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PUBLISHED BY THE Sunday School and Book and Tract Committee of THE Synod of the Diocese of Toronto. 1897 1 PREFACE The following lecture was prepared at the request of the Toronto Church of England Sunday School Associa- tion before which it has been twice delivered. The Sunday School Committee of the Synod of Toronto being of the opinion that its publication may be useful I have bowed to their wishes, not because I feel that the lecture is entitled to any credit for originality, the facts on which it is based being mainly drawn from the works of more learned men — particularly the histories of Soames and Sharon Turner and others — but because the facts are presented in such a way as, I hope, may be helpful in disabusing the minds of those into whose hands it may come of certain popular errors concerning that part of the one Catholic and Apostolic Church of which the lecture treats. G. S. H. nest of isocia- The oronto useful ;1 that Ly, the )m the stories 3cause i, may whose erning- irch of . H. EARLY HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND THli CHURCH BEFORE AUGUSTINE. *HERE are not a few persons who, from superficial knowledge of the matter, are inclined to attribute the foundation of the Church of England to Augus- t-ine, A.D 597; some, indeed, even venture to assert that it was founded at the Reformation. This, however, is a mistake. The establish Mient of the Christian Church in England took place long prior to the arrival of Augustine It must be admitted, I think, that we have very little ground for stating, with any degree of certainty, by whom the Cliristian Church was first planted in the British Isles. Gildas, the oldest native historian, who wrote about 560, tells us that the " Sun of Righteousness " arose in England about the time that Queen Boadicea was defeated by tlie Romans, which was about the year 162 or 163. He says that the father of Caractacus, who had been imprisoned at Rome, was liberated about this time, and brought back to England the knowledge of Christ, which he had acquired there. Some his- torians have been of opinion that to St. Paul himself the founding of the Christian Church m England is to be attributed. This opinion IS based on these facts : (i) Clemens Romanus, the friend of St. Paul, in a well known passage in the epistle written by the Church of Rome to the Corinthians (circ. 69 or 70), speaking of St. Paul, says : " Having become a herald both m the east and in the west, he obtained the noble renown due to his faith, and having preached righteousness to the whole world, and having come to the extremity of the west, and having borne witness before rulers, he departed at length out of the world." By " the extrem- ity of the west " or " utmost bounds of the west," as it is sometimes translated, it is sup- posed, thouijh it cannot be confidently affirmed, that the British Isles were meant. (2) Justin Martyr (Phil.), A.D. 140, asserted that every country known to the Romans contained pro- fessors of the Christian laith. Britain was then m the possession of the Romans. (3) Irena^us, Bishop of Lyons, about A.D. 179, asserted that Christianity had been spread to the utmost bounds of the earth by the apostles and their disciples. '4. At the end of the second century, i.e.y about 190, TertuUian, a learned presbyter, speaks of British districts inaccessible to the Roman arms having been subdued by Christ. 5. Eusebius, bishop and historian, who flour- ished 307 340, says that some of the apostles passedover the ocean to the British Isles, and St. Jerome (Pt.), 345-420, says that St. Paul him- self imitated the Sun of Righteousness in going from one ocean to the other, and that his evan- gelical labors extended to the western parts. 6. Later, Theodoret, bishop and historian 393-457, asserts that St. Paul brought salvation to the isles of the ocean, and mentions Britons among converts to the apostles. 7. In the sixth century Venantius Fortunatus, and in the seventh century Sophronius, Patri- arch of Jerusalem, speak of St, Paul's mission to Britain. It will thus be seen that the evidence on which the founding of the Christian Church in England is attiibuted to St. Paul is of a somewhat fragmentary, and not of a very posi- tive character. At the same time there is no reason to doubt that the early Christian writers I have cited, though they wrote many years after St. Paul, were, nevertheless, giving the tra- dition current in their day. That there should be no more positive information is not very sur- prising, considering the persecutions which the ancient Church from time t ■> time suffered, and that duringthese persecutions the Christian books and records were sought out and destroyed, to say nothing of the constant mternal commo- tion which prevailed in the British Isles both before and after the Saxon invasion, which must have been equally fatal to the preservation of records of the early history of the Church in England, During one of the persecutions which took place in the reign of Diocletian, A.D. 303, the first British martyr, of which we have any record, suffered. This was St. Alban. A few years after this event we have a further item of interest in English Church his- tory. In 314 three bishops of the ancient Brit- ish Church, viz., the Bishops of York, London, andLincoln(or Llandaff),alsoa priest anddeacon were present at the Council of Bishops, held at Aries, in France. Other bishops of the British Church were present at the