:CiiiiS'' The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031433182 Cornell University Library arV15910 Genius and mission oj «*lf,|,K?,f|'S|n»i|BP' 3 1924 031 433 182 olin,anx THE GENIUS AND MISSION PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH UNITED STATES. BY REV. CALYIN COLTON, L.L.D., PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC EOONOMT, TRINITY COLLEGE, AUTHOR OP "reasons FOR EPISCOPACY," ETC., ETC. NEW YORK: STANFORD & SWORDS. 137 BROADWAY. 1853. ,^ CORNELL UNIVERSITYI LIBRARY Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by CALVIN COLTON, In the Clerk's Office of the Bistrict Court of the irmte4 States, for the Southern District of New York. PHILADELPHIA: STEREOTYPED BT GEORGE CHARLES, No. 9 SanBom Street. TO THE RIGHT EEVEREND THOMAS CHURCH BROWNELL, D.D., L.L.D., BISHOP OF THE PKOTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHUnOH, OF THE state of connecticut. Right Rbvbebnd Sie, Although you are necessarily unac- quainted with the manner in which I have treated th^ subject of this work, I hope • you will find nothing in it to give you serious concern. It would be more than I could expect, if you should find nothing to criticise. As the conception of the work was entirely my own, I could only execute it in the shapes in which it presented itself to my mind. I have desired the honor of dedicating it to you, not only from the great respect and sin- cere esteem I entertain for your character, but from your eminent position as Presiding Bishop of the American Church. Hoping that it will do no harm, and that it may do some good, I submit it to your generous consideration, as well- as to that of the Church, and of the public. With great regard and affection, I have the honor, Right Reverend Sir, To subscribe myself your friend. And obedient servant, c. colton. New Yoke, March 15, 1853. (3) Contents, CHAPTER I. PAoj Definitions, 7 CHAPTER II. The Genius of Christianity 12 CHAPTER III. The Genius of the Primitive Church, 24 CHAPTER IV. The Genius of the Church of Rome, 31 CHAPTER V. The Genius of the Reformation, 68 CHAPTER VI. The Genius of the Church of England, 115 CHAPTER VII. The Genius of the American Episcopal Church, as shown in the History of her Organization, 145 CHAPTER VIII. The Genius of the American Episcopal Church, as shown in the Title she has adopted, and in her Republican character, 165 CHAPTER IX. The Genius of the American Episcopal Church, as shown in the shapes and practical operation of her authority, 179 1* (5) 6 CONTENTS. CHAPTER X. PAGJ! The Genius of the American Bpisoopal Church, as illus- trated in her attachment to Episcopacy 187 CHAPTER XI. The Genius of the American Episcopal Church, as illus- trated in her attachment to Liturgical Services, . . 195 CHAPTER XII. The Genius of the American Episcopal Church, as exem- plified in her spirit of accommodation to the Genius of the American people, 209 CHAPTER XIII. The Novelties recently introduced into portions of the American Episcopal Church, as they affect her Genius, her Prospects, and the Simplicity and Uniformity of her Worship, 219 CHAPTER XIV. An American Churchman, 250 CHAPTER XV. Low Church and High Church; Low Churchmen and High Churchmen 255 CHAPTER XVI. The Relation of the American Episcopal Church to other religious bodies, and the course which her Genius pre- scribes in the case 269 CHAPTER XVII. The importance of the Laity as a corporate element and co-ordinate power of the American Episcopal Church, and the effect of this Relation on her Genius and Mission, 278 CHAPTER XVIII. The Mission of the American Episcopal Church, ... . 291 THE GENIUS AND MISSION PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. CHAPTER I. BEPINITIONS. The sense in wMch the term genius is used in this •work, is different from that indicated in its applica- tion to denote the superior natural endowments of an individual. All the peculiar attributes of nations, communities, governments^ and societies of whatever description, represent the genius of these bodies re- spectively, in distinction from others of the same class. There is the peculiar genius of the Americans, of the English, of the French, and of all other na- tions. There is the genius of monarchy, and the genius of republicanism ; and the genius of one mo- narchy in distinction from that of another. Nominal republics are not alike, and they may be radically and fundamentally different ; as for example, the re- public of the United States, and that lately set up in France — so soon transformed into an empire. It (7) 8 DEFINITIONS. arises principally from tte difference in the genius of the two nations. In the same manner, we find a difference in the genius of all the religions found in the world, as in that of Christianity as compared with that of Moham- medism, and in these two as compared with all others. Then again in the different branches of the Christian Church, and in the different sects, we find a genius peculiar to each, and usually distinctly marked. These differences of character lead-to different re- sults, in the operation of every form of religion on the public mind. This is the sense in which the term genius is used in this work. As we must necessarily have much to do with Church polity in iho progress of this work, it may be well in the outset to define it. By polity we mean ecclesiastical adaptations, and not Divine organi- zation. The polity of a Church is precisely the same thing to a commonwealth of Christians, who have adopted it, and who are regulated by it, as the constitution and laws of the United States are to the people of the United States ; or as the constitution and laws of any state are to the people of that state. The constitution and canons of the American Episcopal Church constitute her polity ; and the constitutions and canons of the several dioceses of the Church, occupy the same position in relation to the constitu- tion and canons of the whole Church, as do the con- stitutions and laws of the several states of the American Union, to the Federal constitution and DEFINITIONS. y laws. There is, therefore, a general polity for the ■whole Church, and a diocesan polity for each diocese. The sum of the whole constitutes the polity of the American Episcopal Church ; though it is the general polity with which we shall have chiefly to do. When it is said, the Church orders or directs so and so, authority is implied. Is that authority tangible or intangible ? If tangible, it can be specified, so that one can see where and what it is. We cannot appreciate authority which does not present itself in palpable forms. In the first place, then, so far as our present subject is concerned, authority is based on religion, and addresses itself to conscience. The authority of the Church supposes a polity composed of a conventional platform, and a code of legislation based thereupon. And how is this polity connected with Divine authority as a sanction ? Precisely as the polity of a state is. " The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God." (Rom. xiii. 1, 2.) This is said of civil or political institu- tions, without exception of time, place, or character. They are all, bad and good, in every age and nation, more or less bad, or more or less good, " ordinances of God ;" in l)ther words, arrangements of Provi- dence. Submission and obedience to them, is a re- ligious obligation. And why ? Because any society is better than no society, order better than disorder, for the purposes of the Church. Hence the inspired precept above cited, that the servants of God may have the best possible opportiAities to set up a king- dom which is not of this world. A Church polity ought to be an institution of a 10 DEFINITIONS. higher order, more pure, and more worthy of respect, than civil government. Ordinarily it is so. But it is never perfect, where fallible men are its authors.* It ought to be regarded, in a higher sense, as the " ordinance of God." But the principle of obedience to it, is precisely the same as that which requires obedience to the civil magistrate. Is that sufficient ? Certainly, for all practical purposes, and equally se- cure of the object, as if the polity were given and sanctioned by Divine inspiration, and as if it were obeyed as such. There is always scope enough, un- der any Church polity, though of human device, and having imperfections, for the use of all talents in promoting the cause of Christ, without coming into collision with the polity established ; so that there can never be a sufficient apology for such a disturb- ance. " Whosoever resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God." This is much more true in re- sisting the polity of the Church, which is the ordi- nance of God in a higher sense. Any violation of civil authority, is so far an approximation towards anarchy ; and anarchy is not only a terrible condi- tion of man, but the worst possible condition for the servants of God to do good in. Hence the heinous- ness of the offence of "resisting the power," and hence the Divine prohibition. In the same manner, * " When general councils be gathered together (for as much as they be an assembly of men, whereof all are not governed by the Spirit and -word of God,) they may err, and sometimes have erred, even in things pertaining to God." — Art. xxi. Bng. Ch. "As the church of Jerj^salem, Alexandria, and Antioch, have erred, so also the Church of Rome hath erred, not only in their living and manner of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith." — Articles of Religion, xix. DEFINITIONS. 11 any violation of a regulation of Church polity, is an approximation towards anarchy in the Church. The polity may be imperfect ; but that does not diminish the obligation to obedience, so long as it is law. There is always room for the full employment of any one's talents, without such infraction. The authority of a Church polity, therefore, is as complete as if it were given by Divine inspiration ; and it may well be allowed to have a Divine sanction, much more emphatically than civil government, the latter of which is so distinctly recognized by Saint Paul, in the opening of tKe thirteenth chapter of his epistle to the Romans. An exception to a general rule establishes the principle. Extraordinary exigencies of society, both in church and state, may occur, and have occurred, to justify a revolution. But the general rule is, nevertheless, the standing precept imposed on the conscience by Divine authority, not to disturb civil society, and not to disturb a Church polity.* * " It is not necessary that traditions and ceremonies he in all places one, and utterly like ; for at all times they have been di- vers, and may be changed according to the diversity of countries, times, and men's manners, so that nothing be ordained against God's Word. Whosoever, through his private judgment, wittingly and purposely, doth openly break the traditions and ceremonies of the Church, which be not repugnant to the Word of God, and be ordained and approved by common authority, ought to be re- buked openly, (that others may fear to do the like,) as he that offendeth against the common order of the Church, and hurteth the authority of the magistrate, and woundeth the conscience of the weak brethren. Every particular or national Church hath authority to ordain, change, and abolish ceremonies or rites of the Church ordained only by man's authority, so that all things be done to edifying." — Articles of Religion, xxsiv. CHAPTEP, II. THE GENIUS Or CHEIBTIANITT. Evert person will see, that the genius of the American Episcopal Church, -which is announced on the title page of this work, as one of its two princi- pal themes, occupies a position relative to other things of the same kind, and that a consideration of some examples ^f the others, will assist in the due apprecia- tion of this. The genius of Christianity occupies its own, and naturally a leading position in the general subject, though not precisely of the same category as those portions of the Christian Church, which we propose to notice, by way of introduction, before entering on the main topic. It is in the Grace of the Christian scheme, that the appropriate genius of Christianity is developed ;. in its grace as it characterizes the plan of man's redemption, and as it is bestowed on unworthy reci- pients. Its plan is too high, too vast, too profound for an easy apprehension. Nevertheless, some advances may be made in this species of knowledge, by an habitual study of the great theme. One can think of the demands of justice against the transgres- sor, how stern and inflexible they are, and of the propitiatory offering that was made on the Cross, to satisfy those claims. One can think how. this plan of grace to man occupied the councils of the God- (12) THE GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY. 13 head from eternity ; and how it must have been in view, in bringing the race of man into existence. One can think how it operated in the treatment of Adam and his seed after the fall ; in the institution and purpo- ses of the Abrahamic covenant; in the. selection of the Hebrew race, to testify for the true God amidst surrounding and Gentile nations ; in the institution and protracted observance of the rites of the Mo- saic code ; in the mission, life, doctrine, miracles, and propitiatory sacrifice of the Son of God ; in his res- urrection and ascension, leaving gifts for the Apos- tles, and for the Church of all ages ; in the abolition of the old dispeiisation, and in the setting up of the new, by the hands of the Apostles ; in the publica- tion of Christianity, by the same agency, in its full and complete development ; in the Church planted, set in order, and matured by the Apostles, and spread- ing over the world, against all the arts and persecu- tions of Judaism, and Paganism ; in the maintenance of one Catholic Church, and one Catholic faith, down to this time, amidst all the vicissitudes, trials, and corruptions that have befallen the Church ; and in bringing about the present hopeful and auspicious condition of the Christian world. Of all this we may think, and much more, as a steady and progressive exemplification of the grace of the Christian scheme, which, it will be understood, not only runs back to Adam, but back through eternity. It is now named after the Messiah, Christian, and, as we suppose, will never have any other name. The Christian scheme was not devised for another race, but for ours ; not for ours in an uncorrupt, but 2 14 THE GENIUS OP CHKISTIANITT. in a fallen state ; not for one nation in particular, but for all nations ; not for people in given conditions and in given circumstances, but for people in all con- ditions and in all circumstances whatsoever ; not for the cultivated only, but for the uncultivated; not only for the wise and prudent, but for the ignorant and barbarous ; not only for theologians, but for those who know nothing of theology in the technical sense of the term ; not only for those who are well versed in the Bible, in creeds, and in catechisms, but for those who never saw a Bible, nor rehearsed a creed or a catechism ; but who, like the thief on- the Cross, only have time in their extremitiy to- turn one look of faith, and say, " Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." Grace is a principle that can afford any thing ex- cept the invasion of other principltes, which in the Divine economy, must be maintained. Its great law is to magnify itself by the extent and greatness of its favors. It is neither knowledge, nor worthiness, nor any specific measure of either, that invariably constitutes the condition of its -benefits. Its great aim would seem to be, to signalize the goodness of Him who bestows it. It was unsolicited, when first conceived ; and from that hour — but it was not an hour — from "the beginning," from a period of eter- nity without date, it has sought enlargement in the field assigned to it — the abode of fallen humanity. Melchisedec, both king and priest, "without father, without mother, without descent, having neither begin- ning of days, nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, a priest forever," was as much a type, THE GENIUS OF CHEISTIANITY. 15 and for like reasons, of the grace of the Christian scheme, as of its great High Priest. Neither was to be regulated or limited by existing institutions. There was no model or rule for either ; but both exceeded all example, and rose superior to all law, without violating^any. " Now, consider how great this man was." Consider, also, the dimensions of the field which the grace of Christianity was to occupy. It was all earth, in all time. It was all heaven, with all its eternal ages. It was the universe, and all its tenants, as spectators. Gfface is the ruling principle of the Christian scheme — is its heart, its foundation, its top stone, its broad shield. The more grace, as a moral prin- ciple in the giver, bestows, the higher its gratifica- tion ; and in God, as the author of man's redemp- tion, the more it bestows, the more dazzling its benefi- cence. It was only necessary that there should be a satisfaction to justice ; and while the Cross of Christ is visible, and the groans of Him who died thereon are echoed through the universe; as a certificate of the sacrifice of the Son of God, in the garb of human- ity, there will not be wanting a consideration for the satisfaction of justice, however munificent the grace bestowed over this vast field of human delinquency and provocation. " Where sin abounded, grace has much more abounded." As the complete redemption of human society, under the Christian system, in the progress of the execution of the great scheme of grace, was ordained to be accomplished under a system of means, appa- rently, and in the present practical view, actually 16 THE GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY. slow in its operations, leaving by far the largest portions of the human family, for thousands, per- haps many thousands of years, outside of the revealed covenant of promise, as administered under a pre- scribed system of sacramental ordinances, some em- barrassment and much concern have been felt by those who have considered the subject, as to the final disposal of those myriads of the human family, com- monly denominated heathen or pagans. Saint Paul, in his great argument to the Roman Christians, and elsewhere, would seem to have given us some relief on this point, so far, at least, as to have made a clear distinction between the obligations of those placed under the laws of Christianity, and of those provi- dentially placed yithout the circle of those laws. We will here cite some of the passages from his hand, on this point : " Sin is not imputed, where there is no law." (Rom. V. 13.) " If the uncircumcision keep the righteous- ness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision ? And shall not uncircum- cision, which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost trans- gress the law?" (Rom. ii. 26, 27.) "As many as have sinned without law, shall also perish without law ; and as many as have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law. When the Gentiles," (the hea- then) " who have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts meanwhile accusing, or THE GENIUS OP CHEISTIANITY. 17 else excusing one another." (Rom. ii. 12, 14, 15.) " Now we know, that whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law." (Eom. iii. 19.) "The invisible things of him" (God) "from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they" (the hea- then) "are without excuse." (Rom. i. 20.) Saint Peter, also, acknowledges the grace of God, in the case of Cornelius, the centurion, uncircumcised and unbaptized though he was : " Then Peter opened his mouth, and said : Of a truth, I perceive, that God is no respecter of persons ; but in every nation, he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." (Acts x. 34, 35.) It may, therefore, as we think, be assumed, that the principle set forth in the preceding citations from Scripture, viz., that the heathen will be judged by the light they have, and not by a law which they have not, is a part of the grace of the Christian scheme ; and how far that grace shall be extended in its operation for their salvation, through the atonement and offices of Jesus Christ, may safely be left with the mercy of God. We believe, that the merits of Christ are extended to irresponsible infancy ; and who shall say, that God, in his infinite kindness, and in the abounding grace of the Christian scheme, may not have placed irresponsible ignorance on the same foundation ? There are obvious reasons why a revealed law pub- lished as a rule of salvation, should express its con- ditions, so that they cannot be misunderstood, except by a wilful perversion ; and reasons equally obvious, 2* 18 THE GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY. why little is said about the Divine plan for those portions of the human family, who are " without this law." God has so far enlightened the Christian world on this point, as to let us know, that " what- soever things the law gaith, it saith to them that are under the law;" and that an unbaptized heathen, who " does by nature the things contained in the law," will judge those who, having the law, yet diso- bey it. Thus much, as cannot be denied, is taught by Divine inspiration on this subject ; and this is the sum. The Apostle Paul exults in the theme of abound- ing grace. "Not as the' offence, so also is the free gift. For if, through the offence of one, many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. As by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. The law en- tered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, that as sin ,hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign, through righteousnesp, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. v. 15, 18, 20, 21.) Again : "I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. viii. 38, 39.) In view of this grace, well might this Apostle exclaim : " the depth of THE GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY. 19 the riches, both of the ■wisdom and knowledge of Grod ! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out ! For who hath known the mind of the Lord ? Or who hath been his counsel- lor?" (Rom. xi. 33, 34.) And yet there are those who think they know the mind of the Lord, as to the methods and extent of his grace ; who aspire to in- terpret his unrevealed counsels, if not to assist in them ; and who would limit his grace, and narrow it down to their own narrow views. Grace is a muni- ficent attribute ; it delights in conferring unexpected favors ; and it will doubtless yet surprise the world and the universe — much more a narrow theology^ — by its vast and liberal gifts to man. The genius of Christianity, in this particular, as in all others, is worthy of its Author. A foundation of grace being laid in the Cross, it is meet that it should be illus- trated, in a manner, and on a scale, corresponding, in some degree, with the value of the sacrifice, though it can never equal it. The views above given of grace as characterizing the genius of Christianity, apply chiefly to the work of mab's redemption as a plan of God. But grace as a personal benefit, bestowed by the Holy Spirit on the hearts of the faithful and obedient, naturally presents itself as a distinct subject of consideration. This is a great theme, and one of profound interest. To confer personal benefits here on earth, and in heaven, is, indeed, the great end of the plan. The entire scope of the purposes of the Christian scheme, has a personal bearing — contingently of course — but nevertheless personal. No one is ever born again 20 THE GENIUS OF CHEISTIANITT. hj the Spirit of God, or saved in heaven, except as a personal benefit ; and the result of the whole will be a consummation of the plan of grace. Though there ■will be other and countless reasons, arising out of the character, works, and acts of God, for glori- fying him in the songs of the redeemed, one of them will be in direct address to the Lamb of God : " Fob, thou hast redeemed US to God, by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation." " Thou hast redeemed US." (Rev. v. 9.) Let it be understood, that it is the work of the Holy Spirit on the moral affections chiefly, of which we now speak ; though it cannot be separated from intellectual light and enlargement. The mind always works with the afiections, on all moral subjects, and towards all objects of a moral character. It is a part of the intellectual and moral constitution of man, that his affections should have a paramount in- fluence, lead the way, and govern his conduct ; and the Holy Spirit, in his influences on the mind and heart of man, acts in conformity to the laws of our being, by setting the affections right, that all else may be right. It is, perhaps, true, and may be instructive, to re- mark, that the work of the Holy Spirit in executing the plan of Divine grace on individual subjects, is of a more or less decided character, according to the circumstances in which those subjects are placed. The first outpouring of the Spirit, under the preach- ing of the Apostles, was ordained to be a school of training for extraordinary trials. That was the grand epoch of the world, which constituted the mortal THE GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY. 21 struggle between Judaism and Paganism on the on^ hand, and Christianity on the other. It was a great agony of society, which produced a corresponding action in the minds of men ; and the Christians of that day had need of higher endowments from on high, than in any subsequent period. Accordingly we find, that the work of God's Spirit, on the hearts and minds of Christians of that time, was more de- cided in its character. It was the same during all the persecutions of the primitive ages, running down into the fourth or fifth century. The grace of the Holy Spirit was bestowed according to the demands of those days of trial. The truth of this remark is illustrated in the whole history of the Church down to this time, and not less so in the history of indi- vidual Christians. "When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned." (Is. xlii. 2.) In all great trials of the Church, and of Christians, the grace of God has been equal to the occasions. The kingdom of Divine grace, like that of Providence, appears to be a system of compensations. If God denies to his people the things which they naturally most desire, he pays them back, not measure for measure, but with the far richer communications of his grace ; and he does it in the very article of death, which is the greatest possible, indeed a total depriva- tion of all earthly good. It is an unutterable agony, too, physically considered. It is seen and felt to be such by the spectators of the scene. "With dumb as- tonishment, nature living, looks on nature dying. She feels there is an end of society between the par- ties; that an invisible, fearful power is rending the 22 THE GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY. heart-strings, and taking away the breath of a loved one ; and the next moment all is still. A great struggle is ended ; a fearful doom has obtained pos- session of its victim. No one knows what that de- parting soul experienced of the grace of God in that hour, except by the faint tokens of resignation, and, it may be, the smiles of joyful hope. But it is the last great trial, and the greatest, immeasurably the greatest of all. Nevertheless, with the Christian, it is paid back, first, in the grace which supports the departing spirit ; and next, in the opening visions of a better and a brighter world, and by an entrance into its joys. How many examples have we of the triumphant death of Christians, in which grace over- masters pain, takes away all fear, and makes the message, terrible as it is to nature, welcome ! "0 death, where is thy sting ? grave, where is thy victory?" (1. Cor. xv. 55.) The victory is on the other side, and the sting is not. It is an exultation over the greatest foe of man, a defiance of his power. By what means ? Grace, and that alone. What is this mighty power, which so transforms the man in life, and which so o'ermasters the king of terrors ? Whence is it derived, and on what ac- count ? Go to Calvary, and then turn back to the promise of the Holy Spirit, and you have the answer. The nature of man on earth is changed, and his great antagonist in the hour of death is subdued. " The strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. xv. 56, 57.) It is, therefore, only when we have considered the THE GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY. 23 grace of the Christian scheme, as a plan of God for the redemption of man, and as a personal attribute in all those on whom it has been and shall be be- stowed by the Holy Spirit, from the beginning to the end of time, crowding the portals and peopling the mansions of Heaven with the redeemed from all na- tions and tribes of earth, till time shall be reckoned no more, there to feel this grace in their hearts, and to celebrate it in their songs, through eternal ages ; — it is only then, we say, that we begin to appreciate the appropriate genius of Christianity. We do not liken it to a thing of earth, for it has no likeness here ; though we are compelled to use the language of earth to present the picture. To do it justice, we need an angel's pen, an angel's capacious thought, an angel's field of observation, an angel's powers, and an angel's holy admiration of the theme. To do it justice, we have need to be lifted to that eleva- tion, where we might see it as it occupied the mind of God himself, before the work was begun. It is a spectacle'exhibited to the world and to the universe, not to be fully appreciated — for that can never be-^ — but as a subject on which the thought and admiration of the highest intelligences may expatiate, till thought shall begin to find its own incapacity ever duly to estimate 4t, and till admiration itself shall wonder at its own shortcomings. CHAPTER in. THE GENIUS OF THE PRIMITITB CHURCH.* The genius of the primitive Churcli, which, as a general historical distinction, we regard as running down into the fifth century, next claims attention, as a pertinent and very interesting subject. Its type is peculiar, and will probably forever remain so. Its most prominent feature is that of a martyr- spirit. The great Master led the way, and expired upon the Cross, not only as an atoning priest, which was the fulfilment of his especial mission, but as a martyr, which was the doom of an earthly tribunal ; and he had foretold his disciples, that they also should sufier persecution : "In the world ye shall have tribulation. They will deliver you up to the councils ; and they will scourge you in their syna- gogues ; and ye shall be brought before governors and kings. Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake." (John xvi. 33; Math. x. 17, 18.) The Christian Church was launched on a sea of commotion and blood. The timid disciples, who ran away from their Master in the hour of his trial, af- terwards became heroic martyrs in their turn. Af- • Regarding the time usually allowed, as comprehended in the "primitive ages" of the Church, Bishop Burnet says : — " By the customs of the primitive Church, we mean, the order most gener- ally used in the Church for the space of five hundred years after Christ." — Sumet's Reformation, Part II. Booh III. Records. (24) THE GENIUS OE THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 25 ter the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, they were armed for every exigency that awaited them. The seventh chapter of the Acts of the Apostles records a sermon and the death of the first martyr. His career was brief, but his end glo- rious. He saw " the heavens opened and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God;" and with this vision before his eyes, he kneeled to die', and with the true martyr-spirit, prayed for his murderers : "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." Saul of Tarsus was there, "consenting to liis death," and kept the clothes of the executioners. The blood of the firstmartyr could not but produce a sensation in the public mind, yet it abated naught of the fury of the persecutors of Christians, but only increased it. " As for Saul, he made havoc of the Church, entering into every house, and haling men and women, com- mitted them to prison. Therefore, they that were scattered abroad, went every where preaching the word." (Acts viii. 3, 4.) Then, as ever since, the blood of the martyr was the seed of the Church. The persecutions of the primitive Church made heroes of Christians. They were born- heroes in their baptism. None but heroes and heroines dared to profess the name of Christ. The Apostles, after they received the Holy Ghost, felt the power of the example of their Lord and Master, and were ready to follow him by the Cross, or by the flames, or by any mode of violent exit ; and Christians every where were animated by the example of the Apostles. It was forsaking all, risking all, and often sacrificing all, even life itself, for Christ. Sometimes, and in 3 26 THE GENIUS OP THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. some places, the Church had peace ; but the martyr- spirit was the spirit of the Church ; for at all times, and in all places, with brief intervals, the primitive Christians were exposed to martyrdom. It was a mighty transition of society, involving stupendous moral convulsions, such as the world never expe- rienced before, and which it can never experience again, — a transition from. Judaism and Paganism to Christianism. Judaism, as all know, is the most stubborn of all religions, an essential ingredient of which was originally, and always when it could be maintained, a civil polity; and though subject to pay tribute to the Romans, and forced to receive Roman governors, the Jews still had their own laws and their own polity at the advent of Christ, and when the Apostles entered on their great mission. But Christianity announced the end of Jewish insti- tutions, and tolled the funereal requiem of the Mo- saic code, in the very ears of the nation, when the nation had power enough to avenge the insult, as the Jews regarded it. The beginning of the struggle scattered the Christian converts from Jerusalem to the four winds of heaven ; and they had multiplied in great numbers at the first preaching of the Apos- tles. The first day, the day of Pentecost, " about three thousand were added to the Church;" and in a short time, before the persecutions commenced, Jerusalem swarmed with Christians. The martyrdom of Saint Stephen was the signal for the onset, and a single man, Saul of Tarsus, "made havoc of the Church." The Acts of the Apostles will tell the story. THE GENIUS OP THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 27 The Pagan world, too, -which as yet had not been taught to respect Christianity, became, after a time, alarmed at this new doctrine. Christianity was equally opposed to Paganism, in all its forms, as to Judaism. Its doctrine struck at the root of both, declaring Judaism at an end, and the gods of Pa- ganism worthy of no respect. To the Jews it said : Ye have crucified your own Messiah, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, whom God raised from the dead ; and by his resurrection, all your temple ser- vices, and your ancient rites, so long cherished, are abolished forever. Christ, the crucified one, is King of the Jews. To the Pagan world it said : These gods are no gods ; and these rites are polluted and polluting. We proclaim the only true God, and Je- sus Christ his Son, the only Saviour of man. He was crucified, is risen, and now claims your homage and submission. He is King of kings. It is not strange, that men so bold, if they must be heard at all, should meet with opposition from these two quarters of human society, which comprehended all society. They did meet with opposition, "and the whole world, Jew and Gentile, one portion after another, rose up in arms against them. The shock between the parties, the Jews and Pagans on one side, and Christians on the other, was great and fearful, and the scene a perfectly novel one. For the first time in the history of the world, physical force, on an immense scale, was systemati- cally arrayed, and brought in conflict for a long pro- tracted period, against moral force. We do not mean, that there were never any persecutions of the 28 THE GENIUS OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. advocates of true religion before ; but none of such magnitude, and of sucb long duration. It was a new spectacle to see men, women, and children, the strong and frail, die without resistance for opinion, and when dying, to forgive their executioners, and pray for themC The very sight was the most powerful kind of preaching, and made more converts than any other mode of address to the feelings of the public. It is true there were intervals of repose for the Church, now and then, and here and there ; but for more than three hundred years, the Church was forced to be trained for the endurance of persecu- tions ; and some of them, under the Roman Empe- rors, were fearfully devastating on the ranks of Christians. This to show, that the genius of the primi- tive Church, during the Apostolic age, and for a long time afterwards, was necessarily and profoundly imbued with the spirit of martyrdom. It is gen- erally supposed, that all the Apostles were martyrs. Martyrdom, for many ages, was often coveted. It grew into a proud distinction, not of the baser sort, but of glorying in the Cross of Christ. The mar- tyrs usually were so divinely sustained, seemed so triumphant, and their faces were illumed with such gladness and joy, at the very moment of their sharp- est pains of body, that spectators often wished to change places^with them ; and many were the instan- ces, in which the sight brought out confessors on the spot, with the certain knowledge of being condemned to the same fate. It was a species of ecstacy, to which their sympathies elevated them, and they could THE GENIUS OF THE PEIMITIVE CHURCH. 29 not resist the excitement. They wished only to die and be with Christ ; for what was the world worth in such times ? In some instances this desire of mar- tyrdom may have been of a censurable character ; but it generally proved two things : a world not worth having, and a vigorous faith,- rarely, if ever known, in more quiet times. The Saviour died a martyr, though it was the smallest virtue of his death. His Apostles died martyrs, and gloried in it. Hundreds of thousands of Christians of the early ages died martyrs for their faith ; and they, too, rejoiced in it. " The noble army of martyrs praise thee." We may well believe in the special Divine support of the martyrs. It was a great cause in which they suffered. It was in the struggle between Paganism and Judaism on the one hand, and Christianity on the other, till the latter should gain a secure footing in the earth. The Saviour himself led the way, and though he suffered for an infinitely higher purpose than to attest the truth of his mission and doctrine, should he not regard with special favor those who suffered for him all they could suffer ? He who knew all things, foresaw these troublous times, and pre- dicted them frequently and emphatically; and he promised support to those who should suffer for his name's sake. It is, therefore, precisely in accordance with these predictions and promises, that the great army of martyrs should be divinely sustained. Their path is the most luminous of any part of Christian history. The genius of the primitive Church was such as will never be found again, because there will be no more occasion for it. The public opinion of the 3* 30 THE GENIUS OF THE PKIMITIVE CHURCH. vrorld, which, -when Christianity was first promulga- ted, was every where, and among all nations, against it, and which raised such persecutions against the primitive Church, is now, among all the most power- erful and most influential nations of the fearth, in favor of Christianty. The genius of the primitive Church, therefore, was perfectly peculiar, and its most prominent attribute was the spirit of martyrdom. That is always, not only a pure and exalted, hut a vigorous and effective spirit. It shone brightly in its day, and has made an indelible impression on the world. The history of those times is marvellous, and with those who cannot appreciate it, it exceeds belief. But it is precisely the history that might have been expected, when the object that was to be accom- plished is considered. CHAPTER IV. THE GENIUS OP THE CHDISCn OF ROME. The Church of Rome is a body politic, composed solely of the priesthood, including the Primate or Pope, as Chief. The laity are no part of the Church, as it has been constituted for many centuries ; but mere subjects of an absolute prince, all whose dog matic acts are held, in theory, and for all practical purposes, to be infallible. In common parlance, the laity may be called members of the Church; but that is impossible, as the Church is composed of a priesthood, high above them, and independent of them. The relation of the laity to the priesthood or government, is solely that of subjects, bound to obe- dience in all things, without an alternative in any case whatsoever. Absolute authority is the govern- ing principle, in the genius of the Church of Rome. There are, indeed, privileges, or what are regarded as such, enjoyed by the laity, and one of them is an entire faith in the paternal administration of the Pope and of his subordinates. The seven sacraments to which, on certain conditions, the laity are entitled, are accounted privileges. It is accounted a privi- lege to have ghostly counsel at the confessional and elsewhere ; to have absolution for the past, and dis- pensation for the future ; to be prayed for when dead ; to be helped out of purgatory by the priests (31) 32 GENIUS OF THE CHTJECII OF HOME. of the Church on earth. These, and all other offices of the priesthood, are represented as privileges, and accepted as such ; but the laity are mere recipients, on condition of submission and obedience. They are not, and cannot be members of the Church; for the Church, as such, is composed solely of the priest- hood. To be members of a society, always supposes some rights, other than to be the recipients of its ben- efits. But the genius of the Church of Rome toler- ates -no rights, no prerogatives, except in the clergy, and its official agents. For the laity, it is all duty, submission, obedience. The compensation is in the privileges above named, and the promise of heaven. All human polities are the creatures of time and circumstance, and that of the Church of Rome is not an exception, but the most notable example. It is the oldest in Europe certainly, if not in the world. That of China may be older, and possibly some others of the oriental nations. That of the Church of Rome is the best considered, most far seeing, most " profound, most comprehensive, and most philoso- phical, of all others — philosophical, we mean for its purposes. From the beginning of its construction, it has had in its service the most sagacious observers of human nature, in all its moods, tastes, and ten- dencies ; in all its conditions, and in all circumstances. From age to age, every advantage has been taken of the results of experience to perfect the system. The accidental position of the city of Rome in rela- tion to the rest of the world, commercially, socially, and politically, after a long struggle between its claims and those of Constantinople, decreed the GENIUS OF THE CEURCH OF ROME." SS former, at last, as the centre of spiritual empire.* The Bishop of Rome elevated and enlarged his pretensions, ■with the rise and growth of Rome's political sway ; but he never abridged them under Rome's political re- verses. Spiritual power, in the unripe ages of civil- ization, often found chances of progress, and of extending its domain, in the political misfortunes of the world. The Bishop of Rome, once establish- ed the chief of all Christendom, was the pivot on which turned the fortunes of the Church of Rome. From that hour was laid the foundation of the mightiest, most subtle, and most comprehensive polity, that the world has ever seen, or ever will see, as one of man's device. No fabric of human society has ever enlisted so much talent, so much learning, so much knowledge of human nature in all its work- ings, so much philosophy, so much art, so much of every thing that augments and consolidates power over man, enlarges the field of its influence, and perpetuates itself. No other fabric of society has ever opened such a field for ambition. It was the hope and expectation of bringing this world under foot, by the superincumbent weight of the future and * " I allow no authority to the bishops of Rome out of their own diocese. The additional dignity that they came to haye, flowed from the constitution of the Boman empire ; and since Rome is no more the seat of empire, it has lost all that primacy which was yielded to it, merely by reason of the dignity of the city. So that, as Byzanoe, from being a small bishopric, became a patri- archal seat, upon the exaltation of that city ; by the same rule, upon the depression of Rome, the bishops of that see ought to have lost all that dignity that was merely accidental." — Bishop UuMet, Appendix to the Records. 34 GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OP BOMB. unkno-vra world, -with the advantage of making the future ansTver all desired purposes, by new creations of dogmatical instruction in regard to it. He who first conceived the idea of Peter's Supremacy was a bold man. The keys of the Primate were easily fabricated by a forced interpretation of that passage in the Gospel, which relates to the subject. Su- premacy once established, and the succession also forcibly verified, it was only necessary to put on the girdle, and display the keys hanging thereon. Thenceforth heaven was in the gift of the Pope, and of him alone, mediately and immediately ; and that for princes, as well as for the vulgar. He, too, was a great man, who invented Purgatory. There is a profound philosophy in that. Behold its practical operation on the treasury of the Church, in masses for the dead, and in dispensations from the pains of hell. The doctrine of transubstantiation, what a field for the imagination, and what a claim for the respect and reverence of the multitude ! The multi- plication of the sacraments, and the position they occupy as elements of power, was an eminent stroke of policy. The infallibility of the Pope was also a great idea. See how it silences inquiry, settles con- troversy, and puts a stop to all protests and remon- strances against authority. See how it gives one mind to a universal church, scattered over the face of the earth. There is a profound philosophy in that, too. The power of indulgences is a most con- venient idea. What wealth has flowed into the cof fers of the Church of Rome thereby; and what treasures are always in abeyance, whenever and GENIUS OF ISE CHURCH OF ROME. 35 wherever the claim can prudently be asserted ; for it is an established principle in the polity of the papal Church.* The terrible thunders of papal bulls and anathemas, and the power of excommunication, how * Bishop Bujjpet, among the Records appended to his History of the Reformation, has given copies of sixteen indulgences issued by Popes of Rome. We have transcribed the folloTfing four from his list, and made an abridgment of the others. The prayers re- ferred to, are not given. " Our holy father, Sixtus the Fourth, Pope, hath granted to all them that devoutly say this prayer before the image of oui Lady, the sum of 11,000 years of pardon." " Our holy father, the pope John 22d, hath granted to all'them that devoutly say this prayer, after the elevation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 3000 days of pardon for deadly sins." " Our holy father, the pope Bonifaoius the 6th, hath granted to all them that say devoutly this prayer following, between the eleva- tion of our Lord and the three Agnus Dei, 10,000 years of pardon." " These five petitions and prayers were made by St. Gregory, and it is granted unto all them that devoutly say these five prayers, with five Pater Nosters, five Ave Maries, and a Credo, 500 years of pardon." Another, issued by five Popes successively, grants 500 years and as many Lents of pardon ; another, 300 days of pardon ; another, 40 years and 80 Lentings ; another promises heaven with- out purgatory ; another, " clean remission of their sins per- petually enduring;" another, " as many days of pardon as there were wounds in the body of our Lord in the time of his litter passion, the which were 5465;" another promises 1,000,000 years of pardon for deadly sins ; another, 32,755 years of pardon ; another, 6,000 years ; another, 30C0 years of pardon for deadly sins, and 3000 years for venial sins ; another, 4000 days ; and another promises to commute from eternal damnation, already incurred, into a limited purgatory, which shall also be forgiven, on another condition, with the benefit of a direct pass- port to heaven. — [Burnet's Collection of Records.) The folios, from which these indulgences are copied, are marked as found in the English offices, and printed at Paris, 1626, 36 GEXIL'S OF THE CHURCH OF KOJIE. have they made kings turn pale, and frightened the world into ohedience ! These, too, were great in- ventions. The Inquisition, what an effective ma- chinery ! And was not Ignatius Loyola a great genius ? The policy of losing nothing that can be kept^ and of acquiring all that can .he gained, in Christian and pagan lands, by establishing 'orders and missions of specific principles, with specific qualifica- tions, under specific instructions, for specific ends ; is there not wisdom in that ? The monasteries, con- vents, and nunneries, have they not been great and influential institutions in their time, which even yet is not entirely gone by ? This is still a cherished policy of the Church of Rome. The celibacy of the clergy, what a stupendous convenience in such a. polity ! That, too, was a great idea. The power and the custom of calling representatives of the Church from all parts of the world, to do homage at the feet of the Pontiff,' to receive his blessing, and to return with his fresh orders, what an evidence and what means of discipline ! The patronage of the arts, so early and so long continued, as to keep the lead of all the world, what an attraction for the most cultivated tastes of mankind ! What devotee of the arts in the civilized world, if he is able, can be content without visiting Rome ? Is not that wis- dom ? What unrivalled monuments of architecture has the Church of Rome erected ! What gorgeous decorations of her temples ! What an attractive and what an imposing service ! What festivals ! What an invention the carnival, as a compensation for the abstinences of Lent I The canonization of saints, GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 37 what a spur to ambition for some great service to the Church ! It is policy, not sanctity, that makes a saint in the Church of Rome, though it cannot be denied that she has canonized some of the best of men. . Auricular confession, what an engine of power, vast,"comprehensive, and often terrible ! Not a secret of the human heart can hide itself from its all-searching eye ; and, alas ! for the wiles and stratagems that may be practised there ! The denial of the scriptures for common use, and of the right of individuals to study them for themselves, what an admirable dogma for harmony of opinion, and not less useful to serve the vast designs of such a polity, in bringing the world in subjection to the priesthood ! There is a philosophy in every appointment of the Church of Rome, in every institution, in every dogma, and in every part "of her polity — a philosophy that has been well considered, and most skilfully adapted to human nature, and to the accomplishment of the ends in vieAV, some of them necessarily transient, but most of them for perpetual usage and permanent eifect. Human talent and skill, of the highest order, and to an incalculable amount, have been exhausted in the mighty effort ; and the polity of the Church of Rome, with all her dogmas, with all branches of her discipline, with her modes of worship, and modes of teaching, for so many centuries in birth and in growth, may be said to have arrived, long since, to a ne plus ultra. For who can add to it ? What re- gions of earth, in politics or morals, remain to be explored by a new enterprise ? V/hat regions of 4 88- GENIUS OP THE CHURCH OF KOME. heaven, what regions of hell, accessible to imagina- tion, have not heen visited ? The visions of Dante are colored by the theology of Rome, and are con- formed to that standard. Will another genius arise to eclipse his inventions ? The Church of Rome has made her last draft on earth, and heaven, and hell, for the establishment of her empire. Time was when her drafts were honored at sight, as well on the faith of kings, as on the credulity of the vulgar. It was a great conception, though a, mistake, to propose to govern this world by drawing on the next, and to make of the next what- ever might be necessary to accomplish this end. He who wore on his girdle the keys of heaven and of hell, while the dogma of their purpose and effect had credit with the lofty and the low, over the Christian world, was a mighty prince. Who, from such an eminence, would not be tempted to look down upon the world as his own ? Crowns were in his lap, to dispose at will ; and if any crowned head should prove perverse under his discipline, there were ways of getting rid of him. To hold the next world, with its rewards and punishments, over the heads of all those who dwell in this, with power to distribute the one to the obedient, and to pour out the other on the disobedient, is a high prerogative. Who, be- lieving it, would not fear such a potentate? To be clothed with authority to denounce kings with the vengeance of hell, and to absolve subjects from their allegiance, what more could be asked for an absolute and unlimited earthly dominion ? Such were GENIUS OF THE CHUKCH OF ROME. 89 the rights claimed, and we have never been advised that they have been surrendered. But it is a part of the genius of the Church of Rome not to push her claims where she cannot carry them, and to bide her time for reasserting them ; but' she never surrenders a pretension. She'' will even retreat, when necessary, for the same reason that a general in the field takes up a new position in rela- tion to a superior force. She will violate her own principles, under force, though doubtless with a re- served protest. Did not the Pope, a prisoner in the hands of Napoleon I., consent to his coronation, and attend it, to put the crown upon his head ? And did he not bestow his blessing on the anointed one, not- withstanding the Emperor took the crown from the Pope's hand, and placed it on his own head, thus de- nying the Pope's right ? The Emperor wanted nothing but the Pope's sanction and blessing for po- litical effect. And is not the Pope again prisoner of "the nephew of the uncle" for the same object? Since the Reformation, the Pope's power has waned, and is waning ; but so mighty a fabric does not fall to the ground in a day. Ever since the European mind began its march towards freedom, by resistance to the Pope, there has been a reluctant abstinence from some of his claims, by holding them in abeyance for more fit opportunities. But the genius of the Church of Rome is the same forever. There is no evidence of the slightest abatement in her preten- sions. They are only in repose. She is a body- politio, and will advance or retreat, be loud or mute in her claims, according to the temper of the world 40 GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. at any given time, and according to the demonstra- tions and power of her opponents. She has no am- bition for martyrdom, though she has bestowed that honor on innumerable recusants. In all free coun- tries, like the United States, it is only a spiritual and paternal care that is claimed, with a distinct asser- tion, however, always put forward, of the supremacy of the Pope, which may be interpreted at will, as oc- casions may justify. It is not in the genius of the Church of Rome" to shock the prejudices of mankind, without a corresponding benefit. In the history of human governments, and of human institutions, there has not been an example of a more accommodating policy. In the missions of the Church, paganism is often mixed up with Christianity, and sometimes, and for a long period, is the predominant element. Pro- vided the supremacy of the Pope be established, the leaven of paganism, or any other leaven, may never be entirely expurgated. Of what consequence is that to a policy which mainly seeks the subjugation of the world to one Chief; first, in things spiritual as most influential, when rightly shaped, and charged with suitable ingredients for the accomplishment of tliat end ; and next, in temporal and political affairs, as may be convenient ? The great principle of the genius of the Church of Rome, is, that spiritual do- minion, or a cunning use of the world to come over the minds of men, naturally absorbs the powers of this world. All her dogmas, regarding a future state, have been invented and shaped to that end. When that artifice fails, the Church will be a failure. It has been gradually failing for more than three centu- GENIUS OF THE CHURCU OF ROME. 41 ries, though its hold on the world is still vast, widely comprehensive, and not wanting in vigor. There is another feature or element in the genius of the Church of Rome of a more startling character, which, for its enormity, could hardly be credited, if authentic history had not established it as a fact. It is that the end sanctifies the means ; and that the most revolting crimes, such as murder, and assassi- nation, and massacre — of course the lesser vices of humanity — may not only be pardoned, but justified, exalted even into merit, when committed in the ser- vice of the Church ! Not to mention other instances of the kind, with which history abounds : take for example the wholesale massacre of St. Bartholomew's day in France, in 1572, and the gunpowder plot of 1605, for the destruction of the royal family and par- liament of England, being Protestant. The former is too well known as a plot of Papacy to destroy the Protestants of France in one day ; and the latter, though a failure, had for its object the utter destruc- tion of a Protestant royal house, and of a Protestant parliament, for the substitution of a throne and par- liament in England devoted to Papacy. Besides the conviction of the immediate complotters, all papists, subsequent investigations appear to have established clearly the complicity in this atrocity, of the Pope ; of one Cardinal ; of the General of the Jesuits ; of a Provincial of the Jesuits, in New Castile ; of all the English Provincial Jesuits ; of the Benedictine Monks of the Savoy ; of about eighteen hundred of the Jesuit and seminary priests in England ; and of several English peers. 4* 4:2 GENIUS OF THE CHUKCH OF ROME. It is only necessary to adduce some examples of the extraordinary casuistry of the Jesuit and other fathers of the Church of Rome, of estahlished authority among the papists, to show, that these, and other like crimes, committed in the service of the Church, on a larger or smaller scale, are, par- donable, justifiable, meritorious. This species of casuistry in the Church of Rome, has long since become a distinct branch of science, and enlisted the highest order of talent. The writers are legion, and would fill an alcove of a public library. There are, however, preferred authorities, who have obtained a more open sanction of the Church, the leading one of whom, not less eminent than Blackstone on English Law, or Richard Hooker on Ecclesiastical Law, is Alphonzo de Liguori. Next to him is Bellarmine, whose work oa the PontiflF was once condemned by the Pope, simply because it " derogated from the plenitude of the pontifi^s rights ; " but it has since been regularly sanctioned, by being dropped from the " Index " of prohibited works. It is one of the highest authorities. Without citing specifically from these leading, and other numerous authorities on this subject, which would be tedious, and ill comport with our necessary brevity, we may say, that there is a substantial harmony among all those which have the sanction of the Church, and that together, they have vindicated the following propositions : — That it is right to burn heretics, and as binding as abstinence upon a Friday ; that all bonds with a heretic are broken de jure, and they may be tole- rated only by necessity ; that the brother is bound to GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 43 denounce his brother if he be a heretic, the child his father, the wife a husband ; that unreasoning submis- sion to the authorities of the Church, in morals and in faith, is a duty ; that that is morally good which the sovereign Pontiff commands, and that morally evil which he forbids; that blind obedience is the highest practice of Christian virtue ; that faith in a priest absolves from all responsibility in following his advice, though it be murder or any other crime ; that incontinence in the clergy is preferable to marriage, and that unless it becomes public and occasion scandal, it is not censurable ;* that one may never question the right or wrong of a priest's instructions and commands ; that every person should give the entire charge of his soul to a priest ; that a husband, a father, a king, or any other person, may be killed by their respective correlatives, under instruction, without incurring guilt ; that probability gathered from recognized authorities of the Church, may solve all questions of conscience, and the opinion of ah unrepudiated theologian makes a probability ; that personal conviction of the unlaw- fulness of an action is no bar to its being lawfully enjoined by a priest, or virtuously 'perpetrated by his penitent ; that, if occasion be urgent, one may perpetrate a doubtful act first, and find his authority afterwards; that. one may choose a priest for the * It is a somewhat remarkable fact, that a priest of the Church of Kome, is never required by his Bishop to take a vow of chas- tity. His celibacy is alleged to be a matter of discipline, and is no farther law than custom makes it so. Why should not the corresponding part of discipline, the duty of chastity, be enforced ! 44 GEXIUS OF THE CHURCH OF EOJIE. purpose of authorizing a crime ; that perjury is a duty binding on all men under certain circumstances, to be judged of by the person Tvho is perjured ; that one may swear ■with equivocation ; that, in certain circumstances, it is right to anticipate the attack of an enemy, "by killing him unawares ; that the right to rule over conscience results from the right to rule the state ; that the abstinence of the sovereign Pontiff from the rule of states, is a necessity, not >Yant of right ; that this right is divine, and can never expire ; that the rights of the Pontiff neces- sarily cover all things temporal ; that Pontifical rights are in the oflSce, not in the locum tenens, except in transitu, and consequently can never be surrendered or qualified ; that the same principle applies to the priesthood in ^11 its degrees and diversities ; in short, that there is no power over this world or the next, so far as man is interested in either, which does not, jure divino, vest in the Roman Pontiff; and no act, commonly called crime, and stamped and punished as such by the legislation of the civilized world, which may not be committed, if authorized by a priest of the Church of Rome, for a purpose which he may think meritorious ! It is the end that justifies the means ! These specimens of casuistry might be greatly extended, for there is no act marked by the penal code of the civilized world, which is not vindicated in given circumstances, specifically or by implication. This task has for centuries been a distinct vocation in the higher walks of mind in the Church of Rome, where the greatest ingenuity and subtlety of reason- GENIUS OF THE CnURCH OF ROME. 45 ing have been exhausted, and one of the high functions of the Church has been to declare its approbation or disapprobation of these efforts, until the approved works have become numerous, and no small part of a well furnished library in that Church. Not a Jesuit, probably, can be found in the world, who has not a manual of these doctrines in his pocket for his guidance. One could hardly see the use of a Bible in such a case to declare what is right and what is wrong. It might embarrass conscience. But a compendious view of these doctrines which make wrong right, and determine what crimes may be committed, what immoralities may be practised, and what vices may be indulged in, in given circum- stances and for given objects, would seem to be very necessary for those whose function it is to authorize them.