Note 85 — Chapter III

After the lapse of two centuries and a half, the terms of subscription in the Church of England remain substantially the same, with this additional safeguard against evasion, that the subscription is required, by the Act of Uniformity, to be made ex animo. The writer does not feel himself called upon to reconcile this fact with the increased spirit of investigation which characterizes the present age, or with the acknowledged upright character of many of the clergy. It may be conceded that each party is conscientious; but each should bear in mind that there is an essential and unalterable difference between truth and error; and that it cannot be a matter of slight importance whether the one or the other is embraced and propagated.