IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 6^ 12.8 if us, \25 |||_u IIIIM |2£ 1.6 e. (f2 'A »> 'w V % w M Photographic Sciences Corporation 73 wist MAIN STRUT WlBSTia, NY I45S0 (716) ITl^iOa 1-V iV % \ \ \ n take knowledge of us that we have been with Jc8us, •' and compel them to say, see how these Churchmca '* love one another, ve may in God's hands, be His " iuf^truments to heal thPHc divisions which have rent tlie "' seamlf'>4H rol>e of Christ." Bwnop Wjiirri.E. tin aii oj Kb:^ Vm \ ^e (\\(irQ\\ af Fpglaod THE (er)tre ef [|i)it]^. arch is the <»0(i'H own 9 itgro.e In /f/ea for union^ addressed to Churchmen^ and • fttith.an.i I on enquiry into the causes 7v/iy tlu Church rtununary |^ of England has failed to he the unifier^ 7vith a suggestion as sk!,\vyx. II to the way of success. th JoHUrt, urchmcii be His rent tho f BY THE RliV. DYSON HAGUK, M. A., RECTOR OF ST. PAUL'S CHUitCH, HALIFAX, N. 8. IPPi-B. lirnti itnciflci qnoHiniii fiUi Ihi rucnbitntiir. HALIFAX. N. S.: MURTUN & Co., I'l'BI.IHHRRfl. 1MW. T This Hinall contribution to tlio groat cauno of Christii.n unity is drawn up on tlic following lines: 1. The Church of England should ]>c the first of ail the Churches, and the rallying-iKiint of unity. 2. The Church's failure to win, Ileasons i>ointeolicy of love and con- sideration. •}. Some remarkable cxamiiles of its successful working. 5. The imnucea suggested. lA-t us all try love. il f !i ^ The ChaFCh of England— The Centre of Unity. Q) HE Cliiircli of Enojan:! was intended Tho church cf 1)V God to be tlie cliurcli of the Enelves, thouirh imilatin^ theiu- The extensive ian and Metho- the Creed, the !^'()inniandnients, iany Dioceses, as well as the figures of the Census Book, ring out their solenin notes of censure, and and tell us, thnt with the excrption of the cities, not oidv are mt-mbers of the outside religious bodies not being gathered exten- sively into the Church, but that the two great outside bodies allied most closely to tlie Church of England, th'j one b^ doctrine, and the other by descent and the use of her formularies, are increasing each 10 TJie Church of England, year with a o-ivater increase. Now tlicre must be causes for tliin. As Cl.urclinion we know with nri( le th( cause lies not in our ( hurcli. We dare not, we must not, we cannot Manie our Chuicli. Like Cfusar \A ife she stands aliove sus pic ion. She is pure, slie is true, she is faitlit'ul. Her liamls are clean. Hi'r form- ularies Jire as sound, lier standard as iolty as srtiictitied and s])irit-|L;uided hands could nuike them. We must expose the true offenders, and those really L»uilty njust if( that th th ir contess that tlu'V are. tlie snniei's. II c the cltn/y ' ami u'c, (he peojAe of tJie Church of Kn(jlan.' <«ms.>x of ^^ ,^ m'ueral rulo it is wisdom for u man tailiui'. f^ when thin<;M go wron;j; to seek for the reason of failure in himself. It is certainly ///'/, r this. 'J> pi-ide the Ve dare not, Hir Cliuich. ikIs aliove '■ll<^ she i.s Her form - ■^'^V>/^i of are to Ijt^en tlie i«r many t'r, it is vti yriev- lui'e ! r M man tor the 3rtainly 77/t' TiV/Z/r ^/ 67///^. ir a i-easonal.le experiment for C'luirehmen to try now. In.stea.1 therefore of l.eratin- the times, and hemoanina the fanits of others, let US turn the searchlight in upon ourselves. We have ^one on a lon^r while now complainino- of the sinfulness, the ohstinacy, and the invincihle unn-asonahl,,- ness of dissenters, and denouncing tlu-ir narrowness, unkindness ami folly. Yet all the time we have i>een guilty of'thes,. ve, V ■^ins ourselves. The reason of failure is threefold. The want of wisdom. The want of life I The ^vant of love. The Church of England with tvevythimj before Aer, has lost so n.uch •s.n.ply hecause her clergy and her people >n so many cases have luvn w.u.tino- in eoMMuon sense, in C^hristian earnestness'^and in the love of God. We have hem proud, when we should have been ujeek. We have been worldly, profcssin.r to renounce its pomps ami vaniti We have l>een hau^-htv wl es. 1 »en wo N mve l.een hund)led. hould ^mmmm 12 T/ie Church of England, And to-day vvdien we see all that we have lo.st by our pride and vain glor}', by envy, hatred, malice and awtul uneharit- ableness we are still unconvicted of sin, and consider the church is doing all that she should. We have been acting as it* we did not care for the unity of God's people, or even as if we tliought the prosperity of our church a thinji: worth attainin'f. In a great many cases the church policy adopted hitherto towards those outside of the church might be defined in one of these three terms. The policy of non-consideration. The j)olicy of denunciation. The policy of irritation. Tiu> iK.ii con- By tlu' policy of non-consideration, is sUleratloii im»1- . ,i i. l\ \ l\ l\ l icy. meant, that very thoughtless way that we have often had of doings things, perhaps small in themselves and non-essential, with- out ev(?r thinking how much they ndufht oHend and hurt the prejudices of those wl)0 are just as it were on the jioint of entering the church, or of omitting tiiose _ I 11 that we n glory, by I uncharit- \ of sin, and II that she s if we did people, or ►sperity of The Centre of Unity 13 n^'- ircli policy outside of ne of those )n. e ration, is i.y that we * [^s, perhaps ntial, with- \ hev niiixht I s of those I le point of btin<^ those little acts of kindness and attention that are always pleasinii: and never fail to win. We have often talked and acted as if outsiders were nothing to us; as if it were a matter of no consiMiuence whether they cared for our church or not, or that the church should he so presented as to appear fair in their eyes: as if it were a small matter whether they were won or not. In fact we liave sonietiuies forgotten the exhortation of the spirit of Christ to be "polite and courteous to all. We have even gone out of our way to let outsidei's know that we consider them generally a very inferior sort of people. To give anexaujple. It is a small thing in itself, but a straw indicates the current. W(^ all know how we all love certain hymns, and how denr to us are certain tunes. We all know too, that there are certain grand hymns and tunes that are the common property of all Prtisbvterians, Metliodists and An-dicans. Now I have often in the country parts been at church services on anniversaries, ■HPlHRaai wsm^mmmm H T//e Church of England, and other occasions, wlien^ there have been present nearly 90 pei- cent of tlie Preshy- terians and Methodists in the surroundinn- jwli parts, and instead of there beinne, truth so es so often at t clear, coii- tion of the truth is one and defiant lissenters is '< thinL^ The Centre of Unity. 