Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 3.djvu/80

Something, however, had to be done. Another statement must be made of the doctrine of the Church of England—if the Church of England were to pretend to possess a doctrine—more complete than the last. The slander must be put to silence which confounded independence with heresy; the clergy must be provided with some guide to their teaching which it should be penal to neglect. Under orders, therefore, from the Crown, the bishops agreed at last upon a body of practical divinity, which was published under the title of 'The Bishop's Book,' or 'the Institution of a Christian Man.' It consisted of four commentaries, on the creed, the sacraments, the ten commandments, and the Lord's Prayer, and in point of language was beyond question the most beautiful composition which had as yet appeared in English prose. The doctrine was moderate, yet more Catholic, and in the matter of the sacraments, less ambiguous than the articles of 1536. The mystic number seven was restored, and the nature of sacramental grace explained in the old manner. Yet there was a manifest attempt, rather, perhaps, in tendency than in positive statement, to unite the two ideas of symbolic and instrumental efficacy, to indicate that the grace conveyed through the mechanical form was the spiritual instruction conveyed in the form of the ceremony. The union among the bishops which appeared in the title of the book was in appearance only, or rather it was assumed by the will of the King, and in obedience to his orders. When the doctrines had been determined by the bench he even thought it necessary to admonish the composers to observe their own lessons.