Councils of Nicaea, in Asia , in 325» Sardica, 347, and Arim- 1 inium in 359- We thus learn that at this early 1 day the Church m England was fully organ- 1 6 ized ; but the subsequent withdrawal of the Romans about the beginning of the fifth cen- tury and the invasion of the country by the heathen Saxons brought trouble and disaster upon the British Church — the Christians were driven into Wales and Cornwall, the rest of the island being in the hands of the heathen invaders. THE UNITY or THE CHURCH. It may be well to pause here and to take a brief retrospect. The Church of Jesus Christ, founded in Jerusalem, was by the express com- mission of her Lord to be spread through all the world. " Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature," said our risen Lord to His apostles. Wherever the Gospel was preached a branch of the Chris- tian society called *' the Church " was estab- lished for the perpetuation of the teaching of the Christian faith, and the administration of the Christian sacraments. Everywhere, too, this societ}^ was governed by a ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons : and though this Christian society, called '* the Church," might acquire in different places local names, such as " the Church of Jerusalem," '* the Church of Rome," <' the Church of Gaul," "the Church of Alex- andria," it was, nevertheless, but one society. The emphatic words of all these varioug titles are " The Chnrchr The Church estab- lished in England was a part of this one great society ; and although there may be room for doubt as to the precise date at which, or the precise person by whom, the Christian Church was planted in England, yet there is no room at all to doubt that it was certainly established there, with the threefold ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons, before the year 314- i THE ROMAN PERIOD. It must be conceded that very little is known of the progress which the Church had n.ade m England prior to the arrival of Augustine in 597. Up to the year 450, England had been, for over 400 years, occupied by the Romans, and had undoubtedly advanced considerably in civiHzation during that occupation. At the time it ceased, England and Wales were divided into five Roman provinces, and these provinces again had been divided into thirty-three civitates, or districts, each of which had a separate local government. These civitates probably resem- bled our counties, and the provinces the various provinces of this Dominion. In Gaul, where a similar division existed, there was in each civitaa a bishop and in each province an archbishop ^ and it has been conjectured that a similar ecclesiastical organization existed in England and Wales. If this were so, then it ir probable that at the time the Romans withdrew there may have been between thirty and forty bishops in England and Wales, But at the time the Romans departed there seems to have been no central authority, or bond of cohesion, in Eng- land, either in Church or State ; the Church was very much in the condition of "he AngHcan part of the Church in Canada beio.e its recent unification, and the State very much in the con- dition of Canada before Confederation. As a consequence of this want of unity of govern- ment, the country, on the departure of the Ro- mans, immediately became the scene of in- ternal dissensions, and it had, moreover, to contend with the invasions of the rude and barbarous Picts and Scots from the north. To resist these invaders the aid of the Saxonb was sought, which in the end resulted in the Saxons becoming the masters of the country, and in the ancient inhabitants and their descendants who survived the conflict of battle being driven into Wales and Cornwall, where alone the British Church survived, when St. Augustine's mission arrived. Very few records remain of the ancient British Church. Mr. Haddan quotes historical notices of the existence of two Brit- ish churches at Canterburv, two at Caerleon one at Bangor Iscoed, near Chester, one at Glastonbury, one at Withern, one at Evesham- and ne also notes actual existing remains of others at Dover Castle, Richborough, Reculver Lymmge, and Brixworth. ' It would be a pleasant thing to know that notwithstanding the misfortunes which befel the ancient British Church, it was, neverthe- less, remarkable for its piety and devotion • but unfortunately, the only picture we have is one that IS anything but admirable. Gildas the earliest native historian, who wrote about'560, said It had become a proverb that the Britons were neither brave in war nor faithful in peace • that, adverse to peace and truth, they were bold in crimes and falsehood ; that evil was preferred to good, and impiety to rehgion. Ihat those who were :nost cruel were (though not rightfully) anointed kings, and were soon justly destroyed by others fiercer than them- selves. If anyone discovered gentler manners or superior virtues he became the more unpopu- lar. Actions pleasing and displeasing to the Deity were held in equal estimation. And, (he says), it was not the laity only who were of'this character, but that the clergy, who should have been an example to all, were addicted to intoxication, animosities and quarrels. He ^o accuses them of folly, impudence, deceit, rob- bery, avarice, profligacy, gluttony, and almost every other vice, "even," he adds, "that I may speak the truth, of infidelity." And yet, with all this abuse of the ecclesiastical order, he says he somttimes wishes that he may be- come a member of it before