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ORE than once, my dear, you have called my attention to the peculiar phraseology lately adopted by some of our friends of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in speaking of themselves as "the Catholics," while they affect to call us Romanists;" and a few days since you also put into my hands, as having a bearing on this subject, a pamphlet which they profess to hold in high admiration, entitled "Catholic Truths and Roman Fallacies." My views upon these matters I have expressed to you fully in conversation; but for the purpose of enabling you to consider them more thoroughly you request that I would commit them, or at least the substance of them, to writing. With this request I feel a duty to comply.

In the beginning of the sixteenth century it may be said that there was but one visible church in the civilized world. The Greek division of Christians was not to be found out of the Russian and Turkish dominions. In Asia there were scattered Armenian, Nestorian, and Eutychian Christians; in the south of Europe there was a small sect called Waldenses, and in England there yet remained some of the followers of Wickliffe, or of the sect called Lollards. But the great body of Christendom was thoroughly united in the profession of the same faith, in the administration of the same sacraments, and in the observance of the same rites, and all acknowledged the same form of church government, over which presided, as the visible head on earth, the bishop of Rome. In the year 1517, was published in Witzenburg, in Germany, a book written by Martin Luther, containing ninety-five short theses on the nature of indulgences, and the errors of the questors, that is to say, of the persons employed to dispose of indulgences. This book gave rise to angry disputations, and the com

batants becoming excessively heated, the dispute extended itself to other topics connected with religion, and doctrines were then broached on the part of Luther avowedly new, but alleged to be founded on the true interpretation of the scriptures. The consequence was a severance from the main body of a considerable portion who at first called themselves Gospellers and Reformers, but who afterwards, however, split amongst themselves into different subdivisions, under different appellations, took the distinctive name of "Protestants." The main body retained the ancient name of Catholics.

For some time after these dissensions, the Protestant doctrines made little progress in England. Indeed the English king (Henry VIII) entered into the controversy as a champion of the ancient faith against Luther, and obtained from the Pope, in acknowledgment of his Catholic ardor and zeal, the title of "Defender of the Faith," a title still claimed by the English monarchs. But a violent quarrel took place afterwards between the king and the Pope, because of the refusal of the latter to sanction Henry's divorce from his queen Catharine, and Henry contrived to obtain in 1531, from the convocation of the English clergy, an acknowledgment that he was "the chief protector, the only and supreme lord, and as far as Christ would allow, the supreme head of the Church." This submission of the English church to the king's dominion was afterwards, and without any regard to the remarkable qualification with which it was accompanied, treated as absolute, unconditional, and complete. On the third of November, 1534, by an act of parliament, (Stat. 26, Hen. VIII, ch. i) it was enacted and declared that the king, our sovereign lord, his heirs and successors, kings of this realm, shall be taken, accepted, and re

ported the only supreme head on earth of the Church of England, called Anglicana Ecclesia, and shall have and enjoy, annexed and united to the imperial crown of this realm, as well the title and style thereof, as all honors, dignities, pre-eminences, jurisdictions, privileges, authorities, immunities, profits, and commodities to the said dignity of supreme head of the same church belonging and appertaining; and that our said sovereign lord, his heirs and successors, shall have full power and authority from time to time to visit, repress, reform, order, restrain, and amend all such errors, heresies, abuses, offences, contempts, and enormities, whatever they be, which by any manner of spiritual authority or jurisdiction, might or may lawfully be reformed, repressed, corrected, restrained, or amended, most to the pleasure of Almighty God, the increase of virtue in Christ's kingdom, and for the conservation of the peace, unity, and tranquillity of this realm, any usage, custom, foreign law, foreign authority, prescription, or any thing or things to the contrary notwithstanding." By this statute "the Church of England" was necessarily severed from all other Christian churches, and converted to all intents and purposes into a political establishment-its faith, its rites, its discipline, were surrendered to the dominion of the king. He was authorized from time to time to define and to decide what was true doctrine, and what heresy or error-to correct and reform as his judgeship or caprice should dictate whatever might be deemed abuses to exercise every and " any manner of spiritual authority and jurisdiction”. any thing whether in Christ's law, or any where else to the contrary notwithstanding. The church was impiously given to Cæsar. It was not expected, nor intended, that any persons other than British subjects, should be affected by this delegation of ecclesiastical power. The objects of the statute were first to make the Church of England a separate and distinct establishment from the great Church of Christendom, and secondly, to subject this separate establishment to the absolute rule of the English monarch.

