L I B RARY 
 
 OF THE 
 U N I VERSITY 
 or 1 LLl NOIS
 
 THE POSITION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE SCOTTISH EPISCOPAL CHURCH 
 
 WITH REGARD TO 
 
 LITURGICAL USAGE, AND COMMUNION WITH THE UNITED 
 CHURCH OF ENGLAND AND IRELAND : 
 
 CHARGE 
 
 ADDRESSED TO THE 
 
 CLERGY OF THE CITY AND DISTRICT OF GLASGOW, 
 
 May 7, 1845. 
 
 Right Rev. M. RUSSELL, LL.D., D.C.L., Oxon. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 
 OLIVER & BOYD, TWEEDDALE COURT ; ROB^. GRANT & SON, 
 
 PRINCES STREET ; DAVID ROBERTSON, GLASGOW ; 
 
 AND FRANCIS & JOHN RIVINGTON, LONDON. 
 
 MDCCCXLV. 
 
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 Printed by Oliver & Boyd, 
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 THE POSITION 
 
 SCOTTISH EPISCOPAL CHUKCH, &c. 
 
 My Reverend Brethren, 
 
 When our Blessed Lord sent forth his disciples to 
 sow the seed of eternal life in the land of Israel, he 
 prepared them for opposition, suffering, and dis- 
 appointment, in the following remarkable words : 
 " Think not that I am come to send peace on earth ; 
 I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am 
 come to set a man at variance against his father, 
 and the daughter against her mother, and the 
 daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law ; and a 
 man's foes shall be they of his own household." 
 
 In so saying, our Redeemer meant not to assert 
 that the natural fruits of the heavenly tree which 
 he was then planting with his own hand, and was 
 about to water with his blood, were to be nothing 
 better than variance, contention, hatred, and mutual 
 violence. He simply foresaw that such would be 
 the effect of his doctrines and injunctions on the 
 selfish passions of mankind. In the character of 
 the Jews, more especially as connected with their 
 fallen estate and their expectations of the Messiah,
 
 4 
 
 he could detect the immediate source of all the 
 evils which he foretold — unbelief, strife, rage, the 
 flight of peace, and the entrance of the bloody- 
 sword. The self-denial enjoined by the gospel, and 
 the extinction of all those fond hopes of earthly 
 power of which its progress denoted the failure, 
 made the Hebrew, at length, accuse his own blind- 
 ness, and lift up his hand against every one who 
 read the Old Testament in a light different from 
 that which, in his eyes, justified the expectation of 
 a great triumph for the house of David throughout 
 the eastern world. In this respect, the religion 
 of the New Covenant acted like the rays of the 
 gracious sun, which bring health and fertility to 
 every land where no deadly infection lurks in the 
 soil or pollutes the air ; but which, wherever the 
 elements of corruption are ready to be set in mo- 
 tion by the intensity of his beams, are found to 
 generate disease and death. On a principle some- 
 what similar, the Saviour of the world, though 
 his last bequest was peace, and his last precept 
 brotherly love, saw in the perspective of the future, 
 wrath, envy, and all uncharitableness, even among 
 those who should confess his name. 
 
 The experience of eighteen hundred years has 
 proved but too painfully the truth of our Lord's 
 prediction ; for, during that long period, the church 
 has been in a militant state, not only as being 
 assailed by her open enemies, but as suffering from 
 wounds inflicted by false, weak, or injudicious 
 friends. Even in the society of the Apostles them- 
 selves, difference of opinion was allowed to proceed 
 
 u,uc
 
 so far as occasionally to interrupt the harmony and 
 disturb the proceedings of the most distinguished 
 of their nunil>er. St Paul, for example, does not 
 conceal that at Antioch he withstood St Peter to 
 the face, because he thought him worthy of blame ; 
 and the inspired author of the book of Acts, in re- 
 ference to the same great Missionary of the Gentiles, 
 relates, that " his contention with Barnabas was so 
 sharp that they departed asunder, the one from the 
 other," to meet no more upon earth. 
 
 Such things are written for our learning, who 
 have the records of so many centuries to guide us ; 
 not a few of which are stained with blood, and 
 darkened by the fierce passions of ambition, in- 
 tolerance, and revenge. There is not a member of 
 any christian body, who, with the annals of his 
 communion spread out before him, will not find 
 occasion to lament that the intemperance of a blind 
 zeal has too frequently obtruded itself, where 
 the interests of faith and piety should alone have 
 warmed the heart and strengthened the arm. It is 
 exceedingly painful to reflect, that as soon as the 
 followers of Christ had ceased to suffer from the 
 hands of pagan rulers, they themselves assumed the 
 weapons of a warfare not less to be deplored. Nor 
 has this great evil quite disappeared in our own day; 
 for though the gentler manners and the improved 
 legislation of modern times preclude any direct 
 attack on the person or the life, the son may still 
 be seen at variance with his father, the daughter 
 with her mother, and the daughter-in-law with her 
 mother-in-law ; and hence, in too many instances.
 
 6 
 
 the Scripture continues to be fulfilled which saith 
 " a man's foes are they of his own house." 
 
 But is this evil a necessary one ? Is it inseparable 
 from that religion, which, above all things, enjoins 
 peace, long-suffering, and charity ? Are we to con- 
 clude that the denunciation once pronounced against 
 the family of the Psalmist is to be realized without 
 ceasing in the tents of the Redeemer — " the sword 
 shall never depart from thine house ?" Must Chris- 
 tianity appear for ever a large battle-field, echoing 
 the voice of fear, threatening, and lamentation ; still 
 grieving the world with a succession of melancholy 
 proofs of how trifling are the grounds on which 
 those who call themselves brethren have most fre- 
 quently disagreed ? 
 
 The fault is assuredly in ourselves; and the 
 blame with which we are chargeable will appear 
 in a more aggravated light, when we reflect that 
 the evils we apprehend, and the errors we make 
 haste to condemn, are frequently the offspring of 
 our own ignorance or want of temper. We are, 
 said an old writer, " like querulous brethren, who 
 having agreed on the main division of their inherit- 
 ance, fell out about some heaps of rubbish." In such 
 matters we are equally impatient and unjust; we 
 show least indulgence where forbearance is most 
 needed, I mean, to the infirmity and indocility of 
 ignorance. The unity of the church and the repose 
 of her members have frequently been sacrificed to 
 pride, disappointment, and self-conceit, on the part 
 of individuals who preferred their own groundless 
 scruples to the welfare of the christian body. Let
 
 us not, then, shut our eyes so closely to the sorrows 
 and sufferings of past days, as to render the word of 
 God, and the history of his church, a blank unpro- 
 fitable page. 
 
 These remarks are intended to bespeak a patient 
 hearing for some observations which I am about to 
 make on the position of the Scottish Episcopal 
 Church, viewed in connexion with the liturgical 
 forms and usages of the great Establishment of 
 England and Ireland. 
 
 You are all aware, that one of the conditions upon 
 which the Act of 1792 was passed, which relieved 
 our communion from the pressure of the penal laws, 
 was, that we should adopt the same standard of 
 belief with the English church ; in other words, that 
 our clergy should sign the Thirty-nine Articles. 
 As to the form of public worship, no stipulation 
 was made farther than that the sovereign and royal 
 family should be regularly prayed for, during Divine 
 Service, in the words of the English Liturgy. That 
 ritual was already in general use among the Scottish 
 Episcopalians, with some slight verbal alterations 
 which did not in any degree affect its meaning. It 
 was therefore most willingly adopted by them as 
 their Common Prayer, with the exception, in some 
 instances, of the Communion-Office, which both by 
 the clergy and laity of particular districts was 
 thought inferior to one already in their hands, and 
 compiled from more ancient models. — (Note I., end.) 
 
