hundred and twenty) he addressed them as we have seen above, on the necessity of ordaining one to fill up the place of Judas" and they (the disciples) appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus and Matthias;" and after praying "they gave forth their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles."* When also the church increased, and required officers to attend to its civil concerns, the apostles called the multitude together, and instead of appointing the deacons themselves, thay addressed them in these words"Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the holy spirit and wisdom, whom we We are further informed may appoint over this business.' by the historian, that this saying pleased the whole multitude, and they chose the characters whom they considered best qualified to the office. That the church should have the appointment of its own officers is the best safeguard of its liberties; and therefore the Vicar of Sutterton will be the most unwilling to give up this to his flock. He will ask us what we make of power the passage in (Titus i. 5), which seems so satisfactory, to poor John, his parishioner? “For this cause left I thee in. Crete, that thou mightest set in order the things that were wanting, and ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee." We answer, that we are compelled to take the direction here given to Titus in consonance with and not in opposition to all the instances that we have upon record concerning the appointment of officers in the church. Titus, then, we apprehend was commissioned by Paul to attend to the organization of the churches in Crete, and to see that elders were appointed in every city. Now if Titus Irad been left by Paul for the purpose of ordaining elders in the different cities of Crete, and that by his own act and choice, there can be no doubt but the apostle must have fully instructed him in all the qualifications necessary to the office. The mere circumstance then of Paul describing in his letter so minutely as he does the virtues and the requisites which should belong to the man selected to the office of elder, justifies a conclusion that the apostle is in reality speaking through Timothy to the believers in Crete, and giving those recommendations which should direct their choice in the appointment of their elders. The concluding words of the epistle, "grace be with you all," strengthen the supposition, that the apostle writes to all and for all the be lievers in Crete. » Acts i. 15 to 26. 1 On the subject of the successors of the apostles, we have seen that there was no necessity in the nature of the case for them to have appointed any successors. We have seen that there is no evidence of their having so done, and we will now even prove the negative-we will show that they did not do so! and strike the Vicar of Sutterton dumb for ever!!-Instead of the apostles, then, appointing their successors to the end of time, we are informed by one of these apostles, that the contrary was the fact; that when the end for which the apostles were appointed by Jesus was answered, their especial situation and appointment in the in the church would cease. "And he (Jesus) gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." Thrown The notion of a regular succession of priests and minis ters from the apostle to the clergy of the present generation, however absurd in fact, presents to our imagination a picture truly original, and dismally striking. back at an immense distance, and on the only bright part of the canvas where the eye can repose, we observe a company of fishermen ;-some are mending their nets, one is addressing a company in the market place, and men in long garments are mixing with the people, and appear either impassioned, mortified, or disappointed, whilst another is haranguing an assembly of philosophers encircled beneath a a splendid dome, who seem equally amazed and confounded. A long line of figures of varied habiliments, gesture, and character, bewilder and confuse the attention. Doctors' robes, philosophers' gowns, levitical garments, succeed in the train from the simple fishermen. Cardinals caps, bishops mitres, shorn heads, and venerable wigs, are huddled toge ther in the continued throug. A mob of priests are com• mitting to the flames the manuscripts and records of ancient learning whilst others, with fiendlike joy depicted in their countenances, are dragging a poor miserable victim to the holy office of the inquisition.. Some are meagre, sad, and famished; others, and these the greater number, are bursting at every pore, and appear unable to carry their own weight. The figures in the concourse which approach the nearest to us, seem remarkable for nothing but their dullness, their corpulency, and the whiteness of their hands -only one of them attracts the atttention by his activity amid a group who are assembled at a cock fight, which is thrown discreetly into the back ground. In carrying the eye along the whole line of figures nearly up to the company of fishermen, there is no vice but what is here personified-no passion but what is here represented-no sort of moral turpitude but what is delineated-cunning and stupidity, penetration and ignorance, are alike blended together in every imaginable variety of character, that is piteous, degraded, and corrupt!! Doubtless the author of the pamphlet before us will remember the celebrated hieroglyphics in the interior of the cloister of his college:-antiquarians have exhausted their skill in decyphering their hidden and mystical import. On the north-side of the quadrangle is a figure which has been considered to represent Temperance and Sobriety; this is succeeded by another, the emblem of Gluttony and Drunkenness; and then follows a long train of beasts-tlie Lucanthropos, the Hyaena and Panther; said to represent Violence, Fraud, and Treachery; the Griffin representing Covetousness; the next figure, Anger or Moroseness. The Dog, the Dragon, the Deer-Flattery, Envy, and Timidity; and the three last, the Mantichora, the Boxers, and the Lamia-Pride, Contention, and Lust! Query.