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 QUID ROM^ FACIAM? 
 
 NO NEED 
 
 TO JOIN THE ROMISH COMMUNION 
 
 ON ACCOUNT OF 
 
 THE WANT OF DISCIPLINE 
 
 IN THE 
 
 CHURCH OF ENGLAND: 
 
 LETTER TO A FRIEND, 
 
 FELLOW OF COLLEGE, OXFORD. 
 
 BY THE REV. 
 
 THOMAS BOWDLER, M.A, 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR J. G. F. & J. RIVINGTON, 
 
 ST. Paul's church yard, 
 
 AND WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL. 
 
 1842.
 
 Some time having elapsed since this Letter was written, and 
 the Author having deemed it right (though to his own loss) 
 to withdi'aw, in these days of ^' strife, railings, and evil sur- 
 misings,'^ the name of the friend to whom it was addressed, 
 he still publishes it, for convenience sake, in its original 
 form; and desires to record his deliberate con^'iction, that 
 those who hold what are called — perhaps nick-named — high- 
 church piinciples, are and always will be among the last, as 
 they have least need, to break communion vriih our Church, 
 for the sake of joining that of Rome; and further, that they 
 will be found to be the firmest and most consistent opponents 
 of the errors of that Church. (See Note to p. 22.) This 
 might be well and usefully illustrated by reference to the 
 Non Jurors of the last century in this country, and to the 
 Episcopalians in Scotland and America. 
 
 Sydenham, Dec. 20, 1841. 
 
 . 'JiUC
 
 LETTER, 
 
 My dear 
 
 You will pardon me if I trouble you with a 
 supplement to my last note, which peradventure may be, as 
 a postscript often is, the longer and more important of the 
 two. Indeed, I am afraid I ought to plead guilty to the 
 charge of a certain presumption in sitting in judgment (even 
 so far as to "hint a fault, or hesitate dislike") upon your 
 hebdomadal board, and upon several of our prelates, and, 
 I may add, upon one of your friends ; but I must plead 
 in my defence the anxiety and regret excited in my mind 
 by all that has passed ; and w hich even the son of a stranger, 
 — say rather a sistei^s son — may be allowed to feel towards 
 objects of reverence and affection, — our beloved Church and 
 your University. But to the point now pressing upon my 
 attention. 
 
 In the course of our conversation at Oxford, something 
 was said upon the want of discipline in our Church ; a sub- 
 ject upon which it were easy to expend many words of un- 
 availing regret. At least, the remedy must be in the hands 
 of our rulers ; and some remedy, be it obsei-ved, will be ap- 
 plied sooner or later. Nay, in one way or other, good is 
 working out of evil every day. But my present purpose is 
 to beg you to consider whether the defect is not even now in 
 ourselves, rather than in the Church, or the system of eccle- 
 siastical discipline by which we are governed ; and especially, 
 
 a2
 
 whether we have cause to look with something of envy, as 
 perhaps a few among us are disposed to do, to the stricter 
 system estabhshed in the Church of Rome^ and the greater 
 power placed in the hands of her ministers. Over whom is 
 this exercised by them ? Over whom can it ever be exerted ? 
 Is it possible to enforce the rule or censures of the Church 
 upon the gay, the worldly, the sensual, the ungodly, the open 
 and notorious profligate ; or the man who, by virtue of his 
 power, his w^ealth, his rank in society, or his philosophy, de- 
 rides any such discipline however salutary? in short, upon 
 any of that gi'eat mass of the people, for whose correction it 
 is ordained ? And is it w^orth while to desire the exercise of 
 such authority, where it is least needed, and may be much 
 abused ? I do not mean to question the use and excellence of 
 discipline, where it can be exercised beneficially; but I request 
 you to consider what is the real amount of the powers which 
 can be so used, which the Roman priesthood possesses, and 
 which we have not. — The power of receiving confession, for 
 instance, over whom is it exercised ? Over the wdlling mind, 
 the meek and gentle and fearful spirit ? Yes : and often most 
 beneficially ; for direction in every-day duties, resolving of 
 doubts and perplexities, correction of faults and errors, sooth- 
 ing of fears and comforting of sorrow% And the confessor, deli- 
 vering the sentence of the Church, and thereby speaking with 
 authority, will speak with effect too, which is lost where this 
 power is thought to be wanting. — Is it over w^eak minds and 
 such as are given to superstitious fears ? Yes : and here too 
 sometimes, no doubt, beneficially : but coupled, as it must be, 
 with the sacrament of penance, and the doctrine of purgatory, 
 is there not continual danger of such mighty power being 
 wielded for bad purposes ? Does it not actually produce very 
 evil effects, unduly exalting those who sit in the chair to give 
 judgment, and " degrading the mind" of such as come trem- 
 bling before them? — Lastly, what are its effects upon the
 
