t« ft o r>* ..»•%. >,*•••'' .^ •0* *bv* v"*^ vv C "W :• "oV ^o* fax $txl$w; THE DOCTRINE OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURck on mmmm^~ EPISCOPACt I AND APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION, EMBRACING A REFUTATION OF THE WOBK KNOWN AS "GOODE ON ORDERS"/^ "Truth haunts no corners, seeks no by-ways; if thou profess it, do it openly. If thou seek it, do it fairly ; he deserves not to profess truth that professes it fearfully; he deserves not to find the truth that seeks it fraudulently." — Quarxes. " Lay down all affection and favor of parties. Judge justly of what shall be alleged. Unless thou know, thou canst not judge. Unless thou hear both sides, thou canst not know. If thou like aught, know why thou likest it."— Jewel. 1 , PHILADELPHIA: SMITH, ENGLISH & CO., No. 23 North Sixth Street. New Youk : H. B. DURAND. Boston : E. P. DUTTON & CO. 1866, '{" i^b Trrs Library oi Congress washington Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by SMITH, ENGLISH & CO. In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. STEREOTYPED BY J. FAGAN & SON. PRINTED BY SHERMAN & CO. ■ PREFACE. The following work has been written by a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church, for the use of those who belong to that body, and in the hope of settling a controversy that has of late sprung up among them. It is not (as might be supposed from a glance at the title-page) a treatise upon certain doctrines, but the discussion of a simple question of fact. The author has not written for the purpose of proving or apologizing for Apostolical Succession and Episco- pacy. With their merits or demerits he has, at present, little or nothing to do. He merely undertakes to prove that those doc- trines have always been avowed and acted upon by the Church. Some may wonder that it should appear necessary to prove a m matter so notorious ; but, in this age of almost universal doubt and denial, nothing can be taken for granted or looked upon as established. The necessity has arisen — the fact has been denied, and, therefore, the proof is presented. The author will never forget the astonishment with which he heard, for the first time, the denial just referred to. He saw at once that the person who made it was simply repeating the opinions or assertions of some other party ; and, on inquiry, he learned that that party was the Rev. William Goode. To the "Essay on Orders/' published by that gentleman, his friend referred him, describing it as a convincing and unanswerable production, by which it was proved, beyond all doubt, that the Church of England is not essentially or exclusively Episcopal. Within a few days a copy of the book was sent to him by a zealous layman, who was scattering it broadcast over the coun- try, and he sat down to its perusal with peculiar eagerness. The subject of Church Government was one to which he had given much attention, owing to circumstances which he may be excused for mentioning. Although born, baptized and educated in the Church of England, he had been accustomed, all his life, to associate inti- mately with ministers and members of other denominations. To (ui) IV PREFACE. many of these he was strongly attached. They were not only among his dearest and kindest friends, but they were also Chris- tians, who. by their daily walk and conversation, adorned the doc- trine of God their Saviour. Meeting with them continually in private life, and sharing regularly in their worship, it was but natural that he should imbibe their sentiments. They were, in general, very unfriendly to the Church, and unwilling to ac- knowledge that it had any genuine zeal for the truth of God or for the salvation of men. Hearing statements to this effect made by persons in whom he had entire confidence, and knowing well that the modes of worship and of thought, which he had come to regard as in- separable from true religion, were neither used in the Church nor favored by it, he was easily led to accept those statements as substantially correct. At first, indeed, and often when harshly put, they seemed to him somewhat uncharitable ; but he did not protest, for he had learned to believe that they were not unfounded. This being so, his attachment to the Communion of his fathers became little more than nominal. He could not be a hearty lover and faithful member of a Church that appeared to set greater store upon matters of order than upon vital truth. For various reasons he did not wholly abandon it ; but his sym- pathies were with those who were called by other names, and who worshipped in separate sanctuaries. Continuing thus for years after he had come to man's estate, he was a zealous advo- cate for what he supposed to be " Evangelical" views. He was willing to look upon Episcopacy as an allowable system — the Bishop being no more than the Moderator of an Assemby, or the President of a Conference ; but the Churchman's claim of divine right he regarded as arrogant assumption, savoring too much of Rome, while he looked upon "Apostolical Succession" as a mere figment — the last resort of a declining Church, in- vented for the purpose of giving it some apparent advantage over other bodies which surpassed it in spiritual life and zeal. Consequently he never hesitated to denounce as poor bigoted creatures all who said a word in behalf of such a doctrine, or who even ventured to name the sin of Schism. When the providence of God led him to become a candidate for Holy Orders, he knew that there were very few, if any, in the Church whose opinions on the subjects above mentioned were similar to his own ; but he supposed he might be allowed to conform in silence to Episcopal Government ; or if even called upon to justify it, that he might do so on the ground of ex- pediency. But some of his Non-Episcopal friends would not allow this. By one he was told, that no system of Church Government, which could not show true Scriptural warrant, ought to receive the sanction of a Christian man, and this PREFACE. V principle having been laid down, the question followed : " How he could possibly defend the constitution of the Church whose ministry he was about to enter. " To this he had almost nothing to reply. He had always been prepared to attack what he con- sidered extreme views or arrogant claims, but never to defend Episcopacy. And yet he was about to become an Episcopal Minister! He could be no longer blind to the awkwardness and inconsistency of such a position. He had wholly confined his reading to one side of the question, forgetting that common fairness required the other to be examined also. It was evident then that he must either make that examination, or unite him- self with some other body. The latter alternative he was not prepared to accept, owing to the new aspect of the case; so he entered forthwith upon an honest study of ecclesiastical polity, and read with patience everything he could procure upon the subject; and the more he read, the more he became con- vinced that his long-cherished views were untenable. This was a bitter experience. Yet, still he persevered, in the hope that some one would incline the balance to the other side, or at least furnish sufficient reasons for stopping short of that conclusion, to which he felt that his investigation was leadiig him. He still clung to the spirit of his former belief, and hoped that he might be able to retain it with a satisfied mind and a clear con- science. But the better he became acquainted with the subject, the more readily he detected the unworthy arts resorted to by some who had treated of it. These were not always on one side ; but it was painful to find that such offences were most frequent and gross on that to which he had been so strongly attached. This made him more suspicious of it, and even created a sort of prejudice against it. Could that be a just cause that needed such support? " Nbn tali auxilio nee defensoribus istis Veritas ec/et !" Still being unwilling to judge the cause wholly by the conduct of its advocates, he prosecuted his search, turning away from unsupported assertions, looking for facts and honest argu- ments, and having no other desire or purpose than to ascertain the truth. The result was this — after a few years he found himself holding those very doctrines that he had formerly re- garded with abhorrence. Such was his position when Mr. Goode's book came into his hands, and so he entered upon its perusal with peculiar anxiety. What if it should present evidence that he had never seen, or arguments more powerful than he had already weighed ! What if it should prove to be all that its enthusiastic eulogists repre- sented! Should he yield to it and return to the opinions of his youth? To this there could be but one reply — " Let the truth appear ! If Mr. Goode, or any other, can present sufficient reason for it, I shall (like Chilling worth) 'despise the shame of one more 1* VI PREFACE. alteration, and, with both my arms and all my heart, most readily embrace it V " But the reasOD was not presented — the change was not rendered necessary. In Mr. Goode he discovered not at all what he expected, but a skilled and subtle advocate, laboring in a cause " too weak to carry him, and too heavy to be carried by him," The " Essay," so far from convincing him that our Church had ever sanctioned Non-Episcopal Orders, served only to confirm him in the contrary belief. And when he saw clergymen who ought to have been able to form a more correct judgment, lauding that production as masterly and un- answerable, and other credulous persons accepting it on their recommendation, he considered it his duty to review the work and let the public see its real character. He had nearly completed an answer to it, when ill health and the pressure of other engagements obliged him to put it aside. It lay thus, unfinished, in his desk for years, and would, probably, never have seen the light, but for events that are still fresh in the memory of the public. Certain clergymen of the Diocese of New York, adopted a course designed to change the settled practice of the Church, if not to change its whole character. They turned their backs upon all existing laws and all previous usage in connection with such matters, and openly admitted to their pulpits ministers who had not had Episcopal Ordination. Whether in the abstract this were right or wrong, is a question that does not concern us. That it was a violation of the laws, or at least of the customa of the Church, was clear to all men. Of course, an innovation so startling and so daring occasioned much excitement. The Bishop of the Diocese issued a Pastoral Letter, in which, in the kindest language and most reasonable spirit, he pointed out to those gentlemen the unlawfulness of their course. And there, if they had been lovers of Order and of peace, the whole matter might have rested. But however gentle the reproof or remonstrance, it was still an exercise of authority, and that was hard to bear. Therefore, the Reverend gentlemen rushed into print at once, and strove to give to the whole matter the air of simple controversy, on equal terms, between the Bishop and themselves. They represented him as the advocate of a narrow partisan policy, and not as their ecclesiastical superior to whom they had solemnly promised obedience, and whose duty compelled him to give them a reproof. Their ''Letters," "Reviews" and "Replies to the Pastoral" have been sent everywhere throughout the country, and have served to show that some Episcopalians pay but little respect to those who are over them in the Lord ; that they are not much disposed to " submit to their judgment" or to " follow with a glad mind and will their godly admonitions." Of those productions this is not the place to treat. As to their general merit, the author PREFACE. V1J will say no more than that he coincides with their friend of " The Presbyterian," who says : " They have not logically answered the Right Reverend Horatio Potter. * * * We love the spirit and sympathize with the longings and desires foi visible fellowship with other denominations of God's people, manifested by [those that claim to be] the Low Church party in the Episcopal Church. At the same time, our convictions compel us to say that' their defence is insufficient, and that they hav£, in our judgment, logically failed." But on the relation of those writings to the subject of the present work a few words must be said. They are based on the Essay of Mr. Goode. That gentleman's theory underlies the whole. He is their sole authority for the principal assertions they make, and for the [supposed] facts to which they refer. If, then, it should appear that those assertions are without foundation — that the alleged facts are not facts, how will they be regarded when their confident language is recalled to mind ? The author readily acknowledges his own belief that they have erred only through putting too implicit trust in the learning or faithfulness of another person. He acquits them of all intention to pervert history or abuse authorities. But the public will ask why they adopted and undertook to defend a course which necessarily created discord, and even threatened the very existence of the Church, unless they were prepared to show that they had given the whole matter a thorough investi- gation, and were treating it from personal knowledge. As they are clergymen of high standing, and Doctors of Divinity, it was not unreasonable to expect that they would defend with much learning the course they had adopted in a matter so important ; at all events, that they would point to original authorities, and not take their testimony en gross from "Goode on Orders/' or any other modern compilation that may be read in an afternoon. Sorry to see good men misled, and still more sorry to see them laboring zealously to lead others astray, the author believed it his duty to place the facts before them. He considered that he would be doing them a real service by printing his Review of Mr. Goode's Essay. At all events, he knew that he would be helping the cause of truth, and so he resolved to bring it out. But fearing that, if issued in its original form and compass, it would possess little permanent value, he modified its plan and enlarged it considerably, making it much more than a mere Beview ; and now he sends it forth, claiming that it is a thor- ough and faithful discussion of the subject which the "Essay on Orders" professed to treat. He is not without hope that some of the parties herein re- ferred to will read it with patience — that they will try to lay Vlll PREFACE. prejudice aside and seek to arrive at an honest and just conclu- sion. If he lias tailed to discover the truth, and they correct him, he will be thankful for the Bervice. If he has in any way tampered with truth, or sought his end by dishonorable means, he deserves to be exposed, and shall expect no quarter. Bur he trusts that they will not seize on a mere slip of the pen, or a typographical error, or anything that is palpably a mistake, and point to it in proof .of ignorance or evil intent. He also expects that those, if any, who undertake to answer him, will not raise side issues, or grasp some unimportant particular and harp on that, but that they will go over the whole ground, or at least deal with the main question; and, above all, that they will not put the assertions of one man or the opinions of another against the evidence that is herein supplied. From those whose motto is "no step backward," he expects neither patient reading nor fair representation. Such persons are generally beyond the reach of reason, and resent all attempts to show them their error. In place of desiring to have their party right, they desire that it shall triumph, whether right or wrong, and a word said against it is, with them, an unpardonable sin. The author supposes that he has fallen into this condem- nation, and, therefore, does not hope to escape. He expects the usual amount of censure or abuse. In a week or two he will see himself described as "an enemy to Evangelical religion," "a High Churchman," "a Puseyite," or, possibly, "a Papist." This will be a much more convenient way of answering his book than giving reason for reason, or putting fact against fact; but it will have the slight disadvantage of being wholly untrue. The author yields to no man in. his zeal for the unadulterated doctrines of the New Testament — those in defence of which the Fathers and founders of our Church laid down their lives. He yields to no man in his desire to see pure and undetlled religion spread and prosper in our Zion. But he begs the reader to remember, that to secure Evangelical truth, it is not necessary to neglect or surrender Apostolical Order. If any are so weak as to object that the doctrines here shown to be maintained in the Church appear uncharitable, and ought therefore to be left at the mercy of those who would repudiate them, he replies: those doctrines are based upon the Word of the Living God, and they are held by that which has ever been incomparably the most tolerant and comprehensive Church in Christendom. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I.— Introductory, .... 9 II. — General Objections, . . 25 - III.— Explanatory, . . . .44 IV. — Mr. Goode's Introduction, . 88 V. — The Proper Sources of Infor- mation, 112 VI. — Ante-Reformation Documents, 117 VII. — The Formularies, etc., . . 146 VIII. — Laws and Official Documents, 168 IX. — The Practice of the Church, . 202 X. — Secondary Standards, . . 263 XI. — Opinions of Divines, . . . 271 XII. — American Divines, . . . 444 XIII. — Low-Church Divines, . . . 458 Appendix, 495 (8) VOX ECCLESIJ!. CHAPTEE I. INTRODUCTORY. EVEEY society must have some peculiarity by which it is distinguished from all others. Some- times this is sufficiently done by the very object for which it has been established ; but if that object be pursued by others also, then the distinctive feature will be found in the nature of its organization or in its mode of working. The Christian Church, that greatest and best of all societies, is not an exception to this rule. Its purpose, its creeds, its sacraments, and its constitu- tion, mark it out and prevent its being mistaken for any other association. The same principle applies to all those bodies which claim to be branches of it. They all retain some of the fundamental truths of Christianity, and on this they base their claim, but they have all distinctive peculiarities, else they could not stand apart. As regards faith, worship, or government, each has something more or something less than the others, and that something, whatever (9) 10 INTRODUCTORY. it is, is in every case the characteristic of the body, and a necessary condition of its separate existence. Of those Christian societies by far the greater number have been established within the past three centuries. Many are of \ery recent date, being mere subdivisions or offshoots from older ones, and retaining, in addition to some primary truths, more or less of the peculiarities of the parent body. But all, however they may agree in general, have some distinctive feature stamped upon them by the circumstances under which they originated, or by the views of the men who founded them. At the time of the Reformation, some of the leaders in that great movement were (as we believe) much more reasonable and wise than others. "We refer to the English Reformers, who, desiring to correct rather than to destroy, contented themselves with removing those useless or superstitious addi- tions by which Rome had marred the simplicity of the primitive doctrine and economy. But some of the continental divines, especially. Zuingle and Cal- vin, looked with undiscriminating hatred upon almost everything that they found existing under the papacy ; consequently theirs was not so much a " Reformation" as the destruction of an old Church and the erection of another entirely new. It is true, that in explana- tion of some of their proceedings they pleaded " neces- sity;" but there is reason to fear that some at least were influenced as much by the force of passion and prejudice. Be this as it may, however, they stopped at nothing, and in their undistinguishing zeal they sacrificed, among many human institutions, some that were positively scriptural or divine. INTRODUCTORY. 11 The most marked illustration of this was their action with reference to the sacred ministry. Heed- less of the fact that Holy Scripture describes Apostles, Elders, and Deacons as ministers holding distinct offices, they abolished all but one of the seven orders they found existing in the Church of Eome. In reference to the same matter the moderation and judgment of their English contemporaries were eminently displayed. With them the abuse of a thing was no argument against its use. The fact then that the majority of Bishops in Christendom were not Apostolic in faith and character, weighed nothing against the evidence of the divine will that the Epis- copate should be found in the Church. Guided by the sacred volume and the records of primitive an- tiquity, they retained not the seven Eomish orders, but the three which had been established by the Apostles themselves. Thus, from the very first an essential difference as to polity existed between the Continental Churches and the English. They held to a parity, they were satisfied with one Order ; it maintained a ministry of divers Orders. They were (practically, at least) Pres- byterian. It was avowedly and practically Episco- pal. With them the defence of their system, as it is now conducted, was an afterthought. But the Angli- can Eeformers in the first year of their freedom took the stand which their descendants occupy to-day — they declared to the world, on the authority of " Holy Scripture and Ancient authors," that the system of government which they retained had ever been, and should ever continue to be the constitution of the Church of Christ. 12 INTRODUCTORY. From this position the Church of England has never swerved. Now, as at first, it maintains Apos- tolical order in connection with Evangelical truth. And this is its characteristic feature. It is distin- guished from Romanism chiefly by its doctrine, which is Protestant, and from the Continental Reformed Churches by its constitution, which is Episcopal. This has always been well known, and until a recent period has been freely acknowledged. The Romanist has recognized us as holding principles different from or antagonistic to his. So has the Presbyterian. The one has fulminated his anathemas against what he calls our " heresy." The other has never spared his strongest language in denouncing what he calls our " arrogant pretensions" or " Popish exclusiveness." Indeed, if due allowance were made for the spirit in which they w r ere conceived, the very accusations and admissions of our opponents would furnish satisfactory and unanswerable testimony to the distinctive principles of the Church, and to the consistency with which they have been maintained.* We have said that, until a recent period, proof of this kind was not necessary, as the facts in the case were freely acknowledged by all. But within the present generation a change took place in the policy of .our opponents, which has rendered it necessary to establish that w r hich their predecessors were always most willing to grant. It was found that so long as the contest was waged with the Church as such, her members, however much they might differ on minor * The note for this place being too long to be inserted here, it will be put as Appendix and marked A. The reader is earnestly requested to give it his attention before proceeding further, unless he is perfectly satis- fied with the statement in the text. INTRODUCTORY. 13 matters, would stand unitedly and resolutely on the defence ; and therefore direct assault was abandoned and stratagem employed. Knowing that among us (as among the members of every society) there is entire freedom of opinion on matters not regarded as fundamental, and that consequently there were dis- cussions and party groupings, they set themselves to widen these little breaches, or rather to change friendly differences into open discord. They pur- sued a course calculated to alienate Churchmen of one class from those of another, and they hoped by thus dividing our forces to gain an easy victory. They seized upon the party names and kept them be- fore the public. They represented the disagreement in opinion between "High Churchmen" and "Low Churchmen" as radical and irreconcilable; and, af- fecting to regard the latter as champions of the truth, they bestowed upon them much compliment, and constantly assured them of their approval and sym- pathy. In this way they hoped to make it almost impossible for the "Low Churchman" to take sides against them. As he was continually held up to public view as the worthy opponent of " High Church" doctrines and practices, and as they pro- fessed to assail those only, it would be very ungrate- ful and obtrusive for him to interfere ! Supposing this impression to be created, the next step was to represent the distinctive principles of the Church as the odious peculiarities of High Churchmen, and then in that character to argue against and denounce them with as great bitterness as ever. By this ingenious scheme it was possible to wage the old warfare with- out a declaration of war ; to praise the Church in 14 INTRODUCTORY. one paragraph and in the next to denounce and scoff at her cherished doctrines.* It must be confessed that the stratagem was not wholly unsuccessful. To it we attribute the ran- * ""There wa? a time when the former class of persons [i.e. members Of the ' multiplied Protestant denominations around us'] affected to dis- tinguish in their warfare upon our Church between different classes of our Clergy : assuming that some were less strongly attached to the principles which they opposed than others, and excepting them, therefore, from the controversy which they were waging with these. It was said not to be Episcopacy itself, but extreme and unjust extensions of the claims of Epis- eonaey against which they contended. There seemed to be a hope in- dulged that the Church might be thus divided against itself, and its strength wasted in partial or mutual warfare, while one portion of the Clergy were selected as the object of assault, and a desire for peace with others was at the same time continually avowed. "—(Sermon before Con- vention of Pennsylvania, A. D. 1844, by Stephen H. Tyng, D.D., page 16.) As examples of the mode herein referred to, I subjoin one or two ex- tracts, which need no comment. The first is from an Essay on Apostol- ical Succession, by Rev. T. Powell, Wesleyan minister : n Perhaps some persons, especially members of the Establishment, may think the writer is attacking the Church. If by 'the Church ' they will understand the principles of the Reformers, Archbishop Cranmer, Bishop Jewel, etc., on the questions here discussed, then he most unhesitatingly declares that, with some trifling exceptions, he heartily embraces them, and means to defend them: but if by 'the Church ' they mean the prin- ciples of such men as Archbishop Laud and his disciples, the Oxford Tract men, Dr. Hook, etc., then he does controvert them; because he believes them to be unscriptural, anti-protestant, exclusive, intolerant, and popish*" The writer, in page 21, defines the tenets thus denounced, and they are simply "Episcopacy by divine right" and the doctrine of "Apostolical Succession." The Rev. Dr. Wood, of Andover, in his " Objections to Episcopacy," says (page 163): "Several distinguished Episcopalians, who have re- jected the peculiarities of High Churchmen, have been mentioned in pre- vious lectures." "It is my deliberate conviction that the exclusive prin- ciple held by the High Church party is more repugnant to the spirit of Christianity, and more odious in the sight of God, than all thk other ERRORS which can be imputed to the Episcopal branch of the Christian Church." "And as there are some parts of the Book of Common Prayer which seem to give too much support to the principles against which I so strongly object, I cannot but hope that the parts referred to will be sub- jected to a thorough revision." ! ! R.ev. Albert Barnes, writing on " The Position of the Evangelical Party in the Episcopal Church," page 9 : "That which has now grown up into the Evangelical party we suppose would have been suppressed by the overshadowing of the Religion of Forms, if it had not been excited and kindled by the reflected influence on the Episcopal Church of the vieics and object* of evangelical Christians of other denominations." "They INTRODUCTORY. 15 corous spirit of party, and the extremes to which, in consequence of their being thus pitted against each other, both "High" and "Low" Churchmen have gone. To it especially we attribute the fact that some are found in our body to-day who are ready to do the work of our opponents, to hand over to their brethren of the other party the characteristic princi- ples of the Church as theirs of right, to denounce these principles as "popish" and "exclusive," and to declare that there never can be peace or prosperity in our Zion until they are repudiated ; that is to say, that there never can be peace in the Episcopal Church until her members agree in thinking that there is no need for an Episcopal Church. The book before us has been produced under the influence of this outside pressure. Its author may not have been conscious of it, but the fact remains. He is a specimen, on the one side, of that ultraism which the carefully fomented controversies of this generation have produced, as Hurrell Froude was, or as "Father Ignatius" is, on the other; and just as the reverend author would say of the latter, " He is not a Protestant !" we say of him, " He is not an Episcopalian !" We beg the reader not to suppose that this is said [the Low Churchmen] are men who would do honor to any cause, and whose life and labors would be a blessing to any communion. It is this party which have endeavored to engraft the spirit of evangelical religion on the forms of prelacy ,* and it is to their holy and devoted efforts that the result has already more than once occurred that the Episcopal Church has been in danger of being rent in twain\" This, which the reverend author supposed to be highly complimentary, did not quite satisfy the " party " referred to, and so the editor of the Episcopal Recorder took him to task, and very properly stated that it was not any party, but "the Church itself which was the object of assault." 16 INTRODUCTORY. in the flippant manner in which party denunciations are sometimes uttered. The writer is not a partisan, nor does he rashly repeat the sayings of those who The sentence above is his deliberate judgment, formed from the evidence furnished by the gentle- man himself, and on grounds which no rational man can reject. We will state them briefly. As every society has its characteristic feature, so every individual must cordially accept the peculiar- ity of the society to which he belongs. If the so- ciety abandon that peculiarity it must cease to exist; if any member abandon it, he ceases, ipso facto, to belong to the society. It would be entirely vain, in such a case, to say, "Nay, he remains in connection with it and professes to be quite at home ; therefore your judgment is wrong and uncharitable I" His conduct may be inconsistent, he may have what he considers very sufficient reasons for contenting him- self in a false position, but to the society whose pecu- liar tenets or practices he rejects he cannot truly belong. On this principle precisely, we say that John Henry Newman was not a Protestant during the last year or two of his stay in our communion, and that John "William Colenso is not a Christian, though he claims to be a Bishop in the Church of Christ. We know the reply that Mr. Goode or his fol- lowers will make to this. They will say that the question is begged ; that before judgment is passed it ought to be shown that what he rejects is an essen- tial peculiarity of our system. Just so did Xewman say up to the last hour of his professed Protestantism. Just so does " Father Ignatius" say to-day; just so does INTRODUCTORY. 17 Colenso. But are we to be forever proving to a few men what the whole world has always known and acknowledged ? Is it really necessary, so late in the nineteenth century, to show that our Church is Chris- tian — or Protestant — or Episcopal? There are some who, in spite of all that has been done and written, will continue to demand proof of such things, just as the unbelieving Scribes and Pharisees persisted in asking for a sign from heaven. To such persons, when they deny that " Episcopacy by divine right" is the doctrine of our Church, we would simply say, it must have some distinctive fea- ture. What then is it ? It cannot be nominal Epis- copacy, with real parity of Order, for that is the peculiarity of American Methodism. It cannot be the mere expediency Episcopacy advocated by Paley and one or two more, because these alone have sup- ported such a theory. What then can it be, except that which we have stated ? If any doubt exists upon this point it will be resolved as we proceed. It has been stated above that the book before us is the product of that ultraism to which the discussions fomented by outside influence directly led ; but its mode of publication is a no less remarkable and painful result of the same cause. Partyism is the natural enemy of judgment and moderation. Those who give themselves up to it soon forget original or common truths, in their zeal for the peculiarities of their respective factions, and, in obedience to this repelling spirit, they are hurried on to lengths which they themselves would formerly have denounced. Thus we see extremists of one sort going to Rome, 2* 13 INTRODUCTORY. and those of the other going to Geneva.*. We see Maskells and Newmans on the one side; Noels, Shi- mealls, and Gardens on the other. We recognize in the Romish Cardinal now in England an apostate PresbyteT of the Protestant Church, who was led on stop by step, yet rapidly, from his original position to one against which he had often spoken with fer- vent eloquence. And on the other side we recog- nize, to our deep grief, among those who were his zealous adversaries some who, in opposing his ex- travagant faith, lost almost all faith, and sowed broad- cast over Britain the seeds of infidelity ,f The results of partyism have not been so terrible among us as yet, and God grant that they never may be ; but they are bad enough. We have party jour- nals, and party organizations ; and springing from these we have "envy, hatred, malice, and sill unchar* * Sayings like this are very much disliked, hecause they are sup- posed to put Geneva and Rome on precisely the same level. (See Bishop Mcllvaine's Tract on the subject.) The Author hopes that he will not be understood as holding or wishing to convey the idea that one is just as good as the other. He is not now considering the comparative merits of the systems thus respectively indicated. It is enough for him to know that both differ from and oppose the Church to which he belongs, and that to both the extremists on opposite sides do occasionally go off. The precise character or comparative merits of their landing-places we have nothing to do with, when considering simply the fact that the spirit of party drives them from the Church. f The Author has heard and read with astonishment statements to the effect that Puseyism is responsible for the "Essays and Reviews" and all the lamentable rationalism that now has its seat at Oxford,* indeed, he has heard this said in such a manner as to imply that prominent " Pu- seyites " have been leaders in this later movement. He is no admirer of Puseyism in any shape, but he does profess to love truth, and there- fore he refers to this report for the purpose of giving it a flat contradic- tion, and of expressing his surprise that any Christian minister could deal so uncandidly. Those who know nothing whatever of the facts or the men may be misled by such assertions, but on no others will they im- pose. It is hardly possible to prove that Dr. Arnold was a Tractarian, or to deny that Jowett and Baden Powell were prominent " Evangeli- cals." INTRODUCTOKY. 19 itableness." The High. Churchman of to-day does Dot speak the language nor observe the customs of those whom he professes to follow. Still less is the concord between the Low Churchman of the present and his predecessor. In his zeal against all that smacks of Oxford, he forgets that there are funda- mental principles which ; as an Episcopalian, it is his duty to maintain. The party spirit bears him on and on, until he has lost sight of the ancient landmarks, and, while he fancies himself only in the advance- guard of the Church, he is really in the camp of the enemy. In his zeal for vital godliness he accepts principles that are simply destructive. He claims to be the successor of Wilberforce, Walker, Romaine, Eaber, Venn, Wilks, and Griswold, and yet rushes into a radicalism which they would have unhesi- tatingly condemned. If any one feels disposed to doubt this, let him contrast the practices and the publications of forty or fifty years ago with those of the present time. Let him contrast the writings of Bishop "White, Bishop Griswold, or Bishop Daniel Wilson, with this work of Mr. Groode, which has actually been sent forth from the press of a society that calls itself Episcopal. Against that Society the present writer would not have a word to say, if it had not so gone with the tide of partyism as to have forgotten its own princi- ples and issued this book. To the spread of what is properly "Evangelical Knowledge" he is as friendly as any member of its Executive Committee, but he respectfully protests against the principles of Mr. Groode being set forth in that character. He con- 20 INTRODUCTORY. tends that they are not at all evangelical in the true and higher sense of the term, and that they are not "evangelical" even in the limited or party sense. The very purpose of the pamphlet should therefore, he believes, have prevented its appearing upon the catalogue of that or any other Episcopal society, even if there were no other reasons for its exclusion. But the result of its appearing from the press, and with the imprimatur, of the Evangelical Knowledge Society, has given additional power of mischief to a production which, coming from a professed Episco- palian, was already well enough calculated to do harm. That he should make admissions, or advance principles hostile to those of his own Church, was surely bad enough; but that a Society organized among us for the spread of scriptural knowledge and the promotion of personal piety, and which, for the sake of its professed purpose, has been liberally sup- ported by Churchmen, should emploj^ the funds placed at its disposal in printing such a work, and should use all its influence in spreading it through the country, is infinitely worse.* It is, indeed, a * In 1859, one of the most eloquent advocates of the Evangelical Know- ledge Society said at its triennial meeting: "It is perfectly loyal to the Protestant Episcopal Church. " " True loyalty to the Church consists in fealty to the Head of the Church, steadfastness in the faith of the Church, firmness in upholding the order of the Church, and adherence to the Lit- urgy of the Church f and, speaking of the ministry in the Three orders, Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, " This apostolic ministry it regards as being approved by Christ and sanctioned by the Holy Ghost!" Nothing could be better than this, and yet in that same year the Executive Com- mittee issued the book before us, in which it is argued that there are not three orders in the Church — that a Bishop is only a presbyter filling a higher office! In contrast with the speech at the meeting above referred to was one delivered this year in Philadelphia, at the anniversary, in which the Rev. Dr. Dyer as Secretary proposed, among other objects to which the funds of the society might be applied, the perpetuation and dissemination of INTRODUCTORY. 21 lamentable proof of the power of party spirit, and it may lead to evils which its authors seem to have neither the wisdom to foresee, nor the ability to prevent. What they endorse will almost necessarily be accepted by all throughout the nation, who, in other matters, accept their guidance, and then when such opinions are received, irregular or revolutionary prac- tices must follow, and the result of these must be either open schism in the Church or the rejection of offenders, or (what will be infinitely better than either, but less willingly accepted) the painful unlearning of errors thus carefully disseminated. Those evils have already commenced, and commenced as might have been foreseen among the members of that very " com- mittee" which prepared the way for them by send- ing forth " Groode on Orders." But although the author of the work before us ought not, while occupying a place in our ministry, to have written any such production, and although an Episcopal society ought not to have published it, it cannot be passed without notice or reply. The personal history, character, or office of a writer will often give additional interest of one sort or another to his works ; but after all they must be read and weighed without regard to such considerations. A book must be judged by its own merits or demerits, " standard works like Mr. Goode's unanswerable defence of the validity of non-episcopal orders." There were four Bishops and many clergymen present, yet no one objected! The inconsistency and absurdity of such a proposal will be apparent if we fancy the Secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Publication recommending at one of its meetings to employ its funds in publishing Jeremy Taylor's "Episcopacy Asserted," or Percival on "Apostolical Succession!" But Presbyterians are not so inconsist- ent or unwise. 22 INTRODUCTORY. and not by names. So in regard to this now before us: we know its author, and consider him, on ac- count of this book, disloyal to his own Church; yet it will not do to cast it aside, saying, "An enemy hath done this!" We may feel very well assured that he is not truly an Episcopalian, but even as a Presbyterian he must be heard. Let us then con- sider the book just as if the author wrote from a Manse in Galloway, and not from the Deanery of Ripon. At its first appearance here it was received by Low Churchmen generally with such applause as we believe has not been given in this generation to any production of the kind. It was puffed and praised as if it were the greatest treatise upon Church polity ever written ; and one editor of a Church paper ex- pressed the belief that Mr. Goode was by special Providence raised up to produce it. The able and amiable Bishop of , in a charge to the Clergy of his Diocese, confidently repeated its assertions, and gave to its teachings the support of an official endorsement. The Episcopal Eecorder has seve- ral times within the past six years spoken of it in terms of the highest praise, and the Editor of the Parish Visitor appeared to be at a loss for words to express his admiration. In his issue for July, 1859, he said : " Goode on Orders is making not merely a strong impression ; it is banishing and driving away the last doubt that hung upon some minds from the boldness and continuity of assertion that the Episcopal Church disallowed the validity of other than Epis- copal orders. Mr. Goode now stands far in advance of any living writer of controversy. He is as remarkable for candor, honesty, impartiality, and profound regard for the whole truth, as for his diligence and sagacity in searching for it." INTRODUCTORY. 23 And then he goes on to say : " Every one, from the Bishop of Exeter down, who has dis- puted his adequacy to the subject undertaken, has retired with dishonor from the contest." Again, in another issue, the same paper thus chal- lenges all who have a word to say for the constitu- tion of the Church : " The advocates of the unchurching dogma are now fairly called upon to go over the said argument and show wherein it is unsound or inconclusive, or else take a public and eternal farewell of said dogma." In the same spirit it is still, by various editors and others, declared to be " conclusive" and " unan- swerable," although we have seen such criticisms upon it as should have at least modified the boldness of such assertions. Lastly, it is the sole authority quoted by Eev. Drs. Smith and Canfield, of New York, to justify their irregularities. Surely, then, considering all this, the present writer cannot be accused of any undue love of controversy if he undertakes to examine the "argument" of Mr. Goode ; to expose the real end he has in view, and the means by which he endeavors to attain it. In striv- ing to do this, he will not offer his readers words in place of facts, or statements instead of proofs. The Editor of a well known Church paper says, that in the controversy upon this subject there has been " A parrot-like repetition of certain assertions, mere asser- tions * * * that the law of the Church is positive against the recognition of all others than an episcopally ordained ministry ;" " but no serious attempt has been made to attack the impreg- nable historical demonstration first brought forth by Goode, and since frequently repeated and confirmed." 24 INTRODUCTORY. The present writer is anxious to avoid all such censure ; what follows, therefore, will be a very " seri- ous attempt.' 1 But before engaging in it he would inform his readers that the sentence just quoted is calculated to leave a very erroneous impression, namely, that on one side only of this controversy mere statements have been put forth, without evidence. For our own part we have endeavored to find any one person who would undertake to substantiate the very numerous " parrot-like assertions" that we have seen published by the friends and disciples of Mr. Goode. By them the so-called " demonstration" and " facts" of that gentleman have been indeed "fre- quently repeated ;" but so far as we know, and we have sought diligently, they have never once been " con- firmed" by the addition of even a single authority. His book has been the grand quarry from which they have taken all their material, and some of them have not had the prudence even to hew and dress it that it might seem their own. The reader will confer a favor on the writer of this review if he will keep that book at hand, and follow closely and patiently the examination to which it is subjected. CHAPTBE II. GENERAL OBJECTIONS. ¥E have several very serious objections to make against the general scope and method of Mr. Goode's work ; and inasmuch as these could not be properly introduced in the detailed examination of his " arguments" and "facts/' we deem it best to give them here in a group by themselves. They are as follows : 1st. The investigation has not been made in the proper manner. It is obvious that the doctrines of the Church can be established only by reference to her acknowledged standards. She is responsible for everything they contain, and not at all responsible for what they do not contain or plainly imply. Conse- quently Catenas are of no value, except as corrobo- rative testimony. They can prove nothing against the standards, and as to the Church's doctrine they can prove nothing without them. But in the work before us, reliance is placed chiefly upon the opinions of individuals, while the formularies and other authen- tic sources of information are but slightly considered. The conclusion arrived at by such means could not be correct, except by chance. But even in the mode which he has selected, Mr. 3 (25) 26 GENERAL OBJECTIONS. Goode does not conduct the argument clearly and fairly. It will be evident from what is subjoined, that the acknowledged laws of debate have not been regarded. 2d. The Author does not state precisely and fully the doctrine he wishes to maintain. The consequence of this is, that we are left to guess out his views — a task which is not very easy ; as now, he seems to be contending for a particular theory, and again, for a very different one. Thus : his pamphlet or book is really an argument for the full validity of Presby- terian ordination, yet he never says so distinctly. That theory necessarily involves the doctrine of " Apostolical succession " (in the line of the Presby- terate) ; but he denounces Apostolical Succession without any reservation whatever, and suggests ob- jections to it that would apply not merely to the • Eomish view, but to any other. At one time he acknowledges that Episcopacy is a " divine institu- tion ;" at another he deprecates the use of the word " divine," and speaks of Episcopacy as having "only " apostolical institution; thus changing his own ground, and suggesting a difference that has no existence. Even as "apostolical" he in one place speaks of it as binding, but in twenty others he quotes with, at least, tacit approval, passages declaring that it is not binding, but that every Church is left at liberty to adopt it or not, at pleasure. It is evident that, with looseness such as this, discussion cannot proceed agreeably, fairly, or with any prospect of ever coming to a conclusion. 3d. He does not state clearly and impartially the views of his opponents, while he frequently points GENERAL OBJECTIONS. 27 an argument or a quotation against some opinion that they do not hold. He goes even farther than this. He attributes to those who differ from him, sentiments from which they would shrink with horror. For instance. He says their theory adds another to the two only sacraments which our Lord Christ hath ordained in his Church, " by raising Episcopacy to a level with the things commanded, such as Baptism and the Lord's Supper ! " And again ; he says, that by the same theory, they send " down alive into the pit such men as Luther and Baxter, Brainerd and Jonathan Edwards ! " * 4th. He does not furnish exact definitions or ex- planations of several important terms that he employs almost continually, and he occasionally uses the same term in very different senses. This necessarily cre- ates ambiguity, and perplexes the discussion. We have instances in the words " order," " office," " di- vine," etc., etc. Even to the epithet "High Church- man," which is in constant use, he does not appear to attach any very definite meaning. Ex. Grra. : He intimates, that for the last two centuries the Church has been wandering from the old paths, in conse- quence of some very important changes made by the " Laudean party," who it is "certain DIB personally entertain those exclusive views " which he undertakes to combat. To those men, he says, the term " High * The reader will observe that the Reverend Author does not offer a particle of evidence in support of these weighty accusations. It would be interesting to know the name of the rigid Episcopalian who would fain send "down alive into the pit" men like Brainerd or Edwards. But it would be still more interesting to know how even the most "exclusive" theory of Episcopacy could lead to the perdition of men like Luther and Baxter, who were duly ordained by Bishops in the line of the Apostolical Succession ! ! GENERAL OBJECTIONS. Churchman 91 was originally applied; and to them, and those who agree with them on the point debated, he professes to restrict it. But, on page 4-i, he tells his readers that, ''even the highest among our eminent High Church divines (as they are called) have never ated the extreme notions maintained by the Trac- tarians- and therefore were not High Churchmen ! " This is certainly not a very logical conclusion from all the premises, nor a very favorable specimen of clear- ness and consistency. 5th. He does not allow the reader to form an un- biassed opinion from the facts and arguments as he himself presents them. They are preceded by an " Introduction," in which the petitio principii, and the argumentum ad hominem are used in a manner that is totally indefensible. The question to be decided depends in a great degree upon another, namely: TThether the Church holds to the divine right of Episcopacy and the necessity for Apostolical Succes- sion. But before entering upon the discussion he asserts that those doctrines are not taught by the Church ; that they were unknown for at least a cen- tury after the Reformation, and have ever since been repudiated by our most eminent divines ! But this is not all. He describes them as being " Anti-Evan- gelical ;" as having a tendency to drive men away from the Church ; as being at variance with the spirit of Christian charity and "the facts of God's providence; 77 as having no foundation in Holy Scripture, and as leading to consequences so dreadful that it is simply "monstrous" in any one to teach them ! Now all these descriptions and assertions might be perfectly correct, and yet the mere use of them in GENERAL OBJECTIONS. 29 such a position would suffice of itself ^to imperil Mr. Groode's reputation as a candid reasoner. How much worse, then, does his employing them appear when they are, one and all, things which his oppo- nents indignantly deny, and of which he tenders no proof. He enlists in his own behalf every principle and every prejudice that can be brought to bear upon the question, and assumes, as undeniable facts, the very things he has yet to prove. This attempt to preoccupy and bias the minds of his readers, makes it evident that he is unwilling to trust to his own "argument." But that is of little consequence; for if the " introduction " is believed, the rest will not be required. 6th. He does not always state facts correctly, nor quote authorities with fairness. As to the facts, we take it for granted that the reverend gentleman errs only through want of knowledge, or mistake; but when ample sources of information are within his reach, it is questionable how far such an excuse should avail, especially as regards matters that he makes the basis of argument and on which he speaks so dogmatically. As to the other point: We do Mr. Groode the justice to say, that he does not alter nor add to the words of any author he quotes. But he does occasionally take from them. Here let us be clearly understood. We do not require a writer, when quoting, to fill his pages with irrelevant matter because it happens to form the context of the pas- sage he wishes to use. In every such case we prefer seeing only what relates directly to the subject ; but we want to see all that does. We do not object, then, to Mr. Goode's omitting words or sentences (for in 3* 30 GENERAL OBJECTIONS. that there is no wrong, and we shall have occasion to do it ourselves continually) ; but we do object to his leaving out words or sentences which have a true and proper connection with the question, and the omission of which alters the character of the passage. For example, the following quotation reads well, and would be a valuable help to an advocate of Episco- pacy: "By the confession of all, even of our adver- saries, the power of ordination and jurisdiction is common to all * * * * bishops." But woe to the Episcopalian who should venture to print it so, when some sharp-eyed antagonist would ferret it out and find that it reads thus : " By the confession of all, even of our adversaries, the power of ordination and jurisdiction is common to ALL who are set over churches, whether they be called presbyters or bishops!" Two or three instances hardly less glaring than this, are to be found in Mr. Goode's book, and will be referred to in the next section. But again, It is quite possible to give the words of a passage precisely as they are, and yet quote them very unfairly. The sense may be changed, either by the suggestion of one entirely different from that which the writer meant to convey, or by the withholding of necessary explanation. There is no unfairness to which a scheming con- troversialist can resort with greater prospect of im- punity than this, for, while it is much less likely to be detected than positive change or omission of words, it serves the same end. And if it should be discov- ered, and the quoter be accused of dishonesty, he can assume an air of injured innocence, and say, "What have I done amiss ? have I not given the ipsissima GENERAL OBJECTIONS. 31 verba?" As an example of this trick, let us suppose that some advocate of ministerial succession in the Protestant Church should quote an Act of Assembly of the Scotch Kirk to this effect : " We fully acknowl-' edge and pledge ourselves to maintain the Protestant succession." It might be received as an important admission in his favor ; and yet it refers only to the succession of Protestant sovereigns on the English throne ! So also, by misuse of the same word, Dr. Sacheverell himself might be triumphantly referred to as an opponent of apostolical succession.* But whether effected by actual change of words or judicious trimming of quotations, or by the more ingenious suggestio falsi just referred to, this " abuse of authors," as the Eeformers called it, is a very vile offence. So vile, indeed, that it is only with the greatest reluctance, and on full proof, we should con- sider any man guilty of it. We therefore trust it may appear that the writer of the essay "on Orders" has not wilfully resorted to it. He knows its baseness, and has himself condemned it strongly, saying of his Tractarian opponents, " Their Catenas parade with un- blushing effrontery the names of divines who have directly and clearly opposed their views, as of advocates in their favor." And yet, in an argument against Episco- pacy as a divine institution, Mr. Goode has ventured to quote Hooker, Andrews, Saravia, Cosin, Bramhall, and Bingham! 7th. He does not correct palpable errors, whether of fact or of opinion, which form the staple of pas- sages that he quotes ; and thus, without openly adopt- * See Appendix, C. S3 GENERAL OBJECTIONS. ing the sentiments of the authors he cites, he permits them to influence the minds of his readers. We grant that the question is not whether the opinions of those authors were correct, but simply what those opinions were, and consequently his course in this particular is technically or logically proper, but, morally considered, it is very reprehensible. The generality of his readers will take for granted that what Mr. Goode quotes without disclaimer *or com- ment, especially if the spirit of it correspond with the spirit of his work, has his full approval, or is undeniably true ; and thus the effect of such quota- tions is just as great as if he had made similar state- ments in his own name. In the case before us they have a power far beyond what would appear at first, and out of all proportion to their bearing upon the precise matter at issue. The question which Mr. Goode professes to discuss is simply whether our Church acknowledges the validity of Non-Episcopal Orders. The quotations we refer to are assertions to the effect that there was not originally, or through divine appointment, any such Order as that of Bishops. To the actual question then such passages can have but little relevance, but on the great ques- tion which lies beyond it they cannot fail to mislead an unlearned and confiding reader. The Episcopalian holds that the Apostles appointed an Order of ministers superior to Elders, who were to ordain and supervise Elders. The Presbyterian denies this, and holds that there never was any Order but one. Mr. Goode prints various extracts, in which it is asserted that the higher Order, viz: that of Bishops, was not founded by the Apostles ; GENERAL OBJECTIONS. 33 that in fact Bishop and Presbyter were the same in every respect. If then Mr. Groode is to be regarded as an Episcopalian, he has certainly been very remiss, and by his carelessness appeared willing to yield a point which by all members of his Church is re- garded as sacred and fundamental. But, believing as we do that he is not an Episcopalian, we fear that in the course thus pursued there is something worse than carelessness. The erroneous statements referred to are chiefly in extracts from Jerome, with or through whom the mistake originated. In his Epistle to Evagrius he says that in some respects the Presbyter is equal to the Bishop, for the latter order was not a separate and superior one at its first institution, but made so afterwards, to prevent schism and strife. This mis- taken opinion (it is a mere opinion, not testimony) is based upon the acknowledged fact, that in the New Testament the titles " Episcopus v and " Presbyterus " are applied to ministers of the same class ; a fact that proves nothing against the existence of a higher order, or the divine right of a threefold ministry. Now, wherever Mr. Goode can find this error of Jerome's quoted or referred to by an Episcopal writer, even though the latter may not endorse it, he copies that passage ; and, although he has done this in at least eight instances, he never once hints that Jerome was wrong, or gives the explanation of his words which eminent churchmen have furnished. Thus he leaves the impression on his reader's mind that Episcopacy really had its origin in the weakness or ambition of man, and not in the wisdom and pur- pose of Grod. 84 GENERAL OBJECTIONS. But the unfairness is still more marked. Not only- does lie not explain the matter, but when his own authorities quote from the very same sentences of Je- rome words which would effectually correct the error, so far at least as the proper powers and rights of the Bishop are concerned, Mr. Goode actually leaves out those portions of their quotations. He has done so more than once. A line of dots supplies the place of the words unfavorable to his theory, or they are got rid of by saying, "the author, having given Jerome's words in full, adds," etc., etc. An unsuspecting reader would regard this as perfectly allowable ; but when we supply some of the words which the Keve- rend gentleman prefers not giving "in full," a dif- ferent opinion may be formed. For instance, Je- rome, wishing to show how much Presbyters are superior to Deacons, takes this mode : Presbyters are almost equal to Bishops ; indeed, as regards the Min- istry, they are one and the same; "for what is there which a Bishop performs that a Presbyter may not do, except ordination !" These last words, decisive as to the superior rights of the Episcopal Order, Mr. Goode has omitted in every instance ! 8th. We have already referred to the fact that the Eeverend gentleman does not plainly set forth his own doctrine; but we have another objection to make that bears some affinity to this. He does not avow the object of his work. A man may state his position and argue with logical precision, but if he says no- thing of the practical results that he would expect to follow from the adoption of his views, if he makes no reference to any such matter, his readers will be inclined to think that he is not candid, and that he GENERAL OBJECTIONS. 35 seeks some end that lie is either afraid or ashamed to propose openly. Mr. Goode's course in the particular already mentioned, and in this, is sufficient to show that he has no confidence in the strength or justice of his cause. As to the mere discussion, he so per- plexes it by change and general indefiniteness, that it is hardly possible at times to know for what, or against what, he is contending. And as to the prac- tical issue, he is prudently silent. The very title of his book, as it appeared at first, afforded sufficient evidence of the former statement. It ran thus : " Does the Episcopal Church teach the exclusive validity of ITS OWN ORDERS ?" And though this was so proposed as the subject for discussion, it was never treated of for a single moment ! This title was very properly described at the time as " an ab- surd claptrap question, the affirmative of which was never held by any man." "Mr. Groode asks, does our Church teach the exclusive validity of its own orders ? and replies by endeavoring to show that it does not teach the exclusive validity of Episcopal orders, which is a totally different issue."* For proof of the other statement we refer to the entire book. There the reader will find no avowal of the author's real object. The end for which his work was written was not merely to establish an his- torical fact, or determine a speculative question ; it had a practical purpose, and to further that it has been circulated zealously and quoted triumphantly, * In consequence of the criticism above quoted, the publishers changed the title, but that does not weaken the force of our objection. Either the author did not know that while his title-page stated one question, his book discussed another, or else he made the discrepancy for the purpose of embarrassing the argument. GENERAL OBJECTIONS. and yet that purpose is never once hinted at in the hook. He labors to prove that, as the English Church, at the time of the Eeformation, gave some measure of countenance to the Protestant Churches on the Continent, its so doing amounted to a positive acknowledgment of their completeness as Churches, and their perfect equality with herself. Few would hope to gain, and few would be willing to grant, so large a conclusion from such premises; but Mr. Goode and his disciples are not satisfied even with that. AVhat they desire is, not the confession that the Con- tinental Eeformed Churches deserved the allegiance of the Germans and Swiss three hundred years ago, nor even that they deserve it still, and that we ought to regard them with courteous sympathy ; but that we should here, at .. our own doors, recognize fully any and every sect that calls itself a Church, and that we should cordially receive every man as a truly ordained Clergyman who claims to be so re- garded, no matter how or by whom he may have been admitted to the ministry. The predecessors of those for whom the reverend gentleman is laboring were not the divines of Zurich, Geneva, Wittemburg, or Scotland, but the disorderly and factious sectaries of England; and the amount of sympathy or fraternal acknowledgment which they or their " Churches" re- ceived from our Reformers and their successors he does not venture to state. The Anglo-Saxon dis- senters, whose cause he is really pleading, he does not even once refer to, but puts forward in their stead those others whose circumstances were entirely different. 9th, He does not keep to the question. This GENERAL OBJECTIONS. 37 would indeed be a difficult matter considering that there is so much uncertainty as to what the question is. But he takes a range in seeking for evidence which not even his own indefiniteness of statement can justify. There appears to be a purpose in this — the same purpose that we find everywhere in the work. Whether they bear upon the actual subject of debate or not, he prints such passages in the writ- ings of our divines as to any extent appear, or may be made to appear unfavorable to Episcopacy. He undertakes to show that the Church acknowledges the validity of non-episcopal ordination, and in order to do this he quotes I. Any passage he can find in an Anglican divine, stating that our Lord did not himself in person institute Episcopacy — which is an open question, but one that in no wise affects the point at issue. II. Any passage in which it is confessed that Episcopacy is "not necessary to salvation" — a fact that no Churchman will deny. III. Any passage stating that there is not set down in Holy Scripture any one form of " outward government or discipline" perfect and complete in all its details, and designed to be in every par- ticular perpetually maintained in the Church — a confession that even a " Puseyite" would read- ily make, since not even one of that class would expect to find in the New Testament a perfect form of polity and discipline suited for all people and all places in all time. The Holy Book cer- tainly teaches nothing about the special duties of Churchwardens, Archdeacons, or Deans, nor would any Churchman consider it sinful to abolish those offices. 4 38 GENERAL OBJECTIONS. IV. Any passage like those already alluded to in which a doubt is expressed, or an assertion made as to the essential "parity" or identity of the Orders of Bishop and Presbyter — these quotations only create confusion. They give no support whatever to the writer's cause; for even if we should grant, or he could prove "parity of Order" with essential difference in office, he would be as far as ever from his end, since in the Church's view it appertained exclu- sively to the office of a Bishop to ordain. V. Any passage in which it is said or inti- mated that Episcopacy can only be inferred from Scripture, and from this it is argued that it can- not be binding upon Christians — which reason- ins; would remove the obligation of Female Communion, Infant Baptism, and the observ- ance of the Lord's day. VI. Any passage stating plainly that Episco- pacy is nothing more than a human invention, the offspring of ambition, or expediency — which testimony, as he quotes it, would go to prove that the Church's doctrine is, that she herself has been for over three hundred years a sort of impostor claiming to have scriptural warrant which she has not ! Now let the reader pause for a moment and con- sider what quotations of these various classes have to do with the question whether the Church recognizes Presbyterian orders as valid. They are wholly irrele- vant, and not only so, but from their general character they are calculated to cast discredit upon the Epis- copal order. A fair reasoner, and especially an Episcopalian, would therefore omit them ; but Mr. Goode prints and argues from them ! GENERAL OBJECTIONS. 39 But the Keverend gentleman gives us also VII. Passages in which some English divines put guards upon the formal enunciation of their doctrine, or state the exceptions that might be made, as for instance, in case of " extreme neces- sity" — these guards, modifications, or exceptions are quoted as if they were the fixed doctrine held by the writer. VIII. Lastly, he furnishes passages in which there is some civil or friendly allusion to the foreign Reformed Churches, or some justification of them on the score of necessity — and these extracts are used to prove that the Church holds that all who imitate their form of government deserve the same measure of courtesy and kind- ness, and are fully justified in doing without Bishops, though they plead no necessity whatever. From this analysis of his mode of reasoning, it will be seen that Mr. Groode does not deal with the ques- tion in that open, honest, manly way that shows a real confidence in the cause maintained or that wins respect even if it fail to convince the judgment. On the contrary, there is a love for ambiguity ; a twist- ing about of words; a straining of arguments and authorities; a reticence upon some points of conse- quence, and an undue resting upon others; a practical avoidance of the question as stated by himself, and a still more complete avoidance of the real issue that lies behind it — w T hich all combine to stamp the work as that of a special pleader. It could not be other- wise; with a mind so full of an extreme theory it would be impossible to conduct an impartial search for the Church's doctrine. The Essay is simply an attempt to justify the virtually Presbyterian views 40 GENERAL OBJECTIONS. adopted by Mr. Goode, and to make the Church's teaching conform to them. Of course failure was in- evitable. The circle has never been squared. That or the reconciling of things essentially opposed is a task too great even for the ingenuity and persevering diligence of the Eeverend author. Before leaving this general review of his work ; we must say a word or two upon a matter of taste and prudence. Charges of ignorance are freely preferred against those who have heretofore engaged in contro- versy upon the present topic with Mr. Goode. Such a thing, however it might do in the columns of papers friendly to the author, comes with very bad taste indeed from the Editor of his book ; but far worse is it when the Eeverend gentleman allows himself to speak in this manner of his adversaries. He says of them " deliberately/ 7 yea, even of the " very heads of the party" that they are " very ill-informed indi- viduals." We question the propriety of such accusations; they partake of the character of slander. They can be preferred by any one. They can wound feelings, or injure reputation even where there is not a particle of foundation for the charge. Therefore a man of fine feeling would not rashly employ them. If his opponent be really an ignorant pretender, such a man would rather prove his ignorance than proclaim it. But we cannot see how anything is to be gained in the end by such accusations. If made on insufficient grounds, they may be credited for a time, but sooner or later the truth overtakes them, and they bring upon their author the odium he sought to fasten upon his antagonist. If the evidence be furnished, GENEKAL OBJECTIONS. 41 the denunciations, or charges, might as well be omit- ted. If it be not furnished, they are worthless. What then are these ? Do we not require something more than the mere dictum of Mr. Goode, or his American Editor, to convince us that the Bishop of Exeter, Chancellor Harrington, Archdeacon Churton, the Eev. T. K. Arnold, and others, are ignorant men. Their extensive and varied learning has always been freely acknowledged, even by those who doubt or deny their orthodoxy. If this general judgment is to be reversed, we would like to know on what grounds ; but without condescending to inform us, without giving even one illustration of their sup- posed deficiency, Mr. Goode, in marked violation of good taste and fairness, assures his readers that they are "exceedingly ill-informed!" Still worse, however, are his positive charges of falsehood, etc., etc. If a controversialist violates truth, or practises arts that are or seem to be dis- honest, and we are satisfied that he does this wilfully, we do not expect his opponent to treat him with studious courtesy. On the contrary, in such a case we think it right to call a spade a spade, and expose the trickster so that he may be excluded from the lists of honorable disputation. It is only, however, with great reluctance we should come to such a con- clusion. We are bound to exercise that charity, "which hopeth all things." But if the proofs are too many and too strong to be resisted, if there is no room left for reasonable doubt, we hold that we are then fully warranted in condemning him, and in making his guilt known. Yet we are never justified in even insinuating such a charge, unless we give 4* 42 GENERAL OBJECTIONS. along with it the facts upon which it is based. Mr. Goode has not done this. He has offered no evi- dence whatever, although he says of his adversaries that their course is marked by " unblushing effron- tery,' 1 "unbridled arrogance/ 7 " duplicity/' and " fre- quent disregard of truth." The latter charge he repeats, saying, they resort to "all sorts of inconsis- tencies and offences against truth!" It might be supposed that language so strong, and judgments so harsh as these, were hastily produced, struck out, as it were, in the heat of conflict, but we are sorry to say they have not even this in their favor. Several of them occur in a chapter, headed "Morality of Tractarianism," and are reprinted here from another work written years before. Being thus coolly reproduced, and without any evidence to support them, they are wholly inexcusable. But further : we question the prudence of making such charges. They are so easily retorted that no one should venture upon them who is not unusually exact and circumspect. Our author is not so. He has left himself very open to just such attacks. So much so, indeed, that it is hard to believe that he has not earned them. We would not dream of call- ing Mr. Goode an ignorant man, either as to general scholarship, or the special subjects he undertakes to discuss, but yet he forces us, at times, to believe that he is not acquainted with facts, or writers, that he professes to know perfectly, and which he certainly ought to know. His representations are at times so widely different from the plain truth, that in kind- ness to himself we must suppose him so far igno- rant. He escapes more severe condemnation, only GENERAL OBJECTIONS. 43 because we charitably presume that his offences are not intentional. The laudatory references, made in newspapers and pamphlets, to the erudition, the controversial skill, and the past triumphs of the Eeverend gentleman, may be easily pardoned. They are simply the usual glorification of the party champion. Doubtless the Philistines boasted greatly of the man they sent forth to defy the armies of Israel ; and why should not our radical brethren extol their own Groliath. Let them do so. It is natural that they should. But we cannot help thinking that while such eulogies may be quite allowable in the columns of a journal, they might, without any great disadvantage, have been omitted from his own book. His victories might have been more appropriately recorded elsewhere, while his learning and ability might have been left to assert themselves. " Good wine needs no bush." CHAPTER III. EXPLANATOKY. ALTHOUGH we do not write for the purpose of setting forth and defending any theory, but rather of reviewing and answering the work of an- other, we think it will help to make the discussion more easy and agreeable if at the outset we state what we conceive to be the Church's view of the matters in debate. Taking into consideration then its standards, its history, and the " consent of eminent divines," we deduce the following tenets : I. That our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Christian ministry by commissioning certain chosen persons called " Apostles" to preach and to baptize all nations in his name, and to do all things needful for the full establishment of his Church, and that he promised to be with them even to the end of the world. II. That the extent of this commission and promise implies that the ministry should con- tinue to the end of time, and consist of those who should receive a share of the authority origin- ally given to the Apostles, and transmitted from them in regular succession. III. That the ministry as instituted by them, in direct accordance with the will of our Lord, (44) EXPLANATORY. 45 and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, con- sists of three orders [that of the Bishop, the Presbyter, and the Deacon], to each of which belong special duties and privileges. IV. That the ministry thus divinely instituted is not left in the power of man to be changed, or to be abolished, either in whole or in part, and that any wilful departure from its Order as thus con- stituted, or any material interference with the rights of any member thereof, is an offence against Grod. V. That to ministers of the highest order [that is to Bishops], and to them alone belongs the right to ordain other ministers of the Church. These principles contain nothing more than we ordinarily express in the two terms, Episcopacy and Apostolic Succession. Episcopacy, not as an expedient, or a system of man's devising, but as possessing divine right. Apostolical Succession as held by the primi- tive Church ; freed from Eomish additions and per- versions, and made consonant with sound reason and Holy Scripture. Of this we shall treat more fully further on. As to Episcopacy — it is not easy to ascertain the precise opinion of Mr. Groode. If we were to judge from page vii of his " Introduction," we might sup- pose that he regards it as " binding upon all;" but on page 93, and in other places, the aim of his argu- ment is to destroy the idea that it is "necessary." This is the opinion that prevails throughout the book. As to Apostolical Succession — he scouts it alto- 46 EXPLANATORY. gether. forgetting that it involves the whole theory oi' a divinely commissioned ministry. On these two points, then, we differ from the Reve- rend gentleman ; our present business, however, is not to prove his doctrine wrong, but to show that it is not what our Church holds, and has held from the be- ginning. Divine Right. — When we claim this for any in- stitution we mean simply that it has been appointed by divine authority, and that it therefore challenges the obedience of all men. Any system that can be shown to have been divinely established with a view to continuance, has this jus divinum ; all others, how- ever excellent, are but human institutions, and cannot claim to be received and obeyed by all. Taking advantage of distinctions drawn for sake of preciseness by certain eminent casuists, Mr. Goode insinuates that those things only can be said to have this divine right which were " ordained by Christ himself," or else founded on a precise command of God. The former notion would tend to prove that the larger half of the New Testament contains nothing that is binding upon us. The other would deprive of all their authority things w^hich even the admirers of our author must regard as having most certain warrant. Everything that the Lord God ordains for man is obligatory upon man. It matters not how His will has been manifested if the fact itself be clear. God himself declared his mercy to our first parents, and instructed them in the service which he would be pleased to accept. Yet the worship of the Primeval or Patriarchal Church had no higher sanction or EXPLANATORY. 47 authority than that of the Hebrews, which was estab- lished through the instrumentality of Moses. And is St. Paul, St. Peter, or St. John to be regarded as so inferior * to the great lawgiver that the Christian Church has less claim upon the honor and obedience of men in general than the Levitical Church had upon Israel ? Were not the Apostles also taught of God, and " called of God as was Aaron," and. were they not fully empowered to do even a greater work than that performed by Moses? Does not refusing to acknowledge as divine and obligatory that which they established in accordance with their great com- mission involve the opinion that it was really their own work ? And is not this a direct ignoring of their Apostolic character and inspiration ? Yet these are things upon which we all depend, for only through them do we know of a Saviour. All Christians go without scruple to the Apostles 7 writings to learn there fully the faith of the Church of Christ. Why then must we be debarred from seeking there also the constitution of the Church ? Or on what grounds are we to be told, when it has been discovered, that we are not obliged to conform to it ? And, if there are none, what show of reason is there for what is implied in our author's remark, that " our divines for the most part contend only for the Apostolical institution of Episcopacy ?" Why is it required of me, on peril of my soul, to receive a creed from the Apostles if I am at liberty to reject the Church founded by them, and to which they gave that creed in charge ? Will Mr. Goode answer these questions, * See St. Matthew xi. 11. 18 EXPLANATORY. or is he prepared to accept the absurd idea that when an Apostle was writing, he was moved by the Holy Ghost, but when preaching or organizing a Church, he was not an authorized exponent of the divine will ? We should suppose that no Christian man, treat- ing of the deliberate, formal, official acts of the Apos- tles, woul4 seek to lessen their importance, or at- tempt to make a distinction between "apostolical" and " divine" institutions ; yet this distinction our author seeks to establish. In opposition to his theory we could quote a volume of opinions from even Non-Episcopalian divines, if it were necessary ; but a few will serve, as well as a thousand. Beza says [de gradibus Ministrorum, cap. 23] : "If this change [to government by Bishops] proceeded from the Apostles, I would not doubt thoroughly to ascribe it to divtne disposition, as I do other ordinances of the Apostles." Zanchy, in his memorable letter to Queen Elizabeth, describes things " essential/' thus : "They are either instituted of God by Moses, or delivered by Christ, who is God manifest in the flesh ; or ordained by the Holy Spirit acting and speaking in the Apostles." — Zurich Letters, Vol. II., page 350. Eichard Watson, the celebrated Methodist theo- logian, writing concerning the divine institution of the Christian Sabbath, says : ''Even if it were conceded that the change of the day was made by the agreement of the Apostles, without express direc- tions from Christ (which is not probable) ; it is certain that it was not done without express authority confided to them by Christ." Robert Hall, speaking of the Apostles, says : " He who refuses to submit to the guidance of persons thus attested and accredited, must be considered as virtually renounc- EXPLANATORY. 49 ing the revelation imparted, and as the necessary consequence forfeiting his interest in its blessings." Thomas Cartwright, the great Puritan, notwith- standing his subsequent change, may be classed among Non-Episcopalians, and he says : " The example of the Apostles, and general practice of the Cliurch under them, draweth a necessity." To these we add the judgment of an eminent churchman, to whom Mr. Goode will not object. The excellent Bishop Hall, of Norwich, in his " Epis- copacy by Divine Eight Asserted," maintains : " 1st. That government, whose foundation is laid by Christ, and whose fabric is raised by the Apostles, is of divine insti- tution/ 7 "2nd. The practice and recommendation of the Apostles is sufficient warrant for an Apostolical institution." And that by Apostolical, he here means divine will appear from what follows : " In eminent and authorized persons even examples are rules, much more so in sacred, neither did the Spirit of God confine itself to words, but expressed itself also in the holy actions of Ms inspired servants." Having thus shown that in the judgment of men of various creeds, Apostolical institution is divine institution, we infer that even if our Lord himself did not establish Episcopacy, or at least a ministry of divers orders, the fact of its having been estab- lished by his chosen Apostles, gives it divine right, and so makes it binding. Our author says this is "raising Episcopacy to a level with things positively commanded." We confess that it is. But, when he adds such things "as Baptism, and the Lord's Supper!' 