embraced as the springs of conduct, we are sure the enlargement of THE CHURCHMAN will be truly acceptable. We have received numerous requests to supply a greater quantity of matter to the public, either by publishing THE CHURCHMAN weekly, or fortnightly, or giving double numbers; and we trust we shall meet the wishes of all our friends and supporters, by presenting them with their old friend in an enlarged form, and in a somewhat new dress, with the hope that the additional quantity of matter which it will henceforth contain will amply compensate for the additional cost.

The principles upon which THE CHURCHMAN has been hitherto conducted are so well known to its readers, as to render any enumeration of them unnecessary on the present occasion. But as it has now passed into other hands, we do consider it requisite to give the assurance that it will in future always refer to, and advocate, the same divine principles of the "One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church" of Christ.

In the prospectus issued previously to its establishment, it was stated that the main object of THE CHURCHMAN "would invariably be, to present to the minds of the great mass of our fellow countrymen, information and arguments in defence and support of the grand and distinguishing principles of the Church of England, under the conviction that she is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone;' and satisfied that her form of Government, her Discipline, Articles, and Services, are based upon God's most holy word." Such was the object of THE CHURCHMAN at its commencement; such has its object hitherto been; such it is at present; and such it will continue to be. And no sound and devoted member of our Apostolic and Scriptural Church will say that it is less necessary now than ever to use unwearied diligence in the defence of our Christian Rights and Liberties. Dissent, though crest-fallen, has yet extensive influence in active exertion; and Popery is becoming like "a ramping and a roaring lion" amongst us; and as the adherents of these religious extremes encourage and unite with infidels and other political republicans of the country, we have a formidable array of enemies, who must be overcome by the irrefutable arguments which, as Churchmen, we are, or ought to be, able to produce. These arguments will continue to be brought forward in THE CHURCHMAN, from time to time, with firmness and courage, tempered with moderation and Christian charity; and we trust with the same success as heretofore. The Scriptural command-"FEAR GOD: HONOUR THE KING,"-is our motto; and to induce obedience thereto, our object; because all the evils under which our Church and Country are now suffering are undeniably to be attributed to disobedience to this short command.

We may also add, that as we shall now have more room, we shall endeavour to furnish our readers with a greater variety of reading; interspersing with the argumentative articles others of a more practical and devotional character. Biographical and historical sketches will be also occasionally given; and nothing shall be wanting on our part to render our pages instructing and interesting to the consistent and pious Christian. And we hope that all who feel concerned in the welfare and prosperity of the Church of Christ in this country will render us whatever assistance may be in their power. Some can

send us literary contributions, others can recommend THE CHURCHMAN to their friends and neighbours, and those whom Providence has graciously blessed with the means can buy it, and lend it to their poorer neighbours, and thus much good might be accomplished at a trifling expense. We need not repeat that our enemies are numerous, powerful, and active, and that every effort is necessary, on our part, to counteract their evil designs. And this can best be done by circulating freely those publications which contain the antidote to the poison which they are so diligently disseminating. If the friends of the Church and their Country had been only one third as active and zealous in behalf of their Scriptural principles, as their enemies have been in propagating the seeds of heresy, schism, disturbance, and confusion, we should now have been dwelling in comparative peace and quietness. What therefore remains to be done, is for every Christian patriot to exert himself to secure the ground we at present occupy, and to recover that which has been so sinfully lost. Only let every one faithfully do his "duty in that state of life unto which it hath pleased God to call him," and with the blessing of God we shall soon see "all things ordered and settled upon the best and surest foundations, and peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety, established among us for all generations." Compared with our present condition this would indeed be a happy state of things; may God grant it in his own good time, for the sake of JESUS CHRIST our Lord. Amen.

The Feast of St. Thomas, 1837.

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND INDEPENDENT OF THE CHURCH OF ROME IN ALL AGES.*

BY THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS, B.A. CURATE OF LLANFOR, MERIONETHSHIRE,

"The bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction in this realm of England."-Art. xxxvii.

To the Editor of The Churchman.

REV. SIR,-A small treatise, bearing the above title, was lately published in Welsh, if you think fit to insert a translation of it from time to time in your valuable periodical, I shall be most happy to render you my humble assistance. Yours truly

A FRIEND OF THE AUTHOR.

