but the genuine doctrine of that Church to which I belong, as set forth in her services and formularies, and maintained by her most eminent Archbishops, Bishops, and Divines. I am quite content that whatever is mine in these pages should be laid aside as coming from one too young and inexperienced to demand attention, provided due respect shall be paid to the authorities by which I have defended my statements, and with which they must stand or fall. It is from better motives than any desire of appearing as an author that I have devoted to this purpose the few hours wherein I would willingly have sought repose from incessant and fatiguing duties, and have brought upon myself an unexpected and unenviable publicity.

W. L.

January 5, 1842.

APPLICABLE TO THE PRESENT TIMES.

THAT dissension should exist between the different branches or members of Christ's Holy Catholic Church, is a thing greatly to be deplored; and if it arise hastily or without sufficient cause, is doubtless in itself a very grievous sin. Hence it is our duty by all lawful means to set forward the reconciliation of those differences which separate us from each other and from God, and to seek to lessen instead of widening the breach between us: to examine well the real principles of others ere we proceed to judge them, and carefully to ascertain the truth before we pronounce a sweeping condemnation on those whose views may not in all respects be similar to our own.

To present anything like a sketch of the divisions which at divers times have vexed and agitated the Church of Christ, is far from our present purpose: we merely desire, from a hasty glance thrown back over the few past years of her history, as it bears upon ourselves, to assist those who may be desirous of viewing things under their real, and not under a prejudiced or imaginary aspect.

It will hardly be denied, that during the last century a deep sleep seemed to have fallen upon the minds of men in things pertaining unto God. The vigorous and dogmatic theology of former days had been replaced by a

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style of teaching little if at all superior to the moral systems of the heathen philosophy: doctrines being now set forth and discourses delivered, which might with almost equal propriety have issued from the groves of the Academy, or instructed an audience beside the waters of the Ilissus. Instead of the searching and heart-stirring appeals which had thrilled through the souls of our Fathers, the authorized teachers of religion for the most part (for doubtless there were many and bright exceptions) now sought to instruct their people through the cold instrumentality of evidences and abstract reasonings, addressed to the understanding rather than to Faith, and bringing the touchstone of rigid demonstration to bear upon the truths of a religion whose very motto and token ought to be, "Blessed are they which have not seen, but have believed." The Church was now viewed, not as the one channel appointed of God to convey the blessings of his grace to his people, but as a national institution supported by the State, and placed under the protection of the civil power for the better promotion of religion in the realm; it was considered as something not accidentally, but essentially1 interwoven with our political

1 For such as may not be accustomed to the accurate use of words, it may not be improper to remark that by essential is meant "that which constitutes the essence or being of anything: which makes it to be what it is, and without which it must cease to be;" by accidental, "that which may or may not, according to circumstances, be attached to anything without affecting its existence or essential character." Thus the fact of the Church being connected with the state is an accident; i. e. it is something which might be taken away and yet leave the Church existing as before, her political condition, either one way or the other, nowise affecting her existence as a Church. On the other hand, her "Catholicism" is essential to her, as without it she would cease to be a branch of Christ's Holy Catholic Church, that is to say, would cease to be a Church at all. She might cease to be the Church of England (i. e. the Church by law in England established) without ceasing to be, this being an accident of her condition: she could not cease from her Catholicism without ceasing to be, this being essential to her existence,

system; and" Church and State" became a watchword with many, as well Ministers as people, who if they were steadfast in their allegiance to the one, certainly shewed a lamentable reluctance to live up to the uncompromising rules and sublime morality of the other. To belong to the Church was deemed proper, because not to belong to her was deemed something irregular and strange; and if Dissent then found not much favour in men's eyes, it was rather owing to the coarseness of the generality of its professors, than to any acknowledged heinousness in Dissent itself.

Such was the state of things amongst us, when a body of men styling themselves "Evangelical"-that is to say, advocates of gospel truth-sought to awaken the Church from the spiritual lethargy into which she had fallen. A voice was now heard crying in the wilderness, calling upon the people to repent them of their sins, and to rouse themselves from dead works to serve the living God. These have long since been gathered to their Fathers; and if we cannot in all respects say as they said, nor would act altogether as they acted, yet did the Church under then existing circumstances owe them too large a debt of gratitude to make it meet in us to say aught in their disparagement. The object of these energetic men was to rouse their sleeping brethren to the feeling of those truths whose force had well nigh evaporated in the lukewarm theology of the day; and so far their zeal was much and highly to be praised. Howbeit, as it is the tendency of all strong movements to rush into extremes, it came to pass that in their ardour for propagating Evangelic truth, they forgot to proclaim the necessity of its indispensable concomitant, Apostolic order. In avoiding Scylla they plunged into Charybdis. The consequence of all this, if unforeseen, was inevitable. The impression created was that all true

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religion consisted in the zealous belief of some one or two prominent articles of the Faith; the Sacraments and other ordinances of the Church, with the necessity of the Apostolic commission for the administration of the same, were, to say the least, accounted by many as things non-essential, or of minor importance; and in the desire to make men more spiritual they overlooked the injunction of the Apostle, Let all things be done decently and in order." Hence it naturally happened that men willingly joined themselves to such as preached "the Truth," as they considered it, in the most forcible and exciting manner; and if in any place the Church's appointed Minister appeared to lack oratorical ability or zeal, the neighbouring meetinghouse was sure to draw within its walls numbers of mistaken and deluded votaries. A ready eloquence, or the feeling of what was termed " a call," was by such persons considered amply sufficient as a title to preach the word of God and administer the Sacraments of the Gospel. Indeed to such a height was this feeling carried, that many of the Evangelical party within the Church herself, forgetting their own high privileges and awful responsibilities, scrupled not to symbolize with Dissent, and to ally themselves with their "Dissenting brethren." Religious societies were now established, formed of a heterogeneous mixture of Churchmen and Schismatics, in which the thing regarded was not whether Apostolic order and discipline were observed in their arrangements, but whether by this unhallowed compromise of principle and infraction of the unity of Christ's body, a greater amount of apparent good might not possibly be produced-thus unconsciously doing evil that good might come, and seeking by the apparent excellence of the end to justify the irregularity of the means. In short the appearance, and we sincerely believe in many cases the existence,