from Corpus Christi College, Oxford, which led to the reply, even of a Popish archdeacon of Oxford to Dean Welch, who was boasting that their college alone had preserved the apparel and ornaments of the Church entire: "Even so it may be," said the archdeacon, "but still there is one ornament and jewel, far more precious than all the rest together, which you have wilfully thrown away." Bishop Jewell published, in 1562, under the sanction and authority of Queen Elizabeth, his famous "Apology of the Church of England," in which he writes:

"We say that Christ has given to His ministers the power of binding and loosing, of opening and shutting. And we say that the power of loosing consists in this, that the minister by the preaching of the Gospel offers to dejected minds and true penitents, through the merits of Christ, absolution, and doth assure them a certain remission of their sins, and the hopes of eternal salvation; or, secondly, reconciles, restores, and receives into the congregation of the faithful those penitents who, by any grievous scandal, or known and public offence, have offended the minds of the brethren, and, in a sort, alienated and separated themselves from the common society of the Church and the Body of Christ.

"And we say the minister doth exercise the power of binding or shutting when he shutteth the gate of the kingdom of heaven against unbelievers and obstinate persons, and denounceth to them the vengeance of God and eternal punishment, or excludeth out of the bosom of the Church those that are publicly excommunicated; and that God Himself doth so far approve whatever sentence His minister shall so give, that whatsoever is either loosed or bound by their ministry here on earth, He will, in like manner, bind and loose, and confirm in heaven. The key with which these ministers do shut or open the kingdom of heaven, we say, with Chrysostom, is the knowledge of Scripture; with Tertullian, is the interpretation of the law; and, with Eusebius, is the Word of God.

"We say the disciples of Christ received this power from Him, not that they might hear the private confessions of the people, and catch their whispering murmurs, as the Popish priests everywhere now dỏ, and that in such a manner as if all the force and use of the keys consisted only in this; but that they might go and preach and publish the Gospel, that so they might be a savour of life unto life to them that did believe, and that they might be also a savour of death unto death to those that did not believe; that the minds of the pious, who were affrighted with the sense of their former ill lives and errors, after they beheld the light of the Gospel and believed in Christ, might be opened by God's Word, as doors are with a key; and that the wicked and stubborn, who would not believe and return into the way, might be left, shut up, and locked, and, as St. Paul says (2 Tim. iii. 13), might wax worse and worse. This we take to be

"To use these words, 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost,' in the ordaining of ministers, which Christ Himself used in appointing His apostles, is no more ridiculous and blasphemous than it is to use the words that He used in the Supper. The bishop by speaking these words doth not take upon him to give the Holy Ghost, no more than he doth to remit sins when he promiseth the remission of sins; but by speaking these words of Christ, Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whosoever,' &c., he doth show the principal duty of a minister, and assureth him of the assistance of God's Holy Spirit if he labour in the same accordingly. Neither doth the bishop speak them (the words in question) as though he had authority to give the Holy Ghost, but he speaketh them as the words of Christ used in the like action, who, as I said before, does most certainly give His Holy Spirit to those whom He calleth to the ministry. And surely if any pattern either in calling or ordaining of ministers is to be followed, this of Christ is to be followed especially; and it is not unlikely but that the apostles when they laid on their hands used the same words, because laying on of hands is a sign or rather confirmation of the same."-See Whitgift's Works, Parker Society's Edition, Vol. I., pp. 488—491.

IV.

THE TRUE DIGNITY OF THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE.