Upon the doctrinal points which had severed the Protestants from the Catholic

world, the king took part against the Protestant teachers, and he caused many who espoused and preached their doctrines, to be put to death as impious heretics. In May, 1539, he caused to be enacted the statute "for abolishing diversity of opinions in certain articles concerning Christian religion," the statute commonly known as the statute of the six articles (Stat. 31, Hen. VIII, ch. xiv), in which the Catholic doctrine respecting the real presence in the eucharist, the Catholic discipline of receiving the sacrament under one form, the celibacy of the clergy, and the sanctity of vows of chastity, the celebration of the mass, and the practice of special or auricular confession, are all sanctioned as parts of the faith or discipline of "the Church of England," and severe punishments denounced against all who shall dare to gainsay them. Afterwards, while Henry lived, the book put forth by his authority, under the title of "A Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for a Christian Man," but more usually styled "The King's Book," was the standard of orthodox faith in England.

Henry died in 1546, and the crown, and with it, as an inseparable appendage, the supreme dominion of the English Church, descended to Edward his son, then a child of nine years of age. His uncle Somerset, who acted as protector of the realm, and guardian of the infant king, was attached to the Protestant doctrines. Under his influence, and that of his associates, a liturgy for the use of the English church was established by act of parliament in January, 1548, (Stat. 2 and 3, Edward VI, ch. i) called "The Book of the Common Prayer, and administration of the sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies of the church after the use of the Church of England," and it was ordained that all ministers of the church within the realm, should use the same, and no other in this divine service. The changes in this book from the ancient liturgy, conformed in many respects to the views of the reformers. In 1552, in the name and by the authority of the young king, this book was reformed, amended, and explained, and by act of parliament (Stat. 5 and 6, Edw. VI, ch. i) the new book of

Common Prayer, and the administration of the sacraments, was commanded to be "accepted, received, used, and esteemed, in like sort and manner," and with the same penalties as had been enacted with respect to that established four years before, and which was now superseded. In the same year, by the authority of the king, was published "A Collection of the Articles of Religion," forty-two in number, which had been compiled by Archbishop Cranmer, then laid before a committee of bishops and divines, and after approval by them, sanctioned by the king. Edward died in 1553, at the age of sixteen years, and at the time of his death, this book of the forty-two articles was the standard of English orthodoxy.

Mary, who ascended the throne in July, 1553, was a Catholic, and in less than six months after she began to reign by act of Parliament, (Stat. 1, Mary, Session ii), all the statutes on the subject of religion passed since the death of her father, were repealed, the first and second book of the "Common Prayer," were prohibited to be used, and in lieu thereof it was enacted that such forms of divine worship and administration of the sacraments should be received and practised as had commonly been used in the last year of the reign of Henry the Eighth. In the next year all the articles and provisions of every kind, made in his reign for severing the Church of England from the See of Rome, were repealed, and the Church of England was re-admitted into the unity and bosom of the great Christian Church (See Stat. 1 and 2, Phil. and Mary, ch. viii). This was the state of religion in England, when Mary died in November, 1558.

Elizabeth, her successor, either hesitated or affected to hesitate between the Catholic and the Protestant religions. This, however, did not continue long, for in February, 1559, by Stat. 1, Eliz., ch. i, all the laws made in the preceding reign on the subject of religion, were repealed, and those in the reign of Henry the VIII, and Edward the VI, were re-enacted, and it was required that all bishops, ministers, &c., should take an oath "that the Queen's Highness is the only supreme governor of this realm, as well in all spiritual or ecclesiastical things or

causes as temporal; and by the second chapter of the same statute, the book of Common Prayer is again modified and commanded to be used in all the churches and chapels throughout the kingdom, and every person was bound on Sundays and holidays to attend during the time of common prayer, preaching, or other service of God there to be used and ministered. All the bishops but one-and a large portion of the clergy refused to take this oath, and for that cause all who refused were ejected from office, and others more compliant, were, by royal authority, appointed in their stead. The power of parliament was then resorted to in order to cure all defects and irregularities in this violent course, and by Stat. 8, Elizabeth, ch. i, the substituted bishops were declared to be bishops rightfully made, any statute, law, canon, or other thing to the contrary, notwithstanding. In January, 1562, the forty-two articles of religion, established under Edward, were revised and amended, and what have since been termed the thirty-nine articles, were promulgated in lieu of them, as the creed for the nation. Thus and by the authority of the king and of the parliament, was ultimately fashioned, "The Church of England, as by law established," and this is its proper style and and title as given to it by its authors.

With the exception of the New England colonies, "the Church of England, as by law established," was upheld by law in all the English colleges and plantations on this side of the Atlantic. The king was its supreme head, and under him the government of it was vested in its archbishops, bishops, and priests, and the American colonies were for all ecclesiastical purposes declared to be a part of the diocess of the Bishop of London. The church was an integral part and parcel of the state, and when the dominion of England and of the English king was thrown off, the church also fell with it. It ceased to have existence here. But many of those who had been accustomed to the worship and rites observed in the Church of England, felt a natural attachment thereto. Under the influence of this attachment, a convention was held of certain clerical and lay delegates from dif

ferent congregations, and a plan of religious union agreed upon, whereby they associated under the name of "The Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States." This name, they themselves chose, and by this, in their prayer books and in their public acts they have ever since been designated.

Recently there have been extraordinary movements among some of the most pious and learned of the Church of England on the subject of religion. Believing that in the innovations on the ancient faith, and still more in the changes from the ancient rites, ceremonies, and observances, their predecessors, in many instances, instead of reforming errors and correcting abuses, had perverted the truth, and weakened almost unto death the spirit of devotion, they have zealously and industriously sought to restore what they believed had been rashly if not impiously taken away. In the course of their animated discussions some of them have protested against the name of "Protestant," as a term significant of nothing but dissent, or opposition, or separation, and claimed to be called English Catholics, as being a branch of the great Catholic Church. These agitations and discussions have reached this shore of the Atlantic, and several among "the Protestant Episcopalians of the United States," following this example, now set up their title to the name of "Catholic" also.

These pretensions or claims are of very modern date. True, both in the English and American Churches, the ancient formularies of the Apostles' and Nicene creeds, were recited in divine worship, wherein a faith is solemnly professed in "The Holy Catholic Church," but without being able to ascertain what precise idea was supposed to be expressed thereby, I hazard nothing in asserting that in pais, out of the church, no member of either, until within a few years back, called himself or his Church Catholic. All of them gloried in the appellation of Protestant," and the term Catholic was exclusively applied as the more spectful designation of the Church which they were accustomed to deride by the nickname of " Popish."