1 we protest. These are, indeed, things positively commanded, but we have always regarded them as something more. 5 50 EXPLANATORY. If the Reverend gentleman thinks differently, he will probably be convinced by reading the definition of >acrament given in the Church Catechism. Here then we leave this subject, for the present ; in the next chapter we shall treat of the difference between "Apostolic precedent" and " Apostolic com- mand," as insisted upon in the book before us. Necessary. — When in this discussion we declare anything to be "necessary" or binding, we mean simply that it is required of us by the divine law; it is a thing which, because it is appointed by God, we are not left at liberty to accept or neglect at pleasure ; it is a thing which, under ordinary circumstances, we cannot reject without sin. Yet it by no means follows, as Mr. Goode suggests, that such a thing must be "absolutely necessary." To regard Episco- pacy in this light would be to raise it, not only "to the level" of the Sacraments, but far above them, for they are only "generally necessary." To regard it so would be to put it in a position where it must stand alone ! There is no one thing absolutely necessary as a condition of salvation. Eepentance is not, faith is not, personal holiness is not — because infants are saved without any of these. Theological knowledge or a pure belief is not — for multitudes will be saved at last whose creed was erroneous or defective, and doubtless millions will enter into bliss eternal who in life knew little of mooted points in divinity. Why then should Church order be regarded as more necessary than any or all of these ? Our author w r ould answer, " Why, indeed?" and would try to leave on the minds of his readers the impression that it is so considered by those who differ with him on EXPLANATORY. 51 the general subject of his work.* But he cannot succeed. If Archdeacon Denison, or any other indi- vidual, have set forth such an opinion, on him be the responsibility. The Church teaches no such doc- trine. Our author is welcome to this acknowledg- ment. We do not believe that a man will fail of attaining eternal life simply because he does not belong to a properly or perfectly constituted Church ; but we do believe that he ought to belong to such a Church, and that his doing so would conduce greatly to his spiritual advantage and comfort. We hold that Episcopacy being the divinely appointed polity, any organization that rejects it, being thus deficient in structure and authority, is not a true or complete Church. We regard such rejection as schismatic and sinful ; yet we have not the least hesitation in believ- ing that our merciful Lord will pardon this as well as many other errors and defects in those who are misled. Mr. Groode quotes with triumph various passages containing acknowledgments similar to this, but we cannot see how they are to help his cause, unless, in- deed, he is able to prove that a thing which is not absolutely necessary is not necessary in any sense. Apostolical Succession. — As this very name has become odious to many who judge of the doctrine by the misrepresentations of those who do not hold it, * Page 33. — Cartwright,."like Archdeacon Denison, maintained that matters of discipline and kind of government are matters necessary to salvation." Page 44. — Episcopacy "has not been authoritatively laid down by Christ or his apostles as of indfsjiensible obligation, and therefore is not binding upon all churches." How a system could be binding upon some Churches and not upon all, the author does not state. Page 93. — "Absolute necessity." 02 EXPLANATORY. or by the perversions and exaggerations of some who do, it is necessary to state plainly what it is. and what it is not. The doctrine of M Succession" is based upon the principle that man cannot originate a Church ; that is Christ's prerogative. Man cannot, therefore, qualify his fellow man to act as a minister in Christ's Church. Xo one can give to another what he does not possess,, therefore no layman, or number of lay- men., can by any possibility give authority to minis- ter in the "Word and Sacraments, for the simple reason that they themselves have not that authority. Each and every clergyman then must receive his com- mission from at least one who is already in the min- istry; he in turn from others holding the same great office,, and so on back from generation to generation, until we reach those to whom Christ said, " As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you, Go ye there- fore into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, and Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world/' To all who a^e duly ordained then in this succession belong the special promise of the Lord, the right to preach his Gospel, administer his Sacraments, and exercise discipline in his Church; and these rights or powers belong to no person what- ever who is not so ordained. However pious, zealous, eloquent, or learned a man may be. if he has not been regularly called and sent into the Lord's vineyard by those having lawful authority he is not truly a min- ister of Christ. The doctrine thus briefly stated is held and acted upon (with more or less strictness) by every body of Christians that believes in a regular ministry. Even those who systematically denounce, practically main- EXPLANATORY. 53 tain it, and others who oppose it zealously have to do so in spite of their own standards. Let us take the case of the Presbyterians, in whose behalf Mr. Goode's book has been written. We will have no difficulty in showing that they, both in their teach- ing and practice, uphold the principle of succession. Their ministers are set apart or " ordained" by a Presbytery, or body of ministers, each one of whom has been himself previously commissioned by prayer and the imposition of hands of other presbyters, and so on back to the Eefor matron, at which time their peculiar system originated ;* and as those who estab- lished it were (in their opinion) duly authorized ministers, the line goes back as before to the Apos- tles. Thus they endeavor to preserve a successive ministry, and so they recognize the theory. But they go further than this. Some ministers of that Church will grant the occasional use of their pulpits to preachers whose commission is questionable ; but the denomination will not receive into their ministry any one, however good or gifted, who has not received his authority in due course from men whom they consider qualified to bestow it. Such is their practice.^ Their public teaching corresponds with it. For instance, we ourselves once heard a very eminent professor speak thus at the " ordination" of a former pupil : " Though we utterly reject the claims advanced by Epis- * " Zuingle asserted the rights of the people in general. Here we see the beginning of the Presbyterian system." — (D' Aubigne's History of the Reformation, vol. iii. p. 248.) ■j* The writer is aware that there have been irregularities in this par- ticular, especially in this generation, and in this country, but that Fact does not weaken the statement above. Irregularities cannot be admitted as evidence against law j we reason from the rule, not from exceptions. 5* 64 EXPLANATOKY. oopalians, we are not, by any means, levellers. We have no sympathy with those who think that laymen can originate a ministry. To ordain ministers of the word is in the power of those, and only those, who have themselves been lawfully admit- ted to that holy calling." Still more explicit are these words of a dis- tinguished member of the same Church : " I believe in Apostolical Succession, through a line of pres- byters." To the same purpose is the following testimony from men of the highest standing in the body. Eev. Dr. Miller, says : 11 None are regularly invested with the ministerial character, or can, with propriety, be recognized in this character, but those who have been set apart to the office by persons lawfully clothed with the power of ordaining." — (Letters on Christian Ministry, p. 8.) " It is only in so far as any succession flows through the line of Presbyters, that it is either regular or valid." — (Letters, etc., etc., p. 347.) Eev. Dr. McLeod, says : " A person who is not ordained to office by a Presbytery has no right to be received as a Minister of Christ, his administra- tion of ordinances is invalid, no divine blessing is promised upon his labors ; it is rebellion against the head of the Church to support him in his pretensions ; Christ has excluded him in his providence from admission through the ordinary door, and if he has no evidence of miraculous power to testify his extra- ordinary mission, he is an impostor!" — (Ecclesiastical Cate- chism, p. 30, quoted in How's Vindication, p. 18.) But the best proof is to be found in their stand- ards. Of these, the first and chief is the Confession, etc., of the Westminster Assembly ; its teaching is as follows : "No man ought to take on him the office of the Ministry, without a lawful calling." " Ordination is always to be continued in the Church." " Every Minister is to be ordained by imposition of hands with prayer and fasting, by those preaching presbyters to whom it doth belong." EXPLANATORY. 55 By this rule even the "lay-elders," so called, are excluded from participating in this work. It is con- fined exclusively to those who are themselves in the Ministerial Succession. If then a party of those "lay-elders" should solemnly lay hands upon some individual, and thus, in their intention, set him apart to the work of the Ministry, no Presbyterian could acknowledge that person as rightly empowered, no Presbytery would admit him. He might be very able, very useful, or even very holy, yet he would be rejected. His right to use his gifts in the sacred office of the Gospel Ministry would be totally denied, because he had not received what they believe to be regular and valid ordination. Here, then, is complete agreement with us, as to general doctrine, and the practice based upon it. The}^ maintain what they regard as a true succession in the Ministry ; we do the same. They refuse to accept those whom they consider improperly or- dained, or not ordained at all ; we do just the same. Consequently, every accusation of " uncharitable- ness," or " exclusiveness" preferred against us, affects them also. If we are " popish" in this matter, so are they. If, as Mr. Goode, or his Editor, believes, it is " monstrous" for Churchmen to hold the doctrine of " succession," it is surely no less monstrous for his Non-Episcopal friends to do so. They do not differ from us, to the least extent, in the general principle, nor as to the rights of those who are duly ordained, but as to the party possessing the right or power to ordain. The only question, between us and them, is, does this power belong to "preaching Presbyters," or to the Bishops of the Church ? 56 EXPLANATORY. Into the merits of this question we are not now called upon to enter. It is sufficient for our purpose to have proved that the doctrine here defined, though in these days denounced by flippant and partisan writers, is j^et really held by the most important of the Non-Episcopal denominations. It must be borne in mind, however, that as those who hold Presbyterian views of Church government, have of late years assailed this doctrine so bitterly, they are popularly regarded as having abandoned all their share in it, and so now-a-days whenever Apostolical Succession is mentioned, it is understood as meaning that which we hold, viz., succession in the line of the Episcopate. It is, in this sense chiefly, if not exclusively, that it will be used in the follow- ing pages : There are views of this doctrine, or opinions closely connected with it, which had their origin in the Church of Eome, and for which we find no war- rant in the standards or recognized teachings of our own. These views are always associated with an undue estimate of sacramental virtue and minis- terial (or " priestly") power. They place the mere opus operatum of a duly commissioned Priest far above the most reverent act of devotion that could be performed by one whose authority to minister is at all questionable. On this theory, if a man be only a regularly ordained Minister in the line of the Succession, his acts necessarily confer grace; he has the power to forgive sins, and to speak authori- tatively in the name of Christ, although his doctrine may be heretical, or his life abominable. We freely confess that we would find difficulty in producing EXPLANATORY. 57 any very great number of extracts to justify this description.* Such views substantially prevail in the Church of Kome, and have prevailed among those Protestants who have apostatized to her ; but the plain enunciation of them is not common. Yet what we find it hard to prove against a few extre- mists, our author does not hesitate to charge upon all holders of the true doctrine. The exaggerated or Eomish theory is that the possession of the Apos- tolical Constitution, and a properly transmitted au- thority, is enough to constitute a true or perfect Church. Thus Succession is held to be everything, or almost everything, while by Mr. Goode and his followers, it is held to be nothing. Against both extremes our Church protests by her careful preser- * Mr. Keble says the "vital and decisive" part of the doctrine of Suc- cession is the necessity of the Apostolical commission to the " derivation of Sacramental grace ;" and again : " The treasury of sound doctrine was to be guarded by the grace of the Apostolical Succession." "Episcopal grace is by God's ordinance the guardian of sound doctrine." Dean Hook has not gone so far as some of his quondam associates, yet in the following sentences from his Sermons on the Church, he has certainly gone somewhat farther than he is warranted. " Unless Christ be spiritually present with the Ministers of religion in their services, those services will be vain." "The only ministrations to which he has promised his presence is to those of the Bishops, who are successors of the first commissioned Apostles, and the other Clergy acting under their sanction, and by their authority." This is quite true, if it mean that no official ministrations are authorized and regular, but those of properly ordained men, and none so likely to be fully acceptable to God, but it is not true, if it means that a blessing cannot accompany the devotions of persons, who are irregularly ordained, or not ordained at all. The venerable gentleman forgets that there are more promises than one. Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said : " Wherever two or three are gathered together, in my name, there am I in the midst of them !" In the preface to the 3rd and 4th Volume of " Froude's Remains," the Editor (J. H. Newman) says: " To seek communion with Christ through any Non-Episcopal Association, is to be regarded (not as a schism merely, but) as an impossibility." This sentence justifies of itself what has been said above. Its author afterward avowed that his object was " The unprotestantizing of the Established Church." But after such a decla- ration of opinion, the confession was hardly needed. (58 EXPLANATORY. vation af "Evangelical Truth, and Apostolic Order." With her, Succession is much } but purity of doctrine is moke, and both are necessary to constitute a Church in the true and full sense of the term. The error as to the authority and worthiness of the individual minister is traceable in the main to that heretical doctrine of the Eoman sect, which makes Holy Orders a Sacrament. As we utterly reject that doctrine, so we reject also the corollary, that the grace required for the proper discharge of the sacred office is conferred in and by the act of Ordination. In our view that solemn rite is for the conveyance of authority, and not of internal qualifi- cations. It is not a sufficient reply to this to say, that when the Bishop in ordaining lays his hands upon the candidate he says, " Receive ye the Holy Ghost ;" " "Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted," etc., etc. These words are used because it is judged best to keep as close as possible to the model set before ns in Holy Writ ; and inasmuch as they were em- ployed by our Lord when appointing the Apostles to act as his ambassadors, the Church retains them in the service by which others were sent forth to carry on their work. It is not supposed (at least by any Protestant) that, in consequence of the words spoken by our Lord, the Apostles themselves had absolutely power to forgive sins, for that appertaineth to God a] one. And certainly the Church which acknowl- edges this cannot be regarded as claiming that she can give this power to fallible men, or that her Bishop's use of the words is more efficacious than Christ's. Neither will it be contended that the Sa- EXPLANATORY. 59 viour's saying "Keceive ye the Holy Ghost," even accompanied as it was by the symbolic action of breathing on the disciples, conveyed to them all necessary qualification for their work; for he himself desired them to tarry at Jerusalem until they should be endued with power from on high ; from which it is manifest that they were not at that time so endued. It was only when the Holy Spirit descended upon them at Pentecost that they received their tongues of fire and were replenished with those sevenfold gifts which enabled them to go forth conquering and to conquer. If then, in what may be properly re- garded as the ordination of the Apostles by their divine Master, neither the acts nor the words He employed conveyed the grace necessary for the dis- charge of their office, no acts or words that any Bishop or other man may use can possibly convey such grace. From our Lord, as Head of the Church, the twelve received their commission ; from the Holy Grhost they received their spiritual qualification.* And so must it be at all times. The Church can by her official act bestow the authority, but she cannot impart the virtues necessary for the proper exercise of the Christian ministry. A man can re- ceive an ordinary and lawful commission only from Christ, through her, but the fitness must come from the Lord, the Spirit, f * " Ordinario Vocatio fil a Deo et per homines. Quatenus est a Deo, est interna, quatenus est per homines est externa." — (Bishop Pearson, Minor Theological Works, Vol. i., 291; Goode on Orders, 79.) -f- To the present writer it does not seem possible to avoid the force of the common objection against the doctrine of Succession, if more is claimed in it than the transmission of authority. But when a clergy- man, holding what we regard as the Church's view, is asked how he can 00 EXPLANATORY. Every Churchman believes, indeed, that a God- fearing candidate, coming with humble and prayerful heart to his ordination. wiU, in answer to his own supplications and those of the Bishop, Presbyters, and people there assembled, receive a blessing, an increase of grace, strengthening his good resolutions and his faith, and comforting his heart with the assur- ance that he shares in the promised presence of the Lord. But very different from this is the idea that a formal, cold-hearted, professional candidate is so blessed, or that a vile hypocrite, upon whom the hands of a Bishop may be duly laid, receives the sanctifying graces of the Holy Spirit, ex opere operate. Such a notion is both wicked and absurd. Mere or- dination works no such magical change ; although it may have been canonically performed, he that was formal before is formal still, he that was unholy is unholy still. But to return to " Succession." We would warn the reader against mistaking the meaning of the word as it occurs in quotations from the Fathers and other Christian writers up to the seventeenth century. In the first three or four centuries, when heretical teachers claimed to be exponents of the true faith, they were called upon to show their " succession." This did not mean the fact of their having been or- dained in the regular line of the ministry, but a list of Bishops in any one See holding their doctrines. This is the sense in which the word was frequently, value a succession that passed through the vileness of Romanism, he can very readily reply, " Why may I not receive a good commission through, the hands of an unworthy predecessor?" Alexander Borgia and Hilde- brand might hand down legitimate authority, but they could not possibly convey the Holy Ghost. EXPLANATORY. 61 if not always, employed during the Reformation period. Thus Harding says to Jewel : — "If you can prove no succession, then whereby hold you V "How many Bishops can you reckon whom in the church of Salts- bury you have succeeded, as icell in doctrine as in outward sitting in that chair ?" To this Jewel replies, inter alia: — ' If it were certain that religion and the truth of God passeth evermore orderly by succession, and none otherwise, then were succession * * * * a very good argument of the truth. But Christ saith * * * By order of succession 'the Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' chair/ Annas and Caiaphas, touching succession, were as well Bishops as Aaron and Eleazar." " Howbeit, as the Scribes and Pharisees succeeded Moses, per- verting and breaking the laws of Moses, even so do the Bishops of Home this day succeed Christ, perverting and breaking the laws of Christ." — (Defence of Apology, vol. ii., page 323, etc.) Again he says : — "Lawful succession standeth not only in succession of places and persons, but also and much rather in doctrine." — (Ibid., page 201.) To the same purpose Whittaker says : — "Though we should concede the succession of that [the Romish] Church to have been unbroken and entire, yet that would be a matter of no weight ; because ice regard not the ex- ternal succession of persons and places, but the internal one of faith and doctrine." — (Disputations on Scripture, page 510.) Such extracts as these are sometimes quoted in the present controversy, but they have no proper connec- tion with it.* The word succession is indeed used in them, but its signification is wholly different from that which it now bears. Our Church has never valued that "succession of persons and places" to which reference is made in these quotations; but she has always required and maintained the other, * See Gallagher's " True Church man ship/' page 36, etc. For more on this subject, refer to Appendix, C. 6 62 EXPLANATORY. namely, a complete ministry, derived from the Apos- tles by unbroken transmission of authority. And, in connection with this, she no less positively requires and maintains succession in the Apostles' doctrine. Of these two, Koine preserves and extols the former. Protestant Non-Episcopal bodies are no less zealous for the latter. Our Church properly values and up- holds both. Necessity. — In the controversy about church polity and Orders, this word is used to signify that constraint which force of circumstances may put upon any people, obliging them to depart from settled usage or Scriptural rule. "Xecessitas non habet legem'''' was a Koman proverb, the propriety and force of which must be acknowl- edged by all. In reference to our present subject, one of the most eminent of the defenders of our Church uses almost the very words, viz., "Nisi coe- gerit dura necessitas cui nulla lex est posita." {Hadrian Sar avians Reply to Beza) The principle then is freely admitted. Necessity excuseth every defect or irreg- ularity which it really occasions. The plea of necessity was advanced by some of the Continental Keformers to excuse their departure from the Scriptural polity of the Church ;* and * Luther, Melancthon, and their associates say, in the memorable Augs- burg Confession : •' The Bishops do either force our priests to disclaim and condemn this kind of doctrine, which we have here confessed, or by a certain new and unheard of kind of cruelty put the poor and innocent souls to death. These causes are they which hinder our priests from re- ceiving their Bishops, so as the Bishop is the cause why that canonical government or policy which we earnestly desired to conserve is in some places now dissolved." "And now here again we desire to testify to the world that we will willingly conserve the ecclesiastical and canonical government, if only the Bishops will cease to exercise cruelty upon our Churches. This our will shall excuse us before God and before all the world unto all posterity; that EXPLANATOKY. 63 their English, brethren, who were in some respects more favorably situated, did not feel at liberty to re- fuse the plea, or to upbraid them on account of the deficiencies which they themselves professed to de- plore. In tenderness, therefore, to their feelings, they refrained from all unnecessary allusion to the subject. Having themselves to do battle against Eome, the great enemy of all, they were rejoiced that their brethren had been emancipated from its creed and power; and they knew too well the necessity for union against a foe so mighty and so unscrupulous, to repel those who offered to aid them in the strife. If indeed no plea of necessity had been advanced, it may be well questioned whether the English Re- formers could have made even so much of an alli- ance as they did ; but since it was put forth, there could be no reasonable ground for refusal. On this account, then, the divines of the English Church did unquestionably entertain and express the most kindly feelings toward the ministers and people of the foreign Reformed Churches. But this fact proves nothing for Mr. Groode. To sympathize with the Protestants of Germany or Geneva is one thing ; to acknowledge their Churches as perfect, or their ministers as validly ordained, is another. Proofs of sympathy and fra- ternal feeling may be produced in abundance, but acknowledgments of validity, etc., will be sought in vain. it may not be unjustly imputed unto us that the authority of Bishops is impaired amongst us, when men shall hear and read, that we, earnestly deprecating the unjust cruelty of the Bishops, could obtain no equal meas- ure at their hands." — {Confess. Augsburg, in Symbolical books of Lutheran Church, and also in appendix to Page's edition of Burnet on the Thirty- Nine Articles.) For more on this subject, see Appendix, B. 64 EXPLANATORY. And yet, if such could be furnished, a candid rea- soner would not attempt to wring from that fact an argument in favor of those who have no necessity to plead. The course of the Continental divines, with refer- ence to the subject before us, was by no means uni- form. Some of them were very inconsistent ; but the English Church was by no means called upon to notice the writings of individual men, however prom- inent they might be. Therefore, when some, espe- cially of the second generation, defended that pecu- liarity of their system which its founders professed to lament, she did not issue any protest or anathema. They were beyond her jurisdiction ; and therefore she did not feel at liberty to interfere, further than by continuing, as from the first, to bear public testi- mony, by her formularies and her practice, to the truth she held. Her divines did indeed, from time to time, enter the lists of discussion with the Continental assertersof Presbyterianism ; but so careful was the Church to avoid all cause of complaint on the part of those w^ho were yet weak, and by whom opposition was in any way deprecated, that even her staunchest defenders wrote only on general principles, making no direct assault upon the Churches to which their adversaries belonged. This generous consideration was not always appreciated.* But while some of the foreign divines tried to defend and to propagate their defective and unscrip- * Beza, who complained that Dr. Sutcliff printed an argument that touched him, did not himself scruple to interfere with the peace of the Kn^lish Church, and even went so far as to recommend that -the power of the sword should be used to propagate hi3 favorite system. — (See his correspondence with Whitgift, in Strypes's Life of W., appendix.) EXPLANATORY. 65 tural system, others of more reasonable spirit ac- knowledged its real character,* and some openly declared that, if such a thing were possible, they would gladly re-establish the Apostolic polity. Thus the "plea of necessity" was continued. In addition to the ample evidence given elsewhere, that the Continental Reformers bore their testimony to the excellence and the Scriptural authority of Epis- copacy, and expressed great regret at being (as they believed) obliged to do without it, we print here one or two passages, which will be sufficient to establish the statement just made. Hierome Zanchy, writing to Queen Elizabeth, A.D. 1571, says: — "Your Majesty should rather consider and employ all your consideration, authority, and influence to this end, that you may have in the first place Bishops truly pious and well in- structed in sacred learning, as, by the blessing of God, you already possess very many ; and [you] should encourage and attend to them." " The Elders [or Presbyters] in like man- ner, and the Deacons, are to be admonished, that every one be diligent in his office." **■** " For these three orders of men are the nerves of the Church, vpon which its safety or downfall depends." — (Zurich Letters, Vol. ii., 352.) Even Theodore Beza himself, in his letter to Arch- bishop Whitgift, says : — "In my writings touching Church government I ever im- pugned the Romish Hierarchy, but never intended to touch or impugn the ecclesiastical polity of the Church of England/' Again, in his reply to Saravia, he speaks of Epis- copacy as " a singular blessing of God, and prays that the English Church may always enjoy it!" . In nowise different from these are the sentiments of Isaac Casaubon, Fregevil, and others cited by Bishop * See Appendix, B. 6* 66 EXPLANATORY. or of Peter du Moulin, Gaclies of Charenton, De Le Angle, Lectures of Geneva, Dr. Du Moulin, Mon- sieur Bose, etc., etc., as shown by Dr. Durell, in his " View of the Foreign Reformed Churches," and quoted also in "How's Vindication," pp. 193-202. At the Synod of Dort, [A.D., 1618-19] : 11 When the Bishop of Landaff [Carleton] had, in a speech of his. touched upon Episcopal government, and showed that the want thereof gave opportunities to those divisions which were then on foot in the Netherlands, Bogermannus, the President of that Assembly, and in a good allowance of what had been spoken, said : ' Alas, my Lord, we are not so happy ! ' Neither did he speak this in a fashionable compliment (neither the per- son, nor the place, nor the hearers were fit for that), but in a sad gravity and conscionable profession of a known truth. " — [Bishop Hall's Episcopacy by Divine Eight, part 1, sec. 4.) Bishop Carleton himself testifies that in a confer- ence with some of the most learned divines of that Synod, they declared that they " Had a great honor for the good order and discipline of the Church of England, and heartily wished they could establish themselves upon this model ; but they had no prospect of such a happiness ; and since the civil government had made their desires impracticable they hoped God would be merciful to them." — (Brandt 1 s Reformation, Vol. iii., p. 288. Collier 's Ecclesiastical History, Vol. ii., p. 718. How's Vindicatiou, p. 206.) Those who remonstrated against the conduct and theological decisions of that Synod, did not differ from it on this point, as may be seen by the judgment of Grotius, quoted in the Appendix. Nor was there any difference in the opinion of the more moderate of their divines in later times. As for instance, Le Clerc, the eminent Presbyterian clergyman of Am- sterdam, in his addition to the famous work of Gro- tius, says : u Si Ejnscopi tunc tempons idem" etc., etc., etc. [in preference to giving the whole passage in EXPLANATORY. 67 Latin, we print some sentences from Clark's trans- lation] : " If the Bishops everywhere at that time had been willing to do of their own accord what was not long after done in Eng- land, that [the Episcopal] government had prevailed, even to this day, amongst all who separated from the Romish Church/' " For if we would judge of the matter truly there was no other reason for changing the government than this, that whilst the ancient government remained nothing could be procured, however just, in itself Therefore the Presbyterian form is appointed in many places, which, after it was once done, was so much for the interest of all them who presided in the state affairs in those places, and is so at this time (A. D, 1709] not to have it changed, that it must or necessity be continued. Wherefore prudent men, though they above all things wish for apostolical form of Church Government, and that it might be everywhere alike ; yet they think things had better be left in the state in which they now are than venture the hazards that always attend the attempt of new things." — (Le Clerc's Edition of Groiiv ■? de Veritat. Relig. Christ., reprint, 12mo., London, 1823, pp. L08, 209. Protestations like these would, of course, have great weight with the authorities of the English Church. They caused that friendly silence to which we have referred above, and made the judgment of individual divines as gentle as even charity could demand. Thus, says the eminent Bishop Andrews in his second letter to Molinoeus : " Quceris turn peccentne in jus divinum ecclesioz vestrce? Non dixi. Id tantum dixi. Abesse ab ecclesiis vestris aliquid, quod de jure divino sit : culpa autem vestrd non abesse sed injuria tem- porum." — (Opusada, London, 1629, p. 195.) He was obliged in conscience to say that there was a great defect in their churches ; but the blame he was willing to lay upon the circumstances in which they were placed. To the same effect precisely, Dr. T. Puller, in his "Moderation of the Church of England," says: " Although our Church hath had the peculiar happiness of 1>S EXPLANATORY. a Monarchical Reformation, and retained the blessing of Epis- copal government ; yet such is the moderation of our Church, Bhe imputes the want of the same in other Reformed Churches, muck to any J'ault'of those churches themselves, but rather to the injuri/ 0/ the times." — (Page 261.) One who was towards the Church of England cither a friend or a candid adversary, could not, as it seems to us, misunderstand or misrepresent this courteous forbearance. Yet it has been referred to as if it showed something more than a charitable desire to overlook irregularities that w r ere confessed, and to avoid controversy as long as it was possible. Some persons cannot see the difference between not denouncing and actually approving, and it would ap- pear that our author is one of them. We cannot on any other supposition account for his publishing the following as if it served his purpose. It is from Dr. Crakanthorp's Defensio Ecclesise Anglicanse : " We desire, indeed, from our hearts that since that law of necessity is taken away, all their churches would also determine to return to that mode of ordaining , and that original order most constantly obsw^ved by the universal Church, and that they would restore to the Bishops their authority ; but this we wish, we do not compel. We have neither right nor power over these churches, nor do we desire it." This is precisely as if a man should say, " I wish from my heart my neighbor would do right, and be a better man ; but I can only regret his course, I can- not amend it, I have no power to control him, nor do I desire it." Would any one think of quoting this as indicating a very high and especial esteem for the party spoken of? Would any fair-minded person use it to prove that the speaker acknowledged the propriety of his neighbor's course on the very points referred to ? EXPLANATOKY. 69 However favorably the English Church may have regarded the foreign Protestants for the sake of the side they took on the great questions then at issue or however much she desired to maintain a friendly peace with them, she never once made any such " acknowledgment" or admission as Mr. Goode as- serts : nor can her general friendliness be tortured into anything like a recognition of " the validity of their orders ;" but, on the other hand, the course pursued toward their Puritan imitators shows conclusively that she did not admit the sufficiency of Presbyterian ordination when it had no " necessity" to excuse it, and claimed to be acknowledged on its own merits. The whole plea of necessity has been strongly opposed by some writers of our Church on the fol- lowing grounds — 1st. Certain Bishops, such as Herman, of Cologne, John Thurzo, of Breslaw, and others, were so far favorable to the Eeformation that through them a valid consecration to the Episcopal office might have been attained. 2nd. But even if this were not possible there could be no just grounds for interfering with the arrangements of the univer- sal Church, and disregarding the authority of Scrip- ture. The salvation of men did not depend so com- pletely upon the continuance of the ministerial office that they were warranted in violating law for the purpose of perpetuating it. If the line of ordainers had indeed been allowed to fail, that fact would ex- cuse the absence of ordained men, but it certainly did not confer new powers on any one, and therefore would not excuse the assumption of such powers. How could any individual say that he personally was obliged to ordain a man, or how could any other plead 70 EXPLANATORY. that he was compelled to receive ordination at the hands of a Presbytery ? * There is great force in these objections ; neverthe- less we think it far better to grant all that the Foreign v Churches claimed in the way of necessity, inasmuch as the English Church certainly did so at the time.f Order and Office. — The Apostles appointed certain persons to assist and to succeed them in the work of preaching the Gospel ; and forasmuch as those per- sons were set apart in common for one great work^ they belong so far to OXE order, that is they were all Ministers of Christ. But the Apostles did not assign to all the same duties and powers. Some had one sort of service to perform and some another, and to those of each class was given the authority necessary for the fulfilment of its proper function. The classes into which the Ministry was thus 'divided were three, and similar (as we hold) in all essential points to those now known among us as Bishops, Presbyters, and DEACONS. If then we now-a-days speak with reference to the rank of any Minister, we say " he belongs to. * See Bishop Whittingham's Xotes, pp. 35±, 355, etc., American Edi- tion of Palmer on the Chureh. Also, Bishop H. X. Onderdonk, Xote E appended to his work "Episcopacy tested by Scripture/' Bishop Hobart in a note to the "Collection of Essays," published in 1806. says he "had no reference to those cases of necessity in which some Episcopalians think Presbyterian ordination may be admitted. f Bishop Hall, addressing Grahame, says of " Churches abroad," "They plead to be by a kind of necessity cast upon that condition which you have willingly chosen. They were not, they cocld not be what you were and might still have been !" Archbishop Laud says, in his Conference with Fisher, § 21, Xo. 3, "The [foreign] Protestants did not depart: for departure is voluntary, so was not theirs. I say not theirs, taking their whole body and cause together. For that some among them were peevish, and some ignorantly zealous, is neither to be doubted, nor is there danger in confessing it." Testimony to the same effect could be given from many others, but these are sufficient. EXPLANATOKY. 71 the Order of Deacons/' or " Presbyters;" while, if we are considering his work, we say his is the Office of " a Deacon," or " a Bishop," as the case may be. There could be no misunderstanding this. But the Church of Eome added four Orders to the three that were divinely appointed ; and, as additional degrees were, from time to time, formed in her towering hierarchy, and new Orders could not continually be added, she had at last several ranks of persons belong- ing to one Order! and these were described as differ- ing, each from the other, merely in dignity and office. Thus ambiguity arose. In the English Church [and even in our own] we have clergymen filling certain positions w r hich have attached thereto special duties and rights ; but it is not supposed by any one that these — that is to say, Archdeacons, Deans, or Pre- siding Bishops — are separate Orders. This is the key to the whole difficulty. While it is perfectly legitimate to speak of the sacred Office of a Bishop, or a Deacon, it would be totally wrong to say " the holy Order of Archbishops." Both words can be used for those degrees in the ministry which are of divine institution, but to them the title of " Order " is now generally restricted. If this is borne in mind all the hair-splitting of Schoolmen, and all the confu- sion which the Eoman canonists or Mr.'Goode can make, will not prevent our seeing the point at issue. Some, or indeed most of those whom he quotes as holding to parity of Order, believed also that the dif- ference in Office which they acknowledged was of divine appointment; but Mr. Goode does not mean to represent it in this light. Whatever may have been their view, he uses their words to support his own, 72 EXPLANATORY. and that is simply this — that a Bishop differs from an Elder only in so far as an Archbishop differs from other Bishops, which is just so far as, by human au- thority, he has been called to higher honor and juris- diction; that in fact he has no more Scriptural warrant for his peculiar position and work than an Archdeacon has for his! If the Diaconate be granted as a Scriptural Order, then, on this theory, there are only two Orders in the Christian Ministry ; if it be cast aside as also a " human institution," then there is but ONE ! Contrary as this theory is to our settled belief, we confess that its advocates can make a respectable show of argument for it ; but we are amazed at the hardihood of the man who undertakes to show that it is the doctrine of the Episcopal Church ! Church. — The definition of the visible Church of Christ, as given in the Nineteenth Article, is as follows : — " A congregation of faithful men, in the which the pure word of God is preached, and the sacraments -"be duly administered in all those things that are of necessity requisite to the same/' This seems to be sufficiently clear and full, but it has not by any means put an end to controversy upon the matter. There are almost as many different opin- ions about the meaning of the Article as there were before about the word it defines. One person will require, according to this explana- tion, that every member shall be in deed and in truth a "faithful " man ; and, if this be not the case, he with- draws himself from that which he declares cannot be the Church of Christ.* Another will insist upon the * This is almost always the plea of the Separatist. EXPLANATORY. 73 preaching of what he believes to be "the pure word of God;" and if it is wanting, he unhesitatingly says, "No Church I"* While a third no less rigorously demands that what he considers necessary to the due administration of the sacraments shall be found in it; and if not, he says, "No Church !"f In our opinion, they are all in error. The first [or Puritan] interpretation, is plainly overthrown by the Twenty-Sixth Article, which says that "in the visible Church the evil are ever mingled with the good, and sometimes the evil have chief authority." The second [or strict doctrinarian] view is refuted by the second paragraph of the Article itself, for therein is mentioned several Churches in which the pure word of Grod is not preached. The third view seems, at the very least, as reasonable as the second, and to many will appear even more so, but it has not a particle of warrant in any of our official documents, and it seems to be in direct contradiction to the spirit of St. Paul's saying, " Ecclesia kat' oikon," as well as that of Tertullian, quoted by Bishop Jewel: "Yea, and be there but three together, and though they be laymen, yet is there a Church/" From these quota- tions, we see that the title may be given, as in some respects appropriate, even where there is no warrant whatever for administering sacraments or exercising any regular function of the ministry. So then literal conformity on the part of any society to the Church's own definition is not indis- * Richard Hooker and Bishop Bull were regarded as almost heretics, because they acknowledged that the Church of Rome was a Church at all, or that salvation could be obtained by any one living in communion with her. f Newman and Keble, as quoted before, on page 57. 7 71 EXPLANATORY. pensible to acknowledgment of ecclesiastical cha- racter ; and if this be so, still less requisite is con- formity to the opinions or requirements of an in- dividual or a party. One person might insist that unless the doctrine of "imputed righteousness/' or "perseverance," be taught, the truth is not set forth, and consequently there is no Church ; and another may hold that unless there is a complete and regularly consecrated ministry, there can be no administration of sacraments, and consequently no Church of Christ in any sense whatever, but both are wrong; they undertake to determine what the Church has not determined, and on the authority of their own pri- vate judgment they deny wholly, that which more moderate men are willing to acknowledge in part. There is a sense then in which the name of Church may be freely granted to all those Christian bodies for which it is claimed. Let it be understood to mean no more than that the Society is part of the great body of persons who believe in the Lord Jesus — let the Church Catholic be regarded, as the Con- gregation of all those who profess and call them- selves Christians — who hold either in form or sub- stance the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, and who are baptized in the name of GOD, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost, and then there can be no hesitation in granting that the "Evangelical denominations" are included in it. The name of "Church" may be freely given to the Eomanists, on the one hand, or to the Presbyterians, on the other. But in neither case does such use of the word imply that the body is all that it ought to be in doctrine or EXPLANATORY. 75 constitution, or that we should receive its Ministers as orthodox and validly commissioned. The definition just offered, is, we believe, implied in the " prayer for all sorts and conditions of men" in our matchless Liturgy. It is certainly not narrow or uncharitable, nor is it too lax. It grants no more than the whole world concedes, and what we believe God himself will acknowledge. It surrenders nothing that is a matter of faith or conscience. It is somewhat strange, however, that even in this most general sense the English Church has never once in an official document given the title to any Non- Episcopal body.* This fact does not, in our opinion, justify the inference that many draw from it, but yet it deserves some consideration. If, as our author thinks, there was evident care taken in drawing up our formularies and profession of faith, " not to ex- clude" Non-Episcopalians, this fact certainly goes as far to show that care was taken not to recognize them. To get over this great difficulty, Mr. Goode and his followers endeavor to show that the bodies they patronize were held in full honor and esteem by the English Church, and they proceed thus : 1st. They boldly claim as Presbyterian a Church which had both Bishops and Archbishops, and then in the fact that it was named among those that were to be publicly prayed for, they affect to find a recognition of Non- Episcopal Churches !f 2nd. They point to the desired title as occurring in a private letter, or * Such mention may have been made, but after diligent search we have not found it. f Goode on Orders, pp. 19, 20. Also, True Churchmanship Vindicated, by Rev. M. Gallagher, p. 30. 76 EXPLANATORY. some other document, for the language of which the Church is not responsible, and this they represent as official acknowledgment. Thus our author, speaking of the Act of Uniformity, A. D., 1662, says that there is even in it a distinct " recognition " of the Non-Episcopal bodies."* We turn to the law [14 Car. ii. Cap. iv.], and there we read : " $ 15. Provided: That the penalties of this Act shall not extend to the foreigners, or aliens of the foreign reformed churches allowed, or to be allowed, by the King's Majesty, his heirs and successors, in England." And so mere mention of the word " Churches," and that in an Act of Parliament, which those writers claim to have been " dictated by state policy," is a full or u distinct recognition of the Non- Episcopal bodies /" In the preface to our American Prayer Book, the word occurs in the same way, mere mention is made of other religious bodies by the title they receive in common parlance, and this is triumphantly pointed to as a very positive recognition.*}* On the same principle, whenever we mention a '"Unitarian," we must be supposed to acknowledge that, the word properly describes the character of his belief. Or if we say a Minister is a " Baptist," we acknowledge that he belongs to the body which alone baptizes properly ! No such claim is ever advanced, and it would not be granted, for a moment, if it were. The use of such words involves no " acknowledgments" or admissions whatever. Unless we would be con- sidered markedly uncivil, we must conform to the * See the same assertion in the Review of the Pastoral Letter, issued by Bishop H. Potter, by Rev. Dr. Canfield, p. 18. f Letter to Right Rev. Horatio Potter, D. D., Bishop of New York, by the Rev. E. H. Canfield, D. D., p. 9. Also, his " Review," p. 8, and Gallagher's " True Churchmanship," p. 10. EXPLANATORY. 77 common speech of the times, and give to all others the titles which they claim, or which custom has sanctioned, and this we may do without any, the least, compromise of principle. No fair antagonist will attempt to find anything like a " recognition" or " admission" in such courteous yielding to ordinary usage.* If this is a new thing with our author, if he is not familiar with such phrases as "the Uni- tarian Church," or " the Universalist Church " his American friends and disciples certainly are, but they would never dream of supposing that such language involved full recognition of the bodies tli us indicated. Yet doubtless even these were among the "Churches" so called in the preface to our Book of Common Prayer. Unchurching. — This is a word of mischievous character, seldom or never used (at least in this day), by any one friendly to the Episcopal Church. It is mischievous because it is indefinite, and yet carries odium with it. The accusation against us that we unchurch other bodies makes us appear as most un- charitable ; but when examined closely, it means simply this : that we are not latitudinarian. We have a decided and conscientious preference for the Church to which we belong, and therefore will not admit that other religious bodies are in all respects as Scriptural and complete as it is. This is the head * If the Reader will take the trouble of examining Dr. Hook's Church Dictionary, he will find it stated, that Church Clergymen (however "high" their views) never hesitate to give the title, " Rev./' to the "Dis- senting teacher," whose clerical character they will not, for a moment, admit. And if he will look into Butler's book on the " Confessions of Faith," he will see in probably a hundred places the word "Church" applied to the Protestant denominations, by a Roman Catholic controver- sialist* 7* 78 EXPLANATORY. and front of our offending. This causes all the complaints. If we say to Non-Episcopalians, "We are perfectly willing to acknowledge you as Chris- tians, and to confess that in connection with your societies salvation may be had ; but we think your doctrines erroneous, or your organization mainly de- fective, or your ministry unauthorized," such a pro- fession would not be favorably accepted. The answer would be, "That, sir, is just as bad as unchurching us;" but it is far from it. The real extent of our uncharitableness is simply this : Not that we deny to the* various Non-Episcopal societies all Christian or Churchly character, which alone would be "un- churching " them, but that we do not look upon them as the equals, or even, possibly, as the superiors of our own. We are aware that some few Ultraists have de- clared that bodies having a defective organization cannot possibly be regarded as Churches in any sense; and that their members, if they can be saved at all, will be saved only through " uncovenanted mercy." "But with this view we have no sympathy ; we repu- diate it utterly, and we deny that the Episcopal Church is responsible for it. So few are the holders of it, that we believe it would be impossible to find even twelve men of any weight in our body who have ever defended it. Yet this is the doctrine generally described by opponents as that of the whole Protest- ant Episcopal Church ; and it is that which, by Mr. Goode, is attributed to all who differ with him on the subject now discussed.* Properly speaking, there can be no such thing as * " Goode on Orders," Introduction, p. viiL EXPLANATORY. 79 unchurching, save by the parties concerned. If they possess the true and necessary characteristics of Churches, they are such in despite of what we or any others might say ; and if they do not possess them, all the wrangling that could be done from now until doomsday could not better their case. Their right does not at all depend on our favor, but on their own faith and practice. "High Churchman " and "Low Churchman." — These names were at first used to designate parties who differed rather about political than religious matters. And although they have lost this "original application, it must be confessed that there is some- thing even yet in the differences between the two which closely resembles those between the political parties in all free countries. The High Churchman is simply the Ecclesiastical "conservative," and the Low Churchman the Ecclesiastical " liberal." ' It would not be possible to describe either in a manner that would give satisfaction, or indeed with- out running to some extent into the misrepresenta- tions and extreme statements against which they each have reason to protest. The present writer regards the normal representatives of both classes as loyal to the Church, devotedly attached to its services, and firmly persuaded of its full sufficiency and authority. They both give the first place in their reverence and regard to the Holy Scriptures, and the second to the Book of Common Prayer ; and they both desire (and desire equally) to see the work of the Lord prosper in their hand. The differences between them may be fairly stated thus : The High Churchman values the regular ordinances EXPLANATORY. of public worship, and especially the Sacraments, more highly than his " Evangelical " brother does, lie attaches more importance to the polity and disci- pline of the Church, and is more jealous than the other of anything that looks like or seems to threaten a breach of its unity. He is a lover of good works, and always insists upon them as necessary to the completeness of the Christian character. He is not given to novelties either in doctrine or practice. He follows the faith of his fathers, not simply because it was theirs, but because it commends itself to his intellect and heart ; and he finds its best exposition and defence in the writings of the theological giants of his own Church. Jewel and Hooker, Andrews, Hall, Chillingworth, Barrow, Jeremy Taylor, Sander- son, Bull, Hopkins, Hammond, Pearson, Farindon, and Waterlaud, are his favorites; and in them he finds a strength and fullness for which he might search in vain elsewhere. Therefore his library con- tains comparatively few new books. And so it is with his Church. It has an old-fashioned air ; its decorations are what they always were ; its services do not vary in accordance with the prevailing notions or supposed necessities of the age. The Low Churchman is more afraid of formalism than of irregularity. He has certainly no love for schism, but is not quite so averse to it, nor so suspi- cious of it, as his brother. He loves the Liturgy, but yet acknowledges that he w r ould fain see a few changes in it. His attachment is not so perfect that he will not, when occasion serves, dispense with its use. He also is zealous for good works, but fearing that, if much insisted on, they might be regarded as EXPLANATORY. 81 meritorious, lie prefers to make faith the chief subject of his discourse. He has less reverence for antiquity, and more sympathy with the spirit and labors of the present, than the other. He imports much of his theology, or at least finds much that is agreeable to him, in other than Episcopal divines. Like his High Church brother, he too has Hooker, Hall, Pearson, and Hopkins in his library, but alongside are Owen, Erskine, Baxter, Bates, Doddridge, and Dwight, or possibly Eichard Watson and the saintly Fletcher. He looks upon his own Church as the purest and most complete branch of the great household of faith, but he has great charity for those who belong to other folds, and he is always ready to say from his heart, " Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." There are ultraists in both these parties, and, like most other extremes, they meet. The particular in which they agree is this, that neither are fully satis- fied with the Church just as it is. Although they would carry out their views in very different ways, they agree in believing that it requires improvement. Like the coats in Dean Swift's story, the Church would soon assume a motley aspect, if these were allowed to fashion it here and there, after their new theories. One would bedizen it with extra lace and other ornaments ; the other would rather tear off the little that is left. Meanwhile, he who is entirely con- tent with it in its present state, and so feels bound to resist the efforts of both, is looked upon as a common enemy.* But enough on this subject. * Bishop Henshaw, in his Memoir of Bishop Moore, has (in the way of supposition) sketched the High and the Low Churchman in the two 82 EXPLANATORY. As regards the question before us, the High and the Low Churchman unite»in considering Episcopacy a divine institution, and a properly derived authority a sine qua non to lawful ministering in the Church. phases of those characters, namely, the normal or moderate, and the ex- treme. His description of the latter is in substance this: The extreme High Churchman depends on union with an Apostolic ministry and the reception of Sacraments duly administered. He rever- ences tradition, or at least the opinions of the Fathers, as constituting with Holy Scripture the rule of Faith. He discountenances all religious associations or services, however good their object, that are not in direct harmony with the spirit or appointments of the Church, and seems to regard a prayer-meeting as more dangerous than a meeting for worldly amusements. He holds the doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration in its strongest sense, and is willing to rest in it, being comparatively indif- ferent to renovation of heart. The extreme Low Churchman attaches little importance to Episcopacy ; he regards it as resting on no higher ground than that of expediency, and therefore not at all necessary to the being of a Church, nor even neces- sary (when rightly considered) to Ms perfection. He looks upon the Sac- raments as mere matters of form and ceremony [to be observed in obe- dience to divine command], rather than as signs and seals of the covenant of grace [or "means whereby we receive" spiritual strength and com- fort]. His regard for the Liturgy is loose and languid, and he is willing to abridge or mutilate it, or even to omit it altogether, as convenience or caprice may dictate. It will be seen from these sketches that the good Bishop was not wholly free from bias. To the Ultraist on one side he gives only the character of an irregular Churchman; while the other is represented as no more than a mere formalist, destitute of all true religious feeling or practical godliness. This is not just. That there are such we do indeed believe; but no less firmly do we believe, much as we differ from them, that many even of those called "Puseyites" are eminently devout and earnest- minded Christians. With the exceptions thus indicated, the descriptions are fair. They might be supplemented thus: The extreme High Churchman pays scrupulous regard to the Rubrics, regarding them as an iron rule, while the other looks upon them as pos- sessing no real force or importance, mere dead letters, so far as they in- terfere with modern notions or convenience, or what he calls " charity." The extreme Low Churchman is generally [not invariably] a Calvinist ; the other rejects all predestinarian views. In their views of the Sacra- ments they differ no less. The latter holds a doctrine not unlike the consubstantiation of the Lutheran; the other holds that of Zuingle, or even of the Socinians. The extreme Low Churchman looks upon the Pope as the true and only Antichrist, and fancies that he can see a lean- ing towards him in the cut of a coat, or the wearing of a clerical vest; the other believes that "there are many Antichrists," especially those who " deny the Father and the Son," and he sees in loose views of Church polity a tendency to this destructive system. The extreme High Church- EXPLANATOKY. 83 They also agree in believing that real necessity in this, as in every other matter, abrogates law, and makes valid whatever is performed under it. But the High Churchman is not quite willing to grant that there was insuperable difficulty in the way of the Continental Eeformers ; still less will he acknowl- edge that their descendants have the least excuse for retaining an imperfect ministry. He is impatient of their course. The Low Churchman thinks the original necessity was real, or at least he is willing to grant everything in that way which was claimed at the time. He is also willing to grant that what it was lawful for Farel and Yiret to do, was no less lawful, or excusable, in Beza or Sadeel. He is also disposed to regard the political and other circumstances of Continental Pro- testants even now as sufficient to constitute a quasi necessity, and thus to legalize their still defective polity and irregularly appointed ministry. So that, although he greatly prefers the Apostolic Order and the duly commissioned Clergy of his own Church, if he were in France or Germany he would not hesitate to commune with the Non-Episcopal Churches there; he could not bring himself to consider or treat them as wilful schismatics, having neither ministry nor sacraments. man has not much sympathy for any who are outside the pale of the Church as he regards it, while those are the very persons for whom the other has the most. The extremely "low" are fond of the doctrines and terras of Puritanism, and engage as far as they can in its "new measures." The extremely "high" have no less marked fondness for doctrines, terms and practices that are not Protestant. They regard the Lord's supper as a real sacrifice; they believe in authoritative or positive "absolution;" they set up confessionals. They take special delight in altars, super-altars, lights, and multitudinous crosses, in vestments and various-colored "altar-cloths," that are not recognized "in this Church." They speak of "matins" and "even song," of "vespers," "octave" and " compline !" B4 EXPLANATORY, As to the case of Non-Episcopalians here or in Great Britain, where no necessity ever was or could be pleaded, there is less room for difference. All consistent Churchmen regard them as wilfully reject- ing a divine institution and preserving an unauthor- ized ministry. But those called High Churchmen and Low Churchmen differ as to the degree of crim- inality there is in such a course. The former con- sider the dissenter as living in Schism, a state of positive sin, which should be neither countenanced nor excused. The latter would like to blunt the edge of this judgment. He is obliged, indeed, to condemn, but he does it with regret, and with the avowal of his belief that the guilt may in the end prove less than we suppose. The more marked his Low Churchmanship, the more ready he is to look upon the condition of Non-Episcopalians as not necessarily involving any criminality, although he cannot venture to say it is proper. He would prefer being wholly silent upon the matter. Fear of passing uncharitable judgment, or unwil- lingness to state disagreeable truths, makes him avoid as far as possible all reference to this precise point, and £ll discussions that would lead to it;* and thus he necessarily appears less zealous in his attachment to * No more worthy representative of the class here referred to could be named than the late Rev. Dr. Bedell, of Philadelphia; yet his own con- fession fully sustains the statement made above. "He said that, like many who thought and acted wirh him, he had for years said little on the peculiarities of our Church, but the period had arrived when they (should be taught and preached. While many in their preaching had given them too much prominence, he had given them too little ; but the state of the times seemed to require it." " He then added very emphatically, ■ If God spares my life, I intend delivering a course of sermons on Episcopacy this winter.' " — (Tyuy's Memoir, page 228.) Unf'orrunately the good intention was never carried out; the acknowl- edged defect was never supplied. EXPLANATORY. 85 the principles of his own Church than he ought to be. If indeed the whole subject of Succession or ecclesiastical government is put before him, he will declare and defend the doctrine of his Church, but beyond the statement of general principles he will not go. If told that even those principles condemn all dissenters, he says, " Nay ; I make no special ap- plications, I draw no inferences."* We object to this course on the ground that it is neither candid nor consistent. To avoid the conclu- sions that necessarily follow from his own reasonings, or to disclaim them when pointed out by others, is not the part of a sensible and honest man. If the premises are true and the reasoning correct, we must accept the inferences. We cannot escape them. So long as we try to do it, going just so far and no further, we are like him who keeps zealously saying all through his life, u Two and two are — ," "two and two are — ," yet never has the courage to bring out the inevitable " four ! " f But whether we say it or not it will be said, and if it should happen that any who hear it are aggrieved, they will not think the more highly of us for our attempt at concealment. For instance, when the Non- Episcopal minister who has been treated as a brother, and has had every reason to suppose that we looked upon him as our equal in office, finds that this is not really so, — when he sees clearly that, after all, our principles do invalidate his authority, he will cease to respect us — not for the sake of the principles, but * Examination of Mr. Barnes's " Reply," by one of the Editors of the Episcopal Recorder. Philadelphia, 1844, page 116. j" This illustration is borrowed from a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Butler, of Philadelphia, who applies it to those who are on the " Road to Rome." 8 EXPLANATOKY. of the concealment. An open, manly avowal of the belief we conscientiously hold would not prove half so offensive as this apparent double-dealing. And thus in place of earning favor we provoke indigna- tion, instead of friendly regard we meet contempt. Surely then " Honesty is the best policy ! " But we object to the course referred to for another very important reason. It is unfaithfulness and tends to greater unfaithfulness. "The fear of man bringeth a snare" — one from which it is not easy to get free. The more we yield the more we are re- quired to yield until nothing is left. He who for the sake of what is so erroneously styled "charity" sup- presses truth, will by and by surrender it. He that is either afraid or ashamed to acknowledge the results of his own reasoning will soon repudiate them, and then w r hen farther pressed, rather than retrace his steps he will deny the premises also.* In this way he who was a true Episcopalian becomes one of an ultra party whose proper place is elsewhere, and in his new zeal he condemns all w r ho are not as ready as himself to slight sacred obligations and abandon the distinctive principles of his Church. To such a person a book like Mr. Goode's is thrice w r elcome. To him its "arguments" appear all that can be desired, and its "facts" indisputable. Why should he not rejoice over it and extol it when it so thoroughly meets his w 7 ants ? It asserts that Apos- tolical Succession is a " monstrous" doctrine opposed to evangelical truth, and to the facts of God's provi- dence — it asserts that Episcopacy is only an inven- * Fortasse non redeunt quia suum progressum non intelligunt." EXPLANATORY. 87 tion of man — that Bishops and Presbyters are really the same, and therefore that he is at liberty (especially in the case of a " moral emergency") to ignore the common distinctions between various churches — yea, even to look upon his Bishop as simply, by God's appointment, a presbyter like himself, and conse- quently one to whom he need not "give place by way of subjection. No ! n<3t for an hour ! " It requires no great sagacity to foresee the results of such teaching. It necessarily leads to practical evils, to infringements of established law and usage, to contempt for order and authority, to the rejection of pastoral admonition, probably to obstinacy and defiance, and then certainly to stern discipline or DESERTION. CHAPTBE IV. MR. GOODE'S INTRODUCTION. WE do not think that it would be possible without giving up all pretence of honesty to put into six or seven pages a larger number of misstatements, or a greater quantity of objectionable matter than the " Introduction" contains. ■ There is hardly a sentence in it that is not open to censure. But as we have already referred to it, we shall not now go over it piece by piece. Much of what it sets forth as facts or truths will be disposed of in the answer to the more formal part of the book, and this (in connection with what has already been said of its purpose and character) prevents our having to treat it in detail. But there are two or three paragraphs which can- not be passed by. To these then we will devote a few pages. On page vii, the writer says of the theory or doc- rine of " Apostolical Succession," "~No trace of it is to be found in the Church of England until the time of Archbishop Laud, who was the first to intro- duce it." The boldness of such an assertion is amazing. The writer must have counted strongly upon the ignor- ance of his readers when he ventured to print a state- (88) MR. goode's introduction. 89 ment winch any elementary text-book, or any history of the time would disprove. He is not willing even to confess as much as the opponents of " Succession" who have preceded him. They all indeed make it appear of much later origin than it was — nearly sixteen hundred years later ! but still they do not attempt to show that it originated with Archbishop Laud. Most of them suppose they see the beginning of it in the reign of Elizabeth, at least from the time their ancestors, the Puritans, left the Church. Most of them accuse Bancroft,* some Montague, some Bridges, and some Whitgift ; but they do not ven- ture to assign to the doctrine a date so recent as our author has done. Even Hallam, the historian, who is specially unwilling to favor anything like High- churchism, speaks of "Bancroft and his imitators, Bishop Neile and Laud," as "pursuing" a system which had originated long before. Writing of them [Sub. temp. A.D. 1625-29] ; he says: " They began by preaching the divine right, as it is called, or absolute indispensibility of Episcopacy ; a doctrine of which the first traces, as I apprehend, are found about the end of Elizabeth's reign. They insisted on the necessity of Episcopal succession regularly derived from the Apostles. They drew an inference from this tenet that ordinations by presbyters were in all cases null." — [Constitutional History, Vol. i., pp. 387, 388.) Such doctrines were publicly maintained, while Whitgift was Archbishop of Canterbury, if not before. He was succeeded by Bancroft, and he in *" Archbishop Bancroft in 1588 was the first Protestant in England that dared to publish the unscriptural dogma of Apostolical Succession as limited to those Episcopally ordained, thus denying the validity of the ordination in other Protestant churches." — ( The [Dissenters'] Library of Ecclesiastical Knowledge, Vol. iv., p. 34, London, 1S34.) See also Appendix, A. 8* 90 MR. goode's INTRODUCTION. turn by Abbott, on whose demise (thirty years after WhiigifVs death) Laud was advanced to primatial dignity. Yet it has become so much the fashion to make him a scapegoat; that doctrines thus shown to have been taught at least a generation before, are declared to have originated with him ; and that, not- withstanding the notorious fact that he never printed a line, until Elizabeth had been twenty years in the tomb.* But the writer of the "Introduction" cares little about a trifling misstatement like this. Dis- proof of it, however, is not far to seek. His own book furnishes it. He and his followers quote as authorities against Apostolical Succession, and the allied doctrine of Episcopacy jure divino, such writers as Jewel, Hooker, Whittaker, etc. If then, as Mr. Goode asserts, these divines testified against the theory of "Succession," how can we believe his other statement that a man who lived a generation later was the " first to introduce it." Doubtless Laud did hold the doctrine referred to. But he was neither its originator, nor its chief advo- cate, although .from the many statements like that above, which are put forth from time to time, it might be supposed that he gave himself up almost entirely to its propagation. We see no evidence of such a thing. Does our Author offer any ? Is any furnished by the gentlemen who repeat his state- ments ? Not a particle ! This fact is suspicious. It makes us doubt whether they have ever taken the trouble to make even a cursory examination of the * Diary of Abp. Laud (Feb. 4, 1624), prefixed to Wharton's Edition of The Troubles and Trials. MR. goode's introduction. 91 writings of him whom they so readily condemn. Or possibly they have looked closely and found little that would justify their representations of his character and creed, and so, on prudential consider- ations, refrain from attempting to prove what they know will be readily believed. This may be the easiest way to gain their end, but it is not one which honorable men should adopt. If, as they assert, the prelate in question introduced a new and anti-christian theory, which has led to great evils, the fact must be susceptible of proof, and proof should be given, if not for his sake, at least for that of those who make the assertion. And the simplest and best mode of justifying themselves would be to give us testimony from his own hand. The " father"* of all High Church bigots, the first who denied salvation to all who are not of our com- munion, the first to disregard gospel truth, in com- parison with a mere " tactual succession," must surely have left in his writings enough to substan- tiate all that is said about him. From his own writings then we ought to have had furnished to us some means of judging whether the portrait drawn in such dark colors is a faithful like- ness. Some of his extreme opinions should have been printed, so that we might, at once, see the con- trast they would present to sober and unexception- able views — like these, for instance : " Most evident it is that the Succession which the Fathers meant is not tied to place or person, but is tied to the ' verity of doctrine/ For as Tertullian i saith], expressly, l Beside the order of Bishops running down in succession from the begin- * Powell's Essay on Apostolical Succession, New York' edition, 1855, p. 10. 92 MR. goode's introduction. ning, there is required consanguinitas doctrines — that the doc- trine be allied in blood to that of Christ/ So that if the doc- trine be no kin to Christ and his Apostles, all the * succession 7 become strangers, what nearness so ever they pretend. And Irenams speaks plainer than he: 'We are ready to obey those Presbyters, which, together with the succession of their Bishop- ries, have received charisma veritatis — the gift of truth/ Now, Stapleton being pressed hard with these two authorities, first confesses expressly that ' Succession/ as it is a note of the true Church, is neither a succession in place only, nor of persons only, but it must be of true and sound doctrine also." In opposition to sentiments so reasonable and orthodox as these, why does not Mr. Goode print something from the hand of the hated Primate. He does not, because he cannot, for those are the very words of Archbishop Laud himself! * * We are not admirers of Laud, yet we can never think of him in any other light than that of the most injured man whose name is mentioned in all English History. Hated and vilified in life, defamed by the help of forgery and fraud, cruelly murdered in his old age, and ever since represented as a foe to the liberties of man, and to the truth of Ood, he has received less consideration and justice than any public personage we know. It is so common and natural to abuse him, or hear him abused, that the uttering of even a word in his defence begets suspicion of heresy! It may not be amiss, however, without regard to consequences, to show how, in part at least, the common idea of his character has been built up. It is well known that Leighton (father of the excellent Arch- bishop) was tried before the Court of Star Chamber, for seditious libel, that he was found guilty, and sentenced to a very cruel punishment. All the popular accounts of this event (taken from Puritan sources) represent Laud as having taken off his cap and offered up thanks to God, when the sentence teas pronounced. Symmons says that he had "dictated the sentence himself," and that afterwards he recorded it in his diary, "with the cool malignity of a fiend." Unhappily, however, for the repu- tation of these Chroniclers, there is no proof whatever, that Laud had anything to do with either trial or sentence. There is no evidence that he was even present at the time. But further: " Neal, the great oracle, in the same Spirit, after relating the falsehood, that Laud pulled off his cap, etc., etc., thus proceeds : ' On Friday, November 6, part of the sentence was executed upon him (says Bishop Laud, in his diary), after this manner (1) he was severely whipt before he was put into the pillory. (2.) Being set in the pillory, he had one of his ears cut off,' etc., etc. But not a single word of all this description is to be found in the Diary. A reference is made by Neal in the margin to Priestworth's collections, and Strange to say, unluckily for Puritan veracity, not a single word of this story is to be found in Priestworth." — Lawtson's Life of Laud, Vol. i., p. 533. MR. goode's introduction. 93 But to pass on. We are gravely informed that "Apostolical Succession/' as taught by Laud, had most dreadful consequences, that it "overthrew both Church and State, and finally proved fatal to the house of Stuart." We fancy the writer of this sen- tence would find some difficulty in showing that the theory or doctrine named formed one of the articles of impeachment at the so-called "trial" of Charles, or that it had anything whatever to do with the struggle between him and the Parliament. And as to the "House of Stuart" we had always in our simplicity 'supposed that the members of it were especially in- terested in a very different " Succession." A much more important misrepresentation, how- ever, is the statement that "Nearly every secession from the Church (as many as forty to one) has been from the ranks of those who held the theory of Apostolical Succession in the most exclusive sense." (See page x.) This is passing strange. The doctrine of Apos- tolical Succession might indeed have such effects if there were any doubt of our possessing that succes- sion. But how mere belief of the necessity for a thing which we have in all its purity could render us dissatisfied and lead us to desert the- Church is more than we can imagine ! If such were the tendency of the doctrine it would be manifested in the conduct of those who hold it : such of our clergy as do not agree with Mr. Goode would be found lamenting the defects of our Church and frequenting the services of others. Is this the case then? Are even those called "High-Church- men" given to wandering about or fraternizing with 94 MR. goode's introduction. outsiders ? Not such is the character generally given of them. On the contrary, the common reproach that they preach " The Church" more than " Christ" is sufficient to prove that they are not dissatisfied with the Church. They love it, they extol it, they labor for it, they cling to it just because they hold that very theory which Mr. Goode describes as calcu- lated to promote secession. It is a very easy matter to say, " Look at Oxford ! Where are the Mannings, the Newmans, Wards, Fabers, and so forth, who from that seat of High Church orthodoxy preached Apostolical Succession ?" The answer is ready — They have gone to their own place. It was not the doctrine of divine-right Epis- copacy, assuredly that led them to desert a church in which that is a fundamental principle for one in which it is denied, or at best left open to discussion.* It was not the doctrine of Apostolical Succession which led them to acknowledge the authority of one who, as Pope, belongs to no such succession, having no scriptural warrant, and no transmitted commis- sion I On the contrary, these very doctrines if they had held them, "as this Church hath received the same," would have had a powerful tendency to coun- * The confused notions of Romish theologians on the subject of Order have been referred to. As to the doctrine of Succession the same differ- ence of opinion exists among them. Cardinal Bellarmine, in one place, expressly denies it, thus: " Magnum est discrimen inter successionem Petri, et aliorum Apostolorum. Nam Romanus Pontifex proprie succedit Petro, non ut Apostolo, sed ut Pastori totius ecclcsite, et ideo ab illo habet Romanus Pontifex jurisdictionem a quo habuit Petrus; at Episcopi non guecedunt proprie Apostolus quoniam Apostoli non fuerunt ordinarii sed extraordinarii et quasi delegati pastores, qualibus non succeditur." — (Opera, Vox, i., lib. iv., cap. xxv. — Elliot's Delineation of Roman Catholicism.) MR. goode's introduction. 95 teract other influences and keep them faithful to their Church and to the truth of God. But if we suppose for a moment that they were seduced by this "theory," would even that justify the statement of our -Author ? Let us consider the facts. The Oxford perverts have not been by any means the only seceders from the Church in this generation. Among the friends of Mr. Goode himself there have been a few. Was it the doctrine of " Succession" that led them away? Was it belief of it that made Mr. Noel turn Baptist, or induced two other brethren in England to secede and found sects called after their own names. On this continent we have had some defections also. Two or three clergymen have be- come Methodists, two or three Presbyterians, one a Baptist, and one a Minister at large, disowning our communion and submitting to no authority. In Canada two at least became Irvingites. Were these and others of the same class misled by their regard for " Apostolical Succession ?" How can their union with bodies who are supposed to repudiate succession be attributed to their believing it indispensably neces- sary I It will be said such cases are of rare occurrence, while the Oxford perversions and those of the same kind are frequent. We deny this: at least we feel assured that full statistics would prove the common impression erroneous. We believe that the secession which " Puseyism" has caused have in the same time been equalled in number by those that took place under the system of Mr. Goode. Those that occurred at Oxford were more simultaneous, and the parties 96 MR. goode's introduction. more prominent, consequently they engrossed more of the public attention, and were supposed to be far greater in number than defections on the opposite side. But when we look back at the history of our Church, the magnitude of Mr. Goode's misstatement is apparent. From the accession of Edward VI. to that of William IV., a period of almost 300 years, there were not from among the thousands of Bishops and other clergy even a score of perversions that could be legitimately traced to the doctrine in question, and it may be questioned if there were one ; while the same period saw the perversion of thousands who left the Church chiefly because they did not believe the divine right of Episcopacy and the theory of Suc- cession. Is this fact questioned ? If it be, we ask who and what were the Puritans — the Nonconformists ? Did they not fly off' from the Church and erect tabernacles of their own? Were they not at first dissatisfied and disorderly members, and finally bitter enemies of the Church ? Did they not trample it to the ground when they had the power, and then fill the whole land with fanaticism and infidelity ? And are not their descendants of the present day in reality as bitterly hostile to the Church as ever was Penry or Bastwick ? To what then is their course attributable ? Will Mr. Goode, in the face of all history and expe- rience, and in the face of their own professions, claim these as believers in Apostolical Succession? If not how will he excuse the gross misstatement in his book ? The case stands thus: One or two hundred men MR. goode's introduction. 