The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-08-01 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL

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ibued wit

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illustrative of the stat

manners among the Puritan portion of the com-
nullity of Boston. These, together with a dash
s the of Indian customs and usages, form a volume pos-
! sessed of great attractions for youthful readers,
whom we have no doubt it will be a decided
..Avourite.

PURITAN SCHOLARSHIP,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD,

Stß,—l was certainly surprised that any "Churchman
of Liverpool" should take exception to " Vincentius" for
changing the word "communion" in our translation into
" communication," as a more accurate rendering of the
passage ; and this is the more astounding, as he has ac-
tually quoted the Greek word in the text cited. If he
will refer to the German lexicographer, Schleusner, he
will find that its meaning is cormnunicatio, speciatim,
i.e., especially ; and that S. Chrysostom is adduced as
interpreting it by another Greek word, signifying " parti-
cipation," in this very passage. Verily, the Greek alpha-
bet seems to be the extent of the "Churchman's" know-
ledge of Greek. I beg leave, however, to send him to school
to the learned Bishop Patrick, who says in his "Christian
Sacrifice," with regard to the word " communion" in this
place, "In its full signification it denotes, not merely our
being made of His (Christ's) society, but our having a
communication of His body and blood to us ; so the word
KOLVWVEW is rendered, Gal. vi. 6, Phil. iv. 15." So much
for Vincentius's mis-translation, and the Churchman's
Greek

Again, the "Churchman" appears to have forgotten the
words of the 28th article, which expressly state that "the
body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten" in the supper
only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the
mean whereby it is received and eaten in the supper is
faith." If the " Churchman" denies that it is given in
the supper through the instrumentality of the priest, I
shall be happy to send him to school on this point also.
If this be the way in which Puritans manage whenever
they may happen to have a controversy with Rome, I dread
to think of the advantage she must gain from having such
weak and ill-furnished opponents. Mr. Pughe observes
that "it has often been asserted that the Puritan party,
as a body, are excessively ignorant ;" but the worst of it
is, they are not conscious of the fact, and consequently
expose their deficiency by continually rushing on to the
platform or into print, causing the judicious to grieve, the
sarcastic to smile, and their adversaries to triumph.
Yours, &c , ANGLO-CATHOLIC.
July 25th, 1854.

STANDARD, AND GENERAL COiNIME aCIAL ADVERTISER.

