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their faith; however zealous, constant and effectual in the conversion of their perishing fellow-sinners to God, may be their preaching, and proclaiming the glad tidings of salvation to a lost and ruined world.

Such presumption and arrogance would be ridiculous, were it not truly lacrymable, that any one single, individual protestant can be found in the nineteenth century, so foolishly fanatic, so basely bigoted, so unchristian, so antichristian as to advance this rankest of all the dogmas of popery. And these men, who thus liberally uncovenant, unchurch, unchristianize all other denominations, call themselves Arminians; and profess to believe, that the Saviour died for all mankind, including heathens and Mahometans, as well as Christians; and certainly, the warriors of the crescent, and the worshippers of the innumerable pagan deities, are quite as sturdy nonepiscopalians, as the presbyterians, or congregationalists, or baptists can possibly be.

To countervail the high authority above adduced, take the following extract from archbishop Wake's letter to Le Clerc, in which that distinguished prelate does not scruple to denominate maniacs, all those who presume to unchurch and uncovenant nonepiscopal protestants. Listen to the great scourge popery, and see, if he countenances this peculiar doctrine of our modern fashionable theologians.

of

"Ecclesias reformatas, etsi in aliquibus a nostrâ Anglicanâ dissentientes libenter amplector. Optarem equidem regimen episcopale bene temperatum, et ab omni injustâ dominatione sejunctum, quale apud nos obtinet, et, si quid ego in his rebus sapiam, ab ipso Apostolorum ævo in ecclesiâ receptum fuerit, et ab iis omnibus retentum fuisset; nec despero quin aliquando restitutum, si non ipse videam, at posteri videbunt. Interim absit, ut ego tam ferrei pectoris sim, ut ob ejus defectum, (sic mihi absque omni in'vidiâ appellare liceat) aliquas earum a communione nostrâ abscindendas credam; aut cum quibusdam

furiosis inter nos seriptoribus, eas nulla vera ac valida sacramenta habere, adeoque vix Christianos esse pronuntiem. Unionem arctiorem inter omnes reformatos procurare quovis pretio vellem."

I willingly embrace the reformed churches, although dissenting, in some respects, from our church of England. I could, indeed, wish, that a well tempered episcopal regimen, without any unjust domination, such as obtains among us, and if I have any skill in these matters, such as hath been received in the church from the apostolic age, were retained by them all; nor do I despair, but that it will some time be restored; if I may not, posterity will see it. In the mean-while, God forbid that I should be so ironhearted, as on account of such a defect, (permit me so to call it without offence,) to believe that some of them should be cut off from our communion, or with certain maniac writers among us, to pronounce, that they have no true and valid sacraments; and thus are, themselves, scarcely Christians. I would purchase, at any price, a more intimate anion among all the reformed.

If ever the hope of the good archbishop be realized, that episcopacy will be universal, it requires no spirit of prophecy to predict, that its universality will not be forwarded by the efforts of those men, who preach up their own exclusive claim to covenant mercy, and consign all other denominations to the bottomless pit.

The Rev. Samuel Wix, in his recent proposal for a reunion of the Roman and Anglican Churches, for the avowed very laudable purpose of destroying the British and Foreign Bible Society, and exterminating all protestant nonepiscopalians, represents archbishop Wake as a champion of exclusive churchmanship, and as preferring papists to protestant dissenters. Whereas, that able and learned primate entertained a wholesome abhorrence of all compromise with any popish communion, whether Gallican or Roman; and also held a charitable and devo

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tional union with protestant dissenters to be a Christian duty.

The English metropolitan's notions respecting union between the Anglican and Gallican Churches, are detailed at length in Maclaine's Mosheim; and the duty of conciliating protestant nonepiscopalians is urged in the archbishop's sermons, one of which is devoted exclusively to exhorting mutual charity and union among protestants.

