion of the soul to God by the truth, the quickening 
 of a spirit dead in sin by the preached gospel, the conversion 
 and salvation of the lost by the mighty power of the Holy 
 Spirit meets with this counteracting, this all-pervading in 
 fluence in the Prayer-book, and that despite his private con 
 victions and all his sense of what is right and true, he is 
 under the high obligation of his ministerial vows to act 
 .<? if a baptized child were made u regenerate with the Holy 
 Ghost," and was " a member of Christ, a child of God, and an 
 inheritor of heaven." 
 
 Our next remark in regard to the position of the evan 
 gelical party, is, that there are no arrangements of provisions 
 in the liturgy for promoting their peculiar and distinctive 
 efforts, or which contemplate such efforts. In looking over 
 the Prayer-book which the low churchman, in common with 
 all other Episcopalians, is under an obligation constantly to 
 use, the question at once occurs whether those things at which 
 he distinctively aims are contemplated there ( Do they fall 
 in with the design of the Prayer-book 1 Was it the intention 
 of the authors of the Prayer-book to promote them, and have 
 they made arrangements for them ? Or arc the peculiar things 
 which constitute the characteristics of the low-church party, 
 and which they are endeavouring so zealously, and with so 
 much of the spirit of the gospel, to promote things which 
 they have superinduced upon the liturgy, and which they are 
 compelled to carry forward by a system of independent ar- 
 
856 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 rangcments ? We arc constrained to believe that the latter is 
 the case, for the following reasons : 
 
 1. We think that Christian missions to the heathen are not 
 contemplated by the Prayer-book. They were not regarded 
 as distinct objects of Christian effort at the time when the 
 Prayer-book was made, and it has not been, and we presume 
 could not now so be moulded, as to adapt it to the present 
 views of Protestant Christians in their efforts to spread the 
 gospel around the world. To say nothing of the cumbrous 
 and unwieldy nature of the forms of Episcopacy in reference 
 to missions of the perplexities which must meet a mission 
 ary who should attempt to go through the liturgy in a heathen 
 community of the changes of vestments and postures which 
 it contemplates; the alternations from prayer to praise, from 
 reading now by the priest and now by the people of the diffi 
 culties arising from the contemplated necessity of responses on 
 the part of the people, there are other things which lead us to 
 think that the Prayer-book was not designed to be adapted to 
 missionary operations. There are no references to such efforts ] 
 no prayers directed to be offered for the success of missions ; 
 no allusions to churches gathered among the heathen ; no 
 petitions that the people may be imbued with the missionary 
 spirit ; no supplications that the missionary in heathen lands 
 may be sustained in his trials, and encouraged in his work. 
 We believe that a congregation of Episcopalians might use the 
 Prayer-book any given time, and strictly conform to all the 
 prescriptions of the rubric, and never have the missionary 
 spirit excited in the least conceivable degree, and never 
 dream, from any use of that book, that it is the duty of the 
 Christian church to spread the gospel around the world. We 
 have reflected with some care on the forms of prayer there 
 prescribed, and we have been able to recall in all the peti 
 tions and all the collects only the following that has any 
 bearing on the subject unless the incessant repetition of the 
 