 The step now mentioned was not taken without 
 due consideration ; and we are, accordingly, prepared 
 to defend not only the Liturgy which was thus bor-
 
 8 
 
 rowed at a recent period, but also that less popular 
 Office, which, in substance, has descended from the 
 time of Edward the Sixth. In this country, by the un- 
 learned and the uncandid, both the one and the other 
 are charged with a popish tendency ; and,!^perhaps, 
 neither is perfectly understood even by those]who are 
 accustomed to use them. The imputation of popery 
 is the most efficacious weapon which can be used in 
 Scotland, whenever a difference of opinion arises 
 among contending divines ; and upon looking into 
 the pages of our national history, you will find that, 
 from the reign of James VI. down to the present 
 day, it has uniformly been employed as often as the 
 leaders of a party have wished to engage the popular 
 feeling in favour of their measures. 
 
 Since the period of the Reformation, when men's 
 minds were divided as to the extent to which the 
 principle of change should be permitted to act, two 
 great parties have always existed, though with 
 varying strength and pretensions ; the one being 
 ever disposed to lament that too much of the ancient 
 ritual was retained, and mingling with their regrets 
 a distinct insinuation that their opponents are not 
 disinclined to symbolize still more intimately with 
 Rome. Ever and anon occasions occur to give a 
 wider range and a firmer tone to their remon- 
 strances ; and at present, all over the island, there is 
 a manifest tendency to question usages which have 
 been long respected, and to impugn the soundness 
 of doctrines which were approved by the fathers of 
 the reformed church. Even the clerical vestments, 
 or at least the place and purpose of wearing them,
 
 9 
 
 have again been brought under dispute in several 
 parts of England. The Liturgy itself is frequently- 
 made the subject of discussion ; its most solemn 
 services are canvassed in no friendly spirit ; and in 
 certain quarters, intimation is given in very unam- 
 biguous language, that a convenient season must 
 soon be found for revising several of its Offices, 
 and rendering them less offensive to tender minds. 
 In a word, impatience of control and disregard of 
 authority are becoming every day more manifest ; 
 impelled by a spirit in whose eyes nothing is valu- 
 able but what is comparatively new, and which is 
 ever ready to set at defiance all the conclusions of 
 ancient wisdom. 
 
 No such feeling of suspicion or disparagement is 
 displayed among the indigenous Episcopalians of 
 Scotland, who, when they adopted the Anglican 
 Liturgy, explained its language on the principles of 
 those who compiled it. In this matter, they pro- 
 ceeded on the fair and generous rule that, in order to 
 establish truth as well as harmony in the religious 
 world, men ought always to consider the light in 
 which doctrines are placed by those who sincerely 
 hold them, and not as they may happen to be 
 represented by others, whose object it is to excite 
 doubt in regard to the principles on which they rest, 
 or to invalidate the arguments by which they are 
 maintained. It is too obvious to require notice on 
 our part, that objections have been raised to certain 
 expressions in the Liturgy, which to those who have 
 studied the purpose of the compilers, and made 
 allowance for the. inevitable change produced by
 
 10 
 
 time in the meaning of words, present no difficulty 
 whatever. 
 
 1. To illustrate the remark now made, it will be 
 sufficient to allude to the Office for the ministration 
 of Baptism ; the doctrine involved in which, though 
 frequently misrepresented, can hardly fail to be 
 understood by every one who has paid the smallest 
 attention to its history, and to the original import 
 of the words in which it is expressed. The use of 
 the term Regeneration, as connected with that sacra- 
 ment, is undoubtedly scriptural, and it was used, 
 too, with this special reference in the purest ages of 
 the church. The evil complained of has arisen 
 entirely from want of attention to a secondary 
 meaning which, in times comparatively modern, 
 has attached itself to the word under consideration : 
 whence it is manifest that those who assign to it an 
 import which it did not originally bear, owe all their 
 difficulties to themselves. No intelligent member 
 of the Episcopal Communion has ever maintained 
 that all baptized persons are, by virtue of the sacra- 
 ment, placed in a path which must necessarily lead 
 them to eternal life. The article of faith held by 
 the church respecting it, and implied as well as an- 
 nounced in the Offices for Baptism and Confirmation, 
 is, that the penalty attached to the first transgression 
 is thereby removed, and that the sin itself is forgiven. 
 But it is nowhere insinuated that the end of our 
 christian calling is accomplished by the mere mini- 
 stration of the initiatory ordinance. It is not taught 
 in the holy ritual that every branch engrafted into the 
 mystical body of the Redeemer shall bear fruit unto
 
 11 
 
 everlasting salvation. On the contrary, in one of her 
 most solemn festivals, the church teaches us to pray, 
 that " we, being regenerate and made the children of 
 God by adoption and grace, may daily be renevt^ed 
 by his Holy Spirit." The same doctrine is clearly 
 conveyed in the prayer pronounced by the bishop, 
 when about to minister the Apostolical rite of Con- 
 firmation : " Almighty and everlasting God, who 
 hast vouchsafed to regenerate these thy servants by 
 water and the Holy Ghost, and hast given unto them 
 forgiveness of all their sins ; strengthen them, we 
 beseech thee, O Lord, with the Holy Ghost the 
 Comforter, and daily increase in them thy manifold 
 gifts of grace," &c. 
 
 These things are understood by every novice in 
 theology ; and yet the Anglican church is sometimes 
 accused, even by such of her own sons as have failed 
 to ajDpreciate her j^rinciples, of holding and teaching 
 a popish doctrine in the two Offices now mentioned. 
 But the Scottish Episcopalian does not so misinter- 
 pret the meaning of the ritual according to which 
 he ministers : he received it in good faith, and he 
 follows out its injunctions without wavering ; never 
 perverting the language from its obvious intention, 
 nor ascribing to the greatest church of the Reforma- 
 tion an unprotestant spirit concealed under a thin 
 veil of words. 
 
 2. A similar imputation has been dii'ected against 
 the form of Absolution in the Order for the Visita- 
 tion of Sick. It also is viewed as a stumbling-block 
 by many, who, while they continue in the commu- 
 nion of the church, take refuge from the apparent
 
 12 
 
 anomaly by abstaining from its use in every case. 
 Nothing assuredly can be more clear than the 
 rubric ; and nothing could be more distinctly ex- 
 pressed than the formula in which the remission of 
 sins is conveyed to the penitent. After a special 
 confession made to him, the priest is instructed to 
 say : *' Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath left power 
 to his church to absolve all sinners who truly repent 
 and believe in him, of his great mercy forgive thee 
 thine offences ; and by his authority committed to 
 me, I absolve thee from all thy sins, in the name of 
 the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." 
 The precise import of these solemn words it may 
 not be easy to define. It may be that the absolution, 
 strictly so called, has a reference to somewhat which 
 the church herself has against the sick man ; neglect 
 of her ordinances, or a violation of engagements 
 made to her. The form consists of two parts — the 
 one a prayer for mercy, and the other a declaration 
 of forgiveness ; the first apparently relating to the 
 attributes of God, the second to the claims of the 
 church, viewed as a judicial body deriving her power 
 from Christ. At all events, it is perfectly manifest, 
 that the remission of sin pronounced by the priest 
 does not extend to the eternal punishment denounced 
 against transgression ; for no sooner has he uttered 
 the authoritative words, than he proceeds to pray 
 in the following terms : " O most merciful God, who 
 according to the multitude of thy mercies, dost so put 
 away the sins of those who truly repent, that thou 
 rememberest them no more, open thine eye of mercy 
 upon thy servant, who most earnestly des'ireth par-
 
 13 
 
 (Ion undjoi'giveness; preserve and continue him in 
 the unity of the church ; and forasmuch as he put- 
 teth his full trust only in thy mercy, impute not 
 unto him his former sins," &c. 
 
 If the sins of the sick man were understood to 
 have been already remitted by the authority of the 
 priest, what occasion could there be to pray for 
 pardon and forgiveness, which the penitent, imme- 
 diately after receiving absolution, is said " most 
 earnestly to desire?" — (Note II., end.) 
 
 3. The Ordination Service has been likewise 
 objected to as offensive to weak consciences. When 
 a bishop ordains a minister of the second order, he 
 is directed to utter the following words : " 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." 
 
