A' ^D- s*#^ ' t-^^ J[>;/U]KdKUr -3? LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON, N. J. Division. Section... sec ^^v ^- ' / THE JUDGMENT OF THE ^BISH0PS.J>^ TRACTARIAN THEOLOGY. A COMPLETE ANALYTICAL ARRANGEMENT CHARGES DELIVERED BY THE PRELATES OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH, FROM 1837 TO 1842 INCLUSIVE ; SO FAR AS THEY RELATE TO THE TRACTARIAN MOVEMENT. WITH NOTES AND APPENDICES, RY THE REV. W. SIMCOX BRICKNELL, M.A., OF WORCESTER COLLEHE, INCUMBENT OE GROVE, BERKS, AND ONE OF THE OXFORD CITY LECTURERS, OXFORD: J. VINCENT. SIMPKIN .Sc MARSHALL, LONDON; CURRY & CO., DUBLIN. 1845. ADVERTISEMENT. The following Work was originally undertaken for the purpose of illustrating the important fact adverted to in a Charge of my own Ecclesiastical Superior,* as a singular and significant circumstance in the history of Tractarianisra, — that " m no one instance has the System which it is the great object of the Movement to advocate and restore, received the formal and avowed sanction and approval of any Member of the Episcopal Bench ;" but that " the Authors and Defenders of the Ox-ford Tracts are left destitute of that high contemporaneous and authoritative support of which, if deserved, no incidental considerations of propriety or expediency would have deprived them." As an Argumentum ad hominem, the value of the Publication has been materially diminished by the more recent development of the 'principles and practices of the Tractarian School ;-f- but as a faithful Record of the ex calhedrtl Judgments of the Prelates of the English Church, "at the commencement of one of the most eventful epochs in her historyj^J it will, I trust, be found to possess no inconsiderable interest and importance. With this view I have anxiously endeavoured to render it as complete as possible ; and venture to assert, that neither in the Charges themselves, nor in the Notes and Appendices attached to them by their Authors, has a single syllable been omitted which can be said to bear directly or indirectly § upon the controversy in question. The Charges are arranged alphabetically, — according to the years in which they were delivered, — under the heads which form the subject of the several Chapters ; while to avoid the imputation of having done violence to the context, a Synthetical Index has been added, by reference to which the paragraphs of every Charge may be read consecutively, as they stand in the documents from which they are taken. The italics are, in every instance, copied from the original, unless the contrary is intimated * Vide Charge of the Dean of Samsbiiry, infra, p. 127, par. 6—8. t Witness the following estimntes of the amount of deference due to EpisroiJal Charges, at different periods of the Movement : — 1838. " The Bishop of Oxford has just published his Charge, which will be read with much interest. . . . . It is remarkable as giving judgment upon the Tracts for the Times. This is a me- morable precedent, and shews what lies before us. 7Vie Churcli is resuming Iter Judicial Power. {Sic.) We only wish that other parties {sic) may defer to her as frankly as would, we feel assured, the writers of the above-mentioned Tracts, were there a call made on them." — British Critic. 1844. " According the very proper understand- ing at which we all seem, for various reasons, to have arrived, we should not have thought it right to say much of this or any other Episcopal Charge. The time seems to have come for complaining of this mode of harassing the Church by puOtishing these little addresses. " Mr. 5fewman, with much reverence, once said that ' a Bishop's lightest word was heavy ;' some of the Bishops seem to be anxious to shew that their words are not always to be looked at under this air of authority." — English Church- man. Additional illustrations of Tractarian Reverence for Epiicnpaey will be found in Appendi.i G , infra, p. 695. I Vide Charge of the Bishop ofOxkord, 1842, infra, p. 11. 5 Several subjects have been included which have only an indirect connection with the Ti'act- arian Movement; such as the Validitij of Lay Baptism, the Besforation of Convocation, &c. : the learned dissertations of the Bishops of Australia and Exeter on the former of these topics, occupy a considerable space in the present volume. IV ADVERTISEMENT. in a note. The Paragraphs enclosed in brackets are only partially quoted, and \vill be fonnd, at length, under some other head. The Notes which have been introduced, and which are kept wholly distinct from the body of the Work, are principally intended to illustrate the history and tendency of the Movement by the statement of facts connected with its progress, as well as by quotations from the leading writers on either side of the controversy. In some few instances indeed they have assumed a different character, in justification of which I appeal to the paramount importance of the subjects to which they refer. Of this description are the remarks which I have presumed to make upon the misrepre- sentations* of some parts of the Bishop of Chester's Charge, — and, as I conceive, of the teaching of our Church, — by the Bishop of Exeter ;-|- and also, upon the assertion of the Bishop of St. David's, that the controversy between the Tracta- rians and their opponents, on the fundamental Doctrine of Justification, is " a dispute of words invohmig no real difference of opinion.'''' % For the insertion of some few of the extracts contained in the Appendix, I have felt it necessary to offer an apology : § with regard to others — most frivolous indeed, but not equally disgusting — the reader is requested to bear in mind that if there be " gold and precious stones " in the composition of the structure which the Tractarians are so diligently rearing, there is a far greater proportion of " ivood, hay, stubble,'''' and that these must not be overlooked if we would foi-m a correct estimate of the value and character of their work. W. S. B. • I use the term in its literal, but not iii an offensive sense. t Vide Exeter, Bishop of. Index. III. p. 741, infra. % Vide infra, note 5, pp. 308— 37it. <) See the motto prefixed to Appendix F, page 688. LIST OF THE CHARGES INCLUDED IN THE PRESENT VOLUME. 1837. 1. Lincoln. Right Rev. John Kayc, D.D. 1838. 2. Calcutta. Right Rev, Daniel Wilson, D.D. 3. Chester, Right Rev. John Bird Sumner, D.D. 4. Oxford. Hon, and Right Rev, Richard Bagot, D.D, 1839, 5. Exeter. Right Rev, Henry Phillpotts, D,D. 6. Madras,* Right Rev. George Trevor Spencer, D.D. 7. Salisbury. Right Rev. Edward Denison, D.D. 8. Saruji, Very Rev, Hugh Nicholas Pearson,t D,D. 1840. 9. Canterbury. Right Hon, and Most Rev, William Howley, D,D. 10. Lincoln. Right Rev. John Kaye, D.D, 1841, 11. Armagh.:;: Right Hon. and Most Rev. Lord J. G. Beresford, D,D, 12. Australia, Right Rev, William Grant Broughton, D.D, 13. BojiBAY. Right Rev. Thomas Carr, D.D. 14. Chester.§ Right Rev. John Bird Sumner, D.D, 15. Dublin. II Most Rev. Richard Whately, D.D. 16. Durham. Right Rev. Edward Maltby, D.D. 17. Gloucester and Bristol. Right Rev. James Henry Monk, D.D. 18. Lichfield. II Right Rev. James Bowstead, D.D. 19. RiFON, Right Rev, Charles Thomas Loiigley, D.D, 20. Toronto,** Right Rev. John Strachan, D,D, 21. Winchester, ft Right Rev, Charles Richard Sumner, D,D. 1842. 22. ARMAGH.tJ Right Hon. and Most Rev, Lord J, G, Beresford, D,D. 23. Down and Connor, and Dromore, Right Rev, Richard Mant, D.D. * Quoted from ;\Ir. Perceval's Collection of Papers cnimected with the Tructarlan movement. t " The jurisdiction aud authority vested iu the Deans op Sarum, by the orijfinal constitution of the Bishoprick," is "with regard to every thing except that which belongs exclusively to the highest order of the Christian ministry, not delegated or archidiaconal, but of episcopal nature and character." — Charge 1842, p. 5. t The only passages in this Charge which have appeared in print are those quoted by his Grace in his reply to an Address from the iiiliubltants of Diingannon and parish of IJrumglass. Tide infra, pp. -474. 532. S Second edition. ll Not published ; quoted by his Grace in his Essays on the h'ingdom of Christ. ^ In consequence of the long continued indisposition and lamented death of the Bishop of Lichfield, his Lordship's Charge was never published; the extracts have therefore been necessa- rily taken from the reports which appeared, at the time of its delivery, in the public papers. ** Quoted from Mr. Perceval's Collection of Papers connected with the Tractarian nwiemenf. H Second edition. It From an autliorizeil report in the Irish Ecclesiastical Journal. VI LIST OF THE BISHOP S fHABilES. 24. Durham.* Rij,'lit Rev. Edward Maltby, D.D. 25. ExETER.f Riglit Rev. Henry Phillpotts, D.D. 26. IIekei'oki). Riglit Rev. Thomas Musgrave, D.D. 27. Limerick, Akui-ekt and Aghadoe. Hon. and Right Rev. Edmund Knox, D.D. 28. Llanuaff. Right Rev. Edward Copleston, D.D. 29. London.:;: Right Hon. and Right Rev. Charles James Blomfield, D.D. 30. iloNTREAi,. Right Rev. George J. Mountain, D.D. 31. OssoRv, Ferns, and Leighlin.§ Right Rev. James Thomas O'Brien, D.D. 32. Oxford. Hon. and Right Rev. Richard Bagot, D.D. 33. Salisbury.II Right Rev. Edward Denison, D.D. 34. Salisisurv.H Riglit Rev. Edward Denison, D.D. 35. Sarum. Very Rev, Hugh Nicholas Pearson, D.D. 36. Sodor and Man.** Right Rev. Thomas Vowler Short, D.D. 37. St. David's. Right Rev. Connop Thirlwall, D.D. 38. Worcester. Right Rev. Henry Pepys, D.D, OTHER PRELATES OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH WHOSE WORKS HAVE BEEN QUOTED WITH REFERENCE TO THE TRACTARIAN CONTROVERSY. Cashel. Most Rev. Richard Lawrence, D.D. Visitation of the Saxon Church. Chichester. Right Rev. Philip Nicholas Shuttleworth, D.D, Not Tradition but Scripture. * Charg:e to tlje Clcrg-y of Hexhamshire. t Second edition. t Eighth edition. § Third edition. II Third edition. if All Ordination Charge, Lent, 1842. Published for the information of the Clergy of the Diocese. ** See note 3, p. I(i8, iiifni. CONTENTS. Pages (Jhai'TER I. — Importance ot tlio Controversy. Deliberate Judgment of the Bishops required . . . • • I — l"* Chap. II Spirit in which the Controversy should be conducted. Duties to which it gives I'ise ..... 15 — 30 Chap. Ill State of the Church when the Movement commenced. Was it called for, or warranted by existing circumstances ? . . 31 — 39 Chap. IV. — Origin, Progress, and Development of Tractarianism . 40 — 132 Chap. V. — Personal Character of the Leaders of the Movement. Treat- ment to which they have been exposed .... 133 — 148 Chap. VI Beneficial effects attributed to the Movement . . 149 — 171 Chap. VII.— Character of the Tractariaus as Controversialists. Treat- ment of their opponents ..... 172 — 177 Chap. VIII Rule of Faith. Sufficiency and Supremacy of Holy Scrip- ture. Tradition. The Fathers. Antifiuity . . . 178 — 248 Chap. IX The Church : its Constitution, Authority, and Claims. Church Principles ...... 249—275 Chap. X Apostolical Succession. Episcopacy. Ministerial Authority. Lay Baptism ...... 276 — 333 Chap. XT Christian Unity. Dissent .... 334—340 Chap. XII The Sacraments ..... 341—355 Chap. XIII Justification ..... 356 — 372 Chap. XIV. — Baptism. Regeneration .... 373 — 380 Chap. XV Sin after Baptism ..... 381—407 Chap. XVI The Eucharist. Transubstautiation . . . 408—423 Chap. XVII. — Reserve in communicating Religious Knowledge . 424 — 472 Chaps. XVIII. XIX. — I. The Church of Rome: Her present Character ; How regarded by the Tractarians ; Reunion with ; Duty of pro- testing against. II. The Reformers and the Reformation . . 473 — 506 Chap. XX Disparagement of the English Church and Liturgy. Longing after Popish Formularies. Revival of Popish Doctrines and Practices 507 — 531 Chap. XXI Intei'pretation of the Articles. Tracts for the Times, No. 90 . . . . . . . 5.32_571 Chap. XXII. — The Rubric and Canons .... 572 — 582 Chap. XXIII The Church System, Services, and Ordinances . 583 — 615 Chap. XXIV Introduction of Novelties .... 616—626 Chap. XXV Character, Tendency, and Effects of the Tractarian Movement ...... 627 — 643 Chap. XXVI Remedies for the evils of the Tractarian Movement: — 1. Scriptural Teaching. 2. Revival of Convocation. 3. Ecclesiastical Discipline ...... 644 — 663 VKl CONTENTS APPENDIX. A 1, Lettor of the Four Tutors to tlic Editor of the "Tracts for the Times." 2. Resolution of the Hebdomadal Board, with reference to Tract 90. 3. Mr. Newman's Letter to the V^ice-Chancellor . GG7 — CG8 \\ 1, Mr. Newman's Retractation. 2. Letter to Mr. Newman from a Member of Convocation. 3. Letter to Dr. Rusey, from Another Member of Convocation. 4. Second Letter to Mr. Newman. 5. The Method of Economy ; Extract from a Charge by Bishop M'llvaine , CC9 — 677 C— L Letter of John Dobree Dalgairns, Esq., M.A., to the Univers. 2. Letter of the Rev. G. Spencer to the t7»ii«ers . . . 078 — 681 D Tractarianism in the Seventeenth Century. Extracts from Dr. Good- win and Jlr. Hallam ..... 682—685 K Calumnious Misrepresentations of Ultra-Protestant Teaching . 68G — 687 F. — Illustrations of the Meekness, Charity, and Forbearance displayed by the Tractarians ...... 688—694 G Tractarian Reverence for Episcopacy . . ... 695 — 697 H. — List of Seceders through Tractarianism to Popery . . 698 — 699 I. Controversial Tactics of the Tractarians. Garbled and disingenuous quotations ...... 700 — 7^6 K Specimens of Tractarian Manuals of Devotion . . . 707—710 L Union of Church and State ..... 711 — 713 INDICES. I. Analytical Index to the Bishops' Charges, Notes, and Appendices . 715 II. Synthetical Index to the Charges .... 733 III. Analytical Index to the Editor's Notes and Appendices , . 737 Corrigenda et Addenda ..... 753 CHAPTER I. IMPORTANCE OF THE CONTROVERSY DELIBERATE JUDGMENT OF THE BISHOPS REQUIRED. Wilson, Bishop of Calcutta. — 1888. 1. If I dwell, however, at some length on the reaction which these and a variety of other errors^ have i^roduced — for a most fearful reaction, as I have intimated, has begun to flow in — it is for two reasons : because those who are now urging human tradition in MATTERS OF RELIGION, truc as souie part of their statements may be, are manifestly preparing the way for all kinds of superstitions and departures from the simplicity of the Gospel, resembling those of the Church of Rome ; and also, because, being individuals of no ordinary learning and piety, and justly entitled to the highest respect in the stations of influence in which they move, their "writings are likely to attract considerable attention amongst our young divines, and to be reproduced in an aggravated form, as most other impulses from home are, in this country. It is the last novelty of the day; and though it will probably soon begin to wear itself out, yet it may still create such extraordinary mischief in India, that I feel compelled, long as I have already detained you, not to withhold from you such remarks as occur to me in the way of respectful precaution. Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter. — 1839. 1. In the course of the last few years, it has been gratifying to observe, particularly in the younger portion of the Clergy, a 1 In speaking of " some of the general features of the times, as it respects rehgion," his Lordship had observed — "The main evil itself to which I refer, is that - reckless spirit of change, that rage for unsettling all old foundations ; that general contempt of Christian antiquity ; that unreasonable suspicion of all churches, all establishments, all ecclesiastical authorities ; that exaggeration of evils, inseparable from human institutions, to which I alluded in m}' introductovj' remarks." — (pp. 52, 53.) His Lordship also refers to "vagrancy of mind in truly pious persons, and on religious sul)jects ; .... pretensions to miraculous powers : .... over-statements on the subject of unfulfilled prophecies ; dogmatism on the particular interpretation of texts relating to the manner of our Lord's second coming : , . . Neologian and latitudinarian perversions of the Gospel."— (pp. 56, 57.) — Ed. B 2 JUDGMENT OF THE BISHOPS HEQUIRED. manifest and great increase of zeal in the prosecution of theological studies. If this improvement has not been unattended with evil, it is no more than the constant experience of man''s infirmity might prepare us to expect. Be the amount, however, of that evil stated as largely as it may — be the excesses, to which opinions on either side of any of the disputed points have been carried, as wide of the truth as each shall, in return, represent the senti- ments of his adversary to be — still I congratulate you and the Church on the impulse thus given to those studies, to which our Ordination vow has especially pledged us all. 2. This is not an occasion, on which a discussion of any of these disputed questions could be advantageously, because it must be inadequately, pursued. But you have a right to expect from me some declaration of my sentiments on the principal matters which have been brought into dispute ; especially on those which have an important bearing either on the authority of your Ministry, or on the tone and character of your Ministrations. Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 1839. 1. I have hitherto dwelt upon points which are, in some measure, external to the condition and interests of the Church. I cannot, however, conclude this address, without adverting to one of an interior and momentous nature, to which, as it involves matter of controversial discussion and division, a strong and imperative sense of duty alone induces me to refer; and in noticing which, I sin- cerely desire to preserve that spirit of fairness and candour, and that regard to Christian union and brotherly love, which ought to characterize the expression of all difference of sentiment among members of the same Church. I allude to the general tenor of the opinions and sentiments contained in the " Tracts for the Times,'''' and in various publications to which those writings have given birth. Sumner, Bishop of Chester. — 1841. 8. But thankful as I am for the encouragements which we enjoy, I should deceive both myself and you, if I spoke of our difficulties as overcome, or thought the time arrived when our exertions could be relaxed. There is an intimation of what may be hoped for, and ultimately achieved ; but we are only girding on our harness, and must not boast ovirselves as those that are putting it off, and have obtained the victory. There is proof that the doctrines of the Gospel, when diligently inculcated in the spirit of those Articles which our Church maintains, will not be proclaimed in vain ; will enlist many hearts on their side, and on the side of those who preach them. But there is no proof, and there never can be proof, that the same effect can be produced without these means, or by IMPORTANCE OF THE CONTROVERSY. 3 any other means. A harvest will reward the diligent, but not the careless sower; the sower of good seed, and not of blighted seed. The truth as it is in Jesus must be preserved in its purity and simplicity, or we shall look in vain for the fruits which we desire to see, and which the present state of things requires : attachment to the teacher, attachment to the Church to which he belongs, generosity and active zeal in the cause of God and man, of which he is the advocate. 4. And here it is impossible not to remark upon the subtle wiles of that Adversary, against whom the Church of Christ is set up, and whose power it is destined to overthrow. His activity is in exact proportion to the activity which is used against him. His vigilance never foils to seize the opportunities which the weak- ness of man too frequently supplies. No sooner is good seed sown in the field, than tares are found springing up amidst the wheat. Such has been the case throughout the whole history of the Church; and it has been signally and unexpectedl}^ exemplified in the present day, by the favour shewn to notions which might seem inconsistent with the advancement of reason, by the revival of errors which might have been supposed to be buried for ever. 5. To enter upon this subject generally or fully, would be quite incompatible with the limits of a Charge ;2 and to treat it cur- sorily would not be respectful to my brethren. I shall confine myself to a brief review of two points, in which the interests committed to us are especially concerned.* Maltby, Bishop of Durham. — 1841. 1. In adverting to other matters, which immediately concern us, as ministers and officers of that branch of the Holy Catholic Church, happily established in these realms, I must call your attention to the obligations Avliich rest upon me, your Bishop, on this our day of solemn meeting; and to the manner in which you also are bound to act towards him, Avho, however unworthily, is called upon thus publicly, and from this chair of offi^ce, to address you. 2. My duty, then, is to lay before the Clergy, thus assembled, my opinion upon points relative to our sacred profession, — the ministry of that Lord and Master whom we in common seiwe ; the manner in which it should be exercised, the doctrines we have solemnly engaged ourselves to teach, the discipline we are bound to maintain, and the charity we are equally bound to practise. * See Aj^pendix, No. II.^ 2 The note here appended by his Lordship is given in Chapter VII., under The Character of the Tractariaiis as Conlroversialit^ts Ed. 3 This Appendix will be found in the Chapter on Trad 90, a7id the Literpretation of the Articles..~-^D. b2 4 JUDGMENT OP THE BISHOPS REQUIRED. This our periodical meeting, I repeat, enforces upon me tlie ne- cessity of declaring, upon points like these, my opinion and advice, honestly and without reserve ; but at the same time also, with calmness, and, I will add, that kindly feeling, which it has been my wish to exhibit in all my intercourse with you. I should act in a manner at variance with the obligations imposed by my office, if I were to search out for such topics only as I judged might be pleasing or acceptable to you in the address I am called upon to deliver. I need not say how much I should rejoice if, in explaining my own sentiments, I were able, at all times, to find an entire agreement with yours. But, from the very constitution of the human mind — free to exercise its judgment, yet, from the imperfection of our fallen nature, liable to err ; and sometimes, perhaps, perverse in a preference of error — such a concurrence cannot always be expected. In these times more especially, when men's minds have been roused to an unusual, indeed, an unnatural, pitch of excite- ment, it would be surprising if the range of speculation, which has been so widely extended in matters of civil policy and philosophical inquiry, had not reached the more sober and serious confines of theology ; and if some portion of the rage for something new had not produced its influence upon the Church. On that ground, therefore, some difference may possibly be found between the opinions which I shall deliver, and those which some of you, my brethren — although, I am happy to believe, very few indeed — may have been led to entertain. Moreover, as it is my duty to express myself firmly and candidly upon all such subjects, so is it yours to receive my observations with respectful attention. I claim, there- fore, your dispassionate and most careful consideration ; and if I may not be so fortunate as to insure your immediate acquiescence, it is my prayer that the holy influences of the Spirit may so en- lighten me in addressing you, and yourselves in listening to what I offer, that the result may be to us all a more perfect knowledge of what it is indispensable for us to teach ; and a firmer union of purpose in accomplishing those ends for which our Divine Master was pleased to become the Head of a Church on earth, and for which that pure and apostolical branch of it to which we belong was established in these realms. 12. Well am I aware, my reverend brethren, that an Episcopal Charge ought not, indeed cannot be the vehicle of regular con- troversy. The various, the incessant, and, I may add, the daily increasing labours of our office, leave very little leisure for disen- tangling the subtleties of novel speculation, or penetrating the recesses of abstruse disquisition. Still less could any space, however ample, that could be allotted to these observations, suffice for examining even a small portion of what extends through nearly one hundred Tracts, and has given occasion for almost an equal number of volumes in reply. But the importance of the subject justifies me in thus far offering it to your attention. IMPORTANCE OF THE CONTROVERSY. 5 13. The error was spreading widely: although now, I trust, since the principles of the writers have been unfolded more dis- tinctly, the thinking part of the public have been put upon their guard ; and the young and the unwary will be less disposed precipitately to admit propositions, which, it has been well and authoritatively said, " have a tendency to mitigate, beyond %vhat charity requires^ and to the prejudice of the j!>2. In March, 1842, just three years after this article was published, another article appeared in the same journal, apparently by the same writer, which shewed that he, at least, had at length become alive to some of the dangers, which he had thought others so unreasonable, and even ridiculous, in apprehending.^ The article is on the Church of England Divines of the seventeenth century. The writer regards these divines as undeniably the proper authorities to be appealed to, when the principles of our Church are at all the matter in question. And, in the style which made his former article so effective ■ — never making an assertion, without appearing to prove it on the spot, by reference to his authorities — he proceeds to shew, from the writings of these illustrious men, that, upon the character of the Church of Rome, and our relation to her ; — upon our own Church, her character, and her claims ; the reverence, affection, and submission due to her ; — upon the Reformation and the Reformers ; — upon Protestant, " name and thing ;" — upon the way in which foreign Protestant bodies, wanting the privilege and blessing of Episcopal government, are to be regarded and treated by us ; — upon the Unity of the Church, as con- sisting with the independence of National Churches ; — upon the place and use ^ Fourteen months only had elapsed from the period to which his Lordship refers, when there appeared, in the Quarterly Review, a third article on the Tractarian Contro- versy, entitled '' Rubrics and Ritual of the Church of England.'''' That this article was felt to be, as indeed it was, a " heavy blow and great discouragement" to Tractarian practices, is evident from the contumely with which it was assailed by the organs of the party. " What," says the Christian Remembrancer, " could have induced either the editor or the publisher to consent to such self-stultification ? After having committed themselves to a high and Catholic tone of thought in several successive articles- articles, by the way, which were, each in its turn, the most conspicuous and generally read of their respective numbers ; and also, if not to an approval, yet to a vindication of the Oxford School from the more vulgar of the charges preferred against it, — here we have a paper quite in the spirit of those latter — a paper that would hardly have disgraced The Record.'''' The Remembrancer then proceeds to charge the supposed author of the article (Mr. Croker) with " shallow vanity," "reckless presumption," " a total blank of information," and " ' wisdom which is earthly, sensual, devilish,' fitter rather for the licentious and Tiberian revelries of Hertford House than for the pages of what would fain be taken for the organ of the EngUsh Clergy." — Christian Remembrancer, June, 1JJ43. The following extract from the article in question, forms a striking contrast to the sentiments put forth by the Quarterly in March, 1839, when its readers were "assured that the University of Oxford was perfectly clear of Jesuits," and that the " idle notions of there being any thing in the" Tractarian " system to encourage Popery," arose " either from ignorance of the question, or disregard of distinct disavowals."— pp. 542-55G " It is in vain — even when they are perfectly sincere — that persons who have adopted these practices may tell us that they have no leaning to Popery, and are, in fact, what they profess to be, — zealous members of the Anglican Church. Granted : their private convictions may be untainted ; we cannot search their consciences, and we will give credit to their assertions ; but then, on the other hand, we must insist, that their private feelings cannot, in any forum, either of law or conscience, justify their countenance of practices which are but too generally understood, and have been, by their original promoters, avowedly adopted and recommended, as a solemn and continuous protest against the Reformation — 'the odious Reformation !' and which have, in some notorious instances, led to downright apostacy. But open defection, even when we suspect it to be the result of an irregular intellect, or morbid vanity, is less deplorable, and infinitely less dangerous, than the masquerade orthodoxy whose heart is already reconciled to Rome, though its hands are still willing to carry the bag and to take the sop, and to participate in the communion of the Anglican Church, as Judas did at the Last Supper." — Quarterly Review, May, 1843 — p. 287. — Ed. 58 PROGRESS, ETC. VALUE OF TRACTARIAN CATENA. might be regarded either as an advance in the clearness of their pei'ceptions of the consequences of their principles, or in their boldness in avowing them. of Tradition ; — upon the relation of the Church and the State ; — in short, upon many very leading points in the controversy of the present day, the principles and feelings of these men (whom he and the Tractarians agree in regarding as the true court of appeal) are decidedly opposed to those which have been put forward in the writings of the Tractarian school. Of these writings, there is no express mention in the article ; and, of course, none of his former defence of them. But the reference to them is just as intelligible, and, indeed, as une- quivocal, as if it were express. It was probably understood by the least informed readers of the Review. And there was no affectation of misunderstanding it, on the part of those who were aimed at. A regular reply appeared from them, in the October of the same year, in the British Critic, under the title of " Deve- lopment of the Church in the seventeenth century ;" in which there is certainly no want of boldness or skill, and which must, at least, have satisfied their former advocate, that writing these men down, is not likely to be as smooth and grate- ful a task, as writing them up was. They refer directly to " the appearance of an article in the first and most influential periodical of the day .... having especial reference to the judgment of our ' divines of the seventeenth century,' " as the occasion of their review of the same distinguished authorities. They have no thought of objecting to the tribunal, before which their opponent has brought their opinions. On the contrary, their anxiety seems to be to fix him, and others through him, to the judges whom he has chosen in the cause. They hail with joy his acknowledgment, that the theology of these divines " is the standard theology of the English Church" expecting that few will be found "so hardy as to dispute the fact, after such an affirmation of it." The reviewer, they say, has attempted to shew that these great divines are against " the Oxford writers," " on the subject of Rome, Church and State, &c." They propose to prove that he is greatly in error on this point. But they are first anxious to secure that it shall be remembered, that, were he ever so successful in proving what he attempts to prove, the relation of the Oxford Divines to the Divines of the seventeenth century, upon other points, would stand as it stood before ; — that is, as they affirm, that, in the views put forward in the Tracts, and in other publications of their authors, on the more important doctrines of "Baptismal Regeneration, the Real Presence, the Eucharistic Sacrifice, Tradition, Church Authority, Apostolical Succession, or points connected with them," " a perfect agreement exists between the former and the latter writers."* The only point at issue is, whether there is a discrepancy between them on the other, and — however important, still — inferior questions ; viz.. How ought we to regard, speak of, and treat Rome, on the one hand, and unepiscopal Protestantism on the other ; — What are we to hold concerning Papal supre- macy ; and other kindred questions. And, even upon these questions, they expect that the appearance of discrepancy which their brother-reviewer has exhibited between them and those whom he and they acknowledge as the proper * This, they say, has been irresistibly proved by " Catenae, or quotations from our standard divines ;" and the same assertion is made upon all occasions, and often as if its truth were not denied by the opponents of the Tractarians. The fact, however, is, that it has not merely been denied, but most conclusively disproved. It has been shewn, that in the views which they have put forward upon all the above doctrines — at least upon ^' jioints connected u'Uh'''' all, — they not merely are not supported, but are strongly and decidedly opposed, by the most important authorities of their Catense.6 6 The remainder of this note will be found in a subsequent chapter, under the Character of the Tractariaiis as Controversialists..— ^d. DEFECTION FROM THE RANKS OF TRACTARIANISM. 59 114. The first act, however, of the party, which produced any considerable defection from its ranks, was the publication of Mr. authorities, will vanish upon a closer and fairer view of the case ; — which they accordingly proceed to give. They maintain that the harshest language used by these divines against Popery, was either the result of recent suft'ering, or of some pressure actually felt, or apprehended from the circumstances of our own Church ; and that, even when they spoke most strongly, they did not pledge themselves against the papal theory, or against the system upon any but practical grounds. And to explain and enforce this, they call attention to the peculiar position of the Church after the Reformation, which forced her into taking " a one-sided, or exclusively unfavourable view of the Roman Church, — into seeing only her corruption on the one hand, or her ambition on the other," And they maintain that our position is altogether different now, and that there can be no doubt, that were the same divines alive now, they would speak very differently ; and therefore that living divines, if they will use their language under altered circumstances, have no right to plead their authority. So much they claim for the position of the Church, in abatement of the force of the strongest passages which have been quoted from those of our standard divines, who have written most strongly upon such points. But, moreover, they say, that there was a development in this respect, which not only corresponds with what this theory would require, but helps them still further ; for that, the further we recede from the Reformation, the more moderated do we find the tone of our divines with respect to Rome. They maintain that, in fact, there was a constant movement in the Church of England ; that, as the earliest divines in the seventeenth century are distinguished from the Reformers, so are the later ones from them, until the " rise of ecclesiastical tone in the Church, which Bancroft and Andrewes had already commenced, was developed and established by the Laudian episcopate." They give a series of extracts from the writings of the divines, whom they take as the representatives of the Church at the different periods of the century, particularly the last ; which they preface with the following distinct statement of what they intend that it shall prove against the Quarterly Reviewer, and for themselves : — " Nor can there be any greater mistake than that of stringing all our divines together, without distinction or explanation ; making them a mere printer's list, as if they were exactly alike — mere repetitions of each other, like so many bricks out of a kiln, or loaves out of the oven, or so much twist from the wheel, or cloth from the loom, or powder from the mill. A writer who so joins all schools together, and makes such a " hotch-potch," to use Bramhall's word, of our divines, must pardon us, if we cast a doubt upon the accuracy of his acquaintance with the times about which he has treated. There are distinctions amongst our divines : our Church divinity has been, as a matter of fact, a jirogressive, and not a stationary one. The Laudian school was as clearly a neiii development of the Church, in its day, as history can shew it. And be it well noted, it was a successful development — it established itself. Laud and his party were ' innovators' in their day ; but how are they regarded now ? As our greatest doctors, the highest standards and brightest ornaments of the Church. Turn to the pages of our contemporary: it is 'Laud and our soundest divines' throughout ; and all his associates are quoted over and over again — Bramhall, Heylin, Forbes, Sanderson, Taylor, Hammond, Cosin, aud the rest — as unexceptionable authorities, ' whom all sides must be willing to acknowledge.' The truth is, these divines, by dint of immense effort, by a great and strong heave, lifted the Church above the levels of Calvinism, to a higher ground, and that ground has remained our terra Jirma to this day The present orthodox divinity of our Church is a development since the Reformation, and a reaction upon it. We care not how great innovators the school were considered in their time, or upon how slender a thread they seemed to hang : they succeeded, and their innovation is now our rule. The Church cannot shake off the Laudian school.* * All the italics in this extract are the Reviewer's. 60 PROGRESS OF THE MOVEMENT FROUDe''s REMAINS. Frouue''s Remains. This seemed to force upon many of their supporters, who had resisted all other evidence, some apprehension She has identified herself with them -, she has accepted their ground, and she stands upon it." — pp. 344, 345. Not that they have any intention of suffering her to remain on this ground, if they can help it. This would be making only a coarse and undiscerning use of the authorities to which they defer ; which not merely establish their right to go thus far, but, on the same principles, further too. They boldly claim the right of following those whom the Quarterly Reviewer acknowledges to be safe guides. By appealing to " our divines of the seventeenth century" generally, as the standard divines and true representatives of our Church, and, still more, by his high and unqualified praise of those among them who carried this develop- ment furthest, the author must be understood to approve of it. The writer of the reply boldly claims, on the part of ' the Oxford divines/ to be allowed to carry it as much further as the present circumstances of the Church and the •world render necessary ; and to have this necessity, and all that they do in obedience to it, judged of by the principles on which the past stages of the development are to be justified. They give a great number of passages to show the nature and extent of this development. And, in conclusion, they say : — " Upon the plainest historical grounds, then, supported by the testimony of popular opinion at the present day, we have the fact established of a change in our Church theology a change since the Reformation — the development of a standard divinity in a later age, different from the standard divinity of a former. Calvin, and his school, were the master spirits of the Reformation ; they gave the impulse, and they left a stamp upon the movement which cannot be mistaken : let history, for once, be allowed to speak. The full development of Calvinism was stopped indeed, but only because the Reformation itself was stopped, and its peculiar doctrines remained the theology of our Church till Laud upset them Let us hear no more of a full-born, settled, whole, perfect system of Reformation-divinity * uniform definiteness, consistency of teaching, which has been so remarkable.' Every one who knows the history of our Church, knows this is not the case ; not only has her divinity altered, but her individual divines shew signs of a change, and advance, as their inquiries proceeded — sometimes even in the course of the same work, (e. ff. Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity,) shewing clearly that their theology was just what it is asserted not to be, a gradual formation. Why carry on then a perfectionist language, which cannot be supported by fact ? Why uphold a mere view, a pretty solacing theory, when the first breath of history must send our bandbox hypothesis to the winds ? Why not confess ? what harm can there be in acknowledging the truth, that ours was, in spirit, a Calvinistic Reformation, and that a noble episcopate after- wards reclaimed us ? If the one fact be humiliating, the other is a counterbalance to it ; and our Church, between them both, would stand where she now stands. And can it be denied, that, as the Church threw off her Calvinism, she also began to incline to an union with Rome ; i. e., if we are to take, as we must do, the Laudian school as the then representatives ? But we will only proceed, at present, on the fact, that she did throw it off ; — that there has been a change in our theology since the Reformation. For if the precedent has been set, wliy may it not, with prudence and moderation, be follou'ed f If our Church has changed her tone and language, on various points, why may she not again, when circumstances demand — i. e., when the circumstances under which she spoke have themselves changed ?" — p. 385. How the Quarterly Reviewer proposes to answer this question, or whether he proposes to answer it at all, we cannot knoAv. But it brings very serious matter for consideration before him, and all who agree with him, in taking ' our divines of the seventeentli century,' in the mass, as the true guides and representatives of the Church of England. Many have taken up his standard without examination, and without suspicion ; and from the use which he was able to make of it, felt that we needed no more to restrain the present unhappy movement towards Home. The British Critics have brought such persons to a THE REFORMERS HELD UP TO HATRED AND SCORN. 61 of the real direction of the movement, to which they had hitherto fearlessly committed themselves. They not only saw in this pub- lication the great leaders of the Beformation, here and upon the Continent, held up as objects of hatred and scorn, but they were left no room to doubt, that it was for their principles, — the Protestant principles which they themselves held and valued — and for the great work which they had effected, that these illustrious men were hated and reviled? The writer avows himself as " every day becoming a less and less loyal son of the Reformation ;"* as " thinking worse and worse of the Reformers ;" " hating the Reformation and the Reformers more and more," and having almost made up his mind " that the rationalist spirit they set afloat is the yjrevSoTrpocpijTT)'; of the Revelations.""!' And while engaged in the course of study of our ecclesiastical history which was giving him these views and feelings about the Reformers, he says, what is not surprising, " As far as I have gone, too, I think better than I was prepared to do of Bonner and Gardiner."t Farther on, writing to one friend, he refers to a letter to another, for evidence of " the length that he is being pulled on in anti- Protestantism."§ He regards the present Church system, which he calls "our upas-tree,"|| as "an incubus upon the country;"^ and different point of view, and exhibited to them a different phase of this standard divinity ; one very well calculated to startle many of the admirers of the Quarterly Reviewer, whose knowledge of his authorities was derived from his pages. And it would be hardly enough to say, that the claim of the Tract- arians to be allowed to follow the precedent which has been set, may be resisted, on the ground that they have given very clear proofs that they want the prudence and moderation, which they seem themselves to admit are necessary qualifications for being admitted to the task. No doubt this is most true, and might be very easily substantiated. But still, apart from all apprehensions of the way in which their modern followers may be disposed to carry on *' the development of the Church in the seventeenth century," I believe this article contains such evidence of what that development was, and of the stage to which it was brought under the "noble episcopate'' which "reclaimed us," as will make many doubt, whether, in appealing, as he did, to the divinity of that memorable era, the Quarterly Reviewer took the best and wisest means of resisting effectually the tendency to Rome, which he seems, however tardily, yet sincerely, to dread in the Oxford Development of the present day. * Vol. i. p. 336. + Ibid, p. 389. J Page 252. § Page 347. II Page 405. Upon this, apparently regarding it as rather too strong, the Editor gives the following Note : — " It is scarcely necessary to observe, that the author is speaking of the establishment, or, as he calls it, ' Church system,'' i. e. the particular form in which the one Holy Catholic Church happens to be developed in England." And of which, it does seem necessary to observe, the author and his annotator happened to be ordained ministers. 7 The italics are not his Lordship's — See also paragraph 117, iftfra. Mr. Perceval, among his episcopal testimonies to the good effects produced by the writings of the Tractarians, quotes a passage from the Bishop of Toronto's Charge, in which his Lordship states, that " they have rescued the pillars of the Reformation from oblivio?i." i— Collection of papers, &.c., p. Ill — Ed. s I have, elsewhere, noticed the singular coincidence of sentiment upon this subject 62 PROGRESS, ETC. THE UPAS TREE MR. MACMULLEN. gives it as his opinion that the " Church can never right itself without a hlo\v-up."* Indeed, this opinion seems altogether inde- pendent of any of the evils of its state-connexion, however in the particular place it may be suggested by them. For his practical conclusion with respect to the Reformation itself is, that it " was a limb badly set : it must be broken again in order to be righted.'" -f- 115. But his principles and feelings as a Churchman may be further collected from his sentiments upon a few very important points. He throws doubts upon the pui-ity^ of the descent of orders in our Church. | He describes her as having blasphemed Tradition and the Sacraments.^ He not only objects to the teaching of the Prayer-hook being called the teaching of the Church, but (after suggesting and rejecting different supposed grounds for so regarding it) he avows distinctly that he sees " no other claim which the Prayer-book has on a layman's deference, as the teaching of the Church, which the breviary and missal have not in a far greater degree. ''''^1^ Indeed he lays down this broad general principle : " It appears to me plain that in all matters that seem to be indifferent, or even doubtful, we should conform our practices to those of the Church, which * Page 250. f Page 433. J Page 385. § Page 438. 1| Pages 402, 403. expressed by Mr. Froude, an Ordained Clergyman of the Established Church, and Mr. Stoughton, a Dissenting Minister. " The Episcopal Church is compared to a tree stretching forth its umbrageous arms. " If it be a tree at all, it more resem- bles the Upas than tlie Oak." Stoughton^s Speech at the Beading Church-rate Abolitio7i Meeting. 1830". " The present Church system is an in- cubus upon the country. It spreads its arms in all directions. " Would that the waters would throw up some Acheloides, where some new Bishop might erect a see beyond the blighting influence of our Upas Tree." Froude''s Remains, vol. i. p. 405. 1835. Vide "Preaching: its Warrant, Subject, and Effects," Appendix, p. 211. "The Grievance of Church-rates Examined, in a Letter to Philip Pusey, Esq., M.P." p. 15 Ed. ' "For my part, I had rather have had my orders from a Scotch Bishop, and I thought of suggesting the same to you. The stream is purer, and besides, it would have left me free from some embarrassing engagements. [Such as the necessity of holding by the union of Church and State, of contenting himself with the English Liturgical Service,'"' ^c. Editor's Note.] — Froude''s Remaim, vol. i., pp. 385, 386. It is a fact worthy of remark, in connection with this subject, and one which has been communicated to me upon unquestionable authority, that, pending the recent, but happily ineffectual proceedings of Mr. M'Mullen against the Regius Professor of Divinity, in the University of Oxford, Bishop Skinner, of Aberdeen, made the former gentleman an offer of his curacy. Mr. M'Mullen, I need hardly observe, had rendered himself notorious, by declining to maintain the following propositions given him by Dr. Hampden, as theses for the exercises required previous to his proceeding to the degree of Bachelor of Divinity. " 1st. The Church of England does not teach, nor can it be proved from Scripture, that any change takes place in the elements at consecration in the Lord's Supper. " 2nd. It is a mode of expression calculated to give erroneous views of divine revelation, to speak of Scripture and tradition as joint authorities in the matter of Christian doctrine." Mr. M'Mullen had also been obliged to relinquish the curacy of .S7. Peter-le- liailey, Oxford, in consequence of a memorial, addressed by the parishioners to the Rector. — Ed. MR. FROUDe"'s view OF THE EUCHARIST. 63 has preserved its traditionary practices unbroken. We cannot know about any seemingly indifferent practice of the Cliurch of Rome, that it is not a development of the ajiostolic ^dos, and it is to no purpose to say that we can find no proof of it in the writings of the six first centuries ; they must find a disproof, if they would do any thing."* And as to The Eucharist, in particular, he says — " I am more and more indignant at the Protestant doctrine, on the subject of the Eucharist ; and think that the principle on which it is founded is as proud, irreverent, and foolish, as that of any heresy, even Socinianism."f His own belief was, — that the power of making the hody and blood of Christ is vested in the successors of the Apostles \X that, in the exercise of the power bestowed upon them, they perform a double miracle — one part being- the making of the body and blood of Christ for our spiritual food, and the other the preservation of the sensible bread and wine, for the exercise of our faith :§ and that Pascal's statement^ — that the Lord fulfils His promise to the Apostles, of being with men always, by abiding under the species of the Eucharist, is an orthodox one.|| He takes even the author of the " Christian Year," to task, for some symptoms of this Pro- testant spirit which he so vehemently denounces ! This writer had said, (in the verses on the Gunpowder Treason) of the com- munion, that " the Eternal Priest"" is " there present in the heart, not in the hands ;" and Mr. Fronde asks, " How can we possibly know that it is true to say, ' not in the hands V "IT He com- memorates, accordingly, with satisfaction, the advance that one friend has made, who, he verily believes, " would now gladly consent to see our communion-service replaced by a good translation of the liturgy of St. Peter ;" and he adds, in the way of advice to the correspondent to whom he communicates this intelligence, — " a name which I advise you to substitute in your notes to , for the obnoxious phrase ' mass-book."" """■** But on this matter, his final conclusion seems to be, to acquiesce in the view taken by another friend, of our Communion Service, and of the feelings with which it becomes those who see its defects to receive it. What this view was, appears in the passage in which he expresses his approbation of it. " The more I think over your view about regarding our present Communion Service, &c., as a judgment on the Church, and taking it as the crumbs from the Apostles' table, the more I am struck with its fitness to be dwelt upon as tending to check, the intrusion of irreverent thoughts, without in any way interfering with one's just indignation."-|-f * Page 336. t Page 391. X Page 32G. § Part II. vol, i. p. 65. II Part I., vol. i., p. 387. t Page 404. ** Page 387. This advice was not thrown away, as appears from a passage often quoted from Mr. NcwTaan's Letter to Dr. Faussett, Second Edition, pp. 46, 47. Mr. Froude himself had used the designation which he recommends already, (at least, as would appear by the dates,) in Tract 63, On the antiquiti/ of the existing Liturgies. +t Page 410. 1 The Rev. Isaac Williams quotes this statement of Pascal in confirmation of his views on Reserve. — Tract 80, p. 33. — Ed. 64 PROGRESS, ETC. MR. FROUDE AND POPE FIUs"* CREED. 116. Such were this writer's views of the Reformation and its fruits. In exhibiting them, something has necessarily been done to shew the very different feelings with which he regarded the system from which that memorable event separated us. But to effect this latter object fully, would require a larger adduction of passages than we could afford. I may, however, give you one or two, which seem to throw some additional light on his principles. As to saint and image- worship, he says : — "I think people are injudicious, who talk against the Roman Catholics for worshipping saints, and honouring the virgin, and images, &c. These things may perhaps be idolatrous ; I cannot make uj) my mind about it."* I have already given a passage, by which it would appear, that he thought it also rash and unjustifiable to pronounce their belief of transubstantiation erroneous. And, indeed, he expressly says, generally, " Nor shall I even [ever ?] abuse the Roman Catholics, as a Church, for any thing except excommunicating us."""!* And, finally, having declared that the anathemas, as comprehending our deceased friends, must prevent every one from going over to Rome while she retains them, he gives this distinctly as the reason which, as he avers, would for ever prevent him from joining the Church of Rome : — " I never could be a Romanist ; I never could think all those things in Pope Pius'' Creed necessary to salvation. ''''\ 117. I have not given any examples of his mode of speak- ing of the Martyrs and Confessors, to whom, under God''s * Page 294. + Page 395. i p. 434. Whether if a man who had at one time felt about all those things in Pope Pins' Creed, as it is to be supposed that every one who becomes a minister of the Church of England must have felt, were once brought to believe that they are true, he ought to feel it to be impossible that he should ever believe that they were also neces- sary to salvation, — the more especially when this step presented itself as essential to his communion with the Church, which held and professed all these most important doc- trines, (for if they be true, their importance can hardly be doubted,) which his own Church denied and renounced,. — is a question which we need not attempt to settle. But it is important to remark, how near Mr. Froude must have been to the former state of belief ; the belief, that is, that all the Articles of Pope Pius' Creed are true, if indeed he had not actually arrived at it. And this I think must be apparent, 1. Because the supposition that he believed them to be true, or, at the least, did not believe them to be false, seems the easiest mode of accounting for his emphatic declaration, that he never could believe them necessary to salvation. A clergyman of the Church of England, wlio coidd with truth declare that he did not believe them to be true, would have very obvious reasons for preferring such a mode of expressing his state of mind in reference to them, to the marked reserve of the profession, that he could not beheve theva to be necessary to salvation. 2. He adds: "But I do not see what harm an ordinary Romanist gets from thinking so," i. e. thinking that they are necessary to salvation. Now, when one considers what tbe doctrines are which are comprehended in the Creed of Pope Pius, one can hardly suppose, — without ascribing to Mr. Froude the absolute latitudinarianism which cannot see that any thing that a man believes about any thing, can do him harm, — that if he had believed them to be false, he would have expressed himself unable to see what hai'ra it can do an ordinary Romanist to believe them true and necessary to salvation. It would be inexcusable to spend time in this way in endeavouring to determine the exact state of belief of this individual, but for the double interest with which the times liave invested it for us ; first, as illustrative of the hazard of dallying with Romanism ; and, secondly, from the light which it also throws upon the principles of the party whose leaders have put him forward as their representative and champion. SECESSION AMONG THE ADMIRERS OF THE TRACTS. 65 blessing, we owe our deliverance from darkness and bondage. Because specimens of the tone in which he indulged in reference to them, — which is much coarser and more virulent than any respectable Roman Catholic writer of the present day would choose to employ on the same subject, — have been published in such a variety of shapes as to be familiar to every one. Such petulant, bitter, and irreverent sayings concerning those honoured servants of God and their great work ; and the language of depre- ciation and contempt in which our Church, and her principles, and her services, were spoken of in these volumes ; and the admiration and affection with which Rome, notwithstanding some reserves, was undisguisedly regarded, produced a strong and extensive effect. Much of what was most objectionable in the volumes, had, in substance, appeared in the Tracts, and in other writings of their authors. But, partly from the personal character of the man, and partly from the shape in which his sentiments appeared, — familiar letters, private journals, and notes of conversations — the tone of this publication was much more bold and unrestrained. So that some who had not been offended* by the matter of the Tracts, were much offended and alarmed by the manner of Mr. Froude.'^ And some, whose eyes had been gradually opening to the tendencies of the movement, now saw them too distinctly to hesitate about the duty of separating themselves from all connexion with it. There was, in consequence, a considerable secession among the sounder portion of the admirers and supporters of the Tracts, and probably some degree of jealousy and distrust infused into most of that class who continued to admire and support them. That there should be any such — any loyal sons of the Eeformation, — any true members of the Church of England, — who remained attached to the part}', after such an open declaration of their principles and feelings, may be regarded as strange and almost unaccountable. - The British Critic has offered the following curious apology for " that ironical turn which certainly does appear, in various shapes, in the first part of these Remains:" — " This irony arose from that peculiar mode in which he viewed all earthly things, himself, and all that was dear to him, not excepted. It was his poetry. Irony is, indeed, the natural way in which men of high views and keen intellect view the world : they cannot find middle terms of controversy with men of ordmary views ; they feel a gulph between them and the world ; they cannot descend to the level of lower views, or raise others from that level to their own. As, thei'efore, there is no common ground which they can .serioiis/i/ and really (sic) assume with inferior and wordly minds, they fall into a way of pretending (sic) to assume common notions, and reasoning on them with unreal seriousness, in order to expose them."' — British Critic, April, 1840, p. 399. Mr. Palmer, no incompetent authority, gives a somewhat different view of the case, in his "Narrative:" — " ISIr. Froude occasionally expressed sentiments on the latter subject, (the character of the English and the foreign Reformers,) which seemed extremely unjust to the Reformers, and injurious to rhe Church ; but as his conversa- tion generally was of a very startling and paradoxical character, and his sentiments were evidently only in the course of formation, I trusted that more knowledge and thought would bring him to juster views." — " Narrative," &c. p. 23. Mr. Palmer does not seem to make much allowance for the relative positions occupied by himself and his friend Ed. 66 PROGRESS, ETC. MESSRS. NEWMAN AND KEBLE DEFEND FROUDE. It is, in fact, only to be accounted for by what is hardly less strange, viz., that after all, they refused to receive this publication as a declaration of the principles of the authors of the Tracts. It was well known that the real, though not the nominal head^ of the party was the Editor of the work, with the aid of at least one* of the two other members to whom the next place in influence is generally assigned. But notwithstandiug this authentication of the publication as the act of the party, there were not a few of those to whom I have alluded, who could not be brought to regard them as responsible for the work, and who, in consequence, did not suifer it to shake their confidence in them. However blaraeable, in point of prudence, they regarded the Tractarians for publishing it, they obstinately refused to extend to them any portion of the more serious disapprobation which they most freely bestowed upon Mr. Froude and his writings. A general con- formity of views and principles was, of course, admitted ; but every thing violent, and dangerous, and absurd, in his opinions and sentiments, was regarded as his own. 118. The Editors most distinctly refused to be thus separated from him. They put forward, as the motive of the publication, and as its justification, the truth and extr-eme importance of the views to lohich it teas designed to he subservient* To the promotion of those views they described their deceased friend as having devoted himself ardently^ hut soberly. ^ A ground of censure would be found, they knew, in what would be called the intolerance of certain passages as regards Dissenters ; they reply that both this and the alleged tendency to Romanism are objections not to the present publication, but to the view ichich it is designed to support.X They were aware that his sentences were, in an unusual measure, direct^ fearless, and pungent ; and they apprehend that this may incline those who recoil from them to account them speeches uttered at ran- dom, more for present point and effect, than to declare the spealers real opinion ; and under that view of their nature, to disap- prove of the publication of such sayings on such high and solemn subjects. And they at once secure these sentences from being set aside, and themselves from blame for publishing them, by denying the fact. The expressions in question tcere not tittered at random, and cannot fairly be thrown by as mere chance sayings .... right or wrong, they were deliberate opinions, and cannot be left out of consideration, in a complete estimate of a writers character and p>rinciples.^ Some of them, however well considered, might, in the way in which they were given, appear unnecessarily startling * Preface, page v. -j- Page vii, % Page x\Tii. § Pages xix. xx. 3 The Rev. John Henry Newman, B.D., Fellow of Oriel College, and Vicar of St. Mary's, Oxford Ed. '^ The Rev. John Keble, M.A., formerly Fellow of Oriel College, Professor of Poetry in the University of Oxford, and Vicar of Hursley, Hants Ed. POSITION OP THE PARTY AS MINISTERS OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH. 67 and paradoxical'^ and these, at least, they knew, some would say, might have been left out. They state directly, among other reasons for inserting them, that it was due to the reader to shew him fairly how far the opinions recommended icould carry him. And while they cleclare on the one hand, that nothing is kept hack, hut what it teas judged icould be fairly and naturally mistmder- stood, they add on the other, that they have not, to the best of their judgment, inserted any thitig which did not tell, indirectly, perhaps, but really, toivai'ds filling up that outline of his mind and character, which seemed requisite to complete the idea of him as a witness to Catholic views.* 119. They not unnaturally apprehend that it will be thought by many that he was an undutiful son, and an unfaithful minister of the Church to which he belonged ; or, as they very distinctly state it, — that, though a minister, he was not a sound and attached member of the English establishment : that he evaded its tests by a dry and literal interpretation of their wording, and availed himself of its influence and sustenance against itself 120. This is a serious charge. They say, the ansiver to this objection is also simpU. I add, that it is at the same time so instructive, — so illustrative of the vieio which the party take of their obligations as ministers of the Anglican Church, and of the icay and extent in which their relation to it is modified by their duties as ministers of the Church Catholic,^ that I shall give you the entire of it. " The view which the author would take of his own position, was probably this : that he was a minister, not of any human establishment, but of the one Holy Church Catholic, which, among other places, is allowed by her Divine INIaster to manifest herself locally in England, and has, in former times, been endowed by the piety of her members : that the State has but secured by law those endowments which it could not seize without sacrilege, and in return for this supposed boon, has encumbered the rightful possession of them by various conditions, calculated to bring the Church into bondage : that her ministers, in consequence, are in no way bound to throw themselves into the spirit of these enactments ; rather are bound to keep themselves from the snare and guilt of them, and to observe only such a literal acquiescence as is all that the law requires in any case, all that an external oppressor has a right to ask. Their loyalty is already engaged to the Church Catholic, and they cannot enter into the drift and intentions of her oppressors, without betraying her. For example : they cannot do more than submit to the Statute of Premunire ; they cannot defend or concur in the present suspension in every form of the Church's synodal powers, and of her powers of excommunication ; nor can they sjTiipathize in the provision which hinders their celebrating live out of the seven daily services, which are their patrimony, equally with Romanists. Again ; doubtless, the spirit in which the present establishment was framed, would require an aflfectionate admiring remembrance of Luther and others, for whom there is no evidence that the author of these volumes ever entertained any reverence."t * rages xi. xxii. t Preface, page xv. 5 The italics in tliis sentence are not his Lordship's — Ed. 68 PROGRESS ETC. MR, FROUDe"'s VIEWS OF 121. The principle on which this defence rests, is plainly a very fruitful one. But its true range may be better learned from Mr. Froude''s application of it, than from the statement of his Editor, and the examples by which he chooses to illustrate it. It will be found that it reaches further, not merely than the Editor intimates, but further than we should ourselves probably have anticipated, without such a practical exhibition of its working. The maxim, indeed, that a true Churchman's allegiance is pre- engaged to the Church Catholic, as it evidently substitutes his own or his party''s views of the principles of the Church Catholic for all other authority, would prepare us for a good deal of insubordination in a " witness to Catholic views." And when it was combined with the theory, that the particular branch of the Church Catholic to which he belonged, is in bondage, and that the State is her oppressor, we might expect this insubordinate spirit to express itself, from time to time, in very intemperate and violent language, if restrained from more active manifestations. Were the State ever so truly the protector of the local Church, it could have no claim to be heard when it speaks in opposition to the Church Catholic ; but being, as it is, her oppressor, no true upholder of Catholic views can render any obedience to the enactments which maintain its tyrann}^ except by constraint and outwardly ; or refrain from speaking of them with the indignation which they deserve. In a wholesome state of things, it is true, the branch of the Church to which we belong would have a fair claim to be regarded by us as the representative and interpreter of the Church Universal. But, in her bondage, she could not herself desire that we should so regard her, lest, haply, we should take the language of her oppressor for her own. If she were free, she would doubtless always speak in harmony with Catholic views. If her unhappy circumstances ever force her to speak otherwise, we may be sure that we are not only acting in obedience to our highest duty, but that we are shewing to her the reverence which is most acceptable to her, when we regard her as speaking by constraint ; and obey, instead, the voice to which she would have us always give ear. A child is not to be regarded as deficient in filial duty and tenderness, because he does not yield obedience to every command of a parent who is beside herself. True duty and tenderness, on the contrary, will often enjoin disobedience ; yea, it may be, force from him words that may sound harsh, and acts that may seem unkind. When once this principle of the paramount duty of obedience to the Catholic Church had released a man from subjection to the authorities which God has set over him, talk of this kind, we know, would never be wanting to justify all that his own notions of Catholic views, or the notions of whatever little party, living or dead, he had chosen as the interpreter of .the Catholic Church, might require him to do or say. And so we might be prepared to ALLEGIANCE TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 69 see, as the result of the principle, a great deal of self-will and presumption, under the guise of humility and submission.* * Parts of what followed here, to page 156 in the first edition, have been left out, as containing a statement with respect to a matter of fact in which I have since discovered that I was mistaken. And the omission has led to some additions in what is retained. In the first Edition, the passage which followed in the Charge, stood thus : — " But it seems, in Mr. Froude, to lead to something more and worse. The tyranny of the State, and the weakness of the Church, seem to have divest-ed them of all claims, not merely on his obedience, but also on his good faith. This is a very serious charge ; but, as it seems clearly well founded, painful as it is, it is very necessary that it should be distinctly made ; and being made, of course, it ought to be substantiated. " For example : He declares, as we have seen, that he was unable to make up his mind, whether the icorshipjring of saints, and honotiring the Virgin and images, as practised by Roman Catholics, is idolatrous or not. I have no disposition to inquire, whether the declared views of our Churcli, on this question, forbid such indecision in her members. But he w^as a minister of the Church ; and, before he could become one, he was obliged, solemnly, and sincerely, in the presence of God, to profess, testify, and declare, that he did believe .... that the invocation or adoration of the Virgin Mary, or any other saint, . ... as they are now used in the Church of Rome, are superstitious and idolatrmis. And further, solemnly, and in the presence of God, to profess., testify., and declare., that he made this declaration., and every part thereof in the plain and ordinary sense of the, words read unto him., as they are commonly understood by English Protestants., ivithout any evasion, equivo- cation, or mental reservation whatever. And he did all this. Now, whatever justification his views of the Church and State might furnish for intemperate language, Avith reference to such a declaration, — for railing at the State for exacting, and the Church for submitting to, such a declaration, — what justifi- cation can they be suj)posed by honest minds to supply for his making it? And what justification can we imagine him to have found in his own mind for voluntarily making it, except this : that when the State tyrannically exacts declarations or engagements inconsistent with Catholic views, those who hold such views, whatever be the form of words which they are constrained to use, must be understood to use them with all such reservations as their allegiance to the Catholic Church may render necessaiy ?+ " Again : Mr. Fronde's belief concerning the Eucharist was, that the power of making the body and blood of Christ is vested in the successors of the Apostles -.X — that, in the exercise of the power bestowed upon them, they per- + 'H yXuffa ofidfiox', V Se (ppiiv avufioros. If it be asked, Why come under these obli- gations at all ? Why make declarations which are inconsistent with Catholic views ? I can devise no answer, except that if this were not done, the ministry would be left to men of uncatholie or anti-catholic jtrinciples, and that it is plainly inconsistent with allegiance to the Catholic Church, to abandon the local manifeslation of it with whicli we are connected, to its enemies. " It may be said, that perhaps Mr. Froude took up the Catholic views which were inconsistent with these declarations, after he had become a minister of the Church. If this be the case, it alters the view of his conduct, but does not amount to a defence of it. For undoubtedly, whenever he took up views which were inconsistent with the profession of belief, on which he was admitted to the Ministry in the Church of England, the right mode of keeping himself from the snare and guilt of such obligations as he had come under, was not (as his Editor seems to represent) by railing at the obligations and the authorities which imposed them, but by publicly declaring his change of views, and by withdrawing from the trust which had been consigned to him, on the faith of his holding certain principles which be had ceased to hold. X Page 326. 70 PROGRESS OF THE MOVEMENT. 122. That it actually bore such fruit abundantly, in the case before us, has been sufficiently proved. But the volumes from form a double miracle ; one part being the making of the body and blood of Christ for our spiritual food, and the other the preservation of the sensible bread and wine for the exercise of our faith :* that the canon of the Mass is the liturgy of St. Peter :f that Pascal's statement — that the Lord fulfils His promise to the Apostles, of being with men always, by abiding under the species of the Eucharist, is an orthodox one :+ and that we cannot by any possibility know that it is true to say, that in the holy communion Christ is not in our hands. Now suppose that such views can be shewn to allow a man, without any evasion, equivocation, or mental reservation whatever, ' solemnly, and in the presence of God, to profess, testify, and declare, (as he did in the declaration already referred to,) that in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper there is not any transiibstantiation of the elements of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christy at or after the consecration thereof by any person whatsoever^ how could they permit him to declare, with the same solemnity, that the sacrifice of the rnass, as used by the Church of Rome, is superstitious and idolatrous ? or willingly and ex animo to subscribe the twenty- eighth Article, (to particularize nothing else,) in which it is expressly declared that the body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper, is faith ? " Lastly, (not to continue this specification too far,) if there be any funda- mental principle of our Church, it is the sufficiency of Holy Scripture as a Rule of Faith." &C.6 In Ireland, all beneficed Clergymen, Lecturers, and Curates; the Provost and Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin, lay and clerical, (among many others,) are obliged by law to make the declaration against Transubstantiation, &c., referred to in the foregoing paragraphs.jj The Act, however, which enjoins this, (3 W. and M. c. 2,) though an Act of the English Parliament, is only for Ireland ; so that I committed an error in supposing that this declaration had been made by j\lr. Froude. Fortunately, my attention was directed to the mistake (by more than one correspondent indeed,) in sufficient time to secure me from repeating it in the present edition. I have removed the passages in which it appears from the text, because the chief part of the proof which they contain of the inconsistency of Mr. Fronde's sentiments and opinions, with his express obligations to his own Church, is drawn from the very strong and explicit language of this declaration, which, it appears, he never made. But I have preferred transferring them to this place to expunging them altogether, for the following reasons: — 1. Retaining them here seems the most satisfactory, and is certainly the least troublesome way of enabling the reader to judge what is the true nature of the mistake, and how far it extends. 2. If after stating the mistake, 1 simply left out these passages, it might be regarded as an acknowledgment, that except this declaration, which I erroneously supposed him to have made, there was no sufficient proof that the sentiments quoted from jMr. I^roude, were inconsistent with the direct obligations under which he had come as a Minister of the Church of England. But this, according to my judgment, would leave a very false impression of the actual state of the case. I think * Part II. Vol. i. p. C5. + Part I. vol. i. p. 387. X Page 392. § This declaration is, therefore, made by all Ecclesiastical persons in Ireland ; but it is not, as my words convey, required previously to conferring orders, but when the person ordained obtains hcense as a Curate, institution to a Benefice, &c. 6 The Charge as it stood in Edition 1, is continued at par. 124, p. lo. — Ed. RESULTS OF FROUDe's PRINCIPLE OF ALLEGIANCE. 71 which I have drawn these proofs, supply evidence that it tends to further and worse results. It appears that this pre-engagement of that altogether, independently of this declaration, it may be most conclusively shewn, that what he says of Saint and Image-worship in the Church of Rome, and of the doctrine of the Eucharist, is not merely at variance with the prin- ciples of the Church, (for that is not enough in the case,) hut inconsistent, as I have said, with the express obligations under which he lay by his subscrip- tion to the Articles. And to begin with what he says of Saint and Image worship in the Church of Rome. It is plainly inconsistent with a belief of Avhat is laid doAvn upon the subject in the Homilies. I do not mean merely that it does not agree with what may be collected to be the views of the Homilists, or with some of their stray opinions, or obiter dicta ,- but that it is directly opposed to what they formally determine in a professed discussion of the very question. This is well known ; and it will be seen by any who do not know it, or who doubt it, on reading what is quoted from the Homilies in Note G.'' Now, this seems clearly inconsistent with subscription to the Thirty-fifth Article. I do not mean that by subscribing the Articles, Ministers of the Church are bound to agreement with every opinion which is to be gathered from the Homilies, or even every one which is distinctly expressed in them. But it seems that they are restrained from rejecting any of their clear and formal determinations upon any leading and important point : any such important question as. What is it that constitutes idolatry? or. Do certain practices amount to the crime of idolatry ? Unless the Thirty-fifth Article secures accordance with the Homi- lies so far as this, it seems a very purposeless and unmeaning document. It has been argued, I know, by some who wish to lower the force of the obligation created by this Article, that all that it says of the Homilies would be true, provided they contain some doctrine which is godly and wholesome ; even though they contain some, or even much, of another description. And hence it would be inferred, that one who believed this concerning the Homilies, might, with a safe conscience, subscribe to this Article. But this seems to be very palpable juggling, with a very clear obligation. This is, no doubt, a literal sense of the statement concerning the Homilies made in this Article. But it is abundantly evident that it cannot be its true meaning. This might be she^TO in various ways ; but the most conclusive and unexceptionable proof is that which is furnished by the remainder of this very Article. For it is not merely said, that the Homilies contained " a godly and wholesome doctrine, and necessary for these times," but that for this reason the Church had appointed them to be employed in the public instruction of her members : "and THEREFORE wc judgc them to be read in Churches by the Ministers, diligently, and distinctly, that they may be understanded of the people." Now if it could be thought possible that the framers of our Articles should have deliberately dedicated one of them exclusively to the Homilies, for the jjurpose of testifying that they contained some godly and wholesome doctrine, still it will hardly be thought possible that they could gravely state that this fact was the reason why they had chosen these books to be publicly read in the congregations throughout the land, to impart to them instruction in the most momentous truths of religion. Some godly and wholesome Doctrine would ill fit a body of Discourses on the most momentous subjects, doctrinal and con- troversial, for such an office as this. Any intermixture of doctrine of another kind, would have plainly unfitted them for the office ; and it must be plain, therefore, that what is meant to be stated concerning them is : that the Doctrine which they contain is godly and wholesome. It is only in this sense of it, that the character given of the book, can with any show of reason be made the ' This Note will be found under Par. 139 of his Lordship's Charge Ed. 72 PROGRESS, ETC. FROUDE IN ACTUAL OPPOSITION a Churchman''s allegiance not merely sets measures, as we have seen, to the respect and duty to he rendered to his own Church, but foundation (as it is expressly made in the Article,) of the use for which it is declared to be ordained. I do not argue that this must have been the opinion of the framers of the Articles concerning the Homilies. For this cannot be questioned. They wrote one of the books themselves, and had the other before them for a considerable time, with unlimited power to correct it in every particular in which they considered it to require correction. That they, therefore, when they sent the volume out for the instruction of the Church, held that it contained no doc- trine which did not deserve the character of godly and wholesome, cannot be doubted. But if this were all, it might be said, that we are not bound by their opinion of that book, or of any other. And I do not mean to maintain that we are, any further than their opinion is expressed in the Articles. But so far as it is, we are plainly bound by it in every case. And I may add, that the chief, if not the only reason, for stating their opinion in this particular case, must have been to bind the ministers of the Church to accordance with it. It could not have been in this case, as it might have been in many others, to make known what their views were ; for, as I have said, in this case there could have been no doubt upon that point. Nor could it have been to pre- scribe the use of these Discourses, for that was done effectually, and more appropriately in another way.* It must have been, therefore, one would say, almost, if not altogether, for the single purpose of securing that all the ministers of the Church should accord with the judgment so expressed upon this very important volume. What the judgment actually expressed in the Article is, I have already attempted to shew. And when what has been said of the meaning and of the purpose of the Article is fairly considered, it will, I should hope, be apparent, that it could not be conscientiously subscribed by one who only believed con- cerning the Homilies, that they contained tome godly and wholesome doctrine, or by one (which is the case that we are more immediately concerned with) whose mind was not made up upon the truth of a most imj^ortant question, which the Homilies formally consider and decide ; upon which they are clear, full, and absolute. (2.) As to the second point, the views put forward by Mr. Fronde, concerning the Doctrine of the Eucharist, including his views of the Romish Doctrine on the point, I think they are clearly opposed, not merely to the principles of the Church, (for, as before, that would not be enough,) but to the principles with which he has declared liis accordance, by subscription to lier Articles. Could, for exam2:)le, any one who thought and felt as he did about the Doctrine of Ti-ansubstantiation, declare sincerely with the Twenty-eighth Article, that it " is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture" and that it " overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament ?" Again, he held, as we saw, that it was impossible to be sure that in the holy communion, " Christ is not in our hands." How could he then positively say, witli a clear conscience, in the words of the same Article, that, " The body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper, only after a heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper, is faith ?" Here are examples of want of agreement with, and of actual opposition to, the Articles to which he had subscribed, which makes it unnecessary to look for any other in what I have quoted of his views of the Eucharist. I shall therefore leave the matter here. I give now the Note, as it stood originally in the Appendix, only premising — * By the directions prefixed to both Books, in which the mode of using them is more particularly pointed out. TO THE ARTICLES. — PALMEr's INDIFFERENTISM. 73 even to the good faith to be exercised towards her : so that even the declarations which she prescribes as tests of the principles of 1. That in what is said of Mr, Palmer, I fell into the same mistake with respect to the declaration against Transuhstantiation, &c., that I had committed in speaking of Mr. Froude. And 2. That what I have just now said of the inconsistency of Mr. Froude's views on the Eucharist and on Transubstan- tiation, with the Articles, will apply to shew that Mr. Palmer's indtfferentism and uncertainty with respect to Transubstantiation is inconsistent with, a belief in the truth of the Articles to which he had subscribed. The letter in which Mr. Froude expresses his inability to make up his mind on the point, whether the worshipping of saints and honouring the Virgin and images, &c., as practised among Roman Catholics, is idolatrous or not, was wi-itten from Naples, Feb. 17, 1883. In the preface, however, an extract is given from a letter, also from Naples, which it is said had not come to hand until the first volume was printed. The date is not given, but it is pre- sumed that it was written after the foregoing; and it appears that he had then come to the conclusion, that the people were idolaters in the sense which he thus explains : — " Since I have been out here, I have got a worse notion of the Roman Catholics than I had. I really do think them idolaters, though I cannot be quite confident of my information, as it affects the character of the priests .... What I mean by calling these people idolaters, is, that I believe they look upon the saints and Virgin as good-natured people, that will try to get them off easier than the Bible declares, and that, as they don't intend to comply with the conditions on which God promises to answer prayers, they pray to them as a come-off. But this is a generalization for which I have not sufficient data." I have felt it right to quote this passage, though it of course does not Aveaken the force of the earlier extract, for the purpose for which I brought it forward. The purpose was to shew how completely Mr. Froude's mind was discharged by his system from all regard to the positive obligations which he had con- tracted with his own Church, to say nothing of the duties arising fairly out of his position in it. And this would be sufficiently evinced by the fact, that four years after his ordination he describes himself, as it appears, without scruple or compunction, as unable to make up his mind about the truth of what he had so solemnly and repeatedly declared that he believed to be true. And this fact was the more striking, becauses he expresses this state of indecision, in a letter from Naples, written too after he had been in Sicily, and so after he had had so very much stronger evidence of the truth of the declaration, than he could have had when he made it. That his indecision afterwards gave way in any measure to the proofs which forced themselves upon him, is a fact which ought to be stated, but it leaves the use which I made of the other, undisturbed. The following deliberate (as it would seem) view of the indifferentism which a Minister of our Church may maintain, on the subject of Transubstantiation, is a curious illustration of the oblivion of Protestant declarations, which " Catholic views'' have a tendency to induce : — " If any one say that the bread, after the order of nature, does not remain, I do not agree with him any more than does my Church, but I protest against nothing ; rather if we are right, we reject and condemn the error, for truth is superior ; nay more, it seems to me to be to the individual who is pious and believing, quite a second- ary error ; for if I go to the altar, I do not look for common bread, but for that bread which conieth from heaven, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ. It seems to me to be a question of no moment, whether the natural substance remains or no ; if it depart, I care not ; and if it remain, yet I look not for it ; I see it not ; I see nothing but the body and blood of the Lord, after the words of consecration." This is from a Letter to a Protestant Catholic^ by William Palmer, M.A,, 74 PROGRESS, ETC. MR. PALMER AND ROBERT BOYLE. her ministers, whatever be the terms in which they are conceived, are to be made with such reservations as this prior and higher duty Fellow and Tutor of St. Mary Magdalene College, Oxford ; and Deacon in the Church of England.* I pass over a good deal in the extract which furnishes matter for long discussion ; I only remind my readers, that Mr. Palmer, when made a Deacon of the Church of England, (if at no other time,) declared — solemnly, and in the presence of God, professed, testified, and declared, — con- cerning this doctrine, which he now holds to be quite a secondary error, (li it be an error, which it is " if we are right,") that in the Sacrament ot the Lord's Supper, " there is not any transubstantiation of the elements of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, at or after the consecration thereof by any person whatsoever." And furthermore, " that the sacrifice of the Mass, as used by the Church of Rome, is superstitious and idolatrous." It is plain, that if he thinks of this very straitly-framed declaration at all, he must either think that it only declared his actual belief, and set no limits to his liberty to believe the very opposite the next day ; or that it is satisfied by his not being sure that some portion of the doctrine of transubstantiation is true, while he is very sure that it is of little moment whether it is true or not ; and is also firmly convinced of the truth of a part of the doctrine, which, if it be true, seems to secure the sacrifice of the Mass from being idolatrous. I am tempted to add an earlier specimen of the same style, which seems curious enough to make it worth transcribing. It is from a little book pub- lished by Roger Boyle, Dean of Cork, (1665,) under the title of Inquisitio in fidem Christianorum hujus scbcuH. " De quo vehementius litigatur, quam de praesentia Domini in Augustissimo Eucharistiae Sacramento ? At ex dicta traditione nianifestum est panem cousecratum esse corpus Domiui, et vinum cousecratum ejus esse sanguinem. Gi'seci, Latini, Pontificii, Protestantes, quicunque sacrosancto hoc Sacramento utuntur, bunc et esse, et semper fuisse ecclesise universalis sensum testantur. Id quod in litem trahitur, est, * I have never seen the Letter, but take the extract from the British Critic,^ No. LXII. p. 506. 8 The following extract from the same Letter may not have fallen under his Lord- ship's notice, as it is not given in the British Critic : " With respect to Transubstantiation, I hold that the Body and Blood of Christ, given and received in the Holy Eucharist, is a mystery, in the manner of it, far too great for words to express, and that it were both dangerous and irreverent to attempt it, being as it is an object for faith only to apprehend. I believe that the Bread and Wine are changed by the consecration of the Priest and the operation of the Holy Ghost, and become, according to the truth of His own words, the very Body and the very Blood of our Lord, and are no more to be considered and called bread and wine, but the Body and Blood of Christ. On the other hand, I do not believe that the natural substances of bread and wine are disjoined from their natural accidents, nor that the natural substances depart while their accidents remain : but that both acci- dents and substances remain naturally after consecration as before." pp. 29, 30. Surely, though but a " Deacon in the Church of England," j\lr. Palmer ought to be aware that the elements, after consecration, are expressly called " bread and wine''' in three separate Rubrics of our Communion Service. That the opinions expressed by Mr. Palmer in the foregoing extracts are not merely those of a " Disciple " or " younger adherent " of the Tractarian party, may be seen by comparing them with the recorded sentiments of JMr. Newman, Dr. Pusev, and Dr. Hook, on the subject of The Eucharist, in a succeeding chapter. Mr. Palmer's "Letter to a Protestant Catholic," is referred to by Dr. PusEV, in his " Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury," p. 88, where, speaking of the different members of their (so called) Party, he says, " We were formed in different ways, have retained the character impressed upon each, .... while we hold the same Catholic truths.'''' — Ed. SUFFICIENCY OF SCRIPTURE A " TRUMPERY PRINCIPLE." 75 renders necessary ; and the direct engagements which he contracts with her, however explicit and strict they be, are only binding so far as they coincide with his notions at the time, or his discoveries afterwards, of the principles of the Universal Church. 123. Of this most formidable effect of the system, which Mr. Fronde's Remains are intended to exhibit and recommend, the following is a very striking example. YSufficienci/ of Holy Scripture.^] 124. If there be any fundamental principle of our Church, it is ike SUFFICIENCY OF HoLY ScRiPTUKE as a Rule of Faith. And if there be any of her principles explicitly declared in the Articles, it is this. To those Articles all her ministers subscribe " willingly and ex animo.'''' But to take still further security that they agree with her in this fundamental principle, she requires all candidates for the order of priesthood to declare, that they are persuaded of its truth, and that they have determined, by God's grace, to regulate their ministry conformably. Now, notwithstanding all this, it appears that Mr. Froude did not believe this truth.* But then it is to be remarked, that, while he regarded so lightly his positive obligations to his own Church in this matter, he shewed himself anxious to maintain his allegiance to the Catholic Church, so far as he understood her principles. And, accordingly, though he rails at this great truth, and argues against it in various ways, he professes his readiness to believe it, if it can be shewn that the Fathers really taught it.-f* And, somebody having provided soon after what An hsec prtesentia sit per remotionem substantise panis, aut per ejus identificationem cum substantia corporis Dorainici, aut per reprfesentationem sacramentalem, aut quo prorsus niodo ex infinitis illis, qui omnipotentijie Domini propatuli sunt. Demum, convenit de re, quia traditur Cliristum eam declarasse ; disputatur de modo, quia a Christo eum, aut ab Apostolis ejus fuisse declaratum (certe nobis) non traditur. Adjieiam exemplum quod multorum instar fuerit. Traditur dido modo Ecclesiara Christi esse columnam veritatis, esse infallibilem. Quod, inquam, hsec sit traditio nniversalis, ex eo liquet, quod omnes textus eo pertinentes alii Ecclesiaj Romanse largiantur, alii non nisi Ecclesise universali concedant, alii nee Ecclesite universali, nisi neeessariis ad salutem. Istae autem distinctiones quid sunt, nisi effugia recusan- tium assensum, ubi pudet dissentiri ? Cei-te qui modos quseritaut, rem fatentur. Ac mihi quidem in talibus hoec est regula : certis me submittere dubiis non maledicere. Certus sum panem consecratitm esse corpus domini : an vera substantia panis loco ces- serit, relinqnitur dubitandem, i.e. non exigitur nt credam, aut ita esse, aut non esse, InfaUibiliter traditur ex ore Domini, ecclesiam Christi esse infallibilem. Certus ergo sum aliquam ecclesiam hoc frui privilegio ; quodhcBc (fpicpcuufjue) eo non fruatur, Jion sum certus, cum certus sim ecclesiam nonnullam infulliJnUtate frui, turn an non hanc ( quamlibet ) [h(sc ( qucelibet ) ?] habeat ignore. Cum tarn multa non revelaret dominus, modeste sapere jussit. " * In page 415, he speaks of his correspondent's "trumpery principle about 'Scrip- ture being the sole rule of faith m fundamentals.'' '''' And we have what is intended as a refutation of this principle, pp. 417, 418. See besides p. 41f). No. 116. t " As to our controversies, you are now taking fresh ground, without owning, as you ought, that on our first basis I dished you. Of course, if the Fathers maintain that ' nothing not deducible from Scri])ture ought to be insisted on as terms of communion,' I have nothing more to say." — p. 419. 9 See Note 7, p. 43 Ed. 76 PROGRESS, ETC. INSTRUCTIVE INSTANCE OF THE he regarded as a proof that the early Church did hold it, he discovers for the first time, and apparently with more surprise than satisfaction, that the Sixth Article of our Church admitted of a valid defence.* It may be supposed, therefore, that somewhere about six years after he had made the subscription and declaration above referred to, he did believe this Article. But if he did, it was certainly but for a short time. In two months he relapsed into his former disbelief of it."f* And as this was within a very short period of his death, it is unlikely that he changed again upon the point. 125. Now it is very plain that, in whatever way the "Catholic views'" of which Mr. Froude is the chosen witness, dispensed with his belief in this fundamental principle of the Church, to which he was so solemnly pledged, they might enjoin and justify disbelief in any other. There is no other, in fact, on which the Church has more distinctly declared herself; and none whatsoever upon which she has taken the same pains to secure the accordance of her ministers with her. This instance is, therefore, of peculiar impor- tance, in illustrating the practical working of the views of which he is the representative And it is to be remembered, that this practical application of " Catholic views" to the obligations under which the ministers of our Church He, was made by one who is put forward as understanding them thoroughly, and acting uncom- promisingly upon them. I will not attempt to speculate upon the effects of such views upon the sacredness of the engagements of private life ; but it seems very plain, that they deprive the most solemn engagements, which those who hold them contract with their own Church, of all force and value. It would seem clearly from the example just given, that there are no declarations which can be framed of belief in a doctrine — however explicit and un- reserved they be, and however voluntarily they be made by one who holds what are called " Catholic views" — which will give any absolute security that he believes the doctrine. His belief of it will, after all, be contingent upon his being able to make out for himself, or by the aid of some one else, that it was held by the Catholic Church. That his own Church holds it, is nothing : that she has embodied it in her Articles, is nothing : it is nothing, *".... The second part of ... . has opened a new light to me ; {. e. as to the view of the earli/ Church, about Scripture being the Rule of Faith : how odd that writers on our Articles, when they had such strong ground to stand on, should have ensconced themselves beliind rationalist a priori arguments and illogical perversions of texts."— p. 421. -f- This is expressed in the following characteristic passage, which seems well con- ceived to intimate, at the same time, the respect in which he held the Articles of the Church: — "I have beeft thinking over and over again, N.'s argument from the Fathers, that Tradition, in order to be authoritative, must be in form interpretative, and can get no further than that it is a convenient reason for tolerating the (I forget which) Article." — p. 423. Between "for" and "tolerating," his Editor interposes " [the Church's]," but there appears no reason for the insertion, except that it softens the sentiment a little. FRUITS OF " CATHOLIC VIEWS. even, that he himself has solemnly and publicly declared that he believes it, and solemnly and publicly promised that all his teaching- shall be in accordance with it. He may still disbelieve it, argue against it, ridicule it ; unless, in addition to all this, it can be proved to his satisfaction that " the Fathers maintain" it too. Here is a most instructive instance of the fruits of xchat are called " Catholic views^'' — one indeed^ irhich^ ichen the whole case is con- sidered, seems clearly to shew that it is vain for the Church to devise any declarations, or any engagements, in the hoi^e of binding men of the prin- ciples of which Mr. Froude is made the witness and representative.^ [^Froude's Remains, Second Series, 1839.] 126. I shall now resume the history, from which this opportunity of throwing light upon the principles of the movement, has led us away. Nothing could be more distinct, as we have seen, than the warning to all its supporters, that in these volumes they had an authentic declaration of its objects and tendencies. But there were not a few, as I have said, upon whom the warning was lost. They seemed resolved not to allow the authors of the Tracts to connect Mr. Froude's extravagances with their useful labours. An indiscretion was, no doubt, committed in publishing a book which contained so much that was calculated to alarm the timid, and, indeed, to give just offence to all sober-minded persons. It could not be too much lamented. But men are often led into such indis- cretions by the partialities of friendship ; and nothing more than the allowances which are generally made upon such occasions was needed, to shield Mr. Froude"'s friends from the imputation of any- thing beyond a general community of sentiment with that very rash and intemperate young man. Such was the language which was constantly heard from some who strongly disapproved of this publication, but who were anxious to to extend those who had given it to the world a kind of protection, which they seemed deter- mined to repudiate. 127. In a year after the publication of the selection from Mr. Fronde's Remains, which excited so much discussion, another selection of about equal extent appeared, by the same editors. And in the Introduction to the new Series, they very decidedly decline this interposition of their friends, though not unaware of the risk that they were thereby running of offending and alienating them. In thus persisting in the step which had given such offence, they represent themselves as "not wilfully slighting any man's scruples or remonstrances, but still thinking that the cause of the Church, which is paramount to every thing, leaves them not at liberty, either to withdraw any important portion of what has been made public, or to suppress what remains.''"'* And they proceed to review * Preface to Part II., vol. i.. p. 4. 1 The italics in this passage are not his Lordship's Ed. 78 PROGRESS, ETC. — ^FROUDE VINDICATED BY HIS EDITORS. everything in the former part which startled and offended so many, and to vindicate all — all that was said of the Keformation and of the Reformers, and of the Estahlished Church, and of her Liturgy — upon the " Catholic principles" which the Tracts were intended to teach and to maintain : so as to convey very clearly, to those who professed to make a distinction between the views and prin- ciples of the authors of the Tracts, and those of Mr. Froude, — to approve of the former, while they condemned the latter, — that they apprehended but imperfectly what they admired. For it appeared, by the testimony of those who ought to know, that the true and only difference between him and the other members of his party, was, that he saw sooner, and still more, that he followed out more boldly, the real consequences of the principles, which both he and they held. And they add, that every day was bearing testimony to the correctness of his anticipations ; and that, the more closely [that] what was felt to be bold, or harsh, or eccentric in his sentiments, was examined, the more would it be found to be the result of a fair and uncompromising application of Catholic principles to the circum- stances with which he had to deal, — only what we might expect to discover when "the great principle of Catholicism, Quod semper, quod ub'ique, quod ah om?iibus, had once rooted itself in the mind of a person thus determined not to flinch from results ;" " in a true, courageous, and consistent follower of the ancients ;" in a mind " thoroughly uncompromising in its Catholicity."* 128. One of the evidences of this author's sagacity, which is dwelt upon in the Preface, is the way in which events were bringing about an unlooked-for conformity with, or, at least, tolerance of, his strongest opinions, " so that," (they say) " already/ many things, which sounded paradoxical and over bold when he first uttered them, tnai/ be ventured on with hope of a reasonable degree of acceptance ."-f* His slower, or more prudent brethren, were certainly taking full advantage of this change in public feeling, which, though they make no boast of it, they had done so much to bring about. [Tract 86.2] Of the Tracts published at this time, the only one which I can find time to mention here is, " On the indications of a superintend- ing providence in the preservation of the prayer-hook, and in the * Preface, pp. xi. xiii. xv. + Page 7. 2 The Rev. Isaac Williams, B.D., late Fellow and Tutor of Trinity College, has publicly avowed himself the author of this Tract, as well as of the Tracts on lieserve. I have elsewhere attempted, by internal evidence, to trace to the same source the Tract " On the Roman Breviary,'''' (No. 75), and the Editorship of the " HoriB Canon- iccB, a translation from the Daily Hours of the Roman Breviary," put forth as " a little manual of devotion" for the private use of the members of our Church. Vide " Horte Canonicre: a Second Letter to the Rev. E. B. Pusey, D.D. ;" and " The Tracts for the Times continued: a Letter to the Hon. aud Right Rev. the Bishop of Oxford." Ed. THE PARTY ADVANCE IN BOLDNESS. 79 changes which it has undergone.* The object of this Tract is to shew, that, having been reduced at the Reformation to " a low and [Tract 89.] '^ Another of the Tracts of this period was the second on Reserve, upon which I have already spoken. Another (No. 89,) On the Mysticism attributed to the Early Fathers of the Church, would well deserve detailed notice on many grounds. I can only, how- ever, mention it slightly, for the proof which it gave of the advance of the party in boldness. It contains a vindication of not a few of the interpretations of the Fathers, which had been generally given up as indefensible, and which, at an earlier stage of their course, had been put from them by those writers, as having no connexion with their principles that obliged them to undertake the defence of them. But it Avould appear that they had arrived at the perception that the maintenance of them was really involved in their principles concern- ing Tradition, or perhaps that it was one of the things which might noiu be ventured on with a reasonable hope of acceptance ; and accordingly, they are maintained upon principles which seem to leave us no grounds for rejecting or adopting interpretations of Holy Writ, except the authority of the Fathers. It appears to be intended, that for aught we know, any interpretation of any passage may be the true one : it certainly is so if it be the interpretation which was given to the Church by the Apostles : and finally, that it is to be found in any early Father, is better evidence to us of its Apostolicity, than we can have from reason exercised upon Scrij^ture, of its unsoundness. [Tract 85.] But the Tract at this period, which is most remarkable for the reckless boldness which it exhibits, — the determination to maintain the views of the school in all their consequences, and to recommend them at all hazards, — is one entitled Lectures on the Scripture Proof of the Doctrines of the Church, (No. 85). As a set-oif against the objection which is often urged (they say) against the system which they have lieen maintaining, that it has but scanty evidence in Scripture, we have a laboured extenuation of the Scripture- evidence for the fundamental truths which we believe, and an array o? all the difficulties, external and internal, which affect the proof of the canon of Scrip- ture, and of the apparent errors and contradictions which are to be found throughout the canonical Scriptures. All of these are pressed, by the writer of the Tract, in ample detail, and in the tone of a Rationalist commentator, or a Deistical objector, with the full foresight of the peril incurred of unsettling the faith of some in certain and vital truths, by attempting in this Avay to force upon their belief the debated principles of his party. The train of re- flections by which he defends himself for taking this desperate course, and, as it would seem, stifles in his own mind, some rising misgivings of its lawfulness, is Very curious. " It is, then, what is commonly called ' a kill or cure' remedy. Certainly it is better to be inconsistent than consistently wrong, — to hold some truth amid error, than to hold nothing but error, — to believe than to doubt. Yet, when I shew a man that he is inconsistent, I make him decide whether of the two he loves better — the portion of truth he already holds, or the portion of error. If he loves the truth better, he will abandon the error ; if the error, he will abandon the truth. And this is a fearful and anxious trial to put him under, and one cannot but feel loth to have recourse to it. Yet, all things considered, I think it only avails to the cautious use, not the abandonment, of the argument in question. For it is our plain duty to preach and defend the truth in a straightforward way. Those who are to stumble must stumble, rather than the heirs of grace should not hear. While we offend and alienate one man, we secure another : if we drive one man further the wrong way, we drive another further the right way. The cause of truth, the heavenly company of saints, gains, on 80 PROGRESS, ETC. THE LITURGY DEPRECIATED. decayed state,"" " shorn and left bare of much that is valuable,"" and *' in a degraded condition,"'"' — " in a state of captivity,"'*' of " ser- vitude,""— the providence of God has been exercised in adapting our ritual to our position ; and that it is hence that it is charac- terized by a tone of sadness and humiliation, by " the language of those who have fallen away from the richer inheritance and the privileges of sons."*"* And so we have dropped the Avords and the observances which belonged to a higher state. For example, to pray for the dead who are in a state of comparative blessedness, is " the privilege of saints, rather than the office of servants." We omit such prayers, " as disunited from the pure communion of those departed saints who are now with Christ, as if scarce worthy to" profess ourselves one of them." Again : we omit anointing at Baptism and Confirmation. And when we consider how likely this is to have been a Divine institution, (for whatever custom is primitive, is almost certainly apostolical ; and it can hardly be supposed that the Apostles would have invented anything of a sacramental nature of themselves,) and likewise its typical nse applied to prophets, priests, and kings, " surely no one can say the greatness of the gifts here withdrawn ; how much we have thereby fallen from the high appellations of " a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people." I add but one more instance, out of a great number. " In speaking of the rubric, the suhstitution of the term, ' table,' '■lioly table' and in the Scotch, of ' God's board,' for that of ' altar,' which is in Edward's first book (as well as ' God's board,) is a strong instance of this our judicial humiliation. For what is it but to say, that the higher mysteries which this word ' altar' represents are, — not taken away from us (^117 y4vono) — but partially withdrawn from view ; and doubtless, therefore, lost to many who consider not the Lord's body." * 1 29. A great deal more might be given in the same strain. But this the whole, more in the one way than the other. A wavering or shallow mind does, perhaps, ^s much harm to others as a mind consistent in error ; nay, is in no very much better state itself ; for if it has not developed into systematic scepticism merely because it has not had the temptation, its p7-ese7it conscientiousness is not worth much.''^ Though all this may seem in a tone of liopeless hardihood, it discloses some natural compunctions at the contemplation of the course to which the author is making himself up. And as this last sentiment is at such open variance with the principles on which we are desired to pray that we enter not into temptation, one may hope that the daily petition which He who knew Avhat was in man, has prescribed to us, may, some time or other, as it passes from the writer's lips, be made to make him feel what manner of spirit he is of. * Now I suppose, to say no more, if what the author had to account for were the substitution oi Altar for Table, or for God's board, every one sees liow much easier it would be for him to find in the change, a strong instance of our judicial humiliation, — and that we should have heard of our ceasing to be sons, — renouncing the filial privilege of coming to the table of our father, — not venturing to appropriate to our- selves any longer the blessedness of those to whom Christ condescends to promise that he will come in and sttp ivith them, and they with him ; and a great deal to ^tho same purpose. TRACT 90. ITS SOPHISTRY AND EVASION. 81 is enough to shew how steadily the design was followed up, of disparaging the Church, and lowering it in the eyes of its members. 130. All this while the controversy was carried on with in- creasing activity. And though it brought out, in some quarters, partial apologies and qualifications, in others it served to educe still clearer and stronger declarations of the views of the School. There were other demonstrations of the same kind, which were, it may be supposed, forced out by the ardour of some younger fol- lowers, who pressed for the consequences of principles before the time. And writers on the opposite side had been gradually bring- ing before almost all readers a great deal of what the Tracts and other publications, in endless variety, had been doing, to unsettle the principles of the members of our Church, to depreciate the advantages of her communion, to detach the affections and respect of her members from her, and transfer them to a vague and shifting notion of the Church Catholic, — which was sure, in most minds, to find its permanent representation in the Romish Church before their eyes. [Puhlication of Tract 90.— March, 1841.] 131. While many thinking and honest minds were vainly per- plexed with the question, how men who entertained such principles and feelings, and who so laboured to propagate them, could remain ministers of the Church of England, a startling solution of the difficulty appeared in a Tract for the Times, which, in some respects, went beyond all that had gone before it. It was pro- fessedly a proof, that though the Articles were the offspring of an uncathollc age, and conceived in a Protestant tone, they yet admitted a Catholic interpretation, and might consequently be signed by those who held " Catholic views." This was the pro- fessed object of the Tract. What the practical meaning of " Catholic views," as professed and maintained by the school to which the author belonged, was, ought to have ceased to be matter of doubt long before this publication. In fact, from the time that, in their vocabulary, Protestant became synonymous with Anti- Catholic, it ought to have been very clear that Catholic could not very materially differ from Roman. But if any doubt had rested upon this point, the way in which the writer of this Tract chooses to prove that the Articles may be subscribed by men of " Catholic views," was well fitted to take it away : for the mode of proof which is adopted for the most part is, by shewing that there is, in fact, no irreconcilable opposition between the Thirty-nine Articles, and the leading principles of the Church of Rome, as promulgated in the Decrees and Canons of the Council of Trent ! 132. This, in itself, would be enough to give any one acquainted in any measure with the true state of the case, some conception of the character of the publication. Nothi^ig letter, in fact, as all such persons must well know, than sophistry and evasion, could he 82 PROGRESS OF THE MOVEMENT. TRACT 90. Irought in support of such a thesis. And certainly both are employed in the Tract, in as ample measure as any one could be disposed to anticipate.^ 133. Not to advert to any of the less direct difficulties which are thrown in the way of such an undertaking by those Articles, of which the bearing on the principles of the Church of Rome, might be matter of argument and inference, — some of them seem to offer an insurmountable obstacle to the attempt, by denouncing explicitly the Romish Doctrine upon certain important points. The mode taken with respect to such cases is to distinguish between the doctrine condemned as Romish in the Articles, and that which was established as Romish by the Tridentine Decrees. And the writer lays down, as the groundwork of the distinction, that the Articles cannot have been directed against those Decrees, for they were written before the Decrees. Waiving the inquiry how far this is true in point of fact,* it would not seem to be of much importance * The fact is (as was very soon pointed out) that when the Convocation of 1 6Q2, by which our Articles were brouglit to their present form, first met, two-and- twenty of the five-and-twenty sessions of the Council of Trent were over, and the decrees passed at them known throughout Europe. Of the three held after the Convocation, the twenty-third contains the doctrine of the Chui'ch of Rome upon the Sacrament of Holy Orders; the twenty-fourth upon Matri- mony ; and the twenty-fifth, upon Purgatory, upon the Invocation and Wor- shipping of Saints, and upon Relics, and Indulgences, and Images. And it is in speaking upon Article XXII., which condemns " the Romish Doctrine con- cerning purgatory, pardons, worshipping and adoration, as well of images as of relics, and also invocation of saints," that this chronological point is made : " And further, by the Romish Doctrine is not meant the Tridentine [state- ment, 2nc? Ed.'\ because this Article was drawn up before the Decree of the Council of Trent." — p. 24. This happens to be literally true, as we have seen with respect to this particular Decree ; but it was not the author's intention so to limit his statement, as appears by his letter to Dr. Jelf ; for he says, with reference to the letter of " the Four Tutors,""* " I only say that, whereas they [the Thirty-nine Articles] were written before the Decrees of Trent, they were not directed against those Decrees." — p. 4. Again, " it is &fact that our Articles were written before those Decrees, and therefore are levelled, not against them, but against the authoritative teaching.''— p. 13. Again, "but the Decrees of Trent were drawn up after the Articles." — p. 17. It was necessary, therefore, to remind the readers of the Tract, that whatever be the value of the point, it only applies to the last three sessions. And this, as I said, was done by Mr. Wilson,^ one of " the Four Tutors," at once, and subsequently by others. It is with the last of these sessions only that w^e are jmrticularly concerned. And even with respect to it, it might be remarked, that the Doctrine of the Church, upon one weighty Article in it. Purgatory, is laid down in the canons of two of the sessions which preceded the Convocation, the 6th and 22nd. And something in the same way might be said, in abatement of the force of the point, as applied to some other of its Articles. But the answer of most importance is that which applies to all, and which is given in the Charge, 3 The italics are not his Lordship's Ed. * See Appendix A Ed. 5 Letter to the Rev. T. T. Churton, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of Brasenose College. —Ed. PROTESTANT DOCTRINE CONDEMNED BY TRIDENTINE DECREES. 83 to the question. For even if the Articles do not refer to the Decrees, yet if both refer to the same thing, — if the former are intended to condemn what the latter were intended to establish, it would seem enough. And that this, at least, is the case, would not appear to admit of any reasonable doubt. For, when it is considered who were the framers of our Articles, it must be seen, that if there were a Doctrine of the Romish Church, at the time, upon any of the points treated of by the Convocation, it can hardly be supposed to have been otherwise than perfectly known to them. So that what they condemn, under the name of the Romish Doctrine, was undoubtedly, one would say, the Doctrine of the Church of Rome. And, on the other hand, it would seem to be just as little to be doubted, that the purpose and the effect of the Decrees of the Council, were, not to alter the Doctrine of the Church, but to establish it. 134. It would seem, that neither of these points could fairly be disputed. In the Tract, however, without openly disputing them, doubts are thrown upon both. And, before I consider what is said for that purpose, I may remind you, that, even if it were success- ful, still there is another way of establishing the opposition between the Articles and the Decrees, which seems open to no doubt. No one who is acquainted with the Tridentine Canons and Decrees, can doubt that they are directed against the Protestant Doctrine.^ upon the various controverted points on which they treat. If ever they leave it doubtful what it is which they mean to establish as the doctrine of the Church of Rome, they take all due pains to make it very clear what is the doctrine which they mean to oppose and overthrow. They state distinctly (however very often un- fairly) the various points in which the Protestant Doctrine is opposed to the Doctrine of Rome ; and they distinctly condemn and anathematize it in every particular. And though sometimes this Doctrine is disfigured in their enunciations of it, it retains enough of its substance, and of its shape too, to identify it, beyond any doubt, with the Protestant Doctrine which our Articles are intended to set forth. So that here is the opposition between the Articles and the Decrees unquestionably established. It is, there- fore, not as a matter of necessity, but as a matter of interest, and as further exhibiting the character of this extraordinary Tract, that I give you the trouble of considering the attempt which it makes to throw doubts upon the fact, that what the Articles condemn as Romish Doctrine, is the very doctrine which the Decrees were intended to establish. 135. It is not denied, that, when the Reformers in the Articles condemned the Romish Doctrine, they perfectly knew what the viz., that they were framed at the time to affirm the authoritative teaching of the Church of Rome, and to condenm what had been taught in opposition to it by Protestants, and that they have been received ever since, by friends and foes, as having attained their object. G 2 84 PROGRESS OF THE MOVEMENT. TRACT 90. Doctrine of the Church of Rome was ; nor, on the other hand, Is It expressly asserted that the Council of Trent did not intend to estabhsh that Doctrine. But both points are dealt with in this way. It is laid down, on the one hand, that " what is opposed [in the Articles] is the received Doctrine of the day, and, unhappily, of this day too, or the Doctrine of the Romish schools^ And it is asserted or acknowledged, that this Doctrine of the Romish schools is rightly considered " the authoritative teaching of the Church of Rome." But then, in discussing details, it is attempted to be shewn, that what the Articles have in view, is some of the grosser errors of the popular creed, or the more flagrant abuses of the popular practice. And it is maintained, on the other hand, that the errors of the Scholastic Doctrine are not established by the Decrees, and that the abuses of the popular practice are at times condemned and discountenanced by them ; so that the Articles "gain a witness and concurrence from the Council of Trent."" 186. Now, that there was any thing which could bear the name of the authoritative teaching of the Church of Rome, at the time of the Council of Trent, which was not established by its Decrees, was a very new view of the effects of the Council, both to Protestants and Roman Catholics. No one, it is true, could read the Decrees, without seeing that they were very artfully framed, to avoid an open patronage of whatever had brought most scandal npon the Church ; but, then, it seemed equally apparent, that they were framed with a full determination to retain the substance of the errors in principle, which were the root and spring of all that was offensive in her practice. Hitherto, few seemed to doubt that they had fully succeeded. And by none had this view of the effect of the Council been expressed more decidedly, or more strongly, than by the authors of the Tracts ; so that it would be hard to produce, from any other source, more explicit and pointed contra- dictions of this novel representation of the Tridentine Decrees.* 1.37. Their special charge, indeed, against the Council of Trent, had been, that it fixed upon the Church, as its unalterable Doctrine, what, up to the time, only existed in such a shape as would allow of its being got rid of. It was the discovering that this was the * A number of extracts from the Tracts, and from the other writings of their chief authors, are appended to Dr. Pusey's Letter to the Bishop of Oxford, with a view of clearing the party of the imputation of a leaning to Rome. Amongst these passages, are several from Mr. Newman's works, one of which is as follows : — " The Council of Trent did, as regards Roman errors, what, for all we know, though God forbid, some future synod of the English Church may do, as regards Protestant errors, — take them into her system, make them terms of communion, bind upon her hitherto- favoured sons their grievous chain. And what that unhappy council did for Rome, that does every one in his place, and according to his power, who by declaiming against, and denouncing those who dare to treat the Protestant errors as unestablished, gives a helping hand to their establishment." — Neivman''s Letter to Faiissett, p. 15. And again, " Why are the Tracts to be censured for stating a plain historical fact, that the Roman Church did not, till Trent, embody in her Creed the mass of her present tenets, while they do not deny, but expressly acknowledge, her great corruptions before that era?" — Ibid,^. 18. ITS SOPHISTRY AND DISHONEST CASUISTRY. 85 effect of what he styles " the atrocious council," which, Mr, Froude says, changed altogether his notions of the Roman Catholics, and made him wish for the total overthrow of their system.* And, in the Tracts, the same view meets us in various shapes. It is stated, that the Council of Trent converted certain theological opinions into (what they maintained to be) Catholic verities.-f- And the body of the Romish Church is described as having become im- catholic by the act. Indeed, it is asserted in an earlier Tract, that Rome then first became an heretical Church ; and, it is added, " If she has apostatized, it was at the time of the Council of Trent. Then, if at any time, surely not before, did the Roman communion bind itself in covenant to the cause of Antichrist."^ 138. This may be enough to say, in answer to this attempt to distinguish between the Romish Doctrine, as established by the decrees of the Council of Trent, and " the authoritative teaching" of the Church of Rome at the time. But, — perhaps in some distrust of the soundness of the distinction, — more pains are expended upon the other head ; viz., that upon the various points on which the Articles condemn " the Romish Doctrine" in name, it is, in fact, the grosser errors of the popular creed, or the pre- sumptuous subtilties of the teaching of the schools, which they have in view, and not the substance of the Doctrine of the Church of Rome. Of the nature and amount of the sophistry expended upon this point, nothing like an adequate conception could be given, without such a detailed review, as it would be impossible for us now to enter upon. In fact, throughout the whole Tracts hut more especially upon this point, the dishonest casuistry to which the Jesuits have given a name, is employed upon a scale to ivhich it would he hard to find a parallel, except in the more notorious of their own writings.^ One of the society, indeed, Gregory de Valentia, seems to supply the type of the whole argument on this head, when he infers, that as St. Peter speaks of abominahle idolatries, there must be some idolatries under the Gospel which are not ahominahle.