EVANGELICAL PA11TY IN THE EPISCOPAL CIIUHCH. 357 
 
 Lord s prayer, morning, mid-day, and evening, and at all 
 times, be an exception a repetition amounting, as far as the 
 use of that beautiful form can be made to, to the fiarcohyta 
 so pointedly condemned by the Saviour, (Matt. vi. 7,) a re 
 petition which seems to be intended to be a substitute for all 
 sorts of petitions that ought to be offered. We find the fol 
 lowing petitions, and those only, bearing on missions. The 
 first occurs in the " Prayer for all Sorts and Conditions of 
 Men :" "0 God, the creator and preserver of all mankind, 
 we humbly beseech thee for all sorts and conditions of men, 
 that tliou wouldst be pleased to make thy ways known unto 
 them, thy saving health unto all nations." This occurs 
 again in the evening prayer, and this, besides the petition in 
 the Lord s prayer, is the solitary petition which is regularly 
 offered by the whole Episcopal Church from Sabbath to Sab 
 bath, for the universal spread of the gospel of Christ. Beside 
 this, in one of the r < collects," for Good-Friday, designed to be 
 used but once in the year, we find the following petition : 
 " merciful God, who hast made all men, and hatcst nothing 
 that thou hast made, nor desirest- the death of a sinner, but 
 rather that he should be converted and live j have mercy 
 upon all Jews, Turks, infidels and heretics, and take from 
 them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of thy 
 word, and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to thy flock, that 
 they may be saved among the remnants of the true Israelites," 
 etc. The fact here adverted to is the more remarkable, be 
 cause in the numerous instances in which " collects" are ap 
 pointed to be said, occasions are constantly occurring where 
 it would seem almost unavoidable to make some allusion, and 
 to offer some petition, for the spread of the gospel among the 
 heathen, and for the success of Christian missions. Thus in 
 the collect for " The Epiphany, or the Manifestation of Christ 
 to the Gentiles," we have this prayer: "0 God, who by the 
 leading of a star didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the 
 
358 ESSAYS AND KEVIEWS. 
 
 Gentiles, mercifully grant that we, who know thee now by 
 faith, may, after this life, have the fruition of thy glorious 
 Godhead, through Jesus Christ our Lord/ Thus in the 
 collect on the "Conversion of St. Paul :" " God, who 
 through the preaching of the blessed Apostle Saint Paul, 
 hast caused the light of the gospel to shine throughout the 
 world, grant, we beseech thee, that ice, having his wonder 
 ful conversion in remembrance, may show forth our thank 
 fulness unto thee for the same, by following the holy doctrines 
 which he taught, through Jesus Christ our Lord." So on 
 " St. Peter s Day," and " St. James the Apostle," and 
 " St. Bartholomew the Apostle," and " St. Matthew the 
 Apostle," " St. Michael and all Angels," " St. Simon and 
 St. Jude, Apostles," and "All Saints Day," we have the 
 same utter want of allusion to the Christian duty of spreading 
 the gospel as if none of these apostles had ever done any 
 thing in such a cause, or as if " St. Michael" and "All the 
 Saints" had no interest in the universal of Christianity. It is 
 remarkable, we think, that so many " collects" could have 
 been made by Christian men, without a recollection that the 
 " Saints" whose virtues are thus commended, were distin 
 guished more than for any thing else in spreading the gospel 
 amono 1 the heathen, and that the thing in which the church 
 
 O / ~ 
 
 ought specifically to imitate them is their fidelity in obeying 
 the Redeemer s last command. A missionary society, or a 
 missionary effort, whether in connection with other Christians 
 or by themselves, is a thing, we believe, unknown to the con 
 stitution of the Episcopal Church. That constitution contem 
 plates a regularly organized congregation, and all the efforts 
 which are made by that church in behalf of missions are efforts 
 not contemplated by the liturgy. 
 
 2. Revivals of religion are not contemplated by the Prayer- 
 book. We believe that this would be adverted to by the 
 high-church party as an evidence of the excellence of the book 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 359 
 
