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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7720c7c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63736 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63736) diff --git a/old/63736-0.txt b/old/63736-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 7035a19..0000000 --- a/old/63736-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1359 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Letter to the Rev. C. N. Wodehouse, Canon -of Norwich; occasioned by his late pamphlet, entitled "Subscription the -Disgrace of the English Church", by Charles Green - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: A Letter to the Rev. C. N. Wodehouse, Canon of Norwich; occasioned by - his late pamphlet, entitled "Subscription the Disgrace of the English - Church" - - -Author: Charles Green - - - -Release Date: November 13, 2020 [eBook #63736] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LETTER TO THE REV. C. N. -WODEHOUSE, CANON OF NORWICH; OCCASIONED BY HIS LATE PAMPHLET, ENTITLED -"SUBSCRIPTION THE DISGRACE OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH"*** - - -Transcribed from the 1843 G. F. and J. Rivington edition by David Price. - - - - - - A - LETTER - TO THE - REV. C. N. WODEHOUSE, - - - CANON OF NORWICH; - - _Occasioned by his late Pamphlet_, _entitled_ - - “SUBSCRIPTION THE DISGRACE OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH:” - - BY THE - - REV. C. GREEN, - RECTOR OF BURGH-CASTLE, - AND LATE FELLOW OF JESUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. - - * * * * * - - ———♦——— - - * * * * * - - LONDON: - G. F. AND J. RIVINGTON, ST. PAUL’S. - - YARMOUTH: - C. SLOMAN, KING-STREET. - - ————— - MDCCCXLIII. - - * * * * * - - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - CHARLES SLOMAN, - PRINTER, - GREAT YARMOUTH. - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - - - - -A LETTER, _&c. &c._ - - -SIR, - -IN addressing to you the following remarks upon a pamphlet recently put -forth by you, under the title of “_Subscription the Disgrace of the -English Church_,” I think it right to explain the reasons which have -induced me to give them publication, rather than to communicate them in a -private form, and also why I have not taken this step some days earlier. - -The fact is, that till within the last three days, I had seen nothing of -your pamphlet beyond the title; neither do I think that I should then -have been tempted to peruse its contents, so repulsive did its -announcement appear, had I not received an intimation that my name was -mentioned in connection with your former publication, in such terms as to -create some suspicion that I might countenance your opinions and views, -and to require from me a declaration how far I might concur in believing -Subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles a disgrace. This information -could not fail to excite in me some degree of surprise and curiosity, -feeling, as I did, unconscious of having made to you, either publicly or -privately, any observation whatever in reference to that or to any other -of your publications. - -On reading the paragraph in your pamphlet in which my name is introduced, -it did not occur to me, that, supposing I had been one of those -“clergymen in the diocese of Norwich, who had made comments upon your -last publication,” you intended anything more than to speak of me in -complimentary terms. Feeling conscious, however, that I could not take -to myself that compliment, for the reasons already stated, and that it -had been more than hinted to me, that my name being so introduced placed -me in an equivocal position, in which some explanation would be expected, -I laid the paragraph, together with the fact, before a clerical friend, -who gave his opinion, that it certainly did admit of a doubt, how far I -might have coincided in, or differed from, your views of Subscription, as -stated in your last publication. - -Now, if your observations had merely concerned myself personally, I might -not have thought this accidental circumstance worthy of notice; at least -I should have refrained from drawing public attention to a matter of a -private nature. But as I conceive that the character of a clergyman, -whether as it regards his flock, or the church, ought not to appear in an -ambiguous light, and as I have always, both publicly and privately -maintained opinions the directly opposite of those which you have -advocated in several publications, it would justly be considered an -abandonment of duty, were I, from an ill-timed silence, to allow it to be -suspected that I side with the opinions which you entertain in the matter -of Subscription. - -Under these circumstances and impressions, I have no course but to -sacrifice my natural disinclination to make myself a public character, -particularly when, in that character, I must necessarily assume somewhat -of a controversialist, and when there is connected with the subject much -both of a painful and of a delicate nature: I therefore hesitate not to -comply with my duty. - -Although such reasons for the course which I am about to take apply only -to myself, yet if every clergyman in the diocese chose to dispute your -allegations generally, and to repudiate your imputations in particular, -it would be quite competent to him, individually, to make his public -defence. - -Before I enter on the main subject of your pamphlet, one word of further -explanation will be necessary upon the personal matter between us. - -At page 43, you say— - - “I have now only to acknowledge the comments of several clergymen and - others in this diocese, upon my last publication. To the Rev. B. - Philpot, formerly archdeacon of the Isle of Man, and to the Rev. C. - Green, rector of Burgh, I beg to offer my sincere thanks for the - candid and christian spirit in which their observations were made. I - avail myself also of this opportunity to acknowledge with respect and - gratitude a large number of private communications, both from friends - and strangers, which were a valuable testimony at a time when they - were most acceptable.” - -In answer to what concerns me, I repeat that I neither publicly nor -privately to you ever made any comment or observation whatever upon your -last publication; and that, if to others I may have alluded to it, it was -in terms of disapprobation and with feelings of regret. - -I now proceed to a discussion of your pamphlet, which will give me an -opportunity of satisfying those, who may wish to know, how far I concur -in your opinions and views; and I trust I shall not express myself -otherwise, than in that “candid and christian spirit,” for which, by -anticipation, you have already given me credit. - -The title of the pamphlet is a true index of what may be found within. -Indeed, the contents may be reduced to PROPOSITION and COROLLARY. - -_Proposition_: “Subscription the Disgrace of the English Church.” - -_Corollary_: “Repeal of the present form of Subscription.” - -These in turn shall have my best consideration. The Proposition you -attempt to establish by various suppositions and allegations. A grave -charge, which strikes at the very foundation of our church establishment, -like that involved in this proposition, should not be grounded on -suppositions, the force of which must depend on their degree of -probability, which is always questionable, but should rest solely upon -proven and admitted facts. Indeed, in a matter of such moment as that, -which you appear extremely anxious to substantiate, all other reasoning -but from facts alone must be excluded. I therefore humbly submit, that -the opinions which you appear to have collected from “Newspapers, -Periodicals,” and “Commercial Travellers’ Rooms,” must be rejected as -inadmissible in the present consideration; for the articles in newspapers -and periodicals, of a controversial nature especially, being generally -got up to serve some party purpose, are too often limited to a partial -and one-sided view of things; and I have yet to learn that commercial -travellers’ rooms, however proverbial for practical information and good -sense, have become schools of sound theology. For the same reason, we -must pass by the suppositious questions of “youthful profligates, led on -by some ingenious sceptic;” also, “the obvious reasoning of the -dissenting part of our population,” and the notions of “a still larger -class, who, amidst the din of controversy, pick up a few popular reports, -which help to confirm their indifference to religion.” We must likewise -dismiss from our consideration your analogical reasoning, from the case -of the Officers of the Army and Navy to that of the Clergy, and from the -“Articles of War” to the “Confession of our Faith.” For reasoning of -this sort, to be valid, must be founded upon cases analogous; and what -analogy exists between the “Articles of War,” which depend on -ever-varying expediency and annual revision, and the “Confession of our -Faith,” which is based on the never-changing word of truth? {8} Some -analogy there may be between Officers of the Army and Navy, who for -dishonorable conduct are dismissed the service by court-martial, and the -Clergy who hold opinions contrary to their Subscription. But I forbear -to animadvert on that comparison. - -Therefore I think you must allow that, in a demonstration of such moment, -as that “Subscription is the Disgrace of the English Church,” we cannot -admit suppositions, assertions, and notions, but that we must have _stern -facts_. - -Is it then the fact, that “while we perceive the variety of opinion -prevailing amongst these several sections (of the clergy,) we see also -that from all of them, more or less, Subscription is requiring that -which, in the ordinary affairs of life, high-minded men would abstain -from; viz. the necessity for qualifying the plain and straight-forward -use of language?” - -If you succeed in establishing this position, then I shall be ready to -acknowledge that there is treachery within the pale of our -Church—widely-extended treachery, and that you will have gone far towards -maintaining that “Subscription is the Disgrace of the English Church;” -or, to put the proposition more logically, that _the Clergy thus -subscribing and acting are the disgrace of the English Church_. - -It will now be necessary to extract in full from your pamphlet those -allegations upon which alone your position depends, in order that the -truth of them may be canvassed, and the foundation of your charge made -perfectly clear to my readers. - -In pages 11 to 14, you say— - - (1) “Subscription alone is now in view; and while that remains as it - is, and English words retain their meaning, and an English history of - facts can be found, and any clear apprehension of the meaning of - truth remains with us, the perversion of our Form of Subscription, - and the misrepresentation of our Articles, attempted by any who argue - that they were not intended to condemn Romanism, whether as held - before or after the Council of Trent, ought to excite, in every - honest mind, an indignation which it is a virtue to feel and a duty - to express. If it be questioned where such views have been advanced, - it is sufficient to refer to Tract No. 90, now before the writer of - these pages, though other instances might be cited from authors who - have subscribed the Articles. - - (2) “If we turn to another section of the English clergy, that most - opposed to the views of the tractarians, however they command our - respect from their piety, and zeal, and hearty attachment to - Scriptural truth and sound doctrine; yet some of them cannot be - esteemed clear of all blame on the question now considered. The - writer can here speak from personal knowledge. In their views as to - baptismal regeneration, certainly opposed to the strict language of - our formularies; in their dislike of other parts of our services, and - sometimes in the disuse or change of certain terms, is to be found a - proof that to them Subscription is not altogether satisfactory; and - the often-avowed concession, that the excellence of our system of - doctrine and worship, _as a whole_, reconciles their minds to some - imperfections, is enough to show that, in subscribing, some violence - is done to simple truth. They argue, and justly, that no human work - can literally demand an unqualified approbation, but our Subscription - does require it. Such arguments, then, cannot be altogether - satisfactory to him who uses them, or to many to whom they may be - offered; and truth, it cannot be denied, is to some extent dishonored - and damaged in their use. - - (3) “In that section again of subscribers who embrace Calvinistic - doctrines, though the writer considers that some of the Articles are - more unequivocally favorable to them than their opponents, yet it - cannot be forgotten how frequently and decidedly it has been - declared, ex cathedrâ, that theirs are not the doctrines of the - Church of England. - - (4) “Another large section of the English clergy may be now - comprised under the name of old-fashioned high-churchmen; and of that - title, it is believed, they will not themselves complain. Many of - them would gladly extract the honey from the tractarian school, - without sufficiently considering how poisonous the plant whose growth - they are to some extent fostering. They insist often on an exact - compliance with Rubrics, and must forgive me for saying that few - amongst them have fulfilled these in their own practice. Till very - lately, it would indeed be difficult to find many clergymen, or one - bishop, within the last fifty years, who have strictly observed the - Rubrics—still less the Canons. Some of them speak also of a literal - Subscription; but here again the writer can of his own knowledge - state, that numbers claim and use a considerable latitude in - subscribing, and are satisfied with asserting their _general_ - attachment to the Formularies of the Church. Of their Arminian views - as to doctrine, it is hardly necessary to call to mind how much they - are opposed to others amongst their brethren, and, in the writer’s - judgment, to the Articles themselves. - - (5) “In another section may be comprised those who desire - improvement in many things relating to the spiritual affairs of our - Church. Some have openly expressed this desire; a far larger number - cherish it in silence. They who have spoken out have strongly stated - their conviction, that a Church, without the means of even entering - upon deliberation as to one general improvement in its spiritual - concerns, is in a false and unscriptural position. With respect to - the Forms of Subscription and the interpretation of the Articles, - some have formally requested a change, or rather an authoritative - solution of the many doubts and uncertainties which now embarrass the - question.” - -Having adduced these allegations