^ The Articles furnish the author of the Tract with but slender materials for this kind of logic. But their deficiencies are supplied by resorting to the Homilies, to determine their sense. As might be expected from the purpose of those discourses, and the time and circumstances under which they were written, they contain not a few passages, in which the grosser forms in Avhich Romish errors and superstitions manifested themselves, are dwelt upon and * Vol. i., p. 308. t Tract, No. 61, p. 3, t No. 15, p. 10. § Quoted by Bishop Hall. " How must he [that is well grounded in the doctrine of the Second Commandment,] needs hless himself at the strange collection of a Valentia, because St. Peter cries out of abominahle idolatries, that therefore there are some idolatries imder the Gospel which are not abominable." — The Peace-Maker. Sect. II. 6 The itaiica in this and the preceding sentence are not his Lordship's.— Ed. 86 PROGRESS, ETC. TRACT 90 : ITS UNFAIRNESS, SHIFTING, exposed. Such passages were evidently intended to exhibit the erroneous principles of the Chvirch of Home in a stage of develop- ment, which was at once fitted to shew their true nature, to the many who might not discern it under a less flagrant manifestation of it, and to deepen and quicken the dread and hatred of those false principles in the minds of others, who might not stand in the same need of aids to apprehension ; — to bring distinctly before the minds of all the members of the Church, what the practical evils of the system had been from which the Reformation had delivered them. But they are not brought forward in the Tract as if such was their purpose, but as if they were to be taken as strict desig- nations of those parts of the liomish system which it was intended to condemn. And forthwith it is inferred, that it is only these forms and degrees of the false doctrine, or the superstitious practice, which the Church in the Homily, and therefore in the Article, intends to denounce. And so every degree short of that which figures in these descriptions, and every doctrine and practice akin to those described, but not formally comprehended under these illustrations, are held to be outside the denunciations of the Articles, so that their truth and falsehood, lawfulness or unlawfulness, are open questions, among those who have subscribed the Articles. 139. Such unfairness appears hardly to admit of aggravation. But yet it must be felt to be not a little aggravated by the fact, that there are passages in the Homilies, — sometimes in the very Homily from which these quotations are made, — sometimes even in direct connexion with the passages quoted, — which plainly testify that the Church was opposed to the liomish doctrine on the points referred to, in every degree, and under every form ; and not merely in those extreme degrees, and those grosser forms, which, for obvious reasons, it takes most pains to present in full detail.* * There is hardly any section of the Tract which would not afford abundant materials to support the character that I liave given of it. But its sophistry and misrepresentations have Iiecn so often, and so fully, and so ably exjiosed, that it would be very superfluous labour to subject it now to any thing like a detailed examination. I have no intention of engaging in any such task now, but I wish, by an example or two, to justify what 1 have said in the Charge, of the abuse of the more popular passages of the Homilies, by which the author contrives to cover their decided and very clearly expressed opposition to the errors of the Church of Rome, in their foundation and substance, and not merely in the grosser and more flagrant enormities in practice upon which such passages dwell. He resorts to the Homilies, it will be remem- bered, to fix the sense of the Articles, where he chooses to regard it as doubtful. And I am anxious to say, that supposing these doubts to be reasonable, there can be no objection in principle to resorting to the Homilies, to remove them. Making proper allowance for their form, and not expecting the strict accuracy of language, or the more formal and exact enunciations of truth, which are to be found in the Articles, and looking for their teaching rather in the substance of the discourse than in particular expressions, the Homilies must, no doubt, be regarded as authentic expositions of the sense of the Articles ; not merely as being written at the time, and by the same persons, but as having been recognized in the Articles in the way in which they are. It is not, therefore, EVASIVE, AND DISINGENUOUS SOPHISTRY. 87 140. But I should, as I said, despair of conveying any thing like a full impression of the shifting, evasive, and disingenuous sophistry,'' the fact of having recourse to the Homilies for any illustrations of the meaning of the Articles which may be needed, that I mean to object to ; but the mode in which tlie reference is conducted — that by suppressions and evasions, an utter misrepresentation of the teaching of the Homily is drawn out, and through it an utter misrepresentation of the meaning of the Article. But I have stated this with sufficient distinctness in the Charge, and will now pro- ceed to prove it by one or two striking examples. Nothing, for example, can be more express than the Homilies are, against any use of images, of any kind. But because, in declaring against it, some of the grosser abuses and excesses of the practice of the Church of Rome con- nected with images, are prominently put forward and enlarged upon, the writer, after quoting a number of such passages, feels able to give the following as a true account of what they condemn. " Now the veneration and worship condeuiued in these and other passages are such as these : kneeling before images, lighting candles to them, offering them incense, going on pilgrimage to them, hanging up crutches, &c. before them, lying tales about them, belief in miracles, as if wrought by them through the illusion of the devil, decking them up immodestly, and pi'oviding incentives by them to bad passions ; and, in like manner, merry music and minstrelsy, and licentious practices in honour of relics, counterfeit relics, multiplication of them, absurd pretences about them. This IS WHAT THE ARTICLE MEANS ' BY THE RoMisH DocTRiNE,' wliicli, in agreement to one of the above extracts, it calls ' a fond thing,' — res futilis ; for who can ever hope, except the grossest and most blinded minds, to be gaining the favour of the blessed saints, while they come with unchaste thoughts and eyes that cannot cease from sin ; and to be profited by ' pilgrimage-going,' in which ' Lady Venus and her son Cupid were rather worshipped wantonly in the flesh, than God the Father, and our Saviour Christ His Sox, truly worshipped in the Spirit ?' " So that it would seem that the Homilies allow it to be a reasonable and pious object, to seek to gain " the favour of the blessed saints" now deijarted ; and to do this bi/ venerating and worshipping their images, jjrovided our modes of offering revei'ence to them be not chargeable with any of the irregularities, and_ disorders, and licentious practices, which are so pointedly condemned in the extracts given in the Tract ! Now, I need not tell any one acquainted watli the Homilies, how they really dispose of both those points. What they determine concerning the seeking to gain the favour of the blessed saints, will appear when we consider what is said in the Tract, about the invocation of saints. I will only notice here what they settle with respect to images. And what the teaching of the Homilies on this point is likely to be, ma}' be collected from what appears almost at the outset of the Sermon against " Peril of Idolatry." It anxiously explains very early, that idol and image are two names of one and the same thing, differing only in the tongue from which they are derived. " And though some, to blind men's eyes, have heretofore craftily gone about to make them to be taken for words of diverse signification in matters of religion, and have therefore usually named the likeness or similitude of a thing set up amongst the heathen, in their temples or other places to be worshipped, an idol : but the like similitude, with us, set up in the Church, in place of worshipping, they call an image, as though these two words {idol and image) in Scripture, did differ in propriety and sense, which (as is aforesaid) differ only in sound and language, and in meaning be indeed all one, specially in the Scriptures and matters of religion. And our images also have been, and be, and if they be publicly suffered in the Churches or temples, ever ■will be, also worshipped, and so idolatry committed to them, as in the last part of this Homily shall at large be declared and proved. Wherefore our images in temples and Churches be indeed none other but idols, as unto the which idolatry hath been, is, aud ever will be committed." ' The italics are not his Lordship's. — Ed. 88 PROGRESS, ETC. TRACT 90. TEACHING OF THE with which the purpose of the Tract is followed out, except hy an actual review, in detail, of the mode of treating some of the heads. And it goes on in accordance with this commencement. It refers to the strictness with which God in His law forbade His ancient people to make any images as objects of religious reverence, and the awful threats by which these prohibitions were enforced, as of themselves sufficient to restrain any who had the fear of God before their eyes, from the worshipping of images, setting them up, or maintaining them. " You will say, peradventure these things pertain to the Jews, what have we to do with them ? Indeed they pertain no less to us Christians, than to them. For if we be the people of God, how can the word and law of God not appertain to ns? St. Paul, alleging one text out of the Old Testament, concludeth generally for other Scriptures of the Old Testament as well as that, saying, Whatsoever is ivritten before, (meaning in the Old Testament,) is written for our instruction. Rom. xv. Which sentence is most specially true of such writings as contain the immutable law and ordinances of God, in no age or time to be altered, nor of any persons of auy nations or age to be disobeyed, such as the above rehearsed places be." For further confirmation, however, towards the end of the first part, the New Testament is shewn to coincide with the Old in this matter. — The second part contains the testimony of ancient writers, with explanations and enforce- ments, and the result of both parts is (as is stated in the third part) — " That it is declared by God's word, the sentences of the doctors, and the judgment of the primitive Church, which was most pure and sincere, that all images, as well ours as the idols of the Gentiles, be by God''s word forbidden, and therefore unlawful, specially in temples and churches.'''' And in the third part, the various modes in which both the Old and the New Testaments are attempted to be evaded in this matter are considered, and refuted. — But I suppose it unnecessary to enter further into the Homily for the purpose of shewing how very greatly its testimony against image-worship is misrepresented, when it is confined to those grosser abuses connected with the practice which, according to the Tract, are the exclusive objects of its censure. But the Tract goes a step further, and a very curious step it is. Having stated, as we have seen, that these abuses, and excesses, and enormities, in the practice of the Church, are what the Article has in view, in the Romish Doctrine concerning images which it condemns, it proceeds to shew that the Council of Trent condemns the very same things. " Here again it is remarkable that, urged by the truth of the allegation, the Council of Trent is obliged, both to confess the above-mentioned enormities in the veneration of relics and images, and to forbid them." And the writer gives an extract from the Decree in support of the assertion. So that here, at least, there is a perfect harmony between the Thirty-nine Articles and the Tridentine Decrees! The Article condemns the Romish Doctrine, indeed, concerning the veneration of images ; but it appears by the Homilies, that by the Romish Doctrine it means, only ceitain corrupt practices ; and these the Tridentine Decree also condemns and forbids. This is the representation of the Tract. Now, it is very easy to shew that, in point of fact, the Homily and the Decree, however they may agree in condemning cei'tain excesses, are diametri- cally opposed as to the substance and matter of the Doctrine ; so that there is not'a single point that the Decree establishes, which the Homily does not, by anticipation, oppose and overthrow. This is very easily shewn ; and it is so curious an illustration of the shameless unfairness of the Tract, that it seems worth spending a little time upon it. The Council of Trent commands all Bishops, and others upon whom the HOMILIES EVADED AND MISREPRESENTED. 89 And for this we have no time. I must satisfy myself, therefore, with this general account of this celebrated publication, and return office of teaching devolves, to teach—" that the images of Christ and the Virgin Mother of God, and the other saints, are to be had and retained, especially in temples ;" and that " due honour and veneration" are to be paid to them. The Homilies, as we have seen, prohibit absolutely the setting up or maintaining of images " specially in temples and churches," even if they be set up without any design of making them objects of religious reverence, and even though the most careful precautions be taken against their becoming such. They evidently regard this as the only form in which setting images up in churches admits of any defence ; but, even with such objects and such safeguards, they declare, in the strongest and most express language, against the lawfulness of the usage. I have already given some passages, in which the Homily declares that they are not to be placed in temples and churches ; that Scripture, the primitive Church, and the highest authorities among the Fathers, are against the practice, and that experience has proved that it infallibly leads to the worship of them, which is idolatry. Such passages might be multiplied fourfold. I will give but one more, however : — " When they say that images, so they be not worshipped, as things indifferent, may be tolerable in temples and churches ; we infer and say for the adversative, that all our images of God, our Saviour Christ, and his saints, publicly set tip in temples and churches, places peculiarly appointed to the true worshipping of God, be not things indifferent, nor tolerable, but against God's law and commandment, taking their own interpretation and exposition of it.'''' Here is tolerably direct opposition. Now I suppose I need hardly go on to shew, that there is no less irreconcilable opposition between the Doctrine of the Homily, and the next step in the Decree which I have quoted ; Avhich declares that the images so set up are to receive due honour and veneration. They do not deiine, indeed, what due honour and veneration are. But this is because they Avere issuing their commands to those who knew the established principles and practice on the matter, in which it is plain they had no inten- tion of making any change. But it so happens, that fui-ther on in the Decree, kissing those images, uncovering the head, and falling down before them, are particularized among the acts of veneration which were bestowed upon them. And it happens also, that these are among the acts specified in the Homily, and denounced as unlawful. But, indeed, there are not a few passages in the Homilies to prove that they regard every form of outward reverence, shewn to images, as part of the forbidden worship. — e. g., — " And in the second book of Paralipomenon, the 29th chapter, all the outtrard rites and ceremonies as burning of incense, and much other wherewith God in the temple was honoured, is called cultus, (to say,) worshipping, which is forbidden straitly by God's word to be given to images^ * The Decree goes on to guard this last command from the charge which it was foreseen would be made against it, by stating that it is not given : — " Because it is supposed that there is any virtue or divinity in them, on account of which they ought to be worshipped •, or because any thing is to be souglit for from them ; or because faith is to be put in images, as was formerly done by the Gentiles who put their trust in idols ; but because the honour which is paid to them is referred to the originals which they represent ; so that through the images which we kiss, and * This sentence occurs in a passage quoted at page 32 of the Tract, but is rather curiously omitted in the quotation. The marks which shew that there is an omission are given, but it appears a strange one to choose to make, as the sentence certainly seems to be very important to tlie determination of the question, What is the venera- tion and worship of images condemned in the Homilies ? And the same may be said of the rest of the omitted passage. 90 PROGRESS OF THE MOVEMENT. TRACT 90 : to the history which it has interrupted. It seemed as if some mistake had been committed in supposing the pubhc mind ripe for before which we bow our heads, and prostrate ourselves, we adore Christ, and shew reverence to the saints whose likeness the images bear." Now, the Homily could not more explicitly write in opposition to every part of this defencce, if the authors had read the Decree. And this is not surprising, when we consider that it is but the repetition of a verj^ ancient plea. As to the attempt of the Synodists to distinguish the gi-ounds on which they command reverence to be she\\'n to images from those upon which idols were worshipped by the Gentiles, the Homilist denies that it has any founda- tion. First, he says, that tliey shew a reverence to the images of the saints, which saints and angels would reject with horror, if offered directly to them- selves, as feeling that it entrenched upon the honour due to God only. But this is not the only argument against this plea. " And furthermore, in that they say they do not worship the images, as the Gentiles did their idols, but God and the saints, whom the images do represent ; and therefore that their doings before images be not like the idolatry of the Gentiles before their idols : St. Augustine, Lactantius, and Clemens, do prove evidently, that by this answer they be all one u'ith the Gentiles, idolaters. The Gentiles, saith Augustine, which seem to be of the purer religion, say. We worship not the images, but by the corporeal image, we do behold the signs of the things which we ought to worship. August, Psalm cxxxv." And then, after two quotations from Lactantius and Clemens, (Pseudo Clemens) to the same effect, it adds : — " For notwithstanding this excuse, St. Augustine, Clemens, and Lactantius, prove them idolaters," &c. But finall\% the Synodists rest what they enjoin in such matters, upon its concurrence with the decrees of former Councils, and especially of the second Council of Nice against the opposers of images. Hear what the Homily says upon this Council of Nice, which is thus recognized, and made the principal foundation of the Tridentine Decree : " And at the second Council of Nice, the Bishops and Clergy decreed, that images should be worshipped : and so, by occasion of these stumbling-blocks, not only the unlearned and simple, but the learned and wise, not the people only, but the Bishops, — not the sheep, but also the shepherds themselves, (who should have been guides the right way, and lights to shine in darkness,) being blinded by the bewitching of images, and blind guides of the blind, fell both into the pit of damnable idolatry." I need not pursue this point further. It must be abundantly plain, that the teaching of the Homily is not, as the Tract represents, in accordance with the decree of the Council in this matter, but diametrically opposed to what the latter establishes and commands to be taught. And that so the Homilist, and all who teach his Doctrine, or hold it without teaching it, that is, all faithful ministei-s and members of the Church, are under the anathema of the Decree : Si quis autem his decretis contrnria docuerit, aid senserit, anatliema esto. Another very striking example of the flagrant misrepresentations of the Tract is contained in what is said of the Invocation of Saints. The Romish Doctrine concerning the Invocation of Saints., (as well as other things there enumerated,) is condemned in the twenty-second Article as " a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the word of God." The force of this sentence is attempted to be abated by the following curious train of ai-gument : — To know what it is that is condemned, we must know what is meant by invocation in the Article. Now, it is evident, that " the mere circumstance of addressing beings out of sight," cannot be meant; for the Psalms, which we use in our dailv service, do that. Nor can it mean, " to pray to unseen beings to bless us,' for Bishop ITS FLAGRAXT MISREPRESENTATIONS. 91 SO open a demonstration. For this attempt to shew how unavail- ing were the barriers against Romanism, which the Reformers had Ken does that. (!) Nor can it intend to condemn invocations, "if we mean nothing definite by them, addressing them to beings wliich we know cannot hear, and using them as interjections ;" for tlie Homilies themselves do that."* Well, then, what does it mean ? Why, to understand that, as the Article does not specify the sort of invocation which it condemns, and as it is shewn that it cannot be regarded as " condemning eveiy sort," the best way is to resort to the Homilies. We find them very strong and very full upon the various absurd and offensive superstitions which abounded in the Church of Rome in connexion with saint-worship. Some of the passages in which they so speaic are given; and then the result is stated thus : — " Whereas, then, it has been already sliewn, that not all invocation is wrong, this last passage plainly tells us, %i-hat kind of invocation is not allowable, or ichat is meant by invocation in its exceptionable sense : \\z. a thing proper to God, and two instances are specially given of such calling and invocation — viz. sacrificing and falling down in u-orship. Besides this, the Horailist adds, that it is wrong to pray to them for * necessaries in this world,' and to accompany their services with 'piping, singin", chanting, and playing' on the organ, and of ' invoking saints as patrons of particular elements, countries, arts, or remedies.' " — p. 40, This, then, is the account to be given of the Doctrine of the Homilies, and therefore, of the Article on the Invocation of Saints ! Now, the fact is, that ■what is to be collected from the Homilies, indeed what is plainly expressed by them, is not this : that if we address to the saints such invocations as are proper to God, ice do what is wrong and forbidden ; but this : that if we address invocations to saints, we give to them what is proper to God, and, therefore, that whenever we invoke them, and for whatsoever it be, we do what is wrona: and forbidden. The second part of the Homily on Prayer professes to shew whom we ought to call upon, and to ichom we ought always to direct our prayers. And in the most explicit manner it is declared, that it is God, and God alone, to whom we are to pray. And this not with the limitation in the summary given in the Tract — viz. when we are seeking " necessaries of this life," but absolutely and without any limitation of any kind, '• whensoever we need or lack any thing, pertaining either to the body or the soul, it behovcth us to run only to God, who is the only giver of all good things." And then, after some proofs from Scripture : "■ Thus, then, it is plain, by the infallible word of truth and life, that in all our necessities, we must fiee unto God, direct our prayers unto him, call upon his holy name, desire help at his hands, and none other s ; whereof, if we will yet have a further reason, mark that which followeth :" — and then it proceeds to shew, that there are four conditions which must be found '• in every such one that must be called upon," and that they are to be found only in God. The passage in which we find these reasons, and others, against " invocation or prayer," to inferior beings, is quoted in the Tract, and I need not go through it more particularh- in detail, because the reader will remem- ber, that the question is not whether the reasons given in the Homily for what is laid down there, are conclusive, or even whether the principle itself is true, but what it is, and whether it is truly represented in the Tract. And, upon both points I have given, I should think, quite enough. It is true, that the writer of the Tract intimates, that we are precluded from interpreting the Homily as determining, (or perhaps that the Homily * E. g. " We liave left them neither heaven, nor earth, nor water, nor country, nor city, peace nor war to rule and govern, neither men, nor beasts, nor their diseases to cure ; that a godly man might justlv, for zealous indignation, cry out, O heaven, O earth, and seas, what madness and wickedness against God are men fallen into !" On Peril of Idolatry. 92 PROGRESS, ETC. TRACT 90. THE HOMILIES reared, and in which their posterity had hitherto confided, seemed everywhere to excite painful and indignant surprise. Any one itself is precluded from deciding,) that all invocation of saints is wrong, be- cause, as he says, " it has already been she\\Ti, that not all invocation is ^\Tong." We have seen how it has been shewn. And I supjjose it is not a proof to which any lengthened reply can be necessary. The " invocations to angels to praise and bless God,'' to which the writer refers as frequent in the Psalms, are evidently not intended really to move those beings to express their love, and reverence, and gratitude to God, but are a warm and poetical expression of the Psalmist's own sense of what is due to God from all His loorks in all places of His dominion. And if there could be any doubt of tliis, it would be apparent to evei'y one, from the fact, that he addresses or invocates, in just the same way, indeed, in the same terms, the various great objects of inanimate nature, the earth and the sea, the floods and the hills, to join in his praises to God. And the same may be said of the Benedicite. As to Bishop Ken : — Some one, I think, attempted to defend him from the charge which is implied in the reference to him in the Tract, by pointing out that (though he desires that an office may be ])erformed by his guardian angel, which seems to trench upon the office of the Holy Spirit) yet that his address is to God, and not to the angel. It appears, evidently, that this is the case. But if it were not, and if Bishop Ken did ask directly angels or saints to bless him, it does not, I trust, follow, that we, therefore, may or ought to do so ; or, which is even more, perhaps, the point at issue, that the Homilist thought that we might, or ought. As to the attempt to prove that the Homilies could not, without incon- sistency, forbid all invocation, because they themselves contain apostrophes, as 0 Heavens ! O Earth, and seas ! it looks more like a sorry jest than a serious argument, and I suppose it cannot be necessary to give it a serious answer. It must be very jdain already, that in stating the amount of the testimony in the Homily upon the subject of invocation, the writer has been guilty of very great misrepresentation. But the unfairness with which he is chargeable is greater and more complicated than it has yet appeared, as will be seen by what follows. He admits distinctly, that according to his explanation of what the Article meant to censure, the ora pro nobis was not condemned by it : that is to say, (in the mode Avhich he takes of determining the scope of the Article,) that according to his account of the teaching of the Homilies, it is not con- demned in them. Now, it happens, that we are not left to collect the teaching of the Homilies on that point in the way of inference from the passages which 1 have given, for they expressly consider and decide it. Indeed, in the third part of the Homily on Peril of Idolatry, it is said, that the image-maintainers did foolishly and wickedly make " of the true servants of God, false Gods, by attributing to them the power and honour Avhich is God's, and due to Him only." And, after some proofs, it adds : — " If answer be made, that they make saints hut intercessors to God, and means for such things as they woidd obtain of God : that is, even after the Gentiles' idolatrous usage, to make them of saints, gods, called Dii Medioximi, to be mean intercessors and helpers to God, as though he did not hear, or should be weary if he did all alone." And, in the Homily on Prayer, (second Part,) the folly and perverseness, and disregard of Scripture, which such a proceeding exhibits, are shewn, and the vanity of all the excuses for it is exposed. First is considered the repug- nance to approach God, which one who has sinned against him naturally feels. The Homilist reasons against this, and asks : — " Shall we think that the saints are more merciful in hearing sinners than God ?" Then follows another reason for having recourse to the help of saints : — " Oh, but I dare not (will some man say) trouble God at all times with my prayers ; we see that in king's houses, and courts of princes, men cannot be admitted unless they GARBLED AND MISREPRESENTED. 93 who had reflected upon what these authors had been saying upon almost every point which divides us from the Church of Rome, first use the help and means of some special nobleman, to come unto the speech of tho king, and to obtain tho thing that they would have." To this plea an answer from Ambrose is given. And then other supple- mentary pleas are considered and disposed of. And it is at the end of all tliis discussion and refutation of the reasons in support of asking the saints for their intercession^ that this passage comes in : — " Invocation is a thing proper unto God ; which, if we attribute unto the saints, it soundeth to their reproach, neither can they well bear it at our hands. When Paul had healed a certain lame man, which was impotent in his feet, at Lystra, the people would have done sacrifice unto him and Barnabas ; who, rending their clothes, refused it, and exhorted them to worship the true God. Acts xiv. Likewise, in the Revelation, when St. John fell before the angel's feet to worship him, the angel would not permit him to do it, but commanded him that he should worship God. Apoc. xix. Which examples declare unto us, that the saints and angels in heaven will not have us to do any honour unto them that is due and proper unto God." This passage is given in the Tract, and is the passage referred to (in the quotation which 1 have made from it, (p. 288,)* as explaining what kind of invocation is forbidden. The natural way of dealing with it would be, to take simply as it stands, the position with which it I)egins, viz. " Invocation is a thing proper unto God ;" and to regard the examples which follow, as illustra- tive of the way in which God's servants shrank from receiving any honour which was proper to Him, from which we were to conclude how determined they would shew themselves to reject invocation, if they knew that it was offered to them, and could communicate their feelings to us. But this, as Ave have seen, is not what is done. The opening declaration is taken as if it were : " There is a kind of invocation which is proper unto God," and the examples are then regarded as helping us to determine Avhat kind that is : viz. " sacri- ficing and falling doicn in ivorship.'' Other quotations enable the writer to add to the catalogue some particulars for which the Homilist lays it down that it is wrong to pray, as well as some accompaniments of invocations, which are condemned ; — the whole enumeration of things prohibited, however, leaving out invocations to the sai7its to pro^ for us. Now, the management by which this mode of dealing with the passage becomes possible, seems very worthy of notice. A passage of some length, ichich goes before this quotation, is left out, without any intimation that there is any omission.^ I have just given the sub- stance of this omitted passage ; in which it will appear, that it contains, as I have said, a discussion and refutation of the different reasons which are given by Romanists to shew, that invocation or prayer to the saints for their inter- cession, is lawful. These reasons are considered and overthrown, and it is then that the passage comes in, " Invocation is a thing proper unto God," &c. And looking, as he does, in the Homily, to determine what invocation the Article intends to prohibit, it is evidently only by this omission, of which, as I said, no notice is given, that the author is enabled to bring out, that, while the Article only forbids such invocation as trenches upon worship, it leaves the question, whether ora pro nobis be such, an open question.* For, it is not merely that all invocation, without any exception, is pronounced to be unlaw- ful in the Homily ; but, moreover, the question, whether the ora pro nobis is lawful, is specifically considered, and decided in the negative. And the way, as I have explained, in which the writer of the Tract gets rid of this testimony, * Newman's Letter to Jelf, p. 24. 8 Vide supra, p. 91 Ed. 9 The italics are not his Lordship's.— Eu. 94 PROGRESS, ETC. — TRACT 90. THE HOMILIES MISQUOTED. must have seen that some such process as that which is given in the Tract, must have been gone through, in order to reconcile them is not by reasoning against it, or denying its authority, but by leaving it out, though it occurs in a passage which he quotes, and leaving it out without giving any intimation that he is leaving out any thing .' ' The Tract goes on, as before, to intimate, that in this matter the Articles and the Tridentine decrees harmonize. " Here again, as before, tlie Article [exj)lained by the Homily] gains a witness and concurrence from the Council of I'rent." The best way of judging how far the Council agrees with the Homily, is to compare what we have quoted, with the Decree. What the Bishops, &c., are enjoined to teach on this head is : — " That the saints who are reigning together with Christ, oifer prayers to God for men : that it is good and useful suppliantly to invoke them : and for benefits to be ob- tained from God, by bis Son .Jesus Christ our Lord, who alone is our Redeemer and Saviour, to have recourse to their prayers, help, and assistance : and that tbey are guilty of impiety, who deny that the saints now enjoying eternal bappiness in heaven, are to be invoked ; or who assert, either that tbey do not pray for men, or that invoking them to pray for individuals is idolatry, or that it is opposed to the word of God, or that it derogates from the honour of Christ, the one Mediator between God and man ; or that it is folly to address, mentally, or in words, those who are i-eigning in heaven."* Now 1 need not go over the case minutely, for it will appear, from what I have given from the Homily, that there is not one of the sentiments or opinions here stigmatized as impious, which the Homily does not maintain, with the excejition of one. It does not venture upon so presumptuous an assertion, as to ])rononnce that the saints do not pray for men ; hut it does sa3', that no one knows, or can know, that they do; and as to the rest — every thing which the decree declares that it is impious to assert, it asserts ; and all that it declares to he impious to deny, it denies. And ^o again the Homilist, and all who sym- bolize with him in this matter, fall under the anathema of the decree before referred to, which includes all who oppose, and all w'ho dissent from, what is decreed. It would he very easy to add to these examples ; but these two are enough for my purf)ose. The author of the Tract, in a letter written subsequently, in looking back upon this publication, acknowledges that there was a vagueness and deficiency, in some ])laces, as to the conclusions he would draw from the * In exhibiting the difference between the Decrees and the practice of the Church in this matter, the Author of the Tract says, "Again, the Divines of Trent say, that ' it is good and useful suppliantly to invoke the Saints ;' they do not even command [Author's italics] the practice." This seems a very curious specimen of the effects of the habit of looking at every part of such documents, to see wliat loop-boles tbey pro- vide to escape from their plain meaning and purpose. The Decree does not command the practice, but it commands all Bishops and others on whom the office of teaching in the Church devolves, that according to the usages of the Catholic and Apostolic Church received from primitive times, and the consent of the holy Fathers, and the decrees of sacred Councils, tbey diligently instruct the faithful concerning .... the Invocation of Saints .... teaching them : that the Saints reigning together with Christ, offer their prayers for man to God ; thai it is a good and useful thing supplia7itly to invoke them, and to have recourse to their prayers, succour, and aid, for the benefits which "are to be obtained from God through Christ, our only Saviour and Redeemer ;" and that all who deny this, and maintain the opposite views to these, are guilty of impiety. And finally, the Anathema is pronounced upon those who teach or think in any thing differently from the decree. Now does this leave the practice, in the mind of an honest and dutiful member of the Church of Rome, much less obligatory than if the Council did comtnand it ? ' The italics are not his Lordship's. — Ed. REV. w. u. Richards'* audacious catechism. 95 to remaining where they were. But few had so reflected. And even those who had, were startled, (as often happens), when they saw the process exhibited nakedly, and in detail, which they had premises stated, and " a consequent opening to the charge of a disingenuous understatement of the contrariety between the Articles and the actual Roman system." And, for this, he proposes to account in part thus : " that the main drift of the Tract being that of illustrating the Articles from the Homilies^ the doctrines of the Articles are sometines brought out only so far as the Homilies explain them ; which is, in some cases, an inade([uate representation." — Letter to Dr. Jelf. I should think that those who read the two foregoing cases care- fully, will be of opinion, that tliis is not an available apology. It could only be so, if the explanation of the doctrine of the Articles which the Homilies supply were fairly brought out. But it is not. And I have furnished my readers with evidence (to which the Tract itself will enable them to make large additions,) to shew that this charge of " a disingenuous under- statement' applies, without any mitigation, to the author's professed attempt to exhibit what the teaching of the Homilies is, on the doctrines condemned in the Article.* * It maybe instructive to give a specimen of the efforts which are very perseveringly made to indoctrinate the rising generation in the Church in conformity with the prin- ciples which the Tract was intended to support and protect. The following extract is from A Short and Easy Catechism for the use of Young Persons in the Church of England, compiled from authentic sources, which is described in the preface as intended to be auxiliary to our Church Catechism ; and it is said, that " throughout the com- pilation, indeed, the most scrupulous pains have been taken to introduce nothing to which a member of the Church of England will not, or, at least, may not, fiud a coun- terpart in her system as it is brought before his eyes. It is, of course, needless to say, that the standard, according to which the questions and answers have been framed, is not the prevailing practice of our Church, but her formal requirements ; or rather, the rule of the Catholic Church, as admitted and attested by her." Here is a specimen of the "Catholic principles" which our Church admits and attests. Q. Do those words, " Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image," forbid the making of any images ? A. No ; they forbid the making only of idols ; that is, they forbid making images to be adored or lionoured as God, as it is declared in these words, " Thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them." Q. What are we commanded to do by the second commandment ? A, We are commanded to hope in God, and to love Him with all our hearts, and to serve him all our days. Q. What is forbidden by the second commandment ? A. It forbids us to worship idols, or to give any creature the honour due to God. Q. What is the honour due to God? A. The honour due to God is a supreme and sovereign honour, which can be given to no other: We must icorship Him as our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. [I suppose, though it is an unhappy ambiguity, that by " can be given to no other," is meant, ought not to be given to any other. But what follows seems plainly to lay down, that we cannot pay religious honour to any creature, in disobedience to the second com- mandment, unless we worship liira, her, or it, as our Creator, our Redeemer, and Sanctijier — which is a tolerably extensive licence ; taken hterally, indeed, I suppose it would shelter from the condemnation of this commandment, most forms of idolatry which have ever existed in the world. ] ******** Q. Are pictures and holy symbols allowable in the Church .' A. Yes ; for they movingly represent to us the life and passion of our blessed Lord, and other doctrines of our most holy faith. Q. Is there any idolatry in honouring the saints and angels ? A. No ; provided we honour them only with an inferior honour, not as Gods, or with God's honour." I may add, that since this note was written, I have Been in " Tlie Churchman's 96 PROGRESS, ETC. TRACT 90. THE HOMILIES MISQUOTED. thought over in a general way, it might be, with but feeble sentiments of disgust and alarm. 141. It was impossible, in the first place, for any thinking person Having described (p. 290 — 293)^ the proceeding by whicli the author of the Tract enables himself to rejiresent the Article, as explained by the Homily, as leaving the ora pro nobis an open question, 1 thought it unnecessary to comment upon it. I think, however, that it may be useful, perhaps, to exhibit it distinctly ; and I therefore print the passage from the Homily, putting in brackets the parts which the Tract leaves out, without giving any notice that there is any omission : — " 0 but I dare not (will some man say) trouble God at all times with my prayers: we sec that in king's houses, and courts of princes, men cannot be admitted, unless they first use the help and means of some special nobleman, to come to the speech of the king, and to obtain the thing that they would have. [To this reason doth St. Ambrose answer very well, writing upon the first chapter to the Romans. Therefore, saith he, we used to go unto the king by ofiicers and noble- men, because the king is a mortal man, and knoweth not to whom he may commit the government of the commonwealth. But to have God our friend, from whom nothing is hid, we need not any helper, that should further us with his good word, but only a devout and godly mind. Ambrose super, cap. i. Rom, And if it be so, that we need not one to entreat for us, why may we not content ourselves with that one Mediator, which is at the right hand of God the Father, and there livetli for ever to make intercession for us? Heb. vii. As the blood of Christ did redeem us on the cross, and cleanse ua from our sins : even so it is now able to save all them that come unto God by it. For] " Christ, sitting in heaven, hath an evei-lasting priesthood, and always prayeth to his Father for them that be penitent, obtaining, by virtue of his wounds, which are ever- more in the sight of God, not ouly perfect remission of our sins, but also all other necessaries that we lack in this world ; so that this holy Mediator is sufficient in heaven, and needeth no others to help him. [Matt. vi. ; James v, ; Coloss. iv. ; 1 Tim. ii. Why then do we pray one for another in this life ? some man perchance will here demand. Forsooth we are willed so to do, by the express commandment both of Christ and his disciples, to declare therein as •well the faith that we have in Christ towards God, as also the mutual charity that we bear one towards another, in that we pity our brother's case, and make our humble petition to God for him. Bitt that we should pray nnto saints, neither have ice any commandment in all the Scripture, nor yet example which we may safely follow. So that being done without authority of God's word, it lacketh the ground of faith, and there- fore cannot be acceptable before God. " For whatsoever is not of faith is sin." And the Apostle saith, that " faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Heb. xi. ; Rom. x. xiv. Yet thou wilt object further, that the saints in heaven pray for us, and that their prayer proceedeth of an earnest charity, tliat they have towards their Ijrethren on earth. Whereto it may he well anstoered, first, that no man knoivetk whether they do pray for us or no. And if any will go about to prove it by the nature of charity, concluding, that because they did pray for men on earth, therefore they do Monthly Revieiv'"' for August,' a very full and useful exposure of the treacherous character of this most audacious work. It is clearly proved that it is a Romish Manual, not merely in principle, — which every intelligent reader must have seen without help, — but in words ; that, in fact, " the authentic sources'" from which it has been compiled, are "the Catechisms of Dr. Butler, Dr. Doyle, and Dr. Baines,"from ■which it is shewn to be taken bodily to a most extraordinary extent, often with scarcely any alteration of the language. 2 Vide supra, p. 92. — Ed. 3 This " most atrocious" Catechism, as bis Lordship so justly calls it, was originally published by the Rev. W. U. Richards, Curate to the Rev. F. Oakeley, Minister of St. Margarefs Chapel, Afarylebone. It was speedily suppressed by the Bishop op London ; but has been since reprinted, at Oxford, by the Rev. W. G, Ward, M. A., Fellow of Balliol College, in an altered, but not much less objectionable form. I shall have occasion to refer to Mr. Ward's Edition, in a subsequent chapter Ed. POLITIC CONCEALMENT AND RESERVE. . 97 to see, without much alarm, the advance in their progress towards Rome, which the party had made in a comparatively short period. How far this was to be set down to a rapid development of their principles, and how far to a more open disclosure of them, it was not easy to determine. For not merely were there, as I have said, multiplied evidences of a politic concealment of their opinions and feelings, at an earlier stage of the movement^ but even so far on as the publication of this Tract, we learn that the same reserve was observed so far as it was found possible ;* for we find the writer complaining, even then, of having been forced to speak out pre- maturely/ on one point, by circumstances in his position in Oxford, which were often, he intimates, interfering with the reserve that it might be prudent to adopt.* But whichever it were, development much more the same now in heaven ; then may it he said hy tlie same reason, that as oft as we do weep on earth, they do also weep in heaven, because while they lived in this world, it is most certain and sure they did so. And for that place which is written in the Apocalypse, namely, that the angel did offer up the prayers of the saints upon the golden altar, it is properly meant, and ought properly to be understood, of those sauits that are yet living on earth, and not of them that are dead ; otherwise what need were it that the angels should offer up their prayers, being now in heaven before the face of Almighty God? But admit that the saints do pray for us; yet do we not know how, whether specially for them which call^ upon them, or else generally for all men, wishing well to every man alike. If they pray specially for them which call upon them, then it is like they hear our prayers, and also know our heart's desire. Which thing to be false is already proved, both by the Scriptures, and also by the authority of St. Augustine. Let us not therefore put our trust or confidence in the saints or martyrs that be dead. Let us ?iot call upon them, nor desire help at their hands : but let us always lift up our hearts to God, in the name of his dear Son Jesus Christ, for whose sake as God hath promised to hear our prayer, so he will truly perform i7.] " Invocation is a thing proper unto God ; which, if wo attribute unto the saints, it soundeth to their reproach, neither can they well bear it at our hands. When Paul liad healed a certain lame man, which was impotent in his feet, at Lystra, the people would have done sacrifice unto him and Barnabas ; who, rending their clothes, refused it, and exhorted them to worship the true God. Acts xiv. Likewise in the Revelation, when St. John fell before the angel's feet to worship him, the angel would not permit him to do it, but commanded him that he should worship God. Apoc. xix. Which examples declare unto us, that the saints and angels in heaven will not have us to do any honour unto them, that is due and proper unto God. " I may give the conclusion from the entire : — " Let us not, therefore, in any thing mistrust His goodness ; let us not fear to come before the throne of His mercy ; let us not seek the aid and help of saints ; but let us come boldly ourselves, nothing doubting but God, for Christ's sake, in whom he is well pleased, will hear us without a spokesman, and accomplish our desire in all such things as shall be agreeable to his holy will." * " And perhaps I may be permitted to add, that our difficulties are much increased in a place like this, when there are a number of persons of practised intellects, who, with or without unfriendly motives, are ever drawing out the ultimate conclusions in which our principles result, and forcing us to affirm or deny what we would fain not consider or pronounce upon Accordingly I left, for instance, the jiortion which treated of the Invocation of Saints, without any definite conclusion at all, after bringing together various passages in illustration. However, friends and oppo- nents discovered that my premises re(|uired, — what I was very unwilling to state categorically, for various reasons, — that the ora pro nobis was not, on my shewing, necessarily included in the Invocation of Saints which the Article condemns." JVcwman''s Letter to the Bishop of O.vford, p. 18. * Mr. Newman, in his Retractation, published since the delivery of liis Lordsliip's Charge, has thrown no inconsiderable light upon this point. Vide Appendix B. En. n 98 PROGRESS, ETC. PALMEr's OPINION OF THE NON-JURORS. or disclosure, the risible advance which the movement had made towards Rome, in a very short period, was enough to astonish and alarm those who saw no cause of apprehension in the first steps in the same path, 142. One example of this, which is so important a fact with reference to the movement, I shall give, as it may be given in a very few words. Mr. Froude's Remains, as I have before mentioned, offended all who were outside the party, and many who, up to the publication of them, had been regarded as belonging to it ; and in nothing more than by the undisguised admiration with which he regarded much in the Romish system which Protestants in general had been taught to view in a very different light. He seems very earnestly to have desired a reunion with Rome, but to have felt that in the Council of Trent there was an insurmountable obstacle to the accomplishment of his wishes. We have seen, in consequence, in what terms he spoke of the Council. It appears, indeed, that when at Rome, he consulted an eminent Ecclesiastic, upon the terms on which the English Church (or a portion of it) would be received back again ; and that, upon finding that the Council must be taken tvhole by any who would return to the Church of Rome, he was driven to despair of the event, feeling the condition to be impossible. And he declares, thereupon, his resolution to abandon reunion with Rome, as the object to be agitated for by his party, and to substitute, in its stead, a return to the principles of the Non-jurors, under the name of " The Ancient Church of England."*^ * Vol. i. p. 306—308. 5 This declaration was made by Mr. Froude in the year 1833. Mr. Palmer, in his recent Narrative (1843), bears the following testimony to the character and tendency of the movement, as developed at that early period. " But, though thus reduced to silence and inaction, I was a deeply interested spectator of the progress of events. I could distinctly see (and with regret) that the theology of the Non-jurors was exercising a very powerful influence over the writers of the Tracts. Collections of Non-juring works had been made ; and Hickes, Brett, Johnson, Leslie, Dodwell, &c., were in the highest esteem. To this source it was easy to trace much of that jealousy of State interference ; much of tliat assertion of unlimited independence of the Church ; and, above all, much of that unfavourable judgment of the English and Foreign Reformation, which so largely characterized the Tracts and other connected works. The No\-.jurors, from whom those views were, perhaps unconsciously, borrowed, had been pressed by their opponents with precedents of civil interference in Church matters, at the period of the Reformation-, and their remedy too frequently was to assail and vilify the Reformation itself. Their separation from the Established Chui'ch also led gradually to their discovery of various supposed defects in our Liturgy and institutions. Certain ceremonies which had been prescribed in the first Book of Common Prayer of Edward VI., and which had been subsequently omitted, were represented by several Non-juring writers as essentials; and their views on this subject had been partially adopted by various authors of merit, even in the Church of England, as by Wheatley (in his book on the Common Prayer). " Having devoted great" attention to the study of the Ancient Liturgies, I was perfectly satisfied that the Non-juring writers (such as .Johnson, &c.) were by no means qualified, by the amount of their information, to form a sound judgment on such points. It was, tliercfore, a matter of great concern to observe, that their views were developing tlieniselves in the writings of friends." — Nar7-at'ive, &c., p. 24. This testimony of Mr. Palmer is of great importance, when \ve remember the LETTERS TO THE EDITOR OF THE UNIVERS. 99 And the strength of his feeling- upon this point was further evinced by a saying, wliich is recorded in his Remains, and which was cir- culated very extensively, together with other extracts, of an Anti- Romish character, from the publications of the school, when the object was to clear them from the charge of a leaning to Popery. Upon one saying that the Romanists were schismatics in England, but Catholics abroad, he replied. No, they are wretched Tridentines everywhere* And yet, in the few years which had elapsed, what had appeared to his sanguine and not over-scrupulous mind an insurmountable obstacle, seemed to have been almost, if not alto- gether, cleared away. The detestation with which the Council was regarded had disappeared, and the impediments to reunion with Rome no longer lay in its immutable Canons and Decrees, but in the popular belief and in the teaching of the Schools ; which so many of these writers held to be a bad reason for separating from her at the first, and which they were so little likely long to regard (if they still regarded it) as a sufficient ground for keeping up the separation. But be that as it might, so far as the Tridentine Decrees and the Thirty-nine Articles were concerned, there was no impediment to a reconciliation — it was only to master thoroughly, and employ boldly, the scheme of interpretation provided in the Tract, and the supposed opposition between them would disappear.-j* * Page 434. + The substance of a LetterC from the Rev, G. Spencer to the Editor of the Vnivers, on the Catholic movement in England, has been circulated a good deal in this country. As there seems no reason to doubt its genuineness, the portion of it which bears upon this point seems worth extracting here. " They constantly maintain, that though the Thirty-nine Articles, which are the confession of faith of the Anglican Church, were the work of men like Cranmer, infected with heresy, yet that God did not permit that thei'G should be inserted into them any declarations absolutely conti-ary to the Catholic faith. They prove, by facts drawn from the history of their Church, that, ever since the pretended Reformation, this Church has ever had within her bosom, and in an uninterrupted succession. Doctors, I'riests, and Bishops, who have signed the aforesaid Articles in a sense altogether Catholic ; still further they openly avow, that they themselves have no objection to urge against the decisions of the Council of Trent, thai it is in the sense of the Catholic faith, as agreed upon at that Council, that they profess to understand the formularies of their own Church. Lastly, as a proof that the spirit of the Anglican Church is essentially Catholic, and that its formularies cannot be regarded as implyiag a formal condemnation of Catholic Doctrines, they point to this significant fact, viz., that since they have openly proclaimed these sentiments to the world, nobody has been able to offer them any effectual opposition. At first there was an outcry against them ; but latterly they have been allowed to go on pretty much as they liked." Another letter,'' addressed to the Editor of the Univers, professing to be written by conspicuous position occupied by Hickes, Brett, Johnson, Leslie, Dodwell, &c., in all Tractarian Catena, from the first down to the publication of Dr. Pusev's Sermon on The Eucharist. It is, however, much to be regretted, that " deeply uneasy as" Mr. Palmer confesses himself to have " felt on witnessing such questionable doctrine gradually mingling itself with the salutary truths which" he and his friends " had associated to vindicate, and driven, as" he " often" was, "almost to the verge of despair, in observing what appeareil to be a total indifference to coniseij.uenccs,''' — he should have been induced, by any considerations whatever, to remain in "silence and inaction," and to hold his peace for ten long i/ears ! — Ed. 6' ''• These Letters will be found in AppendLx C Ed. H 2 100 PROGRES?, ETC. NEWMAn's RETRACTATION. 143. Such an advance as this, made any further advance cre- dible ;* and the process by which it was justified, made any further advance easy.-f- And both, not unnaturally, excited very general " a young Member of the University of Oxford," and dated, ** Oxford, Passion Sundaj', 1841," was reprinted in the Catholic Magazine for May in tlie same year, in which it is said that " the Editor of the Univers vouches for its authenticity." I beheve, in fact, that the author is now well known. It furnishes the following extract upon the same point. " Mr. Ne^^^nan, one of our theologians, published a few days since, the 90th Number of the ' Tracts for the Times,' in which ho designs to demonstrate that the Church of Rome has fallen into no formal error in the Council of Trent ; that the Invocations of the Saints, (the ora pro nobis, for example,) purgatory, and the supre- macy of the Holy See of Rome, are in no way contrary to the Catholic traditions, or even to our authorized formularies: in fine, that the dogma of trausubstantiation should be no obstacle to the union of Churches, as in this article there is only a verbal difference between them. At the same time, that he is but little satisfied with our Thirty-nine Articles ; although he maintains throughout that the jjrovidence of God hindered the Reformers from openly inserting in them the Protestant dogmas to which they were but too much attached. You will perceive, sir, all the importance of those opinions ; and the more so, as they are not the opinions of an isolated theologian. I can assure you, that, at the same time that an opposition was raised by the elder Members of the University, (as might be expected, seemg that they lived under the lio-ht of the eighteenth century,) that very opposition gave me an opportunity of observing, that even the most moderate of the Catholic party at Oxford were ready to sustain the author of the Tracts. " * It was referred to at the time by Dr. Wiseman, in a Letter to the author of Tract No. 90. And the remarkable change which his views upon this point had undergone, was gravely, but pointedly pressed upon him, as a motive to forbearance in the use of severe language concerning those portions of the Romish system which he had not yet adopted, but to the truth and holiness of which, as past experience ought to teach him, his eyes might be so opened as to make him bitterly regret his present asperities towards them. The fairness and propriety of this " charitable warning" were suffi- ciently vindicated by the past ; but they have been further curiously justified, since these pages went to press,^ by an explicit retractation from the author of the Tract, of all the strong and hard things which he had published for the last eight years against Rome, whether with or without his name ; the strength and severity of which were so often referred to in that eventful time, as proving that the Anti-protestantism of the writer and his party was not Romanism. This palinode was given to the public in a letter to the Editor of the Conservative Journal, in February last. It was, for some unexplained reason, published without any signature ; but there can be no doubt whose it is, as in the body of it the writer refers to a work published with the name of the author of the OOtli Tract, and treats it as his own. He accounts for his having ventured to use the language Avliich he employed in speaking against the Church of Rome, in the following remarkable passage : — " If you ask me how an individual could venture, not simply to hold, but to publish such views of a communion so ancient, so wide-spreading, so fruitful in saints, I answer, that I said to myself, ' I am not speakino- my own words ; I am but following almost a consensus of the divines of my Church. They have ever used the strongest language against Rome, even the most able and learned of them. I wish to throw myself into their system. While I say what they say, I am safe. Such views, too, are necessary to our position.' Yet I have reason to fear that such language is to be ascribed, in no small measure, to an impetuous temper, a hope of approving myself to persons' respect, and a wish to repel the charge of Romanism." 'I' That the meaning proposed to be assigned to the Articles is not that which those who framed them intended them to bear, is not denied. And, on the other hand, it cannot be pretended that the sense proposed to be put on the Tridentiue Decrees is that which their framers intended to express. Indeed the author, in his explanatory letter to Dr. Jelf, says: — "Those Decrees expressed her [Rome's] authoritative teaching, and they will still continue to express it, while she so teaches. The simple 8 See Newman's Retractation, and Letter from A Memukr of CoNvocATiON, Feb. 21, 1843, in Appendix B — Eu. GRIEVOUS EFFECT OF THE SYSTEM UPON THE YOUNG. 101 alarm and indignation. But with whatever measure of such feelings the publication was received, while it was regarded as a defence of the author, and those who felt with him, for continuing Ministers of the Church of England, they fell far short of those which it raised, when it was known what its further object was. It was distinctly stated by the author of the Tract himself, in an apologetic letter which he was led to publish, in the beginning of the pamphlet-war to which it gave rise, that it was written at the earnest instance of some whom he revered, who urged him to do all that he could to keep members of our Church from straggling in the direction of Borne. He does not expressly say who they Avere that were in danger of thus falling away, but little doubt could be entertained that they were principally the younger Members of the University, and those who had lately left its walls ; whose attach- ment to their own Church had been shaken by the unwearied labours of the writer and his colleagues. 144. That such views were entertained by those who possessed such means of extending them, and who used them all so actively and perseveringly, was indeed alarming. And no honest mind could learn without surprise and indignation, that these men were not merely professed members, but Ministers, of our own Church. But their actual success in propagating their pi-inciples in such a quarter, was still more startling tidings to the many who heard them for the first time. It could not but fill every sound mind with still livelier indignation, and still more anxious apprehensions, to learn, that young men, confided to the University to be trained in the principles of the Church, had been taught so different a lesson ; — that their ardent and susceptible minds had been so acted upon, that instead of being confirmed in the feelings of reverence and attachment to their own Church, with which they had begun their course, they now needed the sophistry of this Tract to keep them within its pale. But it was still worse to know that they were capable of making use of it. 145. I repeat it deliberately, that distressing and alarming as it was to find, that a portion of the flower and hope of the country had had their Protestant principles so shaken by those who should have established them, that they now stood in actual need of this singular Preservative from Popery ; it was still more distressing and alarming to learn, that their honesty had been so tainted in the question Is, whether taken by themselves in the mere letter, they express it ; whether, in fact, other senses, short of the sense conveyed in the present authoritative teaching of the Romish Church, will not fulfil their letter, and may not now even, in point of fact, be held in that Church." — p. 4. So far as the Tract itself was concerned, it might, perhaps, be doubtful, whether the new scheme of interpretation, which it provides, was intended to shew those who hold the substance of the Articles, that they may assent to the letter of the Decrees ; or those who hold the substance of the Decrees, that they may subscribe to the letter of the Articles. From the circumstances, we presume that the latter was the real object. But, indeed, it is evidently equally capable of being employed to enable a man, who believes neither, to assent to both. 102 PROGRESS, ETC. TRACT 90 OFFICIALLY CONDEMNED ; process, that tliey were capable of employing it, — that one who must have been supposed to have known intimately the minds on which he had exercised so baleful an influence, should have been able to calculate on their readiness to avail themselves of such a mode of escape from the fair force of the most solemn and sacred obligations, — hy such sophistry and evasion, such shifts and contri- vances, as a man could not apply to the very lightest of the engage- ments of common life, without forfeiting all reputation for integrity and good faith.^ 146. Soon after, the Board of the Heads of Houses, the execu- tive authority of Oxford, in vindication of the character of the University, and to impede the further propagation of such prin- ciples among its Members, visited the Tract with their solemn censure.* The grave and well-considered document in which it was conveyed, after referring first to the statutes of the University, in which it is enjoined that every student shall be instructed in the Thirty-nine Articles, and shall subscribe to them, disclaims on behalf of the University all sanction of the Series of Tracts with which its name had been associated ; and then proceeds to pro- nounce the following measured, but severe sentence, upon the particular number which had attracted so much attention : — " Resolved, — That modes of interpretation such as are suggested in the said Tract, evading rather than explaining the sense of the Thirty-nine Articles, and * In tlie University, I believe that attention was first drawn to the discreditable character and the dangerous tendencies of the Tract, by a letter from four Tutors to the Editor of the Tracts for the Times, calling upon him to make the name of the Author publicly known.i !* The italics in this passage are not his Lordship's. The view here given of the character and tendency of the principles advocated in Tract 90, is by no means peculiar to the Bishop of Ossorv and his Brethren on the Episcopal Bench. " According to this Tract," says Mr. Jackson, in his Letter to Dr. Puscy " a young man who is a Romanist at heart, may subscribe the formularies of the Church of England, without believing them, and thus enter upon the ministry in her with a lie in his mouth. If such conduct be justifiable when a man is appointed to the most sacred of all offices, — that of a Christian Minister, whose business it is to guide the people in the way of truth and righteousness, it cannot be seriously wrong with respect to offices of a less sacred nature. Suppose, then, that Ministers of State, Senators, Judges, and military and naval Commanders, were to act in this manner, taking their respective oaths of office with mental reservation, and even in a sense directly opposite to the proper meaning of the words ; and that the same course were followed in all commercial transactions, and in all private contracts and engagements ; what must be the consequence, but an abandonment of all confidence, and the dis- ruption of society ? Principles more immoral in their tendency than those which Tract Ninety embodies, were perhaps never put forth through the medium of the British press : yet that publication, with all its flagrant dishonesty, is still allowed to circulate, and the parties, whose organ it is, have the face to appear as public reformers! O for an English Pascal, who by a series of ' Provincial Letters,' or in any other way, should exhibit these principles in all their deformity, and preserve the mind of Protestant England from the bane of such Jesuitical morality !" — Vindication of the Tenets and Character of the Wesle7/an Methodists, against the misrepresentations and censures of Dr. Pusey, S^c. By Thomas Jackson, pp. 100, 101. — Ed. I See Appendix A. — Ed. DEFENDED BY ALL THE LEADING TRACTARIANS. 103 reconciling subscription to them with the adoption of errors which they were designed to counteract, defeat the objects, and are inconsistent with the due observance of the above-mentioned statutes." 147. I shall not attempt to advert in any way to the various pamphlets to which this celebrated publication gave rise, except to say that they included very strenuous defences of its principles from every person of note who had contributed to the series. — Here then, at last, was something which must be received, one would say, as evidence, not less authentic than it was unequivocal, of the Rome-ward tendencies of the principles of the authors of the Tracts for the Times. It was itself a Tract for the Times. It was written by one who was esteemed the real head of the Tractarian party, though the popular voice had assigned that place to another. But, however that might be, that other, and every other member of the party of any name, had come forward, to avow and defend the general principles of the Tract, though not subscribing to every particular position in it.^ 148. The Tract is of very great importance in this point of view, as an authentic declaration of the principles of this formidable party ; and perhaps of no less in another, that is, as an authentic defence of the principles of the authors of the Tracts for the Times, (considered as Ministers of the Church of England,) devised by one of these authors, who is inferior to none of them in inge- nuity, and countersigned by the most eminent of his colleagues ; — which may, therefore, be fairly taken as the best attempt that can be devised to reconcile their principles to the obligations under which they lie by subscription to the Articles of the Church. And accordingly, I believe, that it was conclusive with many, who had - Immediately upon its condemnation by the Hebdomadal Board and the Bishop of Oxford, the Rev. W. Ward, M.A., Fellow of Balliol College, published " A Feiv Words," and, subsequently, " A Few More Words, in support of Tract 90." Dr. Hook, writing to the Bishop of Ripon, declared, " On the publication of the 90th Tract for the Times, I determined to point out, in a pamphlet, what I considered to be its errors. But the moment I heard that the writer was to be silenced, not by argument, but by usurped authority, that moment I determined to take my stand with him ; because, though I did not approve of a particular Tract, yet in general principles, in the very principle advocated in that Tract, I did agree with him : in a word, I was compelled by circumstances to act as a party man. And in justice to one whom I am proud to call my friend, I am bound to say that Mr. Newman's explanatory letter to Dr. Jelf is, to my mind, perfectly satisfactory." — (Letter to the Bishop of Ripon, on the state of parties in the Church of England, pp. 5, 6.) Mr. Keble, writiug to Mr. Justice Coleridge, declared the system of interpretation suggested by the Tract, to be the "true, legitimate. Catholic exposition of the Articles ;''"' "such as cannot well cease to exist ivhile men have eyes to read the Fathers, and to compare them with the Articles, and hearts to feel the duty of Catholicity.'''' (The Case of Catholic Subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles Considered, &c., pp. 7- 34, 35.) Dr. Pusev, writing to Dr. Jelf, maintained that the condemned system of interpretation was " not only an admissible, but the most leg'it'imate'''' one (The Articles treated of in No. 90, reconsidered, and their interpretation vindicated, &c., p. 148.) While Mr. Newman, emboldened by the zealous aid of his party, put forth an "additional proof'' in support of the proposed system of interpretation, in a second edition of the Tract which bis " own Diocesan" had pronounced " objectionable,'' and " likely to disturb the peace and tranqu'illity of the Church ".' — Ed, 104 PROGRESS, ETC. — FORMIDABLE COMMAND OF THE PRESS. held out against all other proofs of the principles and objects of the party. [The British Critic.'] 149. At the recommendation of the Bishop of the Diocese, the series of Tracts for the Times terminated with this number. But the movement, as might have been predicted, has gone on since at an accelerated rate. The party have long possessed a most for- midable, and indeed astonishing command of the press, and speak through a great variety of organs. But the one which furnishes the fullest and clearest evidence of their steady advance, is the British Critic ; — the length of its articles admitting of a more detailed and orderly exhibition of the views of the school than is compatible with the character of the less deliberate publications, magazines, and newspapers, through which their principles are most industriously disseminated. I shall give from its pages a few specimens of the recent and actual tone of the party. 150. The contemptuous and bitter passages in which the Heforraation and the Reformed Church are spoken of, were very generally felt to be a very offensive part of Tract 90.* But sub- * The author, apparently for the opportunity which he gains thereby, of sneering at the Reformation and its fruits, pledges himself at least, f unless he changes his mind,) against using the power of his party for the purpose of car- rying such changes in the existing Church formularies as might accommodate them more to their principles. " Even in such points as he may think the English Church deficient, never can he, without a great alteration of sentiment, he party to forcing the opinion, or project, of one School upon another. Religious changes, to he beneficial, should be the act of the whole body ; they are worth little if they are the mere act of a majority. Ne good can come of any change which is not heartfelt, — a development of feelings springing up freely and calmly within the bosom of the whole body itself. JMoreover, a change in theological teaching involves either the commission or the confession of sin ; it is either the profession or renunciation of erroneous doctrine ; if it does not succeed in proving past guilt, it, ipso facto, implies present. In other words, every change in religion carries with it its own condemnation, which is not attended by deep repentance. Even supposing, then, that our changes in contemplation were good in themselves, they would cease to be good to a Church, in which they were the fruits, not of the quiet conviction of all, but of the agitation, or tyranny, or mtrigue of a few ; nurtured not in mutual love, but in strife and envying ; perfected not in humiliation and grief, but in pride, elation, and triumph. Moreover it is a very serious truth, that persons and bodies who put themselves into a disadvantageous state, cannot at their pleasure extricate themselves from it. They are unworthy of it ; they are in prison, and Christ is the Keeper Till we, her children, are stirred up to this religious course, let the Church, our mother, sit still ; let her children be content to work in chains ; let us submit to our imperfections as a punishment ; let us go on teachuig through the medium of indeterminate statements^ and inconsistent precedents, and principles but partially developed. We are not better than our fathers'; let us bear to be what Hammond was, or Andrews, or Hooker ; let us not faint under that body of death, which they bore about in patience, nor shrink from the penalty of sins, wliich they inherited from the age before them.' + " Let her go on teaching with the stammering lips of ambiguous formularies,"— First Edition, WEAK SEDATIVES AND STRONG STIMULANTS. 105 sequent publications have gone far beyond it, not indeed in bitter- ness of tone, but in distinctness of statement. The Reformation This exhortation to patience bears an unhappy resemblance to— " Good friends, kind friends, let me not stir you up To such a sudden flood of mutiny," And, indeed, one is often reminded of the celebrated speech from which these lines are taken, by the way in which weak sedatives and strong stimulants are intermingled, in the similar descants upon the wrongs and outrages to which Catholics are subject in the Anglican communion, in which the writer and his colleagues are so fond of indulging. No doubt they know very well what they are about. And they have left others no excuse for ignorance of their objects. A sane man, who goes on sedulously feeding and fanning a flame, will hardly get credit for any serious intention of keeping it down, when he sprinkles, from time to time, parenthetically, a drop of water on it. But I will not comment upon any part of the passage, except that in which it is pronounced, that " every change in religion brings with it its own condemna- tion, which is not attended with deep repentance." Repentance for what ? The author's purpose seems to require, for the change itself. But though that may be intimated in an ambiguous sentence, it is too flagrantly unreasonable to be expressly maintained. And if it be meant, repentance for the sins which made the change necessary, one does not see how it could fairly be used for the writer's purpose, supposing it to be true. For who will say that the Reformers (who of course are the persons aimed at) did not repent truly and bitterly of all the errors and superstitions in which they had shared before they were enlight- ened ? Certainly, their joy and thankfulness at the " change in theological teaching," which they were the instruments in introducing, is no proof of any want of true repentance for that which made it necessary. On the contrary, the deeper such repentance was, the livelier might be their thankfulness and joy. But it seems to be very far, indeed, from being true. For, suppose they did not repent as they ought, however that might condemn them, why should it condemn the change itself, which they brought about ? May not that change have been right and needful, a signal blessing to the Church, and in accordance with the will of her great Head, though the principal instruments in eff'ecting it were in any measure defective in right feeling, and even right motives ? This is too obvious to be insisted on. And we may be very sure, that, should the author's jjarty acquire power to unprotestantize the Church to the extent of their desires, and should he himself, in consequence, experience a great alteration of sentiment, he will find no difficulty in giving very sufficient reasons for not waiting until the needful changes can be had, as the result of the quiet conviction of all ; or, as the development of feelings spi'inging up freely and calmly within the bosom of the whole body itself But, of course, such professions arc not to be regarded as having any more serious purpose than enabling the author to introduce an attack on the Reformers. The following extract is a little in advance of Tract 90, and seems to make it clear, that though a revision of the Articles is not absolutely necessary to enable men of " Catholic views" to subscribe to them, yet it is very needful, in order to preserve the Catholic character of the Church. " We thankfully believe that a true Catholic may conscientiously subscribe the Articles of the Church of England. Still there seems too much reason to apprehend that, without some more stringent test of Catholicity than tve are likely to obtain, or ought, perhaps, under e.visling circumstances, to desire, our own branch of the Church must remain, as heretofore, (in the great body of her members,) the apparent repre- sentative of a very different principle. It is hardly to be hoped, that with Articles more or less of an ' imcertain sound,' wliich, without absolutely infringing any point of 106 PROGRESS, ETC. THE REFORMATION A DEPLORABLE SCHISM ! is described not merely as a desperate remedy for the diseases of the Church at the time, but as a fearful judgment upon her;* as a deplorable schism.-f Of Protestantism generall}^, they say that it is in its essence, and in all its bearings, characteristically the religion of corrupt human nature. And as to the English Reforma- tion in particular, they profess their agreement with the editors of Mr. Froude's Remains in the sentiment, " that the lines respec- tively of Catholic Antiquity, and of the English Reformation, (except so far as the genius of the latter has been overruled by influences extrinsic to the opinions and wishes of its promoters,) are not only diverging, but opposed^ They deny to those who laid Catholic doctrine, contain so little of explicit contradiction to some of the less obvious, but not less essential, characteristics of the Protestant error, — the generality of the English Clergy should be secured against more or less sympathy with those relaxed views of religion which are quite certain to be rife in an intellectual age and a commercial country Protestantism, in its essence, and in all its bearings, is so characteristically the religion of corrupt human nature, that with formularies not unambiffnousli/ exclusive of it, and an actual administration of the existing system, tolerant, to say the very least of it, it can hardly fail, but that the general tone of the National Church should remain, for a very long time at least, comparatively unin- fluenced by the efforts of a few individuals to elevate it. This we say, to encourage patience and perseverance ; not as intimating distrust Their progress, [the progress of ' Catholic principles'] under the circumstances, has no doubt been so extraordinary, nay (not to mince the matter) so miraculous, that one hardly dares to venture upon unsanguine predictions ; while yet it seems right, on the other hand, to state difficulties at their worst." — British Critic, No. LIX.,pp. 27, 28. As to the Prayer Book ; — it is acknowledged in the same article, that "her Liturgy, of course is, in its essential features, Catholic." And with it, there- fore, it would appear, that at the time the above passage was written, it was settled that Churchmen of " Catholic views" might be content. But, (without professing to know what may have been said in the same publication, or else- where, in the interval, upon the subject,) there appears a very ominous passage in a recent number, which shews how far the Prayer Book is from being regarded as fitted to satisfy the ritual wants of the Church, when once it is Catholicized in Doctrine. " Consider, even under the ordinary view of that holy Sacrament, the series of recollections connected in the religious mind with our Communion-office ; and we shall the more see that the Prayer Book must ever be the great external bond of sympathy for English churchmen as such : on this, as on a text, must be engrafted Catholic Doctrine: on this, as on a foundation, must be reared, Catholic ceremonial.'''' — No. LXV. p. 222. * British Critic, No. LIX., p. 2. The writer gives this character of the Reformation with the kind of qualification which does not intimate the least doubt of the truth of what one is saying, but merely a passing suspicion of its prudence. " What ii warning to all after ages to keep sentinel against the earliest inroads of corruption and misrule, to reflect that, once upon a time, and no very long time ago, the Church suffered the seeds of fatal disease to take such deep root in her existing constitution, as to entail upon herself the necessity of a remedy so desperate — we had almost said, the penalty of a judgment so fearful, as the Reformation!" And he goes on to profess that he esteems it, "when viewed in its leading principles rather than its incidental effects, and in its common features rather than its local peculiarities, as involving, in its circumstance?, far too much evil, to be a legitimate subject of triumph : as a blessing, in fact, to the Church, mainly in that it was a visitation upon neglect, and so is a call to repentance. t Ibid. PROTESTANT TONE OF DOCTRINE ANTICHRISTIAN ! 107 down their lives in the attempt to reform the Church in England, the title of " Martyrs ;" on the ground that they would be admit- ting, if they gave them the name, that they died for " the Truth," which, they say, no one pretending to the name of Catholic, can allow.* And they propose the following, as a very perplexing practical question : — " How persons cordially believing that the Protestant tone of Doctrine and thought is essentially Antichristian, (a class, we can assure our readers, by no means inconsiderable,) can conscientiously adhere to a communion which has been made such as it is in contradistinction from other portions of the Catholic Church, chiefly through the instrumentality of persons disavowing the judgment of Rome, not merely in this or that particular, but in its general view of Christian truth ?"-|- [Jusii/ication hy Faith only?^ 151. As to tlie Doctrine of Justification by Faith only, they generally choose to assail it under the name of " the Lutheran Doctrine of Justification," or " this modern theology," or some such title, under which they may attack it with somewhat less indecency than if it were expressed in the common form of words, which our Church employs, when she pronounces it to be "a wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort." But their hostility to it is unmitigated and unbounded, and, indeed, seems to find no adequate expression short of the most rabid violence of language. As, for example, " To speak as if this latter scheme of Doctrine * " Well ; what we say is, that to call the earlier Reformers martyi-s, is to beg the question, which of course Protestants do not consider a question ; but which no one pretending to the name of Catholic can for a moment think of conceding to them, — viz., whether that for which those persons suffered, were * the truth.'' " — British Critic, No. LIX.,p. 14. This is, among other things, worthy of remark, as an advance on Mr. Froude. He said of one of these honoured sufferers, (and quite bad enough it was thouglit at the time, but ' not being the worst, stands in some rank of praise,') — " One must not speak lightly of a martjT, so I do not allow my opinions to pass the verge of scepticism. But I really do feel sceptical whether Latimer was not something in the Bulteel line," &c.— Vol. i., p. 252. t British Critic, No. LIX., p. 29. The solution of this difficulty which was pro- posed by the editors of Mr. Fronde's Remains, is, that the Church of England is not in any degree pledged to the opinions of the Reformers ; but is what she is, not as the result of their principles, but of those principles providentially overruled by various influences. And that thus while, "as a mark of decay and deserved anger, our Church seems to have been left an inadequate image of antiquity ; as a token to encourage hope, and penitence, and labour, it was not, however, an untrue image." ( Froude'' s Jiema'ins. Part II., Preface xxiii.) In the Article on Jewell, from which I have already quoted so much, it is said, " Mr. Froude 's editors have thrown out a rope, which, whether trustworthy or not, is at all events the only conceivable means of escape for persons in a very embarrassing position ; and for tliis act of kindness they deserve our thanks, however we may pause, as is very natural, and even prudent, before availing ourselves of the proffered aid." Besides other advantages of this view " if it u'ill but hold " they notice this important one : " Here is a view which promises us the power of upholding Pope Hildebrand and the see of St. Peter, for all the Reformers denied the supremacy of tlie Church ; and of ministering in copes, for all they thought even surplices of the essence of Antichrist." — British Critic, No. LIX., p. 3L 3 See Note 7, p. 43 Ed. 108 PROGRESS, ETC. LUTHERAN DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION, were, in itself, otherwise than radically and fundamentally mon- strous, immoral, heretical, and Anti-Christian, shews hut an inadequate grasp of its antagonist truth ;"* meaning, it is to he presumed, what they speak of as " the gi-eat Doctrine of Justifica- tion by Works.'''' But we are spared the trouble of attempting to collect the proofs of their hostility to it, which are scattered through their writings, by the following passage, which explicitly declares their rooted enmity to it, and their just sense of the importance of its overthrow to the success of their labours :-f — " The very first aggression, then, of those who labour to revive some degree at least of vital Christianity, (in the room of those gross corruptions and supersti- tions, which have, in these latter days, among ourselves, overlaid and defaced the primitive and simple truth,) their very first aggression must be upon that strange congeries of notions and practices of which the Lutheran Doctrine of Justifica- tion is the origin and representative. Whether any heresy has ever infested the Church, so hateful and unchristian as this doctrine, it is perhajjs not necessary to determine : none certainly has ever prevailed so subtle and extensively poisonous. It is not only that it denies some one essential Doctrine of the Gospel, (as e. g. inherent righteousness ;) this all heresies do : it is not only that it corrupts all sound Christian Doctrine — nay, the very principle of orthodoxy itself ; though this also it certainly does : but its inroads extend further than this ; as far as its formal statements are concerned, it poisons at the very root, not Christianity only, but natural religion. That obedience to the will of God, with whatever sacrifice of self, is the one thing needful ; that sin is the one only danger to be avoided ; these great truths are the very foundation of natural religion : and inasmuch as this modern system denies these to be essential and necessary truths, yea, counts it the chief glory of the Gospel, that, under it, they are no longer truths, we must plainly express our conviction, that a religious heathen, were he really to accept the Doctrine which Lutheran language expresses, so far from making any advance, would sustain a heavy loss, in exchanging fundamental truth for fundamental error."J 152. I do not mean to engage you in an examination of the calumnious misrepresentations of this Doctrine, by which the writer tries to provide some vindication for the virulence of his assault upon it. I only wish to lay before yon this unequivocal declaration of the principles and feelings of the party npon this fundamental truth. And, I trust, that their instinctive dread and hatred of it, will illustrate, in some additional measure, its s^iecial importance in this contest, and quicken those who hold it, to a more jealous and vigorous defence of it at this time. [Beimion with Bome.^] 1 53. I shall make no attempt to trace regularly, the approximations to E-ome which have accompanied this deepening hostility to Protestantism. They have gone on, naturally, ^;rtr/ passu. And * British Critic, No. LXII., p. 446. + This ]iassage was published since the Charge was delivered. t British Critic, No. LXIV., p. 390. Vide Note 7, p. 43. — Ed. MONSTROUS, IMMORAL, HERETICAL, AND ANTICIIRISTIAN ! 109 it would seem now, that no changes, however great, in our Doctrine, or worship, or discipHne, would come up to their notions of what is necessary to the perfection of the Church, if not to its very being, unless they led to reunion with Rome ; and that upon the most unqualified terms of submission, which the highest maiu- tainers of papal supremacy have claimed for the Chair of St. Peter.* And, accordingly, every obstacle to this consummation has been gradually taken away. It had been ostentatiously stated, from time to time, in the Tracts, and in other publications of the writers, that u-e can have no union with Rome as she is : that she must change before ice can become one again : that she must move toicards us, before loe can move totcards her. And such declarations were confidently referred to by the advocates of the party, as a full answer to all apprehensions as to the practical results of their apparent leaning towards Rome. But after allowing her a reason- able time, it was found that she continued what and where she was, and that she gave no sign of any disposition to move towards us, or to make any such changes as might facilitate our moving towards her. And then it became necessary to discover that the hindrances which it was hopeless to expect that she would take away, were, in reality, no hindrances at all. And this work was set about in earnest,-|- and has already advanced so far, that it * Thus they not ouly say : — " Of course union of the Church under one visible government is abstractedly the most perfect state. We were so united, but now we are not ;" — {British Critic, No. LIX., p. 2,) but they intimate that there is some doubt whether tlie Romanists are not riglit in regarding the want of this union as absolutely fatal to our claims to be a Church. " We trust, of course, that active and visible union with the See of Rome is not of the essence of a Church ; at the same time, we are deeply conscious that, iJi lacking it, far from asserting a riglit, we forego a great privilege." — Ibid, p. 3. They condemn such expressions as "the blessings of emancipation from the I'apal yoke," as of a bold and nndntiful tenor. They treat with tlie utmost scorn, the notion that they ought to suffer a desire to maintain union or heal divisions in our own Church, to interrupt the pui'suit of this higher object. " And on what single principle of Scripture or Tradition can the position be main- tained, to meet the objectors on their own ground, that unity of a national Church is a legitimate object of ultimate endeavour ? Both Scripture and Antiquity are clamorous and earnest indeed in favour of unity of the Church ; but is the English establishment the Church?" — British Critic, No. LXIV., p. 411, note. This is in reply to wliat is sometimes urged '' in quarters justly claiming our deep honour and respect;" viz., " that those who feel the real unity in essentials existing among ' High Churchmen' in England, do ill in troubling such unity by making various statements about other Churches, which cannot but give offence." "But we answer, that it is not only among English High Churchmen, but foreign Catholics also, that we recognise such es.sential unity." And, in fine, they acknowledge, that no form even of Romanism, short of Ultra-montanism, comes up to theii- views of true Cluu'ch principles: — " We can have no sympathy with the (lallican party, so far as it is at issue with the Ultra-montane. National theories, even the Gallican (which is more or less the theory of every state in the Roman communion,) appear to us to involve a subtle Erastianism, besides be- tokening an inadequate estimate of the fulness and freedom of Gospel privileges." —No. LX., p. 4G5. + What promised to bo the most formidable obstacle, — I do not mean from its own nature, which would be a very precarious way of judging, but from the language main- tained by all the eminent Tractarians upon it, — was, the extent to which the honour due to the Creator is given to the creature, in the worship of saints in the Church of Rome, and especially of the blessed Virgin. If the Church were really guilty of idol- 110 PROGRESS, ETC. NEWMAn's RESIGNATION AND SERMONS. cannot but be apparent that, (when their desires for reunion are so fervent,) these men must be kept back from joining her, by some atry, it would seem impossible that we should reunite with it. This would seem, then, an "important point to be inquired into. But Mr. Newman lays down, quietly and incidentally, a broad general principle, which would preclude us from examining any of the offices of the Church, to see whether they are chargeable with this guilt or not, and which decides this important question, independently of any such evidence, and in spite of it : "I consider its existing creed and popular worship to be as near idolatry as any portion of that Church can be from which it is said that ' the idols' shall be 'utterly abolished.' " — Letter to Dr. Jelf, p. 7- Whatever then be the proofs which the public offices of the Church of Rome may give of idolatry, they are not to be believed ; for being a portion of that Church from which it is said that ' the idols' shall be ' utterly abolished,' however near she may appear to come to this crime, she cannot be really guilty of it ! [The object in this place is to distinguish between the Decree of Trent on the subject of images, «&c., and " the existing creed and popular worship," on the ground that the " very words themselves" of the Decree, do not affirm or recommend what is believed and practised in the Church of Rome. But whether the distinction be satisfactory or not, it is quite superfluous. For suppose the very words oi the Decree, of themselves. Aid affirm distinctly, and enjoin, idolatry in belief and practice, it is evident that the prophecy referred to by Mr. Newman ( Isaiah ii. 18) would be just as available to prove the Church's innocence of the crime, as it is in the case for which he uses it. But, indeed, supposing every thing which is taken for granted in his application of the prophecy, (which is a good deal,) his inference from it is plainly just as legitimate as it would be to collect from the fourth verse of the same chapter, that there never has been, and never can be, any such thing as war in Christendom ; though Christian states may go as near to actual warfare as any kingdoms can, of which it is said, " Neither shall they learn war anymore."] This principle, rightly used, would be enough for its purpose •, but important contributions to the object have been since made. Thus, with reference to the medieval honour to saints, it is denied that we have any right to pronounce upon the question, whether it gave to the creature what is due to the Creator. We may believe, if we will, that ice could not use such language as St. Bernard and St. Bonaventura are known to have used, without encroaching on God's honour ; but to say that it did so in them, is inco7i- ceivable boldness. " Is it not a conceivable hypothesis (to say the very least) that holy and mortified men, whose conversation was in Heaven, may have entertained feelings of devotion and love — e.g., towards the blessed Virgin, which no human language can at all adequately express ; and yet that their feeling towards our Lord should be altogether different in kind, and indefinitely stronger in degree ? Yet what words could they find stronger than those already applied to the blessed Virgin? What tvords can be stronger than the strongest?" — British Critic, No. LXIV., p. 410, note. Here is another pregnant principle. And, finally, the whole subject is declared to be one upon which it is entirely beyond the competence of ordinary Christians to form ant/ opinion. " No one who has not fully mastered this great Doctrine [of the ex- altation of the human nature by virtue of its union with the divine, in the person of our Lord,] is entitled to any opinion on a subject, which many, however, treat in an off- hand manner which is perfectly startling; — the question, namely, what is tlie full and legitimate development of Catholic Doctrine on the exaltation and intercessory power of the blessed Virgin." — Ibid, p. 406, note. 5 Since the publication of his Lordship's Charge, a very decisive step has been taken towards " the full and legitimate development of " this " Catholic Doctrine ;" by one whose "competence to form" an "opinion" on the subject, will not be questioned by the British Critic. The Rev. John Henry Newman, B.D., Felloiv of Oriel College, having—it may well be supposed, as a necessary preliminary — resigned his preferment in the Church of England— has sent forth to the world a volume of " Sermons bearing on subjects of the day,'"' in one of which, after the most strained and fanciful perversion of several passages of Holy Scripture, he makes the following assertion : — " In the gifts puoiwisEn to the Apostles after the resurrection, we may LEARN THE PRESENT INFLUENCE AND POWER OF THE MOTHER OF GoD Semion III., p. 43. Comment, upon such a passage as this, must be altogether superfluous : it may not. christie''s dedication to the virgin. Ill better and stronger reasons, than any which can be furnished by the shadow of the diiFerences between the Churches which they however, be amiss to add a specimen of the effects necessarily resulting from this "development of Catholic Doctrine." The following is from the pen of a disciple, for whose " extravagance" some little allowance ought surely to be made by those who know the sentiments of his teacher. It is a Dedication prefixed to a treatise " On Holy Virginity : xvilh a brief account of the Life of St. Ambrose, (from u'hojn the Tract is derived,) by Albany J. Christie, M.A., Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford.''^ " IN HONOREM BEATISSIM.E ET GLORIOSISSIM^ SEMPERQUE VIHGINIS MARI^, COLLEGII ORIELENSIS APUD OXONIENSIS PATRONxE ISTUM LIBELLUM IN LUCEM PROFERO A. J. C." I subjoin a few extracts from Mr. Christie's Life of St. Ambrose, as an earnest of what we may expect to find in Mr. Newman's forthcoming publication, " The Lives of the Saints,^'' " He offered the Holy Sacrifice every day." — p. 12 " St. Ambrose pronounced his" (the younger Valentinian's) "funeral oration ; in which he promised to offer the Sacrifice for the ttvo brothers as long as he lived." — p. 20. " While there," (at Rome) "he cured a looman of the palsy.'''' — p. 14. " The reliques of St. Gcrvasius and St. Pro- tasius were revealed in a dream to St. Ambrose on June 18tli ; and as they were on the way to be deposited beneath the altar of the Church (now called) of St. Ambrose the Greater, Severus, a blind man, well known in Milan, was brought to them, touched them, and received his sight."' — p. 17- "At Bologna, a.d. 393, St. Ambrose was present at the translation of the reliques of St. Vitalis and St. Agricola : then at Florence he dedicated a Church ir'ith the reUques of the former. This Church was built by a devout widow, .Juliana, with reference to whose virgin daughter he preached, at the dedication, his ' Exhortation to Virginity,' Here Ae raised a child to life, and wrote a book for his instruction. (This work is not extant.)" — p. 20. " Our holy Saint, mighty in words and deeds, fell asleep in Christ, on April 4th, 397, on which day he is commemorated by the Anglican Church A few days before his departure, Paulinus, who was writing from his dictation a comment on the 44th Psalm, saw « ^/o6e of fire encircle his head, and enter gently at his mouth. From that time he ceased to dictate" — p. 21. The following quotations from Mr. Christie's Preface are worthy of attention, as a further " development" of Tractarian principles. " .... In his public instructions there was no topic upon which St. Ambrose dwelt more frequently than the loveliness of virgin purity. Neither did he desist, when it became plain that many were offended at these instructions ; there were mothers who forbade their daughters to hear his exhortations, and fathers who opposed him, but he persevered, and the seed which he sowed at Milan, bore fruit at Bologna, and the surrounding cities, and has continued to bear fruit in after ages, and in distant lands, in an abundant harvest of virgin souls. " It may not be wrong now to attempt to extend his influence ; it is a solemn thought, that the pains of departed heretics and writers of impurity may be constantly increased, as the venom of their sentiments corrupts one victim after another ; may it not like- wise be true, that the bliss of saints receives continual accession, by the communica- tion of the blessed effects of their exhortations to truth and purity ? " If so, were it not a prize worth trying for, to increase the bliss of Ambrose ? Yes! and ice may, in return, win his prayers for vs, and jicrhaps, through them, be made ourselves ivorthy of this high grace, which seems, as yet, so far beyond our reach.'''' —pp. 2G, 27. " That the grace of Holy Virginity is a very great gift, no Christian who receives the testimony of Holy Scripture can doubt In the present stale of the Anglican Church, it may be harder to acquire than elsewhere ; still the means are the same as they were, and they are such as these : abstinence from the company of the 112 PROGRESS, ETC. CELIBACY OF THE CLERGY. have allowed to remain in their Creed. Tract No. 90. shewed, indeed, how they might, if they pleased, remain in the Church, how much soever of the helief of Rome they had erahraced ; but it does not explain why they should choose to do so. And why men who seem to have extirpated from their religious system every trace of any thing which could raise a serious objection to union with Rome ; and who entertain so high a sense of the blessings to other sex ; that covenant with the eyes spoken of by the patriarch Job ; obedience to the Church's rules of fasting, togetlier with a general low diet -, an earnest coveting of that most excellent gift of chastity, making it a subject of special prayer ; and — would that it could be added, with the hope of being practised — frequent Confession. " For want of this, there is great reason to fear, that the solitude in which the young among the Clergy find themselves, leads to thoughts, if not to acts, too apt to wean them from all the good resolutions they have made, of renouncing marriage. " One more consideration may be added ; namely, the habitual contemplation of the chastity of our Blessed Lord Himself, and of His Holy Mother. "If we find few external helps in the present external provisions of our Church, — if our churches are closed against us, and the blessed Eucharist, where we are made one with the Virgin Body of our Lord, is rarely celebrated, we must endeavour to fulfil the Church's requirements in private •, and in so doing, we shall gain time for prayer, and be able, the more we renounce the world, to prevail ivith God to make up to us the disadvantages under tvhich we lie. " Since, then. Holy Virginity is, as all must admit, a great grace whenever it is possessed, so it is equally clear that, to certain persons, it is in some sense a duty. It would plainly be a duty in those who are described by our Blessed Lord as " eunuchs which were so born from their mother's womb ;" and in another sense, it is ecclesiasti- cally and in the abstract, the duty of the Clergy, not, indeed, by Divine obligation, but hy the unvarying practice and repeated Decrees of Councils from the earliest times, down to the division of the Western Church. " It is, indeed, difficult to say how far, in the Anglican communion, modern habits may render the infraction of the canons excusable, or even, in particular cases, proper. The enforcement of a rule, specially suited to a pure and self-denying Church, may be inexpedient at a time when comfort is the idol which we worship. " It is plain, too, that women are entitled to a share in the offices of the Church, in visiting the poor, ministering to the side, and instructing the young ; offices from which they might be in great measure debarred, now that celibacy in the Clergy is not recognised as the rule, until, which is most to be desired, sisterhoods shall again be formed by pious virgins, and endowed by the wealthy of the land. " However, a Church rvhere there is so much to justify the infraction of such Mn/;or. 3{!1. — En. and London (par. 17,) have expressed -Ed. CHEEBING INDICATIONS OF THE DIVINE FAVOUR. 121 to struggle in this cause — a struggle, with those who avow that it is their purpose, at all hazards, and at all costs, to unprotestantize the National Church ; — and who, far as they have already receded, acknowledge and proclaim that they are bound, and that they are resolved, to recede more and more from the principles of the English Beformation. 160. These are bold words. And if we looked only at the ability of the " ecclesiastical agitators,"" (as they candidly style themselves,) who employ them, — at their energy, combination, and perseverance, at the means which they have at command, and at the effects which they have already produced, — we might well listen to their words with fear. And, moreover, when we look back upon the use which we have been making of the blessings and privileges which we enjoy in our Reformed Church, we have added reason to dread, that it may be the will of God to withdraw, for a time, from the land, the light, which has shone for so long, and wliich has been so neglected and so abused. But we are not without cheering indications, on the other hand, that He whose mercy endureth for ever, does not intend for us this heavy chastise- ment, which ice most righteously have deserved. And among these indications of His gracious purposes for us, one to which here and now I naturally turn, is this : that He has not brought us into these unexampled perils, without making a visible preparation to enable us to meet them. I believe, that Avhile at no former period did the Clergy manifest more piety and zeal, there never was a period in which they were so soundly informed ; and that, in particular, the true principles of our Church were never so well known by her Ministers, and never more deeply valued by them. I believe that this is the case in England : I am sure it is so amongst ourselves. And I do ho})e, that these men will find that they have under-rated the attacbment of the Clergy, and of the people of England too, to the principles against which they have declared open war; — that the astonishing success which has in- toxicated them, and beguiled them into this salutar}^ manifesto, has been the result of ignorance, — most incomprehensible and inexcusable, but still real, ignorance — of their designs; and that now that they have unequivocally declared themselves, their success will come to an end. 161. Here, at least, I am confident that a resolute resistance is prepared for them. This attempt to unprotestantize our Church, will, I feel assured, unite us all in defence of the principles of the English Reformation. I feel assured, that all who hear me now will be found upon this side in the coming struggle; and that, however determined these men may be, still further to recede from them, — they will find you not less determined to cleave to, and to uphold, the principles of the English Reformation. I might seem to have ample grounds for this confidence, in the bare fact, that you are bound by the strongest and most solemn obligations to 122 PROGRESS, ETC. THE CHURCh''s TRIALS OVERRULED FOR GOOD. maintain and defend those principles. But, alas ! so are these men, who have declared, as you have heard, irreconcilable hos- tility to them. Their example shews, that such bonds — strong as they seem to be — may be broken as a thread. But, I trust, that you have taken up no views of your allegiance to the Church Universal, which can set you free from the engagements by which you are bound to your own Church. And I trust, moreover, that you are held, not by such bonds only, but by firm attachment to the principles of the English Reformation ; — that of the direct obligations which you have entered into with respect to them, there are none which you did not cordially contract, none that you repent of, and none that you are not resolved to maintain. I have a happy confidence that this is true ; and not of you only, but of a vast majority of your Brethren in the Ministry throughout this land. And in this, in concurrence with many other marks of the favour of the Most High, I see a good foundation for the hope, that however severe and varied be the trials, from within and from without, which He has appointed to our Church, they are but the course of discipline by which He is training her for a higher destiny, — to be a more honoured instrument in His service : that in all that is alarming at this crisis, He is speaking to her in accents of admonition, not of wrath ; and that if she hear His voice, and humble herself^ and repent^ and do her first works, she shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the masters iise, and prepared for every good work. 162. But these hopes are not to blind us to the real and great dangers to which all that is most valuable in our Church, — her sound scriptural faith, and her pure and simple worship — are exposed. It is my sense of the great and imminent perils with which these blessings are now threatened, that has led me to address you, ou this occasion, at such unusual length. And long as my address has been, I feel, not merely how imperfectly I have spoken upon the important subjects which I have brought under your notice, but that there are many on which I should have desired, and may fairly have been expected, to speak, which I have wholly omitted. It is too late for any attempt to repair such deficiencies. I can only ask — and I do so in all sincerity and earnestness — for your prayers, my Brethren, that these, and all other the manifold defects and imperfections, which belong to all my efforts to discharge the duties which rest upon me, may be graciously pardoned, and effectually supplied, and made to pro- mote the glory of God and the good of His Church ; and that I may daily receive grace, more and more entirely to devote myself to His service. I trust I may be enabled, in my measure, to offer the like prayers, from time to time, on your behalf: and now / commend you to God, and to the icord of His grace. ra.pid development. the manichees. mormonism. 123 Bagot, Bishop of Oxford. — 1842. 4. The last four years have witnessed the rapid development of those principles, which the world (though untruly, for they are of no locality,) has identified with Oxford, and to which I felt it my duty to advert at my last Visitation. 5. Those principles have, during this short interval, spread and taken root, — not merely in our own neighbourhood, and in other parts of England, hut have passed from shore to shore, — east and west, — north and south,^ — wherever members of our Church are to be found ; nay, are unquestionabl}'^ the object to which, whether at home or abroad, the eyes of all are turned who have any interest or care for the concerns of religion. I am not now saying anything about the tendency of those principles : I am simply asserting the fact of their existence and development.* There they are, whether 3 Dr. PusEY, in his Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, (pp. 142, 143,) has given a still more glowing description of the progress of the movement. — "From the very first, these views spread with a rapidity which startled us. We then dreaded lest what spread so rapidly, should not root deeply. Even at the first, the light seemed to spread like watch-fires, from mountain-top to top, each who received it conveying it on to another, so that tliey who struck the first faint spark, knew not how or to whom it was borne onward. The sacred torch passed from hand to hand ; their own neither carried nor could withhold it. And now, the light has been reflected from hill-top to valley, — has penetrated into recesses ; abroad, at home — within, without, — in palace, or cottage ; has passed from continent to continent ; we see it spread daily, until the whole heaven be kindled ; every where opposed, yet finding entrance. The indirect influences, as is always the case in all great movements, have been far greater than the direct. It reappears, here or there, one knows not how. One may say reverently, firmly believing Whose work it is, " It bloiceth ichere It listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canat not tell ichere It cometh, or whither It goeth .'' " Very diff"erent from this is the light in which the progress of the movement is regarded by the Bishop of Calcutta, in the Sermon to which I have already referred. " 1 am full of fear ; everything is at stake. There seems to be something judicial in the rapid spread of these opinions. If they should come over here, and pervade the teaching of our Chaplains, the views and proceedings of our missionaries, our friendly relations with other bodies of Christians, and our position among the Hindoos and Mahometans, I-chabod, the glory is departed, may be inscribed on our Church in India !" — The Sufficiency of Holy Scripture, &c. , p. 63. The Bishop of Madras, in his recent Charge, has confirmed the apprehensions of the Bishop of Calcutta, with regard to the practical eff"ects of one of the leading principles of the system; "The Doctrine of Reserve in the communication of evan- gelical truth, as set forth in the 80th Tract, has caused more confusion to the Missionary Church, than perhaps any other of the series." — Charge, 1843, p. 82 Ed. * It has been well observed by the Bishop OF Hereford, {vide supra, p. 41,) that " error is oftentimes more rapid in its march than truth." The history of the Manichees presents a striking instance of the truth of this remark. " Hsec inter sagaciorum ex Christianis doctoribus studia philosophando cum sectarum Gnosticarum progressus sistendi, turn Judaicis sordibus religionem purgandi nova pestis sseculo medio elapso ex Persia rem Christianara invadebat, superioribus omnibus capitalior : cut tametsimaj'imi et sapientissimi viri sese tarn voce, quain scripto objicerent nulla tamen consilio impedire jioterant, quo minus opinione citius universam fere civitatem Christianam pervuderet, magnamque mediocris ingenii et judicii hominum multi- tudinem caperet." — Vide Moshemii de reb. Christianorum ante Constant. Mag. commentarios. Ssec. ter. § 39. In our own days, the rise and progress of the Mormon heresy affords a no less melancholy example of the rapid and extensive propagation of false systems of religion. " On the Gth of April, 1830, the first Mormon Society, (almost bias- 124 PROGBESS, ETC. EFFECT OF THE CHILLING RECEPTION for good or evil ; and they are forming', at this moment, the most remarkable movement, which, for three centuries, at least, has taken place amongst us. 6. And now, in the next place, I would advert to the manner of their growth. Certainly they have been fostered with no friendly hand. No adscititious aid of powerful patronage has helped them forward, — no gale of popular applause has urged them on. On the contrary, they seem to have been the single exception, which an age of latitudinarian liberality could discover, against the rule of tolerating any form of belief. 7. And while many, whose motives are above all suspicion, and whose honoured names need no praise of mine, have unhesitatingly and utterly condemned them, — while many more have looked on with caution and mistrust, — while many in authority (myself among the number) have felt it their duty to warn those com- mitted to their trust of the possible tendencies of the Doctrines in question, — they have likewise been exposed to a storm of abuse as violent as it has been unceasing, — to calumnies and misrepresenta- tions of the most wanton and cruel description, and to attacks from the Dissenting, Democratic, and Infidel portions of the public press, clothed in language which I will not trust myself to characterize, but which, for the sake of our common humanity, (I say nothing of Christian charity,) it behoves us, as with one voice, to reprobate and condemn.^ I am not now saying, whether these principles deserved the chilling reception they have met with ; I am only stating an admitted fact, that such lias been their reception. 8. Again, let us look at the character of the Doctrines brought before the public. What has been their attraction ? What have they to recommend them to general adoption ? The system in question, instead of being an easy, comfortable form of religion, adapting itself to modern habits and luxurious tastes, is uncom- promisingly stern and severe,^ — laying" the greatest stress upon self-discipline and self-denial, — encouraging fasting, and alms- phemously called a 'Church,' was organized at Manchester, in the State of New York. It consisted of only sir members." In 1843, Mr. Caswell states, that "not far from a hundred thousand persons, possessed of the average share of capacity, have embraced MoRMONisM with more than the average share of faith"" ! — Vide Caswall's Prophet of the I9th Century, p. 52, and Preface, p. 7 Ed. 5 The effect of this treatment upon certain members of the party, is thus alluded to by the Editor op the English Churchm.an, a leading Tractarian periodical. "It may appear unnecessary to many of our readers to lay such a stress upon such a trifle ; but words exercise a strange influence over men, and we have reason for thinking that the obvious wish which has been shewn of late on the part of such men as Mr. Per- ceval, Mr. Gresley, Mr. Palmer, &c., not to say even Mr. Gladstone, to separate themselves in the public eye from their brethren, upon whom the storm of popular nicknames and insults has been poured, may have been increased by a desire to escape from its Billingsgate peltings.'''' — Vol. ii. p. 56 Ed. 6 " Si prEecepta morum consideres, tristis est, magnaque specie snnctitatis, continentia, rerumque humanarum despicientice oculos spectantiuni iuiplct. Cujus quidcm generis disciplinte, inept£e licet sint, insito tamen humaniu natunx; ^•itio sectatoribus et amicis abundare solent." — Ortus Manichceorum. Vide supra, note 4, p. 153. — Ed. EXPERIENCED BY TRACTARIAN PRINCIPLES. 125 deeds, and prayer, to an extent of which the present generation, at least, knows nothing-, — and inculcating a deference to authority which is wholly opposed to the spirit of the age, and uniformly upholding that minute attention to external religion, which our formularies, indeed, prescrihe, hut which the world has mostly cast aside as superfluous, or as shackling and interfering with the free- dom which it loves. 9. Now, such heing the character of the religious movement which has forced itself upon our notice, it must he ohvious to every one, who thinks at all on the suhject, that it has peculiarities ahout it, which render it quite unlike an}' thing which has hitherto been observed among us :7 and, if this be the case, it is no less obvious, that a S3'stem, which has grown up under such disadvantages, and which professes, at least, to be that of the ancient Catholic Church, deserves at any rate to be treated with as much of prudence and circumspection, as Gamaliel prescribed in a not very dis- similar instance, (Acts v. 35 — 39.) But this is a sort of forbear- ance, of which I have seen no signs whatsoever. See also paragraph 15. Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 1842.^ 1. One subject of paramount importance, to which, with great reluctance, I adverted, upon the last occasion of our meeting,* has since attracted so much of the ])ublic attention, and assumed so imposing an aspect, that you will probably expect that I should recur to it on the present. 2. Though the series of " Tracts for the Times" had at that period nearly reached the number at which they were unexpectedly closed, the controversy wliicli now so unhappily agitates and divides the Church, upon the various points discussed in those and in kindred publications, had by no means reached the height, or been diffused to the extent, which we witness at the present moment. 3. The cloud, though three years since distinctly perceptible, and beginning to darken the horizon, had not then overspread * Charae in 1839. ' See the descriptions of the Laudian movement, given by Dr. Thomas Goodwin, in his E.vposiiion of the Revelation, chap. 7 ; and by Mr. Ilallam, in his Constitutional History, vol. 2. I'he passages will be found in Appendix D En. s The following passage from Dean Pkauson's Charge in 1839, should have been inserted at the connneneement of this chapter p. 40. 9. The origin and source of what I consider to be the erroneous views alluded to, is «» undue and excessive reverence for Catholic Antiquity.^ 9 The italics are not the Dean's. — Ed. 126 PROGRESS, ETC. THE SYSTEM DESTITUTE OF ANY the face of the sky, and pervaded every quarter. The assertions however, whether of friends or enemies, of partisans or apo- logists, now concur in representing " The movement,'''' as it has been styled, which originated a few years since at Oxford, as having been communicated and responded to, not only throughout the length and breadth of the United Kingdom, but upon the Continent of Europe, in America, and in the Colonies and distant dependencies of the empire. 4. It has awakened the fears of many, — among whom may be ranked some of the ablest and the most learned of our Prelates ; and excited the hopes of some, who bear no good will towards our Zion, that it may tend to its degradation and downfall ; and of others, who think that they perceive in it manifest indications of a return to their own communion. ^ It resembles, at least to my apprehension, not so much the effect of the thunder or the storm, or, even of the " still small voice," which penetrates and persuades, as that produced by a succession of dark and chilling clouds ; which, while they obscure the light, and intercept the warmth of day, and confound the real nature and just proportions of the surrounding objects, involve in apprehension and gloom the " way- faring man," and conceal or perplex his path towards his desired home. 5. This, my Brethren, is doubtless, though metaphorical, the lan- guage of dissatisfaction and alarm. That it is not that of prejudice or uncharitableness, but of grave and deeply- weighed, though pain- ful deliberation, I trust I shall be able to convince you in the sequel of this discussion. 6. To this I would, in some measure, clear the way, by request- ing you to bear in mind what I cannot but consider a very singular and significant circumstance in the history of the Oxford move- ment— that it appears to have originated, not in any announcement or suggestion on the part of any person in authority, but in the private combination of a few zealous Presbyters, for the revival of what have been termed Church principles, practices, and discipline. 1 " It seems to me impossible to read the works of the Oxford Divines, and espe- cially to follow them chronologically, without discovering a daily approach towards our Holy Church, both in Doctrine and affectionate feeling." — Dr. Wiseman, Bishop of JMelipotamus, Letter to the Earl of Slnewsbury. " I thank you, Reverend Sir, from my heart, for the welcome information which your letter contains, that men, whom you so highly value, should be opening their eyes to the beauties and perfections of our Church, and require such efforts, as your interpretation of tlie Articles, to keej) them from ' straggling in the direction of Rome.'" — Dr. Wiseman, Bishop of Melipotamus, Letter to the Rev. J, N. Newman. " I should not be surprised that even the present generation should witness the august temple of "Westminster Abbey again lit up with the splendours of that pure and ancient worship, to which it was raised and consecrated." — Dr. ^I'Hale, titular Archbishop of Tuam, Evhle7ices and Doctrines of the Catholic Church. The very same hopes were excited by the Laudian movement. " The Roman Catholics," says Mr. Hallam, " did not fail to anticipate the most favourable conse- quences from this turn in the Church." See Appendix D. — En. FORMAL AND AVOWED EPISCOPAL SANCTION. 127 Changes or reforms in the Christian Church have, for the most part, either been introduced or sanctioned by some in the highest places of dignity and authority, or, at least, have seldom pro- ceeded far without attracting and conciliating their approbation and support. In the present case, it is remarkable, that in no one instance during the nine years which this Ecclesiastical movement numbei'S from its commencement, has the system, which it is its great object to advocate and to restore, received the formal and avowed sanction and approval of any member of the Episcopal Bench. 7. More than one of that venerable body have, indeed, eulogized the talents and learning, and expressed a favourable opinion of the intentions of its authors ; some partial approbation has been be- stowed on the revival of certain principles which, it was feared, had been forgotten, or inadequately asserted, and of some practical habits which had, it was thought, too generally passed into desue- tude. But no one, so far as I am aware, of the rank and station to which I refer, has either recognised the Divine and unquestion- able truth, and vital importance, of the tenets thus zealously maintained and propagated, or thrown around them the broad and sacred shield of Episcopal authority. 8. It is no sufficient reply to this observation, that testimonies of this nature have been adduced from the writings of deceased Prelates, as well as other Ecclesiastical Dignitaries, in favour of the system in question ; because, independently of the doubtful and equivocal nature of partial and insulated extracts upon any given subject, and the difficulty of perfectly identifying the past with the present, it still leaves the authors and defenders of the Oxford Tracts destitute of that high contemporaneous and authori- tative support, of which, if deserved, no incidental considerations of propriety or expediency would have deprived them.