within the last three years, as fpecified in this work, far exceeds our calculations.

In this ftate of the church, the publication of a history whofe evident tendency is to lower our opinions of epifcopacy and to leffen the attachment to the peculiar difcipline of the church of England, must be viewed with a jealous eye; and, as the acquiefcence of an Arian in the difcipline of the church feems by no means to justify his fubfcription to the articles, the moft rigid belief of the doctrines of the church is no palliation for the infinuations against its difcipline thrown out by one who has fubfcribed the articles and is in actual poffeffion of a benefice. We therefore think it neceffary to point out in marked terms our disapprobation of the liberty in which this writer has indulged himself, that, in beftowing due praise on the piety, liberality, hiftorical knowledge, attachment to Chriftianity, labour, skill, arrangement, which diftinguish this work, we may not give encouragement to the, propagation of fchifm.

The hiftory is divided into centuries, and in each century is affigned one chapter to the true fpiritual church. The firít volume contains the hiftory of the first four centuries; in the fecond are comprehended the following twelve centuries; and the laft volume brings the hiftory down to the present times. The first and laft volumes are concluded with appendices on uniformity in religion, on fchifm, on infidelity, on the present ftate of evangelical religion, on the means of extending the fpiritual church of Chrift, and on the call of captain Wilson to conduct the miffionaries to the South Seas; and in these effays the peculiar tenets of the writer may be clearly dif cerned. In the introduction these tenets are given by himself; and they deserve the attention of our readers.

Having, through divine mercy, obtained grace to be faithful→ in providence received my education-and been called to minister in the church of England, I have embraced and fubfcribed her articles, ex animo, and have continued to prefer an epifcopal mode of government; and I am content herein to abide with God, till I can find one more purely apoftolic. But difclaiming all exclufive pretenfions, and joined to the Lord in one fpirit, with all the faithful of every denomination, I candidly avow my conviction; that the true church is catholic, or univerfal; not monopolized by any one body of profeffing Christians, but effentially a fpiritual church; and confifting only and equally of those who, in every denomination, love our Lord Jefus Chrift in fincerity. Refpecting the administration of this church, I am not convinced that the Lord of Life and Glory left any precife regulations. His kingdom could alike fubfift under any fpecies of government; and having nothing to do with this world, was in externals to be regulated by existing

circumftances. Whether epifcopacy, a prefbytery, or the congre gational order, be established as the dominant profeffion, it affects not the body of Chrift. The living members, under each of these modes of administration, are alike bound to love one another out of a pure heart fervently; to indulge their brethren in the fame liberty of private judgment, which they exercife themselves; and ought never to fuffer these regulations of outward order to deftroy the unity of the fpirit, or to break the bonds of peace.

When I fpeak of epifcopacy, as moft' correfpondent, in my poor ideas, to the apoftolic practice, and the general ufage of the church in the firft, and generally esteemed purer ages, let no man imagine I plead for that epifcopacy, which rifing very early on the ftilts of prelatical pride and worldly-mindedness, has fince overspread the earth with its baneful fhadow; or fuppose those to be the true fucceffors of the apoftles, who, grafping at power and pre-eminence over churches, which their labours never planted or watered, claim dominion over districts, provinces, kingdoms, beyond all power of individual fuperintendence. These all, every where, and in every age, have manifested the fame spirit of antichrift; and that just in proportion as their ufurpation of authority over the churches and the confciences of men, hath been moft extenfive, moft exclufive, and moft intolerant.' Vol. i. P. ix.

