(1875) The Church of England and Ritualism

December 23, 2017 | Author: Herbert Hillary Booker 2nd | Category: Anglicanism, Book Of Common Prayer, Worship, Rituals, Clergy
Share Embed Donate


Short Description

NOTA BENE: I have no opinion of this 1875 book by William Ewart Gladstone, 1809-1898...

Description

HP

^)m

ioemstfi

^-

BBHBBsaaass

PRINCETON,

N.

J.

BV 176 .G522 1875 Gladstone, W. E. 1809-1898. The Church of England and ritualism SA,//.....

THE CHURCH OF EXGLAXD AND RITUALISM.

BY THB^

RIGHT HON. W. E.'gLADSTONE, M.P

Repnnted from " The Contemporary Review," and

revised.

djaepai 8' €7rtA.ot7rot

^apTupes

(Tocfiu/raTot.

Pindar.

STRAHAN 34,

& CO.,

PUBLISHERS,

PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON

Uaztll, Wateon,

&,

Viney, Printers, London and Ajlesbury

ADVEETISEMENT. To

two

this reprint of

articles

from the Contemporarij

much

Review, ou subjects which have

disturbed the

Churcli of England, I prefix an observation on a

siiigltj

doctrinal significance to ex-

point, that of attaching

ternal usages. I

have nowhere questioned that there are outward

usages,

which may and must be

cance.

My

proposition

ternal usages have tliat

field

contention

is

is

of doctrinal signifi-

simply

where ex-

this, that

subjects of contention,

and

carried to issue in courts of law,

tlie

and

tlie

become

should not be unnecessarily widened

usage should not be

;

interpreted for judicial purposes

with reference to this or that particular dogma, so long,

and of course only so long, as

unconstrainedly bears

(p.

51)

it

naturally and

some sense not entailing

sach a consequence.

Within the last few weeks has been taken from amongst us the venerated Dean Hook, the greatest I believe he had taken parish priest of his age. his part, in a decided and public manner, against the prohibition of the eastward secrator in

the

celebration

of

position of the con-

the

Lord's

Supper.

ADVI-:RTrSE}TEyT.

4

have au opportunity of showing, a-^ I think conclusively, how little it was in his mind hereby to exclude the laity from their full participation in the solemn act, by citing a passage from a

I

am

glad

to

young outward

private letter which he addressed

to a

when were debated among

of

man

in

questions

1842,

us with what

now

all

have been a needless heat and violence.

many

that

afraid

forget Christ,

their

in

as

the Clergy,

God, and who Sacrifice of

for

usage see

to

"I am Church

and in maintaining the rights of the

Clergy forget the rights well

zeal

the

clergy-

the

of

priests

laity

unto

who

;

as

are,

Most High

the

indeed have as large a portion of the

Prayer and Praise assigned to them in

the Prayer-Book as the Ciergy." I seek to show,

by

this extract,

have been, in the mind

of

this

how

innocent must

admirable man, the

how unwise and case among others,

usage of the eastward position, and unjust

it

would have been,

to attach to

tion

to

it

the

'

in his

doctrinal significance

exclude the

laity

from

their

'

of an inten-

share in the

Eucharistic offering. I believe

it

may

be stated, with confidence that there

have been times, when the northward position has been recommended, with authority and learning, as being more adapted than the eastward one to give effect to

full

the teaching of the Sacrifice in the Lord's

Supper.

The notes appended

to this reprint are in brackets.

W. 12th November, 1875.

E. G.

RITUAL AND EITUALISM.*

For some months

past,

and particularly during

tlie

closing weeks of the Session of Parliament, the word

Eitualism has had, in a remarkable degree, possession of "the public ear, clear.

is

and of the public mind.

The road

is

not so easy, when

So much

we proceed

And

search for the exact meaning of the term.

to

yet the first

term

itself

is

not in

fault.

