Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-04-08
leir antagonists how to assail them.


Grafton, now reappears even more sop-
portunely. On the one hand Ritual
ism was never so rampant. The drag
on's teeth sown by the Oxford Tracts
have grown up into armed men, bent
on rendering the Angicans Romanists
IN everything except name and hon
esty. On the Other hand the Church of
England, disestablished in Ireland, is
hard pressed at home. Whatever Of
evangelical spirit survived when the Pu-
Htans were cast out, is now struggling
en- both sides Of the Atlantic to reform
the Episcopal Church from the inside
1t Is laboring to assert the rights of lay
men, to convince churchmen that there
is more sin in breaking two command
nients than one fast, and to expose the
a.surdity of interpreting literally such
texts a "rine linen is the righteousness
Of Saints. Rev 1873 High church
men would turn churches more than
ever into those theatres for acting SOL
mn farces which Queen Bess desired,
while low churchmen would abolish
some Of those Elizabethan. ceremonies,
which, as Bancroft tells us, were saved
by a single vote. The slogan Of ultra
conservatives is: Touch not cob
web of St. Paul's, for fear you shake
.'!e dome" They excommunicate our
Cheney for emitting one single word
OF the formula, which King James de-
clared =" an ili-said mass, and oensura
an English 9 Cheney" who allows the
syllable" Rev to be cut on q Metho-
dist graye-stone IN his church-vard.
They bring to mind those who quarrel
ed about vestments at the foot of the
Cross. But they encounter myriads
within their own pale, who will no Ion
'5,er delay making some Of the 598 bet
terments Of the Prayer-book, which at
the revolution of 1859 were already de-
manded. This. irrepressible conflict
makes the saying Of Warburton moro
piquant than ever, that those in the
Episcopal ark, like Noah in his menag-
erie, were more disturbed by quarreIs
within than by the deluge without.
In this crisis 10 bool, on DR.. Cole
mans theme could be neglected, least Of
! one like his.In revising his Manual
he has shown that he understood Addi
ton, Subtraction, and Silence in bet
ter sense than a certain famous poli5i-
elan, ''Addition,'' by two good chapters
on "Apostolical Succession" and
"Presbyterian Ordination, as we'll as
many curt notes suggested by bis
worldwide travels; .sSubtrac-
tion,'' for everything is retrenched
which the Greek ''horror Of too much
would cut away. so that the pages in
the present volume are more than for
ty fewer than in the first edition; and
''Silence," for he repressos all rheto-
rical defamation and confines himself
to proving by the logic Of facts the pop
ular chacacter Of the primitive church
in point both Of organization and Of
worship, with a notice its progressive
corruptionS.
The words Prelacy and Rituallsm in
the title will in furiate ultramontanes as
red rag does a Spanish bull. But the
book exposes SO clearly their lack of
historical protop plasm, that it must lead
some wanderers in hierarchical error to
abetter faith | is nature IS analogous to
the inscription exhumed in the latest
found catacomb by the Catholic son
OF the poetess, Mrs. Hemans, showing
that IN the primitive period the Bishop
OF Rome had no papal pretensions, and |
which made Mr.. Hemans henceforth a |
Protestant. May the relics DR.. Cole |
man has brought to light work similar
lie has wrought in the spir-
1t OF Hamlet saying; sit shall "a hard !
But | will delve one yard below their /
mines And blow them at the moon"
His Manual is just that selection of
patlstic lore, compactly stored. which !
Jew theological students, and fewer
have both time and oppor
tunlty to CLEAN, but which most OF them |
need to use ''here little and there a
little. " 1t straightway supplies present
need, and gives guiding clues to those
who would explore further.
Dr. Coleman IS an octogenarian.
May he live to see the idea OF MS book !
5loritied by the Italians who have tied
-he hands of the Pope, ceasing to kiss
his feet, ard denying the keys of Peter
10 him from whom thy have wrested
she sword Of Paul Such a cQnsumma-
ion our haf-aouy Catholics cannot long
survive, however they boast of prose
ytes who have torsaken the errors of
home foz those Of the Church OF Eng
and.