97 in this generation who held views on Succession and Episcopacy different from Mr. Goode, have left the Church of England ; while hundreds of thousands have left her, and millions of their descendants keep aloof from her mainly because, on these same points, they agree with Mr. Goode. And yet that gentleman has the boldness to set forth an allegation like this — that of the seceders from the Church a proportion so large as forty to one has been from the ranks of those who hold the doctrine of succession in "the most exclusive sense." But as the comparative influence of Mr. Goode's opinion and its opposite upon the numerical strength of the Church has been referred to by himself, we would take the liberty of reminding his readers that there is a very important point of view from which the Keverend gentleman has not ventured to look at the subject. There are and have been accessions to. the Church, at all times far outnumbering the seces- sions from it. Now let us ask whether we gain most by the doctrine of Succession or by the latitudinarian doctrine set forth by Mr, Goode ? If a man in the "ministry" of the Methodists or Congregationalists becomes doubtful of his right to hold the sacred office, to preach the life-giving Word, and administer the holy sacraments, and is investigating the whole sub- ject of "ordination" and the "ministry" with a view to joining our Church, he finds two opposite theories presented to him. The one is to the effect that Suc- cession is a figment, and the doctrine connected with it mere Popish superstition ; that Episcopal ordination is not so necessary, but that without it he may be truly and properly a Minister of Christ; and that 9 98 MR. goode's introduction. therefore he may with a clear conscience and entire satisfaction continue to act under the commission he holds already. The other is, that without the laying on of the hands of a Bishop (who alone has authority to ordain), he cannot be truly and properly a minis- ter of Christ. One party says to him, " Stay where you are, sir!" The other says, " Come and receive a valid commission ! " ISTeed we ask which is most likely to bring increase to the Church ? Look over the list of our Clergy, and inquire as to their histories. Observe how many of them have come to us from without. What induced them ? Some may have come because they thought one de- nomination as good as another, and they supposed they could gain a little in comfort or respectability by the change. Some few have come in the charita- ble hope of doing us good, by infusing into our dead organism a portion of that spiritual life which other "Evangelical" bodies possess; but the rest of that honorable host have come because they discovered that the doctrine of Apostolical succession is true, and thenceafter they could not conscientiously minister with an insufficient authority. In our pulpits and by our Communion tables they stand to day, a living contradiction to Mr. Goode. Another of the bold misstatements in this Intro- duction is that contained in the same paragraph, to the effect that repudiation of Apostolical Succession and divine-right Episcopacy have done most for the Church in the way of extending it at home, promoting its spiritual life, and propagating it in heathen lands. As to the two former of these points w r e shall say but little. It would be very uncivil to doubt the MR. goode's introduction. 99 Keverend gentleman's own assertion, that lie and those who agree with him have done more to extend the Church than all others ; and as to " spiritual life/' we believers in Episcopacy and Succession must con- fess; like good Bishop Griswold, that we have none — to speak off The paragraph we are considering (independent of its correctness or incorrectness in other respects) is one of the most wretchedly constructed sentences we have ever read. We presume the meaning of the last clause is, that those who repudiate Apostolical Succession have been " exclusively those who have propagated the Church, in connection with the Gospel, in heathen lands." This astounding misstatement is put forward with such an assured air, that those who know nothing of the facts would naturally accept it. But let us see what the facts are. The immense majority of Church missionaries have been the agents of the venerable Society for the Prop- agation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. This and its companion, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, were in the field nearly a century before any other Protestant organization for the support of Christian missions, or for the distribution of Bibles and religious works. The Society for the Propaga- tion of the Gospel was founded in 1701, and from that time to the present it has kept steadily at its great work. Its expenditure has been vastly greater, its agents more numerous, its operations more exten- sive and important, than those of any other single Missionary Society. It has in connection with it over forty Missionary and Colonial Bishops, at least 100 MR. goode's introduction. five hundred regularly ordained clergymen, and, in addition to these, the number of divinity students, eatechists, schoolmasters, and others employed or maintained by it, in whole or in part, is about eight hundred.* These are found in every British colony and in almost every heathen land, wherever a door has been opened to them for the preaching of the Gospel of Christ. From north to south, from east to farthest west ; under the burning sun of Africa and amid the terrible snows and ice-blasts of Prince Ru- pert's Land ; in the West Indies and the vast plains of Hindostan ; in Borneo, Australia, New Zealand, Vancouver's Island — everywhere, they raise the Christian standard, preaching pardon and peace through the blood of the cross. Thus is that noble Society doing the work of the Church, in accord- ance with the commission given by the Lord ; thus it has been engaged for over one hundred and sixty years. To it our American Church owes its "first foundation and a long continuance of nursing care and protection." And as it was here, so has it been in the British Provinces near us. There, there are many stations which for a hundred years have received, and are yet receiving, the generous support of this So- ciety. Assuredly then it can point to a history and a present work of unequalled extent and usefulness. Surely, without any, the least, disparagement of the noble Church Missionary Society and the Colonial Church and School Society (which are comparatively of very recent origin), it may be safely stated that the * The operations of the Society may be yet more extensive; we have not seen a report for four years past. MR. goode's introduction. 101 great work of extending the Church in heathen lands has been performed chiefly by its agents. The question then arises, What is the general char- acter, what the tone of this venerable Society ? How does it stand as regards the matter before us. Is it "Latitudinarian?" is it even distinctively "Low Church ?" Far from it. It has never taken any party position (it is too grand an association for that), yet on this, which is not a question of party, its posi- tion is well known. It is eminently conservative. It has ever been decidedly Episcopalian in spirit, and it is so to-day.* The very existence of the other societies above mentioned is plain proof that the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel was not all that even mod- erate Low Churchmen would desire. They founded others to share its work and its honors ; but would this have been done if that Society were conducted on such principles as our Author ventures to assert ? It is just as far opposed to those principles (or rather * The decidedly Episcopal character of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel is shown b}^ the code of "instructions for the Clergy em- ployed" by it, drawn up in 1706, and still in use. We wish that space could be afforded for the whole code, so that its excellence might appear to all, but we cannot admit more than what bears directly upon our sub- ject. Article III. charges them to be fervent in prayer to God, to "reflect seriously on their ordination vows," and consider the account they are to render to the great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls at the last day." Article IV. charges them to acquaint themselves thoroughly with the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England, that they may approve themselves as genuine missionaries of this Church. Article V. requires them to study subjects of controversy, that they may be able to withstand those who are gainsayers; and Article XL calls upon them to avoid all party names, and to preserve a Christian agreement and union one with another, as a bony of brethren of one and the same Church, united under tht rior Episcopal Order." Yet Mr. Goode and his followers are not ashamed to say that this Society rejects the doctrine of Episcopacy, and endorses Presbyterian ordination. 9* 102 MR. goope's introduction. no-principles) as any such, body could well be ; and yet Mr. Goode tells us that "exclusively" those who have propagated the Church in heathen lands have held his opinions I But then he has left himself an admirable loop- hole. Mark his words : " propagated the Church in connection with the Gospel." There is margin enough surely in that p,hrase. Show the Keve- rend gentleman that by the self-denying labors of men who were zealous Episcopalians, some countries have within one generation been reclaimed from utter barbarism and conquered for Christ ; that lands where forty years ago almost none but tattooed sav- ages were seen have been Christianized and civilized, so that cities have sprung up as if by magic, and all the arts of peace are assiduously cultivated ; show that agriculture and commerce flourish, that a litera- ture has been established, and that several Bishops, under a Metropolitan, are to-day ruling dioceses in which the word of life is proclaimed to a people whose fathers were bloodthirsty cannibals ; show him that thus, by the agency of men who would scout his theory as an insult to their beloved Church, the wilderness has been made to bud and blossom as the rose, and that Church made dear to the heart of thousands, but he is not discomfited. He has his charitable little reservation; these men may have propagated the Church, but they lacked one thing — they did not preach THE GOSPEL ! The sister society to the S. P. G. is as already stated, that for Promoting Christian Knowledge, which has gone steadily hand in hand with the former in all its work and labor of love ; their spirit MR. goode's introduction. 103 is one, and their usefulness not very unequal. Do we find then that the S. P. C. K. has, as a society, repudiated Succession ? It ought to have done so, if Mr. Goode's statement has the least share of truth in it ; but a glance at its catalogue tells a very dif- ferent story. In place of repudiation we find positive statement of Succession and arguments supporting it. We find defences of Episcopacy, as established in England, which Mr. Goode, on his own principles, must stigmatize as semi-Eomish, but as they are from the pens of men like Daniel Wilson, late Bishop of Calcutta, and Eev. S. C. Wilks, Editor of the Chris- tian Observer, we learn that what Mr. Groode advances as the Low Church views is utterly rejected by the very leaders of the body he affects to represent. We learn the same thing if we examine the facts relating to the great " Evangelical" Society already mentioned. If there could be found a particle of justification for the assertion in Mr. Goode's book, it surely would be found there, but there is none. The Church Missionary Society has never repudiated Episcopacy or Succession. It would be a libel to say it had. It is perfectly loyal to the Church. All its agents, without exception, are made directly sub- ject to the Bishops, in whose dioceses they labor. There is no reason to believe that in its general spirit or its mode of working, it is at all different from the others of which we have spoken.* A misstatement of the same sweeping character is made in the " advertisement" concerning the home Church. It is there set down that seven-tenths * It is much to be desired that other societies imitating its name would imitate it also in its commendable regard to order and authority. 104 MR. GOODE'S INTRODUCTION". of the Clergy of the English Church, and nineteen- twentieths of its laity repudiate the doctrines of Episcopacy and Succession ! How this knowledge was arrived at we are not informed. That it could, by any possibility, be true, is hard to understand, if wo consider what we have heard, for the past twenty or thirty years, — that the English Church was "rotten to the core," so filled with High Church leaven that it was the duty of "Evangelical" Churchmen to look for sympathy and co-operation among dissenters, rather than from its members ! And besides, we have long been accustomed to the apologetic tone of all English "Low Church" journals and works, and every one knows that the members and admirers of the " Evangelical party" were rejoiced beyond measure, on account of the appointment, by the late Lord Palmerston, of some eight or nine Bishops, who, to some extent, sympathize with them. These facts militate rather strongly against Mr. Groode's assertion. But there are others that meet it more directly still. We are able to put statistics in opposition to it. A prominent " Evangelical" Journal, some time ago, quoted as authority the Eev. Dr. Conybeare's classification of parties, and estimate of their num- bers.* We will refer to it then. The Eev. Doctor di- vides the Church into three parties or classes, each having its normal, its stagnant, and its exaggerated type. There are, in all, over seventeen thousand * This was first given in the Edinburgh Review, and afterwards published by the Author, in a Volume of Essays, on subjects connected with the Church. MR. goode's introduction. 105 Clergymen in the Church. ; of these, one thousand are put down as extreme or " exaggerated" High Churchmen, and two thousand five hundred " exag- gerated/ 7 or extreme Low Churchmen. This we believe altogether too large an estimate, but let it stand. The whole High Church class outnumbers the other by over five hundred Ministers (nearly a fourth of the number of our Clergy) ; and the very highest proportion that can be claimed for those who are loose in their attachment to Episcopacy, is one in SEVEN, NOT SEVEN IN TEN ! We have one more sentence to dispose of, and then we shall have done with the " Introduction." On page six we read that : " The Low Church view is, that Episcopacy has Apostolic precedent, but not Apostolic command." We beg leave to contradict the author. This is not "the Low Church view," if the great and good men who have been the most prominent leaders of the Evangelical section of the Church are the ex- ponents of it. We expect to satisfy the reader that Mr. Goode and they are far apart in opinion on these subjects. Let us consider it then as his view. What is its precise meaning ? Has Episcopacy in the Eeverend gentleman's estimation only so much au- thority, as could be given by some precedent, opposed to the spirit" of a command? For instance, we read of Apostolic contentions, as to who should be the greatest among them, and per contra we read the commands to be humble, " in honor preferring one another." Among the precedents we read of Paul contending so sharply with Barnabas, that they "parted asunder one from the other/' and of the MR. GOODE's INTRODUCTION. same St. Paul withstanding " Peter to his face;" while among his precepts we read, "live peaceably with all men;" "let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you. with all malice/' and "follow after charity/' which "beareth all things/' which "suffereth long and is kind/' It is to be hoped then that where, as in these cases, the precedent and the command clash one against the other, Mr. Goode would give to the system of the Church something more than the sup- port of the former. We presume the doctrine he advances is this. Where a system or practice has only precedent to support it, when there is no written command, nor anj^ reference to it, either condemning or endorsing it, it is deserving of a measure of respectful attention, but is not to be regarded as generally and perma- nently binding. And this he holds is the case with Episcopacy. But, if it had been expressly com- manded, it would be positively binding upon all men to the end of time. If this be the doctrine, then we ask what measure of importance he attaches to Family Worship, to the giving of the Sacramental cup to the laity, or to the sanctifying of the Lord's Day. Small indeed must his regard for these things be, on the theory just stated. Yet we do not doubt that he prizes them all, and would strenuously defend them if assailed; we do not doubt that he regards them as clearly required of us, although the duty be ascertained only by inference. But our author holds that if there were a command, there would then be no room to question the divine authority of the institution. Let us consider this. MR. goode's introduction. 107 Among the commands in the New Testament is one "to abstain from things strangled and from blood/' and another enjoining silence upon women in the churches ; and these, forsooth, are things to the level of which it is popish to "raise" Episcopacy! They continue, on Mr. Goode's showing, universally and perpetually obligatory, while the threefold min- istry can only plead toleration as a thing not im- proper, because ; as he says, it has only "precedent" to support it. The Reverend gentleman undertakes to illustrate his meaning, and refers, for that purpose, to anointing of the sick, which he has no doubt was instituted by the Apostles. The only possible excuse for intro- ducing any such reference lies in the supposition that the cases are equal ; and thus we see the measure of value set upon Episcopacy by this professed Episco- palian. A thing totally neglected by every body of Christians is equally binding and important with the polity by which our Church is distinguished, and for which it claims divine authority ! Conscious that such a presentation of the case will shock many of even his readers, the Reverend gentleman tries to soften it down by saying that he would not put the two things on a level, as of equal moment; but he does not say which he considers of greater weight. Let us supply the defect. Episcopacy is based upon precedent only, but anointing is positively enjoined by St. James ; therefore (on the principles of Mr. Goode) the latter is by far the more important of the two ! We do the Reverend gentleman no injustice when we thus present a decision so absurd ; it is the legiti- 108 MR. goode's introduction. mate consequence of his own reasoning. That which has "command" has, he declares, the jus divinum; that which is based on precedent only has it not* therefore " anointing the sick," although we know not that it was general even in the Apostles' day, or that it ever has been practised since, is of higher warrant than that system of Church Government which we do know to have been general in the time of St. Paul, and to have been universally and exclu- sively followed for fifteen hundred years afterward! The one which no Christian practically regards is positively " binding upon all;" the other, which the vast majority of professing Christians agree in ac- cepting as the divine rule, is only to be received on the score of expediency ! The one which everybody slights is perpetually to be observed; the other, which millions conscientiously receive, and which Mr. Goode acknowledges to be a divine institution, may yet be rejected by any man or any sect that pleases ! Surely the rule that leads to such a decision can- not be right. But has Apostolic precedent really no greater value than Mr. Goode is willing to assign to it ? What is Apostolic precedent? Not certainly the casual act of a single Apostle, nor even such an act of several of them as was evidently not meant to be imitated by others. When we use that phrase we refer to those deliberate actions of the Apostles which were general in their character, and by them regarded as important and designed to be perpetuated. Such things we hold to be binding on Christians. They cannot be neglected without sin. This is, as nearly as possible, the rule of the late MR. goode's introduction. 109 Bishop Wilson, of Calcutta. Where such a prece- dent is clearly established, it has with him quite as much force as any Apostolic command, for it implies that, and more. It shows that it was both ordered by the Apostles, and practised by them, and has therefore all the support which their authority can possibly give. Eobert Hall's rule for ascertaining the value of a precedent is, that whatever the Apostles instituted or practised, which was not in itself necessarily brought about by temporary or local usage, or the difficulties of their position, has divine sanction, and is binding upon the Church of Christ. Apply this rule to Episcopacy. Was it a thing which they were by any stress of circumstances constrained to adopt? This question needs no reply. But Episcopacy does not rest solely on " prece- dent;" it has "command" also. How do we learn the fact that the Apostles really instituted the prece- dent ? How is their practice ascertained ? Not ex- clusively by bare historical record in the book of Acts. We use also the injunctions, directions, etc., which we find elsewhere. And what are these ? No one could believe that a work so mighty as the found- ing and organizing to completion of the whole Church could be done (as even Mr. Goode confesses that it was) in accordance with the system of Episcopacy, and yet no command in favor of Episcopacy be given, either in speech or writing ?* What, we would ask, * Booth, the Baptist controversialist, says, in his "Apology," page 48 : " If our brethren do not look upon the Apostolic precedent as expressive of the mind of Christ, and as a pattern for future imitation, they must consider the Apostles as either ignorant of our Lord's will, or as unfaith- ful in the performance of it." 10 . 110 MR. qoodb's introduction. was the appointment of any such officer as Titus was in Crete, but a command to him to enter upon the duties of the Episcopate, and a command to the people to receive the Episcopal form of government ? What are the Epistles addressed to him and to Timothy, but directions or injunctions that are properly com- mands? What then becomes of the assertion that Episcopacy rests on precedent alone ? So far from this being true, our warrant does not stand solely on either the words or acts of the Apos- tles. Our author never refers to the existence of any system, or to the establishing of any office previous to the time of the Apostles' authority. We will not spend much time in supplying this omission, but simply state, what otherwise his readers might not know, that Episcopalians find in the arrangement of the ministry under the Mosaic dispensation (1) a clear proof that the system of " parity" is not what God favors, and (2) a very strong presumption in favor of a ministry having three degrees.* But this pre- sumption is made yet stronger by the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ, himself the great High Priest, appointed two separate orders of Evangelists, — the twelve and the seventy. Those of the latter class were sent forth to do a certain work, and they had the powers proper for it ; but perpetuating their order was no part of their duty ; no promise was given to them extending into the remote future. How dif- ferent was it with the twelve ! To them, as the higher order, full powers were granted. Their ordinary com- * St. Jerome, letter to Evngrius: "Quod Aaron, et filii ejus atque Le- vitse in templo fuerunt, hoc sibi Episcopi, Presbyteri et Diaconi vindiennt in ecclesia." — (Sinclair's Dissertations, page 97 ; and elsewhere.) MR. goode's introduction. Ill mission was necessarily to be handed down, and the promise would of course accompany it. Many find in this action of our Lord the true foundation of Episcopacy. But suppose they claim too much (which we are far from granting), is there to be no regard paid to our Lord's course when we are considering this sub- ject. We contend that it must be followed; but let it only be considered, and we will be satisfied with the result. By just so much as this authority, from which there is no appeal, discountenances Presby- terian equality, it favors some other system of a dif- ferent character, some one that is more in accordance with the model He furnished. If ours be such a system, and if it be conceded that it has Apostolical precedent beside, what is wanting to place Episcopacy upon an immovable basis, and prove that it is binding upon all men to the end of time ? CHAPTER V. THE PROPER SOURCES OF INFORMATION. OUR author thus states the question, and the sources to which he thinks we ought to apply for an authoritative answer to it : "The present question is simply this — whether it is a doc- trine of the Church of England that Episcopal ordination is a sine qua non to constitute a valid Christian ministry ? In order to a true answer we must examine I. "The Articles and other formularies which, relate to it, taken in their literal sense. II. " The opinions of those who drew up these standards, as ascertained hj their other writings, to be taken as guides to the sense in which they intended those standards to be received, as also the opinions of the leading divines of the Church onward for a hundred years. III. The Practice of the Church for a similar period, as a further guide to the true interpretation of the standards " Now, these are not the sources from which a true and authoritative answer can be elicited. We should like to know on what pretence the opinion of a man who lived a hundred years after Cranmer could be offered in evidence of Cranmer's meaning in the formularies, or why those who lived a little more than a hundred years after the Eeformation should not be equally authentic exponents. Still more, we should like to know on what pretence the pkactice (112) THE PROPER SOURCES OF INFORMATION". 113 of the Church for its first hundred years should be a rule to us, and its practice to-day and for two hun- dred years past ignored. The true sources from which we are to gather the judgment of our Church upon this or any other point are : 1st. Its Doctrinal and Devotional Standards — the Liturgy Articles and Ordinal. /. These are to be taken in the plain sense of their words ; and if there be room for any doubt as to their meaning, reference may be made to the other writings of those who were the actual compilers of them. 2nd. Its Laws and Principles as set forth in canons, injunctions, declarations, endorsements, censures, etc. .*. These are of the most importance when they come from the Church in its corporate capacity, that is in Convocation. 3rd. Its Practice (or administration of its own laws) ever since the Eeformation. .\ Of course this can only be referred to when the Church had full liberty of action. 4th. Those works which having been specially en- dorsed by the Church or enjoined by lawful authority, may be looked upon in the light of SECONDARY STANDARDS. 5th. And, least valuable of all, the opinions of divines of the Church of England, from its foundation to the present time ; and also of divines of our own Church since its separate organization. .-. The reader will mark well that these opin- ions can be of use only as corroborative proofs of what the standards teach. Strong concurrent testimony from many writers is valuable corrobo- 10* 114 THE PROPER SOURCES OF INFORMATION. ration, but even the strongest could establish nothing as the doctrine of the Church unless it be first found in the formularies or laws. Opin- ions of individuals, however correct they may be, are still only mere opinions, for which no one but the writer is responsible ; and in this discussion they are valuable in proportion to the eminence (ecclesiastical and literary) of the authors. Of course the writings of partisans of the pre- sent generation are not to be quoted as authority on their own side. These are the sources then to which we shall look for the Church's answer to the questions, What is the true and scriptural mode of Church government, and what constitutes a true and proper ordination? We prefer this mode of putting the case to that of our author. It is pretty much the same, yet not pre- cisely. No one can reasonably expect to find in our formularies definite statements as to " sine qua non" qualifications, validity, etc., etc. The Church of Eng- land is not given to anathematizing, and still less to refining unnecessarily, especially as regards the affairs of others. She simply states her own faith, and leaves that statement to condemn whomsoever it will con- demn. Thus her second article contains her declara- tion of doctrine as regards the eternal Son of God ; it says not a word of Arian heretics, but it does virtually condemn them. As it is in this instance so it is in many others. The mere declaration suffices. Even the Augsburg Confession has its condemnatory clauses at the end of each article, but the English Church has generally in her formularies contented herself with affirming her own doctrine ; and that is amply sufficient. THE PROPER SOURCES OF INFORMATION. 115 In connection with ordination then, we may expect to find one particular kind approved as scriptural, and therefore enjoined ; and if that is so and no ex- ceptions be made in favor of any other, the kind so endorsed is the only one which the Church can be said to acknowledge or of which she knows anything. We should suppose there would be no difficulty in assenting to a proposition so plain as this, but we continually meet statements to the effect that the establishment of anything is warrant for it, but has no other force — that our Church's choice of Episco- pal ordination sufficed only to show that to the founders of the body it appeared, on the whole, the best, and therefore they decreed its use ; but this did not involve the condemnation of the " Presbyterian" or even the " Congregational" mode ! Which is, as if a man should say, " The Eeformers did agree that, on the whole, Baptism had better be practised. In the 27th Article they point out its use and the bless- ings accompanying it, and all this with a view to have it observed in this Church; but it surely was not their intention to disparage those good people who do not practise it. There is no such thing as mention of them, nor even a direct reference to them in the Article, and as nothing is there said of the ABSO- LUTE NECESSITY of water baptism we may take it for granted that the Church does not hold it, and a;lso that the Article was carefully drawn up so as not to exclude or unchurch the Quakers ! This is certainly cogent reasoning, and much of a piece with what we meet frequently now-a-days ! We may refer to it elsewhere. At present we con- tent ourselves with saying that mere omission, as a 11(3 THE PROPER SOURCES OF INFORMATION. general rule, proves nothing; and that when one of two opposite views is accepted the other is necessarily condemned. To say then that our Church has formed no judgment on Presbyterian Orders because they are not once mentioned in our formularies, or that the accepting and establishing of Episcopal ordina- tion was not an exclusion or condemnation of the other, is just as reasonable as to hold that the Church has no unfavorable opinion of Mahomet, and her acceptance of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is not the rejection of Islamism because it is not de- nounced in express terms ! In connection with rites and ceremonies which are but ordinances of man, the Church teaches explicitly that upon just cause they may be changed or set aside. But of the essentials of doctrine or polity [for instance, the Ministry of divers Orders], or any other thing which she regards as having divine authority, she holds no such language. Those things are established, not by her power, but by God's, and it is her duty therefore to receive and preserve them, and to transmit them on to the generations to come. And her enunciation of them, accompanied with reference to God's Word is a virtual condemnation of the opposite. AVe consider this so evident that we shall dwell no longer upon it, but proceed to examine certain public and private documents that date from before the establishment of the Protestant Church of England. CHAPTER VI. ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. 1ST the 23rd page of the work before us, we find the following passage : " And we may notice, first, that even in the time of Henry VIII., at the very dawn of the Reformation, the bishops and clergy of our Church put forth a document containing the very doctrine on which the validity of Protestant ordinations has been chiefly rested, namely, the parity of bishops and presby- ters, with respect to the ministerial powers, essentially and by right belonging to thein." The document to which the Eeverend author re- fers, is the " Institution of a Christian man/' drawn up by the Bishops and some of the clergy at the command of Henry VIII., and issued in the year 1537. It is frequently mentioned as the "Bishop's Book." The reader will observe that in connection with it Mr. Goode states : (1st) That " at the very dawn of the Reformation" (an expression that he repeats more than once) we may notice a certain doctrine; thus intimating, though guardedly, that it had its origin then, or that it had at least some special connection with that great event. (2nd) That the doctrine thus (117) 113 ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. found at the period, and in the document aforesaid, is the '* very" doctrine on which "the validity of Pres- byterian ordinations has been chiefly rested. (3rd) That the parties who penned the document in ques- tion were the "bishops and clergy of our Church." YTe purpose in this chapter, then, to correct these errors — to show that the doctrine found in the docu- ment was at that time, and for several centuries had been, a generally received doctrine of the Eomish Church — that it had no necessary connection with the Reformation more than any other event — that it is not the " very" doctrine of the Presbyterians, but just of the opposite character — that the "Institution" and the two other documents quoted by Mr. Goode in the same connection, are not in any sense standards of OUR Church, nor proper sources from which to infer Protestant doctrine — that the men who drew them up were all then Romanists, and though a few of them subsequently became confessors of a purer faith, the great majority lived and died Papists, and used all their powers to oppose the improvement in doctrine and worship then sought after. By establishing these points we shall not only cor- rect the errors of the paragraph above, but overthrow all that Mr. Goode has said in his twenty-third and six following pages of these Ante-Reformation writ- ings; we shall prove that he has misstated the views of Archbishop Cranmer, and that being so, that he has not given one quotation in favor of his own theory from any of those who first protestantized the Eng- lish Church and drew up its formularies. 1st. It is very singular that though Mr. Goode makes so much ado about the doctrine of " parity " ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. 119 being found at the " very dawn of the reformation," he yet ventures to confess that " Those who are at all acquainted with Ecclesiastical his- tory, know that this view had long been advocated by m-any of the divines of the Church of Rome, especially among the scholastic divines, including their great founder, Peter Lom- bard, the Master of the Sentences/' This avowal seems at once to destroy the doctrine in question as an article to be adopted by Mr. Groocle and the Presbyterians. The Eeverend gentleman, however, does not give us this information as a con- fession that the theory he maintains is a Romish doctrine ; but (coupled with remarks elsewhere to the effect that " Apostolical Succession w r as not uni- versally held in the Church of Eome itself before the Eeformation " ) he uses it to show that even Papists are less exclusive or more liberal than those who are decided Protestant Episcopalians. How far this end will be promoted we shall see when the origin and nature of the theory in question have been explained. About seven hundred years before the reforma- tion Paschasius Eadbertus and some others began to teach that, in the Sacrament of the altar the ele- ments of bread and wine were totally changed into the veritable flesh and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as soon as the Priest had pronounced the words of consecration. This novel and startling doctrine was warmly opposed by John Scotus Eri- gena, Eatramnus and others ; but, nevertheless, it gained such favor in the benighted Church that in the year 1215 she added to her other offences against God's truth this also, that she adopted Radbert's her- 120 ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. esy, under the name of Transubstantiation, as an arti- >f the faith. This heresy assigns to the Priest power to perform a stupendous miracle every time he officiates at Mass — to make by his word a body for Christ — to "cre- ate God." From it, then, naturally enough, pro- ceeded the notion that no class of men could be of a higher " Order n than these. The Pope himself could work no mightier trans- formation than the most illiterate parish Priest who could get through the formula of consecration: * even the Pope then could not be, strictly speaking, of a higher " order " than the Priest. And if not 'the Pope, certainly not the Bishops, who were so much his inferiors. This, then, was the source of the theory adopted at that time and still retained as a well-known doc- trine of the Church of Eome, viz : that the priest- hood is the highest Order in the Christian ministry, For at least three hundred years before "the dawn of the Eeformation " it was the prevalent or almost universal doctrine, and was defended, when defended at all, by the very same references to sentences in St. Jerome which all Anti- Episcopalians make to-day. * It is amusing to see this same argument protestantized and employed by a Wesleyan writer to justify Presbyterian ordination, thus: It is as plain as that two and two make four that the greater always includes the less. Now the two sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper are the greatest ritual observances in the Christian Church. A sacra- ment is by all divines considered above all other ritual ordinances. Ordina- tion is not a sacrament. He that has power and authority to perform the greater has power and authority to perform the less. All Presbyters, by the confession of our opponents, have power and authority to administer the taeraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, the greater: all Presbyter*, therefore, have power and authority to administer ordina- ion, the less. — (Essay on Apostolical Succession, by Rev. Thos. Powell, Amer. Ed. p. 130, note.) ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. 121 At the Council of Trent (Session 23, caput 2) after much discussion it was formally acknowledged to be part of the creed of Rome. * A statement of historic fact so indisputable as the above needs no corroboration to satisfy those who are so fortunate as to know anything of ecclesiastical history. But, as there are many who will not wil- lingly accept facts that militate against their own notions, and as there are many others who have no knowledge of the circumstances and times referred to, and who may reasonably require to see some au- thority for our statement, we print one or two pas- sages, which will be amply sufficient. " The Schoolmen, having set up the grand mystery of tran- substantiation, were to exalt the priestly office as much as pos- sible ; for the turning of the host into God was so great an action, that they reckoned there could be no office higher than that which qualified a man for so great a performance, * * * * * so they raised their Order or office so high as to make it equal to the Order of a Bishop ; but as they designed to extol the Order of priesthood, so the Canonists had as great a mind to de- press the Episcopal Order. They generally wrote for prefer- ment, and the way to it was to exalt the Papacy. Nothing could do that so effectually as to bring down the power of Bishops. " It was necessary to lay them as low as could be, and to make them think that the power they held was rather as delegates of the Apostolic See, than by a commission from Christ or his Apos- tles." " They looked on the declaring Episcopal authority to be of divine right as a bloiv that would be fatal to the Court of Rome; and therefore they did after this, at Trent, use all possible en- deavors to hinder any such decision. It having been then the common style of that age to reckon Bishops and Priests as the * If the reader has any desire to examine the precise view of the Ro- man sect upon this matter of Order, we would refer him to that most admirable and scholarly work, Elliot's Delineations of Roman Catholi- cism, English Edition, Imp. 8vo., 1851, page 396, etc. There it will be seen that the doctrine of that body is not clearly defined nor consistent, but with its internal controversies or inconsistencies we have nothing to do. It is enough for ns to justify the assertion in the text. 11 122 ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. .<■ me office [order], it is no wonder if the clergy of tin's Church, itest part of them being still leavened with the old supersti- tion * * * * retained still the former phrases, in this partic- ular/' — (Burnet's History, Bonn's ed., vol. i., p. 267.) " The Council of Trent and the later writers in the Church of Rome have not greatly insisted upon the three Orders, but have generally classed together the first and second, Bishops and Presbyters, under the common name of sacerdotes, priests ; influenced herein by the high importance which they attached to the priesthood, and by the disposition to reserve supreme Episcopal authority to the Pope." — (Harold Browne on Articles, London ed., p. 556.) "I conclude the Romanists to have proceeded on their icell- Jcnown principle, that Bishops and Presbyters are not two distinct Orders, but only two branches of one Order, the Sacerdotium or sacrificing priesthood/' And again : " The Roman tenet of the ordinal identity of the Bishop and Presbyter" — (Faber on Iran- substantiation, London ed., Introduction, pp. 124, 5.) Here then we have the theory of parity traced to its origin and its proper home. But Mr. Goode uses it himself, and claims it for Presbyterians. They are heartily welcome to it, such as it is, and to the com- panionship which it involves. As this theory of parity, then, taught by the Schoolmen, by the document under notice, and by the Council of Trent, is shown to be originally and truly Roman Catholic, as it existed ages before the daj^s of Luther, Cranmer, and Calvin, and has re- mained unaltered since, it could not have had any necessary connection with the Reformation. It was held by the men who drew up the " Institution," just as the real presence and the worship of Mary were held by them. This part of our task, then, is ful- filled. 2. TV e proceed now to show that it is not the "very" doctrine on which Presbyterians base their claim to ordain. Mr. Goode has not given their doc- trine as they hold it. That of the "Institution" is a ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. 123 parity of Bishops and Presbyters (with respect to ministerial powers) ; but the Presbyterian claims identity rather than parity. He knows no "Bishops and Presbyters/' any more than he recognizes " Pres- byters and Presbyters;" in his esteem every Bishop is simply an Elder, Presbyter, or Priest, and every such Presbyter is truly and fully a Bishop ; and therefore, in his opinion, Presbyters are empowered to perform every rite and exercise every power neces- sary for the outward governance as well as the spir- itual edification of the Church. Equality quoad ministerium, as St. Jerome said, goes only to the ministering of the word and sacraments, and (even by Jerome himself) was understood as always reserv- ing the power of ordaining and governing to the Episcopal Order. Consequently such equality is not the doctrine on which the " validity of Presbyterian ordination has chiefly been rested," or ever could be rested. But is this the " parity " taught in the doc- uments? Undoubtedly it is. Eome has always, though theorizing about sameness of " Order," put a broad distinction between the Bishop and the Priest, and preserved her principles and organization as a decidedly Episcopal Church.* It is no part of our duty to justify her course and attempt to reconcile her inconsistencies ; we simply state the fact. Her transubstantiation heresy makes her unduly magnify her priesthood ; her pontifical usurpation makes her * Canon VI. Si quis dixerit, in Ecclcsia Catholica non esse hierar- chiuni, divina ordinatione institutam, quae constat ex Episcopis, Presby- teris et Ministris : anathema sit. VII. Si quis dixerit Episcopos non esse Presbyteris superiores, vel non habere potestatem confirmandi et ordinandi; vel earn, quam habent illis esse cum Presbyteris communem * * * * anathema sit." — {Be Sacra- mento Ordinis Cauones Concilii Tridenti.) 12-1 ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. deny superiority over Presbyters as inherent in the Episcopate by divine rigid; yet, lest she should be- come anarchical, she gives to her Bishops, from her Pope, authority to rule and ordain, which, coming from him who is Christ's vicar on earth, the infal- lible head of the Church, confers full and divine authority upon every one so commissioned ! And thus we have parity and disparity working together in the same body. Now such is precisely the theory revealed in the documents. Let us examine them. If they mention or inti- mate an equality in "Order" between Bishops and Priests, that fact does not help Mr. Goode at all ; for Eome holds that notion. If they mention or intimate any distinction between Bishop and Presbyter, they certainly do not favor Presbyterianism. If such dis- tinction be in connection with the power of ordina- tion, then they are hostile to that system, and Mr. Goode is completely at fault. In the "Institution" (Oxford edition, 1825, p. 101) we find the following statement of the powers and duties of the ministry in general : " As touching the sacrament of holy Orders, we think it con- venient that all Bishops and preachers shall instruct and teach the people committed unto their spiritual charge, first, how that Christ and his Apostles did institute and ordain, in the New Testament, that besides the civil powers and governance of kings and princes (which is called potestas gladii, the power of the sword), there should also be continually in the Church mili- tant certain other ministers or officers, which should have special power, authority, and commission, under Christ, to preach and teach the Word of God unto His people ; to dispense and administer the sacraments of God unto them, and by the same to confer and give the grace of the Holy Ghost ; to conse- crate the blessed body of Christ in the sacrament of the altar ; to loose and absolve from sin all persons which be duly peni- tent and sorry for the same ; to bind and excommunicate such .. ANTE-REFOEMATION DOCUMENTS. 125 as be guilty of manifest crimes arid sins, and will not amend their defaults ; to order and consecrate others in the same room, order, and office whereunto they be called and admitted them- selves ; and finally to feed Christ's people like good pastors and rectors (as the apostle calleth them) with their wholesome doc- trine, and by their continual exhortations and admonitions to reduce them from sin and iniquity, so much as in them lieth, and to bring them unto the perfect knowledge, the perfect love and dread of God, and the perfect charity of their neighbors." Mr. Goode quotes part of this paragraph, adroitly- stopping short in the middle where the Eoman the- ology is revealed too plainly for his purpose. Now, who are they to whom (without specifying the duties of each) the above have been thus gene- rally assigned ? The answer is given throughout the whole work, and not merely in the short paragraph which Mr. Goode appends to the above, as if it fol- lowed it in regular order, though it is separated by four pages in the original work ! Sometimes they are spoken of as one order, and deacons as another. They are called " Bishops and Priests/' and " Priests or Bishops." (See pages 104-5.) Now when we find the words united as above by the copulative conjunction, "Bishops and Presbyters/' we have it clearly indicated that however much parity of Order be believed there is also held with it a real distinction between the offices, and this is inconsistent with Presbyterianism. But let us see in what the distinction consists. Ordination is thus referred to (page 105): " The sacrament of Orders may worthily be called a sacra- ment, because it is a holy rite or ceremony instituted by Christ and his Apostles in the New Testament and doth consist of two parts, like as the other sacraments of the Church do, that is to say, of a spiritual and an invisible grace, and also of an out- ward and a visible sign. The invisible gift or grace conferred in this sacrament is nothing else but the power, the office, and 11* 126 ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. the authority before mentioned. The visible and outward sign is prayer and imposition of the Bishop's hands upon the person which receiveth the said gift or grace. And to the intent the Church of Christ should never be destituted of such ministers as should have and execute the said power of the keys, it was also ordained and commanded by the Apostles that the same sacrament should be applied and administered by the Bishop from time to time unto such other persons as had the qualities necessarily required thereunto." Here ; then, in the one point on which all the con- troversy turns, the " Institution' 7 speaks not the lan- guage of Geneva, but the very opposite. Mr. Groode's weapon is found striking against himself! Henry VIII. was by no means satisfied with " the Bishop's Book." He had cast off papal authority only that he might himself be pontiff within his own realm ; and as his Bishops and courtiers had freely granted to him the supreme headship of the Church in England, he was determined to hold it, not as a nominal, but a real sovereignty. Of faith and prac- tice he would be high arbiter. So long then as Ee- formation (without touching doctrines he approved, or powers and liberties that he coveted) struck at the Pope, or put monasteries at his mercy, or quietly ex- tended the knowledge of religion among his people, he was favorable to it, but the moment it touched his power or opposed his private belief he put it back with fire and sword. The " Institution" did not please him, and so a second edition of it, greatly enlarged and altered to suit his views, was issued in 1543, under the title of "A Necessary Erudition and Doctrine," etc. This is commonly known as "the King's Book;" in it the royal supremacy is intimated as extending to matters which the Beformed Church of England has never ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. 127 allowed, and the doctrines are in some respects even more truly Romish than in its predecessor ; but as regards the question we are considering there is no difference. Thus two of the documents quoted by Mr. Goode are disposed of. We now come to examine the third ; which is by far the most important of all. Three years after the publication of the "Institu- tion," and three before the "Necessary Doctrine" was issued, the king put certain questions to the Bishops and some of the more learned of the priestly order, "touching the sacraments and the appointment and power of Bishops and Priests." The questions were seventeen in number, and with the answers given to them may be found in Burnet's History (Bohn's Ed., Vol. ii., Collection page 89 to 101, and more at page 389) ; in Collier's, and part of them which Burnet had at first omitted, may be found in Strype's Cranmer (Routledge's Edition, Yol. ii. pp. 295, etc.). The commissioners were as follows : Bishops — Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (whose connec- tion with this matter we shall treat of separately) ; Lee, Archbishop of York ; Bonner, Bishop of London ; Tunstal, Bishop of Durham ; Barlow, Bishop of St. Davids ; Aldrich, Bishop of Carlisle ; Skyp, Bishop of Hereford ; Heathe, Bishop of Rochester ; Thirleby, Bishop-elect of Westminster ; and Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester. Priests — Doctors Cox, Robinson, Day, Oglethorpe, Redmayne, Symonds, Tresham, Leighton, Corwen, and Crayford. The reader who examines this list carefully will 128 ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. not need to be in formed of the character of the men whose opinions are quoted by Mr, Goode as those of the " Bishops and Clergy of our Church," the men who "drew up our standards" and "put forth the Ordinal!"* With the exception of Cranmer and Barlow among the Bishops, and two, or at most three, of the other divines, hardly one of the twenty commissioners ever ceased to be the Romanist he was when replying to the King's questions ; while as regards " bloody Bon- ner." the vilest of persecutors, and, as Hooper called him, "the most bitter enemy of the Gospel;" Gar- diner, the cruel and wily fox, his associate in all evil ; Thirleby, who was partner with them in the judgment and degradation of Cranmer; Heathe, "that most zealous Papist," and Day and Skyp, who as Bishops protested against the Prayer Book when first com- piled, it is surely not necessary to add another word. The writer who cannot support his system without their help, and without representing them as " re- formers " and "leading divines of OUR Church" — ■ friends to that which they persecuted relentlessly — must surely feel the weakness of his cause driving him farther than his conscience can approve. In the document composed by these commissioners we will of course find some slight differences of opin- ion, but yet a substantial uniformity. We shall find that the doctrine taught is precisely that in the " In- stitution," and that wherein it varies from it, to the me of them were appointed to act on the commission for preparing the first Prayer Book and Ordinal ; but there is no evidence that they ever served, and there is evidence that three at least protested against both works. One ol* the Bishops went to prison rather than approve the Ordinal, and all of the Romish party refused to use it, at least in conse- crating Biskops. ANTE-REFOKMATION DOCUMENTS. 129 slightest extent, it is to favor the royal power, and no other. Henry wanted authority to make Bishops and other ministers and to unmake them as he saw fit, and pointed his questions so as plainly to indicate his desires. He had repudiated the Bishop of Rome ; now he wished to seize, as belonging of divine right to himself, spiritual and ecclesiastical authority over the English Bishops, so that their consent to any matter of doctrine and discipline would be less im- portant than his own, and their presence and work not necessary to ordination and consecration, but that his mere appointment should suffice for all such pur- poses. The ninth question reads thus : 44 Whether the Apostles, lacking a higher power, as in not having a Christian King dmong them, made Bishops by that necessity, or by authority given by God V 9 To this they all replied, that the Apostles had re- ceived divine authority to create Bishops. Lee, Arch- bishop of York (who appears to have replied very honestly and boldly to all the questions), declared no other authority was needed ; while several of the others stated that the Apostles " ought to have asked license of their Christian governors, if there had been any !" The learned Dr. Eedmayne, one of the very few who became Protestants, commented thus upon the word " make " in the query : " This word making of a Bishop or a Priest may be taken two ways ; for, understanding the word to ordain or consecrate, so it is a thing which pertaineth to the Apostles and their successors only ; but if by this word (making) be understood the appoint- ing or naming to the office, so it pertaineth specially to the su- preme heads and governors of the Church, which be princes !" The reader will do well to mark this distinction, as 130 AXTE-REFORMATIOX DOCUMENTS. some of the writers have not paid attention to it and the King repudiates it, asking, "Where is this dis- tinction to be found?'' Question 10 : "Whether Bishops or Priests were first? and if the Priest were first, then the Priest made the Bishop V Archbishop Lee, of York, replies : ''We think that the Apostles were Priests before they were Bishops, and that the divine power which made them Priests made them also Bishops. * * * * * * And we may well think that then they were made Bishops, when they had not only a flock, but also shepherds appointed to them to overlook, and a governance committed to them by the Holy Ghost to oversee both ; for the name of a Bishop is not properly a name of order, but a name of office, signifying an overseer. And, although the inferior shepherds have also cure to oversee their flocks, yet for- somuch as the Bishop's charge is also to oversee the shepherds, the name of overseer is given to the Bishops, and not to the other ; and, as they be in degree higher, so in their consecra- tion we finU difference even from the primitive Church/' Mr. Groode has quoted this Archbishop as favoring his theory in the above answer. He does it by omit- ting all the first paragraph, and commencing his extract in the middle of a sentence, to avoid the statement that the Episcopal power is divine, having been committed to the Apostles by the Holy Ghost. If authorities are used in this way, anything may be proved or dis- proved with equal ease. Bonner (of London) replied : " I think the Bishops were first, and yet I think it is not of importance, whether the Priest then made the Bishop, or else the Bishop the Priest ; considering (after the sentence of St. Jerome) that in the beginning of the Church there was none (or if it were, very small) difference between a Bishop and a Priest, especially touching the signification." All the replies to this question are of so nearly the ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. 181 same character, that it is entirely unnecessary to specify more of them. Question 11 : 1 Whether a Bishop hath authority to make a Priest by the Scripture or no ? And whether any other but only a Bishop may make a Priest V As this is the chief question of all, we will give the substance of the replies of all. Lee (of York) : " That a Bishop may make a Priest may be de- duced of Scripture ; for so much as they have all authority neces- sary for the ordering of Christ's Church derived from the Apos- tles ** * * * * and that any other than Bishops or Priests may make a Priest we neither find in Scripture nor out of Scripture/' Mr. Gfoode has also quoted this answer, but has prudently omitted the words in italics ! Bonner (of London) says: " A Bishop duly appointed hath authority by Scripture to make a Bishop and also a Priest." Heathe (of Rochester) : " The Scripture showeth by example that a Bishop hath authority to make a Priest ; albeit no Bishop being subject to a Christian prince may either give orders, or excommunicate, or use any manner of jurisdiction, or any part of his authority without commission from the king, who is supreme head of that Church whereof he is member. But that any other man may do it besides a Bishop I find no example either in Scripture or in doctors." Aldrich (of Carlisle) : "A Bishop by Scripture may make Deacons and Priests, and we have none example otherwise !" Tunstal (of Durham) or Gardiner (of Winchester), (it is not known which, as the paper is not signed) : " Scripture war- ranteth a Bishop (obeying high powers, as his prince christianed) to order a Priest by imposition of hands and prayer. Of others Scripture speaketh not." Thirleby (of Westminster) : "A Bishop having authority of his Christian prince to give Orders, may, by his ministry given to him of God in Scripture, ordain a Priest. And we read not that any other not being a Bishop hath since the beginning of Christ's Church ordered a Priest." Dr. Cox: "Bishops have authority <^f the Apostles to make Priests ; except in case of great necessity." Dr. Day: "Bishops have authority by Scripture to ordain Bishops and Priests. Dr. Oglethorpe : "Authority to ordain is given to Bishops by the Word." 132 ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. Dr. Redmayne : " As for making, that is to say, ordaining and consecrating of Priests, I think it specially belongetk to the office of a Bishop, as far as can be showed by Scripture, or any example, as 1 suppose, from the beginning. " Dr. Edgeworth: "A Bishop hath authority by Scripture to make a Priest, and that any other ever made a Priest since Christ's time I read not. Albeit, Moses who was not nominated Priest made Aaron Priest and Bishop by a special commission or revelation from God, without which he would never so have done.' 7 Dr. Symmons : " A Bishop placed by the higher powers, and admitted to minister, may make a Priest ; and I have not read of any other that ever made Priests." Dr. Tresham: " I say a Bishop hath authority by Scripture to make a Priest, and other than a Bishop hath not power therein, but only in case of necessity." Dr. Leighton : " I suppose that a Bishop hath authority from God, as his minister by Scripture, to make a Priest ; but he ought not to admit any man to be Priest and consecrate him, or to appoint him unto any ministry in the Church without the prince's license and consent in a Christian region. And that any other man hath authority to make a Priest by Scripture, 1 have not read, nor any example thereof" Dr. Corwen: "A Bishop being licensed by his prince and supreme governor hath authority to make a Priest by the law of God. I do not read that any Priest hath been ordered by any other than a Bishop !" Dr. Robertson says, that the Bishop has power to ordain, but should exercise it by permission of the chief magistrate. Whe- ther any other has such power he knows not: has never read that it was done by any other. The full and fair sense of the entire commission, except Cranmer, is here set forth ; and the reader can now judge whether our assertion as to the doc- trine of these documents is not correct in every par- ticular. We find a parity of " Order" acknowledged and yet associated with it, Episcopacy by divine right, and the power of ordination exclusively belong- ing to the Bishop. This is the theory maintained in the three Pre- Eeformation documents, and yet the Eev. Mr. Goode ANTE-KEFORMATION DOCUMENTS. 133 has the courage to assert that their doctrine is the " very" one on which Presbyterians ground their claim to ordain ministers ! Either the Eeverend gen- tleman never took the trouble to read the whole of the papers he quotes and writes about so confi- dently, or else by the most singular fatality he failed to perceive more than half their meaning, and even that half he has not succeeded in setting forth fairly and distinctly. Before passing on ; we beg the reader to contrast the answers above given with that surprising state- ment made by our author on page 29. " Not one ventures to determine definitively that the power of ordination belongs exclusively to Bishops." Here as usual we find a loophole — "determine definitively ! " And so those answers are regarded as of no account in which the respondents say " they have never read that any but a Bishop could ordain I" The phrase italicized is simply equivalent to this, "We never heard of such a thing! We never saw the least evidence for it!" But Mr. Goode puts in an "only," and tries to represent it as something like an admission that Priests also might ordain ! Let it be borne in mind that the divines were not asked to " determine definitively," but to say whether " by the Scripture" a Bishop hath authority to ordain, and "whether any other but only a Bishop may make a Priest or no?" To this query what negative could be more direct than those of the Bishops of Durham, Carlisle and Eochester, Dr. Corwen, Dr. Leighton, etc. Butdet us ask if "definitive" determination is neces- sary to show the judgment of these divines upon ordination by Presbyters, why Mr. Goode has not 12 134 ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. quoted even one sucli determination in favor of it? If his theory be correct, if those men held as he states to the identity of Order of the Bishop and the Priest, why should they hesitate to say that the one could do of right whatever the other could do ? But no man ventures so to say. The inference is plain. Henceforth then we hope to hear less about Pres- byterian "parity" being the prevailing doctrine at "the very dawn of the Reformation." Having disposed of the author's statement to that effect, we subjoin for the reader's benefit an extract which, coming from so strong a Low Church leader as Bishop Burnet, is very appropriate, and should have unusual force. "On this [the matter of parity between Bishops and Priests] I have insisted the more that it may appear how little they have considered things, who are so far carried with their zeal against the established government of this Church as to make much use of some passages of the schoolmen and canonists that deny them to be distinct offices. For these are the very dregs of Popery." " So partial are some men to their particular conceits that they make use of the most mischievous topics if they can serve their turn, not thinking how much farther the arguments will run if they ever admit them." — [History, Vol. i., p. 263.) Cranmer. — The case of the great Archbishop de- serves and requires separate consideration on ac- count as- well of the importance justly attached to his views, as of the peculiar circumstances under which he drew up his answers to the King's questions. As the principal person engaged in the commis- sion for compiling the "Institution," Cranmer of course held in 1537 the doctrines it contains as to parity of " Order " and Episcopal Ordination. Dur- ing the next year he asserted the same views, the latter more especially. He was the principal person ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. 135 employed in the negotiations with the German di- vines sent over A. D. 1538, and the papers presented to them as a basis of union were drawn up by his own hand. In them he writes thus : " The Scripture openly teaches that the order and ministry of Priests and Bishops were instituted by divine and not human authority, that their power, function and administration are necessary to the Church so long as here on earth we contend with the flesh, the world and the devil, nor ought they [the Orders mentioned] to be on any account abolished; that Christ gave the power or office of administering the word and sacra- ments of God to his own Apostle-s, and in and through them delivered the same not promiscuously to all but only to certain men, namely Bishops and Presbyters, who are properly ad- mitted to the office." And in another paragraph he says that candidates for the ministry should be presented to the Bishop, that they may receive charge in the Church. (Cran- f mer ) s Letters and Remains, Parker Soc?y, pp. 48-1-5.) The article (" de ordine et ministerio sacerdotum et episcoporum ") in which these passages occur was one of those rejected by the Lutherans, and that, as we are told, because it taught the divine right of the Episcopate, while they, having only a system of su- perintendency or humanly authorized Episcopacy, felt that they would be condemned thereby. The fact of their rejecting it then establishes the other fact, that Cranmer held higher views of the nature and office of the Bishop in 1538 than the German divines who accepted an Episcopacy non jure divino. Now is it not entirely out of the common course of nature that opinions which a man has held all his life, opinions avowedly based upon plain Scriptural foundation and supported by irrefragable testimony from ecclesiastical history, should in so very short a 136 ANTE-REFORMATION" DOCUMENTS. period as loss than two years, without any study that we know of, or the offering of any new fact or reason in justification of such a change, be completely aban- doned? It certainly is. And yet in 1540 Cranmer answered the King's questions just as a man who wished to destroy belief in a divinely instituted min- istry would write. So strange a falling off needs explanation, and this we now present. We have already mentioned Henry's desire to be the only and the absolute source and holder of power, temporal and spiritual, within his dominions. He was continually making known his desires in this respect, and Cranmer knew them well. Henry w T ould willingly enough defend his Bishops against the Pope, or against any presumptuous Presbyter that might arise to oppose them, but yet he could not brook patiently their claim to divine right inherent in their office. He opposed it not because he loved Episcopacy less, but because he loved his own royal authority more. When the Bishops in the " Institu- tion" said that the power and authority of teaching, ministering and ruling in the Church had been given by Christ himself only to certain men whom they set apart for that holy and important work, Henry's comment was : " Note, that there were no kings Christ- ian under whom they did dwell." And when (sub- sequently) Eedmayne and Thirleby pointed out the difference between "making" a Priest or a Bishop, in the sense of electing or appointing, and in the sense of ordaining and consecrating, the King would not grant such a distinction, but argued that as the Apostles if they had had Christian Kings would have left (as he supposed) the appointment of the Bishops ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. 137 to them, so they might have left the consecration also. " Now sins yow confesse that the apostyllys did occupate the won part, which now yow confesse belong eth to princes, how can you prove that ordeyning is wonly committed to yow bysshopes?" The spirit of this inquiry is that of the entire paper submitted to the commission. The second clause in the 11th question, viz : "whether any other but only a Bishop may make a Priest/' was not meant of Presbyters, but of Kings. Some of the other inquiries betray the object of them still more plainly. Now of all who replied to these queries only one man gave in every instance the answer desired by Henry, and that man was the Archbishop Thomas Oramner. His reply to the ninth question (given above) was: " All Christian princes have committed unto them, imme- diately of God, the whole cure of all their subjects, as well con- cerning the administration of God's word for the cure of souls, as concerning the ministration of things political and civil gov- ernance." " The ministers of God's word under his Majesty be the Bishops, Parsons, Vicars, and such other Priests as be ap- pointed by his Hiyhness to that ministration ; as, for example, the Bishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Duresme, the Bishop of Winchester, the Parson of Winwick, etc. All the said offi- cers and ministers, as well of the one sort as of the other, be appointed, assigned, and elected in every place by the laws and orders of kings and princes." To this he adds that Christian people in the Apos- tolic age, having no King, " were constrained of neces- sity to take such curates and priests as they knew themselves to be meet thereunto, or else as were com- mended unto them" by the Apostles ! To the tenth question (given above) he answers : " The Bishops and Priests were at one time and were not two things, but both one office, in the beginning of Christ's reli- gion." 12* 13S ANTE-REFORMATION" DOCUMENTS. To the eleventh question (given above) he answers: "A Bishop may make a Priest by the Scripture, and so may princes and governors also, and the people also by their elec- tion/' Twelfth question : " Whether in the New Testament be required any consecra- tion of a Bishop and Priest, or only appointing to the office be sufficient f" Answer.: " In the New Testament he that is appointed to be a Bishop or Priest needeth no consecration by the Scripture ; for election or appointing thereto is sufficient!" Thirteenth question : "Whether (if it befortuned a Prince Christian-learned to conquer certain dominions of infidels, having none but tem- poral-learned men with him) it be defended by God's law, that he and they should preach and teach the word of God there, or no ? and also make and constitute Priests or no f" Answer : " It is not against God's law, but contrary, they ought indeed so to do" etc., etc. Fourteenth question : " Whether it be forfended by God's law that (if it so fortuned that all the Bishops and Priests of a region were dead, and that the word of God should remain there unpreached, the sacra- ment of Baptism and others unministered, that the King of that region should make Bishops and Priests to supply the same, or no?" Answer : " It is not forbidden by God's law." There will be no difficulty in perceiving how en- tirely at variance these views are with those pre- viously avowed by .the Archbishop, and also how far apart from the teachings of our Church. They are toned to suit the King; and the secret is this — they were written in the shadow of the scaffold ! ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. 139 The cause of Keformation had that very year met its greatest check. Lord Cromwell, the great friend of Cranmer and favorer of the Gospel, was, on a false pretence, put to death by the public execu- tioner. In his fall the Papists — whose hopes were by it revived — supposed they saw a presage of Cran- mer's fall, and all their energies were then, and for four years afterward, bent to the task of sending the Archbishop after the statesman. The notorious " Act of Six Articles " became law in spite of the Primate's influence, and as this "terrible, bloody" enactment made it treason and heresy, punishable with burning to death, and forfeiture of all the individual's goods to the crown, to say a word against transubotantiation, or treason and felony for a priest to have a wife, the poor Archbishop was obliged to "betake himself to retirement and greater privacy," and to dismiss his wife, who was the niece of Osiander, the German Ee- former. Latimer and Shaxton could not conscien- tiously retain their bishopricks, so they resigned, and were cast into prison ; and while they and over five hundred others were in the common jails as violators of the new law, the Archbishop, the head and front of the reforming party, standing almost alone, de- serted by friends, and appearing to live merely by the sufferance of a cruel and capricious tyrant, had the questions put to him as already stated. He took counsel of his fears, and replied as Henry wished, which he could do the more easily, as he always had been the strongest supporter of the divine right of "kings. The ready and flippant reply to this will be, that we accuse the good Bishop of gross unfaithfulness. 140 AXTE-KEFORMATION DOCUMENTS. But not so ; far be it from us to accuse him. We know, unhappily too well, that he was not insensible to fear when danger of death, in its most dreadful form, threatened him; and while we glorify God for the strength given, by which he was made at last willing to accept and able to endure the torturing flame, we, with himself, mourn over "the unworthy hand" which signed the recantation. The previous yield- ing was surely much less criminal than recanting altogether ; and if timidity could induce the perform- ance of the greater defection, it could also of the less. "We have evidence that in the year (1540) now under consideration the Archbishop did, in another very important matter, yield completely to the King. Henry was tired of Anne of Cleves, and wanted her removed. The Eomish party heartily wished her out of the way. The question of divorce was sent to Parliament and Convocation ; it was vigorously pressed by all enemies to Church reform, and Cran- mer gave his full consent to it among the rest. Bishop Burnet thus records the fact : u Cranmer, whether overcome with these arguments, or rather with fear, for he knew it was contrived to send him quickly after Cromwell, consented with the rest. So that the whole Con- vocation with one disagreeing vote judged the marriage null and of no force, and that both the King and the Lady were free from the bond of it. This was the greatest piece of compliance that ever the king had from the clergy." The same causes which forced Cranmer to yield to Henry in the one matter were in operation, and led to his yielding in the other. But, in stating this fact in explanation of the extraordinary opinions avowed in the answers given above, we by no means wish to strip one leaf of laurel from the brow of him whom ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. 141 in our heart of hearts we honor and love beyond any other uninspired man that ever trod our earth. Were he free from such infirmities as these facts in his history reveal, he would have been not man but angel. But, with these infirmities he is still the best of men, and the greatest of all Reformers; the wisest, the most patient and painstaking, the most conscien- tious, the most learned, the most modest and God- fearing man of them all. And when we think of the characters of those who are often spoken of as his superiors, and who died at ease in their beds, while he at the stake witnessed his good confession for Christ, we feel that the world has not yet opened its eyes to the excellence of the great Bishop who, under God, was the Father of England's Reformed Church. But let us see what he himself thought his duty to be when the King's cause or opinion might be different from his. Writing to Cromwell in the year 1535, in reference to Gardiner's attempt to ex- cite Henry against him for styling himself as usual, "Primate of all England," he said Gardiner took such a course as made him appear not to "maintain his own cause but the King's ; against whose highness I will maintain no cause, but give place, and lay both m,y cause and myself at the Prince's feet" This was written when his star was in the ascendant ; how much more likely was such compliance when the headsman's axe and the flaming faggot were ready to cut him off. Such, then, were the circumstances under which the poor Bishop wrote his replies, and appended to them this striking sentence : " This is mine opinion arid sentence at this present, which, 142 ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. nevertheless, I do not temerariously define, but refer the judg- ment thereof wholly unto your majesty. T. Cantuarien." Is it not strange that opinions so entirely different from the previous and later views of the writer, so modestly put forth, and left after all to be set aside by the King if he desired it, should, without one word of explanation, be quoted, and that, too, by a Church clergyman, as the settled doctrine of the great Archbishop ? Yet Mr. Goocle so quotes them, and leaves his readers under the impression that Cranmer never held any other. Burnet, in whose History he found the document, tells us plainly that Cranmer's answers contained " Some singular opinions of his about the nature of ecclesi- astical offices * * but as they were delivered by him with all pos- sible modesty, so they were not established as the doctrine of the Church, but laid aside as particular conceits of his own, as it seems that afterwards he changed his opinion." But as such change would not favor the theory of Mr. Goode, his readers are left to suppose it never took place. We shall see. In 1543, the King employed the Archbishop in compiling the " Necessary Erudition." His attempt in 1540 had convinced him that the Church would not give up even to the King those powers which it held of Divine right ; therefore he contented himself with strong statements of his supreme authority, and the duty of all subjects (lay and clerical) to their prince, and with putting to death those who denied the one or omitted the other. As regards the polity, then, the doctrine of the " Erudition" was allowed to remain to all intents and purposes the same as that of the "Institution," published seven years before. Here, then, we see the return of the Archbishop to a ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. 143 better mind already. During the next year he so far prevailed with the King as to have the severity of the "Six Articles/' relaxed, and leave given for the use of a Litany in English, but all further at- tempts at reformation were steadily repressed. We have no other writing by Cranmer, during Henry's life, from which his views on the point before us can be collected. But in the very first year of Edward VI., when he was at the head of affairs, and fully free to act, we find him publishing a sermon which we will refer to again, and in which the doc- trine of Apostolical Succession is strongly main- tained. He issued it, in connection with that known as Cranmer's Catechism (which is in reality a transla- tion from a German one, of which Justus Jonas had made a Latin version) ; in this work the " Apostol- ical descent, Episcopal ordination, and the power of the Keys, are strongly enforced and greatly enlarged upon," (see Oxford ed., 1829, page 123, etc.) Bishop Burnet gives the same account of this book, and says of Cranmer : " It is plain that he had now quite laid aside those singular opinions which he formerly held of the ecclesiastical functions ; for now, in a work which was wholly his own, without the concurrence of any others, he fully sets forth their Divine Insti- tution. In a fragment on "unwritten varieties" composed in 1548, the Archbishop says : " In the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles and disciples of Christ, they received such grace and ghostly knowledge that they had forthwith the gift of the understanding of Scripture to speak in the tongue of all men, and also that upon whomsoever they laid their hands the Holy Ghost should descend upon them." 1-14 ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. He then goes on to mention the writing of the Gospel and of the Apostolic Epistles, and their accept- ation by the Church as inspired writings, and adds: "It was authorized that when the people that were newly converted to the faith were full of grace and of devotion, re- plenished with virtues, desiring always the life to come, and the health of their own souls and of their neighbors. Then also were blessed bishops, blessed priests and other blessed person's of the clergy, and what could such men ask of God right wisely, that should be denied them V In this (and other still more important writings yet to be mentioned) the Archbishop abandons his theory of two Orders, and trie " parity " attached to it. He names three Orders at least, as existing in the golden prime of the Apostolic Church. Had he in the meantime (that is since 1540) been employed in any research which would extend his knowledge or correct his mistaken notions upon those subjects ? Yes! He had set himself to another careful re- reading of Scripture and of all the Fathers (with a view to discovering the true and primitive doctrine of the Sacraments), and from these two source^ he found that the Eomish doctrine of the Lord's Supper was a heresy and novelty, and pari passu he discov- ered that an Episcopate degraded by a presumptuous overvaluing of the priesthood, and by the arrogant assumption of a Pope, had no resemblance to the Episcopate of Primitive and Apostolic Christianity. He saw that man had dishonored what God had in- stituted by his chosen servants, and that it was the duty of those who would reform the Church to re- dress this wrong also. Consequently in 15-48-9, 1551-2 when the great and good man was drawing up our formularies in their first shape, he, with his ANTE-REFORMATION DOCUMENTS. 145 own hand, wrote the sentence where, again and again, the ministers of Christ are classed in their separate Orders ; and in the preface to the Ordinal, he, Arch- bishop Cranmer, wrote that it is " Evident unto all men diligently reading holy scriptures and ancient authors, that from the Apostles 7 time, there have been these orders of ministers in Christ 7 s Church : Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. - " The reader of Mr. Groode's pamphlet, if he had no other guide, would know but little of these facts, and taking the Reverend gentleman's account of Cranmer for a true and full representation, would naturally enough suppose that the chief founder of our Church was really and always an Brastian who cared little or nothing how it was constituted. The truth is here made known, and thus we learn that he who was the principal framer of our stand- ards, was a believer in the doctrine of Apostolical Succession, and ordination exclusively by Bishops. 18 CHAPTEK VII. THE FORMULARIES. WE come now to examine the first class of our Standards with a view to discover the Church's doctrine on Episcopacy, and her judgment of what con- stitutes lawful ordination to the Christian ministry. Mr. Groode's theory (so far as it can be collected from his pamphlet) is, that the Church does not hold the divine institution of a threefold ministry, that she looks upon Bishops and Priests as one in Order though differing in office] and he insinuates that whereinsoever the office of a Bishop differs from that of a Priest it is by man's will and arrangement, and not God's ; consequently the Bishop has by di- vine right no separate standing and no peculiar priv- ileges, and the imposition of his hands is not neces- sary to constitute a lawful ordination. We differ from the Eeverend gentleman toto cosh. We maintain that the Church holds the divine insti- tution of a ministry consisting of three separate and distinct Orders, that she gives no sanction whatever to the Eomish notion of a parity in " Order " between Bishops and Priests, and that she gives to the Bishop, and to him exclusively, the right of ordaining minis- ters in the Church of Christ. (146) THE FORMULARIES. 