It

admits,

an easy and unexceptionable definition.

sight, of

Eitualism surely means an undue disposition to Kitual itself all

is

founded on the Apostolic precept,

things be done decently and in order

Kal Kara tol^cv, in right,

graceful, or

and by fore-ordered arrangement, exterior

modes

as a distinct

at

of

" ;

and proper subject

*'

Let

evcrxyjjj-oi-ccs

becoming

1 Cor. xiv. 40.

divine service are thus

ritual.

laid

figure,

Tlie

down

for the consideration

of Christians.

But the word Ritualism passes *

From The

Cuntimjjoiary Reiien

in the public

foi

October, ]874.

mind

RITUAL AND RITUALISM.

6

for

more

something

for

something more variable, In a more

character.

and such a manner

a kind ritual

indicate

as

ceremonial

of

nation,

for

the purpose

Roman

or Popish ceremonial

ducing the

signifies

it

alter

to

in

to

least

tlie

and by

this

at

assimilating

of

such

undue disposition

established

religion

Roman

form

of

design

a

also

not more vague, in

if

specific

and

terms,

in

specific

the

to

it

and, further, of intro-

;

or Papal religion into this country,

under the insidious form, and

silent

but steady suasion ,^

of its ceremonial.

All this

is

intelligible

enough

;

and,

we

if

start

with

such a conception of Ritualism, we, as a people, ought to

know what we

there

is

anotlier

be given of

it.

think, say, and do about

and a

There

is

briefer

But

it.

may

account which

a definition purely subjective,

but in practice more widely prevalent than any other.

According to this definition, Ritualism that which, in matter of ritual, each

holds to be in excess. it

When

is

man

the term

becomes in the highest degree

to each

man

dislikes,

and

is

thus used,

decei:)tive

covers under an apparent unity meanings as

the

ripples

of

antagonism

to,

loaded

Roman

the or

smiling

sea

as

;

the

;

for it

many

shades

as of

divergence from, the most over-

ceremonial.

employed, sympatby

flies,

When as

if

it

the term

were

is

thus

electricity,

RITUAL AND RITUALISM. through the crowd

but

;

it

7

sympathy based upon

is

Men

the sound and not upou the sense.

thus impelled

mischievously but naturally mistake ihe strength of

The

their feeling for the strength of their argument.

heated mind resents the scrutiny

of

There

logic.

touch and relentless

chill

could

be

no

advantage,

especially at the present time, in approaching such a

theme from

this point of view.

But perhaps

it

may

be

allowable for a

of the polemical field into the

domain

little faith

of thought.

its titles

of appeal to

the free judgment and reason of men, can rarely

what

is

I

But

be ever so clear.

word spoken in quietness, and by way

to be in season.

an

in coercion applied to matter of

opinion and feeling, let a

make

few moments out

endeavour to carry this subject

have but

to

fail

I propose, accordingly, to consider

the true measure and meaning of Ritual, in

order thus to arrive at a clear conception of that vice in

use which

its

is

designated

by the

name

of

Ritualism. Ritual, then,

is

the clothing which, in some form,

and in some degree, men naturally and inevitably give to the

performance of the public duties of rehgiou.

Beyond the carried

;

but

religious

the

sphere

thing

appear, under other names.

the

appears,

In

all

phrase

and

is

never

cannot

but

the more solemn

RITUAL AND RITUALISM.

8

and stated public acts

mau, we

of

employed that

find

investiture of the acts themselves with an appropriate

which

exterior,

subject-matter

same

is

it

:

is is

The

the essential idea of ritual.

but the principle

different,

the

is

and adaptation of the outward

the use

for the expression of the inward.

It

may

adaptation course

Why

?

not

should there be any such

leave

things

Is not the inward enough,

?

and pure smother

Why

be asked,

?

it ?

to if it

take

their

be genuine

And may not the outward overlay and But human nature itself, with a thousand The marriage

tongues, utters the reply.

of the

outward

and the inward pervades the universe. They wedded form with artful strife, The strength and harmony of life.

