PAMPHLET FOE THE TIMES

'Exmti&t on &f)xi&tim Bnitg,

AS PRAYED FOR BY CHRIST, AND ENJOINED BY HIS APOSTLES ;

WHAT IT IS, AND WHERE IT CAN FIND A RESTING PLACE
IN CHRISTIAN ENGLAND :

ADDRESS TO SECEDERS AND CHURCHMEN,

BY THE
EEV. FIENNES S. TEOTMAN, B.A.
Ui.
RECTOR OF STOKE GOLDINGTON, BUCKS;
AND VICAR OF DALLINGTON, NOBTHAMPTONSHIHE.

f^Y/ f t(x>

NORTHAMPTON: THOMAS WALESBY.
LONDON : FRANCIS AND JOHN RIVINGTON.
' 1846.

" Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on
me through their word ; that they all may be one ; as thou, Father, art in
me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us ; that the world may
believe that thou hast sent me." St. Johk, xvii. 20, 21.
" Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that ye all speak the same thing ; and that there be no divisions among
you ; but that ye be perfectly jdined together in the same mind and in the
same judgment." 1 Coe, i. 10.

PAMPHLET FOR THE TIMES.

CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.

No true disciple of the Divine Saviour who seriously reflects
on the subject, can fail deeply to deplore the almost countless
divisions on the subject of religion, which a,t present exist in
Christian England. I repeat, with confidence, that no sincere
Christian can, on reflection, fail to deplore this state of things,
because it is the very reverse of that which Christ in his last
solemn intercession for his' Church prayed for— because it is
the very reverse of that which his inspired Apostles enjoined —
and because it grievously hinders the advancement of Chris
tianity in the world — nay, saps its very foundations ! But if
this be so — and that it is so I believe the single-minded and
well-intentioned of all denominations of Christians allow — it
surely is a question far surpassing in importance the many
which at present occupy the minds of Anglican Christians,
What is the remedy for this dire disease ? Where is the hal
lowed ground on which all Protestant Christians who worship
a Trinity of Divine Persons in one Etemal and undivided God
head, who hope for pardon of sin through the blood of Christ
alone, appropriated by a lively faith, and for meetness for the
B 2

kingdom of heaven through sanctification of the Spirit alone
(merging those discrepancies of opinion in minor points of doc
trine and discipline which ever must exist while human nature
continues fallen and corrupt as it now is), may meet and realise
the prayer of St. Paul for the Roman Christians (Rom. xv.
5, 6), " Now the God of patience and consolation grant you
to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ
Jesus, that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God,
even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," and may consti
tute that whole body " fitly joined together and compacted by
that which every joint supplieth, of which Christ is the head,"
spoken of in the 4th chapter of Ephesians ? To answer this
unspeakably important question — to supply this remedy — to
show where this hallowed ground is alone to be found, is the
object of this treatise — an object so high, so holy — which, if ex
tensively successful, would so pre-eminently further the merciful
ends of God in revealing his will to man, that an individual of
such moderate pretensions to natural ability as the author con
fessedly is, might well shrink from attempting it, did he not
know, on the warrant of an Apostle, that God doth sometimes
choose " the foolish things of the world to confound the wise,
and the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are
despised hath God chosen, yea, and things that are not, to
bring to nought things that are, that no flesh should glory in
his presence." May His blessing rest upon this little treatise,
so far as the principles advocated in it are in accordance with
His will and word, have a consequent tendency to promote the
unifty, peace, and welfare of his church, and so to secure His
glory.

CHAPTER II.
Christ prayed that his Disciples might be one, in order to the prevalence
of his Religion in the World. — His Apostles enjoined Unity amongst
Christians, and taught that Divisions are sinful.
In the beginning of the last chapter I have, in passing, assumed
as facts the statements which form the heading of the present
one. As they will constitute the very foundation of this trea
tise, it will be necessary at once to substantiate them. And,
first, that Christ prayed that his disciples might be one, no
person can doubt who reads the 17th chapter of the Gospel
as written by St. John — unless, indeed, the eye of his mind is
unhappily so dimmed by prejudice that he cannot, or rather
will not see, to the' acknowledgment of the truth. The time,
manner, language, and every circumstance attendant on Christ's
offering up that prayer, it will be seen, were most solemn and
interesting — a time in which, if it were lawful to make com
parisons where all is infinite, we may suppose, to speak hu
manly, his love for and anxiety in behalf of his immediate
disciples and his future church, to have been at their utmost
height, namely, at the time when, in order to finish his at once
appointed and chosen work he was about to lay down his life
a ransom for sinners, leave the world, and return to the Father.
The reader of this treatise, it is trusted, will feel sufficient in
terest in the important subject on which it treats, to peruse
carefiiUy the entire chapter (17th St. John) before he proceeds
— and he will find the Saviour, from verse 9 to 17, praying
for his immediate disciples in contradistinction to the unbe
lieving world around them, that " they may be one as he and
the Father are one" — that they " may be kept from the evil
of the world" — that they may be "sanctified through the
truth " — from verse 20, extending his prayer to his true dis
ciples, the members of his church universal in all ages, espe
cially that unity may prevail among them, that same unity or

6
one-ness which exists between him and his Father — " neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on
me through their word, that they all may be one as thou, Father,
art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us ;" and
let the reader observe the reason ^ven by the Divine Saviour
for this importunate prayer for unity — " that the world may
believe that thou hast sent me." Can any argument be used
in favour of Unity amongst the disciples of Christ superior to
this, that on it depends, very mainly, the belief of Christ's
divine mission, or the universal prevalence of Christianity in
the world ! Oh ! in what an awfal light does this argument
place those breaches of unity in Christ's church which proceed
from men's perverse tempers and dispositions, conceits and pre
judices ! I repeat the declaration, that no candid person, after
reading the 17th chapter of the Gospel of St. John, can deny
that Christ, at the most solemn period of his earthly existence,
prayed earnestly for the Unity of his Church, the one-ness of
his disciples in all ages. But, secondly, that the Apostles ex
horted those to whom they wrote to cherish the same unity or
one-ness, teaching that "divisions" are sinful, is equally ca
pable of proof. In the 12th chapter of his Epistle to the Ro
mans, and in the 12th chapter of his First Epistle to the
Corinthians, the Apostle St. Paul compares the church of
Christ to the natural body of man, in which God hath set
many members bearing different offices, some more, some less
honourable, connected by the strongest ties of sympathy, abso
lutely necessary to one another, having tempered tlie body toge
ther so that there be no schism therein. To cure the divisions
which existed among them seems to have been St. Paul's main
object in writing his First Epistle to the Corinthians ; for no
sooner had he saluted them and thanked God for their con
version to Christianity, than he most solemnly beseeches them,
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to cherish unity, to avoid
divisions. Mark the earnest manner in which he writes —
" 1 beseech you, brethren, by the Lord Jesus Christ, that

