DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14563#0287
ITALIANS AND COPTS.
249
large body of the Copts, clergy and laity, nave been recon-
ciled to the church, and their orders being recognized, their
archbishop and priests exercise their functions under the
license of the missionaries. Thus the Padre here gives one
of his Copt priests license to receive his own confession be-
fore he makes it to him. They can say their private mass,
(for which they use their own rite) ; but all other functions
they use only at the express permission of the missionaries,
(but this a temporary arrangement, I believe, till a regular
Coptic hierarchy is erected).
" It is a small illustration," he continues, " of the absence
of priggishness, and the great reality of their efforts, that
the missionaries, though regulars, adopt the costume of the
country and all its lawful customs. Without disparaging
Protestant missionaries, who are said to be often devoted
men, I cannot quite think that the efficacy of a white tie
and a black coat, in converting the heathen, is so great as
they seem to think; nor that the exhibition of domestic
felicity, money, and Bibles, produces the same results, as
self-denial, poverty, and celibacy, working systematically,
and backed by all spiritual authority."
This extract from Mr. Patterson's book reveals the sub-
tilty of Romanism in its endeavors to proselyte the Copts;
but it makes a more alarming revelation of the subtilty of
the Puseyite or High Church influence in the Church of
England. One cannot overlook the sneer at the domestic
example, and the social influence of a Protestant missionary
and his family, nor the commendation of celibacy in con-
nection with the statement that a solitary priest and a soli-
tary nun are laboring together upon this field. The verging
of Puseyism toward Monasticism, is one of its most danger-
ous tendencies. The Monastic system and the Priesthood,
both separating from the people an order of men of reputed
sanctity, and investing, them with some special divine com-
249
large body of the Copts, clergy and laity, nave been recon-
ciled to the church, and their orders being recognized, their
archbishop and priests exercise their functions under the
license of the missionaries. Thus the Padre here gives one
of his Copt priests license to receive his own confession be-
fore he makes it to him. They can say their private mass,
(for which they use their own rite) ; but all other functions
they use only at the express permission of the missionaries,
(but this a temporary arrangement, I believe, till a regular
Coptic hierarchy is erected).
" It is a small illustration," he continues, " of the absence
of priggishness, and the great reality of their efforts, that
the missionaries, though regulars, adopt the costume of the
country and all its lawful customs. Without disparaging
Protestant missionaries, who are said to be often devoted
men, I cannot quite think that the efficacy of a white tie
and a black coat, in converting the heathen, is so great as
they seem to think; nor that the exhibition of domestic
felicity, money, and Bibles, produces the same results, as
self-denial, poverty, and celibacy, working systematically,
and backed by all spiritual authority."
This extract from Mr. Patterson's book reveals the sub-
tilty of Romanism in its endeavors to proselyte the Copts;
but it makes a more alarming revelation of the subtilty of
the Puseyite or High Church influence in the Church of
England. One cannot overlook the sneer at the domestic
example, and the social influence of a Protestant missionary
and his family, nor the commendation of celibacy in con-
nection with the statement that a solitary priest and a soli-
tary nun are laboring together upon this field. The verging
of Puseyism toward Monasticism, is one of its most danger-
ous tendencies. The Monastic system and the Priesthood,
both separating from the people an order of men of reputed
sanctity, and investing, them with some special divine com-