Still he felt truly at home; he applied to himself the words of Bramhall: "Bees by the instinct of their nature do love their hives, and birds their nests." But "I did not suppose that such sunshine would last, though I knew not what would be its termination "." But the end was evidently drawing near. Then followed the publication of Tract 90. Soon afterwards the matter of the Jerusalem Bishopric. "This," he said, "was the third blow which finally shattered my faith in the Anglican Church." He began to feel "there are but two alternatives, the way to Rome and the way to Atheism; Anglicanism is the halfway-house on one side, and Liberalism is the halfway-house on the other." But still there was uncertainty in his mind as to taking the final step. As late as January, 1845, the prospect of Rome was so little encouraging that he wrote, "The state of the Roman Catholics is so unsatisfactory. This I am sure of, that nothing but a simple, direct call of duty is a warrant for any one leaving our Church; no preference for another Church; no delight in its services; no hope of greater religious advancement in it; no indignation; no disgust at the persons and Apologia, 155. He was from the first very angry with the Liberals. So indignant was he about the matter of the consolidation of the Irish Bishoprics and the part the Bishop of London took in it, that he refused the offer made by him of one of the Whitehall Preacherships. things amongst which we find ourselves in the Church of England. The simple question is, Can I (it is personal), not whether another, Can I be saved in the English Church?" He left us, and on January 20, 1846, he wrote to a friend: "You may think how lonely I am. 'Obliviscere populum tuum et domum patris tui' has been in my ears for the last twelve hours. . . . I left Oxford for good on Monday, February 23, 1846. ... I have never seen Oxford since, except the spires as they are seen from the railway a" Did he ever forget his first love? His life since that time shows plainly that he bore too strong a love for the English Church to be a thorough Papist; long afterwards he discarded all idea of proselytising from her, except "an Anglican should come to him after careful consideration and say, 'I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, and that yours alone is it"."" A remark by Dr. Döllinger is appropriate: "If Newman, who knows early Church history so well, had possessed equal knowledge of modern Church history, he never would have become a Roman Catholic." Since then he has visited it once, and stayed in his old College, Trinity, of which he is now an Honorary Fellow. b The author has seen a letter to the same purpose from him to an Oxford man, who having gone over to Rome contemplated a return to the English Church. CHAPTER III. THE CEREMONIAL REVIVAL AND THE object of Tractarianism was to restore Catholic doctrine, and it was eminently successful amongst the higher and more cultivated classes of society. But the Church Services, even after the Tractarian movement, were often marked with coldness and formality little suited to the middle and lower classes of the people. The object of what people call Ritualism-a word diverted from its proper meaning of "Knowledge of Ritual" into the practice of religious ceremonies-was to revive that outward Ceremonial which had gone out, together with religion, in the Georgian era. In regard to Ritual, the Anglican Church was at a disadvantage compared with other bodies of Christians, for, although there are thousands to whom, from its associations and literary merits alone, the Prayer-Book is, and always will be, endeared, there are others, such people, for instance, as have been accustomed to the hearty services of the Wesleyans, who miss in our ordinary services anything external to arrest the attention or to fix the eye. The question was, how were the middle and lower classes of the people to be reached? To meet this question; to raise the ceremonial; to make the services more attractive; to adapt them not only to the feelings of the more educated, but to the feelings and requirements of a mixed congregation, was the object of Ritualism. The first thing to be remarked about Ritualism is, that every kind of religion must of necessity be more or less ritualistic. From the time of the Mosaic dispensation to the present day it has always been so; every one who has read his Bible is aware of the high Ritual that was prescribed in the Jewish services, and the Jewish idea of ritualistic religion has never been abandoned in the Catholic Church. The spire with its "silent finger pointing towards heaven;" the cruciform church; the different parts into which churches are divided-the nave with its triple aisles; the elevated chancel; the font at the entrance of the church; the use of the cross; standing, kneeling, sitting, all are ritualistic. So also in the highest services of the Church. Are not the Sacraments eminently ritualistic? The Church Catechism teaches that there is in them an outward sign, as well as an inward grace. No one imagines that the Water in Baptism, or the Bread and Wine in the Eucharist, are the whole Sacrament; every one knows that they are symbolic, and therefore ritualistic. And herein lies the whole value of Ritual; it is valuable so far, and only so far, as it represents and sets before us inward truths by outward signs; only so far as it is symbolical. Take away the symbolism of the two Lights upon the Altar, or of Incense, or Vestments, and these things return to their intrinsic value. We need not go further than our own Church to trace the connexion which exists between Ritual and religion. When St. Augustine first came to England, and wished to make King Ethelbert look favourably upon his mission, he availed himself of all the adjuncts which Ritualism could supply. We are told how the missionaries approached the King in procession; how one bore a lofty silver Cross; next followed another bearing a banner with a painted portrait of the Saviour; and all chanted Litanies. The striking scene riveted the attention of the heathen king; before long he himself became a convert to Christianity: together with Christianity Ritualism received its birth in England, and ever since an attachment to ritual observances has been a distinguishing feature in the English Church. Strict rules are prescribed as to the manner in which the services are to be performed. The Prayers are, not generally to be read, but to be said or sung, that is, either monotoned or intoned. The Litany The five Prayers after the Anthem are to be read, as also that for the High Court of Parliament, but it is generally prescribed that they are to be said or sung. Х |