.. Va '^ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetd de I'exemplaire film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimde sont filmis en commenpant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comports une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmds en commen9ant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui compose une telle empreinte, Un des symbcles suivants apparaitra sur la derrJdre iriage de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols —^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, ate, may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour §tre reproduit en un seui cliche, il est film^ d partir de Tangle sup^rieur gauche, de gauche 1 droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 f 1 B taastsr/m-^TrTBicmimmm t THE BRITISH CATHOLIC CHURCH, Being a Sketch oC the Apostolic Church of the British Empire coininonly caHed the Churcli of England, BY EICHAED HAEETSOX, M. A., PiuiiisT OF Bkvkrlev MISSION, Diocese of Toronto. CROSS OP lOXA. :> < -> - TORONTO : BELL, BARKER AND CO., PR[NTERS. • « B( ^mmm THE BRITISH CATHOLIC CHURCH, Being a Sketch of tlie Apcstolic Cliurch of the British Empire commonly called the Church of England, -BY- EICHAED HAEEISON, M. A., Priest op Beverley Mission, Diocese of Toroi^to. CROSS OP lONA. # PREFACE. In the compilation of this little manual, on the Church of our fathers, I have had in view the correc- tion of several popular errors with regard to British Christianity, and which are due merely to ignorance — \,ant of information — upon the plain facts of histor«^ Of course those who have ready access to the standard histories which bear upon these subjects, are not under the necessity of being enlightened ; but the great mass of our people have no such opportunity of correcting their own errors, or of being able to refute the plausible stories of those who wish to mislead them — perhaps the blind ignorantly leading the blind. The erroneous impressions which I wish particularly to correct, are : 1. — That the British Church cannot exhibit traces of an apostolic foundation, — an origin in apostolic days. 2. — That the present "United Church of England and Ireland" cannot boast, for herself or her Colonial offshoots, an unbroken connection in organi- zation with the Primitive Church of Britain. 3. — That whatever church was originally founded in Britain, was founded by Romish agencies. 4. — That there was no Protestant Church or Church of Protestant principles in Britain previous to the Reformation. 5. — That the present Church is an invention of the Reformation era, like other Protestant bocUes. 6. — That the Romish Church of the present day in Britain and the British possessions, is not the proper lineal and doctrinal re- presentative of the English Church which existed before the Reformation. I'REFAClf. It reiiiiiins, I suppose, that I sliould give my reasons for departi))g from the usual roundiJ)out ways of refer- ring by title to the Cliurch of England and her descend- ant hranches in the Colonies. It seems desirable that a short and expressive term should be used to designate the whole Anglican Comnmnion of every age and country, in a manner to distinguish it from all other Commu- nions within the bounds of the Ikitish Empire. There is, perhaps, no characteristic of the Church distinguish- ing her from the various Protestant sects, so remarkable as her persistent claim throughout her formularies to be regarded as an integral portion of the Holy Church Catholic. It was in the nature of things that different portions of the Catholic Church should be distinguished by the names of the nations within whose bounds they existed, or by the use of atljectives cognate to those names, thus : — "The Catholic Church of Judea, or the Jewish Catholic Church ;" ** the Catholic Church of Greece, or the Greek Cathelic Church," the Catholic Church of Rome, or the Roman Catholic Church," and so on. How shall we follow this analogy, and defer to popular custom in the naming of our portion of the Church ? It has been called Anglo-Catholic, Reformed Catholic, Protestant Episcopal ; but the first is oply partially national, the second has no national reference at all, and the third is not really descriptive of the main (sharacteristic of the Church — its national catholicity. The nation to which we belong is composed of various materials; as Norman, Danish, Anglican, Saxon and British or Celtic ingredients ; but there is at the basw of the whole the British element^ whether in England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland. Without definite or deliber- ate intention, we naturally and instinctively speak of- mfiFACE. % the "Rritieli Isles," the "Ihitish Eiupire," " Bnti:sh blood," ''Britisli descent," when we wish to ignore IIk superficial dilferences of nationality, and thinlc of tlic nation as one : why not, in analogy, speak of the Cliiirch Catholic of the British Empire, as the *' British Catholic Church ?" It is for these reasons that I have chosen a term which includes not only the Church of England f and Ireland, the Episcopal Church of Scotland, t!H> Church of the Colonics, but iilso the descendant Church of the United kStates. It is a r^jmarkable feature of the day in which we live, that the tendency to sectarian sub-division has received a check, and does not seem so powerful in its inikien(H' upon the minds of professing Christians. Indeed, has not real re-action clearly set in against it ? The various Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and Independent sects are seeking for common bases of agreement resi^ectively, in order to re-union. Anything, however trifling in itself, which helps to make us forget our minor diilicul- ties, and congregate in larger masses upon the ground of gi-eat principles, is valuable to every lover of ChristTra> unity and uniformity. Beverley, S. Barnabas Day, 1869. IKTRODUCTIOISr. The Church of Christ, as constituted by Hini, was one Body; Er»H. iv. 3-6. '\hh corporeal unity had its foundation and its preservative in the existence of one Heart and one Soul among Believers (Acts iv. 32), one Mind to think and one Mouth to confess