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SOME ¥ ACTS ABOUT

C|)e C|)un|) of <^nslan)i

IN NE IV BR UNSWICK

A PAPER WRITTEN AT THE REQUEST AND

PUBLISHED UliDER THE AUSPICES OF

THE RURI-DECANAL CHAPTER

OF FREDERICTON BY THE

SECRETARY :

Rev. H. MONTGOMERY, M.A.

RECTOR OF KINGSCLEAR.

ANaiGAN CHURCH OF CANADA
GENERAL SYNOD, ARCHIVES

mmmm

*■■

I have been (uked to write a word of appraXHXtion
of thU tractate^ by way of ^ imprimatur,^'* It i$
carefully written and temperately aryuedf and if
the author here doe* tervice by hie pen to a» many
as he has served elsewhere by his word tf motOh U
will be of great value. Many may be helped^ some
misunde: ianding may be removed^ and some may
be strengthened in their views,
I hope that a blessing may attend its pubHeation,

H, T. FBEDEBICTON.

May 6, 1901.

Some Facts about the Church of England
IN New Brunswick.

What do we mean by the word CHUSOHt

The Church it the Body of Christ (see L Oor. ziL : 27 ;
and E^h. L : 23). The CL. ~^h is Hor because it is the
Body Mid Bride of Christ and not beca- « of the holiness
of any of its members.

It is also called Cathouo, r<^tfih means nniTorsal to
distinguish it from the »' v -jgh Chu'-eh whidi was confined
to ono latbn. Christ founded a Church, or Elingdom as
it is called in the Kew Testament, for the whde wwid.
He opened "The Kingdom of Heaven to all beUevers."

This is the reason why the Church is named in the
Apostles' Creed "The Holy Catholic Chnich."

The great test by whidi the Church ci Christ was to be
known to all the world, was that her teaching was to be
"the hath which was once fc " all deUvered unto the
Saints" (St Jude iii). That is the same faith or doctrine
to be believed by all, for all time and in all j^Uuses, as
expressed in the rule of St. Vincent of Lerius : " Quod
ubique^ quod temper, quod ab omniiue ereditum e^"
Which literally put into our own language means: That
is to be bdieved, which has been held everywhere, at all
times and by all people. This statraient, so far as it
applies to the Christian religion, i& called tl^ rule or test
of the Catholic Faith.

(6)

The Church of Christy or m it is oaned in the Holy
Soriptnros the Kingdom of Heaven^ wm to be planted in
all nations, and in whatsoever nation or important eity it
was foanded it took the name of that naticm or city to
distinguish it from the o^er portions of the Church found-
ed elsewhere. The Church of Christ was founded in
Britain in the Apoetolio age, aiki was known at first as
the Church of, or in Britain. Long ycMS aftwward when
the Saxon? were the dominant race in Britain, and as a
preparatory step towards the uni<m of the sqpMrated King-
doms in Britain into one Eongdom of England, the Church
under the guidance of the Archbishqp of Canterbury,
Theodore of Tarsus, in the year 668 A. D., took Um name
Church of England. And from that time down to the
present has always been known by that name.

The New Testament and early Church History bear
witness to the fact that no portion of the Church of Christ
in the Apostolic age was ever called after the name of a
man, or of a ceremony or doctrine as in modem times.

How is it then that in New Brunswick there came to be
a body of Christians or portion of Christ's Church called
the Church of SnglMid T

It is a well known historical fact that New Brunswick
as a province was founded by the United Empire Loyalists,
who^ with very few exceptions, were members oi tiie

(7)

Ohnroh of En^^d. M«n like Chipmftn, HaMn, Lee^
Tilley, Bliu, Window, Dibblee, CSarman, Bobinsoii, BUm,
Wetmore, Hubbard, Baymond, Clemeiitfl, Gilbert, Cooke^
Sayre, Bissett, Byles, Jarvis, Gray, Beardsley, Allen, Odell,
Andrews, Clarke^ Arnold, Botdord and many others that
might be named, rather than swmpv allogianoe against Um
Eling left their possessions in the United States — tlwn
known as the thirteen colonies which were in rebellion
against England — and came here to this province when it
was a vast wilderness, to settle and nu^e homes for them-
sdves and their children, where they might dwell in peace
and loyalty to their Church, their Sovereign and country.

Politically, Uieir one great principle and aim was to
maintain British connection in t^is country. And later
history proves that these men were the real originators of
what is now known as Imperial Federation, no longer an
idle dream, but becoming year by year a great reality.
These men sowed the seed and we are now semng the
harvest ripen.

