Excerpt from The Historic Episcopate: A Study of Anglican Claims and Methodist Orders Historic truth is not Obtained by a bare recital of isolated facts, however true they may be as actual events. They must be studied in their historic setting, in the atmosphere they have created or in which they are found, and he only who can abandon himself in spirit to the age or to the movements Of which he writes, without losing the vantage ground Of his own time, can be truly regarded as having apprehended the truth Of history. This principle has determined us in our study Of the subject be fore us, and has guided us in the interpretation Of the events with which we have had to deal. The purpose Of the volume is not to dim the glory Of any Church. Its real Object, no matter what its apparent aim may seem to be, is to defend the principles of the Reformation relative to Church government, to lay bare the grounds Of Anglican claims to an historic episcopate, to set in clear light once more the validity Of Methodist orders, and thus by breaking down some middle walls Of parti tion to contribute something to the tendency to ward unity and peace in the Church Of Jesus Christ. That it may accomplish this, its true purpose, is the earnest prayer Of the author. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.