* * It is not usual, we believe, to find a priest of Kome ■witli a Bible in Ma pocket or trunk. We had occasion once, being a fel- low-passenger with a Bishop of the Church of Rome, on the sea, to appeal to his own copy of the Scriptures, to prove from the original publication of the Decalogue, that his Church had dropped the second commandment, and divided the tenth ; of which — strange to say — he appeared to be ignorant ! For, at our re- quest, he had just recited the Decalogue, as they read it, with the above named omission and change, putting the third in the place of the second commandment ; and he did it with perfect compo- sure, as if it were all right. We appealed to his own Bible. He had none with him ! Being a modest man, he blushed, and was much embarrassed. The subject was necessarily dropped. We have encountered another instance of the same kind, in the case of a highly accomplished gentleman, who had been educated for the Church, but afterwards went into the service of the State, as an ambassador at Washington. We know not whether he was a Jesuit. At our request he recited the Decalogue ; and it was given 46 GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OIF ROME. The Jesuitical casuists, says Moslieim, teach, " that a bad man who is an entire stranger to the love of God, provided he feels some fear of the Divine wrath, and from dread of punishment avoids grosser crimes, is a fit candidate for eternal salvation; that men may sin with safety, provided they have a probable reason for the sin ; that is, some argument or autho- rity in favor of it ; that actions in themselves wrong, and contrary to the Divine law, are allowable, pro- vided a person can control his own mind, and in his thoughts connect a good end with the crimiaal deed ; or, as they express it, knows how to direct Ms inten- tion right ; that philosophical sins, that is, actions which are contrary to the law of nature and to right reason, in a person ignorant of the written law of God, or dubious as to its true mfeaning, are light offences, and do not deserve the punishment of hell ; that the deeds a man commits, when wholly blinded by his lusts and the paroxysms of passion, and when destitute of all sense of religion, though they be of the vilest and most execrable character, can by no means be charged to his account in the judgment of God, because such a man is like a madman ; that it is right for a man, when taking an oath, or forming a contract, in order to deceive the judge, or subvert as above by the Bishop. He never knew the Decalogue, as ori- ginally published, till we showed it to him ; and he knew not what to say. Being, as we suspected, an infidel, he didn't seem to care ; but he was perfectly honest in his giving out of the Deca- logue, and regarded it as the true copy. These facts, perhaps, may show the extreme care of the Church of Borne, to keep her educated men within certain limits, as to the information they are pennitted to acquire. GENIUS 01" THE CHUECH OF EOMB. 47 the validity of an oath, tacitly to add something to the words of the compact or the oath." (Mosheim, Book IV. Cent. XVII. Sect. II. Part. I. Chap. I. § 34.) Mosheim acknowledges, that some of the Popes, in deference to opinion, have heen forced to rebuke these doctrines ; hut adds : " The reason as- signed, why so many kings and princes, and persons of every rank and sex, committed the care of their souls to the Jesuits especially, is, that such confessors, by their precepts, extenuated the guilt of sin, flat- tered the criminal passions of men, and opened an easy and convenient way to heaven." Surely it is not a question whether these things be so, when the whole subject is reduced to a science, and when the shelves of the libraries of Kome groan with the most elaborate expository authorities on these topics. There they stand, patent to all the world, and not a blush is seen on the cheeks of the authors of these works, or of the students, or of the advocates of these doctrines. To write these volumes was a high and honorable vocation, and to be versed in them is a necessary qualification to serve the Church. The facts of history illustrating these doc- trines, are not wanting ; but the long line of many centuries is crowded with them. How many kings and princes have fallen victims ; how many states have been revolutionized ; how many families hav6 been divided and rui;ied ; and how many last wills and testaments of the rich have been destroyed or controlled by this species of influence ! Testamentary acts are one of its great harvest fields, in all ages, and in all countries, as it is one where the laws of 48 GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. society on this subject can most easily be evaded. The power of the Church of Rome over the dying, is absolute, and is never allowed to sleep on such occa- * The Mlowing are passages selected from the Canoa law of the Church of Rome, by Archbishop Cranmer, under Henry the Eighth, to show the necessity of a Reformation : — " He that acknowledgeth not himself to he under the Bishop of Rome, and that the Bishop of Rome is ordained by God to have primacy over all the world, is an heretic, and cannot be saved, nor is of the iiock of Christ. " Princes' laws, if the}' be against the canons and decrees of the Bishop of Rome, be of no force nor strength. ' ' All the decrees of the Bishop of Rome, ought to be Itept perpet- ually by every man, without any repugnance, as God's word spoken by the mouth of Peter ; and whosoever doth not receive them, neither availeth them the catholic faith, nor the four evangelists ; but they blaspheme the Holy Ghost, and shall have no forgiveness. " All kings, bishops, and noblemen, that believe or suffer the Bishop of Rome's decrees in any thing to be violate, be accursed, and forever culpable before God, as ti'ausgressors of the catholic faith. " The See of Rome hath neither spot, nor wrinkle in it, and cannot err. " The Bishop of Rome is not bound to any decrees, but he may compel, as well the clergy as laymen, to receive his decrees and canon law. " The Bishop of Rome hath authority to judge all men, and spe- cially to discern (decree or judge) the articles of the faith, and that without any cynncil, and may assoil them that the council hath damned ; but no man hath authority to judge him, or to med- dle with any thing that he hath judged, neither emperor, king, people, nor the clergy ; and it is not lawful for any man to dis- pute of his power. " The Bishop of Rome may excommunicate emperors and princes, depose them from their seats, and assoil their subjects from their oath and obedience to them, and so constrain them to rebellion. GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF KOME. 49 f The shock given to the power of the Church of Rome hy the Reformation, the public exposures of " The emperor is the Bishop of Rome's subject, and the Bishop of Eome may revoke the emperor's sentence in temporal causes. " It belongeth to the Bishop of Rome to allow or disallow the emperor, after he is elected, and he may translate the empire from one region to another. " The Bishop of Rome may appoint coadjutors unto princes. " There can be no council of bishops, without the authority of the See of Rome. "Nothing may be done against him, that appealeth unto Rome. " The Bishop of Eome may be judged of none, but of God only ; for, although he neither regard his own salvation, nor any man's else, but draw down with himself innumerable people into hell ; yet may no mortal man in this world presume to reprehend him ; forasmuch as he is called God, he may not be judged of man, for God may be judged of no man. " The Bishop of Eome may open and shut heaven unto man. " He that maketh a lie to the Bishop of Rome, commiteth sac- rilege. " It appertaineth to the Bishop of Eome, to judge which oaths shall be kept, and which not ; and he may absolve subjects from their oath of fidelity, and absolve from other oaths that ought to be kept. ~ ^ " The Bishop of Eome is judge in temporal things, and hath two swords, spiritual and temporal. "The Bishop of Eome may give authority to arrest men, and imprison them in manacles and fetters. " The Bishop of Eome may compel prifioes to receive his legates. It belongeth also to him to appoint and command peace and truce to be observed and kept, or not. " Laymen may not be judges to any of the clergy, nor compel them to pay their debts ; but the bishops only must be their judges. Eectors of Churches may convent such as do them wrong, whither they will, before a spiritual judge or temporal ; but one of the clergy may not commit Ms cause to a temporal judge, with- out the consent of the bishop. 5 50 GENIDS OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. her enormities, then and since made, and the great progress of freedom in the world, have greatly modi- " All that make or imto any statutes contrary to the lights of the Church ; and all princes, rulers, and covmsellors, where such statutes be made, or such customs observed ; and all the judges and others that put the same in execution, and who put them not out of their books, be excommunicate ; and that so grievously, that they cannot be assoiled, except by the Bishop of Kome. " Laymen may not meddle with elections of the clergy, nor with any other thing that belongeth unto them. " The clergy ought to give no oath of fidelity to their temporal governors, except they hold temporalities of them. " Princes ought to obey bishops, and the decrees of the Church, and to submit their heads unto the bishops, and not to judge over the bishops ; for the bishops ought to be forborne, and to be judged of no layman. " All manner of causes, whatsoever they be, spiritual or tem- poral, ought to be determined and jiidged by the clergy. " Whoever teacheth or thinketh of the sacraments otherwise than the See of Kome doth teach and observe, and all they that the same See doth judge heretics, be excommunicate. And the Bishop of Rome may compel by an oath all rulers and other peo- ple to observe, and cause to be observed, whatsoever the See of Some shall ordain concerning heresy, and the fautors thereof; and whosoever will not obey, he may deprive them of their digni- ties. "We ordain remission of sin, by observing of certain fasts, and certain pilgrimages in the Jubilee, and other prescribed times, by virtue of the Bishop of Bomc's pardons. " Whoever ofFendeth the rights of the Church, or doth violate any interdiction that cometh from Borne, or conspireth against the person or statute of the Bishop or See of Kome ; or by any ways offendeth, disobeyeth, or rebelleth against the said Bishop or See, or that killeth a priest, or offendeth personally against a bishop or other prelate; or invadeth, spoileth, withholdeth, or wasteth lands belon^ng to the Church of Borne, or any other church immediately sul^ject to the same ; or whosoeTer invadeth GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 61 fied her policy. Instead of controlling the powers of Europe by the open demonstrations of her influ- any pilgrims that go to Rome, or that let the devolution of causes unto that court, or that put any new charges or impositions, real or personal, upon any Church or ecclesiastical person ; and gener- ally, all other that offend in the cases contained in the bull, which is usually published by the Bishops of Borne upon Maundy Thursday ; — all these can be assoiled by no priest, bishop, arch- bishop, nor by any other but by the Bishop of Rome, or by his express license. " He is no manslayer that slayeth a man that is excommuni- cate." [Burnet's History of the Reformation Records, Part I. Book III.) We understand, as indicated by the style, that the above cited passages, are condensed statements in the archbishop's own lan- guage. They are undoubtedly truthful, as at the head of each, he refers to the authoritative documents. As will be seen, they agree well with the summary propositions, which we have con- densed on pages 42, 43, and 44, only that they are somewhat more remarkable in several particulars. And it is to be observed, that they were not only parts of the canon law of the Church of Rome, at that time, some three centuries ago ; but that they are now and ever.so. It may be pertinent here to present a copy of the oath of a Bishop or Abbot of the Church of Rome, by which he swears alle- giance to the Pope. The one here given was used in Henry the Eighth's time. The Oath of a Bishop or Abbot to the Pope. " I, John, Bishop or Abbot of A, from this hour forward, shall be faithful and obedient to St. Peter, and to the Holy Church of Rome, and to my lord, the Pope, and fa) his successors cauoni- cally entering. I shall not be of counsel, nor consent that they shall lose either life or member, or shall be taken or suffer any violence or any wrong by any means. Their counsel to me in. dited by them, their messengers or letters, I shall not willingly discover to any person. The papacy of Rome, the rules of the holy fathers, and the regality of St. Peter, I shall keep, and 62 GENIXrS OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. ence, she bas been forced to resort to secret machina- tions, and to bide her time for more energetic efforts. maintain, and defend against all men. The legate of the See Apostolic, going and coming, I shall honorably entreat. The rights, honors, privileges, and authorities of the Chm-ch of Kome, and of the Pope and his successors, I shall cause to be conserved, defended, augmented, and promoted. I shall not be in any coun- sel, treaty, or any act in the -which any thing shall be imagined against him or the Church of Rome, their rights, seats, honors, or powers. And if I know any such to be moved or compassed, I shall resist it to my power, and as soon as I can, I shall adver- tise him, or such as may give him knowledge. The rules of the holy fathers, the decrees, ordinances, sentences, dispositions, re- servations, provisions, and commandments apostolic, to my power I shall keep and cause to be kept by others. Heretics, schisma- tics, and rebels to our holy father and his successors, I shall re- sist and persecute to my po^er. I shall come to the Synod when I am called, except I be letted by a canonical impediment. The thresholds of the Apostles, I shall visit yearly, personally, or by my deputy. I shall not alienate or sell my possessions without the Pope's counsel. So God help me and the Holy Evangelists." Dr. Barrow, in his " Treatise on the Pope's Supremacy," gives the form of a bishop's oath of allegiance, as orSered by Clement VIII., much iQore in detail, and more comprehensive than the above. The following are excerpts from the Introduction of Dr. Bar- row's Treatise : — '•If he," the Pope, "charge us (papists) to hold no commu- nion with our prince, to renounce oui- allegiance to him, to abandon and persecute him, even unto death, we must in duty obey. . . . They," the Popes, " could do all things, whatever they pleased ; yea, and things unlawful ; and so could do more than God. . . To them is given all power in heaven and earth. . . . There can be no doubt but that the civil principality is subject to the sacerdotal." The bull of Pope Sixtus V. (1585), against Henry, King of Navarre, and the prince of Conde, saith : " The autho- rity given to St. Peter and his successors, by the Eternal King, excels all the powers of earthly kings and princes. It passes un- GENIUS OP THE CHURCH OF ROME. 53 But she still knows how to control even the rampant democracy of the European States, by forming alliances with it, and by pushing it forward tp in- evitable overthrow. For a month and a day, Pius IX, was a democrat; but turned short about, and left them to their own destruction. There was a public meeting in the city of New York, to glorify the Pope's conversion to democracy; but it had hardly adjourned, when the Pope, in an Allocution to his Cardinals, said, that "he had taken this prin- ciple for basis, that the Catholic religion, with all its rights, ought to be exclusively dominant, in such controllable sentence on them all. We deprire them" (the said Henry and prince of Conde) " and their posterity forever of their dominions and kingdoms. By these' presents we absolve and set free all persons " (their subjects) " from their allegiance, and forbid all to obey them, or any of their laws or commands." Pope Innocent the Third said: — "The Pontifical authority exceeds the temporal, as the Sun doth the moon." In a bull of Gregory Til. it is written: — "For the dignity and defence of God's Holy Church, in the name of Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, I depose from imperial and royal administration, King Henry, son of Henry sometime emperor," &o. " This doctrine of the Pope's universal power over all persons, in all matters, m ay naturally be supposed the sentiment of all popes for more than 500 years, unto the present day." • For the first six centuries, or more, the Bishop, of Rome, and all other bishops, acknowledged the supremacy of the Emperors, and the grand councils of the Church were convoked and super- vised by them. See Dr. Barrow's treatise, Supposition VI. " The Bishops of Rome," says Mosheim, in his history of the sixth cen- tury, " paid homage to the Roman Emperors, in a submissive manner ; for they had not yet become so lost to shame, as to look upon temporal sovereigns as their vassals." Again says Mosheim, "After the ninth century, the Bishops of Rome assumed the exclusive right to be vicars of Christ." 5* 54 GENIUS OP THE CHURCH OF ROME. sort, that every other worship shall be banished and interdicted." He also said, in the same Allocution, that, by ecclesiastical liberty is meant " the free ex- ercise of their proper Episcopal jurisdiction by the Bishops ;" and as the Church of Rome always falls back on her established authorities, if pertinent to her purpose, though forgotten by the world, it will be found, by a decision of the Council of Trent, that this " proper Episcopal jurisdiction" reaches to all civil oflScers, and includes " the right, if it be judged expedient, to proceed against all persons whatsoever, by means of pecuniary fines, by distress upon the goods or arrest of the person, and if there be contu- macy, by smiting with the sword of Anathema." So much for the democracy of Pius IX. If required, he will crown Napoleon III., as Pius VII. did Napo- leon I., and if expedient, protest afterwards, that it was done under force. The Church of Rome must march straight for- ward. The momentum of her destiny is irresistible. There is no cure for her faults, they are so many, so deeply rooted, so all-pervading. They are not the accidents of her being, but the very soul, the genius of the institution. The good men within her pale — for doubtless there are good men, even there — know there is no cure. The Cardinal Prefect of the Pro- paganda once said, on a complaint of some of these enormities being made to him : " I know it, I know it all, and more, and worse than all. But nothing can be done." It is the system that produces such results. " Can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit ?" GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF EOMB. 65 Surely, if any thing, in all history, has been worthy of prophecy, it is this stupendous phenome- non. It should be observed, that inspired prophecy, in opening the chapters of future history, selects only those great subjects, which are to have influence on the destinies of mankind. Not in all the world has such a gigantic social fabric ever appeared, with such pretensions, of such vast influence, and of such tenacious endurance, as the Church of Rome. It has this pre-eminence, that it overshadows two worlds, the present and the future ; and this advan- tage, that it employs the future and unknown world, giving it shape, substance, and potency, suiting its purposes, to subjugate the present. How can we believe that prophecy ever had a vision of the future, if it did not see this, the greatest and most amazing of all ? And where do we find it ? — " Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter days, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hy- pocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats." (1 Tim. iv. 1 — 3.) Besides the other marks, so clearly distinguishable here, as applicable to the Church of Rome, the celibacy of her clergy identi- fies the picture with the subject by a most indubitable sign — a sign that can find no other type in all his- tory of sufficient importance to be the subject of pro- phetic notice. Again : " Let no man deceive you ; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, 56 GENIUS OF THE CHTJKCH OF ROME. the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth him- self ahove all that is- called God, or that is ■wor- shipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." (2 Thess. ii. 3, 4.) Is not the Pope of Rome exalted above all the gods of the heathen ? Does he not sit in the Church of Saint Peter as God, and does he not claim and receive reli- gious homage there ? Does he not claim to forgive sins, the prerogative of God alone ? Does he not claim to open and shut the door of heaven to whom he will, and to send to hell those who will not obey him ? And can this prophecy be applied to any other character in all history ? Then, clearly, the Church of Rome and the Pope of Rome are here designated. And again : "And I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots, and abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. ' ' (Rev. x vii. 3- 6.) This, indeed, is a strong picture; but who, believing in inspired prophecy, as a mode of instructing mankind, will deny, that it finds a veritable type in the Church of Rome ? And where else, in the range of history, can the type be found ? The history of ,the Church of Rome, as we have found it in this brief chapter. GENIUS OF, THE CHURCH OF KOME. 57 is a sufficient verifL^ation of these prophetic records, and others of the ^ind.* To suppose, tha^ the polity of the Church of Rome should be from Qt^d, and have his sanction, is not less preposterous,^ than to suppose, that the most subtle and most .comprehensive device of the grand adversary of Gold; and man, that was ever developed on earth, should have the- same source and .the same sanction. Tha^;the Church of Rome is a hod j poU- tie, and that she aims at political sway over all nations — a sway entire, absolute, unlimited, and embittered, exasperated by the Inquisition, and by the fires of hell .^ashing in the face of all opponents — no one, who wilh take the trouble to become acquaint- ed with the principles of her polity, and with her history, can fail to see ; and how she governs politi- cally, let the history of all the states she has ever had under her, dominion, and the present condition of the estates of the Church in Italy, show. It may be of some consequence to the lovers of freedom in Italy and elsewhere ; but they are sinners and damned .in thp eye of the priesthood that governs them ; and in the judgment of the priests, it is doubt- less most befitting, that these recreants should have a little taste of damnation here on earth. Can they who deal in such penalties as a vocation, sympathize with these refractory spirits, who are only arrested without knowing for what; who are only tried and condemned without a jury, without an advocate, and * See Wordsworth's " Hulsean Lectures on the Apocalypse,'' Lecture XII., ftrnf full and complete evidence of the identity of the Apocalyptic Babylon and the Church of Rome. 58 GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. without law, except what springs up in the hreast of the court at the time ; who are only immured in a dungeon, never, perhaps, to see the light of the sun again, or be heard of; who are only put to the tor- ture to get some truth out of them, and who must say something, true or false, for present relief; and who only go to their merited doom in hell by means so far short of their deservings ? Are such sinners to have sympathy for what they caU a deprivation of freedom, but which is administered for political effect on others, and for a salutary discipline over their own souls, if they shall repent in season to be rescued, and if they have left no estates worth hav- ing ? A little punishment here, will, peradventure, fit them for their eternal Punishment hereafter. It is the GENIUS of the Church of Rome that pro- duces these results, and such forever will be its fruits. It can have no other, as the legitimate result of her polity, but only in spite of that polity. And by this last remark we intend to allow, that there is good in the Church of Rome ; that men may get to heaven from that Church ; that great and good men have lived and died in her communion ; that thousands, and hundreds of thousands of penitent and believing souls have found the bread of life there ; and that there is always enough of Evangelical truth in that Church to save those who trust in it. The Pope and his hierarchy could never have succeeded in practis- ing such wrong on the world, if they had not had enough of the Bible, and enough of the truth of the Gospel, to satisfy really p.enitent souls, and deceive sincere inquirers after the way of salvation. It mat- GENIUS or THE CHURCH OF ROME. 59 ters not with them whether men go to heaven or to hell, if they are obedient to the hierarchy ; and the Church must have aliment to satisfy the taste of all. While the priests are hypocritical, some of the peo- ple may be true and penitent, and no doubt as sin- cere worshippers may be found in the Church of Rome as any where else. It cannot be denied that truly godly men have been found, and are still found, in the ranks of her priesthood. But these are the exceptions, and not the rule ; and true Christians in that Church are saved by God's mercy, and not as the effect, and by the fidelity of her administrations. The polity of the Church is forever the same device of man, erected and administered for the attainment of power over men, by whatever means will most effectually secure that end, whether it be real piety, or unmitigated vice. The reason why the Church of Rome has so much good in her, is because she was once a pure Church, and because she has never had any reason for putting away the good, so long as it answered -her purpose of deceiving mankind. But since she became a corrupt body, the accumulations of evil have been immense, and all that we have ascribed to her of evil in this chapter is strictly true, only that the half has not been told, could not be. In order to have a right view of the Church of Home in the matters we have had under considera- tion in this chapter, it is important to distinguish between the priesthood and polity of that Church on the one hand, and her communicants on the other. The priesthood, comprising all its branches, from the Pope downward, is the Church. The communicants 60 GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. count nothing except as subjects of a prince, the Pope. They are no part of the Church, in its pre- sent, and long established organization and active functions, and they have not the slightest power or influence in Church afiairs,- except only as their loy- alty and obedience contribute to maintain the power of the priesthood. In the progress of centuries, and by constant usurpations from all quarters and in all things, absorbing and centralizing every controlling element of society, the priesthood has erected itself into a state machinery sui generis. There is nothing like it on earth. But it is a state edifice, so far as its political structure is definable. The danger to real piety in the Church of Rome, is, that it will be buried up in the rubbish of idolatry and superstition. Where there is so much to worship between the worshipper and God, it is hard to think of God ; and where a man is the priest and inter- cessor, claiming to offer the sacrifice and to dispense pardon, the penitent T^ill naturally trust in the priest before his eyes, instead of trusting in the atonement and offices of Christ. This, indeed, is the purpose of the priesthood of Rome. Their policy is only consummated in this result. The religion of Rome is a religion for the senses, and it looks not beyond the region which they occupy. For like reasons of policy, the hierarchy of Rome is willing to have saints of eminent piety grow up in their Church, that they can point to them as examples of the excellence of their doctrine and discipline ; and some of the best Christians in the world have been found, and are yet to bo found, in GENIUS OF THE CHUKCII OF ROME. 6l" that communion. Some of the brightest lights of Christendom have appeared in the priesthood of the Church of Rome, as Massillon, Fenelon, and others ; and they are honored in that Church, as else- where. A care is always taken to form the con- science of her communicants, so that they shall have faith in that Church, and in no other. But the principles and polity of the hierarchy, as such, are entirely another affair ; and the picture we have given of them, is far short of the reality. They exist, as we have shown, for the object of power over this world, by shaping the world to come to suit that end. They constitute a high school of human device for the subjugation of individuals, states, and na- tions to their will ; and there is no artifice within the range of man's invention, and no crime specified on the penal codes of society, at which they will pause for the attainment of their purposes. It is in this brotherhood of iniq^uity, where all the danger lies — a brotherhood which has no rival on earth in the arts and practices to which they are addicted.* » Let those who imagine that the Church of Rome has changed, or can change, for the better, read the following remarks of Bishop Burnet, in his Introduction to Part III., of his History of the Re- formation of the Church of England : — " When men's eyes have been once opened, when they have shaken off the yoke, and got out of the noose ; when the simplicity of the religion has been seen into, and the sweets of liberty have been tasted ; it looks like charm and witchcraft to see so many looking back so tamely on that servitude, under which this nation groaned so heavily for so many ages. It is not enough for such as understand this mat- ter, to be conteijted with their own thoughts, and that they resolve not to turn papists themselves. They ought to. awaken all about them to apprehend their danger Some say, popery is not 6 62 GENIUS OF THE CHURCQ OE KOME. The history of the defection of the Church of Rome, from primitive usages, and of her gradual ap- proximation to her present arrogant and preposterous claims, would be both interesting and instructive, in this place. But we have space only for a few histo- rical references on this subject. Toward the close of the sixth century, Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome, and one of the line of Popes, as claimed, made precisely the same remonstrance against the claims of the Bishop of Constantinople as " universal patri- arch," which the Protestants now make against the claims of the Pope in this particular ; and precisely irhat it was before the Keformation, and that things are much mended. They tell us, that further corrections might be expected if we would enter into a treaty with them. "In answer to this, and to lay open the falsehood of it, we are to look back to the first beginning of Luther's breach. It was occasioned by the scandalous sale of pardons and indnlgen- oes, which all the writers on the popish side give up, and acknow- ledge it was a great abuse. So in the countries where the Refor- mation has got an entrance, or in the neighborhood of them, this is no more heard of ; and it has been taken for granted, that such an infamous traffic was no more practised. But in Spain, by an agreement with the Pope, the king has a profit in the sale of in- dulgences, and it is no small branch of his revenue. In Portugal, the king and the Pope also go shares. They may safely do what they please, where the terror of the Inquisition is so great. In 1709, the privateers of Bristol took the galleon, in which they found 500 bales of these bulls (indulgences), 18 reams to a bale, amounting to 3,8i0,000. These bulls are imposed on the people, and sold, the lowest at three reals, or twenty pence ; but to some, at eleven pounds of our money. All are obliged to buy them against Lent. " As for any changes that may be made in popery, it is certain, infallibility is their basis. So nothing can be altered, where a decision is once made." GENIUS OP THE CHURCH OF ROME. 63 the same reasons are given in both cases. Gregory wrote to his nuncio at Constantinople, to address himself both to the Emperor and to the Patriarch, to dissuade the latter from any farther use of "the proud, the profane, the anti-Christian title of univer- sal bishop, which he had assumed, in the pride of his heart, to the great debasement of the whole Epis- copal order. ... It is very hard," says Gregory, " that, after we have parted with our silver, our gold, our slaves, and even our garments, for the public welfare, we should be obliged to part with our faith too. For, to agree to that impious title, is parting with our faith." The title of universal bishop, then, according to Gregory, was heretical. In a letter to the Patriarch himself, Gregory says : " Whom do you imitate, in assuming that arrogant title ? Whom but he," (Lucifer,) "who, swelled with pride, exalted himself above so many legions of angels, his equals, that he might be subject to none, and that all might be subject to him? . . . All the Apostles," says Gregory, " were members of the Church under one head, and none would ever be called universal." Again, addressing the Patriarch, he says : " If none of the Apostles would be called universal, what will you answer on the last day to Christ, the head of the Church universal ; — you, who,, by arrogating that name, strive to subject all his members to yourself?" Gregory begged the. Emperor "to control by his authority, the unbounded ambition of a man, who, not satisfied with being Bishop, aifected to be called sole Bishop of the Catholic Church." The following are remarkable words of Gregory on this subject : — 64 GENIUS OP THE CIIURCil OF KOIIE. "If there was a universal Bishop, and he should err, the universal Church would err with him." The 8th canon of the GEcumenical Council of Ephesus, held in 431, is devoted exclusively and very especially to determine the rights of Metropolitans, as to relative jurisdiction, and is utterly at variance with the idea of a Primacy in Christendom. It is perfectly evident, from the terms and minute speci- fications of tliis canon, the object of which was to establish the equal rights of Metropolitans, that the thought of a Primate over all had never entered the mind of the Church at that time. ^The spirit and purpose of this canon is radically opposed to it. " The authority," says Hammond, "which the Bishops of Rome, in after ages, claimed and usurped over the British and other Western Churches, is clearly con- trary to this canon, as well as to those of the Council of Nice." Twenty years afterwards, however, in 451, at the Council of Chalcedon, (also (Ecumenical,) the rivalry between Rome and Constantinople is appa- rent, and the 28th canon of this Council was passed to declare their equality, much to the mortification of the Bishop of Rome. " The progress the Papacy had made from Pope Gregory the Seventh, to Pope Boniface the Eighth's time, in little more than two hundred and thirty years, is an amazing thing. The one began with the pretension to depose kings. The other, in the jubi- lee that he first opened, went in procession through Rome, the first day attired as Pope, and the next day attired as Emperor, declaring, that all power, fcoth spiritual and temporal, was in him, -and derived from GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF EOME. 65 him ; and he cried out with a loud voice, I am Pope and Emperor, and hold both the earthly and heavenly empire. And he made a solemn decree in these words : We say, define, and pronounce, that it is absolutely necessary to salvation to every human creature to be subject to the Bishop of Rome." — Burnet's Re- formation, Part III. Booh I. The usurpations of the Bishop of Rome assumed a bolder form, after the disuse of the provincial coun- cils in the Latin Church. Among the records of the Assembly of Archbishops and Bishops of Tus- cany, under the auspices of Leopold, Grand Duke, who succeeded to the Austrian empire, is an inter- esting paper by a monk, Francis Barkovitch, in which he says : " The principal doctrines inculcated in this fraudulent collection" (the false decretals) "are, that the Pope is Bishop of all Christendom ; that all causes of importance ought to be brought by appeal before him ; that causes relating to the bishops be- long exclusively to the Pope ; that he ought to con- voke and preside in all general councils ; that no council, general or particular, is binding, unless approved by him;" &c. In a paper given in the Life of Cardinal De^Ricci, entitled, the defence of Counsellor Rafiaele, it is said : " Finally, Gregory the Twelfth mounted the papal throne, and reduced into a regular system the whole of that hitherto un- shaped mass of privileges and exemptions, which had been slowly constructed, partly on the ignorance and superstition of the people, and partly on the weak- ness and cowardice of governments. "The two Councils of Lateran sanctioned this gi- 6* 66 QENITJS OF THE CHURCH OF EOME. gantic system, by the adherence of deputies from the ■whole Church, who, they said, had been assembled in the name and by the authority &f the Holy Spirit. From that period, -whoever ventured to attack either the persons or the property of the clergy, -was threat- ened with the spiritual thunders of the Church, and its awful consequences both in this world and the next. The energies and intelligence of mankind were thus completely paralyzed ; and society, in the very period of its infancy, fell into the weakness and decrepitude of age." Or, as the Bishop of St. Asaph says, in his history of the Church of Eng- land: "The vices of monarchs and of nations first made the Pope king of kings; and the vices of Rome and her servants destroyed a power which no other human force could have subdued." Although we have in this chapter, and elsewhere in this work, for convenience' sake, in conformity to usage, employed the phrase, the Church of Home, in application to the papal hierarchy, nevertheless, under the sentence which, has been passed upon her by the Holy Spirit, she occupies the position of an adjudged criminal, awaiting the execution of law, which, in this case, is the law of Providence bringing her to judgment before the tribunal of opinion. The scru- tiny for her retribution opened on the world in the Protestant Reformation, is now in progress, and will terminate only in the fulfilment of all the prophecies regarding her. She has, as we have seen, the stamp of the Divine hand written on her forehead : " The Mystery of iniquity;" "the Mother of Har- lots." She is Bot a schism by any earthly law, or GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 67 by any recognized principle of Church polity. What, then, is her position ? It is that* of an Apostate under sentence, pronounced by the same authority that will judge all men at the last great day. It ■would be equally presumptuous for any earthly tribu- nal to review that sentence, as for created beings to take in hand the decisions of the final judgment. All judicial process over the papal hierarchy here on earth, is precluded by acts of God himself, in the dictates of the Holy Ghost to the inspired writers on this subject, such as we have cited in this chap- ter. The sentence is recorded and published, and no earthly power can alter it. It is a sentence of utter and irrevocable reprobation, for time and for eternity. There is no space given for repentance, for judgment is concluded ; and no hope of reform, for there is no redeeming quality. It is not a schism, but an apostaey, a prostitution, stained by a long career of blasphemy against God, and of crime against man. For six hundred years or more, now past, history is crowded, and groans with the burden of these enormities. The Divine admonition to all the world, is, " Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." CHAPTER V. THE GENIUS OF THE KEFORMATION. All great events in history are relative to their causes, and demonstrate the causes. That the Pro- testant Reformation was a great event, will not be denied ; and its cause is found in the genius of the Church of Rome, from the consideration of which we have just jiassed. When great wrongs oppress man- kind, Providence usually raises up some great spirits to avenge them ; and the wrongs themselves are na- turally productive of their remedies. The Protestant Reformation had two principal lines or columns of movement : the one Germanic or con- tinental, the other Anglican. There was a lively and strong sympathy between them, but no organic con- nexion. During the reign of Edward VI.j a corres- pondence was opened between the English Protest- ants on one side, headed by Archbishop Cranmer, and the leaders of the Continental Reformers on the other, for some union of eifort against the common enemy. But the early demise of the king, the suc- cession of Queen Mary, and the overthrow of Cran- mer, involving a temporary check to Protestantism in England, put a stop to a plan, which, if it had been consummated, might have proved a very auspi- cious event to the Protestant world ; the more so, as it might, perhaps, have imparted an organic form to . (68) THE GENIUS OF THE EEFOEMATION. 