The following is Mr. Wrau's prospectus of the proposed Free
Church alluded to in the foregoing letter
am very sensible that an apology is needed for
troubling you with a project in which you have no local in-
terest. But the sympathies of our holy religion are un-
limited ; and they whose hearts God has touched with a
desire to rebuild the walls of our Zion. and restore the
decayed beauty of oar sanctuary, wi I not turn away from the
following appeal, nor be satisfied with their own advantages,
while the distant members of the same body are enfeebled or
languishing.
Liverpool, at the present time, presents some features of
interest to Churchmen. It is confessedly one of the most
important towns in the United Kingdom. A hundred and
fifty years ago it was a mere village. It now contains little
less than 400,000 inhabitants, and the rapidity of its increase
has of late years been without parallel in this country. Its
commerce extends to all parts of the world, and it is con-
stantly visited by a very large number of strangers.
It is, moreover, a town of considerable religious activity.
Within the last five and twenty years as many as this num-
ber of churches have been built ; and the inhabitants are
certainly not behind those of other towns in responding with
praiseworthy liberality to the calls made upon them, from
time to time, by the clergy, to extend the means of education
and public worship.
Unhappily, the prevailing religious tone is decidedly Puri-
tanical. A large proportion of the clergy are from Ireland ;
and several objectionable features, both in the internal ar-
rangements of the churches and the mode of conducting
Divine worship, have been introduced into this town. De-
vout kneeling is, generally speaking, impossible. Rubrica
conformity is not only disregarded, it is publicly condemned.
Any approach to a choral service or decent ceremonial is
denounced by our popular preachers as Popish. And not
only are the people deprived of She daily service of the Church,
but the observance of her feasts and festivals is discoun-
tenanced, and even the appointed offices for Holy Week are
either mutilated or omitted altogether.
With a zeal worthy of a better cause, certain persons have
entered into a conspiracy for buying up the patronage of our
churches, and vesting it in trustees who hold their own pecu-
liar views. By this means, their influence has been widely
extended throughout the town, and their doctrines and prac-
tices are likely to be perpetuated. To such an extent has
this been carried, that, in many parts of Liverpool, a person
must go some distance before he can find a church where the
teaching of the Prayer-book is not directly contravened or
its rubrics transgressed.
In fact there is only one church, and that most inconve-
niently situated for the inhabitants generally, in which there
are prayers upon every day of the week, in which all the holy-
days are observed, the weekly communion is celebrated, and
a general offertory permitted ; and this church, after the
expiration of the present incumbency, falls into the hasils of
the Simeon trustees.
The above remarks are far from being made In a spirit of
resentment against those who are guilty of these irregulari-
ties. It is charitably supposed that they are the result, not
so much of wanton indifference to their ordination vows, as
to the present unsatisfactory state of Church discipline; and
to the belief—entertained also by maw), ill-informed Dis-
senters—that our venerable book of Common Prayer contains
a large amount of covert Popery, and that much of its ancient
phraseology ought to be expunged, or at least bracketted, for
the convenience of those who dissent from its Catholic state-
ments. This being the case, it is clearly of the first impor-
tance, not only in justice to the people, but also as a means
of informing the public mind and removing prejudice, that a
model Church should be erected, in which no Puritanical
innovations or customs shall be permitted to mar the beauty
and completeness of the several parts of Divine worship. But
it is obvious, that this remedy for existing evils cannot be
supplied to the people of Liverpool without the assistance of
strangers. The bulk of the inhabitants, including the wealthy
and influential, are quite satisfied that things should remain
as they are. And even where a suspicion may exist that
there is room for improvement, there is always at hand that
dread of disturbing existing arrangements, and of appearing
to countenance novelties, which prevents so many prudent
persons from aiding in the reformation of abuses. Notwith-
standint these difficulties, and the conviction which must
press itself upon the promoters of such a scheme, that the
project, to be successful, ought to be on a liberal, and even a
grand scale, it is confidently believed that there is a spirit
awakened in this country by the Providence of God, which
will not suffer so great, holy, and good a work, to be aban-
doned for lack of funds, in a locality where the exigencies of
the Church call thus loudly for religious sympathy.
It is humbly believed, that if this work be undertaken, as
it ought to be, not in a spirit of rivalry, but for the honour
of God, and to vindicate the Prayer Book of the Church of
England, it will, under His blessing, go on and prosper, and
be the means of promoting the growth of Catholic truth,' not
here only, but in distant places. It cannot be sufficient for
the success of the present religious revival, that justice
should be done to our Apostolic Ritual in London only, and
that there and elsewhere new churches should arise, exhibit-
ing all the architectural beauty of former ages, combined
with the purity of primitive worship, while, at the same time,
the strongholds of Puritanism are untouched, and the chief
towns of the provinces are left in the hands of the enemy.
" If one member suffers, all the members suffer with us."
On this ground it is that we make our appeal. and ask for
assistance. We propose to ourselves a work which, unaided,
we are incompetent to undertake, but which, once accom-
plished, will, we trust, prove not only its own vindication,
but the vindication of similar works of piety throughout the
country. Should you be disposed to render us assistance,
there are a variety of ways in which this may be done. It
may be either by a present donation, or a future bequest ;
unconditionally, or upon the condition of a certain sum being
raised; to the building, or to the endowment of the Daily
Service; in the shape of inoney, or by an offering of some
church furniture or ornament. White we do not presume to
look for much from those who have no local connection with
Liverpool, it is earnestly hoped that at least something may
be contributed, if it be only as a token of approval and sym-
pathy, and as an encouragement to perseverance
I am, yours very faithfully,
Liverpool, May, 1552

CECIL WRAY

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

scarcely know whether I can admire for its dex-
terity the attempt of your correspondent, " A Church-
man of Liverpool," to shirk the home thrusts of his for-
mer opponents, and hide the true character of his retreat,
by picking out, from among the points of other writers,
those which he may consider the most vulnerable for
attack. However, having left his other adversaries victors
on the field, it will be strange, indeed, if he reaps more
honour from his last essay. My opinion is, (I suppose he
will not believe me when I say that the expression of it
gives me considerable pain,) that each step he takes fur-
nishes a new and worse display of weakness and pre-
sumption. I had not intended to take the trouble of
entering the lists with him, feeling that he is already in
abler hands than mine ; but, as he has fitted the suicidal
rope round his neck, and presents me so facile a hold, I
shall by no means decline the final twist that consummates
the catastrophe.