The Loyalists brought with them their religion, it was
that of their fathers and forefothers. And they established
here in the very beginning of the history and formatioa
oi this province, the Ohuroh of Engluid. It was the
Church of England which in no small measure had trained
them to be loyal to King and country, and had inspired
them to nu^e heroic Munriflces ratlwr than renounce their
allegiance to the throne of England.

(8)

With tlw sanction ci the King and his advisers, Uiej
created New Brunswick into a province, they formed a
Parliament for its government, and established for the
religion of its people the old historic Chnreh of England,
the Chareh of their fathers. The first framed building
erected by them in thfiJ'City of the Loyalists," St John,
was a Chareh of Engbmd building. It was situated <m
the east side of Germain Street, on lot one hundred and
twenty-one, between Duke and Queen Streets. And in all
the settlements which the Loyalists founded in various
parts of the province, such as Kingston, Fredericttm,
Woodstock, St Andrews and other important communities,
the y!ra< rdigiaut building eneted was that of the Churoh
oi England.

These Loyalists were the heart, the brain, the backbone
and sinew of the infant province. Men of intelligence,
culture and ability. Their character, their loyalty and
stability was formed and developed by their religious faith
and principles, as set forth in the Catechism of the Churoh
of England, and taught them by their fathers. Nor will
any pen ever be able to justly describe, nor tongue ever
be able to accurately tell of the sacrifices made, or the
hacdshipa and su£ferings endured by the brave and noUe
founders of our province. Better men, truer men or more
GkKl-fearing men this province has never known, than these
sturdy, self-sacrificing loyi^ Churohmen.

(9)

in.

It is not^ however, <m tiiis account alone, or because the
founders of this province were members of the ChwrA ci
England and planted the Church in this province^ that we
iqypeal to yen dear reader, whoever you may be^ to read
this pamphlet and gain, if possible^ a better, tmnr and
fuller knowtedge of ih» Church of the Loyidnti. We
i^peal to you on higher grounds.

The Church of England, at to put it more plainly the
Church of Christ am<»g the English speaking peqple^ was
{Wanted in Britain more Uian eighteen hundred years ago^
in the Apostolic age. Indeed there is veiy good authority
for bdieving that the Qospel ci tiie Kii^fdom of Christ
was first preached in Britain by Bt. Paul himsell

Gildas, the first Britidi historian whose writings are
extant^ says : "That Christianity first downed on Britain
as early as A. D. 61." The aiMsient Christian U^tkun and
historians id the Church, St Jerome, St. Omnent the
fellow labourer oi St. Paul, Ensebius, Origen, Justin
Martyr, and Twtullian, who either lived in or immediately
after Apostcdio times, all refer in their writings to the
eurly introdnoticm and growth of the Church in Britain.
]fy whomsoever the Church was {Wanted in the mothmiaiMl
we know fr<Mn the writings ci andent historiun ci Htm
Church of Christ that it grew and flourished in the eariiest
ages of ChristiMiity. AimI among otiier portions of the
Kingdom of CSirist tiie Church in Britain furnished its

(lO)

qnota of the "noble army of martjTS," both in the earlier
and later persecutions against <iie Church of Christ.

One of the early martyrs of the Church in Britain, an
account of whose martyrdom is recorded in the history of
the motherland, was Alban, a soldier, who was slain by
the sword in the year 304, A. D., rather than deny his
Lord and Master.

History also records the fact that three British Bishops;
viz., Restitutus, Bishop of London; Eborius, Bishop of
York ; and Adelphius, Bishop of Caerleon-on-Usk, attend-
ed by Priests and Deacons, were present at a Council of
the Church of Christ held in Aries, France, in the year
314, A. D. British BishcDS were also present at Church
Councils held at Sardica in 347, A. D., and at Ariminum

369, A. D.

A further proof of the early founding of the Church in
Britain is seen in the age of some r^ the old Parish
Churches. It is a fact (though not generally known) that
what is considered to be, by competent authorities on the
subject, the oldett Church building in the world, still in
use, is the Church of St. Mary le Castro, situate within the
grounds of Dover Castle; built certainly not later than
the fourth century and it rests on the foundation laid
about sixteen hundred years aga Another old and fam-
ous Church is that of St. Martin at Canterbury, which was
standing when Augustine came to England in the year
596, A.D., on his mission from Rome to the Anglo-^^ons.
In this Church, Bertha, wife of jiithelbert the Saxon King,