he dies. His abuse, however, is so vituperative that it is con- sidered to be not altogether trustworthy. We must remember, too, that he wrote after the turmoil of one hundred years of constant wars had probably imbruted and depraved the people, and that his criticism, even if it were justified at the time he wrote, may afford no ground for supposing that in earlier times, when the country was in a state of peace and secur- ity under the Roman rule, either clergy or laity were so depraved. THE COMING OF AUGUSTINE. Although the Church in England had thus been cast down from its first estate it was not altogether destroyed; and when Augus- tine arrived, A.D. 597, he found still a faith- ful remnant. The story of Gregory the Great sending forth Augustine as a missionary to the pagan Anglo-Saxons is well known, and It 13, tiierciore, unnecessary here to relate it. Sufifice it to say that in A.D. 597 Augustine • arrived m England with his l>and of forty ni.ss,onanes. England at that time was bn. .""h. H^°K 7""'^';' °' '^"^"''^ ^'ffe^^"' kings, but shortly before Augustine's arrival one of H^^em Ethe bert, the King of Kent-had ac qmred a certain precedence over all the other of fh?= t-""" P°'T'^»^^- " was to the court cess R^ t^' ^,^° ^''^ T"*^^ ^ Christian prin- Pr, f X .'u^' 'i'^ daughter of the King of the wis nolV.^' h"?'"''°^ ''"''■ This princess was not allowed to pass over into Kent untiJ ample arrangements had been made for the «ngly, attended by Lnidhard, a Prankish British VT ?' '^<=^''«0">n'odation an ancient M» I- L"^''' ^'"''''"='' ''"d 'dedicated to St Martm on the eastern side of Canterbury, was restored and again rendered suitable for Chris- tian worship. Thus in about 560 a Christian congregation was formed in the principal sea of Anglo-Saxon pouer, thirty-six years before Augu: tine arr.ved with his band of missionar e ' From what i have said, therefore, ! think it writ be generally admitted that nothing cln b" clearer than that Christianity was not first intro duced into the British Isles by Augustine ^ AUGUSTINE ANf) THE BRITISH BISHOPS. Shortly after Augustine's arrival I.p had occa sion te ask Pope Gngory's advice "on various Vi. subjects, among others, as to the course to be adopted by him in his intercourse with the bishops of Gaul and Britain. He was in- formed by Gregory that all of the British bishops were committed to him — the ignorant for instruction, the weak for persuasive confir- mation, and the perverse for authority. It will be seen, therefore, that even in that early day the Pope claimed a sort of lordship over the native bisliops. But while we must admit the Pope made the claim, it is also well to see how the native British bishops regarded it. There is, fortunately, an anecdote preserved in the pages of the Venerable Bede which sheds no little light on the point, especially when it is remembered that Bede, who records the story, was himself a devoted adherent of the Pope. The story is this : Sometime after his arrival in England, Augustine, being desir- ous of consolidating and extending his author- ity, repaired to the confines of Wales and sought an interview with the native British bishops The place of meeting was afterwards known as *' Augustine's Oak." The influence of Ethelbert was used in bringing the parties together, and Augihstine declared his principal object to be no other than to secure the co- oneration nf the Rritish bi«;h'^»^« in ^he crrf»a<" work of converting the Saxons : but he qualified »3 a com±''°"/°'' "'"''■ ^■'^ by insisting upon L°,hu \ ""'fo'-">'.'y in religious practice- ^ar to h/ I'' m"1""" ^"''='' Christians ap-' tine they d ffered in some respects in oractirp notably ,„ the ume of k,., ping Eatt^r."^ What' cetain irr ^Ifi^' P"'-p'. n°t absoktef^ e«;Tar,;'irtre'teL'^c^f,.:.et^.ft:Th oTCia'l^rlnor^ t^ T''' ^-^^'f ' ^'^ C^rL°til commemoration of'tbe institution of the loid'^ Supper ; and three days afterwards, regardless The we'Lrn rh "'^?''' '^ey ce)el>ra,edVaster ^ne webtern Chrisnans, on the oth^r hr.r.A always kept Easter on the first day o the week' Some writers suppose that this was the J^Er ence which prevailed between Augustine and he British bishops, and hare hence argued tha^ t indicates that the British Church had bee ' founded by missionaries from the Eastern the"S;n^edn" P^''-'- dispute (knowt "s tne yuartodeeiman controversy) appears to have been settled at the Council of N^ce ,2, at which British bishops were present /".'d^h^' better opinion seems to be that the difference betweer. Augustine's method of keepinffEaster and thac of the British bishops w^^d^c^r^:: U latter adhering to a mode of computing the day on which the festival should fall, known as the eighty-four years' cycle, a method which, in the middle of the sixth century, i.e., forty years before Augustine's arrival in England, had been superseded in the Roman Church by another, founded upon more accurate astronomical cal- culations. But, whatever may have been the differences between the British bishops and Augustine, the native Christians adhered to their own practices, and refused to give them up. Finding argument useless, Augustine pro- posed to resort to a miracle as proof of his superior authority. A man, by birth an Angle, was produced, exhibiting marks of blindness. The Britons were invited to pray for his release from that calamity. Certain British bishops -accepted the invitation, and, their prayers hay- ing proved ineffectual, Augustine then stepped forward and offered an earnest