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 A CHARGE 
 
 DELIVERED I>Y THE 
 
 Rt. Reu. 3. iCrauers Leuiis, d.d., LL.D., \ 
 
 LORD BISHOP OF ONTARIO, 
 
 THE VISirATIOM OF THE CLERGY OF TH = 
 
 I0<3SSE OF 
 
 ■IT A RIO 
 
 Held ::i CH'IUST CHU'RCH, in the City of Ottawa, 
 
 PUBLISHED AT THE REQUr:5r OF THE CLERGY. 
 
 OTTAWA : 
 
 •CVU/.VS" 1'1,'INIIN'; AM) I'iiHMSIIlM; (''(MI'AVV, -^I'VltK-; .•»T,{KKT. 
 
 1874 
 
 -/J 
 
 i 
 

 ♦ # 
 
y 
 
 I 
 
 i CHAllGE 
 
 DELIVERED BY THE 
 
 Bt. Reu. ]. Itauers Leuiis, D.D., LL.D., 
 
 LORD BISHOP OF ONTARIO, 
 
 AT THE VISITATION OF THE CLERGY OF THE 
 
 I0<3ESE OF ONTARIO, 
 
 jlc\d ill c ii'.uSi (...11^ '^U 11, in l,ic i :ty oj Uilawa^ 
 
 i^cfoOiT J- til, :<-'7.;. 
 
 PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OF THE CLERGY. 
 
 OTTAWA : 
 
 'rm/.KN" PHINTIM: and ITIIUPIIINT, COMI'ANV, spaiiks stkkkt. 
 
 1874 
 
trxc 
 
 ] 
 
 I 
 
 
A CHARGE. 
 
 » 
 
 I 
 
 
 My dear Brethren, 
 
 I have called you together at this Vinitation by your own 
 request; and my chief duty is to address you on those subjects whidi 
 concern the whole Church, and are not exclusively Diocesan in their 
 character. Indeed I could scarcely hope to throw much light on 
 the discussion of raattei'S pertaining to the comparatively narrow 
 sphere of our own Diocese, binause I speak to brethren who aro 
 co-workers with mj'sclf, and who are probably as well acquainted 
 as I am with its wants and general condition . It is sufficient, there- 
 fore, to observe that the material prospects of the Diocese are such as 
 to call for devout thankfulness, and above all, let us be thankful for 
 that unity of spirit which continues to prevail, and is such a source 
 of strength. Amid all the jierplexities and cares of my office, I have 
 ever derived strength and courage from the knowledge that I pre- 
 side over a body of Clergy wdio are in substantial unity with each 
 other, and with their Bishop, who are ready to further his efforts by 
 every means in their power, and to place the most favourable con- 
 struction on his administration of the Diocese. 
 
 We can scarcely exaggerate the influence which the Church in 
 England exercises over the Church in Canada. There is a natural 
 desire to in'oceed par ijmssu with the Church in England, in every useful 
 movement, and a willingness to bo taught by the wider experience 
 and the greater learning of the Mother Church. Hence arises our 
 liability to share in her troubles, and to be taken to task for her sup- 
 posed blemishes. The vil)rations of the storms which disturb her 
 are as sure to reach iis, as the influence of her example in doing God's 
 work, is sure to stimulate us. The disturbing influence popularly 
 called Eitualism has agitated us much more by reason of apprehen- 
 sion lest it may be developed, than by any practical experience of 
 its existence. The fact is, we are living in an age of intense religious 
 and anti-religious activity. Now this activity in the Church always 
 produces and ever will produce the cry that the Church is in danger, 
 
from T*opory, w»ys one, (Vnm InfidclKv. says jmollicr. The Churcli 
 init'Iii ii« f^i<'l< ""'*• <l«'ii'li Iroiii slnii'iiatioii iiiwi slotli. and there novor 
 would bo a voice nii.sed, cliiw/^'iiiLC lier with aiiylliin.ti;. Forty or fifiy 
 years !i.<40 the at mospluTc (>r the Cjiin'cli was serenity itself, (lod 
 loi'hid that siie should vwv ai;'ain leliirn to a sjndhir calm. She liad 
 sean-ely an existence^ abroad, and she was as still as death at iioine. 
 That stillness is not the Chnrtdrs normal state. From the days of 
 Clemens Alexandrinus, She has lieen, 7/ ikih.s iiii/-aiiodromouf<(t, 
 a ship sailinic heavenward, nc^ver at rest, ijll shf comes to the haven 
 where she would he. The ('liui'(di at rest is as unreal as *' a j>ainted 
 ship upon a painted oeean."' Her true position is a ship tossed upon, 
 and hulVetliii^ with, '• the itoisttu'ous waves ofthis ti'oulilesomc world." 
 That we live in Ironltlous limes, as is loudly stated, is no argument 
 ao-ainst the Chureh. It rather |»roses a return to her pr(>vidcntial 
 sphere. Contrast the C!nii-(di to-day witli the Chureh forty or lit'ty 
 years aii'o. I eannot draw the contrast hetti-r than in the words (»l" 
 "the lale Prime Ministei- ol" iOni;hmil, woi-ds uttered without contra- 
 dietion in the House of Commons. I wish, said he, " that every man 
 in this House were as old as I am, for the j>urpos(( of knowing what 
 was the condition of the Church of Kngland forty or lifty 3'oarH ago. 
 At that time it was a scandal to Christendom, fts congregations 
 w(>re eold, dead, and irri'vei'cnt. Its music was offensive to any one 
 with a respect tor the house of (iod. Its Clergy, with some numerous 
 e.xeeptions, belonging ehietly, though 7iot exclusively, to what -was 
 then called the Evangelical Sidiool, — its Clergy were, in numbers 1 
 .should not like to mention, worldly-juinded men. not conforming by 
 their practice to the standard ni' their high oftice, but seeking ti> 
 accumulate ])referments with a reckless inditl'ei'ence to the care of 
 the souls of the people, and on the whole continually declining in 
 moral iidbiencc. This is the state of things from Avhich we have 
 escaped. And Avhen I hear complaints as to the state of things in 
 the present day, 1 eannot forget the enormous balance of good over 
 the evils vou sutler, whi(di has been achieved bv the astonishing 
 transformation that has come ovei* the ebaracler of the Clergymen 
 of the (Minrch of England. That change makes it now almost a 
 moral certainty, that whenever yon go into a parish, you will find 
 the clergyman a man who. to the best of his ability, and with littl« 
 s])aring of his health, is spending morning, noon, an<l night upon the 
 work of his calling, teach ing the young, visiting the sick, preaching the 
 word, and conforming, as far as he can, to the nio<lel his Master left him 
 to follow." Such is the vivid contrast, and the splendid eulogium 
 uttered by Mr. Gladstone; and he might have a<lded the astoniwh- 
 
 ■i \' 
 
