country: not questioning for a moment the fact that, through divine mercy, there are within her borders, as well as beyond them, multitudes' whose names are in the book of life,' and of such whose labours have been blessed to those around them.

"It appears to me, that in considering a subject of this kind, it is of primary importance that these should be firmly established in the mind, the principle of the paramount authority of the holy Scriptures, over all arguments founded on human views of policy and expediency, over all educational prejudices, over all customs however prevalent; and over all the bias which the mind receives from the opinions of those whom we esteem.

"I do not of course mean that every thing, even in the New Testament, respecting church discipline appears intended to apply to every state of society but I think that those who plead for a state of things, different from what is there held forth, are bound to prove their case: to show, that altered circumstances require just such a departure from that model as they plead for :-that every such departure should be viewed with a jealous eye; and if contrary to any plainly general command, or to the general tone and spirit of the whole, should be at once considered as erroneous.

"With these principles, let us look first at the connexion between church and state: the church professing to hold to a temporal head; and being established and maintained by that head.

"Now it appears to me that, if we take the Bible in hand, we shall find nothing like this in the New Testament: in the Old, we find indeed a complete system of this kind: not exactly similar it is true; for on one point, of extensive practical bearing (the means by which payment is enforced of the provision made for the priests and Levites) it appears to me that there is a vital difference. I can find no law which called upon any magistrates to enforce such maintenance, or to punish those who withheld the appointed tithes and offerings: the sanction appearing to be the Divine approbation or displeasure, not committed into the charge of man to enforce. Yet there was a connexion, a most close connexion, between the church and the state. And this condition of things was made practicable, and was brought about, by stupendous miracles: with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm were the children of Israel brought forth out of Egypt, and in their journey through the wilderness they were fed with angels' food: the nations were cast out, and they were planted in their own, their promised, land. Now, if Christianity had been intended to be like Judaism in this respect, how are we to account for the fact, that there does not appear the smallest trace of any such state of things, at the time when Christianity most flourished; in the purest age of the church, the days of the apostles. The mighty hand and the outstretched arm was indeed displayed, but not as of old in founding an hierarchy, and setting up a distinct civil polity connected with it; it was exhibited in the turning of men from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God; in giving life to the spiritually dead; in forming a church, a living temple, which could exist in any state of society, under any form of government, unaided by any temporal power: and, thus, adapted to the universal need of man. "A church establishment, then, is a thing foreign to the purest age of the

Christian Church-a strong prima facie case against it! But let us look at it a little more closely.

"Christ is the head, the husband of his church. Will not the head care for the body? Will not the husband provide all things needful for his spouse? It was to the Lord of the harvest that the disciples were to pray, to send more labourers into the harvest. Now, if we turn to the Epistles, we shall find, as it appears to me, a beautiful picture of the way in which this was evinced, in the provision of teachers for the church. In the 12th of Corinthians, for instance, we find the church one body, composed of many members, each mutually having need of the other: and one and the selfsame spirit dividing spiritual gifts, to every man severally as he would. In the 4th of Ephesians we find as follows: And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers : for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ; from whom the whole body fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in love. Now some of these apostles, teachers, &c. thus provided for the church were fishermen, some tent-makers, one a physician, and so forth. It does not appear that they left their temporal occupations, except when their master's errands required it they were not withdrawn from that sympathy which arises from community of station with those whom they instructed, and who were mutually helpful to them. Some of them were reminded that it was more blessed to give than to receive: yet, when in need of pecuniary assistance, those to whom they ministered spiritual things, communicated with them in carnal things; even so had the Lord ordained.

"But there was no compulsion; no looking to the magistrate to enforce this rule; no exercise, that we can name, even of church discipline, to compel people to it: yet doubtless He who cares for his church, took care that the hearts of those who had the ability should be inclined to administer to those who needed. Thus, in all these things we find him the head, the husband, providing for the wants of his church.

"And gloriously did she prosper in those days: she leant upon her beloved; the Spirit was abundantly poured forth; multitudes were added to the church; and the believers rejoiced with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

(To be continued.)

ART. I.—Letter to a Friend who was quitting the Society of Friends to join the Established Church.'

(Continued from page 48.)

Now the Lord Jesus is still the head of his church and still provides for her; composed (as I believe her to be) of individuals amongst various professing bodies: and for her increase from amongst the mere professors -these two classes embracing in the present day the whole population of the country. I believe that he does still, amongst other mercies, raise up pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints; and for the edifying of the body of Christ: and that he does still, by his providence, take care that their temporal wants shall be supplied. In this light I should view the position of each truly pious and spiritually qualified minister, within the borders of the Church of England: nor do I blame them, whilst their consciences are not convinced of its inconsistency with the New Testament rule, for receiving a maintenance in the ordinary way. But I also as fully believe that such would be cared for if there were no system of the kind: and that we must not conclude that the system of church and state, and a law-provided maintenance, is good, merely because the Lord, in mercy to the souls of the people who adhere to the sytem, and will listen to none but those who belong to it, raises up some good ministers who are thus supported.

For if we examine back to the foundation of this system, of looking to the state for support, is it not this, that the church, departing from her un

VOL. V.