 multitude, such as they are found in all countries, but espe- 
 cially where Popery has for many ages held them in subjec- 
 tion ? A relative of mine, who was very acute in discernment, 
 and of sound religious principle, excellently qualified likewise 
 to give advice and comfort, came to a conclusion, after many 
 years' residence in Italy, that Popery, as there exhibited, pro- 
 duced most mischievous effects, so as to be sometimes worse 
 than no religion at all. And a similar character is given to 
 it in the early part of those very interesting papers * to which 
 you have referred me. '^ She virtually substitutes an external 
 ritual for moral obedience, penance for penitence, confession 
 for sorrow, profession for faith, the lips for the heart. Such 
 at least is her system as understood by the many. She sug- 
 gests the existence of a purgatory, in which, though their lives 
 have been disobedient, and their forms have been insufficient, 
 and the mass has failed, yet by their own brief suffering, they 
 may cleanse themselves for heaven. In all these ways the 
 popish spirit is essentially immoral." 
 
 My object however is to show what power we really have, 
 and may call forth, under our present confessedly defective 
 system. 
 
 And here I have a right to bring forward our public daily 
 Morning and Evening Services, and the administration of 
 the Holy Communion on Sundays and Festivals, as instru- 
 ments of moral and mental discipline; and the rather on 
 account of the large portions of Scripture appointed to be 
 read in them, and the continuous uninterrupted course of 
 reading of the Psalms, and of the whole of the Old and New 
 Testament, not omitting that which has less of authority for 
 doctrine, but is so full of wise, pious, practical instruction — 
 a portion of the Apocrypha. These daily services are wit- 
 nesses to the faithful, and to the ungodly ; stirring up the 
 
 ^ Home-thoughts Abroad. — Brit. Magazme.
 
 one to exercise their piety as members of Christ's body, and 
 warning the worldly and sensual of the danger of neglecting 
 the means of grace ; showing continually both to the one and 
 the other that the Church would teach and train her children 
 in the ways of godliness. I must notice too, that though 
 the confession of sins in these services is made both by 
 minister and people, and the absolution is either declaratory 
 or precatory, yet it is manifestly the intention of the Church 
 to give authority to the priest, and efficacy to his office. The 
 people should be taught to believe this ; and that each 
 person truly confessing his sins receives benefit by the priest 
 solemnly pronouncing the absolution. Let me add, what an 
 admirable exercise of moral discipline is contained in the 
 rules of our Church, as deUvered in the Rubrics of the 
 Prayer Book, for our posture during the pubhc service ! 
 What more useful, or more directly tending to humble the 
 proud spirit, and exalt the low, and kindle the lukewarm; 
 to awaken devout sentiments, and a spirit of love and charity, 
 by the union of many hearts and voices, and their joining in 
 the same acts of devotion ! And this is to be the rather 
 remarked, because in a great portion of the Romish services, 
 the congregation are spectators only ; and the listening to 
 prayers offered in a foreign tongue, or following by means of 
 a translation, can hardly fail to be injurious to piety, instead 
 of being instrumental to it. 
 
 Consider also the course of instruction and of discipline 
 afforded by the observance of the higher festivals, and of 
 saints' days ; and whether the selection of these which has 
 been made by our Church does not give us great advantage 
 in this respect over the Romish Calendar, crowded as it has 
 been with names, which may tend surely rather to encumber, 
 than help devotion. Consider not only the da^'s, but holy 
 seasons which are appointed amongst us — Advent, Christ- 
 mas, Easter, Pentecost. What a progress might we and
 
 our congregations make, if these were observed, as they 
 should be, with pious remembrance of our blessed Lord, and 
 spiritual exercises for the instruction of our ignorance, and 
 the building us up in our most holy faith ! 
 
 Yet it must in fairness be observed, (I use the words of a 
 much valued friend, in whose praise I could easily say more 
 than he would be pleased to read,) " that the Prayer Book 
 gives but scanty means for keeping up the interest of these 
 seasons ; and, consequently, people are driven to their own 
 inventions, or more often to the neglect of them altogether. 
 Whereas, in the Breviary, every part of the daily service, for 
 at least an octave, takes its colour from the season. We can 
 only do this by a selection of hymns, or by using ^the 
 Christian Year.'" — To this might be added the loss which we 
 have to deplore in the absence of appropriate Hymns, which 
 are so abundantly supplied in the Breviary. Some of these, 
 from their antiquity, as well as their chaste simplicity, should 
 seem to be peculiarly suited to the primitive character of our 
 Church. — I am at present concerned in these points, only on 
 account of their effect upon the tone of sentiment and the 
 affections, and consequently, upon mental discipline. And it 
 will not, I trust, be deemed a breach of filial duty to utter 
 the desire which the excellent Bishop Andrews has more than 
 once expressed, ' Pro ecclesia nostra, ut quae in ea desunt 
 suppleantur^.' 
 