 itself, if not as a proof of its semi-inspiration. But the 
 evangelical party have different views of the desirableness 
 of such works of grace. We do not doubt that they as sin 
 cerely rejoice as others do when the Spirit of God descends 
 with power on a people, and when many are brought simulta 
 neously to embrace the Saviour. In the proper measures for 
 promoting such a work, they sympathize with their brethren 
 of other churches. They would dwell on the same topics in 
 preaching; urge with the same ardour the doctrines of depra 
 vity, of justification by faith, and of the necessity of regene 
 ration by the Holy Spirit, and give substantially the same 
 counsel to an inquiring sinner. They admit the efficacy of 
 protracted services, or, as they choose to call them, " associa 
 tions;" and, in addition to such services of a "voluntary" 
 character, they propose to avail themselves of what would 
 otherwise be the cold and benumbing influence of the long 
 season of fasting in " Lent." But what is the relation of the 
 Prayer-book to such efforts ? What aid could be derived from 
 that book in a work of grace ? What would be the effect 
 of the sole use of that book in endeavouring to promote a 
 revival of religion, or in conducting it ? There is nothing in 
 that book that is adapted to promote what is commonly termed 
 a revival of religion ; and there is nothing in the book that is 
 fitted to the thrilling scenes of such a work. There are no 
 prayers that careless sinners may be awakened; none that 
 inquirers may be guided to Christ ; none that would express 
 the desires of a church in behalf of those who are asking 
 what they must do to be saved. If these things are made 
 the object of petition in an Episcopal Church, it must bo by 
 the appointment of " prayer-meetings" assemblages that arc 
 not contemplated, as we have already seen, by the Episcopal 
 constitution. We have heard it said that a Presbyterian mi 
 nister once went into an inquiry-meeting, and commenced the 
 services of the evening by this question : " Can you tell me, 
 
360 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 how dotli Christ execute the office of a priest?" The Episco 
 pal Prayer-book is not as well adapted to the state of things 
 in a revival of religion, as the use of the Assembly s Shorter 
 Catechism would be if propounded through and through to 
 those composing such a meeting. There is not a feature of 
 the book that is adapted to such a work of grace. Whether 
 this is not an advantage in favour of the book, we are aware, 
 is a point on which many Episcopalians would differ mate 
 rially from us. We say only that if there are to be revivals 
 of religion in the church, they must be conducted in some 
 other way than by the use of the Prayer-book. 
 
 3. The efforts for the promotion of religion among the 
 young as a distinct class, is a thing unknown to the constitu 
 tion of the Episcopal Church, and all attempts to promote 
 Sabbath-schools, whether in the bosom of the church as a sec 
 tarian matter, or on a more general scale in union with other 
 denominations, is a departure from the teachings and the de 
 signs of the liturgy. The Sabbath-school is an institution 
 which has grown up some two hundred years since the Prayer- 
 book was arranged for the use of the Anglican church, and it 
 has never been modified in the least degree to adapt it to the 
 grand enterprise of teaching the Bible to the young, though 
 more than fifty years have elapsed since God began to set the 
 undoubted seal of his blessing to the efforts of Robert Raikcs. 
 The Prayer-book, even as we now have it, is the " petrified 
 wisdom of the age of Elizabeth," and it does not adapt itself 
 even to the undoubted Christian institutions of an advance:! 
 period of the world. The only arrangements in the Prayer- 
 book which contemplate the instruction of the young at all, 
 are found in the catechism. The amount of instruction con 
 templated there is, the Lord s prayer, the creed, the tea 
 commandments, a careful initiation into the mystery of baptis 
 mal regeneration, and the expression of a settled belief on the 
 part of the child, that by baptism he was made "a member 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 361 
 
 of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom 
 of heaven/ This great defect of the Episcopal Church 
 this fact that there is an utter forgetfulness in her forms of 
 the young, and an utter want of adaptedness in her insti 
 tutions to them, is thus candidly admitted by Archbishop 
 Whately. He observes that the liturgy " is evidently neither 
 adapted nor designed for children, even those of such an age 
 as to be fully capable of joining in congregational worship, were 
 there a service suitably composed on purpose for them. To 
 frame and introduce such a service would not, I think, be 
 regarded as a trifling improvement, if we could but thoroughly 
 get rid of the principle of the Kornish lip-service." Essays 
 on Romanism, ch. i. 5. This is a candid confession; but we 
 do not believe that it is possible for the Episcopal Church, so 
 long as her forms are used, to " get rid of the Ilomish princi 
 ple of lip-service." 
 
 4. Prayer-meetings are not contemplated by the Episcopal 
 service. There is no arrangement in the Prayer-book for such 
 meetings, nor so far as we have been able to examine, is it 
 once intimated that they would be desirable or proper. If 
 they are ever held, they are a departure from the system, or 
 an attempt to engraft on the system that which is no part 
 of Episcopacy. Nothing would be more unfitted for what is 
 ordinarily designed by a prayer-meeting, than the use of the 
 forms of the Episcopal Church. We believe that those mi 
 nisters of that persuasion who patronize such meetings, never 
 think of using the liturgy on such occasions, unless it may be 
 to save appearances ; and we are certain that the high-church 
 party are consistent and episcopally right in their opposition 
 to such assemblages. 
 
