No longer can the "thoughts that wander through infinity" be restrained from the endeavour to approach "For ever nearer to the life divine!" Life is now not a mere summer day of pleasure and of glory to the rich and noble; nor is it a brief hour of woe to the oppressed; it is a mystery, on the unriddling of which man's chiefest joys depend. The three greatest philosophic questions-the ever recurring difficulties of speculation, have been propounded. What powers have men? What duties do these imply? What hopes do these justify? That these were truly esteemed important is evidenced by the fact of their transmission; for men do not remember and register that which they account as valueless. Strange community of thought-that men in diverse stations, in separate cities, under different circumstances, should entertain the same notions, and express them similarly! Was not philosophy latent in the age? Had not its birth-hour come? It is true that there is no evidence before us of systematic thought-of carefully-elaborated theory or logically sequent investigation-of philosophy in its present signification. But no one can dispute the fact that these concise, energetic, sparkling sentences indicate the activity of the reflective powers, and announce and foreshadow the origin of a new era—the introduction of a new element into civilization-the impress of a tendency to scientific thought. Morals are now to be restricted by other considerations than those of personal feeling; life is to be viewed as the sign of many capacities and hopes; law is to be regarded as the protector of right and justice; man is to be considered as essentially ennobled, dignified; and if "Thoughts are things and written thoughts are seeds," may we not yet expect to find that in the after ages men shall consent to pursue the pilgrimage of life in obedience to the decisive teaching of a pure philosophy, "Led by that hope sublime whose cloudless eye, We shall see, when the ages revolve and the vintage of thought is before us! Keligion. WHICH SYSTEM IS MOST IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SCRIPTURES, AND PRODUCTIVE OF THE BEST RESULTS-EPISCOPACY, PRESBYTERIANISM, OR CONGREGATIONALISM? EPISCOPACY.-ARTICLE II. "All order first from unity ariseth, And th' essence of it is subordination; Whoever this contemns and that despiseth May talk of, but intends not, reformation. 'Tis not of God, of Nature, or of Art, To ascribe to all what's proper to each part." To some minds, probably, it would appear unnecessary and presumptuous to inquire whether an institution, which has been proved to be authorized by the voice of scripture and the early church, be good and useful in itself, especially when, as in the present discussion, it is one which, emanating directly from our Lord himself, continued to exist for fifteen centuries, not merely unassailed, but supported by the hearty goodwill of the entire Christian world, and has for three more survived the successive onslaughts of an insatiable Puritanism, of wide-spread Infidelity, and of a cold, selfish Utilitarianism. But as there are others perhaps many-who will not rest satisfied with this kind of recommendation; men who attach no value to a traditionary institution if it lack evidence of its intrinsic worth, evidence from facts and principles of which they are cognizant, and appealing thereby to their own understandings,-I now proceed to consider the second part of my proposition respecting Episcopacy, by endeavouring to show that it is the most useful and efficient form of church government. Previously, however, and with a view to those who may have been nurtured in erroneous or sectarian opinions, it will be well briefly to glance at the two rival systems, that we may note what there is lacking in them which is supplied in our own. Confining myself, of necessity, within the narrowest limits, I shall just sketch an outline, which my readers will, I apprehend, have no difficulty in filling up from their own observation and reasonings. Presbyterianism appears fanlty in the following particulars:-(1) It lacks similarity to the primitive Apostolic Church. "For who can show of old that ever any Presbyteries without their bishops were, Though bishops without presbyteries many At first must needs be, almost anywhere. That presbyters from bishops first arose To assist them 's probable, not these from those." This has been shown in our former article, and it takes away from the system that prestige, without which it can have no permanent vitality. (2) Its particular mode of synodical action allows too much room for discussion and dissension among ministers, and between ministers and their flocks, and for the interference of private interests in ministerial appointments. Thus, in the Church of Scotland, while one party is desirous of extending the rights of patronage, another looks chiefly to securing and augmenting the influence of the people in the settlement of ministers. (3) It gives too much secular influence to, and thereby interferes with the ministerial functions of, the clergy; and yet (4) affords little or no encouragement to persons of the highest rank and range of intellect to become * Readers of the life of Dr. Chalmers will remember how that excellent man was pestered, as a minister of the Kirk, by applicants for offices at his disposal. candidates for the holy office, as reducing all