in support of your position, in which -you endeavor to implicate every section (as your term is) of the English -clergy, in a culpable act in the matter of Subscription; you then draw -the inference, that by far the greater portion of the clergy in the -several “sections,” have tampered with their ordination vow; and finally, -you come to the conclusion, or rather, as if doubting, whether you had so -far succeeded as to arrive at a legitimate conclusion, you put the -question, whether the affirmation is too strong, that “Subscription is -the Disgrace of the English Church.” - - “Thus while we perceive the variety of opinion prevailing amongst - these several sections—a variety which, were it not impeded by - Subscription, would find a harmless or beneficial vent in a free - inquiry after Scriptural truth—we see also that from all of them, - more or less, Subscription is requiring that which, in the ordinary - affairs of life, high-minded men would abstain from; namely, the - necessity for qualifying the plain and straight-forward use of - language. Is this a condition favorable to the reputation of - teachers of truth; and is it too strong a conclusion, at least from - some parts of the above account, to affirm, that Subscription is the - disgrace of the English Church?” - -I shall now proceed to examine and discuss your allegations _seriatim_, -and see how far they are founded in fact; after which I shall adduce -evidence of a counter tendency, arising from a personal knowledge of -facts, and an intimate acquaintance with the opinions of individual -clergy. - -(1) In the first paragraph, you alledge that our form of Subscription -has been perverted and our Articles misrepresented by persons “who argue -that they were not intended to condemn Romanism;” and, in proof of this, -you “think it sufficient to refer to Tract No. 90, though,” as you state, -“other instances might be cited from authors who have subscribed the -Articles.” - -Now, as “one swallow does not make a summer,” so neither does one -individual, nor several, (and I believe they are not many altogether, who -hold with Tract No. 90,) constitute in that particular, a _general_ -“perversion of our Form of Subscription,” or a _general_ -“misrepresentation of our Articles.” I am not ignorant that it has been -the common prejudice to stamp as a tractarian every man who avows that he -upholds generally the Apostolical Succession, and Baptismal Regeneration, -has lately seen it right to have divine service in his church during -Lent, and at other times appointed by the Rubric, and especially if he -preach in a surplice, although he may differ from Tract No. 90, and its -principles, as widely as possible. And I cannot help thinking that you -have been carried away by this mistaken notion. But look calmly and -impartially around, and say from your own knowledge how many are the -clergy in the diocese of Norwich, who countenance the principles of Tract -Nos. 90, or 85, or 80, or indeed other tracts, which may be repugnant to -the doctrines of our church: are there three? are there two? or one? But -if I grant you that there are half-a-dozen, (and except in argument I -would not allow so many,) considering that in the diocese there are -upwards of eight hundred clergy, it will little avail you. - -(2) In the next paragraph, which embraces that “section of the clergy -most opposed to the views of the Tractarians, you speak from personal -knowledge;” and you say, “in their views as to Baptismal Regeneration, -certainly opposed to the strict language of our Formularies; in their -dislike of other parts of our services, and sometimes in their disuse of -certain terms, is to be found a proof that to them Subscription is not -altogether satisfactory.” I do not deny that there may be among that -body of the clergy some who do not admit Baptismal Regeneration, -according to the strict language of our Formularies: but I believe they -are by no means so numerous as you would have it inferred. I can affirm, -from personal knowledge, that some of that party do hold that doctrine -strictly in accordance with the church, and that I scarcely know one who -does not admit it, at least in a modified sense. You are aware that the -word “regeneration,” instead of being restricted to Baptism, as it is in -our Articles and Liturgy, and, as I believe, also in the New Testament, -has, by many divines as well as others, long been used in a looser -signification, to denote “conversion,” “renovation,” &c., which may be -necessary after Baptism. Hence there is reason to think that frequently -the difference is more in name than in reality. I can also state -positively that, upon this point, within very few years, the views of -many amongst this party have undergone considerable change, and closely -approximated to those of the church. If, however, upon one of the most -difficult and abstruse doctrines of Christianity there should be shades -of opinion, it is only to be expected; considering that all have not -equally faith to receive, or the capacity to comprehend the “things hard -to be understood.” Neither do I think it quite charitable to set down -this circumstance to their “disgrace,” or to that of the church of which -they are ministers. “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? -To his own master he standeth or falleth.” {14} Moreover, in this -neighborhood, I am acquainted with several of the clergy, who would -probably rank themselves under this “section,” who are not behind any of -their neighbors in the exact observance of the Liturgy. - -With regard to those “Subscribers who embrace Calvinistic doctrines,” any -comment of mine would be superfluous, as it is clear, from the tenor of -your observations, that you are ready to defend _their_ view of the -Articles. - -We now come to a section of the clergy whom you denominate “old-fashioned -high-churchmen.” Your main charge against these is, that whilst “they -insist often on an exact compliance with Rubrics,” few amongst them have -fulfilled these in their own practice. The supposition of error -attaching to them in their “Arminian views of doctrine,” being matter of -private opinion, may be dismissed as irrelevant. The charge, then, may -be regarded as a default in Rubrical _practice_. This accusation, -however, is of the less importance, as it is not contended, neither -indeed can be, that there exists in the clergy a conscientious objection -to a compliance with any of the Rubrical directions—only that “few -amongst them have fulfilled these in their own practice.” And thus much -is fully conceded. - -If it were material to the point, it would be no difficult task, in -extenuation of those who deviate from the strict letter of the Rubric, to -prove that the Rubrics are not always definite, and frequently admit of a -variety of construction—that to a certain extent the church accords to -its ministers a discretionary judgment in this as in all other -things—that at the present time there exists a prevailing disposition to -revive much which has fallen into desuetude, and an earnest desire to -carry out the Rubrics in all their practical utility—and consequently, -that there is notwithstanding a great deal of honest and upright -practice. But your charge affects not the clergy, but Subscription. It -will therefore be a sufficient answer, to refer you to Article 34, in -which it is stated—that “every particular or national church hath -authority to _ordain_, _change_, and _abolish ceremonies or rites_ of the -church, ordained only by man’s authority,” in order to remind you that, -without having recourse to that measure, which in the sequel you -propound, the church _does_ possess a provision to abrogate or enact, -whenever it may be deemed by the legislature expedient to direct the -Convocation to proceed with that business. - -(5) In the last “section” of the clergy, whose views you notice, I see -nothing in the slightest degree inconsistent with their Subscription. -Surely, according to Article 20, which states that “the church hath power -to decree rites and ceremonies, and authority in controversies of faith,” -it is quite competent for any clergyman to state strongly his conviction, -that a church, without even the power of entering upon the means of -deliberation as to one general improvement in its spiritual concerns, is -in a false and unscriptural position. The summoning of convocation rests -with the legislature, and not with the church, and is a matter of -expediency upon which every individual clergyman may entertain his own -opinion. - -I have now carefully, and for my readers I fear too tediously, gone -through your allegations; but as I conceived that your proposition -depended _solely_ upon their being supported and established by facts, I -trust I shall be excused if I have made a point of examining them with -that patience and candor, which I thought their importance demanded. - -I find then, that, because an indefinitely small number of the clergy in -every diocese _may_ agree with the author of Tract No. 90,—because a -portion of a certain “section” of the clergy possibly do not hold -Baptismal Regeneration in strict accordance with the Articles and -Liturgy—because some incline to Calvinistic, some to Arminian views of -doctrine—because, in practice, an exact conformity to the Rubrics does -not obtain, notwithstanding that in the 34th article express provision is -made to meet this case in all its bearings, and because, in accordance -with the 20th article, certain persons avow that a church, without the -means of deliberation, is in a false and unscriptural -position—_Therefore_ “Subscription is the Disgrace of the English -Church.” - -Such is the conclusion at which you arrive from your premises—a -conclusion, in my humble opinion, so slightly supported by fact, that I -can hardly bring myself to think, but that, if there had not existed a -strong propension, a predetermination to come at this result, your -judgment would have rejected the evidence as totally insufficient to -support it. - -I now proceed to adduce evidence of a counter-tendency, arising from a -personal knowledge of facts, and an intimate acquaintance with the -opinions of individual clergy. - -In 1838 I preached at Yarmouth before the Lord Bishop of Norwich, -yourself, and a numerous body of the Clergy residing in the two adjoining -Deaneries, a Sermon, in which I delivered the following sentences, -_viz._— - - “By God’s providence, my Reverend Brethren, we have been ordained - ministers ‘of that pure and reformed part of Christ’s church - established in this kingdom,’ which, from the deepest conviction, we - believe to be ‘built upon the foundation of the apostles and - prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone;’ and in - obedience to her authority, and in conformity with her Articles and - Liturgy, we have pledged ourselves to discharge the functions of our - ministry. - - “I have been ordained to ‘administer the doctrine and sacraments and - discipline of Christ, as the Lord hath commanded, and as this church - and realm hath received the same.’ And, until I am convinced that - she is in error—that her Articles or her Liturgy contain ‘things - which are neither read in scripture, nor may be proved thereby,’ as a - minister of the Church of England, I may not indulge in speculations - of my own imagination, or perform her offices in ways and modes of my - own devising, but I must labor for the edification and salvation of - the souls entrusted to my care, according to the laws, the - regulations, and the spirit of the Church of England, which is the - Church of Christ. When I can no longer do so conscientiously, it - will then become me no longer to appropriate her emoluments. - - “But revering and loving her doctrine, and approving her discipline, - I can well repose myself under her guidance and administration. - These, my Reverend Brethren, I may venture to hope, are equally the - sentiments of us all.” - -Whatever might be the individual opinion entertained of the obligations -under which, on that occasion, I apprehended myself and all ministers of -the Gospel to be, or of the sentiments which I expressed in regard to -those obligations,—the Sermon, containing this acknowledgment of our -ministerial engagements, and this expression of corresponding sentiments, -was requested by the assemblage then present, without a dissentient -voice, to be printed; and I think the charitable inference is, that each -individual sanctioned with his approbation the sentiments delivered in -that discourse. - -If this construction upon their unanimous act be correct, the accidental -publication of this Sermon will go far to exonerate the parties then -present from the imputation of disingenuous Subscription, which, I must -needs think, in your general remarks, you have endeavoured to attach to -them. - -But so far as it concerns my neighbours, I have yet something more -certain than a fair and presumptive inference to advance. My personal -intimacy with many of the Clergy around me, enables me to add my belief -that these sentiments _are_ theirs, equally as mine. And if this be true -of the Clergy in one district taken indiscriminately, why should they not -be the opinions of the Clergy of other deaneries and other dioceses? -Until you can give me positive proof to the contrary, I shall charitably -presume that they are so; and leave you to reconcile with fact the -following extraordinary, and to me unaccountable, assertion:— - - “Subscription, instead of being the tie which is to bind people to - certain opinions or truths, is become a rope of sand. So uncertain - is the trumpet’s sound, that it no longer, as of old, proclaims the - spirit of an united host, but turns every man’s sword against his - fellow: and Englishmen must soon awake to the conviction that - Subscription, according to the plain meaning of the words, is blown - to the winds, and become the disgrace and not the safeguard of the - English Church.” - -Under ordinary circumstances it would seem sufficient to have made a -general statement in regard to Subscription, but as you have -particularised three several points to which you take exception in the -matter of Subscription, it might appear uncandid to pass them over -without more especial comment. - -These points will be best given in your own words:— - - “I still maintain— - - “That the condemnatory clauses of the Athanasian Creed, in their - literal sense, are an un-christian appendage to a document of - extraordinary merit, yet such that a true Christian may innocently - differ from some propositions set forth in it. - - “That a Bishop is not authorized by the Gospel to address a candidate - for Ordination in the literal sense of the words, ‘Receive the Holy - Ghost: whose sins thou dost remit, they are remitted, and whose sins - thou dost retain, they are retained.’ - - “That a Christian minister is not authorized by the Gospel to address - any one in the literal sense of the words, ‘I absolve thee from all - thy sins.’” - -I am not sure that I understand your precise meaning in the expression, -the “literal sense;” but I will not shrink from stating distinctly the -sense in which I subscribed, and, so far as I have been able to -ascertain, other Clergymen subscribe to these points. - -Scripture itself is not always interpreted in a strictly “literal -sense.”—Witness a great part of the sixth chapter of St. John. But in -the interpretation of a particular passage, regard must be had to all the -circumstances and considerations connected with it. The same -observation, I apprehend, applies in ascertaining the meaning of the -Articles and Liturgy. - -Now whoever subscribes to the Athanasian Creed, subscribes to it in -conjunction with the Thirty-nine Articles: and the 6th Article states -that “Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation; so -that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to -be required of any man, that it should be believed as an Article of -Faith.” By the standard of Scripture, then, we are bound to try every -clause of the Athanasian Creed, and every other subject of Subscription, -before we embrace it as an article of faith. And thus, the condemnatory -clauses of that Creed are to be understood and received in perfect -agreement with the Scripture. And to satisfy ourselves of their true -sense we must have recourse to the Source of Truth. Then, are these -clauses of _universal_ or of _limited_ application? Our Saviour’s words -are—“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that -believeth not shall be damned.” {22a} And to ascertain the extent of the -condemnation herein denounced against unbelievers, we must compare the -passage with others evidently to be taken in conjunction with it. First, -the words of our Saviour—“That servant who knew his Lord’s will, and -prepared not himself, neither did according to His will, shall be beaten -with many stripes. But he that knew not, neither did commit things -worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.” {22b} Secondly, -the declaration of St. Paul—“Now we know, that what things soever the law -saith, it saith to them who are under the law.” {22c} Hence we learn -that our Saviour’s words in St. Mark are to be understood with this -limitation, _viz._ “he that” hath the means and opportunities of -believing the Gospel, and “believeth not shall be damned.” At the same -time, to show that “there is no respect of persons with God,” whether Jew -or Gentile, St. Paul expressly declares with reference to those who sin -without revelation, “As many as have sinned without law, shall also -perish without law.” {22d} - -Hence we are bound, I think, to receive the condemnatory clauses of the -Athanasian Creed in the same sense and with the same limitation as our -Saviour’s words in St. Mark. They are declaratory of God’s revelation -respecting those who have the means and opportunities of believing the -saving truths of the Gospel, and yet do not believe. “This is the -condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men have chosen -darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” {23} - -(2) Now, in regard to the Absolution in the Visitation of the Sick, the -same rule of interpretation is to be applied. If the words, “I absolve -thee from all thy sins,” were taken to convey to a fellow-creature an -absolute pardon of sins committed against God as unreservedly as we may -forgive his offences committed against ourselves, this construction would -appear to invest us with an authority which every priest is sensible that -he does not possess. “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Whatever -therefore be the signification of the words in this Absolution, we are -certain they must be so understood as to harmonize with Scripture, which -declares the forgiveness or remission of sins to be conditional. Faith -and repentance are the conditions, and baptism the outward mean, whereby -the forgiveness of sins is formally and legally made over to the worthy -recipient. Acts II. 38, and VIII. 37. In accordance with these -conditions, the Absolution in both the Daily and the Communion Service is -framed; and in both places the priest pronounces pardon and absolution -“to those who truly repent and unfeignedly believe,” agreeably to the -Covenant of Baptism. And the authority on which he professes to do this, -is—that “God hath given power and commandment to his ministers to -_declare_ and _pronounce_ to his people, being penitent, the Absolution -and Remission of their Sins.” Hence, in these two cases, the office of -the priest is clearly _ministerial_. If now we would reconcile the words -in the other Absolution with the plain intention of Scripture, we have -only to apply to the Liturgy the Apostolic Canon, which we ever adopt in -the interpretation of Scripture—“Comparing things spiritual with -spiritual,” and compare the latter Absolution with the two former, and we -have no difficulty in convincing ourselves that the words, “I absolve -thee from all thy sins,” (whenever it may be a point of duty to use them, -_viz._ “if the sick person humbly and heartily desire it,” and having -“made an especial confession of his sins,”) are pronounced -_ministerially_ and _conditionally_. - -Take lastly the case in the Ordination of Priests. This consists of two -parts:— - - (1) “Receive the Holy Ghost, for the office and work of a Priest in - the church of God, now committed unto thee by the imposition of our - hands.” - - (2) “Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven; and whose sins - thou dost retain, they are retained.” - -(1) The authority on which a Bishop addresses these words to a Candidate -for Ordination is derived through the Apostolical Succession. They are -the words in which our blessed Lord thought good to invest his Apostles -with their ministerial authority; and there is strong ground for -believing, that the first Bishops received from the Apostles, upon whom -Christ built his church, the like authority in the same form of words, -and so handed it down to their successors. Some formula for Ordination -there must be, as of baptism; and though the one is a sacrament and the -other is not, my faith teaches me, that “where two or three are met -together in God’s name,” in any Godly work, “there is He in the midst of -them.” I would therefore humbly and piously hope, that in such a holy -work as the Ordination of weak and frail men for the great and -responsible office of the ministry, He will vouchsafe to be present with -His church; and after care duly taken by the Bishop to “lay hands -suddenly on no man,” the solemn vows sincerely taken upon himself by the -candidate, the earnest prayers of the congregation, the pious invocation -of the Holy Ghost “to inspire the souls” and “visit the hearts” of those -engaged in the sacred investiture—upon a candidate so truly called, and -so dedicated to the ministry, I would devoutly trust that God would be -pleased to pour down a portion of the sanctifying Spirit, by the laying -on of hands. - -(2) With regard to the second part of this formula—“whosesoever sins ye -remit, they are remitted,” &c. It is generally admitted that one meaning -of these words applies to Ecclesiastical Censures, in reference to the -members of any Church who may have committed scandalous offences and -incorrigible misdemeanours. {25} And comparing them with Matthew XVIII. -16, 17, 18, it seems almost impossible but to conclude that, in one -sense, they relate to those matters. If this were the only -signification, there would be no perplexity. But the words most probably -have another reference—a reference to sins, as they are committed against -God. And herein I apprehend lies the difficulty. To arrive at a -satisfactory solution of this, we have only to consider (supposing the -Priest to be endued with authority to remit and retain sins in a -spiritual sense) the occasion on which he is called upon to exercise that -function. Clearly, in pronouncing the Absolution, wherein he declares -remission of sins to those who truly repent and unfeignedly believe. And -although, in the Absolution, he declares not the counterpart of the -sentence, yet he has equally authority to pronounce, that the sins of -those who do not repent and believe, will be retained by God. - -It has, I conceive, been demonstrated that the Clergy, with comparatively -few exceptions, do not subscribe otherwise than _ex animo_, and by -consequence disproved that they are the disgrace of the English Church, -in that respect, at least, or, as you invert the proposition, that -“Subscription is the Disgrace of the English Church;” it therefore might -seem superfluous to discuss the _Corollary_, which falls to the ground as -a consequence. But as there is reason to doubt whether you intend the -alteration of Subscription, strictly as a Corollary dependent on the -previous problem, or as itself a distinct proposition, offering a -substantial improvement in the Constitution of our Church, it may be -worth while to investigate the matter further. - -You propose then, next, “the repeal of the present form of Subscription;” -and instead thereof, “Subscription to the three Creeds, and an engagement -to conform to the Liturgy:” and you add, that “assent to the doctrines of -the Creeds would be almost Catholic.”—Would it? Could _you_ subscribe to -the three Creeds, or engage to conform to the Liturgy, without some -modification or limitation? You declare that you still cannot accept, in -the “literal sense,” either the Condemnatory Clauses of the Athanasian -Creed, or the Absolution in “the Visitation of the Sick,” or the formula -in “the Ordering of Priests;” and in your former publication, entitled -“_What is the Meaning of Subscription_?” you stated that “you were not -contented to take them otherwise than in a ‘literal sense,’ without a -declaration from Authority that they are not strictly to be so taken; and -you went so far as to offer to resign your preferment, if called upon so -to do by the Archbishop of Canterbury, unless in the meantime you -obtained relief in that respect.” {27} Supposing therefore the changes -made; in this dilemma, how would your case be affected by them, one way -or the other, without an authorised interpretation also, which should be -satisfactory to you? But supposing further, that you obtained everything -which would satisfy yourself and some thirty-five others who united with -you in 1840 in a Petition to the House of Lords, how could the Arian and -the Socinian subscribe to the Athanasian Creed with a safer conscience -then, than now? Could those who deny Baptismal Regeneration repeat, “I -believe in one baptism for the remission of sins,” in the Nicene Creed? -Would the “Three Denominations” feel quite easy in repeating “I believe -in One Catholic and Apostolic Church,” in the Nicene Creed, and cordially -unite with our Church in maintaining the present Three Orders of Bishops, -Priests, and Deacons? Would the Romanists be contented to reduce their -tenets within the Confessions of the three Creeds, and confine their -Services to our Ritual? It is really difficult to think you serious, -when you say, that “assent to the doctrines of the Creeds would be almost -Catholic.” But we will proceed; for the subject deserves grave -consideration. - -To maintain that your proposed alterations would insure anything like -“Catholic assent,” promote union among Christians, and advance the growth -of vital religion, is to contradict _Catholic_ experience, derived from -undoubted history. Do we not read of schisms in the Corinthian Church, -even in the days of their Apostle, when the Confession of Faith must have -been in the simplest form? And do we not find him sharply rebuking the -Corinthian converts—“I hear there be divisions among you, and I partly -believe it?” {28} Has not St. John left on record the extraordinary -caution which he thought necessary, to guard the disciples against the -errors of Gnosticism, which, in his time, were infesting the Church? -Again, the history of the three Creeds is but an account of the rise and -progress of the Gnostic, the Sabellian, the Arian, and the Socinian -heresies, which successively sprung up, the former without, the three -latter within the Church, and of the means devised and adopted to -counteract them. Moreover, it is capable of proof, that every singular -Article in the three Creeds, has application to some error at the time -prevailing. {29} The history of the thirty-nine Articles is too well -known to require more than the mention of them. They were drawn up -designedly and expressly to exclude from the Reformed Church of England -all those who still might adhere to the Romish faith. - -Thus, then, we see, that when the Confession of faith was in the simplest -form, the Church of Christ was not free from schism; and that Creeds and -Articles of Faith were invariably the _effects_, and not the _causes_, of -heresies. - -But besides a retrospective glance at the past, it may not be altogether -foreign from the consideration, to take a speculative view of the future -results which would probably ensue, upon the Subscription being reduced -to the three Creeds. It is often the best mode of trying a proposition, -to suppose the thing done, and to follow it out into its obvious -consequences. Suppose, then, Subscription reduced to the three Creeds. -The first question which suggests itself is—How would this affect our two -Universities, from which the nation has long derived “a supply of persons -duly qualified to serve God, both in Church and State?” If this -circumstance should open the door of admission to those eminent schools -of education so wide, as almost to insure the resort of students -essentially differing from the principles and doctrines of the Church of -England as now constituted, and thus render probable a material change in -the nature and mode of religious instruction there communicated—I think -the conclusion would be inevitable, that the fabric of the Church of -England, as at present founded on the Prophets and Apostles, Jesus Christ -himself being the chief corner-stone, would be greatly endangered; and -consequently, that your proposition must be rejected as a rash and -hazardous experiment. - -Now, although the Romanists would not join your Communion in the altered -form, it is certain that the Subscription to the three Creeds would -present no obstacle to their entrance into the Universities, seeing that -they _do_ subscribe to them already, and _something more_. Then it is -more than probable, that the mass of the dissenters would find the means -of introduction and admission into those seats of learning—not even -excepting the chairs of the Professors of Divinity. And thus the -Orthodox youth of the Church of England would no longer enjoy the -privilege of being educated exclusively and securely in their own -principles and in their own Universities—a privilege, nay, a prerogative, -asserted and exercised by nonconformists of different denominations, in -their Academies founded for the tuition of youths of their own communion, -in their own principles of religion, and in agreement with their own -peculiar views; but they would soon have to encounter, in this new state -of things, the conflict of discordant opinions, at all times unfavorable -to the growth of true religion, but especially so in the ardent and -restless period of youth. - -In the year 1834, when the admission of persons into the Universities, -without regard to their religious opinions, was urged with unprecedented -zeal, Dr. Turton, now dean of Westminster, then Regius Professor of -Divinity in the University of Cambridge, published some “Thoughts” on the -subject, which were so convincing to my mind of the utter -impracticability of that measure, that I must be permitted briefly to -refer to them. To shew what would be the probable result of such a -concession, he traced the operations of an Establishment, which had been -tried on a plan very similar, on a scale sufficiently large, and for a -time sufficiently long, through its various stages during sixty years, to -its ultimate results. This Establishment was the well-known Academy -which Dr. Doddridge instituted at Northampton, and which his successor -removed to Daventry. The leading facts relating to this Institution, -are, that its founder was a learned, talented, and in the main, orthodox -divine, but a zealous non-conformist—that its “constitution was perfectly -Catholic,” in other words, that students of any sect in religion were -admissible—that the instruction was required to be taught according to -the principles laid down in the Assembly’s Catechism—and that, after -declining thirty-eight years under three successive tutors, after Dr. -Doddridge, “holding the balance” (according to Mr. Robert Hall, a -non-conformist,) “betwixt contending systems, without betraying the -slightest emotion of antipathy to error, or predilection for truth,” it -finally sank into Modern Unitarianism, under Mr. Belsham in 1789. - -Upon an impartial view of the case, Dr. Turton attributes all the evil -resulting from the system, to “laxness in the terms of Admission,” in the -first instance, which afterwards led to a faulty mode of teaching -Theology. And justly he remarks, “we have seen the effects of great -diversity of belief at Daventry, and we may rely upon it that those -effects were not accidental; they were such as will always be produced by -the same cause.” - -Here, then, we have an experiment before us, of a religious -establishment, on a sufficiently large scale, commencing under an able, -learned, and, in the main, Orthodox Divine, upon “_Catholic principles_,” -and terminating within sixty years in the most disastrous consequences. -The circumstances of the Academy at Daventry, and of the two -Universities, under the new state of things, would obviously be so nearly -similar, that the result which was produced in the former case, might -with certainty be expected in the two latter. If a similar trial should -be made by relaxing the present test, and thus enabling men of almost all -shades of opinion to enter at our Universities, infidelity would, in like -manner, be the result. And when the time shall arrive, that the youth -who are destined to supply the Ministry of the Church, and to fill the -Offices of State, shall no longer be grounded and built up in the -principles of “that pure and reformed part of Christ’s Church, -established in this kingdom,” but shall be taught some system of belief, -composed and modified out of all the various and discordant elements of -religion then existing in those ancient and peaceful Institutions of -“sound learning and religious education,” the evil consequences will be -such as it requires no ordinary nerves to contemplate. - -Surely then the Church of England will pause ere she incline to adopt -your proposition, and exchange a certain good for a certain evil. - -Before I conclude, I have a few words to add in reference to the -publication of your pamphlet:—and first I would observe, that if you have -failed in the proof of your proposition—if your allegations in the main -stand contradicted by facts—if there is every reason to believe that the -Clergy, although varying somewhat in matters unimportant, do, with -comparatively few exceptions, subscribe _ex animo_ to the Articles and -Liturgy—I then leave with you to determine, however you may “believe -yourself engaged in the cause of truth,” in what manner your pamphlet is -calculated to ascertain and promote it within the Church of England. -Whatever may be your determination on this head, the judgment of the -Clergy of this diocese, at least, is condemnatory of the course which you -have taken. They feel that, for a period of years, from time to time, by -your publications, you have vexed the Church in general, and this diocese -in particular, troubled Israel, and given occasion to the enemies of the -Church to exult. In this very pamphlet have you not described to us, in -clear terms, what must be the value of a clergyman’s ministry among his -flock, when his character for integrity—his honesty in his ordination -vow—is suspected? Have you not put into the mouths of “some youthful -profligates, led on by an ingenious sceptic,” questions relating to the -Clergy, highly defamatory of their character as ministers of Christ, and -injurious to the best interests of religion? Do you not suppose that -your pamphlet has been perused by many who will rejoice in turning it to -the worst of purposes—the purposes of infidelity—against the Clergy -collectively, yourself individually, and the religion of Christ -generally? Do you suppose that this publication has not been discussed -in many dissenting assemblies of this diocese, and exultingly responded -to—“Ah! so would we have it, so would we have it?” Too much reason have -the Clergy to say, in sorrow and in sadness—“It is not an open enemy that -has done us this dishonor;” it is a brother—one of our own order—a -dignitary of our own Church, who is partaking of the same bread— - -This, you may say, is hard language.—“But is there not a cause?” When I -turn to the sentence, “While we thus perceive the variety of opinion -prevailing amongst these several sections, we see also that from _all_ of -them, more or less, Subscription is requiring that which, in the ordinary -affairs of life, high-minded men would abstain from, _viz._ the necessity -for qualifying the plain and straight-forward use of language;” and when -I find you finally concluding, “In this state of things, I can hardly -imagine any diversity of opinion, with respect to the Thirty-nine -Articles, which calls for the resignation of a Clergyman; indeed it -appears to me, that it would be simply absurd in any one to resort to -such a step, unless under a decided wish for communion with some other -church or body of christians”—I own that I am still startled at this bold -expression of opinion: and I confess that, after much reflection, I have -been at a loss to couch in softer terms, my sense of this grave -imputation, and of this deliberate avowal, thus placed on record. - -I have now finished a task in which I engaged with reluctance. I trust -that I have fairly and temperately gone through the discussion of the -subject; and I can aver that I have carefully endeavored not to -misunderstand or misrepresent any thing which you have written. I hope, -also, that I have given an impartial consideration to whatever you have -advanced in support of your case: unfeignedly have I labored to -investigate the subject in all its bearings, and arrive at an unbiassed -result. How far I have succeeded in my object, others will judge. This, -however, I will affirm, that, in the discharge of a public duty to which -I have been unavoidably called, I have been actuated by no motive of -private consideration, and especially by no unfriendly feeling towards -yourself. And in conclusion I will add that, if anything which I may -have advanced in explanation or in support of the present Subscription to -our Articles or Formularies, should happily have placed the matter in a -different and more satisfactory point of view, so as to clear up your -present doubt and perplexity, I should feel more gratification and -delight than I am able to express. And I hope, by the blessing of that -God whose providence over-rules all things for good, this feeble effort -may not be without its use. - - I have the honor to be, SIR, - Your sincere and faithful Servant, - CHARLES GREEN. - -BURGH CASTLE, - 8_th_ _July_, 1843. - - * * * * * - - ~~~~~~~~~ - - THE END. - - * * * * * - - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - SLOMAN, Printer, King-Street, Yarmouth. - - - - -FOOTNOTES. - - -{8} Reformation is good when reformation is wanting, but to be always -reforming is no reformation at all: it is behaving like children, tossed -to and fro with every wind of doctrine. All errors of any moment have -been purged off long ago by the care of our Reformers, and why are we -then still reforming? Physic may be proper at certain seasons, but to -pretend to live constantly upon it, instead of food, is the certain way -to impair, and in a little time to destroy, the best and soundest -constitution in the world. _Remarks on Dr. Clarke’s Exposition_, _&c._ -by Waterland, (_Works_, vol. 5, p. 436.) - -{14} Romans, xiv. 4. - -{22a} Mark xvi. 16. - -{22b} Luke xii. 47, 48. - -{22c} Romans, iii. 19. - -{22d} Romans, ii. 12. - -{23} John, iii. 19. - -{25} Pearson on the Creed, Article ix, page 350. Archbishop Seeker, &c. - -{27} I quote from memory, not having the pamphlet before me, nor being -able to procure it; but trust what I have advanced is substantially -correct. - -{28} 1 Corinthians, xi. 18. - -{29} I would undertake to prove that there is not an Article in any of -our three Creeds, which was not directed against some particular and -prevailing error. Dr. Burton’s _Sermons_ before the University of -Oxford, p. 248. - - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LETTER TO THE REV. C. N. -WODEHOUSE, CANON OF NORWICH; OCCASIONED BY HIS LATE PAMPHLET, ENTITLED -"SUBSCRIPTION THE DISGRACE OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH"*** - - -******* This file should be named 63736-0.txt or 63736-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/3/7/3/63736 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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C. N. Wodehouse, Canon of Norwich; occasioned by, by Charles Green</title> - <style type="text/css"> -/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ -<!-- - P { margin-top: .75em; - margin-bottom: .75em; - } - P.gutsumm { margin-left: 5%;} - P.poetry {margin-left: 3%; } - .GutSmall { font-size: 0.7em; } - H1, H2 { - text-align: center; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - } - H3, H4, H5 { - text-align: center; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - } - BODY{margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; - } - table { border-collapse: collapse; } -table {margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;} - td { vertical-align: top; border: 1px solid black;} - td p { margin: 0.2em; } - .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ - - .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - - .pagenum {position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: small; - text-align: right; - font-weight: normal; - color: gray; - } - img { border: none; } - img.dc { float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; } - p.gutindent { margin-left: 2em; } - p.gutlist { margin-top: 0.1em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-left: 2em; text-indent: -1em} - div.gapspace { height: 0.8em; } - div.gapline { height: 0.8em; width: 100%; border-top: 1px solid;} - div.gapmediumline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; - border-top: 1px solid; } - div.gapmediumdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; - border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} - div.gapshortdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; - margin-left: 40%; border-top: 1px solid; - border-bottom: 1px solid; } - div.gapdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 50%; - margin-left: 25%; border-top: 1px solid; - border-bottom: 1px solid;} - div.gapshortline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; margin-left:40%; - border-top: 1px solid; } - .citation {vertical-align: super; - font-size: .5em; - text-decoration: none;} - span.red { color: red; } - body {background-color: #ffffc0; } - img.floatleft { float: left; - margin-right: 1em; - margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } - img.floatright { float: right; - margin-left: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em; - margin-bottom: 0.5em; } - img.clearcenter {display: block; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0.5em; - margin-bottom: 0.5em} - --> - /* XML end ]]>*/ - </style> -<link rel='coverpage' href='images/cover.jpg' /> -</head> -<body> -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Letter to the Rev. C. N. Wodehouse, Canon -of Norwich; occasioned by his late pamphlet, entitled "Subscription the -Disgrace of the English Church", by Charles Green - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: A Letter to the Rev. C. N. Wodehouse, Canon of Norwich; occasioned by - his late pamphlet, entitled "Subscription the Disgrace of the English - Church" - - -Author: Charles Green - - - -Release Date: November 13, 2020 [eBook #63736] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LETTER TO THE REV. C. N. -WODEHOUSE, CANON OF NORWICH; OCCASIONED BY HIS LATE PAMPHLET, ENTITLED -"SUBSCRIPTION THE DISGRACE OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH"*** -</pre> -<p>Transcribed from the 1843 G. F. and J. Rivington edition by -David Price.</p> -<h1><span class="GutSmall">A</span><br /> -LETTER<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">TO THE</span><br /> -REV. C. N. WODEHOUSE,</h1> -<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">CANON OF -NORWICH;</span></p> -<p style="text-align: center"><span -class="GutSmall"><i>Occasioned by his late -Pamphlet</i></span><span class="GutSmall">, </span><span -class="GutSmall"><i>entitled</i></span></p> -<p style="text-align: center">“SUBSCRIPTION THE DISGRACE OF -THE ENGLISH CHURCH:”</p> -<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">BY -THE</span></p> -<p style="text-align: center">REV. C. GREEN,<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">RECTOR OF BURGH-CASTLE,</span><br /> -<span class="GutSmall">AND LATE FELLOW OF JESUS COLLEGE, -CAMBRIDGE.