The improvement of society and public opinion

Front matter

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Preface

We live in extraordinary times. Since the world began, perhaps there was never a time in which such great changes were in progress as now. In England we have a moral and religious reformation. In France the same progress is making. In Italy a political reformation has just been consummated, which is, doubtless, the forerunner of a corresponding religious advance. In Prussia a religious reformation is imminent, and as for Austria, she is about to become the scene of vast changes.

If we now pass into Asia, we find Turkey in a very unsettled state. It is the same with India, and as for China, if we may accept the late manifesto of the new King of Nankin as sincere, of which we have no reason to doubt, the Christian Religion is about to supplant the Idolatrous Churches of the East. Such is the transition state of the Old World, and the same may be said of the New World. The great American Republic has just been broken up ; and looking to the corruptions which that Confederation has produced, we recognise in that catastrophe the precursor of a great Reformation, political and moral. Such are times in which we live, and in now attempting to give consistency to the Moral and Religious movement going on amongst ourselves, we trust we shall not be accused of entering the field a moment sooner than the times demand.

We have been told that the World is not yet far enough advanced for a True Church, and that we ought to wait until it is better prepared for a reformation, before we propose one ; but that is obviously a fallacy ; for who can believe without a preacher ? The mission of reformers is both to prepare the soil and sow the seed ; for it is impossible that the Church and the World can be improved, unless reformers come forward to tell the truth, and so produce a reformation.

PREFACE.

We have had no reformers since the times of Granmer, Ridley, and Latimer, but now the good work of reformation is happily renewed. We have hewn out to ourselves broken cisterns, which can hold no water ; and now, in our necessity, we are obliged to replace the faulty vessels with such as may be good and true. Whether we look at the Church, at Politics, at Literature, at Education, at Commerce, or at anything else, we find nothing but disappointment, and hopeless complications. The universal cry is for a Reformation ; and to the call, " who will show us any good ? " we cannot turn an inattentive ear. We have faith in Truth, and in the capacity of Man to receive it when it is fairly brought under his notice, and although the work we have undertaken be an arduous one, we feel assured, that if we use the means at our command, we shall reap the desired harvest.

Rome was not built in a day ; neither will error and evil be rooted out all at once, but we shall plant the seeds of reformation deep in the ground, and if we do not see the work finished, we shall have the consolation of knowing that we have done our duty, in bequeathing to our children a legacy of which they shall reap the fruits.

It will be observed, that the "New Reformation" is altogether Conservative, for true reform is only another word for true conservatism ; and, trusting to the righteousness of our cause, and the good sense and public spirit of the people of England, we respectfully submit these pages to their consideration.

25, Conduit Street, London,

February \Qth, 1861.

THE NEW REFORMATION SOCIETY.

CHAPTEK I.

ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC.

This Society has been formed for the purpose of promoting a General Reformation throughout the United Kingdom and the Colonies. The want of an institution of this kind has long been felt, for none of the existing Societies occupy a field of operations sufficiently wide to meet the daily increasing wants of the country. This great movement may be said to have arisen from three distinct causes, all of which have come from the prolonged absence of Reform of the Articles of Religion. The first Cause is the rapid progress of Supernaturalism and Puritanism among the middle and industrial classes, of which the Revival Movement, as it is called, is the evidence. The next cause is one in the opposite direction, namely, the progress of Necessitarianism and Rationalism among a portion of the higher classes. The third cause is the unsatisfactory state of our Ecclesiastical and Educational establishments, which cannot be improved until a general Reformation is produced in the public mind in the direction of Unity and Concord.

The principles of the Society are, the recognition of the Authority and Inspiration of Scripture, and of the Divinity of Christ. Occupying an independent position, we shall act impartially towards all parties. Having no party objects to serve, we shall feel ourselves at liberty to communicate freely with all parties, with the object of uniting them on the neutral ground of Reform.

The Society will co-operate with kindred societies throughout England, Scotland, Ireland, and the Colonies, with the object of producing a simultaneous and harmonious movement among all classes and denominations of Protestants. Although the Society's operations will be exclusively confined to the Established Church, yet as all churches have a direct interest in the Reform of the National Faith, Protestants of all denominations are expected to take part in the movement.

The Constitution of the Church comprises, first, the Thirty-nine Articles, containing the Creed of the Church; second, the Prayer Book, comprising the Services of the Church ; and third, the Canons, or the Acts of the Crown and Convocation, constituting the Church. To begin right, is almost to end right; and in beginning with the reform

4 ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC.

of the Articles, which form the basis of the Church's Constitution, the remedy will be applied at the source from which all the evils which afflict the Church spring.