 5. All union on religious subjects with other denomina 
 tions, we regard as in like manner at variance with the spirit 
 of Episcopacy. There is in the Prayer-book no recognition 
 of any other churches as such of any other ministers than 
 
 VOL. I 31 
 
862 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 those who are episcopally ordained } or of any other organiza 
 tion for the promotion of religious objects except "the church/ 
 with her " bishops, priests, and deacons." In the Prayer- 
 book, we find no admission even that others are or can be 
 Christians. We think there is but one allusion in the forms 
 of prayer to any Christians others than those of the Episcopal 
 sect, and that occurs in these words : " We pray for thy holy 
 church universal, that it may be guided and governed by thy 
 good Spirit ; that all who profess and call themselves Chris 
 tians may be led in the way of truth, and hold the faith in 
 unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of 
 life." There is no prayer offered for ministers of other deno 
 minations no allusion whatever to them. The prayers for 
 ministers of the gospel are always in the forms following : 
 " Send down upon our bishops and other clergy, and upon the 
 congregations committed to their charge, the healthful spirit 
 of thy grace." " Make, we beseech thee, all bishops and 
 pastors diligently to preach thy holy word, and the people 
 obediently to follow the same." The recognition of another 
 church than the Episcopal, or of other ministers of the gospel 
 than the Episcopal, is a thing unknown to the Prayer-book. 
 It contemplates no union with others; alludes to no common 
 action with them; and evidently supposes that the great inte 
 rests of religion in the world will not be carried forward by 
 voluntary associations, or by union with others, but by the 
 organization under the " three orders." We have felt grateful 
 for the aid which some eloquent and zealous Episcopalians 
 have rendered in the distribution of the Bible, and of Tracts, 
 and in the support of the Sunday-school cause in connection 
 with others ; but we have never had but one feeling in regard 
 to the consistency of this with Episcopacy. We have re 
 garded it as a departure from the constitution of their church ; 
 and whatever independent zeal a few may show for a time in 
 these catholic movements, we anticipate that the time is not 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IX THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 8bo 
 
 fur distant when the voice of an Episcopalian will no longer 
 be heard at the anniversaries of our national institutions, and 
 that the only aid which Episcopacy will render to the cause 
 of diffusing Christianity, will be under her own distinctive 
 organization. There is now far less disposition to unite with 
 others, than there was a dozen years ago successive years 
 will show it to be less and less. 
 
 Our next thought in regard to the efforts of low church 
 men, is, that as far as we understand the subject, those efforts 
 arc all at variance with the doctrinal views of the church. 
 We allude now to the opposition to Puseyism, or the Oxford 
 theology. We speak here on the presumption that those who 
 are low churchmen will be in the main opposed to that system 
 of belief. On that controversy we have looked from the 
 commencement with great interest, not with reference to the 
 question whether Puseyism is in accordance with the Bible 
 for in regard to that we see not how a question can be raised 
 but with reference to the question whether it is not the true 
 spirit of Episcopacy, and is not in accordance with the views 
 prevailing at the time when the Prayer-book was arranged, 
 and those expressed by the standard writers of the Episcopal 
 Church. We do not propose now to go into an examination 
 of these questions, but it may be of some interest to those 
 who are in the Episcopal Church to know how these things 
 appear to those who arc without. We regard, then, the 
 Puseyites as entirely in the right in this controversy so far 
 as Episcopacy is concerned ; wholly wrong so far as it relates 
 to the Bible. We think that those who are opposed to the 
 Oxford theology, are engaged in the most hopeless of all 
 controversies ever waged, so long as they make their appeal 
 to their own Prayer-book, or the early standard writers of the 
 Episcopal denomination. We have no doubt that, if the 
 views of Dr. Pusey and Mr. Newman were to prevail in the 
 Episcopal Church, the church would be substantially in the 
 
