not only because, in the crisis of reformation, it was a leading object not to lose the substance of ancient has been advancing with unwonted vigour, at the other side of the Atlantic. Certainly, a church, which daily recals the still verdant memory of such names as Dehon and Hobart, and which yet rejoices in the patriarchal energy of White, and the manly vigour of the Onderdonks, has no reason to be despondent of the future. The latest publication which has reached us from the American strand,' affords, perhaps, a brighter prospect of sound, uncompromising church principle, than any with which we have been lately gratified. I am sure, that I shall not only be excused, but thanked, for producing from it, the following extract:. . 'Of Philippi,' (a church and city, of which the text naturally induced the mention) I know not whether a vestige now remains. Macedonia, the province, then, of Rome, has passed from hand to hand, and been, by turns, the battle-ground of tyrants, and the skulking-place of slaves, till the bare name alone is left. And even the Roman empire, then shadowing over, in her high and palmy state, the subject world, has shed long her branching honours, and bowed down her towering trunk, and perished from the root. While here, to-day, in a new world, of which no poet then had dreamed, after the lapse of seventeen ages, and at the distance of five thousand miles,. . the gospel, which Paul preached, is proclaimed; the sacraments which Paul transmitted, are administered; and a council of the church, with their Epaphroditus at their head, is assembled, in the name of God, and in his service, in precisely the same orders, laymen, deacons, presbyters, which Paul addressed at Philippi. 'Let there a man rise up, now, that can give, on human principles, a satisfactory solution of this strange exemption from human change and dissolution! Let there a christian man come forward, and, in the sight of God, declare his clear conviction, that this thing could be so, but by the special and immediate interposition of the providence of God,.. the same divine assurance, that has kept the gospel from extinction, or corruption, also preserving the ministry, and the sacraments of the church of Christ, in their original character and form! The gospel is but a book:. . and yet, while the writings of the most distinguished authors, contemporary with its composition, have perished wholly, or remain in few and scattered fragments,. . its sacred contents are still held by us entire and unimpaired. The sacraments of baptism, and the Lord's supper, are. outwardly, but ceremonies: . . and yet, while all the gorgeous rites, and glittering apparatus, of the false religions, with the pomp, and pageantry, and splendour, of kingdoms and empires that controlled the world, have vanished like the clouds at sunset, these simple offices,.. the sprinkling of the infant's brow, with the pure water of the baptismal font; the meek, unostentatious banquet of the bread and wine, which the Lord once broke, and blessed, and commanded to be received,.. still hold their place, in every land where Jesus is proclaimed; are still received by countless millions, as pledges of their salvation, and emblems of the love that brought excellence, the elevation of ancient piety, or the dignity of ancient observances; but also, because the good sense of modern times has felt the justness of that early discrimination, and, to the present moment, has guarded the invaluable treasure with unremitting vigilance, and unyielding firmness. We are deeply indebted to Divine Providence, for our enfranchisement from the fetters of superstition, and the yoke of mental bondage: but we are excited to a still more cordial gratitude, by the consideration, that those employed to pluck up the tares, were not permitted to root up also the wheat with them; and every subsequent danger, which, from time to time, has threatened to despoil the English church of one or other portion of her fair inheritance, may now be looked back upon, with enlightened satisfaction, and exalted pleasure. We enjoy the inestimable result of those successive escapes and our enjoyment increases, in propor it. The distinction of the ministry into three orders, with the exclusive power of self-perpetuation in the highest, if it be not ordained of God, is but the arrangement of human skill, or the device of human ambition; .. and yet, while all the governments on earth have changed in form, once and again, within the christian era; while revolution has succeeded revolution, and emperors, consuls, kings, dictators,. . come like shadows, have so departed,.. the arrangement which we claim as apostolical, the arrangement which we find in the Philippian church, is still, under all forms of civil government, preserved; has never, in the tract of ages, suffered interruption; against all adverse circumstances,.. pride, prejudice, poverty, indifference, treachery,. . is still maintained, by more than nineteen twentieths of all that bear the christian name; and by none who do maintain it, into whatever other corruption they may have fallen, (I mention it as an incontestable fact, and full of matter for deep contemplation) have the great doctrines of the gospel, the proper divinity of Jesus Christ, and the atonement for all sin by his blood, ever been denied.'