 These expressions, not properly understood, have 
 been made a rock of offence, inasmuch as they 
 appear, when used by an uninspired man, to convey 
 a gift which he himself does not possess, and to 
 savour of presumptuousness in a matter where there 
 ought to be the utmost simplicity and self-denial. 
 The profane have scoffed, and the ignorant have 
 been perplexed, upon hearing a man of like infirmity 
 with themselves say to another, in the most solemn 
 circumstances in which two human beings can meet 
 together, " receive the Holy Ghost." 
 
 But the main difficulty disappears when we are 
 reminded that those words, even when originally
 
 14 
 
 pronounced by our Blessed Saviour, did not imply 
 any thing miraculous or unusual. We must dis- 
 tinguish between the ministerial commission, con- 
 ferred by our Lord when he was about to leave this 
 world, and the supernatural endowments bestowed 
 upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost. In the 
 one case he gave to his disciples the mere official 
 authority ; in the other he granted the power which 
 at that time was necessary for the effectual exercise 
 of it, towards the great purpose of evangelizing 
 the world. The first was a simple ordination, the 
 appointment to act as his missionaries, but nothing 
 more ; and therefore he commanded them not to 
 enter upon the discharge of the solemn duties to 
 which they had been called, until they should have 
 received a mighty aid from on high. 
 
 But the meaning of the words used by our Blessed 
 Saviour, when he ordained the Apostles, will be 
 more fully comprehended, if we view them in their 
 relation to the opinions and practices of the ancient 
 Jews. Every one appointed to take any part in the 
 service of God was understood to have received one or 
 more gifts of the Holy Spirit ; and, on this principle, 
 to be invested with the priesthood, and to have had 
 the Spirit of God shed down upon him, were, under 
 the ancient economy, expressions nearly synonymous. 
 In some cases, it is true, such commission implied the 
 foreknowledge of future events, and constituted a 
 prophet in the more common acceptation of the 
 term ; but, generally speaking, the spiritual endow- 
 ment was confined to the ordinary ministrations of 
 religion, and implied nothing more than that the
 
 15 
 
 individual on whom it was conferred was devoted 
 to the service of God's house, whether the tabernacle 
 or the temple. 
 
 Nay, you will find that men employed in much 
 inferior offices were said to be endued with the spirit 
 of God to qualify them for their several duties. 
 ■When the tabernacle was about to be framed in the 
 wilderness, the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, " I 
 have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, of the 
 tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the spirit 
 of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in 
 knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to 
 work in gold, and silver, and in brass." Even this 
 employment was considered so far sacred, that 
 Bezaleel was called to it by a special nomination 
 from heaven, and prepared for its several offices by 
 a supernatural endowment. 
 
 In the book of Numbers you will find an ex- 
 ample still more intelligible and instructive, where 
 the bestowal of the " Spirit of God " can only 
 mean a formal and regular appointment to an 
 office. When the labour of governing the twelve 
 Tribes became too heavy for Moses, he prayed to 
 God that he might be in part relieved from its 
 pressure. " And the Lord said unto him, gather 
 me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou 
 knowest to be elders of the people, and officers over 
 them, and bring them unto the tabernacle of the 
 congregation, that they may stand there with thee. 
 And I will come down and talk with thee there : 
 and / will take of the spirit which is upon thee^ 
 and will put it upon them ; and they shall bear
 
 16 
 
 the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear 
 it not thyself alone." 
 
 In this case it admits not of any doubt, that to 
 take part of the spirit which was upon Moses, and 
 to put it upon the seventy elders, was merely 
 to transfer from him to them a portion of the 
 authority which he had found it inconvenient to- 
 exercise. You will find, again, that when this dis- 
 tinguished servant of God had arrived at the close 
 of his labours, he conveyed, in a manner somewhat 
 similar, the whole of his authority to Joshua, who 
 was appointed to succeed him : " And Joshua the 
 son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, be- 
 cause Moses had laid his hands upon him'' 
 
 It is in agreement with the same notion and 
 usage that we shall most clearly understand the 
 bequeathment of official power which was given to 
 his successor by Elijah when about to ascend into 
 heaven. " And it came to pass, that Elijah said 
 unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before 
 I am taken from thee. And Elisha said, I pray 
 thee let a double portion of thy spirit rest upon 
 me. And he said. Thou hast asked a hard thing ; 
 nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from 
 thee, it shall be so unto thee." The aspiring pro- 
 phet received the mantle as it fell, and he cherished 
 it as a token of authority and pre-eminence. Nor 
 did his claim as the chief minister of the Hebrews 
 fail to be recognised by those who were the most 
 competent to decide on his pretensions ; for when 
 the sons of the prophets saw him, they said, " The 
 spirit of Elijah doth rest upon him. And they came 
 
 i
 
 17 
 
 to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground 
 before him." 
 
 In this case, as in that of Moses, the spirit which 
 was removed from one person to another, could be 
 nothing else than the authority, or spiritual office, 
 with which the former had been invested, and which 
 we find could be conveyed in whole or in part. The 
 word spirit cannot, indeed, be properly understood 
 in any other sense ; for, in a literal acceptation, the 
 spirit of one man, or a portion of his spirit, cannot 
 be conveyed to another, whether for procuring the 
 benefit of his aid, or maintaining a succession. 
 
 From these references to the ancient Scriptures, 
 you will be satisfied that, to receive the spirit of God, 
 and to receive the nomination to a holy function, 
 meant precisely the same thing. That spirit was 
 indeed given in different measures, according to the 
 purposes which Divine Providence meant thereby 
 to accomplish ; but in all cases, whether the authority 
 was great or small, every man who was raised to a 
 sacred office was accounted spiritual, and held to be 
 endued with certain gifts of the Holy Ghost. In 
 the book of Hosea, where the corruption of the 
 priesthood is deeply lamented, the inspired writer 
 declares, that the " prophet is a fool, and that the 
 man of the spirit is mad." The latter expression, 
 " the man of the spirit," evidently denotes an 
 authorized teacher of the word, and a steward of 
 the divine mysteries. St John, adopting a similar 
 phraseology, cautioned the early christians against 
 believing every spirit, but exhorted them to try the 
 
 B
 
 18 
 
 spirits whether they were of God, because many 
 false prophets had gone out into the world. The 
 spirits to whom the good Apostle alludes were men 
 who professed to have an authoritative commission 
 as ministers of Christ ; as having had the divine 
 spirit put upon them ; and as possessing on that 
 account a claim to be heard. Try those spiritual 
 men, said the beloved disciple, whether they be of 
 God ; for all who announce themselves as the mini- 
 sters of the Redeemer, do not speak the truth as it 
 is in Jesus, 
 
 The same great principle may be farther illus- 
 trated by adverting to the circumstances which 
 attended the ordination — if we may presume so to 
 call it — of our Blessed Lord himself, who received 
 the priesthood from God the Father. No man, 
 saith the Scripture, taketh this honour to himself, 
 but must receive it as Aaron did, who was called to 
 it by divine authority. Even the Saviour of the 
 world glorified not himself so far as to assume the 
 high-priesthood, but received it from Him who said, 
 ^ thou art my beloved Son, this day have I begotten 
 thee." The allusion of the inspired writer, it is 
 clear, is to the third chapters of St Matthew and 
 St Luke, where it is related that immediately after 
 his baptism, the heavens were opened, and the Spirit 
 of God descended upon him : and, lo, a voice from 
 heaven, saying, " This is my beloved Son, in whom 
 I am well pleased." The latter of the two evangelists 
 mentions, that Jesus, " being full of the Holy Ghost, 
 returned from Jordan ;" and after a brief space of
 
 19 
 
 trial, we find that he entered upon his ministry, 
 preaching repentance and announcing that the king- 
 dom of heaven was at hand. 
 