their faith (Eom. xv. 0), and one Spirit in which to stand fast in that Faith (PiiiL. I. 27). Having one Faith, the various Churches could act in unison with re-, gard to Heresy or erroneous Doctrines (2 Pet. ii. 1, TiTGS tti. 10, 2 John 10, 2 Tiiess. hi, 6 & H, Eom. XVI. 17) : as well as violations of apostolic traditions in ceremonies and customs which were uniform throughout the Church (1 Cor. xi. 16, Acts XV. 20, xi. 25 & 28, 1 Cor. xiv. 40 &c). The Body having this Unity and Uniformity, was designed to convert the whole world to Christ, hence called " Catholic" or all-pervading : and the condition of its being able to effect this its purpose was that it should remain thus unani- mous and uniform throughout (John xvi. 21). Th,ei^Q w^re essentials and Aon-Qsseutials both in THE BRITISH CATHOLIC CHURCH. m Faith and Form of the Church, and the lino be tween these two classes was drawn by Apostolic Traditions ; that is to say, matters not prescribed by Catholic (universal) Tradition from the Apostles we e not essential to the Unity and Uni- formity, ilie Thorough Oneness, of the Church Where, however, there was this Apostolic pres crip lion, whether in writing (" 8cripture") or by word of mouth, adherence was incumbent on all Churches and true Christians ; disregard was either Heresy or Schism, and punished as such (2 T^ESS. Jii. 6). We therefore expect to find that when the Church spread into all lands (as it did within the first century of the Christian Era) it would impress the world as one organization or Corporation throughout, that is " Catholic" ; although physically divided by the barriers of nationalities and langna^e?!, which would gradu- ally render possible varic . differentiations of opinion upon matters of thought and matters of custom, untouched by the Apostolic creeds and customs handed down ("tradited"). EARLY HISTORY. Historical traditions go to prove that B>'^*tain was the first country in Europe which rece ved the Gospel, the first nation in the world which, in its national capacity, proclaimed itself Chris- i 8 THE BRITISH CATIIGLIG CHURCH. ;< i R ■■'. tian. The Councils of Pisa, Constance and Sena admitted and affirmed this fact, making the con- version of the British Isles prior to that of France and Spain, and even of Eomo itself ; and attributing the dawning of light to the arri- val there of Joseph of Arimathea, ** immedio.tely after the passion of Christ," (36-39, A. D.) Joseph is reported to have landed at Marseilles, in Gaul, along with Lazarus and sisters, and to have proceeded thence to Glastonbury, in Britain, where the first British Church edifice was erected. It was 60 feet in length, by 26 in breadth, built after the gothic style, of timber pillars and framework, doubly wattled inside and out,and thatched with straw. So firm was the establishment of Christianitv thus made, and so rapid its progress in Britain, that Tertullian testifies, in A.D. 192, that "re- gions in Britain which have never been pene- trated by the Eoman arms, have received the religion of Christ." The British chiefs who, during the preceding 150 years, had been waging war with the Eomans, seem to have protected and nourished the Christian germ implanted by Joseph of Arimathea. Meantime Britain had been visited by Simon Zelotes and Aristobalus, ))oth of whom were there martyred, and the lat- ^IlE BRITISH CATHOLIC CHURCH. 9 ter is said to have been sent by St. Paul to act as Missionary Bishop in the establishment of the [.British Church, as Timothy to Asia Minor, and Titus to Crete. ISot long afterwards St. Paul himself came to the '' utmost bounds r>f the West," in his long contemplated journey (EoM. . XV. 24). Thus was Is'aiah's prophecy about the ^* isles afar off, the isies of the Gentiles," fulfilled. After '' confirming the Churches " of Britain, St. Paul returned Eastward, and in 2 Tim. iv. 21, we find him, shortly before his martyrdom, at Kome, with the British lady Claudia, her hus- band Pudens, and her brother Linus, son of Caractacus, the British Prince of Siluria. About the time of Tertullian A. D. 200, w^e find British Missionaries engaged in the work of evangelisation in Gaul, Lorraine, Switzerland and Pannonia. A hundred years later, in the Diocle- tian persecution, we find the British list of mart^a^s including Amphibalus bishop of Llandaif, Alban of Verulam, Aaron and fiulius Priests at Caerleon, Socrates Archbishop of York, Stephen Arch- bishop of London, and Ids successor Augulius, N"icholas bishop of Glasgow, Melior bishop of Carlicle, and above 10,000 laymen. In the next century (the Fourth) we find British bishops at the Councils on the Continent, and the Britisjj 10 THE D?vlTTSH CATHOLIC CHURCH. n i Cliristuin Prince Constantine acting as Defender of the Faith in liis i-apacity as Empejor of tlie Eatt. In the Fiiilt coutary Chrysostom, Angus- . tine and Tlieodoiet, eminent bishops of the Catholic Church at large, testify to tho nnmeious Chur^ihes in the Eritish Isles holdin^^ " the same faith and the same judgment." It was in this century that the Irish bishops opposed the Eo- niaii intrusion of Palladius, and asserted their independence. PROTESTANTISM. In the sixth century the British Church was for the first time, while St. Columba the Irish Churchman was engaged in converting the Picts of Scotland, confronted on her own soil by in- truding Eoman Missionaries under another Au- gubtino j an excuse having been furnished by the invasion and settlement of heathen Saxons upon the Eastei a Coast of Britain. As Palladius had found in Ireland 150 vears before, so Auc^nstine found the British Church in England and Wales complete in its organization and determined to maintain its independence of Eome ; the ar- ray of Archbishops, Bishops, Dioceses, Colleges, Parochial Churches, Christian Houses, Genealo- gies of Saints, populous Monasteries, &c., was un- mistakoable evidence of its life and streQr»th It It THE BRITISH CATHOLIC CHURCH. 11 was un- They had " ancient customs" of their own on those non-essential matters already referred to, which, while Lliey served to distinguish them from the Eoman Church and its national customs, sewed also to attest their close lelauion io the Eai^tcrn Chuiches of Asia and India. Tlie Eo- man demand for the abolition of these distinctive customs and minute conformity to tho.