</span></p> - -<div class="gapspace"> </div> -<p style="text-align: -center">———♦———</p> - -<div class="gapspace"> </div> -<p style="text-align: center">LONDON:<br /> -G. F. <span class="GutSmall">AND</span> J. RIVINGTON, ST. -PAUL’S.</p> -<p style="text-align: center">YARMOUTH:<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">C. SLOMAN, KING-STREET.</span></p> -<p style="text-align: -center">—————<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">MDCCCXLIII.</span></p> - -<div class="gapspace"> </div> -<p style="text-align: center"><a name="page2"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 2</span>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">CHARLES SLOMAN,</span><br /> -<span class="GutSmall">PRINTER,</span><br /> -<span class="GutSmall">GREAT YARMOUTH.</span><br /> -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p> -<h2><a name="page3"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 3</span>A -LETTER, <i>&c. &c.</i></h2> -<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</p> -<p><span class="smcap">In</span> addressing to you the following -remarks upon a pamphlet recently put forth by you, under the -title of “<i>Subscription the Disgrace of the English -Church</i>,” I think it right to explain the reasons which -have induced me to give them publication, rather than to -communicate them in a private form, and also why I have not taken -this step some days earlier.</p> -<p>The fact is, that till within the last three days, I had seen -nothing of your pamphlet beyond the title; neither do I think -that I should then have been tempted to peruse its contents, so -repulsive did its announcement appear, had I not received an -intimation that my name was mentioned in connection with your -former publication, in such terms as to create some suspicion -that I might countenance your opinions and views, and to require -from me a declaration how far I might concur in believing -Subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles a disgrace. This -information could <a name="page4"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -4</span>not fail to excite in me some degree of surprise and -curiosity, feeling, as I did, unconscious of having made to you, -either publicly or privately, any observation whatever in -reference to that or to any other of your publications.</p> -<p>On reading the paragraph in your pamphlet in which my name is -introduced, it did not occur to me, that, supposing I had been -one of those “clergymen in the diocese of Norwich, who had -made comments upon your last publication,” you intended -anything more than to speak of me in complimentary terms. -Feeling conscious, however, that I could not take to myself that -compliment, for the reasons already stated, and that it had been -more than hinted to me, that my name being so introduced placed -me in an equivocal position, in which some explanation would be -expected, I laid the paragraph, together with the fact, before a -clerical friend, who gave his opinion, that it certainly did -admit of a doubt, how far I might have coincided in, or differed -from, your views of Subscription, as stated in your last -publication.</p> -<p>Now, if your observations had merely concerned myself -personally, I might not have thought this accidental circumstance -worthy of notice; at least I should have refrained from drawing -public attention to a matter of a private nature. But as I -conceive that the character of a clergyman, whether as it regards -his flock, or the church, ought not to appear in an ambiguous -light, and as I have always, both publicly and privately -maintained opinions the directly opposite of those which you have -advocated in several <a name="page5"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -5</span>publications, it would justly be considered an -abandonment of duty, were I, from an ill-timed silence, to allow -it to be suspected that I side with the opinions which you -entertain in the matter of Subscription.</p> -<p>Under these circumstances and impressions, I have no course -but to sacrifice my natural disinclination to make myself a -public character, particularly when, in that character, I must -necessarily assume somewhat of a controversialist, and when there -is connected with the subject much both of a painful and of a -delicate nature: I therefore hesitate not to comply with my -duty.</p> -<p>Although such reasons for the course which I am about to take -apply only to myself, yet if every clergyman in the diocese chose -to dispute your allegations generally, and to repudiate your -imputations in particular, it would be quite competent to him, -individually, to make his public defence.</p> -<p>Before I enter on the main subject of your pamphlet, one word -of further explanation will be necessary upon the personal matter -between us.</p> -<p>At page 43, you say—</p> -<blockquote><p>“I have now only to acknowledge the comments -of several clergymen and others in this diocese, upon my last -publication. To the Rev. B. Philpot, formerly archdeacon of -the Isle of Man, and to the Rev. C. Green, rector of Burgh, I beg -to offer my sincere thanks for the candid and christian spirit in -which their observations were made. I avail myself also of -this opportunity <a name="page6"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -6</span>to acknowledge with respect and gratitude a large number -of private communications, both from friends and strangers, which -were a valuable testimony at a time when they were most -acceptable.”</p> -</blockquote> -<p>In answer to what concerns me, I repeat that I neither -publicly nor privately to you ever made any comment or -observation whatever upon your last publication; and that, if to -others I may have alluded to it, it was in terms of -disapprobation and with feelings of regret.</p> -<p>I now proceed to a discussion of your pamphlet, which will -give me an opportunity of satisfying those, who may wish to know, -how far I concur in your opinions and views; and I trust I shall -not express myself otherwise, than in that “candid and -christian spirit,” for which, by anticipation, you have -already given me credit.</p> -<p>The title of the pamphlet is a true index of what may be found -within. Indeed, the contents may be reduced to <span -class="smcap">Proposition</span> and <span -class="smcap">Corollary</span>.</p> -<p><i>Proposition</i>: “Subscription the Disgrace of the -English Church.”</p> -<p><i>Corollary</i>: “Repeal of the present form of -Subscription.”</p> -<p>These in turn shall have my best consideration. The -Proposition you attempt to establish by various suppositions and -allegations. A grave charge, which strikes at the very -foundation of our church establishment, like that involved in -this proposition, should not be grounded on suppositions, the -force of which must depend on their degree of probability, which -is always questionable, but should rest <a name="page7"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 7</span>solely upon proven and admitted -facts. Indeed, in a matter of such moment as that, which -you appear extremely anxious to substantiate, all other reasoning -but from facts alone must be excluded. I therefore humbly -submit, that the opinions which you appear to have collected from -“Newspapers, Periodicals,” and “Commercial -Travellers’ Rooms,” must be rejected as inadmissible -in the present consideration; for the articles in newspapers and -periodicals, of a controversial nature especially, being -generally got up to serve some party purpose, are too often -limited to a partial and one-sided view of things; and I have yet -to learn that commercial travellers’ rooms, however -proverbial for practical information and good sense, have become -schools of sound theology. For the same reason, we must -pass by the suppositious questions of “youthful -profligates, led on by some ingenious sceptic;” also, -“the obvious reasoning of the dissenting part of our -population,” and the notions of “a still larger -class, who, amidst the din of controversy, pick up a few popular -reports, which help to confirm their indifference to -religion.” We must likewise dismiss from our -consideration your analogical reasoning, from the case of the -Officers of the Army and Navy to that of the Clergy, and from the -“Articles of War” to the “Confession of our -Faith.” For reasoning of this sort, to be valid, must -be founded upon cases analogous; and what analogy exists between -the “Articles of War,” which depend on ever-varying -expediency and annual revision, and the “Confession of our -Faith,” which is based on the <a name="page8"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 8</span>never-changing word of truth? <a -name="citation8"></a><a href="#footnote8" -class="citation">[8]</a> Some analogy there may be between -Officers of the Army and Navy, who for dishonorable conduct are -dismissed the service by court-martial, and the Clergy who hold -opinions contrary to their Subscription. But I forbear to -animadvert on that comparison.</p> -<p>Therefore I think you must allow that, in a demonstration of -such moment, as that “Subscription is the Disgrace of the -English Church,” we cannot admit suppositions, assertions, -and notions, but that we must have <i>stern facts</i>.</p> -<p>Is it then the fact, that “while we perceive the variety -of opinion prevailing amongst these several sections (of the -clergy,) we see also that from all of them, more or less, -Subscription is requiring that which, in the ordinary affairs of -life, high-minded men would abstain from; viz. the necessity for -qualifying the plain and straight-forward use of -language?”</p> -<p>If you succeed in establishing this position, then I shall be -ready to acknowledge that there is treachery within the pale of -our Church—widely-extended treachery, and that you will -have gone far towards maintaining that “Subscription is the -Disgrace of the English Church;” or, to put the <a -name="page9"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 9</span>proposition -more logically, that <i>the Clergy thus subscribing and acting -are the disgrace of the English Church</i>.</p> -<p>It will now be necessary to extract in full from your pamphlet -those allegations upon which alone your position depends, in -order that the truth of them may be canvassed, and the foundation -of your charge made perfectly clear to my readers.</p> -<p>In pages 11 to 14, you say—</p> -<blockquote><p>(1) “Subscription alone is now in -view; and while that remains as it is, and English words retain -their meaning, and an English history of facts can be found, and -any clear apprehension of the meaning of truth remains with us, -the perversion of our Form of Subscription, and the -misrepresentation of our Articles, attempted by any who argue -that they were not intended to condemn Romanism, whether as held -before or after the Council of Trent, ought to excite, in every -honest mind, an indignation which it is a virtue to feel and a -duty to express. If it be questioned where such views have -been advanced, it is sufficient to refer to Tract No. 90, now -before the writer of these pages, though other instances might be -cited from authors who have subscribed the Articles.</p> -<p>(2) “If we turn to another section of the English -clergy, that most opposed to the views of the tractarians, -however they command our respect from their piety, and zeal, and -hearty attachment to Scriptural truth and sound doctrine; yet -some of them cannot be esteemed clear of all blame on the -question now considered. The writer can here speak from -personal knowledge. In their views as to baptismal -regeneration, certainly opposed to the strict language of our -formularies; in their dislike of other <a name="page10"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 10</span>parts of our services, and sometimes -in the disuse or change of certain terms, is to be found a proof -that to them Subscription is not altogether satisfactory; and the -often-avowed concession, that the excellence of our system of -doctrine and worship, <i>as a whole</i>, reconciles their minds -to some imperfections, is enough to show that, in subscribing, -some violence is done to simple truth. They argue, and -justly, that no human work can literally demand an unqualified -approbation, but our Subscription does require it. Such -arguments, then, cannot be altogether satisfactory to him who -uses them, or to many to whom they may be offered; and truth, it -cannot be denied, is to some extent dishonored and damaged in -their use.</p> -<p>(3) “In that section again of subscribers who -embrace Calvinistic doctrines, though the writer considers that -some of the Articles are more unequivocally favorable to them -than their opponents, yet it cannot be forgotten how frequently -and decidedly it has been declared, ex cathedrâ, that -theirs are not the doctrines of the Church of England.</p> -<p>(4) “Another large section of the English clergy -may be now comprised under the name of old-fashioned -high-churchmen; and of that title, it is believed, they will not -themselves complain. Many of them would gladly extract the -honey from the tractarian school, without sufficiently -considering how poisonous the plant whose growth they are to some -extent fostering. They insist often on an exact compliance -with Rubrics, and must forgive me for saying that few amongst -them have fulfilled these in their own practice. Till very -lately, it would indeed be difficult to find many clergymen, or -one bishop, within the last fifty years, who have strictly -observed the Rubrics—still less the Canons. Some of -them speak also of a literal Subscription; but here again <a -name="page11"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 11</span>the writer -can of his own knowledge state, that numbers claim and use a -considerable latitude in subscribing, and are satisfied with -asserting their <i>general</i> attachment to the Formularies of -the Church. Of their Arminian views as to doctrine, it is -hardly necessary to call to mind how much they are opposed to -others amongst their brethren, and, in the writer’s -judgment, to the Articles themselves.</p> -<p>(5) “In another section may be comprised those who -desire improvement in many things relating to the spiritual -affairs of our Church. Some have openly expressed this -desire; a far larger number cherish it in silence. They who -have spoken out have strongly stated their conviction, that a -Church, without the means of even entering upon deliberation as -to one general improvement in its spiritual concerns, is in a -false and unscriptural position. With respect to the Forms -of Subscription and the interpretation of the Articles, some have -formally requested a change, or rather an authoritative solution -of the many doubts and uncertainties which now embarrass the -question.”