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 The Apostolical Commission: 
 The Sermon at the consecration of the Right 
 Reverond Leonid as Polk, D,D,, Missionary 
 Bishop for Arkansas. 
 
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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 TIIK APOSTOLICAL (()Vr\rTSSTO\ 
 
 T H i: S K ]\ M () \ 
 
 AT Tfir. rONSKCIlATION 
 
 THI-: RICllT RKVEREND LEONIDAS POLK, D.D. 
 
 iiitisiowRY nrsiiof roii aukansas; 
 
 IN ( riRIST CHUKCII, CINCINNATI, 
 
 UKcrMnER 9, I«3S: 
 
 BY ( ■ H A 11 1 , 1-: s F r; 'j' t i t m . i l \ a i n i: . d . i> 
 
 tisiioj' nv Tin: diocese of ojiio. 
 
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 c . >v . M Y r. n ! : v\ k « r r it x c u i' n r h p h k i i . 
 
 U lUCt SXWIU.
 
 (!iNciNNATi, Dec. 9, ISS-?. 
 
 RioHT Rfir. AND Dkar Brother, — 
 
 We have listened to your Sermon, this morning, with 
 emotions we will not attempt to describe. Vv"e pray the divine bless- 
 ing upon the holy truths contained therein. 
 
 In asking you to furnish a copy for publication, we feel assured 
 that we shall gratify, not merely those who heard it, but far more wh» 
 will delight to read i(. We pray that God may long spare you. and 
 give you grace to exhibit and recommend in your life and labors, the 
 exalted sentiments set forth in the sermon of which we hereby re- 
 quest the publication. 
 
 Yonr's most affectionately in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!, 
 
 WILLIAM MEADE, 
 
 Assistant Bishop of Virpjiia^ 
 
 B. B. SMITH, 
 
 Bishop of Kentvchy. 
 
 JAMES H. OTEY, 
 
 Bishop of Tennessee. 
 
 LEONIDAS POLK, 
 
 Missionary Bishop of Achansas^.
 
 THK APOSTOLICAL CO.NLMISSION, 
 
 MATTHEW XXVlll. 18, 19,20. 
 
 And Jem's cams and spake u.nto thkm, sayino, AM-rowEa is civex usto me ix 
 
 riBAVEN ASD I.y KARTH. Go YK THEREFORK AMD TEACH ALL NATION?, DAPTtZi:»0 
 THEM I.H THE NAME OF TilK FaTHER, AND OF THE SoN, ASD 0¥ THE IIoLV GhoST; 
 TKACHING THEM TO OBSERTK AtX THINGS WHATSOEVER I HAVE COMMANDED YOU; AlfD 
 I.O, I AM WITH ¥00 AUWAY, EVEN UNTO THr. END OK THE WORLD, 
 
 It was a time of singular interest in tlie develop- 
 ment ol:' the divine purposes of grace to this world, 
 when Jesus delivered these words to his Apostles. He 
 n stood before them in liis once dead, but now risen 
 5J body; ready to return to the right hand of God the 
 ^ Father, from whence he had come. The hour of his 
 g ascension is at liand. Tiie preparation for tiie full es- 
 ■^ tablishment of his Ciuirch under the nev/ and final dis- 
 ^ pensation is complete. The whole Mosaic economy 
 "in is iust about to expire. It has been one of light in 
 g com})arison v.ith the darkness that surrounded it, but 
 of light shut up, like the mystic candlestick of its own 
 tabernacle, in a single habitation, and shining upon 
 8 only a single family of all the kindreds of the earth. 
 Ji; 'i'jiat light is now to be brought out and set o\\ high 
 S and made the light of the world. The gospel of sal- 
 ^ vation, by Jesus Christ, whicli by types and prophe- 
 y cies had before been ])reached obscurely only to a 
 chosen people, is now to be read, unveiled, and pub- 
 lished to every nation under heaven. Since the days 
 of the Patriarchs, the Cluircli had been national and 
 local ; it was now to be catholic, as well as to place 
 and time as nation ; catholic, because opening her gates 
 to all people ; catholic, because diffusing her blessings 
 overall the earth; catholic, because intended for all 
 ages to the end of the world. Two chief events alone 
 
 i
 
 remained to be acconipli.shed, before all this passing 
 away of the old dispensation and the full introduction 
 of the new could be completed; the one, the invest- 
 ment of the ministry of the gospel with its final and 
 complete commission ; the other, tlie sending of the 
 promise of the Father — the gift of the Holy Ghost, as 
 the light, and strength, and consolation of an infant 
 Church — soon to be bereaved of the visible presence 
 of its divine Author and Head. The descent of this 
 promised powder, the Apostles were directed to await in 
 Jerusalem. They received it at the Pentecost. The 
 communication of their commission was the work of a 
 prior day, and is the evejit related in our text. The 
 risen Saviour, surrounded by liis Apostles, whose faith 
 had been stunned by the crucifixion of their Lord, and 
 was scarcely restored by his resurrection, was about to 
 give them their commission as his ambassadors to the 
 whole world, and to invest them "with supreme author- 
 ity, under himself, to plant, to rear, and to rule his 
 universal Church. Such a ministry was as yet unknown. 
 An office, so extensive, had not been thought of but 
 in the inspired visions of the prophets. Jesus begins : 
 * ^ All power is given unto me in heaven and earth, ^'^ What 
 a sublime introduction to such a commission ! He had 
 taken our sorrows — borne our sins — met our foes — died 
 our death — and now, in rew^ard of his victory, there was 
 given him, as the Son of Man, the divine Mediator 
 between God and man, **a name a1)ove every name," 
 *'that all people, nations, arid languages should serve 
 him,'* and that, as "iiead o\'er all principalities and 
 powers," he might be "head over all things to His 
 Church." This infinite dignity he now^ asserts, and on 
 the basis of this unlimited right, delivers the instruc- 
 tions of his Apostles, and invests them with their 
 office. *' Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, bap- 
 tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Hohj Ghost; teaching them to observe all
 
 .5 
 
 things^ whatsoever I have co)nmanded you : and h, I 
 am ivifh yon ahvay, even unfo the end of the world.*' 
 
 Now, my brethren, I am anxious to comey to \ our 
 minds a full conception of the relative im])ortance of 
 the event here related. But this I cannot do, unless 
 you conceive aright of tlie whole system of events and 
 designs of God with which it was connected. You 
 will perhaps imagine that I speak in very figuniti\e 
 language when I call tlie dispensation of the Gospel of 
 Jesus Christ, which then began, and is now fast ad- 
 vancing to its consummation, the new creation ; and the 
 times of which our text speaks, the Jir.st day of that 
 new creation ; and you will perhaps suppose me dealing 
 in language exceedingly hyperbolical, and a comparison 
 far overstrained, if I compare this new creation in 
 point of sublimity, and glory, and importance, to the 
 first, the creation of these visible heavens and earth ; 
 and especially if I say that this material workmanshij) 
 must be considered as far inferior in all such respects 
 to the other. But such is the langua'jre and such is 
 the estimate of the Scriptures. They represent the 
 Creator of all things as promising the dispensation (^1 
 the gospel in such words as these: *' Behold I create a 
 new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelletli right- 
 eousness" — and they tell us, that tlie citizens of tliis 
 new creation arc *^ncic creatures in Christ Jesus-," tliat 
 they "have put on the i/rir man," and are renewed 
 in that image of God in wliicli tiie first man was crea- 
 ted and which by sin was lost ; that this new crea- 
 tion, just as much as the creation of this globe, is the 
 work of the infinite power of Goil, and that, as "(lod 
 "commanded the light to shine out of darkness," when 
 the cartli was without form and void," so doth liC now 
 with equal might and in (Mpial majesiv shine into t'le 
 heart of the new creature in Christ Jesus to gi\^^ him 
 "the light of the kn(n\k>(l'j(" ol" ihe l':!<ii\ ol (iod in iIh^ 
 face of Jesus Christ."
 
 Kor is there any tiling strained in this comparison. 
 When I read the subhme narrative of the creation of 
 the v/orld, what impresses me most is not the com-^ 
 manding of order out of chaos — of Hght out of dark- 
 ness; not the instant gathering together of the waters; 
 nor the clothing of the new earth with its vesture of 
 many colours ; nor the storing of its surface and of its 
 waters v/ith things animate and inanimate; not even 
 the over-spreading of it all, with this glorious firma- 
 ment; nor the susTDcnsion there of suns and stars; — 
 but that v/heii Jill this temple of God was finished, and 
 all v/as perfect, and all waited in silence the entrance 
 of some appropriate worshipper — some high priest, 
 with a mind capable of collecting all the incense of 
 nature and a heart pure enough to offer it up, as in a 
 golden censer, before tlie tiirone of God — that then 
 said the Almighty, as if about to put the crown upon 
 the head of his creation, "/?^ us mahe man in our im- 
 age, after our likeness.''' Tliat was the last and far the 
 greatest v/ork of all — a splrilaal creation, the creation 
 of an iiumortal mind to take the lordship of all this glo- 
 rious domain of matter — to occup)^ and enjoy it for his 
 Creator ; and that immortal mind exalted immeasura- 
 bly above all the rest of things created upon the earth, 
 in its possessing the immje and likeness of God. That 
 last work was emphatically the creation. 
 
 And then when sin had entered, and dcatli by sin, 
 why that sudden and mysterious change th.roughout all 
 the provinces of animate and inanimate nature; para- 
 dise without an inhabitant; its entrance guarded by the 
 flaming sword of the chenibim; man a downcast exile; 
 all nature in mourning; the sun sliining upon a deso- 
 lated Eden and a blighted Morld? Alas, the glory of 
 creation is departed — {he noblest work of God, his 
 .spiritual workmansliip, man in the likeness of his Ma- 
 ker is no more. — He is fallen 1 Sin has eflaced the 
 chief i-)(>;uii V of creation in haAing put out its light.
 
 And now the altar is without a priest, the temple with- 
 out a worsliijiper, ami the golden censer broken and 
 profaned. 
 
 But these "works of the de\il" arc to ho destroyed. 
 Ruined man is to be redeemed from that fall. A Me- 
 diator, the God- Man appears to restore him to the 
 likeness of his Maker, and to tlie temple, and the al- 
 tar, and the paradise; and so again to raise from all 
 nature, by marvellous grace, the praise of God the Cre- 
 ator, througli Christ the Redeemer. Tliis is one of 
 the two grand objects of tlic gospel; literally, to create 
 anew that lost image of God in man. Vv'cU and truly 
 then is the dispensation of the gospel, denominated 
 of God, His new creation. 
 
 Like tlie creation of the heavens and tlie earth, this 
 new workmanship is progressive. The evening and 
 the morning were its fii^st day, when the Spirit descen- 
 ded at Pentecost, and God said by *' tongues of fire," 
 let there he lif/hty and the Apostles went every v.diere 
 preaching Christ, and myriads v\Tre made new creatures 
 ''through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the 
 truth." It has had continual progress since, though 
 Satan never ceasing to war against tlic second Adam, 
 as against the first, has often impeded its purposes, de- 
 filed its beauty, and covered its sky witli storms. It is 
 now in its sixth day. " TIw times of the restitution of 
 aU things ''' as they were in the beginning ot the world, 
 and ever shall be, are near at hand. "Vv^c, according 
 to the promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, 
 wherein dwclleth righteousness"* most perfect Tlie 
 last, finishing work, as in the old creation, will be the 
 forming of the body of the new man out of the dust 
 of the ground. Its ruins are now in the grave. At 
 the trump of God it shall stand up, incorruptible, im- 
 mortal; and "the spirits o'i the ju.«t made perfect" 
 shall come down from God, out of fieavcn, and re- 
 's Pet: iii. IJ.
 