 Take a view of a different side : Days of fasting and hu- 
 miliation. Vigils, the forty days of Lent, the Ember weeks 
 four times in the year. Rogation days, every Friday in the 
 year. What a course of discipline have we here ! It is 
 objected to us, both by Greeks and Romans, that we have no 
 discipline among us ; and this is instanced in the absence of 
 fasting. And whose fault is it if the charge cannot be gain- 
 
 2 Devotions for the second day. — See also those for the first day ; and the 
 Second part, p. 244. cd. 1G75.
 
 8 
 
 said ? But the mistake in this, as in a multitude of cases, is 
 that men look on the outward appearance, and upon all that 
 shows itself to the world. They know not how many servants 
 of a crucified Redeemer are humbling their souls and striving 
 to bring their bodies into subjection, by private mortification 
 and retirement from the world ; and they know not, and our 
 own people do not choose to know or to remember, the rules 
 of our Church, which, indeed, having been appointed by 
 authority in a former age, may be almost said to be set at 
 nought by authority in the present. It is cast in our teeth, 
 that if our Church makes rules we have no power to enforce 
 them. Assuredly, we cannot force any one to abstain from 
 his usual diet, or the amusements which he deems himself at 
 liberty to frequent. Neither do I know that the Church of 
 Rome can compel her members to adopt a particular kind of 
 food. Still less can she oblige them to derive any spiritual 
 benefit from the various substitutes, by w hich the appetite will 
 sometimes be pampered, instead of being tamed. But have 
 we not here, in our ow^n dear Mothei^s bosom, the discipline 
 which we need for ourselves, if we wall but use it : and the 
 means of leading others to greater degrees of holiness, by a mild 
 and gentle course of instruction ? And is not this what is best 
 suited to beings such as we are, and a people like ourselves ? 
 
 And the authorized word of instruction is given us ex- 
 pressly, and most usefully, in the Homilies. And the duty 
 and practice of private and family prayer taught us : at least 
 it was by our Reformers. And why the forms of prayer then 
 printed with the Bible and Prayer Book were laid aside, I 
 know not. Several of them are excellent, and venerable for 
 their antiquity. If we are less careful than our forefathers in 
 this most important matter, let us give them the praise w^hich 
 belongs to them, and take the shame to ourselves. The pow er 
 to restore or amend resides, I presume, in the same quarter 
 with that to make forms, and enjoin the use of them. 
 
 12
 
 '^et me now approach a still more solemn, and sacred part 
 of the subject, and with the reverence which is due to it. I 
 come to the Sacraments which are administered in our Church. 
 And I ask you whether we do not retain not only what is 
 essential, but what is highly instructive, and ought to be — 
 must be, if rightly used — an admirable course of moral cul- 
 ture and discipline ? As to the essential doctrines taught in our 
 services, can anything be desired plainer and more distinct, 
 than the teaching of '^ spiritual regeneration,'^ or the new birth, 
 as the grace proper to Baptism ; and the true spiritual receiv- 
 ing of the Body and Blood of Christ by the faithful, as that 
 of the Lord's Supper ? Is there any defect, as to doctrine, 
 which requires to be supplied? In respect of the form of 
 administration, is more wanted in the one than the blessing of 
 the element of water, the discretion left to the minister of 
 either dipping or sprinkling, the use of the words which our 
 Lord gave to the Apostles, and the sign of the cross ? If it 
 were desired to add the putting upon the newly baptized a 
 white vestment as an emblem of the purity acquired by this 
 Sacrament, it is surely that which may be retained or laid 
 aside, as the Church deems fit. The lesson taught therein is 
 fully set before us, if we will learn it, from the service itself. 
 And let me add, that the prayers prescribed to be used are as 
 conformable to ancient usage, as they are appropriate and 
 instructive. — Again, the care to provide sponsors, and such as 
 are duly qualified, is not this an admirable provision made by 
 our Church; which, though not so carefully regarded in 
 some places as it should be, and scarcely any where perhaps 
 so exactly fulfilling to the letter her ghostly admonitions, 
 might be made most highly conducive to the instruction of 
 parents and friends, and the bringing up of children in the 
 nurture and admonition of the Lord ? The addresses made to 
 them, and the carrying forward of the good work, and cherish- 
 ishing the holy seed sown at Baptism by catechetical instruc-
 
 10 
 
 tion, such as is provided in our Prayer Book, how much is 
 this instrumental towards holy living, towards nourishing the 
 life of God in the soul of the young disciple ! 
 
 You will not be surprised if I say that I approach the con- 
 sideration of the form of administering the other blessed 
 Sacrament with less of entire satisfaction. You may expect 
 to find such an one as myself lamenting the absence of three 
 or four points which were more prominently conspicuous of 
 old. And assuredly, if I may utter the Avish without pre- 
 sumption, I could desire to enjoy the use of a more distinct 
 expression of a commemorative Sacrifice, and an Invocation 
 of the Holy Ghost. Still, I may believe that these, and the 
 commemoration of the saints departed, are sufficiently pro- 
 vided, and can readily yield the poor judgment of an indi- 
 vidual to that of the wise and pious ones who formed and 
 reformed our Liturgy. If more be wanted for personal com- 
 fort and the hfting up of the heart, it can be supplied by acts 
 of private devotion. 
 