T 
 
 
 iiij;^ pniotical rosuK-; of this translorniation of tlio cliMrnotor of the 
 Arii^licaii Cloriry. ^Inn' than iiino thousand chiifchiM have 
 hooTi built, rt'hullt. <»r rostorcd, duriiiij^ the conlury. 'I'hosc 
 havo cost at least ills. ooo, 000 storliuu;. All this was ;ifcom- 
 plishod hy voluntary routrihulions, with tho cxcoption of 
 one nulliori <^raiitcd l»y Parliament- at th(5 oufM'f. Within 
 (i)rty yearn, }),liOO new j»arishes havo been eslablishcl l»y the 
 subdivision of existing ones, and more tiuiii one niillion ami a hidf 
 stei'liuij has been eontribuled for their endowment from ])rivato 
 bonofaetions. Five thousand one* hundred now ])ai'sona,';'e houses 
 havo boon built, thus <^ivin<i; a (di'ar i;'ain of r),lO() roMdenl eicM'i^-y. 
 Within 40 years there has been an inerease of over (i.OOO elei'iify, 
 an< I according to the Privy Council Kdueational Ito])orl foi- IHTIJ, 
 there havo been sunic in seliool buildini!; alone, throo and a half 
 nullions of pounds, raise.l lyvoluntai'v contributions ; while from tho 
 same Jieport. wt* loarn that tlu; anmial subsei'iptions of (/Ir.ircjnnou 
 tor education, reach the amount of £'{30,7(i!' ; add to this, that durino' 
 tiio last <;0 years, the National Society has dispensed one miliion for 
 educational purposes, involving at least an outlay of C12.()()(),()0(> 
 storlin;^ in actual cajiital from other sources, and we liavi! sumc Idea 
 what the Chundi has been doinii; for the relii^ious education ol' tlie 
 people. And why dwell upon tho vast Missionary o[)erati()ns of our 
 Mother ('hurch. and her extension in tho Colonial l']nipii-<i ? Str;inge 
 indeed woidd it be, if amid such exuberance of activity there weii^ no 
 transi^ressions ; amid such vitality, there were no exccss(>s. This 
 jiToat. reaction was too much for ill-balanced minds. All movements, 
 whero men are in earnest, havo a tondencv to excess. The t-roat 
 reformation of the last 40 years has had a tendency to ritualism, but 
 it is as unfair to chari^e it witli boini;" the cause of fabo ritual as it 
 woidd bo to charirc a I'eform Hill with the growth of Communism. 
 Still it cannot be denied, th'it tliero exists in the Church an active 
 part}', but numerically u*. iportant, who are strivinj^ to undo the 
 l)rinciplcs of the Kn*>;lish lieformation. In the controversies of our 
 lime, nothinf^ is more remarkable than tho comparative absence of 
 I'cferonco or appeal to the practices of the Primitive Church. Ex- 
 treme men of the Ilitualistic School shun tho appeal bocause they 
 fear the process, while oxtreme mou of the opposite school fear it 
 tor a liitforent reason, that it would justify practices that they con- 
 .sidor ritualistic, such as the i^'xlly discipline mentioned in tho (>om- 
 mination Service, and tho reservation of the Eucharistic Elements 
 for tho sick. But our safety for all that, consists in a return to first 
 principle.^. If it bo true that history repeats itself, it is more 
 
6 
 
 CHpccially li'ucoi'f'liiii'cli hisloiy. Tliovory saniociTorH in MioChurt!li, 
 iiiid oljar/^CM a.ifaiiisi liei* that j)rovaile(l .*>(»() yi-arn ayo, arc rif'o at 
 this moTneiit, and (lie roined}' used llu'ii, Ik tlio only ronuxly now, 
 to make tho docti'inc and discipline of tho Friniitivo Cliiuvh tlio test 
 ofortJiodoxy. It cannot l)c too seriously pondered on by oui'selvos, 
 or too earnestly taui^lit to the |)eople, that IheAn/^lican Keroi-niution 
 <lid not pi'etend for one moment to make or found the Church of 
 England. 
 
 The want of such teachiiii^ has re-iultei] In tho ])oj)ular ])or,sua- 
 Hion that there is no lousier such a sin as schism. Many pray to be 
 deliverotl from a sin which in theii* relii^ious Hystom cannot exist. 
 Loavini^ a Chureli nowailays amounts to no more than takiuL? your 
 name ort' a book, or l)ein<^ /cad out of one moetiny liouse, only to 
 join another forthwith. Mom blasphem;)us still — it is avowed tiuit. 
 Hehisms have their advantai^e, that various and conflicting bodies 
 provoke each other by a Avholesome rivalry, and keep one anothei' 
 up to the mai'k, in /eal and ellieiency. Popular teachiuij _i;'oes so 
 tar as to say that our Lord's eommamls and [irayors for unity meant 
 only unity in essentials, but not unity in common worship or in 
 membcrshij) of one body, and tliat in ])!)int of fact there is substan- 
 tial unity amonir the various Pi-oiestant denominations, because their 
 differences are non-essential or trivial. ]>ut surely tho smaller the 
 ])retext for schism, the greater the sin, it schism bo a sin at all. 
 
 In this Cit}-, not long since, a few secessionists just i Hod their 
 conduct by the example of Latimer and liidley, who, as the schism- 
 atics allege, being meml)ers of the Church of Jlouio, became members 
 of the Church of I'^ULdand, or in other words left one Church and set 
 up another. This delusion which confounds Englishmen with Italians, 
 and cannot draw a distinction between communion with a ciiurch 
 abroad, and menil»ei"shij) in tho Church at Jiomo, is both wide spread 
 and populai". And yet nothing can be plair.er than tho identity of 
 tho Church of i^highind befoi-o and after her groat Uoform. Ridley 
 and Latimer were born, lived, and died members of tho Church of 
 England. Tiic very l*reface to our Prayer Book tells all the momboi's 
 of the Church that, " The service in this Church of England, these 
 many years, hath been read in Latin to the people, which they un- 
 derstood not." These wor<ls were written, (probably by (Jranmor). 
 A.I). 15-i!^ and the rreliofi)rmation Church is described as " this 
 Church of England." The Churches and their Ministers continueil 
 one and tho same before and after those gradual changes which, 
 
 (1 
 
' 
 
 ; 
 
 (ftUot) to^(!thoi', wei'o not tho format ion l)ii1 (}io T^o-fornialioii of (ho 
 Cliurcli. 
 
 < 'i-anituM', Latimer, Ridii'V, and otliorM, liad not the remotest 
 idea that the}' woro h-uvinuj the Thnreh of J{ome, and Joiniii;^ or 
 forminiif a ('hiireh (^1 I<jn«;iand, hut th(\y all hy their lives and deaths 
 purified the Chiireli of England from Papal errors, and even that 
 which was most novel — tlio Lituriry in tho vnl;;'ar tongue — it waK 
 so suhstantially identical with tho old Litur<:;y, that (Vanmer. loin-- 
 lifter tho l*rofac(i to the Prayer BooU was written, ofi'ercd to prove 
 thau "the or.lei- of tlu; ('hurchof Kiii>;land set out hv authorit v of 
 Rdward the Sixth, was tho same that had heen used in the ("hurcli 
 for fifteen liiintlred years ])ast." 1 am (piite aware that 1 am s))calc- 
 iuLj; truths well known to you all, Brethren of tho Clergy, hut I de- 
 sii'e to ask whether sueh obvious truth should not he taun'ht to our 
 (diildren, m su)»plementary to the Church Catechism. I know that 
 oven amon^' the li;iity of su|)erior knowled<j;e in other nnitters, tliere 
 is ji lamentahle confusion of ideas on this subject. .Nfany a one would 
 be sur])rised to hear that thei'e were no members of the Church of 
 Jlome in Kno-land (ill the tenth year of Rlizabeth, when emissaries 
 from abroad starteil a Branch of the Italiai\ (.'liur(di in Knii;lan(l. 
 
