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SYRIAN, COPTIC, AND ABYSSINIAN CHURCHES.

The Anti-Byzantine or Monophysite | armed with arguments against Popery, churches, which have renounced the all derived from Scripture. The Indian communion both of the Greek and branch of the Syrian Church exists in Russian churches, are the following:viz. the Syrian Jacobite Church, and the Coptic or Alexandrian Church, each with a patriarch of its own; the Abyssinian or Ethiopic Church, acknowledging the supremacy of the Jacobite patriarch of Alexandria, and therefore a branch of the Coptic; the Nestorian and Chaldean; the Indo-Syrian; and the Armenian.

There are also churches in the east acknowledging the Church of Rome, and known as Greek Catholics, Armenian Catholics, Syrian Catholics (or Maronites), Nestorian Catholics, &c.

Travancore and Cochin. Dr. Claudius Buchanan visited some of their stations in 1806, and gives an interesting account of them in his "Researches." He counted fifty-five churches in Malayala. He did not believe that they were Nestorians.

villages. Few of this once wide-spread race are now to be found except in these mountains, preserving their old forms and ceremonies, their festivals, their chronology, and their ancient language

The tribes dwelling amongst the mountain heights of Koordistan have been visited of late years by Mr. Ainsworth, Dr. Layard, Dr. Grant, and others, from whom we learn that the people consider themselves to be descendants of the ancient Chaldeans of Assyria, Mesopotamia, and Babylonia, who were The Jacobite Syrians, who are sub- driven to the mountains by Mahomedan ject to the patriarch of Antioch, are persecutions. Although they acknownow chiefly found in Mesopotamia and ledged the authority of the Sultan, and on the banks of the Tigris. The Ma-paid a small annual tribute till the masronites dwell in a mountainous canton sacre of Bedr Khan in 1843, no Turk of the Lebanon, named the Kesrouan. exercised any real authority in their The Chaldeans are a separation from the Nestorian branch. The Copts of the present day share with the Jews the internal trade of Egypt. Their ecclesiastics are of the lowest class, and the people are ignorant and superstitious in their prayers and religious books. to excess. They are fond of ceremonies, They are at present engaged in a conand during service the priest goes test with their brethren who have through a laborious routine of bodily adopted the Romish faith, and from exercise, incensing the saints, pictures, whom they have suffered persecution. books, &c., incessantly. They have seven Dr. Grant believes the present Chaldean sacraments and four lents. The Ethi- tribes, or Nestorians, to be the descenopic Church is remarkable for the simi- dants of the Ten Tribes, who were carlarity of many of its observances to the ried away in the first Jewish captivity. ancient Jewish ritual. The Abyssinians He asserts that the tradition is general, have of late years been accessible to the and universally believed by the Nestomissionaries of a purer faith, and a rians throughout Assyria and Media, mission was sent amongst them by the and that the enmity existing between Church Missionary Society in 1826. them and the Jews, forbids the idea of The Nestorians, according to the Arme- the tradition having been fabricated. nian missionaries, number about 320,000 The central portion of Assyria was forsouls, inhabiting the region of Koordis- merly called Adiabene (or the country tan. The Nestorians and Chaldeans round the river Zab.) In Adiabene speak a vulgar Syriac. The Nestorians call themselves Nusrany, Nazarene. Of all the native Christians of Western Asia, they are said to be the best

Proper, there were in 1840, nearly a hundred thousand Nestorians, while only a small remnant of Jews can be found among them. On the opposite bank of

The Nestorians of Koordistan and Urmiah, in the Persian provinces, were ignorant of the existence of their brethren in India, till they were informed of the fact by some American missionaries who visited Armenia some years ago. The tie of brotherhood betwixt them was immediately recognised by the Chaldean bishop, Mar Johannan, who sent an affectionate letter to the Indian Nestorians.

