libri consecrati, aut ordinati sunt, ab anno secundo prædicti regis Edwardi, usque ad hoc tempus, aut in posterum juxta eosdem ritus consecrabuntur, aut ordinabuntur, rite atque ordine, atque legitime statuimus esse, et fore consecratos et ordinatos.

37. De civilibus Magistratibus.

REGIA Majestas in hoc Angliæ regno, ac cæteris ejus dominiis summam habet potestatem, ad quam omnium statuum hujus regni, sive illi ecclesiastici sint, sive civiles, in omnibus causis, suprema gubernatio pertinet, et nulli externæ jurisdictioni est subjecta, nec esse debet.

Cum Regiæ Majestati sunmam gubernationem tribuimus, quibus titulis intelligimus animos quorundam calumniatorum offendi, non damus Regibus nostris, aut verbi Dei, aut Sacramentorum administrationem, quod etiam Injunctiones ab Elizabetha Regina nostra, nuper editæ, apertissime testantur; sed eam tantum prærogativam, quam in sacris Scripturis a Deo ipso, omnibus piis Principibus, videmus, semper fuisse attributam hoc est, ut omnes status, atque ordines fidei suæ a Deo commissos, sive illi ecclesiastici sint, sive civiles, in officio contineant, et contumaces ac delinquentes gladio civili coer

ceant.

E 4

Romanus

Romanus pontifex nullam habet jurisdictionem in hoc regno Angliæ.

Leges regni possunt Christianos propter capitalia, et gravia crimina, morte punire.

Christianis licet, ex mandato Magistratus, arma portare et justa bella administrare.

38. De illicita bonorum communicatione. FACULTATES et bona Christianorum, non sunt communia, quoad jus et possessionem (ut quidam Anabaptistæ falso jactant); debet tamen quisque de his quæ possidet, pro facultatum ratione, pauperibus eleemosynas benigne distribuere.

39. De jurejurando.

QUEMADMODUM juramentum vanum et temerarium a Domino nostro Jesu Christo, et Apostolo ejus Jacobo, Christianis hominibus interdictum esse fatemur: Ita Christianorum Religionem minime prohibere censemus, quin jubente magistratu in causa fidei et charitatis jurare liceat, modo id fiat juxta Prophetæ doctrinam, in justitia, in judicio, et veritate.

Confirmatio Articulorum.

Hic liber antedictorum Articulorum jam denuo approbatus est, per assensum, et consen

sum Serenissimæ Regina Elizabethæ Domina nostræ, Dei gratia Angliæ, Franciæ, et Hiberniæ, Reginæ, defensoris fidei, &c. retinendus, et per totum regnum Angliæ exequendus. Qui Articuli, et lecti sunt, et denuo confirmati, subscriptione D. Archiepiscopi et Episcoporum superioris domus, et totius Cleri inferioris domus, in Convocatione Anno Domini, 1571.

PART III.

ΑΝ

EXPOSITION OF THE THIRTY-NINE

ARTICLES.

ARTICLE THE FIRST:
Of Faith in the Holy Trinity.

THERE IS BUT ONE LIVING AND TRUE GOD,
EVERLASTING, WITHOUT BODY, PARTS, OR
PASSIONS, OF INFINITE POWER, WISDOM,
AND GOODNESS, THE MAKER AND PRE-
SERVER OF ALL THINGS BOTH VISIBLE AND
INVISIBLE; AND IN THE UNITY OF THIS
GODHEAD THERE ARE THREE PERSONS OF
ONE SUBSTANCE, POWER, AND ETERNITY,
THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY
GHOST.

HIS first article asserts the Being and Attri

TH

butes of God, which are the foundation of all religion; and it farther declares, that the Godhead consists of three persons, which, though it appears to have made a part of the original revelation

revelation to mankind, was so far forgotten or obscured, that it may be considered as one of the characteristic doctrines of the Gospel.

The universal consent of mankind has ever been admitted as a strong argument in favour of the existence of a God. We learn from the history of former times, and from the observation of modern travellers, that in every country, and at every period, some idea of a Superior Being, and some species of divine worship, have prevailed.

This," says Dr. Nicholls, " is very good evidence of the reality of a Supreme Being; and whether we ground it upon tradition, or universal principles of reasoning, it is a better foundation to rest upon than the fanciful speculations of some particular private persons, who are more liable to be mistaken than the most learned and wise men of all nations and all ages of the world, and who probably could not have all fallen into the uniform opinion of a divine Creator and Governor of the world, unless he had been pleased, some time or other, in the early ages of the world, to have revealed it to them, which they readily at first embraced, and afterwards tenaciously adhered to, finding it so highly agreeable to their reason. It avails little to say, that there may stupid clan or two of barbarous people, who have very little of these notices; for the observation

be a

of