Dr. Haweis then sketches his primitive church, founded by apoftles and itinerant evangelifts. The bishop and presbyter were in his opinion the fame; and they were

not decked with earthly fplendor, or gorgeous apparel; not ruling extenfive diocefes, with vast revenues, but plain men, wearing often the garb of poverty and humility, in no eminence of birth, or of philofophical or fcientific attainments; devoting their own little substance, as well as what the piety of the faithful entrusted to their care, to the noblest acts of charity; eminently felf denied in their own conduct, and exhibiting to their flocks the brightest examples of deadness to the world, and heavenly mindednefs; employing their lives in unwearied labours for the fouls of men; and affecting no pre-eminence above their fellows, but that which age, excellence, and fuperior fervice, naturally fecured to them. Where the danger was fo great, and the advantage so small, a man of God could only be constrained by confcience, and the fuffrage of his brethren, or by ardent zeal for the glory of his Lord to undertake the awful charge. Such were the primitive bishops appointed by the great fhepherd and bishop of fouls. The impofition of hands confirmed the people's choice, and acknowledged the divine call, placing these in the foremost rank of death and dignity.' Vol. i. P. xiv.

The history is introduced by a flight sketch of our Saviour's life, and properly dates its origin from the day of Pentecoft,

in which the true church may be faid to have been embodied. The labours of St. Paul are defcribed in a fpirited manner; but, if the writer's remark, that every individual joined to the Lord in one fpirit is called to be a faint,' may justify him in refufing that title to the apoftle, it was fcarcely neceffary to obferve fo minutely, that the ridiculous diftinction of a red letter in the calendar he would have treated as contemptibly as any man can poffibly do it for him.' In fpeaking of him and of Peter, there is too anxious a defire to represent them as itinerants, and to introduce without reafon the term itinerancy; but the fanction of their high authority is no precedent for the abufe of the term and the practice in later times. We obferve with pleasure, however, that the trumped-up tradition' of Peter's vifit to Rome is reprobated, and placed among the frauds against which whoever reads ecclefiaftical hiftory muft be continually on his guard;' that the tales of John and Cerinthus, and Tertullian's caldron of burning oil, are placed in the Apocrypha; and that the traditions of Eufebius are deprived of their authority. It is juftly remarked alfo, that the fruits of the fpirit must be visible in the true church; but the notion, that the truly converted in general can remember the time when, the place where, and the perfons by whom, they were firft called into marvellous light, and received the faving knowledge of their crucified Lord,' may lead to fome dangerous conceits. The idea that bishops, priests, and deacons, were to fucceed to the high-prieft, prietts, and Levites,' is properly represented as unfounded; and the mode of church government which prevailed in this period is fummed up in the following

manner.

As foon as a little fociety was formed of Christian men, a room was opened for their affembling, and the most apt to teach appointed to minifter to them in holy things.

He was a man of gravity, generally of the more aged, married, and having a family, approved by his fellows, and willing to devote himself to their fervice.

His appointment was fignified by prayer and impofition of hands of the apoftle Paul, or fome of the itinerant evangelifts and the prefbytery; and without this I meet no ordination.

Every church exercised discipline over its own members, to admit, admonif, or expel.

• Before these itinerant evangelifts all accufations against offending prefbyters were brought-They, in conjunction with the congregation regulated matters of order, and corrected abuses.

6

Thefe feem not to have had any appropriate district, but went about every where, chiefly under the direction of the apostle Paul. Thefe great evangelists were usually supported by the churches; but often, like Paul, maintained themselves by their own labours.

During the first ages, the miniftry was not appropriated to gentle. men or scholars. No man was bred to it as a profeffion, or went into it for a maintenance. They were paftors of a different ftamp.

The stationary prefbyters or, bifhops during the lives of the apoftle and his affociate evangelifts were under their fuperintendence, But it will appear very early in the fecond century, when this firft race of great itinerants departed, that one among the minifters in every place began to have the name of bishop xar' elox, with prefbyters his coadjutors, acting with him as one body.

All ecclefiaftical officers from the beginning, and for the firft three hundred years, were elected by the people. Even Mathias was thus chofen to fill up the tribular number of the apostles.

• Deacons were inftituted for the care of the poor, especially the widows; and deaconeffes afterwards appear for the fame purposes, though their institution is not exprefsly marked in the facred canon. Originally they were ordained not for one congregation, but for the myriads at Jerufalem, whofe widows were provided for out of a common stock..

