USA > Connecticut > The history of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, Vol. II > Part 26
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istrations till his doubts are solved. And if he be- lieves the dictates of his conscience compel him pub- licly to withdraw from her communion, let him depart in peace, under his responsibility to his God. What we most deprecate is, the treachery of perverting the doctrines of the Church, or the teaching of dogmas alien to her faith, while ministering at her altars. And this treachery is equally to be censured, in what- ever direction the false teaching may tend, - whether to the superstitions of Romanism, or to the coldness and baldness of Rationalism.
" Doubtless there may be allowed some latitude of construction, in the explanation of our doctrinal stand- ards. But the discretion must be exercised with the most conscientious caution ; and no individual caprice should go beyond the general understanding of the Church.
" Rationalism, or a leaning towards Rationalism, is, beyond all question, the prevailing error of our times and country. Its influence, indeed, is the most widely spread, and the most destructive, among the religious denominations by whom we are surrounded. But as our Church has been so rapidly increased by acces- sions from these denominations, it is not to be won- dered at that traces of its influence should be dis- cernible among some of the members of our own com- munion. This influence, however, is arrested in its proclivity to Infidelity, and is steadily fading away, under the more evangelical teachings and worship of the Church.
" It is now in the opposite direction, that the appre- hensions of our Church seem to be more especially called forth. Several of her clergy, and some of her
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laity have recently seceded to the Romish faith ; and yet this secession is not the principal occasion for the alarm. The number who have thus seceded is insignif- icant in comparison with those who yet remain be- hind, in a state of obvious sympathy with the feelings and doctrines of those who have departed. These sympathizers, and not the seceders, are the persons who are in a condition to make proselytes ; and who, if they put forth their influence, either publicly or in private, as they will hardly fail to do, are the real traitors of the Church.
" Against the seductions of such, it behooves all the members of the Church to be constantly on their guard. This vigilance is more specially incumbent on those who are in a course of preparation for the exercise of the sacred ministry. These are yet in the position of inquirers. Their minds are open to in- struction ; and they have not yet acquired all that knowledge of the Scriptures, and of the history of the Church, which is necessary to enable them to distin- guish between plain truth, and plausible error. In a few short years, too, these learners are to become teachers in the Church, and each one the centre of an important local influence. They are precisely in the situation that one would wish, who was ambitious of propagating favorite opinions, and of making pros- elytes. They may then expect to be addressed per- sonally, or through the medium of the press, by those who wish to give a more Romish character to the Church. Under such circumstances, a watchful cau- tion is the part of true wisdom. All novelties which are proposed should be received with distrust. There are too, certain doctrines and usages, much dwelt
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upon by the class of persons referred to, which, though true and proper under certain limitations, become erroneous when they are distorted or pushed to an extreme.
" One of these, which holds a prominent place, and is sometimes made to perplex the unwary, is the doctrine of Catholic Unity. Doubtless the Universal Church of Christ, holding one faith, - a belief in the way of salvation by the mediation and atonement of the Son of God; being baptized into one baptism, - a baptism administered in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; and all the members being joined together in one body, by being thus united to Christ their Head, forms 'One Holy Catholic Church.' But the Catholic Unity so much talked of, is something more vague and mysterious. Metaphysical subtilties are resorted to, in regard to the 'Notes of a true Church ;' and many curious refinements are employed in reference to the precise line by which it is circumscribed. A visible centre of Unity, too, must be sought after; and the guide- posts are put up at such points as conduct the in- quirer only to the Pope of Rome. In connection with the doctrine of Catholic Unity, the English Reforma- tion becomes the subject of unfavorable comment and severe criticism. The licentiousness of Henry VIII., and the rapacity of his time-serving courtiers, are held up to just reprobation ; while the corruptions and abuses of Romanism which were rejected, and the pure faith of primitive Christianity which was estab- lished, together with all the blessings which have flowed to mankind from that Reformation, seem to be studiously forgotten.
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" The doctrines of Auricular Confession, and Priestly Absolution, are also favorite themes with the abettors of Romish error. The duty of confessing our sins to God in secret, as well as in the public services of the Church ; and the agency of a divinely appointed min- istry, in proclaiming God's pardon to the penitent, may be defended by 'most certain warrant of Holy Scripture.' The confession of particular sins to a spiritual guide, for counsel and instruction, is also commended in certain cases. But the private confes- sion of every particular sin to a priest, and the procur- ing of his absolution as a necessary condition of God's pardon, is a 'fond conceit' of Rome. This latter view of the doctrine, taken in connection with its neces- sary adjuncts, - the doctrines of Popish penance, of Purgatory, and of Indulgences, has led to the most overbearing arrogation of priestly power, the grossest tyranny over the consciences of men, and the most degrading effects upon the intelligence and morals of society. Such doctrines could have gained footing in the world, only during the ignorance and superstition of the dark ages. They could receive no countenance in the present age, were it not for the tinge of super- stition, and the love of ease, which are so congenial to the human mind: All men know that they are sin- ners before God, and that they are obnoxious to the penalties which he has made consequent on guilt. If, by simply confessing his sins to a priest, submitting to the mild penance he may enjoin, and receiving his plenary absolution, a man can believe that all the guilt of his past life is cancelled, to be remembered no more, and that he is entitled to the reversion of everlasting felicity, who would not purchase forgive-
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ness and salvation at so easy a rate ? And if, with a conscience thus at ease, he should again fall into a sinful course of life, with what alacrity would he again resort to the same efficacious sponge, to wipe away the traces of his guilt! And if, in worldly matters, the settlement of a man's accounts, and the extinguish- ment of his debts, afford him so much complacency, how much more so when his eternal interests are con- cerned. But God has chosen a different way for the exercise of His mercy towards mankind. He is, indeed, ever ready to pardon and save all who are sincerely penitent for their sins, who gladly embrace the way of salvation through His Son, who obediently keep His holy laws, and who walk in all the ordinances which He has appointed for His Church. But this is a way of salvation which demands a constant and anxious vigilance. The Christian must be ever so- licitous that his repentance is sufficiently deep and sincere, that his faith is sufficiently strong and ardent, and that his obedience springs from the dictates of a heart influenced by the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
" The performance of the Ritual of our Church, is another medium through which tendencies towards Romanism may be encouraged. Among the multi- tude of ceremonial observances with which the Church was encumbered previous to the Reforma- tion, some were significant of important truths, some were significant of pernicious errors, and some of mere unfounded superstitions. It was the object of our Reformers to free her from all such observances as did not conduce to the decency of public worship, and to the maintenance of sound doctrine. This object they happily accomplished. The Puritans and
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other Dissenters went to an extreme of plainness, in the order of their services and in their houses of wor- ship, alike adverse to good taste and propriety. As one extreme begets another, there are those in our Church who would carry us back again to the showy ceremonial of the Romish ritual. They may be in- fluenced partly by the promptings of a fanciful tem- perament, but are probably more strongly impelled by a love of certain Romish doctrines, of which these ceremonies are the exponents. Symbolic teaching was a mode of instruction adopted in the dark ages, to communicate, through the medium of the senses, that which could not be so readily apprehended by uneducated intellects.
" It may now be the policy of some to inculcate, by signs, doctrines from which the mind would revolt, if presented to it directly and plainly in words. The sacrifice of the mass, after the manner of the Romish priests, is pronounced, by Article XXXI. of our Church, to be a 'blasphemous fable,' and ' dangerous deceit.' And yet, when the sacrament of the Lord's Supper is administered at her altars, the priest may perform the service with such an appearance of over- strained veneration and awe, with such bowings, and crossings, and genuflections, as plainly to symbolize the doctrine of Transubstantiation. 'Let all things be done decently and in order,' is the precept of the Apostle. This precept should teach us to avoid all theatrical display, on the one hand, and all levity or carelessness on the other; and to follow a middle course, between the ostentatious ceremonies of Rome, and the baldness of Dissent.
