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of principle, no unhallowed and unscriptural concessions. You may be firm, intrepid, and inflexible advocates of what you conscientiously deem to be important, and expose in all their folly and deformity the consequences and tendencies of error; and yet towards those who maintain it, you may and you ought to manifest the spirit of Christian meekness. Candour is not indifference, and zeal is not intolerance; and while you avoid these dangerous extremes, you may unite those truly Christian virtues for which they are often the specious substitutes. Let me beseech you, never to imitate the worst part of Poperyits uncharitable and ferocious bigotry.

Never imagine that penal and disqualifying statutes will convince a man's judgment, and reclaim him from his prejudices. Oppose sophistry by argument, absurdity by exposure, and tradition by Scripture. Distinguish between persons and principles; and remember the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God."

Finally, I would remind you of the duty of holding fast your profession, and attempting by every rational and scriptural method, to diffuse the knowledge of those great principles, which give to the Protestant cause all its value and importance. Because Protestantism restores to the Scriptures their paramount and exclusive sufficiency, it presents the purest medium for the communication and defence of sacred truth. But Protestantism itself is of no value, if the great and characteristic peculiarities of the gospel be abandoned. Forget the principles for which the first reformers suffered and bled-the principles that support the hopes of a penitent sinner in the view of eternity-the principles that respect the state of man as a sinner -his justification by faith in a divine Redeemer, and the necessity of spiritual influence to enlighten and purify the darkened and polluted mind of

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NOTE B. (Page 7.)

"THE canon of the New Testament consists of twenty-seven books, which were written by eight different authors, all of whom were contemporary with our Saviour. These books were written at different times, and at places remote from each other; and when the latest of them was published, the gospel had been preached, and churches founded, in many parts of Asia, Europe, and Africa. Different churches at first received different books, according to their situation and circumstances; their canons were gradually enlarged, and it was not long, though the precise time is not known, before the same, or very nearly the same, books were acknowledged by the Christians of all countries.

"The persecutions, under which the professors of the gospel continually laboured, and the want of a national establishment of Christianity, prevented, for several centuries, any general assembly of Christians for the purpose of settling the canon of their Scriptures. Since, therefore, there could be no declaration by public authority upon this subject for so long a period, recourse must be had to ecclesiastical writers for the earliest catalogues of the books of the New Testament; and we have the satisfaction of finding an almost perfect agreement among them.

"The first writer, who has left us a regular catalogue of the books of the New Testament, is Origen, who lived in the beginning of the third century, although, as will hereafter appear, they are all mentioned separately by much earlier authors. This catalogue is the same as our present canon, except that it omits the epistles of St. James and St. Jude; but Origen, in other parts of his writings, refers to these epistles as the productions of those Apostles. In the following century we have catalogues in the remaining works of Eusebius, Athanasius, Cyril, Epiphanius, Gregory Nazianzen, Philaster, Jerome, Ruffin, and Augustine, and those settled at the provincial councils of Laodicea and Carthage.* Of these eleven catalogues, seven exactly agree with our canon; and the other four differ

*This was the third council at Carthage.

only in these respects, namely, three omit the Revelation only, and Philaster, in his catalogue, omits the Epistle to the Hebrews, as well as the Revelation; but he acknowleges both these books in other parts of his works. These catalogues include no books which are not in our canon; and we learn from Polycarp, who was contemporary with the Apostles, and from Justin Martyr, Tatian, Irenæus, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria, all of whom lived in the second century, that the primitive Church admitted no other gospels, but those of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These authors also, and many others, assure us, that the Scriptures of the New Testament were publicly read in Christian congregations; and the fifty-ninth canon of the council of Laodicea expressly orders that the books of the canon, and no others, should be read in the Churches** Copies of these books were dispersed every where. Christians of every denomination appealed to them in all their various controversies as authentic testimony; and both the Jewish and Pagan enemies of the gospel understood, that they contained the faith of Christians. This publicity of the books of the New Testament rendered designed corruption utterly impracticable; it is however to be expected that the purity of these books, like that of the Old Testament should have suffered, in a long series of years, from the negligence of transcribers.+ The most minute care and attention have been employed in collating the remaining manuscripts of the whole and of every part of the New Testament, and a considerable number of various readings has been discovered; but they are not of such a nature as to affect any essential article of our faith, or any indispensable rule of life. It seems indeed to have been wisely ordered by a kind providence, that no important doctrine or precept should rest

*Some few works of the apostolical fathers were also read in the Churches of some places, but nevertheless they were not received as sacred Scripture. In like manner we read certain parts of the apocryphal books in our Churches, although we do not admit those books into our canon. They are read "for example of life and instruction of manners, but are not applied to establish any doctrine." Art. 6. of our Church.

+ Origen, Hom. 8. in Mat. complains of the negligence of transcribers, and so does Jerome. Præf. in 4 Evang.

NOTE B. (Page 7.)

"THE canon of the New Testament consists of twenty-seven books, which were written by eight different authors, all of whom were contemporary with our Saviour. These books were written at different times, and at places remote from each other; and when the latest of them was published, the gospel had been preached, and churches founded, in many parts of Asia, Europe, and Africa. Different churches at first received different books, according to their situation and circumstances; their canons were gradually enlarged, and it was not long, though the precise time is not known, before the same, or very nearly the same, books were acknowledged by the Christians of all countries.

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"The persecutions, under which the professors of the gospel continually laboured, and the want of a national establishment of Christianity, prevented, for several centuries, any general assembly of Christians for the purpose of settling the canon of their Scriptures. Since, therefore, there could be no declaration by public authority upon this subject for so long a period, recourse must be had to ecclesiastical writers for the earliest catalogues of the books of the New Testament; and we have the satisfaction of finding an almost perfect agreement among them.

"The first writer, who has left us a regular catalogue of the books of the New Testament, is Origen, who lived in the beginning of the third century, although, as will hereafter appear, they are all mentioned separately by much earlier authors. This catalogue is the same as our present canon, except that it omits the epistles of St. James and St. Jude; but Origen, in other parts of his writings, refers to these epistles as the productions of those Apostles. In the following century we have catalogues in the remaining works of Eusebius, Athanasius, Cyril, Epiphanius, Gregory Nazianzen, Philaster, Jeron Ruffin, and Augustine, and then settled at +

councils of Laodicea and

gues, seven exactly

only in these respects, namely, three omit the Revelation only, and Philaster, in his catalogue, omits the Epistle to the Hebrews, as well as the Revelation; but he acknowleges both these books in other parts of his works. These catalogues include no books which are not in our canon; and we learn from Polycarp, who was contemporary with the Apostles, and from Justin Martyr, Tatian, Irenæus, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria, all of whom lived in the second century, that the primitive Church admitted no other gospels, but those of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These authors also, and many others, assure us, that the Scriptures of the New Testament were publicly read in Christian congregations; and the fifty-ninth canon of the council of Laodicea expressly orders that the books of the canon, and no others, should be read in the Churches-* Copies of these books were dispersed every where. Christians of every denomination appealed to them in all their various controversies as authentic testimony; and both the Jewish and Pagan enemies of the gospel understood, that they contained the faith of Christians. This publicity of the books of the New Testament rendered designed corruption utterly impracticable; it is however to be expected that the purity of these books, like that of the Old Testament should have suffered, in a long series of years, from the negligence of transcribers. The most minute care and attention have been employed in collating the remaining manuscripts of the whole and of every part of the New Testament, and a considerable number of various readings has been discovered; but they are not of such a mature as to affect any essential article of our faith, of life. It seems indeed to have providence, that no importan

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