churches were, in the apostolic times, infected; passing by altogether a variety of cases, in which the evidence is of a more indirect kind, or in which the allusions contained in Scripture require to be elucidated from other sources, as, for instance, the heresy of Simon Magus, of the Nicolaitanes, &c.; our object being, to establish the fact of early church corruption and schism, upon the sole authority of the New Testament, without travelling out of the record of the canon.

And surely the evidence which we have adduced, is sufficient to convince every impartial mind, that, not to speak of the perils of transmission through the lapse of eighteen centuries, our faith would rest but on doubtful and unsatisfactory grounds, if its tenor were to be ascertained from "apostolic tradition," accordingly as it might be authenticated by the rule, quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est. Let any one fairly and fully consider, what the state of the different churches was, as described by the Apostles themselves, under the Apostles' own eyes, and in their own day; let him consider, that the churches so conditioned are the head, and original reservoir, of that channel of tradition, in which the truth of God is said to have flowed down to us; and then let him deny, if he can, that he who rests his faith in any degree upon tradition, is "trusting in the staff of a broken reed, whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it."a

a Isa. xxxvi. 6.

APPENDIX, No. II.

"Among the remedies proposed against the looseness and slipperiness of doctrine and discipline, which a low view of our privileges as members of Christ's body, and an unthinking system of concession to schism in all its forms, had undoubtedly produced among us, there is a revival of the mummeries of a superstitious age, and of the bondage of meats and drinks, and carnal ordinances of every kind."—pp. 47, 48.

b

As regards certain "mummeries," the revival of which is at this time being attempted among us, we have touched upon them in the eleventh chapter; and we have therefore here only to point out the danger in which we are, of being subjected, or perhaps we should rather say, the disposition which certain parties have evinced to subject us, to the bondage of "meats and drinks, and carnal ordinances." For this purpose the question of fasting may serve to illustrate the views of the parties alluded to.

See especially note, p. 312.

The subject of penance, as taught and practised by them, would be equally fruitful in illustration of the tendency of their views.

To guard against the possible misapprehension of our sentiments in regard to this matter, we wish to state at the outset, that we are far from objecting to fasting, as a salutary exercise, tending to mortify the flesh, and "subdue it to the spirit."-On the contrary, we believe it to be a positive duty of all Christian people, because we cannot persuade ourselves, that Christ would have given his disciples any directions as to the right manner of fasting, if he did not mean them to fast at all; or that the inspired Apostles of Christ mistook their divine master's meaning and intention, when they themselves fasted upon different occasions, and recommended the practice to others. We think, moreover, that the appointments which our church has made in regard to the proper seasons of fasting, (seeing that she neither prescribes any particular mode of fasting, nor attempts to exercise any control over the members of her communion, so as to enforce the practice at those seasons,) ought on many grounds to recommend themselves to our consciences, as obviously preferable to any appointments which we each of us could make for ourselves, in regard to a due discharge of this acknowledged Christian duty. Above all, we feel that as the Christian motive for fasting is, according to our Lord's own declaration on the subject, a sense of sorrow for our separation and distance from the bridegroom, the church has most reason to draw the attention of her members to this their duty, whenever a low and lukewarm tone of feeling among them tends to increase the distance between the bride* Matt. vi. 16—18. Acts xiii. 3; xiv. 23. f 1 Cor. vii. 5. Matt. ix. 14, 15.

h

groom and herself. But having ex animo acknowledged all this, we feel bound to take our stand firmly upon "the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free," and to enter our solemn protest against our being "entangled again with a yoke of bondage," such as it is the evident tendency of some, and the still more evident intention of others, of the writings we are about to quote, at this time to inflict upon our church, contrary to the express apostolic injunction," Let no man judge you in meat, or in drink.”i

We now proceed to consider the documents put forward on this subject; and, first of all, the papers relative to it, which are contained in the Tracts for the Times. An attentive reader of the three Tracts on fasting, published in the series, cannot fail to be struck with the progressive descent from "a service of perfect freedom" to "a bondage of carnal observance," which they exhibit; and which, in the minds of the writers, must have been far more rapid, than could have been supposed in the interval between "the feast of St. Thomas" 1833, and the "feast of St. James," 1835. In the first of the three Tracts in question, though its language is at times equii Col ii. 16.

h Gal. v. 1.

They are No. 18, No. 21, and No. 66.

I This method of dating is one of the characteristic, (we wish we could add, harmless,) foibles of the school. Of course, there is no intrinsic objection to it, any more than to the "Friends"" fashion of calling May "5th month," and Friday "6th day," or to the nomenclature of months adopted at one time by our French neighbours, and facetiously rendered in English by "Wheezy, Sneezy, Breezy," &c. &c. Where nothing more, or nothing better is aimed at, than the exhibition to the world of some new folly,

vocal, yet there is every now and then an acknowledgment, more or less direct, that the tables of days of fasting or abstinence, put forth by our church without any

or some old folly under a novel aspect, such pedantries are in keeping with the spirit of the thing, and so far from being hurtful, they do good, by affording at once an indication of what we are to expect, and accelerating the downfall of the folly by the ridicule they draw upon it; but, for this very reason, men who have serious subjects, high and holy interests, at heart, should avoid the affectation of such peculiarities. We can understand, and smile, too, when a "Friend" displays his "consistency" (as we happen to know a case) four times a year, by drawing his pen, in the printed notices of the Insurance Office of which he is an agent, through the heathenish expression "your obedient servant," and substituting the Christian phrase "thine respectfully;" but when we find men, who have taken upon themselves to warn the church of Christ, (if not wisely, at least not unseasonably,) of the growing neglect of her sacraments, or the increasingly low estimation in which her means of grace are held, and to invite or exhort her ministers to take their stand on that high and heavenly commission which has descended upon them from Christ and his Apostles, when we find such men making a point of a matter so trivial as the customary manner of dating, we confess that it is to us both unintelligible and grievous; unintelligible, because we should have supposed that the absorbing interest attaching to questions of such vital importance, would not leave the mind at leisure thus idly to disport itself; and grievous, because of the evil effects by which the unworthy admixture of what is puerile, with what is both important and sacred, cannot fail to be attended. What is practically the result? Those to whom the truths advocated are unpalatable, and, for that very reason, would be most salutary, who might be disposed to subject their own opinions to revision under the influence of sober and earnest counsel from their brethren, are at once offended by such a needless display of peculiarity; in limine are they alienated,