"I may advert to one characteristic more, which
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seems generally to mark the admirers of Romish doc- trines and institutions ; and I may, perhaps, best do it in their own favorite language - 'a yearning after greater holiness.' I believe such professions are gen- erally made in great sincerity. But there is much difference between a mawkish desire and an earnest endeavor ; between romance and reality. Young persons, and others of imaginative temper, who have felt the hindrances to piety and devotion which are created by the amusements and business of life, often envy the seclusion of the monastery or the nunnery ; as if religious affections could be cultivated only in solitude. And as such seclusion is generally unat- tainable, the feeling often seeks relief in the perform- ance of a round of ceremonial observances.
" The indolence and corruption which was brought to light at the breaking up of the monastic institu- tions of England, has demonstrated that such institu- tions may be the nurseries of vice, as well as of piety. And it is probable that the like institutions now exist- ing in Europe, would hardly be found in a better moral condition.
" Pure religion is founded in an unfeigned love to God and to mankind. As such, it must be an active principle. It exhausts not itself in solitary medita- tions, nor in elaborate ceremonial observances. It is best demonstrated by sincere devotion in the public and private worship of God, and by an unfeigned obedience to all the Divine commands, while pursu- ing the active duties of life. He who is earnestly engaged in the performance of these duties, will find abundant scope for the exercise of his religious affec- tions, without the 'strenuous inertia ' of counting beads, or a yearning after - he knows not what.
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" BRETHREN : In the remarks which I have now ad- dressed to you, you must be aware that I have had in my mind a class of persons who are desirous of assim- ilating the character of our Church more nearly to that of Rome. Their numbers I do not pretend to estimate, though I am well convinced of the existence of such a class, comprising laymen as well as clergy- men. They may not, and probably do not, all enter- tain the same views in regard to the changes they would effect. Some may be satisfied with holding all Romish doctrine, as matter of opinion, and yet re- maining quietly in the exercise of their ministry. Others have been determined to revolutionize the Church, or to quit her communion. Some have al- ready abandoned it; more may follow.1 It is quite time, then, that the Church should be on her guard.
" I think you will bear me witness that I am no dis-
1 The Rt. Rev. Levi S. Ives, D. D., Bishop of North Carolina, accom- panied his wife to Europe in 1852, and writing from Rome, under date of Dec. 22d of that year, to the Convention of his Diocese, he resigned into its hands his office of Bishop, and further stated his determination to sub- mit to the Roman " Catholic Church." The " doubts " which had " goaded him at times to the very borders of derangement," have " grown," he said, " into clear and settled convictions ; so clear and settled that, without a violation of conscience and honor, and every obligation of duty to God and His Church, I can no longer remain in my position."
His defection was not unexpected. In consequence of his strange course, his own Diocese had lost all confidence in him before he took this step, and had learned to distrust his recantations and the sincerity of his promises. Not one of the clergy or laity of North Carolina is known to have followed him in his abandonment of the Church. The House of Bishops, at the meeting of the General Convention in 1853, solemnly pro- nounced him, according to the terms of the Canon, " ipso facto, deposed to all intents and purposes from the office of a bishop in the Church of God, and from all the rights, privileges, powers, and dignities thereunto pertain- ing."
Dr. Ives died October 13, 1867, near Fordham, N. Y., where he had acted for many years as a professor in St. John's (Romish) College.
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turber of the peace of the Church, and that I am not addicted to unnecessary controversy. But when errors are abroad in the Church, those whom Provi- dence has placed as watchmen upon her walls should not hesitate to give the necessary warning. It may, perhaps, be apprehended by some, that, in the present case, the sound of alarm may create too general a dis- trust, and that it may bring suspicion upon those who do not justly deserve it. But in regard to Romish errors, the position of no churchman, and especially of no clergyman of the Church, should be in the least equivocal.