ye all speak the same thing, and there be no divisions among
you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same
mind and in the same judgment ;" — an undoubted unity this,
verily, which the Apostle delineates in the expressions, " speak
ing the same thing," and being " perfectly joined together in
the same mind and in the same judgment," and exhorts to the
adoption and practice thereof "by the Lord Jesus Christ,^
an unity, we may be assured, identically the same with that
which Christ had prayed might distinguish and embody his
disciples — "for, it hath been declared to me of you, my
brethren (proceeds the Apostle), by them that are of the house
ofChloe, that there are contentions among you." — The Apostle
then states the effect of these contentions, or rather, the shape
which they had assumed : " Now, this I say — that every one
of you saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas,
and I of Christ " — and rebukes them by the cutting questions
— " Is Christ divided ? Was Paul crucified for you, or were
ye baptized in the name of Paul ?" And here, it cannot fail
to strike the candid reader, that the names of the respec
tive founders or leaders of modern sects have but to be sub
stituted for those of Paul and Cephas, and the remonstrance
of the Apostle will be as applicable to their followers as it was
to the Corinthian schismatics — nay, it vdll be more applicable
to modern sectarians, as they are not prepared to maintain
that the founders of their sects were inspired. The Apostle
recurs to the subject in the 3rd chapter of the same Epistle,
declaring that these schisms or divisions actually hindered him
from addressing them " as spiritual," and from feeding them
with the strong nourishing food of the Gospel : " For (says
he) ye are yet carnal ; for whereas there is among you envy
ing, strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men
(i. e. as men in a state of corrupt nature), for while one saith
I am of Paul, and another I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal ?"
In the same strain he proceeds through several succeeding
verses ; but that which I have quoted is amply sufficient ta

show that the Apostle considered these divisions, these schisms,
these separations from the main body of the church at Corinth,
or, if it be preferred, these splittings of the body itself, as carnal
or sinful. That in these passages and others which might be
adduced, unity amongst the disciples of Christ is enjoined,
divisions shown to be sinful, no one, I conceive, will venture to
deny; and as I have before shown, that Christ prayed for this
same unity, I may consider the statements at the head of this
chapter substantiated. But then arises the question, What is
that unity for which Christ prayed, and which his Apostles
enjoined ? — a vital question, on which the whole subject turns,
and which shall be fully considered in the next chapter.

CHAPTER III.

What is that Unity for which Christ prayed, and which his Apostles
enjoined ?
In answering this question, I shall first show what that Unity is
not — secondly, what it is. Those who set up a form of worship
according to their own taste, or (if the term be preferred)
according to their conscience, and claim the right of selecting
their own minister, and contend for each man's own conscience
and judgment being the only rule and law in matters of Chris
tian doctrine and Christian fellowship, dispose of Christ's prayer
for Unity amongst his disciples, and the injunctions of his Apostles
to the same effect, by declaring that neither the one nor the other
ever contemplated or intended anything beyond an Unity of
heart and affections in all who professed to be Disciples of Christ
— a kind, forbearing, accommodating spirit — in short (for to
this it must come) an agreement to differ. But however
amiable and liberal such a view of the matter may at first sight
appear to be, we find no warrant, no resting place for it in the
Bible ! Let us test this assertion by a brief appeal to Christ's

9
prayer for Unity — the Apostolic injunction to the same effect — '-
and to analogy. What is the precise language used by Christ
in his prayer for Unity among his disciples in all ages ? Why,
" that they all may be one as thou, Father, art inme and t in
thee, that they also may be one in us ;" or, as he had just before
expressed himself, verse 11, that " they may be one as we are :"
so, then, the Unity amongst Christ's disciples was to be of the
same nature as that between himself and his Father. To be
brief on a subject so holy, so solemn — shall we compare to this
that Unity amongst professing Christians which charitably
tolerates differences in opinion and principle — an Unity
the very existence of which depends on mutual fokbeaeance ?
Such an idea were little short 'of blasphemy ! ! Again — does
such a view of Christian Unity agree with the doctrine laid
down by St. Paul in the passage already quoted : — " Now,
I beseech you, brethren, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions
among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the
SAME MIND and in the same judgment " ? No one will ven
ture to assert it ! Once more — try this view of Christian Unity
by Analogy — a very faithful teacher. Christians are called
in Scripture God's family and household. Now, carrying out
this idea and similitude, what should we think of the Unity of
a family or household, the members of which, while they cha
ritably tolerate each other's differences in opinion and principle,
yet cannot agree to break bread at the same table or to use
the same form of prayer ? We might speak of the members
of such a family being distinguished for forbearance towards
each other, but surely not for Unity or Oneness ! Again,
Christians are in Scripture called the soldiers of Jesus
Christ. — The Christian life is compared to a warfare. — St.
Paul, equipping his Ephesian converts in panoply complete, so
that they might be "able to withstand the assaults of the
Devil," and having done all to stand, enjoined all the Christian
graces under the figure of the different pieces of armour worn