llj

was baptized by Aagnstine. Other old CShnrobes or their
ruins might be mentioned as bearing witness to the mi-
tiquity of the Faith of the Qoepel in Brita. Another
event which occurred in England a few years ago also
bears witness to the antiquity of the Churdb of En^^and.
A case was brought before the highest court in the realm
regarding the ownership of a piece of land, which had been
leased in the reign of Alfred the Great for a period of 999
years. The land had been leased by the Church and the
term expired about twenty-five years ago, but inawnnch m
there were several so-called Churches in England when the
lease ezpirrd, it was thought well to have Uie question
decided in the highest court of the realm as to the propw
ownership of the leased property ; and it was dedded that
as the land was the property of the Church of England in
Alf rrjd's reign, when the lease was made, it must revert to
the jame owner, the Church of England; in Yiotoiia'w
reign. And just here it may be well to remind you thmt
there has been in some minds an erroneous impression, a
lingering taint of which still remains in these so-called
enlightened days, that all Church property in England,
previous to the time of Henry the VIU . belonged to the
Chnrch of Rome, Mid that the Eang and Pvrliament un-
lawiuUy and wilfully robbed that Church of its property
and handed it over to ttie Church of England, which, we
are told in SMne histories and by some teachers even in
our pul^c schools^ was founded by Hairy the VIII.
and J Parliament i^eedless to say such teaching is

(»o

vtierly Mid entirely falser as spbeeqnent events in English
history prove. In a dedaration issued in England in
1826 by Um Roman Catholio Bishops, there is an atter
repudiation of the daim on any pn^rty held by the
Chnreh of England, as seen in the following words reler^
ring to the legal ownership ol the Cathedrals, Fkrish
Chnrdies and the property attached thereto: **We regard
aU the revenuM and temporaHHea of ihe Chwrtk EttMithr
merU a» the property of tho$e on iiohomtkejfar$$etUedhjftk»
laum qf the land. We disclaim amy right, tiOe, or preten-
eion toith regard to the tame,"

Taming htubx. again to the ewly history of the Church
of Eng^*^ we find that owing to the persecutions against
Christianity on the put of the Romans, the Saxons uid
the Danes, the Church was crippled and scattered and
many of the old Churoh bnildii^ destroyed. But through
the protecti<Hi of ihe great Head ci tlw Church, there was
a remnant left to proclaim the faith of His Kingdom,
which in Uter ages became the most important factor in
framing and developing the character of the nation and its
people.

IV.

At the time of the Norman Conquest serious changes
were brought about in the religious history of Enf^d.
V M William (the Conqueror) set out to invade England
he secured the sanction <rf tiie Pope to this enterprise and
brought with him the Pftpal blessing on his Norman ban^

«. I

<ll

('3)

nen; ocmieqaeDtly hit yiotory at HMtlnga l»oa{^t BnglMid
into new oonneotioD with, and her Church into tabn^Hioo
to, the Pftpaoy. He brought with him iraeign Bidiope
and Prieste who bad bera oonaecnted and ordained onotor
Pi^ jarkdietion. And theee^ after taming ont the
Bngliah Ksbop* tro«ia their Sees (with one eacoep^n ; vis.
that of Wnlfstan, Bishop of Worcester) he plaoed in diarge
in order to bring the English Church nnder the ininoieG
of and in subjection to tlM Bishop of R<mie. By she intoo-
dacti<m of these foreign Clergy, Rmnaa emws in matters
of faith and discipline were forced upon the CSinreh pec^
of England until in Qod's own good time relief came !uider
what is known as the Reformation Period, whidi i«aUy
began in the reign of King John, when he was oompdlkl
by the Barons of £bg7and, who formed theoisdyes into
what they called the '* Army of God and Holy Chuicli,''
to sign that famous c^. ament of English hiatcKry known as
the Magna Charta, the foundation, as it is called, of Britiirti
liberty and the British Constitution. The first article of
this great Charter reads thus : " I%« Ckur<^ of England
thaU be fn» and have her rigkU and Hberties wwiotate.**
This Charter was signed in the year 1216, and was the
actual banning of the Reformation, which reached its
dinuu^ tiiree hundred years afterwwds, in tiie reign of
Henry the YIII.

It was in the reign of thn latter King tiiat tiie Church
of England in solemn convocation declwwd, before eve?
any Act was passed by Fkrliament on the matter, "that

(«4)

the Bishop of Rome hath no greater jurisdiction, in this
realm, conferred on him hy God, than any other foreign
Bishop." This declaration was made by the Church of
England in the year 1684, and was agreed to ^7 tne
Bishops and Cleify ol the niUion. Afterwards, in the
year 15S7, the Pfcrliament of England passed an Act con-
firming the declaraticn of the Bishops and Clergy of the

Church.