 All our Acts of Parliament, all our KormiUaries, all our standai-d 
 I)ivines, unite in proving that the Ileform consisted in bearing wit- 
 ness to old truths which had long boon concealed, and in assorting 
 old rights and liberties long unenjoyod. This distinction is very 
 obvious in tho history of our civil constitution, but is lost sight of in 
 our religious constitution. Xo scr.olar would assert that the JJi'itish 
 constitution began with, or was created by Mmjna C/iarta, A. J>. 
 1215. It Avas not a new code of law. It was no new attempt at 
 legislation. On the contrary, it was a declaration of old laws which 
 had been lu'oken, and a correction of abuses Avhich had grown out of 
 feudal customs and tho despotism of tho first William and his suc- 
 {•essors. The great charter had nothing to do with ci'oating English 
 liberties, it siniply re-established ancient, indisputabit-, though con- 
 tinually violated public rights. Now apply these facts to illustrate 
 the operation of our religious charters at the liofoi-mation. The 
 lieformation commeneod with tho assertion of the principle that 
 <jvcry National Cluirch has authority to regulate its own affairs 
 without foreign interference. It in fact only re-atlirmed the first 
 Mid hxHt chwiaeii of Ma(/na Charta, "That the English Church shall 
 be free, and shall have her whole rights and her libertiesun tact;" 
 
;iiiii Ji<;iiiii, " WluTclinv, vv will and tirmly enjoin tliMl the Cliiifoli. 
 of I'ji^^'land 1)0 f'rco." TIh'sc articlo-; of tlu' cliarttT wciv made moiv 
 I lian .■>(»(> voai-s ))0l(nv 1 ho Uolonnatioii, l»iit Imd Iteon rondorod null 
 and void (liroui>-li tlio dos|)otisin of llio Bislioiis of Ronio, oxaoth" as 
 tlio o():oi' j>r<»visions of llio oliarlor had hoon vioialod l»y the dos- 
 |»o(ism of AVilliaiu Iho fonfjuoroi', to Iho ovt'i-lhvow of old Saxon 
 lilfiM-liosand •• Iroo ouslonis."' As Stophoii Jituii^'lon, Arcdihishop of 
 < 'antorlmiy. \ty Iho disoovoiy of an old oharlor of Homy the First, 
 was mainly inslriinionlal in assoi'tini>- (ho oivil liliortios of tho Kni--- 
 li>.li |)oo|)lo, so riionias CraiuiKT, Arohbishop oi' Canlorlniry. was a 
 load in:-- spirit in rt'-assortlng the lihortios of (ho Kni;'lish ('Iniirh. hy 
 appoaling to I'riniilivo and Apostolical ])raotioo, as a_L>;ains( what 
 Avas l*apal and ,\[odia'val. In short, whonovor an apology was i\c- 
 inandcd (or tho iMiglisJi Iiotorrniition. (ho answer from l*arlianuMi( 
 and (*onvo('a(ion was. TAc Frimitirc Clmri-li. Tho Now Toslamont 
 iliolf was a])pt'alod (o on (ho ground that it o()n(ains tho carlios( 
 aiilhondo aocoan( ol" (ho doo(rino and discipline of (he Primi(l\o 
 Church. Jn (he logisladon of Chnreli and S(a(e in (he direction o( 
 a lieforniatioii, w(> tiud evorywhoro a doferonco to whal istiuly 
 < 'atholic. that is. I'rimifivi'. In the Act against appeals to Rome, 
 '1\ IJonry S, c. VI \ in (ho Act against Annates, 2:} Henry S, c. 153; 
 in tho vVct against I'otor ponce, 25 Henry 8, c. 21. wo find tho name 
 Catholic assuined and avowedly apju'opriatod. There is no foreo in 
 tho ohjcK'tion that those A(ds of Parliament woro]>assed undei'llonry 
 V'lll., who was himself a l'(»n>.anist, though not a Pa])alisl. [t 
 does not detract from the value of our civil lihertios that tliey are 
 associated with (he name of a des])ioal)lo tyrant, King John ; 
 neither should wo dis]>arago our position as Catholic and Primitive 
 Churehinon, hocauso the assertion of lhii< iiosidon is associa(od wi(h 
 (ho name of a bru(al (yran(, King Jlenr\ \l\\. His successors 
 main(ainod (ho same gromid. Tho Ac( of Uni <>rnii(y (1552) which 
 audiori/.oil the second Prayer iJook of Edw.'il \"1., declares of^ 
 tho first book, (ha( it was a "godly order," "■ agi-ooablo to tho word 
 of CJod and tho Primitive Church,"' and the word Pn'mifiiu' is defined 
 l-y (ho Act passed in tho first year of Kd. VI. o. 1, to mean '-tho 
 space of 5lM» years and more after Christ's ascension." The Act 
 loiu'hing heresy, in the reign of Elizabeth, ])rovides that '• nothing 
 siiall be adjudged to be heresie, bu(onh' such as have hore(otoi-e been 
 doterniinod, ordered oi- adjudged (o be licresio by (ho au{hori(y 
 (»(■ tlu* canonical Scriptures, oi- by the first four General Councifs, or any 
 of them," <.S:e.,an(l tho Act of Uniformity of Charles 11., says of 
 tho onlor of Common Prayer in use in the I'cign of Fili/.ubeth, that 
 
it was '• agreeable to the Word of God, and usage of the Primitive 
 Church." 
 
 The Icgishition of the Spirituality was in exact accordance with 
 that of the Temporality. The preface to the tfi-i-it book of Ed. VI., 
 says : •' Here you have an oivlcr for prayer (as touching the reading 
 of the Holy Scriptures) much agreeable to the mind and purpose of 
 the old Falhers." The Convention of A.J). 1571, which ordered sub- 
 scription to the 30 articles, decreed thatnotiiing should bo taught as 
 an Article of Faith, "except what is supjiortcd b}- Scripture and 
 Catholic tradition." The " Apology" of Bishop Jewell may well bo 
 considered as an authorized manifesto of the principles of the llofor- 
 mation, and it is based wliolly on the fact that the Eeformation was 
 a return to the onler of the Primitive Church, lie says: ^^ Hoc 
 tamcn nnum non possuiit diccre, nos vcl a verbo Dei, vcl ah ApostoUs 
 Christi, vcl a pn'mitivd Ecclesid dcsciuissr.'' In harmony with this 
 teaching, Ave find the thii-tieth Canon of the Church of England 
 aflirming "that it was not the purpose of the Church of England 
 to ibrsake or reject the churches of Ital}-, Fi-ance, Spain an<l 
 Germany, in all things that they held and practiced, and only 
 departed from them in those particular points wherein they wore 
 fallen, both from themselves in their ancient integrity, and from tho 
 Apostolical Churches which were their tirst founders." So completely 
 is the cause of the Anglican Peformation identified with this ])rinciplo 
 that tho Puritan historian Neal is obliged to say, that "the English 
 Eeformers wished to depart no further from the Church of Home, 
 than she did fi-om tho Primitive Church." But I need not adduce 
 farther proof; sullice it to say, that the Church, in tho preface " Con] 
 corning the Service," justifies her Ritual by an appeal to the "godly 
 and decent order of the ancient Fathers," in the Commination Service 
 regrets the absence of the "Godly Discipline" of the Pr"mitivo 
 Church, in her Ordination Service refers for proof of a t ireofold 
 Ministry " to Holy Scripture and to ancient authors," anr in her 
 2-kh article appeals toth.e Primitive Church to Justify pid)lic praj'er 
 in the language understood by the pcoj^le; all going to prove the 
 accurac}' of the answer made by Queen Elizabeth to tho Rtmiau 
 Catholic Princes, " that thei'c was no new faith propagated in Eng- 
 land, no religion set up but that which was commanded by our 
 Saviour, practiced by the Primitive Church, and unanimously ap- 
 proved by the Fathers of the best antiquity," From this grand 
 basis of truth thei'e is, thank God, no probability of our being re- 
 moved, since the liambcth Conference, consisting of 78 bishopfi of 
 
the Anglioan Church, solemnly itsoIvccI and iveordocl their convic- 
 tion, that '• I'nity will be most etiectualiy ])i'0)nolod by maintaining 
 the Faith in its purity and integrity — as taught in the II0I3' Scrip- 
 turcH, held by the Primitive Church, summed u]) in the Creeds, and 
 aftirmed by the undisjnitcd (leneraj Councils." To the Primitive 
 Church we owi- the New Testament, which. I need hardly say, did 
 not fall down from Heaven already printed, but owes its canonieity 
 and consequent authority to its acceptance aii<l endorsement by the 
 same Church and age that gav(! u> the Creeds. To that Chureh 
 therelbre let us (k-lei- with humilit\-. 
 
