dying. "To be well-pleasing to Christ" will be the one end and aim of the Christian world.

It is evident that the evolutions of Christian Theology, which have brought on the theological crisis, are preparing the way for a new Reformation, in which it is probable that all the Christian Churches will share; each one, under the influence of the divine Spirit, making its own important contribution to the world-wide movement, whose goal is the unity of the Church and the redemption of the world.

XII

THE INSTITUTIONAL CRISIS IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

THERE can be no doubt that there is a crisis in the Church of England at this time; but it is altogether probable that this crisis is not so serious as it appears to be from the statements of extreme men. This crisis, like all similar crises, has been forced to a head by rash partisans, who, without commission or qualification, except their own conceit and presumption, constituted themselves the champions of orthodoxy; but the crisis could not have come to a head if there had not been a situation of real difficulty in the Church of England. It is distressing to see the peace disturbed, and human passions rage about the doctrine and worship of Christ's Church; but the experience of history teaches us that such crises are necessary for the advancement of the Church. It is the only way in which the attention of the whole Church can be concentrated upon a bad situation and its energy aroused and put forth for reformation. The present crisis is an inevitable result of the Oxford movement, as that was an inevitable resultant of the evolution of the Anglo-Catholic party of the Church of England since the Reformation.

I. THE DECISION OF THE ARCHBISHOPS AS TO THE THREE CEREMONIES

The present crisis in the Church of England arose from a public controversy about three ceremonies: namely, the use of lights in processions, the use of incense in worship, and the reservation of the Holy Sacrament. Back of these, and involved in them, are many other questions of various grades

of importance. The legality of these ceremonies was, by common consent, though unofficially, submitted to the two Anglican Archbishops for their decision. The parties interested were patiently heard. All that could be said in favour of these ceremonies was said. Through the courtesy of the present primate, then Archbishop of Winchester, I was permitted to attend a part of this hearing, and I can testify to its carefulness and impartiality. The Archbishops examined the whole case deliberately. The decision as to the use of lights and incense was given July 31, 1899, and it was adverse. Naturally the Anglo-Catholic party was greatly shocked and grieved by this decision; but with few exceptions the clergy submitted to their ecclesiastical superiors. The decision of the more serious question of Reservation was made known May 1, 1900. This was followed by the issue of a joint Pastoral Letter by the bishops of both of the Provinces of England in 1901, enjoining compliance with the decision of the Archbishops. The decision of all these questions, and other like questions, depends upon the interpretation of the Act of Uniformity; and therewith the question whether the Rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer were designed to exclude all ceremonies which they do not prescribe; or whether there is liberty of ceremony outside the range of its prescriptions. The Archbishops take the former view, and there can be little doubt, on legal and historic grounds, that their decision is

correct.

At the same time the law of the case is a very serious obstruction to the larger liberty of worship which is demanded in our times by all parties in the Church. Although the questions decided are adverse to the Anglo-Catholic party; yet the principles, on which the decision rests, would just as surely decide questions adverse to the Puritan party, if any one should venture to raise them. The law cannot, therefore, be enforced without grave perils on both sides; the bishops have not attempted to enforce it, unless compelled so to do, either by extreme men of the Protestant party undertaking the work of prosecution, or extreme men of the Anglo

Catholic party challenging them to do their duty by highhanded disobedience.

It is theoretically true that a law should either be enforced or else repealed. But if the repeal of a bad law should be impracticable, for reasons not involved in a difference of opinion as to the law itself, but because of other and greater interests that lie back of it and that might be threatened by that repeal; then it is wise policy not to enforce it, but to let it fall into disuse by common consent. Such is the situation in England at the present time with regard to this law. To enforce it would be to plunge Christianity in England into a most serious situation; not to enforce it, but to allow all parties reasonable liberty, injures no interest and imperils no cause, but makes for breadth, comprehensiveness and that unity in variety, which is necessary for the continued existence of a National Church.

II. THE ANGLO-CATHOLIC AND PURITAN PARTIES

The present crisis is due to the evolution of the AngloCatholic party especially under the impulses of the Oxford movement. Undoubtedly that movement was a movement away from Protestantism; and it is now, and in its tendencies will continue to become, increasingly anti-Protestant. The extreme Protestant party accuse it of Romanising, and raise against it the cry of "No Popery." But it is, in fact, an effort to recover ancient Catholic doctrines and ceremonies which were thrown aside at the Reformation.

The Church of England differed from the other National Churches of the Reformation by its appeal to Catholic antiquity. It sought to cast away Medieval Christianity and to restore Ancient Christianity, whereas the other Reformed Churches sought to go back of Ancient Christianity and to restore the Christianity of Holy Scripture and build on that alone.

Furthermore, in the sixteenth century, there was a large amount of Crypto-Catholicism in the Church of England,

men who rejected the supremacy of the Pope and accepted the supreme authority of the Crown, but who yet, in other respects, held to the pre-Reformation doctrines and ceremonies, so far as was practicable. These were not troubled by Crown or prelates so long as they remained quiet and inoffensive.

The whole effort of the Puritan party was to complete the first Reformation by a second Reformation, and to banish from the Church all Mediævalism, and everything that differed from the Christianity of Holy Scripture. The Puritan party succeeded for a while in their aim, when they prevailed in Great Britain during the period of the Commonwealth; but at the Restoration, the Church of England re-established itself on the basis of Ancient Christianity, at the cost of the banishment from the established Church of a considerable portion of the British nation.

The weakening of the Protestant party within the Church, gave a greater impulse to the party of Reaction, and consequently the Mediæval tendencies of the Church of England became more aggressive in the third quarter of the seventeenth century. In the eighteenth century they made little headway. The greater part of the Presbyterians had returned to the Church of England, and so strengthened the Puritan party in the Church. But the Oxford movement was a more determined advance for the recovery of Medieval Christianity. It was virtually a return to the position of the Elizabethan Catholics, who wished to reform the Church and get rid of all abuses, but to retain the Mediæval doctrines and ceremonies for the most part. This is certainly a Romeward tendency, inasmuch as the Church of Rome retains and maintains all these doctrines and ceremonies; but it does not involve explicitly any submission to the Pope, or the acceptance of all the doctrines, canons and ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church; to say nothing of the modern dogmas of the immaculate conception of the Holy Virgin and the infallibility of the Pope. It is still consistent with the contention of the Church of England, that every National Church has authority to determine its own liturgy and cere