In this sermon archbishop Wake insists, that the departure of English dissenters from the church of England is merely in matters of indifference; that the papists alone hold opinions irreconcilable with the unity and charity desirable amongst Christians; that this union and charity, if ever attained, must be sought by a direct toleration and mutual concession among the protestant denominations, in the points about which they differ; and that this Christian union and harmony, not only may, but will be effected among the various protestant persuasions, in the due® course of time.

He expressly says, "for us, whom it hath pleased God, by delivering us from the errors and superstitions of the church of Rome, to unite together in the common name of protestant reformed Christians, were we but as heartily to labour after peace, as we are all of us very highly exhorted to it; I cannot see why we, who are so happily joined together in a common profession of the same faith, at least, I am sure, in all the necessary points of it, and I hope, amidst all our lesser differences, in a common love and charity to one another, should not also be united in the same common worship of God too.

"This makes the difference between those errors for which we separate from the church of Rome, and those controversies which sometimes arise among protestants themselves. The former are in matters of the greatest consequence, such as tend directly to overthrow the integrity of faith and the purity of

our worship; and, therefore, such as are in their owni nature destructive of the very essentials of Christianity. Whereas our differences do not at all concern the foundations, either of faith or worship, and are therefore such in which good men, if they be otherwise diligent and sincere in their inquiry, may differ without any prejudice to themselves, or any just reflection upon the truth of their common profession."

Indeed, the main object of this admirable sermon is, to expose the essential characteristic of a false and antichristian religion, namely: the desire of unchurching and excommunicating those who differ from its professors in points not fundamental as church order and government, rites, ceremonies, and all the exterior of public worship.

The late Rev. Dr. Bowden, by far the ablest and most learned advocate for the episcopal order, that has yet risen in the United States, with a liberality and catholic spirit, well becoming a Christian minister, expressly avows that he neither unchurches, nor excludes nonepiscopalians from salvation. In his letters on "the apostolic origin of episcopacy," he says: "it is no part of my creed, that a man cannot be saved who is not an episcopalian. I am not endeavouring to unchurch other denominations.

"Here, a difference takes place among episcopalians; and we may reasonably expect that it would; for the Scripture has said nothing about the consequences of the opinion (the divine right of episcopacy) I am maintaining. What the essence of a church is, neither presbyterians nor episcopalians have as yet determined. Upon the question, what defect unchurches, unanimity is not to be looked for. Some presbyterians say, the want of a ministry unchurches; others say, it does not. Some of them say, that lay baptism is invalid; others say, no. Some unchurch independents and quakers, and some other denominations. Other presbyterians do not.

"When you shall have the good fortune to agree among yourselves, what is the precise point at which a church loses that character, perhaps your discoveries will lead episcopalians to unanimity; till then, we shall not be agreed, whether the divine right of episcopacy necessarily involves the consequence, that denominations which have not bishops, when it proceeds from necessity, want a valid ministry; and whether again the want of such a ministry completely unchurches. Bishop Hall maintained episcopacy upon the ground of divine right, and yet he did not think episcopacy absolutely essential to the being of a church.

"There are two principal divisions of episcopalians. One division believe that episcopacy is of divine right, in that strict sense, that there can be no valid administration without it. At the same time, they do not entertain the most distant thought that the want of it will preclude men from salvation, when it proceeds from necessity, or from honest error. They believe that such error will be forgiven, and sincere piety accepted in all, who profess the faith of Christ. They think, that if episcopacy be a divine institution, and there can be no church without a ministry, the inevitable consequence is, that episcopacy is essential to the visible church. But they say, when the heart is right, that grace, which is not promised to unauthorized administra- • tions, is granted by special favour, so that none will fail of salvation, when the error is not wilful, or when necessity excludes men from episcopal administrations.

"The other class of episcopalians, although they believe episcopacy to have been instituted by the apostles, under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, yet do not consider it as essential to the being of a church. Presbyterian churches, they consider as defective, but not deprived of their church character; as excusable, when episcopacy cannot be had; as irregular and unscriptural in their ministry, but