 The remark of the evangelist, that our Lord 
 returned from Jordan, the scene of his consecration, 
 " full of the Holy Ghost," could not imply any in- 
 crease of sanctity in his divine nature, but denoted 
 merely the fulness or amplitude of his commission, 
 as the minister of the New Covenant. On the solemn 
 occasion now mentioned, the spirit was given to him 
 in the same sense in which it was given to prophets 
 and priests under the Old Economy, but in a much 
 higher degree. To all others it was given in a 
 limited measure, because their commission had a 
 limited object ; but to his authority no bounds were 
 set, because his ministry extended to the salvation 
 of the whole human race. 
 
 It is enough for our purpose to have established 
 the principle, that the receiving the Holy Spirit, 
 even as applied to our Saviour, meant only the con- 
 ferring upon him a certain office, as the Mediator 
 between God and man : and more especially when 
 we find, that after pronouncing the words, " receive 
 ye the Holy Ghost," he assured his disciples that as 
 his Father had sent him, even so did he send them. 
 
 In the same sense the expression is not impro- 
 perly applied by a bishop at the present day when he 
 assigns to one fitly qualified the office and work of a 
 priest in the church of God. As the form of words, 
 when used by Jesus Christ, did not imply the con- 
 veyance of miraculous powers, it has been very pro- 
 perly continued in all subsequent ages. The objec-
 
 20 
 
 tions, therefore, which are sometimes urged against 
 the Ordinal, being founded in ignorance or misap- 
 prehension, are not entertained, so far as I have 
 ever heard, by any professional members of the 
 Scottish Episcopal Church. On the contrary, the Li- 
 turgy at large, though not incapable of being made 
 better by a judicious curtailment and the removal 
 of doubtful expressions, is considered by us as the 
 most perfect form of Prayer and Sacred Offices used 
 by any portion of the reformed church. It requires, 
 no doubt, a candid reader ; for he who is deter- 
 mined to find popery in it, will want neither matter 
 nor occasion in the ambiguities of human speech. 
 
 But the charge of a Romish bias applies not more 
 to that portion of the public Service which we have 
 borrowed from the United Church, than to that 
 smaller portion which has been derived from a 
 more ancient source. This allusion, you are aware, 
 points to the Scottish Communion-Office, which of 
 late has been so far misrepresented as to have be- 
 come a cause of stumbling in the path of the less 
 informed members of our body. 
 
 The difference of opinion which prevails respect- 
 ing the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper may be 
 traced back to a period more ancient than the Re- 
 formation, when the dissentients from the Roman 
 church, on both sides of the Alps, taking offence 
 at the new doctrine of transubstantiation, allowed 
 themselves to be carried so far into the opposite 
 extreme as to hold the opinion, that the most 
 solemn ordinance in the christian ritual is nothing- 
 more than a common eating and drinking, in re-
 
 21 
 
 membrance of a great event in the history of the 
 gospel. Without the intervention of priest or other 
 sacred person, whose presence was deemed unne- 
 cessary, the hardy natives of the Valleys cut a slice 
 of loaf, and poured out a cup of wine or water, 
 which they ate and drank, as a token that they had 
 not forgotten the sufferings of Jesus Christ for the 
 welfare of the human race. Never did the Church 
 of Rome commit a greater mistake than was made 
 by her when she attempted to define the mode, and 
 manner of operation, according to which the bread 
 and wine presented on the holy table become the 
 body and blood of our Saviour. On this most 
 mysterious subject the language of the christian 
 community had been uniform, and was received by 
 all without difficulty, because it was scriptural. 
 Every believer retained in his memory the words 
 of the Redeemer, who said of the bread, " this is 
 my body," and of the wine, " this is my blood." 
 The language of St Paul, too, sustained the same 
 belief: " The cup of blessing which we bless, is it 
 not the communion of the blood of Christ ? the 
 bread which we break, is it not the communion of 
 the body of Christ ?" In asserting this sublime doc- 
 trine, the early ages shrunk not from the strongest 
 terms which the languages of the East or West 
 could supply. Hieronymus, for example, writing 
 concerning the dignity of the priesthood, described 
 those who served at the altar as the ministers ad 
 quorum preces Christi corpus sanguisque con- 
 Jicitur — as those by means of whose prayers the 
 body and blood of Christ are realized or effected.
 
 Such language was used century after century, and 
 was regarded as a suitable expression of the christian 
 faith, relative to that incomprehensible dogma which 
 connects the sacrifice of the Son of God with the 
 salvation of man. 
 
 But from the days of Innocent the Third, when the 
 corporal presence in the sacrament was declared to 
 be the doctrine of the western church, the harmony 
 which had formerly prevailed ceased to be enjoyed 
 by the faithful. The use of a term which is not to 
 be found in Scripture perplexed their imaginations: 
 they were invited to reason on a subject which was 
 acknowledged to pass human comprehension ; and 
 they were grieved when they saw the learned among 
 their divines attempting to find a basis for the most 
 important tenet of their theological system in the 
 subtile distinctions of Grecian metaphysics. The 
 communion of Rome was no longer one body, nor 
 animated by one spirit. Two parties now claimed 
 the right to dogmatize on the Sacrament of the 
 Supper, and they have ever since occupied the ex- 
 treme points in regard to their conceptions of that 
 sacred ordinance : the one holding the high notions 
 of transubstantiation, while the other regard it as 
 a simple commemoration of a distinguished act of 
 benevolence and self-denial on the part of our blessed 
 Lord. 
 
 Nor were the reformers themselves of one mind as 
 to the nature and purposes of the Holy Communion. 
 The Helvetian school embraced the lower views ; 
 while the adherents of Luther originated opinions 
 on the subject not less inconsistent with ancient
 
 Christianity than those which were afterwards pro- 
 mulgated by the Council of Trent. The Church of 
 England pursued a wiser course; retaining the 
 language of pure antiquity, without any attempt to 
 analyze the incomprehensible truth it implies, or to 
 define minutely the terms used in reference to it by 
 the Divine Founder and his inspired servants. The 
 bread, after consecration, is by her called the body, 
 and the wine, after being blessed, is called the blood 
 of Christ. 
 
 Some of the continental reformers who visited 
 England in the reign of Edward the Sixth, objected 
 to certain expressions in the first Liturgy published 
 under the auspices of that prince ; and as Cranmer, 
 who felt the weakness of the protestant cause at 
 home, was desirous that a union should be established 
 among all who had seceded from the Church of 
 Rome, he yielded so far to their wishes as to induce 
 the king to issue orders that the forms of Prayer 
 should be subjected to a review. But that there was 
 no intention to alter the doctrine contained in the 
 Communion-Office is manifest from the fact, that his 
 majesty publicly declared, that " the Lord's Sapper, 
 as it was thereby administered, was brought even 
 to the very use as Christ left it ; as the Apostles 
 used it ; and as the holy fathers delivered it." In 
 the Act of Parliament, too, by which the first book 
 was called in, it was affirmed to be " agreeable to 
 God's word and the primitive church." 
 
 The apprehensions entertained by Bucer, Peter 
 Martyr, and others, who dreaded the vestments not 
 much less intensely than the doctrines of Rome,
 
 24 
 
 were not perhaps unreasonable, though frequently 
 excessive. In the reign of Mary, when the interests 
 of the older communion were again promoted, the 
 Romanists condemned the reformed Liturgy and 
 Catechism as being quite inconsistent with the doc- 
 trine of the Mass ; thereby proving that the fears of 
 the more rigid reformers were, in their opinion at 
 least, altogether groundless. Nor did the alterations 
 in the second book of Edward affect the doctrine of 
 the sacrament so much as the manner of setting it 
 forth. But as this is not a fitting place or time for 
 historical details, I shall at once proceed to show, 
 that the doctrine of the Scottish Communion-Office 
 does not differ in any degree from the principles 
 contained in the Anglican forms, as sanctioned by 
 Parliament, first in the reign of Edward, and after- 
 wards in that of Elizabeth. — (Note III., end.) 
 
