"79. There shall be a resurrection of all brute creatures, as well as of men.

66 80. There is no hell, but in this life, consisting in fear, remorse, &c.

"81. There is now no true church of Christ upon earth.

"82. No man is now condemned for rejecting the gospel, because it is not confirmed to him by signs and miracles, as in the apostles' days.

"83. God has connected the preaching of the gospel indissolubly with signs and miracles.

"84. That many now have greater knowledge than the apostles, because the church was then in its infancy.

"85. That there should be no building of churches, nor ordinances.

"86. That baptism is not a seal and sign of the covenant of grace.

"87. That Pædobaptism is unlawful and antichristian.

"88. That it is as lawful to break any of the ten commandments as to baptize an infant.

"89. That all disciples have a right to baptize.

90. That it is not necessary that the baptizer should be a baptized person.

"91. That Christ's words, "This is my body," should be understood literally.

"92. That all maintenance of ministers of the gospel, is unlawful.

"93. That ministers of the gospel should work with their own hands, and not burden the church. "94. That there is properly no distinction between clergy and laity.

"95. That to Christians, all days are alike; and there is no obligation to keep the Lord's day.

"96. That Saturday, or the Jewish Sabbath, ought to be observed.

" 97. That there should be no ministry; but every one should preach that is moved to it.

"98. That it is as lawful for women to preach as

men.

99. That they who preach should not study or premeditate what they are to say.

"100. Some dozen women in a certain town held it to be unlawful for them to hear any man preach, lest they should be like those who were 'ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.'

101. That it is unlawful for Christians to pray, even in private, with those who are not members of the church.

"102. That Christians should not pray at set times, but only when moved to it by the Spirit.

"103. That unregenerate men should not pray at all.

"104. That all singing of psalms or hymns is unlawful.

"105. That Presbytery is the false prophet spoken of in the Revelation.

"106. That there ought to be, among Christians, a community of goods.

"107. That parents should not catechise their children, nor teach them to pray.

"108. That children are not bound to obey ungodly parents.

"109. That all war, however necessary for defence, is unlawful.

"110. That the use of forms of prayer is idolatrous. "111. That it is inconsistent with the goodness of God, to damn his own creatures.

"112. That there will be a general restoration, when all men shall be reconciled and saved.

"113. That it is not lawful for a Christian to accept the office of a magistrate.

"114. That a Directory for the worship of God is a breach of the second commandment.

"115. That no man is yet in hell, nor will be till after the judgment; for God does not hang first and judge after.

"116. Eternal death was not the penalty of the law, but only of the gospel."

From the above catalogue of errors, we may see that the deceitfulness of the human heart, and the cunning and malice of Satan are much the same in every age. Almost every form of error prevalent in our times, has existed centuries ago; in heresy, it would be hard to find any thing entirely new.

Our author next proceeds to give a list of blasphemies which had been uttered by one and another, either in writing or with the living voice; but it would not be for edification to repeat them, or in any way to perpetuate their memory.

He also has collected numerous facts to show the impiety and extravagance of the sectaries; and also letters from clergymen and others, confirming the facts, which he charged upon them.

This book was animadverted on by John Goodwin, on a work, entitled "Cretensis," which gave occasion to the writing the second part of the GANGRÆNA, in which he deals very sarcastically and severely with his antagonist. This John Goodwin was a very remarkable man, learned, acute, violent in temper, exceedingly abusive in controversy, and a great enemy to Calvinism, and to the Assembly. He was known by the name of the Red Dragon of Colman street. He was often engaged in public controversy, and on one occasion, challenged all the Presbyterian ministers in the kingdom, whether in the Assembly or out of the Assembly, to dispute with him. He is often confounded with Dr. Thomas Goodwin, the learned, orthodox, and pious member of the Assembly, and leader in that body of the Independents; but it would be hard to find two men more opposite in their views and characters. The one was a thorough-going Arminian, in every point; the other a high-toned Calvinist: the one was a man of an humble, meek, and conscientious spirit; the other was a fierce and abusive polemic. It cannot be denied, however, that John Goodwin was a man of extraordinary talents. Perhaps his "Redemption Redeemed," is as able a defence of the Arminian system as has been published

in the English language. After being long out of print, it has again been republished in London, and will be considered an acquisition by many.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Presbyterial Church Government carried into Effect.

It was found much easier to pull down than to build up. The English hierarchy had been abolished by the almost unanimous consent of both the Assembly and the Parliament, and Presbyterian church government had been adopted, by a great majority, in both these bodies; but when it was attempted to reduce the new system to practice, numerous difficulties and hinderances arose to retard the full accomplishment of the object. For certain reasons, heretofore explained, Parliament was reluctant to exert its authority to carry into effect the plan which it had sanctioned. Of this delay, great complaints were made by the Asembly; and more especially, by the London ministers, who were nearly all Presbyterians. But the greatest obstacle was the provision annexed to their ordinance, establishing Presbytery by Parliament, by which all the ecclesiastical assemblies, of every grade, were made subject to Parliament, and to commissioners appointed by them. Of this, an account has already been given. The Parliament excused themselves for not acting with more efficiency in this business, and seemed disposed to lay the blame on the tardiness of the Assembly in answering the questions which they had propounded to them. But at length, on the 22d of April, 1647, certain resolutions were adopted by both houses, and published, entitled, "Remedies for Removing Obstructions to Church Government." Letters also were ordered to be written by the Speakers of both Houses, and to

be sent to the several counties in England, to divide themselves into distinct presbyteries, or classes. Directions were also given to the ministers and elders of the several presbyteries, in the province of London, to hold their provincial assembly in the Convocation House of St. Paul's, upon the first Monday in May, and to adjourn their meetings, from day to day, and when the business was finished, to adjourn the body to the next time of meeting. But it was provided, that no act of the synod should be valid, unless there were present at least thirty-six members, whereof twelve should be ministers and twenty-four ruling elders. It was also directed, that in the presbyteries, or classical assemblies, every question should be decided by the majority of votes; but no act to be valid unless at least fifteen members were present, of whom five to be ministers and ten ruling elders. According to the plan of ecclesiastical polity, established by Parliament, in all the judicatories, the number of elders was to be double that of the ministers.

Instead of dioceses, the kingdom of England was now divided into a certain number of provinces, made up of representatives from the several classes, within their respective boundaries. Every parish had a congregational or parochial presbytery or consistory (session) for the affairs of the parish. These parochial presbyteries were combined into classes; these returned representatives to the provincial assembly, or synod, as the provincial did to the national assembly. For example, the province of London, being composed of twelve classes, or presbyteries, chose two ministers and four ruling elders, to represent them in a synod, or provincial assembly; and this judicatory received appeals from the parochial and classical presbyteries; in the same manner, the national assembly was a court of appeals from the decisions of all the inferior courts. The system here detailed, differs from the one in existence in the Presbyterian Church in the United States, only in one