69 the continental Reformation, which would have made its henefits to mankind more extensive and mQre en- during. The want of a proper organism in the con- tinental movement of the Protestants, especially in the present light of history, muai he apparent to all. Though some important bodies of Protestants grew out of that movement, and though it has proved a vast benefit to civil and religious liberty, it has nevertheless failed, in a great measure, of that con- centrated, efficient, and powerful influence, against the designs of the Church of Rome, which would have been the natural consequence of an Episcopal organ- ization, and a liturgy, embodying the Catholic creeds and articles of faith, to unite in one communibn, though in separate branches, the whole Protestant world. Behold the results in Germany, for want of a system adequate to the maintenance of the Catho- lic faith ! The English Reformation. As the easiest movement in the Protestant Refor- mation, of a conspicuous and decided character, is found in the history of the r Church of England, and as it went on by itself, without any organic connec- tion with foreign agencies of the same kind, till it was consummated, it will be proper to begin with this, and to follow it up, with such brief notices of its progress and final issue, as our small space will allow.* * Bishop Burnet, in his appendix to the Records, says : — " My design was to show what seeds and dispositions were still in the minds of many of this nation, that prepared them for a reforma- 70 THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION. The causes of the Reformation were legion, and were found in the temporal as well as in the spiritual interests of mankind. So great were the drafts made by the Pope on the wealth of England, that in 1376 he received, under his various modes of taxation, five times as much money as the king. " The pride and luxury of the ecclesiastics," says Bishop Short, " were excessive. They vied with temporal lords in all the vanities of life, and men, who had forsworn the world, were on their journeys often seen accom- panied by four score richly mounted attendants. Celibacy led the clergy into divers snares and temp- tations." The monasteries were pregnant sources of corruption, and numbered, in the timo of Henry Vin., 1178. " In 1490, Pope Innocent VIIL, sent an epistle to Archbishop Morton, directing him to reform the religious orders ; and the pastoral letter addressed by the Metropolitan to the Abbot of St. Albans, furnishes a sad picture of the depravity which reigned within their walls. They are a,ccused (in that document) of many crimes, and*charged with turning out the modest women from the nunneries under their jurisdiction, and of substituting in their room females of the worst characters. In one case, tion, in the beginning of king Henry's reign, before ever Luther preached in Germany, and several years before that the king's divorce came to be treated of in England. I, therefore, judged it was necessary for me to let the reader know what I found in our registers of those matters : how that many were tried, and some condemned, upon those opinions that were afterwards reck- oned among the chief grounds of ovtr separating from theChurch of Rome. It seemed a necessary introduction to my work, to offer this, as I found it upon record." THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION. 71 a married woman, whose husband was still alive, had been made prioress of Pray, for the purpose of keeping up an adulterous connexion with one of the monks of St. Albans." The above, of course, is the evidence of the Church of Rome on this point. " The vicious lives and conversations of ' the reli- gious,' as the monks were denominated, were too no- torious not to call forth indignant animadversion. We have so many authentic documents of their gross profligacy and superstitious knavery, that little doubt can be entertained, either^ of their guilt, or of the benefit which morals received by the suppression of monasteries. . . . The height to which Church power had now risen, rendered the members of that body totally unfit for spiritual duties, and made a reforma- tion absolutely necessary. The time was come when either their wealth and power must be taken from the clergy, or Christianity would be destroyed by those who were appointed its guardians." The above cita- tions are from Bishop Short's history of the church of England, here and there. (§ 103, § 105, § 130, § 135, § 211.) Besides the injury to public morals, produced by the numerous monasteries of England, before the Reformation, one of the main purposes of the insti- tution was to say masses for the dead, and thus ob- tain money from the people. Masses, as is known, are one of the chief sources of wealth to the Church of Rome.* Besides the flagrant crimes against so- • Bishop Bumet, in his history of the Eeformation, (part I., book in.,) has also given an interesting and instructive account of the rise, character, and wealth of the monasteries of England : 72 THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION. ciety, the useful offices of the clergy were neglected, and most of the higher stations in the state were filled by Churchmen. In the first parliament of Ed- ward IV., the temporal lords amounted to thirty-five, and the spiritual to forty-eight. The neglect and ignorance of the clergy, as to their appropriate du- ties, gave rise to the mendicant orders, who most infested England in the thirteenth century. The lapses in morals were followed by lapses in doctrine, " They found means to enrich themselves, first, by the belief of pnrgatory. This did so spread, that, if some laws had not re- strained them, the greater part of all the estates in England would have been given to those houses. They (the monks) fell upon con- trivances to get the best of all men's jewels, plate, and furniture," ostensibly for the decoration of images, relics, and altars. ' ' Though there was enough got to enrich them all, yet there was great rivalship among the several oi-ders, and houses of the same order. Abounding in wealth, they became degenerate, impudent, dissolute and lewd." Pretended miracles, of course, constituted one of the chief impostures. At the monastery, in Reading, was found " the angel with one wing, that brought over the spear's head that pierced our Saviour's side, and as many more relics as would fill four sheets of paper to mention. At St. Edmondsbury they found some of the coals that roasted St. Laurence, the parings of St. Edmond's toes, St. Thomas a Becket's penknife and boots, with as many pieces of the cross as would make a whole one. A piece of St. Andrew's finger had been pledged for\£40." A saint was held at a higher price than the Saviour, and the Virgin higher, though not so high as a saint. For example : — " In one year there was offered at the altar, in Canterbury, to Christ .£3 2s. 6d. ; to the virgin, £63 5s. 6d. ; but to St. Thomas, £832 12s. 3d. The next year, not a penny to Christ ; but to the Virgin, £4 Is. 6d. ; and to St. Thomas, £954 6s. 3d." Next came the begging friars, who very much supplanted the monks by their popularity, and who, in their torn, became rich, corrupt, and dissolute. THE GENIUS OP THE REFORMATION. 73 giving to the ■worst dogmas of the Church of Rome the grossest forms. Idolatry became excessive; pil- grimages, and homage to relics, were extolled as of the highest efficacy in obtaining favor with' God ; and the church became a market for absolutions and in- dulgences on the largest scale. All the superstitions of the Church of Rome had risen to the highest pitch in England, and the Pope had almost undisputed sway in all temporal and spiritual matters, when Wiclif*, who may be called the pioneer of the Protestant Reformation, dared to come forward as the champion of a true Christianity. That his first protestations should have comprehended the entire scope of the errors of the Church of Rome, was not to be expected. Neither did Luther's, when he commenced his career of reform about a hundred and fifty years afterwards. In the midst of such darkness, the full light of truth did not burst at once on either of these great minds. In both cases, it was the progress of the contest that brought them more fully out; though Wiclif did not live long enough to finish his work, or to have the honor of martyrdom, which was fully determined for him at Rome. In 1356, at the age of thirty-two, he pub- lished his first work against the covetousness of the Court of Rome, entitled, " The Last Age of the Church," a topic with which he must have been deeply impressed, in view of the system of pecuniary * We follow Bishop Short in the spelling of this name, who, being one of the latest writers on these times, and on that branch ef history, we suppose, had good reason, based, probably, on what be regarded as a return to the original letters used. 7 74 THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION. exactions practised by that Court on all the world, particularly in England. The productions of Wiclif s pen -were prodigious, all done within the range of some twenty-eight years. Besides his translation of the Bible, his works, tracts and all, amounted to nearly three hundred. In the opening of his career, Wiclif made an undisguised attack on the supremacy of the Pope, and in vindication of the independent rights of the crown, or civil magistrate. This was vital, and struck at the very foundation of the mighty fabric of Papacy. Wiclif was the open enemy of the friars, who,' being an every where present body among the people, raised a world of opposition against him; notwithstanding which, however, the right of his cause, his personal influence, and his writings are re- presented by some authorities, as having alienated one half of the people of England from the Church of Rome ; though much of this opposition to Papacy sprung up in forms which Wiclif would not have desired, and which he could not control, as for example, the Lollards. Nevertheless, it was a seed of the Reformation, and a great portion of this cur- rent of opinion was afterwards blended with the movement which signalized the triumph of the Re- formers. The work once begun, under such an im- pulse, could not be stopped, as it harmonized so entirely with the wishes of mankind. A cause so ripe, needed nothing but a leader, a captain, who, at this juncture, was found in Wiclif. He acknow- ledged his obligations to his predecessor, Greathead, Bishop of Lincoln, a century before, and to Fitzralph, THE- GENIUS OE THE KBFORMATIOlf. 75 a cotemporary, both of ■whom might have been for- gotten, but for him. Another matter in which Wiclif distinguished him- self, Tvas his preaching and writing against the doc- trine of transubstantiation. This also was vital with the authorities of the Church of Rome, a denial of which was • punishable with death. Nevertheless, Wiclif boldly denounced it, both from the pulpit, and with his pen. He opposed the Pope in his pecu- niary demands on the king- — a mortal offence. In England Wiclif was the high priest of opposition to Papacy, though he did not go so far as later Reformers, in the detail of his objections to the false doctrines of the Church of Rome ; but he continued to hold, and in a moderate way, to advocate some of them, as for example, that of purgatory. He was opposed to the constrained celibacy of the clergy, the evils of which were too flagrant before his eyes. He opposed auricular confession, denounced indul- gences, and many other doctrines and practices of the Church, involving principles common to all Pro- testants. The extent of his heretical opinions, as adjudged by the Papists, may be estimated by the fact, that a commission sent to Oxford by Archbishop Arundel, after the death of Wiclif, to counteract the influence which he had left behind him in that university, found two hundred and ninety- eight con- clusions in his writings, which were pronounced erroneous. Wiclif always appealed to the Bible for authority. It was his experience of the want of the Bible among the people, as a stan'dard of appeal for doctrine, and as a rule of life, that induced him to 76 THE GENIUS OF THE KEFOEMATION. sit down to the great task of translating it. In 1377, the pope (Gregory XI.) appointed a commis- sion for the trial of Wiclif, •which, though he ap- peared, was twice broken up by popular demonstra- tions in his favor. The functions of the commission, before they were consummated, ceased with the death of the pope ; and death itself, in 1384, rescued the Reformer from farther molestation of papal tribunals, and no doubt from martyrdom. ' Without doubt, Wiclif may be regarded as the primitive apostle of the Protestant Reformation, not onlyJ in England, but for the continent. John Huss is caid to have come to his eminence as a Reformer, and to the stake as a martyr, by the influence of Wiclif 's writings. They were disseminated over Europe, and no doubt contiibuted largely in raising up that noble host of Reformers, who appeared upon the stage in the sixteenth century. The seed once planted, never ceased to germinate, and bring forth fruit. But we have at present chiefly to do with this influence, as it bore upon the English Reformation. Bishop Short says, " there is an almost uninter- rupted succession of martyrs and confessors from this time (the time of Wiclif) to the period of the Reformation" (English, and of course continental). The English Reformation dates from the reign of Henry the Eighth, though it actually began, as seen above, with Wiclif, and continued to operate in the public mind, till Henry declared off from the Court of Rome, and assumed the rights over the English THE GENIUS OF THE KEFOKMATION. 77 Church and nation, -ffliich had hefore been usurped by the Pope. And here it becomes necessary to consider the position which Henry the Eighth occupied in this transition, and which has subsequently been occupied by the British sovereign, for the time being, as head of the Church. Much obloquy has been attempted to be fastened on the Church of England, that she should have come to her Reformation under such a leader; that she should have acknowledged such a head ; and that she should still continue to acknow- ledge the British sovereign as head of the Church. The effect of this demonstration, so far as any is produced, arises entirely from the lack of discrimi- nation between the position of the sovereign and that of the Church, in the premises. Can we not understand the position of Cyrus, the " anointed" of the Lord, as presented in the open- ing of the forty-fifth chapter of Isaiah ? " Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden .... For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name, though thou- hast not known me." Cyrus was a pagan, and knew not God. For aught we know, he may have been as bad a prince as Henry the Eighth, or worse. But God had chosen him as an instrument for the accomplishment of important purposes in favor of his people Israel. In that sense, and for these objects, he was God's "anointed." There is no approbation of his per- sonal character in this. On the contrary, it is said, " though thou hast not known me." In the same 1* 78 THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION. manner God often employs the kings and princes of the earth to fulfil his great designs, at the same time, that the agents, thus employed, may be utter reprobates. It T^as precisely in this sense, that Henry the Eighth was employed to rescue the English Church and nation from the dominion and power of the Pope of Rome ; and what is more, the vices of Henry were made the instruments of accomplishing this end. " His very vices," says Bishop Short, "were, by the providence of God, made the instruments of beneficial results. His desire to divorce Catharine destroyed the Papal power in England. His tyranny, and the influence which he exercised over his subjects, ena- bled him to dissolve the monastic establishments — a power which must have impeded every step toward reformation, had they been continued in existence ; and with regard to their destruction, if he had been troubled with a very scrupulous conscience, he would never have resorted to the means by which he accom- plished this stupendous work. ... It seems probable, that, unless the rapacity of Henry and his courtiers had previously scattered the wealth, and thus destroyed much of the worldly power of the Church (of Rome), the Reformation (in England) would hardly have taken place at this time. It was avarice which led them to make this attack on property. But, in attempting to defend their con- duct, they examined the grounds on which those foun- dations were laid ; and soon found the instability of a building, which had neither sound reason in its THE GENIUS OP THE REFORMATION. 79 favor, nor the revealed word of God for its support."* (§ 228, § 248). «- The surrender of the monasteries is a oiu-ious and somewhat amusing piece of history. It seems that the heads of these houses were required to sign a renunciation of Papacy, and a new faith. The apparent facility with which those signatures were obtained, would seem to indicate, that they were not quite ready to be mar- tyrs for the Pope. These documents, Bishop Burnet says, were mostly destroyed in the reign of Queen Mary. A few, howevei", remain, of which the two following are specimens : — "Forasmuch as we, Richard Green, Abbot of our monastery, of our blessed lady St. Mary of Bethesden, and the convent of said monastery, do profoundly consider, that the whole manner and trade of living, which we and our pretended religion have practised, and used many days, does most principally consist in certain dumb ceremonies, and other certain constitutions of the Bishop of Rome, and other forensioal potentates, as the Abbot of Cistins, and therein only noseled, and not taught in the true knowledge of God's laws, procuring always exemptions of the Bishop of Rome, from our ordinaries, and diocesans ; submitting ourselves principally to forensioal potentates, and powers, which never came here to reform such disorders of living and abuses, as now have been found to have reigned among us. And, therefore, now assuredly knowing, that the most perfect way of living is most principally and sufficiently declared unto us by our Master Christ, his Evangelists and Apostles, and that it is most expedient for us to be governed and ordered by our supreme head, under God, the king's most noble grace, with our mutual assent and consent, we submit ourselves, every one of us, to the most benign mercy of the king's majesty, and by these presents do surrender," &o. Another : " Forasmuch as we the prior and friars of this house of Carmelites, in Stamford, commonly called the white friars in Stamford, in the county of Lincoln, do profoundly consider, that the perfection of Christian living doth not consist in dumb ceremonies, wearing of a white coat, disguising ourselves after strange fash- ions, docking and becking, wearing scapulars and hoods, and other like papistical ceremonies, wherein we have been most principally practised and noseled in times post ; but the very true 80 THE GENIUS OF IHE KEFOEMATION. As to King Henry's having been the head of the Church, and so of his successors down to this time, a few words may suffice.* It cannot be denied, way to please God, and to live a true Christian man, ivithout all hypocrisy and feigned dissimulation, is sincerely declared to us by our Master Christ, his Evangelists, and Apostles ; being minded hereafter to follow the same, conforming ourselves to the will and pleasure of our supreme head, under God, on earth, the King's majesty ; and not to follow henceforth the superstitious traditions of any forensical potentate or power, with mutual assent and con- sent, we do submit om-selves unto the mercy of our said sovereign lord, and with the like mutual assent and consent do surrender," &c. Bishop Burnet' t History of the Reformation, Records, Fart I. Book III. The Papal writer, Sanders, whose habit of mendacity is proved by Bishop Bui'net, says, " The Abbots of Glastonbury, Colchester, and Reading, suffered martyrdom for refusing to sign." But the Bishop says, " no such writing was ever offered to them, and that they were attainted by leg^ trial of high treason." It docs not appear, that. any of th6 Monks ever became martyrs on this account. They were too fond of afe and good fare. * The first and second Canons of 1603 will, perhaps, define the position of the British Sovereign, as head of the Church, suffi- ciently for common apprehension. TJiey agree with Bishop Gib- sou's definition of this relation, else-^jfere given in these pages. It is to supersede the Pope, and keep him off. The two Canons referred to are as follows : — *;s 1. "As our duty to the King's most ejpellent majesty requireth, we first decree and ordain, that thej^^chlaiBhop of Canterbury, from time to time, all bishops of . this province, all deans, arch- deacons, parsons, vicars, and all>other ecclesiastical persona, shall faithfully keep and observe, an4 as m^h as in them lieth, shall cause to be observed and ken^by pthlts, all and singular laws and statutes made for restori%*to the'wown of this kingdom the ancient jurisdiction over the s®,te eocTe&stical, and abolishing of all foreign power repugnant to the samc^ Furthermore, all eccle- siastical persons, having cure of souls, aO^H other preachers and readers of Divine lectures, shall to ^o.ufatopst of their wit, know- THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION. 81 that much was gained to the Church, and to the cause of Christianity, by transferring that power ledge, and learning, purely and sincerely, witliout any color or dissimulation, teach, manifest, open, and declare, four times every year at the least. In their sermons and other collations and lectures, that all usurped and foreign power, (forasmuch as the same hath no establishment nor ground by the law of God), is for most just causes talsen away and abolished ; and that, therefore, no manner of obedience or subjection, within his majesty's realms and dominions, is due unto any such foreign power ; but that the King's power within his realms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and all other his dominions and countries, is the highest power under God ; to whom all men, as well inhabitants as born within the same, do, by God's laws, owe most loyalty and obedi- ence, afore and above all other powers and potentates, in the earth. 2. "Whosoever shall hereafter affirm, that the king's majesty hath not the same authority in causes ecclesiastical, that the godly Icings had among the Jews, and Christian emperors of the primitive Church ; or impeach any part of his regal supremacy in the said causes restored to the Crown, and by the laws of this realm therein established ; let him," &o. The foUowing is an extract from the Episcopal oath of allegi- ance to Henry the Eighth : — " I knowledge and recognize your majesty immediately under Almighty God, to be the chief and supreme head of the Church of England, and claim to have the Bishopric of Chester, whole and alone of your gift ; and to have and to hold the profits tempo- ral and spiritual of the same only of your majesty, and of your heirs kings of this realm, and of none other ; and in that sort, and none other, I shall take my restitution out of your hands accordingly, utterly renouncing any other suit to be had therefor to any other creature living, or hereafter to be, except your heirs. And I shall to my wit and uttermost of my power, observe, keep, maintain, and defend, all the statutes of this realm made against the reservations and provisions of the bishop of Rome, called the Pope, of any of the archbishoprics or bishoprics in the realm, or of other your dominions." Burnet, Part III., Records. 82 THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION. from Rome -to the Crown of England. However undesirable such, a connexion between the Church and State may be, it was not in the power of the Church at that time, to choose between that and the alternative of independence, without breaking up her organization, and falling back into original elements ; in other words, into a state of anarchy. The Church was providentially and entirely passive in that opera- A word may also here be said, in addition to -what we have given on page 9, on the same point and same text, touching the religious obligations of Christians to the State, as an " ordinance of God," which will apply very especially to tie Church of Eng- ^ land, in the progress of the Eeformation, and ever since, though the subject involves a general principle. " Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is no power (no civil government) but of God. The powers that be, are ordained of God. Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power', resisteth the ordinance of God." (Saint Paul, Rom. xiii., 1 and 2.) This is not to be regarded as a Divine sanction of the civil governments then existing, as being in all respects such as they ought to be. They may have been, and probably were, very corrupt — more so even, than the government of Henry the Eighth of England. We suppose, as remarked in page 9, that the above cited inspired precept, is based on the principle, that the cause of Christianity can be more easily and more effectually promoted, under any civil government^ than none at all ; and that the good order and quiet of civil governments, whatever may be their character, are more favorable to Christianity, than a different state of things. Hence the precept. All civil governments are providential arrangements ; and on account of their importance to the Church, for the accomplishment of her ends, they are elevated to the emi- nent position of " ordinances of God," and are required to be respected and obeyed as such. This is the duty of Christians, in all ages, and in all countries. This principle applied to the Church of England, in the beginning and progress of the Reformation, and has been equally applicable ever since. In her position she could only do as the state ordered. ' TUE GENIUS OF THE REFOKMATION 83 tion ; but it was a great gain to her. Tie jCing had his own purposes, and God had his to accomplish, by this relation, as in the severance of the ties between the State and the Pope. Nor did the rela- tion extend- so far as to impair the administrative functions of the Church as a spiritual body. On the contrary, it secured to the Church a far greater degree of freedom and independence, than was before enjoyed ; and neither then, nor at any time since, under Protestant rule, did the sovereign ever inter- fere with the appropriate priestly offices of the Church, except, perhaps, in some instances, to require uniformity, which can hardly be called an . interfer- ence of this kind. The administrative functions of the Church in England, have always been held and kept sacred to the ministers of religion. Opinion on this subject has ever been too strong for the sovereign to dare to violate it ; and that opinion has constantly been growing in strength. Since the Reformation was consummated, we are not aware, that the power of the British sovereign, as head of the Church, while in Protestant hands, has ever been employed, except, first, to regulate the temporalities of the Chureh, through Parliament ; next, to license the action of Convocation as an ecclesiastical bedy ; and thirdly, to regulate any action of that body tending to revo- lution or change in the constitution, offices, and faith of the Church. Nor are we aware, that it has ever yet been in the power of the Church of England to separate from the State, without jeopardizing her existence ; at least, without jeopardizing her essential prosperity. Uncomfortable, therefore, and in many 84 THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION^. respects detrimental, as this connexion is, it is a ques- tion of prudence with those most intimately concerned, when and how far it shall be severed. Like slavery in the United States, it was. a thing not to be sought ; but, having been providentially inherited and im- posed, it demands the "wisest and most conscientious treatment. Though the relation of Religion to the State, in our own country, does not go so far, it is, neverthe- less, based on the same principle as in England, to wit, protection. By our laws, we protect religion in one way; they do it in another. In both cases, as now exercised, it is a protective and fostering care of government. We originated our plan ; theii's was inherited and imposed. Ours, we believe, is the best, the only true, and in all respects, the only safe way ; and we sympathize with those who have not yet been able to adopt it, which is simply to protect religion, and to grant such corporate privi- leges as religious bodies require for the management of their temporalities. So far, it is a connexion of Church and State, and a very essential one. Moreover, both the Federal and State Governments have adopted Christianity by the religious sanction of an oath on the New Testament, which is a fundamental moral element in a civil commonwealth. They also employ Christian chaplains in Congress, in the Army and Navy, and in the State Legis- latures, to give a religious sanction to all public acts. By these recognitions, and by this relation of the Church to the state, we are a Christian nation. Yet farther, the Christian Sabbath is a THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION. 85 non dies in the common law of the land. On that day, the nation ceases from its labors. All public functionaries rest, all public offices are closed, and all' legislation and civil contracts, having that date, are void. This, surely, is a high and commanding evidence of a connexion of Religion with the State, and of the influence of the former upon the latter. But to return to the Reformation. The general mind of the English nation had been prepared by Wiclif and others, his successors, though less con- spicuous, for the change. The continental move- ment, too, had begun, and a common sympathy in the cause of the Reformation, was felt throughout Christendom. It was only necessary for an adequate power in England to strike the blow. That blow was struck by the hand of Henry the Eighth, no thanks to his motives, or to his virtue. He was the instru- ment of Providence, that is all, and that was enough. The severance of the State from the Church of Rome was made forever, except for the brief period of Queen Mary's reign; and the Church of England was independent of the Church of Rome. It is true the English Reformation did not by a single bound leap to perfection. The Church was held too strong in the grasp of her organization for a rapid move- ment. In all matters of reform, that which is slow is often, if not generally, most secure ; more especi- ally when the reform is great, and when force of arms is not required. The object of a sound refor- mation is to throw away the bad and keep the good. But impetuous reformers often destroy both, and adopt that which is worse still than the bad rejected. 