^ 9. I have alluded to this point, not as in any degree thinking the subject in question to be one which either can or ought to be determined by an appeal to mere human authority ; but simply as a circumstance well deserving your attention, in considering the degree of deference and respect, and of presumptive truth and value, which the system, somewhat confidently proposed and promul- gated, really possesses. It may, at all events, form a sufficient apology, if any were needed, for the examination, upon which, as a Presbyter, probably of longer standing in the Church than any one of its modern revivers, I feel compelled at this time to enter. 10. .1 am aware, my Reverend Brethren, that in what I have already observed, as well as in what I am about to state, upon this painful but momentous subject, even among the comparatively * The truth of these observations has heen abundantly confirmed by the Episcopal Charges delivered since the Dean of Sarum's Visitation in 1842. — Ed. 128 progrEpSs, etc. — the controversy not a new one. small number* of those whom it is my duty to address upon this occasion, some may pi'obably be found, whose view of it may, to a greater or less degree, differ from my own. I am also aware, that, upon some points, I may be thought to be opposing imaginary errors, or misapprehending the real meaning of those upon whose writings I am about to animadvert. With respect to the one, I beg to be understood as desiring not to dictate, but to discuss; not to condemn, but to advise ; and with regard to the other, as attributing any supposed misapprehensions, not, as it has been alleged, to the partial and narrow views of those who entertain them, but to the obscure and equivocal statements of the writers themselves. 11. I would only further premise, that in any animadversions which I may feel it right to make upon the points in discussion, though it will be impossible to avoid allusions to publications, I am anxious to disclaim every thing harsh or personal with regard to their authors — "not men, but measures," or, rather, principles and opinions, will be exclusively considered. Thirl WALL, Bishop of St. David's. — 1842. 9. The main ground of my persuasion^ is briefly this : that the controversy which now agitates the Church is not a new one ; that, though distinguished by some peculiar features, yet, at the bottom, it is nothing more than a revival, or, as we may choose to call it, a continuation, of one which is as old as the first establish- ment of our Church ; that it represents a contrast of oj)inions, views, and feelings, which has never ceased to exist witliin her pale, though varying in its outward demonstrations according to the shifting phases of her historical development : sometimes appa- rently dormant and inactive, at others breaking out, as now, in passionate controversy, and at some unhappy epochs — such as, we hope, may never again be witnessed — venting itself in persecution, in violent exclusion, and formal rupture. It is not only an indis- putable fact, that such an opposition or divergency always has existed within the Church, but it seems likewise to be a necessary result of her constitution au'l character. If the position which she has taken up, as a Reformed Church, is correctly described as a mean between two extremes, it appears to be an inevitable con- sequence— so long as human nature continues what it is — that some of her members should incline toward one extreme, others toward its opposite, though all sincerely and equally attached to * The whole number of Clergy included in the Dean of Sarum's Visitation, liut assembling at different and far-distant places, independently of the Prebendaries cited, but not usually attending, amounts to nearly one hundred. 3 Vide paragraphs 7, 8. — Ed. MAY BE TRACED TO A REMOTE ORIGIN. 129 her Doctrine and fellowship. If we are not ashamed of this character of moderation which distinguishes her, — if, on the con- trary, we rejoice in it, and regard it as her most honourable attribute, as the very stamp of prudence and charity combined, and the safest criterion of truth ; then we must be content to pay the price of this high privilege, in that continual contrast of opinions, and that occasional collision of parties ; though this view of the case ought undoubtedly to operate as a constant motive to mutual forbearance. It would, indeed, have been surprising, if, while the Church herself was accused by her Protestant adver- saries of too great a leaning and resemblance to the Church of Rome, because she retained many things which they viewed as Bomisli errors and corruptions, those of her Divines who laid the greatest stress on the things wliich were thus assailed, should not have incurred a like charge ; or, on the other hand, if those who most earnestly maintained the principles which separate her from the Koman Church, should not sometimes have fallen under a suspicion of indifference or disaffection toward the other part of her system. This, which has, in fact, so often happened in former times, is the very thing which we are now witnessing. 10. I am aware, however, that this observation will lead us but a little way toward a historical explanation of the present contro- versy, or of the movement which gave rise to it ; and will still less enable us to understand what is peculiar in its character. It may be traced to a remote origin ; but certainly it was not transmitted to us exactly in its present form. If the general outline remain the same, there is, at least, an air of novelty about its lineaments and colour ; and however clearly we may perceive its identity, something more is required to account for its appearance at this time, and in this shape. 11. There is, indeed, one very simple and easy way of cutting short this inquiry ; that is, to refer the whole to some invisible supernatural agency. Viewed by different minds, and from opposite points, the same event may appear either as a gracious interposition of Divine Providence, or a machination of the great enemy of souls. So it was with the Reformation ; and so it is with the movement that now agitates the Church.* And, doubtless, in most events which have been brought about by human means, and extensively affected by human opinions, prejudices, and passions, there is such a mixture of good and evil, that even the same person may think he sees as much reason for referring them to the one author as to the other. But this is not the present question. As we should not understand the character of the Reformation at ■* Compare the opinions of the Bishops of Calcutta and Chester, {supra, note 6, p. 41,) with Dr. Pusey's application oi John iii. 8, to the Tractarian Movement, {supra, note, 3, p. 123. The iialics in the text are not his Lordship's — Ed. K ISO PROGRESS, ETC. THE MOVEMENT AN ATTEMPT TO all the better, for being told that It was a work of God, so, to say, whether truly or not, that this movement is a device of Satan, would leave us as much as ever in the dark with regard to its nature, occasion, and proximate causes. Nor again, does it appear to me, that a knowledge of the immediate occasion from which it arose, can throw any light upon its nature, or assist us toward forming an estimate of its worth. 12. But we do gain a notion of it, which, though it may not be complete, is certainly very important, and perhaps the only one with which, as Ministers of the Church, we are practically con- cerned, when we are led by the language both of its friends and its adversaries, to consider it as a reaction, an attempt to counteract a religious system, which it found existing and gaining ground within the Church. According to the descriptions^ which have been given of this system by those who profess to be resisting it, it is repre- sented as one which undervalues the authority of the Church,^ disregards her Ordinances, neglects her Ritual, disparages the Sacraments,'^ virtually abandons some of her peculiar Doctrines, destroys the proportion of her Theology,^ and contracts its com- pass, by the undue prominence given to a few Articles of Faith, substitutes empty phrases, barren, unreal notions, sensible excite- ment, feelings, and impressions, for the substance of religion, for true devotion, for the conscientious discharge of social duties, for habits of self-denial and charity, for the diligent cultivation and practical exercise of Christian virtues ; and thus tends to diffuse a kind of antinomianism, which is only the more dangerous, on account of the subtlety and refinement, by which it eludes a super- ficial observation, and abstains from all that would offend decency and common sense. IS. If it were true that such a system as this had been intro- duced into the Church, and was making progress, there can be no doubt that those who undertook to expose and combat it, would be entitled to our sympathy, even though we might not agree with them in all their principles, or approve of all the remedies they proposed for the evil. 14. But though it is certain that one of the parties in the con- troversy represents itself as contending against such a system, several of their opponents have not only indignantly disclaimed all connexion with it, but have seemed altogether to deny its exist- 5 His Lordship has by no means exaggerated the descriiJtioii given by the Tractarians, of the teaching of what tliey are pleased to call the " ^fodern Religion- ists,'' or " Ultra-Proteslant Party.''' Specimens of this grievous misrepresentation, from the British Critic, and Tracts for the Times, will be found in Appendix E. For a true exposition of tlie teaching referred to, see the Charge of the Bishop of Calcutta, 1838, paragraphs 21 — 36 Ed. c. 7. 8. Compare the teaching of the Bishop of Calcutta, Charge, 1838, paragraphs 26, 27, 28 Ed. COUNTERACT AN EXISTING RELIGIOUS SYSTEM. 131 ence, and to treat it as a mere fiction, with which their antagonists have either deceived themselves, or endeavoured to impose upon others ; and which tends, in its effect, if not in its design, to check the growth of vital religion, b}^ casting undeserved obloquy on a portion of the Church, which is more especially distinguished by its close adherence to the principles of the Gospel, even if it be not entitled to a name, which imports that it is in the exclusive posses- sion of them. 15. There would, indeed, be just ground for the indignation which has been expressed on this subject, if the sj^stem above described had ever been imputed to the individuals who have dis- avowed it. But it seems perfectly consistent with the highest respect for them, and with the fullest admission of every thing they have asserted with regard to their own consciousness, practice, experience, and observation, to believe, that the evil is not so purely imaginary as they have represented it. It is a question of fact, on which no man ought to accept another's assertion as proof. But in the absence of what can never be given — a proof of the negative — it seems no more than common charity requires, to believe that those who profess to be setting themselves against such a system, are sincerely convinced of its reality. As little can I doubt, that this conviction has been shared by numbers beside, and that this has been a main cause of the acceptance which writings directed against the system have met with. My own opinion on such a point can have no more weight than that of any other person, who has been used to pay attention to such subjects. But I must avow that the result of my observation has been a very strong impression, both of the reality, and of the extensive pre- valence of the evil. 16. And this suggests another remark, which may possibly be of some use toward soothing the apprehensions of persons who view the course which the controversy has taken with alarm. When we hear of a school or party, which is charged with an attempt to introtluce dangerous innovations into the Church, and are informed, that it comprises a large proportion of the Clergy, and a great number of the Laity, it is very necessary that we should accustom ourselves to distinguish between the Teachers and the Disciples, — the Guides and the Followers ; that we should remember that there may be a general sympathy and approbation, which does not exclude many differences of opinion, even on important points ; that general princij)les may be adopted, but not in the sense or the spirit in which they were propounded, and without any of the inferences which are drawn from them, either by their advocates or their impugners. Indeed examples of such partial disagreement have already appeared ; nor perhaps would it be difficult to point out indications of considerable divergency in the writers who are considered as the leaders and organs of the party. But, at least, K 2 132 PROGRESS, ETC. THE TEACHERS AND THE DISCIPLES. there seems to be no reason to suspect that the mass of those with whom their principles have found favour, are not heartily- attached to the Church in her present form, or that they are dis- satisfied with the language of her formularies,^ or desirous of any change in her public worship, not perfectly consistent with her existing Canons and Rubric. 9 These are charges from which it would he difficult, indeed, to -vindicate the "Leaders and Organs of the Party." The Bishop of Oxford (Charge 1842, par. 27) makes a similar distinction between the " Teachers and the Disciples,'''' hut his inference is in favour of the former. It is to he feared that they "who view the course which the controversy has taken with alarm," will derive but very slender consolatiou from the principles and practices either of the one or the other. — Ed. 133 CHAPTER V. PERSONAL CHARACTER OF THE LEADERS OF THE MOVEMENT. TREAT- MENT TO WHICH THEY HAVE BEEN EXPOSED. *' In the inquiry whether any Doctrine be a Scriptural Truth, we should not allow ourselves to be influenced by the supposed religious character of those who in our times hold it, or the contrary." — Dr. Pusey. Individual Holiness no Test of Religious Truth. Tract G7, p. 6. Kaye, Bishop of Lincoln. — 1837. [^ A Society of learned and pious^ men ] Vide Par. 1, in Chap. VI. ' Vide supra, note 3, page 10 Ed. 2 " ^V^ly does God expose his creatures to the danger of embracing error, recom- mended by personal goodness in its advocates ? " It is to try our faith. To see, whether, in spite of all temptations, we will trust His word in cases where it has spoken plainly. That there are such cases, where nothing is needed to discern the opposition between the proffered error and the Word of God, but an unsophisticated understanding, and an honest heart, few will deny. The worshij) of the Virgin, the bowing down to Images, the adoration of th-^ Wood of the Cross, and other Romish errors, are of this kind. How such glaring contradic- tions to the letter and spirit of Scripture could ever establish themselves in the outward Church, is perfectly marvellous. We may attempt to account for it, by mentioning the facility with which errors crept in, before the early Church had had experience of their tendency ; the long and severe struggle Christianity maintained with heathenism, which, even in expiring, inflicted severe wounds on its conqueror ; the ignorance of the Scriptures that characterized the dark ages ; the fostering aid given, alas ! by a self-interested priesthood ; and lastly, the bias of corrupt nature, the force of habit, the prejudice of an education in falsehood, and even the love of consistency, all which combine to keep up such monstrous errors in the present day ; we may mention these or other causes, but the marvel will still remain, that Holy Scripture should be ojiposed, point bla>ik, by men of mind, and who acknowledge its inspired authority, in matters so plain, that ' the wayfaring man, though a fool, cannot err therein.' Now, in all such cases, the lesson we learn is, ' Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of V St. Paul gives this view, when he tells the Gala- tians, that, having now, by inspiration, delivered to them the Gospel, if even he himself afterwards, with all his claims to their regard, should preach to them any other Gospel, or, if ' an angel from heaven' should do so, they should be so far from listening to him, that they should hold him ' accursed,' that is, excommunicated ; and, instead of any longer regarding him as a guide and a friend, should separate themselves from him as an enemy of the Church. Here he evidently supposes it possible that they, or future Christians, might be tried ; otherwise, to what purpose so solemn a warning ? He seems, therefore, to suppose it possible, that even he, a holy man as he knew himself, by the grace of God to be, yet still but a man, might, in an 134 personal character and treatment Wilson, Bishop of Calcutta. — 1838. [ Being individuals of no ordinary learning and piety, and justly entitled to the highest respect in the stations of influence in which they move, their writings are likely, &c ] Vide Par. 1, in Chap. I. [The able, learned, and accomplished author of the Sermon on Tradition ] Vide Pars. 4. G, in Chap. VIII. [Pious and learned authors Reverend and learned leaders ] Vide Pars. 8. 16, in Chap. VIII. Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter. — 1839. [Some learned and pious Ministers of our Church ... .J Vide Par. 37, in Chap. VIII. [ The notion^ is assailed with more than ordinary violence. " Popery," " Heresy," " The awful Oxford Heresy," are among the phrases unreservedly applied to it.] Vide Par. 39, in Chap. VIII. [I must add, — and I do so with unfeigned respect for the integrity and sincerity of these writers, as well as for their eminent ability and learning, — that I cannot easily reconcile it with Christian discretion, &c.] Vide Par. 54, in Chap. XX. 63. I have thus animadverted on several particulars, in which I deem the Doctrine or language of these writers erroneous. Other instances, it is very likely, might be added. But I cannot close uninspired moment, be allowed to fall into vital error as a ieacher ; or, that a higher and purer intelligence, a good angel, might, for their probation, be permitted to be an emissary of false Doctrine. At the same time, he takes it for granted, that the Galatians would see no change in his personal character, to put them on their guard against his new teaching. They would see nothing in the angel's demeanour, to make them think that he came not from heaven. So that the Apostle's language, on this occasion, amounts to a very striking declaration, that nothing of a mere personal kind that is in man, nay, in any created being — no visible goodness, no external holiness, no learning, no eloquence, no intellect — should be weighed in the scale against God's truth, once clearly declared in the inspired and infallible Scripture. This is a homage due to the Divine Being. If He has spoken plainly, let all creation be silent ; or if it speak, let it be disregarded. To listen to ant/, who, however unconsciously, utter language contrary to that of Sci-ipture, is to set the creature above the Creator. It may be a severe trial of our faith to hear such language proceed from the lips of apparently holy men ; but we must remember, he7-e lies the trial ! It is in this phenomenon that faith finds its exercise. We must resolutely resist all temptation to believe any thing contrary to Scripture, ' Let God be true, and every man a liar.'' " , Bird's Second Flea for the Reformed Church, pp. 19 — 22 — Ed. 3 That Tradition is a mode of imparting Divine Truth .... still continued to the Church. See Par. 37 — Ed OF THE LEADING TRACTARIANS. 135 what I have had to say respecting them, without offering my testimony and humble meed of praise to the singular meekness, charity, and forbearance, Avhich they have exercised throughout the controversies; proving themselves to be, in Christian temper, — whatever be thought of their Doctrine, — immeasurably superior to most of those with whom they have had to contend,'^ Pearson, Dean op Salisbury. — 1839. 2. In common with many who have animadverted upon the leading doctrines of the Tracts in question, I give to their learned and accomplished authors the fullest credit for uprightness and sincerity of intention, — for deep conviction of the necessity and importance of their design, — and for zeal and ability in carrying it into execution. [Pious and learned writers ] Vide Par. 15, in Chap. XXV. * I must here venture to insert the following extract from Mr. Bird's Second Plea for the Reformed Church, premising that the temper exhibited by Mr. Bird himself has been openly commended by his adversaries. "With respect to the (jualiJicaHon : — the writer" (in the British Critic) "implies that many of the opponents of his party have been deficient in courtesy. I am really at a loss to know to what particular persons this applies. I do not pretend to have seen all that has ever appeared against the Tractarians ; but when I call to mind the names of those whose publications I have read, — the late Bishop of Chichester ; Mr. Benson, the Master of the Temple ; Mr. Faber, as learned in the Fathers as in the Scriptures ; Dr. M'Ilvaine, Bishop of Ohio ; Dr. Miller, the historian ; Mr. GooDE, whose elaborate work seems to have disturbed Tractarian courtesy not a little, (see British Critic, No. 63,) — not to mention the Bishops who have warned their Clergy against Tractarianism in their Episcopal Charges, (particularly against Tract 90, which the Bishops unanimousli/ condemn, and the Tractarians unanimously support!) — when I think of all these, it is impossible to suppose tliat they are the persons hinted at. They may be compared in temper, as in every thing else, without disadvantage, to say the least, with the Oxford Triumvirate, Mr. Newman, Dr. Pusey, and Mr. Keble, together with their leading supporters. It ought to be from these that the character of the opposition to Tractarianism should be taken, and not from mere irregulars and sharpshooters, so to speak, who have thrown themselves into this unhappy warfare, kindled l)y the Tractarians. Have they none of this class on their side ? But what if the Tractarians, as a body, have shewn more command of temper than their opponents ? What if they have generally confined themselves to super- cilious language rather than what is fierce ? Is there any thing in this to excite much wonder ? Let us call to mind the spectacle usually presented to us, when any thing long loved and venerated is suddenly assailed by persons who were supposed to be, and ought to be, its friends. Is it not, that the assailants, aware how many old feelings and deep-seated principles they are about to shake, advance with a curb care- fully kept upon their temper, lest, like persons attacking a hive, they should suddenly bring on themselves the whole swarm of defenders, and suffer an instant defeat? Whilst, on the other hand, such of the possessors and lovers of the blessing en- dangered, as first awake to a full perception of what is going on, (for the majority in such cases are always for a long time incredulous,) fly to the rescue in a tempest of indignation, snatch up the trumpet which the appointed watchmen appear to be allow- ing to lie idle, and blow it, perhaps, somewhat furiously. How often do these well- meaning, but not equally well-judging volunteers, give the enemy an advantage, by the apparent contrast between his calmness and their excitement V— Second Flea, &c. p. 8-10— Ed. 136 personal character of the leaders of the Sumner, Bishop of Chester. — 1841. [Whilst learned men are elaborately proving, &c.] Vide Par. 20, in Chap. XIII. Maltby, Bishop of Durham. — 1841. [I must express my deep concern, that, instead of employing the resources of their piety and learning to heal the dissentions, tSrc] Vide Par 3, in Chap. XXV. Vide also Par. 11, in Chap. VIIl' 5. I suppose I need hardly vindicate myself from the suspicion of being actuated by any intolerant feelings, in regard to the con- scientious adherents of the Church of Rome. With many members of that Church I have, both in my former Diocese and this, had the pleasure of much social intercourse ; and I gladly seize the opportunity of acknowledging thus publicly the many marks of courteous and respectful attention which I have received from them. With as little justice should I be charged with an unfriendly feeling towards those learned persons of our own Church, who have taken the lead in propounding their ojnnions with, what I must be allowed to call, a misplaced zeal. It has not been my fortune to have any intercourse whatsoever with those able writers; excepting, indeed, one distinguished individual, of whom, as a former pupil, I have no recollections, but such as are most agreeable. 6. Personal feelings, however, can have no place in a question like this. Grievously should I fail in my duty if, in a matter affecting the purity of Doctrine, and the maintenance of good order in the Church, I were capable of allowing any private or personal considerations to prevent the avowal of an honest and deliberate opinion. [However painful may be the task of animadverting upon opinions espoused by persons otherwise so respectable, &c.] Vide Par. 10, in Chap. XXV. Monk, Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. — 1841. 2. I am not by nature an alarmist ; and there are reasons of no small importance that would rather dispose me to regard the authors of this movement with favour and approbation. Their high tone of devotional piety, their careful and diligent attention to the holy ordinances and godly discipline of our Church are eminently praiseworthy. The example set by them of directing the studies of Divines to the writings of the Fathers, and the investigation of Christian Antiquities, has a tendency to exalt the Clerical character ; while by framing their own lives and conversa- tion in the genuine spirit of Evangelical piety, by their self-denial, their disinterestedness, and the habitual cultivation of every MOVEMENT. THEIR PIETY, ZEAL, SELF-DENIAL, LEARNING. 137 Christian virtue, they have entitled themselves to our regard and admiration. But I cannot and ought not to disguise from you, that there is somewhat in the language and the writings of these persons which I do not contemplate without uneasiness. [It is true that the distinguished authors themselves have unequi- vocally denied any attachment on their own part to Rome, and have decisively repudiated that imputation. But it is impossible not to entertain serious apprehensions at the course which has been adopted by persons, whose learning, talents, and character, ensure to them influence among their contemporaries.] — Vide Par. 7, in Chap. XVIII. 8. I have now, my Reverend Brethren, performed my duty in avowing my sentiments respecting these writings ; and never did I perform any public duty which gave me greater pain. It is true that I am not personally acquainted with the distinguished indi- viduals who are reputed to be the principal authors of the Tracts. But I lament that persons gifted with every qualification which can enable men to improve and enlighten their fellow-creatures, should now occupy a questionable position, and excite alarm among the friends of that Church of which they are eminently qualified to be the support and the ornament. 9. I am, however, well acquainted with some persons, members of my own Diocese, whom report numbers among the supporters of the system which those writers recommend and uphold. And I bear my willing testimony to the exemplary purity of their lives, their Doctrine, and their opinions. Persons more diligent in every pastoral duty, more charitable towards all who differ from them in sentiment, or more fraught with all the virtues which are the genuine fruit of Chrisfs religion, I never knew. It is impossible to suspect such men of an inclination to leave worshipping the Lord in the beauty of holiness, and to encourage or tolerate a system, in which human inventions and abuses stand side by side with Evangelical truth. 10. But if an angel from heaven preach any other Gospel than that which we have received from the Apostles and Evangelists, I trust that he will preach in vain.^ We must remember, that the 5 Dr. PusEY, in his Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, (p. 86, and note,) observes, — " In one Diocese, which was becoming more tranquil, and there seemed hopes of a better mutual understanding, thanks were publicly given in one chief place, that the Bishop had, from that pulpit, denounced our teaching as 'another Gospel.'' The Bishop of Gluucester plainly meant to enforce the principle, that individual character is no excuse for bringing in error of any kind : ' But if an angel,' &c. He could not have meant what the words would go to, since he had just said — ' I am ii-ell acquainted with some persons, members of my own Diocese, whom report numbers among the supporters of the system, which those writers recommend and uphold. And I bear my willing testimony to the exemplary purity of their lives, their Doctrine, and their opinions.'' " Tiie italics in this extract, from the Bishop's Charge, are Dr. Pusey's ; but the inference to which they seem designed to lead is not warranted by the context. His Lordsliip proceeds — " It is impossible to suspect such men of an inclination .... 138 PERSONAL CHARACTER, ETC. MODERATION, subject is one which admits not of compromise ; that we are bound by the most solemn and most responsible of duties, to preserve to the Church that Scriptural purity, in which it has been handed down to us by our Reformers. LoNGLEY, Bishop op Ripon. — 1841. [The fact that such teaching has led to consequences which we fully believe those pious and learned men could never have them- selves contemplated, and we are satisfied they must now deplore, in bringing many to the verge of schism, will evidently shew that their guidance in these matters must be looked upon with some suspicion.] Vide Par 5y, in Chap. VI. [Let us, — as has recently been said in the spirit of a truly Christian moderation, by one of the most eminent among the writers,^ to whom I have before alluded &c.] Vide Par. 10, in Chap. II. Strachan, Bishop of Toronto. — 1841. [Devout and learned men. ...... The tenor of their teaching has been, like their lives, holy, meek, and consistent with the spirit of Christianity ] Vide Par. G, in Chap. VI. Beresford, Archbishop of Armagh. — 1842. It is deeply to be lamented, that a body of learned and ex- emplary Divines, in the sister country, should, in the course of their efforts to promote a stricter adherence to ecclesiastical ordei*, and to excite feelings of deeper reverence in the performance of the offices of religion, have propounded opinions, which are cal- culated not only to disturb the peace of the Church, but to lead men into error respecting its Doctrines. It was because I viewed the tendency of their writings in this light, that I felt it to be my duty to animadvert uj)on them, at my Triennial Visitation of this to encourage or tolerate a si/stem in which hiimmi itivenftons and abuses stand side by side with J'Jvniif/r/ical truth.'''' This, then, in the judgment of tlie Bishop of Glou- cester, is the ciiaracter of the Traetarian system : there may he individuals erro- neously numbered among its supporters •, but that is not the point at issue. Can " a system in which human inventions and abuses stand side by side with Evangelical truth'''' be the Gospel which St. Paul preached ? Is such a mixture of " wood, hay, stubble" a " work" that shall " abide"? If not, it is " another Gospel ;" and, painful as it may be, " those same sad words" must be used, as Dr. Pusey says that "the Bishop of Calcutta does seem to use them, in their full meaning."— Ed. * Mr. Nkwman. — Ed. MEEKNESS, REVERENCE FOR EPISCOPACY. 139 province.'^ — Answer to an Address from the Inhahitants of Dun- gannon and Parish of Drumglass. Manx, Bishop of Down and Connor, and Dromore. — 1842. [If erroneous sentiments be avowed in them (the Tracts), whilst we condemn the error, respect is due to the religious attainments, the high moral excellence, the learning, and the conscientious efforts — conscientious, doubtless, however misdirected — of the writers from whom these compositions proceed.] Vide Pars. 3, 4, iu Chap. II. Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter. — 1842. Vide Par. 2, in Chap. VI. [Are they mere formalists I Are they devoid of spiritual and vital religion ?] Vide Par. 4, iu Chap. XXIII. [I feel it my duty, once more, publicly to tender to them such thanks as it is in my power to give ; and I do so the more earnestly, because for this, (labouring to impress the necessity and efficacy of the Sacraments,) too, they have been publicly attacked by men of learning and piety, who, in their zeal for a favourite theory, seem to have forgotten, not only the claims of charity, and even justice, but also some portion of their Creed, as well as of the Articles, to which they hiive solemnly and re- peatedly subscribed.]^ Vide Par. 2G, iu Chap. XII. [The discontinuance of these publications (The Tracts for the Times) proves that, with the writers, a deference to Church authority is more than an empty name. It is not with their lips, or with their pens alone, that they have set forth the duty of frank and ingenuous submission to the judgment of their Bishop, A single request from him, founded on his view of what was best for the peace of the Church, sufficed to silence them.^ But here commendation from me must cease ] Vide Pars. 43, 44, iu Chap. XXI. [Be it so. Let him (Mr. Newman) have all the benefit to 7 It is much to be regretted, that the Charge delivered by the Primate, on the occasion referred to, lias not been published. The remarks of his Grace upon Tract 90, as quoted by himself, in his answer to the Dunganuon address, will be found in Chapter XXI Ed. 8 H is Lordship refers especially, though not by name, to the Bishop of Chester. See Notes on Par. 24 and 27 — Ed. 9 See Note ou the repuhUcaiion of Tract 90, and the vnanimons vindication of its jwinciples by all the leadinc; members of the party, page 103, supra. See also Note on Paragraph 33 of the Bishop of Oxfokd\s Charge, 1842, in Chapter XX.>-£d. 140 PERSONAL CHARACTER, ETC. which this explanation, and, still more, his high character, may entitle him. But let it not he thought invidious, if I say that, as the policy pursued in his Tract (No. 90,) is most discordant with the principles, and happily with the practice, of our Church, it cannot be matter of surprise, that the adverse feeling provoked by it has more than neutralized, in many dispassionate minds, the high estimation of him which former services had justly acquired.] Vide Par. 68, in Chap. XXI. MusGRAVE, Bishop of Hereford. — 1842. 75. 76. As to the eminent persons whose names have been iden- tified with the Doctrines and practices in question, I would by no means attribute to them any thing which they may have dis- claimed plainly and explicitly ; though they seem not to be, and it is to be hoped they are not, fully aware of the inevitable tendency of their writings. 77. But, whilst ourselves as earnest in condemning, as they can be in defending their views, we would desire to remember that they are still our brethren, and that this their relation to us, entitles them to Christian courtesy, as their learning and piety entitle them to respect. 78. Yet, dreading any approximation to what savours of super- stition and idolatry, by whomsoever recommended, and pledged by our solemn vows to uj)hold and guard that Protestant lieformed Church, whicli the Sovereign on the throne is equally bound to defend and cherish, we cannot consent to abandon or vary our principles at the bidding of any men, or, by silent connivance, to assist in extinguishing the light and life of that truth which the Reformation has bequeathed to our country and to mankind. 79. We would not " reappropriate" any of the peculiar Doctrines of Rome, which were eschewed by the Reformers ; nor would we, as some desire, "un[)rotestantize" our Church, even at the hazard, on refusal, of a mighty defection, — of a vast apostacy to Rome, — lamentable, and much to be deprecated, as such an occurrence would be.^ Knox, Bishop of Limerick. — 1842. [I freely admit, when the zeal of pious, but, perhaps, enthusiastic men first set forth those writings, entitled " Tracts for the Times," much good resulted ] Vide Par. 2, in Chap. VI. Blomfield, Bishop of London. — 1842. [We are much indebted to those learned and pious men, who 1 See Notes on Par. 49 of the Bishop of Oxford's Charge, 1842, infra — Ed. COMBINATION, ZEAL, ENERGY. 141 have forcibly recalled our attention to a branch of duty, (the observance of the Rubric,) too long imperfectly performed.] Vide Par. 30, in Chap. VI. [The character of the Church (of Rome) itself is not altered by that of a few, or many, of its individual members, whose personal graces and virtues at once modify and recommend the principles which they profess. There is scarcely any error of Doctrine, however extravagant or dangerous, which has not been held by some persons of un- questioned piety, and irreproachable conduct. ^J Vide Par. 66, in Chap. XVIII. CoPLESTON, Bishop of Llandaff. — 1842. [These complaints (of the insufficiency of our religious offices and formularies,) arise more from the indulgence of a morbid feeling in religious matters ; — a feeling which, when supported by ability and learning, and a reputation for sanctity, is highly con- tagious, &c.] Vide Par. 37, in Chap. XX. [These rash teachers, &c.] Vide Par. 41, in Chap. XXV. [But I do not charge insincerity upon them. Their characters stand too high for that imputation. It is merely that infirmity of mind, &c.] Vide Par. 46, in Chap. XX. Mountain, Bishop of Montreal. — 1842. [Excellent men, who have been carried away into a passion, if I may so express it, for the Church and Church-Ordinances, which detracts something from their devotion to the Church's Lord ; or into a fondness for the circumstantials of religion which actually interferes with their zeal for its exalted and spiritual truths.] Vide Par. 12, in Chap. X. [Manifestations of so unequivocal a character, that, although the leaders of the party in which they have appeared, are men upon many grounds amply entitled to respect, and their more violent and bitter opponents are, upon many grounds, no less open to reprehension, — I have been almost prompted to cry out in my spirit, Quo, quo scelesti riiitis ? &e.] Vide Par. 15, in Chap. XXV. * Mr. Caswall, speaking of the Mormon heresy, observes, " Had the founders of the system been men of tolerable character, modei'ate foresight, and sufficient honesty to become the dupes of their own enthusiasm, it is impossible to estimate the mischief which might have been already affected."— Caswall's Prophet of Ihe \9th Century, p. 9— Ed. 142 personal character and treatment O'Brien, Bishop of Ossory, Ferns and Leighlin. — 1842. [ A minority, "which is not inconsiderable in point of numbers, and which is most formidable, as possessing, in an eminent degree, the characteristic combination, and zeal, and energy, of the aggressive party.] Vide Par. 91, in Chap. I. [A party possessed of such wide-spread influence, of such activity, ability, watchfulness, and perseverance.] Vide Pars. 92 and 160, in Cliap. IV. [That very rash and intemperate young man (Mr. Froude).] Vide Par. 126, in Chap. IV. [All the while that the course of aggression and agitation . . . . . . was going on, from time to time, credit was most confidently taken by the chief agents in it, (and too often given to them,) for the quietness and moderation of their proceedings ; . . . and all this while, all who opposed the men — who, according to their frank confession, were intruding upon the peace of the contented, and raising doubts in the minds of the uncomplaining, vexing the Church with controversy, alarming serious men, and interrupting the established order of things, — were held up as wanton disturbers of the Church's peace ; and all who raised a warning voice as to the objects and tendencies of this movement, — which it is now acknowledged, has carried all within its vortex, far, and must carry them further and further, from the principles of the Reformation — were stigmatized as causeless alarmists.] Vide Par. 154, in Chap. IV. Baqot, Bishop of Oxford. — 1842. 10. I do not mean, — God forbid! — that, if the doctrines of which I am speaking are erroneous, they are not to be exposed and condemned, that high and low, rich and poor, are not in their several stations to be warned against adopting them ; but what I say is this, that error is to be met with argument, not with clamour, and to be answered Avith painful care, and grave reverence, and firm (though kind) remonstrance ; — not to be made the subject of rancorous declamation,^ — not to be treated with the rude, coarse abuse, which party spirit is sure to elicit from ill-conditioned minds, and which is as opposite to the tone of Christian condemnation, as darkness is to light. Persecution never has, never will, answer its object ;'^ — there is something in the very constitution of our com- 3 See quotation from Mr. Bird's Second Plea for the Reformation, supra, page 135, note 4 — El). 4 The Rev. F. E. Paget, M.A., Rector of Elford, and Chaplain to the Bishop of Oxford, has embodied these sentiments of his Lordship, with singuhir fidelity, in his description of the character of Alary Clinton, the heroine of one of his recent Tractarian Novels. OF THE LEADING TRAOTARIANS. 143 mon nature, which inclines men to side with those whom they think unfairly treated.^ And such, I am disposed to think, has been the case with respect to the opinions of which I am speaking. Whether those opinions are right or wrong, I verily believe, that the temper in which their advocates have been attacked, has gained them more adherents than, perhaps, any other cause.^ 11. What can have been more lamentable than the tone which (of course I am speaking generally) has been adopted by those wlio have set themselves (I hope conscientiously) to oppose the opinions in question, — what can be more offensive to Christian charity, than to hear men of blameless lives held up to public execration in the newspapers of the day, as " a synagogue of Satan," and branded as " heretics," by persons who yet hold back the grounds on which they make their charges i Above all, — and I cannot notice, without grave reprehension, the conduct of these individuals, — what can be more offensive than to see Clergymen, Ministers of the Gospel of Peace, so far forgetting themselves, their duties, and their position, as to appear at public meetings as speakers, or in the daily journals as correspondents, whose tone is rather that of personal opposition, than of grave objection to error, and who thereby almost compel us to think, that they are lament- ably deficient in that spirit which is "■ pure, and peaceable, and gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits," — ■ " thinking no evil," — " rejoicing not in iniquity, but rejoicing in the truth."7 I would that such could see themselves as they appear to others, — and could think of themselves, as all good men, of what- 5 " The feelings of a heart abhorring the spirit of persecution . . . were all arrayed in favour of those whom she perceived were unfairly used," 6 " It is thus that, in multitudes of cases, the violence of ultra- Protestant tactics has defeated itself. . . . From sympathising with the Tract-writers, she thought it would be cowardly uot to defend them whenever she heard them assailed." Such were the feelings of this young lady, " as, day by day, she heard of the cruel and unmanly calumnies which were heaped upon the authors of the Oxford movement, as she watched their meek and silent following of their Lord's example ; as she heai-d of their holy and harmless lives; as one falsehood after another which had been circulated about them was disproved ; as she witnessed, with shame and pain, the unchristian tempers, the flagrant dishonesty, nay, (alas that it must be said!) the WICKEDNESS (sicj of the opposite party." — Paget's Wa7-den of Berkingholt, pp. 36", 37. —Ed. '^ " And is it really the case, my Lord, that all the violence and bitterness have been on one side ? If not, it would have been but fair to have bestowed both praise and censure, in a way more calculated to do justice to all parties." — Some DifficuUies in the late Charge of the Lord Bishop of Oaford, respectfully pointed out, in a Letter to his Lordship. By the Rev. W. Goode, M.A., &c., p. 6. " Surely I may ask your Lordship, whether you really think that it will tend to the ultimate well being and prosperity of the Church, that such parties should be brought before the public in the character of ill-used and persecuted men, and an endeavour made to enlist in their favour all the feelings which injured virtue, persecuted philan- thropy, and miraculous success can suggest ; and their opponents stigmatized as 'gratuitous agitators, and unbidden accusers of their brethren ;' and opposition to their proceedings be foi-bidden, because the Church needs peace." — Ibid, pp. 27, 28. See Pars. 53, 54 of his Lordship's Charge Ed. 144 PERSONAL CHARACTER, ETC. VIEWS OF THE PARTY ever party, must think of them. I would that they would reflect, with whom they are leaguing themselves, and whether some of those with whom they act, are not men whose hearts' desire, and ulterior object, is the total destruction of our National Church. And more than this, — I would that they should learn a lesson from the men whose doctrines they repudiate, and whose persons they so bitterly assail. 12. Whatever may have been the errors, whether of Doctrine or of judgment, (and of these I am not at present speaking,) of which the Authors of the Tracts for the Times have been guilty, I will say this for them, that the moderation and forbearance they have shewn, under insults the most galling and provoking that can be imagined, has been exemplary ; and I am glad to avail myself of this public opportunity of expressing my admiration of the meek and Christian spirit they have invariably shewn,^ — not rendering railing for railing, and never tempted, by the frequent ignorance, and often immeasurable inferiority,^ of many of their adversaries, to retort upon tliem.^ 18. You will observe, that what I have now said, has no refer- ence whatever to the question, how far the doctrines promulgated by the Tract-writers are, or are not, erroneous : but I am desirous now to record my judgment, that, granting them to be ever so erroneous, ever so heretical, and ever so much to be condemned, they have been dealt with, for the most part, in that spirit of pre- determined hostility, which is most apt to confound what is true 8 His Lordship has, in some degree, qualified this testimony, as it affects certain members of the party, in a subsequent part of his Charge. " I must further observe, that there has appeared to me a lamentable ivant of judgment, and I cannot but say of charity and humility too, in the writings of some who of late have come forward as the advocates of Catholic principles." — See Par. 32. It must be needless to remind any one who has ever had the slightest intercourse with the Bishop of Oxford, that nothing could be more repugnant to his Lordship's feelings, than the conduct which he so severely censures in the opponents of the Tract- arian School. We cannot wonder, therefore, at his speaking strongly on the subject. And yet we may be almost tempted to assert, with Dr. Pusev, that " The Bishop means to condemn what he thinks them to be ;" that he " seems mostly to have formed his warnings on detached passages, . . . without having had time to inqidre,^'' or " leisure to examine." ( Vide note 5, 6, p. 6, supra.) At all events, it is but justice to his Lordship to say that, at the period when this Charge was delivered, his Chaplain's Novel, The Warden of Berkingholt, was not published ; nor is it possible to believe that the Bishop had ever read the disgusting article on The Oxford Margaret Professor, in the 59th Number of the British Critic See more on this unpleasant topic, inider The Character of the Tractarians as Controversialists, Chapter VIII. and Appendix F. —Ed. 9 "I cannot see, however," observes the Bishop of Montreal, — (vide Clmrge 1842, par. 16, note) — "even with reference to the leaders themselves, that any conscious- ness of inferiority to these writers, on our own part, either disqualifies, or should ■withhold us from making a stand against what we are satisfied, upon clear grounds, which we can clearly state, to be of hurtful tendency in their writings." — Ed. 1 It has been the almost invariable policy of the Tractarians to pass by, in silence, whatever has been urged against them by their opponents ; " a sign," — as the Bishop OF Chester remarks, — (vide Charge 1842, par. 5, note) — "of the discretion, if not of the candour of the" party. They seem, from first to last, to have adopted, as their motto, the command of Hezekiah to the men of Judah, "Answer him not.'''' — Ed. COMPARED WITH THOSE OP OUR SOUNDEST DIVINES. 145 with what is false, and which, from having so little of Christian charity in it, (for charity, while it has no leaning to the error, is lenient to the erring,) is, on that very ground, to be suspected. See also Par. 7, in Chap. IV. 16. The Tracts for the Times have, indeed, been brought to a close, and at my personal request. And I take this opportunity of repeating in public, what I have never been backward to acknow- ledge in private, my deep sense of the dutifulness, and ready submission, 2 which was then shewn to the Bishop of the Diocese, and of the affection and kind feeling displayed towards myself personally, by the individuals most interested. 49. As for those, the success of whose system would be to drive their brethren into secession, it seems to me that they little know of what spirit they are.^ The opinions they dislike may, or may 2 The publication of several successive editio7is of Tract 90, and the unanhnoiis vindication of its principles by the leaders of the party, {vide sz/pra, p. 103, note 2,) are facts which no one has yet been able to reconcile with that Reverence for Epis- copacy of which the Tractarians so loudly boast. Other difficulties, of a similar desci'iption, will be found in Appendix G. — Ed. 2 " The impression left on my mind by a Charge,'''' (not published. — Ed.) "delivered in the foregoing summer by an Archbishop of the United Church was, that he held that we ought to leave the Church, — meaning probably, abandon our office as Ministers in her." — Dr. Pusey. Letter to the Archbishop of Canterhury, p. .58. " If this goes on, my Lord, where is it to end ? If our oivn Bishops, and others, encourayed by them, say to us — sore as it is to repeat, they are their own words, — 'Get thee hence, Satan;' while those of the Roman Communion pray for us, and invite us, is it not sorely adding to the temptations, I say not of ourselves, but of ounger men ?" — Ibid. p. 86. " If we are thus singled out from the rest of our Lord's flock, as diseased and tainted sheep, who must be kept separate from the rest, lest we corrupt them ; if a mark is thus set upon us, and we are disowned, tilings cannot abide thus. For us, who are elder, it might be easy to retire from the w^eary strife, if it should be ever necessary, into Lay-comiimnion, or seek some other branch of our Church, which would receive us ; but for the young, whose feelings are not bound up with their Church by the habits and mercies of many years, and to whom, labouring Ln her service is not become a second nature, an element in our existence, their sympathies will have vent, and, if they find themselves regarded as outcasts from their Church — to a Church they must belong, and they w'lll seek Rome.'''' — Ibid. p. 89. — For Mr. Keble's views on the subject, vide Resignation and Lay-Communion, &c. On the unhappy subject of Secession to Rome, the Bishops of Hereford, London, and OssoRV, have expressed themselves as follows : — " We would not ' reappropriate' any of the peculiar Doctrines of Rome which were eschewed by the Reformers ; nor would we, as some desire, ' unprotestautize' our Church, even at the hazard, on refusal, of a mighty defection, of a vast apostacy to Rome — lamentable and much to be deprecated as such an occurrence would be." — Charge of the Bishop of Hereford, 1842, par 79. " But a greater evil than the apostacy of a feiv, or even of many, would be the success of any attempt to establish the fact, not indeed of a perfect identity, but of something more than a sisterly resemblance between the two Churches ; and to prove, that a member of the Anglican Church can consistently hold all the errors of the Roman, except one or two of the most flagrant, and even them (sic J, it may be, with certain quahfications." — Charge of the Bishop of London, 1842, par. 17. " I hope I shall never speak lightly of any thing so sad and sinful, as the re- nunciation, upon the part of any of the members of our Church, of the matchless blessings which God allows us to enjoy in her Communion. But the worst of all this is over, when men have already been brought to scorn these blessings, — to reject the sound Doctrine which our Church professes, and to despise the pure worship L 146 PERSONAL CHARACTER, ETC. LOVE FOR THE CHURCH not, be true — that is a point on which men may differ to the end of time — but it cannot be well to condemn rashly and rancorously what has been held in whole, or in part, by such men as Bull, and Beveridge, and Andrewes, and Hooker, and Taylor, and Jackson, and a host besides, of those who, in their day, were, and are still, the soundest Divines of the Church of England.* It cannot be which it provides. And if there be any who will only continue among us on the con- dition, that those who are engaged in unproteslantizing (sic) the Church, and who are labouring to lead her, with themselves, further and further from the principle of the English Reformation, shall be allowed to proceed in their work without ojiposition or interruption ; I cannot think that they incur, or inflict, any serious loss, when they go over bodily to the opjjosite ranks.'''' — Charge of the Bishop of Ossory, 1842, par. 158. — Ed. * If this assertion of his Lordship be correct, there is, or at least ought to be, an end to the whole controversy. The question, however, is one of such immense impor- tance, that I shall offer no apology for calling the attention of the reader to the following testimonies in support of a very different conclusion : — " Upon some of these questions," says the Bishop of Ossory, "their views went far beyond those of any of the Divines who had gone before them, — that is, of any who had any reputation in the Church for soundness and sobriety." — See the whole passage in par. 97 of his Lordship's Charge. See also Note 9, p. 44, supra. Again, — speaking of the Article On the Church of England Divines of the Seventeenth Century, in the Quarterly Review, for Mai'cli, 1842, — his Lordship observes, " The writer regards these Divines as undeniably the proper authorities to be appealed to, when the principles of our Church are at all the matter in question. And, in the style which made his former article so effective — never making an assertion, without appearing to prove it on the spot, by reference to his authorities — he proceeds to shew, from the writings of these illustrious men, that, upon the character of the Church of Rome, and our relation to her ; .^upon our oivn Church, her character, and her claims ; the reverence, affection, and submiss'ion due to her ; — upon the Reformation and the Reformers ; — upon Protestant, ^' natne and thing ;'"'—\x^on the way in which foreign Protestant bodies, wanting the privilege and blessing of Episcopal government, are to be regarded and treated by tis ; — i upon the Unity of the Church, as consisting ivith the independence of Nat'ional Churches ; — upon the place and use of Tradition ; — upon the relation of the Church and the State ; — in short, upon many very leading points in the controversy of the present day, the principles and feelings of these men (whom he and the Tractarians agi"ee in regarding as the true court of appeal) are decidedly opposed to those which have been put forward in the writings of the Tractarian school." — Vide supra, p. 57. See also his Lordship's remarks upon the revision of Tractarian Catena, by Mr. Golightly, Bishop JM'Il- VAINE, and Mr. Goode, in Chapter VII. The Bishop of Exeter remarks, (Charge 1839, par. 47,) "Defending themselves against the charge of leaning towards Popery, they confidently affirm, that ' in tJie seventeenth century, the Theology of the body of the English Church was substantially the same as the'irs ;^ (Tracts for the Times, No. 38, p. 11 ;) and in proof of this they profess, in stating the errors of Rome, to " follow closely the order observed by Bishop Hall, in his ' Treatise on the Old Religion,' " whose Protestantism,'tliey add, " is unques- tionable," and is claimed therefore as a voucher for their own. But, looking to par- ticulars, I lament to see them "following, indeed, the order of Bishop Hall, but widely departing from his truly Protestant setitimoits, on more than one important article.'''' Mr. GooDE, in the Introductory Remarks prefixed to his valuable edition of the Two Treatises on the Church, by Dr. Jackson and Bishop Sanderson, (pp. 3, 4.) observes, " If we go back to the works of the great Divines of our Church, tiot (sic) of the school of Calvin, wo shall find that the very vieivs now advocated by the Tractarians are stigmatised as of the essence of Popery. The reader who is in- clined to trust to Tractarian statements may, perhaps, be surprised at this remark ; for one of the great efforts of that party, at the cai'ly part of their career, was, to produce the notion that they had almost a consensus of our most able Divines in their favour ; an attempt which, supposing them as learned as they gave themselves out to be, it is difhcult to uudcr.stand, and much more to justify. But such is the case ; and we are most desirous that the reference thus made by the Tractarians should be followed out, and the works of our great Divines carefully studied. Had the Church generally been better acquainted with them, than, alas I was the ease, the success of the ILL-REQUITED. MB. NE\VMAn"'s LAMENTATION. 147 wise to seek to expel from the bosom of tliat Church men who love her with no common love,^ and seek to serve her with no ordinary devotion. Denison, Bishop of Salisbury. — 1842. [ Pious and learned men .... I cannot too much deprecate the harsh and sweeping condemnation not unfrequently passed upon them, as if their exertions had been productive of unmixed evil.] Vide Par. 3, in Chap. VI. [ I believe that the soundest and wisest members of our Church rejoiced both that the Bishop of Oxford interposed as he did, on that occasion, (the suppression of the Tracts for the Times,) and that his suggestions were at once followed in so becoming a spirit and manner.^ It would have been well if the evil had thus been altogether repressed ; but — ] Vide Par. 6, in Chap. XXI. [It is due to the distinguished individuals — ] Vide Par. 7, in Chap. XXV. Tractarians, and the mode in which tliey have been ti'eated, would have been, I humbly conceive, very different to what they have been." For a full disclosure of the reckless manner in which the sentiments of our standard Divines have been misrepresented by Tractarian writers, the reader is referred to Mr. Golightly's Letter to the Lord Bishop of Oaford, 1840 ; Bishop M'Ilvaine's Oxford Divinity compared toith that of the Roman and Anglican Churches ; Mr. Goode's Divine Rule of Faith and Practice, a.nd Letter to the Bishop of Oxford on some difficulties i)i his Lordship^s Charge. From the last of these I take the following extract : — " It can hardly but be by an oversight, that Doctrines wliich barely (if at all) escape condemnation by the Articles, even after the adoption of a mode of interpretation ' so subtile, that by it the Articles may be made to mean any thing or nothing,' can have been pronounced by your Lordship to be those of our soundest Divines . and such an oversight is of such vast importance to the peace and welfare of the Church, at the present crisis, that the most humble individual may be pardoned for pointing it out." — p. 30. Mr. Palmer's admission of the " very powerful influence exercised by the Theology of the NoN-JURORS over the writers of the Tracts," has been ah-eady noticed Vide supra, p. 98, note 5 Ed. 5 However this may be, their love for the Church has been displayed in such a questionable shape, that we cannot be surprised at finding how little she has returned their affection. " O my mother," — it is the lamentation of Mr. Newman himself,—. " whence is this unto thee, that thou hast good things poured upon thee, and canst not keep them ; and bearest children, yet darest not own them ? Why hast thou not the skill to use their services, nor the heart to rejoice in their love ? How is it that whatever is generous in purpose, and tender or deep in devotion, thy flower and thy promise falls from thy bosom, and finds no home within thine arms ? Who hath put this note upon thee, to have 'a miscai-rying womb, and dry breasts,' to be strange to thine own flesh, and thine eye cruel towards thy little ones ? Thine own offspring, the fruit of thy womb, who love thee, and would toil for thee, thou dost gaze upon with fear, as though a portent, or thou dost loathe as an offence ; — at best thou dost but endure, as if they had no claim but on thy patience, self-possession, and vigilance, to be rid of them as easily as thou mayest. Thou makest them ' stand all the day idle,' as the very condition of thy bearing with them ; or thou biddest them be gone where they will be more welcome ; or thou sellest them for nought to the stranger that passes by. And what wilt thou do in the end thereof?" — Sertnons bearing on Suttjects of the Dag. Sermon 20. The Parting of Friends, pp. 461, 4G2 Ed. * Vide note 2, p. 103, and note 2, p. 145, supra Ed. l2 148 PERSONAL CHARACTEB, ETC. LEARNING. ZEAL. Pearson, Dean op SALfSBURY. — 1842, [ The private combination of a few zealous Presby- ters— ] Vide Par, 6, ia Chap. IV. Thirlwall, Bishop op St. David's. — 1842. [ When you observe the learning, ability, zeal, and piety, which have been exhibited on both sides Where both the contending parties present so many claims to respect,] Vide Par. 3, in Chap, I. [A very elaborate theory has been proposed on this subject, by an eminent writer (Mr. Newman) — ] Vide Par. 20, in Chap. XIII. Pepys, Bishop of Worcester. — 1842. 88. While, however, I entertain this opinion with regard to the system attempted to be introduced by the writers of the Oxford Tracts, I am very far from wishing to justify the unseemly violence with which they have been attacked in many recent publications. For many of them it is impossible not to entertain sentiments of the greatest esteem. Learned beyond most of their contemporaries, and devoted to what they consider the duties of their sacred calling, they command our respect for their zeal, their self-denial, and their piety, however we may think them mistaken in their views. 149 CHAPTER VI. BENEFICIAL EFFECTS ATTRIBUTED TO THE MOVEMENT. Kaye, Bishop of Lincoln. — 1837. 1. There still remain many interesting topics, on which, if the time would allow, I would gladly enlarge. But they do not admit of being cursorily treated : each of them would require, for its full development, the whole of the time usually allotted to addresses delivered on these occasions. I must, therefore, leave them un- touched. I allude more particularly to the Romish controversy, which, after having slumbered for above a century, is now revived, both in this country and in Ireland, and appears likely to occupy a large and increasing share of public attention ; — to the various interpretations of unfulfilled prophecy recently put forth, and the confident anticipations entertained by many, of the speedy approach of the personal reign of the Saviour on earth — one, among other features of resemblance, between the state of religious feeling in our own times, and that which existed previously to the Great Rebellion ; — to the Tracts published by a Society of learned and pious men connected with the University of Oxford, whose object is to recall the minds of men to the contemplation of primitive Christianity, and to bring back the Church to a closer resemblance to the form which it bore in its earliest ages. 2. It may be that they have, in some instances, exposed them- selves to the charge of being influenced by too indiscriminate an admiration of antiquity, and of endeavouring to revive practices and modes of expression which the Reformers wisely relinquished, because experience had shewn that they were liable to be perverted to the purposes of superstition. S. If, however, in the pursuit of a favourite object they have run into excess, let us not, on that account, overlook the good which may be derived from their labours. While we read their writings, our attention can scarcely fail to be directed to certain subjects especially deserving it at the present juncture — to the unity, for instance, and the authority of the Church ; subjects on which we have so long been silent, that the very terms seem strange to the ears of our congregations, and the mere mention of 150 BENEFICIAL EFFECTS, ETC, RESTORATION them is almost regarded as implying a wish to invade the right of individual judgment. 4. At a time, too, when we are told that the care of religion does not fall within the province of the civil magistrate, and that Christianity itself ought to receive no especial favour at his hands, but only to share his protection in common with Mahometanism or Heathenism, it cannot but be beneficial to the Ministers of the Church of Christ, to have their thoughts turned to that period of its history when it stood in the relation to the state to which they, who maintain the opinions just described would gladly reduce it — when the civil power either persecuted or neglected it. In the self-denial, the disinterestedness, the patience, the meek, but uncompromising fortitude of the first converts, we are furnished with the model, Avhich we must strive to copy, in case it should please God to place iis mider similar external circumstances. Let us humbly beseech Him, my brethren, to infuse into our bosoms some portion of the spirit by which they were animated — of that spirit wliich caused them to regard the loss of every worldly pos- session, nay, of life itself, gain, if they could convert it into an occasion of manifesting their entire, their unreserved devotion to his service.'^ Bagot, Bishop of Oxford, — 1838. 5. With reference to errors in Doctrine, which had been imputed ■^ The foregoing extracts, from the Charge of the Bishop op Lincoln, are quoted by Dr. Pusey, in a note to tlie third edition of his Leller to the Archbishop of Canter- bury, as " containing just what he has now ventured to ask for, — not unmixed praise, but a kind acknowledgment that tlie efforts were in the right direction.'''' Events, however, have transpired since the year 1837, A\hich more plainly indicate the direction of the movement, and which are thus alluded to by the Bishop of Lincoln, in his recent Charge : — " But it is most certain that their tenets" (those of the Romanists) " are un- ceasingly and successfully propagated. Such, according to their representation, is the growing dissatisfaction among the members of our Church, with its Doctrines, its Formularies, its Discipline ; and such the growing affection for those of the Church of Rome, that they confidently anticipate the return, at no distant period, of the people of this country, to their Communion. AVe might disregard these sanguine expectations as the mere suggestions of their wishes, if they were not unhappily confirmed, to a certain extent at least, by the evidence of facts. We have to lament the actual defection of more than one Minister of our Church : and the author of the Tract which has given rise to so much discussion, the Ti'act No. 90, has informed us, that he wrote it for the purpose of reconciling to a longer continuance in our Communion, certain persons who were iw danger of straggling in the direction of i?o»ie. "—Charge, 1843, pp. 9, 1 0. The italics are not his Lordship's. " What will be the ultimate result of the course pursued by the learned author of the Tract in question, remains to be seen If I may be allowed to state the impression left on my own mind by the perusal of the Tract, it is, that the writer himself is dissatisfied with the Articles ; that he considers them as a cross which must be borne, and which he exhorts those, to whose case his Exposition was especially adapted, to bear in the hope that the nation will at length embrace what he terms Catholic opinions •, and that our standard of Doctrine will then be brought to a nearer conformity to that of the Church, ' which,' to use his own language, ' is alone in possession of that something deeper and truer than satisfied the last century, towards which the religious mind is now moving,' — the Church of Rome." — Ibid. pp. 13, 14. -.Ed. OF THE ANCIENT DISCIPLINE OP THE CHURCH. 151 to tlie series of publications called the Tracts for the Times, it can hardly be expected that, on an occasion like the present, I should enter into, or give a handle to any thing, which might hereafter tend to controversial discussions. Into controversy I will not enter. But, generally speaking, I may say, that in these days of lax and spurious liberality, any thing which tends to recall forgotten truths is valuable: and where these publications have directed men's minds to such important subjects as the union, the discipline, and the authority of the Church, I think they have done good service ; but there may be some points in which, perhaps, from ambiguity of expression, or similar causes, it is not impossible, but that evil, rather than the intended good, may be produced on minds of a peculiar temperament. 6. I have far more fear of the Disciples than of the Teachers.^ 7. In speaking, therefore, of the Authors of the Tracts in question, I would say, that I think their desire to restore the ancient discipline of the Church, most praiseworthy. I rejoice in their attempts to secure a stricter attention to the Rubrical directions in the Book of Common Prayer ; and I heartily approve the spirit which would restore a due observance of the Fasts and Festivals of the Church : hut I would implore them, by the purity of their intentions, to be cautious, both in their writings and actions; to take heed lest their good '•be evil spoken of; lest, in their exertions to re-establish unity, they unhappily create fresh schism ; lest, in their admiration of antiquity, they revert to practices which heretofore have ended in superstition.* * As I have been led to suppose that the above passage has been misunderstood, I take this opportunity of stating, that it never was my intention therein to pass any general censure on tlie Tracts for the Times. There must always be allowable points of difference in the opinions of good men ; and it is only where such opuiions are carried into extremes, or are mooted in a spirit which tends to schism, that the inter- ference of those in authority in the Church is called for. The authors of the Tracts m question have laid no such painful necessity on me, nor have I to fear that tliey will ever do so.^ I have the best reasons for knowing, that they would be the first to submit themselves to that authority, which it has been their constant exertion to uphold and defend.* And I feel sure, that they will receive my friendly suggestions in the spirit in which I have offered them. 8 See the observations of the Bishop of Ripon, on the consequences of Tractarian Teaching, Charge 1841, Par. by. See also the List of Secessions from Tractarianism to Popery, in Appendix H. — Ed. 9 How soon this anticipation was disappointed is but too well known. Before the period arrived for the delivery of his next Charge, " opinions carried into ex- tremes," and " mooted in a spirit which tends to schism," imposed upon his Lordship that "j)ainful necessity," the possible existence of which he could not bring himself to contemplate at an earlier period of the movement Ed. ' "The Bishop of Oxford has just published his Charge, which will be read with much interest The Charge is also remarkable as giving judgment upon the Tracts for the Times. This is a memorable precedent, and shews what lies before us. The Cluirch is recovering her judicial jtotcer. We only wish that other parties may defer to her as frankly as would, we feel assured, the writers of the above- mentioned Tracts, were there a call made on them." — British Critic, No. 48, p. 487. The italics are the Reviewer's. Compare with this extract another passage from the same publication, in a note upon paragraph 33, of the Bishop of Oxford's Charge in 1842. See also Appendix G. — Ed. 152 beneficial effects, etc. value attached Phillpotts, Bishop op Exeter. — 1839. Vide Par. 1, Chap. I. 64. Neither shall I forbear to avow my own opinion, that the Church is, on the whole, deeply indebted to them. In opposition to the low and sectarian notions, which had too long marked much of the popular Theology of the times, they have successfully asserted and vindicated some of the most important Doctrines and principles of the Catholic Church — Doctrines and principles which, as Ministers of that Church in England, we are under the most express and solemn engagements to maintain. To those engage- ments look, I beseech you, at all times, with all faithfulness, and singleness of heart ; disdaining every astute and subtile expedient, hy which you may see others attempt to explain aivay any portion of those tenets, ivhich they and you profess to hold, hut tchich cannot honestly he held, except in " the true, usual, literal, meaning''' of the terms in which they are expressed?' Spencer, Bishop of Madras. — 1839. 1. The primitive Church of Christ had fasts and festivals, not cold, formal, and ceremonial, as is too often the case in the present day : but as a fast was with them really a fast, so was a festival really a festival. The more we assimilate our customs in these matters to the primitive Church, the nearer we approach Christ and his Apostles. The religion of the Gospel has waxed cold in love, in proportion as it has lost sight of godly discipline, and genuine Christian usages. 2. A better spirit, however, is now awake ! and I trust the time is not very far distant, when Members of the Church of England will not be ashamed to practice self-mortification and abstinence during Lent ; not to be seen of men, but simply and humbly, as our Lord has enjoined them to do, and to rejoice, as Christians ought to rejoice, when called upon to commemorate the Incarna- tion or the Resurrection of Him whose name they bear.^ 2 This warning of the Bishop of Exeter may be regarded as the earliest Epis- copal condemnation of Tract 90. His Lordship's language is singularly prophetic of the evasive system of interpretation subsequently propounded in that " astute and subtile expedient.'''' The italics in the text are not his Lordship's Ed. 3 Mr. Perceval, in his, Collection of Papers connected with the 'Iractarian Move- vient, page 6, observes, that " the value of the Tracts has been more openly acknow- ledged in the Colonies than in the Mother Country ; e. g., by the Bishops of Toronto and Madras." In the appendix to his pamphlet, he quotes the extracts given above, as " the passage in the Charge of the Bishop of Madras, alluded to at page 6." He quotes also, in support of his assertion as to the testimony of the Colonial Bishops, the passages from the Charge of the Bishop of Toronto, which will be found in their respective places. The Charges of the Bishops of Calcutta, 18.*}!) , Boimbav, 1841, and Montreal, 1842, are passed over in silence. Let the reader comjiarc the re- corded sentiments of these Prelates with the strongest passag t which ]\lr. Perceval has been able to adduce irom the primary Charge of the Bishop of Madras; nay, to the thacts for the times in the colontrs. 153 Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 1839. 7, You will, doubtless, expect, my Reverend Brethren, that I should more particularly specify and define the sentiments and opinions to which I have thus generally objected. 8. There is, I need scarcely observe, much of Scriptural and Catholic Truth in the "Tracts for the Times," and other kindred publications, and much useful instruction and admonition, in which I cordially acquiesce. But after much, and, I trust, impartial examination, I feel bound to state, that, on the subject of Tradition, either as forming-, as it is asserted, together with Holy Scripture, the joint Rule of Faith, or as being its only just and legitimate interpreter ; — on the Doctrine of the Sacraments, as almost the exclusive and necessarily efficient channels and means of Grace ; — on the Forgiveness of Sin after Baptism ; on the grand article of Justification by Faith ; on Reserve in the Communication OF Divine Truth ; — on some inferences drawn from the Consti- tution OF the Church ; — and on the due estimation of Eccle- siastical Rites and Observances, the authors in question appear to me to hold tenets and opinions opposed to Holy Scripture, and to the genius of Christianity, and at variance with the sound and authoritative principles of the Reformed Church of England. Broughton, Bishop of Australia. — 1841. 5. Until a very recent period, the Clergy themselves have been, in general, far from shewing any inclination to enlarge upon the certainty or dignity of the commission which they bear ; but had fallen — blameably it must be admitted — into the opposite extreme.* While they continued silent upon the subject of their own claims, the reality of any Apostolical succession in the office of the Ministry was obstinately disputed in other quarters ; insomuch, that but for the revived assertion, at almost the last hour, of our just pretension to be accounted of as stewards of the mysteries of God, the title itself, and the whole train of ideas which it suggests, would ere long have fallen into desuetude and oblivion. Under these circumstances, it is difficult to account for the extreme jealousy and aversion with which the very mention of the revival of such a pretension, apart even from any apprehended excess or even with the extraordinary benefits ascribed to the movement by the Bishop op Toronto, and he will then be better able to decide whether " the value of the Tracts has been more openly acknowledged in the Colonies than in the INIother Country ■," or " more truly estimated in those portions of the Church, which have nothing but Church principles to support them, than in those where the Church has been accus- tomed to rest, in a great degree, upon the support of the civil power." The subse- quent Charges of the Bishops of JMadras, Calcltta, and Guiana, (1833,) delivered since the publication of the first edition of Mr. Perceval's pamphlet, may also be very safely referred to for the same purpose Ed. * A reference to this paragraph should have been insei'ted in Chap II., p. 32. — Ed. 154 BENEFICIAL EFFECTS, ETC. CHURCH PRINCIPLES. abuse to which it may be liable, has been received.^ It passes my ability to reconcile such a display of feeling with the admission which is at the same time made, that "the Reformation beginning in a resistance to the unjust pretensions, has been followed in too many instances by a denial of the just claims of the Clergy. In many places, and by many writers, and in not a few Christian communities, the office of the Christian Ministry is stripped of all its sacred dignity, the teacher is counted subordinate to the taught, and the steward of the mysteries of the Gospel required to dis- tribute its spiritual treasures and divide its saving doctrines ac- cording to the passions or pleasures of his fellow-servants, rather than the fixed will and commandment of their common Master."* 6. This is a description of the state of things within the Church which must create uneasy sensations in every mind earnest for its welfare and preservation ; and must occasion us to pause before we can bring ourselves to censure any endeavour, having in view to rectify those admitted disorders, by the revival of a becoming feeling of respect for the Ministerial office and character. I am aware how dangerous it may be, for one in my situation, to express even a qualified opinion upon a point which has given occasion to much recent controversy. Contemplating, however, the true state- ment which we have just heard of the evils which afflict the Church, and filled with apprehension that the gates of hell must eventually prevail against any branch of it in which such evils should continue without notice or reformation, I should be -wanting in the firmness which becomes my position here, if, after attentive consideration of the subject, I should hesitate to express my thankfulness to those among ourselves who have ventured, at this crisis, to promulgate what I must consider the juster view of the nature of the Ministerial function ; not with a desire to exalt the office and power of the Clergy, but to abate, if God will, those internal disorders which have brought, it may be said, the Church into jeopardy. 7. In expressing my satisfaction with these views, I would not be understood to approve all the arguments by which they may be supported : much less to concur in all the lengths to which they may be carried. Certainly it must be acknowledged, that in questions connected with practical Theology, the judgment and discrimination are never so severely taxed as when it is requisite to fix the point at which opinions, true in themselves, begin to be associated with error. Truth itself, however far it may be pushed, can never be transmuted into error. But thus it is — some other principle, not * Benson''s Discourses, p. 30. 5 This difficulty has, in all probability, been greatly diminislicd by subsequent formation. See the Postscript, appended to his Lordship's Charge. — Pars. 47, 48, iu hnii. VTTf information. Chap. VIII RESTORATION OF ANCIENT FORMS. NEGLECTED TRUTHS. 155 founded In truth as the former was, is taken up as an apparent deduction from it ; and this being constantly associated with the primitive truth, begins to be viewed as forming a part of it, by those who are not very watchful and cautious in their conclusions. Thus, for example, there is no position for which we ought to contend with greater steadfastness, than for the reality of that commission, by virtue of which we undertake to preach the word of God, and to minister the Sacraments in the congregation. This is that primary truth for the bringing of which out of long neglect into more general notice and becoming prominence, the Church is imder a weighty obligation to those who have had the firmness to declare themselves in favour of the older and more solid sentiments. 8. But I perceive, with regret, that there are others Avho, not content with temperately holding those sentiments, appear disposed to connect them with certain consequences, supposed to follow necessarily from them ; and who will, by such a course of proceeding, bring discountenance upon principles which, by them- selves, might command very general approval. 9. The first among the principles here referred to, limits itself to affirming that there exists in the Church of Christ a ministry of Apostolical institution, which has been conveyed by uninter- rupted succession from their hands to the present time. But by some it is maintained that the admission of this involves a further consequence, that there can be no force or validity in any Divine oi'dinance administered by mere laymen, or by such as do not partake of that successional appointment to the Ministry. Now this, unless I am exceedingly mistaken, is the very turning point which separates the true and beneficial, from the mistaken and injurious, acceptation of the Doctrine we are now engaged with ; namely, the Doctrine of Apostolical succession. LoNGLEY, Bishop of Ripon. — 1841. 5. (and) In adverting to the opinions of those among the Clergy, who in their writings have advocated the restoration of ancient forms, it may surely be said, that so far as they earnestly call upon us to act up to the principles of our Church, — to provide, as much as in us lies, that she become in practice what she professes to be in theory, — encouraging us to aim more fervently and resolutely at that high mark of holiness, self-denial, self-discipline, and alms- giving which she holds forth to our view, and to live up to the elevated standard she sets before us, arousing us at the same time to a stricter sense of our accountableness to God, they deserve our honour and our thanks : still further, I believe that they have done good service to the Church, in bringing forward more prominently some comparatively neglected truths with regard to the proper standing of the Church herself and her Ministers ; as well as in leading some who were, perhaps unconsciously, inclined to view the 156 nENEFICIAL EFFECTS OP THE MOVEMENT. Holy Sacraments as mere badges of the Christian profession, and the Holy Eucharist as little more than a commemorative rite, to entertain a juster sense of their real import. 5/3. It might, however, have been better for the peace and welfare of the Church, had their efforts been limited to these points only ; for who can fail to feel pain and grief when he hears them speaking tenderly of practices to which our standard Divines have usually affixed strong terms of reprobation. Let us instance the case of the Invocation of Saints and the Worship of Images, or as they would term it, " the honour paid to images," which they seem to consider as merely dangerous to the uneducated. I am far from wishing to intimate that they would either sanction or wish for a general return to such usages ; at the same time, it is difficult to escape from the conviction, that the language used has had a strong tendency to foster their adoption. 57. The tone also of depreciation and disparagement in which our own reformed branch of the Catholic Church is sometimes spoken of, as though her Reformation were, after all, but a very questionable blessing, — as if she gave no free scope to the higher devotional feelings, can scarcely fail to weaken the attachment of some of her less reflecting sons, and prepare them for an abandonment of her communion ; indeed, the fact that such teaching has led to consequences Avhich we fully believe those pious and learned men could never have themselves contemplated, and we are satisfied they must now deplore, in bringing many to the verge of schism,^ will evidently shew that their guidance in these matters must be looked upon with some suspicion. Strachan, Bishop of Toronto. — 1841. 6. These evils'^ were making great and alarming progress, when a few devout and learned men, manfully and heroically came forward to stem the torrent, hopeless as the attempt seemed at first to be. Nor have they failed in succeeding, to a great extent, in the attainment of their object. They have been instrumental in reviving most important and essential truths, and in awakening the members of the Church to a higher estimate of her distinctive principles. They have called forth new and increasing energy in both Clergy and laity. They have animated the lukewarm; REGU- LATED THE COURSE OF THE MORE ZEALOUS^ (! !) 6 A list of those who — as there was but too much reason to expect — have gone beyond "the verge of schism," to which, in the judgment of his Lordship, tfie teaching of their leaders had brought them, into actual secession from the Church of England to that of Rome, will be found in Appendix H See also the remarlvS of the Bishop of Llandaff upon the subject, in his Lordship's Charge of 1842 Pars. 41, 42, in Chap. XXV Ed. '' Vide Par. 5, in Chap. Ill Ed. 8 Certainly Mr. Newman, by the advice and with the approbation of all the leaders of his party, has made a desperate effort for this purpose ; with what succofs, the melancholy catalogue of secessions, given iu Appendix H, too plainly shews. — Ed. THE REFORMERS RESCUED FROM OBLIVION ! 157 and RESCUED the works of the ancient Fathers from the scorn of ignorance, and THE PILLARS OF THE REFORMATION FROM 0BLIVI0N.9 (! ! !) The tenor of their teaching has been, like their lives, holy, meek, and consistent with the spirit of Christianity ; and they have, by their writings, caused the voice of the Church Catholic to be heard through the whole of the British dominions. 7. But while I readily accord a high meed of praise to men who have been thus active in producing a change so salutary in our Church, I by no means consider them perfect, or possessing any other authority than that of individual writers. Nor do I profess to agree in all their opinions, much less in some of their expressions. To avoid one error, they have not at all times steered sufficiently clear of another ; but it is our duty, as Christians, to judge by the general effects and intentions, and not by incidental observations ; and in the present case, after making all the deductions which the most rigid justice can demand, an amount of merit still remains, to which few writers can pretend. 8. Such members of our communion, if, indeed, they can be called members, as are ojyposed to the recognition of any authority in the Church, — to any Divine title in the appointment of our ministers, — to any deep and awful views of the Sacraments, — to self-denial^ discipline^ and obedience, — will condemn^ the writers to whom I have alluded, as promoters of unheard-of novelties, and idle disputation ; but those who believe and value the principles of Catholicity, will guai*d themselves scrupulously against general censure, even when lamenting and opposing particular faults. They will speak of such authors kindly and respectfully, as men engaged in the same good cause, and be more disposed to dwell upon their excellences than their deficiencies. Beresford, Archbishop of Armagh. — 1842. While I thus plainly express my disapproval of the sentiments put forward in this Tract, (No. 90,) I must not be understood as passing an unqualified censure upon the whole of the series. Several of the Tracts were written with the useful design of coun- teracting some popular misconceptions of religion, and they have proved serviceable in defending and explaining those Catholic and 9 I venture to give more than ordinary distinction to these beneficial effects of the Tractariau movement, under the persuasion that they have hitherto been little known and most imperfectly appreciated. The capitals are not his Lordship's ; the reader, be he whom he may, will have little difficulty in approi3riating to liimself the marks of admiration. See Chap. XIX. — Ed. 1 I hope I may be allowed to observe, without any dtsrespect to the Bishop of Toronto, that if the Tractarians are condemned only by such supposed members of our Communion as are here described by his Lordship, the amount of censure to which they will be exposed, will be small indeed. The italics in the text are not his Lordship's.— Ed. 158 BENEFICIAL EFFECTS, ETC. OBSERVANCE Apostolic principles wliieh distinguish our Church from the lati- tudinarianism of Protestant sectarians, as well as from the super- stitions of the Church of Eome. Answer to an Address from the InlMbitmtts of Dungannon and Parish of Drumglass. Mant, Bishop of Down and Connor, and Dromore. — 1842. [Those of you, my Reverend Brethren, who have read the Tracts, will probably concur with me in opinion, that they were undertaken with good and laudable motives, that in many particulars they were directed to valuable ends, that they have, in some cases, been productive of important benefit. These, however, are not sufficient reasons, why, if evil has been blended with their good, that evil should not be unfolded and deprecated ; rather, there are obvious reasons why it should.] Vide Par. 3, in Chap. II. * Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter. — 1842. 1. The University of Oxford has recently been identified, in the judgment of the inconsiderate, with the authors of what are commonly called " The Oxford Tracts."^ It is well, therefore, that measures have been taken by the University itself, to teach, authoritatively, on those important subjects, on which private members of that body have used the liberty, which undeniably belonged to them, of setting forth their sentiments without authority. 2. The result of the unauthorized teaching has, I fully believe, been, on the whole, very highly useful to the cause, not only of sacred learning, but also of true religion. Whatever may be the clamours with which these writers are assailed, — and while I think that in some important particulars they have erred in doctrine, and that in others, both important and unimportant, they have been injudicious in their recommendations of practice, — I scruple not to repeat the avowal, which I made to you three years ago, of my own deep sense of the debt which the Church owes to them. The candid ecclesiastical historian of the nineteenth century, whatever else he may say of these men, will hereafter point to them, as having most largely contributed, by their own energy, and by exciting the zeal and energy of others, to that revival of a spirit of inquiry into the doctrines of the primitive Fathers, into the con- stitution of the Church of Christ, and, generally, into matters of high importance to the cause of Gospel Truth, which has spread with a rapidity wholly unexampled since the days of Cranmer. But I enlarge not ou these points. He whose station best entitles 2 " Tracts for the Times. By Members of the University of Oxford." — Title-page. —Ed. OP THE RUBRICS. SYSTEMATIC PIETY. 159 him to speak of these writers, their own venerated Diocesan, has anticipated all other testimony. My object is, to do an act of simple justice to them, at whatever hazard of sharing in the obloquy, which has been heaped not only on them, but on many who, differing' from them in important particulars, as I have declared myself to differ, do yet, like me, regard them with respect and gratitude, as good, and able, and pious men, who have laboured most earnestly, and, on the whole, very beneficially, in the service of the Church of Christ. [There is one leading particular in their teaching, on which, when I warmly commend it, I venture to assure myself that I shall have the assent of most among you ; I mean the stimulus which they have given to a life of systematic piety. ^ Vide Par. 3, in Chap. XXIII. , 12. I was brought to this matter (the observance of the Rubrics) by a wish to do justice to one especial benefit which has been rendered to the Church by the writers of the " Tracts for the Times." [There is another particular, in which they appear to me equally entitled to our gratitude ; I mean the zealous and effectual manner in which they have enforced the great evangelical truth, that the true Christicm life is not an individual, but a corporate life ; . . . The writers of the Tracts have largely contributed — not to revive, for it was never dead, but to spread and strengthen, a practical sense of this our corporate character, as we are Christians. For earnestly impressing this truth, and others con- nected with it, and the consequences resulting from them, the writers of whom I speak, appear to me to merit the grateful acknowledgment of true Churchmen, in proportion to the con- tumely which has been, in some quarters, most unsparingly showered upon them.] Vide Pars. 13, 24, and 25, in Chap. IX. [In like manner they have successfully laboured to impress the necessity and efficacy of the Sacraments^ as the appointed means, in and by which Cod is pleased to impart the vital and saving grace of Christ On this matter of the Sacraments, I am thankful to the writers of the Tracts for the stimulus which they have given to us : and with the expression of this feeling I would gladly close what I have to say of them. But — ] Vide Pars. 26 and 40, in Chap. XII. 69. And now, as the publication of the Tracts has ceased, let us hope that the excitement caused by them may cease also ; that the Church may peaceably benefit by the testimony to its own prin- ciples which has been ably borne in some of them — free from the errors which characterise others — free, too, from the extravagances, the puerile but most mischievous extravagances, which have, in 160 BENEFICIAL EFFECTS, ETC. HAS THE some places, marked the practice of their disciples. It is gratify" ing to believe, that, in this diocese, the favour with which many of the Clergy have regarded these publications, has not been, in any one instance, thus disgraced.^ MuSGRAVE, Bishop of Hereford. — 1842. 66. I have thus, as briefly as possible, hinted at some prevailing opinions and practices of the present day, which appear to me to be erroneous and reprehensible. To notice them in greater detail, or to embrace a larger number of them, would lead me far beyond the limit assigned to such occasions as this, and at best I could only glance at them rapidly, 67. Yet I must be permitted to say, that somewhat simultaneously with, though many think independently of,* these erroneous views and proceedings, has been aroused a spirit of revived inquiry into the grounds, privileges, and duties of Church Membership, with stricter attention to rule and discipline, and a higher regard for the " decency and order," not only of worship, but also of the sacred edifices in which that worship is to be solemnized, a more frequent celebration of, and a more general attendance on, the Holy Communion ; a worthier estimate of the Sacraments, a more devout observance of the Lord's Day, and of the fasts and festivals of the Church, a higher tone of moral and religious sentiment, for some time past extending through every grade of society, and a growing desire for unity, discipline, and order. 68. And while we lament the preponderating evil^ on the one side, we desire not to forget the amount of good contained in the 3 I have no wish to defend " the puerile and most mischievous extravagances" to which his Lordsliip refers, and wliicli — I speak from my own personal observation- have found their way, but too soon, into the Diocese of Exeter. Some little allowance, however, ought surely to be made for the " younger adlierents" of those " rash teachers'''' who, to quote the testimony of the Bishop of Llandaff, " seem to think it enough, here and there, to protest against certain Popish corruptions ; but love to lead their disciples to the very confines of that treacherous ground — encourage a taste and a liking for the prospect — study to make its boundaries less distinct and perceptible, and seem intent upon smoothing the way, and affording facilities for passing on from our own side to the other. If this be not dangerous to the purity of our Chui-ch, and of the faith which has been established among us by the blood of martyrs, it is hard to say what is ; and if it be reconcilable with that allegiance to which all her Ministers have over and over pledged themselves, then have we cleansed our sanctuary in vain. "—Charge of 1842. Vide Pars. 41, 42, in Chap. XXV Ed. * Vide Charges of the Bishops of Ossory, par. 95, p. 42, and Llandaff, par. 18, p. .30, supra. — Ed. ^ Mr. Perceval, in the second edition of his Collection of Papers, &.C., published in 1833, thus speaks of the Episcopal Charges delivered during the preceding year: — i " The high commendation bestowed upon the Tracts and upon their authors, by several of the English Prelates, in the course of the present year, 1842, aff"ords no pretence for altering this sentence ; — (the value of the Tracts has been more openly acknowledged in the Colonies than in the INIother Country ;) — because, in euery instance, these commendations have been accompanied by cautions and censures to such an amount, that, but for their Lordships^ own e.rpressed conclusion, that the good has jireponderated, one might not unreasonably have supposed that they GOOD OR THE JEVIL PREPONDERATED? 16l opposite scale. Lax and uncertain notions were afloat respecting the Unity of the Church. An outward and nominal conformity was often deemed sufficient : a defective and partial allegiance was the result. Knox, Bishop of Limerick. — 1842. 2. I freely admit, when the zeal of pious, but, perhaps, enthu- siastic men, first set forth those writings, entitled " Tracts for the Times," much good resulted, as it opened the eyes of many to truer notions of Church discipline and Church power ; but, alas, (as is too commonly the case,) carried away by too hasty and indis- criminate a zeal, the barriers between truth and error, if not broken down, were at least so far obliterated and merged together, that to those less learned than the authors, there appeared little distinction. CopLESTON, Bishop op Llandafp. — 1842. 16. There is a class of publications which has attracted almost universal notice, — sometimes for praise, but of late more frequently for censure and admonition,^ from those whose office in the Church requires them more especially to watch over the purity of our Doctrine, and the due administration of religious ordinances. To these publications the topics to which I have just adverted naturally lead me. I know they originated in a desire to correct a laxity of opinion, or rather a culpable thoughtlessness, and a superficial knowledge of divine things, too frequent among those who were educated for the Ministry ; and they have brought many minds to think seriously, to feel deeply, and to reason justly, upon points which in the last age were either little understood or little regarded. They have opened sources of information, and excited a spirit of inquiry among theological students, which may be productive of much good. In particular, they have displayed, in all its fulness and beauty, the nature of that heavenly institution, the Catholic Church of Christ ; they have developed the characters of unity, of sanctity, of authority, which belong to it ; and they have raised an awful sense of the mystery of man's redemption, and of the means had arrived at a very different opinion concerning the value of the movement"!! p. G, note. Tliat the Bishop of Hereford is not singular in his opinion, will be seen by referring to the Charge of the Bishop of Llandaff, who also speaks of "the pre- dominance of evil,'''' arising from the Tractarian movement, in still stronn-er terms See Charge 1842, pars. 16 and 39. " Now, giving Mr. Perceval the full benefit of the somewhat different conclusions of the Bishops of Exeter (1839, par. 64), Salisbury (1842, pars. 3 and 5), and St. David's (1842, par. 5), the language in which he has recorded the relative proportions of praise and censure bestowed by the English Prelates upon the Tractarian movement is, to say the least of it, most unfortunate Eu. ' 6 See Mr. Perceval's direct assertion to the contrary Note 5, page 160, supra. The italics are not his Lordship's, — Ed. M ] 62 BENEFICIAL EFFECTS, ETC. PREDOMINANCE which the Church is commissioned to employ, for impressing upon all her Members a constant veneration and love towards the Redeemer, and for enabling them to make a personal application of his merits to the benefit of their own souls. 17. These are principles, indeed, which have never been absent from the teaching of the Church ; but they have been more or less prominent, and they have had more or less influence, according to the temptations and corruptions of each succeeding age ; at one time buried and stifled, as it were, in the superstitions of Popery, — at another, coarsely and rudely handled in the rage of Theo- logical controversy, — or, again, slumbering amidst the formalities of a settled and secure establishment. 18. That this last, however, was the state of our own Church, when these publications began, I can by no means admit. As compared with the preceding age, there had sprung up, long before they appeared, a juster sense of the nature and duties of the pastoral office, and of the obligation of ordination vows ; a growing- improvement in the performance of public worship, and in the tone and matter of preaching ; and, certainly, there was spread through- out society a more enlightened acquaintance with Church history, and with the ground of our separation from the Church of Rome. [It was, therefore, with pain and sorrow, that I observed the early indication of that evil, which almost invariably attends the formation of what must be called a School, or a Party, in matters of religion.] Vide Par. 19, in Chap. XXV. 27. And here, perhaps, I shall be met by a remark, that this is all that is aimed at by the writers themselves. Now, I will admit, that they have laboured conscientiously and zealously to restore the spirit of our discipline, in many respects falling into decay — that they have exercised a salutary influence in turning the minds of all, laity as well as Clergy, to a due consideration of the awful mysteries of our redemption, to which the whole of our ritual bears a con- tinual and a close relation — that the feelings have been softened, the heart subdued, the fervour of devotion kindled, by their com- mentaries on our liturgy — and that men have been taught to value that highly, which, because it had become familiar, they were too apt to slight — and to see a force, a beauty, and a connection with their own spiritual welfare, in many parts of public worship, in which they had often carelessly or ignorantly joined. 28. More than all, they have succeeded in awakening the soul to a just sense of that holy brotherhood, the Catholic Church of Christ ; into the privileges of which we are admitted by baptism, and in communion with which we must endeavour through life to continue, if we would inherit the blessing prepared for us from the beginning of the world. A forgetfulness, or an imperfect view of this relation in which we stand as members of Christ's Church upon earth, was, as I before observed, one of the chief errors of OF EVIL THREATENS TO COUNTERACT THE GOOD. 163 the day: and if the ceremonial of the Romish Church, mixed up as it is with the observances of every day, presenting memorials of it to the eye and to the ear continually, in the Churches, in the streets, and by the way-side, enjoining a scrupulous distinction of meats and days for the same purpose, and bringing back even the old bondage of the law, " Touch not, taste not, handle not ;" — if, I say, she possesses this advantage over us in maintaining union, dearly purchased, indeed, by the superstitions mixed up with, and inseparable from, the whole system, let us, at least, carefully cherish those expedients which our Church provides, in a 'purer form^ for the same end. 38. As far as this frame'^ of mind tends to correct light and careless performance of religious duty, or habitual want of devo- tion, or superficial acquaintance with the ordinances of our Church — as far as it promotes the study of their origin, their import, and their sacred use, and to inspire a devout love and reverence for them, it may do much good ; and in the instance before us, it has done much good. 39. This it is which has called forth the praise and encourage- ment of many, who now lament the mixture, or rather, I may say, the predominance^ of evil, which has lately manifested itself, and which, if unchecked, threatens to counteract, and even to corrupt, the good already done^ " to eat as doth a canker' — confounding the relative importance of things, and leading young and susceptible minds to turn away with disgust from any sober statement of Divine truth, which does not harmonize with their own visionary ideas and excited feelings. [Even giving them credit for having pointed out real defects and irregularities in our Church system, yet these, upon a calm and dispassionate consideration, would appear to be but " dust in the balance," — ] Vide Par, 44, in Chap. XX. Blomfield, Bishop of London. — 1842. 30. Now it is impossible to deny that a great degree of laxity has crept over us in this matter ;9 and Ave are much indebted to those learned and pious men, who have forcibly recalled our attention to a branch of duty too long imperfectly performed. In some in- stances, indeed, they have gone beyond the line of duty and of "^ *' A morbid feeling in religious matters," giving rise to " complaints of the in- sufficiency of our religious offices and formularies."— Fiete Par 37, in Chap. XX. —Ed. s Compare Mr. Perceval's assertion, that, in the judgment of our Bishops, "(lie good has preponderated." — Note 5, page ] GO, sitpra. The itaUcs are not his Lordship's. —Ed. ^ The observance of the Rubric, &c. — Ed. m2 164 BENEFICIAL EFFECTS, ETC. REVIVAL OF prudence, in recommending or practising ceremonies and forms not authorized by their own Church, and in ascribing to others an im- portance which does not properly belong to them ; but there can be no doubt of their having mainly contributed to the progress which has been made during the last few years towards a full and exact observance of the Church's Rubrical injunctions, as well as to a better understanding of the foundations and proportions of her Polity, and the nature and value of her discipline. We ought not to overlook the real good, which they have effected in one direction, while we contemplate with apprehension the evil which it is to be feared they have wrought in another. C^Brien, Bishop op Ossory, Ferns, and Leighlin. — 1842. [It is known, that is, to every one, that a movement has been going on for some years, originating with certain Members of the University of Oxford, which had for its professed object to bring our Church back to her true principles, from which, from various unfavourable circumstances in her position, she was represented as having widely strayed. And it is also known, that this movement has for some time gone so far beyond its ostensible object, as to alarm not a few even of those who looked upon it at first with approbation and hope.] Vide Par. 92, in Chap. IV. [The declared object (of the " Tracts for the Times'") was to aid the rulers of the Church to meet the difficulties with which they had to contend, by stirring up her Ministers to remember and assert the power which had been bestowed upon them at their ordination ; and by giving her Lay Members better information concerning her constitution and principles, by imparting to them clearer views of the foundation of her claims to authority, and by making them understand better the privileges which they enjoyed m her communion. These were important services. But the principles on which, and the mode in which, they were to be rendered, were matters of no mean importance too. And I cannot but think that, com- paratively cautious as were the first steps of the party, even in their very earliest efforts, there was not a little which ought to have suggested that this grave enterprise was not in very safe hands.] Vide Pars. 93, 94, in Chap. IV. Bagot, Bishop of Oxford. — 1842. 14. I now proceed, in the discharge of the heavy responsibilities of my office, to offer some remarks and advice on the subject of the opinions of which we have been speaking. 15. Four years ago, when the principles in question were be- ginning to spread, men knew not how, and while there was more doubt than at present whereunto they would grow, — whether, like CHURCH PRINCIPLES, DISCIPLINE, AND AUTHORITY. 165 fire among the tliorns, they would blaze up for the moment, and then die away, — or whether the flame was kindled among such materials as would give forth no mean light, and not be readily extinguished, I took the opportunity to speak freely to you, of the good ^hich, in my opinion, had actually resulted from the publication of the Tracts for the Times, of the tendencies in them which I considered dangerous ; and I further stated to yon, that my fears ai'ose, for the most part, rather from the disciples than the teachers.^ During the period which has intervened, I have, speaking generally, seen no reason to alter my sentiments. 23. With respect to the other numbers of the work in question, it is obviously impossible to speak otherwise than very generally. No doubt there are many imperfections in them. The language is often painfully obscure, equivocal, capable of bearing several in- terpretations, and not rarely it is most unguarded. And all this, in addition to there being many statements in them, on which good men will hold conflicting opinions to the end of time. 24. I feel also bound to say, that the authors of the Tracts have seemed to me far too indifferent to the discord and distractions which their actions and writings have caused, thereby hurrying on a crisis, from the acceleration of which nothing is to be hoped, and every thing to be feared. 25. However, as public attention has been, and is so strongly directed to the Tracts, there seems no fear lest any errors in them should remain undetected. God grant, that what there is of evil in them may be rendered innocuous, that what is good may be yet further blessed to the Church''s welfare ; and that those, who contributed to produce them, may, in all their future writings, so profit by past experience, as to keep ever before them the Apostolic injunctions — " not to let their good be evil spoken of," and " to abstain from all appearance of evil."" 26. That, in spite of these faults, the Tracts for the Times have, from their commencement, exerted a beneficial influence among us. In many respects, must, I should think, — even their enemies being their judges, — be admitted. Their eftect, even upon those who are not in communion with our Church, — the Dissenters and Romanists, — has not been immaterial ; and within the Church it is impossible to mark the revival of Church principles which has taken place among us, the increasing desire for unity — the increasing sense of the guilt and evils of schism — the yearning after that discipline which we have so much lost — the more ready and willing obedience to ecclesiastical authority — the greater anxiety to live by the Prayer- Book^ — the better observation of the Fasts and Festivals of the 1 Charge 1838, par. 6 See Note 3, p. 160, supra.— Ev. " Sec Chap. XX. — Disparnfiemenl of the Anglican Liturgy. Longings after Popish Formularies. Revival of Vopish Doctrines and Ceremonies. — Ed. 166 BENEFICIAL EFFECTS, ETC. THE Church — the more decent mluistration of, and deeper reverence for, her Sacraments — growing habits of devotion and self-sacrifice, — it is impossible, I say, to see these things, and their growth, within the last ten years, and not acknowledge that, under God, the authors of the Tracts have been the humble instruments of at least bringing them before men's minds, and of exhibiting in their own lives their practical fruits. Denison, Bishop of Salisbury. — 1842. 8. You will, however, allow me to remind you, that, three years ago, without entering into particulars, I expressed a hope gene- rally, that whatever extravagancies of opinion might be seen in some quarters, the theological movement which has taken place in these late years, would, on the whole, by eliciting and illustrating the truth, confirm the principles, and strengthen the position, of the Church. Nor do I, even now, see any sufficient reason to change the opinion I then declared ; and, believing, as I do, that the pious and learned men in whose writings these controversies originated, have been instrumental in bringing forward important truths from comparative neglect, I cannot too much deprecate the harsh and sweej)ing condemnation not unfrequently passed upon them, as if their exertions had been productive of unmixed evil. Much as I dissent from some of their opinions, and disapprove of the manner in which they have been expressed, and exaggerated as their views appear to me on many points, I cannot refuse to acknowledge, that in several, and weighty respects, we are deeply indebted to them. 4. They have been the chief instruments in reviving the study of sound theology in an unlearned age. They have raised the standard of the ministerial character, by teaching men to trace the commission of the Clergy through the Apostles up to our Lord Himself, and to see in this the sure warrant for their work. They have impressed upon the Clergy the obligation of walking orderly, according to the laws and regulations of the Church in which they are commissioned to minister. They have successfully vindicated the important truth of the nature and constitution of the Church, from the vague and lax notions which used too generally to prevail respecting it. They have given the Sacraments their due place in the scheme of our holy religion, as contrasted with those who would make them little else than bare signs and symbols, instead of channels of regenerating and sanctifying grace. They have warned men not to rest contented in the mere beginnings of the Christian life, but to endeavour still to "go on unto perfection," encouraging them to aim continually at a higher standard of holi- ness, devotion, self-denial, and good works. 6. Now, I do not say, that the teaching of the writers in question has been free from all objection on these subjects. On the contrary, it may be that there has been, throughout, a disposition to exagge- STODY OP SOUND THEOLOGY REVIVED. ] 67 ration, and there is, perhaps, no one of the above points, on which statements, more or less objectionable, might not be found in one or other of the writings of this school of divines. Still, in the main, the tendency of their works has been, in my judgment, to establish sound views in the Church on the above important heads of Doctrine ; and for this they deserve our thanks. 10. But history, throughout its pages, shews us that no great movement of opinion was ever unaccompanied by extravagances. Even portions of the truth, if held partially and exclusively, assume the character of error ; and it needs a discriminating judgment to discern at what point principles, sound in themselves, when rightly understood, are in danger of being perverted, by being made to lead to erroneous conclusions, apparently, though not really, re- sulting from them. Thus, it is not to be denied, that at the time of the Reformation itself, the truths, which we believe the Spirit of God then re-established in his Church, were by some made the sanction for licentiousness. And it may well be, that even of those whose names we justly hold in honour, as having been instruments chosen of God to procure for us blessings which we cannot too highly prize, and whom we thankfully acknowledge to have been gifted with the learning, the judgment, the moderation, and the piety which enabled them to effect their arduous task ; — it may well be, that amid the difficulties with which they were surrounded, even some of these may have expressed sentiments, or used lan- guage, which we should not be willing altogether to adopt. 11. Again, when in the torpor of the last century, a spirit was awakened in the Church, by which many w^ere turned " from sin unto righteousness,'" and which, in the main, Ave recognise as the work of the Spirit of Holiness, I suppose that few, even of those who most admire the characters of the chief agents in the work, will now say, that all their statements, and Doctrines, and prac- tices, are to be defended or approved. Those who respect them most highly, see many things in which it is better not to follow them ; while others, who judge them less kindly, have uncon- sciously derived from them much of the truth most precious to their own souls, most influential upon their own conduct. 12. Now, in looking, at our own times, I cannot lay aside the recollection of what has been in former days ; and I trust that, amid the present heat and ferment of men''s minds, God is purifying his chosen instruments, and moulding them for his own purposes. And thus, while the rash, and the heady, and the high-minded have, through presumption, fallen into error, and the obstinate have been confirmed in their prejudices, by the very opposition raised to them ; the moderate, and the teachable, and the humble- minded have, out of all this strife of opinion and feeling, drawn for themselves more and more by degrees the latent element of truth ; 168 BENEFICIAL EFFECTS, ETC. THE EVIL they have been led to search into their own opinions, and to approach nearer to that, to which doubtless no man in perfection attains — the mind of God, as revealed in his written Word, and the system of truth and the mode of its communication, as esta- blished by our blessed Lord and his Apostles. Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 1842. Vide Paragraphs 45, 46, of the Dean's Charge, Cliap. III., page 38, supra. Short, Bishop of Sodor and Man. — 1842. The condition of the Church of England has been for some years rapidly and greatly improving. The younger Clergy are generally much better educated than they formerly were, and have, as a whole, become much more intelligent, zealous, and active ; and the love borne to them by the people is consequently greatly on the increase. I thank God for it ; and take courage, and pray God that we may go forward in this movement.^ — p. 'S. ^ After a very careful examination of the Charge of the Bishop of Sodor and Man, I was unable to discover in it any reference whatever to the Traetarian Contro- versy, and had, therefore, laid it aside, when I found, to my astonishment, that Mr. Perceval, in his Collection of Papers, &c., had quoted the foregoing passage among liis " extracts from the Charges of the Bishops" given, as he very modestly ohserves, because " it seems hardly right altogether to withhold the testimony of ap- proval, as far as it extends, wliich the movement has received from the English Prelates." (p. 112.) Mr. Perceval introduces the extract by stating, that " The Bishop of Sodor and Man alludes briefly to the matter thus.''' Ha^ang quoted the passage as above, he adds, " If our opponents shall claim their share of this Testimony, far be it from me, even in thought, to wish to withhold it ; only, as the Bishop has not excluded the Tractarians (as they are called), let not them attempt to do so." Of all persons in the world, the present Bishop of Sodor and Man would be the very last to exclude " the Tractarians, as they are called," or any other set of men, from the praise to which they may be justly entitled. " I believe," — says his Lord- ship, in the same Charge, (page 5,) — "that the introduction of the Wesleyan ]\Iethodis's here, as elsewhere, kept up a spirituality of religion — kept up the essentials of Christianity, which would otherwise have been buried among us. I thank God for the good done by them.'''' After this, it may, perhaps, be rather a satisfaction, than otherwise, to Mr. Perceval to hear that, several years ago, the Bishop of Sodor and Man, then Student of Christ Church, in a Sermon preached before the University of Oxford, made the same remark with respect to " the condition of the Church" and " the younger Clergy," as that quoted from his Charge ; attributing the rapid improvement which was taking place, — not to the Tractarians, for at that time they were neither known nor thought of, — not to the operation of a system, many principles of which, as Mr. Perceval must be well aware, would find but little sj-mpathy in the honest, straightforward, and unsophisticated mind of Dr. Thomas Vowler Short, — but to the increased attention bestowed upon the instruction of the junior Members of the University in the Doctrines of the Church of England, as contained i?i the Thirty-nirhe Articles ! The italics in the text are the Editor's : whether the words so printed have, as apparently intended by Mr. Perceval, any reference to " the movement,'''' in support of which he has adduced " the testimony of the English Prelates," is a question which the reader must now decide for himself. — Ed. HITHERTO MUCH MORE THAN COUNTERBALANCED. 169 Thirl WALL, Bishop of St. David's. — 1842. 4. However this may be, it will probably seem to many persons a calamity to be deeply deplored, that gifts and qualities such as I have just mentioned, which, if harmoniously employed, might have rendered the most important services to the Church, should have been arrayed in conflict against each other ; and no doubt it would have been much more desirable that they should have been drawn forth, in an equal degree of activity, by combined exertions for the common cause. 5. But I cannot, on this account, concur with those who would regard the controversy as a subject of unmixed regret, or who think that any evil has hitherto arisen from it, which has not been much more than counterbalanced by its beneficial eifects. 6. I just now alluded to the bulk of its literary productions ; of those which may be considered as immediately and visibly repre- senting it. But the mass of publications, which though not — pro- fessedly at least — of a controversial nature, are intimately connected with it, and have not only taken their tone and colour from it, but could not have existed without it, is far greater, and I cannot but regard the whole, though including much that has no more than a fugitive or historical value, as a precious addition to our Theological literature, such as might perhaps suffer little by comparison with all that it had received in the course of a century before. And yet it is chiefly valuable and interesting, as an expression or indi- cation of the new life which has been recently awakened in the Church. Others may regret that public attention should have been so much turned this way, and diverted from the subjects which appear to them of supreme importance — from politics, or science, or poli- tical economy, or classical literature : but, speaking to you on this occasion, I can only treat it as a matter for mutual congratulation, that, through whatever cause, a spirit should have been roused, which has engaged so many active and powerful minds in the cultivation of Theological learning. As Churchmen, we must rejoice, that the study of Divinity should have begun to embrace a wider range than, for a long period before, had satisfied the greater part of those who dedicated themselves to the Ministry, that it should have become more generally conversant with Christian Antiquity, with Ecclesiastical history, and with the original sources from which the knowledge of these subjects is derived ; so that even ordinary students much less frequently confine their reading to a narrow circle of modern compilations, systems, outlines, and commentaries, and not only are used to carry their inquiries further, but are more desirous of seeing and judging for themselves. All this, indeed, would be of little value, if the spirit which has been awakened had been one of merely literary curiosity, or intellectual energy. But every one who has observed its workings, must be 170 BENEFICIAL EFFECTS, ETC. GREATER aware that the case is very far otherwise : that it is bent, with a deep consciousness, and warm earnestness, upon high practical ends. It may even be doubted, whether there is not some danger, lest this practical tendency should be carried to excess, and lead to the neglect and discouragement of all critical inquii-ies into Theo- logical subjects, not obviously or immediately pointing to practical results. But it is more important, as well as more pleasing, to observe, that the interest thus excited, appears to have given a new impulse to the zeal of the friends of the Church, which has urged them to extraordinary exertions in her behalf. It will hardly be considered by any one as a mere casual coincidence, that the last ten years should have been so signally marked by so many important undertakings in aid of her cause, begun in a confidence which, not long ago, would have been deemed romantic, and accomplished by sacrifices, which would then have appeared almost inconceivable. 7. Still, whatever maybe the amount of the advantage thus gained, it would, undoubtedly, be too dearly pvu'chased, if the price paid for it were the admission of unsound Doctrines, or a breach of unity, in the Church ; and there are many persons who believe — this, indeed, is the very gist of the controversy — that one of these evils has befallen us, and to such a degree, that our only prospect of a remedy lies in the other : and there are others who, though differing widely in their view of the cause, look forward to the same result, some with friendly uneasiness, others with hostile exultation. 8. Unhappily it cannot be denied that there is some ground for these anticipations ; they are often expressed in a manner which tends to realize them ; but still, I trust that we are yet far removed from such a deplorable alternative. And as I am sure that you, my Reverend Brethren, all sympathize with me in the wish that this should prove to be the case, it may not be useless to state the reasons which have led me to this opinion, and which induce me to contemplate the present state of the controversy with much more of hope than of alarm. Pepys, Bishop op Worcester. — 1842. 37. It will be sufficiently evident, from the above observations, that I am by no means disposed to concur in the expediency of that movement in the Church, which has of late excited so much attention. I believe it to be uncalled for by the general conduct of the Clergy ; and, however it may have produced, in some instances, greater exactness in the observation of the forms and ceremonies required by the Rubric, it has this evil effect, that by laying so much stress upon the importance of such forms and ceremonies, it has a tendency to substitute formality for the living spirit of true devotion, directing the attention of the Minister of EXACTNESS IN FORMS AND CEREMONIES. 171 the Gospel so mucli to an over-scrupulous observance of non- essential forms, that there is a danger, lest, satisfied with the minute exactness with vt^hich he fulfils his duty in this respect, he should lose sight of the more important obligations of his holy calling, — those which require him to preach the fundamental Doctrines of Christianity, the lost state of man without redemp- tion, the inestimable value of that redemption, and the duties which result from it, — repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christy 172 CHAPTER VII. CHARACTER OP THE TRACTARIANS AS CONTROVERSIALISTS. TREATMENT OF THEIR OPPONENTS. Sumner, Bishop of Chester. — 1841. [To enter upon this subject generally, or fully, would be quite incompatible with the limits of a Charge.* — ] * T must add, that it would be altogether superfluous. The divinity of the Oxford Tracts has been as completely refuted in all its parts, as any erroneous opinions can ever be refuted ; and it is a sign of the discretion, if not of the candour of the writers, to treat these answers generally, as if they had never been written. If this continues to be the case, after the recent jniblication of Mr. Goode's elaborate " Rule of Faith and Practice," it must be considered as a tacit acknowledgment of complete refutation.