364 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 same position in which it was in the days of Elizabeth. It 
 was but half reformed. It retained then a large part of the 
 offensive features of Romanism, and those views were embo 
 died in the Prayer-book. The doctrine of baptismal regene 
 ration , of the opus operation of the sacraments, of the real 
 presence of the intermediate state ; the veneration of saints, 
 the appointment of festival days in commemoration of their 
 virtues, the pomp and pageantry of worship, the sign of the 
 cross, bowing at the name of Jesus, the holiness of the church 
 and the altar, and the sacredness of the consecrated burying- 
 place, all, with numerous similar things, are part and parcel 
 of Romanism, and not of the religion of the New Testa 
 ment. To bring back the Episcopal Church to the views en 
 tertained on these subjects in the time of Elizabeth, which wo 
 understand to be the declared aim of Dr. Pusey, would be to 
 establish the sentiments advanced in the Tractarian theology. 
 The views of Dr. Pusey in his celebrated sermon on the 
 .eucharist, which was the occasion of his suspension, we think 
 are abundantly sustained by the quotations which he has made 
 from the standard writers of the Episcopal Church; and, 
 unless our evangelical brethren in that church will change 
 their mode of argument, and appeal solely to the Bible, we 
 are morally certain that they are destined to defeat. The 
 Prayer-book and the Fathers of the Episcopal Church will 
 sustain their adversaries. An honest appeal to the Bible, 
 however, in the case, would be fatal to Episcopacy, and if 
 persevered in, must rend the Episcopal Church in twain. 
 
 There is but one other thought which we propose to submit 
 in reference to the present position of the evangelical party in 
 the Episcopal Church. It relates to their own consistency in 
 their efforts to mingle with Christians and Christian ministers 
 of other denominations. We have already intimated that the 
 principles on which this is done are well defined and under 
 stood. They never associate with the ministers of other 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 365 
 
 denominations as Christian ministers. They never invite 
 them to preach for them, but uniformly say when the ques 
 tion comes before them, that they cannot reciprocate an act of 
 ministerial courtesy of this kind. They never recognise the 
 right of non-Episcopal ministers to administer the sacraments 
 of the church. They never recognise their ordination as an 
 ordination to the Christian ministry ; and never suppose that a 
 minister from another denomination, except tlic Papal, can 
 be suffered to officiate in an Episcopal Church without re 
 nouncing his former ordination, and perchance his baptism 
 too, and submit to the imposition of the hands of the prelate. 
 These and kindred acts on their part, force us almost inevi 
 tably to the conclusion that, in common with their high- 
 church brethren, they regard the Episcopal as the only 
 Christian church, and consider all others, ministers and people, 
 as left to the u uncovenanted mercies of God." 
 
 Yet there is much that we cannot reconcile with this. 
 There is a zeal for the truth, which looks as if they regarded 
 the vital doctrines of Christianity as of more importance than 
 its forms. There is an honest effort to promote the great 
 objects contemplated by the gospel, which seems to rise above 
 the narrow confinement of sectarian efforts. There is, in some 
 things, such a hearty mingling with other Christians, and 
 such a zeal in promoting the common objects of our religion, 
 as to lead us for a time to forget the Episcopacy, and to 
 rejoice in them as coworkers with all others, in the glorious 
 efforts to spread the gospel. There is such impatience of re 
 straint, and such a declared purpose not to be fettered by 
 forms, and not to be limited to the narrow views of a "sect," 
 that we begin to ask with concern, whether, in our apprehen 
 sions of their attachment to Episcopacy, we have not done 
 them essential injustice. There arc occasionally such solemn 
 declarations made in such public places, that they "/ // not 
 be confined within the narrow walls of a sect, nor be prevented 
 
866 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 from looking out on the broad Christian world, and sympa 
 thizing with other Christians/ that we are constrained to ask, 
 whether we have rightly understood the true interpretation 
 of the other positions which they have taken, or whether 
 a conclusion which we will avoid if possible all this is 
 said for the purpose of effect, and is designed ultimately 
 more and more to give Episcopacy favour in the sight of the 
 community. 
 