 But beyond what belongs to the due administration of the 
 Eucharist, my present object leads me to ask if the form in 
 our Church is not more conducive to true piety and sound 
 moral discipline, than those used in our two sister Churches 
 on the continent ; the one so shorn and crippled, and at the 
 same time so nearly approaching to idolatrous worship, as to 
 make us fear lest the blessed Sacrament be injured in its essen- 
 tials ; and both of them deformed and disguised by gorgeous 
 ceremonial, so opposite, or at least injurious to the simple 
 unpretending piety of the truly devout spirit ? Then observe, 
 I pray you, how strong, impassioned, solemn, affectionate, the 
 warnings, exhortation, invitation to the Holy Communion; 
 so plainly setting forth the high and blessed privilege of 
 devout attendance, and the danger of neglect and of an un- 
 worthy use of it : especially when you bear in mind that 
 those who intend to partake are required to give notice of
 
 11 
 
 their purpose. How does the service itself supply all wants, 
 and, if duly applied and properly understood, correct all mis- 
 takes, resolve all doubts, soothe the fears and comfort the 
 sorrows of the timid and afflicted ! The minister of Christ 
 will probably find no method more useful for instructing 
 those who are desirous to learn, removing difficulties, encou- 
 raging the fearful, and checking the presumptuous, than by 
 a plain exposition of the Eucharistic service, with the preli- 
 minary notices; just as the Offices of Baptism and Confirm- 
 ation form the best introduction to a right understanding of 
 those ordinances. Nor must we omit to mention the con- 
 cluding paragraph of the first form for giving notice of the 
 celebration of the Holy Communion, in which " any one who 
 cannot quiet his own conscience, but requires further comfort 
 or counseV^ is invited to come to ^^ some discreet and learned 
 minister of God's word, and open his grief.'' And this for 
 the sake, not of instruction and advice only, but in order to 
 receive the " benefit of absolution" also, " to the quieting of 
 his conscience and avoiding of all scruple and doubtfulness." 
 So that here is a power given by the Church to the spiritual 
 pastor to receive confession, (for this must necessarily be 
 implied,) and the unburthening of the conscience of the peni- 
 tent, and healing its wounds by applying the remedy of abso- 
 lution. Can any thing more be desired to be put into the 
 hands of the minister of God's word and sacraments, in re- 
 spect of this most important part of his office — the heahng of 
 those who are broken in heart, and binding up their wounds ? 
 And with regard to another branch of it, the power to rebuke 
 and repel — this likewise is given in the case of notorious 
 offenders, and those who are at variance, a reference being 
 immediately had to the Bishop. And this is perhaps as much 
 as is fit to be placed in the hands of any frail and fallible per- 
 son, " of the same passions with his brethren." If the law of 
 the land should at any time interfere to prevent the exercise
 
 12 
 
 of spiritual authority, or punish it, this is probably no more 
 than will occur in every country. The state will every where 
 protect its subjects from injury in their temporal concerns; 
 and in any extreme case, if such arise, a clergyman must be 
 prepared to obey God rather than man, and suffer (if need 
 be) for his faithfulness to his vows. 
 
 If now we go from the Sacraments to ^^ the Sacramentals/^ 
 as the excellent Hammond styles them — you will readily 
 admit the phrase, and I use it the more wiUingly because it 
 implies that in these ordinances of inferior note the sacer- 
 dotal office is exercised authoritatively and with power — 
 the preparing of the candidates for Confirmation is, as it 
 were, the completion of Baptism. The laying on of the hands 
 of the Bishop is, I hope, to be regarded as the direct con- 
 veyance of spiritual grace and blessing; and the carrying 
 forward of those who have renewed their vows to a faithful 
 attendance at the Lord's Table, is a crowning and perfecting 
 of the whole in respect of instruction ; and all make this holy 
 ordinance not only highly important and of inestimable value, 
 but one in which the moral effects of the careful, watchful, 
 tender, discriminating, and therefore severe administration of 
 the pastoral care of souls is easily discerned, and highly to be 
 appreciated. It is right to add, that this Office is much more 
 edifying than that which corresponds to it in the Romish 
 Church. 
 
 The office of Matrimony, again, is one in which the Minister 
 of Christ possesses the high privilege of pronouncing a solemn 
 blessing upon one of the most sacred of institutions : nay 
 where he stands in a peculiar manner as the representative of 
 Christ Jesus. Those who act for Him and by his appoint- 
 ment appear in a peculiarly high office, as signifying and 
 pointing out in each instance the mystical union of the divine 
 Bridegroom with the Church. 
 
 And here I am reminded of the loss of a benefit and bless-
 
 13 
 
 iiig provided by the Churchy as may be seen in the Rubrick 
 at the end of the Marriage service ; namely, " that the new- 
 married persons should receive the Holy Communion at the 
 time of their marriage, or at the first opportunity after.'' A 
 similar provision is made in the case of a woman who returns 
 thanks after child-birth ; showing the high importance which 
 our Church attaches to this most sacred office. This, which 
 forms part of the Marriage service in the Romish Church, is 
 practically abandoned among us, and one source of discipline 
 thereby lost. — The loss is yet greater by the omission of this 
 crowning office at the Consecration of Churches, which seems 
 now to have grown into a rule. One noble exception, indeed, 
 was lately seen at Leeds, where was exhibited the beauty of 
 Holiness in full perfection, and the perfection of Order too. 
 
