,."^.. ^J^^n IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // 1.0 If I- li^ I.I 1.25 12.2 2.0 L8 U III 1.6 6" i- V] <^ /i / Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14S80 (716) 872-4503 i CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notas/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. D D D D D D D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagie Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur6e et/ou pelliculie Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque I I Coloured maps/ Cartes g6ographiques en couleur Coloured inic (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) □ Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Relii avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La re liure serr6e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intdrieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouties lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela Atait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6ti film6es. Additional comments:/ Commentaires supplimentaires; L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a tt6 possible de se procurer. Les ddtails de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mithode normale de filmage sont indiqu6s ci-dessous. I I Coloured pages/ D D Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommag^es I I Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restauries et/ou peilicul6es Pages discoloured, stained or foxe( Pages d6color6es, tachetdes ou piqu6es Pages detached/ Pages d6tach6es Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of prir Qualiti inigale de I'impression Includes supplementary materii Comprend du materiel suppiimentaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible I I Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ r~T] Pages detached/ r~^ Showthrough/ I I Quality of print varies/ I I Includes supplementary material/ I I Only edition available/ Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata. une pelure, etc., ont 6t6 filmdes A nouveau de fapon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est filmA au taux de rMuction indiquA ^i-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X / 12X 16X 20X 26X 30X 24X 28X 32X aire ddtails ues du i modifier ger une I filmage The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Thomas Fisher Rare Book Libr&ry, University of Toronto Library The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. L'exemplaire filmA fut reproduit grice d la g6nArositi de: Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto Library Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetA de l'exemplaire film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. / j^es Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or lliustratod Impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or Illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or Illustrated Impression. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprim6e sont filmds en commencant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la derniAre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmds en commenpant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la derniire page qui comporte une telle empreinte. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol ^^> (meaning "CON- TINUED "), or the symbol V (meaning 'END '), whichever applies. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — <*- signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbole V signifie "FIN". ire Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included In one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s A des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est filmi d partir de Tangle supdriaur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images necessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. }y errata ed to }nt me pelure, aqon d 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 (■ AW •■■^ o ECCLESIASTICAL LAAV. (A THESIS.) c BY YT A?^ STAFFORD, M.A, LL.B. V 4 TORONTO: WILLIAM BRIGGS, 78 & 80 KING STREET EAST. C. W, Coaxes, Montreal, Que. S. F. Hukstis, HaUfax, N.S. 1888. »OT8i's-fe,Li', c a c (] t t F g V ri.a ♦^— -" •■ "■ — ■- '•*'■'■ "-iiro3^*»;rif ! . V ECCLESIASTICAL LAW. liHE term, Ecclesiastical Law, is used here not merely, as in England, to describe the laws made by Parliament for the regulation of the Established Church, but in its widest sense, as including all law relating to religion. There is in Canada, as in other lands, much variety in the constitutions, rules and regulations of different churches. Are there any underlying lines of unity along which it is possible that they might flow to- gether into one strong constitution, adequate to all the demands that can come against a church ? This in- quiry must lead us back to the origin of Christianity. The great founder of the Christian religion at- tempted no organization of His followers into any- thing like the church of modern times. He set up no visible model before the coming ages. He created no permanent positions of pre-eminence among His people. He defined no clear lines along which, externally. His growing body should develop itself. After the work of teaching Christianity to the world fell wholly into the hands of the apostles, some signs of organization began to appear. But these in- spired teachers evidently had before their minds no definite plan of the future structure, as it was to be in every age, with all its varied appointments, and their respective relations to each other. The organization of Christianity, the integration of different parts, the bringing together of many congre- .ations, and even of wide territories, under one juris- diction, the creation of officers, superior and inferior, with the definitions of duty pertaining to each, and fixing their proper relations, until the church was one Compact bodj", all its parts subject to one head, and working together with military effectiveness, — all this came only after centuries of growth, under changing conditions, according to the suggestions of practical necessity, or as cherished ambitions, or personal ani- mosities succeeded in burning their impress upon the rising structure. The Laity* In the Christian dispensation, the Jewish idea of a wide distinction between the priesthood and the people, '•'Neander, "Church History," Section II. " The laity have also the right to administer the sacraments, and to teach in the community. The Word of God and the sacraments were, by the grace of God, communicated to all, and may, therefore, be communicated by all Christians as instruments of the Divine grace." — Tertullian, in De Baptismo. "All were accustomed to teach and to baptize." — Coleman, The Apostolical and Primitive Church, Mosheim, Cent. I., Part II. was succeeded by the conception of a whole church set apart — sanctified to God — every member of it, after the manner of Christ, offering Himself a sacrifice for holy service. All belonged to a common priesthood. Any members of the church were competent to admin- ister the sacraments. All might teach the Word v^ho had the gifts necessary for that work. No dis- tinction was made between the sacred and the secular in the Christian profession. The principle of perfect equality in all things was fully recognized. When distinctions arose from necessity, and some must take the lead and direct the affairs of the church, those who filled these chief positions were elected thereto by common consent. Their election, not ordination, stamped them as called of God to their peculiar work. The laying on of hands originally signified the solici- tation in prayer of a spiritual gift, and was not regarded as the creaiion of an order, or the bestow- ment of an office. It is evident that in the absenc*. of any precepts or instructions from the Lord upon the subject, the ideas of the time in respect to church government could not but be of the simplest possible nature. Anj/thing like a monarchicel system stood at the remotest point removed from the thoughts of the age. The Clergy. While yet the eldest of the apostles remained with the church, the pastoral office had taken shape, and the existence of the " Angel " of the churches, mentioned in the Apocalypse, indicates that at least the first genu of episcopal supervision had been planted. The office of pastor was a creation of necessity. From the begin- ning the converts in the same city or neighborhood were brought together into intimate association by one impulse. They were united in the bonds of a common sympathy, by belief in the same truths, by the effort to attain the same ends, and by exposure to the same difficulties, dangers, privations and sufferings. The appointment of suitable persons to superintend these churches was ineviteble in the nature of things. The Christians most interested made the selection, and they would naturally look to the more elderly men, as hav- ing the piety, wisdom, and stability needed in such positions, as well as because they would be th^ leaders in a community, and so would bring influence to the young church. Accordingly, as descriptive of their character, the Greek words are applied to them which mean respectively, "elders," "leading men," and, by a figure, "shepherds," and sometimes they are called "overseers," or "bishops," as descriptive of their duties ; but they are never designated by the word which means "to rule." The functions of this early pastoral office are not very clearly defined in the New Testament. It cer- tainly was not just what it is now. One difference has already been indicated, in respect to the adminis- tration of the sacraments. The apostolic office was not perpetuated in the pastor, for that included much more. The apostles embodied in themselves the whole church in all its appointments. But they designated none to be in any official sense their successors. They S'.SfeUsiiijiAjias left no open door through which a succession of men, holdinjT after them supreme authority, could legiti- mately enter. The first pastors were cut to a narrower pattern. They were, like Moses, a sort of magistrates 8/8 well as preachers, but their authority was of a low order. They could go no farther than arbitration. Indeed, as late as the middle of the fifth century, this office held no higher power than that of arbitration in disputes. A law of Constantine commanded civil offi- cers to enforce awards made by bishops acting in the capacity of arbitrators.