Puslapio vaizdai
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cised for trivial matters, but upon great and weighty

occasions.

“6. That for the future those who have been ordained in any of the foreign churches be not required to be re-ordained here, to render them capable of preferment in the Church.

"7. That for the future none be capable of any ecclesiastical benefice or preferment in the Church of England that shall be ordained in England otherwise than by bishops; and that those who have been ordained only by presbyters shall not be compelled to renounce their former ordination. But because many have and do still doubt of the validity of such ordination, where episcopal ordination may be had and is by law required, it shall be sufficient for such persons to receive ordination from a bishop in this or the like form : 'If thou art not already ordained, I ordain thee,' &c. ; as in case a doubt be made of any one's baptism, it is appointed by the Liturgy that he be baptized in this form: If thou are not baptized, I baptize thee.""

These are proposals "to be made by the Church of England for the union of Protestants." Who cannot see that the power of joint life already spoken of would be far greater and stronger if it comprehended Roman Catholics too; and who cannot see, also, that in the

churches of the most strong and living Roman Catholic countries,-in France and Germany,-a movement is in progress which may one day make a general union of Christendom possible? But this will not be in our day, nor is it business which the England of this generation is set to do. What may be done in our day, what our generation has the call and the means, if only it has the resolution, to bring about, is the union of Protestants. But this union will never be on the basis of the actual Scriptural Protestantism of our Puritans; and because, so long as they take this for the gospel or good news of Christ, they cannot possibly unite on any other basis, the first step towards union is showing them that this is not the gospel. If we have succeeded in doing even so much towards union as to convince one of them of this, we have not written in vain.

THE END.

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