10
by ancient warriors. — Christ is styled the " captain of our
salvation." — Hence, the Church enlists us in baptism as faithful
soldiers pledged to fight manftilly even to the end of our lives
under " Christ's banner against sin, the world, and the Devil."
But who is so ignorant as not to know that not only a cheerful
obedience to,, and an entire confidence in, the captain who leads
an army to battle, and a good understanding and heartfelt
union amongst the soldiers, but also an entire uniformity of
design and outward action as well in the drill as in the battle
field, is absolutely necessary, in order, by God's blessing, to
ensure the victory ? — I assert, then, that a mere unity in heart
and affection in all who profess to be disciples of Christ, a kind,
forbearing, and accommodating spirit, an agreement to differ,
is not that Unity for which Christ prayed, and which his
Apostles enjoined.* — ^But having shown what that Unity for
which Christ prayed and his Apostles enjoined is not, I proceed
(secondly) to show what it is. I hesitate not to say that it is a
perfect Unity — an Unity or Oneness in Christian doctrine — an
Unity or Oneness in the outward forms of religion — an Unity
or Oneness in heart and affection — in short, as I before said, a
perfect Unity — Yes, Unity in Christian doctrine. — By Christian
doctrine I here mean that system of truths which is revealed in
the Holy Scriptures concerning the God whom we adore^ —
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost — three persons, but one God —
which declares the way of a sinner's being justified before God,
and being made fit for the kingdom of heaven — what we must
* It is scarcely necessary to say that the author does not lay himself open
to the serious charge of disparaging the Christian grace of forbearance, the
exercise of which, in the present fallen and corrupt state of human nature,
alone can soften asperities and render our intercourse with each other com
fortable. He simply asserts that forbearance, or an agreement to differ, is
not that unity or oneness which Christ prayed might characterise his dis
ciples ! It is important to call things by their right names ; indeed. Truth
itself is at stake in the matter ; and, as a case in point, it would have been
more wise and true had it been announced to the world, concerning the late
extraordinary gathering at Liverpool, that its object would be to establish
mutual forbearance amongst Christians, or an agreement to differ !

II
believe, alid what we must do to be saved — in short, which
forms at once the badge of our profession, the motive of our
conduct, the ground of our hope, our comfort, and our joy.
To suppose Christ before his death praying for the Unity of
his disciples in all ages that they might " be one as he and the
Father are one ;" after his death and resurrection invested
with " all power in heaven and earth ;" and yet, either failing,
in due time, to provide a fixed, recognised, and intelligible
system of doctrines for their guidance in faith and practice,
or indifferent as to their departure from that system, in large
bodies or individual members of his Church, would be at once
impious and absurd ! Hence, I have no hesitation in saying
that the very fact of Christ having prayed for his followers in
all ages " that they might be one as he and the Father are
one," and having been soon after invested with all power in
heaven and in earth, is a safe guarantee that he would, when
the proper time came, provide his Church with a perfect and
intelligible system of doctrines, or truths, or principles, which
should form the foundation on which to build such an Unity.
This is a legitimate and safe inference ; but beyond this, I pro
ceed to prove from Scripture that our divine Saviour actually
did provide his Church with such 'a ground of Unity — that he
had no sooner left his disciples and fulfilled his promise of
sending to them the Holy Ghost the Comforter, who should
bring all things to their remembrance which he had said to
them, and should in all respects qualify them for founding that
Church, "against which the gates of Hell should never pre
vail," than we find them in various strong expressions alluding
to a recognised system of doctrines drawn up for the use of
the Church to the end of the world. St. Luke, in the Acts of the
Apostles (Acts ii. 42), calls this system the "Apostles' Doc
trine," connecting with it " fellowship," " breaking of bread
(or an administration of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper),"
and united prayer and praise. St. Paul, in his second Epistle
to Timothy, 1st chapter and 13th verse, calls it " the form

12
of sound words," and charges him to " hold it fast." In the
second chapter of the same Epistle he speaks of the same code
of doctrine under the phrase, " the things thou hast heard
OF ME AMONG MANY WITNESSES," and chargcs him, " the same
commit to faithful men which shall be able to teach others
also," which proved that this code of doctrine was to be handed
down. This system of doctrines is called in passages of the
inspired Epistles, too numerous to be quoted at length, " the
FAITH," and Christians are exhorted to " examine themselves
whether they be in it" — " to continue in it" — "to stand fast
in it " — " to contend for it " — " to strive for it." No reflecting
and candid person can doubt but that allusion is made in these
passages to a summary of Christian doctrines, a brief form of
belief, either drawn up by the Apostles before such portions of
the Oracles of God, as we call the New Testament, were com
mitted to writing, or taken from them after they had been
written, as an instrument whereby the early Christians, aye and
Christians for ever, might the more easily, surely, and uniformly
be taught the principles of" Christ's religion," and might be able
" with the mouth to make confession to salvation " — a fact this,
confirmed by the distinct testimony of Irenseus, scholar of Poly
carp, who was the disciple of St. John, TertuUian, and other
early Fathers of the Christian Church — a fact borne witness to
from generation to generation even down to our own days, by
all pure branches of Christ's Holy Catholic Church having
their authorized forms of sound words or creeds similar in
main principles and spirit, if not composed of the self-same
words ; as, for example, that used by the Anglican branch,
commonly called " the Apostles' Creed," so called, if not from
the Apostles themselves having composed it, yet from its con
taining the Apostolic doctrines, and having its origin in Apos
tolic times. The inspired Scriptures, then, the writings of the
early Fathers of the Church, and the testimony arising from a
form of belief similar in main principles, though not identical
in words, having been used by all the sound branches of

13
Christ's Holy Catholic Church from age to age down to our
own day, conspire to prove that in Christ's prayer for the
Unity of his Church, as recorded by St. John, Unity of doctrine
is necessarily included.
Nor, is unity or oneness in the outward forms and ordi
nances of religion a less necessary ingredient in that unity,
which Christ prayed might prevail amongst his disciples from
age to age, than unity or oneness in doctrine. Hence, we find
St. Paul in his beautiful prayer for his Roman converts (Ro
mans, 15th Chap., 5th and 6tli verses) placing the two in this
very sequence — " Now the God of patience and consolation
grant you to be like minded one towards another according
to Christ Jesus, that ye may with one mind and one mouth
glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Not either, that in his last prayer for the perfect unity or
oneness of his disciples, our Lord contemplated an identity of
forms and ceremonies in those who should in all ages and coun
tries compose his Church : this we nowhere gather from Scrip
ture. Hence the Anglican branch of Christ's Holy Catholic
Church, ever true to Scripture, declares in the former part of
her 34th Article — " It is not necessary that traditions {i.e. cus
toms) and ceremonies be in all places one and utterly alike, for
at all times they have been divers, and may be changed accord
ing to the diversities of countries, times, and men's manners, so
that nothing be ordained against God's word." But certainly
we do gather from Scripture, that in cities or countries where
sound branches of Christ's holy Catholic Church exist, and those
lawfully bearing office in the same, have appointed forms of
worship, ordinances, and ceremonies not opposed to God's word,
private Christians are conscientiously bound to use the same;
and hence our Church goes on in the latter part of her aforesaid
34th Article to declare — " Whosoever through his private judg
ment willingly and purposely doth openly break the traditions
and ceremonies of the Church which be not repugnant to the word
of God, and be ordained and approved by common authority,

