ed; or turn out of the visible church, as unworthy of spiritual fellowship, those who have other and better evidences of their christian character, than submission to the commandments of men. The Master himself never acted thus. He did not demand the belief of men to the simple declaration of his divine mission; but the Spirit of God attested his words as true. He appealed to his works as a demonstration suited to the capacities of his hearers, and as leaving them without excuse. Every opponent is struck dumb by the self-evident argument he advanced, or confounded by the miracles he performed. The Apostles did not shut up the avenues of inquiry, nor condemn the noble Bereans for examiniug the scriptures, to ascertain whether what they had preached was true or not. And if in our day men were not called to subscribe a Creed made ready to their hands; if they were not reduced to the cruel and unrighteous alternative of receiving what our church courts may be pleased to call gospel, or of being shut out from religious ordinances; if every man was required, as the nature of the case requires him, to preach what he has learn- ✔ ed for himself from the Bible, and what he can demonstrate to be there by trains of reasoning, such as men adopt on every other popular subject; and if the people were made to feel the imperious necessity of searching the scriptures for themselves, and that with many prayers and tears, a very important change would soon take place. Ministers would betake themselves to the Bible

instead of systems of theology; the Lord of hosts would be to them "for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, and for a spirit of judgment," when they sit as ministerial judges in Mount Zion's heavenly seats; and the sabbath would become their spiritual jubilee, when they should be heard to pray and preach, as though an unction had come down upon them from heaven: while the people would read more, think more, pray more, and grow more than they do. They would alike feel the full stress of personal responsibility; their "faith would not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God;" and the opinions of the fathers would not be so popular a substitute for their own personal ef forts. A Creed they would all have; a better Creed than they have now; a Creed which each one would form under the teaching of the Holy Ghost; a Creed which-we believe, and therefore speak-would shut out the multitude of errors our brethren seem to apprehend, and produce union and harmony, in a measure which never has existed since ecclesiastical councils first took the faith of mankind into their own hands. But a Creed, imposed by human authority, calling for an impracticable uniformity, in words and ideas, transmitting its influence from age to age, and cutting down the conceptions of men to its own requisitions, whatever changes may occur in the world, we cannot away with. Here is where we have our unwilling contest with our brethren, and where we intend to meet

them with all the firmness, affection, and zeal we "Now God himself and our Father, possess. and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way."

SECTION 3.

MANY christians, who have had neither leisure nor opportunity to examine the subject for themselves, imagine, that the primitive church was an ecclesiastical body, regulated by Presbyteries, Synods, Assemblies, Conferences, Conventions, or Associations, like those we have now. Such an impression is the natural consequence of long established usage: and in the present case, it has become deep and fixed, from the circumstance, that these institutions have been represented as established by divine right. Of course it is quite natural to look for an annual convocation of delegates,convened from all parts, to take cognizance of the whole, and duly authorized to settle questions of doctrine, and determine cases of discipline. They will be very much surprised to be told that this was not the fact. That in those early times, the churches, though Presbyterian, were yet independent; and that they were not joined together by any such confederacy, as we have been in the habit of supposing so essential to the peace and prosperity of religion. A great part of the second century had

elapsed before these associations were formed; and during that period, the churches were connected together by no "other bonds than those of CHARITY." The custom of holding Councils commenced in Greece, where "nothing was more common than this confederacy of independent states," as a mere political expedient; and, after all that has been said in favour of Councils, they were a mere imitation of the political institutions of that country. This is historical fact, if the ecclesiastical historians we have consulted speak truth.

It is our province, after making such assertions, to present our proof. Our first appeal shall be to the pages of the learned Dr. Mosheim, whose volumes are, with great confidence, put into the hands of the rising ministry, and whose fidelity as a historian will not be disputed.

In his introduction, when detailing the subjects of which he conceived himself called upon to treat, he remarks;-"In that part of the sacred history which relates to the doctrines of christianity, it is necessary, above all things, to inquire particularly into the degree of authority that has been attributed to the sacred writings, in all the different periods of the church, and also into the manner in which the divine doctrines they contain, have been explained and illustrated. For the true state of religion in every age can only be learned from the point of view in which these celestial oracles were considered, and from the manner in which they were expounded to the people. As long as they were the only rule of

Faith, religion preserved its native purity; and in proportion as their decisions were either neglected or postponed to the inventions of men, it V degenerated from its primitive and divine simplicity." This is very plain language, and deserves the attention of those who inquire how the church could possibly survive the renunciation of human Creeds? As the inventions of men, the historian declares it to have been a uniform fact, that the church did better without, than with, them; and that they became the very means of corrupting the faith of the church.

In giving his view concerning the doctrine of the christian church during the first century; after having stated that the Bible was the rule of faith and practice; and declared the solicitude of the Apostles and their disciples to put that book into the hands of all christians; Dr. Mosheim goes on to inform us of the method of teaching religion during that period:-"The method of teaching the sacred doctrines of religion, was, at this time, most simple, far removed from all the subtile rules of philosophy, and all the precepts of human art. This appears abundantly, not only in the writings of the Apostles, but also in all those of the second century, which have survived the ruins of time. Neither did the Apostles, or their disciples, ever think of collecting into a regular system the principal doctrines of the christian religion,or of demonstrating them in a scientific and geometrical order. The

* Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, page 5.