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cautious statesman," has handed down to posterity, in the terms expressed in the note at page 258.

It becomes us, Englishmen, seriously to consider, at this crisis, what the means should be to attain the end, which all rational men are desirous of seeking; and which we should exert ourselves to obtain, as an united and not divided people.

Thus the Christian religion having been made the basis of the state in the constitution of Great Britain, no correct reformation can be performed therein, without direct reference to the original superstructure; for to reform is not to destroy; and there is a marked difference in reconstructing a system, and entirely subverting it, by the production of one in another form. If the state is to remain Christian, the authority of God must be preserved therein, as the first Lawgiver, by its positive not by its abstract connexion. The Jewish kings held their authority direct from the Almighty, representing the higher power; and this alone secured to them the divine presence, or SHECHINAH, manifested by the Urim and Thummim 1, worn on the breast-plate of the High Priest who offered the sacrifice of the burnt-offering, as typical of the incarnation of the God of the Christian Church-under this arrangement was the Almighty consulted by the High Priest alone, in all matters of state importance. It is agreed that this mode of consultation was only had recourse to in affairs of very great moment: that the High Priest was the only officiating minister in this ceremony; and that he was to be invested in all his sacred or pontifical habits, particularly his breast-plate; and, lastly, that he was not permitted to perform or require this

1 Urim and Thummim, literally, light and perfection, or, according to St. Jerome, "doctrine and truth,”—to the LXX declaration, "manifestation and truth;" and, by other learned theologians, as comprehending " JEHOVAH.”Vide Exod. xxviii. 30. Levit. viii. 8. Numb. xxvii. 21. Ezra ii. 63.

solemn consultation for a private individual, but only for the king, for the president of the council of the Sanhedrim, for the general of the army of Israel, or for other public functionaries, to whom were assigned high offices; and even then not upon affairs of a private nature; but for matters that related to the public interests of the Church and State. Although the divine presence, or authority, under the Urim and Thummim became lost to the Jews, it was restored by the VOICE OF GOD to the Head of the Christian Church, even before his death and resurrection, at the baptism of Christ, and at his transfiguration on the mount'. After the destruction of Jerusalem it no longer remained with the Jews, but became deposited with the apostles, under the promise," and lo I am with you always," &c.

After this scriptural elucidation, which may be taken, rei difficilis explicatio, to worldly minds, but to them alone, will any Christian man assert that it is not upon this foundation that the model of our free constitution, and the power of the people under it, are established,—or, will any body of Christian men in the state, deny to those who represent the apostolic succession, the power to convey that right, under the Christian covenant; and support such denial against the declared authority of the Most High, in his revealed word, and in the teeth of its denunciations, for rebellion against that authority. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me," Isaiah i. 2.

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It is only by virtue of his authority as an anointed Christian king, that the sovereign of these realms holds the tenure of his crown; and thus only, as Lord Coke has beautifully expressed it, does he "of right become the Caput et princi

Matt. iii. 17. and xvii. 5.

pium et finis of the three estates, which comprise the whole system." Hence in the British monarchy (however repugnant such a principle may be to the spirit of the age, or to the views of liberalism), "arises a right divine, hereditary and recognised, in which the several contracting parties mutually agree, and virtually acknowledging first principles, make the SUPREME BEING the pre-existent authority, and the first party to their religious and civil compact."

Hence we find all that is wise and rational, or worthy the acceptance and confidence of a Christian people, has been duly considered and moulded into form, in the superstructure of the British monarchy; and nothing short of the general apostacy of the people of England, and their breach of that covenant, which has bestowed on them all the practical blessings of rational freedom and religious security, can deprive them of its advantages. The Word of God-the poets and sages of antiquity—the concurrent testimony of illustrious Christian men, whether divines, historians, philosophers, or statesmen; and though divided by distant ages and conflicting opinions, in their laudable desires to promote the moral welfare and improve the civil condition of mankind,—the history of empire itself, all contribute, and give united testimony in favour of that institution of government, which centuries have owned and wisdom venerated, as THE CONSTITUTION OF ENGLAND! Esto perpetua'

CHAPTER VII.

THE SUPERIORITY OF CHRISTIAN LEGISLATION, CONTRASTED WITH VOLUNTARY RELIGION, AS A RULE

OF MORAL GOVERNMENT.

"Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment."-Deut. xvi. 18.

"Hæc stultitia parit civitatis, hâc constant imperia, magistratus, religio, concilia, judicia,-nec aliud omnino est vita humana quam stultitiæ lusus quidam." -Erasmus, Dissert. de Civitat. &c. (Cantab.)

In tracing the origin of human government, it is absolutely necessary to commence with the primitive condition of man, as a being designed by Providence for the performance of duties of a higher grade, and of a highly responsible character; although by the circumstances of his creation, and subsequent fall, he became, in a state of nature, and under his early wants and increasing necessities, totally unable to originate or devise means for his proper regulation and security, in a social capacity. To meet that deficiency, which the fall had occasioned, notwithstanding the original rebellion against his Maker and heavenly Parent, the Almighty, with kind solicitude, again revealed himself to man; and, in the

first ages of time, began to develope that system, which resulted from the promise, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." It could not have been expected that God would direct that line of promise to pass through a race, or generation of people, sprung from a common ancestor, who had set his authority at defiance, and who followed the steps of their progenitor; therefore, all the subsequent misfortunes of national or civil government, which assailed mankind from the foundation of the world, arose from rebellion against that authority; and the consequent introduction of infidelity and wickedness, when " Cain went out from the presence of the Lord 1." Thus Cain lost the privileges of his birth, and they descended to his younger brother, Seth, although the Almighty spared the life of the former, and forbad any one killing him by a special denunciation.

It is of the first moment, that the discussion of a subject of such weighty importance as that, connected with the councils of The Most High, should be conducted by Christian and educated men, under feelings of rational moderation, and dispassionate propriety, contradistinguished from the human infirmity, which called forth the finely expressive lamentation of that good man, whose piety and learning have added unfading honour to the university which elected him as her own 2, and justly treasures the opinions of one of the brightest stars of the Reformation; whose lustre was splendid, yet unassuming; and whose example is worthy the imitation of every champion of the Church of England, whenever her honour and her privileges, her faith and her possessions, are assailed by the enemies of God and his truth, and the ordinary disturbers of State repose!

From the compact of religious government, we must neces

I Gen. iv. 16.

2 Lady Margaret's Professor, Cantab. 1511.

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