147 At the time of our Protestant Church's first es- tablishment, there were in the Eoman Church, whose doctrine and rule she cast off, great numbers of eccle- siastics of different (so called) " Orders' 7 and degrees, viz: "Ostiarii," "Lectores," " Exorcists," " Acolyths" " Sub-Deacons," " Deacons," " Priests," " Bishops," ' " Archbishops," and "Pope," to say nothing of Friars and Monks, Abbots, Cardinals, etc., etc. Now as the English divines in reorganizing their ecclesiastical affairs went on the principle of follow- ing implicitly the Word of (rod, and the practice of primitive Christians, we take it for granted that the ministerial Orders she preserved would be those for which she saw full warrant in Holy Scripture and the Apostolic Church, and those which she did not preserve would be rejected as unscriptural and merely of human origin. The first five of the ftom- ish Orders and some of the others were neither pre- served nor mentioned by her, and thus sufficiently repudiated. But in addition to Bishops, Priests and Deacons, she preserved the office of Archbishop and Arch- deacon and those connected with her Cathedral estab- lishments, viz. : Deans, Canons, Prebendaries, etc., and the question now arises whether her doing so does not stamp them as in her estimation all equally and alike divine as to their origin? To this we answer emphatically, No ! She preserves the last named offices as allowable and convenient for her, but the broad distinction which she herself makes between them and the three Apostolic Orders shows that while she claims nothing for them but allowance, she regards the others as divine. 148 THE FORMULARIES. Such a "parity" in order with difference in " office" as Mr. Goode argues for in the case of the Bishop and the Priest, the Church recognizes as existing between the Archbishop and the Bishop. But if his theory were correct, the Bishop would occupy in our formularies no more prominent position, and have claimed for his office no higher warrant than is now claimed in them for the Archbishop. Let us see, then, how the facts are. In the preface to the (English) Prayer Book we find three classes of ministers mentioned, and these are " Bishops," "Priests," and " Deacons." The "Archbishop" is once mentioned as ultimate referee in doubtful cases, but not as belonging to any supe- rior order of ministers. In the daily morning and evening service, prayers are offered up for the " Bishops and Curates," or per- sons having cure of souls.* In the Litany there is a special petition for all "Bishops, Priests, and Deacons," no others of any office or degree being mentioned. In the first of the two collects for Ember-days, the Almighty is asked to guide the minds of His " Servants the Bishops and pastors of his flock, that they may lay hands suddenly on no man, but faithfully and wisely make choice of fit persons to serve in the sacred ministry of the Church." In the other collect for same season, God is ad- dressed as the " Giver of all good gifts, who of his Divine Providence hath appointed divers orders in his Church." * u Our Bishops and other clergy." — [American Book of Common Prayer.) THE FORMULARIES. 149 u Divers " Orders must be not only more than one, but more than two. The phrase would apply to five or to fifty, but it clearly means more than two, and the precise number which the Church regards as thus divinely instituted is fixed by her frequent references, as above shown, to three such Orders, and three only. In fact, we meet continually, throughout the whole Liturgy and Offices, with Bishop, Priest, and Deacon * (the* titles Curate or Minister being occasionally ap- plied to the Priest or the Deacon), but we meet with no fourth Order, and not the slightest intimation of parity between any two of the three which the Church thus specifies as those ordained by God. We now proceed to the Articles. The Twenty- third reads thus : "It is not lawful for any man to take upon him the office of public preaching or ministering the sacraments in the congre- gation, before he be lawfully called and sent to execute the same ; and those we ought to judge lawfully called and sent which be chosen and called to this work by men who have public authority given unto them in the congregation to call and send ministers into the Lord's vineyard." Upon this Article Mr. Goode comments thus : "It must be observed how carefully this is worded, so as not to limit a lawful ministry to those who have Episcopal ordina- tion, and it is hardly possible for one acquainted with the cir- cumstances of the times in which it was written, to read it and not see that this carefulness was for the very purpose of not excluding the ministry of the Foreign Non-Episcopal Churches." We have taken some pains to make ourselves well acquainted with the circumstances of the time referred to, and yet fail utterly to perceive any such " careful- ness not to exclude/' or any notice of, or any regard to any body or Church on earth, other than that general Church of Christ mentioned in the Article. 13 * 150 THE FORMULAEIES. If Mr. Goode would himself consider the origin of the Article, he would probably understand it dif- ferently. We find it, or the germ of it, forming one of the series of Articles* referred to in the last chapter as having been drawn up by Cranmer and submitted to the German divines who were sent to England, in 1538, with a view to effecting a union between the English and Lutheran Churches. Some of those Articles were rejected by the Germans, and the whole scheme was abandoned, because [among other reasons] the English Primate, and other Bishops, had set forth as divine, and therefore neces- sary in a Church, the three Orders of the Christian Ministry. This being so, it is perfectly absurd to say that one part of the series shows a " carefulness not to exclude" those who felt themselves excluded by another part ! And so precisely with the Article in its present form and position. We do not quote it as establishing Episcopacy, but Mr. Goode quotes it as not doing so, and as exhibiting some extraordinary * The following is the Article "de ministris Ecclesiae," A. D. 1538. The reader will see that its first sentence is almost identical with the Twenty-third Article, as written by the same author, Thomas Cranmer, in 1549. " De ministris ecclesiae docemus, quod nemo debeat publice docere, sacra m en ta ministrare, nisi rite vocatus, et quidem ab his, penes quos in Ecclesia juxta verbum Dei, et leges ac consuetudines uniuscujusque re- gionis, jus est vocandi, et admittendi. Et quod nullus ad ecclesiae minis- terium vocatus etiamsi episcopus sit, sive Roinanus sive quicunque alius, hoc sibi jure divino vindicare possit, ut publice docere sacramenta minis- trare, vel ullam aliam ecclesiasticam functionem in aliena diocesi aut parochia exercere valeat : hoc est nee episcopus in alterius episcopi dio- cesi, nee parochus in alterius parochia. Et demum quod malitia ministri effieaciae sacramentorum nihil detrahat, ut jam supra docuimus in articulo de ecclesia." — (Cranmer' 8 Remains, Parker Society, p. 477.) We desire no stronger acknowledgment of the divine right of Bishops than is contained in this very Article, the first sentence of which, or its equivalent, is supposed to have been " carefully worded " so as not to exclude those who reject Bishops ! THE FORMULARIES. 151 carefulness "not to exclude" Presbyterians. We reply, it takes no notice of them, any more than of Whigs or Tories, Mormons or Shakers.* It exhibits no such carefulness at all. It simply declares the general truth, that no one should presume to act as a Christian Minister until he had first been lawfully called and sent by those possessing, in the Church of Christ, the power to send laborers into the Lord's vineyard. It does not specify who those lawful ordainers are, for that is not the object of the Article. But if we find anywhere else in our standards such doctrine held, or such practice enjoined as does ex- clude Non-Episcopalians, what becomes of the notion that the Article was " carefully worded " for the very opposite purpose ?f We now invite the attention of the reader to the word " congregation " italicized in the latter part of the Article as quoted above. The italics are Mr. Goode's : Why has he emphasized the word ? Those accustomed to the phraseology of the present * The author hopes that no one will represent him as speaking disre- spectfully or unkindly here. He only means to show that Presbyterians are not at all referred to. f Authoritative interpretation of the formularies can only be given by the Church as a body, or by the very persons who were concerned in drawing up the formularies. Next to Cranmer, the most important per- son in the framing of our devotional and doctrinal standards was Bishop Ridley, one of the most learned men of his age, and an illustrious mem- ber of the "noble army of Martyrs." His exposition of the first stan- dards would, of course, be " authoritative. " Can we find, then, anything from his pen that will help us to an understanding of this Twenty-third Article? We believe so. In his primary Visitation of the Diocese of London, he asks after "any of the Anabaptists' sect or other" which [not having regular or Episcopal ordination] "use notoriously any unlawful or private conventicles wherein they do use doctrine or administration of Sacraments": and he orders that "no persons use to minister the Sacra- ments, or in open audience of the congregation, p>resume to expound the Holy Scriptures or to preach before they be first lawfully called and au- thorized in that behalf." — ( See Car dwell' s Doc, Annals, Vol. i., p. 91 ; Rid- Uy'a Works, Parker Soc, p. 321.) 152 THE FORMULARIES. age, and aware of the usage in what are called "Con- gregational Churches 7 ' would be likely, if not put upon their guard, to suppose that the Article per- mitted ordination by persons (even laymen) chosen in each worshipping assembly or " congregation." Mr. Goode, as if he were afraid that his readers would not fall into this gross error italicizes the word and thus suggests it. As a result of his so doing, we have our- selves heard it asserted on his authority, that the Article really warrants congregational ordination ! What does the w r ord mean as it stands in the Article ? Cranmer himself, in the 19th, declares the Church of Christ to be a "Congregation of faithful men." In his other writings he uses the word in the same sense ; as when he says the Pope did not receive "power to destroy but to edify the "Congregation." Thomas Becon, his contemporary and one of his chap- lains, uses it often, as in sending forth his works that they might " glorify God and profit his holy Congre- gation." So also Bishop Bale (who died in 1563) mentions " the holy temple of God, which is his Con- gregation or Church," and again "the Congregation or Kingdom of God in which Congregation He shall reign forever." Eeferences of this character might be multiplied indefinitely, but these are amply suffi- cient to explain the meaning of the word at the time the Article was written. But if Mr. Goode were ignorant of this meaning or use of the word he is still without excuse, inasmuch as the Latin Articles are before his eye, and in the one under notice the corresponding word is Ecclesia — ■ the Church, i.e. the universal Church of Christ. And apropos of this we would add that the Eever- THE FORMULARIES. 153 end gentlemen occasionally gives another significa- tion to Ecclesia in this same Article. Even when cri- ticizing the reading of an opponent and blaming him for not giving the words precisely as they are printed, he has the hardihood to write thus : " The Article clearly implies, that there is power in a church to authorize certain of its members to call and appoint others to the office of the ministry which exactly meets the case of the Foreign Protestant Churches." Here to "meet the case" of Non-Episcopalians, Mr. Groode turns the Church into a church, and so in the same Article he gives three different significations to Ecclesia* On such a system it would not be difficult to make our standards teach any scheme of doctrine that the most ingenious could devise. But again, our author says — "It is quite clear that the words of this Article do not main- tain the necessity of Episcopal ordination, and consequently as the object of the article is to show the doctrine of the Church of England on the subject, it cannot be said that the Church of England maintains it." (Page 16.) The conclusion would be as he thus states it if only his premises were correct. We deny them both. (1) We hold that by those " who have public author- ity given unto them in the Congregation" or Cath- olic Church of Christ, the writers meant simply Bishops, and therefore just as far as the Article maintains the necessity of any ordination it main- tains the necessity of Episcopal ordination. But (2) where do we find his authority for saying that "the object of this Article is to show the doctrine of the ' Church of England ' on 'the necessity [or non-neces- * In this matter he has followed Archbishop Whately. See his " King- dom of Christ/' N. Y. edition, p. 157. 154 TUE FORMULARIES. sity] of Episcopal ordination?'" What is the title or heading of it ? Is it "Of Ordination? " No ! But u Of Ministering in the Congregation." What ground then does this or the general purport of the Article give for the assertion that its object was to define the doctrine of the Church upon the subject now dis- cussed? The Eeverend author goes farther still. He not only implies that in this Article alone are we to find the Church's doctrine of Ordination, but in the succeeding paragraph he affirms it, thus : " This is the only place in which our Church touches upon the question of ordination, in the abstract" These last three words are thrown in as a saving clause. Nevertheless, the sentence, as it stands, contains a manifest error ; for if the Eeverend gen- tleman's own interpretation of the Preface to the Or- dinal be taken it certainly contains some allusion to ordination in the abstract. But what have we to do with "ordination in the abstract?" We are not now discussing whether it is a sacrament conferring grace or not — nor whether it gives an indelible character — nor even whether there must be in every case the impositio manuum f The question is simply whether our Church gives the right of ordaining exclusively to Bishops, — whether she directly or indirectly acknowledges that ordination can be lawfully performed by any other than a Bishop ? Does the Eeverend gentleman mean then to tell his readers that the 23d is the only Article [or "place"] in which our Church touches upon this subject? The reader has but to turn to the 36th Article and there see what the Church does really say upon Ordination. Its title is "Of Consecration of THE FORMULARIES. 155 Bishops and Ministers," and that of itself suffices. The assertion of the Eeverend gentleman is without foundation, and so his conclusion is rejected. The reader will observe further, that our author is not willing to adhere to the mode of interpreting the standards which he has himself laid down ; viz. : That they are to be taken in their plain literal sense; and if any doubt exist as to their meaning; reference is to be made to the other writings of the " men who drew them up." If this rule be fair and sufficient, why, we ask, does Mr. Groode, as soon as he has given us his own comment go {not to the writings of Cran- mer, Eidley and their associates, but) to what he is pleased to call an " authentic interpretation " penned about fifty -three years after the Article ? And as if even that were not enough, he proceeds to quote Bishop Burnet and Professor Hey ! Were these among the framers of our formularies ? We do not stop to consider their opinions pro or con, but simply rule them out as not called for, nor at all admissible on Mr. Goode's own showing. Among the mere opinions of other individuals at the end of the pam- phlet they would be rightly placed. Let us now prosecute our search for information as to those who in our Church's estimation are truly authorized ordainers in the Church of God. The 32d Article mentions the ministry as consist- ing of Bishops, Priests and Deacons. To one or more of those the right must belong. The 36th Article endorses and ratifies a book commonly known as the Ordinal, stating that it con- tains all things necessary to the ordination or conse- cration of the several grades of ministers, and that it 156 THE FORMULARIES. hath in it nothing superstitious or ungodly. Thus, the Ordinal (in itself a Standard) becomes in an espe- cial sense authoritative, just as the book of Homilies, which is, in the same manner, endorsed in the 85th Article. To the Ordinal, then, we go ; and what do we find? That Bishops are in every case the ordainers ! The Deacon is to be set apart to his office by the Bishop alone ; the Priest by the Bishop, assisted in the lay- ing on of hands by the other Priests present ; and the Bishop by Bishops only — the Archbishop being of course one of the same Order, and receiving no different consecration or ordination. Such, then, is the Church's deliberate judgment of the matter. We ask, is there a shadow of proba- bility that if she regarded ordination performed by Presbyters or Deacons as lawful and valid, she would, without hinting any such thing, make a posi- tive rule by which she placed the authority to or- dain solely and forever in the hands of the Bishop. What is her judgment as to the Bishop and Priest? Are they only different in the degree of temporal authority and dignity they possess, but still of one Order? Let us see. We find the diaconate, the priesthood, and the episcopate are all equally called " offices," and " Orders ;" so that in this respect the Church knows no difference between these terms. As Mr. Groode suggests, however, that the word " Order" is used in some " large and general sense," we will trace the matter. We find in the form for ordaining Deacons, the Collect commencing " Almighty God, who by thy divine providence hast ap- pointed divers Orders of Ministers in thy Church, and didst THE FORMULARIES. 157 inspire thine Apostles to choose into the Order of Deacons the first martyr, St. Stephen, with others, mercifully behold these thy servants now called to the like Office and administration." And when the Bishop lays on his hands, he says, " Take thou authority to execute the Office of a Deacon, " etc., etc. In the form for ordaining Priests we find a pre- cisely similar course pursued, except that the word Order is even less used than in the former case. We have the Collect : " Almighty God, giver of all good things, who by thy Holy Spirit hath appointed divers Orders of Ministers in the Church, mercifully behold these thy servants now called to the Office of Priesthood," etc., etc. And at the laying on of hands the Bishop says, " Receive the Holy Ghost for the Office and work of a Priest," etc., etc. Passing on now to the form for Bishops, we find the same Collect, thus, " Almighty God, giver of all good things, who by thy Holy Spirit hast appointed divers Orders of Ministers in thy Church, mercifully behold this thy servant now called to the work and Ministry of a Bishop," etc., etc. And at the laying on of hands the sentence is, " Receive the Holy Ghost for the Office and work of a Bishop in the Church of God," etc., etc. Thus, the same course is pursued with all ; each of the three is referred to as an " Order," instituted in the Church by the Holy Grhost, each is also styled an " office " and ministration ; therefore, all are dis- tinct. ^There is for each a distinct service, in which the person ordained is instructed and pledged with reference to the special duties of the Order or Office to which he is about to be admitted, and he who reads 14 158 THE FORMULARIES. over the charges given in each particular case will see clearly that, however sophistical pleaders may attempt to identify one with the other, the Church makes them fully that which she declares God himself made them — three separate Orders of ministers. The Deacon is pledged to assist the Priest in di- vine service, and especially when he ministereth the Holy Communion, etc., etc. ; he is also reverently to obey his ordinary and other chief ministers, and them to whom the charge and governance over him is committed. The Priest is pledged to preach the true doctrine of the Word of God, to minister the Holy Sacra- ments, to drive away errors, to maintain discipline in his own Church, and to be obedient to his Bishop, as in the case of the Deacon. The Bishop is pledged, like the Priest, to teach true doctrine, and drive away false, and to be as far as possible a setter-forth and ensample of righteous- ness and godliness, and especially a maintainer of gentleness and peace. In addition to this, he is to punish, according to such authority as he has by God's Word, and the laws of the realm, such as are disorderly or " criminous " within his diocese; and, lastly, he is to be faithful in ORDAINING, sending, and laying hands upon others I This, we think, effectually disposes of the " parity " theory. It is a tenet which the Church of England rejects, and which is held only by her enemies. Our Author, as one reason for supposing that the Church does not truly consider the Episcopate a dis- tinct " Order/' says, on page 29 : " We find that the Services never apply the word order or or- THE FORMULARIES. 159 dering to the making of Bishops, but only in the case of Dea- cons and Priests, and speak of the consecration of Bishops." The Reverend gentleman must have a very de- fective copy of the Prayer Book in his possession. We have some three or four various editions before us as we write, and in all of them the form by which Bishops are set apart to their sacred office is called the form of "ordaining or consecrating!" So it stands in the English Ordinal, so it stands in the American ; and yet Mr. Goode says the Services never apply the word to the making of a Bishop !* The Preface to the Ordinal is too important to be passed over. In the English Prayer Book of the present day the first paragraph of it reads thus : " It is evident unto all men, diligently reading Holy Scripture and ancient authors, that, from the Apostles 1 time, there have been these Orders of Ministers in Chrisfs Church — Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. Which Offices were evermore had in such reverend estimation, that no man might presume to execute any of them, except he were first called, tried, examined, and known * It did not occur to us until the above was in the printer's hands, that possibly the Author meant the services of 1549, or 1552, and not those of all dates, as we understood him. If so, we grant that there is a measure of truth in his remark. It so happens that in the title of the special service we read, not u the Ordering" but the " Consecrating of a Bishop." But is the word u Order," as he says, not used at all? Let the Collect, quoted above, answer that question, and prove his inaccuracy. It strikes us, however, that the Reverend gentleman will not gain any- thing by making so much of titles. His point, if sustained, would prove too much. The title of the Ordinal, as first published, was, "The Form and Manner of Making and Consecrating Bishops, Priests, and Deacons;" consequently no one of the three was to be ordained! But a truce to such trifling. It is surely apparent that the words are used in common for the solemn act by which men are set apart to the service of God in the ministry; and, so far as the word "consecration" is applied to the setting apart of a Bishop, it is simply to give it higher honor. No other author, we fancy, would hope to prove that a Bishop is simply a Pres- byter by showing that his ordination is called consecration ! Dr. Redmayne, in his replies to the queries of 1540, shows plainly that the words were all used interchangeably. He says : " As for making, that is to say, ordaining and consecrating of Priests, I think it specially belong- eth to the office of a Bishop." 160 THE FORMULARIES. to have such qualities as are requisite for the same ; and also by public Prayer, with Imposition of Hands, were approved and admitted thereunto by lawful Authority. And therefore, to the intent that these Orders may be continued, and reverently used and esteemed in this Church, no man shall be accounted or taken to be a lawful Bishop, Priest, or Deacon, in this Church, or suffered to execute any of the said Functions, except he be called, tried, examined, and admitted thereunto, according to the form hereafter following, or hath had formerly Episcopal Consecration or Ordination." Here then we have, (1st) an assertion that it is evi- dent from Holy Scripture and ancient authors that the three Orders of ministers have been in the Church of Christ since the Apostles' time. (2nd) That no one might ever presume to execute any of these offices, except he "vvere first admitted thereto by prayer and the imposition of hands by lawful authority, which, coupled with the restriction of the ordaining power to the Bishop in the forms that follow, gives us the Church's decision as to those who have au- thority to call and send laborers into the Lord's vine- yard. (3rd) We have a declaration of dutiful desire to perpetuate the Apostolical Orders, and to that end a law that no man shall be accounted a lawful Bishop, Priest, or Deacon, unless he has been ordained ac- cording to the form given, or hath previously received Episcopal ordination. Mr. Goode does not like this " Preface." It is very sure that he would not have written it, for he would not venture to pronounce upon the " diligence" of those who cannot see in Holy Scripture and ancient authors that which the Church declares to be evident/ And yet, though he likes it so little, the Eeverend gentleman will not confess that it destroys his case. He argues that because the Twenty-Third Article THE FORMULARIES. 161 does not positively and totidem verbis declare for Episcopacy, it is not against him. Now, when he meets another portion of the Standard, of equal au- thenticity, which does positively assert Episcopacy, he has yet another turn — it cannot be against him, because it does not deal in negatives, or does not ex- plicitly deny the validity of Presbyterian ordination ! Such a mode of meeting arguments, or striving to evade the force of authorities, may suit the purposes of a party, but will never aid in ascertaining the doc- trine of the Church. As regards doctrines and prac- tices that are opposed to each other, we have yet to learn that the positive announcement or adoption of the one is not of necessity the rejection or condem- nation of the other. When our Church admits in- fants to holy baptism, she thereby repudiates the notions and practices of those called " Baptists," who refuse to admit them. When she teaches the Eternal Sonship and proper Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, she certainly leaves no room for Arian heresy. And so when, following Scripture and the primitive Church, she places in the hands of her Bishops ex- clusively the right to ordain, and declares that God hath appointed divers Orders in his Church, she gives no margin and makes no allowance for those who teach that God hath done nothing of the sort, and who have substituted for the Apostolic mode of ordi- nation one by Presbyters, devised by Calvin and others, sixteen hundred years after Christ. The as- sertion of her own principles is her condemnation of theirs. We consider this principle, that the adoption of a thing is the repudiation of its opposite, so obvious, 14* 162 THE FORMULARIES. that we are ashamed even to spend a sentence in sup- porting it ; but some make a merit of denying it, and Mr. Goode hopes to secure allowance for his theory, in spite of it. Let us see, then, what is said upon the matter by the learned Dr. Whittaker, the great oppo- nent of the Jesuits Bellarmine and Stapleton. The latter argued that, although the Church did not, or might not, receive all the parts of what he called Scripture, yet she did not reject them. Whittaker replies : '•But, I pray you, what is the difference between not receiv- ing and rejecting f Absolutely none ! He who does not receive God rejects him ; and so the Church plainly rejected those Scrip- tures which formerly it did not receive." — {Disputations, A. D. 1588, Parker Society ed., page 230.) On this same principle, then, we hold that our Church, having deliberately adopted Episcopacy as consonant with the word of Grod and the constitution of the Primitive Church, by so doing sufficiently re- pudiated Presbyterianism, as not warranted by either. So also, in not admitting the right of Presbyters to ordain, she denied that they had such right ; in con- fining it solely to the Bishop, she taught plainly that no other did or could possess it. But to return to the Ordinal. Our author says, concerning the Preface : " The first part is the simple statement of a fact, without in- tent on the part of the authors to pass upon other forms of gov- ernment , but as giving a sufficient warrant for their own." We cannot for a moment accept so bare and weak an interpretation. The Preface is not the " simple statement of a fact," but a confident appeal to Holy Scriptures and to primitive Christian antiquity. It has nothing to do, pro or con, with any other forms of THE FOKMULARIES. 163 government, for it knows no others. It announces as always existing in Christ's Church one form, and that one Episcopal. And it does not state this merely as a "sufficient warrant 11 for adopting Episco- pacy, but as indicating a rule which the Church feels bound to follow. As regards the concluding sentence in the portion of the Preface quoted above, the Eeverend gentleman says: " The second part, * or hath had Episcopal consecration/ etc., was not added until a hundred years after, that is to say in 1661, by the Laudean party under Charles II." Here the author wanders from the subject. The inquiry is not " What did the Church teach ? " but "What does she teach, what are her doctrine and practice upon the point debated ? " This being so, it matters little how or by whom any portion of any formulary was written, so long as it is now really and truly a part of it. But the sentence referred to has been for two hundred years truly and properly a part of the standard, and is to-day in full force, and cannot be evaded, either in the actual administration of the Church, or in discussing her principles. It is a very weak and unworthy way of meeting authoritative declaration to give its authors a " nick- name," and so pass the matter by ; and it is, to say the least, rather disrespectful for a clergyman so to treat those Bishops and Presbyters who were the last reviewers of his own Liturgy. But the chief objection to this remark of Mr. Groode is that it is entirely without foundation in fact. The words he specifies were put where they now stand at the last revision of the Prayer Book in 164 THE FORMULARIES. 1661-2, but the men who placed them there were not a "party," and were not "Laudean." They were the Bishops and Doctors of the Church in Convocation assembled. Their work received the sanction of Parliament and King, and thus became the law of the land as well as the law of the Church. In any little sketch or text-book of English Church history the names of those illustrious divines may be met with, and to any such list we point as a sufficient reply to the charge implied in the name " Laudean." But if a more specific and pointed disproof of that charge be required, we give it in the following words : " Glad enough, no doubt, would the Laudean party have been if they could have introduced various alterations into our formu- laries at this time. But, providentially, the power of doing so TTAS NOT IN THEIR HANDS " ! This we print verbatim from page 480 (Amer. ed.) of a work on baptism by the Eev. Wm. Goode him- self!! But Laudean or not Laudean, did the Church, in 1661, by putting the sentence "or hath had formerly Episcopal ordination" where it now stands, introduce a new principle? Did it alter its doctrine or its practice ? Not a whit ! Let the reader but once more throw his eye over the Preface as given above, and consider that the men who. drew it up, and all their associates, had been Bpiscopally ordained in connection with the Church of Eome, and that they and their successors had always received persons so ordained as soon as they were satisfied of their or- thodoxy, and he will perceive at once that the spirit of the paragraph is not changed by the addition. THE FOBMULAKIES. 165 But that no change, either in spirit, doctrine or prac- tice was effected by it, will be still more evident when we inform the reader that words of the same meaning as those added in 1661 were always to he found in the said Preface previous to that date. The reviewers simply changed one form of expression for another more correct and appropriate. The Preface, as written by Cranmer and published in 1549, and republished in the Eevised Liturgy of 1552, contained the following sentence : "And therefore, to the intent these Orders should be con- tinued, and reverently used and esteemed in this Church of England, it is requisite that no man (not being at this present bishop, priest, nor deacon) shall execute any of them except he be called, tried, examined, and admitted according to the form hereafter following." — (Cranmer's Remains, Parker So- ciety, p. 519 ; Keeling' s Liturgioe Britannicce, London, 1851, p. 367 ; Cardivell's two Books of Common Prayer Compared, Ox- ford, 1852. p. 398.) The continuation of the phrase "at this present" etc., for a space of one hundred and ten years is itself a wonder. The Convocation of 1661 removed it and substituted the less awkward equivalent, "hath for- merly had Episcopal ordination or consecration." This simple fact, which Mr. Goode is careful not to divulge, effectually settles his implied charge of un- fair dealing and innovation. The principles and practice of the Church, as^re- gards the subject before us, have undergone no change whatever. The formularies have, from the very beginning, taught the same doctrine that they teach now, and we shall see presently that the laws and usages have preserved a similar consistency or unity during the whole period of the Church's history. 166 THE FORMULARIES. But something more may be learned as to the real doctrine of the Church from the American Liturgy. Mr. Goode has very properly said that the doctrine of the two Churches is identical, and whatever fixes it for the one fixes it for the other. Remembering this principle, then, let us examine the Book of Common Prayer of the Protestant Episcopal Church. We find retained in it every passage of the English book which teaches the divine institution of a three- fold ministry. Not one is omitted ; not one is modified in tone so as to be less confident or authori- tative. But beyond this we find in a service that is not in the English book the assertion of her belief in a di- vinely established ministry of divers Orders, and in Apostolical Succession. In her solemn addresses to the throne of grace at the institution of ministers, she says as in the Ordinal : " Most gracious God, the giver of all good and perfect gifts, who of thy divine providence hast appointed divers orders in thy Church, give thy grace, we beseech thee, to thy servant/' etc., etc. And then : "Oh Holy Jesus, who hast purchased to thyself an universal Church, and hast promised to be with the ministers of Apostol- ical Succession to the end of the world, be graciously pleased topless the ministry and service of him," etc., etc.* These two collects, placed side by side, are of them- selves a sufficient refutation of all that Mr. Goode has put forth as the doctrine of the Church. While they remain it will be but waste of time and labor to argue that the Church countenances those who reject * See Appendix D. THE FORMULARIES. 167 the divinely appointed ministry of divers Orders, to which, as the ministry of "Apostolical Succession," she holds that the special presence of the Lord Jesus is promised ! This closes our examination of the formularies. We believe our appeal to them has not been in vain. They speak in no uncertain tone. CHAPTEE VIII. LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE Standards already treated of do not contain a formal code of laws for the government or discipline of the Church, nor can we with certainty deduce from them even the general principles on which, in many instances, that government should be conducted. Such a code, then, was necessary, and it was produced (as the common law was) by suc- cessive enactments from time to time. It consists of, or is to be found in, Canons passed in Convocation, official injunctions, articles of inquiry, etc., etc. In connection with the founding of this system of ecclesiastical government, we observe that the English Eeformers exhibited in it the same modera- tion and judgment as in other matters. Whatever in the existing system was evil in itself or in its ten- dencies, they cast out, but whatever was Scriptural or tended to profit, they retained without caring whether it was used by Eome or not. Upon these principles the claim of the Pope to have supremacy in the visible Church, or to be in any way superior to the other Bishops, jure divino, was rejected as mere groundless and arrogant as- sumption; but a ministry of " divers Orders," and (168) LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 169 the government of the Church, by Bishops having full Scriptural warrant, were retained as not only lawful, but unquestionable ; and even the regulations of the old Canon law, so far as they did not maintain things expressly rejected, were held to be in force until the Church reformed had enacted another code to take its place.* That Canon law. placed the ordi- nary government of the Church in the hands of the Bishops as theirs of right, f and positively prohibited any one from acting as a Priest or minister until he had received Episcopal ordination. This was the system under the old regime, and because it had not originated under it, but had divine ^ warrant and the sanction of the Church, of Christ, in every age it was preserved, avouched in the Stand- ards already considered, acted upon in the adminis- tration of ecclesiastical affairs, and either actually enjoined or else assumed in every law and ordinance set forth in the English Church. Notwithstanding the speculations about parity of u Order " between the Bishop and the Priest, no divine of that day had ever heard or " read that any but a Bishop might ordain a Priest." And so when the papal power was abjured and true doctrine brought in, those, and only those, who had previously received ordination at the hands of a Bishop, were acknowledged * Percival Wyburn describing the state of the Church in England even in the time of Elizabeth, says : " The greater part of the Canon law is still in force, and all ecclesiastical censures are principally taken from it." — {Zurich Letters 2nd series, p. 359. Parker Soc'y.) f Theirs by right divine.- It is true that the Canonists in order to flatter and uphold the Pope, taught that the jus divinum was derived through him rather than inherent in the Episcopal office ; but this inno- vation of doctrine as to the medium does not affect the primary belief, nor indeed their own belief of the fact, 15 170 LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. and permitted to act as ministers of the Church. There was no new rule adopted by which those who might claim to have received authority or " ordination " from Presbyters only, might be recognized. On the contrary, as already stated, every Canon, injunction or article of inquiry issued during or since the Re- formation either distinctly reaffirms the principle referred to, or takes that principle for granted. Mr. Goode, knowing very well that these " Stand- ards of our Church " not only give no shadow of support to his theory, but oppose it in every partic- ular, has taken especial pains to avoid them ; and so hostile are they to the views which he and his disci- ples wish to introduce, that in all probability their right to be regarded as standards will be strenuously denied. The most plausible objection to them is that they are not all now in force ; but this is mere trifling. They were, when enacted and until suspended by some new regulation or rendered unnecessary by lapse of time, as obligatory as any law could possibly be, and in their spirit (being based upon principles which are the same perpetually) they are binding still. Clergymen of the English Church do not feel bound now-a-days to use in private or ordinarily the gowns, hoods, quoifs or night-caps enjoined nearly three hundred years ago, for conformity to the letter of the Canon in this particular would be a violation of its spirit ; but they are bound to observe such decency of apparel as shall indicate their calling and secure for them the respectful regard of the people. And so with many other matters. We do not refer then to the Canons and other regulations of the LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 171 English Church as all of them binding now, in the letter of them (least of all upon members of the American branch), but as binding in the spirit of them — as laws positively enacted and obeyed in the past, and therefore as true and proper exponents of the Church's doctrines or principles. Let us look into them then and see what light they throw upon the question — Which is the correct form of Church Government, and what constitutes a true and lawful ordination to the Christian Ministry ? We date the establishment of the Church of Eng- land as a free Eeformed Church from the year 1547, when on the death of Henry VIII. his admirable son Edward VI. ascended the throne. During that, year and before proper steps could be taken by ecclesiasti- cal authority for regulating the affairs of the Church, the King (or Archbishop Cranmer and the Council in his name and with his concurrence) issued injunc- tions for the prevention of evil and the advancement of true religion. In these all parsons, curates, etc., are ordered to procure " one book of the whole Bible, of the largest volume in English," and also "The Paraphrasis of Erasmus, also in English, upon the Gospels (which was all of the work then published) and to have the " Same set up in some convenient place within the said church that they have cure of, whereas their parishioners may most commodiously resort unto the same and read the same." Of the work thus authorized we shall have more to say hereafter. In the same injunctions (Edward VI., A. D., 1547) there is an order concerning the treatment of those 172 LAWS AXD OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. who though not well learned, and but lately mere "mass priests" were yet truly ordained men. "Forasmuch as their office and function is appointed of God, the King's Majesty willeth and chargeth all his loving subjects, that from henceforth they shall use them charitably and rever- ently, for their office and ministration sake, and especially all such as labor in setting forth God's holy word." — (Doc. Annals, Vol. L, p. 20.) In consequence of the great number of persons in the ministry who being either heretical or ignorant, could not be trusted to preach, all such public teach- ing (save by such as were specially licensed) was prohibited by royal proclamation, and it was ordered that if any one should take upon him to preach openly, except the Bishop, parson, vicar, etc., in their own cure, he shall be forthwith committed to prison. And among the articles of inquiry issued in the same year were, whether those having cure of souls did in their absence allow any unqualified persons to minis- ter in their parish, or at any time admit any man to preach, who had not been lawfully licensed thereto. (Idem, pp. 27, 44.) In 1548 another proclamation was issued for re- straining of heretical and seditious preaching by which every person who undertook to preach was required to exhibit his license to "the parson or curate and two honest men of the parish," and the Archbishop and Bishops were charged to punish those who broke this law. A similar proclamation was made in 1550. These facts show conclusively that if even the Priests whose Orders were unques- tioned, were yet restrained in the exercise of their ministry, there could not be the least toleration of LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 173 those who without lawful ordination might take upon them to preach or perform other clerical acts. In 1549 was published the Ordinal which, in its Preface, asserts the divine institution of a threefold ministry and the continuance or Succession of the same from the time of the Apostles, and which in each of its divisions gives, as of right, the power of ordination to the Bishop, and to him exclusively.* In 1552 the second Prayer Book, and the "Articles of Eeligion" were published, and in the latter the Ordinal was specially endorsed, as containing all things necessary to ordination, and as being entirely free from superstition. Thus it was defended against the attacks of Eomanists on the one hand and of extravagant or " Scythian" Eeformers on the other. At that time the Church's great difficulty was the Eomish party, and therefore we find absolute prohi- bition of all public and private celebrations of mass, or any other Eomish service " contrary to the form and order of the Book of Communion/' — the Book of Common Prayer. But even in the reign of Edward there were some Protestants who, filled with their own devices, separated themselves from the Church and procured ministers or teachers who of course were not Episcopally ordained. Now, if the theory of Mr. Goode were correct (that Church government is a matter of indifference — that individual or par- ticular churches may choose whatever form they please — that power of ordination belongs of right to others as well as Bishops, and that our Church ac- * In the ordination of Presbyters the other Priests (or Presbyters) present join with the Bishop in laying on of hands, but this fact does not affect the statement made above. The Bishop ordains authoritatively; they concur. 15* 174 LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. knowledges all this), we should find our Keformers recognizing Separatists as constituting independent " churches, " treating them with fraternal courtesy and admitting their ministers to be truly ordained. But what is the fact ? Among the articles of inquiry issued by Bishop Eidley in his primary visitation of the Diocese of London, A.D. 1550, is the following : " Whether any of the Anabaptists' sect or other use notoriously any unlawful or private conventicle wherein they do use doctrine or administration of sacraments, separating themselves from the rest of the parish?" And further, among the injunctions given at the same visitation, we find it ordered: " That no persons use to minister the sacraments, or in open audience of the congregation presume to expound the Holy Scrip- tures, or to preach, before they be lawfully called and authorized in that behalf." — [Doc. Annals, i. 96.) Here then, during the very time when the formu- laries were being composed, we find those belonging to Anabaptists' and other "sects," who, though they had not been ordained by a Bishop, presumed "to use doctrine or administration of sacraments," de- scribed as not " lawfully called and authorized." During the reign of Bloody Mary, Popery was re- vived and Protestants persecuted to the death, and so at the accession of Elizabeth it was necessary to go over nearly the same ground as at the beginning. Unlicensed preaching was prohibited, the divine in- stitution of the ministry was affirmed, and conformity to the doctrines, laws and usages established in the ' reign of King Edward was enjoined. In the "Inter- pretation and further consideration" of the Queen's Injunctions for the better direction of the clergy, . drawn up by the Archbishop and Bishops (A. D. LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 175 1559-60), we have special directions as to the literary and other qualifications of Deacons and Priests, and leave given to all men to object to the ordination of such as they might know to be unworthy in life or conversation. These directions were extended and repeated frequently, as we shall see, and they are part of the law of the Church to this day. In the Articles of Inquiry for the Visitation of 1559 we see the usual question about preaching, etc., by unlicensed persons, and also the following with reference to Eomanists and Puritans : " Whether you know any man in your parish, secretly or in unlawful conventicles, say or hear mass, or any other service prohibited by law?" — [Idem, p. 248.) In the year 1560, it having been found that sundry persons infected with pernicious opinions had arrived in England, and were promulgating their views, causing " great danger of corruption and of increase of sects, contrary to the unity of Christ's Church," the Queen and Council commanded the Archbishop and other Bishops to visit the places troubled with these "sectaries," and openly to examine and try them "touching their phanatical and heretical opinions," and if they refused to be reconciled, ordered them to be banished from the kingdom within twenty days, on pain of imprisonment and forfeiture of all their goods. The same proclamation forbids all persons to " Make any conventicles or secret congregations, either to read, or to preach, or to minister the sacraments, or to use any manner of divine service." — (Idem, p. 293.) In this assuredly we have no acknowledgment of the right to set up "particular churches," and no very cordial recognition of the Orders of " our Non- Episcopal brethren." 176 LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. Proclamations similar to the above were issued three or four times during the reign of Elizabeth, and were rendered necessary by the evil teaching of immigrants from the Continent, who, going to Eng- land " under pretence of flying from persecution," sought to. substitute their own doctrines and practices for those of the Church so happily reformed. In the year 1564 there were issued "Advertise- ments for due order in public administration of com- mon prayers and using the holy sacraments." They were directed against the sectaries above referred to, and all within the Church who had imbibed any portion of their spirit. They "occasioned the first open separation of the Nonconformists from the Church of England." These, the Presbyterianizing churchmen, were beginning already to be a grievous cause of trouble. They commenced with objecting to clerical vestments, pleading conscience, and claim- ing the right to leave undone things commanded only by ecclesiastical authority. The Church, after having tried lenity and expostulation in vain, met them with the direct affirmation that though vest- ments, rites and ceremonies were things indifferent, and such as on proper occasion, and by proper au- thority, might be changed or set aside, yet that as no such occasion had arisen, and as the authorities con- tinued to approve the things objected to, those re- fusing conformity would be regarded as obstinate and contentious, and punished accordingly. In the same "Advertisement" we find the direc- tions as to the qualifications of Deacons and Priests set forth more at large, and a protestation of intention to observe order and uniformity ordered to be signed LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 177 by all persons seeking admission to the ministry. These were drawn up by Archbishop Parker and five other Bishops as Commissioners, and were issued by ■ the Queen. — {Ibid, vol. i., pp. 321, 331.) In the year 1557, Archbishop Parker held a visit- ation of his Province, with especial reference to the Diocese of Norwich, where sundry evils had crept in. These were the fruit of the puritanic tendencies of Bishop Parkhurst, concerning whom Secretary Cecil wrote, " He is blamed even of the best sort for his remissness in ordering his clergy. He winketh at Schismatics and Anabap- tists, as I am informed." Among the articles then enquired of were the fol- lowing: : Whether those holding ecclesiastical offices in connection with Cathedrals, such as " Deans, Arch- deacons, and other dignitaries," " every one of them be ministers or not?" as regards prebendaries, etc., what Orders they be inV whether any minister did " Openlie preach or teach any unwholesome, erroneous, sedi- tious doctrine," or "persuade or move any not to conform them- selves to the order of religion reformed, restored, and received by public authority in this Church of England;" "or do say, teach, or maintain" "that it is lawful for any man, without outward calling of the Magistrates appointed* [i.e. Bishops], * Magistrate means, literally, one excercising a mastery: more gener- ally the person who makes or administers law. And as there are eccle- siastical laws, so there are, of course, ecclesiastical magistrates. Of these, Bishops are the chief. Persons not accustomed to this use of the word, and doubting its propriety, are referred to the 34th Article. " Whosoever through his private judgment willingly 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 rebuked openly * * * as he that offend- eth against the common order of the Church, and hurteth the authority of the Magistrate, and woundeth the consciences of weak brethren." Contrast with this the 37th Article, the title of which is " Of the Civil Magistrate." Bishop Home uses the word as we have done above 178 LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. to fake upon him any ministry of Christ's Church?" — (Doc. Annals, Vol. i., pp. 337, etc., etc.) In the Visitation Articles of the same Archbishop Parker, 1569, there are the following inquiries, M Whether there be in your Parishes * * * * anye that com- monlye absente themselves from theyre owne churches ; or otherwise idely or lewdly prophaneth the Sabbath day? Any that keepe any secret conventicles, preachings, lectures, or readings contrary to the lawes?" and " Whether there be any parsons that intrude themselfe, and presume to exercise any kinde of minister y in the Church of God without imposition of hands and ordinary aucthQrity ?" — (Doc. Annals, Vol. i. p. 337). Up to the year 1571, there had been no regulation for the receiving of Eomish priests who had aban- doned their superstitions. All that was required of them was a general avowal of Protestant principles. But it was found that, for the want of some stricter test, many persons, who were " enemies to the true religion," were admitted to serve in the Church, and, therefore, in the well-known law, 13 Elizabeth, Cap. 12, confirming the standards, and requiring all who sought admission to the ministry to subscribe the Articles, it was ordered that those who had been ordained by some form other than that set forth by authority, should be received as ministers, or allowed to have cure of souls if they subscribed to the Arti- cles. This provision, made expressly with reference to Eoman Catholic Priests, was claimed by some holding: Presbvterian Orders as extending to them, seeing they also were " ordained " by a form different from that set forth by authority.* Their claim was * Mr. Goode agrees with the individual whom he designates as the "notorious puritan.*' Travers, in supposing that this law allowed Pres- byterian ministers to enter the Church after subscription ; he says (page 48j, " The parties more particularly in the eye of the framers of the Act LAWS AXD OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 179 rejected, as we shall see in the next chapter, and that rejection shows plainly that the Church did not re- gard them as validly ordained, if ordained at all. From this time forth the Puritans were the great difficulty, the chief disturbers of the Church's peace. They began, as we have said, by objecting to the surplice, etc., but soon extended their opposition to several of the ceremonies, Jhen to the entire Prayer Book; and, gathering boldness as they proceeded, they openly attacked the whole administration of the Church ; teaching that it was not yet fully reformed, and that, as there was no scriptural authority for the offices of Archbishop, Archdeacon, etc., etc., these offices should be abolished.* To check them, there were various proclamations issued, and laws passed " against the despisers or breakers of the Orders pre- scribed in the Book of Common Prayer," in which •were probably (?) those ordained by the Romish form, but the application of the clause was of course general." We beg the Reverend gentleman's pardon. It was not general. The Government, as well as the Authori- ties of the Church, decided against any such extension of it. * The progressive course of Puritanism is well displayed in Lord Ba- con's "Advertisement touching Controversies," and in the following extracts from Bishop Cooper's Admonition [A.D. 1589] : "At the beginning some learned and godly preachers, for private respects in themselves, made strange to wear the surplice, cap, or tippet; but yet so that they declared themselves to think the thing indifferent, and not to judge evil of such as did use them. Shortly after rose up other, defending that they were not things indifferent, but distained with Antichristian idolatry, and therefore not to be suffered in the Church. Not long after came other sort affirming, that those matters touching apparel were but trifles, and not worthy of contention in »the Church, but that there were greater things far, of more weight and importance, and indeed touching faith and religion, and therefore meet to be altered in a Church rightly reformed; as the Book of Common Prayer, the Ad- ministration of Sacraments, the Government of the Church, the Election of Ministers, and a number of other like. Fourthly, now break out another sort, earnestly affirming and teaching that ice have no Church, no Bishops, no Ministers, no Sacraments, and, therefore, that all who love Jesus Christ ought, with all speed, to separate themselves from our congregations because our assemblies are profane, wicked, and Anti- ehriitian." ISO LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. reference is made to "diversity of rites and cere- monies, disputations and contentions, schisms and divisions already arisen' 1 in place of "one godly and uniform order ;" and all Archbishops, Bishops, jus- tices, mayors, etc., are charged and commanded to " Put in execution the Act for the Uniformity of Common Prayer, and Administration of Sacraments," " neither favoring nor dissembling with one person nor other who doth neglect, despise, or seek to alter the godly rites set forth in the said book/' but that they shall "apprehend him, and cause him to be imprisoned." And further, " If any persons shall, either in private houses or in public places, make assemblies, and therein use other rites of Common Prayer and administration of the Sacraments than is prescribed in the said book, or shall maintain in their houses any persons being notoriously charged, by books or preaching, to attempt the alteration of the said Orders, they shall see such persons punished with all severity according to the laws of this realm, by pains appointed in the said act." — [Idem, p. 386.) Among the " Constitutions and Canons Ecclesias- tical," passed A.D. 1571 we find it ordered that the Bishop " Shall receive no traveller or unknown person to a share in the income of -the clergy, or to any ecclesiastical ministry except he shall bring with him commendatory letters from that Bishop from whose Diocese he may have come. And again, that he shall suffer no one to be engaged in the ministry of the Church who will not receive imposition of hands." — (CardwelV s Synod- alia, vol. i. pp. 113, 114, 115). Among the Articles questioned at the primary visitation of Archbishop Grindal (who succeeded Parker, A.D. 1575), is the following: "Whether any person or persons not being ordered at least for a Deacon, or licensed by the ordinary [i. e. as a lay reader], do say Common Prayer openly in your Church or Chapel/' etc., etc. " Whether there be any in your parish that openly or pri- vately say mass or hear mass, or any other kind of service or prayer than is set forth by the laws of this realm?" And LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 181 " Whether any Priest or minister be come into this diocese out of any other diocese, to serve any cure here, without letters tes- timonial of the ordinary from whence he came, under his au- thentic seal and hand, to testify the cause of his departing from thence, and of his behavior there. )7 — [Doc. Annals, Vol. i., pp. 404, 407.) We would invite the reader's especial attention to these articles, as we shall have occasion to refer to them again. At this time the regulations for receiving candid- ates for Orders were again set forth, but still more plainly and fully than before. We find them in the " Canons," or Articles agreed upon in "the Convoca- tion or Synod holden at Westminster/' A. D. 1575. They direct, I. "That none shall be admitted Deacon or Minister, but such as shall bring to the Bishop satisfactory testimonials of honest life and sound doctrine, as set forth in the Articles of religion, and shall subscribe to the said Articles, and shall be able to render to the Bishop in Latin an account of his faith, agreeable to the same ; that the Deacon shall be of the age of twenty-three years, and ' shall continue in that office the space of a whole year, at the least, before he be admitted to the Order of priesthood ;' that neither of these Orders be given, except on a Sunday or holy day, and in the face of the Church, and in such manner and form, and with all such other circumstances as are appointed by the book entituled, ' The Form and Manner of Making and Consecrating Bishops, Priests, and Deacons/ " II. " That no Bishop shall give either of the said Orders to any that be not of his own diocese (other than graduates resiant in either of the Universities), unless they be dimitted under the hand and seal of that Bishop of whose diocese they are, and not upon letters dimissory of any Chancellor or other officer to any Bishop." III. That none be admitted to any cure or spiritual func- tion who, during Mary's reign, had been "made Priests, being children, and otherwise utterly unlearned." We give the words of the injunction to which the Canon refers. It directs also that " straight and diligent examination be used in the ad- mission of all curates to the charge of any cure." IV. " That diligent inquisition be made in every diocese for all such as have forged and counterfeit letters of Orders, 16 1S2 LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. that they may be deposed by the Commissioners Ecclesias- tical/''* * V. " That the Bishops by their letters do certify one to an- other the names of such counterfeit Ministers, to the end they be not suffered to serve in any other diocese." VI. That none be ordained sine titulo, etc., etc. TIL M That none shall be admitted to any dignity or bene- fice with cure of souls, unless he be qualified according to tho tenor of the first Article," etc., etc. VIII, That all licenses for preaching hitherto granted be re- voked, and reissued to "such as shall be thought meet for that office." Nothing could be more strict than the observance of the settled order of the Church required by these Canons, which, the reader will observe, were adopted at a Synod held under the auspices of Archbishop Grindal. — (CardicelVs SynodaJia, Vol. i., pp. 132, etc.) In 1583, the celebrated John Whitgift became Archbishop of Canterbury, and two years after he presided at a Convocation in w ich these Articles were re-enacted ; and it was further decreed that no Bishop (on pain of suspension) should admit any to holy Orders who were not of the quality [or " abil- ity "] required by them, and that persons unqualified were not to be admitted to any benefice. In 1584, the same directions were given by the Archbishop, and three Articles, professing full con- formity, were published, without consent and sub- scription to which none might be " permitted to preach, read, catechize, minister the sacraments, or to execute any other ecclesiastical function." It was at the same time enjoined, " That none be permitted to preach or interpret the Scrip- tures, unless he be a Priest or Deacon at the least, admitted there- unto according to the laws of this realm." * The forging of such letters was frequently practised by those who yet described themselves as "men of tender consciences !" LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 183 The Puritan controversy was now at its height; the leaders of the faction had proceeded from attack- ing those dignities or Orders for which divine right was not claimed, and from censures upon the wealth, state, and authority of Bishops, to attacking the Epis- copal Order itself. They took the precise ground of Mr. Groode, that Bishops are not a separate " Order," but one and the same with Priests, and, consequently, that ordination performed by Presbyters was valid. The theory of Parity, despite its Romish origin, was adopted by them, and pushed to a length which set them in opposition to the teaching and usage of the Church in all ages.* The practice of the Continental Reformed Churches suggested the idea to them, and would, in the eyes of the least reflecting part of the public, seem to justify it ; but as soon as it was plainly advanced, it was by the authorities of the Church just as plainly repudiated. Thus we see, in the "Articles to be inquired of in the visitation of the diocese of Chichester, sede vacante" 1585, by Archbishop Whitgift, the following : "Whether doth he ['your minister'] or any other take upon them to reade lectures, or preach, being mere lay persons, or not ordered according to the lawes of this realme, or not lawfully licensed" etc., etc. — [Documentary Annals, Vol. ii. p. 23.) * From asserting that, as Bishops and Presbyters were (in their esti- mation) one, and consequently that Presbyterian ordinations were allow- able, or valid, they went on to claim that such ordinations alone were valid, and that Presbyterian government had divine right. On both these points, as well as on Separation, several of the chief men of their party dissented from them, and very many of the better informed among them, who were willing to go as far as the first, utterly rejected the second. Mr. Goode wishes to have it believed that the latter, the extreme doo- trine, was the only one advocated by the Puritans (see his Lit^cductioii; also pp. 33, 45, etc.); but every tyro knows that the very theory he sup- ports was that first propounded by them, that to which their best men clung,, and that against which the first defenders of the Church argued. 184 LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. "This/ 1 says Dr. Cardwell. "was one of the earliest declarations from authority against Orders conveyed by presbyters." It was bo because occasion for it had not previously existed. It was one of the first opportunities of assert- ing the Church's principles that occurred after it had been claimed by Travers that Presbyterian ordina- tion was valid. There were some petitions presented to the Parlia- ment in the session of 1584 by the innovating party, in which they asked, among other things, that sundry restrictions be placed upon the Bishops in the matter of ordination. These were referred to the Bishops and all rejected as " unnecessary," ''altogether need- less/' and calculated to "breed great trouble." — (Doc. Annals, Vol. ii. ; p. 9: also Strype s WMtgift, fol. ed v 1718, p. 187.) But notwithstanding the negative replies of the ecclesiastical authorities to these propositions, the House of Commons, in which there was by that time a formidable body of Puritans, sent to the Upper House a petition breathing the spirit of opposition even more strongly. It was designed, says Strype, to ''clip the wings of the Bishops and to weaken if not destroy their courts." Among its Articles was one requiring that in the act of ordination six presbyters should lay on their hands along with the Bishop. The object of this was to give a Presbj^terian character to the ordina- tion by rendering the presence and act of Presbyters as necessary as those of the Bishop. But this inno- vation also was " utterly disallowed." — (Strype' s Whit- gift, p. 178.) LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 185 The Convocation of 1597 passed Canons with re- gard to the reception of candidates, and the ordina- tion, and institution of ministers, of the same character as those already quoted, and those subsequently en- acted which are in force at the present time. — (Sy- nodalia, Vol. i., p. 147.) In March, 1603, James I. succeeded Elizabeth. In October of the same year he issued " a proclama- tion concerning such as seditiously seek reformation in Church matters" in which " chastisement" is threatened against all those " reformers" who, under pretence of " zeal, affect novelty," " whose heat tend- eth rather to combustion than reformation;" "some using public invectives against the state ecclesiastical here established, and some contemning their authority and the practice of their courts." In this document it is declared that " The estate of the Church established and the degrees and Orders of the ministers governing the same, are agreeable to the Word of God and the form of the primitive Church." Another proclamation was issued in the following year against Presbyterianizing Churchmen described as " certain ministers" and others "who under pre- tended zeal for reformation, are the chief authors of divisions and sects among the people," in which they were warned " Either to conform themselves to the Church of England and obey the same, or else to dispose of themselves and their families some other ways as to them shall seem meet. ,J — [Doc. Annals, Vol. ii. p. 80, etc.) This was followed by several circular letters from Archbishop Bancroft, requiring the strictest execu- tion of the existing laws against those who from "a 16* 186 LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. factious desire of innovation refused to yield their obedience and conformity thereunto." And though the Puritans were at that time a numerous and powerful party, they were by the diligent application of the laws cut off from the Church and made to stand out as no longer members but opponents of it. Thus showing that the Church was willing to lose adher- ents and influence rather than yield up any portion of her doctrines and constitution. What she believed to possess divine right she would not yield even for the sake of peace. Within a generation those enemies became strong enough to overthrow both the civil and ecclesiastical government, and to establish for a time their own "purer" system ; but never at any period of their his- tory were their peculiar doctrines tolerated by the Church. In good report and evil, in prosperity and in adversity she steadfastly maintained the principles upon which she had been reformed; and denounced as "schismatics" and " turbulent persons" all who sought to change them. To this fact the record of her legis- lative acts bears incontrovertible testimony. The Convocation of the same year (1604) passed the memorable enactments which are still the law of the English Church, and which as such are called "The Canons." In these the authorities compelled by the circumstances of the time to act sternly with the disorderly and malicious impugners of her forms and character, denounce all such persons as excom- municate. Ex. gra. VIII. "Whosoever shall hereafter affirm or teach that the form and manner of making or consecrating bishops, priests, or deacons containeth any thing in it that is repugnant to the Word of God, or that they who are made Bishops, Priests, or LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 187 Deacons in that form, are not lawfully made, nor ought to be accounted," etc., etc. " Let him be excommunicated ipso facto, not to be restored until he repent and publicly revoke such his wicked errors." IX. " Whosoever shall hereafter separate themselves from the communion of saints as it is approved by the Apostles 7 rules in the Church of England, and combine themselves together in a new brotherhood [not ' a new Church,' observe] accounting the Christians who are conformable to the doctrine, government, rites, and ceremonies of the Church of England, to be profane and unmeet for them to join with, let them be excommunicated ipso facto" etc., etc. X. " W T hosoever shall hereafter affirm that such ministers as refuse to subscribe to the form and manner of God's worship in the Church of England, prescribed in the Communion Book, and their adherents, may truly take unto them the name of an- other Church not established by law, and dare to presume to publish it, or that this their pretended Church hath of long time groaned under the burden of certain grievances imposed upon it," etc., etc. "Let him be excommunicated ipso facto," etc., etc. XI. " Whosoever shall affirm or maintain that there are within this realm other meetings, assemblies, or congregations of the king's born subjects than such as by the laws of this land are held and allowed, which may rightly challenge to themselves the name of true and lawful churches, let him be excommuni- cated and not restored but by the Archbishop after his repent- ance and public revocation of such his wicked errors." Ten Canons (commencing with XXXL), of too great length to be quoted, reaffirm the principles always acted on, and establish the method now fol- lowed in receiving, ordaining, and instituting minis- ters ; and as at this day they effectually exclude from our ministry all but those who have received Epis- copal ordination, so did they then 260 years ago. The same Convocation, at an adjourned sessiou in 1606, passed a body of Canons chiefly "in opposition to the principles laid down in the book of Parsons the Jesuit," in which it is maintained that the consti- tution of the Church under the Patriarchs, and under the Mosaic dispensation, indicated the will of the 188 LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. Most High that it should always have grave and reverend persons to rule and minister in it, whose offices and authority should differ in degree. This argument (used so ably by Bishop Bilson in his u Perpetual Government of Christ's Church," A. D. 1593) the Bishops and Divines conduct through an en- tire book of thirty-six lengthy Canons. In the second book they expressly defend the divine institution of Episcopacy, and the exclusive right of the Bishops to ordain. As for instance, in Canon vi. of Book ii., where they deny that any of the u second degree and Order" "had any power committed unto them at all to make ministers" while the Apostles kept the said power in their own hands. They then proceed to state that when the Apostles, to preserve order and prevent schisms, appointed some to have the " rule, government, and direction of" presbyters; and when they had " designed and chosen them to be Bishops," they communicated upon them " as well their Apos- tolical authority of or darning of ministers, and the power of the keys, as of preaching and administering the sacraments." The Seventh Canon asserts that they " do greatly err" who hold "That it was an idle course held by the primitive Churches and ancient fathers to keep the catalogue of their Bishops, or to ground arguments in some cases upon their succession, in that they were able to deduce their beginnings either from the Apostles or from some Apostolical persons ; or that the form of government used in the Apostles' times for the planting and ordering of Churches was not in many respects as necessary to . be continued in the Church afterwards" — " or that any Church since the Apostles' time, till of late years, when it received the Go-pel had not likewise Archbishops and Bishops for the government of it" — ' f or that any since the Apostles' time, till of late days, was ever held to be a lawful minister of the Word LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS 189 and Sacraments, who ivas not ordained Priest or minister by the imposition of the hands of some Bishop — or that it is with any probability to be imagined that all the Churches of Christ and ancient fathers from the beginning would ever have held it for an Apostolical rule that none but Bishops had any authority to make Priests, had they not thought and judged that the same authority had been derived unto them., the said Bishops, from the same Apostolical ordination that was committed unto Timothy and Titus, their predecessors" — "or that it doth proceed from any other than the wicked, spirit for any sort of men, what godly show soever they can pretend, to seek to discredit (as much as lieth in them) that form, of Church government which was estab- lished by the Apostles, and left by them to continue in the Church to the end of the world," etc., etc. — ( CardwelVs Synodalia, Vol. i., pp. 330 to 379 ; also Overall's Convocation Book, Oxford ed., 1844, p. 141, etc.) In 1640, Charles I. being King and Laud Arch- bishop of Canterbury, Canons were passed by Con- vocation which were merely a new setting forth of those already quoted. Knowing how bitterly Laud is spoken of, and how decidedly even Mr. Goode attributes to him the introduction of "the theory of Apostolical Succession," we are surprised to find that in the laws enacted under his presidency, there is no new element like undue severity and exclusiveness, but simply a reaffirming of the same principles stea- dily maintained in the Church for a century, and that the tone of the Canons adopted under his authority, wherein it is at all different, is even less stern than that of those issued nearly forty years before. Beside a chapter against Popish recusants, they contain one against "sectaries," and it directs that Anabaptists, Brownists, Separatists, Familists, or other sects, who "endeavor the subversion both of the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England no less than Papists do, although by another way," shall be liable to the "proceedings and penalties 190 LAWS AXD OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. which are mentioned in the aforesaid Canon, as far as they shall be appliable." When Laud and Charles were murdered, and the Puritan Commonwealth established, the Bishops and other ministers of the Church were ruthlessly driven from their dioceses and parishes, and their places were supplied by those whose loud and long-continued objections to the established religion, and whose zealous efforts to erect another more spiritual system, seemed to promise halcyon days when they would be at the helm of affairs. We need not remind the reader how the promise was fulfilled — what multi- plication of sects, what glaring heresies, what blas- phemies and fanaticism marked those dreary years in which the Church of England was under the iron heel of the persecutor. Suffice it to say that the whole nation, disgusted, terrified, and almost hope- less, eagerly sought safety in what it had discarded, brought back its King and reinstated the Church. At the Restoration, the Presbyterians, made wiser by experience, lowered their tone. They made a strong effort to gain admission to the Church; to have Episcopacy reduced to (what Mr. Goode says it really is) a mere arrangement of convenience or ex- pediency. Such an Episcopacy they were willing to receive. They asked to have the Liturgy modified to suit them, and their " Orders" acknowledged as valid. But the Convocation would not surrender a single principle ; and so the usurping ministers were thrown out of the churches from which Episcopal clergymen had been driven before, and no one was admitted to act as a Presbyter or Deacon who had not been Episcopally ordained and sworn to con- formity. LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 191 After the Savoy Conference the Liturgy was- re- vised (for the last time), and among the alterations made was that in the Preface to the Ordinal, which Mr. Goode has represented as being an innovation, but which we have already shown to be a mere change of one form of expression, for another which more plainly and appropriately conveyed the same sense. As Episcopal ordination had always been re- quired, so now the restored Church stated in terms altogether unmistakable that it always would be. There was no change whatever of the law or of prin- ciple. The Parliament adopted the proceedings of the Convocation, and by the "Act of Uniformity" determined expressly that none but those who had received Episcopal ordination should be allowed to hold preferments in the Church or administer the Sacraments. — (See Short's History Church of England, Amer. ed. ; p. 276 ; also Hume, Macaulay, etc., in loco, Carwitheris History, Statutes at Large, etc., etc.) We shall revert now to the code of 1604, for the purpose of noticing the one only reference Mr. Groode has ventured to make to the laws of his Church. Hoping to show on the part of the Anglican au- thorities a cordial recognition of a Non-Episcopal denomination, he says : "By the 55th Canon of 1604, all our Clergy are required, in the bidding of prayer before, or rather in the commencement of the sermon, to pray for ' the Church of Scotland/ Now the Church of Scotland, at the time this canon was passed, was Presbyterian, as it now is." This is a very grave mistake. The Church of Scotland was not Presbyterian as it is now, nor Pres- byterian at all in 1604. The direction in the Canons of 1604 was given simply and solely because then for 192 LAWS AXD OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. the first time the Reformed Church of Scotland, tho- roughly Episcopal in its constitution and under one reign with the English Church, had sought and been admitted to fellowship with it. At the time of the Reformation, Episcopacy was not abolished in Scotland. The supremacy of the Pope was rejected, but the Episcopal Order was not denounced even by the "Scythian Reformers" of Caledonia ; it was only declared by act of the Scottish Parliament (prepared at the request or under the influence of John Knox himself) that " Xa Bischop nor uther prelat use any jurisdiction in tymes to cum by the Bischop of Rome's authorities Iii the confession of faith presented to that Parlia- ment (1560) by the Reformers, there is no declaration of ministerial "parity," no denial of the Scriptural warrant for Episcopacy. So far indeed were the founders of the Scottish Reformed Church from the principles of modern Presbyterians that they insti- tuted a sort of Episcopacy, appointing " Superinten- dents" to whom they gave the administrative power of Bishops. And they would have given them more if it had not been that the Bishops refused to sanc- tion the Reformation, and of course would not ordain them to the Episcopal office. As these Superintendents were appointed by the Church only, the government was not satisfied with them. Bishops were an Order in the Legislature which the constitution required, and " Superintend- ents" were not Bishops appointed according to the laws of the country; therefore to maintain the order and completeness of the Parliament, and also to main- tain its own right of nomination, the government LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 193 appointed three ministers to be Bishops of Sees then vacant (1571). The Kirk protested against this (through Erskine of Dun), but its protest was not at all against the order of Bishops, but against the gov- ernment's appointing them. That right, it contended, belonged to itself, and not to the civil authority. In that very protest reference is made to "Titus, Bischop of Crete;" the Episcopate is included among the "offices God hath appointed," and it is expressly affirmed that " To take away the office of a Bischop so that no Bischop be in the Kirk, were to alter and abolish the Order that God has appointed in his Kirk." But, notwithstanding the efforts of its friends, the Superintendent system was overthrown, and Episco- pacy left without a rival. In 1575 Melville, who had just arrived from Ge- neva, organized the first opposition ever shown in Scotland to Bishops as such. He and his party, un- willing to submit to their superiors, procured an Act of the Assembly denouncing Episcopacy as unscrip- tural ; but it never became law, as it was vetoed by the Government. After the "Eaid of Euthven," however, when King James was in the hands of the conspirators, and there was no government or lawful authority in the land, the Presbyters under the pro- tection of these same conspirators, took " some bold measures towards exterminating the Episcopal Order out of the Church.' Even Robertson (himself a Scotch Presbyterian minister) testifies that it was solely owing to their want of sufficient power that they " did not deprive and perhaps excommunicate all the Bishops in Scotland." They succeeded so far as to 17 194 LAWS AXD OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. set up a system of government by General Assem- blies ; but the restoration of order and authority changed all this. Eobertson says : ""When the King regained his liberty, things put on a very different aspect. Such laws were passed as completely over- threw the [new and usurped] constitution of the Church." Assemblies were pronounced illegal, and Episco- pacy restored to its proper position. Soon after this, various causes conspired to weaken the power of the Sovereign, and personal dislike to at least one or two of the leading Bishops rendered him less anxious to imperil his own cause by uphold- ing theirs. His turbulent Nobles and still more tur- bulent Presbyters forced from him