supplication, at the end of which the man appeared to have recovered his eyesight. Among an unciv- ilized people this test was regarded as conclu- sive, and Augustine's principles were approved by acclamation. The leading Britons, how- ever, declined to accept them without the gen- eral consent of their countrymen, and requested a second conference, at which ihey might ap- pear more numerously supported. «5 To this second ronferencecame seven Britisli bishops and various native divines of learning. On their way to the place of meeting they are said to have consulted a hermit, highly esteemed o prudence and holiness,, wlio advised them. If Augustine be a man of God, tal article of faith even in the Roman Church until the Council of Lateran, A.D. 1215, or 6i8'year<:. after Augustine landed in England. iVLVRlOLATRV. The adoration paid by modern Ron^anists tc the Blessed Virgin Mary was then utterly un- known. All the great writers of the Church • . ^^'^•f. ''^-y^'"*'* is toundcd on the supfo.siiian that there is somp "U:^":^!^'^ ''Vv^ '""'^i "substance" alfiV^ther di.sduct from those physical qualities such an size, taste, smell. ;md visible appearance etc.. by wfiich we distmiru.sh one (hin^ from another. Th?s sS,v/-- tiou ,s absolutely ntca:.aNe of prcH>tV and even as ;. r.\l.JZC",f> theory ha« been iibandoi. ' by all modern scientists. -■.y prior to 1 ope (ire-ory, by whom Augustine was sent, are either entirely silent on the subject, or where they do speak, it is only in condemnalion ot the practice. And certainly no dogma con- cerning ,jer conception without sin was required to be believed by any Christian anywhere in & 'f"^'^''"''''''''^"^^^^'"^''^^^^ ^^er then been neard ot. Iwen so late as the time of St. Bernard (1091-1153), when this doctrine first came to be mooted, that eminent doctor of the Church de- nounced It as "the nonsense of a few "diots • a new-fangled absurdity set up against the order of the Church ; the mothe? of^ temerity! the sister of superstition, the daughter of levity of which the Church's ritual knows nothing which reason does not sustain, and which finds no warrant from primitive tradition." And vet a doctrine thus assailed by one whom Roman theologians are accustomed to style " the last of the Fathers," and whom all Romanists revere as a canonized saint, was, by the late Pope Pius IX., so late as the year 1854, or 1 ,260 years after Augustine s arrival in England declared to be an article of the Christian faith! PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. In Augustine's time no Christian anywhere Was required to nrnfpQQ anxr K^li^f ir *^^^ :-,r_ii! bihty of the Pope. Indeed, so late as the year 2\ 1823, the whole of the Romish hierarchy in Ireland published a solemii declaration, in which they declared on oath their belief that it was not an article of the Catholic faith, neither are they thereby required to believe that the Pope is infallible. So sure were even other modern Romanists of the correctness of this opinion that in a controversial catechism, published for the instruction of Roman CathoHcs, and used for many years by Roman Catholics, and which was expressly licensed and approved by Arch- bishop Hughes of New York, and which also received the formal approbation of four Roman Catholic Bishops in Scotland so late as 1846' and 1853, we find the following question and answer : " Q. Must not Catholics believe the Pope himself to be infallible ? ^' A. This is a Protestant invention ; it is na article of the Catholic faith No decision of his can bind on pain of heresy, unless it be received and enforced by the teaching body, that is, bv the bishops of the Church r" ' ' And yet this so-called "Protestant invention"" on the 18th February, 1870, was by Pope Pius- IX. also attempted to be added as an article of the Christian faith, 1,273 years after Augus- tine. I Xi- bv >»• 1 fURCxATORV. Then, again, the doctrine of purfi^atofy, as now taught by the Church of Rome, was un- known to Augustine, and certainly could not have been an article of faith in his time, because it was not until the Council of Florence, 1439, or 843 years after Augustine, that even the existence of a purgatory was as9erted to be an article of faith. And it was not until the Council of Trent, 1563, or 1,000 years after Augustine, that the modern Romish doctrine as to the effi- cacy of the Holy Communion as a propitiatory sacrifice for the relief of souls from purgatory was attempted to be made an article of the faith. INVOCATION 0F SAINTS. The invocation of saints was for a long time no more than a floating opinion. So late as 1150 Peter Lombard, an eminent theologi^in, when treating of this doctrine, only ventures to assert that, ** It is not incredible that the souls of the saints . . . understand what is passing in the outer world/' And Veron, an eminent Jesuit divine, writing so late as the seventeenth century, denied it to be an article of faith, though a probable opinion. Other innovations. J. he veneration of relics, though no doubt practised in Augustine's time, was not then a 25 all churched Lht '^'' ^°^ mistress of the B shon Af R ^ ^"""""^ "'"'^ obedience to tne Bishop of Rome, successor of St P^t^r Prince of the Apostles anH v,v . ,^'^' Christ." apostles, and Vicar of Jesus It is true that this Creed seems to admit th.f there are other churches besides th^T. Church, otherwise there would be no sfns'ln mn.h""^^''^- ^°"'^" Church to be "'the Romaai'sts l^'o'''"^ °' ^" <='"'^^'^^«" Modern Komamsts, however, seem to have