Immediately after the passing of the Church Reform Bill by the Crown and Parliament, the Society will take up the subject of Reforms in the Prayer Book, Services, and Canons. They will likewise turn their attention to Educational Reform ; but until the Reform Bill of the Articles is passed, it would be premature to enter on these subjects. It will be observed, that the movement is entirely a religious one, and in no respect political. This is a hopeful circumstance ; for, although the necessary changes are great and numerous, yet, owing to their non-political character, there is the prospect of the Bill passing through Parliament with the consent of all parties. We desire no controversy or agitation, and unless the opponents of Reform provoke such, there will be none.

Prevention is ever better than Cure, and the new Reformation is essentially preventive. We spend above six millions annually on our poor, raised by compulsory assessment, and double that sum by voluntary contributions. We spend some millions on our courts of justice and reformatories, many millions on superfluous drinkables, several millions on hospitals and such-like, and a sum more than all these twice told, on useless schemes arising from ignorance and delusion. We do not say that the whole of this vast expenditure of capital will be saved by the reformation, but this we may say, that a moiety of these sums will certainly be saved when our moral and religious creeds are placed on the basis of liberty and truth.

Incredulity has often deprived the world of untold riches, and in now asking the public to place faith in Truth and Justice, and in the bountiful provisions of Providence, we feel assured that the result, great and glorious as it may be, will not fall short of all we have said. Let it not be imagined that we are increased with goods and have need of nothing more ; for while the few are rich the many are poor, and in advocating the claims of the Reformation we seek not the interests of those who have need of nothing, but rather of those who are in want of all things, for Religion and Civilization will not be complete until their blessings are extended to all classes of the community.

The Revenue of the Society will be derived from the sale of the books and tracts which it proposes to publish, and from voluntary subscriptions which already amount to a sum sufficient to meet preliminary expenses. General meetings of the Society will be called from time to time, of which due notice will be given by advertisement. The object of the first meeting will be, to elect office-bearers, and to appoint a committee to draw up the Revised Articles of Religion to be attached to the proposed Bill. Gentlemen in London and elsewhere, desiring to join the Society, are requested to send in their names by letter, to the Secretary, Mr. M. W. Miles, at the Society's Office.

The Reform of the Church will be the counterpart of all the Reforms carried out during the last forty years — a consummation which will perhaps be recognised by succeeding generations as the Magna Charta of England's Religious Liberty. If we may estimate the good

ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC. 5

results of this great Reformation by the importance of the changes proposed, and the ages which have elapsed before the proposal could be made with any prospect of success, we may be assured that they will exceed all that the heart of man can conceive.

London, December 18M, 1860.

CHURCH REFORM BILL.

Draft of an Act of the Crown, to amend an Act of the Crown, passed in the Reign of James the First, 1603, anent the affairs of the Church.

VICTORIA, by the Grace of God, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in virtue of our Prerogative Royal in Causes Ecclesiastical, and with the advice and consent of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and other Bishops and Clergy of the Church, Do hereby Ordain and Decree, subject to the consent of the Houses of Parliament, the Reformation of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church, and that in the manner following : —

First. That in place of the Thirty-nine Articles, originally en acted by Henry VIII, amended and re-enacted by Elizabeth in 1571, and finally ordained by James I, in 1603, the Thirty-nine New Articles annexed hereto shall henceforth constitute the Creed of the Church.

Second. That after the Ratification of this Act by Convocation and Parliament, no Clergyman shall be admitted to Orders until he has first subscribed the New Articles.

Third. Notwithstanding the subscriptions to the Articles, the Clergy shall be entitled to hold their own private opinions (the right of private judgment), so that those private opinions do not amount to a practical nullification of the Articles as a whole.

Lastly. It shall be competent to the Clergy now in Orders to subscribe the "New Articles," and thereby free themselves from the obligations of their present subscriptions ; but those Clergymen who prefer to hold the Old Articles shall be entitled to do so, in which case, such Clergymen shall not be bound by the "New Articles," but remain bound by the Old Articles.

FORM OF PETITION TO PARLIAMENT.

To the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled, (and a Petition to the House of Commons to the same effect.)

Humbly Sheweth — Your petitioners, inhabitants of the City (or Borough, or Parish) of are of opinion that the time has come for a complete

Reformation of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church, so a& to place the National Faith on a basis more in harmony with Scripture and Experience, than is the case with the existing Articles.

Your Petitioners believe that when the Thirty-nine Articles are reformed on the principles contained in the publications of the Reformation Society of London, those Religious Animosities, so destructive of independent thought and of social peace and liberty, would be entirely removed.