^e of Eome was met by indignant refusal. The Eiitish Bish- ops, in their manifesto at the Conference near St. ^.ugUfsiiue's Oak, A. D. 607, declare ohat they *^ know of no obedience (other than the recipro- cal obedience of brotherly charity) that be whom you term the Pope or bishop of bishops can de- mand." jSTor were other portions of ihe British Apostolic Church besides that in Wales and England behindhand in their protestant attitude. Luurentius, the successor of Augustine, complains bitterly, "We have found the Scotch bishops worse even than the British," a Scotch bishop in one instance refusing to eat at the same table, or sleep one night under i.he same roof with the Eomish schismatics. A similar pot^ition of hostiUty to Eome seems to have been taken by the Gallic and Irish branches of the foundation, At this time Columbanus, an Irish Churchman, fearlessly defied Eoman authority both in France fmm 12 THE BRITISH CATHOLIC CHURCH; m 3i I ii and Italy, and refused conformity to Roman cus- toms at variance with the practice of his Church and of the Eastern foundations of St, John. As was natural, the course of the Gospel seems at first to have been Westward and l^orthward, so that the evangelisation of Scotland and Ire- land would naturally take place later than that of England and Wales, and would be mainly due to the influence spreading from the latter. At any rate in the Fifth century we find S. Patrick laboring in Ireland, and S. Ninian in Scotland, (the former a Scotchman, the latter a Welchman,) with but little of Christianity as groundwork, among the wild and hostile tribes of those coun- tries. In the course of the 7iext two centuries , however, so rapidly and thoroughly had these apostolic missionaries done their work, we find Ireland bearing the iuxvjq of the " Island of Saints/' and engaged in the evangelisation of other countries. Columba was sent to the coast of Scotland, Clement to Germany, Euan to Ice- land, Kilian to Franconia, Surwan to the Or- cades, Beudan to the Fortunate Isles, Aidan and Cuthbert to E'orthumberland, Finian to Mercia, Albuin to Lorraine, Gallus to Switzerland, Yir- gilius to Corinthia, and Cataldus to Tarentum, i.n Italy. Hitherto the central resort of scholar^ THE BRITISH CxVTHOLIC CHURCH. 13 had been Rome, as the seat of secular learning, but now Ireland became the sanctuary of Chris- tian learning for all Europe. When, therefore, the British race (and with them their clergy) were in the fifth and sixth centuries subjected to the ter-^ible scourge of inva- sion by the Saxons, and forced westward into Wales and Cornwall, the most successful evange- lizers of the new heathen element of Saxons in South Britain and Eastern Britain were the Irish and Scottish Missionaries : the efforts of the Roman intruders having been a comparative fail- ure. The only part of England, as over-run by heathen Saxons and settled by them, which owed its Christianity to the Roman Missionaries, was the small section south of the Thtjmes and east of the British Channel. As for the Church which formerly flourished throughout England, although (as Gibbon &ays) probably possessing as many bishops and clergy as the Church of Eng laud does now, persecution and slaughter by the heathen Saxons rendered them helpless to do more than keep themselves together. 1200 were slain, totally unarmed', at the battle of Chester. The succeeding centuries bear witness to the skill of the Romish emissaries in *' entering into other men's labours," and acquiring by subtle pol- u THE BRITiaH CATHOLIC CHURCH. icy and stratagem a gradually increasing ascend- ancy over their British brethren. Although they very soon acquired supremacy among the con- verted Saxons, it was not so easy to sul3Jngate the old British Churches in Wales and Cornwall. The lirst interference with the British Apostoli- cal succession of Bishops was in the Teidh cen- tury, when Gucan was consecrated bishop of Llandalf by Dunstan of Canterbury ; but it was not until the Tiuelfth centuiy that the British and Saxons became (][uit6 united, and tliis was effected by the English conquest of Wales and its reduction into a Province. Just as in the sixth centuiy the British Church had been wasted and devastated by hea- then invasion of the Saxons, so in the ninth century the now Christianized Saxons were sub- jected to a similar calamity at the hands of the heathen Danish invaders. Churches and Mon- asteries and Colleges were once more levelled to the ground, and the clergy driven westward, as the British clergy had been ; and as the Saxons had been principally converted from heathenism by the British clergy, whom they had perse- cuted and driven from their homes, so now the heathen Danes Wete gradually converted by the Saxon clergy, whom they tad persecuted and THE BRITISH CATHOLIC CHURCH. ir^ driven in turn from tiieir homes. Towards tlie close of the centuiy much lost ground was re- covered under the fostering care of the pious King Alfred. About this time the dogma of Transubstantiation was first mooted bj^ a Erench- man named liadbert, and was successfully op- posed by John Scotus " Erigena," (the Irishman.) The tenth century saw the Church both on the Continent and in Britain struggling with many corruptions and superstitions, with varying suc- cess. In Ireland the Danish invaders began to embrace Christianity, and the Augustinian suc- cession was introduced by them in Dublin. In the Eleventh century the British, Saxon and Danish elements began, all of them, to succumb to the !Norman influence both in Church and State; and in the presence of the common enemy those ele- ments of the British and Saxon successions began to draw closer together and combine. Several attempts were made to make the Irish Church acknowledge papal authority, but in vain. In the Twelfth century French influence had become so paramount in Britain under Norman rule, that it was able to introduce, for the first time, papal jurisdiction into England. The right of investiture of bishops by the Pope (instead of the King, as