 8 
 
 possess their bodies, and so the creation will be com- 
 plete and the work of the Redeemer ended. Then 
 the everlasting Sabbath! Then will be seen *'the 
 Lord from heaven," Jesus the Redeemer, at once the 
 Creator and Pattern of all, resting from his work of 
 boundless grace, surrounded by an immaculate church 
 which cannot be numbered for multitude, each blissful 
 countenance reflecting his image, each ransomed saint 
 radiant in his glory, beginning the Sabbath, hallowed 
 and blessed to everlasting. And then will a song be 
 sung by the Church, such as the sons of God, when 
 they shouted for joy, at the finishing of this earthly 
 creation, could not sing — such as Adam in Paradise 
 could never have known — a song to which only the 
 golden harps of those who have been new-created and 
 redeemed from his fall could be strung: " Unto Him 
 that loved tis and washed us from our sins in his oivn 
 hlood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God 
 and his Father \ To him he giorij and dominion forever 
 and ever. Amen.'* 
 
 Then will the comparison appear, between that new 
 world of grace, with a shining tenantry of the ransom- 
 ed, and perfected, and sealed inheritors of its glory, 
 and the world of nature as the dav/n of the first Sab- 
 bath beheld it, *'when the morning stars sang together 
 for joy," but when, beautiful and perfect as it v/as, 
 there appeared but one of all its v/orks dignified by 
 the possession of a rational and immortal soul, enno- 
 bled by the impress of the image and likeness of the 
 Creator; only one able to knov/ him, competent to 
 adore him ; and that one, not the w^orkmanship of grace 
 — not plucked as a brand from the biu-ning — not won 
 from hell by the agonies of the Son of God upon the 
 cross, making atonement for its sins. We cannot take 
 time to set out that comparison. We know to which 
 side the host of heaven, who rejoice over one sinner 
 that repenteth, will award the praise of supremacy in
 
 9 
 
 ali that is glorious to (iod and excellent to man. We 
 know wiiich will seem the better and the more wonder- 
 ful; not that in which order arose out of chaos with the 
 moving of the S})irit of God u])on the face of the deep ; 
 but that wliose first day was ushered in by the de- 
 scent of the same Spirit ui)on a world of benighted, 
 and confounded, and upon wandering, and lost immor- 
 tal minds — to give them "the light of the knowledge of 
 the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ;" not that 
 creation, in which man apj)eared as the head of his 
 race, perfect indeed, but ca])able of sin, and where 
 Satan was permitted to enter, and Adam was ruined by 
 his temptations, and all his race died in his fall ; but that 
 second creation in which the first man appeared, not 
 only perfect in his nature, but having that nature in 
 mysterious union with the divine; so that *'the second 
 Adam" was no less than "the Lord from heaven," the 
 head of a new and s})iritual race, himself without sin 
 and incapable of sin, encountering Satan, the usurping 
 god of this world, in the height of his kingdom, recov- 
 ering the lost from his dominion by the sacrifice of him- 
 self, purchasing everlasting life for his seed, by j)aying 
 in his own death the penalty of all the sin which, by 
 the transgression of the first Adam, had cursed man- 
 kind — and not resting from his work — not beginning 
 the Sabbath of his Ciiurch, till all was so perfect that 
 Satan could never enter its paradise, nor sin defile its 
 purity, nor a single soul ever foil from the image and 
 glory of God. 
 
 Now we trust we have ])rci)ared your minds to esti- 
 mate, in some good degree, the interest of tliat moment 
 in the beginning of the dispensation of the gos])el, 
 when the Son of God, having "all power in hea\ en 
 and earth," commissioned his ambassadors to go and 
 teach all nations; to introduce them into his church, 
 and bring them to the observance of his command- 
 ments. It was a moment equivalent to tlint in the 
 
 2
 
 10 
 
 ibrniing of the material world when ^^God said^ let there 
 he Uijlds hi the. Jinnament of heaven^ to divide the day 
 from the 7ught" It was literally the setting up in the 
 firmament of the new creation those ruling orbs of 
 light, which, receiving the light of the departed Sun 
 of Righteousness, were to communicate it from him to 
 all the world, and in his name to rule over this star-light 
 morning, until He shall appear again to bring the per- 
 fect, endless day. 
 
 This introduces us to the first question arising out 
 of the text — 
 
 What ivas the pecidiar^ charaxiteristic nature of tJie 
 office which the Apostles were commissioned to exercise ? 
 The authentic voucher of office is the commission. 
 To the commission of the Apostles, then, we must 
 refer you for the distinctive peculiarities of their office. 
 Whatever is not contained tlierein, either expressly, or 
 by necessary inference, must be considered as not per- 
 taining to the characteristic duties and pov/ers of the 
 Apostles. 
 
 Now the Apostles were distinguished by certain cir- 
 cumstantial peculiarities, and certain miraculous gifts.. 
 Were these so connected with tlie apostolic office, as 
 to constitute in any sense its distinguishing features? 
 Thej/ are not mentioned in the commission.^ as found in 
 the ioyJi. For example, the Apostles were distinguish- 
 ed by the fact that tliey liad seen Christ in the flesh, 
 after his resurrection ; but so had many others — " eveti 
 five hundred brethren at once.''^* Thus were the Apos- 
 tles qualified to be *'v/itnesses of his resurrection;" 
 but this qualification was not their com)nission. It 
 was part of their furniture ; but no part of their 
 office. Again : they had been set apart to their office, 
 1)1/ the immediate and visible act of the Saviour. But 
 Matthias v/as afterwards numbered with the Apostles ; 
 
 * I Cor : XV. 6.
 
 11 
 
 and Barnabas, and 'J'iniolliy, and K})aplnoditiis were 
 Apostles, to whom belonged no sueli distinction ;*" so 
 that, eminent as was this personal honour, it was not 
 necessary to the designation or place of an Apostle. 
 Again : the Apostles were possessed of miraculou.'^ 
 powers. But so were divers others, as Stephen, and 
 Phili}), to whom the name of Apostle was never given. 
 It tbllows, that such endowments were not peculiar, 
 features of the A})ostolic office. I'^ssential to its suc- 
 cess in those days, they undoubtedly were ; but es- 
 sential to its nature, they certainly were not. We 
 must not confound authority to act, witli the means of 
 acting successfully ; the office of an amba^ssador, with 
 the force of mind, or the personal endowments witli 
 whicii he sustiiins his embassy; i\\Q. commission o^ oim 
 whom the King despatches to subdue and govern a dis- 
 tant province, with the array of martial force with 
 w^hich he marches to the work. No more must the 
 essential office of the Apostles, sent to subdue, and es- 
 tablish, and rule, as ambassadors of Christ, be con- 
 founded with those extraordinary endowments and all 
 that striking array of miraculous powers with wliich 
 tliey were furnished for their enterprise. Such endow- 
 ments were needed for the first pro-pa^^ation of the 
 gos])el. Tliey have not been needed since. They 
 have therefore ceased. But the essential commission 
 of the Apostles, to which they were a])pended, lias not 
 ceased, nor can cease, wliile the world lasts ; for CIn-ist 
 
 • Acts, i. 26 ; xiv. 1 i : 1 Tiicss. ii. 0, compar«.-l witli i. 1 : Philip, ii. 2r) ; 
 — " my brother, and companion in lahour, nnd fellow-soldier, but ijonr vicssen- 
 gcTf ( ijoitr apostlr., iftur aTuc-mXet.) nocaiiso Epaphroditus is Iiere Called " MOi/r 
 apoKtle," or messenper, no more warrants the inference that St. Paul only meant 
 that he was sent Inj tlir Pliili/i/iinis, a inesstmder for a .-special errand, and not an 
 apostle m the ^-Iriri sense, than the phrase ." a/iosUc of llic Gt.iitUrs" applied to St. 
 Paul, or ^^ apostle of the. rirannrision" ajipli-^d to St. Peter, atithorizes the infer- 
 ence that f^ucli only was the oflicc of St. Pet'jrandSt. Paul. Tlie Ajjostlcship of 
 Kpaphrodilus was understood in the striclist and hiphcet sense by the Fathers. 
 Theodorot, writing on the above pas.sagc of Pliili]>pian3 calls his office an cpisco- 
 pair., just as Peter called that of the Apostles. " Dictus I'hilippcn^ium Aiinstoliis 
 'I S. Pinili), ijiiid hue tdiiid nisi rpiscopiis '" Jerome also says that Kpaphroditus 
 wa^ called apostle, " hccausc he also had rcccivtd the oriicE of bcin^ an Apostle 
 among (he Philipj'iaiis,"'
 
 12 
 
 lias promised that he will be with that office to the end 
 of the world. That commission was complete as soon 
 as delivered; and from that moment its recipients were 
 invested with all the functions of the Apostolic office. 
 But not so, with regard to miraculous gifts and qualifi- 
 cations. These were not bestowed till many days after 
 the delivery of the commission. It was before the 
 ascension of Christ that the full authority of Apostles 
 was bestowed. It was not till the Pentecost that they 
 received *^ power from on high" for the support of that 
 authority. 
 
 Thus are we brought again to the question — What 
 teas the peculiar and characteristic nature of the Apos- 
 tolic office ? They themselves applied to it a name 
 which will aid the answer. Peter, in addressing his 
 brother Apostles concerning the filling of the vacancy 
 caused by the death of Iscariot, expressly styles the 
 office which the traitor had vacated, his bishopric, or his 
 episcopate, as the original reads. The same is also 
 called, in the same transaction, his apostleship. Hence, 
 in the writings of the Fathers, the names of apostle 
 and bishop are used as pertaining essentially to the same 
 office.* But the w^ord bishopi-ic or episcopate, in the 
 abstract, only means an office oi supervision, in gener- 
 al; and the supervision may be either of single con- 
 gregations, as in the cases of *' the elders'* of Ephe- 
 sus;t or of many congregations, ivith their overseers, 
 as in the case of Paul, who assembled and charg- 
 ed those Elders. What then was the peculiar na- 
 ture of the supervision, or Episcopate exercised by 
 the Apostles, that name, of itself, does not indicate. 
 Whither shall we go to -ascertain whether it was a 
 
 * Cyprian writes of the Apostles in that manner ; as for example : " Aposto- 
 los, id est Episcojws, Doininus elegit:" — Tlw Lord chose Apostles, ihatisto say, 
 Bisliojii. "They which were termed Apostles, as being sent ot Clirist topuWish 
 his gospel throughout the world, and were named Bishops, in that the care of 
 government was also committed to them, did no less perform the offices of their 
 Episcopal authority by governing, than of their Apostolical by teaching." — Hook- 
 er's Ecd. Vol. 
 
 t Acts, XX. 28 — Overseers — Bishops, IxuxKii-xaui.
 
