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 LIBRARY 
 
 
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V 
 
 c. 
 
PLEA 
 
 FOR 
 
 ON 
 
 CATHOLICK PRINCIPLES. 
 
 BY J. M. MASON, D.D. 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY WHITING AND WATSON, 
 
 Theological and Classical Booksellers. 
 
 Daniel Faashaw, Printer, No. 10 CliflF-street, 
 
 isTe. 
 
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW-YORK. ss. 
 BE IT REMEMBERED, tliat on the twentieth day of April, in the fortieth year of 
 
 the Independence of the United States of America, J. M- Mason, of the said 
 L S. district, hath deposited in this office the Title of a Book, the right whereof he 
 
 claims as Authour and Proprietor, in the words following, to wit : 
 
 " A Plea for Sacramental Communion on Catholick Principles. By J. M. 
 Mason, D. D." 
 
 In conformity to the Act of the Coneress of the United States, entitled "An 
 Act for the encouragement of Learninfr, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and 
 Books, to the Authours and Proprietors ot such copies, during the time therein men- 
 tioned." And also to an act, entitled "An Act, supplementary to an act, entitled an 
 act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and 
 Books, to the Authours and Proprietors ot such copies, during the times therein men- 
 tioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of Designing, Engraving, and 
 Etching Historical auS other Prints. ^^^^^^ ^^^^ 
 
 Clerk of the Soxtthtrn District of New- York. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 So long a time has elapsed since the ensuing 
 volume was promised, that the authour owes an 
 explanation of the causes which have retarded 
 its appearance. 
 
 The greater part of what was at first intended 
 for the press had been prepared nearly two years 
 before the proposals for printing it were issued. 
 In the mean time the subject had undergone ex- 
 tensive discussion, and had excited inquiry in 
 several parts of the United States. The manu- 
 script was found, upon revision, to cover too nar- 
 row ground for the range which the question had 
 taken ; and the whole was to be written over. 
 This labour, faUing in with numerous and urgent 
 avocations pressing upon an impaired state of 
 health, proceeded, and could proceed, but slow- 
 ly. It was performed at short and broken inter- 
 vals : The work swelled, by degrees, beyond its 
 anticipated limits, was interrupted more than 
 once by the authour's absence from home ; and 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 suspended for some time by other embarrass- 
 ments. These things, it is hoped, will furnish a 
 reasonable apology for the delay. 
 
 The reader will probably observe that the same 
 thoughts recur in different parts of the work. This 
 was in some measure unavoidable, from the af- 
 finity between topics which however required a 
 separate consideration. Nor was there much so- 
 licitude to avoid it, as it is of benefit to many in 
 whose minds the general course of reasoning 
 might be confused or enfeebled without the aid 
 of occasional repetitions. 
 
 The printed proposals describe Part II. as 
 consisting of "proof from authentick facts ^ that 
 '^sacramental communion, on Catholick princi- 
 " pies, is agreeable to the faith and practice of 
 " the church of Christ,/rom the day of Pentecost 
 '• to the present tirne^ with a few local and party 
 " exceptions." That his terms may not be stretch- 
 ed beyond his meaning, the authour thinks it 
 proi)er to disclaim any construction which may 
 be put upon them inconsistent with his own elu- 
 cidation in ti:e work itself. 
 
 The reader will not attribute to an affectation 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 of learning, the Latin and Greek quotations 
 which occupy so much of the margin in the 
 second part. Had the authour consulted merely 
 his own wishes, he should have been satisfied with 
 a simple reference to the primitive and reform- 
 ed writers. But as they are extremely scarce in 
 all parts of our country, and absolutely inacces- 
 sible in most, it was thought necessary to subjoin 
 the original, in order that readers who have the 
 ability, might also have the means, of judging 
 whether his representations are correct or not. 
 He would also guard against a misconception 
 of his language respecting the feelings and habits 
 of reHgious sects in the United States. It might 
 be supposed that they are all in such a state of 
 . mutual hostiUty as, without exception, to decline 
 each other's communion. Such, however, is not 
 the fact. Within a few years there has been a 
 manifest relaxation of sectarian rigour in several 
 denominations. And the spirit of the Gospel, in 
 the culture of fraternal charity, has gained, upon 
 a respectable scale, a visible and growing ascen- 
 dancy. This happy alteration may be attributed, 
 in a great degree, to the influence of Missionary 
 and Bible Societies. 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 Still there is room for complaint, humiliatioHj 
 and rebuke; andremarksof such a character must 
 be viewed as referring to those among whom the 
 Sectarian continues to lord it over the Christian, 
 May that preposterous inversion come speedily 
 to an end! May the Catholicism of "grace and 
 truth" wax stronger and stronger, till " Ephraim 
 shall not envy Judah," nor "Judah vex Eph- 
 raim" — the lust of sect being overcome and ba- 
 nished by the all-subduing love of God our Sa- 
 viour! Amen! 
 
 JSTeiO' Yorl, ^flpril 16,1816. 
 

 INTRODUCTION 
 
 In August, 1810, a combination of circum- 
 stances wholly providential, being unsought and 
 unexpected by all concerned, led the third Asso- 
 ciate Reformed Church in the city of New- 
 York, then recently formed under the minis- 
 try of Dr. John M. Mason, to hold their as- 
 semblies in the house belonging to the church 
 under the pastoral care of Dr. John B. Ro- 
 me yn, a minister of the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church in North America. As the 
 hours of service were different, the one congre- 
 gation sitcceeding the other in the same place on 
 the same day, the first effect of this arrangement 
 was a partial amalgamation of the two societies 
 in the ordinary exercises of public worship — 
 the next, a mutual esteem growing out of mutual 
 acquaintance with each other, as united in the 
 same precious faith ; and, finally, after a very 
 short time, invitations on both sides to join in 
 commemorating, at his own table, the love of 
 
2 
 
 that Saviour who gave himself for them, an offer- 
 ing and a sacrifice to God of a sweet smelling 
 savour. The invitations were as cordially ac- 
 cepted as they were frankly given. The bulk of 
 the members of both churches, as well as some 
 belonging to correlate churches, mingled their 
 affections and their testimony in the holy or- 
 dinance. The ministers reciprocated the services 
 of the sacramental day ; and the communion, 
 thus established, has been perpetuated with in- 
 creasing delight and attachment, and has extend- 
 ed itself to ministers and private christians of 
 other churches. 
 
 Such an event, it is believed, had never before 
 occurred in the United States. The Presbyterian 
 Church in North America sprang immediately 
 from the established church of Scotland. The 
 Associate Reformed Church, Presbyterian also, 
 was founded in the union of ministers and peo- 
 ple from the two branches of the Secession in 
 Scotland, and from the Reformed Presbytery. 
 
 When they emigrated to this countiy, it was 
 not to be expected that the esprit du corpsy their 
 characteristic feelings, should perish in the At- 
 lantic. All experience justifies the poet's re- 
 mark, 
 
 Ccclum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt ■ 
 
and accordingly, like the mother-churches, they 
 maintained not only separate communions, but 
 much of the old reserve and distance. 
 
 Portions of two denominations thus situated, 
 laying aside their party distinctions, coming to- 
 gether on the broad ground of one body, one 
 spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one bap- 
 tism, one " God and Father of all," and em- 
 bracing each other in the most sacred and tender 
 offices of Christian fellowship, presented a scene 
 of no common or feeble interest. Its very no- 
 velty roused attention ; and gave birth to specu- 
 lations various as the temper, character, and con- 
 dition of their authors. Rumour, with her " hun- 
 dred tongues," was active, as usual, in bespeak- 
 ing the public ear. Intelligence, announcing 
 the tmth, and more than the truth, but yet not 
 the whole truth : and accompanied, occasionally, 
 by surmises and comments ill calculated to make 
 a favourable impression, was forwarded, with in- 
 dustrious celerity, to distant parts of the land. 
 
 The Associate Reformed Church, generally 
 speaking, had been strict, and even exclusive, in 
 her communion. The jealousy naturally enter- 
 tained by her toward the General Assembly, was, 
 to say the least, not diminished by the collisions 
 which had taken place between many of their 
 members, especially in the western and southern 
 
4 
 
 parts of the United States. All things, therefore, 
 considered, we are not to wonder that the report 
 of what happened at New- York was received, by 
 verj many, with dislike and alarm. This effect 
 is so perfectly analogous to the laws which govern 
 feehng in masses of men, that it could not have 
 been hindered but by a miracle, or something 
 very like a miracle. They are startled by nothing 
 so soon as by encroachment upon their habits : 
 and will rather permit their understanding to be 
 unfiuitful, than the routine of their thoughts and 
 conduct to be broken up. Let us not complain 
 of this propensity, although it may be, and often 
 is, indulged too far. It is a wise provision in the 
 economy of human nature, without which there 
 would be neither stability, order, nor comfort. 
 Remove it, and the past would furnish no lessons 
 for the future : Intellect would be wasted on pre- 
 mises without conclusions, and life on experi- 
 ments without results. Therefore no principle is 
 more firmly established in the minds of all who 
 think correctly and act discreetly, than this — 
 that ivanton invasion of social habits is of the es- 
 sence of folly. Yet there is an extreme' of cau- 
 tion as reprehensible and hurtful as the extreme 
 of rashness. Till human opinions become in- 
 fallible, the practices which grow out of them 
 cannot be always right. In many cases, as every 
 
party acknowledges of every other, they are de- 
 cidedly wrong. It is thus settled by common 
 consent, and for the best of reasons, that what- 
 ever be the courtesy due to public habit, we are 
 not to bow before it with superstitious reverence. 
 We should treat it as we are to treat our civil 
 rulers, with unfeigned respect, but with a reserve 
 for the obligation to obey God rather than man. 
 At no time, and upon no pretence, must it be 
 allowed to usurp the right of controling con- 
 science in matters of scriptural principle ; nor to 
 exert the pestilent prerogative of abetting the 
 cause of errour by arresting the progress of inqui- 
 ry after truth. Unless we accede to this propo- 
 sition, the rock is swept away from under our 
 feet. The doctrine of Reformation is the worst 
 of heresies ; and every attempt to enforce it a 
 profligate insurrection against human peace. 
 " Thou that teachest another, teachest thou not 
 thyself ?" When there exist serious doubts, and 
 those not hastily admitted, whether certain prac- 
 tical opinions, i. e. opinions which influence habit, 
 among Christians, are really serviceable or inju- 
 *rious to the interests of pure Christianity, an op- 
 portunity of bringing their propriety to the test, 
 instead of being lamented as an affliction, should 
 be welcomed as a benefit. Such doubts have 
 been long entertained, and, as it is conceived, 
 
upon no slight grounds., not concerning the avoiv- 
 ed doctrine of the Associate Reformed Church, 
 respecting Christian communion, but concerning 
 her almost invariable practice on that point. It 
 has been, it is at this moment, more than doubt- 
 ed, whether the rigour of her restrictive commu- 
 nion corresponds with the genius of the gospel ; 
 with the best spirit of the best churches in the 
 best of times ; or with her own professed princi- 
 ples. The writer of these pages confesses that 
 such has been long the state of his own mind. 
 Considerations of public delicacy, induced him, 
 for a number of years, not merely to abstain 
 from the use of his liberty, but to forego what he 
 accounted a high evangelical privilege ; and to 
 submit to these sacrifices under the painful ap- 
 prehension, at lekst on some occasions, that he 
 might be found to have lent himself to mere 
 party passions, when he ought to have immolated 
 them on the altar of love to Jesus Christ, in ex- 
 pressions of love which he was compelled to 
 deny even to those who bore the image of Christ.* 
 
 * One of those occasions it is impossible for him to forget. He 
 had been distributing tokens of admission to the Lord's supper. Af- 
 ter the congregation had retired, he perceived a young woman at the 
 lower end of an aisle reclining on a pew in a pensive attitude. As he 
 approached her, she said, " Sir, I am afraid I have done wrong?" 
 Wliy, what have you done ? "I went up with the communicants, and 
 
He has not been alone in this embarrassment. 
 And he is far from regretting an event which led 
 him and others of his brethren to an exchange of 
 communion most consonant, as they believe, to 
 the divine word, and to the very letter and spirit 
 of that form of sound doctrine which, in the 
 most solemn moment of their lives, under the 
 oath of God in their ordination-vows, they bound 
 themselves to maintain and to apply. He can- 
 not regret such an event, because it invites a free 
 
 received a token, but am not a member of your church ; and I could 
 not be at rest till I spoke to you about it." To what church do you 
 belong ? " To the Dutch church : and, if you wish it, I can satisfy 
 you of my character and standing there." But what made you come 
 for a token without mentioning the matter before ? " 1 had not 
 an opportunity, as I did not know in time that your communion 
 was to be next Lord's day. I am sorry if I have done Avrong : but 1 
 expect to leave the city on Tuesday ; and to be absent, I cannot tell 
 how long, in a part of the country where I shall have no opportunity 
 of communing ; and I wished, once more before I went away, to join 
 with Christians in showing forth my Saviour's death." He consulted 
 a moment with the church-officers who were still present ; and it was 
 thought most expedient not to grant her request. He communicated 
 this answer as gently as possible to the modest petitioner. She said not 
 another word ; but with one hand giving back the token, and with the 
 other putting up her kerchief to her eyes, she turned away, strug- 
 gling with her anguish, and the tears streaming down her cheeks. How 
 did his heart smite him ! He went home exclaiming to himself, " Can 
 this be right? Is it possible that such is the law of the Redeem- 
 er's house ?" It quickened his inquiries ; his inquiries strengthened 
 his doubts ; and have terminated in the conviction that it was altoge- 
 ther wrong. 
 
 2 
 
8 
 
 discussion, and may conduct to a comfortable 
 decision, of the great question concerning '' the 
 communion of saints." With this view he soh- 
 cits calm and candid attention, while he endea- 
 vours to trace, w^ithout disguise, the general 
 course of those reflections and reasonings of 
 which the result has created so much public 
 agitation. 
 
PART I. 
 
 The Scriptural Doctrine* 
 
 Strange as it may appear, it is nevertheless 
 true, that men who have the bible in their hands 
 as their only rule of faith and practice, appeal 
 immediately to its testimony, for their justification , 
 but very rarely for their information. They take 
 for granted that their peculiarities are right, and 
 that the only use of the scripture is to prove them. 
 Much is gained when, instead of putting their 
 language into the mouth of the book of God, the 
 book of God is allowed to sit in judgment upon 
 themselves, and to pronounce its own verdict. 
 This is that course of truth which, however feebly, 
 we shall endeavour to follow. So that our leading 
 inquiry contemplates the direct doctrine of the 
 scripture concerning Christian fellowship. 
 
 We must go to first principles: 
 
 There is no point more fully settled in the 
 scriptures, than this, that 
 
 The Church of God is one. 
 
 It were endless to collect all the proofs. Let one 
 suffice. Paul, or rather the Holy Ghost, who 
 spake by his mouth and wrote with his pen, 
 
10 
 
 has thus represented it. As the body is one, and 
 hath many memhers; and all the memhers of that 
 one body, beiiig many, are one body ; so also is 
 Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized 
 into ONE body, ivhether we be Jews or Gentiles, 
 luhether we be bond or free ; and have been all 
 7nade to drink into one Spirit. For the body is 
 not ONE member, but many.* This analogy 
 between man's natural body and the spiritual 
 body of Christ, which he elsewhere declares to 
 be the church,! Paul presses at great length, and 
 with unusual minutdttef s. He does it, as any one 
 who shall seriously peruse the context may see, 
 with the design of reproving, and, if possible, 
 destroying that vain glorious temper which had 
 infected the Corinthian converts; each one arro- 
 gating to himself, or to that class with which his 
 gifts more immediately connected him, a peculiar 
 pre-eminence and sanctity ; as if he and his asso- 
 ciates were the special favourites of God, and 
 enjoyed so exclusively the nobler ministrations of 
 the Spirit, as to justify their contempt of others 
 whom they thought to be less distinguished. 
 In order to demonstrate the unreasonableness 
 and unrighteousness of such conduct, he lays 
 
 * 1 Cor. xii. 12—14. t Eph. i. 22, 23. iii. 16. iv. 3— IS. 
 
11 
 
 down certain indisputable principles concerning 
 the natural body ; ex. gr. 
 
 1. That the multitude of its members does not 
 destroy its unity, nor their relation to it as a whole 
 — all the members of that one body, being many, are 
 ONE body: v. 12. 
 
 2. That their union with the body is the founda- 
 tion of all the value, beauty, and excellence, of the 
 members in their respective places, v. 15 — ^24. 
 
 S. That the efficiency of the members consists 
 in their mutual co-operation as parts of a common 
 whole — that there should be no schism in the body, 
 V. 25. 
 
 4. That from their union with the body, there 
 results, by a divine constitution, a communion of 
 interests ; a sympathy of feeling, and a reciproca- 
 tion of benefits — that the members should have the 
 same care one for another: And whether one mem- 
 ber suffer^ all the members suffer with it; or one 
 member be honoured^ all the members rejoice with it, 
 V. 25, 26. 
 
 The use of this similitude Paul declares to be 
 an illustration of the unity of the church, and of 
 the intimate communion of believers. Noiv ye are 
 the body of Christy and members in particular, v. 27. 
 
 It is true that the Apostle turns his argument 
 directly against the contentions in the Corinthian 
 church 'about the superiority, or inferiority, of 
 
12 
 
 public offices and spiritual gifts. And God hath set 
 some in the church; first y apostles ^ secondarily ^ pro- 
 phets^ ^c. V 28 — 30. But it is also true that the 
 principles of his argument are general*, are equally 
 applicable to every thing which tends to cherish 
 among Christians a party feelings at the expense 
 of weakening the sense of their union, or of inter- 
 rupting their communion, as members of the body 
 of Christ ; and were intended to be so applied : 
 For, 
 
 They are part of the Apostle's remonstrance 
 against the schismatic spirit which had split up 
 the church of Corinth into a number of factions : 
 one crying, " I am of Paul ;" another, " I am of 
 Apollos;" another, " I am of Cephas ;" and ano- 
 ther, more proud and boasting more purity than 
 any of the rest, " I am of Christ." Scandalous, 
 however, as their schisms were, they bad not 
 proceeded to separation, nor did they dream of 
 breaking communion. If the Apostle so sternly 
 reprehended their divisions as inconsistent with 
 the unity of the church, although they continued 
 to hold communion together, what would he have 
 said, how would he have thundered forth his in- 
 dignant rebuke had they carried their contests 
 so far as to burst the bonds of communion, and, 
 by that fact, virtually to disown each other as 
 members of the body of Christ? 
 
13 
 
 Moreover, the Apostle has himself extended 
 his argiinient to matters which, without affecting 
 the substance of our faith, hope, or dutj, do yet 
 produce great diversity of opinion and habit: 
 and has shown that they ought not to infringe 
 upon Christian union ; nor, consequently, upon the 
 expression of it in Christian communion. Be- 
 tween the freeman and the slave, between the 
 barbarian and the Greek, between the Gentile 
 and the Jew, there existed wide differences of 
 condition and feeling, and large sources of ani- 
 mosity. But, saith Paul, they must all yield to 
 the force, they must all bow before the majesty, 
 of this consideration; — ^that the Christian freeman 
 and slave — tl>e Christian barbarian and Greek — 
 the Christian Gentile and Jew, have " hy one 
 Spirit been all baptized into one bodij.^^ What is this 
 but to say, that the union of behevers with each 
 other as members of the body of Christ, is more 
 precious than any other union, civil, national, or 
 ecclesiastical? and will always outweigh, in the 
 balance of God's judgment, the heaviest pleas 
 which can be accumulated for recognising any 
 other in preference to it; or for not recognising 
 it in preference to every other ? 
 
 Finally. The Apostle opposes the spirit of 
 ecclesiastical faction to the spirit of Christian 
 
14 
 
 love.* This heavenly grace he exalts above 
 prophecies, tongues, knowledge, the faith of 
 miracles, the most magnificent alms, the very 
 zeal of martyrdom ! Now this love, the only cure 
 for the gangrene of party strife — the most cha- 
 racteristic feature of Christ's image in a renewed 
 man — the most precious fruit of his grace ; and 
 yet the fruit which the bulk of his professed fol- 
 lowers seem to think themselves under hardly 
 any obligations to cultivate — this love is declared 
 to originate in the love of God shed abroad in the 
 heart; and to be drawn out toAvard the brethren 
 precisely on this account, that they are the 
 children of God — ^the disciples of Christ — and 
 therefore not on account of their adherence to 
 one or another denomination, however sound it 
 may be in the faith. Hereby^ said the master, 
 hereby shall all men know that ye are my disciples^ 
 if ye have love one to another.^ Every one^ 
 adds the beloved John who lay in his bosom 
 and drank deeply into his spirit, every one that 
 loveth him that begat ^ loveth him also that is begot- 
 ten of him^X And surely the description which 
 Paul has given of Christian love, in the chapter 
 before us, corresponds to any thing else as well 
 
 * 1 Cor. rill. t John xiii. 35, % 1 Jobn v. 1. 
 
16 
 
 as to that gloomy distance and sour disdain, which 
 are cherished by some professors towards others 
 of whose graces the Hght is at least equal to their 
 own; and which^ by a hardihood not easily 
 attained or equalled, are converted into a testi- 
 mony for Jesus Christ ! 
 
 Since, therefore, the Apostle has resembled 
 the unity of the Christian church and the union 
 of Christians, to the unity of the human body and 
 the union of its members ; and since the use of 
 this similitude in his expostulation with the Co- 
 rinthian schismatics was only a special applica- 
 tion of a doctrine general in itself, and applicable 
 every where and always to feuds and divisions 
 among those who embrace substantially the same 
 faith, let us, in few words, gather up its results, 
 and see how they bear upon the subject of sacra- 
 mental communion. 
 
 1. The body of Christ is one. 
 
 2. Every member of this body has, by a divine 
 constitution, utterly independent on his own will, 
 both union and communion with every other 
 member, as infalUbly as hands and feet, eyes, 
 ears, and nose, are, by the very constitution of 
 the physical body, united together as parts of a 
 whole, and sympathise with each other accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 3 
 
IB 
 
 5. The members of this body of Christ have 
 a common and unalienable interest in all the 
 provision which God has made for its nutriment, 
 growth, and consolation; and that simply and 
 absolutely, because they are members of that 
 body. Therefore, 
 
 4. The members of the church of Christ, indi- 
 vidually and collectively, are under a moral 
 necessity, i. e. under the obligation of God's au- 
 thority, to recognise each other's character and 
 privileges ; and, consequently, not to deny the 
 tokens of such recognition. Sacramental com- 
 munion is one of those tokens: therefore, the 
 members of the church of Christ, as such, are 
 under the obligation of God's authority to recog- 
 nise their relation to Christ and to each other, 
 by joining together in sacramental communion. 
 Nor has any church upon earth the power to re- 
 fuse a seat at the table of the Lord to one whose 
 " conversation is as becometh the gospel." If 
 she has, she has derived it from some other 
 quarter than her master's grant: and founds the 
 privilege of communion with her in something 
 else than a person's " having received Christ 
 Jesus the Lord, and walking in him." Let her 
 look to herself, and see what account she shall 
 bn able to render of her usurpation. 
 
17 
 
 This general conclusion, flowing irrefragably 
 from the scriptural doctrine of the unity of Christ's 
 body and the union and communion of its mem- 
 bers, is illustrated and confirmed by a considera- 
 tion of the tenure by which all Christian churches 
 and people hold their Christian privileges. 
 
 None whom these pages address will pretend 
 that there are no true Christians in the world but 
 themselves, and no true churches but their own — 
 that all other professors are mere heathen ; and all 
 their churches, synagogues of Satan. The very 
 idea of such arrogance is abhorred by those whose 
 feelings and practice are most adverse to free 
 communion. They profess to acknow]e<^ge and 
 honour other churches — ^to rejoice in the gifts and 
 graces of other Christians — to account them " as 
 dear children" of God ; as " brethren beloved" 
 in their common Redeemer: nor is there any 
 reason to doubt the sincerity of such professions. 
 This is all right — Christian-like — ^just as it should 
 be. But does it never appear to these good men 
 somewhat incongruous to decline taking a family- 
 meal with any of the household of faith who do 
 not happen to occupy the same apartment Avith 
 themselves? to own them as "saints," and "pre- 
 cious" saints ; and yet deny them the provision 
 which belongs to the saints ? And dt the moment 
 ©f greeting them a3 brethren, Moved brethren, to 
 
18 
 
 tell them, " jou shall not have, at the table where 
 we sup, one crumb of the bread, nor one drop of 
 the wme which Jesus, both your Lord and ours, 
 has given to you as well as to us ?" This is cer- 
 tainly an original way of expressing love ! 
 
 But, to press the matter a little closer. These 
 true churches and Christians have a right to the 
 holy sacraments, or they have not. If not, it is a 
 contradiction to call them true churches: the 
 rightful possession of the sacraments being essen- 
 tial to the existence of a true church. They have 
 then such a right. How did they obtain it ? By a 
 grant from the Lord Jesus Christ, unquestionably. 
 He gave all church-privileges to his church 
 catholic ; and from this catholic grant do all par- 
 ticular churches derive their right to, and their 
 property in whatever privileges they enjoy.* 
 Other true churches, then, hold their right to all 
 church privileges by the very same tenure by 
 which we hold ours: and, consequently, the 
 members of those churches have the very same 
 right to the table of the Lord as the members of 
 our own. By what authority, therefore, does 
 any particular church undertake to invalidate a 
 right bestpw^ed by Christ himself? And what less, 
 
 * See the Westminster Confession of Failh^ ch. xv. and Form of 
 Church gov ernmeni, at the beginning ; with the scriptural proofs. 
 
19 
 
 or what else, does she attempt, when she refuses 
 to admit Christians from other particular churches 
 to the participation of any ordinance which Christ 
 has estabhshed for their common use? The 
 sacramental table is spread. I approach and ask 
 for a seat. You say, " No." " Do you dispute my 
 Christian character and standing." " Not in the 
 least." " Why, then, am I refused ?" " You do 
 not belong to our church." " Your church ! what 
 do you mean by your church ? Is it any thing 
 more than a branch of Cfmsfs church ? Whose 
 table is this ? Is it the Lord^s table, or yours ? If 
 yours and not his, I have done. But if it is the 
 Lord^s, where did you acquire the power of shut- 
 ting out from its mercies any one of his people ? 
 I claim my seat under my master's grant. Show 
 me your warrant for interfering with it." 
 
 Methinks it should require a stout heart to en- 
 counter such a challenge : and that the sturdiest 
 sectarian upon earth, not destitute of the fear of 
 God, should pause and tremble before he ventured 
 upon a final repulse. The language of such an 
 act is very clear and daring. " You have, indeed, 
 Christ's invitation to his table ; but you have not 
 mine. And without minCy his shall not avail." 
 Most fearful ! Christ Jesus says, do this in remeni' 
 branee of me. His servants rise to obey his com- 
 mand; m\d a fellow servant, acting in the name 
 
20 
 
 of that Christ Jesus, under the oath of God, in- 
 terposes his veto, and says — " You shall not." 
 Whose soul does not shrink and shudder ! 
 
 Place the subject in another light. Is it, or is it 
 not the duty of Christians in all true churches to 
 show forth the Lord's death in the sacrament of 
 the supper ? If not, then we have true churches 
 and Christians under no obligation to observe the 
 most characteristic and discriminating of the 
 Christian ordinances. Here, again, is a contra- 
 diction nearly in terms. For who can acknow- 
 ledge a true church without sacraments ? If it is— - 
 if it would be a great corruption, a grievous sin 
 in those churches to expel or neglect their sa- 
 craments, and consign the memorial of their 
 Saviour's love to utter oblivion, it may be further 
 asked — whether, in acquitting themselves of their 
 duty, they perform an acceptable service unto 
 God or not? If they may, and do; and that with 
 the most evident tokens of their master's appro- 
 bation, as no sober Christian will deny, how 
 should an act of communion in " the body and 
 blood of the Lord," be lawful and commanded 
 to a person in one true church, and be unlawful 
 and forbidden to that same person in another ? 
 How should two persons both honour the Re- 
 deemer by communicating in their respective 
 churches, and both dishenvur him by the very 
 
21 
 
 same thing, if they should happen to exchange 
 places ? On what principle of tnith or consist- 
 ency can any man ascribe to a subdivision of 
 God's church, the privilege of controlling the 
 general laws by which the whole is to be govern- 
 ed, and the more than magic virtue of transmu- 
 ting the character of individuals and of their wor- 
 ship, by the mere fact of their belonging or not 
 belonging to such subdivision? So that the ques- 
 tion of their honouring the table of the Lord, or 
 their profaning and polluting it, shall turn precise- 
 ly on this point, Whether they are members of 
 that particular church or not ? Hence emerges a 
 dilemma from which the brethren we have to 
 contend with will find it difficult to make their 
 escape. You must either avow or disavow the 
 doctrine which has just been imputed to your 
 practice. Take your choice. If you avow it, you 
 stand self-convicted of corrupting to their core the 
 institutions of your master. If you disavow it, 
 why do you demand more than the evidence of 
 Christian character as a qualification to commu- 
 nion with you? On this side of the dilemma you 
 stand self-convicted of repeUing, without reason, 
 your Christian brethren from the table of the 
 Lord. Either way, your condemnation proceeds 
 out of your own mouth. 
 
 If any thing be wanting to this general argii- 
 
22 
 « 
 
 ment, let us inquire at the Chistian sacraments. 
 They are admitted, by all Protestants, to be but 
 two, Baptism and the Lord's supper. What is 
 their nature ? "What their use ? And to whom 
 are they to be administered ? We may take our 
 answer from an authority unquestioned by the 
 parties to this discussion, 
 
 " Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the 
 covenant of grace, immediately instituted by 
 God, to represent Christ and his benefits ; and to 
 confirm our interest in him : as also to put a visi- 
 ble difference between those that belons; unto 
 the church, and the rest of the world; and 
 solemnly to engage them to the service of Christ, 
 according to his word."* 
 
 Assuming this account of the sacraments to b© 
 scriptural, they are clearly the common property 
 of all Christians under the whole heaven. 
 
 1. " They are signs and seals of the covenant 
 of grace." Now, all believers, in all places of 
 Christ's kingdom upon earth, have their share in 
 the mercies of that covenant : therefore, all be- 
 lievers, having the thing signified, have a perfect 
 right to the sign, 
 
 2. They " represent Christ and his benefits, and 
 confirm an interest in him." Therefore, all be- 
 
 * Conussion of Faiih, eh, xxviii. 
 
25 
 
 lievers, being partakers of Christ and his benefits ; 
 in other words, having an interest in him, are the 
 proper recipients of those ordinances whose use 
 is to " confirm" that interest to their faith. 
 
 3. " They put a visible difference between those 
 that belong to the church and the rest of the 
 world." Therefore, they who belong unto the 
 church of God, who are known and recognised as 
 Christians, have a right to this badge of discrimi- 
 nation, and are bound to put it on and wear it, as 
 they shall have opportunity, in whatever part of 
 God's church they may happen to be. Conse- 
 quently, they who so narrow the use of this badge, 
 as to make it distinguish not merely the church 
 from the world; the follower from the foe of 
 Christ Jesus ; but the church from the church, 
 the follower from the follower, the friend from the 
 friend of Christ Jesus ; and thus to exhibit them as 
 having separate Christian interests, cormpt — not 
 the form and circumstances — but the matter, 
 but the substance, of the holy sacraments. 
 
 4. They " solemnly engage behevers to the 
 service of Christ according to his word." There- 
 fore all who have entered into his service, and 
 mean to regulate their lives by his word — and 
 what Christian does not? — have a ris-ht to the 
 sacramental encouragement, commensurate with 
 the sacramental oath. Which of them can inno- 
 
24 
 
 cently retuse the oath? To which of them may 
 the encouragement be innocently denied ? And 
 who art thou, sinful flesh, escaped by thy master's 
 o;race from the damnation of hell, that darest — 
 jes — BAREST, to keep back from the vow and the 
 consolations of thy masters table any whom thou 
 acknowledgest to be the objects of his love ? 
 It results, 
 
 1. That they who have a right to sacramental 
 communion any where, have a right to it every 
 where ; and, conversely, that they who have not 
 a right to it every where, have a right to it no 
 where. 
 
 2. That no qualification for such communion 
 may, by the law of Christ, be exacted from any 
 individual other than visible Christianity; i. e. 
 a profession and practice becoming the gospel, 
 without regard to those sectarian ditferences 
 which consist with the substance of evangelical 
 truth. 
 
PART II. 
 
 Facts. 
 
 In questions concerning social observanceSj 
 the first and most prevalent presumption is in 
 favour of those under which the existing genera- 
 tion was born and educated. What they have 
 always seen before their own eyes, followed in 
 their own practice, and received by tradition from 
 their fathers, the bulk of men consider as having 
 on its side the double advantage of prescription 
 and right. Without exercising much thought on 
 the matter, they have a sort of quiet hereditary 
 notion that it ahvays was as it is, and is as it ought 
 to be. Whatever, therefore, has, in their eye, the 
 appearance of novelty, is an object of suspicion. 
 New and false — new and hurtful, are with them 
 terms of equal import. The conclusion would 
 be sound were the premises correct. In doctrines 
 of faith and ordinances of worship there can be 
 no room for original discoveries. The divine iiilg 
 for both remains as it was when the sacred canon 
 was closed. If we date from that period, then, in- 
 deed, every thing new, i. e. every thing unknown 
 to the insph'ed records, if proposed as an article 
 
2B 
 
 of faith, or an institution of worship, is nceessarilj 
 false and hurtful. Here, novelty and crime are the 
 same. Wherefore the essential merits of contro- 
 versies upon all such points are to be examined and 
 decided by the scripture alone. And every deci- 
 sion agreeable to the scripture takes precedence 
 of all others, how long soever they may have 
 been possessed of the public mind, on the ground 
 both of right and of prescription. Of right, be- 
 cause it is the voice of the law which has the 
 sole prerogative of binding conscience — Of pre- 
 scription, because God's institutions in his own 
 church must ever be Jirst^ and all deviations from 
 them, novelties : absolute novelties in their com- 
 mencement; and comparative novelties at the 
 latest moment of their existence afterwards. On 
 the stiength of this principle did the Protestant 
 Reformers expel the corruptions of Popery, 
 although they were of old standing ; entwined for 
 ages with the habits of society ; cherished with 
 unfeigned ecclesiastical fondness, and hallowed 
 by popular devotion, To this principle we must 
 eurselves submit — we must even court its appli- 
 cation to our own observances, if we hope to pass 
 for the sons of those who, at every personal 
 hazard, and under every dismaying prospect— - 
 through fire and through flood: the fire of their 
 own '' wood, hay, stubbie," kindled by theii; owa 
 
27 
 
 hands; and the flood of vengeance poured 
 around them out of the mouth of the Dragon, 
 bore off in safety the gold, the silver, the precious 
 stones, of evangelical treasure ; and re-established 
 on earth, by the succours of heaven, the almost 
 ruined cause of truth and grace. Let us, there- 
 fore, treading in the steps of those Christian 
 heroes, carry our inquiries back in order to ascer- 
 tain whether the catholic communion for vv^hich 
 these pages plead ; or the sectional communion, 
 so to speak, which characterizes many Christian 
 denominations, receives the most countenance 
 from the faith and practice of the church of God 
 through ages past. 
 
 The facts to be embraced by this inquiry may 
 be distributed into three classes: and are furnished 
 by the history of the church strictly called Aposto- 
 lical, i. e. as it existed in the days of the Apostles 
 themselves — by the history of the j^nmfee church 
 which immediately succeeded — and by the his- 
 tory of the church as renovated in the Reformation 
 from Popery, 
 
 1. Facts from the Apostolic history. For these 
 we must go to the New Testament itself. 
 
 One of these facts occurs in the case of the 
 first converts, who became such under the first 
 sermon after the full introduction of the New 
 Testament economy. When the Jews, " pricked 
 
28 
 
 in their lieart^' by the plain and pungent preach- 
 ing of Peter, cried out, "Brethren, what shall 
 live do?" the Apostle replied, ^'Repent and be 
 baptized every one of you^ in the name of Jesus 
 Christ, for the remission of sins J^'* Let us view the 
 bearings of this transaction. 
 
 1st. Peter had quoted a passage from the pro- 
 phet Joel, promising salvation to faith in, and pro- 
 fession of, the Lord Jesus, v. 21. for thus he proves 
 and applies the sense of the oracle in his subse- 
 quent reasoning. 
 
 2d. Peter represents this faith as having for its 
 object Christ crucified; i. e. Christ " who bore our 
 sins in his own body on the tree ;'' the substitute, 
 the propitiary sacrifice in the room of believers 
 on him.f 
 
 3d. Having held up to their view Jesus the 
 crucified, the Christ, he enjoins on them a change 
 of all their erroneotis notions concerning his per- 
 son, his kingdom, and his work ; and to receive 
 the truth in its simplicity — " Repent. "^^ 
 
 4th. On the supposition of such repentance he 
 commands them to " be baptized in the name of 
 Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." They 
 drank in this precious doctrine as the thirsty land 
 drinks in the rain from heaven. They " gladly 
 
 * Acts, Li. 14—38. ^ 1 Pet. n. S4. jii. 18. 
 
29 
 
 feceived his word ;" and upon receiving it " were 
 baptized,'^^ 
 
 It appears, therefore, that in the very first pre- 
 cedent for admission to sealing ordinances, and 
 that set under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, 
 the only qualification was faith in the Lord Jesus 
 as the Saviour of sinners by the blood of his cross — 
 a faith manifested by a credible profession of his 
 name. 
 
 Another fact occurs in the case of the Ethiopian 
 Eunuch. The story is told in the eighth chapter of 
 the Acts of the Apostles. Philip the evangelist, 
 having, by divine admonition, accosted this dis- 
 tinguished officer as he was returning home from 
 Jerusalem, and been courteously invited into his 
 chariot, instmcted him, from a passage of Isaiah 
 which he was then reading, in the doctrine of 
 Jesus the Messiah, and of the nature and use of 
 the Christian sacraments. The first is plainly 
 .asserted in v, 35. and the second as plainly im- 
 plied in i\ ^Q, For how could he ask such a 
 question as, " See ! here is water — what doth 
 hinder me to be baptized ?" if he had been taught 
 nothing of that sacrament? Philip replied, that 
 if he was a sincere believer in that Jesus, he 
 might. Without delay he makes the requisite 
 profession of his faith, and is baptized accord- 
 ingly. 
 
^0 
 
 Here, in perfect conformity with the original 
 precedent aheady produced, is a minister of the 
 gospel acting under the immediate injunction of 
 the Holy Spirit, administering one of the seaUng 
 ordinances to a new disciple upon no other terms 
 than a credible profession of faith in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 A third fact occurs in the history of Saul ; Acts, 
 ix. That furious persecutor, having been miracu- 
 lously arrested on his journey to Damascus in 
 quest of the blood of the saints ; and undergone, 
 during the three days of his blindness and fasting, 
 such discipline and instruction from the Lord 
 Jesus himself, as both changed his heart and 
 qualified him for the Apostleship, was admitted 
 forthwith to the sacrament of baptism. Upon 
 what ground? Simply on the ground of his be- 
 longing to Christ, For on this ground Christ him- 
 self placed it. He is a chosen vessel unto me^ saith 
 the Redeemer. That the knowledge of this fact 
 was communicated hy revelation to Ananias, is of 
 no weight in the present argument. For the ques- 
 tion is not, " Hoio are we to ascertain a man's 
 Christianity ?" But w hether, on the supposition of 
 its being ascertained, (which is always supposed 
 when we admit its existence,) it is, in and of itself ^ 
 a sufficient title to gospel ordinances in whatever 
 part of the church catholic they may happen to 
 
31 
 
 be dispensed ? If it is not — if any thing more 
 than the evidence of Christian character be re- 
 quisite to create both the right and the obhgation 
 to reciprocal communion, it is clear that an im- 
 mediate revelation from God certifying such a 
 character, would not form a valid claim to com- 
 munion. The Apostle elect of the Gentiles should 
 have gone unbaptized ! 
 
 A fourth fact occurs in the case of Cornelius, 
 the first Gentile admitted into the Christian 
 church. All the circumstances of his reception 
 are too minutely related in the tenth chapter of 
 the Acts, and are too familiar to every serious 
 reader, to allow of repetition in this place. Our 
 concern is with the concluding scene. 
 
 While Peter was opening up the plan of salva- 
 tion, "the Holy Ghost fell on all them which 
 heard the word. And they of the circumcision 
 which believed were astonished, as many as 
 came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles 
 also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
 For they heard them speak with tongues and 
 magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any 
 man forbid water ^ that these should not he baptized 
 
 which HAVE RECEIVED THE HoLY GhOST AS WELL 
 
 AS WE ? And he commanded them to be bap- 
 tized in the name of the Lord." v. 44 — 48. ^ 
 
 5 
 
32 
 
 This descent of the Holy Ghost was visible 
 proof of God's acceptance; and the sole principle 
 on which the Aposde pronounced them to be fit 
 subjects for sacramental recognition; and actually 
 did admit them to all the privileges of the Chris- 
 tian chiirch The news of such an event was not 
 slow in travelling. " The Apostles and brethren 
 that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles also 
 had received the word of God."* The account 
 of Peter^s share in this revolution was too essential 
 to be overlooked. His Jewish brethren were 
 stumbled^ and alarmed. No sooner does he appear 
 at Jerusalem, than a complaint is tabled against 
 him. " They that Avere of the circumcision con- 
 tended with him." v. 2. Well, what is the of- 
 fence ? He had held corrupt communion ! How ? 
 " Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and 
 didst eat with them." v. S. The fact was indis- 
 putable ; but the inference, viz. that he had acted 
 irregularly, if not irreligiously, was unfounded. 
 His brethren reasoned from their prejudices, and 
 came to their conclusion before they had exa- 
 mined the merits of the cause. Nor is it unwor- 
 thy of remark, that, in their complaint, they laid 
 a great stress upon a circumstance which habit 
 had erected into ecclesiastical law, but which it 
 
 * Acts, ch. xii. 
 
33 
 
 were vain to seek in any commandment of God— 
 the unlawfulness of religious or even social inter- 
 course with a Gentile ! And so heinous in their 
 eyes was this transgression of the " tradition of the 
 elders/' that it served as a point of concentration 
 for their whole grievance. Thou iveutest in to men 
 uncircumcised and didst eat ivith them ! N. B. It is 
 no new thing for good and upright men, through 
 the force of prepossession, the want of informa- 
 tion, and precipitancy of judgment arising from 
 both, to blame that which God approves ; to set 
 themselves against that which God has autho- 
 rized ; and to be strenuous for that which God 
 disregards. This was the errour of Peter's brethren. 
 However, with the consciousness not only of 
 pure intention, but of laudable conduct, he 
 calmly listens to their accusation, and vindicates 
 his proceedings in a manner equally admirable 
 for its meekness and its dignity. " He rehearsed 
 the matter from the beginning, and expounded it 
 by order unto them ;" giving a succinct history 
 of the steps by which he was led, under a divine 
 communication, to the house of Cornelius; of his 
 preaching the gospel there : and of the descent of 
 the Holy Ghost upon his Gentile hearers, v. 4 — 
 15. His reasoning upon the facts is thus ner- 
 vously summed up, " Then remembered I the 
 word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed 
 
34 
 
 baptized ivitfi ivater ; but ye shall be baptized with 
 the Holy Ghost, Forasmuch, then, as God gave 
 them the like gift as he did unto us who beUeved 
 on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I 
 could withstand God?" v. 16, 17, 
 
 The prominent points in this reasoning are, 
 
 1st. God has given to these Gentiles that holy 
 Spirit of whom the water in John's baptism was 
 an emblem and pledge. 
 
 2d. God has thus borne witness to them as his 
 children, and heirs of his promise. 
 
 od. God has put them upon a perfect level with 
 ourselves, by this testimony to their faith in Christ 
 Jesus ; so that whatever privileges we have, they 
 have also ; and are intitled to receive with us and 
 from us. 
 
 4th. Under this evidence of their gracious rela- 
 tion to the Lord Jesus Christ, to refuse them the 
 seal of that relation were to resist God ! And, 
 therefore, he commanded them to be baptized in 
 the name of the Lord : which is precisely equiva- 
 lent to his administering the ordinance with his 
 own hands. 
 
 The opposition ceased — the brethren were 
 satisfied. They had been warm in their dis- 
 pleasure; but they yielded to the light of truth — 
 they yielded magnanimously — when it Avas once 
 proved that these Gentiles were owned of God; 
 
35 
 
 were placed among his people, and blessed with 
 his Spirit; the doubt was removed; the debate 
 was over: and instead of cavilling, or hunting up 
 small distinctions by the aid of which they might 
 seem to acknowledge the Christian character of 
 the new converts, and yet censure the Apostle 
 Peter for holding communion with them, they 
 joined together in humble thankfulness to God 
 for this additional display of his grace. '' They 
 held their peace" — they had no more fault to 
 find, nor objections to make ; " and glorified God, 
 saying, then hath God also to the Gentiles 
 granted repentance unto hfe." v, 18, Why should 
 it not be so still ? Why should not such proof of 
 Christian character in others, no matter whom, as 
 we deem sufficient among ourselves, be at this 
 hour, as it was then, the rule of Christian fellow- 
 ship on the broadest scale ? And a refusal of that 
 communion to any whom we own that God has 
 owned by the same tokens which he has given to 
 us, be now, as it would have been then, a with- 
 standing OF God ? 
 
 A fifth fact occurs in the history of the reference 
 from Antioch, and of the proceedings thereon by 
 the Synod of Jerusalem. Acts, xv. 
 
 " Certain men," ministers of the word, " which 
 came down from Judea taught the brethren, and 
 said. Except ye be circumcised after the manner of 
 
SG 
 
 Moses^ ye cannot he samd.^^ v, 1. This doctrine. 
 false and dangerous, tending to subvert the entire 
 fabric of evangelical truth, Paul and Barnabas 
 promptly and firmly resisted, v, 2. But the erro- 
 neous teachers persevering, and being probably 
 supported by Jewish converts, with very little 
 prospect of gaining over the Gentiles; it w^as 
 judged expedient for the prevention of feuds, to . 
 refer the question to the Apostles and Presbyters 
 at Jerusalem, v. 2. They accepted the reference 
 — took the subject into consideration—condemn- 
 ed the doctrine which had raised the ferment in 
 Antioch — prohibited the preaching of it in future 
 — and, with regard to the remainiiig differenceSj 
 advised both parties to forbearance and love, v, 
 22—29. ■ 
 
 The value of their decision, as a precedent for 
 posterity, lies in its principle. On the one hand, 
 that venerable council would not endure, " no, 
 not for an hour," the least infringement upon that 
 prime essential of Christianity, the justificatioii of a 
 sinner by faith alone : nor, on the other, would 
 they countenance the spirit of schism and separa- 
 tion, even for the sake of important differences 
 which left both sides in possession of the substan- 
 tial truth. On these matters they enjoined respect 
 to each others feelings — they enjoined bearing 
 and forbearing-~-they enjoined '^ endeavours to 
 
37 
 
 keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of 
 peace" — they did not enjoin, nor abet, nor in any 
 wise encourage, the disruption of communion. 
 Prejudice herself must confess that the variance 
 between the Gentile and Jewish believer on the 
 subject of circumcision and of the Mosaic law 
 generally, even without the notion of its necessity 
 to salvation, was much wider than the variance 
 between many Christians who will not commune 
 together in the body and blood of their common 
 Lord. The sense of their union with him, accord- 
 ing to the Apostolic rule, should absorb their infe- 
 rior discrepancies of opinion and practicj^ among 
 themselves. But, directly reversing this order, 
 their inferior discrepancies overpower the sense 
 of their union as one in him. O how unlike the 
 spirit and the example of those glorious days of 
 the Son of man! 
 
 The scriptural details might be prosecuted 
 further; but it is superfluous. They are all of one 
 complexion. Nor is there any hazard in asserting, 
 without qualification, that there is not in all the 
 New Testament, one solitaiy doctrine or fact 
 which so much as implies, or can be made by 
 any tolerable interpretation to appear to imply, 
 that the Lord Jesus has authorized the exaction 
 of any term whatever for the lohole felloivship of 
 his church, other than visible Christianity. Ob- 
 jections will be noticed in their proper place. 
 
38 
 
 II. The second claas of facts is furnished by the 
 history o^ the primitive church from the days of the 
 Apostles to the close of the fourth century. 
 
 It was not more her character, during that peri- 
 od, to profess Christianity, than it was to assert her 
 catholic unity ; and to cherish, on all occasions, 
 the most tender soUcitude for its preservation. 
 This is so evident, that an attempt to set forth its 
 proofs at large would be altogether impertinent. 
 No man w^ho has only glanced at the waitings of 
 -the early fathers, will raise a doubt on the subject. 
 it is material, however, to inquire in what she 
 viewed, her unity as consisting — by what it w^as 
 liabk to be broken — and how it was to be main- 
 tained. 
 
 Her unity consisted in her common faith, her 
 common institutions — and brotherly love. 
 
 1. The chief attribute of her unity was her 
 common faith ; i. e. the faith which was common 
 to her members all over the world. 
 
 In the exposition of her faith, as a rallying 
 point of union, she confined herself to a few great 
 principles — principles which are, every where 
 and at all times, vital to the rehgion of Jesus — 
 and without which it is impossible there should 
 be either Christianity or Christians. Nothing 
 can be more simple, nor summed up with more 
 studious brevity than the early creeds, or, as they 
 
. * were called, symbols of the faith. That little 
 composition, familiarly known by the name of 
 the " Apostles'* creed^'^ though probably not their 
 work, may give the reader a con*ect idea of their 
 general structure. For his further satisfaction, 
 however, I shall translate another specimen from 
 Irencens^ a disciple of Poly carp ^ and a most stre- 
 nuous defender of the purity of the faith against 
 various heresies. 
 
 " The church, although scattered over the 
 !A. ^^^^^ world, even to the extremities of the 
 dearth, has received from the apostles and their 
 disciples, the faith, viz. on one God the Fath- 
 er, almighty, that made the heaven and the earth, 
 and the seas, and all things therein — and on one 
 Christ Jesus, the son of God, who became in- 
 carnate for our salvation — and on the Holy Spi- 
 rit, who, by the prophets, preached the dispen- 
 sations, and the advents, and the generation from 
 a Virgin, and the suffering, and the resurrection 
 from the dead, and the assumption, in flesh, into 
 heaven, of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ ; and 
 his coming again from the heavens in the glory 
 of the Father, to sum up all things, and raise all 
 flesh of all mankind ; that to Christ Jesus, our 
 Lord, and God, and Saviour, and King, accord- 
 ing to the good pleasure of his father who is in- 
 visible, every knee may bow of beings in heaven^^ 
 
 6 
 
40 
 
 in earth, and under the earth ; and every tongue 
 may confess to him ; and that he may exercise 
 righteous judgment upon all; may send spiritual 
 wickednesses, and transgressing and apostate an- 
 gels, and ungodly, and unjust, and lawless, and 
 blasphemous men, into eternal fire. But on the 
 righteous and holy — on those who have kept his 
 commandments and continued in his love, whe- 
 ther from the beginning or after repentance, may, 
 with the gift of life, bestow incorruption, and put 
 them in possession of eternal gloiy."* 
 
 * Fidelity rather than elegance has been consulted in this transla- 
 tion. But that the reader may judge for himself, the original iit 
 subjoined. 
 
 ym iuTTTA^fAiVn, TTet^ctJ't TOiV ATroToKoeVi K,a.i rav iKttvcev M.oiB»rav TTeLgftKet- 
 
 ^avrdi THV ilC iVA BiOV ITATigA TTatyTOXgstTOg*, TOV TTiTrOlUKOTA TOV OVPAVOTf 
 
 KAi T«v ynvy x.At TAf ^AKA<ra-(tif kai TTA'vrA TA iv AVToiiy Tnirriv' XAt 
 
 Ut tVA Xg/CTOy I«S-OUV, TOX VIQV Toy QiQVy Toy a-atgXaO^VT* l;7r«g T«C y^fXiTi^Ai 
 ffOHTH^lAi' KAt UC YiViUflA aytOVy to ^IA rCeV 7r^opHTa$V KiKH^V^OS TA? 0/K9- 
 VO,U/*Cj KAt TA? t\lVCrit?y HAl TUV tit. TlAoBiVQV yiV^MVl^y KAl TO 7FaQ(i?j KXt 
 T»V iyt^<TlV IX. VlK^C6Vy KAt TUV tVS-AgKOV US TOtfC CWgAVSt/f AVStX»->|-/» T6U nyA- 
 
 TnnfjLtvou Xg/(rTCM I«(rew rowKv^tou »f/totVf kai rnv tx, ruf ov^AVcev iv'Tti J'c^if 
 
 rev TTATgOZ 'ra^OViriAV AVtiUy tTTt TO AyAX.l^AKAlCt(rA(TBAl T* TTAVTAy KAt 
 AVAO-nia-Al TTATAV CTA^itA TTASTm AV^^OiV0tHT0?y IVA X|/0-T« lUfTOU Ttt Ktf- 
 l^tCf »fXUVy KAl QieSly KAt a-aiT'ii^ly »A< /^ATtkUy KATA T»V tvS'oKiAV TOW Ilat- 
 
 Tgo? TOW AQ^ArovyTAv yovv scA/u.'^yi e'®'A»oygA)»/a>v **/ i'ts-tyitav kai kataj^- 
 
 8(JV4CeVy X.AI rWAO-A yhailT<FA i^OfAOXayHCritTAty kai K^KTIV S'IKAIAV iV TOIC tTATt 
 <tB-OlilTHrAi' TA fA.tV /arViVfJlAriKA T«? 'OrOVif^lASy KAt AyytkOVC '©•AgA/3«/8»XO- 
 TA?, H,C/.t ev AVrcrACrtA yiyOVOTASy KAt roUS Aff-i0Ugy KAl AS'lKOVCy KAt AVQ- 
 
 t^QVSy y.At ^KAs-'frifAivz Tav AvSgoj^rajy ug ra Atwviov 'Sryg <vifx-^i$ • T9/5 ^i ^t- 
 
41 
 
 " This faith," proceeds Irenseus, " the church, 
 as I said before, has received, and though disper- 
 sed over the whole world, assiduously preserves 
 as if she inhabited a single house ; and believes in 
 these things as having but one heart and one soul : 
 and with perfect harmony proclaims, teaches, 
 hands down, these things as though she had but 
 one mouth. For though there are various and 
 dissimilar languages in the world ; yet the powder 
 of the faith transmitted is one and the same. 
 Neither the churches in Germmiy^ nor in iheria^^^ 
 (Spain) " nor among the Celtcs,'^^ (in France) *^nor 
 in the East^ nor in Egypt, nor in Libya, nor in the 
 middle regions of the world," (Jerusalem and the 
 adjacent districts) " believe or teach any other 
 doctrines. But as the Sun is one and the same 
 throughout Che whole world ; so the preaching of 
 the truth shines every where, and enlightens all 
 men who are willing to come to the knowledge 
 of truth. Nor will the most pow^erful in speech 
 among the governours of the churches say any 
 thing more than these ; (for no one can be above 
 his master ;) nor the most feeble any thing less. 
 
 xtttoiiy KAi oa-tois, KAt Tate tvroXAs ttvrov t«t))|»xo^/, KAt <v T>) ayA(mi^ ttu- 
 
 TOU S^tAfXSfAiVUKOrt TOti (/Wiv) ATT* A^^>1fj <TC<I tTt iK jUlTAVOtA^, ^UHV '^U^lCrA" 
 
 Ibkw. Adversus Hareses, Lib. I. c. 2. p. 45. ed. Grabe. 
 
42 
 
 For as there is but one faith, he who is " able to 
 speak much cannot enlarge ; nor he who can say 
 little, diminish it."* 
 
 It is clear that this venerable father did not 
 mean to give the very words of any formula of 
 faith ; but to state, substantially, those high and 
 leading truths in which all the churches of Christ 
 over the whole world harmonized; and which 
 formed the doctrinal bond of their union. 
 
 It is also certain, that as heresies, coiTupting 
 any mrfZina/ principle of Christianity, arose in the 
 church, her public profession met them by an 
 ©pen and decisive assertion of the injured truth. 
 This necessarily enlarged, by degrees, the num- 
 ber of articles in her creed, as w ell as the scope 
 of her ministerial instruction. But her mainte- 
 nance of the faith was always pointed and brief. 
 She never launched out into wide discussion ; 
 never pursued principles to their remote conse- 
 quences ; nor embarrassed her testimony by nu- 
 merous and minute applications. These were 
 left then as they ought to be now, and, in the 
 nature of things, must be, in a very great mea- 
 sure, to the intelligence and fidelity of her minis- 
 tiT. But the basis of her communion w as laid 
 
 * Irfv. ib. c. S. p. 46. See to the same purpose, Cyprian, de imi' 
 tau Ecclcsm. Opp. p. 108. ed. Fell. Oxon. 1682. 
 
43 
 
 so broad, in the vital doctrines of the gospel, that 
 all who " held the head," in whatever spot of the 
 globe, might join, as they had opportunity, in the 
 reciprocation of Christian kindnesses, and the en- 
 joyment of Christian privileges. For proof of this 
 a single fact will suffice. The most copious of 
 all her confessions, framed toward the close of the 
 fourth century, or about A. D. 373, nearly two hun- 
 dred years after Irena3us, was designed, expressly, 
 to guard and vindicate the common faith against 
 the numerous heresies of the age. " All the or- 
 thodox bishops," says Epiphanius,. " and, in a 
 word, the whole catholic church, in opposition to 
 those heresies, and conformably to the pre-estab- 
 lished faith of those holy fathers" (the Apostles 
 and their successors) " affirm and maintain as 
 follows ; We believe,'^^ ^-c. * 
 
 He then recites the creed at length. It is sub- 
 stantially the same with the one already quoted ; 
 to the specifications of which it gives greater am- 
 plitude, and closer application. Yet this enlar- 
 ged creed ivould not Jill, or more than fill, three 
 PAGES of the present work ! ! 
 
 *Tfiiit Ti KCii T)(ifii, KOI jravTii oi op9o?o^oi ijricrxoffoi, koi av\KT\^^-(\v naua h 0.710 Ka« 
 SoXixTi ExxATia-ia ffyoi tas avaxo^^acrat aijfcriis okoXouScoj rn tcov tt7iuv tucivuv van 
 juv s'poTiTa7(itvTi rriaTii, our&w Kijctifv, fiah<Tra toii ayioa Kvrgu) n^oaiovatv, Iva ciray- 
 'yihXmt not KtywcTi ouTWi. IliSTEIOMEN u. t. h. Epiph. Jncor. V^l. 0pp. T. 
 //. p. 123, P€lavii. 1622. . 
 
44 ^ 
 
 It is now apparent in what the doctrinal unity 
 of the primitive church consisted. It was in 
 holding and professing the same faith on pointe 
 immediately affecting our eternal hope. 
 
 2d. The second principle of her unity was found 
 in her common institutions. 
 
 These, again, without descending to subordi- 
 nate variations or local observances, were her 
 ministry, her worshipping assemblieSj and her 
 sacraments. 
 
 Whatever alterations passed, in process of 
 time, upon \heform of her ministry and worship, 
 there was no place nor period, in which their sub- 
 stance was not accounted sacred. On the one 
 hand she resisted, with jealous promptitude, eve- 
 ry intrusion into her official functions; and, on 
 the other, her ministers were ministers of her 
 whole body, and so acknowledged and employed 
 wherever they happened to be, under such re- 
 strictions only as prudence rendered it necessary 
 to impose for the preservation of public order. 
 A ministry and a ministry she understood not. 
 It was one. To interdict a minister of the gos- 
 pel, with suitable credentials, from preaching or 
 other service of the sanctuary, in any ))articular 
 church whatever, on the pretence of its being 
 unlawful to receive him and to join with him in 
 ministerial conununionj she would have held in 
 
^ 45 
 
 abomination. Severance of church from church 
 — worship from worship — sacraments from sacra- 
 ments, under the notion of separate Christian in- 
 terests, and the denial of reciprocal fellowship, 
 she condemned and detested. Cyprian's trea- 
 tise on the unity of the church:* and his corres- 
 pondence relative to the Novation schism, will 
 satisfy any candid man of the truth of this repre- 
 sentation. Proof in detail is forborne at present, 
 as it will be incorporated with subsequent mat- 
 ter; and will thus prevent a needless if not weari- 
 some repetition. 
 
 3d. The third great point of primitive unity was^ 
 brotherly love. 
 
 Let brotherly love continue ; was an injunction 
 among the last which proceeded from the sanc- 
 tified lips of Paul the apostle, the aged, the mar- 
 tyr. And for the best of reasons. It is a lesson 
 the most likely to be forgotten, and the most im- 
 portant to be remembered, of all the practical 
 lessons which have been given to the childreu 
 ©f men. The most likely to be forgotten: be- 
 cause eveiy form and particle of their depravity- 
 has an interest in counteracting it — the most im- 
 portant to be remembered: because it is the 
 principal proof of their reconciliation and com- 
 
 ♦ De imitate Ecdtsiet. 0pp. pp. 104—120. Ed. Feix^ 
 
AS 
 
 tti union with God, and the mainspring of their 
 happiness both in this Hfe and that which is to 
 come. Hatred, and her whole brood of envy- 
 ings, strifes, clamours, jealousies, discords, are 
 from hell — the undisputed progeny of Satan — 
 Charity, with her gentleness, kindness, long-suf- 
 fering, mercies, meekness, and the whole train 
 of personal lovelinesses and social graces, are 
 from above ; the fair and guileless offspring of the 
 ^' Father of lights." The very end of the Re- 
 deemer's mission — the ultimate object of his 
 doctrines, his precepts, his example, his tears, his 
 sacrifice, w^as to overthrow the reign of malice, 
 and to rear upon its ruins the empire of love. 
 For this purpose ivas the Son of God manifested^ 
 that he might destroy the ivorks of the Devil, But 
 God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth 
 in God and God in him. On the contrary, he that 
 loveth not^ hiovjeth not God, Thence the empha- 
 sis of those memorable words of the Lord Jesus ; 
 Hereby shall <dl men know that ye are my disci- 
 ples^ if ye have love one to another. In fact, the 
 religion which he has instituted and which his 
 Spirit teaches, is the only religion upon the face 
 of the earth which makes love its principle. 
 Even Justification by faith is related to love as a 
 means to an end. It is he who " believeth 
 God," that worketh righteousness, and loves his 
 neighbour. 
 
47 
 
 In this divine quality of their religion the pri- 
 mitive Christians shone forth with a lustre which 
 eclipses and darkens the church of modern days. 
 That there existed then, as there exist now, 
 whisperings, and backbitings, and evil surmises 
 — that Jealousy raised strife, and ambition par- 
 ties — that the simple followed where the crafty 
 led — that Zeal often lent herself to vain glory ra- 
 ther than to godly edifying ; while Truth frowned 
 and Charity wept, is very certain. Absolute 
 freedom from those ungracious tempers which 
 divide and alienate even the wise and good, is 
 for the heavenly state. It belongs not to flesh 
 and blood: to men of " like passions;" and 
 those passions too often sinful. 
 
 Yet with all her imperfections on this pomt ; 
 with all the wranglings and schisms which 
 sprung up in her bosom, the primitive church, 
 as a whole ^ presented a family picture which 
 should make us blush; and looidd make us 
 blush, if we had not, by inveterate habits of col- 
 lision, and by the artifice of bestowing hallowed 
 names upon unhallowed things, rid ourselves, in 
 a great degree, of Christian shame. That which 
 was the exception among the " elders," seems to 
 be the rule among the moderns. Their concord 
 was the rule, their disagreements the exception ; 
 our concord is the exception, our disagreements 
 
 7 
 
48 
 
 the rule. We should feel it to be a cmel satire^, 
 were any one to say of us, as the Pagans 
 did of the early believers, " Behold, how these 
 Christians love one another I" 
 
 In this fraternal affection did they account 
 much of their unity to consist. Their most dis- 
 tinguished men laboured unweariedly to pre- 
 serve and promote it : and did not hesitate to 
 pronounce the violation of it to be a practical 
 renunciation of Christianity itself. 
 
 As the truth of this representation is generally 
 admitted, since it is every where the theme of 
 Christian panegyric, no authorities are quoted 
 to support it : for it would be idle to prove what 
 nobody denies. Yet if the reader should be at 
 all sceptical, he shall have his doubts removed 
 by what is to follow — the proof of some other 
 matters necessarily involving the proof of this 
 also. Its use in the main question before us 
 will be seen in due time. Proceed we, then^ to 
 inquire^ 
 
 2. By what the primitive church considered 
 her unity as liable to be broken. 
 
 It may not be amiss to begin, after the good 
 old way ; and shew, negatively^ what she did not 
 reckon as breaches of unity. In this predica- 
 ment, she comprehended all varieties of opinion 
 and observance which do not subvert the founda- 
 
49 
 
 tion of evangelical truth and order. All which 
 do not impeach a man's claim to the character 
 of a sincere disciple of the Lord Jesus. What- 
 ever they were, vrithin these limits, they did 
 not, in her judgment, dissolve the bonds of her 
 union : by none of them was it impaired. 
 
 Not by a difference in rites and customs m 
 worship — 
 
 Nor by imperfections in moral discipline — 
 Nor by diversities in iheform of government — 
 Nor by dissonant views on subordinate points 
 of doctrine, 
 
 1st. Not by a difference in ntes and customs 
 in worship. 
 
 That there were discordant practices even 
 in the Apostolic church itself, is clear from 
 the records of the New Testament ; and equal- 
 ly clear that they were not allowed to inter- 
 rupt the harmony of her communion. A great 
 part of Paul's argument, in his first epistle 
 to the Corinthians, ch. xi. concerning the deco- 
 rum which the sexes ought to study in their 
 modes of dress when engaged in public worship, 
 rests upon the habits of society. Now these, in 
 so far as they interfered neither with the ordi- 
 nances of worship, nor wdth pure iPiorals, might 
 very innocently vary in various places. He 
 winds up his remarks, after freely giving hh 
 
50 
 
 opinion on the question of propriety at that time 
 among the Corinthians, by saying, If any man 
 seem to be conteiitious^ we have no such custom, 
 neither the churches of God. " A contentious 
 man," it is Calvin^s comment ; " A contentious 
 man is one who wantonly stirs up strife, regard- 
 less of the prevalence of truth. Such are all 
 they who, without necessity, carp at good and 
 useful rites,'^ &c. From the words of the Apos- 
 tle one thing is plain ; viz. that matters of 
 secondary moment, relating even to the worship 
 of God, are no justifiable cause of " contention" 
 among Christians. 
 
 Does this construction appear too bold and 
 too broad ? It shall be confirmed by Paul him- 
 self. Wide differences of opinion and practice 
 existed between Christians in his time about the 
 distinction of meats and of days which were 
 established under the Jewish dispensation. The 
 discreet Apostle, aware of men's propensity to 
 bend every thing to their own rule, with very 
 little regard to the feelings of others ; and to 
 array their uncharitableness in the livery of zeal 
 for religion, interposes to prevent the sacrifice of 
 one party to the rashness or vanity of the other : 
 telling them J^hat they might both serve God 
 acceptably. He that regardeth the day, regardeth 
 it unto the Lord : and he that regardeth not the 
 
51 
 
 day^ to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that 
 eatethy eateth to the Lord; for he giveth God 
 thanks: and he that eateth notj to the Lord he 
 eateth not ; and giveth God thanks,* Be it so, 
 that Christians or Christian churches have scru- 
 ples and attachments which neither go the whole 
 length of evangelical freedom, nor even rise up 
 to the height of evangelical purity — ^be it so, 
 that they who see these infirmities are them- 
 selves of clearer light, stronger faith, and larger 
 liberty. Yet they may not, says Paul, pour 
 contempt upon their brethren : much less stand 
 at a haughty distance, as if they were not disci- 
 ples of a common master. Nor, may those of 
 less attainments, " the weak," as Paul terms 
 them, indulge even a censorious temper to- 
 ward the others. Instead of such unseemli- 
 ness, let us judge this rather, that no man put 
 a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his 
 brother^ way, " O Christians," exclaims he, 
 " your best interests are untouched by these 
 inferior disagreements. The kingdom of God is 
 not meat and drink ; but righteousness, and peace^ 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost, For he that in these 
 things, viz. righteousness, and peace, and joy in 
 the Holy Ghost, serveth Christ, is acceptable to 
 
 * Rom. xiv. 6. 
 