its ministers, high-born or ignoble, learned or unlearned, to nearly the same level; and therefore (5) it must ever be incompetent in aristocratic forms of government to command the respect of, and exert influence upon, all orders of men. In this respect also, it wants similarity to the apostolic ideal of a church, which, nearly all expounders of scripture are agreed, was intended to meet the wants of all ranks of society, to be catholic in its spirit, and universal in its influence and effects. Again, in addition to what has been already remarked of Congregationalism, the advocates of that system must allow the force of the objections urged against it:that it fails as-tending to disunion among ministers; to antagonism of sects and parties, and of congregations; to splitting and quarrelling, even among the individual members of the latter, many of whom often hardly know what religious opinions they hold, and when they have any crotchets of their own, are for ever striving to force them upon others. Hence, Congregationalism wants strength as a religious teacher among thoughtful men; having in itself no principle of self-preservation as to polity, for truth and error may be successively inculcated from the same pulpit; and among the middle and lower classes, on the half-educated or ill educated, it can have no permanent hold, depending as it does on their alms, which are given cheerfully and liberally by few, and tend to lower the respect of those few for their teachers. It can, therefore, make no effective stand against-it has, in fact, As a case in point, I may mention, that in a chapel not a hundred miles from where I am writing, besides that the present minister is supposed to hold views in many respects different from his predecessor, the denominational aspect of the congregation has much altered within a very few years. In my own memory there have among the members, leading occasionally to been several changes and angry discussions numerous withdrawals. The chapel was built by Churchmen and Dissenters jointly, on the underbe read, and clergymen of the Church have, if I standing that the Church prayers should always am not mistaken, in times past officiated there. The present minister, however, has introduced -not without violent opposition, and without, I believe, any legal right-extempore prayers; and henceforth his doctrinal views, which may change once a month, o. with the weather, become of course the rule of faith to his hearers. Thus we see that Congregationalism and Presbyterianism both want the grand essentials of a true and living church,-catholicity and spirituality. no preservative principle from-the inroads | ful of long standing, and how much less of infidelity and superstition. Further, by with the newly-fortunate, if they appear no making ministers dependent on their congre- way assorted to those with whom they must gations, it both lowers their self-respect associate, and over whom they must exerthat upright, independent feeling which every cise, in some cases, something like an public teacher should possess-and renders authority. Our provident Constitution has them too self-seeking-too apt to draw con- therefore taken care that those who are to gregations, to please and gratify rather instruct presumptuous ignorance—those who than unflinchingly to reprove the vices and are to be censors over insolent vice, should failings of their audience. neither incur their contempt, nor live on their alms; nor will it tempt the rich to neglect the true medicine of their minds. We will have religion to exalt her mitred front in courts and parliaments; we will have her mix throughout the whole mass of life, and blend with all the classes of society. We will show the haughty potentates of the world, that a free, generous and enlightened nation honours the high magistrates of its church; that it will not suffer the insolence of wealth and titles, nor any other species of proud pretension, to look down with scorn upon what they look up to with reverence, or presume to trample upon that acquired personal authority, which they ever intend to be, and which often is, the fruit of learning, piety, and virtue."* One of the chief obstacles, my readers will remember, to the progress of christian truth in the early history of the Church, was the contempt entertained by the noble and educated heathen for its professors, whom they saw to be, in most cases, sprung from the humblest and most abject classes of society. surely that which is the boast of Christianity Now, how are these deficiencies remedied in the Church of England? By the conservation Episcopacy, among other things, she presents a visible and undying representation of apostolic functions, which were never intended to be temporary, and that more especially in (1) her ordination of ministers, giving solemnity and strength to the discharge of their functions; (2) presenting, together with the remaining (temporal) peers, a court of dernier appeal, and thus conducing to unity in ecclesiastical and civil questions; this she further does by her alliance with the throne, and by her established formularies and ceremonies; and (3) in taking care that presbyters and others of her ministers do their duty, and preach at least all the chief doctrines of the gospel; for bishops, and those inestimable safeguards against error, creeds, have always been found in