can hardly satisfy their consciences about some things in them."* He shows that the advocates for subscription, Doctors Nichols, Bennet, Waterland, and Stebbing, all vindicated it on opposite grounds; and he is forced to confess the same thing with respect to the enemies of subscription, with whom he himself ranks. Dr. Clark pretends there is a salvo in the subscription, namely, I assent to the articles inasmuch as they are agreeable to Scripture, though the judges of England have declared to the contrary. Dr. Sykes alleges that they were either purposely or negligently made equivocal.§ Another writer, whom he praises, undertakes to explain, how "these articles may be subscribed, and consequently believed, by a Sabellian, an orthodox Trinitarian, a Tritheist, and an Arian so called." After this citation Dr. Blackburn shrewdly adds, "One would wonder what idea this writer had of peace," "when he supposed it might be kept by the act of subscription among men of these different judgments." If f you will look into Overton's True Churchman Ascertained, you will meet with additional proofs of the repugnance of many other dignitaries and distinguished churchmen to the articles of their own church, as well as of their disagreement in faith among themselves. Hence you will not wonder that a numerous body of them should, some years ago, have petitioned the legislature to be relieved from the grievance, as they termed it, of subscribing to these articles; nor will you be surprised at hearing of the mutilation of the liturgy by so many others, to avoid sanctioning those doctrines of their church, which they disbelieve and reject, particularly the Athanasian Creed and the Absolution.**

I might disclose a still wider departure from their original confessions of faith, and still more signal dissensions among the different dissenters, and particularly among the old stock of the Presbyterians and Independents, if this were necessary. Most of these, says Dr. Jortin, are now Socinians, though we all know they heretofore persecuted that sect with fire and sword. The renowned Dr. Priestly not only denied the divinity of Christ, but with horrid blasphemy, accused him of numerous errors, weaknesses, and faults :†† and when the authority of Calvin, in burning Servetus, was objected to him, he answered, "Calvin was a great man, but if a little man be

*Confess. p. 91.

P. 183. § P. 237. || P. 239.

+ P. 222. T Particularly in 1772. ** The omission of the Athanasian Creed, in particular, so often took place in the public service, that an act of Parliament has just been passed, to enforce the repetition of it. But, if the clergymen alluded to really believe that Christ is not God, what is the legislature doing in forcing them to wor. ship him as God! tt Theolog. Reposit. vol. 4.

placed on the shoulders of a giant, he will be enabled to see further than the giant himself." The doctrine now preached in the fashionable Unitarian chapels of the metropolis, I understand, greatly resembles that of the late Theophilanthropists of France, instituted by an infidel, who was one of the five directors.

The chief question, however, at present is, whether the Church of England can lay any claim to the first character or mark of the true church, pointed out in our common creed, that of UNITY? On this subject I have to observe, that in addition to the dissensions among its members, already mentioned, there are whole societies, not communicating with the ostensible Church of England, who make very strong and plausible pretensions to be, each of them, the real Church of England. Such are the Non-jurors, who maintain the original doctrine of this church, contained in the homilies, concerning passive obedience and non-resistance, and who adhere to the first ritual of Edward VI.:* such are the evangelical preachers and their disciples, who insist upon it that pure Calvinism is the creed of the Established Church :† finally, such are the Methodists, whom Professor Hey describes as forming the old Church of England. And even now, it is notorious that many clergymen preach in the churches in the morning, and in the meeting-houses in the evening; whilst their opulent patrons are purchasing as many church livings as they can, in order to fill them with incumbents of the same description. Tell me now, dear sir, whether, from this view of the state of the Church of England, or from any other fair view which can be taken of it, you will venture to ascribe to it that first mark of the true church, which you profess to belong to her, when in the face of heaven and earth, you solemnly declare: I believe in ONE Catholic Church? Say, is there any single mark or principle of real unity in it! I anticipate the answers your candor will give to these questions.

I am, &c.

JOHN MILNER.

* To this church belonged Ken, and the other six bishops who were deposed at the revolution, as also Leslie, Collier, Hicks, Bret, and many other chief ornaments of the Church of England.

† It is clear from the articles and homilies, and still more from the persecution which the asserters of free-will heretofore suffered in this country, that the Church of England was Calvinistic till the end of the reign of James I., in the course of which that monarch sent episcopal representatives from England and Scotland to the great Protestant Synod of Dort. These, in the name of their respective churches, signed that "The faithful who fall into atrocious crimes, do not forfeit justification, or incur damnation."

Vol. ii. p. 73.

LETTER XVI.-TO JAMES BROWN, ESQ., &c.

DEAR SIR

CATHOLIC UNITY.

We have now to see whether that first mark of the true church, which we confess in our creeds, but which we have found to be wanting to the Protestant societies, and even to the most ostensible and orderly amongst them, the Established Church of England, does or does not appear in that principal and primeval stock of Christianity, called the Catholic Church. In case this church, spread, as it is, throughout the various nations of the earth, and subsisting, as it has done, through all ages, since that of Christ and his apostles, should have maintained that religious unity, which the modern sects, confined to a single people, have been unable to preserve, you will allow that it must have been framed by a consummate Wisdom, and protected by an Omnipotent Providence.

