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some kinds of fruit are too expensive for rational cultivation, some are not altogether wholesome: there are trees which must be hewn down and cast into the fire.

Religious bodies may pride themselves on the soundness and orthodoxy of their beliefs; but "he that doeth righteousness is righteous"; and supposed good beliefs are no compensation for bad results, either in society or in an individual. To speak strictly, such results are inconsistent with healthy beliefs-"do well will follow thought" if the thought be of the right kind; and there is high authority for the uselessness of merely crying Lord, Lord! It is deeds far more than creeds that are wanted now; or rather, it is creeds interpreted and acted out in deeds. We have to discover, but we have also to realise. We do not want matter without form, any more than we want form without matter. An idea must be incarnated before it is effective. That is how Christianity was founded, when the Logos was made flesh,

"And so the Word had breath and wrought

With human hands the creed of creeds

In loveliness of perfect deeds

More strong than all poetic thought."

Nothing less than a re-incarnation of the Logos will reinvigorate the faith of Christendom and carry forward the salvation of mankind. That is the meaning of the Second Advent. It is in our power to make ready the way; that is what our enlightenment and education and privileges are for. Man, though a little lower than the angels, is a messenger and serv

ant of God just as truly, and his high mission is manifest. We as a nation have gone already into the ends of the earth; let us see to it that we understand and carry out rightly our great commission, in no narrow and iconoclastic spirit; remembering that, unless we set things right at home, our teaching will be ineffective, and sarcasm will be the emotion excited by our example. The second incarnation will be in the hearts of all men-a reign of brotherhood and love for which the heralds are already preparing their songs. Already there are "signs of his coming and sounds of his feet"; and upon our terrestrial activity the date of this Advent depends.

I

CHAPTER VII

SUGGESTIONS TOWARDS REFORM

F I were challenged to say wherein I think that an improvement might be made in the regulations and arrangements for a National Christian Church under present conditions, I should emphasise three things:

First, more spontaneity and less monotony in Church service of all kinds, and the abandonment of mechanical uniformity in worship.

Second, more liberal education for Ministers; and the broadening and simplification of tests, so as to exclude as few good men as possible.

Third, and consequent upon these two, clearsighted recognition of the signs of the times, study and enlightened encouragement of true beneficence, and stalwart opposition to all abuses of power.

I hesitate to enter into detail concerning these things, and yet I feel impelled to make the attempt; so, if I proceed, I will do so straightforwardly and without expressed apology.

RUBRICS

First, concerning regulations for the services of the Church. Here I plead not for legislation, but for the

absence of legislation-for the removal of the close and definite legislation which exists now.

Permissively the Prayer Book can remain unchanged, with merely a substitution of "may" for "shall," and with the occasional iteration of words stating that for many centuries such and such was the practice of the Church, thereby indicating a respect for historic continuity; but all sentences laying down a prescribed procedure, not as advisable only, but as compulsory-so that any the least variation from it becomes an illegality to be proceeded against in law courts should surely be cancelled.

Within the Church itself some rules can be laid down, as from time to time may be thought wise by the several branches, but they will not be burdensome upon the conscience. In the Episcopal branch the Bishops will naturally have paternal authority, which doubtless they will exercise with moderation and wisdom; in the Presbyterian branch the Presbytery will have appropriate authority; in the Congregational branch, it is to be presumed, the Council; and so on. Details of practice and use of formularies would thus be decided on by eligible and sometimes competent bodies, who can readily modify them from time to time, and can leave what elasticity they think wise; and Parliament would be relieved of a burdensome and archaic responsibility.

The Prayer Book, considered as a legal document, was drawn upon the assumption that any freedom or elasticity or spontaneity in conducting a service was sure to be misused-not through malice and wicked

ness, but through ignorance and stupidity. It is, in fact, founded on mistrust of intellectual or spiritual competence, mistrust which tends to justify itself by reaction of the mechanical system itself upon those constantly subjected to its constricting influence. It is also based on the idea that religious feeling is a proper subject for legislation, and that it is possible to coerce men's beliefs, to govern their inclinations and control their consciences, by a system of rigid rubics and regulations; whereas it is notorious, and almost proverbial, that if the will to break law is active, the most carefully drafted clauses have extremely little binding force. For their interpretation depends in no sort on the intention of those who framed or of those who authorised them; their interpretation can be garbled to suit an emergency, or can be adapted to a changed system of opinions.

For instance, the Thirty-Nine Articles, agreed upon by Convocation in 1562 "for the avoiding of diversities of opinions," were for the most part drawn up by Protestants as a bulwark against the Church of Rome a defence against any approach to the doctrines of that Church in certain well-known and famous controversies:-such as, Scripture not the Rule of faith; Faith not the sole Instrument of Justification; Infallibility of General Councils; Purgatory, Pardons, Relics, Invocation of Saints; five additional Sacraments; Transubstantiation; the sacrifices of the Mass. But Cardinal Newman, while still a minister of the Church of England, was able to show, in his

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