And

the

life

and teaching of Christ Himself are marked

by a frequent employment of signs in which are

laid

the ground, and the foreshowing, both of Sacraments

and of Ritual.

True indeed burn us

;

it is

that the

fire,

the light, meant to guide,

the food, meant to sustain,

and

light

meant

and food

indispensable.

And

perpetual instinct of

are

may

to

warm, may

may

poison us

blind us ;

but

;

fire

not only useful, they are is

with that universal and

human

nature which exacts of

so

it

RITUAL A\D RITUALISM. US,

in

form given externally

tlie

tliat

word and act

our

to

tljoiiglits

be one appropriate to their

shall

Applied to the circle of civilized

substance.

which gives us

principle,

9

life,

this

gives us

ritual in religion,

the ceremonial of Courts, the costume of Judges, the

uniform of regiments, symbol,

the language of heraldry and

all

the hierarchy of rank and

all

descending through

all

title

and which,

;

classes, presents itself in the

badges and the bands of Foresters'

and Shepherds'

Clubs and Benefit Societies.

But

if

be

there

a

vidence and pervading the inward,

it is

— ordained by ProNature — of the outward and marriage

required in this, as in other marriages,

that there be some

harmony

of disposition between

In the perception of this harmony, a

the partners.

life-long observation has impressed

we

me

with the belief

rule,

and apart from

special training, singularly deficient.

In the inward

that

as a jjeople

as a

are,

realms of thought and of imagination, the

England

equally idle

to

reference

external.

of

to stand in the first rank of civilized nations

need not be argued,

in

title

for it is admitted.

any special plea on

ofi'er

to

all

classes

of

The railway and the

the forge, and the mine

every ocean

;

the

It

first

;

would be its

developments

behalf

purely

telegraph, the factory,

the highways beaten upon

place in the trade of the world,

RITUAL AND RITUALISM.

lo

where

population would

commercial marine

equalling that

Continental Europe

own

:

may

these

When we come

tale.

selves beaten

now

diversified region

But

of

human

thought

is

find our-

so

large,

not of pure Art

to

of a people.

nothing except pure

that

from

musical, so a music of the eye

Wordsworth)

should

an

the great mass and

lies

As

it.

in the Italian

language scarcely a word can be found which

from

and

vast

same time

at the

— the Art-hfe,

of right excluded

one

in

pursued, and where the

is

substance of the Kunst-lehen is

we

and action, where a

life

Here

outward form of beauty.

a

their

tell

of that

is

;

whole of

left to

is

it

It

instrument employed aspires

sphere

be

fifth

the

of

to pure Art,

speak.

distinct purpose of utility

Its

the

by great countries, and even,

case at least, by small.*

that I would

us but

give

(I

not

is

borrow the figure

pervade

all

visible

pro-

duction and construction whatever, whether of objects in themselves permanent,

porary

only

collocation

of those w^here

or

of

the

parts

is

a tem-

in

view.

This state of things was realized, to a great extent, in the Italian

life

of the middle ages.

But

its

grand

and normal example

is

where the

Beauty was so profusely poured

forth,

that

spirit it

of

seemed

to be sought in ancient Greece,

to

fill

* Belgium.

the

life

and action

of

RITUAL AND RITUALISM.

man

as

the kingdoms of Nature

fills

it

the other, was iu

like

ments

way

its

the hand or thought of man,

the

:

one,

The

a Komnos.

embodied

everything

production,

of

\i

ele-

under

spontaneously mto

fell

beautiful form, like the glasses in a kaleidoscope.

It

was the gallant endeavour to give beauty as a matter of

and in

course,

harmony with purpose,

full

manufactured and

that

he

the

name

of

Wedgwood now, and

famous.

