Page:Neatby - A history of the Plymouth Brethren.djvu/277



is the crux of ecclesiastical classification to know to what category to assign Darbyism. Is it Protestant? In point of doctrine, yes, emphatically and intensely. But in many respects it is simply a phase of High Church Christianity. Within the strictly ecclesiastical sphere, I have already attempted to show this; and confirmatory evidence of the most cogent character will accrue from a study of the manners and habits of the sect. Not that it is possible to separate sharply between the ecclesiastical and the social where the Brethren are concerned. The two elements blend as the monastic and the military blended in the Knights Templars.

Yet even in this respect Darbyism still defies classification. It remains either a High Church graft on Evangelicalism, or an Evangelical graft on High Churchism, as the observer may please. As, in the ecclesiastical sphere, the Plymouth Brethren were High Churchmen without ritual, so, in the social, they were recluses without slighting family life, and without a thought of merit. It will be convenient to illustrate at this juncture both these points.

Their contempt for ritualistic worship was perfect;