He charges me with "three serious offences," of which the
first, if proved, would not alter the force of my appeal to
the Bishop; the second dwindles down into a matter of
opinion—he says my argument " appears to him to be a
misrepresentation ;" the third is as much open to the
judgment of the humblest as to the most intelligent of
your readers. Yet the process goes on in due form, and
" A Churchman," judge, jury, and counsel, brings me in
" guilty." I.—l spoke of the Holy Eucharist as a gift,
which St. Paul tells us is the communication of the Body
and Blood of Christ. Now, mark. I did not here pretend
to quote the actual expressions of our authorised version.
I used no inverted commas, or probably I should have used
both the words " communion" and " communication," the
latter in brackets—that is, if my object had been to mark
the true force of the original word which the Apostle used.
I merely said St. Paul calls it a " communication." I
repeat it. He did so call it, and I use the word as a fitter
rendering of the Greek than that in the authorised ver-
sion. As he is a clergyman who needs this service, I am
Almost ashamed to attempt its justification by referring
him to Schleusner's Lexicon of the New Testament, in
which he will find the transitive sense laid down as the
primary rendering, and that it is in this very passage
specially distinguished from " communio, societas," &c.,
by its signification as that which " efficit et reddit nos
participes corporis et sanyuinis J. C. lamin a place at
present not well furnished with opportunities of book
reference, such as this case requires ; yet, in the appendix
to one of the most popular Altar Companions, of medita-
tions from old English divines, I have stumbled upon two
passages, which justify not merely my use of the word
" communication" to render Kotvcovia, but its use as
distinct from, and expressing more fully, the Apostle's
meaning than, " communion." The first is from Dr. Daniel
Brevint, a celebrated writer against the Romish Church,
and more especially on the subject of the Eucha-
rist, once pastor of a Protestant congregation in Nor-
mandy, whose words I will quote The full sense and
importance of other places in Scripture allow the holy
communion a much greater virtue than that of repre-
senting only. The cup of blessing, which we bless,' &c.,
for, if this word, which we render communion, be taken
in an active sense, as it often is, for communication, then
the holy eucharist is a means of communicating the Blood
of Christ ; or, though we take it in a neuter and intransi-
tive sense, yet the holy eucharist will be still a mystery,"
&c. As he says again :—" The manner of this real com-
munication and conveyance is the great unfathomable
mystery, which the holy fathers have ever admired, and
which, therefore, we neither need nor do take upon us to
explain." The other is Bishop Patrick, noted for his
defence of the English Church against Rome in the time
of James IL, and I may add author of several treatises
in the " Preservative against Popery," a recent edition of
which was edited by Dr. Cumming. To this and other
writers I refer your too confident correspondent, as well as
to the works of learned lexicographers. In the meantime
I counsel him not to venture beyond his depth. To him,
indeed, being a clergyman, I cannot apply the old maxim,
" Ne sutor," &c., but I advise him to learn a little more of
his trade. Unfortunately, a misinterpretation of rubrics
in these days scarcely damages the clerical character, but
a knowledge of the original of the New Testament is indis-
pensable to a conventional reputation.
I cannot follow your correspondent into a controversy
on the sacred doctrine of the Real Presence. Even if these
columns were suited to the subject, yet it has been already
worn to its utmost shred, and the truth stands firm as the
Church of God, which has ever most distinctly taught it.
But when he brings it as a charge against me, that I
hold the body and blood of the Lord to be " given or
communicated" in the Lord's Supper, and challenges me
to cite the ipsissima verba of the Prayer Book to prove
my position, I must certainly refer him to the 28th article,
which uses the very word " given," in addition to those of
" received " and " eaten," (words which, in Puritan phraseo-
logy, mean the making of the body of Christ, by an inward
process of our own,) and to the Catechism, which asserts
that the body and blood are " verily and indeed taken" in
this sacrament. Strange ! that he seems to rest the con-
troversy where Anglicans have been always anxious to
rest it, viz., on the Church's use of the word " given."
" A Churchman" makes our enormity to be the use of
this word, and thinks the reach of argument can go no
further. I accept his representation, and his " challenge."
Well might he exclaim Jam satis est !" For his especial
behoof, too, I may as well, though still adhering to my
resolution not to discuss the doctrine involved, remove
any erroneous impression he laay have gathered from the
rubric in the Sick Service, and the declaration of the 29th
article, by informing hlm that the first is to be found
similarly expresseti in the Sarum Bretiary.,lvlonging to

