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(For Privafe CirfvJntion only.) ^,'=\ ^. '=hr'^ ^f Quebec, 24th April, 1857. Sin,— As you waited upon mc ofliclally, a few days ago, though not of your own movement, but in consequence of some repre- sentations made to you by certain members of the Managing Committee of the St. George's Society, respecting the manner of performing the services of the Society's anniversary, I feel it incumbent upon me, in order to prevent any misapprehen- sions which might otherwise go abroad upon the subject, to address to you the remarks whicli here follow. I must premise that I am not in the habit of exercising any kind of interference with the arrangements for service on St. George's day, — the Cathedral being placed, for the occasion, at the disposal of the Society, and the Ciioir making their pre- parations, upon which they bestow much time and pains, in concert with the Committee. Upon the approach of yester- day's celebration, as there had been found reason, before you spoke to me, to forego tlie intention of performing the full choral service of tiie Church of England (to which it appears that exception v/as taken by the gentlemen above mentioned, but which, as being characleristically a feature of English usages, had been thouglit, in other quarters, appropriate for the particular occasion,) — f judged it best to let the day pass off, before troubling you with any communication, or promoting any discussion upon tiie subject. But although 1 had nothing to do, nor had any of the clergy, with the original proposal for a regular choral service, 1 cannot, in the situation which it has pleased God tliat I should hold in His Church, allow it to be supposed fur one moment, that I am a party to the condem- nation of a known, recognised, established, hereditary practice of the Protestant Church of England, preserved to us uninter- ruptedly, exce[)t during the overthrow of the Church Estab- lishment in the success of the Great Rebellion, from the times of the Reformation : — A practice which 1 have never entertained the idea of introducing as our established mode of worship here, but to which, in ifse//", in common with a vast proportion, — I suppose I may be warranted in saying the vast majority of our clergy and laity, — 1 profess myself sincerely and strongly attached. The Choral scrrice being, iii a good measure, confined lo Calhedral tind Collegiate Cliurches and tlio Ciiapcls of some principal Colleges at the Universities, and the Cathedral Church here being used as the Parish Church, and even the surpliced clioir, (a feature of many Parish Churches, as well as of all Cathedrals at home,) having been, for some years, suspended, on account of the diiliculty of keeping it up without cndowment,^that service is unknown to residents here who have not been in England, or have happened, when visiting England, not to become acquainted with it. It is iberefore very easy for persons who have, more or less a taste for agita- tion, and for attack upon the Church, — (1 think, although they may certainly mean well in what they are doing, a ve-y unfortunate taste for themselves as well as for their neighbor.'!,) — to excite a feeling of jealousy and suspicion of innovations, at the very mention of a Choral service. Diit you, 8ir, who were bojii and bred in an Englisjj CatliL-dral town, (of which same town, I happen also to be a native, mvself,) are perftH'tly aware that the practice in question is not tiie mark of a party but a standing practice of the Church of England ; and possibly you may not be indisposetl to echo, in relation to solemnities performed in this manner, twice a day through the week, in all the Cathedrals, the sentiment of Southey, May they continue for ever ! Tastes will difler : and dilfurent minds will be aflected in a different or even in an opposite manner, by the same thing ; but there are thousands and thou- sands of true-hearted sons of the Protestant Church of Eng- land, who feel the Choral service to be something both sublimely and touchingly devotional ; and it is upon record that the celebrated George Herbert, a burning and shining light in that Church, being in tiie habit of frequenting the Cathedral Hcrvices of Salisbury, near to his own cure, was wont to say that he felt his participation in them, to be a kind of heaven upon earth. A few years ago, the Dean efoneof the English Cathedrals, took upon himself to set asidu some of the prominent charac- teristics of the Choral service in that Church, and to substitute a performance more like the ordinary Parochial use. The congregation, however, at once and in a body, rose up against the change, and appealed to the Bishop, (residcrU in another •nfincd to Is of some Catlicdrcil 1 even tlie as well me years, ip without I ere wfio 1 visiting lheref()rc for agita- ougii they a ve-y liiglibors,) iovations, J^ir, wl)o "f which perfw.tly fa jiarty mil ; and lation to oiigh the ley, May dKforent opposite and thou- of End- ing both n rccorci iiing light ^^athedral it to say f heaven ithodrai.