PREFACE.

THIS book, as its title indicates, does not profess to be an exhaustive treatise upon the law of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. It discusses simply the method of ascertaining such law, and some of its most important principles, with suggestions as to its origin, and the extent of its jurisdiction. The valuable work of Judge Hoffman, on the "Law of the Church, being out of print, and not within reach of the public generally, it has been deemed proper to quote in the Appendix such parts of it as bear directly upon the points under discussion, and especially in cases in which the author is constrained to differ from so eminent an authority. The reader will find also, principally in the Appendix, extracts from the works of Bishop Hopkins, Dr. Hawks, Dr. F. Vin