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ART. I-PRIEST, ALTAR, AND SACRIFICE.

(1.) Brett's Collection of Ancient Liturgies, with a Dissertation, &c. London : 1720.

(2.) Constitutions and Canons of the Holy Apostles. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 8vo., 1848.

(3.) The two Books of Common Prayer, set forth by Authority of Parliament, in the reign of King Edward VI; Compared with each other. By EDWARD CARDWELL, D. D., Principal of St. Alban's Hall. Second Edition. 8vo., Oxford University Press, 1851.

(4.) The Westminster Assembly's Directory for Public Worship, 1645; and Baxter's Reformed Liturgy, 1660.

(5.) The Nonjuror's Offices, 1718.-The Scottish Communion Office, 1724-43–55–64.

HAS the Christian Church a Priesthood, an Altar, and a Sacrifice? and, if so, in what sense? In offering a few thoughts to our readers upon this question, we avow in the outset, that we do not write in the spirit of controversy. We confess, too, that it is an inquiry which enters into the very

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depths of Christianity, whether viewed as a Supernatural Institution, or as a System of Revealed Truth, or as the living, practical working Body of Christ. There is not a Heresy, ancient or modern, not a duty, private or social, which it does not touch, immediately or remotely. Our object is, to present what we believe to be the Truth of God upon the subject, and especially as bearing upon the present state of theological sentiment in this country, and in the Church.

We take for granted, that there is such an Institution as the Church of God, a Visible Institution, the Church of the Redeemed, a Church essentially One from the first divine interposition after the Fall of Man, to the final surrender of Christ's Mediatorial Throne in the New Jerusalem; One, in the Love which prompted the plan; One, in the Covenant of Mercy, and the purchase of that Covenant, "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world;" One, in the great objects of that Covenant, the magnifying of God's perfections, and the salvation of men; One, in the essential characteristics of the faithful in every age.

And yet, while the Church is thus one in all its grand features, the manifestations by which the Plan has been gradually unfolded, have been varied. There was the Ante-diluvian Church, the Church in the days of Noah, the Abrahamic Church, the Mosaic Church, and, last of all, the Christian Church, when the wall of separation was once more broken down. Yet, in each and all these Dispensations, there is one distinguishing characteristic. It is the ever-present Mediatorship of the adorable and ever-blessed Second Person of the Trinity, the Great I AM. In each and all, "No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." John xiv. 6. As soon as man fell, and Death became his doom, then God in His Mercy interposed. He knew how to contrive a Way by which He could protect every attribute of His character, and every interest of His government, and still save man. Jesus Christ, in the very beginning, was that Way. Then the Plan was instituted, and the promise made, THE SEED OF THE WOMAN SHALL BRUISE THE SERPENT'S HEAD. The Plan, even as then revealed, contained in a germ, the whole substance of the Gospel, and was

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