Thus it is that the Bishops, Doctors, Martyrs of the Reformation teach a "religion of Sacraments." Such, and only such, is the "Sacramental religion" which the men of Oxford preach. How can they do other, when it is written, in the words of Jesus Christ himself, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again-except a man be born of water and of the Spirit-he cannot enter into the kingdom of God;" and again, “He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him?" When it is written, in the words of Paul, "According to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;" and again, "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" When it is written, in the words of Peter, "Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost;" and again, "The like figure whereunto, even baptism doth also now save us." But let the whole subject be summed up in the words of Mr. Simeon. "St. Peter says, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the remission of sins;' and in another place, 'Baptism doth now save us.' And, speaking elsewhere of baptized persons, who were unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, he says, 'He hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.' Does not this very strongly countenance THE IDEA WHICH OUR REFORMERS ENTERTAINED, that the remission of our sins, and the regeneration of our souls, is attendant

**

"Let me then

on the baptismal rite." ** speak the truth before God: though I am no Arminian, I do think the refinements of Calvin have done great harm in the Church; they have driven multitudes from the plain and popular way of speaking, used by the inspired writers, and have made them unreasonably and unscripturally squeamish in their modes of expression."-Works ii. 259.

SPECIFICATION v. "Writers, who approximate so nearly to Rome,' in their views of the Sacraments, rival her, of course, in their notions of Church power, and the authority of the Clergy."-The items charged under this specification are, teaching that a Church episcopally organized is the only way to eternal life; that it is the channel of grace; that its Sacraments are the means for the imparting of Gospel gifts; and that the Bishops, not only, but the Presbyters of such a Church, have power over the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and to some extent over the things of the unseen world: and these are specified, "to show how Papistical these writers are in their notions of the power of the priesthood." (p. 47.) Papistical, more or less, Richard Hooker, whom Mr. Boardman justly holds as high authority, had the same notions: and, what is even more awkward for the "Pastor of the Walnut street Presbyterian Church," they are taught -the Episcopacy, which makes the high claim valid, alone excepted-not only in the "Confession of Faith of the Reformed Dutch Church, revised in the national synod, held at Dordrecht, in the years 1618, and 1619;"

"This is not Popery precisely, I grant," says Mr. Boardman, (p. 46.) Then why introduce it?

but in the "Confession of Faith" and "Form of Government" contained in "the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America," as amended in 1833.

What saith "judicious Hooker?"

"In that they are Christ's ambassadors and His laborers, who should give them their commission, but He Whose most inward af. fairs they manage? Is not God alone the Father of spirits? Are not souls the purchase of Jesus Christ? What angel in heaven could have said to man, as our Lord did unto Peter, Feed my sheep, -preach-baptize-do this in remembrance of Me. Whose sins ye retain, they are retained; and their offences in heaven pardoned, whose faults you shall on earth forgive? What think we? Are these terrestrial sounds, or else are they voices uttered out of the clouds above? The power of the ministry of God translateth out of darkness into glory; it raiseth man from the earth and bringeth God Himself from heaven; by blessing visible elements it maketh them invisible graces; it giveth daily the Holy Ghost; it hath to dispose of that flesh which was given for the life of the world, and the Blood which was poured out to redeem souls; when it poureth maledictions upon the heads of the wicked, they perish; when it revoketh the same, they revive. O wretched blindness, if we admire not so great power; more wretched if we consider it aright, and, notwithstanding, imagine that any but God can bestow it? To whom Christ hath imparted power, both over that mystical body which is the society of souls, and over that natural which is Himself, for the knitting of both in one (a work which Antiquity doth call the making of Christ's Body,) the same power is in such not amiss both termed a kind of mark or character, and acknowledged to be indelible. Receive the Holy Ghost; whose sins soever ye remit, they are remitted; whose sins ye retain, they are retained.' Whereas, therefore, the other Evangelists had set down, that Christ did, before His suffering, promise to give His Apostles the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and being risen from the dead, promised moreover at that time a miraculous power of the Holy Ghost, St. John addeth, that He also invested them, even then, with the power

of the Holy Ghost for castigation and relaxation of sin, wherein was fully accomplished that which the promise of the keys did import. Seeing, therefore, that the same power is now given, why should the same form of words expressing it be thought foolish?”—Ecclesiastical Polity, Keble's edition, v. lxxvii. 1, 2, 7.

What saith "the Reformed Dutch Church?"

ARTICLE XXVII. Of the Catholic Christian Church.—We believe and profess one Catholic or universal Church, which is an holy congregation of true Christian believers, all expecting their salvation in Jesus Christ, being washed by his blood, sanctified and sealed by the Holy Ghost. * * * *

ARTICLE XXV. That every one is bound to join himself to the true Church. We believe since this holy congregation is an assembly of those who are saved, and that out of it there is no salvation, that no person, of whatsoever state or condition he may be, ought to withdraw himself, to live in a separate state from it; ** all those who separate themselves from the same, or do not join themselves to it, act contrary to the ordinance of God.

ARTICLE XXX. Concerning the government of, and officers in, the Church. We believe that this true Church must be governed by the spiritual polity which our Lord hath taught us in his word; namely, that there must be ministers or pastors to preach the word of God, and to administer the sacraments. * * * **

ARTICLE XXXIII. Of the Sacraments.- We believe that our gra

cious God, on account of our weakness and infirmities, hath ordained the sacraments for us, thereby to seal unto us his promises, and to be pledges of the good will and grace of God toward us, and also to nourish and strengthen our faith; which he hath joined to the word of the Gospel, the better to present to our senses both that which he signifies to us by his word, and that which he works inwardly in our hearts, thereby assuring and confirming in us the salvation which he imparts to us. For they are visible signs and seals of an inward and invisible thing, by means whereof, God worketh in us by the power of the Holy Ghost. * ** **

What saith "the Presbyterian Church?"

CONFESSION OF FAITH, chapter xxv. Of the Church. § 2. The

visible Church, which is also Catholic or universal under the Gos. pel, ***** is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.

§3. Unto this Catholic Visible Church, Christ hath given the ministry, oracles and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints in this life, to the end of the world: and doth by his own presence and Spirit, according to his promise, make them effectual thereunto.

CHURCH GOVERNMENT, Chapter iii. § 1. Our blessed Lord at first collected his Church out of different nations, and formed it into one body, by the mission of men endued with miraculous gifts, which have long since ceased.

§ 2. The ordinary and perpetual officers in the Church, are Bishops or Pastors; the representatives of the people, usually styled Rulers, Elders and Deacons.

CONFESSION OF FAITH, Chapter xxx. Of Church Censures. § 2. To these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed, by virtue whereof they have power respectively to retain and remit sins, to shut that kingdom against the impenitent, both by the word and censures; and to open it unto penitent sinners, by the ministry of the Gospel, and by absolution from censures, as occasion shall require.

Chapter xxviii. Of Baptism. § 1. Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible Church,1 but also to be unto him a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, of his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of remission of sins,

Chapter xxix. Of the Lord's Supper. § 1. Our Lord Jesus, in the night wherein he was betrayed, instituted the sacrament of his body and blood, called the Lord's Supper, to be observed in his Church, unto the end of the world; for the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of himself in his death, the sealing all benefits thereof unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth in him. ****

Chapter xxvii. Of the Sacraments, § 4. There be only two sa

"Out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation." See above.