* The subsequent development of the ecclesiastical system was little more than a steady enlargement of the functions and powers of the pastoral office. Out of a region so marked as this is by the crossing tracks of heated discussion and unsettled disputes, it is diffi- cult to bring anything so clear as not to be subject to contradiction ; but it is probable that men's thoughts were at the same time undergoing a change on a num- ber of points, and when we have traced one outward visible change all along its way, we will discover that it corresponds to changes in thought on several parti- culars which has gone on without observation. Take as an illustration of this the development of the idea that a bishop is a different office from a presbyter. For obvious reasons the first congregations were gathered in cities, and from thence villages and neigh- borhoods were reached by the messengers of the truth. The presbyters or bishops of churches in cities were * Hallam, Middle Ages, Cap. VII. 8 likely to be more learned and wiser in council than the men who sustained the same relation to village churches; and this superiority being silently recog- nized by the smaller churches, these men gained easily and naturally an ascendancy over all the churches near to their own city. It was only a moral superi- ority, but in one century the pastor who exercised an advisory oversight of a number of churches was dis- tinguished as a bishop, from a presbyter whose atten- tion was given exclusively to one congregation. The distinction was known at a date so early, but it was not then universal. Now, underlying this distinction is another, which had been quietly growing up, that is, a defining line between the clergy and the laity. The clergy have risen up out of the laity, and have become a separate class. They have come to be regarded as filling a sacred office, while the laity are secular. The ideas involved in this division were growing simultaneously with those which created a division of the clergy into different ranks. Then with the recognition of the clergy as essenti- ally distinct from the laity, would come the notion of ordination as a designation to an office, as well as the creation of a distinct order. Then the moral ascen- dancy of one clergyman over another, at first tacitly acknowledged, would easily become a claim to be so recognized as a right. One step further on we have the fully developed Pope — supreme in matters tem- poral as well as spiritual. 9 Leoislative and Judicial Functions Assumed. From the development of the purely pastoral func- tions of the clergy, we pass on to the rapid develop- ment of legislative and judicial functions in their office. The importance of ecclesiastical councils in the settlement of disputes was recognized as early as the middle of the second century. The first universal council was held A.D. 325, to consider the Arian heresy, and was attended by 318 bishops. After this none of the clergy of rank inferior to the bishop had any place in the great councils, except when, in the absence of their bishops, they were there to represent them. Now, seeing that the church was subject to the legislation of bodies constituted almost solely of bishops, it is easy to understand the rapid develop- ment of both the episcopacy and the papacy. No canons would be enacted restraining the ambition of the bishops against the rights both of the lower orders of the clergy and of the laity. The appetite for ecclesiastical privilege and power, now fully aroused, ever crying " give," and never satisfied, could be put under no restraint from the legislative authority of the church. Never relaxing its hold, it every day took one step nearer to its coveted object. We have some idea of the force of this pressure upon the lower ranks in the church, and of the extent to which the spiritual was crowding the secular, in the fact that the great Charlemagne, who was very much disposed to use the clergy, instead of being used by them, began 10 a decree with the wo^ r The most pious lord our king has decreed, wj he consent of the most holy Synod," etc.,etc. The decree in question was thoroughly secular in its nature. It related to the tixing of a maximum price upon agricultural products.* The canon law was equally remarkable for its rapid growth and for the increasing variety of sub- jects with which it dealt, until at last its enactments CO veered almost the whole field of legislative authority. It was then not difficult to press this law into the adniinistraticn of justice. Justinian yielded so far to the strong pressure brought upon him in this direc- tion, as to command that all civil suits brought against ecclesiastics of any degree should be settled by the bishops. One point after another was claimed and yielded, until finally Charlemagne relieved the whole body of the clergy from any responsibility to the judicial authority of the civil power. This constituted what is known in history as the " benefit of clergy."-|* It secured every one in any way connected with the clerical estate against any penalties from a civil tri- bunal, no matter what offence he might have com- mitted. He was accountable only to the ecclesiastical courts, but these could not impose as heavy penalties as the civil courts. Here was an important distinc- tion in favor of the clerical fraternity. The next step was to enlarge this favored class from little to more. Thir was done so effectually, that at one time in England every person who could read was exempt *Guizot, Hist. Civ. Lee. XXI. t Hallam, Middle Ages, Cap. VII. 11 our from appearing before any tribunal but the ecclesias- tical courts. The cunning device by which the clergy got almost the entire administration of justice into their own hands is interesting. It was readily conceded that they should hear all spiritual causes. Then the con- tention was maintained that all causes were spiritual, inasmuch as they involved the commission of sin ; and it was the duty of the church to prevent sin as far as possible, and to punish it whenever it had been com- mitted. Working on this principle, one council, assem- bled in an obscure town, enacted that no illegitimate prince should be allowed to ascend the throne. The council claimed that the enactment was within its authority, because it was the church's duty to prevent sin. By such maxims it was easy to subjugate the whole world. But this assumption by the church of all legislative and judicial powers proved a great help to civilization. The ignorance of the masses of men would have allowed a continuous reign of savagery had it not been for the church's encroachments. As it was, the practice of government fell into the hands of those who alone knew anything of law, history, or philosophy. But for them the rulers of the earth would have been savage chiefs, incapable of writing their own laws, or of read- ing edicts which others had written. Hence mankind may be thankful for what in this age of general intel- ligence seems like a monstrous assumption ; and which was put away when men had become educated to the duties of a better type of civilization. Then, as gradu- 12 ally civil society became worthy to govern, and com- petent for the duties thereof, it found all the necessary forms already provided by the church. The dominion of one primate suggested one throne of executive power in the nation. Ecclesiastical assemblies gave the idea of national parliaments. The canons of the church taught men to frame national statutes and systems of public law. Causes of the Growth of Ecclesiastical Influence. We may just mention, in passing, the chief causes which conspired to exalt ecclesiastical enactments to such paramount influence in the world. The first was the unity of the church. As contrasted with :he present time, the church bore upon any point toward which it aimed with the impulse of its whole weight. A second cause was the predominance of the religious society over the civil. There was a clear line of divi- sion between them. They had a constant contention against each other. But the society within the church held the ascendancy over that without. It had all the learning, and possessed exclusively the sources of know- ledge. And the bishops ruled the church, so that laws enacted by them easily commanded the whole world. Add a third cause, found in the fact of personal rule. Kings held their dominion, not over certain prescribed territories as now, but over their own peoples, wher- ever they might be. The King of the Franks, for example, was not the king of all who might dwell 13 within the boundaries of the modern France, for he had no such boundaries ; but he was the king of all the Franks, whether living in what is now called France, or Germany, or Italy. With the prevalence of such ideas of government, it was but natural that the legislation of the church should be recognized by all Christians as their peculiar law, no matter where they might dwell. So that the generally accepted supremacy of the lope was not so much the result of an invasion of the prerogative of monarchs as a natural development upon the theory of government enter- tained and practised by monarchs themselves. The canons, especially of the councils held after the dis- memberment of the empire, did not invade the rights of legitimate monarchs by asserting authority within their territories ; but they were simply accepted by Christian people everywhere as their appropriate law ; and the ideas which prevailed at the time made it im- possible to comprehend such a thing as resistance to the practice. It was consistent with the notions of the age that the Pope should claim jurisdiction over all Christians, no matter to what king they might acknowledge political allegiance. The National Church of England. This great church is the most interesting example of a national religious establishment; and illustrates the relation of state churches to ecclesiastical legisla- tion. Its history is deeply involved in the moral and political struggles of the ages. A conflict is ever in progress in human thought between new ideas and the 14 ^^^- ^" ^^^e latter part of fi . spiritual matteTi^Lly.^''y »*«»« c^ °* ">- -eh,, was at variate ^2"?*- ""^r t! "^ '- to prevail. Hence . > ""^ "ew spjj.:, ^^'-^ »»«- . 0"r chief interest lieTilf"""^ "=« «'" M Lr*" ^^ far back atf. ""''""'''^diy h^d a n„, " ''"'"^e'' f^-^' to assun.e the po it'M"''^ ^^ Tarsus^to. '' ^^"0^ whose dut^^ j; f,"« ^f Archbishop of n.!"^' /'" «er authoritv p ^"g^mnd under c„j • ^"g^ish Church « *^' '*'''" *hat timp f ^^^'^- ^"^<^^i acknowJedged the °'''^^'^ ^^^e - *^^ supremacy of the h WIe Acres new ideas eid for the authority ^ms, passed away by 'Ogether by the per- ihe stronger in dif. upreme lord, stable their power within iphical boundaries primate could rule )ne king could rule I the territories he cfc that the aecept- incils, and of the leans confined to inder every mon- ' spirit beginning ■ting all Europe, en the Popes and apter of ecclesi- at conflict from [the old ideas. 'Stations of this Ited the church jational church en Rome sent Tsus—to Eng-- jOp of Canter- under subjec- forward the smacy of the { 15 loman primate. It was as thoroughly Roman Catholic IS any church in continental Europe. So it continued for centuries. But the relation between the church and the state was in England an old field of dispute. The contention was at white heat as early as the days of King John. The king claime 1 the right of nomin- ating the bishops. The church resented the claim. The Pope interfered, and assumed that the appointing of the bishops belonged to himself. After he had done his utmost, by excommunicating the king, and placing the kingdom under an interdict, and then giving it away to a rival, Philip of France ; the king gave to his^ armed barons the Magna Charta, and so peace was re- stored. The first article in this cha,rter provides for the freedom of the church — " Quod Anglicana ecclesia libera ait."* Nevertheless, for a long time after this, the acknow- ledgment of the Pope's supremacy was not considered inconsistent with a free church. A victory had beea gained over the crown, and that sufficed for the time It remained for Henry VIII. to declare the independ- ence of the church in England of the Pope. He had determined to be separated from his queen, Catharine of Arragon, and, with strange inconsistency, he desired a religious sanction for the great wrong. This the Pope refused, and hence the breach. No lover of free- dom can be proud of the king's motive in the conten- tion, or can remember with gratitude that his passion was the moving cause in the break between the church. * Langiuead, English Constitutional History, Cap. IV. I \m- 16 in England and the Pope ; but there is some relief in the reflection that Henrywas only the occasion of a conflict which was inevitable any way, and was then imminent, only waiting for a suitable opening to begin. With the conversion of the English king to the reformation purely from motives of policy, it is interesting to trace the progress of spiritual reform in the church of the land. Does it properly take rank as one of the churches of Protestantism ? Some claim that it was the same church in all essential particulars before the Reformation which h now is. Entertaining, personally, a reverence for the history, character and influence of that great church which would allow to it almost any claim that might be set forth, except exemption from the right and privilege of being criticised by contemporaries, it is still necessary to accept such authorities as Hallam* and Macaulay,*!* who recognize in the present Church of England the eflect of a compromise wrought by Cranmer, as a courtier on behalf of the government on one side, and Cranmer, as a divine, on behalf of the Calvinists, on the other side. The former of these authorities indi- cates that the doctrinal and moral reformation of the church in Englan-i was far from complete, notwith- standing it was the subject of some sweeping changes in matters of the gravest importance. The use of the Latin language in the public service gave place to the English tongue. Images were removed from the churches. Prayers to the saints, which had been * Constitutional History, Cap. II. t History of England, Cap. I. customary, especially to the virgin, and pra5'ers for the souls of the dead, were discontinued. Auricular confession was abolished. Transubstantiation was denied, and the bread and wine in the sacrament were regarded as merely emblems. The celibacy of the clergy was no longer required. If there had been nothing more, these great changes were suflScient to constitute it a reformed church. Its outward constitu- tion was certainly not greatly altered. It had been ruled by an episcopacy, and episcopacy it retained in its integrity. But the rights and functions of the clergy of every grade were modified and abbreviated ; still it remained in most particulars the same constitu- tion the church had borne for ages. And what it was when the first throes of the Reformation were ended that it is today. The Reformation left the church on English soil free and independent so far as any foreign control was concerned, but the supremacy was only transferred from a foreign I ope to the king. The changes since then in the national constitution have been such that now the supremacy of the king means the supremacy of parliament. This authority extends as fully as ever the pretensions of the Pope did into all purely spiritual matters. It is supreme even in what relates to the substance of the faith, and to the forms of religious service. A statute of the time of the Reformation enacted that convocation " should henceforth make no provincial canons, constitutions or ordinances, without the royal assent and license." This limitation of the legislative authority of the church has been steadfastly 2 18 maintained until the present time. The two convoca- tions of Canterbury and York are simply provincial assemblies without legislative power. They can enforce nothinp; without the approbation of the crown. And a license must be granted to them covering whatever is the subject of their recommendations even. As an illustration of the extent to which the church is subject to the secular power, even in things purely spiritual in their nature, take the case of the Prayer Book. After the Restoration, this book was revised so as to adapt it to some new conditions which had arisen. When the revisions had been accepted by the Con- vocation of York, the book so revised v:as sanctioned b}' parliament, and appointed as the service book in all the churches of the realm. This Prayer Book of IGOl is the Prayer Book of to-day; and in England both convocations cannot make any change in it with- out the approval of the parliament and crown. Now here is certainly a matter as spiritual as anything which can be the subject of human thought, and yet the decision of thn two convocations, reached after separately considering the whole subject, is not sufficient until ratified by parliament. And parliament does not consider itself under any moral obligation to sanction what is recommended by convocation, as seen, for example, in its action relative to the canons of 1603. They are a body of canons relating to and regulating almost every subject of practical importance in the work of the church, and they are accepted by the bishops and clergy, and quoted as authority in the English ecclesiastical courts. 19 In 18G1, license was granted lo convocation to amend one of these panons. After due consideration, both houses of both convocations agreed upon a substitute, which, when submitted to the crown, was sent back to be still further amended, and its substance made more acceptable. This great church is, therefore, not free and indepen- dent, but is subject to the authority of the national legislature, even in things that relate to the faith which it accepts, and the forms of service which it uses. This caurch stands as a monument illustratinnr the final result so far of that bitter conflict between old and new ideas of the correct theory of government. At its beginning the church was dominant cverj^where. It appointed kings and emperors. By its sanction they held their power. The laws enacted by them and their parliaments went into force hy the consent of the ecclesiastical authority. But now we see the gates opening the other way. The supremacy trans- ferred from the Pope to the king so shifted the centre of power, that, henceforth, instead of the church ruling the state, the state ruled the church. Erastianism has swept the track. The march of ideas has gone clear around the circle. The KoMxVn Catholic Church. It is perhaps worth while just to mention in passing the one great exception to this triumph of national authority. The Catholic Church is to-day a body whose ideas and habits of thouijht are a survivinsr 20 remnant of medifflvarcivilization. It finds itself in a sti'u,2fglc with conditions wholly changed from those under which it had its generation. It is at variance with all the dominant facts and ideas of the present age. It presents the spectacle of a grand and solemn anachronism. It may he that it will continue, with the aid of the most perfect organization the world ever saw, to press its outlawed claims upon the new races who face toward the bright liglit of to-day, until blows and blood will be necessary to convince it of the impracticable contract it has upon its hands. Of such a conflict there can be but one issue, unless political partizanship dissipates Anglo-Saxon indepen- dence and progressiveness to such a degree that they become willing to surrender the ground already gained by precious blood, and to go down under Gallic igno- rance and despotism for the sake of retaining the mere name and forms of power. At the feet of the children of to-day fall the fast departing shadows of fathers who sacrificed everything for liberty and truth. If not unworthy of their origin and their time, they will teach this vast medijeval machine, that the sceptre has been snatched from its arrogant hand. Free and Independent Churches. All ecclesiastical organizations, outside the national establishments, are free and independent as compared with a state church. The first provision of Magna Chaita is fully realized in them. In Article XIX. of the Church of Enixland, we find a definition of the church. It reads, "The visible church of Christ is tl a congregation of faithful men, in the which the pure Word of God is preached, and the sacraments bo duly administered according to Christ's ordinance, in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same." That definition carefully avoids any recogni- tion of the differences between the national church and first, the crown, and second, the Pope. It is a strikingly correct definition of what in England is called a non-conformist church. It contains the true conception of a church, being simply a number of persons incorporated together, because they are likeminded in what they believe, in the aims they set before them, and in the work they undertake, seeking wholly for spiritual results. Such a church, so far as legislative authority is concerned, is on the same level as any temperance, or agricultural, or mutual benefit society, which is incorporated by act of parliament. Its legislation can have no other function than to regulate its own organization and existence, and pro- mote the special ends for which it exists. It is a small circle within a greater, with a different centre, formed for a specific purpose. Its laws and regula- tions can only relate to persons within itself. They have no application to thos.' who do not become mem- bers of the body. Any ecclesiastical laws that can exist outs'de of countries where there is a state church, are generally a subject of indifference to the majority of the people of the land where they exist. They do not belong to the community as a whole. Such an organization has certain limitations in which a state church is not concerned. I 22 1. Its legislation is limited by the positive laws of the state in which it exists. This is better than to have the state make laws for its internal government, as is the case with a national church. It has only first of all to see that its enactments are all lawful in the land. The first of the canons of 1603 declares, "The Queen's power within he realms of England, Scot- land and Ireland, and all other her dominions and countries, is the highest power under God ; to whom all men do by God's laws owe most loyalty and obedi- ence, afore and above all other powers and potentates in earth." This enunciates with sufficient clearness the fact that the laws of churches must accept the limitations of civil statutes. Acts of parliament have always the right of way. They are under no neces- sity of even knowing that independent churches exist within their jurisdiction. Their framers need not stop to consider any of the regulations and provisions of any body of Christian people ; unless, indeed, in a case where some privilege has been secured to a church by positive law. If any collision arises between a, church and a national legislature, the church must get out of the way. It cannot keep its feet in any con- tention with national authority. The affairs of the nation may, as a rule, proceed without any recognition of the most important enactments of any church. The administration of justice is so independent of church laws, that some feeling of surprise is awakened when in some rare and exceptional case, they are called upon to aid in deciding the rights of any citizen. 23 Under this limitation of a church's lejiislative author- ity, there arises a clear distinction between the civil and ecclesiastical rights of every imlividual. A church cannot interfere with the civil rights of any of its members, nor discharge any frcin his civil duties, which are the counterpart of his civil rights. Take, for example, the possession of property. Whatever a man owns is his, through his relation to the state. The church to which he belongs cannot, by any act of confirmation of which it is capable, make his right to any property he holds any stronger than it is by the fact that the state recognizes it, and will protect him in his claim against all who attack it. This is his strongest possible hold upon any possession. It follows that no church can take from any of its members a right which the state maintains. Where the conditions of membership, accepted on entrance, include the payment of certain sums, the collection thereof invades no rights ; but a church cannot legally levy or collect a tax. That is an interference with the civil right of property, it may pronounce its judgment that its members should pay certain sums, but that judgment is not binding upon any. Thoi^e who accept the judgment will pay the amount ; but it is then a voluntary act on their part, and not of the nature of a tax. But any individual member of a church will be able successfully to resist the highest legislative body in his church, in refusing to pay any sum it may have levied upon its members, if he dis- sents from the enactment. Though every other mem- ber consents, yet he can refuse, and yet maintain his membership and rights in the body. It follows, there- fore, that it is not merely a matter of choice, because it is deemed the best way, but a matter of necessity, because there is for ii no other way, that a church is supported whollj' by voluntary offerings. All these principles are recognized by the " Synod Act" of the Church of England of 1857, and adopted as a part of the church's canons in 1859. Herein the church assumes authority "in matters relating to, and affecting onlv the said church, and the officers and members thereof." " Nothing in the act shall author- ize the imposition of any rate or tax upon any person or persons whomsoever, whether belonging to the said church or not." " Nothing in the said constitutions or regulations, or any of them, shall be contrary to any law or statute now, or hereafter, in force in this province." Herein all the limitations of an independ- ent church are fully stated. 2. The highest legislative authority of an independ- ent church, is particularly limited by special acts of parliament, charters, and deeds of trust, all relating to properties in possession of, and under the direction of, the said church. An institution may be incorporated by special act providing for its control by a board con- stituted and perpetuated in a certain manner. A uni- versity, for example, owned by a church, may work under a charter which provides for its management, including the manner in which its board is appointed, the conditions under which degrees may be conferred, etc., etc. Or a church building or other property may be held in trust for a church, under a deed which con- ff • » tains special provisions for the appointment of the minister who shall officiate therein, or for the use of collections that may be taken, etc., etc. Now, any such buildings or institutions may be fully owned by the church, but nevertheless its highest legislative authority can enact nothing which is not in harmony with the special acts, charters, or deeds referred to, even when a departure from the provisions they contain would be manifestly greatly to the ad- vantage of the whole church. Before it can proceed it must secure an act or acts of parliament releasing it from the limitation of all previous acts. For example, the General Conference of the Method- ist Church has no more power than an official meeting or a trust board to pass any law which in any way would violate the Act known as 47 Victoria, cap. lOG, being, "An Act respecting the Union of certain Methodist Churches therein named." 3. But, having made these exceptions, that the provisions of the civil law must always be respected, a church, free and independent of state control, has the advantage that it may make any regulations for its own government, and for the welfare of its mem- bers, which in its wisdom are deemed expedient or necessary. This being the case, we find great variety in the regulations of different churches. There is nothing like uniformity among them. They walk to their goal through different paths. At their threshold they set up different conditions of entrance. Different requirements attend the continuation of membership. Every Protestant church has some peculiar regula- I tions created by the circimipfances through wliich it came into existence, but whici cannot be reganled as consistently and only aimed at sin, or calculated solely for the promotion of holiness. They stand as historic monuments, but no wise man would ever de- vise them originally as calculated more than anything else to reach the sinner or bless the saint. It is said that no person can be a legal member of the Methodist Church who does not attend the class meetinix with reasonable regularity. The celibacy of probationers for the ministry, and the great system of itinerancy are striking peculiarities. With some churches no person can be admitted to membership until his whole body has been immersed in water, and none but their own members can join these churches at the table of the Lord. Such laws are quite admissible, because they violate no man's civil rights or duties. They interest only the ptrsons who are members of the par- ticular church in which they ex'st. Presbyterianism remains true to its inheritance in the Westminster Confession of Faith, though the nations have with won- derful unanimity outgrown some of its provisions, as, for example, the principle that a man may not marry any nearer relative of his deceased wife than of him- self. So also it refuses to baptize any child unless one of its parents is a believer. The Church of England in Canada is as free as any of the other churches ; but is naturally bound by feelings of loyalty to the mother church in England, and, therefore, in doctrine and in forms of service this church is not likely to intro • t « e « t • • • « In addition to this, much can be said in favor of the practical advantages of episcopacy under the conditions of life now existing. First of all, it furnishes an upper house to the highest legislative body in the church. If the methods of legislation employed by all civilized nations, which require the consideration of every subject separately* b}^ two distinct bodies, and the sanction of both before any enactment can be enforced, is a wise arrangement, assuredly the legislation of churches would be improved by the conservative influence of an upper house. Here, more than in national parliaments, there is danger of hasty legislation evolved in the last hours of a weary sitting of Conference or Assembly, and of motions car- ried through personal considerations, rather than by a regard to the good of the whole body. Then it would secure to the great councils of the church competent presiding officers, well qualified for their special duties. Comparatively few men have a taste for the study of constitutional questions and rules of order, independently of any necessity to make any practical use of such special information. The conse- quence is that each new Moderator or President comes to his office with the feeling that his fitness for his new sphere is to be tested under very trying circum- stances. He may walk the plank just once. Next year he may not come back and correct the failures into which his inexperience led him this year. But let any man know that to preside in great assemblies, to rule on points of order, and to give judg- ment on constitutional questions, is to be a part of his 42 special duties in life, not for a single year, but for many years, and he will easily acquire the special preparation necessary for this difficult part of his work. Nor will there be any particular honor in being prepared for any emergency w^hich may arise. It was only to be expected that he would be ready for it. But under the plan which elects a fresh ruler for each Conference or Assembly, if said ruler acquits himself worthily in some difficult corner, it is a marvel that he should be found ready for something for which there was no reason why he should be ready. It was outside the line of his imperative and daily duties that he should have made preparation for this special and difficult work. Leaving Presbyterianism out of the question for the moment, it is undeniable that episcopacy has proved itself well adapted to the needs of Methodism. It furnishes an ideal stationing committee. The consti- tution of this body is certain to be the subject of much heated discussion in the future. The admission of lay- men into it, or the permanent exclusion of them from it, will neither remedy its defects nor heal the diffiir- ences of opinion concerning it. The appointments will still be made by men who are interested in them Probably little would be gained by transferring the appointing power partly from ministers, who are per- sonally interested, to laymen who are also personally interested. But the Episcopal Methodism of the United States in the meantime is free from any difficulties arising from the interest in the appointments of those who make them, except as the general welfare of the 43 tfer- will leui the per- lally lifced ties lose the church may be an interest. Here, the men finally re- sponsible for the appointments are entirely independent of those whom they appoint. They want no man's vote for anything. They are not in a position to re- ceive any such favor. So that, though men go to hard appointments, and feel that they have not received as good as they deserve, and though churches do not secure just the men they desired, yet all alike must feel that the appointing power was moved only by a regard for the good of the church. Before that consideration the burden of disappointment vanishes. Men will endure for Christ's sake what would be worse than death if it came from the hands of men as a punishment, edged by a sense of being unappreciated according to worth. Church Membership. The conditions upon which membership with a church is secured and retained are properly a part of the constitution of the church. Here are points of difference worthy of some thought, while at the same time there is greater una- nimity than upon any other point of church govern- ment. The Church of England and Presbyterianism substantially agree with each other in making Baptism and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper the conditions of membership. The highest privileges attainable in the Church of England, as for example, election to the synods,* are conditioned upon having received the com- munion a certain number of times in the year, except * Constitution, p. 3. u where it was not possible. The Presbyterian Church institutes a preliminary inquiry into the religious life of the applicant,* but after reception the rights of mem- bership are retained on the condition of attending the communion, unless they are cut off by proper process of discipline. Assuredly a strong argument for tl correctness of this test may be based upon the original institution of this holy sacrament. The Lord took with Him on this occasion His apostles, who were to be the future teachers of His church. He instructed them that this service was to be with them forever a testimony of their love for Him, manifested in an effort, by the simple process of eating bread and drinking wine, to preserve the memory of His name and work to man- kind through all the ages. It is to be supposed that none will come to this solemn service but those who are actuated by love to Christ, and a tilial desire to obediently remember His words, and His sacrificial work for mankind, and for themselves personally. It is, therefore, a searching test of sincerity of purpose. It is true a hypocrite may easily avail himself of its advantages as a cloak for vileness, dishonesty or false- hood ; but so may he of any test which can be devised • and inasmuch as men are not required to act in the capacity of the judge of each other's secret thought and intention, and are utterly unqualified to do so under any conditions which can possibly be created, the hypocrite must be left to the Judge of all the earth for his detection and his punishment. * Rules, etc., p. 7. 45 Methodism stands alone in its conditions of mem- bership. It is in this, as in every other part of its polity. Nothing was planned, and then reduced to practice, but all grew up as practical necessity sug- gested. The class-meeting, in its nature and in its legal function as a test of membership in the church, is a striking illustration of this. If a score of men should give themselves up to meditation with a view to the discovery of the best possible condition upon which membership with a church should be retained, it is doubtful if any one of them all would, out of his original thinking, create the Methodist class-meeting exactly as it is, and offer it as the best possible means of keeping bad people out of the church, and of bring- ing good people in. But as a growth, without any person knowing at its origin just what it would grow into, its functions are intelligent and natural. With- out a knowledge of the history of that growth, no intelligent interpreter wo' id assign it the place which belongs to it by the usage of interpretation. He would not find in it the condition of continued membership with the church. The law relating to the class-meeting reads as fol- lows : " If any of the members of our church wilfully and repeatedly neglect to meet in class, let the super- intendent or his assistant visit them whenever it is practicable, and explain to them the consequence if they continue to neglect, viz., exclusion."* Now, as it stands, a new comer to the book would * Discipline (1880), p. 40. 46 find some difficulty in determining that no man who " wilfully and repeatedly neglects to meet in class" can be a legal member of the Methodist Church. The place where the law is found would mislead him. There is a whole chapter devoted to " The Membership of the Church." Now the intelligent student would naturally expect to find in that chapter, a full statement of what the church requires of those who enter into membership, and continue therein. If they may be cut off* from the church, except by a process of disci- pline, he would with reason expect to find in this chapter an account of the manner. But this particu- lar law, which by customary interpretation bears so intimate a relation to church membership, is not found in the chapter which deals with that subject at all. It appears in the next chapter, which deals with the " Means of Grace." This fact would create the impression that the class-meeting is simply one among a number of methods of promoting piety, and that the " exclusion " referred to in the passage quoted above must relate to the particular means of grace under consideration in the passage in which it occurs. Yet another misleading fact would be found in what is called the "General Rules of Our United Societies." As the superintendent of a circuit is under obligation to give a copy of them to all who become members of the church when they join, it would reasonably be supposed that these rules teach new members how they are to conduct themselves if they retain their membership. Among other things they declare that all who desire to continue in these 47 societies shall continue to evince their desire for salva- tion by attending upon all the ordinances of God." Then are specified, " The public worship of God ; the ministry of the Word, either read or expounded ; the Supper of the Lord ; family and private prayer ; searching the Scriptures; fasting or abstinence.'" That is all. The class-meeting is not mentioned here at all. This would create the impression that it is of minor importance, even among the means of grace. If any confirmation of this view of the case were needed it would seem to be found in the fact that these general rules are deemed of such importance, and also so perfect in their scope, that they are incorporated in the consti- tution of the church by .special provision ; and can only be changed, even in the slightest degree, by the same majority of the General Conference which could recon- struct the whole constitution of the church. In view of all these facts, it is exceedingly doubtful if one accustomed to exact use of language, and to the inter- pretation of legal forms, but wholly ignorant of tra- ditional Methodism, would recognize the class-meeting as by law the test of membership with the church. Nevertheless, he who would urge the contrary from the above considerations would be accused by an old Methodist of cavilling. It must be, therefore, that we are to find the legal import of the class-meeting some way involved in the history of its development. We go back then to the first class-meeting. Wesley had organized within the Established Church a society, purely for the mutual spiritual improvement of those who belonged im. L-ii- mm iif 48 to it. Branches of this society multiplied. A build- ing had been erected in Bristol to provide a suitable place of meeting. It was burdened with a debt. The members of the society consented to pay each a penny a week toward the removal of this del)t. One person agreed that he would either collect this amount from eleven others, or pay it himself for them if they were really too poor to do so.* The twelve were called a class. The whole membership of the society was divided into similar classes. At first, the member responsible for the money, who was called the leader, visited each member of his class at home once a week, on his errand. There had been trouble through the bad living of some members. It seemed a suitable thing that the leader, on his weekly visit, should inquire of each as to his own life and that of others. At this stage the class was just the same method of looking after individuals, and exercising oversight of them, which is employed in the Presbyterian Church. In that church each elder has a charge over all the communicants and adherents within a certain distric*^.*f- The only difference is that the Methodist class-leader was expected to visit each of his members once every week. But in a little time they adopted the plan of meeting together, when each paid his penny, and they talked faithfully with each other, pointing out faults, warning and encouraging one another, and praying together. It was between three and four yearsj after the first * Wesley's Works, Vol. V., p. 179. J May 1st, 1743. t Rules, etc , p. 7. 49 hey ilts, society was formed that the general rules above referred to were prepared. They were designed only for members of the societies. But all the members of the societies met in the classes. The general rules, therefore, did not apply to any who did not attend the classes, and so it was in no sense necessary that those rules should mention the class-meetinrj amoncr the means of grace, since it was only by going to class that anyone would know anything at all of the rules. Also, by neglecting the class-meeting repeatedly he forfeited his connection with the society. But he was just where he was before he joined it. He was a member of the Church of England, He forfeited no right as a church member by being excluded from the Methodist society, for these people were all at the same time members both of the Established Church and of the Methodist society. Methodism was only a society within a church. Now, lift all these branch societies bodily out of the bosom of the national church, and set them down as in themselves an independent church, but subject to just exactly the same rules and regulations as when they were only a society within a church. Under these new conditions we perceive at once that attendance upon the class-meeting will have so far increased its importance as to be the condition of continued mem- bership in a church. Before this event, if a person was excluded from the Methodist society he was still a member of the great national church. If any are now tempted by the theory that the same exclusion must still mean what it has always meant; and that, 4 50 therefore, the person excluded from the class remains, nevertheless, a member of the great and wide fra- ternity of Metlio'lism, as before, of the Church of Ens^land, he must learn that there has never been any such fraternity including more than the class. What that includes constitutes organized Methodism. It is true that it was no part of the design of those who originally created the classs-meeting that it should have legal functions of such importance attached to it, but, like everything else in the Methodist polity, this was a providential growth. At any stage the fathers in the church might have introduced the pruning knife, and either have cut off this law of " exclusion " entirely, or have so altered it as to meet the new conditions as they arose. But the fact is that these f rarners of a new ecclesiastical constitution felt that all the way through their system was in a marked manner the creation of Providence ; and they feared any changes by legislative enactment which were not clearly indicated by Providence. And as Providence has never seemed to direct a change in the function of the class-meeting it still remains as at first it was constituted. It is unquestionable that with growing, general intel- ligence, with better parental training, and the teaching of the Sunday-schools, neither at the present time is there generally among the members of the Methodist Church, or of any other, need for close questioning of one Christian by another as to the purity and honesty of his life, nor would such prying into purely personal matters be endured. Hence the testimonies of the class-meet- 1 1 51 ing have come in the present time to be little more than a relation of individual experiences of the mercy and Providence of God, and of efforts and successes and failures in various paths of Christian endeavor. The legal import of the class-meeting is at the same time being gradually modi'ied, not by legislation, but by usage. When any are deprived of the rights of mem- bership for "wilfully and repeatedly neglecting to meet in class," it is the duty of the superintendent of the circuit to declare the fact publicly in the church, at the ijame time guarding the moral character of the person excluded against any imputation. But such a process is now almost unheard of. The reasonable inference is that in the Methodist Church, usage, yield- ing to new conditions, is preparing the way for legisla- tive enactment, which will, doubtless, in due time, bring this body into harmony with other churches as to the conditions of membership, without its either abandoning the guards it has ever set over the spiritual life, or nefflectinor that direction of Providence which has been its wisdom and security at every turn in its past glorious history. Discipline. At a previous point in this discussion a division was made between those laws ecclesiastical, which are of a constitutional nature, and thosi3 which relate to discipline. These are regulations designed to conserve the spiritual life and power of the church, and to pro- mote morality and virtue. They not only affirm the positive precepts of morality enjoined in every part ■• . ' .I ' -ig M JWHIi ' UUM BW! ;-v*Sj 52 of the sacred Scriptures; but they also attempt to declare in order what rules of holy living may bo legitimately deduced from the principles taught by Jesus Christ and His apostles; and they assert the lowest standard of morality which is consistent with membership in the church at all. They may be divided into two classes. There arc 1. Those which are based upon positive precepts of the Bible, and, therefore, admit of no doubt or con- tradiction. 2. Those which are inferential, and relate to doubt- ful things. As to the first class there can be no difference of opinion. All who partake of the Christian spirit at all, admit that fraud, and falsehood, and theft, and murder, and vileness, are inconsistent with a Christian profession. No church can make an act a crime which the law of God does not make a crime, nor take away the guilt of what the Bible declares to be wrong. At this point all churches touch a line of unity. They affirm the Decalogue. They can also unite in a statement, with some orderly classification of its contents, as to what the Bible declares to be guilty or innocent. But, nevertheless, the practice of different churches in dealing with those who transgress these positive precepts of morality, recognized by all, differs widely. In the Church of England, ample provision is made for the bringing of a bishop to trial for immorality, the dissemination of false doctrine, or for canonical disobedience. No system of jurisprudence could pro- meS&j 53 vide anything apparently more complete and fair. In addition, an Imperial Act of 1840, adopted as far as it is suitable to Canada, provides for discipline in the case of all clergymen inferior in rank to bishops. The church also asserts the propriety of discipline in the case of laity, as well as clergy, for canonical offences ; but it seems not to have provided, though fully author- ized to do so, for the disciplinary treatment of moral offences committed by the laity. The provisions for the exercise of discipline go far enough to assert the conviction of the absolute neces- sity of moral purity in both laity and clergy, but leave so much wholly open as to indicate a doubt of the wisdom of a church calling its members to account for aberrations from the right path. The Presbyterian Church indicates a similar hesi- tancy in its warning against " undue solicitude to pry into private conduct or family concerns, or to interfere in personal quarrels, or to engage in the investigation of secret wickedness." Nevertheless, this church has a very thorough system of most admirable provisions for the trial and punishment of both clergy and laity, guilty of any practices or deeds inconsistent with the Gospel. With this church, five years is the limitation within which accusations must be brought and pur- sued ; otherwise, except in very heinous crimes, the offence must be left with the conscience of the guilty party. In the Church of England the period is limited to two years. The Methodist Church shows in the department of discipline, as in the class-meeting, its characteristic 54 thoufifht of the individual. One indication of this is the fact that the book which other churches call their constitution, rules, etc., the Methodist Church calls its Discipline ; but the word must be now understood in a wider than its ecclesiastical sense. This church provides for the most thorough investigation into the conduct, in relation to morality, of all its members, both clerical and lay ; for the correction, by adequate punishment, of offences against the Word of God, and for the removal from positions where they can work evil of those who do not obey its laws and regulations. Having a system which demands, in its efficient work- ing, the most thorough obedience at many points, it has found it necessary to work by rule, instead of allowing its rules to be disregarded. It has no limita- tion of time within whi«';h accusations must be brought and sustained. Now, it may be deemed unwise, as in some cases it seems to be, to deal with offences committed by the laity against morality ; but of the right of a church to pursue such offending members with appropriate punishment, there can be no doubt. Such a practice lies fully within all the principles by which eccle- siastical legislation in independent bodies is limited. Nor does there appear to be much ground to question the wisdom of this course, if the church attempts to maintain any moral standard at all. If its aim is to be simply a vast, social organization, more or less affected with the salt of Divine truth, making way for spiritual currents, but not especially seeking to promote them, then its peculiar mission will not be ::saKn23r-s3rrr5E3raKCT^a 55 greatly hindered by the irregular lives of some of its members ; but if its aim is to stand face to face with individuals, to win sinful men, warning them person- ally, and entreating them earnestly to seek a better life, then the foulness of one man, clerical or lay, may neutralize the influence of all its appeals. This has been experienced again and again. But, if possible, a graver and more dil^^nlt ques- tion is the relation which a church's leixislation should bear toward those things which in themselves cannot be regarded as positively sinful, but which may prove destructive to the religious life if habitually indulged in, and which cannot but be injurious to a person's Christian influence. They are not positively forbid- den by the Word of God, but to say the least they are of a doubtful character. In its recognition of such subjects the Methodist Church stands alone. Its legis- lation definitely covers all things which may become an occasion of offence. It distinctly declares that, " The general rules are to be understood as forbid- ding neglect of duties of any kind, imprudent con- duct, indulging in sinful tempers or words, the buying, selling or using intoxicating liquors as a beverage, dancing, playing at games of chance, encouraging lotteries, attending theatres, horse-races, circuses, dancing parties, patronizing dancing-schools, taking such other amusements as are obviously of a mislead- ing or questionable moral tendency." It is urged against the church exercising any legis- lative authority in this difficult field : 1. That these things are not actual sins. Assuredly, 56 no one could rank attendance at a pleasure dance, or the playing a game of whist, with lying, or theft, or murder. It would be exceedingly dogmatic to assert that no man could be saved if he should die at a theatre, no matter what the circumstances might be ; or that if he should cease to live while swallowing whiskey, or playing cards, or looking at a horse-race, he must inevitably perish. But if a person should end his days in the act of trying to take another man's life, or in adultery, or profanity, no charity could find ft way for his salvation. Hence, when the positive prohibitions of a church extend to these things which merely indicate an evil tendency in the heart and life, which may develop into all manner of evil and vice, or possibly, may not go so far, it is claimed that such laws class evil tendencies with positive sins, and thus by implication make that to be a sin which God does not make a sin. That is a higher function than any church has a right to assume. 2. That where there is a proper spirit of piety, and a deep, fervent religious life, such laws are unneces- sary, because each person will know and feel in him- self what is right in relation to all things of a doubtful nature. Of this statement, as a matter of fact, there can be no manner of doubt. When moral influences are dominant, when the church is charged with a high degree of .spiritual life and power, there will be no danger of its members running into evil or sin along any of these tracks. When revival influences prevail, the whole membership of a church rises into a clearness of moral perceptions, and a forcefulness of moral » ' » » . t t *i 57 » > » , t f ' f» endeavor, which lifts them fully up to the level of all the requirements of morality, whether written or unwritten. People would then do all, and more than all, that is required by any written laws on such points, and as readily if nothing is written, as if regular declarative rules are on the books of the church. And if the church cannot be kept at a suffi- cient fervor of devotion to desire to avoid all appear- ance of evil, then it will not regard laws on subjects of a doubtful nature, even if they do exist ; and so existing and disobeyed, they must do more harm than good. 3. That such legislation tends to weaken Christian character, and to prevent its vigorous development, by removing any opportunity for the exercise of discrim- ination. Evervthinff in the rcliijious life is reduced to a system of rules. The novice is put into this machine, and driven through without discernment and without growth. He may either become an unreasoning bigot, putting the rules of his church in the place of God, or his thinking nature will eventually rise up in protest against its trammels, and then he will be in danger of rushing to the opposite extreme. For such reasons this field is left open by most churches. Many clergymen in every denomination warn as faithfully against the first step in the way that may end in evil as do Methodist preachers, many laymen and their families may abstain as scrupulously, but they deem it wise to say nothing in the way of ecclesiastical legislation, but to leave the whole to the individual conscience to indulge or abstain. 