It was, then, the old national Church of England, which,
in the year 1634, repudiated the ^laim of the Bishop of
Rome to have jurisdiction over her, and cleansing herself
from all foreign and superstitious corruptions she continued
to hold all those doctrines founded on "the faith once for
all delivered to the saints," as found in the Word of God,
and as she had held them in the days before the intrusion
of error by the Normani.

The Church of England rejected at the Reformation
only what had been added to the primitive faith and dis-
cipline by man's authority, and that too of iureign origin.
She did not cease on this account to be the historical
Church of the nation j her insisting upon the service and
the Scriptures being read in the English tongue -ather
than the Latin made her, if possible, still more the Church
of the English people, and such she has continued to be
through all the vicissitudes and political changes of English
history down to the present time.

True, in the Cromwellian period her visible life wa%
nearly extinct, but God, who overrules all things tor the

(>5)

good of His people, brovgfat ber uMy through the dangen
and trials of this period, and so ordained it that she should
live and be a power for good in the nation and onpire.
And the nation itself has decreed that the Sovereign who
roles over the British Empire must be a member of the
Church of England, and must sware, before receiving the
crown to maintain the rights and liberties of the Church
as laid down in the Magna Charta of John's reign. This
is the old Church of England, dear reader, which has come
down tiirongh the centuries past, surviving the critical
struggles of the Reformation, tiM Puritan and the
Cromwellian periods, bravely facing and overcoming every
danger, whether frtmi within or without Surely in her
history of eighteen centuries th ^ romise of the great Head
of the Church has not failed : " The gates of hell shall not
prevail agunst it."

Continuing "steadfastly in the Apostles teaching and
fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and the prayers"
(Acts ii : 42, rev. version). This portion of the Church of
Christ came down to us in New Brunswick throuoch the
faith and self-sacrifice of the Loyalists. To-day she
reads the same Bible, uses the same prayers, teaches the
same faith and administers the same sacraments as in
their day. They were indeed glad to honour her as the
spiritual mother who had moulded and developed their

(16)

coble ohftTMter and loyal prindplei. We ^017 in the
ooonge^ the heroism and •eU'iacrifloe ol thew Iware men.
And may we not reaeonaMy aak, why ihoold not their
•ona, oTeiy one of them in this hmd, be as f^ to hononr
and love ihe same spiritoal mother as did their faihers and
forefathers.

Alas, we fear throogfa mironderstandingw, throagh mil-
representation, or it may be throagh forgetfolness of the
ftdth of their hJ^n some have vuidMed w been led
away from the fold of the old mother Chnroh. Bat we
humbly hope and pray that in God's own good time the
descendants of the Loyalists will "serioosly lay to heart
the great dangers we are in by oar unhappy divisions."
And will eamestiy pray God to "take away all hatred and
prejudice and whatsoever else may hinder us from Godly
union and concord." Time alone, under God's guiding
hand, can remove the prejudice, the bitterness and the mis*
teken ideas that prevail in some parts of our province
concerning the Church of Eugland in Canada. This done
may we not hope to see all the children of the loyalists
walking in the "old paths" and learning more and mora
to love, and pray, and work for the old Churoh of their
fethers.

■■

(■7)

1
i

VI.

Let us now ooadder wHiie of ihe olqeotion* toe .<miinoa-
ly made agMiist the Chnnh of Engfauid :

L — Baftum ov Injum
There «re some good, irdl4neening people no doubt, who
object Teiy strongly to the Baptism of Infants. Well, oar
answer is that we beiieTe that Christ intends onr children
should receive His blessing now, just as much' as those
little children whom He took up in His arms and blessed
Then He lired on this earth, nineteen hundred years ago.
Those little children knew nothing of Him, nor could they
understand what *HiB blessing meant for them any more
than do our children now, but this was no hindrance to His
blessing them, and commanding them to be brought to

Him.

God Himself commanded infants to be brought into
covenant relationship with Himself in His ancient Church.
(Qenesis xvii : 10).