"It is easy to say that evangelical teaching makes light of the ministerial office, and strips it of all authority and power. Such assertions are more easily made than proved. We honour the minister's office as a Scriptural Institution, but we refuse to give it a hair's breadth more dignity than we find given to it in God's Word. We honour ministers as Christ's ambassadors, Christ's watchmen, Christ's messengers, preachers of the Word, pastors, overseers, and

"Who are Ye? A Question for Anglican Priests." By Rov. S. A. WALKER, M.A., Rector of St. Mary-le-port, Bristol. London: Seeley, Jackson, and Halliday.

stewards of the mysteries of God. But we utterly decline to regard them as priests, mediators, confessors, and rulers over men's faith, both for the sake of their souls and our own. "It is easy to say that evangelical teaching is opposed to the exercise of soul discipline, or heart examination, or self-humiliation, or mortification of the flesh, or true contrition. There never was a more baseless assertion. We are entirely favourable to these things, but we demand that they shall be carried on in the right way. We approve of a confessional, but it must be the only true one-the throne of grace. We approve of going to a confessor, but it must be to the true one appointed by God,

Christ the Lord. We approve of submitting consciences to a priest, but it must be to the great High Priest who alone can absolve effectually, Jesus the Son of God. We approve of unbosoming our secret sins, and seeking absolution, but it must be at the feet of the great Head of the Church, who alone can reach hearts, and not at the feet of one of her weak members. We approve of trusting to receive ghostly counsel, but it must be at the feet of Christ, and not at the feet of man. None but Christ! He is the only true Priest and Confessor, and He has deputed His priestly office to no order of men in the world."-A Suffolk Incumbent.

CHAPTER II.

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"We have not followed cunningly devised fables." N the survey on which we have now entered, we shall have occasion to examine and expose the superficial character of those sceptical objections on which unbelievers are wont to rely for their justification in rejecting the Divine authority of the Bible. At present, however, our business lies in a different direction. We are not now dealing with matters that may be considered doubtful, but with matters that are absolutely certain. Whatever some men may think of the Bible as a Divine Revelation, no man can gainsay the claims of Christianity to be regarded as a Divine Institution. Whether the only record of that Institution which we possess is perfectly authentic, may be a question for future consideration; but whatever may be the answer given to that question, it cannot possibly affect the fact presented by the existence of the Institution itself. When we have satisfied ourselves (as we easily may) of the exact correspondence that exists between the actual facts and the written narrative, we have arrived at a point where it will not be easy to deny the high credibility of that narrative; but whatever be the character of the narrative, it cannot affect the certainty of the facts; for the facts are prior to the narrative, and are therefore not dependent upon it. To sum up the matter in one word—

"The truth of Christianity depends upon its leading facts, and upon them alone."

And these facts, already conclusively established by the "monumental" evidence adduced in the last chapter, are further attested

by such additional evidence as ought to satisfy

us, "at least until it appear that mankind have ever been deceived by the same." We have some uncontested and incontestable points, to which the history of the human species hath nothing similar to offer :

"A Jewish peasant changed the religion of the world: and that without force, without power, without support, without one natural source or circumstance of attraction, influence, or success. Such a thing hath not happened in any other instance.

"The companions of this Person, after He Himself had been put to death for His attempt, asserted His supernatural character, founded upon His supernatural operations; and in testimony of the truth of their assertions, i. e., in consequence of their own belief of that truth, and in order to communicate the knowledge of it to others, voluntarily entered upon lives of toil and hardship, and, with a full experience of their danger, committed themselves to the last extremities of persecution. This hath not a parallel.

"More particularly, a very few days after this Person had been publicly executed, and in the very city in which He was buried, these His companions declared with one voice that His body was restored to life; that they had seen Him, handled Him, ate with Him, conversed with Him; and in pursuance of their persuasion of the truth of what they told, preached His religion, with this strange fact as the foundation

of it, in the face of those who had killed Him, who were armed with the power of the country, and necessarily and naturally disposed to treat His followers as they had treated Himself; and having done this upon the spot where the event took place, carried the intelligence of it abroad, in despite of difficulties and opposition, and where the nature of their errand gave them nothing to expect but derision, insult, and outrage. This is without example."*

These three facts are certain, and would have been nearly so if the Gospels had never been written. The Christian story as to these points is without a variation, and without a rival. We have letters and discourses by witnesses of the transaction, by persons themselves bearing a share in it; and besides these cotemporaneous writings, we have others following that age in regular succession: but every letter, every discourse, every controversy amongst the followers of the religion, every book written by them from the age of its commencement to the present time, in every part of the world in which it has been professed, and with every sect into which it has been divided-all concur in representing these facts in this manner.

