The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1885-09-01 00:00:00

OPINION ON THR WORK or THE JICRCITS.
. - .

.......- ......-
Since the Rehwination the Jesuits and
preaching and teaching orders in the Church
of Re • - the Moravian.. in Germany, the sects,
and especially the Wesleyan Methodists, in England-
hay.' attempt.' to take up the work that fell from the
hands of the monks and friars of earlier days. It is
easy •• igh to point out the grave faults, and the
one.sidedms.i of- temper of these very different
attempts. But they are manifestation. of spiritual
life which deserve deep attention. Sone instruments
the kind the Church must have if it is to be truly
Catholic; something answering to thoee manifold
gifts of the holy Ghost, the charismata, the possessors
of which, in the early days, worked side by side with
the regular Ministry of - the Church. The warning,
• tluench not the Spirit; despise not
erophesyMg
(1 These. v. 10, 20) is constantly needed. ( The (Me
Itampton Lectures for IMO, P. 319.)
It is very sad to find a 1/ivine who is now about to
he raised to the Episcopal 'tench, expressing his
opinion that the work .4 the Jesuits -those great
enemies of the Church of England -is a "manifnita.
tion of spiritual life ;" " answering to those manifold
gifts of the Spirit !" We are quite cort.siii that
" instruments" of the Jesuit "kind " the Reformed
Chunli f England has no need of, and that it can be
" truly Catholic " without them. And does CaT .....
Wordow•wth reallyill..ll that to put a StOp to alldi work
is wiltiValent to (illetiellitig the Spirit? %toreover, we
regret to find, in the peonage just cited, the work of
the Wesleyan Methodists, and Moravian.. brought
down to a level of the work of the .Jesuits, and other
-.mastic Orders of the Church of Rome, a. though
they were all inspired by the same Sprit !
Lira Vows.

This is a very important subject, in which Canon
NVordsworth thns expresses his opinion :—" The im-
position, or taking of vows, besides those which am
if unixemal use in the Church, has in it much that is
attractive. They are a support to many ; they are 3
strong instrument for binding together person./ in is
..1 action ; they are, as it
111110,116•1 tokens of self-sacrifice in a solfish and mil-
pleasing worlpl. But experience shows that to many
they Iwo ttttt • a painf id Mitre ; that there are than who
f•pl low a imisilai••pf stmugdevotion which &poi not last ;
and that tiny unfit forth., work to which they
have solemnly pledged theinselvee to God. ft woulpl
Ilel•M, therefore, that life rows, without recognised
exceptions awl lappsles of dispensation, should not be
encourafpol among pis. We should save these wink
1,.,,,, the risk being dashed to piensi, thr nigh
mgagetipents which are not positively
°p•
laned by God." (Unirersity Sermeni on 001 pf
SUOIIt p
The " vows" lier referred to evidently include
those now taken by the members of Ritualistic Sister.
hooda. Canon Wordsworth approves of thene lows,
so long as there are "recognised exceptions and
modes of dispensation." These" v••ws" be looks ••n
• containing "
"material tokens of selfoncrifice in a selfish and self.
pleasing world." That there are OV iii connected with
thp• taking lit' life lows he admits ; but they are not
spieli as to lead I to p•ndeinn them altog•Pther. We
cannot regard these SY the ipiniiunm ut • 34 01131.1 i'r •
U•Kt all I g and, we fear, that under the nile of the new
Bishop "( Salisbury Ritualistic Sisterhoods will
flourish and increase in his diocese, to the great injury
..1 the Protestant religion.
l'inftsvA AMOIXTION.
liens alp., the new Bishop's teaching is scarcely
ambiguous. NVllat does he mean by the following
extract (pm, • Pill. .if his sp•rni••ni
"As Hon if Man too, He (Jesus) has 'power OR
earth to forgive sins,' and has given this power per•
pettedly to his Church."- (Unircrsity &mons on
Uoapel s.kicets," page Ts,)We know that the " p•wer in earth to forgive
sins." exercised by our Blessed Saviour, was that of
removing the divint• and eternal 'Punishment of thoso
sins. lime we are informed that this same power is
given "'perpetually to the (Tihurch." flues " C'h um& "
here lIICan "Clergy ?" Then how does the Church
exercise the power Is it through priestly absolu-
tion ! The new bishop thus sprats in his Bampton
lectures :—° Nor can tho misuse of the grace .if
absolution, and the degradation if the ancient system
of penance, excuse I• 1 in shutting our eyes to the
crying want of the human heart, especially in its
weakness and disease, which is met by an external
assurance of God's pardon tor eta cooicased."--(2164
Ovic agiie ions PRP 133.)