The Greeks,

were,

to

so

objects,

which

sold,

speak, a

among

nation of Wedgwoods.

we

those which

numberless form,

the

startled

Athens,

in

Greek

relics of

as

we

if

to

fire

we know from the

as art

Most

we calmly

produce,

were coolly passing our children through the

But

ever,

Greeks,

Attic

and without a sigh surrender to Ugliness,

Moloch.

made

has

trust for

I

the

least

at

to all

and industry

in every

production of anything ngly would have

men by

strangeness as

its

have vexed them

bj^

its

deformity

much ;

as

would

it

and a deviation

from the law of Taste, the faculty by which Beauty is

discerned,

would have been treated simply

deviation from

the

same

it

to all,

principle,

law of Nature.

which

are

a

One and the

need hardly be observed,

material objects

as

produced

ai3plies

once

for

and to matters in which, though the parts may

subsist

before

and

after,

the

combination

of

them

RITUAL AND RITUALISM.

12

moment

the

for

is

the design

of

The law

only.

that governed

an amphora or a lamp, governed also

the order of a spectacle, a procession, or a ceremonial.

was not the

It

outward show

tlie

method

that

:

inward meaning to

of the

sacrifice

was

of proceeding

a glorious discovery reserved for the later, and especially for our

Neither was

own, time.

even of the outward to the inward. not find

it

him such

requisite

It

;

between the two.

It is in regard

among be

so,

The Greek

this

to the perception

law that the English, nay,

people, ought probably to be placed last

first

thing

is

'

And

if

to bring into existence

into activity a real consciousness of the defect.

need

not,

of

harmony

the expression of the

the civilized nations of Europe. the

did

was the determination

their meeting-point

the British

the sacrifice

Nature had not imposed upon

:

a necessity.

and observance of

it

if

it

exist,

set

down

it

therefore incurable inaptitude.

It

to natural

it

and

We and

more probably

is

due to the disproportionate application of our given of faculties

store

extent

it

may

in

other directions.

To

a

great

be true that for the worship of beauty

we have

substituted a successful pursuit of comfort.

But

the two in conflict

are

the charge against us, as

we

?

And

first

are, a just

To make good imputations

of

of

one

all,

is

?

any kind against

RITUAL AXD R/TUAL/SWr. ourselves

but au iuvidious

is

more agreeable

office.

tlie

trial

features of the case

this,

is

us liave taken the pains to

to

impartial

tlie

But one

such matters,

in

And, again,

even a habit of observation.

of

few among

that so

form,

would be

Ifc

and judgment of each man.

reflection tlio

leave

to

13

are

tliere

certain cases of exception to the general rule.

For

example, take the instance of our rural habitations. I

do not speak of their architecture, nor especially

do

speak of our more pretentious dwellings.

I

the English garden

proverbial for

is

the English cottage garden stands

beauty

But ;

and

almost alone in

Except where smoke, stench, and the

the world;

havoc of manufacturing and mining operations have utterly

deformed

the

blessed

Nature,

of

face

the

Euglish cottager commonly and spontaneously provides

some

home

in the

little

pasture for his eye by clothing his

where he has been lifelong is

cast

escapes,

the

thus violently deprived of his

communion with Nature, in

huge

he

still

cities

objects,

where

or

his

lot

from which he scarcely ever

resorts to

song of caged birds

natural

And even

beauty of shrubs and flowers.

which

for

are

potted flowers

and

to

sol?C3.

This love of

scarcely

ever

without

beauty or grace, ought to supply a basis on whicli to

build

all

that

is

still

wanting.

But

I

turn

to

RITUAL AXD RITUALISM.

14

another

The ancient

chapter.

tecture

archi-

ecclesiastical

country indicates a more copiously

of this

and a richer

and pursuit

of

beauty,

faculty for its production,

in

connection with pur-

love

diffused

pose, than

Not that we possess

Christendom.

part of

examples.

are

But the parish churches

a whole

as

unrivalled;

the

opinion of persons of

our

in

most splendid

cathedrals and greater edifices the all

any other

to be found in the churches of

is

and

England

of

been the

has

it

of

widest knowledge,

that

they might even challenge without fear the united churches

parish

beauty in

all

of

Europe,

from

wealth of

their

the particulars of their

own

styles

of

architecture. Still, it

does not appear that these exceptions impair

the force of the general proposition, which a people

with

we

are, in

that as

is

the business of combining beauty uninstructed, unaccomplished,

utility, singularly

must be

maladroit, unhandy.

