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and I am perfectly willing to bear its reproach. ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake.' It is only refusing to others, the same right of private judgment, which they vehemently claim for themselves, and since we must all give an account of the things done in the body, where there will preside a judge, unbiassed by the denunciations of separatists, it is some consolation to be accused of bigotry, with the grateful consciousness pervading the soul, that it is for adhering closely to the pattern of heavenly things. But if we 'sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for us? If we knowingly reject his institutions, and in preference suffer ourselves to float upon the tide of popular prejudice; who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?"

I allude not to the mere errour of ignorance; where there is sincerity of heart to obey the will of God, whenever it is clearly perceived and understood. But for myself, having attentively studied and found out what I firmly believe to be the divinely instituted Church of Christ, I will not yield it up, though all men should forsake it, as all the disciples once forsook their Lord in his extremity and fled. I will not yield it up, because it would be highly criminal in me, however venial and pardonable in others, regarding it with different eyes, and imbibing different impressions. For wherever there is wilful schism, there, there is sin. Wherever there is a known illegal assumption of the ministerial functions, or a known usurpation of the higher offices, by such as only enjoy the subordinate, there also, there is sin. And that these sins are not of the most venial complexion, in the sight of God, is readily admitted by the deeply skilled in sacred history.

Take, for example, the case of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. They were the sons of Levi, a component part of the Jewish hierarchy, who, not contented with their inferiour station, aspired to the high priesthood itself. And they,' with two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, gathered them

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selves together against Moses, and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?' But Moses replied, 'Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them? And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?' And what were the consequences attending this rebellion, this criminal ambition for sacerdotal pre-eminence? By the judg ment of the Lord, the ground clave asunder that was under them: And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained unto them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them and they perished from among the congregation.' The case of Uzzah is still more remarkable, for it even embraces the inanimate things of the priesthood, and perhaps corresponds with every present unlawful consecration of the elements used in the Christian sacraments. Inconsiderately

and without any evil design, he put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his errour; and there he died by the ark of God.'

I am not therefore to be deluded with the modern cry, that bishops' take too much upon them,' when claiming to be successors of the Apostles in their office and ministry. It is the appointment of God, that they should do this; and who is there to darken his counsels or to contend with him? Not the preacher of to day, who upon diligent examination of his word, perceives the angel of the Church at Ephesus to be commended in these words; thou hast tried them which say

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they are Apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars :' Who discovers in the short epistle of Jude, that the crime, just recited from the old dispensation, may be and was actually committed under the new. 'These,' he declares, speak evil of things which they know not,' Wo unto them! for they have''perished in the gainsaying of Core :' Who finds St Paul proclaiming to the holy brethren among the Hebrews concerning the priesthood, No man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. So also,' he continues, Christ glorified not himself to be made a High Priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.' For though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience, by the things which he suffered.'

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It is not then a light thing, as some persons are fain to imagine, to take upon themselves the office of an ambassador for Christ, uncertain or careless, whether they have or have not obtained it through the right channel, and from the requisite authority. It is rather a most solemn and serious transaction. One, that cannot be too intensely studied, or too ardently desired to be received according to the appointment of heaven. A slight research will almost invariably result in the opinion, that one denomination is as lawful as another, and one set of ministers, as duly authorized as another. But this is not the language of the bible; and when ye consider the multitude of evils springing from our numerous divisions, our endless heresies and schisms, can ye wonder that it is not? Can ye wonder, when that bible is thus strangely perverted, and every whim of man is but the precursor of new efforts to rend the body of Christ, that the evil days are not shortened, and that the dawn of millenial union and glory still refuses to appear?

Such wonder exists not with me. I look for no good thing that can come out of schism. I look for no millenium, until sectarians, after the future manner of the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and kid, shall dwell and lie down together in the courts of the same house of our God; until, like the predicted

nations, they shall beat their partisan swords and spears into real spiritual ploughshares and pruning hooks, and learn the art of polemick war no more. And therefore, do I justify myself for embarking in these discourses, sustained as I am, by the hope of gaining some converts upon principle to the Church and ministry of the Lord's Anointed. And having embarked, For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof

go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.' Wherever there is a true Christian, let him erect what banner he pleases, I will bid him, with regard to his internal religion, his experimental faith and practice, 'God speed.' But nevertheless know ye brethren assuredly, that union should be the watchword of all believers in Jesus; and at the same time, that so far as the general religious prosperity is concerned, ail professed union is no better than schism, until there be but one visible Church, as there is but one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.

Hasten then, we beseech thee, gracious God, a union so fervently to be implored. Hasten the arrival of that day, when light shall come upon Jerusalem, and thy glory rise upon her; when the Gentiles shall come to her light, and kings to the brightness of her rising; when her sons shall come from far, and her daughters be nursed at her side; when the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto her, and a multitude of precious offerings shall come up with acceptance on thine altar, and thou shalt glorify the house of thy glory. These things would we pray for, with one accord. These things, out of thine infinite mercy, do thou grant : and to thee, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three persons and one God, shall be ascribed all glory, and honour, and dominion, and praise, world without end. AMEN.

SERMON V.

ISAIAH lxii. 1.

For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

In introducing the testimony of the fathers of the Curch, in relation to the government and ministry established therein, by the holy Apostles, I have already represented, that the principles upon which the inquiry should be conducted are very important and even essential, and that to be understood, they should be explained with the utmost clearness and precision. You are doubtless aware, that all the various denominations of protestant Christians are exceedingly tenacious in holding up the bible as the sole rule of their faith and practice; and not one of them has been more plain and explicit, on this very material point, than the Church to which we profess to belong. According to her sixth article, 'Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.' With this doctrine I most cordially concur. I have not the remotest idea of recognising any religious system whatever, as a standard of authority, independent of that blessed volume, which alone contains the written revelation of God's will. To this alone I bow with reverential awe, and in the spirit of a rational and confiding faith.

And yet, who does not know, that from this one inspired source are drawn a vast variety of opposing creeds? It is the