</p> -</blockquote> -<p>Having adduced these allegations in support of your position, -in which you endeavor to implicate every section (as your term -is) of the English clergy, in a culpable act in the matter of -Subscription; you then draw the inference, that by far the -greater portion of the clergy in the several -“sections,” have tampered with their ordination vow; -and finally, you come to the conclusion, or rather, as if -doubting, whether you had so far succeeded as to arrive at a -legitimate conclusion, you put the question, whether the -affirmation is too strong, that “Subscription is the -Disgrace of the English Church.”</p> -<blockquote><p><a name="page12"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -12</span>“Thus while we perceive the variety of opinion -prevailing amongst these several sections—a variety which, -were it not impeded by Subscription, would find a harmless or -beneficial vent in a free inquiry after Scriptural truth—we -see also that from all of them, more or less, Subscription is -requiring that which, in the ordinary affairs of life, -high-minded men would abstain from; namely, the necessity for -qualifying the plain and straight-forward use of language. -Is this a condition favorable to the reputation of teachers of -truth; and is it too strong a conclusion, at least from some -parts of the above account, to affirm, that Subscription is the -disgrace of the English Church?”</p> -</blockquote> -<p>I shall now proceed to examine and discuss your allegations -<i>seriatim</i>, and see how far they are founded in fact; after -which I shall adduce evidence of a counter tendency, arising from -a personal knowledge of facts, and an intimate acquaintance with -the opinions of individual clergy.</p> -<p>(1) In the first paragraph, you alledge that our form of -Subscription has been perverted and our Articles misrepresented -by persons “who argue that they were not intended to -condemn Romanism;” and, in proof of this, you “think -it sufficient to refer to Tract No. 90, though,” as you -state, “other instances might be cited from authors who -have subscribed the Articles.”</p> -<p>Now, as “one swallow does not make a summer,” so -neither does one individual, nor several, (and I believe they are -not many altogether, who hold with Tract No. 90,) constitute in -that particular, a <i>general</i> “perversion of our <a -name="page13"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 13</span>Form of -Subscription,” or a <i>general</i> “misrepresentation -of our Articles.” I am not ignorant that it has been -the common prejudice to stamp as a tractarian every man who avows -that he upholds generally the Apostolical Succession, and -Baptismal Regeneration, has lately seen it right to have divine -service in his church during Lent, and at other times appointed -by the Rubric, and especially if he preach in a surplice, -although he may differ from Tract No. 90, and its principles, as -widely as possible. And I cannot help thinking that you -have been carried away by this mistaken notion. But look -calmly and impartially around, and say from your own knowledge -how many are the clergy in the diocese of Norwich, who -countenance the principles of Tract Nos. 90, or 85, or 80, or -indeed other tracts, which may be repugnant to the doctrines of -our church: are there three? are there two? or one? But if -I grant you that there are half-a-dozen, (and except in argument -I would not allow so many,) considering that in the diocese there -are upwards of eight hundred clergy, it will little avail -you.</p> -<p>(2) In the next paragraph, which embraces that -“section of the clergy most opposed to the views of the -Tractarians, you speak from personal knowledge;” and you -say, “in their views as to Baptismal Regeneration, -certainly opposed to the strict language of our Formularies; in -their dislike of other parts of our services, and sometimes in -their disuse of certain terms, is to be found a proof that to -them Subscription is not altogether satisfactory.” I -do not deny that there may be among that body of the clergy some -who do not <a name="page14"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -14</span>admit Baptismal Regeneration, according to the strict -language of our Formularies: but I believe they are by no means -so numerous as you would have it inferred. I can affirm, -from personal knowledge, that some of that party do hold that -doctrine strictly in accordance with the church, and that I -scarcely know one who does not admit it, at least in a modified -sense. You are aware that the word -“regeneration,” instead of being restricted to -Baptism, as it is in our Articles and Liturgy, and, as I believe, -also in the New Testament, has, by many divines as well as -others, long been used in a looser signification, to denote -“conversion,” “renovation,” &c., -which may be necessary after Baptism. Hence there is reason -to think that frequently the difference is more in name than in -reality. I can also state positively that, upon this point, -within very few years, the views of many amongst this party have -undergone considerable change, and closely approximated to those -of the church. If, however, upon one of the most difficult -and abstruse doctrines of Christianity there should be shades of -opinion, it is only to be expected; considering that all have not -equally faith to receive, or the capacity to comprehend the -“things hard to be understood.” Neither do I -think it quite charitable to set down this circumstance to their -“disgrace,” or to that of the church of which they -are ministers. “Who art thou that judgest another -man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or -falleth.” <a name="citation14"></a><a href="#footnote14" -class="citation">[14]</a> Moreover, in this neighborhood, I -am acquainted with several of the clergy, who would probably rank -themselves under <a name="page15"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -15</span>this “section,” who are not behind any of -their neighbors in the exact observance of the Liturgy.</p> -<p>With regard to those “Subscribers who embrace -Calvinistic doctrines,” any comment of mine would be -superfluous, as it is clear, from the tenor of your observations, -that you are ready to defend <i>their</i> view of the -Articles.</p> -<p>We now come to a section of the clergy whom you denominate -“old-fashioned high-churchmen.” Your main -charge against these is, that whilst “they insist often on -an exact compliance with Rubrics,” few amongst them have -fulfilled these in their own practice. The supposition of -error attaching to them in their “Arminian views of -doctrine,” being matter of private opinion, may be -dismissed as irrelevant. The charge, then, may be regarded -as a default in Rubrical <i>practice</i>. This accusation, -however, is of the less importance, as it is not contended, -neither indeed can be, that there exists in the clergy a -conscientious objection to a compliance with any of the Rubrical -directions—only that “few amongst them have fulfilled -these in their own practice.” And thus much is fully -conceded.</p> -<p>If it were material to the point, it would be no difficult -task, in extenuation of those who deviate from the strict letter -of the Rubric, to prove that the Rubrics are not always definite, -and frequently admit of a variety of construction—that to a -certain extent the church accords to its ministers a -discretionary judgment in this as in all other things—that -at the present time there exists a prevailing <a -name="page16"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 16</span>disposition -to revive much which has fallen into desuetude, and an earnest -desire to carry out the Rubrics in all their practical -utility—and consequently, that there is notwithstanding a -great deal of honest and upright practice. But your charge -affects not the clergy, but Subscription. It will therefore -be a sufficient answer, to refer you to Article 34, in which it -is stated—that “every particular or national church -hath authority to <i>ordain</i>, <i>change</i>, and <i>abolish -ceremonies or rites</i> of the church, ordained only by -man’s authority,” in order to remind you that, -without having recourse to that measure, which in the sequel you -propound, the church <i>does</i> possess a provision to abrogate -or enact, whenever it may be deemed by the legislature expedient -to direct the Convocation to proceed with that business.</p> -<p>(5) In the last “section” of the clergy, -whose views you notice, I see nothing in the slightest degree -inconsistent with their Subscription. Surely, according to -Article 20, which states that “the church hath power to -decree rites and ceremonies, and authority in controversies of -faith,” it is quite competent for any clergyman to state -strongly his conviction, that a church, without even the power of -entering upon the means of deliberation as to one general -improvement in its spiritual concerns, is in a false and -unscriptural position. The summoning of convocation rests -with the legislature, and not with the church, and is a matter of -expediency upon which every individual clergyman may entertain -his own opinion.</p> -<p><a name="page17"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 17</span>I have -now carefully, and for my readers I fear too tediously, gone -through your allegations; but as I conceived that your -proposition depended <i>solely</i> upon their being supported and -established by facts, I trust I shall be excused if I have made a -point of examining them with that patience and candor, which I -thought their importance demanded.</p> -<p>I find then, that, because an indefinitely small number of the -clergy in every diocese <i>may</i> agree with the author of Tract -No. 90,—because a portion of a certain -“section” of the clergy possibly do not hold -Baptismal Regeneration in strict accordance with the Articles and -Liturgy—because some incline to Calvinistic, some to -Arminian views of doctrine—because, in practice, an exact -conformity to the Rubrics does not obtain, notwithstanding that -in the 34th article express provision is made to meet this case -in all its bearings, and because, in accordance with the 20th -article, certain persons avow that a church, without the means of -deliberation, is in a false and unscriptural -position—<i>Therefore</i> “Subscription is the -Disgrace of the English Church.”</p> -<p>Such is the conclusion at which you arrive from your -premises—a conclusion, in my humble opinion, so slightly -supported by fact, that I can hardly bring myself to think, but -that, if there had not existed a strong propension, a -predetermination to come at this result, your judgment would have -rejected the evidence as totally insufficient to support it.</p> -<p><a name="page18"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 18</span>I now -proceed to adduce evidence of a counter-tendency, arising from a -personal knowledge of facts, and an intimate acquaintance with -the opinions of individual clergy.</p> -<p>In 1838 I preached at Yarmouth before the Lord Bishop of -Norwich, yourself, and a numerous body of the Clergy residing in -the two adjoining Deaneries, a Sermon, in which I delivered the -following sentences, <i>viz.</i>—</p> -<blockquote><p>“By God’s providence, my Reverend -Brethren, we have been ordained ministers ‘of that pure and -reformed part of Christ’s church established in this -kingdom,’ which, from the deepest conviction, we believe to -be ‘built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, -Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone;’ and in -obedience to her authority, and in conformity with her Articles -and Liturgy, we have pledged ourselves to discharge the functions -of our ministry.</p> -<p>“I have been ordained to ‘administer the doctrine -and sacraments and discipline of Christ, as the Lord hath -commanded, and as this church and realm hath received the -same.’ And, until I am convinced that she is in -error—that her Articles or her Liturgy contain -‘things which are neither read in scripture, nor may be -proved thereby,’ as a minister of the Church of England, I -may not indulge in speculations of my own imagination, or perform -her offices in ways and modes of my own devising, but I must -labor for the edification and salvation of the souls entrusted to -my care, according to the laws, the regulations, and the spirit -of the Church of England, which is the Church of <a -name="page19"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 19</span>Christ. -When I can no longer do so conscientiously, it will then become -me no longer to appropriate her emoluments.</p> -<p>“But revering and loving her doctrine, and approving her -discipline, I can well repose myself under her guidance and -administration. These, my Reverend Brethren, I may venture -to hope, are equally the sentiments of us all.”</p> -</blockquote> -<p>Whatever might be the individual opinion entertained of the -obligations under which, on that occasion, I apprehended myself -and all ministers of the Gospel to be, or of the sentiments which -I expressed in regard to those obligations,—the Sermon, -containing this acknowledgment of our ministerial engagements, -and this expression of corresponding sentiments, was requested by -the assemblage then present, without a dissentient voice, to be -printed; and I think the charitable inference is, that each -individual sanctioned with his approbation the sentiments -delivered in that discourse.</p> -<p>If this construction upon their unanimous act be correct, the -accidental publication of this Sermon will go far to exonerate -the parties then present from the imputation of disingenuous -Subscription, which, I must needs think, in your general remarks, -you have endeavoured to attach to them.</p> -<p>But so far as it concerns my neighbours, I have yet something -more certain than a fair and presumptive inference to -advance. My personal intimacy with many of the Clergy -around me, enables me to add my belief that these sentiments -<i>are</i> theirs, equally as mine. And if this <a -name="page20"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 20</span>be true of -the Clergy in one district taken indiscriminately, why should -they not be the opinions of the Clergy of other deaneries and -other dioceses? Until you can give me positive proof to the -contrary, I shall charitably presume that they are so; and leave -you to reconcile with fact the following extraordinary, and to me -unaccountable, assertion:—</p> -<blockquote><p>“Subscription, instead of being the tie -which is to bind people to certain opinions or truths, is become -a rope of sand. So uncertain is the trumpet’s sound, -that it no longer, as of old, proclaims the spirit of an united -host, but turns every man’s sword against his fellow: and -Englishmen must soon awake to the conviction that Subscription, -according to the plain meaning of the words, is blown to the -winds, and become the disgrace and not the safeguard of the -English Church.”