"member that thou ftir up the Grace " of God which is in thee, by Impofition of Hands; for God hath not given us the Spirit of Fear, but of Power and Love, and Sobernefs." Then the Archbishop fhall deliver him the Bible, faying,

Give Heed unto

Reading, Exhortation and Doctrine; cc think upon thefe Things contain'd in "this Book; be diligent in them, that

the Encrease coming thereby may be "manifeft unto all Men. Take Heed unto thy felf, and unto teaching, and be diligent in doing them; for by doing this thou fhalt fave thy self, "and thofe that hear thee. Be to the "Flock of Chrift a Shepherd, not a "Wolf: Feed them, devour them not:

Сс

Hold up the weak, heal the Sick, CC bring together the Broken, bring aCC gain the Out-caft, feek the Loft; be Jo merciful that ye be not too remifs; fo minifter DISCIPLINE that you forget not Mercy; that when the chief Shepherd fhall come you may re"ceive the immarcefcible Crown of Glory, thro' Jefus Christ our Lord. « Amen.

These are the Forms of ordaining a Bishop and a Prieft, which are called the fame. The Weight of thus Mifreprefenting a publick Ordinal falls

wholly

wholly upon Mr. N. His Friends are of a different Opinion: The Objections of the Puritans to thefe Forms of Ordinations are as follow. Under the Article of Defects in the publick Service alledged by them, this is one Particu

ce

lar. 4. The Priest receiveth in his A Short Table "Ordination no Authority to govern of fundry Ex"the Flock, and exercife the Difci- 99. ceptions, c.. pline of Chrift, but only to preach "the Word, and adminifter the Sacc craments. Under another Article, which bears the fevere Title manifeft Untruths, this ftands as the firft Particular. 1. When it is said, that it is "evident unto all Men, diligently reading the Holy Scriptures and an"cient Writers, that from the Apostles "Times there have been these Orders "of Ministers in Chrift's Church, viz. ibid. Bishops, Priefts and Deacons."

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CC

Un

der another Title call'd Popifh Errors and Superftitions, the 2d Particular runs thus : "That Deacons, Priefts, Bi-Ibid. p. 110. "fhops, and Archbishops, are made "feveral Orders and Degrees of Minority.

Nothing, fure, but the Impoffibility of fupporting his Scheme, and proving the Parity of Presbyters and Bishops any other Way, could have put Mr. N. upon this Method of attempting it.

He

1

He had indeed undertaken a difficult Task, and must therefore have great Allowances in the Execution of it. The Senfe and Practice of the whole Chriftian Church for fifteen Hundred Years, in a Form of Church Government, fo early, fo univerfally, fo conftantly received, were great Obstacles. No Inftances of Presbyters executing the diftinguishing Offices of a Bishop, no Example of any Man's being a Bishop one Day, and reduced to a mere Presbyter the next, as must have been the Cafe, had a Bishop, as is fometimes alledged, been no more than a Chairman, a Mo derator, or temporary Prefident of a Presbtery. No Inftances of many Bifhops in Places where there were many Priests; on the contrary, we always find one particular Perfon mention'd as the Bishop, and fole Bishop of one particular City; even where there were many Presbyters. This being the Cafe, and the promiscuous Ufe of Names, not fufficient to overcome fo many Arguments, or fhew the Identity of Order and Office between a Bishop and Priest, any more than an Apoftle's calling himfelf a Deacon will prove the Apoftolate and Deaconfhip to be one Order; other Methods were to be try'd, and the very Form of confecrating a Bishop,

who

who had before been ordained a Priest, be employ'd to prove there was, in the Opinion of the Compilers of that Form, no fuch Order as Bishops in the Church, all meer Presbyters and nothing more; not only the Order but the very Office the fame.

Since Mr. N. has thought fit to introduce the Reformers as Patrons of his Notion of Parity, it may not be improper to lay before the Reader Bishop Burnet's Account of the Authors of Hift. Refor. that Opinion. In the ancient Church Vol. I. p. 366. "they knew none of these Subtilities

ce

which were found out in the latter "Ages. 'Twas then thought enough that a Bishop was to be dedicated to "his Function by a new Impofition of Hands, and that feveral Offices could not be perform'd without Bishops; "fuch as Ordination, Confirmation, &c. But they did not refine in these

Matters, fo much as to enquire whe "ther Bishops and Priefts differ'd in "Order and Office, or only in Degree. "But after the Schoolmen fell to exa"mine Matters of Divinity with logical " and unintelligible Niceties ; and the "Canonifts began to comment upon the "Rules of the ancient Church, they

ftudied to make Bishops and Priests "feem very near one another; fo that F

"the

"the Difference was but small. They "did it with different Defigns. The "School-men having fet up the grand

Mystery of Tranfubftantiation, were to exalt the Priestly Office as much as was poffible; for the turning the Hoft "into God was fo great an Action, that "they reckon'd there could be no Office higher than that which qualified

a Man to fo mighty a Performance: "Therefore, as they changed the Form "of Ordination from what it was an66 ciently believed to confift in, to a de

livering of the facred Veffels, and " held that a Priest had his Orders by "that Rite, and not by the Impofi"tion of Hands; fo they raised their "Order or Office fo high as to make it "equal with the Order of a Bishop; "but as they defign'd to extol the Or"der of Priesthood, fo the Canonifts "had as great Mind to deprefs the

Epifcopal Order. They generally "wrote for Preferment, and the Way to it was to exalt the Papacy. Nothing could do that fo effectually as to bring down the Power of Bishops. "This only could juftify the Exemp"tions of the Monks and Fryars, the

Pope's fetting up Legantine Courts, "and receiving at firft Appeals, and "then Original Caufes before them, 66 together