" It is true, indeed, that religious controversy is very liable to be carried on with uncharitable feel- ings. This consideration should lead us to guard our own hearts with care. But the good Providence of God, which brings light out of darkness, often illus- trates important truths by the exposure of error. Let us devoutly pray that the same good Providence may so direct the discussions which are now going on in the Church, that prejudice and uncharitableness may be restrained, that the cause of truth and right- eousness may prevail, and that the Church itself may be built up, enlarged, and established in the most holy faith."
The foregoing extracts from the address of the Bishop were referred by the Convention to a special committee of three clergymen and two laymen. On the morning of the second day of the session, the committee reported a series of resolutions, which, if they did not rise to the tone and dignity of the address, fully responded to "the opinions, counsels, and warnings" of the Bishop, and bore witness that
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he had shown no disposition to provoke " unnecessary controversy," or to disturb the peace of the Church. A brief and spirited debate followed, and a few mem- bers, who expressed concurrence with the purport of the address, evinced an unwillingness to sustain the resolutions on technical grounds. For this reason it was decided to take the question upon their adoption by yeas and nays, and a stranger, dropping into the assembly at that moment, would have judged by the course of half a dozen clergymen, that they were in actual sympathy with the Romanizers, and yet as much afraid to follow the dictates of their consciences as to indorse the views of their Diocesan. Some retired from the church before their names were called; two or three asked to be excused from vot- ing, but their request was denied, and thereupon they either refused to vote, or voted nay.
The final result was the adoption of the resolutions with almost entire unanimity-five only of the clergy, and two of the laity, appearing in the negative. This action was a fresh proof of the conservative spirit of the oldest Diocese in our country, as well as a solemn protest against every Romanizing movement. The fears of those who doubted the wisdom of the Bishop in bringing the subject before the Convention, and manifested some solicitude at the peculiar turn which it took, never were realized. Dr. Croswell, who voted to sustain him, said, " An evil has been done which an age will not cure,"-but he lived long enough to change his opinion, and to see good reasons for the counsel " that the Church should be on her guard."
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CHAPTER XXVI.
DEATHS AMONG THE CLERGY ; ELECTION OF AN ASSISTANT BISHOP; AND THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION IN THE DIOCESE.
A. D. 1851 - 1853.
As the draft upon Connecticut by other dioceses still continued, the real working force of the clergy in parishes was diminished rather than increased. Death, which is ever finding its way among all bodies of men, fell upon a few of the older presbyters, and now and then upon those who had just begun to prove their Christian armor. Isaac Jones and Tru- man Marsh, both far advanced in years, died at Litch- field-one in the spring of 1850, and the other a year later. They had been formerly united in the charge of the " associated churches in Litchfield," and Mr. Marsh was Rector of the mother parish there (St. Michael's) for thirty years before he resigned and went into retirement.
But the name of a more distinguished presbyter disappeared from the list of the clergy at this time. A few weeks before the death of Mr. Marsh, the Rev. Dr. Jarvis, son of the second Bishop of Connecticut, died at his residence in Middletown, leaving unfin- ished those literary labors for which he had long been qualifying himself. Since his return to this country from Europe in 1835, he had resided in Connecticut, VOL. II. 24
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and acted first as a professor in the College at Hart- ford, and then as Rector of the parish in Middletown. He resigned his parochial charge in 1842, and de- voted himself to the completion of a work, the im- portance of which the General Convention had recog- nized by appointing him "Historiographer of the Church, with a view to his preparing, from the most original sources now extant, a faithful Ecclesiastical History reaching from the Apostles' times to the formation of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States." The first volume was a mere " Chro- nological Introduction " to this history, and the sec- ond had scarcely been issued from the press, when aggravated disease came upon him and closed his labors. He occupied positions of honor and influence in the Diocese which were due to his profound scholarship and great theological attainments; and the Church at large was benefited by his wisdom and experience in her general councils, and by numer- cus publications setting forth her doctrine, discipline, and worship. Bishop Brownell, speaking of his decease in his annual address, said, he "has been called away in the midst of his usefulness, and while the Church was looking anxiously forward to the fruits of his future labors. For the extent of his knowledge in Biblical literature and sacred history, he has left few equals behind him, in this or any other country."