No order certainly of > ar Son can be found fbi^

bidding this command t<. j observed, in His day. He
changed the outward sign <^ the covenant and oraunanded
oK to be admitted into it by Baptism into th^ "Name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Qhost"
(St Matthew xxviii. : 19). For in the world-wide Church,
which He evolved out of tiie national Jewish Church, Uiere
was to be no distinction between male and fnnale in

(18)

admitting them to oovnuuit reUtionship nnder the wm
dispensation. All were to be made one in Him. St Fkul
says in his Epistle to the Qalations (iiL: 29) : "If ye be
Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according
'o the prmnise." That is the pr(»nise referred to in the
seTcnteenth chapter of CJeneais. I^ as some teachers main-
tain, it is nnscriptural to Baptise Infimts, may we not
reasonably ask in what way are our childrm to be bronght
into that covenant rekttionship which God established with
Abraham and his seed after him as an " everlasting coven-
ant," nniess it be by Baptism f And have those who
object to Infimt Baptism provided Miy other means for
receiving children into covenant with Qod t

Out of a total number of about 500,000,000 of so-called
Christians, 475,000,000 believe in bringing little children
to Christ that he may bless them in Baptism and receive
them into covenant relationship, while less than 20,000,000,
including the Mormons, condemn the practice of Infant
Baptism.

Numbers may not always be safely quoted in support of
a religions doc^ *ine or practice, but in this case the majors
ity is so overwhelmingly great that it seems utterly un-
reasonable to believe that the Holy Spirit, the guide " into
all truth," should allow almost the whole of the Chureh of
Christ to have fallen into such an error — as the objeoters
to Infant Baptism claim it to be — and to retain such an
erroneous practice for eighteen centuries. It is simply
preposterous, with such evidence before us, for anyone to

■■■ik

(19)

objeefc to lofMit Biq|>tism, mod my that it !• not in aeoord-
•noe with the oommuida of Almighty God.

n we call vp the witneMes to the teMshing and practice
of the Ohuroh of Ohmt, in -t« earlieet and pureet yean, we
find Um following teatimony :

I.— Iir THi Dat» 01' TH» Apoctlib.

It is recoided in the account giver in the New Teeta-
ment of their ministrations that ftve households were
Baptized. Is it unreasonable to believe that there were
children in «me one of these households t Pick out at
random the first five households you can think of, dear
reader, and answer the question yourself.

n. In the Days Iuikdiatklt Suookioiho tbosb

or THK Apostlks.

JvmH Mabttb, one of the earliest writers of Christian
history, who was bom near the close of the first century,
in speaking of Christians contemporary with himself, about
the year 148, A. D., says that "there were among Chris-
tians in his time many persons of both sexes, some sixty,
some seventy years old, who had been made disciples to
Christ yrom their in/aney." In what way could infante be
made disciples of Christ, except by Baptism t

Ibknakus, another early writer and Bishop of the Church,
the pupil of Polycarp who had been tau^t by St John,
writing about the year 176, A- D., saye : "That children

! i

(.o)

M well as others were then actoally bi^daed to dbtain
remiflsion of nna." No art can explain away mr elude thk
paeeage, which folly confirms the fact that Infant Bi^itism
was the practice of the Church in the second century.

Tkbtulliak, another writer in the latter end of the
second century and the beginning of the third, who^ though
he had peculiar ideas about Infant Baptism, yet beiurs
witness to the fact that the Church in his day baptized
infants. This writer is sometimes quoted by those who
object to Infant Baptism as supporting their belief. Let
us see, however, how he witnesses to the custom of his day.

Tertullian believed, as his writings show, that sin after
baptism ^^as unpardonable. Ccmsequently he endeavored
to have the practice of the Church about Infant Baptism
changed and the sacrament delayed until death was at
hand or upon some assurance that the candidate would not
commit any wilful sin after baptism. To show conclusively
that he was trying to get the custom of the Church
changed, he says: "What need is there that the God-
fathers should be brought into danger t Because they may
either fail of their promises by death, or they may be
deceived by a child's proving of wicked disposition." It was
evidenUy the custom then in his day to have Godparents,
anf* -> baptize children, otherwise why should he refer to
these facts. His manner of arguing plainly shews that he
was seeking to introduce a new practice into the Church of
his time. We dwell more particularly on this writer be-
cause he has been so frequently put forth as a sub-Apostolto

mmm

champion agaiiut the practice of Infant Baptism. Bat
certainly not a diampion for the same reasons as put forth
by those of this century. TertuUiaEi did imiai vpon
if^ania being haptiaed if they were in danger fff death and
not likeiy to recover.

OuoiN, who lived in the beginning of the third oentary,
also bears testimony, without a shadow of a doubt^ as to
the practice of the Church in his day about Infant Baptism.
He says in his writings that "none is free from pollution
though his life be but the length of one day upon the
earth. And for that reason ii^famU aire haptimdt because
by the sacrament of baptism the pollution of our birth is
taken away; and 'except one be bwn of water and the
spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.' " Origen
not only refers to Infant Baptism as the practice of the
Church, but also refers to it as of Divine institution.

