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Un daa aymbolaa suhrants apparaltra sur la darnlAra imaga da cliaqua mieroficha, salon la caa: la symbola — »• signif la "A SUIVRE", la symbola ▼ signifla "FIN". Mapa, plataa. charta, ate., may ba filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one expoaura are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, aa many framae aa required. The following diagrame illustrate the method: li.es cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre fiim*e i dee taux da rMuctlon diff*rents. Lorsque le document eet trop grand pour Atra raproduit en un eeul clichA, 11 eet film* A pertir de Tangle supArieur gauche, do gauche A droite. et de haut en Imb, en prenant le nombre d'imagae nAceesaire. tea diagrammas suivants iliuatrant la mAthoda. rata lelure. -: A ^■-. 3 I2X I ■ ( t ■ t : a , 1 - 2 3 4 5 6 A LETTER TO TUB RIGHT KEV. THE LORD BISHOP OF QUEBEC, ON Sttbjetfe mmit)^ toit^ Slrattariamsm IN THE CHURCH. BY THE REV. GILBERT PERCY, LL. D., T. C. D. Cathedral Lecturer, and Secretary of the Diocesan Church Society. QUEBEC ; PRINTED BY P. LAMOUREUX, SHAW« BUILDINGS, rooT or novsum bhx, lowbk xowir. Ill/ " From all false doctrine, heresy, and schism ; from hardness of heart and contempt of thy Word and Commandment, good Lord deliver us." — Litany. ' ' ' ,\- TO THE RIGHT BEV. THE LORD BISHOP OF QUEBEC. a; rd My Lord, When I reflect upon occurrences of no remote date in England, when I recall tho teachings of Archdeacon Denison, the mummeries enacted at St. Paul'*, Knightsbridge, and at St. Barnabas', the atroci- ties, (I can call them by no lighter name) perpetrated in the Scobell case, and other matters of a cognate character, too numerous and too notorious to demand any thing more than a mere passing reference, I con- sider no apology to be necessary on my part, as an attached member and humble Minister of the Church of England, for taking the liberty of addressing this letter to your Lordship, whose especial duty it is to watch over not merely the temporal concerns, but infi- nitely more so over the spiritual interests of the Church in this diocese : and, consequently, to employ your best and holiest energies in the endeavour to " banish and " drive away all erroneous and si \?ige doctrine con- " trary to God's word." I believe, my Lord, that Tractarian tendencies are stealthily, but steadily, developing themselves in our midst. And if we of the Clergy, who are set as watch- men unto the house of Israel, will not lift up a standard, if we suffer our trumpets to send forth an uncertain sound, if we give no warning when the enemy approaches, and is even at our gates, great will be our guilt : and of our Zion it may be said, " Her watchmen are blind ; " they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they '• cannot bark ; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber." I do not mean, my Lord, to insinuate, (when I bring an accusation, it is not my wont to hint it : but to state it honestly and boldly), I do not mean, in any wise, to insinuate that there \h aught of unsoundness in the clergy, as a body : — God forbid that I should do 80 ! for that were contrary to my firm persuasion and belief. Nor do I mean to imply that their flocks are in any degree infected with the virus of Tractaria- nism. On the contrary, I believe most firmly, and beg leave most sincerely to congratutate your Lord- ship on the fact, (for such I am convinced it is) that the Laity are thoroughly sound, and to a man opposed either to the introduction of Oxford novelties, or to tho revival of exploded superstitions. And, if it were ne- cessary to call upon them for an expression of their sentiments, I entertain the full conviction that I should be justified in confidently assuring your Lordship, that they would be ready to copie forward, as true Church- men, and practically mark their appreciation of the " cunning craftiness " of those, who are endeavouring, so far as their puny efforts may, to insinuate between the goodly hewn stones of our Protestant Church the narrow extremity of the Tractarian wedge. An attempt, (blessed be He that reigneth over Zion!), that must prove bootless, and profitless, and vain, so long, as churchmen acknowledge the Bible, the Bible only, as the charter of their Church ! In abler hands indeed, far abler than those that at present attempt to wield the implement, the effort would prove a failure, com- plete and total. I have therefore no apprehension what- ever from Its application, under the direction of the class of individuals, who for some time have ventured to assume its management. But, though we may not fear for the stability of the edifice, it is our duty, your Lordship's duty and ours, the duty both of the Laity and of the Clergy, to look well that it be neither dishonoured, nor disfigured, that its fair proportions be net marred, nor its goodly stone-woik overlaid with any worthless " daubing of untempered mortar." Occupying, by your Lordship's appointment, the position which I have the honour to hold among the Clergy of Quebec, and filling the important situation of Secretary to the Church Society of the Diocese, I feel it a duty doubly incumbent upon me to oppose, so far as my poor efforts may, practices and principles, which I beli.ve to be not only contrary to the doctrines of the Church of England, but to be subversive of them, and to be based on deadly error. 1 am aware, my Lord, that in the faithful discharge of such a duty, I cannot hope to escape the shafts that '• back-wounding calumny " may aim, that I must anticipate the possible incurring of no small amount of obloquy, that I must expect to have the purity of my motives impugned, that I must submit to be looked upon by some as a troubler of Israel. But, I have counted the cost : and, in the cause of truth ; in the cause of the Church of England, which I believe to be the cause of Christ ; God being my helper, I value not what man can do unto me. But I have a good hope, however, that the general verdict of the Church in this Diocese will not be unfa- vourable to me ; and that they will rather be stamped as the troublers of Israel, who, through a silly fondness for the puerile absurdities of past ages, an insane desire for the revival of practices long obsolete, a childish passion for the introduction of frivolous novelties, and the inculcation of exaggerated views of things in them- selves indifferent, have excited divisions, given origin to doubts, and stirred up strife among the congregation of the Lord. I am confident, indeed, that persons of the class described will be looked upon as disturbers of the Church's peace, rather than they, who take their stand upon her Articles and Liturgy ; and fearlessly, because conscientiously, oppose the insidious artifices of those, who in the pride of that " little learning," whereof " shallow draughts intoxicate the brain," or through simple, senseless folly, would graft, in this young Land, upon the goodly stem of the Church the foul, unwhole- some branches of the Tractarian Upas-tree. I am thus, my Lord, in a measure forced by my position ; compelled by a sense of duty ; constrained by the anti-Church-of-England principles and practices of some, from whom one might have expected better things ; to come forward before the public, in a manner foreign from my habits, and altogether uncongenial to my disposition. But, in addition to these motives, in themselves sufiicient, I have yet another, of closer personal interest to myself ; the importance of which your Lordship will readily acknowledge. Having, not long ago, on the platform of a pubHo mooting, expressed ray belief that Tractarlan principles were being disseminated by cer- tain individuals in this Diocese ; and your Lordship having shortly after, at a committee of the Church So- ciety, pointedly expressed your dissent from the opi- nions, which I had given expression to on the occasion in question, and declared your firm conviction that there existed no foundation for them ; I feel that your Lordship has left me no alternative, but either to retract my statements, as publicly as they were made, acknowledging candidly that I had been mistaken ; a course which none would adopt more cheerfully and more honestly than I, should my views be indeed demonstrat- ed as erroneous : or to endeavour to establish the allega- tions olfered, to substantiate the charges made, and thus to evince that I have spoken neither falsely, nor " unad- visedly with my lips." On the present occasion, (reserving to myself the right of entering, in all probability, more largely upon the subject hereafter), I shall confine myself to a review of a single Tract, which has been put into circulation by some of your Lordship's Clergy. And, if I succeed in proving — as I fully expect, with God's help, to do — that many of the doctrines therein inculcated are plainly repugnant to those taught by the Church of England, and are in perfect harmony with the Traotarian heresies of the present day, such is my confidence in your Lord- ship's sense of justice, and so strong my belief in your lack of sympathy with the views of modern innovators, that I am convinced you will at once pronounce me guiltless of misrepresentation ; and, however grieved at the necessity which called for such exposure, you will rejoice that such unwholesome and erroneous doctrines have been dragged from their darkness into the light of day, that they may be known, and condemned, and shunned by the true children of the Church. There is then, my Lord, a Tract, published by tho " Society for promoting Christian Knowledge," at pre- sent circulating in your Lordship's Diocese, and in your Lordship's parish, to which I beg respectfully to direct your special attention. It consists of extracts from the works of Nelson, an old writer, who lived during the reigns of Charles IL, James II. and William III. To <'>. fe^KittMIMHii James II. of persooutinff and popish memory, he was di'votedly attached : and, on the accession of William, he remained a non-juror, refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the Protestant King ; and so continued to remain, until a few years previous to his death. The Traot professes to be merely a disquisition on •• The Ember-days of the Four Seasons ;" but its main objects most unquestionably are, or, at least, its direct tendency most indubitably is, to exalt unduly the importance of external ordinances, and to magnify, beyond all reasona- ble bounds, the dignity of the clerical Order. The writer's inordinate zeal for the attainment of these ends may in part be accounted for ; and, in a good man, to a certain extent excused ; when we consiilor the peculiar circumstances of the Church of England in his day. " Living at a time," (as stated in Life of the Au- thor, prefixed to the edition of the original work, pub. 1848.) '• when sound doctrine and pure mtrality were " alike banished from the high places of the earth, and " when the holiest ordinances of our religion were ne- " glected or impugned j" living in an age, as he him- self remarks in his preface, •' which among those crying *' abominations, that like a torrent had overspread the " nation, seemed to distinguish itself by a great con- " tempt for the Clergy :" it is scarcely to be wondered at that, as the over-strained steel will rebound in the direction diametrically opposite to that of the foree originally applied, he should have been led, through disgust at the tone of reckless immorality so generally prevalent throughout the land, and tht; spirit of neglect- ful apathy exhibited towards even the most solemn of the outward rites and ceremonies of the Church, to rush into the opposite extreme ; and to look upon those things as constituting the substance of religion, which are its adjuncts merely, or at most, only the means or vehicles of grace. Actuated by such an influence as this — so at least, in charity, I would assume — actuated by such an influ- ence it is, that, indignant at the contempt poured upon Festivals and Fasts by the Puritans, and at the general indiflierence manifested towards them by the members of the Church of England, he is seduced into an unholy effort to elevate them to the same l^vel of sane- ! i : 8 f J tity with the Seventh Day, to rank the institutions of man high as the ordinances of the Lord !-^Here are his own words, as written in the preface : ♦* It is highly " probable, from all Sundays in the year being placed " at the head of the festivals, that it was the intention " of those that compiled the Liturgy that they should *' all be observed after the same manner, not only with " prayers and thanksgivings, but with rest from ordi- " nary labour.^* A conclusion, directly the reverse of that at which, I confess, I should have arrived from the same premises. For, as the Sundays are placed " at the head," not mingled nor amalgamated with the Fes- tivals : and, in every Book of Common Prayer that I have ever seen, severed from them by a separating line ; I should have concluded, that the compilers of our Liturgy looked upon them as essentially distinct, did not mean that they should be observed after the same manner, and gave the higher honour to the Sabbath Day. But, my Lord, omitting any further reference to the preface, I beg permission to direct your attention to the Extracts themselves. The first chapter is taken up with an account of the Ember-Days, speculations as to the etymology of the term. Doctor Maraschal's conjectures upon the subject, the mode of manufacturing Ember-bread, and the pro- per time for eating it ; together with a lengthy disqui- sition on the several offices of Deacon, Archdeacon, Priest, Presbyter, Bishop, Archbishop, Primate, and Metropolitan : — topics which, however interesting, or even useful in their proper place, your Lordship will agree with me, are likely to prove any thing but " good to the use of edifying," any thing but profitable to the the soul's health, or conducive to the spiritual suste- nance, of the generality of the dwellers in St. John's or St. Louis' Suburbs. With one further reference, I shall dismiss this chap- ter. In answer to the question, " What is the office of a Bishop V it is stated, among other matters, that it is his office " to absolve penitents." Now, my Lord, as this Tract is exposed for sale at the Depository of the Church Society, of which your Lordship is the President, and is circulated extensively in this parish, of which your Lord- /" 6hip is the Hector, It is to be presumed that such sale, and such circulation, meet with your sanction and ap- proval. I feel myself therefore fully justified, for the honour of that Church, Reformed and Protestant, to which we belong, whose pure and un-popish doctrines are built upon the unerring Word alone ; but infinitely more so, for the sake of the poor and ignorant, who may read that Tract; for the sake of the immortal souls, whom God only can absolve from sin — I feel myself, for these and other reasons, fully justified in calling upon your Lordship to explain distinctly, to define ex- plicitly, what meaning they are to attach to these words, in what sense they are to understand the declaration, that it is one of your Lordship's episcopal and priestly functions " to absolve penitents." The Seconal chapter is chiefly occupied with the subject of Ordination. The questions are largely discussed, as to whether " the office of the Apostles was superior to that " of the Seventy ;" and as to " what powers were exer- " cised by the Apostles, which the Seventy were not *• endowed with." Various testimonies are cited in evi- dence of the early establishment of episcopal govern- ment. In the course of one brief page we find the following formidable catalogue of Worthies of the ancient days: — St. Clement, St. Ignatius, Clemens Alex- andrinus, Irenoeus, TertuUian, Origen, St. Cyprian, and Eusebius. An array of authorities, whose very names, one would suppose, ought to be sufficient ti carry con- viction to the hearts of all the inhabitants of the Sub- urbs. But, lest names alone might prove inadequate to evince to them, (what possibly they never questioned), that the power of Ordination belongs solely to the Bishop, they are overwhelmed by the very words of Jerome, the ipsissima Latin words themselves ! " Quid enim ** facit, excepts ordinatione, episcopus, quod presbyter " non faciat !" What a profitable Tract for the perusal of the poor and ignorant, for the enlightening of the ungodly and the sinner ! Towards the conclusion of this chapter we find the question propounded, " What privilege, besides Ordi- " nation, is peculiar to the character of a Bishop ?" — The reply to which is, in part, *< The solemn rite of f' 10 *• Confirmation j vheyein the Bisbop* by laying on of *♦ liands, and authoriidtive jpTAjer, convtya to such per- ** sons, who in the presence of the congregation sincerely -' renew their baptismal vow, a proportionable degree of ♦• God's Grace and Holy Spirit." I mean not to decry the rite of Confirmation. I desiire not to cast the slightest slur upon its usefulness. It is a holy, ail ancient, and, to those that are recipients of it in a fitting spirit, a beneficial rite. But, I had supposed, and so, I presume, had most Churoh-of-England men supposed* that the goodness of God would unfailingly, for Christ's sake, bestow his Grace and Holy Spirit upon all, (how-^ ever in themselves confessedly unworthy of such vast blessings), who should sincerely renew their baptismal vow, even though they had never been participants of thatEite: upon all, who should from the heart '* re- *' nounce the devil and all his works> the pomps and ** vanity of this wicked world, and all the sinfUl lusts of « the flesh :" upon all, who should from the heart " be- " lieve all the Articles of th^ Christian Faith :" upon all who, in reliance on His aid, should faithfully resolve to " keep God's holy will and commandments, and walk " in the same all the days of their life." But no !— These blessings are to be attained, not through repem tance, not through faith, not through the individual sinner's heatt-wrung supplications, not even from the overflowings of God's spontaneous goodness : but — ^by the Bishop'i hands, and through his " authoritative prayer." These are the mystic vehicles of the Holy Ghost : the magic conveyancers of the Grace of God ! The writer proceeds to say, "in the primitive times these effects," (i. e. God's Grace, and Holy Spirit), «« were extraordinary gifts^ as best fitted to the infant ** state of the church ; but, upon the settlement of it, the ** Holy Spirit guides it by secret and invisible oommuni- " cations ; and these common graces are obtained by *' such as are qualijied** (the Bomish grace de congruOf I presume) " to receive them, and seek them in a regular and ministerial way" — that is, of course, by the laying on of hands, and by the authoHtadve prayei*. After these statements, I confess that I was surpri" fled ta find ^e writer quoting the Ix. canon, in the most kelf^complttotnt manner ipossible, as ih(mgii it fUTouired It the views vrhioh he propounds, instead of being directly opposed to them. In good sooth, my Lord, here or nowhere have we " the engineer Hoist by his own petard 1" Quoting the canon, he observes that the Church of England has thus declared her sense of this matter : *' It hath been a solemn, ancient, and laudable custom, " continued from the Apostles' time, that all bishops *' should lay their hands upon children baptized and ins» " tructed in the catechism of the Christian religion, " praying over them and blessing them" — (Can. Ix.) — Yes, that is precisely the Church of England's doctrine : but manifestly not the doctrine of the old Non-juror ; although, by what appears to border on a '^ pious fraud," he would fain press this canon into his service, and have us believe that it speaks the language of his superstition. The bishop, according to the accredited authorities of the Church of England, lays his hands upon those who come forward to be confirmed, praying over them, and blessing them. But neither Canon, nor Confirmation-" Service, breathes one syllable of the authoritative prayer which convey* God's Grace and Holy Spirit. Wo turn over a page or two, in which Tertultian, St. Cyprian, and Jerome, are again paraded, and we find, in an enumeration of the qualifications necessary for Cob" firmation, the following indispensable one ; ** They must ** prepare themselves for this ordinance by prayer and "fasting, &c. ••*•• And, in order to these ends, it is " advisable that the candidate should frequently read " over the Offices of Baptism and Confirmation." I have just read them both over, on the supposition of a possible failure of my memory ; but in neither of these Offices is the word, "fasting," so much as once men- tioned, nor is there even a remote allusion to the subject. The concluding query in the chapter now under review, has reference to the advantages of Confirmation. Among the advantages specified is the following one : ** It conveys divine grace to encounter our spiritual ** enemies, and to enable us to perform what we under- " take." Indeed! Confirmation conveys divine grace! enables us to encounter our spiritual enemies, and to perform what we undertake l-^If this be indeed the oaee* K c u then is the Romtsh doctrine of the opw operatum true* and it is the doctrine of the Church of England ! — ^which I deny. '\■■:^^itimr<^^'y Chapter III dilates largely on " the dignity of the Priesthood." — There is no one, my Lord, less disposed than I, to detract from the true dignity of the Clergy.— It is impossihle, or, at least, it were absurd, to suspect me of any motive for desiring the depreciation of mine own Order. Heartily do I subscribe to the declaration of the author of this Tract, that the office of a Christian Minister is " an employment in its own nature the most " honourable, and in its e£fects the most beneficial to ^ mankind.'' But, when he demands, <* what are the benefits of the Priesthood 1" and replies that, (among other things), " it is by the execution of the Priest's " Office, that our spiritual life is maintained by the Holy *' Eucharist," I demur to this, and I denounce it as a Bomish figment, and ac most unscriptural falsehood. The Catechism of the Church of England asserts that the benefits, whereof we are partakers through the Eu- charist, are, not the maintaining of the life of our souls, but the ** strengthenmg and refreshing," only, of our souls. And an authority, higher than that of the Cate- chism, has enunciated the glorious and eternal truth, that it is " Christ who is our life." " I am crucified with Christ ; " ^saith the great Apostle of the Gentiles), never- theless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live" — not by sacramental grace, not by eucharistic ordinances ! — but, " by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Again, it is asserted that by the execution of the Priest's office, " the pardon of our sins is signed and sealed to us." What the meaning of this may be, I do not pretend to understand : and, in the hope of an explanation being offered, *' pause for a reply." Again, it is asserted that " our minds and consciences *' are quieted by the comfort and benefit of absolution." The allusion here is, I presume, to the form of absolu- tion in the Order for the Visitation of the Sick, and to the first Exhortation in the Communion Service : but, if so, the writer has strangely pretermitted all notice of the ncoompanying " ghostly counsel and advice*" which are 5! IS Aesoribcd aa equally ministering to '* the quieting of the *' conscience, and the avoiding of all scruple and doubt- " fulness." I confess, my Lord, that I had once felt much diffi- culty on the subject of the form of absolution referred to. The apparent strength of the language employed perplexed, and, (I may acknowledge it), almost con- founded me. But, the more searchingly I investigated the question, the more closely I compared the form with other portions of the same Office ; I am rejoiced to be enabled to say, so much the more firmly did I become convinced, that they who framed that Form, meant it to be viewed in a precatory and declaratory light only, not in a judicial. The words of absolution, let us observe, are introduced by an acknowledgment, that they only have any claim to pardon and forgiveness, '< who truly repenU and believe^* in the Lord Jesus : and earnest prayer is offered to Him, that " of his great mercy He may forgive the offences" of the penitent. And im- mediately after the utterance of the form, the direction of the Bubrio is, ** Then the Priest shall say the Collect following." Now, the Collect following contains this petition, " Open thine eye of mercy upon this thy ser- '* vant, who most earnestly desireth pardon and forgive- " ness." But why should this fervent prayer- for mercy be, at that instant, offered in the penitent's behalf ; if, in that Tery moment, he had already obtained mercy, through the priestly absolution? Or why should the absolved penitent still " most earnestly desire pardon and forgiveness," if the priestly lips had already con- ferred upon him both? Again, in the same Collect there is the following petition : '< Forasmuch as he, (the " penitent) putteth his full trust only in thy mercy, im- *' pute not unto him his former sins." Now, on the supposition of the penitent having just received judicial absolution from the priest, could any thing, (I appeal to the common sense of men), could any thing be imagined more outrageously contradictory, more incongruously absurd, than that the absolving priest, having by God's authority pronounced the pardon of the penitent's " for- mer sins," should in the same breath thus earnestly supplicate the Lord that those self-same former sins may not be imputed to him % Is there not indeed throughout 14 thli whole Oolleet, to be used ImmcdlateTy after the form of absolution, a complete and full acknowledgment, on the part both of the penitent and of the priest, that God only can pronounce the absolute pardon of sin : and that the priestly absolution, even in the Office for the Sick, is nothing more than that which Is delivered continually from our Desks, in ithe order for Morning and Evening Prayer throughout the year ; wherein it is pro- claimed, that '* Almighty God hath given power and " commandment to his Ministers, to declare and pro* ** nounoe to his people, being penitent, the Absolution *' and Eemission of their sins V* That the Church of England attaches no very weighty measure of importance to the form of Absolution embo- died In the Order for the Visitation of the Sick, is, I con- ceive, sufficiently evident from several considerations. She can scarcely, indeed, be said to do more than merely to suggest its use, and that only on particular occasions. She certainly does not any where po8iti\re1y enjoin it. The Rubric simply says, that if the sick person " feel his conscience troubled with any weighty matter," he shall be moved to make confession of his sins, (to which, who is there that Till object ?), and then the form of Absolution may be used, or shall be used ; but only, (it is expressly provided), if the person " humbly and hear- tily desire it " As a further evidence that the Church attaches no undue weight to the form of Absolution, I may state, on the authority of Procter, (Hist. Prayer Book, Note, P. 389), a witness certainly not prejudiced in favour of the views I advocate, that while the Rubric of 1549 required this Absolution to be used in all in- stances of confession, this direction was omitted in 1552, and the phrase shall absolve " after thi$ torV* substi- tuted for the original " cffter this form." An omission, and a substit-ution, manifestly not made without d^ign, not without significance ; and, in my judgment, clearly establishing the fact, that not merely was the use of the Absolution left discretionary with the Minister, but even the words with which it should be clothed, the shape in which it should be delivered. He is to absolve, not after this^orm, but after this sort : that is, on tiiis wise, after this fashion. In explanation of the reason why it ia direc^d in th« 16 Bnbric» that tbe Absolution in the Miorniog Serviot ■hould be pronounced by the FrieBt, and not by a Dea- con, I find the following argument in " Hill's Letter to the Laity/' p. 19 : an argument which, I conceive, may with equal force be applied, mutatu mutandit, as fur- nishing us with reasons, sufficient to enable us to account satisfactorily for the strength of language admitted in the Absolution in the Order for the Visitation of the sick. " Perhaps," he says, " it may be asked, ' Why *' does the Church of England confine to Priests the " powerof pronouncing Absolution, if it be nothing more *< than a declaration of forgiveness, upon repentance I' ** I reply, Because, when our Liturgy was drawn up, the " roople had been accustomed to rate very highly the *' benefits of Absolution ; and our Reformers, anxious ' ' not to shook, unnecessarily, the prejudices of the peo> *' pie, nor altogether deprive them of their accustomed *' cordial, lest it should be said * the old wine is better, '' thought it advisable to inyest the Declaration of For- " giveness ivith greater solemnity, by confining it to the " higher order of Clergy, while they carefully guarded *< against the notion that any mortal could bestow remis- " sion of sins." It will be seen at once, as I have suggested, how easily, and how efifectually, this argument may be em- ployed in order to account for the nature of the language admitted in the Service for the Sick. But the words, " Ego te ahsolvdi* I absolve thee, were not known, were not used in the Church of God, before the 12th or 13th century ; as appears abundantly both from Hooker and from Bingham. And, in fact» in the 16th century so little Ivelief was there in the priestly absolution, that Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, (Defence of his Answer to Cartwright) assumes the acknowledged fact of a bishop having no power to remit sins, as an illustration to evince that he neither has, nor pretends to have, power to convey in Ordination the graces of the Holy Spirit. I am aware, indeed, that in tne words of the Archbishop, a Prelate to whom the Church of England owes, in a great measure, what she yet retains of the wreck of her originally vast posses» si 3ns, and " the preservation of the Episcopal order :" (Yicb TtSi Ch» JOist. p* 6e^), and vlu)fle ortbodosiy wim 16 of a type so rigid, that he was an object of censure equally at the hands of Puritans and of Bomanists — I am aware that in the Archbishop's words there will be found strong grounds for sore disgust to some of our young sciolists in theology : but, nevertheless, they must be quoted. " To use," saith he, " these words, ' Receive ** ye the Holy Ghost,' in ordering of Ministers, which ** Christ himself used in appointing his Apostles, is no " more ridiculous and blasphemous than it is to use the ** words that he used in the Supper :" and then, proceed- ing with his argument, he adds, " the Bishop, by speaking " these words, doth not take upon him to give the Holy " Ghost, no more than he does to remit nnt, when he " pronounceth the remission of sins." Even stronger still is the language of Cranmer, Arch- bishop and Martyr : which, as connected with the subject of the last quotation, though not directly bearing upon the point that I am now discussing, I shall venture to bring forward, as exhibiting how widely the world- renowned worthies of a former time, men who sealed their profession with their blood, dififered from the mo- dem school of Bomanizing Theologians. ** There is no ** more promise of God," saith Cranmer, " that grace is " given in the committing of the ecclesieutical office, than " there is in the committing of the dvil office. — (Burnet, Hist. Bef. Vol. 1. B. III. Bee. 21.) Hear ye this, ye unfledged Divines ; alumni of univer- sities equally unfledged: who seem, in ;your self-suffi- ciency, to think that when ye die, " wisdom shall die with you !" Two more quotations, from men whose names are in themselves a tower of strength, and I dismiss this portion of my subject. Gilbert Burnet, sometime Bishop of Sarum, writing on the very topic of the Absolution in the Order for the Visitation for the Sick, thus expresses himself: — " The *' pardon that we give, in the name of God, is only <2e- " daratory of his pardon, or supplicatory in a prayer to ** Him for pardon :" and then he further adds, " In thi^ " we have the whole practice of the Church, Hill tht " Twdfth Century, universally on our side." — (Expos, Art. XXV.) Here we have, veritably, the famous Canon of Yinoentias LerhiensiSt " Quod sempert quod ubique, 17 Siod ah omnibv*,** &o.; the pet formula of the Schools of xford and of Rome : but — with this difference, it is wholly on our side — wholly on the side of Protestant, Evangelie Truth. Lastly, Richard Hooker, sumamed ** the Judicious," i« his great work, written in defence of the Church of England against the attacks of the Puritans, under the head of " Absolution of Penitents," thus writes: "the act of sin God alone reinitteth. — ^•♦••* The stain He ** washtith out by the sanctifying grace of his Spirit ; ** and concerning the punishment of sin, as none else hath " power to oast body and soul into hell-flre, so none ** hath power to deliver either, besides Him. As for th« ** ministerial sentence of private absolution, it can be n4 *' more than a Declaration what God hath done: it " hath but the force of the Prophet Nathan's Absolution, *' God hath tak^ away thy tin j than which constructiov, " especially of words judicial^ there is not any thing " more common." And again the Judicious Hooker writes: " Wherefore the further we wade, the better wa " see it still appear, that thb Priest doth nbvbr in *' Absolution (no not so much as by way of service and *' ministry) rbally, either fcrgivb the act, takb *' away the uncleanness^ or rbmovb the punishment of *' sin ; bnt if the party-penitent come contritb, he hath " absolution bbporb Absolution : if not contrite, ** then, although the Priest should ten thousand timesf *' absolve him, all wbre in vain." — (£coI. Pol. B.- VI. C. 6). It is furthermore* my Lord, asserted is this chapter* that, by the execution of the Priest's Office, '< men are: ** turned from darkness to light, convinced of the folly of " their sins, and the necessity of being holy," &o. No^ doubt, through the instrumentality of godly ministers,- such great and glorious results are often witnessed : and blessed are they that thus ** turn many to righteousness ; they shall shine as the stars for ever and ever ! " Bnt the spirit of the writer's assertion in^ tMs paBsaga) evidently tends to the inculcation of ^e belief, that these results follow the e£RBctual worMng of that one great ins- trumentality alone ; to> magnify which, in every imagi- nable manner, />er\/a« 0< Me^, is manifestly the oiijeot higbr for th« accompliihmd&t of which he hii entarad tho' c ■' Vl »*-^. y lists, and laid hla lance in rest, prepared, as a gallant knight of chivalry, to hold the field, a Voutrance, against all comers. He will not admit even the most passing allusion to the possible fact, that sinners may, in some rare instances perhaps, be turned from darkness to light, be convinced of the folly, the danger, and the guilt of sin, and of the necessity of newness and of holiness of life, even through the poor influence of such a worthless thing as mere lay agency ; or through the prayerful study of those gracious Oracles, which, if we give aught of credence to our Lord himself, are able to make men wise unto salvation. These things are not alluded to, these topics are not touched upon. Why should they : when the writer's object is the enhancement of the power and dignitv of the Priesthood ) In further support of the object which he affects, the writer, (most ludicrously, in my judgment) quotes Plu- tarch, and Strabo, and Porphyry, and Gsesar, and Titus Livius ,* that we may learn how the Egyptian Kings, if chosen out of the profane ranks of the soldiery, were im- mediat«ly obliged to become Priests : how the Magi in Persia, were " Privy-counsellors to the Emperors :" bow the Brachmans in India were exempted from " legal pen- alties and tnh\ite%"-—bene^t of clergy, I venture to sug- gest ! — how the Druids of Britain, Trance, and Glermany, "judged all public and private causes, and distributed *' rewards and punishments :" how the Romans set so great a value upon the priestly order, that if their highest magistrates by chance met any of Vesta's Priests, they gave them place : how Numa Pompilius — ^But my pa- tience fails. Here are this Church Champion's authori- ties, (and verily, etrange ones they are : these antique pa- gans !) for the due upholding of the dignity of the Chris- tian Ministry — some of his authorities, at least. And I wish his upholders and admirers ample joy of them ! In answer to the question, how the priesthood was es- teemed among Christians in the olden time, we are in- formed that " Ecclesiastical history is full of instances of ** the respect they then paid to their bishops and presby- ** ters, by kissing their hands, and bowing to beg their *^ blessing." If I may venture to hazard the remark, X would reverently suggest that profane history also af- fords us inatances numberless of similar prostrations--ri 19 prostrations both of mind and body t belted knights, and sceptred kings, bowing in ail lowliness and self-abasement before the shaven priests of Rome; right puissant sovereigns, like lackeys at the palfrey's side, humbly holding bit and stirmp for the gorgeous HIeraroh to mount: throned montrchs suffering their royal dia- dems to be kicked and trodden by the sacerdotal foot ; and even Imperial forms, half-clad in rags, feet bare, exposed to all " the pitiless pelting of the storm," waiting for days together, unadmitted, at a Eroud Pontiff's gate. And to descend at once from the igh sublime to the low ridiculous. Newspaper history, !f we had access to the files of some five and twenty or thirty years ago, would tell us how that the earlier por- tion of the present century was not one whit behind the old ecclesiastic times, in the exhibition of the respect men paid to their Bishops : for is it not recorded on those files, how the world-known " Liberator " of Ireland knelt low- ly in the mud of Ennis, humbly to claim the passing be- nediction of his Bishop I But why go back for thirty years, to disinter examples of reverence for the priestly office 1 Is it not, even in this our day, an honour highly esteemed, and that appertaineth but to few, to be allowed permission to bow down, and kiss with solemn awe the toe of him, who sits Upon the seven hills, a priest, (if without profanation I may say it,) *' a priest upon his throne!*' We are further, my Lord, informed in this chapter, that the Clergy of the Ghurch of England are " God's Yice-gerents," (Will not old Borne feel disposed to con- sider this announcement as constituting rather a feloni- ous appropriation of her rights !), " God's Vice-gerents and visible representatives here on earth ;" that they are his ** immediate attendants, his domestics ;" (really, my Lord, I transcribe the precise words), that they are ** empowered and authorized to transact for God ; and " that not only in some particular things," but in fact in all things relating to the wondrous subject of " reconci- liation between God and man." This concluding statement, I pray your Lordship to remark, is closely in accordance with one of the dogmas of the somewhat notorious " Beaven's Oatechism :" a work which* I may observe, en poitdnt, though rejected M PI i II bf » Urae seetioB of th6 Protesttnt Episoopal Church in the tliited States, ub uBsound in doctrinA, was, it is w«11 known «iifreptitioiiRly introduced bomo time since in- to the Church Society's Depository, by one of your Lord- ship's Clergy ; and has also been largely used at the National Sunday School, and I believe at some other of our BuiK^y Schools in this city, especially in the instruc- tion of oaadidates for the Confirmation recently held by your Lordship. In Beaven there are, (amonff many other eurious, and some wuetmly, things,) the following qu*" • <^on and answer :— Q. What persons are authorizi 1 ^ Koonoile penitent sinners to Ood 1 — Ans. The If iuiuters of the Church. — And, as a proof, we are rc.'Virreu k 2 Cor. V. 18, 19 : " All things are of Goc, w^' ; i ath re- <' conciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, auu :.ui Used with " quoting Scripture fcnr his pur- poses :" for, If there be one passage more than another tmsuited to his purpose, if there be one passage that more clearly than another disproves bis assertion, if there be one passage that utterly demolishes his arrogant assumption, it is this. Does not the Lord's Apostle, speaking dfrectlv by inspiration, here declare that it is God who reconciles sinners to himself by Jesus Christ ; and that He h^d committed, even to the Apostles of his Son, the minintry and the word of reconciliation alone ? In other language, that the i. i'r Oi*f» A God are to pro claiip to fill ners the word, ticj , ^ "ce, the i^ms, of mercy sad of reooBoiliatioi ur^jU upon them ear- nestly the belief of that doctrine, the acceptance of those terms ; and, as ambassadors for Christ, to pray them in Christ's stead to be veoonoiled to God. But there is not so much as the shadow of a basis for the bold assump- tion, that men are reconciled to an oiSended God by t^e Minister! of the Chnreh* If we needed, indeed, a ooro- Church «•> itia iino« in- ir Lord' at the other of instruQ. held by y other g qu'^' . z; : a iuj.«ier» reu ic ath rO' given atGoii «lf, not com- »what> other ith his irion.") I that I abject, 9 pur- Dother B that iOD, if ogant >08tle, k it is ' brist; >f his lone? pro IS, of ear- ^os« m in snot imp. 'tlie )om- ment upon the w^n-ds of the Apostle Paol, if we de- sired to kn* w ^he nusa/itng he himself attached to the expreusion, "the ministry of reconciliation," we should find it in i 's own lan^ tiage addressed to tiie ciders of tha Church at Ephesus ; when, jn prospect of bonds, and afflictions, and ovn of death, he ^^poke unto >hem ii words well worthy of " Paul, the aged, " well worthy of the Christian warrior, and right loyal servant of his Xiord : " Xone of these things move me, neither count I ** my life dear unto myself, so that I nught finish my " course with joy, and the tniniatry, which I have re- *' oeived of the Lord Jesus, to tettify the gospel of the ^' grace ff God /" - The fourth and last chapter refers to many and miscel- laneous matters ; and, in the first place, to " the duty o^ "all Lay-Christians to their spiritual governors." i might possibly take exception to the lust term — but let it pass. I concur sincerely in the writ( ''s sentiment, (for it is scriptural,) that with regard to tie ministers of the Church, the members of the Laity are i )Ound " to honour " and esteem them highly for their won 's sake, to treat " them with respect and reverence ; to L 've them, to pro- " vide for their maintenance, to pray for them; and to ** obey them/' at least in all things lawful. But I am again compelled t« join issuo with the wri- ter. " If the ministers of God," saith h€), " do not act ** suitably to the dignity of their character, may we not *' contemn them 1" No, no I quoth Nelson on the Fasts and Festivals. " Their character should certainly de- fend them from contempt." What! Their character defend them from contempt t Though that character, as assumed in the question, be unworthy of a Christian mi- nister ? Though that character be a stain a-ad blot upon the holy profession which they disgprace 1 "V 'as ever any thing more illogically perverse, more absurdly monstrous, written 1 To make allowance for human infirmities, tocast ayeU of charity over many failings, to pity and compassionate (hose that,*through mortal frailty and strong temptation, may have fallen, is questionless the duty of every christian man . But, that we are bound to hold in honour those that walk unworthily of their holy calling, simply because such is their calling ; thftt we Ar« forlttdd^A to eAtertain M>1HI IP ' ( i -I'' * >iM 2S towards them even sentiments of contempt, when the dishonour they do to God and to his holy cause might, (if we were strictly to interpret the Psalmist's words, Ps. 139. 21,22.) warrant well even a far sterner feeling : this I have yet to learn, this I have yet to be persuaded to believe. In further pursuance of his theme, " A pardon," says our author, " passed by an immoral lord-keeper, or a sen- *' tence pronounced by a wicked judge, are looked upon as " valid to all intents and purposes, because their efficacy "depends not upon the qualifications of those in commis- " sion, but upon the soveniign authority from whence " they both receive their commission. So the advantages " we derive by their administrations," (i. e. the adminis- trations of unworthy ministers), *' and the relation they «' have to God should still preserve respect for their per- •' sons." I acknowledge, my Lord, the validity of the pardon passed by the immoral lord-keeper : I acknowlege the validity of the sentence pronounced by the wicked judge. But I entertain no shadow of respect for the per- sons or the principles of either : on the contrary, I thorough- ly despise, and from my heart contemn, both the lord- keeper and the judge. And similarly so, by a parity of reasoning, and by following out the line of argument indi- cated by the writer, if I do not conceive myself justified in absolutely despising, I do conceive myself more than jus- tified in withholding all respect — emphatically, all res- pect — from him who, knowingly and advisedly, acts unworthily of the character he assumes ; I care not whether it be in things temporal, or in things eternal : even though his commission proclaim him an ordained Minister of the Church. I pass over several pages bearing on the same topic, and come to the subject of Tithes. In connection with which we are edified by a quotation from Sir Edmund Coke (lib. I. C. 9, Sect. 73, fol. 58), and a sprinkling of old Norman French : to the eflFect that " the first Kings *' of the realm had all the lands of England in demesne, " and let grands manours and les royalties they reserved ; " and with the remnant they enfeoffed the barons." Ab- bot Ingulph, and Matthew of Westminster (A. 855) are then cited as witnesses to prove that " at this time Ethel- '• wulf, the second monarch of the Saxon race after the '• Heptarchy, conferred the tithes of all the Kingdom upon «• the Church." Here we are furnished with references to St. Ireneeus (Adv. Hoer. 1. IV. 0. 34), Origen (Cont. Col. 1. VIII. P. 440), and St. Cyprian (Unit. Eccl. n. 3, Can. 4, 36).— -Nice light reading this, my Lord ; and pro- fitable withal, for the illiterate poor ! The next subject discussed is Sacrilege. A sin of very early date indeed: for the most remarkable example adduced is the case of Adam ; who, it is stated, " as some «* think, ate of that tree as common, which God had reser- " ved to himself as holy." This topic is dismissed with a grave reference to " Sir Henry Spelman's History and Fate of Sacrilege discovered by examples," &c. Sir Henry (for I have taken the trouble of looking into the subject) having purchased certain lands, which had in former times constituted a portion of the possessions of two of the suppressed monasterit^s ; and encountering obstacles to the quiet enjoyment of his purchase ; was seized, (protestant though he was), with violent scruples of conscience ap 1;o the lawfulness of a layman, or of any man, enjoying the broad lands of the ejected Monks : and wrote on the subject a work entitled, De non teme- randis Ecclems. At a later period, A. D. 1620, or thereabouts, influenced b^ the same " compunctious visitings," he published the History and Fate of Sacri- lege. It relates chiefly to the alienation of Church and Abbey lands : and we are directed to its antique pages for evidence, as to the << destruction this grievous crime ** brought upon several families of the nobility and gen- " try " of the English nation. This folio would have formed, unquestionably, in former years an invaluable addition to the libraries of the legislators