17 1 he right to |i, and evil he hai'd to dissenters its, and l»v way that was a stroni; vein of eartlilv bitterness, and uns^nipatlietic pride. It was like the intoleranee of hanj^hty Jews, and fierce Inquisitors ; words that made the fiesh creep ahnost. I felt as I heard them as if I fain would cry aloud, and say : O biothers, brothers. A truce to these aspersions and denunciations ! Away with this sadden- ing and uuchristlike policy ! An end to these horrible accusations of schism, and rebellion and the sin of Korah ! An kix\\\. to these wretched accusations, these niis- chievous taunts, these embittering upbraid- ings I An end to these prideful vauntings, and Phai'isaic boasts. I thank Thee, God, I was not born in schism, And thus have not been violating iniple and f ig a few ^ ow simple | > in the Walsh am tent with minister, the child The Centre of Unity. 21 There is nothing inconsistent in tliis. On the one hand it is perfectly right for him to whole tion, irrita- 1 vitupera- iink of the poken, and iknowledge this. I A nd the policy has failed. tiu' n'suit. It has failed utterly. It has failed. i<,'ain and nf the V»mi. Arclul»a( Sinclair «»f liomloii. prt'iiclud in St. PhuI's fatluMlrrtl on tiic iiftiT- iiooii of lJulii.,uiiK(Mliiia Sunday. IXW. on "Our itnliapiiy divlHionn." wl»i«-l> I rcrtd Hunif titni' nftiT I hftrnn wrltlnn on thlHsultj.'cl. I tlumk (iod for It.nnd hnll It with idrasurf i»Hoxpr<''in must give way, because he is the strong one, and must shew more love, and tenderness, and C(jnsideration. Itom. xiv, I Cor. »'iii. I am speaking now of course of non- cssentials. liut alas, too often, we of the clergy have insisted upon our way, ami have at the j)oint of the clerical bayonet introduced practices which have driven the people away. They \\\ «' h<| nil hJ St I (^a bi be in av w tl 4 11 land. ■if r The Centre of Unity. 27 of commission, ley (lid :iot 00 itroductioii of Church. iJ<, hut no one sential thin<^ ;i. a nee as to he fit ever comes ,'ive way, the eoplo, or the the Voice of no uncertain '(ly, because |t shew more •nsideration. 'se of non. ilergy have it tlie iK)int [1 practices ^y- They nay have been things of trifling ritualistic lignificance, or even of no really edifying lvalue in the opinion of their promoter, and ;he peo{)le's op[)osition may have been tainted with no small degree of ignorance and jtupidity, but the introduction of a single Bven edifying ceremony or practice is dearly bought if purchased by the loss of a single member of the body. Or they may have been practices of very doubtful legality, and still more doubtful spiritual value, in which case their introduction was not only unwise, but very harmful. The effect though has been the same. People began to lose interest in the Church, and after a while have gone away. Strangely, too, it is those brethren wlio hold the highest views with regard to the saving ]»ower of the church who fre- quently are guilty of this most disastrous line of procedure. This [K>licy of ours has had another effect. It has not only lost to us many avIk* were in, but has failed to win to us many wlio wei*e out. \ V''- ^ fK«i \ I 28 T/ie Church of England, 1 \\ vl \\ ;i IK ei ;nn )f The kindly feeling that outsiders have t( the Church of Enghmd, n6t withstanding tht coldness, and haughty exclusiveness of th( Church as represented by many of lie members is to me phenomenal. It ha. struck me again and again. Wherever I go in whatever diocese, I have not failed t( observe that the Church of England as a Church, Church clergymen as ministers o Christ, and Church members as Churchmei arc treated by lioth the ministers and mem bers of the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches with a consid(^ration and courtesy that I am free to confess we have not always deserved. They seem to give us with cheer- ful alacrity the ])lace of precedence in public gatherings, and to speak with resix?ct and honour of our Church's position. (I except those cases in which ignorance and vulgarity make groundless charges, and h( also those cases in which the antagonistic tone is that of men who have been irritateil into the adoption of a retaliation policy ot denunciation.) Even where they do not like the Church of England, and are by hereditary teaching u, til lai re m m le ilx rglaud. The Centre of Unity, 29 utsiders have t( lithstanding the isiveness of tht many of lie menal. It ha Wherover I jjo 5 not fiiiled t( f England as a ag ministers o as Churchmei iters and mem- and Methodist )n and oourtesy ave not always 5 us with cheer- But instead of being helped on, and helped iienated from her system, the slightest manifestation of kindness and consideration, vokes an expression of respect and consid- ration that is most significant. It shews that they are well inclined to the yhurcii. So well inclined are they in many iidividual instances that they would have lent for the Church clergyman in cases of emergency, and if there had been the spirit if Christ, and the power of His love, become levoted members of the Church of England. once in public 1 respect and )n. lich ignorance e antagonistic )een irritated tion policy of n, they have had help given rather in the )ther direction. The way has been made lard instead of easv. Barriers have been 'rected instead of being smoothed down, and ? charges, and he kind word of welcome, has been :e the Church tary teachin exchanged for a hard re(j[uirement most nitimely, or a hard expostulation most mseemly. When the policy of common sense was leeded, the policy of folly was adopted. At he very time that they needed a little tender- 30 The Church of England, ness, and wiusomeucss, more kindness, and less exposure, more shewing liow scriptural the Church is, and less shewing how irregu- lar dissent is, tliey received logic and history, if not