concessions which legalized the sitting of Assemblies and Kirk-sessions, and reduced the Episcopal office to a sort of Moder- atorship. In 1591 they gained more still, and in 1592 Presbyterianism triumphed, and had full sway. But when, by very disagreeable experience, it was found that such concessions only served to make the "ministers" more unreasonable, and to threaten se- rious attacks on his own constitutional rights, the King roused himself once more, and " humbled their power." In so doing he did not act at all against the will of his people. So odious had the self-ap- pointed " leading men" of the Presbyterians become to their own brethren and to the public, that their fall gave general pleasure. In two General Assem- blies " a majority declared in favor of the measures which were agreeable to the King" (A. D. 1597), thus showing that the restoration of Church order was pleasing to them. The convoking of General Assemblies without the royal permission was then declared illegal, the right of appointing pastors to LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 1^0 principal towns was vested in the crown, and the per- secuted Bishops were restored to the enjoyment of the temporalities of their Sees, reinstated partially in their spiritual office, and admitted again to their seats in Parliament. Thus Presbyterianism was abol- ished by law in Scotland, and for at least forty years afterward had no existence. In 1600 acts were passed both in the Assembly and the Legislature, extending and confirming the power of the Bishops ; and in 1603, when James succeeded Elizabeth on the English throne, he gave to them the same power and authority that their compeers had in Britain. He was also anxious that they should pos- sess an unquestionably valid Scriptural authority, and therefore, having nominated three persons to fill vacant Sees, he directed them to receive consecration from the English Bishops — a thing which up to that time he had no power to command and the English Prelates had no power to perform. Seven years, then, after the complete suppression of the short-lived and disorderly Presbyterian Kirk when the Apostolic form of polity was clearly established, and when some Scottish Bishops-elect were waiting consecra- tion at the hands of English prelates the Canons of 1604 were passed, requiring all church ministers to pray for the " Church of Scotland." In this assuredly there was no endorsement of Presbyterianism, but rather indeed a cordial recognition of a sister church that had just cast it off. In July of the same year (1604) a commission was issued in Scotland for arranging the terms of union between the two countries. Among the Commission- ers were "John, Archbishop of Glasgow: David, 196 LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. Bishop of Boss : George, Bishop of Caithness," etc., etc., and yet Mr. Goode ventures to state that in that year "The Church of Scotland was Presbyterian as it is now ! n We beg to refer the Reverend gentleman for the correction of this inexcusable error to Archbishop Spottiswood's History, pages 449-456. Robertson in loco. Lawson's History of the Church in Scotland, pages 240-269. Bishop Skinner's Church History, Vol. ii., pp. 234-6, and two other authorities from which we print the following sentences : In the year 1600 "The Presbyterian form of government was, after eight years of intolerable agitation, abolished by the King, with the full consent of an overwhelming majority of the minis- ters and the applause of the people, whose opinions seem to have been changed by experience of its tyranny." — [Stephens's His- tory Church of Scotland, Yol. i., page 417.) "From the time that the Assembly of Perth was held (1597) the Presbyterian constitution of the Church as established in 1592, and the legitimate authority of its General Assemblies and other judicatories may be regarded as subverted by the interferences of King James the Sixth. On the 19th of December, 1597, soon after the Assemblies of Perth and Dundee, he brought his pro- jects under the consideration of Parliament: when an act was passed ordaining that such pastors and ministers as his Majesty should at any time please to invest with the office, place and dignity of Bishop, Abbot or other prelate should in all time hereafter have vote in Parliament in the same way as any pre- late was accustomed to have : declaring that all bishoprics pre- sently vacant should be given by his Majesty to actual preach- ers and ministers. Henceforward, therefore, and indeed from the General Assembly of Perth, 1597, the Church of Scotland must be regarded as Episcopalian." — ( Compendium of the Laws of the Church of Scotland, " published by authority." Part II., page 36.) Thus we see that Mr. Goode's statement is entirely erroneous, and consequently the argument based upon it goes to the winds. "With these decisive extracts from and references LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 197 to the Canons and other authoritative declarations of the English Church, we take our leave of them and turn to those of our own. Mr. Goode's argument is conducted on the principle that the doctrine of the two Churches is identical, and therefore that what- ever establishes it for one establishes it for both. Bearing this in mind then, let us consult the laws of the Protestant Episcopal Church of America. The "Digest of the Canons," issued by authority of the General Convention, is one of "the Standards of our Church." It shows rather more kindness to Non-Episcopal ministers than the English Ecclesias- tical laws, which refuse them any consideration or favor whatever. In Great Britain or its colonies, if the oldest or the most prominent among dissenting ministers were to seek admission to the ministry of the Church, he would have to go before the Bishop on precisely the same terms as if he had never claimed the character or exercised the function of a minister. Our Church probably in consideration of their feelings and their training in divinity allows such persons to enter after a shorter term of candi- dature than is required of others. But yet even with us they come as " Candidates for Holy Orders," and must be received first to the diaconate, and then if approved, to the priesthood. Thus there is no recog- nition whatever of any validity in their previous orders, but their ordination itself is a very unequivo- cal practical assertion of their insufficiency. Title I., Canon 2, Section VIII., directs that "when a person who not having had Episcopal Ordination, has been acknowl- edged as an ordained minister or licentiate in any other denomi- nation of Christians shall desire to be ordained in this Church, he shall give notice thereof to the Bishop," and produce satis- 17* 198 LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. factory evidence that "his desire to leave the * denomination to which he belonged had not arisen from any circumstances affecting his religious or moral character/' etc. etc. And then, M [2] If the Bishop, or Standing Committee, shall think pro- per to proceed, the party applying to be received as a Candi- date shall produce to the Standing Committee a testimonial" of pious, sober and honest life and sincere attachment " to the doctrines, discipline and worship of the Church," and "the Standing Committee being satisfied on these points, may recom- mend him to the Bishop to be received as a candidate for Orders in this Church," etc. etc. The special favor shown to such, parties is merely that whereas other candidates have to remain in that condition for one year at least, these may "At the expiration of not less than six months from their ad- mission as Candidates be ordained Deacons, on their passing the same examination as other candidates for Deacon's Orders ; and in the examinations special reference shall be had to those points in which the denomination whence they came differs from this Church, with a view of testing their information and sound- ness in the same," etc. etc. Such is the law of our Church, so far as it affects or takes any notice of those who are called "minis- ters" of other denominations ; such is its estimate of the value or validity of Non-Episcopal ordination. There are, we know, a few Churchmen (extremists like Mr. Goode), who, as if determined to retain their own theory in the face of all evidence against it, assert that these laws requiring what is (though inaccu- rately) styled re-ordination and the invariable prac- tice of the church in administering it to all who come to her from the ministry of other denomina- tions precisely as if they had never received any commission whatever, do not convey, or amount to any repudiation or intimation of the invalidity of their previous " Orders." It would seem but a waste of time to place argu- LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 199 ment or evidence before such persons. With them ; indeed, stat pro ratione voluntas. Their minds are made up, and therefore the most imposing array of facts would not change their opinion. Fortunately they are few in number, and have not tkuth in their custody. What they will not see, however, is very plain to every one else in the Church and out of it.' All Non- Episcopalians know it well,* and nearly all of them * We will not quote here the strong language of their more fiery jour- nalists or controversialists, but give a few sentences from two distinguished men, who have written against our Church with as much fairness, courtesy, and vigor as have ever been displayed on that side of the question. The Rev. Albert Barnes (Presbyterian), repudiating the notion that the principles and practice of the Episcopal Church do not virtually deny the existence of a lawful and valid ministry among Non-Episcopalians, says : "Is there any recognition of the Ministers of other denominations as having a right to preach the Gospel? Is there any introduction of them to the pulpits of Episcopal Churches ? Would such an introduction by any of the inferior clergy be tolerated or connived at by the Diocesan Bishop ? To ask these questions is to answer them. But another question may be asked here. It is, how pan many of the Clergy of the Episcopal Church be satisfied with occupying such a position in regard to their ministerial brethren of other denominations as to have the FAIR interpretation of their conduct to be that they regard them as wholly unauthorized to preach the Gospel?" — {Apostolic Church, p. 245.) The Rev. Dr. Leonard Woods (Congregationalist), Professor in An- dover Seminary, describing what, from his stand-point, seem great evils, says : " I shall explain my meaning by an example, and I can fix upon no one better adapted to my object than the late Edward Payson. I will suppose then that he is still alive, and that, after he has been a Congre- gationalist minister for a quarter of a century, it becomes a serious in- quiry with him whether he shall change his denomination and become an Episcopal Minister." " The Bishop will not admit him to preach and administer the ordinances, on the ground of his previous ordination. Had he never been ordained one great difficulty would be avoided. But, although he verily believes that he has been called of God, and duly or- dained, and has for so many years been authorized to fill the office of a Gospel Minister, he must, by a public act, renounce it all, and count it for NOTHING, and receive ordination just as though he had never been ordained/' " He must now, by a public act, declare that he has never had any warrant from God to minister in holy things, and that all he has done in the minis- terial office, though fraught with such benefit to multitudes, has been with- out validity." He must u engage in a transaction which implies, and is understood to imply, that all his pious and successful labors have been* 200 LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. resent it bitterly. They are not satisfied with the apologetic explanations or subterfuges of those pro- fessing Churchmen. They reject them indignantly, and point to the formularies, the laws, and the history of our Church, as plainly supporting their own con- clusions. Before leaving this subject a word or two must be said upon a work that is the Standard authority upon all matters connected with the Ecclesiastical law of England. We refer to that now rare but invaluable book, " Gibson's Codex Juris Ecclesise Anglieanas" [2 vols, folio, London, 1713], Commenting on the Preface to the Ordinal, which we have already treated, the learned author says : " Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. — Besides these, the Church of Rome hath five others, viz., Subdeacons, Acolyths, Exorcists, performed without any just authority, and contrary to the will of his Lord and Master." "He has assisted in setting apart many well qualified young men to the ministry by prayer and the laying on of hands •" "but the moment the hands of the Bishop are laid an him he must in fact, though contrary to all the impulses of his heart, keep himself at a dis- tance from all these servants of Christ, must disallow the validity of THEIR ordinations, and must have no more ministerial intercourse with any of them." "If he puts himself under the sway of prelacy, he must submit to its dictates, and, by an unwilling and constrained practice, must support its exclusive claims. He has been accustomed * * * to offer up prayer to God in the Sanctuary * * according to the various promptings of his own fervent mind, and with the unction of the Holy Spirit; but * * % % when he comes to be confined to forms" he "is not permitted to express a thought or word, except what is in the book before him/' etc., etc. — {Objections to Episcopacy, pp. 193, 197.) Representations like these are frequently declared by some of our extremists to be unjust. They are somewhat so in minor details, and in tone. They are unfriendly in their spirit, but, as to their general scope, they are indisputably true; and no mere assertion will ever satisfy the public that they are not so. One late writer says he had sometimes heard such "from ill-informed Non-Episcopalians," and that he "uniformly replied that such a notion was* a proof of their ignorance and prejudice." (Dr. Canjield's Review, p. 25.) We would respectfully advise the Reverend gentleman to show to such men as Mr. Barnes or Dr. Woods his "most excellent reasons," rather than give them hard words. The reader will find more on the subject of this note in Appendix, A. LAWS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 201 Readers, and Osfciaries." "These (though some of them an- cient) were human institutions, and as such cannot pretend to come under the limitation which immediately precedes "from the Apostles' time; for which reason, and because they were evidently directed for convenience only, and were not immedi- ately concerned in the Sacred Offices of the Church, they were justly laid aside by our first Reformers." Those, then, which were not so laid aside, but named and described in the ordinal, were not " hu- man," but directly concerned in the Sacred Offices. But farther: " ' Lawful Authority/ It is supposed that this general ex- pression was used, lest the direct limiting of it to Episcopal authority should give offence to the Protestant Churches abroad ; but that they meant Episcopal authority is plain enough from the last clause." "'Had Formerly/ This last clause seems designed to allow of Romish converted Priests, who were ordained by Bishops before, and whom we receive without re-ordination (if they renounce their errors), because that Church preserves the Order of Bishops, and the substance of the primitive forms in her ordination, though corrupted with many modern supersti- tious rites." The 23d Article, which is also supposed "to have been worded in general terms, " for the purpose of not ex- cluding ministers of the foreign Eeformed Church,' 7 is by the learned author said to have been moulded upon the preface to the Ordinal [or at least conceived in the same spirit], and is to be explained by it. He refers to the notes above given as applying to the Article. From all this it is evident that the theory of Mr. Goode, and the interpretation he offers, are not cor- rect. Until a higher authority than that of this un- equalled jurist can be adduced in favor of them, they must stand condemned. CHAPTER IX. THE PRACTICE OF THE CHURCH. IF there were a difference between the teaching and the practice of the Church we might have con- siderable difficulty in deciding which was the best exponent of its spirit, and we would certainly find it no easy matter to bind an acute opponent to the issue. For if the custom were contrary to his wish, and the standards did not justify or agree with the custom, he would say that the administrators of the law had departed from the spirit of those who framed it. And on the other hand, if the usage were such as he desired and the laws the opposite, he would say that the latter were the product of a darker age, and that the Church having discovered their unworthi- ness had abandoned them. But happily there is no such difficulty for us, no such opportunity for an antagonist. The Church is consistent. Let us examine her records, then, that we may see what light they cast upon the subject now discussed. If Mr. Goode's theory be correct, history will show that neither the English Church nor our own ever gave special thought to the preservation of the Epis- copal Order, or of the Apostolical Succession ; and (202) THE PRACTICE OF THE CHURCH. 203 that they both received into their service all godly and gifted persons who claimed to be ministers of Christ without even stopping to ask whether they had been Episcopally ordained or not. Such prac- tice would necessarily follow if the Church's doctrine were what Mr. Goode represents it ; but if our view is the true one, we will find that a totally different course was pursued. We take it for granted that there will be no denial of the purely Episcopal character of the Church at the time of the Eeformation. The ministry was then as it is now, constituted in divers Orders ; the Bishop was then as now the only ordaining officer in the Eng- lish Church. If this be granted (and we suppose no one will assert the contrary) then it rests with our author and his friends to show when or how this rule was first broken or abandoned. We have seen what the laws were at the beginning and all through the history of the Church, and unless we are pointed to some official rescinding of those laws, or some public and recognized official action of a contrary character, we must persist in maintaining that they never were rescinded or set aside — but were always in force, always acted on. , Eeference is sometimes made (though not in the work before us) to the case of those foreign divines who were harbored and patronized by Cranmer and the other authorities in England, as if the kindness shown to them were equivalent to an acknowledg- ment of the sufficiency of Non-Episcopal ordination.* * Reply to Bishop H. Potter's Pastoral, by Rev. J. C Smith, D.D., in Church Monthly, July, 1865. Also Gallagher's Pamphlet on True Apos- tolical Succession, p. 30. 204 THE PRACTICE OF THE CHURCH. They were made professors in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge — " therefore," say some advo- cates of Presbyterian Orders, "the English Church recognized their ministerial commission as valid." Nbs, ought th ally and before others to be obedient unto their princes/ 1 SECONDAKY STANDARDS. 265 " The Bishop of Rome being by the order of God's word none other than the Bishop of that one See and Diocese, and never yet able to govern the same, did by intolerable ambition challenge not only to be the head of all the Church dispersed throughout the world, but also to be lord of all kingdoms of the world," etc., etc. — [Against Wilful Rebellion.) Poyket. — The definition of the Church of Christ given in the Catechism, of Edward VI. is not much to the point, but yet may be fairly regarded as im- plying nearly all that we contend for. " That congregation is nothing elsse but a certayne multytude of menne which, wheresoever they be, professe the pure and uprighte learning of Christ, and that in such sort as it is faith- fully set fourth in the Holy Testament by the Evangelists and Apostles ; whiche in all points are governed and ruled by the laws and statutes of theyr King and hye Byshoppe, Christe, in the bonde of charity ; which use his holy mysteryes, that are commonlie called Sacramentes, with such purenesse and simpli- city (as touchynge theire nature and substance) as the Apostles of Christ used and left behind in writing. The marckes there- fore of this Churche are: firste, pure preachyng of the Gospel; then brotherly love, out of which, as members out of al one body, springeth good wyl of eche to other ; thirdly, upright and uncorrupted use of the Lorde's Sacraments according to the ordynaunce of the Gospell ; laste of all, brotherlye correc- tion and excommunication, or banishynge those out of the Church which wyl not amend their lives. This marcke the holye fathers termed discipline. This is that same Churche that is grounded upon the assured rocke Jesus Christ and upon trust in him. This is that same Church which St. Paul calleth the piller and upholding stay of truth. To this Church belong the keies whearwyth heaven is locked and unlocked ; for that is done by the ministration of the worde ; whereunto properly appertayneth the power to bind and loose, to holde for gylty and to forgive synnes. So that whosoever believeth the Gospell preached in this Church he shall be saved, but whoso believeth not the same shall be damned." — (Randolph's Enchiridion, Vol. i., p. 26.) JSTowell. — To the same effect is that given in Nowell's Catechism. After mentioning as among the notes of the Church, " praedicationem, invoca- tionem et Sacramentorum administrationem synce- 23 266 SECONDARY STANDARDS. ram,* 1 all of which require, of course, a regular ministry, he proceeds : 11 Sunt hse quidem Ecclesise visibilis notse praecipuae et plane necessarian; ut sine quibus ne Ecclesia quidem Christi esse, dicive recte possit. Sed et in eadem Ecclesia si probe instituta jiurit coins gubernationis ordo et modus," etc., etc. The rite of Confirmation is thus spoken of: ''Episcopus enim ration em Religionis a pueris exquirebat; pueri Fidei suae rationem Episcopo reddebant ; quos vero in re- ligionis scientia progressus jam satis magnos fecisse Episcopus putabat eos approbabat, et imposita illis manu bene precatus dimittebat. Hanc Episcopi approbationem benedictionemque, nostri Confirmationem apellant." Let it be borne in mind, as already stated, that the Order of Bishops was acknowledged as of divine in- stitution by all in England when this was written, and it strongly corroborates oar position. Erasmus. — In the Injunctions issued on the acces- sion of Edward VI. (A. D. 1547), it was ordered, that " Every parson, vicar, curate, chantry priest, and stipendiary, being under the degree of Bachelor of Divinity, shall provide and have of his own, within three months after this visitation, the New Testament, both in Latin and in English, with Para- phrasis upon the same of Erasmus, and diligently studying the same, conferring one with the other." In the Visitation articles of inquiry set forth in the same year, by Archbishop Cranmer, it is asked " Whether in every cure they have provided one book of the whole Bible of the largest volume in English, and the Para- phrasis of Erasmus, also in English, upon the Gospels [all that was then translated], and set up the same in some convenient place in the Church, where their parishioners may most com- modiously resort to the same/' Another inquiry was, whether the Clergy had pos- sessed themselves of the Bible and of the said Para- phrase, as ordered in the Injunctions. Questions and orders to the same effect were issued at different times SECONDARY STANDARDS. 267 thereafter, as, for instance, in the injunctions of Queen Elizabeth, in 1559 ; by the second Protestant Arch- bishop of Canterbury (Parker), in 1569 ; again by Archbishop Grrindal, in 1576 ; and again by Arch- bishop Bancroft, in 1610. These orders to procure and study Erasmus's Paraphrase were so long kept up, or so often repeated, that that work may be safely said to have received stronger commendation from the authorities of the Church than any uninspired composition, save the Liturgy, Articles, and Homi- lies. At the very least, it stands on the highest level next to thern^ or among the secondary standards, and probably did more to form the opinions of the divines of that age than any other book. How then does its teaching affect the question before us? We need only reply, that it describes the office of Timothy and Titus as that of Bishop and Archbishop, and gives to every text in connection with the authority com- mitted to those Apostolic men the very rendering that is always insisted on by Episcopalians. So de- cidedly of this character is it, that even Gardiner, the Eomish Bishop of Winchester, protested against it on that account, as well as others. His objections to advocacy of the Episcopacy could only lie against making it jure divino, and not derived through the Pope; so, when he did object, we may know that Erasmus took the very ground so distasteful to the followers of the Pope and of Mr. Groode. Gardiner says : " Whatsoever might be spoke to defame princes' government is not left unspoken. Bishops be more gentle handled. Erasmus maketh them very Kings of the Gospel, and calleth the true kings of the world profane kings." — (Strype's Crannier, 12mo. edit., London ; Vol. ii., p. 325.) 268 SECONDARY STANDARDS. Such, then, is the light in which the Episcopate was represented in a work that was for so long the authorized exposition of the Gospel Scriptures, "de- livering," as Bancroft said, "plainly to every man's understanding the true sense and meaning of the whole New Testament." Here, then, we have, for three-fourths of the century which Mr. Groode claims, a series of official endorsements of a work teaching doctrines the very opposite of those put forth in this "Essay" before us. Jewel. — The Apology for the Church of England, from the pen of Bishop Jewel, was one of the most valuable works ever issued by an Episcopal divine. But it has an importance beyond what its intrinsic excellence would give. It had the express sanction of Convocation; it was adopted as the Church's work, and, with the Defence of it against Harding, was put up in the churches for public perusal.* The whole works of this eminent Prelate were also commended in the injunctions of Archbishop Bancroft, A. D. 1610.t We refer to the Apology, then, to see what it con- tains bearing upon our topic. Let it be borne in mind that the English Eeformers considered it "evi- dent, from Holy Scripture and ancient authors," that there had always been in Christ's Church those three Orders, " Bishops, Priests, and Deacons ;" and further, that at the time the Apology appeared this threefold ministry was not impugned in England, nor, of course, * So important was the Apology considered, that Archbishop Parker wrote a public letter of thanks to Lady Bacon for her translation of it into English, by which she had "deserved well of the Church of Christ." f See Carclwell's " Synodalia," Vol. ii., p. 160. SECONDARY STANDARDS. 269 questioned at all by the Bomanists, against whom the work was written. In answer to the cry 11 That we are all heretics, and have forsaken the faith, and have with new persuasions and wicked learning utterly dis- solved the concord of the Church/' he says : " If we do show it plain, that God's holy Gospel, the ancient Bishops, and the primitive Church do make on our side, and that we have not without just cause left these men, and rather have returned to the Apostles and old catholic fathers," etc., etc. — (P. 56, Parker Soc. ed.) " We believe that there is one Church of God, and that the same is not shut up (as in times past among the Jews) into some corner or kingdom, but that it is catholic and universal," etc., etc. " Furthermore, that there be divers degrees of Ministers in the Church, whereof some be Deacons, some Priests, some Bishops; to whom is committed the office to instruct the people, and the whole charge and setting forth of religion."— (P. 59.) " Furthermore, we say that the minister ought lawfully, duly, and orderly to be preferred to that office of the Church of God, and that no man hath power to wrest himself into the holy ministry at his own pleasure and list. Wherefore these per- sons do us the greater wrong which which have nothing so com- mon in their mouths as that we do nothing orderly or comely, but all things troublesomely and without order ; and that we allow every man to be a priest, to be a teacher, and to be an interpreter of the Scriptures." — (P. 60.) " Indeed, we grant that certain new and very strange sects, as the Anabaptists, Libertines, Menonians, Zwenckfeldians, have been stirring in the world ever since the Gospel did first spring. But the world seeth now right well (thanks be given to our God) that we neither have bred nor taught nor kept up these mon- sters."— (P. 67.) Appended to Lady Bacon's translation is an ac- count of the Church and Universities, as then (and in a great measure still) governed. It says : "Among us here in England no man is called or preferred to be a Bishop, except he have first received the Orders of priest- hood and be well able to instruct the people in the Holy Scrip- tures." These extracts furnish satisfactory testimony to 23* 270 SECONDARY STANDARDS. the constitution of tlie Church as it really existed, and to the light in which it was regarded by the chief divines of that day. Bullinger. — As this eminent theologian be- longed to a Church in which ministers were set apart by laying on of the hands of Presbyters, it could not be expected that in any of his writings he would directly condemn that custom. We are not surprised, therefore, to find him arguing, in one part of the fifth Decade against the exclusive right of the Bishop to ordain. But the reader may not be pre- pared to find him furnishing such decisive testimony against the doctrine of Presbyterian parity as this : " Now by all these things we think it is manifest to all men what Orders the Lord himself hath ordained from the begin- ning, and whom he hath consecrated to the holy ministry of the Church and to govern his own Church. He laid the foundation of the Church at the beginning by Apostles, Evangelists, and Prophets. He enlarged and maintained the same by Pastors and Doctors. To these Elders and Deacons were helpers." " For many ages since and immediately after the foundation of Christ's kingdom on earth, the Apostles, Evangelists, and Prophets ceased, and there came in their place Bishops, Pastors, Doctors, and Elders, which order hath continued most steadfastly in the Church ; that now we cannot doubt that the order of the Church is perfect and absolute, if at this day also there remain in the Church of God Bishops or Pastors, Doctors also or El- ders."— (Vol. v., pp. 108, 109.) Bullinger's use of the word " ordain " in the place mentioned above is ambiguous. It was understood as meaning to choose, or appoint, for he speaks of or- daining " by lot," which of course was electing. But the English authorities did not wish even this lesser right to be denied to Bishops, so the editor added a note, in which he quotes Bullinger against himself. CHAPTEE XI. OPINIONS OF DIVINES. BEFOBE furnishing our catena of authorities in support of the principles herein maintained; we would remind the reader of what has been said on this subject in Chapter Y. The opinions of divines are valuable indeed, but they are not the Vox Ec- CLESI^E. At best they are but echoes of that voice, or in harmony with it. If they give a different, or even an uncertain, sound, they go for nothing. The mere fact that many prominent clergymen have held such or such views does not go one step towards proving that the Chukch holds them. The most it can do is to create a presumption in favor of their being Church doctrine, which reference to the proper sources of information will either confirm or destroy. Opinions, having thus no positive value in such a discussion as the present, we attach no especial importance to them. Consequently we look upon this part of our work as the least satisfactory, though it is the one upon which Mr. Goode lays greatest stress. We claim for what is to follow no more than the weight that is due to indirect corroborative evidence, but as such we confidently submit it to the consider- (271) 272 OPIXIOXS OF DIVINES. ation of the reader. Having fully and carefully ex- amined the standards and, as we believe, ascertained their teaching, we are at liberty to furnish testimony from eminent Bishops and other clergymen in the successive periods of the Church's history, in support of the interpretation we have given to the authentic documents ; and in doing this we shall take care to give, as far as we have been able to ascertain them, the mature or real opinions of the men whose works we quote. Akqhbishop Craxmeb, naturally heads the list. If a Eomanist were to print the "Kecantation" of this great and good man as the true expression of his opinion upon the character and authority of the Church of Eome, we presume Mr. Goode would very indignantly denounce such a proceeding as manifestly unfair or dishonorable. But it would not be one jot less fair than printing the "Keplies : ' of 1540 as his real or only views upon the Christian ministry. This has been done by several prominent Anti-Episcopal controversialists, much to their discredit ; but there was this measure of excuse for them — they could not be expected to have much knowledge of Cranmer and his works, beyond what is supplied in the gen- eral histories of the country. An Episcopal minister should have a much better acquaintance with the real character and the writings of the Father of the Eeformed Church of England ; but some, we regret to say, repeat the misrepresentations of their Pres- byterian or Methodist predecessors, and thus leave themselves open to the suspicion of being ignorant of Cranmer 's judgment upon so grave a matter, or else of suppressing the truth. We shall not attempt OPINION'S OF DIVINES. 273 to decide upon which, horn of the dilemma our author would prefer being impaled. In a former chapter we have shown that previous to 1540 the Archbishop held views totally different from those expressed in the memorable paper of that year, and we have stated that subsequently to it he openly avowed opinions equally irreconcilable with those in that unfortunate document. Does Mr. Groode know this? If he does, why does he conceal it? If not, why does he not read the very works from which he quotes ? Will he explain to his readers his silence upon the well-known fact, that, on the very sheet from ivhich those answers were reprinted, Cranm,er, at some subsequent time, indicated a complete change of mind, by affixing his signature to the responses of Dr. Leighton. Mr. Good copies the "Answers" from Collier and Burnet. Either of these would have in- formed him of the Archbishop's return to his senses, or rather to his liberty. Burnet says, that in 1548 "Cranmer" "had now quite laid aside those singular opin- ions which he formerly held of the ecclesiastical functions ; for now, in a work which was wholly his own, without the concur- rence of any others, he fully set forth their divine institution!" — (Hist. Reformation, Vol. i., p. 341, Bonn's edit.) But of this circumstance Mr. Goode's readers are not informed. The work to which Burnet refers is the " Cate- chism" commonly called Cranmer's, though origin- ally written in German, by one of the Eeformers (probably Osiander, Cranmer's father-in-law), trans- lated into Latin by Justus Jonas, and into English either by Cranmer himself or under his supervision. Burnet thinks it exclusively his own, but it was not so. It was his by full adoption, and, doubtless, also 274 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. by change and addition, and the sentiments expit in the body of the work harmonize thoroughly with. those in the dedicatory letter to the King, which was from his own hand. It is supposed, on good grounds, that the " Sermon on the Keys," included in the Cat- echism, is the Archbishop's own composition. It is plainly attributed to him in the copy now before us, which is a black-letter fac simile, printed at London, in 1708.* From this remarkable sermon we print a few paragraphs, which the reader will hardly be- lieve could be written by the same Cranmer of whom our author speaks. The text is Eonians x. 1-1, 15, and the preacher says it declares "two lessons:'' " The first is. that it is necessary to our salvation to have preachers and ministers of God's most holy word to instruct us in the true faith and knowledge of God. "The second is. that preachers must not run to this high honor before they be called thereto, but they must be ordained and appointed to this office, and sent to us by God." etc., etc. "Again, the teachers, except they be called and sent, cannot fruitfully teach. For the seed of God's word doth never bring forth fruit unless the Lord of the harvest do give increase, and by His Holy Spirit do work with the sower. But God doth not work with the preacher whom He hath not sent ; as St. Paul saith, ' How shall they preach, if they be not sent V Where- fore it is requisite that preachers should be called and sent of God ; and they must preach according to the authority and com- mission of God granted unto them, whereby they may strengthen men's belief, and assure their consciences that God hath com- manded them to preach after this or that manner." * "Taken from A Sermon of the Authoritie of the Eaves, fol. ccxxvi. of the book entituled ' CATECHISMUS. that is to Bay, a short instruc- tion into Christian Religion, etc., by the Most ReVd Father in God Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England and Metro- politans GtiaUertu Lynue. excudebai 1548/" The spelling has been modernized. In the original it was thus : u .So ye haue, good children, the begynnynge and foundation of the ministers of Qod'a wr-rde, and of the Autboritye of the Kaves as our lord Jesus Christ did fir.-t ordeyne and institute the same.'' OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 275 "Our Lord Jesus Christ hath both ordained and appointed ministers and preachers to teach us His holy word and to min- ister his Sacraments, and also hath appointed them what they shall teach in His name/' etc., etc. "Therefore he called them and sent them, and gave them instructions what they should do and speak to us in His name, to the intent that we should give sure credence unto their words, and believe that God will work with us according to His words by them spoken. And He hath promised, therefore, that whatsoever they shall bind upon earth should be bound in heaven, and whatsoever they should loose upon earth should be loosed in heaven also/' Having thus shown the divine institution and au- thority of the Christian Ministry, the Archbishop proceeds to speak of the Apostles' having laid their hands upon persons "who were godly and mete to preach God's word." " And they that were so ordained were in deed, and also were called the ministers of God, as the Apostles themselves were, as Paul saith unto Timothy. And so the ministration of God's word was derived from the Apostles unto others after them by imposition of hands and giving the Holy Ghost, from the Apos- tles' time to our days. And this was the Consecration, Orders, and unction of the Apostles, whereby they at the beginning made Bishops and Priests, and this shall continue in the Church even to the world's end. And whatsoever rite or ceremony hath been added more than this cometh of man's ordinance and policy, and is not commanded by God's word." " Wherefore, good children, you shall steadfastly believe all those things which such ministers shall speak unto you from the mouth and by the commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ. And whatsoever they do to you, as when they baptize you, when they give you absolution, and distribute to you the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, these you shall so esteem as if Christ himself in his own person did speak and minister unto you. For Christ hath commanded His ministers to do this unto you, and He himself (although you see him not with your bodily eyes) is present with His ministers and worketh by the Holy Ghost in the administration of his Sacraments." "And on the other side, you shall take good heed and beware of false and privy preachers which privily creep into cities and preach in corners, having none authority, nor being called to this office. For Christ is not present with such preachers, and therefore the Holy Ghost doth not work by their preaching, but 276 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. their word is without fruit or profit, and they do great hurt in commonwealths.^ Such, then, were the real opinions of Cranmer upon the constitution of the sacred Ministry and Apostolical Succession. Bishop Eidley. — This learned Prelate was the friend and associate of Cranmer, and a fellow-sufferer with him for the truth of Christ. He has not left behind him any very express statement of his views on the subjects under consideration, but, as he was one of the principal authors of our first standards, as his administration of his diocese was in strict accordance with the doctrine of the 36th Article and the Ordinal, and as he did not write a sentence op- posed to the principles we maintain, we are entitled to presume that he held them. His opinion of the Church is as follows : "The holy Catholic Church 1 ; which is the communion of Saints, the house of God, the city of God, the spouse of Christ, the body of Christ, the pillar and stay of the truth : this Church I believe according to the Creed ; this Church I do reverence and honor in the Lord. But the rule of this Church is the word of God, according to which rule we go forward unto life. And as many as walk according to this rule I say, with St. Paul, 1 Peace be upon them and upon Israel which pertaineth unto God/ " The marks of this Church he enumerates thus : " The sincere preaching of God's word ; the due administra- tion of the Sacraments; charity; and faithful observing of eccle- siastical discipline according to the word of God." "And that Church or congregation which is garnered with these marks is in very deed that heavenly Jerusalem, which consisteth of those that be born from above. This is the mother of us all, and by God's grace I will live and die the child of this Church. Forth of this, I grant, there is no salvation." To the objection that this Church is " invisible," Eidley replies : OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 277 " The Church which I have described is visible. It hath members which may be seen, and also I have before declared by what marks and tokens it may be known." In answer to the next objection of "the Antonian," he says : " That the name of the Church is taken after three divers manners in the Scripture." These he goes on to explain. The first is the whole body of professing Christians ; the second, the faithful within that body, " which hath the same outward society of the Sacraments and ministry of the word'f the third, the -unfaithful, who are therefore rather the synagogue or church of Satan. At his Disputation at Oxford, just before his mar- tyrdom, when charged with the authorship of a cer- tain Catechism said to have been put forth in the Synod of London (it was one of those already quoted, i. e. either Poynet's or Cranmer's), he replied : " I grant that I saw the book, but I deny that I wrote it. I perused it after it was made, and I noted many things for it, so I consented to the book. I was not the author of it. " Those articles were set out, I both writing and consenting to them. Mine own hand will testify the same ; and Master Cranmer put his hand to them likewise, and gave them to others afterwards." In his Farewell Letter he describes at large the characteristics of the Church of England as reformed, rising such language as to show that, in his mind at least, it needed no further reformation. And in the same paper, taking leave of the See of London, he styles himself, "the chief minister of God's word, the Pastor and Bishop of the Diocese." Defending himself from the charge of schism, he says: " I know that the unity of the Church is to be retained by all means, and the same to be necessary to salvation. But I do 24 278 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. not take the mass, as it is at this day, for the communion of the Church, but for a Popish device," etc., etc. " The sect of the Ana- baptists and the heresy of the Novatians ought of right to be condemned : forasmuch as, without any just or necessary cause, they wickedly separated themselves from the communion of the congregation.' 1 — (Woi^ks, etc., p. 120, etc., etc., Parker Society Library.) In his Articles of Inquiry, A.D. 1550, we have already found this question : " Whether any of the Anabaptists' sect or other use notori- ously any unlawful or private conventicles, wherein they do use doctrines or administration of Sacraments separating themselves from the rest of the parish ?" In the same document we have also this : "Whether any minister useth wilfully and obstinately any other rite, ceremony, order, form or manner of communion, matins or even-song, ministration of Sacraments, or open prayers, than is set forth in the Book of Common Prayer." — (Works, p. 532.) From these extracts we believe the reader will be able to form an idea of tne side which this learned divine and noble martyr would have taken in such a controversy as the present. William Tyndale, Translator of the Bible and Martyr. — Although Tyndale was put to death ten or eleven years before the Church of England was free and fully reformed, yet his writings were always in great esteem, and reprinted from time to time, under the auspices of eminent divines, such as Bale and Eoxe, and had doubtless much to do in forming public opinion. We do not know a single person of that period in England in whose works a greater number of severe sayings about Bishops, etc., might be found. Some of these might easily have been pressed into our author's service ; possibly they have been in " the OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 279 larger work republished in this country in 1853," which we have never seen. In explanation of such passages, and of his whole treatise called " The Prac- tice of Prelates," it is enough to say that he was bit- terly persecuted by Bishops, and knew few, if any, of that Order, who were not Eomish in doctrine and impure or cruel in character. The inducements then to catch hold of Jerome's mistake and decry the Order of Bishops were very strong, but yet Tyndale did not do it as he might have done ; he could bear true testimony in the face of all. Thus he says : " Paul in his Epistle, and also Peter, called the Prelates and spiritual governors, which are Bishops and Priests, Elders. Now, whether ye call them Elders or Priests, it is to me all one, so that ye understand that they be officers and servants of the word of God ; unto the which all men, both high and low, [must be obedient,] that wi]l not rebel against Christ, as long as they preach and rule truly, and no longer." — [Prologue on St. Mat- thew, Doctrinal Treatises, p. 479, Parker Soc.) " Every man may be a common preacher, then, you will say, and preach everywhere by his own authority. Nay, verily, no man may yet be a common preacher, save he that is called and chosen thereto by the common ordinance of the Congrega- tion."* "And though no man may preach openly, save he that hath the office committed unto him, yet ought every man to en- deavor himself to be as well learned as the preacher, as nigh as it is possible. And every man may privately inform his neighbor; yea, and the Preacher and Bishop too, if need be." — {Expository Treatises, p. 36.) On page 161 of the same volume, and elsewhere, we find him speaking of " the Bishops that succeeded the Apostles." In "the Practice of Prelates" (same work, page 253) he undertakes to show what Orders the Apostles or- dained in the Church. He points out the common * "The kingdom of Heaven take for the Congregation or Church of Christ." — {Tyndale Expository Treatises, p. 40.) 280 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. use of the names Bishop and Presbyter for those of one class, and Deacon or Minister for those of an- other ; and these two, with the Apostles, make up the three Orders which the Church preserves. Thomas Becon was one of Cranmer's chaplains. He was a voluminous writer, and his productions are generally excellent. In his Catechism, he gives to Timothy and Titus the title of " Bishop." He styles the Jewish High Priests " Bishops," and in various other such ways indicates his agreement in the doc- trine and usage of the Church. When he comes to explain why the Church Catholic is called holy, he says it is to distinguish it from others that are un- holy: " The Ethnicks, the Jews, the Mahometans, the Anabaptists, the Arians, with all the rabble of heretics and sectaries, have their churches also ; but all those churches are the synagogues of Satan, " etc., etc. Speaking of the Orders of ministers in the old dispensation, he calls them Bishops, Priests, and Le- vites, and refers to the history " of Dathan and Abi- ram," to show how grievously God did punish their great sin of disobedience. In his chapter on the ministry, he says : "The Spiritual Magistrate — I mean the minister of God's word — is the ordinance of God" "A little before our Lord and Saviour Christ ascended with his body into the kingdom of his Father, he said to his Apos- tles, and also to all their Successors, which are all spiritual ministers that labor in word and doctrine, ' Teach all nations, baptizing them/ etc., etc.; 'And behold I am with you con- tinually unto the world's end.'" "And St. Paul saith, God hath ordained in the Church, ' first Apostles, secondarily Pro- phets, thirdly Teachers,'" etc. To the question whether every man that will may OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 281 take upon him the office of the ministry, the reply is: "Nothing less; for St. Paul saith, How shall they preach, except the} 7 be sent?" " Those that take upon them the min- istry before they be called are of the number of those whom God, by the prophet, describeth in this manner : ' I sent them not, and they ran ; I spake not unto them, and they preached/ " As to the modes of calling to the ministry, he says there are two: "One is when they be called immediately of God, as the prophets and Apostles were which were raised up of God to prophesy and to teach, without any vocation or calling of man. And this kind of vocation God useth customably outwardly to approve and confirm with wonderful testimonies and signs, as we may more see in Moses, Helias, etc. But this calling hath now ceased. The other is when the ministers be called medi- ately, as they say, and in order of men, that is to say of the [spiritual] magistrate of the people." To the question, " What is the difference between a Bishop and a spiritual minister?" he answers: " None at all. Their office is one ; their authority and power is one." But that this reply does not involve the Presbyte- rian theory of parity is very evident, as in a subse- quent paragraph, on the same page, he says that St. Paul " Unto Bishop Titus write th thus : For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest reform the things that are unper- fect, and shouldest ordain Elders in every city." And in similar mode, all through his works, he gives to the Bishop the position always assigned to him, as separate from and superior to the Presbyter. Thus he speaks of the " Honorable Bishops and holy Fathers which lived after the Apostles' time," " the Bishops and Ministers of Christ's Church," etc., etc. — ■ (Catechism, etc., Parker Societj^ Library.) 24* 282 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. Eoger Hutchixsox, Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, A. D. 1550 : M I do not mean that every man or woman may christen, marry, purify women, may loose and bind consciences, may distribute the holy Sacrament, but I mean that Popish and out- ward priesthood is crept into the Church of God against the word of God ; and I do believe and confess no more Orders of ministers but three, that is, Deacons, Presbyters, and Bishops. These three the Scripture alloiceth,* and shewed the manner of their creation and declareth their office and duties." — ( On Image of God, etc., Parker Society, p. 50.) Bishop Alley, Exeter; consecrated July 14, 1560. — Strangely enough, Mr. Goode begins his Ca- tena with this now almost wholly forgotten divine, be- cause the order of time demands it! He quotes from him nothing more than that mistake of Jerome's, of which we have already spoken, and even in making that quotation he prefers not giving " Jerome's words in full." We regret very much that a copy of Alley's works cannot be procured in this country ; not that we attach particular importance to his opinion, but because we are inclined to think that some other por- tions of his book would speak a different language from that in the passage, as quoted by Mr. Goode. But, taking his words just as they are given, we find in them nothing that cannot be easily explained. " These words are alleged, that it may appear Priests among the Elders to have been even the same that Bishops were. But it grew by little and little that the whole charge and cure should be appointed to one Bishop within his precinct, that the seeds of dissension might utterly be rooted out." In connection with this we remark, that it refers entirely to Apostolic times. (1) No Churchman * The verb "allow" meant much more in former times than it does now. Above, it means to sanction and something more, to appoint, to authorize. OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 283 denies that in the New Testament the names Epis- copos and Presbyteros are used interchangeably, and applied to ministers of the second Order ; but the admission of this does not at all affect the evidence for a higher Order, to which, in the Post- Apostolic age the title of " Bishop " was confined. (2) Suppos- ing that it did grow by little and little* that the whole charge was given to one Bishop within his district, this change took place within the times of the Apostles, and under their influence. Jerome makes it evident that this is his own meaning, for he refers to changes following from "one saying I am of Paul, and another I of Apollos," which, we take for granted, Mr. Groode will confess to have been before the death of St. Paul, who tells us of it. But if the Apostles sanctioned or made the change, it was divinely instituted. Bishop Pilkington. — As may be supposed, from what has been said in the last chapter, we attach no great value to the opinions of this divine upon the subject of Church order. It is from such as he was that our author gets "much stronger testimony" than even Alley can supply; but it will go for little with any who bear in mind that he was criminally negli- gent of his Episcopal duty, and left his cathedral and diocese in such utter disorder that they were likened to an "Augean stable." Still we are not afraid to take up what Mr. Goode quotes from him, and give it full consideration. The gist of it is in the follow- ing sentences : * St. Jerome, Comment on Galatians i. 19. " Paulatim vero tempore," etc., etc. " By little and little, in process of time, others also were ordained Apostles by those whom the Lord had chosen." — (Quoted in Presbyterian Clergyman looking for the Churchy p. 477.) 284 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. " But this is to be understood, that the privileges and supe* riorities, which Bishops have above other ministers, are rather granted by men for maintaining of better order and quietness ID commonwealths than commanded by God in His word. Min- isters have better knowledge and utterance some than other, but their ministry is of equal dignity. God's commission and com- mandment is alike indifferent to all, Priest, Bishop, Archbishop, Prelate, by what name soever he be called." Here our author stops. He inserts a few dots to stand in the place of six lines in the original, which we consider too important to be omitted. The last sentence is certainly very strong, and as we read it in Mr. Goode's work we naturally conclude that Pilk- ington believed that God's commission, etc., was in every respect alike to Bishop and Priest, and, knowing his history, we are not surprised that he should think so ; but, if we turn from Mr. Groode to Pilkington himself, we find that he meant nothing of the sort. He was not speaking of authority in general, or in all its departments, but of authority to discharge the ordinary work of a Christian minister. His sentence does not end with " called," as our author makes it, but goes on describing or quoting the commission ; and this portion, which shows his meaning, is wholly omitted. Here are the lines which our author did not think it necessary or advisable to print : "Go and teach, baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost ; and again, Whose sins soever ye forgive, they are forgiven, and whatsoever ye loose in earth, it is loosed in heaven, etc." " Likewise the Lord's Supper, by whomsoever, being lawfully called, it be ministered, it is of like strength, power, and holiness." At this point Mr. Goode resumes. He makes, in the same quotation, two other omissions, that are of similar character, and evidently designed, so that we OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 285 find the Eeverend gentleman unwilling to trust his own witness. The reader, who considers what is now laid before him, will perceive that the original writer did not mean to assert that in all things Bishops and Priests are equal, but in their power to preach the Gospel, to administer Sacrament, and to "absolve from sins."* The equality does exist, as far as the ordinary min- istry is concerned, f but no farther — of government in the Church or the power of ordination not a word is said in the whole passage. It has no immediate bearing, then, upon our subject ; it is only made to appear as if it had by skilful management. But let us hear the Bishop's sentiments on the ne- cessity of strict discipline, and on the authority which exists of right, and ought to be enforced. Speaking of certain parties who "willingly excom- municate themselves and will come at no congrega- tion," he says : " God grant all such obstinate contemners of His Church and His word their just and deserved discipline I This overmuch soft- ness that is used, and an opinion of some that be zealous in re- ligion, whereby they think that they may not punish an ill man for his conscience and religion, doth much harm, and embold- eneth them in their ill doings. Surely, in my opinion, they that have authority, and will not correct such wilful dealings, be partakers and maintainers of others' ill-doing, and fill both the Church and commonwealth with disobedient persons. " — ( Works, Parker Society, p. 382.) These are strong words. Suppose Laud had written them. What bursts of indignation they would have * In one of the sentences omitted by Mr. Goode? Pilkington ridicules the idea that a Priest may absolve small sins, and that " greater belong to the Bishop ; the Archbishop claims another higher sort," etc., etc. ■j* Equality, "quoad ministerium" is what Jerome really claims, and what all Churchmen grant. 286 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. excited ! what outcries against intolerance ! But in- asmuch as they are from the pen of a good "German- ical " Bishop, and as his desire was to force obedience upon "Papists," pather than "Puritans/' there is, of course, no censure ! In the same work from which we have just quoted he gives his judgment against the Puritan discipline, at that time " so vehemently urged/' and shows, from the analogy of his subject (the building of the walls of Jerusalem), that in the Lord's work every com- pany of workmen should have their overseer; and overseer is simply the English of Episcopus. In his Confutation, etc., from which Mr. Goode has taken these passages above, he says : " To be a Bishop is to be an Officer, a ruler, a guide, a teacher of God's flock in God's Church, and to be a true successor in a bishopric is to succeed in like pains, care, and diligent regard of God's people. Is he an officer that does not his office V y (Page 604, etc.) Here he is arguing against si succession of persons and place " as useless unless associated with sound- ness of doctrine and zealous discharge of duty. But that even he did not " repudiate" the " theory of Apostolical Succession " is sufficiently evident from the following. " Does Cyprian make any more for his purpose? Mark his words and judge. ' They that be made Bishops (says he) K)ut of the Church and not by tradition of the Apostles by succes- sion, are not Bishops, but thieves/ etc. I am content to be judged by these words. I proved afore by Paul and Timothy, by Dionysius, etc., that the Order by which our Bishops and Priests are made now is more agreeing to the order of the Church in Cyprian's time and tradition of the Apostles, than that misorder whereby the Popish prelates order [ordain] their clergy." This, then ; after all, is the real doctrine of the man OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 287 whose "much stronger testimony " on his own side Mr. Groode professed to give. We are sincerely obliged to him for requiring us to bring it forth.* Before taking leave of " My Lord of Durham' 7 and Bishop Alley, we must correct another of our au- thor's errors. He says "Both these were among the Bishops who settled our Arti- cles on the accession of Queen Elizabeth." That event took place November, 1558, and the Convocation which "settled our articles" did not sit for two years after. If, instead of it, our author refers to the Commission appointed in 1559 to revise the Liturgy, neither Pilkington nor Alley was a Bishop at the time. The former, however, was on the Commission; the latter was not. If he does mean the Convocation which met in 1560, Alley was a member of it, and Pilkington was not. In either case his statement is incorrect. Bishop Jewel. — The next divine to whom Mr. Goode appeals is the illustrious author of the Apol- ogy from which we gave extracts in the last chap- ter. He quotes (on page 32) two long paragraphs from Jewel's " Defence" of the former work. Of the first of these quotations we shall not speak more than this: it is marked by omissions of the kind we have described, and yet, even as our author prints it, it does not give an inkling of the Bishop's own views. His opponent, Harding, stated that to deny the difference between a Bishop and a Priest was heresy. Jewel retorts that by this saying he con- * Pilkington ends the paragraph from which we quote, with these words : "Thus, like a foolish boy, he has gotten a rod to beat himself withal; Goci send him more wit," 288 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. demns some even of the saints and fathers of the Church, and he might have added, many of the the- ologians of the Roman Sect ; but in this rebuke to Harding he did not say a word that would commit himself to the opinions he quotes. That his esti- mate of the Episcopate was not what our author asserts, may be learned from the following extracts : " I grant Bishops may be called the heads of their several Churches/' 44 Optatus saith ' there be four sorts of heads in the Church : the Bishops, the Priests, the Deacons, the faithful (or laity)'" (Def. Apol, Parker Soc'y, p. 269.) "His own Anacletus saith * * * * more than these two Orders of Priests (Bishops and Elders) neither hath God appointed us, nor have the Apostles taught us/ And yet of these same two several Orders, St. Hie- rome seemeth to make only one Order ; for thus he writeth * * * ' I hear say there is a man broken out into such wilful fury that he placeth Deacons before Priests, that is to say before Bishops. And again * * * ' The Apostle Paul especially teach- eth us that Priests and Bishops be all one/ The same St. Hie- rome, writing upon the prophet Esay, reckoneth only five orders or degrees in the whole Church : the Bishops, the Priests, the Deacons, the enterers or beginners, and the faith- ful ; and other Order of the Church he knoweth none." He then gives the same quotations from Jerome to which we have referred so often : " Idem est Pres- byter qui Episcopus," etc., etc., and proceeds: " Clemens saith: * * * * 'the mysteries of the holy secrecies be committed unto three Orders ; that is unto the Priests, unto the Deacons, and unto the Ministers, and yet Deacons and Min- sters, as touching the name, are all one. Dionysius, likewise, hath three Orders, but not the same ; for he reckoneth Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. And whereas Mr. Harding maketh his account of four of the less or inferior Orders, meaning thereby Ostiarios, Lectores, Exorcistas, Acoluthos. His own Ignatius addeth thereto three other Orders, Cantatores, Laboratores, Confitentes," etc., etc.— (Page 272.) " In this so great dissention and darkness, what way will Mr. Harding take to follow? By Anacletus there be two Orders ; by Clemens and St. Hierome, three ; by counterfeit Hierome, seven ; by others, eight ; by others, nine ; by others, ten." (Page 272, 273.) OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 2S9 Jewel then proceeds to argue against and ridicule the four minor Orders contended for by his antago- nist, but writes not a syllable against the Three Or- ders " which Christ hath ordained in his Church." When Harding asserts that English Bishops have neither Order nor Consecration, Jewel notes in the margin: "A manifest untruth; for we have both." And then replies in the text : " He thought if he could make the world believe we have neither Bishops, nor Priests, nor Deacons this day in the Church of England, he might then the more easily claim the whole right unto himself."— (Page 322.) Again on page 334 he thus addresses Harding : " Whereas it further pleases you to call for my letters of orders, and to demand of me whether I be a Priest or no? what hands were laid over me ; and by what order I was made ? I answer you, I am a Priest, made long since by the same order and ordinance, and I think, also by the same man and the same hands that you, Mr. Harding, were made Priest by, in the late time of that most virtuous Prince, King Edward the sixth ; therefore ye cannot well doubt of my priesthood without like doubting of your own." " Further, as if ye were my metropolitan, ye demand of me whether I be a Bishop or no ? I answer you, I am a Bishop, and that by the free and accustomed Canonical election of the whole chapter of Sarisbury assembled together for that pur- pose. Our Bishops are made in form and order as they have been ever by free election of the chapter ; by consecration of the Archbishop and other three Bishops, and by the admission of the Prince." " Therefore we neither have Bishops without Church, nor Church without Bishops. Neither doth the Church of Eng- land this day depend of them whom you often call apostates, as if our Church were no Church without them. ... If there were not one, neither of them nor of us left alive, yet would not therefore the whole Church of England flee to Lovaine, Tertullian saith : 'And we being laymen, are we not Priests? It is written, Christ hath made us both a kingdom and Priest unto God his Father. The authority of the Church, and the honor by the assembly, or council of order sanctified of God, hath made a difference between the lay and the clergy. Where, 25 290 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. as there is no assembly of ecclesiastical order, the Priest being there alone (without the company of other Priests) doth minis- ter the oblation and also baptize ; yea, and be there but three together, and though they be laymen, yet is there a Church. For every man liveth of his own faith." Mr. Goode quotes this, and says significantly: "It is needless to point out how much this passage im- plies." Notwithstanding which, we very sincerely wish he had pointed it out ; for insinuations are harder to deal with than plain statements. We pre- sume the gravamen of it is found, "as he seems to believe, in (1) the reference to Lovaine, and (2) to laymen constituting a Church. Now of the first the meaning is not as Mr. Goode's Italics suggest: that if there were no true Bishops in the English Church, they would not accept authority or succession from Romish Prelates, but simply this, in which we most heartily join with him; even the total want of Bishops would not compel us to fly to Lovaine [i. e. to turn Romanist and go there as Harding had done\ ; we would rather depend on our prayers, rather fall bach upon our personal priesthood, than become apjostates. The other point which Mr. Goode thinks so plainly in his favor, and which some persons regard as indi- cating very loose views of the ministry, has no such meaning. It is well known that laymen were ad- dressed in Scripture as a "priesthood," and called upon to offer themselves as living sacrifices unto the Lord ; but surely no one holds, on that account, that all laymen are in the true sacerdotal or ministerial Order. Now it is to this sort of a priesthood, and to a Church consisting of such only, that Jewel spoke of resorting rather than apostatize. He does not say that a society OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 291 of such Christian men would be a Church in the full and proper sense of the term ; nor does he desire for a moment to deny or interfere with the sacred Orders of the ministry, though Mr. Goode insinuates, and his followers think, that that is his veritable meaning. Let us hear his own words, as they appear on the same page : " But ye tell us i There is a priesthood internal, and a priest- hood external ; and there is a difference between laymen and priests.' What needed this talk, Mr. Harding? There is not one of us that ever taught otherwise. We know that the priest or minister of the Church of God is divided from the rest of his brethren, as was the tribe of Levi from the children of Israel, and hath a special office over the people. Neither may any man force himself into that office without lawful calling. But as touching the inward priesthood and exercise of the soul, we say, even as St. Peter and St. John and Tertullian have said : In this sense every faithful christian man is a priest, and offereth unto God spiritual sacrifices. In this sense only, I say, and not otherwise." — (Page 336.) So much, them for the artful suggestion (or else the very singular mistake) of our author. We have given up considerable space to this vindication of the eminent Apologist, but not more than his worth demands. We close our quotations from him with this pregnant sentence : " We succeed the Bishops that have been before our days. We are elected, consecrated, confirmed, and admitted as they were. If they were deceived in anything, we succeed them in place, but not in error. " — (P. 339.) Akchbishop Parker. — The judgment of this second Protestant Primate may be gathered from what has been given in the Ninth chapter. We subjoin a few brief extracts, however, for the purpose of making this chain complete. In 1560, Nicholas Heathe, (deprived) Archbishop 292 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. of York, and others of the Eomish clergy, wrote a letter threatening all the Eeformed Bishops and Ministers with the Pope's displeasure, excommuni- cation, etc. To this Parker replied by showing the absurdity and arrogance of the Bishop of Eome in presuming to judge or lord it over others of the same Order as himself. In this letter he makes the profession usually made by the English Reformers, of willingness to leave all disputed matters to the test of Holy Scripture and Christian antiquity ; and he speaks with pride of those British Bishops who in old time repudiated the claims of the Bishop of Eome. He then adds : " I and the rest of our brethren, the Bishops and Clergy of the realm, supposed ye to be our brethren in Christ. But we are sorry that ye, through your perverseness, have separated yourselves not only from us, but from those ancient fathers and their opinions." — [Correspondence, page 112.) We shall not quote any of his very numerous complaints of the troubles and turmoils of what he calls those exulceratissima tempora. These have been sufficiently referred to already. The following is from one of his letters to Cecil describing his recep- tion and intercourse with the French Ambassador : " The substance of his inquisition was much nor the other any right to use it. And so is it with these Presbyters that are made only by Presbyters; they art none other than mere laics. " — ( Great Antichrist, small folio, 1661, pp. 22, 23.) Bishop Ed. Keynolds, of Norwich (1595-1676), formerly a Puritan : " Christ was called of God our High Priest after the Order of Melchisedec, even so were his Apostles sent by Him ; and by authority from Him they did ordain others unto the same service, and direct the same course to be pursued afterwards. From Him, therefore, and those whom he hath appointed, must we receive both our mission and our message." The call is twofold, internal and external * * * "The ex- ternal call, instituted by Christ in his Apostles, is managed by their successors, the Bishops and Pastors of the Church." * * " Separation and solemn consecration were done in the Church assembly," "with the rite of imposition of hands, importing (1) a dedicating and devoting the person to the office, and (2) deriving authority to minister office" — ( Works, in folio, 1678, p. 1038.) Bishop Samuel Pakkek, of Oxford (1640-1687): " It is an undeniable truth that the Apostolical office was Episcopal, and the Episcopal Apostolical, both of them consist- ing in the supreme government of the Church ; so that an Apostle was a moving Bishop, to found Churches, and a Bishop a settled Apostle, to govern them." — {Account of Government of Christian Church, 12mo., London, 1683.) " The Bishop of that Church in Tertullian's time was known to have succeeded the Apostle in that See, as now one Bishop doth another ; and what Tertullian means by that is evident, in that he reckons up three orders of the Clergy, — Bishop, Priest, and Deacon ; and gives such a supremacy to the Bishop as to allow nothing to be done in the Church by Presbyters or Dea- cons, without his authority." — (P. 17.) " This one would think more than enough to satisfy the ut- most demands that any ingenuous man could make for the Apostolical Succession of Episcopacy. — (P. 23.) OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 393 Speaking of the common use in the New Testa- ment of the same word for different offices, and dif- ferent words for the same office, he says : "And yet what volumes hath this one lean and forced con- clusion brought forth against the Apostolical Succession of Bishops ! Nay, it is the only thing, besides St. Jerome's rash expressions, that supports the controversies — (P. 26.) Herbert Thorndike died 1672. He quotes ap- provingly from Salmasius : "Bishops are set over their Churches plenissime in the fullest right, and that therefore ordination was reserved to them; which is to say, that in all things they have a special interest, but especially ordination is their peculiar ." — {Review of Right of the Church, p. 77.) Archbishop Spotiswood (1565-1639): " As touching the government of the Church, I am verily persuaded that the government Episcopal is the only right and Apostolical form" — {Last Will and Testament.) Dr. Thomas Jackson (1579-1640) was another of those intellectual giants of whom our Church can boast. So thorough and profound were his usual discourses, that clergymen resorted to his Church whenever it was possible ; and the saying was com- mon that, "his pulpit was like a Professor's chair." About twenty-five years ago, his Treatise on the Church was reprinted by Mr. Goode; from it we make the following extracts. The reader will bear in mind that this Treatise, being written against Eo- manists, with whom, as to the theory of Succession, etc., we have no debate, there is in it no defence of that theory ; it and Episcopacy are taken for granted. " It is, then, profession of the same faith, participation of the Sacraments, and subjection to the same laws and ordinances ecclesiastic, which makes the visible Church to be one." — {Two Treatises, etc., etc., Phil, edit., p. 59.) 304 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 11 The more spiritual pawer with which alone the Apostles and their immediate Successors were endued, was of greater efficacy than both the remainder of the like spiritual power in later Bishops and pastors, and all the strength of secular or civil power wherewith princes, states, or kingdoms * * * have, as they were in conscience and de jure div ino bound, assisted Prelates and Church governors." — (P. 61.) "Prelates" "are always to remember that this power is given them, not for destruction, or to show their own greatness, and therefore never to be used but upon special and weighty occasions."— (P. 116.) " Though no heretic be a true member of the Church, and therefore no true Priest, yet, so long as he is in the Priest's place (in Sacerdotio), the acts of his ministry or priesthood be good. Now, though the Pope or Bishop of Rome be more than a heretic, even the Antichrist or man of sin * * * nevertheless, seeing (as the Apostle saith) he sits in the temple of God, even the acts of his ministration or priesthood are good ; nor are the Bishops consecrated by him so polluted by communion with him in their consecration but their Episcopal acts, as the ordina- tion of ministers, the administration of Sacraments prescribed by Christ and his Apostles," etc., etc. — (P. 167.) Dr. Isaac Barrow (1630-1677). This une- qualled divine, who has never been accused of nar- rowness, bears the following testimony in his sermon on Hebrews xiii., 17 : " The Church is acies ordinata, a well-marshalled army, wherein, under the Captain-General of our faith and salva- tion, * * * there are divers Captains serving in fit degrees of subordination : Bishops commanding larger regiments, Presby- ters ordering less numerous companies." "Of this distinction there never was, in ancient times, made any question, nor did it seem disputable in the Church, except by one malcontent (Aerius), who did, indeed, get a name in story, but never made much noise or obtained any vogue in the world. Very few followers he found in his heterodoxy ; no great body, even of heretics, could find cause to dissent from the Church on this point; but all, Arians, Macedonians, Novatians, Donatists, etc., maintained the distinction of Ecclesiastical Or- ders among themselves, and. acknowledged the duty of the in- ferior clergy to their Bishops." He then goes on to show that such subordination is required by reason : OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 395 " An army cannot be without a general, a senate without a president, a corporation without a chief magistrate ; this, all experience attesteth ; this, even the chief impugners of Episco- pal presidency do by their practice confess, who, for the preven- tion of disorder, have been fain of their own heads to devise Ecclesiastical subordinations, * * * and to appoint moderators (or temporary Bishops) in their assemblies ; so that reason hath forced the dissenters from the Church to imitate it/' " The Holy Scripture also doth plainly enough countenance this distinction ; for therein we have represented one ' Angel ' presiding over principal Churches which contained several Presbyters ; therein we find Episcopal ordination and jurisdic- tion exercised. " "I shall only farther add that if any man be so dully or so affectedly ignorant as not to see the reason of the case, and the dangerous consequences ,of rejecting this ancient form of disci- pline ; if any be so overweeningly presumptuous as to question the faith of all history, or to disavow those monuments, arid that tradition, upon the testimony whereof even the truth and certainty of our religion and all its sacred oracles do rely ; if any be so perversely contentious as to oppose the custom and current practice of the Churches through all ages down to the last age. * * * * * jjp 0n such a person we may look as one utterly invinci- ble and intractable. So weak a judgment and so strong a will who can hope by reason to convert P y Speaking of the " false Apostles" who resisted the " true Apostles/' and "intruded themselves into that high office," he says : " No wonder, then, it may be that now in these dregs of time there should be many who disavow and desert their true guides, transferring the observance due to them upon bold pretenders, who are not, indeed, guides, but seducers ; not governors, but usurpers and sacrilegious invaders of this holy office." He then goes to give the marks by which genuine guides may be known. They are those who preach the gospel faithfully, administer the Sacraments grave- ly and duly, etc., and " Those who derive their authority by a continued Suc- cession from the Apostles, who are called unto and constituted in their office in a regular and peaceable way agreeable to the institution of God, and the constant practice of his Church/-' " As they [the Apostles] did challenge to themselves an au- S96 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. thority from Christ to exercise these and the like acts of spirit- ual dominion and jurisdiction, as we do also see the like acts exorcised by Bishops whom they did constitute to feed and rule the Church, so we may reasonably conceive all governors of the Church [the heirs of their office J invested with like authority in order to the same purpose, and that correspondent obedience is due to them." — ( Works, 8vo. ed., London, Vol. iii., pp. 109-130.) Dr. Rich'd. Allestree (1619-1680). Eegius pro- fessor of theology at Oxford : 11 Thf separateness of the functions of the Clergy, the incom- municableness of their office to persons not separated for them, is so express a doctrine, both of the letter of the text and of the Holy Ghost, that sure I need not to say more." * * * " And here I might tell you of * bearing rule/ of ' thrones/ of ' stars/ and * angels/ and other words of a high sense, and yet not go out of the scripture bounds, although the dignity did not die with the scripture age, nor expire with the Apostles. The age as low as Photius words it thus: 'that Apostolical and divine dignity which the chief priests are acknowledged to be possessed of by right of Succession/" — (Sermon xvi., fol. ed., 1684; also quoted in Tracts for Times, Amer. Ed., vol. ii., page 146.) Henry Dodwell (1641-1711), although a layman was a profoundly learned theologian and teacher of divinity. His opinions were very decided indeed^ and would come nearer to Mr. Goode's representation of exclusiveism than any we know of. He wrote a thick quarto volume on the Sinfulness of Schism, in which he maintained at length that " Separation of Churches from Episcopal Government is Schismati- cal." He shows the superiority of Episcopal Churches to all others in this way : salvation is offered to man through a Covenant of mercy, but a right to the promises or benefits of that covenant cannot ordina- rily be possessed except by entering into it and par- taking of the ordinances which are its tokens and pledges ; and that these, with any certainty of validity, OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 397 can only be "bad in a rightly and perfectly constituted branch of the Church Catholic ; and that this Church has ever been and must ever be Episcopal in its con- stitution, because so instituted by divine direction : " The visible Church wherein they may expect to find these ordinary means, is the Episcopal in opposition to all other so- cieties not Episcopally governed." — ( On Schism, London, 1679, p. 166.) " The validity of the Sacraments depends upon the authority of the persons by whom they are administered." " No other ministers have this lawful authority but only they of the Epis- copal communion." — (Page 168.) Of this work the 24th and 25th chapters are ex- pressly devoted to proving the " Nullity of Ordina- tions among the Non-Conformists." Of this same date we have an anonymous work, which, from its exactness and fulness of learning, might pass for Dodwell's, but yet is not. It is called a " Brief Account of the Ancient Church Govern- ment," and is an elaborate reply to the Presbyterian plea — their Jus Divinum Ministerii, and to Blondel's Apology. The writer divides his work into four parts. In the first he shows that the Apostles were the Successors of Christ ; in the second that Bishops are the Successors of the Apostles ; in the third he presents the Presbyterian plea against Bishops ; and in the fourth he replies to it : " All parts of Apostolical authority were not given to all whom the Apostles ordained, with an exact equality amongst them ; but some authority (as that of ordaining * * * * ) given to some particular persons, with a subordination to them of the rest,"— (Page 40.) " It is needless to show any further out of later Fathers, the authority of Bishops to have been superior to Presbyters in their own times ; for who with any face can deny this. But this may be to purpose to show you out of them this authority of Bishops (superior to Presbyters), which was practised in their times to have been held by them as of Apostolical, or yet 34 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. higher, of our Lord's institution', and so of Apostolical Suc- cession." — (Page 62.) As to whether Bishops and Presbyters be of to- tally different Orders, or only of different degrees in the same Order, this author says, the possession of higher authority and special powers should show superiority of Order ; yet "If different functions may not distinguish these higher Orders * * * let this controversy be stated as any one pleaseth, only so that the Bishops be still acknowledged to have been admitted to this superior gracilis by a new ordination or conse- cration (call it as you please), even in the most ancient records of the Church, and by this to have committed to them those special acts or Acts Ecclesiastical, which, if the inferior gradu s sacerdotal did assume, it teas always accounted by the Church INVALID, NULL, AND EFFECTLESS. " Bishop Lloyd of St. Asaph (1627-1717) pub- lished in 168-1 his " Historical Account of Church Government in Great Britain," etc., which he dedi- cated to the " Eev. Dr. Stillingfleet, Dean of St. Paul's, and the pious and learned Mr. Henry Dodwell/' in acknowledgment to "them in particular of the debt that is owing from the whole Church to all that have stood up in the breach against her enemies." He thus shows the Universality of Episcopacy : " In that laborious collection of Blondel's, which was made for the service of our Presbyterians, he, with all his vast read- ing, could not find one undoubted example of a Church of their way in the ancient times, but only that of the ScotsV (Preface.) And in respect to this, the Bishop proceeds to show that Blondel was entirely wrong: "But (as it hath pleased God) there is no want of instance to prove that Episcopacy was settled here as it was in other countries. First we find at the Council of Aries (which was called by Constantine the Great in the year 314) * * * there were out of Britain three Bishops, one Priest, and one Deacon. " OPINION'S OF DIVINES. 