to wish to preach the Gospel to the heathen, the Bishop of that country sent him forth, and then or subsequently ordained him Bishop of the place or country whither he went, that so he might not only convert individuals, but found a Church, imparting to the nation the full blessings and privileges of the Christian Church. And this the Bishops did, either by their own authority, which they inherited individually from the Apostles, or, more solemnly, and for the prevention of individual infirmity, the whole Bishops of the province met in council, and formed a new Episcopate. Thus, a little later than the time just spoken of, about the middle of the second century, Pantænus (afterwards a blessed Martyr) "shewed," says Eusebius', "so much zeal for the Divine word that"-he went out (in our modern phrase) as a Missionary to India?-No! but that "he was appointed as a preacher of the Gospel of Christ to the nations in the East, being sent as far as India;" and says Jerome, he was so skilled and learned both in Divine Scripture and in secular literature, that being asked for by an embassage from the country, he was sent even to India by Demetrius, Bishop of Alexandria." Again; "Among the Indians, was S. Frumentius, the Bishop, who was there first as a captive, then, ordained Bishop by Athanasius, preached the Gospel in that province." So of Armenia, one of the most important of Christian Churches, it is related, "The great

'H. E. v. 10.

* De Script. Eccl. c. 36.

D

Gregory, he was called "the Enlightener,”) the Bishop of the greater Armenia, was brought out of that fearful den, and arrived at the king, and the whole of Armenia was converted to the faith in Christ;"" and the Persians likewise, (it is added,) under Simeon the Bishop." And so as to other Churches. Church history is full of accounts of holy men, who were sent forth as Bishops, and were Apostles of the nations to whom they were sent, and founded Churches, and converted great nations: but there is not one account of persons going out of their own will, or establishing a Church without Bishops, or without having received a com

'G. Cedrenus ap. Fabric. Lux Evang. p. 641. Gregory is related to have been consecrated to this office by S. Leontius, Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia. Fabric. ib.

"It is striking that the case of one remarkable exception, Columba, the converter of the North Picts, who preferred going out as an Abbot, has been seized upon by the adversaries of Episcopacy, as a proof of the neglect of that Ordinance. "It may be asked why he (Columba) was not ordained Bishop himself, especially when he was going to convert a Heathen Nation? which was the same reason for which Palladius and Patrick were made Bishops. It seems probable, that when he went upon this service, the Bishops of Ireland durst not ordain him, for fear of provoking the king to turn his wrath upon themselves. But besides, it seems that he chose rather to be an Abbot than a Bishop, having from his youth devoted himself to a Monastic life." Bp. Lloyd, Church Gov. c. 5. beg. "There was however always a Bishop in his Monasteries." Abp. Usher from the Ulster Annals, ib. 102. See further Note A at the end.

mission so to do from those who had inherited the

power to give it, the Bishops of the Church. The maxim of the Apostolic age, "do nothing without the Bishop," was then acted upon, and the conversion of great and powerful nations, civilized and barbarian, proud of their might or their civilization, who bowed their necks under the humble yoke of Christ, attests God's blessing; compared with which, all modern efforts have been as nothing. And in later times, after many had been made (in vain, because insulated) to convert the Germans, God raised up a countryman of our own, Winifred, (known by the name of Boniface, good doer," and since called the Apostle of the Germans,) who was sent forth as her Bishop". He

"the

"A remarkable testimony to these benefits of order in propagating the Gospel is given by one who, belonging to a body which has forfeited Episcopacy, had no intention of magnifying the office, and who must think holy rites mere forms. Christianity had gained more or less entrance among the German tribes, according to the greater or less influence of the Franks upon them, not so much through systematic plans, as through the voluntary activity of individuals. Church Order accordingly was wholly wanting, and Heathenism not seldom mingled with Christianity. Then Winifred, an English Monk, full of the piety of that day, which was then blended with value for the outward rites of the Church, and in the English Church especially with submissiveness to the Roman See, determined to become the Apostle of Germany." (Gieseler K. G. b. ii. a i. c. 2. §. 4.) He mentions also that he established four seminaries, for the maintenance of the faith. It was then indeed the common (though not the universal)

lived to found there eight Bishoprics, received the crown of Martyrdom in carrying the Gospel to a remoter tribe, and is, and is still recognized as, the father in Christ," of those, who since, in Germany, have lived and died in His faith and fear.

There is another branch of the subject, on which I cannot here enter into details, but which appears from an early period to have been the practice of the Church, and which has been especially an instrument of God in the establishment of Christianity among ourselves, namely, that foundations were every where formed, as seminaries for a future body of Clergy. Such was the origin of our Cathedrals; they were the early homes of the Gospel in our land, and the means of its continuance.

The later efforts of our Church for propagating the Gospel have been, till within these few years, through this Society, and the Society for promoting Christian knowledge, whose missions it now embraces. Their history, both prosperous and adverse,

practice in the West for missionary Bishops to be consecrated by the Bishop of Rome; (see Note A. at the end;) and though he may, by his lofty claims, have been even then preparing for his subsequent fall, yet was that Bishop then the zealous supporter of sound faith, and God blessed the efforts of those, who, in simple obedience to what they thought His will, sought their commission from that Church, which He had so highly favoured, and which had not then so grievously sinned against Him. Bp. Boniface is still commemorated in our Church as a Martyr, on June 5.

• See Note B. at the end.

much illustrates these principles; and both alike furnish encouragement to us; in that their success was owing to God's blessing upon those principles, their failure to hindrances from without, which have now happily been removed. The Society commenced amid circumstances the most unfavourable. It was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1701, at the petition of the then Archbishop of Canterbury, to provide (as is said in the Charter) for the "plantations, colonies, factories, many of which were wholly unprovided of a maintenance for Ministers, and the public worship of God; and, for lack thereof, wanted the administration of God's Word and Sacraments, and seemed to be abandoned to atheism and infidelity." And fearfully was this so ; in large provinces all children were unbaptized", the Lord's day

"In Virginia and Maryland the Church was endowed by the colonial assemblies, (Dr. Humphreys' Account of the Society for Promoting the Gospel in Foreign Parts, p. 27–29.) and these wanted but half of the entire number of ministers; (Memorial of Governor Dudley, ib. 41.) of the rest, South and North Carolina, Pennsylvania, the two Jerseys, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New England, Newfoundland, with a population of about 200,000 souls, besides slaves and Indians, 3,400 only joined in our worship. (Memorial, &c. ib.) In New England the Independents were established, and obstructed the worship of the members of the Church, until application had been made to Charles II. (ib. p. 39.)

"It is specially related of the two Carolinas, that none under eighteen or twenty-one had been baptized; many such had been destroyed by the Indians. Letters of Residents, ap. Humph. 26.