Anglican Church to be thankful, that the evils to which I have alluded were mercifully averted.[1]
But though the danger was averted by the sound and orthodox portion of the Clergy, yet the latitudinarian leaven was not completely cast out. It was restrained from effecting any organic changes, but it remained in the Church, working its way among some of the Clergy. A new school of Theology arose, which exercised considerable influence, and the more so from the support which it received oftentimes from the Government. The leaders of this school were men of learning, of moderation, and of piety, but being Erastian in theory, they were ready to remodel every thing connected with the Church—her ceremonies, her discipline, and the Book of Common Prayer. They would have proposed many changes, if they had not been restrained by the great body of the Clergy, who were resolved to maintain the Church in her integrity.
For a series of years, some of the Rubrics in the Book of Common Prayer have been, not universally, but to a considerable extent, neglected. The Clergy, in many cases, have not observed them, as they have not been enforced by the Bishops. It may, therefore, be asked, to what causes is this neglect to be attributed? My own opinion is, that two causes, especially connected with the period to which this volume refers, may be assigned. These are, first, the Latitudinarian spirit of which I have spoken, and secondly, the practices of the Nonjurors.
- ↑ Some persons at the period of, and subsequent to, the Revolution, had no better reason to assign for their partial conformity to the Anglican Church, than the fact, that it was established by Act of Parliament; nor is the race extinct in the present day.