of Canada ; and might have worked wonders in the prevention, or retardation, of the Secularization of the Clergy Reserves : but I must be permitted to question, hesitatingly, its general adaptation to the somewhat unlettered latitude of the Suburbs of Quebec. To Sacrilege succeeds Simony. For the more effec- tual suppression of which, we are informed, that '* it is " determined by the laws of our Church that there *' should be no Ministers sine titulo among us :" and that *' the party presented to any benefice shall make " oath that he hath made no simoniacal payment, con- u " tract, or promise, directly or indifeotly, for obtaining " the preferment. — (Can. 40.) In the reign of Eliza- beth, we are further told, it was enacted, " that he who " takes money for presenting, shall forfeit double the " value of one year's profit of the living ; and that he " who ordains for money, shall, besides being otherwise *♦ censurable, forfeit the sum of forty pounds." — (31 Eliz. c, vii.) Lastly, we are instructed, that it hath been shown by Bishop Still ingfleet, " that by the old Eccle- " siastical law (Eccles. Cases, p. 32) before the stat. 31 " Eliz , a deprivation and disability was incurred by i> " simoniactis." O, my Lord, what worthless husks are these, which we dare to proffer to the poor, the needy, and the hun- gry ! Nay, worse than husks : for in such some nutri- ment may be found. But the famishing ask us for bread t and we give them a stone-^for fish : and we offer to them a serpent. One more notice, and for the present I have done. It may be that hereafter, (if the Lord will), I shall take the liberty of respectfully directing your Lordship's atten- tion to certain further evidences of those Tractarian t^endencies,. which I have referred to in the earlier portion of this letter. At present I enter not more deeply into the subject, lest I should pass unreasonably the bounds^ of space allotted ordinarily to letter-writing. After explaining the nature of Schism, and making reference to the subjects of Donatism> Novatianism, and Arianism, the writer demands, " What may we learn " fromi the consideration of those duties which we owe " to the Ministers of Jesus Christ I" Among the morel prominent portions of the answer are the following ; w» learn " that one proper method to increase our reward in •• the next world is, to do all good offices to those that *♦ are dedicated to the service of the Altar ;" and, " that *♦ there is n& better way to edify the body of Christ, *' than by preserving a great deference for our spiritual " governors." No better way, doth this old writer tell us ?— The Word of God, I trow, if studied in a prayerful,- humble, and obediential spirit, would show unto us a better, " a more excellent way," than this ! I have now, my Lord, (to borrow a forensic phrase) gone through my case : and I beg to oommendit humbly 25 ^ to your grave consideration. I trust that I have demon- etrated satisfactorily, that there did indeed exist grounds amply sufficient to vindicate the justice of the statements, to which I gave publicity, on the occasion to which alrea- dy reference has been made. That such grounds have existed, and do exist, no man in your Lordship's Diocese regrets more deeply, or more sorrowfully, than I do. And if, in the preceding pages, I have sometfmes written in a style lighter than some might deem the solemn nature of the theme required ; it was only on tho old Horatian principle, the adoption of which your Lordship's classic tastes will not condemn : " Ridiculum acri Fortius et melius magnas plerumque seoat res." I have, in reality, written in sadness. And with a re- luctant hand have I exposed the gangrene, that has already commenced to eat its way into the vitals of the Church. Such exposure, however, was a stern and sad necessity. For unless the evil were unveiled, unless the unsightly sore were laid bare, its existence would be dis- believed ; and none would lift the knife for its extirpation, until it had spread too widely, and too deeply, for re- moval. My Lord, your Lordship has presided long over this Dio- cese. Your character is well known, and justly held in favourable esteem. You are|looked up to, personally, with sentiments of regard and reverence by the majority: among whom I claim permission to include myself. By those possessed of better opportunities than I can pretend to, for forming an estimate on such subjects, you are said, (whatever may be the principles of some, presumed to rank high in your Lordship's confidence and favour), to have no sympathy with the views of the ultra-High- Church or Tractarian Party. I have therefore the more boldness in addi1;ssing my solemn appeal unto your Lordship. With regard, then, to the Tract of which this letter treats, and which is now by the hands of some of your Lordship's Clergy circulating in this city, I call upon you, with all the respect and reverence due to tho high office which you hold, to examine well, and to declare distinctly, whether you- look upon it as teaching doctrines consonant to the doctrines of the Church of England. I call upon you, as a Bishop D ttftd db6j(fi0ri of the ioclt for wbich Christ dled^ tci prottonncci ^htetlrer it is a ^drk, trhich furnishes fooa sound, And suitable, and nourishing to the sheep ^ lambid of that flooi;, over which God has given ftm the oYjBrslght. I call upon yoii to say, whether yon^ cmisider it calculated to prove instrumental in winning so^ls to Ohrist, in turning them from darkness to ligh^ firooi the power of 8ata;at unto Ood, and in making them wto^ nnto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesils. I call npotf yoti to sav, whether the themes dilated on in this publication of the " Society for promo-- ting Christian Knowledge," constitute such subjects of contemplation aaf are mee^ and profitable for the aged and the dying sifttier : for into the hands of such it has been given. And; antidpatfiig AiUy from your Lordship a ittvitiVe' reply upbn.the^e several points: convinced, mi^over,- With respect to the statements and doctrines vfbAcloi I have here endeavoured— faithfully at leasU hoover fi^ebly-^to expose ; that it will be abundantly aaffieient id submit theni simply to your notice, in order to lnsnr& t&eir oondemnatioii at your Lordship's hand!s ; I oallUpeti'yoti»' in God^s name, using the authority which He has given you, to put an end a.t once to the dissemina- tion of tliftfj aitaddf such-li^ennpirofitable, and unwhole- some ptbUioia'tio^; in ydt(r Lord^p*^ Parish, and Diocese atiarge. Praying from the heart that, in the langjiage of onr Utorg^.tne great Head of th^ Church may grant unto yofQt LorddM^ that yott " ma]^ both perceive and know wlist things you ought to cm; and also may have grace ahd pow^ failJiMly to fulfil the satn^," i hav^ the honer to be, My Lord, Your Lordship's Obdt., ' And Humble Servt., « QUEBBCi April, 24, 1858. dilLBEET PBEGT, LL.D. S c, ■.. •