8 86 THE GENIUS OP THE EEFOKMATION. We shall yet see the benefit of the gradual reforma- tfon. of the Church of England, as providentially ordered ; and vre may remark in this place, that the chief good is the preservation of a ritual, approved by the piety of so many ages ; the maintenance of the Catholic faith handed down from primitive times, and incorporated "with the ritual ; and a Church organization, -which, with such modifications as the American Episcopal Church has secured, is, we think, ^vell fitted to buffet the storms of all ages, and ^^f' ti-iumph at last. The policy of Henry the Eighth, in relation to the Court of Rome, and the internal acts of his reign corresponding thereunto, gave no inconsiderable scope to the Protestant feeling of the English public ; but they were far from affording a full gratification to it. The supremacy of the Pope was broken down ; the monasteries were suppressed ; the liturgy was adapted to the essential changes already effected ; and the publication and common use of the Scriptures were allowed. But the king never fully relinquished the hope of an accommodation of his controversy with the Pope. Bishop Short remarks' of what was accomplished in this reign for the Protestant cause, as follows : — " The power of the Papacy in England was for the time annihilated, not merely by legislative enactments, not merely by taking away the wealth of the supporters of so monstrous a scheme of oppression ; but by breaking the charm which had given energy to the whole, by weakening the force on which this machine depended for its motion. The superstitions of the Church of IHE GENIUS OF THE KEFOEMATION. 87 Rome had been attacked in their very origin, and many of the more gross of her idolatries had been put down by the civil power. But the method which had been most successfully adopted, was that of allowing the people to think and judge for them- selves. The Bible and the Creedshad been declared to b'e the rule of faith ; the use of the Bible had been granted to the people ; and they were directed to read the Word of God, and to learn from it their duty towards Him and their neighbor. The monasteries were deprived of the real source of their riches, when the notion of purgatory was discountenanced, and when, in the instructions delivered to the people, no mention was made of this doctrine, from whence the influence of the Church of Rome is derived. The translation of the Bible was authorized by the government ; copies of it were distributed throughput the kingdom ; and the litany was published in the mother tongue. The people had now the means of instruction, and the blessing was insured to the rising generation." (§ 229.) ■ But it was left for Edward the Sixth, a youthful prince, by the regency established, by the Parlia- ment, and by the aid of the clergy, to carry forward the Reformation to a point from which there was no retreat ; though it was put in check by the subse- quent reign of his sister. Queen Mary. The Book of Common Prayer, now in use in the Church of England, was prepared under the auspices of this young prince ; and singular to say, it has never been essentially altered down to this time, so perfect 88 THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION. and thoroughly Protestant was the -work. The same Book has been adopted by the American Episcopal Church, with such alterations as would adapt it to the institutions of the country since the establishment of American independence, and with a few other slight amendments. In the compilation of this Book, there was no disposition to reject any thing found in the liturgy, oflBces, and faith of the Church, simply because it came from the Church of Rome. The operation of that principle would have unchristianized the Church of England. But the object was to reject the bad, and save the good, as the only sound and safe method of reform. The Church of Rome was once pure as well as Catholic; and all, or nearly all, that was ever good in her, was still there. It was her superstitions and corruptions introduced in the lapse of centuries, that required to be expurgated ; it was her numerous absurd dogmas that needed to be set aside ; and her prepos- terous pretensions, and absorbing claims, which demanded to be broken down. It was required to get back on the primitive platform, retaining all that was good in the Church, and reasserting the true Catholic faith of primitive times. To accom- plish this end, the Church of England, in her work of reform, not only deigned to use her discrimination in drawing from the ritual of the Church of Rome, but she availed herself of the work which had already been accomplished by the Protestants on the continent. "In our public services," says Bishop Short, "the greater part of the Common Prayer Book is taken from the Roman ritual, and THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION. 89 some portions are borrowed from the Lutheran Churches ; or rather drawn up in imitation of them. In our articles are contained the great truths of Christianity, which we hold in common with the Church of Rome. There are many more which we derived from the Lutheran Church. There are some in which we differ from both. The formularies which distinguish us as a Christian community, had no reference to the theology of Geneva." (§ 341, § 342.) In Cardwell's collation of " the two Books of Common Prayer set forth by authority of Parlia- ment in the reign of King Edward the Sixth," it will be found, that the one established in 1549 was essen- tially altered in that of 1552. It is the latter which is referred to as the Prayer Book of the English Church. The alterations afterwards made in 1560 under Elizabeth, in 1604 under James I., in 1633 under Charles I., and in 1661, the last revision, were not sufficient to impair the identity of the Book of 1552. Neither that, however, nor the American Book with its local adaptations, is claimed to be perfect; but with the liberal toleration, by the Church authorities in both countries, of some discrepancies of opinion, under the common admis- sion that the Prayer Book has its imperfections, there is less urgent necessity of making haste for a revision of it. It is soundly Protestant, and thoroughly Catholic; and there is great reluc- tance to take it in hand for amendment, lest it should be injured. This Book has ever held, and still holds both the English and American 8* 90 THE GENIUS OF THE REFOKMATION. Churches sound in-the Catholic faith ; and long may it do so. The Protestant Reformation in England was nearly perfected under Edward the Sixth. • It was, indeed, considered as fuU^ established. The state went forward, hand-in-hand, with the Church ; and little, probably, would have been accomplished, without the aid and protection of the state. What would Luther have done, without the protection of Frederick, the Elector of Saxony ? Unless he had been rescued by a miracle, he would have been over- whelmed, and the cause of Protestantism on the continent, would have fallen with him. We know not how much we are indebted to this joint action of Church and State at that period. They were so mixed up that they could not be separated in the common cause. The Protestant Reformation as much concerned civil as religious liberty ; for the claims of the Pope were spread over the state as well as over the Church, in all countries ; and it will always be so as long as there is a Pope. There was a validity, an authority, a force, in the support given by the English government to the Protestant cause ; an authority that commandecJ respect, and a force which could not be despised. It was the same in Frederick's advocacy of the same cause on the continent. The Pope had the physical force of kings at his command ; and when civil liberty was concerned, it was natural that princes should engage in the controversy, not only in their own defence, but in the defence of those of their subjects, of which the Church is composed, whose weapons are not THE GENIUS OF THE EESOKMATION. 91 carnal but spiritual. Besides, in the Church and State establishment of England, the king was head of the Church, and was bound to vindicate her rights. By the death of Edward the Sixth, and the acces- sion of Mary, the Pope was again reinstated in his power over England ; and for five long years and more, the Protestants were doomed to persecution and martyrdom. Nearly three hundred were brought to the stake, during this short reign, headed by Archbishop Cranmer, and Bishops Latimer, Ridley, and Ferrar. Every thing that power could do, was done, to put down Protestantism in England, and to re-establish Popery. But then, as ever, the blood- of martyrs was the seed of the church. Protestant- ism, though for the most part secretly, spread and flourished, in consequence of the very atrocities to which it was subjected, till Mary died, and Elizabeth ascended the throne, when the Protestant Church of England was fully. and firmly established, never again, we trust, to acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope, or to submit to the authority of the church of Rome.* * " From the days of Queen Elizabeth, things did generally put on a new Tisage ; and the Church of England, since that time, has continued to be the sanctuary and shelter of all foreigners, the chief object of the envy and hatred of the popish church, and the great glory of the Reformation ; and has Tfisely avoided the split- ting asunder on the high points of the Divine decrees, which have broken so many of the Keformed beyond the sea." — Burnet's Pre- fa'ce to Fart II., Book I. " Thus have I proseouted what I at first undertook, the progress of the Reformation, from its first and small beginnings in Eng- land, till it came to a complete settlement in the time of this Queen" (Eiizabeth).— Burnet, end of Part II., Book III. 92 THE GENIUS OF THE REFOEMATION. It is proper, however, in this place, to remark, that the intolerance of Elizaheth towards the Noncon- formists, was the apparent cause of that great schism in the Churchof England, which afterwards produced such immense disaster hoth to the Church and State, by the continued operation of the same cause in the English government. It cannot but be seen, that, if the modern toleration of the British government towards Dissenters, is right, the severe measures of Elizabeth, of Charles the First, and of other British sovereigns, towards Nonconformists and the Puritans, were wrong. It may also be remarked, that the Church of England has been wrongfully made re- sponsible for those measures. It was not the Church ; it was the State. All those acts were acts of the State solely.* Churchmen, acting as statesmen in those times, were out of place, and it would be unjust to the Church to hold her responsible for their acts while officiating in that capacity. The great mistake was, that the genius of the English people was not consulted, as it now is, in framing measures of govern- ment. The people of England were ever loyal, but not less lovers of freedom. Freedom in those times, and in these matters, was not understood, certainly not conceded, by the government. It is equally true of a civil government and of a Church, that both will dis- appoint their mission, by refusing to consult the genius of the people where Providence has planted them. Justice requires us to make the distinction between the acts of the State and the acts of the Church, in the entire line and scope of the treatment of the Nonconformists, Puritans, and Dissenters, by the government of England, from the beginning of tho TflE SBNIUS OF THE EEFOEMATION. 93 reign of Elizabeth, down to the passage of the modern acts of toleration, Trhich have removed these occa- sions of just complaint. The author of these pages once thought, as many others doubtless do, that the Church of England was responsible for those unjust measures, or at least so mixed up with them, as to deserve reproach on their account. But it is a simple historical fact, that, from time immemorial, the coii- nexion of the Church of England with the State, has been, and still is, on her part, entirely passive. She has always been a captive in the hands of the State, and could never get out ; and she is still a captive there, as demonstrated by the recent acts of Convo- cation. Whenever Churchmen, as in the case of Laud, have figured as Statesmen and as magistrates, it was the State, and not the Church ; and the State alone was responsible for their acts. Doubtless there were Churchmen, high in rank, who sympathised with those unjust measures ; but still they were acts of the State alone. Thq Church of England, as a Church, was never committed to them, was never responsible for them. This principle runs through the whole history of the Church of England, in her connexion with the State. That she has always been in the hands of the State, was an ordering of Providence. She has never been responsible for the acts of the State, though she has suflFered great reproach on account of them, when they were made to bear oppressively on Nonconformists, Puritans, and Dis- senters, for the sake of the Church, in those affairs which the State, in its own sovereignty,' undertook to manage. The position of all classes of dissenters at 94 THE GENIUS OP THE REFORMATION. this day, is purely political, and always has been. Their complaints are against the government. The government of Great Britain has learned too late^ that its own former acts of oppression were the cause of the immense schisms in the Church, which even modern toleration cannot heal. If, therefore, we look at the facts of history, we shall find, that the government of England, though an " ordinance of God" for the accomplishment of his own purposes, was a very corrupt institution, when it was used as an instrument of rescuing the Church from Papacy ; that the government of Edward the Sixth was pure, and that the Eeformation under him, made an immense stride ; that Elizabeth, though a Protestant, was cruel and tyrannical towards Non- conformists ; that Charles the First, and his gov- ernment so exasperated the English nation, as to cause his throne and the Church to be borne down b j the tempest ; and that by the fault of the State, fo* a long period, the Church, always in the hands of the State, suffered the greatest disadvantages, and passed through the most painful vicissitudes, without remedy. But the Church was not responsible for the faults of the State in administering her affairs. She was a sufferer, but not the actor, in those unfortunate transactions. But to return from this digression. Not to notice the political advantages to England, derived from the Protestant Reformation, which do not fall directly within the scope of our purpose, we will here con- clude our notice of the English branch of that great THE OENIUS 0? THE REFORMATION. 95 and eventful movement, in a few words of Bishop Short, on its spiritual results : " We have learned thereby the fundamental truth on which the whole of Christianity rests, nay, which is itself Christianity : That we are accounted right- eous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not of our own works, or deservings; that good works, however pleasing to God, are only accepted as proofs of the faith which we entertain in the mercy of heaven, and as proceeding from love towards him who hath re- deemed us ; that acts of penitence, however sincere, can in no sense be deemed a compensation for our sin, although they may prove useful to ourselves in preventing the repetition of our crimes ; and that there is no sacrifice for sin but the atonement that was once offered on the Cross. " The establishment of these truths virtually got Tid of the greater part of the superstitious rites, with which religion had been overwhelmed, and she was again enthroned in the heart of the true believer, in- stead of being identified with ceremonious observ- ances. A Communion had been substituted in lieu of the Mass, the efficacy of which consists in the institution of Christ, and the state of the conscience, and not in the magic virtue of priestly offices. The personal responsibility of the individual Christian was clearly insisted on ; and though the laity were not deprived of the comfort and aid of spiritual guid- ance, yet that inquisitorial power which the clergy had exercised, by means of auricular confessions, was removed, and the priesthood became the directors of 96 THE GENIUS OP THE ESFORMATION. their flocks, and not the self-constituted judges on ■which pardon might he obtained from the Almighty. They -were still the keepers of the keys of the king- dom of heaven; but by the dissemination of the Scriptures, and the progress of education, the rest of their brethren were permitted to guide their own footsteps towards the gates of paradise. The Bible was indeed committed to their peculiar care; but it was not withheld from the hands of the people ; so that though it was their especial duty to lead on their fellow servants, in the right path, yet they could no longer, like the lawyers of old, take away the key from others, or .prevent those from entering in who would gladly do so. All were taught to examine for themselves. . . The first great step towards religious liberty was irrevocably taken, when it was authori- tatively stated (Articles of Religion, XXI.), that every assembly of human beings was liable to err, even in things pertaining to God. At the same time a very material diminution was made in the power of the Church, considered as a body distinct from the laity, when the clergy were allowed to connect themselves with the rest of society, by those ties of matrimony which the law of God has left open to . all." (§ 413.) The Continental Reformation. Martin Luther was an obedient son of the Church of Rome, had done her some service, and was dis- posed to do more ; and he would never have lifted up his hand against her, if his fealty to God had not THE GENIUS OF THE KEFORMATION. 97 been stronger than his attachment to Rome. All the mighty spirits of the Reformers, Anglican and Continental, sympathizing in a common cause, were made mighty by a sense of the mighty wrongs en- dured. Their natural endowments, superior though they were, would probably never have figured con- spicuously in history, but for the occasion that forced them into vigorous action. The atrocities of the Church of Rome had mounted into contempt for the opinions of mankind, and into an impious defiance of the throne of heaven. Never before, nor since, did that machinery of iniquity and crime tower so loftily, or stride onward with such audacity, or show itself so confident of irresistible sway, as in the former part of the sixteenth century. Its framework was then complete, and it has never since been improved, except in the development of the grand conception of Ignatius Loyola. The Primate of all Christendom had nothing left to acquire, as the Vicar of God on earth, and occupied the summit of command over this world and the future, so far as man is interested in either. Every pretension of the Church of Rome had been put forward in its full dimensions, and was generally conceded ; every dogma had been framed and shaped to its exact purpose, and been long in vogue; every part of the stupendous machinery seemed well adjusted ; and the world awaited the doing of its work. " Quem Deus vult perdere, prius dementat." Whom God will destroy, he first makes mad. That was the hour of destiny for the Church of Rome. She was indeed mad. Intoxicated with 9 98 THB GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION. power, she rushed on Germany, to crush the spirits, which her own atrocities had stirred up. She had made them what they were, no longer filial, but questioning her authority, never before questioned ; and to unmake such a work of her own hand, was not an easy task. It was a mighty struggle, and one in which the world then, and in all future time, was interested. In connexion with what was at the same time going on in England, it was the great bat- tle of freedom on earth, not indeed for its instant maturity, but to fix a fulcrum for the lever of all its future operations. The greatest blessing to man comes not without cost, or without time. If so many centuries were required for the erection of this mighty machine for man's oppression, can it reason- ably be expected to take less than centuries to re- deem man from the consequences of so great a delinquency as the permission of this great wrong to himself? Germany, thoroughly roused to resistance, and Rome, bent on vengeance, met in conflict, with Martin Luther to lead on one side, and the legate of the Pope on the other ; the former armed with truth and a consciousness of right, and the latter backed by all the power of the Pope, then mighty and dominant in Europe. It was a direct encounter of the pure principles of Christianity with the prin- ciples of the Church of Rome ; and it presented an opportunity to show, in open debate, that the poles of the earth could not be wider apart, or point in directions more distinctly opposite. The Church of Rome, for a long succession of ages, had been grow- THE GENIUS OF THE EEFORMATIOIT. 99 ing up to her full stature, and extending the domain of her influence, with little opposition from within, and had never failed easily to put it down when it started up. She was not accustomed to grapple with such sturdy sons as Martiix Luther and his coadjutors. This, with the corresponding movement in England, constituted an epoch in her own history, as well as in the history of the world — an epoch of her own creation, forced upon her by her folly, by her presumption, by her arrogance, by her blind trust in that machinery of iniquity which she had so long wielded with such skill and success. While Germany, waked up to rebellion, and led on by Luther in vindication of the proper genius of Chris- tianity ; of the rights of that conscience which God has planted in the breast of man ; of the rights of ther true Church ; of the rights of humanity as embodied, or intended to be embodied, in the polities of nations — all in opposition to such claims as those of the Church of Rome; — while Germany, we say, stood waiting for the onset, the legate of the Pope presented himself, not for a parley, but for submission ; and to demand the person of the chief offender, to be tried at Rome, whose fate there was already sealed; to be followed up by signal ven- geance on his sympathizers and coadjutors. It was a dream of easy victory on the part of him, who " as God sat in the temple of God, showing himself that he was God." What! a monk oppose a Pope, and lift his hand against the papal throne with success ! Could any body imagine that ? But the monk had a potent right against a stupendous wrong. The 100 THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION. monk was a man for the times, for the world, for all succeeding time. The monk had been a student in the Scriptures, and in the polity of the Church of Rome. The monk had well considered the arrogant pretensions of the Pope, and the absurd and blas- phemous dogmas of the hierarchy. The monk had been baptized with the true spirit of Christianity. The monk had a conscience, and respected its behests ; he had learning, and knew how to use it ; he had had opportunity to give his thoughts to the public, and to educate a prince and a people in his own principles, before he was called to account. The monk was endowed with courage, and feared not " as many devils as there were tiles on the roofs ' of the houses at Worms." In short, the monk, taking the Bible as a text, understood it and imbibed its spirit ; he understood the true genius of Christi- anity ; he understood the ground on which he stood, as firm and impregnable, and that of the Church of Eome as utterly defective, and dangerous to stand upon. He knew her whole structure was a figment of art, and of man's device, mighty, indeed, but yet a product of human invention, for political ends, on a magnificent scale. The monk, by his preaching and by his pen, had waked up the reason of all Germany, and taught the world how to use it for the occasion. He bad broken the spell which held under ban the right of private judgment as to the meaning of the Scriptures, and as to all spiritual things, thereby restoring the germ of freedom which is destined to grow into a trunk that shall defy the winds and storms of heaven, and spread its branches THE GENIUS OF THE REFOEMATIOK. 101 over all the earth. For, however many things there may be to regret, as the first results of diversity and collision of opinion, it is the only path of freedom, the great highway to ultimate and universal concord ; inasmuch as constant discontent, constant liability to convulsions in society, and constant abuse of the denial of the right, always have been, and can never fail to be, concomitants of this usurpation. Luther had 3one much more : he had shown the enormity of indulgences ; he had demolished the confessional, and scattered its fragments to the winds ; he had asserted the rights of conscience as independent of all human authority ; he had denied the primacy and infallibility of the Pope ; he had denounced the doctrine of purgatory ; he had restored the sacraments of Christianity, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, to their original position, in distinc- tion from those foisted into that place by the Church of Rome ; he had denounced monasteries and con- vents as corrupt and abominable institutions ; and in contempt of the discipline of the Church, took to himself a wife. In short, Luther protested against the Pope, and the Church of Rome, in these and many other particulars, and in the face of all Europe and of the world, he defied and braved the Papal authority and power. We know the sequel : he succeeded, and Germany was revolutionized. We know that Luther was not alone in the great work of the continental Reformation. He had his predecessors, such as Wiclif and Huss ; he had his contemporaries, such as Melancthon and Zuing- lius ; he had successors, to carry on the work, in 9* 102 THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION. Germany, in Switzerland, and in Holland ; and he had a mighty protector in Frederick, Elector of Saxony. But Luther's personal endeavors consti- tuted the turning point of the continental Reforma- tion. By his hand, the Papal power and pretensions, and all thjat constitutes the peculiar polity of the Church of Rome, received a blow from which they have never recovered,_and never can recover. It was mortal. Such a monster may 'be a long time dying;' but it was doomed in the unequal contest with the Reformers. We do not mean to exalt Martin Luther above his merits, nor to present him as a model of character in all things. He was a rough man, and might, perhaps, be called rash ; and he went off the stage holding some unripe opinions. A man does not leap, at a single bound, from a world of error into the possession of all truth. We see Luther groping very much in the dark, and undecided what to do, at least how far to go, when he first began his great work. Indeed, his work was not a plan of his own, but a plan of Providence. A child of a high destiny never reads beforehand the chapter of his own future history ; but comes to his several tasks, step by step. He is qualified for them by succeeding events. So was it with Luther. In every stage of his extraor- dinary career, once begun, he was waked up to new calls of duty, and forced to new efibrts by new exigencies. It was a long time before he got half way in the field which he afterwards occupied. He grappled with the abominations of the Church of Rome, one by one, and he never fairly got hold of THB GENIUS OF THE KErOKMATION. 103 them all. He was neither a ripe, aor an accom- plished scholar, though a great and successful stu- dent ; but he was a genius, which sees intuitively ; he was honest and true to himself, to man, to God ; he was bold, audacious, else he never would have begun the/work which he finished. He had the biggest stoul in all Germany, if not in all the world. He was the grand instrument of Providence for the occasion ; and that is enough. Though Luther was a prince of Reformers, he did not make clean work of the Reformation. -How could he ? It was too great a work for . one man, or for one age. But he dealt a mighty blow on the head of "the beast, " that made him reel; he stripped " the woman " that sat upon the beast of her gorgeous toilet, and exposed her shame ; he greatly helped to prepare the way for Christendom to be redeemed from its long and grievous bondage ; and if that does not recommend him to a place in the calendar of saints at Rome, it qualifies him eminently to be held in respect and esteem by all mankind. Though Luther was necessarily a theologian, he was not an over nice one. He never did any thing nicely. A nice man could never have done his rough work ; a prudent man would have shrunk from his perilous enterprize. Had he dreamed of it himself beforehand, even his spirit might have been appalled. But the cause which required his agency was, in every stage, the school of his training. He had no leisure for the study of metaphysics, or for the hair- splitting distinctions of modern theological schools. But he was a straight forward man of God, who felt 104 THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION. that he had a mission from God, and that he must fulfil it, though all the armies of hell were in his path.* Comparison of the two Movements of the Reforma- tion, Anglican and Continental, and of their Results. It has been seen, that the movement began in England, through the instrumentality of Wiclif, nearly one hundred and fifty years before it came to a crisis there and on the continent ; and that Wiclif * "So small a spark as that coUisiou " (of the Church of Rome with Luther and his coadjutors), "made, could never have raised BO great a fire, if the world had not been strongly disposed to it by the just prejudices they had conceived against the popish clergy, whose ignorance and lewd lives had laid them so open to contempt and hatred, that any one that would set himself against them, could not but be kindly looked on by the people. They (the clergy,) had engrossed the greater part both of the riches and power of Christendom, and lived at their ease, and in much wealth ; and the corruptions of their worship and doctrine were such, that a very small portion of common sense, with but a slight looking into the New Testament, discovered them. N^r had they any other varnish to cover them by, but the authority and tradi- tions of the Church. But when some studious men began to read the ancient fathers and councils, they found a vast difference be- tween the first five ages (centuries) of the Christian Church, in which piety and learning prevailed, and the last ten ages (cen- turies) in which ignorance had buried all their former learning ; only a little misguided devotion was retained for six of these ages (centuries), and in the last four, the restless ambition and usurpations of the Popes were supported by the seeming holiness of the begging friars, and the false counterfeits of learning, which were among the canonists, schoolmen, and casuists ; so that, not- withstanding all the opposition of princes, it was incredible to see how men were generally inoliucd to these (new) doctrines." — Burnet's Reformation, Part I. , Book I. THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION. 105 did a great work of preparation. The effects he produced constituted a broad platform of future ope- rations, in England, in Germany, in Holland, in Switzerland, and in other parts of the continent. We have also seen, that, when these affairs came to a crisis in England, and in the progress of the Reformation there, they were managed and con- trolled by the strong hand of the civil power ; that the Church of England was not broken up, but that she maintained her integrity, and her Catholic cha- racter ; that her Episcopal organization was not at all disturbed ; that the work of compiling a liturgy, and preparing articles of faith, under Edward the Sixth, was calm and sensible, not refusing to take what was good from the Church of Rome, and rejecting the bad ; also consenting to be indebted to the Lutherans ; and finally, that the Church of England came out from the trial, whole, sound, with provisions in her organization, in her liturgy, in her offices, and in her faith, fitted for all ages, so that they have not required to be essentially altered down to this time — a space of three hundred years. These, it must be acknowledged, are very remarkable facts. The Reformation in England was achieved compara- tively without passion. The public policy of the government seems to have been always in the lead, and to have kept its hand upon the movement as a national interest. Nor is the Church liable to the reproach which has sometimes been cast upon her for this connexion. On the contrary, it was pro- videntially ordered, to combine precisely the two agencies, in opposing and putting down Papacy, 106 THE GENIUS OP THE REFORMATION. which the case required ; and it was no where done so well, and with so happy a result, as in England. The very thing so desirable to be accomplished in the Reformation, as an incident — and a most impor- tant one — was there achieved, to wit, that the fabric of the Ghurch, as a Church, should neither be shaken, nor disturbed, not only that she might maintain her Catholic attitude, but that she might be fully armed, by her organization and liturgy, to hold and vindicate the Catholic faith in coming ages of trial, for the want of which other portions of the Protestant world, for instance Germany, Jiave so signally failed to keep " the faith once delivered to the saints." Besides, the very idea of Protestant, in connexion with the history whick has caused the name to be so applied, as much concerns civil as religious liberty, inasmuch as the claims of the Pope sweep over both these fields without qualification and without limit. There is this peculiarity in the position of all poli- tico,! fabrics, since the Protestant Reformation, viz., that the civil power, all the world over, is interested in the vindication of the rights of Protestant Churches, against the Church of Rome, and cannot escape from the obligation, so far as civil or political power is necessary. A simple demonstration may be sufficient, as in the case of the Elector of Saxony, who took Luther under his protection, without which, nothing but a. miracle could have saved the Reformation in that quarter, at that time. All the Protestant so- vereigns of England, since the Reformation, have occupied that position, and that is the position of THE GENIUS OP THE EEFOKMATION. 