themselves. That they never intended such a use to be made of what they have stated in them, is no matter, except that any such statements are on that very account the more valuable. At the same time, we shall be glad to receive from any of our readers accounts from any parish or township in England, stating correctly, if possible, the number of meeting-houses situated therein, whether new or old, to what sect they belong, how many they will hold, and how many persons upon an average attend each place, with any other accounts or remarks that may be thought useful. If a Clergyman, for instance, has no means, or not the disposition to make direct inquiries himself, he can easily employ some trustworthy person to do so for him. The dissenters have gone to the same trouble repeatedly, and we hope the members of the Church will not hesitate to render what assistance they can. The subject must be seen to be of very great moment, and therefore deserving of the gravest attention.

THE APOSTOLICAL COMMISSION.

No. I.

THE daily increasing interest which the doctrine of the apostolical succession, and the important inferences to be deduced from it, are now exciting in the public mind, will form an apology for presenting to our readers a series of articles intended to illustrate and enforce them. When we say the public mind, we do not mean to confine this observation to the members of our apostolical Church, among the majority of whom to suppose that any doubt existed upon these points would be utterly inconsistent with their principles as Churchmen, but to extend it also to the great body of those who dissent from her. That they consider the discussion of such points as fraught with the most momentous consequences to the unrighteous cause of schism, no person who is acquainted with their periodicals will deny. Upon this subject, they have brought both their light and heavy artillery to bear, for as this and the subjects connected with it have always been deemed, and justly so, the stronghold of the Christian Church, the tocsin of alarm is now sounded among the thousand-and-one "denominations of dissenters" who swarm in the land, and who are now giving signs, "not loud but deep," that a furious onslaught is about to be made, and that a desperate assault is contemplated in the vain attempt to level with the dust the towers of our Sion. In connection with such conduct, and the motives by which it is actuated, we may remark, that a slight acquaintance with human nature, and the philosophy of the mind of man, will furnish us with a key by which we shall be enabled to solve this seemingly intricate problem, and to show that this dislike of the doctrine of the apostolical succession, and the legitimate inferences which may be deduced therefrom, is by no means calculated to excite surprise. It is too often the practice of man to depreciate that which is possessed by another, but of which himself is deprived, and in religious matters more especially is this obliquity of the intellectual vision discernible. It is even now as it was in days of yore,-"the Word of God is made of none effect by the traditions" of men. Why need we be surprised, then, that such opposition is manifested against our Church, which holds that both the' validity of holy orders, and the efficacy of the sacraments, depend upon the source whence the first, and the authority to administer the second, have been received? How can a man preach, except he be sent? And, in the next place, How is he to be sent ? are questions to which, under the Divine

blessing, we hope to be enabled to give satisfactory answers. And as regards the sacraments, it is worthy of remark, that the neglect of them, as means of grace, probably arose from the rejection of those authorised instruments by whom they are to be administered; for, in fact, the question is not whether the Almighty is restricted in the communication of grace, as some absurdly, nay, impiously imagine; but whether He has not confined the communication of that grace generally to a particular channel, expressly appointed by Him for such communication? Upon this point turns the whole of this important inquiry, and to establish the fact, that He has done so, will be the purport of this contemplated series of essays. In inculcating this doctrine, we are prepared to show that our Church is warranted by the Word of God; and to prove our position, we shall use only weapons drawn from the armoury of Scripture, and make evident, to the confusion of those who assert that the Scriptures alone are their directory both in matters of faith and discipline, that here at least they have forsaken that guidance which they profess so implicitly to follow.

