Three letters to the bishop of Bangor

against you? Indeed, my Lord, you have only taken away the main supports of our religion. You have left us neither priests, nor sacraments, nor a church; or, what amounts to the same thing, you have turned them all into trifles and dreams. And what has your Lordship given us in place of all these advantages? Why, only sincerity. This is the great universal atonement for everything. According to your Lordship, this is what will help us reach the "Communion of Saints" A phrase from the Apostles' Creed referring to the spiritual union of all Christians, living and dead. in the afterlife, even if we are in communion with anyone—or no one—here on earth.

The next things we are told not to be afraid of are the vain words of nullity and validity regarding God’s ordinances ordinances: established religious rites or ceremonies, such as Baptism or the Lord’s Supper—that is, whether they are administered by a clergyman or a layman. I have indeed shown that this was included in what you said about the "trifle" of uninterrupted succession. But for fear we might have overlooked it there, you have expressed it clearly in the next line.

Your Lordship tells Dr. Snape Andrew Snape (1675–1742), a high-church clergyman who was one of Bishop Hoadly’s primary opponents in the Bangorian Controversy. that you know of no confusion, glorious or inglorious, that you have tried to introduce into the Church.

My Lord, if I may presume to repeat your own words: Lay your hand on your heart and ask yourself whether encouraging all kinds of divisions is not the same as trying to in- The text continues on the next page with the word "troduce" (introduce).

• An Answer to the Representation of the Committee of the Lower-house of Convocation, p. 40.
  † An Answer, p. 47.