discharge my Ministry in her communion, so absolute is the requirement, and so peremptory the mandate of subscription, that I could by no means, with a safe conscience, submit myself to such a mental bondage. I may approve and admire many things-but unless I can believe from my soul, the all and every thing, I am excluded by the intervention of a solemn oath-and so, without any reference to the constitution of the Church, to its system of patronage, to its other objectionable parts, I find myself as a Minister, a Non-conformist from necessity.

"Taking into the account other serious considerations, in respect of the difference between Established Churches, of whatever order, and Churches of the Independent denomination, I cannot but think that the latter approach more nearly than the former to the first, the Apostolic foundation. And although I am not persuaded of the Divine Right of Independency, I do find no other system more worthy of preference, none, I believe, that comes so nearly, in the whole, to the standard of Holy Scripture.

"For these reasons, I ask permission of God's Providence to discharge my future ministrations in this communion; not as condemning or separating from other Churches which hold the doctrine of Christ, but only as giving conscientious preference to the community with which I have hitherto joined, and which I honestly believe to be worthy of my continued attachment.

In what manner do you state those doctrines of the Christian Faith, which it will be your duty and your profession to teach ?

"As a professed Christian, and a Minister of Christ, I deem it needless, to profess my faith and worship of the one only true God, the Creator and Father of mankind and of all beings that exist-nor can it be needful to make any confession with respect to the Divine Authority and Inspiration of the Christian Scriptures, to the study and explanation of which my life is devoted. A firm faith in the Sacred Volume, as the record of Divine Revelations, is the very foundation of the ministry, which I seek to exercise.

"The object of my present statement is, to profess my understanding of the Christian Truths, which we learn from the study of the Scriptures,—and since there does exist such a diversity of opinion on points of explanation, just to declare, for the satisfaction of this congregation, and of my fathers in the Ministry, in what way my views of Scripture Truth lead me to explain and enforce the prime subjects of the Christian Ministry.

"I believe the object of Divine Revelation to be, the recovery of mankind from sin and misery to holiness and immortality. The necessity for such recovery lies in that degeneracy and ruin of the whole human race, which had its origin in the first pair, the parents of mankind, as related in the book of Genesis. The consequence of

their fall has been, the hereditary depravity of all their offspring to such a degree, that now, and so far as we know, ever since, there has never been a just man who sinned not; with the sole exception of the man Christ Jesus.

"For the recovery of mankind, I believe the Divine Goodness to have sent Jesus Christ, to live as a Teacher of Truth, and to die as a propitiatory Sacrifice for sin. By the purity of his doctrine, he has taught us the way of holiness and peace and by the great love of his sufferings and death, for our salvation, he atoned for our guilt and has furnished us with motives and incentives, calculated to subdue the enmity of the mind, and to constrain men to live not to themselves, but to Him that died for them and rose again.

"The greatness of the love of Christ, in dying for our salvation, I believe principally to consist in the voluntary humiliation which he underwent, being a descent from previous glory and majesty, and an assumption of human nature, for the kind purpose of our restoration. The manner in which this condescension is represented in Scripture, I believe to be intended to teach us that Jesus the Messiah, was truly and essentially divine, the Eternal Son of the Father, and that when the man Christ Jesus suffered and died, it was not only the death of a man, but the condescension of God: it was the humiliation of the Eternal Word, who "took upon him the form of a ser

vant, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."

"And the efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ as a propitiation for the sins of the world, I believe to result from the same cause, the Divine Glory of the Messiah. In the incarnation of the Son of God, and his subjection to the Law, and his death upon the cross, I perceive the union of Infinite Holiness and Infinite Love, of the Justice and Mercy of God. And I take the scheme of Redemption by Jesus Christ to be the method appointed by God for the display of all his glories, in the consistent exercise of his Infinite Mercy towards men.

"The application of these great Truths to the mind, I believe to be effected by the Holy Spirit, who both opens the understanding and converts the will; that man, who before was ignorant of the truth, and disaffected to it, if known, may understand and love it, and by such faith may be saved from his sins and disobedience.

"When this great change or regeneration is effected in the mind of man, he is truly a new creature, and so far as this change has obtained, he is recovered from the effects of the fall. That Divine Power which commenced the change, I believe to be concerned in completing it, in such manner, that he who believeth is kept by the power of God through faith, and will be made perfect in heaven after this life and its imperfections have ended.

"Since the very essence of Christian conversion and

faith is the production of holiness in the mind, I believe it to be absolutely essential to Christian character, and to final salvation, that the believer should maintain a habit of holiness and obedience to the law of God. And the necessary consequence that where faith is and conversion, there must of necessity be virtue and goodnessand where the fruits of righteousness are not, the profession of faith is entirely questionable and in vain.

"I believe, that those who believe on Jesus Christ, are commanded to profess such belief, by receiving the sacrament of Baptism, into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,-and that this Baptism belongs also to their children, as a dedication to God, and a seal of the covenant of Faith. I believe, also, that all Christians are obliged to the Sacrament of the Supper, in which, the death of Christ is commemorated, and in which the believing soul feeds upon Christ by faith.

"I believe that all mankind shall be raised from the dead by the power of God, when Jesus Christ shall judge the world according to their works. After that judgment there will be no change, but the immortality of the future world will belong to the punishment of the wicked, as well as to the happiness of the redeemed. Meanwhile the spirits of all the dead await this judgment, the evil being already in misery, through a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and the good being already in