 1^ 
 
 j)ai'ticular, or a gcncriil supervision; congregational, 
 or tlie contrary? Their commission decides. ** G^o 
 and teach (ill ^ntfiiffts," Sec. I'lierefbre, Avluitever 
 powers their Aposf/es/iijj or Ejjlscopafc embraced, were 
 not limited lo any particular congregation of the 
 church, but extcMided to the M'hole cluu-ch ; in other 
 words, the "Bisliopric" in tlie hands of the Apostles 
 was evidently generaly as distinguished from congrer/a- 
 tional. AVhat })articular functions belonged to that 
 general oversight or Ej)isco})ate, their connnission leaves 
 no room to doubt. First — " (ro atul teach all iiaticms ;* 
 or as the more acccurate and universally preferred 
 translation is — jo aiul make disciples of all natimis. 
 Thus was given authority to propagate the gospel. 
 ^'- 13ctptizing them in the name of the Father ^^^ &c. Here 
 was authority to administer the sacraments of the 
 church; and by the sacrament of baptism, to open the 
 doors of the church, and of its privileges, to discijiles 
 out of all nations. Finally, -" teachi)if/ them to ohsei-ve 
 <dl things whatsoever I have commanded you.^'' These 
 words conveyed to the Apostles the authority to rule 
 the church, after they had made disciples by preaching, 
 and members by ba])tism. An essential part of the 
 govermnent of the church consisted in seeing to the 
 succession of its ministry. That the autliority to do 
 this, to ordain successors in the ministry, was included 
 among the ])owers of the A])ostles, is not only neces- 
 sarily im])iied in their authority to govern, but also 
 in those impressive words of the Saviour: '^ As the Fa- 
 ther hath sent me, even so send I gou,''^ For as it was 
 part of the office on which Jesus was sent, to institute 
 the ministry of his church ; so, it follows from these 
 words, that it was part of tlie sending of the A])ostles, 
 to continue that ministrv, bv the ordainino- of others to 
 its functions. 
 
 The conclusion, tlien, with regard to the character- 
 istic nature of the apostolic oflice, is, thai it was one
 
 14 
 
 of a general super vLla/i, or episcopate ; and einbracod 
 essentially the authority to preach and propagate the 
 gospel ; to administer the sacraments of the church ; 
 to preside over its government, and, as a chief part ol 
 government, to ordain helpers and successors in the 
 ministry. All these powers the Apostles held, not as a 
 collective hody, or college ; but severally, and individually. 
 Hitherto, we have been, so far as I know, upon un- 
 disputed ground. Let us proceed. 
 
 Tliis apostolic office ivas intended by tJie Saviour to he 
 continued ; in other words, the first Apostles were inten- 
 ded to have successors, to the end of the world. 
 
 This is undeniably manifest from the promise of the 
 Saviour, annexed to their commission: "Xo, I am tvith 
 you always, even unto the end of the ivorld." Now, if 
 neither the persons of the Apostles were intended to 
 remain to the end of the world ; nor their miracidous 
 endowments ; nor their distinguishing office ; if ail have 
 passed away ; we are quite unable to comprehend how 
 that promise is fulfilled, or what it could have meant. 
 But the persons of the first Apostles do not remain. 
 Their mirac}doiis gifts have not been continued in the 
 church. It follows then that tlieAr distinguishing office 
 must remain ; that it v/as to tliis office, and to those 
 who should hold it in succession, that tlie Saviour prom- 
 ised his presence "to the end of the world." No other 
 sense can possibly be put on his words. If then the 
 office of the Apostles, as learned from their commis- 
 sion, and interpreted by all the acts ot tlieir ministry, 
 was an Episcopate — an office of supervision, and that 
 of a general kind — and if each Apostle did embrace in 
 his individual office the right to preach, administer the 
 sacraments, exercise supreme jurisdiction in the church, 
 and, under the head of jurisdiction, to ordain and 
 rule ministers of the gospel ; it follows that an office 
 of precisely that description was intended to continue; 
 has continued from that time to this-, and will be con-
 
 15 
 
 tinuccl in tlie cliurcli, l)y the will of its divino Head, 
 to tlie oml of tlie world.* 
 
 But where shall we find this office in the present 
 church ; this union of authority to preach and admin- 
 ister sacraments, iiufh this uuUvidual rir/ht to onhiin, 
 fuul fJiis prcsidcncj/ over chr(/i/ ; this original, a})()stolic 
 Episcopate? Evidently, there must be somewhere in 
 the church at the present time, unless the Lord's word 
 has failed, officers, of whom it may be said, without 
 arrogance anil in simple deference to the promise of 
 Christ, that in all essential features of the apostolic 
 office, they are tJie successors of the Apostles. Where 
 are they? The question we have no right to treat as 
 imim])ortant. Whether a most solemn promise of 
 Christ has been fulhlled or not; and if it has, where 
 its fulfilment appears; whether an office, intended by 
 the Head of the church to continue therein, and, as 
 its chief office, to last to the end of time, has contin- 
 ued to the ])resent time; or whether it lias been drop- 
 ])ed, and some other placed in its stead, is surely a 
 question of no ordinary importance, by no means of a 
 merely incidental consequence ; but on the contrary 
 of vital cOiUiection \vith the permanent interests of 
 religion, and not by any to be passed over " unadvi- 
 sedly or lightly," but considered "reverently, discreet- 
 ly, soberly, and in tlic fear of God." 
 
 * In some rosppcts, every Presbyter is a successor of the Apostles, inasmucli 
 as lie has authority to pre;icli, to administer the sacraments and to feed or rule, 
 ns a pastor, the j)articular flock over wliich he is placod. In some respects, neitJier 
 Bisliop, nor Pros))yters, are or can 1)0 successors of the A|)Ostles, since these 
 "were sent as rliosrn ci/c-irUnrs^r,^ of Jesus Christ j'ro7n irhom immrditilchf they 
 received their wiioh? embassage and their commissioti to be the princijuil first 
 founders of a Hovsr. of God, consistincj as well of Gentiles as of Jews. In tliis, 
 there are not after them any other like unto them ; and yet the Ajiostlcs Imve 
 now liieir successors upon earth, their true successors, if not in the larjreness, 
 surely in the kind of that Episcopal function, whereby they had power to sit as 
 spiritual ordinary Jud<jo3 I)oth over Laity and over Clergy, where C/iristian 
 Churches were established." Hooker's EccL Pol. viii. ^ 4. 
 
 The peculiarity of the apostolic oflice to which Presbyters cannot bo consid- 
 ered as liavinfir succeeded, and to which in the text we liave special reference, is 
 that kind of Episcopal function (as Hooker says) "whereby they had power to 
 fiit as spiritiud, ordinaitj Jtidi'-.-s" ore.r rlcrg-ij ns wcM as laity; in otlier words to 
 preside, not o nly over nin ny flocks, but orer the pastors of those florks and to ordain 
 those pastors. Tiiiy was tlie ofilce of the Apostles, not collectively, but indivUl' 
 ualbj, and this the Saviour promised to bo willi "to the end of the world."
 
 16 
 
 But before I further put this question, it is well to 
 remove tlie idea which so commonly starts up in the 
 minds of those who liear or read on this subject, when 
 any persons holding office in the church of Christ, in 
 the present day, are termed successors of the Apostles ; 
 are said to have succeeded to the apostolic office ; as if 
 there were some exceeding arrogance and presumption 
 in the claim. Whether it be arrogant or not, de- 
 pends entirely upon whether it be true. Nothing is so 
 humble and unpretending as truth. Did any one claim 
 to have succeeded to the p)ersoyud distinctions and en- 
 dowments — the inspiratioyi and divers miraculous gifts 
 by which the Apostles were qualified for their extraor- 
 dinary circumstances, he would indeed be chargeable 
 with arrogant presumption ; because, concerning these 
 things, there was no promise of the Lord that they 
 should continue in the church to the end of the world. 
 But in relation to the office of the Apostles, there is 
 the plainest promise of such continuance; and conse- 
 quently however the assertion may sound, it must be 
 true that somewhere in the church at this time there 
 are office-bearers, either Bishops, Presbyters, or Dea- 
 cons, who severally^ and in virtue of their office, are suc- 
 , cessors of the Apostles — occupying, iiuUvidually^ just 
 that relation to the present church which the Apostles, 
 by virtue of the essential features of their office, sus- 
 tained iiidividualltf to the church of their days. The 
 prejudice that arises against such an idea will not bear 
 a moment's reflection. If it spring from a comparison, 
 as to persojial character and fitness^ of the modern suc- 
 cessors, with the first in the chain, be it remembered 
 that Judas Iscariot was numbered with the Apostles, 
 by the Saviour himself, and Judas was a traitor. If 
 the prejudice arise from the consideration that the com- 
 mencement of the Apostles' office was miraculous; 
 that it was under the immediate and extraordinary 
 designation of the Son of God; Avhereas the continu-
 
 17 
 
 atlon of the gospel rrtluistry is by the ordination of men, 
 an ordinary designation, by fallible instruments; we 
 answer by referring you to the analogy between the 
 new creation and the old, in regard to origin and suc- 
 cession. The beginning of the grass of the field was 
 miraculous — by the instant and immediate mandate of 
 God. It was created in full maturity. But its suc- 
 cession was provided for by no such measure. The 
 grass, and the herb, and the fruit tree were furnished 
 with the means of a succession by ordinary laws, eacli 
 liaving " seed in, itself\ after Us kind.'* Thus also with 
 man. The head of the human race was created by 
 the immediate hand of God; but the succession, from 
 tluit moment to the end of time, was provided for by 
 laws of ordinary nature. But we hold it to be no arro- 
 gance to say of any man, though the lowest of his 
 kind, that he has succeeded to the nature of the mirac- 
 ulously created first man ; nor to say of the herb of tJie 
 field that, tJiough it be but the offspring of the little, 
 familiar seed in the ground, which sprang and grew by 
 an ordinary law and a human planting and rearing, it is 
 nevertheless, in all the essentials of its nature, tlie suc- 
 cessor, in an unbroken line of descent, of the herb 
 which, on the third day of the world, sprang into ma- 
 turity at the wonderful fiat of the Almighty. I know 
 not that the mai), or the herb, is any the less a man, or 
 an herb, or any the less descended from the miraculous 
 beginnings of the creation, because the laws of growth 
 were but ordinary and the intermediate agency of pro- 
 duction was but lunnan. And so I know not that a 
 minister of the Gos])el is any the less a successor of 
 the first Apostles, because instead of receiving his au- 
 thority, like them, immediately from Christ, it has 
 come to him by the intermediate communication of a 
 chain fastened, at its beginning, u])on the throne of 
 God, and })reserved as inviolate, as the line of the de- 
 scent of Adam, or the succession of seed time and har- 
 3
 
 IS 
 
 vest, of day and night, of summer and winter. 1 know 
 not that this day is not a true day, and strictly a suc- 
 cessor of that very day, when first the sim appeared ; 
 though that, you know, was made by tlie sudden act of 
 God suspending the sun in the skies, and this arose by 
 the ordinary succession of tlie evening and the morning. 
 The beginning of every institution of God must of 
 necessity be extraordinary; its regular continuance — 
 ordinary. So with the course of Providence in a:ll its 
 branches. What is now an" ordinary Providence, was 
 once an extraordinary. What began with miracle, is 
 continued by laws of familiar nature. And so is it with 
 the niinistry of the Gospel. What was created by the 
 direct ordination of God, is propagated and continued 
 by the authorised ordination of men. Its '■^ seed is in 
 itself, after its klnd^^ and at every step of the success- 
 ion it is precisely the same ministry and just as much 
 of God, sanctioned by his authority and sustained by 
 his power, as if it had been received from the laying 
 of the hands of Christ himself. And so wdth the office 
 of the Apostles. It was the promise of Christ, the 
 Lord, that it should continue to the end of the world. 
 It is not more sure that sun and moon, seed time and 
 harvest will continue to the end of the world; and 
 though its succession be now in the hands of very fee- 
 ble and fallible men ; of men unspe:u:ably inferior to 
 the Apostles in every personal and official qualification ; 
 yea, though many Iscariots be found under its awful 
 responsibilities, the integrity of tlie office, as essentially 
 identical with that of the Apostles, is in no wise 
 affected. 
 
