The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1855-01-31
q HIGH CHURCH. AND LOW
CHURCH.

l n COEE0SpOuucpS NTlteSy--biih III par
agraphs relative to the recent election of
Provisional Bishop. he sees the expres-
| sions, GLOW church and " high church %
again made use of. He desires an ex-
PLANTATION of their original and present
meaning. .Thae information sought,
might more, properly be expected in re-
ligieus journals and any attempt at an
answer, in secular paper, must neces-
sarily be brief and imperfect.
Those who are familiar with the his
tory of England will remember that
King James III, was Catholic, and in
consequence Of his troubles with his
Protestant subjects, was deposed, and
was succeeded by William and Mary
Many members of the Church of Eng
land, who had taken the oath of allegi-
ance to James, considered it unlawful
to withdrew their fealty to him during
his lifetime, and refused to ts lie the oath
of allegiance to William and Mary
To such, a number of epithets were ap-
plied-among which were No,s.11trors.
Jdcobites, and High Church -men.-
Non-jurors means literally persons un-
willing to take an oath. Jacobites is
derived from Jacobus, the Latin for
james, and means the followers of James.
High Churchmen is an epithet applied
more particularly to those who rever-
ence the authority of the bishops and
Clergy as of divine Institution, who ad-
here to the opinion that their Bishops
may trace a regular succession from the
Apostles down. High -Churchmen also
adhere with great tenacity to the letter
of the rubrics and canons of the Church
w.Churehmen are those who profess
to hold religious forms and ceremonies
in low estimation, and to hold quite in
dependent of external observation the
spiritual value of Christian ordinances.
Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury,
and a number of other Bishops, were de-
prived of thcir Sees in consequence of
refusing to take the oath of allegiance
to William and Mary. The followers of
Sancroft were most numerous in Scot
land, and their separation from the
Church of England went no farther than
as it affected their allegiance. The
non-jurors continued to pray for James
and the Stuart family, and it was not
till the accession of George Ill that
the cause of their separation from the
Church of England became removed.
Of the four first Bishops of the Pro-
tsstant Episcopal Church in the United
States, one lRishop Seabury of Conn.,
received coz ssration at the hands of the
non-juring Bishops of Scotland, and the
other three from the Archbishop of Can
terbury, who was the successor in direct
line of Tillotson, who succeeded the de-
posed Sancroft There was now eve
ry prospect that the feud which had
distarbed the Church of England for a
century, would be extended to this
country. By the exertion of wise and
good men, conspicuous among whom was
the late Bishop Parker of Massachusetts,,
such a calamity was prevented. A Bish-
op of Canterbury, was induced to unite
with one who had received conservation
from tho nonsj sjuring Bishop in the conse-
Grafton of DR.. Bass, the first Bishop of
Massachusetts,
The terms " high church ".and low
church F" still retain their original mean
ing, and have decided adherents in this
century. j he leading i" high church
men" are Bishops Whittingham, of Ma
ryland, and Doane, of New Jersey the
leading low churohman is Bishop
McIlvaine, of Ohio, who has been de-
nouced as little better than Presby-
terian."
In the Diocese of New York, the ma
jority of clergy adhere to the high
church dogmas. The laity appear to
be almost as decidedly high church and
it was probably only their desire to Sc
cure bishop, that induced many of
them to abandon the high church can
didate, DR.. Vinton, and join the clergy
in the election of Dr. Potter. The lat
ter, however, is by no means low
churchman," as he has been style in
many quarters. On the contrary, he
hasalways enjoyed the reputation of be-
ing a consistent high churohman." AS
lover of the things that tend toward
peace,n his administration, however,
will be likely to receive the cordial sap
port of churchmen of all classes throagh-
out the lenght and breadth of tho do
cese.-N Y Express,