sarcasm and censure. If a blunder is worse than a crime, then this policy has been worse than criminal It has made the Church such an awful failure, where it might have been such a glorious success. It has turned allies into enemies, and friends into bitterest foes. To-day throughout our country few arc so deeply set against the Church as the Methodists, and Baptists, and Presbyterians who are the sons and daughters of Churchmen lost to the Church by the unsj)irituality, the pride, the folly or the ignorant unsympathy of Churchmen. I hold that with few excep- tions, we, Ghurchnien are to blame for all those who once were hut now are not mem- bers of the Church of England^ for if we had always been right they never would have strayed. If we had always been loving, always been true, had always been so full of Christ 'and, kindness, and low scriptural % ho I I ure. w irregu- ogle and 1 t crime, then criminal Jh an awful 3een such a J allies into terest foes. few arc so h as the esbyterians linrclimen uality, the isympathy w excep- tc for all not mem- for if we juld have al ways f Christ T/ie Centre of Unity. 31 that men would have seen in us the beauty of His life, and the matchless attractiveness of His love, always faithfully preached the living Christ, and always made Church Christianity the highest known form of the scriptural ideal we woirld never have driven one soul away, never lost one living and si)iritually minded member, and would always have held that most valuable class of Churchmen wbo with deeper si)iritual longings, had resolved to turn from the vanities of this present evil world, and live wholly and solely the consecrated and separa- ted and unworldly Christian life which the Church of England insists on in all its members. Not only would we have held them who were within, but we would by the exhibit- tion of that worldly wisdom ascribed pre- eminently by Macaulay to the Koman conmiunion have seized with alacrity the fervour, and enthusiasm of the Methodist and Salvationist, and the practical spiritual- ity of the earlier. nonconformists, and given 32 The Church of England, them arn])le scope and freest })lay within the pale of onr magnificent Chuvch, and by the exliibition of the winsomeness of the religion of Christ have drawn to the ancient and apostolic Church a vast number of those who would oidy too willingly have abandoned their respective abodes. Sav what we will facts tell us that the Church of England has utterly failed to take the position God intended her to take. These facts are the figures of the census book of 1892. We started first with every- thing in our favour, and if we had had love, and wisdom, and life we would have rallied all in one. Instead of that we became proud, and indolent, and unloving and Pharisaic, and we are what we are ; not last in the race by any means, but still not first and foremost, and strongest and best. ti rei taj uil eri ■','1 ly within the ' and by the ^ the religion ancient and :>f those who abandoned The Centre of Unity, IZ 's that the ^ed to take ake. the census ith every- had love, i-ve rallied •o"(^, and c, and We e by any lost, and So much for the failure side. It is a lamentable fact, but the recogni- tion of it is the first step towards "the recovery of our lost position. We never will take our place as the Church of the future until we abandon the policy of non-consM- oration, denunciation, irritation and frigidity. As I believe in my heart this church policy has been a failure, I believe in my heart there is a Church policy that would if put into operation be a success. That policy in one word is, the policy of Christlike lo^e. Love never faileth. Hate begets hate. We know that to our own cost, and we know too that pride begets pride, and haughty looks arouse the retaliatory glance of defiance. Scorn drives away, and unsym- pathy repels. The poorest man will not come to a place where he is not wanted, and until we shew these our brethren that we do want them, that we love them, our church will dwindle and grow thinner. We ^xs^ We Tho policy of love. r ' I 34 The Church of England, glances to the wealthy, and to the fashion able and the well-to-do, in our towns anc \ cities, and we fancy in our folly that ou church is progressing because we gain a fevi;| here and there from the ranks of the socially aspiring. But the masses of the people, an il not being won. We do not seem to conside \\ many of them worth getting, and sacrifice nothing to get them in. Throughout the country parts of all our dioceses as well as ir ril our larger towns there are myriads whocouh all be won to the ('hurch and are waiting to beliull won by love. Love begets love. If we love them, they will love us, and the more they love us, the more they will be attracted to us, and we will be freed from that schism-creating spirit of pride, and bitterness. le ^08 iig 1 vie Its first effect. Now the Very Ifirst effect of the spirit of love will be the production of a thing that we all sorely need, the spirit of considera teness. We look so much upon our own side, and reason so much in the narrow ii;, mmm \\\ S ;va ar or 'glami. The Centre of Unity. 35 to the fashion oove of sellish logic, that we are deaf to all our towns ani :)ices save those that favour our own cause. )' folly that ou It is only a supernatural cause that can ? we gain a feviake a man really try and sympathize with s of the sociallj lose who are separated from him, and it is ^ the people, arnily supernatural love that can make him eem to conside; ;el for them in their church position. But the spirit of love will do this. It will make us do on tlie Golden liule 5es as well as iijrinciple what we want them to do, i. e., ihiily and considerately endeavour to appre- g, and sacrifice rhrouoJiout th riads who coul 'C waiting to be iate their standpoint. |ove us, and the they will be •e freed from >f pride, anc the spirit o a thing that |of considera )on our own the narrow ^t will make us remember, first of all, that hey are just as pi'ejiuUced in tktir church losition as we are in turs. They think as lighly of their church often as we do. The slightest consideration therefore of the neaning of the Christ charity would lead us see that to speak slightingly of their hurch in their presence from our pulpits is is unbecoming as it would be for an aristo- ;rat to speak disrepectfuUy of a poor man's aniily, or for an Englishman to sneer at a oreigner's patriotism. 