În compassing this design, we have, first, to inquire what steps our blessed Lord took in order to the establishment of His Church upon earth. And this question will naturally divide itself into two heads :

1. During His sojourn in the flesh.

II. After His ascension into Heaven.

"the

The first three evangelists specify the names of the twelve whom Christ "ordained to be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach." (Mark iii. 14.) St. Luke is the only evangelist who records the appointment of the seventy disciples, who were next in order to the twelve apostles. Now, in regard to the ordination of these two distinct classes of men, it appears that our Lord had an eye to that part of the Jewish economy which required that there should be three distinct orders in the priesthood. Here we have twelve apostles corresponding to the partriarchs of the twelve tribes; and seventy disciples, who probably were ordained in reference to the Sanhedrim, or seventy elders of Israel. As, therefore, in the Jewish Church there were three orders of men in the ministerial office, we may hence draw a legitimate inference, that a similar arrangement was intended as regards the officers of the Christian Church; or, to speak more correctly, the apostles themselves have drawn the inference for us, for, as we shall see hereafter, they originated and ordained such a subordination of degrees in the ministerial office. At all events, it is clear from this statement that Christ, Bishop of our souls," established a ministry, Himself being our Highpriest, the apostles as priests of the twelve tribes, the seventy as His and their assistants in publishing His Gospel to mankind. The second head of our inquiry, viz., what authority Christ gave to His apostles to further the work of the propagation of the glad tidings of salvation, after His ascension into heaven, and what use they made of that authority, must be reserved for another paper at present, we have only space for one question-how can the dissenters appeal to the Word of God as authorising the appointment of only one office in the Ministry, when it is evident to the meanest capacity that the Son of God himself appointed two? If it be said that both the twelve and the seventy partook of the same authority, and did not differ in degree (which assertion is contradicted by the whole tenor of the Scripture history), how came it that Matthias, one of the seventy, "took part of the Ministry and apostleship, from which Judas, by transgression, fell?" Does not this prove that he was promoted from a lower to a higher post, or, in the language of St. Paul, that he "purchased to himself a good degree?"

S. S. E.

20

CORRESPONDENCE.

A FEW WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT AND ADVICE

TO THE EDITOR.

SIR,-Your Prospectus is now before me, and I feel disposed to take the liberty of addressing a few words of encouragement and advice to you. I hope you will not be angry with me for so doing, for I can assure you that I do it in love. Having been a Minister of Jesus Christ for above twenty-seven years, I have had some little experience of men and things; but my experience has taught me the weakness and deceitfulness of my own heart, and that, were it not for the promise of pardon, through the atoning blood of the Lamb of God, I should sink down in despair, That precious blood is the only ground of my hope; and relying on the atonement, which was made by the blood-shedding of Jehovah-Jesus, I trust to arrive safely at the haven of eternal rest. The knowledge I have of myself leads me to examine into the motives by which I act. Here, again, I find various currents of motive, some running in one direction and some in another. But what is my motive in writing to you? I trust it is to encourage you in the great work which you have taken in hand.

You have taken a great work in hand indeed. You have projected a popular periodical in defence of our branch of the one Catholic and Apostolic Church, at a time when that branch is beset on all sides by enemies of all sorts. The papists, and the dissenters of every ism, have made common cause in their assault: and these have united with deists and atheists in the warwhoop, "Down with it, down with it even to the ground!" Against such enemies you have engaged to protect the Church of Christ. Go on, Sir, and prosper, and you shall prevail, for our exalted Head, Christ Jesus, hath left us this promise,-"Upon this rock will I build my church; and the gates of hell shall never prevail against it." (Matt. xvi. 18.) The Church of England may be severed from the State, dissenters may have the ascendency; yet will the Church be what she now is-a branch of that Church which was planted by the right hand of Jehovah himself; and dissent will be what it now is-rebellion against God. The old dissenters, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, have their imitators in the Christian Church; for Jude tells us of certain false teachers who "perished in the gainsaying of Core,”—that is Korah. (Jude 11.) Read Numbers xvi. Yet the old dissenters were not THE CHURCH, neither are the new dissenters; and every branch, not planted by God, shall be rooted up. Therefore, Sir, though your work be great, yet you are encouraged with the assurance of success.

As you have undertaken a great work, you will find many flock around you. Churchmen only want rousing. Excitement is the very life and soul of dissent, and by continual excitement is dissent kept on its legs. Churchmen need information, in a plain and easy style, upon the subject in dispute between the Church and her enemies: they will then see their position, and act accordingly. There is a great increase of zeal in the Church, and that you will find; for many will contribute to fill your pages, and many more will read them. The doctrine of the apostolical succession, a doctrine which every dissenter musi of necessity hate, begins to be understood and appreciated far more than it was, and you will find those who will help you mightily on that head; and I hope the number of such will increase.