 That the office of the Apostles did descend from 
 them to successors ; that it was communicated to oth- 
 ers, by the hands of those who received it from the 
 Lord, is manifest. For not to mention Matthias and 
 Barnabas, who were apostles,* we find Tim.othy, who 
 
 * Acts xiv. 14.
 
 19 
 
 was oiclaiiietl by St. Paul,* not only called an Apo.itle^ 
 by tiiat writer, as he is called Bishop by writers of the 
 next century, but actually charged by St. Paul with 
 the exercise of all the authority we have mentioned as 
 contained in the Apostolic commission. The first 
 epistle to Timothy is the plainest evidence that he was 
 put in trust with the government of the Church of 
 KphesiLs; which at that time, as the Acts of the Apos- 
 tles declare,! contn'mcd a phnriiih/ of Prcshi/fcrs ; that 
 over those Pn.shi/tcrSy as ^^ ell as over the Deacons, and 
 laity, he was invested with the personal charge of dis- 
 cipline and government; and that, in discharging such 
 government, the authorit// to orda'ui was distinctly in 
 his single hands. t The same is evident concerning 
 Titus, from the Epistle of St. Paul to him. It was his 
 charge from St. Paul to "set in order" all the churches 
 of the large island of Crete, and "ordain Presbyters in 
 every city." Thus we see the office of the Apostles 
 handed down by a succession of hands to one of the 
 latest dates of which the scriptures speak. It certainly 
 continued in the world as long as the life time of the 
 Apostle St. John ; and he lived to the hundredth year 
 of the Christiaai era. Did it continue any longer than 
 that hundredth year? 
 
 We ask wlio were those '■'■ Angels'^ or messengers ot 
 the seven Churches of Asia, to whom the seven Epis- 
 tles of the book of Revelation were addressed; called 
 also ^' the seven stars ' in the right hand of the Lord; 
 held responsible for the whole C'hurch embraced within 
 the limits of those several extensive cities, with their 
 
 • 2 Tiinotliy, i. (3. t 1 Timothy, i. 3 ; Acts, xx 1', Sec. 
 
 X »ee especially cliiip. iii. ; and W. 17, 19, 2-i. It is of no force l<» fay tliat 
 theTresbyters of Kphnsug and of Crete, are called in Ihe Epistles to 1 iinolhy, 
 and Titus, Dhhops. Of this wo lia\c no doubt. TI'-iC was not n spirijir name 
 of office, till after the Apostolic a-je. The hi!,'hest tank of the ministry had then 
 the title of Apostle. AVe ;fo by «//(«, more than H«/He. That Timothy and I i- 
 tus had the powers altribntod to the Apostlcd' office, is granted on the other side 
 of this question. The plea is that ihcy were olliccrs cxlruordinanj. But it is 
 t>nly a pica.
 
 suburban dependancies?* Of one of them, Ephesus, 
 we know from Acts, xx. I7, &c. that some forty years 
 before the Book of Revelations tvas ivritteriy it had several 
 Presbyters, and of course, several congregations. — 
 Who then was the Angel of that church of Ephesus ? 
 What was his office ? Evidently it was one of Presi- 
 dency; and that, over clergy, as well as laity. The 
 most learned and noted non-episcopal|writers contend 
 that it was the office of President for life. 
 
 The learned Blondel, whose authority on this subject 
 is not excelled by that of any non-episcopal writer, 
 contends that the Angels of the seven churches were 
 ^'•exarchs or chief governors,'* who we re superior in of- 
 fice to the other clergy of those churches ; held their 
 places^?* life^ and were so superior that "//ie acts of 
 the churchy whether cjloricms or infamous, were imputed 
 to those exarchs.** And this, he says, is necessary to 
 Toe maintained, otherwise the difficulties are insupera- 
 ble.t If such was the office of the Angel of one of 
 the seven churches, it must have been that of the An- 
 gels of all the others ; and as we have no [reason to 
 suppose that the government of those seven churches 
 was not similar to that of all others, such must have 
 be^n the office of the chief ministers of the whole 
 Christian community, in the latter days of the Apostle 
 St. John, This leaves us but little to contend for. But 
 it is not disputed that to those Angels was appropriated, 
 during tlieir life-time, the title of Bishops, as a distinc- 
 tive title of their special office. Ignatius, Bishop of 
 Antioch, who personally knew and conversed with St. 
 John, writing to the church of Ephesus, not more than 
 
 * Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Laodicea were, according to Pliny, KK^nXai 
 dioiKruTioji, Uads oj iho. diocese, in regard to secular jurisdiction. The Church of 
 tphesus embraced what Ephesus, in the cnmmon languairc of that day, was 
 known to enibrace, viz. the city proper and the '' reaio suburhicaria," the sub- 
 urban and dependant villages : precisely as when we now speak in cornmoa 
 phraze of London, we include all the connected villages of Cainberwell, Peckhani, 
 Hackney, &c. &c. 
 
 t Blondel' s Apology. Blondel wrote this work at the earnest request of the 
 Westminster Assen>bly of Divines. Such an acknowledgment, therefore, is 
 01 no common value.
 
 $1 
 
 twelve years after St. John luul addressed tlie Angel of" 
 that eliurch, in the book of Revelations, expressly says 
 that Onesimus was then its Bishop.** " W/io (he says) 
 according to the Jlesh is your BishopJ'^ So that not only 
 did the essential jursldoici/, but the luoiie also, of 
 Bishop belong to the ehief officers in the church of that 
 early period. It is beyond question that the Fathers 
 regarded those Angels of churches as having been 
 dioc€S(ni Bishops.* IrenaiHis, Bishop of Lyons, who 
 wrote about the year I78, speaking of Polycarp, his 
 own teacher and a disciple of St. John, and certainly 
 the Angel of the church of Smyrna, calls him Bishop 
 of that church; and that he used the title as designa- 
 ting .a Bishop hi the strict sense^ is manifest from tlie 
 fact that, by almost universal consent, diocesan Epis- 
 copacy, in the strict sense, was general in the time 
 when he wrote. And could Irenai^us be mistaken as 
 to tlie office of Polycarp, whose disciple he was? 
 
 But that these Presidents for Life, entitled Angels 
 of churches, in the scriptures, and Bishops, by contem- 
 poraneous ecclesiastical writers, who dwelt in the midst 
 of diocesan Episco])acy, were regarded as successors 
 of the Apostles by the Christian ministry of their own 
 age, we have the plainest and most unquestionable ev- 
 idence. Irenaeus, we have said, was a disciple of 
 Polycarp, who was tlie Angel and Bishoj) of the church 
 of Smyrna, and a personal disciple of St. John. Thus 
 was IrenuL'us too near the Apostles to be mistaken as to 
 their successors. "We can enumerate (he says) those 
 who were a})pointed by the Apostles, Bishops in the 
 churches, and to be their successors even unto us, — 
 leaving them the same power aiul autltority which 
 thcji had:'\ 
 
 This same ])rimitive writer has left on record the 
 succession of those wlio had been bishops of the church 
 
 " As Ireiixnis, Clement of Alexandria, Tcrtullian, Euwcbius, «.Vc. 
 t Adccrs. Ihcna. lib. iii., c. o.
 
 of Rome down to his time of writing, viz. about sevens- 
 ty-eight years from St. John. The first named is Linusj 
 the hist, whom he calls *'^/(e twelfth in order from the 
 Apostles, is Eleutherius.* He calls both by the same 
 name of Bishop, without the least indication that the of- 
 fice of the one whom Paul instltided, was in the least 
 dissimilar from that of the other, who was twelfth in the 
 descent. Now it is generally granted that the office of 
 the latter was that of a diocesan Bishop, in the present,, 
 customary sense. What then are we obliged to infer 
 as to the office of the former ; and consequently as to 
 the nature of the office received by the primitive 
 churches from the hands of the Apostles? 
 
 We might exceedingly multiply quotations to the 
 same effect. But it is sufficiently shown that in the age 
 next succeeding that of the Apostles, there were offi- 
 cers called Bishops in the church, who were considered 
 then as successors of the Apostles, and as having received 
 from them the same power ami aitthoriti/ that they had. 
 And how those officers came to have appropriated to 
 them exclusively the name of Bishop, which at first 
 was not peculiar to the highest grade of the ministry, 
 instead of the older name of Apostles, Theodoret, rt 
 Christian writer, who flourished only about two hun- 
 dred years after those times, informs us. "Those now 
 called Bishops (he says) were anciently called Apostles. 
 But in process of time, the name of Apostle was left 
 to them who were truly Apostles, and the name of 
 bishop was restrained to those who were anciently called 
 Apostles." Thus we learn that a special reverence for 
 
 •* "The Apostles having founded the church of Rome, (siys Irenoeus,) com- 
 mitted the Bisliopric to Linus. Of this Linus, Paul maiteth mention in his 
 epistles to Timothy. To liim succeeded Anacletus : after him and in the third 
 place from the Apostles, the Bishopric devolved upon Clemens, who also had 
 seen tlie Apostles and conferred with them. This Clemens was succeeded by 
 Euarostus, and Euarestus by Alexander. Afterwards Xyslus, the Gth from tlie 
 Apostles was constituted bishop, and next Telesiphorus, wlio afterwards glori- 
 fied God by martyrdom. Tiien followed Uyginus, and after him Pius, whose 
 successor was Anicetus, who was Ibllowud by Soter, and now this station is 
 Riled by Eleutherius, twelfth in order from the Apostks."
 
 95 
 
 the first Apostles, was the cause of the Icavmg of that 
 name to them, and calhng then- successors by another. 
 I cannot take time to proceed any furtlier with a 
 quotation of testimony. We liave found tlie promise 
 of tlie Saviour as to the continuance of the Apostohc 
 oflice, eN'idently fulfilled in the age next to that of the 
 last of the Apostles. The facility of proving the same of 
 subsequent periods, rapidly increases as we descend the 
 enlarging tide of Christian men and things ;* till we 
 come to the period of only one luuulred and fifty years 
 from the death of St. John, (the age of Cyprian, Bish- 
 of Carthage,) when non-episcopal writers, who concede 
 the least, acknowledge that the church, without a 
 known exception, was presided over by diocesan Bi- 
 shops, who exercised the prerogatives, and were then 
 considered, without a question, to have succeeded to 
 the full office of the Apostles. Whether it be left for 
 the nineteenth century, to correct the universal belief 
 of the church, in an age so soon after the last of the 
 twelve Apostles, on a matter of plain historical tradi- 
 tion, concerning which it is quite unintelligible that 
 the learned should then have been ignorant, I must 
 leave others to decide. 
 