The Indian branch practises some peculiar observances, one of which is dancing. The men dance by themselves, and the women also by themselves, with all becoming modesty and decorum. Before they begin, they make the sign of the cross, chant the Lord's Prayer, and sing a hymn in honour of St. Thomas. The practice of dancing has probably been acquired from the Indians amongst whom these people live, and who make this exercise part of the worship they offer to their idols.

the Habor, nearly the whole country | posing them to have been Jews, being from Adiabene and Halah is settled by now Christians as they have professed Nestorians, while the nominal Jews of to be from early times; for the Jews of Media and Assyria do not exceed twenty the captivity were far removed from the thousand souls. It will not be supposed country in which the Gospel was first that these are all that remain of the preached. Ten Tribes; and if it be admitted that they were carried captive into Assyria, there is no evidence to lead to the belief that they were ever removed from that country. They were still in the land of their captivity in the first century of the Christian era, according to Josephus; and Jerome, who had an intercourse of twenty years with the Jews of Palestine, states, that in the fifth century of our era "the Ten Tribes are subject unto the king of the Persians." From that time to the present we hear no more of them. To these reasons for his belief that the Nestorians represent the lost tribes, Dr. Grant adds, their constant observance of Jewish customs, namely, the offering of the atoning sacrifice or sin-offering of the Levitical code, the gifts of first-fruits or tithes, their peculiar regard for the sanctuary, and the distinction between meats. On the other hand, Mr. Ainsworth has argued, that allowing all these facts to be as Dr. Grant has represented, the claim The Armenians number about for the Nestorians is not so strong as 1,700,000 souls, distributed as follows: for the Jewish families still inhabiting-in the Russian provinces, 42,000; in the plains of the Tigris and Upper Turkey, 1,500,000; in Persia, 70,000; Euphrates. Mr. Ainsworth is also at in India, 40,000; in the Austrian issue with Dr. Grant as to the state- dominions and other parts of Europe, ment that the Jews agree with the 10,000. The Armenians follow the Nestorians in admitting a common an- Council of Nice, and accept the apostles' cestry; besides, he asks, if the Chal- creed. They believe that the saints will deans of the present day are Jews, what not be admitted into heaven till the day has become of the ancient Chaldeans? of judgment, and that in the meantime, The religious observances referable, neither the souls nor the bodies of any according to Dr. Grant, to the an-saints or prophets are in heaven, except cient Jews, are some of them Pagan, the Virgin Mary and Elias. Their rites and others Mahomedan, and common and ceremonies resemble those of the throughout the east. The theory of Greek Church. They administer the Dr. Grant is also invalidated by the sacrament of the supper in both kinds circumstance of the Nestorians, sup- to the laity.

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

BY THE REV. CHARLES POPHAM MILES, M. A.,

INCUMBENT OF ST. JUDE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, GLASGOW.

CAMBRIDGE,

his own order, who were received favourably by Ethelbert, King of Kent, and the Gospel spread itself through the other kingdoms of the Heptarchy. Augustine founded an abbey at Canterbury, and was consecrated the first archbishop in England.

In the following succinct account of (Augustine) with forty companions of the Church of England, it is intended rather to delineate her present aspect in constitution and doctrine than to trace her career through the history of past ages. It will be desirable, however, in a few words, to sketch the origin of her existence, and to mention some of the principal events connected with her progress.

The blessing which was thus derived by the visit of missionaries from Rome, brought with it the commencement of Tradition affirms that the Gospel of a series of evils; and these continued Jesus Christ was introduced into Britain steadily to increase, until the simple in the time of the Apostles. About the truths of the Christian religion were alclose of the second century, Tertullian most eclipsed under the shadow of the observed that places considered inacces- Papal power. Paganism receded, and sible to the Roman arms, were already became extinct; and, whilst the heathen reached by the heralds of Christianity; rites were giving place to the new docand it is certain that, at the commence- trines, the land was being divided into ment of the fourth century, there were dioceses, and the churches, and the Christians in England who were the bishops, and the clergy, were gradually objects of persecution. We now, also, augmented throughout the whole of read of bishops proceeding from Britain Britain. Theodore, the sixth archto attend foreign councils-as, for ex-bishop from Augustine, is supposed to ample, the Council at Arles, in the year have introduced, in the seventh century, 314; and, from this time-with the the division of the land into parishes. exception of a severe struggle on the part of the Britons to preserve the Church, when almost exterminated by the inroads of the Saxons, in the fifth and sixth centuries-the Christians continued to multiply, and the ancient rites of the natives, and of the other inhabitants of the island, gradually ceased.

It thus appears that the Church in England dates her existence from an early period. Towards the end of the sixth century, the Bishop of Rome, Pope Gregory the Great, was instrumental in enlarging the number of converts; for, in the year 596, he despatched a monk,

Evils, however, were developed in rapid succession. The pope struggled for supremacy; the bishops and clergy-excepting a few faithful men occupied with holier duties-succeeded in "lording it over God's heritage ;" a constant warfare was maintained between Rome and the sovereigns of England, with alternating success-the former striving for power and supreme dominion over the English Church, and the latter seeking to preserve their own authority, as well in ecclesiastical as in temporal affairs, and to be independent of the Church of Rome. During this contest,

every dogma of the Romish Church was engrafted, one after another, upon the pure doctrines of the Gospel, as first introduced into Britain; the simplicity of apostolic life, and of apostolic preaching, were exchanged for the possession of secular privileges, and for the establishment of a ceremonial ritual; the wealth of the Church, through the agency of the Roman system, became enormous; and we have now only to regard the Church of England, in common with the Churches of the continent in the mediæval ages, as, whilst emitting here and there an occasional ray of light, yet deeply involved in the corruptions and superstitions of the times.

In the sixteenth century, a new era burst upon Europe. The previous century had prepared the way. Faithful preachers and martyrs were raised up at home and abroad to testify against the wickedness of both priests and people. The fearful struggle of the Reformation was pursued in earnest by Luther, Melancthon, Zuinglius, and others on the continent; whilst in England, and on behalf of the reformation in the English Church, there were Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, and Hooper among the bishops, and many of the clergy and laity, who, "not counting their lives dear unto themselves," laboured for the removal of ecclesiastical abuses, and for the evangelization of the people, even to the sacrifice of all that they possessed; and they only ceased to expostulate and to reform, when their voices were hushed by the sufferings of the martyr's death.

claims of the Pope, was carefully secured; and, in short, the Church of England, already firmly rooted in the land by the growth of centuries, continued to be what she had heretofore been, the Established Church of the kingdom, purified through the instrumentality of the Reformation, and liberated from the dominion and interference of Rome.

Such, in brief, has been the origin and history of the English Church. The elements of trouble did not cease with the struggle for liberty and purity, and therefore, both from within and without, she has witnessed several subsequent and severe contests; and also the services and discipline of the Church have been altered or modified at periods since the Reformation; but as there have been no changes demanding notice in this rapid sketch of the past, we shall soon be prepared to speak of the Church of England as at present existing, in respect to her constitution and doctrine.

Let us first understand the proper limit of our subject. In the fullest sense of the words, the CHURCH OF ENGLAND comprises, besides the ecclesiastical ESTABLISHMENT in England and Wales and Ireland, all Episcopalians who, having been admitted by baptism into her communion, continue to acknowledge her discipline, and are amenable to the authority of her tribunals. In the East Indies, the clergy of the three Presidencies, including the army chaplains and missionaries, are subject, although in a restricted degree (as being, in the case of the chaplains, It was in the reign of Elizabeth, that under the immediate control of the the Church of England began to realise Indian Government) to the oversight of the return of a more primitive and the Bishops respectively of Calcutta, spiritual worship. Men of high Pro- Madras, and Bombay. In the British testant principles, and of sound learn- colonies, there are "colonial chaplains" ing, were chosen for the office of and missionaries; and the following diobishops; an evangelical clergy were ceses are under the spiritual rule of coloalso raised up and encouraged; the nial bishops consecrated and sent out by Holy Scriptures were printed and cir- the Church of England:Colombo, culated; many of the religious cere- Victoria, Capetown, Quebec, Montreal, monies were abolished as superfluous Toronto, Nova Scotia, Frederickton, and dangerous; the supremacy of the Newfoundland, Rupert's Land, Jamaica, Sovereign, in emphatic opposition to the Barbadoes, Antigua, Guiana, Sydney,

