it. The vεvua, however, retains a certain degree of light and of beneficial influence, whereof, even in heathendom, relatively noble deeds have been the result. But this natural light, together with the natural strength of will, is not sufficient for the annihilation of sin, and the production of that true inward holiness which is demanded by the divine law. Man, therefore, needs a Redeemer, through whom he may recover the whole fulness of the primal spiritual energies, which being recovered, first purify the yvy, and at length glorify even the σῶμα. oua. As the lusts of the flesh strive from below against the vý, so the energy of the spirit purifies it from above, and thence it is necessary that sanctification begin with the crucifixion of the flesh (Gal. 5: 24. 1 Cor. 9: 27), because the spirit begins to reign when the flesh is brought into subjection.

If, however, sin were primarily grounded in the пvεvμɑ or νος, so that Paul could have said, ἁμαρτία οἰκεῖ ἐν τῷ πνεῦ part, then there could have been as little hope of atonement for man as there is for the evil spirits; for there would have been nothing in man to which grace could fasten itself. But since, even in the regenerate man, the body of death and the old man survive, he has occasion to cry out, raλainwgos ¿yo arqonos, though in a more partial sense than it is used here, where it is employed in the widest sense, to denote a deliverance from an earlier state, and a longing after an entirely new life, whose peculiar features are delineated in what follows.

[The expression ταλαίπωρος, from πλάω to sufer, and πώς gos a rock, a heavy stone, is very suitable to denote the heavy pressure under which man suffers while the slave of sin. It occurs also in Rev. 3: 17.-The choice of ¿vouau' is also very remarkable. It indicates a powerful, forcible deliverance, such as is not expected from a circumstance or event, but only from an all-powerful Person; hence ris μɛ ¿voɛrai. That in this voɛra is expressed, not only the communication

The whole expression betrays, not merely the thought, who will deliver me from this miserable state; but likewise, who can? There is a consciousness that no human help will avail.

of a new principle of life, but likewise pardon, atonement, is shown by (ch.8: 1) the phrase κατάκριμα οὐδέν τοῖς ἐν Χρισ τῷ.-In the words ἐκ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ θανάτου τούτου, the pronoun belongs to couaros, being placed last, after the Hebrew usus loquendi, when two substantives are connected. So, without doubt, Acts 5: 20. 13: 26. Reiche was misled by his false interpretation of oua (which he explains as merely a personification of sin) to oppose this view. Should ouros be connected with dávaros, then death must be understood spiritually, for which there is no warrant in the passage. Besides the active fighting of sin made alive (ver. 9) does not agree with the notion of death. In the expression body of death, death indicates only the highest point of corruption, which has possession of the entire man. Certainly oua vov daváσῶμα θανά Tov cannot mean body, which is the cause of death, but, body which bears the nature of death in itself; coua vtór (8: 10). The signification "sum," "whole," after the analogy of, is here quite foreign to the purpose.

ARTICLE VI.

THE PRELATICAL PRINCIPLES, ANTI-REPUBLICAN AND UNEVANGELICAL.

By Rev. ANSEL D. EDDY, D. D., Pastor of the First Church of Newark, N. J.

THE subject of Episcopacy has become one of almost engrossing interest, and an importance is now attached to it, which, under ordinary circumstances, it never could have obtained. Religious denominations generally, in this country, have long, by common consent, left each other in the undisturbed enjoyment of their respective and peculiar preferences, as to doctrine and forms. And had the friends and advocates of Episcopacy, been contented to enjoy theirs, within their own communion, without seeking to invalidate the basis of all other churches, and proscribing, as unscriptural and vain, all ministrations

but their own, they no doubt would have been permitted to rest undisturbed.

But advocated, as their principles and policy have been, and obtruded every where as exclusively scriptural and saving, they not only entrench upon the peace and rights of other churches, but they corrupt the truth, and arrest the advance of our common Christianity, and thus make war upon the dearest interests of mankind.

Episcopalians cannot and must not complain, that other denominations are officious in discussing their claims, nor sectarian in opposing them. It is for truth and vital Christianity that we meet and examine their system. "Truth is every man's concernment, every man's right, and every man's most necessary possession." The things of religion belong to the heart, whose ceaseless pulsation is the electric life of the world. They relate to man's mind and his eternal interests, and are the common property of man every where and forever.