 The office of Visitation of the Sick is peculiarly illustrative 
 of the point before us. For here is " a special confession of 
 sin" to be made, and "humble and hearty desire" expressed 
 on the part of the penitent ; and then a form of Absolution to 
 be pronounced by the Priest, couched in terms so indicative 
 of power vested in him, as to have given much offence to 
 those who take a view of our office and the efficacy of ordi- 
 nances, opposed to that which was manifestly held by the 
 compilers of the Prayer Book. Indeed, it has probably 
 been almost uniformly laid aside for many years. But the 
 strength of it, and the excessive claim to authority which it 
 is supposed to exhibit, illustrate and confirm in a most re- 
 markable manner the point for which I am arguing, namely, 
 that there resides in the priesthood in our Church as full and 
 just a power as can be rightly placed in the hands of frail 
 and fallible men, for caiTying out the work of Christ in the 
 salvation of sinners ; that we are true representatives of our 
 divine Head in his Priestly Office. What is there in the 
 Romish ritual for the Visitation of the Sick, which we have 
 not in a purer state for the comfort of penitent sinners ?
 
 14 
 
 But these which I have mentioned may perhaps be re- 
 garded as one or two scattered instances of power in the 
 hands of our clergy. Let us see, then, more distinctly, what 
 is the authority with which they are actually invested. And 
 this may be made to appear from a ready and undeniable 
 instance — the commission given them at their ordination. 
 " Receive the Holy Ghost for the office and work of a 
 priest in the Church of God, now committed unto thee by 
 the imposition of our hands. Whose sins thou dost forgive, 
 they are forgiven ; and whose sins thou dost retain, they are 
 retained. And be thou a faithful dispenser of the word of 
 God, and of his holy Sacraments, in the name of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.^' "Take thou 
 authority to preach the word of God, and to minister the 
 holy Sacraments in the congregation where thou shalt be 
 lawfully appointed thereunto.^^ These are not idle words, nor 
 is your's the school in which their full meaning and power 
 will be explained away. Whatever may be laid to your 
 charge, you will not be accused of lowering the tone, or taking 
 from the full, and rich, and comprehensive sense of Christ's 
 w ord, or of the words of the Church, " the spouse and body 
 of Christ." " It is a misery and a sore loss, (so writes one of 
 yourselves,) that men would fain bring down the things of 
 God, which they do not know, to the things of man, which they 
 do know, and are pleased to keep Hhe beggarly elements' of 
 human things, because them they think they understand, 
 rather than the divine, which they understand not. Let us 
 not measure his infinity by our finiteness, his might by 
 our weakness, what is possible to Him by what is impossible 
 to us, the boundlessness of his mercy by the narrowness of 
 our thoughts, or the poverty of our desires \" 
 
 I will not pretend to define the true meaning of the 
 
 3 Plain Sermons, Ixxix.
 
 15 
 
 words pronounced over the head of every one who is thus 
 admitted into the order of priesthood in our Church. They 
 not only contain a mystery which passeth knowledge^ but, 
 like the benefit conveyed in the holy Eucharist, fill one with 
 awe at the greatness of the gift bestowed. I would rather 
 refer, for illustration, and for showing the high antiquity to 
 which our Church would carry us, to the soul-piercing 
 words of the hymns* appointed to be sung just before, and 
 
 * " Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire. 
 And lighten with celestial fire. 
 Thou the anointing Spirit art. 
 Who dost thy seven-fold gifts impart. 
 Thy blessed unction from above 
 Is comfort, life, and fire of love. 
 Enable with perpetual light 
 The dulness of our blinded sight." 
 
 *' Visit our minds, into our hearts 
 Thy heavenly grace inspire ; 
 
 That truth and godliness we may 
 Pursue with full desire. 
 
 " Thou art the very Comforter 
 
 In grief and all distress ; 
 The heavenly gift of God most high. 
 
 No tongue can it express. 
 
 *' The fountain and the living spring 
 
 Of joy celestial ; 
 The fire so bright, the love so sweet. 
 
 The vmction spiritual. 
 
 " Thou in thy gifts art manifold, 
 
 By them Christ's Church doth stand ; 
 
 In faithful hearts thou writ'st thy law, 
 The finger of God's hand. 
 
 " Holy Ghost, into our minds 
 
 Send down thy heavenly light ; 
 Kindle our hearts with fervent zeal, 
 
 To serve God day and night." 
 