399 From the Canons of this Council he quotes a pas- sage ending thus : " And that the Presbyters do nothing without leave of the Bishop." " The last words which set forth the Episcopal power are the same in effect with those of the epistles of Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, which have been often produced in defence of Episco- pal authority. No man that considers the antiquity of that Eather who died within ten years after St. John the Apostle, can doubt whether his kind of Episcopacy were the govern- ment the Apostles left in the Church." — (Pp. 73-4.) Dr. John Scott (1638-1694) in his Christian Life: " We read of the Church of Jerusalem * * of Antioch, Ephe- sus, etc. ; which Churches, doubtless, consisted of several con- gregations in and about those populous cities, which were all united into one body under the care and inspection of one Bishop or Governor." — (Page 294.) " No congregation can lawfully communicate in the public offices of divine worship without a lawful pastor to adminis- ter it ; no collection of congregations can lawfully exert an Act of Church government without having an authorized governor to exercise it" — (Page 296.) " There is a standing form of government and discipline in the Church, instituted by our Saviour himself which, as I shall show hereafter, is this, that there should be an Episcopacy, or Order of men authorized in a continued Succession from the Apostles (who were authorized by Himself), to oversee and govern all those particular Churches into which the Church Catholic should be hereafter distributed ; to ordain inferior Ministers to teach, and instruct, and administer the holy offices to particular congregations." — (Page 310.) " These things, therefore, being all of divine institution, are the essentials of Christian government and discipline, in which all Christian Churches are obliged to communicate with each other. And this being the standing form and discipline of the Catholic Churches, no particular Church or community of Christ- ians can refuse to communicate in it without dividing itself from the communion of the Church Catholic. I say refuse to communi- cate in it, because it is possible for a Church to be without this government, which yet doth neither refuse it, nor the commu- nion of any other Church for the sake of it. A Church may be debarred of it by unavoidable necessity in despite of its power, and against its consent, and under this circumstance I can by no means think such a Church to be separated from the Church 400 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. Catholic. It is, indeed, an imperfect and defective part of the Catholic Church, and if this defect of it be any way owing to its own negligence, it is a very great fault in it, as well as an un- happiness. But though this instituted government is necessary t-> the perfection of a Church, it does not necessarily follow that it is necessary to the being of it." — (Page 312.) " But though a community of Christians may be a true part of the Catholic Church and in communion with it, though it hath no Episcopacy, yet it is a plain case that if it rejects the Episcopacy and separates from the communion of it, it thereby wholly divides itself from the communion of the Catholic ChurcV'— - (p. 313, 4th Ed., 12mo., London, 1697, Vol. iii.) Dr. George Hickes (1642-1715) was ordained to the Episcopate by the non-jurors, but never held jurisdiction as a Bishop : •'May not God set apart a perpetual Order and Succession of public officers and ministers in his Church forever to attend to those things?" — [Christian Priesthood, Oxford Ed. 1847, Vol. i., p. 258.) Speaking of what is given under the name of The Holy Ghost in ordination, he says : " Most certainly the Gifts, which, by a metonymy in Script- ure, are often called the Spirit, and which, in consecration and ordination, they give to the persons consecrated or ordained. But how? Not in their own name ; but as Peter gave sound- ness to the lame man when he said, ' silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee -in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth ; rise up and walk/ " — (Page 261.) On page 267 he quotes the following from the infidel Tindal : " It is the prevailing opinion that the Bishops are by divine appointment governors of the Christian Church, and that no one is capable of being of that number who derives not his right by an uninterrupted Succession of Bishops in the Catholic Church. I will now show some of the numerous absurdities of this hy- pothesis." So, then, the first direct opponent of Apostolical Succession that we meet with is this unbeliever. In reply to him, Hickes proceeds : OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 401 " That Bishops are by divine appointment, and derive their right by uninterrupted succession, is no hypothesis, as he calls it, but matter of fact, believed and practised for fifteen hun- dred years in the Christian Church." " The next argument he brings against this Episcopal form of government, hath been brought and answered many times. It consists in nothing but spiteful and invidious clamor against the divine right of Episcopacy for ' weakening the Protest- ant cause ;' ' for unchurching the Reformed Churches in other countries, particularly that in Scotland/' To which I answer, first, that no strict doctrines are to be rejected for the severity of their consequences upon men who will not believe them, or, if they believe, will not practice them." " But, as our author truly speaks, it is they, themselves, that 'unchurch themselves' * * * by throwing off a government which was instituted by God for the perpetual and unalterable polity of the Church." "I speak this with reluctance, though with freedom and plain- ness. I call God to witness, not to reproach the Protestants of other Churches, who have advocated Episcopacy, but in great charity and pity to them, beseeching them to consider if, indeed they can justify themselves to Christ and the Christian world for abdicating it, and departing from the constitution and mis- sion of the Catholic Church. They all, except in one place [Scotland], plead necessity for departing from it, and I would to God their plea were good. But the necessities they plead are necessities of their own making and continuing ; chosen and wilful necessities ; and, I am forced to say by consequences, unjustifiable necessities, out of which they may, and I think therefore ought to extricate themselves as soon as they can." —(Pp. 269-271.) Dr. Hickes edited and published, in 1708, a work entitled " The Divine Eight of Episcopacy Asserted, by a Presbyter of the Church of England." From this we quote a single passage : " Episcopacy is of divine institution in these three senses/' "For if Jesus Christ has appointed it in his Gospel to be the government of His Church, as I doubt not to make it appear, it is past controversy that it is of divine institution ; since it is the Son of God Himself that is the author of it. But, admitting that we should not meet with the formal and positive establish- ment of it by Him * * * if the Apostles have set it forth as men divinely inspired, it must be confessed that it is of divine institution. * * * And, lastly, if the Apostles, by virtue of their commission from Jesus Christ, have founded such a form of 34* 402 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. Church government in the Christian Church, it must be like- wise, if not immediately, yet mediately, as being grounded upon a divine authority." — [P. 12.) Bishop Samuel Bradfokd, of Bochester (1652- 1731): " The plain and certain account which we have of the dis- tinction of Bishop and Presbyters, as superior and inferior officer, in the several Churches planted by the Apostles of which we have any history, even down successively from their times, is of itself a testimony so very clear, that it is hard to conceive how any that are not slaves to an hypothesis should withstand the force of it." — ( Consecration Sermon at Lambeth Chapel, p. 7.) Bishop Burnet (1643-1715), the well-known writer of the History of Keformation, and expounder of the Thirty-Nine Articles. Part of his comment upon the 23d is quoted by Mr. Groode as follows : "If a company of Christians find the public worship where they live to be so defiled that they cannot with a good conscience join in it, and if they do not know of any place to which they can conveniently go, where they may worship God purely and in a regular way ; if, I say, such a body, finding some that have been ordained, though to the lower functions, should submit itself entirely to their conduct, or, finding none of those, should by a common consent desire some of their own number to min- ister to them in holy things, and should upon that beginning grow up to a regulated constitution, though we are very sure that this is quite out of all rule, and could not be done without a VERY GREAT SIN, Unless the NECESSITY WERE GREAT AND APPARENT; yet, if the necessity is real and not feigned, this is not condemned or annulled by the Article ; for when this grows to a constitu- tion, and when it was begun by the consent of a Body, who are supposed to have an authority in such an extraordinary case, whatever some hotter spirits have thought of this since that time, yet we are very sure that not only those who penned the Articles, but the body of this Church for above half an age after did, notwithstanding those irregularities, acknowledge the Foreign Churches, so constituted, to be true Churches, as to all the essen- tials of a Church, though they had been at first irregularly formed, and continued still to be in an imperfect state. ,y We might allow this to pass, as correct enough, but for that part of it that involves the idea that laymen OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 403 can originate a ministry and a Church; which idea was never tolerated by the Church of England for a moment. Burnet was one of the most determined Low Church partisans of his day (and, indeed, more of a politician than a divine), yet his Exposition con- tains abundant proof that he held to the divine right of Episcopacy, and Mr. Goode's own quotation im- plies it. Our space will not allow us to give more than a sentence or two in addition : " In the New Testament our Lord called the twelve Apostles and sent them out. He also sent out upon another occasion seventy disciples ; and before He left His Apostles he told them, that as His Father had sent him, so He sent them ; which seems to import, that as He was sent into the world with this amoug other powers, that He might send others in His name, so He likewise empowered them to do the same * * so they appointed others over the particular Churches in which they fixed them : such were Epaphras or Epaphroditus at Colosse, Timothy at Ephesus, and Titus in Crete. To them the Apostles gave authority; otherwise it was a needless thing to write so many directions to them in order to their conduct." " These rules given to Timothy and Titus do plainly import that there was to be an authority in the Church, and that no man was to assume this authority to himself/' " The Apostles settled order and government in the Church, not so much for the age in which they themselves lived, as once to establish and give credit to constitutions that they foresaw would be yet more necessary to the succeeding ages." But the reader ought to know that the comment on the 23d Article, which is so triumphantly brought forward by Mr. Groode and his followers, was especially censured by the Convocation. The Lower House com- plained, (1) " That the said book tends to introduce such a latitude and diversity of opinions as the Articles were framed to avoid, (2) That there are many passages in the exposition of the sev- eral Articles which appear to us to be contrary to the true mean- ing of them and to other received doctrines of our Church." — (Lathbury's History, p. 355.) 40-i OPINIONS OF DIVINES. The Bishops, who were nearly all of the Govern- ment party, refused to entertain the complaint ; but it remains on the record. Bishop Beveridge (1636-1707). — We turn now to another Prelate, who was vastly more learned than Burnet, and at least as able. He also was a Low Churchman, but in the best (that is, the non-polit- ical) sense of the term. Few better men have ever lived. He too wrote a commentary on the Articles, from which we print a few extracts : " Though there be but one God men are called to this [the ministerial] office by, yet there be two ways which He is pleased to call them in. Some he calls immediately, from Himself with- out men ; others mediately from Himself by men. The first manner of calling the Prophets and Apostles had." * * * " Christ called the Apostles; the Apostles, by the appointment of the same Christ, called others to succeed them ; they again others ; and so hath there been a succession of lawful ministers ever since." " So that none are now lawful ministers but such as are thus called by Him, and all that are thus called by Him are lawful ministers. I mean all such as are called by such as succeed them in the ministry who were called immediately from Christ himself; for these are they which certainly we are to understand by those mentioned in this Article, ' who have public authority given unto them in the Congregation or Church to call and send ministers into the Lord's vineyard/ " — ( On 22>d Article.) " If we once suppose that the primitive Church generally erred in their ordination of ministers, then we must grant also that there hath never been a lawful ministry since ; the lawful- ness of their ministry depending chiefly, yea only, on the lawful- ness of their ordination * * * and if there be no lawful ministry, there can be no true Church, because the word is not lawfully preached^ nor the Sacraments lawfully administered in it." — ( On 36th Article.) He then goes on to show that the power of ordi- nation was always confessed to be the property of Bishops, and of them alone : " And thus we see how in the primitive Church it was Bishops only that ordained Priests, and they were no Priests who were OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 405 not ordained by Bishops ; insomuch that St. Chrysostom, and yea, and St. Jerome himself too, could not bat say that Ordina- tion * * was peculiar to Bishops. So that though Presbyters should be thought to be equal to Bishops in other things, yet in this business of Ordination Bishops must needs be acknowledged to be above them." — {Ibid., Oxford ed., p. 554.) Against such exposition as this the Church never objected. From his sermons we print a single sentence : "As for schism, they certainly hazard their salvation at a strange rate, who separate from such a Church as ours is, wherein the Apostolical Succession, the root of all Christian communion, hath been so entirely preserved, and the word and sacraments are so effectually administered ; and all to go unto such assemblies and meetings as can have no pretence to the 'promise in my text J" — (Sermon on " Lo I am with you always ," etc., etc.) Matthew Scrivener published his "Course of Divinity" in 1674. Of Succession he speaks thus: " How is it possible to distinguish them whom Christ hath appointed to constitute others in the Church, from them to whom He hath given no such order, but by this Succession we now speak of, namely, a traduction of that faculty which is in one (deriving it originally, though by many intermediate hands, from Christ himself), to another succeeding him." — (Fol., Lon- don, p. 130.) Speaking of persons taking the ministry upon them " without ordinary grant," he says : " This evil is only remedied by a successive and ordinary trans- mission of that power which Christ left with certain peculiar per- sons he called Apostles, with authority to communicate the same to others to the world's end, according to the several ranks and orders of Ministers of which his Church consisteth." — (Ibid..) James Boys, Vicar of Coggeshall in Essex, was also author of an exposition of the Articles. His opinions are very decidedly given : "After the decease of the Apostles, the Bishops ordained by them set apart others to succeed themselves ; and thus the min- istry lawfully called hath continued in the Church to this day." 406 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 11 It can be no other than a violation of God's order, and an unlawful intrusion into His sanctuary, when men take this office upon them in a way different from the practice of the Apostol- ical age and primitive times." "Are they true ministers that plead they receive their com- mission from the Spirit only, and are moved by the Holy Ghost? Our Church says they are not." * * * " Are (hose, then, true ministers which own they receive it from men, from the Presbyters of the Church by the imposition of hands and prayer? Our Church declares against these; for the Article says they must be called to the work by men who have public authority given them in the Congregation to call and send ministers. This congregation can be reputed no other than the Catholic Church ; and that has never given or allowed unto Presbyters alone power or authority to send laborers into God's vineyard." — (Second edition, London, 1717, pp. 152, 155.) Dr. Richard Fiddes (1671-1725), in his Body of Divinity, published in 1717, says : " If ordinations to the sacred offices had been unlawful or in- valid, either without the authority of the Apostles or in oppo- sition to it, they must be equally unlawful or invalid when they are performed either without or against the authority of their Suc- cessors." * * * Ancient writers " all unanimously agree in this conclusion, that Bishops are an Order superior to Presbyters, to whom the supreme power of jurisdiction in the several Churches belonged, and who had the sole power of ordaining others ; and that they did accordingly, in fact, succeed in the Episcopate, and alone exercise that power." — (Book iv., chap. uL, fol., Dublin, 1718, Vol. L, p. 290.) And again he speaks thus decidedly : " The Succession in each of the three orders was always de- rived from Episcopal hands; and as Bishops only had the power to ordain, no ordination by other hands could be or ever was admitted as having any force or validity." " Whether the necessity pleaded for at the Reformation, for abolishing the Episcopal office, was real or only pretended, or however God, in cases of necessity, may excuse honest and well- meaning persons in the breach of his own constitutions, yet neither in the reason of the thing, nor from any facts recorded in the Holy Scriptures, can it be proved that facts done by a mere human or other incompetent authority, towards conveying any divine powers, can be in themselves of the least force or validity." — (Vol. ii., p. 117.) OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 407 The London Cases were a set of very moderate expostulations and reasons, presented in the hope of recovering Dissenters to the Church of England. They were published in 1698. Among the writers were Archbishops Tillotson, Sharpe, and Tenison, Bishops Grove, Sherlock, Williams, Fowler, and Pat- rick, Dr. Cave, Dr. Hooper, etc., etc. Owing to their special purpose the Cases are rather apologetic in tone, and indeed some of the writers, being almost as latitudinarian as they could be with honesty, would not, under any ordinary circumstances have written differently. Notwithstanding this, however, the vol- ume contains much that is worth considering, much that our extreme Low Churchman of the present times would hardly accept. Ex. Gra. : " Some who communicate ordinarily with the Church of Eng- land make no scruple to communicate, in prayers and Sacra- ments, with Presbyterian and Independent [or Congregational] Churches ; * * * * and some think it very indifferent ivhom they communicate with, and therefore take their turns in all. But this is as contrary to all the principles of Church communion as anything can possibly be." " To be in communion with the Church is to be a member of it ; and to be a member of two separate and opposite Churches is to be as contrary to ourselves as those separate Churches are to each other. Christ hath but one Church and one body, and therefore where there are two Churches, divided from each other by separate communions, there is a schism and rent in the body ; and whoever communicates with both these Churches, on one side or the other, communicates in a Schism. ,y " That the Presbyterian and Independent Churches have made an actual separation from the Church of England, I have evidently proved already ; and therefore, if the communion of the Church of England be lawful * * * then they are schis- matics, and to communicate with them is to partake in their schism."— (Small Fol., London, 1698, p. 35.) Archbishop Sharpe, of York (1644-1713). — Ee- ferring to our Lord's command (Matt, xxviii., 19, 20), he says : 408 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. " This commission of our Saviour we may properly style the charter of the Church ; and mind, I pray, what is contained in it. Our Saviour here declares the extent of his Church, and of what persons he would have it constituted. It was to extend throughout all the world, and to be made up of all nations. He here declares upon what grounds He would have it constituted. * * * * Lastly, He here promises the perpetual presence of His Holy Spirit, both to assist the Apostles and their Successors in the building and governing this Church, and to actuate and enliven all the members of it." — (Sermon on 1 Cor. xii., 13, in Vol. vii., pp. 87, 88.) Chaeles Leslie (1650-1732). — This almost un- equalled reasoner and very zealous defender of the Church, speaking of proposed surrender of Church privileges, says, in his "Eegale and Pontificat " :* "How can rights that are divine be given up? If they are divine no human authority can either supersede or limit them. If they are divine, it is sacrilege to invade them or give them up." * * * "Assert your divine rights in full tail; leave not a hoof of them behind. Who dare oppose what they acknowledge to be divine?" — (Preface.) On page 32, he quotes approvingly the following from Sherlock : "If Bishops will not exercise that power which Christ has given them, they are accountable to their Lord for it ; but they cannot give it away, neither from themselves nor from their Successors, for it is theirs only to use, not to part with it." — (Ibid.) At page 167 we find him replying to the question, " What is the proper office of the priesthood, and for what was it ordained ?" We believe that Mr. Goode would be very unwilling to reprint his treatment of this subject. He says the proper notion of the Chris- tian ministry had been quite taken away, " in our late times of schism and rebellion :" " To make way for those who had no commission to show for * Second edition, 12mo., London, 1701. OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 4.0.) their usurping that sacred office. Therefore they reduced it all to preaching, and loved the name of Preachers better than that of Priests."— (P. 173.) " They said that other men [without deriving any Succession from the Apostles] could read the Gospel and the Absolution or Eetaining of sins therein contained, as well as any Bishop, or [any | Priest ordained by him. So they might [read] a patent, a pardon, or a declaration of war, as well as any judge or herald ; but with this difference, that their doing of it, who are not legally empowered, signifies just nothing." — (P. 174.) From his tract on the " Qualifications Kequisite to Administer the Sacraments/' we will give a single extract : " The validity of Episcopal ordination* * * the Church of Rome does own ; and the Presbyterians dare not deny it, be- cause they would thereby overthrow all their own ordinations ; for the Presbyters who reformed (as they call it) 'from Bishops, received their ordination from Bishops/ " " And, therefore, though the Episcopal principles do invalidate the ordination by Presbyters, yet the Presbyterian principles do not invalidate the ordination by Bishops ; so that the validity of Episcopal ordination stands safe on all sides, even by con- fession of those who are enemies to the Episcopal Order." " Whereas, on the other hand, the validity of the Presbyterian ordinations is avowed by none but themselves, and they have all the rest of the world as opposite to them/' " But because the design of this discourse is to show the succession from the Apostles, I answer, that this succession is preserved and derived only in the Bishops." — ( Works, in folio, 1722, Vol. ii., p. 721.) " To state the case the most impartially, to receive Baptism from these dissenters is at least a hazard of many thousands to one." " But to receive it from the Bishop or Episcopal clergy, has no hazard at all as to its validity, even as owned by the Presbyterians themselves." — (Page 735.) Dean Sherlock (1641-1707) From this promi- nent divine Mr. Goode quotes the following para- graph, and adds a sentence from Dr. Claget to sus- tain it: " I do allow Episcopacy to be an Apostolical institution, and the truly ancient and catholic government of the Church, of which more hereafter ; but yet in this very book I prove indus- 35 410 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. triously and at large, that in case of necessity, when Bishops cannot be HAD, a Church may be a truly Catholic Church, and such as we may and ought to communicate with, without Bish- ops, in vindication of some foreign Reformed Churches who have none ; and therefore I do not make Episcopacy so abso- lutely necessary to Catholic communion as to unchurch all Churches which have it not." " The Church of England does not deny but that, in case of necessity, the ordination of Pres- byters may be valid." Here is the same ground taken as by all others. " Necessitas non habet les;em." Bishop Sheklock (1678-1761), the still more dis- tinguished bearer of this name, was a determined and able defender of the Church against the policy of those who, from evil design or mistaken charity, were disposed to make unlawful concessions. Of these the most active and least excusable was Benja- min Hoadley, who, for his services to the cause which they maintained, was, by the dominant party in Par- liament, recommended for promotion, which Queen Anne would not give him. On the accession of George I., he was made Bishop of Bangor, and while holding that position, he preached (on March 31, 1717) a sermon before the King, on the nature of Christ's kingdom, in which he maintained principles at utter variance with the constitutions of all Christ- ian Churches, especially such an one as his own. For instance, he asserts that Christ hath left no legislative and no executive power to his Church, or to any member thereof: "no visible human authority," "no vice-regents," "no interpreters," "no judges." He says : "If such absolute authority be once lodged with men under the notion of interpreters [of the divine law or word], they then become legislators, and not Christ; and they rule in their own OPINION'S OF DIVINES. 411 kingdom, not in his." — (Sermon, 8vo. Ed., London, 1754, Vol. ii., p. 292.) Levelling doctrines like these naturally enough called forth protests and replies, and so originated the famous " Bangorian Controversy." In this ; Sher- lock (then Dean of Chichester) was very active. In one of his tracts he writes thus of Hoadley : " Has he written one sermon, nay one page to allay the fears of the people ? Has he once declared his own concern for the Established Church ? * * * * On the contrary, in a book written, as he says, for the service of the government, * * * he falls on the ministers of Christ as 'substituting themselves in His place, as assuming the authority of their great legislator and judge.' He ridicules the Succession of the ministry * and regular ordi- nations as trifles, niceties, dreams, and inventions of men." * * * " Blown up with this success, his next step is to publish in the royal audience the same doctrines. He denies all power in the Church. He impeaches the Act of Uniformity and the Articles of the Church, and pleads for a removal of those negative dis- couragements which hurt nobody, and are meant only to secure the Church."— ( Works, Vol. iv., p. 339.) The Lower House of Convocation drew up a re- port, in which it was declared that the tendency of Hoadley's sermon, and his " Preservative," to which allusion is made in the extract just given, is " To subvert all government and discipline in the Church of Christ, and to reduce his kingdom to a state of anarchy and confusion." Sherlock was one of the Committee by which this Eeport was prepared. In his sermon preached before the Sons of the Clergy at St. Paul's, in 1710, he says : 11 The Apostles, on the death of our Saviour, succeeded to the * The first direct adversary of Succession that wo have met, was Tin- dal, the unbeliever; the second is one whom it was not uncommon to call a " Socinian in lawn." Whiston, in his Life, says of Hoadley, "He was a much better man before he was a Bishop. For six years he never saw his Diocese, but was employed in controversy." — [Lath- bury' s History of Convocation, p. 458.) 412 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. government and direction of the Church. They were commis- sioned to feed and rule the flock in his stead, and in his name. Under them were placed teachers and pastors of different Orders, who are comprehended [in the text] under the general name of Prophets. These offices hare been perpetuated in the Church by a constant Succession of men duly called to them, and the present governors and pastors of it stand in the same degree of nearness and relation to Christ, that the Apostles did, who went before them in the same work of the ministry/' — (Vol. iii., P . 281.) William Latt (1686-1761) was the greatest of all Hoadley's opponents. His celebrated letters are master-pieces of logical composition. " If regularity of ordination, and uninterrupted Succession be mere trifles and nothing, then all the difference between us and other teachers must be nothing : for they can differ from us in no other respects. So that, my Lord, if Episcopal ordina- tion derived from Christ, hath been contended for by the Church of England, your Lordship hath in this point deserted her ; and you not only give up Episcopal ordination by ridiculing a Suc- cession, but likewise by the same argument exclude any minister on earth from having Chris fs authority. For if there be not a succession of persons authorized from Christ to send others to act in his name, then both Episcopal and Presbyterian teachers are equally usurpers, and as mere laymen as any at all." "If so, your Lordship's servant might ordain and baptize to as much purpose as your Lordship ; for it could only be objected to such actions, that they had no authority from Christ. And if there be no Succession of ordainers from him, every one is equally qualified to ordain." " My Lord, it is a plain and obvious truth, that no man or number of men, considered as such, can any more make a Priest or commission a person to officiate in Christ's name as such, than he can enlarge the means of grace, or add a new Sacrament for the conveyance of spiritual advantages." " If there be no uninterrupted succession, then there are no authorized ministers from Christ, and if no such ministers, then no Christian Sacraments ; if no Christian Sacraments, then no Christian Covenant, whereof the Sacraments are the stated and visible seals." — {First Letter, pp. 8-10.) Hugh Davis, L.L.D., Fellow of New College, Ox- ford, (A. D. 1667) : OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 413 " As to the Christian Church, * * and the offices constituted in it by divine authority, we have lighted upon the office of an Episcopos, Bishop or Overseer ecclesiastical of the affairs of it." " And he is the supreme supervisor in every ecclesiastical [matter], * * * and who, by virtue of this institution of Christ, * * * is bound to look after the affairs of the distinct societies of the Christian Church in general." — (De Jure Uniformitatis Ecclesiastical.) Bishop G. Towerson (died, 1697): " Taking it, therefore, for granted, that as the Apostles were commissioned by our Saviour, so they were not wanting to com- missionate others to succeed them in their power ; nothing re- mains but to inquire in whose hands they did deposit it, which is so clear, both from Scripture and the story of the Church, to be in the hands of Bishops, and Priests, and Deacons, under them, that nothing but prejudice and faction could have given being to those schisms which late years have obliged us to behold. For what other is it than Schism wittingly and will- ingly to depart from the obedience of those in whose hands the power of the Church was vested by them who had the plenitude thereof from its head, Christ Jesus?" — [On Catechism, 2 Vols., fol., 1685,Tol. i., p. 303.) Dr. Adam Littleton (1627-1694), Chaplain in Ordinary to the King. In his Sermon at Consecra- tion of Bishop Fell, 1675, speaks thus : " What the Apostles were in Christ's own time, that are the Bishops ever since, and what rank the seventy disciples held in the Church then, the same, and no other, do our ministers hold now." " Ordination is so peculiarly the work of the Bishop that Orders were never otherwise bestowed than by his hands, and common Presbyters durst never attempt it, till within this little above a hundred years at Geneva" — (Works in folio, A. D. 1680, pages 288, 295. ) " There are two main branches of Episcopal power, visitation and ordination." * * * "Nor shall I dispute whether Bishops and Presbyters be distinct Orders or no ; for the promiscuous use of the words in Scripture signifieth little, but the humility and condescension of superior officers in taking up the inferior's appellation, as St. Peter though an Apostle calls himself Sympresbyteros [their fellow Presbyter], and St. Paul goes lower, when he styles himself Diakonos [a Deacon] ." " Bishops are Presbyters, and something more. It does not follow e converso 35* 414 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. that all Pi-esbyters are Bishops, therefore a parity!" — (Page 294.) Archbishop Wake (1657-1737). — This eminent and excellent man is quoted by Mr. Goode, but, as we believe, to little purpose. In his Exposition of the Doctrines of the English Church, he says : " We confess that no man ought to exercise the ministerial office until he be first consecrated to it. We believe that it is the Bishop's part only to ordain. We maintain the distinction of the several Orders in the Church" — (Article XV., quoted in Tracts for Times, ii., p. 153.) After this, we are prepared to receive our author's extract, or the testimony he adduces. It is simply to the effect that the venerable Prelate had not such an iron heart as to excommunicate the Foreign Pro- testant Churches, or say, as some "furious writers" did, that they had no true and valid sacraments, or were scarcely Christian. Herein Wake exhibits just the same spirit that has been manifested by the greater number of our divines from the first : unwillingness to condemn those whose circumstances either did prevent their having a complete ministry, or were believed to have prevented it. There was no recogni- tion whatever of Presbyterian Churches as perfect, but just the contrary ; they are called defective. There was no acknowledgment of Presbyterian ordination, as such, but an allowance of their ordination as prob- ably or really valid, under the circumstances. Dr. Daniel Watekland (1683-1740), the cele- brated Archdeacon of Middlesex. — It is not possible to read any of the writings of this able theologian, without being aware that he was a very decided be- liever in divine-right Episcopacy and Succession. It is not an easy matter, however, to find short passages OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 415 in winch those doctrines are plainly affirmed. Here, however, is one all-sufficient in itself; it occurs in his second letter in reply to Mr. KelsaLTs Answer : " As to rejecting the pretended ordination of [or by] mere Presbyters, the practice is consistent with the doctrine of our Church, and conformable to our twenty-third Canon." — ( Works, Oxford ed„ 1823, Vol. x., p. 184.) John Jacques. — From his work entitled " Ordina- tion by mere Presbyters proved Void and Null," 12mo., London, 1707, we take a few sentences : "Our blessed Lord, as Supreme Governor of his Church, called and ordained his Apostles, and they ordained Deacons, Presbyters, and Bishops ; but they gave the power of admitting all others only to the Bishops." " It is a plain demonstration that the holy Apostle did intend not only the Ordination, but the scrutiny and approbation of all ecclesiastical officers should be solely in the Bishop's power." " The learned Daille, the great patron of Presbyters, did ac- knowledge Ordination in St. Cyprian 1 s time was peculiarly the Bishop's right. So that this confession of so great an adversary may excuse any further proof for that age." — (Pp. 6, 8.) "All antiquity will not afford one instance of Presbyters making Ordinations without a Bishop. If any Presbyters did claim a right to ordain, and did presume against the rule of the Church in that particular, the Church of those times did declare their Ordinations null" " Not only such as these, but all other irregular Ordinations have ever been accounted as nullities." " In the Council of Sardica those clerks that were ordained by Musaeus and Eutychianus (who were not Bishops, but only two Grecian Presbyters) were reduced to the state and condition of laics. The like decree was made about the Ordinations of Maximus, a pretended but not real Bishop, that the persons should be reputed no clergymen, and all his acts annulled." He then goes on to cite the cases of Ischyras, and Colythus, and the Bishop of Agabra, and then concludes thus : All these "were accounted as nullities, though performed by those who were in sacred Orders." — (Pp. 18, 19.) "Holy Scriptures do not afford one instance that mere Pres- byters did ever admit [any] into the ministry by imposition of hands." Dr. William Sclatek (died 1647). — Lord-Chan- cellor King, having in his youth written a book, 416 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. called an " Enquiry into the Constitution, etc., of the Primitive Church," it was answered by Sclater's " Original Draught ;" which is said to have fully satisfied the inquirer. King argued for parity in Order : 44 Though the Presbyters were thus different from the Bishops in degree, yet thev were of the very same specific Order with them," etc., etc.— '(8vo., London, 1843, p. 108.) To this Sclater replies, by showing that in both the points included in his proposition the clear evi- dence of all Christian antiquity is against him. The judgment and practice of the primitive Church being opposed to his theory: " It must follow, of course, that a Presbyter, in their times and in their opinion of him, had not an inherent right by his Orders to perform the whole office of a Bishop."— (P. 166, Ox- ford ed., 1840.) He then goes on to show that Episcopal rule, and the power of ordaining, were never committed to Presbyters. Thomas Stackhouse. — From the well-known and elaborate Body of Divinity, published by this divine, we offer the following. Treating of the commission given by our Lord to His Apostles, he says : "I send you to ordain your Successors. " "As my Father sent me from his bosom with a full assurance of his love and paternal care, so I send you and your successors, with the like promise of protection and assistance and success in your labors; for lo ! I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." — (Fol., p. 732.) "In the times of the Apostles there were three distinct Orders of Ministers by whom the Christian Church was gov- erned ; and if we proceed in our inquiry an age or two farther, we shall find who the supreme governor in each Church was, cleared up beyond all controversy. Clemens Rom anus, who wrote an Epistle to the Corinthians before St. John's death, re- minds them, that before the late unhappy schism they walked in God's laws, being subject to their governors, i. e. their OPINION'S OF DIVINES. 417 Bishops or spiritual governors giving due honor to the Presby- ters among them." He then goes on to quote Ignatius, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, and Cyprian; and after these, says : " The farther we go the dearer the evidence both of the Succes- sion and pre-eminence of Bishops appears." — (Fol., p. 742.) " Whilst our Saviour lived on earth he reserved the power of ordaining Ministers to himself * * though he gave the Apos- tles and the seventy disciples a commission to preach, he never allowed them to communicate that commission to any other. Upon His removal the Apostles, who were the chief governors of the Church, ordained Ministers * * * * After their demise, Ordination continued where they had left it, in Episcopal hands; nor do we find any instance, either in Scripture or antiquity, of inferior Orders pretending to that prerogative." Archbishop Potter, of Canterbury (1674-1747): " Since the distinction of Bishops and Presbyters has been proved to have been of divine appointment, it necessarily follows that the power of Ordination, which is the chief mark of this distinction, was reserved to the Bishops by the same 'appointment. Whence iErius was reckoned among the heretics of his age, chiefly because he gave Presbyters power to ordain, and conse- quently made them equal to Bishops ; which Epiphanius im- putes to his ignorance of the Scriptures, and proves hence (as from an undoubted principle) that Bishops and Presbyters were not of the same Order, because Presbyters had not power to ordain." * * * * "And St. Jerome himself (in the very place where he professedly endeavors to raise Presbyters as near to a parity with Bishops as he could) owns that Presbyters have not power to ordain. * For what is it/ saith he, * that a Bishop does which a Presbyter cannot do, except ordination P " — (On Church Government, 12mo., 1711, p. 284.) John Olyffe, in his "Practical Exposition of Church Catechism" (2 vols., 12mo,, London, 1710), says^: " Thus there were in the seven Churches of Asia those who were called the Angels of the Churches, who had the power of government in them ; and the neglect of that government, in some of them, is noted as their great fault." * * * " So that we may conclude that there were to be everywhere stated offi- 418 OPINION'S OF DIVINES. oers in the Churches that were fully settled, and that the office of teaching and governing the Church was committed unto them ;" " and these officers were everywhere ordained and con- stituted by those that had the power for it, and were not to run of their own heads, nor till they were sent/' — (Vol. i., p. 261.) Dr. Thomas Bishop also published in 1736 an Exposition of the Catechism, in which we find the following proof that members of the Church of Eng- land are also members of the Church Catholic : " Because we hold the Head, the Lord Jesus Christ * * we are duly baptized unto his body. We accept his holy word as the only rule of our faith and practice ; and we teach and main- tain the same doctrine the primitive Church did, which doctrine was once delivered to the saints, and hath been held by the most ancient Fathers and Councils. We are built upon the same foundation, and submit to the same godly discipline, under a regular, duly authorized, and successive ministry from the Apostolical age."— (P. 172.) Archdeacon Welchman (born 1665, died 1735) published in 1713 his brief "Notes on the XXXIX Articles." He thus comments on the 23d : " Since the ministers of the word and Sacraments are * am- bassadors of Christ' and 'ministers of God/ they must neces- sarily receive their authority from God, and be sent by Him ; and must not assume that authority to themselves unless they are called to it by God. And since God, our Saviour, from the time when He called the Apostles, has not immediately called any one to the ministry, it follows that they must be called by those whose business it is to call others. Thus the Apostles ordained Presbyters and Bishops, and the Bishops ordained by the Apostles did thenceforth ordain others." — (Refers to Script- ure, and to Clemens Romanus, Hooker's Ecc. Polity, Potter on Church Government.) " We know that this power was granted only to the Bishops from the age of the Apostles to the time of the Reformation ; but that from thenceforward some Churches, who in other things were rightly reformed, have allowed it to Presbyters ; whether justly or not, we leave it to themselves to consider. We neither judge nor despise them; but the case is widely different with our own countrymen, who, rebelling against an excellently well-constituted Church, have arrogated to themselves the power of ordination. These, therefore, we rightfully and deservedly OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 419 account guilty of schism and irregularity" — (Quotes Holy Scripture, Clemens Romanus, Ignatius, Bishop Bilson, Bishop Hall, Hooker, Bishop Lloyd, Burscough, Scott's Christian Life, and Field of the Church.) Dr. Thomas Bennett (1673-1720), a very learned divine of the same period, also wrote a sort of com- mentary on the Articles. For exposition of the 23d, he refers us to his work on " The Rights of the Clergy." Under the 36th ; he says : " Because the validity of our succession depends upon the validity of the prior ordinations, therefore we ought to satisfy ourselves concerning them" — (Page 160.) In a separate work on Schism, he shows that it is "a deadly sin," that it exists in England; that the crime lay at the door of the Dissenters, and that the plea of agreement with us in fundamental doctrines would not excuse them, or free them from its guilt. Philip Skelton. — This "inimitable" preacher was born 1706, and died 1787: "Nor did they [the Puritans, etc.] consider whether it was in the power of man to abolish at their discretion an order of the Church instituted by God himself." "Here again the scheme of our opponents was not to reform, but to destroy ; and what was equally bold, to begin a new ministry with hardly any other mission than such as a number of men, and sometimes one man only, wholly unauthorized for aught that others could perceive, should assume. From men thus sending themselves, or sent by we know not whom, we are to receive the Sacraments I" * * * " Do we hear of any man in Scripture, who ordained himself, or presumed to take the ministry of God's word and Sacraments upon him without being sent, either immediately or successively, by Christ. Or can an in- stance of this nature be assigned during the first fourteen cen- turies of the Church. Or will even those Protestants who. adopted a new mission at the Reformation, now suffer any one to admin- ister the Sacraments among them without ordination obtained in succESsioN from that adoption?" "Do they not by this strictness practically confess at least the expediency of such a Succession V OPINIONS OF DIVINES. "So sacred a thing is the succession of ordination that the Holy Ghost, who had already enabled Barnabas and Paul to preach the word, ordered them to be separated for the work w hereunto He had called them, by fasting, and prayer, and imposition of hands, that is, to be ordained. The Spirit of God hereby plainly showing that He himself would not break the Successive order of mission established in the Church" — ( Works, (j vols., 8vo., London, 1824, Vol. iii., pp. 360, 361.) Bishop George Horne of Norwich, born 1730, died 1792: " These [the Gospel Ordinances] can no man minister to effect but by God's own appointment ; at first by his immediate appointment, and afterwards by Succession and derivation from thence to the end of the world. Without this rule we are open to imposture, and can be sure of nothing ; we cannot be sure that our ministry is effective, or that our Sacraments are reali- ties. We are very sensible that the spirit of division will never admit this doctrine, yet the spirit of charity must never part with it. Writers and teachers who make it a point to give no offence, treat these things very tenderly, but he who in certain cases will give no offence to men, will, for that reason, give them no instruction." "We are informed that the liberties taken of late years against the ministry of the Church, have terminated in an attempt to begin a spurious Episcopacy in the American colonies." " Mr. Wesley when questioned about this fact in his lifetime, did not deny it, but pleaded necessity to justify the measure. * * * A fatal precedent, if it should be fol- lowed. For if a Presbyter can consecrate a Bishop, we admit that a man may confer a power of which he is not himself pos- sessed ; instead of the less being blessed by the greater, the greater is blessed by the less, and the order of all things is inverted," — [Charge, Works, Vol. ii., p. 570.) Bishop Thomas Wilson (1663-1784) the Apostol- ical Bishop of Sodor and Man, speaks thus in his Sacra Privata : ''Marks of a true pastor. — 1. A lawful entrance upon mo- tives which aim at the glory of God, and the good of souls. 2. An external call from the Apostolical authority of Bishops." " Bishops. — A Bishop is a pastor set over other pastors. They were to ordain Elders. They might receive an accusation against an Elder. They were to charge them to preach such and such doctrines, to stop the mouths of deceivers, to set in order the things that were wanting; and lastly, this was the form of Church OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 421 government in all ages. So that to reject this, is to reject an ordinance of God." — (Works, Vol. ii. ? pp. 210-213.) Bishop Nicholson of Gloucester (1589-1671) thus defines the Catholic Church : " A society of Christians dispersed unto all quarters of the world, who are united under Christ, their head ; formalized and moved by His Spirit ; matriculated by Baptism ; nourished by His Word and Supper ; ruled and continued under Bishops and Pastors lawfully called to these offices, who succeed those upon whom the Holy Ghost came down, and who have the power of the keys committed to them for administration of doctrine and discipline/' — (Exposit. Ch. Catechism, Oxford, 1849, p. 70.) Joseph Bingham (1708) — From the " Origines Ec- clesiaticae" of this profoundly learned and impartial writer, we obtain very positive evidence as to the views and practice of the Ancient Church, and of course his own opinions were not contrary to what his elab- orate research had proved to be the Christian doctrine : " The most ancient distinction that occurs is that of the superior clergy unto the teiree distinct Orders of Bishops, Presbyters and Deacons. That there were «o other Orders in the Church but these three at first, will be evident in its proper place. * * * That Deacons were always a sacred and standing Order will be proved likewise when I speak particularly of them. Here, then, it remains that our inquiry be made only into the distinctions betwixt the Orders of Bishops and Pres- byters. And this, so far as concerns matter of fact and the practice of the Church, * * * will be most fairly and fully re- solved by considering only these three things: (1.) that the ancient writers of the Church always speak of these as distinct Orders; (2.) that they derive the original of Bishops from Divine authority and Apostolical Constitution; (3.) that they give us particular accounts and catalogues of such Bishops as were first settled and consecrated in the new founded Churches by the hands of the Apostles." " But before I proceed to the proof of these things, I must premise one particular, to avoid all ambiguity that I take the word Order in that sense as the ancients use it, and not as many of the Schoolmen do, who, for reasoyis of their own, distinguish between Order and jurisdiction, and make Bishops and Presby- ters to be one and the same Order, only differing in power and 36 422 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. jurisdiction. Tins distinction was unknown to the ancients, among whom the words Order, Degree, Office. Power, and Ju- risdiction, when they speak of the superiority of Bishops above Presbyters, mean but one and the same tiling/' — (Bohn's ed., Imp., 8to., 1856, Vol. i., pp. 17, 18.) lie then proceeds to show that each of the three Orders was divinely instituted, and that the powers and rights of each were accurately defined and strictly guarded. As to ordination, that of a Bishop was to be by other Bishops, three at least, to make it regu- lar or unquestionable. That of a Presbyter, by the Bishop, sometimes the other Presbyters present sig- nifying concurrence by some act. That of Deacons, by the Bishop only : "There were other offices which were very rarely intrusted into the hands of Presbyters, and if ever they [the Bishops] granted them commission to perform them, it was only in case of great necessity ; such were the offices of reconciling peni- tents, confirmation of neophytes," etc., etc. "But there was one office ichich they xeyer intrusted in the hands of Presby- ters, nor ever gave them any commission to perform, which was the office of ordaining the superior Clergy, Bishops, Presby- ters and Deacons. The utmost that Presbyters could pretend to in this matter, was to lay on their hands, together with the Bishop, in the ordination of a Presbyter." — (Page 27.) " But it may be enquired, what was the practice of the Church in case any Presbyters took upon them to ordain? Were their ordinations allowed to stand good, or not? I answer that they were commonly reyersed and disannulled ; as in the known case of Ischyras, who was deposed by the Synod of Alexandria be- cause Coluthos who ordained him, was no more than a Presbyter, though pretending to be a Bishop. * * * And some other in- stances might be added of the like nature, which show that then they did not allow Bishops so much as to delegate or commission Presbyters to ordain in their name, but reserved this entirely to the Episcopal function.' f — (Page 28.) William Jones, of Nayland : " Jesus Christ was sent from Heayen by the Father, and in- yested with the glory of the priesthood by an actual conse- cration, when the Spirit descended upon Him. As the Father had sent Him, so did He send his disciples, and gaye them OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 423 authority to send others ; so that the Church which followed derived its authority from the Church which Christ first planted in the world ; and the Church, at this day, must derive its authority after the same manner, by Succession from the Church which went before ; the line extending from Christ himself to the end of the world." — (Essays on the Church, London, 1852, p. 18.) Mr. Jones gives as a footnote to the paragraph from which, this sentence is taken, the following extract from Mr. Law's Second Letter to the Bishop of Bangor : " Take away this Succession, and the clergy may be as well ordained by one person as another ; a number of women may as well give them a divine commission, but they are no more Priests of God than those who pretend to make tKem so. If we had lost the Scriptures, it would be very well to make as good books as we could, and come as near them as possible ; but then it would be not only folly, but presumption, to call them the word of God."— (Page 19.) Speaking of the first Christian Church, as founded at Jerusalem, he says : " Here then we have three distinct Orders of men, each distinct from the other ; the twelve Apostles, the seventy Dis- ciples, and the seven Deacons." * * * " In the Christian Church throughout the world we find these three Orders of Ministers for fifteen hundred years, without interruption. The fact, therefore, is undeniable, that the Church has been governed by Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, from the Apostles, downwards, and where we find these Orders of Ministers duly appointed, the Word preached, and the Sacraments ad- ministered, there we find the Church of Christ with its form and its authority." — (Pages 19, 20.) John Wesley (1703-1791) : u For more than twenty years this [separation] never entered into the thoughts of those that were called Methodists. But as more and more who had been brought up Dissenters joined with them, they brought in more and more prejudice against the Church. * * * Many had forgotten that we were all at our first setting out determined members of the Established Church/' 61 Nineteen years ago we considered this question in our public conference at Leeds, * Whether the Methodists ought to 424 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. separate from the Church,' and after a long and candid inquiry, it was determined, nemine contradicente, that it was not expe- dient for them to separate. The reasons were set down at large, and they stand equally good at this day." The venerable Preacher then goes on to meet the usual plausible objection of separatists, that the Church Clergy were not "holy," and therefore no blessing could follow their ministrations, and he shows that though the sons of Eli were wicked ex- ceedingly, yet the Lord required his people to accept their services, because they were his Priests. And so, also, the Lord Jesus directed his disciples to attend the publfc services of Priests, who were utter hypocrites, for the same reason. In another Sermon he thus speaks to his preachers, who had not, at that time, assumed the full ministerial office : " In 1744 all the Methodist Preachers had their first Con- ference. But none of them dreamed that the being called to preach, gave them any right to administer the Sacraments. * * * Did we ever appoint you to administer Sacraments ; to exercise the priestly office ? Such a design never entered into our minds; it was the farthest from our thoughts." — [Sermons, American Edition, Vol. ii., page 542.) Eobert Caldee. This Presbyter wrote a work on the Divine Eight of Episcopacy. In 1788 he published, also, a small volume, entitled, " The Priest- hood of the Old and New Testament, by Succes- sion." In this work he establishes, at length, the proposition that the theory of Succession, which Mr. Goode and his followers think so " monstrous, 7 ' was always recognized in the Church of God, and made the test of lawfulness or validity of ministration. As to the usage of the Christian Church, he quotes the Scriptures and the Fathers. From Irenseus, he takes the following : OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 425 "We must obey these Priests, who are in the Church, who have their Succession from the Apostles. " — [Lib. iv. c. 43.) His fourth letter commences thus : " I have showed the necessity of lineal and uninterrupted succession to prove the validity of the ministerial function, and the great danger in the want of it, particularly that the ad- ministrations of such are null and void, because God hath not sent them." " Now I prove that Episcopal Presbyters and Deacons in Scotland, England, and Ireland, have Apostolical Ordination, and true mission from Bishops succeeding to one another, since the days of the Apostles." "In the foresaid year (1662), Mr. Sharp, Mr. Leighton, Mr. Fairfoul, and Mr. Hamilton, were called up to London, and were there first ordained Deacons, afterwards Presbyters, and afterwards consecrated by Bishop Juxon." " It is certain that [then] several Presbyterians submitted to Episcopal Ordination, as Mr. Manton (Chaplain to Oliver Cromwell) was ordained in 1660, by Bishop Sydserf, being then at London. Mr. Calamy, Mr. Burgess, Mr. Fulwood, and Mr. Humphrey, received Epis- copal Ordination, a long time after they had performed minis- terial acts in the Presbyterian way." " We find, also, that Mr. Richard Baxter received ordination from Bishop Hall, to put matters beyond doubt." — (Pages 49-51.) " It is observable that ordination, by mere Presbyters, was accounted a nullity in the ancient church." Having mentioned the cases of Musaeus, Euty- chianus, Maximus, and Colythus, who being Presby- ters, undertook to ordain, and had their acts declared presumptuous and void, he proceeds : " The Council of Hispalis degraded a Priest, and two Dea- cons, because the Bishop of Agabra being affected with sore eyes, and having some presented to him, to be ordained Presby- ters and Deacons, did only lay his hands upon them, suffering a Presbyter who stood by to say the prayers over them, and read the words of ordination." — [Council Hispalis, 2 Canon v.) To the objection that the doctrines of Episcopacy and Succession " unchurches a great body of Protes- tants," to whom we ought to show more charity, he replies : 36* 420 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. M It is not our charity, nor civility, nor the concessions of the learned, * * * that will make wrong right, or make them minis- ters who have not ordination by the divine rule of Apostolical Succession." — (Page 263.) " That truth will be truth, let the professors be never so few, and a multitude can never make error to be truth." " Let, therefore, the Reformed Churches look to the consequences themselves, for as the Apostle says, ' We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth/ * * * It is not our saying that Foreign Ministers are true ministers, that will make them so." (Page 150.) 11 I offer another thought upon this head, the unchurching, etc., etc. If Presbyterians be right in this debate, and Epis- copals wrong, this will unchurch twenty thousand more Chris- tians than the Foreign Churches are, * * * there are three times more Christians in the world than Papists and Presbyterians are, and that under Episcopacy and Apostolical Succession." — (Page 153.) Bishop Cleaver, of Chester (1791), in his direc- tions to Student's in Divinity, indicates the following works as the proper sources of information on Church Polity, etc.: " Bennett's Answers to Dissenters," "The Episcopacy by Divine Eight Asserted (quoted on page 401)," "Hammond's works," "Hare's Sermons on Church Authority," "Jackson on Episcopacy," "Bishop Nicholson's Apology," "Olyffe's works," "Archbishop Potter on Church Government," etc., etc. This list shows clearly enough what was the teaching of that day upon the subjects we are con- sidering. Bishop F. Hare. When Deacon of Worcester, in a work designed to expose the errors and evils of Hoadley's new policy, asks this question : " I would be glad to know * * * whether Episcopacy was not, till, the 16th century, the universally received and uninter- rupted form of Church Governments, and whether, when a point has been thoroughly and demonstratively proved, it may not be taken and spoken of as such?*— (Reply to Bp. Hoadley.) OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 427 Archdeacon Balguy, speaking of the Church of England, says: *' It is the purest Church in Christendom." " It is formed on the model of primitive antiquity." "Its governors derive their authority by an uninterrupted Succession from the Apostles." Having spoken of the " sects that were the numer- ous spawn of puritanism/' he says : " Far th# greater part of these sectaries were implacable to those who differed from them, and the Presbyterian party, per- haps, more implacable than any other. Had their Church re- tained its superiority and preserved its principles in their original force, our Reformation from Popery would have profited us little; for neither was Popery more absurd in its doctrines, nor more severe in its discipline, nor in its spirit and temper more averse from toleration than the religion then professed by the main body of the Presbyterians." — [Sermon preached 17 '63 , in his Discourses and Charges, London, 1817.) Bishop Pokteous, of London. In his Charge to his Clergy, A. D. 1794, this amiable prelate says : " It becomes every day more important that you should take the utmost care respecting the character and conduct of those whom you thus employ [as curates or as occasional assistants] ." "It is very properly and very wisely enjoined by the 48th Canon, that no curate, or minister, shall be permitted to serve in any Church, without the knowledge and license of the Dio- cesan, and with respect to those whom you may call in as occa- sional assistants, to perform any part of your duty it is indis- pensably necessary, and it is expressly ordered by the 50th and 52nd Canons, that you should suffer no stranger to officiate in your Church, without first requiring him to produce his license to preach." — (Vol. vi., p. 263.) Samuel Wix. In his Illustrations of the XXXIX Articles, gives to the twenty-third and thirty-sixth interpretations in perfect harmony with the doctrines here maintained. Ex. Gra. : " As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you." " These words, uttered on the same occasion as that on which the prom- 423 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. tse was given, that Christ would be with his Apostles to the end of the world, plainly intimate to us a Succession of regular Ministers of God's Word, acting under the authority of Christ. " 4 * These Apostles would, therefore, (as we shall see they actually did), appoint Successors, whose business it would be to appoint others to succeed them in their sacred office, and with like au- thority to extend the line of succession to future generations." " From this brief review of the order observed first by Christ, and afterwards by his Apostles, in appointing Ministers in his Church, it seems that none are qualified to administer the Sacra- ■ments and preach the Word but they who can trace their authority from Christ." 11 To the inquiry, then, who they are that have public authority given unto them in the congregation to call and send Ministers into the Lord's vineyard, it may be replied that the Bishops have this authority, acting in succession to the Apostles. And those Ministers ordained by them are they whom we ought to judge lawfully called and sent into the Lord's vineyard. — (pp. 217-220.) Veneer. In his work on the Articles, takes pre- cisely the same ground as the other commentators we have quoted : "Our adversaries have been challenged long since to produce an ordination, during the first 1500 years after Christ, which was performed by Presbyters and not generally looked upon as invalid, whereas, on the other hand, they who have been ordained by mere Presbyters in the primitive times, have been stripped of their pretended orders, and with derision turned down to the laic form. — (On 23<2 Article, quoted in Tomline.) Bishop Skinner, Primus of the Scottish Episco- pal Church : " As the 23d Article is sufficient to show the necessity of such a lawful commission, so the 36th Article plainly declares that the persons invested with such commission are the Bishops, Priests and Deacons who are duly consecrated and ordered ac- cording to the rites of the Book referred to in that Article, and in which Book the Church of England, by her prayers to Al- mighty God, acknowledges her belief that every one of these Orders was appointed by his Holy Spirit, and, therefore, was certainly of divine institution. — (Truth and Order, p. 132.) Bishop Tomline, of Winchester, has been referred OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 429 to by Mr. Goode as favoring his view.* Tomline says, however, without a particle of doubt or hesitation, that the parties who have authority in the Congre- gation or Church of Christ to call and send laborers into the Lord's vineyard, are the Bishops. " It appears, then, that no species of Church government ex- cept the Episcopal, and no mode of ordination except by Bishops have any claim to the sanction of the primitive Church of Christ." " In every Church in which Episcopacy prevails, the uninter- rupted Succession of the Bishops is considered as ESSEN- TIAL to the power of ordaining and consecrating. And upon that principle, when, a few years since, Episcopacy was about to be established in the independent States of America, the persons who were to be appointed * * * to be the first Bishops, previously came from America to receive consecration from the hands of English Bishops. And upon the same principle, we should allow a popish Priest, who should have renounced the errors of popery, to perform the functions of a Priest in our Church without a fresh ordination." — [On 23cZ Article, Theo- io 9y> PP- 536-7.) Archdeacon Daubeny (1744-1827).— This faith- ful and able advocate of Church principles received for his " Guide to the Church," "Yindieiae/' &c., &c, the thanks and commendation of such men as Jones of Nayland, Bishop Fisher, and Archbishop Howley. Few men have written controversial works with such gentlemanly and Christian courtesy, or with such a happy union of the suaviter in modo et fortiter in re, as this devoted Presbyter, whose zeal and princely munificence made him a blessing and an honor to the Church. * On his 70 th page, Mr. Goode quotes a paragraph from Tomline, which was evidently moulded upon those passages in the works of Bacon and Whitgift, which have already been explained. He uses the word "government" in the same comprehensive sense that they did. He says it is not necessary that all things connected with it should be "precisely the same in every Christian country." He also says, " I readily acknowl- edge that there is no precept in the New Testament which commands that every Church should be governed by Bishops." Such statements, though unguardedly made, may pass unchallenged. 430 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. Speaking of the Preface to the Ordinal, he says : "On this supposed unquestionable ground, established by historical proof, of the uniformity of the Ecclesiastical Consti- tution for a long succession of ages, the Church of England has proceeded with confidence in her judgment on this most important subject. Hence it is, that in her Canons she exclu- sively appropriates the title of a true and lawful Church to that society of Christians in this country assembled under Episcopal Government, and determines all separatists from it to be schis- matics."— {London Ed., 2 vols., 8vp., 1830, vol i., p. 8.) " The strength of the argument in defence of the Apostolical Government of the Church lies in this undoubted truth, that the Christian Priesthood is a divine institution, which, as it could have no beginning but from God, so neither could it be continued but in the way appointed by God for that purpose. * * * The Ministry of reconciliation was committed by Christ to his Apostles; and that Ministry was confessedly branched out to them into three distinct Orders, distinguished from each other by the appropriate titles of Bishop, Presbyter, and Deacon."— (P. 13.) And having shown that the polity of the Christian Church had always, for fifteen centuries, been, "in the true sense of the word, Episcopal," he proceeds : " This argument, three centuries ago, would have been unan- swerable ; but since men thought proper to depart from the Gov- ernment of the primitive Church and to erect a new platform of Church discipline, it has become necessary that their reasoning should correspond with their practice." * * * " Those foreign Reformers who were the first establishers of a new form of Government in the Church pleaded necessity for their conduct. " It is not our business to examine the justice of that plea, but, in candor, to admit it. We therefore say for them what on this occasion they said for themselves — that they considered it a most unjust aspersion of their character to say that they were a?i£i-Episcopalians, or that they condemned or threw off Episco- pacy as such; on the contrary, they lamented their unhappy circumstances" * * * considering their want of Episcopacy to be more their misfortune than their fault. Such was at the time the declared language of Calvin and Beza. — (Pp. 14, 15.) ' 'Ignorance * * * is well known to be one general cause of separation from the Church. Let it be an object with the Clergy, then, to remove that ignorance with respect to the Church, by bringing their people so acquainted with its nature OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 431 and the design of its establishment, that they may feel it to be their duty to continue members of it. Whilst they are suffered to remain uninformed upon this subject the preservation of Christian unity is not to be expected." " The people must not only be taught that it is their duty to live in communion with the Church ; they must, moreover, be satisfied that they shall be profited by that communion." On this point he quotes this from Archbishop Sharpe : " This I am sure of — so long as you continue in our com- munion you are in the communion of the Church of Christ. 1 dare answer for the salvation of all those who continuing in our Church live up to the principles of it. But I dare answer nothing for them who being brought up in this Church, and having so great opportunities given them of knowing the truth, do yet depart from it. I pray God they may be able to answer for themselves."— (Pp. 361-3.) We may add that though the conductors of the Christian Observer often differed with the venerable Archdeacon, yet, in their fourth volume (p. 180), they commend him for his advocacy of Episcopacy in the " Guide to the Church," from which we have made these extracts. Bishop S. Horsley. Says, in his charge of 1790 : "Dissenters are to be judged with much candor, and with every possible allowance for the prejudices of education. But for those who have been nurtured in the bosom of the Church and have gained admission to the Ministry, [if] from a mean com- pliance with the humor of the age, or ambitious of the fame of liberality of sentiment (for under that specious name a profane indifference is made to pass for an accomplishment), they affect to join in the disavowal of the authority which they share, or are silent when the validity of their divine commission is called in question — for any (I hope they are few) who hide this weak- ness of faith, this poverty of religious principle under the attire of a gown and cassock; they are, in my estimation, little better than infidels in masquerade." — (p. 31.) Dk. Thomas G. Taylor : " It is not enough that the doctrines and services of our Church are pure and Apostolical ; there must be a divine commission, 432 - OPINIONS OF DIVINES. or there can be no authority to command obedience, no sanction to secure the promises." "An outward commission, mediately or immediately from God, i< requisite to authorize a man to exe- cute any sacerdotal act of religion, is evident from the word of Scripture and the example of our Saviour and his Apostles. " " Of those who were regularly ordained there were regular Orders and Degrees, each invested with the powers that were proper to their respective offices, and neither [of them] Buffered to interfere in the peculiar functions of their superior Order." " Whatever cavils may have been made concerning the names of Bishop and Presbyter being sometimes applied in common, it cannot be doubted that there were Ministers in the Church of a superior Order to the Presbyters and Deacons, as long as the Epistles of St. Paul * * * exist, containing directions for the governing of those Orders. And in the very next age we have the concurrent testimony of antiquity, confirming the institu- tion of this superior Order, and appropriating to the Ministers of that Order the title of Bishops. '' li It must certainly be a chief recommendation of any church that it preserves the institutions and primitive ordinances of the Apostles in their greatest purity. But it is moreover essential to the validity of the ministerial functions, that the divine commission be regularly transmitted in the way of Apostolic institution. M — [" Why I am a Churchman" Published bv S. P. C. K.) Bishop Maxt, of Down, Connor and Dromore : ' ; If Schism or an unreasonable separation from the Church be in itself sinful, it is sinful at one time as well as another, as well when the Church is under the government of the legiti- mate Successors of the Apostles as when it was under the gov- ernment of the Apostles themselves. ' ; — [Sermons, vol. ii., p. 295.) He then goes on to inquire as to the means of grace and the parties who are empowered to adminis- ter them, and with whom, therefore, it is the bounden duty of every Christian to remain in communion, and comes to this conclusion : "The Apostles, who were themselves holy men and full of the Holy Ghost, did send other persons, to whom they gave power and authority to send others, through whom the office of Ministers of the Gospel has been handed down in regular and uninterrupted succession from the Apostles to the present OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 433 time. And hence we perceive who are .the persons with whom our Saviour promised he would be " always, even unto the end of the world" — namely, those persons who should be employed in the administration of the means of grace provided in the Gospel, by a commission derived regularly from the Apostles, and through the Apostles from Himself ," — (P. 320.) In another place he says : " It may inoffensively be said, that under the Episcopal form, regularly transmitted by Succession from the Apostles, together with the Apostles' doctrine, is to be found the Apostles' fellow- ship — that there, if anywhere, may be confidently expected the sanctifying influences of the Comforter — that there, if anywhere, may be enjoyed the perpetual presence of the Divine Founder of the Church." The Christian Observer — the great Evangelical standard — comments thus on the passage just quoted, and its context : " We heartily concur in the Right Reverend author's remark, that greatly as we have reason to thank God for having by his good providence established among us a pure Episcopal Church, the value of the Episcopal office is altogether distinct from any 'privilege it enjoys, as sanctioned by the laws of the land. 9 ' Dr. T. Waite, published, in 1826, his Discourses on the XXXIX Articles, from which we quote a few sentences : " Thus [i. e. by the Apostles] was that Order of Bishops, Priests and Deacons established, which continued in uninter- rupted succession for fifteen hundred years in all Christian Churches, and still subsists in our own." — (P. 336. On 23c? Article.) "This authority had its origin, not with Popery, as some imagine, but with the Apostles. An Episcopal Church existed in England long before the name of the Pope was known in the island. And though the British Church afterwards partook of the corruptions of that of Rome, yet its succession of Bishops continued unbroken. Though its ministrations were corrupted yet its authority was not destroyed. Its right of ordination was no more affected by the Romish errors and superstitions, than a person's title to his inheritance is injured by the vices and depravity of his ancestors. The Reformation restored our Church to its primitive purity, delivered it from the spiritual 37 434 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. tyranny of the Roman pontiff and rescued it from a load of superstitious notions and practices under which true religion seemed to be sinking. It preserved, also, the ecclesiastical Orders which the Church received from the Apostles, and trans- mitted them unimpaired to us. Whatever, then, may be the case with other Churches, of the validity of our ministrations there can be no doubt they are the Ordinances of Christ, which he has pro- mised to be with, to prosper ■, and to bless unto the end of time. ,y " The authority of the governors of the Church being ad- mitted, those only are to be considered as lawfully called and sent, who are ordained to the office of the ministry by them." — (Page 339.) Dr. Waite thinks the framers of the Article omit- ted from it, in tenderness to those "whom they wished to reconcile/' any definite statement as to the parties having lawful authority to ordain, and says it becomes us to imitate their moderation. We are perfectly willing to do so, as far at least as he has done himself. But we recognize no such ten- derness, or "desire to avoid giving offence;" for if the honest avowal of belief on such a matter would be offensive, they have made it in another place. There certainly could be no great anxiety (from any such motive) to keep out of one page what they print open- ly on the next. There is altogether too much said on the subject of our formularies not "impugning the or- dination of other Churches." Expressly by name and by anathema they do not indeed ; but by direct and unavoidable inference they do ; unless, indeed, it can be shown that the Church of Christ can be divided, and yet united — many and one — Episcopal and Presbyterian at the same time ! If it can be shown that two forms of polity entirely different, and oppo- site in their character, are both sanctioned, or both established in Holy Scripture, then proving the authority of one, will not necessarily involve the OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 435 condemnation of the other; but if nothing of the kind can be shown, then every testimony in favor of Apostolical Episcopacy is a testimony directly against Popery, Presbyter ianism, Congregationalism., and every other system. That this is the fact is shown by Waite himself; for immediately after eulogizing the Church's supposed tenderness in not impugning the validity of other ordinations, he proceeds to prove that " no ministry can be valid/' which is not derived from Jesus Christ, either mediately or immediately, and that in this age it can only be found among those who have received it in direct Succession. Edwaed Bickeksteth [On Articles]. In proof of the doctrine that no one must invade the minis- terial office, this writer refers to " the cases of Korah Dathan, and Abiram, of Saul, and of Uzziah, all of whom committed a great trespass in presuming to minister in holy things, without being lawfully called." He then goes on to inquire about the Con- stitution of the Church, supplying answers to his own questions. We will give some of the replies: "In the Jewish Church there was a threefold ministry, that of High Priest, Priests, and Levites, corresponding to the three orders of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons." In the Christian Church, as founded by the Apostles, " there were two gradations of inferior Orders, one higher than the other ; and there was a third Order superior to them both, with power to ordain the two inferior Orders, and to take the general oversight of them, and of the Church" After the death of the Apostles, they were suc- ceeded by those to whom exclusively the name of Bishops was given, and to this effect Mr. Bickersteth quotes the following : " Let us not fear to be herein bold and peremptory, that if anything in the Church's government, surely the first insti- 436 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. tution of Bishop? was from Heaven, was even of God, the Holy Ghost was the author of it." — (Hooker.) k> The Bishops are the lawful Successors of the Apostles arid inheritors of their power. 1 ' — (Sanderson.) As to the authority for any other than the Epis- copal mode of government, he quotes Hooker's well known challenge, and upon Presbyterian Ordination, gives this from the same great authority : " Xo man is able to show either Deacon or Presbyter ordained by Presbyters only, and his ordination accounted lawful in any ancient part of the Church." Henry Melville, probably the greatest Preacher of the English Church in this age, shall be our next witness. Speaking of the authority to ordain, and to exercise the ordinary work of the ministry, he says: " From the Bishops ordained by the Apostles, we are ready to prove by a series of historical documents, that our Bishops derive their authority to ordain ministers, a point which, how- ever, lost sight of, or ridiculed in a day when men think no authority necessary, provided they have a little turn for public speaking, * * * this point, we say of the Apostolical Succes- sion, of the ministry of our Church is one of the weightiest that can be agitated in a Christian community. I could as soon believe that Christ is not the head of his Church, as believe that He has made no provision for a Succession of ordained ministers ; and unless this provision be found in an Episcopal Order, my firm conviction is that it exists not on the broad face of the earth." — (Sermons, Vol. iii., p. 265.) Theophilus Girdle stone, treating of Schism, says: "It is a separation of the members of the body of Christ, from each other, and by consequence from the common head of all, and since this separation takes place in opposition to the will and design of our Lord, it is an act of direct disobedience towards Him, and of resistance to his supreme authority ; for if He requires that all his people should worship Him with one mouth, ' being perfect, joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment/ it must needs be exceeding sinful OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 437 to separate them into divers places and modes of worship, * * * and a wide difference of doctrine." 