At a council of the Church held at Carthage, A. D., 253,
where sixty-six Bishops were assembled, an account of
whose proceedings is given by St. Cyprian, Bishop of
Carthage, no one had the audacity to ask whether it was
right to baptize infants or not. There was, however, at
this council a discussion about Infant Baptism, but it was
on a question submitted by Fidus, an African Bishop, who
asked " whether infants ought to be baptised before they
were eight days old t " Since this was the age for ciroum-
dsion in the Jewish Church. But the council decided
imanimomly tiiat there was no occasion for delay, even for
eight days, but that it^onte might be baptised at any time.

There are many other early writers and historians who
might be quoted to show that Infant Baptism was uni-
versally practiced in the Apostolic and Primitive Ohuroh
of Christ There is but one result in the appeal to history
on this question, and it is this : I%at during the jvnt
1100 yean of the exittenoe of the Chrietian Chureh there w
no record of amy aociety or body of men toho denied the
latq/tUneee tflr^ant Baptiem.

II. — As TO THK MODK OF BAPTISM.

The Chureh of England, following Scriptural and ancient
custom, directs her ministers to either dip (not immerse)
the candidate in water, or to pour (not sprinkle) water on
the head of the candidate. About twenty years ago a
remarkable manuscript was discovered. It caused great
interest and deep reeearoh as to its authenticity and genu-
ineness among the learned theologians of the day. It was
first published by the learned Greek Arohbishop Bryennius
in 1883, under its title, "The Teaching of the Twelve
Apostles," and was claimed by its critical and learned
examiners to be not only genuine but the earliest Christian
treatise known next to the (Gospels and other portions of
the New Testament. The date assigned to it by competent
judges was sometime between A. D. 80 and 110. Proba-
bly about the year 100 A. D. would be a fair assumption
as to its date. This would mean that it was written a

(*3)

▼ery short time after St John wrote his book on the
revelation made to him on the Isle of Patmos.

One of the giants in theology of the nineteenth century,
the late Bishop lightfoot, of Durham, whom the Christian
world acknowledges to be one of the greatest Biblical
scholars and critics of his day, gave it as his opinion,
after carefully examining "The Teaching of the Twelve
Apostles " that ** of the genuineness of this document there
can be no shadow of doubt."

In this treatise on the teaching of (he Apostles we find
the following directions given concerning the mode of
baptism : " Baptize into the nwne of the Father, and of
the Son and of the Holy Ghost in flowing >.ater. But if
you have not got flowing water baptize in other water, and
if you cannot in cold then in wwrm. But if you have not
(enough of) either, potw water three timee upon the Keadt
into the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost." This reference is made solely as to the
quantity of water that suffices for baptism, and not to the
state or condition of the candidate. And when we con-
sider that this document was written and these directions
given, shortly after the last book of the New Testament
was completed, by those who were no doubt instructed by
some of the Apostles themsdves, it ought to have the
greatest possible weight and influence on the minds of
those who really desire to learn what the custom and
practice of the Apostolic Church was as regards the mode
of administering the sacrament oi baptism.

Surdy the aathw of this important traatiae and his
fellow laborers would be familiar with the practice <rf the
Apostles in this matter, much mon o than persons living
centuries afterward. The Church at England also teaches
that it is Qod^ through the agency ci His Holy Spirit who
gives us grace in baptism, and not the toalor. It is used as
a nuoHSj and it seems, to say the least, irreveront to imply
that God must have a certain quanti^ of water to make
baptism valid. Ood is Almighty and can do His work as
well with a drop as with an ocean in His <mlinanoe of
baptism.

m. — CORVKBSIOir.

Another objeotaon often heard against the Churoh of
England is that she does not teach the neoessi^ of Con-
versi<m.

This objection can best be answered by looking, not at
the practice or opinions of some who claim to be her diil-
dren, but at what the Church herself teaches in her
authorized formulas oi faith and doctrine. An examina-
ti<m of her Book of Comm<m Prayer will clearly show us
what her teaching is on this subject.