62 
 
 God, and approved of men. Laying aside, there- 
 fore, all janglings and heart-burnings about other 
 matters, let us follow after the things which make 
 for PEACE ; and things wherewith one may edify, 
 may build up, not pull down, another* This 
 was Paul's advice concerning disputes about the 
 religious distinction of meats and days. And 
 when the contest relative to circumcision had 
 created warm blood between Christians, he 
 pursued the same healing course. Perpetually 
 calling them off from their subaltern polemics to 
 their great concern^ which was worth fighting, 
 and bleeding, and burning for — ^he cries out, 
 Circumcision is nothings and uncircumcision is 
 nothing; but keeping of the commandments of 
 God\ — is — every thing! And again. In Christ 
 Jesus neither circumcision availeth any things nor 
 uncircumcision^ hut a new creature. And as 
 many as walk according to this rule^ viz. that it is 
 the being a new creature in Christ Jesus, which 
 contains the pith and marrow, the vigour and 
 glory of our good confession, peace he on them 
 and mercy ! Circumcised or uncircumcised ; lay- 
 ing stress upon this custom, or laying none, I 
 have no quarrel with them ; nor ought others to 
 have any. For notwithstanding this dissent, 
 
 ^"^ Rom. xiii. 17—19. i Cor. vii. 19, 
 
53 
 
 they all are the Israel of God ; and such they 
 shall be found and acknowledged to be, when 
 many who are at daggers-drawing about the 
 carnal rite shall be disowned by their Judge. 
 For my own part, saith the Apostle, I have 
 things of much higher moment to fill up my 
 heart, my hours, and my efforts. / am set for 
 the defence of the Gospel; and will not descend to 
 these petty conflicts. My back scarred with the 
 scourge, my limbs bruised with stones, for the 
 cross of Christ, will shew whether my resolution 
 proceeds from a selfish motive, or from a proper 
 estimate of a cause which will justify and re- 
 pay my sufferings. From henceforth let no man 
 trouble me : for I bear in my body the marks of the 
 Lord Jesus /* Sage and Hero ! every man iri 
 whose heart the love of Jesus reigns, would fly 
 to " kiss thy lips for giving so right an answer. "f 
 As was his doctrine, so was his example. He 
 circumcised Timothy to sooth a Jewish preju- 
 dicej — he submitted, by the advice of the Pres- 
 byters at Jerusalem, to a useless but harmless 
 ceremony, in " purifying himself" along with 
 " four men who had a vow on them ;" for the 
 express purpose of disproving the charge of his 
 
 * Ga4. vi. 15—17. t Pt'o^- ^txiv. 26. I Acts,, xvi. 5. 
 
64 
 
 making war upon the " customs" — religious cus- 
 toms — customs belonging to divine tcorship^ which 
 converts from the Jews had retained from the 
 ancient ceremonial.* Summanly, he accom- 
 modated himself to all classes of men, and all 
 their customs, whenever such courtesy did not 
 imply a surrender of truth. About customs as 
 customs he strove not. Yet this same conde- 
 scending, accommodating Paul, who went every 
 length consistently with the safety of substantial 
 principles, would not stir an hair's breadth at 
 the hazard of injuring them. Here he was un- 
 yielding, unmanageable, inexorable as Death. 
 Upon such terms, however innocent, or even lau- 
 dable, customs and rites might be in themselves ; 
 however dear to a tender but misguided con- 
 science, his maxim was — '^ Touch not, taste not, 
 handle not." Remove this single objection — 
 shew that his compliance was not exacted as 
 an approbation — that no vital truth was to be 
 wounded — and, " to the Jew he became as a 
 Jew — to those under the law, as under the law — 
 to those without the law, as without the law — 
 to all men all things"! — for what purpose ? To 
 " gain some" — to promote the common salva- 
 tion ! This is that Paul the Apostle ! 
 
 " Acts, xxi. 20—26. t 1 Cor. ix. 21. 
 
55 
 
 The same spirit animated the church after he 
 had left it. When the Jewish controversy was 
 settled forever, there was still a variety of obser- 
 vances in different places. They necessarily 
 arose out of different climate, pi;evious habits, 
 social institutions, national character ; and were 
 as necessarily continued, and naturally increas- 
 ed. The general fact is stated and explained 
 in the ecclesiastical histories which are in every 
 one's hands. They produced, however, no dis- 
 cord nor inconvenience, till about the middle of 
 the second century, when sharp and vehement 
 contests arose between the Asiatic and western 
 Christians about the celebration of Easter. The 
 former keeping this feast on the fourteenth day 
 of the first Jew ish month, at the time that the 
 Jews celebrated their passover, three days before 
 the anniversaiy of Christ's resurrection ; the lat- 
 ter keeping it on the night immediately preceding 
 that anniversary.* This difference may appear 
 very trifling to those who do not observe Easter 
 at all ; but to the primitive Christians it was far 
 from being a trifle. Their devotional habits, in 
 many things inaccurate, and in this among the 
 rest, made it a question of high importance. 
 
 ^ Mosheira, Vol. I. p. 203. 
 
 8 
 
56 
 
 Yet though neither party yielded to tlie other^ 
 they did not, on that account, break the bonds 
 of charity.* 
 
 Toward the end of the century, Victor, bishop 
 of Rome, as bishops were in those days, under- 
 took to force upon the Asiatic Christians the cus- 
 tom of the west; and on their refusing to com- 
 ply, " broke communion with them, pronounced 
 them unworthy of the name of brethren, and 
 excluded them from all fellowship with the 
 church of Rome."t But Victor and his asso- 
 ciates were obliged to give back ; and both sides 
 " retained their own customs until the fourth 
 century, when the council of Nice abolished that 
 of the Asiatics, and rendered the time of the 
 celebration of Easter the same through all the 
 Christian churches."! 
 
 There is extant on this subject a fragment of 
 IrenseuSjibeing part of a letter which he wrote 
 in his own name and the name of his brethren, 
 to Victor; and which had great influence in 
 healing tlie breach. It is worth inserting. 
 
 After admonishing Victor that he ought not, 
 for such a reason, " to cut off from communion 
 whole churches of God w^ho observed the custom 
 handed down from their ancestors," he adds : 
 
 * Mosheim, Vol. I. p. 204.. f lb. p. 204, 205. | lb. 
 
51 
 
 ''- Not only is there a controversy about the 
 day, but a])out the very form, of the fast. For 
 some think it ought to be kept for one day, 
 others for two, others even for several ; others 
 measure for their term forty hours, including both 
 night and day. And this variety among those who 
 keep it, has not originated in our times, but 
 prevailed long before us ; our predecessors, it 
 seems, not having been very scrupulous with 
 regard to accuracy; but having adopted their 
 custom in their simplicity and according to their 
 peculiar feelings, handed it down, thus diversi- 
 fied, to the succeeding age. But all these were 
 not, therefore, the less at peace among them- 
 selves, nor are we. 71ie difference about the fast 
 commends the agreement in the faith, 
 
 " The Presbyters who, before Soter, ruled the 
 church which you now govern ; we mean Ani- 
 cetus, and Pius, and Hyginus, and Telesphorus^ 
 .and Xystiis, neither observed themselves, nor 
 permitted their people to observe, the day which 
 is kept by the Asiatic Christians : and, never- 
 theless, while they did not observe that day, they 
 maintained peace* with the other Presbyters who 
 did, when they visited them ; although the ob- 
 servance was more obnoxious to them, than the 
 
 * *' Maintaining peace," in the phraseology of Irenaeus and the 
 primitive Christians, is equivalent with " holding communion." 
 
58 
 
 non-observance to the Asiatics ; yet never were 
 any, on account of this diversity, cast ont of the 
 church. But the Presbyters wdio preceded you, 
 and did not keep the day, sent the Eucharist to 
 the others who did. And when blessed Polycarp 
 went on a journey to Rome in the time of Ani- 
 cetus, and they had some Uttle difference about 
 other matters, they immediately dropped it for 
 the sake of peace ; and would by no means 
 cherish contention on this head. Anicetus could 
 not, indeed, persuade Polycarp to relinquish his 
 observance ; as having always kept it with John, 
 the disciple of the Lord, and the other x4postles 
 with whom he had been conversant. Nor did 
 Polycarp persuade Anicetus to adopt it, as he 
 pleaded for the necessity of retaining the custom 
 of the Presbyters who had gone before him. Yet 
 while things were in this state, they held com- 
 munion ivith each other. And in the church, Ani- 
 cetus, from pure respect, yielded to Polycarp the 
 dispensation of the Eucharist^ and they amicably 
 separated from each other; and the peace of 
 the whole church was preserved, both by those 
 who kept the day, and those who did not."* 
 Thus Irenseus. 
 
 * The importance of this document, on several accounts, will be 
 deemed a sufficieut apology for accompanying it with the original, not- 
 withstanding its length. 
 
59 
 
 In the next century there was a keen contro- 
 versy concerning the validity of baptism admi- 
 nistered by heretics, as well as concerning their 
 readmission into the Catholic church. Stepha- 
 nus, bishop of Rome, had acted with hauteur and 
 even violence towards the celebrated Cyprian. 
 This drew from Firmilianus, bishop of Csesarea 
 
 %iS'ovi ctvTou Txf vituTiiAi. 'Oi fxiv yAg oiovTitf fAiAv i)fj.igtv (Tg/v oLvrous 
 
 V»(rriUilV 01 cTg cTyO, Ol cTs ^ TTXS/OV*?* Ot S'i THrO-CtPi.KOVTA Wg*?) i/USPlVXC TS 
 
 ^ vvureoivo-c <rvju.iu.irgova-i t»v ^fAigAV ttwrm. K«/ Toixvrn fxsv ttoikixhc 
 Tcev S'uT/TM^suvTav, ov vvv iip^ »/ucev ysyovvitty oLWct KAfwoxu tirpoTegov etB-i 
 TceV -cr^o »^a)V, Tav 'nrst^at to ctK^t&igy ug s/xo?, KgitrouvTuv, tuv kciQ' o-TTKo- 
 
 TUTO, kj iS'tCDTKrfAOV (TWhQuAV iiC TO (/.iTi'TXrilTO. TS-ifO-QDlKO'TaV. Kctt OvS'iV 
 tXATTOV lirctVTi? QUTOt ilgHViU(Ta.V Tg, Xj il^HViVOjUiV TT^og etKKHKOUg' ^ W S'lA- 
 
 q)eovistTnc vHO-TUnt-c t«v o/uovoictv T«f 'art^naxy a-vvia-TH^i. 
 
 Kelt ot tsr^o 2aT»go? tirgi<T^u<Tigot oi TS-goTTAvn-ig rug iKicKHTtAif «c vvv 
 apuyyii Avikhtov Xiyo/xiv Kcti ITiov, Tyivoy n kai TeKss-^o^ov, Kctt Sva-Tovy 
 ovn Aurot irngHo-Av, ourt Tots /utr' uurov? tTnrgiTrov. Kai ovS'iv iKArrov 
 
 AV<TOt fMI Tilg'jVVTiCy Hg»ViUOV TOli AUSr^ TOtV fSrA^OtKlOOV SV Otjf ST^PS/TO, (gX'^" 
 fJt,iV0l5 fSr^Og AVTOVSy HAtrOl jULAXXOV iVAYTlOV ilV TO TUgitV TOli fAH TilgOUO-f Xj 
 OuS'iTroTi S'lA TO itS'oS TQVTO ATTi^KifQilCrAV TIVH. AW\.' AUTOt fJLi) TUgOVVTeC 
 
 hi TT^o (Toy 'zs-gio-^vligot Toii Ataro tuv TVAgoiKicev Tiigova-tv ivrifxTTov iv)(Agi(r- 
 
 llAV. KaITOV f/.AX.AgiOU rioXWXAgWOy i'SrtS'UfJl.Ha-AVTOS T« PffljCtH tri AviKulcUj 
 
 •AAi fongi AKXiDvlivcev fxiagA a-^ovla tt^o? stx^»^owc, st/Qu? s;g»v2ycr«tv, 'angi 
 lovlou lev KipAKAiou /uii (f>iKigi<rTi\a-A\lig httJlcivc. Ovli yAg AviKulos lov 
 TloAvicAgTrov ttiktahSuvaIo ^» 7«g«n', a7« y-^^^ laAvvculov y.A^yQov Ku§/ow 
 ytfAtoV) XjKoiTTuv Afa-oa-loKmv ch cruvS'ttlgi-^iVi AitlilngyncolA' ovli fA»v o UoKU" 
 KA^'sros Tov AviKifloy iitiia-e 7»§s'v, KtyovlAj lav a-uvuBuAv lo»v <rs'go avIou 
 mrgio-^vligoiv otpiKuv KAli^uv. Kai toJIuv cvtco? i^ovlaiVf ncoivoovntrAV IauIoic 
 xj ivlij iKKXiKTiA tB-A^ixagyiirilHV iu^A^KrltAvlto TToXwxAgTrai, kaT ivlgo/zfuv 
 S'uKoyoliy kj fxtT iignvnc ATT^ AKXitXav A7niK\Ay)i<rAV , 'arA<r>ic tus iK-AXn<riAs g/gx- 
 V/jV f/jvloev H;la)V lugovvlaVy x^lav fxi) lugcvvlcov. 
 
 Ike^% ap. Euseb. H. E. L. VI. c. 24. T. I. p. 216—249- 
 Ed. Reading, 1720. 
 
60 
 
 in Cappadocia, about A. D. 256, a letter to Cy- 
 prian, in which is the following statement. 
 
 " But that thej who are at Rome do not en- 
 tirely observe all things which have been handed 
 down from the beginning ; and that they appeal 
 in vain to Apostolic authority for their own usa- 
 ges, any one may know from the fact qf his 
 seeing that there are some differences among 
 them about the days on which the Paschal feast'^ 
 (before Easter) " is to be kept ; and about many 
 other particulars of divine worship ; and that they 
 have not precisely the same observances there as 
 prevail in Jerusalem. So likewise, in a very 
 great number of other provinces, many things 
 vary according to the diversity of place and j^eople ; 
 but nevertheless these variations have at no time 
 infringed the peace and unity of the Catholic 
 church : which Stephanus has now dared to 
 do ; breaking that peace, in regard to you, which 
 his predecessors always maintained with you," 
 (the African churches) " in mutual love and 
 honour."* 
 
 * Eos autem qui Romas sunt non ea in omnibus observare quae sunt 
 ab origine tradita, et frustra Apostolorum auctoritatem praetendere ; 
 scire qufs etiara inde potest, quod circa celebrandos dies pasehse, et 
 circa multa alia divinae rei sacraraenta, videat esse apud illos aliquas 
 diversitates ; nee observari illic omnia aequaliter quae Hierosolymis 
 observantur. Secundum quod in ceteris quoque plurimis provinciis, 
 multa pro locorum et noininum diversitate variantur ; nee tamen prop- 
 
61 
 
 The great Augustine, bishop of Hippo, who 
 flourished in the latter part of the fourth, and 
 beginning of the fifth century, has settled this 
 question with equal perspicuity and precision. 
 
 " Concerning the various observances in vari- 
 ous places," says he, " there is one most whole- 
 some rule to be followed : Wherever we see or 
 know to be instituted customs which are not 
 contraiy to the faith, nor to good morals, and 
 have any tendency to promote amendment of 
 life, we ought, instead of disapproving, to com- 
 mend and imitate them, if the infirmity of some 
 do not oppose such a hindrance as shall produce 
 more harm than our compliance can do good."* 
 
 Again: " I have often perceived, with' pain 
 and grief, that weak Christians are exceedingly 
 disturbed by the contentious obstinacy or super- 
 stitious timidity of some brethren^ who, in matters 
 
 ter hoc ab Ecclesiae Catholicee pace atque unitate aliquando discessum 
 est. Quod nunc Stephanas ausus est facere, rumpens adversum vos 
 pacem quam semper antecessores ejus vobiscum amore et honore rau- 
 tuo custodierunt. Cypbiani Opp. part : II. p. 220. 
 
 * De iis quee varie per diversa loca observantur, una in his saluber- 
 riraa regula tenenda est — ut quae non sunt contra Fidem, neque contra 
 bonos mores, et habent aliquid ad exhortationem vltae melioris, ubicun- 
 que institui videmus, vel instituta cognoscimus, non solum non impro- 
 bemus, sed etiam laudando et iraitando sectemur, si aliquorum infirmi- 
 tas non ita impedit, ut majus detrimentum sit. 
 
 AifGVST. ep. 119. ad Januarium, cap. 18, 
 opp. T. V. II. col. 576, 
 
G2 
 
 of this sort, which cannot be certainly determined 
 either bj the authority of the Holy Scripture, or 
 tradition of the universal church, or any utility 
 in the reformation of life — led away by some 
 petty reasoning of their own, or because they 
 have been Accustomed to see it so in their own 
 country ; or because they may have met with it 
 in their travels, and fancy themselves so much 
 the wdser — ^raise such litigious questions, as 
 to think nothing right but what they do them- 
 selves."* 
 
 The venerable father has given us not merely 
 his own judgment, but, indirectly, the judgment 
 of the Catholic church. For he says that they 
 were only " some brethren ;" and those either 
 " obstinate," or " superstitiously timid," or 
 " conceited," who created any contention about 
 difference of rites. With the church at large, 
 then, there was none: but they concurred with 
 
 * Sensi enim saepe dolens et gemens multas infirmorum perturbatio- 
 nes fievi, per quorundam fratrura contentiosani obstinationera, vel 
 superstitiosam timiditatem, qui in rebus hujusmodi, quae neque Sci-ip- 
 turae sanctag auctoritate, neque universalis ecclesioe traditione ; neque 
 vitse corrigendaj utilitate ad certum possunt terminum pervenire (tan- 
 tum quia subest qualiscunque ratiocinatio cogitantis, aut quia in sua 
 pati-ia sic ipse consuevit, aut quia ibi vidit, i\bi peregrinationem Suam 
 quo remotiorem asuis eo doctiorem factam putat) tarn liligiosas exci- 
 tant quaestiones, lit nisi quod ipsi faciunt, nihil rectum existiment. 
 
 August, ep. 118. ad eund. c.II. 
 
63 
 
 him in the opinion, that in all such things ^' there 
 is no course more becoming a dignified and pru- 
 dent Christian, than to conform to the practice 
 of that particular church which he may happen 
 to visit."* 
 
 2d. The primitive church did not consider her 
 unity as broken, nor a sufficient cause of inter- 
 rupting communion as afforded^ by imperfection 
 in her moral discipline. 
 
 That all the doctrines, precepts, promises, and 
 threatenings of God's word, and all the institu- 
 tions of his house, are designed and calculated 
 to produce universal purity in heart and life, 
 admits of no more doubt than the existence of 
 the Bible. For this purpose he has invested the 
 go vernours of the church with authority, and made 
 it their indispensable duty, not only to instruct 
 their people in " whatsoever things are true^ 
 honourable, just, pure, lovely, and of good re- 
 port ;"t but to enforce their instmctions by vigi- 
 lant pastoral inspection, and by moral coercion 
 of delinquents. And for the execution of this, 
 no less than of every other, part of their trust, 
 
 * Nee disciplina ulla CEt in his melior gravi prudentique Christians, 
 cjuam ut eo modo agat quo agere videdt Ecclesiam ad quamcunque 
 Xorte devenerit. Augcbt. %it sujp, 
 
 t Pkil. iv. 8. 
 
64 
 
 they shall render an account to the Judge of the 
 quick and dead. Yet he has himself informed 
 Ihem that the complete prevention or cure of 
 abuses and scandals is beyond their reach — that 
 tares will be so mingled with the wheat as to 
 render their separation, bj human hands, imprac- 
 ticable without the hazard of rooting up the 
 wheat also — and that while, in the ivise perform- 
 ance of their duty, they are to do the best 
 which their circumstances permit, they must wait 
 for the entire purgation of the church till the 
 second coming of the Son of man, who shall then 
 ^' send forth his angels, and they shall gather 
 out of his kingdom all things that offend, and 
 them who do iniquity."* 
 
 Nevertheless there have riot been wanting in 
 (he church of God attempts to effect what hi^ 
 word pronounces to be impossible. Zeal with- 
 out knowledge — the generous but untrained ar- 
 dour of juvenile reformers, who can be taught 
 by experience alone, that '' old Adam is too 
 hard for young Melancthon" — the well meant 
 but visionary projects of recluse devotion es- 
 tranged from real life, and from the world, even 
 the Christian world, as it actually exists — and, 
 not unfrequently, that pragmatical officiousness 
 
 * Mat. xiij. 24—43. 
 
65 
 
 which proclaims, with Jehu, " Come and see 
 my zeal for the Lord !" and offers piles of incense 
 on the altar of its own vanity, for every shred 
 which it strews on the altar of God — all these 
 things have set men at work to find or to erect 
 an immaculate church. The success of the 
 experiment has been worthy of its wit. But 
 though it always has failed, and will forever fail, 
 of accomplishing its professed aim ; it never has 
 failed, and never will fail, of producing one de- 
 plorable consequence. It engenders and nou- 
 rishes a morbid humour, an unhappy fastidious- 
 ness, which make the religious temperament ex- 
 tremely irritable ; fill the mind with disgust, and 
 the mouth with complaint ; and finally break up, 
 or forbid. Christian fellowship under the pretence 
 of superior purity ; but, in very deed, for faults, 
 if not trivial in themselves, yet too often trivial in 
 comparison with the faults of the complainers. 
 
 But such causes of disunion or disaffection 
 between churches ; or of the withdrawing of 
 individuals from communion, provided nothing 
 sinful be imposed on them, receive no counte- 
 nance from the judgment or example of the 
 primitive Christians. 
 
 We know 'that grievous abuses prevailed in 
 several even of the ApostoHc churches — Corinth, 
 G alalia, Philippi, Crete. Ephesus, Pergamos, Thy- 
 
alira, Sardis, and Laodicea,* were all staine3 
 in their discipline ; some of them with very foul 
 blots, as every one conversant in the New Testa- 
 ment knows. They were admonished, reproved, 
 threatened, by the Lord Jesus himself, through 
 his servants Paul and John ; yet thei;;e is not a 
 syllable enjoining upon others the disruption of 
 communion with them ; nor on the purer part of 
 any of them to withdraw from the more depraved 
 majority. On the contrary, the faithful few in 
 Thyatira are simply encouraged and commanded 
 to hold fast their integrity and their testimony.! 
 Nor is there a single instance of Christ's direct-, 
 ing his people, or any portion of them, to break 
 off church communion by their own act, except in 
 the case of their departure from apostate Rome. 
 Now, although no conclusion can be drawn from 
 these facts in favour of negligence, sloth, or other 
 corruption in maintaining the law of God's house, 
 yet they do show that, Christ Jesus himself being 
 Judge, it is the duty of Christians rather to en- 
 deavour to rectify irregularities, than by deserting 
 or disowning churches in which they prevail, to 
 remove, as much as in them lies, the only human 
 
 * Perhaps we may add the churches of the dispersion. See tU« ep. 
 
 of James. 
 
 t Rev. il 24. 
 
67 
 
 restraint upon the career of iniquity, and suffer it 
 to " drown in destruction and perdition," all the 
 remaining interest and glory of his cross. 
 
 By this rule did the church walk after the days 
 of the Apostles. Over the dishonour brought 
 upon her name by the misconduct of some who 
 bore it, did the noblest of her sons mourn ; but 
 they never thought of setting up separate com- 
 munions. Sore as was their affliction on her 
 account, tliey did not, in their haste, betake 
 themselves to a remedy more fatal than the 
 disease. Their scrupulousness on this head was 
 the more remarkable, as there was much greater 
 aberration from correct conduct among both 
 clergy and laity, in the third century, than per- 
 haps would be tolerated now in either by any 
 evangelical church. And yet the most learned, 
 laborious, holy men — ^the most stern reprovers of 
 public declension, were the champions of 07ie 
 .communion ; and the most strenuous opposers 
 of schism and separation. 
 
 The Novatian sect, which carried its rigour so 
 far as to shut the doors of readmission upon the 
 lapsed,"^ however penitent, refused to hold com- 
 
 * " Lapsed,^^ was a term applied to those who after public reception, 
 fey baptism, into the Christian church, had fallen into any heinous sini 
 ^gpfipialljr shrinking (torn their faith in the time of persecution. 
 
68 
 
 Tnunion with the rest of the church expressly on 
 account of her alleged corruptions. It was 
 against them that Cyprian wrote his treatise on 
 the Unity of the Church : the whole bent of which 
 is to show that their separation was unscriptural 
 and unlawful ; and that they who will not hold 
 communion with all and every part of the Catho- 
 lic church, cast themselves out of her pale, and 
 forfeit their share in her benefits. He ursres the 
 same doctrine in many of his letters. Take an 
 example : 
 
 " Although tares appear in the church, neither 
 our faith nor our charity ought to be so hindered 
 thereby, as that we should go out of the church 
 •because we perceive the tares to be in it. Our 
 duty is to labour that we may be of the w^heat ; 
 so that when the wheat shall be gathered into 
 the Lord's garner, we may reap the fruit of our 
 work. The Apostle says, that in a great house 
 there are not only vessels of gold and silver ^ but 
 also of wood and of earth; and some to honour and 
 some to dishonour. Let us, therefore, do our dili- 
 gence, and labour with all our might, that we 
 may be golden or silver vessels. But to break 
 the earthen vessels belongs only to the Lord, in 
 whose hands is the rod of iron The servant 
 cannot be greater than his master ; nor may any 
 one claim to himself what the Father hath 
 
69 
 
 given to the Son alone ; so as to imagine that he 
 possesses ability to ventilate and ' purge the 
 floor ;' or, by human judgment, to separate uni- 
 versally the tares from the Avheat. By such an 
 attempt men display only a proud obstinacy and 
 a sacrilegious presumption, the effect of depraved 
 frenzy. And while they assume to themselves 
 a power beyond the claims of mild righteous- 
 ness, they perish from the church.^'* 
 
 The DoNATiSTS in Africa, treading in the steps 
 of the Novatians, set up a sectarian communion 
 upon the very same pretext. " The church was 
 polluted — there were bad men in her fellow- 
 
 * Nam elsi videntur in Ecclesla esse zlzania, non taraen impediri 
 debet aut fides aut caritas nostra, ut quoniam zizania essoin Ecclesia 
 cernimus, ipsi de Ecclesia recedamus. Nobis tantuinmodo laborandum 
 est ut frumentum esse possimus, ut cum caeperit fruraentum Dominicis 
 horreis condi, fructum pro opere nostio et labore capiamus. Apostolus 
 in Epistola sua dicit ; in domo autem magna non solum vasa sunt aure.a 
 et argentea, sed et lignea, et fictilia, et qusedam quidem honorata, 
 quaedam vero inhonorata. Nos operam deraus, et quantum possumu^ 
 laboremus, ut vas aureum vel argenteum simus ; ceterum Sctilia vasa 
 confringere Domino soli concessum est, cui et virga ferrea data est^ 
 Esse non potest major Domino suo servus. Nee quisquam sibi quod 
 soli filio pater tribuit, vindicare potest ; ut putet aut ad aream venti- 
 landam et purgandam palam ferre se jam posse, aut a fruraento universa 
 zizania humano judicio segregare. Superba est ista obstinatio et 
 sacrilega presuratio, quam sibi furor pravus assumit : et dum dominium 
 •ibi semper quidam plusquam mitis justitia deposcit, assumunt, de Ec* 
 flesia perewnt. Cyp. ep, 54. 
 
70 
 
 ship — their consciences would not permit them' 
 to remain, lest they should be contaminated." — 
 Such were the alleged reasons of their schisme 
 We know in what light their conduct was view- 
 ed. Augustine, their chief antagonist, and a 
 formidable one he was, quotes Cyprian, to prove 
 that he was onlj maintaining the doctrine which 
 had been maintained before, and was the receiv- 
 ed doctrine among Christians. " In his letter to 
 Antonianus," says Augustine, "he shows that 
 before the final separation of the just and the 
 unjust, we are in no manner to withdraw fro7n the 
 unity of the church on account of the commixture 
 of bad men with good^^* — and then transcribes a 
 passage of the same purport, and nearly in the 
 same words; though, if possible, still more 
 pointed than the one above. 
 
 In another tract he goes yet further. " I do 
 not say that I am to deny the communion of the 
 
 * Cum enim ad Antonianiim scribens ostenderet ante tempus ultimae 
 separationis Justorum et iniquorum, nullo modo esse propter commixtio' 
 nem malorum ah ecclesice. imitate recedendum ; ubi declarat quam sit> 
 sanctus, etilla quam meruit martyrii claritate dignissiraus, ait, " Quan- 
 tus arrogantiee tumor est ; quanta humilitatis et lenitatis oblivio, et 
 arrogantiae suae quanta jactatio, ut quis audeat aut facere se posse cre- 
 dat, quod nee apostolis conctessit Dominus, ut zizania a frumento putet 
 ie posse discernere," kc. 
 
 August, contra Donatistas, lib. TV. Opp, 
 Tom. vii. col. 425. Frobm, 1569. 
 
n 
 
 Donatists to be of the church of Christj because 
 some who were bishoj3s among them are con- 
 victed by ecciesiasticai and civil processes of 
 having burnt the sacred vohimes — or because 
 they did not carry their point in the trial by the 
 bishops which they craved from the Emperor — 
 or because, on their appeal to himself, they re- 
 ceived from him a sentence of condemnation — 
 or because there are among them leaders of the 
 CirciimcelUones — or because the Circumcelliones 
 commit such atrocious crimes — or because some 
 of them throw themselves headlong over preci- 
 pices ; or rush into the flames which they have 
 kindled for themselves ; or, by terrifying threats, 
 compel others to massacre them, and court so 
 many spontaneous and furious deaths, that they 
 may be revered as saints and martyrs — or be- 
 cause drunken herds of male and female vasTrants 
 
 o 
 
 flock to their sepulchres, and there, by day and 
 by night, revel in wine and wickedness, and cor- 
 rupt themselves by the most flagitious enormi- 
 ties. Let all that rabble pass f()r their chaff*, nor 
 be of any prejudice to their wheat, if theniselve;^ 
 adhere to the church of God."* 
 
 * Nee ego dico ideo nrihi esse credendum, coraraiinionen) DoiiHti non. 
 «sse ecclesiani Christi, quia quidani,(ju* apndeos enisconi fueruiit, divi- 
 sia instnimenta igHibus tratJidisse, gestis ecclesiasticis ct municipalibus 
 
 10 
 
72 
 
 He elsewhere addresses the Donatists in this 
 animated style : 
 
 " You maintain that, by the contagion of 
 wicked Africans," (i. e. by holding communion 
 with the African churches, which the Donatists 
 pronounced to be too impure for their fellowship) 
 " by the contagion of wicked Africans, the church 
 has perished from the face of the earth, except- 
 ing what remains in the party of Donatus, as in 
 the ^ wheat' separated from * tares and chaff,' 
 against the express declaration of Cyprian, who 
 says, that neither do good men perish from the 
 church on account of their commixture with the 
 bad ; nor can these same bad men be separated 
 from their mixture with the good before the time 
 of the divine Judgment. You are, therefore, 
 according to your errour, or rather madness, com- 
 
 et judiciaiibus corivincuntur — autquia injudicio episcoporum, quod ab 
 Imperatore petiverunt, causam suam non obtinuerunt ; aut quia provo- 
 cantes ad ipsum Imperatorem, etiam ab ipso contrariam sibi sententiam 
 ineruerunt ; aut quia tales sunt apud eos Circumcellionum principes*; 
 aut quia tuuta mala comraittunt Circumcelliones ; aut quia sunt apud 
 eos qui se per abrupta preecipitent ; vel concremando ignibus inferant, 
 quos ipsi sibimet accenderunt ; aut trucidationem suam etiam invitis 
 hominibus terrendo extorqueant, et tot spontaneas et furiosas mortes, 
 ut colantur ab hominibus, appetant ; aut quod ad eorum sepulchra ebri- 
 osi greges vagorura et vagarum permixta nequitia die noctuque se vino 
 sepeliant, flagitiisque corrumpant. Sit ista omnis turba palea eorum, 
 nee frumentis praejudicet si ipsi ecclesiani tenent. 
 
 De unit ate ecdesicd^ Opp. T. VII. col. 545, 6. 
 
75 
 
 pelled to embrace in your accusation, all the 
 churches of which we read in the apostoHc and 
 canonical scriptures — the Romans, Corinthians, 
 Galatians, Ephesians, Thessalonians, Colossians, 
 Philippians— -the church of Jerusalem, Antioch, 
 Smyrna, Thyatira, Sardis, Pergamos, Philadel- 
 phia, Laodicea — So many other churches of 
 Pontus, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia ; and all 
 that range of country from Jerusalem unto Illy- 
 ricum, which Paul testifies he had filled with the 
 gospel : not to mention other regions of wide 
 extent, into which the church, planted by Apos- 
 tolic labours, has spread herself, and where she 
 has grown and is growing still. Certainly all the 
 churches here enumerated from the holy scrip- 
 tures, situated so far from Africa, you are obliged 
 to accuse as having perished through the sins of 
 their African brethren. But the more easily to 
 refute your errour — even those Africans whose sin 
 you dare falsely to charge upon other nations — 
 even those very Africans, I say, we are under no 
 necessity of defending. If they are innocent, 
 they are sharers with those transmarine churches 
 in the kingdom of God — If guilty, they share 
 with them as tares with the wheat ; nor shall 
 they be able to hurt, in Africa itself, those who, 
 although knowiimg their character^ will not^ on their 
 
n 
 
 account^ separate themselves from the uniiy of the 
 church.'^^^ 
 
 Than this testimony nothing more ample and 
 decisive can be desired. It establishes the great 
 
 *Tn the above extract the substantial facts have been regarded ra- 
 ther than a scrujmlousiy literal translation. But lest any one should 
 suppose that something more than brevity was intended, as the wor- 
 thy Father, in speaking of the church at Jerusalem, asserts that the 
 " Apostle James was her first bishop,^* the reader is presented with the 
 original passage entire. 
 
 Vos contagione m^lorum Aphrorum periisse dicitis de orbe terraruni, 
 etin parte Donati ejus reliquias remansisse, tanquani in frnnientis a 
 zizaniis et palea separatis ; contra Cyprianum apertissime sentientes, 
 qui dicit nee maloruin permixtione bonos perire in ecclesia, nee eosdem 
 malos posse ante tempus Judicii divini a bonorum permixtione separari. 
 Vos itaque, secundum vestrum errorem vel potius furorem, accusare 
 coginiini non solum Caecdianuni-^t ordinatores ejus, verum etiam illas 
 ecclesias quas in scripturis apostolicis et canonicis pariter legimus; 
 Bon solum Romanorum, quo ex Aphrica ordinare panels vestris soletis 
 episcopum, verum etiam Coriuthiorum, Galatarum, Ephesiorum, Thes- 
 salonicensium, Colossensium, Philippensium, ad quas apertissime scri- 
 bit apostolus Paulus ; Herosolyniitanam, quam primus apostolus Jaco- 
 bus episcopatu suo rexit. Antiochensem, ubi primo appellati sunt 
 discipuli Christiani : Smyrnensem, Th atirensem, Sardensem, Perga- 
 niensem, Philadelphiensem,Laodicensem, ad quas est apocalypsis apos- 
 toli Joannis. Tot alias ecclesias Ponti, Cappadociae, Asise, Kithyniae, 
 ad quas scribit apostolus Petrus ; et quicquid alias se Paulus ab Hieru- 
 salem usque lilyricum evangelio replevisse testatur : ut taceani de aiiis 
 tarn latis atque universis terrarum partibus, in quas, ex his apostolicis 
 laboribus et plantationibus, porrecta crevit et crescit ecclesia. Istas 
 eerte ecclesias quas ex Uteris divinis atque canonicis nominavi, tani 
 longe ab Aphrica constitutas, tanquara perierint expeccatis Aphrico- 
 rum, accusare cogimini ; nee corrlgilis errorem qui vos ad tantum scelus 
 nefaria cUssensione compellit. Nos autera, ut istum errorem vestrum 
 
75 
 
 fact, that the principles and conduct of the Dona- 
 tists with regard to communion, Christian and 
 ministerial, were at war with thetaith and prac- 
 tice of the whole church of God. Otherwise 
 they could not have condemned that church as 
 having perished through the corruption of her 
 unworthy members, nor have been themselves 
 condemned as having unjustifiably withdrawn 
 from her communion.* And wherein their gene- 
 ral principles and practice in this matter, and 
 their reasonings in defence of ]3oth, differ from 
 those of such churches as will hold no commu- 
 nion but with the members of their own sect, let 
 those good and pure-intentioned men who defend 
 the restriction, most solemnly consider. In one 
 thing there is, indeed, a remarkable difference. 
 
 facilius conviiicamus, iiec ipsos Aphros quorum fVilso crimen in cffiteras 
 etiani geutes perfundere audetis, nee ipsos, inquam, defender? cogimur. 
 Hahent etiam cum illis transmarinis ecclesiis societatem rej!;ni si inno- 
 centps fuerint; si autem nocentes, tanquain zizania fruniento: nee in 
 Aphrica obesse potuernnt eis, qui se, propter illos etiam cognitos, 
 ah unitatc eccleisce separare nohterunt. 
 
 August, contra Cresconiuni, Lib. IIT. cap. SB, 
 Opp. Tom. VII. col. 244. 
 
 * Should it be imagined that this reasoning will apply no less to the 
 Protestant reformation than to the schism of the Donatists ; it will be 
 suificient to remark, that there was no difference in radical doctrwex of 
 faith ))etween them and the orthodox, as there was between the Pro- 
 testants and Papal Rome. She poisoned, by her corruptions, the wa- 
 ters of the sanctuary ; and th'-se who did not choose to drink death out 
 of her cup were romptlkd to retire. 
 
76 
 
 The latter acknowledge as true churches and 
 exemplary Christians, many whose communion 
 they notwithstanding reject. But the former saw 
 that such a concession overturns the very founda- 
 tion upon which a separate communion is reared. 
 They, therefore, carried their principles through ; 
 and, in order to justify their schism, maintained 
 tliat all but their own had ceased to he true 
 churches. On this head, the palm of consist- 
 ency, at least, must be awarded to the Donatists ! 
 
 3d. Varieties of opinion and practice, with 
 respect to the modifications of her external order ^ 
 were not considered by the primitive church as 
 inconsistent with her unity. 
 
 That there were such varieties; that the 
 government of the church gradually altered from 
 the apostolic form ; and sooner in some places 
 than in others ; so that there were in actual 
 existence at the same moment different forms of 
 government in different parts of the church, all 
 dissentients from the hierarchy agree. If, from 
 the very days of the apostles downwards for 
 more than fifteen hundred years, her order was 
 uninterruptedly episcopal, as many advocates of 
 episcopacy maintain; although even such an 
 argument could not be admitted against scriptu- 
 ral proof, yet it would be extremely embarrassing 
 to their opponents. The difficulty of explaining 
 
77 
 
 so strange a phenomenon, would create in con- 
 scientious men a fear that there must be some 
 mistake in such a construction of holy writ as 
 should be thwarted by it ; and incline their 
 minds to an interpretation with which it should 
 be found to accord. The difficulty, however, 
 does not exist. Stubborn facts in the history of 
 the church refute the episcopal plea ; and prove 
 that her prelatical constitution was the result of 
 changes which it required ages to effect. 
 
 It would be foreign from our purpose to inves- 
 tigate this proposition at large. Only a few 
 facts shall be adduced to show that ii has not 
 been lightly advanced. 
 
 In the fourth century, Jerome, " who, in the 
 judgment of Erasmus, was, w ithout controversy^ 
 by far the most learned and most eloquent of all 
 the Christians, and the prince of Christian di- 
 vines,"* taught the same thing. His testimony, 
 and the substance of the reasoning upon it, are 
 extracted from the second volume of the Chris- 
 tian's Magazine. 
 
 " Thus he lays down both doctrine 3,nd fact re- 
 lative to the government of the church, in his. 
 commentary on Titus, i. 5. 
 
 " That thou shouldest ordain Presbyters in every 
 
 * Cave, Uis, LiU. Script. Eccks, p. 171. Ed. 1720. 
 
78 
 
 ciiy^ as I had appointed thee,* ' What sort of 
 Presbyters ought to be ordained he shows after- 
 
 * " Qui qualis Presbyter debeat ordinari, in consequentibus disse- 
 rens hoc ait : Si qiiis est sine criniine, unius uxoris vir," et ceetera : 
 postea intulit, " Opoilet n. Episcopuni sine crimine esse, tanquam 
 Deidfspensatorem." Idem est ergo Presbyter , qui et Episcopus : et 
 antequau!, diaholi inslinctu. studia in religione tierent, et diceretur in po- 
 pulis : " Ego sum Pauli, ego Apollo, ego autera Cephse -Pcommuni Pres- 
 bylerorum consilio ecclesiaj gubernabantur. Postquam vero unusquis- 
 que eos, quos baptizaverat, suos putabat esse, non Christi : in toto orbe 
 decretum est, ui unus de Presbyteris elecius super poneretur ccderis, ud 
 qnejn ornnis ecclesm cura pertineret, et schisuiatuni semina tollerentur. 
 Putet aliquis non scripturarum, sed nostrani, esse sententiam Episco- 
 pum et Presbyterum unura esse; et aliud ffitatia, aliud esse nomen offi- 
 <;ii : relegat Apostoli ad Philippenses verba dicentis : Paulus et Ti- 
 tiiolheus servi Jesu Christi, omnibus Sanctis in Christo Jesu, qui sunt 
 Phillippis, cum episcopis et Biaconis, gratia vobis etpax, et reliqua. 
 Phiilippi una est urbs Macedoniae : et certe in una civitate p/i£ res ut 
 nuncupantur Episcopi esse non poferant. Sed quia eosdtm Episcopos ills 
 iempore quos et Preshyieros appellabant, propterea indiiferenter de 
 Episcopis quasi de Presbyteris est locutos. Adhuc hoc ajicui videa- 
 lur ambiguutu, r\isi altero testimonio comprobetur. In Actibus Apos- 
 iolorum scriptum est, quod cum venisset Apostolus Miletum, raiserit 
 Ephesum, et vocaverit Presbyteros ecclesise ejusdem, quibus postea 
 inter csetera sit iocutus : attendlte vobis, et omni gregi in quo vos Spiritus 
 sarichis posuit Episcopos, pascere ecdesiam Domini quam ucquisivit per 
 san<-uinem suum. Et hoc dil'.gentius observate, quo mode unius cirita- 
 tis Ephesi Presbyteros vocans, postea eosdem Episcopos dixerit— Haec 
 propterea, ut ostentleremus apud veteres eosdem fuisse Presbyteros quo* 
 •et Episcopos. " Paulatim vero, ut dissensionum plantaria evellerentur, 
 ad wium omnem solicitudinem esse delatam. — Sicut ergo Presbyteri 
 sciunt se ex ecclesite consuetudhie ei, qui sibi propositus fuerlt, esse sub- 
 jeclos, ita Episcopi noveriut se vmi^is consmtudine quam disposiiionis 
 domiidcec terUak, Presbyteris esse majores. 
 
 HiERONYMi Com. in Til. I. i. 0pp. Tom.yj- 
 p. 168. cd. Victorii, Paris, 1623. FoL 
 
wards — If any be blameless^ the husband of one 
 wfe^ Sic. and then adds, /or a bishop must be blame- 
 less, as the steward of God^ &c. A Presbyter^ there- 
 fore, is the same as a bishop : and before there 
 were, by the instigation of the devil, parties in re- 
 ligion ; and it was said among dilferent peo- 
 ple, / am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Ce- 
 phas, the churches were governed bj the joint 
 counsel of the Presbyters. But afterwards, when 
 every one accounted those w horn he baptized as 
 belonging to himself and not to Christ, it was de- 
 creed throughout the ivhole ivorld, that one, chosen 
 from among the Presbyters, should be put over 
 the rest, and that the whole care of the church 
 should be committed to him, and the seeds of 
 schisms taken away. 
 
 ' Should any one think that this is my private 
 opinion, and not the doctrine of the Scriptures, 
 let him read the words of the apostle in his epis- 
 tle to the Philippians ; ' Paul and Timotheus, the 
 servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ 
 Jesus which are at Philippi, wdth the bishops and 
 deacons,' &c. Philippi is a single city of Mace- 
 donia ; and certainly in one city there could not 
 be several bishops, as they are now styled ; but as 
 they, at that time, called the very same person3 
 bishops whom they called Presbyters, the Apos- 
 
 n 
 
80 
 
 tie has spoken without distinction of bishops as 
 Presbyters. 
 
 ' Should this matter yet appear doubtful to 
 any one, unless it be proved by an additional 
 testimony ; it is written in the acts of the Apos- 
 tles, that when Paul had come to Miletum, he 
 sent to Ephesus and called the Presbyters of that 
 church, and among other things said to them, 
 ^ take heed to yourselves and to all the flock in 
 which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops.' 
 Take particular notice, that calling the Presby- 
 ters of the single city of Ephesus, he afterwards 
 names the same persons Bishops.' After fur- 
 ther quotations from the epistle to the Hebrews, 
 and from Peter, he proceeds : ' Our intention in 
 these remarks is to show that among the ancients, 
 Presbyters and Bishops were the very saivie. But 
 that BY little and little, that the plants of dis- 
 sentions might be plucked up, the whole concern 
 was devolved upon an individual. As the Pres- 
 byters, therefore, know that they are subjected, 
 
 BY THE CUSTOM OF THE CHURCH, tO him who is 
 
 set over them ; so let the Bishops know, that 
 they are greater than Presbyters more by custom 
 than by any real appointment of christ.' 
 
 " He pursues the same argument with great 
 point, in his famous epistle to Evagrius, asserting 
 and proving from the Scriptures, that in the be- 
 
81 
 
 ginning, and during the Apostles' days, a Bishop 
 and a Presbyter were the same thing. He then 
 goes on : 'As to the fact, that afterwards one 
 was ELECTED to preside over the rest, this was 
 done as a remedy against schism ; lest every one, 
 drawing his proselytes to himself, should rend 
 the church of Christ. For even at iVlexandria, 
 from the Evangelist Mark to the Bishops Hera- 
 clas and Dionysius, the Presbyters always chose 
 one of their number, placed him in a superior 
 station, and gave him the title of Bishop : in the 
 same manner as if an army should make an em- 
 peror ; or the deacons should choose from among 
 themselves, one whom they knew to be particu- 
 larly active, and should call him arch-deacon. 
 For, excepting ordination, Avhat is done by a 
 Bishop which may not be done by a Presbyter ? 
 Nor is it to be supposed, that the church should 
 be one thing at Rome, and another in all the 
 world besides. Both France, and Britain, and 
 Africa, and Persia, and the East, and India, and 
 all the barbarous nations, worship one Christ, ob- 
 serve one rule of truth. If you demand authori- 
 ty, the globe is greater than a city. Wherever a 
 Bishop shall be found, whether at Rome, or Eu- 
 o'ubiiim, or Constantinople, or Rhegium, or Alex- 
 
m 
 
 andria, or Tanis, he has the same pretensions, 
 the same priesthood.'* Observe, 
 
 '' 1. Jerome expressly denies the superiority of 
 Bishops to Presbyters, by divine right To prove 
 his assertion on this head, he goes directly to the 
 scriptures ; and argues, as the advocates of pari- 
 ty do, from the interchangeable titles of Bishop 
 and Presbyter ; from the directions given to them 
 without the least intimation of difference in their 
 authority ; and from the powers of Presbyters, 
 undisputed in this day. 
 
 " 2. Jerome states it as a historical fact^ that, 
 in the original constitution of the church, before 
 the devil had as much influence as he acquired 
 aftervv^ards, the churches ivere governed by the joint 
 counsels of the Presbyters. 
 
 * Ctuod autem postea umis ehclus est, qui ca:;teri3 prjeponeretur, in 
 echisiuatis reraediura factum est : ne unusquisque ad se trahens Christi 
 Ecclesiam rumperet. Nam et Alexandrise a Marco Evangelista usque 
 ad Heraclam et Dionysium Episcopos, semper unum ex se selectum, in ex- 
 cebiori gradu collocatum^ Episcopum nominabant : quoniodo si exercittis 
 imperatorem/flcjfl/ ; aut diaconi eligant de se, quern industrlnm novcrint. 
 et archidlaccnwn vocent. Quid enim faclt, excepta ordinatione, Episcopus. 
 quodi presb}/lcr non facial? Nee altera Romana? urbis Ecclcsia, altern 
 totius orbis existimauda est. Et GallisB, et Brittania?, et Africa, et 
 Persis, et Orient, et India, et ouines barbarae nationes unura Christum 
 adorant, uuam observant regulam veritatis. Si auctoritas qunsritur, or- 
 bis major est urbe Ubicumque fuerit Episcopus, sive Romae, sive Eu- 
 giibii, sive Constant-nopoli, sive Rhegii, sive Alexandria}, sive Tanis : 
 ejusdem meriti, ejusdem et sacerdotii. Ilkrcn. Opp. T. II. p. C54 
 
83 
 
 " 3, Jerome states it as a historical fact^ that 
 this government of the churches, hy Presbyters 
 alone, continued until, for the avoiding of scan- 
 dalous quarrels and schisms, it was thought ex- 
 pedient to alter it. ' Afterwards,'' says he, ' when 
 every one accounted those whom he baptized as 
 belonging to himself and not to Christ, it was 
 decreed throughout the ivhole ivorld, that one, 
 chosen from among the Presbyters, should be 
 put over the rest ; and that the whole care of the 
 church should be committed to him.' 
 
 " 4. Jerome states it as a historical fact, that 
 this change in the government of the church — 
 this creation of a superiour order of ministers, took 
 place, not at once, but by degrees — ' Paulatim,' 
 says he, ' by little and litde.' The precise date 
 on which this innovation upon primitive order 
 eommenced, he does not mention ; but he says 
 positively, that it did not take place till the fac- 
 .tious spirit of the Corinthians had spread itself 
 in different countries, to an alarming extent. 'In 
 populis,^ is his expression. Assuredly, this was 
 not the work of a day. It had not been accom- 
 plished when the apostolic epistles were written, 
 because Jerome appeals to these for proof that 
 the churches were then governed by the joint 
 counsels of Presbyters ; and it is incredible that 
 5uch ruinous dissentions. had they existed, should 
 
84 
 
 not have been noticed in letters to others beside 
 the Corinthians. The disease, indeed, was of a 
 nature to spread rapidly; but still it must have had 
 time to travel. With all the zeal of Satan him- 
 self, and of a parcel of wicked or foolish clergy- 
 men to help him, it could not march from people 
 to people, and clime to clime, but in a course of 
 years. 
 
 " 5. Jerome states as historical facts, that the 
 elevation of one Presbyter over the others, was 
 a human contrivance ; — was not imposed by au- 
 thority, but crept in by custom; — and that the 
 Presbyters of his day knew this very well. ' As, 
 therefore,'' says he, ^ the Presbyters kjnow that they 
 are subjected to their superiour by custom ; so let the 
 bishops know that they are above the Presbyters, ra- 
 ther by the custom of the church, than by the 
 Lord^s appointment,^ 
 
 " 6. Jerome states it as a historical fact, that 
 the first bishops were made by the Presbyters 
 themselves ; and consequently they could neither 
 have, nor communicate any authority above that 
 of Presbyters. ' Afterwards,^ says he, ^ to prevent 
 schism, one was elected to preside over the rest.' 
 Elected and commissioned by whom ? By the 
 Presbyters : for he immediately gives you a broad 
 fact which it is impossible to explain away. 
 ^ At Alexandria^' he tells you, ' from the evange- 
 
85 
 
 list Mark, to the Bishops Heraclas and Dionysi- 
 us,' i. e. till about the middle of the third cen- 
 tury, ' the Presbyters always chose one of their 
 number, placed him in a superior station^ and gave 
 him the title of Bishop? 
 
 '' 7. Jerome states it as a historical fact^ that 
 even in his own day, that is, toward the end of 
 the fourth centur}'', there was no power, except- 
 ing ordination, exercised by a Bishop, which 
 might not be exercised by a Presbyter. ' What 
 does a Bishop,' he asks, ' excepting ordination, 
 which a Presbyter may not do ?' 
 
 " Two observations force themselves upon us. 
 
 " 1st. Jerome challenges the whole world, to 
 show in what prerogative a Presbyter was, at 
 that time, inferiour to a Bishop, excepting the sin- 
 gle power of ordination. A challenge which 
 common sense would have repressed, had pub- 
 lic opinion concerning the rights of Presbyters 
 allowed it to be successfully met. 
 
 " 2d. Although it appears from Jerome himself, 
 that the prelates were not then in the habit of as- 
 sociating the Presbyters with themselves, in an 
 equal right of government, yet, as he told the for- 
 mer, to their faces, that the right was undeniable, 
 and ought to be respected by them, it presents 
 u& with a strong fact in the progress of Episco- 
 pacy. Here was a power in Presbyters, which, 
 
86 
 
 though undisputed, lay, for the most part, dor- 
 mant. The transition from disuse to denial, and 
 from denial to extinction, of powers which tb-e 
 possessors have not vigilance, integrity, or spirit 
 to enforce, is natural, short, and rapid. Accord- 
 ing to Jerome's declaration, the hierarchy did 
 not pretend to the exclusive right of government. 
 Therefore, there was but Aa/f a hierarchy, accord- 
 ing to the present system. That the Bishops had. 
 some time after, the powers of ordination and 
 government both, is clear. How did they acquire 
 the monopoly ? By apostolic institution ? No. 
 Jerome refutes that opinion from the Scriptures 
 and history. By apostolic tradition ? No. For^ 
 in the latter part of the fourth century, their sin- 
 gle prerogative over Presbyters was the power of 
 ordination. Government was at first exercised 
 by the Presbyters in common. When they had, by 
 their own act, placed a superiour over their own 
 heads, they rewarded his distinction, his toils, and 
 his perils, with a proportionate reverence ; they 
 grew slack about the maintenance of trouble- 
 some privilege ; till atlength their courtesy, their 
 indolence, their love of peace, or their hope of 
 promotion, permitted their high and venerable 
 trust to glide into the hands of the prelates. We 
 have no doubt that the course of the ordaming 
 ^ouTr was similar, though swifter.''^ 
 
87 
 
 ^ " This testimony of Jerome is seconded by a 
 more full one of Eutychius, Patriarch of Alex- 
 andria, who, out of the Records and Traditions 
 ©f that church, in his Arabick Originals thereof, 
 saith, (according to Selden's Translation in his 
 Comment, p. 29, 30.) ^ Mark the Evangelist 
 ordained, along with Hananias, twelve Presby- 
 ters, who were always to remain with the Patri- 
 arch ; so that when the Patriarchate should be 
 vacant, they should elect, from the twelve Pres- 
 byters, one on whose head the other eleven should 
 impose their hands and bless him^ and create him 
 Patriarch : and then should choose some other 
 distinguished man, as a fellow Presbyter, in the 
 place of him who was thus made Patriarch, so 
 that their number should always be twelve. Nor 
 did this institution concerning the Presbyters, 
 viz. that the Patriarch should he created from these 
 Presbyters^ go into disuse before the time of Alex- 
 ander, Patriarch of Alexandria^ 318. We for- 
 bad the Presbyters to create a Patriarch from 
 that time : and decreed, that on tbe deaih of one 
 Patriarch, the Bishops should meet and ordaia 
 
 * In the following extract from Br. Owen's Plea for Scripture ordf' 
 nation^ the Latin quotations are translated by the author of this work, 
 for the benefit of the unlearned reader ; and the ^uotatioHS thews^vfg 
 thrown into the wargiH. 
 
 12 
 
88 
 
 his successor. He also decreed that, in case oi 
 a vacancy, they should, without regard to place, 
 choose either from among these twelve Presby- 
 ters or any others, some man of peculiar Avorth, 
 and give him the title of Patriarch. And thus 
 vanished that more ancient institutio^i^ according to 
 which the Patriarch used to he created by Presby- 
 ters ; and in its place came the above decree for 
 creating him by Bishops,"^^ 
 
 " Here is a full proof of Presbyters choosing 
 and creating their Bishop, (whom Eutychius, 
 speaking in the language of his age, calls Patri- 
 arch,) and that by imposition of hands and bene- 
 diction, or prayer, without any other consecra- 
 tion : which custom continued several ages, until 
 
 * * Constituit item Marcus Evangelista duodecim Presbyteros cum 
 Hanania, qui semper manerent cum Patriarcha, adeoutcum vacaret 
 Patriarchatus eligerent unum e duodecim Presbyteris, cujus capiii reli- 
 qui imdecim manus imp oner ent . eumque henedicercnty et Patriarcham eum 
 crearent : et dein virum alkjuem insigneni eligerent, eumque Presbyte- 
 rumsecura constituerent, loco ejus qui sic factus est Patriarcha, ita ut 
 semper extareut duodecim. Neque desili Alex ANDRiiE instiiutum hoc de 
 Presbyteris^ ut scilicet PairiarchiE crearent ur e Presbyteris duodecim, us- 
 que ad tempora Alexandri Patriarchce Alexandrini, quifuit ex numero 
 illo 318. Is autem vetuit, ne deinceps Patriarcham Presbyteri crearent, 
 et decrevit ut, mortuo Patriarcha, convenirent Episcopi qui Patriar- 
 cham ordinarent. Decrevit item ivt, vacante Patrlarchatu, eligerent 
 sive ex quacumque regione, sive ex duodecim iilis Presbyteris, sive 
 alii§, ut res ferebat, virum aliquem eximium, eumque Patriarcham vo- 
 carent ; aitque ita evanuit institutum illud antiqui^is, quo creari solitus a 
 Presbyteris Patriarcha, §1 sucussii in locum ejus decretum de Patriarcho 
 ab Episcvpis crsfindo.* 
 
 ■^ ". 
 
89 
 
 at last the neighbouring Bishops usurped the 
 power of consecration, and left the Presbjters 
 neither the choice nor the creation of their 
 l^ishop. 
 
 " Here we have also an instance of Presbyters 
 making Presbyters ; for Eutychius tells us, that 
 the same Presbyters that made their Bishop, 
 chose and ordained another person Presbyter in 
 his room ; and so constituted both Presbyters and 
 Bishops for several asres together. 
 
 " The Bishop of Worcester* tells us, out of 
 Johannes Cassianus, that about the year 390, one 
 Abbot Daniel, inferior to none in the desart Sce- 
 tis,was made a Deacon ' by Paphnutius, a Pres- 
 byter of the same retreat ; for so greatly was he 
 charmed with the abbot's virtues, that he was 
 eager to associate with himself in the honour of 
 the Priesthood also, one w hom he knew to be 
 his own equal in the excellence of his life. Un- 
 able, therefore, to bear the thought that he should 
 remain any longer in the inferior order of the 
 ministry, and anxious to provide for himself a 
 most worthy successor, he promoted Daniel, dur- 
 ing his own lifetime, to the honour of the Pres- 
 byterial office.f 
 
 * Stilling. Iren. p. 380. 
 
 t A B. Paphnutio solitudinis ejusdem Presbytero ; in tantum enini 
 v'irtutibus ejus adgaudebat, lit quem vitae mentis sibi ct gratia jiarqm 
 
90 
 
 " Here is a Presbyter ordained by a Presbyter, 
 
 which we no where read was pronounced null 
 
 by Theophilus, then Bishop of Alexandria, or 
 
 any other of that time. Had it been either 
 
 irregular or unusual, doubtless it had been 
 
 censured. 
 
 * -:t * 4«- * 
 
 " The power of ordination and government 
 was in the hands of the captive Presbyters, un- 
 der the Scythians beyond Ister, for about seventy 
 years, from the year 260, to the year 327 ; the 
 former being the year of their captivity under 
 Galienus, the latter of the change of the govern- 
 ment under Constantine, when Urphilas was 
 created Bishop by Euscbius, and others.* 
 
 * * -X- -X- -K- 
 
 " Hilary, or whoever was the; Author in Q. ex 
 utroque Test, mixtini, aflirms. That in Alexan- 
 dria, and throughout all Egypt, if a bishop be 
 wanting, a presbyter consecrates.! It cannot be 
 said that "consecrate" here sioiiifies the con- 
 secration of the eucharist, for this might be 
 
 ueverat, coacquare sibi etiam Sacerdotli honore festinaret. Siquideni 
 liequaquara ferens in infcrioreeum ministerio diutins immorari, optans- 
 que sibimet successionem dignissimara providere, superstes cum Pres* 
 byterii honore provexit. 
 
 * Philosiorg. lib. 2. cap. 5. in Blond. Apol. 
 
 t In Alexandria et per lotani iEgyptuni si desitEpiscopus,consecra( 
 Presbyter. Ql,% 101. 
 
91 
 
 done by the Presbyter when the Bishop was 
 present.* If it be taken for confirmation, it doth 
 not prejudice our cause 5 for the Canon Umits the 
 power of confirmation as well as ordination to 
 the Bishop, as was also the power of consecra- 
 ting churches^ if any should take the word in that 
 sense. 
 
 " We may understand the meaning by a pa- 
 rallel place of Hilary in Ambrose, who thus 
 .speaks :t 
 
 " The writings of the Apostle" (Paul) " do 
 not in all things agree with the ordination which 
 is now in the church : for even Timothy, (1 Tim. 
 4, 12. 2 Tim. 16. a Presbyter created by him- 
 self) he calls ' Bishop ;' because the Presby- 
 ters were originally called Bishops ; so that as 
 one left the office, another who was next to him 
 should take his place. Finally, the Presbyters 
 in Egypt do, at this day, consecrate if a Bishop 
 be not present. But because the Presbyters, 
 who followed next in order, began to be found 
 unworthy of holding the first rank ; the mode 
 was changed by the care of a council, so that 
 not the order of rotation, but merit, should make 
 a Bishop, when constituted by the judgment of a 
 number of priests ; lest an unfit person should 
 
 * Prapsente Episcopo. t Corament. in Eph. 4. 
 
92 
 
 syeize the office at randonij and be a scandal to 
 man}."* 
 
 " The same Author saith also, m Tim, 3. " Af- 
 ter the Bishop he subjoins the order of the Dea- 
 con, For what other reason than this, that a 
 Bishop and Presbyter have the same ordination. 
 For each of them is a priest, but the Bishop is 
 
 first."t 
 
 " Here note, 
 
 " 1. That the ordination in Hilary's time did 
 not in all things agree with the writings of the 
 Apostle. That he speaks of the ordination of 
 Ministers is evident by the following words : 
 " A Presbyter created by himself." 
 
 " 2. At first, Presbyters and Bishops were of 
 tlie same order and office, and had but one ordi- 
 
 * Ideo non per omnia conveniunt scripta Apostoli Ordinationi quae 
 "Runc in Ecclesia est, quia ha^c inter ipsa priniordia sunt scripta ; nam 
 et Timotheum (1 Tim. 4, 14. 2 Tim. 1, 5. Presby terum a se creatum) 
 Episcopum vocat, quia primum Presbyteri Episcopi appellabantur, ut 
 recedente uno, sequens ei succedcret. Denique apud jEgyptum Pres- 
 byteri consignant, si praesens non sit Episcopus. Sed quia cceperunt 
 sequentes Presbyteri indigni inveniri ad primatus tenendos, immutata 
 est ratio prospiciente Concilio, ut non Ordo, sed meritum crearet Epis- 
 copum, multoruni Sacerdotum judicio constitutum, ne indignus temere 
 Msurparet, et esset multis scandalum. 
 
 t Hilar. Diac. in Tim. S. Post Episcopum, Diaconi Ordinem subjicit. 
 Cluare, nisi quia Episcopi et Prfesbyterl una Ordinatio est .^ Utfr- 
 ♦jue enini Saceidos est, sed Episcopus primus csL 
 
93 
 
 aation. " The ordination of a Bishop and Pres- 
 byter is the same," which shows the meaning 
 of " Ordinatio" in the former paragraph. The 
 Bishop, in Hilary's time, which was about the 
 year 380, under Damasus,* was but primus Sa- 
 cerdos, (first priest,) "and not of a superior 
 order : Peter is called '^^'^roc, primus Apostolus, 
 (first Apostle) Matth. 10, 2. and yet Protestants 
 hold all the Apostles to be equal. 
 
 " 3. Spalatensist infers from this quotation, 
 that at the beginning, when a Bishop died, there 
 was not so much as an election of him that was 
 to succeed, (much less any new ordination,) but 
 the eldest Presbyter came into the room of the 
 deceased Bishop. See the preface to BlondePs 
 Apology, p. 1 1, and 31. 
 
 " 4. There was a change in the way of choos- 
 ing their Bishop ; " that not order," viz. order of 
 rotation, " but merit, should make a Bishop." 
 
 * * ^e * * 
 
 " 5. After this change the Presbyters chose 
 and made their Bishop ; for so Hilarius affirms 
 him to be — " Constituted by the judgment of a 
 number of Priests." 
 
 " 6.. He adds, that in Egypt, " the Presbyters 
 consecrate, if no Bishop be present." He speaks 
 
 Uihr. t De Repub. Ecclea. 1. 3. c. S. 
 
94 
 
 in the foregoing words of the identity of Bishops 
 and Presbyters, and he brings this as a confirina- 
 tion of it, that in the absence of the Bishop they 
 might do those things which custom had appro- 
 priated to the Bishops. " Consignare," is some act 
 pf prerogative that the Bishops challenged to 
 themselves, which yet in their absence the Pres- 
 byters might perform. Whether we understand 
 it of ordination or confirmation, in which they 
 did ' Chrismate consignare,' it is not material, for 
 both were reserved to the Bishop by the Canons. 
 Though by comparing this with the scope of Hi- 
 lary's discourse, and with the quotation out of 
 the questions under Austin's name, ' If a Bishop 
 be wanting, a Presbyter conpecrates,' it should 
 seem evidently meant of ordination ; especially 
 when we find " consignare" to be taken for " con- 
 secrare" in several authors, Arnob. lib. 3. Cypr. 
 Ep. 2. Tu tantum quem jam Spiritalibus castris 
 caelestis militia signavit."* 
 
 To close this article. A Diocese, i. e. a dis- 
 trict under the government of a single Bishop, 
 contained, in the fourth century, a large number 
 of congregations, and could not possibly be ser- 
 ved by the ministrations in word, sacraments, 
 
 * OwEiv's PZea, &c. p. 128—140. 
 
95 
 
 and family inspection, by a single man. Some 
 episcopal sees were of great extent. That of 
 Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, was no less than 
 forty miles long.* Summarily, Bishops, in those 
 days, w^ere a sort of ecclesiastical princes, having 
 thousands and ten thousands of ecclesiastical 
 subjects under their juiisdiction. This will not 
 be disputed. But a primitive Bishop and 
 bishoprick were quite other matters; the declara- 
 tion of Mr. Bingham to the contrary notwith- 
 standing.! We have yet, among what are ac- 
 counted the genuine epistles of Ignatius, a let- 
 ter to his friend Poi.ycarp Bishop of Smyrna, 
 and a cotemporary of the Apostle John. In that 
 letter he gives the following advice to Polycar|3, 
 with regard to the exercise of his episcopal func- 
 tions : 
 
 " Let not the widows be neglected. Next to 
 the Lord, do thou exercise care over them. Let 
 nothing be done without thy sanction — Let your 
 assemblies be held frequently. Inquire after all 
 by name. Do not overlook the men and maid ser- 
 
 * Bingham, Orig. Ecdes. B. IX. ch. 2. Vol. I. p. 352. Fol. 
 
 t This very learned Divine says, that the " cliurch, in settling the 
 bounds of Dioceses," according to " her first and primitive model — 
 went by the rule of government in every city, including not only the 
 city itself, but the suburbs or region lying about it within the verge of 
 its jurisdiction.'* 
 
 Orig. Ecdes. Book IX. c, 2. Vol. 1. 351. 
 
 13 
 
96 
 
 mnts. Yet let them not be puffed up : but let 
 them yield more perfect service to the glory of 
 God, that they may obtain from him a better 
 freedom. Let them not seek to acquire their 
 freedom at the public expense, lest they should 
 be found to be slaves of lust."* Here Bishop 
 Polycarp is directed to attend, in person, to the 
 church's widows — to meet w^ith his people fre- 
 quently — to inquire after them all by 7iame ; even 
 down to the very slaves — to see that this notice 
 from their Bishop be not abused by tliem, so as 
 to grow unruly, and to express impatience under 
 their condition, and an improper expectation of 
 being ransomed and set at liberty by the church's 
 charity. 
 
 These were theii the functions of a Bishop, 
 Ignatius being judge. What must have been 
 the size of Poly carp's diocese to admit of his 
 performing them ? How could they be perform- 
 ed in the fourth century by a Bishop of Hippo 
 through a diocese forty miles long in a populous 
 country ? Or by a Bishop of Rome towards a 
 
 ttViuTus -yvaofAHg (Tov yiVic-Qo)' — 5ry}ivcT6gov crvvctyoeyAiyivia-boctrAV. j|ONO- 
 MAT02 nANTA2 ^uni. J'ovhovg ^ S'ovKAi y-a itTrtginpn-vu' olKKsl fAnSi 
 
 vo? «X€y6«g/*c Tvy(^a>criv atto Qiov. /ua atj^iTwrctv clttq tow koivou iXiuB^oua-- 
 6*/, tva. fJiii iuVKot iv^iQaiiTiv iViBvfAictg. 
 
