THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Sia,—I notice a -courteous enquiry in your last issue as to my authority for speaking of the King as Head of the Church of England. It was by the title, "only supreme head in earth of the Church of England that Henry VIII was ordered to be known by a Statute of 1584. Queen Elizabeth's accession in 1558 was marked by an Act in which a verbal change was made—" Supreme Head" became "Supreme Governour." To that extent I am corrected ; although, if I am rightly informed, so unique an authority and formidable a. controversialist as Hooker does not seem to have been conscious of this variation making much, if any, difference. In the Royal Declaration prefatory to the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, the King is described as " Supreme Governour of the Church." The acquiescence of the Church in this claim, which the 37th Article punctuates, may therefore presumably be taken for granted.—I am, Sir, &c.,. ARCHIBALD FLEMING.
St. Columba's Church of Scotland,
Pont Street, London, S.W. 1.
Previous page