hitherto,) and the institution of 1(3 THE BRITISH CATnOLlC CHURCH. f . if if papal legates from Eome as primates of England j were conceded. The Irish and Welch branches of the Church, also, were subjected to this innova- tion at the same time. In 1155, the Pope, tired of tJie task of trying to completely subjugate the Irish Church, donated (!) the island of Ireland to Henry II. of England. The Eoman and Korman usurpers had skilfully played into each others hands, in ecclesiastical and secular mat- ters respectively. Ko sooner, however, was the papal yoke thns placed upon the neck of the British Church, than, the load of Eomish corruptions increas- ing, they grew restive under it, and never ceased to* struggle against it till the yoke was broken ; the old spirit of British Protestantism, which defied the Pope's haughty emissary 600 years before, still survived. In the Thirteenth cen- tury there were many staunch advocates of British Church freedom, besides Greathead, Bishop of Lincoln, called " Eomanorum Mal- leus,*' Hammerer of the Eomans. The famous Statute of Merton, A. D. 1236, asserts as a fact well known, that the Canons and Decrees of j Eome were of no force in England. The statute of Carlisle, in A. D. 1305, declares "that the Holy Church of England was founded in the I^IIE BRITISH CATHOLIC CHtRCH. 17 estate of Prelacy, within the realm of England^ and that the encroachments of the Bishop of Kome tended to the anniillation of the state of the Church." Shortly afterwards the parliamen- tary ''articles of the clergy" announce ''that elections of bishops shall be free to the clergy, without papal interference or nomination — the king's assent alone being obtained." In 116 4, 1280, and 1461, statutes were passed declaring " the bringing in of a pope's mandate," ap- peals to the pope, procuring p^pal bills or ex- communications, to be all of them high treason, offenders to be punished as traitors by forfeiture of their estates or banishment. REFORMATION. This brings us down to the Sixteenth century, when the great Eeformation was inaugurated, under Henry YIII. We have seen that there was one continuous protest from the first intru- sion of Eoman principles, up to this period of their complete expulsion; and the British Church, now consisting of the Saxon, as well as Welch, Scotch and Irish successions, returned to the attitude maintained by their forefathers of the original British Church, of Paul's foundation, during the first six centuries of the Christian; era. i 18 TBSE BRITISH CATHOLIC CHURCH, III The work of Boformation, however, sad to say, was presently marred in two ways, viz ; by the Konian and Puritan schisms. The original divisions of the Church of Christ had been chiefly local and national, and did not interfere with its essential unity and uniforinity in faith and form ; but now one and the same local and national ground was occupied by contending sects. There were minorities in the British Isles of persons who from political or other insufficient reasons desired to disregard the Apostolic tra^ ditions of the British Catholic Church, and these, disregarding public Christian opinion, separated themselves into sects. The bishops, maintain- ing the authority transmitted to tliem from the Apostles, were found to be the great opponents of anarchy and disorder ; and Episcopacy there- fore became the central point of attack on all sides. Eomanists, Presbyterians, Baptists and Congregationalists, each had tlieir various and conflicting notions on Church polity and discip- line and ritual ; but the majority of the British nation held fast to the old paths of Apostolic tradition, and allowed the '' wayward sisters" to go their way. With those sects severally and together must ever rest the blame of the innum- firable evils which result from absence of complete ;;i! TUE BRITISH CATHOLIC CHURCH. 19 ecclesiastical unity of Christians in any British locality or nation. They have succeeded in weakening the hands of one another for the bene- fit of the Koman sect, the strongest among them ; and the natural consequence is that in doing so they have failed to make the world believe that theu' Christian tidings are God-sent. (John xvl 21.) Meanwhile the British Catholic Church, unbroken in her Apostolic lineage and perfect in her continuous organization, remained to be known and felt as the "great bulwark of the Ee- formation." Through all the surging waves of revolutionary opinions among English, Welsh, Irish, and Scottish Christianity, she survived ; and bearing nobly the brunt of fortune with varying success at various times in her history, to-day lives to bless the world with the pure light of the gospel which she spreads at home and abroad. It is not as if she were one of tho ephemeral sects of human invention at the period of the Reformation, or of any period since ; for she can look back upon a bright his- tory of 1800 years of continuous life as an ac- itive corporation, founded by the apostles. Buf- feted by misfortune, corrupted by evil contact with Romanism for centuries, she still had i^trength and courage left to " reform " — like a Ife TUE BRITISH Cx^TlfOLTC cnURCn. l!i I i giocxl ship '* righting" herself — and become once Bjero wliat she liad been- before tlie malign in- fluence froni Eome inundated the British nation. The bishops — which holy order of tho ministry forms a kind of nciworhy enclosing the Catholic Church, and keeping it together — arose, and, as w body, indignantly repudiated Eomish control of British Christianity ; the long slumbering fiyes of discontent broke forth, and consumed the mass of Ivomish "wood, hay, stubble," which had almost smothered the ancient Church. The firmness and completeness of the British Reformation Avas greatly due to the strength which the Church possessed in Episcopacy^ w,hich is, so to speak, the backbone of Church- organization, when faithfully represented. FAITH. Departure from the Faith of the Catholic Church by personal or sectional cJioice, is "heresy," (a word ^vhich means * choice'). The Faith was handed down by apostolic tradition or transmission (see 2. Peter ii. 1, Titus hi. 10, 2 John 10, 2 Thess. hi. 6 and 14, Eom. xvi. 