* Vide Par. 5, iu Chap. I. * The follo\ving characteristic notice of Mr. Goode's work appeared, shortly after its pubhcation, in the British Critic: — " The Rev. William Goode, the author of several publications against Dissenters, and some tracts on Church Rates, has published, under the title of ' The Divine Rule of Faith and Practice,' (Hatchards,) a most ponderous mass of strictures on the Tracts for the Times, &c. ; which will perhaps be a lasting monument of the writer's industry, but is as little in place in modern controversy, as the millstones and landmarks, which the Homeric warriors used in an extremity to heave against one another, would be in the warfare of these days. Mr. Goode, to do him justice, appears very learned in the Tracts for the Times, and in some of the articles that have appeared in the Retnew. At first, we even thought that several of them would, if lost, be entirely rej^laced from his pages. The line of argument may be seen from the first items in the Table of Contents : — ' All Divine Revelation demands our implicit faith and obedience In a revelation of truths above our comprehension, demanding our faith, we are bound to require sufticient evidence of its Divine origin This we must do individually, because we are to be judged as individuals,' &c." — British Critic, No. (il, p. 246. But the injury inflicted upon the party by Mr. Goode's " ponderous" though well- directed missile, was far more severely felt than his opponents were willing to acknow- ledge. In the usual phraseology of the School, " the recejjtion which his volumes appeared to meet with in some quarters," constrained them, for once, to abandon their sub silentio practice, and profess themselves ready " to accept an antagonist, who, what- ever his faults might be" . . . . " attempts" (upon theii' own confession) " to meet the system as a whole, as well as in all its parts ; definitely specifies the Doctrines MR. GOODE RELIEVES THE BISHOPS IN DISTRESS. 173 Whately, Archbishop op Dublin. — 1842. Among the subjects here treated of, are some on which I have which he condemns as false and draws out into sliape his own sentiments on the disputed points. " The " claim" of the Divine Rule of Faith and Practice to a " reply with some degree of detail," notwithstanding its " almost intolerable defects of reasoning and composition," being thus established, the office of reviewer was under- taken, as it is generally understood, by the Rev. W. Ward, M.A., of Balliol College, the zealous champion of Trad 90 ; and an article, extending to nearly a hundred pages, from the pen of that gentleman, appeared in the British Critic for July, 1842: the conclusion of which I subjoin, because, while it gives the result of Mr. Ward's criticism, it exliibits an instructive specimen of that profound reverence for Episcopacy of which the Tractarians so loudly boast, and for which so much credit " appears''"' at least to have been bestowed upon them "in certain quarters." goode's divine rule of faith and practice. Mr. Ward's testimony to its "utter ivorthlessness.'''' " If we have extended our remarks far beyond our usual limits, it has been cer- tainly from no respect whatever for the work before us ; for anj'thing more utterly worthless, considered as a controversial effort, it has never been our lot to fall in with. " In common fairness, mdeed, to their powers of discrimination, we must take for granted that those persons in high station, who seem to have praised and admired the work, have done so without reading it : they are perhaps, on other grounds, hostile to the Oxford movement, but have found difficulty in dealing ivith the historical argument ; and, accordingly, to have the countenance of one tvriter at least ivho shews knowledge of the Fathers, in that hostility, is a comfort and a relief to them ! ! ! " But any one who has looked at all carefully into the book, will meet with no ordinary trial to his patience ; he will find conclusions at which English or foreign Theologians in past ages have ar- rived by means of accurate investigation, labour, and thought, contemptuously set aside by a writer, who has displayed no one qualification for the task into which he has thrust himself, beyond that dull, barren memory of words, which is ever found worse than useless to him who has neither genius to inspire, sense to direct, uor self-distrust to restrain him" ! ! British Critic, No. G3, p. lOG, Testimony of " persons in high station, who seem to have praised" it. " Mr. Goode's elaborate ' Rule of Faith and Practice.' " — Bishop op Chester. Charge, 1842. " See ' Bishop Gibson's Preservative,' vol. 3, p. 410, quoted by Mr. Goode, in his learned a7id careful work, ' The Divine Rule of Faith and Practice,' vol. ii., p. 108." — Bishop of London. Sermons on the Church, page 70. Ed. 2d. " The useful work of revising these confident and imposing documents (Trac- tarian Catenae) was completed by Mr. Goode -, 7mtil, of all the authorities ivhich they so confidently claimed, upon all their distinctive points, scarcely one has been left them of any real weight or im- portance,''''— Bishop OF OssoRY and Ferns. Charge, 1842. " ' It gives us great pleasure to state, that at the recent ordinations by the Bishop of Chichester (Dr. Gilbert), his Lordship presented each of the Deacons iv'ilh a copy of Goode's invaluable Work on the Scriptures as the sole Rule of Faith and Practice, &c. ' — Record. [ This is melancholy enough''"''] ! ! Ed. of the English Churchman. " Since this Sermon was first published, I have had the satisfaction of seeing sub- stantially the same v'leiv of the subject taken in the Third of the Bishop of London's recent ' Sermons on the Church,' and in Mr. Goode's learned discussion of it in the second volume of his ' Divine Rule of Faith and Practice,' where the reader will also find important testimony to the same effect from the approved Di\'ines of the English Church." — The Apostolical Succession. A Sermon preached at the Consecration of the Lord Bishop of Chi- chester. By Edward Hawkins, D.D., Provost of Oriel College, and Canon of Rochester. Printed at the command of his Grace the Archbishop of Canter- bury. Ed. 2d. Note, p. 36 Ed. 174 TEEATMENT OF OPPONENTS. HERETICAL PRELATES. not only reflected much, but have written and published from time to time for above twelve years past. And it may not be impertinent here to remark, that in respect of some most important points now maintained, I may appeal (beside the arguments contained in the following pages) to the strongest of all external confirmations, the testimony of opponents. Not that I have ever written in a polemical form, or sought to provoke controversy ; but by opponents, I mean, those who have maintained, and who still maintain, opinions opposite to those I have put forth ; but who have never, to the best of my knowledge, even attempted any refutation of the reasons I have adduced. For instance, that the introduction into the Christian Religion of Sacrifices, and Sacrificing Priests, is utterly at variance Avith the whole system of the Gospel, and destructive of one of its most important characteristics ; and, again, that the implicit deference due to the declarations and precepts of Holy Scripture, is due to nothing else, and that it is not humble piety, but profane presump- tion, either to attribute infallibility to the Traditions or decision of any uninspired man, or body of men, (whether Church, Council, Fathers, or by whatever other title designated,) or, still more, to acknowledge in these, although fallible, a right to fix absolutely the interpretation of Scripture, to be blended therewith, and to super- sede all private judgment, — these are positions which I have put forth, from time to time, for many years past, in various forms of expression, and supported by a variety of arguments, in several different works, some of which have appeared in more than one edition. And though opposite views are maintained by many writers of the present day, several of them, professed members of the Church of England, I have never seen even an attempted refutation of any of those arguments.^ 5 The following extract from the British Critic for April, 1842, will shew that there are other methods of dealing with an argnment besides attempted refutation. The reader will not fail to observe the additional exeraplification which it contains of that cardinal virtue of Tractarianism, Bevereiice for Episcopacy. " One of the many difficulties which press upon us in the present most unhappy state of our Church, is the question of the proper course to be pursued by Churchmen when a Bishop delivers, ex Cathedra, Doctrines which are in lact heretical. The volumes before us, (Archbishop Whately's Essays, and Kingdom of Christ,) do not impose upon us exactly the same difficulty ; for though the substance of several of the Essays would api)ear to have been pronounced by the Archbishop more or less ex Cathedrii, still, by the form which they have assumed in publication, he seems to descend from that position, and enter the lists as a private combatant, claiming and entitled to no other deference than the established courtesies of controversy demand for every writer who comes before the public ; while the very openness of his character forbids us to imagine that he can wish, after having so done, to fall back upon exemptions which would be refused in other circumstances, or wish to shelter himself, under his character of Archbishop, from those comments which must naturally attend his character of author." — pp. 255, 256. " Compare, for instance, Dr. Whateley's heresies with those of the innovators in the sixteenth century ; with Luther, for instance, the most powerful and persuasive of them all." — p. 302. The Bishop of Worcester, having quoted Archbishop Whateley's Kingdom of TORTUOUS CRITICISM. GARBLED QUOTATIONS. 175 It cannot be alleged that they are not worth noticing : since, whether intrinsically weak or strong, the reception they have met with from the public, indicates their having had some influence. — Kingdom of Christ, Preface, pp. C — 8. MuSGRAVE, Bishop of Hereford. — 1842. [I have spoken reluctantly, and because the notions referred to have been widely disseminated, and ai'e said to have found favour where it was least to be wished or expected, and because efforts have not been wanting by uncandid and tortuous criticism, by intricate and subtile explanation, to reconcile them with the meaning of the Church, which is so plainly and obviously to the contrary ; and by garbled and disingenuous quotations^ from some of her greatest Divines, to make the unwary and unlearned believe that all the weight of authority is on the side of those who maintain these errors, while a death-like silence is preserved on the unanswerable refutations, which have appeared from many learned writers.] Vide Tar. 73, in Chap. II. O'Brien, Bishop of Ossory, Ferns and Leighlin. — 1842. ■7 The useful work of revising these confident and imposing docu- ments,^ was begun by Mr. Golightly, in the able, manly, and effective pamphlet, which he published early in the controversy ; it was continued by ]3isiiop M'Ilvaine, and completed by Mr, GooDE ;9 until of all the authorities which they so confidently claimed, upon all their distinctive points, scarcely one has been left them of any real weight or importance. Christ with approbation in his primary Charge, (par. 3G,) is of course a partaker in his Grace's condemnation. His Lordship has, moreover, been charged with " damnable heresy'''' on other grounds. — See Appendix G. Surely, when they hear such "phrases unreservedly applied," even to the Arch- bishops and Bishops of our Church, the opponents of Tractarianism will be tempted to retort the question of Bishop Phill polls, (Charge 1839, par. 40,) " Do the persons who use this language consider, or understand what they say ? Do they remember, or do they know, that no private man can, icilhoKt siiifiil presumption, pronouaice any opinion to be heresy, luitil the Church shall have solemnly declared it such?" — Ed. G See the Bishop of Ossorv's remarks upon the misquotations, "evasive sophistry,''^ and " dishonest casuistry,'''' employed in Tract 90. — Chap, IV., pages 81 — 104, supra. See also Appendix I Ed, "^ The following passages form the continuation of a note, the commencement of which will be found in Chap. IV. p. 58, supra. — Ed. s Tractarian Catenre.— Ed. 9 See Mr. Golightlv's Letter to the Lord Bishop of O.rford ; Bishop M'Ilvaine's Ojford Divinity comjmred icith those of the Roman and Anglican Churches ; ]\Ir. Goode's Divine Rule of Faith and Practice, and Letter to the Bishop of Oxford on some difficulties in his Lordship'' s Charge. See also the Bishop of Calcutta's examination of the Catena Patrum, appended to the third edition of Mr. Keble's Sermon on Primitive Tradition, iu Chap. VIII. —Ed. 176 TREATMENT OF OPPONENTS. TKACTARIAN CATENA, And yet, with what it is not easy to style by any milder appellation than wonderful hardihood, they continue to speak, not merely as if they still retained all these Divines, but as if they had been left in undisputed possession of them ; not merely as if their opponents had not succeeded in wresting any of their boasted Compurgators from them, but as if they had never made the attempt ! Consi- dering that the following passage was written after the three works to which I have referred, were published and verj^ widely circu- lated, it must be felt to belong to the class which one must be content to call unaccountable. " And since this is so, and one may claim, without hesitation, (though setting up no one as a standard except the Church,) that our teaching is more in accordance with the acknowledged Divines of the seventeenth century, — I would not exclude, in this respect, even those of the sixteenth, — than that which opposes it, one may, on this ground, the rather hope, that what is thought defective in us, will not be so spoken against, as to seem to condemn our teaching in its substantial parts. They who brand us with the names of heresy, have, through unacquaintance, doubtless, throughout avoided this question, whether the chief Divines of the seventeenth century are most with us, or with them." — Pusey's Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, p. 98. However, though they are sure to return to this mode of treating the question, yet, sometimes, when the true state of the case is brought home to them on a particular occasion, they have another mode of dealing with it, of which I shall give a notable example in the words of one of the authors just referred to : — " Finding that the Tractators founded their chief claim to public attention upon our standard Divines, and had constructed several Catenas of extracts from them, to support that claim, I took upon me to investigate those Catenas, and of one in particular, shewed that all the best Divines there quoted, instead of being in their favour, were altogether against them. The reply to me is, ' Were the author even to prove, (to put, for argument's sake, an extreme and most extravagant hypothesis,) that all our standard writers, since the Reformation, were of this way of thinking, this would still be irrelevant as regards the Oxford opinions, not merely to the question of their truth, but even of their consistency with the formularies we have subscribed: we ARE IN NO WAY CALLED, THEN, TO DISCUSS THE SUBJECT.' {Bl'itish Critic of July, 1842, p. 105.) Such is the I'eply of the Tractarians, when convicted of a niisrepresentation of our standard Divines, such as, it might be supposed, any ingenuous mind would shrink from with horror. Well, what then ? If they were all against us, it would be of no consequence. After this, the reader will know how to estimate a Tractarian ' Catena ?' " — Goode's Letter to the Bishop of Oxford, p. 12, note. See also Paragraphs 131 to 148. [And all this while, all who opposed the men — who, according to this frank confession, were intruding upon the peace of the con- tented, and raising doubts in the minds of the uncomplaining, making the Church with controversy, alarming serious men, and interrupting the established order of things, — were held up as wanton disturbers of the Church's peace ; and all who raised a warning voice as to WANTON DISTURBERS. CAUSELESS ALARMISTS. 177 the objects and tendencies of this movement, — which, it is now acknowledged, has carried all within its vortex far, and must carry them further and further, from the principles of the Reformation, — were stigmatized as causeless alarmists.] Vide Par. 154, in Chap. IV. ^*^ Further specimens of the supercilious treatment experienced by several of the chief opponents of the Tractarian party, and of the " garbled and disingenuous quotations"^ spoken of by the Bishop of Herkford, will be found in Appendices- F and I Ed. J 78 CHAPTER VIII. RULE OF FAITH. SUFFICIENCY AND SUPREMACY OF HOLY SCKIPTUHE. TRADITION. THE FATHERS. ANTIQUITY. Wilson, Bishop op Calcutta. — 1838. 4. I select as a specimen of the whole system, and what forms its basis, so far as I can imderstand it from the various publications which have reached me, the following passage from the able, learned, and accomplished author of the Sermon on Tradition ; for it is not necessary to disparage, in the slightest degree, the high endowments of the leaders in this new way.* " With relation to the supreme authority of inspired Scripture," says the Professor of Poetry.f " it stands thus — Catholic Tradition teaches revealed truth, Scripture proves it ; Scripture is the document of faith, Tradition the witness of it ; the true creed is the Catholic interpretation of Scripture, or Scripturally-proved Tradition ; Scripture by itself teaches mediately, and proves decisively ; Scripture and Tradition, taken together, are the joint Rule of Faith.":}: 5. So then, Tradition is the primary, and Holy Scripture the secondary teacher of Divine Truth ; so then we are to search the inspired Word of God, not as the one authoritative, adequate Rule of Faith, but as the document of what this Tradition teaches ; we are to study the Scriptures, not in order to ascertain simply God''s revealed will, but to prove Tradition by Scriptural evidence ; and the standard of revelation is no longer the Bible alone — that is, the inspired Word of the Eternal God in its plain and obvious meaning, but " Scripture and Tradition taken together are the joint Rule of Faith." 6. All this is surely sufficiently alarming ; but it becomes incom- parably more so, when we learn with what latitude the word Tradition is understood. It includes, as we gather from the other repeated statements of the learned author, " unwritten as well as * " Who would ever think of disparaging the far higher attainments of those who went the whole length of the principles now reasserted — Thomas a Kenipis, Francois de Sales, Pascal, Nicole, Fenelou, Quesnel, Bossuet, Bourdaloue, Massillon, and a host of others?" •f- Mr. Keble, Professor of Poetry in the University of Oxford, t Catena Patrum, iu Appendix of Sermon on Primitive Tradition, 3d edition, 1837. p. 2. keble's sermon on primitive tradition. 179 written"" Traditions, " certain remains or fragments of the treasure of Apostolical Doctrines and Church rules ;"" in other words, an oral law, " independent of, and distinct from the truths which are directly Scriptural ;"" which Traditions are to he received "apart from all Scripture evidence, as traditionary or common laws Eccle- siastical.""* So that it appears that Scripture, and unwritten as WELL AS WRITTEN TrADITION ARE, TAKEN TOGETHER, THE JOINT RuLE OF Faith. 7. I appeal to you, Reverend Brethren, whether we have not * This is so important a point, that I have been careful not to advance it without overwhelming proof. The following extracts even from this Sermon will, I think, suffice: — " Yet must it not be owned, on fair consideration, that Timothy's deposit did com- prise matter independent of, and distinct from, the truths that are directly Scriptural ;" — " of which, whatever portion we can prove to be still remaining, ought to be re- ligiously guarded by us, even for the same reason that we reverence and retain that which is more properly Scriptural, both being portions of the same Divine treasure." —p. 21. " Do they not (Tertullian, &c.) employ Church Tradition as parallel to Scripture, not as derived from it? and consequently as fixing the interpretation of disputed texts, not simply by the judgment of the Church, but by authority of that Holy Spirit which inspired the oral teaching itself, of which such Tradition is the record ?" —pp. 23, 24. " Now that it has pleased our gracious God to bestow on us, over and above, the use of His written Word, can we be justified in slighting the original gift" — Tradition — " on pretence of being able to do without it ?" — p. 25. "If we will be impartial, we cannot hide it from ourselves, that His unwritten Word, if it can be any how authenticated, must necessarily demand the same reverence from us ; and for exactly the same reason : because it is His Word." — p. 26. " It is as an unwritten system which the holy writers spoke of, whentliey so earnestly recommended ' the deposit,' ' the commandment,' the ' word heard from the begin- ning,' to the reverential care both of Pastors and of all Christian people." — p. .31. " As it is, by the gracious Providence of Almighty God, the points of Catholic consent, known by Tradition, constitute the knots and ties of the whole system." — p. 41. "So long, the mere fact of its" (a statement or precept) "not being contained in Scripture cannot be felt as a justification for casting it aside, any more than we should venture to disparage it on account of its not being revealed in any par- ticular book of Scripture which we might happen to value above the rest. Although not in Scripture, it may yet be a part of their rule, concerning whom the Son of God has declared, 'Pie that honoureth you, honoureth me; and he that despisetli you, despiseth me.'' — p. 32. " The Church practices and rules above mentioned, and several others, ought, we contend, apart from ail Scripture evidence, to be received as Traditionary or common laws Ecclesiastical." — p. 33. *' Where, except in the primitive Liturgies, a main branch of that Tradition, can we find assurance that, in the Holy Eucharist, we consecrate as the Apostles did, and consequently that the cup of blessing which we bless is the Communion of the Blood of Christ, and the Bread which we break, the Communion of the Body of Christ?" " On the other hand, is there not reason to fear that the Holy Scriptures them- selves are fast losing reverence, through the resolute defiance of Tradition, which some affect, in conformity, as they suppose, with the maxim, that the Bible only is the religion of the Protestants ?" — p. 45. " But acknowledging Scripture as the written charter, and Tradition as the common law, whereby both the validity and practical meaning of that Charter is ascertained," the Church " venerates both as inseparable members of one great providential system." — p. 74. " Somewhat of this error appears to lurk in those minds, which reject the notion of a Rule of Faith made up of Scripture and Tradition together, on the ground that Scripture is infallible. Tradition merely historical. They appear to reason as if there could be no Faith without demonstrative infallible evidence." p. 82. N 2 180 RULE OF FAITH, ETC. FALSE PRINCIPLE ASSERTED. here a totally false principle asserted as to the Rule of Faith. I appeal to you, whether the very reading of this statement is not enough to condemn it.* I appeal to you, whether the blessed and all-perfect Book of God is not thus depressed into a kind of attend- ant and expositor of Tradition. I appeal to you, whether this is not to magnify the comments of men above the inspired words of the Holy Ghost. I appeal to you, whether this is not to make Tradition an integral part of the Canon of Faith, and so to under- mine the whole fabric of the Reformation, or rather of " the glorious Gospel of the blessed God," which that Reformation vindicated and affirmed. -f- 8. I am as far as possible from supposing that the various pious and learned authors, to whose sentiments, and especially one of them, I am alluding, have any such intention. I am sure they have not. But the tendency of the system is not, in my view, the less dangerous. Such will, and must be, I think, the general effect of its diffusion amongst a multitude of young Divinity students, with comparatively little experience, and too apt to follow the new theories of popular and distinguished persons. 9. And wherefore this deviation from our old Protestant Doc- trine and language ; why this false principle ; why this new school, as it were, of Divinity ? Ancient testimony, in its proper place, who had undervalued ? The dignity and grace of the Sacraments, who had denied ? The study of primitive Antiquity, who had renounced ? The witness of the early Fathers, who had disparaged ? Wherefore weaken, then, by pushing beyond its due bearing, the argument which all writers of credit in our Church had delighted to acknowledge l 10. The testimony of the Apostolical and primitive ages, for example, to the genuineness, authenticity, and Divine inspiration of the Canonical Books of the New Testament, as of the Jewish Church to those of the Old, who had called in question ? Or who had doubted the incalculable importance of the witness of the universal ancient Church, at the Council of Nice, to the broad fact of the faith of the whole Christian world, from the days of the * What Protestant would not at once, and without waiting for detailed argument, refute this confession, and say, on the contrary — " Scripture teaches revealed truth ; Catholic written Tradition is a valuable, but fallible gloss and interpretation of it ; Scripture is the document of Faith, Tradition is the witness to certain facts connected with it, and to the meaning of certain passages in its inspired records. The true creed is the Holy Scriptures rightly understood. Scripture by itself teaches imme- diately, and proves conclusively. Tradition proves negatively where Scripture is silent, and teaches mediately and subordinately. Scripture alone is the sole and adequate Rule of Faith." + " How nearly the above scheme approaches to a part of the Doctrine of the Church of Rome, may be judged of from the language of the too-celebrated Dens. ' Sacred Scripture,' he says, ' is not authentic with us, except through the Tradition and Doctrine of the Church.' ' The legitimate sense of Scripture is discovered through Tradition.' • The true sense of Scripture is to be borrowed from the Doctrine of the Fathers,'— Dens, tom. ii., pp. 106, 107, cited in the South Indian Christian Repository, vol. ii., No. 3." VALUE OF CHRISTIAN ANTIQUITY. 181 Apostles, to that hour, in the mysteries of the adorable Trinity, and of the Incarnation, as there rehearsed and recognised i* Or, who had called in question the other matters of fact which are strengthened by Christian Antiquity — as the Divine authority and perpetual obligation of the Lord's Day — the institution and per- petuity of the two, and only two, Christian Sacraments — ^the right of the infants of the faithful to the blessings of holy Baptism — the Apostolical usage of Confirmation — the permanent separation of a body of men for sacred services — the duty of willing reve- rence from the people for them — the threefold rank of Ministers in Christ's Church — the use of Liturgies — the observation of the * "See what it" (Primitive Tradition) "comes to in this case of the Nicene Creed. Had the interpretation and anathema therein contained been merely the deUberate judgment of the three hundred Bishops, undoubtedly this would have been a very material fact ; more material, perhaps, considering all things, than the like assent at any other time : still the whole would have been matter, not of testimony, but of opinion, and could not have proved, in any sense, an end of controversy. It might still be said, as unthinking people now say, ' Why should I submit my judgment to the judgment of three hundred persons assembled at Nictea, fifteen hundred years ago?' However, as the matter stands, we have the full benefit of their judgment, (for the remains of St. Athanasius alone are sufficient to shew, that they fully and critically ex- amined the Scriptures on all the disputed points ;) and we have moreover this greater, this unspeakable benefit, that by them has been preserved the irrefragable testimony of the Church to the fact, that the Apostles interpreted the Bible in this way, and held their interpretation to be fundamental. Can we any how ascertain the substance of that Creed? The Council of Nicsea enables us to do so, practically and effectually ; nay, infallibly. For the fact to which the three hundred prelates bare witness, was one in which they could neither be deceived themselves, nor be able to deceive others. They must have known each one of them the Baptismal Creed of his own Church, and the interpretation of it there commonly received, and professed by himself in his letters communicatory, when he first entered on his Episcopate. They could not therefore be deceived tfiemselves, neither could they deceive others ; for, (not to dwell on the evidence of sincerity which many of them liad given, and some afterwards gave again, by enduring pain and privations for the Gospel's sake,) every Christian must have known his Baptismal Creed, and every Bishop must have known what letters commu- nicatory he had received from his newly-ordained brethren. Moreover, their testimony ranges far beyond those who are actually present in Council. They were in the nature of a representative body ; and it may be remarked by the way, that the Church Councils are perhaps the first decided instances in the world's history of the adoption of that mode of government. The three hundred and eighteen were but so many out of the eighteen hundred prelates of the Roman world, whom circumstxiuces permitted to be present at the Council ; and their decisions were scrupulously communicated to their absent brethren, and formally approved by them, with very trifling exceptions. Any suspicion which might arise, of the proceedings having been tainted by political influence, is sufficiently obviated by what remains of Coustantine's own correspondence at the time. Whether from ignorance, he being yet a Catechumen and recent con- vert, or from the habit of looking at all things witJi the eye of a mere statesman, or from whatever reason, he was far indeed from entering into the views of St. Athanasius and those who acted with him. The agreement, therefore, among the Bishops was in no sort the result of state influence ; it can only be explained by the fact, that such was in reality the tenor of the traditional confessions of their several Churches. " Now such a harmony of statements all over the world, even beyond the limits of the Roman empire, (for the Indians, too, are mentioned as allowing tlie Creed,) admits of no account but a common origin, and that common origin can only be the first Gospel, as it was every where preached by Apostles and Apostolical men. It is, in fact, a complete instance of successful application of the triple test of Vincentius. The * uhiijue'' is insured by the Council representing all Churches ; the ' semper^ in each Church, by the succession of Bishops, each receiving the Creed, as a trust, at his consecration ; the ' ab omnibus,'' by the like-delivery of the .same Creed to every Christian at his Baptism." — Notes on Sermon on Tradition, pp. 142 — 14*j. 182 RULE OF FAITH, ETC. TRADITION NOT OF festivals of our Lord's birth, resurrection, ascension, and gift of the Holy Ghost — with similar points. To which may be added, their important negative testimony to the non-existence of any one of the peculiar Doctrines and claims of the modern Court and Church of Home.* These, and similar facts, we rejoice to acknowledge, as fortified by pure and uncorrupted primitive Tradition or testimony. 11. We rejoice also to receive, with our own Protestant Re- formed Church, the universal witness of the Catholic Fathers and ancient Bishops, expressed in the three Creeds, as a most important method of guarding the words of Revelation from the artful am- biguities of heretics, and as rules and terms of communion ; just as we acknowledge our modern Articles, Liturgy, and Homilies for the same purpose. We rejoice again in tracing back almost the whole of our most sublime and scriptural Liturgy to a far higher period than the rise of Popery — to the primitive ages of the Church in our own and every other Christian country. We thus admit, in its fullest sense, for its proper ends, the rule of Vincentius Lirinensis — " Quod semper, quod ah om7iibus, quod ubique, traditum est:' 12. And we receive such Tradition for this one reason — because it deserves the name of just and proper evidence. It is authentic testimony. It is a part of the materials from which even the external evidences of Christianity itself are derived. It furnishes the most powerful historical arguments in support of our Faith. It is amongst the proofs of our holy religion. 13. But evidence is one thing ; the rule of belief another. Not for one moment do we, on any or all these grounds, confound the history and evidences of the Divinely inspired Rule of Faith with that Rule itself. Not for one moment do we place Tradition on the same level with the all-perfect Word of God. Not for one * " If any learned man of all our adversaries," says Bishop Jewel, " or if all the learned men that be alive, be able to bring any one sufficient sentence out of any old Catholic Doctor, or Father, or out of any old General Council, or out of the Holy Scriptures of God, or any one example of the primitive Church, whereby it may be clearly and plainly proved that there was any private Mass in the whole world at that time, for the space of six hundred years after Christ ; or that there was then any Communion ministered unto the people under one kind ; or that the people had their Common Prayers then in a strange tongue, that they understood not ; or that the Bishop of Home was then called an universal Bishop, or the head of the Universal Church ; or that the people was then taught to believe that Christ's Body is really, substantially, corporally, carnally, or naturally in the Sacrament, &c. ; that it was then lawful for the Priest to pronounce the words of consecration closely and in silence to himself ; or that the Priest had then authority to offer up Christ unto his Father ; or to communicate and receive the Sacrament for another, as they do ; or to apply the virtue of Christ's death and passion to any man by means of the Mass ; or that it was then thought a sound Doctrine to teach the people that the Mass ex-opere operato, that is, even for that it is said and done, is able to remove any part of our sin, on the point before us, are too numerous to be transferred to my pages. His Lordship's testimony, like all the preceding, is in contradiction to the position of our authors. I cite the concluding sentence of the extracts. — " Nevertheless, we do not claim for them" — the Fathers — " any infiillibility, any commission to make further revelations of the Divine will, or any absolute authority as Scripture interpreters. The appeal still lies from them, as from all other religious instructors, to that word itself, which was no less their Rule of Faith than it is ours ; and the highest degree of deference that can be due to them, may be paid without any infringement of that inviolable maxim, ' If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.' " — Sermon V., p. 94. In a word, in the quotations from Mr. Bingham, there are the only expres- sions I have found in the whole " Catena,'' bearing the appearance of admit- ting Tradition as a Rule of Faith ; but it will instantly be found, on inspection, that he uses the expresssion only from the Creed as a term, or Rule of Com- munion, to the exclusion of heretics from Baptism ; not at all in the sense of a joint Rule of Faith, as respects Divine Revelation. " The Creed was commonly called by the ancients the kcluuv, and Regula Fidei, because it was the known standard, or Rule of Faith, by which ortho- doxy and heresy were judged and examined Thus the Fathers, in the Council of Antioch, charge Paulus Samosatensis with departing from the Rule of Canon, meaning the Creed, the Rule of Faith, because he denied the Divinity of Christ. Irenaeus calls it the unalterable Canon, or Rule of Faith, and says, ' This Faith was the same in all the world' And St. Jerome, after the same manner, disputing against the en'ors of the Mon- tanists, says, 'The first thing they differed about was the Rule of Faith. For the Church believed the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to be each distinct in his own person, though united in substance. But the Montanists, following the Doctrine of Sabellius, contracted the Trinity into one person.'' — Bingham, p. 108. I make no remarks on a variety of points involved in these extracts, beyond the single object I have in view. A great latitude in opinion on the details of so wide a subject as the Testimony and Tradition of the Fathers, will always be found to prevail, as, indeed, on every other subject not immediately and directly fundamental. My concern has been simply to shew, that the false principle of a joint Rule of Faith was not supported by these alleged writers, late as is the date when they flourished.^ Sumner, Bishop of Chester. — 1838. Vide Par. .3, in Chap. XXV. Phillpotts, Bishop op Exeter. — 1839. 37. There is another subject, on which I would say a few words, because it also has been, and continues to be, the occasion of much of excitement and uneasiness to many, who sincerely seek, and would gladly acquiesce in, the Truth, on which ever side it be ; — I 3 The reader will find the subject of Tradition, and many other important topics connected with the controversy, most ably discussed in his Lordship's Sermon on The Sufficiency of Holy Scripture as the Rule of Faith. — See note 4, p. 32, stipra, — Ed. THE CHARGE 01" " HERRSy" EXAMINED. 193 mean, the use of primitive Tradition. Some learned and pious Ministers of our Church claim for it that it not only was a mode of imparting Divine Truth, cliosen in the Apostolic Age by the Holy Spirit, before the Canon of Scripture was formed ; but also is still continued to the Churcli ; and that, as such, it demands the attention and reverence of all Christians. 38. I will not express an opinion on this matter, because, the Church having delivered no judgment upon it, it would be foreign from my present purpose to give any of my own ; my sole object being to caution you against adopting false or exaggerated opinions from others. 39. I need not tell you, that the notion, which I have just stated, has excited the warmest and most clamorous opposition. Those who put it forth are unscrupulously charged with wishing to raise Tradition to equal authority with the Scriptures, though they distinctly declare, that they look to it only as " subsidiary to the Scriptures."*"* In spite, however, of every such declaration, the notion is assailed with more than ordinary violence — " Popery," " Heresy," " The awful Oxford Heresy," are among the phrases unreservedly applied to it.^ 40. Now, do the persons who use this language consider, or understand, what they say ? Do they remembei', or do they know, that no private man can, without sinful presumption, pronounce any opinion to be heresy, until the Church shall have solemnly declared it such ? ^ Do they further remember, or do they need to be informed, that it is not every false opinion in Religion which the Church pronounces to be heresy ; but only such as is contrary to some article of the ^ Faith, or something which, by necessary consequence, leads to the subversion of some fundamental truth ? In the present case, has the Church made any such declaration ? Has it either condemned as heresy, or in any way condemned, the opinion in question \ Yes, we shall be told, in its Sixth Article. That Article says, " Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to Salvation : so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an Article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or neces- sary to Salvation." Do the writers, whose opinion in commendation * " Primitive Tradition recegnised by Scripture."— A Sermon by the Rev. J. Keble, —p. 33. ^ Yet the Bishop of Exeter himself "laments to hear them speak of adherence t^ the Bible, and nothing but the Bible,' as ' an unthankful rejection of another great ^{i equally from God.'' ''"' He "laments" also "to see them state, as 'the sounder view, that the Bible is the record of necessary truth, or of matters of faith, and the Church Catholic's Tradition is' — not a most venerable witness, or most useful assistant in interpreting it, but — ' the interpreter of it. ' " — Vide par. 45 of his Lordship's Charge, iiifra Ed. ' See note 5, infra Ed. fi See note 5, page 174, sfiprn Ed. O 194 RULE OF FAITH, ETC. CHAKGK OF ^ HERKSy/' of Tradition is so fiercely assailed, contradict this ? So far from it, they expressly state, that " Scripture is the sole and paramount Rule of Faith ;"* that every fundamental point of Doctrine is contained in Canonical Scriptures ; and that nothing is to be insisted on as an Article of Faith, necessary to Salvation, which is not contained therein. 41. But, while such is their language, — while they may truly thus assert, that they are innocent of violating the Sixth Article, can their accusers say the same of themselves l Are they equally free from the offence which they thus unscrupulously charge upon others I Let us see. 42. By calling the opinion, which they oppose. Heresy, they affii-m, by implication, that it is contrary to an Article of the Faith ; in other words, they say, that we are bound to believe as a fundamental Article of Faith, and therefore of necessity to salvation, that the Holy Spirit did not give Tradition as a per- manent mode of imparting Divine Truth subsidiary to Scripture. But if they affirm this, they are required by the Sixth Article to adduce proof of their assertion from Scripture ; — a task which, I am sui'e, would be most difficult, which I believe is impracticable, and which has not, so far as I know, been seriously attempted by any one worthy of notice. When it shall have been accomplished, we will join in calling on the Traditionists to renounce their wicked error, or to submit to be branded as " heretics.'"^ But meanwhile, * " Primitive Tradition recognised by Scripture," p. 31. " The Bishop of Calcutta, in his recent Charge (1843), thus alludes to the term Heresy, as applied to the Tractarians : — " I am ready to concede to the authors of ' The Tracts for the Times,' that they hold all the fundamental facts of Redemption : the Incarnation, the holy and ever- blessed Trinity of the Godhead, the Atonement, the Personality, Deity, and Grace of the Holy Spirit, the Fall of Man, the Moral Law, the Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. There are no heresies, as the ii-orcl has been hitherto nsuallij applied, mingled with their teaching — not the Arian— not the Socinian— not the Pelagian — not the Neologian. All this is matter of groat thankfulness to Almighty God." — pp. 33, 34. But in what sense do the Tractarians apply the term to those who differ from them ? That they do constantly charge them with heresy, and with '' awful heresy," is a fact too notorious to have escaped the notice of Bishop Phillpotts ; and it would have been but fair had his Lordship divided his censure between the offending parties. We have seen that the heresies of Archbishop Whately cause no small difficulty to all true Churchmen, confessedly because " the points at issue are" 7iot " short of fundamental Articles of Faith.'''' {Vide British Critic, quoted in note 5, p.-ige 174, supra.) The Bishop of Worcester has been publicly accused of "damnable heresy,"' and several of his Right Reverend Brethren are involved in the same condemnation. (See note on paragraph 6 of his Lordship's Charge. See also Appendix G.) Bishop Jeremy Taylor, in the judgment of Mr. Fronde, was shockingly heretical. (Remains, vol. i., p. 322.) "'i"he~ Froteslant Doctrine on the subject of the Eucharist,'''' has been declared, upon the same authority, to be " founded on a principle as proud, irreverent, and foolish, as that of any heresy, even Socinianism." {Ibid. p. 391. " 'J'he Lutheran Doctrine of Justijiralion'''' is denounced as being radically and fundamentally monstrous, immoral, heretical, and anti-Christian;'''' a " /j#w*y," than which none " so subtile and e.vfensively poisonons ;'" .... "has ever THE BIBLE AND TRADITION " EQUALLY FROM GOD." 195 their accusers should beware how they violate, not only the Sixth Article of the Church, but also the Ninth Commandment of God. Neither let them forget that the Church itself, in some of its most authoritative formularies, appears, at least, to favour the opinion which they so unsparingly condemn — that Tradition has been given to us as an enduring channel of instruction in Christian Truth, though not as the authority for any necessary Doctrine. For instance, what Avill they say of the Apostles' Creed ? Has it not come to us by Tradition ; and been adopted by the Church from Tradition I What of the Nicene Creed I Has it not been received on the authority of the first Council of Nice I What of the Athanasian Creed i Is not that, too, from Tradition i 43. The reading of the Holy Scriptures as part of the Divine Service, and the common pra3'ers in the Church, is again and again recommended to us in the Preface to the Book of Common Prayer, as having " the first original and ground thereof" in primitive practice — as " the godly and decent order of the ancient Fathers." Be it remembered, too, that our very Ordination Vow implies, that Scripture requires (I do not say, absolutely needs) external aid for its due interpretation : for we thereby engaged, " the Lord being our Helper," to " be diligent," not only " in reading of the Holy Scriptures," but also " in such studies as help to the knowledge of the same ; and among such studies must not the Traditions of the Fathers hold an important place ? A Canon of the Convocation of 1571, which, I need not say, is part of the law of the Church, commands preachers ""' to be careful never to teach any thing in their sermons, as if to be religiously held and believed by the people, but what is agreeable to the Doctrine of the Old and New Testa- ment, and collected from that very Doctrine by the Catholic Fathers and ancient Bishops." 44. After all, let me not be supposed to set myself forward as the advocate of these writers. They need not the aid of such an advocate ; and I will not encumber them with it. I am not even their partisan ; for I am far from subscribing to all they say, and still further from always approving the mode in which they say it. 45. Thus, on this very subject of Tradition, while I freely acquit them of all approach to heresy, I yet lament to see them give to it so definite, and so high a place in the great scheme of God's Reve- lation of His Will for the recovery of lost mankind. I lament to hear them speak of adherence to " the Bible, and nothing but the Bible," ^ as "an unthankful rejection of another great gift, equally infested the Church." {Brilish Critic, No. 62, p. 446, and No. 64, p. 390.) And,— not to quote furtlier testimony to the fact, — il/r. Palmer, in his recent Narrative of Events, (p. 50,) reminds us that "Bishop Jewel, who is represented 'as « very unexceptionable specimen of an English Reformer,' is condemned as a heretic.'"' Ed. 8 "That ill-timed and unfortunate watchword, ' The Bible, and the Bible only,'' into which so many well-intentioned Church people have been betrayed ;" and for which it seems that Dr. Hook has "proposed as a substitute, ^ The Gospel, and the Gospel o 2 196 RULE OF FAITH, ETC. THE FATHERS ; THEIR VALUE AS from God, such as no true Anglican can tolerate.'''' I lament to see them state, as " the sounder view, that the Bible is the record of necessary truth, or of matters of Faith, and the Church Catholic's Tradition is" — not a most venerable witness, or most useful assistant in interpreting it, but — " the interpreter of it.'"" Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 1839. 9. The origin and source of what I consider to be the erroneous views alluded to, is an undue and excessive reverence for Catholic Antiquity. Upon this fundamental and interesting point, I am anxious that my sentiments should be distinctly understood. No one can be more inclined than myself, both by natural disposition and taste, and by the grateful recollection of early and of later studies, to admire the excellences, and to revere the character and the legitimate authority of the ancient Fathers of the Church. I reverence their devout and spiritual minds, their deadness to the world, their pastoral and charitable labours, their constancy amidst persecution, their faithfulness, in some instances, even unto death. In all these divine and holy qualities they are deserving of high admiration, and worthy to be had in everlasting remembrance. 10. But truth compels me to add, that their piety was too often alloyed by superstition, and that, with some exceptions, their learning was neither accurate nor extensive ; — that their reasonings were often weak and inconclusive, their interpretations of Scripture fanciful and unsatisfactory, and their judgments incorrect and erroneous ; and, consequently, that it is vain to look up to them as certain guides in Theology, or as judicious and safe expounders of Holy Writ. 11. As witnesses, together with the ancient Creeds and Con- fessions of the Church, to the principal facts of the Gospel, and to the outline of Doctrine comprised in the great " mystery of godli- ness," to the inspired Canon of Sacred Scripture, to the use of prescribed Liturgies, to the threefold order of the Christian Priest- hood, to the Episcopal form of Ecclesiastical Government, and, generally, to the nature, offices, and authority of the Church, — the testimony of the primitive Fathers, continued in unbroken suc- cession from the Apostolic times, and uniform and harmonious, is invaluable and conclusive against the errors of all who, whether in ancient or in modern times, had separated from the great body of the Catholic Church. 12. I am persuaded, also, that the celebrated challenge of Bishop Jewel,9 with respect to the absence of any plain and unequivocal only.""— rirfe British Critic, No. 53, p. 242. No " icell-intentioned Chnvch people" will so extend the meaning of Dr. Hook's substitute as to render it, in the ears of a Traditionist, less " ill-timed and unfortunate" than the original — En. 0 Quoted by the Bishop of Caixi'tta, par. 10, note, p. \H2,. supra — En. WITNESSES : NOT SAFE EXPOUNDERS OF HOLY WRIT. 197 evidence in favour of the peculiar errors and observances of the Church of Rome, in the Ecclesiastical writers of the first six centuries, and to their substantial agreement and consent with the Doctrines and Discipline of the Church of England, may be fully and successfully maintained. IS. But it is one thing thus, confidently and thankfully, to appeal to the support of Christian Antiquity for the general identity of our principles and our practices with the primitive Church, and quite another to elevate either the decisions of Councils, or the opinions of Fathers, into a standard of authority almost equal to, or divinely interpretative of. Scriptural Doctrines or Apostolic ordinances. 14. It was this which, amidst the darkening and downward progress of the middle ages, gradually and imperceptibly led to the errors and corruptions of the Romish Church. Nor must it be concealed, that, Avith the growing disuse of the devout study of the Holy Scriptures, and the nearly exclusive regard to human ■writings, the incautious, ambiguous, figurative, and illustrative expressions, which abound in the works of the Christian Fathers, little versed, in general, in critical accuracy, and, except when contending with Pagan or heretical opponents, chiefly intent on devotional or pastoral instruction, were easily diverted from their original and sounder meaning,* and wrested to the countenance and support of the grossest errors and abuses, both of the Eastern and AVestern Churches — to the undue exaltation of Apostolic Tradition, falsely so called — to Monasticism, and the compulsory celibacy of the Clergy — to the efficacy of the Sacraments ex opere operato — to Transubstantiation, and the Sacrifice of the Mass — to Justification by Works, or by infused Grace — to the Doctrine of Penance and Purgatory — to uncommanded and excessive austerities — to the Adoration of Saints and Angels, and the Worship of Images, and to the tyranny and usurped dominion of the See of Rome. Kaye, Bishop of Lincoln. — 1840. 1. There is still another subject to which I must draw your attention before I bring this address to a close. Fifteen years ago, I ventured to express the opinion that the time was not far distant, when the Avhole controversy between the Roman and Anglican Churches would be revived ; and every point which had formerly been made a matter of dispute, would again be discussed. * Could these venerable men have foreseen the advantage which lias thus been taken of many of their glowing and rhetorical expressions, they would, doubtless, have written more cautiously, and with more simple adherence to the langua'^e of in- spiration ; which, in its most sublime and mysterious forms, can never be legitimately charged with affording support either to the erroneous Doctrines or the superstitious practices which gradually arose in the Church. It would be easy to exemphfy the truth of this observation ; but those who are acquainted with the writings of Christian Antiquity will readily acknowledge it. 198 " REGULA FIDEI :"" MEANING ATTACHED TO IT 2. The event has proved that I was not mistaken in my antici- pation ; and I am, in consequence, induced to oiFer some brief remarks upon one of the most important of the controverted points — the Rule of Faith, in which is involved the question of the authority of Tradition. 3. You are, perhaps, aware that the expression " Regula Fidei,"" or its equivalent, 6 kuvodv t?}? Tr/o-Teo)?, 6 kuvcov tt}^ aXrjdeia^, frequently occurs in the writings of the early Fathers. It is, therefore, important to ascertain what meaning they attached to it. Irenaeus, who wrote in the second century in confutation of the Gnostic heresies, then prevalent, informs us, that when the heretics were confuted out of Scripture, they appealed to oral Tradition.* He proceeds, therefore, to inquire where the true Apostolic Doc- trine is to be sought. He-j* answers, in those Churches which were founded by the Apostles ; " for it is not," he says, " to be supposed that they would keep back from those whom they appointed to be their successors in presiding over and feeding the flock of Christ, any portion of the knowledge necessary to qualify them to become the instructors of others. This knowledge they left as a precious deposit in the Churches which they founded ; so that, if they had committed nothing to writing, still the true Doctrine would have been preserved traditionally in those Churches, as it actually is among the barbarous nations which have been converted to Christianity, and do not possess the Scriptures." 4. Here, then, Irenrous recognised the existence of an unwritten Tradition, from which Christians might collect all that it was necessary for them to know and to believe unto salvation. But what was this Tradition 1% It was the Creed, the Regula Fidei ; * Quum enim ex Scripturis arguuntur, in accusationem convertuntur ipsarum Scripturarum, quasi non recte habeant, neque sint ex authoritate, et quia varie dictae, et quia non possit ex liis inveniri Veritas ab his, qui neseiant Traditionem. Non enim per literas traditam illaiu, sed per vivam vocem L. 3, c. 2. *t Traditionem itaque Apostolorum in toto mundo manifestatani, in omni Ecclsia adest perspicere omnibus qui vera velint videre : et liabemus annumerare eos qui ab Apostolis instituti sunt Episcopi in Ecclesia, et successores eorum usque ad nos, qui nihil tale docuerunt neque cognoverunt quale ab his deliratur. Etenim si recondita mysteria scissent Apostoli, qure seorsim et latenter ab reliquis perfectos docebant, his vel maxime traderent ea quibus etiam ipsas Ecclesias committebant. Valde enim perfectos et irreprehensibiles in omnibus eos volebant esse, quos et successores relinquebant, suum ijDsorum locum niagisterii tradentes c. 3. Tantse igitur osten- siones quum sint, non oportet adhuc quoerere apud alios veritatem, quum facile est ab Ecclesia sumere : quum Apostoli, quasi in depositorium dives, plenissime in earn con- tulerint omnia qute sint veritatis: uti omnis quicumque velit sumat ex ea potum vitse. — Quid enim ? Et si quibus de aliqua modica quaestione deceptatio esset, nonne oporteret in antiquissimas recurrere Ecclesias in quibus Apostoli conversati sunt, et ab iis de prajsenti qutestione sumere quid certum et re liquidum est ? Quid antera si neque Apostoli quidem Scripturas nobis reliquissent nonne oportebatordineni sequi Traditionis, quam tradiderunt iis quibus committebant Ecclesias ? Cui ordina- tioni assentiunt multie gentes barbarorum eorum qui in Christum credunt sine charta vel atramento scriptam habentes per Spiritum in cordibus suis salutem, et veterem Traditionem diligcnter custodientes, in unum Deum credentes, &c. He then goes on to state concisely the principal Articles of the Apostles' Creed c. 4. _^ ^ ^ J Oi/Tw 5f Koi b Tov Kav6va t^j dAij^ei'aj b.Khivri tv tai/ri^ tcaT4x.vof.i.[as as well as the ^vffr-qpwv rf/j evcreBeias to which he refers in Par. 15 ? — Ed. 272 THE CHURCH AS DESCRIBED IN SCRIPTURE AND ART. XIX. Himself is, in some mysterious, yet most true and perfect manner, the Head. " Tlie visible Church" is not a mere multitude ; it is the " ccetus Jideliutn'"' — " a congregation of faithful men in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments are duly administered." 25. Such is the description of the Church in our Nineteenth Article; agreeably to the description of it given in the Word of God. " They that gladly received the Word" of Peter, bidding them to " save themselves from this untoward generation," the world, " were baptized," " and they continued steadfastly in the teaching of the Apostles ; and in the fellowship, and in the breaking of the bread, (manifestly the Bread of the Eucharist,^) and in the prayers"* — manifestly the common prayers of the body. For earnestly impressing this truth, and others connected with it, and the conse- quences resulting from them, the writers of whom I speak appear 21 — 24, in which is narrated the formation of Eve out of Adam's side, says, " This is a great mystery ; but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.'''' In other words, herein is mystically signified the forming of the Church out of the side of Christ. For, as " God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he took one of his ribs," and made it to be woman, the mother of us all naturally ; so out of the side of Christ, when, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, he was crucified and slain, the Church, the mother of us all spiritually, was formed. The Apostle seems to have implied this in his reference, however brief, to the formation of Eve ; for he refers to it as a type of the Church. And here we can hardly fail to bear in mind that part of the history of our Lord's death which St. John narrates as especially worthy of our admiration, that " one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came thereout blood and water" — the tivo Sacraments, St. Augustinef tells us, by one of which the Church receives its first being, by the other its proper sustenance. But, be this as it may, the Apostle manifestly speaks of the Church as being really and truly, hov/ever mystically, the body of Christ ; " for we are members of his body," we are " of his flesh and of his hones .*" these words seem to have been added in order to exclude the notion of a bare figure, or metaphor ; and he expressly declares, " This is a great mystery ;" which, therefore, we shall do well to contemplate, as such, with awe and thankfuhiess, not seeking, with this author, " to divest the Church of that mystery, in which" the Word of God, not uninspired man, " has shrouded it." " MvaTT^piof in S. S. dicitur quicquid (religiosum scilicet) est obscurum et latet ; nee sine revelatione divina percipi potest. Matrimonium Adami et Evse mysterium dicitur, quia typus fuit matrimonii Christicum Ecclesia ; et eductio Evae ex latere Adse dormientis reprsesentabat eductionem et creationem Ecclesiae ex latere Christi in cruce mortui." — Pol. Syn. in he. * rfj Sidaxfl Toii/ airocTTSXwv, koI rfj koivuv'k^, koI tt; KXacrei rov &pTov, koI raus trpocr- (vx/ to Salvation^ it seems difficult for any one to exaggerate their import- ance, unless he were to hold, what I helieve no one maintains, that the necessity is not merely general, but universal and absolute, 39. So, language may have been used, which aftbrded just reason for Jealousy and fear, lest their dignity should be so magnified as to exclude the use of other means of grace, or as to substitute means for ends, or as to encourage the belief, that their efficacy is wholly independent of internal qualifications. But since these consequences are disavowed by those who have been charged with them, it does not seem possible to draw a line between the general principles of the opposite parties on this head. But it has been very truly observed, that " men may over-estimate the efficacy of the Sacra- ments, to the disparagement of prayer and preaching, and reading the Scriptures, and yet be perfectly clear from the opinion which makes this efficacy depend immediately on a human administration. And so again, men may hold Episcopacy to be divine, and the Episcopacy of Apostolical Succession to be the only true Episcopacy, but yet they may utterly reject^ the notion of its being essential to the efficacy of the Sacraments."* 40. And the opinion of such a connection between the two Doctrines has been condemned both as groundless and pernicious. But I conceive that it may not be useless to observe, that there is a sense in which the connection between them would be neither so arbitrary, nor pregnant with such dangerous consequences. If any one believes that the Ministerial Commission may be traced through the Apostles to the Head of the Church, and that it was originally designed to comprehend the administration of the Sacra- ments, then he will be naturally led to consider the character of the Minister as a part of the ordinance ; and it will follow, that he cannot look upon it as altogether immaterial, whether this part be absent or not : he will not venture to say that the ordinance would be, to all intents and purposes, the same Avithout it ; and this he might express by saying that the Apostolical Succession is requisite for the due application of it. But it would not follow that he * Arnold, Sermons on Christian Life. Introduction, p. 37. 3 If the Bishop of St. David's wishes it to be inferred from this passage that the Tractarians utterly reject the notion that Episcopacy is essential to the efficacy of the Sacraments, such an inference is not only contrary to fact, but directly at variance with Dr. Arnold's own assertion in the context. " I have spoken," says Dr. Arnold, "quite confidently of the total absence of all support in Scripture for*3Ir. NsWiMAN's favourite Doctrine of ' the necessity of Apostolical Succession, in order to insure the effect of the Sacraments.'" And again, in the sentence immediately following the passage quoted by his Lordship, — " It is of this last Doctrine only that I assert, in the strongest terms, that it is wholly without support in Scripture, direct or indirect, and that it does not minister to godliness." Ed. 332 EPISCOPACY : HELD BY THE TKACTABIANS undertakes to pronounce how far it is an essential part,* or to what degree its absence affects the efficacy of the rite, or that there are not many circumstances in which it may be safely omitted, and in which its place will be surely and effectually supplied.* 41. In a word, there appears to be nothing in the Doctrine itself that is exclusive or uncharitable^ beyond what is implied in a " Compare an extract from a work of Bishop Cosin, iu Brewer's Memoir of the Author, prefixed to his edition of the History of Popish Transubstantiation, p. 31. 4. 5. « In the judgment of the Church it makes no less difference than this : whether the Bread and Cup which he partakes of shall be to him Christ's Body and Blood or no. I repeat it : in the judgmeut of the Church, the Eucharist, administered without Apostolical commission, may, to pious minds, be a very edifying ceremony ; but it is not that blessed thing which our Saviour graciously meant it to be ; it is not ' verily and indeed taking and receiving'' the Body and Blood of Him, our Incarnate Lord.''''— *' Tracts for the Times," No. 52, p. 7. See also Note 9, and Charge of the Bishop of Ossory, par. 97, p. 44, supra. The following extract from tlie Second Series of Mr. Froude''s Remains, may serve as an additional illustration of the views entertained by the Party as to the necessity of Episcopacy and Apostolical Succession to the efficacy of the Sacraments : — " It was not for want of discriminating between external and internal, or between Doctrine and Discipline, or between forms and realities, that such men as the great Hammond wrote and thought so much on the Divine institution of Bishops, and the invalidity of Presbyterian ordination, and the obligation that all Cln:istians are under to communicate with the Apostolic Church, " It will be remembered by most persons, that the Reformed Church of England has given birth to two Martyrs — an Archbishop and a King, and that these blessed Saints died for Episcopacy. But was it for a form, or a point of discipline, that they resisted thus unto death ? Surely not. Whether mistaken or not, they had far other thoughts of the cause in which they suffered. In their view, it would have been just as shallow Theology, to say that the Church was instituted solely for decency, order, and the maintenance of sound Doctrine, as to say that Christ came into the world only to establish order, decency, and sound Doctrine. And when they contended for Episcopacy as one of the essentials of religio7i, they no more regarded it as an external and a form, than they regarded Chrisfs death upon the Cross as an external and a form. As they conceived Christ's coming into the world, and death upon the Cross, to be mysterious parts of the Divine economy for the Salvation of sinners, so they regarded the institution of the Visible Church as a 7iot less mysterious jM7-t of the same economy towards the same end : [' i. e., Christ's death the meritorious (sic) cause, and the Church the instrument and means (sic) of our Salvation.'] — (Note by Mr. Fronde's Editor :) and Episcopacy they considered as a Divine Mystery for perpetuating tliis Church. " Their belief on this subject seems to be contained in (the) following propositions : — " 1. That, before Jesus Christ left the world. He breathed the Holy Spirit into his Apostles •, giving them the power of transmitting this precious gift to others by prayer and the imposition of hands •, that the Apostles did so transmit it to others, and they again to others ; and that in this way it has been preserved in the world to the present day. " 2. That the gift thus transmitted empowers its possessors, " (I.) To admit into, or exclude from, the mysterious Communion, called in Scripture * the Kingdom of Heaven,' any one ivhom they judge deserving of it ; and this with the assurance that all whom they admit or exclude on earth, and externally, are admitted or excluded in Heaven and spiritually, in the sight of God and of Holy Angels : " (2. ) That it empowers them to bless, and intercede for, those who are within tliia Kingdom, in a sense in which no other men can bless or intercede : "(3.) To make the Eucharistic Bread and Wine the Body and Blood of Christ, in the sense in which our Lord made them so : " (4.) To enable delegates to perform this great miracle by ordaining them with imposition of hands. " In these propositions is contained the substance of what the great champions of AS ONE OF THE ESSENTIALS OF BELIGION. 333 strong preference of one Communion over another. Its character will depend on the temper in which it is embraced ; and since those who maintain it most firmly, still declare their belief that " God's favour is not limited to the bounds of his heritage, but that, in the Church or out of the Church, every one that calleth on the name of the Lord, with a pure and perfect heart, shall be saved,"* ^ we would hope that its influence may, in most cases, be found consistent both with charity and humility. 42. The prudence of putting forward such a Doctrine as an instrument of controversy, is a different question. A weapon which may irritate an adversary, but does not weaken him, would seem to be best kept in its sheath. Those who are already hostile to the Church, are not likely to be won by the revival of what they must deem an extravagant pretension ; and those who are indifferent to her more evident advantages, will hardly be attracted by one so questionable, and so remote from common apprehension, that the belief in it is entertained with reluctance by many of those who admit it."f* * Newman, Sermon vi., p. 186. t Advertisement to vol. ii. of the " Tracts for the Times ;" quoted by Mr. Goode in his pamphlet The Case as it is, p. 19. Episcopacy have contended for : and these, if admitted to become in the remotest degree credible, evidently give a new complexion to the whole question. To be admitted within the mysterious precincts of the Kingdom of Heaven, to be mira- culously blessed and miraculously fed with the Bread that came down from Heaven, these are surely something more than forms and externals ; and the Episcopacy that has (if, indeed, it has) preserved them to us, is something more than a matter of bare Discipline, observed in conformity to Apostolical practice. "According to this view of the subject, to dispense with Episcopal Ordination is to be regarded not as a breach of order merely, or a deviation from Apostolical precedent, but as a surrender of the Christian Priesthood, a rejection of all the powers which Christ instituted Episcopacy to perpetuate : and the attempt to substitute any other form of ordination for it, or to seek Communion ivith Christ, through any non-Epis- copal Association, is to be regarded, not as a schism merely, but as an impossibility. [' Not that the Members of such an Association are certainly destitute of Communion with Christ, but that, if they have that privilege, it is not through (sic) the Asso- ciation.'"— Note by Mr. Froude's Editors : pp. 41 — 43.] — Ed. 6 And yet, according to the " principles of the Society," as " matured" by Mr. Newman and Mr. Keble, "the only ivay of Salvation is the partaking of the Body and Blood of our Crucified Redeemer ;^^ and that participation "is conveyed to in- dividual Christians 07ily (sic) by the hands of the Successors of the Apostles and their delegates.''^ — Perceval's Collection of Papers, &c.. Edit. 2, pp. 12, 13. The following passages from Mr. Newman's Sermon, "Faith the title of Justifica- tion,'''' follow in connection with the one quoted by his Lordship: — " Thousands who are in unconscious heresy, or unwilling schism, still are, through Faith, in the state of Cornelius, when his prayers and alms went up before God. Thousands who are obliged to partake of the Elements of Holy Communion unconse- crated, or administered with doubtful rites, yet have that within them which the faults or ignorance of the jNlinister cannot take away, — a preparation of heart. Thousands who are in branches of the Church ichich profane men have stripped of Holy Ordi- nances, though the Sacraments themselves remain to it, may, through their Faith, receive in (sic) the Sacraments those graces which were wont to be given through those lost ordinances.'''' pp. 186, 187. — Ed. 334 CHAPTER XI, CHRISTIAN UNITY. DISSENT. HowLEY, Archbishop of Canterbury. — 1840. 1. The evils of Dissent are not fully appreciated by those who look only to the respectable Ministers of the orthodox congregations of Dissenters.'' The name is applied to doctrines and practices of very diiFerent kinds ; and while it unfortunately belongs to many pious and good men,'^ it serves as a cover to the wildest fanaticism, and the grossest corruptions of morality. In the present condition of things, the utmost we can hope to attain,'' is to draw back such of the wanderers as are willing to listen to our arguments, to live in peace with the rest,'' and to promote the establishment of Unity among those who look up to the Church as their common mother. Con- sidering the latitude of opinion in non-essential points allowed within the pale of our establishment, we may surely adhere to our own persuasions, without impeaching the motives of others who differ from us, and may unite forbearance and gentleness with zeal in the pursuit of truth. See also Pars. 2, 3, in Chap. XVIII. Sumner, Bishop of Chester. — 1841. 1. Perhaps it is too much to expect what, nevertheless, we earnestly desire that there should he no schisms^ or divisions among Christians : that the Church of Christ should ever be a seamless coat ; that all the congregations of faithful men should ever be so strictly one, as to think alike, and agree unanimously upon all subjects : upon such subjects, for instance, as Diocesan Episcopacy, or Infant Baptism, or Liturgical Forms, or Church Membership, or a National Es- tablishment. There may be always some minds, which, on questions such as these, may differ from the conclusions which we believe to '^ The italics are not his Grace's The Bishop of Chester, for expressing the very same sentiments, (Charge 1841. Pars. 1, and 29.) has been charged by Mr. Perceval, in what Dr. Pusey calls a " well-weighed letter" to his Lordship, with "palliating the guilt of Schism." — Vide note 2, p. 298, supra. — Ed. 8 Tliis is one of the passages referred to in note 7. The italics are Mr. Perceval's. —Ed, WHAT IS THE UNITY WHICH THE SCRIPTURES DEMAND. 335 be justly deduced from Scripture.^ I have no wish, in saying this, to encourage or excuse divisions.^ To separate from the brethren, and oppose the general practice of the Church, is to incur a heavy responsibihty.^ But I judge from facts, and experience, and human nature.^ And the comfort and peace of the Christian world would be greatly increased, if it were commonly understood that the Unity which the Scriptures demand, were^ the Unity of those who hold alike the great doctrines of Christian truth, but consent to differ on matters concerning which Scripture does not carry determinate conviction to every honest mind. 2. But, however this may be, the principles of our National Church, on all such disputable subjects, are established on such firm grounds, that those who abandon her will be the few, and not the many, as long as she is true to herself, and faithful to her charge. Men will feel towards her as they feel towards their native country, which some impatient or adventurous spirits leave, whatever advantages they may forego ; but to which the mass of the community will adhere, unless it ceases to afford them shelter and subsistence. So with our Established Church : based as it is upon antiquity, accredited by authority, and sanctioned by the judgment of the wisest and greatest names, few will abandon it, if its benefits are within their reach, and it is really able to offer instruction to the people in the substantive shape of an effective Minister, and an accessible place of worship. Her plain and Scriptural Articles, her spiritual and comprehensive Liturgy, her agreement with the earliest examples of Christian Discipleship, united with the advantages which she possesses, justly possesses, as the Church of the nation, the Church of our forefathers : these grounds of preference will continue, as they ought, to influence in her favour the great majority of the minds of our population. They are grounds of preference, which can only be counterbalanced by the individual consideration, " This Church is not available to me. Granted, that this is the best and purest channel of Divine truth, but no truth can flow to me through that channel. Its form of worship approves itself to my understanding ; but I have no means of joining in it. Its Ministers are in direct succession from those whom Christ Himself commissioned ; but I am out of the reach of their instruction." When these considerations exist, they must come with overpowering force to persons once awakened to a concern for their salvation ; with a force which no reasoner can effectually resist, who takes his stand on Scripture, or argues Avith those who have Scripture in their hands. If a man feels that he 9 "From Scripture and experience." First Edition En. • These three sentences do not occur in the first edition of his Lordship's Charo'e Ed. ^ ° 2 "So that the Unity which the Scriptures demand maybe understood to be the Unity " &c. First Edition Ed. 836 DISSENT : EVILS OF MANY AND SERIOUS. has been personally benefited by the mstructions of a dissenting* teacher, being the only instructions within his reach, no argument can persuade him that he ought never to have listened to them. Yet the evils of division are many and serious. The mode, then, of preventing them, must be to remove the chief cause from which they spring : not to deny the means of satisfying their thirst to those who are eager for religious knowledge ; but to open fresh fountains, and widen the channel, that all who will, may " take of the water of life freely." No further attraction will be needed, than the purity and sufficiency of the stream. We may safely draw this conclusion from experience of what has been already done. See also Par. 29, Chapter X. Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter, 1842. Vide Pars. 20 and 23, in Chap. IX. MusGRAVE, Bishop of Hereford. — 1842. Vide Par. 37, in Chap. IX. CoPLESTON, Bishop of Llandaff. — 1842. 1. Upon all former occasions of our solemn meeting, although each has been distinguished by some topic more especially connected with passing events affecting the welfare of the Church, yet there has always been one important theme forced upon me by the pe- culiar circumstances of this diocese — the prevalence, I mean, of Dissent and Separation among those who call themselves Christians; and who not only profess their faith in the same Lord, but who receive the same Scriptures with ourselves as the standard and rule of faith ; — nay, I may add, that they interpret these Scriptures, in the main, nearly in the same manner, bidding their hearers look to the same means of Salvation, namely, faith in their Redeemer's atonement, sanctification by the Holy Spirit, and repentance for every act of disobedience to the divine law. 2. Thus, in a recent appeal* to the various classes of Dissenters from our Church, urging them, in affectionate terms, to return to the fold from which they had wandered, I did not hesitate to say that they " had much more in common with us, than of difference from us ;" and upon this fact I ground my hope, that a day will come when most of these differences will disappear, and when the one great duty, with a neglect of which they are now chargeable — that of maintaining the Unity of the Church — will present itself so forcibly to their minds, as to throw into the shade all minor points, which are now pleaded as reasons and excuses for separation. * See the conclusion of my " Pastoral Address to the Inhabitants of Newport, on Roman Catholic Errors," 1841. SACREDNESS AND IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTIAN UNITY. 337 ^ 3. Whether we have made any progress towards this reunion since our last meeting, is more than I am able to say with con- fidence. But this I can assert, that we have not been wanting on our part in endeavours to remove all obstacles and hindrances', by divesting the matters in dispute of everything that can wear'the appearance of prejudice, or personal animosity, or party spirit — that we have anxiously and aiFectionately invited those who sepa- rate themselves, to ponder well the dying injunctions of their Saviour, whose last fervent prayers were poured forth, almost in agony, for_ the Unity of that Church, the foundation of which He had just laid, and the perpetuation of which He had just committed to a chosen few, of whose authority, and of whose general course of proceeding, no doubt has ever been entertained ; neither, indeed, is this now pretended by the several sects that have disturbed the common peace. 4. It would be superfluous in me, and not very respectful to you, my Reverend Brethren, if I were now to enter upon any historical proof of the sacredness in which this duty was held by the primitive Church, and of the vital and fundamental importance then attached to it — if I were to demonstrate in detail that the Church is in- variably represented by the writers of the first ages as a mystical society, formed under one invisible Head, maintaining spiritual communion with Him, and governed upon earth by persons deriving their appointment, and consequently their authority, from Him — that this incorporation is signified by the strongest and the most endearing epithets, denoting an intimate and indissoluble union ; as the, hody^ of Christ — the spouse of Christ — as a holy temple, wherein his Spirit dwelleth : and that even those portions of it whose creed was infected by heretical opinions, such as the Nestorians and the Arians ; and that schismatics, such as the Donatists, still asserted and carefully cherished this original constitution derived from the apostles, and never conceived the wild imagination that the office of Christian minister could be assumed by men of their own authority, or in violation of that order which had subsisted from the beginning! All these are notions of modern growth, and may easily be proved to be so, to any candid enquirer. 5. The phrase "Holy Church," "Holy Catholic Church," is one of the earliest with which we are acquainted. It is embodied in that summary of Christian Doctrine, which has obtained the name of the Apostles' Creed; and to this Church the attribute of Unity as much belongs, and is as uniformily ascribed, as to the Divine Being, by whose name it is called, and by whose Spirit it is sanctified and governed. Q. How then is it that, after the lapse of fifteen hundred years, retaining the same Scriptures, and substantially, I may say, preaching the same doctrine of redemption through faith in Christ, this grand principle should now be set at naught by so many thousands of believers ?— that what before was deemed an 338 DISREGARD OP CHURCH UNITY OCCASIONED BY THE essential and inalienable character, should now be regarded almost as a matter of indifference I — that the question is not so much, which body of nominal Christians is best entitled to the appellation of the true Church, as whether any such body exist at all ? — and whether all the solemn injunctions and fervent prayers of our Lord, and all the admonitions of his Apostles, and all the exhortations of the Bishops and Councils of the Church in the first ages, for the preservation of its Unity, be not so many idle sounds, without force or meaning, which the superior wisdom of a later age has learnt to disregard ? 7. Such, I say, seems to be the state of the question with the Dissenters of the present day ; and it is a paradox, capable only of one solution. That solution is to be found, I believe, in the long-established usurpation, and the false teaching of the Church OF Rome. 8. The usurpation of that domineering Church, acquiesced in by the Western Churches for seven or eight hundred years, had succeeded in destroying the true principle of Church Unity, by transferring it from its heavenly original, to a spurious earthly dominion. By slow degrees, acting on a steady principle of ambition, the Bishops of Rome, taking advantage of the deference paid to the spiritual ruler of the imperial city, and of the greatest Diocese of the West, contrived to substitute the Head of that Diocese for the Head of the Church ; to teach and to persuade men, that Unity consisted in adhering to this chief; that he was the visible representative of its invisible Head ; and that to sepa- rate from him was equivalent to a separation from all communion with that body, of which he was the divinely-appointed ruler. 9. In support of this claim was brought the fabulous invest- ment of St. Peter with paramount jurisdiction ; and upon this fiction was engrafted (without the slightest authority, either from Scripture or from history) the right of each subsequent Bishop of that See, supposed to have been St. Peter's, to the same privilege. 10. It may easily be imagined how a persuasion of the abso- lute necessity of such a system would soon arise, that, to constitute the Unity of the Church, there must needs be one Governor upon earth — a constitution analogous to the scheme of worldly mo- narchies, and conducive among them to order, to peace, and to perpetuity. 11. The resemblance is striking between this case and that of the Church under the law, when the prophet, in his severe reproof to the Israelites, told them their wickedness was great in asking an earthly sovereign, when " the Lord their God was their King." Well would it be if the Romish Church would confess, as the children of Israel then did, " We have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king."" * * \ Samuel, xii. 19. USURPATION AND FALSE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 339 12. That in the age when these pretensions began, there was not learning sufficient to refute them, we all know ; neither was there a spirit of independent search after truth, or even a sufficient acquaintance with Scripture to detect the fallacy. Those who knew the Scriptures kept the key of knowledge to themselves, and were themselves interested in maintaining the vicious system ; or, if a few of better spirit occasionally arose among the Clergy, how could their voice be heard or regarded, in opposition to the powers of the Papacy ? With what hope of success would an isolated individual have then " wrestled against principalities, and powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places V That our Lord's Jcingdom was not of this worlds was a truth then ill understood. Neither be ye called masters, for one is your Master, even Christ, might be taught as a lesson of Christian humility ; but who would venture to produce it in that age as evidence against the claim of an indimdual who acted, both in name and in the imaginations of men, as the sole legitimate representative of that Master. 13. The spell then continued unbroken, gathering strength with time : though men were found in every age who bore testimony against the impurity, and fraud, and tyranny, and covetousness of the See of Rome, and against the abominations sanctioned by her example ; yet were they restrained in their opposition through a dread of incurring the sentence of exclusion from the Church of Christ, by the judgment of Him, who was supposed to be divinely authorized to govern it. 14. As soon, then, as the veil was removed from their eyes — when it was clearly demonstrated that the whole claim rested upon an unreal foundation — when it was perceived that the authority was not only imperfect, but that it was altogether fictitious — that no individual governor ever was appointed over the Church on earth — another great error, though a less dangerous one, naturally sprung up in many minds — that the Unity of the Church, as a visible society, was unreal and fictitious also. It was a natural, but by no means a necessary error, springing out of that state of things. And it is one of the many blessings which demand the gratitude of this nation, that here it met with no countenance from the authors of our Reformation. That work went on temperately and firmly, without detriment to the sacred institution which required to be thus purified. Her foundations were strengthened : her genuine form was restored : her ancient and primitive rites were retained, and carefully separated from the impurities which had in a long- succession of ages defiled and profaned them. But the body of the Church in its original structure remained unchanged; and the name Catholic (which thoughtless men among us still allow to be confined to Romanists) was anxiously preserved, as expressive of our al- legiance to the great Founder of the Church, of our belief in its Unity, and of the eternal obligation we are under to maintain our- selves in its communion. z2 S^O DUTY OF PROMOTING CHRISTIAN UNITY. 15. That other portions of Christendom, renouncing as we did the pollutions of Popery, did not equally recognise the original form of the Christian Church as one of indispensable importance, and thus loosened with their ovrn hands the fabric which the apostles had constructed for the preservation and transmission of the truth, is indeed to be lamented. But although much extravagance and error mixed itself with the various schools of reform, and the word Protestant became a title comprehending many heterogeneous elements, yet this in no degree aflfects our own Catholic character. It ought, indeed, to enhance our reverence and gratitude towards those great and good men, on many of whom was shed the lustre of martyrdom, who won for us this mighty deliverance, and to pro- tect their memory from that unfeeling and undutiful disrespect with which it has been within these few years assailed. See also Par. 41, in Chap. XXV. 62. In the meantime, my reverend brethren, be it our care to strive without ceasing against the prevailing evil of this part of the country — religious dissension ; to bring together, as far as lies in our power, the scattered sheep of Christ's flock, and to unite them in one fold, as their Redeemer willed them to be, and appointed us his ministers for that purpose. If they still obstinately refuse, let it not rufile our temper, or interrupt charity — nay, let it not grieve us overmuch, or be the cause of lasting uneasiness or vexation in our minds. God forbid that we should cease to pray for them, although we bear testimony against the sinfulness of the course they are pursuing. Whatever the issue may be here, such labour of love you are sure will not be unrewarded in heaven. Your greatest difficulty will be to induce minds trained in another school, and long alienated from the discipline of the Church, to lend an unpre- judiced ear to your instruction. That point once gained, I am certain that many will be brought to understand the obligation they are under to join us, in obedience to the last solemn injunction of the blessed Founder of the Church : and what they are brought at first to do, as an act of obedience to Him, for conscience sake, they will soon by habit learn to do from pious affection, and from a desire of that comfort to the soul, which true devotion, under the guidance of the Church, never fails to afford. Mountain, Bishop op Montreal. — 1842. Vide Pars. 5, 6, in Chap. X. Denison, Bishop of Salisbury. — 1842. jj.*^ Some valuable obsei-vations on the subject of Christian Unity will be found in the Sermon alluded to by his Lordship in his Charge of 1842. Par. 2. — Vide supra page 11. S41 CHAPTER XII. THE SACRAMENTS. Wilson, Bishop op Calcutta. — 1838. Vide Pars. 3 and 18, in Chap. XXV ; and Par. 26, in Chap. XXVI. Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter. — 1839. 16. Another, and a kindred question, is that which relates to the doctrine of the Christian Sacraments. 17. On this subject, we have rather to complain of the vague and indistinct, and therefore too often depreciating tone, in which the Sacraments are spoken of, than to oppose ourselves to the direct denial of their spiritual efficacy. Such denial would be so glaringly opposed to the most express and solemn declarations of our Church, that no man can well call himself a member of it, and join in de- nying its known doctrine that the Sacraments are not mere signs, but also eiFectual means of grace. But then we have to lament, that many, content with barely asserting this truth in its most naked and abstract form, permit themselves virtually to rob the Sa- craments of their full, great, and practical efficiency, 18. Here, too, without arguing on the controverted points, I shall content myself with reminding you of the extent to which our Church carries its doctrine, and therefore of the extent in which we, every one of us, have repeatedly and solemnly declared that we hold it. 19. And first, of the two Sacraments, (specially so called,^) it maintains that they are ^^ generalhj necessary to Salvation:'''' that they are "sure witnesses, and effectual means of grace, and of God's good- will towards us, by which he doth work invisibly in us,'"" 3 *'The Roman Catholic considers that there are seven Sacraments ; we do not strictly determine the number. We define the word generally to be an ' outward sign of an inward grace,' without saying to how many ordinances this applies. However, what we do determine is, that Clirist has ordained two special Sacraments as generally neces- sary to Salvation." Tract 90, p. 45 — " They " (the five pretended Sacraments) " are not Sacraments in any sense, unless {sic) the Church has the power of dispensing grace through rites of its own appointing, or is endued vnih. the gift of blessing and hallowing the ' rites or ceremonies ' which, according to the twentieth article, it ' hath power to decree.' But we may well believe that the Church has this gift.'" — Ibid. p. 43. — Ed. 342 THE SACBAMENTS. THE BISHOP OF CHESTEr's STATEMENTS imparting the vital grace of Christ to us, "and doth not only quicken" us in the one Sacrament, "but also" as in the other, " strengthen and confirm our faith in Him." They are " outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace given unto us," * — they were " ordained by our Lord Himself," as "means whereby we receive " that spiritual grace, and " pledges to assure us," that, in- visible and spiritual as the grace given in either of them is, we do yet actually receive it, when we rightly receive the Sacrament which sets it forth. 20. To come to particulars. — ^ Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 1839. Vide Par. 8, in Chap. VI,, and Par. 14, in Chap. VIII. Broughton, Bishop of Australia. — 1841 . Vide Par. 43, in Chap. XIX. Oarr, Bishop of Bombay. — 1841. Vide Par. 2, in Chap. XVII. Sumner, Bishop of Winchester. — 1841. Vide Par. 10, in Chap. XXV. Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter. — 1842. 26. In like manner, they have successfully laboured to impress the necessity/ and efficacy of the Bacraments^ as the appointed means, in and by which God is pleased to impart the vital and saving grace of Christ. For this, also, I feel it my duty, once more, publicly to tender to them such thanks as it is in my power to give ; and I do so the more earnestly, because for this, too, they have been publicly attacked by men of learning and piety, who, in their zeal for a favourite theory, seem to have forgotten not only the claims of charity, and even justice, but also some portion of their creed, as well as of the Articles, to which they have solemnly and repeatedly subscribed. 27. The same writer* whom I have just cited, one whose virtues * He thus characterizes the two Sacraments of the Gospel : — " Christ instituted his Sacraments, that tliey who observed them might be a visible body of wituesses to him in the world ; and that, after the usual manner of the divine operations, there miglit be known and manifest channels, in which his Spirit might flow, to the edification and comfort of believers."^ * Archbishop Wake, in his Commentary upon the Church Catechism, refers the words "given unto us " to the " outward and visible sign ;" — " I mean an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, given unto us, and ordained," &c. — Ed. 5 See Chap. XIV Ed. ^ Tliis passage, with its context, will be found in the extracts from the Bishop of Chester's Charge, Cliap. ix., p. 266, supra. — Ed. MISREPRESENTED BY BISHOP PHILLPOTTS. 843 and services to the Church must always entitle him to our affectionate respect, how much soever we may be compelled to differ from him, It is not often, that, in any moderate space, so many contradictions of the doctrine of the Church are made, as are here crowded together, in a single sentence, by this eminent and excellent man—betrayed into it, doubtless, by his zeal to protect the truth from what he deemed the dangerous misstatements of others. I. The Church says of a Sacrament, that it is different in kind from other outward rites or inward communications of Divine grace, inasmuch as it is ^' an outward and visible sign of" some special operation of the Holy Spirit witliin us — in other words, of " an inward and spiritual grace given unto us." The writer says, there is nothing special in it, so far as God is concerned. It is only "after the usual manner of the divine operations."' II. The Church says that a Sacrament is "ordained by Christ Himself, as a means whereby we receive" the grace so given to us by the Holy Spirit, and as " a pledge to assure us that we receive it thereby.""^ The writer says, that it was instituted by Christ, not that any special grace should be thereby given or received, or any pledge of our receiving it, but merely that, " after the usual manner of the Divine operations, there might be a known and manifest channel, in which his Spirit might flow."9 III. The Church says of one of the two Sacraments, that, " by it," not only " those who receive it rightly are, as by an instrument, grafted into the Church," but to them " the promises of the forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the sous of God by the Holy Ghost, are vis'My signed and sealed." The writer says, that there is nothing in it, differing from " the usual manner of the Divine operations:" it is nothing more than " a known and manifest channel, in which the Holy Spirit may flow," without any special promise of any special blessing annexed in it 1 to it. ' It could be mshed that the Bishop of Exeter had allowed the Church to speak for herself, instead of giving her words as a comment upon his oion definition of a Sacrament. The true statement of the case, as it regards the Church and the Bishop OF Chester, is simply this. The Church says of a Sacrament, that it is " an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace : " the Bishop says, " Christ instituted his Sacraments, . . . that there might be known and manifest channels in which his Spirit might flow, to the edification and comfort of believers." In what these two definitions "contradict" each other, it is difficult indeed to conceive. Neither the Church nor the Bishop of Chester use the word " special," though it is imphed in the language of both, and more strongly, perhaps, in that of the Bishop. It seems almost needless to observe, that it has been, under every dispensation, " the usual manner of the Divine operations," to connect with " the substance of the ceremony itself, which is visible," (see Hooker's definition of a Sacrament) " something else more secret." — Ed. 8 The itahcs are not his Lordship's, nor are the words so printed those of the Church Ed. 9 Here, again, the Bishop of Chester is sadly misrepresented. The Church defines a Sacrament to be " an outward and visible sign .... ordained by Clu'ist himself, as a means whereby we receive an inward and spiritual grace, and as a pledge to assure us thereof." The Bishop of Chester says, that " Christ instituted his Sacraments" for the very same purpose, namely : " that .... there might be known and visible channels in ivhich his grace might flow, to the edification and comfort of believers ; " and his Lordship presumes but little upon the penetration of liis readers, in leaving them to infer that the very institution of such a channel by Clu-ist himself, is a pledge that the end shall follow where the means are duly employed — Ed. 1 It might be a sufficient answer to this, and the two follo%ving " contradictions," to say, that the Bishop of Chester is speaking of the Sacraments generally, not of either of them in particular ; and that it would be just as easy to take the Church's definition of a Sacrament, and maintain, according to the reasoning of the Bishop of Exeter, that she " contradicts " her own doctrine, because she does not, in that " single sentence," enter fully into the nature of the benefits conveyed to us in Baptism. So far, however, from asserting that Baptism is " without any special promise of any special blessing annexed to it," the Bishop of Chester speaks of it as a " manifest channel," in which the Spii-it of Christ flows to the '■'comfort of believers.'''' Surely this " comfort " is a " special blessing,^'' and not only so, but a blessing inseparable from 344 THE SACRAMENTS. THE BISHOP OP CHESTER*'s STATEMENTS has not scrupled to insist,^ that in " speaking of Justification by Faith " we may not say that " Baptism concurs towards our Justi- fication i"^ adding, that, iu his judgment, no consistent member of the Church of England can hold such an opinion ; although every time he recites the Nicene Creed he " acknowledges one Baptism for the remission of sins;'"^ although the 27th Article affirms, that " by Baptism the promises of forgiveness of sins, and of our adoption to be sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed, faith is confirmed, and grace increased ;'" although, too, the Homily IV. The Church says of the other Sacrament, that it is "an outward sign of the" •wondrous " spiritual grace, thereby given and received," " our redemption by Christ's death:-' The writer says, it is only " after the usual manner of the Divine operations, a known and manifest channel, in vhich God's Spirit may flow. "2 V. The Church says of the same Sacrament, that in it " the Body and Blood of Christ are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful." The writer says, that there is nothing in it, beyond " the usual manner of the Divine operations."^ VI. The Church says of the two Sacraments, that they are "generally necessary to Salvation." The ^vriter says, that they are instituted only " to the edification and comfort of believers. "''^ " the promises of the forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost." " Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. Speak ye cow/oj-toi/^ to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that .... her iniquity is pardoned.''' —Ed. 2 Would not the following be a more fair and candid representation of the Bishop OF Chester's views? The Church says of the other Sacrament, that " Christ .... hath instituted and ordained holy mysteries as pledges of his love, . ... to our great and endless comfort.'" The Bishop of Chester says, that " Christ instituted his Sacraments that there might be known and manifest channels in which his Spirit may flow, to the edification and comfort of believers Ed. 3 No ! The writer says that, " after the usual nmnner of the Divine operations,''^ Christ has "instituted his Sacraments" as "manifest channels" of spu-itual grace; it was not necessary for his lordship's purpose to enter particularly into the nature of the grace communicated to the faithful in the Lord's Supper, but the language which he employs in speaking generally of the two Sacraments, instead of being a " contradiction of the doctrine of the Church," is in exact accordance with her own expressions. — Ed. ■* It will be observed that, through the whole of these animadversions of the Bishop OF Exeter, the words "only," "merely," "nothing in it," "nothing beyond," &c. are not in the passages quoted, but are the gratuitous insertions of his lordship, perfectly unwarranted by the Bishop of Chester's statement. What would his lordship say, if the same liberty were taken with the following passage in the " Exhortation ? " " He hath instituted and ordained holy mysteries" only "as pledges of his love ;" merely " for a continual remembrance of his death ;" only " to our great and endless com- fort."—Ed. ^ The passage referred to will be found under the extracts from the Bishop of Chester's Charge, in Chap. XXI. — Ed. •^ "In these foresaid places, the Apostle toucheth specially three things which must go together in our Justification. Ujjon God's part, his great mercy and grace ; upon Christ's part. Justice ; and upon our part, true and lively Faith in the merits of Jesus Christ And therefore St. Paul describeth here nothing upon the behalf of man, concerning his Justification, but only a true and lively Faith.''' — Homily of Salvation, Part ii. — En. '' " What, then, is the explanation of the strong language of our old Divines, and of the Fathers before them, as to the benefits connected with Baptism ? We answer, pre- cisely that which the Homilies quote from St. Augustine. MISREPRESENTED BY HISHOP PHILLPOTTS. 345 of Salvation, wbich is declared in the 11th Article to express the doctrine of our Church on Justification, uses the word baj^tized as synonymous with justified ;*s and although the Homily "of Common Prayer and Sacraments " — one of those of which he has again and again acknowledged that they " contain a godly and wholesome Doctrine" — states "the exact signification of a Sacra- ment" to be "a visible sign, whereunto is annexed the promise of ive& forgiveness of our sins, and of our holiness and joining in Christ." Of which description it says, " there be but two, I3aptisni and the Supper of the Lord."-f* * " You have heard the oflBce of God in our justification; now you shall hear the office and duty of man unto God. Our office is not to pass the time of this present life unfruitfully and idly, after that we are baptized or justified.'''' — Homily of Salvation, Part iii. t The Homily ascribes so mnch importance to this its statement of "the exact signification of a Sacrament," that it thus proceeds to test by it two other of the Komish Sacraments, which might seem to have the best pretension to the name : "For, although absolution hath the promise of forgiveness of sin, yet, by the express word of the New Testament, it hath not this promise annexed and tied to the visible sign, which is imposition of hands. For this visible sign (I mean laying on of hands) is not expressly commanded in the New Testament to be used in absolution, as the visible signs in Baptism and the Lord's Supper are : and therefore Absolution is no such Sa- crament as Baptism and the Communion are. And though the ordering of Ministers hath this visible sign and promise, yet it lacks the promise of remission of sin, as all other Sacraments besides the two above-named do. Therefore neither it, nor any other Sacrament else, be such Sacraments as Baptism and the Communion are. But, in a general acceptation, the name of a Sacrament may be attributed to any thing whereby an holy thing is signified." ' Writing to Bonifacius of the Baptism of Infants, he (Augustine) saith, " If Sacra- ments had not a certain similitude of those things whereof they be Sacraments, they should be no Sacraments at all. And of this similitude, they do for the most part receive the names of the self-same things they signify." ' — Homily on Common Prayer, &c. " Now, then, let us apply the language of Augustine. The Sacrament of Baptism, since it has a certain similitude of that which it signifies, does for the most part receive the name of the self-same thing it signifies. This it has received in the Scriptures, and so is called the ' Baptism for the remission of sins,' because it signifies remission of sins ; it is called ' the washing of Regeneration,' because it signifies that washing ; it is called by the Fathers and our Reformers, &c. ' the new Bu-th,' ' the new Creation. ' In Baptism they say we receive remission of sins, the righteousness of Christ, and even the first motion of soul towards divine things ; because in Baptism these are signified, and the promises of them are sealed, — the actual grace which is signified, being considered as already possessed in the required repentance and faith of the Catechumen." — Bishop M'Ilvaine's Oxford Divinity compared with that of the Romish and Anglican Churches, pp. 420 — 422 — Ed. 8 "The plain testimony of the Word of God is that 'Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.' ' Every one that loveth is born of God.' ' He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life.' Then as true Repentance and Faith are required for adult Baptism, and where there is true Repentance towards God, there must be true love, it follows that the Church considers that whosoever is truly pre- pared for adult Baptism is already born of God, and already justified.''''— Bishov M'Il- vaine's Oxford Divinity, &c., p. 379. " But do the standard documents of the Anglican Church pronounce that no person, however penitent and believing, is either born of the Spu-it, or Justified, except he have been baptized?" " The article of Justification, which is applied, by Oxford Divines exclusively to the case in hand, viz., the Justification of the unbaptized, contains '7iot a word abotit 346 THE SACRAMENTS. BAPTISMAL JUSTIFICATION. 28. And, in respect to the other Sacrament, another writer, whose work has been much applauded, enumerating a series of " fearful Baptism. The only instrument it knows is Faith. But that Article refers, for a larger explication of its doctrine, to the Homily of Salvation. That Homily enters at much length into the subject of Justification by Faith ; and yet only in the two extracts given at the commencement of this Chapter, is ojie tvord said about Baptism ; and in those passages not a word about the penitent and believing, but baptized adult, but only about cliildren incapable of believing, and persons repentiug after Baptism. Now this looks very strange indeed, if there be no Justification without Baptism."— Ibid, p. 376. " Again, the same Cranmer writes, or aids in writing another Homily on Faith, which speaks largely of its nature and saving influence, and notes that whosoever believeth is born of God ; but there is not a word in all the Homily about Baptism. Can it be supposed that such an omission would have appeared, had Cranmer believed that Faith is always ' secondary and subordinate to Baptism,' dead without it ; and Repentance so defective that a sinner repenting and believing cannot be justified, or at peace with God, till he has been baptized ? Could the Church of Rome have made such an omission? Could Dr. Pusey or Mr. Newman have kept Baptism so in the shade ? This certainly is unaccountable on such a supposition. " Again, Bishop Hooper (Mart^T) writes a Sermon on Justification, in which he speaks freely and very stongly of Faith, as the only means of Justification The good Bishop in this Sermon speaks of the Lord's Supper, and gets so near to Baptism as to speak of Nicodemus, whose case is associated with Baptismal Regeneration ; and yet not a word about Baptism occurs in the whole Sermon. " Again, Hooker has a long and learned Discourse of Justification, in which he is exceedingly clear and pointed as to the office of Faith, as well as divers other cognate subjects. He says, ^ Faith is the only hand ivhich putteth on Christ unto Justification,^ and ' by Faith we are incorporated into Christ.'' In one place he expressly sets himself to shew what is required in us, as absolutely necessary to Salvation : he goes over divers particulars, yet in all the discourse not a word is said of Baptism, except to mention, as characteristic of Popery, precisely what our Oxferd Divines so earnestly contend for " Precisely the same might be said of many other standard authors. For example. Bishop Andrews, who writes a masterly Discourse on Justification — full of iminited righteousness and faith ; but not a word of Baptism. " But the case of Bishop Beveridge is peculiarly strong. No writer employs the language which we have quoted from Cranmer, Bradford, and Hooker, concerning Baptism, with more fulness and force than Beveridge. At first reading, one would suppose that without Baptism there could not possibly be either a new creature, the pardon of sin, or a hope of Salvation : but the same admirable Divine has a series of Sermons on Faith and Repentance, nine in all, in one of which he treats of Faith as purifying the heart ; in another, as overcoming the world ; in another, as the only title to Sonship in Christ ; in a fourth, on the profession of such Faith, which brings one Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, into prominent view ; in a fifth, on the same ; in a sixth, on Repentance ,• in a seventh, on Repentance as a certain, and the only method of obtaining pardon ; in an eighth, on Repentance ; in the last, on ' Repentance and Faith, the two great branches of the Evangelical Covenant ;' — and yet in no part of these Discourses is the subject of Baptism even mentioned, except once or twice in the most incidental manner. " But the case is stronger still in regard to two other Discourses, expressly on he Way of Salvation, and entitled, ' Salvation wholly owing to Faith in Christ.' The text is the answer to the Philippian jailor, ' Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,' &c. Now here was a fine opportunity to shew the dependance of Faith on Baptism, and its entire subordination for Regeneration and Salvation ; because it immediately follows that the jailor ' was baptized, he and his, straightway.' How could Mr. Newman have handled the Faith of the jailor without his Baptism ; the ivord of Faith from St. Paul, without the Sacrament of Faith which he administered ? But Bishop Beveridge, while he is full and glorious on the former, does not so much as mention the latter, except just to say that, doubtless, the jailor received effectually the preaching of the Apostles, because 'it is expressly asserted, that he and all his were presently baptized, and that '■he believed in the Lord, ivith all his house.'' Such is the only mention of Baptism : all the rest is of Faith. VIEWS OF CRANMER, HOOPER, HOOKER, ANDREWS, BEVERIDGE. 347 errors," which he lays to the charge of the Tractarians, numbers among them the Doctrine (not only of " the real presence," ex- plained as they have explained it, but also) of " the communication of our Saviour's Body and Blood in the Lord's Supper ;" seemingly forgetting that these words are a transcript from an Epistle of St. Paul*9 29. While the Sacraments are thus unhappily depreciated by good men of our own day, it is refreshing to look back to the Fathers of our Reformed Church, and to listen to their sounder teaching. Let me, then, contrast with what I have just cited from our contemporaries. Hookers brief, but pregnant, declarations on this subject. " Sacraments," says he, " are those visible signs which, in the exercise of religion, God requireth every man to receive, as tokens of that saving grace which Himself thereby be- stoweth," Again, after describing " Grace, as the Word of God teacheth," first, " His favour and undeserved mercy towards us ;" secondly, "The bestowing of His Holy Spirit, which inwardly worketh ;" thirdly, " The effects of that Spirit whatsoever, but especially saving virtues, such as are Faith, Charity, and Hope ;'' lastly, "The free and full remission of all our sins:" — he imme- diately subjoins, " This is the Grace which Sacraments yields and whereby we are all justified !'''-\'^ In another place he says, with express reference to those who would so hold the doctrine of Justification by Faith only, as to derogate from the dignity and worth of Sacraments, " The Old Valentinians held that the work of our restoration must needs belong unto knowledge only They draw very near unto this error who, fixing (wholly — Ed.) * ] Cor. X. 16. \ Hooker, B. v. A pp. p. 552 ; Keble's 2ad Edition. " The contrast between this entire passing over of the Baptism of the jailor on the part of Beveridge, and the prominence assigned to it by Dr. Pusey is very striking : Bishop Beveridge dwells exclusively upon the required Faith -, Dr. Pusey sees nothing scarcely in that Faith but Baptism, as necessary to the very life of Faith. Thus says the latter : ' Paul says, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Clu-ist," &c. ; but a part of that belief was liis Baptism, without which his belief had been dead.'— . Tract, No. 67, Am. Ed., p. 173. Now if Beveridge had believed, with Dr. Pusey, as is contended, that the jailor's Faith was dead till Baptism gave it life, how was it possible that in expounding the way of Salvation, as exhibited in the case of the jailor, he should have expended two whole Discourses — the one on Salvation by Faith in general, the other on Justifying Faith in particular, without even alluding to any dependence of Faith on Baptism, or any connection between them ? and yet Beveridge is one of the examples given by the Oxford Tracts of those English Divines who teach their Doctrine of Baptismal Justification." — /6ic?,pp.383 — 387 — Ed. 9 The moaning attached by the Tractarians to the expression, "the communication of our Saviour's Body and Blood in the Lord's Supper," is very different from that of St. Paul when he says, " The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the Blood of Christ ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the Body of Christ ?" Compare this passage with the extracts from the writings of Messrs. Newman, Palmer, and Froude, given in Chap. XVI. — Ed. 1 Surely the Bishop of Exeter would not have it inferred from this, that in the opinion of Hooker we are justified by the Sacraments, which is the point at issue. 348 THE SACRAMENTS. BAPTISMAL JUSTIFICATION. their minds on the (known — Ed.) necessity of Faith, imagine that nothing but Faith is necessary for the attainment of all grace. Yet is it a branch of belief, that Sacraments are, in their place, no less required than belief itself.'"*^ 80. Such is the Doctrine of one who is, by common consent, re- cognised as " the judicious Hooker,*'^ in strict accordance with the Articles and Homilies of our Church. Such, too, is the doctrine of a no less illustrious luminary of the next century, Isaac Barrow.^ * Hooker, Ecc. Pol., v. 60. It is a curious coincidence, that Socinus symbolizes very strikingly with ultra-Protestants, in his doctrine of Baptism : for thus he writes : — " Vel Baptismo illi, hoc est, solemniter peractte ablutioni, peccatorum Remissionem nequaquam trihuit Petrus (Act. ii. 38), sed totam Poenitentias : vel, si Baptismi quoque ea in re rationem habuit, aut quatenus publicam nominis Jesu Christi professionem, earn tantummodo consideravit ; aut si ipsius etiam externse ablutionis omnino rationem habere voluit, quod ad ipsam attinet, remissionis peccatorum nomine, non ipsam remissionem vere, sed remissionis declarationem, et obsignatienem quandam intellexit." — Socinus de Baptismo. 2 The following passage, from the same section of the Fifth Book of the Ecc. Pol., places in a very clear light the sentiments of Hooker upon this point. " If outward Baptism were a cause in itself possessed of that power, (the remission of sins,) either natural or supernatural, without the present operation whereof no such effect could possibly flow ; it must then follow, that seeing effects do never prevent the necessary causes out of which they spring, no man could ever receive grace before Baptism : which being apparently both knoivn, and also confessed to be otherivise in many par- ticulars, although in the rest we make not Baptism a cause of grace ; yet the grace which is given them with their Baptism doth so far depend upon the very outward Sacrament, that God will have it embraced, not only as a sign or token which we receive, but also as an instrument or mean whereby we receive grace, because Baptism is a Sacrament which God hath mstituted in his Church, to the end that they which receive the same might thereby be incorporated into Christ ; and so through his most precious merit obtain, as well that saving grace of imputation which taketh away all former guiltiness, as also that inspired Divine virtue of the Holy Ghost wliich giveth to the powers of the soul their first disposition towards future newness of life." So again in Book vi. " God hath instituted and ordained, that together with due admiuisti-ation and receipt of sacramental signs, there shall proceed from Himself grace effectual to sanctify, to cure, to comfort, and whatsoever else is for the good of the souls of men." " The outward sign applied, hath of itself no natural efficacy towards grace, neither doth God put into it any supernatural inherent virtue." — Com- pare with these two sentences the passage from the Chai'ge of the Bishop of Chester so severely censured by Bishop Phillpotts ; supra, p. 342. — Ed. 3 Bishop M'Ilvaine, after quoting the extract from Barrow given by the Tract- arians in support of their doctrine of Baptismal Justification, observes — " Now, from all this, we would conclude that Barrow had no idea of such a thing as Justification before Baptism. But how will this agree with the following passage in the same Sermon of Justification ? ' In Baptism St. Paul saith, we die to sin, (by resolution and engagement to lead a new life in obedience to God's commandment,) and so dying we are said to be justified from sin (that which otherwise is expressed, or expounded, by being freed from sin :) now the freedom from sin obtained in Baptism is frequently declared to be the remission of sin then conferred, and solemnly confirmed by a visible seal. ' Whereas also frequently we are said to be justified by Faith, and according to the general tenor of Scripture, the immediate consequent of Faith is Baptism : therefore dispensing the benefits consigned in Baptism is coincident with Justification •, and that dispensation is frequently signified to be cleansing us from sin by the entire remission thereof. ' " Now here is justifying Faith going befm-e Baptism ; Baptism made its consequent. But in Oxford doctrine this order is directly reversed. Justifying Faith is there the consequent of Baptism. The benefits of Baptism are said by Barrow to be ' co- VIEWS OF SAfNT BERNARD BARROW — HOOKER. 349 He says, " The benefits which Grod signifies iu Baptism, and (upon due terms) engageth to confer on us, are these : first, The purgation or absolution of us from the guilt of past ofi'ences by a free and full remission of them — his freely justifying us!"^ 31. Be such our teaching. Sacraments, in the fullest and truest sense, are not merely acts of men— acts of worship — sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving ; they are all these, but they are far more, far higher, than all these. Their great, their distinctive cha- racteristic is, that they are God's acts— applications of God to man — His means, His instruments, of giving to us that oneness with Christ, by which we are saved, and wherein we stand. Until we teach our people thus to think and feel of the Sacraments, we shall have left one main part of our office, as stewards of the mysteries of God, miserably neglected. Until they shall thus think of these mysteries, they will not think of us, as it is far more for their benefit, than for ours, that they should always think. But when they shall be so taught, that teaching will be more effectual in winning them back from the wanderings of dissent and schism, or in keeping them within the true fold, than all the arguments which the wit of man can devise. 32. This is no secret to those who, while we slept, intruded into our folds, and have laboured too successively in estranging our flocks. They keep the Sacraments wholly out of sight ; or treat * Barrow, Doctrine of Sacraments, 521. incident with Justification,' not i^roductive of it. Tliey come by Faith, and are * con- signed'' by Baptism ; ' conferred, and solemnly confirmed' by it, as ' a visible seal ;' just as an estate, which has been long since purchased and possessed, is conferred by a deed of conveyance, and confirmed by a visible seal. The death unto sm which Paul speaks of as being contained in Baptism is here said to be * by resolution and engage- ment to lead a new life' — no ' inward, spiritual' change. Dr. Barrow considers that as having been already wrought in Repentance and Faith. He expressly says, that Repentance and Faith, which are required as preparatory to adult Baptism, are ' that death to sin and resurrection to righteousness, that being buried with Christ and rising again with him, so as to walk in newness of life, which the Baptismal action signifies.' " Here then, according to the Oxford view, is a perfect contradiction, rendered the more manifest because Barrow considers the Oxford Doctrine of Justification by in- herent righteousness to be an interpretation of St. Paul 'arij/rano'^s and uncouth.' "> — Bishop M'Ilvaine's Oxford Divinity, &c.,pp. 39G — 398. Bishop M'Ilvaine then proceeds to shew the same thing in Hooker ; and after comparing the extract quoted from him by the Tractarians in their Catena Patrum with another from Mr. Keble's edition of his works, vol. ii. p. 702, proceeds, — " Now here we have the visible mode of conveying an estate produced by St. Bernard (quoted by Hooker — Ed.) as an illustration of the conveyance of remission of sins by Baptism. Does it follow, when a deed is signed, sealed, and delivered, that the person to whom it is made, and who, in law, is said then to receive the * conveyance,^ has not before that been in the real and equitable possession and enjojTuent of the estate ? Certainly not. Then, according to the above illustration of St. Bernard, it no more follows that, because remission is said to be ' conveyed'' or ' consigned'' by the sign and seal of Baptism, the person receiving it has not been before that, iu the actual possession before God, of Remission of Sins. Such is the sentiment which Hooker makes his own by quotation, and ivhich must therefore explain the passages previously adduced from him.'''' — Ibid, pp. 398—401 Ed. 350 THE SACRAMENTS. THE BISHOP OP CHESTER CENSURED them as mere ceremonies,* sometimes as Popish ceremonies. For they are " wise in their generation." They know well that, if their hearers once believe that the Sacraments are God's special means of conferring saving grace, they must demand, to whom is it that God has given commission and power to minister them ? 88. And here I would again press upon you, but now more earnestly than before,")* from the considerations I have just adduced, the duty of administering the Sacrament of Baptism, as the Rubric requires, before the congregation at the appointed time, after the second lesson. 34. You may say that your congregations will be impatient of such an addition to the Morning or Evening Prayer. If they be, you cannot need a stronger proof of the need they have of special instruction on this main point, the nature and the blessing of Christian Baptism. Depend upon it, that they who are impatient of the performance of that holy office, are miserably deficient either in Christian knowledge or in Christian feeling, or, too probably, in both. For if they understand the office, they must value it as a pregnant manual of Evangelic doctrine ; they must, too, rejoice to bear their part in it, as one of the most delightful of Christian privileges. For what portion of Divine worship can delight a Christian if he be cold, much more if he be impatient, in witnessing the infant sons and daughters of those around him rescued from spiritual death, born again, made members of Christ, children of God, heirs of everlasting Salvation ? 85. The truth is — and, as we do not meet for the purpose of complimenting each other, you will bear with me while I declare it * I grieve to see the same writer, to whom I have before referred, give (uninten- tionally, I doubt not) too much countenance to this representation of Sacraments, by his own alteration* of the Church's description of " The visible Church," which he states to be that "congregation of faithful men," in all ages and countries, who main- tain in their purity the doctrines and mstitutions^ of the Gospel. " The ministers of this Church are those called to serve the united body; to perform the prescribed rites "^ &c. •f At my visitation in 1836. * The Bishop of Chester quotes the Church's description at full length only six Imes before. See the whole passage in Par. 22, of his Lordship's Charge, supra, p. 2C5 Ed. 5 The Bishop of Exeter seems to have forgotten that the expression of which he complains, occurs on the very first page of the Prayer Book. " The Book of Common Prayer, and administration of the Sacraments, and other rites,'''' &c. — Bishop Burnet (art. 25,) says, " The 7-ites, therefore, that we understand when we speak of Sacra- ments, are the constant federal rites of Christians, which are accompanied by a Divine grace and benediction, being instituted by Christ to unite us to Him, and to his Church ; and of such we own that there are two, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord.'" — Mr. Newman, whom none will accuse of "keeping the Sacraments out of sight,]' — however he may " treat them sometimes as Popish ceremonies," — speaks of Baptism and the Lord's Supper as "the only justifying rites.''' Tract 90, p. 46 — The Bishop OF St. David's uses the term in the same sense. See Par. 40 of his Lordship's Charge, p. 332, supra. It need scarcely be added that the word institution is of constant oc- currence, as applied to the Sacraments, both in the Book of Common Prayer and in the Homilies Ed. FOR THE USE OF THE TERMS RITES AND CEREMONIES. 351 —our sad neglect in enforcing the, vast importance of Baptism lias been the cause of the carelessness of our people on this particular, and of the tremendous consequences of that carelessness. In the course of my present visitation, I have found that in many parishes, especially in Cornwall, the number of Baptisms has frightfully di- minished. This has been ascribed to the operation of the new Registration Act ; and I do not doubt, that such may have been, in many instances, the proximate cause. But has it been the prime, the most potential cause ? I fear not ; I believe not. I rather fear, I rather believe, that we have to reproach ourselves for suffering the people to fall into ignorance, and therefore into indifference, in respect to this first duty of Christian parents. Were it not so, they would not, they could not, yield to the miserable temptation afforded by a Register-office, to prevent them from entitling their children, under the blessing of God, to be recorded in the Book of Life. For, as the Church tells us, " It is certain by God's word that children, which are baptized, dying before they commit actual sin, are undoubtedly saved."