'It is plain that if every society of professing Christians is entitled to call itself the Church of Christ, then his Church consists of as many separate societies holding all shades and degrees of opinion as there are vain and fanciful men to strike out new forms of doctrine ; there can be no established system of government, no uniformity of teaching, no communion in worship ; and it is in the power of any private individual to erect a new Church of Christ, or even to be a Church by him- self! Upon this supposition certainly there could be no sepa- ration from the Church, and no such offence as Schism." "If we could suppose the Apostles and the primitive Bishops to see the present state of the Christian world, what words could be found to express their astonishment, alarm, and indig- nation, at the scene which it presents ; the contempt for lawful authority ; the endless varieties of doctrine ; the needless divisions into sects and parties ; the assumption of the minis- terial office by men either unordained, or ordained by persons with no better title than themselves ; the indifference with which these flagrant violations of our Lord's prerogative are generally regarded, and the ignprance which prevails respecting the nature of the Church, and the due succession of its Bishops and Ministers, by Apostolical Ordination ? All these signs of the times would have filled those pious men with horror, and made them to doubt whether the Church of Christ had not ceased to exist !" " I feel bound to declare to you my conscientious con- viction that the Church under the government of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, is the only Church of Christ, and that all other societies of Christians can only be regarded as sepa- rations from it, in contradiction to the plan formed by the Apostles under the direction of their Divine Master." — (Lectures on Catechism.) Wm. Archer Butler, Professor T.CJX It is im- possible to mention the name of this great and gifted divine without a feeling of melancholy. Surely, the removal of such a man, in the very vigor of youth, is one of the strangest mysteries of Providence. But it was the work of Him who doeth all things well! In the first volume of his sermons, one will be found, which we earnestly wish were not only read 438 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. but studied by every Minister of the Church. It is on the union of Church principles with Christian sympathy. We believe there has been nothing so admirable put forth on this subject since the days of Hooker or Bishop Hall. After treating of the mis- representations of outsiders, and the extreme views of partisans, the Professor announces it as his wish : " To tranquilize the fears of those who conceive, either that if they accept as obligatory the primitive system of the Church, they must avoid every form and degree of spiritual recognition towards those who have lost it ; or that since they cannot accept the extravagant theory which places the pious Presbyterian and Congregationalist on a level with the heathen, they must, of necessity, surrender all the exclusive claims of the ancient Epis- copal Ministry." " The positions, then, which I consider that we, as the duly commissioned Ministers of this Church, are justified in main- taining, are these : 1. The great general principle, that the Apostleship of Jesus Christ is still and forever in the world ; as really in all the sub- stance of the office as when it was held under circumstantial dif- ferences of miraculous attestation by Peter, and James, and John. That as breathing the breath of natural life into the first man, He gave him, by a single act, a power thenceforward physically trans- missive through the whole immense series of the human race, so, * * * breathing on them the Holy Ghost, He conferred, once for all, a spiritual power analogously transmissive to innumerable Successors. * * * That it therefore becomes the same violation of his appointed order * * * to separate, under any pretext of sanctity, from this Succession without a palpable corruption of doctrine * * * as it would for holy men during the actual Min- istry of the Apostles, to have neglected all communion with them." 2. That this general conception of a perpetual Apostolate * * * is manifestly confirmed by the fact of the organization of the Apostolic Churches, both laity and Ministers, under indi- vidual Governors, exercising exclusive power of ordination and spiritual superintendence." 3. That the divine and exclusive authority of this Consti- tution is consistent with the strong probability that where it should be lost, the mercy of God would not suffer that unhappy error to prevent the gift of His graces to those who sincerely sought them." OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 439 He then goes on to speak of real, undeniable holi- ness existing in some who are yet outside of the Church as regularly and fully constituted, and the usefulness of some as Grospel Preachers who are not validly ordained : " It is wrong to affirm that the hearers of such uncommissioned persons must be left to the extraordinary [or uncovenanted] mercies of God." " It is quite possible to consider the Apostolic Constitution of the Church as the established dispensation of the means of grace, and to regard adherence to that Constitution as a peremptory and perpetual duty, and yet to recognize the reality of its oc- casional degradation, the independency of divine grace on its necessary instrumentality, and the benefits that have been attained beyond its verge." " But it may probably be urged that all these concessions are not sufficient, unless we admit within the circle of The Church itself the various forms of associations which have been made the means of grace to believers in Christ ; that is, unless we include within our conception of the Church, every existing or possible social organization for the preaching of the Gospel. And it is supposed that unless this admission be made, it will still be necessary to exclude many of the holiest disciples of Christ from that sole claim to eternal happiness which is founded in being members of His mystical body. But there need not arise any very perplexing difficulty on this point. We are not forced, in order to save the pious Dissenter, to make his irregular Society an integral part of the mystical body of Christ. The mercy of God secures his salvation, when he is to be saved, on deeper grounds than this." Bishop Harold Browne. The learned Bishop of Ely, now exercising his high office, thus treats of our subject in his most elaborate and admirable Ex- position of the XXXIX Articles : "It is the plain record of all antiquity, that Ordination was anciently conferred by the highest Order of the Ministry. This will probably be questioned by no one. We have seen that St. Clement, the earliest Christian writer, except those of the New Testament, speaks of the Apostles as having appointed Successors to themselves in the Ministry and Government of the Church. We have seen that Irenaeus speaks of a regular Suc- cession from the Apostles in the Churches, and that he counts 440 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. up the Succession in the Churches of Rome and Smyrna. A like testimony we have brought from Tertullian. -The farther we proceed, the clearer the evidence becomes that no ordina- tions TOOK PLACE, EXCEPT OF THOSE WHO THUS SUCCEEDED TO THE Ministry of the Apostles, deriving their Orders in direct Suc- cession from them. " There is no example of Ordination ever being entrusted to Presbyters only/'' " Those who advocate the parity of Bishops and Presbyters appeal tu the language of St. Chrysostom and St. Jerome, who undoubtedly maintained with great earnestness the dignity of the office of Presbyter, and esteemed it very little inferior to the Episcopate. Yet their very words shew distinctly that in one point, and that the very point now in question, the Bishop had a power not entrusted to the Presbyter. St. Chrysostom says that ; Bishops excel Presbyters only in the power of Ordina- tion/ and St. Jerome asks, ' What does a Bishop that a Pres- byter does not, except ordaining?' ,} "Other Presbyters equally with him [the Bishop] received authority to teach, to baptize, to minister the Eucharist; but he, only, had authority to ordain. Such authority was believed to have been derived to Bishops from the Apostles. And the principle upon which their Ordinations were deemed valid was not merely that they themselves had the priestly office, but that they had received authority (by regular Episcopal descent) to give Ordination and Mission to others." " Those who maintain the validity of Presbyterian Orders, do so on the ground that Bishops were themselves but Presbyters. Those who maintain that Episcopal Ordination is necessary reply, that even though Bishops be themselves Presbyters, yet they only, and not all Presbyters alike, had the authority to ordain, and, therefore, that without them Ordination could NOT TAKE PLACE. " In the English Church the primitive rule of Episcopal Ordination and Apostolical descent has never been infringed. n —(On 23d Article.) As to the supposed " carefulness" of the Keformers, so to word this Article as "not to exclude" those who maintain Presbyterian Ordination, or upon the sup- posed ambiguity of its language, Bishop Browne says : " The ambiguity is not real, but apparent only, as it is not only clearly stated that not all who are themselves Ministers OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 441 can ordain, but only those invested with public authority in the Church to send others into the vineyard. This is a complete description of a Bishop." — (Ibid., p. 557.) Here, then, we close our Catena. It begins, as of right, with Cranmer — it ends with a Bishop yet alive. In the three hundred and twenty years between those two, every successive period has been represented in it. We have given fairly, and as fully as our limits would admit, the opinions of every divine whose name is famous, who has written upon the subject we are considering, and whose works are procurable in this country. What, then, is the result ? Do they give an uncertain sound ? Do they not, one and all, declare themselves believers in Episcopacy, jure divino, and in Apostolical Succession ? Do they not, one and all, re-echo the voice of the Church. We find, of course, some differences in minor matters. Thus, we see Bishops Hall and Davenant agreeing with Andrews and Cosin in giving to Foreign Churches the benefit of the plea advanced by their founders, while Hicks, Jacques, Calder, and others are unwilling to confess that there ever was any such necessity as could justify a departure from the regu- lar and Scriptural mode of governing the Church and commissioning its ministers. Other differences, also, may be perceived ; but as to the chief points — those that are distinctive principles of our Church, we have here presented, as we believe, evidence of a greater concord than can be found to exist on any other topic of the sort, or than any Catena has ever produced. And this we set forth as an honest and proper chain of evidence. It is no partial or meagre list, like what we sometimes see 442 OPINIONS OF DIVINES. put forward to serve a weak cause. We can con- ceive nothing more false or absurd than to offer as a Catena a list of Anglican divines in which the names of Jeremy Taylor, Bishop Bull, Leslie, Law, Waterland and Jones would not appear. They are not to be found in Mr. Groode's book ; but they are here — and on tha subject of debate, their judgment is one and the same. Concordant among themselves, they are one in opinion with all the rest who here bear their open testimony. And what appears on the other side? A few extracts from prominent divines, brought forward to prove that they were the very opposite of what his- tory and their own writings show that they were — a series of extracts, sometimes questionable, often garbled or misapplied, or, if fairly given, containing only charitable expressions, or statements of what might be lawful in cases of necessity. And that IS ALL ! What one, even of Mr. Groode's authorities, ven- tures to say out boldly that Presbyterian Ordination, as such, is valid. Not one ! If any of his own witnesses sanction the Orders of the Foreign Episco- pal Churches, it is only on the ground of their al- leged necessity. Not one of them has a single word o o to say in favor of Presbyterian Ordination, as it was found in England, and is found here in America. Even Burnet himself declares that it is quite out of all rule, and could not be done WITHOUT A VERY GREAT sin unless the necessity were great and apparent^ The only sentiment we remember that approaches the character of a direct acknowledgment of Pres- OPINIONS OF DIVINES. 443 byterian Orders as such, is this : " Seeing a Presbyter is equal to a Bishop in the power of Order, he hath equally intrinsical power to give Orders" But, unfor- tunately for Mr. Groode's cause, this was not written by the great Episcopal divine to whom it is attri- buted, but by the Scotch Presbyterian Minister who forged Ms name, twenty years after his death ! CHAPTER XII. AMERICAN DIVINES. TT T E must study brevity in this Chapter. Its only 1 1 purpose is to show that the judgment of the American Clergy upon the subject before us has been always in accordance with that of their English brethren. And this may be done without going to any great length : Bishop Seabury (1728-1796): "The authority under which the Apostles acted being derived from Christ, in the exercise of it they were his minis- ters, because the authority was originally and properly his, and they could act only in his name ; and this authority being by successive ordinations, continued down to this day. all duly authorized Clergymen now act by it, and are, therefore, the ministers of Christ." "It remains then that there is no other way left to obtain a valid commission to act as Chrisfs minister in his Church, but by an uninterrupted succession of ordinations from the Apos- tles."— (Sermons, Edition of 1815, "Vol. i., pages 9-23.) Bishop White (17-17-1836) must be quoted a little more at length, owing to the common misrepre- sentation of his views Concerning the 36th Article, and the Ordinal, which it endorses, he says : "This is another Article of our Church, which has been much applauded for its liberality, and at the same time not with a friendly design ; it being done to lead to the inference that in framing the Articles of the Church of England (of which ours is a copy, with accomodation to local circumstances), no >AAA) AMERICAN DIVINES. 445 more was intended than to offer an apology for the difference between Episcopacy and Presbytery on the ground of human institution, not in itself sinful. This is an entire miscon- ception of the enlightened views of the English Reformers, * * * in laying down Articles of faith, they had no design of con- demning other Protestant Churches on a point of discipline. While yet being governed in practice by their own sense of the original difference between the two higher Orders of the Ministry, they have precisely marked it in the preface, and in some of the devotions of the Ordinal. These being the subject of the Article must be supposed to assist in the interpretation of it." " An express tendency to this effect presents itself to our notice in the first sentence of the preface, which says : ' It is evident unto all men diligently reading Holy Scripture and ancient authors, that from the Apostles' time there have been these three Orders of ministers in Christ's Church, Bishops, Priests, and Deacons/ Here is an appeal to Scripture for the discrimination of Order in the time of the Apostles, and to ancient authors for its prevailing from that time downward. Evidently the framers of this preface knew of no deviations from the original institution, until the then recent times immediately subsequent to the Reformation." "Consistent with this are three prayers in the three several services for the ordaining of Deacons, the ordaining of Priests, and for the consecration of a Bishop. Each of the forms acknowledges that by divine appointment there are divers Orders of Ministers in the Church, and then prays [for each in turn]." "There could hardly have been a more significant declaration that each of the noticed Orders made a, distinct branch of the original Constitution of the Church, and the sentiments derives an immense increase of solemnity from its being made in an appeal to Almighty God." — [Lectures on Catechism, pages 157, 158.) Again, on the page last quoted, the good Bishop expressly maintains that the ministry of the Chris- tian Church is of Divine institution, and that as established " by Jesus Christ and his Apostles, it in- cludes the three Orders of Bishops, Priests, and Dea- cons." That the ministry is of Divine institution, he says is to be maintained against enthusiasts who claim to do without any external commission : " In opposition to these we affirm the necessity of Succession from the Apostles. The commission from them was by a 38 44(5 AMERICAN DIVINES, personal act, .performed on those whom they admitted in the beginning to a co-partnership with them in their authority and their labors. But it is evident that Succession is the only way in which there could have been a transmission of the same from age to age." — (Ibid.) " So far as the practice of early Churches is concerned, it goes directly to the same point. There not having been any Church in which the ministry was not supposed to be fenced round by divine appointment, and to have been handed down in SUCCESSION FROM THE APOSTLES." " The anti-Episcopalians concede that during the lives of the Apostles there were two Orders, one of whom were those holy men themselves, and the other were an Order subordinate to them, which were called by two Greek words, which are trans- lated Bishops and Presbyters, names designating the same office. That the two terms were thus indiscriminately applied, is a matter conceded by Episcopalians. But they say that the general superintendence of the Church, and the power of ordi- nation, were never committed to that Order, but remained in the Apostles, and in persons whom they associated with them- selves, with a view to those higher ends." — (Page 170.) As to the question whether the Episcopacy be "obligatory, like the Sacraments, at all times and under all circumstances of the Church," he says : " If the moving of this question had originated in the mere rage for innovation, it would be hardly worth the resolving, at the expense of the danger of disparaging an institution made venerable by Apostolic origin, and by the uninterrupted usage of fifteen centuries. But it happened at the Reformation that in some countries Christians were so circumstanced as that they had no alternative between dispensing with this particular regimen, and continuing in the bosoin of a Church extremely corrupt in doctrine; and under this embarrassment many ecclesiastical systems were established without the requisition of Episcopal Ordination."— (P. 173.) The Bishop thought the English Eeformers were specially considerate in judging of the Foreign Churches, owing to this necessity. He says the Church of England H Decidedly set her feet on the ground of the Apostolical origin of Episcopacy , [yet] she carefully avoided passing a judgment AMERICAN DIVINES. 447 on the validity of the ministry of other Churches, or determin- ing in any shape on the question last proposed/' On this we must remark, as we have done more than once, that if it means that the English Church re- frained from open denunciation or anathema, preserv- ing a charitable silence as to the points in which the Continental Protestants professed themselves obliged to differ, it is all perfectly correct ; but if it means that the Anglican Eeformers did not hold to the divine right of Episcopacy, with all the legitimate consequences of that theory, or that they did not avow it, and act upon it constantly, it is entirely wrong ; and the good Bishop himself has proved it so. He excuses the Foreign Protestant Churches, on the score of necessity, but says expressly, that " the effects of this are to continue no longer than the o crisis which gave occasion to them." Of the .opinions held by Dr. Smith, Bishop Clag- gett, and Bishop Jarvis we have given proof else- where. Bishop Benjamin Moobe, of New York (conse- crated 1801): " When this pure and undefiled religion was established upon earth by Christ and his holy Apostles, every necessary provision was made to secure the continuance of it to the end of the world. Its Ministers were solemnly ordained, and the mode of perpetuat- ing the Succession was pointed out; its sacred ordinances were instituted, and the regular administration of them in all suc- ceeding ages clearly enjoined. " — (Sermons, vol. i., p. 346.) "Just at the conclusion of the Apostolic age, these three Orders received the distinguished appellation of Bishop, Priest, and Deacon, which have continued through all succeeding ages to the present day. What the peculiar privileges and powers of the highest Order are may be learned from the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistle to Timothy and Titus, one of whom was Bishop of Ephesus, and the other of Crete." " To the first Order of the Christian Clergy ivas committed the sole power of 448 AMERICAN DIVINES. ordaining Ministers in the Church of Christ." — (Ibid., p. 350.) Bishop Hobart (consecrated May 29, 1811). — The opinions of this eminent man are so well known, that it is hardly necessary to quote a sentence ; yet, in accordance with the course hitherto pursued, he will be permitted to speak for himself. We may say, in passing, that those who like to put up a scolding- post represent Bishop Hobart as the introducer into America of the doctrine of Succession, etc., but with what propriety the foregoing extracts will show : " The Church is a divinely constituted society, of which Christ is the Head. Its officers must derive their commission from Him, its Head. This commission is transmitted through a superior Order of the ministry (among whom ranked Timothy and Titus), afterwards called Bishops. * * * Union with the Church can- not exist where we are not in union with the ministry deriving their power through the legitimate channel, from the Head of the Church. The Churchman, believing that this Order is the Order of Bishops, would think that, in separating from their ministrations, he cut himself off from the communion of the Church, and was guilty of the sin of schism." " These opinions may not now be popular. And yet they were popular. They were the only principles recognized in those ages when the Christian faith was most pure, Christian morals most holy, and the Christian Church most united. * * * Let not the clamors of our Protestant brethren who are, unfor- tunately, destitute of the primitive bond of Church Union, in the Order of Bishops, intimidate us from avowing and acting on the principle which the Churchman, in every age, has avowed and acted on ; and which one of the first Bishops of the Chris- tian Church, a disciple of an Apostle, the venerable martyr Ig- natias, lays down : ' Let no man do anything of what belongs to the Church, without the Bishop/ " — (Charge delivered at New Haven, 1818.) Bishop E. Channing Moore (consecrated 1814). — When this Apostolic man was placed over the dio- cese of Virginia, the interests of the Church were at a very low ebb. " For several successive years not AMERICAN DIVINES. 449 even a Convention had been called, or a single com- bined attempt made to preserve the Church from irretrievable ruin." Its condition may be guessed, from the statement made at the time in a letter of Mr. (afterwards Bishop) Meade, that the congregation at Richmond, which was "by far the largest body of Episcopalians in the Southern country." was so ignorant of Church doctrine, or so unstable in char- acter, that, "if a clever Presbyterian should offer, they will throw away Episcopacy and fall under his banners." This will explain the following passage from Bishop Moore's pen : " Had we been all Episcopalians, in the strict sense of the word, the Church of Virginia would not have been in her present languid condition. We had most of the principal people with us, and if they had been united in sentiment, act- ing in accordance with the spiritual government to which we belong, we should have commanded their respect and obtained their support. Parity of Order and the doctrine of Episcopacy are two distinct things, and to incorporate them is as much impos- sible as to unite water with oil. The committee and myself must take special care that we do not lose sight of the above princi- ple." — [Memoir, p. 223.) Bishop Griswold (consecrated 1811): "Soon after the second ordination of the twelve, 'the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them' forth to teach. Thus it appears that during Christ's ministry there were three different orders or grades of preachers. First, Himself, acting as High Priest or Bishop, in his own person, and governing the Church ; secondly, the twelve, and, thirdly, the other sev- enty." " The law given by Moses was a shadow of good things to come ; it, in all things, typified the gospel state, and is called a schoolmaster to bring men to Christ. And, accordingly, it had the three orders of the ministry (the High Priest, the Priests and the Levites), with different and distinct powers and duties." " St. Matthew informs us that Christ, in giving his Apostles their final commission, begins by saying ' All power is given unto me in Heaven and in earth/ showing that he had authority to ordain them to any ministry. And then, as St. John tells us, he mentions the ministry which he actually did give them : such as his Father had given him. He appoints 450 AMERICAN DIVINES. them to the office he was leaving, Christ glorified not himself to be made an High Priest, but had, like Aaron, his type under the law, a regular call to the office. Nor did the Apostles take the honor to themselves ; they were sent by Christ, as he was by the Father." The powers given unto the Apostles were : " First, to exercise discipline and govern the Church. * * * They were also commissioned to go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. * * * He also promised to be with them, even to the end of the world — evidently meaning them and their succes- sors in the same office." * * * " They were sent by Christ as the Father had sent him, and, of course, to minister to the Church as he had ministered, and to appoint such ordinances as the new dispensation might render expedient, such as ordaining to the Ministry, &c, &g." " What we teach and firmly believe is, that in the Apostles' days (as has been the fact ever since), there were three different Orders ; but we do not say or sup- pose that they were distinguished exactly by the same names then as now. The words Bishop, Elder and Deacon, which we now appropriated severally to three different grades, were then sometimes used for all the Orders. The Apostles were called Elders and also Deacons. The Elders, Presbyters or Priests (which are all words of the same meaning), were then also styled Bishops, a name which signifies overseers, because they had the oversight of congregations or parishes. But ever since the Apostles' days, none but those who have the general over- sight of all the Churches in a City, or State, or Province, with power to ordain, are called Bishops." — {On the Apostolical Office.) Dk. Fredekick Beasley (1777-1845), former Pro- vost of Pennsylvania University : "Episcopacy rests upon the strong foundation of the sacred Scriptures. It is an irrefragable truth, that the Episcopal form of Church Government is the only one Christ hath prescribed in His Word ; it is the only one which was known in the universal Church for fifteen hundred years. Whilst our Saviour remained on earth he, of course, held supreme authority in his Church. The twelve were appointed by him as his subordinate officers. The seventy disciples constituted a still lower Order. There existed, then, in the Church of Christ at this time, three distinct grades of Ministers. When our Lord ascended into Heaven — when he breathed upon the twelve and said, 'As my Father AMERICAN DIVINES. 451 gent me, even so send 1 you/ he transmitted to them the same authority which he himself had retained during his continuance amongst them. The twelve commissioned their Presbyters and Deacons, to aid them in the administration of ecclesiastical gov- ernment. Before their death they constituted an order of Min- isters, to whom they conveyed that Supreme authority in the Church, which was lodged in their hands during their lives. To this Order of men, who succeeded the Apostles in dignity and authority, the appellation of Bishops was, in process of time, peculiarly appropriated. Ever since the times of the Apostles this Order has always possessed prerogatives peculiar to itself It has always held, exclusively, the power of ordination, the privilege of communicating the sacerdotal authority. These are positions which may be established by an accumulation of evi* dence from Scripture and the testimony of ancient writers, that will defy all opposition." — [Letters of Cyprian, A. D. 1807.) Bishop Kavenscroft, of North Carolina, conse- crated 1823 : " Before the Apostles finished their course respectively, they committed unto faithful men, by Divine direction, that commis- sion and authority for the rule and government of the Church, for the guardianship of the faith and the fulfilment of the Gos- pel dispensation which they received from Christ, and Christ from the Father. In which transfer they gave instructions for the due and faithful performance of the duties peculiar to their office with directions that they also should, in like manner, * commit the same to faithful men, who should be able to teach others/ and thus continue the line of Apostolical Succession unbroken to the end/' — (Vol. i., p 125.) " As Christ's commission and authority derived from the Father admitted a transfer of it to his Apostles, in like manner the commission and authority of the Apostles derived from Christ admitted and, in fact, included a like transmission to others." " In the necessary powers and qualifications for its government, &c. &c,, the Apostles both could have and did have Successors, which have continued in an unbroken line of transmitted au- thority to this day, through the Order of Bishops, as the only lawful and verifiable source of spiritual rule in the Kingdom of Christ/' — (P. 127.) Dr. John Bowden (1751-1817), Professor in Columbia College, A. D. 1808. — His admirable and conclusive letters to Dr. Miller, are in the very best 452 AMERICAN DIVINES. vein of controversial writing — fair, candid, cour- teous, but forcible : " If the Holy Ghost inspired the Apostles to establish Epis- copacy in the Church, it is certainly of Divine institution, although there may be no express and formal precept for that purpose. Or if the Apostles, by virtue of the commission which they received from Jesus Christ, established Episcopacy, it must, if not immediately, yet mediately be grounded upon Divine institution. For if the Apostolic commission was founded upon Divine authority, as it certainly was, then all commissions derived from that source, and within the limits of that commission, are also mediately founded upon a Divine authority, and in this sense, at the very least, every one that believes Episcopacy not to be a mere human institution, must believe it to have a divine sanction." — (P. 245.) " Thus, then, it appears to be capable of demonstration, that an uninterrupted successiox of Ministers is essential to the Christian Church ; and if there has been any failure, a min- istry deriving its authority from Christ has also failed. But this we know cannot be, for Christ has promised that it should not ; and what he has promised he is certainly able to fulfil. And as the Order of the Clergy is a positive institution of the great head of the Church, so the different degrees of the min- istry must, of necessity, be a positive institution by the same authority. If, then, Episcopacy has been proved to be a divine institution, it as necessarily follows that the Succession of Bishops has been as- uninterrupted as the ministry. For if to the Order of Bishops the power of ordaining was attached, then it follows that the Episcopal Order is essential to the perpetuity of the Ministry. Of course, a succession of such ordainers is essential. Admit, then, that Episcopacy is a divine institution, and the Succession is a matter of necessity, and is no more capable of failure than the [whole] ministrv is." — (P. 316.) The opinions of Bishops Kemp, Chase, Dehon, Bowen, Waimvright, Doane, and others, on the present topic, are too well known to require illustra- tion. We therefore pass on. Bishop H. U. Oxderdoxk, of Pennsylvania, con- secrated 1827. — In his excellent tract, ''Episcopacy Tested by Scripture." the distinctive principles of AMERICAN DIVINES. 453 the Church, are ably maintained. We can give only a brief extract or two : " Parity declares that there is but one order of men author- ized to minister in sacred things. * * * Episcopacy declares that the Christian ministry was established in three orders, called, ever since the Apostolic age, Bishops, Presbyters or Elders, and Deacons, of which the highest only has the right to ordain." — (P. 11.) 11 Scriptural proof having been given for Episcopacy, down to the latest date of the inspired canon, and it having been shown that no other Ministry is set forth in the New Testament, all is done that was proposed in the beginning of this essay/' ■—(P. 39.) Bishop Onderdonk expressly repudiates the idea of " unchurching 7 ' non-Episcopal denominations ; but he argues strongly ; as we have shown elsewhere, against justifying the Foreign Bfcformed Churches on the ground of necessity : " We think it doubtful whether Luther and his associates and Calvin and his associates were prevented from obtaining Episco- pacy by difficulties strictly insuperable" " When the difficulty appears great, those who yield to it are, we doubt not, excused by a merciful God, and they ought to be fully and readily ex- cused by man. But this mild judgment of persons does not establish either the correctness of their opinions or the validity of their acts." " Least of all can the supposed necessity which may formerly have lead to a deviation from divine institutions, be a sound plea for persevering in that deviation, after the sup- posed necessity has ceased." — (P. 42.) Bishop J. H. Hopkins, of Yermont, consecrated 1832, and now Presiding Bishop of this Church. This learned and able divine, in his " Letters on the Novelties which Disturb our Peace/' published in 1844, takes as low ground for Episcopacy as it appears possible to take, without wholly abandoning the Church's doctrine. " The first question to be settled is this, namely : "Whether Episcopacy is essential to the very being of the Church of Christ, so that there can be no Church where there is no Episcopacy. 454 AMERICAN" DIVINES. And here I beg leave to be understood as distinctly maintain- ing, that the institution of the Episcopal government is divine, because Apostolic. In the words of the venerable Hooker, I would say without the least reservation, ' Let us not fear to be herein bold and peremptory, that if anything in the Church's government, surely the first institution of Bishops was even from God. The Holy Ghost was the author of it. But it does not necessarily follow from this that the loss of Episcopacy destroys the very being of a Church. It destroys its Apostolic Order, undoubtedly, ***** yet the Church, in its essential elements may exist notwithstanding/ " In this last clause, and others like it, we recog- nize the effect of the "Puseyite" controversy, just as we find it displayed in Bishop Meade's "True Churchman," a charge delivered in 1851. In conse- quence of unfair deductions from certain established principles, or the undue prominence given to some particulars of doctrine by the Oxford writers, those who were startled and pained at the tendency of their " Tracts," began to change their ground, and to be careful of granting the original principles, lest the inferences would follow. Some denied what all Churchmen had previously taught, and some even contradicted publicly what had been upheld in their own writings through a long course of years. We believe that the good Bishop wrote under the influ- ence of this feeling — that fearing to yield too much to the " Newmanites," he went a little too far in the opposite direction. Yet, after all, hating a single word or two here and there, he has written nothing on the subject which could not be supported by the author- ity of some of our greatest divines, and nothing to which we ourselves would not cheerfully subscribe. Bishop Henshaw, of Ehode Island, consecrated 1843: AMERICAN DIVINES. 455 " We all believe in the Apostolic institution of Episcopacy, and, of course, acknowledge that it has the divine sanction and approbation; for inspired Apostles would institute nothing in opposition to the will of God." " [The Episcopal Church] does not, as the phrase goes, " unchurch" other denominations. She does not condemn a Non-Episcopal Ministry, and pronounce all its acts invalid ; nor does she even declare them to be irregular, for it was no part of her business to assert negatives. But she does positively affirm the Apostolic origin and universal preva- lence of the ministry under the Episcopal form, and declares her determination to recognize no other. In proof of this, we quote the language of the Ordinal. From the Apostles' times there have been these Orders of Ministers in — what? In the Epis- copal Church as distinguished from others? No! But in Christ's Church, i. e., the Holy Catholic Church." * * * "Upon this strongly asserted fact of the universal prevalence, from the beginning, of the ministry under the Episcopal form, our Church founds her solemn declaration that she can recognize and sanction none other." " No man shall be accounted or taken to be a lawful Bishop, Priest, or Deacon in this Church, or suf- fered to execute any of the said functions, except he be admitted thereto according to the form hereafter following, or hath had Episcopal consecration or ordination." " If there could be any reasonable doubt as to the meaning of our Church in this declaration, one would suppose it would be removed by her uniform action in the premises, under the direc- tion of her canons. It is by no means uncommon for Non-Epis- copal ministers to conform to our Church, and seek admission to Orders. A very considerable portion of our Clergy have made this transition. How are they treated on coming to the Church for admission ? As clergymen, or as laymen ? She will not permit such an one to serve at her altars till she ordains him, just as if he had been professedly nothing but a layman before /" — [The Apostolic Ministry, pp. 5, 6.) Dk. GrEOKGE Boyd. — In his sermon on the " Old Paths," preached April, 1836, maintains the follow- ing propositions : (1) " The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a visible society, divinely constituted for special purposes." (2) " The Lord Jesus Christ instituted, in this Church, a ministry to be perpetu- ated to the end of the world, which ministry consisted of three Orders." (3) " Such a society being instituted and thus or- ganized, it becomes the bounden duty of every one who hears the Gospel, if he can find access to this Church, to connect him- self with it." (4) "The Protestant Episcopal Church in the 456 AMERICAN DIVINES. United States is identically the same Church as the Apostolic, and has been continued in direct and regular succession from the time of the Apostles to the present day." J. Flavel Mines, a prominent Presbyterian Min- ister, converted to the Church. — He has left his opin- ions on record, and used very plain language : " My old religion teaches that three or four good laymen may come and lay their hands on my pious bootblack, and make him as true a minister of Jesus Christ as myself— equal in dignity, and right, and power." " I regard it no small thing to have re- covered the ancient Episcopacy." — [Presbyterian Clergyman, &c, p. 569.) Dr. Dorr, the present venerable Eector of Christ Church, Philadelphia, quotes from Bishop Home and Archbishop Potter : " * In order to preserve his Church till this last period of time, Christ hath promised to be with his Apostles and their Succes- sors always, even unto the end of the world/ " " This is the substance of the Archbishop's first chapter, and his positions appear so evident as hardly to require any proof that the Chris- tian Church, is an outward, visible, spiritual society, universal as to time and place, and one whereof men are obliged to be members." 44 'Let them produce/ says Tertullian 'the origin of their Churches ; let them unfold the Order of their Bishops, so proceeding by regular Succession from the beginning, that their first Bishop may be showed to have been appointed either by one of the Apostles or by Apostolical authority/ The Church thus constituted derives its origin from one common source ; it is built upon the same foundation and after one uniform model ; it is subject to the same Orders of the ministry whose commission has been regularly handed down from the Apostles " &c, &c — [Churchman's Manual, pp, 120-123.) Dr. Chauncey Fitch. — In his ingenious and able Tractate on James, the Lord's brother, says: '"rtfe theory of an Apostolic Ministry is that it is derived from Christ through those whom he empowered to organize and govern the Church. Civil power may be conferred by the gov- AMERICAN DIVINES. 457 emed upon their rulers, but the Christian Ministry comes from Christ down to the people. * * It was by the putting on of the Apostles' hands the first Ordination was conferred. When one was admitted in this way to be a Deacon, an Elder, or a Bishop, he received a part of the Apostolic Ministry. Those Elders whom Titus ordained in every city of Crete obtained a part of the same Ministry which Titus had, but not the whole — not that part of it which would authorize them to ordain others. If one of these Elders had taken upon him to ordain without having received authority so to do, a ministry thus begun would not have been Apostolic/' In reply to the question, "What is it that is con- veyed by the Apostolical Succession?" Dr. Fitch re- plies thus : " It is safe to say — -just that legal authority which could be conferred by Ordination and which would be necessary to per- petuate the same Church in all its integrity. * * * Authority to do what St. Paul in his Epistles instructs Timothy to do at Ephesus, and Titus at Crete, could be conveyed perpetually by Ordination. Such authority, committed to faithful, men would sustain and leave the Church of Christ, at the end of time, the same Church it was at the beginning. Authority to do these things, disconnected from inspired guidance and supernatural gifts, is all that is claimed by those who, through a regular Suc- cession of Ordinations from the Apostles, now exercise the office of Bishop in the Church of Christ."— (P. 69.) Prefixed to this treatise we find a letter from Bishop Mellvaine, of Ohio, recommending it strongly. We have thus brought this chain of witnesses down, in regular order, from the first Bishops of our Church in this country, to the present presiding Bishop and others yet alive. We have been obliged to omit many writers and much matter ; but enough has been supplied to show that here, as in England, the doctrines held and publicly taught by Episcopalian divines have been always the same in substance, and in complete harmony with our Standards. . 39 CHAPTEE XIII. LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. WE have stated that the Eeverend Mr. Goode has no right to put himself forward as the champion of Low- Churchmen — that his views and the views of those of whom he affects to be the representative are widely different, and this we now proceed to prove. We have quoted in Chapter XL, the works of Bur- net and Chillingworth, of Davenant, Hall, and Usher, who might be pointed to as substantiating our state- ment; but we prefer giving the opinions of those who have lived more recently, and been fairly classed with that known as the "Evangelical party" both in Eng- land and America. Let it be borne in mind that Mr. Groode contends for a parity of Order between bishop and Presbyter ; that he denies the divine right of Episcopacy, claiming for it "only apostolical precedent" or a venerable an- tiquity; and that he scouts the whole theory of Apostolical succession as anti-Evangelical and " mon- strous." t It will be found that they speak a different language. The Geeat Authority on the Evangelical side is the monthly magazine known as the Christian Ob- (458) LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. 459 server. It was founded as the organ of the party or body of men to whom at the close of the last century, the name of " Evangelicals" was given, or by whom it was appropriated. Its first editor was Zachary Macauley (father of the historian). He was succeeded by Rev. S. C. Wilks, and under these it continued to be in all respects the same for at least half a century. In the first volume (published 1802) we find com- munications from " Way-ring," from which the follow- ing sentences are extracted : " There were three Orders of Ministers in the Primitive Church, Apostles, Presbyters, and Deacons." " The Apostles governed the Christian Church during their life, and when the charge became too burdensome, they ap- pointed others with Apostolical authority to assist, who were afterwards called Bishops for the reason mentioned by Theodo- ret." " There were some ecclesiastical offices which common pas- tors were not allowed to perform — the Apostles or an Apostolical man must preside at every ordination." — (Page 573.) " The Apostolical origin of Episcopacy being admitted, the great question is not whether the Christian Church can subsist without this Order any more than whether it can subsist with- out spiritual worship, but, whether 1 am justified in rejecting the Order which is clearly Apostolical?" " If I am asked what I think of those foreign Protestants who have cast off the Episco- pal government, I answer * nothing.' To their own master they stand or fall. The question seems to me irrelevant; it becomes not me to decide respecting the state of others, but with hu- mility and fear to follow the steps of the Apostles as they fol- lowed their Master." " It will be easy to see what degree of importance attaches to the numerous ordinations of certain classes of Dissenters which we see advertised in the public prints, where one prays, and another exhorts, and another sings, and all are equals. These things derive a consequence from the air with which they are brought forward; but it is sufficient to say that nothing similar appears in any part of the New Testament." — (Page 771). In the second volume (A. D. 1803) an article ap- peared on " Episcopacy as a Distinct Order in the 460 LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. First Century." We take the following from its opening paragraph : " It [Episcopacy] simply consists in a commission derived from the Apostles of Christ to continue the Succession of its own and the.inferior orders of Ministers in the Church, and to exercise jurisdiction over those Orders as well as over the people committed to their charge." — (Page 709). In the third volume, this article is continued, the editor maintaining that " Episcopacy was instituted by the Apostles, and, therefore, comes from God." On page 29 he quotes, approvingly, this strong sen- tence from Jones, of Nayland : " The Church has been governed by Bishops, Priests, and Deacons from the Apostles downwards, and where we find these Orders duly appointed, the Word preached, and the sacraments administered, there we find the Church with its form and au- thority." In the fourth volume, Archdeacon Daubeny is commended for his advocacy of Episcopacy in his " Guide to the Church." In the volume for 1828, we have the following reference to the Moravians : " Amid all their sufferings they did not forget the duty of perpetuating a pure Episcopal Church, after the existing race of their pastors who had received regular ordination by Bishops should become extinct. Tbey could neither expect nor wish for assistance in this matter from the Church of Rome, nor even from the Calixtine Bishops. They, therefore, had recourse to the Waldenses, whose Prelate, Stephen, before his martyrdom, with the assistance of another Bishop, consecrated three of their Priests, from whom the Episcopate has been regularly main- tained in their Church to the present moment, in the same manner as Anglican Episcopacy is in Scotland or the United States of America. The British Parliament has formally re- cognized them as a regular Episcopal Church." The writer of such paragraphs as these had cer- tainly no fellowship of opinion with Mr. Good. It LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. 461 was not then " Evangelical" to surrender the divine right of Episcopacy or to sneer at " Apostolical Suc- cession." But to proceed. In the number for May, 1830, the editor, reviewing the sermons of Bishop Griswold, says: " Our American Episcopalian friends are * High' (or rather as we should say, 'true') Churchmen. They adhere to Episco- pal discipline where Episcopacy has no civil privileges, no secu- lar patronage, no numerical distinction, no cathedrals, no titles, no endowments, no splendor, nothing but pure scripture au- thority" In December, 1832, it contained the memoir or no- tice of Drs. Johnson and Cutler, to which we have already referred, and in which it is stated plainly that it was impossible for those Congregational minis- ters after studying works upon Church polity, not to suspect "the lawfulness and validity of their own ordi- nation.^ Very soon after this the Tractarian controversy began, and its influence became apparent in the tone of the " Observer," yet it did not for a moment aban- don the distinctive doctrines of the Church. In April, 1834, noticing a sermon by Archbishop Wake, on Unity, the editor says : " The Archbishop, though he was v^ery far from undervaluing the privilege and advantage of Apostolical Succession, which we moat firmly believe belongs to the Church of England, at the same time saw what a dangerous weapon was furnished to the Church of Rome by the language which some Episcopalian Protestants have used upon the subject." In the same volume (April number) the editor says of " external Apostolical Succession:' 7 " We fully approve and highly appreciate that Succession." And again, in the August number : " We cannot see, with an admirer of the Oxford Tracts, how 39* 462 LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. the inculcation of the doctrine of Apostolical Succession, though we fully believe that Succession, is to silence the objectors to our national ecclesiastical establishment." In 1837, commenting on some extravagant or he- retical language of J. H. Newman, the editor says : " We are as conscientious Episcopalians as the Tract writers ; aye, and as firm believers in the Apostolical Succession also, though not icitli its Popish overlaying ; and we therefore the more lament to witness exaggerated statements like these." Again, in the same year, he says : "If .the present question were between the Church of Eng- land and Foreign Churches, and, still more, if it were between us and the Dissenters at home, we should stand up as earnestly to defend Episcopacy and the regulations of the Church of Eng- land as we are now doing to oppose what we consider unjust representations of them. The Foreign Churches became Non- Episcopal from the pressure of circumstances, not from predilec- tion, and ought not to be i unchurched' or considered schismat- ical. The case of Dissenters among ourselyes stands on very different grounds ; and our only remark upon it shall be, *What have we to do to judge them that are without? — them that are without God judgeth.' " Let men in this lax day say what they will, there is such a sin as Schism ; and, unless the Church of England be unscrip- tural, so as to justify and require secession [from it], we see no alternative, but that tlwse who, being situated within its limits, forsake it, are guilty of that sin. )} And again, in the same volume, speaking of Hooker, the writer says he held " The doctrine of Apostolical Succession, as every true Churchman does, with its legitimate results." Would it be possible to find in any u High Church" periodical language mace directly opposed to the lev- elling doctrines of Mr. Groode and his American fol- lowers? Here is more of the same sort, from the next issue of the " Observer," which is valuable, not only as an index of the writer's views, but as cor- LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. 463 roborating what we have herein maintained as to the Fathers and founders of our Church : " Hooker and Jewell, and the first Reformers, maintained the uninterrupted succession of the Christian Ministry from the times of the Apostles, and also the three orders, of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons ; but they did not infer that a com- munion which, either from misapprehension of Scripture, or from unavoidable circumstances, was deprived of Diocesan Epis- copacy, was without the limits of the covenant of divine mercy .'' And here is a passage which by anticipation judges the course pursued recently in New York, by those who have accepted Mr. Groode's novel theory : " The Bishop of London [Blomfield] lately said in Parlia- ment that the promiscuous interchange of pulpits, advocated by the Rev. Baptist Noel^ would make the Church 'a Noah's ark ;' and so we think it would. We do not mean in the better typical sense, but in the colloquial sense intended by the Bishop. " But we see no reason why Protestant Episcopalians should not officiate for each other, under suitable regulations, more especially as our Churches are open without bar to conform- ing Popish Priests." Here, then, we have the teaching of this acknowl- edged and able organ of the Evangelical party, for a space of forty years, and we find it to be utterly at variance with the theory now attempted to be palmed off upon the American public as "Evangelical." The evidence of the "Observer," inasmuch as it did not speak for one alone, but for all of the Low-Church section, would of itself expose the groundlessness of Mr. Groode's claim to represent that body, and would justify our statement to that effect ; but it is best to add the express statements of some of those men whose names are household words, and who are well known to have been leaders of the "evangelical" movement. LOW-CHURCH DIVINES. ETC. Leigh RlCHi : an article in the "Observer" vaotes from Lord 1 p Pearson sjes endorsing Su —ion. which we have printed in the r, and then proceeds : "The ooncum tony of the Apostle? and succeeding the better edifying of his people. our bless I S ri ur ap] ; : ted officers in his Church, entrusted v:'.' : - ministry even unto the . .:■:, :.:.- "William Romaixe (171-i— 1795\ who was regarded in his dav as the lowest of all Low-Churchmen, writes thus : *■ I am an old clergyman of the Church of England, and thor- oughly attached to my venerable mother. Some are zealous for Tjuiiar ductrines, xchi'.-. ~ ' -:ak through the rules she has i ic ven for the order' . r office. Others, who are so i hrnas of worship as not to endure the fr-mVhe" doctrine^ Homilies, and othc 1 Chri-t is pre [TNAUTHl them, do yet deviate as far as possible :ht in the Thi rty-Xlne Articles and the utin^s of tho se'who compiled her Lit- lese "sorts ::' c ilergymen be true Bonfl of not. Xeithe] • the stiff formalists who tly fulfilling*] ieii vows. * * * \ - :• '/ . and u ~ * AVe Mi^rht indeed to cr.e 1 ar. a s.uh - are saved, - _ en by irreg- 5 j but much more, if these aed without - . ' : . blished hat atter a all [sums and separations " . _ a spirit j'.'.y* h union, and 7 ■:/ mities." * * * "In the lives :>f the "Wesleys. Whitefield. ana Ingram we ?ee no regard paid i --. the rules, and the order of the T hey - ts I thai their ordination confined their ministration w :ain limits., and bound it upon r bor 'where they should wfully call ace to fchei astieal gov- ernors. L r es as regular | ted as Evangehste at large, ranging about LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. 465 assuming a kind of Apostolical tone and authority. * * * In short, they made too much haste to do good, and in their zeal for sound doctrine and experimental religion, forgot that there were such evils as enthusiasm and schism. We have lived to see the sad consequences of these irregular proceedings." The venerable writer then goes on to speak of Walker of Truro and Adam of Wintringham, " both clergymen of uncommon sagacity, and inferior to none of their contemporaries in real godliness/' who remained faithful to their Church, obeying its rules in the spirit and the letter. He commends in passing, the "loyalty and zeal for established Order 11 which in. those " perilous times" appeared in some Church pe- riodicals, whose doctrinal teachings he could not ap- prove. On the other hand he refers with disappro- bation to some in which were " Pompous and parading relations of chapels opened in every part of the kingdom^of ordinations, conferences, and wonder- ful conversions, as if nothing good were done among us but by the Sectaries. Nor do I like to see the names of clergymen of the Church of England appear among those of Dissenting teachers* of various denominations on the blue cover of a magazine where is advertised ' Dr. GilFs Reasons for Separating from the Church of England' — a mischievous book ably answered by the venerable Mr. Hart of Bristol." — ( Christian Observer, vol. i, pp. 161-3). George Stanley Faber (1773-1854). This very eminent divine to whose learning and diligence the Church is indebted for some of the ablest and most valuable works of the present century, shall be our next witness. In the year 180.2, he preached before the University of Oxford a sermon on the Min- istry, which was published immediately after. Its very title is enough to show how he judged upon the * The very name given to the same parties by Dr. Hook, and for which he has been so freely censured. 406 LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. question before us. It was this: " Divine Authority Conferred by Episcopal Ordination Necessary to a Legitimate Discharge of the Christian Ministry." Archbishop Laud never wrote anything stronger than that. Mr. Faber sets out with showing that a self-ap- pointed Evangelist, without any delegated authority, is the very same anomaly in the spiritual world as a self-appointed ambassador without any credentials would be in the political. He then exposes the fal- lacy of warranting invasion of the ministerial char- acter, by those passages that are generally adduced to justifying irregular ministrations, and proceeds: " All the Apostles derived their authority immediately from Christ," and " No person has a right to execute the office of an Evangelist without having previously received a commission." " Here another very important matter yet remains to be con- sidered, Wlio are the persons that possess the EXCLUSIVE right of granting this commission ? We assert that in all ages the Church of Christ has been governed by three distinct Orders, Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons ; and we challenge our an- tagonists to produce from all the records of antiquity a single instance of a Presbyteral community previous to that established at Geneva." "He then goes on," says the editor of the "Christian Observer," "to solve the question whether Episcopi and Presbyteri be synonymous," as supposed by the Dissen- ters, or "whether they be descriptive titles of two dis- tinct Orders as maintained by the Church of Eng- land, 11 and to this end quotes Ignatius : " The distinction between the three Orders being clearly pointed out by Ignatius, it will follow almost of course that Presbyters as such have no right to grant a commission to preach the Gospel." The editor of the " Christian Observer" says of this sermon : LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. 467 " The great talents which had been displayed by the Reve- rend author in the execution of a much more arduous undertak- ing entitled Horce Mosaicce, could not but prepossess our mind in favor of the above discourse ; and we have the pleasure to add that our expectation has not been disappointed. He has treated the subject with delicacy and ability.* "It must be obvious to the judicious reader that there are many in the present day interested in the issue of this discus- sion, who will not be able to vindicate their own conduct, unless they are able to overturn the arguments which are here with calmness and meekness proposed to their mature consideration." — (Christian Observer, vol. i, pp. 447-8.) When Mr. Faber preached the sermon from which we have quoted, he was not a novice, borne into ex- tremes by the ardor of youth, but a mature man, an author of acknowledged power and great scholarship. It might, therefore, stand as the deliberate judgment of a divine so prominent among those known as "Evangelical:" but it need not stand alone. After an interval of twenty-three years, spent in study and ministerial work, he wrote thus : "Respecting the divine origin of that particular form of ec- clesiastical government which from its chief officer bears the name of Episcopal, I am not about to produce a regular disser- tation. The matter lies within a very narrow compass. To demonstrate that this polity was of no mere human appointment, I require nothing more than the bible, illustrated by the attesta- tion of two of the oldest Fathers to a naked matter of fact/' "The study of the old ecclesiastical writers will not (as the Bishop of Aire imagines) conduct us of necessity to Rome: but without (I trust) making us firebrands and bigots, it will be very apt, if pursued with real candor and love of truth, to con- vert us into what are sometimes called High-Churchmen. From its abuse, this term may, perhaps, in the present day of capri- cious innovation and unlearned neglect of antiquity, have become * If the editor of the '•'Observer" had only been as Evangelical as soma of those who profess to follow in his footsteps, he would have spoken very differently of the discourse. We heard a sermon last year before a Diocesan Convention, in which the Church's cause was not even so strongly set forth as by Mr. Faber, and yet the "Episcopal" paper of the Diocese pronounced it a miserable display of bigotry ! LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. with many under- the term : .~ j its genuine accept-., i mply impl on instrumental Lord ••Ireiuvus assures us that in every church there had been a • succession ot bishops from the time of the Apostles: and he himself, as we h-a I " Clement his certain personal knowi Ige. Then q i Cle: rinthians, foe ' THE FACTS which ne-t's E; ted from St. :. Paul is •ccurred to the Co- •• He i aches * * i H , .. w ann- ">: be mi sun lerstood. for the divine nrsTrnn riON an: the per? ETUAL 01 1LIG 1TION rf that form of eeeles i a - ' Ideal polity * * ■ * usually den ominated Episcopal ?s : hp institution udo: n the san ie d urine au- ity as the mattei rs ; rdained by Mo ses ac ? ' r iin ; : t:> the o ~. m- mandment which h E Lad received fi ■ ''iii heaven ; " he lAwn «* that (me great . jec : : 1 ta^- mstitutaa n w as the i rev- ^n:::n of schism and disorde r, ~ ^ * he speeifh ?s tl as Apostles WERE ORDAINED BY C .' H R 1ST. SO THEY BY HIS AUTHORI TY^ ORDAINED THEIR SUCCESSORS. t, ing /' 9m : "It La- bee re - •■' v± Episcopacy, hav ed thePresbvu eriaJ i form of C h L'.v-. o a. • T " ernment that tl . we Bishops am 7 P? lESBYTEP.i ■•-: idUrri- . tl : t : i .'.''. . i TC" din zentiv reso . not to t works :i par::-..- :: either sid M . ■'-■'■ ^ ^ r_e m:r.u ity itself, and I ' .5-'0.'"« a,a m. Lrenaeus, \ IS "• re have seen. - ; a r e z u i catal ] srue Of tL r R D Bishops, and 1 be a avo './.>• a eact. that each Chu a ' - :.. - | : sse ssed a s' g ie Episcopal Sue see aon. With IV enae us in Gi= - i artiai . L T Pmr rarv. Ter tuli" ian in A Eric a ; for to 1 - une naked Fact Iih alfla most uneouivo-vV. : T ; •ears wit- " 8 '.?':: tore : rres rar ids wit:: ' Dent that the Apostles ordained BEIP : Success ■ - ^ - I FACT* COW Tl canonical we find :re by the unequivocally ries." LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. 469 "From the Crown we receive a legal sanction to exercise our functions, whether as Bishops or Presbyters, within the limits of certain regularly denned Dioceses or Parishes, but / am at a loss to perceive how this circumstance either snaps the chain of Apostolical Succession or causes our Church to be built upon human sanctions alone."— {Difficulties of Romanism , Amer. edit., pp. 253, 271.)* Samuel C. Wilks — In his Essay on the Neces- sity of a Church Establishment, published in 1841, takes for granted the principles we maintain. The Bishops are regarded as the proper pastors or rulers of the Church : " The second means alluded to by which our Bishops may promote learning, piety, and Church Principles among the clergy was the conscientious exercise of the power of ordination, This is a Bishop's highest prerogative and most arduous duty ; and in the wise and pious discharge of so peculiarly re- sponsible and sacred a function must at all times rest the bright- est hopes of a Christian Church." — (Page 325.) We believe that if Mr. Wilks were now in New York or Pennsylvania, and should publish sentiments about the observance of order, and the carrying out of " Church principles" like those in this Essay, he would find some ready to denounce him as u with- drawing the minds of Christians from their spiritual life, and fixing them on outward forms ;" as " going backward rather than forward with the spirit of the age," and even of " encouraging infidelity !"f " A third method by which our Bishops may promote reli- gion and zeal for the safety and honor of the Church, is by * Mr. Faber was one of those whose steadfastness was affected by the Tractarian controversy, so far, at least, as that he expressed elsewhere rather more doubtfully that which here he affirms so positively and maintains so well. j" Such are the descriptions publicly given by a Presbyter of our Church of a Pastoral letter issued by his superior. In such sober and courteous language, the Rev. Dr. Canfield reviews the production of his " dear Bishop/' whuse "unfailing personal kindness" and " paternal spirit" he acknowledges ! 40 470 LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. maintaining its discipline. "We live in an age particularly op- posed to every kind of restraint and interference. So that if our forefathers wished in vain for the ' godly discipline' to be restored, it would be doubly hopeless for us to expect it now." " The economical discipline of a Church is essentially neces- sary as a means to an end, and though not in itself one of the weightier matters of the law, is of indispensable importance for preserving the general fabric of its constitution, and, therefore, mediately for the advancement of real religion. Forms and cere- monies, rubrics and vestments, allotted times, seasons, and observ- ances * * though trifles, when put in the place of something higher, are yet necessary to be duly observed for the sake of their connection with the general system to which, for the purposes of order and discipline, they are appended." " It sometimes happens that clergymen who are not deficient in personal piety, or zeal for the spiritual welfare of their flocks, yet from the absence of early discipline, or of a regular educa- tion, or from not duly reflecting upon the subject, or, perhaps, in some cases, from mere ignorance or inadvertence, are not sufficiently sensible of the importance of undeviating conformity to the minuter as to the more substantial forms and regulations of the established Ecclesiastical polity * * * they suffer them- selves to diverge into minor peculiarities, or, perhaps, even on some occasions to innovate upon strict ecclesiastical regu- larity." "A Bishop who is anxious for the welfare of his Diocese cannot possibly be inattentive to points of this kind" — • (pp. 309-311). Thomas H. Horne. — Author of the invaluable " Introduction to the Study of the Holy Scriptures." " Although the Church of England, in common with all other Episcopal Churches, considers the uninterrupted Succession of Bishops to be essential to the power of consecrating and ordaining, yet she nowhere affirms that where the Ministry is not Episcopal there is no Church nor any valid administration of the Sacraments." Mr. Home was quite correct — she does not "affirm" anything of the sort ; but that by no means proves that she acknowledges the contrary, or even that she does not hold those very opinions. She nowhere "affirms" that the doctrine of those called "Univer- salists" is heretical ; but her silence will not readily be granted as implying approbation of them. low-church divines, etc. 471 Charles Simeon : " [Our Reformers] knew that it would be to little purpose to provide suitable forms of prayer for every different occasion if they did not also secure, as far as human wisdom could secure, a Succession of men who, actuated by the same ardent piety as themselves, should perform the different offices to the greatest advantage, and carry on by their personal ministrations the blessed work which they had begun. " — ( On Liturgy, page 61.) The representation of Simeon's views, given in the recent work of Eev. Abner Brown ; extorted from the radical "Kecord" the acknowledgment that that good man held opinions not now popular with those whom it calls "Evangelical men!" Professor Scholefield was for a time curate to Simeon, and subsequently engaged for ten years in editing the works republished by the Parker So- ciety. He thus speaks of Apostolical Succession : " The existence of this Succession itself and the general na- ture of it, are distinctly stated in those words of St. Paul to Timothy : ' The things which thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou unto faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.' We have here a chain of Succession clearly marked out by the Holy Spirit himself, and reaching probably as far as the close of the second century after the birth of our Saviour. * * * This line of Succession was in- tended to go on. There is no reason for supposing that the Holy Spirit, who arranged it originally, designed it to be only tem- porary, and that it should break at any subsequent period * * * It seems in itself an arrangement so wise, so simple and obvi- ous, so springing out of the very nature of things * * that upon the face of it it commends itself to our judgment as formed to extend onward to the end of the world." And then, as if to silence those who are ready to denounce the theory of a "tactual Succession," he proceeds : " There seems to be no reason why we should not understand this law of Succession to include Order as well as doctrine, i. e. that they to whom was committed the grand deposit of doctrine should receive also the authority to preach it from the same per- 472 LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. sons from whom they received the doctrines themselves." — [Sermons on Union, pp, 81, 82). The " Christian Observer 1 ' says of the learned Pro- fessor : " His views of Christian truth were strictly Evangelical." " He was sincerely attached to his own Church, but, in stating and maintaining his Church principles, the habitual moderation of his mind kept him far aloof from the arrogant pretensions of certain High-Church writers, which, to some minds, have appeared so unreasonable as to lead them to the conclusion that all Church views are either a figment or only another name for a masked Romanism." Bishop Charles Sumner — the present venerable diocesan of Winchester — is quoted in the " Observer" for 1834 as sanctioning the true doctrine of " Apos- tolical Succession/' and adding to his enunciation of it this important caution — "not to rest upon our abstract title, however legitimate." " To little purpose we trace our genealogy in its lineal descent, unless it also be written in fleshly tables on the hearts of our people. Our hereditary Succession must stand manifest before the world * * in our Apostolical wisdom, our Apostolical pru- dence, our Apostolical meekness, our Apostolical zeal and love." Archbishop Sumner : " If the Christian Minister boasts of deriving his commission to preach the Gospel by an uninterrupted succession from the hands of the Apostles, consistency requires that he should apply to the same Apostles for the doctrines which he is to deliver." — (On Apostolical Preaching, Amer. Ed., p. 22.) "It is not the least among the many blessings conferred upon the world by Christianity, that it provides for a Succes- sion, set apart from others by character as well as station, and furnishing to all a perpetual admonition that there is a world to live for beyond the present." — (Ibid., 216.) Joseph Jones, of New Church. — This judicious and most excellent man, writing against the Oxford Tracts, acknowledges that the English clergy, and LOW-CHURCH DIVINES; ETC. 473 especially that section or party to which he was at- tached; had too much neglected the whole subject of Church order; and he attributed this fact, first to the defect of their education in that particular, and to their zeal for what they held to be the weightier matters of religion: " In our attention to the great object of our ministry we have left the Church, with regard to her regimen and ordi- nances, or rather her rites, too much out of our own sight and out of that of our people. Regarding almost exclusively the salvation of souls, and wishing, perhaps, to avoid the charge of bigotry ; or being unwilling to direct the minds of men to mat- ters which might lead to unprofitable debate and divert them, to their own great injury, from subjects of infinite importance, we have been guilty of neglect. We have revered and loved our Church, her regimen, ordinances and ritual ; but we have not made them the matter of close study in private, or of express and distinct declarations in public. * * * Having become habituated to such a mode of thinking and acting, we never anticipated it could, in any way, be productive of mischief. But we are not so blind or prejudiced as not to admit, on the calm and serious consideration of the subject, that such negligent conduct, so far as we have been guilty of it, must prove injurious, both to our people and ourselves." " There is undoubtedly such a thing as that which I will venture to call a Church-spirit, which ought to exist and to be kept alive and active in the breasts of all the members of the Church. Plant it in the breast of the layman, and then he will not only esteem and value his Church, but, to use such an expression, he will be fond of her, faithful to her, and awake whenever he joins in her holy services. Plant it in the breast of the Minister, and it will animate him in his work — it will materially contribute in giving life, energy, and solemnity to the religious ordinances." — (On the Church, pp. 14, 15.) The venerable writer proceeds to reason against the idea that Church polity is a thing left free to men's own counsels or wills, and thus concludes : "If it be Scriptural or Apostolical, it immediately assumes a sacred character, and I do not see how men are justified in refusing or in tampering with a divine legislation." 40* 474 LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. And as to the objection, that there is no COMMAND to maintain any one form, he says : " There certainly is no permission — no intimation given us of a plurality of Churches, or of our being at liberty to frame and rule the Church according to our own counsels and wills. The least thing that can be said is, that it is safe to follow Scripture and Antiquity, and that it is not a little perilous to refuse to be taught and governed by them. I must, therefore, maintain that what does not identify itself with Scripture and the primitive Church must be regarded as the invention of man, and not as the legislation of CHRIST, and thus I look upon it as being without warrant and authority."— (P. 23.) "I cannot but look upon Episcopacy as standing upon an undeniably scriptural basis ; and this, I think, is proved by Antiquity. I therefore regard this as the true system — as that which would have been universal and perpetual, if the Church had preserved that unity in which she began her course — as that, also, which will be universal when men shall lay aside their crude, ultra, and partial views, and establish the Church on proper ground, that is, on principles and laws that are un- equivocally scriptural and primeval. But, in the maintenance of this doctrine, I would cherish most kindly feelings towards those who think differently from myself." — (P. 121.) " The doctrine of Apostolical Succession, though true and sound in itself, is not, I apprehend, entirely free from obscurity, when we come to the full application of it." — (P. 122.) " That Christ instituted an Order of men, which has been perpetual from the Apostolic times to the present day, as Min- isters of the New Testament; that we are directly in the line of Ecclesiastical descent, and that He uses us for the fulfil- ment of his gracious purposes, is the doctrine we maintain." — (P. 143.) "We look upon the Church as God's Ordinance, from the be- ginning. * * * As to the Clergy, we consider them as an Order ecclesiastically descended from the Apostles ; and to them, exist- ing in different Orders, belong the several duties which the Church requires to be performed." " We ascribe to the first Order of the Clergy the sole right of ordaining." — (P. 142.) This is a long extract from one writer, but none too long, considering its value. We wish every member and minister of the Church would read the whole work from which it is taken. low-church divines ; etc. 475 Charles Bridges : "We are led to observe the primary weight of the Ministerial Office. This gives validity to the sacramental dispensation. * * The Baptismal commission was not only linked with teach- ing, but limited to those among his disciples whom he had before separated for the express office of teaching. To the other ordi- nance, as standing upon the same ground of authority, the same principles must obviously be applied, so that, as Calvin justly observes, * since the Sacraments are annexed as appendages to the mysteries of Christ, it follows that the Ministers of the Word are the legitimate dispensers of them.' Nor do the ex- treme cases which our great Hooker feels himself constrained to admit, * * * in any degree invalidate the ministerial authority, or license a departure from divine order in a self-constituted administration. What God will admit in absolute necessity * * is one thing ; what He has appointed as the general rule of His Church is another. The rule, not the exception, is our STANDARD." " We are not always to condemn others, but to assure our- selves. * * * Yet we must not undervalue the Order, even admitting that the essence of the Church may be preserved without it. We are far from merging our own distinctness of authority in the loose generality of professedly Christian teach- ing. We are bound to magnify our office in the thankful acknowledgment of a divinely delegated commission, received through a divinely constituted Order. We gather this con- viction * * * from the identity of our Church principles with those naturally inferred from the Ministerial Epistles, and from the comparison of our Episcopal Constitution with the Christian Church from the Apostolic down to the Reformation era. And we deem the intelligent apprehension of this conviction to be im- portant, not to cherish a proud and selfish bigoti'y, but to give assurance to our Sacramental administration, and to humble us under the deep weight of our responsibility." " Apostolical Succession (like its kindred term, Baptismal Regeneration), rightly understood, involves a true and important doctrine. With Romanists, and with Romish Protestants, it means only the Succession of the Order, upon which, as if it were the foundation of the Church, the whole weight is laid. Our Reformers, more soundly, insisted upon a two-fold Suc- cession of Order and of Doctrine — the external and the spiritual line. That a Succession, combining both these points, was in- tended by the Divine Head of the Church, is manifest from the terms and extent of the promise." "The inspired testimony con- ducts this Succession through four continuous stages, without any intimation of a stop in the descent. Viewing it, therefore, 476 LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. as THE PERPETUAL ORDINANCE OF THE CHURCH, we cannot conceive of a defect or break i/i either part, without injury to Us efficient operation." — (Sacramental Instruction, pp. 133.) Bishop Daxiel TTilsox, of Calcutta.— In his sermon on the Apostolical Commission, after speak- ing of the powers committed to the Apostles, and by them to others, such as Timothy, Titus, &c, pro- ceeds thus : " Nor can it be doubted whether this order of ecclesiastical government was designed, in its general features, to continue as the Apostles left it. For to suppose that an order of things, enjoined by men inspired to regulate the Church of Christ, is not binding upon us (unless, indeed, it be abrogated by an authority equal to that by which it was enacted — which is not pretended in the present instance), goes to sap the whole foun- dation of faith. A regulation made by divinely authorized per- sons, in a society that teas designed to be perpetual, is, of course, perpetual, unless it be otherwise expressed. "Accordingly, it is confessed that, in point of fact, for fifteen centuries after the time of the Apostles, no government of the Church obtained but that which was administered by Ministers, who received, in direct Succession from them, the EXCLUSIVE eights oe superintendence and ORDIXATIOX." After such an array of evidence from the standard- bearers of the "Evangelical party," we are at no loss to understand why the still more Evangelical Shimeall accuses them of Popery ! His accusation may stand side by side with this acknowledgment from the Methodist advocate, Mr. Powell. Speaking of the Oxford Tract writers, he says : <; Many of the clergy of the Established Church are strongly opposed to the errors of these men, and they have spoken out manfullv in the pages of ' The Christian Observer/ They seem, however, to be very tender of this doctrine of Apostolical Succession. [And now mark the charitable surmise.] They perhaps think it is calculated to add importance to their Ministry in opposition to the Methodists and Dissenters (!) A Spirit of exclusivenes- iff, indeed, vert general among the Clergy of the LOW-CHUKCH DIVINES, ETC. 477 Established Church. An opinion, too, of the Divine right of Episcopacy has spread extensively in the Church of England ; most of its Clergy seem willing to believe it (/ /) [Mr. Goode says the number was never so small as it is now.] Hence, generally speaking, they are not the men from whom a refutation of this doctrine of Apostolical Succession is to be expected. 77 No ! they certainly are not — at least, while true to the principles and constitution of their own Church — and, therefore, Mr. Powell was at liberty to bring his own battery to bear upon it. We will now come to the western side of the At- lantic, and show that our American Low-Churchmen have been as sound upon the doctrines in question as their English brethren. Some, it will be remem- bered, were quoted in the last chapter. Bishop Gblswold : " Christ did not promise that the working of miracles should- continue to the end of the world, but that he would always be with the office ; that, while the world endured, there should be continued an uninterrupted Succession of such officers in his Church, endued with these ecclesiastical powers, and commis- sioned to transact with mankind the momentous concerns of their eternal salvation. The name of Apostle was not long continued. * * * After their death, their Successors in office, in honor of the first Apostles, modestly, by general consent, as- sumed the name of Bishops." "i/ God has set three Orders in the Church, I know not who is authorized to reduce them to one, or to say that all are Apostles, having equal authority, or all Prophets or Presbyters." "Much cause have we to bless God that his promise of a Christian Ministry has not failed — that these streams of his mercy have descended to us, and are watering this, our favored country." " Being about * * to ad- vance one to a higher grade in this ministry, I thought it might be satisfactory, and, I hope, not unprofitable to the people present, to show, briefly, by what authority we do this, and who gave us this authority. Should there be any here who think differently on this point, they will not, I trust, regret having heard what we think on a subject which so much concerns us all. Nothing will tend more to unite Christians in love, than candidly hearirig from each other the hope that is in them." — (On the Apostolic Office.) 