Memorial on behalf of the Clergy and Congregations in Scotland Adhering to the Doctrine and Worship of the United Church of England and Ireland; Humbly Addressed to the Archbishops and Bishops of That Church.
London: Privately Printed by G. Barclay, 1857.
Memorial on behalf of the Clergy and Congregations in Scotland adhering to the Doctrine and Worship of the United Church of England and Ireland; humbly addressed to the Archbishops and Bishops of that Church
SHEWETH,
THAT your Memorialists represent several Congregations in Scotland, under the pastoral charge of Clergymen ordained by Bishops of the United Church of England and Ireland.
That such Congregations have existed from the period when Episcopacy ceased to be the form of Church-government established in Scotland, and were subsequently recognised and protected by Act of Parliament (10th Anne, c. 7) in the “exercise of Divine Worship, to be performed after their own manner, by Pastors ordained by a Protestant Bishop," and "to use in their Congregations the Liturgy of the Church of England, if they think fit, without any let, hindrance, or disturbance from any person whatsoever."
That from the year 1746 until 1792 it was [3/4] enacted (19 Geo. II. c. 38), that "No letters or orders of any Pastor or Minister of any Episcopal Meeting or Congregation in Scotland, shall be deemed sufficient or be admitted to be registered, but such as have been given by some Bishop of the Church of England or Ireland."
That under the sanction of these Acts, and by the occasional exercise of the Episcopal Office on the part of English and Irish Bishops, the aforesaid Congregations continued faithfully attached and conformable to the doctrine and worship of the Churches of England and Ireland.
That by an Act passed in 1792 (32 Geo. III. c. 63), the Bishops and Clergy of another Church, called the Scottish Episcopal Church, were relieved from the penalties imposed upon them by the Act of 1746, and were allowed the free exercise of their worship on the condition that they subscribed "the Oaths of Allegiance, Abjuration, and Assurance," and, "at the same time and place, a Declaration of Assent to the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England."
That in consequence of the above subscription, and on account of the difficulty in obtaining the benefit of Episcopal Offices from the Prelates of their own Church, the greater part of the Church-of-England Congregations became united in course of time, but not without their own free consent, with the Scottish Episcopal Church.
[5] That after the experience of some years this union has been found to be incompatible, in the judgment of your Memorialists, with fidelity to the principles of the United Church of England and Ireland; and, therefore, it has been abandoned by several Congregations, whilst other Congregations have refused, and still refuse, to enter into it.
That although the Clergy of the Scottish Episcopal Church are required by law to declare their assent to the Thirty-nine Articles, yet, since they are not controlled by the "Act of Uniformity," they retain a Communion Office, which, as your Memorialists allege, exhibits Doctrines condemned by the Articles of the Church of England.
That every Clergyman connecting himself with the Scottish Episcopal Church is obliged to subscribe Canons which assign "primary authority" to the Scottish Communion Office.
That the Scottish Episcopal Church, having no fixedness of constitution, has had its Canons altered on three different occasions since the commencement of the present century; and the Canons may be altered again and again at General Synods, which may be convened at the will of a majority of the Bishops.
That at these General Synods the voice mf the Laity is altogether excluded, and even the votes of the Clergy, chosen as Delegates from the Presbyters of this Church, may be overruled on any point by [5/6] the controlling influence of the Bishops; and yet these Synods may determine important questions of doctrine or discipline by "alterations, amendments, abrogations, and new Canons," which shall not only oblige the minority of the said Synod, but all the absent members of the Church."
That your Memorialists, desiring for themselves, as also for their children and successors, the happiness of continued union with the Established Church of England and Ireland, firmly reject the thought of merging themselves into the Scottish Episcopal Church.
That your Memorialists, conscious of strong attachment to their own Church, appeal to the Archbishops and Bishops to render to them those Episcopal Offices which, as they trust, they are not unworthy to enjoy, which are extended to Church-of-England Congregations in all other parts of the world, and which, they humbly submit, they are entitled to claim as a right, both by the prescription of centuries and by the inherent principles of all Churches.
That your Memorialists beg to refer to a few precedents, showing in what way English and Irish Bishops have in former times extended their Episcopal Offices to Congregations in Scotland:—
Bishop Gibson of London, whose authority in all matters of ecclesiastical law is of the highest kind, gave advice and assistance on several [6/7] occasions to the Managers of English Chapels, both at Montrose and Aberdeen. Some questions having arisen respecting the Minister at Montrose (who had been ordained to that charge by the Bishop of Carlisle), the advice of the Bishop of London was asked, and in a letter still preserved at Montrose, and dated "Fulham, February 4, 1738," he replied, “Your proper recourse in the case you mention is to the Bishop of Carlisle, who has as much concern in North Britain as I or any other Bishop."