Now, sir, I maintain it, as a notorious fact, that this original and great church is, and ever has been, strictly ONE in all the above-mentioned particulars, and first in her faith and terms of communion. The same creeds, namely, the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and the Creed of Pope Pius IV., drawn up in conformity with the definitions of the Council of Trent, are everywhere recited and professed, to the strict letter; the same articles of faith and morality are taught in all our catechisms, the same rule of faith, namely, the revealed word of God, contained in Scripture and tradition, and the same expositor and interpreter of this rule, the Catholic Church, speaking by the mouth of her pastors, are admitted and proclaimed by all Catholics throughout the four quarters of the globe, from Ireland to Chili, and from Canada to India. You may convince yourself of this any day at the Royal Exchange, by conversing with intelligent Catholic merchants, from the several countries in question. You may satisfy yourself respecting it even by interrogating the poor illiterate Irish, and other Catholic foreigners, who traverse the country in various directions. Ask them their belief as to the fundamental articles of Christianity, the unity and trinity of God, the incarnation and death of Christ, his divinity, and atonement for sin by his passion and death, the necessity of baptism, the nature of the blessed sacrament; question them on these and other such points, but with kindness, patience, and condescension, particularly with respect to their language and delivery, and, I will venture to say, you will not find any essential variation in the answers of most of them; and much less such as you will find by pro

posing the same questions to an equal number of Protestants, whether learned or unlearned, of the same denomination. At all events, the Catholics, if properly interrogated, will confess their belief in one comprehensive article, namely this: I believe whatever the holy Catholic Church believes and teaches.

*

Protestant divines, at the present day, excuse their dissent from the articles which they subscribe and swear to, by reason of their alleged antiquity and obsoleteness, though none of them are yet quite two centuries and a half old;† and they feel no difficulty in avowing, that "a tacit reformation," since the first pretended reformation, has taken place among them. This alone is a confession that their church is not one and the same: whereas all Catholics believe as firmly in the doctrinal decisions of the Council of Nice, passed fifteen hundred years ago, as they do in those of the Council of Trent, confirmed in 1564, and other still more recent decisions: because the Catholic Church, like its divine Founder, is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Heb. xiii. 8.

Nor is it in her doctrine only, that the Catholic Church is one and the same; she is also uniform in whatever is essential in her liturgy. In every part of the world, she offers up the same unbloody sacrifice of the holy mass, which is her chief act of divine worship: she administers the same seven sacraments, provided by infinite wisdom and mercy for the several wants of the faithful; the great festivals of our redemption are kept holy on the same days, and the apostolical fast of Lent is everywhere proclaimed and observed. In short, such is the unity of the Catholic Church, that when Catholic priests or laymen, landing at one of the neighboring ports, from India, Canada, or Brazil, come to my chapel,§ I find them capable of joining with me in every essential part of the divine service.

Lastly, as a regular, uniform, ecclesiastical constitution and government, and a due subordination of its members, are requisite to constitute a uniform church, and to preserve in it unity of doctrine and liturgy; so these are undeniably evident in the Catholic Church, and in her alone. She is, in the language of St. Cyprian, "the habitation of peace and unity,"|| and in that of the inspired text, like an army in battle array.¶ Spread, as the Catholics are, over the face of the earth, according to my former observation, and disunited, as they are, in every other respect, they form one uniform body in the order of religion.

* Dr. Hey's Lectures in Divinity, vol. ii. pp. 49, 50, 51, &c. The 39 articles were drawn in 1562, and confirmed by the queen and the bishops in 1571. Hey, p. 48.

§ At Winchester, where the writer resided when this letter was written. "Domicilium pacis et unitatis." St. Cyp. T Cant. vi. 4.

Whether roaming in the plains of Paraguay, or confined in the palaces of Pekin, each simple Catholic, in point of ecclesiastical economy, is subject to his pastor; each pastor submits to his bishop; and each bishop acknowledges the supremacy of the successor of St. Peter, in matters of faith, morality, and spiritual jurisdiction. In every case of error, or insubordination, which, from the frailty and malice of the human heart, must, from time to time, disturb her, there are found canons and ecclesiastical tribunals and judges, to correct and put an end to the evil, while similar evils in other religious societies are found to be interminable.

I have said little or nothing of the varieties of Protestants, in regard to their liturgies and ecclesiastical governments, because these matters being very intricate and obscure, as well as diversified, would lead me too far a-field for my present plan. It is sufficient to remark, that the numerous Protestant sects, expressly disclaim any union with each other in these points ;that a great proportion of them reject every species of liturgy and ecclesiastical government whatever;-that, in the Church of England herself, very many of her dignitaries, and other distinguished members, express their pointed disapprobation of certain parts of her liturgy no less than of her articles ;*-and that none of them appear to stand in awe of any authority, except that of the civil power. Upon a review of the whole matter of Protestant disunion and Catholic unity, I am forced to repeat with Tertullian: "It is the character of error to vary; but when a tenet is found to be one and the same amongst a great variety of people, it is to be considered, not as an error, but as a divine tradition.†

I am, dear sir, &c.

JOHN MILNER.

* Archdeacon Paley very naturally complains, that "the doctrine of the articles of the Church of England," which he so pointedly objects to, 66 are interwoven with much industry into her forms of public worship." I have not met with a Protestant bishop, or other eminent divine, from Archbishop Tillotson down to the present Bishop of Lincoln, who approves altogether of the Athanasian Creed, which, however, is appointed to be said or sung on thirteen chief festivals in the year.

† De Præscrip. contra Hær.-The famous Bishop Jewel, in excuse for the acknowledged variations of his own church, objects to Catholics, that there are varieties in theirs; namely, some of the friars are dressed in black, and some in white, and some in blue; that some of them live on meat, and some on fish, and some on herbs: they have also disputes in their schools, as Dr. Porteus also remarks; but they both omit to mention, that these disputes are not about articles of faith.