 The tone of feeling expressed m these hymns seems to me more lofty and 
 spii-itual, and therefore more true and just, than that which appears in writers
 
 16 
 
 introduced by solemn silence and prayer to God by the 
 whole congregation. — What I would press upon you is 
 plainly this : You, and those who think with you, wdll not 
 doubt that a great powder is here conveyed ; that a mighty 
 authority is given; as great power and authority as w^ords 
 can express ; and that the Divine blessing will confirm the 
 gift, if rightly conferred and faithfully used. I ask, then. Can 
 we conceive anything to be wanting among us, so that we 
 have to complain of a deficiency in the power which the 
 clergy may usefully and lawfully exercise " for edification, 
 not for destruction ?" If we fail in the use of the gift, is 
 not the failure in ourselves, not in the intention or ordinance 
 of the Church? is it not that we are either not duly quali- 
 fied, or that we do not faithfully and wisely exercise the 
 power given us? That we do fail of producing the effect 
 which we ought to have over our people, is but too manifest. 
 And is it not equally true that it may be ascribed in a great 
 deo-ree to one and the other of the causes just mentioned ? I 
 remember hearing, no long time since, from some one who 
 had visited the north of Italy, that he was asked, by a Romish 
 priest, what was the course of education among us for one 
 w ho was to take holy orders ; and upon hearing it, he could 
 scarce beheve that it could be so scanty, and must probably 
 have triumphed in the thought, how successful he and his 
 fellows were likely to be, if brought into dispute with any so 
 ill provided with the armour requisite for the contest. And 
 he went on to describe the course pursued in his own Church 
 for diligent training of such from their earliest years. It is 
 thus, no doubt, that they acquire a talent for casuistry and 
 searching into the heart and conscience, which fits them both 
 for public disputation and for receiving confession in private ; 
 
 of the present age, or that which is just gone by, though men of unquestionable 
 piety. And if they may be taken for a Catholic and primitive interpretation of 
 the sentiments of our Church, I must prefer it to that of the eighteenth century.
 
 17 
 
 and which is sometimes of course (how should it be otherwise 
 when practised amid much infirmity ?) perverted to evil pur- 
 poses. But if they are led to abuse the power placed in 
 their hands, are not we timid and unapt in the use of the 
 weapons which we have, and hence unable to gain that in- 
 fluence over the minds of our people, and intimate acquaint- 
 ance with their hearts, which might enable us to perform 
 more perfectly and beneficially the duties of our office, and 
 exercise the " authority" which was given us at our ordina- 
 tion ? And is it not in a great measure owing to this cause 
 that the Romish Church has so greatly excelled our own in 
 devotional exercises, and in works which are calculated to 
 nde and direct the secret communings of the heart with God 
 and with itself? that they penetrate into the secrets of the 
 conscience, while we for the most part play upon the surface ? 
 that they speak freely and with power, while we seem afraid 
 to claim authority, because we know that we cannot enforce 
 obedience ? And is it not from their knowledge of the wants 
 and cravings of human nature, as well as from a desire to 
 tread in "the old paths," which we, who boast to be more 
 primitive, and truly Catholic, have suffered to lie waste and 
 neglected ; that their Churches are open continually, and the 
 sacrifice — would that I could say a " pure offering" — offered 
 daily ? 
 
 If, now, in the administration of any of these ordinances, 
 but especially of the two Sacraments, we of inferior rank have 
 not fulfilled the intentions, and even express injunctions of 
 the Church, — and if our superiors have stood by, and suffered 
 the neglect to grow up into a rule, and the paring down of 
 our Church services by a sort of inverse or perverse ratio, 
 almost to keep pace with our rapidly increasing population, 
 and their more rapidly increasing need of religious help, (I 
 speak for the most part of by-gone days, and of the rapid
 
 18 
 
 declension of piety during the last century,) shall we, when 
 we are just rousing ourselves, and are but half awake, and 
 know nothing of our real power, but are staggering under 
 the thought of the work we have to do, shall we lay the 
 blame on the Church which enjoins it, and not upon our- 
 selves ? and desire to amend her formularies, rather than our 
 own conduct? A spirit of lethargy has indeed crept over 
 us, and benumbed our senses and faculties, so that we do 
 not feel as we ought, nor know from what height we are 
 fallen, nor the extent of our sin and misery, nor what it 
 really becomes us to do. What right have we to diminish 
 the number of our Church services without sufficient reason, 
 from daily to weekly services, from weekly to a monthly 
 communion, as has been the case (it must be written in 
 shame and sorrow) even in some of our cathedral churches, 
 to which we are apt to point, as preserving more exactly than 
 elsewhere the primitive forms of worship, and the idea of it as 
 contemplated by our fathers ? What right have the chapters * 
 to deprive us, their fellow-members in Christ^s body, of the 
 benefit of the weekly offering of prayer and praise at the 
 altar, and the intercession for the faithful upon earth, and 
 the commemoration of the saints departed ? What right have 
 they, who should be types and examples of devotion to the 
 busier shepherds, to set an example of a low practice, in 
 violation of the very letter of the Rubric? and when they 
 should have maintained the rule of the Church, and the 
 spirit of piety in a degenerate age, bring down their own 
 practices to suit the coldness of the multitude around them ? 
 Some among us have striven by writing, or petition, or prayer, 
 
 * Some noble exceptions may be quoted, and amongst the rest that of Exeter, 
 where the weekly communion is celebrated most solemnly and devoutly. May 
 one who has felt the gi*eat comfort of it be permitted to express a wish that it 
 could be celebrated on saints' days likewise.
 