14
ought to be rebuked openly (that others may fear to do the
like), as he that offendeth against tlie common order of the
Church, and hurteth the authority of the magistrate and
woundeth the conscience of the weak brethren." If these
things are so — and that they are I maintain on the warrant
of inspired Scripture and the Church — what multitudes live in
grievous error or in wilful transgression in this Christian land?
their lives being one continued breach of that unity amongst
his disciples for which Christ prayed and which his Apostles
enforced. Heartily disposed as I am to give my Dissenting
brethren, when I fairly can, every credit for acting conscien
tiously, I would desire to attribute this dire evil in the great
majority of cases, especially amongst the lower classes, to want of
due consideration. God grant that the eyes of these may be
opened to see how wofully the beauty and efficiency of the
Church of Christ is marred and weakened by these divisions
which they are keeping up — and that those who " cause them
to err " may consider how great their responsibility is, and that
all may return to those sweet paths of unity which are alone
to be found in communion with the Church. — That any re
flecting and serious Christian who has attained to any con
siderable knowledge of the mind of God, as it is to be disco
vered in the general tenor of his word, can imagine that
multifarious and rival houses of worship and forms of prayer
can be approved by that Divine Mind, I can never believe.
No : setting aside any peculiar circumstances which might be
adduced as forming an exception to the general rule, such as a
parish with a decidedly unsatisfactory clergyman (though I
have my doubts whether even this would justify dissent in that
parish*) — the broad ground on which alone any reasonable
* Painful ! lamentable as confessedly is the case of an unsatisfactory
clergyman in a parish, and devoutly as it is to be wished that no such case
should henceforth exist, yet, inasmuch as, in spite of every precaution, such
cases must and will occur while human nature remains corrupt as it is, it is
surely a great blessing that the Church in her appointed Lessons, Psalms,
Epistle and Gospel, Creeds and Scriptural Liturgy,, has so eSbctually met

15
apology for, or justification of such practices can be built, is
tlie infirmity and sinfulness of human nature through the fall, —
and I need scarcely say that this is no justification at all in
the case of any individual who, knowing the Divine mind as
above supposed, and who, to gratify his own taste, runs counter
to that mind — any more than the same unhappy corruption of
human nature would justify a man in not striving to " love God
with all his heart and his neighbour as himself." — Thirdly and
lastly on this head — that unity or oneness in heart and affec
tions, though not constituting in all its integrity, as I have
before proved, that unity or oneness which Christ prayed might
prevail amongst Christians, and which his Apostles enjoined,
is yet an absolutely necessary ingredient in that unity, it is
almost superfluous that I affirm, still less so that I quote, the
very many, the almost numberless passages of Scripture which
directly or indirectly declare it, seeing that all professing
Christians are agreed on this point. Following out, therefore,
the apt and beautiful similitude of St. Paul, in the 2nd chapter
of his Epistle to the Ephesians, 9th and three following verses ;
and of St. Peter in his first Epistle, 2nd chap., Sth verse,
wherein they liken the Christian Church to a stately building,
built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus
Christ himself being the corner stone, and individual Christians
the case as to take care that none of her members, even the most unedu
cated, can regularly attend upon her services and ordinances, and yet remain
ignorant of any saving doctrine, any holy precept of Christianity. This
being so, and Christ having prayed for the oneness of his disciples, and
his apostles declared divisions to be sinful, the author cannot see that such
case justifies the setting up a rival house of worship, with all its attendant
train of evils ! Painful ! lamentable ! I repeat, is the case of an unsatisfac
tory clergyman in a parish ! But let the parishioner placed under such
circumstances respect the ofiBce of his appointed pastor, if he cannot respect
him personally — let his attendance at his parish church be regular — and
with his Bible and Book of Common Prayer in his hand, let him be thankful
that in one sense of the term he is an Independent — that he is independent
of his minister. Is it not very possible that there may be political, time
serving, unsatisfactory dissenting ministers ? and have dissenters anything in
that case so substantial as the appointed services of the Church to fall back
upon ?

16
to the polished stones which form the building— I may ven
ture to say, that sincere and hearty affection is the cement
which is ordained to hold the building compactly together. —
I have, then, I hope and trust, proved from the general tenor
of Scripture and from analogy that the unity or oneness which
Christ prayed might prevail for ever amongst his disciples, and
which his Apostles enjoined, is a perfect Unity — an unity or
oneness in Christian doctrine — an unity or oneness in outward
forms and ordinances — an unity or oneness in holy affection
and love.

CHAPTER IV.

Where is the common, the hallowed Ground on which alone all Protestant
Christians who worship a Trinity of Divine Persons, in one eternal and
undivided Godhead, can meet, and so realise that Unity for which Christ
prayed and which his Apostles enjoined ?
Yes, this is the all-important question which now forces itself
on our minds with the most pressing urgency, and to answer
which is the great object of this little treatise. I do not hesitate
to declare it to be my thorough conviction that, if this question
were to be solemnly and separately put to the most candid
and really pious members of all the Protestant sects in the
land, worshipping a trinity of Divine Persons in one Eternal
Godhead, the answer from all would be one and the same,
however unprepared those making it might at present be to
fulfil their divine Master's will embodied in his last prayer, by
acting upon it — and that answer would be, " that common
ground must be, the Common Prayer Book of the Church of
England." But neither conviction, however legitimately ar
rived at, nor assertion, however well founded, is proof. Re
questing the reader of this work, therefore, to bear in mind
the circumstance that the assertion of the Common Prayer
Book of the Church of England being the common ground on