 Igkat, Ep. ad Polycarp. apud PP. App. Tom. II. p. 91, 92 
 
 ed. Clerici. Fol. 1TS4 
 
97 
 
 cure of more than a niillion of souls in the citj 
 alone ?* One would think that the epi'^copal 
 powers and occupations of Augustine or Libe- 
 Rius could hardly have been quite the same with 
 
 those of POLYCARP. 
 
 It appears then, that the form of church go- 
 vernment gradually altered, so as to become, in 
 process of time, very diiierent from the aposto- 
 lic estabhshment : and even if this be denied, it 
 is beyond all doubt that different opinions prevail- 
 ed in the primitive church concerning her origi- 
 nal order. For, not to mention that Jerome could 
 hardly be alone in his views ; could hardly have 
 appealed to the knowledge which the Presbyters 
 of his day had of their own rights, though nearly 
 dormant — the very same sentiments were main- 
 tained wdth great acceptance among good peo- 
 ple, by Aerius, a monk and Presbyter of Arme- 
 nia, in the fourth century ; and produced uneasi- 
 ness throughout the extensive districts of Arme- 
 nia, Pontus, and Cappadocia.f 
 
 Yet all this variety of opinion and practice in 
 the matter of church-order, did not produce, and 
 therefore w^as not thought sufficient to warrant, 
 
 * Gibbon's Decl. and Fall. yd. V.p. 289. 8vo.l811. 
 
 t MosHEiM, yol. I. p. 376. MoRBRi, Grand Dicllonnaire Histo- 
 rique, art. Aerius, T. I. p. 168. Aerius has been charged with the 
 Arian heresy. A charge which seems to be at least doubtful. Bi?i 
 whether ill or well founded, it ''an have no influence upon the case 
 before n«;. 
 
98 
 
 separate communions. For neither did Jerome, 
 Aerius, and their adherents, who openly attack- 
 ed the episcopacy of their day as destitute of 
 scriptural or apostolic sanction, withdraw, on 
 that account, from the fellowship of the Catho- 
 lic church, and set up, like the Novatians and 
 Donatists, a church of their own ; nor w as there, 
 so far as I have been able to ascertain, any such 
 measure taken, nor any rent among Christians oc- 
 casioned, in virtue of disagreements under that 
 head. However animated their discussions, and 
 strong the conflict of their feelings, neither did 
 the opposers of the then existing order break off 
 communion with its advocates ; nor its advocates, 
 who were the practical majority, expel their op- 
 posers. In different places they maintained their 
 different order, and in the same place their dif- 
 ferent sentiments, without bursting the bands of 
 their common union. On the contrary, it is wor- 
 thy of special remark, that Jerome himself, who, 
 of all others, most boldly bearded his cotempo- 
 rary prelates, and proved their official superiority 
 lobe against the word of God, yet shuddered at the 
 thought of separation, and condemned separatists 
 in terms of unqualified reprobation. On Prov. vi. 
 16 — 19. especially on those words. He that soio- 
 eth discord among brethren, he thus comments : The 
 mse man, " ermmerates six capital crimes ; which, 
 however, in comparison ^vith ' the soi^/er of dis^ 
 
99 
 
 cord,' he puts by as of minor impoilance : be- 
 cause the rupture of that unity and brotherhood 
 which the grace of the Holy Ghost hath formed, 
 is the most atrocious deed of the whole. For a 
 man may lift up his eyes in pride ; may be guilty 
 of lying ; may be polluted with murder ; may 
 plot mischief against his neighbour; may em- 
 ploy his members in other enormities — a profli- 
 gate man, I say, may bring these mischiefs upon 
 himself or others, and yet the peace of the church 
 be preserved. But Donatus, and Arius, and 
 their followers, liave done what is worse ; for they 
 have cut asunder the harmony of brotherly union 
 by sowing discord J^'^^ 
 
 The result is, that different views and practices 
 in the article of her government, were not deem- 
 ed by the primitive church to be inconsistent with 
 her unity — with her one communion ; nor a jus- 
 tifiable cause of intemipting it. 
 . 4th. The same thing is to be said of differen- 
 ces in subordinate points of doctrine. 
 
 * Enumerat sex capitalia crimina, quae tanien, comparatione discor- 
 diam scminantis^ quasi minora deponit : quia nvinirum majus est /acinus 
 illud quoimitas ef fraternitas quce per Spiritus Sancli graiiam est comiexa^ 
 dissipatur. Potest enim qullibet oculos jactanter extollere ; lingua nien- 
 tii'i ; houiicidio pollui; mala proximo machinari ; aliis sceleribus mem- 
 bra subclere — Potest, inquam, perditus quisque hujusraodi mala vel sibi- 
 metipsi vel aliis inferre, pace servata Ecclesia. At Honatus et Arius, 
 eteorura sequaces, grarxus est quodfecere: qui concordiamfratern(E unl- 
 falis^ discnrdias seminando^ sciderunt. 
 
 HiERO^. opp.T. VIIL p. 81. Fol. Paris, 16^3. 
 
100 
 
 By " subordinate doctrines" are meant all 
 those which may be either believed or doubted, 
 without sacrificing any vital principle of the , 
 Christian Religion. 
 
 To draw the line of distinction between the 
 essentials and non-essentials of our most Holy 
 Faith, is at all times a delicate and difficult task. 
 To draw it with perfect accuracy is what no pru- 
 dent man will attempt. But that the distinction 
 exists, that it cannot be abolished, and that it is 
 attended with important consequences, no man 
 of sober sense will deny. All the members of 
 the human body belong to its perfection, and 
 have their peculiar uses. Yet a finger or a toe 
 does not hold the same place in the system with 
 an arm or a leg ; nor an arm or leg the same 
 place with the head or the heart. The amputa- 
 tion of a finger maij occasion death : the ampu- 
 tation of a larger member often does it. At the 
 same time this operation does not necessarily 
 involve, the death of the patient ; and when limit- 
 ed to the extremities, frequently subjects him to 
 inconveniences comparatively small. No one 
 thinks of disputing his humanity on account of 
 such a privation. He may lose a limb, and yet 
 be active, useful, honoured, happy ; much more 
 so than many who escape his misfortune : be- 
 cause he may have more life in his remaining 
 
101 
 
 .iTiembers than they have in their whole number. 
 But his head, his heart, the substance of his bo- 
 dy, are essential Lop off his arm, and his recove- 
 ry may be dubious — death maij ensue. But cut 
 off his head, cleave his heart, divide his body, 
 and the blow is fatal — there is an end of the 
 /nan. 
 
 Thus also in the system of revelation. All, the 
 very least, of its truths belong to its perfection. 
 Not one of them may voluntarily be renounced ; 
 nor any contrary errour be knowingly embraced. 
 Because, he who does either, resists the obliga- 
 tion to " receive and obey the truth." Just as 
 he who " keeps the whole law, and yet offends 
 in one point, is guilty of all."* The entire au- 
 thority of the lawgiver is in every precept. Sin, 
 therefore, which is " transgression of the law," 
 whatever precept it may happen to infringe, 
 strikes at the principle of obedience ; and is 
 ready, as occasion shall offer, to assume any and 
 every form of transgression — to violate all the 
 precepts of the law in succession, when im- 
 pelled by adequate inducement. For he — to con- 
 tinue the Apostle's reasoning — he who "kills," 
 though he may " not commit adultery," abstains 
 
 * James^, i. 10 
 
102 
 
 from the latter crime through the intkience ot.. 
 other considerations than the sacredness of the 
 law, or the majesty of the lawgiver; otherwise 
 he would have refrained from " kiUing ;" seeing * 
 that " he who said, Do not commit adultery^ said 
 also, Do not kilV^ Consequently, he who breaks 
 one commandment while he keeps another, 
 when both are enjoined by the same authority, 
 shows that he is prepared, on the occurrence of 
 a suitable temptation, to break the other also. 
 And whoever disbelieves this of himself, " de- 
 ceiveth his own heart;" for sin is universal oppo- 
 sition to all of God in all of his law : and, there- 
 fore, according to the inspired ethics, the trans- 
 gression of one precept is accounted simply " a 
 transgression of the law ;" being an act of rebel- 
 lion against its whole obligation as operating in 
 that precept. It is upon this ground, that living 
 in the commission of any knotvri sin, however 
 small it may appear, proves men to be desti- 
 tute of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be- 
 cause they are under the power of the principle 
 of sin, which is " enmity against God ;" and have 
 not been " reconciled to God by the death of his 
 Son." So that to venture upon sin, knowing it to 
 be sin, is a desperate experiment in any one who 
 does not intend to " lose his soul." 
 
 Tn like manner, resistance to God's truth, to any 
 
103 
 
 of his truths when perceived to be truth, argtieB 
 the predominance of the spirit of falsehood- — a 
 spirit which, as opportunity should serve, would 
 not hesitate to reUnquish every truth of his most 
 holy word. Hence no Christian can surrender 
 the least tittle of that truth which he believes to 
 be the testimony of his God ; nor do any act 
 which implies such a suiTender. Thousands of 
 the " martyrs of Jesus," might have saved them- 
 Gelves from the wild beast or the stake, would 
 they only have thrown a handful of incense on a 
 Heathen altar. But they were aware of the con- 
 struction which their persecutors would put upon 
 this deed 5 and, rather than do it, " loved not 
 their lives unto the death." No motives, then, of 
 conscience, peace, charity, good to be effected, 
 or of what kind soever, can justify, much less re- 
 <][uire, under any possible circumstances, the sa- 
 crifice of a known truth- Such a sacrifice might 
 end in eternal i*uin. On the other hand, mistakes 
 concerning particular truths, may consist with 
 the general power of truth over the heart. Nay, 
 it is nothing uncommon for men's notions to be 
 at war with their principles — Their speculative 
 judgment with their practical habits. Many 
 times a sound head is joined to a rotten heart : 
 and a sound heart to a rotten head. Some pe- 
 rish because they do not follow out their profess- 
 
 14 
 
104 
 
 ed faith : and others would perish if they did. 
 The not perceiving, and therefore not embracing, 
 the consequences of their errour preserves them 
 " from going down to the pit." And as there is 
 not a human being perfectly exempt from errour, 
 there is not one of all them who " shall see the 
 Lord," but owes more or less to the same protec- 
 tion. How far erroneous conceptions of divine 
 truth may be compatible with a state of pardon 
 and heavenly adoption, it would be presumptu- 
 ous in us to define. That is the prerogative of 
 him who, searching the heart, can weigh all its 
 influences, interests, and dilficulties. But to try 
 how far we may go before we discern our salva- 
 tion to be in jeopardy, is the insanity of one who 
 should have his limbs amputated higher and 
 higher in order to try how near the operation 
 might approach his vitals without destroying his 
 life. In judging for himself^ every one must 
 make sure work by keeping on the safe side, not 
 wilfully rejecting any tiTith, or adopting any er- 
 rour. In judging of others, he must go every 
 length which the charity of the gospel dictates ; 
 i. e. every length consistent with his own attach- 
 ment to, and support of, the truth ; and which does 
 not rank, among matters of forbearance, a clearly 
 vital doctrine of Christianity. This would be not 
 charity, but treason and murder — Treason to the 
 
105 
 
 " AMEN, the faithful and true witness" — murder to 
 the soul of our dekided neighbour. For as there 
 are injuries which infallibly kill the body, so there 
 are errours which infalHbly kill the soul. If a 
 man be run through the heart, whether by acci- 
 dent or design, whether by his own or another's 
 hand, he dies. And if a man, from whatever 
 cause, renounce the obviously vital doctrines of 
 the gospel — he is not, cannot be, a Christian — 
 there is no relief for him 5 no help ; no hope — 
 he DIES THE DEATH. Thosc doctriucs, therefore, 
 must be the basis of all Christum communion ; 
 and maintaining those doctrines pure and entire, 
 " holding the head," Christ Jesus, as saith his 
 apostle, his followers may and should have open 
 fellowship with each other, on the ground of their 
 common faith ; and ought not to refuse each 
 other on the ground of their inferiour differ- 
 ences. 
 
 Should it be asked, how shall I distinguish an 
 essential from a subordinate doctrine of the gos- 
 pel? The answer has be^n chiefly anticipated. 
 You are not under the necessity of nice and sub- 
 tle discriminations ; and can certainly distinguish 
 wdth sufficient accuracy for every practical pm*- 
 pose. You are in no danger of mistaking a man's 
 arm for his finger-his head for his foot ; nor of sup- 
 posing that they are equally important to his life. 
 
106 
 
 i'ou cannot imagine, for one moment, that tlie 
 question, " whether Christ bj his death purchased 
 temporal benefits or not for all mankind?" is like 
 the question " whether or not he bought his peo- 
 ple unto God by his blood, in making a true, pro- 
 per, meritorious sacrifice for their sin, when 
 'through the eternal Spirit he offered up him- 
 self ?'" Nor that the dispute, " whether the cove- 
 nant of Redemption be different from the cove- 
 nant of Grace ?" or what are so called, be in re- 
 ality but one and the same covenant view^ed un- 
 der different aspecte ? is to be classed with the 
 dispute '' whether Jesus, t^c Lord our righteous- 
 ness^ is a mere man like ourselves, or the ' true 
 God,' and, therefore, ^ eternal life ?' " — In de- 
 ciding on the relative importance of such points 
 there is no room for hesitation. Whatever de- 
 gree of mistake may be reconciled with union 
 to Christ, and an interest in his salvation, it is 
 not, it cannot be a matter of doubt among those 
 who have tasted his grace, that blaspheming hi& 
 divinity-rejecting his propitiatory sacrifice ; and 
 the justification of a sinner by faith only^ in his 
 mediatorial merits — denying the personality, di- 
 vinity, renewing and sanctifying virtue of his ho- 
 ly Spirit, and similar heresies ; invalidate everf 
 claim to the character of his disciples. They 
 who disown or explain away such truths as these^ 
 
107 
 
 pretend what they may, are no more servants of 
 Christ, nor partakers of his benefits, than Jews, 
 Mahometans,"^ or Pagans. 
 
 * There is a very curious, though almost forgotten paper, in which 
 the Unitarians, as they call themselves, in opposition to those who 
 hold the doctrine of the ever-blessed Trinity, expressly claim kind- 
 ted w.th the Mahometans. It is an address fr»ni two English Socini- 
 ans or Arians, (it matters little which) " in their own names, and in 
 that of a multitude of their persuasion," whom they style " a wise 
 and religious sort of people," to the Morocco embassador at the court of 
 Charles the II. and is entitled, " An Epistle Dedicatory, to his illus- 
 trious Excellency, Ameth Ben Ameth, embassador of the mighty 
 Emperor of Fez a?id Morocco, to Charles II. JfiCmg of Great Bri' 
 tainP 
 
 In this " epistle dedicatory," they tell his Mahometan Excellency 
 that the faith of his countrymen and sect is much purer in the article 
 " touching the belief of an only sovereign God," and " many other 
 wholesome doctrines," than the faith Oi" either Papal or Protestant 
 Christendom : seeing that about these doctrines in which they, the 
 Mahometans, " persevere," " this, our western part of the world,'' the 
 Eritish isJes and European continent, " are declined into several er- 
 rours from the integrity of their predecessors." And they " heartily 
 salute and congratulate his Excellency and all who were with him, a« 
 votaries and viEi.i.ow-worshippers of that sole Supreme Deity of the Al- 
 mighty Father and Creator." Observe, they are no^ " fellow- worship- 
 pers" with Christians tn this matter (God be praised !) but with Ma-* 
 hometans — And they " greatly rejoice and thank his Divine bounty 
 that hath preserved the Emperour of Morocco and his people," being 
 Mahometans, " in the excellent knowledge of that truth," already 
 mentioned, which the Christian world, it seems, had lost; and they 
 assure his Excellency, which is a certain verity, that " in those impor- 
 tant points," viz. the Unitarian doctrines concerning God, they 
 " draw nigher to the Mahometans, than all other Pi'otestant or Papaf 
 Christians" — And they furthermore state to his Excellency, that they 
 are, their, thp Mahometans', '•^ne^tresi fellow-champions for those 
 
108 
 
 In the language of one whose scriptural artille- 
 ry has often battered and shaken the " gates of 
 hell," "they neither know him, nor love him, nor 
 
 ti-uths:" and, moreover, " thatGorf had raised up their Mahomet to defend 
 the same truth ;''^ viz. ''the faith of one Supreme God ici^h the sword, as 
 a scourge on those idolising Christians," even as " they, with their Cni- 
 larian brethren," had been accustomed to •' defend it with their pens." 
 JBehold a " defender of the faith," far goodlier than Henry the VIII; 
 and much dearer to the Unitarians than any of his successors, not ex- 
 cepting Edward the VI, or H'?7/?a7/i of Orange! Behold an fl?icien/ 
 and avowed alliance ; " The sword q/" Mahomet and the Unitari- 
 AN pen .'" All this and more, in a style of fawning compliment, from a 
 sect of professed Christians to an embassador of the great impos- 
 ture : who probably honoured their two representatives, tlie instant 
 their backs were turned, with the ordinary lovii^g appellation of 
 "' Christian dogs^ 
 
 The whole of this precious "epistle," is prefixed to Leslie's "^o- 
 cinian controversy discussed." Theol. Works, Tol. I. 207. 211. 
 
 Such an acknowledged coincidence between Unitarianism and 310- 
 hometanism, goes far to justify the assertion, that there is no very wide 
 ditterenge between Unitarians and Deists. But we are not left to con- 
 struction or inference on this head. The affinity is distinctly avowed 
 by no less a personage than the Colossal English Socinian — the late. 
 Dr. Joseph Priestley. In a letter to his trend, Mr. Belsham, 
 dated " Northumberland, April 23, 1815," speakmg of Mr. Jeffer- 
 son, former President of the United States, the Doctor observes, that 
 " he,", (Mr. Jefferson,) " is generally considered as an unbeliever," i. e. 
 an ivJideL " If so, however, he cannot be far from us." Here is a fair 
 and full confession, that infidelity and Socinianism are near neighbours ; 
 or else, a person allowed to be an infidel, would be '' far off" from a So- 
 cinian, which Dr. Priestley says is not the fact. We say so too; 
 and that they had much better shake hands at once, than keep up ^n 
 unmeaning warfare: especially, as Wm. Wells, Esq. of Boston, agen- 
 ileman of talent and a scholar, " whose zeal," to quote Mr. Eels- 
 ham, "whose zealfor truth," i. e. Socinianism, " is beyond all praise," 
 has told us, in a letter to Mr. B. 3Iarch SI, 1812, " that Unitarianieai 
 
109 
 
 believe in him, nor do any wise belong imto 
 him."* With such men there can be neither 
 communion nor compromise. They are to be re- 
 garded as enemies of both the cross and the 
 crown of our Lord Jesus Christ — as that spiritual 
 Amalek with whom he and his are sworn to have 
 war, only war, and war continually, " from gene- 
 ration to generation." Not that any Avhom his 
 love " constrains," arc to cherish hostile or un- 
 courteous, or untender feeling toward their per- 
 sons ; or to think themselves released, in their 
 case, from the obligations of social kindness. 
 God forbid ! Neither fidelity to the truth, nor in- 
 tense affection to the children of truth, involves 
 such a consequence. 
 
 " He," to repeat the words of Dr. Owen, " he 
 who professeth love unto the saints, that pecu- 
 liar love which is required toward them ; and doth 
 not exercise love in general towards all men : 
 much more if he make the pretence of brotherly 
 love the ground of alienating his affection from 
 
 consists rather in not believing ! !"(a) Now if faith is so essential to the 
 character of true Christians, that the word of their God denominates 
 thein from that very thing, believers ; then, the Unitarians, themselves 
 being judges, are far enough from being Christians! 
 * Dr. Jonu Owen. 
 
 {a) See foe these facts, and certain other curious matter, a pamjihlet, just re-published in 
 Boston, entitled American Unitarianism, or, " The progress and present stitr: of the Uni.^ 
 ■urian L-hurche^ in Amerwa^'' &c. tij the Rcv. Thomas B-^rsham, rsicx-stred, Lomron- 
 
110 
 
 tile rest of mankiod, can have no assurance that 
 the love he so professeth is sincere, incorrupt, 
 genuine, and vs^ithout dissimulation."* Even 
 the most determined enemies of the truth are 
 not to be debarred from this Christian philan- 
 thropy. While we hate, oppose, and Avould ut- 
 terly destroy their " abominations," we would do 
 good to themselves, as we have opportunity, both 
 for this life, and for that which is to come. Our 
 " hearts desire and prayer for them is," and ought 
 to be, " that they may be saved" — -that Jesus of 
 Nazareth, the " Prince and Saviour" whom, not 
 Imowing, they " persecute," would appear unto 
 them in the visions of his word— would ^^ open 
 their blind eyes that the light of the knowledge of 
 the glory of God in his person and work "may 
 shine into their hearts ;" so that obtaining mercy, 
 like the illustrious convert of Tarsus, because they 
 act " ignorantly and in unbelief;'' they may, like 
 him, learn to extol the " exceeding abundant grace 
 of our Lord Jesus ;" and, like him too, " preach," 
 or promote " the faith" which they are labouring 
 to " destroy." x\nd the church shall " glorify 
 God in them." Amen ! 
 
 But while they " remain in their unbelief"™ 
 denying in fact, though acknowledging in words, 
 
 » Gave?? on Heb. VI. 9. Expos. m\>\. III. 89. Fol. 
 
Ill 
 
 that "Just and Holy One," there is an hnmea- 
 sarable gulf between them and real Christians. 
 Thej have no part in our heavenly " David," nor 
 any inheritance in our " son of Jesse." Howevef 
 painful the necessity, it is still necessity which 
 compels us to exclaim, " O my soul, come not 
 thou into their secret ! unto their assembly, mine 
 honoiu', be not thou united !" 
 
 Such was the judgment and practice of the 
 primitive church. The basis of her communion 
 was laid, as we have already seen, in the substan- 
 tial doctrines of the gospel, as summed up in her 
 creed. This she required to be adopted and pro- 
 fessed by all who offered themselves to her fel- 
 lowship. It contained, then, her terms of com- 
 munion. Consequently, agreement in opinions 
 about which Christians might differ without im- 
 pugning any of these doctrines, made no part of 
 those terms. In other words, she did not con- 
 sider such differences as violating her unity. And 
 how numerous they were, no one needs be told 
 who has looked into her history. 
 
 Having seen what the primitive church did 
 not view as inconsistent with her visible unity^ 
 let us now inquire, 
 
 By what, in her judgment, it was liable to be 
 broken. This effect might be produced three 
 ways— 
 
 15 
 
112 
 
 By schisms within her bosom ; 
 
 By the renunciation oi fundamental truth ; and 
 
 By ivithdraiviug from her communion. 
 
 1st. Schisms within her bosom, in the rupture 
 of brotherly harmony^ she always accounted scan- 
 dalous violations of her unity, even though the 
 bonds of external fellowship were not thereby 
 dissolved. Let the expostulation of Clemens 
 Rom AN us with the church of Corinth, be both ex- 
 ample and proof. The professing Christians in 
 that city had given early indications of such a 
 disorderly temper, as to call for the authoritative 
 interposition of the apostle Paul, When the tire 
 of contention has once seized upon a communi- 
 ty, and been fostered by personal antipathies^ its 
 extinction is one of the most rare and difficult of 
 human things. It may subside for a while, and 
 even appear to go out ; yet if any new brand of 
 controversy be thrown among the public passions, 
 the smothered flame will be rekindled, will seek 
 its wonted cliannels, and burst forth and rage 
 with increased violence. The same individuals, 
 or their descendants, will be regularly arrayed 
 against each other. Let there be only a dispute, 
 and a person of sense acquainted with previous 
 facts, shall be able, almost infallibly, to foretell 
 how the parties will be arranged. If two or 
 three conspicuous individuals who formerly act- 
 ed together, should declare themselves, the die i?^ 
 
113 
 
 cast Their old opponents take the oth«r side as 
 a matter of course. Thus social conflicts become 
 hereditary ; and revive under varied shapes, long 
 after the original disagreement is buried and for- 
 gotten. Should thev, however, be diverted from 
 this their natural direction, and even be happily 
 terminated, they leave in the social body a pre- 
 disposition to the same evil disease. This was 
 probably the state of the church of Corinth. It 
 had been split up into parties who attached them- 
 selves to particular ministers, and were more pas- 
 sionately devoted, as is usual, to the glory of 
 their respective chiefs, than to those great inter- 
 ests in which they were equally concerned. Paul 
 had quelled their foolish tumults : but he is no 
 sooner gone to his crown of righteousness, than 
 they embark in a new strife. A number of those 
 who had quarrelled with each other about their 
 favourite teachers, now turn round, and make 
 common cause against the teachers themselves. 
 Such is the consistency of human passions! Such 
 the stability of popular affection ! 
 
 We learn the fact from Clemens Romanus, a 
 contemporary of the Apostles,* and perhaps the 
 next to the Apostles in worth and dignity. We 
 also learn from him, the light in which the litigi- 
 
 • EusEB. E. H Lib. V.C.6. p.217. 
 
114 
 
 ous spirit of the Corinthians was viewed by their 
 fellow christians. In his first, which is his ge- 
 nuine, epistle to their church, he thus patheti- 
 cally remonstrates with them on the subject of 
 their feuds: 
 
 " Let us cleave to the innocent and the just : 
 for these are the elect of God. Why are there 
 strifes, and angry tempers, and dissentions, 
 and schisms, and fightings, among you ? Have 
 we not one God, and one Christ, and one Spirit 
 poured out upon us ; and one calling in Christ ? 
 Why do we rend asunder the members of Christ, 
 and factiously strive against our own body, and 
 proceed to such a height of madness as to forget 
 that we are members one of another ? Remem- 
 ber the words of our Lord Jesus: For he said, 
 IVo to that man ! It had been better for him not to 
 have been born than to lay a stumbling-block before 
 one of my elect : it had been better for him to be 
 hound to a mill-stone^ and be plunged into the sca^ 
 than to stumble one of my little ones. 
 
 " Your schism has perverted many ; has thrown 
 many into despondence ; many into wavering : 
 all of us into sorrow — and your factions con- 
 tinue !"* 
 
 
115 
 
 Again : " Let him who has love in Christ, keep 
 the commandments of Christ. The bond of the 
 love of God, who can set forth? the magniiicence 
 of his beauty who is sufficient to express as he 
 ought ? The height to which love conducts is 
 beyond all utterance. Love permits no schism ; 
 love cherishes no factions ; love does every thing 
 in harmony ; by love all the elect of God are per- 
 fected — without love, nothing is acceptable to 
 God,"^ . 
 
 The dissentions against which Clemens, after 
 the example of Paul, so divinely pleads, were 
 within the church. With all their strifes and se- 
 ditions among themselves, there was one bond 
 
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 ttvrovoiAV i^^o(jt.i^a.i u^t iTrihuBis-bdii yiuetg ort fAiKh t^fAtv x\hn\a>v ; Mvno-- 
 5nri ray Koyav ln(roii rev Kvgiou -^juffv. Ettvi yotg' Oun.i'lcti Ayd^vTrft ix-UVUi' 
 KdiKov ))v cLvrct a cvk i-yivvuBrt, n ivet.lecv (icKtKlfjcv (jlov crK(tvJ'A\i(ru.r Kgiirrov 
 «y Avlci) 'rsre§i7e6>)V«/ y.ukovy k^li x,<trcL7rovria-biiveti «/f txv BeLKa.a-<ra.v, n «vrf. 
 reev jUtK^ay fJt-ov (Dt.itvS'AKKnti. To a-yirrfxa. C/nuv Trohhov^ S'nTe^i-\iv-, twcwovc 
 it; eiBvfMa.v i^Ahtv, mroKT^ovc it? S^iT^yiuoVy tco? -i!ra(.v7atf «('>«? "? hvnrnv' ^ 
 i'r:fjiovo; CuosV «5"iV « <r']<t(Tig. 
 
 Clem. Rom. Ep. I. ad. Cor. c. 46. ap. 
 
 P.P. App. Tom. I. p. 1T4, 5. 
 * 'O t^eov at)/«ttsrj)V (V X^iT(f> rugna-ttrcd Tat rov Xg/row ^ct^9.yytA.fji<irei. 
 7:v it<r/uiov t»s A^at-or^c tow Qiov rti ^vvAtett (^nyna-AO-Bait; ro (MyAKUcv 
 <rits x.tiXXoviif eturoui tic a^ku, tij scTe/, utfuv , to v-^og it? o a.vnyu^ Ayet- 
 •^.f, AviKif^mynrcv i^tv. KyxTrn 2XI2M.A ova t^if etyA^n cv 2TA21A- 
 /EI. AyA'arn ttavta ttoih tv 'OMONOIA/. Ek ciyA-ry iriKiiitS>i(rAV TfAvlic 
 vi iK^srT'it rrj fHitv,' Sty a ayA<crr,c cvS'iv cjAgiTov in ru> ©fw. 
 
 Id.Ib. c. -ifi.p.176. 
 
116 
 
 which they did not venture to break — the bond 
 of their common Christianity. This still pre- 
 served their public union with each other, and 
 with the church of God. Yet observe the topics 
 M^hich Clemens urges for the restoration of con- 
 cord. They are three : 
 
 (1.) All schisms; all dividing of Christian from 
 Christian — all things which prevent their free, 
 full, affectionate, evangelical intercourse, are at 
 war with their relations as members of the one 
 body of Clirist. 
 
 (2.) They are incoropati'ole with the reiguing 
 ))Ower of Christian love. 
 
 (3.) They hinder the progress of the gospel; 
 they shake the faith of some ; produce apostacy 
 in others ; grieve the hearts and weaken the 
 hands of unwavering believers, and expose their 
 authours and abettors to the severest comrnina- 
 tions of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 If the many and woful contentions now in the 
 church of Christ, affect not her children in the 
 same manner, their indifference arises, and can 
 arise, from no other cause than their having " left 
 their first love." 
 
 Let this suffice for the first point. 
 
 2d. The primitive church considered the re- 
 nunciation of fundamental truth as inconsistent 
 with her unity. 
 
117 
 
 This ilowed, and must forever flow, as a ne- 
 cessary consequence from the very principle of 
 her being, viz. her faith. She is huilt upon the 
 foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus 
 Christ himself heing the chief corner-stone; in 
 whom all the buildings fitly framed together^ grow- 
 eth mito an holy temple in the I^ord.^ 
 
 The apostles and prophets, i. e. their inspired 
 doctrines, contain God's testimony concerning 
 that eterxial life which he hath given to us in his 
 SON ;t 'which divine testimony is addressed to, 
 and embraced by, the faith of his church.t And 
 as the sole foundation of faith, in every possible 
 form and degree, is testimony ; so, whatever rests 
 upon testimony, must have faith as its essential 
 principle. Therefore, the church of God, found- 
 ed upon pure revelation, i. e. upon his own testi- 
 mony in his written word, exists by faith, and by 
 faith alone. As this is not the time to "stop the 
 .mouths" of those " vain talkers," Avho charge 
 the doctrine which so highly exalts tlie faith of 
 the church, with depressing, in the same propor- 
 tion, her love and practice of moral virtne ; they 
 shall be dismissed with a single remark — Should 
 a man, on the search for " ti-ue holiness," go in 
 
 * Efh. ii. 20, 21. t lJo«N,v. 11, 
 
 + The BiBLF, froiH begioniflg t<» e»«l. 
 
118 
 
 quest of it among the unbelievers^ the vvoiid itiself 
 would account him vastly simple ! 
 
 To return. Try the common sense of man- 
 kind on this point. Ask them what they would 
 think of an unbelieving church of God ? The 
 idea is shocking. Our understandings revolt from 
 its absurdity ; our hearts from its impiety. No 
 ingenuity has ever been able to juslif; ,, or even 
 to palliate, before the bar of plain dealing, sub- 
 scription to creeds which the subscriber does not 
 sincerely beheve, upon the pretence of their being 
 " articles of peace ;" or of their admitting a con- 
 struction which is not their obvious, unlaboured, 
 natural meaning. This is jugglery all over. The 
 two-faced oracle of Delphos in the sanctuary of 
 God. It belongs to those deep dissimulations, 
 
 That palter with U3 in a double sense ; 
 That keep the word of promise to our ear, 
 And break it to our hope.* 
 
 The agreement thus apparently effected be- 
 tween belief and unbelief; between faith and 
 no faith— the oil and water in Christian doctrine ; 
 w^s well defined by one who " smacked" but 
 little of orthodoxy, to be, " not the unity of the 
 Spirit in the bond of peace ; but the union of 
 knaves in the bond of hypocrisy." 
 
 *■ Shakspeare. 
 
119 
 
 In such arts the early church was no adept 
 That same Spirit of God who taught her the 
 most extended charity towards those who, with 
 all their differences, were one in *•' the faith of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ," taught her also to contend 
 earnestly for that faith ; and not to receive into 
 her bosom, and nurture *.ls her children, any by 
 whom it should be corrupted. ^^ If there come any 
 unto you^'^ says John, " and bring not this doctrine^ 
 receive him not into your house, 'neither bid him 
 God speed. For he that biddeth him 'God speedy 
 is partaker of his evil dee ds^^' To that conspiracy 
 against truth, which, under the guise of charity, 
 welcomes or endures all sorts of doctrines, and 
 those the most contradictory, even concerning 
 the person and work of " God our Saviour," both 
 the beloved disciple and the church of his mas- 
 ter, w^ere utter strangers. To deny any capital 
 article of her faith, was, in her view, to mar her 
 symmetry, to destroy her unity, to tear up her 
 very foundations, flence her public creeds, wiiich 
 she required to be embraced by every candidate 
 for baptism — hence her stress upon her ONE faith 
 throughout the whole world — and her abhorrence 
 of heresy and heretics. Hence the work of Ire- 
 >TyEus against the doctrinal heresies w^hich had 
 
 ^ ^ John 10, 11. 
 1« 
 
120 
 
 troubled her peace until his day. iRENiEUS was 
 for some time a contemporary of Polycarp, hav- 
 ing seen him, as he says himself, in the early 
 part of his life. This zealous vindicator of the 
 one faith of the church, tells us upon Poly- 
 carp's authority, as the story was related by those 
 ivho had it from Polycarp's own lips, that the 
 apostle John, having gone into a bath at EphesuSy 
 and observed Cerinthus,^ sprang out immedi- 
 ately, exclaiming, ^^Let usjly^lest the bath should 
 fall — Ceiiinthus, the enemy of the truth, is there P^ 
 And Polycarp himself having fallen in vvith 
 
 * Cebinthtts, of the Gnostic sect, the earliest corrupters of Chris- 
 tianity after the Judaizing teachers, was in some respects the prototype 
 of the modern Unitarians. Among other fundamental errours, he de- 
 uied the proper divinity of Christ, whom he considered as the most glo- 
 rious of the «Eon«, a set of created beings — a notion fromivhich the 
 Arians are not very remote. He denied also, that Jesus was born of 
 a virgin, which he held to be impossible ; and maintained, that he was 
 the son of Joseph and Mury, in the ordinary course of nature — a lead- 
 ing doctrine of the Socinians of the present day ; and openly avow- 
 td, in a note to Mat. i. 18, in what is called an improved version of iht 
 New Testament, printed at London in 1808, and reprinted at Boston 
 in 1809. Cerinthus, however, taught, that this Christ, this unintelli- 
 gible a,on, descended on the man .Tesus at his baptism, and flew away 
 from him at his crucifixion. (a) TVe do not know that any of his disci- 
 jiles, who dream after him in other respects, have dreamed this dream 
 also. iQut it was needless to stop ; while they were about it, they migh-t 
 as well have dreamed the whole. 
 
 I 
 (o) /rcn. adver.h»re«es, Lib, I.e. 25. 
 
121 
 
 Marcion,* who begged to be recognised by hioj 
 as a brother, " / recognise thee^^^ cried Polycarp, 
 ^^ as the first horn of Satan /" " So rehgiouslj,'' 
 adds IreiN^eus, " did the Apostles and their disci- 
 ples shun all intercourse, even in conversationj 
 with any of those who adulterated the truth."t 
 These traits of primitive character bear as little 
 resemblance to the " charity" of the present age, 
 as that charity bears to real love to men or loy- 
 alty to God. Cyprian is very explicit. " The 
 
 * Marcion of Pontus, uttered horrible blasphemies, maintaining, 
 among other things, that " the God of Abraham and the prophets is 
 not the father of our Lord Jesus Christ ; but a different being, the aw- 
 thourof evUj a delighter in wars, mutable and self-contradictory.'* 
 
 Iren. adv. 1 haer. Lib. I. c. 19, 20. 
 The expression addressed by this heretic to Poly carp, viz. Etsri^/vaxrjce 
 iiuatc, i.e. "Recognise us," was somewhat technical in the primitive 
 church; and equivalent with a. brotherly salulation. The deacons were 
 accustomed to use it at the celebration of the supper, frequently call* 
 iag out to the communicants as they came up, E^iyivainciTt «txx;»\6Uf , 
 " Recognise each other .'" viz. lest a Jew or profane person might ap- 
 ■ proach the holy table. A custom which throws light upon, and may 
 Lave been borrowed from, Paul's expression. 1 Cor. xvi. 18. Extriyi-. 
 toio-KtTi Towf ToioyTow?, " Jcknowltdge them that are si*ch." — 
 
 H. Valesii, Annot. ad. Euseb. H. E. T. L 161. 
 t E;<r<y ol ftKincooTi; avtou (Polycarp) on lactvvus o rov Kuj/oy ^*9»7«ff 
 t» T« Etpio-a ^o^ivBitt xovarAfQ^h ^ t'^uv t<rm K»g/»3"ov, t^nXetro TouBaiXat- 
 fiiov /UH xoycrst/ycsvof, tthk' i'sru'ret,*y '^^vyafAiV, y-n x^ro B*Xatv4/ov <rufx7ri<r\f, 
 
 «5rg*5<3-», *' ETnyivma-xm toy /wgaTOTOwov Toy lnlitvuP ToTeturitv oe 
 A'src^TOkot K, oi fAA^-nrxt dtvreev iar^jiv tvKit0ti!iVj srgof to /x» i'tfJ-^XV '^^V"" 
 
 iREK.ap, Euseb. Lib.IV. c,14.p. 161, 
 
122 
 
 enemy," says be, " exposed and prostrated hy 
 the coming of Christ— contrived a new fraud 
 that he might deceive the thoughtless under the 
 very sanction of the Christian name. He invent- 
 ed heresies and schisms, that he might subvert 
 the faith, corrupt the truth, and rend unity."'^ 
 Gne of the wajs, then, of rending the unity of 
 the church, was the subversion of her faith ; 
 which is the effect of fundamental errour, and 
 the design of that father of lies from whom 
 it proceeds. 
 
 It is superfluous to multiply quotations. The 
 very term heresy, which simply signifies divi- 
 siOiN, w^as early appropriated to false doctrine^ 
 for this very reason, that the bond of the church's 
 unity is faith in the truth ; which bond nothing 
 more effectually unties than the propagation of 
 
 (?06^rm«/ FALSEHOOD. 
 
 3d. The unity of the primitive church was 
 broken by uithdraiving from her communion ; or 
 which was, in her eyes, the same thing, the set- 
 ting up of separate and restricted cQinmunions. 
 
 If custom, which reconciles men to both ab- 
 
 * Quid vero a?tutius, quidve subtillus, 'quarn ut Christi advenlu delec- 
 tus ac prostialus IiviMicvi excogitaverit novam IVaudem, ut sub 
 
 ipso f liristj ni n( ii.inis uiulo failat incautos? Heereses invenit et 
 sch sniHla quibtis subverte-'et tideta, verit£.tem corruniperet, scinderet 
 unitatem. 
 
 .De Unit. Eccks. Opp. p. 105. 
 
123 
 
 surdity and sin, bad not familiarized the specta- 
 cle of evangelical churches ahenated from, arjd 
 often arrayed against, each other— my soul shud- 
 ders — in the name of the Lord Jesus ! ! it would 
 ].)e inconceivable how the idea of one catholic 
 CHURCH can be dissevered from that of one catho- 
 lic COMMUNION. That union should not be a ba- 
 sis for communion — that " particular churches, 
 which are members of the cathoUc church,"^ as 
 parts of one whole, should, in their church-capa- 
 city, have no fellowship with each other, though 
 they constitute but one body — nay, that such fel- 
 lowship should be unwholesome, unholy, unlaw- 
 ful ; although as parts of one whole, they have 
 the very same means of life, health, vigour — is so 
 desperate an assault upon the sense of consisten- 
 cy — such a Leviathan of a paradox, that the fa- 
 culties of poor human nature sink beneath it. 
 
 None of the ancients blundered in this style. 
 Orthodox or heterodox, they agreed in one point, 
 viz. that different communions exclude the idea of 
 unity. Hence, on the one hand, the Novatians. 
 Liiciferjans^ DonatistSj who set up restrictive 
 communions, acted upon the avowed principle 
 that the Catholic church, from which they with- 
 drew, had ceased to be the church of Christ, 
 
 ^ Con. of Faith, ch. xxv. 4. 
 
124 
 
 And, on the other hand, they who condemned the 
 separatists, held, that by the very fact of their 
 separate communion, they threw themselves out 
 of the church of God, and ceased to be a part 
 of her. The ground, then, upon which they both 
 r^tood, is this, that two churches refusing com- 
 munion with each other, do thereby renounce 
 their relation to each other as parts of a com- 
 mon whole : and that it is idle to pretend that 
 the public unity of the church can be made to 
 consist with such divisions. 
 
 To give at full length the proofs of what is 
 here advanced, would be to transcribe a large 
 portion of the works of some of the early fathers. 
 It is assumed, as incontrovertible, by both Cyprian 
 and Augustine, in their respective controversies 
 w ith the Novalians and Donatists ; and frequent- 
 ly asserted in the most formal and unqualified 
 manner. A specimen shall suflice. 
 
 After show ing from the scriptures the visible 
 unity of the church, Cyprian thus demands : 
 
 " Does he who maintains not this unity, ima- 
 gine that he possesses the faith ? Does he who 
 sets himself against the church, cherish a confi- 
 dence of his being in the church ?" — Again : 
 '' Whoever is disjoined from the church, is joined 
 to an adulteress ; is separated from the promises 
 made to the church. Nor can that man attain 
 
125 
 
 to the rewards of Christ, who leaves the church 
 of Christ. He is an ahen, he is profane, he is an 
 enemy.'^* Once more. " Let no one, brethren, 
 cause you to err from the ways of the Lord. Let 
 no one tear you, Christians, from the gospel of 
 Christ. Let no one remove from the church, the 
 church's sons. Let them, who are wiUing to 
 perish, perish by themselves. Let them who 
 have departed from the church, remain without 
 the church, alone. "f 
 
 These things are spoken of the Novatians^ who 
 were not accused of unsound doctrine ; who 
 carried their ecclesiastical discipline to an ex- 
 cessive rigour; and who, from displeasure at 
 w^hat they accounted the laxness of the church, 
 in dealing with the " lapsed," withdrew from 
 her fellowship, and formed a church and com- 
 munion of their own. It was the fact of this se- 
 
 * Hanc Ecclesia unitatem quinon tenet, tenere se fidem credit? Clui 
 Eeclesiae renititur et resistit, in Ecclesii se esse confidit? * » * 
 Ctuiaquis ab Ecclesia segregatus adulteras jungitur; a promissis Ec«" 
 clesiae separatur. Nee pervenit ad Christi praemia qui relinquit Ee- 
 clesiam Christi. Alienus est, profanus est, hostis eat. 
 
 Cyp. de Unitate Eccles. p. 108, 109. 
 
 t Nemo vos, fratres. errare a Domini viis faciat. Nemo vos Chris- 
 tianos ab evangelic Christi rapiat. Nemo filios Eeclesiae de Ecclesia 
 tollat. Pereantsibi soli, qui perire Toluerunt. Extra Eccjesiam soli 
 remaneant, qui de Ecclesia reces^ef aat. 
 
 I». Ep. XLHI. p, 84, 
 
126 
 
 paration, though under the plea of cultivating 
 and preserving a higher degre^of purity, which 
 constituted their offence, and drew upon them 
 the general indignation of the church of God. 
 
 In a similar way Augustiine speaks of the Do- 
 natists and their schism. 
 
 " They who imagine that their own denomi- 
 nation is now clean wheat, have flown away 
 from the mixture of chaff and wheat, as if they 
 were pure chaff: and they who think that they 
 no longer feed with the goats under one shep- 
 herd, are severed, by the stratagems of wolves, 
 from the Lord's flock : and they w^ho suppose 
 that they are not gathered together with the bad 
 fish, are not only bad fish themselves, but have 
 broken the nets of unity."* 
 
 Jerome also, on Eph. 4, 3. observes "Thi^^ 
 place bears particularly hard upon the heretics, 
 who break the bond of peace ^ yet think that 
 they maintain the ' unity of the Spirit ;' whereas 
 the unity of the Spirit is preserved by the bond 
 
 * QXu congt'pgationeni suam jam fniraentum purgatura putcnt e 
 commixtione fruraenti et paleffi tanqTiam pura palea volavernot : et 
 quf se sub uno pastore n on adhuc ciiin hffidis pascere sentiunt lupo- 
 rum insidiis de grege Doiu ni separati sunt: et qui cum nialis risci- 
 bus se congregates esse non • utant, non soluin uiali p sees sunt, sed 
 etiam unitatis retia diruperuut. 
 
 Aug. coni.Parm. Lib. III. c. 3. T. vii. 65. 
 
127 
 
 45f peace. For when, instead of concord in our 
 professions, we cry out, I am ofPaul—IofApol- 
 los — I of Cephas, we divide the unity of the Spirit, 
 and rend it into shreds."* That the venerable fa- 
 ther meant his censure should attach, with pecu- 
 liar force, to those who had receded from the 
 CathoHc fellowship of the church, and set up 
 for themselves, is clear, not only from the nature 
 o£ his argument, but also from his sentiments for- 
 merly quoted. 
 
 Innumerable testimonies of the same sort are 
 at hand, but shall not be brought forward : as the 
 preceding fully establish, we believe, the position 
 advanced in the beginning of this section, viz. 
 that the primitive church accounted her unity to 
 be violated, by internal schisms — ^bythe renuncia- 
 tion of fmidamenial truth — and by separate comr 
 mimions. 
 
 There remains yet a 
 
 Third Inquiry. By what means tvas the visible 
 unity of the primitive church preserved and pro- 
 claimed ? 
 
 * Hie locus vel maxime adversum liKreticos facit : qui, pads vinculo 
 idissipalo atque corrupto, putant se tenere spiritus unitatem ; cum uni- 
 tas spiritus m pacis vinculo conservetur. duando enim non id ipsum 
 oranes loquiuiui'; et alius dicit, Ego sum Pauli — Ego Apollo — Ego Ce- 
 p/tcB, dividimus spiritus unitatem ; et earn in partes ac jnembra disc^r- 
 'xmus. 
 
 HiEB. Comment. &d. Epk. IV. 5. 0pp. T, VI. ITC 
 
 17 
 
123 
 
 The answer to this question flows so naturally 
 from the foregoing discussioUj that it might, per- 
 haps, be left to the reader's own inference. But, 
 to prevent uncertainty or mistakes, it shall be 
 given distinctly. 
 
 Her unity, then, was preserved and evinced, 
 chiefly, 
 
 1st. By an inflexible adherence to the great 
 truths of the gospel, as summed up in her 
 creed. Here was her one faith, with which she 
 permitted no tampering. This faith her mem- 
 bers, all the world over, were expected and re- 
 quired, not merely to abstain from denying, which 
 is at best a negative assurance, but also to em- 
 brace and profess. On this point enough has 
 been said already. 
 
 2d. By her members' conformity to the cus- 
 toms and usages of any particular church which 
 they mignt happen to visit. 
 
 No local or national peculiarities were allowed 
 to usurp the rank of terms of communion. No 
 small fastidiousness about matters which afl*ect- 
 ed not the substance of the Christian profession, 
 to disturb the Christian peace. Whoever, from 
 ignorance, vanity, moroseness, or any other of 
 those deceits which clothe a factious temper in 
 the habiliments of holy zeal, and hiipute to re- 
 ligious prudery the virtues of a tender conscience, 
 
129 
 
 made a noise about things indifferent, and chose 
 to be in dudgeon because he could not fashion 
 the worUl after his own image, was considered as^ 
 " ministering questions, rather than godly edify- 
 ing ;" as being more a scandal than an ornament 
 to the gospel. This point also has been suffi* 
 ciently handled above. 
 
 3d. By respecting and supporting discipUne 
 wheresoever and by whomsoever, within hei 
 pale, inflicted. 
 
 A person censured by one church was, of 
 course, excluded from every other. No petitions^ 
 penitence, complaint, or other expedient, could 
 avail for his admission without reconciliation to 
 the church by which he had been censured. It 
 was inconceivable to these Christian "elders,'' 
 how a sentence of one court of Christ's kingdom 
 should not bo held valid and sacred by every 
 other. To own a church as a member of the 
 church catholic, and yet to disregard, or revise 
 her acts of discipline, is an inconsistency into 
 which they were cautious of falling. It was, in 
 their eyes, equivalent to rejecting her ministry 
 and ordinances. So that whatever subordinate 
 differences might subsist between them, whilo 
 they acknowledged each other as true churches, 
 they never thought of interfering with each 
 other's judicial acts ; or of releasing from^ f^^n- 
 
130 
 
 nme each others offenders. Thus they reclpro- 
 eated confidence, and imparted mutual strength, 
 declared their social union, and drew, by their 
 combined efforts, a line of defence round the 
 " city of God." So thoroughly was this maxim 
 understood, and so generally applied, that "when 
 Pope ZosiMus and Celestine took upon them 
 to receive appellants from the African churches, 
 and absolve those whom they had condemned, 
 St. Austin and all the African churches sharply 
 remonstrated against this as an irregular practice, 
 violating the laws of unity, and the settled rules 
 of ecclesiastical commerce, W'hich required. 
 That no delinquent^ excommunicated in one churchy 
 should he absolved in another^ without giving satis- 
 faction to his own church that censured him,''''^ 
 
 4th. By holding ministerial and Christian com- 
 munion with all true churches, as opportunity 
 offered. That is to say, every church received 
 into communion as fully as her own immediate 
 members, ministers and private Christians, from 
 any and every other church under the whole 
 heaven, upon evidence of their good standing : 
 which evidence, when they were not otherwise 
 sufficiently known, was furnished by letters of 
 recommendation, or what we call testimonials or 
 
 * E'NGH AM, B. XVI.Scc. 14. Yol. II. p. 20. Fol. with the authon^ 
 ties there cited. 
 
certificates, from their respective churches. And^ 
 on the other hand, ministers and private Chris- 
 tians deemed it their duty, and made it their 
 practice, to join in communion with whatever 
 church they might happen to visit in any part of 
 the world. 
 
 A strong example of this communion was 
 quoted before, in the case of Polycarp of 
 Smyrna^ and Anicetus of Rome ; and that at a 
 time when there existed warm disputes between 
 the Asiatic and European churches.* The strain 
 of the whole narrative in Eusebius, shows that 
 this was not an exception to, but an instance of, 
 the ascertained and undisputed rule of church- 
 fellowship. As, indeed, a very simple considera- 
 tion fully proves. For the very intention of Po - 
 LYCARp's journey to Rome was, to prevent the 
 commxinion of the Catholic church being broken by 
 subordinate differences : and he succeeded ; so 
 that the peace of the whole church was preserv- 
 ed. In token whereof, he not only communica- 
 ted with the church of Rome, but, at the request 
 of Anicetus, dispensed the Lord's supper : oof* 
 of the highest acts of ministerial communion. 
 
 The whole correspondence between the Afri- 
 can and Roman churches, as contained in the 
 
letters to and from Cyprian, is conducted upon 
 the same principle. Of this any one will be sa- 
 tisfiedj who shall take the trouble to peruse them. 
 He will perceive, that the proof of this assertion 
 lies rather in their general cast and spirit, and in 
 their obviously supposing thefact^ than in particu- 
 lar expressions. A proof of all others the most 
 decisive with those who know how to estimate 
 proof. A particular witness may err or deceive : 
 but public transactions between social bodies, 
 such as organized churches, bearing upon their 
 face the most intimate and confidential co ope- 
 ration with regard to their most sacred internal 
 concerns, and those as forming one common in- 
 terest, preclude mistake and doubts, as to the 
 fact of their social communion. Such is the 
 character of the transactions mentioned in the 
 correspondence of Cyprian. It cannot, there- 
 fore, be produced at length here, because that 
 would require the transcription of a volume. But 
 for the sake of those to %vhom a case is more sa- 
 tisfactory than a principle^ I subjoin an extract 
 from Cyprian's thirtysecond epistle, written to 
 the Presbyteis and Deacons of Carthage during 
 his exile. 
 
 Speaking of the letters which he had addressed 
 to the clergy at Rome, and of their answers i:.e 
 ??ays, " Be as careful as possible, that what both 
 
I and they have written, be made known to the 
 brethren. And, moreover, if there should be 
 present with }*ou, or should happen to arrive, any 
 foreign Bishops, my colleagues, or Presbyters, or 
 Deacons, let them hear the whole. And should 
 they wish copies of these letters to carry back to 
 their connexions, aid them in the transcription : 
 although I have charged our brother Saturus, 
 the Reader, to let all who may desire it have an 
 opportunity of transcribing them, that somehow 
 or other adjusting, in the interim, the state of the 
 churches, one harmonious plan may be pursued 
 by all."* 
 
 Two things appear to be settled by this letter: 
 (1.) Cyprian w^ould hardly dignify with the 
 appellation of his " colleagues," or invite to co- 
 operation with himself in the affair^ of his oivn 
 church, ministers with whom he did not, or would 
 not, hold communion, 
 
 (2.) As these ministers, to whom his correspon- 
 
 * Vos curate quantum potestis pro diligenti vestra, ut scripta nos- 
 
 tra»et Hlorum rescripta fratribus nostris innotescant. Sed et si qui de 
 
 peregrmis Episcopi Collegse niei, vel Presbyteri, vel Biacones praesen- 
 
 tes fuerint, vel supervenerint, heee omnia de vobis audiant ; et si exem- 
 
 pla epistolarura transcribere, et ad suos perferre voluerint, facultatera 
 
 transcriptionis accipiant. Quamvis et Saturo Lectori fratri nostro 
 
 mandaverini, ut singulis desiderautibus descr;bendi faciat potestatem, 
 
 ut in Ecclesiarum statu quoquomodo interim componendo servetur 
 
 omnibus una et fida consensio. 
 
 Cyp. ep. S2. ed. Fell. p. 6.1 
 
dence with the Roman mhiistiy was to be Im- 
 parted, belonged neither to the African nor Ro- 
 man church, but w^ere " foreigners," (jperegrinis) 
 it is clear, that the most intimate ministerial com- 
 munications w^as maintained with churches of 
 dilTerent nations and distant places. 
 
 Observations like those upon Cyprian's gene- 
 ral correspondence, are applicable to the letters 
 of Atkanasius, wTitten at various times to va- 
 rious individuals, orders, and churches. But, for 
 brevity's sake here also, one example shall suffice: 
 ^- There frequently comes to the city, a man 
 well qualified to preach in Greek. Whoever 
 study the gratification of their ears, hasten to 
 church, not to get healing to their souls, but 
 merely to catch the beauty of the composition.* 
 The eloquent speaker goes away ; these tares 
 also go from the church, for they have nothing of 
 the wheat, notliinir of faith. But the believer, 
 however elegantly the preacher speaks, makes it 
 his business to attend to what is said, whether it 
 be in the Syrian , Roman, or any other tongue. 
 
 * That evil disease, the religious itch, vrhich impoverishes the sojjtl 
 to tickle the ear, is not only of long standing, but of inveterate malig- 
 nity. None languish more pitiably under its venom than those who 
 wish to bethought eUpanf Christians. Let them pause — they are like- 
 ly to pay dear for a worthless gratification ; as "itching ears" natu- 
 rally '• turn away from the truth, and ars turned ftsto faelfs." 
 
135 
 
 For he regards the matter^ not the words)''* 
 Alexandria^ the city to which Athanasius al- 
 ludes, was the metropolis of what is known in 
 history as the Egyptian Diocesc.-f 
 
 From this extract, it is clear, that the churches 
 of Egypt, Syria, Italy, Greece, and indeed of the 
 whole world, held Christian and ministerial com- 
 
 * UA^A-ytviTAi rrcKKctK.ig s/c iTroKty a.v>i^ tTuvsL/uivoc S'iTucrKUv Hxxuvte-Tl. 
 *0 THV Anonv QiKyo/Aivoc a-TnuSu uc t»v iKKK»<riaLv, cu thv tstT^uctv rue 
 4^X"^> AA^sfc rav hcyav to kxkxoc fxovov d^^dLo-Ai. Avs^'^w^was;' I VjyXaT- 
 
 Toia-iirrsv. 'O cTs .-ar/sTTc?, Kdiv {vy?.^tTra>?(^a) kiy»y ret Kiyofxiyn (nrov^dt.- 
 ^tt KitruKivirr K^v 1.vgi<rrij kav Paudnmj kav ^tu^po^o) y^wrrn' cv yug 
 ^itrii hoyovc^ iLKh' i^yx. 
 
 Athan. Horn, dc *Se???f»/e,' Opp. T. II. 63. 
 
 ed. Benedict. 1693. Fol, 
 
 t Dioecesis Ae'j:yptiaca. According to Bingham, the Archbishop 
 of Alexandria, (at tliis time Athanasius himself,) by whom the 
 diocese was governed, had under him not only about one hundred bi- 
 shops, but it seems also, subordinate Metropolitans or Archbishops ; 
 so as '* to have the ordering of ecclesiastical matters throughout all 
 '* Egypt, Thebais, Martoles, Libya, Ammoniaca, 3Iareotis, and PentoL-' 
 ^^ polls ;^^ i.e. a district comprehending several large provinces, ex- 
 ceeding together nine hundred miles in length, and five hundred in 
 breadth. Was this too an apostolic ordinance ? Was this no alteration. 
 in the primitive order of the ehurch ? Yet we see that it did not break 
 communion. 
 
 (a) Vide Cotelerii annot. ad Const, Apost. Lib. IT. c. 58. T. I. p. 2«9, This learned 
 editor proposes to amend the text of Athanasius, by adding, after £y>A»TT*c, the 
 words ^f ii^XoTTftf, so as to l•^\'^d "whether elegantly or inekgantly." But the 
 addiiiou is unneeessaiy, if not hurtiul, to the sense: the point of which is, that serious 
 Christian.'? are not to be put ofi with theeJoquenct of stiie or manner. They look for 
 something more and something better. They look for their spiritual food in the "doc- 
 lirine which is according to Godliness." 1 his will compensate theia for the want of ^e 
 clo'^ution, but thefincrt elocution wIU not compensate fos tihe want of this, 
 
 18 
 
136 
 
 nninion with each other, as a matter of course, 
 when opportunities occurred. 
 
 But not to multiply authorities which might 
 be tedious to the reader, and to put this point at 
 once bejond all question, there is, in the com- 
 pilation called the Apostolical constitutions^ a 
 chapter with the following title: 
 
 " Concerning letters of recommendation brought 
 by STUAf^GEB-S J whether of the Laity J Clergy, or 
 Bishops ; and that there should be no distinction ^^'^ 
 viz. betw^een them and the members, whether 
 lay or clerical, of the church to which they 
 come. 
 
 The chapter then proceeds : 
 
 " If there come from a church abroad bre- 
 thren or sisters with credentials, let the deacon 
 make the proper incjuiry respecting them, whe- 
 ther they profess the faith, belong to the 
 church, and be not contaminated with heresy. 
 And again, if a woman, whether she be married or 
 a widow. And thus having ascertained that they 
 are sound in the faith, and of one accord with the 
 church in the things of the Lord, let him con- 
 duct every one to his proper place. Should a 
 presbyter come from abroad, let him be received 
 into official communion by the presbyters. If a 
 deacon, by the deacon. If a bishop, let him 
 take his seat with the bishop, being accounted 
 
137 
 
 by him as worthy of equal honour. And thou 
 shalt request him, O bishop, to address the people 
 in the ivord of doctrine. For exhortation and ad- 
 monition by strangers is acceptable, and in the 
 highest degree useful. For no prophet, saith 
 Christ, is accepted in his own country. Thou 
 shalt also employ him to offer the eucharist : And 
 should he, out of respect to thee, with a view, 
 like a wise man, to maintain thy honour, de- 
 cline this service, thou shalt insist that he at least 
 bless the people. "^"^^ 
 
 Although these " Constitutions'' are not 
 of apostolic authority, as the erratic and fan- 
 ciful Whiston imagined,! preferring them 
 even above the writings of a single apostle ;{ 
 
 * Ei S'i Ttc Aiaro ^ci^otKictc aS'iXfoc n aiS'ih<p» i^ex^in irvret<riv i'nrtKoy.i^o- 
 fiivcty J'l'j.Kovoc i^a-tK^mTO) rst KctT ct'jTOugy etvefAgivceV it TsriTOh iKKKixnATl- 
 KOI, u [AH a.ts-0 eCt^io-iusi mri fji.iuc>xv<ry.ivoi. Y^ett -arctx/v, ii itirctvSgoi « ;^^«/)«f 
 
 ^ CUT&) ^VOVC T* KClT etUTOUCy Wf tlCTtV St?.»3-»f nSTfTOt ^ OfAOyVafAOVii £V TO/? 
 K'J^tAiC:JiCy ATTAyiTCeiKA^-OV itiTOV 'W^Oa-ttKiVTA etUTU'TQ'WCV. Et i'i i/WiiiT- 
 
 ^v7£§o? Aoro TTAgoiKtA? iifiK^oty ^goaSi^sa-Bo) C'Oro ruv 'sr^nT/SvltPiev Koivcel- 
 xor gi cTe /"ifitxivo?, C"aro toov S'iakovuv u S'i itiria-KO<aro;y c-jv T<i> i/nria-KOTra 
 xAd-e^icrdai, t»? Au^ng A^tovfxivoc 'jrsr' avtov ri/umt. Kai igama-ut avtov, 
 a) i'ariffx.o'we^ fargoa-KAhnrAi tu> kaco Kcycu? SiJ^aktikov;' » yAp tmv Ptvav tta- 
 gAKhna-t; Xj vcud-itrtA iwwAg^S'iKTOi ^ atpuKifAWTArn (t^hS'pa. OuA/? yAP 
 argcipjiTw?, (pucrtv, cTskto? tv t« i^ta, tnrATgiS't. 'E.Tmgi'^m /' AVT(i, g T/jv ey- 
 
 X^giriAV AVOtC-Al'iAV S'iy cT;' iUAA^UAV, ^S (TCfOf, TIJV TtfAHV (TOt mgOoVi (Ail 
 ^iXyilTi] AViViyKAlf KAV US TOV KAOV iUKoytAV AVTCV TrilHa-AO-BAl KATA- 
 fAyKSLCrU;. 
 
 Const. App. Lib, II. c. 58. ap. PP. App. ed. CoTEr,» 
 Tom. I. p. 268, 9, 
 i WHisTos's^prm. Christianity rrvived, Vol^ TIL p. 11, 
 -t lb. p- 4. 
 
138 
 
 but the work of some pretender two centu- 
 ries later, as the learned for the most part 
 agree ; yet they clearly show what >Tas the state 
 of the church respecting communion at the time 
 they were composed ; and what was the current 
 opinion concerning her uniform practice. Little 
 stress, indeed, is to be laid on that opinion, sim- 
 ply as such : for it was undeniably erroneous in 
 some other things of moment. But as it coin- 
 cides with the scriptural doctrine of the unity of 
 the church, as well as with facts established by 
 different witnesses, it is entitled to more than or- 
 dinary credit in the present argument. The 
 mere factof this catholic communion, both Chris- 
 tian and ministerial, being so sedulously kept up 
 in the third or fourth century, furnishes an al- 
 most demonstrative proof that it was so from the 
 beginning. Human vanity and policy breed 
 discord, not peace ; put asunder what God has 
 joined ; never join what the Devil has put asun- 
 der. So that the one communion of the church, 
 being directly contrary to the corruption of man 
 and the interest of hell, could never have existed 
 without the ordinance and operation of God. 
 
 It has now been proved, we hope, to the con- 
 viction of the reader, that the communion for 
 which these pages plead, viz. the free and full 
 interchange of fellowship in all evangelical ordi- 
 
139 
 
 nances, between believers of eveiy name, on 
 the broad basis of their agreement in the sub- 
 stantial doctrines of the cross, is precisely that 
 communion which was maintained in the primi- 
 tive church, beginning with the days and the 
 example of the Apostles themselves. The local 
 and party exceptions to this general position are 
 furnished bv the Novatians, Donatists and Luci- 
 ferians^ who have already been noticed. The 
 two former brought the principle of catholic 
 communion to a rigorous test: and the discus- 
 sions respecting their schisms, terminated, as we 
 have seen, in its triumph as a principle of the 
 most sacred obligation. The sect of Luciferians^ 
 so named from Lucifer^ bishop of CagUari^ in Sar- 
 dinia^ was too feeble and ephemeral to attract 
 regard on the general question. The same re- 
 mark applies to those very partial suspensions of 
 communion which arose most frequently from 
 personal considerations ; and were rather effusions 
 of passion and spleen, than expressions of opi- 
 nion deliberately adopted, or authoritative pre- 
 cedents likely to be followed. They were just 
 sufficient to show the strength of the ties which 
 they endeavoured to break ; and to establish the 
 doctrine which they might be quoted to discre- 
 dit. That doctrine, which the present argument 
 
HO 
 
 aims to revive and recommend ; and which the 
 authour is confident no materiaUsiCis c^n be found 
 to invalidate. 
 
 Here, then, we take leave of the primitive 
 church. Even in the fourth century many grievous 
 abuses had sprung up, groAvn rank, and brought 
 forth their poisonous fruit, especially in her wor- 
 ship and government. The policy of Con- 
 STANTiNE which sccularizcd her form ; his pro- 
 fusion, which corrupted her virtue ; and the me- 
 retricious attire which banished her modesty, pre- 
 pared her for rapid infidelities to her Lord, and 
 for her final prostitution to the Man of Sin. 
 From the fifth century may be dated that career 
 of shame which, particularly in the Western em- 
 pire, she ran, with wild incontinence, through 
 the night of the " dark ages ;" until she was 
 branded from above as the " Mother of Har- 
 lots AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. "^ 
 
 To carry down the induction of facts during 
 these opprobrious centuries, would be an idle 
 expenditure of time and toil, as its results would 
 be of no value in the eyes of those for whom 
 these pages are penned. Omitting them altoge- 
 ther, we resume our thread at that eventful 
 crisis, when the faithful remnant heard and obey- 
 ed the m_andate of their God. " Come out of 
 
 Ilex 
 
141 
 
 her^ my people^ that ye be not partakers of her 
 sins^ and that ye receive not of her plagues, '^'^'^ 
 
 The reader perceives at once, that we allude 
 to the Reformation from Popery. 
 
 All who are conversant with the histoiy of that 
 stupendous revolution, know that it turned main- 
 ly on two points, viz. ih^ faith and ivorship of the 
 church. The one was to be reclaimed from its 
 manifold perversions ; and the other to be disen- 
 cumbered of a monstrous ritual. By the first, 
 the light of life in the doctrine of the gospel was 
 almost extinguished : and by the second, men 
 were bowed dow n under a load of superstitions 
 which Fraud had been accumulating for ages 
 upon the back of IgnoraxNce. Both these evils 
 were to be remedied. Truth was to be restored 
 to her purity, and w^orship to her simplicity. The 
 minds of men w^ere to be liberated from their 
 bondage, and the word of God to reassume its 
 authority. Tradition was to fall under the sword 
 of the commandment; and, "Thus saith the 
 Lord," to dissipate the figments of the elders. 
 The mantle of the Apostles fell upon the Re 
 formers ; while the " Spirit of judgment and of 
 burning," both enhghtened their path, and de- 
 voured the thorns and briars which impeded 
 their march. 
 
 • * Rer, xyjii. 4» 
 
142 
 
 The interests which they rose to vindicate ; 
 the severity of the Contlict which they had to 
 sustain; and the long train of consequences 
 which were to flow from their measures, called 
 forth that mighty talent, magnanimous feeling, 
 and elevated principle, which have nothing to 
 throw away upon trifles ; but endless treasures of 
 intellect and toil, of suffering and blood, to la- 
 vish in the cause of Jesus Christ. 
 