 We shall conclude our remarks on the question 
 whether an office such as that of the Apostles has been 
 in the church since the Apostles' times, with but one 
 more aspect of the matter. It is notorious that at tliis 
 present day, about eleven-twelfths of those called 
 Christians in the world, are under the spiritual juris- 
 diction of an order of ministers, called Bisho})s, whose 
 indi\idual oflice embraces the essential particulars of 
 that of the Apostles, and whose succession they regard 
 as derived by an unbroken chain from Apostolic times. 
 
 Torlullinn of tlic 2d century, in answer to certain heretics, writes: " lyCt 
 them recir,: Mijir Bisliops, one by one, each in such sort succeeding other, that 
 the first iJishop of them have liad forhis a'.ithor and predecessor some Apostle, or 
 at least soiue apo^^toiic person, who ])crsovered -.villi t!;.-' A-j>'; ■'!"'s. For ao apo?- 
 tolical churches are wont to bring forth the cvid.iice of tlioir estates. So doth 
 thechnrch of Smyrna, liaving Polycarp, whom John did consecrate,"
 
 24 
 
 It is quite notorious tliat, from the sixteenth century, 
 up to within one hundred and fifty years of tlic last 
 of the Apostles, the whole church, in all lands, was 
 under such jurisdiction. We go higher, and say that 
 the most eminent non-episcopal writers acknowledge, 
 that within sixty years of the death of St. John, such 
 was the government of the church.* And, within 
 this short period, we have shown you the testimony of 
 writers who then lived, asserting that Bishops were 
 then exercising the jurisdiction of the churches, and 
 were considered, without the moving of a question, as 
 having succeeded to the office of the Apostles. Now 
 suppose this were a mere mistake. Then the mistake 
 must have arisen ivlthm the life-time of men who had 
 conversed ivith the contemporaries of the Apostles ; for 
 after their death it was in full operation ; and this, a 
 mistake, not concerning a trivial circumstance of the 
 church, but a main and fundamental feature in its con- 
 stitution, government and discipline; and this immense- 
 ly important mistake must have spread so rapidly and 
 powerfully, as to have revolutionized the government 
 of the church of all lands, in the course of some sixty 
 years after the death of St. John — and so silently, that 
 history has preserved not the slightest trace of its be- 
 ginning and progress — and so perfectly and universally, 
 that though tlie scriptures were daily read in the 
 churches, and Presbyters and laity were made of the 
 same materials as they are now, none perceived the 
 usurpation; but all took it for granted, without a 
 question, that such had been the government of the 
 
 * B^owfZe^acknowleJges tliat episcopacy was intro 'uced before Tertullian wrote 
 his work on Baptism, whicli he dates A. D. 197. He thinks the change was 
 made at Jerusalem about 13') or 6 ; at Alexandria about 143 ; at Rome about 140. 
 In the Appendix to the work on the ministry, issued by tlie Presbyterian Provin- 
 cial Assembly of London, in 1G54, we read thus ; "Dr. Blondel. a man of great 
 learning and reading, undertakes in a large discourse, to make out that before the 
 year 140, there was^not a Bishop s-^t over Presbyters ; to whose elaborate writings 
 we refer the reader for further satisfaction in this particular." We might say, 
 then, that leading non-episcopal writers virtually acknowledge the introduction 
 of episcopacy, as early as forfij yenrs afiev St. John. Sixty will answer our 
 purpose.
 
 25 
 
 church from tlio beii^iniiing, and was to be, to the end 
 of tlie world ; and this mistake so pcrmrtnnnfy that witli- 
 outa dream of its beini;; else than the most unquestion- 
 able trutli, it continued till the sixteenth century 
 entirely unsuspected. Now, if we can believe this, 
 what vital mistakes may we not suppose to have been 
 made, just as easily, and just as silently, in other great 
 interests of Christianity? If the whole church, so near 
 its first ages, was caj)able of such an egregious blunder, 
 in a plain matter of fact and of daily observation; if 
 the whole form and principle of her primitive govern- 
 ment could be so silently, and suddenly, and univer- 
 sally subverted, and the very opposite be so silently, 
 and suddenly, and universally inaugurated in its stead, 
 as that no one was conscious of the ju'ocess of cliange; 
 and no part of the Christian community, even in the 
 most distant regions, continued as they had been origi- 
 nally constituted ; and none rose up to vindicate the 
 claims of the primitive government as abandoned, and 
 to complain of its intrusive substitute: if sucli a com- 
 plete revolution can be belie\'ed to have taken place in 
 the Priesthood of the Christian Tem])le, and so secret- 
 ly, that neither friend nor foe, advocate nor com])lain- 
 ant, heathen, heretic nor Jew is known to have obser- 
 ved it; what change may not as well be supposed to 
 liave occurred, quite as easily, quite as silently, and 
 quite as unobserved, in the precious oracles, the Books 
 of Holy Scripture, de})osited in that Tem})le, and 
 specially entrusted to the guardianship of that Priest- 
 hood? I know not that it is any easier to revolution- 
 ize, uimoticed, the whole form and character of a jrov- 
 ernment, than it is to change, unnoticed, its very statute 
 books. If the former has been done; how do we know 
 that the latter has not been also? We know it lias not, 
 by the testimony, unbroken, of the church, from cen- 
 tury to century. But why is not that testimony as 
 valid in one case as the other? Why not believe it, 
 
 4
 
 as well when it proves the unbroken descent of the 
 Apostolic office, as when it witnesses to the canonical 
 books of holy Scripture? Hom^ can we suspect the Fa- 
 tliers of the cliurcli, when tliey testify of the former; 
 witliout rendering their testimony suspicious, when they 
 speak of the latter ; yea, without casting entire doubt- 
 fulness into the whole region of historic testimony? 
 The care of the churcli to preserve the Scriptures invi- 
 olate, is no more manifest in the history of Christianity, 
 than her watcliful care, in all ages and countries, and 
 now, even among the long wasted and oppressed Chris- 
 tians of oriental nations, to guard the descent of 
 the apostolic office. This unsleeping watch over the 
 preservation in each diocese, of an original, indepen- 
 dant Episcopacy, wanting and allowing no common 
 and infallible Head, but " the chief Shepherd and 
 Bishop of souls," '•'■who is God overfall-''' has been 
 the chief barrier that has prevented, in the ancient 
 chiu'ches of the East and elsewhere, the entire ascend- 
 ancy of the Papal usurpation. As the system of our 
 several state governments, united in one civil confede- 
 racy, each having its own chief governor, is the real 
 protection of our liberties, and of our union, against the 
 entire consolidation of the whole nation into one ex- 
 elusive jurisdiction, under one supreme Ruler, and he 
 mounting the higher in power, as his footing should 
 become the more consolidated and extended, till at 
 last such an expedient for more unity ^ proves itself the 
 very fountain-head of tlie wildest and most destructive 
 divisions : — so have been the several diocesan govei'n- 
 ments of the universal church; each with its own 
 spiritual head; each a government within itself, thougli 
 in harmonious confederacy v/ith others ; each watching 
 with sacred care tlie \alid descent of its Episcopate, 
 from the only source of all spiritual authority; so has 
 been always tiiis primitive constitution of the churchy 
 where it has been flnthfuUy maintained,, not only the
 
 '27 
 
 Nviscst and strongest *i)rotccti()n of Ikt unity, but 
 every where, in proportion as it lias been jealously 
 guarded, has it held up the ensign ol stern and victo- 
 rious resistance to the usurping claims of him, whom 
 the prophecy of the Scri})tures describes as *^*slttin(j as 
 Oody in the Tcuiph of God., s/icirinr/ /uufsr/f that he 
 is God"* The grand scheme of that singular Poten- 
 tate has ahyays been, while graciously permitting the 
 name and shew of Bishops and dioceses, to reduce all 
 into abject dependance on his own infallible will ; he 
 taking the })lace, as he calls himself the alone A'ice- 
 gerent, of Christ, the invisible Head ; and thus seek- 
 ing to reduce all office and citizenship in the universal 
 cliurch, into one consolidated mass of iniited confusion. 
 It was this boasted cx]>edient for the greater unity, 
 which produced, on one part, the rev'olt of Protestant- 
 ism, and on all others, is fast sinking tlie mass, by 
 ilead weight, as recently in atheistical France, into the 
 gulf of an infidel and raging anarchy. Such is the 
 scheme of Satan, against which the Protestant ensign 
 of our parent church was lifted up, and the old dioce- 
 ses of oriental Christendom, have been for centuries 
 •contending. This it was that Isindled the })ersecutions 
 of the Englisii Reformation, and burned to death those 
 venerable Bishops of Christ, Cramnei", and Latimer, 
 and Ridley, and Hooper; not lo mention the many 
 confessors of lower place, but of ecpial faith and con- 
 stancy. Had tiiey oidy acknowledged the suprcmaci/ 
 of the Po}n\ they might have died in their ])eds.t 
 
 Now, my brethren, before we pass to the concluding 
 head of this discoiu'se, let me say that if the subject 
 on which we have been s])caking has seemed to you to 
 be less practical and useful than some that might have 
 been appropriately selected, we beg you to bear in 
 mind that it stands in the front of our text, and in the 
 iiont of the service oi" our church, for the consecration 
 
 " - I'liesE. ii. 1. t Sec Aiipeiidix.
 
 2» 
 
 which you are presently to witness ; that not only is It 
 declared by our Lord, in the former that, to the end of' 
 the dispensation of the gospel, the office of which we 
 have been speaking, shall continue in the world; but 
 by our church also, at the commencement of her ordi- 
 nation sei'vices, that^w/i tlie heglnning of that dispen- 
 sation, such an office has been in the world;* and 
 consequently, in justice to the church, and in justice 
 to the promise of her great Head, and in justice to our 
 own sense of the importance of the topic, we could 
 not, on such an occasion as this, bestow on the sub- 
 ject we have been considering a less respectful atten- 
 tion. We have talien good care, while speaking the 
 doctrine of our own church, with all plainness, to avoid 
 all reflections upon those parts of protestant Christen- 
 dom, with which, on this head, we are sorry to differ. 
 We speak now of an aspect of our text, on which 
 our affections lead us with far more pleasure to dwell. 
 The precious cncoi^ragement for the ministry ^ contained 
 in the promise of the Saviour: **Lo, I am with you 
 
 ALWAYS, EVEN UNTO THE WORLD." 
 
 This promise is to the Ministry of the Gospel, what 
 the mystic breast-plate, with its twelve precious stones, 
 each representing a tribe of Israel, was to the High 
 Priest of the Jews, when he stood as the Messenger 
 between the people and the mercy-seat. It is our 
 '■'' Urini and TJmmmim ;** qwx light 2i\\iS. perfection. We 
 wear its celestial jewelry upon our breasts as Ministers 
 and Ambassadors of God. Under its varied encour- 
 agements, more precious than rubies, we go to our 
 divine Lord and Head for counsel and strength. Under 
 its divine protection, brighter and more impenetrable 
 than a shield of diamonds, we go against the world 
 and the devil. 
 
