THE VERY REV. H. WACE_, D.D.^ OX AUTHORITY. 



225 



Cluircli is now concentrated in the Pope, and every Bishop or 

 Priest represents and enforces his authority. For the section 

 of our own Church to which I refer, tliere is no such visible 

 and definite authority to be appealed to ; but none the less the 

 word " Church," and the supposed authority of what is called 

 " The Church," exercises an almost magical influence. Practices 

 are introduced among us, and enforced as matters of moral 

 obligation, on no other ground than that thev have the alleged 

 authority of the Church. Other practices, which have seemed 

 to many good men not merely convenient and harmless, but 

 highly conducive to the maintenance of spiritual life among 

 large and laborious classes, are not only discouraged, but vehe- 

 mently denounced, on no other ground than the alleged authority 

 of the Church. Above all, a certain system of doctrine, and a 

 certain tone and character of worship, are alleged to be 

 " Catholic," or in a special sense characteristic of " The Catholic 

 Church " : and those who do not adopt this system and these 

 customs are treated as defaulters to a recognized ideal. This 

 ideal of the Church, or of the Catholic Church, assumes an 

 imposing shape in the imagination, and«Societies are formed, 

 and religious newspapers conducted, with the definite object of 

 making this ideal supreme in the English Church. 



And yet there exists no reality, and since early times 

 there has existed none, for which this ideal authority can 

 be claimed. Por a period, indeed, which has been limited 

 by the present ]\Iargavet Professor at Oxford — no harsh judge 

 on such matters — to about four centuries after Christ, conclud- 

 ing with the year A.D. 451,* there was a sutticient unity and 

 continuity in the teaching, practice, and government of the 

 Church to render it possible to recognize that that teaching, 

 practice, and guvernment had the marks of Catholicity. At the 

 same time, it cannot for a moment be admitted that the rites 

 and ceremonies then prevailing are, by reason of their Catholicity 

 within that period, binding upon ourselves now. Some of the 

 most conspicuous ceremonies then practised, alike at Baptism 

 and at the Lord's Supper, are by general consent disused, and 

 their re-introduction would never be suggested, even by those 

 who are most urgent in asserting the authorit}^ of the Catholic 

 Church. Many of the early Canons are quite impracticable for 



^ See Dr. Sandav's Letter in the Report of the Falham Conference^ 

 1900, p. 40. 