himself, who now, indeed, is good enough again to justify times when the belief of the Church about the modus
my complaint of him, by once more, perhaps unguardedly, prcesentice was the same as it is now in the Romish
calling" matrimony" a sacrament. For it is as well to Church ; and that the second was incorporated into
say at once that this " clergyman" is none other than the , " Lectio 8 " of the Roman office, "In festo corporis
Rev. Mr. Pughe. I have only further to add, that in a Christi," by Thomas Aquinas, 1255, where it remains to
correspondence which ensued between us on the subject, this day. A hymn of the same writer, in the same office,
there was not a hint dropped of my " aptness for misquo- fully expressing the doctrine with which this person thinks
tation," but Mr.Fugheconcludedrather "with many thanks the declaration to be inconsistent. All these thins if
to me for the good feeling towards himself which I was "a Churchman" had any knowledge of modern contro-
pleased to express, and which he begged me to believe was versy, he would be familiar with ; and if he is ignorant of
fully reciprocated ; and sincerely hoping that we might modern controversy, he has no right to intrude into your
not even appear to come into collision in future, he was columns on such a subject as the present.
mine very faithfully." This was in a letter dated June 2. The question of the intention of the Church as re-
23rd. I next heard of Mr. Pughe as being, for the last gards the administration of communion I shall leave to
fortnight, my assailant in the Standard. He will forgive your other correspondents, who I think have already
me, I trust, or at least the public will, if I now decline established it, and have not been answered. If they think
any further controversy or correspondence with him. further proof advisable on the particular point again
I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, raised, no doubt they will take the trouble to adduce it.
July 22nd, 1851. wM. poLLocK. Lest, however, "a Churchman" should be disappointed,
I promise that, failing this, he shall have the evidence
which destroys his position, from myself, and that abun-
dantly.

3. As to the third charge which this writer makes
against " Vincentius," together with his climaxes of op-
-1 probrium, of which the crowning achievement is an
ironical application of the epithet " pious," the least I can
say best becomes me. The terms in which I have in this
particular case approached my bishop I am content to
leave to the judgment of the public. One thing I may
say, that if I happened to be writing in a cause agreeable
to your correspondent, there is scarcely one among your
readers whose advice I would not sooner court than that
of this clergyman. My gall would be to him, then, the
mildest honey. Had he and his party received the treat-
ment' which the promoters of this Free Church have met,
the walls of the town would have swarmed with placards
calling meetings to protest against episcopal tyranny, and
inviting dissenters, of all descriptions but Romish, to
witness the baiting of a Christian bishop. I question
much whether the result would not have been a "Free
church"—itself the most appropriated and money-worship-
ping of any—in the sense of freedom from episcopal
control. Has your correspondent, in his ministrations,
never felt the value of the maxim that " Example is better
than precept ?" or does he think his exhortations to a
layman to weaken the force of his invective carry much
recommendation from the mouth of a clergyman, because
graced by that figure of Billingsgate, if it be a figure, of
accumulative epithets ? If he thinks it for the good of his
cause to take to lecturing " Vincentius," he must find
another monitor : his own character is gone. It is not
for so violent a combatant to prescribe the decencies of
the contest. Yet he has nothing to fear, for he is anxious
to assure me that a continuance of my present style will
contribute to his peace of mind snore than if I studied my
tone from him.. With his permission, therefore, I will
continue that mode of speech which I have found to give
the best expression in my power to the earnestness of my
convictions. I mean to add still further to his sense of
security, by a public exposure of some of the small eccen-
tricities of his party, in which, probably, he may also be
concerned.
As for himself, I would fain entertain the hope that
from this correspondence he would derive one lesson, viz.,
that an anonymous signature gives a liberty which, if it is
convenient, is dangerous, and that it confers no more
right to depart from the proprieties of one's real character,
than to violate the obligations of truth.—Yours faithfully,
VINCESTIUS.