Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-02-10 00:00:00

THE STATE HOLY-DAYS

These days, it appears, were not abolished by the
recent Royal Warrant for the • discontinuance of
their Forms of Prayer, or, as they were commonly
called, the State Services. Those Forms, as we
showed in some remarks we lately took occasion
to make in these columns, were not either pre-
pared or decreed by the Church, but were foisted,
upon her by the State. " Oar will and pleasure
is that the Forms of Prayer and Service, etc., be
forthwith printed and published, and. annexed to
the Book of Common Prayer and Liturgy of the
United Church of England and Ireland, etc., to be
used yearly on the said days, in all Cathedral and
Collegiate Churches, and in all Parish Churches
and chapels, etc." Such were the terms of
the order which was issued in the Sovereign's
name respecting them, on every fresh accession to;
the throne—the only order and authority for their
adoption, and which the Church, therefore, was
by no means bound to obey, the more especially,.
as it ran counter to her own Canon Law. And it.
was a striking instance of how bold had become-
the usurpation by the State of arbitrary authority
over the Church. as well as over the uennle. The
Articles of Religion, it is true, were set forth

under Royal sanction and authority. But then
they had first been "agreed upon by the Arch-
bishops and Bishops of both Provinces, and, the
whole Clergy," in the Convocation holden. at
Lambeth, in the year 1562. And the King
decreed, or rather ratified, their adoption, not of
" Our will and pleasure," independently and.
absolutely, but only " with the advice of so. many
of our Bishops as could conveniently be called
together." With respect to the State Services,
however, the same authority that imposed. them,
however unconstitutionally, could of course order
their withdrawal. And this, as we have already
seen, has been effected by Royal Warrant. But,
we now learn, on the issuing of that warrant it
was necessary for the Government to consider
whether there were not certain Acts still in force
which would forbid its exercise, by reason of those
Acts requiring the observance of those particular
days. This has been done. And the result is,
that there are found to be seven or eight Acts of
Parliament, in which no provisions are made for
any particular Service or Form of Prayer, but in
which directions are given to the Clergy to observe
those days, and. to the people to attend church. In
some instances it is enacted that these days shall
be kept as holydays, and. that all persons shall
abstain from labour and trade ; in others, notice is
required to be given on the preceding Sunday that
these days are to be kept as holy-days. The Acts
furnish some curious examples of the arbitrary
interference of Parliament, in those days, with
what would now be considered the liberty of the
subject,—and, at the same time, of how the State
regarded and treated the Church as its creature
and dependent. The days were to be religiously
kept—even labour and trade were to be abstained
from, whether the people liked. it or not ; and the
Church, without being consulted, without being
asked whether or not the character and the

objects of such commemorations were consistent
with either its doctrinal principles or its
ecclesiastical polity, was required to give effect to
the State's arbitrary behest. Such was the
liberality, such the toleration, of those days !
May we not be thankful that our lot is cast in
times when such things, being not only unconsti-
tional, but out of character with the freer and
more enlightened spirit that prevails, would not be
attempted, or, if they were, would not be
submitted to.

It is right, her Majesty's Ministers very
properly think, that such acts of Parliament
sould no longer do discredit to the statute-book ;
and Mr. Secretary WALPOLE, therefore, has
brought in a Bill, in the House of Commons,
which has been read a second time, to repeal them,
and which will pass, no doubt, without objection
from any quarter.
Some very seasonable hints are given in the
French Imperial Pamphlet on Italy, of which we
have lately had occasion to speak, bearing closely
and forcibly upon that mischievous confounding of
canon and civil law, or, rather, that arbitrary
over-ruling of one by the other, which have too
much prevailed in modern times, if The laws of
the Church," it observes, " are not proper for