Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-04-26
RITUALISM,


Adams.
On the 18th, ultimo, judgment was given
by the Court Of Arches in London, in the
care Of DR.. Mackonochie, who was articled,
or prosecuted, at the instance Of the Bishop
Of London, for asserted illegal ritpalistic
practices The case has attracted great
interest among those who watch the for
tunes Of the Church Of England, or the
Episcopal Church IN the United States.
The opinion Of DR.. Phillimore occupied
four houre and twenty minutes in delivery,
and an aEaly sis Of it occupies four columns
of the London Times. The ofenses al
legged Against DIR. Mackonochie are COM
pressed under the following heads:
/. The elevation OF the Blessed Sa3ra
ment Of the Lords Supper, accompanied
by kneeing, or excessive kneeling, at
times nos prescribed by the rubric. 2.
The use Of incense during the celebration
Of the Eucharist g. The mixing Of water
with wine at the time of the administra-
lion Of The Lords Supper. 4. The use Of
lighted candles upon the Holy Table.
The court addresses itself 20 each Of
these points, and discusses them with pro-
found learning; and the decision as we
comprehend it, is that the rites and cere-
monies objected to are not illegal under
the canons Of the English Church. We
extract the portion which appears conclu-
sive:
The mere fact, therefore, that the prac-
tice complained Of was novel, furnished by
no means an irrefragable argument that il
was unlawful, and it could afford, in truth,
bat little assistance in solving the question
l.. Il. IL
Mackonochie we're or we're not contrary to
the law. In the second place, the alleged
disuse or desueiude must be measured by a
reference TO the history of the institution
during the period in which il had pre-
vailed.
The proposition appeared TO be that the
similarity Of the ornaments and practices
with those in the Church Of Rome did not
furnish a safe criterion whereby TO try the
question Of their legality 10 the Church of
England. That the true criterion was con-
formity with primitive and Catholic use,
and not dntagOnism 10 Rome. A great part
of the arguments addressed to the court by
counsel on both sides was founded upon one
or the other Of these propositions. 1t was
the duty to form this judgment upon an
historical OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES unequal
his powers might be to the task-into the
principal acts Of the State and the church.
which since the great epoch of the refor-
nation had introduced, accompanied and
settled the ecclesiastical establishment OF
this kingdom. 1t was scarcely necessary
to state that where the language of sta-
tute vas plain he was bound TO obey it, or
where the Court of Appeal had laid down
principle applicable 10 the case, he must
follow it. But where he had no such guide,
he must seek the exposition Of the law from
the general language Of the cardinal
declarations which ACCOMPANIED and
illustrated them, the Judicial construc-
ton which they had received, the
formularies which those statutes or
dered, whether with or without the con-
current sanction of the church, though,
happily, the latter alternative was of rare
occurrence. He must also consider the
canons which bound the clergy and the
opinion Of the bishops and the great di-
vines Of our church, who were not unfre-
quently also the counCillors of the State
and the authors of the formularies. Next
his Lordship reviewed the identity in law
and the historical and theological state
ments as TO identity. On those heads he
cited various authorities. He consulted
the statute law, the canon law enacted
since the Reformation, and the general
common law of the church. Among the
authorities he quoted Ken: As for my
religion said the holy Ken, with almost
his latest breath, 81 die in the Holy
Catholic aud Apostolic faith prafessed by
the whole church before the disunion of
East and West, more particularly die in
the communion of the Church of England
"a il stands distinguished from all Papai and
Puritan innovations, and az it adheres to
the doctrine of the Cross" Tracing its
history the learned Judge referred to a
statement in 1851, when the Archbishops
Of Canterbury and York and twenty
bishops published a statement in which
they set forth 1.-THE undoubted indemnity
of the church before and after the Reforma-
ton" and that at the Reformation the
English Church rejected certain corrup-
tons and established " one uniform ritual"
,Uitkom IN am degree Scueriag her c0naec-
ton wib tRe ancient Catholic Church" He
Likewise referred TO the resolution in 1867,
when eight primates and siIty-eight
bshops assembled from all parts Of the
globe, under the presidency Of the Metro
politan of Canterbury. After all, no
argument for the continuity Of he
Church Of England could be stronger
than that which was derived from
the structure, order, and contents of the
Prayer Book. 1t contained the Breyiarium,
in which, toward the end of the eleventh
century, had been inserted all the offices of
the canonicsl hours called also Portifori-
um, and in England Portuary, the Missal
on the Service for the Holy Communion,
aud the Ordinal, which was referred to |
under the name Of the pie in the Preface. |
The whole Prayer Book, in fact, with very |
uncomfortable exceptions, consisted of a |
translation Of the ancient liturgies, and |
especially Of the liturgy used by the West |
eru Church. He believed il to be well |
founded IA principle, reason and law, and |
that what was expressly prohibited was |
prohibited altogether, and should not be |
eyaded by any contriyance which, under a |
different name or appearance, attained the |
same end; that whatever was expressly |
added might not be eEaded by an illusory or
partial compliance that whatever was |
Subsidiary 20 whatever was ordered, and |
whatever being in itself decent aud proper |
in accordance with primitive and Catholic |
use, and which was not by any fair con-
struction necessarily connected with those |
Roman novelties which the church "eut |
away and clean rtiected'-to use the |
language of the Prayer Book-at the Re |
formation, was, under restrictions TO be |
mentioned, lawful The premises, which |
he had stated At some length, led him 10 |
the conclusion that no sound argument |
sgainst the lawfulness Of that objected to in |
the articles could be deduced from the mere |
fact OF their identity with the ceremonies |
in use before the Reformation.
PRESBYTERIAN REUNION.
For thirty-one years the Presbyierians
Of the Tinted States have been divided and /