coming to understand, and estimate at its proper worth, the value of that government which, a few years since, in minute detail, prescribed to its agents in Canada odious measures of persecution against the Catholics, and at the same time, by a formal treaty, guarantied to the inhabitants of Ceylon the liberty of idolatrous rites, sanctioning, by the presence of ambassadors, those pagan ceremonies, and offering to their divinities sacrilegious gifts. Light is spreading on this subject, and the great body of the nation are looking with rapidlyincreased disfavor upon this unholy and insufferable alliance, in which gold, state honors, and ecclesiastical dignities become the spoils of intrigue, the recompense of indolence, and the base pension which functionaries of every grade receive, for crippling the capacities and betraying the rights of the people at large.

But, thank God! Christianity is diffusing the leaven of its influence widely and deeply through the popular heart, rendering its subject both socially regenerative and politically energetic. From age to age it has bequeathed to earth a mighty accumulation of power, which, in the era upon which we are entering, seems destined to burst into freedom, gladness, and salvation in the presence of all mankind. Revolu tions the most radical and retributive are growing rife, in view of which let tyrants and bigots take heed, for chasms dark and frightful as their own deeds are yawning wide to give a quick passage down the fiery depths of the oppressor's hell. Combinations to support allied aristocracies around the altar and throne, must bow before the gathering storm of reformation in church and state, or be swept before it like summer dust. "Through this house or over it," said Lord Brougham, on the occasion of a noted debate in the English senate," this reform bill must pass." The Lord of lords and Monarch of monarchs has decreed that through every chapter house, every ministerial cabinet, and every legislative hall, or over them with crushing might, the great Reform Bill of primitive Christianity shall pass, leaving every where in its course the mind without a fetter, and the church without a king.

CHAPTER II.

THE CHURCH WITHOUT A POPE.

POPERY originated in degeneracy, flourished most in the darkest times, and is destined to disappear before increasing light. These are the main positions which in this discussion we shall endeavor to substantiate.

In the first place, it was in degeneracy from the primitive purity of the church of Christ, that Papal domination arose. Careful research into this matter will show that the first society of Christian believers was bound together only by the bonds of mutual love, and a free devotion to their common Lord. After his ascension, they continued to cooperate with the same singleness of heart and spontaneous enterprise, for the worship of their heavenly Master and the promotion of his kingdom on earth. The government under which they voluntarily placed themselves was the purest form of freedom ever imbodied and exemplified. "Each individual church possessed the rights and powers inherent in an independent popular assembly. The right to enact their laws, and the entire government of the church, was vested in each individual association of which the church was composed, and was exercised by the members of the same, in connection with their overseers and teachers; and, when the apostles were present, in common also with them."

Next to the inspired historians themselves, perhaps the most reliable writer on this subject is Dr. Augustus Neander. Speaking of the office of the apostles, he says, "They stand as the medium of communication between Christ and the whole Christian church, to transmit his word and his Spirit through all ages. In this respect the church must ever continue to ac

knowledge her dependence upon them, and to own their rightful authority. Their authority and power can be delegated to none other. But the service which the apostles themselves sought to confer, was to transmit to men the word and the spirit of the Lord, and, by this means, to establish independent Christian communities. These communities, when once established, they refused to hold in a state of slavish dependence upon themselves. Their object was, in the spirit of the Lord, to make the churches free, and independent of their guidance. To the churches their language was, 'Ye beloved, ye are made free; be ye the servants of no man.' The churches were taught to govern themselves. All the members were made to coöperate together as organs of one Spirit, in connection with which spiritual gifts were imparted to each as he might need. Thus they, whose prerogative it was to rule among the brethren, demeaned themselves as the servants of Christ and his church. They acted in the name of Christ and his church, as the organs of that Spirit with which all were inspired, and from which they derived the consciousness of their mutual Christian fellowship. The brethren chose their own officers from among themselves. Or if, in the first organization of the churches, their officers were appointed by the apostles, it was with the approbation of the members of the same.”

Possibly as early as the latter part of the life of John, when he was sole survivor of the other apostles, the custom obtained of distinguishing by the name of episkopos (bishop) the president of the sacred assembly. There is, however, no evidence that the apostle himself introduced such a change; much less, that he authorized it as a perpetual ordinance for the future. Such an innovation would be directly opposed to the wellknown spirit of that apostle. "When, however," continues Neander, "the doctrine is, as it gradually gained currency in the third century, that the bishops are, by divine right, the head of the church, and invested with the government of the same; that they are the successors of the apostles, and by this succession inherit apostolical authority; that they are the medi

um through which, in consequence of that ordination which they have received, merely in an outward manner, the Holy Ghost, in all time to come, must be transmitted to the church,

when this becomes the doctrine of the church, we certainly must perceive, in these assumptions, a strong corruption of the purity of the Christian system. It is a carnal perversion of the true idea of the Christian church. It is falling back into the spirit of the Jewish religion. Instead of the Christian idea of a church, based on inward principles of communion, and extending itself by means of these, it presents us with the image of one, like that under the Old Testament, resting in outward ordinances, and, by external rites, seeking to promote the propagation of the kingdom of God. This entire perversion of the original view of the Christian church was itself the origin of the whole system of the Roman Catholic relithe germ from which sprung the Popery of the dark

gion, ages.

The control of the apostolical churches was administered by each body of believers collectively, until the third or fourth century. It was about this period that the simple form and efficient discipline of the primitive church, exchanged for a complicated and oppressive system of penance, came to be administered by the clergy, and the usurpations of the Episcopal hierarchy began. Then, instead of being simply an assembly of brethren, with God only for their Word, their Spirit, and their Life, the church became a mere thing of creeds and ceremonies; its head was a man, and if the devotees recognized the presence of Jesus Christ at all, it was mainly in a gross material sense. But he had said from the beginning, with an infinitely higher signification, "Lo! I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." This is the grand doctrine of the Real Presence, which was too early overlooked, but which should never be forgotten by the disciples of our Lord.

The true church is built on the foundation of the purest as well as most sacred liberty, and is cemented with unconstrained confidence and mutual love, the strongest of all bonds. It is a

voluntary assemblage of equals, wherein every one obeys and no one commands. Every rational being is created in a natural independence of every other being; and if the most exalted finite intelligence should come, of his own accord, and with no other credential but his own will, to dictate laws to man, and to subjugate him to his dominion, himself would be a tyrant, and his subjects would be slaves. What shall we say, then, when frail man arrogates sovereignty over man, his equal in rights, and often his superior in reason, in cultivation and virtue? Can there be any pretension more iniquitous or more insolent? Does the universe present a more ignominious servitude? Surely, we may not hesitate to affirm with Rousseau, "A long perversion of just sentiments and ideas is necessary, before one can resolve to take a fellow-man for his master.' If this is true with respect to natural society, what shall we say concerning Christian organizations? The duty of obedience implies the right of commanding; and he who has a rightful authority to dictate in religious matters must be above him who submits to his decrees so much above him that higher than this no superiority can be conceived. An angel, by his nature, is above human beings; and yet man is not bound to yield obedience to an angel in any thing. If Gabriel should assume palpable shape and appear in our midst as a religious ruler, where should we find either reason or revelation directing us to follow his behests? There would be no right on the one hand, or duty on the other.

Plutarch tells us, in his life of Numa, that in the age of Saturn, there will be neither masters nor slaves. In the highest sense, this can be applied only to the peaceful domain and perfect sway of Christianity. Her law is not the expression of a single dictator, nor the avenger of a few wills the most prominent and strong; its object is rather to protect private interests, and to establish righteousness, the supreme interest of all. "Jesus called the disciples unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall