The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1867-01-13

Ol9uOV 48SA8sA N~~y 80
sounded the alasm 10 Tie Church in rsfsrf
snee to whaa = old As sRilAkstic or Ro.
man movement, which has made great pro.
xress in England, and has begun % assume
formidable r,roporsious in Ms cosstzs. kn
. development of the tractarian movement
inauguraasd sone ysars 80, aadh viii lead
70 disastrous consequences unless throtaled
in ito infancy. Its source and aiinent are
found in certain veil knovn characteristics Of
human nature thas take on m abeornai de-
veIopment in the Church, and Ia social life,
from time to time in the progress OF history.
The characteristic features upon which the
Ritualistic movement depends, u An exces>
sive reverence for antiquity, and disposition
to rest in outward forms and ceremonies.
The one leads to superstitoas ssversace for
the pious orthodoxy Of our ancestors; the
other to magnify the virtue Of religious forms
and the outward trappings and paraphsEnalia
Of the Church and priesthood.
The Pharisees built the tombs OF the
prophets II great cost, and adorned them
With splendor and magnifcence, and thereby
gave evidence that they were the children
of those who slew the prophets. For IN
their reverence for the ancient prophets
they killed the prophets of their day, astheir
fathers had done in their time. And the
Jews of Christ's day Boosting Of Abraham
and their regular succession" from the
Father of the faithful, made broad their
pbylacterces and glori6ed a splendid but
barren Ritual.
Jesus Christ broke down this middle wall
of partition which centralized and confined
the grace of God to close corporation, and
proclaimed . spiritual and not a sensuous
worship. And for 9 time the CHURCH, found
ed and built up BY the labors saA example Of
Him who had not where to lay His head,
and the poor fishermen who followed Him,
had no temptation to expand its toggery,
rather than its piety. Bat tho Gospel was
preached, Roman Emperor became con-
vert, and the power Of an Empire was WELD
ed to exalt its disciples and teachers. And
in the progress of time, the Church, Is an
organization, pursuing : worldly policy, en-
tered into competition with paganism and
idolatry in the magni6cence Of its temples
and the splendid shows and mummeries
invented to excite the imagination
and awe the minds Of bar
barous or half civilized people
Ages we're devoted to perfecting and sys-
tematizing this mingled scheme OF priestly
invention and ancient idolatry, and the Ro.
man church, as known in Rome in the mid
die ages, was the result.
The reformation cast off most of this mass
Of conglomerate heather and Jewish rites
and ceremonies moulded into Christian
forms, and returned towards the simplicity OF
Apostolic times. But the policy and forms
OF reconstru ction in England we're under the
control OF the monarch and the ecclesiastical
and secular nobility, who inclined to retain
rs much of the msgnifcence and the ritual
forms of the old worship as practicable.
Hence, there has been, from the days of the
reformation, q constantly recurring conflict
In the church upon this subject, and the ritu-
81 spasm which seized the church of England
some thirty years ago, has extended with
more or less viruleuce to this country.
All those in the church who hold that the
precious gifts VI God's grace are confined to
the church, and cannot be partaken .xcert
1t the hands of a priesthood, who trace their
authority by direct descent in Apostolical
succession, will very naturally hold to the
ritual party. To these will be added the
lovers Of antiquity, the sentimental
adorers Of the fine arts and the caudle shows.
and hosts ofsmbitious worldly men who like
to get rid Of any personal attention to their
souls salvation by making pecuniary com.
pensation to the Priest, aud honorinp God
with all the "pomp and show and circum-
stance" with which they would seek to
psmper the vanity of an earthly potentate.
That the present movement is likely to
have stronghold on the ageis evident from
the fondness for military parade, and the
generally outgrowth of ostentation and shod
dy visible on all hands, in the various exhi
billions Of social and public life.
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