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    " < 2 . ) That tbis priesthood is of perpetual obligation and authority * " ( 3 . ) That the Church of England is a genuine branch of the true Apostolic Church , because it can prove an uninterrupted Episcopal succession from Jesus Christ to the present time , and is possessed of every

    ecclesiastical requisite enjoined by primitive authority . " { 4 . ) That the three orders of the hierarchy , named bishops , priests , and deacons , by which this Ohurch is governed , are invested with the high sanction of apostolical observance , "—P . 5 .

    We must refer the carious to the pamphlet itself for the defence of these boW positions . They will be surprised to find the Tecord of the Christian Church carried many centuries further back than the time of its Founder . But Melchizedek's and Levies priesthood are found to have been exact patterns , and not shadows , of good things to come . The most critical point x > f the historical induction , io our opinion , is that where the apostolical tree branches into the English Church . The Roman Catholic claim to direct succession , such as it is , seems at least consistent : but not so the claim of the English Church . The Reformation has always seemed to us a blemish ,

    instead of an ornament , to the glory of English episcopacy . Pure apostolical succession is traced through the very church which is denounced as the mystery of iniquity and die sink of abomination . The Romish Church was either very corrupt or not much so , before the Reformation . If the former , the episcopal succession derived from it Io the English Church is impure too ; if the latter , there was little need of the Reformation ) , and the Reformation has made very little change in the Established Church of England . In this dilemma the English Churchman stands . We had been wont to think ( hut our dissenting principles we felt might somewhat warp our judgment ) , that the Reformed Church differed but little from the apostate Romish system , notwithstanding the * p ious horror of the former against the idolatries , the superstitions , and the mummeries of the latter . And Mr . Oliver is of our opinion :

    "It is unnecessary to enlarge on the fact , that the Church of Home possessed all the qualities of the true church , in the early ages of the Papacy ; and that it was the identical institution to which the promises of Jesus Christ were originally attached . Nor will I waste your time in refuting the position that it was lost amidst Popish degeneracy and corruption ; because you know , how reluctant soever you way be in promulgating the doctrine ,

    that corruption cannot destroy the essence of a church . I shall therefore take it for granted that the Church was in its full primitive authority at tUc Reformation ; and attend to the hypothesis that we forfeited its privileges at that precise period . But , Sir , it is a mistake to suppose that our Reformers separated from the Church . They did no such thing . They merely purged it from the errors and impurities which had been introduced into the system of religious government and worship . They did not institute a new church , hut restored the primitive discipline and doctrine . "—P . 21 .

    Untitled Article

    634 On the Corrupt State * f the Church of England .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1831, page 634, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2601/page/58/