On the other hand, an opinion solemnly pronounced by Convocation, that any rapid attempt at the amendment of discipline upon a

it was arbitrary, except only under James II., dispensed with the Common Councils of the Church? Certainly the appointment, unconnected with Convocation, of the Ecclesiastical Commission, in 1689, by William III.,—(which was itself objected to at the time, so much so, that four of the Commissioners, Sprat, Bishop of Rochester, Jane, Dean of Gloucester, Aldrich, Dean of Christ Church, and Meggot, Dean of Winchester, withdrew from the Commission, partly on this very account,)-made special provision for reference in due time to the Convocation. The Commission, as quoted in Birch's Life of Tillotson, runs thus:-" Whereas ... We therefore ... authorize any nine of you, [of the thirty Commissioners,] three to be Bishops, to propose such alterations of the Liturgy and Canons, and such proposals for the reformation of Ecclesiastical Courts, and to consider such other matters, [the preamble had specified, a stricter method for the examination of candidates for Holy Orders,'] as in your judgment may most conduce to the ends above-mentioned;" that is, peace and reconcilement of differences,—p. 180, ed. 1752.—Immediately afterwards, it is added by the biographer--" What they agreed upon, being laid before Convocation, might first have their sanction, and then that of the Parliament itself."But an authentic MS. of the Commissioners' consultations, in stating the tenor of their Commission, after the words"to the ends above-mentioned;"-goes on thus-" so that the things, so by you considered and proposed, may be in readiness to be OFFERED to the Convocation at their next meeting, and WHEN APPROVED by them, may be presented to us, and our two Houses of Parliament; and that, if it shall be judged fit, it may be established in due form of law.-September 17th, 1689."

large scale is at present impracticable, (should such be the result of its deliberation,) and that opinion accompanied with the principal reasons on which it is grounded, would probably satisfy and compose the minds of many conscientious churchmen, who would never rest in any other decision; and it might even convince some gainsayers.

If on a full consideration of the subject, it should be thought right, that in future, Provincial and Diocesan Synods, upon some such plan as above alluded to, should be revived, and that Convocations should merge in Provincial Assemblies, properly so called; who so well suited as the Convocation itself to discuss and arrange, in due submission to the civil power, such a transfer of its duties and employments?

CHAPTER V.

The Church's own Consultations the best, the only means of settling the question respecting the revision of the Book of Common Prayer.

THE doubts in some cases, and contentions in others, which have arisen regarding the revision of the book of Common Prayer, require a duly authoritative adjustment, without which they cannot, it should seem, be adjusted at all. The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion will not, it is presumed, be now brought into debate, which were so unanimously agreed to by the fathers of the Reformation, and left untouched by all the most pious and learned of our divines at the Restoration. Nolumus mutari will be still, we hope, the watchword with regard to this standard of faith. As to the Liturgy, there be among good men considerable difference of opinion.

may

For myself, I candidly confess, if without presumption I may say it, that I am opposed to any attempt at revising the Liturgy, under our present circumstances, for the following reasons:- 1. Dissenters, on principle, fairly tell us, that as far as they are concerned, no corrections would avail, as long as the Church of England is an Established Church. 2. The corrections could not be limited by any antecedent measure to a few, or to inconsiderable changes; their extent would depend entirely upon the opinion of the Commission, to whom, probably, the preparation of them would be entrusted. 3. Our standard of theology and piety is surely far inferior to that of the martyrs of our Church, the chief compilers of the Liturgy; the puny stature of most clergymen's liturgical criticism at this day could not, without presumption, be brought to cope with their strength; our knowledge of Scripture, and of Christian antiquity, ought first to be elevated to somewhat of a level with theirs; then we might proceed to review their labours. 4. It is better, when the risk of failure in sacred learning is so hazardous, to continue the use of formularies, in which, with all their imperfections, so many thousands of pious Christians, from generation to generation, have joined with edification, than to be meddling, and criticising, and perhaps

wrangling, about "words to no profit," and so losing all spiritual benefit and comfort. 5. The principle of innovation in civil affairs, so warmly contended for at the present day, cannot be applied to religion and the Church of CHRIST, without fatal error; in many temporal matters, the inventive powers of this age have done wonders; but in relation to the doctrines and institutions of Christ and his Apostles, as Jewel expresses it, what is new, that is erroneous; what is ancient, that is genuine and good.* 6. Let our discipline be raised, and half the difficulties in our spiritual Services would disappear. If we lower our Services instead, we do but incur a double defection.

Some eminent divines, however, have doubtless been in favour of a revision.

"The alterations in the book of Common Prayer," (says Burnett,) "agreed upon by the Commissioners in 1689, but rejected in the Lower House of Convocation, will, I hope, at some future time or another, be better entertained than they were then. I am persuaded they are such as would bring in much the greater part of

* Id esse verum, quodcunque primum; id esse adulterum, quodcunque posterius-Apolog. in Randolph's Enchirid.p. 323.