 * "It is evident unto all men, diligently reading Holy Scripture and ancient 
 authors, that from the Apostles' time, there have been three orders of Ministers^ 
 i^ Christ's church — Bishops, Priests and Deacons." — Pnfacc to the Ordinal.
 
 '2\) 
 
 To understand how this promise must Iiiivc sounded 
 to the. Apostles, you must reeollect tlie })eeuliar nature 
 of the work entrusted to their charge. You must con- 
 sider that under the commission to go, and teach, and 
 disci})le, and baptize all nations, and bring them into 
 subjection to the commands of Christ, was embraced 
 no less than the charge to go and be tlie instruments of 
 creating anew the moral and spiritual character of all 
 mankind. You are to consider the dreadfid chaos of 
 iniquity, into which the wliole race of man was sunk; 
 what darkness was on the face of that deep; and liow 
 the mighty spirit of that darkness did then move upon 
 the face of that deep, glorying in the wreck of a once 
 beautiful creation, as his own master-piece; reigning 
 with absolute sway in the children of disobedience, 
 and ever begetting new forms of apostacy, and forging 
 new fetters upon the minds of men. Oh ! wliat a work 
 of infinite importance to break off those fetters; to 
 wrest the dominion of human souls from that giant 
 Prince ; to new-create in an exiled and ruined race the 
 lost image of the Creator, and so restore them to liis 
 communion and his kingdom. 
 
 But this, by the ap})ointmcnt of infinite wisdom, 
 was to be done by hiumni agents. The power was 
 Christ's; but means, in 7/7 wi<7;i hands alone, would he 
 work by. The word of God, by wliich light, in the 
 beginning, was made to shine out of darkness, was to 
 be tlie great ordinance, for the restoration of man to 
 the light of lite, and whatever else had been lost by 
 tlie fall. But the stewardship of that word, was to be 
 connnitted, not to a ministry of angels, but of weak 
 and sinful men. It is as much the economy of this 
 new creation, that tlie light of life, and all order, and 
 beauty, and blessing of holiness shall not spread over 
 the earth, without the agency and continued activity 
 of an instituted and permanent ministry of mtn; as it 
 was of the first creation, that there should be no regu-
 
 ,■50 
 
 lar i)rocess of day and night, of summer and winter, 
 without a permanent ministry of sun and stars. But 
 when the Apostles contemplated such an infinite task, 
 such an overwhelming trust, such frightening respon- 
 sibility, such enemies to vanquish, such sufferings to 
 endure, such dangers to brave, such mountains to 
 level, how must they have been ready to exclaim — who 
 are we that we should thus go against a world, and do 
 all this great work? So said Moses, when his work 
 was far less. And the divine Lord and Head of that 
 dispensation answered him: ^^ Certainhj I will be with 
 thee.''^ The same were His words at the beaiinning: of 
 the next and the more mighty dispensation. All the 
 rising fears of the Apostles were hushed wdien they 
 heard — "Xo, / am with you always ^ even loito the end of 
 the ivorld.'* It was enough. They tarried in Jerusalem, 
 till the promised Spirit had descended, by whose continu- 
 ed agency their departed Lord had told them he would 
 make his presence known to their hearts, and felt in 
 the power of their ministry. Then did they *' receive 
 power from on high ; and then wdth new eyes did they 
 read again the promise of the Lord. *'Yes;" must 
 their triumphant spirits have exclaimed, *'the Lord has 
 gone out of our sight, but we are never out of his. 
 The church sees him no more, but his eye is continually 
 upon the church. He went, that he might sit at the 
 right hand of pow^er, and be head over all things to 
 his people; and reign till lie liath put all enemies under 
 his feet. Thence he continually speaks to us: *A11 
 pow^er is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Ye 
 are my ambassadors. Ye speak in my stead. I speak 
 by you. Fear not. Ye are w^eak — I am mighty. I 
 -will be glorified in enabling you to do all things through 
 my grace which strengtheneth you. Hated of all men 
 for my sake shall ye be; brought before rulers and 
 kings, and betrayed by kinsfolk and friends. Opposed 
 by all the combined powers of human wickedness — but
 
 I am witli yoii. The liosts of hell, lea£;'ued vitli all 
 the wicked and )iiii!;hty anion!;' men, will Ht;'ht against 
 your cause, and heap on you tUsorace, and misery, and 
 death. But I am witli you, and none of these thin«;s 
 shall lunt you. I am witli you in the wilderness and 
 tjie city, in the calm and the storm and the furnace, 
 in hunger and thirst and nakedness. 1 will make your 
 nerves brass, and your shoes iron. What you plant, 1 
 will rear. What you seal, I will execute. Your words 
 shall be my words. When ye preach the word, I will 
 add the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Yc» 
 are indeed but earthen vessels. But therefore have I 
 chosen you, in the furnace of iron, to receive my hid 
 treasures of grace, and scatter them over the world, 
 that the excellency of the power may, in the sight ot 
 all the world, be the more evidently of me.' " — They 
 went in the name of the Lord, "strong in the power 
 of his might." And this, brethren, is the whole ac- 
 count of the wonderfully ra])id and trium})hant ])ropa- 
 gation of the gospel. ** Kings of the earth did set 
 themselves, and the rulers took counsel against the 
 Lord and against his Anointed." Hell opened wide 
 its gates, and poured out its legions and floods against 
 the Apostles and their helpers and successors. But 
 the work of new-creation went on, like the progTcss 
 of *'the morning light, which shinetli more and more 
 towards the perfect day." The image of God was re- 
 newed in millions, who became **new creatures in 
 Christ Jesus;" — and the only e\})lanation of the great 
 wonder was, not in the feeble Apostles and their feeble 
 helpers, or any thing visible; but in the promise of the 
 "Lord (lod Onniijmtent" — '■'■ I am wifh j/on ahcaj/s." 
 
 Nothing but the faithfulness of the Lord to thi.'i 
 promise, accounts for the subsequent propagation of 
 vital and holy Christianity, in one single inch of its 
 progress. Nothing else accounts for the })reservatiou 
 of the churcli, and of the unbroken succession of a
 
 faithful ministry to the present time. Wherever his 
 ambassadors have kept to tlieir instructions and been 
 faithfid to tlieir commission, Christ lias stood at their 
 right hand, and they, by his grace strengthening them, 
 have kept the guard of the church, fought her battles, 
 and died at her standards. How beautifully is this 
 exhibited, for the assurance of all generations, in that 
 chapter of the Book of Revelation, where St. John 
 describes his vision of the Lord Jesus, as appearing in 
 glory; arrayed in splendid vestments, as High Priest 
 of his church ; continually ministering to its flocks and 
 Pastors.* He was seen *'m f/ie 7mdst of the seven gol- 
 den candlesticks** — which he himself then interpreted as 
 emblems of the clmrches. But candlesticks, though 
 of the most fine gold, have in themselves no light. 
 How then do the churches, signified by them, shine as 
 lights? '"I saw, (saith St. John) and he had in his 
 right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a 
 two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun 
 shineth in his strength." And what were those stars ? 
 The Lord interpreted — " The seven stars are the angels 
 of the seven churches." Now we understand ! While 
 the candlesticks represent the churches, the stars are 
 the ministrg of the churches, set up by the Lord Jesus 
 in the firmament of this new creation. The day is not 
 yet ; because the second advent of Christ is not yet. 
 It is a star-light morning still. The church is enlighten- 
 ed, indeed, from the face of the Sun of Righteousness, 
 and by the word of life which proceedeth out of his 
 mouth ; but, as yet, by the sun beyond the veil, through 
 an intermediate agency of ministering servants. He 
 holdeth them in his right hand, as the sun holds the 
 planets in their orbits. Dark in themselves, they shine 
 upon the church, only as he sliines upon them and as 
 they obey his commandments. Once out of the circle 
 of liis light and attraction, they become but as dross 
 
 * Rev. i. 12-20.
 
 3.'3 
 
 and tilt. And it is just because he tluis holds his min- 
 istry in his right liand, while lie walks invisibly anioiifr 
 the churches, shining upon these, througli them, tliat 
 the liglit of the gospel lias not been, and cannot be, ])ut 
 out by the devices of Satan. Its "life is hid with 
 Christ in (rod," so that the gates of hell can never ])re- 
 vail against his chu.rch, however tliey may be sometimes 
 permitted to drive her into the wilderness, and compel 
 Iier witnesses to prophecy in sackcloth. 
 
 Now, brethren, it is under the light of that vision 
 of 8t. John, tliat the ministry holds its orbit and trims 
 its light, to-day, as well as in the beginning of the 
 gospel. If the office of the present chief-ministers be 
 the same essentially as that of the Apostles, so is their 
 fallen and helpless nature essentially the same. Nor is 
 the promise of the Lord to be with them any the less 
 certain ; nor the right hand of the Lord to uphold them 
 any the less mighty; nor his countenance any the less 
 glorious sun to shine upon them, and through them 
 upon the churches. Time has wrouglit no change in 
 the relations of Christ to his church. He has gone no 
 further away from her necessities. Still sittetli he on 
 the throne, head over all things to his people. Still is 
 he the Pastor of the Hock; the Head of the household; 
 walking, as Chief Shepherd and Bishop of souls, in 
 the midst of the churches, Jiolding up his intermediate 
 ministry, so that none shall pluck them out of his 
 hand. Times have changed, indeed, since the days 
 of the Apostles; but no change has tiiken })lace in the 
 absolute dependance of the ministry upon such conso- 
 lation as this. Still is the world a most wicked world ; 
 still does a grievous night oppress and a horrible chaos 
 reign over an immense portion of the globe. Still is it 
 the command, '■'■ Go and discipk all nations ;'' and, as 
 much as ever, must that conversion be wrought in any 
 corner of the earth, as well as all over ti'e earth, only 
 by the word of (Jod, prrtirhrd hi/ turn. And oh! how
 
 54 
 
 far has tliat mighty change to be advanced, ere tlie 
 ministry can surrender back its connnission to him who 
 gave it, and that Sabbath begin, when the secondary 
 Hghts shall vanish because of tiie perfect day, and the 
 Lord Christ shall minister alone, and every eye shall 
 see him. Meanwhile, as that day of final and perfect 
 victory over the kingdom of darkness draweth nigh, 
 the devices of Satan increase, and the rage of the 
 lion, soon to be spoiled of his prey, becomes the more 
 furious. "Wo to tlie inhabiters of the earth and of 
 the sea." (saith the Spirit,) "for the devil is come down 
 unto you, having great vvTath ; because he know^eth 
 that he hath but a sliort time."* We expect the con- 
 flict to thicken, as the enemy grows more desperate. 
 We expect infidelity to spread, and self-called neutrals 
 to fall into its ranks, as Satan becomes more furious, 
 and recruits to his host are more needed. We look 
 that the ready-made infidel will declaim the more boldly, 
 and boast himself more fiercely, against the Lord, 
 as the time of his King is brief, and the subjects mu.st 
 be up and doing. But so much the more call upon 
 the ministry of Christ ; so much the more to alarm 
 them of little faith ; so much the more fearful respon- 
 sibility upon those, w^ho, having succeeded to the pe- 
 culiar stewardship of the Apostles, have also succeeded 
 to the duty of special devotedness, and labour, and 
 sacrifice, and courage, and patience, and faith. Jesus 
 gave them their special lesson, Avhen he washed the 
 Apostles' feet. He meant, by that symbolic act, that 
 as they were the chief in office, so, like their Lord, 
 were they required to be chief in readiness for the most 
 humble services and the heaviest crosses, in bringing 
 the souls of sinful men to that heavenly washing, with- 
 out which they caii have no part in him. It is laid upon 
 them as the price and privilege of their special commis- 
 sion, to be ready to perform the greatest labour, take 
 
 * Rev. xii. 12.
 