* 86. Let me encourage your exertions in this most important particular, by communicating the fruits of the zeal and in- dustry of one of your own body. On succeeding to the charge of a populous parish, chiefly of miners, he found a lamentable and growing deficiency in the parochial register of the baptized. What did he l Was he satisfied with complaining of the Registration Act ? No : he set himself to work in earnest, explaining to his people what the blessing is, of which they were thus robbing their children. He preached on it to those who would attend his preach- ing; he talked on it to those who would hear him in their houses ; he wrote and dispersed judicious tracts upon it, among those who neither heard him at church, nor could be visited by him at home. And what was the result ? At first, what I should advise you all, in such a case, to expect and to disregard — opposition, ay, furious opposition^ — abuse, contumely, anonymous letters, tracts far more numerous than his own ; but before the year was over, some scores of children, whose Baptism had been superseded by regis- tration, were brought to the font, in his own and an adjoining parish, into which the agitation had spread. His congregations largely and steadily increased, the number of his communicants was multiplied threefold, of candidates for confirmation more than fourfold . his Ministry was honoured, his person respected, even offers of money were voluntarily made to help to enlarge his church and erect a chapel-of-ease ; and all this by the very per- sons Avho, a few months before, had been the loudest in crying out against him. 37. But it is not merely to an increased earnestness in setting before your people the nature and inestimable benefit of Baptism * Rubric at the end of " Public Baptism of Infants." 352 THE SACRAMENTS. BISHOP PHILLPOTTs'' INTERPRETATION OF JOHN VI. that I would invite you ; I must also press the necessity of in- creased frequency of opportunities of receiving the other Sacrament in the churches of most among you. One communion in every month is the very least which ought to satisfy any faithful pastor of the smallest parish. 38. You will say, perhaps, that, even now, it is sometimes difficult, in such parishes, to retain a sufficient portion of your congregation to receive the blessed Sacrament. But, depend upon it, the number of communicants will increase with the number of opportunities, if you both enforce the duty and teach them the blessedness of their communicating. Remind them of the awful warning of our Lord himself, " Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." And join to that warning, as He in mercy joined his wondrous promise, " Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."" Tell them that, whether there be or be not other ways of receiving that precious food, " the living bread which came down from Heaven,*" " the Bread of Life," this blessed Sacrament is the way, the only way, specified by our Lord himself.^ Tell them whatever be the clamour with which such teaching is assailed, whatever be the names — Papists, or whatever else by which you may be called — tell them the truth as declared by Christ, and preached by St. Paul, and as you have yourselves solemnly engaged to preach : tell them, without " re- serve," that " the bread and wine which the Lord hath commanded to be received," is the outward sign of " the body and blood of Christ, which" (we know not how, for God hath not seen fit to shew us how'') " are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper." That " the bread there broken is the communion to us of the body ; the cup of blessing which is 6 The interpretation whieli the Bishop op Exeter gives to the Discourse of our Blessed Lord, recorded in John vi. is certainly not in accordance with the j udgmeut either of the Fathers, or of the best modern commentators. Thus Clejiens of Alexandria says, "He allegorically meant the drinking of Faith and of the jn-omises ; . . . . our Lord is, hy loay of allegory, to those that believe on Him, meat and flesh, and nourishment, and bread, and blood." Tertullian : " Our Lord all along urged his intent by allegory, calling his word flesh, as bemg to be hungered after, that we might have life, to be devoured hy the ear, ruminated upon by the mind, and by Faith digested." Origen : " We are said to di-ink his blood when we receive his words, in which life consists ; his flesh is meat indeed, aiid his blood drink indeed, because He feedeth all mankind with the flesh and blood of his word, as with pure meat and drink." Eusebius : "His words and doctrines are flesh and blood." Athanasius : " The words which Christ spake were not carnal, but spiritual ; for how could his body have sufficed for meat, that it should be made the food of the whole world?" St. Austin: " Why providest thou teeth and a belly ? Believe, and thou hast eaten ; for to believe in them, this is to eat the living bread.''' St. Jerome: " In the truest sense the body and blood of Christ is the word and doctrine of Scripture; the flesh and blood of Christ is poured into our ears.'" See the above and similar passages quoted by Whitby in loc — Ed. "? Surely the simple language of our Communion Service tells us how. " And when he delivereth the bread to any one, he shall say .... * Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feedon Him in thy heart by Faith, with thanksgiving.'' " — Ed. MEANING OF THE WORD "DAMNATION " IN THE COMMUNION SERVICE. 353 there blessed, is the communion of the blood of Christ :" that " we thereby are made one with Christ, and Christ with us," and so are blessed with all the benefits which flow from that wondrous union. Make them know, experimentally know, that such is the heavenly blessing of that Sacrament ; as our Article teacheth, it is " a /Sacra- ment of our Bedem2)tion by Christ's death," to all who receive it in penitence, in faith, in thankfulness, in charity. 39. Make them also know, (not experimentally know, God forbid !) what it is to " eat and drink unworthily ;" that it is to eat the sacramental bread and drink the wine, " not discerning the Lord's body,""8 not considering that it is not common bread and icine which is there offered, but " the Body and Blood of Christ ;^ and that they who do eat without discerning ihis,^ eat and drink damnation (sic) to themselves.* Soften not the word, as some men venture to soften it, as I have myself heard it softened, and have been compelled openly to correct him who softened it. The Church hath, in the Liturgy, given its own interpretation of St. Paul's word — an interpretation which, the more closely the passage be considered, will, I think, be deemed the more certainly to be sound. But I speak not of my own sense of the passage ; I solemnly remind you of the sense which the Church has put upon it.^ 8 " In the Talmud, saith Dr. Pocock, (in Hosea, xiv. 9) there is a distinction betwixt a man who ate the Passover in obedience to the command, wliich was, that they should do it as a memorial of God's passing over them when He destroyed the Egyptians, by reason of the blood of the paschal lamb, (and he that thus ate it, was the just man that walked in the ways of the Lord, mentioned Hosea, xiv. 9) and betwixt another who did eat is only as common food, i. e., ivithout respect to the commandment, or the ends of its institution, and is compared to the transgressor there mentioned, that shall fall therein. So here, he that eateth this holy Sacrament, with a thankful memorial of the benefits conferred upon us, the death from which we are delivered by the blood of Christ, the true paschal lamb sacrificed for us, eats it worthily ; but he that partakes of it only as common bread and wine, not considering the ends for ivhich it teas designed, and the benefits of Chrisfs death it represented and consigned, ' discerns not the Lord's body ;' i. e., he putteth no sufficient difference betwixt that and common food, as the word SiaKpii/w doth import." See Whitby in loc. — Ed. 9 The italics and capitals are not his Lordship's Ed. 1 This is very difi'erent from what our Church intends by the expression, " not considering the Lord's body.'''' She "requires of them who come to the Lord's Supper" no such discernment as that of which the Bishop of Exetkr speaks. Self examination; true repentance of former sins ; a stedfast purpose to lead a new life •, a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ, with a thankful remembrance of his death ; and to be in charity with all men ; these are the only qualifications which she deems necessary to render us meet partakers of the holy communion. She speaks not of " the Body and Blood of Christ ft/jCT-e offered ;" but only of " on« oblation of himself once offered, ^lpon the cross,'''' and of the perpetual memory of that his p7-ecious death, which He " did institute, and in his gospel command us to continue." And though nothing can be called *' common " which is dedicated to a purpose so sacred, yet she speaks repeatedly of the elements as " Bread and TFi?je," even after the prayer of consecra- tion Ed. 2 It is evident, from the context, (see 1 Cor. xi. 27 — 34) that St. Paul is speaking of temporal "judgment," as the word Kpi'^ua is rendered in the margin of our Bible, twice in this passage, as well as in Rom. xiii. 2 — " For this cause many are weak among you, and many sleep." — Our Church adopts the expression in the same sense : " we provoke Him to plague us with divers diseases and sundry kinds of death." — The expression used in the Homily, on the Lord's Supper, is, " lest he 2 A 354 THE SACRAMENTS, MEANING OP THE WORD "DAMNATION." 40. On this matter of the Sacraments, I am thankful to the writers of the Tracts, for the stimulus which they have given to us ; and with the expression of this feeling I would gladly close what I have to say of them. But MuSGRAVE, Bishop op Hereford. — 1842. Vide Pars. 17, 18, in Chap. XVII. Blomfield, Bishop of London, — 1842, Vide Pars. 21, 22, iu Chap. XIV. ; and 23—25, in Chap. XIII. Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 1842. S9. The same tendency to adopt the Traditional, or so called Catholic, instead of the purely Scriptural principles of our Keformed Church, has led to the excessive and erroneous view of the Christian Sacraments, which pervades the writings of the School in question — attributing to that of Baptism, when administered, as the Church expresses it, " most agreeably with the institution of Christ," to infants, necessarily, exclusively, and invariably, all that the New Testament comprehends in that spiritual change and renovation of soul, and that new and Divine nature, the result of which, according to the sacred writers, is victory over sin and the world, and a spiritual and holy life ; and all that the Fathers, in the fulness of their affection, and the exuberance of their eloquence, describe as experienced by the illuminated, converted, sanctified adult — and to that of the Lord^s Supper — again, I admit, in accordance with the mystical and hyperbolical language of some of the Fathers — the continual offering of a sacrifice, not simply eucharistic or even commemorative, but by virtue of the real, though mysterious, presence of Chrisfs body, in some sort 'propitiatory, and available eat and drink his own condemnation,'''' or, as it stood in the earliest edition, " to his condemnation. " There are few clergymen, perhaps, who have not fonnd the word " damnation,'''' even though thus " softened," a great stumbling block in the way of their weak brethren. What, then, must be the effect of such teaching as that which is here prescribed by the Bishop op Exeter ? Damnation in its fullest and most awful sense denounced against those who, coming to the Lord's Supper, " eat and drink unworthily," because they cannot bring themselves to " consider that it is not common bread and wine which is there offered, but the Body and Blood of Christ ! ! " The judgment of the Bishop of Worcester upon this question is directly opposed to that of Bishop Phillpotts. " Is there," says his lordship, " a single word in the service for the Sacrament of our Lord's Supper, bearing a sense very different from the original Greek ivord, of which it purports to be a translation, and calculated on this account to excite unnecessary alarm in weak minds? Although every scholar is aware of the fact, still no authority exists by which the substitution of a more appropriate word could be justified. Under these circumstances, it is unquestionably true that a sort of general consent has been allowed to take the place of such authority." — See the whole passage in paragraphs 15 — 19 of his Lordship's Charge, Chap, xxii., infra Ed. DIFFERENT VIEWS OF THE BISHOPS OF EXETER AND WORCESTER. 355 for the remission of sins both to the living and the dead— and ascribing to both Sacraments the almost exclusive communication of the gifts of grace, to the disparagement of the general promises of God to faith and prayer, and of what the same great Prelate, to whom I have already referred, sublimely calls " the mysterious commerce of the believer's soul with the Divine Spirit." * See also Par. 12, in Chap. XXV. * BiSHQP HoHSLEY's Primary Charge to the Clergy of St. David's. 2a2 356 CHAPTER XIII. JUSTIFICATION. Wilson, Bishop of Calcutta. — 1838. Vide Pars. 3 and 19, Chap. XXV. ; Par. 17, Chap. VIII. ; Pars, 23—25, and 30, Chap. XXVI. Sumner, Bishop of Chester. — 1838. Vide Par. 3, m Chap. XXV. Pearson, Dean op Salisbury. — 1839. Vide Par. 8, in Chap. VI. ; and Par. 14, in Chap. VIII. Brou(»hton, Bishop of Australia. — 1841. Vide Par. 43, in Chap. XIX. Sumner, Bishop of Chester. — 1841. 6. The principle by which, in all ages and countries, the power of Satan has been most successfully assailed, and the human heart most strongly actuated, is that of simple reliance on Christ Jesus ; simple acceptance of the truth, that He is " made unto us of God, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption," Accordingly, this doctrine, that, lying under God's wrath and con- demnation, we are justified by Faith in Jesus Christ ; this plain and simple truth has uniformly been assailed by every instrument which the enemy could bring to bear against it. From the time when certain men went down from Jerusalem and troubled the Church at Antioch ;* from the time when Paul had to grieve over the disciples in Galatia, that they were " removed from the grace of Christ into another Gospel ;-}- which was not another," for it was no Gospel at all ; from the earliest days until now, this has been the point of attack, because on this all depends. We are still experiencing the same, and from the same cause. 7. Through the merciful providence of God, the true principles of the Gospel were prevailing through the length and breadth of * See Acts xv. 1—25. f Gal. i. 6. CONFUSED VIEWS OF JUSTIFICATION. 357 the land, and effects were following which they alone are capable of producing. 8. Meanwhile the enemy^ is on the watch ; knows well where his danger lies ; and contrives to cast reproach upon the Doctrine which is the hinge of Christian truth and Christian practice ; to confound things which ought to be kept distinct ; things inherent in man with things extraneous to man ; individual duties with vicarious merits ; and so to reduce religion to that doubt and uncertainty which never has led, and never will lead, to a con- sistent course of action. 9. It is notorious that this attempt, frequently made, and too often successful, has been renewed in the present day. 10. The Author of our Salvation, "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and the knowledge of the truth,'' has commanded that the Gospel should be preached to every creature. Those have now risen up who affirm that the Doctrine of the Gospel, the propitiation made for sin, is a doctrine too dangerous to be openly disclosed, too mysterious to be generally exhibited ; and would thus deprive the sinner at once of his motive to repent, and his comfort in repenting. 11. It has been another part of the same system to involve the article of our Justification in obscurity ; what has been done for us, and what is to be wrought in us, are confused together; and, practically, man is induced to look to himself, and not to his Redeemer, for acceptance with God. 12. In all this, there is nothing that was unforeseen. The Apostle has plainly warned us to " beware of philosophy and vain deceit," lest they turn us aside from the simplicity of the Gospel ; that very simplicity which fits it for the reception and benefit of all, but of which some men profess to be afraid, lest mercy should be too free, and the way of return to God too open. It is, in truth, the offence of the cross renewed under a fresh disguise ; the objection which corrupt nature has always opposed under various forms to the Apostolical Doctrine, " By grace are ye saved, through Faith : not of works, lest any man should boast." 13. The Scriptural truth is as clear as it is simple. " When all were dead, Christ died for all ;" so that " he that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son, hath not life." By one way alone can man possess the Son ; that is, by believing in him. And therefore, faith alone can justify ; faith alone can appropriate to us that remedy, which God has appointed for the healing of our plague : faith alone can give us an interest in that sacrifice, which God has accepted as the satisfaction for sin. Thus, " being justified by faith, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ." 14. It is true, that, being thus accepted with God, and endued with his Spirit, man becomes a new creature. But he is not ac- 3 See note 6, page 40, sMpra— Ed. 358 JUSTIFICATION. VIEWS OF THE REFOBMEBS. cepted with God, because he is a new creature, but because Christ has made atonement for the wrath which in his old nature he had incurred. His faith in that atonement which led to his acceptance, leads also to his doing works meet for one who is accepted : but the works which follow his being justified, and are its effect, can never also be the cause of his Justification. If a remedy were pro- posed to a man lying under a mortal disease, and by applying it he were restored to life ; it would be sophistry to affirm, that, after all, it was not the remedy which saved, but that the constitution, strengthened by the remedy, resisted the disease. It would be in- justice to the remedy, and ingratitude to the physician. And so it is injustice and ingratitude to depreciate the virtue of Christ's pro- pitiation, by mixing up with it the righteousness of his redeemed people. Let no misrepresentation pervert, let no false philosophy corrupt the wholesome truth, that man is "delivered from the wrath to come," " not by works of righteousness which he has done," or may do, but by Him alone who " died for our sins, and rose again for our Justification." The statement which came fresh from the Eeformer's age, is the statement to which we must still recur. " There is a righteousness which is inherent, and a righte- ousness which is not inherent. The righteousness whereby we are sanctified, is inherent, but not perfect. The righteousness whereby we are justified, is perfect, but not inherent."* This is the funda- mental and characteristic article of all the Reformed Churches: laid as it were their corner-stone ; that we are accounted righteous before God through the merits of Christ alone, and not " for our own works or deservings:" that a lively faith is known by its works, as a sound tree by its fruits : but that they do not bear the root, but the root them. And we are at no loss for the reason why the Reformers were so diligent in laying this foundation. They had seen the consequence of departing from it. If works are to contribute to Justification, " then grace is no more grace." If man can assist in expiating his own sin, he is not the corrupt being which needs redemption. And such was, in fact, the process through which human error superseded Scriptural truth. Our Reformers knew how the corruption of man had been first lost sight of, and then the atonement made for it virtually neglected : they knew how the satisfaction of Christ had been ,set aside, and human works substituted in its stead, often such works as were neither accept- able to God, nor profitable to man ; till at length a system over- spread the world, under the name of Christianity, which had neither God for its Author, nor the welfare of mankind for its end : who were debased by what was sent to purify them, and deceived by what was ordained to deliver them from error. 15. If these facts have been forgotten, as they seem to have been forgotten, by the tendency of certain writings which have been * Hooker, Sermon on Habakkuk, i. 4. S. 3. NECESSITY FOR AND PROPER PLACE OF GOOD WORKS. 359 lately pressed upon our attention, it is high time that they be brought back to our remembrance. But if I endeavour to stir up your minds by this mention of them, it is not because I believe that such admonition is needed here, or that you have ceased to make the ruin of man by sin, and his restoration through the sacrifice of the cross, the cardinal point of all your teaching. God forbid you ever should, or so close the door against your own ministerial use- fulness. 16. There are many other subjects of instruction; but all must proceed from this as from a centre. Many duties are to be per- formed ; and that they may be performed, must be inculcated : but they must be so inculcated, that the great principle of Salvation by grace may be preserved in all its integrity and consistency. 17. It is necessary to "keep under the body, and bring it into subjection," by abstinence, and mortification, by whatever means experience has shewn to be profitable. Still, for what purpose ? Not that we may atone for the ofFencei; of the body by the mace- ration of the body, but because " this is the will of God, even our Sanctification." It is necessary to cultivate humility, to practise charity, to exercise piety; not, however, that we may be hereby justified, but because we are justified : for " if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his,"" not justified at all.'* 18. Ingenious men may find much to urge against this simple truth. They who have studied religion in the closet rather than in the world, or who know more of other history than of the history ■• The following extract is from what Dr. Pusey calls Mr. Perceval's " well- weighed letter to the Bishop of Chester," already referred to. " 1 believe . . . that for those who have been admitted to the Covenant, Fastings, Amendment of life, Prayers, and Almsgivings, and other acts of Charity, and not Faith only, do avail through Christ's mediation, and for His sake, to plead with God for their restoration to it ; but whether further than as indicative of the sincerity of their Faith and Repentance, which disposes them anew to seek and to receive the grace of God, / am not prepared to say.'''' [See Arts. x. xi. xii. xiii Ed.] " It is of this that I understand the passages in which such expressions as these occur : ' Forgive and ye shall be forgiven.'' '■Give alms of such things as ye have, and behold all things are clean unto you.'' ' Charity shall cover the multitude of sins.'' ['Hatred stirreth up strifes, but ' — Ed.] ' Love covcreth ['all ' — Ed.] 'sins.'' — Prov. x. 12. ' He which converteth a sinner from the error of his way, sliall save a soul from death, and h'lde a multitude of sins.' ' Her sins ivhich are unany are forgiven her, for she loved much.'''''' "And these in the Apocrypha, read in the Church by your Lordship's authority, every 30th September, and 3i"d and 24th of October; 'Alms do deliver from death.'' 'Alms do deliver from death, and purge away all sin.'' 'Alms maketh an atonement for sins.'' ... I say by your Lordship's authority, because of every man whom you admit to holy orders, or to officiate in your diocese, you exact, as a condition of that admission, a solemn promise that he shall read those passages to the people." [" Not to esta- blish ANY DOCTRINE." — Ed. ] "If they contain, as from your Lordship's Charge, we must suppose you to believe them to contain Satanic doctrine, on whom does the re- sponsibility of the promulgation of such doctrine throughout your diocese rest, but upon your Lordship?" — pp. 20 — 28. An explanation of Mr. Perceval's Apocryphal quotations will be found in the pas- sage suppressed by Mr. Newman when quoting the Homilies in support of " the pro- pitiatory doctrine of good works." See The character of the Tractariaris as cojitro- versialists, &c. Appendix I. — Ed. S60 JUSTIFICATION. — PRACTICAL CHARACTER OP THE DOCTRINE. of the human heart, may think that we are thus leaving the narrow gate too widely open, and making the road to heaven too smooth. So it has been from the beginning. The apostles were accused of encouraging sin, by proclaiming the abundance of Divine grace. The Jews were jealous that Christians should enjoy immunity from a burthen which they themselves had borne, and escape the ordi- nances of the law of Moses. And the adversaries of the Christian faith made it one pretence of their opposition, that it offered the Divine favour to the profligate and malefactor. 19. But they to whom the truth was committed, did not meet these imputations by denying that " the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." They did not escape from a false accusa- tion by a reserve of the truth which was assailed. They did not confound the propitiation which atones, with the sanctification which that propitiation works on the believer's heart. So far from it, we find Paul on this matter speaking with a vehemence unusual to him. " If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed,"* 20. And surely we find here, as we might expect to find, that " God destroys the wisdom of the wise, and brings to nothing the understanding of the prudent." For whilst learned men are ela- borately proving that outward rites and services are the only means of holiness on which we can depend, that "bodily exercise" and " voluntary humiliation "-f* are the proper mode in which the sinner may approach his God, the plain preacher of the Gospel is confuting them, not by words, but by faith, and the honest disciple is shewing that " they who have believed in Christ will be careful to maintain good works." In religion, as in other things, many a ti-uth which the philosopher passes by, is picked up by the simple and unlearned; whilst many a theory in which the philosopher prides himself is contradicted by ordinary observation. And thus, in the present question, experience proves that the only doctrine which conveys real comfort to the soul, is the only doctrine which produces the genuine spirit of Christian piety. Experience proves, that the more we labour to establish ourselves in the practice of holiness, the more need we find of clothing ourselves in the righteousness of our Re- deemer. And again, the more firmly we trust to that righteousness which is not our own, the nearer we advance towards the personal righteousness which we are striving to attain, and cannot be satisfied without attaining. Vide also Appendix ii. in Chap. XXI. BowsTEAD, Bishop of Lichfield. — 1841. Vide Pars. 3, 4, in Chap. III. LoNGLEY, Bishop of Ripon. — 1841. Vide Par. 6, in Chap. XV. * Gal. i. 9. + See 1 Tim. iv. 8 ; Col. ii. 18. VIEWS OF MR. NEWMAN AND THE TRACT WRITERS. 861 Sumner, Bishop op Winchester. — 1841. S. There Is reason, as it seems to me, for fearing injury to the distinctive principles of our Church, if a cloud be raised again around that great Doctrine, which involves the mode in which we are "accounted righteous before God;" if it be even called in question whether " the Protestant Doctrine of Justification" be " a fundamental of faith ;" if instead of the satisfaction of Christ, singly and alone, as the ground of acceptance, a certain inherent meetness of sanctification be so connected with the qualification ab extra, as to confound the operation within with the work of Christ without. Let him to whom universal consent has assigned the praise of judicious, pronounce his opinion, " This maze the Church of Rome doth cause her followers to tread, when they ask her the way of Justification."* See also Piir. 10, in Chap. XXV. ; and Par. 14, in Chap. II. * " I conceive, then, that Hooker makes for the foregoing statements as truly as Taylor and Barrow ; for he shews us, as in an instance, that a Divine cannot make the Protestant Doctrine of Justification a fundamental of faith, without involving himself in an accusation of those, who together form an authority greater than even the greatest individual teacher." — Lectures on Justification, by Rev. J. H. Newman. Appendix, p. 443. " It is a distinct question altogether, whether with the presence of God the Holy Ghost we can obey unto Justification ; and while the received Doctrine in all ages of the Church has been, that through the largeness and peculiarity of the gift of grace we can, it is the distinguishing tenet of the school of Luther, that through the incurable nature of our corruption we cannot." — Ih. p. 67. " On the whole, then, I conclude as follows: that though the gift which justifies us is, as we have seen, a something distinct from us, and lodged in us, yet it involves in its idea its own work in us, and (as it were) takes up into itself that renovation of the soul, those holy deeds and sufferings, which are as if a radiance streaming from it." — lb. p. 206, 207. Compare this with the language of the eleventh Article : — " We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith only is a most wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification." Observe, also, the language to which such views of Justification lead. " Our chief strength must be the altar ; it must be in Sacraments and prayers, and a good life to give efficacy to them ; and in secret alms to the poor to buy their prayers, which have great power with God." — Tracts for the Times. No. 80, p. 125. " Some Catholic verities there are, which are rather impressed upon the surface of Holy Scripture than involved in the depth of its meaning ; such we would maintain to be among others the Doctrine of Justification by Works." — British Critic, No. Ix. p. 42. The passage of Hooker, referred to in the Charge, is as follows :— " This is the mystery of the man of sin. This maze the Church of Rome doth cause her followers to tread, when they ask her the way of Justification. I cannot stand now to unrip this building, and to sift it piece by piece ; only I will set a frame of apostolical erection by it in few words, that it may befall Babylon, in presence of that which God hath budded, as it happened unto Dagon before the ark. 6. " Doubtless," saith the Apostle (Pliil. iil 8, 9.), " I have counted all things loss, and I do judge them to be dung, that I may win Clirist ; and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, but that which is through the Faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God through Faith." Whether they speak of the first or second Justification, they make the essence of it a divine quality inherent, they make it righteousness which is in us. If it be in us, then it is ours, as our souls are ours. s62 justification. not to be confounded with sanctification. Phillpotts, Bishop op Exeter. — 1842. Vide Pars. 27—31, in Chap. XII. MusGRAVE, Bishop op Hereford. — 1842. [We surely fall into a snare, and tamper dangerously with our consciences, if we ... . speak disparagingly of Justification by Faith only, and set up Works as in the remotest degree meritoriously instrumental to that end — unduly elevating the merit of Fasting, Almsdeeds, Mercifulness, or the like.]^ Vide Par. 18, in Chap. XXI. [The worst error of the Church of Rome has ever been considered this, that we are justified by Works, or peradventure by Faith and Works, j^ Vide Pars. 23, 24, in Chap. XXIV. 38. Though already in brief alluded to, I cannot but exhort you, when called to speak of a sinner's pardon, and of the mode of his acceptance with God, to maintain in your discourses the great Doctrine of Justification by Faith, on which hangs the whole system of religious truth, as on its contrary hangs the whole system of anti-Christian error. 89. But beware of mistake in mixing up Sanctification as an element in Justification. What says Hooker in relation to this point ? " ' Ye are made free from sin and become servants to God.'' This is the righteousness of Justification. ' Ye have your fruit unto holiness.' This is the righteousness of Santification." While insisting on the absolute necessity of Sanctification, this Master in Israel denies entirely that it has any share in the former; and he calls Justification by inherent grace, "a perverting of the truth of Christ." 40. For our guidance the Church has furnished us with three distinct Articles, and for more full and exact instruction has added three distinct Homilies in connection with this subject. So that it must be by our own fault if we deviate far from " the words of truth and soberness."" 41. Should any thing more be wanted for our entire satisfaction as to the real meaning of these invaluable documents, if honest in our opinions and sincere in our enquiry, we shall naturall}'' have recourse first of all to the writings of those who compiled them, and next, to the writings of their learned cotemporaries and imme- though we have them from God, and can hold them no longer than pleaseth Him ; for if he withdraw the breath of our nostrils, we fall to dust ; but the righteousness wherein we must be found, if we will be justified, is not our own: therefore we cannot be jus- tified by any inherent quality."—- HooArer'* Wm-ks, Keble's Edition, vol. iii. p. 489, 490. 5 See note 3, p. 10, supra, — Ed. VIEWS OF HOOKER, THE ARTICLES, AND THE HOMILIES. 863 diate successors, — those burning and shining lights who shed such a lustre on the age in which they lived. 42. We shall find a perfect union of sentiment among them, and an entire agreement with the Articles and Homilies ; setting forth, in language too accurate and precise to be misunderstood by any candid and ingenuous enquirer, that Faith in the righteousness of Jesus Christ is the sole and simple instrument of Justification ; that this Faith must not be dead, barren, and unfruitful ; that if real it must and will be a living Faith — a Faith zealous and per- ductive of good works — but that these works contribute not as instruments of merit to Justification ; else it would imply a reliance to be placed on something inherent in ourselves, some personal quality of our own, and not on the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. 48. You know how the Doctrine opposite to this paved the way for a grievous departure from the truth, and gave a value to those artful devices by which our lack of service might be compensated ; which again in their turn led to still further contrivances for the defence of practices unknown to Scripture and to primitive times ; raising Tradition to at least a near equality with Holy Writ, and enforcing an implicit submission to the teaching of an infallible Church. 44. The revival of any such notions as these is much to be de- precated : not only as being in themselves delusive, but as leading to the introduction of the same subterfuges, fatal to the penitent sinner's hope, subversive of the whole Gospel scheme, and directly in the face of the obvious declarations of our own Church, to which we have solemnly, before God, vowed our entire assent and consent, according to the ascertained meaning of those who framed her Articles, and of those who imposed the oath for our observance of them. Blomfield, Bishop of London. — 1842. 23. I will mention an instance, in which the language of the Liturgy not only explains, but in some sense corrects, that of an Article.® The Eleventh Article says that " we are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by Faith, and not for our own works and deservings : wherefore that we are justified by Faith only, is a most wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort." Now although we may be said to be justified per fid em, it is not theologically correct to say we are justified ^y7 Faith. We are justified, that is, pardoned and treated 6 See Note on Paragraph 12 of his Lordship's Charge, in Chapter xxi.— Ed. "^ With all due deference to his Lordship, I would ask whether the preposition by does not convey the idea of an instrument even more strongly than the preposition through : at all events, there can be no mistake with respect to the meaning attached S64 JUSTIFICATION. ARE THE AKTICLES as innocent, by God Himself of his free mercy, on account of the merits of Jesus Christ ; and through faith we apply that pardon to ourselves. This is accurately expressed in the Post-Communion Service; "most humbly beseeching thee to grant, that, by the merits and death of thy Son Jesus Christ, and through^ Faith in his blood, we, and all thy whole Church, may obtain remission of our sins, and all other benefits of his passion,'^ And lest we should fall into the error of supposing that Justification (that is, the being accounted and dealt with as innocent, or acquitted, in the sight of God,) purchased for all by the blood of Christ, is applied to him- self by each individual believer, by a simple internal act of faith, without the intervention of the Sacraments ordained by Christ, and generally necessary to Salvation, the Church prays, in her Baptismal Office, that the person baptized " may receive remission of his sins by spiritual regeneration ;" that the water of Baptism may be " sanctified, to the mystical washing away of sin ;" and, in the case of an infant, thanks God that he has regenerated it, when baptized, and " received it for his own child by adoption,"" I can- not, therefore, deny it to be the plain Doctrine of our Church, that Baptism is instrumentally connected with Justification,^ as the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper undoubtedly is with Sanctification, and the renewal of our mystical union with Christ : nor do I see that the assertion of this instrumental connection, in any way, derogates from the necessity or efficacy of faith in the process of Justification, *i * " Sicuti in Baptismo semel renatl sumus, ita Coena Dominica ad vitam spiritualem atque sempiternam jugiter alimur atque sustentamur." [alamur atque sustentemur. Ed.] — Noelli Catechismits. The Doctrine that the benefits of Christ's death are applied, not simply by an internal act of faith, but by tlie Sacraments, is the Doctrine not of the Church of England only. The Assembly's Shorter Catechism, A. 92, says—" A Sacrament is a holy ordinance, instituted by Christ, wherein, by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of the New Covenant are represented, sealed, and applied to believers." If the Sacraments are " generally necessary to Salvation," simple faith, without the Sacraments, where they may be had, is not sufficient. to it by the framers of our Articles, — seeing that it is given by themselves as the translation of the word "joer" connected with the expressions "propter meritum Domini . . . non propter . . . merita nostra.'''' It is, therefore, difficult to Bee how the Articles are " explained," much more how they are " corrected" by the Liturgy in this instance. Would it not be just as reasonable to say, that the expres- sion in the Ninth Article, " we are very far gone from original righteousness" — though a translation of the Latin " quam longissime"' — is " not only explained, but in some Bense corrected," by the apparently stronger language of the General Confession^ " there is no health in us" ? It may also be observed, that in the early translations of our Bible the prepositions e/c and 5ja (Rom. iii. 30) are rendered by, " o/," and " through,'''' the following note being added in the margin, " meaning that they are all justified by one means." The obsolete word "o/" has since been exchanged for the expression which the Bishop of London does not consider " theologically correct," but which was evidently regarded by our translators as equivalent to the word " through.'''' — Ed. ® See the preceding Note. ^ On the subject of Baptismal Justification, vide supra, Notes 1, p. 344 ; 8, pp. 345—347 ; and 2, 3, pp. 348, 349 Ed. 1 "We, my reverend brethren, are not only bound, as Christians, by the letter of Scrip- ture, but as Ministers, by that exposition of the letter, which our Church has adopted TO BE EXPLAINED BY THE LITURGY? 366 24. The Doctrine of our Church, as to the Christian's spiritual life, has always appeared to me to be this : — Justification begins in Baptism, when the children of wrath, are regenerated by water and the Holy Ghost, and are made children of God. Remission of sins is expressly declared to be then given ; and remission of sins implies Justification, in the proper sense of the term. Grace is also then given ; and by virtue of that grace, the person receiving it, and thenceforth using and improving it, continues to believe in the atonement made by Jesus Christ, and to seek for and reahze the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and to be renewed, day by day, in the inner man. As long as he does this, he continues in a state of Justification : his sins, which cleave even to the regenerate, are forgiven, as they are repented of and forsaken ; and the work of Sanctification goes on. Righteousness, in a qualified sense, is im- parted by the same grace which justifies : but this inherent righte- ousness does not constitute Justification either wholly or in part. Our Article says, not that we are made righteous, but that we are accounted righteous before God. If indeed we are made righteous, we must of course be accounted righteous ; but it does not follow, conversely, that if we are accounted righteous, we must be made so. The notion that God accounts us righteous, by reason, and for the sake of any actual righteousness, wrought in us by infused and in- herent grace, seems to be irreconcilable with the language of our Article, " onl?/ for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and not for our own works and deservings :" " by Faith only," or, as the Homily expresses it, " by only Faith," that is, freely and gra- tuitously, without worJcs^ according to St. Paul's statement.* Not that we can be saved without works ; but the}/ are not the merito- rious cause, nor a meritorious cause, of our Justification. " Faith alone saves us," as Chilling worth says, "but not that faith which is alone." "Justification," says Barrow, " cannot be understood for a constituting a man intrinsically righteous, or infusing worthy qualities into him ; but rather for an act of God, terminated upon a * Rom. iv. 6. in the authorized declarations of her doctrinal views. To these we appeal ; omitting the Liturgy, lohich, as a series of devotional exercises, could not be expected to contain a systematic statement of the Doctrine, but which yet, in various passages, asserts or implies it. We find that these declarations consist of the ^r^jc/es, the Homilies, SinA. the Larger Catechism of Dr. Nowell, Dean of St. Paul's, which received the sanction of the Convocation, and perceive in them a plain and positive enunciation of the doctrine contained in the words, ' We are justified by Faith only in our Lord Jesus Christ,' viz, that from first to last, — in the commencement, and through the course of our religious career — at its close in death, and at its trial in judgment, — Faith is the only instrument of our Justification, as forming the only bond of union with Him, whose Atonement alone must plead for our pardon — daily, hourly, momentarily ; whose Intercession alone must obtain for us grace, no less urgently and uniformly required ; and whose Righteousness alone must secure our final and everlasting acceptance." — Charge to the Clergy of the Diocese of Lichfield and Coventry. By Henry Ryder, D.D., Lord Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, 1828 : pp. 19,20. — Ed. 866 JUSTIFICATION. TRACT ARI AN VIEW INGENIOUSLY BUT man, as altogether unworthy of God's love, as impious, as an enemy, as a pure object of mercy.* 25. If there were any doubt as to the sense of our Church, as expressed in the Hth Article, it would be removed by the language of the 12th, which declares that "good works are the fruits of faith, and follow after Justification ; and yet that they cannot put away men's sins, and endure the severity of God's judgments." In other words, they cannot justify, wholly or in part. Yet good works are, by the gracious appointment of God, objects of reward. Jesus Christ died to procure the Justification of sinners; but also to purchase for them the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, whereby they are sanctified ; that finally they may be saved, and admitted to de- grees of bliss and glory, proportioned to their improvement of grace given. Vide also Par. 26, in Chap. XVII. O'Brien, Bishop of Ossory, Ferns, and Leighlin. — 1842. Vide Pars. 88 and Note, in Cliap. XV., 100. 109. 151, 152, in Chap. IV. Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 1842. 80. In proof of this representation,^ I refer at once to that which I do not hesitate to call, in the language of the great German Reformer, the ^^ Articulus stantis aut cadentis Ecclesice^'' — the Doc- trine of Justification by Faith, — as it is stated in the 11th, 12th, and 13th Articles of our Church ; which, as a late learned Prelate observes, "is no private tenet of the Church of England, but the common Doctrine of all the first Reformers, not to say that it is the very corner-stone of the whole system of Redemption. "-f- If we inquire of St. Paul, on this, as on every other point, from the very nature of a common inspiration, in perfect accordance with his fellow Apostle, St. James, rightly understood ; or if we consult the 11th Article, and the corresponding Homily of our Church, we receive a definite and intelligible reply — that " man is justified by Faith, without the deeds of the law," — that " we are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by Faith, and not for our own works or deservings." 31. If we ask the same question of the disciples of the School upon which I am animadverting, we are told in accordance virtually with the Romanists, though ingeniously but ineffectually distin- guished from them, that " Justification is an imparting of righteous- ness, a work of the Holy Ghost, a spiritual gift or presence in the * Serm. V. of Justification by Faith. + Bishop Horsley — Primary Charge to the Clergy of St. David's. 2 See Par. 29, in Chap. VIII.— Ed. INEFFECTUALLY DISTINGUISHED FROM THAT OF THE ROMANISTS. 367 Jieart — that it consists in the habitation in us of Grod the Father, and the Word incarnate, through the Holy Ghost;" — that, " through the largeness and peculiarity of this gift of grace," " we can obey unto Justification," which is " not imputation merely, but the act of God imparting his Divine presence to the soul through Baptism, and so making us temples of the Holy Ghost." ^ 32. The Doctrine of Justification by an inherent righteousness infused by the Spirit of God, is here plainly expressed ; and I need only point out the contrast which it exhibits to that of the great Apostle to the Gentiles, and of the Reformers of the English Church. The righteousness of Sanctification, which is interior and our own, is thus, as the profoundly-learned Hooker has elaborately shewn,* confounded with that of Justification, which is exterior and not our own, but imputed to us by faith in Jesus Christ. It cannot be necessary for me to remind you, of what every well-in- structed Divine is fully aware, that wherever one of these blessings is bestowed, the other is simultaneously imparted — that he who is justified, is also sanctified, the Spirit of Christ dwelling in him ; and that while peace with God is, according to the declaration of St. Paul, the result of faith in Him, who is " the Lord our righteous- ness," the faith which obtains it, and which marks the justified man, must be, according to that of St. James, and in point of fact, as the 12th Article asserts, necessarily is, productive of good works. I am not concerned to prove the identity of a true and lively, and of a justifying faith ; leaving to those who deny it the task of recon- ciling their views upon this great subject with the Doctrine of both the Apostles, and with the uniform sentiments of the Reformers, and of Hooker, their best and ablest expositor. " Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith only, is a most wholesome Doctrine, and full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justi- cation," or Salvation. See also Par, 12, iu Chap. XXV. -, and Par. 33, in Chap. XV. Thirl WALL, Bishop of St. David's. — 1842. 19. Though different writers have fixed on different points In the system of their opponents, as the hinges of the controversy, the most prominent place seems to have been generally assigned to the Doctrine which is the subject of our Eleventh Article, and which has been emphatically described as the test of a standing or falling Church. 20. A very elaborate theory * has been proposed on this subject * Discourse on Justification. 3 See Mr. Newman's Lectures on Justification, Lect. vi. on the Gift of Righteous- ness Ed. ■* Dr. Lawrence, late Archbishop of Cashel, in his " Visitation of the Saxon Church,'''' compares Mr. Newman's theory of Justification, (described by Bishop 368 JUSTIFICATION. IS THE DISPUTE ONE OP WORDS by an eminent writer,* which has been denounced on the other side as radically false and utterly irreconcilable with our Church"'s teaching- on that head : and equally elaborate attempts have been made to shew, that this is the root from which all the other errors of the author*'s system have sprung. 21. With regard to my own impression, I can only say, that, after the closest attention I could give to the dispute, I view it as one of words, involving no real difference of opinion, and conse- quently look upon both parties as in this respect equally orthodox.^ * Newman. Lectures on Justification. Wilson as "far worse than Popery,") with the Doctrine of Osiander upon the same subject expressed in the following proposition : "Justitiam essentialem Dei, quce est Deus, Pater, FiUus, et Spiritus Sanctiis, nostram justitiam esse, cum per verbum Dei in nos credentes influit, et in nobis habitat.'''' See the Archbishop's " Remarks on Mr. Newman''s Lectures" appended to the volume above mentioned. See also Mr. Stanlev Faber's invaluable work, " The Primitive Doctrine of Justification investigated ,•" Ap- pendix, No. V ; — " Provincial Letters from the County Palatine of Durham,'''' by the same learned author ; (in which the Tractarian doctrine of Justification is identified with that of Mr. Knox, the Papists and the Schoolmen ;) Bishop M'Ilvaine's Oxford Divinity, already referred to m these pages ; Dr. Miller's Letter to Dr. Pusev, 1840 ; and Mr. Golightlv's Letter to the Bishop of Oxford, 1840, p. 27. — Ed. ^ The italics are not his Lordship's. "The Bishop of St. David's," says Mr. Perceval, {Collection of Papers, ^c, p. 117,) "states that the difference between the Tractarians and their accusers is oftentimes only verbal, or founded upon misappre- hensions, which disappear upon inquiry. " How far this is the case with regard to the fundamental Doctrine to which his Lordship immediately refers, is an inquiry of too much importance to be passed over in silence. I must beg, therefore, to call the attention of the reader, in the first place, to the subjoined extract from a " Peview of Bishop J, B. Sumner''s Tract on Justifi- cation " in the British Critic for July, 1843, p. 74. " At this point difi^erent members, we lament to feel, of our Established Church, must part company. For the Bishop of Chester and Mr. Newman, tvho may be taken as representatives of the two Schools, — while agreeing that (in the words again of Trent) ' the meritorious cause of Justification is the most beloved and only begotten Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who, when we were enemies, through the exceeding love wherewith he loved us, purchased for us the title to Justification by his most Holy passion on the wood of the Cross, and made satisfaction to God the Father for us,' (Sess. vi. c. 7.) — differ altogether as to the mode in which man becomes partaker of the benefit of this atonement ; the Bishop considering the act of Justification as wholly extrinsic, and appropriated in each case by the sole instrumentality of Faith, — Mr. New- man understanding Justification to consist in the inward work of the Holy Spirit, who is commissioned by our Lord to invest his members with his righteousness, and so to bring them within the immediate scope of the benefits of his atonement made once for all. The Bishop then would say that justified Christians are accounted {sic) righteous in consideration of a righteousness not their own Mr. Newman, that they are accounted righteous, inasmuch as they have been made (sic) so, through Chrisfs righteousness inwrought into them.'''' In a preceding article in the same No. of the British Critic, (p. 33,) the " Evangelicals " are spoken of as " cleaving to the soul-de- stroying heresy of Luther, on the subject of Justification." But perhaps it will be said that the views of the Tractarians are not fairly repre- sented by the British Critic. Let Mr. Newman then speak for himself. " They — the religious professors of this day — consider Justification to be nothing more than God's accounting {sic) them righteous, which is just what Justification was to the Jews. Justification is {sic) God's accounting righteous ; yes, but it is in the case of the Christian something more ; it is God's making him righteous too. As beasts live, and men live, and life is life, and yet life is not the same in man and beast ; but IN MAN CONSISTS IN THE PRESENCE OF A SOUL *, SO ill somewliat the Same way Jews were justified, and Christians are justified, and in the case of both. Justification means INVOLVING NO EEAL DIFFERENCE OF OPINION? 369 But there are some facts, which, if they do not clearly point to the same conclusion, seem to me to furnish strong reason for the exer- God's accounting men righteous ; but in Christians it means not only an accounting, but it involves a making ; so tliat as the presknce of a soul is the mode in which GOD MAKES MEN LIVE, SO THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE MODE IN WHICH GOD MAKES MEN JUST. This is that promise of tlie Spirit of life, because of which the Gospel is called ' a ministration of righteousness.' But the multitude of religious pro- fessors at this day whom I speak of, do not admit this ; they even protest against the notion. They think Justification to be something not inward, but merely outward; that is, they acknowledge themselves, they claim to be, in the state of the Jews, and though of course they contend that they are {sic) justified, yet they own that their own Justi- fication is not more than an outward or imputative Justification. There is no room HERE FOR DIFFERENCE IN THB USE OF WORDS, AND MUTUAL MISUNDERSTANDINGS." Newman''s Parochial SermoJis, vol. vi. Serm. 13. ^'Judaism of the present day" pp. 199, 200. Such, then, are the views of Mr. Newman ; let us next turn to those of his oppo- nents. The Bishop of Chester (the chosen representative of the other school,) is known to have advised his clergy to read Hooker's Discourse on Justification at least once every year. The following passages from this Discourse, placed beside the fore- going extract from Mr. Newman, while they elucidate the opinions of the opposite party, will shew still further how little ground there is for supposing, as the Bishop op St. David's is content to do, that " the dispute is one of words, involving no real dif- ference of opinion." " Whether they speak of the first or second Justification, they " (the Papists) "make the essence of a Divine quality inherent, they make it righteousness ivhich is in us. If it be in us, then is it ours, as our souls are ours," — (the very comparison used by Mr. Newman to establish his own theory — Ed.) "though we have them from God, and can hold them no longer than pleaseth him ; for if He withdraw the breath of our nostrils we fall to dust : but the righteousness wherein we must be found, if we will be justified, is not our oivn ; therefore we cannot be justified by any inherent quality. Christ hath merited righteousness for as many as are found in him you see, therefore, that the Church of Rome, in teaching J ustification by inherent grace, doth pervert the truth of Christ ; and that by the hands of the Apostles we have received otherwise than she teacheth." — Sect. vi. " There is a glorying righteousness of men in the world to come, as there is a justifying and sanctifying righteousness here. The righteousness wherewith we shall be clothed in the world to come, is both perfect and inherent. That whereby we are here justified is perfect, but not inherent. That whereby we are sanctified is inherent, but not perfect. This openeth a way to the un- derstanding of that grand question, which hangeth yet in controversy between us and the Church of Rome, about the matter of justifying Righteousness," — Sect. 3. " When they are required to shew what the righteousness is whereby a Christian man is justi- fied, they answer, that it is a Divine spiritual quality ; which quality received into the soul, doth first make it to be one of them who are born of God ; and secondly, endue it with power to bring forth such works, as they do that are born of him ; even as the SOUL of man being joined to his BODY doth first make him to be of the number of rea- sonable creatures ; and secondly, enable him to perform the natural functions which are proper to his kind." — Sect. 5. But it would seem that there were some even in Hooker's day who were inclined, with Bishop Thirl wall, "to look upon both parties" iu this great controversy, "as equally orthodox." Let us hear him yet again. " Our countrymen in Rheims make the like answer, that they seek Justification no other way than by the blood of Christ ; and that humbly they do use prayers, fastings, alms, faith, charity, sacrifice, sacraments, only as the means appointed by Christ, to apply the benefit of his holy blood unto them: touching our good works, that in their own nature they are not meritorious, nor amenable to the joys of heaven ; it Cometh by the grace of Christ, and not of the work itself, that we have by well-doing a right to heaven, and deserve it worthily. If any man think that I seek to varnish their opinions — to set the better foot of a lame horse foremost, let him know, that since I began thoroughly to understand their meaning, I have found their halting greater than perhaps it seemeth to them which knoiv not the deepness of Satan, as the blessed Divine shetceth. For although this be proof sufficient, that they do not directly deny the 2 B 370 JUSTIFICATION. MR. NEAVMAN CONFESSES HIMSELF cise of peculiar caution and moderation in our judgments on this question. 22. One of these facts is, that the modern theory is admitted to harmonize very closely with that of Bishop Bull,^ who certainly foundation of Faith ; yet, if there were no other leaven in the lump of their doctrine but this, this were sufficient to prove that their Doctrine is not agreeable to the foundation of Christian Faith.'''' — Discourse of Justification, 33. After this it can scarcely occasion mucli surprise to find Mr. NE\yMAN writing as follows in his Lectures on Justification. Having quoted the last extract adduced from Hooker, he observes : — " This passage, it must be candidly confessed, is by implication contrary to the sentiments maintained in the foregoing pages ; but it does not avail the east as authority against them, for the following plain reason : — because this great author, in the very Treatise in what he so speaks, confesses he is not acquiescing in the theology of the early Chui'cli ; and since we are not allowed to call any man master on earth. Hooker, venerable as is his name, has no weight with any Christian, except as delivering what is agreeable to Christian Doctrine, which, as being unanimous and concordant, is Christ's Doctrine." And again, " There is enough in Hooker's writings and history to shew tlmt this valuable Treatise, written before his views were fully ma- tured, and published after his death, is not to be taken on all points as authority."— Lectures on Justification, Appendix, pp. 442, 443. So wide then is the gulph between the contending parties in this all-important con- troversy, that the leader and representative of the Tractarian School, is constrained to impugn the authority of Hooker himself ; and this, too, in a '" dispute " which the Bishop of St. David's, " after the closest attention he could give to it, views as one of WORDS, involving NO REAL DIFFERENCE OF OPINION!" Ed. 6 I am indebted to the kindness of Professor Smith for the following extracts from the Bishop of Ossorv's Treat'ise on Justification, a work which, unfortunately, has been for some time out of print, but which it is earnestly to be hoped that his Lordship will speedily republish. The extracts occur in a note by the Professor on the Declension from the true Doctrine of Justification after the Reformers'' days ; to this note, as well as to the Sermon by which it is preceded, I most gladly take occasion to refer. *' But the boldest and mast systematic attempt to substitute the Righteousness of the Law for the Righteousness of Faith in the work of Justification, was that which •was put forward by Bishop Bull. He held that the faith to which Justification is ascribed, is to be understood as embracing the whole circle of Christian virtues, ' suo ambitu omnia Christianae pietatis opera araplecti ;' in other words, the ' fides formata caritate ' of Romish divines. Moreover, he also teaches that the repentance required unto Justification includes divers works, ' neque pauca, neque ignobilia,' which he enumerates. 1. Sorrow for sin. 2. Humble acknowledgment that we deserve God's wrath, 3. Hatred of sin. 4. Confession of sin. 5. Fervent prayer for mercy. 6. Love of God. 7. Forsaking of Sin. 8. Resolution of new obedience. 9. Restitution of ill- gotten property. 10. Forgiveness of injuries. 11. Alms. All these are necessary to obtaining remission of sin, (quod nemo ausit negare nisi qui in libertinorum castra se totum dederit.) " But as the twelfth Article speaks of ' good works, which are the fruits of Faith, and follow after Justification,' Bishop Bull is compelled to distinguish Justification into two kinds, a first and a second Justification ; and affirms, that external acts of obedience follow the first Justification, and are required for the second Justification ; but that only inward obedience and virtues (which are, as he contends, included in faith) are required for the first Justification. " This system of doctrine has been examined and refuted by the Bishop of Ossory. " ' What foundation does Article xii., or any other, supply for this distinction of a first and second Justification? Any one who reads these Articles in connexion, must see that the Justification which they describe as effected by Faith, which good works follow, and which no good works precede, — that this is the only Justification of which they speak, — the Justification which we have for the merits of Jesus Christ. If there be another Justification, the Articles do not speak of it, or even glance at it. They tell us, indeed, of a Justification, before which no good works are done ; but they do not intimate to us, in any way, that this is but inchoate, and that there is another Justifica- tion, to the obtaining of which all these good works are necessary. Would not this be AT VARIANCE WITH HOOKER. BISHOP BULl''s THEORY. 371 believed his views to be in perfect accordance with the formularies of his Church, and though warmly attacked, was never, as far as I know, charged with any of the consequences which have been supposed to flow from them in their more recent form. And I may add, that the work in which Bishop Bull proposed his theory, the Harmonia Apostolica, was strongly recommended to the Clergy of this Diocese by Bishop Horsley, in his Charge at his Primary Visitation, as a " preservative from the contagion of the Antinomian folly.^' 23. Another fact, still more important, and I think not suffi- ciently borne in mind, is, that the principal terms employed in the discussion of the subject, which are therefore of most frequent occur- rence, admit of so many different senses, that there is perpetual danger '7 of confusion and misunderstanding:* so that an eager dis- putant may carry on the contest through a bulky volume, and yet leave his antagonists position untouched. When this is the case, nothing is more natural than that complaints should be made of obscurity, confusion, paradox, and self-contradiction : and, accord- higly, in no part of the controversy do we hear such complaints * See Jeremy Taylor's Sermon : Fides formata. Works, vol. vi. p. 268. Edit. Heber. a strange way of presenting this important doctrine ? That there should be three, and but three, Articles given on the subject of Justification, its causes, and effects, and that we should be left in ignorance of what this second Justification is, how it is to be obtained, or even that it has any existence ? Is this credible ? ' " ' The eleventh Article establishes that to be justified and to be counted righteous before God, mean the same thing. Bishop Bull himself determines Justification to be the act by which God, as judge, remits our sins, acquits us, counts us righteous, &c. This is the Justification which we have by Faith only, (Art. xi.) and which good works follow, (Art. xii.) and which no good works precede. (Art. xiii.) Of this Justification, — which includes our acquittal by our Almighty Judge, the recognition of our righteous- ness by Him, and the plenary acceptance by which we have peace with God, the Articles are careful to give us distinct information ; of the other, they tell us nothing. If this be but our first Justification, it is the only one of which the Articles speak. If there be a second Justification, which is not by Faith only, and which good works do precede, our Articles are cautiously silent about it, and we may very safely leave it in the same obscurity.' — O'Brien on Justification, 396. " It is this scheme of Bishop Bull that is adopted by Dr. Pusev, when he says, 'that the great divines of our Church teach that Sanctification has no part in our primary Justification, but that we remain justified by being made righteous ; and thus Justification is an act external to us, continued on into an act within us, — (strange confusion of words and ideas ! ) and is therefore opposed to the Lutheran doctrine of Justification icithout inherent righteousness'' (where note the ambiguous ivithout: does it mean not depending on, or not attended by 9 y See The Tractarian and Evangelical Systems : considered as developments of the Letter that killeth and the Spirit that giveth life. A Sermon preached before the Lord Bishop of Clogher, (and the Clergy of his Diocese, and published at their request) by George Sidney Smith, D.D., Professor of Biblical Greek, Trinity College, Dublin, pp. 50, 51. — Ed. '' Surely such terms as those employed in some of the preceding extracts, e. g. " made,'''' " accounted," " extrinsic,'''' " inherent,'''' &c., on which the whole controversy turns, are too plain to admit either of " confusion or misunderstanding." Ed. I cannot omit this opportunity of referring to an admirable publication by the Rev. Dr. Marsh, of Leamington, entitled "Justification ; or a short and easy method of as- certaining the Scriptural view of that important Doctrine/'' — Ed. 2 B 2 372 JUSTIFICATION. NEWMAn's DOCTRINE OF MERIT. more frequently and strongly expressed, than in that which relates to this point.* 24. But though I have not been able to perceive that the doc- trine of the Eleventh Article has been put in any peril by the manner in which it is exhibited in that theory, or that this theory affords the slightest countenance to the Romish Doctrine of Merit,^ I am not the less convinced that the ordinary mode of stating the Doctrine of our Church, against which the author so vehemently protests, both expresses it correctly, and sufficiently guards, so far as words can do so, against the abuse of it : and I know of nothing that is likely to be gained by the substitution of any other, unless it be, that it may serve to rouse attention, to exercise thought, and to prevent the mechanical repetition, and consequent idolizing, of a formula. * It seems very doubtful whether a collection of seemingly paradoxical and self- contradictory passages, torn from the context of a closely reasoned work, can contribute much either to enlighten the ignorant, or to convince gainsayers. 8 The views of the Tractarians upon the "Doctrine of Merit'"' have been more fully develcT)ed since the deUvery of the Bishop of St. David's Charge. Mr. Newman in his Sermon on "The Apostolical Christian,''' says, "Those great surrenders which Scripture speaks of, are not incumbent on all Christians. They could not be voluntary if they were duties ; they could not be meritorious if they were not voluntary. But though they are not duties to all, they may be duties to you ; and though they are vo- luntary, you may have a call to them. It may be your duty to pursue merit.^''~—Ser- mms on Subjects of the Dai/, pp. 329, 330. — En. 373 CHAPTER XIV. BAPTISM. REGENERATION. Wilson, Bishop op Calcutta. — 1838. rtde Par. 24, in Chap. XXVI. Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter, 1839. 20. To come to particulars. Of Baptism, our Church teaches, that the inward grace, of which it is not only the sign, but the " sure witness," and the " effectual mean " of conveyance, is " a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness ;"9 that in and by Baptism Regeneration is given unto us. 21 . In the ninth Article, the word renatis, in the Latin copy, is, in the English, baptized^ both copies being, as you know, equally original. Surely, this alone is sufficient to prove, that our Church considers the being baptized as the same as being regenerate ; for it uses the very terms as convertible.^ 9 It will be observed that the words here substituted by the Bishop of Exeter to shew the teaching of our Church, are quoted, and that incorrectly, from the general definitions of a Sacrament, in the Catechism and in the Twenty-fifth Article. I say incorrectly, because, in the first place, the expression " effectual mean " does not occur in either of them, nor indeed in any of our formularies ; and secondly, our Church does not speak of Baptism as " the sign, the ' sure witness,' the ' effectual mean ' of convey- ance," but defines a Sacrament to be " a means whereby we receive grace," and de- clares of Baptism that "it is a sign of Regeneration." I will also venture to suggest that his Lordship does not fairly represent the meaning of the Church when he describes her as teachuig that Baptism is " not only the sign^ but the '■sure witness,'' .... of inward grace." The antithesis is not between the words "«<7w"and ''witness.^'' In the Twenty -fifth Article, speaking generally of the Sacraments, the Church declares them to be " not only badges or tokens (notse) of Christian men''s profession, but rather certain sure witnesses, and effectual signs (signa) of grace and Gocfs good tvill:" and her meaning is still more plain when she comes to speak, particularly, of the Sacrament of Baptism, in Article Twenty-seven ; *' Baptismas not only a sign of profession, and mark of difference (professionis signum, ac discriminis nota) .... but it is also a sign of Regeneration or JVew Birth (signum regenerationis.y' The language of our Church, correctly stated, gives not the slightest countenance to the notion which confounds the "sign " with the " thing signified,^ ^ the "sure witness" with that to which it testifies. — Ed. ^ The word " renatis " occurs twice in the Article on original sin. In the ^rst in- stance it is rendered in the English " regenerated f^ in the secondf as his Lordship ob- 374 BAPTISMAL REGENERATION VIEWS OF 22. Accordingly, it teaches us to apply to Baptism the words spoken by our Lord to Nicodemus ; for, in the Exhortation in the Office of " Baptism of such as are of riper years,"" it tells us, that, by the express words of our Saviour Christ, " except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God," '"''we may 'perceive the great necessity of this Sacrament, where it maybe had" — in other words, that without it, where it may be had, " we cannot enter into the Kingdom of God." 23. Whether, where Baptism may not be had, God is ever pleased to give Regeneration, as Scripture is silent, so likewise is the Church. A charitable hope, in such a case, it does not dis- courage, but neither doth it require.^ It leaves us to draw our own serves, baptized : but in this case the words " et credentibus " are added to the ex- pression. How it is that the Sacraments have " for the most part received the names of the self-same things they signify," is explained by St. Augustine as quoted in the Homily on Common Prayer. See note 7, p- 344, supra Ed. 2 The early Church appears to have entertained a much more decided opinion upon this point. "And because equity so teacheth," says Hooker, (Eccles. Pol. b. v. 60.) "it is on all parts gladly confessed, that there may be in divers cases life by virtue of inward Baptism, even where outward is not found. So that if any question be made, it is but about the bonds and limits of this possibility. For example, to think that a man whose Baptism the crown of martyrdom preventeth, doth lose in that case the happiness which so many thousands enjoy, that only have had the grace to believe, and not the honour to seal the testimony thereof with death, were almost barbarous. Again, when some certain opinionative men in St. Bernard's time, began privately to hold that, because our Lord hath said, ' Unless a man be born again of water,' therefore life, without either actual Baptism or martyrdom instead of Baptism, cannot possibly be obtained at the hands of God ; Bernard, — considering that the same equity which had moved them to think the necessity of Baptism, no bar against the happy estate of unbaptized martyrs, is as forcible for the warrant of their salvation, in whom, although there be not the sufferings of holy martjTS, there are the virtues which sanctified those sufferings, and made them precious in God''s sight, — professed himself an enemy to that severity and strictness which admitteth no exception but of martyrs only. For, saith he, if a man desirous of Baptism be suddenly cut off by death, in whom there wanted neither sound Faith, devout Hope, nor sincere Charity, ( God be merciful unto me, and pardon me, if I err,) but verily of such a one's Salvation, in whom there is no other defect besides his faultless lack of Baptism, despair I cannot, nor induce my mind to think his Faith void, his Hope confounded, and his Charity fallen to nothing, only be- cause he hath not that which not contempt but impossibility withholdeth. ' Tell me, I beseech you, (saith Ambrose,) what there is in any of us more than to will and to seek for our own good. Thy servant Valentinian, O Lord, did both. (For Valentinian, the Emperor, died before his purpose to receiA-e Baptism could take effect. ) And is it pos- sible, that he, ivhich had purposely thy Spirit given him to desire grace, should not receive this grace which that Spirit did desire » Doth it move you that the outward accustomed solemnities were not done ? As though converts that suffer martyrdom before Baptism, did ihevehy forfeit their right to the croivn of eternal glory in the Kingdom of Heaven. If the blood of martyrs in that case be their Baptism, surely his religious desire of Baptism standeth him in the same stead.' It hath been, therefore, constantly held, as well toitching other believers as martyrs, that Baptism taken away by 7iecessity, is supplied by desire of Baptism, because with equity this opinion doth best stand.'''' It is impossible to read the foregoing extract without perceiving how exactly the sentiments contained in it accord with the language of our Church in the twenty-seventh Article. She there tells us that "they that receive Baptism rightly ecclesise inse- runtur •," that "the promises of forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption in filios Dei, by the Holy Ghost are visibly signed and sealed ;" that " Faith is confirmed, and, vi divinse invocationis, grace increased." Plainly then, in her judgment, "they who receive Baptism rightly," are, previous to the administration of the ordinance, in possession of BERNARD, AMBROSE, HOOKER, USHER. S75 conclusion from the analogy of the Gospel of love, and peace, and mercy. 24. Of Infant Baptism, the Church further tells us, that it is certain, by God's Word, that children which are baptized, dying before they commit actual sin, are undoubtedly saved."" It tells us, too, that every baptized " infant is regenerate and grafted into the body of Christ's Church ;" nay, it teaches and commands us to " yield hearty thanks'^ to Almighty God, as a "most Merciful Father, for having been pleased tlms^ to regenerate" him, for "having received him for his own child by adoption," for " having incorporated him into His Holy Church." 2.5. That any one, after having again and again solemnly sub- scribed to the lawfulness, and therefore to the truth, of all this — after having engaged before God and man, that he will use this form of words in administering Baptism — and after having, in ac- cordance with that engagement, continued to use it during the whole of his ministerial service — can yet deny or dispute the po- sition that our Church maintains, that always to infants^ and to Faith and Grace. Just so, in this passage from Hooker, Ave hear of unbaptized persons in possession of " virtues which sanctified their sufferings and made them precious in God's sight;" wanting '"'neither sound Faith, devout Hope, nor sincere Charity;" purposely "gifted with the Spirit to desire grace;" nay, having a "right to the crown of eternal glory in the Kingdom of Heaven." In what sense can the term unregenerate be applied to such characters as these ? — Ed. 3 The italics are not the Bishop's. Does his Lordship intend by the word " thus " that every baptized infant is " regenerate" in the sense of being " grafted into the body of Christ's Church "? If so, no one of the persons alluded to in the following paragraph will be found to "deny or dispute the position." See the term explained by Arch- deacon Sinclair, note 8, p. 379, infra. If, however, his Lordship attaches a higher and spiritual meanuig to the word Regene- ration, as I believe the Church also does in some parts of the Baptismal Service, — then I must respectfully observe that the Church does not assert "that every baptized * infant is regenerate,' " in this sense, any more than she can be said to assert of every person over whom the Burial Service is read, that God hath taken the soul of the de- parted to Himself. See notes 4 and 5, infra. * The italics are not his Lordship's. See note 7, supra, p. 344. See also Charge of the Dean of Salisbury, 1842. Par. .39, p. 354, supra. Archbishop Usher was of a very different opinion as appears from the following quotation : " Is every elect infant then actually sanctified and united to Christ in and by Baptism ? " We must here distinguish of elect infants baptized, whereof some die in their infancy, and never come to the use of reason ; others God hath appointed to live and enjoy the ordinary means of Faith and Salvation. " What is to be thought of elect infants that die in their infancy, and have no other outward means of salvation but their Baptism ? " Doubtless in all these the inward grace is united to the outward sign " But what is to be thought of the effect of Baptism in those elect infants to whom God hath appointed to live to years of discretion ? " In them we have no loarrant to promise constantly an extraordinary work to whom, God intends to afford ordinary means ; for though God does sometimes sanctify from the womb, as in Jeremy, and John Baptist, sometimes in Baptism, as He pleaseth, yet it is hard to affirm, as some do, that every elect infant doth ordinarily, before or in Bap- tism, receive initial regeneration, and the seed of Faith and Grace ; for if there was such a habit of gvace then infused, it could not be so utterly lost or secreted Jis never to shew itself, but by being attained by new imitruction. But we may rather deem and judge that Baptism is not actually effectual to justify and sanctify until the party does believe and embrace the promises." See "Extracts from the Works of Archbishop 376 BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. adults rightly receiving,^ Regeneration is given in Baptism, and, so far as man is authorized to pronounce, in Baptism only, — might appear incredible, if the experience of more than two hundred years had not, unhappily, furnished us with too many instances to the contrary. 26. Our own times, indeed, and I must not forbear to add, our own Diocese, have been said to furnish more than one instance of disingenuousness of another kind. It is reported, (erroneously, I hope,) that there are persons, even among our Brethren, who, in despite of their engagements, take upon themselves to omit, or garble, portions of the office of Baptism, in order to avoid ex- pressions, which their conscience, it should seem, is too tender to use, though not too tender to promise to use. Whether the penalties of human law be likely to restrain any who in such a matter can set at nought their most sacred obligations to God, I know not ; but it may be well to state the injunction of the Thirty-eighth Canon: " If any Minister, after he has subscribed, shall omit to use the form of prayer, or any of the orders, prescribed in the Communion, let him be suspended ; and if, after a month, he do not reform and submit himself, let him be excommunicated ; and then, if he shall not submit himself within the space of another month, let him be deposed from the ministry." The penalties of this Canon I should feel it my duty, however painful, to enforce, in any case in which by due proof it may be shewn that they are incurred.* 27. And here, I cannot forbear entreating you all to follow the directions of the Rubric, as in other respects, so particularly in re- lation to the time of administering Baptism, " either immediately after the Second Lesson " at Morning Prayer, or else immediately after the Second Lesson at Evening Prayer."" * The printed letter, bearing Mr. Head's name, having professed that he thus corrupts the office of Baptism, I called on him at my Visitation, in the presence of the Archdeacon, and the Churchwardens of his parish, to avow himself, if he thought fit, the Author of the letter (cautioning him that the avowal might be used against him). As he declined making this avowal, I charged the Churchwardens to note his practice in ministering Baptism, and to make Presentment, if he omits any portion of the Office. Usher a7id Dr. Hammond ; intended to illnstrate their views relative to the Sacrament of Baptism ,•" and to "enable the reader to institute a comparison between the state- ments of these eminently ' learned and pious ' authors, and the statements which have been so industriously disseminated by the Oxford Tract writers and their abettors." (p- 4-) — This pamphlet, published anonymously by Hatchards, is from the pen of a dignitary of our Church, one of the most able and zealous opponents of Tractarianism, to whese kindness I am indebted for my knowledge of it. An extract from Dr. Hammond will be found in a note on Par. 34, of the Dean of Salisbury's Charge, in the next Chapter Ed. 5 "Always to infants, and to adults rightly receiving''''! Surely this is not the teaching of the Church. The Twenty-seventh Article makes no distinction whatever between infants and adults, when it says that " they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into the Church. " And if it be urged that the Church in the Baptismal Service de- clares of every baptized infant that it is regenerate, it must not be forgotten that she uses precisely the same words with reference to every baptized adult, Ed. BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 377 28. Those of your congregation, who know and consider what Baptism is — a Sacrament — a holy mystery, instituted and ordained by our Lord himself, in which He is in a special manner present, and by which He worketh a new creation in the soul of him who receives it, making him to be part of his own body, and so to be entitled to an inheritance in his heavenly kingdom — all, I say, who know and consider this (as all ought to know and consider it), how- ever often Baptism may recur, will witness it with awe, and reve- rence, and holy joy ; and will join most gladly in the prayers and praises, which are offered up to God, at the working of so mighty a change in any one of those for whom our Saviour shed his blood. Nor would it be easy to devise any means more likely to be effectual, in awakening the thoughtless, or enlightening the ignorant, than thus to remind them, by the Baptism of others, both of the New Birth which was once vouchsafed to themselves, and of the new life to which they were thereby pledged. But then, in order to insure these good effects, it is manifestly necessary, that you should not seldom bring the real nature and blessed efficacy of this Sacrament to the attention of your people. Broughton, Bishop of Australia. — 1841. Vide Pars. 10—29, in Chap. X. LoNGLEY, Bishop op Ripon. — 1841. Vide Pars. 3, in Chap. XXIII. Mant, Bishop of Down and Connor, and Dromore. — 1842. 80. And here I cannot but draw your attention to the absence of all solemnity, which frequently accompanies the ministration of this Holy Ordinance of our Lord, notwithstanding the care of the Church for its due celebration, by directing that it be celebrated after previous notice to the curate, at the font, publicly before the' congregation, immediately after the last Lesson at Morning or at Evening Prayer. A general and systematic neglect of these pro- visions, which must, I fear, be regarded as too prevalent in our ministrations, whilst it is a palpable violation of the Church's laws, is calculated to bring disrepute on the Holy Sacrament of Baptism. Nay, I am persuaded, my Reverend Brethren, that more whole- some, more Scriptural, and sounder views would commonly prevail concerning it, if it were carefully administered after such manner as the Church prescribes. 81. For, not to mention other advantages, I will limit myself to one which falls in with the course of the present observations, — namely, that the people of the Church would be habituated to connect the idea of Regeneration or the New Birth with the admission of children into her fold by Holy Baptism, when they heard her by 378 BAPTISM IN SOME SENSE OR OTHEB her Minister taking her Saviour's declaration concerning the neces- sity of " any one being born again of water and of the Holy Ghost,"" for the foundation of her Baptismal Service ; praying, that " the child now to be baptized may be regenerate ;"" affirming, that " after he is baptized he is regenerate ;" thanking God, that " he has been pleased by Baptism to regenerate liim or her." 82. In truth, every reference in every formulary of the Church, where notice is taken of Regeneration, speaks of it as the spiritual grace of Holy Baptism. ^ But, as to the Baptismal Service in particular, both the objections of the Puritanical Nonconformists, and the defence of the Representatives of the Church at the Savoy Conference, manifest its meaning. For whereas to the Prayer in Baptism, that this child " may receive remission of sins by Spiritual Regeneration," the Puritans objected : " This expression seeming inconvenient, we desire it may be changed into this, " M/iy be regenerated, and receive remission of sins.""* The Episcopal Divines made answer that the prayer was " most proper ; for Bap- tism is our Spiritual Regeneration."" St. John iii., " Unless a man be born again of water and the Spirit," &c. And by this is received remission of sins, Actsii. 3, "Repent, and be baptized everyone of you, for the remission of sins.*" So the Creed, " One Baptism for the remission of sins."-f- And whereas to the affirmation, " that it hath pleased thee to regenerate this infant by thy Holy Spirit," the Puritans objected, " We cannot in faith say, that every child that is baptized is regenerated by God''s Holy Spirit ; at least, it is a disputable point, and therefore we desire it may be otherwise • Grand Debate, p. 20 ; Cardwell, p. 324. t Grand Debate, p. 132 ; Cardwell, p. 356. ^ " The method which I propose in handling this point is, — First, To shew why Baptism is styled the washing of Regeneration. " Now the account of this I take to be very plain and easy, from the way of speaking familiar among the Jews. We are told by their authentic writers, that it was their custom to admit proselytes from among the Heathen, not only by circumcising the males, but also by baptizing both males and females ; and that they were used to say, when persons were so baptized and proselyted, they resembled such as ivere new born : they entered into a new state, were admitted to new relations, were obliged to live new lives, and to govern themselves by new laws and customs. And there can be no great doubt, but that our Saviour and St. Paul might use the expressions of ' being born again of water,' and ' the washing of Regeneration,' i7i the very same sense : whosoever was admitted into the Christian Church, by Baptism being ' born again' in the same manner as proselytes used to be among the Jews. To which may be added, what is peculiarly true in the Christian Dispensation, — namely, that Baptism was therein appointed to be a sign of an inward and spiritual Regeneration ; washing the body with water was to represent the cleansing of the soul by the Divine Spirit, and conse- quently the receiving a new principle of spiritual life into the soul, answering to the principle of natural life which every man brings into the world with him when he is first born." — Discourse concerning Baptismal and Spirittial Regeneration. By Samuel Bradford, D.D., late Lord Bishop of Rochester. Published by the Society for Pro- moting Christian Knowledge, pp. 8, 9. See also the extracts from Dean Nowell's Catechism ; and Archdeacon Sinclair's Questions illustrating the Church Catechism. Note 8, infra. — Ed, THE LAVER OP REGENERATION." 879 expressed ;"* the Episcopal Divines answered, " Seeing that God's Sacraments have their effects, where the receiver doth not ponere obicem, put any bar against them, which children cannot do, we may say in faith of every child that is baptized, that it is rege- nerated by God's Holy Spirit ; and the denial of it tends to Ana- baptism and the contempt of this Holy Sacrament, as nothing worthy, nor material, whether it be administered to children or no;'t Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter. — 1842. Vide Pars, 27—36, in Chap. XII. ; and Pars. 82—154, in Chap. X. Copleston, Bishop of Llandaff. — 1842. Vide Pars. 58—60, in Chap. X. Blomfield, Bishop of London. — 1842. 21. I have already observed, that in the interpretation of the Articles which relate more immediately to Doctrine, our surest guide is the Liturgy.^ It may safely be pronounced of any expla- nation of an Article, which cannot be reconciled with the plain language of the Offices for public worship, that it is not the Doctrine of the Church. The opinion, for instance, which denies Baptismal Regeneration, might possibly, though not without great difficulty, be reconciled with the language of the Twenty- seventh Article : but by no stretch of ingenuity, nor latitude of explanation, can it be brought to agree with the plain, unqualified language of the Offices for Baptism and Confirmation. :j: 22. A question may properly be raised as to the sense in which the term Regeneration was used in the early Church, and by our own Reformers ; but that Regeneration does actually take place in Baptism, is most undoubtedly the Doctrine of the English Church ; and I do not understand how any Clergyman, who uses the Office for Baptism, which he has bound himself to use, and which he cannot alter nor mutilate without a breach of good faith, can deny, that, in some sense or other,^ Baptism is indeed the laver of Bege- neraiion. Vide also Pars. 23, 24, in Chap. XIII. ; and 75, in Chap. XXIII. * Grand Debate, p. 20 ; Cardwell, p. 325. t Grand Debate, p. 132 ; Cardwell, p. 356. t Nor can it be made to agree with the language of the Ninth Article. The English Article says, "There is no condemnation for them that believe and are baptized;" the Latin is "renatis et credentibus." ' See note on Par. 12, of his Lordship's Charge in Chap. XXI. Also extract from Bishop Ryder's Charge to the Clergy of the Diocese of Lichfield and Coventry; note 1, p. 364, supra Ed. * Where is " any Clergyman" to be found who would think of controverting the Bishop OP London's position that " in some sense or other" — (the itaUcs are not his Lordsliips,) s80 baptism. — regeneration and renovation. O'Brien, Bishop of Ossory, Ferns, and Leighlin. — 1842. Vide Note on Par. 88, in Chap. XV. Bagot, Bishop of Oxford. — 1842. Vide Par. 46, in Chap. XXIII. Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 1842. Vide Par. 39, in Chap. XII. — Baptism is indeed ' the laver of Regeneration.' " Still the " question" remains, and " may properly be raised, as to the sense in which the term Regeneration" is to be used. Upon this point the Larger Catechism of Dr. Nowell, Dean of St. Paul's, which, as it is well known, received the sanction of Convocation, may be regarded as no mean authority •, — " M. What is the secret and spiritual grace ? "S. Forgiveness of sins and Regeneration ; both which we have by the death and resurrection of Christ ; of which we have this Sacrament as a seal and pledge. " M. Shew me the effect of Baptism yet more plainly. ^'S. Since by nature we are the children of wrath, and not of the Church and House- hold of God ; we are by Baptism received into the Church, and assured that we are now the children of God, and joined and grafted into the body of Christ, and become his members, and grow into one body with Him." To this testimony I will only add that of a more recent work, " Questions illustrating the Catechism of the Church of England,''"' by the Rev. John Sinclair, Chaplain to THE Lord Bishop of London, and now, by his Lordship's appointment. Archdeacon OF Middlesex. The following extracts are from pp. 48 — 50 of the edition of this Tract recently published by The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge : — " By whom was Baptism used as a religious ordinance before Christ ? By the Jews. — For what purpose ? For admitting into their Church converts from Heathen- ism— What metaphor did they employ to express the baptized person's change of condition ? They spoke of him as beuig born again or regenerate Shew that Christ, when he adopted the Jewish ordinance into the Cliristian System, employed the same form of speech calling Baptism a New Birth ? — John iii. 5. — And that the same form of speech was used by St. Paul 9 He terms Baptism the washing of Regeneration, Tit. iii. 5 ; see also Rom. vi. 4, and Col. ii. 12 " What is Renovation ? The change of heart from sin to holiness, which gives us fitness for the Kingdom of God In what respect does Renovation differ from Rege- neration ? Regeneration is a change ivith respect to privilege or capacity ; Renovation is a change of character — Which of the Apostles mentions them as distinct things ? Tit. iii. 5 — In the case of grown persons, does Renovation go before or follow after Baptism ? It ought partly to go before, and partly to follow after ; for Repentance and Faith should be begun before Baptism, and brought afterwards to maturity And in the case of infants ? It follows after Did the Primitive Christians consider Regene- ration as the effect of Baptism ? Did the first Reformers.? They all speak of Baptism as a seal, and pledge, and channel of Regeneration." Ed. S81 CHAPTER XV. SIN AFTER BAPTISM. Wilson, Bishop of Calcutta. — 1838. Vide Par. 3, in Chap. XXV. Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter. — 1839. 58. Still more do I lament to read in one of the " Tracts," which, in the main, is worthy of the highest estimation, — I mean " Scriptu- ral Views of Holy Baptism," — much of what is there said of the effects of sin after Baptism : for instance, that if, " after having been then washed, once for all, in Christ's blood, we again sin, there is no more such complete ablution in this life." (Tract 67, p. 63.) No restoration " to the same state of undisturbed security, in which God had by Baptism placed us." — Tract 67, p. 58. 59. These, and passages like these, however they may be ex- plained, tend to rob the Gospel of the blessed Jesus of much of that assurance of the riches of the goodness and mercy of God in Christ, which is its peculiar message, its glad tidings of great joy. " Come unto me all that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Our Church teaches us to apply this blessed promise to those who are " heavy laden" with sins committed after Baptism. 60. Surely, too, they tend to rob Baptism itself of its full and genuine efficacy, — of that which our Church expresses, when it says, that God " hath vouchsafed to regenerate us by water and the Holy Ghost, and hath given unto us forgiveness of all our /S'wjs," not of those only which were committed before Baptism, but also of all the Sins we ever shall or may commit, on the conditions (I need not add) of that Covenant, into which we were then admitted, Repentance and Faith. 61. Nor may we forget the tendency of such language to en- courage the pernicious and perilous habit of distinguishing between such sins as may destroy our state of grace, and such as we may S82 SIN AFTER BAPTISM. think still leave that state secure.^ Let it never be absent from our minds, that every wilful sin is deadly — and let us beware of hardening our own hearts, and corrupting the hearts of our brethren — by whispering to ourselves or them which sin is more or less deadly than others. That which we may deem the least will be deadly enough, if unrepented, to work our perdition : — those which we deem the most deadly will, if repented, have been thoroughly washed away in the Blood of our Redeemer. Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 1839. Vide Par. 8, in Chap. VI. ; and Par. 18, in Chap. XXVI. 9 I take the following from Mr. Ward's reprint of Mr. Richards' "most audacious^' Catechism, referred to in note 3, p. 96, supra. " How is actual sin divided ? Into deadly sin, and sin not deadly. — Has our Church sanctioned such a distinction ? Yes ; in two different places she uses the phrase ' deadly sin,' which plainly implies that all sin is not deadly What do you mean by the word deadly? I mean a sin which destroys the Grace of God, which is the super- natural life of the soul, and so puts us at once out of his favour ; a sin in which, if we die without repentance, we shall be everlastingly punished, — Are all deliberate and wilful sins then deadly ? No ; they are not all deadly —Will any number of such (lesser) sins put together make up a deadly sin ? If we go on allowing ourselves in them, without scruple, they will quite certainly lead us into deadly sin : and moreover, the absence of an intention to conquer them, one by one, is a deadly sin, under the head of sloth." pp. 15, 16. The sentiments of Dr. Pusey (whose "Scriptural Vietvs of Holy Baptism'''' are spoken of by the Bishop of Exeter as being " in the main worthy of the highest admiration,") are thus referred to by Bishop M'Ilvaine, in his Oxford Divinity, pp. 519, 520. " The following passage from Dr. Pusey contains a most painful shewing of the impossibility of distinguishing between sins venial and mortal, and the consequent necessity of every baptized person, either concluding that he has committed mortal sin since his Baptism, and has thus lost Justification, or else of being in a state of un- certainty, which cannot but destroy all confidence of peace with God. 'A question' (says Dr. Pusey) ' will probably occur to many ; What is that grievous sin after Baptism ■which involves the falling from grace ? what the distinction between lesser and greater — venial and mortal sins ? or if mortal sins be " sins against the decalogue," as St. Augustine says, are they only the highest degrees of those sins, or are they the lower also ? This question, as it is a very distressing one, I would gladly answer if I could, or dared. But, as with regard to the sin against the Holy Ghost, so here also, Scripture is silent. I certainly, much as 1 have laboured, have not yet been able to decide any thing. Perhaps it is therefore concealed, lest men's anxiety to hold onward to the avoiding of all sin should wax cold. But now, since the degree of ' venial iniquity,' (venial iniquity ! ! ) 'if persevered in, is unknown, the eagerness to make progress by more instant continuance in prayer is quickened, and the carefulness to make holy friends of the mammon of unrighteousness is not despised.' " Some who were disposed to go to a considerable length with the school of Dr. Pusey, have been aroused into indignant opposition by these and kindred per- versions and abominations. Of this class is the writer of ' Letters on the Kingdom of Heaven, ^"c.,' who asks, ' Where is the minister of Christ in London, Birmingham, or Manchester, whom such a doctrine, heartily and inwardly entertained, would not drive to madness? He is sent to preach the Gospel. What Gospel? Of all the thousands whom he addresses, he cannot venture to believe that there are ten who, in Dr. Pusey's sense, retain their Baptismal purity. All he can do, therefore, is to tell wretched creatures, who spend eighteen hours out of the twenty -four in close factories and bitter toil, corrupting and being corrupted, that if they spend the remaining six in prayer, — he need not add fasting — they may possibly be saved. How can we insult God and torment man with such mockery ! ' " — Letters on the Kingdom of Heaven, ^c, vol. i. — Ed. SIN AFTER BAPTISM. 883 LoNGLEY, Bishop of Ripon. — 1841. 6. In descending to particulars upon Doctrinal points, it cannot, I should think, but excite surprise and deep regret that the effect of Sin after Baptism should have been placed by them in so gloomy and cheerless a light, unwarranted, as we believe, either by Holy Scripture, or by the authority of our Church. Did she really teach, that if we sin again after Baptism, there is no more such complete absolution in this life as was then imparted,^ and we could then never attain to the same state of undisturbed security in which God had thus placed us :^ if she sanctioned the conclusion, that the penitent and believing sinner had no promised security for the fullest and freest pardon through the atoning blood of Christ, not only for his original sin, but also for all his actual sins committed subsequent to Baj^tism, how could she have bid her Ministers open the daily service of the Church with a declaration that if we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness ? What comfort could it bring to the offender to be told that all his inherited corruption is washed away, and his original guilt pardoned through the merits of his Saviour, if he is at the same time to be reminded that there is no full security against the wrath of God for his numberless transgressions in after life 'I or how can the Priest venture to pronounce that God pardoneth and absolveth all that truly repent, and unfeignedly believe his holy Gospel, — how speak of Almighty God as so putting away the sins of those who truly repent, that He remembereth them no more, if the pardon of sin after Baptism stands upon a different footing from that committed before ? if the promise of God is not equally sure and certain as regards both I Surely, my Reverend Brethren, if the faithfulness and justice of God are both., as the Holy Scripture declares, pledged for the forgiveness of all the penitent believer's unrighteousness, without distinction, his security for the pardon of the one must be as great as that for the other — and this is exactly in accordance with the Doctrine laid down in our Homily on Repentance, wherein it is said, " Although we do, after we be once come to God, and grafted in his Son Jesus Christ, fall into great sins ; yet if we rise again by repentance, and with a full purpose of amendment of life, do flee unto the mercy of God, taking sure hold thereupon, through faith in his Son Jesus Christ, there is 1 His Lordship refers to Dr. Pusey's "Scriptural Vieivs of Holy Baptism,''^ Tract 67, pp. 53—58. See also Tract 79, on Purgatory : — " We hold that after Baptism there is no plenary pardon of sins in this life to the sinner, however penitent, such as in Baptism was once vouchsafed to him." From these premises the author of the Tract — writing "on Purgatory," and " against (? ) Romanism,'''' — is not unnaturally led to the following con- clusion ; — "If for sins committed after Baptism we have not yet received a simple and unconditional absolution, surely penitents from this time up to the day of judgment may be considered in that double state of which the Romanists speak, their persons accepted, but certain sins uucaucelled," pp. 6, 7. — Ed, 384 SIN AFTER BAPTISM. an assured and infallible hope of pardon and remission of the same, and that we shall be received again into the favour of our Heavenly Father."* Again, the same Homily, speaking of the Holy Scrip- tures, saith that they " pronounce unto all true repentant sinners, and to them that will with their whole heart turn unto the Lord their God, free pardon and remission of sins." Let a belief incon- sistent with these declarations become prevalent and popular, and we shall ere long, I fear, find the conscience-stricken sinner resorting to fasting, and self-denial, not merely as instruments of self-disci- pline, to keep the body under, or as a help to prayer, (and when limited to these objects we know them to be truly Scriptural, and Godly, and edifying), but as a means of making satisfaction for sins, from whose penalty he feels no security that the vicarious sufferings of Christ will deliver him. It need not, however, be imagined that the most ample conviction of God's forgiveness of all our sins, for his dear Son's sake, does in any degree interfere with the necessity of a deep humiliation, of an earnest and unfeigned contrition for past transgression. We should rather believe that the stronger the sense of God's pardoning mercy through Christ, the stronger would be the feeling of indignation at wilful sin, the more vehement the zeal and the revenge against ourselves on account of it. It may indeed be very true, that rash and hasty declarations are sometimes made as to individual cases ; that the wound of the wilful sinner may in some instances have been too slightly healed ; and that the Minister, in his eagerness to vindicate the cardinal Doctrine of the Gospel, that being justified by Faith we have peace with God, may have been tempted, before there has been adequate proof that the sorrow is a Godly sorrow, to administer to the soul the full con- solations of grace ; but if we once admit the notion, that God's promise does not give security, I know not how the Church militant on earth can ever hope to enjoy that peace of God which passeth all understanding. MuSGRAVE, Bishop op Hereford. — 1842. 45. [Again.] That deep humiliation of soul ever befits the sinner is an undoubted truth. But so to treat of post Baptismal sins as to darken the merciful provision of the grace of God for the comfort of the penitent believer, is diametrically opposed to the plain de- claration of the Church, no less than to that of the New Testament; — the Sixteenth Article decides for the one. The New Testament speaks of a " new and living way whereby we may draw near with full assurance of Faith — for that the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin." Hence indeed it is, that, like the great Apostle, the contrite and penitent soul may "glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ," and believing like him, may also like him " rejoice in Oxford Edition, p 453, EXTRACTS FROM BISHOP PEARSON AND DR. HAMMOND. S85 hope of the glory of God," and be saved.^ We read of some early converts, who, in the strength of a like persuasion, " walked in the 2 " As those which are received into the Church by the Sacrament of Baptism," says Bishop Pkarson, "receive the remission of their sins of which they were guilty before they were baptized ; so after they are 1 bus made members of the Church, they receive remission of their future sins by their Repentance. Christ, who hath left us a pattern of prayer, hath thereby taught us for ever to implore and beg the forgiveness of our sins ; that as we through the frailty of our nature are always subject unto sin, so we should always exercise the acts of Repentiiuce, and for ever seek the favour of God. This, then, is the comfort of the Gospel ; that as it discovereth sin within us, so it pro- poundeth a remedy unto us. While we are in this life encompassed with the flesh, while the allurements of the world, while the stratagems of Satan, while the infirmities and corruptions of our nature, betray us to the transgression of the law of God, we are always subject to offend ; and so long as we can offend, so long we may apply our- selves unto God by Repentance, and be renewed by his grace and pardoned by his mercy. This is God's goodness, this is man's happiness. For blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sin is covered ; blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. The year of release, the year of jubilee, was a time of public joy ; and there is no voice like that, ' Tliy sins are forgiven thee.' By this a man is rescued from infernal pain ; secured from everlasting flames ; by tliis he is made capable of heaven, by this he is assured of eternal happiness.'''' — Exposition of the Creed, Art. 9. Bishop Pkarson is a link in the Tractarian Catencs; and his Exposition of the Creed is on tlie list of " works which may be profitably studied," appended to each number of the Tracts for the Times. The author of the tract alluded to in note 4, p. 375, supra, quotes the following pas- sage from Hamjiond, to shew that that learned and pious writer (whose name also, be it remembered, is to be found in every Tractarian Catena) mentions " the work of the Spirit in renewing and sanctifying the sinner, and in leading him to the Saviour, with- out any reference to Baptismal Regeneration ,•" and also to furnish " the most complete antidote that can be imagined, to the ' most dangerous downfall ' of supposing that post-baptismal sins are almost incapable of pardon, and that it is vain to look subse- quently to Baptism for any such plenary remission of sins as is obtained in that sacred ordinance." ' The use of this thesis (to wit, that the greatness of our sins makes the Regenerate man apply himself more firmly to Christ) is — First by way of caution, that we mistake not a motive for an efficient, an impulsive for a principal cause. For where, we say, it makes him apply himself, &c., we mean not that the increase of sin produces Faith formally, but only hiciteth to believe by way of instruction, by shewing us what distress we are in, and consequently, in what a necessity of a deliverer. The meditation of our sinful courses may disclose our misery, not redress it ; may explore, not mend a sinner, like a touchstone to try, not any way to alter him. It is the controlling Spirit which must effectually renew our spirits, and lead us to the Christ, which our sins told us we had need of. The sense of sin may rouse the soul, but it is the Spirit of God that lays the toils ; the feeling of our guilt may beat the waters, but it is the great fisher of our souls which spreads the net, which entraps us as we are in our way to hell, and leads us captive to Salvation. The mere gripings of our conscience being not produced by any pharmacon of the Spirit, but by some distemper arising from sin, what anxiety doth it cause within us ! what pangs and twinges to the soul ! O Lord, do thou Rege- nerate us, and then thy Holy Spirit shall sanctify even our sins to our good ; and if thy grace may lead us, our sins shall pursue and drive us unto Christ. — Secondly, by way of character, how to distinguish a true convert from a false. A man which, from an inveterate, desperate malady, shall meet with a miraculous, unexpected cure, will naturally have some act of expression above an ordinary joy, you shall see him in an ecstacy of thanksgiving and exultancy ; whilst another which was never in that distress, quietly enjoys the same health, and gives thanks softly by himself to his preserver. So it is in the distresses of the soul, which, if they have been excessive, and almost beyond hope of recovery, as the miracle must, so will the expression of this deliverance be somewhat extraordinary. The soul which, from a good moral or less sinful natural state, is magis immtitata quam genita, rather changed than Regenerated into a spiritual, goes through this business without any great noise, the Spirit entering into 2c 386 SIN AFTER BAPTISM. EXTRACT FROM DR. HAMMOND. fear of God, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost." Theirs was a reverential, a filial fear ; — not a fear of rejection, but a fear only of offending their reconciled and merciful Father. Otherwise they must have lived in a state of bondage, doubting of their acceptance with God, and utter strangers to that comfort spoken of by the in- spired writer. O'Brien, Bishop of Ossory, Ferns, and Leighlin. — 1842. 85. Such are some of the fruits of a dread of the effects of the Gospel, when preached in the freeness and fulness in which it appears in Holy Scripture. I need not add any thing upon these two tracts ;^ but the object for which I have so long dwelt upon them, requires that I should notice, however briefly, another of the series, in which we find the same apprehensions giving rise to what seems a still bolder effort in the same cause. In those which we have been considering, preachers only seem persuaded to hold back the word of reconciliation committed to them ; but in that to which I am about to direct your attention now, they are told that they have no such message to deliver to sinners ; that is, to the sinners to whom they have to address themselves in Christian countries. They have sinned after having enjoyed all the privileges and blessings of Baptism ; and it is maintained that for such sinners there is no such plenary remission again in this life as they have already received in that rite.* * That " we have no account in * Tract, No. 68, one of the three Tracts on Holy Baptism, published (I believe) in 1835, it in a still small voice, or at a breathing ; but when a robustious, obdurate sinner shall be rather apprehended than called, when the sea shall be commanded to give up her shipwrecked, and the sepulchre to restore her dead, the soul surely which thus escapeth, shall not be content with a mean expression, but w'lll practise all the hallelujahs and magnificats which the triumphant liturgies of the saints can afford it. Wherefore, I say, if any one out of a full, violent course of sinning, conceive himself converted and Re- generated, let liim examine what a degree of spiritual exultancy he hath attained to, and if he find it but mean, and slight, and perfunctory, let him somewhat suspect, that he may the more confirm the evidence of his calling. Now this spiritual exultancy of the REGENERATE cousists both in a solemn humiliation of himself, and a spiritual re- joicing in God his Saviour ; both expressed in Mary's magnificat, where she specifies, in the midst of her joy, the lowliness of his handmaid, and in St. Paul's victory -song over death. So that if the conversion of an inordinate sinner be not accompanied with unwonted joy and sorrow, ivith a godly sense of his past distress, and a godly triumph for his delivery ; if it be not followed with a violent eagerness to fasten on Christ ; finally, if there be not somewhat above ordinary in the expression, then I counsel not to distrust, but fear, that is, with a solicitous, not suspicious trembling, to labour to make this calling and election sure ; to pray to that Holy Spirit to strike our hearts with a measure of holy joy and holy sorrow, some way proportionable to the size of those sins which, in our unregeneracv, reigned in us ; and for those of us whom our sins have separated far from Him, but liis grace hath called home to Him, that He will not suffer us to be content with a distance, but draw us close imto Himself, make us press toward the mark, and fasten ourselves on that Saviour which hath redeemed us from the body and guilt of this so great death.' — Hammond's Works, vol. iv. p. 684." Extracts, ^c, pp. 17, 18 Ed. ' His Lordship refers to the Tracts on Reserve, Nos. 80 and 87. See Chap. XVII. —Ed. * With reference to the application of the term "Rite " to Baptism and the Lord's Supper,. — see note 6, p. 350, supra. — Ed, INSTANCE OF CONFUSION IN DE. PUSEY''s VIEW'S. 387 Scripture of any second remission, obliteration, extinction of all sin, such as is bestowed on us by ' the one Baptism for the remission of sins.' "* " The fountain has been indeed opened to wash away sin and uncleanness, but we dare not promise them a second time the same easy access to it which they once had : that way is open but once : it were to abuse the power of the keys entrusted to us, again to pretend to admit them thus ; now there remains only ' the bap- tism of tears,' a baptism obtained, as the same fathers said, with much fasting, and with many prayers.""*!* ^^^ ^^^^^ J^^ ^^® ^^ ^^~ derstand that even by that process the sinner can attain to that peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, which the Apostle describes as the portion of those who are justified hy Faith. No, as the author of the Tract sets forth in another work,;|: " there are but two periods of absolute cleansing: Baptism and the Day of Judg- ment." In the former we are " washed once for all in Christ's blood, but if we again sin, there remaineth no more such complete ablution in this life. We must bear the scars of the sins which we have contracted. We must be judged according to our deeds."§ 86. There are, indeed, in Scripture gracious invitations addressed by Christ Himself to all who are weary and heavy laden ; and gracious offers of rest to them ; and large and precious promises to ALL who truly turn unto Him ; and invitations and promises, no less full and free, which His Apostles afterwards delivered in His name. But when we have to address those who " after Baptism have turned away from God ;" we are gravely recommended to consider " whether we have any right at once to appropriate to them the gracious words with which our Saviour invited those who had never known Him, and with which, through his Church, He still invites his true disciples to the participation of his most precious Body and Blood — ' Come unto me, ye that labour and are heavy laden, '|| Whether, having no fresh ' Baptism for the re- * Tract, No. 68, p. 54. + Ibid. p. 69. J Dr. Pusey's Letter to the Bishop of Oxford. § Tract No. 68, p. 63. St. Paul declares that " We must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, ac- cording to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." And there are very many passages which testify no less distinctly that this judgment, a judgment according to their deeds, awaits all. How other passages, without lowering the demands of the Divine law, enable us to look forward to such a judgment, with any thing short of despair, it is unnecessary here to enquire. But with these passages in the Bible, and indeed in the memory of most readers of the Bible, it does seem very strange to find this condition stated as the fruit of a certain amount of post-baptismal sin. There is no difficulty in conceiving the theory which leads to the statement : but I find it hard to conjecture what warrant in Scripture it is supposed to have. II It seems a curious example of unsteadiness and confusion, that the invitation, which is treated here as addressed by the Church in Christ's name to his true disciples, and as not to be addressed to those who after Baptism have turned away from God, is regarded in the same Author's letter to the Bishop of Oxford, as addressed by her to this latter class of sinners, and her use of it is given as among the proofs that she does not pretend to absolve them absolutely, and has no commission to tell them that their sins are blotted out, but remits them to Christ, that they may find rest for their souls, (p. 93.) Still later the writer (in his letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury last year) while he says, " What I wrote, I hope that with deepening years I hold more deeply," 2c 2 388 SIN AFTER BAPTISM. WORDSWORTh's SERMON mission of sin "* to offer, no means of " renewing them to repentance,**' we have any right to apply to them the words which the Apostles used in inviting men for the first time into the ark of Christ."* What words of invitation we may use to them we are not told ; but we are told what it is, at the most and best, that they can obtain by repentance, — that it is " a sort of restoration of that life [the life given in Baptism] given to those to whom it is given by virtue of that ordinance ; a restoration of a certain portion of their Baptismal health. It is not the new birth simply, — that is Bap- tism,— but it is a revival in a measure, of that life ; to be received gratefully, as a renewal of a portion of that former gift ; to be exulted in, because it is life ; but to be received and guarded with trembling, because it is the renewal of what had been forfeited ; not to be boasted of, because it is but a fragment of an inheritance, ' wasted in riotous living.' " acknowledges that his " statement was imperfect, as making no mention of the healing and comforting power of Absolution, or the pardoning grace of the Holy Eucharist." p. 92. ^ And in a note he refers with much approbation to a work which seems to differ from liis own chiefly in the extent to which it insists upon a course of ecclesiastical discipline, ending in ministerial Absolution, as the divinely-appointed way for the recovery of fallen Christians. He speaks of it as " a very solemn sermon on the same subject recently published ; ' Evangelical Repentance,' with an Appendix, by the Rev, C. Wordsworth, in which he considers all the texts which speak of repentance, and refers to modern writers also ;" and he adds, " Its tone makes it one of the cheering signs of the times." Mr. Wordsworth's view seems to be, that, though, " doubtless, it is possible to find passages in the New Testament which extend the application of the word in question (repentance) so as to cover the commission even of deadly sin .... yet that whether or no Repentance, when so extended, may not imply in every case the further notion of ecclesiastical penance This, as it is a point of most serious and awful concern, so it is not perhaps very easy to determine ;" [i. e. as he is careful to inform us in a note, out of Scripture itself; because as to the practical determination of it by the primitive Church, there is, he says, by no means the same room for doubt.] pp. 12, 13. And he asks, " Are we justified in teaching that which is so far doubtfully and scantly written — I speak advisedly, which is scantly written — as if it were em- blazoned in the brightest and boldest characters, and to be read in every page ?" p. 14. And he concludes both from the testimony of Scripture and the practice of the primitive Church, " that the safe and divinely-appointed way for the recovery of fallen Christians would seem to be by ecclesiastical discipline ending in ministerial abso- lution." And this extends to all grievous sin, secret as well as open. For Mr. Palmer's statement, which seems to confine such public penance to " the case of sins which were public, and caused scandal," does not satisfy him. Mr. Palmer asserts, that " it was generally taught that confession of secret sins to God with a truly contrite heart, and changed life, was sufficient to obtain remission of sins." But Mr, Wordsworth gives a note on this passage, (which he quotes,) " the reader who pays attention to the fol- lowing extracts, will see much reason to question this assertion. Indeed it is, I think, very questionable.'''' (App. p. 3.) And he infers "that the absence of any such disci- pline in effect and practice among ourselves ought to make us cautious in preaching the momentous doctrines, and in describing the true measures of sin and Repentance." But this seems too soft an enunciation of the conclusion to which the premises lead. For if " ecclesiastical discipline ending in ministerial absolution," be the divinely-ap- pointed mode, not merely of reconciling sinners to the Church, but of obtaining for them remission of sins, we ought to be very explicit in warning sinners, that they are not to expect Divine forgiveness in any other way, or on any other terms. How strongly both Scripture and our Church bear testimony on the opposite side, appears in some measure by what is said in the text. But it is only justice to our own Divines to add, that the most eminent of them, who rate as high as any the value of godly dis- cipline to a Church, and deplore as much as any the want of it in our own, are no less clear against this grievous error of making it necessary to the remission of sins. * Tract, No. 69, p. 207, ON EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. 389 87. Certainly if this were the message which you have to deHver, it were of less importance that you should be persuaded to reserve it. But, blessed be God ! it is not. And if the writer of the Tract had paused to remember the whole of the passage from which he takes the last words that I have quoted from him, one might hope that he would have been preserved from the very unscriptural limitations of God's mercy to repentant sinners into which he has been led by his own theories, and by the authority of some of the Fathers.* For the prodigal in the memorable parable from which these words are taken, was a Son : and he had wasted Ms substance with riotous living ; and yet when he came to himself, and returned to his father, we know how he was received ; that though all that he sued for, and thought himself worthy of, was the place of a sei'vant, his father did not ratify the sentence of his self- abasement, but opened his heart, and his arms, and his house to him as his Son, and commanded his whole household to rejoice, because his Son who had been dead, was alive again ; because he who had been lost, was found. And in one of the parables delivered in the same connection, your Master not only encourages you, if you lose one of the sheep intrusted to your care, to go after that which is lost until you find it, — yea, to seek it with a solicitude which may for the time banish from your thoughts the part of your charge which is safe — but allows you too, when you have brought the wanderer back, to rejoice over him ; and gives you the happy assurance that the angels of God are sharing in your joy. You will hardly require a more express warrant for proclaiming to all sinners, that, if they will turn and repent, their Heavenly Father is * In fact, whatever colour of Scriptural proof there may be for excluding absolutely from pardon those who have fallen from grace, it is presumed that for this notion, that they are half forgiven or half restored, there is no shadow of foundation in Scripture, The following is the way in which the Parables in Luke xv. are treated by Mr. Words- worth, in the Appendix to his Sermon on Evangelical Repentance. He gives a sy- nopsis of the texts quoted by the various commentators on our Articles in support of the principles laid down in Article xvi. (most of which he pronounces inapplicable,) and in the course of it we have these remarkable parables thus succinctly disposed of: "Luke XV. 7. 10. indicative of God's goodness;" " Luke xv. 11 — 32. Indicative of God's mercy and goodness ; with immediate reference to the conversion of the Gentiles, and to the uncharitable conduct of the Pharisees and Scribes towards the Publicans." Few will question that these parables are " indicative of God's mercy and goodness. " But I can hardly think that there are many who will regard this as a full or fair account of their bearing upon the question of the place for forffiveneas, which is, accord- ing to Scripture, to be allowed to such as fall into sin after Baptism, and truly repent thereof. One would have thought, indeed, that it was hard to avoid noticing, as affecting their bearing on this particular question, that it is a sheep of the man's flock which goes astray ; a part of the treasure of the woman of the house which is lost ; a son of the master of the family that wanders away. And that in each case, when that which was lost is found, it is restored to its former place with rejoicing. And that our Church takes this view of the special force of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, is very clearly stated in the Homily on Repentance, Part 1. " Whereby [by Joel ii.] we are admonished that Repentance is never too late, so that it be true and earnest. For, sith that God in the Scriptures will be called our Father, doubtless he doth follow the nature and property of gentle and merciful fathers, which seek nothing so much as the returning again and amendment of their children : as Christ doth abundantly teach in the Pai'able of the Prodigal Son. " 390 SIN AFTER BAPTISM. DECLARATIONS, PROMISES, willing to receive them, to heal their hacJcslidings, to love them freely, to restore them to the place and the privileges of his children. And I trust you will require something more than any theories, ancient or modern, about the nature of post-baptismal sin, to warrant you in putting any limitations upon the mercy and love of our Heavenly Father to every sinner that repenteth^ thus solemnly and affectingly declared by Christ Himself.* 88. I trust you are in little danger of being beguiled by any such presumptuous speculations into exchanging the large commission which you have received from your Divine Master, for one framed more in accordance with the narrow mind and narrow heart of man. And I willingly excuse myself and you the task of a de- tailed examination of the arbitrary sophistry, by which the testi- mony of Scripture against these human limitations of the ministry of reconciliation is silenced or perverted. a I will only remind you a It must be a startling thing to one to whom this s^^stem is new, to find how much of God's word, — and how much of that most interesting part of his word, that which exhibits Him in relation to sinners, — it rejects as inappli- cable to sinners in the Christian Church, All that is addressed to God's rebel- lious and backsliding children in the Old Testament ; all the expostulations, and the invitations, and the promises delivered to them in his name, are set aside from our use : they were addressed indeed to his children, but they were not Regenerate children. All the Lord's gracious declarations recorded in the New Testament, of God's mercy to sinners, and of his readiness to receive them and pardon them, — all his own invitations and pleadings, and promises, even the great and precious promise, Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast Old, — all were still addressed to Jews, and cannot be transferred to the very different state of those who have been baptized, and have fallen into deadly sin. The whole scheme of Justification by Faith, as explained, illustrated, guarded, and supported in the Epistles, is in the same way rendered useless to the Christian Church, except in her missions among the Heathen. And in the same way, too, the consolation of the examples of this free mercy which are recorded in the Bible, is taken from us. Do we turn to David's aggravated * The Lord Himself very solemnly and distinctly cuts off one class of sinners abso- lutely from hopes of Divine mercy. But this is not even of the nature of an exception to what is elsewhere said of God's readiness to receive and forgive every repentant sinner, if, as appears from the particular case which draws these awful words from Him, the irremissible sin of which He speaks, is one, which, from its nature, shuts the sinner out from Repentance. But it is unnecessary to consider this, as no attempt is, or indeed from the nature of the case could be, made, to found any of the limitations to the offers of Divine mercy, upon this passage. The passage in Heb. vi., also a very awful one, is resorted to in the case ; but it is explained by a great majority of com- mentators, of widely different doctrinal views, of such a renunciation of the Faith as is identical with, or rather falls under, the sin against the Holy Ghost. Other expositions of the passage, which would make it equally inapplicable, we need not notice, because this is the view of its meaning on whicn it is set aside in the argument on this Sixteenth Article by our Church, in the Homily on Repentance : " And that they [the No- vatians] may give the better colour unto their pestilent and pernicious error, they do commonly bring in the sixth and tenth chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the second chapter of the Second Epistle of Peter ; not considering that in those places the holy Apostles do not speak of the daily falls that we, as long as we carry about this body of sin, are subject unto ; but of the final falling away from Christ and his Gospel, which is a sin against the Holy Ghost, that shall never be forgiven, because that they do utterly forsake the known tiutli, do hate Christ and his word, they do crucify and mock him, but to their utter destruction, and therefore fall iuto utter desperation, and cannot repent." AND INVITATIONS OF SCRIPTURE SET ASIDE. 391 how careful our Church has been to shew herself guiltless in this matter. First, the Sixteenth Article fairly interpreted, would seem sin, and to God's prompt and gracious forgiveness of it ? We are reminded that David was not baptized. To Peter's shameful fall, and merciful restora- tion ? He was not Regenerate. And so on. But why should our Regeneration prevent the application to us of the general invitations to all sinners to return and to repent, which are to be met with in God's word every where ; founded as they are upon the most general decla- rations of God's readiness to shew mercy to all sinners, and upon the testimony that Christ's blood cleanseth from all sin ? It would seem not merely a happier, but a truer view of the relation into which we are brought by Baptism, to regard it as securing to us by covenant that mercy, which, when declared and promised to those under the Law, wore somewhat the air of what was extra- ordinary, and, if one may use such a word without fear of being mistaken, irregular, as regarded the dispensation under which it Avas promulgated. I do not mean to say, that the New Covenant did not do a great deal more for us than this, but that it did this. But we need not argue that such was its effect. All that we need say is, — what every one who entertains any thing like due reverence for Scripture, must feel to be true— that we are not at liberty to admit that it had, and to such an extent, the eifect of rendering inapplicable to us, so much of Scripture which is conceived in the most general form, unless there be some express authority from Scripture to shew that we are not to make such an application of it. Is there any such authority ? any declaration in God's Word that these parts of it do not so apply ? any warning against so applying them to others or ourselves? No : it is not proposed to justify the limitation by Scripture authority, but by reasoning. These passages were actually addressed to those who did not possess the peculiar privileges and the special grace which we enjoy, as Members of the Christian Church. And if, having received this grace, we fall from it into deadly sin, our guilt is far more grievous. And we have no right to transfer to ourselves God's dealings, or his language towards those in whom sin was so widely different, — evincing so much less depravity, and power of evil in the heart. This seems the amount of the reasoning by which this setting aside of the declarations and invitations and promises of Scripture, is justified ! But I cannot think that it does any thing to relieve the procedure from the charge of great and indeed awful presumption. And I am very sure that if the plain and natural meaning of any portion of Scripture which did not in the same way oppose these men's theories, were set aside upon such reasoning, or better, they would not be slow to bestow very frank censure upon such a mode of dealing with Revelation. But indeed, supposing it to be right to settle such a point in that way, the reasoning seems strangely weak and unsatisfactory. We can be very sure — Scripture and reason combine to assure us — that the guilt of sin is greater in the degree in which the light enjoyed by the sinner, and the grace bestowed upon him, are greater. But God's declarations of mercy in Christ Jesus are made expressly concerning all sin, — not small or slight sins, — but all sin. His invitations are in words addressed, — not to sinners before Baptism — but to all sinners ; and they are limited by no condition, except that they shall repent, and believe in the Saviour, whose blood cleanseth from all sin. And what right have we to determine, that deadly sin in a baptized sinner is not within the scope of such declarations, and that a baptized sinner is beyond the reach of those invitations ? What is meant by such an assertion ? Is it meant that such sin is of too deep guilt for the blood of Christ to wash away, and for the mercy of God in Christ to forgive ? No, it will be said, that is not meant. What is meant is, that this sin, which it is confessed evinces deeper depravity in the sinner, than the same sin committed by one to Avhom such grace was not imparted, shews also a state which makes it harder for the sinner to repent ; S92 SIN AFTER BAPTISM. EXTRAORDINARY PERVERSION to express her principles with sufficient distinctness upon the ques- tion. " Not every deadly sin* willingly committed after Baptism, and more unlikely that he will repent. Be it so. But what has this to do with the question upon which we are at present? How does this furnish any- proof of the principle, that the passages of Holy Scripture referred to do not apply to their case ? The declarations and invitations and promises of which I speak, say nothing, and intimate nothing, of the ease or difficulty with which different sinners repent. From the nature of the case, that must be very differ- ent in different instances. They say nothing of the likelihood or unlikelihood of their repentance. According to human calculation, it varies in the same way. The passages of Scripture to which I refer, do not touch upon this. They invite all sinners to repent ; they declare that God is ready to receive all sinners who do repent; and they promise to all who repent, free pardon and full acceptance for Christ's sake. What right have we to say, that these precious promises of the word of God do not apply to a certain class of sinners, because we think from their circumstances it is unlikely they will repent ? The blessings of reconciliation offered, will not be theirs until they repent. By the very terms of the offers and promises, none of those blessings will be theirs if they do not repent. It is only if they do, and when they do, that those blessings are to be theirs. How can it be thought then, that the difficulty of their repenting, or its unlikelihood, forbids the application of these passages of Scripture to them ? Now beyond these two effects of the grace and privileges of the Christian, it is not easy to understand any others, which have any ajjparent application in this case. They, upon common and admitted principles, aggravate the guilt of his sin, — make the same sin greater in him than it would be in one to whom they were not given; — and they, in the degree in which they make his sin greater, make his Repentance harder.f But I suppose that I have shewn, that neither of these effects is any warrant for denying that the portions of Scripture to which I have referred, apply to Christians, no less than to those to whom they were first addressed. On the part of some who deny the applicability of such portions of Scrip- ture to sinners after Baptism, it has been declared, with some solicitude, that they do not therefore mean to deny, that such persons will be forgiven upon * It can hardly be necessary to vindicate our Church^ from the imputation of adopting with this word, the false and dangerous error with respect to the true nature of siu, upon which the distinction of it into mortal and vernal is founded. But as the language used about the Article seems so often to countenance or assume this false principle, it cannot be out of place to give the grave caution of the Bishop of Exeter against it. " Nor may we forget the tendency of such language to encourage the pernicious and perilous habit of distinguishing between such sins as may destroy our state of grace, and such as we may thiuk still leave that state secure. Let it never be absent from our minds, that every wilful sin is deadly ; and let us beware of hardening our own hearts, and corrupting the hearts of our brethren, by whispering to ourselves or them which sin is more or less deadly than others. That which we may deem the least, will be deadly enough, if unrepented, to work our perdition : those which we deem the most deadly will, if repented, have been thoroughly washed away in the Blood of our Redeemer." — Charge, 1839, p. 33. + /. e. Considering only sin and its natural effect in hardening the heart, and ren- dering sinners impenitent, just in the degree which it is heinous, and not considering the power of the Spirit in the Christian Church, to restore as well as to sustain ; or the advocacy of Him who is the propitiation for our sins, a7id our Advocate with the Father when we sin. 5 See extract from Mr. Ward's edition of Mr. Richards' " most audacious" Cate- chism. Note 9, p. 382, supra. — Ed. OF THE SIXTEENTH ARTICLE BY MR. WORDSWORTH. 393 is sin against the Holy Ghost, and unpardonable. Wherefore the grant of repentance* is not to be denied to such as fall into sin sincere repentance. -f- That, on the contrary, they feel assured of the efficacy of sincere R^entance, even in the case of " the most presumptuous and grievous * These words, which seem very plain, have given occasion to a very curious gloss. Referring to them, Mr. AVordsworth writes, " Is there then no cause to fear — I ask fearfully, and with all due deference and humility — lest we he condemned out of our own mouth ? May it not be said — and not indeed without reason — that we ourselves do in a manner deny the place of forgiveness, which we have so long discontinued ? Where are now appointed stations of ' the mourners,' or of ' the prostrate ?' Where is now ' the rod of discipline, the robe of shame ?' " — According to this most extraor- dinary perversion of the Article, it is not intended to blame the unscriptural rigour which pronounces deadly sin after Baptism to he irremissible, but the unprimitive laxity which does not assign a distinct place in the Church (separate from that of the faithful worshipper, and with suitable accompaniments of shame and suffering) to those who have been guilty of such sin ! And in an explanatory note (which to most readers will appear very necessary) he refers to Dr. Hey on the Articles, (vol. iii. p. 455.) Dr. H. finds that in 1552, locus pcenitentice, in the Latin Article, was ren- dered in the English, by the place for penitents ; and that in 1571, the Latin being still the same, the English was, the grant of Repentance, and hence he infers that " the grant of Repentance must mean the same with the place for penitents ; otherwise they could not both be English for the same Latin." He adds, "The meaning then seems to be, that heinous offenders may be permitted to have some place in the Church, not the place of such as are at peace with discipline, and under no censure, but that of those who have been in some way degraded, and are labouring to recover their former station." Upon this Mr. Wordsworth says, " This argument, though not perhaps quite conclusive, is confirmed by the statement in the Homily referred to above," («'. e., the Homily for Whitsunday, in which one of the notes of the true Church is said to be * the right use of Ecclesiastical Discipline.') — It seems strange that Dr. Hey, having taken so much pains to put himself wrong, should not have taken the very little more which would have set him right. In 1552, in Article XVI., (Latin) we have locus p means to inflict the censures of the Church ; or to offend, and commit that which would constrain the proper authorities to punish one with the censures of the Church ; or any of these various meanings which have been proposed so wantonly, and with such strange confusion of ideas, and with so little show of authority. I am aware how far it would be from settling the question, if I were to say that I have never met with any example of a use of ireuQeca which could fairly suggest any of these meanings ; but then, what is much more important, 1 find that the highest authorities are in the same circumstances. Stephens takes no notice of any such sense, nor does Passow ; from which it may be fairly concluded, at least, that thei-e is no example of it in classical Greek. Something of the kind is recognised, it is true, by New Testament lexicographers.'* Thus Schleusner has " reddo aliquem 6 Pasor, in his Lea'icon GrcBco-Latinum in Novum Testamenlum, renders the words ;ti^ irfvQi\vith this subject, the quotation from Professor Garbett, note 5, infra, p. 412. A further illustration of the sentiments of Mr, Fkoude will be found at p 416 note 3. ^' ' III. The views of the Rev. Isaac Williams, Author of the Tracts on Reserve, are exemplified in note 4, p. 416. IV. A specimen of Mr. Palmer's notions " with respect to Transubstantiation," has been already given in Chap. IV. See note 8, p. 74. V. Mr. Newman's "explanation" of the manner in which his Doctrine of the Eucharist may be reconciled with the teaching of the Church in the Twenty-eio-hth Article, has been commented upon with no little severity by the Bishop of Exeter himself. See his Lordship's remarks upon Tract 90, in Chap. XXL, infra. The fol- lowing passage has appeared since the publication of the Bishop's Charge, and Mr. Newman's resignation of his preferment in the Church of England : " Such seems to be the connection between the feast with which our Lord began, and that with which He ended his Ministry. Nay, may we not add, without violence that in the former feast He had in mind and intended to foreshadow the latter ^ for what was that first miracle by which He manifested his glory in the former, but the strange and awful change of the element of water into wine ? and what did He in the latter, but change the Paschal Supper and the Typical Lamb into the Sacrament of his atoning sacrifice, and the creatures of Bread and Wine into the verities of his most precious Body and Blood 9 He began his Ministry with a miracle ; He ended it WITH A greater." — Sermons on Subjects of the Day, p. 43. VI. See also " The Doctri7ie of the Catholic Church in England on the Holy Euchar- %st, illustrated by extracts from her Great Divines ;" a Paniphlet to which I took the liberty of calling public attention, soon after its appearance, in a Letter to the Bishop of Oaford, entitled " The Tracts for the Times continued.'' In this letter I endeavoured, by internal evidence, to trace the production of the 'i'ract in question to the Rev. Isaac Williams, the avowed Author of the Two Tracts on Reserve, as well as of Tract 86, on the " Indications of a Superintending Providence in the Preservation of the Prayer Book, and in the Changes which it has undergone.'" A truly Jesuitical reply, purporting to bear the signature of Mr. Williams,_but for which I cannot bring myself to give that gentleman credit,_appeared soon after, in the columns of a weekly newspaper called The Church Intelligencer, leaving the question of Mr. Wilhams's authorship just where it was before. It is, however, now very gene- rally known, that the Tract alluded to was from the pen of Mr. P. Renouf, of Pembroke College, a gentleman who, very soon after its publication, became a convert from Tractarianism to Popery ! VII. Dr. Pusey, speaking of the Catena appended to his Sermon on the Eucharist, observes, " Some of the materials of the Catena have been already used in previous explanations on the Doctrine;" adding in a Note, "Tracts, No 81; Mr. New- man's Letter to Dr. Faussett ; Bishop of Exeter's Charge ; My Letter to Dr. Jelf • The Doctrine of the Catholic Church in England on the Holy Eucharist." —Preface to " The Holy Eucharist a Comfort to the Penitent," p. 6. This recognition of Mr. Renouf's Tract, especially after the secession of its author 410 THE EUCHARIST. VIEWS OP DOCTORS HOOK AND PUSEY ; Doctrine to which we have assented, and in those Formularies which we have both expressly approved and solemnly engaged to use. 31. It is very true, that none of these Declarations or Formu- laries use the phrase " real presence;"" and, therefore, if any should attempt to impose the use of that phrase as necessary, he would be justly open to censure for requiring what the Church does not require. But, on the other hand, if we adopt the phrase, as not only aptly expressing the Doctrine of the Church, but also as commended to our use by the practice of the soundest Divines of the Church of England, in an age more distinguished for depth, as well as soundness, of Theology, than the present — such as Arch- bishops Bramhall,* Sharp,-j- and Wake,|3 (all of whom do not * Bramliall's Works, tome 1, p. 15. -f- Sharp's Sermons, vol. vii. p. 368. J Wake's Discourse on the Holy Eucharist, Chap. 2. " Of the Real Presence acknowledged by the Church of England." " The Bread and Wine, after consecration, are the real, but the spiritual and mi/stical Body of Christ.''^ to the Church of Rome, is worthy of notice, as tending to elucidate Dr. Pusey's own views on the subject of the Eucharist. See also Note 1, page 414, infra, VIII. Dr. Hook has openly adopted the views of Dr. Pusey in the following words : — " By the publication of your truly evangelical Sermon on the Eucharist, you have put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, and I am only uttering the sentiment of thousands when I venture to affirm that it may be said of you, as it was said of one who suffered injustice from the Church of Rome, that if, peradventure, you have erred by loving your God too much, your enemies have erred by loving their neighbour too little." — Sermon at Consecration of St. John''s Church, Hawarden, 1843, Dedication, p. 4 Ed. 3 The following is the only passage quoted from Archbishop Wake, in the List of Authorities attached to Dr. Pusey's Sermon : — " The Bread which we break is, not only in figure and similitude, but by a real Spiritual Communion, his Body, The Cup of Blessing which we bless is by the same Communion his Blood." I subjoin a few sentences which might have been added, and which fully explain the Archbishop's views upon this important question : — " Of the Real Presence, as acknowledged by us of Christ's Body and Blood in this Sacrament." " That which is given by the Priest to the Communicant is, as to its nature, the same after Consecration that it was before, — viz., Dread and Wine : only altered as to its Use and Signification, " If the Body and Blood of Christ be not really given and distributed by the Priest, how can they be really and indeed taken and received by the faithful Communicant ? " That which is given by the Priest is, as to its substance. Bread and Wine : as to its Sacramental Nature and Signification, it is the Figure or Representation of Christ's Body and Blood, which was broken and shed for us. The very Body and Blood of Christ, as yet it is not ; but being with Faith and Piety received by the Communicant, it becomes to him, by the blessitig of God, and the grace of the Holy Ghost, the very Body and Blood of Christ " How does the Bread and Wine become to the faithful and worthy Commimicant the very Body and Blood of Christ ? " As it entitles him to a part in the Sacrifice of his death, and to the benefits thereby procured to all his faithful and obedient servants. " How does every such Communicant take and receive the Body and Blood of Christ in this Sacrament ? " By Faith : and by means whereof he who comes worthily to the Holy Table, is as truly entitled to a part in Christ's Sacrifice, by receiving the Sacramental Bread and Wine, which is there delivered to him, as any man is entitled to an estate, by receiving a deed of cotive.yance from one tvlio has a power to surrender it to his iise"m^Principles of the Christian Religioti, sect. 48.— Ed. OF ARCHBISHOP WAKE, AND THE REFORMERS. 411 only express their own judgment, but also are witnesses of the general judgment of the Church in and before their days: '■'No genuine son of the Church of England^'''' says Bramhall, " did ever deny a true Real Presence''') : — if, I say, we adopt the phrase used by such men as these, and even by some of those who, at the Reformation, sealed with their blood their testimony to the Truth against the Doctrine of Eome, (I allude especially to Bishops Ridley* and Latimer, — and even to Cranmer, who when he avoided the phrase so abused by the Romanists, did yet employ equivalent words,) it will be sufficient for the justification both of them and of us, to shew that the language of the Church itself does, in fact, express the same thing, though in different terms. Still, I fully admit, that Christian discretion would bid us forbear from the use of the phrase, if the objection to it were founded on a sincere apprehension of giving offence to tender consciences ; and not, as there is too much reason to believe, on an aversion to the great truth which it is employed to express. 32. That truth is, no other than is declared in the Catechism, that the " Body and Blood of Christ are verily, and indeed, taken and * Ridley. — " I say tlie Bodtj of Christ is present in the Sacraments ; but yet sacra- mentally and spiritually, according to his grace-giving hfe ; and in that respect realhj, that is, according to his Benediction, giving life. The true Church of Christ doth acknowledge a Presence of Christ's Body in the Lord's Supper to be communicated to the godly by grace, and spiritually, as I have often shewed, and by a Sacramental signification, but not by the corporeal Presence of the Body of his Flesh." — Fox's Ads and Monuments. London, 1684, p. CI. Latimer. — " To the right celebration of the Lord's Supper, there is no other Pre- sence of Christ required than a Spii-itual Presence ; and this presence is sufficient for a Christian man, as a presence by which we abide in Christ, and Christ abideth in us, to the obtaining of eternal life if we persevere : and this same Presence may be called most fitly a Real Presence ; that is, a presence not feigned, but a true and faithful presence." — Ibid. p. 65. Cranmer " When I say, and repeat many times in my Book, that the Body of Christ is present in them that worthily receive the Sacrament, lest any man should mistake my words, and think that I mean that, although Christ be not corporally in the outward visible signs, yet he is corporally in the Persons that duly receive them, — this is to advertise the reader that I mean no such thing. But my meaning is, that ihe force, the grace, the virtm, a?id bejtefits of Chrisfs Body, that was crucified for us, and of his blood that was shed for us, be really and effectually present with all them that duly receive the Sacrament. " — Preface to his Book against Bishop Gardiner. Cranmer, in his " Book on the Sacrament," says, after Chrysostom, " In them that rightly receive the Bread and Wine, Christ is in a much more perfection than corporally (which should avail them nothing) •, but in them he is spirittutlly, with his Divine powers, giving them the eternal life." — Fathers of the English Church, vol. iii. p. 367. Again, after John Damascene: — " Unto them that worthily eat and drink the Bread and Wine, to them the Bread and Wine lie Chrisfs Flesh and Blood: that is, by things natural, and which they be accustomed unto, they be exalted unto things above nature. For the Sacramental Bread and Wine be not bare and naked figures, but so pithy and effectuous, tliat ichosoever euteth them, cateth spiritually Chrisfs Fiesh and Blood.'''' " Such as, by unfeigned faith, worthily receive the Bread and Wine : such persons, through the working of the Holy Spirit, be so knit and united spiritually to Christ's Flesh and Blood, and to his Divinity likewise, that they be fed with them unto ever- lasting \iie.'"—lbid. '^14.. 412 THE EUCHARIST. DOCTBINE OF THE REAL PRESENCE: HOOKER received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper."'* " The Body and Blood of Christ " are " the inward and spiritual grace " of this Sacrament, They must, therefore, be as really, though inwardly and spiritually, present in the Sacrament, as are the Bread and Wine which are outwardly and sensibly present.^ Again, in the Twenty-eighth Article, it is said, " The Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner." 33. Now this is what is meant by the real presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Communion : in it there is an actual communication to the faithful receivers of the Body and Blood of Christ — not merely as those who depreciate the Sacrament would represent, a memorial or token, by which our minds are directed to the remembrance and contemplation of the death of Christy and of the benefits which we receive thereby^ — for this a picture or a crucifix might be, ay, and better be — (so much more like to Popery is ultra-Protestantism, than the sound Doctrine of our Church) ; but there is, I repeat, in this Sacrament, an actual communication to the faithful of the sacrificed Body and Blood of Christ, " the true Bread from Heaven," the true spiritual food, by which " our souls are strengthened and refreshed, as our bodies are by Bread and Wine." This it is, which the Scriptures tell us, he that eateth and drinketh unworthily " discerneth not" in the Lord's Supper ; and, because he discerneth it not, " eateth and drinketh damnation" (or, as the margin expresseth it, "judgment") unto himself.* ^ * 1 Cor. xi. 29. * Hotv they are thus " taken and received " has been already explained by Arch- bishop Wake, of whom the Bishop of Exeter observes, that he " not only expresses his own judgment, but also is a witness of the general judgment of the Church in and before his days." — See par. 31, snprd — Ed. ^ "The Church of England" — says Professor Garbett, in his able Revieiv of Dr. Pusey''s Sermon — "peremptorily denies a Corporeal or Material Presence ; any local presence whatsoever of Christ's Body ; whether you call that Body spiritual or not, alters not the case ; no body is literally present ; words are incapable of enunciating a meaning, if this is not the intention of the declaration appended to the Communion Service. They may be instruments of sophists to wrangle with, or to palter with the minds of simple men ; but to expi-ess a distinct and honest proposition they are hence- forth useless." — Pref. p. 6. — Ed. 6 The italics are not his Lordship's. I hope I may be permitted to observe, without appearing to " depreciate the Sacrament," that " the remembrance of the death of Clirist, and of the benefits which we receive thereby," is declared by our Church to be the express purpose for which " the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was ordained ;" and that she teaches us in the Communion Service, that " Christ instituted and ordained" these " Holy Mysteries as pledges of his love, and for a continual remembrance of His death." — Bishop Porte us, commenting on Matt. 26 — 29, observes, " The meaning is, this is the last time that this Supper shall be a representation of the Passover. It shall hereafter take a 7iew signification. When my kingdom (that is, my religion) is fully confirmed and established by my rising from the dead, this Supper shall be the memorial of a more noble sacrifice. The Passover, which was a type of the redemption to be wrought by me, shall be fulfilled and completed by my death and resurrection. The shadow passes away ; the substance takes place ; and when you eat this Supper in remembrance of me, there will 1 be virtually present amongst you ; and your souls shall be nourished and refreshed by my grace, as your bodies are by the bread and wine." — Lectures on St. Matthew, Lect. 21. — Ed. ' Vide supra notes 8. 1,2, p. 353. — Ed. QUOTED BY, BUT OPPOSED TO THE TRACTABIANS. 413 34. Now let us, I beseech you, often and earnestly impress on our people both the necessity of our partaking of this spiritual food, and also the ground of that necessity. It is implied in that passage of St. Paul to the Corinthians which tells us that, as we have borne the image of the first Adam, so we must bear the image of the second Adam.* S5. The nature of man we have from Adam, and the corruption of that nature by propagation from Adam. The nature of man Christ had from Adam, but not corruption : for he had not from Adam b}'' propagation ; that nature was made incorrupt in him by the union of Deity with it. Incorruption we have from Christ. The Spirit giveth it ; but giveth it by Christ's Body and Blood, which are the elements of our spiritual life; and it is our being united with this his Body and Blood that makes us to have in- corruption, and all other the blessed " fruit, grace, and efficacy of his Body and Blood. "-f- The Sacraments are the instruments by which this union is given. In the Holy Eucharist, the consecrated bread and wine being the Body and Blood in eject, we are thereby made Mystical Members of Christ, and He is our Mystical Head. * 1 Cor. XV. 47 to the end. ■f See Hooker, Book v., sects. 57 and 67. " Touching the sentence of antiquity, in this cause, it is evident how they teach that Christ is personally there present ; yea present whole, albeit a part of Clirist be corporally absent from thence ; that Christ, assisting this heavenly banquet, with his personal and true presence, doth, by his own Divine powers, add to the natural substance thereof supernatural efficacy, which addition to the nature of those consecrated elements changeth them, and maketh them that unto us, which otherwise they could not be— that to us they are thereby made such instruments, as mystically yet truly, invisibly yet really, work our conuma/ion and fellowship with the person of Jesus Christ, as well in that He is man as God, our participation also in the fruit, grace, aud efficacy of his Body and Blood." — Hooker's Works, 8vo., vol. ii„ p. 336.8 , , , 8 The subjoined extract from Hooker may suffice to shew with what justice the authority of that illustrious Divine is adduced by the Tractarians, in support of the Doctrine of the Real Presence " explained as they have explained it."' " The Heal Presence of Christ's most blessed Body and Blood is not therefore to be sought for in the Sacrament, but in the worthy receiver of the Sacrament. And with this the very order of our Saviour's words agreeth ; first, 'Take and eat ;' then, ' This is my Body, which is broken for you ;' first, ' Drink ye all of this ;' then followeth, ' This is my Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins ' I see not which way it should be gathered by the words of Christ, when and where the Bread is his Body, or the Cup his Blood ; but only in t/ie very heart and soul of him that receiveth them. " If on all sides it be confessed, that the grace of Baptism is poured into the soul of man ; that by water we receive it, although it be neither seated in the water, nor the water changed into it ; what should induce men to think, that the grace of the Eucharist must needs be in the Eucharist, before it can be in us that receive it ? The fruit of the Eucharist is the participation of the Body and Blood of Christ. There is no sentence of Holy Scripture which saith, that we cannot by this Sacrament be made partakers of his Body and Blood, except they be first coiitained in the Sacrament, or the Saerament converted into thcm."~Eccles Pol. V. 67. Compare the above passage from Hooker, with the following statement of Mr Kenouf, in the Tract to which I have alluded, note 2, p. 408, supra. "The Twenty-ninth Article (asserting, upon the authority of St. Augustine, that the wicked are in no wise partakers of Christ) by no means sanctions the popular notion, that wantof Faiih in the recipient destroys the effect of the consecration.''.— The Doctrine of the Catholic Church in England, <^-c., p. 8._Ed. 414 THE EUCHARIST. CHANGE MAINTAINED BY DR. PUSEY 36. Let us, I repeat, teach and inculcate these truths. Especially, let us guard our people against an error, which many of the most pious and zealous among them are apt to fall into : — against exalt- ing Faith, to the disparagement of the Sacraments. True Christian Faith, true Christian humbleness of heart and mind, will make us embrace or magnify, with thankful andjoyful reverence, those external means of Grace which Christ himself hath been pleased to institute and to crown with His blessing. 61. Again, I lament to read their advice to those who are con- tending for the truth against Romanists, that " the controversy about Transubstantiation ^ be kept in the background ; because it cannot well be discussed in words at all without the sacrifice of godly fear ;"" * as if that tenet were not the abundant source of enormous practical evils, which the faithful Advocate of the Truth is bound to expose ; in particular, of the extravagant exaltation of the Romish priesthood, which seems to have been its primary object ; and, still worse, of that which is its legitimate and neces- sary consequence, the adoration of the Sacramental Bread and Wine, which our Church denounces as " Idolatry to be abhorred of all faithful Christians."" Pearson, Dean op Salisbury. — 1839. Vide Par. 14, in Chap. VIII. Sumner, Bishop of Chester. — 1841. [^ Contrary to my original intention, I find myself constrained to add a few words on the general subject, by the terms of Dr. Pusey*'s recent Letter to Dr. Jelf. .... Lest, therefore, silence should be misconstrued, I think it needful to say that, in my judg- ment, a Clergyman would be departing from the sense of the Articles to which he subscribes, if he were to speak of ... . " the consecrated elements as not remaining simply what they were before, and what to sight they seem"*!- — Art. 28,^ .... of * Tracts for the Times, No, 71, p. 9. f Dr. Pusey to Dr. Jelf, p. 44. 9 " About the Holy Eucharist. "_Ed. 1 See note 3, p. 10, supra. The whole passage will be found at length in Chap. XXI Ed. 2 Upon this statement of the Bishop of Chester, Dr. Pusey writes as follows in his Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury : — " In other points again, the Bishop of Chester shews what the error is which he means to condemn ; and so, though he rejects statements which are borne out by catholic consent, there is no reason to infer that he rejects the truth they contain, but only the error, which, though they do not, he supposes them to maintain. Thus it was part of the vague way of thinking in a past period, to suppose that ayii/ {sic) change in the sacred elements involved Transubstantiation ; whereas that word designates only IN THE ELEMENTS AFTER CONSECRATION. 415 the celebration of the Lord's Supper, as a propitiatory sacrifice offered by the priest — Art. 31 . : "an offering for the quick and dead for the remission of sin."*] Maltby, Bishop of Durham. — 1841. Vide Pax. 4, in Chap. XXV. LoNGLEY, Bishop of Ripon. — 1841. Vide Par. 5, in Chap. VI. Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter. — 1842. Vide Pars. 28. 37—39, in Chap. XII. MuSGRAVE, Bishop op Hereford. — T842. 25. Neither ought we in sacred things to use words at random, as if language could never lead to error. Whereas, irreparable * Dr. Pusey to Dr. Jelf, p. CO Tract 63. that particular change, 'whereby the substance of the sacred elements ceases to be.' When, then, he condemns (p. 79), as ' departing from the sense of the Articles,' those who ' speak of the consecrated elements as not remaining simply what they were before, and tvhat to sight they seem'' {the italics are not Dr. Pusey's — Ed.), and refers, as hia authority, to the Article condemning Transubstantiation, we may plainly limit his condemnation to this, and not suppose him to contravene Antiquity, which continually affirms a (sic) change, as indeed it is implied by the prayer for the descent of the Holy Ghost in all ancient Liturgies, except the Roman, and by the very act of consecration." — p. 73. Dr. Pusey's views of the " change in the sacred elements" after consecration, have been more fully developed in his Sermon on the Eucharist, and are thus stated by Professor Lee, in his learned and unanswerable reply to that publication : — " Avoiding every thing, therefore, that can trench upon miracle or mystery, I will affirm that the mode — no matter how ineffiible this might be in certain respects — under which the consecrated elements can be said to become the real Body and Blood of our Lord, must be one of these two; viz. 1. Either that by which their condition only is believed to have undergone a change ; that is to say, whereas they previously were, and were looked upon as, common Bread and Wine, they are now to be considered as of an entirely new and different character, as set apart and made holy by means of the sacred rites to which they have been subjected : and hence are to be considered as the very Body and Blood of the Saviour, and are, by Faith, to be taken as such : or, 2. That other mode, by which their nature and essence has actually undergone such a change, that they have now become, have been converted into, the very real, substantial, and true Flesh and Blood of Christ ; and are really and truly what the literal acceptation of the terms of Institution, ' This is my body,' &c., necessarily require. You have chosen the latter of these tivo modes. The very circumstance of leaving ^the mode ' undetermined, cannot but imply that some such mode is to be believed. I can conceive of no other object for the introduction of this consideration at all. And if this is to be believed, then I affirm, all the consequences, so admirably reprobated by Bramhall, which grew out of the Romish figment of Transubstantiation, may, with equal propriety be ascribed to this opinion of yours." — Remarks on the Sermon of the Rev. Dr. Pusey, in a Letter addressed to that Gentleman by Samuel Lee, D.D., Regius Professor of Hebreio in the University of Cambridge, S(c., p. 14. See also Dr. Pusey and the Fathers ; or, a Comparison of the Doctrine in the Sermon of the former with the Writers of the first Five Centuries. By the Rev. T. W. Miller, M.A., of Trinity College, Cambridge Professor Garbett's Revieiv of the same publication has been already referred to. — Ed. 416 THE EUCHARIST. FROUDe''s TRANSLATION OF THE WORD TTOietre. mischief has often sprung, and may arise again, from the misappli- cation of words.^ For instance : — The Church in her Communion Service speaks of " The Table," or " The Lord's Table," or " The Holy Table," employing, not by accident, but designedly, one or other of these terms no less than sixteen times ; whereas, some never speak of the same but as " The Altar," a name which our Liturgy seems to have carefully eschewed, because it was felt how much in- fluence there is in a name ; and still more, because " an Altar" implies a sacrifice, and a sacrifice implies an expiation offered up by him who ministers.* A fancy which the service-book of our Church does not recognise or allow — lest such recognition should imply or countenance the suspicion of any diminution in the value of Christ's death, though the substitution has been of late produced as " a strong instance of our judicial humiliation."^ 3 See this subject more fully discussed in an excellent Sermon preached by Dr. Hawkins, Provost of Oriel College, before the University of Oxford, Oct. 25, 1843, entitled " The Ministry of Men in the Economy of Grace, and the Danger of overvaluing i/."_ED. ^ As an additional "explanation " of the views of the Tractarians on the subject of the Eucharist, I subjoin the following passages from Mr. Froude's " Church System under the Apostles." " The words of our Lord, in Luke xxii. ; 1 Cor. xi., which the English version ren- ders ' This do (sic) in remembrance of me,' are, rovro TroiuTe. Now, if these words are translated right, they leave us in doubt, in all the three passages where they occur, what the exact thing was which the Apostles were directed to do. (sic) .... Now the awkwardness of this last expression, (' this do ye as oft as ye drink it in remem- brance of me ') if it simply means, ' This drink,'' (sic) is obvious ; and the only other thing which it can mean, viz., ' Take this cup as I have taken it,' is, to say the least, vague, for we are no where told how our Lord took the cup, or how He gave thanks over it, or how He blessed it, but simply that He did those things, and that the result was the conversion of the Bread and Wine into his Body and Blood. I do not bring this . forward as a proof that the words, rovro ironTre, are translated wrongly ; for there is no difficulty in supposing that they were intended to be as vague as this translation makes them ; but simply to shew that, if they admit fairly of another and fuller meaning, we should not reject it as wholly unworthy of attention ; for that our present version (of them) is not so absolutely satisfactory as to render all further research superfluous. " Now, it should be observed that, though the rovro ■iroie7re, certainly may mean, • This do,' it also may mean, and in numberless and most unequivocal instances does mean, 'Offer this,' or ' Sacrifice this.'" Then, after quoting a number of passages, — all of them from the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, (and, with one exception, 1 Kings xviii. 23 — 26. from the books of Exodus and Leviticus,) — in which the verb -Koielv is rendered by the word "offer," Mr. Froude arrives at the following conclusion : — " Clearly, then, it is in no way far-fetched or unnatural to translate rovro iroiure, 'Offer,' or 'Sacrifice this ;' especially when we regard the Eucharist as instituted at the Paschal Feast, when the circumstances would naturally suggest the sacrificial association to which the words adapt themselves." — Remains, Part 2, vol. 1, pp. 148 — 152 Ed. ^ His Lordship refers to a work by Mr. Williams on the Indications of a Superin- tending Providence in the Preservation of the Prayer Book, and in the changes ivkich it has undergone ; No. 86 of the Tracts for the Times. The whole passage is as follows : " In speaking of the rubric, the substitution of the term ' Table,' ' Holy Table,'' and in the Scotch of ' God^s Board,'' for that of ' Altar,' which is in Edward's First Book, (as well as ' God's Board,') is a strong instance of this our judicial humiliation. For what is it but to say, that the higher mysteries which this word ' Altar ' re- presents, ARE not taken away from us {/jl^ yevoiro), but partially withdrawn from VIEW ; and doubtless, therefore, lost to many who 'consider not the Lord's Body.' To OUR CHURCH REPUDIATES THE NOTION OP A SACRIFICE. 417 26. If some ancient authors occasionally represent the Lord's Sup- per as a sacrifice, writers more ancient than they,^ even the writers the participation, indeed, which the word * Table ' implies, all are admitted ; but thb OBLATION WHICH THE TERM ' Altar ' INDICATES IS MORE REMOVED. TIius they are re- ceived at * God's Board ' indeed, but 7ioi made so sensible of the presence of Him who admits them as his guests ; and therefore, as the Jews of old, receive not equally the benefits of his presence. Such a loss is therefore, doubtless, a great one, which with- holds the Altar from our due acknowledgment : but who reads not iu this, the visitation upon the children's children, of the sacrilegious pollution it has undergone in this country ! But still, as observed before, mercy is mixed with judgment, and the case so stands with us that it says, ' He that can receive it, let him receive it.' A great privilege, when it is considered that by the last review, and the insertion of the word 'oblations,' we have that which prophets and kings have desired to see, what King Charles the First and Bishop Andrews had not. And perhaps what was made the subject of Bishop Andrews' prayer, when for the Church of England his supplication was that ' its deficiencies should be restored.' And with regard to the oblation itself, is not the case significative of our position? for it is not that no oblation is made, for we pray that ' OUR OBLATIONS ' may be accepted, but that the oblation is made in silence. Is not this silence expressive? May it not be considered eloquently significative, more than any words, of our condition, that the higher part of the service, ivhich looks more like the privilege of sotis, is performed in humiliation and silence? In the First Book, when the elements were placed on the altar, the priest was to say the lauda and anthem." — pp. 26, 27. I venture to subjoin the observations which I have elsewhere made upon the fore- going extract. " The only Sacrifice spoken of by our Church in her Communion-service, — besides the 'one oblation of Jesus Christ once offered,' — is the ^Sacrifice of Praise and Thanks- giving ;' this cannot be the ' oblation ' which Mr. Williams intends, for it is not 'made in silence.' The word ^oblations'' is found only in the prayer for the 'Church Militant ;' and Mr. Williams, (in speaking of the 'higher part of the service,'' which cannot, possibly, be the offering of alms,) seems to imply, that the Church, in using it, refers to the offering of Chrisfs Body and Blood in the Eucharist. That the term ' ob- lations ' has no such meaning, is plain from comparing the passage in which it occurs with the preceding rubric, which directs that ' Whilst these sentences are reading,' (so that t/iese 'oblations' are not made in 'silence,'') 'the deacons, churchwardens, or other fit person appointed for that purpose, shall receive the alms for the poor, and other devotions of the people, in a decent basin.'' " That the placing of the Elements upon the Table is not regarded as an ' oblation ' by our Church, is admitted in Tract 81, (p. 30,) where it is said that 'The reformed Liturgy leaves the Bread and Wine to be placed on the altar any how.'' In what sense then does Mr. Williams consider the insertion of the word ' oblations ' to be 'a great privilege, which King Charles I. and Bishop Andrews had not ?'" — The Tracts for the Times Continued: A Letter to the Lord Bishop of Oxford, pp. 19, 20. — Ed. 6 " Considering that the Apostles were even more familiar than the Fathers with the terms and rites of the Mosaic Law, it is the more remarkable that the inspired writers, whilst they continually employ the words Upeus and apx^^p^vs, with reference to the Priests under the Law, should in no single instance have designated the iMiuis- ters of Christ by the names of the Mosaic Priesthood, but have either spoken of the whole body of the faithful as the Priests of God, or, more commonly, applied the titles of Priest and High Priest to Him, to whom alone they can with strict propriety be attributed under the Gospel." — Sermon by the Provost of Oriel College, pp. 19, 20 — See Note 2, p. 416. supra. " It is worth observing," says Archbishop Whately, " how distinctly our Church repudiates the notions of ' Sacrifice,' ' Temple,' &c., not merely by omitting the application of those terms in the Rubrics and Communion Service, and not merely by dwelling on the ' sufiiciency' of the ' one oblation of Christ once ofi'ered,' but also by studiously introducing in that Service the words * Sacrifice' in the other senses in which it is applicable ; viz. first, in the ofi'ertory, to ' alms' (' with such Sacrifices God is well pleased,') and afterwards, to the ' Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving,' aud again to the 'Sacrifice of ourselves, our souls and bodies.' And iu addition to 2e 418 THE EUCHARIST. ZEAL FOR RESTORATION OP of the New Testament, apply (as does also our own ritual) the same term to Almsgiving, to Prayer, and Praise ; or sometimes they em- ploy it as commemorative of the Sacrifice of our Blessed Lord upon the cross — " who" in the accurate language of the Church, " made there by his one oblation of Himself, once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient Sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world." 27. To the joint communion of believers in the Sacrament of the Lord'^s Supper, as practised among us, the strict notion of a sacrifice is wholly inappropriate ; and, as Hooker says, " Sacrifice is now no part of the Church's Ministry." ^ CoPLESTON, Bishop of Llandaff. — 1842. Vide Par. 29, in Chap. XXII. Blomfield, Bishop of London. — 1842. Vide Par. 5, 6, 7, in Chap. X., 37, in Chap. XXIII., and 44, 45, 46, in Chap. XXIV. O'Brien, Bishop op Ossory, Ferns, and Leighlin. — 1842. Vide Pars. 98. 100. 102. 103. 108. 115, 116. 121, note. 128, in Chap. IV. this, a distinct Rubric is subjoined to explain that *no adoration is intended or allowed' of the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist. " Will it be credited, that in the nineteenth century the principles here inculcated have been gravely stated, in print, to be 'subversive of our Church' with 'its Altars, Temples, Sacrijicinff-Friests, and adoration of the Eucharistical Bread and Wine ?' — all of which the writer would have seen, in simply looking over the Prayer-Book, to be utterly alien from our Church ! The mistake of Tacitus, who represents the Jews as adoring the effigy of an Ass, was nothing to this ; because Gentiles not being admitted into the Temple at Jerusalem, had notliing but hearsay to trust to." — Kingdmn of Christ, Essay 11. §. 14. Note Ed. ' This statement of the Bishop of Hereford has been commented upon by Mr. Perceval in the following not very respectful language : *' As a certain person, lately, opposing the Doctrine of Sacrifice in the Eucharist (because, according to his acceptation of the term, ' a Sacrifice implies an expiation offered up by him who mhiisters') has cited Hooker against us, in that he says, ' Sacrifice is now no part of the Church's Ministry ;' it may be as well to add in this place, Hooker's explicit testimony in our behalf: ' This bread (sic) hath in it more than the substance that our eyes behold : this cup, (sic) hallowed with solemn bene- diction, availeth to the endless life and welfare of soul and body ; in that it serveth (sic) as well for a medicine to heal our infirmities, and purge our sins, as for a sacri- fice of thaiiksgiving.'' (sic) Eccles. Pol. v. 67. If these passages cannot be reconciled, the witness must be withdrawn altogether. But it does not appear that any violence will be put upon his language, by imderstanding his negation of Sacrifice to be, not of Sacrifice in any sense, but only of such atoning or expiating Sacrifice : for the existence of which in the Eucharist, I am not aware that contention is or has been made by any writer of our Communion." — Collecticyn of Papers, &c., p. 100. Surely Mr. Perceval might have seen from the most cursory perusal of the con- text, that the Bishop of Hereford is "opposing the Doctrine of Sacrifice in the Eucharist" in "the strict notion" of the term, and not in the sense of "Almsgiving, Prayer, and Praise,'''' which his Lordship expressly states that " even the writers of the New Testament" attach to it. Will Mr. Perceval maintain that the leaders of the party with which he identifies himself, employ the word " Sacrifice" in no other sense than that of " thanksgiving ?" — See the views of Mr. Froude and his Editors, ex- plained by themselves, in Notes 2, p. 408 ; 8, p. 413 ; and 3, p. 416 See also the Bishop of Worcester's Charge, par. 31. 33. infra. — Ed. altars. opinion of our reformers. 419 Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 1842. Vide Par. 39, in Chap. XII., and 47, in Chap. XXV. Pepys, Bishop of Worcester. — 1 842. 27. Upon this subject I cannot refrain from noticing one point, upon which, in my opinion, in some parishes undue stress has been laid. An attempt has, in some cases, been made to substitute a stone Altar for the Table ordinarily used at the celebration of the Lord''s Supper. Now, if this be done, merely because the old Altar, as it existed in our Churches before the Reformation, is a more be- coming ornament to a Church than the simple Communion Table, there can be no objection whatever to the Altar being used as a table ; but an Altar imj^lies a Sacrifice, and it is to be feared that those who are so zealous for the restoration of the Altar, have a tacit leaning to the Roman Catholic Doctrine of the Sacrifice of the Mass.^ 28. It is somewhat extraordinary that this zeal for the restoration of the Altar, in preference to the Communion Table, should exist among those who profess a peculiar respect for the Rubrics and Canons of the Church ; for the 82nd Canon, without making any mention of the Altar, expressly directs in what manner the Com- munion Table should be covered, and the Rubrics directing how the Sacrament of the Lord^s Supper should be administered, uniformly speak of the Lord's Table. 29. A striking illustration of the opinions entertained by the founders of our Church in this respect, is afforded by a comparison between the two Liturgies of Edward the Sixth ; the one printed in 1549, the other in 1552. Li the former, the Rubric directs "that the Priest, standing humbly afore the midst of the Altar, shall say the Lord's Prayer, -with this Collect." In the latter, which, of course, must be taken to convey the more matured opinions of our Reformers, the Rubric stands thus : " And the Priest, standing at the north side of the Table, shall say the Lord's Prayer, with this Collect following."" Such a substitution of the word Table for Altar, clearly shews the opinion of our Reformers on this point ;9 but the 8 See Mr. Good e's valuable pamphlet " A liars prohibiled by Ihe Church of Eng- land.''''— Ed. 9 It has been already observed that Mr. Williams speaks of this " substitution" as " a strong instance of our judicial humiliation ;" as having " partially withdrawn from view the higher mysteries which this word ' A liar'' represents, . . . the oblation (^sic) which the term ' Altar'' indicates." See note 4, p. 416, supra. Mr. Renouf, in his " Doctrinec of the Caiholi Church in England on the Holy JJm- c7;arjs<," after enumerating, as "Desiderata in the English Church,"the following "things contained in the first Liturgy of Edward the Sixth, but omitted in the second," viz. : " 1 . The ancient form of Sacrifice, the words * Altar' and ' Mass ;' 2. Prayer for the faithful departed ; 3. The sign of the Cross repeatedly used in each of the Sacraments ; (sic) 4. The use of Chrism in Baptism and Confirmation ; 5. Extreme Unction ;" observes, " It is therefore not only safe and expedient, but absolutely necessary, to 2 E 2 420 THE EUCHARIST. SACRIFICE IS NOW question seems to be completely set at rest by the Councirs order to Bishop Ridley, in the reign of Edward the Sixth, to take down Altars and place Communion Tables in their stead, wherein the following passage occurs : — " We charge and command you to give substantial order through all your Diocese, that, with all diligence, all the Altars in every Church or Chapel within your said Diocese, to be taken down ; and, instead of them, a Table to be set up in some convenient part of the Church, to serve for the ministration of the Blessed Communion."" 30. These directions of Edward the Sixth were further enforced by the injunctions of Queen Elizabeth concerning the Clergy and Laity, published in the first year of her reign, wherein she directs " That the holy Table in every Church be decently made, and set in the place where the Altar stood." In these same injunctions, however, with her usual good sense. Queen Elizabeth observes, " That in the ordering thereof, saving for an uniformity, there seemeth no matter of great moment, so that the Sacrament be duly and reverently ministered." It becomes, however, a matter of some moment, if, by the substitution of an Altar for a Table, it be intended to give a sacrificial character to the Sacrament of the Lord's Sup- per ; for, in the words of Hooker, " our belief is, that Sacrifice is now no part of the Church ministry. The word ' Presbyter' doth seem more fit, and in propriety of speech more agreeable than Priest, with the drift of the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ." 81. An author,* perhaps the most moderate, the most sensible, and the most intelligent of those who have lately engaged so much the public attention, has attempted to shew that the Church of England, though she does not recognise the Sacrifice of the Mass, still considers a sort of Sacrifice to be made in the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. 32. Now, if this were so, we should surely find it distinctly laid down in that Catechism, which was meant as a manual of instruction to all young persons. But in vain do we look there for any men- tion of a Sacrifice ; on the contrary, when the child is asked, "Why was the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper ordained ?" the reply is, " For the continual remembrance of the Sacrifice of the Death of * "Distinctive Errors of Romanism,^'' by the Rev. "William J. E, Bennett, M.A., Sermon xi. p. 276. In the passages quoted by this learned author, the term " Sacri- fice " Beems to be used only in a figurative sense, just as in the Psalms li. 17. we read, " The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit : a broken and a contrite heart, O Gk)d, shalt thou not despise." point out that these Catholic practices have never been condemned by the Church, but that the want of them is to be lamented as a great deficiency.'" And, again, " They who are taught to believe, that the English Church condemns these practices, will naturally leave its Communion.'''' — pp. 59 — 61. This last assertion, as I have before stated, was soon unhappily verified by Mr. Renoup in his own person. See note 2, p. 408. The recognition of this Tract by Dr. Pusey, as an explanation of the Doctrine of the Eucharist, has also been already adverted to Ed. NO PART OP THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 421 Christ, and of the benefits which we receive thereby." Again, do we find any mention of a Sacrifice in the Twenty-eighth Article of our Church, which treats expressly of the Lord's Supper ? The very term here used, " the Lord's Supper," seems contrary to the idea of a Sacrifice. But further, it is expressly stated in this Article, that " the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was not, by Christ's ordi- nance, reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped." If, then, we find no trace of the idea of Sacrifice in the acknowledged expo- sitions of the Doctrines of the Church, shall we find it in the service itself? On the contrary, we are invited, not to a Sacrifice, but to the Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ ; and we are expressly told, that this was instituted not as a Sacrifice, but " to the end that we should always remember the exceeding great love of our Master and only Saviour Jesus Christ, thus dying for us, and the innumerable benefits which, by his precious blood-shedding. He hath obtained to us." When we consider the occasion of the ori- ginal institution of the Lord's Supper, and that our Blessed Saviour used the expressions, " This is my Body," and " This is my Blood," while He was yet alive, and before, therefore, the great Sacrifice of his Body and Blood for the sins of all mankind was consummated;* it appears extraordinary that the Roman Catholic Doctrine of a Sacrifice should even have originated, in opposition to words so dis- tinctly contradictory of such an idea. And the founders of our Church seem to have been particularly anxious to guard against a like error ; for they expressly state, by the kneeling at the Lord's Supper, nothing more is intended than "a signification of our humble and grateful acknowledgments of the benefits of Christ therein given to all worthy receivers ; but that no adoration was intended to the Sacramental Bread and Wine, or to any corporeal presence of Christ's natural Flesh and Blood. For the Sacramental Bread and Wine remain still in their very natural substances ; and the natural Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ are in Heaven, and not here ; it being against the truth of Christ's natural Body to be at one time in more places than one." And be it observed, that the argument here used is applicable, not only to Transub- stantiation, but to Consubstantiation, or any other theory by which the natural Body and Blood of Christ are supposed to be present in the Communion of the Lord's Supper. 33. The able writer to whom I have before referred, while he justly reprobates the Doctrine of Transubstantiation as held by the Roman Catholics, still maintains that " the Bread and Wine do not • The Apostle, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, appears almost to have anticipated the errors of succeeding times, when he declares that " Christ is not entered into the ' holy places made with liands, which are the figures of the true, but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high-priest entereth into the holy place every year, with blood of others. For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world ; but now once in the end of the world hath He appeared, to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." And again, " Where remission of ains is, there is no more offering for sin." 422 THE EUCHARIST. — NO ALTERATION WHATEVER remain mere Bread and Wine in their Sacramental use, but that a certain mysterious change is wrought in them by the operation of the Holy Ghost ; that, by the words of invocation, the Holy Ele- ments become something more than they were before ; and that to the souls of the faithful, the Body and Blood of Christ are in some sense verily and indeed present.* 84. If by these expressions it be merely meant that a degree of sanctity is conveyed to the Bread and Wine by their appropriation to such holy uses, just as a church becomes separated from all se- cular and profane purposes by the act of Consecration ; and that by strongly bringing- before our minds, as representatives of the Body and Blood of Christ, the great Sacrifice once made for the sins of all mankind, they enable us spiritually, as it were, to eat the Flesh of Christ, and drink his Blood, they certainly are perfectly con- sistent with what we conceive to be the Doctrine of the Church of England upon this much controverted point. 35. But if it be intended that they should convey an impression that any alteration whatever takes place in the natural substance of the Bread and Wine, or that the Body and Blood of Christ are present, or can be received by communicants except in a spiritual sense, such an impression we conceive to be erroneous,*!' and so far dangerous, as necessarily leading to the Doctrine of Transubstan- tiation ; for if once we believe any change to be effected in the na- tural substance of Bread and Wine, the main argument against Transubstantiation seems to be abandoned. The same authority which is supposed capable of producing such a partial change, might be justly considered capable of producing that total change into the very Body and Blood of Christ which is held by the Roman Catholics. 36. Upon this subject I cannot resist quoting the following passage from the able work on the Kingdom of Christ, by the Archbishop of Dublin : — ^ " The Gospel Religion was introduced by men, and among men, whether Jews or Gentiles, who had never heard of, or conceived such a thing as a re- ligion without a Sacrificing -priest, without altars for Sacrifice, without Sacrifices themselves, 'without either a temple, or at least some high place, grove, or other sacred spot answering to a temple ; some place, that is, in which the Deity wor- shipped, was supposed more especially to dwell. The Apostles preached for the first time — the first both to Jew and Gentile — a religion quite opposite in all these respects to all that had ever been heard of before, a religion without any Sacrifice but that offered up by its Founder in his own Person ; without any Sacrificing-priest, except Him, the great and true High Priest, and consequently with no priest, in that sense, on earth." " See also Par, 17, in Chap. XXII. * Sermon xii. p. 307. + Vide Article XXVIII. " The Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper, only after a heavenly and spiritual manner." ^ See note 5. p. 174. supra. — Ed. IN THE NATURAL SUBSTANCE OF THE BREAD AND WINE. 423 ^*^ I must not dismiss this important branch of the controversy without referring the reader to Professor Garbett's Third Bampton Ledicre, and the Preliminary Remarks by which it is introduced ; Dr. Miller's Second Letter to Dr. Pusey ; Professor Scholefield's Sermon before the University of Cambridge, entitled Tlte Christian Altar, and the Appetidix subsequently published by the same learned author— Ed. 424 CHAPTER XVII. BESERVE IN COMMUNICATING RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE. Sumner, Bishop of Chester. — 1838. Vide Par, 3, in Chap. XXV. Phillpotts, Bishop op Exeter. — 1839. 62. [Lastly.] I lament, and more than lament, the tendency at least, if not the direct import, of some of their views " On Reserve in communicating Religious Knowledge ;"" especially their venturing to recommend to us to keep back, from any who are baptized, the explicit and full declaration of the Doctrine of the Atonement."* I know not how such Reserve can be made consistent, not only with the general duty of the Christian Minister, to be able, at all times, to say with St. Paul, that he has " not shunned to declare all the counsel of God;" but also with the special and distinct requirement of our own Church, that every child be taught the Catechism ; for I need not remind you that, in the Catechism, this great Article of our Faith holds a most prominent place ; that it is there taught, both by plain implication, in saying that God the Son hath redeemed us ; again, in the inward grace of each Sacrament, and more expli- citly and expressly in the reason — " why the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was ordained" — namely, " for the continual remem- brance of the Sacrifice of the Death of Christ, and of the bene- fits which we receive thereby." How is the meaning of these passages to be taught, without also teaching the Doctrine of the Atonement?^ * Tract 80, p. 74. 2 Dr. Pusey, in his Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, (p. 76) observes that " The Charge of the Bishop of Exeter was deUvered before the publication of the Second Tract" on Reserve. That Tract, however, had been before the public nearly two years, when the Bishop published his Charge of 1842, which, it will be observed, contains no qualification of the censure here expressed by his Lordship. — And what explanation, 1 would ask, is, or could be given, in Tract 87, of such a passage as the following ? " To require, as is sometimes done, both/rom grown persons and children, an explicit declaration of a belief in the Atonement, and the full assurance of its power ^ appears equally untenable" ! Trad 80, p. 78 Ed. besebve confounded with gradual initiation. 425 Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 1839. Vide Pars. 8, in Chap. VI,, and 18, in Chap. XXVI. Whately, Archbishop of Dublin. — 1841. It is worth remarking, also, that the persons who make this use of Tradition, are often found distinctly advocating the deliberate sup- pression, in the instruction of the great mass of Christians, of a large portion of the Gospel-doctrines, which are the most earnestly set forth in Scripture, as a sort of exoteric mystery, of which ordinary believers are unworthy, and which should be " reserved" as a reward for a long course of pious submission.^ This system of " Reserve" or " Economy" * is vindicated, by studiously confounding it with the gradual initiation of Christians in the knowledge of their religion, in proportion as they are " able to bear it ;" i. e. able and willing to understand each point that is presented to their minds : and the necessity of gradual teaching, — of reading the first line of a passage before the second, — and the care requisite to avoid teaching any thing, which, though true in itself, would be falsely understood by the hearers, is thus confounded with the system of withholding a portion of Gospel-truth from those able and willing to receive it ; — the system of " shunning to set before men all the counsel of God," and of having one kind of religion for the initiated few, and another for the mass of the Christian world. Very different was the Apostle PauFs Gospel, which he assures us, " if it was hid, was hid from them that are lost," (men on the road to destruction dTroWv/jbevoa) " whom the god of this world hath blinded." But the charge of teaching something different from what they inwardly believe, the advocates of this system repel, by alleging that all they do teach is agreeable to Scripture, although they withhold a part, and do not teach all that is to be found in Scripture : as if this did not as effectually constitute two different religions, as if they had added on something of their own. For, by expunging, or sup- pressing at pleasure, that which remains may become totally dif- ferent from what the religion would have been, if exhibited as a whole.* It has been remarked, that every statue existed in the block of * A striking instance of this may be found in a book published a few years ago, termed ** Elucidations of Dr. Hampden's Lectures,^'' in which, by picking out a sentence here, and a half sentence there, an impression was produced of the general tendency of the work, totally different from what the work itself warranted. 3 Mr. Newman declares it to be the " uniform method of Scripture to connect the Gospel with Natural Religion, and to mark out obedience to the moral law, as the or- dinary means of attaining to a Christian faith ; the higher truths, as tcell as the Eucharist, which is the visible emblem of them, being reserved as t/te reward and confirrrmtion of habitual piety." Newman's Arians, p. 51. — Ed. * See Appendix B Ed. 426 RESERVE IN COMMUNICATING RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE. marble from which it was carved ; and that the sculptor merely dis- closes it, by removing the superfluous portions ; — that the Medicean Venus, for instance, has not in it a single particle which did not ori- ginally exist exactly in the same relative position as now; the artist having added nothing, but merely taken away. Yet the statue is as widely different a thing from the original block as if something liad been added. What should we think of a man's pleading that such an image is not contemplated in the commandment against maJcing an image, because it is not " made," as if it had been moulded, or cast out of materials brought together for the purpose I Should any one scruple to worship a moulded, but not a sculptured, image, his scruple would not be more absurdly misplaced, than if he should hold himself bound, in his teaching, not to add on to Scripture any- thing he did not believe to be true, but allowed to suppress any portions of Gospel-truth at his pleasure, and to exhibit to his people the remaining portions, as the whole system of their religion. — Kingdom of Christy Essay 2, sect. 28. Carr, Bishop of Bombay. — 1841. 1. In conclusion, let us be careful to keep in mind, whether amongst Europeans or natives, the grand object of our Ministry : " we are ambassadors for Christ," to sinners ; we are to bear witness to Him, as the one Saviour by whom alone we and they can have access to God. It is possible to say much respecting the Saviour, his precepts, and his ordinances, and yet not to set Him forth as " the Way, the Truth, and the Life," the sinner's only hope ; and without keeping prominent the truth, that " God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." 2. It is most important to adhere to these prominent and saving truths ; and at no time can it be more necessary to keep them present to our minds, and in our hearts, than when systems are rising into repute, which are calculated to place such truths rather in the back ground, and to represent the two Sacraments, ordained by our Lord, in language which is calculated to make the obser- vance of them be regarded as securing Salvation, rather than as means of grace for the quickening, the strengthening, and the refreshing of believing souls. 4. So we are alarmed at hearing of any Reserve in setting forth the truths of Scripture : of any Reserve in following out, to the utmost extent, our Blessed Lord's command, " Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature ; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned." We deprecate any Reserve in putting the Gospel into the hands of any who desire to receive Christian instruction. MK. WILLIAMS* REMARKS ON THE BP. OP GLOUCESTER'S CHARGE. 427 Sumner, Bishop of Chester. — 1841. 10. The Author of our Salvation, " not wilHng that any should perish, but that all should come to Repentance and the knowledge of the Truth,"" has commanded that the Gospel should be preached to every creature. Those have now risen up who affirm that the Doctrine of the Gospel, the Propitiation made for sin, is a Doctrine too dangerous to be openly disclosed — too mysterious to be gene- rally exhibited ; and would thus deprive the sinner at once of his motive to repent, and his comfort in repenting. Vide also Pars. 15 and 19, in Chap. XIII., and 27, in Chap. X. Monk, Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol.^ — 1841. 4. First, then, I cannot help regretting that any Members of our Church should have recommended Reserve in declaring to the people any part of the Doctrines of Scripture. I regard it as contrary to the Apostolic practice, to refuse " to declare all the 5 Soon after the delivery of the Bishop of Gloucester's Charge, the Rev. Isaac "Williams put forth A Few Remarks, for the purpose of shewing that his Lordship had totally misapprehended the meaning and object of the Tracts on Reserve. The publi- cation of Mr. Williams' pamphlet was speedily followed by a report — (carefully recorded in the British Critic,) — that the Bishop of Gloucester, upon mature consideration, had changed his views, and withdrawn the censure expressed in his charge. This report ap- peared to originate with the Editor of a weekly newspaper already referred to (note 2. p. 409. supra), and was instantly contradicted by Bishop Monk in the following letter : TO THE EDITOR OF THE GLOUCESTERSHIRE CHRONICLE. Palace, Gloucester, Jan. 14, 1842. Sir, — My attention has just been called to a paragraph of the Church Intelligencer, Jan. 12, in which the Editor declares, on what he calls direct information, that I had expressed some alteration in certain sentiments avowed by me, in my late Charge to the Clergy of my Diocese, and that I had declared myself to have been misled through the misrepresentations of others. I wish to lose no time in contradicting this paragraph, for which there is no foun- dation whatever. Let me add, that if I had seen cause to alter any of the sentiments expressed by me on so solemn an occasion, and in a document published at the request of my Clergy, I should have felt it to be due, both to them and to myself, to avow such an alteration in a manner equally public and explicit. I am, Mr. Editor, your obedient Servant, J. H. GLOUCESTER AND BRISTOL. Any person who wishes to form a correct estimate of Mr. "Williams' defence of his Tracts on Reserve, must compare the Bishop's statements with the Tracts themselves, and not merely with the extracts adduced by their Author in his Remarks ; Mr. Wil- liams having in those extracts, as I have elsewhere observed, " carefully avoided the objectionable istles to the Gospels,'''' and " attempts to throw discredit on the whole page of Inspiration Ijccanse he cannot find in one jMiiion of Scripture the same plain and unreserved eaposition of Doctrine which is coiitained in the other.'''' And how does his Lordship reply to this objection? " If," says he, "in the moral as in the natural world, the order of things were to be the same, — first the blade, then the ear, and finally the full corn in the ear, — then surely it ought no longer to be reason 432 RESERVE, ETC. VIEWS OF MR. WILLIAMS AND I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me V Could it be otherwise, "lest the cross of Christ be made of none effect f for astonishment and sceptical doubt if Paul be more full upon the deep subjects of the Gospel and the great mystery of Godliness //««» C%m< . . . It would have been clearly improper to have announced the plan of Redemption, otherwise than by tv-pes and shadows, be/ore the Sacrifice, which expiated the sins of the world, was completed. But when all was finished, and the dying voice of the Saviour had pronounced that the pur- pose of his Incarnation was fulfilled, then the beauty of the whole design could be measured and comprehended, and the preachers of the Gospel could point specifically to the Lamb of God who had already paid the price of the ransom for his people," Minis- terial Character of Clirist, pp. 180 — 183. " It was his last care, immediately before the ascension, to enter with the eleven into the full explanation of his Expiatory Sacrifice, referring to his former discourses, and interpreting their meaning ; that the Apostles miyht be competent expounders of this important Doctrine.'''' — Ibid. p. 1G9. Again. Both Mr. Williams and the Bishop of Winchester allude to " the re- markable distinction " observable " in the manner in which Christ testified of Himself at different times and to different persons ;" they both refer to the same passage, (John X. 24.) " How long dost Thou make us to doubt ? if Thou be the Christ tell us plainly." But the conduct of our Lord in this particular is explained by the two writers upon very dijferent groMuAs. Mr. Williams perceives in it "allusions to that awful and mysterious wisdom, which indicate that our Lord was in the habit of concealing, in a remarkable manner, his Divine power and majesty, excepting so far as persons might be found capable of receiving it ;'''' — he regards it as an instance of " a very remarkable holding back of sacred and important truths, as if the knoicledge of them 7cere injurious to persons umcorthy of them.'''' The Bishop of Winchester, on the other hand, "com- paring with this Reserve, systematically maintained towards the Jews, the passage, where our Lord openly declares his dignity and character to their neighbours the Sa- maritans," observes, "No more probable reason can be assigned for this extraordinary difference, than that our Lord knowing perfectly the secret dispositions of both parties, saw that He should have risked an inconvenience in the one case, tvhich He did not in the other." " He never ?Mffi«^?y," says his Lordship, "affected secrecy and concealment:" and, quoting Dr. Hales, the Bishop adds, " in the beginning of his ministry especially, He was obliged to keep himself as private as its nature would admit, in order to avoid giving umbrage to t/ie ruling poivers by a premature celebrity.'''' — Ministerial Character of Christ, pp. 347—350. Again. It has been said that the Bishop of Winchester refers, like Mr. Williams, to the practice of Catholic Antiquity in confirmation of his views. This is undoubtedly true ; and it is singular enough that they both refer to the same century and to the same writer in that century. But the coincidence is an awkward one for those who seek to identify his Lordship's views of Reserve with those of the Tractarians, as will be seen from the following parallel : — The Bishop of Winchester's reference TO Antiquity. " These distinctions were carried to an excess in the early Church, which led to great and dangerous errors. The Montanists and Valentians laid claim to the knowledge of Doctrines, for which the world was not ripe at the first promulgation of the Gospel, and of whicli even the Apostles themselves were ignorant. Nor were these notions confined to these extravagant pretenders to revelation. 'The principal object of the Stromata of Clemens Alexandrinus' (says Bp. Kaye in his Ecclesiastical His- tory of the Second and Third Centuries) ' is to point out the distinction between the Christian who is perfected in knowledge, {yvwcrriKhs) and the great mass of believers; and to lay down rules for the formation of this perfect character.' " — Ministerial Cha- racter of Christ, p. 137. Mr. Williams' reference to Anti- quity. " If intimations of these things are but faiid in the first age of Christianity, yet in the 7iej:t they derive the most ample con- firmation throughout the works of St. Cle- ment OF Alexandria, Origen, TertuUian, and most of the succeeding Fathers ; their mode of speaking of religion, of interpreting Scripture, always seems to imply this prin- ciple of Reserve." — Tracts on Reserve, No. 87. p. 11. THE BISHOP OF WINCHESTER COMPARED. 433 MusGRAVE, Bishop of Hereford. — ]842. 9. Hence we conclude as to the supreme importance of these Scriptures to man's present guidance and future felicity, and the obligation that lies upon us to set them forth to the people in all plainness, and without the least Reserve. If, in the midst of Heathenism, the Apostle " shunned not to declare the whole counsel of God;" if, in the perverse synagogue at Antioch, he unveiled the grand mystery of the Atonement and Justification through the blood of Christ ; if the youthful Timothy, through early " knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, could be made wise unto Salvation ;" if these same Scriptures are so " profitable for in- struction in righteousness," that even " the man of God" — he who has to minister in sacred things, much more the ordinary Chris- tian, may be thereby " perfected, thoroughly furnished unto all good works"" — in a Christian land, where these Scriptures, " which were written for our learning, that we, through patience and com- fort of the same, might have hope," are in every one's hands, and their essential and holy principles are by the Church commanded to be taught to every child of her Communion, how shall it be endured that any part should be kept back ? 10. When even the great and awful mysteries of our religion are not only not concealed from, but ordered to be taught to our infant catechumens, as under the old dispensation the law was taught to the children, you will not feeljustified in setting at naught this example, and the authority of the Church, whose parental care has thus provided spiritual food and nourishment for the lambs of the flock. When the sublime Doctrines of religion are to be in- culcated on the young and inexperienced, it would be the highest pitch of absurdity to think of concealing them from those of maturer age. This would be a practical denial of the use and As a specimen of the manner in which the Ministerial Character of Christ has been quoted to suit the purpose of the Tractariaus, I subjoin the following extract : " Page 176, ' He veiled (sic) Himself .... under the unpretending title of the Son of Man.' " The passage in the original work stands thus, — " He veiled himself, probably with allusion to the prophecy of Daniel, under the unpretending title of the Son of Man." And those who are not pretty well acquainted with the character of the Tractarians as controversialists, will be surprised to find that only a few lines below, his Lordship having observed that " this expression was admirably calculated to answer the purposes of our Lord's habitual testimony concerning Himself during that period in which his wisdom saw it right to suspend the universal declaration of his claim to be the Mes- siah,"— proceeds as follows : " But tliis Reserve teas to have its limit. The interdict was soon to be taken off. The mouths of the witnesses were to he opened, and Peter was to proclaim upoii the house-tops what he had heard in the ear ; and to ' let all the house of Israel know assuredly,' irhefher thei/ n-ould hear or whether they would forbear, that ' God had made that same .lesus, whom they had crucified, both Lord and Christ.' " Minis- terial Character of Christ, p. 17G. I trust 1 have said enough to shew how far the views of the Tractarians on the subject of Reserve are in accordance with those of the Bishop of Winchester in his Ministerial Character nf Christ, — Ed. 2 F 434 RESERVE IN PREACHING, ETC., AN UNWARRANTABLE value of the Scriptures, more in accordance with the usage and sentiments of another Church, which long ago we have disowned and rejected, partly on this very account, because she forbade, as she still forbids, the free circulation of the Word of Life. 11. It has been often urged, as one proof of the excellence of our Church, that the Scriptures are openly unfolded, and that the people are all exhorted to study them, and to test and try their Faith by them. Mysteries indeed they contain, which pass man's understanding; but this is no argument for denying them to the people, or for keeping in Reserve any thing which they treat of. Partially to close them, or to dispense with cautious Reserve, any of their life-giving verities, would be to alter their whole character as a revelation from God, which we are bound to believe, or if we reject it, we do so on pain of eternal loss. 12. Hence their perspicuity and plainness in all things necessary for Salvation. These are within the reach of any ordinary capacity, with the aid of such easy helps as the Church has furnished in her Service Book and Homilies, together with the oral instructions of her accredited Ministers. The Apostolical Epistles, from the nature of the case, the most difficult portion of the Christian Scrip- tures, were written to the whole community of the Churches to which they were severally addressed ; and they were ordained to be read, and doubtless were read, by and to every member of the same. Far from us, therefore, be it to withhold from our Christian people any Doctrine revealed in God's Word as needful for Sal- vation, or to impose upon them for such, any thing not there revealed, seeing it is impossible to tell what, or whether any, doctrines not there revealed, or thereby to be incontestably proved, had any Divine origin, or carry on their front such authority as to entitle them to our belief and acceptance. 13. It has been remarked with truth, that it is little less than an impeachment of the wisdom of God to say that, when He purposed to reveal to mankind the conditions of eternal life, He could not, or did not, deliver his will plainly enough to be understood, without recourse to some unerring human interpreter ; and it is an impeach- ment of his goodness to say that, although this revelation is con- veyed obscurely, He will finally judge men for not believing and obeying that which He placed, purposely if at all, beyond their compi'ehension. 14. However dark and confused the Rule of Faith and practice may appear, seen through any other medium — seen through the Scriptures, it will be as clear as the day in all essential points. Hence the great Divines of our Church, with few exceptions, have all appealed to them as the test and criterion of truth, submitting her Doctrines and pretensions to be tried by that infallible standard alone. In things of less moment they have been willing to be led by the opinions and practice of primitive times ; but they take " the Oracles of God" alone for "the ground and pillar of truth" LIBERTY WITH THE WORD AND PURPOSES OF GOD. 435 and Faith. Herein they are supported by the earlier Greek and Latin Fathers, as before stated, who all, with one exception (in no wise pertinent to the matter in hand), reject the notion of any mysterious Reserve in the communication of religious knowledge. 15. To recommend Reserve in preaching the Atonement to "any but to those who have made some progress in grace,'"" is to take an unwarrantable liberty with the Word and purposes of God. The Apostles were bidden to " go into all the world, and to preach the Gospel to every creature."" But what sort of Gospel Avill that be in which the Atonement, through Faith in a crucified and risen Saviour, is not to be at all, or but seldom heard of, or not " ex- plicitly and prominently brought forward V True, it was preached by St. Paul " to the Jews, and it became a stumbling-block'"' to them — " to the Greeks,"" and they esteemed it " foolishness."" And if, unhappily, any of our people should labour under like delusions, so far from concealing this "great secret" from men, standing, as it were, on the brink of a dangerous precipice, let us speak the louder and more plainly, and warn them straightway of their peril, by pointing at once to the cross of Christ as their only refuge, and stay, and safety. 16. Restriction on the use of Scripture would be likely soon to result from Reserve in displaying any of the treasures it contains, and disuse of Preaching would follow, though Preaching, and hear- ing, and reading the Scriptures, are manifest means of grace, as well as public and private Prayer, and the Sacraments of the Church. See also Paar. 48, in Chap. VIII. Blomfield, Bishop of London. — 1842. 26. Now if Justification, or its results, be, as undoubtedly they are, inseparably connected with Faith in the Atonement wrought by Jesus Christ, I do not understand how it can be expedient or law- ful for us, u'ho are to declare to our people all the counsel of God^ to practise any thing of that Reserve, which was practised by the early teachers of Christianity ; and to forbear from pressing upon the less advanced of our hearers the most sublime and mysterious Doctrines of the Gospel. But, in truth, the Reserve of the early (not the primitive) Fathers of the Church, was difterent, if not as to its subjects, yet certainly as to its objects, from that which appears to be now recommended : and supposing it to have been prudent and commendable in them^ it by no means follows, that it is ex- pedient or proper in the present state of the Church. 27. The Doctrine of the Atonement, and that of a Trinity of Per- sons in the Unity of the Godhead, mysteries, be it remembered, to the highest order of intellect — as well as to the weakest understand- ing, and to be received by both with child-like simplicity of faith — furnish, when properly set forth, the most aifecting and constraining motives to humility, repentance, and holiness of life : and with 2 F 2 436 RESERVE INCULCATED BY THE TRACTARIANS respect to the former more especially, I cannot conceive that any teaching, in which it does not occupy a prominent and conspicuous place, can be effectual in turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. 28. If indeed the Reserve, which is recommended to us, be nothing more than a cautious and reverent abstaining from a too familiar mode of treating the sacred and sublime mysteries of our religion ; or from such an inculcation of them, as may tend to throw into the shade its practical duties, and lead men so to con- template the attributes, or secret things of God, as to forget or un- dervalue his commands, I readily admit the necessity of such a Reserve -^ but any thing of the nature of a disciplina arcani^ I as promptly reject. Mountain, Bishop of Montreal. — 1842. [9 The grand and prominent object of the Christian Ministry, in every department of service, and every detail of labour, must be to draw sinners to God through Christ ; to make them really under- stand that through Him they have access hy one Spirit to the Father : the constant plea which we urge, the everlasting theme of our per- suasion, the leading note of our song, from first to last, must be the Larnb of God that taJceth aivay the sins of the world ; He who will still form the subject of our song in Heaven, for having washed us from our sins in his own Blood, and made us kings and pi'iests unto '^ It has been observed bj' Dr. Pusey (Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, p. 77), that "The treatment of these Tracts" (on Reserve) "which has been thus unhappily countenanced'" (by the Bishops) " — being condemned and spoken of lightly, without being considered, — is but one form of that very habit of mind, against which they were directed. The opposition to tliem," he continues, "originated mostly in the very need of the medicine which it rejected. Had the Tracts been entitled, ' on Reverence in communicating religious knowledge,' it would have been a severe condemnation of the error which they now treat most tenderly, but one which would have been less easily eluded. As it is, people have gone off npon a name, and shrunk from the substance.''' The fallacy of this statement has been completely laid bare by the Bishop of Ossory, in forewarning his Clergy of the " uncertainty in the use of the principal term which pervades the entire treatise" on Reserve, and is the "special source of confusion" affecting " every part of it with which we are concerned, — the statements, the infe- rences, and the arguments." Vide Paragraphs 31 — 34 of his Lordship's Charge. See also the observations of Archdeacon Browne, in a note appended to Paragi*aph 47 of the Charge of the Bishop of St. David's. With regard to the zcaiit of reverence, with which they who speak openly and expli- citly of our Lord's Atonement are charged by the writers on Reserve, it has been well observed by Archdeacon Samuel Wilberforce, "God forbid that any one should thus sin against the marvellous goodness of the Lord ! But how can it be irreverent to speak of the Lord Jesus, the Mediator between God and man, and yet reverent to speak of the awful majesty of the Father? And yet this is not forbidden us : on the contrary, we are told to prepare men for hearing of the Atonement, by awakening in their minds a due sense of the terrors of the Lord ; a direction which destroys, therefore, the objection to support tvhich it is urged.'''' — The Ministry of Reconciliation. A Sermon preached at the Ordination held by the Bishop of Winchester, December 15th, 1839 ; and published by his Lordship's desire, p. 16 Ed. 8 For some account of the disciplina arcani and its connection with the method of economy, see an extract from a Charge of Bishop M'llvaine in appendix B Eu. 9 Vide note 3, p. 10, supra, — Ed. NOT IDENTICAL WITH REVERENCE. 437 God. It is in directly magnifying Him, tliat we best magnify and advocate the Church in which we serve.] Vide Pars. 11, 12, 13, in Chap. X. O'Brien, Bishop op Ossory, Ferns, and Leighlin. — 1842. 20. One who thus studies the whole sacred volume patiently and reverently, has this important advantage as a teacher — to note but one out of very many — that he will be able, and disposed too, to present the whole body of truth which it contains in juster pro- portions, than one who reads it by fits and starts, in such parts as passing curiosity, or a passing exigency, offers to him. Such patient study of the whole of Revelation is, in many cases, necessary to correct the tendency to distort and exaggerate, which is so often the result of the study of human systems of theology, even of those which are in all main points sound. They are all in this, at least, marked with the imperfection of their source, even when they shew no clearer indications of it, that they present some portions of the Divine scheme, — not in entire neglect of the remaining parts — but in undue prominence with respect to them. And, even if our view of Revelation be drawn, not from any of these human systems, but directly from the Bible, we ought to bear in mind, that it is of the nature of a human system, and that it is liable to this displacement of the features of Divine truth at the first. And, supposing that we can be sure that we have guarded against this in forming it, still, Avhen we carry it into use, it is liable to contract this fault, unless we are constantly readjusting every part of it, by bringing it again and again to the word of God — not as if we continually apprehended that it needed to be freed from some fundamental error — this would be to lead a life of pyrrhonism, not of faith ; but to secure it from such derangement of its parts as may disturb their proper relation, whether as auxiliary or antagonist powers — such a gradual development of particular portions, and neglect of others, as may, by an imperceptible but sure process, destroy the harmony and perfection of the whole. 21. Such undue development of particular portions of Divine truth, if we descend to their minuter features, are of course as various as men's intellects, and tastes, and habits, and circumstances. But our object makes us concerned only with broader distinctions. And, viewing these varieties in this way, very many, if not all of them, fall under two great divisions ; one being formed of all those in which the Lord's Atonement aj)pears with too little reference to His example ; and the other, of those in which His example is inculcated with too little reference to His Atonement. I may say at the outset, that I do not mean to include in the former class that extreme in which the necessity of taking Christ as our example, and aiming at being like him, is denied, which is what is generally understood by Antinomianism ; while from the latter class I mean 438 RESERVE, ETC. UNDUE DEVELOPMENT to exclude the extreme wliich denies the Doctrine of the Atonement altogether, which is Socinianism. I mean, however, to compre- hend in the former division, all cases in which the Atonement is preached distinctly and fully, but in which, while it is acknow- ledged that those who receive the Doctrine ought, and are bound, to obey and imitate Him who has wrought this reconciling work, yet this obligation is not stated with due distinctness, nor are proper pains taken to press the duty upon them in detail ; while, on the other hand, I mean to comprehend in the other class, all the cases where, while the Atonement is acknowledged, the life of Christ is sought to be produced independently of belief in it, and by other motives than those which it supplies. 22. Now, that both these are unscriptural systems, I need not say ; and that both, therefore, are to be avoided, I need not say : but I do not wish to conceal that I think the latter far the worse and more deadly error. The former sets out upon the principle that all Christian practice is to be derived from Christian Faith, which is a certain and fundamental truth, more or less denied by the latter. It infers then, that if we can implant true Faith, Christian practice will follow, on the principle, that if we can produce the cause, it will produce the effect ; and that, therefore, we need not make this any object of our care and exertion. But, however true the abstract principle is, it ought to be remembered in every application of it, that what is usually called the cause, is not the sole cause in any such sense as not to require the concurrence of various subordinate causes, in order that it should produce its full effects ; sometimes that it should produce any effect at all. And that, further, all moral causes at least, not only require to be directed and regulated, but to be developed and strengthened by exercise. And, to come to the particular case with which we are concerned, it is true that a man cannot really believe in Christ without loving Him, or love Him without a desire to please Him. But to labour to implant the principle of Faith in Christ in the heart, and to leave it then, without endeavouring to guide, and regulate, and stimulate, and exercise it, is not merely to neglect what all that we know of the human mind shews to be essential to the full development and efficiency of every such principle, but, what is of still more consequence than any such error in mental philosophy, it is running counter to all the examples of Divine teaching which we find in the Word of God ; and in thus abandon- ing the duty of a teacher, the Minister not only, as far as in him lies, stunts and dwarfs the principle of Faith when it is really in the heart, but he helps sinners to delude themselves with the persuasion, that it is in the heart when it really is not, by putting out of view the safeguard against such self-deception which the wisdom of God has px-ovided in the requirements of his Word. 23. Such a course is, doubtless, to be condemned and avoided. But still, as I said before, I do not think it so preposterous or so OF DIVINE TRUTH. TRACTS 80 AND 87. 439 presumptuous as the attempt to build up the Christian character, without first lajnng the foundation in the belief of this truth. Indeed, as to the I'eal presumption of this procedure, when one considers the nature of the truth which it is proposed to set aside, and all that is declared in Scripture of its place in the Divine plan for saving sinners, one can hardly find language to characterize the faithless temerity of thus dealing with it. But, in what I have said, 1 have meant to speak of the moral influence of this great Doctrine, leaving out all considerations of its saving efficacy, any further than that is necessarily involved in any consideration of its moral influ- ences. And, limiting our view as exclusively as possible to the latter, I mean to say, that one who preaches the Doctrine of the Atonement clearly and fully, while he neglects the moral training which ought to accompany it, is infinitely less likely to preach in vain, than the man who seeks to carry on this training without doing any thing to set forth and secure belief in that Doctrine. Just as, — and I trust that the propriety of the comparison will be felt by all who hear me, — -just as one who sows good seed, while he neglects the other duties of the husbandman, is more likely to have a crop than he who performs all such offices, with the greatest possible exactness and diligence, while he neglects to sow the seed. 24. Bishop Butler remarks, that it is one of the weaknesses of our nature, when, upon a comparison of two things, one is found to be of greater importance than the other, to consider this other as of scarce any importance at all. And there is evidently the danger from the same weakness, that a comparison of two things, which shews one to be more objectionable than the other, may abate unduly our dread of the latter. I am not insensible to this danger ; and I trust it will appear, that I have not wantonly incurred it on the present occasion. 25. This mode of discharging the duties of a preacher, by attempt- ing to carry on Christian training, without laying the foundation in Christian Faith, has been recently advocated very strenuously, and very perseveringly. It was distinctly put forward and supported in one of the Tracts for the Times ; * and, after an interval of nearly three years, the attempt was renewed in another of that series of publications, which have acquired such unhappy celebrity. -f- 26. The title of both Tracts is, " On Reserve in communicating Religious Knowledge.'''' But it is only with the Reserve in com- municating the Doctrine of the Atonement, which the writer recommends, that we are now concerned. What that is, I shall enable you to judge, by giving you the statements of his views in his own words, as they are found in the Tracts : — It is said " The prevailing notion of bringing forward the Atonement explicitly and prominently on all occasions is evidently quite opposed to what we consider the teaching of Scripture."":): Indeed, it is said, * Tract, No. 80. f Tract, No. 87. X Tract, No. 80, p. 75. 440 RESERVE, ETC. TRUE OBJECT OF THE TRACTS that " In all things it would appear, that this Doctrine, so far from its being what is supposed, is, in fact, the very ' secret of the Lord,"* which Solomon says is with the righteous, and ' the covenant"' not to be lightly spoken of by man, but which ' He will shew to them that fear Him.'"* And it is proposed to account for " The cause of the extraordinary prevalence of this modern opinion of the necessity of preaching the Atonement thus explicitly," -j* as if its pi'e valence were something so strange as to demand a special explanation. Further, it is said : " And not only is the exclusive and naked exposure of so very sacred a truth unscriptural and dangerous, but, as Bishop Wilson says, the comforts of religion ought to be applied with great caution. And moreover to require, as is sometimes done from both grown persons and children, an explicit declaration of a belief in the Atonement, and the full as- surance of its power, appears equally untenable."" | Again: "With regard to the notion, that it is necessai-y to bring forward the Doctrine of the Atonement on all occasions, prominently and" ex- clusively, it is really difficult to say any thing in answer to an opinion, however popular, when one is quite at a loss to know on what grounds the opinion is maintained,""§ Again : " It [its difference from the Scripture mode of teaching] may be observed in this, that this scheme puts knowledge first, and obedience after- wards : let this Doctrine, they say, be received, and good works will necessarily follow. Holy Scripture throughout adopts the opposite course."" And in a note upon this it is said, " One instance in Scripture has been applied otherwise : ' Make the tree good and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt."" Is it not a very overstrained interpretation to apply this to the Doctrine of the Atonement, on the supposition that the infinite and incomprehensible love of God manifested therein, will, on being published, powerfully affect men"'s minds, and, on being heard, regenerate their souls ! Is there any sanction whatever for this in Holy Scripture?"** And again: " To suppose, therefore, * Tract, No. 80, p. 76. f Ibid. p. 76. + Ibid. p. 78. § Tract, No. 87, p. 51. * * Tract, No. 87, pp. 56, 57. Upon this quotation I think it necessary to make one or two remarks : — 1. The system wliich the writer refers to, in making Faith the source and spring of obedience, does undoubtedly make some kind and degree of knowledge precede obedience, just because Faith requires for its foundation some amount of k7iotv- ledge. In this sense, and to this extent, tliis system does put knoivledge first, and obedience afterwards. But tliis, as it ought to be necessary to remark, does not presume that knowledge to any amount produces Faith, or produces obedience. Nor is it in- consistent in any way with the truth that to other kiuds and degrees of knowledge. Faith is a key, and that obedience is a key. 2. Upon the very great unfairness of describing " Make the tree good," &c., as the single text relied on by those whom the writer opposes, it is probably better to say uothuig. But as to the use said to be made of it, it may be freely admitted that it is pressed too far, if it be taken to prove any thing more than that any attempt at reformation wiiich does not reach the state of the heart, from which outward evil proceeds, must be ineffectual. It evidently does not of itself prove that the Atonement is the appointed or a proper instrument for effecting this reformation. 3. As to what is said upon that point, however, if " on being published," and " on being heard," mean that the Doctrine is expected, of its own efficacy, and AS REGARDS THE DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT. 441 that a Doctrine so unspeakable and mysterious as tliat of the Atonement, is to be held out to the impenitent sinner to be em- braced in some manner to move the affections, is so unlike the Lord's conduct, that it makes one fear for the ultimate consequences of such a system,"* 27. I have given so many passages, because I feel it to be very important to fix beyond any reasonable doubt the true object of the Tract, as regards this Doctrine. And the more carefully, because it is sometimes denied, that the author really intends to discoun- tenance the preaching of the Atonement ; or to do any thing more than oppose and condemn that exclusive preaching of the Doctrine {i. e.^ the preaching of it and nothing else) which I have myself condemned, as at variance with the dictates of right reason and the example of Holy Scripture. And it is very true, that the Tract does denounce the exclusive preaching of the Doctrine. But it is equally true, that it opposes the explicit preaching of it. Some of the sentences in the passages which I have quoted, and elsewhere, are so framed, and (perhaps through a real confusion between them in the mind of the author) the exclusive and the explicit preaching of the Doctrine are mixed together and interchanged in such a way, as might possibly create some doubt in the minds of plain readers, whether more is meant than to condemn the former mode of teaching. But this doubt only applies to some of the passages. In some, it must be evident to the very plainest readers, that any explicit preaching of the Doctrine to sinners is condemned ; and indeed in the two last, the hope of moving their affections by such means, is branded as at once dangerous and chimerical.^ 28. And, in saying this, I am not overlooking what the author himself has said, apparently with the view of disclaiming such a without any exertion of the Spirit's power, to produce this needful change, it is freely admitted that for such an expectation there is no sanction whatever in Holy Scripture. But neither, it is presumed, is there any foundation for representing that it is enter- tained and acted upon bj' any class of preachers at the present day. All profess at least to hold that even if Paul were the preacher, the Lord must ope7i the hearts of his hearers, or he would preach in vain. And, in fact, I do not believe that any who preach the Atonement explicitly, do so under such an expectation of its natural effects. But there are two suppositions, which they do make ; they suppose that the preaching of Christ, and of his death, and his rising again, by his Ministers, is an appointed mode of producing saving Faith in Him. And if they be asked for a sanction for this supposition, they may refer, to name one passage out of many, to Rom. x. 4 — 17. And another supposition on which they rest, is that the Faith which the Spirit pi'oduces throtigh the hearing of the Word of God, He uses as an instrument in cleansing the sinner's heart, and in enabling him to resist the world and the prince of the world, and in all things to do and to suffer as God requires him. And for this supposition it is presumed that there is abundant Scripture-sanction (to adduce again but a few places out of very many) in Acts xv. 9 ; in Eph. vi. 16 ; in 1 John v. 4, and in Heb. xi. * Tract, No. 87, p. 65. 1 It had been previously asserted by Mr. Newman, that such a hope has no foun- dation in Scripture. " No one sanction can be adduced from Scripture, whether of precept or example, in behalf of stimulating the affections (of gratitude or remorse) by means of the Atonement, in order to the conversion of the hearers." ! ! Newmari'a Avians, p. 51 Ed. 442 BESERVE, ETC. TRUE OBJECT OF THE TRACTS. design. His first Tract, under this apprehension of its object, drew from various quarters very strong expressions of disappro- bation and alarm. And in adverting, in the second Tract, to such manifestations of feeling, he gives what seems intended as a dis- avowal of the purpose ascribed to him. He asks, — " Do we then maintain that it [the Doctrine of the Atonement] is to be inten- tionally and designedly withdrawn from all public mention V To which he replies that he and his friends never suggested or practised any such thing.* And perhaps such is the case. But this is not what he was charged with. It was not alleged against the Tract that it condemned all public mention of the Doctrine ; but that it discountenanced the preaching of it to impenitent sinners to bring them to repentance, and to penitent sinners to confirm them in holiness ; that it condemned any preaching which makes this truth the foundation of offers of mercy to sinners, — of invitations to repentance to sinners, — the source of Christian morals to believers, — which makes it the instrument of converting and reforming, of drawing men to Christ, and after Christ. This is what the writer is charged with. And this is perhaps not inconsistent with the literal truth of his disclaimer. But, at all events, no one can read some of the passages which I have read to you, with any degree of fairness and attention, and doubt that the charge is well founded. And if the writer's statements left his purpose in any respect doubtful, the course of the reasoning by which they are sustained must make it perfectly clear. 29. These arguments, which are scattered over the Tracts with- out much regard to order, are drawn from a variety of sources. Philosophy and Natural Instinct, Scripture and Tradition, are all made to combine in enforcing the duty of Reserve, for which the writer pleads. And he is able to shew, apparently to his own perfect satisfaction, that we are contradicting the best established principles of mental philosophy, resisting the right impulses of the nature which God has bestowed upon us, going against the genius and spirit of all Divine teaching, whether in providence or reve- lation, but more especially rejecting the lesson which is taught us by the example of the Blessed Lord himself, and finally opposing the principles of the Catholic Church, when we publish this great mystery to men of unholy lives. 80. I should be very glad to be able to examine all of these arguments in detail. It is only by such a regular review, indeed, that I could hope to convey to you any adequate apprehension of the mass of sophistry, and misrepresentation, and confusion, which has been brought to sustain the startling positions which I have just read to you. But I could not make such an attempt, without losing sight altogether of the limits within which an address of this kind ought to be confined. Instead, therefore, of engaging you in • Tract, No. 87, p. 52. UNCERTAIN USE OF THE PRINCIPAL TERM. 443 an examination of the entire, I shall confine myself to a single division, choosing the arguments which have been drawn from the example of the teachinir of our Blessed Lord in the course of his earthly Ministry. I select those arguments, because, while they are in their own nature the most important, they seem to have been those most relied on in the Tract, and they certainly have contributed more to the impression which it has made, than any other which it contains ; and moreover they furnish a fair specimen of the general character of the reasoning employed in the divisions which I am obliged to omit. 31. But, in leaving the others to your own examination, I wish to forewarn you of an uncertainty in the use of the principal term, which pervades the entire Treatise ; at least the important part with vfhich we are concerned, and against which therefore you have reed to be continually on your guard. Reserve is not merely used for holding hack certain truths, and keeping silence about them, but also for caution^ and for discretion^ and for reverence, in treating them. And all that the author can find in support for the duty of Reserve, in any of the latter senses, is taken by him, apparently without any doubt, as of no less force to prove it to be a duty in the former sense. This, of course, makes it easy to establish the rule which he desires to enforce. But it reaches further ; for it apparently makes it fruitless, so far as he is concerned, to reason against it. For when pressed with arguments against his rule of Reserve, in one of the former senses of the word, he is able to retreat into one of the other senses, where he is safe from all dis- turbance. 32. His first Tract, as I said, drew forth much opposition ; and, by a number of writers, the unsound and unscriptural character of the rule of Reserve, as regarded the Atonement, which he sought to establish, was very clearly exhibited. And then the virtue of this ambiguity appeared. For, in his second Tract, in adverting to these publications, he regards himself simply as contending for reverence in handling Divine truths. And, as none of the various "writers against his Treatise had shewn any disposition to question that this is a duty ; after all that they had done, he is able to look upon all of them as opponents, who would fain assail his ' principle,** but who find themselves really unable to say any thing against it ! 33. But my business is not with the author, but with you. And I hope it may be of some assistance to you in threading the mazes of this very long, very rambling, and very misty Treatise, to be forewarned of this special source of confusion, which afl:ects every part of it with which we are concerned, — the statements, the infer- ences, and the arguments. So that, while the practical part is shifting between a recommendation to treat certain great truths "with reverence, and a prohibition to put them forward at all, in our public teaching, every argument in favour of the former course is regarded as commending the latter ; while every one who opposes 444 EESERVE, ETC. NATURE AND EXTENT OP THE the latter — who raises his voice against holding back these great Doctrines, — is treated either as arguing against reverence in dealing with them, or as arguing beside the question if he is not. 34. With this general safeguard, I must leave, as I said, the other arguments to your own examination, and confine myself to that most important class, which the author derives from the Reserve which characterized the public teaching of the Blessed Lord. 35. This Reserve is said to have pervaded his whole Ministry ; to have appeared in the performance of his miracles, in the mode in which he taught by parables, and, particularly, as bearing most directly on the matter in hand, in his holding back in his public teaching the great truths of his own Divinity and Atonement. 36. The statements, however, concerning it are at once so exag- gerated and so indistinct, that, before I proceed further, I find it necessary to remind you of two points, in order that the true nature and extent of the Reserve exercised by the Blessed Lord, may not be misunderstood. 37. (1.) Whatever be the Reserve which He maintained con- cerning the necessity and efficacy of his sufferings, in order to procure forgiveness for sinners, yet He does distinctly, and without any Reserve, from the first to the last of his Ministry, declare the necessity and the efficacy of Faith in Himself, in procuring the for- giveness of their sins, and their full acceptance with God. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up : that whosoever helieveth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that wJiosoever helieveth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." " He that helieveth on Him is not condemned^ but he that helieveth not is condemned already, because he helieveth not in the name of the only begotten Son of God." " Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that helieveth on me hath everlasting life."" " And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seetli the Son, and helieveth on Him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day." " If ye believe not in me, ye shall die in your sins." " He that helieveth on me^ though he were dead, yet shall he live : and who- soever liveth, and helieveth on me, shall never die."" " This is the work of God, that ye believe in Him ivhom He hath sent." But I need not go on to multiply quotations. The words which I have given were spoken by Him at the very beginning and at the very end of his Ministry, as well as at intermediate periods ; and you must see that they are abundantly sufficient to shew that, upon this point — that is, upon the necessity and efficacy of Faith in the Son of God, to secure a sinner s forgiveness with the Most High, there was no Reserve in the Lord's teaching. 38. (2.) Li whatever other respects his teaching may be de- scribed as a system of Reserve, it is nowhere, nor at any time, a RESERVE EXERCISED BY OUR BLESSED LORD. 445 system of Reserve as regards tlie readiness of God to receive, and to pardon the repentant sinner. And I wish to draw your attention the more particularly to this point, because there is nothing in the preaching of the Atonement at the present day, which raises more hostility and alarm in those who oppose it, than that it presents God as God ready to forgive. 39. How unreservedly the Lord offers Him in this character, you know. He presents Him to us as a Lord to whom his servant owed ten thousand talents, and who, in wrath, commands him to be sold, with his wife and children, and all that he had, that he might pay this great debt ; but who, when that servant casts himself at his feet, and supplicates his forbearance, is moved with compassion, and looses him, and forgives him the debt. Again, He sets Him before us as a creditor who had two debtors ; one owing Him an hundred pence, and the other fifty, and who, when they had nothing to pay, franHy forgave them both. And you know too how He shews Him to us in the person of the wronged and forsaken father, who sees, while he is yet a great way of, the returning prodigal, and runs and falls on his neck and kisses him. And when the penitent wanderer asks but the place of a servant, in the home where he had abandoned and forfeited the place of a child ; the father calls for a robe, and a ring, and all that could mark his perfect restoration to the full privileges of his birth, and commands that the house should resound with feasting and joy at the return of his lost Son.2 And the Lord tells us that this joy but shadows forth the rejoicing Avhich fills the courts of heaven, at the return of one repentant sinner to Grod. 40. Here is no Reserve with respect to an important part of the Doctrine of the Atonement: the very part, as I said, which creates most jealousy and alarm, and on account of which chiefly, I presume, the preaching of that Doctrine is discountenanced. 41. Having said this, which I think it most important that you should remember, I shall not stop to examine any of the instances which are alleged as examples and proofs of this Reserve. Some of them are fairly alleged in the case ; but there is the strangest violence done to Scripture, to wring additional instances from it, when the more obvious ones are exhausted.* But we are not con- * To give one example out of a great many,—"' It is in the retired Galilee that the Gospel seems to open with blessings, couched in the half-secret, though simple, forms of the Beatitudes ; and it is in the crowded temple at Jerusalem, that our Lord's public Ministry ends with the opposites throughout to these Beatitudes, the woes pronounced on the Jews at Jerusalem." — Tract 80, p. 10. Now it is sufficiently ob- ' vious to remark on this point, 1. That the Lord did not choose Galilee as the seat of his Ministry at this time, until he was driven to take refuge there by the danger which he had reason to apprehend in Judaea. 2. That the retired Galilee was the part of the 2 See the remarks of Mr. Ward upon this Parable, note 8, p. 406, supra Ed. 446 RESERVE, ETC. NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE cerned in looking closely at them, because what they are intended to prove is, in a general Avay, to be admitted. It is not to be questioned that the Lord, upon several occasions, shewed a desire to conceal his miracles ; that at times He seems to adopt the para- bolical form in teaching, for the veil which it throws over his meaning ; and that, in his preaching and teaching, the great truths of his own Divinity and Atonement seem generally to have been held back. 42. But it is with the inference from these facts that we are concerned. And that is, that the Lord's example in this case is binding on us as a rule of conduct, because the reason on which it was founded still remains in full force. For the reason is settled to be, that it requires a preparation of heart to receive and profit by these great truths; and that it was in tenderness to those who wanted this preparation, that He held back from them what they would have rejected or abused, and what, therefore, could not be oiFered to them without awfully enhancing their guilt : and, as it is not to be doubted that the public preaching of these great truths now would subject multitudes to the same fearful hazards, it is thought that it is plainly our duty to imitate the Lord's Reserve, and to hold them back, except where there is due preparation to receive them aright. 43. Now the first remark that I would make upon this reasoning is, that it proceeds upon the exceedingly precarious — 1 might say, infinitely improbable — assumption, that we can determine all the reasons which actuated the Blessed Lord in this part of his conduct. This is plainly assumed, I say, when we are asked to convert the Lord's example, in this or any such case, into a rule of conduct for ourselves upon the grounds alleged, namely, that the reason which determined his conduct obtains no less in our case : for, unless we knew all the reasons of his conduct, there may plainly be some which have reference so exclusively to his office, the point of the dispensation at which He was placed, and other circumstances peculiar to Him, that while they made it right and suitable for Him, they might render it wrong and unwarrantable in us. 44. Nor can it be said that this is a bare and vague possibility, such as may be alleged in almost any case to suspend decision and action. Because the differences between Him and those who teach Holy Land most noted for its populousness. Indeed, the translation of TaAiAaia Twf fQvwv, by Galilee the populous, proposed by some, however erroneous it be, was pro- bably suggested by the fact, and certainly accords with it. Josephus, after describing it as eminently fertile, and as consequently cultivated throughout, so that not a spot was unoccupied, adds, dAAct Kal irvKyal, Ka\ rh rwv Koifjcov 7rAf)0os Travraxov ito\v- dfOpanrov Sta rr/u evdrjviav, — De Bell. Jud. 1. 3, c. 2. And, 3. Whatever were its ordi- nary state, the Evangelist's description of it, just at the moment that the Gospel opened with the Beatitudes, shews how curiously misplaced is the epithet retired. " And there followed him great multitudes of people, from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan." Matt. iv. 25 And this is only a very ordinary specimen of the way in which Scripture is used throughout the Tract. BESERVE EXERCISED BY OUR BLESSED LORD. 447 in his name now, are so numerous and obvious, that it would be presumable that they, or some of them, may have entered into the motives of his conduct, or indeed constituted the motives of it ; even if we could not shew from Scripture that they actually did. But this we can do. 45. (1.) As to his miracles, — we know from the Gospels, that the Lord was under an apprehension that there might be a premature movement against Him on the part of his enemies on the one hand; or on the part of the people in his favour on the other. That these fears led to precautionary measures on his part on more occasions than one, both in changing the scene of his Ministry, and in for- bidding the publication of his miracles, we are expressly told.* And it would be very conceivable and probable, that He was in- fluenced by the same motive on other occasions, when we are not expressly informed that such was the case. 46. As to his holding back, in his public teaching, the Doctrine of the Atonement, it seems accounted for, in some measure at least, bv the consideration, that the work of the Atonement was still future. When it was distant, it seemed good to God to present it to man only in type and figure ; and the same reasons, whatever they were, which led to this partial concealment of it, while it was far off, might, very inteUigibly, have rendered it wrong that it should be fully disclosed, however near it came, until it was actually ac- complished. 47. As to his Reserve concerning his own higher nature, I might remark, (as I might have done in the case of the Doctrine of the Atonement.) that it is represented as more absolute than it really was. But without dwelling on this, it seems, so far as it really existed, to be accounted for by what has been already said of his Reserve on the two other points, namely the Doctrine of the Atone- ment, and the performance of his miracles. Because, as to the first, whether we can see the reason of it or not, the fact is very certain, that in the Revelation which preceded the Lord's coming, the veil which was thrown over the Lord's Atonement, extended to the Doctrine of the Trinity. And after the Lord's departure, when the former was clearly disclosed, the latter also was made manifest. It would not be strange to find at a time, which was in its character, as well as in fact, intermediate, that while any Reserve was main- tained (for whatever cause) with respect to the Atonement, some- thing of the same should be exercised with respect to the Lord's Divinity. And again, as to the second, the same prudential reasons ■which restrained Him at times from the open performance of mi- racles, might very intelligibly have withheld the public and explicit declaration of his nature and office, as likely no less to call forth some premature outbreak of the hostility of his enemies, or of the zeal of the multitude in his favour. * Matt. xi. 14— IG; John vi. 15. 