 The Protestant churches, therefore, from 
 the Reformation downwards, shall furnish our 
 
 Third class of facts. 
 
 On the several points enumerated above, viz. 
 defective moral discipline — different rites of wor- 
 ship — different views of external order — ^^and dif- 
 ferent opinions in subordinate doctrines, there 
 was a marked coincidence between the views of 
 the Reformers and of the primitive Christians ; 
 both agreeing that they are not sufficient grounds 
 of disunion among Christians, nor of their ex- 
 cluding each other from the most tender and 
 ample fellowship in the things of God. In the 
 ease of the Reformers, this is the more worthy 
 of notice, as a proof of their having imbibed 
 the pure spirit of the gospel ; seeing they did not, 
 like the first heralds of the cross, issue from one 
 nation, and one spot, with simuhaneous com- 
 missions, and after having been educated toge= 
 
143 
 
 ther for several years by the master himself: but 
 were of different countries, languages, habits, 
 prejudices; many of them absolute strangers to 
 each other, yet all drawing their doctrines out of 
 the one well of salvation — the holy scripture. 
 Their concord, therefore, in matters about which 
 they had no guide but the word of God, can 
 hardly be attributed to another cause than hi3 
 ^' sending forth his hght and his truth." And 
 they did declare themselves, very abundantly, 
 both in word and deed, upon the subject now 
 before us. 
 
 Their adversaries, the Papists, from whose 
 communion they had separated, denied their 
 whole claim to the character of Christian 
 churches. To repel such a charge, it was ne- 
 cessary to determine from the word of God what 
 constitutes the true church ; to give its distinctive 
 marks; and to show that they belonged to it 
 themselves. In doing this, they fixed upon such 
 characteristics as are common, even at the pre^ 
 sent hour, to all the churches of Reformed Chris- 
 tendom, which have not lost the faith of the 
 Trinity and the atonement* These characteris- 
 tics are generally summed up, in their confessions, 
 under two heads — / 
 
 1st. The pure doctrine of the gospel. / 
 
 M. Th^ right administration of the «acrar 
 19 
 
144 
 
 " The Church," says the Augustan confessiorK^ 
 drawn up by Melancthon, in 1530, revised by 
 Luther and other divines, and published as the 
 authentic expression of the Lutheran faith, 
 " The church, properly so called, has her signs, 
 viz. the pure and sound doctrine of the gospel, 
 and the right use of the sacraments ; and for the 
 true unity of the Church, it is sufficient to agree in 
 the doctrine of the gospel and the right use of the 
 sacraments, "^"^^ That such was the sense of the 
 Protestant vi^orld, is evident from the testimonies 
 referred to in the margin, which are not tran- 
 scribed, as it would only be a series of tauto- 
 logiesy the very same thing being asserted nearly 
 ip the same words.f What is meant by the " pure 
 gospel,'^ and the due administration of the sacra- 
 ments, must be ascertained from the confessions 
 
 * Habet Ecclesia proprie dicta, signa sna, scilicet, puram et sanam 
 cvangelii doctriuam, et rectum usum sacramentoruni. Et ad verara 
 unitatem ecclesiae satis est consentire de doctrinaevangelii, et admi- 
 tiistratione Sacramentorum. 
 
 Syntag : Conf. p. 2. p. 13. Art. conf. vii. 
 t See apud Syntagma confessionum. 
 Co>FEfeS. Argentinens: A. D. 1530 Synt.part 1, p. 2i9 
 
 2 248 
 
 184 
 
 1 lOT 
 
 130 
 
 53 
 
 150 
 
 BOHOEMIC : 
 
 1535 
 
 WlBTEMBURG : 
 
 1551 
 
 Gallican: 
 
 1561 
 
 Anglic : 
 
 1562 
 
 Helvet : 
 
 1566 
 
 ScoTic : 
 
 1568 
 
145 
 
 themselves. That they vary in certain particu- 
 lars ; some being more full, and others more 
 brief; some more, and others less precise : some 
 having what others want ; and some even main- 
 taining, in' secondary matters, what has not the 
 sanction of the rest, is unquestionable. It would 
 have been a wonder equal to the fable of the se- 
 venty-two translators of the Old Testament in- 
 to Greek,* had no such diversity happened. 
 But nothing can be more clear or consoUng than 
 their harmony in all the leading doctrines of the 
 gospel, which areknowTiat this day as the doc- 
 trines OF THE Reformation. Around these 
 Christians rallied with one heart and one soul 
 These were the basis of their union and com- 
 munion. Nor is there -ach a thing as a sectarian 
 note of the church to be found either among their 
 public instruments of profession, or in any pro- 
 testant writer of eminence, with whom the au- 
 thouris acquainted, whether of that or of a sub- 
 sequent age. 
 
 * The story is, that Plokmy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, about 
 two centuries and a half before Christ, shut up seventy-two learned 
 Jews, who had been sent from Jerusalem to translate the law, in se- 
 venty-two different cells, till they had finished their translation: Avhen, 
 mirabiledidu! the seventy-two versions agreed /Aroug/ioMrm ei^cr^/ tit- 
 tie, even to the very words II" See Justin : i\URTYR : cohort, ad Gmcos, 
 p. T3. ed. Grabe. 8vo, 1703. 
 
146 
 
 Now that they judged their concord in the ca- 
 pital articles of faith to be sufficient for every 
 purpose of Christian unity and fellowship, is 
 plain from their obvious intention, which w as, to 
 justify themselves and their principles from the 
 calumnies of their adversaries. The great crime 
 with which they were charged w^as their re- 
 nouncing THE church. They w^ere stigmatised as 
 schismatics, heretics, fanatics, apostates, profli- 
 gates. They replied, that their departure was 
 a matter not of choice, but of necessity ; that 
 they had no alternative but to part with popery 
 or with piety ; to put their souls in jeopardy, or to 
 withdraw from Rome : and that instead of apos- 
 tatising from Jesus Christ, they were only re- 
 turning to the ancient faith which Rome had for- 
 saken. They accordingly laid open her abomi- 
 nations to the world ; and wdth their bible in the 
 one hand, and their confession in the other, they 
 proclaimed the truth which is "according to god- 
 liness." Certainly, if it was to enjoy this truth, 
 and the worship connected with it, that they 
 broke communion with Rome, their very act de- 
 elares it to be the ground of communion with each 
 other ; for if it were not so, and so view^ed, they 
 would have been self-convicted of having lost the 
 church of God in their zeal to reform her, inas- 
 inuch ?is they would not have retained enough to 
 
147 
 
 erect a church-communion. But if they were not 
 guilty of such folly ; if they committed no such 
 ridiculous suicide, as every Protestant will insist ; 
 then it follows that the doctrines of their confes- 
 sions being substantially the same, and exclud- 
 ing, often avowedly, their other differences as not 
 essential, were, in their own eyes, the true and 
 broad foundation of church-communion. 
 
 This conclusion grows out of the veiy structure 
 of their confessions ; but they have fortified it by 
 declarations which are of the nature, and almost 
 in the form of a protest against disunion, on ac- 
 count of those peculiar features w hich may dis- 
 tinguish the churches of one country or name 
 from those of another, without infringing upon 
 their common faith. All such peculiarities, whe- 
 ther in government, worship, discipline, manners, 
 or modifications of doctrine, they held to be sub- 
 jects of brotherly forbearance ; and no just cause 
 of dissension, far less of sectarian communion. 
 On the contrary, like the primitive christians, 
 they raaiiitained, that the one church of God, scat- 
 tered over the whole earth, ought to have but one 
 communion. So that whoever is in communign 
 with one part of the Catholick church, is, by this 
 very fact, in communion with every other part, 
 and is so to be acknowledged, received, and 
 cherished. 
 
148 
 
 Lest I should be thought to e,Kaggerate, they 
 shall speak for themselves. 
 
 The AuGSBuuGH confession, (A. D. 1530,) 
 " condemns the Donatists and their like."* Now 
 the Donatists^ as was shown above, broke oft* 
 from the Catholick church on pretence of her 
 having bad men in her communion, and even in 
 her ministry. This, say the Lutheran Protestants, 
 was not a sufficient cause : they of course con- 
 demn all those churches who refuse communion 
 with others on account of defective moral disci- 
 pline. 
 
 "The Belgic confession, i. e. of Calvinist Pro- 
 testants in the United Provinces, (1561,) thus 
 lays down their faith respecting the church : 
 
 " We believe and confess one catholick or uni- 
 versal church ; which is the true congregation or 
 assembly of all faithful Christians who expect 
 their whole salvation from Christ Jesus alone ; 
 as they are washed in his blood, and sanctified 
 and sealed by his Spirit. This holy church is li- 
 mited to no particular })lace or person, but is 
 vspread over the whole earth ; yet, through the 
 power of faith, is joined and united, all of it, by 
 affection and will, in one and the same spirit. 
 
 " We believe, that since this sacred assembly 
 and congregation consists of those who shall be 
 
 "* Art. viH. 
 
149 
 
 saved, and there is no salvation out of it, no per- 
 son, of whatever rank or dignity, may withdraw 
 himself therefrom, so as to live separately content- 
 ed tvith his oivn custom only. But on the contra- 
 ry, that all are bound to join themselves to this 
 assembly, and carefully to preserve the unity of the 
 churchy and freely to submit themselves to her 
 doctrine and discipline, bowing their neck to the 
 yoke of Christ ; and as members in common of 
 the same body, to lay themselves out for the edi- 
 fication of their brethren, as God has bestowed 
 his gifts upon them respectively. Moreover, that 
 these things may be the better observed, it is the 
 duty of all believers to disjoin themselves from 
 those who are without the church, and to join 
 themselves to this assembly and congregation of the 
 faithful^ wherever God has formed it. Whoever, 
 therefore, shall forsake that true church, or shall 
 refuse to connect themselves ivith it^^^ (in whatever 
 part of the world it be,) " do openly resist the com- 
 mandment of God, 
 
 " We believe that the utmost diligence and 
 prudence are to be used in determining, accord- 
 ing to the w^ord of God, which is that true 
 church, since all the sects upon earth lay claim 
 to the same title. We do not now speak of hy- 
 pocrites who are mingled with good men in the 
 church, although they do not properly belong to 
 
150 
 
 her, but of distinguishing the body and congrega- 
 tion of the true church from all other sects which 
 falsely boast of being members thereof. 
 
 '' By the following marks, therefore, shall the 
 true church be distinguished from the false. If 
 there flourish there the pure preaching of the gos- 
 pel^ and the legitimate administration of the sacra- 
 ments according to the command of Christ. If, 
 moreover, right discipline he applied for the coer- 
 cion of vice ; if, in fine, to sum up all in one word, 
 she reduce every thing to the rule of God^s ivord, 
 reject all things contrary thereunto ^ and acknow- 
 ledge Christ to he her only head. By these marks, 
 we say, may be known the true church, from 
 which it is not lawful for any one to separate 
 himself."* 
 
 * Credimus et confitemur unicam Ecclesiam Catholicam, seu uni= 
 •rersalem. Q,uae est vera congregatio seu ccetus omnium fidelium 
 Christianomm,quitotam suara salutem abuno Jesu Christo expectant 
 quatenus videlicet ipsius sanguine sunt abluti, et per Spiritum ejus 
 sanctificati atque obsignati. Haec porro Ecclesia ut ab initio mundi 
 fuit, ita et usque ad ejus finem est perduratura. Id vel ex eo apparet, 
 quod Christus rex aeternus est, qui nunquam sine subditis esse po- 
 test- Caeterum banc Ecclesiam deus contra omnem mundi furorem et 
 impetura tuetur ; quamvis ad aliquod tempus parva admodum et quasi 
 extincta in conspectu horainum appareat ; quemadmodura tempore illo 
 periculosissimo Achabi Deus sibi septem raillia virorum reservasse di- 
 cttur, qui non flexerantgenu coram Baal. Denique haec Ecclesia sancta 
 nullo est aut certo loco sita et circumscripta, aut uUis certis ac singu- 
 laribus persomis asitricta aut alligata. S^d per omnem orbem terrarum 
 
151 
 
 Some of these expressions are very strong: and, 
 to one not acquainted with the circumstances 
 under which tliey were used, may look as if they 
 required spotless perfectmi in a true church ; or 
 absohite agreement in all views of scriptural in- 
 stitutions. But the reader must not permit him- 
 self to be carried away by such a mistake ; no- 
 thing could be further from the intention of this 
 "good confession." Its object is to show the 
 Protestant church to be a true church in opposi- 
 tion to the church of Rome ; as is manifest from 
 the sequel of this very article, where the false 
 church is described as "ahvays attributing more 
 to herself, her institutions, and traditions, than to 
 
 sparsaatque diffusa, quamvig animoac voluntate in unoeDdemque spi- 
 I'itu, virtute fidei, tota sit simiil conjuncta atque unita. 
 
 Crediinus suinma sum diligentia, tuin prudentia, ex Dei verbo esse 
 iriquireudum ac discernendum quaenam sit ilia vera Ecclesia : quando- 
 (luidem omnes sectae quotquot hodie in mundo vigent Ecclesia) 
 titulum nomenque usurpant atque praetexunt. Nequaquam vero 
 de hypocrtamin ccetu nunc loquimur, qui bonis in Ecclesia sunt 
 perniisti, licet ad Ecclesiam proprie non pertineant, in qua corpora 
 sunt pi'ccsentes ; sed de distinguendo duntaxat verse Ecclesiae corpora 
 ac congregatione, ab aliis omnibus sectis qua? se Ecclesiae membra 
 esse falso gloriantur. His igitur notis vera Ecclesia falsa discernetur. 
 Si ill ilia pura Evangelii praedicatio legitimaque Sacramentorum ex 
 Christi prffiscripto admiaistratio vigeat; si item recta disci plina Hc- 
 clesiastica utatur ad coercenda vitia ; Si denique (ut uno verbo cuncta 
 complectamur.) ad normam verbi Dei omnia exigat et quaecunque 
 iiuic adversantur, repudiet : Christuraque unicum caput agnoscat. His, 
 Inquam, notis certum est veram Ecclesiam dignosci posse ; a qua fa^ 
 ^isn sit quenquam disjungi. 
 
 20 
 
152 
 
 the word of God— as not subjecting herselt* to the 
 yoke of Christ — as not administering the sacra- 
 ments according to his prescription ; but one 
 while adding to them, and another diminishing 
 from them — as always relying more upon men 
 than upon Christ ; and as persecuting those who 
 aim at holy conformity to his law, and who 
 arraign her avarice, idolatry, and other vices."* 
 
 Such phrases, therefore, as " the pure preach- 
 ing of the gospel" — ■" the administration of the 
 sacraments according to the command of Chrisf^ 
 — " the right use of discipline" — " the reducing 
 every thing to the rule of God^s ivord^^ — " the re- 
 jection of all things contrary thereto," must be in- 
 terpreted not so much of the actual attainment of 
 scriptural perfection by any churches whatever, 
 as of their avow^ed standard ; the test to which 
 they submit their pretensions ; and of their sub- 
 stantial character, whatever, in other respects, 
 might be their failings or differences. That this 
 is the true meaning, the following considerations 
 make evident: 
 
 (1.) The Belgic churches themselves had not 
 then, and have not since, arrived at such purity 
 as their own confession, according to certain ex- 
 jDressions separately taken, seems to require. And 
 
 * BEitiic : Confess, art. 29. zpudSynt. Conf. part I. p. 179. 
 
153 
 
 they surely did not intend to say that they had 
 not themselves true churches, and were unworthy 
 of communion with others. 
 
 (2.) The churches adopting this confession, 
 approved the confession of the Swiss churches, 
 commonly called the Helvetic confession, which, 
 as we shall presently see, disclaims the idea of 
 withdrawing from communion with the churches 
 of Germany, France, England, and other Chris- 
 tian nations.* Their own act, therefore, pro- 
 claims their communion with these foreisin 
 churches, and no construction may be put upon 
 their words which shall contradict iheir own 
 practical commentary. 
 
 (3.) This same Belgic confession was unani- 
 mously approved by the continental divines at 
 the synod of Dordt, A.D. 1619 ; as " containing 
 no doctrine adverse to ihe declarations of holy 
 scripture ; but, on the contrary, as agreeing with 
 the truth, and with the confessions of the other 
 reformed churches."t It cannot, then, be fairly 
 understood in a sense hostile to those confessions ; 
 if we allow the delegates from almost all Protes- 
 tant Christendom to have known any thing of 
 the faith of their respective churches : and 
 
 * Syntag. Co>^FEss.part I. p.4. 
 
 t Acta Synod. Dordeechtan.t., Fess. cxlvi. p. SOI. Bcrd. 1620. 
 
154 
 
 amons: these churches there was th^, as there is 
 now, great diversity in many things. 
 
 The Belgic confession, therefore, waving all 
 minor differences between Christians, and bent 
 on supporting the great things of their common 
 faith, contends for the church's unity on this con- 
 secrated ground ; and insists that it is the duty of 
 every one who loves the Lord Jesus, to hold 
 communion with her through the medium of any 
 one of her branches to which he may have ac- 
 cess in any part of the world. If there be but 
 a true church, that is enough to justify his parti- 
 cipation of her ordinances ; and if she be the only 
 true church there, to render such participatioa 
 his bounden duty. Thus the Belgic confession, 
 and, of course, all who approved it. 
 
 As for rites, ceremonies, modifications of ex- 
 ternal order, he. which form the chief differen- 
 ces among churches who hold the main doctrines 
 of faith, those same Christian heroes, of whom 
 thousands and ten thousands were enrolled in 
 " the noble army of martyrs," speak in the fol- 
 lowing manner : 
 
 Augustan confession. " If doctrine and faith 
 be pure, no one, on account of dissimilitude in 
 human traditions, is to be deemed a heretick, or 
 a deserter of the Catholick church. For the unity 
 of the Catholick church consists in the harmony 
 
loo 
 
 of doctrine and faith^ not in human traditions^ 
 ivhereof there has always been in the churches 
 throughout the whole world a great diversity J^"^"^ 
 
 The BoH(EMic confession. " Although the ex- 
 ternal face and form of our churches be now pe- 
 culiar, yet this is done for no other reason than 
 greater convenience in teaching the word, ad- 
 ministering the sacraments, and terminating dis- 
 putes among brethren who may consult us. As 
 also for the exercise of discipline, by excommu- 
 nicating those whose conduct merits correction, 
 and who, though infamous for their open enormi- 
 ties, refuse to repent ; and by re-admitting them, 
 upon repentance, to the fellowship of the church, 
 and the sacrament of the Eucharist. We are not, 
 therefore, separated from the Catholick church, 
 seeing we enjoy all those things which properly 
 appertain to her. 
 
 " As to the differences which may obtain 
 among the churches in external rites or ceremo- 
 nies, we think it of no importance ; for these 
 
 * In externis traditionibus abusus quidara mutati sunt ; quarum eti- 
 am si qua estclissimilitudo, si tanien doctrina, et fides pura sit, nemo 
 propter iilam traditionura humanarura dissimilitudiuem habendus est 
 hagreticus, aut desertor CatboliceeEcclesige. Nam unitas Catholicse Ec- 
 clesiae consistit in doctrinal et fidei consensu ; non in traditionibus hu- 
 manis, quarum semper in Ecclesiis per totum orbem magna fuit dissi- 
 militudo- 
 
 AtTGusT. GoNF. Art. XXI-> 
 
15t> 
 
 greatly vary among Christians according to va- 
 riety of place and nation. Ceremonies change ; 
 but faith, Christ, the word, change not. There- 
 fore, a variety of ceremonies, if they be not re- 
 pugnant to the word of God, neither does harm to 
 Christianity, nor separates from the church. For 
 true rehgion or Christian piety does not consist in 
 external rites or ceremonies, but in spiritual be- 
 nefits : in righteousness, faith, joy, peace, and 
 true worship, there being first laid, (as sailh Paul) 
 the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Je- 
 sus Christ himself being the chief corner stone, 
 in whom, whatever building be compacted, it 
 grovveth unto an holy temple in the Lord."* See 
 
 * Q.uanquain autem nunc jiixta externam faciem, et modum peculia- 
 rem habemus congregationera : hoc tamen apud nos non ob aliud fit, 
 quani ut commodius doceamus verbuin,niinistremus Sacranienta, con- 
 troversias et lites, si quando inter fratres exoriantur, etnos consulant, 
 (lirimamus, et ad Ecclesiasticamdisciplinam eiercendara erga eos qui 
 correctione digna committunt, quique manifestis flagitiis infames, re- 
 sipiscere nolunt, ut excomniunicatione ab Ecclesiis arceantur. Ubi ve- 
 ro resipuerunt, rursuru ad consortium Ecclesiae et Eucharistiee sacra- 
 mentum admittantur. Non igitur ab Ecclesia catliolica segregamur, 
 cum earum rerum omnium, quae proprise Ecclesiae sunt, usum ha- 
 beamus. 
 
 Quantum vero attinet ad externos ritus aut ceremonias, sicubi dissi- 
 miles in Ecclesiis sint, nihil referre putamus ; nam apud alios aliae, pro 
 gentium ac locorum varietate, inter Christianos existunt. Mutantur 
 ceremoniae, non mutatur fides, Christus, aut verbum. Non ergo aliae 
 ceremoniae, si minus pugnentverbo Dei, incommodant Christianismo» 
 nee separant ab Ecclesia : Non enim hsec religio aut Christiana pietas 
 in ceremouiis aut ritibus externis sita est, sed in spiritalibus bonis, jas- 
 
157 
 
 also the whole eighth article in the confession it- 
 self, " concerning the holy CathoUck church^ 
 
 The Saxon confession. " In the mean time 
 there have been, and are, and will be, in the 
 church of God, men holding the foundation, who 
 have and have had, and will have, some more 
 some less light ; and sometimes saints too build 
 stubble upon the foundation, since, especially in 
 the wretchedness of the present times, many who 
 have the beginnings of faith have not the privi- 
 lege of being instructed, and of conferring with 
 those who are more skilful. These, however, 
 are in the number of those whom it is the will 
 of God we should spare, (Ezech. 9.) who groan 
 and grieve on account of established errour. A 
 judgment, therefore, must and may be formed 
 chiefly from the voice of doctrine, what and 
 where is the true church, which, by the voice of 
 true doctrine, and the legitimate use of the sa- 
 craments, is distinguished from all other human 
 societies ; and what the voice of true doctrine is, 
 the very writings of the apostles and prophets, 
 and the creeds^ sufficiently declare. In these there 
 
 titia,fide, gaudio, pace et vero cultu, jacto fundamento (ut Paulus alt) 
 Apostolorum et Prophetarum, sumrao angulari lapide Christo Jesu, in 
 quo quacunque structura coagmentatur, ea crescit in teraplum sanctum 
 in Domino— 
 
 Cone. Bohosm. preef. ajjud. Syntag. Conf. 
 
 part 2. p. 232, 
 
158 
 
 iS 110 ambiguous doctrine concerning the^bww-^a- 
 iion^ viz. concerning tlie articles of faith, the es- 
 sence and will of God, the redemption of the 
 Son, the law, the j3romises, the use of the sacra- 
 ments, the ministry" — * 
 
 The Helvetic confession. " We lay so great 
 stress upon communion with the true church of 
 Christ, as to deny that they can live before God, 
 wiio do not communicate with the true church of 
 God but separate themselves therefrom."t The 
 confession then protests against harsh judgment 
 and {practices on account of individual infirmi- 
 ty, or of abuses and corruptions in particular 
 churches ; and adds, " It is to be observed, that 
 
 * Interea tamen fuernnt, sunt, et erunt in ecclesia Dei homines reti- 
 nentes fundanjentura, etiainsi alii plus alii minus lucis habuerunt, ha- 
 bent, et habebunt ; et interdum sancti etiara stipulas extruunt suprs 
 fundaraentum : cum pra^scrtini in hac temporum miseria multis qui ha- 
 bent initia fidei non concedatur ut erudiri et cum doctioribus colloqui 
 possint. Hi sunt tamen in eorum numero quibus Juliet Deus parci 
 (Ezech. 9.) Q,ui gemunt etdolent propterea quoderrores stabiliantur. 
 Preecipue igitur et voce doctr nae judicandum est, et judicari potest. 
 quae et ubi sit vera ecclesia quae voce vera? doctrinae, deinde et legitime 
 usu sacramentorum ab aliis gentibus discernitur : et quse sit vox vera' 
 doctrinae ostendunt ipsa scripta prophetica et apostolica, et symbola. 
 In his non est ambigua doctrina iiefundamento ; videlicet, de articulis 
 fide;, de essentia et voluntate Dei, de Filio Redemptore^ de lege, de 
 prom ssionibus, de usu sacramentorum, de ministerio. 
 
 Saxon : Conf. Art. 12. Synt. Conf. part. 2.p. 98. "* 
 
 t Communionem vero cum Ecclesia Chrlsti vera tanti facimus, ut 
 negemus eos coram Deo vivere posse qui cum vera Dei ecclesia non 
 cpmmumcant, sedab ea se separant. 
 
 Syntag : Conf. p. 1. p. 54. art. IT; 
 
159 
 
 we diligently teach in what the truth and unity 
 of the church principally consist ; that we may 
 not rashly excite and cherish schisms in the 
 church. It consists not in ceremonies and external 
 rites J but rather in the truth and unity of the Catho- 
 lick faith. The CathoHck faith has mq^beeii deli- 
 vered to us in human laws^ hut in the divine sciip- 
 turcy of ivhich the apostles^ creed is a compend. 
 Whence we read that among the ancients there 
 was great diversity of rites which were entirely 
 free, and by which no one ever imagined the uni- 
 ty of the church to be dissolved."* 
 
 In regard to rites and ceremonies, the twenty- 
 seventh article remarks, '^ That if discordant rites 
 are found in the churches, let no one, therefore, 
 imagine, that the churches are disunited. -It would 
 be impossible,' says Socrates,! 'to detail all the 
 rites of the churches in different countries. No 
 religious sects observe the same rites, although 
 
 * Observandura pra^terea, diligenter docemusinquopotissimum sit 
 sita Veritas et unitas ecclesise, ne temere schisniata exciteraus et in ec- 
 clesia foveamus. Sita est ilia non in caeremonlis et ritibus externis, 
 sed magis in veritate et unitate fidei calholica?. Fides cathoiica non 
 est nobis tradita Immanis legibus, sed scriptura divina cujus compendi- 
 um est Symbolura Apostolicum. Unde legimus apud veteres rituura 
 fuisse diversitatem variara, sed earn liberara, qua nemo unquam exist;- 
 mavit dissolvi unitatem ecclcsiasticam. 
 
 lB.p.56. Art. IT. 
 
 "r The ecclesiastical historian. 
 
 21 
 
160 
 
 they embrace the same doctrine concerning them. 
 For they who are of the same faith disagree with 
 each other about their rites.' Thus he. And we, 
 at this day, with different rites through our 
 churches in celebrating the Lord's supper, and 
 in some §ther things, do nevertheless preserve 
 agreement in doctrine and faith; nor is the unity 
 and intercourse of our churches, by that differ- 
 ence, torn asunder. The churches have always 
 used their hberty in such rites, as being indiffer- 
 ent. And we do the same at this day."* 
 
 And lest any doubt or difficulty should remain 
 on this subject, the subscribers to the Helvetic 
 confession thus express themselves in their pre- 
 face : 
 
 " Impartial readers will clearly perceive that we 
 have no communion with any sects or heresies, 
 which, for this \ery end, we mention and re- 
 ject in almost every chapter. They will, there- 
 
 * Q.U0C1 si in ecclesiis dispares invenluntur ritus, nemo ecclesias ex- 
 istimet ex eo esse dissidentea. Socrates, " Impossible fuerit," inquit, 
 "omnes ecclesiarum quae per civitates et regiones sunt ritus conscri- 
 bere. Nulla religioeosdem ritus custodit, etiamsi eandem de illis doc- 
 trinam aniplectatur. Etenim qui ejusdem sunt fidei, de ritibus inter 
 se dissentiunt." Ha:'c il!e. Et nos hodie ritus diversos in celebratione 
 caenae Domini et in ali's nonnullis rebus habentes in nostris ecclesiis, 
 in doctrina tamen et fide non dissidemus, neque unitas societas- 
 que ecclesiarum nostrarum ea re discinditur. Semper vero ecclesiee in 
 hujusmodi ritibus, sicut mediis, usa- sunt libertate. Id quod nos ho- 
 die quoque facimus. 
 
 iB.p. 82. 
 
161 
 
 fore, infer also, that we do not, by any 7iefarious 
 schism, separate and rend ourselves from the holy 
 churches of Christ, in Germany, France, England, 
 and other Christian nations : but that we thorough- 
 ly agree with each and all of them in this con- 
 fession of Christ's truth, and embrace thern in 
 unfeigned love: 'and although there be discover- 
 ed, in different churches, a certain variety of ex- 
 pression and form of explaining doctrine; as al- 
 so of rites or ceremonies according to the receiv- 
 ed usage, convenience and ediiication of parti- 
 cular churches, yet they will notice, that these 
 things never furnished, in any period of the 
 church, ground of dissentions and schism. The 
 churches of Christ, as ecclesiastical history 
 shows, have always used their liberty in this mat- 
 ter. For pious antiquity that mutual agreement 
 ill the principal points of faith, in orthodox under- 
 standing, and in brotherly love, was abundantly 
 sufficient'."^ The rest of the preface is in the 
 same strain. 
 
 * Ergo manifestissime ex his nostris ajqui deprehendcnt lectores, 
 nihil nos quocjue habere commuiiionis cum uliis scciis atijue haeresibus 
 quarum, hoc consilio, in singulis jjrope capitibus luentionem facimus, 
 easque rejicientes perstringiiuus. Coliigent itaque et illud, nos a Sanc- 
 tis Christi ecclesiis Gcrmanix, Gallia, Anglia, aliaruinque in orbe 
 Christiano nationum, nefario schismate non sejungere atque abrunipere: 
 sed cum ipsis omnibus et singulis, in hac confessa veritate Christiana, 
 probe oonsenlire; ipsasquecharitate sincera complecti. 
 
 Tametsi vero in dlversis tcclcsiis qua^km ueprchcnditur varietas in 
 
162 
 
 Let us briefly sum up the doctrine of these ex- 
 tracts from the confession of the Swiss churches. 
 —They contend, 
 
 (1.) For Uberty in rites and ceremonies of 
 worship — 
 
 (2.) For mutual forbearance in the article of 
 church government — 
 
 (3.) For latitude in the forms of doctrinal ex- 
 pression, provided the substance of evangelical 
 truth be preserved : so as that diversity in any or 
 all of these things shall not break up the peace 
 of the churches. — And 
 
 (4.) For concord, communion, and love be- 
 tween them, upon the basis of their unity in that 
 faith and doctrine to which they all look for their 
 common salvation. 
 
 It might, however, be thought that these sen- 
 timents w^ere peculiar to the Swiss churches ; 
 and, therefore, not a fair exhibition of the pre- 
 vailing principles of the Reformation. But it so 
 happens, that this confession was officially ad- 
 
 loquutionibus et modo expositionis doctrinpe, in ritibus item vel cere- 
 
 moniis, eaque recepta pro ecclesiarura quarumlibet ratione, opportuni- 
 
 tate, et cedificatione ; nunquara tamen ea, ullis in Ecclesiae teniporibus, 
 
 raateriam dissensionibus et schisraatibus visa est suppeditare. Semper 
 
 enim hacin re Christi ecclesiae usae sunt libertatc. Id quod in historia 
 
 ecclesiastica videre licet. Abunde piae vetustati satis erat, mutuus il- 
 
 le in prcecipuis fidei dogmatibus, inque seusu orthodoxo et cliaritate fra- 
 
 terna, consensus. 
 
 Jb. p. 12. 
 
163 
 
 dressed, in the preface which has just been quoted, 
 to Christians and Christian churches throughout 
 Europe ; and was approved by the churches of 
 England, Scotland, France, the United Provinces, 
 and by many of Poland, Hungary, and Germa- 
 ny.'^ Now, in these churches, there was a very 
 o*reat variety of rehgious observances, as well as 
 diiferences of a higher order. Some of them, as 
 the Dutch and Genevese, were Calvinists in doc- 
 trine, and Presbyterians in government : others as 
 the English, were Episcopal ; and others again, as 
 the German, a sort of medium between Episco- 
 pacy and Presbytery. Here, then, we have the 
 larger part of Protestant Christendom, proclaim- 
 ing with one mouth, and at a moment when the 
 Spirit of God and of glory rested conspicuously 
 upon them, that the greatest of their differen- 
 ces, and many of them vv ere not trifles, were not 
 great enough to interrupt their communion, or 
 diminish their love : but were all to be absorbed 
 in the importance, all to disappear in the light, of 
 that grace and truth which made them one in 
 Christ Jesus. Nay, that were they, for sucli 
 
 » Eandem (confessioneni) et comprobarunt ecclcFice AngllaR, Sco- 
 tia, Galliae, Eelgii omnes: Tolonicffi qucque, Hungaricae, atone Ger- 
 -inanicxe multse. 
 
 Synt, Cojsf. part l.r^ i. 
 
164 
 
 causes, to separate from each others' fellow- 
 ship, they should be guilty of a nefarious 
 scKFSM. And none of them were more free, 
 cheerful, and decided, in asserting the obligation 
 of this catholick communion, than the Calvi- 
 nisiic Presbyterians ! 
 
 Such a concurrence of public opinion and 
 feehng, was nothing more than a concentration 
 of that private opinion and feeling which then 
 pervaded the church of God. The time had not 
 come when orthodox creeds were a party inheri- 
 tance. It was reserved for after ages to cherish a 
 hereditary veneration for confessions of faith at 
 variance, in material points, with the actual state 
 of principle in the churches which receive them. 
 The spectacle, now so familiar, was not yet ex- 
 hibited, of contention for every thing in a confes- 
 sion as for a consecrated trust ; and of violent op- 
 position to maiiy of those very same things in prac- 
 tical life — the curious and humiliating specta- 
 cle of tender affection displayed toward it as a 
 " dead letter," and of unremitting hostility to 
 those who would bring it forth in its energy as 
 " a quickening spirit." 
 
 It may not be improper to give an exauiple or 
 two, for the sake of readers who have not access 
 to the original sources of information. Luther, 
 in a p»reface from his own pen to the Bohmmic 
 
165 
 
 confession, which, it will be remembered, com- 
 prehends the faith of the Waldenses, has the 
 foilcwing remarks concerning the churches of 
 the Keforriistion : 
 
 " We ought to give the greatest possible thanks 
 to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 who, according to the riches of his glory, hath 
 commanded to shine out of darkness this hght 
 of his Yvoid, by which he would again destroy 
 death, and illumine life among us : and to con- 
 gratulate both them/' {the Waldenses^) " and our- 
 selves, that we, who were far apart, are now, by 
 the destruction of the parting-vjall of suspicion^ 
 rvherehy ive seemed heretics to each other^ brought 
 near together, and gathered into one fold under 
 that one shepherd and bishop of our souls, who 
 is blessed forever, amen ! 
 
 '^ But if certain diiTerences" from other church- 
 es, " occur in this confession of theirs concern- 
 ing rites and ceremonies, or celibacy, let us re- 
 member, that all the rites and observances of all 
 the churches never were, nor could be, the same. 
 Such an agreement is not permitted by the va- 
 rious circumstances of time, place, and men ; 
 only let the doctrine o( faith and morals be pre- 
 served. For this ouerht to be the same as Paul 
 frequently admonishes ; ' Speak all the same tiling^ 
 saith he. Again, ' That with one 7iu)uth you may 
 glorify the God and Father qf our Lord Jesus 
 
166 
 
 Christ^ For that marriage should be among 
 them," the Waldensea, '^ as it is among us, their 
 state and condition does not allow. In the mean- 
 time, it is sufficient, that what is lawful to all, is 
 not taught to be sin to any, and is believed, with- 
 out injury to individual faith and conscience."^' 
 In a letter, 1535, to these same brethren of 
 the Waldenses in Bohemia, Melancthon thus 
 writes : 
 
 * Seti Hunc prodeuiit non paulo cultiores et liberiores, ne dicam eti- 
 ani, illustEiores et nieliores ut sperem non ingratos neque inamabiles 
 tore omnibus vcre Christianis, ita, ut sperem et gratias nos agere opor- 
 teatquatn maximasDeo etPatri D. N. JesuChristi, qui secundum divi- 
 tias glorise sua? jussit e tenebris splendescere lumen hoc verbi sui, quo 
 ilenuo in nobis destrueret mortem et illuminaret vitam: et gratulari turn 
 i'.lis, turn nobis, quod qui inter nos ipsos quoque longe fuimus, destruc- 
 lo nunc interstitio suspicionis, quo nobis mutuo heeretici videbatnur, 
 i'aeti sumus prope, et reducti simul sumus in unum ovile subunum il- 
 ium Pastorem et Episcopum animarum nostrarum, qui est benedictus 
 in secula. Amen. 
 
 €tuod si quce differentiie in hac eorum Confessionc occurrent de rl- 
 tibus et ceremoniis, vel de cselibatu, memineriraus nunquam fuisse, ne- 
 que potuisse omnium Ecclesiarum omnes ritus et observationes esse 
 «:quales vel easdeni. Id enim non permittunthorainum, regionum, tera- 
 porum rationes et varietates, modo salva sit doctrina fidei et mbrum. 
 Tla^c enira debet esse eadera, ut Paulus saepe monet. Idem dicatis 
 /-inquit) omnes. Rursus, Ut uno ore honorificetis Deum et Patrem 
 Domini Nostri Jesu Christi. Nam ut conjugium sit apud eos eo 
 modo liberum, ut apud nos, non sinit eorum status et conditio: Inte- 
 rim satis est, quod cuilibet licitum, et nulli peccatum esse docetur, et cre- 
 ditur salva unius cujusque fide et conscientia. Commendo igitur in Do- 
 mino omnibus piis et banc Confessionem Fratrum, in qua videbunt 
 Clare quanta injuri|^ hactenus a Papistis fuerint damnati et vexati. 
 Frcpf. adConf. BoJmm, Stkt. payt 2. p. ST9. 
 
1G7 
 
 " Since we agree in the principal articles ot 
 Christian doctrine, let us embrace each other 
 with mutual love. Nor ought dissimilitude and 
 variety of rites and ceremonies to sever our af- 
 fections. Paul often discourses concerning ce- 
 remonies, and forbids Christians to fall out on 
 account of their variety, although the ivorld fight 
 furiously about them.* 
 
 '• As to my own feelings toward you, be as- 
 sured, that I most earnestly wish that those who 
 love the gospel, and desire to glorify the name 
 of Christ, would cultivate mutual love to each 
 other; and so, by their common endeavours, 
 make their doctrine redound to the glory of 
 Christ, that they may not destroy themselves by 
 domestick feuds and discords, especially on ac- 
 count of things for which it is not necessary to 
 excite disturbance." 
 
 By " things for which Christians ought not to 
 raise disturbance," Melancthon evidently under- 
 stands all things which belong not to the " prin 
 cipal articles of Christian doctrine." 
 
 * " Cum de praecipuis articulis Doctrinae Christianae inter nos con- 
 .?tet, complectamur nos rautuo araore. Neque dissimilitudo et varietas 
 ritruni et cseremoniarum disjungere debet mentes nostras. Soepe Pau- 
 lus concionatur de caeremoniis, et prohibet Christianos dissidere prop- 
 ter varietatem ritum et csereraoniarura, quainvis mundus propter cie- 
 rcinonias vohementer pugnet. 
 
 lU. p.280, 
 
 22 
 
168 
 
 But among all the reformers, no one stands 
 forth a more conspicuous advocate for Catholick 
 communion than John Calvin.* 
 
 His Institutes of the Christian religion^ first pub- 
 lished in 1536, and dedicated to Francis the I. 
 of France, are a professed commentary upon 
 that little doctrinal abstract, called " the apostles' 
 creed." On the article concerning the " Holy 
 Catholick churchy and the communion of saints,''^ 
 which forms the basis of his fourth book, he dis- 
 cusses, at length, in his first chapter, this whole 
 subject of church-communion. He refutes the 
 arguments which are used at this hour, for sepa- 
 rate communions — And he maintains, with that 
 point and decision which so eminently characte- 
 rize his pen, that it is not lawful, but most unlaw- 
 ful — subversive of Ciiiistlan unity, and an'^ffront 
 
 * The Paul of the Reformation. Had any thing been wanting in 
 iiis own writings, in the opinion of his contemporaries, in his influence 
 tvith the political and ecclesiastical cabinets of Protestant Europe, 
 and in the dread and terrour of the Papists ; to evince the greatness 
 of this extraordinary man, it M'ould have been supplied by tlie ranco- 
 rous malignity which assailed him during his life ; and which has been 
 hardly, if at all, abated by his death. His very name seems at this day 
 to blister the tribes of errour in all its gradations ; and to form a so- 
 litary exception to the reverence which the world entertains for de- 
 parted genius. More than two hundred and fifty years have elapsed 
 since he went to join the apostle whom he so much resembled, in the 
 kingdom of God ; and there is hardly an enemy to the truth, of what- 
 ever size, who does not think it incumbent on him to derivp Impoi'- 
 tar?ce from *' a pi'.-^.'' at the memorv of C i t.vi \. 
 
169 
 
 to the majesty in the heavens, to withdraw, upon 
 any pretext whatever, from communion with 
 other churches which are sound in the substan- 
 tial faith. 
 
 Nothing could more ornament this work than 
 the insertion of his entire chapter. But as it 
 would extend to at least fifty pages, which would 
 far exceed the limits of quotation ; and as it is, 
 like the most of his writings, too dense for 
 abridgement, the reader must put up with a pas- 
 sage or two, merely as a specimen, and be refer- 
 red to the chapter itself for more full satisfaction. 
 
 "Where the preached gospel is reverently 
 heard, and the sacraments are not neglected, 
 there, during such time, there is no deceitful nor 
 ambiguous appearance of a church, of which no 
 man is permitted to despise the authority, to dis- 
 regard the admonitions, to resist the advices, or 
 to mock the chastisements : much less to revolt 
 from her, and to break her unity. For the Lord 
 lays so much stress upon communion with his 
 church, as to account that man a fugitive and 
 a deserter from religion, who shall contumacious- 
 ly alienate himself from any Christian society 
 which only cherishes the true ministry of the word 
 and sacraments. He so recommends her authori- 
 ty, as to reckon the violation thereof a diminu- 
 tion of his own," which 1 Tim. 3, 15. Eph. L 
 
no 
 
 23. 5. 27. arc produced to prove. Calvin llieu 
 proceeds, " A\ hence it follows, that a departure 
 from the church is a denial of God and of Christ. 
 Wherefore, we ought to be the more on our guard 
 asrainst so Avicked a dissention. Because, while 
 we endeavour, as much as in us lies, to effect the 
 ruin of God's truth, we deserve to be crushed by 
 the lightnings of his wrath. A more atrocious 
 crime cannot be imagined, than to violate, with 
 sacrilegious perfidy, the conjugal union which the 
 only begotten Son of God has deigned to con- 
 tract with us,"^ 
 
 Again. " Our assertion, that the pure minis- 
 try of the word and the pure celebration of the 
 
 * Ubi i-'evci-entcr aiulitur Evangelii praidicatio, neque Saci-amcntu 
 negliguntur, illic proeo tempore neque fallax neque ambigua Eccle- 
 ?ie npparct facies: cujus vel auctoritateni spernere, vel nionita res- 
 puerc, vel gonsiliis rcfragai'i, vel castigationes ludere, neiiiini inipune 
 Hcol : niuito minus ab ea ileficere, ac ejus abrumpereunitatem. Tanti 
 ••nim Ecclesi* suic communionem facit Domiiius, ut pro transfuga et 
 (lesertore religionis habeat, quicutique se a qualibet Christiana socie- 
 tate, quoj modo \-erum verbi ac sacramentorum miuisteriura colat, con- 
 nauaciter alienarlt. Sic ejus auctoritatemconmiendat, ut dum ilia vio- 
 
 latur, suam ipsius imminutam ccnscat. — Unde sequitur, discessio- 
 
 iiem ab Ecclesia, Dei et Christi abnegationem esse: quo magis a 
 1am scelerato dissidio cavendum est : quia dum veritalis Dei ruinam, 
 quantum in nobis est, molimur, digni suraus ad quos conterendos toto 
 ii'iie sua} impetu fulminet. Necullnm atrocius fingi crimen potest, quam 
 !,;acrilega pcrfidia violare conjugium quod nobiscum unigcnitus Dei iili- 
 
 C.vi^TiNi, I/i5?.Lib. IV. C. 1. k 10. 
 
171 
 
 sacraments, is a sufficient pledge and earnest ot" 
 our safety in embracing, as a church, the society 
 in which they shall both be found, goes so far as 
 this, that she is never to be renounced so long as 
 she shall persevere in them, although^ in oilier re- 
 spects ^ she may ahoundin faults. Even in the admi- 
 nistration of doctrine or sacraments, some defect 
 may possibly creep in ; which yet ought not to 
 alienate us from her communion. For all the 
 heads of true doctrine are not of the same rank. 
 Some are so necessary to be known, that they 
 must be fixed and undisputed by all, as the cha- 
 racteristic points of religion. Such as, that ' there 
 is one God' — that ' Christ is God, and the Son of 
 God' — that ' our salvation depends upon the 
 mercy of God,' and the like. There are others 
 which, ahhough subjects of controversy among 
 the churches, do not destroy the unity of the 
 faith. If, for example, one church, without the 
 lust of contention, or obstinacy in asserting its 
 own opinion, should think that the souls of be- 
 lievers departing from the body speed their flight 
 immediately to heaven: another, not daring to 
 determine any thing about their place^ holds it 
 nevertheless for certain that they live to the Lord. 
 — What two churches should fall out on such a 
 matter as this ? When Paul says, ' Let us^ as 
 many as are perfect^ he of one mind: if in miy 
 
172 
 
 thing ye arc of different mind^ the Lord shall reveal 
 this also to you ;'^ does he not sufficiently indi- 
 cate, that disagreement in things not so very ne- 
 cessary, ought not to be a source of division 
 among Christians ? To agree throughout is, in- 
 deed, our first attainment : but since no man is 
 perfectly free from the clouds of ignorance, we 
 either shall leave no church at all, or we must 
 forgive mistakes in those things where ignorance 
 may prevail without violating the substance of 
 religion, or hazarding the loss of salvation. ! 
 would not here be understood to patronize even 
 the minutest errours, nor to express an opinion 
 that they ought to be cherished, in the shghtest 
 degree, by flattery or connivance. But I say that 
 we may not, on account of smaller disagree- 
 ments, rashly forsake any church wherein is pre- 
 served sound and unhurt, that doctrine which 
 forms the safeguard of piety, and that use of the 
 sacraments instituted by the Lord."t 
 
 * Piiii. III. 15. 
 
 t Quod dicimns purum verbi ministeriura etpurum in celebrandis sa- 
 cranientis rituiii, idoneum esse pignus et arrhabonem, ut tuto possimus 
 societatem in qua utrunique extiterit, pro Ecclesia araplexari, usque eo 
 valet ut nusqnara abjicienda sit quanidiu in illis perstiterit, etiarasi ujul- 
 tis alioqui vitiis scateat. Q.uin etiam potest vel in doctrinse, vel in sa- 
 vT?.npntornm adminlgtratione vitii q^uidpiam obrpp(*r<». qnod alionare 
 
173 
 
 '' In bearing with imperfections of life, our in- 
 dulgence must proceed much further. For we 
 are here on very shppery ground, and Satan lies 
 in wait for us with no ordinary machinations. 
 There always have been some who, imbued with 
 a false persuasion of their absolute sanctity, as if 
 they had become a sort of supernatural beings, 
 disdained the society of all men in whom they 
 perceived the remains of human infirmity. Such, 
 
 nos ab ejus communione non debeat. Non enim unius sunt formse om- 
 nia verse doctrinse capita. Sunt quadara ita necessaria cognitu, ut fixa 
 esse et indubitata omnibus oporteat, ceu propria religionis placita: 
 qualia sunt, Unum esse Deum. Christum Deum esse, ac Dei Filium : 
 In Dei misericordia salutem nobis consistere : et similia. Sunt alia, 
 quje inter Ecclesias controversa, fidei tamen unitatem non dirimant, 
 au^ enim ob hoc unura Ecclesiae dissideant, si altera citra contentio- 
 nis libidinem, citra pervicaciam asserendi, animas k corporibus demi- 
 -rantes in ccelum convolare putet ; altera nihil ausit definire de loco, 
 Lteruui vivere tamen Domino certostatuat? Verba sunt apostoli, 
 Quicuiique perfedi sumus, idem sentimnus : siquid alHer sapltis, hoc quo- 
 que vobis Dominus revelabit. Annon satis indicat, dissensionem de re- 
 bus istis non ita necessariis, dissidii materiam esse non debere inter 
 Christianos ? Primdm quidem est, ut per omnia consentiamus : sed 
 quoniam nemo est qui non aliqua ignorantiae nubecula obvolutus sit: 
 autnuUam relinquamus Ecclesiam oportet, authallucinationemcondo- 
 nemus in lis rebus quae et inviolata religionis summa et citra salutis 
 jacturam ignorari possint Hie autem patrocinari erroribus vel minu- 
 tissimis nolim, ut blandiendo et connivendo censeam fovendos : sed 
 dico non temere ob quaslibet dissentiunculas deserendara nobis Eccle- 
 siam, in qua duntaxat ea salva et illibata doctrina retineatur qua con- 
 stat incolumitas pietatis, et Saeramentorum usus a Domino institutus 
 custodiatur. 
 
 Id. ibid, n^' 
 
174 
 
 ill old time, were the Caihari^ and (who came 
 very near their madness) the Donatists, Such, 
 at this day, are some of the Anabaptists^ who 
 would fain appear to have made greater profici- 
 ency than their neighbours. There are others 
 who go wrong more from an inconsiderate zeal 
 for righteousness, than from such senseless pride. 
 For when they see, that the fruits of practical life 
 among those who enjoy the gospel, do not cor- 
 respond with its doctrine, they immediately 
 judge that no church is there. The offence is in- 
 deed very just ; and we, in this most wretched 
 age, give but too much occasion for it : nor can 
 we excuse our cursed sloth, which the Lord will 
 not permit to go unpunished ; as he has already 
 begun to chasten it with heavy stripes. (Wo, 
 therefore, to us who, by our enormities, wound 
 the weak conscience !) But, on the other hand^ 
 they whom J have mentioned, sin in their turn, 
 by not knowing how to set limits to their offence. 
 For where the Lord requires clemency, they, 
 without regarding it, abandon themselves to im- 
 moderate severity. For because they do not think 
 the church is where there is not solid purity and 
 integrity of life, through their very hatred of 
 crimes they quil the lawful church under the 
 
175 
 
 fdesL of shunning the faction of the ungodly.^'* 
 * * 4t ^t * ^t 
 " I do not deny that it is the duty of a pious 
 man to withdraw from all private intimacy with 
 the wicked ; to entangle himself with them by 
 no voluntary bonds. But it is one thing to avoid 
 famiharity with bad men ; another, out of dislike 
 for them, to renounce communion with the 
 church. As to their deeming it sacrilege to par- 
 ticipate with such in the bread of the Lord, they 
 
 * In vitae autem iraperfectione tolerandamulto longius procedere in- 
 dulgentia nostra debet : hie enim valde lubricus est lapsus : neque vul- 
 garibus machinanientis hie Satan nobis insidiatur, Fuerunt enim sem- 
 per qui falsa absolutae sanctimoniae persuasione imbuti, tanquam aerii 
 quidam dsemones jam facti essent, omnium hominum consortium asper- 
 narentur, in quibus humanum adhuc aliquid subesse cernerent. Tales 
 dim erant Cathari, et (qui ad eorum vesaniam accedebant) Donatistsp. 
 Tales hodie sunt ex Anabaptistis nonnulli, qui supra alios volunt vi- 
 Jeri profecisse. Alii sunt qui inconsiderato magis justitise zelo quam 
 insana ilia superbia peccant. Dum enim apud eos quibus Evangelium 
 annunciatur, ejus doctrinse non responderevitse fructum vident, nullam 
 illic esse Ecclesiam statim judicant. Justissima quidem est oifensio, et 
 cui plus satis occasionis hoc miserrimo seculo preebenius : nee excusare 
 licet maledictam nostram ignaviam, quam Dominus impunitam non si- 
 net : ut jam gravibus flageliis castigare incipit. (Vae ergo nobis, qui 
 tam dissoluta flagitiorum licentia committimus ut propter nos vulne- 
 rentur imbecilles conscientiae I) Sed in hoc vicissim peccant illi quos 
 diximus, quod offensioni suae modura statuere nesciunt. Nam ubi Do- 
 minus clementiam exigit, omissa ilia, totos se immoderatae severitati 
 tradunt. Q,uiaenim non putant esse Ecclesiam ubi non est solida vitse 
 puritas etintegritas, scelerum odio a legitima Ecclesia discedunt, duna 
 1 factione improborum declinare se putant. 
 
 Ibid. } iS. 
 
 23 
 
176 
 are iiiacli more rigid in that particular tliaii PauL 
 
 ^ * * * * •» 
 " But although this temptation sometimes be- 
 sets good men through an inconsiderate zeal for 
 righteousness, yet we shall find, that too great 
 moroseness springs more from pride and haughti- 
 ness, and a false opinion of one's own sanctity, 
 than from true holiness, and the true study of it. 
 So that they who are most daring and forw-ard in 
 promoting defection from a church, have, for the 
 most part, no other inducement than to display 
 their superiour goodness by their contempt of 
 every one else."t 
 
 Thus Calvin. — But before we leave him, it 
 will be proper to notice two or three things which 
 may be supposed to diminish the value of his 
 
 . * Non equidem nego qiiUi pii hoiiiini&sit ab oiuni privataimproborum 
 
 consuetuditie se subducere, nulla se voluntaria ciimipsls necessitudine 
 
 implicare : sed aliudest lualoram fugere contubernium ; aliud, ipsorum 
 
 odio, Ecclesiae commuuionem reiiunciare. Gluod aiitein sacrilegiuni esse 
 
 putantparticipare cum illis paiiein Domini, in eo rigidiores niulto sunt 
 
 quam Paul us. 
 
 Ibid, i 15. 
 
 t Qiuanquam autera ex iiiconsidcrato justitiie zelo hac tentatio bo- 
 nis etiam iuterdum oboritur : hoc tamen reperienuis, nimiam morobita- 
 tein ex superbia uiagis et fastu falsaque sanctitatis opinione, quain ex 
 vera sanctitatc veroque ejus studio nasci. Itaque qui aJ faciendam ab 
 Ecclesia defectioueni suntaliis audaciores, et quasi anteslgnani, ii ut 
 plurimuni nihil aliud causae habent nisi ut omnium contemptux)stcnteni 
 se aliis esse meliorcs- 
 
 iBin. J 16. 
 
177 
 
 teslimonv. For it may be said, that his " Insti- 
 tutes," being the work of a very young man,* 
 want that stamp and seal of authority which are 
 impressed by mature age — that they contain the 
 views and feelings of an individual, who, how- 
 ever distinguished, was still but one — -and that 
 his strictures relate to the communion of a Chris- 
 tian with his own church, and not to his commu- 
 nion with other churches, or to their intercommu- 
 nion between themselves. 
 
 The first of these objections might be dis- 
 posed of promptly. No competent judge, who 
 has read the " Institutes," and has not sold him- 
 self to prejudice or faction, would willingly en- 
 danger the credit of his own understanding at 
 fifty^ by questioning the intellectual maturity of 
 Calvin at twenty-four. The objection, however, 
 has no place. Subsequent reflection, observation, 
 and experience, served only to confirm his earlier 
 judgment. In a letter to his friend Farkll, 
 three vears afterwards, he has the foiiowine: ex- 
 pressions : "I only insisted upon this, that they," 
 the pious, "should not schismatically rend asunder 
 any church; which, although extremely corrupt 
 in morals, and even infected with strange doc- 
 
 * They Avere written before he had completed the tvventy-fifih year 
 of his age- He was born in July, 1509, and this dedication toFRAKcis 
 the I. bears the date of .Aiiiriif^t. l^SG. But a pr(V>n s edition lia<i been 
 published in 1335. 
 
178 
 
 trines, had not entirely revolted from that doc- 
 trine in which Paul teaches that the church of 
 Christ is founded."* 
 
 To return to the " Institutes." It is plain, from 
 their history, that they bear the richest and ripest 
 fruits which the mind of their authour had culti- 
 vated. Upon none of his productions did he be- 
 stow so much pains and labour as upon this. It 
 is in reahty his chef-cPceuvre ; and so he himself 
 considered it. He was, therefore, continually re- 
 vising and retouching it, as it ran through various 
 editions, for the space of twenty-three years ; 
 and it received its finishing from his elegant pen 
 in 1559, when he was fifty years old, only five 
 years before his death.f 
 
 That he was but one is true ; yet a truth of no 
 importance to the argument ; unless it could be 
 demonstrated that he stood alone. How diiTer- 
 ent the fact was, the preceding pages have al- 
 ready proved. And this very work, as published 
 in French and Latin, was drawn up in behalf of 
 the French churches, to show what sort of doc- 
 
 * Hoc unum contendebam, ne schisraate scinderent qualemcumque 
 ecclesiam : quae, utcunque esset corruptissima moribus, doctrinis etiam 
 cxoticis infecta, non tameri desciveritpenitus ab eadoctrina qua eccle- 
 eiam Christi fundari docet Paulus. 
 
 Calv. Epist. Opp. T. IX. p. 6. 
 
 t See his epistle to the reader, prefixed to the " Institutes," under 
 iateof 1st of August, 1559. Opp. T. IX. Amst 1667. Fol. 
 
179 
 
 trine they beMeved and taught ; so that it is, in 
 some measure, a work of public authority ; and 
 it obtained the unbounded applause and appro- 
 bation of both the learned and rehgious world. 
 Even the fastidious Scaliger, who seldom prais- 
 ed any body but himself, or any thing but his 
 own, was among its admirers and eulogists. It 
 was translated into Italian, German, Flemish, 
 Spanish and English : and so often republished 
 in the original Latin, that Mons. Masson, by a 
 strong hyperbole, says, it was printed " a thoU'» 
 sand times'."* Calvin himself informs us, that 
 it met with the most encouraging reception 
 from the Christian publick — " with such favour 
 from almost all the pious, ^^ they are his own words, 
 "as he had not dared even to wish, far less to 
 expect."t It appears, then, that his views of 
 communion were the views of reformed Europe, 
 or the work which contains them would never 
 have been so popular in the churches. 
 
 The idea that the communion referred to, is 
 communion with one's own particular church, 
 and not with other churches, either by admitting 
 
 * Millies excusa. VideBAYLE, Did. Historique et Critique. ArL 
 Calvin, note F. 
 
 t eo piorum fere omnium favore, — quem nunquam vote expe- 
 
 tere, nedum sperare ausus fuissem. 
 
 Vid. ep, supra rit. 
 
180 
 
 their members or joining in their ordinances, has 
 nothing to support it,, but flies in the face of the 
 very chapter which discusses the subject. Its title 
 is, " Of the TRUE CHURCH iviih which we are to cul- 
 tivate unity ; because she is the mother of all the 
 pious"* — a clesignation belonging only to the one 
 church of God, and not to any sect. And the third 
 part of that chapter is devoted to the proof of this 
 proposition, " That we are in no manner to for- 
 sake the caiholick church and the communion of 
 saints.^^ ^' 0)i which account^'''' it is added, " the 
 errmirs of the Novatians, Anabaptists, and 
 other scKiSMATiCAL and idle-minded men, con- 
 teming this doctrine ^ are abundant!}/ refuted.'''^ 
 But what Calvin calls the " errours of the No- 
 vatians, '^ &c. are precisely the arguments urged 
 against the communion which these pages re- 
 commend and vindicate. Therefore, the com- 
 munion spoken of, is not simply that which we 
 ought to maintain with our own particular 
 branch of the church, but which we ought to 
 maintain with the whole church through the mc- 
 
 * De vera ecclesia cum qua colenda est unitas : quia piorum omni- 
 um nsater est. 
 
 t 3. A sancta ecclesia Catholica et sanctorum communione noii 
 est ullo modo discedendum : ea propter Novatianorum, Anabaptista* 
 r.im, ac ejusmodi schismaticorum et male feriatorum hominura circii 
 hariG doctrinam errores, a sect. 10. ad fin- cap. abunde refelluntur. 
 
 Tom. IX. p. 2T0. 
 
181 
 
 diurn of any one of her branches to which we 
 have access. That this is Calvin's meaning, 
 appears not only from the whole tenour of his 
 discourse^ but also from his anxiety expressed in 
 a letter to Archbishop Cranmek, to nnite all the 
 reformed churches. Episcopacy w^as establish- 
 ed in England ; Calvin was a divine-right Pres- 
 byterian. Yet even that difference was not suf- 
 ficient, in his eyes, to hinder communion. Ac 
 cording to the fiiSt principle of the Reformation, 
 he was willing to compound for the pure word 
 and worship of Crod, i. e. in its substance. For, 
 in a letter of Oct. 22, 1548, he congratulates the 
 Lord Protector of England, on his having been 
 a principal instrument in "restoring the pure and 
 sincere worship of God, and the sound preach- 
 ing of his word."^ Yet in that very letter he 
 entreats the protector to complete the work of re- 
 formation ; and even points out corruptions and 
 abuses which needed the knife. 
 
 No doubt can now remain as to the nature of 
 that communion for which Calvin, backed bv 
 
 * Est sane de quo gratias agarous Deo et Patri nostro, quod opera 
 tuauti voluerit ad tantum opus, ut per te in primis purum et sincerum 
 suuin cuitum in regno Angliae restitueret ; Pratstiterit etiam ut salatis 
 doctrina audiretur passim, etfideliter annunciaretur omnibus qui aures 
 arrlgerc dignarentur. 
 
182 
 
 the greatest and best men of the age, so ner- 
 vously and eioquently contends. And their sup- 
 port of his doctrine precludes the necessity of 
 further detail as to private opinion. Even illus- 
 triors names might seem to be introduced more 
 for ostentation than for conviction. For in very 
 deed, the voice of Calvin, on this subject, is the 
 general voice of the people of God in that age 
 of grace and truth. 
 
 To their doctrine they added their example. I 
 do not say that their example corresponded per- 
 fectly with their principles. It would be a miracle 
 of high degree, if they who are imperfect in all 
 things else, should be perfect in their love. Nor 
 have I forgotten the separation of the Lutheran 
 from the other Protestant churches. Yet this 
 took place against the sentiments of Luther and 
 his most distinguished associates. It W'as not ef- 
 fected without a struggle ; and did not continue 
 without magnanimous efforts to heal the wound. 
 
 Calvin not only subscribed the Augustan^ i. e. 
 the Lutheran confession, as he himself informs 
 us ;* but he expressly declares, in a letter to his 
 friend Farell, that " the petty peculiarities" in 
 the Lutheran church, evidently meaning that 
 they were petty when compared with the great 
 
 Ep. ScHALINGIO, p. 113. 
 
183 
 
 things of the common salvation, were no ju3t 
 causes of disunion.* 
 
 Henry Alting, professor of divinity at HeideU 
 berg J and afterwards at GrGumgen^ and a distin- 
 guished member of the Synod of Dordi^j " as- 
 sures us, that this was the common opinion of the 
 reformed divines who followed Bucer and Cal- 
 vin. For, proposing this question in his prob- 
 lems, tvhether the orthodox may lawfully communi- 
 cate in the Lord'^s supper with the Lutherans ? 
 he resolves it in the affirmative, upon these four 
 arguments : 
 
 " 1. Because they ail agree in fundamentals. 
 
 " 2. Because men ought to preserve unity in 
 the church, and hate schism. 
 
 " 3. Because we have the example of the 
 prophets, and of Christ and his apostles, for com- 
 municating in more corrupt churches than the 
 Lutherans are. 
 
 " 4. Because the best divines of the last age," 
 the Reformation, " have approved it, as Capito, 
 BucER, Calvin, Martyr, Zanchy, Ursin, Tos- 
 SANUS, Par.eus, Scultetus, and others : some of 
 whom^ as they had occasion^ did actually com- 
 municate with them.^^t 
 
 * Calv. Farello. p. 9. 
 
 t Bayle, Diet. Crit. Art. Alting. Tom.L p. 169, 170. 
 :(: Alting. Theol. Problem Par. 2. Probl 18. p. 331. quoted as 
 above by Bingha m, Orig. ecchs. Vol. IL p. 825. Fol. 
 
 -24 
 
184 
 
 Peter Martyk, a man of high standing 
 among the reform erSj went over to England at 
 the invitation of Cranmer by order of Edward 
 Vf . ; andj though far enough from holding the di- 
 vine right of Episcopacy, scrupled not to join in 
 permanent communion with the church of Eng- 
 land, and to accept a theological chair in the 
 university of Oxford ; and that he would as free- 
 ly have communed with the Lutherans jhsid they 
 been as forbearing as himself, may be gathered 
 from the disapprobation with which he mentions 
 the harsh behaviour of some Lutheran ministers 
 toward one of their brethren, for kindly receiv- 
 ing the English Protestants, when they fled 
 from the persecutions of bloody Mary, and for 
 communicating sometimes with the church of 
 Friezland.* 
 
 Knox, the Scottish Elijah, as firm a Presbyte- 
 rian as Calvin himself, and still less indulgent 
 to what he considered as reliques of Papal su- 
 perstition — even Knox — with all his antiepisco- 
 pal feelings, " officiated for a considerable time in 
 the church of England"! — assisted in revising 
 the Book of Common PraycrX — accepted, at 
 
 * See his letter lo Calvin, frcm Strasburgh, 23d Sept. 1555, at the 
 end of his Loci cornmimes, p. 7T0. ed. Genev. 1624, Fdl. 
 
 t M'Crie's life of John Enox, Vol. I. p. 102. Lond. 1813. Bvo. 
 t Ib. p. 27. 
 
r»o 
 
 Frankfort on the Maine, the charge of a congre- 
 gation composed of English exiles, differing 
 much in their views of pubiick worship — and, 
 ^'when the congregation had agreed to adopt 
 the order of the Genevan church, and requested 
 him to proceed to administer the communion 
 according to it ; although he approved of that 
 order, he declined to carry it into practice, until 
 their learned brethren in other places were con- 
 suited. At the same time he signified that he 
 had not freedom to administer the sacraments 
 agreeably to the English liturgy."^ The difficul- 
 ty resulted in a compromised ^' form of worship, 
 in which some things were taken from the Eng- 
 lish liturgy, and others added which were 
 thought suitable to their circumstances. This 
 w^as to continue in force until the end of the next 
 April ; and if any dispute arose in the interval, it 
 was to be referred to five of the most celebrated 
 foreign divines. The agreement was subscribed 
 by all the members of the congregation ; thanks 
 were publickly returned to God for the restora- 
 tion of harmony ; and the communion was re- 
 ceived as a pledge of union, and the burial of 
 all past offences. "t 
 
 It is well known to have been a favourite ob- 
 
 * Ib. p. I'sb. f iB.p. 128. 
 