You must expect much opposition. If you speak out, and if you do not, I will have nothing to do with you; you will rouse enemies on every side. The dissenters will visit you with their keen haired and round abuse,* and the papists will threaten you with pains and penalties here and hereafter, and infidels will sneer at you and laugh you to scorn. But never mind them. I will tell you, in a

*The Eclectic Review, a dissenting periodical, says :-" Pure attachment to dissenting principles requires to be kept up, in minds of a certain class, by a keen hatred, and now and then a little round abuse, of the Church." This most unchristian sentence I once read to a respectable and educated dissenter, and he would not believe it possible that such could be the language of the Eclectic. I referred him to the volume for 1832, p. 144.

future number, about some of the old tricks of the Cromwellian dissenters, and about some of the present and past doings of the papists; and I will show you some of the infidels in their death-bed feelings and fears. I say, never mind their opposition: if they do not oppose you, it will be because you do not speak out.

But speak out in the language and in the spirit of the Bible. Pity men's persons, but give no quarters to men's errors. Show your opponents that your desire is to do them good. Many men can scarcely be persuaded how strongly the Bible speaks against dissent. St. Paul says, that those which cause divisions are "carnal, and walk as men." (1 Cor. iii. 1-4.) And the same apostle writes,"Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. (Rom. xvi. 17.) This was not uncharitable advice in St. Paul's day; and it is not uncharitable in this day. But, alas! the infidel latitudinarianism of our day would condemn even "Paul the aged;" and if our Saviour himself were to come down again, and preach in our streets, there are many who would say, that He was of an unchristian spirit, and did not preach the Gospel. Your spirit will be judged by many to whom God has not given "the discerning of spirits." But watch over your spirit, and pray for aid from Heaven.

Do not forget the "Head of His body the Church." Jesus Christ, Sir, is the Alpha and Omega; the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." Set Him forth in His fulness and freeness, and invite heavy-laden sinners to come to Him for rest. Jesus hath been loved and adored and believed in by all true Christians, in every place, and at all times. Whatever, Mr. Editor, has the marks of the quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus crediium-that which has been believed always, in all places, by all-receive and make known. Novelty in religion is

error.

I do not like long pieces for magazines, and I believe short pieces are generally preferred. I shall, therefore, now conclude this letter, by wishing you the blessing of our God. I trust He will guide your heart and pen, and direct you to do what is pleasing in His sight; and His blessing will make you and your work to prosper.- am, Sir, yours very truly,

Dec. 14, 1838.

R. A. H.

P.S. Endeavour to raise the Sacraments up to the standard of the Word of God. They have been made too little of by some, because Rome has made too much of them. Have an eye on the errors of the Anabaptists. Infant baptism must be insisted upon. There has been great blame merited for wickedly neglecting to point out the necessity for that sacrament. Do remedy this!

CONVERSION OF A DISSENTER TO THE CHURCH.

REV. SIR,—I hope you will not be displeased at my venturing to address you. I suppose you have not forgotten the 12th of October last, when I had the pleasure of seeing you at the Rev. Mr. W -'s, and when you kindly consented to be a witness of the solemn baptismal vows which I then made to Almighty God in the church of C- -?If, Sir, you will allow me, I will tell you in what manner 1 was led to secede from the dissenters, and conform to the Church of England. Born of dissenting parents, I was, of course, educated in the principles, and, during the earlier part of my life, exclusively attended the religious services, of the dissenters. Nursed as I was in the cradle, and reared in the school of dissent, you will not be surprised when I say that at an early age I had imbibed strong prejudices not only for the dissenters, but also against the conformists. Believing (as children do before the understanding is sufficiently matured to judge of things) all that was told me, I had no shadow of doubt but that my own party was right, and others wrong; but as years rolled by, I began to think that it was very unfair and very unsafe to decide upon a thing until both sides of the question were examined. Before this time I had scarcely ever entered a church; I was as ignorant of the contents of a Common Prayer Book as I was of the Koran. I had hitherto supposed, or rather had been taught to believe, that the Liturgy was compiled of prayers, of which some were unsuitable, and some even anti-Scriptural; while it were devoutly to be wished that all were