 Now so antagonist and irreconcilable are these positions 
 of the evangelical party in the Episcopal Church, that we 
 should be glad to propound to some of the leaders of that 
 party a few questions, and we take the liberty of submitting 
 them here, with the hope that, through their papers, they 
 will furnish to the community an answer. 
 
 The first would b^ this : Do the evangelical party regard 
 the ministers of other denominations as in any sense author 
 ized ministers of the gospel, and their churches as true 
 churches ? If they do (which we do not believe to be the 
 case) then we ask of them, why they are never, in any 
 proper way, so recognised ? Why do they not conic out and 
 openly say so? Why do they never admit them to their 
 pulpits? Why do they never protest against their being 
 reordained when one of their number leaves the church of 
 his fathers, and enters the service of the Episcopal denomina 
 tion ? Why do they submit to the gross public indignity 
 offered to the Protestant churches by the uniform acts of the 
 Episcopal Church admitting a Catholic priest at once to 
 officiate at her altars without reordination ; demanding that 
 every other minister shall be ordained ? 
 
 If in reply to these questions they should say, that the?/ 
 regard the ministers of other denominations as having a right 
 to preach and administer the sacraments, and consider the 
 ordinances administered by them as valid, but that the 
 " canons" of their church will not allow them to express this 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 367 
 
 belief by any public act, or to reciprocate any act of minis 
 terial fellowship, then we would ask of them as independent 
 Christian men, how they can suffer their consciences and 
 their hearts to be fettered and trammelled by such canons ? 
 How can they consent to remain in a position where they 
 cannot express in any proper way the honest convictions 
 of their minds, and act as freemen ? How can they peace 
 fully minister in a communion where the very nature of 
 the institutions is a well-understood exclusion of all other 
 churches as having no valid ministry and no valid sacra 
 ments ? How can they, by their conduct, hold up all other 
 churches as left to the " uncovenanted mercies of God?" 
 The Episcopal sect, as such, is a small part of the Christian 
 world. In this land, it is, and it will continue to be, among 
 the "smallest of the tribes of Israel." Its communicants are 
 few in comparison with those of other denominations. Its 
 ministers are also comparatively few, and, in point of talent, 
 learning, piety, and moral worth, are not eminent above all 
 others. If it be so that other churches are true churches, 
 and other ministers arc true ministers, then they have the 
 common rights of all Christians, to be recognised as such by 
 all their Christian brethren. That is no desirable position for 
 a man to place himself in, who believes that these are true 
 churches, but who is habitually constrained to speak and act 
 as if they were not, and so to act as to leave the impression 
 that he regards them as on the same platform in regard to 
 salvation, as the Jew, the Turk, and the infidel. And yet 
 this is the fair interpretation of the conduct of the Episco 
 palian. This denomination almost the smallest in our coun 
 tryhabitually acts, as if the great body of Methodists, 
 Baptists, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists, had no claim 
 to the character of a church, and were to be treated as those 
 on whom the light of Christianity has never risen. The most 
 eminent ministers of the land, living and dead, are to be 
 
368 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 regarded as preaching without authority, and as intruders in 
 the sacred office. Of the departed, Eliot, and Edwards, and 
 Bellamy, and Dwight, are never to be spoken of as true 
 ministers of the gospel; of the living, that honoured appella 
 tion should not be given to Beecher, Alexander, Woods, 
 Stuart, or Nott. Hall, in our father-land, was no true minis 
 ter; Wesley was one only because he had been touched by 
 episcopal hands ; Summerfield had neither there nor here a 
 right to preach ; and nine-tenAs of the effective ministry of 
 our country are to be regarded in no other light than intru 
 ders and impostors. Now do the evangelical party in the 
 Episcopal Church believe this ? If they do not, we call upon 
 them by every sentiment of honour and religion, to say so. 
 If they cannot do this and remain in the bosom of Episcopacy, 
 then we call upon them to act the man and the Christian, and 
 to seek a connection where they can say this, and can act out 
 the honest conviction of their souls. We do not understand 
 the constitution of that man who can quietly remain in a con 
 nection where, by a fair interpretation, his conduct will do an 
 enormous wrong habitually to the great mass of his Christian 
 brethren, and where this interpretation of his conduct will 
 express a constant falsehood in regard to his own opinions. 
 