186 
 
 ject with Calvin to form a general union of all 
 the Protestant churches. This he never could 
 have proposed without a full conviction that 
 they were sufficiently united in principle to be 
 united in fact ; and to reciprocate, by agreement, 
 the most liberal and ample communion in the 
 things of Christ. The idea of reducing them all 
 exactly to his own standard of propriety never 
 entered his mind. He Avas too much of a Chris- 
 iian to as!: for so huge a sacrifice; and too much 
 of a statesman to suppose it possible. His plan, 
 as is clear from the whole drift of his ^vritings 
 and advices, would have been to bind them up 
 in a great confederation ; bringing them as near to 
 each other as the state of public habit, under the 
 influence of mutual candour and concession, 
 should permit ; fixing them firmly there, and 
 leaving all the rest to evangelical liberty. So 
 that, as in old time, a Christian, passing from his 
 ow^n church and country to another, should be 
 welcomed as a citizen of the kingdom of God, 
 and should conform peaceably to the order of 
 that province of the kingdom which should thus 
 receive him. Could he have succeeded in re- 
 moving the grosser offences which remained in 
 some of the churches, his wishes had been fulfill- 
 ed — his holy triumph completed. For as no one 
 more thoroughly detested, or pertinaciously re- 
 
187 
 
 sistedj whatever tended, even remotely, to en- 
 snare conscience, or to reconcile the minds of 
 men to the superstitions and idolatry of Rome ; 
 so no one ever treated, with more majestic disre- 
 gard, those unessential peculiarities about which 
 so much heat is kindled by vanity. His critics 
 have set down such things to the score of his. 
 piide, mostly if not merely, because they could 
 not rise to the level of his magnanimity : just as 
 they have mistaken for arrogance, that manly 
 and subduing spirit which walks in the upper 
 regions of light and truth. He, in effect, said to 
 the Lutheran and English churches. Keep your 
 "smaller observances;" let us have no discord 
 on their account ; but let us march, in one solid 
 column, under the Captain of salvation ; and, with 
 undivided counsels, pour in the legions of the 
 cross upon the territory of darkness and death. 
 " I wish," says he, in a letter to Cranmer, " I 
 wish it could be brought about, that men of 
 learning and dignity from the principal churches 
 might have a meeting ; and, after a careful dis- 
 cussion of the several points of faidi, might hand 
 down to posterity the doctrine of the scripture 
 settled by their common judgment. But among 
 the greatest evils of our age this also is to be 
 reckoned, that our churches are so distracted one 
 from another, that human society scarcely flou- 
 
188 
 
 rishes among us, much less that holy communi- 
 on between the members of Christ, which all 
 profess in words, and few sincerely cultivate in 
 fact. — —Thus it happens, that, by the dissipa- 
 tion of its members, the body of the church lies 
 prostrate and mangled. As to myself, were I like- 
 ly to be of any service, I should not hesitate, were 
 it necessary, to cross ten seas for such a purpose. 
 If the question w^ere only concerning giving aid 
 to England^ that v»^ould be with me a sufficiently 
 powerful reason. Now^, ivhen the object is to ob- 
 tain such an agreement of learned men upon strict 
 scriptural principles^ as may accomplish an union of 
 churches hi other respects widely asunder^ I do not 
 think it lawful for me to decline any labours or 
 troubles,^ '^ 
 
 The reader will take notice, that this letter was 
 
 * Atque utinam impetrari posset, ut in locum aliquem docti et graves 
 viri ex praclpuig Ecclesiis coiveHt, ac singulis fide: capitlbu* diligenter 
 '^Tccussis, de ronimuni omnium senteatia certam posieris traderent scrip- 
 tnra? doctrinam. Caeterum in maximis feculi nostri mails hoc quoque 
 numerandani est, quod ita aliae ab aliis distractae sunt Ecclesije, ut vix 
 huraana jam inter nos vigeat societas, nedum emineat sancta membro- 
 nmi Christi communicatio, quam ore profitentur omnes, pauci reipsa 
 
 sincere colunt. Ita fit, ut raembris dissipatis, lacerum jaceat Eccle- 
 
 siae corpus. Quantum ad me attinet, siquis mei usur fore videbitur, ne 
 decern quidem maria, si opus git, ob earn rem trajicere pigeat. Si de ju- 
 vando tantum Angli^e regno ageretur, jam mihi ea eatis legitima ratio 
 foret. Nunc cum quaei atur gravis et ad scriptures normam probe com- 
 positus doctorum honinum concensus, quo Ecclesiae procul alioqui dis- 
 
189 
 
 written in 1551, several years before some of 
 the principal Protestant confessions were pub- 
 lished. Tlie consequence was, that the church-, 
 es had no proper puhlick understanding. The 
 mighty business of the reformation was carried 
 on, and the connexion of its interests maintain- 
 ed, chiefly by the correspondence of individuals 
 in different parts of Europe. It is this state of 
 things in which churches, as such, hardly knew 
 one another, that Calvin describes, deplores, 
 and wished to amend. Nothing is further from 
 his meaning, than that their respective membei^ 
 ^vould not commune with each other in ail Chris- 
 tian ordinances, as they had opportunity. Re- 
 pugnancies on that head were then confined to 
 the Jjiitherans and Anabaptists. When the Pro- 
 testant churches had, with one voice, glorified 
 God in their good confessions of his truth, one 
 of the measures which lay so near Calvin's heart 
 was partially executed. He w ouid have preferred 
 a joint-confession^ as the bond of visible union 
 and communion. Such a confession must ne- 
 cessarily have excluded all local peculiarities — all 
 minute and secondarv matters : and instead of 
 
 *lt3B inter se coalesrant. niilils vel iaboi ibu3 vel luolcitiis parccre fas 
 raihl esse arliltror. * 
 
 Cafv. Evi^f. 3». 61. 
 
190 
 
 arguing the several classes) of contessors to be of 
 different religions races onaccountof things which 
 depend upon climate, habit, state of society, and^ 
 such like incidents, would have marked their 
 common origin by their essential resemblance. 
 Varieties not affecting the substance of religion 
 would have been no better reason with them for 
 questioning a man's relation to them, and his 
 claim upon their holiest fellowship, than tawny 
 skin or crisped hair is, with believers in God's 
 word, for denying to be of their own species and 
 entitled to their kind offices, one who has their 
 bones, sinews, flesh, face, voice, faculties, and 
 other proper attributes of human nature. This is 
 a scheme worthy of reformers. It was Calvin's : 
 it is the Bible's. 
 
 What this lover of peace with truth projected 
 upon a large scale, was actually attempted and 
 exeguted, after his death, upon a smaller one ; 
 sufficient, however, to shew which way the cur- 
 rent of Christian charity was setting in. 
 
 The agreement of Poland, {Polonice consensus) 
 at the Synod of Sendomir, in 1570, six years af- 
 ter Calvin's decease, embracing the churches of 
 o-reaterand lesser Poland, which were orsranized 
 under the Augshurghox Lutheran confession, and 
 under the Helvetic or Swiss confession, what 
 would now be called Calvinistic ; as also under 
 
191 
 
 the confession of the Waldenses, was bottomed 
 upon those comprehensive principles which sup- 
 ported the plan of Calvin. 
 
 This consensus was for the express purpose of 
 wiping away the reproach of their enemies, and 
 of promoting brotherly concord and communion 
 on the ground of their agreement in the leading 
 truths of the gospel ; all things else being mat- 
 ters of forbearance. 
 
 * " Of this holy and mutual agreement," say 
 
 * Hujus autcm sancti mutuique concensus vinculum fore arbitrati su- 
 mus convenimusque, ut, quenmd'uadura illi nos nostrasque ecclesias, et 
 confessionem nostram in hac Synodo publicatam,et Fratruni, orthodox- 
 as esse 'testantur ; Sic etiam noi^ illorum ecclesias eodem Christiano 
 ainore prosequamur, et orthodoxas fateamur, Extremumqne valedica- 
 mus et ad altura silentiura imponamus omnibus rixis, distractionibus, disc*^ 
 sidiis ; quibus evangeli cursus non sine maxima piorura ofFensione impe- 
 ditus est; et unde adversariis nostris non levis calumniandi et vera; 
 Christianae religioni nostras contradicendi occa?io sit subministrata. 
 
 Cluin potius paci et tranquillitati publica? studere, charitatem mutu- 
 am execere, et operas mutuas ad aedificationem ecelesiae, pro fraterna 
 conjunction e nostra, praestare debemus, 
 
 ' Adhasc recipimus mutuo consensu, omni studio nostris fratribus om- 
 nibus persuasuros, atque eos invitaturos ad hunc Christianura et unani" 
 mem consensum amplectendum, coleadum, et conservandum ; illumque 
 alendum et obsignandum, prascipue auditione verbi, (frequentando tarn 
 hujus qiiam alterius cujusque confessionis ccetus) et sacramentorum usu : 
 observato tamen recto ordine, et gradu tam Uisciplinae quam consuetu- 
 diuis uniuscujusque Ecclesiae. 
 
 Ritus autem et caereraonias uniiiscujusque ecclesiae liberos hac Con- 
 cordia et conjunctione relinquimus. Non enim multum refert qui ritufs 
 ob^erventur, modo sarta tecta et incorrupta exi«tat ip?a doctrina et 
 fundanientum fidei ac salutls nostrae. Quern ad modimi et ipsa confer- 
 
 25 
 
m2 
 
 fliey, •' ^ve have thought and agreed that it would 
 be a confirmation, if as they," the Lutherans^ 
 '^ bear witness that we, and our church, and our 
 confession, published in this Synod, and the 
 churches and confession of the brethren," (JVcd- 
 (lenses) " are orthodox : so also we should mani- 
 fest the same Christian love toward their church- 
 es, and should acknowledge their orthodoxy : and 
 should, on both sides, abandon and consign to 
 silence, all quarrels, distractions, and dissensions, 
 by which the course of the gospel, to the very 
 great offence of many pious people, is hindered ; 
 and by which no light occasion is furnished to 
 
 sio Augustana et Saxonica de ea re decent; et in hac confessione nos- 
 tra, in praisenti Synodo Sendomii-iensi publicata, id ipsum expressimus. 
 
 Atquc lit Colophoneni hiiic con^ensui et mutnaj concordiae impona- 
 
 iniis, ad banc fraternani societateiu coni-ervandani tuendanique, non in-- 
 
 coramodum fore putaiuur!, in locum certum convenire, ubi una exrautu- 
 
 h confee^sionibus, compendium corporis doctrinae (improbitate hostiupj 
 
 ad id adacti) eliceremuH, et in publicum ederemus; ut invidorum homi- 
 
 uum ora obturarentur, cum maximo omnium piorum j-olatio: sub titulo 
 
 omnium ecclesiarum Polonlcarum reformatarum, et Litliuanicarurn, ei 
 
 Sa. ogiticarum, nostra? confei-sioai coneentientium. 
 
 Datis igltur junctisque dextrit, sancte promisimus et recepimus invi- 
 
 cem omnes, fidem et pacera colere fove; e. et in die? ad a?dificationera 
 
 regni Dei magis magii-que amplificare velie; orane que occasioned dis- 
 
 tractionis ecclesiarum evitaturos. Denique, ee iwmemore? oblitogque 
 
 i^ui ipsiius, ut ve/os Dei mini; tro^ decet. ^olius Je.su Christi Salvatoris 
 
 nostri gioriam promoturos; et evangelii ipsiu.^ veritatem propagatures 
 
 iHin factis turn dietis, reccpimu3. 
 
 Stkt. Conf. p. 2. p. 289, 290. 
 
193 
 
 our adversaries, both of calumniating ourselves^ 
 and of opposing our true Christian rehgion. It 
 is rather our duty to study the public peace and 
 tranquility : to exercise mutual charity ; and to 
 employ, according to our brotherly union, our 
 Jiiutual efforts for the edification of the church. 
 
 " We, moreover, pledge ourselves to use our ut- 
 most endeavours to persuade and invite all our 
 brethren to embrace, respect, and preserve this 
 our Christian and unanimous agreement ; and to 
 cherish and seal it especially by hearing of the 
 wordj (in frequenting the assemblies of both con- 
 fessions^) and by the use of the sacraments : al- 
 ways observing good order^ arid the rule both of dis- 
 cipline and custom in each of the churches re.s^ 
 jpectively. 
 
 ^' But the rites and ceremonies of each church 
 we do, by this our hearty consent, leave free. 
 For it makes little difference what rites are ob- 
 served, provided the fundamental doctrine of our 
 faith and salvation be untouched and uncorrupt- 
 ed, as the Augustan and Saxon confession teach 
 on that head ; and as we have expressed the 
 same in this our confession, published in the pre-, 
 sent Synod of Sendomir. 
 
 "And to complete this our consent and agree- 
 ment, we have thought that, in order to preserve 
 this our brotherly association, it will not be in- 
 
194 * 
 
 convenient to meet at some appointed place, 
 where we may together form a compend of doc- 
 trine taken from our mutual confessions ; and 
 publish it to the world to stop the mouths of in- 
 vidious men, and minister great consolation to 
 all the pious. 
 
 " Having, therefore, given to each other the 
 right hand of union, we have all most sacredly 
 promised and pledged ourselves, to cultivate, 
 nourish, and daily to aim at increasing, our peace 
 and faith, to the building up the kingdom of 
 God ; and that we will shun all occasions of dis- 
 tracting the churches. Finally, we have pledged 
 ourselves, that regardless of selfish considera- 
 tions, as becomes the true ministers of God, we 
 will promote only the glory of Jesus Christ our 
 Saviour ; and will propagate the truth of his 
 gospel in word and deed." 
 
 Next comes a prayer for the divine blessing ; 
 then the subscriptions to this agreement: and the 
 instrument closes with the 1st verse of the cxxxiii 
 psalm — ^'Behold how good and how pleasant it is 
 for brethren to dwell together in iinitij ! /" 
 
 A few days after the ratification of this consen- 
 sus^ viz. on the Lord's day, the 28th of May, 
 1570, it was carried into eflfect in the following 
 manner: viz. " The ministers, patrons, and whole 
 congregation of the Bohoemic confession, both 
 
195 
 
 Poles and Germans of both sexes, proceeded in 
 a body from their own to the Lutheran place of 
 worship, to attend morning service ; and there, 
 the hearers of both parties being solemnly as- 
 sembled, two of the ^FaZiZen^fftn ministers preach- 
 ed, one to the Poles, the other to the Germans, 
 In the same way, in the afternoon, the congrega- 
 tion of the Aiigusian confession, with their pa- 
 trons and ministers, having made a procession 
 from their church through the city, went to the 
 church of the Bohemian brethren, in the sub- 
 urbs, the Poles to the Poles, the Germans to the 
 Germans f and there two Lutheran ministers 
 preached to them the word of God. In each 
 place, after reading the agreement, the ministers 
 gave their attestation aloud to the holy concord 
 and union ; and exhorted their hearers on both 
 sides to cherish and guard it as a singular gift of 
 God ; and, laying aside all groundless suspicions 
 of each other, now that they had become one in 
 •the Lord and in his truth, to keep his way, and 
 cultivate brotherly love. This was accompanied 
 with ardent prayers to God, and with the great- 
 est joy and acclamation of all present, exclaim- 
 ing, 'Behold, hoiv good and pleasant it isforhreth- 
 
 * i. e. the Lutheran Poles to the Bohemian Poles ; and the Luthe-f 
 ran Germans to the Bohemian Germans. 
 
196 
 
 ren to dwell together in unity IP Finally, the 
 whole being made one church, sung with one 
 voice that hymn of exultation and thanksgiving, 
 ' We praise thee, O God, &e'."* This " agree- 
 ment," was unanimously confirmed in a general 
 Synod at Cracoiv^ Sept. 1573. And, as the con- 
 clusion of their business, *' The whole Synod, 
 the brethren, superintendants, elders, minis- 
 ters, patrons, and all the rest, ratified and sealed 
 that holy consent and union ; and, finally, after 
 joining together in publick worship, and in the 
 communion of the body and blood of the Lord^ ac- 
 cording to the ceremonies of the church at Cracow^ 
 they returned home, rejoicing in brotherly love, 
 and praising the Lord."t 
 
 This same agreement was reconfirmed in a 
 general Synod at Petrikow, a town of Great Po- 
 land, June 1378, and a regulation there made, 
 that a congregation of either confession, (Luthe- 
 
 * Synt. Conf. p. 2. p. ?.96. 
 
 t Porro tota hsec Cracoviensis Synodus, omnium confess! onumfra- 
 tres, Superattendentes, Seniores, Ministri, et Domini Patroni, quorum 
 hie sunt expressa uomina, et reliqui congregati, sanctum consensum ao 
 unionera — confirraarunt et obsignarunt : denique, Sacra synaxi, corpus 
 et sanguineoi Doiuini siroul percipientes, iis caeremoniis quas Ecclesia 
 Cracoviensis in usu habet. Atque tta, in amoce fraterno gaudentes et 
 T>ominum collaudantes, ad siios redierunt. 
 
 lB.p.304. 
 
197 
 
 lan or Calvinist,) might freely call a ministei^ 
 from the other.* 
 
 The renewal of the agreement was repeated 
 in a general Synod at Uladislaw^ 1583; and again 
 at Tornav^y in Hungary, 1595,t and continued to 
 be religiously observed as late at least as 16344 
 
 This spirit was not confined to Poland, Of 
 all the Protestant churches, none did more and 
 suffered more for the faith of Christ than the 
 churches of France. Purer in doctrine, fairer ia 
 government, and chaster in discipline, the world 
 never saw. Their treasure and their blood flow- 
 ed alike, and flowed freely in the cause of their 
 Redeemer. And none w^ere more forward in that 
 labour of love, the union of Christian churches 
 in one great spiritual commonwealth. 
 
 It appears, from the records of the Synod of 
 St. Foy, 1578, that an " assembly of many depu- 
 ties from sundry famous reformed churches, 
 kingdoms, and provinces, at which attended Mr. 
 EsNARD, as a representative from several Frenck 
 churches, met at Franckfort, in 1577, by invita- 
 
 * VII. Siquidem imio facta est inter nos Helvetica^, Augustanae, et 
 Bohsemica? confessioni addictos, liberum erit ecclesiae seu Patronis cce« 
 tus unius confessionis justis causis ac bono ordine, a Superattendea- 
 tibus alterius confessionis ministrum petere ac ad se vocare. 
 
 IB. p. 307. 
 
 t Ib. p. 308. p. 316. % DAYEiSfAWTii seat, ad Joh. Dcb^ujs^ 
 p. S, Cantab. 1640. 
 
198 
 
 tion of the Prince Elector John Casimir, prince 
 Palatine^ and duke of Bavaria — that they laid 
 down several means and expedients for uniting 
 all the reformed churches in Christendom in one 
 common bond of u7iion ; as also for terminating 
 the differences which had risen up and were fo- 
 mented among them by their common adversa- 
 ries ; and for hindering some hot-headed and 
 bigotted divines from condemning, as they had 
 threatened, even to Anathema, the greatest and 
 soundest part by far of the Christian reformed 
 churches — and, for the suppression of such im- 
 prudent and wicked designs, unanimously re- 
 solved to petition the princes of the empire, who 
 adhered to the confession of Auxhourg, i. e. the 
 Jjutheran princes — and had, moreover, given an 
 express charge, that one uniform confession of 
 faith should be framed, as the general and common 
 confession of all Protestants ; and several copies 
 of it sent to all those kingdoms and provinces in 
 which those churches were gathered, to be ex- 
 amined and approved by them, and to be crown- 
 ed by their joint consent and approbation." — It 
 appears also, " that they had agreed upon the 
 time and place for the meeting of deputies from 
 the churches concerned, and that they had sent 
 a special invitation to the French churches to 
 send thither persons of approved piety, integrity. 
 
199 
 
 and experience, with full powers to treat and de- 
 cide on all points of doctrine, and other matters 
 concerning the union, peace, and preservation of 
 the churches, and the pure worship of God." 
 
 This proposal was received with great satis- 
 faction by the general Synod of the French 
 churches; and four ministers, together with the 
 "most illustrious Lord Viscount of Twre/me," 
 were appointed commissioners to the general 
 meeting of deputies.* 
 
 The same design was prosecuted by the Sy- 
 nod of FiGEAC, in 1579, at which the confession 
 of faith of the Dutch and French churches in the 
 low countries was approved ; and a consultation 
 was held on the most proper means to " reunite 
 the several confessions of all those nations which 
 agree in doctrine, into one common confession, 
 and which may hereafter be approved by all 
 those nations. And this pursuant to the project 
 laid down in the late conference at Neustadt, 
 
 Sept 15T7."t 
 
 With equal willingness the Synod of Vitre, 
 1583, embraced a proposition made in their own 
 
 * auiCK's Synodicon, Vol. I. p. 120, 121. Fol. 
 
 + Ib. p. 13S. It would seemfroiii this, that there were two conferences 
 held in 15TT for a Protestant union ; one at Neustadt in Brunswick, 
 Germany, and the other at Frankfort ; for this latter also took place 
 in September. Quick, Vol. I. p. 121. 
 
 2G 
 
200 
 
 body for '^ an union arid agreement between the 
 churches of Genriany and thehs — they solicited 
 Mr. Chandieu to undertake a mission for that pur- 
 pose ; and Mr. Salnar^ after conference with 
 Lord Du Plessis, to write in their name and by 
 their authority on the subject, to the princes and 
 divines of Germany.* 
 
 Twenty years afterwards, viz. in 1603, at the 
 Synod of Gap^ the brethren of Dauphiny " de- 
 sired that some means might be contrived for a 
 conference and union with the Lutheran church- 
 es in Germany^ that so the schism between them 
 and the French churches might be removed." 
 Whereupon, the assembly " desirous to see the 
 fruits of such a noble project, ordered letters to 
 be despatched to the orthodox universities of 
 Germany^ England^ Geneva^ Easily and Leyden ; 
 and to Messieurs des Gourdon and de Fontaines^ 
 in London, entreating them to co-operate in ef- 
 fecting this holy union ; and that princes might 
 be engaged to put forth their authority therein, 
 that so they, the Protestant churches, might all 
 be more firmly united among themselves in the 
 confession of one and the same doctrine."! 
 
 This zeal was quickened by a proposal for 
 such an union made by king James the VL to 
 
 * Q^ieK's Si/nodicon, Tol. I. p. 153, t Ib. p. 289: 
 
201 
 
 the French churches, obscurely hinted in a letter 
 from his majesty of March 15th, 1614 ; and fully 
 explained, on his authority, by Mr. David Hume^^ 
 " for reuniting the churches of divers nations into 
 one and the selfsame confession and doctrine." 
 At their general Synod, held at Tonneins the 
 May following, they drew the outlines of a de- 
 tailed plan of union, in which the following are 
 conspicuous features : 
 
 1. To avoid the Arminian controversy. 
 
 For they say, that instead of disputes about 
 religion, "it were better to lay on the table, be- 
 fore the assembled delegates, the several confes- 
 sions of the reformed churches of England^ Scot- 
 landj France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and 
 the Palatinate, &c. ; and, that out of all these 
 confessions, there might be framed one in com- 
 mon to them all, in which divers points may be 
 omitted, the knoAvledge whereof is not needful 
 to our everlasting happiness. Among which, the 
 controversy moved by Piscator, and several sub- 
 til opinions broached by Van Armin," (Arminius,) 
 
 * Not the celebrated historian of that name, who lived more than a 
 century later; but a countryman and probably kinsman of his: a man 
 of quite " another spirit," which seems to have entirely evaporated 
 before the family-blood found it:< way into the veins of the unbelieving 
 philosopher. 
 
202 
 
 ^' about free will^the saints' perseverance^ and pre- 
 destination^ may he reckoned.'^'' 
 
 2. To avoid contentions about ceremonies and 
 church-government — whicli they call ^' quillets :^^ 
 i, e. subtleties, niceties : in regard to which they 
 say "A mutual declaration should be made, and 
 added unto the said confession, by which the said 
 deputies, in the names of their principals, do de- 
 clare, that the churches shall not judge nor con- 
 demn one another for this difference^ it not hinder- 
 ing our mutual agreement in the same faith and doc- 
 trine ; and that for all this^ ice may cordially cm- 
 brace each other as true believers and joint-members 
 of one and the same body,^^ 
 
 Thus far the business was to proceed among 
 deputies from the reformed churches only. They 
 were to conclude after " a most religious fast," 
 with the celebration of the Lord's supper, 
 ^'wherein the pastors from England and the 
 other nations should all communicate together.'- 
 And then to disperse, after appointing another 
 day for a new meeting within the year, that they 
 might have an opportunity of consulting their 
 respective constituents. 
 
 During the interval, means were to be used 
 for securing the attendance of some Lutheran di- 
 vines at this second assembly : and in such ein 
 expectation it was agreed. 
 
203 
 
 3. To wave the points in debate between the 
 reformed and the Lutherans: i. e. to express the 
 doctrine on these points in terms which might be 
 safe for conscientious, and satisfactory to modest 
 men : and, for this end, to model their agreement 
 after the Polonice consensus^ or " concordat of the 
 PoHsh churches, made at Sendoinir^ in the 
 year 1570." 
 
 This second assembly, like the first, was to 
 open with a solemn fast, and to close '* with the 
 celebration of the holy supper of our Lord, at 
 which, both the Lutheran and other ministers 
 should communicate together.''^ 
 
 On this plan for Protestant union, it may be 
 proper to remark. 
 
 First. That it did not contemplate merely tlie 
 reciprocation of ministerial and Christian fellovv - 
 ship in the several churches, ioxthai had been in 
 regular practice among Protestants all along : 
 the majority of the Lutherans excepted. It went 
 much further ; even to the organization of the 
 whole Protestant interest in a publick federative 
 union ; each of the component churches retain- 
 ing, however, its own independence and internal 
 order. It was, in fact, Calviu's plan revived, or 
 
 * auicK, Vol. I. p. .iC-L, k^. 
 
2Q4 
 
 rather prosecuted ; for it does not appear to have 
 been ever abandoned. 
 
 Secondly. That it furnished no proof of the 
 French churches, which were the most active in 
 promoting it, having at all declined from their 
 soundness in the faith, or their zeal in maintain- 
 ing it. For, three years afterwards, their gene- 
 ral Synod of Vitre^ appointed commissioners to 
 attend the Synod of Dordt for the purpose of de- 
 ciding on the several points of the Anninian con- 
 troversy ; and, three years after this, viz. at their 
 general Synod held in the town of Alez, 1620, 
 they unanimously approved the articles agreed 
 upon at Dordt; incorporated them with their own 
 canons, and ordered them to be " sworn and sub- 
 scribed to by the pastors and elders of their 
 churches, and by the doctors and professors in 
 their universities ; and, also by all those that 
 were to be ordained and admitted into the minis- 
 try, or into the professor's chair, in any of their 
 universities : with a proviso, that if any one of 
 these persons should reject, either in whole or in 
 part, the doctrine contained in, and decided by, 
 the canons of the said council," of Dordt ; "or 
 refuse to take the oath of consent and approba- 
 tion, he should not be admitted into any oiBce or 
 employment, either in their churches or univer- 
 
2d5 
 
 sities."* Thus unequivocally did thej assert, and 
 take care to perpetuate in their schools and pul- 
 pits, the pure doctrine of the gospel. But to 
 show how well they could unite Catholicism with 
 fidelity — the love of the brethren with the love 
 of truth ; and how cordially they could take to 
 their bosom the very persons against whose er- 
 rours they raised the voice of their testimony, 
 provided those errours subverted not the founda- 
 tion of their faith, the following extract from the 
 minutes of the second Synod of Charenton^ in 
 1631, wdll amply suffice : 
 
 " An act in favour of the Lutheran brethren^- 
 
 " The province of Burgundy demanding, Whe- 
 ther the faithful of the Augustane confession 
 might he permitted to contract marriages in our 
 churches^ and to present children in our churches un- 
 to baptism^ without a previous abjuration of those 
 opinions held by them contrary to the belief of our 
 chufches? this Synod declareth that, inasmuch 
 as the churches of the confession of Ausbourg do 
 agree with the other reformed churches in the 
 imncipal and fundamental points of the true reli- 
 gion^ and that there is neither superstition nor 
 idolatry in their w^orship ; the faithful of the said 
 
 * QricK. Vol.II.p.ST, S8. 
 
206 
 
 confessioiij who with a sphit of love and peacea- 
 bleness do join themselves to the communion of 
 our churches in this kingdom, may be, ivithout 
 any abjuration at all Jtiade by them, admitted unto 
 the Lord'^s table ivith us ; and, as sureties, may pre- 
 sent children unto baptism ; they promising the 
 consistory, that they will never solicit them, ei- 
 ther directly or indirectly, to transgress the doc- 
 trine believed and professed in our churches; but 
 will be content to instruct and educate them in 
 those points and articles which are in common 
 between us and them, and wherein both the Lu- 
 therans and we are unanimously agreed."* 
 
 If from France we pass into Holland, w^e shall 
 there find the same generous feeling toward all 
 the parts of the church of God. Her early con- 
 fession, the i56%/c, already quoted, shows in what 
 light she contemplated the privilege and duty of 
 church-cori:imunion. That confession, as has 
 been stated, received the unqualified approbation 
 of the continental divines at the Synod of Dordt, 
 in 1618; and it received also, with the exception 
 of its articles upon church-government, the ap- 
 probation of the Episcopal divines who were 
 sent thither by JaxMes VI. 
 
 The assembling of such a Synod, and their 
 
 ' qricK. Vol. II. p.C9?. 
 
207 
 
 harmonious proceedings, are the best practical 
 commentary upon the understood principle of 
 Protestant communion. Here was a collection 
 of representatives from the reformed churches of 
 Europe, France excepted, whose deputies were 
 stopped by a mandate of the king; various in 
 their modifications of order and rites of worship, 
 yet one in the common faith of the gospel. 
 Diitch^ German^ Genevese^ Swiss ^ all non-episco- 
 pal, joined by an English bishop and other Epis- 
 copal delegates, met together to discuss and de- 
 cide one of the most serious and shaking contro- 
 versies that ever agitated the church of God. 
 Here they unite in the most solemn acts of min- 
 isterial communion. The public prayers are of- 
 fered up by Presbyterians in their own manner. 
 By way of showing their concord and confidence, 
 they judge it expedient to have now^ and then 
 sermons in Latin before the Synod. They be- 
 gin with requesting the foreign divines to under- 
 take this service in order.* And the very first 
 man they place in the pulpit is Dr. Joseph Hall, 
 a high-toned Episcopalian, then Dean of Wor- 
 cester^ and afterwards bishop of Norwich. He 
 preached to them from Eccles. vii. 16. In his 
 sermon he calls the Synod, thus composed, " a 
 
 * Act, Synod Dobdrect, Sess. V. part 1. p. 18. 1620. Fol. 
 27 
 
208 
 
 most holy assembly of the prophets."^ The 
 church of Holland^ upon the supposition of her 
 adhering to " the faith which she had till then re- 
 ceived, and to the confession common to her 
 with the other churches ;" he salutes as the " pure 
 spouse of Christ." And then exclaims, "we are 
 brethren, let us also be associates ! What have 
 we to do with the disgraceful titles of Remon- 
 strants^ Contra- Remonstrmiis, Cahinists^ Armini- 
 ans ft We are Christians, let us also be of one 
 
 * Sanctissima corona prophetarum. Ib. Sess. XVI. p. 38. 
 
 t These names were then recent, and had not settled down into fix* 
 ed appellations, as some of them have done since. They have now 
 become technical terms in theology and ecclesiastical history ; and, like 
 other technical terms, they convey very complex ideas with more bre- 
 vity and precision than could easily be done by a periphrasis. Every 
 organization of men, and every system of principles must have a name. 
 This, in itself, is of no importance, but is useful for the purpose of 
 discrimination. It would be amusing, if it were not mortifying, to 
 see with what eagerness some men endeavour to fix a name upon 
 others ; and with what anxiety these again labour to shake it oft'. To 
 call one a Calvinlst or an Arminian, is to impute to him the doctrine 
 maintained by Calvin or Arminius — but it proves nothing. To refuse 
 the appellation is not to reject the doctrine — and so proves nothing. — 
 It is all a petty squabble about words. While differences subsist, we 
 must talk about them, and we may as well use the phraseology 
 which marks tliem. If "Calvinist" and " Arminian," are to be ban- 
 ished there is no reason why " Lutheran" and " Reformed," '' Pro- 
 testant" and '* Papist," " Socinian,"" Arian," " ITniversalist," '' Epis- 
 copalian," " Presbyterian," and the whole series of party names 
 should not go with them. Suppose it done, cui bono ? what do you 
 gain ? You would have to replace them with anotlier set ; and there 
 is the old contest over again. Yet it is not to be denied, liiat hurtful 
 
209 
 
 soul. We are one body, let us also be of one mind. 
 By that tremendous name of the Almighty God 
 — by the pious and gentle bosom of our com- 
 mon mother — by your own souls — by the most 
 holy compassions of Jesus Christ our Saviour; 
 aim at peace, brethren ; enter into peace, that 
 laying aside all prejudice, party-spirit, and evil 
 affections, we may all come to a happy agree- 
 ment in the same truth."^ 
 
 On these extracts, which are in the general 
 strain of the sermon, it may not be unseasonable 
 to remark : 
 
 1. That the reformed churches, Episcopal 
 and non-episcopal, had no scruple, in those days, 
 
 prejudices are sometimes associated with them. There is no help for^ 
 it. Such is sinful human nature, and we must take it as we faid it. 
 
 * Illud totis viribus uigere, illud unum inculcare, ut recepta? 
 
 hactenus fidei communique et vestrEE et aliarum ecclesiarum confessio- 
 ni adhaerere usque velitis omnes. Q.uod si feceritis, O felicem Belgi- 
 cara ! O intemeratam Christi sponsam ! O Reuipubllcam florentissi- 
 
 jxiam ! Illud vero ut jam tandem fiat, <?/\oT/^«/Tfls rKrv^^^siv. Fra- 
 
 tres suraus ; simus et collegae. €tuid nobis cum illo infami Remonstran- 
 tium, Contra-Remonstrantium. Calvinianorum, Arminianorum titu- 
 lo? Christiani sumus, simus et is-o^-ux"^- Unum corpus sumus, simus 
 et unanimes. Per tremendum illud omnipotentis Dei nomen — per 
 pium blandumque communis matris nostrae gremium ; per vestras ipso- 
 rura animas ; perque sanctissima Jesu Christi Servatoris nostri visce- 
 ra, pacem ambite fratres, pacem inite : et ita vos componite, ut; sepc- 
 sito omni prfejudicio, partiuraque studio ac malo alfectu, in eadem om- 
 nes veritate feliciter conspiremas. 
 
 Ib. Sess. XVI. 
 
210 
 
 of joining with each other in acts of pubUck 
 worship, according to their respective usages. 
 Much less did any of them look upon any other 
 as not being true churches, and upon their min- 
 istry and ordinances as unlawful and invalid. 
 Such a notion concerning churches without 
 Episcopal order and ordination, had not yet in- 
 fected the church of England^ and curdled in her 
 breasts the milk of Christian kindness. Her 
 representatives at Dordt, explicitly call the min- 
 isters of the Dutch church, " beloved breth- 
 ren and felloiD -ministers. ^^"^ 
 
 2. The views and feelings expressed by Dr. 
 Hall corresponded entirely Avith those of the 
 Avhole Synod ; for they call his discourse " most 
 learned and accurate," and gave him publick 
 thanks for it.f So that, considering how the Sy- 
 nod was constituted, it may be taken an official 
 expression of the views and feelings of refornied 
 Europe, And when this most venerable assem- 
 bly, inferiour in learning, talent, holiness, and 
 dignity, to none that had preceded it since the 
 great council of Nice, was about breaking up ; 
 the members mutually gave each other the " right 
 hand of brotherly communion,"! and parted w^ith 
 embracings and tears. Here was the most so- 
 
 *■ In. part 2. p. 2^4. t Ib. part f. p. 33. t l^.part S. p. 33^2. 
 
211 
 
 lemn formula, (the right hand of fellowship) 
 known in the church of God for receiving and 
 acknowledging each other as brethren in Christ 
 and in the gos{>el of Christ — the most sacred 
 pledge of Christian and ministerial communion. 
 Can a shadow of doubt remain after the testimo- 
 ny of such a fact ? Is it a tolerable question, 
 whether such men, or the ministers and members 
 of the churches they represented, would sit down 
 together at the Lord's table ? 
 
 As to the church of Holland^ it is well known, 
 that she practised the liberal communion of 
 which those illustrious deputies sanctioned the 
 principle, and set an example. For her mem- 
 bers before this communicated with the Bkow- 
 MSTS, the English independents who fled from 
 ecclesiastical oppression in their own country ; 
 although, by a singular inconsistency, the Brow- 
 nist teachers would not consent to reciprocate 
 the communion any further than in prayer and 
 hearing the word : and that in the face of their 
 own protestation wherein they say, " We account 
 the reformed churches as true and genuine ; We 
 profess communion with them in the sacred things 
 of God ; a7id, as much as in us lieSy ive cultivate 
 it.^^* An inconsistency which, it is heartily 
 
 * Ecclesias reformatas pro veris et genuiiiis habemus ; cum iifdem 
 in sacris Dei coramunionern profitemur; et, 'juantuin ia nobis e-t, co- 
 
212 
 
 to be wished, had stood alone ; and, deeply to 
 be regretted, has been kept in countenance by 
 the professions and practice of later days : but 
 which, at that time, was equalled only by the in- 
 consistency of the government of England, in 
 supporting, cherishing, comforting, honouring the 
 non-episcopal churches abroad ; and discourag- 
 ing, harrassing, crushing the very same sort of 
 churches at home. 
 
 The church of Holland was not only ready to 
 communicate in the sacraments with the Eng- 
 lish dissenters, as well as with the establishment, 
 but actually appointed one of the former, the 
 learned and excellent Dr. William x\mes, a pro- 
 fessor of theology in the university of Franeker, 
 The same honour proffered thirty years after, i. e. 
 in 1651, to that holy man of God, Samuel Ru- 
 therford, of St. Andreivs in Scotland^ when she 
 invited him to the professor's chair in the city 
 of Utrecht.* In fact, the churches of Holland and 
 Scotland, like the reformed churches on the con- 
 tinent, considered and treated each other as parts 
 of a common whole ; and furnished, by their 
 connexion and intercourse, as they had opportu- 
 
 limus.—RoBiNsoN's declaration in Neals* history of the Puritans. 
 Vol. I. 437, 438. 4to. iT54. 
 
 * Crookshanks History of the Church of Scotland. Vol. I. p. 
 116. Lond. 1749. avo. 
 
213 
 
 nity, a sample of that catholick communion to 
 which the obligation is so clearly asserted in their 
 confessions. 
 
 The aspect of the British churches was much 
 less inviting. Even in the early part of the reign 
 of Elizabeth, untender, not to say violent, mea- 
 sures were adopted toward those who had con- 
 scientious objections to some observances in the 
 establishment. But still the great Protestant 
 principle of communion was not renounced ; it 
 was not the nature^ but the application of that 
 principle, which produced so much scruple on 
 one side, and so much oppression on the other. 
 With all their coercive zeal toward their own 
 dissentients, neither the civil nor ecclesiastical 
 government of England thought of denying the 
 lawfulness and the duty of communion between 
 the Protestant churches, notwithstanding their 
 variations from each other in smaller things. 
 This was sufficiently manifest, as has been no- 
 ticed, by their conduct relative to the Synod of 
 DordU Their errour lay in making matter of 
 compulsion toward their own people, what was 
 matter of forbearance toward all others— in sup- 
 posing that certain diversities found, by experi- 
 ence, to be innocent on the continent, must ne- 
 cessarily be criminal, if not fatal, in EnglatuL 
 And they carried so far their passion for U7Uiyj as 
 
214 
 
 to destroy it by indiscreet means of enforcing it. 
 Ail this was an abuse, gross indeed, but still an 
 abuse of a sound and salutary principle. It was 
 reserved for the times, the temper, and the influ- 
 ence of bishop Laud, to reject the principle itself. 
 That able and intrepid, but fierce and unpitying 
 prelate, set himself to pervert the faith of the 
 church of England ; to break off her connexion 
 with foreign Protestants ; to corrupt her worship 
 by assimilating it, in GYeij possible manner, with 
 the Popish ritual ; and, by dint of power, to ef- 
 fect an external uniformity over the island, at the 
 expense of producing real division, bitter feuds, 
 publick weakness, and private misery. The very 
 next year after his elevation to the see of Can- 
 terbury, (1634,) Lord Scudamore, instead of go- 
 ing to the Protestant church RiCharenton, as had 
 been the previous practice of the English am- 
 bassadors at the French courts, " furnished his 
 chapel after the new fashion," (Laiidh) " with 
 candles upon the altar, &c. ; and took care to 
 publish, upon all occasions, that the church of 
 Englaisd looked not on the Huguenots as a part of 
 their communion?'''^ 
 
 This was the first instance in which one of the 
 reformed churches openly renounced the fellow- 
 
 * LorA ClJlRENDow, as cited by Neal. Vol. I. ^8^. 
 
215 
 
 ship of another. It was a melancholy deed, and 
 a melancholy day. The alarm which it created 
 among foreign Protestants in England, and the 
 indignation which it excited on the continent, 
 proved how well established had been the doc- 
 trine of Protestant communion, and how pre- 
 cious it was in the eyes of Protestant churches. 
 By that fatal act, England forfeited her pre-emi- 
 nence as the " bulwark of the reformation," and 
 became an object of disgust to the foreign church- 
 es ; insomuch, that in her subsequent tribula- 
 tions, she could scarcely command their pity: 
 whereas, before this infatuated act of selfishness 
 and schism, she held the first rank in their re- 
 spect and affection. 
 
 To those who are acquainted with the history 
 of this disastrous period, it would be superfluous 
 to detail the mercies of Laudj and the mysteries 
 of the Star-chamber, To those who have not 
 such an acquaintance, our limits do not allow us 
 to present even an imperfect sketch : and per- 
 haps the nature of this volume forbids the at- 
 tempt. Suffice it to observe, that the contests in 
 the church of England between the high-hand- 
 ed conformists and their demurring brethren, fur- 
 nished proof, and not refutation, of the doctrine 
 here advanced in favour of catholic communion. 
 No whim, nor abuse, nor corruption, which ihey 
 
 28 
 
216 
 
 were not required to approve^ severed the Puri- 
 tans from the Established Church. They grieved, 
 they mourned, they expostulated, about things 
 which afflicted their consciences ; but they 
 thought not of separation. Had they been al- 
 lowed to exonerate themselves from the charge 
 of countenancing what, in all sincerity, they dis- 
 allowed ; or, had they not been commanded to 
 belie their conviction by an explicit approbation 
 of what they abhorred, the name of dissenters 
 from the church of England had never been 
 known. Un-episcopal in their judgment they 
 certainly were ; as were all the continental Pro- 
 testants, and all the fathers of the British refor- 
 mation. They disliked, they loathed, certain ex- 
 ieriour observances ; but still, had they been per- 
 mitted to dislike and to loathe without exciting 
 public disturbance^ — had they not been required 
 to deny what they believed to be truth, and to 
 profess what they believed to be falsehood — had 
 not the price of their peace in the establishment 
 been rated so high as the perjury of their souls 
 before God, they had never been separated from 
 the church of England. As it was, they did not 
 retire^ they were driven from her bosom : and 
 they have thus left upon record their testimony 
 of martyrdom to the sacredness of that com- 
 munion which belongs to the church of God, 
 
217 
 
 and to the criminality of dividing it upon slight 
 pretexts. The same thing may be said of the 
 rent begun in 1732, in the church of Scotland. 
 The Seceders did not voluntarily ivithdraw^ they 
 were expelled. Had the Commission of the Ge- 
 neral Assembly, and the General Assembly itself 
 known their own interests — had they listened 
 more to the counsels of Christian peace than to 
 the pride of a secular establishment, the church 
 of Scotland had been " one and indivisible." 
 But, like England with her Laud and her Star- 
 ehamber^ she chose to be ferocious : and she 
 broke the golden chain of her unity, perhaps 
 never to be repaired till those days of the " Son 
 of man" which, according to his word, we con- 
 fidently expect. In the mean time has happened 
 what the nature of human passions might fore- 
 warn us to anticipate : grievance has been ac- 
 cumulated upon grievance, and complaint upon 
 complaint. The point of honour with the devo- 
 tees of the establishment is to heap contempt on 
 the separatists ; and, with the devotees of sepa- 
 ration, to degrade the establishment. And thus, 
 while "high church," on both sides of the Tweed. 
 deals out its proscriptions more in the spirit of 
 the world than in the bowels of Christ, the com- 
 pliment is returned by their antagonists with 
 bearty good will. Many things are noui alleged 
 
218 
 
 to justify dissent from the church of England^ 
 and secession from the church of Scotland^ 
 which, we know^ were not among the original 
 causes of disunion. And so it is with all parties 
 after their disagreement has become inveterate. 
 This is humiliating, but it is true. And the arm 
 of Truth must not be unnerved, light her blow 
 where it maj. 
 
 To return. The church of England continued 
 in this uncomfortable state. Power persecuting 
 right, and right remonstrating to power — the se- 
 cular hierarchy commanding, and the scriptural 
 conscience disobeying and suffering, till that 
 memorable epoch in the reign of Charles !. — 
 the meeting of the Assembly of divines at West- 
 minster ^ in 1643. 
 
 This Assembly was called for the express pur- 
 pose of reforming more perfectly " the discipline, 
 liturgy, and government of the church," so that 
 " such a government might be settled in the 
 church as should be most agreeable to God's 
 holy word, and most apt to procure and preserve 
 the peace of the church at home, and nearer 
 agreement with the church of Scotland^ and other 
 reformed churches abroad." 
 
 The assembly was originally composed of 
 Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Independents ; 
 mth commissioners, both lay and clerical, from 
 
219 
 
 the church of Scotland. The Episcopal divines 
 withdrew at an early period of their discussions, 
 viz. before the introduction of the " Solemn 
 league and covenant ^^'^'^ and the number of Inde- 
 pendents w^as but small ;t so that the business of 
 the assembly was managed principally by the 
 Presbyterians. 
 
 On the form of church-government there was 
 much difference of judgment, long and Avarm 
 debate, and great embarrassment. 
 
 In the body of Christian doctrine there was al- 
 most a perfect harmony. A few members ob- 
 jected to " some expressions relating to reproba- 
 tion^ to the imputation of the active as well as pas- 
 sive obedience of Christ ; and to several passages 
 in the chapters of liberty of conscience, and 
 church discipline ; but the confession, as far as it 
 related to articles of faith, passed the Assembly 
 and Parliament by a very great majority ;" and 
 w^as, without exception, adopted by the church of 
 Scotland.! The Independents, when they form- 
 ed themselves into a separate body, thirteen 
 years afterwards, i. e. in 1658, published a con- 
 fession of faith, called the Savoy confession, which, 
 for substance, is the same as the Assembly's. 
 ^' They have omitted all those chapters in the 
 
 * Neale, II. 68. t Neale ^ays, ■' not above six " Vol, II. p 44. 
 t U, 258 
 
 *• 
 
220 
 
 Assembly's confession which relate to discipline ; 
 as the 30th and 31 st, with part of the 20th and 
 24th, relating to the power of Syjicds^ councils, 
 church censures, marriage a7id divorce, and the 
 power of the civil magistrate in matters of religion.^^ 
 But " upon the whole, the difference between 
 these two confessions in point of doctrine is so 
 small, that the modern Independents have, in a 
 manner, laid aside the use of it," (their own,) 
 " in their families, and agreed with the Presbyte- 
 rians in the use of the iVssembly's catechism."^ 
 In the result, therefore, of the Westminster 
 Assembly's deUberation — an assembly not sur- 
 passed even by the Synod of Dordt, or the coun- 
 cil of Nice — we have the doctrinal judgment of at 
 least the £w^/i5/i Presbyterians andlndependentSj 
 and of the whole church of Scotland. That judg- 
 ment in the article of church-communion is the 
 more important, as the churches immediately 
 concerned in the present inquiry have sprung 
 from them ; have received, all of them the doc- 
 trine, many of them the government, discipline, 
 and worship, settled by that most venerable as- 
 sembly. So that when we have the doctrine of 
 the Westminster confession of faith on the arti- 
 cle of communion, we have the faith avowed at 
 
 * tb.:)07. 
 
221 
 
 this moment of the church of Scotland — of both 
 branches of the secession in that country and 
 Ireland — of the Reformed Presbytery ; of the 
 Synod of Relief in Scotland — of a large body of 
 English Independents — and of all, or nearly all, 
 the American churches which have descended 
 from them : that is, we have the professed faith 
 of all the Presbyterian churches in Scotland, Ire- 
 land, and Afuerica (the Associate Reformed Church 
 being one,) — and of the body of English and 
 American Independents. When we shall have 
 settled the doctrine of communion, as taught in 
 the Westminster confession, we shall also have 
 settled the principle which these churches, at 
 least the Presbyterian part of them, have so- 
 lemnly adopted and promised to observe, as the 
 rule of their ecclesiastical conduct. With this 
 general clue let us go to the " Confession of 
 faith." The 26th chapter is entitled: 
 
 " 0/* COMMUNION OF SAINTS'." 
 
 the doctrine concerning which it lays down in 
 the following terms : 
 
 " All saints that are united to Jesus Christ 
 their head, by his Spirit and by faith, have fel- 
 lowship with him in his graces, sufferings, death, 
 resurrection, and glory. And, being united to 
 one another in lovCj they have communion in 
 
222 
 
 each other's gilts and graces, and are obliged to 
 the performance of such duties, pubUck and pri- 
 vate, as do conduce to their mutual good, both 
 in the inward and outward man." 
 
 ^' II. Saints by profession are bound to main- 
 tain an holy fellowship and communion in the 
 worship of God, and in performing such other 
 spiritual services as tend to their mutual edifica- 
 tion : as also in relieving each other in outward 
 things, according to their several abilities and 
 necessities. Which communion, as God offer- 
 eth opportunity, is to be extended unto all those 
 who in every place call upon the name of the 
 Lord Jesus." 
 
 This latter section describes, apparently, the 
 communion which ought to subsist between pro- 
 fessed Christians in their relation to each other as 
 visible members of the church of God ; assert- 
 ing their joint title to, and interest in, all the pri- 
 vileges of his house, and their duty to partici- 
 pate therein with each other, as they have op- 
 portunity, upon the single ground of their being 
 followers of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 Let us view it a little more closely. 
 
 The parties are "saints by profession:" i. e. 
 those who make a credible profession of religion 
 — whom, according to the rules of scriptural 
 judgment, we are to acknowledge as fellow- 
 christians. 
 
223 
 
 The communion which they are to cherish 
 with each other is defined in its nature, its extent, 
 and in the principle of its application. Its nature 
 is threefold. It consists : 
 
 1. \n social worship. 
 
 They are partners with each other in all that 
 is comprehended under " the worship of God:" 
 i. e. his instituted ordinances in his church. 
 
 This partnership is to be avowed and expressed 
 by open acts of mutual recognition — they are "^o 
 maintain an holy fellowship and communion in the 
 ivorship of God,^^ 
 
 Their recognition of each other is not a matter 
 of choice or discretion, which they may do, or 
 omit, as they please. It is a duty which they are 
 not at liberty to forego — an imperative obligation 
 upon their consciences — they are " bound^^ to 
 maintain this communion. 
 
 2. In acts of religious good-will, which, though 
 they fall not directly under the " worship of God," 
 are yet " such spiritual services as tend to their 
 mutual edification." 
 
 3. " In relieving each other in outward things 
 according to their several abilities and necessi- 
 ties." 
 
 As to the extent of this communion in all its 
 branches — it is to embrace Christians as such : 
 
 29 
 
224 
 
 1. Of every denomination — even "allvrho call 
 iipon the name of the Lord Jesus." 
 
 2. Of every country and clime — even all who 
 " in every place" call upon him. 
 
 The application of this doctrine is to be regu- 
 lated by providential occurrences : — " as God 
 ofFereth opportunity." When you do not force an 
 occasion by the neglect of more pressing duties f 
 but when in his providence he fairly puts it in 
 your way, you are not to shun, but thankfully to 
 accept such an " opportunity" of testifying your 
 love to his people by joining with them in the 
 ordinances dispensed among them, or welcoming 
 them to the ordinances dispensed among your- 
 selves. 
 
 This seems to be a simple interpretation of the 
 article before us. Such an one as a man of plain 
 sense and upright heart, without any previous 
 bias, and regarding only the terms in which it is 
 couched, would put upon it. And if such is, in- 
 deed, its meaning, there can be no further debate. 
 The churches concerned have decided, by their 
 own publick confession, in favour of a commu- 
 nion as catholick and generous as that of the 
 Apostolick and Primitive and Protestant ages : and 
 nothing remains for them but to show, by their 
 example, that they believe their own doctrine — 
 that the profession \vhich they are in the habit of 
 
225 
 
 making to God and to man, is a fair exhibition of 
 their principles. 
 
 But the point will not be so easily yielded. 
 The respected brethren and venerable fathers 
 with whom this plea remonstrates, make a dis- 
 tinction which they think clears them from the 
 charge of inconsistency, and conciliates their con- 
 tracted communion with their adherence to the 
 Westminster confession. They distinguish be- 
 tween church- communion and the communion of 
 saints; or, as they sometimes express it, Christian 
 communion. By the first, viz. church- communion^ 
 they understand communion with a church in her 
 social character, as organized under a particular 
 form of doctrine, government, and worship. By 
 the second, viz. the communion of saints or Chris- 
 tian communion^ they understand that communion 
 which subsists between Christians as individuals 
 simply, without reference to their church-connex- 
 ion at all. And some have even limited this com- 
 munion, at least in the extent of the confession 
 in the article cited above, to '^ministering with 
 our substance, by communications of it to supply 
 the necessities of the saints, or, in doing other 
 offices of kindness :" which they suppose, -'is fully 
 evident from the scriptures quoted by the vene- 
 rable assembly at Westminster in support of that 
 
226 
 
 article."* The confession is therefore considered 
 not as treating of communion with a church at all, 
 but simply of that brotherly love which should 
 adorn the private intercourse of those who are 
 called by the name of Christ. 
 
 If the distinction here stated, and as stated, be 
 sound, and the interpretation depending upon 
 it genuine, the Westminster confession must 
 doubtless be expunged from our roll of witnesses. 
 But if it should prove to be altogether untenable, 
 and the interpretation founded upon it to be in 
 direct repugnance to the article Avhich it is -em- 
 ployed to explain, the refuge of our opposing 
 brethren will be swept away. 
 
 In combatting their distinction, which he holds 
 to be erroneous and hurtful, the authour trusts to 
 their candour for acquitting him from the impu« 
 tation of disrespect. He feels both regret and 
 grief at the necessity imposed on him, of differing 
 from brethren whom he esteems and loves, with 
 whom he has taken, and hopes yet to take " sweet 
 counsel together, and to go to the house of God in 
 company" — from fathers whose shoe's latchet he 
 is scarce worthy to unloose— from churches w^hich 
 have been and are valiant for the truth, and which 
 
 * Re-exhibition of the Testimony hy the (Burgher) AesG- 
 fjATE Synqd, 1T78. Page 1T8, note *. 
 
227 
 
 liave distinguished themselves for their fidehty to 
 the testimony of Jesus. It was in their own 
 school, by imbibing their own spirit, that he first 
 learned to " call no man master upon earth ;" and 
 he would not pay them so miserable a compli- 
 ment as to refrain from pointing out their mistake, 
 from an unmanly fear of coming short in the du- 
 ties of tenderness and respect. The weight of 
 their names, the strength of their habits, and the 
 importance which they attach to the distinction 
 before us, not only justify, but demand a close and 
 full investigation. 
 
 It must strike every thinking reader as some- 
 what extraordinary, that the communion of a 
 church made up of visible saints — of Christians, 
 should not be the communion of saints, nor Chris- 
 tian communion! If the communion which, in 
 publick worship, saints hold with saints, as such, 
 is not "communion of saints" — which Christians 
 there hold with Christians, is not " Christian com- 
 munion," what is it ? Do the Christians disappear 
 when the church assembles ? Do the saints become 
 unsainted the moment they sit down at the Lord's 
 table ; so that their communion in his body and 
 blood is not the communion of saints, nor at all 
 signified by that expression ? To say the least, 
 here is a smack o^ Babel: a stransre confusion of 
 human speech ! the words certainly do not sound 
 
22« 
 
 so: nor is it conceivable how such a construc- 
 tion of them should suggest itself to any man's 
 mind, unless he had been reduced to great straits 
 by the pressure of some importunate argument; 
 and could fall upon no other means to extricate 
 himself. 
 
 Nor is it less extraordinary, that an instrument 
 prepared, like the confession of faith, with the 
 most cautious deliberation ; an instrument re- 
 markable, above all other uninspired composi- 
 tions, for denseness and perspicuity ; for preci- 
 sion and amplitude, should treat professedly of the 
 church of God ; of her ministry, her ordinances^ 
 her worship — and contain not one syllable on that 
 momentous topic, her communion! Should be ex- 
 plicit and minute on the private communion of 
 her members, and silent as death about their /?m6- 
 lick fellowship! That the very framers of this in- 
 strument should write letters full of affection to 
 foreign Protestant churches; and should avoid, 
 studiQudy avoid, in their doctrine concerning 
 the catholick church, every thing which might 
 inform their correspondents in what light they 
 were to be viewed — whether as fellow-eom- 
 municants in their Christian privileges, or as a 
 profane refuse of heathen men and publicans! 
 It is absolutely incredible! Yet all this have they 
 done, or neglected to do, if the chapter on the 
 
229 
 
 " communion of saints," is rightly interpreted of 
 Christian, to the exclusion of church-communion. 
 Such an idea is the more inadmissible, as all the 
 churches on both sides of the Atlantic, organized 
 under the Westminster confession, are in the same 
 predicament. There is not one of them whose 
 authentick, standard confession of their faith res- 
 pecting the church of God, so much as tells the 
 other churches whether they even own them as 
 brethren in the Lord or not ! There is something 
 wrong here : and it will be of no small service to 
 the character of the churches of the Westminster 
 confession, to set it right. For this end it will be 
 proper, 
 
 1. To ascertain the meaning of the phrase, 
 " Communion of saint s,"^"^ 
 
 2. To examine the internal evidence of the con- 
 fession itself, coupled with the larger and shorter 
 Catechisms, which are only different forms of the 
 same body of general doctrine. 
 
 3. To compare these results with the views of 
 church-communion which are known to have pre- 
 vailed about the period of which the Westmin- 
 ster Assembly is the most conspicuous incident. 
 
 1. For ascertaining the meaning of the phrase 
 " communion of saints," let it be remembered, 
 that at the time of forming the Westminster con- 
 fession it had been of long use in the church of 
 
230 
 
 God : so that it had become familiar as a tech- 
 nical expression ; and may, therefore, be taken 
 only in its known and established sense. It pass- 
 ed into the language of the churches from that 
 brief summary of Christian doctrine, called the 
 " Apostles' creed." And as the Westminster di- 
 vines have annexed that summary to their own 
 more enlarged work, they have taught us that they 
 understood the phrase '^communion of saints" in 
 the sense which is affixed to it by the Apostles' 
 creed, and which had been received without con- 
 tradiction or variance down to their own day. 
 
 That little compend was current in the Chris- 
 tian world without the clause " communion of 
 saints," until the end of the fourth, or beginning 
 of the fifth century. It was gradually, but very 
 cautiously and sparingly, enlarged, as occasion re- 
 quired. And it was an occasion of some deep 
 and universal interest which could avail for intro- 
 ducing a new clause into a formula of such high 
 authority, such boundless adoption, and such ex- 
 treme brevity. Some point of primary magni- 
 tude in the faith of the whole Christian world, and 
 which it was deemed necessary to maintain by a 
 corresponding testimony, must have been assail- 
 ed — some errour calculated to alarm the church 
 "from the one end of heaven even to the other end 
 of heaven," must have been broached, to cause 
 
231 
 
 the insertion of a new member into that minia- 
 ture body of doctrine which contained the radical 
 faith of all believers from the rising to the setting 
 sun. What was it? Amidst all the heresies 
 which infested the church for four hundred years, 
 had any one denied the obligation upon Chris- 
 tians in their private capacity to cultivate brotherly 
 kindness ? — to intermingle their Christian affec- 
 tions? — to abound in deeds of munificence for each 
 other's comfort, and for the furtherance of the 
 gospel ? * Was there any doubt upon this head? 
 And can it be imagined that the publick creed, 
 which Christians held sacred, was enlarged for the 
 purpose of asserting what nobody disputed? This 
 will not bear inquiry. 
 
 * When the coldness and niggardliness of Christians among us to- 
 ward the most glorious objects of pious effort, are compared with the 
 ardour and bounty of the primitive believers, one cannot help smiling, 
 though in bitterness, at Cyprian's complaint, that in his day, A. D. 
 251, Christians had so far degenerated from their first love, as not to 
 give the tenth part of their substance to religious uses! !! Nunc, says 
 he, de patrimonio nee decimas daraus! ! (De unit : eccks : p. 120.) The 
 writer knows a congregation of very decent professors, in a very snug 
 way of living, who some years since gave, among them all, fifty dol- 
 lars to a seminary out of which the word of the gospel is expected to 
 go forth to feed their own children with the " bread of God;" and the 
 last account of them is, that " they have not yet got over this Her- 
 culean exertion !" He mourns to add, that there are others, and they 
 not poor, who §,\yenothing, or next to nothing; and yet claim a full and 
 even preponderating share of the fruits for which they have not labour- 
 ed, and which have been raised by men more indigent than themselves. 
 O Saviour, do Uiese people love thee? Shame, where is thy blush! 
 
 SO 
 
232 
 
 The troubles created by the Donatists began 
 near the commencement of the fourth centur^j 
 and raged with violence for a long series of years. 
 Their schism, as was shown above, consisted pre- 
 cisely in their breaking off from the Catholick 
 church, and refusing to hold communion with 
 churches that were not of their own body. Prior 
 to this event the clause under discussion was not 
 in the Apostles' creed ; nor is it to be found in any 
 of the editions of that instrument which have 
 been preserved in writings of an earlier date. The 
 creed simply said, " I believe in the Holy Catholick 
 churchj the forgiveness of siris, &c. But after the 
 schism of the Donatists, in the time of Augustin 
 their great antagonist, it appears with "the commu- 
 nion of saints^"^^ between these two clauses ; and 
 reads, " / believe in the Holy Catholick church, the 
 COMMUNION OF SAINTS, the forgivcncss ofsinSj'^^ &c. 
 
 The fact is conclusive. We have here the 
 reason and origin of the phrase. It was to main- 
 tain the principle of the union and communion of 
 the Catholick church, against the schismatical 
 doctrine and conduct of the Donatists; and so it 
 is paraphrased by its learned historian and com- 
 mentator. Sir Peter King. 
 
 "The term Saints j^^ says he, " being explained, 
 it will not be difficult to apprehend the meaning 
 of the other term Communion ; which naturally 
 
2S3 
 
 appears to be this ; that there is, and ought to be, 
 a mutual intercourse and society, fellowship and 
 communion, in all usual and regular ways, be- 
 tween the several respective churches and con- 
 gregations of Christians and believers, whereby 
 they declare unto the whole world, that although 
 both necessity and convenience oblige them to 
 assemble in distinct places, and compose differ- 
 ent societies, yet, nevertheless, they are all mem- 
 bers of one and the same body of which Jesus 
 Christ is the head : that they are all guided by 
 the same spirit, communicate in the same institu- 
 tions, and are governed by the same general rules ; 
 so that whatsoever is regularly performed and de- 
 termined in one congregation, is assented to by 
 all others ; and whosoever is received to communion 
 in one churchy is freely admitted into any other. '''^ * 
 It is, therefore, clear that the phrase " commu- 
 nion of saints,'' was, originally, so far from signi- 
 fying what is now called " Christian communion" 
 in opposition to "c/iwrc/i-communion," that it sig- 
 nified exactly, or nearly, the reverse : i. e. it not 
 only comprehended, but strictly and properly ex- 
 pressed, and was put into the creed for the very 
 purpose of expressing, church-communion. And 
 although it is couched in terms which fairly em- 
 
 * King's Ctilkal History of the Apostles^ Creed, p. 342, 343, London. 
 1719. 8vo. 
 
234 
 
 brace the whole fellowship of believers, so as to 
 allow that latitude of exposition which it receives 
 in the Westminster confession; yet its immediate, 
 primary, and chief, if not sole intention, was to 
 assert the obligation upon all the churches of God 
 throughout the world, to commune with each 
 other in the most solemn offices of religion, as 
 his providence should furnish them with oppor- 
 tunities. 
 
 In this reigning sense was it handed down to 
 posterity, and understood at the reformation more 
 than eleven centuries after its adoption. 
 
 The Helvetic confession 
 
 Explains the church to be " a company of be- 
 lievers called or collected outof the world ; adding, 
 " I mean a communion of all the saints ; viz. of 
 them who really know the true God, in Christ the 
 Saviour, by his word and spirit, who worship him 
 aright ; finally, who by faith participate in all the 
 benefits which are freely offered to them through 
 Christ. All these are citizens of one city, living 
 under the same Lord, and the same laws, in the 
 same participation of all good things. For so the 
 Apostle has called them ; (fellow-citizens with the 
 saints and of the household of God :) Bestowing 
 the appellation of ^ saints^ upon believers on 
 
 ■;& 
 
235 
 
 earth, "who are sanctified by the blood of the son 
 of God. Eph. 2. 1. Cor. 6. Of ivhoin is by all 
 means to be understood that article of the creed, I 
 believe in the Holy Catholic churchy the comiviu- 
 
 . NION OF SAINTS."* 
 
 Here the " communion of saints" is pronounced 
 to be the same, as the " holy catholick church ;" 
 so that whatever the communion is, it is church- 
 communion. Nor can this be evaded by mging 
 that the confession has restricted the definition of 
 the church to true believers. It has so : but then 
 it is of believers as they jjrqfess Christ, and are 
 openly on his side, forming, throughout the world, 
 one great society organized under his laws. It 
 considers real Christians to be, strictly speaking, 
 the church. But men cannot see into each other's 
 hearts. There is no other way of our knowing 
 
 * Q,uando autem Deus ab initio salvos voluit fieri homines, et ad ag- 
 
 nitionem veritatis venire, oportet omnino semper fuisse, nunc esse, et 
 
 .ad finem secuH futuram esse Eccle-iam: i. e. e mundo evocatum vel col- 
 
 lectum ccetum fidelium ; Sanctorum, inquaii-, omnium communionem ; 
 
 eorum videlicet, qui Deum verum in Christo Servatore per verbum et 
 
 Spiritum Sanctum verecolunt; denique omnibus bonis per Christum 
 
 gratuito oblatis fide participant. Sunt isti omnes unius civitatis cives, 
 
 viventes sub eodem Domino, sub iisdera legibu?, in eadem omnium bo- 
 
 Borum participatione. Sic enim hos concives Sanctorum et doraesticos 
 
 Dei appellavit Apostolus: Sanctos appellans fideles in terris, sanguine 
 
 Filii Dei sanctificatos. Eph. 2. 1. Cor, 6. De quibus omnino intelli- 
 
 g-endus est symboli articulus, " Credo sanctam Ecclesiam catholicam, 
 
 sanctorum communionem," 
 
 Ap, Sxntag. co3f«. part 1. p. 50. 
 
236 
 
 who are believers but by the profession of their 
 faith with a corresponding behaviour. The con- 
 fession proceeds upon this fundamental rule of 
 society, civil and sacred, that, before the tribunal 
 of human judgment, a man is what he appears to 
 be. It speaks, therefore, of the church of be- 
 lievers, as indicated by their visible profession, 
 walk, and order, in the gospel. In no other way 
 can she be known as a militant church — in no 
 other way can tares be mixed with her wheat — 
 in no other way can she have " a great many 
 particular churches upon earth, all referrible to 
 the true Catholick church" — in no other way 
 could she " have her institutions^ and be regulated 
 in one form among the Patriarchs before the law 
 — in another, by the law under Moses — and in a 
 third, by Christ through the gospel ;" all which 
 this same article most fully maintains. 
 
 To the same purport, at a still earlier period, 
 speaks 
 
 T/ie Confession o/*Basil: 
 
 ^' We believe in the holy Christian church, i. e. 
 the communion of saints; the congregation of the 
 faithftil in spirit, which is holy, and the spouse 
 of Christ. In which all those are citizens who con- 
 fess that Jesus is the Christ, the lamb of God 
 which taketh away the sins of the world ; and 
 
257 
 
 f\'ho demonstrate that faith of theirs by works of 
 love." * 
 
 The Strasburg Confession : 
 
 " ^ince the Saviour reigns truly, in these," (the 
 children of God) " they are properly called ^ his 
 church,' and, ^the communion,' i. e. the society of 
 saints, as the term ^ church' is explained in the 
 Apostles' creed." t 
 
 The BoHCEMic confession: 
 
 " We are most thoroughly persuaded, by clear 
 mdications from the vv^ord of God, that our minis- 
 ters who do not overleap the bounds of evange- 
 lical doctrine, are addicted to no heresies ; but 
 are tnie ministers of Christ, and in Christ's stead ; 
 and are to be obeyed, by the commandment of 
 truth itself Wherefore it were most unlawful to 
 withhold the communion of saints with them ; es- 
 pecially as we are bound thereto by this very ar- 
 
 * Credimus sanctam Christianam Ecclesiam, id est, communionem 
 sanctorum, congregationem fidelium in spiritu, quae sancta et sponsa 
 Christi est : In qua omnes illi cives sunt qui confitentur Jesum esse 
 Christum, agnum Dei tollentem peccata mundi; atqueeandem fidem 
 per opera charitatis demonstrant. In. p. 94. 
 
 t In his cum vere regnet Servator, proprie ejus ecclesia et sanctorum 
 Koivmict^ it est societas ; ut in symbolo Apostolorum vocabulum " Ee- 
 clesise" expositum est, nominantur. Ib. p, 238. 
 
238 
 
 tide of the apostles' creed ; / believe in the holy 
 Catholick churchy tha communion of saints. 
 