107 Queen Victoria at this moment. The whole power of the British empire is pledged in this cause ; and as long as the Church of Rome maintains her pre- sent attitude, with her present principles, there will never cease to be occasion for all nations, loving freedom, to stand upon their arms, in relation to these pretensions, preposterous as they are. For they are yet backed by a stupendous power, physical and political. The importance of the Reformation on the conti- nent, as a movement separate from that of England, under Martin Luther as its great champion, cannot be easily overestimated, whether we regard it as bearing on the civil or religious rights of mankind ; although we shall necessarily find in it a radical defect, the unavoidable results of which have been unfortunate, and in some respects disastrous to t^e faith of Christianity. The blow on the power of the Church of Rome was vigorous and effective. It was more astounding than any other single movement of the Protestant Reformation. The world saw and admired, and will never cease to admire, the heroic courage and dauntless bearing of the great Reformer. Indeed, there was, in the part he acted, in that profound and comprehensive agony of the social state, so much to dazzle the eyes of observers then and ever since, that the world, in its admiration of that which was so truly great, has almost overlooked other equally, perhaps more important branches of the Reformation, carried on in a more quiet way. Martin Luther was the hero of a great drama. Single and alone, so far as intellectual and moral 108 THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION. power was concerned, he battled with and baffled the most gigantic power which has ever appeared on earth. Thanks to Frederick, who resolved to sus- tain him, and without whose protection he would have fallen. His victory was a complete and lasting triumph for Germany, and for the world. Though the benefits of the Reformation by Luther have been great and enduring, he was rather a breaker down of that which was bad, than a builder up of that which was most needed at that juncture. He was more of a destructive than of a conservative. Fortunately, however, his destructive aims w.ere well directed. The Church of Rome had nearly every thing in her, from primitive times downward, that was wanted for a Reformed Church. She had an Apostolic minis- try ; she had the true catholic faith ; she had com- mon liturgical services and special offices of great value. A most perfect ritual could be found there. All these were things which were wanted in a Church reformed out of the Church of Rome, and which could not safely be dispensed with. A wise and sound reform takes the good, and throws away the bad. The very idea of a reform, supposes a result of this kind. And yet, so far as appears, the conti- nental Reformation was not sufficiently careful in these particulars ; but went on, for the most part, to build up all things new. If an Apostolic ministry could not be obtained from the Church of Rome, it might, probably, have been obtained from that of England. New creeds, new articles of faith, and new offices of religion, one varying from another, THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION. 109 were formed and introduced, in different parts of the Continental Reformed Churches. For the most part, they were sound ; but all of them wanted the sanc- tion and unction of time. The forms of religion are ripened and mellowed by time only. If good, the older they are, so much the better. To reject any thing simply because it came from the Church of Rome, was most unwise. If all the branches of the Reformation had been careful to secure to themselves an Episcopal minis- try ; if they had adopted liturgical services, such as Calvin recommended in his letter to the Lord Pro- tector of England in 1548, such as John Knox once prepared for the Church of Scotland, and such as the "Directory for the public worship of God" ordered for the three kingdoms by Parliament during the Commonwealth; and if they had embodied in such liturgies and public offices the entire Catholic faith, that it should never cease to act upon the common mind as the sun and rain of heaven act upon tlvB bosom of the earth, can it be imagined, would it have been morally possible, that such signal defections from the Christian faith should have taken place, as those which have been witnessed in Pro- testant communities, on the continent of Europe? Behold how the Catholic faith, adopted at the Pro- testant Reformation, has been maintained, word for word, syllable for syllable, by the Church of England, and in the American Episcopal Church ! How is this difference of result to be accounted for, except it be in the internal structure and economy of the respec- tive bodies in question? If that be the cause — doubt- 10 110 THE GENIUS OP THE REFORMATION. less it is — it affords a lesson of most significant import, as well as of a most practical character. It does not appear, that any branch of the Church of Christ ever existed without Episcopacy, till the continental Reformation ventured upon the respon- sible experiment. Over the entire field of the oper- ations of Luther and Calvin, and of their co-adjutors, the result has been most disastrous to the Catholic faith. Probably a part of these deplorable conse- quences has been owing to other concurrent causes, such as the want of a common liturgy, andthe Creeds incorporated with it. Wherever we find Episcopacy and a liturgy, we generally find the Catholic faith in its purity. Is not this great fact instructive ? We are also advised by it, that the non-episcopal branches of the Christian family cannot date farther back than about three centuries. Tlie Reformation in Scotland. The crisis of the Reformation in Scotland was not developed so soon as in England and Germany ; and it was accomplished by force of arms. " The events which there contributed," says Bishop Short, " to throw down the power of the Church of Rome, are so totally different from those which produced the same effect in England, that it was scarcely to be ex- pected that the two nations should regard their Church in the same light. . . . All truths, and par- ticularly moral truths, are likely to be disseminated to the greatest advantage, when the process is slow, and when the several stages are gradually communi- THE aENIUS OF THE REFORMATION 111 cated to those most interested in their admission or rejection. In England the class of Reformers was numerous long before the time of Luther ; and the Bible was here appealed to, as the standard of opinion, long before the dawn of the Reformation in Germany. ... In England, during the reign of Edward VI., the Reformation was carried on chiefly by the government, and outstripped the opinions of the people. In Scotland, the feelings of the people were favorable to the Reformation, and the only hope of its final establishment was connected in their minds with the prospect of success entertained by those who must be viewed as rebels." (§ 491, § 494.) The Queen had returned for answer to the exhor- tations of the Kirk, that she could not be persuaded into their religion ; whereupon the Kirk replied, that " this is no small grief to the Christian hearts of her godly subjects, considering, that the trumpet of Christ's Gospel has been so long blowing in this country, and his mercy so plainly offered in the same. . . . Our religion is not else than the same which Christ in the last days revealed. . . . We most reverently require, in the name of the Eternal God, that her majesty would embrace the means whereby she may he persuaded in the truth," preaching, etc. {Burnet, Records, Part III.) But in that she could not acquiesce. Nevertheless, the Kirk carried the Reformation, with such menace of force as prevailed. " One thing," says Bishop Burnet, "is not a little to the honor of Knox and his followers, in that tumul- tuary Reformation, that the multitude was so gov- 112 THE GENIUS OF THE KEFOEMATION. erned, even amidst all that popular heat, that no blood was shed." The Reformation was consummated by four acts of Parliament : " One for abolishing the Pope's power ; a second, for the repealing of all laws made in favor of the former superstition ; a third, for the punish- ing of those that said or heard mass ; and the fourth was a confirmation of the Confession of faith. This last was planned by Knox." [Burnet's Reforma- tion, Part II., Book III.) Probably these acts all owed their origin to Knox, who was the governing spirit of the time. All branches of the Reformation on the Continent may be regarded as constituting one body, ramifying from the Germanic column. In the movement at Geneva, with Calvin at its head, there was, perhaps, more independence of Luther's lead, than in any other; and on account of the theological debate, started by Calvin, it had a peculiar character, and a specific influence. Our first remark on the genius of the Reformation, is, that it was naturally and necessarily a correlative of the genius of the Church of Rome, in having pre- cisely those attributes which constitute the opposites of the vices of that Church, and which were required to encounter and subdue them. It was a genius of a decided and vigorous character, not unlike that of the primitive church, which was ready for martyr- dom, and in a host of instances attained that distinc- tion. It was a genius which gave character, and a new character, to the age, in a very wide extent. It made an indelible stamp in history, and secured a THE GENIUS OF THE REFORMATION. 113 perpetuity of influence, whicli was destined to spread over Europe, and over the world, and to affect not only religious, but political society. It waked up inquiry on all subjects, religious, philosophical, scien- tific, and political, and secured, to the extent of^its domain, freedom to conscience, to intellectual effort, and to states. It broke the spell of authority, by which the Church of Rome had so long enchained the world, and opened a field for independent action to vigorous and aspiring minds. It was an introduction of a new era, not only in religion, but in civil free- dom, in the social state, in learning, and in science. The predominant characteristic of the movement, related always to the arrogant claims, the despotic rule, the all-absorbing power, and the absurd and blasphemous dogmas of the Church of Rome ; and no student of history can appreciate the genius of the Reformation, and its influence on mankind, who does not regard it in these aspects and relations. The fact, that the political interests of all nations are necessarily involved in the cause of the Protes- ant Reformation, presents one of its most important features. The claims of the Pope, as we have seen in a former chapter, are over the temporal, as well as over the spiritual destinies of man. He is crowned not only with the mitre, but with the tiara, the latter denoting especially his political pretensions. He claims to be "king of kings, and lord of lords," on earth. At his inauguration, literally " arrayed in purple, and scarlet, and gold, and precious stones, and pearls," he is lifted up by the Cardinals, and placed, sitting, on the Altar of God, " showing him- 10* 114 THE GENIUS OP THE KEFORMATION. self that he is God ;" and vrith a golden chalice at his side, he receives, by representation, the homage of the world. By these and other signs and pretensions, so well certified, so long and so widely proclaimed, and so often, whenever it has been possible, put in force, all Protestant nations know, or may know, what their position is. He that is forewarned, is forearmed ; at least, it must be his own fault if he is not. Until the pages of history can be sealed up, every Protes- tant, throughout the world, sees what he may yet have to do. There is a strange, unnatural truce on this subject in the United States, arising from the fact, that the two great political parties of the coun- try both have need of the votes of the subjects of the Pope of Rome. But the time may come when these parties will be as eager to shake off such help, as they are now to embrace it. The Protestant world may yet have to muster under the bannner, floating in the breeze, Dieu et men droit. There can never be peace, while the dome of St. Peter canopies the head of a Prince, whose throne is upheld by traffic in the souls and bodies of men. CHAPTER VI. THE GENIUS OF THE CHnROH OF ENGLAND, To suppose that every branch of the Christian Church has the same character, or that such unifor- mity is necessary to the objects of Christianity, would be a great mistake. On the contrary, it -would be easy to show, as we must yet incidentally do in the progress of this work, that some considerable direr- sity of character, in the polities and discipline of different Churches, is not only the unavoidable result of the history and circumstances that have given birth to them, but indispensable to their greatest usefulness. To arrive at a knowledge and just appreciation of the genius of the Church of England, some considera- ble range of history must be cursorily surveyed. In a future place in this work, it will be both pertinent and instructive, for the accomplishment of our main de- sign, to present the contrast between the position of the Church of England, and that of the American Episcopal Church, relative to general society, and more particularly in relation to political society. It will, therefore, be very'essential to have before us the condition of the English Church as a State establish- ment, which is not less necessary as an indication, in part, of her genius ; and this it will be impossible fully to understand, without a somewhat extended view of (115) IIQ GENIUS OP THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. the history of the national Synod of that Church, styled the Convocation. The subject may, per- haps, as well be introduced, by a few citations from Burn's " Ecclesiastical Laiv." He says : — " Though the word Convocation be in itself of a general signification, yet custom hath determined its sense" (in England) " to an ecclesiastical use, and made it, if not only, yet principally, to be restrained to the assemblies of the clergy. . . . These assemblies were as old almost as the first set- tlement of Christianity among us, and, amidst all our other revolutions, continued to be held till the time of King Henry the Eighth The archbishop called together, first the bishops, after- wards the other prelates of their provinces ; and by degrees added to these such of their inferior clergy, as they thought needful. In these assemblies of the clergy, only the spiritual affairs of the Church were wont for a long time to be transacted. . . . When the papal authority had prevailed here, another and yet larger sort of councils " (in distinction from the Archi-episcopal Convocations), " were introduced among us, of the bishops and prelates of the whole realm. These were properly national Church coun- cils. But besides these Synods, two other assem- blies there were, of the clergy of this realm, peculiar to bur own state and country, in which the clergy were convened, not for the spiritual affairs of the Church, but for the good and benefit of the realm, and to act as members of tlie one as well as of the other. . . . Hence our bishops first, and then some of our other prelates, as abbots and friars. GENIUS OF THE CHUKCH OF ENGLAND 117 were very early brought into the great coun- cils of the realm, or Parliament ; and there consulted and acted together with the laity. Thus were the greater clergy first brought into our state councils, and made a constant and established part of them. Our Saxon ancestors subjected the lands of the clergy to the three-fold necessity o.f castles, bridges, and expeditions. And the granting of aids in these cases, brought on assemblies of the clergy, which were afterwards distinguished by the name of Convocation. . . . William the conqueror turned the frankalmoigne tenures of the bishops, and some of the great abbots, into baronies ; and from thence for- ward they were obliged to send persons to the wars, and to attend in parliament, which was complained of as a burthen Edward I. fixed upon an establishment " (of Church and State) " which hath, in some sort, continued ever since He designed to have the clergy as a third estate, and as the bishop was to sit, per baroniam, in the temporal parliament, so they were to sit with the inferior clergy in Convocation. And the design of the king was, that, as the two temporal estates charged the temporalities, and made laws to bind all temporal things within this realm ; so this other body should have given taxes to charge the spiritual possessions, and have made canons to bind the ecclesiastical body, Edward I. projected to have made the clergy one third estate dependent on himself, and therefore not only called the bishops," (into parlia- ment), " whom as barons he had a right to summon, but the rest of the clergy," (by representation), " that 118 GENIUS OF THE CHUKOH OE ENGLAND. he miglit have their consent to the taxes and assess- ments made on that body Though the inferior clergy, by this new scheme of Edward I., were let into the power of making canons, yet they foresaw they were to be taxed, and therefore joined with the bishops, in opposing what they thought an innovation. But the king, and the temporal estate were beforehand with them, and the clergy were all outlawed, and their possessions siezed into the king's hands. Then they consented to meet. And to take away all pretence, there was a summons, be- sides the proemunientes clause to the archbishop, that he should summon the bishops, deans, archdea- cons, colleges, and the whole clergy of his province, From hence, therefore, the bishops, deans, archdea- cons, colleges, and clergy, met by virtue of the arch- bishop's summons, which, being an ecclesiastical authority, they could not object to. And so the bishops and clergy came to Convocation by virtue of the archbishop's summons." Here we have the more modern, and in substance, the present Convo- cation of the Church of England. "So" (by this scheme of Edward I.) "the clergy were doubly summoned : fifst, by the bishop, to attend the parliament, and secondly, by the arch- bishop, to appear in Convocation They sometimes met on the archbishop's summons, with- out the king's writ The king gratified the archbishops, by suffering this new body of Convoca- tion to be formed in the nature of a parliament. They made canons by which each respective province was bound, and gave aid and taxes to the king. . . GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ENOLAND. 119 But though they thus sat as a parliament, and maSe laws for the Church, yet they did not make a part of the parliament properly so called. Sometimes, indeed, the lords, and sometimes the commons, were wont to send to the Convocation for some of their body, to give them advice in spiritual matters. But that was only by way of advice. ■ For the parliament have always insisted that their laws bound the clergy. So in the Saxon times, if the subject of any laws was for the outward peace and temporal govern- ment of the Church, such laws were properly ordained by the king and his great council of clergy aud laity intermixed, as our acts of parliament are still made. But if there were any doctrine to be tried, or any exercise of pure discipline to be reformed, then the clergy of the great council departed into a separate Synod, and there acted as the proper judges. Only when they had thus provided for the state of religion, they brought their canons from the Synod to the great council, to be ratified by the king, with the advice of his great men, and so made the constitu- tions of the Church to be laws of the realm. Thus the case stood, when the act of submission was made to Henry the Eighth." The statute of submission to King Henry, so far as we can observe, has been the governing law of Convocation ever since ; the amount of which is, that Convocation can do nothing without the consent and sanction of the sovereign.* * This act is summarily stated in a petition of Convooation to tlie Archbishop of Canterbury, in the reign of Edward the Sixth, as follows: 120 GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. " And, therefore, by this act," says Bum, "the clergy being restrained from making any canons or constitutions, without the king's license, the power, as to this particular, which was before lodged in the hands of the Metropolitan, is now put into the hands of the king, who, having by authority of his writ, commanded the archbishop to summon them for state purposes, as the tenor of his writ shows, has it now in his own breast, whether he will let them act at all as a Church Synod or no. They are a Convocation, by the writ of summons ; but a council, properly speaking, they are not, nor can they legally act as such, till they have obtained the king's license so to do." In other words, the Convocation has been reduced to a cipher by lay power, till it shall be brought into action by lay counsels ; and then only so far as lay power shall permit, and lay counsels order. " And ■whereas, in a statute ordained and established by autho- rity of parliament at Westminster, in the 25th year of the reign of the most excellent prince, King Henry VIII., the clergy of this realm, submitting themselves, to the King's highness, did acknow- ledge and confess, according to the truth, that the CouTOcations of the same clergy hare been and ought to be assembled by the King's writ and did promise further, in verba sacerdolii, that they never from thenceforth would presume to attempt, allege, claim, or put in use, or enact, promulge, or execute, any new canons, consti- tutions, ordinances, provincial or other, or by 'whatsoever other name they shall be called in the Convocation, unless the king's most royal assent and license may to them be had to make, pro- mulge, and execute the same. And his majesty to give his most royal assent and authority in that behalf, upon pain of every one of the clergy doing the contrary, and being thereof convicted, to suffer imprisonment, and make fine at the King's will." — Bumeta Records of the Reformation. GENIUS OF THE CHUECH OP ENGLAND. 121 "In 1717, the Convocation was prorogued, and has never since sat for the transaction of any busi- ness." Dr. Burn represents Mr. Burke as saying, that " Convocation is called for form only. It sits for the .purpose of making some polite ecclesiastical compliments to the king, and when that grace is said, retires, and is heard of no more. It is, how- ever, a part of the constitution, and may he called out into act and energy, whenever there is occasion; and," Mr. Burke adds, not very respectfully, "when- ever those who conjure up that spirit, will choose to abide the consequence." Bishop Burnet speaks of Convocation as "a mat- ter perplexed and dark," referring, apparently, to its ancient composition, relations, and functions. This perplexity and darkness, however, are much cleared away by the above citations from Burn's Ec- clesiastical law. According to Bishop Burnet, one of the petitions of Convocation, to Edward VI., was " that no acts concerning matters of religion might pass, without the sight and assent of the clergy ;" which, we think, may be set down as a general prin- ciple, in the history of that body. It is also stated by Bishop Burnet, as a prevalent opinion, " that the whole Parliament sat together in one house, before Edward the Third's time, and that the clergy were a part of that body without question. But when the Lords and Commons sat apart, the clergy likewise sat in two houses" (of Convocation). It will be observed, that there was no lay element in the. Convocation. It was" purely a clerical body. But the balance laical power was vested in Parlia- 11 122 GENIUS OF THE CHUKCH OP ENGLAND. ment, all the members of -whicli were in fact or tteory, we suppose in both, members of the Church. The functions of Parliament in government and legislation for the Church, were in fact those of a lay synod, though not so denominated. The princi- ple, however, on which they acted in this capacity, in conjunction with Convocation, is evident. It was the natural and appropriate function of Convocation to originate and propose to Parliament all matters appertaining to the Church. These measures, of course, before they could have the force of law, must pass through Parliament, or obtain the sanction of the sovereign. Such, in substance, was the original constitution of Church and State in England. The King, Parliament, and Convocation, in all acts of government and legislation for the Church, were parts of the same synod. In all such measures, they acted conjointly, as members of the Church, for the Church. Convocation, when in full and regular ac- tion, generally held its sessions at the same time with Parliament, that both bodies might act together, as occasion might require, and both were convened and acted, as seen above, under royal authority.* • The position which the clergy of the Church of England for- merly considered themselves entitled to occupy, in all legislation appertaining to the Church, will appear in the following extract from a petition of the lower house of Convocation to the Arch- bishop of Canterbury, in Edward the Sixth's reign : " The clergy, in this present Convocation assembled, have made humble suit unto the most reverend father in God, my lord Archbishop of Canterbury, and all the other bishops, that it may please them to be a mean to the king's majesty, and lord protec- tor's grace, that the said clergy, according to the tenor of the GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OP ENGLAND, 123 But times and customs have changed. The Con- vocation is still a nominal part of the Constitution of the British empire, and is as regularly called together at the opening of every new Parliament, as is Parliament itself. But there the commission of Convocation ends. After meeting, they are pro- rogued by the same authority, through the Arch- bishop, ■without being permitted to proceed to business. In 1852, however, for the first time since 1717, they have been permitted to sit on their own adjournments, and are in session at the time we are now writing. Since 1717, Convocation has done nothing in the way of government and legislation for the Church, but all this duty has devolved upon, or been assumed by. Parliament and the Crown. In other words, as will be seen, the government of the Church of Eng- land, for nearly a century and a half, has been entirely in the hands of the laity, excepting only the administrative functions of the bishops. The bishops are all appointed by the Crown, and the right formerly enjoyed by the existing Episcopate, to confirm such appointments, or the right of voice king's trrit, and the ancient laws and customs of this noble realm, might leave them room and place, and be associated with the Commons in the nether house of this present Parliament, as members of the commonwealth, and the king's most humble sub- jects. And if this may not be permitted and granted unto them, that then no statutes or laws concerning the Christian religion, or which shall concern especially the persons, possessions, rooms, livings, jurisdiction, goods, or chattels of the said clergy, may pass nor be enacted, the said clergy not being made party there- unto, and their answers and reasons not heard." — Bumet'a His- tory of the Reformation, Beeorda. 124 GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. formerly allowed to the bishops, as to who shall be their associates in the Episcopate, has fallen into abeyance, and is no longer realized. So long as the Episcopate is not vitiated as an Apostolic institu- tion, trials of this and other kinds are no new things, and may providentially be overruled for good. In view of these very grave facts, a portion of the bishops and clergy of the Church of England have, to a great extent, and within a few years, been roused to a sense of their true position, and are em- ploying their best exertions and influence to recover the active powers of Convocation. There is, however, a want of harmony in this movement among the clergy, inasmuch as it is alleged to have originated with a minor, and in some respects, an obnoxious party. The argument for the revival of Convocation, is, however, on the side of the prime movers, as it is easy to demonstrate the false position of the Church, in its present relation to the State, having no power to act as a Church, except in her administrative func- tions. The platform of her ancient canons is worth something. But who could look on a Church, and such a Church, running on for a century and a half, without a single item of legislation originating in herself, and not be sensible of the amazing defect ? Not a single age can transpire, without great exigen- cies for Church legislation on Church polity. In contrast with the history of the Church of England, in this particular, see what a fabric has arisen in the American Episcopal Church, within the last half cen- tury ! What a fabric of Church polity ; what an Episcopate, rising and advancing, while the mother GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OP ENGLAND. 125 Church of England stands still ! While the Episco- pate of England proper remains nearly the same, in number, as it was a hundred years ago, that of the American Church has arisen from nothing, and shot ahead of her in fifty years ! Besides the false position of the Church of Eng- land, in having been so long deprived of an internal and self-government, the parliament of England has also found itself in a false position in legislating for the Church, and has so far appreciated it, as not to presume to enact ecclesiastical canons. Hence the necessity to- 'which the Church has been so long doomed, of carrying on her administrative functions, without new canons, and without any modification of her old ones, in adaptation to "the various exigen- cies of times and occasions," which have been many, great, and some even of a momentous character. Her legislative power has been crippled, broken down, by the civil power, and to this day lies in abeyance. She can do nothing in a synodical capa- city, without a royal license, and that has been with- held since 1717. It is still true, as in the time of Bishop Burnet, when he said : " The government of the Church is not yet brought into the hands of Churchmen." {Part II., Booh III.) Something, possibly, might be gained, in the res- toration of the powers of Convocation ; but theChurch could not be brought back to the position she occu- pied before they were taken away. That is impossi- ble, first, because she could not hope to be again endowed with the same co-ordinate powers, or with the initiative in matters appertaining to Church 11* 126 GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OP ENGLAND. -polity. If we rightly understand the position of the Church of England, in Convocation, she was once not only co-ordinate with parliament, in all measures touching her own interests, but she had the privilege of the initiative, it being supposed and admitted, that she only was qualified for that function. How could parliament so well understand the wants of the Church, as the Church herself ? Next, it would be impossible to recover the ground lost by such a long non-user of the powers of Convocation. Thirdly, the changes through which both Church and State have passed during this period, have given a new, and greatly different character to each, so much so, that the former relative position of the two parties would now be utterly impracticable. With changes of time, have been brought about changes 'of views on all sides, in regard to this relation of church and State. And, lastly, parliament is now not only composed of many new elements, making such a relation somewhat incongruous ; but some new principles, of a radical and fundamental character, have been admitted into its organization, which would render such a co-oper- ation of Convocation and parliament, if ndl impossi- ble, at least extremely difficult. If, therefore, the functions of Convocation are to be restored in any form or manner, some great effort of statesmanship would seem to be required, to erect and adjust a new platform, or in many particulars a new plan. We find the Church of England, then, in this per- fectly anomalous position, allied to the State, without any powers inherent in herself, except the adminis- trative functions of the Episcopate, and those func- GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 127 tions essentially crippled and embarrassed by the operations of the civil power. She is in a state of captivity. She cannot extend the Episcopate, accord- ing to the wants of the Church. The bishops have no voice, as formerly, in the confirmation of their associates in office, but are forced to receive those appointed by the crown. The ancient canons are so defective, as to be now incapable of answering the purposes of discipline, and there is no recognized power to make new ones, or to modify the old. The Church is not permitted to do it, and Parliament will not act on so delicate ti subject, because it is conscious of the impropriety of engaging in such a work ; and between prohibition on the one hand, and delinquency on the other, this most important duty has entirely failed to be performed ever since 1717.