William James Early Bennett

“ You observe, I have just attributed to the Holy Scriptures the very highest of all possible excellency, as being so actually God Himself, that unregenerate man must not venture to approach them. With what more exalted gift, what higher and purer grace, efficacy, and virtue of Divinity could any one invest the sacred writings of God than to say man of his own nature cannot approach them? It was for that reason,—I remarked, the Bible in itself was useless as a means of grace,—"in itself" because man's heart must be opened before he can appreciate it. ”

“ If you will look back upon the history of our country you will remember that by far the greater causes of religious separation in England have been of the most trivial description: whether a man ought to preach in a white gown or a black;—whether men ought to have organs or no organs in churches;—whether they ought to baptize with the sign of the Cross or without it;—whether men ought to kneel or stand;—to bow or not to bow;—to wear a vestment or no vestment;—to sing or to say. ”

“ A Parish Church indeed, with its venerable spire and ancient records of the past, pointing to times when men were one;—but scattered along the streets, chapels of various orders and degrees of dissent and separation, pointing to the schisms of later ages when unity of the faith ceased to be an item in the Christian's Creed. ”

“ I am quite aware that difference of opinion must exist when men begin to exercise the powers of reflection: that the same things are presented to different men in such different aspects according as their education is different, their habits different, their tempers different, and their hearts different; that it would be childish to think that all should be mere machine work moving about at the will of any one religious teacher, or community, or Church. ”

“ He is to live as though he did not know of the existence of any other Church than that where he is born: he is to act, à priori, as though of course, and according to our Lord's rule, the Church was one. If there be differences, that is nothing to him. The Churches, with their Bishops and rulers, must look to that. It is their sin that unity is broken: it is their duty to restore it." (The italics are Mr. Bennett's own.) "It is his alone to obey. In Rome he obeys; in England he obeys; in France he obeys. His obedience makes him a Catholic; the rest he leaves to God." ”

“ And the law of the Church at the same time that it put away the wrong commanded the use of what was not wrong. Now it was what the Church commanded to be used in some instances, and in others permitted to be used, that I contended for; not Roman Catholic things, but good old English things. That was all. And now let me tell you this remarkable fact, and judge for yourselves as honest men of common sense, whether, however you may differ in matters of opinion, (that you know we may do, and still be friends,) whether I was not right? ”

“ The greater danger there is,—the more I see the ship tossing to and fro and almost helpless,—the more I see evil spirits all around the ship, some weakening her by putting bad pilots on board, to guide her wrongly, and rejoicing to think that she must soon go to pieces;—the more I say, that all this happens, and just in consequence of its happening, and as long as two planks hold together—the more it is the duty of brave men to stand by her, and to counteract the evil, to pray the longer and the stronger to Almighty God to save her. ”

“ Here lies the key of pastoral work; not controversy, but teaching,—not disputing, but labouring,—not self-glory, but suffering. There are the sorrowful and the poor in spirit who need comfort; the penitent who need restoration; the sinful who need warning, and the dying who need the voice of prayer, and the blessed Sacrament of their departing. To these must we look. There are children who need instruction; wicked and ignorant men who must be aroused, worldly men who must be stirred from their apathy and be driven into the kingdom of Christ at whatever risk and cost. ”

“ I have been called upon quite unexpectedly, and without any seeking on my own part, to undertake among you one of the most arduous as well as the most responsible duties which it is possible for man to undertake. I have been called upon to preside among you in the things of religion;—to be your teacher, guide, and Priest;—to perform for you all the manifold and indescribable duties which are tributary and belong to the office of a Pastor in the Church of Christ. ”

“ All by nature is sin, hatred of God, and flying from His ways. If God does not first by some operation of His grace soften the heart, the speaking of God by His Scriptures is unheard. In conversion of the unbeliever, or reclaiming of the sinner; in argument to show the truth, and in persuasion to move to holiness, it is all the same, the Bible as such is of no use, unless it be accompanied, at least, if not preceded by the Church. There must be a movement from God, that man may understand God. There must be an invitation and a grace, that the words may have a meaning and the pages life. ”

“ Should any such popular clamour or mere movement of political revolution cause, (which God forbid!) any weakening of the Throne; or any instability of its glory; or should any personal difficulty, danger, or sorrow of any sort beset our present beloved Sovereign, who rightly rules de facto as de jure, in these realms it shall by God's help, be my part to suffer in her behalf, and defend her according to the oath of my allegiance, which so short a time since, on my institution to this benefice I swore. ”

“ May I ask you to examine yourselves carefully as to those points of religious practice which the Church enjoins, and to forbear the use of harsh words and party names?—to permit me to come among you, as far as human infirmities with permit, without indulging that predisposition to take everything for wrong, which is not exactly as you yourselves think right;—to give the teacher at least an opportunity of teaching ”

“ I think more may be done by the clergy and laity in parishes uniting together with one heart and mind, to bring this great blessing about, (I mean in plain words, the separation of Church and State as at present maintained,) than by individuals gloomily and despondingly departing from her, as too many have already done, some on the side of Rome, some of dissent. If all that have opportunity and power, however little, go away and abandon that opportunity and power, how then can the issue they have at heart ever be attained? ”

“ Well, then, if the Church of Rome be the true Church in Italy, a man in Italy must remain in her (the Church being one) , or else he is guilty of schism, and we pray in the Litany to God to deliver us from schism as from a deadly sin. If again the Church of England be the true Church in England (and you would not deny that) and the Church be one, then a man born in England, if he were to go out of her, would be guilty of schism, and from schism, as from a deadly sin, you pray, "Good Lord, deliver us." ”