</p> -</blockquote> -<p>Under ordinary circumstances it would seem sufficient to have -made a general statement in regard to Subscription, but as you -have particularised three several points to which you take -exception in the matter of Subscription, it might appear uncandid -to pass them over without more especial comment.</p> -<p>These points will be best given in your own words:—</p> -<blockquote><p>“I still maintain—</p> -<p>“That the condemnatory clauses of the Athanasian Creed, -in their literal sense, are an un-christian appendage to a -document of extraordinary merit, yet such that a true Christian -may innocently differ from some propositions set forth in it.</p> -<p>“That a Bishop is not authorized by the Gospel to -address a candidate for Ordination in the literal sense of the -words, ‘Receive <a name="page21"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 21</span>the Holy Ghost: whose sins thou dost -remit, they are remitted, and whose sins thou dost retain, they -are retained.’</p> -<p>“That a Christian minister is not authorized by the -Gospel to address any one in the literal sense of the words, -‘I absolve thee from all thy sins.’”</p> -</blockquote> -<p>I am not sure that I understand your precise meaning in the -expression, the “literal sense;” but I will not -shrink from stating distinctly the sense in which I subscribed, -and, so far as I have been able to ascertain, other Clergymen -subscribe to these points.</p> -<p>Scripture itself is not always interpreted in a strictly -“literal sense.”—Witness a great part of the -sixth chapter of St. John. But in the interpretation of a -particular passage, regard must be had to all the circumstances -and considerations connected with it. The same observation, -I apprehend, applies in ascertaining the meaning of the Articles -and Liturgy.</p> -<p>Now whoever subscribes to the Athanasian Creed, subscribes to -it in conjunction with the Thirty-nine Articles: and the 6th -Article states that “Holy Scripture containeth all things -necessary to salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, -nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that -it should be believed as an Article of Faith.” By the -standard of Scripture, then, we are bound to try every clause of -the Athanasian Creed, and every other subject of Subscription, -before we embrace it as an article of faith. And thus, the -condemnatory clauses of that Creed are to be understood and -received in perfect <a name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -22</span>agreement with the Scripture. And to satisfy -ourselves of their true sense we must have recourse to the Source -of Truth. Then, are these clauses of <i>universal</i> or of -<i>limited</i> application? Our Saviour’s words -are—“He that believeth and is baptized shall be -saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned.” <a -name="citation22a"></a><a href="#footnote22a" -class="citation">[22a]</a> And to ascertain the extent of -the condemnation herein denounced against unbelievers, we must -compare the passage with others evidently to be taken in -conjunction with it. First, the words of our -Saviour—“That servant who knew his Lord’s will, -and prepared not himself, neither did according to His will, -shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, -neither did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with -few stripes.” <a name="citation22b"></a><a -href="#footnote22b" class="citation">[22b]</a> Secondly, -the declaration of St. Paul—“Now we know, that what -things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the -law.” <a name="citation22c"></a><a href="#footnote22c" -class="citation">[22c]</a> Hence we learn that our -Saviour’s words in St. Mark are to be understood with this -limitation, <i>viz.</i> “he that” hath the means and -opportunities of believing the Gospel, and “believeth not -shall be damned.” At the same time, to show that -“there is no respect of persons with God,” whether -Jew or Gentile, St. Paul expressly declares with reference to -those who sin without revelation, “As many as have sinned -without law, shall also perish without law.” <a -name="citation22d"></a><a href="#footnote22d" -class="citation">[22d]</a></p> -<p>Hence we are bound, I think, to receive the condemnatory -clauses of the Athanasian Creed in the same sense and <a -name="page23"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 23</span>with the same -limitation as our Saviour’s words in St. Mark. They -are declaratory of God’s revelation respecting those who -have the means and opportunities of believing the saving truths -of the Gospel, and yet do not believe. “This is the -condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men have -chosen darkness rather than light, because their deeds were -evil.” <a name="citation23"></a><a href="#footnote23" -class="citation">[23]</a></p> -<p>(2) Now, in regard to the Absolution in the Visitation -of the Sick, the same rule of interpretation is to be -applied. If the words, “I absolve thee from all thy -sins,” were taken to convey to a fellow-creature an -absolute pardon of sins committed against God as unreservedly as -we may forgive his offences committed against ourselves, this -construction would appear to invest us with an authority which -every priest is sensible that he does not possess. -“Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Whatever -therefore be the signification of the words in this Absolution, -we are certain they must be so understood as to harmonize with -Scripture, which declares the forgiveness or remission of sins to -be conditional. Faith and repentance are the conditions, -and baptism the outward mean, whereby the forgiveness of sins is -formally and legally made over to the worthy recipient. -Acts <span class="GutSmall">II.</span> 38, and <span -class="GutSmall">VIII.</span> 37. In accordance with these -conditions, the Absolution in both the Daily and the Communion -Service is framed; and in both places the priest pronounces -pardon and absolution “to those who truly repent and -unfeignedly believe,” agreeably to the Covenant of -Baptism. And the <a name="page24"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 24</span>authority on which he professes to do -this, is—that “God hath given power and commandment -to his ministers to <i>declare</i> and <i>pronounce</i> to his -people, being penitent, the Absolution and Remission of their -Sins.” Hence, in these two cases, the office of the -priest is clearly <i>ministerial</i>. If now we would -reconcile the words in the other Absolution with the plain -intention of Scripture, we have only to apply to the Liturgy the -Apostolic Canon, which we ever adopt in the interpretation of -Scripture—“Comparing things spiritual with -spiritual,” and compare the latter Absolution with the two -former, and we have no difficulty in convincing ourselves that -the words, “I absolve thee from all thy sins,” -(whenever it may be a point of duty to use them, <i>viz.</i> -“if the sick person humbly and heartily desire it,” -and having “made an especial confession of his -sins,”) are pronounced <i>ministerially</i> and -<i>conditionally</i>.</p> -<p>Take lastly the case in the Ordination of Priests. This -consists of two parts:—</p> -<p class="gutindent">(1) “Receive the Holy Ghost, for -the office and work of a Priest in the church of God, now -committed unto thee by the imposition of our hands.”</p> -<p class="gutindent">(2) “Whose sins thou dost -forgive, they are forgiven; and whose sins thou dost retain, they -are retained.”</p> -<p>(1) The authority on which a Bishop addresses these -words to a Candidate for Ordination is derived through the -Apostolical Succession. They are the words in which our -blessed Lord thought good to invest his Apostles with their -ministerial authority; and there is strong ground for <a -name="page25"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 25</span>believing, -that the first Bishops received from the Apostles, upon whom -Christ built his church, the like authority in the same form of -words, and so handed it down to their successors. Some -formula for Ordination there must be, as of baptism; and though -the one is a sacrament and the other is not, my faith teaches me, -that “where two or three are met together in God’s -name,” in any Godly work, “there is He in the midst -of them.” I would therefore humbly and piously hope, -that in such a holy work as the Ordination of weak and frail men -for the great and responsible office of the ministry, He will -vouchsafe to be present with His church; and after care duly -taken by the Bishop to “lay hands suddenly on no -man,” the solemn vows sincerely taken upon himself by the -candidate, the earnest prayers of the congregation, the pious -invocation of the Holy Ghost “to inspire the souls” -and “visit the hearts” of those engaged in the sacred -investiture—upon a candidate so truly called, and so -dedicated to the ministry, I would devoutly trust that God would -be pleased to pour down a portion of the sanctifying Spirit, by -the laying on of hands.</p> -<p>(2) With regard to the second part of this -formula—“whosesoever sins ye remit, they are -remitted,” &c. It is generally admitted that one -meaning of these words applies to Ecclesiastical Censures, in -reference to the members of any Church who may have committed -scandalous offences and incorrigible misdemeanours. <a -name="citation25"></a><a href="#footnote25" -class="citation">[25]</a> And comparing them with <a -name="page26"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 26</span>Matthew <span -class="GutSmall">XVIII.</span> 16, 17, 18, it seems almost -impossible but to conclude that, in one sense, they relate to -those matters. If this were the only signification, there -would be no perplexity. But the words most probably have -another reference—a reference to sins, as they are -committed against God. And herein I apprehend lies the -difficulty. To arrive at a satisfactory solution of this, -we have only to consider (supposing the Priest to be endued with -authority to remit and retain sins in a spiritual sense) the -occasion on which he is called upon to exercise that -function. Clearly, in pronouncing the Absolution, wherein -he declares remission of sins to those who truly repent and -unfeignedly believe. And although, in the Absolution, he -declares not the counterpart of the sentence, yet he has equally -authority to pronounce, that the sins of those who do not repent -and believe, will be retained by God.</p> -<p>It has, I conceive, been demonstrated that the Clergy, with -comparatively few exceptions, do not subscribe otherwise than -<i>ex animo</i>, and by consequence disproved that they are the -disgrace of the English Church, in that respect, at least, or, as -you invert the proposition, that “Subscription is the -Disgrace of the English Church;” it therefore might seem -superfluous to discuss the <i>Corollary</i>, which falls to the -ground as a consequence. But as there is reason to doubt -whether you intend the alteration of Subscription, strictly as a -Corollary dependent on the previous problem, or as itself a -distinct proposition, offering a substantial improvement in the -Constitution of our Church, it may be worth while to investigate -the matter further.</p> -<p><a name="page27"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 27</span>You -propose then, next, “the repeal of the present form of -Subscription;” and instead thereof, “Subscription to -the three Creeds, and an engagement to conform to the -Liturgy:” and you add, that “assent to the doctrines -of the Creeds would be almost Catholic.”—Would -it? Could <i>you</i> subscribe to the three Creeds, or -engage to conform to the Liturgy, without some modification or -limitation? You declare that you still cannot accept, in -the “literal sense,” either the Condemnatory Clauses -of the Athanasian Creed, or the Absolution in “the -Visitation of the Sick,” or the formula in “the -Ordering of Priests;” and in your former publication, -entitled “<i>What is the Meaning of -Subscription</i>?” you stated that “you were not -contented to take them otherwise than in a ‘literal -sense,’ without a declaration from Authority that they are -not strictly to be so taken; and you went so far as to offer to -resign your preferment, if called upon so to do by the Archbishop -of Canterbury, unless in the meantime you obtained relief in that -respect.” <a name="citation27"></a><a href="#footnote27" -class="citation">[27]</a> Supposing therefore the changes -made; in this dilemma, how would your case be affected by them, -one way or the other, without an authorised interpretation also, -which should be satisfactory to you? But supposing further, -that you obtained everything which would satisfy yourself and -some thirty-five others who united with you in 1840 in a Petition -to the House of Lords, how could the Arian and the Socinian -subscribe to the Athanasian Creed with a safer conscience then, -than now? Could those who deny Baptismal <a -name="page28"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 28</span>Regeneration -repeat, “I believe in one baptism for the remission of -sins,” in the Nicene Creed? Would the “Three -Denominations” feel quite easy in repeating “I -believe in One Catholic and Apostolic Church,” in the -Nicene Creed, and cordially unite with our Church in maintaining -the present Three Orders of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons? -Would the Romanists be contented to reduce their tenets within -the Confessions of the three Creeds, and confine their Services -to our Ritual? It is really difficult to think you serious, -when you say, that “assent to the doctrines of the Creeds -would be almost Catholic.” But we will proceed; for -the subject deserves grave consideration.</p> -<p>To maintain that your proposed alterations would insure -anything like “Catholic assent,” promote union among -Christians, and advance the growth of vital religion, is to -contradict <i>Catholic</i> experience, derived from undoubted -history. Do we not read of schisms in the Corinthian -Church, even in the days of their Apostle, when the Confession of -Faith must have been in the simplest form? And do we not -find him sharply rebuking the Corinthian converts—“I -hear there be divisions among you, and I partly believe -it?” <a name="citation28"></a><a href="#footnote28" -class="citation">[28]</a> Has not St. John left on record -the extraordinary caution which he thought necessary, to guard -the disciples against the errors of Gnosticism, which, in his -time, were infesting the Church? Again, the history of the -three Creeds is but an account of the rise and progress of the -Gnostic, the Sabellian, the Arian, and the Socinian <a -name="page29"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 29</span>heresies, -which successively sprung up, the former without, the three -latter within the Church, and of the means devised and adopted to -counteract them. Moreover, it is capable of proof, that -every singular Article in the three Creeds, has application to -some error at the time prevailing. <a name="citation29"></a><a -href="#footnote29" class="citation">[29]</a> The history of -the thirty-nine Articles is too well known to require more than -the mention of them. They were drawn up designedly and -expressly to exclude from the Reformed Church of England all -those who still might adhere to the Romish faith.