 ?)* 
 
 Calvin, 
 
 Who is more remarkable for nothing than for 
 his decision — who never trims, nor Ruffles, nor 
 thinks by halves, has founded his whole doctrine 
 of church- communion upon this very article. And 
 in his exposition of the words " communion of 
 saints" thus expresses himself. 
 
 " This article of the creed has also some res- 
 pect to the external church ; that every one of us 
 may keep himself in brotherly concord with all 
 the children of God ; may yield to the church 
 her just authority ; in a word, may conduct him- 
 self as a sheep of the flock. And, therefore, there is 
 added, the communion of saints — because it ex- 
 cellently expresses the quality of the church : as if 
 it had been said, the saints are gathered into the 
 fellowship of Christ upon this condition, that they 
 
 * Persuasissiraum itaque nobis est, hoc ipsum verbo Dei ut Lydio la- 
 pidc indicante, sacerdotes nostros, cutn septa ipsa Evangelicaedoctrinae 
 non trausiliant, nullos heeresibus addictos, sed ininistros Cbristi ac ve- 
 ros vicarios esse ; quibus parendum esse ipsa Veritas monet dictatque. 
 Q,uo eerie minus fas est, at cum hi? sanctorum communio detrectetur 
 haberi; praesertim astringen'e nos ad hoc ipso Symboli Apostolici ar- 
 ticulo, *' Credo sanctani eccie iaia, Sanctorum communionem. 
 
 Pr^e. in conf. Boilsm. lb. part 2 p, 2S4> 
 
239 
 
 mutually communicate to each other all the good 
 things which God bestows upon them. By which, 
 however, the diversity of his favours is not de- 
 stroyed; as we know that the gifts of the Spirit 
 are variously distributed ; nor is that political or- 
 der plucked up, by which every one is at liberty 
 to possess his own wealth in his private right ; as 
 it is necessary, for the sake of preserving peace 
 among men, that the control of property should 
 be distinct and independent. But there is as- 
 serted such a community as Luke describes, that 
 the multitude of believers had hut one heart and one 
 soul; and Paul^ when he exhorts the Ephesians 
 to be one body and one spirit^ as they are called in 
 one hope. For it cannot be, if they are truly per- 
 suaded that God is their common father, and 
 Christ their common head, but that joined to- 
 gether in brotherly love, they will most freely 
 interchange their privileges."* 
 
 * duanquam articulus Symboli ad externam quoque Ecclesiarn ali- 
 quatenuH pertinet; ut se quisque no<^trum in fraterno consensu cum om- 
 nibus Dei filiis contineat—Ecclesii'^ deferat quam nieretur auctorita- 
 tem — deniqne se ita gerat ut ovis ex grege. Atque ideo adjungitur 
 SANCTORU]vtcoMMirNicATio:quJeparticuIa, licet a veteribus fere prner- 
 termissasit, non taraen negligenda est, quiaEccle-isp qualitateni optimc 
 exprimit. €tuasi dictum esFet, hac lege aggregari Sancto« in pocieta- 
 tem Christi, ut qusecunqne in eos beneficia in eos confert inter se mu- 
 tuo communicent. Ctuo taraen non tollit'^r gratiarum diver'itas ; si- 
 cuti scimus varie distribui Spiritus dona : neque etiam convelUtur ordo 
 
 31 
 
240 
 
 And, to put the matter beyond all question, 
 when he is shewing that " we are in no manner 
 to depart from the communion of saints," he 
 " refutes the errours of the Novatians, the Ana- 
 baptists and other sc/iismatical and idle-minded 
 men of the same stamp;" whose schism we 
 know, consisted precisely in their refusing to 
 hold communion with other churches than their 
 own. This Calvin reprobates as a violation of 
 the " communion of saints ;" and consider- 
 ing the unparalleled acceptance of his w^ork 
 with the Reformed churches, his interpretation 
 must be regarded as their common judgment. 
 Other reformers speak in the same strain. 
 
 From the days of Calvin and the Reformation, 
 to the Westminster Assembly in 1643, no altera- 
 tion, on this point, appears to have occurred 
 in the sense of the rehgious world. Take two or 
 three proofs. 
 
 pollticus, quo suas cuique facultates privatim possidere licet ; ut ne- 
 cesse est, pacis inter homines conservandae causa, rerum dominia inter 
 ipsos propria et distincta esse. Sed asseritur communitas qualem Lu- 
 cas describit, quod multitudinis credentium esset cor unum et anima una : 
 et Paulus, quum hortatur Ephesios ut sint unum corpus, unus spiritus, 
 sicuti vocati sunt in una spe. Neque enim fieri potest, si vere persuasi 
 sunt Deum communem sibi omnibus patrem esse, et Christum commune 
 caput, quin, fraterno inter se amoreconjuncti, ultro citroque sua c©m 
 niunicent. 
 
 InsTIT. Lib. iv. cap. i. ? S 
 
241 
 
 The 133d psalm beginning, Behold how good 
 and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together 
 in unity! has been applied, time immemorial, to 
 the harmony and love of Christians in their church- 
 communion. It is so at the present day ; and in 
 several churches, particularly in those which most 
 strenuously support the distinction I am combat- 
 ting, is sung at the conclusion of Presbyterial and 
 Synodical meetings. Now the Translators of 
 the Bible have marked the contents of this psalm 
 as displaying " the benefits of the communion of 
 SAINTS." Whether the application is correct or 
 incorrect, makes no difference in the argument. 
 For as it was current in the Christian world, the 
 Translators, by their designation of the psalm, 
 have shewn that, in their eyes, " church-com- 
 munion," and " communion of saints," mean the 
 same thing. They were forty-seven of the most 
 .learned Divines in England ; and can hardly be 
 supposed to have mistaken the publick sense of 
 an expression so habitually repeated in the church 
 service. They performed their work between 
 1606 and 1611. 
 
 Dr. John Davenant, one of the English Di- 
 vines at the Synod of Dordt, afterwards bishop 
 of Salisbury, in a letter written about 1634, to 
 John Dur^us, a Scotsman, celebrated for his 
 endeavours to unite the Protestant churches, 
 
242 
 
 thus expresses himself. " The church of Rome 
 alone has gone to such a high pitch of pride and 
 madness as to thrust out from the " communion of 
 saints^^'' and devote to hell, all the churches which 
 refuse submission to the antichristian yoke of ab- 
 solute and blind obedience."^ 
 
 The most reverend and learned James Usher, 
 afterwards archbishop of Armagh^ and one of the 
 original members of the Westminster Assembly, 
 preached a sacramental sermon in 1620, before 
 the House of Commons, from 1 Cor. x. 17. We^ 
 being many^ are one bread and one body : for ive 
 are all partakers of that one bread* In this ser- 
 mon, he observes, " the Apostle maketh our par- 
 taking of the Lord's table to be a testimony not 
 only of the union and communion which we 
 have betwixt ourselves and with our Head, (which 
 he doth in the express words which I have read,) 
 but also of our disunion and separation from all 
 idolatrous worship. 
 
 " The effect, therefore, of that which St. Paul 
 in express terms here delivereth, is the commu- 
 nion of saints: which consisteth of two parts, the 
 fellowship which they have with the Body^ laid 
 down in the beginning ;.and the fellowship which 
 they have with the Head^ laid down in the end 
 
 * Sentenja D. Davenantii, p. 6. Cant. 1640. ISmo. 
 
243 
 
 of the verse." In expounding the first part, he 
 not only mentions explicitly " both our baptism 
 and our drinking of the Lord's cup," as belong- 
 ing to the communion of saints, but handles the 
 sin of schism, or " making a rent in the church of 
 God," as a breach of this communion ; and he 
 exhorts Christians to "remember that as oft as 
 we come unto the Lord's table, so oft do we 
 enter into new bonds of peace, and lye ourselves 
 with firmer knots of love together: this blessed 
 communion being a sacred seal not only of the 
 imion which we have with our Head by faith; but 
 also of our conjunction with the other members 
 of the body" (the body of Christ,) by /ot^e."* 
 
 Richard Baxter, a holy man of God, of me- 
 rited celebrity in the church, and contemporary 
 with the Westminster assembly, has, in his trea- 
 tise entitled A Christian Directory, a long chapter 
 on the nature of church union and communion, 
 which is thus headed, " Directions for the union 
 AND COMMUNION of SAINTS ,* aud the avoiding un- 
 peaceahleness and scHisM."t His 6th direction is, 
 " Make nothing necessary to the unity of the 
 church, or the communion of Christians, which 
 God hath not made necessary, or directed you to 
 
 » p. 2—9. Lond. 1631. 4to. 
 
 t Chap. viii. of said Treatise, Works, Vol. i. p. 590—608. 
 
:244 
 
 make so."* Here "church-communion," "com- 
 munion of saints," and " communion of Chris- 
 tians," are evidently used by Mr. Baxter as con- 
 vertible terms ; and it is equally evident that in 
 using them thus indifferently, the one for the 
 other, he speaks the language of the church in 
 his day. 
 
 Furthermore. The Westminster confession of 
 faith was. substantially adopted by the churches 
 of Connecticut assembled, by delegation, at Say- 
 brookj September 9th, 1708. Under this very 
 head, viz. the communion of saints, they have in- 
 troduced the section we are now considering, 
 with the following variation: "which communion, 
 though especially to be exercised by them in the re- 
 lations wherein they stand, whether in families or 
 CHURCHES, yet, as God offereth opportunity, is to 
 be extended unto all those who in every place 
 call upon the name of the Lord Jesus."t Note^ 
 this "communion" is to be exercised by "saints" 
 in their church-capacity; it is therefore church- 
 eommimion. 
 
 The very same sense continued to be affixed 
 to it long after, and that in the church of Scot* 
 land ; from which all the parties embarked in this 
 
 * Ib. p. 601. V 83. 
 
 t AcoNFEssTON OF FAITH, kc. cliap. xxvii, p. 80. New London, 
 niO. 1I!mo. 
 
245 
 
 part of the discussion are derived. The great 
 and good Thomas Boston, who died in 1732, 
 preached several sermons from 1 Cor. x. 17, 
 which he afterwards reduced into a tract, entitled, 
 " The unity of the body of Christy and the duty the 
 members owe one to one another, " His text is the 
 same with Usher's, quoted above, and so is his 
 general mode of treating it ; only he is much 
 more minute and ample than the Irish prelate. 
 
 The broad doctrinal proposition which he de- 
 velopes and applies, is this ; 
 
 "DocT. There is a communion of saints 
 among themselves^ as being conjoined info one mys- 
 tical body of Christ declared and avouched by par- 
 takers OF THE SACRAMENTS, especially that of the 
 Lord^s Supper y every one for themselves.^^^ And 
 again, he says that *4he sacraments are the 
 external bond of this communiony\ But sacra- 
 mental communion is " church-communion ;'^ 
 therefore " church-communion" is " the com- 
 munion of saints." 
 
 Nay, so firmly was this sense fixed in the churchy 
 that the excellent John Brow^n, of Haddi^igton^ 
 even after he had been accustomed to the dis- 
 tinction both in theory and practice, (being, ac- 
 cording to his worthy son and biographer, " strict j 
 
 * Works, p. 291. J?(^<>?. 1T67. fnl. t Tb. p. 29-i. 
 
246 
 
 in ivhat is called church-communion ;" and " as 
 to what is named the communion of saints^ as 
 distinguished from it, liberal,^^) even John Browk 
 himself could not altogether rid himself of the 
 received interpretation, but, forgetting the new 
 distinction, thus expressed himself concerning 
 the Seceders, who left their ministers in the esta- 
 blished church of Scotland : " In vain you told 
 them that their withdrawment was a breaking 
 up of the communion of saints,^^ And again, 
 " They," the seceders, " challenged you to prove 
 that Luther and Calvin's obedience to that com- 
 mand," the command of God, to leave the church 
 of Rome, " amounted to a breaking up of the 
 communion ofsaints,^^* But the communion from 
 which Luther and Calvin withdrew was certain- 
 ly church' communion ; therefore, Mr. Brown him- 
 self being judge, ^'church-communion^^ is " com- 
 munion of saints." And so he has inadvertently 
 exploded his own distinction upon which he and 
 his brethren w^ere acting; and upon which the 
 secession-churches, their American descendants 
 and some others have, for the most part, con- 
 tinued to act to this hour.f Let us return. 
 
 * An Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the Secession, p. 
 30,31. Glasgow. 1780. 12mo. 
 
 t The distinction between " church-communion," and " communion 
 of saints," so as t© exclude the former from the latter, is called a new 
 
247 
 
 It has now been proved that the principal, the 
 reigning idea of the term "cominunion of saints," 
 from its introduction into the Apostles' creed, 
 
 one; and it is proved to be so by the preceding historical induction. 
 The precise period of its adoption is not easy to fix. But as it 
 never appeared, so far as the authour can ascertain, before the com- 
 piete severance of the Seceders from the Scottish establishment, it 
 seems to have been then introduced, and probably in the following 
 manner. The Seceding brethren had been in the habit of holding 
 communion with faithful ministers of the establishment, after the breach. 
 But as contention between the two parties waxed hot, and they were 
 perhaps taxed with inconsistency for holding communion with one part 
 of a church, and refusing it with anotiier, the intercourse became un- 
 comfortable, and it was dropped. But here arose a new dilticult)'. 
 The Seceders did not deny the church of Scotland to be a true church 
 of Christ. Why then did they fly in the face of their own confessioa 
 of faith, by declining all communion with her? Especially as they 
 stoutly maintained that they never renouaced the diurch of Scotland^ 
 but only a corrupt party in it. *' Indeed ! then one of two things : 
 either expunge the article on that subject from your confession, oi' 
 retread your steps '* They could do neither. Their consciences 
 would not permit the first, nor their feelings the second. What was 
 to be done? If under " communion of saints," their confession treats 
 of " church-communion," the contradiction is palpable : there is no 
 escape. To avoid this distress, they seem to have hit upon the dis- 
 tinction as it has ever since been maintained ; and had it been a sound 
 one, it would elFectually have served their purpose. For if the chapter 
 on " eommunion of saints," lays down, in its second section, the doc- 
 trine of communion as it subsists between Christians in their private 
 character merely, and not as it subsists between them in their pub- 
 lic relations ; i. e. if it does not lay down the doctrine of "' church- 
 communion," all was safe. The Seceders could very consistently ad- 
 here to the confession, and yet renounce communion with the church 
 of Scotland. And thus, instead of being tossed backwards and for- 
 wards upon the horns of a cruel dilemma, tiiey very fairly and adroit- 
 ly slipped ont between them. But if, as has been demonstrated, 
 
 32 
 
248 
 
 about the fifth century, through the whole of the 
 Reformation from Popery, and of the subsequent 
 period, down to the sitting of the Assembly at 
 Westminster, was precisely that of " church- 
 communion." Consequently the chapter which, 
 in their confession, they have themselves entitled 
 " Of Communion of Saints ^^"^ whatever else it 
 may include, must be interpreted, according to 
 the known and undisputed sense of the phrase, 
 as treating expressly and officially of Church- 
 communion, 
 
 % Let us in the next place see what light is 
 shed on this subject by the confession itself: so 
 that the Westminster fathers may be their own 
 expositors. 
 
 In the Larger Catechism^ which is nothing but 
 the confession reduced to question and answer, 
 the " communion of saints" is said to be one of 
 the " special privileges of the visible church."* 
 But a privilege which belongs and is peculiar to 
 her as the visible church, belongs and is peculiar 
 to her in her church-capacity. This is so perfectly 
 
 '* communion of saints" includes '* church-communion/* it is worth 
 looking after whether they are out of the reach of the horns yet. Let 
 a remark be made without offence, as it is with unfeigned respect, that 
 the Seceders missed their course when they rested their vindication 
 upon any other ground than their violent extrusion from the church 
 of Scotland. Should the writer have erred, the gain is their own ; and 
 they win pardon a mistake which, if it originates in ignorance, has at 
 least the merit of frankness. 
 * GluEST. 63. 
 
249 
 
 plain as to be little more than a tautology. And 
 the communion which she enjoys in her church- 
 capacity is, and can be, nothing else than church- 
 communion. Therefore, the confession itself be- 
 ing judge, c^wrcA-communion is the communion 
 of saints. 
 
 Again : The " holy fellowship and commu- 
 nion," which " saints by profession are bound to 
 maintain," is distributed into three parts — It is to 
 be maintained 
 
 (1.) " In the worship of God." 
 
 (2.) " In other spiritual services.'' 
 
 (3.) " InreHevingeach other in outward things." 
 
 In regard to the first of these, let the Confes- 
 sion itself explain what is meant by " the wor- 
 ship of God." 
 
 " The reading of the scriptures with godly fear; 
 the sound preaching, and conscionable hearing 
 of the word, in obedience unto God, with under- 
 standing, faith, and reverence ; singing of psalms 
 with grace in the heart ; as also the due admini- 
 stration and worthy receiving of the sacratnents in- 
 stituted by Christ ; are all parts of the ordinary 
 religious worship of God.^^^ 
 
 For " worship of God," in the 26th chapter, 
 substitute the description of that worship in the 
 25th ; and we have the following result — 
 
 * CoNF. OE FAITH. Chap. xxi. « 5. 
 
. 250 
 
 " Saints by profession are bound to maintain 
 a holy fellowship and communion in the publick 
 preaching and hearing of the word — in the praises 
 of God— and in the sacraments instituted by 
 Christ." 
 
 If this is not " church-communion," what is ? 
 let this, according to our "good confession," 
 belongs to the " communion of saints" by pro- 
 fession. Whatever else belongs to it, is referrible 
 to the second or third of the particulars enume- 
 rated above, which, either one or both, compre- 
 hends all that has been or can be assigned to the 
 " coii'munion of saints," by those who oppose it 
 to " church-communion." 
 
 A word more. The " communion of saints, as 
 God ofFereth opportunity, is to be extended," 
 says the confession, " to all those who in every 
 place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus."* 
 
 * This clause gome restrict to the relief which Christians are to give 
 each other in temporal matters ! It is really a source of grief and hu- 
 miliation, when good and sensible men lower themselves to an eva- 
 sion which contradicts the first principles of interpretation, and the 
 very references of the confession itself. 
 
 The chapter treats generally of " communion of saints." In the 
 second paragraph it treats especially of the communion of "saints 
 by profession." " Which communion," it says, " is to be extended," 
 &c. The rules of grammar, as well as the laws of interpretation, re- 
 «iuire that this expression embrace the u-hole communion immediately 
 before described; and cannot, -without palpable unfairness, be re- 
 tjtrained to a sini^le specification. 
 
 The annexed scriptures do indeed speak of communion in temporal 
 
251 
 
 It only remains 
 
 3. To compare the sense thus ascertained of 
 the phrase " communion of saints," and of the 
 chapter under that title in the Westminster con- 
 fession of faith, with the views of church-com- 
 munion which are known to have prevailed at 
 and about the time when it was drawn up. Take 
 such facts as the following. 
 
 There had been previously published, by the 
 joint authority of the French and Dutch churches, 
 a harmony of the Reformed confessions, digested 
 under distinct heads : So that whatever is con- 
 tained in the several confessions on any one sub- 
 ject w^as gathered into one chapter of the " har- 
 mony." And it was compiled for the very end of 
 showing to the world the concord of Protestants, 
 not excepting the Lutherans, in all matters which 
 ought to form the bond of union and communi- 
 on ; and thus to repel the reproach of the Pa- 
 things, as was most meet. But among them there is another refer- 
 ence to quotations under letter (c) ; which are alleged to prove that 
 saints, " are obliged to the performance of tuch duties, publick and pri- 
 vate, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and out- 
 ward man." One of them is 1 Thess. v. ii. " Wherefore comfort your- 
 selves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do." There is not 
 a syllable about temporal things in the whole chapter : and surely no 
 one will be so gross as to maintain that the mutual edification of be- 
 lievers is to be limited to their communion in temporal things — to 
 whai has been called by an expression facetiously severe — '* commu- 
 nion in beef and cabbage." 
 
252 
 
 pisls, that they were separated from' each other 
 as much as from Rome. The preface concludes 
 with the following apostrophe. 
 
 " Ye, therefore, most gracious Kings, Dukes, 
 Earls, Marquises, most famous Barons and noble 
 Lords; ye cities and commonwealths ; ye most 
 wise Pastors, Doctors, and to be short, all Chris- 
 tian People professing the truth of the Gospel^ be 
 present in souls and bodies, suffer not the poison 
 of discord to spread any farther : but kill this 
 hurtful serpent; and receive with a Christian 
 mind, as is meet, and as is offered unto you, this 
 most sure token and earnest of the everlasting 
 friendship of the French and Belgian churches 
 with you, offered to you in the face of the whole 
 world ; that we, being by a xriendly league cou- 
 pled together in Christ, may vanquish all Anti- 
 christs, and may sing that Hymn to the Lord our 
 God, Behold! how good and joyful a thing it is 
 for brethren to dwell together in unity !" 
 
 This book was translated into English and pub- 
 lished in London^ 1643, during the sitting of the 
 Westminster Assembly; and not only so, but 
 " allowed by publique authoritie." This " pub- 
 lique authoritie," without which no book might 
 be printed, was lodged, by parliament, in June, 
 1648, for the department of Theology, in the 
 hands of twelve divines, seven of whom were mem- 
 
253 
 
 bers of the Assembly,* Now it is hardly possible 
 that such a committee should have licensed a 
 book containing any thing materially at variance 
 with an important Christian doctrine as received 
 by themselves, when they formed part of a body 
 of men who were about to assert that very doc- 
 trine as so received ; and concerning which there 
 does not appear to have been any difference 
 among them. 
 
 The Assembly itself addressed an official let- 
 ter, of November 30th, 1643, " To the Belgick, 
 French, Helvetian, amd other Reformed church- 
 es ;" whom they style " Right Reverend and 
 dearly beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ.^^ " The 
 inscription was, " To the Reverend and learned 
 pastors and elders of the classes and churches of 
 Zealand, our much honoured brethren.'^'* This 
 letter was subscribed not only by the Prolocutor, 
 x\ssessors, and Scribes of the Assembly, but by 
 all the commissioners from the church of Scot- 
 land ; among whom were the ever famous and 
 venerable Samuel Rutherford, and George 
 Gillespie. The letter is full of affection, and 
 evinces peculiar anxiety for the good opinion, 
 sympathy, and prayers of those churches. It 
 states, in so many words, that the object of the 
 
 * Neal, Vol. II. p. ^- compared with p. 38—41. 
 
264 
 
 Assembly was " to commend such a platform to 
 our Zcrubbabek^^ (the political governours) " as 
 may be most agreeable to God?s sacred word, near- 
 est IN CONFORMITY TO THE BEST REFORMED 
 
 CHURCHES J and to establish unity among our- 
 selves.''* 
 
 It is worthy of remark, that this letter, in its 
 general address, specifies the Belgick^ French^ and 
 Helvetian churches. Now these are the very 
 churches which signalized themselves on the side 
 of Catholick communion. The efforts of the 
 French church were formerly noticed — the dispo- 
 sitions of the Belgick church in unison with the 
 French were sufficiently manifested by the i>reface 
 to the "Harmony" just quoted: And the Hel- 
 vetick church had declared she should be guilty 
 of a NEFARIOUS SCHISM, should she withdraw from 
 communion with other churches of the Reforma- 
 tion. Yet these are the very churches to which 
 the Westminster Assembly wished most nearly 
 to conform the church in England : and in liiat 
 wish they were one with the Scottish Commis- 
 sioners. What shall we say to such a fact ? Shall 
 we say that the churches of England and Scot- 
 land, through the medium of their representa- 
 tives at Westminster, trifled with the foreign 
 
 * NEAt, Vol. II. p. 62. 65. 
 
255 
 
 churches ! That they would not hold communion 
 with those to whom they aimed at the " nearest 
 conformity ?^^ That they approached these church- 
 es with a lie in their mouth ? and were guilty of 
 such cursed hypocrisy, as to hail them as their 
 " dearly beloved — their much honoured brethren, in 
 our Lord Jesus Christ,^^ while at the very same 
 moment they did not account their ministers to 
 be worthy of appearing in their pulpits, nor their 
 people of a seat with themselves at the table of 
 the Lord ? If not : if we recoil with horrour from 
 such an imputation, the alternative is clear ; they 
 embraced, and were ready to exemphfy, equally 
 with the Dutch, French, and Siviss churches, the 
 most liberal doctrine of communion with all, of 
 every name, " who held the HezVD." 
 
 That such was then the true state of principle 
 on the subject of communion — That it was so in- 
 tended to be expressed, and was so understood 
 when expressed, in the confession — that like the 
 LuTHERS, and Calvins, the Melancthons, and 
 BucERS, and Martyrs; like the Dutch, French,' 
 and Svjiss churches, the Westminster Assembly, 
 and the evangelical interest generally, was desi- 
 rous of bottoming the communion of the church 
 upon the broad foundation of the common faith, 
 without regard to minor differences, is one of the 
 most incontestible facts in ecclesiastical story, 
 
 33 
 
. 266 
 
 Besides the proofs which have already been pro- 
 duced, let the following, out of a multitude, 
 suffice. 
 
 (1.) The English Anabaptists, in 1644, while 
 the Westminster Assembly was sitting, published 
 their confession of faith, which was strictly Cal- 
 vinistical, excepting in the article of baptism ; but 
 on account of that difference they declined com- 
 munion with the other reformed churches— a 
 narrowness which greatly displeased and scan- 
 dalized their Christian neighbours. For, accord- 
 ing to Neal, " The people of this persuasion 
 were more exposed to the publick resentments^ be- 
 cause they would hold communion with none 
 but such as had been dippedy^ 
 
 Two things are settled by this testimony. 
 
 First^ That such sectarian communion was 
 contrary to the feelings and habits of the Calvi- 
 nistic churches at that time, or it would not have 
 drawn upon the Anabaptists " the publick resent- 
 ments." Thence, 
 
 Secondly^ That in the judgment of these 
 churches, neither difference in the government 
 of the church, (the Anabaptists being Indepen- 
 dents,) nor different views of the subjects and 
 mode of baptism, are valid reasons for breaking 
 up communion : and therefore that to refuse 
 
 * Vol. II. p. 112. 
 
257 
 
 communion on their account is a worse violation 
 of the law of Christ, than an errour in either or 
 in both. 
 
 (2.) In 1654, five years after the termination of 
 the Assembly, the provincial Synod of London 
 pubhshed a book, entitled Jus Divinvm Ministerii 
 Evangelici; or^ The Divine Right of the Gospel Mi- 
 nisiry. The ministerial portion of a committee 
 of that Synod at its first meeting, in 1647, were 
 all members of the Westminster Assembly. One 
 of them, Mr. Jeremiah Whitaker, had a chief 
 hand in composing their work.* It is, therefore, 
 reasonable to conclude, that they not only knew, 
 but expressed, the prevailing sentiments of the 
 Westminster divines. In their preface, speaking 
 of the dififerent sorts of men whom they had to 
 deal with, they say, to use their own words, 
 
 " 5. A fifth sort are our Reverend brethren of 
 New and Old England of the congregational 
 WAY, who hold our churches to be true churches, 
 and our ministers true ministers, though they 
 differ from us in some lesser things. We have 
 been necessitated to fall upon some things where- 
 in they and we disagree, and have represented 
 the reasons of our dissent. But yet we here pro- 
 fess. That this disagreement shall not hinder us 
 from any Christian accord with them in aifec- 
 
 * Ne AL, Vol. II. p. 261, compared with p. 466. 
 
.258 
 
 tion : That we can willingly write upon our stu- 
 dy-doors that motto which Mr. Jeremiah Bur- 
 ROUGHES (who, a little before his death, did am- 
 bitiously endeavour after union amongst breth- 
 ren, as some of us can testify) persuades all 
 scholars unto, 
 
 " Opinionum varietas^ et ojnnantium unitas non 
 
 sunt *Vw'caTA."* 
 
 And that we shall be willing to entertain any 
 sincere motion (as we have also formerly declar- 
 ed in our printed vindication) that shall further 
 a happy accommodation between us. 
 
 "• 6. The last sort are the moderate, godly 
 episcopal men, that hold ordination by presby- 
 ters to be lawful and valid; that a bishop and a 
 presbyter are one and the same order of ministry 
 — that are orthodox in rloctrinal truths ; and yet 
 hold, that the *government of the church by a 
 perpetual moderator is most agreeable to scrip- 
 ture-pattern. 
 
 " Though herein we differ from them, yet we 
 are far from thmking that this difference should 
 hinder a happy union between them and us. Nay, 
 we crave leave to profess to the world, that it 
 will never, as we humbly conceive, be well with 
 England, till there he an union endeavoured 
 
 * '• Variety of opinions, and the unity of those who hold them, are 
 not incompatible.'' 
 
259 
 
 mid effected hetiveen all those that are orthodox in 
 doctrine^ though differing among themselves in some 
 circumstances about church-government, 
 
 ^•Memorable is the story of Bishop Ridley and 
 Bishop Hooper, two famous Martyrs, who, when 
 they were out of prison, disagreed about certain 
 ceremonial garments : but w hen they were put into 
 prison they quickly and easily agreed together. 
 Adversity united them whom prosperity divided,^^"^ 
 
 (3.) The ministers and messengers of above 
 one hundred congregational churches ; among 
 them that pnnce of modern divines, John Owen, 
 and that very distinguished minister of Christ, 
 John Howe, met, at the Savoy^ October 12, 1658; 
 and adopted substantially the doctrines of the 
 Westminster confession ; among the rest, the 
 chapter on the " communion of saints." Now 
 as this has been proved to comprehend "church- 
 communion," it would never have received the 
 approbation of a Synod of congregationalists if it 
 had been supposed not to leave the question 
 about external order among the matters of for- 
 bearance. Especially by a Synod who agreed, 
 " that churches consisting of persons sound in 
 the faith, and of good conversation, ought not to 
 refuse communion with each -other, though they 
 walk not in all thitigs according to the same rule oj 
 
 * Preface to Jus divinum, kcc Lond. 1654, 4to. 
 
260 
 
 church-order \ and if they judge other churches 
 to be true churches, though less pure, they may 
 receive to occasional communion such members 
 of those churches as are credibly testified to be 
 godly, and to live without offence.''* 
 
 This agreement is the more worthy of notice 
 on account of the influence which Dr. Owen is 
 conceded to have possessed in the Synod. For 
 there has not been, and cannot be a more strenu- 
 ous advocate for enlarged communion than was 
 that champion of the truth of Jesus, that terrour 
 and torment of its vital corrupters — the Socini- 
 ans. He maintains, that " such a communion of 
 Churches is to be inquired after, as from which 
 no true church of Christ is, or can be, excluded ; 
 in whose actual exercise they may and ought all 
 to live ; and whereby the general end of all 
 churches in the edification of the Catholick 
 church, m.ay be attained. This is the true and 
 only Catholicism of the church, which whoever 
 departs from, or substitutes any thing else in the 
 room of it, Under that name, destroys its whole 
 nature, and disturbs the whole ecclesiastical har- 
 mony that is of Christ's institution. 
 
 " However therefore, we plead for the rights 
 of particular churches, yet our real controversy 
 
 * NBAi,,Vol.II.p.508. 
 
261 
 
 with most in the world is for the being, union, 
 and communion of the church Catholick, which 
 are variously perverted by many, separating it 
 into parties, and confining it to rules, measures, 
 and canons of their own finding out and esta- 
 blishment."* 
 
 Again. " Had the Presbyterian government 
 been settled, at the King's," (Charles the II.) 
 restoration, by the encouragement and protection 
 of the practice of it, without a rigorous imposition 
 of every thing supposed by any to belong there- 
 unto, or a mixture of human constitutions; if there 
 had any appearance of o, schism or separation con- 
 tinued between the parties, I do judge they would 
 have been both to blame. For as it cannot be 
 expected that all churches and all persons in 
 them should agree in all principles and practices 
 belonging unto church-order, nor was it so in the 
 days of the Apostles, nor ever since, among any 
 true churches of Christ : so all the fu7idamental 
 principles of church-communion would have been 
 so fixed and agreed upon between them, and all 
 offences in worship so removed, as that it would 
 have been a matter of no great art absolutely to 
 unite them, or to maintain a firm communion 
 among them, no more than in the days of the 
 
 * Owen's TrutNatun of a Gospel Church. Chap, XI. p. 2ST. 4to. 
 
262 
 
 Apostles and the primitive times, in reference to 
 the differences that were among churches in those 
 days. For they allowed distinct communion up- 
 on distinct apprehensions of things belonging un- 
 to church-order or worship, all 'keeping the uni- 
 ty of the Spirit in the bond of peace.' If it shall 
 be asked, then, why they did not formerly agree 
 in the Assembly ? I answer (I.) I was none of 
 them, and cannot tell. (2.) They did agree, in 
 my judgment, well enough ; if they could have 
 thought so : and farther I am not concerned in 
 the difference."* 
 
 When Dr. Owen admits that the Presbyteri- 
 ans and Independents " did not agree in the As- 
 sembly;" he means that they did not agree in a 
 scheme o^publick ecclesiastical imion.f 
 
 * Owen's Inquiry inlo the Original^ Szc. of Evangelical Churches^ p. 
 34T. 4to. 
 
 t The greater part of Christendom, in that age, had its head full of 
 the idea of a national church in alliance with the state ; and to that na- 
 tional church every body must conform. They therefore made a w;de, 
 but not a very scriptural, difference, between the treatment of those 
 who favoured a particular form of church govern;.^ent at home, and 
 thoi-e who favoured it abroad. What in the latter case was no obsta- 
 cle to brotherly affection and intercourse, was, in the foraier, an un- 
 pardonable offence ; fit to be argued with by civil pains and penalties. 
 Thus, when Elizabeth's government was helping the Presbyterians 
 of France^ it was plaguing and persecuting the Presbyterians of jEJng- 
 land. And when the Presbyterians gained the ascendancy under 
 Charles I. and Oliver Cromwell, nothing would do but all the 
 ■world must be Presbyterians! and if the Theologians could not en- 
 
263 
 
 That such was the real state of the case ; that 
 churches were kept asunder in England from 
 mere party feeling, is roundly averred by one of 
 their noblest men, Mr. John Howe. " I cannot 
 forget," says he, "that sometime discoursing 
 with some very noted persons about the business 
 of union among Christians, it hath been freely 
 granted me, that there was not so much as a 
 principle left (among those the discourse had re- 
 ference to) upon which to disagree ; and yet the 
 same fixed aversion to union continued as before ; 
 as a plain proof they Avere not principles, but ends 
 we were to differ for."* 
 
 Let us, for a moment, hear this dignified ad- 
 vocate of Catholick fellowship plead its cause 
 in his own nervous language. 
 
 " The more tridi/ Catholick the communion of 
 Christians is, it is tlie more truly Christian.'^^f 
 
 " Nor is it mere Peace that is to be aimed at, 
 but free, mutual, Christian- communion with such 
 as do all hold the Head Christ : 
 
 " As peace between nations infers commerce ; 
 so among Christian churches, it ought to infer a 
 
 lig'iten them in the expediency of such a measure, their la-^k of success 
 must be supplied by that great master of syllogisms — the attorney 
 general! 
 
 * Works, Vol. ii. p. 274. Lond. 1724. Fol. 
 
 t Works, Vol. ii. p. 338. Lond. 1724. Fol. 
 
 34 
 
2G4 
 
 fellowship in acts of worship. I wish there were no 
 cause to say this is dechned when no pretence 
 is left against it but false accusation ; none but 
 what must be supported by lying and cakinuiy. 
 Too many are busy at inventing of that which is 
 no where to be found, that exists not in the nature 
 of things, that they may have a colour for conti- 
 nued distance. And is not this to fly in the face 
 of the authority under w^hich we live, i. e. the rul- 
 ing power of the kingdom of Christ, the Prince 
 of Peace ? '11^ strange they are not ashamed to 
 be called Christians ; that they do not discard and 
 abandon the name, that can allow themselves in 
 such things! And 'tis here to be noted, that 'tis 
 quite another thing, what is in itself true ox falser 
 right or ivrong ; and what is to be a measure or 
 houndanj of Christian-communion, Are we yet 
 to learn, that Christian-communion is not amongst 
 men that are perfect ; but that are labouring un- 
 der manifold imperfections, both in knowledge 
 and holiness I And whatsoever mistake in judg- 
 ment or obliquity in practice can consist with 
 holding the Head^ ought to consist also with being 
 of the same Christian-communion ; not the same 
 locally^ which is impossible; but the same occa- 
 sionally, as any providence invites, at this or that 
 time; and mentally, in heart and spirit, at all 
 times. And to such peace (and consequently 
 
265 
 
 cornmiinion) we are all called^ hi one^hody, Col. 
 iii. 15. We are expressly required to receive one 
 another^ (which cannot but mean into each others 
 communion,) and not to donbtful disputations^ 
 Rom. xiv. 1. If any be thought to be weak, and 
 thereupon to differ from us in some or other sen- 
 timents, if the difference consists with holding 
 the Head^ they are not, because they are weak, 
 to be refused communion, but received ; and re- 
 ceived, because the Lord has received them^ ver. 3. 
 AW that we should think Christ has received into 
 his communion, we ought to receive into ours, 
 Rom. XV. 7. Scriptures are so express to this 
 purpose, that nothing can be more, 
 
 " And indeed, to make new boundaries of 
 Christian-communion, is to make a new Christi- 
 anity, ^nd?iNeAV Gospel^ixnd new rules of Christ's 
 kingdom ; and by which to distinguish subjects 
 and rebels, and in effect to dethrone him, to ri- 
 val him in his highest prerogative, viz. the estab- 
 lishing the terms of life and death for men liv- 
 ing under his Gospel : It is to confine salvation, 
 in the means of it, to such or such a party, such 
 a church, arbitrarily distinguished from the rest of 
 Christians ; as if the privileges of his kingdom 
 belonged to a party only ; and that, for instance, 
 the Lord's Table were to lose its name, and be 
 no longer so called, but the table of this or that 
 
266 
 
 church, constituted by rules of their own devising^ 
 For if it be the Lord's Table, they are to kee}) it 
 free, to be approached upon the Lord's terms, 
 and not their own. In the mean time, what high- 
 er invasion can there be of Christ's rights ? and 
 since the Christian church became so overvvise 
 above what is written, in framing new doctrines 
 and rules of worship, how miserably it hath lan- 
 guished, and been torn in pieces, they cannot be 
 ignorant who have read any thing of the history 
 of it."* 
 
 (4.) Such were the prevailing sentiment among 
 the Independents. Let us now turn again to 
 the Presbyterians ; and see how the communi- 
 on of the church appears under the irradiation of 
 their " burning and shining lights." 
 
 Dr. Manton protests against " the breaking off 
 xhurch-fellowship and communion, and making 
 rents in the body of Christ because of difference 
 of opinion in smaller matters, when we agree in 
 the more weighty things. We are to ivalk togeth- 
 er as far as we are agreed. Phil, iii. 16. and ex- 
 ternals wherein we diifer, lying far from the heart 
 of religion, are nothing to faith and the new crea- 
 ture, wherein we agree. Gal. v. 6. and vi. 15. 
 
 * Howe's sermon, entitled " Peosce, God^s blessing ;^f Works, Vol. 
 ii. p. 274. 
 
 k 
 
267 
 
 The most weight should be pitched upon the 
 fundamentals and essentials of reWgion : and where 
 there is an agreement in these, private differen- 
 ces in smaller matters should not make us break 
 off from one another."* 
 
 What these " smaller matters" are, which ac- 
 cording to this admirable divine, should be no 
 impediment to church-communion, his own 
 words indicate ; they are all things which cannot 
 be ranked among the essentials of Christianity ^ 
 whether they be matters of discipline or wor- 
 ship, of government or doctrine. That his lan- 
 guage is not stretched, by this interpretation, be- 
 yond its true meaning, he has himself decided. 
 " The only lavjful grounds of separation," says he, 
 '^ are three, 1. Intolerable persecution. 2. Dam- 
 nable heresy. 3. Gross idolatry."! Every thing 
 else is tolerable, and to be tolerated rather than 
 burst the bands of church-fellowship. 
 
 Mr. Richard Vines, a member of the Assem- 
 bly, and "a very learned and excellent divine,"t 
 in his " Treatise of the Sacramentofthe Lord^s Sup- 
 per^^^ has a chapter upon the following question, 
 " Whether a godly man laicfiilly may or ought to 
 
 * Manton on JuDE. p. "IGi. Lond. 1658. 4to. 
 
 t Ih. p. 496. In the margin I.eadds " Under this head," {IntolerO' 
 Table Persecution) " is coii;prised sin/ul e'xcGvununicationJ* Let Hiern 
 mark that whom it concerns. 
 
 I Neal, Vol. ii. p. 86. 
 
268 
 
 stand as a member of^ and hold communion in the 
 ordinances of God with^ such a congregation as is 
 mixt^ as they call it ; that is, ivhere men visibly scan- 
 dalous in life and conversation are mingled ivith the 
 good in the participation and use of divine ordinan- 
 ces ? Or^ whether this mixture of heterogeneals do 
 not pollute the ordinances and the communion to the 
 godly, so as they are concerned to separate from 
 such communion ?" 
 
 The chapter is too long to be inserted entire : 
 a specimen shall suffice. 
 
 " The church may be corrupted many ways in 
 doctrine, ordinances, ivorship ; and this I account 
 the worst, because it is the corruption of the best, 
 as the corruption of blood that runs through all 
 the body, the poisoning of springs and rivers that 
 run through a nation, is worse than a sore finger 
 in the body, or a field of thistles in the nation. 
 And there are degrees of this corruption, the doc- 
 trine in some remote points, hay and stubble upon 
 the foundation ; the worship in some rituals or 
 rites of men's invention or custom. How many 
 Scripture churches do ye find thus corrupted, 
 and yet no separation of Christ from the Jewish 
 church, nor any command to the godly of Corinth, 
 (in the provinces of Gcdatia,) or those of Asia, 
 in the Revelation; I must in such case avoid the 
 corruption, hold the communion: hear them in Mo- 
 
269 
 
 s€s^ chair, and yet beware of their leaven. But if 
 corruptions invade the fundamentals, the founda- 
 tion of doctrine is destroyed, the worship is be- 
 come idolatrous, the leprosy is gotten into the 
 walls and substance of the house : and which is 
 above all, if the church impose such laws of their 
 communion, as there is necessity of doing or ap- 
 proving things unlawful, or I am ruined or un- 
 done, then must I either break with God or men, 
 and in that case, come out of Babylon, The 
 churches of Protestants so separated from them 
 of Rome ; it was a necessary and just separation, 
 the laws of their communion were ruinous to the 
 soul, if we held it *, to the body and life, if we 
 held it not. 
 
 In sum then, and in conclusion of this part 
 about doctrine and worship, which is but upon 
 the by to the question. If a corrupt church, as 
 Israel was, have their ordinances according to the 
 pattern in the Mount : if it may be said, as Peter 
 to Christ, John vi. 68. when some disciples sepa- 
 rated themselves. Thou hast the words of eternal 
 life; if, as Christ said in matters of worship, 
 John iv. Salvation is of the Jews; then, as he said, 
 Whither shall ive go ? Why do we separate ? And 
 yet I would not be mistaken by the simplest man, 
 as if I accounted it separation, if a Christian hear 
 a sermon, or receive the sacrament in another 
 
270 
 
 congregation. For he that takes a meal at an- 
 other table, does not thereby separate from his 
 own house. Or if a Christian, at liberty to dis- 
 pose his dwelling, shall remove and sit down un- 
 der more fruitful ordinances ; I account not this 
 secession a separation, no more than if being 
 sickly, and having not health in the city, he re- 
 move his seat into the country for purer air, be- 
 cause in so doing he removes from the city, but 
 renounces not his freedom therein ; nor disclaims, 
 in like proportion, the communion of the 
 church."* 
 
 Richard Baxter thus writes : " I do not lay 
 so great a stress upon the external modes and 
 forms of worship as many young professors do. 
 I have suspected myself, as perhaps the reader 
 may do, that this is from a cooling and declining 
 from my former zeal, (though the truth is, I ne- 
 ver much complied with men of that mind.) 
 But I find that Judgment and Charity are the caus- 
 es of it, as far as I am able to discover. 1 cannot 
 be so narrow in my principles of church-commu- 
 nion as many are ; that are so much for a liturgy, 
 or so much against it, so much for ceremonies, or 
 so much against them, that they can hold com- 
 munion with no church that is not of their mind 
 
 * Chap. XX. p. 205, 206. Lond. 1660. 4to. 
 
271 
 
 and way. If I were among the Greeks, the Lu- 
 therans, the Independents; yea, the Anabaptists, 
 (that own no heresy, nor set themselves against 
 charity and peace,) I would hold some times oc- 
 casional communion with them as Christians, (if 
 they will give me leave, without forcing me to 
 any sinful subscription or action :) though my most 
 usual communion should be with that society 
 which I thought most agreeable to the word of 
 God, if I were free to choose. I cannot be of their 
 opinion that think God will not accept him that 
 prajethby the common prayer book, and that 
 such forms are a self invented worship which God 
 rejecteth : Nor yet can I be of their mind that say 
 the like of extemporary prayers."* Admirable 
 principles, admirably expressed ! Worthy of the 
 man whom, bishop Wilkins being judge, it was 
 honour enough for one age to produce : and who 
 could say, as "he said to a friend, lean as willing- 
 ly be a martyr for love, as for any article of the 
 creed y\ 
 
 To Mr. Baxter let us add Dr. William Bates, 
 to whom we are indebted for the two preceding 
 anecdotes. The " silver Bates," as he is styled 
 by Mr. Hervey ; and one of the ministers ap- 
 
 * Baxter's Life, Part. i. p. 133. 
 
 t Bates's Funeral Sermon for Mr. Baxter, Work'', p. 728. J m\d. 
 1723. Fol. 
 
272 
 
 pointed to manage, on the part of the Presbyte- 
 rians, the conference held at the Savoy, by or- 
 der of Charles II, in 1661, between thein and a 
 number of Episcopal divines on the part of the 
 established church. 
 
 " He was," says Mr. Howe, " for entire union 
 of all visible Christians, (or saints, or believers, 
 which in Scripture are equivalent terms,) meaning 
 by Christianity what is essential thereto, whether 
 doctrinal, or practical; as by Humayiity v\e mean 
 what is essential to man, severing accidents, as 
 being not of the essence ; and by visibility^ 
 the probable appearance thereof: and for free 
 communion of all such, of whatsoever persua- 
 sion, in extra essential matters, if they pleased. 
 And this design he vigourously pursued as long 
 as there was any hope ; desisting when it appear- 
 ed hopeless, and resolving to wait till God should 
 give a Spirit suitable hereto ; from an apprehen- 
 sion that when principles on all hands were so ea- 
 sily accommodable, and yet that there w^as with 
 too many a remaining insuperable reluctancy to 
 the thing itself, God must work the cure, and not 
 man. Accounting also, in the mean time, that 
 notwithstanding misrepresentations, it was better 
 to cast a mantle over the failings of brethren, 
 than be concerned to detect and expose them. 
 Knowing that if w^e be principally solicitous for 
 
273 
 
 the name of God., he will in his own way and 
 time take care of ours. And in this sentiment he 
 was not alone."* 
 
 The foregoing are only a sample. We must 
 leave individuals, who are by far too numerous to 
 quote within reasonable bounds, and proceed to 
 a few facts which ascertain the collective judg- 
 ment and practice of numbers of those wise and 
 holy men who about that time were the glory of 
 England, 
 
 (5.) It will surprise most of the good people 
 who adhere to the Westminster Confession, (and 
 well they may,) as a rare, and perhaps unequalled 
 exhibition of sound scriptural doctrine, that the 
 very Assembly who prepared it were so far from 
 refusing communion on account of those things 
 which now divide many precious Christians and 
 Christian churches, that notwithstanding all their 
 convictions and complaints of the abuses and cor- 
 ruptions in the discipline, worship, and govern- 
 ment of the established church, they nevertheless 
 remained steadily in her fellowship ; nor did they 
 leave it until they were cast out by that cruel act 
 for conformity which would not allow them to 
 mourn and submit, but required them also to ap- 
 prove. Then they arrived at the extreme limit 
 
 * Howe's Funeral Sermon for Dr. Bates, Works, Vol. ii. p. 456. 
 
^74 
 
 of forbearance. Communion with the Episcopal 
 church was not worth the sacrifice of truth and 
 honesty : When the terms of conformity became 
 sinful, there was no room for hesitation — they for- 
 sook all to follow Christ. But before the arrival 
 of so afflicting a crisis, they endured what they 
 disliked for the sake of what they loved — they 
 bore with many and great defects for the preser- 
 vation of unity : and while they had the substance 
 of Christianity unincumbered with criminal con- 
 ditions, they accounted the rupture of commu- 
 nion a worse evil than the scandals against which 
 they remonstrated. "• Remember," says Mr. Bax- 
 ter, when the spirit of schism began to spread 
 its venom among the Presbyterian and Indepen- 
 dent Dissenters, " Remember, that for the Com- 
 mon Prayer, and Ceremonies, and Prelacy, mul- 
 titudes of worthy, holy men, conformed to them 
 heretofore, from whom you would not have se- 
 parated; such as Dr. Pkeston, Dr. Sibbs, Dr. 
 Taylor, Dr. Staughton, Mr. Gataker, and most, 
 by far, of the late Synod at Westminster.^'''^ "When 
 they went thither, they were," he says, " all con- 
 formists, save about eight or nine, and the Scots 
 commissioners."! 
 Twelve years after the Assembly, viz. in 1660, 
 
 * Baxter's Life, Part ii. p. 439. + Ih. Part iii. p. 149. 
 
275 
 
 "the well meaning Presbyterians ^^"^ as Neal calls 
 them ; i. e. the Presbyterians of the most mode- 
 rate and Catholick spirit — offered, as a plan of 
 accommodation with the Episcopahans, " Arch- 
 bishop Usher's model of primitive Episcopa- 
 cy :" the chief feature of which is, that, without 
 destroying the distinctive titles of arch-bishop, 
 bishop, and presbyter, as known in England, they 
 might be conjoined in the government of the 
 church ; a bishop hem^ perpetual president in the 
 eclesiastical assemblies made up of Presby- 
 ters.* 
 
 They offered that " the surplice^ the cross in hap- 
 tisnij and kneeling at the communion, should be 
 left indifferent." 
 
 " They were content to set aside the Assem- 
 hhfs confession^ and let the articles of the church 
 of England take place "with some few amend- 
 ments." In pursuance of this scheme, about the 
 middle of June, Mr. Calamy, Dr. Reynolds, Mr. 
 Ash, Mr. Baxter, Dr. Wallis, Dr. Manton, and 
 Dr. Spurstow , waited upon the king, being in- 
 troduced by the Earl of Manchester^ to crave his 
 majesty's interposition for reconciling the differ- 
 ences in the church, that the people might not 
 be deprived of their faithful pastors."! 
 
 * Usher's Reduction of Episcopacy unto the Synodical Form of Go- 
 vernment. Lond. 1658. 12mo. 
 t Neal, Vol. ii. p. 567 
 
276 
 
 Charles received them very affably ; and soon 
 after issued a " declaration" which though not 
 equal to their just expectations, vv^as yet so favour- 
 able as to draw from the Presbyterians about Lon- 
 don^ an address of thanks to his majesty, which 
 was " signed by Samuel Clark, William Cooper, 
 Thomas Case,^ Jo, Rawliiison, Jo. Sheffield^ Tho- 
 mas Gouge, Gab. Sanger, EL Pledger, Matthew 
 Pool, Jo. Gibbon,^ William Whitaker, Thomas 
 Jacomb, Thomas Lye, John Jackson,^ John Meri- 
 ton, William Bates, with many others."t The 
 three marked * were members of the Assejnbly. 
 
 That the disposition to a compromise with the 
 church of England, conceding some pretty im- 
 portant points to her Episcopal predilections, 
 and stipulating merely for toleration and forbear- 
 ance on other matters of external order, did not 
 flow from transient impressions, but from mature 
 conviction and settled judgment, is proved by 
 subsequent events. Fourteen years afterwards, 
 i. e. in 1675, when the rigours of the establish- 
 ment on the one side, and the sufferings of the 
 ejected ministers and their people on the other, 
 might be supposed to have produced mutual re- 
 pugnance and exasperation, Mr. Baxter drew 
 up, at the request of a large portion of the puri- 
 
 t Id. lb. p. 568—584. 
 
277 
 
 tan interest, a " Profession of Religrion," contain- 
 ing, among other things, the following clause ; 
 " I do hold that the book of Common Prayer^ and 
 of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, containeth in it 
 nothing so disagreeable to the word of God, as 
 maketh it unlawful to live in the peaceable com- 
 munion of the church that useth it."* Which ac- 
 cords entirely with the spirit of the English 
 divines in the Assembly, who w^ere generally 
 against abjuring Episcopacy as simply unlaw- 
 ful.f Consequently, it never could have been 
 their intention to subject the communion of the 
 church to such rigorous limitations as have 
 since been adopted under the sanction of their 
 name. 
 
 These professions were not idle words. Not 
 only did the Puritans in general commune with 
 each other, as they had opportunity, but also, at 
 least to a great extent, with the church of Eng- 
 land — with their brethren who hated them, and 
 cast them out, for their master's name^s sake; and 
 who said, as some others have said in the act of 
 beating their fellow servants, " Let the Lord be 
 glorified /" Take, as examples, the following em- 
 inent divines. 
 
 Samuel Clark, father of the authour of " Jw- 
 
 * Baxteu»s Life, Part iii. p. 161. t Nbal, Vol. ii. p. 50. 
 
278 
 
 notations on the Bible^^^ unable to subscribe the 
 act of uniformity, "laid aside his ministry, and 
 attended the church of England both as a hear- 
 er and a communicant. For, as he himself 
 says, he durst not separate from it; nor was 
 he satisfied about gathering a private church out of 
 a true church, which he judged the Church of Eng- 
 land to be."* 
 
 Zachary Crofton, a warm advocate for the 
 solemn league and covenant, was sent a prisoner 
 to the Tower for his non-conformity ; and w hile 
 there, "he attended the chapel service, being 
 against separation from the parish-churches, 
 though he himself (as a minister) could not use 
 the common prayer or the ceremonies." And 
 when thus suffering for the truth's sake, by the 
 hand of the establishment, he actually wrote, in 
 the Tower, a tract entitled, " Reformation not 
 Separation; a Plea for Com^nunion with the 
 Church;' 8ic.t 
 
 Henry Jessey, after his ejectment, turned 
 Baptist ; " and it proved no small honour and ad- 
 vantage to the Baptists to have such a man among 
 them. But notwithstanding his differing from his 
 brethren in this, or any other point, he maintain- 
 ed the same Christian love and charity to all 
 
 * Non-conformist's Memorial, Land. 1802. Vol. i. 101. 
 t Ih. 103, 4. 
 
279 
 
 saints as before, not only as to friendly conver- 
 sation, but also in regard to church- communion : 
 and took great pains to promote the same Catho- 
 lick spirit among others."* 
 
 Dr. Thomas Gouge, of whom it has been said 
 by a distinguished prelate, that "all things consi- 
 dered, there have not, since the primitive times of 
 Christianity, been many among the sons of men 
 to v\^hom that glorious character of the Son of 
 God might be better appUed, ' that he went about 
 doing good ;' although persecuted for preaching, 
 •Constantly attended the parish-churches, and 
 communicated there.f 
 
 Richard Wavel, " was of congregational prin- 
 ciples, but of extensive charity. It was his prin- 
 ciple and constant practice to receive all whom 
 Christ had received, without any debate about things 
 of a doubtful nature.^^t 
 
 Dr. Edmund Staunton, President of Corpus- 
 Cliristi college, Oxford, and a member of the 
 Westminster Assembly, " always accommodated 
 himself to those that differed from him, as far as 
 his love of truth would permit, saying, All men must 
 have their grains of allowance ; 'the most knowing 
 Christians know but in part. He would freely con- 
 
 * lb. ISO. 
 
 t Tillotson's Sermons, Vol. ii. p. 135. 8vo. Lond. 1T57. 
 
 + NONCOJVF. MEM. i. 213. 
 
 m 
 
280 
 
 verse, and communicate also, with those that held 
 the Head, though in other things erroneous,^^ Yet, 
 notwithstanding this latitude of charity, " his zeal 
 for God (to use the words of David) did eat him 
 
 John Jones, " a bold reprover of sin, was of the 
 congregational jDcrsuasion, of a Catholick spirit, 
 and for holding communion with all that agreed 
 in the main points of Christianity, though they 
 entertained different sentiments about lesser mat- 
 ters. He told some of his friends who were for se- 
 parating from their brethren because they were not 
 altogether of their own principles, that, ^^for his part, 
 he ivoiild he one ivith every body that was one with 
 Christ,^^f Admirable sentence ! worthy to be writ- 
 ten, as a motto, in letters of gold, over the doors 
 of every place of Christian worship. 
 
 William Bagshaw. " His administration of 
 the sacraments, especially that of the Lord's 
 Supper, was very solemn. As he would not ad- 
 mit the grossly ignorant and profane to that sa- 
 cred feast, so he durst not exclude those in whom 
 he saw any thing of the image of Christ, though 
 they were of different sentiments from him in les- 
 ser matters of religion." t 
 
 Edmund Calamy, " abhorred a close and nar- 
 
 * Ib. 221,227. t Ib.340. $ Is. 406. 
 
281 
 
 row spirit, which affects, or confines religion to, 
 a party : and was much rather for a compre/iew- 
 ,9^o^^," (i. e. for a scheme of union and commu- 
 nion embracing those who are substantially sound, 
 leaving smaller matters free,) " than for a perpe- 
 tual separation."* 
 
 John Farrol : " an humble, peaceable, la- 
 borious divine." When ejected for nonconfor- 
 mity, " his custom was to go to the publick" (es- 
 tablished) " church," (from which he had been 
 cast out,) " as his people also did ; and either be- 
 fore or after to preach in private.''t 
 
 Daniel PoYNTELL, so remarkably blessed in 
 his ministry that he had " scarcely a pray erless 
 family in his parish," used, even after his eject- 
 ment by the Bartholomew act, to hold ministe- 
 rial fellowship with the establishment; by preach- 
 ing after the order of the church of England, as 
 he had opportunity, to his old flock at Staple- 
 hurst, t 
 
 Isaac Ambrose, the well-known authour of the 
 treatise entitled. Looking unto Jesus, was one of 
 above twenty ministers who met at Bolton, after 
 the Restoration of Charles II, " to consult what 
 course to take. Mr. Ambrose and Mr. Cole, of 
 Preston, declared before them all, that they could 
 
 * Id. Vol. ii. 208. t Ib. 2T9. t !«• ^^6. 
 
282 
 
 read the Common Prayer^ «ind should doit; the 
 state of their places requiring it, in which, other- 
 wise, their service was now necessarily at an 
 end.'^ 
 
 ^J::^^ " The ministers, considering the circum- 
 stances of their case, approved their proceeding,^^"^ 
 
 John Richardson, " in his judgment about 
 church-matters was moderate and sober; never, 
 condemning any for differing from him about con- 
 formity," (viz. to the church of England,) "whom 
 he thought to be godly. He frequented Dr. Cum- 
 berland'' s, (afterwards Bishop of Peterborough's,) 
 lecture at Stamford. At Kirkton he went con- 
 stantly to the church, came betimes, joined in 
 the liturgy and received the sacrament."! 
 
 Edmund Trench, in his diary, July 5, 1677, re- 
 marks, that " troublesome, censorious, dividing 
 spirits had occasioned more thoughts of those un- 
 happy controversies about forms and ceremonies, 
 church-government, &c. and I was still more sa- 
 tisfied, even when most serious, that the bitter ex- 
 tremes of Dissenters, as well as of rigid Conform- 
 ists, were highly displeasing to God : that spiritu- 
 al pride, narrow-spirited mistakes, and griev- 
 ous wresting of the holy Scriptures, were the evil 
 roots of unchristian divisions and real schism. I 
 
 * IB.S62. t IB.4S1. 
 
283 
 
 was much grieved at such uncharitable and love- 
 killing principles and practices.'' 
 
 Agreeably to this "Christian Catholicism," he, 
 on the one hand, offered to Mr. B. the minister 
 of the parish, " to preach once a day gratis, and 
 read the common prayer in the afternoon :" and 
 " on the other hand, he refused to countenance 
 a certain non-conformist minister there, as on 
 other accounts, so principally for his binding his 
 people against all communion with the parish 
 churches."* 
 
 Matthew Mead, authour of The Almost Chris- 
 tian tried and cast. " His judgment, in reference 
 to matters of church order, was for union and 
 communion of all visible Christians ; viz. of such 
 as did visibly ^ hold the Head,' as to the princi- 
 pal crcdenda and agenda of Christianity — the 
 great things belonging to the faith and practice of 
 a Christian ; so as nothing be made necessary to 
 Christian communion but what Christ has made 
 necessary^ or what is indeed necessary to one's 
 being a Christian. What he publickly essay- 
 ed to this purpose the world knows : and many 
 more private endeavours and strugglings of his 
 for such an union, I have not been unacquainted 
 with. The unsuccessfulness of which endea- 
 
 * Ib.454, 455. 
 
284 
 
 vGurSj he said, not long before his last confine- 
 ment, he thought would break his heart."^ 
 
 Francis Tallents. "In king William^s time, 
 when overtures were made towards a compre- 
 hension, some gentlemen, who greatly valued his 
 judgment, sent for him to London to discourse 
 with him about it; particularly concerning the 
 re-ordaining of such as were ordained by presby- 
 ters. Upon mature deliberation he declared that 
 he could not submit to it : and drew up his rea- 
 sons at large. But he was much for occasional 
 conformity, as a token of charity towards those 
 whom we cannot statedly join with. In 1691 he 
 entered into his new place of worship — and caus- 
 ed it to be written on the walls " That it was built 
 not for a faction or party, but for promoting repent- 
 ance, and faith in communion with all that love our 
 Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity,''^ And in speaking 
 of the glory of the church in the latter times, he 
 used to say, " When God shall repair its breach- 
 es and build it up, the subtilties of the schools, 
 and many canons of councils, and customs of 
 old, will be laid aside ; and a great simplicity in 
 things of faith and worship will be owned and 
 practised. No more conditions shall be made for 
 
 * Ib. 466. (from Howe's Sermon, Works. Vol. ii. 474.) 
 
285 
 
 the communion of churches than Christ has made 
 for communion with him,^^"^ 
 
 Joseph Alleine, authour of that celebrated 
 book, entitled, An Alarm to the Unconvertedj 
 though he suffered a long imprisonment because 
 he would not cease from his ministry after his 
 ejectment, yet " often attended the worship of 
 the parish churches, and encouraged his people 
 to do the same."t 
 
 Anthony Burgess, a member of the West- 
 minster Assembly, " after his ejectment, lived in 
 a very cheerful and pious manner, frequenting 
 and encouraging the ministry of the conforming 
 
 clergyman."! 
 
 George Hopkins, himself a Presbyterian, after 
 his ejectment " frequented the parish church, 
 with his family ; received the holy communion, 
 and did all things required of him as a lay mem- 
 ber of the church of England."^ 
 
 The reader must not suppose that these are all 
 the instances which can be quoted. They are taken 
 from a much larger list now before me ; and are 
 given merely as a sample of the views, feehngs, 
 and practice, which prevailed among the English 
 Puritans at and near the time of the Westminster 
 x\ssembly. They furnish an index to the pub- 
 
 * Ib. 155, 156. t IB. 211. % IB. 350. h 1b. 393. 
 
. 286 
 
 lick mind and habits. The persons to whom 
 they relate may be considered, like the As- 
 sembly itself, as a sort of committee reflect- 
 ing the light, and reporting the judgment, 
 of evangelical England. They were no crea- 
 tures of faction. They Avere neither obstinate 
 in peculiarities, nor yet " driven about by every 
 wind of doctrine." In " malice," they were in- 
 deed " children ;" but in " understanding" they 
 were " men." Such men, that there was hard- 
 ly an individual among them of whom Nature, 
 and Nature Christianized, might not '" stand up 
 and say to all the world, this was a m4n!" They 
 were men of superiour talent, of high scholarship, 
 intimately acquainted with the whole body of 
 Christian theology and history. They were deeply 
 versed in the Scriptures. They gave their days 
 and nights to the study of the sacred volumes. 
 They bowed implicitly to the authority of God ; 
 but would allow^ no other " lord of their con- 
 science." With all their meekness and submission 
 to the " higher poAVers" they were perfectly in- 
 tractable on the capital points of faith and duty. 
 Neither ecclesiastical nor secular authority ; no 
 bishops nor dukes ; no king nor parliament ; 
 neither flattery nor threats ; preferment nor penal- 
 ties, could move them here. Yet with this ada- 
 mantine firmness in essentials, they were gentle 
 
287 
 
 and pliant in secondary things. For the " answer 
 of a good conscience," they " took joyfully the 
 spoiling of their goods ; enduring grief' to prose- 
 cutions, fines, disgrace, poverty, hunger, cold, 
 bonds, banishment. Yet, under this accumula- 
 tion of sorrows, enough, one would suppose, to 
 chill every warm feeling of the heart, they were 
 full " of life and love ;" they contended for com- 
 munion with all Christian churches, even with 
 that church whose rulers were then oppressing 
 them ! Christians, look at this fact. Remember 
 it was these men, and such as these, who framed 
 the Westminster confession ; and say, upon your 
 responsibility before God, whether the construc- 
 tion which shuts church- communion out of their 
 doctrine of the communion of saints can possibly 
 be correct ? It is certainly true — these pages shew 
 it, that much aversion from communion, espe- 
 cially with the establishment, was to be found, 
 after the Bartholomew-act, in some ministers 
 and congregations. But was it general ? Was it 
 not chiefly among " gathered churches ?"* Was it 
 
 * " Gathered" churches were formed by drawing away njembers from 
 the parish-churches, even where the ministry was exemplary, and the 
 ministrations edifying. The effect was worthy of the cause. Chris- 
 tian was pitted against Christian. Heart-burnings necessarily follow- 
 ed. Love sunk as Jealousy rose: and when sinful passions embittered 
 communion, it wa«! naturally contracted within '^ther limits than those 
 diced by Christian character. This culling system did not confine its 
 
 37 
 
.288 
 
 considered as conformable to Christian princi- 
 ple ? As obedience to Christ ? As a solid and pre- 
 eminent part of a reformation-testimony ? Or as 
 the very reverse ? Did not the concurring judg- 
 ment of the beat, wisest, holiest, boldest, most 
 experienced advocates of, and sufferers for, the 
 truth, lament it, condemn it, resist it? Did they 
 not deplore its progress as the triumph of petty 
 strifes over gospel unity ? As a conspiracy of pride 
 and ignorance to lay waste the kingdom of God 
 under pretext of defending it ? Open their vo- 
 lumes and answer. 
 
 The spirit of Catholick fellowship flourished, 
 amid suffering, on the continent also. The 
 '' burning fiery furnace" kindled anew, tried and 
 purified the churches of France! but the "smell 
 of fire" passed not upon those garments which 
 they wore as followers of the Son of God, All 
 that they endured from Papal perfidy was much 
 too little to pervert their judgment or poison their 
 affections on the subject of fraternal charity. Let 
 
 ble-sing;^ to England. It has been no uncommon thing for a minister 
 to be sent, on a long jonrney, to preach to two or three individuals in 
 the midst of a district Avliere pure gospel was established ; and to set 
 about the business of " gathering ;" i. e. to excite discontent and de- 
 sertion at the hazard, in many instances, of so dividing the Christian 
 strength of the district, as that, in a short time, it might be destitute of 
 the gospel altogether. If " the Prince of the Devils" ever relax his 
 sternness, he cannot but smile at the dexterity with which his work if 
 fuequently performed, and hits interest promoted, by Christian hands. 
 
