form of ecclesiastical polity as absolutely necessary to the attainment of eternal happiness. But he has, in the most explicit terms, enjoined obedience to all governors, whether civil or ecclesiastical, and whatever may be their denomination, as essential to the character of a true Christian. Thus the Gospel only lays down general principles, and leaves the application of them to men as free agents. Faith and good works are the only things indispensably quired for salvation; but a right faith may be more effectually promoted, and moral virtue may be better protected and encouraged, under one species of church-government than under another, in the same manner as temporal blessings are not enjoyed in the same degree under every species of civil government. We who live in this country have the satisfaction of knowing that we live under the form of ecclesiastical polity founded by apostolical authority, and under a form of civil government of unparalleled excellence; and these constitutions in church and state are admirably suited, by their congenial nature and intimate alliance, to afford mutual assistance and support to each other. They are so blended and interwoven that they must stand or fall together; and the friends of the temporal and of the eternal interests of their fellowcreatures

VOL. II.

D D

creatures are equally called upon to stand forward in the maintenance and defence of both.

As the Scriptures do not prescribe any definite form of church government, so they contain no directions concerning the establishment of a power by which ministers are to be admitted to their sacred office. The only persons, except the Apostles, mentioned in the Acts or Epistles as invested with this power, are Timo thy and Titus, both of whom received it from St. Paul, when they were placed by him at the head of the churches of Ephesus and Crete. But though episcopal ordination is not actually commanded in the New Testament, yet we know that it was invariably practised in every antient church; and thence we infer, that it was originally instituted by the Apostles themselves. "Our adversaries have been challenged long since to produce an ordination during the first fifteen hundred years after Christ, which was performed by presbyters, and not generally looked upon as invalid; whereas, on the other hand, they who have been ordained by mere presbyters in the primitive times, have been stripped of their pretended orders, and with derision turned down to the laic form. A famous and known instance is Ischyras, who was deposed by the Synod of Alexandria, because Colluthus, who

who ordained him, was supposed to be no more than a presbyter, though pretending to be a bishop. The council of Sardica, and the council of Seville in Spain, acted in like manner on the like occasions (r)." It appears then that no species of church-government except the episcopal, and no mode of ordination except by bishops, have any claim to the sanction of the primitive church of Christ. From the Apostles, episcopal ordination has been regularly con veyed to us, and the legislature of this kingdom has recognized and confirmed this power to bishops; they therefore are the persons among

us WHO HAVE PUBLIC AUTHORITY GIVEN THEM IN THE CONGREGATION ΤΟ CALL AND SEND MINISTERS INTO THE LORD'S VINEYARD; and those who ARE

CALLED

AND SENT BY THEM, WE JUDGE LAWFULLY

CALLED AND SENT. In every church, in which episcopacy prevails, the uninterrupted succession of bishops is considered as essential to the power of consecrating and ordaining; and upon that principle, when, a few years since, episcopacy was about to be established in the independent states of America, the persons who were to be appointed by the government of the country to be the first bishops, previously

came

(r) Veneer on this Art. Vide Bingham, b. 2. c. 3.

came from America to receive consecration from the hands of English bishops. And upon the same principle we should allow a popish priest, who should have renounced the errors of popery, to perform the functions of a priest in our church without a fresh ordination. When the Reformation took place in England, the bishops and clergy were not consecrated and ordained again; they had received consecration and ordination from MEN WHO HAD PUBLIC AUTHORITY GIVEN THEM IN THE CONGRE

GATION for that purpose; and to whom the power of consecrating and ordaining had been transmitted from the Apostles; and that power, although it had passed through the corrupted channel of the church of Rome, was not vitiated by its erroneous doctrines or superstitious worship. Our Saviour acknowledged Caiaphas to be high-priest, and he even prophesied as such, although he was not the head of Aaron's family, to whom the high-priesthood was by divine command confined. And the antient catholic church admitted into its communion those who had been baptized by heretics, without rebaptizing them.

I shall conclude this subject with the following testimony of the learned Mr. Le Clerc, a divine of the church of Holland, in which the presbyterian

presbyterian form of government prevailed, and therefore he cannot be considered as prejudiced in favour of episcopacy: "I have always," says he, "professed to believe, that episcopacy is of apostolical institution, and consequently very good and very lawful; that man had no manner of right to change it in any place, unless it was impossible otherwise to reform the abuses that crept into Christianity; that it was justly preserved in England, where the Reformation was practicable without altering it; that therefore the Protestants in England and other places, where there are bishops, do very ill to separate from that discipline; that they would still do much worse in attempting to destroy it, in order to set up presbytery, fanaticism, and anarchy. Things ought not to be turned into a chaos, nor people seen every where without a call, and without learning, pretending to inspiration. Nothing is more proper to prevent them than the episcopal discipline, as by law established in England, especially when those that preside in church-government are persons of penetration, sobriety, and discretion."