Nay, I am persuaded that such of the brethren as could afford the expence, and were capable of reading these divinely inspired writings, would get them transcribed for their own use: so that copies of these books would be multiplied and dispersed in a very short time. This accounts for St. Paul's epistles, in particular, being so generally known, read, and acknowledged by all Christians, in the very first age; as we learn from Peter, who speaks of the epistles which his beloved brother Paul had written to the persons to whom he himself wrote his second epistle, chap. iii. 16. It seems, before Peter wrote that letter, he had seen and read Paul's epistles to the Galatians, the Ephesians, and the Colossians. He speaks also of all Paul's other epistles; from which some learned men have inferred, that Paul, by that time, was dead, and that all his writings had come to Peter's hands. Nay, Peter insinuates that they were then universally read and acknowledged as inspired writings; for he tells us, the ignorant and unstable wrested them, as they did the other Scriptures also, to their own destruction.

"The writings of the Apostles and Evangelists being thus early and wisely dispersed among the disciples of Christ, I think it cannot be doubted that the persons who obtained copies of them, regarded them as precious treasures of divine truth, and preserved them with the utmost care. We are morally certain, therefore, that none of the inspired writings, either of the Evangelists or of the Apostles, have been lost; and, in particular, that the suspicion which some have entertained of the loss of certain epistles of Paul, is destitute of probability. His inspired writings were all sent to persons greatly interested in them, who, while they preserved their own copies with the utmost care, were, no doubt, very diligent in circulating transcripts from them among the other churches; so that, being widely dispersed, highly respected, and much read, none of them, I think, could perish. What puts this matter beyond doubt, is, that while all the sacred books which now remain are often quoted by the most ancient Christian writers, whose works have come down to us, in none of them, nor in any other author whatever, is there

so much as a single quotation from any apostolical writing that is not at present in our canon; nor the least hint from which it can be gathered, that any apostolical writing ever existed, which we do not at present possess.

..

Further, as none of the apostolical writings have been lost, so no material alteration hath taken place in any of those which remain. For the autographs having, in all probability, been long preserved with care, by the rulers of the churches to which these were sent, if any material alteration, in particular copies, had ever been attempted, for the purpose of supporting heresy, the fraud must instantly have been detected, by comparing the vitiated copies with the autographs. And even after the autographs, by length of time, or by accident, were lost, the consent of such a number of copies as might easily be procured and compared in every country, was at all times sufficient for establishing the genuine text, and for correcting whatever alteration might be made, whether through accident or design. Nor is this all the many disputes about articles of faith which took place in the Christian Church, almost from the beginning, though productive of much mischief in other respects, secured the Scriptures from all vitiation. For the different sects of Christians, constantly appealing to the sacred oracles, in support of their particular opinions, each would take care that their opponents quoted the Scriptures fairly, and transcribed them faithfully. And thus the different parties of Christians, being checks on each other, every possibility of vitiating the Scriptures was absolutely precluded." -Macknight's Preliminary Essays to his Translation of the Epistles. Vol. I. Ess. 2. p. 75-77.

NOTE D. (Page 18.)

"THERE are others, which they make use of, far less to the purpose, because they signify only the duty of pastors, and what they are appointed to do, and not that, which in effect they will

do. Such as these; "Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." Matth. xxviii. 19. "Son of man, I have set thee for a watch-man over the house of Israel." Ezek. xxxiii. 7. The priest's lips shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth." Mal. ii. 7. "I have set watch-men upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night.” Isa. lxii. 6. “ And he 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." Eph. iv. 11. These and some other like passages shew to what the office of the ministry is naturally appointed, and the obligation of those that are called to it; but they are very far from giving from thence a prerogative of infallibility.