Your petitioners further believe, that the reform of the Articles, in restoring unity and concord to the Church, would open the way for those Reforms in the Prayer Book and Services, and in the Educational Institutions of the Country, on which the further progress of Religion and Civilisation seems to depend.

May it therefore please your Honourable House, to take this important matter into consideration, and to lay a Petition before Her Gracious Majesty, praying her to take such steps as she may think fit, for the Reformation of the Thirty-nine Articles, upon the principles herein set forth. And your petitioners will ever pray, &c.

Chapter II. The Protestant Churches

" Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward."

The Church is the only unreformed portion of the State ; for since 1559, when Elizabeth came to the throne, it has not been reformed. Now as the Church happens to be the chief element in Civilization, our attention must be mainly directed to it ; for to reform the Church as it ought to be reformed, is almost to reform and complete Civilization. It is clear that we must look to the Laity, in the first instance, for Church reform. If a Catholic writes on the Church, he only magnifies the infallibility of his own Church ; and if a Protestant writes, he advocates the views of his own party.

Religious Animosities have for the most part extinguished all independent thought. To remain blind to our own faults, and alive to the faults of others, is the characteristic of our times. Before this morbid state of the public mind can be improved, men must be taught to distinguish truth from error. When men begin to correct their own opinions, by thinking independently and without reference to this creed or that, they will see less to complain of in others, and thus will toleration and love be increased. True religion teaches Love to others, and seeing that Religion has hitherto taught men rather to dislike each other, we have a practical proof that something is radically wrong. With this fact before us, surely we must be blind indeed if we see not in a New Reformation the germ of a bright future in the history of this country. If there was no such thing as Truth, and if every man was not endowed with the faculty of perceiving Truth when fairly brought under his notice, there would be no remedy for Erroneous Opinions ; but seeing that Truth is a reality, there is no excuse for the present non-progressive state of Civilization.

Mr. Baden Powell says that no man can prove a Miracle of the Bible. But as he might as truly say that no man can disprove a Miracle, the statement goes for nothing. To go into historical questions such as these, is only to take up the attention of the Church, with that which cannot possibly be settled one way or the other ; and instead of such a course leading to concord and unity, it must have the,, opposite effect. It is strange that discussions on Religion should have always turned on the question whether the Bible be a revelation from God, or not, — of which Paley's Evidences, down to Rawlinson's Bampton's Lectures, are examples — and not on the question of Doctrine. Whether this be accidental, or done with the object of diverting attention from the question of Reform of Doctrine, we cannot say ; but whether it be accidental or intentional, one thing is certain — that it has had the effect of keeping the World in the dark as to its true interests.

There are two ideas which very few minds can take in at the same time. One is, that Scripture is an inspiration of G-od ; and the other, that man may have misrepresented, misinterpreted, and misapplied Scripture. The two things are perfectly compatible, and yet we have seldom met any who can accept the self-evident proposition. Let the reader boldly examine Scripture, and he will find that he may reform his Creed without rejecting his Bible or his Religion. To act upon the principle of either accepting the Bible as it is now interpreted and applied, or to reject it altogether, is as illogical as to say that because we cannot know everything we can know nothing. Reformation is the course we take in every other affair of life, and why we should treat religion either as everything that is good and perfect, or nothing at all, is the greatest folly imaginable. We all know and acknowledge that Religion is not perfect, and that, being so, why should we refuse to reform and perfect it ? Why seek its destruction until we have first proved that it cannot be reformed ? What should we think of a politician who assumed that the British Parliament could not be reformed, and who therefore proposed to abolish it ? and if that is folly, the folly of those who refuse to look into the facts upon which Religion stands, and who, in ignorance of these facts, assume that it cannot be reformed, is equally great.

Three different paths are open to us. The first is to remain as we are, and see the World go on from one folly to another in an endless circle. The second is to ignore Religion altogether, and then we shall have the World worse than ever. The third is to keep our Bible, and conform our Religious belief to it, and that, we think, is the only course consistent with True Religion.

At the Christian Era there existed three great parties : 1st, the Pharisees, whose religion was hypocrisy; 2nd, the Sadducees, whose religion was scepticism; and 3rd, the Christians, who took a middle course, rejecting hypocrisy on the one hand and scepticism on the other. Such was the state of the World in the first century, and it is practically the same now in the nineteenth century. We have 1st, the Anti-Reform party, who are contented to remain as they are, and in rejecting Reform assume that they are perfect ; 2nd, the Rationalist party ; and 3rd, the Reform party, who advocate a Reformation on the principles of the Gospel.