</p> -<p>Thus, then, we see, that when the Confession of faith was in -the simplest form, the Church of Christ was not free from schism; -and that Creeds and Articles of Faith were invariably the -<i>effects</i>, and not the <i>causes</i>, of heresies.</p> -<p>But besides a retrospective glance at the past, it may not be -altogether foreign from the consideration, to take a speculative -view of the future results which would probably ensue, upon the -Subscription being reduced to the three Creeds. It is often -the best mode of trying a proposition, to suppose the thing done, -and to follow it out into its obvious consequences. -Suppose, then, Subscription reduced to the three Creeds. -The first question which suggests itself is—How would this -affect our two Universities, from which the nation has long -derived “a supply of persons duly qualified to serve God, -both in Church and State?” If <a -name="page30"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 30</span>this -circumstance should open the door of admission to those eminent -schools of education so wide, as almost to insure the resort of -students essentially differing from the principles and doctrines -of the Church of England as now constituted, and thus render -probable a material change in the nature and mode of religious -instruction there communicated—I think the conclusion would -be inevitable, that the fabric of the Church of England, as at -present founded on the Prophets and Apostles, Jesus Christ -himself being the chief corner-stone, would be greatly -endangered; and consequently, that your proposition must be -rejected as a rash and hazardous experiment.</p> -<p>Now, although the Romanists would not join your Communion in -the altered form, it is certain that the Subscription to the -three Creeds would present no obstacle to their entrance into the -Universities, seeing that they <i>do</i> subscribe to them -already, and <i>something more</i>. Then it is more than -probable, that the mass of the dissenters would find the means of -introduction and admission into those seats of learning—not -even excepting the chairs of the Professors of Divinity. -And thus the Orthodox youth of the Church of England would no -longer enjoy the privilege of being educated exclusively and -securely in their own principles and in their own -Universities—a privilege, nay, a prerogative, asserted and -exercised by nonconformists of different denominations, in their -Academies founded for the tuition of youths of their own -communion, in their own principles of religion, and in agreement -with <a name="page31"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 31</span>their -own peculiar views; but they would soon have to encounter, in -this new state of things, the conflict of discordant opinions, at -all times unfavorable to the growth of true religion, but -especially so in the ardent and restless period of youth.</p> -<p>In the year 1834, when the admission of persons into the -Universities, without regard to their religious opinions, was -urged with unprecedented zeal, Dr. Turton, now dean of -Westminster, then Regius Professor of Divinity in the University -of Cambridge, published some “Thoughts” on the -subject, which were so convincing to my mind of the utter -impracticability of that measure, that I must be permitted -briefly to refer to them. To shew what would be the -probable result of such a concession, he traced the operations of -an Establishment, which had been tried on a plan very similar, on -a scale sufficiently large, and for a time sufficiently long, -through its various stages during sixty years, to its ultimate -results. This Establishment was the well-known Academy -which Dr. Doddridge instituted at Northampton, and which his -successor removed to Daventry. The leading facts relating -to this Institution, are, that its founder was a learned, -talented, and in the main, orthodox divine, but a zealous -non-conformist—that its “constitution was perfectly -Catholic,” in other words, that students of any sect in -religion were admissible—that the instruction was required -to be taught according to the principles laid down in the -Assembly’s Catechism—and that, after declining -thirty-eight years under three successive <a -name="page32"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 32</span>tutors, after -Dr. Doddridge, “holding the balance” (according to -Mr. Robert Hall, a non-conformist,) “betwixt contending -systems, without betraying the slightest emotion of antipathy to -error, or predilection for truth,” it finally sank into -Modern Unitarianism, under Mr. Belsham in 1789.</p> -<p>Upon an impartial view of the case, Dr. Turton attributes all -the evil resulting from the system, to “laxness in the -terms of Admission,” in the first instance, which -afterwards led to a faulty mode of teaching Theology. And -justly he remarks, “we have seen the effects of great -diversity of belief at Daventry, and we may rely upon it that -those effects were not accidental; they were such as will always -be produced by the same cause.”</p> -<p>Here, then, we have an experiment before us, of a religious -establishment, on a sufficiently large scale, commencing under an -able, learned, and, in the main, Orthodox Divine, upon -“<i>Catholic principles</i>,” and terminating within -sixty years in the most disastrous consequences. The -circumstances of the Academy at Daventry, and of the two -Universities, under the new state of things, would obviously be -so nearly similar, that the result which was produced in the -former case, might with certainty be expected in the two -latter. If a similar trial should be made by relaxing the -present test, and thus enabling men of almost all shades of -opinion to enter at our Universities, infidelity would, in like -manner, be the result. And when the time shall arrive, that -the youth who are destined to supply the Ministry of the Church, -and to fill the Offices of State, shall no longer be <a -name="page33"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 33</span>grounded and -built up in the principles of “that pure and reformed part -of Christ’s Church, established in this kingdom,” but -shall be taught some system of belief, composed and modified out -of all the various and discordant elements of religion then -existing in those ancient and peaceful Institutions of -“sound learning and religious education,” the evil -consequences will be such as it requires no ordinary nerves to -contemplate.</p> -<p>Surely then the Church of England will pause ere she incline -to adopt your proposition, and exchange a certain good for a -certain evil.</p> -<p>Before I conclude, I have a few words to add in reference to -the publication of your pamphlet:—and first I would -observe, that if you have failed in the proof of your -proposition—if your allegations in the main stand -contradicted by facts—if there is every reason to believe -that the Clergy, although varying somewhat in matters -unimportant, do, with comparatively few exceptions, subscribe -<i>ex animo</i> to the Articles and Liturgy—I then leave -with you to determine, however you may “believe yourself -engaged in the cause of truth,” in what manner your -pamphlet is calculated to ascertain and promote it within the -Church of England. Whatever may be your determination on -this head, the judgment of the Clergy of this diocese, at least, -is condemnatory of the course which you have taken. They -feel that, for a period of years, from time to time, by your -publications, you have vexed the Church in general, and this -diocese in particular, troubled Israel, <a -name="page34"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 34</span>and given -occasion to the enemies of the Church to exult. In this -very pamphlet have you not described to us, in clear terms, what -must be the value of a clergyman’s ministry among his -flock, when his character for integrity—his honesty in his -ordination vow—is suspected? Have you not put into -the mouths of “some youthful profligates, led on by an -ingenious sceptic,” questions relating to the Clergy, -highly defamatory of their character as ministers of Christ, and -injurious to the best interests of religion? Do you not -suppose that your pamphlet has been perused by many who will -rejoice in turning it to the worst of purposes—the purposes -of infidelity—against the Clergy collectively, yourself -individually, and the religion of Christ generally? Do you -suppose that this publication has not been discussed in many -dissenting assemblies of this diocese, and exultingly responded -to—“Ah! so would we have it, so would we have -it?” Too much reason have the Clergy to say, in sorrow and -in sadness—“It is not an open enemy that has done us -this dishonor;” it is a brother—one of our own -order—a dignitary of our own Church, who is partaking of -the same bread—</p> -<p>This, you may say, is hard language.—“But is there -not a cause?” When I turn to the sentence, -“While we thus perceive the variety of opinion prevailing -amongst these several sections, we see also that from <i>all</i> -of them, more or less, Subscription is requiring that which, in -the ordinary affairs of life, high-minded men would abstain from, -<i>viz.</i> the necessity for qualifying the plain and -straight-forward use <a name="page35"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 35</span>of language;” and when I find -you finally concluding, “In this state of things, I can -hardly imagine any diversity of opinion, with respect to the -Thirty-nine Articles, which calls for the resignation of a -Clergyman; indeed it appears to me, that it would be simply -absurd in any one to resort to such a step, unless under a -decided wish for communion with some other church or body of -christians”—I own that I am still startled at this -bold expression of opinion: and I confess that, after much -reflection, I have been at a loss to couch in softer terms, my -sense of this grave imputation, and of this deliberate avowal, -thus placed on record.</p> -<p>I have now finished a task in which I engaged with -reluctance. I trust that I have fairly and temperately gone -through the discussion of the subject; and I can aver that I have -carefully endeavored not to misunderstand or misrepresent any -thing which you have written. I hope, also, that I have -given an impartial consideration to whatever you have advanced in -support of your case: unfeignedly have I labored to investigate -the subject in all its bearings, and arrive at an unbiassed -result. How far I have succeeded in my object, others will -judge. This, however, I will affirm, that, in the discharge -of a public duty to which I have been unavoidably called, I have -been actuated by no motive of private consideration, and -especially by no unfriendly feeling towards yourself. And -in conclusion I will add that, if anything which I may have -advanced in explanation or in support of the present Subscription -to our Articles or Formularies, should happily <a -name="page36"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 36</span>have placed -the matter in a different and more satisfactory point of view, so -as to clear up your present doubt and perplexity, I should feel -more gratification and delight than I am able to express. -And I hope, by the blessing of that God whose providence -over-rules all things for good, this feeble effort may not be -without its use.</p> -<p style="text-align: right">I have the honor to be, <span -class="smcap">Sir</span>,<br /> -Your sincere and faithful Servant,<br /> -CHARLES GREEN.</p> -<p><span class="smcap">Burgh Castle</span>,<br /> - - -8<i>th</i> <i>July</i>, 1843.</p> - -<div class="gapspace"> </div> -<p style="text-align: center">~~~~~~~~~</p> -<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">THE -END.</span></p> - -<div class="gapspace"> </div> -<p style="text-align: center">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /> -<span class="GutSmall"><span -class="smcap">Sloman</span></span><span class="GutSmall">, -Printer, King-Street, Yarmouth.</span></p> -<h2>FOOTNOTES.</h2> -<p><a name="footnote8"></a><a href="#citation8" -class="footnote">[8]</a> Reformation is good when -reformation is wanting, but to be always reforming is no -reformation at all: it is behaving like children, tossed to and -fro with every wind of doctrine. All errors of any moment -have been purged off long ago by the care of our Reformers, and -why are we then still reforming? Physic may be proper at -certain seasons, but to pretend to live constantly upon it, -instead of food, is the certain way to impair, and in a little -time to destroy, the best and soundest constitution in the -world. <i>Remarks on Dr. Clarke’s Exposition</i>, -<i>&c.</i> by Waterland, (<i>Works</i>, vol. 5, p. 436.)</p> -<p><a name="footnote14"></a><a href="#citation14" -class="footnote">[14]</a> Romans, xiv. 4.</p> -<p><a name="footnote22a"></a><a href="#citation22a" -class="footnote">[22a]</a> Mark xvi. 16.</p> -<p><a name="footnote22b"></a><a href="#citation22b" -class="footnote">[22b]</a> Luke xii. 47, 48.</p> -<p><a name="footnote22c"></a><a href="#citation22c" -class="footnote">[22c]</a> Romans, iii. 19.</p> -<p><a name="footnote22d"></a><a href="#citation22d" -class="footnote">[22d]</a> Romans, ii. 12.</p> -<p><a name="footnote23"></a><a href="#citation23" -class="footnote">[23]</a> John, iii. 19.</p> -<p><a name="footnote25"></a><a href="#citation25" -class="footnote">[25]</a> Pearson on the Creed, Article ix, -page 350. Archbishop Seeker, &c.</p> -<p><a name="footnote27"></a><a href="#citation27" -class="footnote">[27]</a> I quote from memory, not having -the pamphlet before me, nor being able to procure it; but trust -what I have advanced is substantially correct.</p> -<p><a name="footnote28"></a><a href="#citation28" -class="footnote">[28]</a> 1 Corinthians, xi. 18.</p> -<p><a name="footnote29"></a><a href="#citation29" -class="footnote">[29]</a> I would undertake to prove that -there is not an Article in any of our three Creeds, which was not -directed against some particular and prevailing error. Dr. -Burton’s <i>Sermons</i> before the University of Oxford, p. -248.</p> -<pre> - - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LETTER TO THE REV. C. 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