RITES AND RITUAL;
A PLEA FOR
APOSTOLIC DOCTRINE AND WORSHIP.
BY
PHILIP FREEMAN, M.A.,
VICAR OF THORVERTON, DEVON; ARCHDEACON AND CANON OF EXETER;
AUTHOR OF "THE PRINCIPLES OF DIVINE SERVICE."
WITH AN APPENDIX
CONTAINING THE OPINIONS, ON CERTAIN POINTS OF DOCTRINE,
OF
HENRY, LORD BISHOP OF EXETER.
———
Wilt thou forgive thy son one boding sigh?
Forgive, if round thy towers he walk in fear,
And tell thy jewels o'er with jealous eye?"
———
FOURTH EDITION, REVISED.
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1866.
LONDON: PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET,
AND CHARING CROSS.
PREFACE.
The following pages had been prepared, for the mostpart, for publication, before it was known that thequestion of Ritual would be discussed in Convocation,or a Committee of the Lower House appointed, by thedirection of the Upper House, to report upon it.
But the suggestions here offered are of so generala character, that it seemed to the writer that theymight still without impropriety be put forth as acontribution, of however humble a kind, to the generalventilation of the subject.
It was the writer's hope, as expressed in theoriginal announcement of the Pamphlet, that hisDiocesan, the venerable Bishop of Exeter, wouldhave been able to prefix, in an Introduction, hisopinion on the leading points, whether of Ritual orDoctrine, involved in the present controversy. And,although that hope has been in part frustrated, hehas still been privileged to embody, in an Appendix,his Lordship's deliberate judgment on some of theweightier matters of Eucharistic Doctrine; and to[4]receive an assurance of his warm interest in thesubjects dwelt upon in these pages.
The writer has to apologise for having occasionallyreferred the reader to a larger work of his own. Hebegs that this may be understood to be merely aguarantee, that detailed proof is forthcoming onpoints which could only be cursorily treated of inthe present publication.
CONTENTS.
Rites.—Importance of them above Ritual—Serious departure of theEnglish Church from primitive practice—Abeyance of Weekly Celebration—Proofsthat Weekly Communion is part of the DivineOrdinance—Practical advantages of restoring it—Origin and historyof the present unsound practice—Vigorous protest of the EnglishChurch against it—Difficulties in the way of a reformation, how to bemet—Recent Eucharistic excesses—Worship addressed to