a frigate), and in hospital ships in all quarters of the globe, as also in Greenwich hospital, and at the dock-yard chapels at home and abroad.

Newcastle, Melbourne, Adelaide, Tasmania, New Zealand, and Sierra Leone. There is also the Bishop of Gibraltar, whose authority, although very limited, extends over the English clergy in the There is in Scotland an Episcopal Mediterranean and the South of Europe. Communion, presided over by seven And in Jerusalem, there is an English bishops, and numbering about 115 bishop, appointed by the Crown of Eng- ministers; but this body must not be land, "to exercise spiritual jurisdiction considered as a branch of the Church of over the ministers of British congrega- England. It is an independent and tions" in Syria, Chaldea, Egypt, and voluntary church, altogether unconAbyssinia. The Church of England has nected with the State, having its own no bishops in the North of Europe nor in laws, appointing its own bishops, differScotland; but in these countries she has ing from the Church of England by consular chaplains, or other clergymen, using, in some instances among its conwho officiate for the benefit of English gregations, a peculiar "Communion congregations. There are also military Office" at the administration of the and naval chaplains in her Majesty's | Lord's Supper; and the bishops, in point service in various parts of the world; of law, possess neither dioceses nor and these, being under no bishop, al- titles, nor any jurisdiction in the though in strict communion with the country, nor have they any rank Church of England, do not require any beyond what is courteously given to the episcopal license, but are subject at senior pastors of other independent home to the particular Government de-churches; for their episcopal functions partment by which they are employed. are limited to the clergy and people The consular chaplains are stationed in who may be willing to acknowledge foreign countries, as in Amsterdam, them. Hence, in the large towns in Lisbon, Malaga, Marseilles, Madeira, Scotland, as in Edinburgh, Glasgow, &c.; they are paid partly by their con- Aberdeen, and Montrose, there are gregations, and partly by the British" English chapels," for members of the Government, and are generally nomi- Church of England, with regularly ornated by the former but appointed by dained English clergymen, protected the latter; they are entirely exempt and allowed" by Act of Parliament from the legal jurisdiction of any bishop, (10th Queen Anne, chap. vii.) as comalthough the Bishop of London has been petent to officiate in Scotland without erroneously supposed to exercise author- the license of a Scotch bishop, and who ity over the English clergy in foreign preserve their congregations in full places; and they are under the im- communion with the Established Church mediate control of her Majesty's Se- of England. The Scotch bishops have cretary of State for Foreign Affairs. not the power to ordain clergymen for In the army (exclusive of the troops in the English Church; nor can a minister India) there is one "Chaplain-Gene-ordained by a Scotch bishop officiate ral," and five "Chaplains to the Forces," in active service; that is, one Chaplain to the Forces at each of the following five military stations, namely It will now appear that the Church -London, Chatham, Mauritius, Malta, of England is represented almost and Barbadoes, besides "military chap- throughout the world. Her proper lains" in other garrisons, as in Gibraltar, designation is "THE ESTABLISHED Corfu, Quebec, Hong-kong, Cape Town, AND UNITED CHURCH OF ENGLAND &c., &c. The naval chaplains, about AND IRELAND," for, in the year 1801, one hundred in number, are officiating the Established Churches of England in ships of war (not below the rate of and Ireland were united into one body

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in England except by special permission, for "" any one day or any two days, and no more." (Act of 1840.)