17, &c). At that period in the early Ohurch, when heresy became rampant at intervals, and the great body of the Church remained in perfect ujiity and uniformity, General Councils wcro !! tllE BRITISH CATHOLIC CllURCH. ^ y\ once held to consider heresies, and to expel those whi) licld them. At these councils the apostolic tradi- tiojis and formulas from all parts of the Cliristian world were collected and compared, and found to be so very similar as regards subjects and ex- I pressions, that they were enabled to compile from these ancient formulas (see 2 Tim. ii. 13, and KoM. vi. 17) one universal Creed or Symbol, to be used as a criterion of orthodoxy through- out the Catholic Church. This is usually caUed the Nicene Creed, and (with the ^' Apostles' Creed") is the sole test against heresy admit- ted in the British branch of the Catholic Church, by enactmeiit in tho first year of Queen Eliza- beth. The Apostles' Cf^ed is a shorter summary, and the Creed of S. Atbanasius is an attempt at explanation or elucidation of some abstruse points. The Nicene Creed therefore occupies the place of honour in the Communion Service. It treats of the Unity of God, the Creation of all things by him ; the Lordship and Divine Son- hood of Jesus, His Consubstantiality with the Eather, His Descent from heaven and Incarna- tion, His Crucifixion^ Passion and Burial, His Resurrection. Ascension and Session, at the Father's Right Hand, his Second Coming to judge, and the Eternity of his kingdom ; th^ 1 ,♦:» fm i2 THE BRITISH CATHOLIC CHURCIi. h W"' I! ^m^ ! Lordship and Life-giving function of the Holy Spirit, His Procession from the Father and Di- vine Unity with the Father and Son, and His Utterance by the prophets ; also the Catho- licity and Apostolicity of the Church, Baptism for remispion of sins, Eesurrection of the dead^ and Future life. In dealing with and differing upon these subjects heresy may arise : other sub- jects are "of opinion," and difference upon them is not heresy in the British Catholic Church, or in the Eastern Catholic C] lurch, to which she owes her origin. In the Eoman Churcli and in vavious sects there have been additions unau- thorized to the subjects of Faith, and some sects have and do controvert certain subjects of Faith. The position of the Eoman and other additions to the Faith, is schism; that of the other sects who take from the faith, is heresy ; that of the British Church and its Eastern sister, is true Catholicism. OPINIONS. As we have remarked before, every local or national Church has a right to exercise its free thought upon matters outside the faith and form of the Church established by the apostles, or extended and elaborated by the general councils. This right is exercised by the British Church in H|: THE BRITISH CATHOLIC CHURCH. 23 her forms of prayer, her ecclesiastical customs, &c. It was necessary for her, at the period of the Keformation, to define what some of her apostolic traditions were, in regard to faith and practice; and to declare the public general agree^ ment upon disputed points, at the particular era of the Eeformation ; this she has done in her 39 Articles. They embrace such subjects as the Trinity, the Sonship of Christ, the Descent into Hell, the Resurrection of Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Sacred Scriptures, the Creeds, Origi* nal Sin, Free Will, Man's Justifi.cation, Good Works, Works before Justification, Works of Supererogation, Christ alone without Sin, Sin after Baptism, Predestination and Election, Sal- vation by Christ alone, the Church, the Author- ity of the Church in Controversies, the Authority of General Councils, Pargatory, Call to the Ministry, Preaching, the Sacraments, Unworthi- iiess in Ministers, Baptism, the Lord's Supper^ the Wicked at the Lord's Supper, Administra-- tion of both kinds in the Lord's Supper, Christ's one Oblation, Marriage of Priests, Persons Ex- communicated, Traditions of the Church, the Homilies, the Consecration of Bishops, &c., Civil Magistrates, Christian Men's Goods, and a Christian Man's Oath. These declarations, except 24 THE BRITISH CATHOLIC CHURCH. I 1 4 '< 1 if i 1 1 1 "vvhere subjects of the creed are re-affirmed in a few instances, are not matters of Faitii, but of Opinion^ viz : — the general opinion or tradition of the Chflrch Catholic in Britain, for Britons to dibregard or defy which savours of schism. Article xxxiv. says, '' Whosoever, through his private judgment, willingly and purposely doth openly break the traditions and ceremonies of the (Church, which be not repugnant to the Word of God, and be ordained and approved of common authority, ought to be rebuked openly, (that others may fear to do the like) as he that oflPendeth against the Church, and hurteth the authority of the magistrate, and woundeth the consciences of weak brethren." The rest of the article, and many other authoritative expressions of the Church, go to prove that these points are insisted upon, not for their own sake merely, but mainly for the sake of the Church's unity. It was necessary that some rules should be followed, and the Church adopted those which the ma- jority of the people approved as best , the mi- norities who disagreed, instead of yielding to the decision of the majority, "separated themselves" to form different denominations, " willingly and purposely/' in defiance of the ' common au- .thority," in disregard of " common, crdei*;" to THE BRITISH CATHOLIC CHURCH. 