Ritualism in England

BY AN ENGLISH RITUALIST.

WHAT is the scope, what are the aims and objects, the present influences and probable results, of that great religious movement which is so rapidly gaining ground in England ?

Ritualism, as it is commonly called, Sacramentalism, as it is termed by its votaries, presents the somewhat unusual aspect of a revival of religious feelings and practices which is not evanescent in character, but which, on the contrary, gathers strength from day to day. It has assumed such proportions as to render it unwise any longer to treat it as a bugbear ; it certainly is thoughtless to speak of it as a fiasco.

In many parts of England Ritualism has so thoroughly undermined the ordinary religious currents of society that it has wellnigh produced a convulsion. It has parted friends, it has disunited families ; stormy meetings have been held, advocating its suppression ; bodies of rioters have sacked churches, attacked the houses of the priests, and openly insulted and ill-treated many inoffensive persons in the streets, simply because they were Ritualists. For many months during the year 1867 the church services were disturbed Sundayafter Sunday, and the congregations were obliged to be protected by large bodies of police. Lengthy and excited debates on this subject have taken place in Parliament, which ended in the appointment of a mixed commission of inquiry, with the imposing title of “ The Royal Commission on Ritual.” This commission held innumerable sittings, to which were cited all the principal exponents of Sacramental doctrines and ritual practices throughout the United Kingdom. The different commissioners propounded no less than four thousand and two questions, which elicited a vast and curious mass of information. They issued a lengthy report, which, so far from leading to any suppression of ritual, gave it an immense impetus, inasmuch as the greater part of the practices of the Ritualists were proved, in the course of the inquiry, to be legal, and in accordance with the rubrics of the Church of England as expressed in the Book of Common Prayer. Many priests, who had not introduced ritual into their services because they hesitated as to its actual legality, did so on the Sunday foliowing the issue of the report. As a last resource, the Low Church party appealed to the powers of the Ecclesiastical Courts, and instituted a legal process against Father Mackonochie of St. Alban’s, London, one of the most advanced Ritualists of the day. This prosecution, involving law expenses to the amount of thirty thousand pounds, utterly failed in its main points, and the judge himself openly expressed his sympathy with the defendants.

Strengthened rather than subdued by this unceasing opposition, Ritualism holds its own, gaining many converts from the publicity thus given to its teachings, and much negative support from that large class of persons who have an antipathy to anything like control over freedom of opinion. The Ritualists have now at least sixty churches in London and its suburbs, besides many mission chapels and mission rooms; and it is estimated that there are no less than one million and a half avowed supporters of the movement in the United Kingdom. This is a considerable proportion of the church-going population ; too large a body to be put down by public clamor, too powerful and too influential from the amount of wealth and education among its members to be lightly esteemed. They are prepared to fight any amount of battles in the law courts, but steadily refuse to submit to retrospective parliamentary legislation, as subversive of the ordination vows of the clergy; and, taking their stand on the rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer, declare their readiness to be judged by them, and by them only.

This religious movement, however, is by no means confined to England. It has penetrated into Presbyterian Scotland, it has insinuated itself into Roman Catholic Ireland, it has broken out in Canada, Australia, and the Bahama Islands ; the newly appointed bishops of Calcutta, Dunedin in New Zealand, and the Orange River Free State in Africa, are all avowed Rituatists, and will not only bring their own personal influence to bear on their respective dioceses, but will be backed up by all the moral support of their friends at home ; and lastly, what concerns the American people most, it has reached the shores of the United States.

Many agencies have combined to revive Sacramentalism, of which Ritualism is merely the outward exponent, and to promote its growth. The violent changes attending the great Protestant reformation of the sixteenth century resulted in an ultra-Puritanism which Ritualists believe is foreign to the nature of the great bulk of the English people. From this ultra-Puritanism a reaction, sooner or later, was inevitable ; and it was undoubtedly delayed, first, by the suspected Papish proclivities of" the Stuarts ; secondly, by the German free-thinking tendencies of the House of Hanover, and the sad example in matters of religion of all the sovereigns of that house, except of George III.