36 The Church of England, \\\ It would make us lerrieniber too in the 2nd place, that tliey not only have reasons for then' church position which are in their opinion as scriptnrally well founded as our own, but that some of our greatest church authorities have acknowledged this also. The hiixheHt of Hijjh-Churchmen in the oM days never drean»ed of denyinf]^ that Presbyterians had niucb to say on their side. Archbishop Bancroft, for instance, the man from wlioui Laud miined his stronj; Church proclivities, was perhaps the strongest Hii>;h-Churchman of his day, and yet he went so far as to assert that there was no necessity for the re-ordination of a Presbyterian minister on his euibracintr the Church. Andrewes. one of the holiest of Higb-Churchmen, admitted that a Clmrcli can be a Church without the Episcopate. Even Laud himself did not go so far as to say Unit those wlio were without the Episcopate were without the Church. They all believed in their hearts in our orders and the language of the Preface to the Ortlinal was the sentiment of their r. The Centre of Unity. 37 creed as reorards the Church of England, but they admitted also that neither a comprehensive view of the scriptures nor a concensus of the Fathers permitted the theor}-^ that only an Episcopal succes- sion carried the guarantee of Apostolical commission. Bishop Jewell, Bishop Cooper, Bishop Babington, Bishop White, Bishop Burnet, Bishop Stillingfleet, and Bishop Davenant, join voices with Hooker, and Hall, and Cosin, and Andrews, and Bancroft, anu are the Chureljtalking to-day. Yes, and they say more 'either part or lojthan that. They say, in words that cut to now this, that th^the very bone, for they seem to be spoken posed of faithfu with a kind of sadness, and with apparent ui", and renounce sorrow, not with hate in anj^er. know that we " You wish to know what we think • iives the fruit " about the Church of Encrhind and its 'e fruits of it in 'ur«. You seem join in its plea- *ys, renouncinrr ^hincr. 'lot ministers '^ are eiupty ■ace, but we i''J«, and tl^e ^f the Spirit ^ing, gentle- t^««, temper- cb of these n J. We do it is no Use 00k at acts, 'gic has not [■I ') "claims and position ? " The common opinion about tlio Church " of Encrland is that only the worldly need " apply. Many are of the opinion that if " you are a worldly person or formal, or " anxious to j^et up in society, or wantinji; " the name of Church membership with- " out the inconvenience of professinof the " possession of personal relii^ion, or beinff " saved. an* »*i6ii priue "in belonging to the Church of their "grandfathers, and trust in themselves as " being righteous, and despise others, these "are good Church members, but when a "great change comes, and the fire of a new " love begins to burn, and the tide of a new " life to surge in his bosom, he leaves the " Church of his fathers and joins son,e " outside Church bodv. " How is it ? " Surely if the Church of P^nglai-d were "full of this life, the living Church, it " would welcome life and insist on it, and " men who got it would turn to it, and not " from it !" ' 46 The Cluircli of England, % Not once, or twice, but often ; not in one or two exceptional cases, but in many places, has laniifuafre such as this been used to express the common opinion entertained by many outside of the Church, and rts long as such prejudice exists, it is unrea- sonable for us to suppose that the mere dead cold logic of a superior ecclesiastical polity will have any etfect. We are not jj^oinf; to win tliem in that way. God forbid that I should say that the Church principles are nothing, or that separation for small reasons is not a griev- ous error. Nothing of the sort. But because we have the truth, and are a true branch of Christ's One Catliolic and Apostolic Churcli, we must sliew it, not by words, not by deeds, not b\^ logic but by love, not by pride but by life. We must live up to the Sample, and consider how the Church of Christ has ever been a com- pany of faithful men, and the Church of England, a Church that boasts the most searching of all membership standards. The Centre of Unity. 47 The mass of the people know only that a Christian is one who lives for Christ, and wliat they look for is Christian livin-.- They understand Jesus Christ and His disciples to be meek and lowly, and iovin.r and heavenly. They know that Jesus was a despiser of shams, and a hater of formal- ity, that His disciples were foes to the pomp, and pride, and enjpty glory of this world, living as strangers and^ pilgnnjs in this world, owl w, dare n^t deny that again and again our lives as ministers and peopJe (thank God there are bright exceptions) have not been so beautifurin holiness, and clearly separated from world- linea. and the worldly, as to make the.n i-egard our Church as a burning and a •shining light, ^facile princeps in mercy, meekness, piety, and the love of God. I think when we renjeml)er these things we will understand how it is that when vve speak Jovingly of our Church's past prestige, and dwell in glowing terms upon her apostolic rank, and time honoured 48 The Church of Eiiglandy olories, that those witliout are so uninovfnl, rtiifl listen in stolid silence, untoncheds as iver fails, Church let their that the :;hat for ly with De with fn, and v^ will lUMonify points of union, and minimize points of difference. Let them instead of proclaiminjT formal doctrines preach Christ continuplly by word and deed, and make the supernatural life of God the ordinary life of every day. Let them stop all vituperation, cease all hard speakinir, discountenance all malice, and act with noble superiority to all smallness and ujeanness and love more when more hated, and bless more where more cursed, and be more kind when most ill-treated. Let them si "W primitive anrl apostolic Christianity by shewing the lov'e, the zeal, the meekness of Christ. Let them be Ukore anxious about the essentials of Christian love, and separation from worldliness, and the heavenly life, than the non-essential matters of form and order. And there can be no doubt, let him dis- pute it who will, that the Church of Eng- land will rise by natural pre-emminence into that place which we believe she should occupy and become : First in the tight, first in the work, first in the hearts of the people. 50 Tlie CJiiircJi of England, For, notwithstanding all differences, and variations the feeling is widespread and deep seated in the great mass of our separated brethren that the Church of England is the mother from whom they sp...ng, and is possessed as an Ajiostolic Church of a prestige and beauty^ that slie alone can boast. What we need then most of all is the love of Chri.st, the life of Christ. We kavit the body, and the forih, the machinery and the polity. All we need is the Divine gift fiom on high, the love of Jesus in the heart and life. Tliis is the unifying power and this we should earnestly crave. (Jh that we might not see our need of this, pnd understand its force. BrnwirH orror We Churchmen in tlu; 19th century are and IfH IpHHon. ^ i • i • i i in danger of making the great mistake that Jiobert Brown, the first and strongest of Kuijlish difsenters made in the 16th. The Centre of Unity. 51 iirown's great error was misapplied zeal. He contended for matters of Church order with as much zeal as for the fundamentals of the Christian faith. Or in other words, he gave his whole life strength to non- essentials instead of to fundamentals. The result was that he magnified such trifles, as the vvearing of the surplice, the ring in marriage, etc., to such a degree that he neglected tlie greater matters of Christian love, and Christian unity. We to-day are in danger of doing the same thing. We are so apt to sj)end our strength in exposing the errors, and correcting the judgment of others on the points of Church order. Church discipline and Churcli polity. We strive for points of Clinrch government as if they were the fundamendals of the faith, and contend earnestly not so much for tlie faith once delivered to the saints, as for the order and discipline once delivered to the Church. We give our life strength fi»r the form, and neglect the thing. We sjKjnd and are 52 The Church of Etigland, spent for the secondaries, and lose the primaries. We magnify the form, and order, and the correctness of the performance, we overlook tlie realities, the inward essence, the things themselves, and overlooking these things we miss the blessedness of the Chris- tian life, and introduce trouble into the Cliurch of God. If the great motto of the loving Melan- cthon In necessariis unitas In dubiis libertas In omnibus caritas liad been adopted by Brown, he would never spent his energies, and divided the Church on matters of ritual and order. It may be laid down as a rule that any Christian minister who tjives the greater part of his life forces to the things that are secondary, to the letter rather than to the sjurit, to the dt>ctrine rather than to the life, to the vessel rather than to the contents, to the vehicle rather than to the thing con- veyed, to the decoration of the outward The Centre of Unity. 53 tbe ', we eiice, these :hvis- the lelaii- nevt'V bhuich |iit any >reater iiit are Ito tbe lie life, nis, to It con- llward rather than the development of the inward, to the position of the soul to the Church, rather than to the position of the soul to the Christ, to the form of the Church rather than to its power, be it done mistakenly, or intentionally, or without any consideration at all, is almost sure to find that two great effects will inevitable follow. First. That the reality and blessedness of the inward Christian life will be less and less experienced, and the energies both of ministers and i»eo{)le be directed to the tilings that are visible, and audible, and understood by the purely natural mind, instead of the things that are unseen, and eternal and seen oidy by faith and under- stood in tlie spirit. Second. That the peace of Clirist's Church will be disturbed, congregations vexed, and disunioii provoked. Tlie union of the spirit in the bond of pjace is never bniken when men are consumed with the love of Christ, and sj»end and are spent in saving souls, liut when men get away from the Spirit, and contend as merely intellectual men over points of law, and 54 The Church of England, matters of order, tliey are sure to introduce trouble. What was the cause of tlie great trouble in the Churches of Galatia ? It was sini])ly this, tliat they had loft the substance and were contendini; for u form. Wliat was the cause of tlie great Church troubles of the 4th and atli centuries ? It was siinplv this, that thev were for- getting the realities of the Divine life, in their zeal for |)oints of logic, and the form- ulas of dogmatic truth. And noiirly all the divisions and troubles of these latter days of the Church have originated in carnal striv- ings about the lesser matters pertaining to the ap])earance, the ord(^r, and tlie form. Not that the form, and order, and out- wai"d are nothing. There may he, as Bis- lioj) l^Mitler wisely said, form without religion but there can be yo religion without form. There must needs l)e authority, and order, and dogma, ami ritual. lUit — the form, the apjieamnce, the propel administration, the outward must not be TJie Centre of Unity. 55 uce nV>le the ■orm. mrch i for- fe, in fovm- ill t\»o lyj? of striv- ing to I out- IMs- phout Ihout and [o])ei be made all in all, nor mnst souls be misled by tlie great non-Church error that all receive the grace of the sacraments who receive the sacraments of God's grace. There can be and is a sacrament that brings do commun- ion, a form that has no substance, a letter that has no spirit, a vehicle that however rightly carried conveys notliing, and a con- tinens that has no contentum. To .s^icnd one's .strength on the outward in the idea tliat the outward form always, everywhere, and i ' all cases, conveys the inward realitv is not faith but a sad delusion. It is to go flatly in the face of the teaching of the Churcli, which by safeguards many and strong, and by reiterated prayers and pleadings, endeavours to turn the attention from the outward to the inward, and to empluisize with nnmistakeuble clearness the doctrine of the Word of (Jod that only in such as worthly receive them have they a wholemme effect or operation. It is to forget that men need a Saviour not merely a system, and that a system can never savd. 56 The Church of England, As an eminent Church divine once said : Those who have eternal life have a much more important matter in common thai: all they differ about, and can enjoy fellowsliip in spite of grave theological differences. But where life is wanting it is otlierwise ; the dead can have no sympathy with the living ; he that is born after tlie flesh still persecutes him that is born after tlie 8[)irit. Such is in my opinion the true cause of the failure of our Church. Some Its because li men say, lay workers." Others : " Its because we have not insisted enough on distinctive Church teaching." Others ; " Its because ])eople are pre- judiced, and ignorant, and captious." I think that the Church has failed to win and outstrip all others in the land because we have been proud ^ and hitter and self- conceited, and worldly, and instead of being more humble, more loving, more Christlike than the others, and thus shewing them that we were Apostolic, we have deliberately The Centre of Unity. 57 } said : much lai: all owsliip rences. ;r\vise ; ith the 3h still S[)ii'it. I use of ave uo isisted >> pre- lo win Icause self- )eing klike that Ltely courted defeat by denouncing those whom wc should have conciliated, and alienating those who could have been won. Now the question is, what can be done, ti,. ,1^^,,, way. and how can we do it. with.-xHrn,.!..; Granted that the policy of hate and cold- ness has failed, how are we put into opera- tion the policy of love, and acknowledging that we have grievously failed in the past to win dissenters to the Church, and that our own pride, and unsympathy, and impolicy, and intolerance have been the causes, is it possible for us to remedy this disastrous state of affairs. I Uelieve that it is. There is nothing better than a living example, and I propose before I close, just to tell what has been done by some of 58 The ChurcJi of England^ the best and noblest of our Anglican clergy. All of them strong and loyal Churchmen, all of them what would be commonly called Hioh Churchmen. Tln> Rev. T. \V..()(). Among the noblest of the early Cana- dian clergy was the liev. T. Wood, once a missionary of the Church of England in New Jersey, who came to Nova Scotia in the year 17G2. He was a man of broad loving kindness, wise, and generous, and sagacious in his treatment of those outside of the Ciiurch. As an instance of this, it is related by Hawkins in his Missions of the Church (»f Kngland, that when in the year 1762 the (Roman) Vicar (Jeneral of Quebec, the Abbe Maillard fell sick he was attended with brotherly devotion all through his ill- ness of several weeks by his Protestant friend, who the day before his death, read, at his rec^uest the Office for the Visitation of the Sick, and then performed over his remains, amidst a sympathising assemblage of Acadian French, and Micmac Indians, the The Centre of Unity, 59 funeral service according to the litual of the Church of England. Beautiful siuht I In the presence of the dead, the unity of man is proclaimed, and the great fact that there is but one God, one Lord Jesus Christ, and one faith in Him, as a Priest of the Protestant Cluirch of England pronounces the hope of the joyful resurrection over the remains of a French Ptoman Catholic Abbe Iness, n bis lurch. 1 by h of tbe the ded ill- tant , at tbe lins, of Itbe He was a good man like Barnabas, was this Mr. Wood, and in the following year, 1763, with the consent of the Governor, and of the Churchwardens and Vestry of St. Paul's Church, Halifax, he was removed to Annapolis, where he lived in peace and harmony with all denominations, the great majority of the dissenters in his missions attending on his ministry. His success was due it appears to one great secret. He was a man of love. He loved these people and they loved him, and thus, and thus only, — not by denunciation or exclusiveness — he disarmed prejudice 6o The Church of England^ against the Church. In simple but touch- ing language the people themselves told how it was, in a letter that was written years after. ** We had been educated and brought up "in the Congregational way of worshi|), and "tlierefore should have cliosen to have a " minister of tliat form of worship, but the "Rev. Mr. Wood, by his preaching and per- " forming the other offices of his holy func- " tion occassionallv amongst us in the several '* districts of the country hath removed our *• former j^'^fj'^dices that we had against ** the forms of worship of the Church oj *' England as by law established, and hath " won us to a good opinion thereof, inasmuch *' as he hath removed all our scruples of " receiving the Lord's Supper in that form of *' administering it; at least many of us are " communicating with him, and we trust "and believe many more will soon be " added." This good man, who lived for many years afterwards reported to the Society '.::f^;»!>^^«'^mmiimmk^..... 6i for the Pi-opa,mti,m~^^7TK~T^ ,^ 1 r, Lion ot the Gospel in ]77.t " -. t-.t now Ho :^ """" ''''•« *--'- " '— eh that o p : "^^''"^"■•-''''-■^. "-t contain uj/l"r: 77''^'-^''' "-ve.-al person. ,w,oea,ne here,"";"" "communicants «' H / ""''^^""'^'X 30 .successfn) years 1 T\ "'^' °^""- Annapolis ,77^ ■"""""•"- "^ Now this is n-li.,t r . of love. '""W'othe policy ^'hat made Mr W,. j '''-•'-'^'-'-•'M^l) 7^r™"■'"■- "t•C.H„.ehs„ecess n ■ '""•'■'^--' .lu.iiees agmnst the Church „f f , l-t ren,ove.l l,v love ""''""' '"'^ "-'-n«theCh„rchan,o,el /■?■"'"' J" fncfc, nearly al] the p,,,.].. • • 62 The Church of England, jukI to Imvo so (lisannetl prejinlice V>y the cxlubition of te^ndurness, Jind Christian love as to have jrained many adherents. Wherever they came the dissentin::;- interest (Uiclined, and all bitterness grad- nally passed away, tlie people becominir well affected towards the Church and anxious to have a Church of England clergyman. We know how often, how very often the very opposite is the case now-a-days, and we ask, were dissenters then devoid of prejudices, or indifi'erent as to which Church they belonged ? Nothing of the sort. Tliey were most strenuously attached to that form of diurcli polity for which their ancestors had forsaken all, and regarded the Church of England as an un- scriptural, and inconsistent Church. Were the Church clerg\ indifferent to Churcl^ piiniciples, and wanting in fidelity ♦*> ^*' own doctrine and discipline? Nothi, »f tti* sort. They were niost loyal Churchui* i in the hiirhest sense of the words. « •Stim T/w Centre of Unity. 