The difficulties of the subject seem to be confessed by all, except it may be by the Brothers Hull, who seem to see none or very few. But the Bishop of Norwich observes, “I agree that there are what to some may be deemed almost insuperable difficulties in the way of any change in the Liturgy, and perhaps in the Articles.” Nor would these difficulties seem to be lessened, if his Lordship’s view of the present state of the Church be correct, it being his opinion “that there never was a period perhaps of our Church History with so little harmony within the pale, and so fearful a prospect of fiercer and wider dissention.” [36b] “There is a lion in the way”—and for my own part I am craven enough to say there let him lie—couchant he is likely to be less troublesome than rampant. And the better part of valour is discretion.
And as his Lordship tells us that “he believes the Clergy as a body would not consent to any change” in the Liturgy. We may infer that that absence of harmony to which his Lordship alludes, from whatever other causes it may arise, originates in no want of unanimity in the Church on the score of Subscription, and that there would seem but little necessity, for the sake of peace, to embark upon the dangerous experiment of a revision.
It being then admitted that “the Clergy as a body would not consent to any change in the Liturgy or Articles,” we must presume that they can unreservedly make the Subscription in its present form. And putting aside your own peculiar case, we must also presume of those persons who recently petitioned parliament, in the character of Clergymen of the Church of England, that although they might think some Expansion of Subscription desirable, in consideration to others, did nevertheless make their own with a safe conscience and with the honest intention of fulfilling their engagements, by a general conformity to the prescribed Services of our Church. They subscribed, we must presume, with no such latitude of opinion as would admit of an habitual deviation from, either by alteration or a summary omission, of such parts of our Services, as they could not satisfactorily reconcile with their own private opinions. Mr. Maty, a former seceder from our establishment, could not consider such a latitude of the construction of his Subscription compatible with his honesty. In a letter to Mr. Lindsey, he says, “finally, I can neither submit to acquiesce in silence, after having made my objections known, nor take upon me to alter the Service of the Church as long as I continue to profess myself a minister of it.” [37]
Properly appreciating this sentiment, we must conclude that the Bishop of Norwich understood the prayer of the petitioners with no reference to such a practice as Mr. Maty here condemns, when he represented them as praying “that that which is consented to and allowed privately, may be the avowed and acknowledged sentiments of the Church at large.” Yet in their “explanation of the statements of the petition,” and the object which they had in view, the Messrs. Hull, enumerate amongst these deviations from the authorized forms and positive obligations of the Church, sanctioned as they assert by general practice; the omission of the Athanasian Creed, the change or omission of certain sentences in the Burial Service, and the substitution of other lessons than those appointed by the Church. Now I must think, that if a complaint were preferred against a Clergyman to his Diocesan for habitually and advisedly deviating thus from his positive obligations, the complainants would scarcely be told that such things were consented to and allowed privately by the Church. If so, for consistency’s sake it might be as well to expunge in future from the Churchwardens’ Articles of Enquiry exhibited at Episcopal Visitations, any such query as the following, “Doth the Incumbent or Curate regularly read service with the Litany and Creeds, exactly according to the Rubric of the Book of Common Prayer, without omission, addition, or alteration?” [38]
You represent the petitioners “as having presented to parliament the sound and reasonable prayer, that the law and the practice should be assimilated.” You mean, I presume, that some regard should be had to the nature of the thing practised, otherwise I must think your principle a very unsound one. For instance, it is to be feared that a habit prevails sadly too much amongst both high and low, of neglecting the observance of the sabbath day and keeping it anything but holy. But I would not therefore assimilate the law to this practice and go to parliament for an act to legalize sabbath breaking. And even in respect to the prayer of the petitioners, I should say that the Archbishop’s proposition that steps should be taken to assimilate the practice to the law, was the sounder one of the two.
But the Messrs. Hull in their view of the matter, represent the Bishop of Norwich—“as pleading strongly for that privilege which should be conceded to every ingenuous mind, to mean what it says, and to say what it means.” A form of Subscription such as would admit of every one saying what he means, seems to have been the view which the Bishop of London took of the object of the petitioners, and called it very truly,—“expansion with a vengeance.”
But you would make us, by our present Subscription, say much more than we mean, and mean much more than we say, for instance, you would contend that we declare by Subscription, “that every word of the Homilies, is agreeable to the word of God,” the laity, you say “feel not what it is to subscribe literally to every word of the Homilies, Rites, and Ceremonies,” [39a] and again, “if a Subscription to the Liturgy as agreeable to the word of God is still maintained to be indispensable,” [39b] and further, the petition states, that the Clergy are “commonly understood to be bound to the observance of all the Canons.” [39c] Now, I cannot think that you give quite a correct view of Subscription. Amongst your illustrations, you say, “our Subscription literally taken calls upon a person to declare that the delivery of a marriage ring and the Apostles’ Creed are equally agreeable to scripture!” [40] But the very letter of our Subscription is opposed to this view of it.—We know of nothing in scripture agreeable to or agreeing with any part of our marriage ceremony, unless it be a supper; neither have we any “scripture warrant” for our custom of kneeling when receiving the sacrament, none for signing with the sign of the cross, no direct warrant baptizing infants, in short, literally we do not subscribe to the Liturgy as being agreeable to the word of God, but containing nothing contrary to it.
Neither do we “subscribe literally and to every word of the Homilies” as being agreeable to the word of God. I could produce you many a quaint passage from their exhortations, to which we should be puzzled to find anything agreeable in scripture, though nothing perhaps contrary to the spirit of them.
And as to the Canons, so far from feeling ourselves bound to a voluntary observance of them all, I have no recollection of pledging myself by any Subscription at my ordination to the observance of any of them. “As to the Canons,” says Archdeacon Sharpe, “to which we are not bound by any formal promise, but only by virtue of their own authority. I believe no one will say that we are bound to pay obedience to them all, according to the letter of them.” Say then, that there are amongst them some, which as the petitioners allege “could not in these days be acted upon,” if so, they are the less likely to cause them any grievance. And as to the alleged inexpediency of acting upon others, let us leave that to be judged of by our superiors, whom we are bound to obey, at least so I understood my ordination vows. But our objection to a revision of our Laws Ecclesiastical arises from no over-weaning affection for these inoperative canons, but from a desire rather to
“ . . . bear the ills we have
Than fly to others, that we know not of.”