25 the detriment of *' weak brethren ;" aud, conse- quently, while excommunicating themselves, have brought down the " open rebuke " of the Church (commanded by S. Paul, 2 Thess. hi. 6,) for their selfish and conceited conduct. They suffered the carnal pride of contention to enter even into religious matters, and rather than con- sent to uniformity, for the general good of Chris- tendom, break the unity of the Catholic Body of Christ by separation. Whether Romanist or ProLestant, they shall hereafter find it difficult to adduce any "just cause or impediment " why those various bodies, holding substantially the Nicene Faith, should not form one body in catholic uniformity as a branch of the Church. In order to do this, modern traditions and in- ventions must be laid aside, and fall force per- mitted to those of the Apostles. Ko other cri- terion can be applied than the Scriptural one of the *' customs of tlie Churches of God" in apos- tolic days : 1 Cor. xiv. 40. PRINCIPLE OF CATHOLIC UNIFORMITY. The principle which tho British Catholic Church thus lays down for the guidance of her members, she herself is bound to act upon as a member herself cf the great one Church of Christ, The rule " to follow the ancient cus- 26 THE BRITISH cai:holic churc:^* \ m i! toms and to comply in Faith, Opinion and Prac- tice, witli tlie general mind of the Church," guided her in the Keformation. What was held according to the phrase " always, everywhere, and by all," through the length and breadth of the Church, in all ages, and in all lands, ap^ peared to her to be of paramount obligation in the observance. If differences had arisen, and variations since Apostolic days, the principle that *' what w^as first (being near the fountain* head) was true and right," guided her again in her decisions. As a member of the great Church Catholic, built on the foundation of the Apostles, she could not bring herself to '* willingly and purposely break the traditions of the Church," and otfoid against the common authority. To- day, also, she stands open to conviction, and w^hen convinced that she has actually departed from Apostolic precedent in any particular, she will be ready to bend herself seriously to the task of reparation. Nay, she has herself pro- claimed that there were points which were open to improvement, but which she was hindered from taking action upon because of the peculiar circumstances and disorders of the Keformation period. Nothing can be more fair, more liberal, more charitable, more humble and meek, than ' ( THE BKlTISn CATHOLIC CHURCH. 27 tlie attitude which she occupies before Christ and in the midst of Christendom, whether re^ garded in her catholic or in her 2>r of est ant aspect. There are two ways in which Christians who desire to promote greater unity among different bodies may attempt to accomplish their wishes. The one way is, by encouragement of midtifo/"- mlty in the customs and habits of Christian communities, and tbe toleration of all varieties of public worship ; the consequence of which is eonfaslou and disorder. The other way is to encourage tendencies to uniformity in customs and habits among the different denominations ; the result of which is that *' decency and order," which is a first law of wisdom and of Scripture* If the exhibition of order and decency in reli^ gious matters be more desirable and more Christ- like than confusion and disorder, they who de- sire the former must take pains to agree upon certain specific rules by which the necessary uni- formity may be attained. The only possible ex- pedient to which we can have recourse in such a case is to shew deference to the opinion of the majoi'ity ; the common rule of decision in all assemblies and associations of nei-sons for a com^ mon object. Vfe must endeavour to discover, therefore, IP ii 10"" 2% THE BKITISH ' CATHOLIC CHURCfi. what the verdict of past and cotemporaneous his- tory may be upon the various points of dispute. Jf history declare^j a majority of Christians of the Catholic faith in all ages and places of the Church -to be in favour of the practice of some given rite in a certain form specitied, let those who now act at variance with the custom of the Churches thus declared, set aside their selfish and sectarian hiabit and conform to the general custom of the Church. If history declares that the Church ■has never stereotyped in observance any particu- lar form of the rite in question, and does not now observe any particular form with an approach to unanimity or general consent, let the manner of its observance remain an open question. If the simple rule above given were applied in -this plain straightforward manner, an immense quantity of the rubbish of sectarianism and its -traditions of yesterday would be speedily cleared out of the way, and many vexatious obstacles to reiinion of those who hold the true faith of the JNicene Council (as many separated Protestant denominations do) would be eliminated from -dispute. EXTENSION OF THE CHURCH. The treatment of our subject would be incom- plete without some reference to the manner in III' niE BEITISII CATHOLIC CLIURCII. 29' Avliicli the British Cathoh'c Church has extended itself beyond the bounds of its original cradle. . At the period of the Eeformation a course of mis-- management on the part of its promoters alienated from the process of Ileform the great mass of the- L'ish portion of the Church, and the wily agents of Eomanism . in Ireland quickly gathered these malcontents into the sectarian fold which they erected by the side of the Eeformed Church of S. Patrick's foundation : this accounts for the national position of the Eomish body in Ireland, the majority of the inhabitants holding to the unreformed condition and. principles which had been superinduced upon Ireland's Christianity, as it had been in England and Scotland. No doubt, also, the native. Irish havC' a. national antipathy to anything introduced from. England, (as they used to have to anything introduced from Eome) as this process of Eeformation was : although - Eoman corruption itself, to wliich they cling, and eyen the original seeds of pure Christianity, . had reached Ireland from, the same source. In early days, however, they formed an independent nation, England's neighbour: now they ^ancy^ themselves ground down by England as a con- - queror. With regard to Scotland and its Church wcc u:i t 30 THE BRITISH CATHOLIC CHURCH, have seen that along with Ireland they inherited British Christianity, and were eqnally opposed to the original Komish invasion of Church rights : and that in the course of six or seven centuries just before the Keformation, they had gone through the same process of gradual subjection to the in- sidious liomish influence. The Scotch Chuich might have continued to be the national religion side by side Avith the English at the. time of the Reformation liad not the conservative attachment of the people to the dynasty of King James rendered them obnoxious to the Hanoverian line of Sovereigns : and, consequently, the violent sectarian minority of Presbyterianism imported from Germany received the favour of the reigning power, and v/as made to usurp the place Df the old Church organization. Thus from political reasons the Irish people as a nation refused to countenance the reformation of their religion ; and the Scotch people as a nation abjured their own Church for the sake of adopting the con- tinental invention. The signs of the times seem to indicate that a return of aflection for the Church of their forefathers will soon manifest itself in both countries, and that Eomanism will become as unpopular in Ireland as Presbyterianism is be- coming in Scotland, TJIE BRITISH CATHOLIC CHURCH. 