The professors of the ancient faith have certainly no cause to regret this new-born zeal for the name of Catholic. Names are by no means unimportant. The attachment now avowed for the appellation of Catholic, and the solicitude on the part of these, our separated brethren, to appropriate it to themselves, may be, and probably is, in the order of God's providence, one of the means to bring them back to the Catholic faith. But while we do not regret that the claim is preferred, they ought not to be surprised that we cannot admit it to be well founded. The word Catholic has a precise and undisputed signification. It means "universal," or 66 'general." Is there any ground upon which "The Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States can claim to be the universal or general Church of Christendom? Their numbers are understood to range between six and eight hundred thousand, while the whole Christian population far exceeds two hundred millions. As compared with the Christian body they do not constitute one in three hundred. But they do not assert this claim in behalf of themselves exclusively, but insist that they constitute one Church with the Church of England. Now is this the fact? That there is a near affinity, a striking family resemblance between the two Churches, is not to be disputed, but it seems impossible to maintain that they two make but one Church. In so grave a concern as that of religion, care should be taken not to confound similarity with identity, and there, emphatically, the rule applies that no like is the same. Do the two Churches profess the same faith? There is one essential and marked difference in their professions of religious belief. It is a fundamental-indeed the very primary principle of the English Church that the supreme power is of right in the king, his heirs and successors. It belongs to his indisputable rights to reform, repress, and correct errors, heresies, and abuses in the Church, as fully as they can be reformed, repressed or corrected by any manner of spiritual jurisdiction or authority that is to say, to remodel the creed, to regulate the administration of the sacraments, to prescribe the forms of public

worship, and to control the conduct of its teachers in all spiritual matters. This is, indeed, sometimes complained of as an usurpation of the crown, but has it not been submitted to by the Church of England, and is it not embodied into the creed of that Church? The thirty-seventh article of religion, as contained in the book of Common Prayer, declares that unto the king's majesty the chief government of all the estates of this realm, whether they be ecclesiastical or civil, in all causes doth appertain," and the only explanation or even seeming qualification of this acknowledgment of dominion over the ecclesiastical estate in all causes, is, "that the ministering of God's word or of the sacraments is not given to the princes." We have seen in what sense the supreme power over the Church was asserted by Parliament, and the oath acknowledging that supreme power in the king required to be taken, and this article must be understood, so far as it does not contravene or qualify this claim thus avowed, and thus enforced by oath, as an explicit sanction and recognition of it. What is the creed of "The Fiotestant Episcopal Church of the United States," on this very important article? Far from adopting, it expressly repudiates the principle therein asserted. The thirty-seventh article in the American book of Common Prayer declares "that the power of the civil magistrate extendeth to all men, as well clergy as laity, in all things temporal, but hath no authority in things purely spiritual." The question is not which of these be right-but whether the Church which holds as an article of religion that the civil magistrate hath supreme power in all causes, as well spiritual as temporal, can be the same with that Church which holds as an article of religion that the civil magistrates have no authority in spiritual causes?

In the eighth article of the English confession of faith it is declared that "the three creeds, Nicene creed, Athanasius' creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles' creed, ought thoroughly to be received and believed, for they may be proved by most certain warrants of scripture." But the eighth article of the American Epis

copal confession, evidently copied therefrom, purposely omits the Athanasian creed. It declares that "the Nicene creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles' creed, ought thoroughly to be received and believed, for they may be proved by most certain warrants of scripture." One, therefore, of the symbols of faith in the English Church-one which it declares ought thoroughly to be received and believed is wholly thrown aside by the American Church.

In the catechism, contained in the English book of Common Prayer, the doctrine of the Church with respect to the Lord's supper is laid down in the form of questions and answers thus: "Question. What is the outward part or sign of the Lord's supper? Answer. Bread and wine which the Lord hath commanded to be received. Question. What is the inward part or thing signified? Answer. The body and blood of Christ, which are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's supper." In the catechism contained in the American book of Common Prayer, the answer to the first question is the same, but the answer to the second and only important question, most materially modifies the doctrine, thus: "Answer. The body and blood of Christ, which are spiritually taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's supper."

'There is an essential difference in the rites commanded to be observed. In the English book of Common Prayer it is directed in the visitation of the sick as follows: "Here shall the sick person be moved to make a special confession of his sins, if he feel his conscience troubled with any weighty matter. After which confession the priest shall absolve him (if he humbly and heartily desire it) after this sort. Our Lord Jesus Christ who hath left power to his Church to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in him, of his great mercy forgive thee thy offences, and by his authority committed to me I ab solve thee from all thy sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen!" In the American book of Common Prayer, there is to be found no injunction for a special confession of sins, and no absolution directed to be pronounced as of