* Nevertheless, under all these disadvantages, and * There has heen, however, one important exception, in 1840, to this neglect of Parliament. "It was then provided by an elahorate act, that, in the case of any clerk (clergyman) who may be charged with any offence against the ecclesiastical laws of -the realm, or concerning whom there may exist scandal or evil report, as having offended against the said laws, it shall he lawful for the Bishop of the Diocese within which the offence is alleged or reported to have been committed, on the application of any party complaining thereof, or if he shall see fit on his own mere motion, to issue a commission to five persons to make inquiry, as to the grounds of such charge or report." — Hoffman on the Law of the Church, p. 400. This act may, possibly, answer most, if not all the purposes of discipline over the clergy, now required, unless, peradventure, it shall remain in a state of non user by the bishops and clergy, because it does not come from the right quarter, as a canon of the Church. It certainly takes away a part of their argument for the restoration of the active powers of Convocation. 128 GENIUS OF THE CHUECH OF ENGLAND. for the very reason of them, the Church of England has acquitted herself in a manner, that will enforce respect, if not admiration. We live in what may, in some sense, he called a religious age. The leaven of Christianity pervades Christendom — a very proper thing, indeed. But we mean something more than a truism. ^Among Protestant nations, Christianity has hecome more vital and more active within the last half century. They who pretend to religion have been obliged, by the force of opinion, to do some- thing ; and we may gratefully ascribe much of what lias been done to genuine Christian zeal. Under all the disadvantages of the Church of England, as above set forth, she has achieved great things, within an age now past. Not to speak of the extension of the Church over the colonial portions of the British em- pire, which has been on a grand scale, and with signal success, there has been a revival of a marked vitality and efficiency in her domestic operations. It is stated in the address of Convocation to the Queen, as made in November, 1852, that more churches are now built in England, in one year, for the increased wants of the people, than in the whole of the last century. This multiplication of churches has been going on for many years, and is still in progress, with increasing demands for Church room ; and it is an interesting feature, that much of this is accomplished by the munificence of private individuals. There has been a simultaneous growth, chiefly the cau'se of these results, of the zeal and efficient action of the bishops and clergy. They have, at least in a mea- sure, kept pace with the spirit of the age, as well for GENIUS OF THE CnXIIlCH OF ENGLAND. 129 internal reform, as fgr the enlargement of the Church. One of the chief objects alleged, in soliciting of the crown a restoration of the powers of Convocation, is the revival of discipline. Probably, however, the attempt now making, by a portion of the bishops and clergy, to re-establish Convocation, will not be successful ; certainly not in its ancient forms, with its former powers, in its former relation to Parliament. The time for that has gone by. The great majority of the clergy, if not of the bishops, are opposed to it ; and the laity are opposed. Parliament would seem to be jealous of this move- ment ; and from the tone of the address of the recent Convocation to the Queen, one would think, that little favor was expected from the Ministry of the Crown. There are, however, some auspicious indications of good for the Church of England, arising, perhaps, from an unexpected quarter. The British govern- ment has been educated in the Church ; it has ever been regarded as a part of the Church, and is so by the constitution of the empire. For a long period, more especially of late years, there has been mani- fested by the government an apparent conscientious- ness in the discharge of its high duties, as imposed by the constitution, towards the Church. The appointment of bishops and archbishops has appa- rently been judicious, and all other functions of government in Church affairs, seem now to be dis- charged with a view to make the Church most efficient in promoting the cause of religion and Christianity at home and abroad. We are not aware, 130 GENIUS OF THE CHCECH OF ENGLAND. that any impeachment of the fidelity of the British government, in this respect, would fairly lie. It would seem, as if the revival of Christian piety and zeal in the Church of England, of late years, may, in no small degree, be attributable to this influence of government, directly and indirectly. If this be so, it is certainly a very remarkable fact, or group of facts, which may suggest a reminiscence of the prophecy, when " kings shall become nursing fathers, and queens nursing mothers " of the Church. The Church of England, confessedly, has had her faults, as well as her difficulties. We have seen how completely she has fallen into the hands of the civil power, by the long and continued suspension of the functions of Convocation ; and there is little proba- bility, that those functions will ever be restored. It would seem to be morally impossible. The action of the recent Convocation betrays a consciousness of this difficulty, and reveals their almost hopeless posi- Dion. Where, then, lies the hope of the Church of England ? She is lost, apparently, unless the government saves her (shall we say from herself?) It is certainly in the power of the government to do this, and they seem to be intent on that great work. The Church of England has greatly prospered under this regime, and is still going on to prosper. Never since the Reformation has she done so well. And it is a remarkable phenomenon, that it is purely a laical regime. Nevertheless, Episcopacy is recognized, and allowed to exercise the full scope of Episcopal prero- gatives. It is principally, though not exclusively, the secular interests of the Church, that are assumed GENIUS OP THE CHURCH OP ENGLAND. 131 and managed by the State. If this part of the economy of the Church of England is to stand and prevail, under the ordering of the civil power, it will doubtless be found expedient, after due deliberation, to revive the action of Convocation, so far at least, as to give to the Church suitable disciplinary canons. A Church can never do justice to itself, or fulfil all its duties, it is even liable to break into fragments, without a general synod ; and the Church of England now has none, except in a Convocation of defunct or suspended powers ; and Convocation, as will be seen, is rather a council, than a synod. Independent of the joint action of the government, as a lay body, it is not a synod. That, too, as must be acknowledged, is far from being normal. If Convocation is to be revived for Church pur- poses only, the important consideration of bringing in the lay element will probalbly have to be discussed. There can never be a proper Church synod without that element. The action and purposes of a council, in Protestant Churches certainly, and we believe every where, are never of the same character with those of a synod, and cannot have the same effect. So far as the Convocation of the Church of England has been synodical in its character, it has always been on the theory, that Parliament and the Sovereign were a part of it. These latter constituted the lay element. But the action of Convocation as a council has never been allowed, by the laws of England, to have force outside of the clerical pale.* *" Lord Coke says, 'a Convooation may make constitutions, by which those of the spiritualty shall be bound ; for this, they 132 GEXIUS OF THE CHUKCH OF ENGLAND. If, therefore, the revival of Convocation is not to be associated with Parliament, as formerly, it will be of little service, apparently, without the lay ele- ment; and so long as the bishops and clergy are disposed to dispense with that element, it is natural that they should find the laity opposed, as now. What can the Church of England- do without the laity ? It was, as we suppose, on this principle, that the Rev. W. A. Coxe, a member of the lower house of the Convocation of 1852, offered the following amendment to the address to the Queen : " That, ■while we respectfully express our conviction, that the legislative assemblies of Convocation are an important part of the constitution of our Church, we believe that a resumption of their active functions, as at present constituted, without lay co-operation; will be at once inconvenient, and open to just suspicions." It seems, however, by the vote on this amendment, that Convocation was not prepared to entertain the principle of admitting the lay element into the com- position of the body. In one of the English Quar- terlies, the Christian Remembrancer, for October, 1852, an earnest advocate for "the revival of Convo- cation, we find the following very decided expression all, either by representation, or in person, are present ; but not the temporalty.' In the primitive Church, the laity were present at all synods. When the Bomau empire became Christian, no canon was made without the Emperor's consent. If the king and clergy make a canon, it binds the clergy in re ecclaiastica, but it doth not bind laymen. The canons of Convocation do not bind the laity, without an act of Parliament. It was determined by the unanimous resolution of the Court of King's Bench, that such canons do not bind the laity." — Bum'» JEccltiiaitieal Law, GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 133 on this question : " Let the Church keep what she has got, arid hold it fast, before we make such questions, as the admission of the laity, any very- prominent part of the subject." They can doubtless remain, as they now are, under the lay power of Parliament and the Crown, and do nothing as a Convocation ; and it maj', perhaps, be best. We have seen, that for the present, it works well. In the representation of the lower house of the recent Convocation, to the Archbishop, there is an admission of the importance of the influence of the lay element, but it looks for it to Parliament and the Queen : " They," the lower house of Convocation, " earnestly pray, that they may be permitted to consider what changes are needed, in order that it" (the Convocation) " may be reconstructed, as a body fitted to represent and legislate in practical matters, in concert with the civil legislature, for the Church of England, as spread through the United Kingdom, and through all our colonies ; so that, under Grod's blessing, the manifold gifts bestowed on the lay mem- bers of the Church, as well as on the ecclesiastical, may work together harmoniously, for the building up of the whole body, and for the strengthening and extending of the Kingdom of Crod." Rev. Dr. Jelf, of the lower House, said : " The Queen was constitutionally part of the Convocation, representing, in fact, the Jay element." Dr. Wil- kins. Archdeacon of Nottingham, said : " Nothing could be done without the license of the Queen, or indeed, without the license of the laity, as expressed through Parliament." From all this we gather, that 12 134 GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. the importance of the lay element, to act with and upon the Convocation, is universally recognized. The only question is, as to the relation which that element shall sustain to Convocation, whether it shall, by a reconstruction of the body, be a compo- nent part of itself, or remain, as heretofore, in Par- liament and the sovereign. There are many reasons for the conclusion, that the latter mode cannot be realized, except in the perpetual suspension of the active powers of Convocation. Consequently, the only practicable mode would seem to be the admis- sion of the lay element as a component part of the body. How far the jealousy of the House of Commons towards Convocation is indicated by the following interrogatory and answer, which occurred on the 15th of November, 1852, the fourth day after the opening of Convocation, we oannot say. It shows, at least, that the House of Commons have an eye on all the doings of Convocation. " Mr. J. A. Smith asked the Secre- tary for the Home Department, whether it was intended, that Convocation should continue to sit, or be prorogued as usual? Mr.Walpole" (the secretary) " stated, that the usual course would be observed, and this was intended from the beginning." [London Times.) This would seem to be small encourage- ment for the object prayed for in the Address of Convocation to the Queen. The following remarks of the Bishop of Exeter, in the recent Convocation, are somewhat remarkable: — " I rejoice to think how much, how very much, by God's grace, has been gained to the life, the serious- GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OP ENGLAND. 135 ness, the efficiency of our Church. I rejoice to think, how much more like a Church it is, in many respects, than it was thirty years ago. Do not let me be sup- posed, however, to look without dismay to much of what has happened in the course of the last thirty years, but especially in the course of the last ten. My lords, I have seen a large defection from the Church, of men, not all of whom have been led lightly to take the step they have done. We can see some of the causes. An eagerness after some of the claims of the hierarchy of Rome, may have misled a portion of these men. Others may have been misled by a desire to imitate the excessive ritual of that Church. There are some who may have longed for more power themselves, as presbyters, than our Churchgives them. But, my lords, I know of more than one — I know of those whom I have honored — that they have gone because of what they take to be the miserable thraldom of the Church to the State of this land. I know there are many in this Church, who, if the time should ever come, that the Church should declare itself incompetent to its essential duties and to its vital action, will leave it. I, for one, will leave this Church, if . that time should ever come. I will not go to Rome. Nothing could induce me to go to that corrupted Church. But never, never, never will I act as a bishop of the Church of England, whenever she is thoroughly placed under the feet of the temporal power." [London Times.) The first part of these remarks is a very distinct and grateful recognition of the great good that has been accomplished, within the last thirty years, by 136 GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. the active and efficient supervision of the temporal power over the Church, as before noticed. This great change for the better could not be denied by the Bishop of Exeter, though, possibly, he might be reluctant to acknowledge the cause, as it would, per- haps, militate against his purpose. The latter part of his remarks will naturally suggest the result of the case of the Rev. Mr. Grorham, before the Court of Appeals, who was rescued by that tribunal from the disciplinary power of the Bishop of Exeter, who had undertaken to eject him from his living, and drive him out of the diocese, because he could not con- scientiously subscribe to the bishop's views of the doctrine of baptismal regeneration. If the object of restoring the legislative powers of Convocation, were only or chiefly to render effective Episcopal acts of this kind, it would, perhaps, be as well for the Qu^een to withhold her royal license yet longer. But we suppose the objects of the petition of Convocation arc much more comprehensive.* * Since this chapter -was written, we have received intelligence of the prorogation of Convocation in February, to which it stood adjourned from November, without any material change of its position in relation to the Government. The London Times, the day after the prorogation, among other strictures, remarks: — " It is impossible to deny, that Convocation has met, and has discussed divers weighty questions of Church government in a manner which shows that its intention of asserting and exercising a still greater authority in future, must be viewed by the statesmen who may govern this country with greater seriousness than the subject has of late attracted among the laity. . , . The inde- finite powers of their own body formed the sole topic of discus- sion. That was precisely the whole history of Convocation, for the last twenty years (previous to 1717) of its active existence. . . . GENIUS OP THE CHUECH OF ENGLAND. 137 On the whole, it would seem to be clear, that lay power in the British Government has obtained the lead in its influence and control over the afiairs of the Church, and it seems to be doing well. At least five to one of the clergy,* and all, or nearly all, of the laity, are~~in favor of this regime. It would, indeed, seem to be a subject of regret, that the Church of England cannot govern herself, nor recover the power of self-government. That chance, possibly, might be open to her, as to all spiritual matters, and as to internal discipline and order, if she were pre- pared to accept from the government a proper synodical organization, by an admission of the lay element. Till that time there would seem to be little chance. Till that time, apparently, she must fain be content to be governed exclusively by lay power, as she is now, and part with the Bishop of Exeter. She may rejoice and thank God for one thing, that the administrative functions of her Episcopate are recognized, sustained, and working better and better We are persuaded, that the time is not Tery distant when, if these claims are put forward by the Church, they will have to bo limited by her Majesty's undoubted prerogative, or defined by the legislative authority of Parliament, which is alone supreme in this realm." * Out of some ten thousand clergy in the province of Canter- bury, only seventeen hundred and fifty voted for Proctors to represent them in the late Convocation, a considerable fraction of whom voted for candidates opposed to the revival of Convoca- tion, and in some oases elected their nominees. It is supposed, that all in favor of the revival of Convocation, were present at the elections. If so, the proportion of clergy opposed to the revival of Convocation functions, must be some seven or eight to one. 12* 138 GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. as time rolls on. It will be better yet, ami a higher ground of gratulation, if the end shall be, that the Queen shall have proved a " nursing mother" of the Church. The- present position of the Church of England presents a rare spectacle. It is, indeed a perfect ■ novelty in the history of the Church universal. As, however, she has done so well, in an age now past, there is great hope of good for the future. We shall yet have occasion to see, that the position of the Ame- rican Episcopal Church, is not only exempt from all the embarrassments of the Church of England, by her connexion with the State, but that the prospects of the American Chiu:ch are comparatively, and most encouragingly auspicious. While we sympathise with all the trials of our mother Church, and pray for her rescue, for her prosperity, and for her onward march of usefulness in promoting, the cause of our common Lord and Redeemer, we may thank God who so ordered, that our very beginning should have been a rescue from all these embarrassments, and that it should constitute the epoch of a mission, the vast field, and great responsibilities of which we shall hereafter have occasion to notice. It will be seen, therefore, that the genius of the Church of England has been greatly modified, in the progress of time, since its severance from the Church of Rome,, under Henry VIII. That separation, as may reasonably be supposed, from the fact that it originated in the domestic difficulties of the king, did not materially afiiect the character of the Church as a spiritual body, at the time. It was a mere transfer GENIUS OP THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 139 of allegiance from the Pope of Rome to the king of England. The spirit of Protestantism, however, as we have seen in the preceding chapter, had previously and extensively taken root in England, and in the English Church. Although thp motive of the king, in easting off allegiance to the Pope, for himself, for the Church, and for his realm, was doubtless a per- sonal one ; nevertheless, in doing that, he took up his position as a Protestant prince, in relation to the Pope, to Europe, and the world ; in doing that, he became, unwittingly, it may be, the patron of Pro- testantism, at home and abroad; and in doing that, he gave full scope to the predisposition of the Church of England, and of all the people of England, towards Protestantism. It was in fact, a substantial revolution, in Church and State, against popery, and in favor of the Protestant cause, as the result showed. The subsequent brief reign of Mary, and the resto- ration of papal authority, under her, only proved, that Protestantism had touched the heart of Eng- land, and was in the heart of the English Church. Indeed, Mary's reign of five years was the grand auto de fS of Protestant England. The Church of England ever has been, and still is, a part of the fabric of the State, and consequently her genius must be, necessarily and very materially, affected by that relation. Her prelates are appointed by the Sovereign, are ex-officio peers of the realm, and members of the legislative faculty of the empire. They sit side by side with the secular lords, in the upper house of Parliament ; or rather occupy a supe- rior bench by themselves, in compliment to their 140 GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, spiritual character, at the same time that they preside over the Church in their respective dioceses. They appear in the House of Lords in their Episcopal robes, not only to denote their position as ecclesiastics, but apparently to show, that in that place they have not laid aside their prelatical func- tions, but are supposed to be there to watch over the interests of the Church. Their position in Parlia- ment entitles them to take part in the entire legisla- tion for the British dominions, and a respectful deference is always paid to their discharge of these duties. The overseers of the Church, therefore, are overseers of the State, to the extent of their personal and ofiScial influence, as members of the national legislature — not, however, in derogation of their com- mission froiB heaven, but to see that the interests of the spiritual commonwealth committed to their charge, receive no damage, and to promote those interests. The sovereign of England is the head of the Church — an apparent incongruity — he being a temporal prince ; but this fact is based on the principle, that the Church being a part of the state, the sovereign should be at the head ; and the theory is, that the sovereign is no farther head of the church, than as the Church is a part of the empire; all administra- tive functions of the Church proper being left to the church. This line of demarcation between the duties of the sovereign and the appropriate functions of the prelates, is seldom violated by aggression from one dide or the other ; and it is claimed by the bishops, both in theory and practice, that, as successors of the Apostles, and in the use of their spiritual preroga- GENIUS OF THE CHTJKCH OF ENGLAND 141 tives, they have no head but Christ. Bishop Gibson says: "When the laws say, that all ecclesiastical authority is in the crown, and derived from thence, or use any expressions of like import, it is to be remembered, that the principal intent of all such laws and expressions, was to exclude the temporal power of the Pope." This, as will be seen, is a natural interpretation of these pretensions, and it is one of high authority. Bishop Short, in his history of the Church of England, (§ 201,) says : " The ministers of God's word must derive from him such authority as shall enable them to carry on a Christian Church, independent of the civil magistrate The right of ordination, for instance, must belong to the Church independent of the civil power ; but a Christian government may still assign limits to the exercise of it. . . . The law cannot say, that the person so ordained shall not be a priest ; but that he shall not hold Church preferment; and at the same time it may punish the bishop for breaking the law of the land." These remarks of course apply to a Church established or patronised by the State. The duty of bishops, as legislators in the state, is, as we think, manifestly outside of their Episcopail functions, and is' so regarded, to a great extent, in England. The only apparent vindication is, that the Church, in its frame work, has been incorporated, from time immemorial, in the political commonwealth, and that so long as it is so, the bishops should be where they can take care of it. The Protestantism of the parliament and govern- ment of Great Britain, is chiefly a political element, 142 GENIUS OF THE CHUECH OF ENGLAND. and relates to the Pope's claims, as sovereign pontifif over all kingdoms and nations ; more especially as the Pope once had dominion in England, and is only deprived of it by force. The Pope is still prince in the affections of a majority of the people of Ireland, has a footing in England, and appears to be gaining ground there. All know his recent attempts to extend his hierarchy in England, in forms ■which had been suffered to go into desuetude, and to spread over the kingdom fresh and absorbing claims, which have produced great excitement. Protestantism, therefore, in England, is more vigorous and active now, as a political element, than for a long time pre- vious. As a religious feeling, too, it has revived, in a like proportion, though it was not wanting in vitality before. The Church and people of England are profoundly sensitive on this great subject, and in no other nation are there more vital and potent reasons for it, religious and political. If, therefore, we would understand the genius of the Church of England, we must consider her history as a State religion for so long a period, and her antagonistic position in relation to the claims of the Church of Rome. Her Protestantism has purified and elevated her character immensely, and for cen- turies she has been gradually growing more fit for the field she occupies, and more useful in it. There is not, perhaps, a Church in the world, which, during the same or an equal period, has improved so much in her general economy, in spiritual vigor, and in efficiency. She came out from the Church of Rome, under Henry VIII., as a fragment of that body, with GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 143 a redeeming leaven of Protestantism in her bosom. During the subsequent brief interval of papal power in England, under Mary, the martyr blood of her prelates and laymen was freely poured out for the Protestant faith. The universities of England have for ages sent forth the most accomplished men of all history, to adorn, instruct, and edify the Church, and to leave a vast body of literature behind them, in the various walks of Christian learning, which can never be excelled, and which will constitute standards of good taste and Christian piety, while taste and piety are held precious in the earth. Wherever the British sway has extended its empire, the Church of England has carried the Gospel. It is now one hundred and fifty years since " the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign parts," was organised, and it has planted the Church in almost all parts of the world, of which the American branch is a notable scion. The zeal of the Church of England for pro- moting the interests of a true Christianity, at home and abroad, and her means and moral power for this object, are constantly being augmented. In the Pro- testant ranks of Christendom, she has ever maintained a leading position, kept firm in the faith by the Bible and her Prayer Book, marching straight onward without wavering or defection, till she exhibits the front, bearing, and discipline of a Christian host, of no uncertain promise for enacting a prominent part in evangelizing the world. It will be found in all countries, where Christian- ity has been introduced, that the polities of the Churches planted have, for the most part, been 144 GENIUS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. organized and shaped, in adaptation to the institu- tions and genius of the people, who are to be acted upon by them, and that they naturally acquire that form. Even the Church of Rome, with all her tena- city for uniform modes, pays great respect to this principle, in the missions of the Jesuits. It cannot, indeed, be disregarded, in the use of the best discre- tion. So the polity of the Church of England has grown out of the institutions of the country, and is necessarily adapted to the genius of the people. As the latter has changed, the former, at least, in its practical operation, has been accommodated to it. Such modifications are always slow, but as unavoida- ble as they are expedient. The Church of Eng- land is not the same thing now that she was three centuries, two centuries, or one century, or even fifty years ago ; and what is pleasant to observe, she has been constantly improving. She has wisely adapted herself to the times, in the practical opera- tion of her machinery. Whether her present polity, as a State establishment, with her present mode of working upon it, is the best possible for her present position, may, perhaps, safely be left with the judg- ment and conscience of those who have charge of it, and who are responsible for the use of it. CHAPTER VII. THE GENIUS OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH, AS SHOWN IN THE HISTORT OP HER ORGANIZATION. We now come to the main purpose of this work. What we have said in the preceding chapters, was naturally introductory or preparatory to our main design. It seemed fit and appropriate, before enter- ing on the principal theme, to say something of the genius of Christianity, .of that of the Primitive Church, of the Church of Rome, of the Reformation, and of the Church of England. Indeed, if the limits of the work had permitted, we might, with propriety and profit, have included the consideration of the genius of many other distinct portions of Christen- dom, in different ages ; but that could not well have been done, and leave such space as we have need to occupy in the consideration of the Genitjs and MIS- SION of the American Episcopal Church. The American Episcopal Church is the daughter of the Church of England. She was planted, and during our colonial history, was nurtured by the Church of England, chiefly through the instrumen- tality of "the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign parts." The neglect of the mother Church, however, to establish an American Episcopate, during the long period of nearly two centuries, is acknowledged on 13 C145) 146 OESANIZATIOH OF THE all hands to have been a great fault, and to the American Church a great injustice and misfortune. It presented the anomaly of a Church, or of a large field of the Church, wfthout a bishop. It is true the Bishop of London was allowed to claim and exercise this care, though the provisions of law were some- what defective. Nevertheless, a bishop's adminis- tration in his proper Episcopal character, cannot be defective for lack of >a civil sanction, nor can its spiritual validity and force be augmented by such authority, except incidentally and morally for civil purposes, as is the intended effect of the connexion of the Church of England with the State. Conse- quently, as the clergy of the American Church or branch, all acted under Episcopal orders and autho- rity, there can be no ground of uneasiness as to their ecclesiastical position. They were properly missionaries of the Church. I*he American Revolu- tion came, and the American Church was in a still more distressed and orphan-lite condition for want of an Episcopate. After the peace of 1783, however, measures were revived for obtaining American Bishops. There were political objections on both sides,, in obtaining the Episcopate from the English Church, on account of the recent war of independence. Americans were jealous, and the English were afraid of offending. There was also an insuperable bar in the laws of England, which required of the English bishops the exaction of the oath of allegiance to the Crown, from aU bishops consecrated by them. This law, however, was afterwards dispensed with, by a special act of AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 147 Parliament, for the purpose of consecrating Ameri- can Bishops — a favor that ought ever to be highly appreciated — as the American Episcopate was then obtained from Episcopal authority alone as an in- stitution of Jesus Christ, untrammelled by the State. In 1784, the Rev. Dr. Samuel Seabury, of Con- necticut, before the bar above specified to a conse- cration in the English Church was removed, received Episcopal orders at the hands of the bishops of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, ■who had no connexion ■with the State. Although Episcopacy had been tendered to America by the Danish Church, through the American minister at London, Mr. John Adams, filial preferences naturally inclined the American Church to obtain it from the ■west side of the chan- nel ; and in 1787, the Rev. William White, of Pennsylvania, and the Rev. Samuel Provost, of 'New York, ■were consecrated bishops of the American Church by the two archbishops of England, assisted by the bishop of Bath and Wells, and by the bishop of Peterborough. In 1790, the Rev. J. Madison, D. D., was also consecrated in England, as bishop for Virginia, who, in 1792, united with the other American bishops in the consecration of the Rev. T. J. Claggett, D. D., as bishop for Maryland, who was the first bishop of the American Episcopal Church consecrated in America. Thus descended the Ameri- can Episcopate, with no imputable blemish or defect. There are now . (1853) thirty-four bishops of the American Church. The entire number consecrated in succession for the service of the Church, is fifty- six. 148 ORGANIZATION OF THE Let us now consider the organization of the American Episcopal Church, as an independent branch of the Church universal, and mark its GENIUS as developed in that important event. Some of the clergy of the Church of England in the Colonies, during the American Revolution, did not espouse the American cause against the British crown, while others were its earnest advocates, two of whom (Virginians,) went into the Revolutionary army, and rose to distinction in the service. The Rev. William White, afterwards bishop for Pennsyl- vania, was chosen chaplain of Congress, while in session at Philadelphia. After Independence was acknowledged, by the peace of 1783, the American Episcopal clergy evinced by their acts, in the organi- zation of the American branch of the Episcopal Church, that true American spirit by which they were actuated. They resolved, at various voluntary conventions in succession, to organize an independent American Church, with elements in its Constitution conformable to the new position which it occupied in the Providence of God. The bishop of Oxford, England, in hy,. " History of the Protestant Episco- pal Church iy-America," says of this exigency : — " As the political connexion of the state with Eng- land was dissolved, some measures for which no precedent existed were forced upon them ; nor would it»have been easy to devise a wiser course than that which they adopted, in their want of bishops. " Through the instance of Rev. Mr. White, of Philadel- phia, above named, the first of these conventions was held at Philadelphia the 24th of May, 1784, composed AMBKICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 149 of the clergy and delegates from the vestries of the Episcopal congregations of Pennsylvania, on which occasion the following fundamental principles were adopted as a basis of future action : — 1. That the Episcopal Church is, and ought to be, independent of all foreign authority, ecclesias- tical or civil. 