Two weeks after the meeting of the Annual Con- vention in 1851, the Rev. Seth B. Paddock, who was twenty-two years Rector of Christ Church, Norwich, and who had been Principal of the Episcopal Acad- emy, since the autumn of 1844, died at Cheshire, after a protracted and painful illness, leaving two
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sons 1 to inherit his good name and succeed him in the ministry of the Church. His departure was soon followed by that of another. The oldest presbyter of the Diocese, born and serving in it, and the last survivor of those ordained by Bishop Seabury, Daniel Burhans, D. D., died on the 30th of December, 1853, having passed nearly six months beyond his ninetieth birthday. For thirty years he labored faithfully and successfully as Rector of Trinity Church, Newtown, and, after relinquishing this charge, he continued to officiate in other parishes of the Diocese, until age and infirmity compelled him to retire from the exer- cise of ministerial duties. His fine personal appear- ance, good elocution, and sound practical judgment supplied, in some degree, the defects of early educa- tion, and gave him, in his better days, great influence in his parish, and in the councils of the Diocesan and General Conventions.
The venerable "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," having " been permitted to complete a century and a half of missionary labor," resolved to commemorate with thanksgiving and prayer the close of its third Jubilee. The commem- oration commenced in England on the 16th of June, 1851, - being the anniversary of the signing of the royal charter, - with full services in Westminster Ab- bey; and on the following Sunday, sermons appro- priate to the occasion were preached in the principal churches of the metropolis, and collections made for the promotion of missionary objects. The Archbishop of Canterbury, President of the Society, addressed a
1 Rev. John A. Paddock, Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Rev. Benjamin H. Paddock, D. D., Detroit, Mich.
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letter to the several bishops of our Church in this country, apprising them of the proposed celebration, and inviting their Christian sympathy and cooperation.
" The Society," said he, " has good reason to expect, that what may be called its Solemn Jubilee, will be observed in all the colonial churches, but the occa- sion seems to justify the hope of a still more compre- hensive union of prayer and praise.
" Bearing in mind the relation of our two countries, and the intimate connection which subsisted between the Society and many of the States during the greater part of the last century, I feel some confidence in pro- posing to you the joint celebration of a Jubilee, in which all the members of our Church must feel a com- mon interest. I venture, also, respectfully to submit, whether, in a time of controversy and division, the close communion which binds the churches of Ame- rica and England in one, would not be strikingly manifested to the world, if every one of their dio- ceses were to take part in commemorating the founda- tion of the oldest Missionary Society of the Reformed Church, - a Society which, from its first small begin- nings in New England, has extended its operations into all parts of the world, from the Ganges to Lake Huron, and from New Zealand to Labrador. Such a joint commemoration, besides manifesting the rapid growth and wide extension of our Church, would serve to keep alive and diffuse a missionary spirit, and so be the means, under the Divine blessing, of enlarging the borders of the Redeemer's kingdom."
The Church in Connecticut had many reasons to be specially grateful to the Society for aid in her estab- lishment. Its fostering care and protection had been
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bestowed upon her for a period of more than fifty years in colonial times, and God had brought the seed, then planted and watered, to a marvellous in- crease. Hence the Annual Convention, which met at Waterbury, in 1851, sent a cordial response to the let- ter of the Archbishop, and having designated a Sun- day to be devoted to a participation in the Jubilee, requested the Bishop to set forth a proper form of prayer to be used in all the churches of the Diocese on that day, and the clergy to preach appropriate sermons, and make collections for missions within the borders of Connecticut. The contributions thus re- ceived amounted to about eighteen hundred dollars ; but one of the happiest results of the service was the interest which it awakened in the memories of the past, and the information which was thereby diffused throughout the Diocese concerning the early charities and operations of the venerable Society in New Eng- land.
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