 35 
 
 the widest circuits, encounter the severest liarcLships, 
 nuikc the most painful sacrifices of the sweets of home 
 and family; be the chief Missionaries; and, like the 
 work to which tiiis our dear brother is now called, 
 be pioneers of tiie church, searching- the wilderness, 
 boring into the (piarry, di\ ing into the chaos for ma- 
 terials with which to build uj) the living temple of 
 Christ. Such, literally, were Bishops of the first cen- 
 turies. When persecutions arose, the first mark of the 
 archer was the head-shepherd of the fold. M'hen the 
 Lord demanded ** examples of suffering afHiction and 
 of patience," for the encouragement of the weak, it 
 was the Bishoj) of the church who walked out to the 
 rack and the stake, rejoicing tliat to him it was given, 
 '* not only to believe in the name of Christ, but also to 
 suffer for his sake." Yea, for a long time, in many 
 parts of the church, the succession of the office might 
 be tracked by the crimsoned footsteps of incumbents, 
 who had followed Jesus to prison and to death. The 
 heraldry of this order is blazoned nobly in the aimals of 
 the martyrs. Such be the s})irit universally pervading 
 it. It is the only spirit that can mount to the height 
 of its duties. The time may not be very far distant, 
 when it shall be called to rehearse some of its ancient 
 testimonies. At any rate, such alone is the spirit a))- 
 propriate to its mission. Is it desirable that the sacred 
 anointing of a holy devotedness to Christ may flow 
 down the garments of the church, to the extremities 
 of the body? Then let us ])ray that it may be j)oured 
 out richly upon the highest rank of the Priesthood. 
 Let Bisho])s be ready to be seen walking in the furnace 
 of trial, and bearing the cross of hcax'v duty, that the 
 congregation may be seen the more faithfully refusing 
 to bow the knee to this world's idols, and making great 
 sacrifices for conscience void of offence, and for growth 
 in n-racc.
 
 36 
 
 Oh! then, smce this is our cuUing, and since our 
 appointed strength and consolation arc all embraced in 
 the Savioia*s promise ; liow vital to this office is a living, 
 practical, simple, abiding faith; the faith that knows 
 how to embrace the promises and never let them go ; 
 the faith that can make them a pillow of down in weari- 
 ness, and a nerve of steel hi weakness; the faith that 
 can take up this one promise of Christ, and carry it 
 for a shield into the battle, for a lamp into the dark- 
 ness, for a cruse of the unfailing "oil of gladness" into 
 the desert ; the faith that can erect our liearts on this 
 promise, as upon a rock in the deep, and dwell in it, 
 as an ark in the deluge, and use it, as a two-edged 
 sword, against the world, the flesh and the devil ; yea, 
 the faith that can walk through this wilderness, *'as 
 seeing Him who is invisible," even Jesus at the right 
 hand of God, ever confessing, ever interceding for, 
 ever helping and comforting, those who put their trust 
 in him. Lorcl^ increase our faitJi! The greater victo- 
 ries of the gospel wait for a stronger faith in its ministers. 
 Lordf increase our faith ! The brighter glory of the 
 church waits for a more vigorous faith in all her mem- 
 bers. Lorcl^ increase our faith! 
 
 It is time this discourse were closed. But you will 
 indulge me, brethren, with a moment to say a few 
 words to him whose consecration to the office of Mis_ 
 sionary Bishop is now to take place. You can little 
 conceive with what a special and most affectionate in- 
 terest, the speaker will participate in this solemnity. 
 A little of it may be explained by the following brief 
 relation. 
 
 It is now nearly thirteen years since a very remarka- 
 ble work of grace occurred, in the Military Academy 
 of the United States. During a condition of almost 
 vmiversal indifference to religion and of wide-spread 
 infidelity, against which the efforts of the ministry of 
 one man, set for the defence of the gospel, seemed
 
 for a long time to make not, the least way ; suddenly 
 almost, in a very few days, many minds, without com- 
 munication with one another, and without })ersonal 
 intercourse with the Minister, appeared dee})ly, and 
 almost sinuiltaneously interested in the great matters 
 of eternal life. Officers as well as cadets participated 
 in this, and to such an extent, that the minister's study 
 was soon occupied every evening with assemblies, com- 
 posed of both, for prayer and the exposition of the 
 Word of (j()d; and a serious im])ression, more or less 
 deep and abiding, was spread over a large part of the 
 whole military community. Several became at that 
 period very decided soldiers of Christ. Many others 
 received impressions then, which God has since ripened 
 into manifest and energetic piety. Many more receiv- 
 ed the seed of tlie word, in whom, though it seemed 
 to die, it has since, under the continued influence of 
 the Sj)irit, s})rung uj) and brought forth fruit. Some 
 are still in military life. Others have been, long since, 
 adorning the Christian profession in the ministry of the 
 gospel. 
 
 The very first appearance of tliis work of grace, so 
 remarkably and singularly the work ot Ood, was the 
 coming of a cadet, alone and most unexpectedly, to 
 introduce himself to the Chaplain, and unburthen 
 tlie sorrows of a contrite heart. All around him 
 was coldness and scepticism. To speak decidedly 
 in favour of religion, was then so unusual in the Acad- 
 emy that it made one singular. To converse with the 
 Chaplain on that subject, had not yet been ventured 
 by any, except out of ojiposition to the truth. That 
 any would appear there seriously seeking eternal lil'e, 
 even the Chaplain was- afraid to hope. But the darkest 
 of the night is nearest the dawn. A cadet did venture 
 to come, in open day, to the Cha])lain's study, too 
 deeply concerned to heed what would be said of him. 
 He was personally unknown to the Cha])lain. His
 
 38 
 
 message lie tried to utter, but could not. Again he 
 tried, and again ; but the lieart was too full for speech. 
 At length it was: ^^ tell me what irwst I do — I have came 
 about my soul. I know not what I want — I am entirely 
 in the dark. What must I seek? where must I go? 
 Such was the first declaration of one wJio for some 
 days, had been awakened under the preaching and 
 reading of the truth. A sermon preached on the 
 Scriptures, and a tract, sent at a venture, from the 
 Chaplain's study to whomsoever it might meet, had 
 been blessed to his soul.* Doubts and cavils were all 
 abandoned. Implicit submission seemed his engrossing 
 principle. From that moment, the young man ap- 
 peared to take up the cross, and to stand decidedly 
 and boldly on the Lord's side. The singular and very 
 prominent evidence of the hand of God in this case, 
 was very greatly blessed to others. By and by, he 
 professed Christ in the sacrament of Baptism, which 
 was administered to iiim, with others, recently turned to 
 the Lord, in the chapel of the Military Academy, and in 
 presence of all the corps. After graduating at that in. 
 stitution and leaving the army, he passed through a 
 regular course of study for the holy ministry, and was 
 successively ordained Deacon and Presbyter. Many 
 years have since elapsed. The Chaplain has since 
 been called to a higher order in tlie ministry, and more 
 
 * Tlie tract was sent by a cadet, wlio in obedience to tlie request of a pious 
 father, of whose death he had just lieard, had come to introduce himself to the 
 Cliaplain. He was not then of a serious mind in religion. A (ract was put into 
 his hatid for himself; another, as' bread upon the waters, with tlie direction, 
 '^ dfop it any xchcre in the harraclis ; perhaps I shall hear from it.'' He smiled, 
 promised compliance, and dropped it, unseen, in Uie room of his friend, the 
 cadet above named. That day, a week, the chaplain licurd from it, as related 
 in the discourse. But still he who dropped it was not known to care for his soul. 
 The other, having learned from the Cliaplain to what cadet he was so indebted, 
 j)ut a pious book in his way— (Gregory's Letters.) Soon the}- were in prayer 
 together in private. Soon, he who was first in Christ j)resented the otiier, as 
 one seeking the peace of God, at the place where tlie prayers of cadets were then 
 leont to be made, (the Chaplain's study.) One of tliein is now a Bishop; tlie 
 other, a most beloved minister of the Gosjicl, well known as the devoted and 
 successful Pastor of one of the largest flocks of the Diocese of Virginia. 
 
 The Letters of Olinthus Gregory, LL. D., on the Evidences, Doctrines and 
 Duties of Christianity, were of eminent use at that time. 'J'lie American Kdi- 
 tion wa* published, at the Clinplain's instance for that meridian.
 
 39 
 
 enlarged responsibilities in the church. The Cadet, 
 meanwhile, after many vicissitudes of active duty and 
 of disabling ill health, sui)})osed he had settled himself 
 for the rest of his life, as a preacher and ])astor to an 
 humble and obsure congregation of negroes, whom he 
 had collected together fron) neighbouring ])lantati()ns; 
 to whom, living entirely upon his own ])ecuniary 
 means, he ap})ropriated a part of his own house for a 
 church, and lo whose eternal interests lie had chosen 
 cheerfully and happily to devofe iiimself, as their spir- 
 itual father, with no emolument but their salvation. 
 But such was just the true spirit for the highest of all 
 vocations in the church. To be a serv-ant of servants, 
 is the very school in which to prepare for the chief 
 ministry \mder him who took on him the form of a 
 servant. The church needed a Missionary Bishop for 
 avast field, for great self-denial, for untiring patience, 
 for courageous enterprize. Her eye was directed to the 
 self-appointed pastor of that humble congregation. 
 With most impressive unanimity did she call him away, 
 to a work, not indeed of more dignified duty, but of 
 more eminent responsibility ; not indeed, of more ex- 
 <piisite satisfaction to a Christian's heart, (for what can 
 give a true Christian heart more exquisite satisfaction, 
 than to lead such of the poor to Christ?) but of severer 
 trials, and vastly greater difficulties and liardships. 
 Counting the cost, he has not dared to decline it. Re- 
 garding the call as of God, he has embraced the promis- 
 ed grace, and is now ready to be offered. And thus the 
 Chaplain has here met the beloved Cadet again, seeing 
 and adorinq^the end of the Lord in that remarkable be- 
 ginning; and now, with unspeakable thankfulness to 
 God, for what he here witnesses, may he say to this 
 candidate, elect, for labour and sacrifice, in the words 
 of St. Paul to his beloved disciple: 
 
 "Thou therefore, mv son, be strong in the grace 
 that is in Christ .Jesus. Kndure hardness as a good
 
