C.E.M.S.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume V, Issue 6, 1 December 1914, Page 64

C.E.M.S.

THE ANGLICAN CHURCH.

(Continued from last Issue. ) Henry had, by the Act of Supremacy, assumed the title of "On Earth, Supreme Head of the Church of England." That most eminent Englishman, Sir Thomas Moore, was sent to the block because he would not subscribe to it. Fisher's death soon followed. . The whole country was m uproar at the des-i truction of the old faith, and with the unlawful means by which it had been brought about. Agrarian discontent, and the love of the old religion united m a revolt m the North. The whole of the nobility m the North, with 30,000 men, were m arms, demanding redress for the wrongs done to the Church. Their advance was checked by negotiation, and under false promises they returned to the:r homes. Then the veil was flung aside, and the leaders of " The Pilgrimage of Grace," as it was called, were treated with ruthless severity. The country was covered with gibbets. Lord Darcy and Lord Hussey went to the block. The Abbots of Barlings, Whalley, Woburn, and Sawley hung from the gallows. The Abbots of Fountains and Jervaux were hanged at Tyburn. Lady Balmer was blurned at the stake. Sir Robert Constable was hanged m chains before the gates of Hull. The old liberties of England, political and religious, now lay prostrate at the feet of the King. He alone could define orthodoxy, or declare heresy. The forms of its worship and. belief were changed and re-changed at the royal caprice. The vast mass of wealth which flowed into the treasvrv from* the Dissolution of the Monasteries was squandered- 'with reckless prodigality. Henry's share alone was equal {o_ abput

of our money. Something like a fifth of the actual land m the kingdom was transferred fifom the holding of the Church to that of nobles and gentry. /The Russells and the Cavendishes are Instances of families which rose from obscurity through the enormous grants, of Church lands made by Henry to his favourites. Under Edward VI. the Protestants, who had now the upper hand, delighted m outrages on the faith which had trampled them under foot. The suppression of the Monasteries was the signal for a new outburst of ribald insult to the old religion. Orders were given to level- every shrine to the ground. The Sacrament of the Eucharist, the centre of the Catholic system of faith and worship, was attacked with 'a scur~ rili'ty which passes belief. In one Church, a Protestant lawyer raised a dog m his hands when the priest elevated the sacred host. The stone altars were demolished, and were replaced by wooden tables, generally stationed m the middle of the Church. The use of the new Liturgy, and attendance at the new service was enforced by imprisonment. The distaste for changes, so hurried, and so rigorously enforced, was wide spread. Ecclesiastical order was almost at an end. All that men saw was religious and political, chaos, m which ecclesiastical order had perished. Priests flung aside the surplice as superstitious. Patrons of livings presented their huntsmen or gamekeepers to the benefices m their gift, and kept the stipends. The rapid and sweeping changes made during Edward's reign, were, however, completely eclipsed by the course of events under Mary. All the religious statutes passed m the previous reign were repealed, and for three years England was given up to religious persecution. On the accession of Elizabeth, the outlook was dark. . Eleven bishoprics were vacant, and hundreds of clergymen had Been deprived of their livings, and their parishes were without clergy. Elizabeth's first and chief aim was to restore order. Parker was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury. A "revision of the Prayer Book was made and the thirty-nine articles were drawn up and published. Broadly speaking, the consecration of Archbishop Parker was the connecting link by Which the Apostolic succession m

the English Church was continued after the breach with Rome. Objections have been, until recently, urged on to the validity of his consecration. " Validly consecrated ! " cried the Roman controversialist of old. " Why, m place of consecration there was a sacriligious scene m the Nags Head JTavern m Cheapside, when Scary, an apostate monk, struck Parker on the head with a Bible, and bade him receive power to preach the Word of God ! " The utter base- ; lessness of this fable is' now admitted on all hands. That Parker was consecrated, as is recorded m the Lambeth register, it is impossible to doubt. It is admitted by such high authorities as Dr. Iyingard, the Roman Catholic historian, and by Dr. Dollinger, who says : " The result of my investigation is that I have no manner of doubt as to the validity of the Episcopal succession m the English Church." In the following reign of James I. the Bible was re-trans-lated by forty-seven scholars of both universities, and the result was the authorised version which is still m use. In the reign of Charles I, Archbishop I,aud adopted stringent means to enforce order and discipline m the Church. . This aroaised the hostility of the Puritans which was intensified by the absolutism of the King, with which Laud was identified. When Parliament was summoned, the Puritan majority attacked the Church. Bishops were imprisoned, clergy were punished and Episcopacy was abolished. The use of the Prayer Book was forbidden under penalty of heavy fine or imprisonment. It was a crime m a child to read by the bedside of a sick parent, one of those beautiful Collects which had soothed the griefs of forty gererations of Christians. For twelve years the . National Church lay prostsate beneath military violence and fanaticism. The . year ' 1660 witnessed the restoration of .Charles 11, and. the Church again raised her head. The Bishoips and clergy emerged from their hiding places, and were, re-in-stated m sees and Churches. The work of revision of the Prayer Book was concluded m i66iy principally under the wise guidance of Bishop Cosin, and it has remained-practi-cally the same to the present day. The Puritans, however, refused to conform, and most of them resigned

their benefices, casting m their lot with the Independents. The practical energy of the Church declined. A spirit of deadness crept over the Church. The services were lew m number, and the poor were " pewed " out of the • Churches. This spiritual lethargy ultimately gave way to the Evangelistic revival of Wesley and Whitefield. Intense and absolutely sincere as was the piety of the evangelical Churchmen, it left the English Church for the most part untouched, and torpor, indifference, nay, neglect of first duties marked all Church work. . . . . About the close of the eighteenth century, the condition of the Church was such that it seemed marvellous that it should survive jsuch indications of debility and decay. In 1774, . Sydney Smith became curate-in-charge of a village Church. He found the Church empty, and the villagers food for Newgate and for the halter. Five years later he wrote, " In England there is no religion at all except among ladies m the middle rank of life. The clergy of England have no more influence on the people than the cheesemongers of England." In 1801 Bishop Porteoiis wrote, "that the state of the .kingdom, political, moral and religious, was so untavourable as to excite alarm m every mind of reflection." The most popular cry was " more pigs and less parsons." The Bishops were hated. They were defenders of slavery and the bloody penal code, and resolute opponents of every political and social reform. The Bishop of lyondon could not keep an engagement to preach -lest the congregation should stone him. The Bishop of lyichfield barely escaped with his life after preaching at S. Bride's, m Keel Street. The house of the Bishop of Bath and Wells was sacked and burnt. Archbishop Howley was insulted, spat upon M and only brought by a circuitous route to the Deanery! amidst the execrations of the mob. His chaplain complained that a dead cat had been thrown at him, when the Archbishop replied, "You- should be thankful that it was not a live 'one." Dean Hole, m his " Memories," says that the curate of his village, who lived five miles away, rode over for one dreary service, dined, and they saw him no more during the week ' (To b* Continue^