47S LOW-CHURCH DIVINES ; ETC. Dr. W. H. Wilmer: " We find the Apostles, early after their commission, going forth and ordaining others to offices co-ordinate with their own, and giving form and order to the Church over which the Holy Ghost had made them overseers. From their Acts and Epistles, it is manifest that ordination was never performed but by the higiier Order, although the Presbyters, or second Order, as- sisted, as in the case in ordination, by our Bishops/' "Al- though it is the usage of our Church to have three Bishops at the ordination of a Bishop, yet one only is the ordainer. We look upon this as essential to the conveyance of 'due authority, and the addition of others is a circumstance founded upon discretion and made venerable by usage." — [Episcopal Manual, p. 45.) John A. Clark, a former Eector of St. Andrews, Philadelphia, and one of the editors of the "Epis- copal Eecorder" : " When the Ministers of our Church place the wearing of a surplice, or the observance of Christmas, or even the use of a Liturgy, on the same ground with Episcopacy, they exceedingly weaken our cause and strengthen prejudice against us. Epis- copacy is an essential element in our Church organization. We deduce its origin from the will of Christ and the arrangement of his inspired Apostles. Here we go to the Scriptures for our warrant. This is a distinctive feature in our ecclesiastical con- stitution. Without this we immediately become assimilated with the Non-Episcopal Churches around us. * * * The use of a Liturgy, the observance of Christmas, and the wearing of a surplice are matters of mere expediency. No one in his senses would pretend that these were of Divine appointment." — [Letters on the Church, 1839.) Bishop McIlvaine, of Ohio : " Is not Ordination always now performed by man? True. And therein it differs circumstantially from that of the Apos- tles, which was performed immediately by the hands of Christ himself. But the Presbyters at Ephesus, whom Paul addressed at Miletus, were ordained by only human hands, quite as much as are Presbyters now ; and yet St. Paul declared that the Holy Ghost had made them overseers of the flock of God. So that, under the laying on only of human hands, men may receive their ministry from God, if they who ordain them minister in the name and by the authority of God. Give us, then, the case of an Ordination performed in that name and by virtue of that authority, and it matters not by how long a line of descent the LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. 479 commission lias descended, by how long a chain of communication it is connected with the personal ministry of Christ. If no link be wanting, the last link is as truly fastened to the throne of God as the first; and he who receives his ministry by such Succes- sion, is ordained of Christ and called of God, as was Aaron.'' 1 " That it is the doctrine of our Church that the line of Succes- sion has been through a ministry consisting of three Orders, and through the highest Order of the three, the Bishops of the Church, needs no illustration." "As to imparity, or, in other words, * divers Orders of Min- isters/ the doctrine of the Church is, that this feature of the ministry is of Divine appointment. You need no stronger evi- dence of this than in the declaration, in so many words, con- nected in the office for the ordination of Priests: i Almighty God, who by thy Holy Spirit hath appointed divers Orders of Ministers in thy Church. ; This declaration the Church has taken pains to insert, also, in the collect for the ordination of Deacons, and in the office for the consecration of Bishops ; of course, expecting her Ministers to join heartily in those prayers and so to express their belief. Then, as to when this imparity began, and on what evidence the belief of it is based, the pre- face to the [Ordinal] speaks explicity : ' It is evident unto all men diligently reading Holy Scriptures and ancient authors, that from the Apostles' times, there have been these Orders of Ministers in the Church of Christ — Bishops, Priests and Dea- cons/ From this declaration, it is clearly the doctrine op the Church, that not only ancient authors, but Holy Scriptures, teach the Apostolic origin of an Episcopal Ministry, in the three Orders just named. And, since it is by none pretended that there were of right two descriptions of ministry in the Apostles' time — the one such as has been mentioned, the other of an essentially diverse kind — it is evidently the doctrine of the Church, that from the Apostles' times and by the evidence of Scripture, there was no other Ministry than that which subsisted under the several gradations of Bishop, Presbyter and Deacon." " And then, in evidence of the great stress laid by the Church on the NECESSITY of Episcopal Ordination, the Preface to the Ordination Office proceeds : ' To the intent that these offices shall be continued * * * or hath had Episcopal Consecration or Ordination/ These words require no comment to make them plainer/' " Thus far speaks the Church and no further. How the belief of these views should affect our opinion as to the validity of any Non-Episcopal Orders; whether, Avhilst we must consider them irregidar, because wanting Apostolic precedent, we should con- sider them also as in all respects, invalid, the Church speaks 480 LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. not, but leaves the question for private judgment, and alike nourishes in her bosom those who affirm and those who deny." " According to this * * * when a candidate for Orders pro- fesses attachment to the doctrines, as well as discipline and worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church, he is considered as professing fully to believe in the Apostolical origin of Episco- pacy — to believe, also, that such origin is apparent from the Scriptures, as well as from ancient authors ; and, as a necessary consequence, that Episcopacy is the only form of church order contained in the Scriptures, and manifest from ancient authors ; and, consequently, whether a Church should now be Episcopal or not, is a question not to be settled upon considera- tions of mere expediency, but of deference to the model of the primitive Church, as it was constituted by the Apostles under the guidance of inspiration ; so that no one ought to be ac- counted a lawful Minister in the Church, nor suffered to execute any functions of the ministry, unless he hath had Episcopal Ordination." — [Ordination Sermon at Gambier, 1839.) We have given this long extract from Bishop Mcllvaine, notwithstanding its repetitions, &c, be- cause of the important position he occupies as the acknowledged leader of the " Evangelical" party in the United States. Bishop Elliott, of Georgia, [one of the Vice- Presidents of the Evangelical Knowledge Society, A. D. 1862], thus expounds and defends the "mon- strous" theory of Apostolical Succession: " Nor is this an idle matter : — for it involves no less than the whole question, whether there be any ministry at all. If the authority which Christ left with his Apostles has been suffered to expire, whence hath it been renewed ? and if hath not been renewed, where is the ministry? What right hath one man, more than another, to baptize, to preach, to administer the sacraments, or to absolve from sin ? Why may not each say to his neighbor, ' Come and baptize me V or ' Come and consecrate the [sacramental] elements, and give me to eat and drink of the body and blood of our Saviour V This seems preposterous — nay, even blasphemous. And yet if there has not been a Suc- cession in the ministry from the time of the Apostles — if the golden chain has ever been broken at any point or at any time, this very thing must have occurred, and, having occurred all LOW-CHUECH DIVINES, ETC. 481 MINISTERIAL AUTHORITY HAS CEASED, FOR AN ASSUMED AUTHORITY can NEVER be rightful, through how many links soever it may have been transmitted. Unless each Minister can trace up to the Apostles, he must reach a point at which the authority he exercises was usurped, and that usurpation must yitiate all that succeeded." — (Sermon at Consecration of St. John's Church, Savannah, 1853.) " The Episcopal Observer" was a periodical pub- lished at Boston, in imitation of the London magazine from which we have quoted. It was conducted by Mr. Warren and the present Bishop Clarke, of Ehode Island, and afterwards by Eev. Drs. Butler and Spear. The character of its teachings will appear from the following extracts : " For ourselves, we abhor the brute radicalism which would wrench from the ministerial character its honorable distinction and rob the ambassadors for Christ of the divine function wherewith God hath clothed them."— (Vol i., p. 359.) " England, properly speaking, reformed the Church. In Ger- many and other countries, it was in a sense destroyed, and a new one formed as accident directed. " " They crushed the Church, and compelled it to give back the holy flame it con- cealed, which they must enclose in a vessel formed by their hands/' " The radical principles which the work of destruction begets, are likely to be employed in demolishing future forms of government, and to be satisfied with nothing less than a disorganizing reign of infidelity." — (405, &c.) " The chief points in which we Episcopalians differ from other denominations is in the Ministry. We believe that our Saviour set in the Church three ministerial Orders, which Orders are now known by the names of Bishop, Presbyter or Elder, and Deacon ; that after his resurrection from the dead he solemnly invested with the highest office the eleven disciples. n # * * tt Q ur s av i our delegated to them full authority to take the oversight of his Church * * * As he was sent by the Father to ordain them, so they were sent by him to ordain others. It was to the Apostles thus raised to the highest office, and to their suc- cessors, that the rite of confirmation was entrusted. This was one of the divinely appointed prerogatives of their office." — (431.) Another article in the same volume (from the pen 41 482 LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. of the editor) distinctly affirms the Divine right of Episcopacy, but broaches the singular idea that, in the jure divino Episcopate, there are no inherent rights or powers — so that if a General Convention should determine to restrict Bishops to the mere preaching of the Word, they would have no right to ordain ! For such a theory, or anything like it, we find no justification in any Church authority. We set much more value upon the writer's statements than his notions. " Nevertheless it is a Divine right, and not the less that he derives it from the Head through the body of which he is a member."— (Page 200, &c.) Bishop Henshaw : 11 On the subject of the Constitution of the Christian Church, many loose and unscriptural opinions are entertained, not only by the community at large, but also by many sincere followers of Christ. Yea, there are multitudes who undertake to preach the gospel, and transact sacred offices between man and his Maker, without being satisfied that they have a divinely origi- nated commission, or even thinking it a matter of sufficient im- portance to be calmly and thoroughly investigated." — [The- ology for the People, page 193.) " If we depart from the fundamental principle that the Church of Christ is a Divine institution, distinguished by a faith, min- istry, and ordinances emanating from His authority, and believe that he has left it to the discretion or caprice of men to form Churches, Ministers, and Sacraments for themselves — then we must admit that the followers of any ignorant enthusiast who has presumption or pride enough to form a sect, may con- sider themselves entitled to the character and privileges of the Church of Christ. * * * But how monstrous would be the con- sequences of such an admission. The Church would then ap- pear like a Babel of confusion, rather than like a city which is at unity in itself." — (Page 195.) " All branches of the Christian Church agree and are one in the belief of the great doctrines of the Christian faith, as con- tained in the Apostles' Creed, in submission to the Ministry which the Lord Jesus Christ instituted, and which has been LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. 483 transmitted by regular Succession from the Apostles, and in the observance of the Sacraments which He hath appointed to be the signs and seals of his covenant, and channels through which the influences of His grace are to be communicated to the souls of his people." — {Ibid, page 197.) "The Episcopal Kecorder" published (in 1840), during the Puseyite controversy, some letters signed "J. W. M.," which its editor introduced, and endorsed thus : " We have had for a few weeks in our possession a very valu- able series of articles, the publication of which we now com- mence. The great respectability of their source * * entitles them to especial attention, whilst the very impartial spirit which they display ought to convince all who read them that they are written without prejudice. They will be found worthy of entire confidence" The contributor, after condemning the principles of the Tract writers, says : " Few Episcopal readers of the Tracts can hesitate to approve the avowed design of the writers, at the commencement of the series, or to acknowledge that there are many things in them deserving of the warmest commendation. There are certain fundamental principles recognized precious in themselves, and highly valuable and conservative when carried only to their legitimate results, which, however they may be presented as no- velties, or as old truths long buried and forgotten, the Church- man will recognize as familiar elements of his Creed, which have always formed essential parts of the constitution of his Faith. If the writers had confined their discussions to the Di- vine institution of the Ministry, the Apostolical Succession, the defence of liturgical services, an exposure of the evil of Schism, and the modern rationalistic theology." * * * " My thorough Church principles would have prompted me to bid them God speed/ ' In the same paper containing this declaration, there appeared at the head of the editorial column, a notice that the Key. Messrs. May, Clarke, Suddards, and Tyng were the editors and proprietors of the paper. Dr. Stephen H. Tyng. — In a sermon preached be- 484 LOW-CHURCH DIVIXE3, ETC. fore the Diocesan Convention of Pennsylvania in 1844, this very prominent Low-Churchman spoke thus : ; * We have unitedly received, and we earnestly adhere to a Ministry which we unfeignedly believe Christ oar Lord esta- blished for his Church : and which his Apostles, beyond all reasonable dispute, maintained and transmitted in opening the privileges and blessings of this Church to mankind. We uni- tedly believe it unlawful for us to subvert or annul an organi- zation which the Lord hath constituted as the laic of His House. We could not. therefore, feel justified in ministering under or acknowledging any professed authority which does not conform to this Apostolic standard, and derive itself from this Apostolic appointment." "No imputation could be more unjust than that of looseness of adherence to this Church, or of indifference to the privilege and blessing of her manifestly valid and regular Ministry" A little farther on. he gives a long extract from Bishop Wilson, in which the following appears : "The Church is the means by which God upholds and pre- serves his Truth among mankind. It furnishes a Succession of men to expound and inculcate the Gospel." The reverend gentleman next speaks of the assaults made upon the Church from vrithout, and of the at- tempt to divide it by setting one party of Churchmen against another : o "Its failure, and the clear evidence thus furnished that, in the points at issue between us and them, there is but little va- riety of judgment, and no readiness of concession, among any of our Ministers, have led to an unmasked and unrelaxing hostility to the Church itself. It is now a warfare with Epis- copacy, and by that name. It has ceased to distinguish between different theories of Episcopacy. It will grant peace upon no terms, other than an entire renunciation of the claims which we make to a Scriptural Ministry, and of our derived right thereto, through an appointed SUCCESSION from the Apos- tles. This is a point which we can never with a good con- science yield. We are therefore left, I fear, with but little hope of toleration in this quarter. We believe ourselves con- tending fur the faith in the Ministry which the Lord esta- blished And precious and desirable as is peace abroad to us, as to all Christians, we cannot make shipwreck of faith and a LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. 485 good conscience to obtain it. This resulting position of neces- sary separation from many Christians around, whom we highly esteem, is much to be regretted. But it appears inevitable, and it is not we who have sought it, nor can the blame of it rest upon us."* Bishop Alfred Lee, of Delaware : " Another important solemnity of this day, is the ordination of our brother to the sacred Ministry. This cannot but be a matter of deep interest to those who look upon the Ministry as instituted by Christ himself, and with a promise of his continued presence and assistance even to the end of the world, who un- derstand its object as an instrumentality for the spiritual and eternal benefit of man, and who view the Ministerial trust as having been transmitted in an uninterrupted Succession from the days of the Apostles until now. n "It is probably well known to those who hear me, that our views respecting a Scriptural and authorized Ministry are regarded by many around us as peculiar and objectionable. Our Church is daily denounced in no measured terms by those who call upon the common Lord, and towards whom we would cherish no feelings but those of kindness. Never was there a time when reproach was heaped upon us more unsparingly than at present. A wide prejudice is awakened against us as bigoted and exclusive, and against the Church to which we ad- here, not from motives of caprice, or mere hereditary attachment, or party spirit, but from conscience toward God." * * In holding to a Ministry of three orders: Bishops, Presbyters, and Dea- cons, to the first of whom alone is committed the power of ordaining men to the sacred office ; in maintaining the Succession of this Ministry from the Apostles downwards, and in believing it a matter of conscience to recognize those only who are thus ordained as our pastors, we are only acting upon the opinion — the unanimous opinion — of the Christian Church for the first fifteen hundred years of its existence. We agree with the great majority of those who call themselves Christians throughout the world to-da} r . It is not, therefore, a new or strange doc- trine." * Recent events and publications indicate a change of opinion on the part of Dr. Tyng and one other of the parties here quoted. But with their inconsistencies, we, at least, have nothing to do. They were mature men, holding important positions in the Church (one a Bishop, and the other a candidate for the Episcopate), when they so plainly and boldly avowed their Church principles. We have the right, therefore, to print their own deliberate declarations as a sufficient condemnation of their novel notions. 41* 486 LOW-CHURCH DIVINES, ETC. M We are told that the Succession of ordained Ministers comes to us through the Church of Rome, and must have been so cor- rupted by this channel of transmission as to have lost all value. We answer that the Succession is derived to us through the British Church, and we admit that there was a period of that Church's history during which it was brought under the usurped dominion of Rome, and drawn away by this untoward influence from the simplicity of the gospel. But we would ask the ob- jector through what channel he receives the Bible and the Sacraments? Have they lost their value by coming to us through this impure medium? If not, why should the Ministe- rial Succession become worthless and contemptible from the same cause." — [Sermon at Ordination of Mr. John Long, 1843.) Bishop Burgess. — Long as our list is, we cannot forbear giving a paragraph from the pen of the learned and judicious Bishop of Maine. In his tract, " The Stranger in the Church," he says : " Against one charge, he discovers elsewhere that the Episco- pal Church can make no defence. It is said to be on one point exclusive; and he discovers that on that point it is exclusive. It allows great freedom of judgment, it shuts out no believer from its communion, but it admits no Minister to its pulpits ex- cept THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN ORDAINED BY A BlSHOP. This Was a rule when there were none but Episcopal Churches in the whole world. The Presbyterians, the Congregationalists, the Baptists, the Friends, the Methodists, all went out from it one after another, at different times, within the last three hundred years. They gave up what it possessed — a Ministry of Bishops brought down in regular Succession through all the time of Papal corruption, indeed, but from a time when the Bishop of Rome was no more than any other Bishop, except as Rome was a more illustrious city. There were Bishops in the land of our fathers as soon as there were any Christians there. The Epis- copal Church is the same Church which they planted. At one time it was Romanized — and it has been reformed. It believes that there is a value in this regular Succession of its Ministry. Whether this value be greater or less, the stranger frankly ac- knowledges that it is not to be expected from the Episcopal Church that it will abandon its ancient rule from regard to those who have voluntarily relinquished what it has itself pre- served." Here then we close our case. The evidence is complete. If any man will venture to say, with such SUMMING UP. 487 principles as those publicly avowed by such men, that Mr. Groode's theory is not an innovation — a thing foreign to our Church — he must be proof against all evidence that could be produced from now till the day of doom. We have quoted here none but divines of acknowledged standing in what is known as the Low-Church party or Evangelical sec- tion of the Episcopal Church, and they all testify to their belief in a Divinely instituted Ministry consti- tuted in theee Orders, and transmitted by a series of Episcopal Ordinations /rom the Apostles to us. He, then, who looks upon Episcopacy as a thing of ex- pediency, who talks of parity between Bishop and Presbyter, and who denounces " Apostolical Suc- cession" as a monstrous theory, has no place among them. He is not a Low-Churchman — he is not an Episcopalian in any proper sense at all. summing up. The investigation has now been pursued fully and fairly through all its branches. Information has been sought in all the proper sources — the Formula- ries, the Laws, the Practice, and the Literature of the Church — and we confidently leave it to the reader to decide whether from all, or any of these, a single particle of evidence has been produced in favor of the Latitudinarian doctrine advocated by the Eev. Mr. Goode. He, and those who accept and re-echo his state- ments, have declared that our Church has " recog- nized" Presbyterian Orders ; and he tries to establish this. What then has he been able to present in the 4^5 SUMMING UP. way of proof? Ifi there a word to that effect in our Articles or Ordinal? Xot one! On the contrary, it is expressly stated that in Christ's Church there have always been the three Orders of Ministers, Bishops, Priests, and Deacons ; and that among us no man shall be held to be a lawful Minister in any of these Orders,, who has not been Episeopally or- dained. We have found that to avoid the force of this decisive sentence, the Reverend gentleman changes his ground, and pleads that such a statement is not totidem verbis a declaration of the invalidity of Pres- byterian ordination ! That may well be granted. Neither is it totidem verbis a repudiation of lay ordi- nation (if we may use- such a term), or a recognition of Roniish Orders. But it involves both, and the Reverend gentleman knows it well. As has been repeatedly said, the Church is not fond of dealing in negatives, or in denunciations. Her positive statements answer every purpose. But our author tries to prove that this is not the case, and that in its purpose or effect the declaration re- ferred to is not exclusive ; of this, however, he makes but sorry work. He asserts,, but does not convince. Every Non-Episcopalian differs with him. Every ''sober and orderly son of the Church" differs with him. Common sense is against him : the logic of facts is against him. In all the world he has no one to support such an opinion, but the few ultraists who accept the argument from love of the conclusion, and some others whose partizan zeal has beclouded or warped their judgment. But suppose that he were not totally wrong on this point — suppose he could show that in the Pre- SUMMING UP. 489 face to tlie Ordinal, Presbyterian Orders are not in any wise discountenanced or excluded ? What then ? Would he not have a great length to go before he would reach the point he seeks to gain ? To show that the Church does not stigmatize a particular doc- trine or practice is one thing, but to show that she recognizes or approves of it is quite another. The Eeverend gentleman himself will acknowledge that our Church nowhere declares that the Pope shall not preach in her Pulpits, or celebrate Mass in her Chan- cels ; but does it follow that she thereby " recognizes" the right of His so-called Holiness to do either one or the other ? In support of his own notion, our author affects to make an examination of the Formularies. But he takes no notice whatever of the 36th Article, of the Ordination Services, or any other portion of the Book of Common Prayer, than the Preface just mentioned, and the 23rd Article ; and in direct oppo- sition to fact, he describes the latter as the only one of the 39 that bears upon the subject. For authentic expositions of this 23rd Article he resorts to Eogers, whom he totally misrepresents; then to Burnet, Tomline and Hey, passing by all other ex- positors, and departing from his own rule of inter- pretation, which required appeal to be made ex- clusively to the writings of the very men who drew up the document. Again, to gain a measure of warrant for his own theory, he quotes part of the Eeplies of 1540, giving them as the Opinions of Eeformers, and even in- cluding "Bloody Bonner" among the divines of " Our Church ;" yet these very Eeplies he does not 490 SUMMING UP. give in full, and lie asserts or insinuates contrary to fact that those which he withholds are not against hirn. He proceeds in the next place to examine the Laws of the Church, and in all the Code, from all the Canons, injunctions, and so forth, from the days of the Reformation down, he can only find fouk words that he ventures to produce as favoring his theory ; and to make them serve his purpose, he describes a Church that had its Archbishops and Bishops, as " Presbyterian" — just as the Church of Scotland is now ! After this he takes up the Practice of the Church, and to substantiate the extraordinary statement, that for a hundred years Presbyterian Ministers were re- ceived and employed in the English Church, on the same footing as those who were Episcopally ordained ; he points to ONE fact, viz., that a license was given by Archbishop Grindal to a man who had been " ordained" in Scotland, and who (for anything that Mr. Groode can show to the contrary) may have been as good an Episcopalian as Bishop Sage himself! This case has been effectually disposed of, and other fact he has none to show. He then takes up the writings of Bishops and Clergymen, and quotes passages containing charitable or friendly references to Foreign Protestants. But what do all these amount to? Let them be con- sidered well — what is their value in this discussion? just nothing. These opinions are not the Voice of the Church ; they bind no one ; and after all they are no more than amiable expressions and apolo- gies or pleas for the Continental Churches, on account SUMMING UP. 491 of the circumstances which compelled them to do with- out an Episcopate. If the Eeverend gentleman could give another hundred, or thousand of such quo- tations, it would not help his case; for he has to show that our Church recognizes Presbyterian* Ordination as such, and not that she judges chari- tably of those who by stress of circumstances may be obliged to act as if they were Presbyterians in prin- ciple. What may be done under hard NECESSITY is one thing ; what is regular and lawful under ordi- nary circumstances is another. Yet among all that the Reverend gentleman has quoted, there is not even one plain declaration from any Episcopal Divine that Presbyters have the right to ordain. When arguing against "exclusiveism," he insists upon direct state- ment — explicit language. So then do we with refer- ence to " recognition." Where is this found ? There is none. Even those who appear most favorable to his theory, say expressly that for Presbyters to un- dertake Ordination in a free State, and while the Church is at peace, would be " over-great presump- tion," " Schism," and a "great sin." So that he really receives neither aid nor comfort, even from his own witnesses. They all declare for a divinely constituted Ministry of three Orders — so do we. They say they do not wish to anathematize the For- eign Churches — we say the same. They say they are not prepared to deny that there may be validity in the* ministrations of persons so situated — we say the same. They say the grace of God is not withheld from them — we readily and thankfully confess that it is not. But what of all this ? Does it prove that our Church recognizes Presbyterian Orders, or that 432 SUMMING UP. the Congregationalists and Methodists of America, to-day, are on the same footing with the Beformers of Saxony or Geneva ? To propose such a question is almost an insult to the reader's understanding. We claim, then, that Mr. Goode has utterly and ignominiously foiled to establish his theory, even in a single point. He has offered much in the way of evidence that no judge would think of receiv- ing, but he has not, among it all, produced one item that would warrant either his sweeping conclusions or his bold assertions. On the other hand, we have gone through the whole subject with patience and care, and have shown, as we believe, beyond all possibility of denial, that from the first year of its existence as a free Church to the present time, the Church of England has held the doctrines of Episcopacy by divine right and Apostol- ical Succession, and that our American Church having received them from her, maintains them still, as consistent with sound reason, the practice of the pri- mitive Church, and the infallible Word of God. Doctrines of a contrary character have been advo- cated by a few Episcopalians, such as Hoadley, Croft, Arnold, and Whately, some of whom were as crotch- ety as they were gifted, and others so loose in their theology as to make it doubtful whether the epithet " Latitudinarian" was not too flattering for them. Their denial of Apostolical Succession, etc., has been re-echoed by some whose general orthodoxy we have no desire to impeach. This, as we have shown, is the result of partyism, When Xewman, Pusey, and Manning began to press their peculiar tenets, giving to Church polity more than its due measure of im- SUMMING UP. 493 portance, others felt bound to give it less. The one extreme provoked the other. Those demanded more than ever the Church had claimed. These, then, began to doubt what she had always maintained. From doubt to denial was an easy step, and soon taken ; and what they denied they denounced. Zeal for Episcopacy was regarded as concealed Eo- manism ! Thus they yielded up point after point until they had nothing left ; and differed from other Pres- byterians in this only, that they chose to remain in the Church whose distinctive principles they had abandoned. Had they been content to occupy this anomalous position in silence, we should have been silent too. And now, that we have done with the subject, we feel not only at liberty, but actually hound, to say something respecting the real character of this widely circulated and much vaunted "Essay on Orders," by the Rev. William Goode. We have conducted this discussion calmly and courteously. We did not, at any time, however strong the provocation, denounce the author, or accuse him of palpable and wilful vio- lation of truth. He has not been sparing of such lan- guage towards others, even when he furnished no proof to sustain it — we have preferred to give the proof and withhold the language. We desired that the evidence should accumulate so as to establish the the point, and thus prepare the reader for what other- wise would have appeared a harsh and unjust judg- ment. But with the proof here given, we need no longer hesitate to speak plainly; and now we declare that though we have read even Jesuit books of con- troversy, this " Essay on Orders" is by far the most 42 494 SUMMING UP. dishonest — the most manifestly and shamefully dis- honest — production that we have ever seen, of its size. Another man might have set forward the same state- ments, or given the same extracts (as some of Mr. Goode's American followers have done), without any dishonorable intent ; but no sane person would think of excusing him on the score of ignorance or mis- take. We scout the idea. The writer of that Essay (to say nothing of other works), is a man of extensive reading, and of too acute a mind for either plea to be admitted. He has offended where offence must have been intentional, and has done it so often and so grossly, that, henceforth, we could not be induced to accept a single statement or quotation on his au- thority. What he has said of others is eminently true of himself, namely, "that he parades with un- blushing effrontery, the names of divines who have directly and clearly opposed his views, as advocates in his favor," and that he has been "guilty of other inconsistencies and offences against truth." As we utterly despise such arts, so we despise the man who resorts to them, whatever may be his name, his party, or his pretentions. And now it remains to be seen whether the grave and Eeverend Seigniors who were so ready to com- mend and circulate his book, will, after this expo- sure, continue to give it their confidence and applause. Some, we know, tvill do so, for such is the blinding power of partyism, that those who become its sub- jects steel themselves against fact and reason. They do not want to be set right. They shut their eyes and ears to what is against their cause ; we trust, however, that none will go so far as to say, "per fas aut nefas — let that cause be served." APPENDIX. A. — CATENA OF ATTACKS AND ADMISSIONS. It would seem a work of supererogation to offer proof of the assertion that the distinctive principles of the Reformed English Church have been well known from the very beginning of its career to the present time ; but, in these days, no one can tell what is or is not unnecessary. We sometimes hear the most notorious facts denied, and the most truthful statements cavilled at. It may, therefore, be well to fortify our assertions. The question of Protestantism is not before us. We have then only to prove that the Episcopal character of the Church of England has always been maintained — that there has been no deviation from the principles and practices adopted at first. This we shall show in a series of extracts from non-Episcopal writers : A. D. 1549. — In this year, as all acknowledge, the Church pronounced it "evident unto all men, diligently reading Holy Scriptures and ancient authors, that from the Apostles' time there have been these Orders of Ministers in the Church of Christ : Bishops, Priests, and Deacons," etc., etc. Here then begins the testimony of non-Episcopalians : A. D. 1550. — " Holy Orders, as they are commonly called, had been a subject of grave consideration." " The ^>opish notion o/ three orders was maintained." — {Hist. British Non-conformity, P. 372 ; London, 1831.) A. D. 1573. — Dr. Whitgift [afterward Archbishop] issued his Defence against Cartwright, the Puritan, wherein he ''plainly claimed in the right of all Bishops, a superiority belonging to them over all the inferior clergy from God's own ordinance, to the Popish injury of her Majesty's supreme Government." — (Sir F. Knolly's Letter to the Lord Treasurer.) A. D. 1558, — " Prelacy was put in serious danger by the political non- conformity of the Popish Bishops, and difficulties arose respecting the preservation of that Holy Order !" — (History of British Non-conformity.) " The Church then adopted, and has not yet renounced, the incon- sistent and absurd opinion that the Church of Rome, though idolatrous, is the only channel through which all lawful power of ordaining Priests, of consecrating Bishops, and validly performing any religious rite, flowed from Christ through a Succession of Prelates down to the latest ages of the world." — (Sir James Mackintosh's Hist, of Eng. t v. iii, page 16.) (495) 496 APPENDIX. A. D. 15SS. — u Dr. Bancroft [afterward Archbishop of Canterbury] preached his memorable sermon at St. Paul's, 'in which/ says an oppo- nent, ' he maintained that the Bishops of this realm had superiority over all the inferior clergy, otherwise than by and from her Majesty's authority, namely jure diciiio: '' — [Puritan Tract against "Superiority of Bishops") A. D. 1589. — Dr. Bridges, Dean of Sarum, having published a reply to the attacks of the Puritans, was assailed by " Martin Mar-Prelate/' thus: " Our Bishops are proud, presumptuous, Popish, paltry, pestilent, and pernicious Prelates." " They are cogging and cozening knaves. They are lambs of Anti- Christ. They will lie like dogs." " They usurp their authority." " They claim this authority over those [i. e. Presbyters] who, by the ordinance of God, are to be under no pastors, because they are equal with them." — {Martin's Answer to Bridges ; see Strype's Whitgift, Book iii, chap. 22.) "None were deemed properly inducted into the sacred office unless they were ordained by a Bishop ; and the Ministers of those Churches which have no Bishops were declared to lack the qualifications necessary for their office, and to be [quoad hoc] inferior to the Popish Priests." — (Mos- heim'sEccles.Hist.: Murdoch's Translation, London, 1859, page 670.) A. D. 1590. — Anthony Martin, a member of Queen Elizabeth's Court, called by Strype, "a man of good learning, and peacea- ble principles/' wrote modestly in behalf of Episcopal govern- ment, with a design to reconcile all clergy and pastors of the Church to a perfect unity. Of him the Puritan Knollys says : "In the first degree, he claimed for Bishops a superiority of govern- ment from God's own institution." But " if their superiority were first from God, then Bishops were not under-governors to her Majesty." "In short, this, in his opinion, was ( the highway to Popery!'" — (Strype's Whitgift, fob, page 351.) A. D. 1636. — A Puritan tract called " News from Ipswich," written by Prynne, and published this year, says of Diocesan Prelates : " They are devils. ' Divell-Bishops/ And yet they will needs be Lord Bishops jure divino, by the Holy Ghost's own institution." About the same time appeared another Puritan libel, entitled " A Looking-glass for Lordly Prelates." The writer of which says, in reference to their claim to Divine right and Apostolical Succession: " They are so far from being sons or Successors of Christ and his Apos- tles, or of Divine institution, that they are of their father the Divell I" APPENDIX. 497 The pious author then proceeds to draw a parallel between Bishops and Satan ! A. D. 1637. — Bastwick, Prynne, Burton, and Leigh ton, for writing books in which, with much scurrility, they " denied the Divine right of Prelatical Episcopacy, and insisted on the equal official rank of all Christian pastors " as well as for sedition, were tried in the Star Chamber, condemned, and (very cruelly) punished. — (See NeaVs Puritans, vol. ii. ; also Vaughan's His- tory, vol. i, page 472.) " But the thing which the defendant desireth the Honorable Courts to take notice of, is the contumacy of the Prelates, for they call their hier- archy and the Orders of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons sacred, which, if it bee graunted and bee so indeed, then the Prelats ore from God, and not from the King, of whom they have no depence." — (BastwicJc's Answer.) A. D. 1662. — The Presbyterians offered to accept or submit to Episcopacy if it were declared to be a human institution or a matter of expediency. They were, of course, unable to gain their end; and in their " Memorial" to the King, they said [pages 13, 15,] : "The Bishop for whom your Majesty here declareth, is not Episcopus prseses, but Episcoptjs prustceps, endued with the sole power of ordination and jurisdiction." " The Prelacy which we disclaim is that of Diocesans, upon the claim of a superior Order to Presbyters, assuming the sole power of Ordination," etc., etc. A. D. 1664. — A Non-Conformist publication of this date called a " Christian and Sober Testimony, " attempts to prove entire agreement between the English Church and that of Borne. Among other such things, it says : " The Priests of Rome must first be Deacons ere they are Priests : so must the Priests of England." " The Priests of Rome must be ordained to their office by a Lord Bishop or his Suffragan, so must the Ministers of England." Again, at page 28, the writer, referring to Church authori- ties, speaks of their " late practice whereby they have declared the nullity of a Ministerial office received from the hands of a Presbyterie, in thrusting out of doors several hundreds of Minis- ters so ordained." The author of this very " Christian and Sober Testimony/' says of Diocesan chief pastors : " Their office is the neck of the Popish Hierarchie come out of the bot- tomless pit of hell I" 42* 498 APPENDIX. Thus far then, even from the acknowledgments or the bitter invectives of opponents, we prove that the Church's position has been well known and wholly unchanged. It will not be imagined that any change has taken place since 1662 ; there- fore we might stop here. But it is as well to show from non- Episcopal witnesses of the present generation, that neither the Church of England, nor the American branch of it, has aban- doned any principle, or wandered to the least extent from its original ground. From " Apostolical Succession Examined" (pages 14-21, etc., etc. ; London, 1834,) we take a sentence or two, which speak for themselves: " The Apostolical Succession vaunted by the English clergy, has not the smallest intrinsic value." " The English establishment entirely ex- cludes from even an occasional use of its pulpits, all persons not ordained by a Prelate, even such as may be well known to have been for years most useful pastors among English Dissenters, or in the established Kirk of Scotland, or in the Protestant Establishments of the Continent." "But as a contrast to the present exclusion of Protestants, it may surprise the reader to be informed, that if one of the Roman Catholic clergy should seek admission unto the Establishment as a Minister, the Bishop would not be required, nor (it is believed) permitted to ordain him afresh, since the touch of some Popish Prelate had already given him this dignified blessing of Apostolical Succession." From " A Plea for Christian Communion," we learn page 83]: " That not a single Protestant Church on the Continent of Europe is founded upon the principles of ecclesiastical polit/y which DISTINGUISH the Church of England. They are all, without exception, constituted on principles which render them Dissenters when any of their members, ichether Clergymen or laymen, visit this country." Again [page 86] the same writer says, it " ought never to be forgotten that there is not at this time any Protestant commu- nion on earth founded on the same exclusive principles of Church polity as those of the Church of England." He speaks also of the ''groundless assumption" that "the Church of Eng- land is the true Church of Christ;" and adds, " it is certain that upon this principle the compilers have framed all the parts, services, and offices of the Common Prayer and Liturgy." Ex- pressly agreeing with the writer last quoted, he says, on page 98 : APPENDIX. 499 " Holy Orders, as they are called * * * are required to be obtained by every one who officiates in any the least public service. And no clergy- man of any other Protestant communion on earth * * * * however vene- rable he may be for personal sanctity, profound in learning, and honored in his Ministry by the presence and blessing of God, would be permitted to enter the pulpit or desk in the Church of England in the character of a Minister of Jesus Christ I" An essay on the " Moral and Spiritual Influence of the Church of England/ 7 published in London, 1834, says : "The Church of England, in her present Protestant character, has existed about three hundred years." " She is a communion, making high and exclusive pretensions." "She seriously boasts of being the most venerable, the most Apostolical, and the purest Church in Christen- dom. Her Bishops are recognized, in their respective communities, as (with the exception of the [Roman] Catholic Prelates) the only genuine Successors of the Apostles. Her Clergy, alone, are represented as truly reverend, and duly authorized and qualified to be efficient Ministers of the Gospel." "She looks with contempt on every other religi >us institution, and she treats the dissenting Minister as an incompetent intruder into Holy Orders, and his charge as a conventicle of unsaved and unsanctified fanatics." Again [p. 279] : u She treats all the Ministers of Christ, besides her oxon and the Roman Catholic Priesthood, as destitute of the qualifications and authority requisite for the valid discharge of pastoral duties. She recognizes no denomina- tion as Christians, but her own ; all besides are schismatics, heretics and unbelievers." " Her dogmas for subscription are of the like exclusive and sectarian cast." It will not be wondered at, that this writer regards the " un- charitable" principles thus displayed, as a "reason why the Redeemer withholds any great measure of success from her min- istrations I" These works last quoted were issued by a society of English Dissenters, and so they have a much greater significance than if the writers were alone responsible for the assertions they maintain and the spirit they display. But with the latter we have, at present, nothing to do. Let us hear a witness of another kind. About the year 1828, the Rev. J. S. Baker, Assistant Curate at Staines, near London, seceded from the Church, and pub- lished his reasons for so doing. Speaking of the " sectarian principles " of the Church he had left, he says : 500 APPENDIX. u She holds no communion with any other Protestant Church. As one of her ministers, however much I might wish to admit into my pulpit a pious Presbyterian Minister of the established Church of Scotland, or a pious dissenting Minister of this country, I dare not do it." The amiable writer then goes on to say, that it would " rejoice his heart to see the Church of England give up this unscriptural principle." From " An Essay on Apostolical Succession/' by Thomas Powell, Wesley an Minister, London, 1840, we take the follow- ing sentence : "All attempts to make Ministers Lords over G-od's heritage is treason to the peace of the Church, and leads to Antichrist. Episcopacy by divine right is such an attempt. It is unscriptural, intolerant and anti- Christian. It sets up, as we have before said, Anglican Popery, with many heads, in place of Roman Popery, with one." This writer is very severe upon " the exclusive scheme of Episcopacy, jure divino" and the " figment of Episcopal Ordi- nation and Succession." Let us now come to this side of the Atlantic, and here we shall find the most prominent men in the Non-Episcopal Churches testifying to the consistency of ours. The Rev. Dr. Samuel Miller, of Princeton, wrote a great deal against our system. A single sentence, however, from his Letters on the Christian Ministry, will serve our present pur- pose: You have seen that the Church of England, and those Churches which have immediately descended from her, stand absolutely alone in the whole Protestant world, in representing Bishops as an Order of Clergy superior to Presbyters ,* all other Protestants — even those who adopt a sort of Prelacy — having pronounced it to be a mere human invention !" It will not be necessary to quote from the books of Dr. "Wood, or Messrs. Smith & Shimeall, or the many others whose accusa- tions contain the evidence we desire. Enough has already been given; but we will add one more testimony, viz., that of the venerable Albert Barnes, of Philadelphia. Speaking of Epis- copalians, he says : " According to their belief, the correct organization of the whole Church was dependent on the observance of the distinction between this ' superior grade' and an inferior grade in the Ministry, and there could be, in fact, no properly organized Church, unless there was an order of APPENDIX. 501 men who should be properly 'the Successors of the Apostles.'" u The validity of all Ordinations everywhere, depended on this, and no one could be authorized to preach the Gospel, unless there had been laid on him the hands of those who were properly the * Successors of the Apostles.'" — (On the Apostolic Church, pp. 59, 60.) Again, speaking of the right of Non-Episcopal Churches " to be accredited as true Churches of the Lord Jesus, having a valid Ministry and valid Ordinances," he says : "Is there any recognition of the Ministers of other denominations as having a right to preach the Gospel? Is there any introduction of them to the pulpits of Episcopal Churches ? Would such an introduction by any of the inferior Clergy be tolerated or connived at by the diocesan Bishop ? To ask these questions, is to answer them !" — (page 245.) B. — TESTIMONY OR CONCESSIONS OF FOREIGN REFORMERS AND OTHER NON-EPISCOPALIANS. Martin Luther. — We have elsewhere quoted the Augsburg Confession, in which Luther for himself and associates, professes that it was the cruelty, &c, of the Bishops [who were all Eomish] that compelled them to do without the Episcopal Order, when they reformed the Church. " If they would cease to persecute the Gospel, he and those of his com- munion would acknowledge them as their fathers, and willingly obey their authority, which we find supported by the Word of God." — (Chand- ler's Appeal Defended, page 239 ,• Bowden's Letters, vol. ii. page 173.) Philip Melancthon : " I would to God it lay in me to restore the government of Bishops. For I see what manner of Church we shall have, the Ecclesiastical Polity being dissolved. I do see that hereafter will grow up a greater tyranny in the Church than ever was before." — (Apolog. Augs. Confess., page 305; Bowden, vol. ii., 174. " By what right or law may we dissolve the Ecclesiastical Polity if tho Bishops will grant us that which in reason they ought to grant. And if it were lawful for us so to do, yet surely it were not expedient. Luther WAS EVER OF this opinion." — (History of Augs. Confess. Ibid.) 502 APPENDIX. Prince George of Akhalt: *' I would to God those which bear the name of Bishops, would show themselves to be Bishops indeed. Oh. how willingly, and with what joy of heart would we receive them for our Bishops, reverence them, obey them, and yield to them their jurisdiction of Ordination which we always and Luther, both in words and in his writings very often hath professed." —Jbid.) John Caltin, in his letter to Cardinal Sadolet: "If they [the Romanists] would exhibit to us such a hierarchy, where- in the Bishops shall so rule as that they refuse not to submit themselves to Christ, * * * then surely if there shall be any who will not submit to this hierarchy, I confess that there is no kind of Anathema of which they are not worthy." — (Ibid.) In a letter to Cartwright, he uses similar language about the English Church : "I had always a great reverence for the Bishops of your Church, to whom I gave inward reverence as well as outward respect, and would gladly have served them in settling of the English Church. And my judgment is, if we can have such a hierarchy in which the Bishops so excel others, that they refuse not subjection to Christ, but would depend upon Him as their only head, * * * in such a case I denounce him worthy of all curses who does not observe such a hierarchy with all re- verence and obedience. And I would to G-od such a succession had CONTINUED TO THIS DAY, it should easily have obtained from us the obedience that it deserves." — [Gaidar on Succession, pp. 122, 123.) The strongest proof that the sober judgment of the Genevan Reformer was not opposed to Episcopal polity as described in the New Testament, and as it existed in England, is found in the fact that he wrote a letter offering to accept it. That some- thing of this kind had been proposed, appears to have been known, but the evidence of it was not full until the days of Archbishops Abbott and Usher. The former says : "Perusing some papers of our predecessor, Matthew Parker, we find that John Calvin, and others of the Protestant Churches of Germany and elsewhere, would have had Episcopacy, if permitted. And whereas John Calvin had sent a letter in King Edward YI/'s reign, to have conferred with the Clergy of England about some things to this effect two [Popish] Bishops, Gardiner and Bonner, intercepted the same, whereby Mr. Calvin's overture perished. And he received an answer as if it had been from the Reformed Divines of those times, wherein they checked him and slighted his proposals. From which time John Calvin and the Church of England APPENDIX. 503 were at variance in several points, which otherwise, through God's mercy had been qualified, if those papers of his proposals had been discovered unto the Queen's Majesty, during John Calvin's life. But being not dis- covered until (or about) the sixth year of her Majesty's reign, her Majesty much lamented that they were not found sooner; which she expressed before her Council at the same time, in the presence of her great friends, Sir Henry Sidney and Sir William Cecil/' — (Stryjyes' Parker, 8vo, Edit., vol. i. page 140.) Martin Bucer, in his book De Regno Christi, writes to this effect : " We see by the constant practice of the Church, even from the time of the Apostles, how it hath pleased the Holy Ghost, that among the ministers to whom the government of the Church is specially committed, one individual should have the chief management both of the Churches and of the whole ministry, and should in that management take prece- dence of all his brethren ; for which reason the title of Bishop is employed to designate a chief spiritual governor." "Bucer on all occasions expressed his anxiety that those Churches which enjoyed an Episcopal constitution should not, without sufficient reason, relinquish this advantage; nor obliterate by excessive change their resemblance to the Christian communities founded by the Apostles." — (Sinclair on Episcopacy, page 6.) Henry Bullinger has been already quoted ; but to show the concord of opinion among these Divines, we give another sen- tence or two from his pen. Speaking of the various propositions or heads of the puritan fabric, he says : " That the civil magistrate has no authority in ecclesiastical matters, and * * * that the Church admits of no other government than that of Presbyters or the Presbytery, these two I say they hold in common with the Papists. * * * I wish there was no lust of dominion in the origina- tors of this Presbytery ! Nay, I think the greatest caution is necessary that the supreme power be not placed in this Presbytery, much more that it be not an exclusive government. Of the names and authority of Bishops, and also of the election of ministers, our friend Gaulter has fully written to the Reverend Lord Bishop of Ely, Master Cox, you may if you choose ask him for the letter." — (Letter to Bishop Sandys ; Zurich Letters, vol. i., page 458.) Rodolph Gualter, in the letter just mentioned, to which Bullinger referred Sandys, treats thus of the Episcopal office : " I wonder that they entertain such an aversion to the name of Bishops, which they cannot but know was in use in the time of the Apostles, and always too retained in the Churches in after times: we know too that 604 APPENDIX. Archbishops existed of old, whom they called by another name — Patri- archs. And if in later times they [i. e. Prelates] have occasioned so much offence by reason of their tyranny and ambition, that these titles are. not without reason, become odious to the Godly: I do not yet see what is to hinder that on the removal of the abuse, those persons may be Bishops, and called such, who. placed over a certain number of Churches, have the management of such things as appertain to the purity of religion and doctrine." * * * "What was done by Paul is well known, who, for this cause, left Titus in Crete, that he might ordain Elders and teachers in every city. The same Apostle too, commands that all things be dune decently and in order, and I do not see how this can be the case without a certain distinction of ecclesiastical offices." * * * * " We also ourselves condemn that primacy which is connected with ambition and a desire of domination; but the Apostle has also taught us that there is a certain order among the ministers of the Church, when he says that some are appointed Apostles, some Prophets, and some Pastors and Teachers ; and as he makes a distinction of gifts and abilities, so does he also of ad- ministrations. " — (Letter to Bishop Cox ; Zurich Letters, v. i., pp. 442, 447.) Zanchy, in his well-known letter to Queen Elizabeth against the clerical vestments, says : "Your Majesty should rather * * * employ all your consideration, authority and influence to this end, that you may have in the first place Bishops truly pious, and well instructed in sacred learning, as by the blessing of God you already possess very many. * * * The Elders in like manner, and Deacons, are to be admonished that every one be dili- gent in his office. * * * For these three Orders of men are the NERVES OF THE CHURCH, UPON WHICH ITS SAFETY OR DOWNFALL DE- PENDS." — (Zurich Letters, vol. i., 379.) Theodore Beza, writing to Archbishop Whitgift, warmly eulogizes the Church polity of England : " Let England enjoy by all means that special benefit of God, and God grant that it may be perpetual unto her." " If there be any who reject altogether Episcopal jurisdiction (a thing I can hardly be persuaded of), God forbid that any one in his senses should give way to the madness of such men." — (Sinclair, as before, page 7.) Archbishop Bancroft, in his Survey of the Pretended Holy Discipline, quotes the following from Continental Divines of his own age, and that which preceded it — [Bowden's Letters, v. ii., pp. 176, 177] : Osiander : — " Although in the primitive Church, when she flourished with miracles, there were divers degrees and Orders of Ministers, some Apostles, si>me Prophets, some Evangelists and some Pastors and Doctors, APPENDIX. 505 yet as now, the state of the Church is, the ministers may be divided into three Orders or degrees, viz: Deacons, Pastors and Superin- tendents." Hemingius : — " There are grades in the ministry, and that partly by the law of God, and partly by the approbation of the Church, * * * the purer Churches following the Apostles' times, ordained some Patriarchs, some Bishops, etc. — the Reformed Churches have their Bishops, Doctors, Pastors, etc." Hombergus : — "God himself hath ap- pointed degrees of Ministers in the Church." After specifying the common duties of Bishops and Ministers, he sets down those which are peculiar to Bishops, viz., excom- munication, confirmation, and ordination. To the same pur- pose the Archbishop quotes Heerbrandus, Jacobus, Andreas, Haylbronner, and Hunius, who says : " That God doth require that there should be Orders and degrees of Ministers, ut alii prozsint alii subsint" In the Book of Ecclesiastical Canons agreed upon by the Reformers of Poland and Hungary (A. D. 1623), the following oath of canonical obedience was required of every candidate for admission to Deacon's Orders : "'I, , swear before the Living Grod, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and before His Holy Angels, that I shall yield unto the Bishop, and Presbyters, all due obedience as unto my superiors. So help me God/ Another Canon recognizes the three Orders, and states the authority for them/' — (Sinclair on Episcopacy, pages 7, 8.) " Respecting the I^theran Churches of the North, throughout Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, we need here observe no more than that they adopted and acted upon the Episcopalian principles of the Augsburg Confession." — (Ibid.) When Carleton, Davenant, and Hall, went to the Synod of Dort, they found there among the Dutch Reformed Divines, none who were opposers of Episcopacy, but many who volun- tarily professed their regret at the loss of it. When Bishop Carleton spoke openly in the Synod of the Episcopal regimen, its authority, and its benefits, and showed how their troubles might be traced to the want of it, Bogerman, the President, replied, " Domine. Nobis non licet esse tarn beatis — My Lord, we are not permitted to be so happy. " — (Bowclen, Vol. i., 219. Bishop Hall, Vol. ix.) The Remonstrants did not differ from this judgment. Probably their greatest man was Hugo Grotius, 43 50(3 APPENDIX. "The celebrated Lawyer and Statesman, the acute Metaphysician and Divine, well-known to all the Christian world, as an able defender of the Faith." He thus sums up the argument between the Episcopalian writers and their adversaries, in his time : " So light and foolish is what the latter have put forth in answer to the former, that to have read the one is to have already refuted the other; especially touching the Angels of the Churches, concerning whom, that which the Disturbers of Ecclesiastical Order bring, is so absurd and contrary to the sacred text itself, that it deserves not confutation/' " The Bishop is of approved Divine right." " Those who think Epis- copacy repugnant to God's will, must condemn the whole Primitive Church of folly and impiety." — (Sinclair ut Supra, p. 12.) Again, in his " Annotations on the Consultation of Cassander" (Art. XIV.), he says: " Bishops are the heads of the Presbyters ; that pre-eminence was fore- shown in Peter, appointed by the Apostles wherever it could be done, and approved by the Holy Ghost." — (Be Veritate, Le Clerc's Edition, Ajypendix, p. 289.) " Nor had he only a good opinion of the Church of England himself, but also advised his friends in Holland, who were of his party, * * * to take Holy Orders from our Bishops. * * * He addressed his brother in these words, ' I would persuade them (that is, the Remonstrants,) to appoint some among them to a more eminent station, such as Bishops ; and that they receive the laying on of hands from the Irish Archbishop [Bramhall], who is there, and that when they "are so ordained, they afterward ordain other pastors/ " — ( Testimonies attached to the De Veri- tate, ut Supra, p. 310.) When the Puritan party had full sway in England, they took, in 1643, as is well-known, their so called " Solemn League and Covenant," the second article of which pledged them, "without respect of persons, to endeavour the extirpation of Popery, Prelacy, that is Church Government by Archbishops, Bishops, their Chancellors," etc., etc. But this radical oath did not bind them against Apostolical Succession, for in 1647 they published their " Jus Divinum Regiminis Ecclesiastici," in which the Divine right of a ministry is maintained, and the principle of Succession plainly avowed. They employed the learned Blondel to justify them in their course as Presby- terians, and his book has been the magazine for all writers against Episcopacy ever since : APPENDIX. 507 "It closed with words to this purpose: 'By all that we have said to assert the rights to Presbytery, we do not intend to invalidate the ancient and Apostolical Constitution of Episcopal pre-eminence, but believe that wheresoever it is established conformably to the ancient canons, it must be carefully preserved ; and, wheresoever, by some heat of contention or otherwise, it hath been put down, or violated, it ought to be reverently restored." " This raised a great clamor, and the conclusion was suppressed. On the report getting about, John Blondel, then residing in London, wrote to his brother David, who acknowledged it was true." — (See JDu Moulin' f 8 Letter to Durell. — Bishop Home.) John Le Clerc, of Amsterdam, in his edition of " Grotius de Veritate/' says: " There are now two forms of government, one of which is that wherein the Church acts under one Bishop, who alone has the power of Ordaining Presbyters, * * the other is that where the Church is governed by an Equality of Presbyters. They who without prejudice have read over the most ancient Christian writers that now remain, know that the former manner of discipline, which is called Episcopal, * * prevailed everywhere in the age, immediately after the Apostles, whence we may collect that it is of Apostolical institution. The other, which they call Presbyterian, was instituted in many places of France, Switzerland, Germany, and Holland, by those who, in the 16th Century, made a separation from the Church of Rome. * * * This latter form of Govern- ment loas instituted FOR this reason only, that the Bishops would not allow to them who contended that the doctrine and manners of Christians stood in need of necessary amendment, that those things should be reformed, which they complained were corrupted" — (Clarke's Translation, p. 272.) Daille, a French Protestant Divine, author of the well-known work on the "Right Use of the Fathers/' speaks plainly thus: " Calvin himself honored all Bishops that were not subjects of the Pope, etc., such [Bishops] as were the Prelates of England. We con- fess THAT THE FOUNDATION OF THEIR CHARGE IS GOOD AND LAWFUL, ESTABLISHED BY THE APOSTLES, ACCORDING TO THE COMMAND OF CHRIST."' — (Bingham's French Church's Apology for the Church of England / also, How' 8 Vindication, p. 193.) De Le Angle, another Divine of the same Church, in a letter to Dr. Brevint, uses the following strong language : "I cannot tell what these haters of the peace of the Church mean, that prattle up and down as if the French Churches were great adver- saries of the Episcopal Order. God forbid, Sir, that we should have such a perverse and rash opinion. I am sure that neither Monsieur 508 APPENDIX. Daille. nor Monsieur Ainiraut, nor Monsieur Bochart, nor any of my colleagues of Rouen ever approved of ft." — {How, p. 199.) P. Du Moulin, in his memorable correspondence with Bishop Andrews (to which we have referred elsewhere), confessed that he was withheld from publicly testifying in favor of Episcopacy, by two considerations. The first was that he would then utterly condemn his own Church and Congregation, excluding them from hope of salvation. Andrews assured him that in this respect he was greatly mistaken, as the defenders of Epis- copacy were not in the habit of anathematizing others, nor in any way required to "damn" any individual [see page 342]. Du Moulin's second objection was, that if among those who had rejected Episcopacy, he should defend it as of divine right, he would be driven away or starved. To this we know not what reply could be made. Du Bosc, Casaubon, and others have also declared their re- gard for Episcopacy, and their belief in its divine authority. Lectius, of Geneva, says : "We maintain that those are true and lawful Bishops whom St. Paul describes in his Epistles to Timothy and Titus, and we do not 'deny that there were such formerly in that great kingdom of Great Britain, and that at this day there are such Bishop's there/' — (Durell's View of For, Bef. Churches, pp. 169-170; Sow's Vindication, 194.) "We come now to Britain. There we find that the leaders of the various Schismatic movements learned the error -of their ways, and returned to the Church they had so deeply injured. Robert Browne, the founder of the Brownists or Congrega- tionalists, was one of these ; he conformed many years before his death, and, in consequence, he is now painted in very dark colors by the descendants of those whom he led astray. As a separatist, Browne was, of course, a saint ; but as soon as he gave up his schism and sought forgiveness and peace in the Church, he became (if they are to believed) a very reprobate, drunken, immoral, &c, &c. Even Thomas Cartwright, the Coryphaeus of Puritanism, returned to the mother he had deserted and opposed. He acknowledged the great kindness of Archbishop Whitgift, not- withstanding all the provocation he had given him, and he served the Church in quietness and contentment till his death. APPENDIX. 509 "He seriously lamented the unnecessary troubles he had caused in the Church by the schism he had been the great fomenter of, and wished he was to begin his life again, that he might testify to the world the dislike he had of his former ways. And in this opinion he died." — (Strype's Whityift, FoL, p. 554.) We have seen elsewhere, that several prominent Puritans of the age of Cromwell and Charles II., were reconciled to the Church. One or two even became Bishops, while others, who never worked regularly as Church Clergymen, received Episco- pal Ordination, "to make all sure/' Such were Manton, and Richard Baxter. * John Wesley ought never to be classed with the wilful dividers of the Church, for, notwithstanding some inconsis- tencies, he was, all through his long life, a lover of the Church, a firm believer in its' divine authority, and a plain asserter of the sinfulness of Schism. Yet, as his followers have unfortu- nately placed themselves among Presbyterian bodies, he, as the founder of the Society or Denomination, is popularly judged as having approved of the course which they pursued. This error must be corrected. As to Ordination, he says : " We account it of divine institution, and that by it a ministerial com- mission is conveyed." When asked by what authority he exercised his Ministry, he replied : "By the authority of Jesus Christ, conveyed to me by the (now) Arch- bishop of Canterbury, when he laid his hands upon me and said, ' Take thou authority/ &c., &c." When it was said that, at least in case of necessity, Baptism might be performed by women, or Jews, Wesley answered : "No! Our Lord gave this commission only to the Apostles, and to their Successors in the Ministry." In his sermon on the " Catholic Spirit," he says : "I believe the Episcopal form of Church Government to be Scriptural and Apostolical." And, in 1789, in the 87th year of his age, he closes a most important letter with these words : * " I declare, once more, that I live and die a member of the Church of England, and that none who regard my judgment or advice, will ever seperate from it. — John Wesley." — {Bishop Henshaw.) ,43* * . ■ 510 APPENDIX. Charles Wesley never faltered in his allegiance to the Church. "When his brother was persuaded, in his old age, by Coke and others, to set up for a Bishop (sine consecratione) , and even to assume a power which no single Bishop could canoni- eally claim, the whole matter was kept carefully concealed from Charles until the evil step had been taken, and then his remon- strances were full and decisive. We have not room for more than a word or two of what he wrote upon the subject: " I can scarcely yet believe it, that, in his S2d year, my brother, my old intimate friend and companion, should have assumed the Episcopal character — ordained Elders, consecrated a Bishop, and sent him over to ordain our lay preachers in America. I was then in Bristol, at his elbow — yet he never gave me the least hint of his intention. How was he sur- prised into so rash an action ? He certainly persuaded himself that it was right. Lord Mansfield told me, last year, that Ordination was Seperation This my brother does not and will not see; nor that he has renounced the principles and practices of his whole life ; that he has acted contrary to all his declarations, protestations and writings ; robbed his friends of their boastings, realized the Nag's Head Ordination, and left an indelible blot on his name, as long as it shall be remembered." * It is a comfort to know that the venerable Patriarch learned to regret his course, and even reprimanded the quasi " Bishops" of the American Methodist Society, for assuming that name. John "Whitehead, M. D., was a prominent preacher of the Methodist Society, and one of Mr. "Wesley's intimate friends. The latter appointed him, in conjunction with Dr. Coke and Henry Moore, his Literary Executor. In his Lives of the "Wesley s [which the Methodist Conference has always discoun- tenanced, and endeavored to suppress], he bears the testimony of an honest man to the original Constitution of the Society, and condemns, unhestatingly, the course which Coke and others caused its venerable founder to adopt. He says that, from reading Lord King's Enquiry, Wesley had accepted the theory advocated by him [and by Mr. Goode], that the Bishop differs from the Presbyter only in degree, not in Order ; but the act of * Charles Wesley's pungent lines are too good to be omitted: " So easily are Bishops made, By man or woman's whim ; Wesley his hands on Coke has laid, But who laid hands on him ?" APPENDIX. 511 Ordaining implies superior right or superior authority, while, as regards Coke, who was himself a Presbyter, Wesley had neither. "His Episcopal authority was a mere gratuituous assumption of power to himself, contrary to the usage of every Church, ancient or modern, where the Order of Bishop has been admitted. There is no precedent, either in the jSTew Testament or in Church history, that can justify his pro- ceeding in this affair. And as Mr. Wesley had received no right to exer- cise Episcopal authority, either from any Bishop, Presbyter or people, he certainly could not convey any right to others. His Ordinations, THEREFORE, ARE SPURIOUS AND OF NO VALIDITY." "But I willingly quit a subject which is very unpleasant and most sincerely wish that both the practice of ordaining, among the Meth- odists, and the memory of it, were buried in oblivion; and were the practice, which, in my view of it, is pregnant with mischief, totally to cease, never to be revived, I would tear the memory of it from these pages as soon as they are printed." — {Life of Wesley, Amer. Ed., 1845, pp. 532-533.) f Dr. Adam Clarke was by far the greatest scholar that the Methodists have ever had among them, and one of the most learned and excellent men of Christendom, in his generation. In his Commentary, he repeatedly affirms the divine institution of Episcopacy. For instance : "Deacon, Presbyter and Bishop existed in the Apostolic Church, and may, therefore, be considered of divine origin." In other writings he distinctly disclaimed any intention or desire to invade the proper ministerial office. He describes himself as simply a Preacher "without Holy Orders, without pretended Holy Orders, and without pretensions to Holy Or- ders/' After this the reader will hardly require to be informed that Dr. Clarke's works are not regarded as standards by the body to which he brought so much honor. The conservative man is never in favor with the radical. 512 APPENDIX. C. — APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION. We have already pointed out the two different senses in which the word Succession has been employed by theologians. (1) A Succession of Bishops in one Diocese — i. e. the Succession of persons in places. (2) A transmission of Ministerial or Episco- pal authority in regular order from one generation to another. The distinction between these can be made more evident by illustration. Let us take the Archdiocese of Canterbury since the Reformation. Its Succession has been as follows : 1, Cran- mer ; 2, Pole [Romanist] ; 3, Parker ; 4, Grindal ; 5, Whitgift ; 6, Bancroft ; 7, Abbott ; 8, Laud ; 9, Juxon ; 10, Sheldon ; 11, Sancroft; 12, Tillotson; 13, Tenison ; 14, Wake; 15, Potter; 16, Herring; 17, Huttpn ; 18, Seeker; 19, Cornwallis ; 20, Moore; 21, Sutton; 22, Howley ; 23, Sumner; 24, Longley. This table shows that the present Metropolitan succeeds in his place or office the martyr Cranmer. But it tells no more. Let us now trace the descent of the Episcopal commission from Cranmer: Archbishop Thomas Cranmer consecrated Robert Parfew, Robert Parfew consecrated John Hodskins, John Hodskins Matthew Parker Edmund Grindal John Whitgift Richard Bancroft George Abbott George Monteigne William Laud Matthew Wren Gilbert Sheldon Henry Compton William Sancroft Jon at. Trelawney John Potter Thomas Herring Fred. Cornwallis Matthew Parker, Edmund Grindal, John Whitgift, Richard Bancroft, George Abbott, George Monteigne, Wifliam Laud, Matthew Wren, Gilbert Sheldon, Henry Compton, William Sancroft, Jonathan Trelawney, John Potter, Thomas Herring, Frederick Cornwallis, John Moore, APPENDIX. 513 John Moore consecrated Charles M. Sutton, Chas. M. Sutton " William Howley, William Howley " Christopher Bethell, Chris. Bethell " John Bird Sumner, J. Bird Sumner " Charles T. Longley. This list shows that the present Archbishop has been validly consecrated to his high office in direct Succession from the first Protestant incumbent of it. The former is a list of the Episcopal Succession in the Pro- vince of Canterbury. The latter is a list tracing the Apostoli- cal Succession from Archbishop Cranmer to Archbishop Longley. The former is of comparatively little importance. It is not a note of the Church, because it cannot be found everywhere. For instance, within this year we have in our American Church three of four Bishops ordained, to exercise jurisdiction where there has been but one predecessor. The Succession in Ne- braska begins with Bishop Talbot. He had no Succession to point to. Now this is the " Succession" of which several Eng- lish divines have spoken in an indifferent or disparaging manner. And when Mr. Goode or Mr. Gallagher quotes such passages, they quote what they ought to know has no bearing upon that specially styled " Apostolical Succession." For instance, Jewel says : "Have these men their own Succession in so safe record? Who was then the Bishop of Rome next by Succession unto Peter? Who was the second? Who the third? Who the fourth? Irenseus reckoneth them together in this order: Petrus, Linus, Anacletus, Clemens. Epiphanius thus : Petrus, Linus, Cletus, Clemens. Optatus thus : Petrus, Linus, Clemens, Anacletus. Clemens saith that he himself was next unto Peter. * * * Hereby it is clear that of the four first Bishops of Borne M. Harding cannot certainly tell us who in order succeeded others. And thus talking so much of Succession, they are not well able to blaze their own Succes- sion." — (Defence of Apology, page 326.) "Because we will grant somewhat to Succession, tell us hath the Pope alone succeeded Peter ; and wherein, I pray you ?" "We have departed from him to whom we were not bound, and who had nothing to lay for himself, but only I know not what virtue or power of the place where he dwelleih, and a continuance of Succession." — (Apology.) In the same spirit, Pilkington says ; " If succeeding in place be sufficient to prove them good Bishops, then 514: the Jews and Turks hare their good Bishop? ar Jerusa- lem. Constantinople, and elsewhere, for there they dwell where Hi . . i : and haTe their synagogues, Bishops. Priests, and Levites after - : rt.** " Succession of good Bishops is a great grace because God and his truth hangs not on man nor pi r nan** on the undeceirable truth of God's TFord, in all doubts, than on any Bishops, place, or man." : rain, and Archbishop Laud also, as we have seen already. Thr lail "For in the general, I shall say this : It is a great happiness where it may be had 'visible* and ' continued* * * but I do not find any one of the ancient fathers that makes local, personal, visible, and con- tinued Succession a necessary sign or mark of the true Church any- Such a Succession is, indeed, of comparatively little value. But Pilkington points ont the true one where, he says: "A Succession of Bishops or Ministers we grant has been in tie world, rather than in any one See or Country, which succession we say we HATJB, AXD FOLLOW BETTER THAN THEY." I i - is the " Apostolical Succession" of which we have treated ■ :ji:s ^::k, iiii :: :>:::: 5r t1: ;■"::. vr± ±- writers citing passages which refer not to continuance of or transmission of authority, but to "personal and local Succes- si:n" -~--J. -here stated tha: n : n-E i^:opal bodies hold the ■Bering from us only as to the line in which the 5u - cession is to be traced. Proof of this has been furnish e much more can be given. For instance, the Prest T:erian work "This government in the Church is jure divino ; for of those gorern- .5 well as of Apostles, Prophets, and teachers, it is said God hath set them in the Church. * * * Now if they have heen set in the Church, and God hath set them there, here is a plain jus divinum for government in the Church.** "What was said to the Apostles touching preaching and baptizing, remitting and retaining sins, was said to all the Apostles' essors to the end of the world." -:anee of true Ordination remaining at that time in the Church of Rome, cannot be annulled and evacuated by those hum a- ruption* that were annexed or superadded thereto, no more th i of the Church of Rome is to be accounted null and void, there being the same ground for the one as for the other. Schism, here e APPENDIX. 515 scandal in the Church of Corinth did not destroy that Church ; nor do superstitious additionals or mixtures with ordinations in the Church of Rome destroy Ordination itself." — (Jus Divinum and its Appendix, as quoted by Bishop Henshaw.) The same general doctrine is avowed by Dr. Doddridge, by Thomas Boston, and other such Divines. The work of Dr. Lathrop, a Congregationalist, on Apostolical Succession, is well known, having been reprinted and edited by the late Bishop Wainwright. But Dr. Hopkins, (the founder of Hopkinsianism,) a far more prominent Congregationalist, has spoken out in as clear a tone : " It is said, if the Church have no authority or right to constitute or ordain their own officers, then there must be an uninterrupted succes- sion of Ministers from the Apostles to the end of the world; and if this chain of Succession h^once broken it cannot be renewed again, but the Succession must necessarily cease, and then there can be no Ministers and officers in the Church to the end of the world. To this it may be answered, that if this be an appointment of Jesus Christ * * that his Church shall be furnished with Ministers by such a Succession from one to another, then He will take care that it shall never be interrupted," etc., etc. "But to this it has been said that we have no evidence that such Suc- cession has not in fact been interrupted many times; and not one Minister or Elder at this day can prove or have any evidence himself that he has been ordained by one or more, who have received this right and power to ordain by an uninterrupted Succession from the Apostles. * * * Besides, if this Succession could be proved, it must be brought down through the hands of the Pope and the false Anti- Christian Church, * * which neces- sarily interrupts the Succession." " Upon this, the following things are to be observed : 1, If there be evidence from Scripture that such an Order and Succession of men * * has been established by Christ, and is implied in the commission which he gave to his disciples : ' Go ye and teach all nations/ etc., etc.; ' and lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.' " " This is SUFFI- CIENT, POSITIVE PROOF that such a Succession of Ministers does in fact take place in the visible Church of Christ; and that this commission has been transmitted from one to another from that time to this day; and that this Succession has not been interrupted, and will not be to the end of the world." If our space would admit of it, we would add to this the no less emphatic testimony of the celebrated Dr. J. M. Mason, of New York. r is V U U 516 APPENDIX. D. — " TITE SIX OF QUOTATION." It was our intention to have given, under this head, an expose* of the manner in which some opponents of Apostolical Succes- sion conduct their share of the controversy; but we cannot afford space for more than a few words. Some of the parties referred to sin wilfully. Others follow them without intending to deceive, and thus untruth is propagated, little as the agents may suppose it. The only way in which this evil can be pre- vented, is by avoiding the system of general or loose quotation, and that which the " Episcopal Recorder" calls " parrot-like repetitions." Take one or two examples. Dr. Canfield copies from some previous writer what purports to be a quotation from Strype. He does not indicate the work, the book, chapter or page, but gives the paragraph with inverted commas. We have been at some pains to search for it in the place where such a passage might be found. It is not there ; but something of a different character is. Mr. Gallagher mentions " Mason's Vindiciae" as a work of special importance, and professes to quote a portion of it, which appears very favorable to his cause. He gives the very page from which he has taken it. We turn to that page and there is xo such passage there. We knew there was not, before we looked, as any one might have done who had an}* knowledge of the subject. In this, we be- lieve, the Reverend gentleman did not intend to misrepresent Mason. He only made his quotation from a work which, in all probability, he never saw. THE END. 3085 1 <* ** *** * ^ • WKNW o>*tr -I '* .f 1* o'' 1 . - -SIS'." » ^ • v slZL?* <^ 4.0 .;••♦ *> v ** ** 'iSfe- ^ -^ ^ •■ *° % '" p.. PreservationTechnologies A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 111 Thomson Pa Oanberrv Township. ?A 16066 (724)779-21-- ** v \ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 017 452 728 3