 1 have tiwelt <»u tiiis sulijcct al .>ome length, beeausf I believo 
 that many of the controversies of oui- day would have been avoided 
 or their bitterness greatly mitigated, had the doctrines and disci])- 
 line of Primitive (ylu'istendom been kept well in vieu'. J could un- 
 derstand and even sj-mpathize with one who insisted on making it u 
 point of conscience to maintain such practices of the Primitive Church 
 us the Peservation of the Eucharistic elements for the sick, ov the 
 anointing enjoinetl by St. James, but J cannot untlerstand how 
 anyone can elevate to the dignity of a eojiscientious scruple, some- 
 thing that ll)und jio plaee in the j)urest and best anti(juity. We 
 should hear much less about conscientious peculiarities, if before we 
 pleaded conscience, we took care to inlbi-m con-^cience. And let me 
 explain my meaning by a case in illustration. It may be consid- 
 ei-ed u crucial test of the princi|>les J am urging. .Vn excitement 
 out of all proportion to the numerical strength, or th(! theological 
 weight of those who caused it, has been not long since created by a 
 petition from I'inglish clei-gymen in favoi- (A' Aurieuiar Confession. 
 It is urged that habitual Auricular Confession and private absolution 
 arc essential to the soul's health; that the v-ague and indeiinite Pre- 
 catory Form of Absolution is almost nugatory, and that the Form in 
 the first j)crson '• 1 absolve thee," is necessary if not to validity, yet 
 certainly to ghostly comfort. These points are nuiintained with 
 warmth, and made mattei-s of conseience. Let us then apply the 
 touchstone of the Primitive Church to these statements. Xow if it 
 bo true, that such auricular habitual cjinfession is essential to spirit- 
 ual health, is it not an inconceivable thing that the Primitive Church 
 Hhould bo absolutely silent regarding it? In the prime records of 
 that Church, the New Testament, there is not a precept, a hint, a 
 trace of any such requirement. What an injurious reflection is 
 thrown on our Canonical rule of Faith, that it has failed to recom- 
 mend such a int-ans ot grace, such a source of spiritual streriijfth ! 
 
 i 
 

 n 
 
 Fastinfjf, almsgiving, coininuiiion, are all found to he ui'getl, but not 
 80 much as an allusion to habitual Auricular Confession and private 
 Absolution. And what shall I nay of the disparagement of the do" 
 claratory Form of Absolution in use in tlio Church ? Can I make it 
 a point of conscience that the Form " Absolvo te " be used, when I 
 know that tor one thousand years after the ascension, no other wa« 
 used but a precatory one? 1 do not mean to convey the idea that 
 the Form " I absolve thee " is wholly objectionable, because it i» 
 allowable tind allowed by the Church in the oxeej)tional case of the 
 visitation of the sick, but I feel bound to protest against claiming 
 foi" such a form and such doctrine, a conscientious observance, on 
 all occasions of confession, when neither the one nor the other were 
 ever heard of till the eleventh ccBtury, and the Jorin in the fii*st 
 person has neviM- been in use in the Eastern Ciiurch at all. Our 
 Anglican Uetbrmers could scarcely, on their own principles, have 
 failed to retrace their steps in the direction of the Primitive Church 
 on the subject of Conf'of-sion and Absolution. They adopted the rule 
 that "although weought atall limeshumbly toackriowledgeour sins 
 yet ought wo most chieHy so to do, when we assemble and meet to 
 gether;'" they decided that Conlession, (with the two exceptions, of 
 preparation i'ov Holy Communion, or for death,) should be in f/eneral 
 tenns, ii/id in the Conijreyativn. Their do"trine is, that when with a 
 pure heart, a man makes a general ('onfession of sin, and while doing 
 so calls to niind the sins that 'most easily beset him, and applies the 
 language of tlu^ general confession to those particular and speeias 
 sins, and the Pi-iest pronounces the declaratory Absolution, he rise, 
 from his knees a foi'given man. Their doctrine is, that the Declar- 
 atory Foi'U) when pi'onounced by the Priest to such contrite hearts 
 conveys as full and ti'ue a pardon as was ever conveyed by an Am- 
 bassador from God. ]'ublic Confesfjion is what is everywhere recom- 
 mended by the old Fathers, ami of private habitual Confession and 
 its alleged sacramental character, T may say with the great Hooker, 
 "they have youth in their countenance, antifpiity knew them not.it 
 never di-eamed, nor thought of them."' 
 
 rt may however be urged, that this anti-primitive doctrijie is a 
 wholesome one and useful — one of those ceremonies of which it may 
 be trulv said, that it is not necessar' , that they should '' be in all 
 places one, and utterly like." But private judgment of this kind 
 must give way to the knowu decision of the Church. In the office 
 for the visitation of the sick, in the first book of Edward the 6th, the 
 Rubric prescribing the Form of Absolution, directed "that the samd 
 
ll' 
 
 form uf iibsolulion shall Iw u.-C'd in ail 'private confeyHionc.'" Tliif? 
 Eubric was deliberately drop])C(l from the Second Book of Edward, 
 the Church thus withdrawing her sanction from a custom which was 
 plainly repugnant to the usage of the Primitive Church. 
 
 I do not intend to endeavor to refute the arguments that are 
 uised in justification of Auricular Confession, and derived from ]iloas 
 of expediency and morality, because my object is rather to illustrate 
 the ailvantage of a]»pealing to the I'l'imitive Church in such a con- 
 troversy, I cannot, however, forbear from remarking, that judging 
 IVom the arguments used by the u])holders of the expediency of 
 Auricular Confession, one would imagine that the Church of I^jUgland 
 had never tried the system and found it utterly wanting. The 
 Church certainly gave it a long trial, from the fourth Luteran Council, 
 A.D. 1215, to the time of the Second Book of Edward VI., A.D. 
 1552, and the results were not satisfactory in the promotion of true 
 religion and virtue; and if we examine into the religious and social 
 condition of those countries where the system of private confession 
 prevails most, such as Spain, Italy, and Austria, we cannot assert 
 their superiority to the condition of nations Avh.ere the systemic 
 almost unknown. 
 
 The Confession then, brethi'cn, which the Church teaches, is 
 voluntary, not compulsory; it is made in the Congregation, not in 
 the Confessional. To these i-ules there are but two exceptions, in 
 the case of those ■• wlio cannot qniot thcii- own conscience,"' so as to 
 receive II0I3' Coniniiinioii. and ol'tlio^e who ai'e about to depart this 
 life. These few and notal))'' exceptions j^rove the Church's rule to 
 be, as regards Conf'es.>ion. siirli as F have described; and I need not 
 add, that the ministerial oftice of Absolution is performed, when we 
 Baptize ''for the remissi(Mi of !>ins," and minister Gods word and 
 sacraments. 
 
 This will content alLsober-minded sons of the Chuich of Eng- 
 land, who will not endeavour to impose a yoke Avhich neither wo nor 
 our fathers were able to bear, and which (in the words of a living 
 Bishop*) "in many cases fosters weakness of character, causes a 
 terrible temptation to falsehood; sometimes leads a man to dwell on 
 what he ought to cast out of his soul with resolute aversion; some- 
 times leads to very dangerous intimacies, and is perpetually running 
 
 •Bishop of Exeter. 
 
[!. 
 
 K 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
 the risk of intort'erini:; with cloiiu'stio life, l>y In-inijiii!; an outsido 
 influence between those who ought to deal directly with each other." 
 