Of all the charges constantly urged against our venerable Church, in these days, perhaps the boldest, yet least warrantable, is that which attributes her existence to popery. Both the Romanists and dissenters avail themselves of this assertion to promote their own respective views. The former maintain that we have sinned in disturbing the peace and unity of the Church at the time of the Protestant Reformation, and; therefore, that it is our duty, as good Christians, to return to the bosom of the Mother Church. The latter aver that our conduct, in forsaking the communion of the Church of Rome, justifies their own in separating

The former part of this article appeared in "THE CHURCHMAN" for November last, but it is thought better to repeat it here, that the subject may be complete in the New Series.

from the Church of England. This misrepresentation, no doubt, has proved a stumbling-block to many, and has tended to unsettle the attachment of persons otherwise well affected to the rites and ceremonies of our National Church. To some, even of her sincerest members, it must prove a matter of sorrow, who are forced to hear continually their taunts, but, owing to their imperfect acquaintance with ecclesiastical history, are unable to refute them. The object of this Tract is to obviate these difficulties, by assisting such defenceless members, "to be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh them, a reason of the hope that is in them." May the blessing of God attend the humble attempt, "for the advancement of his glory, and the good of his Church."

I expect the facts and arguments adduced in support of the present design will prove, to the satisfaction of every unbiassed mind, not only that the Church of England is independent of the Church of Rome, as regards her origin and foundation in this country, but, also, that she never voluntarily submitted to the authority and jurisdiction of the Pope, amongst the hills of Wales, and that her ritual was never there thoroughly contaminated with the errors and superstitions of popery even throughout the gloomy period of the middle ages.

Some of the popish enemies of our Church will have us to believe that the Christian religion had not been preached in Britain previous to the year 156, and that it was by the authority and commission of the Pope of Rome, that Christianity was then established amongst our ancestors. In the number of those who make this allegation, ranks the venerable Bede, who thus describes the event;" In the year 156, in the time of Marcus Antoninus Verus, and Aurelius Commodus, when Eleutherius presided over the Roman Seo, Lucius, king of the Britons, sent a letter to that bishop, requesting that, by his mandate, he might be admitted into the Christian Church. His pious request was presently granted him ; and the faith thus received was maintained inviolate among the Britons, in profound peace, until the time of Dioclesian "*

that "

Although the above date is early, yet we have clear and authentic evidence to prove that Christianity was introduced into this island still earlier, even in the days of the Apostles. Eusebius, the ecclesiastical historian, about the beginning of the fourth century, positively affirms, some of the Apostles passed over the ocean, into the British isles."+ Theodoret also, who flourished in the former part of the fifth century, is very explicit on this point. Describing the great success that attended the labours of the Apostles, he breaks out in the following strain : "Those our fisherman, and publicans, and our tent-makers, have propagated the Gospel amongst all nations; not only amongst the Romans and those who are subjects of the Roman Empire, but the Scythians, and the Sauromatæ, the Indians; also, the Ethiopians, the Persians, the Hyrcani, the BRITONS, the Cimmerii, and the Germans: so that it may be said, in one word, that all the different nations of mankind have received the laws of the crucified." Gildas, too, our own countryman, who flourished in the sixth century, describing the circumstances of the defeat of Caractacus, in the year 51, and that of Boadicea in 61, alludes to the

See Noræ: Britan. vol. ii. p. 44. + Euseb. Demonst. Evang. lib. iii. c. 5.

John iv. Serm. 9.

memorable event that occurred in the interval, in the following words, "In the mean time, Christ, the true Sun, superior to that luminary which shines on the firmament, displayed his divine rays, the knowledge of his precepts to this island, benumbed with the gloom of winter; for we know that in the latter end of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar, his bright and glorious beams first shone upon the world.""

The above quoted testimonies will suffice to prove the Apostolical antiquity of our Church, but we are not informed therein, who was appointed, in the hands of God, to be the first messenger of peace and salvation to our heathen ancestors. To satisfy our curiosity on this point, we must consult old British documents, of undoubted credit, styled, The Triads of the Isle of Britain," and there we shall meet with the following statement :-" The three holy kings of the isle of Britain; the first, Bran the Blessed, the son of Llyr Llediaith, who first brought the Christian faith to the nation of the Cymry, from Rome, where he had been for seven years as an hostage for his son Caradog, whom the Romans had imprisoned, after that he was betrayed by treachery, and an ambush laid for him, by Aregwedd Foeddawg. The second, Lleirwg, the son of Coel, who was the son of St. Cyllin, surnamed Llenfer Mawr, who established a Church at Llandaff, the first established in Britain. He also granted constitutional privileges, judicial power, and validity of oath to the Christians. The third, Cadwalladr the Blessed, who granted the privilege of his land and all his property to the faithful, who fled from the infidel Saxons, and the unbrotherly ones, who wished to slay them."+