E

divided allegiance, becoming changed in her very nature by the predominance of the wisdom of worldly men, comes to the conclusion that Christ no longer cares for her, as of old; that she must now lean upon man; that she must no longer trust to her true husband for support, but must go to some one else: and accordingly allies herself with the temporal powers of the state, as soon as this power can be persuaded to the union? Now, under the Jewish dispensation, especially in its earlier period, the state was subject to the church; the priests were, as it were, vicegerents of God, in things temporal, to a great extent, as well as in things spiritual: they were the organs through which God administered the government of his chosen people.

But what has been the alliance between the church and the state here? Has not the church (or rather the professed provision for the spiritual wants of the people) been degraded to be the handmaid, the organ of the state, a means of providing a livelihood, a political and pecuniary engine? Nor can I look upon this as a mere incidental abuse, a matter that might have been avoided, and may be corrected; it appears to me to be the natural consesequence of the church having a temporal head; that it is just what constitutes the reciprocity of the connexion. It is no longer the church of Christ, the company of believers, but the church of the state.

Let us look at the practical working of the system.-Worldly men decide who shall be the labourers sent into the vineyard, they fix upon young men who shall be ministers: they send them to college, to acquire a certain amount of learning; some of them avowing, that as the miraculous gifts of the Spirit are not now bestowed, this learning is now necessary : they then go to a bishop for ordination (the bishops, selected by the crown, too often on the ground of political services, or family connexion,) professing to confer the gift of the Spirit by the laying on of his hands: he is then appointed to the cure of souls in a certain district; the right of presentation being the subject of bargain and sale, and of family settlement; his maintenance is provided by the state; and he abundantly proves that the Lord of the harvest never sent him.

I do not say this is always the case; but I am convinced, that a careful inquiry from parish to parish through the land, would give a similar result in an appalling proportion of cases: and notwithstanding all the efforts of pious men to counteract it by purchasing advowsons, &c. and notwithstanding the growing conviction that pious men must be found, if possible, for this office, it will prove, I fear, an evil inseparable from the system.

But suppose the state-priest an evangelical minister, in the best sense of the term, look at the fetters imposed upon him, by his having to serve two masters; look at the subscription of articles; look at the evasions of the plain meaning of plain English to which he is driven, in reference to the baptismal service for instance, (see Hurn's reasons for secession.) Others, it is true, do sometimes slide into that dangerous practice, of saying one thing and meaning another; but it appears to me to be peculiarly fostered by the forms of the church, as witness again the burial service; compelling a clergyman in committing to the grave an ungodly person, whom in his heart he believes to have died impenitent, to give thanks to God for having

been pleased to take this dear brother to himself. Now this appears to me, in such a case, nothing short of a solemn falsehood; and I know it has been so felt by many conscientious clergymen but they are born to it, it is part of the system, which they cannot get rid of.

:

And this leads me to the next branch of the subject—the composition of this church.

Generally speaking, the members of the church are those who have been baptized in infancy; it may be said, in general terms, all the children of those who do not dissent are so. Now I greatly misunderstand the drift of the forms of the church, if they do not convey the impression that all who have been baptized, and have not been excommunicated, are members of the true church, of Christ's mystical body; hence the language of the baptismal service, applied to all; hence the language of the service of confirmation, applied to all who come; hence the language of the burial service, applied to all who have been baptized, whether confirmed or not, and not subsequently excommunicated. Now this, say what you will, is in fact Popery. I know it is all explained away by evangelical ministers; but is it not held quite as strongly as here stated by the Mant school, and more or less so by the high church party as a body? And the effects of this notion upon the people at large are, I believe, such as tend to make them at ease in their sins; to teach them, when at times the Holy Spirit, reproving them for sin, makes them feel that all is not right within, that this is all fanaticism, and that they need no change. And as far as the obvious meaning of the language used in the rites of the church goes, the advocates of high-church, and those who accept her soothing opiate, may justly say that she leads them into this view of things. I believe I need not, for thee, refer to the passages of Holy Writ with which such a view is at vari

ance.

The next point which distinguishes the church is its dividing the country into districts, within the confines of each of which none may engage in any public labour, on behalf of the souls of others, without the sanction of the incumbent. Now, in too many instances, the incumbent is an ungodly man, or hostile to Bible truth; yet is he enabled, by this etiquette, to keep his parish in darkness, so far as the ministry of the word is concerned.

To sum up in few words: can any man show me plain New Testament authority for the following, which I apprehend to be amongst the most prominent distinguishing features of the Established Church?

1. The church owning a temporal head.

2. The marked distinction between the clergy, as the spiritual persons, and the laity.

3. Forbidding preachers gaining a livelihood by honest trades.

4. The entire departure from the apostle Paul's direction to the Corinthians, Ye may all speak one by one.'

5. Preachers being provided with pecuniary support by the laws of the land; and that no more upon the basis of let him that is taught in the word communicate with him that teacheth,' than upon the other (but not contradictory) injunction, FREELY ye have received, FREELY give.

6. Taking young men and giving them a college education; such young