company. It has, in fact, been a very prevalent, and by no means unreasonable opinion, that the perpetuation of the apostolic office has been the means of preserving the Church: that thus, different ages and different countries have been linked together in chains of harmony and love: that thus the wholeness and unity of the Church have been set forth. Further, Episcopacy is politically useful in presenting inducements for men of the highest abilities and station to enter the ministry, whereby an opportunity is given to religion of reaching and influencing the highest as well as the lowest classes. "The people of England," says Burke, "know how little influence the teachers of religion are likely to have with the wealthy and power *Thus, I have known a clergyman severely nsured by his bishop for supposed delinquency. And that poverty, weakness, and ignorance of fashionable literature, under its banners, triumphed at length, by divine aid, over the wealth, strength, and learning of the heathen world-is no valid argument against the employment of wealth, strength, and learning in His service, from whom, mediately or immediately, they are derived. Now, Episcopacy, by affording an opportunity for the exertion of the loftiest gifts, secures to the service of the Church men whose energies would never allow them to slumber in idleness and obscurity, and which, if not directed against her wholly or partially, might yet be turned into a neutral channel. For if, as Macaulay has somewhere remarked, one I quote from memory, but no mistakes, or none of consequence, will, I trust, be found by readers of the "Thoughts on the French Revolu tion." great secret of the success and strength of Romanism is its converting to its own service the passions and fanaticism of the lower orders, is it not of the highest moment to secure those whose abilities might render them dangerous leaders of popular opinion? I think so; and I deem it, further, one of the greatest blessings of our Constitution, that while by the intimate union between the ecclesiastical and civil powers-the combination of Church and State-all orders of the people have their spiritual welfare duly cared for, the contempt or indifference of the throne and aristocracy to the accredited ambassadors of heaven is thereby also rendered impossible. Once more; this feature in our ecclesiastical constitution affords encouragement, consolation, and protection to the lower clergy in the discharge of their duties stimulating their exertions by the prospect of approval and promotion,-binding them together as members of one great brotherhood, securing them against the influence of fanaticism in their own districts, and putting them, as it were, even though they make light of it, into fellowship with those who live in other districts. The Church, thus constituted and thus governed, appears like one vast theocratic communion-acknowledging one Lord as their Divine head and ruler; professing one rule of faith as the watchword against error; and inviting by her different orders of ministers, and admitting by one holy baptism, all who will-without distinctionto "come and take the water of life freely." But, I think I hear some one object, bishops are sometimes-nay, often-found abusing the high trust reposed in them; they forget their high privileges and consequent obligations. Not so often, I answer, for their civil position and accountability removes temptation to a great extent out of their way, and what remains is common to all persons placed in high trust and exercising responsible functions. Are not presbyters, are not Congregationalist ministers -ministers of every creed-exposed to temptation, and occasionally found yielding to it? But does that prove there should be no ministers of religion at all? Were the college of Apostles an useless branch of the early Church because Thomas for a while would not believe, because Judas proved a traitor, and Peter denied his Lord? It would, indeed, be well for religion and the Church, if those holding high ecclesiastical appointments would pay proper attention to the spirit of the age, and have a due regard for their own character. But calumny will ever dog the heels of virtue, and to be beyond its reach, it may at least be said, leaves small room for excellence. Few, however, I think, will venture to deny that the English Episcopate has been graced by a long succession of illustrious men-men of the most humble piety, yet gifted with wonderful powers, which they exerted to the utmost in the service of religion;* and who have with a daring freedom reproved moral corruptions and abuses both in Church and State, and among all classes of society. But lastly, I would ask, have reason and religion been utterly dormant in the Catholic Church for nearly two thousand years? Did a few poor men awake, three centuries back, to find that all, or nearly all professed Christians before their time had been asleep; that they had at last found out the true and vital form of real Christianity? And if any will dare to answer these questions affirmatively, will they be able to account for the stupendous anomaly such answer involves in God's dealings with his Church and people; that though he has proclaimed that he would be with them always even to the end of the world, and that all things should work together for their good, yet this institution should have stood unbroken