And if it is true, that "two systems of doctrine are now, and probably for the last time, in conflict,-the Catholic and Genevan," infinitely momentous questions are at issue, and every man is deeply involved in the results. These results are immediate and perpetual. For it is equally true, that a corresponding spirit is abroad in the world. Two classes of civil institutions are now, if not for the last time, in conflict for the mastery; the free institutions of law and equality, and those of will and arbitrary distinction. And no one can mistake their respective religious affinities, and their influence on the popular mind.

As

It is in vain we assert, that truth has become established, so far advanced and understood, that little danger is to be apprehended from the efforts of sectarianism and infidelity to corrupt the faith and subvert the religion of the gospel. much as the principles of Protestant piety and the doctrines of the Reformation commend themselves to the more intelligent classes, and have served to elevate and bless the human family, they are far from having lived through their struggles and being beyond the possibility of corruption. It is still

necessary to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints, in the way of free and fair discussion.

Peculiar necessity is laid upon the friends of evangelical piety, at the present day, from the attitude assumed by the advocates of the prelatical and papal systems, who have united and are making common cause against the principles of the Reformation and the spread of the Christian religion through Protestant agencies. The exclusive rights of Episcopacy, however honored by the antiquated governments of Coutinental Europe, or sustained by the arm of British power, we regard as harmless and childish. But when it begins anew to nerve the energies of persecution, to wage an exterminating war against the entire brotherhood of the Protestant family, and violently to circumscribe the spread of the Christian religion, even among the heathen, all liberty of inaction and indifference is taken from us, and we are summoned to the high work of personal defence and the salvation of men. The outrages of the Romanists upon the islands of the Pacific are comparatively of trifling importance, for nothing better was to be expected from that quarter. But when men, commissioned directly from the church of England, will openly oppose our missionaries in distant Persia; and others, educated by our own funds, reared among us, long and affectionately received to our confidence, after an apparently cordial co-operation in missionary labors with our own brethren abroad, are suddenly found strangely changed, and denouncing, in the face of heathen converts, as unauthorized, the ministrations of our churches, and as unscriptural all our ordinances and institutions, we are not at liberty to rest or to remain silent. The most abundant testimony has established the truth of the serious charges brought against Mr. Badger in Persia, and every day is showing more and more clearly the decided hostility and opposition of Mr. Southgate to the labors of the American Missionaries in the Levant. The extraordinary change in his character and conduct, had it taken place on heathen ground, had not so surprised us. But it was immediately succeeding his fraternal interview with the prelates

and brethren of the Episcopal church in his native land, and in connection with the remarkable epistle from the six American prelates to the patriarch of Constantinople and their salutations to their brethren in the East.

From this time every thing is changed, and Episcopalians in almost every part of the world, as by some electro-magnetic influence, are suddenly seized with a holy zeal for their exclusive prerogatives, and all besides are pronounced foreign to the covenant of grace.

However favorable the times might have appeared, and however consonant these assumptions may be with the peculiarities of human nature, their advocates have undoubtedly failed in their calculations. The time had not arrived. The world was not prepared for such an intellectual and moral retrogression. And we trust that this sad experiment will result in the firmer establishment of truth, and a more rapid spread of spiritual religion. And it is for the security of this end, that we feel bound to discuss in every form the character and tendencies of the principles and claims advocated by the friends of the prelacy.

In this discussion we see no reason for the broad distinction so often made between the individual classes of the prelatists or the advocates for the Episcopate. They may differ widely from each other on other questions, and present striking varieties of moral character and doctrinal sentiment, while in the one great and essential question of the prelacy or monarchy in the church, they are one and indivisible. The overshadowing influence of a diocesan, unimpeachable but by his peers, and holding office for life, with every species of patronage in his hands, easily diffuses his own sentiments, and even the shades of his moral character, through the extended circle of his jurisdiction.

While, for more than two centuries, this single question of Episcopacy, in the character of its "priesthood," has been looked upon as of secondary importance, we regard it as lying at the basis of the whole system, and as the source of all our difficulties with its practical tendencies. The tenaciousness