T

superseded by others of an extemporaneous kind. About this period I heard many and severe censures passed upon the Church; I heard her taunted with dereliction of duty; I heard some of the doctrines contained in her formularies described as being a departure from revealed truth; I heard her Liturgy denounced as popish rubbish; I heard her Ministers defamed and compared to Isaiah's "dumb dogs, which cannot bark ;" and I heard some express a wish that their lives may be extended sufficiently long to allow them to see all the churches down. A conversation, too, which I had heard many years before, but which had been indelibly imprinted on my memory, now recurred to my recollection: it was between a dissenting minister and some of his followers, and to the following effect. Some dissenting minister had seceded and conformed to the Established Church, of which he had become a Clergyman. After animadverting on this proceeding, one of the party observed, "When a man forsakes the Church and joins us, it looks well-the very act is a sufficient evidence that he is actuated by good motives; but when a man leaves us and joins the Church, we can have no hope of him, but must believe that he is influenced by worldly motives and hopes of temporal gain." This conversation, however little the interest it excited in me at the time, being then not more than seven or eight years old, proved afterwards a powerful stimulus to inquiry, appearing as it did to me, and must to every one whose mind is not wholly one-sided, very far removed from that spirit of charity which hopeth all things. It was in the early part of the year 1833 that I determined occasionally to attend the services of the Church, in order to ascertain whether what I had heard of her was true or not. Accordingly, I attended the preaching of the Rev. J. H. J. —, Vicar of at Rchurch. Soon my attendance was less regular at the meeting-house and more frequent at the church, till at length I was enabled to exclaim, "I will go with you, for I perceive that God is with you of a truth." But, Sir, I came to this resolution not till after a long time. I read with attention many books on the subject; one, and I think the first, of which was a pamphlet on the Lawfulness, Necessity, and Advantages of an Establishment, by the Rev. C. Davy, Vicar of Preshute. On this point no powerful arguments were required; I had already embraced the opinion that it is the duty of a Christian legislature to see that religious instruction be afforded to the people, and this I was well aware could not be effected by means of the "Voluntary Principle;" a principle, which, however plausible in theory, I had learnt, from my connexion with the dissenters, was but a sorry thing in practice-inadequate to the religious wants of the separatists themselves, how much more so to those of the whole nation! But there were other difficulties not so easily surmounted. In common with most dissenters, I believed baptism to be nothing more than a mere form, and for this reason hesitated to give my assent to the sentiment contained in some parts of the services for baptism and confirmation, and in the Catechism. On this point I wrote to the Rev. J. H. J. begging for his opinion, and he kindly sent me two long and able letters, and to these and to Mr. Meek's valuable work, Reasons for Conformity, &c., I am indebted more for the satisfaction of my mind than to all besides. Thus, for a long time, I was in doubt. To join the Church precipitantly, or before I was fully convinced of the purity of her doctrines, I deemed unadvisable; yet I felt assured that the Church had greater claims on my sanction and support than had the dissenters, and that sanction and support (which I know to be very trivial) I wished to give her, for I remembered that to her we are indebted for our freedom from the usurpation and spiritual tyranny of the pope of Rome, the great anti-Christ of the New Testament. I remembered that her sons died martyrs for their religion; not counting their lives dear unto themselves, but resigning all, yea, even life itself, for the sake of their Lord and Master. I remembered that it is she who for centuries has proved the strongest barrier against the inroads of infidelity and irreligion, and the most successful defender of the "faith which was once delivered to the saints ;" and that she is still exercised in endeavouring to " bring up many sons unto glory." My heart was with her, and right glad was I when my conscience was with her too. A state of suspense is generally a painful one-such I found it. While undecided whether to join the Church or the dissenters, the subject occupied all my spare time. Often has it been the first thought of the morning, and the last of the