 The doctrine in all the Offices now mentioned may 
 be simply stated as embracing the leading tenet of 
 the church universal, namely, that the bread and 
 wine, after being blessed or consecrated, are the 
 body and blood of Christ, in the sense which he 
 himself meant to convey, when he instituted this 
 solemn memorial of his death and passion for the 
 remission of sins. Our very children are taught 
 this saving truth in the strongest and least ambi- 
 guous language that the English tongue can supply. 
 The Catechism, while it states that the outward 
 part of the Lord's Supper are bread and wine, 
 asserts, " that the inward part or thing signified are 
 the body and blood of Christ, which are verily and 
 indeed taken and received by the faithful in the
 
 25 
 
 Lord's Supper." When a clergyman gives warning 
 of the celebration of this sacred rite, he invites the 
 religiously and devoutly disposed to " the most 
 comfortable sacrament of the body and blood of 
 Christ." In his exhortation he addresses himself to 
 those who " mind to come to the holy communion of 
 the body and blood of Christ" — where " we spirit- 
 ually eat the flesh of Christ, and drink his blood ; 
 where we dwell in Christ, and Christ in us." — In the 
 prayer of access we say, " Grant us, gracious Lord, 
 so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and 
 to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be 
 made clean by his body, and our souls washed 
 through his most precious blood." We pray farther, 
 that we, receiving the creatures of bread and wine, 
 according to Christ's holy institution, " may be par- 
 takers of his most blessed body and blood." And, 
 finally, in the post Communion Service, we heartily 
 thank the Almighty, who doth vouchsafe to feed us 
 who have duly received the holy mysteries, with 
 the spiritual food of the " most precious body and 
 blood of his Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ." 
 
 From the language of the Anglican church, as 
 now quoted, there cannot be any doubt that she 
 regards the consecrated elements as the body and 
 blood of Christ, in the mystical sense in which he 
 himself, his apostles, and the primitive church, ori- 
 ginally used the expression. The Scottish Com- 
 munion-Office holds precisely the same view in 
 regard to these sacred emblems. In respect indeed to 
 doctrine, properly so called, there is not the slightest 
 shade of difference : the only point in which there
 
 26 
 
 is any variance is in the prayer of consecration, by 
 means of which the bread and wine are blessed, and 
 pass into or become the " consecrated elements," 
 figuratively called the body and blood of Christ. 
 In the Anglican form this process is understood to 
 be accomplished by simply pronouncing the words 
 of institution, " In the same night he was betrayed, 
 he took bread ; and when he had given thanks, he 
 brake it, and gave it to them, saying. Take eat, this 
 is my body, &c. Likewise after supper he took the 
 cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to 
 them, saying, Drink ye all of this, for this is my 
 blood," &c. 
 
 The recital or narrative now given is also held by 
 the Church of Rome to be the means or instrument 
 of consecration ; and every sincere member of that 
 communion believes the miracle of transubstantiation 
 to be effected, when the priest pronounces the words 
 of our Lord, translated into Latin, " Hoc enim est 
 corpus meum,'' &c. At that moment, the wafer which 
 he holds in his hand is understood to be changed 
 into the actual body which was conceived of the 
 Virgin Mary, born at Bethlehem, and stretched on 
 the cross at Jerusalem. Hence the Roman Catholic 
 maintains that, after consecration, the elements of 
 bread and wine no longer remain, but that a perfect 
 body of our Saviour is given to every individual 
 who receives the host at the hand of the priest ; so 
 that a miracle is constantly repeated, to the reality 
 of which the senses bear no evidence. — (Note IV.) 
 
 Though holding a very different doctrine, the 
 English church relies upon the same form of words 
 
 J
 
 27 
 
 for consecrating" the elements, namely, those spoken 
 by our Lord when he instituted the sacrament of the 
 last supper. To avoid the scandal of the corporal 
 presence, Cranmer consented to relinquish the Invo- 
 cation ; a prayer in which God's Holy Spirit is in- 
 voked to bless the bread and the wine ; the principal 
 petition of which is thus expressed in the first Li- 
 turgy of Edward : " Hear us, O merciful Father, we 
 beseech thee ; and with thy Holy Spirit and Word, 
 vouchsafe to bless and sanctify these thy gifts and 
 creatures of bread and wine, that they may be unto us 
 the body and blood of thy most dearly beloved Son." 
 This is esteemed the proper prayer of consecration ; 
 and it was in substance, and indeed nearly in the 
 same terms, used by all the churches of the West, 
 long before the errors of popery, relative to the 
 Lord's Supper, were introduced. Before I conclude, 
 I shall have occasion to show that it has been ap- 
 proved by some of the most learned Divines of 
 the Church of England, who regret its omission in 
 their form, and lament that so important a sacrifice 
 was made to conciliate the benevolence of those 
 who had no power to do good. 
 
 Twice has tlie Establishment of the South at- 
 tempted to effect a uniformity, doctrinal and ecclesi- 
 astical, with foreign protestants, on a ground common 
 to both ; and on each occasion did she lose strength 
 and character. The first instance was in the days 
 of Cranmer, as already mentioned ; and the second, 
 proposed by Turretin, took place under Tillotson 
 and Wake. In the eighteenth century as well as 
 in the sixteenth, it was found that the continental
 
 28 
 
 protestarits were not themselves sufficiently agreed 
 in their tenets to admit of a compact with others. 
 
 The alterations in the Communion-Office were 
 part of the price paid for the expected co-operation, 
 on the part of the calvinistic professors at home and 
 abroad. John Knox accordingly, with Martyr and 
 Bucer, assisted in accomplishing the change ; and 
 hence may be explained the Zuinglian tendency 
 which is perceptible in many parts, and the studied 
 departure from ancient usage not less than ancient 
 feeling, in regard to the elements. The bread and 
 wine, remaining after the Communion, were directed 
 to be given to the curate ; no distinction being made 
 between what was consecrated and what was not. 
 Even where the right doctrine was held, it was placed, 
 as it were, under a veil, suppressed and clouded ; and 
 lest there should be any suspicion that the faithful 
 departed were in any degree called to remembrance, 
 when showing forth the death of him who brought 
 life and immortality to light, the concluding sentences 
 of the prayer for the whole state of Christ's church 
 were entirely left out. In truth, the Reformation in 
 many parts of Europe showed contempt of the sacra- 
 ments, and a desire to reject them. So far was this 
 bad spirit manifested, even in England, that it became 
 necessary in the reign of Edward the Sixth to pass an 
 Act against speaking irreverently of the holy Com- 
 munion. The strong hand of Elizabeth imposed a 
 firmer check on this downward tendency : she restored 
 some essential parts of the Liturgy, and thereby 
 saved her countrymen from the latitudinarianism 
 which soon afterwards paralyzed the continental
 
 29 
 
 reformers, and from the unitarian heresy, which 
 has followed, in too many instances, the inordinate 
 Calvinism of the puritans at home. 
 
 But with respect to the Communion-Office, the 
 queen found it expedient to make a covenant with 
 circumstances, and to leave out the prayer of Invo- 
 cation, lest the more tender minds should apprehend 
 a return towards the corporal presence, or doctrine 
 of the Mass. The bread and wine are no doubt, 
 throughout the Service, described as the body and 
 blood of the Redeemer; nevertheless it was deemed 
 proper to leave out the petition which, in the ears 
 of the peevish or uninstructed, might sound like 
 the " magic virtue of the priestly office," in effecting 
 the relative change on the simple elements. In 
 this case was shown that weakness or infelicity of 
 human wisdom which, in the attempt to avoid one 
 evil, not unfrequently rushes into another and a 
 worse, on the opposite side. The invocation was 
 omitted, though warranted by the purest antiquity ; 
 while the reliance for consecrating the sacrament 
 was placed on the words of institution, — a modern 
 device, and introduced by the Church of Rome, 
 when she had ceased to be guided, in this impor- 
 tant matter, by the light of primitive example. All 
 the ancient liturgies, except the Roman missal, has 
 the prayer by which the Holy Spirit is invoked or 
 called down to bless the bread and wine, after the 
 words of institution have been pronounced ; pro- 
 ceeding on the principle, that the blessing or sancti- 
 fication of any object devoted to the service of the 
 Almighty, cannot be accomplished except by the
 
 30 
 
 word of God and prayer. This is the doctrine of 
 St Paul, and it corresponds to the practice of our 
 Lord. " The cup of blessing which we bless, is it 
 not the communion of the blood of Christ ?" 
 
