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t 
 
 ^TW 
 
 
 tL*^ t* *^ 
 
 
 •^ 
 
 *^"^ 
 
 THE AUTHORIZED AND ACCUSTOMED PLACE 
 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FONT IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 
 
 v^ 
 
 UN APPEAL FOR ORDER. 
 
 Hb that is kaithfui, is that which is i.kast is PAiTHrui- ai,so is 
 
 MUCH, and HB THAT IS UNJUST IN TIIK liKAST IS UNJUST ALSO IN MUni. — 
 
 |iuke zvi. lU. 
 
 Lkt us walk by the same UUI.B. — Phil. iii. 16. 
 
 i 
 
 BY THE 
 
 
 REV. HENRY OVERY, B. A., Oxon, 
 
 Assistant Minister of St. Mark's, St. John, N. B. 
 and late Curate of Cullompton, England. 
 
 ST. JOHN, N. B. : 
 
 t J. & A. McMillan, printers, 78 priniie wm. street. 
 
 1876. 
 
 Ni 
 
1 ■'(•■' 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
^ttt^trittt^rf part of iki ^o«f. 
 
 Introduction. It has ever been the ranrk of the wise to 
 
 submit any question of dispute, which has arisen throufjli 
 ignorance or misunderstanding, to the careful consideration 
 of the more learned, or to the greater clearness of thought 
 o' those whose intelligence in general matters is respected 
 among men. The ignorant and the prejudiced are not 
 valued as judges in disputed opinion : the one class by 
 reason of their not knowing that of which they would 
 rashly speak ; the other because their feelings are likely to 
 cloud their judgment. 
 
 Necessity for the quea- 'AMie question lias morc than once 
 tion being considered, occurred lately, "Which is the right 
 position of the Font in the Church?" and from all that 
 can be ascertained, tbe circumstances which should guide 
 to the answer have not been honestly, thoughtfully and 
 fully investigated. It \n ill bo admitted by all religiously 
 disposed men that anything which concerns the worship of 
 Almighty God, and the carrying out of that woisliip in due 
 and regular order, cannot be a matter of indilference : and 
 it will bo admitted with equal readiness by all, that men 
 should be guided in the details of Christian worship with 
 regard to the usages of Christians vho have preceded 
 them. 
 The connection of the On enquiry, ** Fi'om whom does the 
 
 Church in Caniidii with /^i i i- -A i i • ^^ i • i •, 
 
 the United Church of Church ot England ni Canada inherit 
 England and Ireland, her ordcr of conducting the Public 
 Worship of God?" it will be conceded on every side tliat 
 it is from the United Church of England and Ireland. 
 Her Book of Common Prayer is the same as that used in 
 England and Ireland; her Administration of th*^ Sacra- 
 ments is the same ; all her other Rites and Ceremonies 
 
are accoidiiif^ to the use of the Church of England. It 
 will he readily j^rantod that even in the building of her 
 sacred cditices, Canada has not been ashamed to imitate, 
 to the hest of her power, those grand ecclesiastical build- 
 ings, whether Cathedrals or Parish Churches, which are 
 the credentials of her architects, the pride of her builders, 
 and the glory of "young men and maidens, old men and 
 children," who " praise the Lord." 
 
 The ancient customs And this iidoptlou by Canada of the 
 
 the best. ecclesiiistical uses and ceremonies of the 
 
 Church in its native country arises from the principle that 
 in sacred things the most primitive is also the most endur- 
 ing, an<l that the Forms and Ceremonies of the Church of 
 Jesus Christ our Lord should be, as far as anything human 
 can be, unchangeable. The Church of England, at the 
 Reformation and in succeeding years, acting upon this 
 principle, recast her Liturgy only after the purer and 
 stricter model of early Christianity, leaving bebind her those 
 changes and additions which Romanism had made in her 
 policy of development. Romanism was rejected by the 
 English Church in the 16th century because it did not 
 faithfully represent the Catholic Christianity of the early 
 ages, and the English Reformed Church afterwards retained 
 in her doctrines and ritual everything which in the Early 
 Church did not need Reformation. Not the primitive 
 Ritual, but the additions thereto were thrown aside at the 
 Reformation. 
 An anomaly still exist- ^ow, the English Church in Canada* 
 
 ing in the English . •i/.n-ii 
 
 Church in Canada. has strictly followed the United Church 
 of England and Ireland in her adherence to primitive order 
 and ritual, and she inherits at once the beauty and sim- 
 plicity of Service prescribed by the Book of Common 
 Prayer, inculcated in the Articles, and commanded by the 
 
 * We desire the Church in this Province to continue, u it has been, an 
 integral portion of the United Church of England and Ireland. (See Declara- 
 tion of the Provincial Synod.) 
 