 19 
 
 to support their temporal emoluments, in which we had no 
 selfish interest, and rescue these institutions from the rude 
 hand of the spoiler: let them, at least, repay us by the 
 restoration of those spiritual blessings for their own sake, 
 and that of their brethren at large. 
 
 Who shall say what may be the effect of the restoration of 
 our Church services through the land? the effect upon the 
 hearts and minds of the people, in drawing them more closely, 
 more reverently, and affectionately towards their pastors? 
 The Bishops have, as became them, both from their office, 
 and from great and pressing obligation, led the way in be- 
 stowing greater care upon the ordination of the clergy, and 
 in administering the holy rite of Confirmation more frequently, 
 and therefore in a manner more tending to edification. From 
 this last must, of necessity, arise a greater opportunity of 
 useful intercourse between the shepherd and the young ones 
 of his flock, and indeed the elder likewise. Hence too a 
 deeper and more solemn impression produced at the time, 
 and respect for the office of the Bishop, and a lasting recol- 
 lection of the vows then taken upon themselves. These are, 
 of course, natural effects, though produced in the way of 
 God's providence bringing out events as He has appointed. 
 And who shall venture to limit the unseen blessings which 
 may follow the seeking of his best gifts, and the bestowing of 
 them by those who are invested with authority as his repre- 
 sentatives ? What, now, if our prelates should condescend to 
 aid their clergy in other points ? In respect of the observance 
 of Ember weeks, for instance? What, if there could be 
 something more of that vigilant inspection which is implied 
 in the episcopal title, which might correct some among us 
 almost without words, and encourage and give weight and 
 importance in the eyes of the people to others who need and 
 deserve it ; which might enable those who desire advice to 
 
 B 2
 
 20 
 
 seek it more readily in the proper quarter, and maintain dis- 
 cipline with a gentle hand, and with the consent of all ; which 
 might unite and bring to better order those who are pro- 
 verbially a disjointed body, or, as it is said, a rope of sand ? 
 The Bishop of New Zealand, when about to go forth on his 
 high mission, found it needful to make known, through the 
 Ecclesiastical Gazette, that he was ready to receive applica- 
 tions from any clergymen who might be desirous or willing 
 to venture their lives and fortunes in the holy cause. Was 
 this seemly ? Did this indicate the order that should be in 
 the Church ? Should not his wishes have been made known 
 through the Bishops to their clergy, and such as were ready 
 have presented themselves, each to his diocesan, for previous 
 examination and approval of his intentions and qualifications ? 
 Several who were desirous to tender their services found dif- 
 ficulties in their path, and were sorely tried thereby, and 
 sought counsel of their friends. What state of discipline is 
 this, that they who fill some inferior, but most important 
 office, in the holiest of all services, and which should exhibit 
 the bond of union, and therefore of just subordination most 
 perfectly, should be at their own disposal to stay or remove 
 as they please ? 
 
 The true remedy for our present disorders is, 1st, To 
 increase the number of our spiritual rulers; perhaps, by 
 means of suffragans ; to multiply heads, as the members are 
 rapidly increasing ; to divide, not consolidate dioceses. 
 Though, even now a better state of things than that we see 
 around us might surely be produced, in some small degree, 
 by a more perfect system of well appointed subordinate agents, 
 by means of whom a more intimate communication might be 
 maintained between the centre and each even extreme point. 
 2ndly, To increase the number of priests and deacons, and 
 assign to each his proper place and fit portion in the Lord's
 
 21 
 
 vineyard; Srdly^ To divide parishes into districts, or smaller 
 parishes, as may be deemed best, which may depend on local 
 circumstances ; 4thly, To carry out the plan and method of 
 the Church in every instance so far as may be practicable ; 
 and therefore to make, and present to our Divine Head in 
 the offertory, a provision for the clergy, besides that which 
 the state has made or sanctioned by law. Other points 
 might be noticed ; several perhaps enumerated, which do 
 not fall within the scope of the brief sketch set forth in this 
 paper. 
 
 I have mentioned the mission of the Bishop of New Zea- 
 land. We hear rumours too of the consecration of a Bishop 
 of Jerusalem, or of Palestine, which has (and no marv^el) filled 
 some of our brethren with fear, lest it be a breach of order, 
 and prove a source of discord, where union should be most 
 sedulously cultivated, I mean with the Greek Church. But, 
 at least, may one not lament that it should be done as it were 
 ^' in a corner ?" Surely " from the ends of the earth should be 
 heard songs, even glory to the Righteous.^^ Should it not be 
 sounded forth into all lands, that the Church of England, a 
 nation, "whose way,^' like that of her Maker (be it spoken with- 
 out irreverence), " is in the sea, and her paths in the great 
 waters,'^ is about to plant a refuge and resting place, where 
 the remnant of the house of Israel may find shelter, when 
 they turn to the Lord their God ; where they may come to 
 weep between the porch and the altar, and "look on Him 
 whom they have pierced?" Or, as a friend suggested, let 
 him, who is chosen for this high office, go forth with the 
 united prayers of the members of our Church, for a blessing 
 upon his labour of love. For surely, an event has never yet 
 occurred, which more called for the supplications of the whole 
 Church, to be presented to the Throne by its great Head. 
 