got bevnnH assVr^t'harrh' °' '}"'' ^^'=^'^' ^'-« 'hly virSy Church an ,°^-''"' ^''"'"^ *^ '^e Roman -^^ Koman L^atholic. " 24 )wledg- ler and Roman impted th cen- about ^oman erning Creed 3gmas stoJic, ess of ice to ^eter, Jesus ;that Dman ise in "the )dern yond uaJIy man lists, If it Were, indeedj triie that the Romatl Church is " the mother and mistress of all churches,'"— (a statement, however, which is plainly historically false, as, if any Church is entitled to that designation, it must be the Church of Jerusalem, from whence St* Peter and all the other apostles came), it must be confessed that so far as the ancient British Church was concerned, she proved little better than a very bad step mother* For at St. Augus- tine s advent the native British Church had been so long left to its fate by this so-called " mother " that she had apparently forgotten she had such a child. But in the pages of Bede we plainly see that in Augustine's time the existence and autonomy of the different national churches into which the Catholic Church was divided was a recog- nized fact, and the theory that the Roman Church was the only true church had no exist-^ ence. Among the questions addressed by Augustine to Pope Gregory was this • " When there is but one faith, why are there different customs of churches, and why is one custom of masses observed in the Holy Roman Church, and another in the Church of Gaul ? " To which Gregory made this answer : " You, my brother, knov/ the custom of the Roman Church, in which you remember that; y&U yourself were hrn.WrUi. ^ tence is that wTether Tn fh ' ^P- ^"* "^y ^«»- <':^««. or in any c!„Th vou hf "T"' °I '^^ ^"'^ God> you carefully selett ?n i^. to Omnipotent struction impart to thpr2^ z^'l*" .^P^"^' '"* which as yet is ttevv tn ,?^ 7 • u^'^" ^"f'^'^h you have been abliM n"''' ""^^^ '^*"g3 thurt;heg. ^or thfnit .1 ''°"^'' ^'■°'" many the sake of peaces L"^ "°' /° "" '"^"'^ ^°^ good thing,^ Prom J!^^lJ°'.Jh^ ^^ke of therefore, choo J ?ul fu- "^'''«'^"al church, Which are rZfous wV,'"!?' ^'^'^'' ^^^ Pi°"= posit these tfn°3'wh: ^''\"ght, and de' them, as it «"re^rnto « h ^J'l" ^^^^ ^°"^«ed the English for their uL^""*"> '" '^^ '"'"ds of accordant' 171 ^^J^^'/^^t advice, and entirely Church toZ}\^V:ttT h/ '•'''= ^"»""« « modern Roman Pope 1„M^ ""T"^ '*>*« -ch sensible advice ranrmfs=%C Images. Of ^"andSr^°H;!;rSulcr^^^^' f^ -^-"^^ by the fact that whe^ in ^S, / ' ^^" ''""'^'^ ■Augustine), the second rl^ ^f^'po years aftef sanctioned^Kne, adon T- ' "^ ^'"^^ f°""^hly of the B;->hQn^ -r "'^■^"V of imasres, a Coim.;i «.-hops o, cne Anglo-Saxon Churcirwa's «6 • ^ held, at winch the decree was unanimously con- demned. But of this I shall have something more to say further on. ^ CELEBACV OF THE CLERGY. Turning now to some of the pecuHar prac^ tices adopted by the Church of Rome, ..-the enforcement of celibacy on the clergy, and the denial of the Eucharistic cup to the laity we hnd tha the latter grievous error had no place in the Anglo-Saxon Church, nor even in the Koman Church, until the beginning of the thir- teenth century ; and whatever theories may have been prevalent as to the advisability of priestly celibacy, as a matter of practice, it was by no nieans universally adopted in the Anglo- Saxon Church. While in so many respects the ancient Church of England differed in its faith and practice from that of modern Romanism still It cannot be denied that some of those opinions and practices which ultimately ripened rl"" u ^°^"^^ti^ decrees by which the Roman Church has attempted from Mmeto time to add to the Catholic faith as set forth in the Nicene ^reed, by degrees gained a foothold in her bosom, and were widely adopted, until the great upheaval of the Reformation, when the Church -1 ^.. ni. ov-t iicr.-3cli caremuy to scrutmize every doctrine and every practice, and while scrupulously retaining those which were really primitive she fearlessly cast from her those which were false or unwarranted, or which tended to superstition, and by this means she recovered not only her pristine purity of faHh, but even more than her pristine purity in prac* CONSOLmATlON OF THE CHL^RCH. Augustine, as we have seen, failed to secure tne union and co-operation of the British bishops, but what he failed to accomplish was ult mately effected under one of his successors in the See of Canterbury. ^J^'''''^l\'\''^^^^nce of Oswy, King of Northumbna those Roman usages which, we have seen, differed from those of the ancient l^ritish bishops, were ultimately adopted by the successors of the latter, and under Theo^ dore, Archbishop of Canterbury, the British and Koman parties became united, and thus the Anglo-Saxon Church became consolidated {arc. 669) ; It IS also well to remember that it was not until the reign of Egbert, about 160 years afterwards, that the State of England became united under one king, because it is sometimes foohshly said that the Church in tinglana owes its origin to the State. ■28 e really r those which ms she f faith, 1 prac' secure British sh was lessors ing of ch, we ncient ed by Theo- sh and iS the idated that it It 1 60 igland i it is ch in OL'R DKUT to ROME. While we cannot yield to Rome the merit of founding the Christian Church in the British Isles, we may nevertheless gratefully acknowl- edge that in an age of darkness and barbarism it afiorded, through Augustine's mission, material aid to the native church and helped in an importanr measure to hasten the conversion of many of our forefathers to the Christian