% 
 
 and. It 
 y of lier 
 imitate, 
 il build- 
 liich are 
 builders, 
 men and 
 
 a of the 
 
 OS of the 
 
 iple that 
 
 st endur- 
 
 'hurch of 
 
 g human 
 
 d, at the 
 
 ipon this 
 
 urer and 
 
 her those 
 
 ide in her 
 
 d by the 
 
 it did not 
 
 the early 
 
 Is retained 
 
 the Early 
 
 primitive 
 
 side at the 
 
 n Canada* 
 ed Church 
 litive order 
 r and sim- 
 Common 
 ded by the 
 
 t has been, an 
 (See Declara- 
 
 Oanone. Yet, with reference to the position of the Font 
 in some of the Churches in our midst, an innovation has 
 been made upon the general English custom which is 
 sanctioned by long series of years, unvaried in the several 
 Churches of England, countenanced by the teachings of 
 the Prayer Book, positively enjoined by the Canons. 
 
 The position of the ^'i'^"' ^^^'' ^'<irUe»t times the position of 
 
 Font in England. fjn- Font luis remained unchanged in 
 
 England, and its undisputed position is one of the many 
 happy evidences of unity of doctrine amid some diversity 
 of expression, 'lliis position is at the trestern entrance of 
 the Church. One of the ablest writers upon Church mat- 
 ters, whose experience of Church architecture is very wide, 
 and whose honesty is beyond dispute, thus speaks of the 
 general position of the Font in England at the present 
 day : " Hard hy the entrance of the Church, as the ancient 
 usual place, is commonly found an ornamental Font of 
 stone, in accordnnce with early usage and with the pre- 
 scription of the 81st Canon of 1604."* 
 
 The sist Canon. The 81st Cauou says, "according to a 
 former Constitution too much neglected in many places we 
 appoint that there shall be a Font of Stone in every Church 
 or Chapel where Baptism is to be administered, and the 
 same to be set in the usual ancient places, in which only 
 Font the Minister shall baptize publicly." 
 
 The Prayer Book. If wc enquire from the Prayer-Book it is 
 clear that the Font is not properly placed adjoining the 
 Keading Desk where Morning and Evening Prayer is wont 
 to be said, for in the Rubric preceding the Public Baptism 
 of Infants it is written, ** and comincf to the Font he shall 
 say". Again, it is said, "we receive this child into 
 the Congregation of Christ's Church," signifying that as 
 the door hard by which the Font is placed is the entrance 
 into the outward Church, so is Baptism the entrance into 
 the Mystical Church. 
 
 * Sir J. Beresford Hope on " Worship in the Church of England." 
 
 I 
 
6 
 
 Attempted changes in In the year 1661, the Presbyterians in 
 England refused. England desired that an innovation 
 should be made in the position of the Font. Then as 
 now, then as long previous, the Font had been placed at 
 the entrance to the Church, but the Presbyterians desired 
 that the Font should be moved from the entrance to the 
 Church elsewhere ; in their own words, they requested the 
 Font " to be so placed as all the CoiKjregation may best 
 see. and hear the whole administration ; " but the Bishops 
 replied, ** the Font usually stands as it did in primitive 
 times at or near the Church door, to signify that Baptism 
 is the entrance into the Church Mystical, (** We are all 
 baptized into one body," 1 Cor. xii. 12) and the people 
 may hear well enough."* 
 
 Directions to Church- !» ^^^ articles of enquiry presented to 
 wardens. the Churchwardens of Parish Churches 
 
 in England on entrance to their office, the following ques- 
 tion is made : 
 
 *' Have you a decent stone Font for the administration 
 of Baptism, and does it stand in the accustomed place where 
 Fonts have anciently and usually stood at or near the ivest 
 end of the Church ? " 
 
 Summary. Thus while ancient usage, the present 
 universal custom in England, together with the lan^^uage 
 of the Canons and the Prayer Book, direct the place of the 
 Font, there exists in some of our churches the anomaly of 
 the Font placed in a position for which there is apparently 
 no authority beyond the wish of the officiating Minister. 
 Or if the custom of so short duration is urged for the 
 retention of an innovation on the regular and authorized 
 position of the Font, a fortiori, the custom of centuries, 
 should have its due weight with thoughtful minds. 
 
 •Blunt's Annotated Book of Common Prayer, p. 217. 
 Procter's History of the Book of Common Prayer. 
 
 wh( 
 
 proj 
 
 i] 
 
 £n^ 
 exal 
 
 entl 
 
 mer 
 
;erians in 
 
 inovation 
 
 Then as 
 
 placed at 
 
 IS desired 
 
 lice to the 
 
 nested the 
 
 may best 
 
 e Bishops 
 
 jmmitive 
 
 i Baptism 
 
 We are all 
 
 the people 
 
 resented to 
 1 Churches 
 >wing ques- 
 
 ninistration 
 place where 
 ear the 2ve8t 
 
 the present 
 he language 
 place of the 
 3 anomaly of 
 is apparently 
 Qg Minister, 
 rged for the 
 d authorized 
 of centuries, 
 inds. 
 