 The demand for Auricular Confession bv a few of the Cloriry is 
 but an instance of a very general blunder to which the Church is at 
 all times liable. It is forgotten that the ]ilan of salvation is a sN'stem 
 as definite and regular as the starry tirniament. There is the '• pro- 
 ))ortion of Faith." Hut when a man tinds some doctrine that has 
 either been forgotten or under-valued, and when moreover, he thinks 
 that it suits his own particular case, he dwells and l>roods on it — 
 eveiything else fades away in comparison, and he calls it ffiP C()s]>el. 
 The Wesleyan Movement at the outset, look hold of Church discip- 
 line and it became an idol. The Simeonite Movement took iiold of 
 the forgotten doctrine of the Atonement, but itself fljrgot that there 
 were other impoi'tant doctrines of the New Testament, in our day, 
 some of the Clergy, finding that ])ersonal i-eligious Intercourse be- 
 tween Pastor and people was almost forgotten, wish to revive ha- 
 bitual resort to confession and private absolution. Others seeing that 
 the awful neglect of Holy Communion tlemanded remedy, have 
 dwelt so long and earnestly on the benefit of that Holy Sacrament, 
 that in their system of religion it has assumed thecharacter of being 
 all in all. The idolizing of the doctrine, the sermon, tiu- man. or 
 the sacrament, is perilous in the extreme. Fever heat is ^ul•e to bo 
 succeeded by a chill or something worse, unless the- whole plan of 
 salvation as given in the Creeds, bo Icepl steadily in view, in its avou- 
 derful harmony and completericss. ^fhat Church or Osat man which 
 sets up an idol in his heart for a monopoly of the atlections. even 
 though the idol bean item of revealed will, has erred from the r'aith. 
 A reaction against the one-sided theoloiry is sure to set in, and what 
 bei^an bv beini:' idolized, ends in [leinLC contemned. For more than 
 300 years before the Iieformatif»n the luichari^t was held to be the 
 great, indeed the greatest of all revealed ti-iiths. overshadowing the 
 residue of a Christian man's belief, JMst as justification l»\- faith 
 only, became^^in after times the only doctrine woi-th holding. Well, 
 what resulted ? Two vears befbi'e the first iiraver book of Edward 
 VI, profaiuty had reached that ])oint. that an act of [tarliament was 
 ])assed to protect the blessed iSncrament from profanation. The first 
 statute of Edward Vi., in enacting a penalty against spoiiking ir- 
 reverently of the Holy Sacrament, thus speaks, "yet the said Sacra 
 ment hath been of late marvellously abused ])y such manner of men 
 before rehearsed, who of wickedness or else of ignorance and want 
 of learning, for certain abuses heretofore committed of .some, in mis- 
 
14 
 
 • 
 
 xwwfi; tlu'i'oof, !>J\V(* (•oiidomiicd in their lioarls ami speech llio whole 
 thinjo;, and conlcmptuously depraved, despised or reviled the same 
 most holy and hlessed Sacrament, and not only disputed and reasoned 
 irreverently and uni^odly of that most high mystery, but also in 
 their sermons, preachings, readings, lectures, communications, argu 
 monts, talks, i-hin^es, songs, ])lays or Jests, name or call it by such 
 vile and unseemly words as Christian ears abhor to hear ivhearsed ; 
 for reformation whei'eof l-e it enacted," Ikv. 1 Stat. 1 Ed. 0. c. I. 
 A. J). 1547. Xow. if lh(^ liigln'st of all tlie means of gi-ace will not 
 endui-e id<»li/ali(>n, wluil shall be said of pious oj)inions lil<e Auricniar 
 ('onfessit)n and J^'iv.tte Absolution. But to return: 
 
 T have ap))lied the test of the Primitive Church to a point of 
 doctrine, let medi'aw your altcntion to a point of ritual which is made, 
 1 regret to say, a })oint of eons* ience also, — I mean the position of the 
 (Vlcbrant in llolv Communiou. Two years a<;'o, J ventured to assert 
 the law on the subject, namely, that the legal position was, standing 
 at the north end of the Lord's Table. To the legal point 1 shall not 
 again refer, liut f would remind you that I said also, that -were tlie 
 position of the Celebi-ant left to my private Judginent, I should sliind 
 behind and not before tlie Holy Table, with my face to the people 
 That was, [ believe, the jjositiou in the Primitive ('hurch, and enabled 
 the ])eople to see more fully one of the most beautifully symliolical 
 acts in the whole serviec. the fracture of the l)read ; an act of so much 
 significance that in the Primitive (*hurch, tlie Holy Sacrament took 
 its name iVoni it. and was called '• the Hi-eaking of Bread." 
 
 \\ 
 
 li cannot bo disputed, that the .Holy Communion has a sacri- 
 ticial asjiect. There are "alias imd oblations" of bread and wine, 
 together with "ourselves, our souls and bodies"" offered and pro- 
 senteil. It is therefore a commemorative sacritice in which we 
 plead the mei'ils of the One. (Ireat SacriHce once forall offered on 
 Calvary. We iire.sent the elements of bread and wine as a "memoi-ial 
 before (rod." and the whole act partaken of the charactei' of a sacri- 
 fice, though the idea of death or something immolated is wholly wan t- 
 ing, because lie who was both Vietim and Priest " being raised from 
 the dead, dieth no more." We may thei-efore reasonably be said to 
 celebrate a memorial of a sacrilice, in the Eucharist, ami on an :>ltar 
 too, for St. Paul tells us that "' we liave an altar of which they have 
 no right to cat who serve the Tabernacle/' and even Pichard Baxter 
 admitted that St. Paul here spoko of the Lord's table. In another 
 place the same Apostle says " ye cannot bo partakei-a of the Lord's 
 
15 
 
 table iiiul of tho tiible oi* dovibs/" but tbc tables ol' devils wore the 
 hcatbcii altars, so tliat tlie Lord's tabic and tho Lord's altar are con- 
 vertible terms. On the L<n'd's table there is the eelel»ration of tho 
 Memorial of a Saei'itice, but neither the alonin;;' propitiation, nor 
 the rejietition of the one :^reat Haeritice, M'liile the i-i)ii'itual and real 
 presenee of (Mirist intensifies the ^^Feniorial aet. It is doulttlcs.s tho 
 infiiienee of this belief that make-; some t>f niu- Hiethren stand 
 '• belbre the table." in such a way as to turn their bacivs to tho 
 people, beeause in their view, this is the a)>])i'<)priate position of a sae- 
 ritiein^ Priest, and becomes theieloi'e to them a matter of conscience. 
 -Hut let us nee Avhat Avas the position of one who ofi'ored the bloody 
 sjicritice ''to make atoiiement for him," under the Lcvitical Law? 
 Moses commanded, "■ lie shall hill it on the side of the altar northtcnrd 
 before the Lord.'' (Lev. i. 11.) in tin- TcplnUoth or ••'.Daily Form of 
 Pi-ayers read at this day in tho synau;o,i;'ucs of tjie Herman and 
 Polish Jews," we ilntl in their readings, gi-eat stress laid upon the 
 })osition of the otfci'or of saeritiee. Aftei^ reciting;- the command to 
 offer the two laml)s, lor a continual Jjurnt otferin^, they a<ld, "And 
 he shall kill it on the ;dtar, norilward. before the L(jrd." On tho 
 first day of the juonth, they add the iollowinpi; : ''Which arc tho 
 l)hn'es of sacrifieinij; ? Tho holy of holiest, their sacrifice was to- 
 wards the itorih ; the bullock and the t!;oai on the day of atonement 
 their sacrifice was in the north:, and the rece])tion of their blood in 
 the vessel of service, in f he north.'' The same directions are ijiven 
 ' rej^ardini;; sin-offerin<>-s of persons anil of t lie cong-rei^ation, they were 
 nt the north. These injunctions were confined to tho most liolj 
 sacrifices, '^fho thank-ofterini;^ and peace-offer inn- beina; less holy, 
 their sacrifice mit>'ht be in any part of the court. ^Phis and much 
 more to the same effect mii^ht be quoted to prove that under the 
 Levitieal Dispensation, at all events, the sacrificial position was at 
 the north and not at the west side of the altar, probabh' because the 
 north was the f[uarter from which evil wa.s supposed to come, and 
 the sacrifice was olTei'ed to avert it. AVhat, however, wfistho usa<^e 
 of the Primitive Church ? I said in m}- last cliar.ti;e that J believed 
 it to bo, standlno- behind the altar, with the fiice of the Celebrant 
 towai'ds the people. 1 am glad to learn that this view has boon 
 sustained by tho high authority of the Bishop of Lincoln. He says, 
 *■ In ancient churches, tho bishop sat at tho east end, in the central 
 point of the apsis, with tho Presbyters on eacli side of him, and with 
 his face looking westward. The Church of St. Ambrose, at Milan, 
 jjreserves this arrangement. This was the case also in the Eastern 
 Church as well as the Western. Vou may remember the interesting 
 