 It was on the point now indicated that a prefer- 
 ence was given by a portion of the Episcopal Ciiurch 
 in Scotland, to a Communion-Office which had been 
 many years in use, and founded on the principles of 
 the first Liturgy of Edward VI. Compared with 
 that of Elizabeth, there is a slight difference in the 
 arrangement of the other prayers; but the character- 
 istic distinction is found in that which is devoted 
 to the consecration of the elements. In this respect 
 it agrees with the primitive liturgies, many of which 
 have been preserved to our times ; and because of 
 this agreement, as well as of its scriptural import, it 
 has, with the exception of one phrase, been adopted 
 by the Episcopal Church in the United States of 
 America.* 
 
 * In the first Liturgy of Edward the Sixth, and in the Scottish, 
 the words, as already noticed, are, " Hear us, O most merciful Father, 
 we heseech thee ; and with thy Word and Holy Spirit, vouchsafe to 
 bless and sanctify these thy gifts and creatures of bread and wine, 
 that they may be unto us the body and blood of thy most dearly 
 beloved Son." The Invocation, as used in the American church, is 
 as follows : " And we most humbly beseech thee, merciful Father, 
 to hear us, and of thy Almighty goodness vouchsafe to bless and 
 sanctify witli thy Word and Holy Spirit these thy gifts and creatures 
 of bread and wine ; that we receiving them according to thy Son our 
 Saviour Jesus Christ's holy institution, in remembrance of his death 
 and passion, may be partakers of his most blessed body and blood." 
 The oblation, that is, the offering or presenting of the bread and wine 
 on the Lord's Table, is the same in all the three Offices.
 
 31 
 
 I have already suggested that the eiicharistic forms 
 adopted by the Scottish Episcopalians have received 
 the approbation of many learned divines in England. 
 Though Bishop Horsley's opinion has been so fre- 
 quently quoted that it is familiar to every one, I 
 cannot deny myself the satisfaction of repeating it 
 in your hearing. " I think the Scotch Office more 
 conformable to the primitive models, and in my 
 private judgment more edifying, than that which we 
 now use ; insomuch that were I at liberty to follow 
 my private judgment, I would myself use the Scot- 
 tish Office in preference. The alterations which were 
 made in the Communion-Office, as it stood in the 
 first book of Edward the Sixth, to humour the 
 Calvinists, were in my opinion much for the worse : 
 nevertheless, I think our present Office is very good ; 
 our form of consecration of the elements is sufficient ; 
 I mean that the elements are consecrated by it, 
 and made the body and blood of Christ, in the sense 
 in which our Lord himself said the bread and wine 
 were his body and blood." 
 
 Sensible of the apparent defect in the present 
 English Office, the pious Bishop Wilson, whose 
 praise is in every church, in his " Short Introduc- 
 tion to the Lord's Supper," directed his readers, im- 
 mediately after the prayer of consecration, to " say 
 secretly. Send down thy Spirit and blessing upon 
 this means of grace and salvation, which thou thy- 
 self, O Jesus, hast ordained. Most merciful God, 
 the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, look graciously 
 upon the gifts now lying before thee, and send down 
 thy Holy Spirit on this sacrifice, that he may make
 
 32 
 
 tliis bread and wine the body and blood of thy Christ, 
 that all who partake of them may be confirmed in 
 godliness, may receive remission of their sins, and 
 obtain everlasting life." 
 
 Archdeacon Daubeny admitted that the Episcopal 
 Church of Scotland, " by forming her Communion 
 Service upon the model of that first set forth for the 
 use of the Church of England, keeps closer to the ori- 
 ginal pattern of the primitive church than the Church 
 of England herself now does." — Bishop Fleetwood, 
 in his " Reasonable Communicant," observes, that 
 " the church of Christ did heretofore pray that the 
 Holy Spirit of God, coming down on the creatures 
 of bread and wine, might make them the body and 
 blood of Christ." 
 
 In reference to the same subject, Dr Waterland 
 remarks, that " in the liturgy of 1549 (the first of 
 Edward) there was a solemn address to God for his 
 propitious favour (a very ancient, eminent, and 
 solemn part of the Communion Service), in these 
 words: — *' We, thy humble servants, do celebrate and 
 make here before thy divine Majesty, with these 
 thy holy gifts, the memorial which thy Son hath 
 willed us to make, having in remembrance his blessed 
 passion and precious death, his mighty resurrection 
 and glorious ascension.' Why this part, he adds, was 
 struck out in the review I know not, unless it was 
 owing to some scruple (which however was needless) 
 about making the memorial before God, which at 
 that time might appear to give some umbrage to the 
 popish sacrifice, among such as knew not how to 
 distinguish. How^ever that were, we have still the
 
 33 
 
 sum and substance of the primitive memorial re- 
 maining in our present Office ; not all in one place, 
 but interspersed here and there in the exhortations 
 and prayers." 
 
 One of the latest historians of the English church, 
 the present Bishop of Man, when adverting to the 
 alterations introduced into the Communion-Office of 
 the second Liturgy of Edward, remarks, " It is diffi- 
 cult to understand why the invocation of the second 
 and third Persons in the Trinity was left out: it 
 has been wisely restored in the American Prayer- 
 Book."* Approving the prayer that God by his 
 Word and Holy Spirit would bless the bread and 
 wine, this learned writer thereby acknowledges, and 
 so far regrets, the want in the Anglican Office, where 
 there is no longer any such petition. 
 
 In the face of the high authorities which have now 
 been quoted, it must appear to every candid reasoner 
 extremely absurd to charge the Scottish Communion 
 with a popish tendency. It is obvious that the impu- 
 tation of such error might, with a greater show of 
 reason, be turned the other way. An able author 
 of the seventeenth century observes, that the mere 
 " recital of the words of institution, tcike^ eat, this is 
 my body, passeth in the common vogue for a conse- 
 cration. Were I Romishly inclined, I should rather 
 impute unto them the power of transiibstantiation ; 
 for that a bare narrative can be qualified to conse- 
 
 * A Sketch of the History of the Church of England to the 
 Revolution 1688. By Thomas Vowler Short, B.D., Student of Christ 
 Church, &c., 1832 ; vol. ii. p. 313. 
 
 C
 
 34 
 
 crate, is certainly new divinity, unknown to scripture 
 and to antiquity interpreting it. Therefore I must 
 adhere in judgment to those learned men who derive 
 consecration from the word of God and prayer, the 
 very way by which our Saviour himself sanctified 
 those elements in his first institution, calling upon 
 God Jor his hlessing, and giving thanks. Though 
 the primitive fathers, in the act of consecration, did 
 usually join the narrative of Christ's institution 
 with the words of hlessing and thanksgiving, there- 
 by, as it were, showing their commission, yet were 
 they far from imagining that the elements were 
 sanctified any other way than by prayer. The 
 Papists make the words of institution the great 
 operators in the conversion ;" that is, of the elements 
 into the real body of our Lord, in the process of 
 transubstantiation.* 
 
 Let it not be imagined that any insinuation is 
 here conveyed against the doctrine of the Anglican 
 Communion Service. Far be it from us to imitate, 
 in this respect, a species of injustice which we regret 
 in others, who, neglecting the general and avowed 
 object of a sacred ritual, endeavour to support, on 
 
 * Alliance of Divine Offices. By Hamon L'Estrange, Esq. 
 Pp. 205, 206. Edition 1G90. The defect to which this author alludes 
 appears more distinctly in the rubric inserted in the Communion- 
 Office itself. *' If the consecrated bread or wine be all spent before 
 all have communicated, the priest is to consecrate more, according 
 to the form before prescribed, beginning at ' Our Saviour Christ, 
 in the same nighty " &c. This direction limits the consecration of 
 the elements to the simple words of institution, without any prayer 
 whatever.
 