31 THE COLONIES, &c. "When we turn our eyes away from the mother Church at home to those 200 millions of souk wh'ch the providence of Almighty God liaa. hrouglit under British influences, we may expect to lind the Paidine Church of Britain, Great and Little, extending itself with Pauline energy into the depths of that vast chain of colonies which have been well called the '' Greater Britain." Xot^ withstanding the fatal facility with which Cds- union and sectarianism are apt to spread tliem- selves in every community in contending swarms, the British Church moves on steadily and sure- ly, gathering in to her fold the thoughtful men of every name and clime. The Church in the United States in communion with the British Church > and indeed a part of it properly speaking, already can boast of as many diocesan leaders — her- bishops — as the mother Church at home : and the vast widespread Church of the colonies can display an equally large number of successors of the Apostles. What a powerful organization of Protestantism would there be, if the 5 or 6 millions of Presby- terians, the 4: or 5 millions of Baptists, the 3 or 4 millions of Methodists, the 1 or 2 millions of Independents, would unite on the commoii !.l if f [ . 32 THE BBITISH CATHOLIC CHURCH. ground of British Catholic Christianity with the 15 or 20 millions of the British Catholic Church ! An organization of 40 or 50 millions of British Protestants would attract to itself without effort, by its grand unitv^ and uniformity, the great mass oven of foreign Protestants — so far as Catholic in its Faith — and would find a sympathetic sister in the similar organization of the 100 millions of the Greek Catholic Church. A force so great thus united could at length overpower by. its Prote^st. ant testimony the dull mass of Eomisli corruption, and would act a noble part in restoring the Eoman Catholic nations to the normal purity of their original Christianity. Then — brt not till then, or till the work at least begins — will come into view again the answer to our dear Lord's fervent prayer (John xvi. 21), " That they all may be One — that the World may believe that Thou hast sent Me." Therefore — while we pray in His own words continually, "Thy kingdom come," and, as *'Saint after Saint" leaves the Church militant here on- earth for the '' heavenly places," pray that He may " speedily accomplish the number of his elect and hasten His kingdom" — let us take care that we do all that in us lies to further the objects of. our prayer. . th tho urch ! ►ritisli effort, i mass »lic in ter in y£ tlic 1 thus- otegt- )tion, : the ty of t till come fOrd's y all that ''ords kint '6 on- i He elect that ts of . -if \m APPENDIX. i ANTI-ROMAN TRADITIONARY CUSTOMS. At the time when the lloniish emissaries of the Bish- op of Rome came in contact first with the British Church, tliey found many customs among them diverse from those of the Roman Church of that day ; but agreed to overlook most of them (at least for the time being) pro- vided the British Church would consent to conform on points involved in the practice of keeping Easter, Bap- tism, and preaching to the Saxons. 1. EASTER. In the primitive Church there had been some diversity at first with regard to the proper time of keeping Easter ; some choosing to keep it on the same day as the Jewish Passover, which coincided in the year of our Lord's death with the day of his Resurrection ; but others \ aid more regard to the day of the iveek, namely the *' Lord's Day," so called in memory of his Resurrection. The Jewish Pas- sover, though falling on the Lord's Day in that particular year in which Christ died, might fall on any other day of the week in other years ; the day of the month and day of the week would seldom coincide s^ain — which woull in that case be the more approprirt. xs a commemoration of the Resurrection. The Christian., of Asia Minor, Syria, and Mesopotamia regarded the day of month, so that then Easter might be on any day of the week, and would al- APPENDIX. 35 ways coincide with tlie, Jewish Passover Day ; the rest of the Christian worhl seems to have heeu generally at variaiiee with them, preferring to commemorate on the Ijord's Day next after that day of tlie moon. The council of Nicea, 325 A. D., decided in favour of the latter and more general custom of the Churches ; and all the Churcdies aci;ordingly agi*eed to ohey the rule. The matter, however, was not so easily settled. Dilferent astronomical calculations by means of C3'cles were in use, which re(j[uired fre(i[uent modilication and (.'orrection in their results. A cycle of 19 years was used at Alexan- dria ; one of 84 years at K<)me. The results of these two systems of calculations dilfered so mu(di sometimes that in the year 417, for instance, the Easter celebration at Alexandria was a month later there than at Rome ; so that the Roman Church was celebrating the Lenten fast while the Eastern Church was celebrating Easter. Short- ly before the Roman intrusion into Britain, the Church of Rome had adopted a modification of the Alexandrian cycle, vvhi'!li was becoming the general cycle of the Church. The British Church had not adopted the new cycle of calculation, and refused to do so at the dictation of Rome. Hence the collision. S. Columbanus, an Irish Christian of great learning, was about the same time in France boldly maintaiiung