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Father in God, Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England and Metropolitane. Gualterus Lynne excudebat. 1548. This Book is Dedicated by the Archbishop to King Edward VI. and in his Epiftle Dedicatory he tells his Majefty, he wrote it with a Defign to inftruct the Youth of the Realm, thereby to help forward the Reformation; and in his Preface he declares, he defigned it for a short uniform Instruction of Children and young Men, to prevent fundry and different Forms of Inftruction, which otherwife would happen, if every feveral Paftor were left to devife a Form for his own Flock. The Reverend and Learned Dr. Hickes has done that Justice and Honour to the Memory of this great Prelate as to Reprint this Sermon, in a Preface which he wrote to a Book entituled The Divine Right of Epifcopacy afferted, &c. Printed for Richard Sare at Grays-Inn-Gate in Holborn, 1708.

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In this Admirable Sermon, from Rom. 10.13, 14, 15. he teaches us, Firft, that it is neceffary to our Salvation, to have Preachers and Minifters of God's most Holy Word, to inftruct us in the true Faith and Knowledge of God. Secondly, that Preachers must not run to this high Honour, before they be called thereto, but they must be ordained and appointed to this Office, and fent to us by God. Again, the Teachers, except they be called and fent, cannot fruitfully Teach. Therefore God called Preachers and fent them, and gave them Inftructions what they should do, and speak to us in his Name. And our Lord Jefus Chrift when he began to Preach, did call and choofe his twelve Apoftles, and afterwards, besides thofe Twelve, he fent forth threefcore and H 3

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Ten Difciples, and gave them Authority to Preach the Gofpel. And after Chrift's Af cenfion the Apostles gave Authority to other Godly and Holy Men, to Minifter God's Word. And they that were fo ordained, were indeed, and alfo were called the Minifters of God as the Apoftles themselves were, as Paul, faith unto Timothy. And fo the Miniftration of God's Word (which our Lord Jefus Chrift did first Institute) was derived from the Apostles unto others after them, by Impofition of Hands, and giving the Holy Ghoft, from the Apostles time to ८ our Days. And this was the Confecration, Orders and Unction of the Apoftles, whereby they at the beginning made Bishops and Pricfts, and this fhall continue in the Church unto the Worlds end. This is the fubftance of what is contained in this Sermon that relates to my prefent purpose, and which I have Transcribed as near as might be in the Archbishop's own Words. And if we compare this with his Subfcription to Dr. Leyghton's Paper we shall plainly find that his Opinion was the fame as to Epifcopacy when he Publifhed this, as when he Subfcribed to the other, In that Paper he acknowledges, that by the Scripture no other Man had Authority to make a Pricft but a Bishop: And that the Apostles were made Bishops and Priests by Chrift. And here he aflerts that the Apoftles having received this Authority from Chrift, made alfo Bifhops and Priefts (not Bishops or Priests as one and the fame Or der, but Bishops and Priefts as two distinct Orders) as an unchangeable Inftitution to continue in the Church unto the end of the World. In the Paper he fays, that the Apoftles were made BiShops

Shops and Priests by Chrift, and that after them the Seventy two Difciples were made Priests. In the Sermon, that Chrift did call and choose his twelve Apoftles, and afterwards befides those twelve, he fent forth Threefcore and ten Difciples, and gave them Authority to Preach the Gospel. In the Sermon then, as well as the Paper he makes a plain Distinction between the Apoftles and Seventy Difciples. And from what follows in the Sermon, where he tells us that this was the Confecration, Orders and Unition of the Apoftle, whereby they at the beginning made Bishops and Priefts, it is manifeft that he judged the Apoftles to be of an higher Order than the Seventy, fince he neither faid or could say that the Seventy ordained others either Bishops or Priests as the Apoftles did: And confequently that his opinion in the Sermon was the fame as when he signed that Paper of Dr. Leyghton, that the Apostles were as well Bishops as Priests, and therefore had Authority to ordain others, but that the Seventy were only Priests, and therefore had no Authority to ordain or Commiffion any other. And from the Preface to his Sermon it is alfo evident that he thought this to be a necessary Doctrine in which all Pastors ought to instruct the Children and Youth of their Parish.

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without doubt if care were taken that all Children and Youth might be taught this Doctrine, it would be a moft excellent means to prevent their being drawn away by fuch as have not received this Divine Epifcopal Miffion to Authorize them to Preach the Gospel, or to exercise any part of that Power which Chrift committed to his Apostles and to the Bishops and Priests ordained by them and their undoubted Succeffors. And this may easily be done

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done when we Expound to them the Church Catechifm, and inftruct them in that part of our Duty to our Neighbour, which teaches Submiffion to all our Governours, Teachers, Spiritual Paftors and Mafters. I have been the more particular in this Matter, that I might convince my Reader that our prefent Divines of the Church of England do not at all deviate from the avowed Principles of our first Reformers in ftrenuously defending the Divine unalterable Rights of Epifcopacy, this having been the pofitive declared opinion of that great Man and glorious Martyr who was the first and chief Inftrument in our Happy Reformation, and which he Publifhed as a Doctrine neceffary to be taught by all Paftors for the uniform Inftruction of Children and Youth.

There are fome who pretend that the Prefbyterian Government was originally in the Church of Scotland: And that in the Second Century or beginning of the third, there was a Church formed in that Kingdom without Bishops, and that it continued for fome Hundreds of Years. Selden makes a long Differation upon this Subject in his Preface to the Decem Scriptores, publifhed by Sir Roger Twifden. That great and learned Antiquary, thinking himself to have been ill used by fome of our Bishops, who brought him into the High-commiffion Court for his Book of Tithes, endeavoured in part to revenge himself upon them, by deftroying (if he could) the divine Right of Epifcopacy, with a Story of the Scotch Culdees. A Fable invented by the Monks (whofe Brains were always fruitful to bring forth what might any ways advance their own Honor, as this certainly was, which fets their Order above Bishops) and has

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not one Author to vouch it, who lived within, a Thousand Years of the time when it is pretended that this Monkifh Presbyterian Government was erected. However we are told, that there were Monks in a Monaftery of the Ifle of Hy, called otherwife Jona or Icolmkill, who where there fettled in the first Ages of the Church, and tho' they were but meer Presbyters (the Abbot himself being obliged to be of that Order and none other) yet exercifed all Epifcopal Jurifdiction. And that from this Iland were certain fit Perfons elected who were fent out, by the Abbot and other Presbyters in the Mo-. naftery, as Bishops to govern the feveral Diocefes of Scotland. And that this Way of Church-Government continued till about the Year 1110, when Turgotus being canonically confecrated Bishop of St. Andrews, the Power and Authority of the Abbot and Monks of Hy was transferred to that See. But this Tale is most apparently fictitious, and cannot appear otherwise to any one who is acquainted with the Conftitution of the Church in all other Parts of the World in the primitive Times. But I had almoft forgot one material Paffage of this Story: which is, That about the Year of our Lord 410. Palladius was fent by Pope Cœleftine to the Chriftian Scots, being firft ordained by him Bishop of that Church: And thus Bishops as they are diftinct from Presbyters first came into Scotland. But St. Columba, who died about the latter end of the fixth Century, restored the Authority of the Culdees whom he refettled in the Monaftery of Hy, and was himself the first Abbot of it after its Authority was thus reftored. This additional Paffage more plainly discovers the whole to be a Monkish Forgery. For 'tis well known that the Monks of all Places have forged Records to prove the Antiquity of their

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