 35 
 
 insulated expressions, a conclusion utterly incon- 
 sistent with its general tenor. We acknowledge 
 that the elements " are consecrated" by the use of the 
 English Office, and therefore we consider it sufficient 
 for accomplishing the holy purpose to which we 
 apply it. Still, we ought to have a tender feeling 
 towards those who do not see it in the same light, 
 and, above all, to refrain from accusing them of 
 unprotestant inclinations. Nor should we allow 
 ourselves to forget that, in the hands of an ingenious 
 adversary, a popular argument might be wielded, 
 with great effect, towards establishing the unfair 
 conclusion, that the English form, in the act of 
 consecration, approaches more nearly to the Romish 
 than any other used at the present day in Western 
 Europe. 
 
 Most of us agree in the opinion so well expressed 
 by Bishop Horsley, that the holy sacrament is regu- 
 larly administered by the common Office, though 
 the doctrine of the church is not distinctly brought 
 out. By the ignorant and the dishonest the Scottish 
 is said to approach nearer than the other to the 
 Canon of the mass. Never was there a greater 
 mistake ; for while a Roman Catholic might receive 
 the sacrament according to the English form, he 
 could not possibly receive it according to the 
 Scottish. In this last the prayer of Invocation is 
 held indispensable — a prayer which an intelligent 
 member of the Church of Rome could not tolerate, 
 because it would imply that the bread and wine, 
 after being transubstantiated — made the very body
 
 36 
 
 and blood of our Lord — required to be blessed and 
 sanctified ! 
 
 The unwise and weak attacks recently made on 
 our Communion Service have, as might be expected, 
 produced a partial reaction in its favour, not un- 
 attended with some inconvenience. Many who 
 were contented with the English form are no longer 
 so ; they perceive a defect to which they had not 
 formerly adverted ; they find that writers of great 
 name in the United Church have bewailed the im- 
 perfect expression of the Consecration prayer ; and 
 they desire that the bread and wine should be blessed 
 by supplicating the descent of the Holy Spirit, and 
 not merely by repeating a text from Scripture. 
 
 The Scottish Office was gradually falling into 
 disuse ; and the practice of our people was becom- 
 ing uniform in all parts of the country — a matter 
 of no small consequence to our repose — when the 
 assault made upon their belief, through virulent 
 strictures on their sacramental form, induced many 
 of them to have recourse to the examination of first 
 principles, as these are involved in the history of the 
 Liturgy at large. This feeling I find stronger among 
 English persons, both lay and clerical, than among 
 the indigenous Episcopalians ; creating in some in- 
 stances a considerable embarrassment to the directors 
 of our ecclesiastical affairs. 
 
 Uniformity is on many accounts of the greatest 
 value to us, and more especially as it would establish 
 an entire agreement between the Anglican church 
 and ourselves. For this reason alone, as the inter-
 
 37 
 
 course between the two divisions of the kingdom is 
 becoming every day more rapid and extensive, I 
 should be inclined, were it necessary, to make a 
 considerable sacrifice. Like every one who has 
 diligently, and with a competent degree of know- 
 ledge and candour, compared the two Forms, I prefer 
 the Scottish (which, in point of fact, is only a slight 
 modification of the older English), because it enun- 
 ciates more distinctly the real doctrine of the church, 
 and is, at the same time, more in harmony with 
 primitive usage. Still, holding with the great di- 
 vines I have named, that the sacrament of the body 
 and blood is rightly and duly administered to every 
 devout communicant according to either ritual, I do 
 not condemn myself or others for having relin- 
 quished the more ancient Office, and joined the 
 majority of my clerical brethren in the use of that 
 which received the sanction of those able prelates 
 who directed the counsels of Queen Elizabeth. We 
 may perhaps be accused of sacrificing to expediency 
 not only catholic truth but the most venerable prac- 
 tice. I hope we are not chargeable with so great 
 an offence ; and in order to preclude the approach 
 of hasty judgment or angry expostulation, allow 
 me to recommend forbearance towards one another, 
 as well as a careful study of the ancient liturgies, 
 which will diffuse both light and kindness over our 
 minds. 
 
 In early times, when the church of Christ was 
 more truly one body than she has ever been since, 
 a variety was allowed in the forms used for admi-
 
 38 
 
 nistering the holy sacraments. Before the Reforma- 
 tion, too, a similar freedom was enjoyed in England, 
 which, though it may have occasioned some incon- 
 venience, was never imagined to infringe upon the 
 entireness and sanctity of the faith. A similar 
 feeling of confidence and generosity animated the 
 heads of the ecclesiastical estate in England, a few 
 years ago, when they consented to bring into full 
 communion with their Establishment the kindred 
 churches in Scotland and in the United States of 
 America. The Archbishop of Canterbury and his 
 brethren were not ignorant of the few variations 
 in our respective Communion-Services ; but being 
 satisfied that there is no discrepancy in doctrine, 
 they induced the legislature to confer upon the 
 bill presented by the Primate in the House of 
 Lords the full force of law, and thereby remove 
 some unseemly anomalies in our professional inter- 
 course. — (Note v., end.) 
 
 We ought ever to bear in mind that the catholic 
 church of Christ is neither Rome nor a conventicle ; 
 and that schism is not only a great sin, but a proof 
 of selfishness, pride, and vain-glory. " Separation," 
 writes a modern bishop, " appears to be allowable 
 only when a church is deserted because it holds 
 doctrines which may endanger our salvation ;" and 
 on this ground he blames the English non-con- 
 formists in other times, many of whom could urge 
 no good reason for their undutiful conduct. " They 
 inflicted a wound upon our church," says he, " which 
 time has not been able to cure, and created such a
 
 spirit of division among us, that schism is now 
 hardly deemed a sin."* 
 
 My brethren, let us not be apprehensive as to the 
 ultimate welfare of our own portion of the Universal 
 church. Her foundations are upon the holy hills, 
 where the rising waters of strife and error will not 
 reach her, nor cause any serious loss. The Episco- 
 pal Communion in Scotland encountered in former 
 times much opposition in high places, originating in 
 her adherence to certain political principles, which, 
 whether right or wrong, she believed to be sacred. 
 Her motives, now better appreciated, have not failed 
 to do her honour. The stedfastness which induced 
 the more prominent of her members to sacrifice all 
 temporal advantages, rather than withdraw their 
 allegiance where they thought it due, has in no in- 
 stance been called to remembrance without respect; 
 and it will enable her, through God's blessing, to 
 overcome the effects of any excitement which may 
 have arisen from local or personal feelings. 
 
 The cause of order, in church and state, has ever 
 had a strong hold on the minds of intelligent men 
 living under a constitutional government; and with- 
 out a very urgent reason, they will not long give 
 their countenance to a needless separation — a great 
 and groundless evil. But whatever may betide, let 
 us at all times act under the impression that charity 
 and quietness will accomplish much more than argu- 
 ment, however ingeniously or learnedly conducted. 
 
 * Bishop Short's Sketch, vol. ii. p. 283. First edition.
 
 40 
 
 In looking back to the days which are past, we cannot 
 but perceive that much has been lost, through want 
 of consideration for the frailties of others ; and also 
 that many good men have been gained to the interests 
 of truth by being allowed time for reflection, and 
 receiving the treatment due to friends, not to ene- 
 mies. On no account let us quarrel about the sacred 
 institutions of our holy faith. An old writer calls 
 the Lord's Supper " the most blessed sacrament of 
 Unity." Alas ! it is not so with us, who have been 
 compelled to view it through the cloud of conten- 
 tion and personal resentment. We are too apt to 
 forget the saying of an ancient father, who endea- 
 voured to cool the ardour of his contemporaries by 
 whispering in their ears, " those mysteries which we 
 cannot unfold, let us adore and then shut." The 
 several branches of the catholic church ought to 
 resemble those of the golden candlestick in the 
 temple at Jerusalem, which, resting on one stem, 
 diffused light, and the same light too, throughout 
 the holy place. At all events, let us pray for peace ; 
 and if those for whom we ask it be not worthy, 
 our prayer will return into our own bosoms, loaded 
 with a heavenly blessing which passeth all under- 
 standing.
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Note I. 
 The slight verbal alterations to which allusion is made in the text, 
 are now, I believe, entirely discontinued ; but as they have been 
 recently urged in an English periodical as a proof that the Scottish 
 Episcopalians do not honestly adhere to the ritual they profess to 
 have adopted, I shall mention all the deviations that I have ever 
 happened to witness during forty years. 
 