for fifteen centuries? † For besides that there is strong evidence in scripture that Episcopacy is of Divine origin; that it is in all likelihood coeval with the birth of the Christian Church; that the Apostles transferred some portion of their own judicial and regulative powers to others for the prevention of disorder and heresy, we at least know with certainty that some persons were universally recognised among Christians as possessing these powers in the very earliest ages, and that the order lived on, though the flames of persecution raged most fiercely against it, *Witness, as one instance out of dozens, the great work of Bishop Butler, on "The Analogy has done, and, I believe, is still destined to do of Religion, Natural and Revealed," &c., which wonders. My opening remarks on the Crusades (vol. institution, the spirit of which has been wholly iii., p. 408) will apply with tenfold force to an beneficent. and though in proportion as any one of its members was eminent in the Church was he liable to be called to offer up his life on the altar of God's truth. There is incontrovertible evidence that bishops existed as early at least as the second century; there are catalogues of very many, ascending in regular series up to apostles or disciples of apostles, even now extant. And be it remembered, that the institution survived the disgraceful contentions which at sundry times broke out in the Christian Church; that it was recognised by all the various sects which were the offspring of those contentions, not only by Catholics, but by heretics and schismatics, exposed though they were to every possible influence of good and evil fortune; that it was likewise preserved in all the various nations of the West, when they had embraced Christianity, amid all the diversities of race, of habits, and of climate, and notwithstanding their wars with Eastern Christendom, and their conflicts with each other. Be it remembered that, even during the throes of the Reformation, when the religious system of Europe tottered to its foundation, the leaders in that great movement, Luther and Melancthon, Beza and even Calvin recognised the sanctity, the utility, the necessity of this order, and "that it was retained by all the Latin nations, by the Teutonic nations in England, in Denmark, and in Sweden; that though rejected, with great reluctance, in some parts of Germany, in Holland, Switzerland, and Scotland, yet that in each of those countries some witness of its existence has been preserved; that it has passed over to America, has established itself in colonies founded by Puritans and Quakers, and grew up after the influence of England had ceased in those colonies, and without the least state patronage is diffusing the gospel from those colonies to many parts of the world."* Let my readers call to mind all the circumstances here mentioned; let them reflect especially on the strong evidence for the Divine origin of Episcopacy, and compare its claims and its principles with those of the two modern systems by the light of scripture, of history, and of reason, and they will, I am persuaded, feel grateful to Providence for having preserved to the Church of England this noble and venerable institution, free from those corruptions which in other countries have tarnished its lustre and diminished its usefulness. F. J. L., B.A. Compton-terrace, Islington. * Abbreviated from Mr. Maurice. PRESBYTERIANISM.-ARTICLE II. FROM the mild and generally moderate temper displayed in the respective papers on this important question much good will undoubtedly result. The universal Church of Christ has been greatly benefited by controversy or debate-a mode of eliciting truth that well accords with the inquiring spirit of an age distinguished by unexampled freedom of thought, expression, and action. Controversy has been deemed by many persons as inconsistent with the pacific character of religion; but we do not think it inimical to the interests of pure and undefiled religion, when entered upon in an earnest, honest, and candid spirit-when truth not victory is soughtwhen righteous feelings prompt the disputants to the attainment of noble ends; then it is that controversy clears up doubt, banishes error, throws an atmosphere of light around the truth by which men may the more readily attain that knowledge and mental illumination that dissipate prejudice, shame bigotry, and win the heart to charity and love. Let me remind those who are opposed to controversy of the war of words-the strife of dispu tation-maintained by Luther, "the solitary monk who shook the world," and his compatriots, who won for us the mental freedom and spiritual independence which we cherish as among our dearest rights and privileges. The world has been permanently enriched by controversy: politics, morals, science, religion, all have been placed upon a broader and surer basis; and religion, vital and Godsent as it is, has never ultimately been injured in its sublime interests by free and open debate. Believing civil government, when rightly constituted, to be in the great scheme of God's providence divinely appointed, we conceive that a union or alliance between the religious institutions and the civil establishments of a country may exist with signal advantage to the population of that country. The nature and objects of Government are certainly not those of the Church, yet the |