The Christian Religion is a religion of love — Love to God, and Love to our fellow men. The Jewish Religion is a Religion of fear, on which the Catholic Church is built — hell-fire and purgatory being the great instruments used to compel obedience. The Protestant Church is an improvement on the Catholic Church, for it acts upon love more than fear ; but it is not perfect, and requires to be further reformed by passing more completely from fear to love. We have been accustomed to interpret the New Testament by the Old Bible, an error which almost entirely nullifies the Gospel. It is clear that we are bound to invert this order, and interpret the Old Testament by the Gospel. We all know that the last document modifies or annuls all previous documents in the affairs of life, and we have only to apply this self-evident principle in reading the two Books of Revelation, to come to the Knowledge of what the Christian Religion really is.

The World was originally created Good and Perfect, as a means to an end, and it is left to man to develope and complete its destiny as a Civilized World. Original Evil, or Want, is the means by which Man is compelled to exert himself, and so convert an uncivilized World into a civilized World. Man cultivates External Nature, and turns a barren wilderness into a fruitful field. He cultivates the Mind, and turns a field overgrown with weeds into a fruitful garden.

The doctrine of Original Sin is arrived at by reading the allegory of the Fall in a literal manner, but as that doctrine is opposed to the doctrine of the Perfection of God in goodness and power, it is necessary to reject it. If God could not prevent Satan from ruining mankind, that would indicate a want of Power, and if he did not prevent Satan's work, that involves the want of Goodness ; so that, in any case, the doctrine must be given up. As our Saviour never alludes to " Original Sin," it is quite certain that that doctrine forms no part of Christianity.

It is because Church reformers ignore the question of Doctrine that not the slightest approach to a settlement has been made for the last twenty years, although compromises of every possible description have been offered, first by one party and then by the other. The Clergy have yet to learn that reform involves sacrifice ; and until all parties are prepared to sacrifice error on the altar of truth no progress can be made.

This is an age o^ discovery and invention greater than that of the sixteenth century. Now what does all this progress mean ? Is it to stop here, or to carry us forward to a corresponding moral advance ? This question will be answered if we look to the experience of the past. Invention and discovery in the sixteenth century were immediately followed by a moral advance, — the Reformation of Luther ; and if this, the second age of discovery, is not followed by a second Reformation, such a result will be altogether opposed to experience and the natural sequence of cause and effect.

On reference to an Article on "The Revival Movement," as it is called, in the North British Review, lately published, the fearful progress of that malady in all parts of the United Kingdom, will be seen. The

THE TltOTESTANT CHURCHES.

-Movement began in America in 1857; and crossed over to Ireland in the following year, and now in England and Scotland it is all but universal. The mind of the people is being broken down and demoralized by the follies of Supernaturalism, and we all know that it would require almost a miracle to restore minds once demoralized to a healthy state. Not a day must be lost to arrest the evil, and nothing can remove it but by placing our Articles of Belief on a basis which will give no countenance to such false views of Religion. The Gospel is Miraculous in its origin, but the effect of the Gospel on the soul is natural. This fact proves that Conversion is not a miracle at all, but Natural. There being no evidence of Miracles, either internal or external, since New Testament times, as the doctrines of Baptismal Regeneration and Election involve Miraculous Conversions, they must be rejected. Love to Christ furnishes the motive for obedience to the precepts of the Gospel ; and with that Motive every man is able to work out his own Salvation, for there is no such thing as Miraculous Conversions.

The fact that the Protestant Churches have not made a single Reform of Doctrine for the last three hundred years, proves how lifeless and unfruitful the Churches are. Unless we are prepared to assert that the Protestant Creed is perfect and free from error, what we have now said must be true. The fact is, Religion consists not merely in remaining contented with the faith we already possess, but in adding to our Faith new and better Doctrines, for unless the Soul grows as well as lives, it must be dormant and fruitless.

To raise the Character of the Individual is the banner of the New Reformation. Under its influence our little men will become great, and our weak men strong ; strong in counsel and strong in action. The national character will be raised, and the influence of the Reformation will cross the Channel and perhaps induce other nations to follow our example. Controversy and War followed Luther's reformation ; but the New Reformation is Peace. Contradictions produce controversy and war, and such was the result of Luther's imperfect work. The first reformation was based, not on principle, but on compromise ; but the glory of the New Reformation is, that it is based on Truth. Such is the wide difference between the two reformations, and that difference is sufficient to account for the failure of the one and the predicted success of the other.

