44 



ANGLICAN CHURCHES. 



Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, to 

 guard " against the growing superstitions and 

 additions with which, in these latter days, the 

 truth of God hath heen overlaid, 1 ' particularly 

 the sovereignty of the Pope and the exaltation 

 of the Virgin Mary; to grow in grace and show 

 a godly walk and example ; to "hold fast the 

 creeds, and the pure worship and order which 

 of God's grace has been inherited from the 

 primitive Church." The address, on the whole, 

 was non-committal on the theological contro- 

 versies dividing the Church, and made in parti- 

 cular no expression on the subject of ritualism. 

 An adjourned meeting of the Conference was 

 held on December 10th, when the committee 

 which inquired into the state of the Church in 

 Natal reported that the whole Anglican Com- 

 munion was deeply grieved at the present con- 

 dition of that Church, and recommended the gen- 

 eral meeting to appoint a committee of prelates 

 to report on the best mode by which the Church 

 might be delivered from a continuance of scan- 

 dal, and the faith maintained. This was done. 



The " Pastoral Letter" of the Pan- Anglican 

 Synod was translated into Greek by Canon 

 Wordsworth, and sent by the Archbishop of 

 Canterbury to all the Patriarchs and Bishops of 

 the Greek Church, accompanied by the follow- 

 ing letter : 



In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 

 the Holy Ghost. To the patriarchs, metropolitans, 

 archbishops, bishops, priests, and deacons, and 

 other beloved brethren of the Eastern Orthodox 

 Church, Charles Thomas, by Divine Providence 

 Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England, 

 and Metropolitan, sends greeting in the Lord. " If 

 one member suffer," the holy Apostle says, "all the 

 members suffer with it ; if one member is honored, 

 all the members rejoice with it." Wherefore we, 

 having called to a conference our brethren the 

 bishops of that part of the Catholic Church which is 

 in communion with us, and which by God's grace is 

 spreading itself forth in all regions of the earth, and 

 having come together with them for the sake of 

 united prayer and deliberation, and having written 

 with all readiness of mind and brotherly love an 

 encyclic epistle to the priests, and deacons, and 

 laity of our communion, notify to you, as brethren 

 in the Lord, what has lately taken place among us, 

 in order that ye also may rejoice with us in our one- 

 ness of mind. Furthermore, we send to you a- copy 

 of the said epistle, in order that when ye read it, ye 

 may see what is the mind of the Anglican Church 

 concerning the faith of Christ, and that ye may know 

 that we acknowledge, and, God willing, are resolved 

 to maintain, firmly and immovable, all the Canoni- 

 cal Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as the 

 sure Word of God ; and to contend earnestly for the 

 faith once for all delivered to the saints, and to hold 

 fast the creeds of the one holy and apostolic Church, 

 and to keep pure and undented the primitive order 

 and worship as we have received it from our Lord 

 Jesus Christ and from His holy apostles, and that 

 with one mind and one voice we reject and put far 

 away from us all innovations and corruptions con- 

 trary to the Gospel of Christ, very God and very 

 man, and that we earnestly desire to fulfil the 

 preaching of His saving truth to all nations of the 

 earth, in order that the kingdoms of the world may 

 become the kingdoms o^ the Lord and His Christ. 

 May the Lord grant unto\all to have the same mind 

 in all things, that there may be " one flock and one 

 shepherd." 



The ritualistic controversy was continued 

 both in the United States and in England with 

 much vigor, and in both countries was made 

 the subject of several official declarations. 

 Twenty-eight of the forty-four bishops of the 

 Protestant Episcopal Church of the United 

 States, on January 10th, issued a joint declara- 

 tion against ritualism, which after stating that 

 the American Church is " a particular and na- 

 tional Church and has equal authority with the 

 English to establish ceremonies and rites," con- 

 tinues : 



And 'we, therefore, consider that in this particu- 

 lar national Church, any attempt to introduce into 

 the public worship of Almighty God usages that have 

 never been known, such as the use of incense, and 

 the burning of lights in the order for the Holy Com- 

 munion; reverences to the Holy Table or to the ele- 

 ments thereon, such as indicate or imply that the 

 sacrifice of our Divine Lord and Saviour, "once of- 

 fered," was not a " full, perfect, and sufficient sacri- 

 fice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the 

 whole world ; " the adoption of clerical habits hith- 

 erto unknown, or material alterations of those which 

 have been in use since the establishment of our 

 Episcopate, is an innovation which " violates the dis- 

 cipline of the Church, offendeth against its common 

 order, and hurteth the authority of the magistrate, 

 and woundeth the consciences of the weak brethren." 

 Furthermore, that we be not misunderstood, let it 

 be noted that we include in these censures all depar- 

 tures from the laws, rubrics, and settled order of 

 this Church, as well by defect as by excess of ob- 

 servance, designing to maintain in its integrity the 

 sound scriptural, and primitive, and therefore the 

 catholic and apostolic spirit of the Book of Common 

 Prayer. 



This declaration was signed by the Bishops 

 of Kentucky, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Dela- 

 ware, Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hamp- 

 shire, Indiana, African Mission, Connecticut, 

 South Carolina, California, Iowa, Rhode Is- 

 land, Texas, Minnesota, Alabama, Kansas, 

 Western New York, Nebraska, Colorado, 

 Pittsburg, China Mission, and the Assistant 

 Bishops of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Wis- 

 consin. Among the bishops who did not sign 

 the declaration was Bishop Hopkins, of Ver- 

 mont, the presiding bishop of the Church, who, 

 in a letter to a New York paper, stated, with 

 regard to his views : " My opinions are before 

 the Church and the public already, in a little 

 book called ' The Law of Ritualism,' written in 

 answer to a formal request that I would state 

 my views upon the question, and addressed to 

 me by several clergymen and laymen of your 

 city. I suppose that this book was the excit- 

 ing cause for the issue of the ' Declaration ' 

 from the large majority of my colleagues, but 

 as they do not refer to it, nor to myself, specifi- 

 cally, I do not consider myself called upon for 

 any reply." 



In England, the Upper House of the Convo- 

 cation of Canterbury, on February 13th, unani- 

 mously declared that no alterations from long- 

 sanctioned and usual ritual ought to be made in 

 the churches until the sanction of the bishop 

 of the diocese has been obtained thereto. This 

 resolution was concurred in by the Lower 

 House. In the Convocation of York, in March, 