faith. THE ANGLO-SAXON CHURCH. The Anglo-Saxon Church, after its consoli^ dation under Theodore, was adorned by many noble sons, of whom we, their fellow-church- men, may well be proud. Theodore himself, a fellow-countryman of S. Paul, though not coming to England until 66 years old, lived 23 years in the country as Archbishop of Canter- bury, and he may be justly ranked as one of the ablest prelates that ever filled that import- ant See. Though he did much to estabhsh the authority of the Roman See over the English Church-^-for which we may not think him particularly praiseworthy -he also gave sta- bility to the religious establishment of England, both in regard to its organization, doctrine and discipline, and he also wiselv provided for the inteilectuai growth of the nation by his liberal and enlightened patronage of learning. THE VENKRAHI.K BEDU. br£t^l\T '^ri'^^' Christian scholar and pr est I have already mentioned, whose name Chi;cnL'v'"''"°KT'i^ '" the'annals ofthe a^e of r» ^^"^"■"^'♦^ Bede. From the early age of seven years he was an inmate nf » monastery, his earliest patron and in tructor being Benedict Biscop, the abbot and founder of the monasteries of Jarrow and Wearmouth After passing his childhood and you^h Tni; ="t;z:-: ifrTaf af b 'i^ able %?Z,' his industry was indefatig- awe. bcripture was h s favorite studv hnf K= seems to have eagerly explored eve "branch of learning within his reach, and he became th/ ?n'^*Jv°°' """'''' °f th; Angto Saxon race In addition to his '< Ecclesiastical H°storv; which has come down to us, and which °s^a'n invaluable record of interesting even s comniled son"?! T''",' 'r°"^™-"'«. traditions, and per ^S^fi^-^t-sS^^^^^^^^ , a..oti,.x^ icained and pious Anglo- 30 ine people ot France, too. THE PROTEST AGAINST IMAGES. ind^bti'w" '• '' '"PP°=^d that we are Caro nf R ' t" '■"P°r.ta"t work known as the under fh»?^f' '"•'""'' ^^™^ '° be promulgated Pon/AJ^^ follo^Mng circumstances; In 702 decreet of'th/""'"!!"^^ '° Charlemagne t^e in H,rn f iT"'* <^"""^'' of Nice, and he mI • f°''"t^'l^d them to Offa, King of the Mercians, who laid them l.efor; the An^lo adoTtion of ■ These decrees sanctioned fhe' adoration of images of Christ and the saint-T reToecr H^ XI ""'^ deference and respect. He was without doubt the mnct powerful and important bishop in wesTeTn Christendom. But this demand upon ?h1ir obedience was one to which they Tuld no JZ ;, They were, however, in the dilemma th., the Pope himself had adopted this Secre' which seemed to them subversive of the fir.; pnnciples of their religion. The EneHsh ecclesiastics, therefore, affected to ignore^ he N^c'e ' tre^d''?. T''^ "^^ ''^""^ ~il of f^'ce, treated that assembly as merely .■?i oriental, and denounced its decrees as a f^riev- ous disgrace to Christianity, 'Hhe worship of tmafres bang (as they affirmed) that which God's Church altoirethcr execrates," This was, how- ever, really nothing less than an open defiance ot papal authority, and the Anglo Saxon Church sought an advocate whose pen might give weight to its opinions. For this task Alcuin, the most illustrious of contemporary scholars, was selected, and his execution of it excited unqualified admiration. ']'he work which he produced is not preserved to us under his own name, but it is supposed to be none other than the celebrated Caroline Books. These books purport to be an authentic de- claration of the EmperorCharlemagne's opinion and policy upon the worship of images, and thev are amongst the most valuable relics which time has spared of the ecclesiastical literature of that age. In them all worship of images is denounced as an insidious relic of paganism, and image worship as a Satanic device by which triuuiphs gained in the field are likely to be lost within the city walls. It is also charged with novelty, and all attempts to shelter it under the Mosaical commands to make the sculptured cherubim and brazen serpent are exposed. No use whatever is conceded to images or pictures in churches beyond mere 3^ L fTfriev- rship of h GoiVs s, how- efiance (Saxon might is task porary )n of it i work ; under e none s. tic de- )pinion id thev )h time ure of iges is anisni, ice by kely to larged liter it {6 the nt are led to mere ornament and commemoration: and the lightin" In?'''/"'' •"'" '"'™'"« °f '"^«"=e beforS hem' a'r^ ,^^""5 '''' i"^ ^^^^ration towards !,,1; f-.^ *" <=°?'i^"'n«d as unauthorized and CX "sThat t is'^SonXr^ '^°"'^" ship in En,.and":a:^d^^:r"a mir^:iarn of a sentence uttered by Constantine, bi.s lop of (.yprus, tvhjch made him say that he adored ■mages as he did the Trinity?^ But although t appears by the Caroline Books that he was so Tr,T°°i ^I '^^ ''"''''' ^"d 'hough This no which th^^'d'^ '° '""'''' '^' indignfuion Jth which the decrees ,n question were received, fhat Ll ""' , ^'°"V ^^^ ^^'°^'"^ Books of ,hl f Y'c"°' "'""f ">^ ""^^ °f the attitude thatfnR^°"^%™",^'':?'<=''- The truth being that m Britain, Gaul, and Germany, pictures and ZltVr' "''" '""^'^ "^°" "^^'^^y -"chiirch or » 1? ' ^° "17V° ^^ "'"'•Shipped than a door fir_st ,rA Unhapp ]y the resolute stand at ductirn n?H^' °"' ^r^""'^" ^g^'"^' "'e intro- hv t^'.^ A ""^ of images was not maintained by siicceeding generations, who not only basely yielded to the lead of Rome in this respect! Im vlcicJ'°tu^ J''e'l"'°"^ ^"'l superstition ,wif w ^^""^ ^^"y ^""ounded the use of images as obiects of umrQiiin f,,ri-"i - ^ ;„„ f„_ ^,1 / :, "'I'P. 