 I 
 
 I DisadTantagofi attending 
 the continuance of the 
 present irregularity. 
 
 And we may further ask : 
 
 1. Is it logical to admit the validity 
 
 of Canon 81, and to refuse to carry it 
 
 out? 
 
 2. Is it logical to admit the English Church in Cana- 
 da to be a branch of the Established Church in England, 
 and to disregard her example ? 
 
 3. Is it logical and right to admit that the customary 
 place of the FoLt in England is near the door of the 
 Church, and in all other points to assimilate our form of 
 worship to the English custom, and in the matter of Bap- 
 tism to make a difference pcsHimi exempli ? 
 
 4. Is it logical and right to admit that the position of 
 the Font is immaterial, and yet refuse to place it in a 
 position for which many sound arguments have been 
 advanced ? 
 
 5. Is it logical to admit that Baptism is the entrance 
 to the Mystical Church, and refuse to signify the same by 
 the position of the Font ? 
 
 6. Is it right to disregard the counsel and example of 
 the Bishop, under whom, in God's providence, we are 
 happily set ? 
 
 7. Is it right to raise a party distinction in our midst, 
 when by acknowledging due precedent, we may be united ? 
 
 8. Is it right to disregard in the spirit of liberal indif- 
 ference the views of many earnest men in our midst, and 
 wilfully to cherish with exclusive regard our own wishes ? 
 
 Touching the advisable restoration of the Font to its 
 proper place, no better words can be found than those of 
 Hooker's dictum- Dr. Kichard Hooker, whose sound learn- 
 ing and temperate spirit, combined with his love to the 
 English Church and ardour for God's glory, make him an 
 example for our own days : 
 
 " In things the fitness whereof is not of itself appar- 
 ent, nor easy to be made manifest unto all, yet the judg- 
 fluent of antiquity, concurring with that which is received, 
 
 
8 
 
 if- 
 
 ill 
 
 mav induce them not to think it unfit, who are not able 
 to allege any known weighty inconvenience which it hath, 
 or to take an}' strong exception against it." 
 
 There is special need at the j^resent time in our own 
 loved Church to prevent anything which may seem like 
 irregularity. Maintaining, as the English Church does, 
 a firm hold upon Catholic and Apostolic teaching, she has 
 never been indifferent to the greatest regularity and sim- 
 plicity in her services. That regularity has been its own 
 reward, and at the present day is forming the sound basis 
 to which some eccentric minds are being recalled, after 
 their strange wanderings, from the Primitive Doctrine and 
 Ritual of the English Church. But it must be a source 
 of regret and sorrow to many well-regulated minds to 
 observe any laxity in obedience to the Rubrics and Canons 
 which wore so wisely laid down for the uniform guidance 
 of the Church in her Clerical and Lay members. And it 
 must be ever remembered that those who neglect to obey 
 the orders of that ** Congregation of faithful men," among 
 whom they have cast their lot, have entirely by that neglect 
 and disobedience lost their power of reproof over those who 
 may err in a diSerent direction, so that it may with justice 
 be enquired of such indifferent ones, lax in obedience, 
 irregular in ceremony, and neglectful of precedent, " How 
 wilt thou say to thy brother. Let me pull out the mote out 
 of thine eye, and behold a beam is in thine own eye ?" * 
 
 It is greatly to be hoped that no earnest and thought- 
 ful man will, at the instigation of prejudice, divorce his 
 influence from his judgment, but will allow to truth its owl 
 weight in his mind, and its embodiment in his decisions ; 
 remembering that noble sentiment or a noble heathen, f 
 that when Friendship and Truth are antagonists it is better 
 to side with Truth at the loss of Friendship, and the 
 encouraging statement from the lips of the Divine Teacher, 
 " The truth shall make you/re«." 
 
 * Matt. vii. 4. t Arist. Eth., 1. VI. 1.. ^o, Repub.. X. p. 595. 
 
 
 ■t 
 
e not able 
 >h it hath, 
 
 in our own 
 ' seem like 
 lurch does, 
 ig, she has 
 ,y and sim- 
 Ben its own 
 sound basis 
 jailed, after 
 •octrine and 
 be a source 
 i minds to 
 and Canons 
 •m guidance 
 )rs. And it 
 rlect to obey 
 len," among 
 that neglect 
 er those who 
 r with justice 
 n obedience, 
 jdent, " How 
 the mote out 
 .vneye?"' 
 and thought- 
 !, divorce his 
 truth its owr. 
 bis decisions ; 
 ble heathen,! 
 sts it is better 
 ship, and the 
 ivine Teacher, 
 
 ub., X. p. 595.