This is plainly manifest in the next question and

answer.

"Q. Did, then, the Romish Church give an apostolic commission to those teachers who preached against herself?

"A. No. It was not Rome, but it is CHRist, and Christ alone, who gives the commission to preach and to send preachers, and who prescribes what is to be preached, viz., his own Gospel. The Church of Rome was only one of the channels through which that commission flowed, and not the source from which it rose." (p. 213.)

The question was, "Did, then, the Romish Church give an Apostolic Commission to those teachers who preached against herself?" But this question is not answered. When an apostolic succession of Holy Orders is the subject, one would have expected that some attempt would have been made to prove that an Apostolic Commission was given, and transmitted to the period referred to; for it is evident there cannot be an Apostolic succession, in its proper meaning, without it. But this, the first and main point, is only assumed. Not the least attempt is made to prove it! It availeth not, therefore, to put such a question as this:

"Q. And this commission was not invalidated by the errors of those through whose hands it passed, so that the continuity of the apostolic succession could thus have received any interruption?

"A. No. The divine office must be distinguished from the human officers. The grace of holy orders which was transmitted by them " (it really tries one's patience to transcribe such theology as this, when one knows that the ordaining act of the Church of Rome is in these blasphemous words, "Receive thou power to offer sacrifice to God, and to celebrate Masses, both for the living and the dead. In the name of the Lord. Amen." But we continue.) "The grace of holy orders which was transmitted by them was the grace, not of men, but of Christ and of the Holy Spirit, and could not be impaired by any personal defects or demerits of the ministers who transmitted it. In the communication of God's ordinances non merita personarum consideranda sunt sed officia sacerdotum."

The grace of Holy Orders in the Church of Rome!!! We nauseate such a deplorable error. The Doctor by assuming that the Church of Rome grants an Apostolic Commission, and, attributing the errors of that Church to the personal defects and demerits of its officers, has been led to ascribe to Christ and the Holy Spirit that of which they could not possibly be the authors. Had they given such a commission as is given to

priests of the Church of Rome, Christ's Church would be a kingdom authoritatively and necessarily divided against itself. The Doctor attempts to support his views by a reference to a sermon on the sending of the Holy Ghost by Bishop Andrewes (vol. iii. p. 278); but it is useless, because had the Doctor examined the quotation closely and critically he would have found that, though there is a confusion of ideas throughout, and inapt illustrations, its evident intention is, simply, to support the Twenty-sixth Article. The quotation from Bishop Andrewes's sermon is as follows::

"Hath not the Church long since defined it positively, that the baptism Peter gave was no better than that which Judas, and exemplified it that a seal of iron will give as perfect a stamp as one of gold? ("Greg. Naz. Orat. de Baptism.") Semblably is it with these; they that by the Word, the sacraments, the keys, are unto other the conduits of grace, to make them fructify in all good works, may well so be, though they themselves remain unfruitful, as do the pipes of wood or lead, that by transmitting the water makes the garden bear both herbs and flowers, though they themselves never bear any. (S. Aug. Tract. V. in S. Joann.) Sever the office from the men, leave the men to God, to whom they stand or fall; let the ordinance of God stand fast."

The argument in this quotation Dr. Wordsworth applies to the succession of orders in the Church of Rome, whereas Bishop Andrewes speaks of an "ordinance of God," which makes his conclusion right, and is in accordance with the Twenty-sixth Article. Let Dr. Wordsworth show the Orders in the Church of Rome to be an "ordinance of God," instead of assuming it, and we shall be satisfied.

I have mentioned that the illustrations in the foregoing quotation are inapt as applied by Bishop Andrewes. Though somewhat of a digression from the real question in hand, but not thought so by Dr. Wordsworth, it may be profitable that we should make good our assertion.

The Bishop adduces in proof of the baptism given (ministered rather) by Peter and Judas being equally good, that a seal of iron will give as perfect a stamp as one of gold. Thus comparing Judas to an iron, Peter to a gold, seal. Now, the fact is, that neither of them was a seal at all. And could they be compared to seals, being equal in office (which was the thing to be proved!) in the eye of the Church, or ecclesiastically, they must be regarded, when dispensing rightly the word and sacraments, as of equal or

like metal. The "unworthiness of the minister " cannot, in any wise, be taken into the account, or, as Bishop Andrewes himself says, "Sever the office from the men; leave the men to God, to whom they stand or fall; let the ordinance of God stand fast." Then, as respects the ordinance of God, the iron and the gold are excluded from our consideration, the seals, therefore, if seals, are of equal, not of unequal, worth. The Bishop's illustration, therefore, is inapplicable. But neither apostles nor ministers can be fitly compared to seals. The ordinance of Baptism may. The Twenty-seventh Article thus sets this forth: "Baptism is not only a sign of profession, and mark of difference, whereby Christian men are discerned from others that be not christened, but it is also a sign of regeneration or new birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive baptism rightly are grafted into the Church, the promises of forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed." The ministers of this ordinance may be, metaphorically, the hands employed for its proper performance, but we cannot admit their being any part of the seal.