 But now, if we are sending forth light from our candlestick
 
 90 
 
 to enlighten the nations that sit in darkness and the shadow 
 of deaths is not this a sign that we are ourselves instinct with 
 life ? Have we the hand of death upon us, numbing our limbs, 
 closing our eyes, and stifling our breath ? No ; we have been 
 asleep perhaps, and " it is high time to awake out of sleep/' 
 And one of your friends, at least, has given us such a rousing 
 shake, that some of us seem scarce to know where we are ; 
 and some, peradventure, yet but half awake, feel tempted to 
 do some desperate act, and take a rash step or two towards 
 Rome. But this may not be ; and those of your part will be 
 the most earnest to stop them, most steady in their resistance 
 to Romish seduction and power. For Rome has not kept " the 
 good thing'^ committed to her, pure, " without spot, unrebuke- 
 able.'' And we know that " corruptio optimi est res pessima." 
 We cannot go to Rome for truth of doctrine, or purity of 
 worship. Nor have we need to depart from the side of our 
 own dear Mother, though here and there we fancy that we 
 discover some scars and traces of the conflicts she has under- 
 gone, and some marks of departure from that primitive ritual 
 to which she would desire to conform ^ 
 
 But these are few, and do not impair her character for 
 essential truth, holiness, and usefulness. Nor, as I trust, do 
 they diminish aught of her power, or the power of her best 
 
 6 I add, in a note, that it is no marvel if any who have not learned true 
 Catholic principles should be led in an evil hour to adopt those of a false Catho- 
 licism ; or if, feeUng the want of a stay and support to their weakness, they lean 
 on that which presents itself with a boldness and freedom, which we want ; or 
 if persons of a warm imagination should be fascinated by the gaudiness of the 
 Romish ritual ; as, on the other hand, those of a colder temperament will sink 
 down to the low level of Unitarianism. Let us be taught to regard our Church, 
 not merely as the child of the Reformation, or a member of the Protestant body, 
 or one of the various denominations of Christians, but as a true and living 
 bi-anch of " the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church ;" and, while we mourn 
 deeply for the corruptions with which Romanism is disfigured, we shall feel con- 
 strained to protest agaiust them with what power and skill we can brmg to the 
 trial.
 
 23 
 
 members, to supply what is wanting, correct what is in any 
 way amiss, and strengthen the things that remain. And let 
 us believe that our Divine Head is raising up among us those 
 who will do his work in all meekness and simplicity, in faith 
 and love. Your (may I be permitted to say our) friend has 
 given us to understand that our people are as " those that are 
 weaned from the breast," and must be '' taught with stam- 
 mering lips." Let me borrow from the prophet another 
 image (as I have already hinted), and say that the Lord 
 had ^' poured upon us a spirit of deep sleep ;" so that our 
 ^^ prophets, and rulers, and seers had their eyes covered" 
 for a century and more, and the course of his Providence 
 towards us w^as " as the w^ords of a book that is sealed." But 
 '' the night is far spent, the day is at hand." And one sure 
 sign is, that the young among us are " up and doing." The 
 same who generously opposed the spirit of Reform, which 
 might have been thought seductive to youthful ardour and 
 love of change, are now casting their eyes upward at the 
 Churches call ; ay, and eastw^ard, and southward, and west- 
 ward, to mark the going forth of the light of Gospel truth 
 from this " extremity of the earth, and its running about unto 
 the end of it again." It is a cheering thought, and one which 
 excites much thankfulness. And they, whose sand is fast 
 running out, while they have forgot almost all the rest of 
 their school learning, will remember, by frequent saying to 
 their hearts — 
 
 " Dii patrii, quorum semper sub Numine Troja est, 
 Non tamen omnino Teucros delcre paratis ; 
 Cum tales auimos juvenum, et tam certa tulistis 
 Pectora." 
 
 There are many of these, of noble minds, reverent spirits, 
 and tender feelings, who are now looking to your leaders for 
 guidance and protection. Oh ! let them be taught to love
 
 24 
 
 with reverential affection, Her in whose lap they have been 
 nursed, to cling more closely to her, and "hold fast that 
 which they have in her -" for '^ her ways are ways of plea- 
 santness, and all her paths are peace : She is a tree of life 
 to them that lay hold on her, and happy is every one that 
 retaineth her." 
 
 I remain. 
 
 My dear 
 
 Very faithfully yours, 
 
 T. BOWDLER. 
 
 Brattou Fleming, Nov. 1841. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Gilbert & Rivington, Printers, St. John's Square, London.
 
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