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A religion which now possesses the greater part of the civilized world, unquestionably sprang up at Jerusalem at this time. Some account must be given of its origin, some cause assigned for its rise.”

All the accounts of this origin, all the explications of this cause, whether taken from the writings of the early followers of the religion, or from occasional notices in other writings of that or the adjoining age, either expressly allege the facts above stated as the means by which the religion was set up, or advert to its commencement in a manner which agrees with the supposition of these facts being true, and which testifies to their operation and effects.

These propositions alone lay a foundation for our faith: for they prove the existence of a transaction which cannot, even in its most general parts, be accounted for upon any reasonable supposition except that of the truth of the mission. Here, then, we may dismiss the first part of our subject. However numerous or formidable may be the batteries of hostile criticism which have been directed against the Bible, they have not touched the citadel which stands proudly entrenched behind the Bible. They have failed to reach, much more to shake, the foundation of Christianity. For that foundation is deep and broad as the ample facts in which it lies embedded. And as those * Paley's "Evidences;" Conclusion. Potts' Edition, p. 296.

facts (which from the first have been un. questionable) must ever remain immutable, so, though even Jannes and Jambres should reappear among their followers, and "the people be never so unquiet," nothing can alter the eternal truth, "THE FOUNDATION STANDETH SURE!"

Does belief in Christianity involve belief in the Bible? Is the verity of the Christian religion inseparable from the veracity of the Christian Scriptures?

It is a question full of interest and importance; for this reason, if for no other, it is so often put. And it is put, too, by persons whose "standing-points" are directly opposed to one another. It is put wistfully by some who, while perplexed by (what are called) the difficulties of the Bible, yet find it impossible to abandon their confidence in that religion which the Bible reveals. And it is put maliciously and covertly by others who know full well the fundamental character of the Bible, and who consequently strain every nerve to carry, by a process of sapping and mining, the citadel which seems but more impregnable after every fresh assault. Nor is it strange that, seen through such diverse media, the same subject should be presented under such diverse aspects. On the one hand, it is undeniable that Christianity rests on certain fundamental facts-facts which would remain immoveable if the Bible were annihilated to-morrow. On the other hand, it is equally undeniable that the actual existence of the Bible (not to speak of that accumulation of facts which forms its past history) is itself one of those great facts which it is impossible to account for unless we admit its Divine character. A religion un written, a faith independent of "book faith," is certainly a conceivable thing; for aught we know, it may even be a possible thing; but it is certainly not the actual thing with which we have to do. For the "eternal life" which "God hath given to us" "is in His Son :" but the Scriptures are the "record" of that Sonthe only, the authentic record. Hence, for those who seek "eternal life," the only way is to "search the Scriptures," for there only can we find the witnesses who are competent to "testify" of Christ.

We conclude, therefore, that although con. ceivably separable, yet practically the two subjects are inseparable. There are certain facts which constitute the proper evidence of Revealed Religion. The investigation of those

facts is perfectly distinct and separate from the criticism of its records. But though the two subjects are perfectly distinct, they are by no means independent. On the contrary, the criticism of the Christian records has an important bearing upon the proper Christian evidences, If, for instance, in the course of this criticism we were to find the records confused and contradictory, though this would not necessarily invalidate the truth of the Christian doctrine, it would greatly alter the relation in which the Bible stands to that doctrine; and if, on the other hand, we found in the records proofs of Divine superintendence and arrangement, we should properly bring this result in as an evidence of the Christian religion. This distinction is not more real than im

portant. Forgetfulness, or a willing oversight of it, has furnished scepticism with some of its most effective means of attack. Supposed inconsistencies in the record have been brought forward as disproving Christianity itself. Now we do not admit that there are such inconsistencies, but we allege that, if there were, they would modify-not the doctrine of Christianity itself-but merely our view of the relation in which the record stands to that doctrine.*

Our next business, therefore, must be to consider the character and claims of the Bible. And on this consideration we shall now be at liberty to enter in the next chapter.

"Christian Certainty," p. 87.