58 But, on the other hand, it may be said in favor of legislation on these subjects : 1. That no church does constantly retain the spiritual fervor necessary to secure obedience to all moral pre- cepts through its own inward impulse towards good- ness. Failing in this, it is better to keep the form of moral purity by rule than not to have it at all. These rules are then a memorial of what has been, an imper- fect indication of what ought to be, and they keep alive in the hearts of devout men a hope of what shall be. 2. They are useful at all times for the purpose of education. Even when the spiritual life of a people is so strong that they would do all that morality requires if there were no commandments, some will not know what really constitutes Christian morality, and they need the instruction which plainly written rules alone can aiford. And even in the most intelli- gent communities, there are many so constituted that they must work by rule. They arc incapable of dis- cerning and applying great principles for themselves. So far as their church marks out the way, they will walk in it in happy obedience. It is for them to obey all that their church commands, which they do cheerfully. But if their church provides them no rules, they will simpl}' make some particular indi- vidual their rule, ana go by him in all things. They cannot do otherwise. Now, it is better that a number of the wises !^ and best men of a church should make rules for such as cannot walk without rule, than that they should be left to copy the warped character and tV/^aflSBT' 59 notions of some one person, whose vanity and conceit, may be, make him forward to lay down rules for all who will heed. 3. Again, this class of laws represents the church's high ideal of what the outward life of a Christian ought to be. All ethics is the science, not of what human life is, but of what it ought to be. Why may not this class of legislation be as valuable as any other ethical teaching ? It exhibits to the world the standard to which the church attains in its best members in their best moments. This is better than a blank, which may be understood to mean that there is no conviction, no striving after anything better than what is. We are not without Scriptural example for this education by a high ideal. The uniform method ex- hibited in the Bible is the leading of men forward by showing them higher things than they have yet reached. The Decalogue itself was only an ideal standard to the chosen people through many centuries. Up to the time when it was written they had no education but that received through generations of bondage, and they were intellectually, morally, and in every way incapa- ble of rising at once to the requirements of a law so just and equal as the ten commandments, which, in- deed, is a higher statute than the morality of the pres- ent enlightened age fully satisfies. It is not, there- fore, a proper occasion of surprise to discover in the lives of those to whom this law was first given many violations, not only of its spirit, but of its letter also. The pictures in the Old Testament of rare acts of obedience, where the life of Israel rose to its best, must 60 not bo taken as indicating the tone of obedience which generally and habitually prevailed. The Sabbath was not always the " holy of the Lord and honorable " by any means. Some of the leading and best illuminated men of the age and nation at times are found to follow very confused notions on the subject of adultery. It was only after weary centuries of the most severe discipline that the fatal root of idolatry was destroyed. With this law recorded in the temple, the masses of the people lived in open violation of its requirements. When after many wide wanderings and guilty back- slidings they were led back to the law, for a time they would remember the altar, and sacrifice, and Sabbath, and duty to God and man ; and by every such return something new and better entered into the nation's life. It was pitched at a higher key. We trace, dis- tinctly defined, a growth in spiritual discernment and sensibility between the days of Joshua, and Isaiah and Jeremiah. The words of the later prophets on the subject of the Sabbath, for example, are in a tone much clearer than those of the earlier days. It required thousands of years of discipline to bring that favored people up to the standard God had given them. But during: all these ages the law was the ideal standard of moral excellence. A few of the most enlightened and spiritual no doubt lived up to it all the time. All of them, probably, in their best moments, touched its line sometimes. But complete and universal obedience to it was ever a dream of the future. The Sermon on the Mount represents human life pitched upon the staff an octave higher than the Deca- I I -f* 'I I. ■4 I » < .» y 61 loguo. All good men admit, in thought and intention, that it shows only what life ought to be. The best of men sometimes rise to its level. But all fail of living up to all its requirements always. Many cannot go so far as to admit even that it was designed that men in the present state should ever expect to attain unto it. It is undoubtedly a rule, whose requirements are to be realized, but it is yet only an ideal standard to the Christian church. But still it is constantly raising the life of weak, imperfect humanity to a higher plane. Now, it is urged on behalf of inferential laws, pro- hibiting things which lie in the region of doubt, that, like the Sermon on the Mount, they help to keep the thoughts of men high, and that all who honestly aim at moral excellence reach a higher plane of living than they would if the eye was never lifted by the standards of the church above that to which they habitually attain. While, therefore, some strong points may be made against any legislation by churches on subjects which the Bible does not define in plain terms, much, on the other side, may be said in favor of a clear declan'^ion by the church of what its interpretation of the Bible is on every moral question, even to the extent of des- ignating as evil to be avoided, things which the Word of God does not clearly condemn. But if our judgment accepts the latter view of the case, still it remains that certain general principles should be recognized in the administration of these specific laws. 1. First of all, the enforcement of them should tiever G2 be the end contemplated in the administration of dis- cipline. It is a mistake to suppose that anything in the form of a law, which is not strictly, rigidly enforced, is an evil and a mockery. The church is a remedial institution, and it is always btitter to save a man than to enforce a law. And forbearance may often do more to effect the salvation of the transgressor than the in- fliction of the full measure of penalty upon one who has transgressed in whole or in part. This applies also to the regulation of the Methodist Church, which requires every member to attend the class-meeting. A rigid disciplinarian may go through his church, cutting off every one who has become careless in his attend- ance upon that useful means of grace, or who has been known to drink intoxicating liquor, or to attend some prohibited form of amusement; and, having scattered his membership riyht and left, he may say in triumph to his bleeding church, " I have fewer members than before, but I have enforced 3'our laws to the very letter." He says the simple truth, and he is legally above any impeachment. Indeed, the law must praise him ; but he is indicted by common sense, and by the best tj'pe of moralit3% with the guilt of having done a very foolish thing. He has retained all of those who stand in fear of everything bearing the name of law, but he has cut off many of those stronger characters, who discern from the heart the import and substance of true laws of morality, and who may have possibly aimed in an occasional transgression at the very end these laws contemplate. Of course this can never bo true where a po.sitivc precept of the Word of God is "tf 63 transgressed. In this case the penalty should not be stayed. But where the law is only an inference, the event in the past has not proved that rigid enforce- ment, as an end, has advanced* the cause of true religion, however much it may have gratified the passion for exactness, and the disposition to measure spiritual forces by numbers, or by the carpenter's rule, of the petty hand which, for the time, held the sceptre of power. But, it is asked, what is a rule for if not to be enforced ? Why not then abolish it ? Would any one propose to abrogate the Sermon on the Mount because it is not perfectly obeyed ? He would find but few followers. So laws on the statute book of a church, which indicate simply a moral tendency, may do incalculable good, though sometimes transgressed, and prosecutions under them rarely occur. How this may be has already been explained. As to the vindica- tion of law, independently of other considcration.s, it is a fact that every law, as indeed every man, is vindicated as long as it appears that there has been no partnership with unrighteousness. The legislation of churches receives its highest vindication from the good results which flow from it in general. Nothing of this kind can be perfect in every particular. Under the dispensation of Protestantism it is never worth while for authorit}" to lift itself up and show its hand, merely that it may proclaim its name. What it can- not do by persuasion it will rarely accomplish by penalty. Strict law, merely held up as a moral standard, will oftener than otherwise win back to its 64 line those whom discipline would long before have pufc beyond its reach. That is, of doubtful things. 2. A second principle is that the church should be preserved. As the first duty of a national governuient is to preserve the nation, p those who rule the church should aim first of all at the perpetuation of its exist- ence. All pastors have proved that it is much easier to get men out of the church than into it. Anybody can destroy a congregation. It requires wisdom, piety and power, sustained by infinite labor and thought to bring a church together and to keep it united. It is on this principle that a church is justified in cutting oflf ministers who have departed from its standards of doctrine. Where doctrine is the basis of the church's attack upon the world — and it is diflScult to conceive of any other adequate basis — to under- mine the people's confidence in doctrine is practically to destroy the church. And so all forms of law are designed, and should be used, to perpetuate the church and not to destroy it. 3. The purity of the church must be maintained. There is much crying out for a liberal, popular church. No contention is made here for the gratification of that cry. No church can aflford to be liberal toward sin, nor toward principles which with the growth of a century will encourage sin. Nor can a church afford to be without standards of moral purity. To profess nothing is to surrender to the enemy of righteousness. And standards may assuredly be abolished by total neglect. l 65 fore have should be verninenfc le church Us exisfc- ch easier Anybody wisdom, bor and keep ifc tified in rom its basis of difficult under- ctically . aw are church tained. hurch. ion of oward h of a afford rofess sness. total There are periods when there is little spiritual life in the church, and men's senses are slow to discern the right path. The great principles of truth are niisapplied, and explained away. At such a time the church may reatfirni the mighty, concjuering con- victions of the purest people in its membership, by cutting off and cleansing