In the year 1741, Bishop Gibson himself ordained Mr. Gordon Priest for the English Chapel at Aberdeen, stating in a letter to the Managers, dated Whitehall, September 22, 1741:"—"I have admitted him to the Order of Priest, that he might be capable of performing among you the duties belonging to the ministerial office," although at that time, there was a Bishop of the Scottish Episcopal Church known to be resident in that city. The above instances are previous to the passing of the penal Acts, which restricted the functions of the Scottish Bishops.
In 1760 the Bishop of Ossory—the celebrated Dr. Pococke—administered the rite of Confirmation to several of the Church-of-England Congregations in Scotland.
In 1765 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Seeker, ordained Mr. Blake for the English Chapel at Ellon, Aberdeenshire.
[8] In 1769 the Bishop of Bristol, Dr. Newton, ordained Mr. Cordiner for a congregation at Arbroath.
In 1770 the Bishop of Down and Connor, Dr. Traill, then travelling in Scotland, ordained Mr. Cordiner Priest in the town of Arbroath; and he also ordained Mr. Laing in Peterhead, although Bishop Kilgour of the Scottish Episcopal Church had a pastoral charge there.
In 1788 Archbishop Moore, of Canterbury, ordained a Clergyman for the Chapel at Cruden, in Aberdeenshire, although a minister of the Scottish Episcopal Church was already stationed in the same parish.
That your Memorialists are fully prepared with evidence to show, if necessary, the incompatibility of submission to the Scottish Episcopal Church with allegiance to the Established Church of England and Ireland; but the purport of the present application is not so much to distinguish the peculiarities of a foreign body, altogether exempt from the authority of the United Church, as to indicate the position of the Church-of-England Congregations in Scotland, which, although protected by Act of Parliament, and countenanced and encouraged by the expressed sympathies of the Archbishops of both provinces, and of several Prelates both in England and Ireland, are without direct Episcopal superintendence.
[9] That your Memorialists, therefore, humbly request that the Church-of-England Congregations in Scotland may be brought under the superintendence of any one, or of more than one, of the Prelates of the United Church of England and Ireland, upon such terms as may give effect to such superintendence, and that the Clergy appointed to officiate to the aforesaid Congregations may receive Episcopal licenses.
That your Memorialists are persuaded that such Episcopal superintendence and public recognition of the Congregations of the United Church of England and Ireland in Scotland would be attended with great benefits, under the Divine blessing, to these Congregations, and would also be accompanied with some reflex benefit to the United Church, and would strengthen the cause of Protestant Truth and Unity.
On behalf of St. Thomas’s Congregation, Edinburgh.
(Signed)
D. T. K. Drummond, B.A. Worcester College, Oxford. Incumbent of St. Thomas's Chapel.
* Francis Richardson, M.A. Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, Curate.
Andrew Wood, M.D., President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. Vestryman.
J. Keith, M.D. John Buckle. Vestrymen.
J. H. Balfour, M.A. M.D. F.R.S., Professor of Botany. Vestryman and Trustee.
Wm. F. Burnley, Thos. R. Robertson, John Wauchope, D. Mackenzie, Daniel Ainslie, John S. K. Maclean, Vestrymen.
Alex. Stuart, Trustee. Rob. S. Stuart, Assistant Secretary to Vestry.On behalf of the * United Church of England and Ireland Chapel, St. Vincent Street, Edinburgh.
(Signed)
*Richard Hibbs, M.A. St. John’s College, Cambridge. Minister.
Joseph Holdsworth, W. Wheeler, R.E.D., Edward Barnes, Richard Craven. Vestrymen.On behalf of St. Jude’s Congregation, Glasgow.
(Signed)
Chas. Popham Miles, M.A. F.L.S. Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Incumbent.
* George Stanham, M.A. St. John’s College, Cambridge. Curate.
George Burns, William F. Burnley.On behalf of St. Peter’s Congregation, Montrose.
(Signed)
Wm. P. MacDermott, A.B. Trinity College, Dublin. Incumbent of St. Peter’s Chapel.Vestrymen.
Thos. Renny Tailyour, David Walker, James Watt, James Spence, David Robb, Robert Walker.
On behalf of Christ Church, Selkirk.
(Signed)
* George Robinson, M.A. Ball. Coll. Oxford. Incumbent of Christ Church, and late Rector of Bisley, Surrey.
John H. Murray. Trustee.On behalf of * Christ Church, Dunoon.
(Signed)
W.F. Burnley. Trustee.This Chapel is only open during the summer, when the services are performed by ordained Clergymen of the Church of England.
On behalf of St. Ninian’s, Nairn.
(Signed)
Denis Leyne Brashie. Incumbent of St. Ninian’s.
William Brodie of Brodie. Trustee.
Augustus Clarke, of Achareidh. Trustee.
George Fowler Jones. Trustee.
Captain Clarke. Trustee.
Evan Baillie of Dochfour. Trustee.Archd. Campbell of Blythswood, Evan Baillie of Dochfour, Chas. Popham Miles, Incumbent of St. Jude’s, Glasgow. Desputation from the Church of England in Scotland.
* The Clergymen and Chapels marked with an asterisk have never been subject to the Scottish Episcopal Church.