If instances

are not far to seek.

Consider the unrivalled ugliness

of our in a

towns in general. procession, and

stinctively the will

them

loll,

and

see

cited,

Or put Englishmen

to

they

march

how, instead of feeling

in-

music and sympathy of motion, they stroll,

that there

is

and straggle

;

it

never occurs to

beauty or solemnity in ordered

movement, and that the instruction required

is

only

RITUAL AND RITUALISM.

15

that simple instruction which, without speech, Nature

should herself supply to her pupils. Quid facerent,

Take again

— sad as

ipsi nullo didicere magistro.

it is

portion of the species

opportunity,

w^orld,

character

and

and

in

point of

design,

and

among

us

Englishwomen,

of

most

the

some

or training

wanting

Take

adaptation.

beauty, at which

all

the

in

in

alike

degraded

the

production,

industrial

all

gift

reputed to be the worst

is

European

state, in

dress

tlie

from rank and special

wliich, apart

or



to strike for once at the softer

the arts of

had

arrived

years ago, in the iron age of

fifty

George IV., and before the reaction which has

deemed many

of

them from

disgrace,

re-

and raised some

to real excellence.

But, indeed, in too almost

worse

than

many onr

our repentance

cases,

When we

transgressions.

begin to imbibe the conception that, after is

there

all,

no reason w^hy attempts should not be made to

Beauty with usefulness, the manner

associate

attempts cism.

tentous to

is

too frequently open to the severest

is

The

so-called

doses

actual

of our

of

Beauty

is

administered in por-

sometimes running

ornamentation

deformity.

quality, nor proportion.

Quantity

Who

criti-

is

shall

the

measure,

not

now compete with

;•

RITUAL

i6

of

RITUALISM.

Englisliwoman

the awakened

upon her head,

huilfc

AND

or for the measureless extension

her dragghng train?

some English

house of hair

for the

architects

Who

be the rival of

shall

work with

their

plastering

in order to screen

an infinity of pretentious detail

from attention inharmonious dimension and poverty of Hues

Or

?

— that

charge against

embodied

what age

in

may

I

without disguise direct the

mind and

the

Parliament and

its

or country can

match the

the

of

spirit

nation,

Government

its

practical solecisms

exhibited in the following facts and others like

Forty years

we determined

ago



erect

to

them

?

the most

extensive building of Pointed architecture in the world

namely, our Houses of Parliament, called, the

work

to

Palace of Westminster.

our most eminent

was pretty well

;

We

they are

entrusted the

Italian architect.

once was not

but

as

or,

enough.

Once So,

twenty years ago, we determined to erect another vast building in the Italian style offices, or, as

tration

;

some would

namely, a pile of pubhc

;

call

it,

a Palace of Adminis-

and we committed the erection of

most experienced and famous architect species.

Thus each man was

in

it

to our

the Pointed

selected for his unac-

quaintance with the genius of the method in which

he was to work.

Who

can wonder, in circumstances

like those, that the spirit

and soul of style are so often

; ;

RITUAL AND RITUALISM. forgotten in itself,

letter

its

;

beauty

that

17

unlearns

itself

and degenerates into mere display

that for theJ

;

attainment of a given end, not economy of means, but profusion of means, becomes our law and our boast

Houses

that, in the

of Parliament, dispersion of the

essential parts over the widest possible space

marks

a building where the closest concentration should have

been the rule workshop,

;

and that the Foreign

exliibits a Staircase

Sovereign can match in If

Office,

which no palace

dimensions

its

which

is

a

of the

?

from the work of creation we turn to the world of

action, the

same incapacity

of detecting discord,

In what

the same tendency to solecism will appear.

know

country except ours could (as I

to

and

have happened)

a parish ball have been got up in order to supply funds for procuring a parish hearse ?