 40 
 
 soldier of Jesus Christ. And the things thou hast heard 
 of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou 
 to faithful men who sliall be able to teach others also." 
 I call you SoUf in affectionate recollection of the past. 
 I call you JBro/hcr now, in affectionate consideration of 
 the present and the future. Dear, beloved brother, I 
 see plainly in prospect the hardness you are to endure. 
 I mean not, hardness to the body. Of this, indeed, you 
 will have no lack in your wide circuits of travel and la- 
 bour. But this is not the cross I speak of. Hardness to 
 the spirit, I mean; trials of patience, and faith, and love, 
 andmeel^ness; trials of the heart, painful and constant, 
 — such as Jesus knew so acutely, because his spirit was 
 so pure, his heart so tender, his sense of the hateful- 
 ness of sin so deep — ^trials, such as you will feel acutely, 
 in proportion as you attain towards the purity and 
 elevation of the mind of your dear Master. But " God 
 hath not given us the spirit of fear." *'Be thou parta- 
 ker of the afdictions of the gospel, according to the 
 power of God." " Endure hardness as a good soldier of 
 Jesus Christ." Be ever looking unto him, glorious 
 Captain of your salvation ! — ever considering him who 
 endured such contradiction of sinners against himself; 
 have in him the simple confidence of a good soldier; 
 show the implicit obedience, the patient watchfulness, 
 the intrepid zeal, tlie entire devotedness of a good 
 soldier of Jesus Christ. Your strength is all in him. 
 It is enough. Use it. It waits your call. Draw 
 upon that right hand of power till you are ''strong in 
 the Lord''' Carry the spirit of the pastor of that con- 
 gregation of slaves, the spirit of a servant of servants, 
 into the highest v/alks of your office. A ruler by 
 commission ; be always the servant of all in spirit and 
 in work. Wash the disciples' feet. Do any tiling to 
 bring sinners to the washing of regeneration and the 
 renewing of the Holy Ghost. Count all things but 
 loss, that the lost mav "win Christ and be found iu
 
 41 
 
 liini." 13c yourself an cxainplo of the plainest, the 
 most pointed, distinct, earnest and constant preaching 
 of Christ. Tliis, and the raising up and sending out of 
 others to the same work, is the high vocation to wliich 
 jou are called. Strive to surround yourself with a 
 ministry after this pattern; a ministry of men school- 
 ed in the experience of the preciousness of Christ; 
 scliooled in the mind of Christ; tauglit of God how to 
 set him forth to the consciences and liearts, to the 
 wants, and fears, and woes of this lost and blinded race. 
 *'Lay hands suddenly on no man." Aim indeed at a 
 numerous ministry, because absolutely needed. Aim, 
 infinitely more, at a ministry full of the Holy (ihost; 
 knowing Christ, teaching Christ, following Christ; 
 ready to endure all things for Christ and his kingdom. 
 When difficulties thicken, and helpers are few, and the 
 wilderness is dark and dry, remember that you do not 
 minister to others without being ministered unto; you 
 liave a " Good SlLepliercV^ — out of sight — but always 
 near; ever holding you with his right hand. Jesus 
 ministereth to you. Let him minister. 0])en your 
 whole soul to the working of his silent, all-subduing 
 ministry. It will lift up \our heart, and fill you witli 
 peace, and make your wilderness and solitary })lace to 
 be glad. 
 
 Finally, remember, the time is short. The six work- 
 ing days of this short week will soon be over; the 
 everlasting Sabbath will soon begin. Labour hard. 
 The work is great; but wiiat we do, must be done 
 quickly. "We must give ourselves contiiuially to 
 prayer and the ministry of the word." A\'e look "for 
 the appearing of the great (jod and our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ." Watch and work I With a Father's heart, I 
 pray for you. With a Brother's heart, I ])ray for you; 
 commendincr vou to (xod and the word of his ixrace. 
 **The God of peace, who brought again from the dead 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep;
 
 tlirough the blood of the everlasting covenant, make 
 you perfect in every good work to do his will, working 
 in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through 
 Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. 
 Amen." 
 
 APPENDIX TO PAGE 27. 
 
 It is very commonly supposed that because an episcopal cliurcli lias bis!iO|)s, 
 and the Roniisli cliurch also has bishops, and the bishop of Rome is tlie Pope, 
 therefore an episcopal church, tliougli Protestant, must be a hand-maid to 
 Popery. It would be quite as legitimate to say, that whereas the Pope relien 
 upon Presbyters, such as those of the Monastic orders and of the society of 
 Jesuits, as the main supporters of his claims of supremacy, against the claims 
 of diocesan Bishops ; and whereas Presbyters are the only ministers of non-epis- 
 copal communions, therefore non-episcopal communions are hand- maids to Pope- 
 ry. The truth is, that a jirim.ilive epitcopacy and the claims of Popery are 
 absolutely irreconciieabie. Nothing does the Pope more labour to destroy than 
 an independent Episcopacy. No barrier stands so much in his way as the Prot- 
 estant Episcopacy of England. In the famous RomiaJi Council of Trent, the 
 question was warmlv debated whether Bishops were of a distinct order from 
 Presbyters. The Legates of the Pope did all they could to stop the debate. They 
 wanted the question to be considered as undecided, lesl it should bring Bishop.i 
 into unpleasant equality with Him of Rome, whom they wished to be considered 
 as the only Bishop hy distinction of order. It was long debated in the same coun- 
 cil, whether Bishops held their office "di-jure divino," or ^' dc jure pontijicio ;" 
 from Christ or the Pope ; througli the Apostles iu general, or only Si. Peter, aa 
 Christ's sole vicar on earth. Tlie latter was strenuously maintained by the Reg- 
 ulars or Monastic orders, by the Jesuits, (the Pope's body guards,) and the 
 Cardinal- Legates of His Holiness. Ttielr doctrine may be seen from the follow- 
 ing extracts from the speech of Laynez, General of the Jesuits. He said '• the 
 Apostles were made Bishops, not by Christ, but by St. Peter ;" that Bishops 
 "held their office and authority of St. Peter's successor." He advised the council 
 to beware, "lest by making the institution of Bishops of divine right, they should 
 take away the Hierarchy and bring an Oligarchy, or rather an Anarchy." He 
 censured those who held there is any power in Eishopp, received from Christ, 
 "because it v.- ou Id ft/Ax tncay the pritikga of the Roman Church, tfutt the Pope {»• 
 the Head of the Church, and Vicar of Chiist." "He said it was a mere contradic- 
 tion, to say the Pope is Head of the Churcli and the government Monarchical, 
 .nnd then say there is a power or jurisdiction not derived from him, but received 
 from others." 
 
 The discourse of the learned Jesuit was exceedingly extolled by the special 
 advocates of tlie Popedom. " The Panalins," says an histcjrian of the Council, 
 " said it was most learned and subEtantlal." The strenucus admirers of its 
 doctrines were among lite Regulars, the Jesuits, the Legates and Cardinals. 
 But who were the strenuous opponents of such doctrines ? Bishops — and the 
 Divines whom thry brought with them to the (Council. Of Iho former, Kcveial
 
 •poke in defenco of »ucii iloclrinos an llie following^, from llio spcecli of llic 
 Archbishop of Greiuida: " Wheresoever a Bishop shall be, whether in Rome or 
 in Angubium, all arc of the same merit, and of the name prieslhood, and all 
 miccesaors of the Apostles." "He inveijrhiHl against tliose who said St. I'eter 
 had ordained the other Apo.stles, IJishops. He adinonisjied the council to study 
 the Scriptures and obyervc that power to teach throughout the world, to adminis- 
 ter the sacraments and to govern the church, is e'jually given to all. And 
 therefore as the Apostles had authority, not from I'eter, but from Christ, so (lie 
 successors of the Apostles hnrc not jioircr from Pbtcr, but from Clirist himself." 
 
 The Archbishop of Paris was conspicuous in his opposition to the doclrinen of 
 the .Monkti, Jesuits, Legates and Cardinals. He dated the commencement of 
 the I'opu's war against Ki)iscopacy, ii» the eleventh century. •' Tlie Bishops 
 (he said) held tlieir authority entire, until tlic year 1050, when it received a 
 great blow by the Cluniacensian and Cislertian Congregations, (Monastic orders) 
 and others which arose in that age, because many functions, proper and essential 
 to Disliops, iccre bij their means Teduced to Rome. But when the Mendicants 
 began afler the year 11?00, almost all t)ie exercise of Episcopal authority was 
 quite taken away, and given to thcni by privilege. Now this new congregation, 
 born but the other da}', (.lesuity, ) v/hich is neither secular nor regular, to go 
 beyond their predecessors, doth labour to lake away all jurisdiction of Bishops, 
 by saying it is not given them by Goil, and that they ouglil to acknowledge that 
 they have received it of men." The .Icsuits have well continued in the same 
 course ever since. They have no liking for diocesan Episcopacy claiming to 
 hold trorii Christ, instead of the I'ope. 
 
 We see from the above that opposition to the divmi; institution of an indepen- 
 dant diocesan Episcopacy, did not originate witii I'rotestante. It began long 
 before the Refor.nation. It was the monastic doctrine in the 11th century; the 
 Jesuit doctrine in the 16lh. T'le inferior' clergy maintained it in support of the 
 high claims of the papal throne. The Bishops opposed it, in resistance of those 
 claims. Tlien, as now, the shortest way to favour despotism, was to preach 
 levclism. It is curious to see in the debates of the Council of Trent, how the 
 special " I'lijmUsts," as the historian calls them, in trying to elevate the Pope, 
 by depressing the Bishops, contended for purity of order between them ond 
 Presbyters, with many of the samr; arguments which are now userl for tiio same 
 parity, by Protestants, under the idea that, in contending against Diocesan 
 Episcopacy, they are really warring against Popery. 
 
 The above extracts have been taken from I'ra I' nolo' s History of the Council of 
 Trent, Hook 7. An extract from anotiier author will conclude this note. 
 *' When the Po[)e could not carry liis ca\ise against episcopacy in the council of 
 Trent, he took ariulher method, and that was to set up a number of Priests, that 
 is the Regulars (Monks) whom ho exempted from the jurisdiction of their resptc- 
 tive bishops, an<l framed them into a nielliod and discipline of their own, accoun- 
 table only to superiors of his and tli^'irown contriving. Tlie^e usurp itions cpon 
 tiie episcopal authority, made tlio fatnous An-Iibishop of Spalato quit his great 
 preferments in tlic Ciiurcli of Rome, and travel into England in iho reign of 
 James I. to seek for a more primitive and indcpendant episcopacy. Himself, in 
 his Consilium Proficlionis, gives the sam^ reasons for it; and that thirs sham ful 
 depression of episcopacy in the Church of Rome, was the cause of his leaving 
 her." — I^cslic on Qualifications to Administer the Satramrnts. 
 
 « \Vc inrliidf the fnrflinali iimnii^ die in/frlfr rU-rfty ; fnr thoii|;li tlipv rnitotitiirr Itip contutnry 
 whirh ro.-illv nilpn tin- Koninh ( hiiri h, .iiul rlniir.« in tlic nnni<- nf the PinM- (r> riilo llir ( hiirrli 
 Vniv>.>rs.-\1, tin-;, arc .i\nir>.t :.\\ nf tlic onlcr of lTr«li;icr» or »'n. -i I i.r i " "n in niitr.lirr 
 
 whc.-v tlic sari-Ml roll«<({0 is i-ompU'to; ofHhoin oi.ly'n an> I'.- r t>t Ihp rrW 
 
 I>riiron«. Whptli'^r thr I'opo n-lir* upon Pithnfw for Ihr mij.i .im«,' "r foeU 
 
 it ncctwsory to fiirrounil him«cli" with » r^rrfrt loniUiirf, rgrrr .•
 
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