"They allege also some passages that recommend to the faithful the having a respect for and an obedience to their pastors. Such are these; "He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that rejecteth you, rejecteth me." Luke xx. 16. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls." Heb. xiii. 17. "The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat; all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do, but do not ye after their works." Matt. xxiii. 3. But I cannot see what this last passage sets before us, but that all those exhortations that God makes to the faithful to have a submission to the word of their pastors, denote very truly the duty of the people in that matter, but they do not in the least settle any infallibility in their pastors. For is it this, that Jesus Christ would say, That the Scribes and Pharisees, as long as they sat in the chair of Moses, were infallible?—he that on the contrary accused them of having made void the commandments of God by their traditions, and who elsewhere gave his disciples such a charge to take heed of the leaven of the Pharasees, that is to say, of their pernicious doctrines? How many times are obedience, respect, and submission, recommended to children to give to their fathers, in the Scriptures? Is it that the Scripture in this ascribes to fathers an infallibility? It is without

"

doubt the King's pleasure that we should submit ourselves to his officers, and that we should obey them; but he does not mean to advance them to be infallible, nor to ordain us to obey them if they shall happen to command us those things that are directly contrary to his service, and to that fidelity which we owe to our sovereign. It is then true that all those exhortations to hear our pastors and obey their words, are always to be restrained by this clause understood, as far as their words shall be conformable to that of God; that they can never go beyond that, and that they cannot from thence draw any privilege of infallibility.

"As they omit nothing that may serve for their interests, so they ordinarily make use of that passage in the 18th chapter of St. Matthew, where Jesus Christ ordains that if any one receive an injury from another, he is to reprove him between himself and him alone; and if that first complaint signifies nothing, then he must take witnesses with him; and if he neglect to hear those witnesses, he is to tell it to the Church; and if he neglect to hear the Church, he is to be unto us as a heathen and a publican, All that which follows in the close of that discourse of Jesus Christ shews, that he speaks there neither of faith nor worship, but of some private quarrels that we might have against our brethren, to be taken away, and of the use of that discipline. For the mind of our Lord is, that before we break off absolutely with our brethren, we should observe all the rules of charity, and that we should there make use of the Church; but if he would refuse to hear the Church, that in that case it was allowed us to treat him no longer as a brother, but as a real stranger. Who sees not that if they would draw any thing of consequence from that passage, they ought to pretend that the Church is infallible not in matters of faith, for they are not meddled with there, but in matters of fact, and in the censures that it gives upon private quarrels, in which nevertheless all the world agrees that she may be deceived. And therefore it is that these gentlemen are wont to allege these last words, "Tell it to the Church, and if he will not hear the Church, let him be unto thee as the heathens and publicans," and they allege them also as separated

from the sequel of that discourse, because otherwise they could not but observe that they would signify nothing to them.

"In fine, they produce those words of St. Paul to Timothy, "These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." 1 Tim. iii. 14, 15. How, say they, can the Church be the pillar and ground of truth, if it is not infallible in the doctrines it proposes as of faith, and in the worship which it practises? But what likelihood is there that he would have established an opinion so important, as that of the infallibility of the Latin Church, on such metaphorical terms, which St. Paul did not make use of upon the sight of any infallibility, which should respect no other but the Latin Church in particular, and which should much rather have respected the Church of Ephesus, or the other Churches of Asia, where Timothy was then, when the Apostle wrote to him, which yet did not fail of falling into error: in terms which may be explained in divers senses, and which have been applied to divers particular bishops, without yet pretending to raise them up to be infallible; what colour, I say, is there that they can prove the infallibility of the Church of Rome? It appears in the end of that discourse of St. Paul, that he never thought of making the Church infallible, for in all that chapter, he aims at nothing else than to set down the duties of bishops and deacons; and after having marked out in particular some qualities with which they ought to be endowed, and from what vices they ought to be more especially exempt, after what manner they ought to govern themselves, he adds in the close of all, that he wrote all that to his disciple, to the end he might know how to behave himself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Who sees not that infallibility comes not in at all to the purpose in that close of the discourse? Let the bishops, says he, and the deacons take heed they be wise, sober, &c. That they hold the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience, that their wives should be honest and faithful