I shall not admit that, in these remarks, I

have gone

astray from the title and subject of the paper. is

Ritualism

It

?

is

What

unwise, undisciplined reaction

from poverty, from coldness, from barrenness, fi-om nakedness

;

it

is

overlaying Purpose with adventitious

and obstructive incumbrance measure and

fi'om

harmony

it

;

departure from

is

in the annexation of ap-

pearance to substance, of the outward to the inward it is

sion

the caricature of the Beautiful of helps

into

hindrances

;

it

;

it is is

the

the conver-

attempted 2

8

;

RITUAL AND RITUALISM.

1

substitution of the secondary for the primary aim, and

A

the real failure and paralysis of both.

great deal of

our architecture, a great share of our industrial production has been or

may

is, it

be feared, very Eitualistic

indeed.

Let us now trace the operation of the same principle

We

in the subject-matter of religion.

same

defects, the

same

encounter the

the same excesses

difficulties,

the same want of trained habits of observation

same forgetfulness burying It

it

of proportion

the same danger of

;

under a mass of ornament.

mast be admitted that the

state of things,

which the thing popularly known historically its point of departure,

disgraceful

Christianity,

most

of all to that

lence endured

it,

the

to

which

nation

all

Nakedness enough there was, ago, of divine service

and of

was to

But,

a great extent

virtues of earnestness

;

to

disgraceful

religious sentiment

somno-

interference with

fifty

among

it.

and forty years

religious edifices,

the Presbyterians of Scotland, and formists of England.

as Eitualism took

in impenetrable

and resented

from

was dishonouring

much-vaunted

of the English public,

fault

the

;

among

among the Nonconthese, the

outward

redeemed by the cardinal

and fervour.

The prayer

of the

minister was at least listened to with a pious attention, ,

and the noblest of

all

the sounds that can reach the

RITUAL AND RITUALISM.

human solemn

ear

19

was usually heard in the massive

fall,

swell,

and

of the united voices of the congregations.

But within the ordinary English Parish Church

of

was no such redeeming feature

or country, there

town

in the

action of the living, though the inanimate treasure of

the Prayer-book yet remained. like

the material of

days.

was

It

still

fire in

Its

warmth was

stored,

our coal seams, for better

the surviving bed or mould, in

which higher forms of religious thought and feeling were some day to

be

cast.

of things, as to worship,

known

to

together

me

the

in

and

actual

was bad beyond

experience

expulsion of

classes (especially

But the

parallel

Taking

reading.

or

and labouring

poor

the

all

state

from the town churches), the mutithe

baldness

of the service, the elaborate horrors of the

so-called

lations

blockages

of

the

fabrics,

music, with the jargon of parts contrived to exhibit the powers of every village roarer, and to prevent

congregational singing;

and above

all,

the

all

coldness

and indifference of the lounging or sleeping congregations, our services

were probably without a parallel in

the world for their debasement;

and

as

tliey

would

have shocked a Brahmin or a Buddhist, so they hardly could have been endured in this country had not the faculty of taste, and the perception of the seemly or

unseemly, been as dead as the

spirit

of

devotion.

RITUAL AND RITUALIS'M.

20

There were exceptions, and the exceptions were beginning slowly to grow in number

:

but I speak of the

general state of things, such as I can myself recollect it.

In some places the older traditions and

the Church had survived

the paralysing influences

all

Hanoverian generations

of the first

drals,

men

Hook

like Dr.

;

lofty spirit

in

many

and

cathe-

with stateliness, a remnant of true dignity was

preserved

known

;

and in a third

as Evangelical

class

of cases the clergy

had infused into

their congrega-

tions a reverent sense of the purj)ose for

met

they

others

in

;

were commended to the people by the English pluck of

spirit of

together.

