CHAPTER XXV. THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. SINCE the ecclesiastical changes of the sixteenth century, no Archbishop of Canterbury has made so strong a mark and left so important an impress on the Church of England, or has served her cause so well and efficiently, as our far-sighted statesman and noble martyr, William Laud.* By the labours of a life-time, as well as by his death, he successfully prevented the National Church becoming a mere Erastian sect. Stemming the torrent of Calvinistic impiety and the dangerous license of a democratic irreligion, at once illogical and vulgar, he preserved for later generations that Divine organization which had been set up in the seventh century by St. Augustine, England's apostle. In his lifetime, and mainly owing to his great influence, the Re-union school of the time of the Stuarts was created and consolidated: so that, in conjunction with other great prelates, he succeeded in changing the attitude of cold indifference or active opposition with which the Court of Rome had for * There can be little doubt that the well-conceived and able policy of Archbishop Laud won for him the universal admiration of Christendom. It is on this ground, in all probability, that he was offered a Cardinal's Hat. None could have offered him that dignity without holding the Validity of his Orders. It may be added that, had Laud been a Roman Catholic he would have been surely canonized within twenty years of his noble and most edifying martyrdom. nearly a century regarded the Reformed Church of England, to one of sincere interest in her position, and of anxious, if unexpressed, solicitude for a new policy on either side. A.D.1634-1645 Rome. Gre Father Leander. 1. That this was so, is evident from the recorded judgments of the Papal representatives who visited England at this period. Gregory Panzani,* a secular priest, and Father Leander, were sent by the Holy See, first with the view of healing Envoys from the grave differences which, having arisen, gory Panzani were spreading so widely in the English Roman Catholic body; and, secondly, as Pope Urban VIII. expressly declared, to report accurately of the state of religion in the old Established Church. In the Reports which were despatched to Rome, they each bore faithful testimony to the extended influence of the Laudian school, and appeared personally anxious to effect the second important object for which their respective missions had been conceived and arranged.§ What was reported by Father Leander with regard to the state of the Church of England has already been given; what Panzani saw, can be gathered from his, so-called, "Memoirs." It is impossible to doubt that, with regard to our Orders, they each * Vide pp. 83, 84, note [] of this Treatise. + Panzani's Memoirs, giving an Account of his Agency in England in 1634, 1635, and 1636; translated from the Italian original, and now first published; with an Introduction and Supplement, etc.—Birmingham : 1793. The differences arose mainly (1) with regard to the necessity of a bishop, and (2) the needful action in reference to the Oath of Supremacy introduced in the time of King James I. § The Pope's Nuncio. By William Prynne. 4to. 1643. The Popish Royal Favourite. By William Prynne. 4to. 1643. believed in their validity, and were instructed to do their best towards promoting a Corporate Re-union of the separated Churches.* Father Chris 2. That which may be gathered regarding Anglican Orders from the records of Panzani's and Leander's missions, can be found set forth with singular clearness and much ability by the renowned Sancta Clara, Father Christopher Davenport, D.D. This last named distinguished religious, in commenting A D. 1640-1646. on the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church topher Daven of England, has fully expressed the sentiments, not of himself alone, but of a considerable school amongst his brethren, as to a conviction of their validity. Translated into English, his comment on that Article which relates to Ordination, is given at length in the text, with the Latin original in a footnote below: port (Sancta Clara) on the Revised English Ordinal. * "In this Service, [that of the Church of England] it must be allowed when it came to be regularly organized there was a decency and a dignity, well adapted to the sedate and philosophic character of the English people. The churches were the same, the orders of the hierarchy remained the same, and, what was calculated to conciliate the multitude, the communion table was placed where the altar stood, music was retained, all the old festivals with their eves, were observed; the dress of the officiating clergy only was changed to a less gaudy and garish vesture. The use of the English language also, when the first impression was effaced, greatly contributed to attach the people to it, as did the admission of the laity to the cup."-Introduction, p. 17.