61 The oxplniuition is not far to seek. With a vvistloin and a practical sairacity dictated ahke )>v coniuion sense, and Christ- like charity, the Society for the Propnj^ation of the Gospel in Foreiij^n Parts, incorporated i!i 1701, for th(^ double pm-pose of provid- in<^ for the sj)iritual necessities of the Church people in the plantations and colonies, and factoi-ics of G/eat Britain beyond the seas, and also for the preachin<;' of tlie Gospel to the n.itions in those pai'ts, had i^iven anioni'st other recommendations XT) O to its missionaries tlie follovvinir instruc- tion : " To recomnnnid^ and prdinote brotherly " love arid Chrititiaii charity, particularly " amoiifjHt all Protestants tvhere you " exercise your ministry ^ {'I As a whole the S. P. G., missionaries seem to have loyally carried out this part of their orders, with the most delightful results, and as ones hears of family after fandly and community after community of those oiNide being drawn by the cords of a man a with bands of love to the Church, 64 The Church of England, until she who was looked on with suspicion, find the coldness of io;norance caine to be loved as theii' Alma Mater, one could not help longin<»' that once more throughout our land the Bishops of our Church would likewise • carefully instruct tlieir clerjjr}' to deal <,'ently with their Pi'otestant brethren, and would propound to those who are to be inducted to any Church or niission a few (juestions such as these. " Will you do all in your power to "recommend and brinir about harmony and " fellowship with the several denominations " of Ch.ristians where you shall be sent to " exercise your ministiy ? " Will you abstain from all undefying " cotitroversy and uncliari table reflections " upon the character of their uiinistry \ " Will you l»y the simple settin*^ forth of " Christ's gospel, and hearty devotion to " the savinjr of souls rather than by ofl'en- O ft " sive protrusion of the Churcli's claims " endtavours to win them to the Cluirch of " En-dand '. '.'• , > : m mmt«fa i .tMi t i i "Um U m t trnf i tr . T/ie Centre of Unity. 65 In this way we would liave from the very hiifhest (juarters the stroncre.st possible impetus criven to the blessed cause of modern Church unity by the use of the best and only means. So deeply am I impressed 4>y this wise and statesmenlike sufTo-estion of the S. P. G., that I write it again in the hope that we all may endeavour more humbly and constantly to carry out its suggestion : " To recommend and promote brotherly " love and Christian charity particularly " among all Protestants where we exercise " oui !iiinistry." «i mg hns ot to \\\- Ins lof Tliat this could be done without any lowering of the Churcli's standard or any h honour by Churchmen in Canada was the Rev. Dr. Jacob, Principal of Fredericton College, N. B. The words that follow, words worthy of being written in lettei's of gold, are a setting forth of his methods in deal- ing with those outside the Church, and are extracted from letters written by him in the year 1884 to the S. P. G. " Since my settlement in this part of tlie " world, (he was then a travelling mi.ssion- " ary in New Riunswick) 1 have nuule the " disposition and character of the people " my study." I am afraid that is about the last thing .some of US to-day, or ever think of doinL?. We study books, and read theology, which -:::«^b^; The Centre of Ufiiiy. 67 lon- l»ll»*r? liii<;. things we ouorht to do, but w^ neirlect the study of human nature as exhibited in the UK'n and women livini is right, and I know that if we all will do what he declares here he did, the Church will V>ecome by God's j^race what He intended her to be. Especially if we take the plan whicli is so <:^rannj)tist» "and Methodists, differ from each other or " from the tenets of our Established Church, •• hnt^ by a, iibitivij the 'fulness of the Goi'j)eV •• in a practical manner — note well tliese " words — to meet tlie spiritual necessities of **all, and if possible, ])roduce a general •* impression that, whatever might bu the T)u Centre of Unity. 69 '(l8 these lies of iTieral V the <( ** case of other ministers, that of the Church of England is certainly capable of supply- " ing all which the soul of man requires for " doctrine, reproof, and correction, and ** instruction in righteousness. "With this view, while cautiously avoid- ** ing the unfathomable depths in which " some have vainly sought the origin of evd, " I have aimed so to apply the holy and ** unchangeable law of God to the conscience " of my hearers, as to make everyone sensible " of his own actual need of a Saviour from "sin. Shunning scholastic contentions con- "cerning justification, I have freely pro- ** claimed the great and glorious truth, that " being justified by faith, we have peace " with (rod through our Lord Jesus Christ, *'by whom we have received the atone- " ment. In the same manner, without *' entering into a meta[)hy8ical discussion ** concerning regeneration and grace, I have ** universally held forth the promise of the " Holy Spirit as the Christian Comforter, the ** peculiar privilege of the new covenant, the " guide and patron of the faithful, umier the 70 The Church of England^ •* dispensation of the Gospel. '* And finally, passing by the debateablc " ground of the intrinsic merit of human "actions, I have laboured, above all things, " to lead on my flock to the great practical " end and purpose of all religion, inculcating " the evangelical lesson, that * sober, right- " eous, and godly life* is the natural effect "and indepensable criterion of a saving •* faith, and that they only who thus * follow " the Lamb,' will eventually find themselves " redeemed by His blood. " Sucli^ with occasional observations on the ** union ivJiich ought to subsist among the *' ministers of Christ's Church, and cxhorta- ^' tiow^ to cultivate that spirit of mutual jor- " bearance, peace and charity, which, in God's " good ti)ne, might restore its primitive glory •* and luippiness^ has been the substance of my *' preachings and ivith humble gratitude, I am ** enabled to state tfiat the intended effect has '^ been in some measure perceptible. I am " informed t/iat persons of different religious ^^ professions liave been heard to express the The Centre of Unity. 