1(5 
 
 flcscriptioii of flic i;Toat. Cln-isliaii I-'jiIIut, St. Hasil, in his t'allicdral 
 at C;csai'ca on the Festival of the Epiplianj', A. 1). 371. The Arian 
 Einporor Vaions, attondcil l»y a j^uard, canio lo the Church in ordci* 
 to inalcc an ollbriiit? at tiu^ Holy ('oiiiiiiniiion. TiOt me transcribo 
 the aecoiint of that event from the pau'os ol' a learned Iloman Ca- 
 tholic historian (the Due de Broii'lie) whose work is preceded by a 
 roconiniendatiou from I'ojjc Pins IX. He thus wi'ites : — '-The Em- 
 peror entered the Church iu which there Avas a larij^e congregation, 
 and at the end oi' the nave wa-- S;. Basil standing vit/i his face to thr 
 people, f Hid hi\< <ijes ji.red on fheedfar."' Thoro he stood in the act of 
 consecrating the Koly Eucharist. And the writer adds, " It is well 
 known that in the churches of that time, as in the Hasilicas of Piome, 
 the altar is so arranged that ihe Celebrant may have his face turned 
 to the jK'^ople, and this is tlu' manner in which Mass is still said at 
 IJomc, in the ]'a])al ceremonies." The Iioman T^asilica was the 
 original type of the Anglo-Saxon Church. The lirst church which 
 Augustine consecrated in Canterbury was an old Jicman Tem})Ie, 
 and the tli-st cathedral of stone was built on the model of a Roman 
 Basilica. ''In imitatioii oj' 81. Teter's, as it at that time existed in 
 Rome, the altar was ei'cctcd. not at the east, but at the west end of 
 the Church. At the ea.-t eml was the apse, where stood Augustine's 
 chair, in which each successive Archltishop sat, his Clergy arranged 
 in a semicircle on either side. It was the ancient form of the East- 
 ern Church, not yet discarded in the West.'"^'- We may plainly infer, 
 thcretore, that when Augustine lei'l his chair to consecrate the 
 Eucharist, he must have stood behind the Altar in order to pray or 
 consecrate eastward — in any case, he must have faced the people. 
 
 ' 
 
 Now, if the position of the Celebrant is to be made a matter of 
 conscience at all, have not they who consecrate at the north end, 
 following the Levitical Church, or they who eonsecrate l)ehind the 
 Altar, following the Primitive ('hurch, a be;;er right to .plead con- 
 science, than they who consecrate at the west side, following a more 
 modern usage? IJut. it is said, if thecomjtilersof our Rul>rics meant 
 the north end. whv did thcv not sav so, instotid of saving the Jioi'th 
 side ?t 
 
 We must remen\ber that a table has ibui' sides, and it does not 
 
 • Vile Hook's Livi'S of Archbishops of Cautorbury, Vol. i. 124. 
 
 t The Rev. Malcolm McColl says in a letter to The Guardian, May 13, 1874. 
 " As a matter of fact, the Purchas jiulgraent has legalized the only position 
 whicli hasevcr been considered as essentially a sacrificial one.'' He is quite right. 
 
■ 
 
 17 
 
 tbilow bi!(\-uiso (wo ol" llicMii ju'o narrower lliiiu tlu' otlicrs. that iIk'V 
 ari5 not sides, ov must ho calloil imls. In llic I'rayt'i* Hook of A. D. 
 I<»:J7. put forth hv Charles Iho Kirst lor uso in thi> (Miurcli ofSi-of 
 IuikJ, the lluhric at the hcf^'inninu; of the Connuunion UlHcc is as 
 folhtws; •' The Prosbvtoi" standini;" at the n(»rth .s/'A' or <7(^/ thoroof." 
 An'aiii i( should ho ronioinhcrod that tho oonipilors oC (ho I'uhric had 
 lo sohu't an o\|irossion which W(»idd sui( (ho (wo h\ixai posidons ol 
 tho Altar i(sc'lf. A( tho tinio tho IJuhrios were rovisrd. in A.I). 
 I(!(il, tho AKar was. in most of (jio Parish Churcdios, jdaci-d --in (ho 
 ImmIv of (ho Cluivoh '' /o//7///.v( . and in many Cadiodial-., "in (ho 
 ('hancoi' rross/n'srS' Tho (('rni (iioi'oforo. nordi ond, woidd n()( 
 huA'o siiitod hoih (hoso oa-ios, hut (ho torni nor(h sidi' doo>. Thoro is 
 also a <i-ot»d doal nnido i lit of (ho phraso, '• holoro (h(* lahjo," hu( if 
 wo oonsuh (ho I'ruyor JJooU ])U( forth by tlio Non-jurors A.I). ITlH, 
 (and thoy woiv no frionds of I'uritanism.) wo havo (ho j'ollowini;- 
 liuhric Avhioh shows how (hoy understood tho woi'd> •• before tho 
 •tabh'." XoTK. — '•Whenever (ho l'ries( is dirootod to turn f" the 
 iilfdr" (_a,>. 1k' ;,. ;" ilic Prayi-rof Consooration) •' oi- (o stand or kneel 
 before \K it is always moan( that ho should stand or kneel on tho 
 Hiiiili slih, tlu-.eof."' 
 
 Thoro is one o(hei" plea iiriiod for tho eastward position whieh 
 I must nolice — (he eonsonsiis of (he vast majority of < 'hrisdans in 
 i(s behalf — tha( (ho Anuliean Chinndi has no ri.Ljht (o Ite sini^idar in 
 (his nnittoi", and (hat evoi' sinoo I'rimidve times the •;reat majority 
 of r/hurehos oonfbrmod (o (he posidon c'as(ward. 
 
 To (his I rojily. that (he Primitive C'hrislians always pi-ayod to- 
 wai'ds (ho east as the source f)fli<;'ht. wherothoSun of liiu'litoousnoss 
 arose, and that therefore the eastward ])osition hud no rofoi-oneo 
 whatever to tho lilucharist, but (o all prayoi-. And indeed nothini;- 
 can lie moi'o a]»[)i'oj>riato than (hat minister and peo]>U' should all 
 look in the same direction \\\ roiivin'in ju-ayor. whether it bo oast or 
 west. The ministei* is bu( tho leader of a deputation into tho ]»ro- 
 sou'-o of the o-roat Kini;. tojuvsont a petition, ami therefore all should 
 fuee tho same way. So mitural a thinii' is this found to be, that in 
 nnniy ehurohes. especially in Ireland, when the ndnister says "lot 
 us pray," all tho people tui-n round and look tho same way as ho 
 does, that is, westward; tho only diftoi'onco l>oin.<>: th.it in this ease 
 they all look tlio same way, with the minister behind the poo])lc. in 
 (he other ease, all look the same way with tho minister in front of 
 tJie peo|)Ie. Tho custom therefore of standing with tho l»aok t(t tho 
 
 • Vide Bishop of Lincoln's Twelve Addresses. 
 