It is not unusual to hear Evangelical preachers state from the pulpit, that the effect of the Gospel on the soul is wholly natural ; and, as for the High Church, that is the avowed doctrine of the party. Now, all that is wanting to produce the desired Reformation is, that the Church shall give its corporate sanction to that great doctrine, and annul all other doctrines which trench upon it. Such may be regarded as the dawn of the New Reformation, a great and glorious light, which was unknown to the Church in any former period of her history. The grand difficulty in all reformations is to find a scheme of Reform which will be generally acceptable. What remains after that is comparatively easy. With Books, Newspapers, and Tracts, to publish the new principles, as seeds scattered broadcast over the land, a visible improvement in the Opinions and

Manners of all classes — from the cottage up to the drawing-room — will speedily be effected. The tone of our pulpit ministrations will improve, and the character of the people will be nourished and refreshed, like the land after a long and dreary winter. It was a glorious day when Elizabeth came to the throne, and set the conscience and the intellect comparatively free. It was more than a repetition of that day, when William III. met his people in St. James's, and congratulated them on their victory over Rome ; and it will be a thrice glorious day when Victoria enters St. Paul's and gives her hearty assent to a Church Reform Bill, embodying the principles of the New Reformation.

The Catholics speak of the Protestants as heretics, and the Protestants treat the Catholics no better, for they consider the Catholics Antichrist and the Scarlet Lady. But this is not all, for one class of Protestants consider another class mere professors, devoid of all vital religion; while these very professors retort on their accusers that they who consider themselves the favourites of Heaven, are quite as insincere as themselves. These being the facts of the case, we ask where does all this Intolerance come from ? We answer, that it arises from the prevalence of Error in our own opinions. Those who have no errors to uphold are never intolerant, for to such truth is ever pleasant and welcome ; but to those who indulge in error truth produces anger and resentment.

If Devotion were the test of truth, the Irish are the most religious of the British people, the Scotch the next, and the English the least religious of all. But it is certain that "Devotion" is not a test of truth, for a Brahmin is more devout than a Mahometan, a Mahometan professedly more religious than a Catholic, and a Catholic apparently more pious than a Protestant. In these circumstances we must look for some better test than " Devotion." We should say, that the nation which is least Intolerant, and acts most faithfully upon the principles of Christianity, is the most religious.

True Opinions produce Sincerity, or faith and practice in unison ; consequently error must produce hypocrisy, or faith and practice at variance. The reason why error produces hypocrisy, is that we cannot carry error into practice without being ashamed of it, we therefore cover over our thoughts and actions with the cloak of hypocrisy. Give us true and consistent opinions, and we may almost answer for it that the actions will be in accordance with them. It is because no Church has never yet adopted a creed entirely free from error, that hypocrisy so much abounds in the world. It therefore follows that any general improvement of the world must be preceded by a reformation of doctrine.

The Law of Toleration is as necessary to peace and progress as the law of jurisprudence ; and looking to the evils which the constant violation of that law of liberty in every age has led, — and in no age more than in our own, — it is to be regretted that no Court of Justice should have been set up to enforce obedience to it, similar to that which has happily been established for the protection of life and property. To take away a man's character or reputation because he freely and honestly expresses his opinions, or because he is not so great a hypocrite as others, is surely as great a crime as theft, for what is life without character ? The Conscience is the divine means for maintaining Toleration ; but that means is insufficient in the earlier stages of Civilization, for then Conscience is weak. What is the history of the Middle Ages but the history of wars and persecutions arising from Intolerance, showing how much a Court of Law, to protect liberty of thought and discussion, was then wanted. We do not propose to establish a Court of Justice for the protection of liberty of discussion in this country, for there is a much more simple way of effecting that object, — viz., the Reformation of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church. When that Reform becomes the law of the land, the Law of Toleration will receive legislative effect, and no one will then have to complain of the want of Liberty of Thought and Discussion.

Chapter III. The Catholic Churches

" Ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free."

The following extract from Mr. Alison's Work on Civilization places the question of Catholicism in its true light.

" The Popedom attained the zenith of its power in 1207, in the reign of Innocent III., notorious for his cruelty and ambition. Then for the first time the Pope became a King, and claimed the sovereignty over Central Italy, the greater portion of which has been lost to the Church in our day (1860). Once more was Rome mistress of the world, having only exchanged the title of Emperor for that of Pope. The dogma on which the usurpation of Rome rests, is a saying of our Lord to St. Peter : " On this rock will I build my church ; and behold, I am with you to the end of the world." The reply to this claim is, of course, that the Catholic Church is not the only Church of Christ, and as she does not represent the Gospel in its purity, she has no right to take these words of our Lord to herself, far less to assume that they were addressed to her exclusively. But this claim is disproved by her own words, those of the last, the greatest, and the best of the Fathers, Gregory the Great. Fortunately a letter of St. Gregory remains, which is so important that I shall give it : — " ' The Bishop of Rome, to The Bishop of Constantinople.