itself from those who are wilfully impure, and who would gladly draw all down to their own level. The declaration, by a practical enforcement of its law, that bad men shall not be church members, has often been the beginning of a revival of true religion. And even when there is an abounding religious influence, those who disregard it, and set exhortation aside with contempt, and arrogate to themselves a higher spiritual discernment than the church has expressly indicated in its rules ; and yet at the same time prove, by their epicurean indulgence of them- selves, that they discern nothing spiritually, will make their best contribution to the purity of the church by ceasing to be connected with it. But what immeasur- able tenderness and Christlike loving- kindness is neces- sary in proceeding in such cases. A young pastor, with a theoretical standard before his eyes, with more of the magistrate in him than of the Christ, may seek his conception of a pure church by the heat of a tiaming lash, rather than by the refining Spirit and the uplift- ing arms of love. The Scriptures speak much of a purifying by faith and by love and by blood, but never do thet/ propose a purifying by law alone. There are few Savonarolas, perhaps not one living now. 6 ^ 66 And there is rarely a place for such stern spirits, saving men by wrath and cleansing them by the scourge. In this world an absolutely purified and perfected church is not to be looked for. He who teaches one person to discern the true spirit of moral excellence from his inmost soul, has done more for righteousness than if he had compelled one hundred to obey set laws of morality without loving them, or feelinir in themselves their excellence or the wisdom of them. 4. Excisions from a church should be sustained by such conditions as will secure the support of the moral sense of the community. One of the most lamentable consequences of the divisions of Protestantism is the destruction, to a large degree, of the effect of church discipline. The strong rivalry in numbers, and espe- cially the competition for the patronage of rich men, create a readiness on the part of one church to receive into membership the disciplined members of another. Hence, unless the cause for which a member is cut off is such as will be supported by the moral sentiment of truly good men in all churches, the person so cut off may go across the street, and, in a few days, be a member in full communion with a church as pure as that which cut him off; and sometimes he will gain a great increase of influence and popularity by the sen- tence inflicted upon him ; while that church from which he has been cut off has impressed the com- munity with its narrowness and even pettiness. What gain is *here in being able to say we have vindicated the purity of the church, if truly good men cannot I 1 \ /' discern that by our act the church is any purer ? The church loses, instead of gaining, influence ; the man cut off suffers no punishment, what advance is made ? This is not equivalent to saying that a church should be governed, not by the deep convictions of its own members, but by public opinion ; but it is saying that all churches should recognize that the convictions of good men in other churches are worthy of respect as well as their own. Nothing but a general union of Protestantism will elevate membership in the church to that dignity and value which ought, in the sacred name of Christ, to belong to it. By act of parliament the sentence of a bishop, or of an ecclesiastical court in the Church of England, is made good in law. Under such circumstances it becomes a matter of grave consequence to a man what decision concerning him may be reached by his church. A united Protestantism would give even a higher dignity to any position, or character in men, which it should recognize ; and its denunciations would be a blow so severe that even a bad man would think long before he would incur such a penalty. 5. And further, excisions should have a reasonable regard to the moral welfare of all the persons imme- diately aftected. Sometimes an adverse decision of his church in his case would break the last restraining bond which holds a man back from utter demoraliza- tion. He would rush headlong into infamy. For- bearance does not make him a perfect Christian, but it turns him away from much sin. It holds him back from the greatest evils. The great aim of the 68 Christian church is to heal. The man is in the hands of God as well as in the hands of the church. The Christian church is broad enough in its platform to exercise charity towards the erring. A temperance society has but the one thing to guard. If it has not total abstinence from intoxicating drinks it has nothing. But in contrast the church has the whole round of virtues. He who fails in one may yet have others to build upon, and if there be sorrow for the failure, how much there is to invite charity ! It is also worthy of consideration whether some for- bearance should not be exercised in behalf of an offender's family. He himself may be so sullen as to feel no shame for his offence, or for his expulsion, while half a dozen most worthy members of his family may be plunged into the deepest shame by the occurrence. Truly the love of Christ, and the wisdom of an anointed angel are necessary to guide the hand which administers, so that regulations which are subject of inference in relation to morals may accomplish the highest good without harm to any. 6. Finally, a church is bound by all moral consider- ations to bear and suffer with its members, as well as to vindicate its own character for purity by cutting them off. The fact that a man has become the subject of a scandal is not sufficient justification for a decision against him by his church. He may be innocent, but none the less will public opinion rave and call for his punishment. When such painful facts arise it is one of the most sacred duties to which a church can be f i f t I f 69 m it is t i ) ; I f called to suffer with an afflicted member, and to walk even in shame for his sake, until in due time God shall vindicate the just. It should neglect no diligent inquiry as to the actual condition of the facts involved. It should make them known. But it dare not, in the sight of heaven, free itself from trouble and misappre- hension by a deci.sion against one who is unfortunate* but not guiltv. What, then, is the present prospect for a united church ? 1. There is general agreement in all the doctrinal truths essential to Christianity, and freedom in the statement of others. Neither the Calvinistic nor the Arminian interpretation of Scripture is essential to Christianity. Neither one holds all the truth of Divine revelation. Both contain much of the truth. It is not worth a contention which has the most. But there is, undoubtedly, a great increase in the freedom of statement of the truth on both sides. Without abandoning anything essential to his system oF inter- pretation, the preacher on either side can employ new forms to express the old truth, and not create a sus- picion that he has abandoned the old landmarks. Sermons are not now preached so much to expound or defend a system, as to reach the hearts of men with the substance of the truth as it is in Jesus, and as revealed in the Bible. The ablest commentaries of recent years were not written, like the old ones, to prove the coirectness of an existing system of tlieology, nor with a view to the creation of any new system, but to reveal the meaning of the Word of God in alJ its bearings. 70 '2. In the field of religious experience there id also a manifest advance toward unity. No one has aban- doned the doctrine of regeneration and sanctification through the Spirit, but men have learned that, stand- ing on the verge of that mysterious world of the Spirit's working in the human heart, they are not wise to speak dogmatically as to the full measure of what has occurred in man when the gracious Spirit has vouchsafed Ills presence in a manner that admits of no doubt. We do know that regeneration changes a man from evil to good. Here there is certainty. We know that, at least in some cases, great advances are made very suddenly, and are afterwards fully maintained ; but that the same work in measure takes place in every one, in the instant when he submits himself to God, we do not know. We are no« certain — we cannot be — just how far God may have led a man in Hooding his spirit with a great blessing. What it means to one it may not mean to another. That sanctification means living to God wholly, all can admit. But that we, with our imperfect vision, can trace the very steps by which God leads any one up to that eminence of intense devotion, and assert dogmatically that we know the contents of each im- pression, is open to question. But what an advance ! The time was when it cost much to assert even a clear experience of regeneration. Now all preach this. 3. In the constitutions of the various churches we have seen there is a general likeness. The relations of the lower to the higher courts in each are much the »ame in all. rui » I < 4. So far at least as practice goes, the conditions of church membership are about the same. 5. The widest remaining difference is in the extent to which the church as a body, follows the individual as a member, into his private life. In respect to minute laws for the particular government of the individual, the Methodist Church is at variance with all others, as we have fully shown. But its regula- tions are not a line in advance of the strong con- victions of the best people in all churches. The Christian world will agree that human morality should exhibit to mankind the substance of what Christ's life was, as a man, on this earth. There is universal agreement as to the end which it is most desirable to reach, but difference of opinion as to the best method of getting there. What shall the end be ? The divisions of Protes- tantism have unquestionably rendered valuable service to the cause of truth and righteousn-jss. Mighty con- victions were necessary to the fighting of the great battles of civilization. If the convictions which moulded the ages did not embrace the whole truth, they never- theless kept fast by the line of the truth. But sometimes they ran across other convictions just as certainly along the same line. But it is written in human nature, and in the nature of things, that these conflicting lines should, in time, flow together. We live in the time when this fact is being realized. The ends to be served by division have been accomplished. God from above, and the earth from beneath, are calling for a united church, to contend with problems '^:lM '•^:'ffM ' 72 of greater interest to humanity than any which have yet risen above the moral horizon. In comparison with the salvation of the uncounted hundreds of millions who never saw the Bible, and never heard the name of Christ, and the proper instruction of ignor- ance, and the adequate relief of poverty that is worthy to be raised up, all the theological conflicts of ages are the merest trifles. The race has outgrown them. The Christian church has risen above them. The brighter day, with a promise of nobler things in its hand, is at the door. I M aiUii^oMiA& .-.■■-aujti-^..,.,,-...^^:.-^ .-Ji-'m.^itMiA^.