T 
 
 18 • 
 
 people, Heems to hurc nolliiiii^ fo do witli ll.c matter in hand. 'Hie 
 VrieHt tliUH stood, not becuiiMo lie was eonseeiatin^i- or saerifieinff, but 
 because he was praijiiuj — olierini;; up the Pnii/cr of Conscenition. 
 But the natni-ahiess of this position in the Prayer nj" Consecration is 
 not at all so apparent as it is in ('(»ninH»n Prayer. The Consecration 
 is, it is true, a j)rayer, but it is soniethiui;' more. There is in itsome- 
 thin<,' botJi tor (jod to hear, and for man to see. It is made up of 
 prayer and of manual acts, and tluM'efore when rei:;ar(l('<l in this Iii(ht, 
 eun most ap[)ropriately bo oll'ered up at the north end of the altar; 
 thus avoiding; the unnatural ])osition o| pi-ayiny* towards the people, 
 and yet allowinijj them to see the manna! actsof ("onscei-ation. It is 
 veiy true that in modiawal times, when yross and caiMud idon^ of th«' 
 Eucharist were jirevalent, the eastwai'd jKjsition became associated 
 with those views, "but from the be^inninij; it was not so." jNo 
 ^ weight then cim be attached to the prevalence of the eastward posi- 
 tion in the Church abroad, an<l none should be allowed to the excep- 
 tional cases of some parish churches in Eni^land, where the custom is 
 said to have prevailed since the Reformation. This assertion may 
 or may not be trtie, but the Cathedrals have ])resei'ved ecclesiastical 
 tradition much more accurately than j)arish chui-ches, and there is 
 not, I believe, a cathedral in Knj^land Avhei-e the eastward position 
 was observed since the Jlelbrmation. till within the last ten or twelve 
 ycarp. 
 
 The conclusion, then, which J arrive at is, that there is no valid 
 ground for making the position of the Celebrant a inattei* of c<m- 
 seientious scruple at all, and J shall be rejoiced if a revision of the 
 ju'esent Rubi-ie shall relieve the scruples of all, by the adoption of 
 the Eubrlc in the Scotch Prayer IJook of A. I). 1H37, which says of 
 the Celebrant, '■ lie shall stand at mrh a part of the II0I3' Tabh; 
 Avhero ho mav with the more ease and decencv use both his hanrls," 
 
 I turn now to a subject of the greatest possible importance to 
 the Church, — the need of some machineiy, whereby the Church 
 people of our country should be taught the cei-tainty of those things 
 in which they have been instructed, .some means whereby they shall 
 be convinced that Church iloctriue is Bible truth. How is it that 
 the Church has lost members of long standing, to such sects as those 
 of Darby and Cummins? T can give but one answer, igntn-ance of 
 what the Church really teaches. Many a Churchman stumbles on 
 .some phrase in the Prayer Book which is quite new to him, absolii 
 tion, confession, regeneration, antl "'^t having been taught the true 
 
19 
 
 I 
 
 
 Catholic interprotulioM of those wordn, conlomids thcMu with Eoniish 
 or Puritanical views, and becomes lost to the Chiirch. Jt cannot 
 be too nuieli insisted on, that j)Ojtuliir theology is seldom or never 
 identical with stUH'tard tlie(doi,^y. It was the j^reat object of our 
 blessed Lord to teach, that the popular beliel's of his day were not in 
 harmony with the Jiaw and the Prophets. Even in the Primitive 
 Church we find the same phentmienon, as we may ;j;ather from Dean 
 Stanley's Lecture on the ( 'atacombs. Speakiiiu; of the evidences they 
 furnish, the Dean says, •' they di tiered widely from the roj)resenta- 
 tions of eontenjporaneous authors, and ^ave a striking example of the 
 diver;,fcnce that existed between the actual living pojtular belief, and 
 that whi(d» was to be found in books." it has ever been so; the 
 |)opular livini; belief ot an avcrai^^e Uomanist can scai'cely be made 
 consistent with the decrees of the Council of Trent. The commoJi 
 run of Presbyterians and Metliodists neither know nor regard a ^roat 
 deal to be found in the Westminster Confession and Wesley's Ser- 
 mons. It is no wonder then, if we tind that an avera^'c {Church- 
 man's theoloi;v does not harmonize with the Book of Common 
 Pravcr. I mav y-o further and sav, that the averai^e Protestant's 
 faith has neither been derived from, nor moulded ]>y, the New Tes- 
 tament. Althoui^h this is an a<re of extraordinary activity in ])rint- 
 ing" and circulatini^ the Scriptures, yet I believe that the relii^ious 
 views of the masses arc dei-ivcti, so far as any system is con- 
 cerned, not from an intelligent stud}- of the New Testanjent, but 
 from such sources as the Pilgrim's I'rogress, Paradise Lost, Sectarian 
 Tracts, and the '-Times" newspaper ; and this fatal error is fostered 
 by the j)ul])it. To be a po2)ular preacher, 3'ou must go with popular 
 theology, and keep standard theology in the background. Sermons 
 closely jvasoned out of Scripture antl the Fathers, arc not poj.ular. 
 Congregations insist on making the Lord's Day a day of rest for 
 their minds, as well as for their bodies; they listen to bo excited 
 or amused, rathei- than to be instructed, for instruction requires a 
 mental etlort. Popularity seeking Preachers arc, however, not the 
 only ones who foster thi.s disease; men of a loftier type forget that 
 most of what they Icnow themselves, on account of their special 
 training, is fjuite a novelty to their hearers. St. Paul told the 
 Hebrews that they r.eeded that some one would instruct them in 
 the first principles of Christianity, and there are multitudes who 
 resemble them in the Church to-day. And an evil of great magni- 
 tude avisos in eonsofjuenco. People waking up for the tirst time to 
 the fact that their Shibboleths cannot by possiliility be made to 
 4igre3 with tlje Prayer JJook, cry out for a revision of it in their 
 
20 
 
 «)\vii favor. 'I'licN' <1(» ii(»( l<ii()\v tlifil. wliil(> the Kiiitli dolivored lt> 
 
 « 
 
 the Siiiiils Iiiis liccn storontyitcd and fossili/.cd in ('rcods and For- 
 niularit's, llio j)lii'nsool()i;y of popnlar ndi/^ion is as shifting as words 
 tliul olian^o tlicii' nicanini;-. Tlu* loiin KoLjonoralion,"''' lor inslnnee. 
 bus not cliani^i'd its nicjiiuni;' in the Prayer IJook, but it lias in ixtpii- 
 lar tlieolo^cy, which makes it (o mean convoi'sion, u word of ^i-ijat 
 |io|)idarily, thoiiiiih it occin's hut onco in the Now 'IVstamont, and in 
 neither th(> New Te-taiMent nor the grayer Boole is api)li(Ml to bap- 
 tized ('hrisfian<. Or it may le lliat olTenee is i;iven lhroui;h tlie 
 I'ofiisal of ehui'chmen to I e ehissed with the eoii\nion eiowd of man}'- 
 hiied ri()te>tanls. 'fiie launtin'4 ehaiien,i;<f is olten ^iven. " Let 
 them tell us whether tluy are I'rotest;ints (»r l!(»manists."' implyini;- 
 that the whole Christian world must he oni' or th(M)ther. Hut the 
 Chur(diman refuses jiositively to accept eithei' as his ai>pr()priate 
 desinnation. JI(> ci'i-tiiiidy is not a IJonuunst, hut tluMi J^rdfcsfdut 
 does not distinguish him from anv uiven heriMic. lie thiidis and 
 justly, that he nii^ht as lairly h(> challenui'd to say whether l.e was 
 u fool or a philo.Mi))hei'. as whether he is a Protestant or a I'om.'ini^t. 
 lie hopes that he is not a lltol, he k lows that he is not a philosojdier 
 hut he thinks that he is a man of common sense, lie declines th.ere- 
 forotol.o placed on the hoins of a dilemma which no one moderately 
 versed in Church history would have ]>i'oposed. But he has stronger 
 loasons tor his position than because the challen!;e is illon-ioul. The 
 lumu) of Protestant is associated in the po])ularmind with the six 
 toenth centm-y. It is not older than the Diet of Si)ires, A. D. \7rl\); 
 ooiiseipicntly the vulvar error that the Churcdi of I'ji^land aro.-e at 
 or about that time, will be fostered, if wo accej^t I^rofcsfant as sutlici- 
 ently descri])tive of the Church. And it is most providential that 
 our Formalaries have a\'oided the word. It is not to bo ibuiid in the 
 Hook of ('ommon Prayer. In all the Acts of Parliament from the 
 <lateof iMan-iia Charta till now, the Church has bad hut one litlo — t/w 
 C/utirh of J-^H(jl(nuI, or the Ani-dican Cbuicb. Onco the word Protoi- 
 <an/ ; lij)pod into an Act of Par.iament touching the Canadian Church, 
 and the result of usini;- such an anddguous term was the loss of the 
 Clergy Jicserves. I>o wo not then protest against the oJTors of the 
 