“ Fifthly, there are some errors in disputable points; and some abuses are mere excesses without guilt, rather blemishes than sins; and for these alone no man ought to separate himself from a Christian Society, or abandon a true Church for trivial dissensions. Our duty in such a case is, to pray and persuade, without troubling the peace of the Church, and to leave the rest to God. ”

“ This was always the way by which dissension and schism were healed in former ages, and it is the only way in which it can be healed again. But in this, we as private individuals have no voice: we can only submit to what is before us. In France, a member of the Church to what is before him in France; in Italy, a member of the Church to what is before him in Italy; in England, a member of the Church to what is before him in England; leaving it in the hands of the rulers of the Church to direct the perfect restoration of unity as God may in His own good time move men's hearts towards it. ”

“ I am sensible that many things written in my books have been misunderstood and have done harm where I meant them to do good. Moreover, as to differences of opinion, I am bound to respect the consciences of all men, and wish most sincerely to do so, claiming only in return the same liberty of conscience for myself ”

“ It is indeed quite true that the Sixth Article of the Church of England asserts that "Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation, so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an Article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." ”

“ It is very disagreeable, toilsome, and wearisome, to have perpetually to work at stopping leaks, and mending holes, correcting things amiss, and restoring things lost; it would be more pleasant to rear a beautiful house and see it in its perfection and fulness, than to be ever beginning to build and never completing,—but if it be God's will that this shall be our work in this generation, that work we must do, and do it manfully. ”

“ I am quite aware that it is impossible for the minds of a number of thoughtful, earnest, religious men, such as I have no doubt many among you are, to be perfectly and altogether agreed on every single item of the faith of the Church. ”

“ It is a very fearful thing when a man is placed in the midst of two contending points such as these;—one to teach others over whom he is set in the Lord, to worship God in one particular way;—and the other to know that by so doing, he is to suffer their bad opinion, their hard speeches, and may be, their withdrawal from his communion;—that on the one hand, he is by the office of his ministry as the servant of God, to endeavour to persuade men to love ”

“ It is a most miserable thing to have to speak of oneself, especially in regard to religious things; but it is forced upon me by the peculiarity of my position in being thus sent among you.
Some have said,—"How is it possible that you, with your peculiar views about the Church, should again become a parish Priest in the Church of England? We thought you were going to be a Catholic, (by which they mean a Roman Catholic.) ”

“ It is indeed a very happy thing, when the teachers and the taught, the shepherd and the sheep can all be brought to harmonize and fit in together without interests that clash, or objects that differ—a very happy thing, when the supply and demand, as in political economy, just so nearly balance each other that the whole body moves on without disturbance of the mutual powers engaged; but whatever it may be in the things of social life, it is one of the distinguishing characteristics of Religion, that its truths never can by their very essence be otherwise than disagreeable to the natural man. ”

“ These are pressures and grievances to the Christian flock, rather than sins. They suffer under the burden of them, but they are innocent from the guilt of them. And so 'reum facit superiorem iniquitas imperandi, innocentem subditum ordo serviendi.' 'A superior may sin in his commands, and yet his subject be innocent in his obedience' These are no just cause of separation to a private Christian; 'Charity covers a multitude of sins.' But they are just cause of reformation to a National Church or Synod. ”

“ What is the use of men crying out that there is a wrong, if they do not stop to set it right? What is the use of the physician, saying there is a danger, and that the patient is sick, if after so saying, he goes away and neglects to administer a remedy? ”

“ Neither the intellect, as shown in Gibbon and Voltaire, nor the taste and skill of literature as shown in Hume, nor the deep musings of philosophy as shown in Bolingbroke and Herbert of Cherbury, can of itself take in what God says, much less the savage life of heathenism, and the unchecked nature of the libertine and the sinner. ”

“ Provided there be Orders and Apostolical Succession, provided there be open profession of the Catholic faith by the three creeds, PROVIDED THERE BE NO OPEN DENIAL OF ANYTHING ESSENTIAL TO SALVATION, THEN obedience is to come into play, and his likings are to submit to the simple fact of being where he is, and that by the will of God, in the Church visibly existing before him. ”

“ It is good,—we shall all the sooner understand each other if we do, and it is far better as honest Englishmen, to have the matter out, than to go about the streets with suspicion in our hearts, and averted looks and uncomfortable feelings about each other, and be afraid to speak openly what we think. ”

“ It is indeed a matter of no ordinary moment that five clergy serving in a parish should combine to represent to their Bishop that one who is appointed to come among them as a fellow labourer is unfit so to do by reason of unfaithfulness, or unscriptural teaching. It is a very fearful thing when not only the laity, but the very clergy are thus shown to differ among themselves, and those who should be "apt to teach and gentle, not striving," should be found leading a popular outcry. ”

“ You must not judge by individuals but by principles. You must join your hand to a great work of restoring what has been lost, and saving what remains. And for the present you must thank God that your reformation was carried on, not like the Lutheran, without the Church, but with the Church ”

“ They would not deny salvation to the far larger portion of Christendom which at this moment fills the world, and limit it to their own comparatively insignificant portion of it situated in the British dominions. They could not deny it lest haply they be guilty of a very awful breach of that charity, which S. Paul says is greater than all zeal, yea greater than any virtue. Let me cite to you a passage from the writings of Archbishop Bramhall, a writer who is allowed on all hands to have been one of the ablest champions of the English Church. ”