 But if the evangelical Episcopalian should say that he does 
 not regard the ministers of other denominations as having a 
 right to preach and to administer the sacraments, then we 
 have another question to propose. Why is not this honestly 
 avowed ? Why is there not on his part always a course of 
 conduct entirely consistent with this? Why is there ever 
 any such mingling with other denominations, as to leave any 
 doubt in regard to this matter ? His high-church brethren 
 never act in such a way as to leave room for an ambiguous 
 interpretation of their views, and we honour them for their 
 consistency. We know where to find them. It is always in 
 the Episcopal Church, and they never so far forget themselves 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 369 
 
 as to convey the impression that they have ever heard that 
 there is any other church. If the low churchman holds the 
 same views in regard to the church and the ministry, then 
 what means all the declamation which we hear about his own 
 catholic and liberal views, and his determination not to be 
 fettered and manacled? 
 
 We take our stand here. If the evangelical Episcopalian 
 regards other churches as true churches, and other ministers 
 ;is true ministers, we have a right to know it. If he does not, 
 then the community has a right to know what Episcopacy is. 
 If it is essentially narrow and exclusive; if it recognises no 
 other communion as a true church, and regards all others as 
 left to the uncovenaiited mercies of God, then it is a riylit 
 which the community has, to understand this. Episcopalians 
 nre everywhere endeavouring to win the young from the 
 churches of their fathers. Let us understand fully what the 
 system is, and let not the youth of the land, won by great pro 
 fessions of catholicity and zeal for the common cause, be drawn 
 blindfold into a communion that is essentially exclusive of all 
 others, and where the first act of faith must be the expression 
 of a belief that a father and mother worship in a conventicle, 
 and are baptized and buried by laymen. 
 
 We have spoken freely, but not in anger. It is not because 
 we believe that those brethren who are endeavouring to infuse 
 the evangelical principle into the Episcopal Church, are not 
 good men, that we have made these remarks. We regard it as 
 an honour that we are permitted to number some among them as 
 our personal friends, and there are many among them at whose 
 feet we regard it as a privilege to sit down. Among the living 
 of this class, we doubt not there are some as holy men as the 
 church embosoms, and among the dead, there are those whose 
 memory will be cherished as long as piety, eloquence, and moral 
 worth are honoured on earth. The name of Bedell will not be, 
 and should not be, forgotten. The land has known few men 
 
370 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 who have done more honour to tho ministry than ho did. His 
 silvery tones, his placid manner, his clear enunciation, his un 
 shrinking fidelity, his indefatigable toils, his meek, pure, unob 
 trusive Christian spirit, his large-hearted liberality toward all 
 who love our Lord Jesus Christ, cannot be forgotten by the 
 multitudes who hung on his lips, as a preacher, and who loved 
 him as a man. 
 
 But we regard these brethren as labouring in an impractica 
 ble work, and in a work which it would not be desirable to ac 
 complish if it could be done an attempt to blend the spirit of 
 the gospel with the religion of forms. The experiment has now 
 been fairly made. It cannot be hoped that it will be made un 
 der better auspices, and we regard it as destined to inevitable 
 failure. As we love pure, evangelical religion, therefore, we 
 think it right to state what we think must be the result of the 
 experiment, and to set before the churches the principles which 
 are involved in the controversy. 
 