The first symptoms of a general reaction showed themselves thirty years ago in the writings of the Tractarians. It was in “Tracts for the Times” that Sacramental doctrines were first promulgated with any success since the Reformation ; but it is only within the last ten years that they have made such great strides, gained so many adherents, and attracted such general attention, giving birth to the so-called Ritualistic section of the Anglican Church. The supporters of this movement declared at its commencement their earnest conviction that a due and reverent celebration of the Holy Eucharist is the central act of divine worship, and avowed their intention to devote their talents, their energies, and their lives to the promotion of its restoration to its proper position in the services of the Church. To this end they revived the rubrical Ritual, which had been allowed to remain so long in abeyance, inculcating Catholic practices of a highly devotional character, which have never been expunged from the canon law, and which, being innocent in themselves, ought certainly not to be included among the errors of the Church of Rome. They thought, moreover, that Catholic practices might tend to bring about some approach to Catholic unity, an object which they had very much at heart ; and in this hope they have dropped the distinctive appellation of Protestant, and now call themselves Catholics.

But they give another reason for dropping this word Protestant, and one which seems very fair, namely, that the Anglican Church has existed on the basis of its own foundations for three hundred years, and should, if it is to remain a distinctive communion, rest on its own merits, and not solely on its protest against the Church of Rome.

They also maintain that a more ornate form of worship has a decided influence in bringing the poorer and less educated classes to church ; and they point to their great success among the poor, in this respect, as a proof of the truth of their assertion. This success is certainly a great plea in favor of Ritualism ; although, to some extent, allowance must be made, in speaking of this increased attendance, for the fact that all the seats in their churches are free, and that all fees are absolutely declined, from rich and poor alike; in the case of baptism, because they will not traffic in the sacraments; in the case of other services, because they will not allow any distinction between the rich and the poor. Nevertheless, the getting them there at all is a great result to have attained.

Following the example of their Roman brethren, the Ritualistic clergy live for and entirely among their poor ; and this is one great element in their success, one great source of the power they have obtained and are daily obtaining.

Their work among the poor has been immense. They have built stately churches, with most magnificent and costly interiors, for their especial use, in all parts of the country. They have established and kept up by their own exertions no less than fifty - seven homes for sick and aged persons ; nine general and convalescent hospitals ; two hospitals for incurables ; ten missions to fallen women ; twenty-seven penitentiaries for fallen women who wish to train themselves for better things ; twenty-four brotherhoods and guilds ; forty-one sisterhoods ; and nineteen associations for general religious purposes. The homes, the hospitals, and the penitentiaries are all managed by sisters detailed from their respective convents for that purpose. These brotherhoods and sisterhoods are an immense help to the clergy. They nurse the sick poor in their own houses, distribute just a sufficiency of relief to enable them to exist, without encouraging idleness ; they manage the day, night, infant, and Sunday schools ; manage the savings banks, institutes for youths, workingmen’s clubs, maternal societies, parish libraries, readingrooms, clothing clubs, burial societies, penny readings, &c., &c., and thus enable the clergy to concentrate their energies on the spiritual work of their parishes. One priest, Father Wagner of Brighton, has built one magnificent church and four smaller ones in his district at his own personal cost ; he keeps six curates to aid him in his work ; he has a sisterhood, a penitentiary for fallen women, a home for aged people, a hospital, a convalescent home, and an orphanage ; all of which works are carried on with funds mainly from his own resources. And yet this man, who devotes the whole of his large fortune to such objects as these, and whose private life is extraordinary in its simplicity and saintly character, has often been hooted through the streets of Brighton, has been set upon by brutal gangs of ruffians, and at one time could not leave his house without endangering his life,— and all because he is a Ritualist; on one occasion he would certainly have been seriously injured, if not killed outright, had it not been for the timely interference of some gentlemen who came up, and who were themselves seriously mauled in the encounter, Some of these wretches actually proposed to burn him as Guy Fawkes on the following 5th of November. When the Church of St. Michael and All Angels was first opened in Shoreditch, some of the sisters were hooted, stoned, and actually fired at in the streets. Father Stuart had a fortune of thirty thousand pounds. He devoted the whole of it to the good of others. He obtained a district, and built a splendid church and schools in one of the worst parts of London, only leaving himself an income for life of one hundred and fifty pounds. He lives in two small rooms without Carpeting, and has only an old housekeeper to attend to his personal wants ; still he is cheerful, happy as a king, and works indefatigably.

