The order and discipline of the first Christian church were extremely simple. The same is true of all those churches which were erected by the apostles and their fellow laborers. They were all copies of the divine original at Jerusalem. But, when the fervency of their first love had subsided, and outward peace and prosperity had softened and ungirt the spirits of Christians, then worldliness and ambition rapidly undermined the apostolic polity of the churches; and ere long, built upon the ruins thereof a splendid hierarchy, of materials partly Jewish and partly Pagan. Doctrinal errors and unchristian practices followed in the train, and paved the way for "the Man of Sin."

The establishment of the tyrannous polity of Rome was succeeded by a dreary night of a thousand years.

At the dawn of the Lutheran Reformation, the constitution of the Church attracted much less attention than the gross religious errors and the infamous superstitions of Romanism. And so engrossed were the Reformers in purifying the Church of these evils, that they overlooked for a time, the sources through which many of them had entered the Church. If the connection between a pure and simple church order and a sound religious faith and practice occurred to them, they acted upon the common principle of reforming the greatest abuses first; leaving the lesser ones for after consideration. An apology for their course was found in the ignorance and prejudices of the common people, and the fear of fanatical excesses.*

There was, perhaps, another more serious impediment to a thorough reform: I refer to the connection of the

* See Luther's Tract on the regulation of the external matters of the churches.-Milner, Century 16th, ch. 8.

The regulations respecting the constitution, government, form and mode of public worship in the Lutheran Church were not drawn up until 1527.-Mosheim, Vol. III. p. 39, 40.

The Reformation may be said to have commenced as early as 1517. The German Liturgy was not, however, completed until 1543.-Mackensie's Life of Calvin, p. 77.

Church with the State. The Reformers were more or less dependent on the princes and nobles of this world; and these are generally the last men to desire simplicity in the order and worship of the Church. Whether, indeed, those princes who favored the Reformation would have countenanced a reform in doctrine and morals, even, had this been connected with a thorough reformation in church polity, is very doubtful. Wickliffe, the pioneer of the Reformation, seems to have lost the support of his prince and of the nobility when he started sentiments which countenanced such a reformation. And whether Luther would have succeeded in his labors without the protection of Frederic, the Elector of Saxony; whether the Reformation in England could have been carried so far, without the concurrence of Henry VIII, and Edward VI; whether what was done could have been accomplished except by the co-operation of these princes, without an entire overturn of their respective governments, is very improbable. However

this may be, one thing seems evident, that, while these princes supported the Reformers in their partial labors, they held them back from a thorough and radical reform of the Church-from reinstating it in its primitive simplicity and independency of the State.

In republican Switzerland, however, the Reformation was more of a popular movement: the people were consulted, and they acted; and their ecclesiastical rights were more fully restored, and the reformation of the Church was more thorough than in Germany or in England.*

It was not generally until men began to experience the extreme difficulty of preserving purity of doctrine and

* D'Aubigne, in his elegant History of the Reformation, says: "Luther had restored the Bible to the Christian communityZwingle went further-he restored their rights. This is a characteristic feature of the Reformation in Switzerland. The maintenance of sound doctrine was intrusted, under God, to the peo ple; and recent events have shown that the people can discharge that trust better than the priests or the pontiffs.' -Vol. III. p. 251.

practice under worldly and unscriptural establishments, that their thoughts were turned earnestly towards a reformation in the general polity of the Church. The philosophy of the connection between church order and church purity seems not to have attracted much attention prior to the latter part of the sixteenth century. Yet this is remarkable, since all previous history had shown, that a simple form of ecclesiastical government and purity of religious faith and practice had ever been intimately associated.

The English Puritans, if not the discoverers of this connection, were the men who acted most fully upon the discovery.

The religious ancestors of the Congregationalists of New England, of all men who ever lived, had, perhaps, most occasion to study church polity in all its connections and bearings. Thrown out of the Church which they regarded as the mother of them all; driven to a land of strangers; left to begin the world anew, and to decide what form of ecclesiastical government they would adopt; being men of piety, and learning, and experience; familiar with the Scriptures, and well read in the history of the world; conversant with the treasures of antiquity-with the writings of the Fathers and with classic authors; having had great experience of the workings of an ecclesiastical establishment in their native land, and having, while in Holland, opportunities to examine the polity of the Reformed Churches on the Continent; and feeling the deep responsibility of laying aright the religious foundations of a new world:-under such circumstances it was natural, it was unavoidable, that the constitution, discipline, and worship of the Church should arrest and fix, and for a time all but absorb their attention. If men in their circumstances could not-did not, study to advantage this great subject, then may we well despair of ever having it thoroughly and impartially investigated. Our fathers did study the science of church polity as perhaps no other men ever did :

and the fruits of their study New England-yea, the world itself has long been gathering.

For many years after the settlement of New England, the subject of church order and government received much attention: some have thought too much. But he who has well weighed the bearings of this question upon the interests of pure religion, will be of a different opinion.

Decline of Congregationalism-Causes.

However it may have been in the days of our fathers, certain it is, that for many years past, this subject has excited comparatively little interest among the Congregational descendants of the Puritans. Various causes have contributed to this state of things. Among the more prominent, perhaps, may be named.

The anxiety of Congregationalists to unite different denominations in benevolent religious societies.

To accomplish this, there has been a readiness on their part to keep out of sight, and even to sacrifice their denominational peculiarities. However benevolent the design of these Unions, the result of them has been injurious to Congrégationalism. Other denominations, while acting, to a limited extent, with us in these Associations, have kept up their separate and denominational organizations. But we have had nothing of this sort by which to propagate our peculiar views. And though Congregationalists have furnished a large proportion of the funds of these Unions, yet, as a denomination, they have derived probably the least benefit from them. They have even, in some instances, with an unauthorized generosity, yielded the entire advantage to other denominations.

"What then," it may be asked, "shall we give up all united attempts to save souls, through fear of injuring Congregationalism?" If the question were-Shall we save souls or promote the interests of Congregationalism? it would be easy to answer. This, however, is not

the question. It is-Shall we, in connection with our efforts to save souls, endeavor to promote the interests of our most scriptural and excellent system of church government; or shall we utterly disregard this ?

Our denomination have contributed largely of money and of mind to erect and sustain churches at the West; yet scarce one in fifty of these is upon the Congregational Platform.* Scores of young men, professedly Congregationalists, have gone out from our Theological Seminaries, educated by the aid of Congregational funds, and thrown themselves into the bosom of the Presbyterian Church. And why have they done this?" To do good!" But, could they not have done good and yet have retained their Puritan principles? Have these principles made New England an intellectual and moral garden! and yet shall we be told, that “ they will not answer for the South and West?" Had New England men and money carried New England principles of church government wherever they went, and boldly and faithfully sustained them, other sections of our country would now, it is verily believed, more nearly resemble the land of the Pilgrims.

Another cause of this state of things may be, the operation of the principle on which some or all of our Theological Seminaries in New England have been conducted. Though endowed and sustained by Congregationalists, these seminaries have been equally accessible to Protestants of all denominations. To this, as a general principle, there certainly can be no objection, if evidence of piety be made an essential requisite for admission. But if, in connection with this admission of different denominations, there must be any hesitation on the part of the

*

"It is computed that 400 churches, or more, have been gathered in the West, for the Presbyterian Church, by the benevoence of Connecticut alone. And I have seen it stated by high Presbyterian authority, that not less than 1500 of their churches are essentially Congregational in their origin and habits" Mitchell's Guide to the Principles and Practice of the New England Churches, p. 71, note.