 Our Father wMcli art, altered to Our Father who art. 
 Give peace in our time. „ Give peace and truth, &c. 
 
 Who hast safely brought us to „ Who hast safely brought us 
 
 the beginning of this day. to this dag. 
 
 Bishops and curates. „ Bishops and pastors. 
 
 Defend us from all perils and „ Of the ensuing night. 
 
 dangers of this night. 
 Show thy pity on all prisoners „ Prisoners, exiles, and captives. 
 
 and captives. 
 Evils that we most righteously „ 'Most justlg have deserved. 
 
 have deserved. 
 Unto whom all hearts be open. „ All hearts are open. 
 
 These are all the alterations or deviations I was accustomed to 
 hear in church. Once, in Aberdeenshire, instead of the Ten Com- 
 mandments, I heard a clergyman read the summary of them, as given 
 by our Saviour in the Gospels ; and once in Perthshire I witnessed 
 a Confirmation, where the form in the first book of Edward VI. 
 was prefixed to that inserted in the present edition of the Common 
 Prayer. The Bishop said, " I sign thee with the sign of the cross, 
 and lay my hand upon thee in the name of the Father, and of the 
 Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen. Defend, Lord, this thy servant 
 with thy heavenly grace," &c., as in the modern office. 
 
 D
 
 42 
 
 Note II. 
 
 Forms of Absolution were common in all the reformed churches 
 in the time of Cranmer, and are to be found m their several Confes- 
 sions and Rituals. In Knox's Liturgy, formerly used in Scotland, 
 there are two. In the case of a penitent the minister was instructed 
 to say : *' If thou unfeignedly repent thy former iniquity, and believe 
 on the Lord Jesus, then I, in his name, pronounce and affirm that 
 thy sins are forgiven, not only in earth but also in heaven, according 
 to the promises aimexed with the preaching of his word, and to the 
 power put in the ministry of his church." 
 
 Wlicn an excommunicated person was restored to christian fellow- 
 ship, the following was used : " In the name and authoritie of Jesus 
 Christ, I, the minister of his blessed Evangel, with consent of the 
 whole ministrie and church, absolve thee, N, from the sentence of 
 excommunication, from the sinne by thee committed, and from all 
 censures laid against thee for the same before, according to thy 
 repentance : And I pronounce thy sinne to be loosed in heaven, and 
 thee to be received again to the societie of Jesus Christ, to his body 
 the church, to the participation of his sacraments, and, finally, to the 
 fruition of all his benefites ; in the name of the Father, the Sonne, 
 and the Holy Spirit. So be it." 
 
 Note III. 
 There is a small difference between the Communion-Office now in 
 use, and the one prepared for the Scottish church in the time of 
 Charles the First. In the latter, the Invocation stands in the Con- 
 secration-prayer immediately before the words of institution, whereas 
 in the former, as well as in all the ancient liturgies, it succeeds those 
 words, and thereby makes the oblation to consist of the elements 
 considered as simple bread and wine. 
 
 Note IV. 
 
 An undue stress seems to be laid upon the different forms of 
 expression used for denoting the effect of consecration on the elements, 
 « that they may be" — " that they may be to us" — or " that they 
 may become" — " the body and blood of thy dearly beloved Son Jesus 
 Christ." The phrases appear to me to be equal in value, theologi- 
 cally and grammatically. When placed on the Lord's Table, the 
 bread and Avine are not " consecrated elements," or what the church
 
 on the authority of Scripture calls the body and blood of our Lord ; 
 but, after the prayer of consecration, they are his body and blood in 
 the sense which he himself assigned to those mysterious words. A 
 change has taken place, but it is one merely of relation and efficacy. 
 Analogous changes are common in civil life. A piece of paper, not 
 worth a halfpenny, is by a certain authoritative act made equal in value 
 to many thousand pounds. In like manner, a bill on the table of 
 either house of parliament is a mere tissue of printed pages without any 
 effect whatever ; but when it receives the royal assent, which may be 
 given either directly or by commission, it becomes a law of the land. 
 Were the queen on any occasion solicited to give her assent to a 
 bill which had passed both houses, would it make any difference 
 whether the petitioners said, May it please your majesty to accord 
 your royal assent, that the bill may be, or may be to us, or may 
 become, a public statute or law of the realm ? — In all the cases now 
 supposed, the validity of the official act depends on the authority with 
 which it is exercised ; and the change accomplished is only a relative 
 one. 
 
 Note V. 
 
 The reference in the text is to an Act passed in the fourth year of 
 Queen Victoria, entituled " An Act to make certain Provisions and 
 Regulations in respect to the Exercise, within England and Ireland, 
 of their Office by the Bishops and Clergy of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church in Scotland." Referring to an Act in the thirty-second year 
 of George the Third, "for granting Relief to Persons of the Episcopal 
 Communion in Scotland," it proceeds to state, that " it is expedient to 
 alter and amend the said Act, and to enable the Bishops of the said 
 Protestant Episcopal Church in Scotland, and the Priests of such 
 church canonically ordained, under certain limitations and restric- 
 tions, to perform Divine Service, to preach, and to administer the 
 Sacraments, according to the rites and ceremonies of the United 
 Church of England and Ireland, in churches or chapels witliin Eng- 
 land or Ireland, where the Liturgy of said United Church is used."— 
 The main " restriction" alluded to, is the necessity of procuring per- 
 mission from the Ordinary of the diocese where the Bishop or Priest 
 wishes to officiate : and if either remain more than two Sundays, the 
 pennission must be renewed. 
 
 As it fell to my lot on that occasion to be deputed by my brethren
 
 44 
 
 of the Episcopal order here, to answer in London such questions as 
 might be put to me relative to the objects of the proposed bill, 
 I had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the reas(Jns which 
 dictated the restriction now mentioned. " When legislating," said 
 one of their Lordships of the English Bench, " we cannot place you 
 on a better footing than our own clergy : for the law of our church 
 is, that the clergy of one diocese shall not officiate in any other 
 diocese without permission from the Bishop of that other." — " This 
 law," he added, "has long been a dead letter amongst us, for the 
 clergy go from one diocese to another without asking any body's 
 leave ; and such will soon be the law which we are making for you." 
 As the bill comprehended also the Episcopal Church in the United 
 States, the clergy of which cannot be so familiarly known as we are 
 to their English brethren of any order, the rule became necessarily a 
 little more stringent than it would otherwise have been. One of our 
 clergymen, however, has since the passing of the Act officiated three 
 months at one time in an English diocese ; obtaining, of course, from 
 the Bishop the renewed permission. 
 
 This Act has materially improved our status, inasmuch as it affi)rds 
 a parliamentary recognition to our title as " The Bishops and Clergy 
 of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Scotland ." The bill of Anno 32 
 Geo. III. described only two orders — those, namely, of pastors and 
 ministers : that of Victoria not only restores the proper designation, 
 but recognises in reference to the Bishops " the exercise of Episcopal 
 functions" within their proper districts. 
 
 After the lapse of six years, I cannot write without a feeling of 
 the deepest gratitude towards those exalted persons, the heads of the 
 government and of the church, who united their influence in promot- 
 ing the object to which this note alludes. Not only the Prelates, who 
 wished to bring us nearer to themselves, as members of the same 
 spiritual communion, but also the Prime Minister and his colleagues 
 in office, manifested the greatest interest in our cause, and expressed 
 a cordial satisfaction when their endeavours for our welfare were 
 crowned with success. 
 
 Printed by Oliver & Boyd, 
 Twccddale Court, High Street, Kdinltiirgli.