'Urnisntd a warn- fjJ- u ^"'■"'^'' ^^"'^'•ations not again to toliow in their steps. JO WINIFRED. Winifred was another illustrious Saxon, who went forth from the Anglo-Saxon Church as a missionary to the continental pagans, and sub- sequently under the name of Boniface became Bishop of the Germans. AI.FKKD THE ClREAT. After the death of Alcuin, England passed through many years of turmoil and confusion, consequent upon Danish incursions, and religion and learning suffered, until they once again revived undsr the celebrated Saxon king, Alfred the Great, who proved himself to be both a warrior and a scholar. He conceived the noble desire of founding a vernacular liter- ature, for up to his dav Latin alone was the anguage of the learned. In order to enlighten his countrymen on the Church annals of their country, he translated into Saxon Bede's Eccles- iastical History. He also translated the geo- graphy of Orosius, and gave his people a free version of Boethius on the Consolation of Phil- osophy, a work then highlv valued, and besides and best of all, he translated into Saxon many parts of Holy Scripture, and was engaged in a translation of the Psalms when death overtook him. .14 who i as a sub- cam e TflK MORAL OF THE STOin'. It would l^e impossible in the time at my dis- posal to follow the history of the Church of hn^land further at the present time, but before 1 conclude it may be useful to say a few words on the lessons to be drawn fro.n the facts which we have been discussin;:^. In the first place we h-arn that England was not mdebted to Rome for the introduction of Christianity, on the contrary Christianity was planted in England at least 300 years (and pro- bal)ly for a still longer period) before Ai.gustine's arrival We also learn that the Christian Church originally established in England, and which Augustine found there, was not in any way subject to the Pope and did not acknow- ledge his supremacy. Although it is true that by Its subsequent amalgamation with the mission of Augustine it was ultimately brought tor a time, into subjection to the See of Kome. We may learn, too, that the Church of Eng- land instea'i of being founded by the State (as some people ignoranily assume), had been united and consolidated long before the State which is assumed to have founded it. Because 160 years before England had ceased to be a collec- tiOn of nPttv prinoit-wolifi^r- o->-l 1 *- ' J- ^ — J £.. ...,_^|jaiiLiCo ana uccaine united under one sovereign, the Church of England 35 had been united and consolidated under Theo- dore Archbishop of Canterbury. We may also learn that the oft-repeated boast of the Church of Rome that she never changes, is entirely contrary to the facts of history. So far from her faith to-day being what it was in the early days of the Church of England, it is safe to say that Augustine or even Pope Gregory himself would not recognize it as it is now taught in the Church of Rome. They would have to learn the doctrine of tran- substantiatiori, which in their day had never been heard of. They would have to leain that it is lawful to worship and venerate the images of Christ and the Saints; and to deny the cup to the laity in the Holy Communion ; that the Roman Church is the mother and mistress of all churches ; and that the Pope is Universal Bishop (a title which Pope Gregory, who sent Augustine, himself reprobated). They would have to learn too that the Pope of Rome is infallible, that the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived without sin ; and that it is lawful to pray to her in language similar to that address- ed to God Himself. They would also have to learn that there is a purgatory from which souls may be released by the offering of the Eucharist. May we not well conclude, that if all these doctrines were not essential in those early days, tliey cannot possiby be so now ? 36 NO NEW CHURCH FOUNDED AT THE REFORMATION, It must be admitted that after Augustine's time many of these doctrines were taught and received in the Church of England, and from this fact, some people assume that the Church of England became a part of the Church of Rome. This, however, is a mistake. The Church in England was designated by Pope Gregory himself, as we have seen, as " the Church of the English " ; and that part of the Church planted in England always remained and was always called " The Church of Eng- land." We do not read in Magna Charta, for instance, that ''the Church of Rome shall have all her whole rights and liberties," what we do read is that '' the Church of England shall have all her whole rights and liberties," and the Church of England is so styled in many other statutes passed long prior to the Reformation. The notion that because prior to the Reform- ation the Church of England had adopted many Romish errors therefore she was a part of the Church of Rome arises from a confusion of ideas. Let us suppose that the Lieut. Governor of Quebec were to arrogate to himself the func- t'on«? of t^p c\f\\7av-inr\f rz./r>»^^-»»-r, 1 y^c fU^^ f^— — - — * and that he should procure the Legislature of 37 Quebec to pass laws for the government of the whole Dominion, and suppose this Province of Ontario were for a time to submit to this usurpation of authority and receive and obey he laws which the Quebec Legislature had thus wrongfully assumed to pass, would this province thereby become a part of Quebec ? By no means. And if some enlightened states- man should arise and show that this obedience we had been paying to the Lieut. Governor of Quebec was ^all wrong and that the laws his assembly had passed