practice of our social duties constitute the bond of national union and tranquillity. An ignorance of the important obligations by which many individuals are linked together as in one family, has been very naturally followed by a neglect of them; and the evils which are the usual consequence can be arrested only by a timely dissemination of the real principles on which Christian society is founded. Such are the principles adduced in the first three chapters to which we have adverted, and which constitute the foundation of those of the four next, which relate exclusively to the Church of England, as a religious society, her Discipline, Liturgy, Rites, and Ceremonies. Among the members of our venerable Establishment, how rarely do we find persons well acquainted with the real grounds of her Authority, and well prepared with a judicious vindication of her Laws and Liturgy; yet when with redoubled zeal, and daily increasing sagacity, she is assailed at many points, this surely is not the period to countenance any degree of apathy or blindness among the friends of our spiritual Sion. The evils arising from this kind of ignorance are innumerable and of incalculable mischief. For when men are almost altogether uninstructed in the Apostolic origin of the Episcopal form of Church government, and in the Scripture authority for the Liturgy of our Established Church, her Sacraments, Rites, and Ceremonies, it is reasonable to suppose that the first delusive novelty of doctrine and discipline, or the first specious, though unsound, objection, may allure unstable minds from "the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace ;" and although it is too much to expect, that a mere selection from the works of Hooker (whose invincible arguments and powers of persuasion are nevertheless second only to those of the sacred writers), will heal all the wounds which schism has inflicted; yet since Ignorance has been here, as elsewhere, the mother of Error; so, it is not unreasonable to hope, that in proportion as men become better informed on these subjects, some, if not many, may return to that Fold from which they have strayed; and that others, who have preserved the bond of fellowship, may value as they ought the privileges of which they are partakers. Of the advantages which would attend a Uniform Church Discipline, one of our divines has justly remarked, that "were those divisions and dissensions once healed, which at present rend the Church of these realms into a deplorable variety of sects, and disjointed members, we might then reasonably hope to behold her exalted as a standard for the nations to flow unto. If all the subjects of the British Empire, as they are knit together by the indiscriminate enjoyment of unspeakable advantages, under the influence of a most admirable civil constitution, and are therefore respected far and widecould be brought by any force of reasoning to discern, and at length by God's grace, be moved to submit themselves to that excellent system of ecclesiastical polity, which is so blended and interwoven with the institutions of the State, that (with respect to essential matters) they must stand or fall together; I say, were the subjects of these realms once happily united in their religious sentiments and modes of worship, as they are inseparably connected by a mutual participation in one political interest; the purity of Christian doctrine and the propriety of discipline, taught in the Church of England, could hardly fail to conciliate the world to an acceptance of both." The principles of Christian Ethics which occupy the remainder of the following work, if sown in the human mind, may, under the blessing of Heaven, spring up and bear fruit. This part of the general design, it is hoped, will not be without its use, in an age when the enemy of mankind is walking to and fro upon the earth, conscious that wherever the husbandman sleeps, the tares of infidelity may be scattered on every side with an unsparing hand. Upon a general survey of these three divisions of my subject, I have been impressed with a belief, that the principles and precepts which they contain are of importance to all-to the statesman and citizen, since without order society is a chimera-to the friends of the Established Church, since those are its most conscientious members who entertain good reasons for their choice—to its adversaries, since no considerate man would venture to attack and condemn that of which he has not a competent knowledge; and to those more especially who have the care of youth, since it is only by an early instruction in sound doctrine that the minds of the rising generation can "be grounded and settled in the truth, and be no more tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive 1." Of those who read this book, let no one hastily declare that he has detected an error or inconsistency in Richard Hooker. Let him rather seek out the passage in the original work, warily observe its Context, and having reflected alternately upon Hooker's thoughts and upon his own, then, and not till then, condemn, if he can. An unbiassed investigation of the principles herein advanced, will, it is hoped, produce in the 1 Eph. iv. 14. mind of the reader that conviction which has been fixed in mine, viz. that the form of government adopted by our Church is truly Apostolical; her Liturgy conformable to God's holy Word; her Rites and Ceremonies fit and becoming his sacred Temple; and that if the Worshippers themselves, in humility of soul, in warmth of devotion, and in spiritual mindedness, did but respond to her Collects, Confessions, Litanies, and Scripture readings, the voice of adoration from the Church below would harmonize with that of the Church above, and the fulfilment of our daily supplication be hastened, “ Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven." Montpellier, South Lambeth, |