-See also, pp. 135, 136, 139, 153, 156, 162, 163, 164, 165, 173, 187, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 242, 246, 248, etc. Tide, likewise, Clarendon's State Papers, in loco, in three volumes. Oxford: 1773. The Articles of the Anglican Church Paraphrastically Considered and Explained. By Christopher Davenport, D.D. Reprinted and edited by F. G. Lee, D.C.L. London: 1865. ARTICLE XXXVI.-Of Consecration of Bishops and Ministers. The Book of Consecration of Archbishops and Bishops, and Ordering of Priests and Deacons, lately set forth in the time of Edward the Sixth, and confirmed at the same time by the authority of Parliament, doth contain all things necessary to such Consecration and Ordering; neither hath it any thing, that of itself is superstitious and ungodly. And therefore whosoever are consecrated or ordered according to the Rites of that Book, since the second year of the forenamed King Edward unto this time, or hereafter shall be consecrated or ordered according to the same Rites; we decree all such to be rightly, orderly, and lawfully consecrated and ordered. EXPLANATION.-This Article refers us to the Pontifical compiled under Edward VI. At the ordination of Bishops, the words in that ceremonial are: "Take the Holy Ghost, and remember that thou stir up the grace of God which is in thee by imposition of hands; for God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and soberness." The Archbishop pronounces these words at the same time, with the imposition of hands by several Bishops, which being "ARTICULUS XXXVI.—De Episcoporum, et Ministrorum Consecratione. "Libellus de consecratione Archiepiscoporum, et Episcoporum, et ordinatione Presbyterorum, et Diaconorum editus nuper temporibus Edwardi VI. et authoritate Parliamenti illis ipsis temporibus confirmatus, omnia ad ejusmodi consecrationem et ordinationem necessaria continet et nihil habet quod ex se sit aut superstitiosum, aut impium: itaque quicunque juxta ritus illius libri consecrati, aut ordinati sunt, ab anno secundo prædicti Regis Edwardi usque ad hoc tempus, aut in posterum juxta eosdem ritus consecrabuntur, aut ordinabuntur, rite atque ordinate [in some editions "ordine" for "ordinate,"] atque legitime statuimus esse et fore consecratos et ordinatos. "PARAPHRASIS.-Hic Articulus nos remittit ad Pontificale sub Edwardo VI. compactum. "De ordinatione Episcoporum verba in ceremoniali illo sunt: Accipe Spiritum Sanctum, et memento suscitare gratiam Dei, quæ est in te per impositionem manuum, quia Deus non nobis dedit Spiritum timoris, sed potestatis et sobrietatis. "Hæc verba simul cum impositione manuum à pluribus Episcopis facta, done, he gives into the hands of the person to be consecrated a Bible with suitable words: so that the form is, "Take the Holy Ghost," etc. The matter is the imposition of hands; let the more learned judge whether it be right to declare their consecration void on this account, especially since Vasquez and others think that the imposition of hands and those words are sufficient, jure divino, for the essence of the ordination of a Bishop, as may be seen from the writings of Vasquez, p. iii., disp., 240, num. 58. Conink, De Ord., disp. xx., dub. 7, num. 58, at length treats of the question, and proves it from the Council of Trent; nor does Arcudius dissent from this opinion, (De Sacr. Ord.,) because of the authority of Scripture, which makes mention of these two points alone, and most frequently. He also, in the same place, shows that in the Greek Church the delivery of the instruments is not necessary absolutely, nor the forms connected with them. His judgment is the same respecting the physical and material unction in the Sacrament of Order, whether with respect to Bishops or Priests; for it is not essential, according to him; moreover, in the Greek Church, as Arcudius argues, it never has been used, because St. Chrysostom, pronuntiat Archiepiscopus: quibus peractis tradit in manus consecrandi Biblia, cum verbis accommodatis: adeo ut forma sit, Accipe Spiritum Sanctum, etc. materia, impositio manuum, judicent doctiores an hanc eorum consecrationem ex hoc capite irritam defineri fas sit, præsertim, cum. Vasq. et alii putent impositionem manuum, et illa verba sufficere quantum est de jure divino, ad essentiam ordinationis Episcopalis: ut videre est, p. 3, disp. 240, num 58. Conink De Ordine, disp. 20, dub. 7, num. 58, fuse, et probat ex Trid. ; nec dissentit Arcudius De Sacramento Ordinis, propter authoritatem Scripturæ, quæ horum duorum sæpius et solum mentionem facit, ubi etiam fuse ostendi in Ecclesia Græca traditiones instrumentorum non esse necessarias simpliciter, nec formas illis applicatas. "Idem judicium facit de unctione physica et materiali in Sacramento Ordinis, sive quoad Episcopos vel sacerdotes; non enim est essentialis, secundum eum: immo in Ecclesia Græca nunquam fuit adhibita, ut contendit Arcudius; quia Chrys. in Digressione Morali 2, Orat. in 1, ad Timoth., faciens distinctionem inter sacerdotes Veteris et Novæ Legis, dicit priores unctos fuisse. Dionys. etiam, licet accuratissimus in ceremoniis |