Every member of the primitive church feems to have made it a constant practice to lay afide weekly a certain portion of his income or gains, for the poor, the perfecuted, or the Gospel, according to his ability; and hence, though generally the Chriftians were of the lowest and most indigent clafs of the people, the riches of their liberality abounded, and their means for this arofe from their Chriftian character itfelf. Their induftry was great, and they wafted nothing in extravagance of any kind, being by principle felf-denied to all indulgences for themfelves, that they might have to give to him that needed. And if all real Chriftians more confcientiously obferved this rule ftill, it is amazing what a fund might be raised for the relief of the neceffitous, and the furtherance of the Gofpel.' Vol. i. P. 93.

The laft obfervation deserves to be impreffed on the mind of every Chriftian; for if it were duly followed it would redound much to the honour of churches.

The gradual rife of prelatical power from this time to the age of Conftantine, and with it the introduction of ceremonies, the change of the external church from a ftate of perfecution to a state of exaltation, the ceffation of miraculous powers, the introduction of monafticifm, are all well defcribed by our author. He is cautious in giving affent to the tales of the early writers: he reprobates with juft feverity the intolerance of feveral; he diftinguishes between their virtues as Chriftians and their failings as men; and he has the wisdom to perceive that the abilities and energies of faints and bishops were often applied to very pernicious purpofes. The name of a heretic, a name often impofed by the

more numerous party without reafon, does not deter him from fearching for the fincere belief and practice of Chriftianity among those who were reprobated by their brethren. Even in the dazzling fplendor of the throne and the courtly flatteries of the hypocritical Eufebius, the enormities of the first pretended Christian emperor are detected; and with honest truth the writer juftly exclaims-I would rather have been the meanest Christian in a cottage than Conftantine the Great.'

An author who thus has the refolution to pierce the veil caft over the early ages of the church, may naturally be expected to do justice to its enemies; and the character of Julian is treated with greater respect than it is by the generality of Chriftians fuppofed to deferve. He judges too harshly, we would hope, in the comparison between that prince and our bifhop Warburton, when he fays, I fear greatly, that, if Julian was 'not quite as good a Chriftian as the bithop, he was probably a better man; fully perfuaded, that, had their fituations been reverfed, the bifhop would have preferred perfecution to tolerance.' The character given of this emperor deferves to be placed before our readers; and when they reflect that it is drawn by one who is in the highest degree earneft for the Chriftian faith, they will fee abundant reason to applaud him for his impartiality.

Julian, branded by hiftorians as the apoftate, hardly deserved that name: nor poffeffed much lefs of true Chriftianity than his uncle or coufin, whom, in the exemplarinefs of his moral conduct, he feems to have greatly exceeded.

The Chriftianity he had een taught fcarcely merited the title. He beheld with horror his coufin's hands defiled with the blood of his nearest relations; he faw all the religion of the court, confifting in the ambition and intrigues of fycophant bishops: and he was too far removed from the poor, and lowly Chriftians, to have ever discovered the evidence of its divine power; whilft he was tired out, and disgusted with the bitter quarrels and contentions about abftrufe opinions; which thofe who were moft violent, probably leaft understood. His philofophic friends, whom he careffed, ufed all their arts to deceive and influence him; ftrengthened his objections; and turned his hatred for the ill-ufage of his family by profeffing Chriftians, against Christianity itself; the truths of which he had never truly known or embraced, and therefore the profesfion of it he easily renounced. From his earliest youth initiated in claffic literature, his proficiency was confiderable, as his labours were indefatigable. He produced feveral literary works, in which he difplayed much vanity of fcience, but few traits of a deep and matured understanding. Seduced by the flatteries of the pagan fophifts, he became the dupe of the most abject fuperftitions; and he betrayed as groís an ignorance of true philofophy, as of religion,