were really not bindinjr on us, should we be making or setting up a new Province if we were to refuse any longer to acknowledge the usurped authority ? .,-l"fj'^^u^^'^M^. ""^'y ^ike what happened with the Church of England and the Church of Kome Just as Ontario and Quebec are parts of one Dominion and bound by its laws, so are the Church of England and the Church of Rome parts of the one Catholic and Apostolic Church, and bound by its laws ; and when the Pope assumed to exercise authority over the Church ot England and to pass laws for the govern- ment of the whole Church, it was like the Oovernor of Quebec assuming to govern Ontario and to pass laws for the government of the whole Dominion— both of which proceedings are contrary, the one to the original constitution 38 of the Church, and ihe other to the constitution or the Dominion. While we may admit, therefore, that the Church of England was led, through a variety ot circumstances which it is impossible here to trace, to submit for a time to the usurped authority of the Pope, and to adopt many erroneous opinions and practices before the Ketormation, we cannot for a moment admit that thereby the Church of England became a part of the Church of Rome. Remembering this, we see how absurd and contrary to the fact it is to say, as some people do, that at the Reformation the Church of Rome wasabohshed in England, and the Church of England set up in its place. If this were the true version of what took place we might expect to find some statute transferring all the propertv of the Church that IS said to have been abolished, to the Church said to have been set up in its place. But if you look from now to doomsdav you will never find any such statute. What you will f^nd as the key note of the Reformation is a statute torbidding appeals to the Pope in matters ecclesiastical and preventing him from any longer exercising authority in the Church of England. Relieved from this usurped authority and restored to her ancient independence of 39 Rome, the Church of England set herself to remove the errors in doctrine and in practice, which had been developed in ages of ignorance, and which obscured the true faith. But her continuous historic existence has ever been maintained, by a due succession of bishops who have handed on their authority from age to age, and she is to-day the same ancient historic Catholic and Apostolic Church which has ever e:uided and controlled the spiritual life of the English people from the time they first embraced the Christian religion. But while we have just ground for glorying in the^ antiquity and history of that beloved part of the One CathoHc and Apostolic Church with which t is our happiness and privilege to be 111 communion, we must ever remember chat the Church in every age is very much what the people of that age make it. The present age alone we can call our own. It is in vain for a man to boast of the deeds of his ancestors unless he shows by his own Hfe that he emulates their example, so also it is vain for us to boast and glory in the past of the Church of England if we do not also, each in his station and caliing do his utmost both by precept and example to make that part of the Church in which our lot is cast in this day a praise and glory m the earth. 40 While studying the history of the Church of England during the period we have been con- sidering, we have found that many Romish errors which were subsequently developed bad then no existence. Truth compels me also to say some Protestant novelties were equally conspicuous by their absence. In those days if you had searched England, Scotland and Ireland, you would have failed to find any sijch Christians as Presbyterians, Methodists Baptists, Congregationaiists, or Plymouth Bre' thren, and if you had told those old British Bishops, about whom we have been talking, that Episcopacy was all a mistake, that no ministry at all was necessary, or that priests had the power of ordination ; that it was improper to baptize infants; and that each congregation of Christians was independent of every other congregation-^^you would have made them open their eyes with astonishment. How could they be expected to know these things, seeing that these notions were not invented until looo years and more after they had died ? While it is no part of our duty to judge our neighbours who adopt these novelties and make them a ground of separation from us, we may nevertheless deplore the fact that they are separ- ^rf^ ^T"' "- -'' '^'"''^' ^^ ^''y ^^^^^^ grounds. 1 he Church of England is perhaps ttie only 4' part of the Catholic Church that teaches her people systematically to pray for a restoration of the unity, which has unhappily been lost. Let us not be found wanting in readiness (if in the Providence of God an opportunity offers) to do our part to heal the breach so far as this may be done without a sacrifice of those fundamental principles which we have inherited from the primitive and undivided Church, and which cannot be surrendered, because we hold them as a sacred trust to be handed on inviolate as we have received them. Those fundamental principles may, I think, be summed up in their chronological order : ist, The ancient Apostolic ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons ; 2nd, The Sacraments which Christ Himself ordain- ed; 3rd, The Holy Scriptures, and 4th, The Cathohc Creeds of the undivided Church. 44 s her aticn . Let n the to do ay be ental I the ^hich them te as sntal their itolic 2nd, iain- The