448 ' RESERVE, ETC. NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE 48. I am not concerned in establishing the adequacy of these reasons. It is hardly necessary, indeed, to prove their truth. It would be enough, if any reasons could be assigned for the Lord's Reserve, which apply altogether to Him, and not at all to us ; and which at the same time have so much probability, that no one can deny that they may have entered into the motives which deter- mined his conduct in this matter. And these seem plainly, at the very least, reasons of the kind required. 49. And it is needless to say, that there may be others also which we are not able to guess at. And if there were no more to be said, this ought to be enough to warn us against the folly and presump- tion of converting the Lord's procedure in this matter into a rule of conduct for ourselves, on the assumption that the full grounds of it are assigned, when it is ascribed to his reluctance to increase the condemnation of those who were not in a state to receive these high truths which He withheld. 50. But, indeed, we can go much further; and however super- fluous it may be for any purpose of deciding the question, it is use- ful, as making it more fully understood. I remark, then, that not only does the history of the Lord's Ministry furnish cases, such as these referred to, in which this Reserve was exercised upon pru- dential reasons, and not for the moral reason which is represented as its sole motive, but it also supplies others in which the moral reason was as strong as it could have been in any, and in which, notwithstanding, no Reserve was exercised. 5L For example, I need hardly remind you that many — indeed most of his most striking miracles, were performed in the presence of vast multitudes, and this at every stage of his Ministry, from the first to the last, a o The way of dealing with this embarrassing point which is adopted in the Tract, seems worth considering. The fact, that by far the greater number of the Lord's most striking miracles which are recorded in the Gospels, were performed in the face of great multi- tudes, would seem to be a very erabarassing one to the theory maintained in the Tracts on Reserve. The following is the only notice which appears of it in either number. " And if we take the instance of those miracles which ap- pear to have been the most public, those, for instance, of the loaves and fishes, with five thousand persons [men, beside zvomeu and children], on one occasion, and four thousand [men, beside women and children] on the other, partaking of them ; even here it would appear as if there Avere somehow a sort of secret cha- racter about the miracle ; for the multitudes were afterwards following our Saviour, because they ate of the bread, but not considering the miracle ; and of the disciples themselves, of whom it is said, (by some douhtless very important coincidence of expression of the four evangelists on both occasions,) that they distributed the bread as it grew in their hands, it is said immediately after on the sea, that they considered not the miracle. It was not, therefore, even on this public occasion, like an overpowering sign from heaven, but the Divine agency even here retiring in some degree from view, as in his natural pro- vidence."* * No. 80, page 14. RESERVE EXERCISED BY OUR BLESSED LORD. ' 449 52. And this of itself throws not a little doubt on the reality of the cause assigned in the Tract for the Lord's Reserve. I do not Now, upon this I must begin by remarking, how delusive and irreverent is this mode of disposing of an objection which Scripture offers to the writer's theory. There are, as I have said, a large class of adverse cases. The writer takes two of them (which for this purpose are but one), and attempts to re- concile them to his views by a process, which rests upon something so peculiar to them, that, however successful it were in accounting for them, it could not, by any possibility be supposed to account for, or to do any thing to account for, the others. And so all the others are left, without any attempt to abate their force, as objections to his theory, — objections amounting, in fact, to nothing less than this : that the application which he makes of his theory of Reserve to the miracles of the Blessed Lord, is inconsistent with a leading fact in the history of, not one or two, but almost all the most striking of his miracles re- corded in the Gospels ! * I must repeat, therefore, that this would be a most delusive and irreverent mode of disjwsing of the objection which the Lord's public miracles offer to the writer's theory, even supposing that he had succeeded in reconciling to it the only public miracle which he notices. But how entirely he has failed in doing this, will appear upon looking a little more closely at what he says. The first thing that I choose to notice in his attempt, which I have just quoted, is the strange assertion : that of the disciples themselves " it is said, (by some doubtless very important coincidence of expression by the four Evan- gelists on both occasions,) that they distributed the bread as it grew in their hands" &c. It is not easy to say all that ought to be said upon this very extraordinary- passage ; for — 1. The second of the two occasions is recorded by only two of the Evangelists ; an inaccuracy which would scarcely be worth noticing, except as shewing the wonderful carelessness of the writer in dealing with Holy Scrip- ture. 2. No one of the Evangelists uses, on either occasion, the expression which is ascribed to all four upon both, and ascribed to them in a way which directs such special attention to the words. What foundation, indeed, the statement has in the simple words of the Gospel narratives, it would be hard even to guess. 3. If such an expression had been used by the four Evangelists, or by any one of them, it might certainly have formed some foundation for the * Referring the reader to what is said in the part of the Charge with which this note is connected, concerning what the Gospels teach directly, of the reasons for the Lord's occasionally desiring that his miracles should not be made known, I wish to add two remarks here, as further confirming and illustrating the inference to be drawn from it. 1. That this command is sometimes given to those who had been publicli/ healed by him — in the face of a synagogue, or at times a larger assemblage, — and at times too, when the mixed multitude before which the miracle had been wrought, had given very clear evidence, that they were in no state of preparation to profit by the display of his mi- raculous power. In such cases the command not to make it or Him known would seem very evidently 7)r2 in their hands, (which they do not), and if, so far, their narrative might suggest the notion that the Divine agency tvas retiring on the occasion in some degree from view, as in his natural providence, and that they were, tlierefore, unconscious of the miraculous cha- racter of the work which they were performing, while it was going on, — could this unconsciousness have continued, when they themselves gathered together, and put into baskets, a quantity of food visibly exceeding vastly the whole quantity which they had at the beginning for distribution? Could they have remained insensible to the miracle after this, even if they had been unconscious of it before ? And it seems worth remarking, as bearing upon the question of his reserve on the occasion, that we are expressly told by St. John (vi. 12) that this was done by the direct command of the blessed Lord Himself: " Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." And we are told by St. Matthew (xvi. 9— IG), and by St. Mark (viii. 19, 20), that when He recalled these wonders to their mind, He dwelt especially upon this fact, as marking beyond a doubt the miraculous nature of what had been done. The quantity of fragments left after the multitude had eaten, which they were, as it were, made to notice, would, of itself, prove to most unprejudiced minds, that those who witnessed what was done could not have been uncon- scious of its miraculous character. And the Lord's having so specially directed their attention to it at the time, is an equally satisfactory proof that He could not have intended that they should be unconscious of the miracle.* But it is attempted to be shewn that we have some special reason to conclude that they actually were, from the language emjjloyed about both the multitude and the Disciples, in the Gospels. For, 1. "The multitudes were afterwards following our Saviour, because they ate of the bread, but not considering the miracle, ' and 2. Of the Disciples themselves, " it is said immediately after on the sea, that they considered not the miracle." Now, I. what is said of the multitude (though there is nothing in Scripture exactly corresponding to it) is, I suppose, drawn from the Gospel of St. John, %vhere we are told that when they found that He had crossed the sea towards Capernaum, they also took shipping and came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus, and that instead of commending their zeal. He reproved them, and said, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, * This is of great importance to the writer's argument. Indeed it is plain that their ignorance of the miraculous nature of the act, (if they could be shewn to be ignorant of it) would be no proof of the Lord's Reserve in the case, except in the degree in which their ignorance might be presumed to have arisen from his intention that it should be concealed from them. Now that He did not intend that it should, is sufficiently proved by what I have noticed above. But, moreover, that He could hardly have had any such intention, is evident from the fact, that just before, He had wrought divers miracles in the face of this same multitude, who beheld them with wonder. " And great multitudes came unto liim, having with them those that were blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet ; and he healed them : insomuch that the Multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see •, and they glorified the God of Israel." Matt. xv. 30, 31. FEEDING OF THE MULTITUDES- 451 closes his eyes ; but that it does suggest some doubt whether the Lord was influenced, as it is said, in withholding this light from his but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled." But it would be very strange to infer from this rebuke, that when they witnessed the miracle, they did not know that it Avas a miracle, — which is the point, be it remembered, that the writer has to make good.* On the contrary, it seems plain that they were following the Lord in the expectation of being again miraculously fed by him. And that what he reproves them for, is, that the miracle which they had w^itnessed awoke no feeling in their hearts that He who had thus miraculously supplied their bodily wants, was able to minister to their spiritual necessities ; — that, eagerly as they followed his traces, it was not under any sense of such wants, or with any desire of the " meat which endureth unto everlasting life,'' but in the hope that He would give them again of the " meat that perisheth." What follows, in which He in vain endeavours to raise these higher desires in their minds, and to lead them to look upon Him in this his higher office, can hardly be read by any one without perceiving that this was the case. And at all events (what is enough for the particular point) it must be evident, that the multitude were following Him just because they knew that He had once miraculously fed them, and lioped that He would do so again. 2. It is further urged, that of the Disciples themselves, it is said immediately afterwards uj)on the sea, that they " considered not the miracle.'' The refer- ence here is of course to Mark vi. 52. And no doubt the place shews that they had not carried away, or at least did not retain, such an impression of the Lord's Divine power as might naturally Ite expected to be the result of so stu- pendous a miracle — and that so they were as unprepared for a new exercise of his miraculous powers, and as amazed when they witnessed one, as those might be who had never seen any wonder wrought by Him.* It must be plain, however, that nothing more is conveyed to us in what is said here by the Evangelist of the disciples. And it is hardly necessary to add, that this furnishes no kind of foundation for the inference which is attempted to be drawn from it. The fact, that so soon after such miracles, the * Indeed he has, properly speaking, somewhat more to prove, (though I do not think it necessary to introduce what must lengthen an examination which without it is so much too long,) viz., that their ignorance sprang from some designed veiling of the miraculous natiu-e of the act. See the preceding note. * This seems to be the ground of the condemnatory sentence in St. Mark vi. 52 r for it stands in immediate connection with his account of the way in which they were affected by the supernatural calming of the storm immediately upon the Lord's entering the ship : " And they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened." Strong as the language of the Evangelist is in stating the fact, if we had his narrative only, without his comment upon it, we could not be sure, (perhaps it would not occur to us to think) that there was any thing more in the feelings which he described than due awe and wonder at this manifestation of the Divine power of the Lord. Bu1> learning from his comment that their state of mind as exhibited by their amazement was blame-worthy, when we look back upon it, to see in what it was reprehensible, we are irresistibly led to conclude, I think, that it was in their not having received, or at least retained, such an impression of the Lord's character, from the miracle of the loaves which they had witnessed, as would prepare them to see any fresh display of the same Divine power (with whatever awe,) at least without the stupid wonder of those, to whom no such manifestation of what He was had been vouchsafed. And this is confirmed by his own rebuke to them, when, after they had seen both the miracles of feeding the multitude, (See Matt. xvi. 5 — 12. ; Mark viii. 14 — 21.) they shew that they think of Him still as of one to be perplexed and made anxious by their having forgotten to take bread with them in crossing the sea. He rebukes them for their little faith, reminds them of what they had seen of what He was able to do, ailQ asks them, How is it that ye do not understand ? (The word is the same as that translated consider in Mark vi. 52.) 2g 2 452 RESERVE, ETC. IRREVERENT CARELESSNESS OF THE countrymen, where he did withhold it, by a gracious reluctance to add to their guilt. For, not to consider those cases in which impressions which they ought to have produced upon those who witnessed them, seem to have disappeared, may be a very extraordinary fact ; but the inference from it — that the miraculous character of the acts at the time of their performance, was not perceptible ; or even that it was not actually perceived by those very persons, is certainly a very rash one. I can guess no principle upon which such an inference rests, except this : that if such miracles had been at the time felt and acknowledged, they must have produced such practical im- pressions with respect to the power by which they were wrought as could not so soon be effaced. I need hardly take the trouble of saying any thing upon the very hasty and supei-ficial views of the nature of the human mind, on which this principle is founded; because its unsoundness must appear suffi- ciently from what every one has observed, (and I suppose hardly any one is without unhaj^py personal experience of the same kind,) of the rapidity with which what appear to be indelible impressions upon the feelings, fade away. But I think it worth noticing, that it has been used in a way which would have made a writer of ordinaiy caution very slow to aid in giving it currency. For it is by virtue of this very principle that Lord Bolingbroke finds himself able to prove, that the miracles of the Exodus, as recorded by Moses, were never in fact wrought.* And certainly if the Divine be allowed to say : These men could not have known that what they saw was a miracle, or they would not have been so transiently impressed by it ; — it seems hard to prevent the Infidel from taking the further step, and leading others too to take it : These men could not have witnessed a miracle, or the impressions which it must have produced would not so soon have disappeared. And now 1 suppose no more is necessary, to convince my readers that it is nothing short of a most indefensible abuse of Holy Scripture, to represent the Gospel narrative of the miraculous feeding of the multitude, as aff'ording any ground for supposing, or indeed any excuse for imagining, that there was some- how a sort of secret character about this miracle^ so that though from the nature of it, the Lord was constrained, as it were, to perform it in public, yet there was no breach of Reserve, in the performance of it, for that the Divine agency retired in some degree from view as in his natural providence, and that 60 the multitudes who ate, and the disciples who fed them, were unconscious of the miracle. And yet this is not all. The position of the writer, viz., that in these two public miracles the miraculous chai'acter of what was done, was in some way hidden from those who witnessed it — not merely rests upon nothing better than the very extraordinary misrepresentations and perversions of Holy Scripture which I have been so long exposing, but is sustained against its positive and express testimony. For we are expressly told by St. John, — " Then those men, when they had seen the miracle which Jesus did, SAID, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world," John vi. 14. And immediately after, he tells us that the Lord was obliged to withdraw himself from them, because " He perceived that they would COME AND take HiM BY FORCE TO MAKE HiM A KiNG." I do not believe that outside the Tracts, (and the other publications of their authors) it would be easy to find such an example of handling the word of God — I will not say, deceitfully — but certainly with the most irreverent careless- ness. If it were a solitary or a rare instance, it would have been inexcusable to have spent so much space and labour upon it. But such instances abound in these writings. It is no exaggeration to say that a moderate-sized volume might be made out, (and a very useful one it would be,) of hardly less flagrant examples, from the Tracts, and the other publications of the Tractarian school. I have given some remarkable instances in the Charge. But even the Tracts * Ensues addressed to Mr. Pope, Essay the Third. Section II. TRACTARIANS IN HANDLING THE WORD OP GOD. 458 we are expressly told that such was the case, it cannot be doubted that a great proportion of such vast assemblages were always un- prepared rightly to receive such displays of his Divine power. And that He was not restrained in so many cases from performing mi- racles in their presence, would seem to shew that such restraint, when He did exercise it, is not to be ascribed to this moral cause, but to the prudential reasons by which we are expressly told He was influenced upon some of these occasions. A course of conduct which rested on the former motive would not seem to admit of fluctuations ; while, if it sprang from the latter, it would be liable to change with change of place, with the feelings of the people, and such like variable circumstances. 53. But indeed there is no more striking evidence how little the Lord was decided by the former motive, than that which is fur- nished by the very texts which are brought forward to support this theory. After other proofs, " that our Lord's manifesting him- self was accompanied with very great and singular danger," it is added, that " this is borne out by expressions such as these, ' If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin ;' and, ' If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin."* And we know that the places of our Lord's peculiar abode, and the scene of his mighty works, Caper- naum and Bethsaida, were brought into a condition so fearftil, that as to the former ' it will be more tolerable for Sodom in the day of judgment.' " And then it is added in the way of inference : " If, therefore, such great guilt was incurred by witnessing our Saviour's miracles and preaching, may we not reasonably suppose that the withholding the full evidence of his power, was in mercy intended to keep them back from so awful a state V* 54. Now, as I said, there can be no doubt of the fact which such ■upon Reserve would supply a considerable number in addition, to which I have not been able to advert in any way. To treat the subject properly, indeed, would be impossible within any moderate limits. But it is one which I felt to be of such gi-eat importance, that I could not entirely pass it over. In fact I hardly regard even the grievous errors Avhich the Tractarians have advocated, as likely in themselves to do more extensive injury, than their mode of sup- porting them, and most of all the abuse of Scripture to which they have inured a large class of readers. I trust that even the notice which I have been able to take of this peculiar feature of their writings, will have the effect of directing more attention to it. And I thought that a thorough examination of a single instance was more likely to make a useful impression than a slighter notice of a greater number. I am sure that a fair consideration even of this one instance, on which I have dwelt so long, would do a great deal to secure any right- minded reader from trusting himself in the hands of writers, who, though putting forward for themselves almost exclusive claims to reverence for Reve- lation, and rebuking rather arrogantly the want of it in others, really treat Holy Scripture with the most arbitrary violence ; make it prove and disprove what they like ; and find in it what they want, and nothing else. * Tract, No. 80, p. 15. 454 BESERVE, ETC. — THEORY OF OUR LORd''s RESERVE passages establish, but may we not reasonably hesitate about the infei'ence? The texts doubtless convey to us very impressively the awful aggravation of guilt which the abuse of distinguished bless- ings brings. But do they not also convey to us, that the fullest ap- prehension of this result did not influence the Lord to withhold these blessings ? For He did come and speak those gracious words to his countrymen, and do those wonderful works among them, which were to be their condemnation. And Chorazin, and Beth- saida, and Capernaum, upon which this heavy sentence was pro- nounced, ivere ' the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done.' And, as if for the very purpose of restraining the rash con- clusion, that it was the state of preparation of those to whom He preached, which determined his giving or withholding such mani- festations of his nature and office, He adds, to the further con- demnation of the cities which had been favoured in vain, that had the same works been done in Sodom of old, it would have been saved from destruction ; and that even at that very day, if the same wonders had been wrought in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago.* h^. Now, are not all these passages to which I have been re- ferring, sufficient to prove that this theory of the motives of the Lord's Reserve, is not only without any Scripture foundation, but that it is maintained in opposition to very strong Scripture evi- dence ? And, in fact, if we were to assert that the Lord never withheld any manifestation of his Divine power from men, under an apprehension, that they were not prepared to use it but to their own hurt, should we not seem to be speaking with far more Scrip- ture warrant than they who ascribe to this motive all the Reserve which he exercised \ But I have no intention of making any such presumptuous assertion. What we ought to feel, I am sure, is, that we are going beyond our line, when we venture to assign ab- solutely the grounds of such a procedure. I believe that it would be very rash to maintain that this consideration did not enter into the reasons of the Lord's Reserve. But we can be very sure that it did not influence his conduct in any way which would make it safe or warrantable in us to follow his example. For He certainly did not act upon it in the cases in which it must have been strong- est ; and, therefore, if it influenced him at all, it must have been in * A very awful passage, in which the Lord gives the reason of his speaking in para- bles to the multitude, appears with some vaiiation in the three first Evangelists (Matt. xiii. 11 — 15 ; Mark iv. 11, 12 ; Luke viii. 10.) But it seems in all, and espe- cially in St. Mark, to present this part of his Reserve (his speaking to the multitude in parables) in the light of a judicial act, and as much as possible removed from a gra- cious withholding from them of knowledge which would be injurious to them. But as this opens matter which could not be satisfactorily or very safely treated, except at Bome length, I have omitted all notice of it in the text, and only give it a place here to shew how much there was to deter one, who approached such subjects with any genuine reverence, or indeed decent caution, from the rashness of which the author of the Tract has been guilty. MAINTAINED AGAINST STRONa SCRIPTURE EVIDENCE. 455 conjunction with other reasons, and controlled by them. And what we see most certainly is, that when they made it right to manifest his Divine power, the clearest knowledge that the mani- festation would be abused by those to whom it was made, was not a sufficient reason for withholding it. 56. Can it be pretended then, that we are following his example if we exercise Reserve in preaching Him, his nature, and his work, whenever we think we see grounds for apprehending that those to whom we speak may not be so prepared to receive such teaching as rightly to use it ? Would not this mode of deriving a rule of conduct from his example (setting aside for a moment the question, whether we have not in the case a certain and opposite rule in his commands) be a very presumptuous and dishonest mode of dealing with the matter ? So far as the other motives of his conduct in such cases (which we have seen were the controlling and regulating motives) are unknown to us, we should be plainly acting in the dark in imitating his Reserve. So far as we seem to have reason from Scripture to suppose that his motives were personal and tem- porary, we should be acting against reason and Scripture in imi- tating his conduct. 57. But still further. We have already seen how far we have reason to suppose that his Reserve is to be ascribed to other motives rather than the one assigned. But, however the question as to his motives might be settled, we have manifold intimations that, in point of fact, the Reserve which He exercised was to have an end ; that the purposes for which it was adopted only requii-ed it to be maintained while his own work in the flesh was going on, and that, that once over, what He for the time concealed should be made manifest to all. Passages which convey this to us, must be familiar to every one, and it is not merely that such intimations are lost upon the writer of the Tract, but his mode of dealing with them shews him to have consulted Scripture under prepossessions which prevented him from seeing any thing there, except what made/or his theory. For, when he comes to a passage which con- tains such an intimation, he actually takes the evidence that it gives, that Reserve was exercised by the Lord, and leaves behind the proof which it contains, that this Reserve was to cease with his departure ! ^ 58. For example. The caution which He gives to the disciples who witnessed the Transfiguration, not to speak of what they had seen, is referred to as among the proofs that He was careful not to divulge his Divinity, or any thing which would indicate Divine power.* And no notice is taken of the fact that, while He gives • Tract, No. 80, p. 15. 3 The very same course has been pursued iu attempting to prove tliat the Tractarian Doctrine of Reserve is in accordance with the views of the Bishop of Winchester, as expressed in his Ministerial Cfuiracter of Christ See note 6, p. 431. sw^m.— -Ed. 456 RESERVE, ETC. OUR LORd''s RESERVE NOT TO BE the command, He expressly limits its obligation to the accom- plishment of his work in the flesh : " He charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of Man were risen from the dead.'" ^ Does not this very clearly point to a difference between the Lord's circumstances and theirs, which would make it needless or wrong for them to maintain the silence or Reserve upon this point, which He, from whatever cause, saw necessary while He was with them I And does not He convey very clearly, that this applied to all that He taught them in secret, and hid from the rest of his countrymen, when He commands them, " What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light ; and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house-tops f 59. Now can more be needed to shew the strange perverseness of seeking to draw a rule for the guidance of Ministers at the present day, from the Reserve exercised by the Blessed Lord in his earthly Ministry ? Suppose that the assumption of our knowledge of the motives of his conduct, through which it is converted into a rule for us, were not, as it is, infinitely precarious and improbable, but in the highest degree probable : suppose that the motive assigned were supported by the Scriptures, instead of being, as I have shewn, discountenanced and overthrown by them ; still, with such distinct intimations, that in what He did in this w^ay, He was not to be imitated by those who were to preach after Him, would it not be plainly our duty to seek guidance in preaching the Gospel rather from his commands to those preachers who were to follow Him, than from his own example ? And when we find Him commanding that they should " Go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature ;" " that Repentance and remission of sins were to be preached in his name among all nations ;" and when we find that with whatever Reserve He might have declared the Doctrine of the Trinity during his own Ministry, they were, by his appointment, to * In the same way, among the proofs that the Lord " was in the habit of concealing in a remarkable manner, his Divine power and majesty, excepting so far as persons might be found capable of receiving it," we find the Jews' complaining expostulation, " How long dost thou make us to doubt ? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly " — brought forward (No. 80, p. 21.), without any notice whatever of his reply: " I told you before, and ye believed not." Perhaps it will be said that He adds, "The works which I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me ;" and that probably the former part of what He says does not mean, that He had told them in words who He was, but that they ought to have learned it from his works. Perhaps so. But still, even if this be liis meaning, it is no less opposed to the view of his' Reserve, which is given in the Tract, in which, as we have seen, it is not merely maintained that He abstained from making any express declaration of his Divine nature, to those who were unprepared rightly to use the knowledge, but from any such displays of his Divine power as were fitted to reveal it. Now that they to whom He was speaking on this occasion were unprepared for such a disclosure we may assume ; for otherwise the case would have no conceivable application to the point for which it is brought forward. But, indeed, how very unprepared they were, — in what a state, not of blindness only, but of hardness and bitterness — appears sufficiently by what follows, where it appears that when He does declare expressly, " I and my Father are one," ihei/ took up stones again to stone Him. Even in this view of the meaning of the Lord's answer, therefore, it, in all fairness, required to be noticed when the Jews' complaint was resorted to, to prove his Reserve. IMITATED BY PREACHERS AFTER HIM. ' 457 require a profession of belief in this great mystery, at the very threshold of the Church, from all whom they permitted to enter it : when we see this, I say, we could hardly doubt that, according to his very distinct intimations, the Reserve which He had found it right, for whatever cause, to maintain, was now at an end. 60. And if, in the way in which every thing may be made doubtful, questions are raised about the true meaning of these com- mands, is it not manifestly our wisdom and our duty to look at the example of the first preachers of truth, to see how they understood his commands, and how far they felt bound by the example of his Reserve. 61. I need not review their preaching, to shew how little counte- nance it affords to the principle of holding back from sinners the Atonement of the blessed Lord. I feel, that for you, such proofs cannot be necessary. I cannot however refrain from reminding you of a single passage, which shews how deeply impressed St. Paul was with the awful truth, that they who hear the everlasting Gospel and reject it, are in far deeper condemnation than if it had never sounded in their ears ; and which at the same time shews, how little he was restrained from preaching it, by the thought, even while it seems to overwhelm him with awe-;—" Now thanks be unto God," he says, " who always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge [the knowledge of Him] by ns in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ in them that are saved, and in them that perish : to the one we are a savour of life unto life ; and to the other, a savour of death unto death. And who is sufficient for these things ?" 62. Here we see the holy Apostle rejoicing, and returning thanks to God, for enabling him to preach the Gospel of Christ, and to make Him known "in every place." And this, although he knewso well that one result of his preaching was so tremendously to enhance the guilt of those who refused to hear : this, I say, did not withhold him from delivering his message ; nay, nor from thanking God that He had enabled him to deliver it. For this is the simple subject of his fervent thanksgiving. And if there were no other passage in the New Testament beai'ing on the question, ought not this to decide it? Ought not this, were it alone, to shew that we are grievously mistaking our place and duty as preachers of the Gospel, when we think ourselves warranted in holding it back in any case, from the apprehension that it will be rejected, and so will aggravate the guilt of those to whom it is offered 'i 63. I do not mean, as I said, to bring forward the proofs which St. PauFs Epistles supply, to shew the place which the Atonement held in his preaching, but the mode in which all this Scriptural evi- dence is disposed of is too instructive an exhibition of the way in which Scripture is dealt with in this cause, to be omitted. After having positively asserted that " All Scripture is a harmony as op- posed to this modern system^'' [i. e. the explicit preaching of the 458 RESERVE, ETC. PLACE HELD BY THE ATONEMENT Atonement, to which the Tract is opposed,] the writer goes on in- genuously to confess that the Epistles of St. Paul may seem to favour it, but then he asserts that this is only at first sight. The proof of this assertion is as follows : " The singular characteristic of St. Paul, as shewn in all his Epistles and speeches, seems to have been a going out of himself to enter into the feelings, and put himself into the circumstances of others. This will account for the occasions on which he brings forward this Doctrine ; as in the Epistles to the Romans and the Galatians. In both of these cases, the prejudices which closed up their ears against the reception of the truth, were such as were essentially opposed to the Atonement. So much in the writings of St. Paul, does the Holy Spirit adapt his teaching to the wants of each, as our Lord did in his incarnation, a principle which is opposed to this opinion.""* 64. And this is literally all that is thought necessary to say, to get rid of all the evidence which St. Paul's Epistles afford of the way in which he brought forward the Doctrine which we are re- commended to hold back ! But I believe that most persons will be of opinion that this is rather too succinct a mode of dealing with this body of evidence against Reserve in this matter. 65. If the question were about the mode of bringing forward the Doctrine of the Atonement in our preaching, and if it were main- taintained by any, that it was to be preached, upon every occasion, and to all, in the same way — that it was to be explained at length, proved in form, defended, and guarded, alike, on every occasion, and to every congregation, without any reference to their state of knowledge, belief, or other circumstances ; and if the preacher justified such a course by a reference to St. PauPs, in his Epistles to the Romans and the Galatians, it might be pertinently replied, That if St. Paul does present the Doctrine in this way in these Epistles, they at the same time supply grounds for believing that it was especially misinterpreted and misunderstood, and opposed and abused, among those to whom he was writing. And that if these Epistles shew that under such circumstances we may and ought to take the like pains to establish its true nature, and its legitimate consequences, — to prove it by argument, to defend it from ob- jections, and to guard it from abuse, — the other Epistles of the same Apostle shew th at, under different circumstances, a less di- dactic and controversial mode of bringing it forward may be adopted, not only with the sanction of reason, but of his example. If the question were such as I have supposed, this would be a fair and sufficient answer. QQ. But this is not the question. The question is, Whether we are in our preaching to present this Doctrine to sinners, as the truth by the cordial reception of which they are to be reconciled to God ; and whether, with those who are so reconciled, we are to employ it as the truth through which the Spirit gives them power * Tract, No. 80, p. 74. IN THE PREACHING OP A CHRISTIAN MINISTER. 459 to walk as becomes God's children. And when such is the question, to what purpose is this answer made ? No doubt St. Paul very far excelled all who attempt to imitate him at the present day, as in the other gifts and graces of the Preacher of the Gospel, so in this also, of wisely accommodating what he spoke, to the condition of his hearers. And few will doubt that when the Doctrine was better understood, or less opposed in a particular Chui'ch, it was his duty rather to press its consequences there, than to prove it or defend it. But then, its fundamental nature, the necessity of belief in it, its real place in the Christian scheme, and in the preaching of the Christian Minister, may appear clearly in such a mode of using it, no less than in the other. And at all events, if we have collected from any of his fuller and more formal statements that this Doctrine has an essential and fundamental place in a Christian's belief, the most incidental way of speaking of it, in Epistles to those who had received it, may so fall in with this conception of its nature and importance, as to give to it just the kind of confirmation which we ought to look for. For it ought to be remembered, that just in the degree in which we have reason to regard the Atonement as a fun- damental and essential truth, should we have reason to expect to find the belief of it, in general, in an Apostle's letter to a Christian Church, rather assumed than inculcated. And in point of fact, the Doctrine does meet us in St. PauFs Epistles generally in the way in which we ought to expect to find it there ; not in formal state- ments of it, as if it were before unknown, but in references to it more or less explicit, which are sufficient to shew that it was a truth taught to, and professed by, all to whom he wrote ; and to him, and to them, the foundation of all their hopes, and the source of all the motives by which they were sustained and animated in their Christian course. 67. We have in this way in the other Epistles the fullest con- firmation of what we collect from the Epistles to the Romans and the Galatians, of the place which a belief in Christ's Atonement holds in the Faith of a Christian man, and of the place which the Atonement must therefore hold in the teaching of a Christian Preacher. But, indeed, upon that point, these more regularly doctrinal Epistles are so clear and express, as to make us inde- pendent of any confirmation. It is hardly possible, as you well know, to conceive any form of setting forth the necessity and eflicacy of Faith, as the instrument of our Justification, and of our Sanctification too, which is not to be found in those Epistles. And it would be plainly impossible that any honest steward of the mys- teries of God, who believed that Faith has such an oflSce to perform for sinners, as Paul declares it to have — the same office for all sinners — could hold back the publication of the object of Faith from any committed to his care. 68. On this subject, however, some of St. Paul's Epistles, being addressed to Churches which he had himself founded, and containing 460 RESERVE, ETC. TRUE QUESTION BETWEEN THE WRITER OF express references to his first preaching, furnish still more direct proofs. And it is acknowledged in the Tract, that the use of the Doctrine which it opposes, might seem to receive some countenance from the way in which St. Paul speaks of himself in such passages, as at all times preaching "Christ crucified." But, as before, it is maintained^ that this is only a first impression, which a little con- sideration will more than remove. And the proof of this assertion is as follows : — " It will be evident, on a little attention, that when St. Paul thus speaks, it is not the Atonement and Divinity of the Blessed Lord which he brings for- ward, although it is implied in that saying. The whole of St. Paul's life and actions after his conversion, and the whole of his teaching, as appears in the Epistles, may be said to have been nothing else but a setting forth of Christ crucified, as the one great principle which absorbed all his heart, and actuated all his conduct. It was the wood cast into the waters, which entirely changed them into its own nature, and impregnated them with itself. This is intimated by expressions of this kind, which are of continual occurrence, such as ' God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ ;' ' I was determined not to know any thing among you but Christ crucified.' ' But we preach Christ crucified.' Now these words of course imply ' the Atonement,' as a life-giving principle contained in them ; but it is a great mistake to suppose that they contain nothing more, or that by preaching the Atonement, we are preaching what St. Paiil meant by Christ crucified. It may be seen by an at- tention to the context, in all the passages where these expressions occur, that it is a very different view ; and, in fact, the opposite to the modern notion, which St. Paul always intends by it. It is the necessity of our being crucified to the world ; it is our humiliation together with him, — mortification of the flesh, being made conformable to his sufferings and to his death If the Doc- trine of the Atonement is conveyed in the expression of Christ crucified, as used by St. Paul, it is by teaching at the same time the necessity of our mortifi- cation, which is repugnant to opinions now received " The cross of Christ which St. Paul preached, was that by which ' the world was crucified to him, and he was crucified to the world,' ' bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus.' And precisely the same was the teaching of our Blessed Lord also. His own humiliation, and the necessity of our humiliation together with Him, was the Doctrine signified by the cross which He put forth, and inculcated on the multitude in distinction from that of his own Divinity, and our Salvation through the same, which He rather kept secret." * 69. How this strange passage confuses and misrepresents the true question on this point, between the writer of the Tract and those whom he opposes, I have little doubt might be safely left to you to detect for yourselves. But it is a matter of so much importance that I think no opportunity ought to be lost of putting it beyond the possibility of mistake. You must, therefore, bear with a few words upon it, however superfluous you may feel them to be for yourselves. 70. That St. Paul does insist upon the necessity of our being " crucified with Christ," " crucified to the world,"" " mortified to the flesh," made conformable to his sufferings and his death, is very certain. And that preachers at the present day ought to do * Tract, No. 80, pp. 74, 75. THE TRACTS AND HIS OPPONENTS MISREPRESENTED. 461 likewise is very certain too ; and about this no question has been raised or hinted at, so far as I know, by any of the opponents of the Tract. The true question is — whether Paul sought to effect this needful transformation in those to whom he preached, by reserving the Doctrine of the Atonement, or by publishing it I Whether he exercised this economy, which is now pressed upon the preachers of the Gospel as their duty ; and kept back this great truth from sinners, until he had brought them by moral training to a meetness to receive this high mystery I — or whether, on the contrary, he did not make it the foundation on which he built all Christian morals, the source from which he drew all motives to Christian obedience, and thai by making it first the foundation and the source of all Christian hopes I This is the true question ; and I trust, my reverend brethren, that you feel that this ought not to be a ques- tion. I trust that you feel that it is only to very great ignorance of the Scriptures, or to such violent prepossession as renders all knowledge of them fruitless, that it can be a question. Remember- ing to whom I am speaking, I have felt that I might and ought to abstain from adducing detailed Scripture proofs of the statements which I have been making, trusting that I was stating to you familiar and well-established truths, with the proper proofs of which you were too well acquainted to require any adduction of them. I am not going to deviate from this plan now ; but I cannot refrain from quoting a single passage — one which, were there no other, ought to be enough to decide this question. In describing the motives under which he was enabled to dedicate himself to the service of his Lord (and the same ought to be the motives of all Christ's followers) St. Paul says, " For the love of Christ con- straineth us ; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead ; and that He died for all, that they which live, should not henceforth live unto themselves, but to Him that died for them, and rose again." Here then is the principle which was to sustain and animate the follower of Christ in treading the path of patience, humility, self-denial, and suffering which his Master trod : he was serving a Master who had died for him ; and who died that they w^ho through his death received life, might live to Him. And, in the course of the same passage, the Apostle describes himself, after having been reconciled by God unto Himself by Jesus Christ, as having been entrusted with the Ministry of Recon- ciliation ; and he proceeds both to describe and to execute his office with certainly but slender traces of Reserve. He testifies " That God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not im- puting their trespasses unto them ;" and then, as God's ambassador, and in Christ's stead, he earnestly entreats those to whom he wrote to be reconciled unto God ; and, finally, he states, with emphatic energy, the vicarious character of the Blessed Lord in the flesh, as at once the proper foundation of the work, and the proper enforce- 462 BESERVE, ETC.— IMPORTANT TRUTHS ON WHICH THE ment of the Word of Reconciliation ; " for God made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteous- ness of God in Him." 71. And I need not tell you that there is no duty which Chris- tians are commanded to perform, and no sacrifice which they are called on to make, which is not in the same way connected with what Christ has done and suffered for sinners, throughout the Epistles of St. Paul. Nor in this use of the Atonement is he distinguished from his fellow Apostles, though they were not led so largely to explain, or so often to enforce this great Doctrine. St. Peter, for example, in the same way, reminds those whom he was exhorting, to endure and to act as became Christians — to be holy, to pass the time of their sojourning here in fear; of the motives under which they were thus to obey and to suffer : " Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as with silver and gold, from your vain conversation, received by Tradition from your fathers, hut with the precious blood of Christy as of a lamb icithout blemish and without spot.'''' And, exhorting them to all long-suffering, patience, and resignation, by Christ's example in suffering, he gives his great atoning work, by which his course of suffering was crowned, as the source from which this work in them was to be drawn : " For even hereunto were ye called : because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow his steps Who his own self bare our sins in his 0W71 body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness ; by whose stripes ye were healed."" 72. Thus it is, as you well know, my reverend brethren, that the first preachers of the Gospel make the preaching — the explicit and unreserved preaching — of the cross, on which Chrisfs atoning work was finished, the foundation of their preaching of the cross, which, after his example, and for his sake, we are to bear. Thus it is that they make Christian morals rest ever upon Christian Faith. 73. The Tracts to which we have referred, however, stigmatize this course as " unscriptural, and uncatholic, and unreal ;" and, as you have heard, propose in its stead the directly opposite course, in which Christian Faith is not the foundation, but the fruit of a life of Christian obedience. I shall give you a distinct view of this course from the statements of its advocate. It will take some time, but it is worth all the time that it will require. 74. It is said : — " That the preparations of the heart which can alone receive the Faith in its fulness, are by other means than those which this system supposes, we cannot but be assured ; Scripture and reason both would imply that it is by insisting, first of all, upon natural piety, on the necessity of common honesty, on repen- tance, on judgment to come, and without any mode of expression that excepts ourselves from that judgment, by urging those assistances to poverty of spirit which Scripture recommends, and the Church presci'ibes, such as fasting, and THEORY RESTS MISPLACED AND ABUSED, 463 alms, and the necessity of reverent and habitual prayer. These may be means of bringing persons to the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, with that awe and fear which our Lord's own teaching, and that of his Apostles, would inspire.'' * 75. What seems to be intended here is that, because this doc- trine can only be apprehended in its fulness by those who have certain preparations of the heart, it is in vain presented to men until these preparations are effected — that it is by first implanting sound and pious principles, and leading men to a pure and holy life, that they are to be brought to receive this great truth, and this is more fully set forth afterwards : — " Religious Doctrines and Articles of Faith can only be received according to certain dispositions of the heart : these dispositions can only be formed by a repetition of certain actions. And, therefore, a certain course of action can alone dispose us to receive certain doctrines ; and hence it is evident that these doctrines are in vain preached, unless these actions are, at the same time, practised and insisted on as most essential. " For instance : charitable works alone will make a man charitable ; and the more any one does charitable works, the more charitable will he become ; that is to say, the more will he love his neighbour and love God ; for a cha- ritable work is a work that proceeds from charity or the love of God, and which can only be done by the good Spirit of God ; and the more he does these works, therefore, the more will he love his neighbour and love God. . . . He, therefore, will most of all love God and love Christ who does these works most ; and he will most bring men to Christ who most effectually, with God's blessing, induces them to do these works in the way that God hath required them to be done. " Or, again, he only will be humble in heart who does humble actions, and no action is, morally speaking, humble, but such as proceeds from the spirit of humility ; and he who does humble actions most will be most humble ; and he who is most humble will be most emptied of self ; and, therefore, will most value the cross of Christ. . . : That teacher, therefore, who will most induce men to do these works will most of all bring men unto Christ, though he speak not most fully and loudly of his ever-blessed Atonement. " Or, again, good works consist especially in prayers. He who does most of these good works — i. e., he who prays most seeks most of all for an assistance out of, and beyond himself ; and, therefore, relies least of all on himself, and and most of all upon God ; and the more he does of these good works, the more does he rely upon God's good Spirit, for which he seeks. He, therefore, who, by preaching the judgment to come, or by recommending alms and fasting, or by impressing men with a sense of the shortness of life and the value of eter- nity, or by any such practical appeals which the occasion suggests, will lead men most to pray, will do most towards leading them to lean on God's good Spirit, although he may not repeat in express words the necessity of aid from that good Spirit, without whom we cannot please God."t 76. Here is the system which you are called on to embrace, and these are the grounds on which it relies. And I suppose it can hardly be necessary that I should point out to you how it misplaces and abuses the two certain, and most important truths, on which it professedly rests. One of these is : that it is by action that prin- ciples are wrought into our moral nature, so as to become a part of it. And the other is : that the more that we grow in heavenly- * Tract, No. 87. p. 51. f Tract, No. 87, pp. 58,59. 464 RESERVE, ETC. PERVERSENESS OF TURNING FROM GOSPEL mindedness and in all holy affections, the more thoroughly shall we apprehend, and the more intimately shall we embrace, the great truth of the Atonement of the Blessed Lord, and all the high truths which are involved in it, or connected with it. The writer has no contest here with those whom he is opposing. The question is : by what motives are men to be induced to enter upon, and to perse- vere in, such a course of action I how are such affections and dis- positions to be implanted in their hearts? And can there be any reasonable doubt, that if, with the everlasting Gospel in our hands, we were to turn to the motives which natural religion supplies, to implant in men humility, the love of God, and the love of man, and the various principles which enter into and constitute a spirit of prayer, — can there be any doubt, (to say nothing of the desperate presumption of the procedure,) that we should be acting with the most senseless perverseness ? — that we should be casting away the most powerful motives which can be brought to bear upon man's heart, in order to do their work by others, which, however real they be, are of proved inefScacy ? For what have the motives which Natural Religion supplies ever done to implant such prin- ciples in the heart, — to give men humility, the love of God, or a spirit of prayer, — that they should be now resorted to, while we neglect or set aside those great and glorious truths with which the Gospel has supplied us, which have such manifest fitness to make us humble, to shed abroad the love of God in our hearts, and to dispose us, and to enable us, to pray to Him 1 77. But let us see how God's Word settles this question. It is desired to engage us in a course of charitable actions, for example, in order that we may be more entirely possessed and ruled by the love of God. And it is acknowledged that outward actions will only have this tendency, if they spring from the principle which they are designed to perfect. The love of God must therefore be in our hearts : and how is it to be implanted there ? Let the beloved Disciple answer : " We love Him, because He first loved us," Well ! it may be said, but does Natural Religion give no proofs of the Divine love ? Doubtless it does ; and though in looking for them, we are perplexed with contradictory appearances, and dis- couraged by the voice of conscience in the application of them, still doubtless we may collect some predominant indications of the love of God, even amidst the ruins of this fallen world. But is it to these that St. John sends us for proofs of the love of of God ? Nay. " Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down his life for us." " In this was manifested," (as though every other manifestation of it were too dim or too uncertain to be visible to one who had before his eyes the brightness of the display of Divine love in the Atonement,) " In this was manifested the love of God, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him." " Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent his Son to MOTIVES TO THOSE OF NATURAL RELIGION. 465 be the propitiation for our sins." And as God's love to us, thus manifested, is to be the source of our love to Him, so is it to be of our love to each other. " Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." And indeed the Lord Himself, in the same way, directs our minds to it as the source of that love, which is the proper source of obedience to Him : " If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments." " And this is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you." And then follows the proof of His love, which is to be the spring of theirs : " Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend." 78. But if I were to go on giving the texts which offer them- selves, to shew that God's love to us in the gift of Christ to die for us, is to be the source of our trust in Him, of our love of Him, and so of our obedience to Him ; and of our love to our neighbour too, (which again is the true principle of the fulfilment of the part of the Law which regards him^) I should be carried much too far. And even if I had undertaken the task of proving this to you, (which I have already more than once disclaimed,) I might rely upon the few passages which I have brought forward, as a full and sufficient proof of it ; and so as a proof that if you will implant these principles scripturalh/^ you must do it through such explicit preaching of the Atonement of the Blessed Lord, as is needed to secure a cordial belief of that glorious truth in your hearers. 79. An attempt, however, is made to shew, that even for this purpose — for the purpose of producing Faith in Christ and securing all its consequences, — it is needless to break the Beserte recom- mended with regard to this Doctrine. Because implicit Faith is enough ; and it does not require explicit knowledge, or, of course, explicit preaching. " For if, in the case of Abraham, and many others, of the most approved Faith in Christ, there was no such explicit knowledge, it may be the case now. If a poor woman, ignorant and superstitious, as might be supposed, was received of our Lord with so instant a blessing, for touching the border of his clothes, may it not have been the case, that in times which are now considered dark and lost to Gospel truth, there might have been many a helpless person, who knelt to a crucifix in a village churchyard, who might have done so under a more true sense of that Faith which is unto life, than those who are able to express the most enlightened knowledge." And this case and these suppositions are given as the foundation of the propositions quoted before : — viz. " And not only is the exclusive and naked exposure of so very sacred a truth unscriptural and dangerous, but, as Bishop Wilson says, the comforts of religion ought to be applied with great caution. And moreover to require from both grown persons and children, an explicit declaration of a belief in the Atonement, and the full assurance of its power, appears equally untenable."* 80. Now, if one were perplexed and distressed by the contem- * Tract, No. 80, p. 78. 466 RESERVE, ETC. THE SCRIPTURES IN THE HANDS OP ALL. plation of the multitudes, who, by no fault of their own, as it seems, but by God's providential arrangements, are shut out from the knowledge of the Gospel, or confined to dark, or partial, or erroneous views of it ; or if one were forming harsh judgments upon the state of all such persons ; the case of God's saints of old, whose apprehension of the great truths of the Gospel must have been comparatively obscure and uncertain, might be fitly resorted to, to suggest grounds for the hope that, in the depths of His mercy, there may exist some mode of connecting persons, under the cir- cumstances above referred to, with Ohrisfs atoning work, something different from that faith in Him which seems so clearly revealed to us as the appointed bond of union with Him. For this or any such purpose, such instances might be legitimately brought forward. But it is a very different thing when they are resorted to, to assist in persuading a preacher that he may safely withhold from those committed to his care, that knowledge of Christ's Atonement which it is in his power to impart, and which he seems appointed to impart under so heavy a responsibility. If I feared that you were in any danger of being led into any such abuse of cases of this kind, I ought to remind you that, whatever hopes they may suggest for those who do not believe in Christ, because his atoning work has not been set before them, they offer none for the teacher, through whose Meserve they have been kept in ignorance. But I trust you need no such warning, to preserve you from the woe which the Lord denounces against those who take away the Icey of knowledge, I trust that you feel that that woe is upon you, if you preach not the Gospel; and that you know and feel that you cannot preach the Gospel, unless you preach Christ, and Him crucified. I trust that you desire to preach the Cross of Christ so that its humbling and purifying, its sustaining and animating power may be made known to those to whom you preach. But I trust also that you feel that there is but one way of doing this, — by preaching the reconciling work which Christ wrought upon the Cross ; and that not reservedly or impliedly : that jou are not to hold back Christ's atoning work upon the Cross, or to preach it only by implication, or only as a mystery to the fully initiated ; but that you are to preach it dis- tinctly, fully, and openly to all. 81. Indeed, one hardly knows what is the meaning of recom- mending to preachers to hold back this truth, under an apprehension of the consequences of making it known. Blessed be God ! they cannot do it if they would. The Bible, in which it is distinctly, openly, and unreservedly set forth, is the patrimony of our people, and, blessed be God ! they are in possession of it. And if we needed dire'ction as to the will of God in this matter, would it not seem to a reverent mind, an indication of his will not lightly to be disregarded, that the Holy Scriptures, in which this great truth is to be found so unreservedly stated, nay, in which it is not to be missed, by any one who reads them with a simple desire to know what they contain, that these Scriptures, written by his Spirit for INDISCRIMINATE DISTRIBUTION OF BIBLES. 467 our learning, are now by his providential arrangements in tlie hands of all? 82. Yes, this may make some such impression upon one who thinks that this wide diifusion of the Word of God is right, and according to his will ; but from the same quarter from which these views of the necessity of exercising Reserve in the declaration of the Doctrine of the Atonement come, there are no obscure intimations of dissatisfaction at the indiscriminate distribution of the Bible. The writer of these two tracts, in particular, is not to be charged with overlooking the fact, or with treating it incon- sistently. For he very distinctly extends his disapprobation of the free publication of the Doctrine from the pulpit, to the unrestricted distribution of the book in which it is contained. This is the passage to which I refer : — " Much of what has been said may be applied to an indiscriminate distri- bution of Bibles and religious publications. We must not exjiect that the work which occasioned our Saviour and his disciples so much pains, can be done by such means. We have rather to look with awe on these new dealings of providence with mankind. It might, perhaps, be thought that, if it is the state of the heart alone which can receive the truth, to bring it forward before persons unprepared to acknowledge it does not signify. Such persons cannot receive it, and therefore the effect is merely nugatory and unavailing. But this does not follow : that they cannot receive it, is the appointment of God, but our attempting to act contrary to his mode of acting may be productive of evil."* 83. Still one would say that were we to withhold the Bible from the hands of the people, the end would not be attained. For our Church, besides all else that she has done to break this law of Reserve, has not only urged all her members diligently to read the Word of God, but she has taken care that if they attend on her ministrations, they shall hear it. She has so ordered her public services, that while, in the daily lessons which form a part both of the morning and of the evening service, the most part " of the Old Testament is read every year," the whole New Testament " shall be read over orderly every year thrice, besides the Epistles and Gospels." And she has enjoined that these lessons shall be read " distinctly, and with an audible voice," " he that readeth so standing, and turning himself, as he may be best heard of all such as are present." So that our reserving the Doctrine, and reserving the book, will be unavailing, as long as our Churches are provided for all, and are open to all. And accordingly, it is very clear that in this matter too there is something to blame, and something to amend, though what or how may not so distinctly appear. The true views of Reserve are put forward as a suitable test of the popular modes of extending Christianity, one of which is described to be " that of bringing Churches near to every body." As to the building of Churches, it is acknowledged that it is clear from Scripture, that it is a work acceptable to God, and therefore neces- * Tract, No. 80, pp. 70, 71. 2 H 2 468 RESERVE, ETC. POPULAR MODES OF EXTENDING sarily productive of good, as requiring sacrifices on the part of the individuals by whom they are erected, and therefore greatly bene- ficial to them ; and also as setting up a witness. But as to this end of providing a place of public worship for those who are without one, and a place where they may be instructed, exhorted, rebuked, and warned from the pulpit, the case is very different. " But when the Utilitarian view is taken of the subject, are we not thinking that we may do by human means, and such as partake of this world, that •which is the work of God alone ; as if the mammon of the world could promote the cause of God. For if the erection of churches, which from commodious- ness and easiness of access are to invite, and from their little cost partake more of a low contriving expediency than of a generous love of God, is to do the work of religion, then is it more easy to win souls than Scripture will warrant us in supposing. On the contrary, if the maxim be true, that ' men venerate that which resisteth them, and that which courteth their favour they despise,' then have we to fear, lest, rather than doing good, we be breaking that holy law which hath commanded that we give not that which is holy to the dogs ; the Church's best gifts be trod underfoot, and her enemies turn and rend her. For if churches are to be brought home to all, then are all persons to be brought into churches, and that by human means."* 84. So that those who have been doing what in them lay to mitigate, if they might not wholly take away, the opprobium, and the disease, and the sin of England, — her churchless multitudes in the midst of her wealth, — if the sacred edifices which they have erected be not duly incommodious, or inaccessible, or costly, it is to be feared lest^ rather than doing good, they have been breaking that holy law lohich hath commanded that we give not that which is holy to the dogs ! I do not think that this needs, or that it would bear, any comment. See also Pars. 85, 86, 87. and 89, in Chap. XV. Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 1842. 36. The Doctrine of Reserve, with regard to the communication of Divine truth, and more especially of the great Atonement for sin by the Cross of Christ, however explained and defended by the practice of antiquity, is closely connected with the denial of its efficacy in the forgiveness of Sin after Baptism ; and only affords another proof of the danger of deriving our sentiments from the Traditions of men, rather than from the Word of God. See also Par. 12, in Chap. XXV. Thirl WALL, Bishop of St. David's. — 1842. 43. 1 shall touch very briefly on another subject, which has, I think, occupied an undue share of public attention, and has excited much misplaced feeling ; and indeed, but for that notoriety, I should have had no inducement on this occasion to notice it at all : I mean the Tracts " On Reserve in communicating Religious Knowledge." * Tract, No. 80, pp. 68,; 69. CHRISTIANITY. ERECTION OF CHURCHES. 469 44. The point of the charges which have been made against their author is, that he had recommended the suppressing or withholding some of the fundamental truths of religion. He himself, however, has publicly disclaimed the meaning imputed to him, and has denied that it could be fairly inferred from his language.^ According to his own professions, his object was not to recommend or sanction the suppression of religious knowledge, but to lay down the princi- ples which, as he conceived, ought to regulate the mode of com- municating it.^ 45. Now here, as before,^ I do not inquire whether it be consistent with charity or candour to repeat the accusation just as if no such disavowal and explanation had ever been offered : it is enough to say, that the Church can properly take cognizance only of doctrines which are professed or acknowledged ; as she cannot be reproached with allowing any of her Ministers to teach an erroneous Doctrine which they have either retracted or disavowed. 7 But the agitation * See the Auflior's disclaimer examined by the Bishop of Ossory, Pars. 28 34, pp. 441 — 444. supra. It is due to the Bishop of St. David's to observe that when he de- livered his Charge, that of the Bishop of Ossory was not published Ed. 5 It is of the greatest importance to bear in mind, what the Bishop of St. David's has altogether overlooked, that "the point of the charges made against the Author " of the Tracts on Reserve refers expressly to this very " mode of communicating religious knowledge " as applied to the " teaching of the Doctrine of Atonement." The " pre- vailing notion of bringing forward the Atonement expUcitly {sic) and prominently {sic) on all occasions" is declared in the first Tract (part iii. sect. 5) to be "quite opposed to what " the Author considers "the teaching of Scripture:" and so far is Mr. Wil- liams from " retracting or disavowing " this assertion, that we find it repeated still more strongly in Tract 87. " The system of which I speak is characterized by these circumstances, an opinion that it is necessary to obtrude, and ' bring forward promi- nently {sic) and explicitly {sic) on all occasions the Doctrine of the Atonement.' .... Now it is evident that this system is throughout peculiar, {sic) in distinction from what is Catholic ; by the term Catholic, we of course mean a combination of both what the universal Church and the Holy Scripture teach conjointly, {sic) the former as inter- preting the latter. It is a plan thoronghly tin-Scriptural, im-CathoUc, unreal: we will, therefore, at once allow that this maxim of Reserve is directly opposed to it throughout} in its lone and spirit, in its tendencies and effects, in its principles and practices.''''—. Part v. sect. 3. Such, then, upon Mr. Williams' own shewing, is the real question at issue ; a question upon which the whole of this most important portion of the controversy depends ; but one which, as I have already observed, the Bishop of St. David's has entirely lost sight of. It is worthy of remark that, a little further on in the same section of Tract 87, the " prevailing notion " combated by the Author, is described to be the necessity of " bringing forward the Doctrine of the Atonement on all occasions, prominently and exclusively." By whom such a "notion" is entertained, Mr. Williams does not inform liis readers ; though he candidly confesses that " it is really difficult to say any thing in answer to an opinion, however popular, when one is quite at a loss to know on what grounds the opinion is maintained." Perhaps, like Reverence and Reserve, ex- clusively and explicitly, are to be considered as convertible terms. — Ed. 6 The Bishop refers to the professions of the Tractarians on the subject of Tradition ; professions which, as I have attempted to shew upon his Lordship's own principle, are not to be trusted — See note 3, p. 248, supra. A similar defence of the Views of the party is suggested by the Bishop of Exeter, though sadly weakened by some of his Lordship's subsequent observations. See note 4, p. 193, supra Ed. ' How far the Tractarians themselves are disposed to give their opponents the benefit of such disavowals has been plainly shewn in their treatment of Dr. Hampden, --Ed. 470 RESERVE, ETC., NOT SYNONYMOUS WITH REVERENCE. which has been produced by the Treatise in question, induces me to add a few remarks. 46. When I consider the character of several of the persons by whom the author's meaning has been, according to his own assertion, misunderstood, I am not at liberty to doubt, that he must in some passages have expressed himself in obscure and incautious terms.^ On the other hand it is certain, that not a few readers who took up the Tracts under an unfavourable prepossession, derived from report and from quotations, were led by a perusal of the whole to a widely different conception of its real import. 47. The title itself would certainly seem to indicate an object very different from suppression -.^ as Reserve in communicating ^ May it not be fairly inferred from this, and indeed from the whole tenor of the Bishop of St. David's observations, that he is not speaking from his own knowledge of the Tracts on Reserve ? As there is not a single word in his Lordship's remarks tending to the contrary supposition, I trust that the suggestion may be made without any appearance of disrespect. See the case of the Bishop of Gloucester ; notes 5, 6, p. 6 ; and 5, p. 427. supra. — Ed. 9 Archdeacon Bro^vme, in an Appendix to one of the very valuable Charges which he has delivered to the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Ely during the progress of the Tractarian controversy, thus alludes to the manner in which it has been attempted to mystify the object and tendency of the Tracts on Reserve. " A striking instance of the want of ingenuousness presents itself in Dr. Pusey's recent Letter to his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury. In vindication of the Author of Tracts 80 and 87, he says, (p. 73.) ' To speak on one subject which has been, perhaps, more widely misunderstood than any other, (though not a Doctrine) " Reserve," or " Reverence," in communicating religious knowledge, the principles of the Tracts on that subject (of which an impartial person has said, that they contain as much deep and true philosophy as any in the whole series) may be expressed in these few words : great Reverence is to be used lest you propose religious truth to minds unfit to receive it. Whatever rule as to Holy Truth is meant by our Blessed Lord's words, — " Give not that wliich is holy to dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine," — that and no other is meant by these Tracts.' " According to this statement, it is clearly intended that the reader should consider the terms ' Reserve ' and ' Reverence ' as synonymous. Now, turning to Chalmer''s Abridgment of Todd's Edition of Johnson''s Dictionary, I find that the only acceptation in which each term respectively can be used in reference to the communication of re- ligious knowledge, is, of the former, ' something concealed in the mind ;' of the latter, veneration, respect, awful regard.' What resemblance there is between these meanings, I leave the reader to judge. But if a shadow of doubt existed upon this point, it is instantly dissipated by turning to the exordium of the 80th Tract. The first section of part 1st is thus headed — ' General Allusions to this Mode of Conceal- ment.' Then the Tract opens with this paragraph — ' The object of the present inquiry is to ascertain whether there is not in God's deahngs with mankind, a very remark- able holding back of sacred and important troths, as if the knowledge of them were injurious to persons unworthy of them. And if this be the case, it will lead to some important practical reflections.' " On the misapplication of the words which Dr. Pusey has quoted from St. Mat- thew, vii. G, I will adduce the judicious remarks of Professor Scholefield, in the second of his admirable Sermons (Scriptural Grounds of Union Considered) preached before the University of Cambridge : — " ' There was doubtless,' observes the learned Professor, ' a depth of Divine wisdom in our Saviour's injunction to his disciples, not to give that which is Holy to the dogs, nor to cast their pearls before swine ; but the figurative terms He employs, at once lead us to the right interpretation of it, that they were not to obtrude the holy mys- teries of their religion upon the profane gaze of heathen scoffers and persecutors. And it surely is sufficient, in the absence of all proof on the other side, barely to deny the application of it either to the practice of building churches, circulating Bibles, and MB. WOODGATe's analysis OP TRACTS ON RESERVE. 471 appears to imply some kind of communication : not to mention the important distinction, with which we are all familiar in religious subjects, between the communication of knowledge as a merely in- tellectual process, and that of truth as a moral one, 48. But if we take a much surer test than any of these, and judge of the author's drift from the character of the system which he professes to reprobate, we must be inclined to consider it rather as a protest against Reserve, than a recommendation of it. 49. If, as he, whether with or without good reason, assumed, there was a popular mode of teaching, which dwelt almost exclu- sively on a portion of the truth, so as virtually to withhold and suppress others not less important, the natural remedy for the evil would have been, not to keep one part back, but to bring the rest more prominently forwai'd.^ 50. That the treatise is deficient in practical directions for the application of its principles, has been admitted by its defenders.* * See " A Brief Analysis of the Tracts on Reserve in communicating Religious Knowledge," by Henry Arthur Woodgate, B.D.2 establishing National Schools, or to propounding the great truths of the Gospel to con- gregations of professing Christians, who manifest, by the fact of their attendance on the Prayers of the Church, that, instead of professing the character marked in the words of our Lord, they are desirous of being instructed in the way of Salvation.' " — Cliarge, 1842 See also note on paragraph 28 of the Charge of the Bishop of London, supra, p. 43G. — Ed. ' Certainly Mr. Williams has not adopted " the natural remedy" suggested by his Lordship: in what sense, then, his Tracts can be regarded as " a protest against Reserve, rather than a recommendation of it," I must leave the reader of those Tracts to deter- mine.— Ed. 2 As a specimen of the candour with which Mr. Woodgate has conducted his *' analysis," I subjoin the following passage: — "And here I may mention it as a curious circumstance, that these last words ('shunning to declare to them the whole counsel of God') have been the form which all those who have taken upon themselves to condemn these Tracts, have selected^ for the purpose of expressing their accusation and their censure. It is, I say, a curious circumstance, and one illustrative of the deceitfulness of the human heart, because it is this very practice of this party, as mentioned above, viz. that in the public teaching they do 7iot declare the whole counsel of God, which appears to have called forth these two Tracts." pp. 15, 16. With regard to the truth of this assertion, it is only necessary to observe that at the time when Mr. Woodgate wrote his analysis, seven Prelates of our Church had " taken upon themselves to condemn" tlie Tracts on Reserve ; and that of these seven, three only, viz. Dublin, Exeter, and Gloucester, make any allusion whatever to the words of the Apostle, " shunning to declare the whole counsel of God" ! ! From such premises, however, would Mr. Woodgate leave his readers to conclude that the Tracts on Reserve have been condemned only by the adherents of a certain party -, that party of whom he asserts, with equal candour and truth, that " they have, as is familiar to every one, appropriated to themselves and to their system exclusively, the title of evangeUcal," — p. 13. And yet when he penned the passage above quoted, the Archbishop of Dublin, the Bishops of Chester, Exeter, Bombay, Gloucester, RiPON, and Winchester ; the Dean of Salisbury ; Archdeacons Browne and Samuel Wilberforce, had severally " expressed their accusation and censure" of the Tracts in question; so also had IMr. Townsend, Mr. Bird, Mr. Le Mesurier, Mr. Faber, Mr. Golightly, and many other persons of various parties in the Chui-ch. Mr. Woodgate, it seems, " was aware that much had been alleged against" the Treatise ;..." but considering the quarter whence these allegations for the most part proceeded," he " did not consider them worthy of much consideration ; and attributed 472 RESERVE, ETC. MR. WOODGATe''s ANALYSIS. But it may still be profitable, if it tends to warn us against the danger of partial views and exhibitions of the truth, and to lead us more carefully to preserve both the fulness and the proportion of faith. it to the like feeling, and not to any admission of their truth, that the author had not noticed them or offered any reply." — p. 6. After a time, liowever, when the Tracts on Reserve were urged as a barrier against the election of their author to the Profes- sorship of Poetry, Mr. Woodgate felt it his duty to read the Treatise for himself, (p. 6.) and, having completed his "analysis," he thus modestly disposes of " the grave and deliberate charges brought" — as he tells us with greater Reserve than Reverence — " against" Mr. Williams " by more than one Bishop !" — p. 6. " Let me now ask what ground is there for the outcry which has been raised, and the charges which have been brought against this work ? What is there in the principle developed in it, or the mode in which the subject has been treated, which those who receive the Gospel in all its fulness, as maintained by the Church, and as exhibited in the Prayer Book, can find to justify the language which has been held respecting it? Who would not regret that those who have pronounced their official censure upon it, should not, before they did so, have made themselves more fully acquainted with its principle and object, not to be done by a hasty or superficial pei-usal" — [Mr. Woodgate admits that he himself had only read the Treatise " tvithin the last few days,'"' (p. 6.) and that too during the ex- citement produced by the contest for the Poetry Professorship] — which had they done, it ivould be doing them injustice to suppose they would have withheld their concurrence." —pp. 42, 43. I have ventured to make these observations upon Ma. Woodgate's pamphlet, inas- much as it is referred to by the Bishop of St. David's as a defence of the Tracts on Reserve, and by Dr. Pusey in his letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, (p. 79.) " as a valuable analysis of them, and independent testimony to their value." — Ed. The following notice of the report to which I have alluded at page 427, appeared in the British Critic for January, 1842 : — " While we write, we see it reported in the papers that the Bishop of Gloucester AND Bristol has been induced, by the perusal of the Few Remarks to withdraw the strong terms in which he spoke of the Tracts on Reserve. This was no more than what was to be expected from the kind tone (sic) of his Lordship's censures, and from his having prefaced them, — as if to leave an opening for further inquiry, — with an allu- sion to the calamitous affliction which had preverited him from entering into the contro' versies of the last Jive years.'''' The italics are not the Reviewer's ; let the reader compare the passage so printed with the express assertion of the Bishop op Gloucester, (Charge, 1841, par. 3, p. 6, supra.) " Upon such parts, therefore, of the newly propounded theories as I have had competent means of informing myself, I shall not hesitate to avow my sentiments ; particularly on ... a recommendation to use Reserve in preaching the Doctrine of our Lord's At07iement :'''' — let him bear in mind, also that, probably before the ink with which the Reviewer wrote was dry — at all events, long before his observations could be in type — Dr. Monk had publicly, in the most unqualified terms, contradicted the report in question, and he will have a specimen of disingenuousness not often, it is to be hoped, surpassed even by Tractarian Controversialists Ed. •^* In addition to the works already quoted on the subject of the foregoing chapter, I beg to refer the reader to Mr. Townsend's Charge to the Clergy of the Peculiar of Alter ton, August, 1838; as far as I am aware, the first ex cathedra denunciation of Tractarian Theology. — The Oxford Tract System considered with reference to the prin- ciple of Reserve in Freach'ing, by the Rev. C. S. Bird A recent Tract upon Reserve in communicating religious knowledge compared with Scripture ,* by the Rev. Henry Le Mesurier — A Letter to Roundell Palmer, Esq., in answer to the principal state- ments made in a Letter addressed by him to Lord Ashley ; by a Clergyman. — Mr. Fader's Primitive Doctrine of Justification examined. Appendix IX Mr.Golightly's Letter to the Bishop of Oxford Bishop M'Ilvaine's Charges to the Protestant Episco- pal Church in the State of Ohio, 1840, 1842 ; and Oxford Divinity, chap, iii Mr. Le Mesurier mentions Scougall's Christian Life, and Knox's Christian Philosophy, " as Betting forth what there is of truth in the Tract, unclouded by its errors." — En. 473 CHAPTERS XVIII. XIX. I. THE CHURCH OF ROME : HER PRESENT CHARACTER ; HOW REGARDED BY THE TRACTARIANS ; REUNION WITH ; DUTY OF PROTESTING AGAINST. II. THE REFORMERS AND THE REFORMATION. Wilson, Bishop of Calcutta. — 1838. I. Vide Pars. 15. 17. and 36, in Chap. VIII. II. Vide Pars. 2, in Chap. XXV., and 23. and Note, in Chap. XXVI. SuMNER, Bishop of Chester. — 1838. II. Vide Par. 2, in Chap. XXV. Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter. — 1839. I. Vide Pars. 46—57, in Chap. XX. II. Vide Par. 55, in Chap. XX. Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 1839. I. Vide Pars. 14, in Chap. VIII., 15, 16, in Chap. XXV. II. Vide Pars. 15, 16, in Chap. XXV., and 18, in Chap. XXVI. HowLEY, Archbishop of Canterbury. — 1840. [I.] 2. I would it were possible to extend this great principle of unity to all the Churches of Christendom. The dissensions which separated the Churches of the East and the West, and the corrup- tions and intolerance which drove the Protestants from the com- munion of Rome, have been most injurious to the Catholic Church. A reconciliation would, indeed, be desirable. But reunion with Rome ^ has been rendered impossible by the sinister policy of the 3 The following quotation is from an article in the British Critic for July, 1841. " Too many of us speak as if we had gained more by the Reformation in freedom than we have lost by it in disunion. We talk of the 'blessings of emancipation from the Papal yoke,' and use other phrases of a like bold and undutiful tenor .... We trust, (sic.) of course, that active and visible union with the See of Rome is not of the essence of a Church ; at the same time we are deeply conscious that, in lacking it, far 474 RECONCILIATION WITH ROME. Council of Trent, which, dreading the result of discussion on many disputed points, made no scruple of multiplying articles of Faith, which, however erroneous, can never he disclaimed hy that Church till she abandons her pretensions to infallibility. 3. Yet I am not without hope that more cordial union may in time be effected among all Protestant Churches ; nor do I think it improbable, that the gradual admission of light in the East may improve the condition of those ancient Churches which have groaned so long under the oppression of infidels, may induce them to try their creeds by the standard of Scripture, and dispose them to friendly communications with our own Church.* Beresford, Archbishop of Armagh. — 1841. [I.] 6. Reconciliation with our brethren of the Church of Rome, and, indeed, with all who dissent from us, is an object to be sought after with prayers, and supplications, and strenuous endeavours; but the faithful keeping, through evil report and good report, of the sacred deposit of truth, committed to our hands, is a still higher and more sacred duty : and it is my conviction, that though we might, by accommodating our principles and language to Romish claims and corruptions, bring about a hollow truce, we should not effect a honest and safe comprehension, I confess I can discover no marks of a frank and plain renunciation of their errors on the part of the Church of Rome. 7. There is, and ever has been, as there was at Trent, an attempt to soften down and disguise the real character of their doctrines and practice, which, whenever it has been met in the spirit of Christian candour, has led to disappointment, by discovering the real nature of their claims. The proud pretensions of the Bishop of Rome, not merely to a primacy of order, but to an universal supremacy, and the claim of infallibility for the Church of his communion, is alone a bar to a reconcilement of our differences. This is at the bottom of their claims, and also of their worst corruptions; for this, it is true, they plead a remote Antiquity, and, no doubt, the seeds of Romish error were early deposited in the rank soil of man''s heart, and fos- tered by favourable times and circumstances. On this plea they would clothe their practices with the venerable dress of Antiquity, from asserting a right, we forego a great privilege. Rome has imperishable claims upon our gratitude, and, were it so ordered, upon our deference. She is our 'elder sister' in the Faith ; nay, she is our mother ; to whom, by the grace of God, we owe it that we are what we are ; for her sms and for our own, we are estranged from her in presence, not in heart ; may we never be provoked to forget her, or cease to love her, even though she frown upon us, and to desire, * if it were possible,' to be as one with her ! " The Reviewer adds, " This train of thought, more or less melancholy, has been awakened in our minds by an examination of some of the writings of Bishop Jewell." pp. 2, 3 Ed. * See Mr, Newman's imprecation against "the appointmeut of an Anglican Bishop at Jerusalem." Note 7, p. 114, supra. — Ed. WISDOM OP OUR REFORMERS. 475 whilst they ascribe to our Church a recent origin. But our Refor- mation was no fond or novel thing, as they would hold out; it was, in fact, and so it professed to be, a return to a Scriptural creed and primitive practice, far more ancient than the corruptions introduced by the Church of Rome. On these grounds has our Church been ever vindicated by our great authorities, and this is the liberty from Romish usurpation, whether disguised or openly professed, where- with Christ hath made us free. Scripture and primitive Antiquity are the charter by which we hold our rights, and until these are acknowledged, reconciliation with Rome is to be despaired of. II. Vide Par. 7, supra. Whately, Archbishop of Dublin. — 1841. [II.] None more loudly profess devoted and submissive admiration for the Anglican Church than many of those who are emphatically opposed, in some of the most important points, to the principles on which our Reformers proceeded, and the spirit which actuated them throughout. If any one is deliberately convinced that those their fundamental principles are erroneous, and that they rested the Doctrines and in- stitutions of our Church on a wrong basis, he deserves credit, at least, for honest consistency in leaving its communion. But to me it does appear, that — without attributing to them an infallibility which they expressly disclaim — we may justly give our Reformers credit for such sound views, and, such resolute adherence to Evangelical truth, combined with such moderation and discretion, as were — considering the difficult circumstances they were in — truly wonderful ; and such, as are in all times, and not least in the pre- sent, well worthy of imitation. It was their " wisdom to keep the mean"" (as is expressed in the preface to the Book of Common Prayer) " between the two extremes, of too much stiffness in re- fusing, and too much easiness in admitting any variation." It was " their wisdom," also, to " keep the mean" between the claims — never conflicting, except when misunderstood — of Scripture and of a Church. It was " their wisdom" to keep the mean between a slavish bondage to ancient precedents on the one hand, and a wan- ton and arrogant disregard of them, on the other. It was " their wisdom" — their pious and Christian wisdom — to keep the mean between rash and uncharitable judgment of other Churches, and equally rash carelessness, or fondness for innovation, in the regu- lations of their own. They conformed as closely as, in their judg- ment, circumstances would warrant, to the examples of the earliest Churches, without for an instant abandoning the rightful claims of their own ; and yet, without arrogantly pronouncing censure on those whose circumstances had led them to depart further from those ancient precedents. Their " Faith" they drew from the Scriptures; 476 THE reformers: their piety, their " Hope" they based on the Scriptures ; their " Charity" they learned from the Scriptures. A member of the Ang-llcan Church, — I mean, a sincere and thoroughly consistent member of It — ought to feel a full conviction, and surely there are good grounds for that conviction, both that the reforms they Introduced were no more than were loudly called for by a regard for Gospel-truth, and that the Church, as constituted by them, does possess. In Its regulations and Its officers, " Apostolical Succession," in the sense in which it is essential that a Christian Community should possess it ; viz. in being a regularly- constituted Christian Society, framed In accordance with the funda- mental principles taught us by the Apostles and their Great Master. — Kingdom of Christ, Essay II. sect. 43. Broughton, Bishop of Australia. — 1841. II. Vide Par. 35, in Chap. VIII. 39. My exhortation to you, however, is, not to suffer yourselves to be driven to any concealment of your genuine Church principles, by any dread of being misrepresented as setters-forth of strange Doctrines. I should regret unfelgnedly, that any of those by whom such principles are maintained, should think of adding strength to their cause by disparaging reflections upon the Reformers, or upon the Reformation itself. I should regret that any attempt were now made to unsettle any of the land-marks then established, by bringing back, or proposing to bring back, into the use of the Church any rites or practices which our Reformers advisedly resolved should be discontinued. There Is nothing In their pi'Inciples which prohibits us from placing their proceedings continually under review ; and having been led to do this by the events of recent years, I have my- self been more than ever confirmed In my persuasion of the piety, knowledge, wisdom, and charity with which all their proceedings were carried on, and all their determinations formed, I should, therefore, I repeat, unfeignedly lament to find any disposition pre- vailing to derogate from them or from their works ; especially from their incomparable Liturgy, by which so spiritual, devout, and Im- proving a character is Impressed upon our public worship, and most eminently upon the order for the admluistratlon of the Holy Com- munion.^ 40. At the same time, duty requires me to express my opinion, that there has been shewn, on the other hand, an unnecessary dispo- sition and eagerness to attach the name of Popery, or to impute a Papistical tendency, to much which is of the sound and genuine substance of Church of England Divinity. The arraignment of It as erroneous, appears to have been eagerly caught up on account of 5 See the Postscript to his Lordship's Charge, Pars. 47, 48, supra, p. 207. — Ed. KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM, AND CHARITY. 477 of its opposition to the system of quitting the Romish ground of in- fallible authority, only to take the opposite extreme of maintaining an unqualified right of private judgment ; a principle which the Church of England never recognised. I discover, however, no symptoms which should excite a reasonable dread of any contem- plated departure from our governing principle, that nothing is to be required of any man to be believed as necessary to salvation except it be read in Scripture, or may be proved thereby.^ 41. If there be any disposition (which I confess, though asserted, I do not discover) to revive among us usages and ceremonies con- fessedly ancient, but which the good sense of our Reformers saw fit, upon sufficient grounds, to abolish, that disposition can extend only to a very limited number, and needs only to be discouraged by su- periors to be readily laid aside. '^ 42. Let me also express my most earnest hope that no attempts will be made to shew,^ as proofs of argumentative dexterity, how near we can shape our course to the shoals of Romanism without making shipwreck of our own belief. It is an unwise and dangerous employment, and may be destructive of those who practise it. 43. But in fairness I ought to add that, so far as relates to the Doctrine of Justification, to the nature of the Holy Sacraments, and the effect of their due reception, to the qualifications of those by whom they may be lawfully administered, to the sanction de- rived by an appeal to Antiquity upon the Doctrinal Articles of our Church, or upon that interpretation of the Word of God conform- able with them which constitutes the deposit of faith put into our hands at the time of our ordination — upon these points, and upon the authority of the Church in controversies of faith, I know nothing and suspect nothing to have been Avritten by any whose kindred with us we acknowledge, which is in any degree contrary to the holy principles which our Reformers taught, and in defence of which they died. Sumner, Bishop of Chester. — 1841. I. Vide Par. 26, in Chap. IX. ; 29, in Chap. X. ; and Appendix, in Chap. XXI. II. Vide Par. 14, in Chap. XIII. ; 22, in Chap. IX. ; and 29, in Chap. X. Maltby, Bishop of Durham. — 1841. I. Vide Pars. 5, 6, in Chap. V. II. Vide Par. 4, in Chap XXV., and 9, in Chap. XX. 6 See Note in preceding page. "^ It is satisfactory to learn, that the Australian Clergy shew their " Reverence for Episcopacy not in tvord but in deed; an example which their Anglo-Catholic brethren on this side the water would do well to follow. See Appendix G. — Ed. 8 How painfully his Lordship's hope has been disappointed is but too well known. See the remarks of the Bishop of Llandaff, Pars. 41, 42, in Chap. XXV. — Ed. 478 THE CHURCH OF BOME I — EXTENUATION OP Monk, Bishop of Gloucester. — 1841. [I.] 7. In the writings which I have seen of these Ecclesiastics, there appears to be a constant and industrious endeavour to com- pliment the Papal Church, to extenuate its faults, and to apologize for its enormities. It is true that the distinguished authors them- selves have unequivocally denied any attachment on their own part to Rome, and have decisively repudiated that imputation. ^ But if through their agency a school be formed, of which one characteristic shall be a leaning towards Romanism, the disciples cannot be pre- vented going further than their Masters contemplate.^ And when we consider the peculiar art with which the Papal system is organized, and the readiness with which it enlists into its service the frailties, the passions, and the imaginations of men, it is impos- sible not to entertain serious apprehensions at the course which has been adopted by persons whose learning, talents, and character insure to them influence among their contemporaries. II. Vide Par, 1, in Chap. I. ; 6, in Chap. XXI. ; and 10, in Chap. V. BowsTEAD, Bishop of Lichfield. — 1843. [II.] 7. I do not dwell upon this subject, my Reverend Brethren, from any prevalence of such opinions in this Diocese, but merely by way of caution ; for, undoubtedly, I do consider their tendency to be dangerous. It is not a question of robes and surplices — though here too a spirit of innovation has manifested itself — fundamental principles are at stake ; the character of our Reformers has been assailed, and the Reformation itself depre- ciated. LoNGLEY, Bishop of Ripon. — 1841. I. Vide Par. 5j8, in Chap. VI., and 9, in Chap. XXI. II. Vide Par. 3, in Chap. III., and Sy, in Chap. VI. Strachan, Bishop of Toronto. — 1841. II. Vide Par. 5, m Chap. III. ; and 6, in Chap. VI. 9 The Bishop op Gloucester could not have seen Mr. Newman's Letter to Dr. Jelf ; Mr. Dalgairn's Letter to the Univers ; and several other pub- lications of the party, in which attachment to, and " unfeigned affection " for, tlie Church of Rome, are very unequivocally expressed. The extract from the British Critic, given in note 3, p. 473, supra, in which Rome is described as our " Elder Sister " . . " nay, our Mother,'''' was not published when liia Lordship wrote his Charge. Mr. Newman's Retractation did not appear until some time afterwards See Appendices, B. and C Ed. * See this remark too painfully verified in Appendix, H. — Ed. ITS FAULTS, ENORMITIES, AND CORRUPTION. 479 Sumner, Bishop op Winchester. — 1841, [L] 9. There is ground again for fear if, on the one hand, it becomes habitual among us to extenuate and speak in soft language of the deep corruptions of the Church of Rome,* dwelling upon her " high gifts and strong claims on our admiration, reverence, love, and gratitude ;" f attributing to her, of all other religious com- munions, the exclusive possession of that something to which the * " There will ever be a number of refined and affectionate minds who, dis- appointed in finding full matter for their devotional feelings in the English system, as at present conducted, betake themselves, through human frailty, to Rome." — Tract 71, p. 4. " The intrinsic majesty and truth which remain in the Church of Rome amid all its corruptions." " I consider its existing Creed and popular worship to be as near idolatry as any portion of that Church can be, from which it is said that ' the idols' shall be utterly abolished.'" — Letter to Dr. Jklf, p. 7. Compare this language with that of Bishop HoRSLEY, — " I set out with this principle, that the Church of Rome is at this day a corrupt Church, a Church corrupted with idolatry ; with idolatry very much the same, in kind and degree, with the worst that ever prevailed among the Egyptians or the Canaanites, till within one or two centuries, at the most, of the time of Moses."— Dissertation on the Prophecies of the Messiah, dispersed among the Heathen, p. 58. I quote only one other example. " To take the instances of the Adoration of Images and the Invocation of Saints. The Tridentine Decree declares that it is good and lawful suppliantly to invoke the saints ; and that the images of Christ, and the Blessed Virgin, and the other Saints, should ' receive due honour and veneration ;' words which themselves go to the verge of what could be received by the cautious Christian, though possibly admitting of an honest interpretation. Now we know, in matter of fact, that in various parts of the Roman Church, a worship approaching to idolatrous is actually paid to saints and images, in countries very different from each other, as, for instance, Italy and the Netherlands, and has been countenanced by eminent men and Doctors, and that without any serious or successful protest from any quarter." — Tract 71, p. 17. Dr. Wiseman has reason to say, when he reads this tender comment on the corruptions of Rome — " It seems impossible to read the works of the Oxford Divines, and especially to follow them clu-onologically, without discovering a daily approach towards our Holy Church, both in Doctrine and in affectionate feeling. Our Saints, our Popes, have become dear to them by little and little ; our rites and ceremonies, our offices, nay, our very rubrics, are precious in their eyes, far, alas ! beyond what many of us consider them ; our monastic institutions, our charitable and educational provisions, have become more and more objects with them of earnest study ; and every thing, in fine, that concerns our Religion, deeply interests their attention. I know what some will say, — that all this interest is of an interested character, that the wish to take so much from us as may serve to give consistency to their own Church, but have no idea of advancing further, or aiming at re-union with us. This suspicion is, I conceive, unjust and ungrounded ; it is based upon ignorance of the true character and feelings of these writers. Their admiration of our institutions and practices, and their regret at having lost them, manifestly spring from the value which they set upon every thing Catholic : and to suppose them (without an insincerity, which they have given us no right to charge them with) to love the parts of a system, and wish for them, while they would reject the root, and only secure support of them — the system itself — is to my mind revoltingly contradictory. " — Letter on Catholic Vnitt/, addressed to the Eight Hon. the Earl of Shrewsbury, pp. 13, 14. + Tract 70, No 24, p. ^^ ^ The passage quoted by his Lordship is not in Tract 70, but in Records of the Church, ISo. 24, p. 7 Ed. 480 PAPAL SUPREMACY. DISPARAGEMENT age is moving ; * and characterizing simply as an " event in Pro- vidence," -f- that Papal supremacy, of which Bishop Taylor writes, that it " will not be necessary to declare the sentence of the Church of England and Ireland, because it is notorious to all the world ; and is expressly opposed against this Romish Doctrine, by laws, articles, confessions, homilies, the oath of allegiance and supremacy, the book of Christian Institution, and many excellent writings; J" and if, on the other hand, in the same breath, we accustom ourselves to speak slightingly and disparagingly of those great and venerable names of the sixteenth century, of whom one of the ablest and wisest of modern authorities has said that " we shall search in vain, either in ancient or modern history, for examples of men more justly entitled to the praise of splendid talents, sound learning, and genuine piety ;"|| or if we learn to designate the Blessed Reformation itself as " that great schism" * ** In truth, there is, at this moment, a great progress of the religious mind of our Church to something deeper and truer than satisfied the last century." The age is moving towards something ; and most unhappily the one religious com- munity among us, which has of late years been practically in possession of this some- thing, is the Church of Rome. She alone, amid all the errors and evils of her practical system, has given free scope to the feelings of awe, mystery, tenderness, reverence, devotedness, and other feelings, which may be especially called Catholic.''— Letter to Dr. Jelf. By the Author of Tract 90, pp. 25, 26.3 f Tract 90, p. 77- X Dissuasive from Popery, vol. x. p. 260.a II Bp. Van Mildert's Lectures, vol. i. p. 288. a " It will do us little good with the common run of men, in the question of the Pope's power, to draw the distinction, true though it is, between his primacy in honour and authority, and his sovereignty or his universal jurisdiction. The force of this dis- tinction is not here questioned, but it will be unintelligible to minds unpractised in Ecclesiastical History. Either the Bishop of Rome has really a claim upon our de- ference, or he has not ; so it will be urged ; and our safe argument at the present day will lie in waiving the question altogether, and saying that, even if he has, according to the primitive rule, ever so much authority, (and that he has some, e. g. the precedence of other Bishops, need not be denied,) that it is in matter of fact, altogether suspended and in abeyance, while he upholds a corrupt system, against which it is our duty to protest. At present, all will see he ought to have no 'jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre-eminence, or authority, within this realm.' It will be time enough to settle his legitimate claims, and make distinctions, when he removes all existing impediments to our acknowledging him." — Tract 71, p. 8. It will be observed that, in quoting above from the oath of supremacy, the words *' ecclesiastical or spiritual" are omitted. The oath runs thus : " pre-eminence or autho- rity, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within this realm." Mr. Golightly has remarked upon a similar omission in Tract 90, which has led Dr. Pusey into error. " The Primate of Christendom, or of England, deems it (rightly or wrongly) no in- fringement of the Divine prerogative to accept, as God's representative on earth, the reverence and affection of his children, and to be styled ' Father.' Either the one or the other, then, might vindicate on behalf, not of himself, but of the Church in his person, the ' uppermost place at feasts, or the chief seat in the synagogue ;' while ob- jectors would be at hand to say that, because he occupied them (as he ought), therefore he Moved' them for their own sake (which he ought not)." British Critic, No. 60, p. 431. " Other points of Doctrine, more or less Catholic, which occur at the moment as answering to this description, (of Catholic verities impressed upon the surface of Holy 3 Pp. 27, 28 Ed. OF THE REFORMERS AND REFORMATION. 481 whicli " shattered " the Sacramentum unitatis, since which era " Truth has not dwelt simply and securely in any visible tabernacle;* Scripture) are the following : Baptismal Regeneration, the Sacred Presence in the Eucharist, the Oneness of the visible Church, the Primacy of St. Peter." — lb. p. 423, note. * Tract 71, p. 29.)3 j3 " We are reformed ; we have come out of Babylon, and have rebuilt our Church ; but it is Ichabod ; 'the glory is departed from Israel.' " — Tract 31, p. 2. " The English Church, as such, is not Protestant, only politically ; that is, externally, or so far as it has been made an establishment, and subjected to national and foreign influences. It claims to be merely Reformed, not Protestant ; and it repudiates any fellowship with the mixed multitude which crowd together, whether at home or abroad, under a mere political banner." — Tract 71, p. 32. " Although the details of the early Ritual varied in importance, and corrupt additions were made in the middle ages, yet, as a whole, the Catholic Ritual was a precious pos- session ; and if we, who have escaped from Popery, have lost not only the pos- session, but the sense of its value, it is a serious question whether we are not like men who recover from some grievous illness, with the loss or injury of their sight or hearing; whether we are not like the Jews returned from captivity, who could never find the rod of Aaron or the ark of the covenant, which, indeed, had ever been hid from the world, but then was removed from the temple itself." — Tract 34, p. 7- "To say that the depth and richness of the ancient services of the Universal Church have no parallel in modern times, were to bring into a painful comparison what is far too sacred for human criticism." — British Critic, vol. xxvii. p. 251. "On the side of need, there is the actually penitential condition of the later Church, bewailing the sins of a former age, and suf- fering their penalties. She seemed to say at the Reformation, * Make me as one of thy hired servants,' and she has been graciously taken at her word •, lowered from her ancient and proper place, as the ' king's daughter, whose clothing is of wrought gold,' whose ' walls the sons of strangers should build, and unto whom their kings should minister,' into the condition of a slave at a table where she should preside. How then does ' melody ' suit with her * heaviness ;' the songs of Zion with the fetters of Ba- bylon? Lower strains befit her depressed condition; and with such, in the English Liturgy, she is actually provided." — lb. p. 254. " The Church has sullied her baptismal robe of purity ; she is not permitted to come into the Divine presence at all, until she has done penance -, nor, when admitted, is she privileged to raise her voice in the lan- guage of joy and confidence, without many a faltering note of fear and self-reproach." — /6. p. 255. " The tone of our services has been simultaneously lowered. We were not instru- mental in lowering it. Putting, by way of hypothesis only, the extreme case, and saying, with the Roman Catholic, ' Fieri non debuit,' still it may be that ' Factum valet.' It is, of course, one thing to have originated the Reformation, whether on the whole, or in any of its details ; another to continue in the Reformed Church as things are ; which may surely be said without necessarily implying that even the former act was unjustifiable. As it is, we English Christians, irresponsible altogether for the original changes, and, as we hope, in a measure, for the state of things which leads us even thankfully to acquiesce in them, find ourselves members of the Church in its present embarrassed and so far degenerate condition. A Liturgy is put into our hands, in which all the essentials of Catholic truth are preserved, with the loss, here and there, of the more jubilant and filial language, together with some of the more ennobling pri- vileges of a former period. What so well befits us as gratitude to Him who has so wonderfully, by the instrumentality of whatever means, adapted our prayers to our wants, and denied us such privileges only as we are unfit to enjoy? And if even slaves, according to St. Paul, should prefer slavery, which is God's appointment, to liberty of their own seeking, we surely, who for our sins, or for those of our forefathers, have 'ashes ' given us for ' beauty,' ' mourning ' for ' the oil of gladness,' and ' the spirit of heaviness ' for ' the garment of praise,' should wear our fetters dutifully, loyally, and even thankfully, not seeking impatiently to be rid of them. And then, as this Tract (the 86th) observes, 'we may hope that the loss will, by degrees, be made up to us. Privileges are multiplied upon the meek and dutiful ; and the way to more light is the thankful use of what we have. And while our duty lies in the way of patience and obedience, we cannot but humbly trust that the practice of our Church is brought mora 2i 482 THE CHURCH OF BOME : ITS ERRORS IN FAITH or if undervalue our own Liturgy, and Formularies, and Homilies;* or put interpretations on our Articles at variance with what has been generally received as the intentions of their compilers, and inconsistent with the royal declaration, that " no man . . . shall put his own sense or comment to be the meaning."-f- Beresford, Archbishop of Armagh. — 1842. I. Vide Par. 2, in Chap. XXI. Mant, Bishop of Down and Connor, and Dromobe. — 1842. [I.] 87. And this leads to a further caution, that we abstain from the use of all such language as may tend to indicate in our own minds, or to implant in others, an indifference to the errors and corruptions of the Romish Church, and to encourage, on the other hand, a favourable contemplation of her, by putting forward and commending her better qualities, and by obscuring and keeping out of sight her peculiar abominations. S8. They are the " errors " of the Church of Rome, " not only in her living and manner of ceremonies, hitt also in matters of Faith ^''\ which, so far as we have any concern with that Church, it is our business, in pursuance of the example and instructions of our Na- tional Church, to fix in our own minds, and to make subjects of admonition to our people."* 89. Under the former division, allusion has been made to certain representations, calculated to lead to an acquiescence in some parts of the Romish system, if not to an approbation of it. I would here refer to some commendations which have been bestowed on her devotional provisions, in particular relation to those of our National Church. and more into accordance with its theory ; and as it is gradually relieved of those chilling, cramping influences, secular and political, which shrivel up its strong arm of power, and mar its fair proportions, we may be judged meeter for the language of high joyfulness, in a sinner's mouth so dissonant." — British Critic, vol. xxvii. pp. 261, 262. " True though it be, that it is hard for our Church, in her present state of depression and embarrassment, to realize all her privileges, and to assert her true place among the nations, yet let us be thankful that, though in a garb of sackcloth, she is still 'glorious within. ' " — Ih. p. 276 * Appendix X.^ + Appendix XI.^ :j: Art. xix. •* Appendix X. will be found in Chap. XX. ; and Appendix XI. in Chap. XXT Ed. * The italics in the text are not his Lordship's. The Rev. F. E. Paget, Chaplain to the Bishop of Oxford, seems to take a different view oi his " business, in pursuance of the example and instructions of our national Church." Witness the following passage from his Tales of the Vilkuie, p. 104. " When the Gospel was first preached to mankind, the Apostles founded Churches in all the countries which they visited ; and so long as God's pure Word is preached therein, and the Sacraments duly administered by persons lawfully ordained, those se- veral Churches (despite of errors in matters of opinion, (sic) which do not constitute heresy, like errors in matters oi Faith ) (sic) continue to be branches of the one true Catholic and Apostolic Church. Such a branch is the Roman Church; eucli is that which exists among ourselves in England." — Ed. SHOULD BE MADE SUBJECTS OP ADMONITION. 483 40. There are, doubtless, devotional compositions in the Romish Church deserving of approbation as to their matter, however " re- pugnant to the Word of God and the custom of the primitive Church," by reason of their being " in a tongue not understanded of the people."* But these are not her peculiar property : these she shares with our own Church, by whom, in common with her, they were derived from Catholic antiquity, and are still wisely, piously, and happily retained. Her devotional peculiarities, besides the use of a foreign and unintelligible language, are her super- stitions, her idolatry, her invocation and adoration of the Blessed Virgin^ and other Saints, her intercessory supplications in their names, her giving of the Creator's honour to the creature. These ought to be kept constantly in our minds, if we would entertain a right idea of the Romish Church. These ought to be presented to others, if we would impress the like idea on their minds. 41. And, to say the truth, this is, to a certain extent, done by the authors to whom we are adverting; and they scruple not to avow " the utter contrariety between the Roman system, as actually existing, and our own ; which, however similar in certain respects, are in others so at variance, as to make any attempts to reconcile them together in their " present state, perfectly nugatory." " Till Rome moves towards us," they add, " it is quite impossible that we should move towards Rome ; however closely we may approximate to her in particular doctrines, principles, or views.""f" 42. Yet there seems to lurk in their minds a desire, perhaps I may say that desire is embodied in the attempt, to extenuate and apologize for some of these characteristics of Romish worship : as if some of the addresses to created beings, in the Breviary, were, and others were not, "intrinsically exceptionable ;" as if the "confession before God Almighty, before the Blessed Mary, ever-virgin, the blessed Michael, Archangel, the blessed John Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, before all saints, and you, my brethren, that I have sinned too much in thought, word, and deed ;" followed by the petition, " Therefore, I beseech thee, Blessed Mary, ever- virgin, the blessed Michael, Archangel, the blessed John Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, all saints, and you, my brethren, to pray the Lord our God for me ;":|: as if this confession, I say, and this petition, were "not a simple gratuitous invocation made to the Saints, but an address ta Almighty God in his heavenly court, as surrounded by his saints and angels :" and as if any thing whatever could be said toward the justification of such an invocation as the following: "Holy Mary, succour the wretched, help the weak- hearted, comfort the mourners, pray for the people, interpose for • Art. xxiv. t Tract, No. 75, p. 23. t No. 75, pp. 10, 61. 6 "The Reverence due to the Blessed Virgin" is mentioned in the British Critic as *' an especial subject of Protestant profaneness." No. 62, p. 275. — See Mr. Christie's Dedication, p. \\\. supra. — Ed. 2 I 2 484 THE CHURCH OF ROME : TENDENCY OF THE TRACTS TO the clergy, intercede for the devoted females ; let all feel thy as- sistance who observe the holy commemoration. Pray for us, holy Mother of God."* 43. Speaking, however, independently of these invocations, it is the evident tendency of the Tracts, in which the services containing them are inserted, to raise the character of the Romish Church to an elevation exceeding that of our own, for her devotional exercises. 44. Let the unbiassed reader examine the account given of the Breviary, whence our service was derived, and let him judge in the first place whether the Breviary, as it was practised in the Catholic Church, is not holden up to admiration, as preferable to the English Book of Common Prayer ; and then whether the same Breviary, as practised still in the Romish Church, save only the addresses to the Virgin Mary and other saints, is not represented as preferable to our Common Prayer, and whether, therefore, as a general structure, it is not deemed entitled to a higher praise. 45. Set aside these objectionable addresses, which are capable of easy extermination, and the Common Prayer Book would stand in no competition with the exceeding " excellence and beauty in the services of the Breviary of the Roman Church," embodying as they, in the title of their panegyric, represent it to embody, "the substance of the devotional services of the Church Catholic.""!' 46. Representations such as these, my brethren, appear to me fit subjects of cautionary reflection concerning the compositions, whereby they are conveyed to the public mind. Nor is the necessity of caution in this behalf diminished, rather, indeed, it is greatly aug- mented, by such passages as I would now submit to your thoughts : the former of which asserts a proper religious feeling to exist exclu- sively at the present time in the Romish Church ; and the second exhibits the two Churches of Rome and England in actual contrast with each other, greatly to the advantage of that of Rome. 47. " In truth," says the former of the two passages alluded to, " there is at this moment a great progress of the religious mind of our Church to something deeper and truer than satisfied the last century. . . . The age is moving towards something; and most unhappily the one religious communion among us, which has of late years been practically in possession of this something, is the Church of Rome. She alone, amid all the errors and evils of her practical system, has given free scope to the feelings of awe, mystery, tenderness, reverence, devoted- ness, and other feelings, which may be especially called Catholic.";}; 48. The other passage enters more into detail ; and if the length of the extract shall make it seem inappropriate for a quotation, an apology must be pleaded by its importance. " To these," says my author, speaking of certain persons peculiarly exposed to temptation, " to these the Roman Communion, as at present seen in this country, does come in a fascinating and imposing form. She comes to us with our common Saints, which modern habits have led many -wTongly to regard as hers exclusively ; with holy truths and practices, which in our recent care- * Tract, No. 75, pp. 53, and 10. | No. 75, p. 1. * Tract, JNo. 7&, pp. 03, and w. t Letter to Dr. Jelf, by the Author of No. 90, p. 26. RAISE ITS CHARACTER ABOVE THAT OF OUR OWN. 485 lessness are too often disrep^arded or neglected, or even spoken against amongst ourselves ; with unity on truths, whereon we are distracted, (although, alas ! upon doctrines and practices also which are not true nor I10I3') ; with discipline, which we should find useful for ourselves, and which has heen neglected among us ; with fuller devotions, works of practical wisdom or of i^urified and kindled love ; a Ritual, which (though withdrawn mostly from the laity), still in itself, at some holy seasons, sets before the eyes more prominently than our own, our Saviour in his life and death for his Church, or which utters more distinctly some truths, which the sins of the Church caused to be more veiled among our- selves ; or she points to a communion of saints, in which we profess our belief, but of which little is heard among us, now that even the Prayer for the Church Militant for the most part practically forms no part of our weekly service ; she has in her monastic institutions a refuge from the weariness and vanities of the world, and a means of higher perfection to individuals, which many sigh after, and which might be revived in a primitive form, but which, as yet, we have not ; in her small communion in this country she is not pressed on all sides by the spiritual wants of her children as we are, which hinder, perhaps, from noble enterprise m God's service, some who might otherwise have essayed it, still she does erect among us edifices to his glory, with which, notwithstanding the ample means at the command of our people, we have but a little, here and there, in this day to compare. Above all, she comes to us with her prayers ; and some of her members, by remembering us at the altar, and night and day in the holy week, have drawn men's hearts unto them, and won our sympathy and gratitude, in any lawful way wherein we may manifest it." * 49. Your reflections, my brethren, will readily furnish the coun- terpart of this picture ; and, together with the flattering features of the portrait, you will remember others of a very different cast, which distinguish the Roman communion : the adoration paid to our common saints, and the multitudinous addition of her own, with their meritorious and miraculous actions; the "blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits "•j* by which her most holy truths and prac- tices are desecrated and profaned ; her real disagreements under the semblance of universal union; her discipline disgraced by tyranny; her devotions sullied by superstition ; her Ritual abounding in oc- casions of offence, and representing our Saviour''s sacrifice as aided by the merits of her Saints; her monastic institutions supplied by fraud, supported by injustice and violence, teeming with profligacy, and too grievous to be borne ; her edifices erected professedly to God"'s honour, but abounding in abominations which dishonour God ; her implacable animosity towards us, and her anathemas and exe- crations perpetually poured on us from her altars. But to these things I can barely allude in passing, and must be contented to leave the foregoing picture of the Roman communion drawn by a favour- able hand, with a warning that we be not thereby deluded to miti- gate our well-founded disapprobation of Rome, much less to make her the object of our admiration and imitation. II. Vide Pars. 18—20, and 22, in Chap. XX. Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter. — 1842. II. Vide Par. 44, in Chap. VIII. ; 47, in Chap. XXI. ; and 58, in Chap. XV. * Dr. Pusey's Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, pp. 11, 12. f Art. xxxi. 486 THE CHURCH OF ROME : DANGER OF " RE-APPROPRIATINg' MusGRAVE, Bishop of Hereford. — 1842. [I.] 46. Should the lofty claim of the Church of Rome to infal- libility and universal spiritual dominion, or any other extravagant and unfounded assumption, have so far dazzled and misled any one as to make him regard her as the true Church, and long for a reunion — an exact attention to the object and express vrords of the Articles — a careful study of the scope and purpose of the Homilies — a thoughtful and candid comparison of our Liturgy with other very ancient Liturgies, as well in what in ours is omitted as in what is retained, a due consideration of your own vows at ordination and institution, will presently convince you that our Church enter- tains a very different feeling — holding that there is an irreconcileable contrariety between us, so long as under her presumed infallible head she clings to corruptions of the truth unknown to Catholic Antiquity. 47. To a simple and unsophisticated mind, those persons will seem to adopt a strange method of " keeping men from straying in the direction of Rome,"^ who insist on " the fulness and sincerity of affection which on Catholic principles we are bound to feel for that Church," and are striving to put such an interpretation on our own Articles as may make them consistent with the decrees of the Tridentine Council. See also Pars. 19, 20. 