From William Palmers Harmony of Anglican Doctrine. Unfortunately, a lot of the writings of the Scottish Episcopals are unavailable. anglicanhistory.org/palmer/mag/harmony/appendices.html LII. Alexander Jolly: b. 1756: for ten years Priest at Turriff in the Diocese of Aberdeen; the civil law prohibiting at that time the celebration of the Service of the Church even in any private house in Scotland, in presence of more than four persons, on pain of six months imprisonment for the first offence, and transportation for the second; and imposing a fine of £5. upon every person who should be present at any such illegal meeting, without giving information to the nearest magistrate. Upon the extinction of the line of K. James II., in 1788, the Bishops Clergy and Laity of the Scottish Church declared publicly their recognition of King George the Third as their Sovereign de jure, as well as de facto; and prayed for him as such by name in their Congregations. In 1791 the Penal Statutes affecting them were repealed by an Act of the British Parliament; but only on condition of the Scottish Bishops and Clergy taking the Oaths to the Crown required in England, and also subscribing the XXXIX Articles in the same manner as the English Clergy. When this was resolved upon, and had been notified beforehand to the then Primus, Bp. Skinner of Aberdeen, he replied, that he believed the Scottish Clergy had no objection to the general Doctrine of the XXXIX Articles, although they might not altogether approve of some particular expressions made use of in them. On this head he received for answer, that it was only the general doctrine of the several Articles, to which the subscription was required even in England; that many expressions in them might no doubt be altered for the better; &c. Thirteen years after the passing of the Act, in the year 1804, the Scottish Bishops convoked a Synod or Convocation, in which it was resolved, in compliance with the terms offered by the Act of Parliament, to adopt the XXXIX Articles. On this occasion Bp. Jolly (having been in 1786 consecrated to the See of Moray) made an Address to the Convocation, which is preserved in the Archives of the Scottish Church, and in which he declared fully for himself and his brethren in what sense the xxxix Articles were then received; viz., I. In such sense as was consistent with the substantial unity and identity of the Faith of the Church in all ages; II. In such sense, as made the Articles themselves consistent with the First English Liturgy, composed, as an Act of Parliament expresses it, by the aid of the Holy Ghost, and by the same persons as drew up the Articles; and III. In that plain, literal, and grammatical sense which was enforced by Abp. Laud and K. Charles I. against the Puritans, who wished to go beyond the letter, and to develop out of them the doctrines of Calvinism. The following are extracts from the concluding part of his Address, as published by Mr. Skinner, now Bp. of Aberdeen and Primus, from the MSS. of his Father and Predecessor the late Primus, who presided at the Convocation in question:— From the writings of Abp. Cranmer, and others his contemporaries, it has been proved that the expressions in the Articles which Calvinistic divines lay hold of, and misinterpret, do not, in their original meaning, favour their peculiar tenets. The Institution and Erudition of a Christian Man, with the Reformatio Legum, &c., drawn up by those first Reformers, explain and amplify here and there what is more condensed and less perspicuous in the Articles. And, happily, we too in Scotland have of late got our authentic Institution of a Christian Man in a book called, A Laymans Account of his Faith and Practice, published with the approbation of the Bishops of the Church. In adopting therefore the Articles of the united Church of England and Ireland we must be candidly understood as taking them in unison with that Book, and not thinking any expressions, with regard to the Lords Supper, in the least inimical to our practice at the Altar in the use of the Scottish Communion Office; in which we are supported by the first reformed Liturgy of England, not to look back to all the ancient Liturgies, which prevailed long before the corruptions of popery had a being. Some of the greatest Divines of the Church of England, Poynet, Andrewes, Laud, Heylin, Mede, Taylor, Bull, Johnson, and many others, have asserted and maintained the doctrine which in that Office is reduced to practice. Yet these Divines did all subscribe the XXXIX Articles; and must therefore have understood them consistently with their belief of the Commemorative Sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist, using the present Liturgy of the Church of England as comprehending it. Our subscribing them in Scotland cannot then be justly interpreted as an inconsistency with it, &c. .... And again: The learned Mr. Daubeny, in his work above referred to, agrees with those who acknowledge that some of the Articles ‘might have been better expressed, and that... they are an improvable form of sound words. Much more might we in Scotland claim our right of expressing that true sense of them, which he, and other worthy Churchmen, have so fully evinced in words less liable to be misunderstood.—Skinners Annals of Scottish Episcopacy, p. 215, 346. and Appendix III. Bishop Jolly died in 1838. The aim of his whole life, to quote from Mr. Cheyne and Mr. Pressley, his biographers, had been to realize the spirit of the Church; and he followed humbly and earnestly in her ways; observing religiously the Vigils of the Saints, and other Fasts, and keeping Lent especially with great strictness; reciting the canonical Offices of the Church morning and evening, and using more particularly for his private exercises such books as Bp. Andrewes Private Devotions, Dr. Hickes edition of Austins Devotions, &c., The Church of England Mans Companion, &c. edited by Dr. Spinkes, Deacons Collection of Prayers, Sherlocks Practical Christian, &c. He used special Prayers for the Wednesday as well as for the Friday in every week; and certain short ejaculations for the different Hours of each day. It is related of him, that his habit was never to begin any work, or the reading of any book, without a prayer to God for the assistance of His grace; nor to enter into conversation with any of his friends, without first mentally invoking the Divine blessing upon the person with whom he was conversing. While composing himself to rest, he used continually to repeat the 51st Psalm. He published an Address on Baptismal Regeneration; a tract On the Constitution of the Church; Observations on the Sunday Services; and The Christian Sacrifice. LIII. LIV. Besides the above, two Living writers are quoted in the foregoing pages, the present Bishop of Exeter, Dr. Philpotts, formerly of St. Mary Magdalene Coll., Oxf., and the Rev. W. Palmer, of Worcester Coll., Oxf.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 14:00:09 +0000
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