But these are only examples of that spirit of devotion and self-sacrifice which pervades the whole body of the Ritualistic clergy and laity Many of them occupy rooms in those enormous model lodging-houses for the poor which it is now the fashion to erect in the more thickly populated districts of the great towns in England. They seldom go into society, but, when they do join in social gatherings, they are cheerful, genial, and universal favorites. They are, however, mostly unable and unwilling to spare the time for such purposes, having, besides the cafe of the poor, to attend to the services of the church. They have a celebration of the Holy Eucharist, Matins, and Evensong, every day of the week, with two celebrations on saints’ days and holy days, and the Litany on Wednesday and Friday. On Sunday they have three celebrations, — the first at six o’clock, the second at eight, and high service at half past eleven; Matins at half past ten, Litany, with public catechizing of the children in church, at half past three, and Evensong at seven. Baptism is administered during any service, Sunday and week-day, with the exception of the celebration. Private baptisms in church never take place. For, besides upholding the fitness of public administration as a great Catholic principle, the clergy will not allow so obvious a distinction to be drawn between the rich and the poor man’s child. The clergy live in the most homely way, and set a lively example to their flocks by rigidly carrying out in their own private lives what they publicly preach. It is no unusual circumstance for them to receive large pecuniary support from persons who, though disagreeing with their Ritual practices, cannot help admiring their devotion, energy, and self-denial, and, acknowledging the great work they have accomplished in persuading the poor to make religion an every-day practice, and not to use it as a Sunday garment which is carefully put away for the remainder of the week.

There are some works carried on by these sisterhoods, brotherhoods, and guilds which excite considerable attention and sympathy among all classes and all creeds in England, — works which speak for themselves as to the amount of good they do.

In case of illness, where the sick person is too ill to be moved, or is unable to obtain admission to one of the hospitals (they sometimes have to wait for weeks, in consequence of the crowded state of the wards), a message is sent to the nearest sisterhood, asking assistance. A sister is despatched by the next train to act as nurse, and to assist in taking care of the children, if it is the mother who is ill. If she finds, on her arrival, that the common necessaries of a sick-room, such as medicine, gruel, arrowroot, tea, and brandy, are wanting, or that proper medical attendance has not been called in from want of means to pay for them, she immediately provides what is wanted, and telegraphs to the Mother Superior for further instructions. She remains till the patient either recovers or dies, or until his removal to the hospital, head nurse, head servant, and at every one’s disposal. The comfort of such a nurse to a sick poor man is very great ; and the wife, by having some one to sit up with her husband at night, is enabled to get that night’s rest which is necessary to fit her for the next day’s work.

When a man meets with that most terrible of all calamities to the poor, the loss of his wife, and has to face the difficulty of bringing up unaided a large family of young children, perhaps the youngest an infant, the sisters come to his help, and remove the younger children, baby and all, to their convent nursery. They take care of them till they are old enough to go to school while the father is at work, he contributing a small weekly sum to their maintenance and clothing expenses. This does away with the necessity of the father marrying again, so often the cause of future misery to himself and his children. His little ones are accessible to him at all times, and he can remove them at a minute’s notice. Three or four years ago, a sister who was working among the dens of Whitechapel inquired of a man who had just lost his wife what had become of his child. This poor drunkard actually confessed that he had pawned him to buy drink. The child was of course immediately taken out of pawn, and the sister gave the man thirty shillings to surrender all claim on the boy. This little fellow has lived with the sisters ever since, and may be often seen, in his little cassock and surplice, taking his part in the service at the mission church close by. He is a bright, cheerful boy, and his looks tell how he has been cared for.