 We think, also, that there has been an error in other deno 
 minations of Christians in this matter. There has been a feel 
 ing, the correctness of which no one seemed to regard it as 
 proper to doubt, that the Episcopal sect was to be numbered 
 in the family of evangelical churches, and that other churches 
 should lend their influence to infuse the evangelical spirit more 
 and more into that communion. Under the influence of that 
 desire, pious and devoted young men have been advised to throw 
 themselves into that communion, with the hope that they might 
 do more to promote the great cause by attempting to diffuse tho 
 spirit of Christ through the religion of forms, than by minis 
 tering in connection with the church of their fathers. This, 
 we now think, was unwise counsel. It was both unkind to 
 Episcopacy, and it was morally certain that it would be a failure. 
 It was as unkind as if the Methodist Church, pressed with great 
 concern for the Presbyterian denomination, should scatter its 
 ardent sons through all the presbyteries of the land, avowedly 
 
EVANGELICAL PARTY IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 371 
 
 for the purpose of changing its policy, and dift using the tactics 
 of Wesley through the Presbyterian ranks. And it was an ex 
 periment which, from the nature of the case must fail. There 
 is a way of effectually neutralizing all such influence that comes 
 in from other denominations. Episcopacy has the means of in 
 fusing its own principles, with singular vigour, into the heart 
 of a neophyte from another church. Let the mitre once touch 
 the head of a low churchman, and a new light shines on his mind 
 in regard to the apostolic succession, and on all the pomp and 
 paraphernalia of Prelacy; and as a New-England man becomes 
 the most cruel of all slave-drivers, if he can be made so far to 
 forget himself as to become as a slave-driver at all ; so a man 
 from an evangelical denomination becomes the most furious for 
 Prelacy, if he can be made so far to forget himself as to become 
 a prelate at all. We think it time for the evangelical young 
 men of our country to understand, that if they wish to advance 
 the cause of the gospel, it is not to be in connection with the 
 religion of forms. The gospel of Christ has elements of moral 
 power in itself which are only hindered by gorgeous external 
 r itcs as the keenness of a Damascus blade is rendered useless 
 if buried within a gorgeous scabbard. 
 
 We regard the prevailing spirit of Episcopacy, in all aspects, 
 high and low, as at variance with the spirit of the age and of 
 this land. This is an age of freedom, and men will be free 
 The religion of forms is the stereotyped wisdom or folly of the 
 past, and does not adapt itself to the free movements, the en 
 larged views, the varying plans of this age. The spirit of this 
 age demands that there shall be freedom in religion that 
 it shall not be fettered or suppressed ; that it shall go forth 
 to the conquest of the world. It is opposed to all bigotry and 
 uncharitableness ; to all attempts to "unchurch" others; to 
 teaching that they worship in conventicles, that they are dis 
 senters, or that they are left to the uncovenanted mercies of 
 God. All such language did better in the days of Laud and 
 
372 ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. 
 
 Bonner, than now. It might be appropriate iu lands where 
 religion is united to the state 
 
 " Like beauty to old age 
 For interest s sake, the living to the dead," 
 
 but it does not suit our times or country. It makes a jar on 
 American feelings. It will not be tolerated by this commu 
 nity. The spirit of this land is, that the church of Christ is 
 not under the Episcopal form, or the Baptist, the Methodist, 
 the Presbyterian, or the Congregational form exclusively ; all 
 are, to all intents and purposes, to be recognised as parts of the 
 one holy catholic church, with no distinction of prerogative, 
 with no right to the assumption of exclusive names, with no 
 self-complacent expression of feeling that their form brings 
 them nearer to heaven than others. There is a spirit in this 
 land which requires that the gospel shall depend for its success 
 not on solemn processions and imposing rites ; not on the idea 
 of superior sanctity in the priesthood in virtue of their office ; 
 not on genuflections and ablutions ; not on any virtue conveyed 
 by the imposition of holy hands, and not on union with any 
 particular church, but on solemn appeals to the reason, the 
 conscience, the immortal hopes and fears of men, attended by 
 the holy influences of the Spirit of God : a spirit which de 
 mands that the devotion which from age to age is to be breathed 
 forth on our hills and along our valleys, should be that pure de 
 votion which proceeds from the heart, worshipping God in spirit 
 and in truth. 
 
 END or VOL. i. 
 
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