the British custom on this point against all comers, on the authority of S. John the Beloved, S. Philip, the Churches of Asia, Anatolius and Jerome. On this account he and his followers were persecuted by Roman influence on the Continent, while his fellow Churchmen in England and Wales were receiv- ing the same treatment at home. 36 APPENDIX. i;! i 2. BAPTISM. In tlie PiOinan Cliurclics it ai)pt'ars to liav(3 been tlie custom to use tlie ceremony of *' Trine Immersion" in Baptism ;" tlie dipping of tlie person three times into the water— either in r^eniory of the Three persons of the Deity, or of our Lord's being three days in the heart of the earth. The British Churtdi seems to have recognized no such custom and "would not adopt it from Kome. 3. TONSURE. It was a widesprefid custom amongst the teachers of the Primitive Church to shave the head in some peculiar way. The Eastern custom with ecclesiastics was supposed to be in imitation of S, Paul at Cenchrea (Acts xviii. 18), wdierein the loliole head was shorn of its hair. The British (also Scottish and Irish) custom was to shave the whole front of the head, leaving the hair at the back of the head unshorn. That of the Koman Church was to shave a circle on the crown of the head, leaving a ring of hair to remind them of the crown of thorns. These matters were looked upon in much the same light as clerical vestments would be now in coiitroversj'', or any distinctive uniform dress. Shaving the head at the time of assuming the vows of the clerical otiice seems to have been suggested by the passage in reference to S. Paul's vow and slia ving of his head at Cenchrea. The British Church in this case, as in the others, refused to give way to Roman dictation and cast aside the traditionary custom of their forefathers. 4. LITURGY. There were also certain variations in the liturgical forms and rites of the British Church, as well as the APPENDIX. 37 Gallicau or French Church, from that of tho Romans. In this matter, however, the Bishop of Rome seems to have insisted that his emissary, Augustine, should respect the customs of the British Church and not force upon them those of Rome : accordingly in the uses compiled in the English Communion the old British prayers and forms were to a great extent preserved. 5. FONT. For the purposes of Baptism the early British Church seems to have performed the rite usually either in a separate building near the Church, in the open air, or in a separate portion of the Church itself called the " Bap- tistery." AccoiJingly there are found springs, wells, or fountains in or near every old British Church whose traces remain to us at the present day. The small stone basin so frequently in use at this time seems to have been an innovation on the ancient British usage. 6. THE CR0S3. The sign of the cross was exalted by the early Church universally into use as the chief distinctive emblem of the Christian faith, the distinguishing mark of their community, their standard and their watchword, against all kinds of unbelief and misbelief. The first introduction of Christianity into England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland was signalized by the erection of wayside crosses of the Greek or Eastern form (the four limbs equally intersected or enclosed by a circle), around which worshippers gather- ed to receive the Bread of Life, and the word of Life from the lips of the Missionaries. Afterwards, near most of these crosses, churches were built which bear either upon them or in them the ** sign of salvation." In the f^!:| wm 38 APPENDIX. churchyards surrounding these churches the sign is gene" rally marked upon the tombstones of the faithful departed followers of the crucified. The Eastern form of these- crosses has always been considered a mark of the Eastern origin of the British Church and its independences of Kome, whose distin(;tive cross was of a different pattern. Thus the British cross, or, as it is sometimes called, the "Irish cross" or ** Cross of lona," is a Imdge of Protes- tantism ; and the natives of Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, and west of Scotland, where they abound, must remem- ber them with peculiar affection, as monuments of the Apostolic foundation of their native Church. When, however, we glance over these distinctive badges of the early British Church, they seem of very little mo- ment as compared with the distinctions which now exist between our Communion and that of Kome. The rea- son is not far to seek. The Roman Church of that day was almost as pure as when S. Paul wrote his celebrated Epistle to it ; its errors have grown up since. The spirit of arrogance which characterizes it ever since was in the days of Augustine well exemplified by him ; and it was to this that the British Church objected, not to the Romish customs for their own sake. The British bishops told him as nmch when they refused to do anything whatever at his dictation or command, or at those of his master, Gregory, at Rome. The conservative cliaracter which displayed itself in those first encounters with the Roman enemy still clung to the Church at the period of her Re -formation. She was even then — with many temptations to follow the capricious examples of the Continental Protestants — firm in her adherence to the ** old paths," even to the reten- APPENDIX. 39 tioii of words and phrases pe-^uliarly British. No better specimen of this conservatism -^an be adduced than that word by which, in her service, she continues to designate, as of yore, the holy order ot ministiy to which the writer of this pamphlet has been admitted— " Priest." The word has a peculiar charm, as an ola English word, suit- edand adaptt.d to the English tong le, though derived from the Greek word " Presbyteros, " Lud actually mean- ing the same as ** elder." This last word, '* elder," might have been quite as suitable h.>.d it not been strangely perverted by '' Presbyterians " into a designa- tion of certain lay olficers of congregations ; ro that their ministers and laymen bear really t^ie same tit^e, though the former are named in Greek " Presbyters," and the lat. ter are called by the Saxon translation "elders. " tf*^ ,r