. . THE GOSPEL, IN THE CHURCH:. . a Sermon, delivered at the annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Massachusetts; Wednesday, June 20., 1832., by George Washington Doane, Rector of Trinity Church, Boston. [Since, most deservedly, chosen bishop of New Jersey.] - ED. tion as instances of religious vacillation multiply around us. While increasing numbers' go astray in the wilderness,' . . our settled, unaltered, and radically primitive church, secures to us a peaceable habitation, and quiet resting-place.' It could not answer this end, merely as a national establishment. As such, indeed, it might interest political men; and serve well enough for those, who are satisfied to take things as they find them. But, on this ground alone, it could not challenge examination; it could not possess authority, over either reason or conscience. It is the consistency of our national church with itself; its essential sameness, (notwithstanding circumstantial changes,) with what it was originally; and its consequent vital retention of catholic faith and piety,.. that faith, which was ' once delivered to the saints,' and that piety, which is profitable for all things,' . . it is this, which constitutes the basis of its strength: while its exquisite accordance to full-grown human nature, and to advanced and enlightened society, affords an additional evidence, which will be felt to increase in conclusiveness, in proportion as our church becomes the subject of close and philosophical reflection. We, evidently, are in no danger of praying to God erroneously, when we daily address him in the sentiments, and even in the expressions, which have given utterance and wing to the devotions of the western church, in some instances, for sixteen hundred, in all leading instances, for twelve hundred years. We cannot doubt the soundness of our faith, when we know it to be that, by which all the vir by which they were so raised above earth, and so animated with the purest and most exalted affections, as, even in this world, to enjoy, by anticipation, the felicity of heaven. And lastly, we cannot but value those observances, in which christians of the purest times did not disdain to seek support for their piety: in which, most probably under apostolic sanction, they merely transferred from the ancient dispensation, those circumstantial aids, which, on every ground of reason, were alike applicable to the new: and which, from the second century to the present hour, have been evincing their utility, in the alliance which they have maintained, between religion and natural feeling in the multiplied associations, with which they have occupied and engaged the mind: and in the exterior grace, beauty, and cheerfulness, by which they have added to the attractiveness of divine worship, and helped to introduce the deepest and most beneficial impressions. : In all these respects, we, of the church of England, are only echoing the voices, repeating the movements, and tracing the footsteps, of the great body of the church militant, which has marched on before; and which, for our guidance, has left behind it, a path more discernible than the galaxy in the heavens. In this path it is, that the unaltered church of England, breathing forth her own authentic spirit, in the uniform voice of her formularies, has guided all her genuine and faithful children; as if it had been her leading ambition, (as it is, in truth, amongst reformed communions, her distinguishing characteristic,) to keep in view, and reduce to practice, that explicit, yet much for. gotten oracle: .. 'Thus,' saith the Lord, 'stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths; where is the good way? and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.'* A Can it be questioned, that some distinct guidance is necessary, when religious novelties so frequently press upon our notice; and when discord, with a thousand various mouths,' perplexes the unlearned christian, in proportion to his solicitude to know and embrace the truth? Amidst the paths which open before him, and the contending calls of, . . Lo, Christ is here,' and 'Lo, Christ is there,' how shall the honest, but untaught individual, ascertain the way of safety? Is it the volume of holy scripture, interpreted, for himself, by each private person, which shall extricate from this labyrinth? Alas! it is with this sacred book in their hands, that the various parties have separated from each other: and the great point in question is, not, whether the written word of God is to be listened to, but, solely, in what manner it is to be understood, and practically applied. The church of England, and she only, proposes to relieve us from this embarrassment, without any concomitant claim of mental subjugation. She is willing to be a guide, without assuming to be a directress. Instead of pronouncing as an oracle, she deduces what is safest and most beneficial, * The only way, both to peace and truth, is true humility: which will teach us, to think meanly of our own abilities; to be diffident of our own apprehensions and judgments; to ascribe much, to the reverend antiquity, greater sanctity, deeper insight, of our blessed predecessors. This only, will keep us in the BEATEN ROAD, without all extravagant deviations into |