Another great institution that confers endless benefits on the poor is the day nursery. A woman with a young baby has a chance of a day’s work, either washing or house-cleaning, which will enable her to add to the weekly money just enough to make that allimportant difference between existence and comfort. On her way to her work she takes her baby to the day nursery, where several sisters are in attendance from six o’clock in the morning till six o’clock at night, and calls for it again on her return home. All round the room where these little things are kept are ranges of cribs and cradles, in which they are regularly put to bed at the proper time. There is every appliance for washing, bathing, and dressing them, every description of infantile food and medicines, and the floor is scattered with innumerable toys for their amusement. It is curious to see all these little ones tumbling happily about on the floor, and very gratifying to see the motherly care of them displayed by the sisters.

Of all the numerous organizations managed by the brotherhoods and guilds, none have been more thoroughly successful, or exercised a beneficial influence in so many ways, as the workingmen’s clubs, it has been urged that these clubs are open to the objection of drawing men from their homes and families when their work is over, and consequently that they must do harm. But there are times when a workingman is best away from home, — times when, if he remained at home, he would be in the way ; for instance, when the family washing and ironing is going on, or that particular evening in the week on which all the children are put into the tub ; and there are times when he will be away, and, unless there is such a place as the club to go to, he is certain to be found in the public-house. Moreover, experience has shown that the beneficial influences brought to bear upon men in the club have a tendency to make them value and love their homes more, to take an interest in their improvement and the promotion of greater comfort for their families.

The workingman’s club generally consists of two large rooms, which are airy, well-lighted, cheerful, scrupulously clean, and in winter warmed with huge roaring fires. The furniture consists of large, comfortable, wooden armchairs ; one large, plain wooden table in the middle of the room, which is covered with newspapers and periodicals ; two separate tables for writing, with the necessary materials, and several smaller ones scattered about the room, on which are placed draughtboards, chessmen, backgammon-boards, dominos, and other such harmless games. There are generally a few shelves, on which are kept a small number of books likely to be useful to a workingman ; such as a dictionary, a good standard History of England, a guide to London, a railway guide, books on window gardening, poultry and rabbit keeping, &c., and works bearing on different trades and manufactures, together with a carefully selected collection of lighter reading. In another part of the room there is a small counter where newspapers, magazines, stationery, photographs, cheap prints, &c., and a small stock of books of a good but inexpensive character are sold at cost price. This is a very valuable accessary to club-work, as it tends to check the sale of that low and immoral class of literature which is to be found in the cheap book-stalls around the houses of the poor. At the end of the room there is a small bar, where any man, if he chooses, can purchase tea and coffee, bread and cheese, or butter, biscuits, tobacco, and pipes at cost price. No beer or spirit is allowed. The daily newspapers are collected every day at five o’clock from different supporters of the club by one of the brothers of the guild detailed for that purpose. They are of all shades of opinion. The magazines and periodicals are forwarded by friends to the honorary secretary of the club, as soon as they have read them.

Two or three of the guildsmen put in an appearance at the club every evening. They smoke a pipe with the men, play at chess with one, at dominos with another, or discuss the news of the day with two or three others. They assume a position of perfect equality with them, and endeavor by kindliness of manner to do away with any feeling of restraint that might otherwise be engendered in the minds of the members. The local clergy will sometimes drop in for an hour, shakinghands with one and another, asking after this man’s wife or that man’s child, and showing the men that they take an interest in their every-day life, as well as in their spiritual welfare.

On Saturday the club holds what is termed a free-and-easy. A president for the evening is chosen among the men, reading and games are put aside, and all draw around the Inrge centretable, or in the winter around the fire. On this one evening of the week the bar supplies at cost price one pint of the very best English porter to each man present. When all are seated, and pipes replenished, the president sings a song, generally one with a rousing chorus, and calls on every one in turn either to sing, tell a story, ask a riddle, or do anything he pleases likely to contribute to the general amusement. General though harmless merriment ensues, and the club spends a pleasant evening without spending any money, and without the usual Sunday-morning headache. The clergy do not appear at the free-and-easies. In the room up stairs more serious work is being carried on. This is the club school-room. Here those who are willing to receive instruction may learn to read and write, and have the opportunity of studying books likely to improve them in their trade, apart from the noise and bustle of the general room. Members of these clubs have sometimes attributed the power to earn increased wages to the facilities for study provided for them in the schoolrooms.