17
•which the unity in question must, humanly speaking, be built
or attained, is one which in its very nature is incapable of
direct^ formal, and absolute proof, I shall endeavour to throw
together such indirect and informal proofs as the case admits
of ; such, however, as I am bold to say, must carry conviction
to every unprejudiced mind. — I have before ventured, in effect,
to affirm that multifarious houses of prayer and forms of wor
ship are contrary to the intent, mind, and will of God — that
such divisions of Christ's body are the offspring of human
corriiptions — and if wilfully caused and persisted in, are inex
cusable on the same ground that a breach of the first and
second great Christian commandments is inexcusable — " Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and
thy neighbour as thyself." But if this affirmation is true in
the abstract and in the general — oh ! how pre-eminently true
must it be when applied to Christian England, in which the
purest branch of Christ's holy Catholic Church, now on earth,
is by law established — of whose laws it has been said with truth
that " Christianity forms part and parcel of them, whose kings
and queens have long been her Churche^' nursing fathers and
mothers " — whose senators have so far learned true wisdom as
to perceive it to be their first duty to plant that Church in its
fullest efficiency in every city, town, and village in the land.
Oh 1 if we would diligently and prayerfully search the Divine
Word with a view to ascertain the Divine Mind on the subject
of that perfect Unity in faith and practice, in doctrine and
worship, in heart and affections, which God would love to see
amongst his people en earth, and which he has ordained shall
issue in oneness of mind and worship in Heaven : and if, in the
serious and candid state of mind which such an exercise is
calculated to produce, we would contemplate the venerable
edifices, whose heaven-pointing spires and ivy-clad towers
Christianize as well as beautify the English landscape, and
form the rallying point of true and undefiled religion through
out the length and breadth of the land ; and if further, keep-

18
ing in view those cardinal points, those distinguishing doctrines
of Christianity — man's original moral likeness to a holy God,
his corruption and lost estate through the fall — and the means
which God has mercifully ordained to restore him to the state
of holiness and happiness which he lost ; pardon of sin through
the atoning blood of Christ, embraced and appropriated by a
lively faith, and sanctification of the heart and renewed holi
ness of life through the grace of the Holy Ghost, which alone
constitutes a meetness for the kingdom of heaven ; — if, I say,
keeping in view these great distinguishing doctrines of Chris
tianity, we would, in the afore-named serious and candid spirit,
examine the articles and homilies, the services and offices of
the Church as contained in her Book of Common Prayer, I am
perfectly satisfied that we could come but too ne conclusion — '
this is the manuaVof the Bible — this is the handmaid of true
religion — here, if in this Christian land it is to be found, is
the common, the hallowed ground, on which all Anglican Chris
tians, merging minor differences of opinion, may meet, and offer
unto God that sweet sacrifice of Unity which he loves — which
Christ prayed foi — which his Apostles enjoined, and which all
good men sigh for ! What other ground did any Anglican
Christian ever dream of ? None, I verily believe. No intelligent
and reflecting " Independent " ever dreamed of all Anglican
Christians becoming Independents! — No "Anabaptist" that all
would become Anabaptists ! — No " Wesley an " that all would
become Wesleyans I though each may assert that his own sect is
right — all others wrong. — The sectarian, revelling in liberty
of conscience and the right of private judgment in matters of
religion, seldom turns his thoughts to the awkward subject of
Christian unity at all ; and if the subject is perchance forced
on his consideration, he escapes from it by endeavouring to
persuade himself that it consists in a charitable forbearance
amongst all professing Christians, an agreement to differ. But
drive him from this entrenchment, by showing it to be impos
sible that such could be the Unity or oneness which Christ prayed

19
might prevail amongst his disciples, which was to resemble the
Unity or oneness which exists between him and his Father,
and he is forced either to declare his belief that, though Christ
did in his last earthly intercession for his Church pray for this
real, this perfect Unity, this oneness amongst his disciples, and
shortly afterwards was invested with all power in heaven and
in earth, he nevertheless omitted to afford the ground for such
Unity in this land in which the Gospel was so soon to be
preached, and which was destined to be in due time its strongest
hold — or else, that he did furnish such ground, and with the
exception of those dark and dreary years during which Popery
was permitted to corrupt and mar it, as a punishment for national
sins, has continued it in the pure branch of his holy Catholic
Church which for so many years has been established amongst us.
Sectarians sometimes speak of the Church of England as the
sect preferred and favoured by the State ; but, though some of
them may make this statement in ignorance, the more educated
must know better, and only keep up such a delusion in their
own and other's minds in order to justify a continuance in
their own adopted and favourite form of worship, and code of
doctrines. They know that, once admit the fact that there is
such a DIVINE INSTITUTION as Christ's Holy Catholic Church
visible on earth, and that the Church established by law in
England is a pure branch of that Church, holding and carry
ing out in her articles, homilies, services and offices the great
cardinal doctrines and ordinances of the Gospel, and sectarian
ism or dissent is at once found guilty of a breach of that
unity for which Christ prayed, and which his Apostles en
joined ; and hence, unprepared to acknowledge and renounce
their errors, they persist in an evil and injurious course, under
the plea of professing to believe the Church of England to be
one amongst many Anglican sects.
But, supposing for a moment that we take low ground,
merely by way of argument, and view the Established Church
as one of many sects — which the lawful rulers of the land have
c2

20
for ages considered it their duty to favour and incorporate with
the State — still I am prepared to maintain that she affords the
only possible foundation (humanly speaking) in this land, on
which that Unity for which Christ prayed, and which his
Apostles enjoined, can be built, placing in the hands of all her
members, as she is able to do, her " credentials clear "—the
book of her articles, homilies, services, and offices, which she
exhorts them to compare with Scripture, and challenges them
to prove contrary thereto in matters of doctrine and practice
affecting salvation, and therefore claiming the benefit of that
class of texts of which the following is most conspicuous, —
" Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's
sake," — which, I maintain, no other sect can do in its full sense
and meaning. Moreover, from her manner of appointing and
locating her ministers, placing her members in a position to
fulfill that very important command of St. Paul — Hebrews,
13th chapter and 17th verse — " Obey them that have the rule
over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls,"
&c. &c. ; which again no other sect can do, inasmuch as for a
congregation to set up its own Blinister, and then obey him, is as
perfect an anomaly as to make a God with our own hands and
then fall down and worship it. Nor should I fail to mention
the facilities for carrying into operation that Unity, for which
Christ prayed, which the Church of England pre-eminently
possesses ; conveying — as she alone does — her ministrations into
every city, town, and village of the land.
And here, by the way, ere proceeding to the consideration
of the important question which naturally arises out of what
has been said, namely. What is it which mainly hinders a con
summation so devoutly to be wished by all true Christians ?
which will form the subject of the succeeding Chapter, I may
be excused if I say a few words, somewhat out of due order,
on the different views taken of Christian Unity, as prayed for
by Christ, and enjoined by his Apostles ; and on the different
lines of conduct pursued in reference thereto by Dissent, and