 * ]MLllu)ili!<ts lioUl the doctrino of naptisiual IvCf^encratioii, aiul liiive adopted 
 that part of tlio Cliuitli's artick- \vliiili ivlins to it. " It i,s a sign of the rogencra- 
 tion or tliu new biitli.'" ( Vide Doctrines and Discipline of the Wesleyan Metliodist 
 Chinch, paye 10.) Tlie rresl>yteiians hold the same doctrine : " Baptism is the 
 bign and seal of the covenant t)f grace, of his engrafting intoChrist, of m/tntr^/ZoH, 
 of remission of sins, &c.," and again, "The grace promiBcd is not only ottered, but 
 really cx/iiLilcd and coiiJrrrc<l Iji/ the iloi.Y CJnosT, &c." (Westminster (jcnfession, 
 Chapter 28, 1, G.) ' " 
 
2t 
 
 Cliiircli of !{)nu' '/ hi rcplv, wi' ri'li'i' llic ^|lH'^li()Il(T, if lu^ Ix' stM'ioiN. 
 to the l{!> Articles and to ('liiii-ch History, and iwe (\\i\\v willini^ that 
 otlicrssliali have tlu!/((f//(f oi' /*ri>((.<(<tnt, wliili? wi? Iiavo tlio //t//*^. IM'o- 
 tostinjL? iH alioiit as idli^ a l»iisinoss as wo can ln' I'm-a/^fi'd in. Tlicro- 
 foi'o (ho ('linrcii. trno to Iut own di.:;iiity. doi's not. enti'i* protests, 
 Itiit she reafliiins old truths, and asserts tluit some itoinish errors arc 
 *'l)his](henions fahles ami (hin<;c'roiis deceits," an<l that others ai-e 
 " ]»iaitdy rc|>ni;na:it to the Word ol'tiol." A taint echo to the 
 s(jiindnc*>s ofour posiljon in rcl'iisinri; a nu'rely nci^-ative a])|ii'llation. 
 is found in the fact lliat tlie Protestant sects themselves do nof 
 udopt the name as their lei;al title, AVo do not hear of the Proli's 
 tant Methodist ("hurcli, or the Protestant ]*resj>yterian Chiircji. It 
 is ti'ue Ihatoni' sister Church in the I'nited Stat«'s assnnied as her 
 lei;'al title, the name of I'rolcstant • Fi|)iscopal. and therein madi-, in 
 my opinion, a niislaUe ; as the I'rotestantism of an lOpiscopal Church 
 must be rather duhious, when we cannot assui-e ourselves of it with- 
 out the nanui advertisiiux it. Hut strange to say .an attem|)ted schism 
 from that Church in Kentuckv, no sooner left hei- for not \k'\\\>>: 
 I'i'otestant (Uiou«:;h, than itself dj'opped the jiamc in favor of I{e- 
 lormed l"]])iscopal. Populai' ei'i'ors then. Iicinijii'reatly fostered hy 
 lan.ii:uai;HMvhich is constantly shift iui;- in meaning-, should be watched 
 i'arefully, and in tho instance 1 am consideiMnjjj, should be n'uarded 
 a<jjainst by inculcatini;' on tlu! min<ls of those committed to our care, 
 that they arc uiembers of the Ciiinicn ok Knoi.anm), a name than 
 wliich there is nr)ne more honorable, implyiui;- (Jommunion with 
 that I5i'an(di of (Jod's Church which has a legal and historical descent 
 from the Apostolic an 1 I'l-imitive (Muirch. The drift of popular 
 rclii;ion is always toward ei'ror, nndsinnj both the Word of (Jod and 
 Church History void throu,i;li its traditions. What then in the 
 remedy for this evil? 1 know of none, but tjiat of the Cler<i;y mak- 
 ing their sermons moi'c didactic in this ]iai'ticular, and using J}il)le 
 Classes and their Sunday Schools for tlie same purpose, iievision 
 will never mend the evil, ami even if it could, the [Provincial Synod 
 has made such an ojjcration as that now being attempted by the < Jen- 
 cral Convention of the Irish Church, ju-actically impossible. There 
 would have been no demand for I'cvision in the Irish Church, had 
 the means I recommend to you, my Brelhrer., been judiciously (un- 
 ployed; for tho Prayer Book docs not require to be revised, but to 
 be explained and illustrated from the AVord of (lod. I know tluit 
 there is a class of Eevisionists whose only aim is to eliminate from 
 the Prayer ]^ook the supei'uatural and mysterious, and so wc find 
 <iries foj" Kevision to be coincident with a decided growth of scopti- 
 
22 
 
 wain. Take away, saj' they, nil allusions to holy mysteries in the 
 Lord's Supper, because there is no mystery about it. To them the 
 Sacraments and Confirmation and Ordination are mere forms, and 
 nothing more. lieviisionists who are mere Formalists can never be 
 got rid of so long as Infidelity exists. But Revisionists whom pure 
 ignorance has blinded, may be largely reduced in number hy the 
 faithful ministrations of the Clergy in the Pulpit, the Sunday School, 
 and the Bible Class. 
 
 In conclusion, let me express my belief that the times are hope- 
 ful for a Christian. There is immense activity for the cause of 
 Christ and the Church, though there be mighty powers exerted 
 against both. Philosophy falsely so called, is pre-disposing many to 
 imbelief; but judging from the past, our belief is firm that tliere will 
 be no variance found in the end, between Scripture and science. 
 The novel dogmas propounded in our day by the Church of Rome, 
 will drive many to total unbelief, but on the other band there has 
 arisen in consequence a gleam of light in Europe — the old Catholic 
 movement — the first attempt at a Rcfarmation of the Latin Church, 
 on the basis of the Anglican Ileformation, a Reformation from 
 within, grounded on appeal to the Primitive Church and the undis- 
 puted General Councils. There is, too, in America, a groping after 
 unity. Men are feeling after, if haply they may find it. Newspa- 
 pers and itinerant Evangelists, Preachers and Conferences keep for 
 ever insisting that there is no Sectarianism nor Donominationalism 
 in the New Testament but they do not tell us, why then there are 
 Sects and Denominations. The reason is, that while the mental 
 vision is clear enough, the moral vision is blinded. Pride, love of 
 singularity, self-seeking, are the fleshy lusts that war against the 
 soul, and tempt Christians to range themselves under Paul 
 and Cephas, Luther and Calvin, Wesley, and a multitude of minor 
 leaders. Well did St. Paul class heresy among " the works of the 
 flesh." Let then our prayers arise to God, that " the fruit of the 
 Spirit" may be more and more manifested in the promotion of unity 
 in the truth. The Great Head of the Church will hasten it in His 
 own time ; but let us have faith, though unity be deferred ; faith in 
 the promise of Christ that lie will be with His Church ^*ven to the 
 end of the agr, faith in our own Branch of it, which, though harassed 
 through her long career by fightings without and fears within, 
 possesses a salient spring of life which will last till the Lora come. 
 Amen. 
 
 m.