intosh, in particular, has devoted some portion of his Dissertation to the explanation of the principal ethical terms, on the Necessarian hypothesis. Nothwithstanding the ingenuity of this effort, the student will probably find, on careful examination, that the great question at issue is left

much in the same state as before.

Among the most distinguished writers on this subject are Liebnitz, the German philosopher, Jonathan Edwards, of whom we have already spoken, Lord Kaimes and Dr. Priestley.

Dr. Doddridge remarks: "Those who believe the being and perfections of God, and a state of retribution, in which he will reward and punish mankind, according to the diversity of their actions, will find it difficult to reconcile the justice of punishment with the necessity of crimes punished! And those who believe all that the Scripture says on the one hand, of the eternity of future punishments, and on the other, of God's compassion to sinners, and his solemn assurance that he desires not their death, will find the difficulty greatly increased."

The true law of necessity, so far as human conduct is concerned, is happily described by the tragic writer, Hill, in the following couplet:

"The first crime past impels us on to more;

Thus guilt proves fate, which was but choice before!"

How important, then, to shun the initiatory steps that lead to evil! What momentous consequences may hang upon what at first seems a trivial error or an amusing foible! It may be the first link to a chain which is to bind and paralyze the best impulses and energies of the immortal soul

CHAPTER VII.

DIFFERENT MODES OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT-
CHURCH GOVERNMENT-THE

EPISCOPALIAN, PRESBYTERIAN, AND CONGREGATIONAL, OR INDEPENDENT SYSTEMS-MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, OR EPISCOPALIANS-TRACTARIANS OR PUSEYITES.

THERE are three modes of church government in Christian communities; namely, the Episcopalian, from the Greek word nanoлos, signifying an overseer; the Presbyterian, from the Greek word pрsσburεfos, an elder; and the Congregational, or Independent mode. Under one of these forms, or by a mixture of their several peculiarities, every Christian church is governed. The Episcopal form is the most extensive, as it embraces the Catholic, Greek, English, Methodist and Moravian churches.

Episcopalians have three orders in the ministry, namely: bishops, priests, and deacons. They have liturgies, longer or shorter; and they believe in the existence and necessity of an apostolic succession of bishops, by whom alone, regular and valid ordinations can be performed.

The Presbyterians believe that the authority of their ministers to preach the gospel and to administer the sacrament is derived from the Holy Ghost, by the imposition of the hands of the Presbytery. They affirm, however, that there is no order in the church, as established by Christ and his apostles, superior to that of presbyters; that all ministers, being ambassadors of Christ, are equal by their commission; that presbyter and bishop, though different words, are of the same import; and that prelacy was gradually established upon the primitive practice of making the moderator, or speaker of the presbytery, a permanent officer.

The Congregationalists, or Independents, formerly called Brownists from the name of their founder, are so called from their maintaining that every congregation of Chris

tans, which meets in one house for public worship, is a complete church, has sufficient power to act and perform every thing relating to religious government within itself, and is in no respect subject or accountable to other churches.

Independents, or Congregationalists, generally ordain their ministers by a council of ministers called for the purpose; but still they hold that the essence of ordination lies in the voluntary choice and call of the people, and that public ordination is no other than a declaration of that call.

MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, OR EPISCOPALIANS.

The term Episcopalian is generally applied to members of the church of England, although all denominations of Christians who have adopted the Episcopal system of church government, are equally entitled to the appellation. For the sake of convenience, however, we shall, in speaking of the American off-shoot from the established church of England, characterise it simply by the term Episcopalian.

The church of England broke off from the Romish church in the time of Henry the Eighth, when, as has been already related, Luther had begun the reformation in Germany. During the earlier part of his reign, Henry was a bigoted Papist. He burned William Tyndal, who made one of the first and best English translations of the New Testament. He wrote fiercely in defence of the seven sacraments against Luther, for which the Pope honoured him with the title of " Defender of the Faith." This title is retained by the kings and queens of Great Britain, even to the present day, though they are the avowed enemies of that faith, by contending for which he acquired that honourable distinction. Henry falling out with the pope, took the government of ecclesiastical affairs into his own hands; and having reformed many enormous abuses, entitled himself "Supreme Head of the Church."

The church of England was first reformed by law, on the accession of Edward the Sixth; but many impos ant points of doctrine and discipline were left untouched; and the enactments of Elizabeth, by which its whole constitution was finally settled, and it was made the established church, followed rather than preceded the expressed convictions of the nation.

The government of the church of England is episcopal, and the bishops sit in the House of Lords by virtue of the temporal baronies into which their benefices were converted by William the Conquerer. This constitution was subverted on the success of the great rebellion, and Presbyterianism established in its stead; but the Episcopal form was restored in 1660 with the return of Charles the Second. The established church of Ireland is the same as the church of England, and at the union of England and Ireland became one united church. It is governed by four archbishops and eighteen bishops. Since the Union of Ireland with Great Britain, four only of these spiritual lords sit in the house of lords, assembled at Westminster.

In Scotland, and other parts, since the Revolution, there existed a species of Episcopalians called Nonjurors, because being inflexibly attached to the Stuarts, who were then driven from the throne, they refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Brunswick family. They are, indeed, the remains of the ancient Episcopal church of Scotland, which was, after various fluctuations, abolished at the Revolution.

The church of England has produced a succession of eminent men. Among its ornaments are to be reckoned Usher, Jewell, Hall, Taylor, Stillingfleet, Cudworth, Wilkins, Tillotson, Cumberland, Barrow, Burnet, Pearson, Hammond, Whitby, Clarke, Hoadley, Jortin, Seeker, Butler, Warburton, Horne, Lowth, Porteus, Hurd, Horsley, Hooker, Sherlock, and Milman.

The articles of faith of the English church are thirtynine in number; the substance of which was first promulgated in forty-two articles by Edward the Sixth, in 1543. Under Henry the Eighth a committee had been

appointed for the formation of ecclesiastical laws, which was renewed under his successor; and in 1551. according to Style, Archbishop Cranmer "was directed to draw up a book of articles for preserving and maintaining peace and unity of doctrine in the church, that, being finished, they might be set forth by public authority."

From this and the details that follow, it seems that Cranmer composed the articles in their original form, with the assistance of Ridley and others. A great similarity in thought and expression may be traced between many of the articles, and the language of the Augsburg confession. The Eleventh Article (on justification) corresponds with what Cranmer had previously written on the subject in private memoranda.

There has been considerable question raised as to the authorities, from which the Seventeenth Article (on predestination) is derived; for while some persons have interpreted expressions in it according to the Calvinistic system, others have denied the justice of such interpretation, and have undertaken to show that Cranmer must have referred in the composition of the article to the writings and sentiments of Luther and Melancthon.

On the accession of Elizabeth these articles were remodelled by archbishop Parker, who omitted four of them, introducing four new ones, and altering seventeen. These were again revised by convocation in 1563, some alterations made, and the number reduced to thirty-eight.

The thirty-ninth was restored in a final review by Parker in 1571, and then imposed on the clergy for subscription. It is remarkable that in the manuscripts and earliest editions there is one important variation in the admission or rejection of the first clause of the Twentieth Article, the authority of which may be considered as virtually recognising and establishing it.

The following Creed, commenced by the council of Nice, A. D. 325, and completed by the second general council of Constantinople, A. D. 381, is used in the Protestant Episcopal Churches of England, and occasionally in those of the United States. It is usually called the