289 
 
 them speak for themselves through their publick 
 organ, the great John Claude. In a work which 
 received their official sanction, he says, *" The 
 points which divide us," -(Papists and Protes- 
 tants,) " are points neitiier of simple discipline, 
 as that for which Victor bishop of Rome sepa- 
 rated his church from those of Asia, which cele- 
 brated Easter on the 14th day of the moon — nor 
 simply scholastick questions which consist in 
 terms far removed from the knowledge of the 
 people ; as that which is called trkim capitulo- 
 rum, which excited so many troubles in the time 
 of the emperour Justinian and pope Vigilius — 
 nor simple personal interests, as in the schisms of 
 the antipopes — nor crimes nor accusations pure- 
 
 * Chacun sail quels sont les points qui nous divisent ; que ce ne sont 
 ni ties points do simple discipline, coranie celui ponr lequel Victor 
 Evesque de Rome sepava son Eglise de celles d' Asie qui celebroient 
 la Pasque le quatorzieme jour de la lune — ni simplenient des questions 
 d'ecole, qui ne consistent qu'en des termes eloignez de la connoissance 
 du peuple ; comme celle qu'on appelle trium capitulorum, qui excita 
 tant de troubles du terns de 1' Empereur Justinien, et du Pope Vigili- 
 us — ni des simples inteiets personnels ; tels qu'on les a vus dans les 
 schismes des Antipapes — ni des crimes ou des accusations puremeijt 
 personelles ; comme dans le schisme des Donatistes — ni mesrae une cor- 
 ruption generale de mceurs ; bien qu'eUe fust tres grande dans le Clerg^ 
 du tems de nos peres. Les articles qui nous separent sont des points 
 qui, selon nous, trouble essenciellement la foy par laquelle nous sora- 
 mesunis a Jesus Christ— des points qui alterent essenciellement le culte 
 que nous devons a Dieu ; qui gastent essenciellement les sources de nos- 
 tra Justification ; et qui corrompent les moyens soit interieurs, so'ii ex- 
 terieurs, de nous acquerir la grace et la gloire. En un mot ; ce ??ont 
 
.290 
 
 \y personal, as in the schism of the Donatists— 
 nor even a general corruption of manners, al- 
 though it was very great in the Clergy during the 
 time of our fathers. The articles which separate 
 us are points which, in our view, trouble essen- 
 tially the faith whereby we are united to Jesus 
 Christ — points which alter, essentially, the wor- 
 ship we owe to God ; which damage, essentially, 
 the sources of our justification; and which cor- 
 rupt the means, internal and external, of obtain- 
 ing both grace and glory. In a word, they are 
 points which we believe to be altogether incom- 
 patible with salvation ; and which, consequently, 
 do not permit us to give the title or concede the 
 quality of a true church of Jesus Christ to a 
 party which is confirmed in their profession and 
 practice ; and aims at compelling us to the same 
 thing. 
 
 " I acknowledge that our controversies are not 
 all of such importance. There are, without 
 doubt, some of less weight and force ; on which 
 
 des points que nous croyons entierement incorapatibles avec la salut : 
 et qui, par contequent, nous empechent de pouvoir donner le titre ou 
 la qualit€ de vraye Eglise de Jesus Christ aune party qui s'est affinny 
 dans leur profession, et dans leur pratique ; et qui nous a volu contrain- 
 dre a la mesme chose. J'avoue qu'on ne peut dire que nos controverses 
 soient toutes de cette importance: il-y-en a, sans doute, qui sont de 
 moindre poids et de moindre force, sur lesquelle.' il etoit bon de se re- 
 former, raais qui pourtant n'eassent pas pu donner seules un juste si? 
 
291 
 
 reformation were desirable; but which, neverthe- 
 less, could not, of themselves, furnish a just cause 
 of separation. I place in this rank the question 
 about the Limbus^ of the ancient fathers — that 
 of the local descent of Jesus Christ into hell- 
 that of the distinction between presbyters and 
 bishops by divine right — that of the observation 
 of Leiit; and some others of the same sort; where 
 we readily perceive there was errour and super- 
 stition to correct ; but ivhich ivere not sufficient to 
 cause a rupture of communion : Accordingly it 
 was not for such things that our fathers quitted 
 the church of Rome." 
 
 jet de separation. Je mets en ce rang la question du Limbe des anciens 
 Peres — celle de la descente locale de Jesus Christ aux Enfers — celle 
 de la distinction des Prestres et des Evesques de droit divin — celle de 
 I'observation dun Careme; et quelques autres de cette nature, ou Ton 
 voit bien qu'il-y-avoit de I'erreur et de la superstition a corriger; 
 mais qui n'alloient pas jusqu' a pouvoir causer une rupture de commu- 
 nion. Aussi, n'est ce pas pour ces sortes de choses que nos Peres ont 
 nuitte 1' Eglise de Rome, &:c. 
 
 CtAUDE. Defense de la Reformation^ p. 210. 4to. 1673. 
 * A state of saints who, before the coming of Christ, had departed 
 this life : being neither hell, nor heaven, nor purgatory; but without 
 the sense of pain supposed in the first and last ; and without the fruition 
 of the blessedness belonging to the second, was believed in by the 
 church of Rome under the name of Limbus patrum ; into which she 
 teaches that *^'hrist, after his passion, literally descended ; end by his 
 preaching there, delivered the souls of the Fathers thus detained.t 
 
 t Catechismus Bomanus ex decreto concilii Tridentini, et 
 Pif,v.l596. p. 49. 12mo. 
 
0-)QC 
 
 92 
 
 What think you, reader, of this declaration on 
 the part of the French churches in 1672, only a 
 few years before they were to pour out their 
 blood afresh as martyrs to the truth of the Lord 
 Jesus ? Does it bear any resemblance to our sec- 
 tarianism ? Has it any thing in common with 
 those maxims of disunion which put us apart 
 and render us mutually cold, suspicious, hostile ? 
 
 If this be staggering, what shall we say to a 
 publick deed of the church of Scotland nearly 
 forty years later, placing church-communion ex- 
 plicitly upon principles common to the Reform- 
 ed Churches ? It is an act of her General Assem- 
 bly, entitled, " Act concerning the receiving of 
 strangers into church- communion^ and baptizing 
 their children ;" and runs as follows : 
 
 " The General Assembly considering that all 
 due encouragement ought to be given to persons 
 educated in the protestant churches, who have 
 come, or may come, to reside in this country, 
 and may incline to join in communion with this 
 church ; Therefore they hereby recommend to 
 all ministers, in whose parishes any such stran- 
 gers may happen to reside, to shew all tender- 
 ness to them when they come to desire the bene- 
 fit of sealing ordinances : And if such strangers, 
 being free of scandal, and professing their faith in 
 CJhrist and obedience to him, shall desire bap- 
 
293 
 
 tism to their children, ministers shall cheerfully 
 comply with their desire in administrating the 
 sacrament of baptism to their children, upon the 
 parents engaging^ to educate them in the fear of 
 God, and knowledge of the principles of the Re- 
 formed Protestant religion."* 
 
 Let us analyze this act. 
 
 It was passed for the purpose of receiving 
 '^ strangers into church-communion ;" they co7i- 
 iinuing strangers, and not accounting themselves 
 plenary members of the church of Scotland, For 
 about the reception of a person wishing to be- 
 come such a member, and giving due satisfaction 
 as to his principles and character, there could be 
 no scruple in her ministers ; and no necessity of 
 -an act of the General Assembly to secure due 
 " tenderness." Men are not apt to be harsh in 
 their treatment of decent applicants for admis- 
 sion into their church. 
 
 It contemplated and provided for the reception 
 of such strangers into habitual communion. For 
 it distinctly specifies their residing in the country 
 as strangers ; and the probability of their having 
 several children to offer in baptism ; and says no- 
 thing about the term of their residence : all which 
 puts their case out of the limits of extraordinary 
 and transient fellowship. 
 
 * Acts oithe General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, May, ITIf , 
 p. 22, 23, 
 
• 294. 
 
 In order to this regular, habitual, church-coii]» 
 munion, it does not require of these strangers an 
 approbation of all or any 'peculiarities in the 
 church of Scotland^ but simply a credible chris- 
 tian character, and a promise, when the com- 
 munion was in the form of baptism, to educate 
 their children, not — be it noticed — not according 
 to the standards of the church of Scotland; but 
 according to the principles of the Reformed Pror 
 testant religion ! — Hence it appears, 
 
 1. That this act was passed for the purpose of 
 facilitating communion with strangers who did 
 not even pretend to join the church of Scotland 
 as complete members. 
 
 2. That the church of Scotland, at this time, 
 required nothing as a term of full communion 
 with her, but what was common to " the princi- 
 ples of the Reformed Protestant religion." And 
 
 3. That a member of any reformed church in 
 any part of the world, not acting unworthy of 
 Ms profession, was entitled, upon that ground, to 
 an equal participation with her own members in 
 ber most sacred, i. e. in her sealing ordinances. 
 
 Here is now the church of Scotland^ the only 
 national church upon earth adhering to the West- 
 minster confession ; and which had adhered to it 
 fjom the beginning — the very church from which 
 \?e have sprung ; and in that state in which we 
 
g4ory to have sprung from her, giving to the world 
 her official construction of the article concerning 
 the " communion of saints ;" giving it freely and 
 frankly ; without passion, or pressure, or party- 
 feeling : and giving it in flat contradiction to the 
 construction of those who for the last eighty years 
 have claimed to be her genuine sons ; but who 
 were under the pressure, if not of passion, yet 
 certainly of party.* 
 
 Who is likely to be right? Christians! as in 
 the sight of God, judge ye ! 
 
 On this particular point, viz. " the communion 
 of saints^'' the argument is conceived to have 
 fully made out the three following propositions — 
 
 1. That the phrase " comrtiunion of saints" 
 was originally intended to express "church-com- 
 munion ;" and was understood to express it by 
 all parts of the Christian church down to the 
 time of the Westminster assembly. 
 
 2.T hat the very terms of the article so entitled 
 in their confession, as well as collateral ex- 
 pressions, prove that it must be understood in 
 the then established sense, and cannot admit of 
 any other. 
 
 3. That it not only continued to be so under- 
 
 * The reader will remember that this work is immediately designed 
 for churches which have descended, though by separation, from the 
 vJ\^\xxc)\i)i Scotland. 
 
 38 
 
296 
 
 Mood privately and publickly ; by individuals and 
 by churches adopting that confession, for nearly, 
 if not quite, a century later; but that the opinion 
 and practice of the best and holiest men who 
 were contemporary with, or flourished shortly 
 after, that memorable assembly, coincided per^ 
 fectly with the doctrine of this volume. 
 
 It isnot necessary to go into further details. 
 The preceding pages are believed to have shewn, 
 that the communion for which they plead is en- 
 joined in the word of God — ^was understood to be 
 so enjoined by the Apostolick and primitive 
 church — was acted upon under that persuasion — 
 was contended for in opposition to every sort of 
 sectaries — was asserted, and the doctrine of it 
 inserted, in the briefest summary of faith ever 
 current in the churches, the apostles' creed — was 
 maintained at the revival of the cause of God 
 and truth at the Reformation — was practised to 
 the greatest extent in the best of churches in 
 the best of times — was cordially received by 
 that venerable representation of evangelical in- 
 terests, the assembly of divines at Westminster 
 — is in perfect unison with the known convictions 
 and conduct of the most glorious champions of 
 the cross whom England ever saw — was not only 
 received, but is formally, explicitly, and fully^ 
 maintained in their confession of faith— -has been 
 
297 
 
 reasserted and vindicated by the church of Scot- 
 land^ thirty years before the Secession — and stands^ 
 at this hour, a conspicuous part of the solemn, 
 pubUck, profession of churches which, on both 
 sides of the Atlantick, have originated from her. 
 
 Were it safe to reason from profession to con- 
 duct, the inference from these premises would be, 
 that all who have adopted the Westminster con- 
 fession of faith as the confession of their own 
 faith, would most cordially reciprocate the best of- 
 fices of Christian love ; would join together in 
 Sweet communion ; would hail as a brother, and 
 welcome to their sacramental table, every one 
 who bears the image of their glorified Lord. 
 
 But what are the facts ? Not only is the Catho- 
 lick church divided, but many even of those parti- 
 cular churches which are thus united in the same 
 faith, and organized under, substantially, the same 
 order, stand aloof from each other as if they w^ere 
 "strangers and foreigners," and not "fellow- 
 citizens with the saints and of the household of 
 God." In some of them, at least, the very fact 
 of belonging as a member to any other Christian 
 denomination, is a regular and almost insuperable 
 obstacle to communion. If a Christian, however, 
 his character and conversation may adorn the 
 doctrine of God his Saviour, should happen, in 
 the course of providence, to be present at one of 
 
298 
 
 thefF^^ -Solemn feasts," and should desire, with 
 them, to '' pay his vows unto the Lord," he is re- 
 pulsed. " Why ? Are not his professed principles 
 the same with your own?" "The very same.'' 
 " Does he not give as satisfactory proofs of ' living 
 by faith upon the Son of God,' as are given by 
 those whom you invite, welcome, urge to your 
 sacramental fellowship ?" " It cannot be denied." 
 But identity of principle and a life of faith upon 
 the Son of God are Icmie recommendations ! It 
 is not enough that he is a Christian^ he must also 
 be a sectarian — to follow Christ goes for nothing, 
 unless he follow us: And so, with the traits of 
 his master's image strong upon him, he is shut 
 out among the profane ! ! 
 
 On the other hand, when members of these 
 churches have an opportunity of shewing forth 
 the Lord's death in a church which wears his 
 name, though it wear not theirs ; and breathes 
 his spirit, though it repeat not their watch-word, 
 nor keep their countersign ; they wdll not, when 
 asked, touch his sacred memorials. " This chin re- 
 membrance o/'me," weighs upon their consciences 
 no where but in their own precincts ; and they 
 will rather withhold their testimony to his dying 
 love, than recognise their union with fellow-be- 
 lievers all whose feelings and habits have not 
 been melted down and amal2:amated with their 
 
299 
 
 own peculiarities in the crucible ol party-zeal. 
 Should they, however, at anytime, break through 
 these restrictions — should they mingle their tears 
 of thankfulness, and their hymns of praise, with 
 those who having " obtained like precious faith 
 with themselves," are putting their seal to their 
 privileges and their hope at the table of their 
 common Lord, — they become objects of suspi- 
 cion; their conduct is reproved as disorderly; 
 the communion which they have held is pro- 
 nounced offensive ; and their brethren become as 
 alarmed and indignant, as if their honouring the 
 Lord Jesus Christ in his atknowledged ordinances 
 and members were a real scandal — an " iniquity 
 to be punished by the judges! !'' 
 
 Nay, to ^uch a length is this fastidiousness 
 carried in certain churches, that the simple hear- 
 ing of the gospel, from the mouth of the most 
 faithful minister who happens not to be within 
 their own circle, is accounted an ecclesiastical 
 crime; and a sufficient ground of church-censure! 
 And should such a minister be, on any occasion^ 
 admitted in ministerial communion to one of 
 their pulpits, however honoured he may have 
 been of God — I tremble to write it — Blasphemy 
 itself could hardly excite a greater ferment ! ! It 
 would be vain to deny the accuracy of this state- 
 ment. It is the truth, the plain truth, and nothing 
 
300 
 
 but the truth. The facts which justify it are no- 
 torious to the whole world. 
 
 Such being the relative situation of several 
 churches, comprising many congregations, and an 
 immense multitude of individuals, it is natural 
 to inquire into the history of so strange a pheno* 
 menon. 
 
 It may be laid down as a general rule with re- 
 gard to human disagreements, that the causes 
 which produce them are very different from the 
 reasons which are assigned for their vindication: 
 It being nothing uncommon, with our sinful and 
 inconsistent race, to father upon Conscience the 
 offspring of Passion : and to clothe, with the 
 sanctions of religion, whatever accords with the 
 power of habit, or flatters the vanity of name. 
 But supposing the present case to be an excep- 
 tion: that the churches have, in this instance, 
 escaped the common infirmity ; and that the «/- 
 hged are the rea/ causes of their distant, not to say 
 hostile, deportment toward each other ; it is im- 
 possible, considering the scriptural doctrine and 
 their own concurrent faith concerning the unity 
 of the body of Christ, it is impossible for a sound 
 mind to be convinced by any thing short of de- 
 monstration, that their actual state is either pleas- 
 higto God or beneficial to man. Nor is this afi 
 unreasonable demand — Forj 
 
301 
 
 Every church refusing to hold communion 
 with another, does, by that fact, declare herself 
 to be too pure for such communion ; i. e. that such 
 communion would contaminate her in the eyes 
 of her God, and bring down upon her the tokens 
 of his displeasure. It needs no proof that a church 
 must be very sure of her own pretensions be- 
 fore she venture upon such high and danger- 
 ous ground — Very sure that the mantle of her 
 excluding zeal does not cover offences against 
 the Lord her God quite as provoking as those 
 w^hich she charges upon others — that there is no 
 place for the Jewish proverb. Physician! heal 
 thyself^ or for the heathen aphorism. 
 
 -mutato nomine de te 
 
 Fabula narratur — * 
 
 —that she does not wink at abuses in her own 
 members, which she laments and reprobates in 
 her neighbours. It is the more necessary for her 
 to be sure of her own sanctity, as the very as- 
 sumption of a censorial power over her Christian 
 sisters invites the most unsparing scrutiny; and 
 no honourable a mark is affixed by Truth itself, 
 to those who, regardless of their own faults, say, 
 Stand by thyself; come not near me ; for lam holier 
 Hian thou! 
 
 * — Change but the name^ 
 Th© chctracier^s yowr own,- 
 
302 
 
 The refusal of one evangelical church to hold 
 communion with another is, in appearance at 
 least, an offence against the visible unity of the 
 body of Christ, and against his commandment 
 to cultivate that unity at the expense of much 
 inconvenience, and even of many sacrifices. Dif- 
 ference of denomination, it must be owned, does 
 not necessarily involve this consequence: but ex- 
 clusive communions, founded on that difference, 
 it will be difficult to acquit from the imputation.. 
 
 In fine— To refuse communion with a church 
 or with her members is, in effect, to unchurch 
 her, and to declare that she is no church, and 
 that her members are no followers, of Jesus 
 Christ. At least it is a declaration that they are 
 so very corrupt as to render their communion un- 
 Jmvful. Now such a declaration, whether express- 
 ed or implied, can be viewed as nothing less, on 
 the part of those who make it, than an excommu- 
 nication in disguise — but a disguise so thin that it 
 might as well be dropped. For what is excom- 
 munication (the heaviest penalty in the kingdom 
 of God) but a judicial exclusion from the com- 
 munion of the church on account of the unworthi- 
 ness of the excommunicated ; i. e. the imlaivfuhiess 
 of holding communion with them? If then you re- 
 fuse communion with a church or with individuals, 
 justifying your refusal by the plea of their corrupt- 
 
303 
 
 ness^ your conduct is a virtual denial of their visi° 
 ble Christianity; and, having already the sub- 
 stance, wants nothing but the form, of an exconi- 
 municating act. This consequence, viz. the vir- 
 tual unchurching and excommunicating all the 
 churches and people of God upon earth with 
 whom we refuse communion, is so dreadful that 
 every Christian heart shrinks from it with fear 
 and horrour. It is, therefore, disow^ned and re- 
 jected by the most strenuous opponents of catho- 
 lick fellowship. We are glad to acquit their in- 
 tentions; but cannot so easily acquit their argu- 
 ment^ or their practice. They shut out from their 
 communion other Christians and churches : what 
 is this but excommunication? what more can 
 they do to the blasphemer and the profligate ? 
 This draws deep. For the scriptural doctrine, 
 common to Protestant Christendom, is, that 
 " heinous violations of the law of God in prac- 
 tice; and such errours in principle as unhinge 
 the Christian profession, are the only scandals 
 for which the sentence of excommunication 
 should be passed."* Where it is inflicted, either 
 formally or practically, for less weighty reasons, 
 for secular ends, or through the influence of 
 party-passions, there can be but one opinion 
 
 * Discip. of the Asso. Rff. Church, B. ii. ch. vj. Title, " of excgm- 
 miiuication." 
 
 S9 
 
304 
 
 among Christians who are not infatuated by their 
 own share in the sin — it is a deed which the 
 Lord our God will never ratify in heaven ; and 
 which owes to his marvellous forbearance what- 
 ever immunity it enjoys from prompt and ex- 
 emplary punishment on earth. 
 
 Seeing, therefore, that the refusing our com- 
 munion to other Christians when it is desired, 
 and the decHning theirs when it is offered, in- 
 volve claims of great peril, if not of great pre- 
 sumption — are an apparent violation of that uni- 
 ty which our master has commanded us to main- 
 tain — and treat many members of the household 
 of faith like open unbelievers ; virtually excom- 
 municating them, as if they were blots and scan- 
 dals to their holy caUing — Seeing these things, 
 it becomes us to pause: to review our proceed- 
 ings as those " who shall give apcount:" and to 
 be thoroughly satisfied, by an honest and intelli- 
 gent examination of the word of God, that our 
 reasons shall be found valid and ourselves acquit- 
 ted at his tribunal ; lest we meet with the rebuke 
 of those who "make sad the hearts which he 
 has not made sad;" and instead of honouring 
 and comforting, "smite their fellow-servants," 
 with the aggravation of smiting them in Bis 
 name. 
 
305 
 Part III. — A Review of Objections, 
 
 What, then, are the objections to a more libe- 
 ral communion than we have been accustomed 
 to cherish ? What are those imperative considera- 
 tions which, apparently, in the face of plain scrip- 
 tural injunction of our own solemn profession ; 
 and of dangers enough, one would suppose, to 
 appal the stoutest heart, do, nevertheless, for- 
 hid us to reciprocate frank and cordial fellow- 
 ship with all acknovjledged Christians and Chris- 
 tian churches ? In so far as the authour can dis- 
 cover, they are, substantially, the following, viz, 
 
 "That God may hold communion with those 
 with whom we may not — 
 
 " That so general a communion as this plea 
 inculcates, would prostrate all scriptural distinc- 
 tion between the precious and the vile, and that 
 salutary discipline by which the house of God is 
 to be kept from pollution — 
 
 " That it involves an approbation of abuses 
 and corruptions in churches with which it is 
 held ; and thus makes us partakers of other men's 
 sins — 
 
 " That by giving publick countenance to 
 churches erroneous or corrupt, it destroys the 
 force, or at least shackles the freedom, of a faith= 
 ful testimonv to Christ and his truth — 
 
306 
 
 " That it not only diminishes the value, but 
 supersedes the necessity, and impeaches the pro- 
 priety, of all that service which, in every age, 
 the churches of God have rendered to ' pure and 
 undefiled religion,' by their judicial confessions 
 of faith- — 
 
 "That as communion presupposes and is found- 
 ed upon union, it is a contradiction to hold com- 
 munion with churches with which we are not 
 united ; and, therefore, that all such communion 
 is inconsistent with distinct ecclesiastical orga- 
 nization-— 
 
 " That whatever may have been the practice 
 of primitive times, the state of the church is so 
 greatly altered as to make the imitation of them 
 inexpedient, if not impracticable, now — 
 
 " That w hereas the sentiments and examples 
 of holy men and evangelical churches, in later 
 days, may seem to thwart the strain of these ob- 
 jections, and to throw their advocates into the 
 dilemma of either aspersing those whom they 
 profess to venerate, or convicting themselves of 
 schism, all such sentiments and examples were 
 adapted to extraordinary circumstances , and are 
 inapplicable to any regular settled state — and 
 
 " That all Christians, being one in spirit, the 
 best ends of their communion may be answered, 
 in their present state of separation, wdthout the 
 evils incident to. its publick extension." 
 
307 
 
 If there are other objections affecting the gene- 
 ral question, they have not come to the authour's 
 knowledge, nor occurred to his reflexions. But 
 if these, or any considerable part of them, are 
 well founded, there can be no doubt that his 
 whole preceding argument is overthrown — that 
 his doctrine labours under some radical fallacy — 
 and that the practice which has grown out of it 
 at New- York and elsewhere, has given just of- 
 fence, and merits severe reprehension. 
 
 Yet plausible as they are, and solid as they 
 appear to many honest and respectable men, it 
 may be allowed, without the imputation of arro- 
 gance, to try their soundness : and, long as they 
 have had possession of the popular ear, to shew 
 that in this, as in other instances, the popular fa- 
 vour has been unwisely bestowed. 
 
 Considering the very great difficulties with 
 ^hich they would press us, it is surprising that 
 not one of them is so much as noticed in the word 
 of God! If the communion of his church is to 
 be so circumscribed, not to say fastidious— If the 
 religious intercourse of his own people with 
 each other is so materially influenced by vari' 
 ance in things which may confessedly stand with 
 the substance of his truth and the power of his 
 grace— if Christians of diff*erent name, by meet- 
 ino; at the table of their Redeemer^ break down 
 
308 
 
 the hedges which he has set about his vineyard ; 
 make themselves reciprocally chargeable with 
 whatever eiTOur or sin may be found in their re- 
 spective denominations ; and instead of building 
 up, destroy his kingdom — it is ^' passing strange" 
 that neither their master nor his apostles should 
 have cautioned them against the peril ! Nay, that 
 the language of his word when treating of this 
 very subject; and especially when rectifying 
 abuses and settling controversies, should be ab- 
 solutely silent on the topics of objection ; and 
 rather calculated to lead Christians into mis- 
 take ! For it cannot be denied, that while their 
 union, love and fellowship, as members of His 
 body, are inculcated with deep solemnity and 
 enforced by awful motives, those impediments 
 to communion, so formidable in our eyes, have 
 not even a place among the inspired discussions! 
 Did not the Lord Jesus foresee them ? Were not 
 human infirmities and passions and sins the same 
 in the days of Paul as they have been ever since ? 
 Do not the writings of this wondrous man, and 
 the apostolick history by Luke, record facts 
 which modern opinion and practice — the opinion 
 and practice of many among ourselves — the spi- 
 rit of the foregoing objections, would consider as 
 not only warranting, but demanding, separate 
 eonnexionSj and interdicting communion between 
 
309 
 
 their members ? And yet did either Paul or tTie 
 other apostles advise or countenance any such 
 measure ? On the contrary, while we seem to 
 dread communion between all those who " call 
 on the name of the Lord Jesus," as dangerous 
 to the purity of his church and the answer of a 
 good conscience, did they not seem to dread the 
 disruption of it as inconsistent with her unity, as 
 unfriendly to her peace, and scandalous to her 
 name? And this, notwithstanding objections 
 which, upon the principles of the objectors, were 
 as obvious then as they can be now ? Whence 
 this prodigious difference between their views 
 ^nd ours ? Did they not understand the interest 
 of the church ? Did they not regard it ? Did they 
 leave to the wisdom of these latter days a reme- 
 dy for evils against which their master made no 
 provision ? and commit to our hands the finish- 
 ing of His imperfect work ? Or in very deed are 
 the objections faulty and false ? This is more 
 probable. Let us, then, weigh them in the 
 balances, and see if we can discover wherein 
 they are wanting. 
 
 The scope of this treatise being to shew that 
 we are bound to fellowship with those whose 
 " fellowship is with the Father and with his Son 
 Jesus Christ,"* 
 
 * h John 1. S, 
 
I. The first objection is for making short work 
 with the whole matter, by granting the premises 
 and denying the conckision— maintaining that 
 " God may and does hold communion with those 
 with whom we may not :" and, therefore, that 
 the whole superstructure of church-communion, 
 built upon the foundation of communion with 
 him, falls to the ground. 
 
 Such an objection is of strange hearing in Chris- 
 tian ears which have been unaccustomed to it; 
 and may be treated as a phantom which has been 
 raised for the pleasure of laying it again. But it is 
 no phantom — It has a real existence, and a strong 
 power over men respectable for their understand- 
 ing, amiable for their benevolence, and venerable 
 for their piety. It was urged upon the authour 
 many years ago, by an excellent Anti-Burgher 
 minister,* remarkable for the cheerfulness of his 
 temper and the Catholicism of his feelings. The 
 conversation turned upon the separation of the 
 Burgher and Anti-Burgher churches. " Do you 
 not account the Burgher churches to be true 
 churches of Jesus Christ?" ^ I do.' " Do you not 
 believe that the gospel of Christ is purely preach- 
 ed there, his ordinances scripturally administered, 
 iiis people edified, and his presence enjoyed?" 
 
 * The late Reverend Mr. Alicf, of Paisley, 
 
311 
 
 '^ O yes.' " Why, then, will you not hold commu- 
 nion with them ?" The reply was in the very 
 words quoted, * God may hold communion with 
 those with whom we may not.'^ The objection 
 is, then, worthy of a serious examination. 
 
 It must have one of three senses, viz. 
 
 Either that God holds secret communion with 
 some with whom his people, who are vitally 
 united to Christ, can have no such communion: 
 
 Or, That God holds secret communion with 
 «ome with whom his 'professing people may not 
 hold publick communion : 
 
 Or, That God holds publick communion with 
 some with whom his church may not hold it. 
 
 According to the^r^^ of these senses, the pro- 
 position is neither sound in itself, nor relative to 
 the argument. 
 
 Not sound in itself — God holds no secret com- 
 munion with an unregenerated man. And all 
 regenerated men have, in virtue of union with 
 Christ their head, both union and communion 
 with each other — union and communion utterly 
 independent on their own will ; and which they 
 can neither break nor avoid. 
 
 Not relative to the argument — For the ques- 
 
 » The same principle is stated more at length, though with some 
 confusion, in Wilson's Defence of the RefoTmation-principles of the 
 chxcfch of Scotland, p. 70. 1769. 
 
 40 
 
312 
 
 tionis not about invisible and secret, but about 
 visible and publick communion. 
 
 In its second sense, the proposition is true ; but 
 not more applicable than in the first. For no in- 
 telligent Christian will admit that things which 
 are an absolute secret between God and the soul, 
 can be a rule of proceeding to his church : nor is 
 the right of communion with her ever placed on 
 such a footing. 
 
 In the third^ which is its only remaining sense, 
 viz. that " God holds puhlick communion with 
 some with whom his church may not," the pro- 
 position is, indeed, strictly applicable; but, at 
 the same time, materially incorrect. 
 
 1 . It runs directly counter to the strain of scrip* 
 iural authority. 
 
 " That which we have seen and heard," says 
 John the beloved, " declare we unto you, that ye 
 also may have fellowship with us : and truly our 
 fellowship is with the Father and with his Son 
 Jesus Christ."* 
 
 The gospel, according to this apostle, is " de- 
 clared" with a view of conferring upon men those 
 blessed privileges, that transcendently valuable 
 interest, of which he and his fellow-believers had 
 already the possession. He calls it " fellowship ;" 
 
 * 1 John, 1. a 
 
313 
 
 i. e. communion, or an interest " common" to all 
 concerned. But wherein consists its value ? 
 What renders it so ineffably desirable and glori- 
 ous ? This : " Our fellowship, our communion," 
 saith the apostle, " is with the Father, and with 
 his Son Jesus Christ." Now if our communion 
 with God is a sufficient reason for inviting others 
 to communion with us ; then his communion with 
 others is a sufficient reason for our communion 
 with them. For our invitation must be address- 
 ed to believers or to unbelievers. If to believers, 
 it can be nothing short of a cordial welcome to 
 participate with us in all our privileges as the 
 " sons of God ;" and so the apostle has settled 
 the question of the whole communion which 
 Christians can have together ; and settled it ex- 
 actly and explicitly upon this principle, that they 
 have communion with God. If, on the other 
 hand, our invitation is to unbelievers ; it can 
 mean nothing short of an earnest exhortation to 
 become sharers with us, by faith, in all that fel- 
 lowship which flows from our fellowship with 
 God. And would it not be singularly inconsistent, 
 thus to invite unbelievers upon the very argument 
 and plea that " our communion is with God ;" 
 and the mortient they become believers^ and shew 
 that their communion also is with God, to turn 
 round and tell them that communion with him is 
 
314 
 
 not a sufficient warrant for communion with u's? 
 
 Again ; the apostle Paul lays upon Christians 
 the following injunction ; " Receive ye one ano- 
 ther as Christ also received us to the glory of 
 God."* 
 
 This " receiving" can be interpreted of nothing 
 but of their embracing each other in all holy af- 
 fection and fellowship ; for so Christ had " receiv- 
 ed" them. The injunction has for its immediate 
 object the repression of those jealousies, aliena- 
 tions, and divisions, which had originated, or 
 were likely to originate, from the dispute about 
 meats and days in the church at Rome. But the 
 rule is general ; and has decided, 
 
 That matters which destroy not communion 
 with Christ are not to destroy the communion of 
 Christians: But 
 
 That when one Christian, or party of Chris- 
 tians, sees the tokens of Christ's approbation and 
 presence with another, the warrant is perfect, 
 and the duty imperative, to reciprocate all the 
 offices of Christian love, with a kindness and 
 generosity modelled after Christ's example to 
 them both. If this does not import a command 
 to hold communion, church-communion, with all 
 who give evidence of being in communion with 
 Christ ; and precisely for that reason, it will be 
 
 * Rora. XV. 7, 
 
315 
 
 difficult to find a commandment in the Bible. 
 " There is no cause, therefore," says Calvin in 
 his commentary on the preceding verse, " there 
 is no cause for a man's boasting that he will glo- 
 rify God in his own way* For of so great mo- 
 ment in God's sight is the unity of his servants, 
 that he will not permit his glory to sound forth 
 amidst dissensions and strifes. This one thought 
 should effectually restrain that mad passion for 
 contest and quarrel which fills the minds of ma- 
 ny at the present day."* 
 
 2. The objection is subversive of all church- 
 communion whatsoever. 
 
 Visible Christianity ; i. e. a profession and walk 
 such as we have a right to expect from the dis- 
 ciples of Christ, is the only and the uncontested 
 ground of ecclesiastical fellowship. 
 
 But what is this " visible Christianity ?" This 
 " profession and walk of Christ's disciples ?" 
 Why is it required? And what is its use? Is it 
 any thing else than the external etfect and indica- 
 tion of communion with God? Is it of any other 
 use in the present question than to ascertain, as 
 far as can be ascertained by outward evidence, 
 that its possessors are the people of God? If, 
 then, communion with him — if being his people, 
 
 owned of him as such, is not, of itself, a suf- 
 
 ^ ^ .. ,1 , , „ . 1 , ^ ; .. . „ — . — . ,._^ . f_^-», , ^^ . 
 
 * Calt. Opp. T. vii, p. 99. 
 
316 
 
 licient reason for our communion with them in 
 those ordinances which are appointed express- 
 ly for their benefit, there can be no church-com- 
 munion at all. The thing is impossible: at least 
 it is impossible in the church of God — What com- 
 munion, upon different principles, there may be 
 in churches oi mart's making, is another question ; 
 but a question which it were profaneness and pol- 
 lution so much as to agitate. 
 
 Instead, therefore, of conceding that God holds 
 visible communion with some with whom we 
 may not, I shall reverse the position ; and say, 
 that I ought, and will, and shall, as I have oppor- 
 tunity, hold communion with all who have com- 
 munion with God, to the whole extent of the 
 proof of such communion ; and account it my 
 unutterable privilege. I will not be afraid nor 
 ashamed to be found in company with any per- 
 son in any things be it sacramental -. rvice or 
 other act of worship, when the God of my sal- 
 vation deigns to be of the party. No power on 
 earth shall hinder me from saying, '^ 1 will go 
 with you," to any to whom I can add, " for God 
 is with you." On this ground I will venture my 
 peace, my soul, my eternal blessedness! And 
 let those who refuse to walk in " church-com- 
 munion" with such as "walk with God," look 
 well after the account which they shall be able 
 to render. 
 
317 
 
 II. The second objection supposes that *Hhe 
 doctrine of church-communion, upon the princi- 
 ple of the common salvation, with all who call 
 upon the name of the Lord Jesus, compels us to 
 admit every one who passes himself for a Chris- 
 tian ; and thus, by abolishing the distinction be- 
 tween the precious and the vile, prostrates the 
 scriptural discipline, and lays open the house of 
 God to utter profanation." 
 
 It will be well for those who make this objec- 
 tion, if they shall be found to distinguish, in 
 their om;71 communion, between the "precious 
 and the vile," with that anxiety which their ar- 
 gument professes. 
 
 But to the argument itself. A general pro- 
 fession of Christianity, as is shewn by every day's 
 experience, may be, and often is, compatible 
 wdth the want of every Christian influence, and 
 even with hostility to almost every Christian doc- 
 trine. To let it serve as an apology for errour 
 and vice ; and, under its broad protection, to ad- 
 mit to communion men who evince neither re- 
 pentance toward God, nor faith toward our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, would be, indeed, to confound the 
 holy with the profane ; to turn the temple of God 
 into a den of thieves ; and to destroy the very 
 end and essence of sacramental fellowship. The 
 objectors themselves cannot have a more firm and 
 
318 
 
 founded abhorrence of suCh infidel charity, such 
 latitude of ruin, than has the writer of these re- 
 marks. But they should remember that if their 
 objection is conclusive against him, it is equally 
 conclusive against the confession of their faith, 
 and the word of their God. For the language 
 of both extends the privilege of whatever com- 
 munion the church enjoys to all them who call 
 upon the name of the Lord Jesus. Such a con- 
 sequence they will assuredly disown and dis- 
 prove. And when they shall have vindicated 
 their confession and their Bible from the charge 
 of so great an absurdity, they will have refuted 
 their own objection. 
 
 But to reply more directly, I add, 
 
 1. That the objection is altogether inapplica- 
 ble to the communion here defended. For it is, 
 expressly, communion with those who are ac^ 
 knoioledged to be Christians by the objectors 
 themselves. And surely communion with such 
 as give evidence of their having " received Christ 
 Jesus the Lord, and of their walking in him," 
 contains neither principle nor precedent for the 
 admission of such as do not give proof of either. 
 To welcome friends and brethren is not to en- 
 courage aliens and enemies. 
 
 2. " Calling upon the name of the Lord Je- 
 i?us," is not a loose nor equivocal phrase. It is a 
 
319 
 
 comprehensive, yet precise and well-defined, 
 character of a real and orderly Christian. Its 
 terms must be interpreted by those fuller declara- 
 tions of the scripture to which it refers, and of 
 which it is a summary. 
 
 Thus, the " name" of Jesus includes whatever 
 is peculiar to him as the Saviour of sinners : ex, 
 gr. the doctrine of his person ; of his righteous- 
 ness ; of^ his sacrifice ; of his intercession ; of his 
 authority — briefly, of his fulness, as the fountain 
 of all that grace which his redeemed receive now, 
 and of all that glory which they shall enjoy here- 
 after. Therefore in the scriptural, which is the 
 only true sense, no man can name his blessed 
 name without cherishing the faith of those cardi- 
 nal truths which relate to his character and 
 work. 
 
 " Calling^^^ upon the name of the Lord Jesus is 
 equivalent to such a profession of faith in him as 
 contains the embracing him in his saving offices 
 — bearing testimony to his cause and cross — 
 waiting upon him in his ordinances — addressing 
 him in acts of direct worship — submitting to his 
 authority — and keeping his commandments. Let 
 every one^ says Paul, who names the name of Christ 
 depart from iniquity. This is our great practical 
 test. They who are without the doctrine of Christ, 
 must not, indeed, presume to talk of their virtues : 
 
 41 
 
320 
 
 But, on the other hand, they who do not glorify 
 him as " made of God unto them sanctijication^ 
 crucifying the flesh with its affections and lusts," 
 and studying to be " holy in all manner of conver- 
 sation," can derive no true comfort from their doc- 
 trinal accuracy ; nor be allowed to plead it as a va- 
 lid title to sacramental fellowship. " Faith with- 
 out works is dead^^'' in the judgment of both God 
 and man. 
 
 If, therefore, a professed Christian shall reject 
 truths, or vent errours, affecting the substance of 
 the gospel; or shall dishonour it by a wicked life, 
 he is a subject of the punitive discipline of the 
 church ; and, by the law of Christ, is to be shut 
 out from the communion of the faithful till he 
 acquire a sounder mind, and be recovered from 
 the snare of the devil. 
 
 About these things there can be little difference 
 of opinion. All the churches concerned in the 
 present disquisition have, evidently, when they 
 explain themselves, the same view of what is 
 meant by " calling on the name of the Lord 
 Jesus." So that by extending our communion 
 to such as answer this description, wherever they 
 are found, we incur no danger of throwing open 
 the sanctuary of God to every or to any intruder. 
 It is very possible that a grievous backslider 
 from both truth and duty may yet retain that 
 
321 
 
 *^ seed of God^' which abideth forever ; and be, 
 at the very time of his scandal, a behever in 
 heart; and one who shall, eventually, "see the 
 Lord." Such \m as Noah; such was Lot; such 
 was David ; such was Peter, If it is the same 
 with others, so much the better for themselves. 
 But the church having no power to " search the 
 heart and try the reins of the children of men," 
 can look only " on the outward appearance,'' 
 Whatever an applicant for her communion may 
 be in the sight of God, he is not, he cannot be, 
 a Christian in her sight, unless he visibly maintain 
 the faith, and keep the commandments, of Jesus 
 Christ. She has nothing to do with his secret 
 state. In this matter she is to believe only what 
 she can see; or rather is to give credit for what 
 she cannot see, only on account of what she can. 
 Christianity of the heart, unattested by Christi- 
 anity of the mouth in " a good confession," and 
 of the hfe, in " fruit unto holiness," is, to her, no 
 Christianity at all. 
 
 The second objection, then, viz. that our hold- 
 ing communion with Christians as such; that is, 
 purely on account of their being Christians, cuts 
 down the hedge of discipline, and exposes the 
 house of God to defilement, is without founda- 
 tion, 
 
 III, It is supposed, and asserted that "by hold- 
 
• 322 
 
 ing communion with members of churches in 
 which there exist corruptions or abuses, we do 
 virtually apprpve such abuses or corruptions ; and 
 do thereby make ourselves partakers of other 
 men's sins." 
 
 Where is the church which has no coiTuptions, 
 no abuses ? nothing to correct ? Let us speak out, 
 and say that we ought never to communicate but 
 wiiii the members of r perfect church! For every 
 thing which falls short of perfection is an abuse, 
 is a corruption. And, as the rule works both 
 ways, other churches should not, by our own ar- 
 gument, tolerate communion with us whose claim 
 to perfection is not quite indisputable. Winit a 
 spectacle would this be ! What a spectacle is it 
 already, in the eyes of God, of angels, and of 
 men! A number of churches all wearing the 
 name, pleading the authority, possessing substan- 
 tially the faith, pretending to cherish the spirit, 
 to imitate the example, and to promote the king- 
 dom, of their Redeemer, refusing to hold com- 
 munion with each other on account of their re- 
 spective corruptions!! Truth, open thy closed 
 lips and speak out. Say — and let the world hear 
 it — Say, that in the bosom of the church of God 
 there is found a feeling and a reasoning, the real 
 tendency of which is to shew that there ought to 
 be no sacramental fellowship between Christians 
 
323 
 
 of different names under any possible circum- 
 stances ; and that the whole doctrine of his word 
 concerning the communion of his church, beyond 
 the limits of a particular sect, is a mere decep- 
 tion — a mockery of words without meaning ! 
 
 This might be, and in itself is, a sufficient an- 
 swer. But as the objection is a favourite one ; 
 and calculated to perplex the tender conscience, 
 it merits a more thorough sifting. 
 
 It presents two cases ; 
 
 First, members of other churches communi- 
 cating with us. 
 
 Secondly, our members communicating with 
 other churches. The principle, however, of both 
 cases being the same, they shall be considered 
 together. 
 
 The argument, then, is this; 
 
 '' We can neither admit to our sacramental ta- 
 ble members of other churches, nor ourselves 
 participate in theirs, because there are things in 
 their constitution or practice which we must ac= 
 count to be corruptions; so that by holding com- 
 munion with them, in either form, we should, by 
 implication at least, approve what it is our duty 
 to condemn ; and thus bring sin upon our own 
 souls." 
 
 If this reasoning is correct; if the conclusion 
 fairly follows from the premises, a man must be 
 
■ 324 
 
 blind not to see, that, out of our own sect, there 
 is not now, and never has been, a church with 
 which, or with a single member of which, we can 
 or could have lawful communio:?. The purest 
 churches, the holiest of saints, the most gallant 
 sons of the truth — reformers, martyrs, apostles, are 
 all under the ban of tliis terrible proscription ; all 
 sink under one fell stroke of this desolating scythe ! 
 For not a church can be named from the present 
 hour back to the first age, which had no cor- 
 ruptions to condemn. And is it, indeed, come to 
 this, that neither Romaine nor Hervey; neither 
 Baxter nor Bates, nor Calamy, nor Hoice, nor Ow- 
 en, nor Usher, nor Rutherford-^not DailU nor 
 Claude ; not Hooper, nor Ridley, nor Latimer, nor 
 Cranmer^— not Luther, nor Calvin, nor Knox, nor 
 Melancthon, nor Ziiinglius ; nor Hnss, nor Wick- 
 liffe — no, nor yet Athanasius, nor Augustine, nor 
 Cyprian, nor Irenceus^ nor Ignatius, nor Polycarp, 
 nor Clemens; not even Timothy, or Titus, or Paul, 
 or John — not one on the whole list of evangelical 
 worthies, from the martyr Stephen down to the 
 missionary Vander Kemp, could be permitted, 
 were he on earth, to take a seat with US, at the 
 table of the Lord ? For they were all in churches 
 more or less corrupted ; some of them corrupted 
 grievously ! 
 And what, let me ask, what, upon such terms, 
 
325 
 
 was the condition of God's witnesses for truth 
 during their struggle with Papal Rome, before 
 they " came out of her ?" Until their separation 
 the church of God Vvas in her. If the objection 
 is sound, no person could lawfully communicate 
 with any of her members: that is to say, GocPs 
 oivn ivitnesses could not lawfully communicate with 
 his own church ! 
 
 I have not forgotten the usual distinction be- 
 tween a reforming and a declining church : al- 
 though it does not seem strong enough to bear all 
 the weight which has been laid upon it. It is 
 passed over here, not only because the church 
 of Rome, for centuries of the period referred to, 
 was growing worse and worse in a state of accel- 
 erated apostasy, but also because the objection 
 is equally conclusive against communion with a 
 church in any state ivhatever, so long as she re- 
 tains things which it would be sinful to approve. 
 Let us, therefore, press it a little farther. 
 
 1. If communion with a church is to be inter- 
 preted as an approbation of her sins, then, by the 
 same rule, communion with an individual is to be 
 interpreted as an approbation o^his sins. And so 
 the communion of saints is cut up by the roots. 
 
 It avails nothing to say, that " as the sacramen- 
 tal supper is the act of a church in her social 
 character, we do, by the very fact of communion 
 
32G 
 
 with her, acknowledge her as a whole; and thus, 
 by implication at least, put the seal of our ap- 
 probation to whatever belongs to her as a clmrchP 
 
 The difficulty is precisely where it was. I 
 must also take an individual as a whole. His 
 communicating is an act of the whole man. 
 If I cannot, for the purposes of communion, se- 
 parate the divine ordinances in a church from 
 her corruptions, how can I thus separate the 
 graces of a Christian from his sins? If by com- 
 munion with her in God's ordinances, I must 
 participate in her corruptions also, how can I 
 commune with a believer in his faith and love, 
 and not participate in the " sin that dwelleth in 
 him ?" Let your objection set out from any point, 
 on any course, it cuts up, in its progress, all com- 
 munion of saints by the very roots. 
 
 2. If communicating, as a guest, with another 
 church, involves an approbation of her sins, by 
 the same rule communicating with my own 
 church involves an approbation of hers, and ren- 
 ders me by so much the more inexcusable, by 
 how much a transient act of intercourse with a 
 church in her corruptions whether great or small, 
 is less culpable than that regidar and habitual 
 intimacy with her which is unavoidable by her 
 members. And so we come again to the old re- 
 sult ; viz. that there can be no lawful church-com- 
 
327 
 
 munion upon earth : with this addition, that the 
 most exceptionable and criminal form in which 
 it can possibly exist, is communion with one's 
 own church while a corruption or abuse can he found 
 in her skirts. 
 
 In order to evade this conclusion, good and sen- 
 sible men have resorted to a distinction of which 
 the soundness is more than doubtful. 
 
 They say, that " what may be wrong in our own 
 " church is always supposed to be under our own 
 " government. As members of our own church, 
 " we must always have some degree of influence 
 " over our own government: and as it is our duty 
 " to exercise tnis influence, w^hateveritmay be, at 
 " all times and to its utmost extent ; we may at all 
 " times indulge the hope of having that w rong or 
 " those wrongs rectified. But with respect to the 
 " errours, or defects, or corruptions, of other 
 '' churches, till we become actual members, we 
 " can indulge no such hopes." 
 
 This reply, instead of destroying the conclusion 
 against which it is levelled, does, in fact, surren- 
 der the objection it was brought forward to de- 
 fend. That objection was and is, that by the 
 act of communion with an erroneous or corrupt- 
 ed church we patronise her errours or corruptions, 
 i. e. we contract pollution from contact with a 
 polluted society. But the contact cannot be the 
 
 42 
 
328 
 
 less close, uor the pollution less contagious from 
 the circumstance of the society being our own. 
 Thence it follows that communion here, on ac- 
 count of its intimacy and extent, is worse than 
 any where else, while there is any wrong to be 
 rectified among ourselves. No, says the reply; 
 " We have influence, we have control over our 
 own defects" — therefore — w^hat? Why truly, "we 
 are not involved in the sin of our own church by 
 our communion with her." No other inference 
 can repel the conclusion to which the objection 
 was driven. But the whole ground is changed: 
 and it is now asserted that our contamination does 
 not proceed from communion with a corrupted 
 church ; but from our inability to purify her ! Here 
 then, I repeat, is an absolute surrender of the 
 objection which was to have been defended. 
 And the reply contains this curious doctrine, that 
 vices which we cannot cure spread their leprosy 
 over us by contact ; but vices we can cure, do 
 not. And that the shortest w ay of escaping the 
 charge of being partakers in other men's sins, is 
 to go over to their church : and then, as members^ 
 we shall have influence in reforming her ! 
 
 But can we seriously persuade ourselves by 
 such a reason, that we may safely communicate 
 at home though not abroad ? Shall a man keep 
 at a prudent distance from the fire on his neigh= 
 
329 
 
 bour's hearth because he has no rightful control 
 over it ; and thrust his naked foot fearlessly into 
 the fire on his own, because he has a well at his 
 door and may extinguish it when he pleases ? Shall 
 he avoid the dirt of his neighbour's premises and 
 wade through the mire of his own, because he 
 can cleanse the one and not the other ? Will 
 his fire or his filth be so charmed by his meta- 
 phy sicks or his rights, as that the one shall not 
 burn nor the other defile him? And shall the 
 mere capacity of injluencing the reformation of a 
 church, so neutralize the poison of her sins as 
 that it shall be harmless to her members^ while it 
 continues deleterious and may be mortal to her 
 guests ? Let us not deceive our souls with vain 
 words. There is ground to fear that notions such 
 as have now^ been combatted, quiet the con- 
 sciences of many who might else be roused; and 
 compose them securely to sleep under abuses 
 which would startle them in others. Thev are 
 pleased with dreaming of a power which tney 
 never exercise. They can rectify the faults of 
 their own church but do not And thus year slips 
 away after year ; and life after life : reformation 
 is loudly called for, and the delay of it severely 
 
 chided, every where but at home ! A church 
 
 which needs no reform is yet a desideratum : and 
 a church fairly and honestly setting about the 
 
. 330 
 
 work of her onm reformation, is a glory not of 
 this hemisphere. In truth, human passions are 
 so unmanageable in nothing, as in what relates 
 to human sins. Let any man make the ex- 
 periment, and he shall find that to touch abuses 
 which have become incorporated with the habits 
 of society, is to kindle a flame of the most fierce 
 and inextinguishable resentments. It is, there- 
 fore, perfectly wild to place the lawfulness of com- 
 munion with our own church, and the unlavvful- 
 ness of it with another, upon the footing of our 
 having some injiuence over the former and none 
 over the latter. 
 
 It must be some strange mistake, some potent 
 illusion, which can have persuaded worthy and 
 sensible men to adopt such an objection to Catho- 
 lick communion ; and a more than common distress 
 ija maintaining it, which could reduce them to so 
 feeble a defence, as have now been exposed. 
 What is it? Shortly and simply this — 
 
 Taking it for granted, that communion with a 
 CHURCH or ivith her members, implies our approba- 
 tion of her in all things belonging to her actual 
 CONDITION as an organized body. 
 
 We have seen above, that, on such a principle, 
 society cannot exist. But, happily, the whole 
 world being judge, the principle assumed is false. 
 For it might be shewn to contradict the practical 
 
331 
 
 understanding of men in all the modifications of 
 their intercourse. 
 
 The true and only safe rule of interpreting so- 
 cial communion is, that it always goes so far as 
 the acts which express it; but is not, necessarily^ 
 to be considered as extending further. 
 
 This rule is of inspired authority. If any of 
 them that believe not, says Paul, bid you to afeasty 
 and ye be disposed to go : whatsoever is set before 
 you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake. 
 But if any man say unto you, " This is offered in 
 sacrifice unto idols," eat not,^ 
 
 The apostle here resolves a case of conscience : 
 viz. A Pagan invites his Christian neighbour to 
 an entertainment. May he lawfully accept the in- 
 vitation ? 
 
 The inviter sustains a threefold character — -as 
 a host — as an infidel — and as an idolater. Thus 
 situated, he asks his Christian friend to eat with 
 him ? " What shall I do ?" " Go," says the 
 apostle, " if you be so inclined." " But how 
 shall I conduct myself with regard to my food: 
 as, in all probability, some of the dishes wdll be 
 made up of flesh that has been sacrificed to 
 idols ?" " Raise no scruples," rejoins the apos- 
 tle. " You were invited to dine — you go to dine. 
 Your communion with your host is neither in his 
 
 * J. Cer. X. 27. 
 
■ 332 
 
 infidelity nor his idolatry^ but simply in his din- 
 ner,^^ " What ! if part of that dinner has been 
 offered to idols?" " That is no concern of yours. 
 The creature is in itself good; it is God's crea- 
 ture : it was granted to you for food — its blood 
 having been shed before an idol's altar injures 
 the flesh no more than if it had been shed in the 
 slaughter-house. You have nothing to do with it 
 but as meat. Receive it with thankfulness, and ask 
 no questions." " But if my host should tell me, 
 ^ this meat is a sacrifice to his idol-god ?' " " The 
 case is entirely altered. There is a new condition 
 introduced. You are now invited to fellowship 
 not only in meat, but in idolatry also. Your course 
 is plain. Eat not — not a mouthful: or you are a 
 partaker in your neighbour's sin." 
 
 The doctrine of the apostle relieves us at once 
 from the difficulty started by the objection under 
 review, and furnishes us with a sure and easy rule 
 of conscience in regard to church-fellowship, viz. 
 No particular act of communion is to be interpreted 
 as reaching beyond itself, unless it be coupled 
 with other acts by an express or known condition. 
 
 If, therefore, 1 sit down at the table of the Lord 
 in another church, or receive one of her mem- 
 bers to that holy table in my own, neither my 
 act nor his can fairly be construed as more than 
 an act of communion in " the body and blood of 
 
333 
 
 the Lord." Neither of us has, by vhlue of that 
 act, any thing to do with the defects of our re- 
 spective churches in other matters. "There are 
 errours in doctrine" — you cry—-" there i^re cor- 
 ruptions in worship — there is unscriptural govern- 
 ment — there is neglect of discipHne!" 
 
 Be it so. Are these declensions such as consist 
 with " holding the head ?" If not, I have fallen in 
 with a " synagogue of Satan." And the question 
 has no reference to communion with Satan or 
 his synagogues. If thiey are ; then is a seat at the 
 Lord's table declared or understood to be a sign 
 of my approving them? If it is, Paul has decided 
 for me. The table to me is not the table of the 
 Lord. But if there is no such condition, the 
 sins of my fellow- worshippers aretheir own : and 
 shall not stand in the way of my testimony to 
 Christ my passover cnicijied for me, 
 
 " But if by communicating wdth a church you 
 do not acknowledge all that belongs to her, what 
 do you acknowledge?" Much, very much. I 
 acknowledge her to be a church, a true church 
 of Jesus Christ — I acknowledge her sacramental 
 table for his ow^n ordinance; where it is my duty 
 to shew forth his death, and my privilege to 
 look for a blessed experience of its benefits — 
 This, all this, I acknowledge: acknowledge cheer- 
 fully ; and can do it without following her direct- 
 
334 
 
 If or indirectly in those things in which she does 
 not follow Christ. 
 
 Instead, therefore, of the sacraments being 
 party-ordinances among ChuQimns ; i. e. ordinances 
 in which we bind ourselves to a. sect; they are 
 precisely those which are divested of every sec- 
 tarian quality and mark — those whose place is 
 emphatically in the church- catholick as such ; and 
 which it is impossible, without profane violence, 
 to carry over the threshold of any sectarian tem- 
 ple whatever. Yes, the holy table is the badge 
 of no party but the party of the Son of God. It 
 is here that they who " know his name and put 
 their trust in him," may and should unite their 
 homage to his cross and their fealty to his service, 
 upon the broad and glorious ground of his having 
 " loved them and washed them from their sins in 
 his own blood." This is the place where Chris- 
 tians are not to put on^ but to put off^ the secta- 
 rian, and to say each to his brother, " Beloved y 
 let us LOVE one another ; for love is of God." 
 
 Long as this article is, it cannot be finished 
 without removing another difficulty. " If we are 
 thus to hold communion with visible Christians 
 and Christian churches, how shall we obey the 
 scriptures ?" What scriptures ? " All those which 
 require us to keep ourselves pure — To have no fel- 
 lowship yyith unfruitful works of darkness — to come 
 
'^.Qr, 
 
 out and be separate — especially, to unthdraiv from 
 every brother that ivalketh disorderly,'^'' The an- 
 swer is short. All such scriptures are misapplied. 
 Commandments to separate from idolatry — from 
 the 'World which lieth in wickedness — from the 
 mother of harlots and abominations of the earth — 
 from fellowship with men of any sortm their sins ^ 
 are indeed abundant, plain, and peremptory. 
 But a commandment for one believer whose con- 
 versation is as becometh the gospel, to refuse 
 communion with another — for one church of the 
 Lord Jesus to refuse communion with another — 
 such a commandment is not in the Bible, nor any 
 thing like it. The commandments of Christ, as 
 has been proved above, are all of a contrary com- 
 plexion. He does not enjoi^i, he forbids subh a 
 refusal. 
 
 The passage from 2 Thess. iii. 6, Noiv ive com- 
 mand you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Je- 
 sus Christ, thatyeivithdraiv yourselves fro7n every 
 brother that ivalketh disorderly and not after the 
 tradition which ye received of lis, has met with pe- 
 culiar hardships. Modern separatists plead it as 
 a direct warrant for their separation ; and they 
 may all plead it with equal propriety. In the pri- 
 mitive church, however, it was quoted the other 
 way — against the separatists ; and quoted as being 
 decisive for their condemnation. Not they who 
 
 43 
 
336 
 
 held, but they who declined to hold communion 
 with other Christians and churches, were brand- 
 ed as the *' disorderly brethren."^ Both interpre- 
 tations cannot be right, although both may be 
 wrong. And it would be somewhat amusing, 
 yet a little melancholy, if the text, instead of be- 
 ing on both sides, should after all be on neither. 
 Let us see. 
 
 The word rendered " disorderly," and its rela- 
 tives, occur but four times in the New Testamentj 
 and three of them are in this chapter. They de- 
 scribe the character and conduct of certain pro- 
 fessors who availed themselves of the church's 
 bounty to live in idleness, and employed their lei- 
 sure in disturbing their neighbours. Thus Paul 
 has explained his own meaning, v. 11. For ive 
 hear, says he, that there are some which walk dis- 
 orderly among yon ; working not at all, but 
 are busy-bodies. This he resented as a reproach 
 to the Christian calling; adding, v. 12. ''Now 
 them that are such, we command and exhort by our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, that ivith quietness they work, 
 andeatTURx^ own bread." And by way of stimu- 
 lating them to honest industry, he reminds the 
 Thessalonians of an order he had passed when 
 he was with them, viz. that no lazy professor of 
 
 * Cypkian. De unit, eccks. p. 119. 
 
337 
 
 religion should receive any support from the pub- 
 lick charity: which is the import of the "com- 
 mand," that ifanij would not work, neither should 
 he EAT. 
 
 From such "disorderly" persons the Thessalo- 
 nians were charged to " withdraw ;" and the duty 
 of Christians in similar cases, is still the same. 
 But how? 
 
 The charge was addressed to theThessalonians 
 either in their publick or their private character — 
 either as a church, or as individuals. If the for- 
 mer, it is a charge to have no church-communion 
 with the offender — if the latter, to discountenance 
 him by avoiding personal intimacy. 
 
 That it is not the former; i. e. not a charge to 
 withhold church communion seems clear, for the 
 following reasons. 
 
 . 1st. The terms are entirely different from those 
 which the scripture elsewhere uses in regard to 
 church-fellowship. 
 
 2d. A church, in her collective capacity, does 
 not withdraw herself ixom. communion with an of- 
 fender; she authoritatively /?i«^5 him aivay from 
 her communion. 1 Cor. v. 13. 
 
 3d. The " withdrawing," here enjoined, was to 
 be a means of bringing the disorderly brother to 
 a sense of his misbehaviour, and a compliance 
 with the apostle's mandate for abandoning his 
 
■ 33^ 
 
 idle and impertinent habits: in case of disobedi- 
 ence, he was to be reported to the apostle for ulterior 
 judgment: and, in the meantime his brethren were 
 to '•'have no company with him." v. 14. There- 
 fore he was still in communion. 
 
 4th. Even after this "withdrawing" — this "re- 
 porting" — this "having no company with him," 
 he was "not to be accounted as an enemy, but 
 to be admonished as a brother." 
 
 The alternative is, that Paul speaks of private 
 and familiar intercourse. His terms apply to this 
 exactly — The word rendered, "have company/' 
 is found but twice more in the new New Testa- 
 ment, it is both times in his own writings, and 
 both times in that sense. He is, then, directing 
 the Thessalonian Christians how to vindicate the 
 worthy name whereby they were called, in their 
 private carriage toward the " disorderly brother;" 
 with a view to prevent the necessity of more co- 
 ercive measures. They were to shew their dis- 
 approbation and grief by a reserve and distance, 
 marking a strong contrast with the usual open, 
 frank, and affectionate character of Christian so- 
 ciety. This was a gentle, and delicate, but plain 
 and pungent reproof; calculated to sting a man 
 of any ingenuous feeling to the very heart. 
 
 They were to press upon him the apostolick 
 injunciion; and to observe whether or not, wherx 
 
^39 
 
 seconded by their own example and carriage, it 
 was likely to produce any good effect. 
 
 If he resisted these milder proceedings, they 
 were to decline his company altogether; but to 
 leave with his conscience a friendly and faithful 
 admonition of his sin, of his disgrace, and of his 
 peril — that, if possible, he might be brought to 
 an honest shame, and a complete reformation. 
 
 See how careful and cautious the great apos- 
 tle was in every thing affecting either the glory 
 of his master, or the feelings and privileges of 
 his fellow Christians. He knew, on the one hand, 
 no compromise with sin ; but, on the other, he 
 knew nothing of that summary process of sus- 
 pension and excommunication by which it has 
 been fashionable in some churches both to in- 
 dulge the lust of the lash, and to get rid of fur- 
 ther trouble with offending members. 
 
 See also, how he has taught Christians in their 
 private capacity to maintain the dignity of their 
 profession — to be ministers of purity to each 
 other — and to aid in supporting the order of the 
 house of God. 
 
 But how does all this enjoin or justify our re- 
 fusing the fellowship of Christians whom we own 
 as " brethren in the Lord ;" aiad of churches 
 which we own as having his truth ? The scripture 
 has said " Withdraw from thrifdess, meddling, 
 
340 
 
 mischief-making religionists;" therefore^ my ''be-- 
 loved brother" — therefore^ respected churches of 
 Jesus Christ J whosoever and whatsoever ye be 
 that go not under my sectarian name — I can 
 have no communion with you! ! Who that pre- 
 tends to reason, will so gamble with his own un- 
 derstanding — who that pretends to love, can so 
 slander kis own heart, as to adopt such a mon- 
 strous '' therefore ?^^ 
 
 But we have not yet done. The objection dies 
 hard. It has been, it is, and \^1 be insisted on, 
 that the principle of Paul's decision is general ; 
 and that there is as good reason for *' withdraw- 
 ing" from a churchy as from " a brother that walk- 
 eth disorderly." Agreed. But you are no nearer^ 
 your point than before. Because we are not to 
 have intercourse with a church that " walks dis- 
 orderly," does it follow that we are to hold no 
 communion with any church or church-members, 
 but our oivn ? with any that have defects and 
 blemishes ? This inference is as monstrous as the 
 other. It is very certain that Paul did not thus 
 understand himself: For both his doctrine and 
 practice, as every page of his history shews. 
 w ere of a different sort. Did he say to the Chris- 
 tians of his tim,e, " the churches of Corinth, of 
 Rome, of Galatia are ' disorderly ;' and you must 
 have no communion with them or with their 
 
341 
 
 members?" No such thing. Yet we, directly 
 in the face of apostoHck principle and precedent, 
 ive seize upon an ungracious term ; we apply it 
 without ceremony to the churches around; and 
 then shelter our sects and our schisms under the 
 authority of the scripture! We do in effect say, 
 that the Lord Jesus has commanded his people 
 to break up his church into shreds and fragments ; 
 and to have no communion with each other; up- 
 on the pretext, alike convenient for them all, that 
 they "walk disorderly!" 
 
 But have we well considered what we are do- 
 ing when we brand a Christian or a Christian 
 church as disorderly? Have we weighed the sense, 
 have we measured the opprobrium, of that epi- 
 thet? Have we remembered that as used by the 
 apostle it marks a character utterly inconsistent 
 with the power of true religion ? a character which 
 dishonours the name of the Lord Jesus ? And are 
 we prepared to judge thus of all the Christians 
 and churches whose communion we shun ? 
 
 Unveil thy face, O Truth, lift up thy voice, 
 and shake thy hand ! Not the law of God — not 
 scriptural interpretation — not the spirit of bro 
 therly-kindness — but Ignorance, but Jealousy, 
 but Vanity, but Passion, but Pride, occupy the 
 seat of Judgment, and fulminate the charge, 
 
 Disorderly ^''^ against individuals and churches 
 
 if 
 
342 
 
 in whom the " Refiner's fire" may find less dross 
 to " purge away" than in their self-pleased ac- 
 cusers. Here is the mischief. Every one accounts 
 that to be order which he has himself been ac- 
 customed to practise: and whoever does not 
 move precisely in his track, " walks disorderly." 
 
 The question concerning a church, in order to 
 communion, ought to be, " What is her suhstan- 
 tial character ? Has she the truth, the ordinances, 
 the Spirit, of Christ ? Does she own " the Head," 
 and the Head own her? Then whatever be her 
 failings, I too will own her. I shall condemn 
 them, lament them, pray over them, and bear 
 with them. I will not quarrel with her about 
 forms, about ceremonies, about any of those 
 points in which our disagreement does not pre- 
 vent us from being one in our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. For the sake of that transcendant com- 
 mon interest I will walk with her in love and fel- 
 lowship." And thus it was once. But all is re- 
 versed now. 
 
 The question is no longer about suhstmice^ but 
 about accide^it — not about those vital principles 
 and virtues which constitute the solid glory of a 
 church, and are the seal of God's own Spirit ; 
 but about imperfections which yet do neither 
 destroy their being, nor hinder their predomi- 
 nance: and especially about those things in which 
 
343 
 
 $he differs from our own peculiarities^. Here is the 
 huge stumbling-block — the inexpiable trans- 
 gression. One of our churches breaks her sacra- 
 mental bread in company with a sister-church, 
 where the " Spirit of grace" sheds down his 
 holiest influence — where the gospel " has a free 
 course and is glorified" — where the " image of 
 the First-born," throws its radiance around; 
 and " love of the brethren" flows from heart to 
 heart till the swelling tide burst forth in streams 
 of hallowed transport; and the scene compels 
 that reverential testimony, " How venerable is 
 this place! Surely this is none other than the 
 house of God ! and this is the gate of Heaven !" 
 "But with whom has she taken this 'sweet 
 counsel.' Do they follow us ?" " Alas, no ! they 
 only follow Christ!" The charm is dissolved — 
 They are a " disorderly" church : Their commu- 
 nion is foul ! O my soul, how shall these things 
 appear when GOD arises to judgment ? 
 
 IV. It is contended, that free communion "by 
 giving publick countenance to churches erro- 
 neous or corrupt, destroys the force, or at least 
 shackles the freedom of a faithful testimony for 
 Christ and his truth." 
 
 If that publick countenance which is given to 
 a church by communion with her, were of course 
 a publick countenance to her errours or corrup- 
 
 44 
 
S44 
 
 tions, the objection would be unanswemble. For 
 it would be with the worst imaginable grace that 
 a man could remonstrate against sins which he 
 openly encourages by his own example. But 
 such is not the fact, as was largely proved in the 
 preceding article. And it is surprising that they 
 who make the objection do not perceive that, 
 like the former, it strikes, with double force, at 
 communion with our own church so long as an 
 errour or corruption adheres to her. For if occa- 
 sional and partial fellowship with a church is to 
 shut the mouth, or diminish the boldness, of our 
 testimony against her faults ; much more will that 
 be the effect of a fellow^ship complete and per- 
 manent. And so in its zeal for pure commu- 
 nion, this objection would banish all communion 
 from the face of the earth ! 
 