At the banning of every service of daily, morning and
evening prayer she orders, among the passages of Scriptures
to be read, the following : *< When the wicked man tum-
eth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and
doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul

(«5)

aliTe" (Enldel zyiii : 21). "Tbend jtmr hmtt and not
your gannents, and tarn onto the Lord yoar God" (Joel ii :
IS). "I will ariae and go to my father, and will say unto
him. Father, I have sinned against heaven Mid before
thee, and am no more worthy to be called th/ son"
(St. Lake zv. : 18-19). She orders these passages <^ Scrip-
tare to be read for the very parpuse ci warning Ui'. peq>le
assembled for worship of the necessity of being eonvt/rted or
" turned " as the revised version renders the Greek word,
which in the aathorized version is trandated "converted."
The prayers also of the Charch abound in appeals to
God that we may be ** turned " from the way of ungodli-
ness, and that He may be pleased " to create and make in
us new and contrite hcMrts." She lays the greatest stress
on the absolute necessity of r^aetUanee for our sins past,
as did our bleued Lord in order to obtain saving grace.
True, the word conversion itself is seldom ever heard in
her services. She prefers rather to use the BiHe word
repentance; reiterating over and over again the cry of
John the Baptist, and of our Saviour Himself, "r^Mnt
for the EliDgdom of Heaven is at hand." The word
version so .^omoMMily used in these days is not what
may be truly called a Bible word. It is not found in any
of the Epistles of St. Paul or the other Apostles. Neither
do any of the Apostles in their writings ever exhort people
to be converted, but they do urge them to "repent,'' which
is a much deeper and more suggestive word dian con-
version.

mam

(.6)

Hm Chnrdi bdiovM it to be her duty to t^ men to do
what Ghrist and His Apoetles told them to do^ and in
urging men to repent she inolndes all that tiie word oon-
yerrion can possibly mean.

She welcomes to her Holy Table, only those who do tmly
and earnestly r^wnt th«n of their sins and intend to lead
a new (converted or tamed) life, following the command-
ments of God: "And widking from henceforth in His
holy ways." She distinctly tells her pec^Ie that without
repentance and without being turned to Qod, they cannot
receive grace in the sacrament of the Holy Communion.

VII.

There are other objections sometimes raised, such as the
Form ol Gk>yemment in the Church of England; vis..
Episcopal, prescribed Form of Prayer, and other minor
objections which can easily be answered by the authorized
teachers of the Church, and to them we earnestly commend
all those who really and sincerely desire a better under-
standing and knowledge of the Church and her ways.

The one great need of this day and age is a fuller and
clearer knowledge of the " truth as it is in Jesus," and to
search diligently until we find it. To this end we must
read, and read, and read again, in the spirit of that prayer
of the saintly Chrysostom : " Granting us in this world
knowledge of Thy truth." Above all we must ever be
willing to learn, and that too in a meek and patient spirit

(«7)

It if nofc the opiuioiis or sentimeati of mmi, no matter
how cleyer or leemed, it is rather the truth conoeming
"the luth whioh wa$ onee for aU delirered onto the
Mint*" (Jade 3, rev. vernonX that we all need to know
tor oar souls eternal welfare.

UnlcHrtanatelj we live in an age of **anha]^7 divisions"
among Christians, and so many diflfereo*" opinions an set
fortii as "the troth" that it b very difficalt oftentimes for
tiie poor wayfuing man or the busy man to know as tiwy
■ay "just what to bdieve;" and too often sach men oon-
dade that it makes no diffisrenoe what a man believes so
k>ng as his life is all right If sach a oonclosion were
trae, or even reasonable, then Ingersoll, the far-famed
atiieist, might have passed for a ChristiMu Bat^ dear
reader, U doe§ mah$ a d^^erence in OoePt tightf if not in
man's, what men believe, as well as what th^ da

The trath oi God is eternal and onchangeaUe^ not to be
added to or taken away from, nor is there any new troth
to be discovered. He has revealed it ail for all time. As
a iMmed man of old writes : "What is true is not new,
and what is new is not troa" An axiom which certainly
will always hold good as regards the religion of Christ and
His Choroh.

Perverted troths, half troths, are, in a great measore,
the oaose of misonderstanding, as well as the result of it,
concerning the teaching of the Chorch of England. Too
often have they been set fmrth by teachers and preaoht rs
of different denominations with great fervoor and intenuty

( «8 )

of feeling and pnrpoae undw the undue prendre of relig-
ions exdtanent, when that portion of man caUed tine
** feelings," so diangeable and often unreliable, Mre alone
appealed to and worked upon until they reach the state of
frenzy and sometimes temporary delirium.

Misrepresentation ci the truth, jealousy, selfishness and
blind lri£x>try have been the cause of divisions in the
Christian Church, but we believe that iE God's own good
time, the prayer of His dear Son "that they all may be
one " will be answered, and Christians (moe more united
in one Fold under one Shepherd.

There mo signs, which observing and thoughtful men
have not failed to note in the closing years of the century
just passed, which encourage all who desire the re-union of
Christians in the Church of Christ to be hq)eful as wdl as
prayerful.