year

Here we find the introduction of Christianity into Britain attributed to Bran, the son of Llyr Llediaith, and father of the brave Caradog, or Caractacus. This prince was, together with his father and the whole of his family, carried captive to Rome, by the Emperor Claudius, in the 52. St. Paul was carried prisoner to the same place, about the year 58; and if Bran and his family were detained there seven years, they might have thus enjoyed the ministry of St. Paul for one year. It is not improbable, that they had heard the Gospel preached there in the course of the preceding six years; for we know that it was proclaimed in Rome before St. Paul's arrival, and that they were in the last year confirmed in the faith by the great Apostle of the Gentiles himself.

In an ancient British manuscript, designated "The Genealogy of the Saints of the Isles of Britain," we are told, that Bran, on his return to his native country, was accompanied by three Christian teachers, from Rome, of the names of Ilid and Cyndaf (who are said to have been Israelites,) and Arwystli Hen (an Italian,) who, no doubt, is the Aristobulus mentioned in Rom. xvi. 10. As Bran's abode and dominions lay in Siluria, which comprises a part of South Wales, we may naturally suppose that the glad tidings of the Gospel were first proclaimed to the inhabitants of that favoured spot. And it is thought that Llanilid, between Llantrisant and Bridgend, is the oldest Church in Britain. Not far from this Church is a farm-house, called Trefran, and there, it is said, Bran resided. The wakes or festivals of that parish are still called Gwyl Geri, from Ceri, the grandfather, or, as some say, the father of Bran. Perhaps, also,

* Epist. c. i. † Myf. Arch. vol. ii. p. 63, tr. 53. 13, xv. 23.

Compare Rom. ii. 8.

Llantrisant was dedicated to the memory of the three saints that came over with Bran.

We may rest assured that St. Paul, who commanded Timothy, Bishop of Ephesus, to "lay hands suddenly on no man," acted in a similar manner himself towards the above missionaries, and that he, having found them "apt and meet to execute their ministry duly," ordained them by imposition of hands.

The epithet, "Blessed," might have been affixed to the name of Bran in consideration of his sacred office. And the Greeks affirm of Aristobulus, that he was "brother of St. Barnabas, and one of the seventy disciples; that he was ordained a bishop by St. Barnabas or St. Paul, whom he followed in his travels, and was sent into Britain, where he laboured much, made many converts, founded churches, and furnished them with priests and deacons, and at last died there."* If Aristobulus was ordained by St. Paul, we see the propriety of Theodoret styling the Britons disciples of the tent-maker," even if St. Paul never visited Britain in

person.

From what has been said, we gather that a Christian Church has existed in Britain from the days of the Apostles, planted by bishops of St. Paul's ordination, which completely refutes the assertions of those who maintain that in the time of King Lucius, and the Pope Eleutherius, Christianity first found its way to this country.

It is worthy of observation, that the Church of Britain was fully settled and established prior to the Church of Rome, because Linus, the first Bishop of Rome, was not appointed until the year of St. Paul and St. Peter's martyrdom, which was seven or eight years subsequent to the appointment of the three orders in Britain. Also, that LIN-us (Cy-LLIN) was a Briton, the son of Caractacus; and, consequently, that the Romanists lie under a greater obligation to the Britons, for the foundation of their Church, than the Britons to them.

But granting, say our opponents further, that there was a Christian Church in Britain before the time of Lucius, yet the conduct of that prince in applying to Rome for baptism, implies her dependence at that period upon the Church of Rome.

It is but too probable that Bede, and others of the same principles, in their bigoted zeal for the supremacy of the Pope, framed this account as well as they could to correspond with their own inclinations. That it has been perverted is clear enough, for the conversion of Lucius has been attributed to sundry Popes; Evaristus, A.D. 100, Alexander I., A.D. 109, and Eleutherius, A.D. 156. And Archbishop Usher has enumerated no less than twenty-five different statements of the year in which that event occurred. At the period of which we are speaking the state of religion in this country was undoubtedly low, and so Lucius, recollecting that the Gospel was first brought here from Rome, was naturally enough induced to resort to the same source for aid to restore it. Indeed the very idea of his making such an application implies, on his part, a previous acquaintance with the truths of Christianity. The several Churches of Christendom were at this time in their purity, and the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome was confined within the limits of

Usher's Britann. Eccles. Antiq. p. 9.