-May not the figure which represents Sobriety and Temperance answer to the apostles and first teachers of Christianity; and would not the whole train which follows correspond with equal exactitude to their successors, the clergy, down to the present time? At any rate, the thought is original, and, we humbly suggest, not unworthy the attention of the society of Antiquaries. As to the Vicar of Sutterton, he will not be a little gratified to see how strongly it bears upon the fact he is labouring to prove to his parishioners-that the church was subjected by the apos tles" to the controul of BISHOPS, as their successors, and to the ministration of PRIESTS and DEACONS." We are aware that the author of dipus Magdalenensis (a Latin manuscript in the library of the college) has considered that these offensive and unclean animals are a lesson to the good student, holding up the vices he is to shun. Some persons, however, judging from the effects, may be led to conclude, that the collegiates understand them like the ridiculous lordling in Richardson's Pamela, who always imagined, when at school, that the frontispiece to Dilworth's spelling-book, of the boys robbing an orchard, was intended as an example and encouragement to him to do the same! Whilst the honest Vicar is endeavouring to frighten the country-people out of the "sin of schism," we would recommend to them the virtue of schism, so forcibly recommended by Paul to the Corinthians-" Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing." This was certainly spoken in reference to the temple of the idols; and, with submission to the Vicar of Sutterton, we would say, that his church, in our estimation of things, is no more a Christian church than was the idol's temple. In going through the sorry performance we have been examining, we cannot but observe how great a stickler its author appears for the right of the priesthood. The account of the destruction of Koral and his company for presuming to seek the priesthood; the death of Uzzah for touching the ark; the leprosy of the King of Judah for invading the priest's office, are ali dealt out to simple John, in doleful strain; and the poor numskull knows no better he is led to believe, that as there was a Jewish priesthood, so there must be a Christian priesthood; and what is applicable to the one must be applicable to the other! For the purpose of showing its fallacy, the writer puts this sentiment into the mouth of the clown: "Bat, Sir, some of my neighbours tell me that every man has a right to preach any thing that he conceives may promote the good of his fellow-creatures in his own way, wheresoever and whensoever he thinks fit."-(page 13.) The truth is this, John :-if every man were to exercise the right of teaching in the church, which is the privilege of every man, and which the apostle has declared all might exercise-George would have to follow the plough, or to get an honest living in some other way, and therefore he will oppose it! NOTICE TO CORRESPONDENTS. Contrary to the known trick of trade, we have hitherto given the Preface and Index with the last number of the year's Magazine: cir• cumstances prevented our complying with our customary regulation in this respect in the December number. We have only to say, that Subscribers not wishing to continue the work, may be furnished with the Preface and Index gratis, by sending their orders to our office. This notice should have been given in our last number, but was 'omitted by an oversight.--We trust this explanation will satisfy the gentleman who has taken us to task on the business in a manner not the most courtly, and who has imputed to us motives not the most honourable. We have received a letter signed "D." containing a strange medley of remarks and animadversions. He quarrels with us about our namebe tells us what he don't like, and what he does like--and what he should like to see in our Magazine. He proposes objections to us which we do not understand-asks us questions which we cannot answer--and runs into observations, the bearings of which we do not comprehend. Ever ready to receive advice and to listen to rebuke, we have read D.'s letter three times over, and each time have we felt more than the former the necessity of granting the prayer of the concluding line—“excuse me, Mr. Editor, and my errors.”. Wm. Hamlett's letter has been received- -we fear it will be impossible for us to entertain his proposition-he will however hear from us in due course. Though ever the friends to the injured, "Poor Naboth" must know that it would be inconsistent with the character of our work to. recognize his case, even if we were masters of its merits. His former communication, however, we meant to have noticed, but we cannot, at the moment, lay our hand upon it-it will, most likely, appear in our next. ERRATA in part of the impression of last Number. line 19, for Direction post read Shoaring post. |