 But that the reply m-ay be more direct and 
 ample, let us strip the objection of its form and 
 examine its substance- — its principle. This mani- 
 festly is, that friendship and intimacy are incom- 
 patible with proper admonition ! What say Nature 
 and Experience? Who may, Avith the least hazard 
 of displeasing, take the greatest liberty of expos- 
 tulation and rebuke ? One who treats me coldly, 
 who avoids my company, and spurns an invita- 
 tion to a meal in my house ? or one who is kind, 
 sociable, aflectionate in his intercourse with me? 
 
345 
 
 There can be but one answer; and that answer 
 is in every man's bosom. If you hope that 1 shall 
 profit by your re/jroq/6-, you must convince me of 
 your love, 1 will listen Avith candour and sub- 
 mission to a friend who avails himself of his known 
 regard for me to tell me my faults frankly, yet 
 tenderly, with an evident concern for my im- 
 provement: while resentment, resistance, and 
 recrimination will probably reward the ofFicious- 
 ness which has no claim to such a freedom, and 
 delights to mortify if not to expose me. It is hu- 
 man nature, in the child and in the man — in the 
 individual and in society : and all human expe- 
 rience attests it. 
 
 Nothing, therefore, could be more unfortunate 
 than this objection. The very contrary is the 
 truth. They who respect a church ; who honour 
 in her the ordinances of Jesus Christ, get an ac- 
 cess to her confidence which will be denied to 
 others. They acquire, by their alTection, a right 
 w^hich she will concede, to point out wherein she 
 "walks not uprightly according to the truth of 
 the gospel :" and they are likely, in this way if at 
 all, to be instrumental in doing her good. Ac- 
 knowledge, commend, rejoice in, her excellen- 
 cies ; and you may speak to her Aeely, perhaps 
 effectually, of her deficiencies.* 
 
 ' This is after the example of Christ himself. Rev, ii. 12—17. 
 
346 
 
 Such a temper and treatment would, indeed, 
 be irreconcilable with the notions, feelings, and 
 conduct which are but too common. They would 
 put out of countenance those Pharisaical, nause- 
 ating panegjricks which many are so fond of la- 
 vishing upon " OUR church" — They would 
 smother the noise of the brawler; would spoil 
 the trade of ecclesiastical talebearers ; would 
 reduce to their proper insignificance the busy- 
 bodies whom strife makes important; would ab- 
 solutely strike dead those petty hostilities which 
 irritated sectarians keep alive for the pleasure, 
 one would suppose, of having something to fight 
 about — But they would create a pause, a calm, 
 in which might be heard the voice of that celes- 
 tial " wisdom w hich is first pure, then peaceable, 
 gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of compasr 
 sion and of good fruits, w ithout partiality and 
 without hypocrisy." 
 
 Let us lay aside disguise. The antipathies and 
 collisions of evangelical churches form the most 
 detestable warfare which the devil has contrived 
 to kindle in our miserable world. And the worst 
 of all is his success in persuading multitudes 
 of honest men, that in carrying on the contest 
 of their own sinful passions, they are " doing 
 valiantly" for the cause of God. And that when, 
 instead of admiring the general symmetry and 
 
347 
 
 healthful appearance of other Christian bodies, 
 they are keen, vigilant, incessant, in looking for 
 a freckle, a wart, or a festering finger — when 
 they open their ears to every slander — when they 
 are extenuating all that is good in their neigh- 
 bour, and magnifying all that is bad — when they 
 are giving, with much satisfaction, shrewd hints 
 that may leave a sting in his soul — when they 
 are preaching at him, and praying at him; pour- 
 ing out the gall of their animosity in the very pre- 
 ence of God, and before the throne of his grace — 
 they are bearing a faithful testimony for Christ 
 and his truth! Whether he shall himself so ac- 
 count of it, is another question. 
 
 This system has been tried long, and it never 
 did any good yet. It has reformed none, convinc- 
 ed none, enlightened none. Let it be given up, 
 and its opposite adopted. Let us shew our fel- 
 low Christians that we embrace them in the bow- 
 els of Jesus Christ — that we do not consider " the 
 children's bread" on their table as " cast to the 
 dogs." And let us shew it not by professions, but 
 by fact — let us eat of their bread when they in- 
 vite us ; and welcome them, in turn, to eat of our 
 own. One year of love will do more towards set- 
 ting us mutually right where we are wrong, than 
 a millenium of wrangling. 
 
 V. It is asserted, that "general communion 
 
548 
 
 among visible Christians will not only diminish 
 the v^alue, but impeach the propriety of all that 
 service which, in every age, the churches of God 
 have rendered to pure and undefiled religion by 
 their judicial confessions of faith." More briefly 
 thus; "CathoHck communion subverts confes- 
 sions of faith." 
 
 It would be marvellous indeed, if God's own 
 people could not maintain a testimony for Aim, 
 without disunion among themselves!! The whole 
 corps of infidels put together is unable to produce 
 so conclusive an argument against the Christian 
 religion as a practical system. But let us take 
 heed how we strengthen their hands by granting 
 their assumptions — how we confound a testimo- 
 ny for God and his truth with a testimony for our- 
 selves and our peculiarities. Were it so ; were 
 confessions of faith designed to be the shibbo- 
 leths, the symbols, the flags, of religious, or rather 
 irreligious^ factions — challenges to battle among 
 believers — wedges of dissention to split the church 
 of Christ into pieces, the objection would be 
 solid. 
 
 Admitting, how^ever, the general unity of Chris- 
 tians in those things which immediately concern 
 their common hope, it would prove, not that ca- 
 tholick communion is improper; but that con- 
 fessions are what some represent them to be. 
 
349 
 
 mere nuisances : and, in that case, every "son of 
 peace" would labour for their destruction. But if 
 they are intended, as indeed they are, to proclaim 
 wherein believers differ from the carnal world ; 
 and to be luminous rallying points of their strength 
 and efforts in their conflict with the enemies of 
 our Lord and of his Christ ; it is inconceivable 
 how they should interfere with the broadest Chris- 
 tian fellowship, or the broadest Christian fellow- 
 ship with them. Even those particulars in which 
 they might vary from each other, would but serve 
 to set off, in the finest and most consolatory man- 
 ner, the superiour worth and glory of their higher 
 agreements ; and furnish a suitable occasion for 
 the exercise of that forbearance which is indis- 
 pensable to " keeping the unity of the Spirit in 
 the bond of peace." 
 
 Certain it is that neither the Apostolick nor the 
 Reformed churches found their confessions to be 
 at war with their communion. The former studi- 
 ously avoided, in their " symbols" of the faith, 
 those inferiour matters about which opinions and 
 practice clashed then not less than now : wisely 
 confining their testimony to the substantial truths 
 of revelation ; and turning their united forces 
 against those substantial heresies which, by sap- 
 ping the foundations of the common salvation, 
 aimed at the overthrow of the common interest. 
 
350 
 
 The multiplied and essential corruptions of 
 Popery called for corresponding confessions in 
 the Reformed churches. But these, instead of 
 putting them asunder, brought them together; 
 and were the very ground of their confidence, 
 communion, and co-operation. The Lutheran 
 church formed an unhappy exception : and even 
 that exception would not have existed, had the 
 spirit of her illustrious founder continued to per- 
 vade her councils. 
 
 On this point many of my readers will be start- 
 led by what they will think a very strange asser- 
 tion. It is, nevertheless, true ; and is an induction 
 from facts of which a number has been already 
 detailed. !t is, that the churches most sound in 
 the faith, most correct in their order, most pure 
 in their worship, were also the most liberal in 
 their communion. Inquire at the mouth of his- 
 tory, who, from the dawn of the Reformation 
 down to the Westminster Assembly, united the 
 most faithful testimony to Christ with the most 
 fervent charity to Christians ? Who were most 
 full in their confession of the truth, and most 
 catholick in their views of church-communion ? 
 Her answer is, They were the Calvinists — they 
 were the Presbyterians ! 
 
 But allowing the objection to have much great- 
 er weight than it has, when applied to churches 
 
351 
 
 whose confessions do not perfectly harmonize 
 how it is applicable to those who are organized 
 under one and the same confession ? This is the 
 case of several churches on both sides of the 
 Atlantick, which yet have no inter-communion. 
 They can surely make no use of it against each 
 other. 
 
 Before we quit the subject of " confessions of 
 faith," it may be proper to notice a mistake, which 
 is growing more and more prevalent, concerning 
 their intention and use : 1 mean in their present 
 amplitude. They are supposed, and in some in- 
 stances, are declared, to contain the terms of 
 church-communion ; i. e. the terms upon which, 
 and upon which alone, an individual can be ad- 
 mitted into church-fellowship. There are good 
 reasons for doubting whether such an opinion is 
 correct, and such a declaration discreet. 
 
 To prevent misconceptions, the authour would 
 observe, once for all, that no man is more thorough- 
 ly convinced than himself of the propriety, utility, 
 and necessity of publick confessions of faith; 
 nor is less moved by the argumentations of their 
 adversaries. But whether, like other good things, 
 they are not liable to abuse — whether they have 
 not actually been abused — and whether the ap- 
 plication professed to be made of them, at this 
 
 45 
 
352 
 
 moment, iti some churches, is not an abuse, may 
 be worth considering. 
 
 As the " fixed testimony" of a church, " by 
 which her principles are to be tried ;" or as her 
 " judicial expression of the sense in which she 
 imderstands the Holy Scriptures in their rela- 
 tion to the Doctrine, Government, and Worship 
 of the Christian church," when these things are 
 matters of controversy, it is difficult to conceive 
 how a confession of her faith can be dispensed 
 with. She must proclaim what she believes, and 
 means to teach. This is her confession of faith ; 
 and is put into the hands of her officers to be by 
 them inculcated and supported. Nothing can 
 be more absurd than to employ as preachers and 
 guardians of her religion, men who, for aught 
 she knows, may labour to subvert the whole sys- 
 tem which she is endeavouring to build up. She 
 has, therefore, a right, and it is her duty, on the 
 ground of self-preservation, as well as of fidelity 
 to her king, to exact from them an explicit avow- 
 al of their belief on all those topics which more 
 nearly or remotely aff*ect the main interests of 
 truth: and a positive, unequivocating engage- 
 ment to maintain them. For this purpose she 
 must bricg them to a test; which can be done so 
 efifectually in no form as that of requiring an ap- 
 probation of her confession. The security is not 
 
353 
 
 iildeed perfect: as some men will make any pro- 
 fession whatever for lucre, for distinction, or for 
 convenience: and as the convictions of others 
 may really alter. But it is the best which can be 
 adopted. It keeps the recreant always within her 
 grasp ; and it is her own fault if, with such a con- 
 trol, she allows him to poison the " wells of sal- 
 vation,'' or to pollute their streams. In her con- 
 fession of faith, then, are strictly and indispensa- 
 bly, her terms of official union. 
 
 But are these same terms to regulate private 
 communion ? When they go beyond the elemen- 
 tary doctrines of the gospel — when they are ex- 
 panded into a comprehensive system of Theolo- 
 gy, as in the Westminster Confession, ought they 
 to be proposed for approbation, in all their lati- 
 tude, to every one who desires baptism for his 
 children, or a seat at the table of the Lord? 
 
 The reader is entreated not to be stumbled at 
 an answer which may thwart his prepossessions ; 
 but to listen and reflect before he pronounces. 
 The answer is. No. 
 
 1. Because such was not the original design of 
 the Protestant confessions. 
 
 They were intended to raise and to display a 
 banner for the truth of Christ which had been 
 foully depraved, as by others, so especially by the 
 man of sin. And while they contained all those 
 
354 
 
 cardinal points which are essential to Christian 
 faith and fellowship ; they contained others, which 
 though not thus essential, are nevertheless impor- 
 tant ; and worthy to be maintained with zeal and 
 constancy. 
 
 2. Because, being thus constructed, they were 
 not in fact terms of communion for private Chris- 
 tians ; nor even for the reciprocation of ministe- 
 rial fellowship ; as is plain — 
 
 From their absolute silence about such a re- 
 quisition— 
 
 From the communion which subsisted among 
 the members of the Reformed churches notwith- 
 standing the slighter diversities in their creeds — 
 and 
 
 From the endeavours of the best of them to 
 effect, in addition to this communion, a complete 
 union of the Protestant interests. 
 
 The Westminster Confession gives not the 
 most distant hint of such a use. The church 
 of Scotland, herself, as has been proved, never 
 imposed it upon strangers ; no, nor upon her own 
 private members. " In so far," says one of her 
 professors of divinity, in a work expressly de- 
 fending confessions of faith, " In so far as is 
 known to us, there is no act of Assembly, nor 
 even of any inferiour church-judicature, establish- 
 ing the Confession of Faith a term of Christian 
 
355 
 
 communion, &nd requiring an assent thereto 
 from Christian parents in order to their being 
 admitted to all the privileges of church-commu- 
 nion, and particularly the baptism of their chil- 
 dren." And again ; 
 
 " As there is no established rule, nor any act 
 of Assembly, confining the benefits of baptism 
 to the belief of the several articles of our Con- 
 fession, and excluding from a participation of 
 this ordinance all persons w^ho may in some things 
 diifer from us; so there was no ground in fact 
 ever given to a person to complain of an arbitrary 
 imposition upon him in this respect: Nor can 
 any man, so far as w^e know, allege, that he ac- 
 quainted a minister that he had scruples as to 
 some articles of our Confession, or was of a con- 
 trary opinion to them; and, therefore, that he 
 could neither profess his own belief of them, nor 
 engage to educate his child in them, and there- 
 upon was denied access to this sacrament. On 
 the other hand, there have been several instances 
 of persons who, upon their desire, w^ere gratified 
 in this particular; while none had ever reason to 
 complain of a refusal."* Such were the views 
 
 * DuNLOP's Full account of the several ends and uses of confessions 
 of faith, &c. Edin. 1775. 12mo. p. 240, 1. This work was first pub- 
 lished at Edinburgh, in 1719 ; thirteen years before Ebenezer Erskine's 
 famous sermon which occasioned the SeGession. 
 
356 
 
 and practice of the church of Scotland before 
 the Secession. 
 
 3. Because they cannot be, in effect, terms of 
 Christian communion. 
 
 You may declare them to be so : You may 
 pass Synodical acts for that purpose. I And 
 thus the Westminster Confession of Faith, Cate- 
 chisms, Form of Church-government, and Di- 
 rectories for worship, are declaratively and legally 
 terms of permanent communion or membership 
 in the Associate Reformed church. But de- 
 clarations and acts of Synod cannot alter the 
 nature of things ; nor make that to be practica- 
 ble which in itself is impracticable. \ Not only 
 the attainments, but the faculties of the mass of 
 mankind must be different from what they ever 
 have been before such extensive terms of com- 
 munion can be enforced. It belongs not to 
 church-power to " call things that be not as 
 though they were." Will a discreet man suppose 
 that every plain Christian who knows enough for 
 his salvation, and has learned to " glorify God in 
 his body and his spirit," can also be acquaint- 
 ed with the whole doctrine of those standards? 
 A work which occupied for years the care and 
 study of a body of divines second to none in the 
 world ? which has condensed the Hterature and 
 labour of their lives ; and covers the whole ground 
 
357 
 
 of didactick and polemick Theology ? Is it a 
 reasonable expectation that every plain Christian, 
 however unlettered, should be able to grasp a 
 work like this ? to distinguish its numerous pro- 
 positions ; and to fathom their sense ? How many 
 private members of our churches, our best and 
 most exemplary members, could abide such an 
 ordeal ? Speculative zeal, which is always for car- 
 rying matters with a high hand, and is never 
 more confident than when most in the wrong, 
 may shut her eyes and stop her ears — but the 
 practical understanding revolts. Conscience and 
 common sense, when they came into contact with 
 facts, have always flinched from the fair appli- 
 cation of such theoretical tests. I say theoretical 
 tests ; for in the case before us they are not carri- 
 ed into effect by their most strenuous advocates. 
 When a common person offers them his name as 
 a disciple of Jesus Christ, do they so much as 
 pretend to measure his knowledge by the height, 
 and depth, and length, and breadth, of their publick 
 standards ? They do not — not a man of them. If 
 they did, and were to reject the deficient, they 
 might resign their houses of worship to the bats 
 at once. There would be no place for one Chris- 
 tian in ten thousand. And were their example uni- 
 versal, not a church of God would be left stand- 
 ing from the rising to the setting sun. They act 
 
358 
 
 very differently, and far more wisely. They re- 
 ceive their members upon a credible profession 
 of faith in Christ ; and in their inquiries into this 
 profession, they never go into the details of their 
 own standards. Those truths which they distinct- 
 ly propose, and of which they require a con- 
 fession, are, then, their real and their only practi- 
 cal test: and be it what it may, larger or less, 
 they do and must, in their administration of the 
 ordinances, naturally and necessarily cut down 
 their standards to that size. 
 
 Therefore, sacramental communion on those 
 vital principles which characterize the people of 
 God in every age and country, is not inconsistent 
 with the most perfect confessions of faith ; nor 
 does it all interfere with their proper use. 
 
 VI. It is alleged that " as communion presup- 
 poses, and is founded upon, union; it is a contra- 
 diction to hold communion with churches with 
 which w^e are not united : and, therefore, all such 
 communion is inconsistent with distinct ecclesi- 
 astical organization." 
 
 The premises are granted : the conclusions de- 
 nied. Communion is indisputably an act and ex- 
 pression of union. And it is on this very ground 
 that the reciprocal communion of Christians and 
 Christian churches is asserted to be both their pri- 
 vilege and duty. They are united — they are one. 
 
359 
 
 They are one in interests infinitely more valuable, 
 they are united in bonds infinitely more strong, 
 than all the other interests which subdivide them ; 
 and all the other bonds which unite their subdi- 
 visions. >For sectarian communion you must in- 
 deed be united in a sect; for Christian commu- 
 nion, you must be united in Christ, Therefore, 
 according to the objection itself, if unity of sect 
 be a sufficient reason for all sectarian communion, 
 unity in Christ is a sufficient reason for all Chris- 
 tian communion. This is our plea; and we can- 
 not be grieved at hearing it from the mouth of 
 an opponent. 
 
 But the objection goes further, and maintains 
 that sections of the one church of Christ cannot 
 hold lawful communion with each other, unless 
 they be also united in one external denomination. 
 Do they, who argue thus, perceive that they as- 
 sume the non-existence of the one church of 
 Christ ? an entire change in the nature of church 
 fellowship ? and the extinction of Christian cha- 
 racter and right out of the limits of a particular 
 sect? Upon no other basis can the conclusion 
 rest, that formal union of sects in one and the 
 same organical body, is essential to their Chris- 
 tian fellowship. Were it so indeed, the hand 
 which guides this pen would account itself super- 
 latively honoured in putting the match to a train 
 
 46 
 
360 
 
 which should explode under their ramparts and 
 citadels, and so break and shatter and disperse 
 them, that every trace of their existence should 
 disappear from under heaven. 
 
 But the fallacy is palpable. 
 
 To say that communion is the fruit of union; 
 and thence to argue, that something more than 
 Christian union is necessary to Christian com- 
 munion, is a sophism which can mislead no one 
 who permits himself to think. 
 
 Why does not the objector carry his doctrine 
 through, and maintain that communion between 
 members of different congregations is inconsist- 
 ent with their distinct organization ? and that be- 
 fore it can be proper, they must all be melted 
 down into one congregation ? If you say that 
 " they are limbs of one larger body, and in virtue 
 of this their union have, and are bound to have, 
 communion with each other;" I take my answer 
 from your own lips, in your own words, and re- 
 ply, that " the different Christian churches are 
 limbs of that one larger body, the chureh-catho- 
 lick; and in virtue of this their union are bound 
 to have communion with each other." A single 
 congregation; an organized portion of a sect 
 comprising several congregations; the sect itself 
 comprising several such portions, are all limbs in 
 their places. That one limb is greater and ano- 
 
361 
 
 ther less, cannot alter the nature of their relation 
 to their bodies respectively. The principle is one ; 
 the analogy perfect; and the conclusion irresisti- 
 ble. This conclusion is, that to maintain the ne- 
 cessity of amalgamating different sects into one 
 sect in order to communion between their mem- 
 bers, is to maintain, at the same time, the necessi- 
 ty of amalgamating different congregations into 
 one congregation, in order to communion be- 
 tween their members: And, that there is no ar- 
 gument for the communion of different congre- 
 gations founded upon their union in one sect, 
 which is not equally good for the communion of 
 the sects themselves on account of their union 
 in one church-catholick. 
 
 Christian communion, therefore, may subsist 
 in purity and power between different sections 
 of the church-catholick, without any such union 
 as the objection requires. However desirable 
 such an union be in itself; and how extensively 
 soever it shall be effected when "the Lord shall 
 build up Zion and appear to men in his glory," 
 there is room at least to doubt whether it would 
 now be expedient were it even practicable. Prac- 
 ticable and expedient in some degree it probably 
 is at the present hour ; and is well worth the con- 
 sideration of them who perceive " how good and 
 how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together 
 
362 
 
 in unity." On a large scale the churches are 
 not ripe for it. There are opinions, feelings, habits, 
 which must be reduced much nearer than they 
 are to some common standard, before it could be 
 attempted without the danger of doing more 
 harm than good. But this is no reason against 
 the cultivation of friendly intercourse — against 
 what may be called church-hospitality — against 
 the most ungrudging fellowship in holy ordinan- 
 ces, as opportunity serves. They who should 
 live very uncomfortably together under the same 
 roof, may yet be excellent neighbours; firm 
 friends ; studious in the exchange of kind offices: 
 and their civilities, in process of time, may im- 
 prove into alliances of mutual benefit. 
 
 Under this head, viz. the necessity of union in 
 sect as a basis of church-communion, there has 
 been started a difficulty of so singular a cast, 
 that one hardly knows whether to pass it by with 
 a smile, or to give it a serious answer. The for- 
 mer is best merited; the latter more respectful. 
 It is said, then, that " by admitting to our fel- 
 lowship persons who are not members of our 
 church, we make an unjust and invidious distinc- 
 tion in their favour. Our own members being 
 subjects of our discipline ; the others not. So that 
 we exact harder conditions of communion from 
 our own family than we do from strangers." 
 
363 
 
 God has put his chastisements, whereof the 
 discipline of his house administered for edifica- 
 tion and not for destruction is a part, among the 
 'privileges of his people. Art thou not surprised, 
 Christian reader, to hear it mentioned as an 
 hardship f I see the blush mantling on thy cheek : 
 and shall spare thee the pain of dwelling on so 
 unseemly an imputation. 
 
 But there is a mistake. If by dishonouring their 
 high vocation, your guests should deserve to be 
 excluded from the communion of the faithful, 
 what is to hinder their exclusion from yours ? 
 This would be decisive discipline, and as easily 
 exercised towards them, as towards your own 
 members. And whence arose the notion that an 
 offending brother cannot be disciplined by any 
 authority but that of the particular congregation 
 or sect to which he more especially belongs ? 
 When he can be referred thither without much 
 inconvenience, it is altogether preferable. But 
 how did he acquire a right to transgress with im- 
 punity, and be from under the coercion of his 
 master's law, every where but within his own 
 precincts ? And when did the church-cathohck 
 lose the right of restraining a disorderly member 
 by the agency of any one particular church in 
 which he may have enjoyed her communion? 
 No man, whom she has once acknowledged, can 
 
364 
 
 free himself from his responsibility in any part 
 of the world. A single act of communion in her 
 peculiar mercies binds him as firmly to her au- 
 thority as ten thousand. And there can be no 
 reasonable doubt that an individual wearing and 
 disgracing the Christian name, provided his 
 church-membership be ascertained, may, according 
 to the statutes of the Redeemer's kingdom, be 
 called to account, reproved, excommunicated, 
 by any Christian church on the spot where he 
 happens to be, even without an act of formal com- 
 munion there ; much more then after such an act. 
 Our confusion, perplexity, errours, weakness, un- 
 faithfulness, on this and other great points of 
 Christian order, we owe to our schisms : which, 
 if they have not banished the doctrine, have 
 nearly obliterated the sense, of the church's 
 UNITY. 
 
 VII. It is objected that " whatever may have 
 been the condition of primitive times," (in which 
 c/iwrc^-communion was Catholick-communion,) 
 " the state of the church is so greatly altered as 
 to make the imitation of them inexpedient, if 
 not impracticable, now." 
 
 That the imitation is not " impracticable," ap- 
 pears from the complaint against some evangeli- 
 cal churches at New- York and elsewhere— their 
 offence consisting precisely in the fact of such 
 
365 
 
 imitation. That it is " inexpedient," is thus 
 far refuted by experience. No measure of more 
 auspicious influence within its sphere was ever 
 adopted. Ask the Christians immediately con- 
 cerned. 
 
 To ground the impropriety of Catholick com- 
 munion upon the difference between the present 
 and primitive state of the church, is either to be- 
 tray lamentable ignorance ; or to convert sin into 
 an argument for its own justification. 
 
 It has been demonstrated over and over, that 
 there existed in the primitive, and even apos- 
 tolical church, causes of separation much more 
 weighty than those which some denominations 
 now assign for refusing the communion of others. 
 Yet no separation took place: no communion 
 was refused ; except by some who were held to 
 be deserters from the '' city of God," and whose 
 " memorial has perished with them." 
 
 " But we are separated — we are broken up in- 
 to a variety of sects — we have ceased from such 
 catholick fellowship ; and our circumstances, in 
 this view, are materially different from those of 
 the primitive church" — 
 
 True: and the difference is your reproach — 
 your shame — your crime. You have violated 
 the commandment of your Lord and Saviour — 
 you have conspired against the unity of his 
 
sm 
 
 kingdom — you have lacerated and mangled his 
 glorious body — you have slandered the spirit 
 of his gospel — you have given occasion to his 
 enemies to blaspheme — and you plead this un- 
 hallowed condition into which your disobedience 
 has brought you, as a reason for reinaining in it ! 
 No, Sin shall not be its own apology. " We have 
 been «fMiWc^ to falsehood, to knavery, to unclean- 
 ness ; therefore we may continue to be false, 
 knavish, unclean" — is just as good an argument, 
 and will go just as far at the tribunal of God, as, 
 " We have split ourselves up into sects : we have 
 kept away from our Lord's table among his 
 acknowledged disciples : we have shut them 
 out, in our turn, from his table among us — there- 
 fore we must go on in our wonted course!" Must 
 you indeed ? A rectified conscience would draw 
 quite an opposite inference. It would teach you 
 to say, " The time past of our lives may suffice 
 us to have lived in disunion, suspicion, and strife. 
 Let us now ' search and try our ways,' and en- 
 deavour henceforward to ' walk in love as Christ 
 also hath loved us'." 
 
 That there are obstacles to be surmounted in 
 forming and executing so divine a purpose, is 
 undeniable. But the greatest of them all is the 
 most sinful — the ivant of loye — and therefore the 
 want of w ILL. Remove these, and the rest will 
 
367 
 
 vanish almost of their own accord. So the pri- 
 mitive Christians found it: so did the Protestant 
 Reformers: and so have others who cherished, 
 though in a lower degree, their brotherly sj3irit. 
 
 The facts are numerous and stubborn ; but the 
 argument from them is evaded by a distinction 
 which must briefly be examined. For it is said, 
 
 VIII. That "the sentiments and examples of 
 holy men and evangelical churches in latter days, 
 to which the friends of Catholick communion so 
 confidently appeal, were adapted to extraordinary 
 circumstances ; and are inapplicable to a regular, 
 settled state of the church." 
 
 It is clear as the light, that if this distinction be 
 unsound, its advocates cannot escape from the 
 dilemma of either aspersing those whom they 
 profess to honour, or convicting themselves of 
 schismatical conduct. They ought to have been 
 sure of their ground before they ventured upon it 
 with so valuable a stake. Let us try whether it 
 will bear their weight. 
 
 The first thing which strikes us is, that it should 
 represent division, faction, rents, wranglings, as 
 suited to an ordinary, regular, settled state of the 
 church! and should allow nothing but extra- 
 ordinary circumstances to justify communion 
 among her members of different denominations ! 
 That the fellowship of Christians and Christian 
 
 47 
 
368 
 
 churches with each other, as such, is disor- 
 derly and unlawful, except in extraordmary cir- 
 cumstances ! ! O Saviour, is such thy church, and 
 thy law ? 
 
 But " the legs of the lame are not equal." If 
 this distinction is just, what becomes of the plea 
 on which our opposing brethren rest the chief me- 
 rits of their cause, viz. that by communion with 
 other churches than our own, or with their mem- 
 bers, we partake of their sins ? 
 
 That which is unlawful in itself can never be 
 rendered lawful by circumstances. But all par- 
 taking of other men's sins is unlawful in itself. 
 Therefore, if Catholick communion involves such 
 a participation, it is unlawful in itself, and cannot 
 be justified by extraordinary circumstances. 
 Upon this principle the communion of the Pro- 
 testant churches was a communion in each 
 other's sin!! Which part will our brethren take? 
 Will they give up their main argument against 
 the intercommunion of acknowledged Christians ? 
 or will they lay so foul a charge at the door of 
 those glorious men who reformed the church of 
 God at the expense of their heart's blood ? 
 
 But the Reformers themselves were of another 
 mind. They put the lawfulness or unlawful- 
 ness — the propriety or impropriety of church- 
 communion, not upon the footing of ordinary or 
 
369 
 
 extraordinary circumstances, but upon the footing 
 of the common faith, Thej did so in their pub- 
 lick confessions, wherein they show what the 
 church is, and ought to be, according to the Scrip- 
 tures. They laid the foundations of her com- 
 munion in her unity as the body of Christ. Their 
 practice grew out of their doctrine^ not out of 
 their circumstances. They did not in one breath 
 maintain the unity of the church ; in another, 
 deny that unity to be a sufficient basis for the 
 communion of her members : then, in the face 
 of their own denial, actually hold such commu- 
 nion; and, to crown all, justify their conduct by 
 their extraordinary circumstances ! Such incon- 
 sistency, confusion, and contradiction, never dis- 
 graced the men whom the " Spirit of judgment 
 and of burning" employed to purify the house of 
 God. Their faith, their profession, and their ex- 
 ample corresponded. What they believed they 
 taught ; and what they taught they exemplified. 
 Because they believed the church of Christ to be 
 one, their communion embraced her visible 
 members. 
 
 One objection is left. — It is said, 
 
 IX. That " all Christians being one in spirit, 
 the best ends of communion may be answered in 
 their present state of separation, without the evils 
 incident to its pubhck extension." 
 
370 
 
 That believers have a spiritual fellou ship with 
 each other as living members of the one living 
 body of Christ, is a truth not less full of consola- 
 tion, than their outward distance and divisions are 
 full of discomfort and shame. But how can this 
 be a substitute for their visible fellowship in ordi- 
 nances which are designed to display and pro- 
 mote it ? A communion with the whole church 
 not to be exemplified ! a communion lawful and 
 of high privilege, forbidden to be expressed in 
 that form which the master appointed for the 
 very purpose of expressing it ! How is it to be 
 kept up ? If one Christian or church may thus 
 commune with another, while the external evi- 
 dence thereof is not only withheld but prohibit- 
 ed, so may another ; so may a thousand others; 
 so may all ; and the visible church vanishes from 
 among men! Nay, if the. objection before us is 
 of any weight or value whatever, it avails much 
 more than its authours would be willing to ac- 
 cept. Carry it through — Turn Quakers at once 
 — Discard your ministry and your sacraments — 
 Fellowship in spirit will answer your best ends. 
 And you will have no more trouble on the sub- 
 iect of church-communion ! 
 
371 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 It remains to trace the consequences of secta- 
 rian, as opposed to Catholick, communion. 
 
 These may be viewed in relation to ourselves 
 — to the church of God at large — and to the sur- 
 rounding world. 
 
 To ourselves,^ 
 
 1st. The first and most obvious consequence is 
 an utter self-excision or excommunication from all 
 the rest of Christ's church upon earth. 
 
 That such is the fact, it would be illuminating 
 the sun to prove. For if there be on earth Chris- 
 tian churches beside our own ; and if we will 
 have no communion with them, to what less does 
 our conduct amount than an open renunciation 
 of all visible concern with them in the kingdom 
 of God ? If, indeed, we do not hold them to be 
 Christian churches — if we claim the sole posses- 
 sion of that blessed character; and arrogate to 
 ourselves the exclusive privilege of being the 
 ^' General Assembly and Church of the First- 
 
 * The authour speaks in the person of any sect which is in the habit 
 of confining its fellowship to its own members. 
 
372 
 
 Born," we may escape from the charge : But if 
 we dare not proceed to such a fearful length, our 
 escape is impossible. 
 
 Here then we are, in a state of excommu- 
 nication: or, if you prefer the term, in a state 
 of non-communion with the church of the 
 living God. Isolated by our own act — under 
 a practical, and in some instances a doctri- 
 nal, protest against fellowship with her in 
 ordinances which we enjoy only as a part of 
 the great whole. Yet with the " great whole," 
 we as a part will have no intercourse — will have 
 nothing to do. Is fellowship, then, with the ac- 
 knowledged church of God — fellowship direct 
 and avowed before angels and men, so vile in our 
 eyes? Are we so lost to all sense of the beauty, 
 efficacy, and glory of the "unity of the Spirit," as 
 to be satisfied with our disunion ? and so infatu- 
 ated as to imagine that in fostering it we are "do- 
 ing God service ?" Shall a church turn her back 
 upon the whole visible interest of the Lord Jesus 
 in the world, by refusing the "right hand of fel- 
 lowship" to every portion of it but her own — and 
 thus turn her back upon all the manifestations of 
 his power, grace, love, faithfulness, which he 
 there displays, and still hope for his blessing upon 
 herself? hope for his presence, for his Spirit, for 
 that holy " dew" under which she " shall grow as 
 
373 
 
 the lily, and cast forth her roots as Lebanon ; her 
 branches shall spread, and her beauty shall be as 
 the olive tree, and her smell as Lebanon?" Has 
 she a right in such a temper to hope for such 
 things ? Let the question be answered by them 
 who have life enough left to tremble at that word 
 of the Lord, " Whoso shall offend one of these lit- 
 " tie ones which believe in me, it were better for 
 " him that a mill-stone were hanged about his 
 " neck, and that he were drowned in the depth 
 " of the sea." 
 
 2d. Our sectarian communion stamps the 
 brand of inconsistency^ and throws an air oi insin- 
 cerity^ upon our most solemn professions. 
 
 We talk of the Catholick church— of her unity 
 — of her character — of her prerogatives; and yet 
 ttcr as if these were unmeaning terms; and all 
 that we have to say of her, an ^'idle tale." In 
 words we found our title to our church-privi- 
 leges in our union with her — in deeds we avoid 
 every publick, social expression of that union, as 
 if it were our dishonour, and might prove to be 
 our ruin. We laud her to the heavens in theory : 
 we call her Christ's spouse and our mother— in 
 practice we shun her embrace, her touch, her at- 
 mosphere cane pejus et angue ; as if she were a 
 rabid or venomous animal. There is not a room 
 in God's house, a place in his temple, a province 
 
874 
 
 in his kingdom, fit for us to inhabit, or even to 
 visit, but the one in which we have been accus- 
 tomed to dwell. When we spread our table, we 
 call it the table of the Lord, We invite his friends 
 and prohibit his enemies, according to his own 
 rules. But any who should imagine that we mean 
 nothing more than we say — that our invitation is 
 honestly intended for our master's friends; and, 
 acceding to our own declared conditions, should 
 tfike us at our word, w^ould grievously mistake. 
 They would find that not one in ten thousand of 
 them that " love the Lord Jesus Christ," and en- 
 deavour to " walk even as he also walked," comes 
 within our scope — that all our descriptions of 
 Christians are only for Christians of our sect. Is 
 this "simplicity and godly sincerity?" Are unbe- 
 lieving eyes shut to the contradiction, or believing 
 hearts untouched by the insult? Be fair at least. 
 Come out openly and tell your hearers, that how- 
 ever your language may sound, you mean by the 
 people of God, neither more nor less than the 
 members of your own church ! You startle ; you 
 recoil; you sicken. Why? Because the injustice 
 is too flagrant, the inconsistency too gross, to bear 
 the light. And shall we pertinaciously do, under 
 cover of a flimsy veil, that which we have not 
 the courage so much as to look at when it stands 
 before us with the veil stripped off? 
 
375 
 
 3d. Upon the individuals of a sect, their re- 
 stricted communion exerts an unhappy influence, 
 with regard 
 
 To their religious intellect — 
 
 To their practical judgment — and 
 
 To the direction of their zeal. 
 
 Upon the religious intellect sectarian feel- 
 ings and fellowship produce an eflect analo- 
 gous to that of the division of labour upon me- 
 chanical ingenuity. By concentrating its opera- 
 tions in a few points, or perhaps in a single one, 
 they render it peculiarly acute and discriminating 
 within those limits, at the expense of enfeebling 
 or destroying its general power. Conversations 
 are cherished ; books read ; time expended ; fa- 
 culties employed ; not for the purpose of acquir- 
 ing larger views of the Redeemer's truth, grace, 
 kingdom, and glory: but for the purpose of train- 
 ing more accurate disputants upon the heads 
 of sectarian collision. Here men distinguish them- 
 selves ; here they shine ; here they gratify their 
 vanity^ which they often mistake for their con- 
 science': "What difference," exclaimed a zealous 
 member of a nameless judicatory, when he was 
 contending for a 'testimony' over and above the 
 recognised confession of faith, " what difference 
 will there be between you and the General As 
 sembly, if you have not a testimony ?" Such an 
 
 48 
 
376 
 
 exclamation from the mouth of a man otherwise 
 reasonable and judicious, is a volume. It shows 
 how the i)arty'Soul is narrowed down: and how 
 all its perceptions are directed to those things 
 which put Christians asunder, instead of those 
 things which should bring them together; and 
 which, for their importance, may not, without de- 
 gradation, be named in company with the causes 
 of their disunion. With one, the watch-word is 
 *^our excellent, our apostolical church" — with 
 another, "the mode of baptism" — with a third, 
 " the solemn league and covenant" — with a 
 fourth, "the Burgess oath" — with a fifth, "psalmo- 
 dy." Upon these subjects, and such as these, 
 their respective partisans collect their informa- 
 tion and their strength — they whet each other 
 till they become "as sharp as a needle." A stran- 
 ger hearing them talk on their favourite topics, 
 would be astonished at their understanding and 
 answers. But lead them away from their pecu- 
 liarities to those things which concern the king- 
 dom of God — which are common to the house- 
 hold of faith — which require a general Christian 
 mind — and how lamentable, for the most part, is 
 the falling off ! " We speak that we do know, and 
 testify that w^e have seen." And here is the expla- 
 nation of that ordinary phenomenon, that the rise 
 of party-sense is the fall of sacred knowledge. 
 Sectarian fires put out Christian light. 
 
IF 
 
 377 
 
 Nor does the practical judgment suffer less. 
 This is clearly seen in the estimate Avhich animat- 
 ed sectarians form of character. The good quali- 
 ties of their own adherent they readily perceive, 
 admire, and extol. His failings they endure with 
 patience ; and his faults, which they dare not jus- 
 tify, they can overlook and extenuate. But should 
 he quit their connexion, the first are disparaged, 
 the second are no longer tolerable, and the third 
 swell into crimes. On the other hand; Virtues 
 and graces in a different party they are apt to ad- 
 mit with reluctance ; and rarely without qualifi- 
 cation. It shall go hard if some " dead fly" do 
 not taint the " good ointment" — if some scrupu- 
 lous " but," some "fear," some "wish," do not 
 insinuate a douht where there is no room for de- 
 nial; and relieve them from the pain, by throw- 
 ing a cloud over the lustre, of excellencies not 
 their own. But lo ! all is altered! The light which 
 only dazzled, grows suddenly mild and cheering! 
 Our breasts fill with the " milk of human kind- 
 ness ;" and we welcome to our hearts the very 
 man whom a week before we eyed askaunt, and 
 should have thought to be a " spot in our feast 
 of charity!" Nay, we often are summarily con- 
 vinced that a person of dubious character has 
 been injured and persecuted. Our inquiries are 
 conducted with the nicest delicacy. So gentle 
 
378 
 
 our temper! so charitable our constructions ! so 
 large our allowance for infirmity ! so deep our 
 sympathy ! Whence the miracle ? Has a seraph, 
 with fire from the altar of Gocl, touched these 
 men of unclean lips, and taken away the stains 
 which alarmed our purity ? Oh no ! they are pre- 
 cisely what they were. Wherefore, then, this 
 change in eye-sight, in feelings, in behaviour ? 
 Simple inquirer, thou knowest nothing of party- 
 magick! They have come, or are coming, or 
 are expected to come, over to US. 
 
 With such a perversion of the judgm.ent it is 
 impossi bJe that 2:e«/ should be well directed either 
 in the choice of its objects, or in the mode of at- 
 taining them. The memory of an observer who 
 only glances over the scenes which pass before 
 him can furnish many examples of passions ex- 
 cited, principles sacrificed, and efforts wasted, 
 for the sake of party-baubles ; while interests of 
 primary importance to the glory of earth and 
 heaven are neglected or thrust aside. It is incon- 
 sistent with the nature of our faculties and affec- 
 tions to pursue great and little things with equal 
 ardour. He who is occupied with the little, can- 
 not rise to the great. He who rises to the great, 
 cannot sink down to the little. A candidate for 
 empire will not fight for toys. He who can fight 
 for toys is unfit for empire. The man of "broad 
 
879 
 
 phylacteries" will give himself no trouble about 
 the "robe of righteousness ;" the self-applauding 
 " tither of mint and anise and cummin," has not 
 room in his soul for "judgment and mercy and 
 faiih." Therefore it happens, that in proportion 
 as the spirit of sect gets into a church, the spi- 
 rit of the gospel goes out. Anxiety about her pe- 
 culiarities becomes a substitute for the power of 
 personal rehgion. The noisy champion of her 
 pre-eminence, the proud observer of her ritual, 
 will be a singular exception to a general rule, if 
 he do not contribute little to the prosperity, and 
 less to the ornament, of the church of God. A 
 sanctimonious child of tradition, who counts it a 
 mortal sin to eat flesh on Friday, and dispenses 
 with any precept of the decalogue that stands in the 
 way of his gratification, is not an absolute rarity. 
 The furious advocate, and the furious enemy, of a 
 liturgy, are in danger of being alike estranged 
 from the worship of God " in spirit and in truth." 
 Nor is it a chimerical fear, that in the hot conten- 
 tions about psalmody, which have distracted and 
 disgraced some of the American churches, the 
 praises of both parties may, at times, have died 
 away without "entering into the ears of the Lord 
 of Sabaoth." It is a terrifying truth that living 
 godliness languishes and decays in some of the 
 "most straitest sects of our rehgion," their own 
 
380 
 
 members being judges ; and is succeded by hard- 
 faced formality. So that the complaint uttered 
 more than a century ago by the venerable Oiverij 
 is not inapplicable now. " Whilst men have con- 
 tended about ordinances and institutions, forms 
 and ways of religion, they have grown careless 
 and regardless, as unto personal holy conversa- 
 tion, to their ruin. They have seemed like keepers 
 of a vineyard^ hut their own vineyard they have not 
 kept. How many have we seen withering away 
 into a dry sapless frame, under an hot, contending, 
 disputing spirit about ways and differences of 
 worship? Whilst they have been intent on one 
 part of profession, the other of more importance 
 hath been neglected."* 
 
 This witness is true. And what is yet worse, 
 with such confessions from time to time on their 
 lips, they proceed in the very same course ; and 
 instead of awakening to a just sense of their sin 
 and folly, they " love to have it so ;" and hold as 
 their enemies, and as the enemies of good order, 
 all who endeavour to cease from their "jang- 
 lings ;" and who, laying greater stress upon the 
 bond of their union in him, than upon the party- 
 coloured thread of ecclesiastical faction, stretch 
 out the hand of fellowship to them " who love 
 
 * OnHeb. ch.iv. 1. vol.2. 194. fol. 
 
381 
 
 the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." " This is a 
 lamentation ; and shall be for a lamentation." 
 
 II. Upon the church at large the system of sec- 
 tarian fellowship operates with a most baneful 
 power. 
 
 1. It is a practical rejection of her unitij. How 
 she can be one^ and yet sundered into a thousand 
 pieces — how her parts constitute a beautiful har- 
 monious whole^ while they are cJlowed to have 
 no more visible conjunction than if they were des- 
 titute of all affinity, is a paradox beyond compre- 
 hension. To cut a man off, by excommunication, 
 from the whole church, supposes her to be one : 
 Then to refuse him, while he retains his standing, 
 the benefits of communion with the whole, sup- 
 poses her not to be one. Again, to admit him, 
 professedly, into that communion, and preclude 
 him from the use of it except in a little corner,, is 
 at once to admit and to deny her unity, and to play 
 the robber with his privileges : mocking him with 
 sonorous titles which mean nothing. And to make 
 unity oisect necessary to communion in the churchy 
 is to take her fellowship off from the basis on 
 which her master laid it, her Catholick unity; and 
 to rest it upon a basis of our own making, directly 
 the contrary to his, viz. her schisms; i. e. to found 
 all her actual communion in the principle of her 
 
382 
 
 disunion. In the mouths of men who behave 
 thu,s,vvhat intelligible sense cr.n be annexed to 
 the phrase, " imity of the cJutrch V 
 
 2. Sectarian communion breaks up the charity 
 which ought to subsist between all the members 
 of the body of Christ — 
 
 In their mutual benevolence : 
 
 In their sense of a common interest : 
 
 In the support which each should receive from 
 the other: and 
 
 In their co-operation to promote the kingdom 
 of God. 
 
 1st. The restricted communion of sects is in- 
 compatible with their mutual benevolence. 
 
 It is not in the nature of things that men should 
 avoid each others company ; should strive perti- 
 naciously for the mastery; should put upon each 
 other marks of publick dishonour; and yet their 
 " brotherly love continue." The most amicable 
 controversies are dangerous. They seldom end 
 as they begin. An argument between friends is 
 prone to gender animosity : and if they separate 
 with excited feelings, alienation and enmity too 
 frequently follow. It is so with collective bodies. 
 When they are once apart, they gradually recede 
 further and further from each other. New points 
 of discrepancy arise ; create new subjects of con- 
 tention ; open new sources of crimination ; gather 
 
383 
 
 new faggots for the flame of party-passions ; 
 present new obstacles to concord ; and thus de- 
 face the fairest feature of Christianity — " love to 
 the brethren." How sadly this has been verified 
 needs no proof. "This," saith Dr. Owen, "is that 
 whereon the Lord Christ hath laid the weight of 
 the manifestation of his glory in the world: name- 
 ly, the love that is among his disciples ; which 
 was foretold as the peculiar glory of his rule and 
 kingdom. But there are only a few footsteps now 
 left of it in the visible church ; some marks only, 
 that there it hath been, and dwelt of old. It is, as 
 unto its lustre and splendour, retired to Heaven ; 
 abiding in its power and efficacious exercise only 
 in some corners of the earth, and secret retire- 
 ments. Envy, Wrath, Selfishness, Love of the 
 World, with Coldness in all the concerns of reli- 
 gion, have possessed the place of it. And in vain 
 shall men wrangle and contend about their differ- 
 ences in opinion, faith, and worship, pretending 
 to design the advancement of religion by impos- 
 ing their persuasions on others : Unless this holy 
 love be again re-introduced among all them who 
 profess the name of Christ, all the concerns of 
 religion will more and more run into ruin."* 
 One would imagine that churches of the pre- 
 
 * On Heb. xiii. i. 
 49 
 
384 
 
 sent day had been sitting for their picture to this 
 great master of moral painting. Yet, with thank- 
 fulness to the God of peace, the likeness must be 
 acknowledged to be less striking than it was some 
 few years since; although too exact, even now, 
 to be disputed as if it were not drawn from life 
 with the pencil of truth. 
 
 One very remarkable circumstance here de- 
 serves our notice. Kind affections between 
 churches and their members have decreased in 
 the midst of eulogies upon the grace of love ; co- 
 gent arguments on its importance ; and pathetick 
 persuasives to its exercise. How has this happen- 
 ed ? " The plain reason of it is, because the love 
 which men so contend for, is confined to that 
 practice in and of ecclesiastical communion, whose 
 measures they have fixed to themselves. If you 
 will do thus and thus ; go in such or such ways ; 
 so or so far; leave off such ways of fellowship in 
 the gospel as you have embraced, and think ac- 
 cording unto the mind of God, then you have love, 
 else you have none at all. How little either unity 
 or love hath been promoted by such principles 
 and practices, is now^ evident : yea, how much 
 divisions, animosities, and mutual alienations of 
 minds and affections have been increased by 
 them."* Thus the fever of sectarian zeal has 
 
 * Owen on Jleb. vi. 10, vol. iii. 106, fol. 
 
385 
 
 weakened the strength, and chilled the warmth 
 of Catholick charity. 
 
 2d. The same restricting zeal tends to expel 
 from the churches a sense of their common interest 
 
 " My church"— "2/^wr church" — "to church," 
 are so incorporated with our habits of thinking and 
 acting, as to make us nearly forget they are all 
 members of one and the same church of God. 
 Hence we feel but little concern in each other's 
 welfare. The inspired rule has hardly any more 
 place in our feelings. " Whether one member 
 suffer, all the members suffer with it ; or one mem- 
 ber be honoured, all the members rejoice with it." 
 Their sufferings and their joys are their own : we 
 sympathize with them in neither the one nor the 
 other. Where is the instance of a church rejoic- 
 ing that the " word of the Lord has free course 
 and is glorified" in another ? Do they not rather 
 rejoice in each other's hurt ? Do they not seize, 
 with evident satisfaction and avidity, upon those 
 blemishes which provide matter for censure, and 
 give a plausible colour to comparisons ? Are they 
 not often eager to draw members away from sis- 
 ter churches? Do they not betray complacency in 
 accessions which build themselves up at the 
 expense of pulling the others down ? Do they 
 not view and represent their increase by such 
 means, as a proof that religion is flourishing? 
 
306 
 
 Their church has indeed gained : But what is 
 gained by the church of Christ? Alas! this is a 
 question which they who " bite and devour one 
 another," are seldom at the trouble of asking. 
 And it is because their king is " God, and not 
 man," that they are not utterly "consumed one 
 of another." 
 
 od. When churches lose the sense of their 
 common interest, they withhold from each other 
 that support which it is their duty, and might 
 otherwise be their inclination, to yield. 
 
 Each leaves the other to stand or fall by her- 
 self. The invasions of an adversary upon one, 
 make little impression upon the rest. They all 
 doze in security, provided an attack be not di- 
 rectly against their own possessions. They 
 see errours spreading, mischiefs growing, which 
 their timely interposition might contribute to ar- 
 rest ; and it would not be wanting were the case 
 formally their own : but as matters are, "it is none 
 of their business." They stand by and let the ruin 
 work, till it be too late ; and then console them- 
 selves with bearing their " testimony" against 
 evils which they might have prevented. Have 
 they forgotten that in spiritual as in temporal life, 
 
 tua res agitur^ paries cum proximus ardet ? 
 
 " your own house is in danger when your neigh- 
 
387 
 
 bour's wall is on fire ?" or do they imagine that the 
 HOLY ONE is to be put off with such negli- 
 gent and selfish loyalty ? 
 
 They also decline to bear one another's bur- 
 dens : at least they do so to an extent which in- 
 fringes upon every principle of their relation as 
 parts of a great whole. The good things of this 
 world, where there is no sort of lack, must be 
 dealt out, if at all, with a hand unusually sparing 
 to those who are not of " our church." I am far 
 from insinuating that the opulent do justice to 
 their means or their professions ivithin the boun- 
 daries of their own sect. There is no duty in 
 which, even thus narrowed, they are more gene- 
 rally, more sinfully, and more shamefully, defi- 
 cient : and that they shall find, many of them to 
 their eternal cost, when God shall make them 
 feel that they were only stewards^ not proprietors, 
 of their substance ; and shall arraign them at his 
 bar as robbers of his treasury. But little as they 
 might do in any case, they do still less than they 
 would if the claims of Christ were always backed 
 by the claims of sect. And thusxan affluent 
 Christian district permits a poorer one to pine and 
 languish through the want of aid which it could 
 most conveniently afford. If the history of early 
 believers, in the Acts of the Apostles, may be 
 credited, " from the beginning it was not so." 
 
388 
 
 Their restricted communion, moreover, teaches 
 different sects to dishonour each otherh Christian 
 character. Insomuch that the most ample recom- 
 mendations from one will not procure admission 
 to church-privileges in another ; and the mere 
 desire to go, upon whatever grounds, from one to 
 another, shall deprive a person of every official 
 document of his life and conversation ; let it have 
 been ever so exemplary and edifying. Not a 
 certificate of ecclesiastical standing shall be giv- 
 en ; though most respectfully asked: and a Chris- 
 tian on whom there has not lighted the breath of 
 accusation, shall be turned adrift, like a religious 
 vagabond, to sue for the courtesy of any church 
 that may please to take him in. What is this, but 
 to affront, in the face of the world, that particu- 
 lar church which he wishes to join, as though she 
 were not of the "household of God;" and to 
 treat him like an apostate simply for preferring 
 to be under her immediate inspection ? 
 
 To so great a length is this temper indulged, 
 as sometimes to corrupt moral discipline in the 
 church w here it prevails, and to counteract it in 
 others where it does not. Who can think, with- 
 out shuddering, of a man's being called up as an 
 offender^ and being required, on the peril of cen- 
 sure^ to confess his 5m, and promise amendment, 
 for — what, Christian reader, for what ? — why — 
 
389 
 
 "tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets 
 of Askelon" — for hearing " the words of eternal 
 life" from the mouth of an unquestioned ambas- 
 sador of our King, who has not his credentials 
 countersigned by US — more briefly — from a mi- 
 nister who is not of our party ! ! That hearing " the 
 glorious gospel of the blessed God" in one of his 
 own churches, should be accounted a cri7ne and 
 2. scandal in another! And that an attempt to re- 
 move from one to another, should subject his ser- 
 vants to the threat and the hazard of being thrown 
 out of them all ! — Did Paul ever expect it should 
 come to this ? 
 
 Even this is not the whole. To avoid censure 
 for misconduct, it is not a strange thing for some 
 people to be seized with sudden fits of conscience, 
 and get most opportune illuminations of under- 
 standing — to steal away to another church, then 
 deny the jurisdiction they have deserted ; set up 
 for peculiar humility, zeal, and sanctity ; and have 
 their claims admitted^ and be themselves receiv- 
 ed, by the churches to which they flee ! Nay, per- 
 sons under actual censure for immorality^ have 
 not found it impracticable nor difficult to shelter 
 themselves in churches which most loudly ac- 
 cuse others of lukewarmness and laxity. They 
 who hold themselves to be too pure for commu- 
 nion with their brethren, should not try to destroy 
 
390 
 
 what little vigour of discipline may be left, nor 
 open their church-bosom as an asylum for fugi- 
 tives from the law of God's house. 
 
 4th. The spirit of sect hinders the churches 
 which it governs from co-operating together in 
 promoting the kingdom of God. 
 
 In the United States, where, generally speak- 
 ing, there is no legal provision for the mainte- 
 nance of religion; and especially among the 
 new settlements, there is frequently, in very small 
 districts, a confluence of people from various de- 
 nominations. Their junction makes a flourishing 
 town, and would make a flourishing church. 
 They agree in primary, and disagree in seconda- 
 ry principles : But they will not, for the sake of 
 the former, lay aside their contests about the lat- 
 ter. Collectively they are able to support the 
 gospel in comfort and dignity — separately, they 
 cannot support it at all. They will not compro- 
 mise their smaller diff*erences. Every one must 
 have his own way; must be completely gratified 
 in his predilections. The rest must come to Am; 
 he will neither go to them^ nor meet them upon 
 common ground : And the result is, that they all 
 experience alike, "not a famine of bread, nor a 
 thirst of water, but of hearing the word of the 
 Lord." Sanctuary they have none. They lose, 
 by degrees, their anxiety for the institutions of 
 
S9i 
 
 Christ. Their feeble substitutes, their small so- 
 cial meetings, without the " ministers of grace," 
 soon die away. Their Sabbaths are Pagan: their 
 children grow up in ignorance, in unbelief, and 
 in vice. Their land, which smiles around them, 
 like the garden of God, presents an unbroken 
 scene of spiritual desolation. In the course of 
 one or two generations, the knowledge of God 
 is almost obliterated ; the name of Jesus is a fo- 
 reign sound ; his salvation an occult science : and 
 while plenty crowns their board, and health in- 
 vigorates their bodies, the bread of life blesses 
 not their table, and moral pestilence is sweeping 
 their souls into death. All this from the idolatry 
 of "our" church. They might have had Christ 
 at the expense of sect. They preferred sect, and 
 they are without Christ. How far the mischief 
 shall proceed, God only can tell. It is enough to 
 fill our hearts with grief, and to shake them with 
 terrour, that from the combination of this with 
 other causes, we have already a population of 
 soMEMiLLioNS of our own colour, flcsh and blood, 
 nearly as destitute of evangelical mercies as the 
 savage who yells on the banks of the MissourL^ 
 
 * See, on this subject, an interesting tract by the Rev. Dr. Lymaw 
 Beecher, " On the importance of assisting young men of parts and 
 talents in obtaining an education for the gospel ministry. ^^ pp. 20. 
 
 The ingenious and inquisitive authour has calculated, from various 
 data, that out of the eight millions of souls which coiupose the popu- 
 
 50 
 
392 
 
 When sectarian jealousy and pride lead pro- 
 fessing Christians thus to sacrifice themselves 
 and their children, it would be vain to look for 
 their concurrence in generous efforts for the good 
 of others. 
 
 How much yet remains to be done before " the 
 earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah^ 
 as the waters cover the sea ;" how much before 
 it fill the corners of every Christian country, it 
 would be superfluous to show. " Darkness co- 
 vers the earth ; and thick darkness the people." 
 Millions after millions go down to the grave un- 
 acquainted with the " grace which bringeth sal- 
 vation;" uncheered by the hope which conquers 
 death. If the world receive the knowledge of 
 "the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he 
 
 lation of the United States, ^re millions are either utterly without the 
 stated ordinances of the gospel, or are consigned to the most illiterate 
 ministrations. Supposing his calculations to exceed the fact, as it is 
 difficult to be accurate upon so great a scale; yet, with every reduc- 
 tion whicii fai^tidiousness itself can require, the result is sufficient to 
 alarm, to appal, and almost to overwhelm, a Christian who Compares 
 the ratio of our increasing population, with the probable supply of the 
 means of grace. 
 
 Several causes have no donbt concurred in producing our deplora* 
 ble state; but that sectarian jealousies have not withheld their full 
 amount of influence, seems not to admit of a question. The churches 
 have been in a profound sleep, as to this momentous concern. The 
 good God awaken them with his own voice; for every other is wast- 
 ed on the wind. 
 
393 
 
 hath sent," they must owe the blessing to those 
 who already enjoy the " words of eternal life." — 
 If the banner of the cross ever wave triumphant- 
 ly over the last battlements of idolatry, it must 
 be planted by hands which have been washed in 
 the blood of the cross. — If the doctrines of kind- 
 ness and peace shall humanize the habitations of 
 cruelty, and subdue the sons of blood, they must 
 flow from the lips of those who have " tasted 
 that the Lord is gracious." Here is a field large 
 enough for their labours ; an object worthy of 
 their zeal. Here are conquests to be atchieved 
 infinitely more splendid than any which signa- 
 lize the heroes of the sword ; and a " recompense 
 of reward" as far above their brightest honours, 
 as the " crown of glory which fadeth not aAvay," 
 is better than the breath of a " man that shall die, 
 and the son of man that shall become as grass." 
 The enterprise is stupendous ; the thought is aw- 
 ful. Yet awful and stupendous as they are, the 
 thought is to be embodied in fact, the enterprise 
 to be a matter of history. So saith the word of 
 our God. And that Christians, were they hearty 
 in the cause ; half as hearty as they are in get- 
 ting the " mammon of unrighteousness," are able 
 to accomplish that word, does not permit a doubt. 
 But for its accomplishment there must be a uni- 
 on of counsels, of confidence, and of strength, 
 
394 
 
 unknown in the church since the days of apos= 
 tolick harmony. To such an union nothing can 
 be more hostile than the spirit of sect. We do 
 hail indeed, with an exultation not unworthy, we 
 hope, of bosoms which have been touched by 
 celestial fire, the auspicious dawnings of such a 
 day of love. The truly gracious efforts in which 
 the land of our fathers, the island of Great Bri- 
 tain, has taken the lead ; and keeps, and seems 
 destined to keep, the pre-eminence, encourage 
 us to anticipate things which many prophets and 
 wise men have desired to see, and have not seen 
 them. Eternal blessings on those children of the 
 truth who have excited what may one day prove ' 
 " a general movement of the church upon earth," 
 in order to "speak peace to the heathen!" — Upon 
 those benefactors of the nations, who have pour- 
 ed their offerings into the treasury of God, and 
 have joined their hands with their opulence in 
 the glorious work of sending the Bible, which 
 teaches sinners what they " must do to be saved," 
 to " all peoples, and kindreds, and nations, and 
 tongues" — Upon those vigilant sons and daugh- 
 ters of charity, who have gone out into the " high- 
 ways and hedges" of the country — into the 
 "streets and lanes" of the city, "to seek," like 
 their adorable Redeemer, " and to save that which 
 was lost;" to bring the Sabbath, with its mercies^ 
 
395 
 
 into the cabins of the poor, and the houses of the 
 profane ; andto train up, by labours worthy of the 
 Lord's day, for " glory, honour, and immortal- 
 ity," those wretched outcasts who w^ere candi- 
 dates for infamy in this world, and for perdition 
 in the next ! 
 
 Whose heart does not swell with transport? 
 Whose lips do not pour forth benedictions ? Who 
 that names the name of Christ can refuse his 
 " God speed ?" But what do these things involve, 
 and how have they been accomplished ? See it, 
 O disciple of Jesus, and rejoice! — They involve, 
 they have been accomplished by, the prevalence 
 of the Christian over ^/le Sectarian! No such 
 thing was attempted by modern believers; no 
 such honours encircled their brow, till the " Sun 
 of righteousness, arising upon them with heal- 
 ing in his wings," melted their ices, warmed 
 their soil, and made their sectarian "wilderness 
 to blossom as the rose." 
 
 Stronger proof of the baleful and blasting in- 
 fluence of sect on the " kingdom of God," no 
 man can ask, than the fact, now notorious to the 
 whole world, that what has been thus effected for 
 the one, has been done at the expense of the 
 other. If he wishes for confirmation, let him cast 
 his eyes around. Let him see in the caution, the 
 management, the address, which Christians of a 
 
396 
 
 Catholick spirit are obliged to employ — in the 
 slanders which, though refuted on the spot, and 
 put to deeper and deeper shame by every mo- 
 ment of experience, still rear their front and 
 maintain their hardihood — in the coldness, shy- 
 ness, distance, of some Christian churches, who 
 come not YET " to the help of the Lord against 
 the mighty" — let him see in these things how 
 strong a rampart sectarianism throws up around 
 the camp of the Devil! Let him shiver with hor- 
 rour when he hears, not from lying Fame but 
 from unvarnishing Verity, that whole denomina- 
 tions are to be found — denominations sound in 
 the faith of Jesus, who are utterly unable to im- 
 part the gospel to perishing Pagans and Pagan- 
 ized Christians ; and who nevertheless, a few in- 
 dividuals excepted, will not lift a finger, will not 
 contribute a farthing, toward enlightening their 
 darkness ; because, forsooth, the candle cannot 
 be carried in their candlestick! What shall we, 
 what can we say to such reluctance ? Does it ad- 
 mit of more than one interpretation? viz. that 
 they had rather these their poor fellow-sinners 
 should sink down to hell under the brand of the 
 curse, than rise up to heaven with the " image 
 and superscription" of the Son of God, unless 
 their own name be entwined with his in the coro- 
 net of life ? They mean not so : they think not 
 
397 
 
 so : they shrink and tremble at the very idea. 
 Then it is time for them to examine by another 
 standard than has regulated too many of their 
 proceedings, whether their deeds have not said 
 so ; and whether justice to their best principles 
 and affections does not require them to change 
 their course ! 
 
 III. We have yet to survey this sectarian fel- 
 lowship from another point of view — its effects 
 on the surrounding world, 
 
 1st. The first effect is visible, and has already 
 been noticed. Many, who might have rejoiced 
 in the light of life, had Christian churches been 
 more concerned for the kingdom of God than for 
 the predominance of party, are left to darkness 
 and ruin. Let not the eager partizan who might 
 have put forth his helping hand to save them from 
 the pit, but would not, imagine that his negligence 
 will be unnoticed when God " maketh inquisi- 
 tion for blood." The eternal death of multitudes 
 lies at the door of our unseemly strife. 
 
 2d. We hinder the success of the gospel where 
 it is enjoyed even m purity. 
 
 With what face do we praise our religion as 
 the religion of love, when we live, or behave as 
 if we lived, in enmity ? If the same jealousies, ri- 
 valships, antipathies, and other passions which 
 
398 
 
 reign among secular men, reign, or appear to 
 reign, among us also, how shall we prove that 
 we are better than they ? What can we per- 
 suade them to think of the church but that she is 
 their own world in disguise, and so much the 
 worse for her claims to sanctity? If, without 
 even the pretence of differing about essential 
 truths, sect clash with sect as harshly and un- 
 kindly as any political factions whatever, how 
 shall the one take precedence of the other in the 
 scale of moral probity ? 
 
 These inquiries are too natural not to rise in 
 the mind of every reflecting man of the world. 
 Have they no tendency to put him further and 
 further from the faith of Jesus? to harden his 
 heart against the gospel of immortality ? to ren- 
 der its very terms designating moral character ; 
 such as " good conscience" — " spiritual-minded- 
 ness" — "self-denial" — " bearing the cross" — "fol- 
 lowing Christ," &c. suspicious, ifnot odious in his 
 eyes ? Whence proceed his sneers, his ridicule, his 
 flings of "hypocrisy," — "fanaticism," — "priest- 
 craft," and the other contemptuous phrases with 
 which his vocabulary is so plentifully stocked? 
 " From the enmity of his depraved heart," you 
 will say — " because the natural man receiveth not 
 the things of the Spirit of God." Doubtless. But 
 is there no stimulus to his enmity in the scan da- 
 
399 
 
 lous spectacle of those who profess " one Lordj 
 one faith, one baptism, one hope of their call- 
 ing," playing the Jew and the Samaritan toward 
 each other? — without communion, without confi- 
 dence, without religious ^'cieiiings" together — 
 alienated, sundered, opposed, as if their title to 
 heaven were founded in their mutual hostility ? 
 Do not these things cause him to err, and turn 
 the Rock of salvation into " a stone of stumbling 
 and rock of offence ?" Do they not avert his eye 
 from the beauty of Zion ; stop his ears against 
 the eulogy of her converts; and put into his 
 mouth that bitter and biting taunt, "These 
 Christians have just religion enough to hate one 
 another heartily ?" 
 
 Shall we wonder at bis mistake ? How should 
 he recognise believers in the Lord Jesus, if they 
 do not seem to recognise each other ? For in very 
 deed, sectarians are Christians in disguise. The 
 sectarian stands foremost, the Christian behind. 
 Sectarian distinctions are masks : sectarian cham- 
 pions, ecclesiastical knights covered with their 
 armour, themselves unseen. The masks are of 
 all hues and all features. They must be removed 
 before you can perceive that the combatants are 
 of one species. Sectarianism stripped off, you 
 see the Christians. You discover the identity of 
 race — the family features — those beautiful fea- 
 
 51 
 
400 
 
 tures in which they resemble their Father who is 
 in heaven ; and are " conformed to the image of 
 the first-born among many brethren." 
 
 Blessed likeness ! enchanting loveliness ! Are 
 the painted earth-made vizors which conceal "the 
 human face divine," and substitute, in its room, 
 their own deformed and forbidding visages, worth 
 the price they cost us ? worth the conflicts which 
 have all the pains of military warfare without its 
 recompense? and all the hardihood of chivalry 
 without its generosity ? worth the broken unity, 
 the blighted peace, the tarnished beauty, the pros- 
 trate energy, the humbled honour, of the church 
 of God ? Ah no ! Our hearts /ee/ that they are not. 
 What then remains but to lay aside our petty 
 contests ? to strike our hands in a covenant of 
 love — a " holy league," offensive and defensive, 
 for the common Christianity — to present our con- 
 solidated front to the legions of errour and death ; 
 and march on, under the command and conduct 
 of the Captain of our salvation, till the nations 
 mingle their shouts in that thundering Alleluia--^ 
 " The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth !" 
 
 FINIS.