*, t f.harac- 'ubstitule sp. The p against 1 another city with which, ectltsiastically, the See of that in (juestion is incorporated,) claiming it as their right to have continued to them, the practice received from their fathers and loved by themselves. The day will pn)bi7bly cornf:, thouirh it may bi» very distant, when the Churchmen of Quebec will bo j)rovi(I(,d with Cathedra!, besides the ordinary Parochial service, and will appreciate it as it was appreciated in ihiit English Catheilral town. In the mean time, I have the fullest reason to know that it was a great disappointment to many j)prSi)n.s here, that they could not, at lea^t on one s[)e(ial occasion iti (he year^ have the gratification of hearing the full Choral service, which would have been performed in a mai.ner not to do discredit to any Cathedral at home ; and such features nj it as were introduced on St. Geori^e's dav.were welcome to their heartw. Tliere was, however, no blame attaching to anybody for the curtailment, the piopriety of which, I uiyseif, for re-isons which I thoUi^ht suHicient, agreed to and allirnitd. IJut if it ia supposed in any (juarter, that I iun cluirgeablo with authorita- tively originating the relin(juifchment of the fidl choral pcrftr- mance, as admitting it to be per se, iihjectionable or imdcsirable, and that I was inlluenced in favor of tiiat reliiifjui.sfiinent, bv any article written in the paperj^, I only desire to say that I never saw any such article, ixud scarcely heard what way its tenor. It may have been very pro})erly exjiressed, and [)repared in a very proper spirit — I am entirely willing to believe that it Wi s 90 — but whatever may have been the nature of tlie parlU cular case, it must evidently follow, if the course of the Chuich, as a gtnerul principle, is to he dictated by the authors «)f anonymous communications, and that in papers conducted under the ausj)ices of persons who dissent from her, (to whom, how- ever, I do not intend the slightest disrespect,) — it must, I say, most evidently follow that ihe regulation of her proceedings wouhl precisely be placed at the mercy of the most ill-informed as well as the most ill-disposed members of the community. And, with whatever good and pure intentions such anonymous communications may be made, it would be well for the framers of them to pause and consider, before they launch their pro- duction, that they cannot j)ossibly more oblige or better serve any parties belonging to other communions, who may have eVil will to our Zion, and especially within the Church o( Rome, than by circulating; all ovur tliu Pr*)vince anii beyond it, the impression olMissotisfurtiuii, (listrviNtiinil dispute existing within the bosom of tlic Church of En^Mand. I thank God, however, that, if tlicso do exist, they are i^rotindlcss bore. In the whole of the three Canadian Dioceses, there is not, I believe, one Clmrch wiie.ro practices have been iutroduccd which could give reasonable i^round of ollence, nor one cler^'yman who has attempted any suc!i equivocal usao;G. I thank God, also, that I believe, there is no moro united Diocese in the Empire than this poor Diocese cf Quebec. What sinL>;le good object can be pointed out, to counter- balaiicG the miscliief of these aiioiiymous communications, it is diifiGult to un lurstand ; and thoy are the more to be deprecated because all the authoriti^'s of the Cuurch, if recourse, in the natural ordor oi thiivr,?, vvore iia I to tliem, would be found freely accc.'^sible and ready to ric^'ive siufjijcstioiis as Weil as to ailord information and reasonable satisfaction to parties so apply in^r. If a precedent is sout!,htf<)r considering the service in ques- tion as appropiiato to the special anniversary celebration of a charitable iiistitution., I would h'^i; leave to furnisli one which is here e'clractjd from the Marcli No., in the present year, of the London Ecclesiastical Gazelle. : *' His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury has appointed « Wednesday, the 13th of May, for the celebration of the 203rd " Anniversary Festival of tjiu sons of the Clergy. The Arch- " bishops and Dishons will attend the full Choral Service, " commencing at 3 o'clock, P.M., in Sf. Paul's Cathedral, and " be there met in state, by tlie Lonl Mayor and SheritTs." Fifty three years ag.i, when the Cathedral of Quebec was first opened for public worship, it was o-pened \y\\\\ full Choral Service, the ])art of the Clioir itself being performed by Choristers in their surplices. If any member of the Church, whose opportunities of being familiar with this service, have been deficient, should desire to inform himself more fully and correctly upon the subject, he cannot do better than to procure Jehh'^s Choral Service of the Churchy by no means an expen- sive work, published by J. W, Parker, West Strand, Lon^ don. All persons who have the prayer-book in their hands, may see that the three Creeds, the Litany, and the Gloria in Excelsis, besides the Psalms and Canticles, are even in 1^ I 'nd it, the iii^ within however, t!ic whole lievc, one ic!i could n who has also, that npire than > counter- ions, it is leprocated . in the he found Wvill as to particd so > in ques- ition of a )ne which lU year, of appointed (he 203rd rhc Arch- Service, :{lral, and •ififs." ebec was ill Choral >rmcd by Church, ice, have fully and > procure n expen- c?, Lori' Ir hnnds, j^loria in even in parochial use uppointcd to bo sn^t^ cr said (in some of the instances, said or sun^j,.) Thoy may also s«c, in the order lor the burial of the dead, that the Priest and Clerks, prcccdiusj the cor[)Sc, arc to say or sinsj; the introductory sentences of that service. I have onlv two more remarks to mnko. First, that even if any persons among us hold the usaoe here in question, to be objectionable, they can hardly regard it as an iumest part to smother and keep it out of sight as if the Church of England did not own such a practice. For a c(mdemnation of the Choral service, whether well or ill founded, undeniably and d necessity, involves a censure upon the Church of England, and as such we must deal with it : we cannot, consistently with con^mon truth, attem[)t to malce the Oiiurch more accept- able in other quarters, by suppressing^ the fact that this service is a part of lujr system. Secondly, that it seems to me very undesirable to encourao;e that unenlightened and unciiscernin!i; Protestantism, (for I find it impossible to regard it as iiaving any other character,) which confounds with superstitious practices or leanings, certain accessories and circumstantials attaching to the English ritual, and in some instances to that Oi t!io continental llelbrmation in Europe, which are not essential parts of keligion itself, but which have venerable claims upt)n our regard, many of them retained from the remote ages cf a Christianity still pure and sound before God, — and which are wisely adapted to promote reverential and dcvoti Mial c'A^et in public worship. It looks like a want of safe and cleai- dipcriminraion, a defective appre- hension of the real nature of the anti-Scriptural errors repudiated by ProtestardSy as £:uc!i, and of the c^rounds of that repudiation, to suppose that tiie use of a surplice, (for example) or the intoning of portions of the service, are things of the same stamp v,-iih those errorp, or falling within the same category. »Vc might, e^pctly, upon the same principles, raise an outcry against the use of bolh — against steeples or arched windows in ChiircheSj— still more against the revival, in all the branches of Protestaniiiim, of medireval architecture in places of worship, — ov agaio'it a black hdhit as the ordinary dress of Ministers, ai'. of Vvhich aic di}rivv,ii to Proteyiants thrja'';h the Churcii oi Rome. This .aJ ;e-:f U much tio large lO tnter upon hero: lullam bol.I :o ray t!iat the v-^rld h^b ^-ec*! lew wiser or bolter men ihan (he comjiilers of tJie English prayer book; and 1 recomtncnd to all persons who desire satii-faction upon such |)oints as are here noticed, an attentive per isal of the Preface to the Prayer Book, and tJje paragraj)hs hea-'ed *' Of Ceremonies^ lohy some he abolished and some retained^^^ as well as a reference to the explanatory Canon (the 30th) respecting the sign of the cross in ba[)tism ; the explanatory statement subjoined to the Communion OflTicc, respecting tho practice of kneeling in the reception of the holy Communion ; and, finally, the 34tli Artich^ of Jieligion, all of which will, directly or indirectly, be found to boar upon the suhjort of this letter, and from ail of which it will appear that the Church of England, wliile she disclaims tiie idea of insis- ting ujjon the conformity of all the Churches of different countries, to one ritual or of the necessary [)erpetuity of exter- nal forms appointed by ecclesiastical authority, is quite pre- pared to defend her own received practices and to recommend them to the dutiful observance of her children. These observations, Sir, you will perhaps take an opportu- nity to communicate to tlie gentlemen, for their consideration, who expressed to you their objection to the Choral Servicv?. Who those gentlemen arc, I do not know, nor do I, in the most distant manner, question their motives,^ but 1 trust that neither they nor any others will do me the gross injustice to suppose that because, for the reasons which 1 have explained, I have felt called upon to notice the subject as I have done, I am dis- posed to spend my strength and exhaust my zeal upon forms, whatever claims they may have to our attachment and respect. The agitation of the subject is not imputable to me. But, what- ever becomes of myself, 1 will say, in conclusion, that men who are attached to the system and usages of the Anglican Churcli, are cruelly. calumniated, if it be thence supposed that they are not alive to the grand and paramount objects of the Chris- tian Ministry : they prove themselves, in abundant instances, to be the very men whose ardent aim is that which is the life and soul of all Religion, to magnify the name of the Lord Jesus and to testify the Gospel of the Grace of God, — in that cause, glad to spend and be spent. I am, Sir, Your faithful humble servant, G. J. QUEBEC. u. lish proycr latie'iHCtion per isal of )hs liea-'ec' '.nd some ory Canon )tism ; tho on OflTice, of the holy ?;ion, all of r upon ihe [ippear that ea of insis- if diflerent tv of exler- quite pre- -ecommend m opportu- isideration, al Servicv?. in the most that neither to suppose jd, I have , I am dis- pon forms, nd respect. But, what- atmen wlio an Church, that they ■ the Chris- it instances, :i is the life ME OF THE Grace of it, RBEC.