These clubs, however, think it is unfair that the men should derive the sole benefit from them, so once a month they give an entertainment to the wives

and daughters of the members. These entertainments, if carefully arranged and sufficiently varied, are one of the most p®pular elements in the working of the club. A very small expenditure will provide an exhibition of dissolving-views, a magic-lantern, or a conjurer. Readings from amusing books or recitations of poetry are always well received; sometimes, for a change, a series of short biographies of men of the times, or descriptions of foreign travel, have been tried with success ; and during the pauses some of the guildsmen come forward and sing a solo, or one or two glees, or give a performance on a musical instrument. Lectures on dry subjects must be studiously avoided, remembering that the audience have come to be amused, and not for the purpose of study. It has been found that an address from a well-known popular lecturer will not draw half so many from their homes as an announcement that one of the guildsmen is to read the “Trial Scene” in Pickwick.

Once in every year, on the anniversary of the opening of the club, a grand supper is given. This is a costly and great undertaking, taxing all the resources of such an establishment, but it is wonderfully popular. With a little help from friends and good management, supper, consisting of roast and boiled meat with vegetables, pastry, and a pint of beer for each man, can be provided for eighteen-pence each ; and it is certainly worth the money expended, for somehow or other these meetings do conduce greatly to the good-fellowship and well-being of the club. There are only two rules of importance in force in the clubs : first, that the subscription to the club be eightpence a month, payable in advance ; secondly, that no drinking, betting, gambling, swearing, or foul language be tolerated. Any member infringing this latter rule is debarred from using the club for one week ; on the second offence he is suspended for one month ; on the third offence he is expelled the club altogether, and a notice is placed over the mantel-piece of the general room, declaring his expulsion and the cause which led to it. Two excellent proofs of the beneficial influence of these clubs on working-men may be adduced. One is, that the organizers of them are repeatedly thanked in the most hearty manner by the wives for establishing them; they declaring that their husbands are totally different men, and that they have more money to spend at home. The other is, that the keepers of the neighboring pot-houses declare that the working-men’s clubs ruin their business.

It may not be out of place here to give some few extracts from the official minutes of the evidence given before The Royal Commission on Ritual, previously alluded to ; an inquiry which resulted in the conviction, with a large portion of the English people, that the practices of the Ritualists were within the letter of the rubrics, and in the promulgation to the world of the greatness and extent of their work as compared with that of the Low Church party.

“ Rev. George Cosby White called in and examined.

“ Ques. What is the population of your district ?

“ Ans. The population of the district at this moment I believe to be verging upon six thousand.

“ Ques. What number of clergymen are there in the parish, ministering?

“Ans. Five.

“ Ques. What is the amount of your offertory every year ?

“Ans. From £ 1,200 to £ 1,300.

“ Ques. What is the largest number of communicants you have had on Easter day?

“Ans. We had 734 last Easter-day,

“ Ques. Your general congregations, then, have a large mixture of poor ?

“ Ans. A very large mixture of poor.

“ Ques. Are they your own poor ?

“ Ans. Our own poor.

“ Ques. Do you think your services have tended to attract the poor ?

“Ans. I think they have, very decidedly.”

“ Rev. Benjamin Webb called in and examined.

“ Qnes. How many are there in your district ?

“Ans. Between five and six thousand.

“ Ques. Will you state the amount you receive from the offertory collections in the course of the year ?

“ Ans. About £2,500.

“ Ques. In addition to that, are there any subscriptions for parochial purposes, schools, and the like ?

“Ans. Yes, very large.”

“ Rev. George Megee called and examined.

“ Ques. Can you trace any distinct effect upon the poor of your parish from your changing the services from the high choral to the vestmented service ?

“Ans. No, I can trace no effect but what is for the better ; I cannot see any deterioration.

“ Ques. I did not ask good or bad, but can you trace any effect ?