THE CHRISTIAN IN AFFLICTION.

I do not think the Bible anywhere professes to blame us for feeling pain, sickness, poverty, and the like, as distresses. On the other hand, it plainly declares that "no affliction for the present is joyous, but grievous." It is a moral, not a physical triumph we are promised over physical ills. Pain is as acute to a devout Christian, poverty as hard to bear, disappointment as painful, so far as they are considered alone, as they can be to the careless or profane. There is no exemption on these points for the Christian.

To profess, moreover, to discover what God's object was in sending us particular afflictions, must, in the great majority of cases, be an unwise occupation, although not always. But I think we may always find something to learn from what happens to us; and that if we have some profitable lesson taught, it is enough, without insisting that that lesson, and no other, was the one intended to be taught. To get good out of sorrow is the great matter, without affirming that we are getting all the good and the intended good from it.

Counsels of an Invalid, by

GEORGE WILSON, M.D.

GRIEF'S SUBMISSION.

I cannot, 'neath Thy blow,
My God, Thy praises sound:
I can but lie full low,
And cling the cross around.

I cannot, midst the dust,
Descry Thy gracious aim;
I can but own Thee just,
Nor once Thy dealings blame.
I cannot pray aright;

Only, though sight be dim,
I see One pray in light,
And mutely look to Him.

I cannot tears restrain;
Only I can reflect

That, 'neath a kindred pain,

My Saviour's were not checked.

Submission to Thine hand

Is all the height I reach; I cannot song command,

But praise by checking speech.

Like child of sire reproved,

I keep my lowly place,
Till Thou, the frown removed,
For duty nerve by grace.

Thou dost not ask to-day,
My God, the debt I owe;
Thou know'st I cannot pay
Till Thou the means bestow.
LORD KINLOCH.

THE PURPOSES OF AFFLICTION.

The love of death, for its own sake, cannot be; God has not asked that at our hands. He has made it impossible for us to put from us the love of life. All that He desires is that we should prefer eternal life to the few and fleeting years which make up the sum of the longest pilgrimage here. There may be as great discontent in wishing to die as in wishing to live. To be conformed to God's will, and be ready to live, or equally ready to die, is the spirit for which we should strive. When Christ prayed for His disciples, shortly before He was taken from them, His words were, "I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil."

One

We have not two lessons to learn-one how to live, the other how to die. teaching imparts the instruction needful for

Holiness is the thing essential to both. It is sin that makes so many lives unhappy, and so many death-beds full of anguish.

We are apt sometimes, I think, to murmur at God's so solemnly insisting on holiness. Is He not all-powerful and all-merciful? Might He not then forgive us simply as we are, cancel the charges against us, and, considering that we are weak and helpless creatures, excuse us being unholy, and take us to heaven as we are? We would not be very wicked; we think it quite proper that

stealing, and lying, and murder should be severely punished; but might we not, at least, be allowed to indulge our own, as we call them, innocent thoughts, and in smaller matters have our own way?

Yet, if we think, what is this but as if a sick person should beseech his physician by no means to cure him completely, but, on the other hand, should beg him, after restoring him to a certain point, to leave him there, with the seeds of the disease still in his system, ready at any time to grow up again into a poisonous tree which should kill him with its deadly emanations? No wise physician who had a patient entrusted to him would agree to such a request. He would say, "I am a much better judge than you are what is best for you. Your wishes are tainted by the morbid state of your body. If I undertake your case at all, I must be allowed to eradicate every trace of disease from you. The treatment may not be always pleasant at the time-nay, will sometimes be as painful for me to inflict as for you to bear; but by-and-by you will be the first to thank me for not having spared you when you were sick, that thereby I might secure your perfect restoration to soundness of body." And, in like manner, the great Physician of souls teaches us that He loves us too well to leave anything undone in the way of our moral cure. He will not be guilty of a kindness so mistaken as to relieve only the external symptoms of our spiritual distemper, and leave the deep roots untouched which may spring up afresh into the most frightful disorders.

Counsels of an Invalid, by
GEORGE WILSON, M.D.