even by his action the people could distinguish between his address to them, and his address for them and with them to God:-they were continually reminded, by outward circumstances, of the holy duty in which they ought to be engaged. The innovation in this respect has likewise led to another, in that unsightly novelty a second pulpit, which is now adopted in some sanctuaries, instead of the ancient fald-stool or low desk.* Among omissions, we may note that the people (in consequence, perhaps, of the former innovation,) too generally sit instead of kneel at prayer, and seldom bow at the name of the Lord Jesus ;† while in some places we find that the clergy no longer say the Communion Service standing at the communion table, and the table is deprived of the candlesticks with which it is directed that it should be adorned.‡ Anthems are frequently discontinued, even in places where they sing; except when there is a Communion the offertory and prayer for the Church Militant are generally omitted, and several portions of the clerical habiliments have fallen into disuse.

There are more serious omissions to which I will not now refer; such as the omission of the daily prayers, though every clergyman is directed to have them solemnized in his Church; such as the neglect of weekly Communions; such as the omission, when the Eucharist itself is administered, on the part of some of the clergy, to place the bread and wine, with their own hands, as an

*Note P. + Note Q. + Note R.

Note S.

oblation on the altar, although at the last review of the Liturgy, a rubric was expressly and deliberately introduced to compel this observance; such as the neglect, on the part of others, to give that Sacrament with the words addressed to each individual communicant; for these are omissions of too serious a nature to come under the head of mere ceremonies. With respect to the other matters to which I have referred, I am perfectly ready to admit that many of them are, in themselves, of very little moment; but when we are solemnly pledged to conform to the ceremonies of the Church of England, the tender conscience will be apt to inquire what those ceremonies are to the observance of which we are thus bound. Now some are of opinion that they act sufficiently up to their vow, when they observe such ceremonies as they find handed down to them in the congregation over which they are appointed to preside. Others may be of opinion that the ceremonies ought to be observed precisely as they were originally appointed. A third party are of opinion, to which I myself incline, that they act in perfect consistency with their pledges if they take things as they find them, merely guarding against further innovations; and if, as occasion offers, they return more nearly to the practice of the reformers, which they rejoice to think is the practice also of the primitive Church. But here again the Protestant Dissenters are prepared to upbraid us. Our ceremonies and our ecclesiastical habits, and in great part our services themselves, are the same as

those which are used by the Church of Rome, and therefore they accuse us of being papistical for retaining them. Here, then, we are again placed on the defensive, and how are we to defend ourselves? Some persons regret that so many of the old ceremonies were retained by our reformers, but defend them on the ground that they are not actually sinful, that in practice they have been much simplified, and they very properly conclude that it is better to observe them, since they are enjoined, than to commit schism. Others, on the contrary, defend us by acting again on the offensive: they accuse the sectarians in general of a want of due reverence for things sacred, a forgetfulness of the majesty of the Deity, who is approached too often in terms of ecstatic familiarity, amounting almost to profaneness; they appeal to the Scriptures which, while revealing to us the loving-kindness of our God, would at the same time impress our minds with a mysterious awe of Jehovah; and instead, therefore, of apologizing for our observances, they express their satisfaction that, by the solemnity of our services and the decorum of our ceremonies, the devotions of the Church are discriminated from the ranting and raptures of most modern sects. They may at the same time reverence our particular ceremonies as the relics of primitive devotion, and regard, with a sentiment a-kin to piety, what acts as one of the connecting links between us and our forefathers.*

* Thus our great reformer, Archbishop Parker, in his speech to the Convocation, speaks of our ceremonies:-" He had for exerting himself not only the precedent of the late martyrs of the Reformation,

At the same time they carry out the principle of the English reformers, and perceive how the retention of the ancient ceremonies disarms the Romanist of one of his arguments. We tell the Romanist that our's is the old Catholic Church of England-his, a new sect. And when he points to his ceremonies, as a badge of his antiquity, we can defy him to the proof, for, (more especially if our rubrics be duly observed), we have in common with him the ancient ceremonies of the primitive Church, and where he differs from us, he almost always differs on matters subsequently introduced.

Now here is certainly room for some diversity of opinion, but surely, my brethren, there can be no room for that fierceness of controversy with which this subject is sometimes approached. For whether we estimate the value of our ceremonies too highly or too meanly, in principle we are all united: the ceremonies of the Church of England must be observed because we are pledged to observe them, and the ceremonies of the Church of England only.

I am far from intending to say that in these differences of opinion there is nothing of importance. If we were assembled in Convocation, empowered to make further reforms in our Church, or to discuss the need of them, our but of saints of the earliest antiquity; that some of these in the first centuries arrived in this island, and have left us noble remains of their piety and success; and notwithstanding the instructions they left, and the usages they settled, are partly worn out by time and superstition, - yet many of them have had a more happy conveyance, and reached down to the present age: and that it appears our constitutions and ceremonies are little different from what was then established."Collier, ii. 537.

opinions with respect to the value of tradition would be important in the extreme; so would be our opinions concerning the efficacy of the Sacraments, and the relative value of primitive Ceremonies, if we were re-constructing our Baptismal and Liturgical offices; nor of less importance would be our opinions on the Apostolical Succession, if the decision were to rest with us whether the Church should recognize the ministerial functions of men not episcopally ordained. But happily for us these questions have been decided for us by the Church, and to the decision of the Church, by the very fact of our being Churchmen, we unanimously bow ;-we receive her decisions as our common principle. The principles of the Church, as we have seen, form an insurmountable barrier between us and the Dissenter, both Romish and Protestant, and render union with either of those parties impossible. But to us Churchmen, surely our common principles,—if we be not carnal men cherishing in our hearts bitter envying and strife-must be a common bond of union. But how can this union be preserved, unless, like the Church itself, while we are firm to our principles, we are tolerant towards the opinions of our brethren? The rule of the Church is indeed admirable. If any clergyman, either by his teaching or by his conduct, violate any principle of the Church, he ought to be accused to the Bishop,-to receive such accusations is indeed one of the purposes for which our Diocesan holds his court among us on such