“Ans. I think the whole tone of my parish has been raised. I have every reason to believe that drunkenness, which in my parish was proverbial on Sunday, and the non-church-going spirit, which formerly existed, have disappeared. The fashion in my parish now is to go to church. Certainly, results as regards numbers would prove that.”

Mr. Megee continued by remarking that the dissenting chapel in his parish is shut up, “ the proprietor of that chapel being in my choir at the present moment, and being one of my chief supporters.”

Rev. William James Early Bennett called in and examined.

“ Ques. Do you believe that your course of ministration, the ornate services which you have adopted for several years, has had a tendency to drive people into the Roman Communion or to keep them out of it ?

“ Ans. It has had a tendency to keep them in die English Church.”

“ Mr. Christian Clark Spiller, churchwarden for four years of St. Alban’s, Holborn, called in and examined.

“ Ques. I have been informed that many persons who have been Dissenters have now become regular attendants at St. Alban’s Church. Can you say whether that is or is not the case from your own knowledge ?

“ Ans. Well, I cannot say that; but I know this very well, that, if it had not been for St. Alban’s Church, hundreds would have gone over.

“ Ques. Gone over to where ?

“Ans. Gone to the Roman Catholic Church.”

Is it not wise, then, to inquire what are the peculiar doctrines and practices of these men ? Their system is now being introduced here ; and although it has not reached that high development in this country which it has in England, it is only because the æsthetic eye and mind of the American people are not yet sufficiently educated to bear it. But we are told that its time will come, and that before very long. A short sketch of the mode in which their services are conducted will perhaps be interesting.

At the time of high celebration, the altar-lights having been previously lighted, the credence-table properly arranged, and the service-books laid on the altar, the procession enters the church from the sacristy, headed by the crucifer, followed by the thurifers, swinging incense, and the taper-bearers ; then come the general body of the choir, carrying beautiful and costly banners of the cross, the Blessed Sacrament, the Blessed Virgin, and the patron saint of the church ; and finally the deacon, sub-deacon, and celebrant, in their respective sacrificial vestments.¹ They pass down the south and up the centre aisles, chanting the processional. On reaching the chancel, the choir take their seats in the choir-stalls, the priests standing at the altar step. The Introit is then sung, and at its termination the celebrant proceeds to the pace step of the altar and commences the ante-communion office. During the singing of the Nicene Creed, at the words “ He was made man ” all devoutly kneel, and at its termination reverently bless themselves with the sign of the cross. All ecclesiastical announcements are then made, banns of marriage published, and the sub-deacon proceeds to deliver the sermon, either from the altar step or from the pulpit, attended by the crucifer, who holds the crucifix over the priest during the entire address, which he commences with an invocation of the Trinity, when all again cross themselves. The sermon ended, the offertory is collected ; during the singing of the offertory sentences, the elements are reverently brought from the credence-table to the altar, on which they are placed with the alms. The prayer for the Church Militant is then intoned, and the actual celebration commences.

During the giving of the absolution the congregation prostrate themselves to receive its benefits with due humility, and, when it is ended, again cross themselves. The altar, priests, and the elements and sacred vessels are then incensed, preparatory to the great sacerdotal act of consecration ; the Veni Creator is sung, and the priest recites in a low voice the prayer of consecration. At the words, “ This is my body,” “ This is my blood,” he respectively elevates the paten and chalice, the deacon, sub-deacon, choir, and congregation prostrating themselves in adoration ; at the same time the churchbell is tolled, to enable those who are sick at home to join in the adoration. The Agnus Dei, or prayer of adoration to the Saviour, spiritually present in the consecrated elements, is then sung, all still remaining prostrate. The priest then communicates himself and the few who are compelled to communicate at High Mass, and proceeds with the postcommunion office. The Gloria in Excelsis having been chanted, the benediction given, and the remaining elements consumed, the deacon and subdeacon assist the celebrant in the ablutions. The pall and corporal are then carefully folded and placed in the burse, the procession is formed in the same order as on entering, and slowly retires, singing the Nunc Dimittis as a recessional.