For

this

which they

and other services they were

pointed at with the finger of scorn by the very same

stamp

of peoj)le as those

who

are

denouncing the opposite section. reasons not very different

now most

And

it

fervid in

was

for

both were open to the

;

charge that they did not thoroughly conform to the prescriptions of the Prayer-book; both were apt to slide into the attitude

abounded in by authority and

felt,

and feeling

self-confidence, ;

both,

it

of a clique

;

both rather

and were viewed askance

must be added, were zealous,

or held, to be troublesome.

But

of the general

tone of the services in the Church of England at that

time I do not hesitate to say, carefully considered

it

was such

as

when

would have shocked not only an

RITUAL AND RITUALISM. Christian

earnest

of

whatever communion, but any

sincere beUever in God, any one

was a Creator and Governor creatures ought to worship to press

upon the mind

of things

21

who

held that there

of the world,

and that His

Him. And that which

of the reader

I wish

that this state

is,

was one with which the members

Church generally were quite content.

It

of the

was not by

lay associations with long purses that the people were

with difficulty and with of

state

this

of

much

things.

It

resistance

awakened out

was by the

reforming

Bishops and Clergy of the Church uf England.

though the main som-ce of the lay

deeper,

such an amount of

And,

without doubt

evil effort

hardly

could

have been needed, had the faculties and

of Art

life

been more widely diffused in the country.

Had

we, as a people, been possessed in reasonable

measure

of that sense of

harmony between the inward

and the outward, of which weakness,

it

of a fervent

I

have been lamenting the

could not indeed have supplied the place religious

great pubHc symbol

hfe

;

but Divine worship, the

and pledge

of

among

us.

could have fallen so low

that

And

life,

never

I think it

has been in some measure from the same defect that, during the exterior revivals of the last forty years, there has been so riage, so

much

much misapprehension and

dissatisfaction

and disturbance.

miscar-

More

RITUAL AND RITUALISM.

22

than thirty years have passed since agitation in London,

and as

were resorted to

in Exeter,

riot

was conscientiously believed,

of the

for the purpose,

of preserving the purity

Reformed Religion against the use

l^hce in the pulpit,

and of the Prayer

of the sur-

for the

Church

In vain the bishops and the clergy con-

Militant.

cerned made their protests,

and averred that they

were advising, or acting, in simple " obedience to the

The appeal

law."

to that watchword,

was utterly unavailing Popery,

was

it

it

must be the meaning

full

and

intelligent

decidedly unwise.

of these

appeared at the time that their

introduction, however legal, was,

the

so sacred,

Popery, and nothing less than

:

insisted,

To me

changes.

now

But

not effected with

if

concurrence of the flocks,

as to these particular usages

themselves, I held then, and hold now, that their ten-

dency,

when calmly viewed, must have been seen

be rather Protestant than Popish

have led

;

to the use of a different

to

that Popery would

and lower garb in

preaching, not to the use of the same vestment which

was rist

also to be ;

used for the celebration of the Eucha-

and that no prayer in the Prayer-book bears so

visibly the

mark

of the Reformation, as the Prayer for

the Church Militant.

Be

that as

it

with pain a particular case, which

may,

may

I recollect

serve

as

a

sample of the feeling, and the occurrences, of that

RITUAL AND RITUALISM.

An

day.

able

and devoted young clergyman had

cepted the charge of a

new

our largest towns, with

trifling

or

and successfully

in the

him

town

at large

whom

he had begun

Within a year

raised, not in his parish, but

had grown too hot

it

;

emoluments, and with

to gather in.

two an agitation was

and he was morally compelled

;

and from the

his benefice

ac-

one of

district parish in

large masses of neglected poor, steadily

23

place,

for

to hold

to retire

from

the offences of

having preached the morning sermon in the surplice, read the Prayer for the Church Militant, and opened his church festivals.

for

The

Divine service, not

:

not the

i7/uLet
View more...

Comments

Copyright ©2017 KUPDF Inc.
SUPPORT KUPDF