21
by the Romish and Anglican branches of the Catholic Church.
Dissent necessarily confines her view of Christian unity (if
unity it may be called) to charity, mutual forbearance, or an
agreement to differ. The Romish branch of the Catholic
Church, I believe, takes the same view of Christian unity as
does the Anglican branch — the same view which I have taken
in this treatise — and in order to attain it, she would 3weep away
with her efficient besom all rights of conscience and private
judgment, and Bibles to boot ; and by the powerful argument
of pains and penalties, fire and fagot, would enforce it on all
Christendom. The Anglican branch of the Catholic Church
seeks to enforce Christian unity, in all its fulness, on the con
sciences and understandings of Englishmen, carrying the Bible
in her right hand, and the Book of Common Prayer in her left
hand ; putting into their mouths, and, if it may be, into their
hearts, her creed, liturgy, et ccetera, exhorting them to search
the scriptures, and judge for themselves, whether the things
she affirms and enjoins are so ; and endeavouring to impress on
their minds the responsibilities which an assertion of the rights
of conscience and private judgment, in matters of religion, lay
them under. Which of these is the Scriptural view and line of
conduct, we may cheerfully and safely leave it to our readers
to judge.

CHAPTER V.

What is it which mainly hinders the Establishment of that complete Unitj
in this Christian Land which Christ prayed might prevail amongst his
Disciples of all ages, and which his Apostles enjoined ?
With many it will be deemed a sufficient answer to the ques
tion placed at the head of this chapter to say, that conscience
mainly hinders that consummation so devoutly to be wished !
And, doubtless, many of those who dissent from the Holy
Apostolic Church of England do so on conscientious grounds.

22
This we are quite ready to believe, though we in vain search
for any departure from Apostolic doctrine or practice in her
articles, homilies, services, and offices, which can warrant such a
lamentable breach of Christian Unity. While charity, however,
leads us to believe this, candour and truth compel us to declare
it to be our perfect conviction that pride of heart is the main
hinderance to the establishment of Unity amongst Anglican
Christians ! The Church of England does assert a moral claim
to the allegiance of Englishmen, though she desires not, like the
Church of Rome, to visit with pains and penalties those who
deny her authority, and separate themselves from her com
munion ! But pride of heart, that opposer of all authority and
subordination, divine and human, instigates multitudes to spurn
at the idea of allegiance to the Church of England, and to
plume themselves on an assertion of their independence ! A
careless indifference on the subject of religion, doubtless, swells
the ranks of dissent and^ disunion — " Why, Sir, it is not that
I have left the Church that I go to the meeting-house ; but,
you see, Sir, the meeting-house is nearest to our house, and
there is but one way to Heaven, whether for Churchmen or
Dissenters, it cannot therefore matter whether we go to Church
or to Meeting," is a speech which every clergyman has fre
quently the pain of listening to, and must pass by, unless he is
prepared for a long and almost invariably a fruitless argument !
But cold indifference on the subject of religion would not
originate dissent and disunion — would not build dissenting
chapels. If the history of every dissenting chapel in this king
dom could be ascertained by man, as it is known to God, it
would be found, 1 believe, that while a certain number have
been erected on the foundation of conscience, the vast majority
have been erected on the foundation of pride of heart, in its
two ramifications, of opposition to constituted authority, and
that of a man's being wise in his own conceits. This it was
which, before this beautiful world was created, caused dissent
and rebellion in Heaven, and cast out angels thence, who are

23
'• reserved in chains against the judgment of the Great Day ! "
This it was which cast our first parents out of Paradise, and
entailed sin, and woe, and death upon our fallen race ! This
it was which stirred up Korah, Dathan, and Abiram to rebel
against Moses and Aaron, the servants of the Lord, to the
awful destruction of themselves and company ! This it tvas
which caused divisions in the infant Church of Christ in the
days of the Apostles themselves, which drew from St. Paul's
pen the expostulatory question, — " Whereas one saith, I am
of Paul, another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal ?" What
wonder then, that in these latter days the self-same evil spirit
should produce the self same evil fruits? No wonder, but
alas ! — great pity ! — moreover, great call for self examination
on the part of seceders from the Church of England — and
great call for faithfulness as to the sin of schism on the part of
the ministers of the Church of England. As St. Paul declared
divisions to be sinful and exhorted those to whom he wrote to
mark and avoid them, so must we. As he, in the 4th Chapter of
his Epistle to his Ephesian converts, enjoined a different spirit,
beseeching them " to walk worthy their Christian vocation
with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, for
bearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of
the spirit in the bond of peace, because there is one body and
one spirit, even as we are called in one hope of our calling,
one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us
all, who is above all, and through all and in us all," — so must
we. As he affectionately exhorted his Corinthian converts
(1 Cor. i. 10.) — " Now I beseech you, brethren, by the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same
thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that
ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in
the same judgment," — so must we. It is painful to write
that which will give offence to our dissenting brethren ! —
but the fear of giving offence must not prevent our deliver
ing what we believe to be the " whole counsel of God," or

24
any part thereof— from "speaking the truth in love." We
must never forget that we are " stewards of the mysteries of
God," and that, in the language of St. Paul, " it is required of
stewards that they be found faithful," — and we may safely
address to those who are offended, the question of St. Paul to
the Galatians (Gal. iv. 16), "Am I your enemy because I tell
you the truth ? "

CHAPTER VL
CONCLUSION.

Brethren and Sisters in Christ Jesus — and are these things
so ? Did our Lord, at the most solemn period of his earthly
sojourn, pray that a perfect Unity or oneness might prevail
amongst his true disciples of all ages, even such an Unity or
oneness as exists between himself and his Father ? And did
an inspired Apostle of the Lord beseech the Corinthian Chris
tians, by the Lord Jesus, to cherish the same Unity, or one
ness, declaring divisions among them to be carnal or sinful ?
And was this the cause assigned by Christ for his prayer for
Unity, " that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me," in
other words, that my mission may be known to be divine, that the
cause of Christ may prosper and advance on the earth, " God's
kingdom come, his will be done in earth as it is in heaven,"
"the knowledge of the Lord cover the earth as the waters
cover the seas," and the advent of that glorious, that longed-
for day be hastened, " when the kingdoms of the world shall
become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall
reign for ever and ever " ? And is not the state of spiritual
things in this, our Christian land, unwillingly allowed by some,
Vainly and ignorantly gloried in by others, Christ's glorious
body so mangled, as with difficulty to be identified as his body :
sect after sect rising up, divisions divided and subdivided.

