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Untitled Article
It has been the custom of the controversialists , both * tf Home and of the English Episcopal church , to ho § d , that the only difference between these old Christians and die Roman Catholics was about the observance of Easten Bede ' s testimony , however , 16 , that AWhehn , " by the order of the synod of his nation , wrote an excellent book against the error pf the Britons , accord- * ing to which error , as they do not celebrate Easter in the proper time , they
hold a great many other things contrary to ecclesiastical purity and peace ;" and we learn on the same authority , that "they would receive those things only which arc contained in the writings of the prophets , evangelists , and apostles ; diligently observing the works of piety and purk y . " " According to the example of the venerable fathers , " he adds , " they lived by the labour of their hands ; " and no more excellent portrait can be drawn of a pious , devout , and self-sacrificing missionary , than our venerable historian
has exhibited of Aidan , the bishop chosen for Northumbrian In another old historical document , " the Register of St . Andrews , " it is said , that " those who are called Culdees , lived more according to their own opinion and the tradition of men , than according to the statutes of the holy fathers . " Among Catholic writers , it is obvious that , whether truly or falsely , the
ancient system is decried as being in every respect of inferior and corrupt principle . William of Malmesbury says plainly tliat Wilfred , a Saxon monk * " refused to be ordained by Scotch bishops , or by those whom the Scots had ordained , because the apostolical see scorned to have any fellowship with them . " In short , according to an old Cronykei , the country , till its subjection to Roman discipline ,
< Rwyd and sympel all tyme wes , Bot lyk a Wynd wild hethynes . " " The rule which was followed by the disciples of Columba , " says Dr . Lingard , ( one of those historians who , as good Catholics , will see no wider deviation from the church than the Easter dispute , ) " has not been transmitted to us by any Latin writer ; and the Irish copies which have been preserved , are written in a language that has hitherto eluded the skill of the
most patient antiquary . But Bede , in different parts of his works , has borne the most honourable testimony to their virtue . With a glowimg pencil he displays their patience , their chastity , their frequent meditation on the sacred writings , and their indefatigable efforts to attain the summit of Christian perfection . They chose for their habitation the most dreary situations ; no motives but those of charity could draw them from their cells ; and if they
appeared in public , their object was to reconcile enemies , to instruct the ignorant , to discourage vice , and to plead the cawse of the unfortunate . The little property which they enjoyed was common to all . Poverty they esteemed as the surest guardian of virtue : and the benefactions of the opulent they respectfully declined , or instantly employed in relieving the necessities of the indigent . One onl y stain did he discover in their character ; an immoderate esteem for their forefathers , which prompted them to prefer their
own customs to the consent of all other Christian churches ; but this he piously trusted would disappear in the bright effulgence of their virtues . " In investigating what were the leading points of distinction between a church which had been , as it were , cut off from the world , from all increase of light as well as from all contact of comuption , probability is certainly in favour of the differences being considerable , tout it is also likely that they would be most prominent in matters connected with ceremonial observance . The disputes about Easter are admitted . The mode of tonsure is atoo stated
Untitled Article
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1827, page 862, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1803/page/6/
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