71 \thc \the \ta- \ny un [as \m he '• precise aonviction which I tvas anxious to " create. I have seen men, widely opposed ''^ on the customary subjects of controi>crsy., " meet within our national sanctuary as if they " had been of one communion. And I enter- " tain a confident hope that, if the ministry of ** our Church ivould he thus maintained in " tfie district^ the faithful and zealous pastors *' who willy ive may trust , i?i process of time, " be settled in its different parts ^ would find *'''tlu general miiui prepared to receive tlum^ " and unite those in the bonds of t/w visible *' Church, ivhom one and t/ie self-same spirit '* had already united in one heart and oju - sour Thank (Jod for such a man ; thank Clod for such words. To read theui is hke breath- ing mouTitam air. But who can i-ead Uieni without feeling the hunentable contrast that ha* been o.(fered by much of our teaching, and much of our practice. With a future before us, glorious beyond conception, and a people rtiuly to l)e won to tlie Apostolic Ciiurch, we bavo r^ 72 The Church of Eftgland, deliberately courted defeat, and -have not only not won them, but deliberately driven them from us. As one thinks of these good men, and all they did one is reminded of the touching lament of the Psalmist in the 81st Psalm, and could almost thus adopt his very words. Oh, tliat we Churchmen had hearkened to such counsels, and adopted the methods of conciliation, and peace. Oh, tliat we liad preached the living Christ, and the power of His love instead of dogmatizing about forms, and preaching about things. God would soon have led those who walk in otiier commun- ions into fellowship with the Churcii, and those wlio hated episcopacy, and disliked the Praver Book would have been for.nd amongst the number of their most ardent upholders. God also, would have led us victoriously against the hosts of secularism, and united in the visible bonds of apostolic communion the armies of those who believe in the Lord. Tlie next' instance is taken from the life of that Catholic-minded Bishop of our The Centfe of Unity, 75 beloved Church — a man whom all Church- men delight to honour — George Augustus Selwyn, 1st Bishop of New Zealand, and 90th Bishop of Lichfield. He was a man to whom all men as men Bisiiop sei- wyn. were dear. He loved Christ, and therefore he loved those made in his image, and sought by His love. Therefore he was beloved, and beloved with no common love. " Is he a small man that he was so beloved V was the touching language of his heart-broken Maoris in ' their farewell ad- dress. No. He was not a small man! He was a man of a big loving heart, as incapable of meanness and small-minded jealousy, as he was of narrowness and spite. ^lic ;ve Ibe )ur One of the Bisliop's characteristics noted by his biographer was his intense hatred of strife. He hated schism, and because he hated schism he hated variance. While it is not possible that the exact letter of the Bishop's words which I am about t^^ quote can be carried out, there can be no doubt that the adoption of their spirit T^ 74 The Church' of England, would greatly benefit our Church. Preach- ing in 1854 before the University of Cam- bridge tlie Bishop saielievft in my heart that if this love sliall make all men take knowledge of lis thnt we had been with J(isus, and compel them to sav, ' S^e how these Churchmen love one another,' we may, in Go(^'s hands, be His instruments to heal these divisions which have rent the seandess robe oi' Christ. And when I plead for love, I i^lead for love for all whr love Jesus Christ. Shall we not chMui as our own kinsmen, Carey, the English cob'oler, who wt-nt as the first missionary to India, and translated for them the Bible ; Moirison, the ti)st nnssionary to China ; David Livingstone, the Scotch peace weaver, who died for ('hrist in Africa ; the Moravians who oti'ered to be sold as slaves if rho Kiiiir of Denmark would only let them gc and teil the po» i- black .slaves in the West Indies of the love of Jesus Ch: >t ? We may and will, in love, witness for the V)lessed truths we have received from tlv.; Prindtive Church, but we C'Mi never forixet that there v.iil not be one in that wliite-rol jd throng who shall sing the prai.ses of the R»'deeuier who is not our kinsman in Jesus Christ." al'. ■■-iJ«Jk«*fc*-.v..-J*. The Centre of Unity. 79 The episcopate of doi^nia is never going to be instrument for the unification of God's Church. The episcopate of power has had its day also, and lias failed. But the episcopatr of love, and the priesthood of love, and the deaconnte of love the only power that will iiiuke the Church attrac tive to otiiers, and win outsiders to the Church hns not yet had its trial through- orpared to make these concessions is abundantly proved. She has been the first to step forward in the blessed work of c(Miciliation, an«l in her Lambeth Conference, (as a Methodist, the Rev. Mr. Price Hughes admitted in the Unity Conference at Grindelwald) made concessions so great that she lias offered an exaiiiple that dissenters shouhl only be too ejiger to follow. For this Irt 1 oil's Holy Name lie praised ; but more is nrcded. It is not enougii for the Church in her conferences to talk, an al but that's not (Mi rist we one s way; it is man's way, and is -almost as bad. Now let try the right way. Confessi us ng our .sin and hrartily acknowledging that our infol ance and pride, an!.(. may hindor us from godly Tnion and " Concord; that as tlifro is hut one Body, and <.ne Spirit, "and one hop.- of our calling, one Lord, one Faith, one " Baptism, one CJod and Father of us all, so wo may "henceforth hoof on.^ heart, united in one lioly bond of "Truth and Peace, of Faith and Charity, and may with "one mind and one mouth glorify Thee; through Jesus " Christ our Lord. Amkn "