25
until ingenuity itself is sorely taxed to assign to each new sect
an appropriate appellation ; party striving against party, until
the worst passions of our fallen nature he stirred up and let
loose, and love and forbearance give place to " anger, malice,
and all uncharitableness " ? Is not this, I ask, an un-scriptural,
an un-Christian, a lamentable state of things ? Must it not
mar and damage individual piety? Must it not stigmatize
our national Christianity ? Can it do otherwise than act as
a sore and grievous hinderance to the prevalence of the cause of
Christ throughout the world ? Can we wonder that the mi
serable caviller and infidel at home, or the awakening heathen
abroad, should sneeringly ask, like one of old, " what is
Truth " ? what are we to believe, seeing that it is difficult to
meet with two professors of Christianity who are of the same
mind, the same judgment in spiritual matters ; and what are
we to think of a religion which produces discord instead of
Unity, strife and hatred instead of love and peace ? Could
such a religion proceed from Him " who maketh men to be of
one mind " " in an house," and who is the holy, holy, holy, the
God of love ? What answer can we make to such cavils and
objections ? Verily, none but this ! Lay not these evils, these
abominations, to the charge of the Christian religion, for she is
not the mother of such a viperous brood ! Satan is their father,
human corruption their mother, the names of their brothers
and sisters may be found in the 5th chapter of St. Paul's
Epistle to the Galatians, 19th to 21st verse. We are ashamed
of them ! We mourn over them ! more especially as they
give the enemies of religion opportunity, if not just cause, to
blaspheme, and as they impede the prevalence of Christ's re
ligion in the world ! And shall we not pray and strive against
such a state of things ; shall we not each of us make an en
deavour, a sacrifice, to lessen so dire an evil, or at least to
wash our hands of our portion of the guilt of it? We have
seen in this treatise what that Unity is, which Christ prayed
might prevail amongst his disciples in all ages, the breaches of

26
which his Apostles declared to be carnal. We have seen
where alone is the ground on which that fair edifice of Christian
Unity can be erected ; we have seen what is that disposition
which most hinders the goodly, the glorious work, the work of
the Lord, from proceeding ! What then wait we for ? The
Anglican branch of the Church of Christ has, from the
Apostles' days, like a glorious river, wended its way through
our favoured land, with its attendant streams, irrigating and
fertilizing every portion, even the most sequestered districts of
the same. True, its waters were, during a portion -of our
national history, troubled and muddied by her apostate and
persecuting Sister of Rome, so that she might well be called
" Mara " ; but in his own good time, it pleased God to cause
a Tree* to be cast into the waters, since which time they
have been sweet and pure, refreshing the weary traveller,
as he journeys across life's wilderness to his happy, his
eternal home. Yes, the Church of England, with her cre
dentials clear, carries her ministrations into every parish in the
land, forming the rallying-point, the ground of Unity for all
sincere Christians, who long to fulfill their Saviour's prayer ;
and leaving those without excuse, who are determined to follow
their own devices, to indulge the itching ear, to run about from
place to place to hear " some new thing," and to listen to con
flicting statements of doctrine from irresponsible teachers, until
their moral senses are confused and stupified, and they are in
utmost danger of abjuring the Bible altogether !
Seceders from the .Anglican branch of Christ's Holy
Catholic Church, we exhort^ we beseech, we warn you against
needless breaches of that Unity, or oneness, which Christ
prayed might prevail amongst his disciples in all ageSj and
which his Apostles enjoined, which is the beauty, the strength,
and the glory, of his Church. We declare it to be our de
liberate and solemn conviction, that salvation, in and through
Jesus Christ, in all its plenitude, is to be had in communion
* The Reformation. — Vide Exodus xv.

27
with the Church of England by every member of the same,
who duly attends on her ministrations, sacraments, and ordi
nances, and orders his life and conversation in accordance
with the same ; and we therefore feel it our duty, faithfully
and affectionately, to declare to you our firm and unalterable
belief, that the Divisions which you cause, or cherish, are un
necessary, unwarrantable, " carnal " ! It is in vain to tell us
that we dissented from the Romish branch of the Catholic
Church, and that you have an equal right to dissent from the
Anglican branch. Your right, legal, to separate yourselves
from us we dispute not, either on the above ground or even^Aa^
of your own will and pleasure ; nay ! we rejoice that you have
that right, abominating as we do all manner of despotism, espe
cially spiritual despotism ; but your right, Moral and Scrip
tural, we do dispute on the above ground. We dissented
from, and protested against, the Church of Rome, because she
had grossly departed from the pure faith and practice of the
Gospel, and because she could have no claim of jurisdiction,
under any circumstances, in this realm of England. But the
Church of England has the strongest possible moral claim to
the allegiance of Englishmen, as being the Branch of Christ's
Holy Catholic Church planted in this land in Apostolic times,
if not by Apostolic hands, established from time immemorial by
the laws of the land ; and though laying no claim to infallibility
while carrying her inestimable treasures in earthen vessels, yet
holding, administering, and inculcating, in the main concern
ments thereof, all the saving doctrines, sacraments, ordinances,
and precepts of the Gospel. We presume not to say, — God
forbid ! God forbid ! ! — that those who dissent from us cannot
be saved ! Just as well might we assert, that all who remain
in outward communion with the Church will be saved ! Various
are the motives from which men act, and, though a good motive
cannot make a bad action, or line of conduct, good, yet it may,
for Christ's sake, render the actor acceptable in the sight of
God. To God is known the motive of every seceder from the