2. That it hath, and ought to have, in common with other religious societies, full and exclusive powers to regulate the concerns of its own commu- nion.' 3. That the doctrines of the Gospel be maintained as now professed by the Church of England, and uniformity of worship continued, as near as may- be, to the liturgy of the same Church. 4. That the succession of the ministry be agree- able to the usage which requireth the three orders of bishops, priests, and deacons ; that -the rights and powers of the same respectively be ascertained ; and that they be exercised according to reasonable laws to be duly made. <||t 5. That to make canons or laws, there be no other authority than that of a representa^ve body of the clergy and laity conjointly. » 6. That no powers be delegated to a general ecclesiastical government, except such as cannot conveniently be exercised by the clergy and laity in their respective congregations. • The Church of Maryland adopted similar resolu- tions in 1783 and in 1784. Those of 1783 were as follows : — 1. We consider it as the undoubted right of the 13* 150 ORGANIZATION OF THE said Protestant Episcopal Churcli (of Maryland), in common -with other Christian Churches under the American Revolution, to complete and preserve herself as an entire Church, agreeably to her ancient usages and professions ; and to have a full enjoyment and free exercise of those purely spiritual powers, which are essential to the being of every Church or congregation of the faithful ; and which, being derived from Christ and his Apostles, are to be maintained independent of every foreign or other jurisdiction, so far as may be consistent with the civil rights of society. 2. That ever since the Reformation, it hath been the received doctrine of the Church, of which we are members, that there be three orders of ministers in Christ's Church, bishops, priests, and deacons ; and that an Episcopal ordination and commission are necessary to the valid administration of the sacra- ments, and the due exercise of the ministerial func- tions. 3. That without calling in question the rights, modes, and forms of other Christian Churches or societies, or wishing the least contest with them on that subject, we consider and declare it to be an essential right of the said Protestant Episcopal Church to have and enjoy the continuance of the said three orders of ministers forever, so far as concerns matters purely spiritual. 4. That, as it is the right, so it will be the duty of the said Church, when duly organized, constituted and represented in a Synod or Convention of the different orders of her ministers and people, to revise AMEKICAN EPISCOPAL CHORCH. 151 ber liturgy, forms of prayer, and public worship, in order to adapt the same to the late Revolution, and other local ■circumstances of America ; which, it is humbly conceived, will and may be done without any other or further departure from the venerable order and beautiful forms of worship of the Church from which we sprang, than may be found expedient in the change of our situation, from a daughter to a sister Church. In the Maryland Convention of 1784, after ap- proving the doings of 1783, as above, the following resolutions were adopted : — 1. That none of the orders of the clergy, whether bishops, priests, or deacons, who may be under the necessity of obtaining ordination in any foreign state, shall, at the time of their ordination, or at any time afterwards, take or subscribe any obligation of obedience, civil or canonical, to any foreign power or authority whatsoever ; nor be admissible into the ministry of this Church, if such obligations have been taken for a settlement in any foreign country, without renouncing the same, by taking the oaths required by law, as a test of allegiance to this State. 2. According to what we conceive to be of true Apostolic institution, the duty and office of a bishop differ in nothing from that of other priests, except in the power of ordination and confirmation,* and in * It Trill be seen by the follo-ffiog words of this resolution, ■"According to what we conceive," &o., that this is a mere e:;:- pressed opinion of that body, at that time. It had no subsequent effect, after the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United State* 152 OKSAWIZATION OF THE the right of presiding in ecclesiastical meetings or synods; and shall accordingly be so exercised in this Church, the duty and office of priests remain- ing as heretofore. And if any further distinctions and regulations, in the diiFerent orders of the ministry^ shall be found necessary for the good government of the Church, the same shall be made and established by the joint voice and authority of a representative body of the clergy and laity, at future ecclesiastical Synods or Conventions. 3. That the clergy shall be deemed adequate judges of the ministerial commission and authority, which is necessary to the due administration of the ordi- nance's of religion, in their own Church ; and of the literary, moral, and religious qualifications and abili- ties of persons to be nominated and appointed to the different orders of the ministry ; but the approving and receiving such persons to any particular cure, duty, or parish, when so nominated, appointed, set apart, consecrated, and ordained, are in the people who are to support them, and to receive the benefit of their ministry. ■was organized, and after the diocese of Maryland came in. The same may be said of the whole of this resolution. As this same Convention readopted their second resolution of the preTious year, above given, it is not to be supposed that they intended any thing by this, inconsistent with that. So also of the third resolution, it wiU be seen, that the Church of Maryland, being without a bishop, and not knowing when they would have one, felt the necessity of prescribing some provisional oversight ; and in the latter part of it is merely asserted, what is still the universal practice of the American Episcopal Church, to wit, that every congregation shall choose their own rector. AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH". 153 4. That ecclesiastical Conventions or Synods of this Churcli shall consist of the clergy, and one lay delegate or representative from each vestry or parish, or a majority of the same. Resolutions to a similar effect were passed in Mas- sachusetts, in September, 1784, by a convention composed in like manner. They were a copy of those of Pennsylvania, with additions to the first and fifth articles, the latter of which reads as follows : — " In which body the laity ought not to exceed, or their votes be more in number than those of the clergy." The nicety of this rule proves the general purpose of the Church to have the clerical fully balanced by the lay vote. These minor conventions, in separate States, led to a general call on all the States, for a representa- tion of the clergy and laity, to meet in New York, in October, 1784, where delegates from eight differ- ent States were convened, and passed the following resolutions : — 1. That there should be a general Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United Sta.tes of Ame- rica. 2. That the Episcopal Church in each State should send deputies to the Convention, consisting of clergy and laity. 3. That associated congregations, in two or more States, may send deputies jointly. 4. That the said Church shall maintain the doc- trines of the Gospel, as now held by the Church of England, and adhere to the liturgy of said Church, 154 ORGANIZATION OF THE as far as shall be consistent with the American Reyo- lution, and the Constitutions of the several States. 5. That in every State where there shall be a bishop duly consecrated and settled, he shall be con- sidered as a member of the Convention ex officio. 6. That the clergy and laity assembled in conven- tion shall deliberate in one body, but shall vote separately ; and the concurrence of both shall be necessary to give validity to every measure. 7. That the first meeting of the Convention shall be at Philadelphia, the Tuesday before the feast of St. Michael next ; to which it is hoped and earnestly desired, that the Episcopal Churches in the several States, will send their clerical and lay deputies, duly instructed and authorized to proceed on the necessary business herein proposed for their deliberation. All these acts were of course provisional, and as the Bishop of Oxford says, "without precedent;" but as the same authority also says, "it would not have been easy to devise a wiser course." It tended to unite the American Church into one body, and resulted in that unity. " The truth is, that a common law had sprung up in the colonies, the offspring of their necessities and position, in the same manner as the common law of England had arisen in the Saxon ages. The latter, with wonderful flexibility, had adapted itself to the mutations and the progress of successive centuries. That superadded American common law was devel- oped in usages and statutes ; and its influence was felt in the system of the Church, as well as in the civil relations of the people. And thus, as we better AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 155 anderstand her character and position, we shall bet- ter appreciate the facility of her transition from the Church of England in the colonies, to the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States. No violent disruption of the sacred bond took place. The daughter glided from the mother's side, because, in the allotment of Providence, she had been led to maturity and independence." — Hoffman on the Law of the Ohurch, p. 30, In October, 1785, the General Convention of the Protestant JEpiscopal Qhurch in the United States was organized as follows : — " Whereas, in the course of Divine Providence, the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America is become independent of all foreign au- thority, civil and ecclesiastical ; -and whereas, at a meeting of clerical and lay deputies of the said Church, in sundry of the said States, viz., in the States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, held in the city of New York, on the 6th and Tth days of October, in the year of our Lord, 1784, it was recommended to this Church in the said States represented as aforesaid, and proposed to this Church in the States not represented, that they should send deputies to a Convention to be held in the city of Philadelphia, on the Tuesday before the feast of St. Michael in this present year, in order to unite in a Constitution of ecclesiastical government, agreeable to certain fundamental principles, expressed in the said recommendation and proposal ; and where- as, in consequence of the said recommendation and 156 OEGANIZATION OF THE proposal, clerical and lay deputies have been duly appointed from the said' Church in the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mary- . land, Virginia, and South Carolina, the said deputies being now assembled, and taking into consideration the importance of maintaining uniformity in doctrine, discipline, and worship in the said Church, do hereby determine and declare," &c. Here follow all the acts of organization in detail, and the subject matters thereof, as done at this Con- vention, relating to doctrine, discipline, and general polity, in part provisional, till future Conventions should be able more conveniently to set all things in order. Among the orders of this Convention, we find the following : " On motion resolved, that the fourth of July shall be observed by this Church forever, as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God, for the inestimable blessings of civil and religious liberty vouchsafed to the United States of America ;" together with a form of service prescribed for the occasion. The Constitution of the Church was matured by a committee appointed by this Convention, and adopted by the Convention of 1789. It will be found in the note below.* « CONSTITUTION Of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, aa adopted by the General Convention of 1789, and as since amended by subsequent Conventions, down to 1844 : Akt. I. There shall be a General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, on the first Wednesday in October, in every third year, from the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, and in such place AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHUKCH. 157 As a further exposition of the necessary-course pursued in the organization of the American Episco- as sliall be determined by the convention ; and in oaae there shall be an epidemic disease, or any other good cause to render it neces- sary to alter the place fixed on for any such meeting of the con- vention, the Presiding Bishop shall have it in his power to appoint another convenient place (as near as may be to the place so fixed on) for the holding of such convention ; and special meetings may be called at other times, in the manner hereafter to be provided for ; and this church, in a majority of the dioceses which shall Have adopted this Constitution, shall be represented, before they ahair proceed to business; except that the representation from two dioceses shall be sufficient to adjourn : and in all business of the convention freedom of debate shall be allowed. Abt. II. The church in each diocese shall be entitled to a representation of both the clergy and the laity, which represen- tation shall consist of one or more deputies, not exceeding four of each order, chosen by the convention of the diocese ; and in all questions^ when required by the clerical and lay representation from any diocese, each order shall have one vote ; and the ma- jority of suffrages by dioceses shall be conclusive in each order, provided such majority comprehend u, majority of the dioceses represented in that order. The concurrence of both orders shall be necessary to constitute a vote of the convention. If the con- vention of any diocese should neglect or decline to appoint clerical deputies, or if they should neglect or decline to appoint lay depu- ties, or if any of those of either order appointed, should neglect to attend, or be prevented by sickness or any other accident, such diocese shall nevertheless be considered as duly represented by such deputy or deputies as may attend, whether lay or clerical. And if, through the neglect of the convention of any of the churches which shall have adopted, or may hereafter adopt, this Constitution, no deputies, either lay or clerical, should attend at any General Convention, the church in such diocese shall never, theless be bound by the acts of such convention. Abt. III. The bishops of this church, when there shall be three or more, shall, whenever General Conventions are held, form a separate house, with a right to originate and propose acts for 14 158 OEaANIZATION OF THE pal Church, it may be pertinent to present here, the following extracts from the Preface of the American and English Books of Common Prayer. the concurrence of the House of Deputies, composed of clergy and laity ; and when any proposed act shall have passed the House of Deputies, the same shall be transmitted to the House of Bishops, who shall have a negative thereupon ; and all acts of the convention shall tie authenticated by both houses. And in all cases, the House of Bishops shall signify to the convention their approbation or disapprobation (the latter with their reasons in ■writing) within three days after the proposed act shall have been reported to them for concurrence ; and in failure thereof, it shall have the operation of a law. But until there shall be three or more bishops, as aforesaid, any bishop attending a General Con- vention shall be a member ex officio, and shall vote with the clerical deputies of the diocese to which he belongs ; and a bishop shall then preside. Akt. IV. The bishop or bishops in every diocese shall be chosen agreeably to such rules as shall be fixed by the convention of that diocese ; and every bishop of this church shall confine the exer- cise of his episcopal office to his proper diocese, unless requested to ordain or confirm, or perform any other act of the episcopal office by any church destitute of a bishop. Akt. V. A Protestant Episcopal Church in any of the United States, or any Territory thereof, not now represented, may, at any time hereafter, be admitted on acceding to this Constitution ; and a new diocese to be formed from one or more existing dioceses, may be admitted under the following restrictions : No new diocese shall be formed or erected within the limits of any other diocese, nor shall any diocese be formed by the junction of two or more dioceses, or parts of dioceses, unless with the con- sent of the bishop and convention of each of the dioceses con- cerned, as well as of the General Convention. No such new diocese shall be formed, which shall contain less than eight thousand square miles in one body, and thirty pres- byters, who have been for at least one year canonically resident within the bounds of such new diocese, regularly settled in a parish or congregation, and qualified to vote for a bishop. Nor AMBEICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 159 From the Preface of the American Prayer Book, as adopted in 1789 : — " When, in the course of shall such new diocese be formed, if thereby any existing diocese shall be so reduced as to contain less than eight thousand square miles, or less than thirty presbyters, who have been residing therein, and settled and qualified as above mentioned. In case one diocese shall be divided into two dioceses, the diocesan of the diocese divided may elect the one to which he will be attached, and shall thereupon become the diocesan thereof. And the assistant bishop, if there be one, may elect the one to which he will be attached ; and if it be not the one elected by the bishop, he shall be the diocesan thereof. Whenever the division of the diocese into two dioceses shall be ratified by the General Convention, each of the two dioceses shall be subject to the constitution and canons of the diocese so divided, except as local circumstances may prevent, until the same may be altered in either diocese by the convention thereof. And when- ever a diocese shall be formed out of two or more existing dioceses, the new diocese shall be subject to the constitution and canons of that one of the said existing dioceses, to which the greater number of clergymen shall have belonged prior to the erection of such new diocese, until the same may be altered by the convention of the new diocese. Art. VI. The mode of trying bishops shall be provided by the General Convention. The court appointed for that purpose shall be composed of bishops only. In every diocese, the mode of trying presbyters and deacons may be instituted by the con- vention of the diocese. None but a bishop shall pronounce sen- tence of admonition, suspension, or degradation from the ministry, on any clergyman, whether bishop, presbyter, or deacon. Aet. VII. No person shall be admitted to holy orders, until he shall have been examined by the bishop, and by two presby- ters, and shall have exhibited such testimonials and other requi- sites as the canons, in that case provided, may direct. Nor shall any person be ordained until he shall have subscribed the follow- ing declaration : " I do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- ment to be the word of God, and to contain all things necessary 160 ORGANIZATION OF THE Divine Providence, these American States became independent 'witli respect to civil government, tteir to salvation ; and I do solemnly engage to conform to the doc- trines and worsliip of the Protestant Episcopal Chnrcli in the United States." No person ordained by a foreign bishop shall be permitted to officiate as a minister of this church, until he shall have complied Tfith the canon or canons in that case provided, and have also subscribed the aforesaid declaration. Art. VIII. A book of Common Prayer, administration of the sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies of the church, articles of religion, and a form and manner of making, ordaining and consecrating bishops, priests and deacons, when established by this or a future General Convention, shall be used in the Protes- tant Episcopal church in those dioceses which shall have adopted this Constitution. No alteration or addition shall be made in the Book of Common Prayer, or other offices of the church, or the Articles of Religion, unless the same shall be proposed in one General Convention, and by a resolve thereof made known to the convention of every diocese, and adopted at the subsequent Gen- eral Convention. Aet. IX. This Constitution shall be unalterable, unless in General Convention, by the church, in a majority of the dioceses which may have adopted the same ; and all alterations shall be first-proposed in one General Convention, and made known to the several diocesan conventions, before they shall be finally agreed to, or ratified in the ensuing General Convention. Akt. X. Bishops for foreign countries, on due application therefrom, may be consecrated, with the approbation of the bishops of this church, or a majority of them, signified to the Presiding Bishop : he thereupon taking order for the same, and they being satisfied, that the person designated for the office has been duly chosen and qualified. The order of consecration to be conformed, as nearly as may be in the judgment of the bishops, to the one used in this ch'urch. Such bishops, so consecrated, shall not be eligible to the office of diocesan or assistant bishop in any diocese in the United States, nor be entitled to a seat in the House of Bishops, nor exercise any episcopal authority in said States. AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 161 ecclesiastical independence was necessarily included ; and the different religious denominations of Christians in these States were left at full and equal liberty to model and organize their respective Churches, and forms of worship and discipline, in such manner as they might judge most convenient for their future prosperity, consistently with the Constitution and laws of their country." Again this Preface says : — " It is a most invalua- ble part of that blessed liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, that in his worship, different forms and usages, may without offence be allowed, provided the substance of the faith be kept alive; and that, in every Church, what cannot be clearly determined to belong to doctrine, must be referred to discipline, and therefore by common consent and authority, may be altered, abridged, enlarged, amended or otherwise disposed of, as may seem most convenient for the edification of the people." The Church of England has the following sentence in the preface of her Book of Common Prayer, bear- ing on the same point : — " The particular forms of Divine worship, and the rites and ceremonies ap- pointed to be used therein, being things in their own nature indifferent and alterable, and so acknowledged, it is but reasonable, that, upon weighty and important considerations, according to the various exigencies of times and occasions, such changes should be made therein, as to those who are in places of authority, The polity of the ohureh is composed of the above Constitution, and of her code of legislation hased thereupon, as found in her canons, down to this Hme. 14* 162 OEGANIZATION OP THE sTiould, from time to time, seem either necessary or expedient." The main points to which we desire to call atten- tion here, as directly laid down, or necessarily implied, in the organization of the American Episco- pal Church, by its provisional acts before being organ- ized, and by its constitutional and authoritative acts afterwards, may be represented in the following pro- positions : — , 1. The American Episcopal Church, dates her existence, as a branch of the family of Christ, and of the Church Catholic, from the time of her organi- zation, after the establishment of American Indepen- dence. 2. The American Episcopal Church, from the time of her organization, was and is, absolutely, entirely, and forever independent of all other Churches in Christendom, and as such is responsible only to the Divine Head of the Church Catholic. 3. Both the Church of England, and the American Episcopal Church, have recognized and sanctioned the principle of revolution, in great emergencies of human affairs, as both are based upon that principle, and as both have vindicated it in theory and act, the former having passed by revolution from Papacy to Protestantism, and the latter from allegiance to the former, to an independent position.* 4. Both the English and American Churches have recognized and sanctioned the principle of improve- * The American Church was involved in the American Revolu- tion, and went with it, though the recognition of her independence by the mother Church, was a pacific arrangement. AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 163 ment in forms of worship, in discipline, and in polity, " according to the various exigencies of times and occasions," under the action of the General Synod of the Church. » 6. The American Episcopal Church, in recog- nizing the laity as an elementary potyer of the Church for purposes of legislation and government, and in the manner and extent of that recognition, has incorporated in the Church the fundamental principle of republicanism, in conformity to the genius of the American people, and of American institutions. 6. In the title or style of " the JProtestant^E^is- copal Church in the United States," the American Church has defined, declared, and published to the world, her position in relation to the Church of Rome. [The above propositions we regard as flowing directly from the history of the organizatioii of the American Episcopal Church, and the following as implied :] 7. Authority for the usages of the American Episcopal Church, in the public administration of her offices, does not lie back of the date of her existence, or outside of her own pale, except so far as -those usages have been recognized and sanctioned by the action and practice of the Church. 8. The Book of Common Prayer, as altered, amended, and adopted by the General Convention, is the sole authority for the ministers of the Church, in regulating their modes of public administration. 9. The best and most reliable interpreter of the 164 ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH. purposes and uses of the Book of Common Prayer, as to modes of administration, is the general practice of the American Episcopal Church, since its adop- tion, in connection with the rubrics therein con- tained. 10. In regard to modes of administration, any interpretation of the purposes and uses of the Book of Common Prayer, drawn from histories and cus- toms foreign to the history and customs of the Ame- rican Episcopal Church, and not founded on the rubrical prescriptions of the Prayer Book, is unau- thorized by the Church, and contrary to her genius. 11. The genius of the American Episcopal Church is opposed to the excessive ritual of the Church of Rome, to all imitations thereof, and to all approxi- mations thereunto, not justified by the general prac- tice of the Church, and the directions of the Prayer Book. 12. The past is a legitimate field of research, for verifying and vindicating the general economy, the faith, the principles, and the usages of the American Episcopal Church, in all that was recognized, adopted, and established at her organization ; but not for adding any thing in either of the above named par- ticulars, without the consent of the Church expressed in the form of legislation. The above propositions will be noticed and applied in the progress of the work, as occasion may require. CHAPTER VIII. THE GENITJS Or THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH, AS SHOWN IN THE TITLE SHE HAS ADOPTED, AND IN HER REPUBLICAN CHARACTER. In all the preliminary steps for the organization of the American Episcopal Church in and for the United States, as an independent nation, a consider- ate regard seems to have been had for the new posi- tion to be occupied by this Church. In the first place, the name or style of this new branch of the Christian family, was of no inconsiderable importance, and is in fact, of great significancy, not only as declar- atory of the feeling and purpose of those engaged in this work, but as a definition of the position which this Church was intended to occupy, in all future time, in relation to the Church of Rome. It was styled " the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States." This word, Protestant, was not an accident, but a principle — a great principle. It was not in- considerately, but considerately, introduced in the title. It would be a libel on those who put it there, to suppose it had no meaning. Its historical import was in the mind of all the world. It is a great word, and carries in it the most pregnant histories which the pen of man has ever recorded. The entire his- tory of the Church of Rome, from her perversion down to the Reformation, is there; The history of (165) 166 PROTESTANT CHAEACTEE OP the Reformation itself is there. The history of the Church of England, as a Protestant Church, is there. The religious and political history of all Christendom for more than three centuries, is there. The history of the greatest crimes that have ever afflicted, and of the most eminent virtues that have adorned humanity, is there. There is not another v^ord in any or in all languages, of an historical import, more highly charged with meaning than this. And it is not a word that could ever sleep in men's minds, as one of insignifi- cance, or in regard to which men could be indifierent. The organization of the American Episcopal Church, independent of the mother Church, as the United States were independent of the mother coun- try, was an event of no mean consideration ; and the title which she was to wear in all future time, in the ears of the world, and in the records of history, was to be a definition of her character, and of her posi- tion. Will any say, that they who decreed this title, did not understand this? Or that the Church her- self, from that time to this, or that the public, have not understood it ? If there be any single fact that could determine the genius of the American Episco- pal Church, more than another, it is the original bestowment and her proud subsequent wearing of this name of Protestant, down to this time. The great battle of freedom, between to all degrees of spiritual attainment and suitable to alf degrees of spiritual e Bef Timi. FAMILY AKD PRIVATE PRATERS. BY THE RET. WM. Berriau, D.D., Rector of Trinity Church, New York. 12nio. Lai'g© type. 11.00. In this large and well-executed volume, Dr. Berrian has furnished all who love the Liturgy and the spirit of the Prayer Book, with a'most vaUiahle man- ual; valuable alike for its ft-eedom from all irreverent and unseemly familiarity of approach to the throne of grace, and for its deep and glowing fervour of devotion to God. The edition has been newly arranged and materially enlarged. Part of the additions which have been made to it consist of ancient litanies, pu- rified froTn all taint of superstition and error, and presenting a perfect embodi- ment of Christian truth expressed iu the most fervent strain of devotion. DEVOTIONS FOR THE SICK ROOM, AND FOR TIMES OF Ti-ouble, compiled fi-om Ancient Liturgies and the Writings of Holy Men. From the London Edition, -with alterations and additions. By the Rev. William Ben-ian, D. D., Rector of Tiinity Church, New York. 12mo. 50 cents. The want of a full and appropriate manual of devotion, adapted to the pecu» lifir necessities, the changing circumstances, and diversified state and character of all who ore in trouble or distress, has been often felt by the clergy, in their visitation of the sick and afflicted, and still more by the sufferers themselves. This want has now been fiilly supplied by Dr. Berrian, in the present volume, who, in order to give the mannalj of which this is a reprint, a fuller adaptation to the wants of those for whom it is more especially designed, has pruned it ol its redundancies, and added to it all the Prayers for the sick and afflicted which, in the course of his long ministry, and consequent great experience, he had been led to prepare, on various occasioiiB,. for cases of sorrow and trouble sa they successively occurred. {.H.iv ..II 'i|:fS:1'l1