Father Morrill, the incumbent of St. Alban’s, purports to be the principal exponent of Sacramental doctrines and Ritualistic practices in the city of New York. But though there is much to be commended in the services of that church, there are, nevertheless, some cardinal points of Catholic practice of which he is either ignorant or neglectful.

There is a general insufficiency of services at his church, culminating in the absence of an early celebration of the Holy Eucharist, and its natural consequence, a large body of unfasted communicants at the High Celebration. Why do many members of the congregation insist on making genuflections to the altar, when there is nothing whatever on it to which to genuflect ? for they have no reservation of the Blessed Sacrament. Perhaps they have never had the true meaning and object of a genuflection properly explained to them. Again, a large number of the congregation remain seated during some of the most solemn portions of the Eucharistic Service, and leave the church before the consumption of the remaining elements and the ablutions of the sacred vessels, — both of which are strictly enjoined in the rubrics ; and, as a matter of course, the office is incomplete till they have taken place. To the uninitiated these points may seem trivial and unimportant, but to the sincere Ritualist they are most material. If Father Morrill’s congregation heartily and sincerely accept the sacramental doctrines of the Holy Eucharist, they are undoubtedly guilty of great and reprehensible irreverence by such actions as these. If they do not, the sooner Ritual is discontinued in that church the better ; for without the acceptance of these doctrines it is a mere meaningless mummery.

It is a great error, though a very common one, to suppose that the peculiar aspirations of the Ritualists are centred in a green stole or a violet chasuble, altar lights, and altar linen. These æsthetic accessories of ceremonials are only valued as the formal outward expression of great doctrinal teachings. The Ritualists therefore insist upon their desirability, if not of their necessity, saying: —

First: That they are the safeguards of the sacraments, that they may be rightly and duly administered, and not endangered, either in respect of matter or form, by the chances of negligence or indevotion.

Secondly : That they are the expressions of doctrine, and witnesses to the sacramental system of the Catholic religion.

Thirdly : That they are habitual and minute acts of love to Him who so loved us ; for love is shown not only in the doing of some great thing, in the performance of some august rite in the very presence of God, but also in an affectionate, reverent, and pious care in even the smallest details of the service of the sanctuary, — marks of love to our Blessed Lord in the performance of divine service generally, and of dread and binding obligation in what so concerns the essence of the sacraments.

Fourthly: There are securities for respect, by promoting God’s glory in the eyes of men, and also in serving to put the priest in remembrance of him whom he serves, and whose he is.

In fact, the whole system and force of Ritual is concentrated on the proper and reverent administration of the Holy Eucharist as the central act of divine worship, and a fit and devout adoration of the real spiritual presence of the body and blood of our Saviour, invoked into the elements of bread and wine by sacerdotal power, derived from the Holy Ghost by the laying on of bands.

The sacramental doctrine of the Ritualists differs materially from that of Transubstantiation which is taught in the Roman Communion, and should in no wise be confounded with it. It is not a difference in degree, but a directly opposed theory. A comparative digest of the two doctrines was embodied in a memorial to the Archbishop of Canterbury, dated 30 May, 1867, and signed by the leading Ritualistic clergy on behalf of their brethren. It is given in its entirety, as being a specific and binding declaration of their teachings.

“(1.) We repudiate the opinion of a 'corporal presence of Christ’s natural flesh and blood,’ — that is to say, of the presence of his body and blood as they ‘are in heaven’ ; and the conception of the mode ot his presence, which implies the physical change of the natural substances of the bread and wine, commonly called ‘ Transubstantiation.’

“We believe that in the Holy Eucharist, by virtue of the consecration, through the power of the Holy Ghost, the body and blood of our Saviour Christ, ‘ the inward part, or thing signified,’ are present really and truly, but spiritually and ineffably, under ‘ the outward visible part or sign,’ or ‘ form of bread and wine.’

“(2.) We repudiate the notion of any fresh sacrifice, or any view of the eucharistic sacrificial offering, as of something apart from the one all-sufficient sacrifice and oblation on the cross, which alone 'is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual,’ and which alone is meritorious.

