Report of Commemorative Services with the Sermons and Addresses at the Seabury Centenary, 1883-1885. by Diocese Of Connecticut
page 40 of 193 (20%)
page 40 of 193 (20%)
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to all bodies of Christians of whatever name, and, therefore, to
the Church among them; that, if not needed, there could be no propriety in applying for it; and, finally, that any such application would be imprudent and unwise, in that "there were some who would oppose it, and would labor to excite opposition among the people, who, if unalarmed by any jealousies, would probably remain quiet." How far these wise and reasonable conclusions commended themselves to the bishops of England I am unable to state. A third difficulty remained; and this, it must be owned, had more substance to it than those just considered. It related to the oaths in the Ordination Office. These could not, of course, be taken by the person seeking consecration; nor could the consecrating bishops dispense with them on their own authority; nor would the dispensation of the sovereign suffice, even should it be given, unless with, at least, the concurrence of the Privy Council, or--and this seems to have been the final conclusion--an Act of Parliament. When we remember how potent an element in bringing on the Revolution of 1688--a revolution which had placed the House of Hanover on the throne of Great Britain--the question as to the sovereign's dispensing power had been; what an engine of tyranny in the State and of destruction to the Church James II. had intended to make it; and how offensive, if not dangerous, any revival of it might well appear, we need not wonder that the bishops of England should have declined to act under it, or that the sovereign should have declined to give it, unless it could be guarded and supported by forms and sanctions of unquestionable |
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