Who can tell what the new century just hegan may
bring forth in this direction t

For that re-union the Church of England unceasingly
intercedes in her daily service of prayer and praise.

Oc<>upying as she does a peculiar position, between the
Boman Catholic Church on the one side and the various
Protestant denominations on the other, she affords good
ground and ample opportunity for the re-union of the
Church of Christ. Able and learned men on both sides,
by their writings on the subject, confirm this claim and
inspire brighter hopes for unity. Among them we quote
the following :

(«9)

The late Dr. J. P. Newman, a Melhodist-Epiaoopa
"Bishop," in an addrees given abont two yean ago "On
the Outlook lor Christianity in the United States," said
** that it irmi his firm oonviotion that not many yean henoe
the Christian den<Hninations of the world would nombmr
no more than "i^ree^ the Roman CaUiolio Chnrdi, the
Chnroh of England (or the Episoopal Church as he terms
it), and the Baptist That the Methodists, the Presbyter^
itkds, and the Congr^gationalists wiU be drawn into tk»
Chunk of England. The Baptists being kept oat only by
their distinctive doctrine respecting imm«rsi<Hi." This is
Methodist testimony gi~9n by (me who recently ooonpied
the very highest position in the gift of that body in tiie
United States. Only let ns hope that the work of re-nnion
will go on still farther than Dr. Newman's convictions led
him to believe.

Here is also the testimony of a famous and learmd
Roman Catholic. The Ultramontane Joseph de Maistre^
in a celelnrated work of his (cons, sur la France, c. ii),
q)ei^ing of the Church of England, 1m says: "If eret
Christians re-unite, as all things make it their interest to
do, it would seem that the movement must take rise in the
Church of England. She is most precious and may be
r^^rded as one of those chemical %ntermede$ which «re
capable of producing a union between elements in them-
selves dissociable." This is indeed p^-r'^ng testimony by
one who wrote so favorably in defence of the doctrine of
Papal InfalUbUity.

(30)

Bat not stronger or more forcible tluui that of the late
Dr. BhielcU, a talented prolesaor in one of the Preefajterian
Colleges in the United States^ writing in the Oentnrj
Magarine some years ago <m tiie subject of Unity amongst
Christiansi he intimated that if ever the dirided Ohnreh of
Christ is united again, as in Qod's own good dme it most
be^ die Book of Common Prayer of the Church of Bngland
will form the basis, aiul the Anglican Communioa the
centre around which the forces for re-union will rally.
Quotations mi^^t be given witiiont numbw from other
writers of diflforent rriligious bodies, but these will surely
suffice to show the unique position of the Churdi of Eng-
land as the faithful teachw and exponent oi the " truth as
it is in Jesus."

She numbers amongst her Clergy vataij of the most
brilliant and talented scholars of the age. Among her
mMubers are found the most eminent Mid ablest sta^^"*-
men in the empire. And last^ but by no means leasts the
beet beloved among her members was the great and good
Victoria, our late lamented and never to be fcnrgotten
Queen. The King and Emperw, who rules over the
empire, acknowledges the Church of England as his spirit-
ual mother, and by his counsel and advice in the tempor-
alities of the Church, as becomes his high office as the
reigning Sovereign, seeks to promote the advancement and
glory of the ancient and historic Church of England.

There ia also the witness of her missionary leaL She is
the source of the oldest Missionary Society for English

(31)

qpeaking people in all parts ci the British Empire^ the
▼eoerable "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel,''
ocganiMd two hnndred years ago ; and in latmr years the
sooroe ci one of the most active and enefgetio minionaiy
agencies in ihb world, the great Church Miisi<Miary Society.

There is also the witness bome^ in modem as well as
aLSoient days, l^ her "noUe army of martyrs" lor the faith
of theGoqieL

The English speaking wcMid also bears witness to the
fMst — alas too often forgotten — that she has given to it
the Holy BiUe in the English tot^gne.

By her interest in tiie affiurs al state mm! her inflnence
in the L^iislative Halls of Westoninister, she is today, as
in the past, the great bulwark of the British Empire.

In all the trials and dangers^ that have beset her,
whether from within or from witiiout, she has continued
" steadfast in the Apostles teaching aiul fellowship, in tke
breaking of bread and in the pra .*8," and by Qod's bless-
ing will so continue to the end.

Blessed Jesus grant, we beseech Thee, that what has
}wr^ been written may aid in removing some of the barriers
^liich divide Christians in our land, to the advancement
of Thy Kingdom, the glory of Thy name and the eternal
welfiue ci immortal souls, for Thy mercies sake. Amen.