gard to truth. Diffenters may and do object: We diffent not, but approve. Having thus briefly notic'd general charges, I now proceed to vindicate thofe particular offices of our Liturgy which are stated by the Diffenters as most peculiarly offenfive to them, and these are five; namely, those of Ordination, and Confirmation, which are restricted to the Bishop; and those of Infant-baptism, Vifitation of the fick, and Burial of the dead, which are ordinary miniftrations of every Parish Prieft. To the two firft it is but natural to expect objections, were it only on account of the hands by which they are confer'd; fince to a ftaunch Presbyterian, Prelacy is little lefs obnoxious than Popery. To begin then with the Ordination fervice, wherein they confine their accufations principally to one part, which is this: the Bishop says, Receive the Holy Ghost. Whofe fins thou doft forgive, they are forgiven; and whose fins thou doft retain, they are retained. On this form they thus infidiously and indecently comment. We can not find in the New Testament, say they fneeringly, that Bishops in the present day poffefs the power of forgiving fins; much lefs of communicating that power to others. Witty and smart this; and what may pass upon fuch as can not diftinguish tinguish between ridicule and argument. But let them turn to the fixteenth chapter of Saint Matthew, where at the nineteenth verfe Chrift tells Saint Peter, I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loofed in heaven. Next, to fhew that these words are not to be reftricted to Saint Peter exclufively, let them turn to the eighteenth chapter of the fame Gofpel, where at the eighteenth verfe Chrift addreffing Himself to all the Apostles, ufes nearly the fame words: Verily I fay unto you, whatsoever ye fhall bind on earth fhall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye fhall loofe on earth fhall be loofed in heaven. Once more, let me refer them to the twentieth chapter of Saint John's Gospel; where the holy Evangelift having recorded an appearance of Chrift to his disciples after his refurrection, has the following very remarkable paffage. Then faid Jesus unto them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath fent Me, even fo fend I you. And when He had faid this, he breathed on them, and faith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whofefoever fins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosefoever fins ye retain, they are retained. Here we have the very form of words ufed by Chrift Jefus, the great Shepherd and Bishop of our fouls, in or daining daining his difciples to their Apoftolical Priefthood. And this form our Church, in reverential imitation of her divine Founder, ftill retains. But common fenfe, if accompanied by the smallest degree of candour, cannot but fuggest one very material distinction. The bleffed Jefus had promis'd to send the Comforter, that Holy Spirit, which proceedeth from the Father and the Son. He breathed on them, and the promise was accomplish'd. The words then which as utter'd by Chrift were authoritative, when pronounc'd by man are but fupplicatory. And that our Church adopts them in that fenfe is manifeft from the whole tenor of the Ordination fervice itself. The Bishop in his previous exhortation enjoins the candidates for Priesthood to pray continually to God the Father, by the Mediation of the only Saviour Jesus Christ, for the heavenly affiftance of the Holy Ghost. The hymns us'd on that occafion are folemn invocations of the Holy Ghoft. Chrift made use of no fuch invocations: He commanded, and it stood faft. Then for what is call'd the power of the Keys, namely, remitting or retaining of fins; although the learned differ confiderably with respect to it's full latitude, yet is it most usually restricted to fpiritual cenfures and abfolutions. I 2 And the Church Church may be fafely juftified for retaining an expreffion thrice repeated by Christ Himself, even though the full extent and precife import of that expreffion be granted to be but imperfectly understood. This unreasonable cavil against a part of our Ordination service being thus at fome length obviated, I come next to their equally unreasonable cavils at the rite of Confirmation, that other Epifcopal function. Here they affect to be angry, because the Bishop in his address to God folemnly declares that God has vouchsaf'd to regenerate these his fervants by water and the Holy Ghoft. Were this office to be us'd to the unbaptiz'd, the objection would be just ; but whoever understands the nature of the Sacrament of Baptifm will plainly fee, that these words amount to no more than a grateful acknowledgment that God hath already admitted these his fervants into the covenant of grace by the laver of regeneration in Baptism. But farther, the Bishop by laying on of hands, certifies each particular perfon of God's favour and gracious goodness towards him: though he can not poffibly tell that all whom he thus certifies are regenerated and true Christians. Here is a striking instance of that equivocal ambiguity fo frequently and fo fhamelessly 'employ'd for the abuse of our Church, and her ordi nances. nances. 117 The Bishop does know that each perfon on whom he thus lays his hand is a Christian, and regenerate by Baptifm, whereby he became a member of Chrift, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. But here they artfully foift in a different acceptation of the words; meaning by regenerated and true Christians, such as by the conftant practice of goodness have uniformly continued in that ftate of grace to which they were admitted by Baptifm. Now to which of the candidates for Confirmation this description may be competent, we grant the Bishop can not poffibly know; and that for this plain reason, because he is not infallible. Here then again a small mixture of . candour with common fense will ferve for the vindication of this rite; whereby the Bishop only certifies the continuance of that grace beftow'd in Baptifm on fuch as fulfil the conditions in that very Baptifm ftipulated; and which, as our Catechifm teaches, when they come to age themselves are bound to perform. In hopes that what I have now advanc'd in juftification of the offices of our Church respecting these two Epifcopal functions of Ordination and Confirmation may fuffice for the fatisfaction of the members of our own communion, and enable them to view 1.3 |