28
Church of England, be it an hereditary prejudice, ignorance,
carelessness, self-willedness, pride of heart, or conscience, and
with Him we are content to leave the matter ; but, meanwhile,
we are bound to declare, on the foundation of the Bible, that
there is such a sin as Schism, that our Scriptural Church leads
us to pray to be delivered from it, that Christ prayed his dis
ciples might be one, that his Apostles declared divisions to be
sinful !
Anglican Churchmen ; inestimably great are -youv privi
leges, correspondingly great are your responsibilities. You have
been by baptism grafted into a true and living Branch of that
Church, which was built on the foundation of Apostles and
Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone :
in virtue of which holy sacrament, you are, on condition of re
pentance, faith, and the new and holy life, heirs-presumptive
to all the blessings of the Gospel. Look well to it, we affec
tionately beseech you, that these conditions are ftilfiUed in
your daily life and conversation, for otherwise, we assure you,
that baptism, so far from proving a sign and a pledge to you
of salvation, will witness against you to your condemnation !
You are invited. Sabbath after Sabbath, to take your part in
the most rational. Scriptural, and sublime services, services
which have stood the test of ages. A Liturgy which has
assisted the devotion, and borne on its wings the penitential
confessions, hearty thanksgivings, and solemn vows of millions
now in heaven. Creeds, which mark the struggles of your
forefathers for " the faith once delivered to the Saints," and
withal record their victories, and moreover, are still ^aX faith's
best bulwarks. Collects, which breathe a language and a spirit
peculiarly their own, a language ever new, a spirit inimitable,
bordering closely on inspiration, of which, as they come round
in their annual, nay, perennial rotation, it has been testified a
thousand times that the last used ever seems the most beau
tiful of all, and more lovely than ever it seemed before. A
Litany, whose excellencies no pen can write, no tongue can

29
tell, which seeks at once to bring you upon your bended knees,
as miserable sinners, begging mercy at the footstool of your
Triune God, nor lets you rise until you have offered up your
intercessory prayer in behalf of all your fellow-creatures, friends
or foes, in whatsoever state of temptation or afiliction they can
be placed, whether in sickness or in health, whether in want
or wealth, whether in prosperity or adversity, whether occu
pying a high or a low station, from the sovereign on the throne
to the captive in the dungeon — of which we may safely and
appropriately say, in language nearly similar to that of an
Apostle, " here abideth faith, hope, charity : these three, but
especially charity." A Communion Service, we boldly assert,
unrivalled, in which more than Angel's food is offered to every
penitent and believing communicant, in which . . . but I
refrain from saying more, having already exceeded the limits
I had proposed to myself Inestimably great, I repeat, Angli
can Churchmen, are your privileges, correspondingly great
your responsibilities. If salvation is to be had in this fallen
world, I again say, it is to be had through Christ in communion
with the Church of England, exclusively we say not, but cer
tainly, so certainly, that no pious member of her, who in all its
integrity follows out her system as prescribed in her own
" Book of Common Prayer," can, if he persevere unto the end,
fail of attaining it : an assertion, which he must be a bold man
who would hazard, conceming the almost countless sects around
us. Oh ! how great the guilt and danger then, of a mere
formal churchman ! of one, who, having been grafted into the
body of Christ's Church in baptism, and having, from his
childhood and upwards, been religiously brought up " according
to that beginning," yet, in after life turns his back, wholly or
partially, on the beautiful and scriptural services of the Church,
approaches God, in the use thereof with his lips only, whilst
his heart is far from Him, or holds the truth in unrighteousness !
Oh ! how lamentably do such instances of unsound churchman-
ship tend to confirm seceders from our Church in their course

30
of schismatical separation, and so retard the fulfilment, in this
most Christian land, of our Saviour's prayer for the Unity or
oneness of his disciples, which we have seen in this tract can
only be effected, humanly speaking, on the ground of the
Common Prayer Book of the Church of England. And if we
have borne faithful witness in this tract against the sin of those
who separate from our Church without cause, what shall we
think and say of those of her sons, nay ! of her ministers, who
have caused divisions within her Why, we say, we sincerely
hope that they have been led into dangerous extremes by an
error of the head, and not of the heart ; and we pray that they
may return to a sounder judgment ! Meanwhile, we would
beseech them to reflect, who hath said, "a house divided
against itself cannot stand ; " but, if our charity misleads our
judgment, if, in our desire to hope the best of our erring
brethren, and in our prayer for their return to the very bosom
of their spiritual mother, we are hoping against hope, if, while
eating the bread of the Church, they are wilfully lifting up
their heel against her, if, while hypocritically ministering at
her pure altars, they have conceived the Satanic thought and
design of handing her over to the tender mercies of her old
and cruel enemy, her corrupt and idolatrous Sister of Rome, why,
then, we tell them and their allies at Rome, that we haVe counted
our cost, that we are determined, by God's help, to maintain ^Ae
purity of our faith, and the independence of our Church, or perish
in the attempt ; and that if they have not the honesty or the
manliness to quit posts which they hold with so bad a con
science, we will do our best in God's good time, if they dare to
avow their anti-Anglican principles, to drive them from those
posts.* And, oh ! dear brethren of the Church of England,
* Since the above was written Mr. Newman and others have gone over
to the Church of Rome. Such being their taste and temper, much as it is
to be regretted that men should prefer error to truth, Jesuitism to plain,
honest Church qf Englandism — the Church of England is to be congratu
lated on their departure— on the principle that a declared enemy is to be
preferred to a false friend ! And devoutly is it to be desired, both for their

31
whether fellow-ministers or fellow-members, who unite with me
in loving her for the sake of the pure faith of which she is
God's chosen citadel, and for the holy sacraments and scrip
tural services by which she would lead her children to, or
preserve them in that faith ; lift up your prayers and your
hearts with mine to England's God and Saviour for the peace
of our Jerusalem ; " peace be within her walls, and plen-
teousness within her palaces, for our brethren and companions'
sake," yea, for all our fellow-countrymen's sake, " we will wish
her prosperity, yea, especially because of the house of the
Lord our God," the branch of the holy Apostolic Church which
he has planted amongst us, that branch of his Church which
he has made so strong for himself, " we will seek to do her
good." Let us pray : —
" O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only
Saviour, the Prince of Peace, give us grace seriously to lay
to heart the dangers we are in through our unhappy divisions.
Take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatsoever else may
hinder us from Godly union and concord, that as there is but
one body, and one spirit, and one hope of our calling : one
Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all,
so we may henceforth be all of one heart, and of one soul ;
united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and
charity ; and may with one mind and one mouth, glorify thee,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen and Amen."
credit and for our sakes, that all within the pale of the Church of England
who have yearnings after Rome should as speedily as possible pack up their
goods and chattels and follow their leader.

T. Wai.esby, Printer, Briilge Street, Northampton.

3 9002 08844 3834

iiU.