and will bear up his faithful servants in all the dangers and troubles which may assault them! To Him, to His grace, to His merits, and to His mercy, I heartily commend you, and

Have the honor to be,

With all respect and esteem,

My dear Lord Bishop,

Yours most faithfully,

I. E. N. MOLESWORTH.

TO THE READER.

To those at all acquainted with the question, and the many dissertations written upon it, the Author need scarcely observe, that the view of the foundations of Episcopacy taken in a Sermon must be a very cursory and imperfect one. However, though a complete treatise may not be practicable within such limits, an useful one may be. And this has been the object aimed at. He has hoped that, by a judicious selection of the points on which his sketch will touch, it may be made like a rough map, which, though it may not distinguish every bye-path and cross road, yet may so indicate the general plan of the country, and the direction of the principal roads, as to guard the traveller from being led far astray by fallacious representations, or treacherous guides. Those who desire to search more deeply, will find abundance of information in Bilson, Andrewes, Jer. Taylor, Hall,

Hammond, Dodwell, Hooker, Barrow, Heylin, and Potter.

The collections of these learned men, as well as his own many avocations, as Editor of a weekly publication, parish priest, and father of a family, have induced him to make his references less copious than might perhaps have been expected. Seldom a day passes, at the close of which he cannot appreciate, as well as the hardest labourer, the luxury of laying his head on his pillow. He

up their prayers in the same spirit of charity 101 as he does for them, that "all who profess and call themselves Christians, may be led into the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life."

A

SERMON,

&c.

2 TIM. iv. 1, 2.

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom ;-Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.

THIS charge I affirm to have been addressed to Timothy, as Bishop of Ephesus. It enforces, in few and emphatic words, some very important duties of the episcopal office; it is couched in language expressive of an earnestness and affection correspondent to the responsibility of his situation, and to the circumstances under which the injunctions are uttered by St. Paul-when he was under a strong conviction, if not a special assurance, that the "time of his departure was at hand'," and

1 Verses 6, 7.

that Timothy must shortly be deprived of his counsels.

The course which I propose to pursue in preaching from this text may be indicated under the two following heads:

I. I shall endeavour to give a general sketch of the foundations of our episcopal polity; and also specially notice some passages in the Epistles to Timothy, confirming my assertion that the text was addressed to him as a Bishop.

II. I shall take occasion to offer a few observations with reference to the solemnity which we are assembled to witness.

My position is defensive, not aggressive. I am not solicitous to put forward the negation which it may include; but the principle cannot be compromised, whatsoever inferences may be drawn from it. The episcopal polity of our Church is founded on the ordinance of Christ, and the practice of the Apostles, and the testimony of the Church (universal for one thousand five hundred years), and thence continued, though controverted, to this day.

The proofs of these foundations of episcopacy may be contemplated in two different points of view. We may either take the direct testimony of Scriptures, and then compare it with the subsequent records and practice of the Church; or we may survey the records and practice of the Church in various ages, and then see how far the inferences drawn from that survey harmonize with the direct