“ We believe that, as in heaven Christ, our great high-priest, ever offers himself before the eternal Father, pleading by his presence his sacrifice of himself, once offered on the cross ; so on earth, in the Holy Eucharist, that same body, once for all sacrificed for us, and that same blood, once for all shed for us, sacramentally present, are offered and pleaded before the Father by the priest, as our Lord ordained to be done in remembrance of himself, when he instituted the blessed sacrament of his body and blood.

“(3.) We repudiate all ‘adoration’ of ‘ the sacramental bread and wine,’ which would be ‘idolatry’; regarding them with the reverence due to them because of their sacramental relation to the body and blood of our Lord ; we repudiate also all adoration of a ‘ corporal presence of Christ’s natural flesh and blood,’ that is to say, of the presence of his body and blood as they ‘are in heaven.’

“ We believe that Christ himself really and truly, but spiritually and ineffably, present in the sacrament, is therein to be adored.

“ Furthermore, in so far as any of the undersigned, repudiating and believing as hereinbefore stated, have used, in whatever degree, a ritual beyond what had become common in our churches, we desire to state that we have done so, not as wishing to introduce a system of worship foreign to the Church of England, but as believing that, in doing so, we act in harmony with the principles and the law of the Church of England, and as using that liberty, which has in such matters been always allowed to her clergy and her people ; having at heart the promotion of the glory of God in the due and reverent celebration of the Holy Eucharist as the central act of divine worship.

“ In making the above statement, we desire expressly to guard ourselves against being supposed to put it forth as any new exposition of the faith; we wish only thus publicly to make known this, our profession of faith, for the quieting of the minds of others, and for the satisfaction of our consciences.”

This important declaration of belief was published in answer to accusations brought against the Ritualistic clergy by the organs of the Low Church party, charging them with openly preaching the sacramental doctrines of the Church of Rome. The doctrine of the real spiritual presence, defended in this memorial, is the key to their whole sacramental system. This is the part of the fortress which their more politic enemies always attack. This is the part which is the chief object of their solicitude, care, and defence. This is the part which they assert is one of their points of necessary departure from the Church of Rome, though many Romanists maintain that it is the first sign of a reapproach to their communion. Here it was that the extreme Protestants, mistaking Ritualism altogether, so utterly failed in their attack ; pouring all their anathemas on the outer shell, forgetting that the germ of life was in the kernel.

The difference between the sacramental doctrines enunciated by the Ritualists in their memorial, and those which are taught by the Romanists, is most appreciable. The Ritualists contending that the presence, though actual and real, is only spiritual ; the Romanists contending that the presence is of such an absolutely carnal nature that the actual fleshly body in the process of mangifying, as it is termed, — i. e pressing with the teeth, — produces the actual blood; and they carry this doctrine to such an extent that they declare it inexpedient to administer the blessed sacrament in both kinds to the laity ; the one kind, the body, containing necessarily, as they assert, the other kind, the blood.

The Ritualists will certainly never, as a body, become absorbed in the Roman Church. If they should — which God forbid ! — be driven by persecution from the Anglican Church, they will form a communion of their own, fearful as such a schism would be ; but they would prefer this dreadful alternative to what they consider is idolatry. Whether mutual concession can ever bring about the reunion of the Western and Eastern churches is a question very interesting to the world at large, though not likely to be settled in the time of the present generation. That very earnest steps are being taken to promote the reunion of Christendom must be evident to any one who studies the signs of the times ; and many thoughtful-minded men think that Ritualism may be one means of promoting that object. The great difficulty has always been with the Protestants of all denominations, with whom the Church of Rome has till quite lately refused to hold any intercourse ; and it is hoped by many that Ritualism may turn out to be that link of reconnection which is so much to be desired.² If in the course of years, however, it should prove to be a failure, it would undoubtedly conduce to a spread of Romanism, but still more to a spread of Rationalism. But it is difficult to imagine that failure will attend the efforts of a system whose object is to make religion an every day practice, to promote the glory of God by a more frequent, and more reverent celebration of the Holy Eucharist, and to raise the workingman to a level of perfect equality with the rich man in the house of God.