23, 24, in Chap. XXIV. ; 48, in Chap. VIII. , and 74, in Chap. I. [H.] 28. Among other marvels of the present day may be ac- counted the irreverent and unbecoming language applied to the chief promoters of the Reformation in this land. If ever men had a Catholic spirit and deserved well of their country and of mankind, if ever men in such circumstances did good service to the Church of Christ and to the cause of vital godliness, such were these men. And they ought ever to be, as indeed till of late they have ever been, regarded with grateful respect and veneration. 29. If they abolished some practices which more imaginative and ardent minds in our day would wish to have been retained, or if they did not declare the belief of some points necessary to salva- tion, which are now much insisted on, and may be indeed in them- selves venerable, it was because herein they adhered closely to the New Testament and to the very primitive Church ; not choosing to assert doctrines which could not be manifestly proved by the one, nor to recommend observances which had not the clear sanction of the latter. 80. In this respect they materially differed from those who seem to pay more deference and regard to what, by a very comprehensive '' Newman's Letter to Dr. Jelf, p. 29, — Ed. ANY OF ITS PECULIAR DOCTRINES. 487 assumption, they are pleased to call " Christian Antiquity," than to those still more early writings which are the source and fountain of all divine and necessary truth, and the sole rule of Christian Faith and practice. 31. But it is an entire mistake to suppose that now for the first time the stores of antiquity have been opened, and its treasures brought into use. For when Cranmer and his associates were com- missioned to " draw up an Order of Divine Worship," they were desired to have " respect to the pure religion of Christ taught in the Scriptures, and to the practice of the primitive Church." Acting up to the letter of their commission, when their work was finished they sent it forth, to use their own words, as " an Order for Prayer and for the Reading of the Holy Scriptures, much agree- able to the mind and purpose of the old Fathers." Thfe same claim of respect for, and by them actually paid to, the primitive Church, otcurs in at least three other passages of their work, and is fre- quently repeated in the Homilies. Nay, more than this, almost the whole of our Ritual is taken from the best ancient Liturgies ; even peculiar phrases may be traced to very early writers. So that the compilers cannot be accused of neglecting, or underrating antiquity. They had to guard, and did guard successfully, against the abuses introduced by the Church of Rome. 32. Yet, while zealous for the supremacy of Scripture, they paid all due respect to those who were the only witnesses to be found, as to the condition and practice of the Church, in the ages immedi- ately following the Apostolic age. That to those Avitnesses, in all the changes they made, they paid a marked, a deferential, an habitual respect — so far from overlooking them, is an historical fact, relative to the framers of our Liturgy, which the patrons of ancient novelties in our days cannot controvert. See also Par. 35, in Chap. IX. 78, Yet dreading any approximation to what savours of super- stition and idolatry, by whomsoever recommended, and pledged by our solemn vows to uphold and guard that Protestant Reformed Church which the Sovereign on the throne is equally bound to defend and cherish, we cannot consent to abandon or vary our principles at the bidding of any men, or by silent connivance to assist in extinguishing the light and life of that truth which the Reformation has bequeathed to our country and to mankind. 79. We would not " reappropriate" any of the peculiar Doctrines of Rome which were eschewed by the Reformers ; nor would we, as some desire, " unprotestantize" our Church, even at the hazard, on refusal, of a mighty defection — of a vast apostacy to Rome — lamentable and much to be deprecated as such an occurrence would be. See also Par. 81, iu Chap. II. 488 THE CHURCH OF ROME : REGARDED IN THE TRACTS CoPLESTON, Bishop of Llandaff. — 1842. I. Vide Pars. 7—15, in Chap. XI. 21. Again, another writer, who has not glossed over the Papal corruptions,^ and who moreover justly observes that Rome is worse now than formerly, inasmuch as she has imposed those very cor- rujitions as terms of communion, which before the Council of Trent were only taught, or tolerated, under her sanction ; and who de- clares that the Pope has no just supremacy over the whole Church, yet calls his usurpation the "ordinance of God."* Why all this tenderness for the very centre and core of corruption? Why all this hankering after her ritual and her formularies, even if they can be proved not altogether anti-scriptural and idolatrous ? for it cannot be denied that they border close upon the worst errors, and tend to mislead the ignorant into gross idolatry. 22. It is true, that in these Tracts the falsehoods of Popery are occasionally held up undisguised for rejection, and even for ab- horrence. But this, so far from being a justification of the tone in which at other times her faults are palliated and her pretensions respected, rather strikes me as carrying with it a self-condemning evidence. If she be guilty to the extent described, it is inexcusable to hold communion with her, or to court her favour. 25. Whatever may be our opinion of the Apocalyptic prophecies, as specially directed against the Church of Rome, yet if those corruptions be inherent in her, which they themselves admit, surely the spirit of that warning voice, " Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins,""-}- applies as forcibly to them as to any enormities of vice and cruelty that have ever prevailed in any seat of empire. Can any man believe that the curse and the warning relate only to the profligacy of a Babylon, or of any other great and licentious city ? and that they are not applicable, even in a superior degree, to a power practising all this fraud and iniquity in the name of our Holy Redeemer ? 24. To say of such a tyranny that it is " ordained of God," is a rash and irreverent speech. j The mere possession of power, resting on no earthly right, does not entitle it to the submission of men, as being the ordinance of God ; much less when divine authority is claimed without a shadow of right, and is vindicated by corrupting God's Word, and perverting his best gift to man ; much less can it be allowed to a Christian to throw around it the protection of God's law. For the support of Imcful government, we are taught that much evil must be quietly endured. The evil is the work of the devil, engrafted upon God's institution. But when the institution * Tract, No. 90, p. 78. t Rev. xviii. 4. X See Tract, No. 90. p. 78. 8 This writer (Mr. Newman) has, however, since retracted much of what he had said " in writing against the Roman System." See Appendix B. — Ed. WITH INDULaENCE, FONDNESS, AND REVERENCE. 489 itself is evil, when it is originally and entirely/ a profane assumption of God's name, it is not merely the abuse of the power which we regard as the act of our spiritual adversary, but the very claim and exercise of it is not protected from rebellion, like the governments of this world, by respect for God's ordinance, but it becomes a sacred duty, as part of our allegiance to a higher power, to resist and to abjure it. 25. There is undoubtedly in these Tracts an admission of various corruptions, sanctioned and enforced by the Romish Church ; but they are commonly introduced as a kind of set-oif and counterpoise to the defects alleged to exist among Protestant communions. When, however, we examine in detail the matters of complaint, even as regards Continental Churches less perfect in their con- stitution than our own, how weak in comparison of Eomish cor- ruptions are they found to be ! The absence of Episcopal Govern- ment, the interruption, lamented often by themselves, of Episcopal Ordination, the disuse of ancient Liturgies, the disputes concerning the form of administering the Holy Communion, much more than any real difference as to its nature — these are the sum and substance of defects, which seem to create a greater aversion than all the enormities, which it is needless again to enumerate, of the Romish see — its gross superstitions and idolatries, its creature-worship, its withholding of the Scriptures, its exaltation of the power of the priest, and its load of ceremonies, all contrive to rivet that power, and to hold its votaries in blind subjection. 26. Still more, when we examine their strictures on what they find wrong or defective in our own Church, so slight are the points which call for animadversion, so little are they involved in our own formularies, or even authorized by them, that were we to grant all they seem to desire, we should come indeed in outward show a little nearer to the Romish Church ; but not one particle of divine truth should we recover that is now lost among us ; not one divine commandment should we place in a clearer light, or impart to it a more effective obligation, than the institutions of our Church, if duly observed, now provide. I say, if duly observed See also Par. 20, in Chap. XXV. ; 28, in Chap. VI. ; and 30, in Chap. XX. 33. There is, moreover, in the Tracts of which I have been speaking, a tone (1 can call it by no better name) of indulgence, and even of fondness, towards the Romish Church, as if something of affection or reverence w^ere due from us, as from a child to a parent. The use of the title Holy Mother for the Church, which is an affected phrase, not authorized by Scripture or by primitive antiquity, had got such a hold upon the world during the middle ages, that any act of disobedience was regarded as impious and unnatural. I am concerned to see the phrase again employed, even by those who tender no allegiance to Rome ; for it is one of those 490 THE REFORMERS REVILED. HILDEBRAND symptoms which inadvertently betray a vestige of false opinion, lurking under an apparently amiable sentiment. Let us pray for Rome, that she may renounce her corruptions, — let us hold out the right hand of fellowship to all members of her communion who are willing to join us, — but let us carefully abstain from every appear- ance of a disposition to think lightly of her sins. See also Pars. 34, 35, in Chap. XX. ; 40—43, in Chap. XXV. ; 44—49, in Chap. XX. II. Vide Pars. 14, 15, in Chap. XL ; 32. 44. and 49, in Chap. XX. Blomfield, Bishop of London. — 1842. [L] 16. What real good is to be effected by any attempts to make our Reformed Church appear to symbolize with that from which she has been separated, in some of the very points which formed the ground of that separation, I am at a loss to imagine. Desirable as is the unity of the Catholic Church, lamentable as have been in some directions the consequences of its interruption, earnestly as we ought to labour and pray for its restoration, we can never consent to reinstate it, by embracing any one of the errors which we have renounced. 17. Yet there is no other method than that of embracing all those errors, by which a reconciliation could be effected between our own Church and that of Rome, which, when it decreed its own in- fallibility, cut off the possibility of its abandoning a single erroneous opinion which it has once formally sanctioned.* If, therefore, we are to seek for unity in a reconciliation with Rome, we must be prepared to traverse the entire space which lies between us and the Vatican ; for not a hair"'s breadth will the rulers or doctors of that Church advance to meet us.-f* Read the recently-published Letter of Dr. Wiseman, on Catholic Unity; and you will see that he stands at the door, and holds it open for those amongst us who profess, as * " Touch that (infallibility), and you shake the whole building of Popery, even to the foundation ; that is, the Papacy itself. To secure that, they are brought under this miserable necessity, of holding all for Catholic faith that is once received into the Roman Church." Bp. Lloyd (of St. Asaph), Sermon on the 5th November ; an excel- lent manual for those who wish to know what the I'eligion of Rome really is. It has been lately republished by Mr. Brogden, in his useful Collection of Discourses on the Liturgy and Ritual of the Church. + The Church of Rome " has displayed so systematic a policy to make no concession to the Reformers, either in matters of belief, wherein, since the Council of Ti'ent, she could in fact do nothing, or even as far as possible, in matters of discipline, as to which she judged, perhaps rightly, that her authority would be impaired by the precedent of concession, without any proportionate advantage : so unvarying in all cases has been her determination to yield nothing except through absolute force, and to elude force itself by every subtlety, that it is astonishing how honest men on the opposite side (men, that is, who seriously intended to preserve any portion of their avowed tenets, not such as Montague or Heylin,) could ever contemplate the possibility of a recon- ciliation."—//a//am'« ConstitJilional. History, ii. p. 99. When M. Antonius de Dominis, who was not an honest man, professed his intention of attempting such a reconciliation, Bishop Morton " dehorted him : for the Italians would never be persuaded to retract an error." — Bishop Hackefs Life of Archbishop Williams, p. 103. His account of the whole matter is very instructive. AND BECKET HELD UP TO ADMIRATION. 491 he says, to be conscious " that reunion with the Holy See will give vigour and energy to a languid and sickly existence, and who must be prepared to go to the full extent of sacrifice of personal feelings, necessary to accomplish so sacred a purpose " He beckons them in with gracious words of commendation, but not a step does he advance beyond the threshold to meet them ; not an error does he promise to renounce ; not even a glimmering hope does he hold out of any reformation. I believe that his expectations will be dis- appointed; that the number of those who are prepared to aposta- tize to an idolatrous Church, is very inconsiderable. But a greater evil than the apostacy of a few, or even of many, would be the suc- cess of any attempt to establish the fact, not indeed of a perfect identity, but of something more than a sisterly resemblance be- tween the two Churches ; and to prove, that a member of the An- glican Church can consistently hold all the errors of the Roman, except one or two of the most flagrant; and even them, it may be, with certain qualifications.^ 62. It is a subject of concern, that while they protest in cautious and measured terms against some of the errors of that Church, they should abstain from the plain, uncompromising assertion of her un- scriptural, or rather her anti-scriptural character; and spend theii lamentations on their own National Church, as sitting apart from the mother of Churches, and in bondage to the powers of this world, rather than upon that system of corruption and tyranny which drove her from communion with Rome, and which is still main- tained by Rome in theory, and, as far as circumstances will permit, in practice also. 63. Again, it is matter of shame and grief to us, and of exultation to our adversaries, that while such men as Hildebrand and Eecket^ are held up to admiration,* men who, if the}' were sincere, were yet the authors and abettors of evil, the firebrands of discord, and the * An office in honour of Hildebrand (Gregory VII.) was added, by order of Bene- dict XIII., to the Roman Breviary, in which he is praised especially as " having with- stood, as a valiant wrestler, the impious efforts of the Emperor Henry ; for having de- prived him of his kingdom, and liberated his subjects from their allegiance." This ad- dition was objected to by some of the Bishops in France, and suppressed by an Arret of the Tarliament of Paris, in 1735. 9 See Note 3, p. 145, supra Ed. 1 " The only good Reformers have been ascetics ; Elijah, St. John the Baptist and again, the lights of the Church in the middle ages, Hildebrand, Beckkt, and' Innocent." — British Critic, July, 1841, Art. on Jewel, p. 15. " The last quotation we shall inflict upon our readers concerns a person, rather than a doctrine. Harding had said, ' It was a most gracious gift of God, that He gave this Thomas (a Becket) grace to die for his honour.' Answer : ' For his honour say you? Now, for shame, Rlr. Harding ! . . . The very true cause of Becket 's death' was his ambition and \i\.miy, and ivilfulmai7itenance of munifei'ttvickedness in the Clergy (! ) (sic in B. C.) to the great dishonour of (iod's holy name.' — D. of A., p. 295. One is hardly restrained from indignation, on hearing the blessed Saints and Martyrs of the Most High thus slandered by these teachers of yesterday .'" — British Critic^ July, 1841 Art. on Jewel, p. 42 Ed. ' j> > 492 THE CHURCH OF ROME : DUTY OF PROTESTING subverters of civil government, reproach and censure should be cast upon those holy fathers, — to whom, under God, we owe our deli- verance from an intolerable yoke, — Cranmer,and Ridley, and Jewell; as though the occasional errors into which they may have fallen, under circumstances of difficulty which we are Avholly unable to ap- preciate, were not a thousand times outweighed by their services to the cause of God's truth and of his Church. 64. I am far from approving of those public controversial dis- cussions which, by exaggerated statements, sure to be made in the heat of the moment, and admitting of easy refutation, tend to pro- mote, rather than check, the growth of Popery among us. Nor do I think it consistent with truth, to deny that the Church of Rome is a branch, however corrupt, of the Church Catholic ; or with charity, to speak more strongly in condemnation of its faults, than the sacred interests of true religion require ; but I hold it to be still more inconsistent with both truth and charity, to gloss over its deadly errors, and to smooth the way for their readmission. 65. Let us not scruple to say of that Church, not for her con- demnation, but in our own vindication and defence, and for a warn- ing to those who are in danger of being deceived by her delusive attractions, that she is in a state of schism, if not of apostacy ; that she has foi'saken the true faith, and defiled herself with superstition and idolatiy. And let us speak all the more plainly, seeing that she again employs, as her chosen defenders and emissaries, a society of men, bound together by a vow to uphold, by all methods and at all hazards, not Christianity, but Popery ; and who, in accordance with that vow, have framed and carried out a system, so hideous in its principles, so mischievous in its effects, that it well de- serves to be described as having embodied the very " mystery of iniquity .'' * * The Arret of the Parliament of Paris, dated August 6, 1761, condemned the writings of Bellarmine, Molina, Suarez, Escobar, and others, to be burnt by the com- mon hangman, " comme seditieux, destructifs de toute la morale Chre'tienne, enseignant une doctrine meurtriere non-seulement centre la surete de la vie des citoyens, mais meme centre celle des personnes sacrees des rois." Another Arret of March 5, 1762, spoke of the Jesuits' doctrines, " dent les conse'quences iroient a detruire la loi natu- relle, cette regie des mocurs que Dieu meme a imprime dans les coeurs des horames, et par consequent a rompre tous les liens de la socie'te civile, en authorisant le vol, le men- songe, le parjure, I'impuritd la plus criminelle, et ge'ne'ralement toutes les passions, et tous les crimes, par I'enseignement de la compensation occulte, des Equivoques, des restrictions mentales, du probabilisme, et du pe'che philosophique, et a de'truire tous les sentimens de PhumanitE parmi les hommes, en favorisant I'homicide et la parricide," &c. On the 6th August, 1762, the Parliament proceeded to decree the expulsion of the Jesuits, " comme une secte d'impies, fanatiques, de corrupteurs;" and they subjoined to the Arret a regular chronological chain of the crimes, confusions, corruptions, re- volts, and murders, which that Order had occasioned in the countries where it was established, down to the very time of its expulsion. My attention was directed to these remarkable documents many years ago by the late learned and venerable Dean of Wm- chester, Dr. Rennell. Yet this is the Order which was re-established, together with the Inquisition, by Pope Pius VII., whose predecessor, Clement XIV., had described them as hostes Immani generis : and this is the Order which directs the education of a great part of the people of Ireland, and of many of the sons of the Roman Catholic nobility and gentry in England. For fuller information respecting the Jesuits, the AGAINST NOT TO BE LOST SIGHT OF. 493 66. The Church of Rome has added to and debased the Apos- tolical "form of sound words ;" has superseded the Apostolical suc- cession ; has mutilated and corrupted the Apostolical communion. The character of the Church itself is not altered by that of a few, or many, of its individual members, whose personal graces and virtues at once modify and recommend the principles which they profess. There is scarcely any error of Doctrine, however extrava- gant or dangerous, which has not been held by some persons, of unquestioned piety and irreproachable conduct.^ Against such a Church we are bound continually to lift up the voice of solemn re- monstrance ; and, far from being ashamed of the name of Pro- testant, we ought to shew, that a sincere and immovable attachment to the Catholic Church, in its constitution, discipline, authority, privileges, and offices, is perfectly compatible with, or rather is itself a practical act of protestation against the errors and corruptions of the Papal Church. 67. And surely the duty of so protesting is not to be lost sight of, at a time when that Church is boldly reasserting its pretensions amongst us, and affecting to look for the speedy return of our own Reformed Church into its maternal bosom. Its errors are not less opposed to Gospel truth and holiness now, than they were at the time of the Reformation. The doctrines and practices which ren- dered necessary our separation from that Church, are still retained by her, unchanged, unmitigated, unqualified ; nor are the differences between us, in essential matters, less at the present moment, than they were in the times of Cranmer or of Jewell, of Taylor or of Bull. We are far from presuming to assert the absolute perfect- ness of our own Church ; but it is not in retracing any of the steps by which she has receded from the Church of Rome, that she is to be made more perfect ; nor by attempting to remodel her upon the Doctrine and Discipline, not of the primitive Church, but of the Church of the fourth or fifth century, infected as it was with the remains of gnostic superstition, and the inventions of enthusiastic or ambitious men. II. Vide Par. 63, supra. Mountain, Bishop of Montreal. — 1842. [I,] 14. Next, with regard to the danger of passing the limits of truth. reader may consult Les Jesmtestels qiCils ont ete, or the Co/lectio Onusculorum, Bremse, 1768, torn. i. p. 677. 2 " Look at the worst heresies that have ever sprung up in the Christian world, have not their promulgators been honest and conscientious men ? — that is, men who said what they helieved, and persuaded themselves that they held the truth, and were bound to publish it."— Facet's Tales of the Village, p. 106. See also quotation from Dr. Pusey's Tract, 97, — Individual Holiness no Test of Religious Truth— p. 133, supra. — Ed. 494 THE CHURCH OF ROME I ITS TRUE CHARACTER 15. I do confess that I have latterly seen with dismay the mani- festations of a tendency in certain quarters towards errors, against which, so long as God shall permit the Church of Rome to stand, I trust that we shall never cease, although in all charity of spirit, to protest, if we have breath to do it, and in this sense to call our- selves Protestants. Manifestations of so unequivocal a character, that although the leaders of the party in which they have appeared are men, upon many grounds, amply entitled to respect,* and their more violent and bitter opponents are, upon many grounds, no less open to reprehension, I have been almost prompted to cry out in my spirit. Quo, quo scelesti ruitis ! — what is the point to which you are blindly rushing on? — is it possible, is it really possible, that you are making even seeming advances to return to the arms of Rome as your mother? 1 6. That such a tendency is manifested, may be considered as sufficiently evinced by the fact that the Romanists in this country and elsewhere not only exult in the anticipations which they build, generally, upon the character of the movement in question, (for this they might possibly have been led to do by such a mere idle cry of Popery as is often raised to serve some passing purpose,) but, more than this, support their anticipations by large and frequent extracts from the writings and correspondence, or notices of the proceedings of men belonging to the party here in view.-j- 17. And yet all this mischief has arisen from urging to an ex- treme, principles which in themselves are salutary and correct ; and it is not to be counteracted by throwing down the barriers of Church principles, and letting in unawares upon the Church a flood of loose practices and latitudinarian opinions ; on the contrary, it is by this, more perhaps than by any other means, that we should strengthen the hands of Rome, in combating whose pretensions we abandon our special vantage ground, when we decline to take our proper stand, and to assert our distinctive character as Churchmen. We have no business to make approaches either to Romanism on the one hand, or to Dissent upon the other. * I cannot see, however, even with reference to the leaders themselves, that any consciousness of inferiority to these writers, on our own part, either disqualifies, or should withhold us from making a stand against what we are satisfied, upon clear grounds, which we can clearly state, to be of hurtful tendency in their writings. •f" It may be proper to attach some qualification to this remark ; for it is by no means intended to say, generally, that in the exhibition of any quotation, or the colour given to any circumstance, which can be turned to the advantage of the Romish system by its defenders, it is to be taken for granted that their inferences or representations will be sustained by an examination of the context in the one case, or a reference to the details of fact in the other. The real existence, however, of that bias in favour of Romanism which is charged upon the party here in question, may be ascertained by those who have no access to the mass of their publications, without having recourse to the vauntings of the Church of Rome. It appears very decidedly in the copious extracts which are given from those publicationa in the recent Charge of the Lord Bishop of Down and Conuor, and Dromore. described by the bishop of oxford. 495 CBrien, Bishop of Ossory, Ferns, and Leighlin. — 1842. I. Vide Pars. 4, in Chap. XXIV. ; and 99, 106, 111, 112, note ; 120—122. 140— 148. 153, 154, in Chap. IV. II, Vide Pars. 92, 99, 100, 111, 114—117. 127—129. 150, 158_161, in Chap, IV. Bagot, Bishop of Oxford. — 1842. [I.] 4.3. If, with me, you believe that there is an almost incal- culable amount of error and superstition in the Church of Rome ; ^ ■ — if, with me, you believe that she has not altered one jot or tittle of her ancient character ; — if, with me, you believe her to be still as subtle, as dangerous, and as false as she has ever been, as shame- less a perverter of the truth, and as cruel a persecutor ; — if, with me, you feel that any attempt at union with her, while she is what she is, is to be deprecated utterly, and that all concession must come from her, not from us ; — if, with me, you have (because you know her real character) a deep and increasing dread of her work- ings and artifices ; — if, with me, you look on her as schismatical and anti-Christian; — if, with me, you feel that our own Church is pure in Doctrine, Apostolic in her Ministry, and that, if a man will live as her Prayer-Book would have him live, he will not miss of his salvation ; you will be more than ever zealous to keep those Avho have been baptized among us within our pale, and you will leave nothing undone, which the sense of your tremendous respon- sibilities, which your feelings of devotedness and affection can suggest, towards preserving those of your flocks who are most ex- posed to them, from the perils of these dangerous days. See also Pars. 36 and 41, in Chap. XXV. [II.] 32. And here I must further observe, that there has ap- peared to me a lamentable want of judgment, and I cannot but say of charity and humiUty too, in the writings of some who of late have come forward as the advocates of Catholic principles. When a man anathematizes Protestantism,* he may very possibly 3 See a different picture drawn by Mr. Paget, his Lordship's Chaplain, note 5, p. 482, supra. Mr. Paget asserts, in another of his Tractarian Novels, tliat " the accession and reign of Queen Mary were great and positive advantages to tlie Church of England"! — Mi/ford JMalvoisin, p. 59. \Vhat would they have been to Mr. Facet's patron had he lived in those days, and borne the above faithful and uncompromising a testimony against the Church of Rome ! — Ed. ^ " In conclusion, I once more publicly profess myself a Catholic, and a member of a Catholic Church, and say Anathema to the principle of Protestantism, (which I regard as identical with the principle of Dissent,) and to all \ts forms, sects, and deno- minations, especially to those of the Lutherans and Calvinists, and British and Ame- rican Dissenters. Likewise to all persons, who knowingly and willingly, and under- standing ivhat they do, shall assert, either for themselves or for the Church of England, the Principle of Protestantisai, or maintain the Church of England to have one and the same common religion with any or all of the various forms and sects of Pro- testantism, or shall communicate themselves in the Temples of Protestant sects, or give the communion to their members, or go about to establish any intercommunion between our Churcli and them, otherwise than by bringing them, iu the first instance, 496 THE reformation: intense hatred of mean nothing more than that he refers Dissenters to the judgment of God, — no doubt it was so in the case to which I allude, — but not one man in a thousand will understand this ; to the world, who re- ceive words in their common acceptation, he will seem to be in- voking judgments on whatever is not Popish. And I do say, that men ought to pause and consider what they are about, before they use language which is sure to be misinterpreted. Really, the reck- lessness to the mischiefs which arise from expressions of this de- scription, is quite inexcusable. 35. Again, I most strongly deprecate the tone which some, mis- taking their position and their duties, have thought fit to adopt with respect to the Reformation and the Reformers.^ No doubt that in some, and these not unimportant respects, as in the loss of Church discipline, we suffered by that great convulsion. There was much fearful crime, much iniquitous sacrilege, much done that had been better left undone. So likewise the Reformers were but frail, fallible men, compassed about with many infirmities, sometimes halting (how could it be otherwise?) between two opinions, and sometimes of course erring in judgment. Still we are their debtors to renounce their errors, and promise a true obedience for the future to the entire faith and discipline of the CathoHc and Apostolical Episcopate, — to all such, I say Ana- thema." Letter to the Rev. C. P. Golu/Mi/, 4'c-, from William Palmer, M.A., Fellow AND Tutor of St. Mary Magdaleiie College, Orford, and Deacon in the Anglican Church, page 12, 13. Compare with the above, the Charges of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1840, par. 1, p. 334, and 2, p. 473 ; also, Charges of the Bishops of Oxford, 1838, par. 9, in Chap. XXIII. ; Exeter, 1839, par. 47, in Chap. XX. ; Winchester, 1841, par. 3, p. 361, snpra, &c. — Ed. 5 Professor Garbett, with no less eloquence than truth, thus describes the treat- ment which the Reformers and the Reformation have experienced at the hands of the Tractarians. " One thing is quite evident, that from whatever cause it may have originated, not only is the ultimate development of the system practicalbj Romanist, but at an early period, the standing poijit of the u'riters — the view which they took of every thing — was essentially Romanist likewise. From hence arose that feeling — without an example in the Church of England, even in her most Romanizing theologians — of intense hatred to the very name of the Reformation, and a systematic depreciation of the Reformers by every weapon which controversy can supply ; from sarcastic insinuation, to the most injurious assertion •, every thing that could debase their motives in the eyes of men, and strip them of that prescriptive veneration which made their memories a sacred thing to the Church and to the nation. Hence comes that, which is a very remarkable characteristic of works so distinguished for intellect and extensive learning — an absence of any thing like an extended knowledge, in their totality, of the principles of the great men whom they have attempted to degrade ; or, of those works into which they have poured their hearts and mighty minds, for the permanent instruction of the Church, There is not unfrequently a perversion of their Doctrines, and misrepresentation of their views ; and, as they, whose moral greatness and exertions for God's truth, had made them the deliverers of mankind from an insupportable tyranny, are thus held up, as schismatical disturbers of the Church ; so their writings are, of course, heretical perversions of the Gospel. All is partial, all is one-sided in this; no comprehensiveness of view, no candour, no real discussion of great questions; but a getting up, from the right hand and the left, of every thing that could minister support to foregone con- clusions."— Garbett's Bampton Lectures, 1842. Lect. viii. p. 482. — En. OF THE VERY NAME BY THE TRACTARIANS. 497 to au incalculable amount : and if, perhaps, we have lost some little through them, or rather in spite of their wishes to the contrary, we have lost far less than our sins deserved : we have even now, through their instrumentality, more blessings within our reach than we care to avail ourselves of; and if, I must say it once more, if we were not deficient in humility, we should be so grateful for what we have, that we might almost, perhaps, begin to hope, that in His good time God would make up to us what hitherto we have been without. See also Par. 3G, in Chap. XXV. Denison, Bishop op Salisbury, — 1842. [I.] 7. It would have been well if the evil had thus been alto- gether repressed ; but I lament to say that the pages of another periodical have continued to teem with matter justly open to the most grave objections, both in point of sentiment and language, and tending grievously to unsettle the minds of the members of our Church. It is due to the distinguished individuals whose names have been most prominently brought forward in reference to these discussions, to say that it is understood that they are not at all re- sponsible for the periodical in question, with which they have not any connexion.^ But it much behoves those who are concerned in it, to consider carefully how far various articles which have even of late appeared in its pages, are such as ought to proceed from parties who owe allegiance to the Church of England, and are bound by her protests against the errors of Home. 8. It savours of arrogance for men to presume to place themselves in a position extraneous to the Church to which they belong ; and fixing their critic's chair in the wide regions of Catholicism, from it, boldly and irreverently, to examine, to question, and to censure, if they do not finally condemn, that Church to which they owe, and in general terms profess to pay, loving obedience and filial respect. Who shall be surprised if teaching, conceived in such a spirit, has in some minds a different effect from that which I am bound to believe its authors would desire ; and that the Communion of the Church of England should be quitted for that of Rome, by men who have been accustomed to hear whatever imperfections there may be in the one industriously searched out and invidiously magnified, and * It is well knowai that the British Critic was, at the time of the delivery of his Lord- ship's Charge, under the immediate superintendence of JIr. Newman's brother-in-law, the Reverend Thomas Mozley, late Fellow of Oriel College. Ma. Palmek, (of Worcester College,) in his N'arrafire of Events, published in 1J543, asserts that it had then, " for two years, been under the influence of those who are uncertain in their alle- giance to the Church of En- P- 73. t lb. 141. § lb. 145. * Mr. Keble has written strongly to the same effect iu his Letter to Mr. Justice Coleridge. " It certainly seems as if, to a person really reverencing the Bishops as the Apostles'" successors, there might be declarations of opinion not synodical, ivhich ivotild oblige him morally, if not legally : as, for example — if all our Prelates should severally declare, ex cathedra, their adhesion to the view which has just been expressed at Oxford ; or if not all, yet such a majority, as to leave no reasonable doubt ivhat the decision of a Synod would be. In such a case, would it not be incumbent on those who abide by the Catholic exposition, yet wished to retain their ministry, to protest in some such way, as that the very silence of our Bishops permitting them to go on, would amount to a virtual dispensa- tion as regarded them ? "More especially, if the Bishop, -under whom we ourselves minister, did, in any way, lay on us his commands to the same effect : (as a public official declaration of his opinion would amount to a virtual comnunid, and ought, I imagine, to be obeyed as such :) these are considerations, wliich would make our position a very delicate one indeed. " — pp. 26, 27, 28. "It is very possible that I may overlook something which materially affects this question, and which may be plain enough to other persons ; btit it does seem to me, that in the case supposed, (of a public censure, and dispensation refused,) loyalty to the Church, her Creed, and her Order both, could only he maintained by nuc of the tivo fol- lowing courses : either we should continue in our ministry, respectfully staling our case, and making appeal to the Metropolitan, or, as Archbishop Cranmer did, to the Synod, and that publicly — which course one should be slow to adopt, except in a matter which con- cerned the very principles of Faith, and of Church Communion : — or else we should tender to our superiors our relinquishment of the post ivhich ice held under them in the Church, and retire either into some other diocese, or, if all our Bishops were agreed, into Lay Communion. . ..." It seems on the whole, that with the exception of such extreme cases as I just now put, of positive heresy in one of the Most Sacred Order, — this resource of Lay Communion, painful and trying as it must be in most cases, both in a temporal and spiritual sense, irould be the only one properly open to us.''"' — Ibid. pp. 29, 30. The scheme of retiring " into some other Diocese," to teach those Doctrines forbid- den by the Bishop whose jurisdiction they renounce, affords a curious specimen of the Reverence professed by the Tractarians for Episcopal authority, as well as of their views on the subject of Church Unity and Discipline See " Kesignation and Lay Com* munion," p. 16 Ed. 536 INTERPRETATION OF THE ARTICLES. objected to any of us as a grave error, that we hold that the Arti- cles are to be interpreted according to the teaching of the Church Catholic:" If I rightly apprehend the argument here, a clergyman may preach or teach what manifestly contradicts the " true, usual, literal meaning"* of the Articles, if he thinks he can support his doctrine by the teaching of the Church Catholic. This obliges me to say, that I understand, the Articles subscribed officially before me, as Articles, not of the Universal Church of Christ, but of the United Church of England and Ireland, of which the subscriber is a member. They do not therefore admit of inter- pretation borrowed from any remote or undefined authority, pro- fessing to be that of a church calling itself, or imagined to be, the Church Catholic. But they " contain the true Doctrine of the Church of England agreeable to God's Word." And we " receive them on the authority of our immediate Mother." We cannot con- sistently evade that obligation, by appealing to the authority of " the Jerusalem from above, who is the'^ common " Mother of us all."t Lest, therefore, silence should be misconstrued, I think it needful to say that in my judgment a clergyman would be departing from the sense of the Articles to which he subscribes, if he were to speak ■ of THE Church as " a. life-giving ordinance of Divine appointment, one vast Sacrament ;"| and not as " a congregation of faithful men." — Art. xix. To speak of the Romish Church as having erred in matters of faith so as to imply that it is no longer in error. § — Art. xix. To speak of the CEcumenical Councils as infallible, because the term used in Art. xxi. is not (Ecumenical^ hni general.\\ To speak of Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, or Ex- treme Unction, as in any sense to be " counted Sacraments of the Gospel."ir — Art. xxv. To speak of " the consecrated elements as not remaining simply what they were before, and what to sight they seem."^ ** — Art. xxviii. To speak of the celebration of the Lord's Supper, as a propitia- tory sacrifice oifered by the priest. — Art. xxxi. " An offering for the quick and the dead for the remission of sin." "[*•(* To speak of Purgatory, Pardon, Adoration of Images or Relics, Invocation of Saints, as only " condemned according to the Romish Doctrine on these points," and otherwise admissible. — Art. xxii.jj * Prefatory Declaration to the Articles. f See Letter, p. 12. J British Critic, No. LIX., p. 2G. § Dr. Pusey to Dr. Jelf, p. 22. || lb. 24. Tract 90, p. 21. II lb. 32. Tract, p. 43. ^* lb. p. 44. ft lb. 60. Tract, p. 63. %X Tract, p. 25. 9 See Note 1, p. 414._Ed. ELABORATE SOPHISTRY OF TRACT 90. 537 To speak of Justification by Faith, as if Baptism and newness of heart concurred towards our Justification : or as if " a number of means go to effect it."" — Art. xi.* To speak of " Forgiveness, or works of mercy," as " avaiUng to obtain remission of sins from God." — Art. xii. xiii.f It does certainly require an elaborate system of argument, such as is attempted in the writings referred to, in order to prove that persons holding the opinions here excepted against, are consistent members of the Church of England. Maltby, Bishop of Durham, — 1841. [An elaborate attempt has been made to explain away the real meaning of our Articles, and infuse into them a more kindly spirit of accommodation to the opinions and practices of the Church of Rome.] See Par. 9, in Chap. XX. Monk, Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. — 1841. 6. The perusal of the "Remarks upon the Thirty-nine Articles" has filled me with astonishment and concern. The ostensible object of this Tract is to shew, that a person adopting the Doctrines of the Council of Trent, with the single exception of the Pope's Supre- macy, might sincerely and conscientiously sign the Articles of the Church of England. But the real object at which the writer seems to be labouring, is to prove that the differences in Doctrine which separate the Churches of England and Rome will, upon examina- tion, vanish. Upon this point much ingenuity, and, I am forced to add, much sophistry is exerted ; and I think exerted in vain : it is well known that the Articles Avere framed in a great degree with the Aaew of purifying the Church from Romish abuses, and that the framers themselves were those ever-honoured martyrs, who having accomplished the good work of Reformation wuth unex- ampled forbearance and discretion, sealed the testimony of their sincerity by cheerfully submitting to the flames of Romish perse- cution. LoNGLEY, Bishop of Ripon. — 1841. 8. There is one more subject, my Rev. Brethren, on which so much discussion has recently arisen, that you may, I think, fairly expect some expression of opinion upon it before I close this ad- dress. I allude to the legitimate mode of interpreting our Articles. Now it will be most freely granted, that our Articles do leave some questions open, where the Word of God itself leaves them unde- cided ; and I think that he does no good service to Religion or the Church, who labours to give a more stringent interpretation to their language, than the expressions will fairly warrant. Nay, farther, • Tract 90, p. 13. Letter, 141. t Tract, p. 16. Letter, 145. 538 INTERPRETATION OF THE ARTICLES, I would say that those who strive thus unnecessarily to limit the terms of Communion, are the real schismatics, not those who may find themselves forced beyond the pale of the Church by restrictions unduly imposed. It is clear, however, that there must be limits beyond which this forbearance cannot be carried ; and I confess, that when I find it asserted, that "the Ai'ticles are to be received, not in the sense of the framers, but (as far as the wording will admit, or any ambiguity requires it) in the one Catholic sense,"* the integrity of subscription appears to be endangered. In the case either of oath or subscription, the animus irnponentis, by which I mean the sense of the framer, should surely be the index of the sense in which it is to be made or taken. There can be but one true and legitimate meaning to an Article, and that must be the meaning intended by the framer.^ Nor should I myself feel justified in taking advantage of any ambiguity in the wording, and afiixing what, according to my own notion, might be the Catholic sense to it, until I had found it impossible to ascertain what was the special sense originally designed by the authors : for, knowing the respect in which our Reformers held Catholic Antiquity, I should believe that the^ were more likely to have correctly embodied that sense in it, than / as an individual should be, to discover that sense for myself. 9. To apply this principle to the interpretation of the Twenty- second Article. The question is, whether in pronouncing against the Romish Doctrine of Purgatory, Invocation of Saints, &c., it was ever intended to condemn every Doctrine on those subjects. The point first to be settled, is, what is meant by the term "i^omisA." Now it has been contended, that as the Article was penned before the decrees of the Council of Trent on these specific subjects were published, it could not have been directed against these decrees, and that in consequence, the Tridentine Doctrine thereupon could not have been contemplated by its authors. This may be literally true; but it nevertheless does not appear to leave a correct impression as to the real bearing of the case. For if we proceed to inquire how we are to account for the substitution of the term " Romish Doc- * See the Rev. Mr. Neivman's Letter to Dr. Jelf^ in explanation of No. 90 of the Tracts for the Times, p. 24, second edition. ' " If there be no reason to the contrary, the natural meaning of the words, as at first drawn up, may be taken without hesitation as the meaning of the Church, or State, or University, calling us to sign them. Still our oUhiatmi (sic) so to take tliera, comes from our relation to the imposers, not the compilers ; or as Mr. Newman has most concisely worded it, ' We luive no duties towards their framers.'' " " In the Preface to the Articles it is said, that we are to understand them in their grammatical sense ; which I interpret into a permission to t/iii/k notliinc/ of the opinion of the framers.''^ — Froude's Remains, vol. i. p. 363 Keble's Letter to Mr. Justice Coleridye, pp. 18, 19. — See also Charge of tiie Bishop of Winchester, infra, p. 540 Ed. 2 Dr. Hook, who expresses his "agreement in the very principle advocated in Tract 90,"' refers to "Mr. Newman's explanatory Letter to Dr. Jelf, as to"Ais "mind, perfectly satisfactory.'"' — Letter to the Bishop of Ripon, p. 6. — Ed. WHAT IS MEANT BY THE " ROMISH " DOCTRINE. 5S9 trine," for " the Doctrine of the School-authors," as it stood in the former copy,* we shall find, as Bishop Barrel tells us,*f* that when the Articles were first published, the body of the Roman Church had not avowedly espoused the errors which that Article was in- tended to condemn ; so that in the first instance, some writers, anxious to soften matters, had thrown the blame of them on the School-authors ; but before the publication of our present Articles, the Decree and Canons concerning the Mass had passed at Trent, in which most of the heads of this Article are either afiirmed or supposed ; though the formal Decree concerning them was not. passed till some months after these Articles were published. In looking, therefore, at the animus with which the Article was framed, it would seem that its authors, conceiving they had now sufiicient evidence that the Church of Rome had authoritatively identified itself with errors, which, through Christian forbearance, had before been laid at the door of others, proceeded to condemn the Doctrine of Purgatory, &c., as thus far sanctioned by that Church. Where- fore we must, as I conclude, in subscription to the Twenty-second Article, condemn the doctrine, that the sins committed after Bap- tism, even of those whose eternal punishment is remitted for the sake of Christ's merits, must be expiated, either by acts of penance in this life, or in a state of suft'ering and torment beyond the grave: this being, as far as I can collect, what is meant by the Romish Doc- trine of Purgatory ; but I can scarcely suppose that any one ever imagined himself precluded by this subscription, from holding ani/ opinion respecting an intermediate state, in which, possibly, the spirits of just men may repose from their labours without suffering^'l or, indeed, from entertaining any sentiment not included within the above definition of the Romish Purgatory. And so, in like manner, with the rest of the heads of the Article. Having ascertained what was the Doctrine respecting the Invocation of Saints, to which the Church of Rome was held to be committed at the time the Article was penned, I should feel myself bonnd to subscribe in that sense, which I believe to be the legitimate and true one ; and while I should never imagine that a mere figurative and poetical apostrophe to the departed, without any approach to prayer, was prohibited * See the Twenty-third Article of King Edward VI., in 1552. -|- See the first paragraph of liis Expo.sition of the Twenty-second Article. + That Bishop Jeremy Taylor did not conceive such an opinion to be inconsistent with subscription to this Article, or at variance witli a condemnation of the Romish Purgatory, is manifest from the following passage in his " Dissuasion from Popery," vol. X. of his works, London edition, 1822. " There was also another Doctrine verij generally received by the Fathers, which greatly destroys the Roman Purgato-y. Sextus Severus says, and he says very true, that Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Victorinus Martyr, Prudentius, St. Chrysostom, Arethas, Euthinius, and St. Bernard, did all affirm that before the day of judgment, the souls of men are kept in secret receptacles, reserved into the sentence of the great day, and that before then no man receives according to his works done in this life ; ice do not interpose'''' (the Bishop goes on to say) "in t/i/s opinion, to say that it is true or false, probable or im- probable." He evidently considered it an open question. I have merely adduced it as au illustration of such, without in any way intending to give my own adhesion to it. 540 INTERPRETATION OF THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES. by it, (seeing that in Holy Scripture we meet with such apostrophes to angels and spirits, to the souls of the righteous, and even to inanimate objects,*) yet it surely can never do good service to the cause of that pure religion which has been committed to our keeping, to speak in such a way either of this or any kindred practice, as shall encourage its adoption. There may be refine- ments, and subtle distinctions discernible to highly cultivated minds, that are imperceptible to the less exercised intellect of the simple and unlearned : and practices which may have been occasionally and incidentally adopted by holy men of old, without apprehension of injury, because their great liability to corruption had never yet been witnessed, will surely be avoided by those, whom history and experience have since taught this important lesson. Sumner, Bishop of Winchester.— 1841. [There is ground again for fear if .... we put Interpre- tations on our Articles at variance with what has been generally received as the intentions of their compilers, and inconsistent with the Royal declaration that " no man shall put his own sense or comment to be the meaning."]-]* See Par. 9, in Chap XVIII. Beresford, Archbishop of Armagh. — 1842. 1. Having, in my Charge last year, expressed my disapprobation of the mode of interpreting the Articles of Religion, which was put forward by the authors of The Tracts for the Titnes, I do not think it necessary to revert to that subject now. 2. In this country, where we have constantly before our eyes a practical exhibition of the superstition, into which the principles of the Church of Rome lead, and must ever lead, the simple-minded * See the Song of the Three Children, and the 148th Psalm. •f* " No man shall either print or preach to draw the Article aside any way, but shall submit to it in the plain and full meaning thereof ; and shall not put his own sense or comment to be the meaning of the Article, but shall take it in the literal aud gramma- tical sense." Royal Declaration prefixed to the Articles. It would seem difficult to frame language more suited to the case, if it were desired now to draw up a declaration condemnatory of the reasoning employed in Tract 90. , " Whereas it is usual at this day to make the particular belief of the writers their true Interpretation, I would make the belief of the Catholic Church such." .... " I would say the Articles are received, not in the sense of their framers,^ but (as far as the wording will admit or any ambiguity requires it) in the one Catholic sense." — Letter to Dr. Jelf, by the Author of Tract 90. p. 24. " I would do what our Reformers in the sixteenth century did I would do the same thing now, if I could ; I would not change the Articles, I would add to them •, add protests against the Erastianism and latitudinarianism which have incrusted them. I would append to the Catechism a section on the power of the Church." " Corruptions are pouring in which, sooner or later, will need a Second Reformation." ^Tract 41, pp. 3. 12. See also Tract 38, p. 2. 3 See note 1, p. 538, supra. — Ed. TRACT 90 : ITS DISHONOURABLE SOPHISTRY. 541 and ignorant poor of that Communion, we are in less danger of adopting a style of language respecting those principles, which would palliate them, if not recommend them, to our parishioners. In England, where these practical results of Romanism are not so distinctly seen, and where the memory of them has faded from the minds of the people, there is not so powerful a check administered to the speculations of men who live in the seclusion of their Col- leges, and thence send forth their views of the refined construction that may be put on Roman Catholic Foi-mularies of worship and de- finitions of Doctrine. But it was long since remarked by the "ju- dicious" Hooker, that " in controversies between us and the Church of Rome, that which they practise, is, many times, even according to the very grossness of that which the vulgar sort conceiveth ; when that which they teach to maintain it, is so nice and subtile, that hold can very hardly be taken thereupon ; in which cases we should do the Church of God small benefit, by disputing with them according unto the finest points of their dark conveyances, and suf- fering that sense of their Doctrine to go uncontrolled, wherein by the common sort it is ordinarily received and practised." 3. 1 feel it, however, the less necessary to offer you any further admonition on the subject of these Tracts, which have occasioned so much contention, and have so sadly interrupted the harmony of the Church, inasmuch as the Lord Bishop of Down and Connor, and Dromore, has recently put forth some valuable observations respect- ing them, which have been circulated through a medium that I am sure must have placed them in the hands of all the Clergy. In the excellent observations of that learned and venerated Prelate 1 fully agree, and I would commend them to your special attention. I would also recommend to your consideration the counsel which he has at the same time given his Clergy for the guidance of their con- duct in conformity with the discipline of the Church. Wilson, Bishop of Calcutta. — 1842. {^The folloicing are the remarJcs alluded to hy the Bishop of Aus- tralia, p. 534, supra. — Ed.] One obstacle remained : our noble Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, drawn up on purpose to oppose and condemn the chief errors in doctrine and practice of the Romish Church. Portentous as is the fact, they have been openly assailed by one of the most dishonourable efix)rts of sophistiy, which, 1 must say, has ever been witnessed in theological discussions ; and which forms a melancholy proof of what a learned, and earnest, and able writer is capable, when under the baneful influence of a theory.* It will be necessary here to substantiate the allegation. The following is, so far as I can understand, the Interpretation now imposed on our Articles. * No. 90. Tracts for the Times. 542 INTERPRETATION OF THE ARTICLES, TRACT 90. The 6tli Article, " On the sufficiency of Holy Scripture,"" is held not to teach that the inspired Word is the sole Rule of Faith.* The 11th, " On Justification," admits, it seems, " of Justification by our Works," and also, " by Baptism."f The 12th and 13th are found to allow, that " Works done with Divine aid, and in Faith before Justification, do dispose men to re- ceive the grace of Justification." | The 19th Article on the visible Church is not " a logical defi- nition icliat a Church is" — " and the questions whether Episcopal succession, or whether intercommunion with the whole be necessary to each part of it, are not expressly treated of." § Article 21st, instead of really asserting, as it seems to do, that General Councils may err, and have erred, asserts this only as " to the human Prince, and not the King of Saints," and as to " Councils not called in the name of Christ" — a case which, it seems, " lies beyond the scope of this Article, or at any rate beside its deter- mination." II Article 22nd does not condemn " the primitive Doctrine" con- cerning Purgatory, Pardon, Images, Relics, and Invocation of Saints; but only the abuses of them by certain Romish Doctors.^ The 25th Article,** on the Sacraments, does not exclude the five * I cite the Articles referred to. VI. Of the Sufficiency of the ffoli/ Scriptures for Salvation. Holy Scripture cotitaineth all things necessary to salvation : so tliat whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an Article of the Faith, or bo thought requisite or necessary to salvation. + XI. Of tlio Justification of Man. We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our works or deservings : Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith only is a most wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification. J XIII. Of Works before Justification. Works done before the Grace of Christ, and the inspiration of his Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ, neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the School-authors say) deserve grace of con- gruity : yea, rather, for that they are not done as Cxod hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin. § XIX. Of the Church. The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments be duly ministered according to Christ's ordinimce, in all those tilings that of necessity are requisite to the same. II XXI. Of the Autltority of General Councils. General Councils may not be gathered together without the commandment and will of Princes. And when they be gathered together, (forasmuch as they be an assembly of men, whereof all be not governed with the Spirit and Word of God,) they may err, and sometimes have erred, even in things pertaining unto God. Wherefore things ordained by them as necessary to salvation have neither strength nor authority, unless it may be declared that they be taken out of Holy Scripture. U XXII. Of Puniatory. The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration, as well of Images as of Reliques, and also Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God. ** XXV. Oftlic Sacraments. There are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel, that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. INTERPRETATION OF THE ARTICLES. TRACT 90. 543 Romish additional ones, " if the Church has the po\ver of dispensing Grace through rites of its own appointment," which, it is intimated, it has. Transubstantiation, in Article 28th,* is admitted, so far as " a change in the Elements" goes, and " Ileal super-local Presence in the Iloly Sacrament." Article 31st "f* is by no means directed against the Creed of the Roman Church as to the Sacrifice of the Mass, but only against " actual existing error in Masses." The Celibacy of the Clergy, Article 32nd, ;[: it is " in the power of the Church to enjoin." Article 3.5tli § does not require an assent to all and every part of the Homilies, because " we sign not them, but an Article which does but generally approve of them." The Bishop of Rome, Article S7th, || still has jurisdiction in Eng- land, which is simply " an event in Providence." — The l^ufficiency of i^cripture as the Hide of Faith: a Sermon preached at the Cathedral Church of St. John^ Calcutta, at an Ordination holden on Sundai/^ May 2, 1841, pp. 49—54. These anti-Protestant sentiments'* were penned in 1834. What JNIr. Newman has written in No. 90 of the Tracts, in 1841, is quite in harmony with them ; and both of them seal, as I conceive, The CONDEMNATION OV THE WJIOLE TuADmONIST ScHOOL OF TlIEOLOGY, aS Those five commonly called Sacraments ; that is to say, Confirmation, Penance, Or- ders, Matrimony, and Extreme Unction, are not to be connted for Sacraments of the Gospel, being such as have grown partly of the corrupt following of the Apostles, partly are states of life allowed in the Scrij)tures ; but yet have not like nature of Sa- craments with Baptism and the Lord's Supper, for that they have not any visible sign or ceremony ordained of God. * XXVIII. Of the LonVs Supper. Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of Bread and Wine) in the Sup- per of the Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ; but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions. •f" XXXI. Of the one Oblation of Christ finished upon the Cross. The Offering of Christ once made is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satis- faction for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual ; and there is none other satisfaction for sin but that alone. Wlierefore the sacrifices of Masses, in the which it was commonly said that the Priest did offer Christ for the quick and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits. t XXXII. Of the Marriwie of Priests. Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, are not commanded by God's Lav/, either to vow the estate of single life, or to abstain from marriage : therefore it is lawful for them, as for all other Christian men, to marry at their own discretion, as they shall judge the same to serve better to godliness. § XXXV. Homilies. The second Book of Homilies, the several titles whereof we have joined under this Article, doth contain a godly and wholesome Doctrine, and necessary for these times, as doth the former Book of Homilies, which were set forth in the time of Edward the Sixth ; and therefore we judge them to be read in Churches by the Ministers, diligently nd distinctly, that they may be understanded by the people. II XXXVII. Of the Civil Maiiistrates. The Bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction in this Realm of England. * His Lordship is speaking of Mf. Froude's abuse of Bishop Jewei Ed. 544 INTERPRETATION OF THE ARTICLES. TRACT 90. in avowed hostility with the Doctrine and Order of our Reformed Church, as settled by Cranmer, Ridley, this very Jewel, and our other great Martyrs and Bishops,- at the blessed period of the Re- formation of Religion. — Ibid.^ Appendix, p. 108. Mant, Bishop of Down and Connor, and Dromore. — 1842. 27. Be it a fourth caution, that we do not adopt a rule for the Interpretation of the Articles of the Church, so as to impose upon them a sense different from that which they were originally in- tended to, and do properly, bear. 28. The Articles of religion, "agreed upon by the Archbishops and Bishops of both provinces, and the whole clergy, in the Convocation holden at London in the year 1562," were agreed upon "for the avoiding of diversities of opinions, and for the establishing of con- sent touching true religion." And the King's declaration, in rati- fication of the Articles in 1628, insisted on the agreement of the clergy " in the true, usual, literal meaning of the Articles ;" and commanded every man " not to draw the Article aside any way, or to put his own sense or comment to be the meaning of it," but "to submit to it in the plain and full meaning thereof," and to " take it in the literal grammatical sense." 29. The conduct of the Church herein was marked by integrity and prudence ; and the line described for the observance of her Ministers appears intelligible and plain : on her part, a clear enun- ciation of her sentiments on the various topics brought under notice ; on her Ministers, an honest subscription to her sentiments, in "the true, usual, literal meaning,"" in "the literal grammatical sense " of the language which conve3-ed them. 30. Other views, however, both of the conduct of the Church, and of the Interpretation of her Articles by her Ministers, have been taken in these our times. The Church has been described as " seeming to give an uncertain sound ;" as teaching " with the stammering lips of ambiguous formularies;"^* a grievous impeach- ment of her character, for truth or discretion, that she could discover and prescribe no better means than uncertainty and ambiguity for the attainment of her avowed object of " avoiding diversities of opinions, and establishing consent touching true religion." 31. And for the sense of the Articles reference has been made, less to the true purport of their language according to the use of their framers, than to the teaching, or rather the imaginary teaching, of the Catholic Church, according as each individual may form his measure of that criterion ; a process for ascertaining the truth, the * Tracts, No. 90. ^ This expression was altered by Mil. Newman in the editions of Tract 90, which he continued to publish after its condemuatiou. See note 4, p. 36. supra,— ^o. ITS NECESSARY CONSEQUENCE AND EFFECTS. 545 very contrary to that which our Church has prescribed ; for, whereas she has studied to avoid diversities of opinions by definite statements, to which she has required her Ministers to testify their assent, the modern hypothesis supposes her Ministers to be thus re- ferred back again to the scattered testimonies of bygone times, and an indefinite Antiquity ; or rather to the deductions, each of his own mind, from the records of antiquarian ecclesiastical lore. 82. The consequence of this must needs be perplexity and hesi- tation in fixing the meaning of the Articles ; occasions for evading or explaining away their real intention ; laxity of sentiment as to the importance of Unity of the Faith, and diversity and contrariety, instead of unanimity and concord, in those who make profession of it ; nay, the co-existence of subscription to the Articles with an inward belief of the very errors which the Articles themselves were framed to counteract. 83. And what, meanwhile, is the object to be thus attained ? Avowedly, that " members of our Church may be kept from strag- gling in the direction of Rome ;*"* or, as I understand it, that those w^hose minds disincline them for communion with our National Church, from a want of cordial concurrence with her Articles literally un- derstood, may discover a solution for their embarrassment in inter- pretations supposed to be supplied by Ecclesiastical Antiquity ; and thus effectively retrograde step by step from their natural parent, under the sembla'nce of a strict devotion to the Catholic Church ; but in reality, it is to be feared, by an approximation to the Church of Rome. 84. For, in truth, the points on which this latitude of inter- pretation is sought, and a reference is pleaded to the testimony of Catholic Antiquity, are the points on which our National Church is at variance with the Romish Church : and it is on these points that satisfaction is offered to the scrupulous inquirer, by detaching cor- ruptions of the Christian religion from their connection with Rome, in which connection they are condemned by our Twenty-second Article ; and thereby procuring admission for them into the mind, under the character of ancient Catholic truths : as if, for example, whilst the particular corruptions, condemned by the Article, were condemned merely as Romish corruptions, other synonymous practices of " purgatory, pardons, worshipping and adoration, as well of images as of reliques, and also of Invocation of Saints," had been previously in being, for which the example of ante-Roman Antiquity might be pleaded, and against which, therefore, the Article was not directed. And so protection is thrown over the very doctrine which the Article was intended to reprobate : whilst we are told that "a certain veneration for reliques ""f* is not to be condemned, but is to be tolerated; that "a certain worshipping and Invocation of Saints"! is not censurable ; that "a certain adoration * Letter to Dr. Jdf, by the Author of No. 90, p. 27. \ No. 90, p 24. X lb. p. 36. 2 N 546 INTERPRETATION OP THE ARTICLES. TRACT 90: of God's messengers"" is not wrong and exceptionable, but is allow- able : provided they be not accompanied with all the fond and foolish conceits, with all the aggravations of a senseless and profane superstition, which mark the Romish errors.* 35. By this principle, then, of Interpretation, it is to be under- stood, that not the errors repudiated by the Church in her Twenty- second Article, but the circumstances attending them, are con- demned. And by a somewhat similar process it is discovered, that the Thirty-first Article, which condemns " the Sacrifices of Masses," is not to be understood as speaking of " the Sacrifice of the Mass ;"""!• that notwithstanding the Thirty-second, which declares the lawful- ness of the Marriage of Priests at their own discretion, the Church has power, did she so choose, to take from them this discretion, and to oblige them either to Marriage or to Celibacy ; | and that, notwithstanding the declaration in the Thirty-seventh Article, that " the Bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction in this realm of England," the Supremacy of the Pope, while it lasted, was "an event in Providence;" that his jurisdiction, while it lasted, was "ordained of God,"^ and had a claim on our obedience ; that the same cha- racter belonged to "the Metropolitan, the Patriarchal, and the Papal systems ;" and that, as to whether the Pope " ought to have Supremacy,^ ought does not in any degree come into the question." § 36. Thus, indeed, may " the stammering lips of uncertain formu- laries" be fastened upon the Anglican Church; not so, whilst she is suffered to utter her sentiments in her own plain forms of speech, and is not constrained to submit her meaning to the fanciful expo- sition which her interpreters may be pleased to call the teaching of the Catholic Church. Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter. — 1842. 41 . (But) So great and general an excitement has prevailed respecting one of them — the last of the series — that I might seem to shrink from avowing my opinion of it, if I were altogether silent. Yet to speak at all of a production, whose matter is so multifarious, will render it necessary to go rather more into detail, than may well accord with this occasion, after so much which has been already, and still remains to be, said. Bear with me, however, I entreat you, while I trespass a little on your patience, in consideration of the demand which the public voice seems to have made on the Bishops, for their judgment on a Tract, which has excited a vt^ider and deeper interest than any other within our remembrance. * No. 90, p. 40. t lb. p. 59. J lb. p. 64. § lb. p. 77. 5 See Charge of the Bishop of Llandafp, par. 24, in Chap. XIX. — Ed. " See the Oath of Supremacy as quoted by the Tractarians, iu Appendix I. ITS INDECENCY, UNSOUNDNESS, AND SOPHISTRY. 647 42. That it is the last of the series, is itself a matter of much satisfaction, for, undoubtedly, these Tracts were creating an un- wholesome agitation — an agitation which was driving the writers into excesses, of which, perhaps, in the full extent, they were them- selves unconscious ; and at the same time, were producing the usual effect of all extreme courses — the generating of equal excesses, on the part of others, in an opposite direction. 43. That it is the last, is also, on another account, both satis- factory and worthy of much praise. The discontinuance of these publications proves that, with the writers, a deference to Church authority is more than an empty name. It is not with their lips, or with their pens alone, that they have set forth the duty of frank and ingenuous submission to the judgment of their Bishop. A single request from him, founded on his view of what was best for the peace of the Church, sufficed to silence them.^ 44. But here commendation from me must cease. The tone of the Tract, as it respects our own Church, is offensive and indecent ; as it regards the Reformation and our Reformers, absurd, as well as incongruous and unjust. Its principles of interpreting our Arti- cles I cannot but deem most unsound ; the reasoning with which it supports its principles, sophistical ; the averments on which it founds its reasoning, at variance with recorded facts. 45. Having thought it right to avow this opinion, it is my duty to state the grounds on which I have formed it. 46. I. On the first particular, indeed, the language of the Tract respecting our Church, it cannot be necessary to say much. Does it become a son of that Church, a Minister at its altar — a pious and faithful Minister, as I fully believe him to be — one who has been wont to set forth in high terms the duty of reverence for the Church in general — does it become such a man to jeer at the par- ticular Church in which God's providence has placed him ; to tell her to " sit still — to work in chains — to submit to her imperfections as a punishment ; to go on teaching with the stammering lips of ambiguous formularies, and inconsistent precedents, and principles but partially developed" ^*^ 47. II. Or, again, is it consistent, I will not say with decent respect for the memory of confessors and the blood of martyrs, but with due thankfulness to Almighty God, for enabling our forefathers to rescue this Church and nation from the usurped dominion, the idolatrous worship, the corrupt and corrupting practices, to which • Tracts for the Times, No. 90, Introduction. '' Witness the subsequent editions of Tract 90, and the unanimous vindication of its principles by the leading Tractarians Note 2, p. 103, supra. Witness also the continued republication of Popish Manuals of Devotion. — Note 3, p. 530. Mr. Newman's Sermons on Subjects of the Day, did not appear in print until the author had withdrawn himself from Episcopal Jurisdiction. — Ed. 8 See Note 4, p. 36, supra. — Ed. 2 N 2 548 INTERPRETATION OF THE ARTICLES. — TRACT 90 : they had been so long enthralled ; is it, I ask, consistent with a due sense of that inestimable benefit ; is it even in accordance with the dictates of common sense, to urge as a reason for an inert and sluggish acquiescence in prevailing corruptions (manifestly pointing at our own Reformation) — that " religious changes, to be beneficial, should be the act of the whole body ; they are worth little if they are the mere act of a majority ? No good can come of any change which is not heartfelt — a development of feelings springing up freely and calmly within the bosom of the whole body itself." When did the Church witness any such reformation ? How, with- out a miracle, could it be accomplished ? Was the planting of the Gospel itself, that greatest of " religious changes," thus peaceably and quietly accomplished ? 48. " Moreover, a change in theological teaching involves either the commission or the confession of sin ; it is either the profession or renunciation of erroneous doctrine ; and if it does not succeed in proving the fact of past guilt, it, ipso facto, implies present." 49. Surely, the same plea might be urged against all change of life and manners. But it is idle to argue against statements which were not designed for argument, but for scoffing. Let me only ask with what grace can this writer reprobate all " changes, good in themselves, which are the fruits, not of the quiet conviction of all, but of the agitation, &c. of a few"? What have he and his co- adjutors been doing during the last seven years? Have they been backward in promoting " a change in theological teaching"? Have they waited for " a development of feelings springing up freely and calmly within the bosom of the whole body itself"? 50. in. But it is time to look at the principles of interpreting the Articles, which it seems to be the chief aim of the Tract to establish and carry out. The first of them is thus set forth by the author himself, in the professed explanation of his own views : — " Whereas it is usual at this day to make the particular belief of the writers of the Articles their true interpretation ; I would make the heliefof the Catholic Church suchP Again, " I would say, the Articles are received not in the sense of their framers,^ but (as far as the wording will admit, or any ambiguity requires it) in the one Catholic sensed* 51. I am not aware of having before heard of that principle of Interpreting the Articles, which he says is usual, namely, " the belief of the writers of the Articles," though that belief may be admitted as an aid in explaining terms or propositions which are not in themselves plain : I would rather say that the usual, as well as the only sound, principle of interpreting them, is to understand them in the sense in which he, who subscribes, has sufficient reason * Letter to Dr. Jelf, p. 24. 9 See note 1, p. 538, supra. — Ed. AN UNCATHOLIC AND SCHISMATICAL PROCEDURE. 549 to know that they are understood hy the authority, which imposes the subscription — in other words, by the legislature, both the civil and the ecclesiastical legislature ; for both have alike imposed it. The civil legislature, indeed, or parliament, we may well believe, has intended that they be understood in the sense of the ecclesi- astical or Convocation ; and, as no different sense has been put upon them by any subsequent parliament or Convocation (though both have subsequently renewed the requisition of Subscription), we may fairly look back to the sense of the Convocation of 1571, which must have been the sense of Parliament in the same year, •when both legislatures, for the first time, imposed the duty of Subscription. 52. Now the Convocation of that year, in the very Canon* which imposed Subscription to the Articles, tells us what is the sense which they were designed to bear — namely, the Catholic sense ; for as it there enjoins " preachers to teach nothing to be religiously holden or believed but what is agreeable to the Doctrine of the Old and New Testament, and has been collected out of the same ly the Catholic Fathers and ancient Bishops," it must be con- sidered as following its own rule in putting forth a Book of Articles " for the establishing of consent touching true religion ;'"' and it is as a security for the observance of this rule, that Subscription to the Articles is required, " which Articles," it proceeds to say, " have been collected out of Scripture, and agree in all points with the heavenly doctrine therein contained." 53. If this statement asserts the very principle propounded in the Tract — namely, that the Articles are to be understood in the Catholic sense, it will, nevertheless, be found, on consideration, to be utterly irreconcilable with the application of that principle, as contended for in the Tract: for it is there maintained, that any man will satisfy the duty incurred in subscribing the Articles, if he assents to them, not in their plain, and obvious, and grammatical sense, but in that sense which he, of his own mere opinion, shall determine to be " Catholic ;"" whereas the Canon shews that the plain, and obvious, and grammatical, is also the Catholic sense ; and the Preacher or Minister who shall adopt any other sense, as the Catholic, does, in truth, prefer his own private judgment on the point, to the declared judgment of the Church synodically as- sembled— a procedure as uncatholic and schismatical as can be well imagined. 54. I might insist on other objections to their principle ; but they have been so ably urged, especially by Dr. Elrington, Regius Professor of Divinity in the Univ^ersity of Dublin, that I content myself with referring you to what he has said. 55. IV. I turn, therefore, to another, and practically the most mischievous, of the principles set forth in the Tract. * *' Concionatores." 550 TRACT 90 : the most daring attempt yet made 56. It is there ^ held, that "our Articles were not directed against the Decrees of Trent^ because they were written before those Decrees ;" that " the Decrees, in their mere letter, do not express that authoritative teaching of Rome which is condemned by the Articles; that senses short of this Doctrine will fulfil the letter of the Decrees ; and that the censures contained in the Articles have a sufficient object, though the Decrees of Trent, taken by them- selves, remain untouched." 57. All this, and much more to the same effect, is manifestly designed to shew that there is nothing in our Articles inconsistent with the letter of the Decrees of Trent ; that those Decrees, and the Articles, may be held together by the same person. 58. As this is by far the most daring attempt ever yet made by a Minister of the Church of England to neutralize the distinctive Doctrines of our Church, and to make us symbolize with Rome, I shall be excused if I detain you, for a few minutes, in unravelHng the web of sophistry, which has been laboriously woven to cover it. 59. It rests mainly, as has been said, on the allegation, that the Articles were of a date anterior to the Decrees of Trent — an alle- gation, having just that measure of truth which will enable it most effectually to deceive. 60. In the Statutes and Canons, the Articles are described as " Articles agreed upon in the Convocation holden at London in the year 1562:" whereas the Council of Trent did not hold its last Session, nor put forth its last Decree, till December, in 1563. 61. This is the face of facts and dates most favourable to the assertion in the Tract. 62. Now let us see to what it really amounts. The Convocation of 1562 is so called according to the Old Style. It commenced its sittings in the month of January of the year which would now be called 1563 ; and it continued to sit till the month of June, just six months before the conclusion of the Council of Trent. In the course of those six months how many Decrees were made by the Council on the points condemned in our Articles ? One — only one ; in- cluding, indeed, all the matter dealt with in the Twenty-second Article ; an Article, it must be admitted, relating to several im- portant particulars. Such is the amount of all that can be honestly stated in favour of the writer's allegation ; but even this would give a very inadequate view of the weakness of his case. For although the Articles, having been in the main settled by the Convocation of 1562, are always designated as the Articles of that Synod, yet they were not then permanently and f nail]/ concluded. 63. The Convocation of 1571 reconsidered them, with a view to a final settlement, and made alterations in them (of no great * His Lordship quotes from Mr. Newman's Eoiplanatory Letter to Dr. Jelf. — See note 2j p. 538, sujn-a. Ed. TO NEUTRALIZE THE DOCTRINES OF OUR CHURCH. 551 moment indeed) before it authorized their publication in Enghsh ; and, what is more important, before it made the Canon requiring Subscription. It was to the Articles, so corrected, not as they were left by the Synod of 1562, that the Statute of 13 Elizabeth, requires subscription; for it expressly specifies "the Book of Articles put forth by the Queens authority,'''' which was true of the English Book of 1571 only. 64. Subsequently, on the accession of King James, because towards the close of the preceding reign. Subscription to the Articles had been made by many, with such limitations or quahfi- cations as materially affected its value, as a test of Unity of Doctrine; the Synod, holden at London in 1603, (after "having, upon a publique readinge and deliberate considerasion of the said Articles, willingly and with one accorde consented and subscribed,") provided, by its Thirty-sixth Canon, a more precise and stringent formula, by which every one who subscribes, professes to believe " all and every of the Articles to be agreeable to the Word of Godr 65. Here, then, we might leave the case, apparently without a shadow of pretence for the allegation, that, "whereas the Articles were written* before the Decrees of Trent, they were not directed against those Decrees."" 66. But if this be so, the other and much more important alle- gation, that the Decrees, taken by themselves, in their mere letter, * And yet, I fear that in the word icritten (not the most obvious, nor the most proper, to be used on such an occasion, if no ulterior object were in view) a miserable shift has been provided ; I fear that it may be intended to say, that the Articles, though not adopted in Synod till 1502, were, in the main, ivntten ten years before ; for they were drawn up by Cranraer, and first submitted to a Synod in 1552. This is true ; but, instead of aiding the writer's argument, it will be found, when duly considered, abso- lutely fatal to it : for it will prove, that the Articles, as they now stand, have, and always had, especial reference to the Doctrine of Trent. What might be thought of Ci-anmer's Articles, if they had been adopted in their original form, is not the question : they were altered in several particulars by the Convocation of 1562, and the principal alterations were manifestly designed to strengthen their opposition to the decrees of that Council. For instance, the 5th Article of 1552, entitled "The Doctrine of Scripture is sufficient to Salvation," deals with this point only ; it declares not what is meant by " Holy Scripture." But the 6th Article of 1562 and 1571, having the very same title, distinguishes "the Canonical Books, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church," from the others, *' which it doth not apply to establish Doctrine ;" enumerating the Books of each class, in direct ojrposition to the Tridentine Catalogue. Again, the 26th Article of 1552, "Of the Sacraments," speaks of Baptism and the Supper of the Lord, not saying a word on the other Romish Sacraments. But the 25th of the Articles as they now stand, having the same title, directly attacks the Tridentine enumeration of seven Sacraments of the new Law ; denying, that five of them are Sacraments of tlie Gospel, or have the same nature of Sacraments, as Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. Again, the Articles of 1552, "Of Free Will," and " Of the Justification of Man," were enlarged in those of 1562, with an especial eye to the language of the Decrees of Trent, and in opposition to them. One of the Articles of 1562, that "Of both kinds," was wholly new, and directed against a Decree of Trent which had been made only a few months before. But even Cranraer's Articles, those of 1552, though, in the particulars which I have just stated, they are less pointedly, or less fully, directed against the Tridentine Doc- 552 TRACT 90. INCOMPATIBILITY OF do not express the Romish Doctrine, which our Articles condemn — and, consequently, that Subscription to the Articles is not incom- patible with adherence to the Decrees, — loses, at once, its best support. And thus, perhaps, we might be excused from more minute examination of it. Still, it cannot be an useless labour to shew the utter want of all foundation whatever for so dangerous a position. For, as I hardly need to say, whether true or false, it involves the whole question between us and Rome. Those Decrees combine, avowedly combine, the whole system o^-Romish Doctrine, peculiarly so called. They compose the Shibboleth of Rome. The Creed of Pius IV., formed upon them, and little else than a brief epitome of them (appended to the Creed of the Catholic Church, in defiance of the Canons of the General Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon), is required to be explicitly held and maintained, not only by every Romish Pastor, but also by every convert who is received into communion with Rome. Too much care, therefore, cannot be used, in warning every member of our own Church, es- pecially, I may be allowed to say, after recent unhappy experience, the younger of our Clergy, against all approach to so fearful and unhallowed a conjunction.* 67. I have done with the Tract. Let me only add, that I wish and hope the intention of the writer, as declai-ed by himself, may protect him from the severity of censure which the Tract itself deserves. He wrote it, he tells us, " to do all he could to keep members of our Church from straggling in the direction of Rome r""*!* and he accounts for the sensation it has excited, by saying that " what was addressed to one set of persons has been used and com- mented upon by another." He adds, that " consciousness how strongly he had pledged himself in other writings against Rome,- made him quite unsuspicious of the possibility of any sort of misun- derstanding arising out of his statements in it." 68. Be it so. Let him have all the benefit to which this ex- planation, and still more his high character, may entitle him. But let it not be thought invidious, if I say, that, as the policy pursued in his Tract is most discordant with the principles, and happily with the practice, of our Church, it cannot be matter of surprise, that the adverse feeling provoked by it has more than neutralized, trine, do yet manifestly apply to it. For it is a great mistake to suppose, that even tliese "Articles were written before the Decrees of Trent." So far is it otherwise, that of the Decrees, almost all which relate to particulars condemned in our Articles, were made before the end of 1551, and before the suspension of the Sessions of the Council (which suspension lasted from 1552 to 156'2). The only exceptions are the Decrees "On Communion in both kinds;" "On the Sacrifice of the Mass;" and "On Pur- gatory, Indulgences," &c. Of these the two former, though after the renewal of the Council's Sessions, were made before the Synod of London in 1562-3. * In Appendix II. is an attempt to shew the imiJossibility of reconciling our Arti- cles to the letter of the Decrees of Trent. ^ + Letter to Dr. Jclf, p. 27. 8 See Appendix B. — En ^ gee the following page. — Ed. OUR ARTICLES WITH THE DECREES OF TRENT. 553 in many dispassionate minds, the high estimation of him which former services had justly acquired. [*^* The following is the Appendix referred to by his Lordship in Par. 66, note :— ] I have reserved to this place the following attempt to shew the absolute in- compatibility of assent to our Articles with assent to the Decrees of Trent, not in every instance in which they are contrar^^ (even in the letter) to each other, but in a few of the most important. I begin with our Sixth Article : — It contains two propositions; first, "That whatsoever is not read in Holy Scripture (i. e. the Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church), nor can be proved thereby, may not be required to be believed as an article of Faith." This proposition is in direct contradiction to the Decree of the fourth session* of the Council of Trent, which receives with equal pious affection and vene- ration (pari pietatis afFectu ac reverentia suscipit et veneratur) the loritten ivord and the unwritten traditions which have been handed down from the Apostles to our time, and have been preserved by constant succession in the Catholic Church. It further anathematizes every one "qui sciens et prudens traditiones praedictas contempserit." The second proposition in our Article excludes, by name, all the books which, we call the Apocrypha, from the catalogue of those which it calls canonical ; while the Decree includes them all, by name (except the third and fourth books of Esdras, and the Prayer of Manasses), and it pronounces anathema against all who deny that any of them is canonical. Contradiction cannot be more direct. I proceed to our Ninth Article, " Of original or birth sin." It affirms that " this infection of nature doth remain, yea, in them that are regenerated," and that "the Apostle doth confess that it hath of itself the nature of sin." This is contrary to, and must have been intended to contradict, the very letter of the Decree of the fifth Session t of Trent, which declares anathema against all "who assert that every thing which has the true and proper nature of sin is not wholly taken away in Baptism." The Holy Synod admits that " the Apostle calls concupiscence sin ;'' but it " declares that the Catholic Church never understood that it was so called because it is truly and properly sin in those that are regenerate, but because it proceeds from sin, and inclines to sin;" and anathema is pronounced against every one who holds the contrary opinion. It is worthy of remark, that the author of the Tract, professing to deal with those of our Articles which are opposed to the Doctrine of Rome, passes over this ninth in silence. Was this because it was impossible to dissemble the con- tradiction of the Article to the Decree of Trent? It could not be because the difference — the practical difference — is unimportant. For, the Doctrine of Trent on this point is one of the main supports of the whole corrupt system of Rome. It leads to the fatal error that the regenerate can fulfil the law of God by perfect obedience — that their good works can satisfy for sins — that they can stand before the Judgment Seat of God, and claim everlasting life as due to their own deservings. Our Doctrine, on the other hand, must make those who hold it in sincerity " walk humbly with their God.'' 1 proceed to the Twenty-fifth Article, which we shall find to be in direct, and, we cannot doubt, purposed, contradiction to the Decree of the seventh Session! of Trent, " De Sacramentis." It says, "There are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel, that is to say. Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. Those five commonly called Sacraments (that is to say, Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and Extreme Unction)^ ai'e not to * April 8, 1546. + June 17, 1546. t March 3, 1547. 554 TRACT 90. IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCE MusGRAVE, Bishop of Hereford. — 1842. 17. Our own Articles insist upon "the sufficiency of Holy Scrip- ture for salvation." We have all solemnly pledged our belief of these Articles — in their literal and grammatical sense — and we be counted Sacraments of the Gospel— tor that thej have not any visible sign or ceremony ordained of God.''' This, according to the writer of the Tract, is not inconsistent with the letter of the Council's Decree. What, then, shall we say of the very first Canon of Trent on the Sacraments? "If any one shall say that the Sacraments of the Gospel (novEe legis) were not all instituted hy our Lord Jesus Christ, or that they are more or fewer than seven— namely, Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders, Matrimony — or that any one of these seven is not truly and properly a Sacrament, let him be anathema." The writer proceeds, " They (five of the seven) are not Sacraments in any sense, unless the Church has the power of dispensing grace through rites of its own appointment" (In other words, they were instituted, not by our Lord, but by the Church ; and to say this is manifestly to contradict the Decree, and to incur the anathema, of the Council.) The writer adds, " Or is endued with the gift of blessing and hallowing the rites and ceremonies, which, according to the Tw^entieth Article, it hath power to decree. But, we may well believe the Church has this gift." In other words, the Church has the power to make Sacraments ! to annex the grace of God to some rite or ceremony, which the Church may, at its dis- cretion, decree to-day and annul to-morrow ! And this portentous assertion is advanced, in order to conciliate the Article of the Church of England with the Decree of Trent ! though both the one and the other, however else they may differ, agree in this, that the Sacraments of the new Law are ordained by Christ Himself. There remains another distinction by which the writer endeavours to explain away the seeming difference in the doctrine of the two Churches on the subject of Sacraments. " The Roman Catholic," says he, " considers that there are seven Sacraments ; we do not strictly determine the number. However, what we do determine is, that Christ has ordained two special Sacraments, as gene- rally necessary to Salvation. This, then, is the characteristic mark of these two, separating them from all other whatsoever ; and this is nothing else but saying, in other words, that they are the only justifying rites or instruments of commu- nicating the Atonement.'' Now, if it appear that the Decrees of Trent consider any other Sacrament as '• a justifying rite " — as " an instrument of communicating the Atonement" — and as " necessary to Salvation," it is plain that the writer is as unfortunate in this as in his other expedients. Let him look, then, to the first chapter of the Decree " of Penance ;"* it expressly declares, that " God, rich in mercy, has given a remedy of life to those who, after Baptism, have delivered themselves up to the bondage of Sin, and unto the power of the Devil — namely, the Sacrament of Penance, by which the benefit of the death of Christ is applied to those who have fallen :" and a canon is added, anathematizing " every one who shall say that Penance is not a Sacrament instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, for reconciling the faithful to God, as often as they shall have fallen into sin after Baptism."f Does not this make the Sacrament of Penance "a justifying rite"? "an in- strument of communicating the Atonement " ? Does it not also, by manifest im- plication, make it "generally necessary to Salvation"? * Session 14, Nov. 25, 1551. + Cap. ii. can. 1. BETWEEN OUR ARTICLES AND THE DECREES OF TRENT. 555 are not at liberty " to put our own sense and comment to be their meaning." Of the Twenty-eighth Article, the writer says that, "in rejecting Transub- stantiaHo)!, our Article oj^poses itself to a certain plain and unambiguous state- ment, 7iot of this or that council, but one generally received or taught both in the schools and in the multitude ;""■ therefore, it may be subscribed without contradicting the letter of the Decrees of the Council of Trent. I will give an abstract of the Decrees of this Council on this subject, con- trasting therewith, as I go on, the precise terms of our Article. The Decreet states, "That after the consecration of the Bread and Wine, our Lord Jesus Clirist, true God and man, is truly, really, and substantially contained in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, under the species of those sensible objects;" it also saysij: that, "by the consecration of the Bread and Wine, a change is wrought of the entire substance of the Bread into the substance of the Body of our Lord, and of the entire substance of the Wine into the sub- stance of his Blood, which change is conveniently and properly called by the Holy Catholic Church Transubstantiation." Our Article says, " Transubstantiation, or the change of the substance of Bread and Wine in the Supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ ; but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions." Can this be subscribed in any sense, consistent with the letter of the Council's Decree ? 2. Again ; the Decree pronounces "Anathema ^ against every one who says that Christ, exhibited in the Eucharist, is eaten spiritually ojili/, and not also sacramentally and really." Our Twenty-eighth Article says, that " the Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper only after an heavenly and spiritual manner." There- fore every one who subscribes the Article incurs the anathema of the Decree. 3. Once more ; the Council pronounces || anathema against any who affirms that "in the holy Sacrament of the Eucharist" (i. e. the consecrated Bread and Wine) " Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, is not to be adored with even the external worship of Latria " (i. e. the highest kind of adoration), " and that he is not to be solemnly carried about, or is not to be presented to the people, in order that he may be publicly adored, and that the adorers of Him" (in the consecrated Bread and Wine) " are idolaters." It further adds an anathema U against all who say "that the Holy Eucharist ought not to be reserved;" whereas our Article says, " The Sacrament was not by Christ's ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped." Can these different positions be honestly subscribed by the same person ? I will adduce only one other instance of the irreconcilable difference between the Decrees of Trent and our own Articles ; which may not be passed over, be- cause this is the wu-iter's strongest case, inasmuch as the Decree of Trent was made (as I have already said) subsequently to the Synod of 1562— subsequently therefore, to the drawing up of the Article— I mean the ' XXII, — Of Purgatory. "The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, pardons (indulgentiis), wor- shipping, and adoration, as well of images as of reliques, and also Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of . Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God." Upon this Article he has dwelt more largely than on any other ; encouraging the unwary to think with forbearance, and even with favour, of some of the worst corruptions of Rome. * Tract 90, p. 51. f Session 13, Oct. 11, 1551, cap. 1. + lb. cap. 4. § Can. 8. II Can. 6. * t Can. 7. 556 TRACT 90. IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCE 18. But we surely fall into a snare, and tamper dangerously with our consciences, if we add any thing to the Scriptures as ne- His first remark will not be gainsaid, " That the Doctrine objected to is the Romish doctrine." He proceeds to say, " The Primitive Doctrine is not con- demned in the Article ; there was a Primitive Doctrine on all these points — how far Catholic or universal, is a further question — but still so widely received, and so respectably supported, that it may well be entertained by a theologian now." Taking, as he does, Purgatory first, I deny that there was a primitive doc- trine concerning it. (Of the other particulars, he does not pretend to state any Primitive Doctrine ; though that there was a primitive doctrine on some of them is very true; but a Doctrine contrary to the Romish, as is made manifest by our Homilies, at least as respects the worship of Images and Saints.) But for Purgatory: "A Primitive Doctrine" implies not a mer^. opinion, loosely held, or thrown out, by one or two writers, but something taught and maintained by a considerable number, or the known formal teaching of some one Father, accepted by a body of followers ; and this within the first three centuries. If it have not the former condition, it is not a '•'•Doctrine ;" if it have not the latter, it is not '•'■Primitive." Now, I think I shall not be contradicted, when I say that Tertullian, Cyprian, and Origen were the only Fathers Avho have left any intimation, even of an opinion, bearing the faintest resemblance to the Doctrine of Purgatory. Tertullian, in more than one passage, recognizes the prohahility — but he no- where teaches — that every small offence must be expiated after death. But how ? By delay of our restirrection. Clearly, this is not Purgatory. Cyprian, in one instance, used words which might be taken in favour of Purgatory ; but which are more commonly understood of the severity of ancient Penance. At any rate, as more than one other plain passage in his writings are inconsistent with the belief of a Purgatory, his meaning in the passage re- ferred to must be understood accordingly ; or, at the utmost, his notion of Purgatory did not amount even to a fixed opinion. Origen held and taught, that sinners shall suffer punishment till all their sins be expiated ; and then they shall commence a new existence — a tenet which was condemned by the Fifth General Council as heretical, because it denied the eternity of future punishment. But, besides that it was thus condemned, this has nothing to do with Purgatory ; for it relates to the judgment of the last day. For the like reason, the notion of the purging of the soul by the fire of con- flagration at the day of judgment, which is specially adduced by the writer, is out of the present inquiry, which respects an intermediate state, in which those who suffer may be helped by the prayers, &c., of the Church on earth. Now for the Doctrine of Trent on Purgatory. The writer is confident that " it was not ojjposed by the x\rt icle, because the Article was drawn up before the Decree of the Council." He adds, " What is opposed, is the received doc- trine of the day, and, unhappily, of this day too, or the Doctrine of the Roman schools." That the Doctrine of Trent must have been included under the phrase "Romish Doctrine" in 1571 and 1604, when the Articles were revised, and subscription to them synodically enjoined, cannot be denied ; and thus would this evasive plea be sufficiently refuted. But it is not necessary to have recourse to such a refutation. The Article, as it was originally set forth, must be con- sidered to include, in its condemnation, the Doctrine of Trent; and this, on the writer's own shewing, for he says, " what is opposed, is the Doctrine of the day." Now, the Article was set forth in the spring of 1563, and the Decree was made before the end of the same year. Unless, therefore, we su2:)pose, •without a shadow of evidence, either that the Decree of Trent was not the " Doctrine of the day,'' or that the " Doctrine of the day" had changed between BETWEEN OUR ARTICLES AND THE DECREES OF TRENT. 557 cessarily binding on our belief — if we countenance the use of Prayers for the Dead, or the Invocation of Saints, or any other May and December, it must have been included in " the Romish Doctrine," which the Article condemns. But this is not all. The writer of the Tract can hardly be so ignorant of the Acts of the Council, however he may presume on the ignorance of others, as to need to be reminded that in one of its earliest decrees, made fifteen years before, the Doctrine of a Purgatory is incidentally but plainly maintained. In the Thirtieth Canon of Justification, the date of which is 1547,* an anathema is pronounced against "any one who shall deny that, after the forgiveness of sin on true repentance, and the consequent deliverance from everlasting punish- ment, some punishment still remains to be undergone, either in this life or in Purgntory^ before the soul can be admitted into heaven." 2. "Indulgences" are next in order. Here the writer would wish us to believe, that our Article condemns only the abuses which the Council itself sought to restrain — namely, " large and reckless indulgences from the penalties of sin, obtained on money payments," — not the Doctrine itself, and, at any rate, not the Doctrine of Trent, ybr . Again, it was demanded by the Puritans, " Because singing of Psalms is a considerable part of public worship, we desire that the Version set forth and allovved to be sung in churches may be amended, or that we may have leave to make use of a purer Version.''^ To which the answer of the Bishops and their assist- ants was an excuse for passing over the objection : " Singing of Psalms in metre is no part of the Liturgy, and so no part of our * Grand Debate, p. 5^ ; Cardwell, pp. 254, 337. f lb. p. 6 ; ib. p. 308. ' It will be seen by reference to the second volume of the present Bishop of Sodor AND Man's Church History (p. 227), that the Bishops, in reply to a Petition presented by the Presbyterians to Charles the Second in 16ti0, admitted " that custom allowed the use of extempore prayer before Sermon,'''',— Eo. 590 CHURCH SERVICES. THE SURPLICE. commission,"* I notice the question, however, for the purpose of remarking, that, at the time of this the last eiFective revision of our Liturgy, the singing of Psalms in metre was limited to " the Version set forth and allowed to he sung in churches;" and that the Nonconformists could not venture on the use of what they esteemed " a purer Version," " without leave." ^ 66. The Dress of the Clergy during their ministrations was another point in controversy between the Nonconformists and the Episcopal Divines. By the former it was specified as one of " divers ceremonies, which from the first Reformation had by sundry learned and pious men been judged unwarrantable, that public worship may not be celebrated by any Minister that dares not wear a Surplice."*f* By the latter it was answered, " There hath been so much said, not only of the lawfulness, but also of the conveniences of those ceremonies mentioned, that nothing can be added. This, in brief, may here sufiice for the Surplice, that reason and experience teaches, that decent ornaments and habits preserve reverence and awe ; held, therefore, necessary to the solemnity of royal acts, and acts of justice; and why not as well to the solemnity of religious worship ? And in particular no habit more suitable than white linen, which resembles purity and beauty, wherein angels have appeared. Rev. xv. ; fit for those whom the Scripture calls Angels ; and this habit was ancient, according to St.Chrysostom."| 67. And this might sufiice for our purpose in a general view. But I have noticed this topic the rather, as affording opportunities for remarking, first, that in our public ministrations at all times and in all places, not only in our consecrated churches, but in any licensed temporary place of worship, the Surplice ought to be worn, as the dress of his profession and oflace, by the ministering Clergyman ; and, secondly, for the purpose of stating to you, my reverend brethren, collectively, a case which has been submitted to me by more than one of the Clergy of this Diocese, and the opinion which I have formed thereupon. 68. The case is the difficulty experienced in resuming the Service after the Sermon, by reason of the requisite change of the dresses, appropriated in practice respectively to the Pulpit and the Com- munion table. My solution of the difficulty is comprised in the following suggestions : — First, what is the obligation on a Clergy- man to use a dress in the pulpit diff*erent from that which he wears during his other ministrations? Secondly, does not the order for his dress, during his ministrations in general, include his mini- stration in the pulpit I and thus would not the Surplice be properly * Grand Debate, p. 80 ; Cardivell, p. 342. + lb. p. 8 ; lb. p. 310. J lb. p. 108 ; lb. p. 350. 2 But now there is scarcely a Bishop on the bench who has not had a " Selection of Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship dedicated" to him "by permissior."— .Ed. CHURCH SERVICES. THE SURPLICE. 591 worn at any time for the Sermon by the Parochial Clergy, as it is by those in Cathedral Churches and College Chapels? But, thirdly, at all events, where the circumstances of the case make that dress desirable, does there appear any impropriety in its use ? 69. If, indeed, it were at all times worn by the Preacher, it might tend to correct an impropriety, not to say an indecency, which is too apt to prevail in our churches, by reason of the change which takes place before the Sermon : when the Preacher, attended, perhaps, by the other Clergy, if others be present, quits the Church for the Vestry Room, after the Nicene Creed ; thus leaves his congregation to carry on a part of the Service, admitting Psalmody to be such, without their Minister ;^ an absolute anomaly, as I apprehend it, in Christian worship, that the people should act without their Minister ; deprives them of his superintendence during that exercise, and of his example in setting before them the becoming posture and a solemn deportment in celebrating God's praises ; and at length, after an absence of several minutes, during which he has been employing himself in any way but that of common worship with his people in God\s House, returns at the close of the Psalm to the congregation, and ascends the pulpit in the character of the Preacher. 70. Now all this is, in my judgment, open to much animadver- sion. And the best mode of correcting it appears to be, for the Minister to proceed, immediately after the Nicene Creed, to the pulpit, attired as he is — for the Church certainly gives no order or sanction for the change of his attire — and so be prepared to take part with his people in the Singing, if Singing be at that time de- sirable, or, if not, to proceed at once with his Sermon. 71 . But, however this may be, it is evident and incontrovertible, that much awkwardness and inconvenience must be the result of detaining a conofreofation after the Sermon, whilst the Minister leaves the Church, and retires to a perhaps distant vestry-room, in order that he may again attire himself in the dress fitted for prayer: for that he should proceed to the succeeding prayers in any other attire than the Surplice, is palpably opposed to the directions of the Church. 72. The sole mode of obviating this difficulty appears to be for the Minister, in such cases at least, to preach in his Surpli»;e.* 73. It will be observed, that I assume the resumption and con- 3 "Singing of Psalms in I\Ictre is no part of the Liturgy." See the quotation in Par. 65 of his Lordship's Charge, p. 5fi9, supra — Ed. ■* See a very able article on the Ruhrics and jRihial of the Chirch of Enplaiid, in the Quarterly Review for May, 1843 ; in which, as I humbly conceive, the " use of the Surplice in the pulpit (except in Colleges and Cathedrals) is " shewn to be " wholly unsanctioned, and . . . forbidden by ecclesiastical authority, ... an innovation on the practice of the Church, and contrary to the true reason and distinction on which the varieties of clerical dress were instituted." p. 264. See also a valuable work entitled, " How shall we Conform to the Liturgy of tlui Church of Engla7id?" By the Rev. J. C. Robertson, M. A., second edition, enlarged; and ".4 few Thoughts 07i Church Subjects.'"' By the Rev. Edward Scobeli,, M.A .Ed. 592 CHURCH SERVICES. POSITION OP THE FONT. tinuance of the Communion Service after the Sermon. I do so for this reason, that, however common may be in practice a deviation from the rule, the rule itself is plain, unequivocal, and imperative, as we find in the first paragraph of the Rubric after the Com- munion, that "upon the Sundays and other Holy-days (if there be no Communion) shall be said all that is appointed at the Com- munion, until the end of the general prayer ' For the whole state of Christ's Church militant here in earth,' together with one or more of these Collects last before rehearsed, concluding with the blessing." This also, be it observed, is the proper, the only proper, because it is the prescribed time, for saying the Sentences at the Offertory, and collecting the Alms of the congregation. It is only, indeed, by making the collection in connexion with the continuance of the service after the Sermon, that a religious character is given to the collection. And this is no mean consideration. But the consideration which my general argument induces me to impress upon you is, that the Church directs " the alms for the poor and other devotions of the people to be received" after the Sermon, and whilst the Offertory " Sentences are in reading," and so " to be re- verently brought to the Priest, and to be humbly presented by him and placed upon the Holy Table," and by him commended to God's most merciful acceptance, in conjunction with the prayers which the Church, as hath been already noticed, thereupon orders to be offered unto the Divine Majesty. 74. With the hope of satisfying the minds of some of you, my Reverend Brethren, whom I know to take an interest on this topic, and who, on any occasion of "diversity or doubt" relating to your use and practice of the directions of the Book of Common Prayer, are entitled to your Diocesan's sentiments, I may have dwelt on the foregoing question somewhat longer than was required by my more immediate purpose of specifying puritanical irregularities. 78. Again, as to the position of the Baptismal Font, the Puritans desired that " it may be so placed as all the congregation may best .see and hear the whole administration ;"* and this drew from the Episcopal Divines the remark, that " the Font usually stands as it did in primitive times, at or near the Church door, to signify that Baptism was the entrance into the Church mystical ; ' we are all Baptized into one Body,' 1 Cor. xii. 13 ;"*f* a remark well worthy of the attention of modern improvers, who seem oftentimes studious to place the Font any where but in its proper significant position,^ if indeed they admit any Font at all. See also Pars. 80—82, in Chap. XIV. • Grand Debate, p. 19 ; Cardwell, p. 324. f lb. p. 131 ; ib. p. 355. 5 The Puritans seem to have considered the edification of the congregation by " seeing and hearing the whole Administration," a matter of greater importance than the "significant position" of the Font. lu the same spirit it is provided by the IS THE MINISTER TO TUBN HIS BACK ON THE PEOPLE? 593 83. In the Office also of the Holy Communion, there were certain objections which caused debate between the Ministers of the Church and their sectarian opponents. The Priest, at the commencement of the service, and in the other parts of it, was directed to " stand at the north side of the Lord's Table," and at certain periods, to " turn himself to the people." Against this the Puritans excepted, " the Minister's turning himself to the people is most convenient through- out the whole ministration."* But the exception was met by the counter-position, explanatory of the rule : " The Minister turning to the people is not most convenient throughout the whole minis- tration ; when he speaks to them, as in Lessons, Absolution, and Benedictions, it is convenient that he turn to them ; when he speaks for them to God, it is fit that they should all turn another wuy,^ as the ancient Church ever did."-f- 84. And again, in the distribution of the Bread and Wine, where the Rubric directed, " then shall the Minister first receive the Com- munion in both kinds, &c., and after deliver it to the people in their hands, kneeling ; and when he delivereth the Bread, he shall say, the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life," &;c. ; to this the Non-conformists excepted, " We desire that at the distribution of the Bread and Wine to the communicants . . . the Minister be not required to deliver the Bread and Wine into every particular cora- munieant's hand, and to repeat the words to each one in the singular number, but that it may suffice to speak them to divers jointly."^ But what was the Churchmen's answer? " It is most requisite that the Minister deliver the Bread and Wine into every particular communicant's hand, and repeat the words in the singular number;7 for so much as it is the propriety of Sacraments to make particular obsignation to each believer ; and it is our visible profession, that by the grace of God, Christ tasted death for every man."§ Thus * Grand Debate, p. IG ; Cardwell, p. 320. + lb. p. 125 ; ib. p. 353. t lb. p. 17 ; ib. p. 321, § Ib. p. 110 ; ib. p. 354. Eighty-second Canon, that "when the Holy Communion is to be administered, .... the Table shall be placed in so good sort within the Church or Chancel, as thereby the Minister may be more conveniently heard of the communicants in his Prayer and Ministration." Our Church shews no superstitious preference for one spot above another, but is in- fluenced simply by an earnest desire to promote the spiritual benefit of her members. Her principle is that of the Apostle ; " Let all things be done to edifying.'''' — Ed. 6 Nothing can be more contrary to the spirit and tenor of our Liturgy, than the notion that the Priest prays/b?- instead of with the congregation. I venture to assert, without any fear of contradiction, that there is but one instance in which he is directed to do so in the whole Book of Common Prayer ; that instance occurs in the Marriage Service, where the Priest certainly does pi-ay for the man and woman, and it is worthy of re- mark that, in so doing, he is instructed by the Rubric to " turn" not his back, but " his face towards them." In the Baptismal Services we find such expressions as these, " Dearly beloved . . I beseech you to call ;" " Let us with one accord ;" " Ye have heard how the conqrcriaHoit hath prayed," &c. See Charge of the Bishop of London, Pars. 49, 50, in Chap. XXIV Ed. ' See note 8, p. 594,— Ed. 2 Q 594 THE CHURCH SERVICES. ADMINISTRATION OF the Puritans distinctly put forward the direction in the Rubric, as one concerning the meaning of which there w^as no room for doubt ; and thus the Churchmen admitted the direction, as one the meaning of which was unquestionable, at the same time affirming its fitness, stating the reasons of it, and arguing for its propriety. 85. At the same time there is a remarkable circumstance belong- ing to this objection and its consequences. For, whereas the Puritans objected to the Rubric as it then stood, the Episcopal Divines introduced into it indeed a small verbal alteration, but the alteration was such as to make, if possible, even more stringent the usage to which the Puritans objected. For the former Rubric, before the delivery of the Bread, had directed, " when he delivereth the Bread he shall say," and before the delivery of the Cup had directed, " the Minister that delivereth the Cup shall say," without specifying to whom ; but the altered Rubric directed the delivery of each to every particular communicant,^ " when he delivereth the Bread to any one he shall say;" and "the Minister that delivereth the Cup to any one shall say." Thus the objection of the Puritans was more pointedly rebutted : the sense of the Church was, if possible, more deliberately and positively affirmed ; and the wilful- ness of any of her sons, who might afterwards adopt the Puritanical objection, and deviate from their prescribed line of duty and con- formity, was declared to be more exceedingly wilful.* * With reference to the observations in the foregoing Charge, on the mode of administering the Holy Communion, proposed hy the Presbyterians, and rejected by the Bishops and their assistants at the Savoy Conference, I would beg the attention of my Clergy, and of the reader generally, to a small volume, entitled " Communio Fidelium, an Historical Inquiry into the Mode of distributing the Holy Communion, prescribed by the United Church of England and Ireland ; by the Rev. John Clarke Crosthwaite, M.A., &c.'" For diligence and accuracy of research, for clearness of arrangement, and for its unanswerable strength of argument, this little tract cannot be too highly prized by those, who feel " a godly jealousy" for the true ministration of the Church's ordinances. Shoiild another edition of the Tract be called for, as I heartily hope it may be, I would take the liberty of submitting to the learned author the convenience of adding an English translation of the Latin quotations, for the benefit of some readers, whom I happen to know to have been somewhat baffled by this omission in tlieir perusal of the Tract, in the argument of which they feel a deep interest. I add, what also I know to be the fact, that persons such as these have been subjected to great distress of mind, and were actually driven from the Lord's Table at which they were wont to communicate, and compelled to seek refuge elsewhere, by the unlawful mode of distributing the Bread and the Cup, condemned in the foregoing Charge, as well as in the " Communio Fidelium." 8 The observance of the letter of the Rubric in this particular would amount almost to a physical impossibility in the Churches of many Clergymen, who are accused by the Tractarians of " disparaging the Sacraments.'''' At St. Mary's, Cheltenham, for instance, the Services at eight, eleven, and three o'clock are rendered all but continuous by the number of communicants, even though several clergymen are engaged in the adminis- tration, and " the words are spoken to divers jointly." It is well known that even the Bishops of our Church do not adhere strictly to the Rubric, either on this point, or iu the parallel case of administering the Rite of Confirmation. It is certain, moreover, from the testimony of Fuller in his Chitrch History, that in the seventeenth century, " for expedition sake, at great Sacraments, the Minister at once delivered the wine to two communicants." — Ed. THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORd's SUPPER. 595 86. After this manner, my Reverend Brethren, several questions relating- to the provisions of the Church, which had occupied the minds and pens of the Episcopal and Preshyterian Divines in the 17th century, were brought to a point and decided at the Savoy Conference. Objections advanced on the foregoing particulars were answered ; and a decision was made by the succeeding " Act for the uniformity of Public Prayer," in favour of the course which the Church had previously followed, and in which it was then de- termined for her in future to persevere. This decision, my brethren, is the rule of our conduct as the Church's Ministers. And if we deviate from that rule, it appears from the foregoing specification, that we are so far not only forfeiting our pledge of ministerial obedience, but we are ranking ourselves with the opponents of the Church's judgment and authority, however our professional stipula- tions, and our confidential position in the ministry of the Church, may mask to the public eye the uncomely features of our dissent and non-conformity. 87. The foregoing observations have been offered to your minds, my Reverend Brethren, as suggested by a particular occuiTcnce in our Ecclesiastical History, and as aft'ecting us in the regular dis- charge of our ministerial commission. It was in my mind to submit two or three other matters to 3'our consideration : thus I would fain have prompted you to lament and deprecate with me the prevalence of other emanations of the same innovating and dis- orderly spirit, indicated by the facts, that whilst there generally exists an habitual omission not only of the daily Morning and Evening Prayers of the Church, but of her provisions for those days also which she has appointed to be kept holy, particularly for those which she has dedicated to a commemoration of events in her Blessed Saviour's life and ministry, an arbitrary will-worship has grown up in many of our congregations, which the Church directs not, nor approves ; that in many is found a substitution of voluntary prayer meetings, for the regular Church Services ; of extemporaneous unauthorized efiiisions, for her solemn Liturgy: that in others a curtailment or modification of her prescript form of Divine Worship has been introduced to make way for a longer Sei'mon ; that to a great extent there have been engrafted on her devotional provisions, not only strange Versions of the Psalms, but Hymns of private composition ; and that in numerous instances has been adopted the use of unconsecrated and unlicensed dwelling houses, or the substitution of the vestry room for the body of the church, as places of public worship. 89. But I have occupied you, I fear, already much too long. I will add only my admonition and prayer, that forbearing all rash attempts at visionary improvement, on the side of either Romanism or Puritanism, we may by God's grace cling to the substantial blessings of our actual Ecclesiastical provisions ; and continue to 2 q2 596 THE CHURCH SERVICES. POSTURE AND ACCENT. testify our hearty and humble thankfulness to Almighty God for these his mercies, by an undeviating attachment to the polity, the Liturgy, and the Doctrine of the Church, as she is. Maltby, Bishop of Durham. — 1842. Charge to the Clergy of Hexhamshire. That which is obviously the first to notice, though I would gladly hope that no necessity exists for noticing it, as a matter which has in any way been neglected on your part, is a careful attention to the manner of officiating publicly. " It is not perhaps enough considered (observes the late Arch- deacon Balguy, one of the wisest and best men who have ranked among the many wise and good of our Church) how much a be- coming celebration of the sacred offices contributes to make men delight in them, and profit by them ; or, on the contrary, how much any degree of negligence in the posture, or impropriety in the accent, or indiffijrence in the very air of the officiating Minister, sinks the credit and authority of his ministration, and deadens the attention and devotion of his flock." — (Disc. 2, vol. ii., page 19.) Phillpotts, Bishop op Exeter. — 1842. 3. There is one leading particular in their teaching, on which, when I warmly commend it, I venture to assure myself that I shall have the assent of most among you ; I mean the stimulus which they have given to a life of systematic fiety — to a life which shall, in some measure, realize the requisitions and copy the examples of those holy men who compiled our Liturgy, and fenced, and illus- trated, and enforced it with the Rubrics. That Liturgy was prepared, those Rubrics were designed, not to regulate the service of one day only in the week, but of every day. Whose fault is it, that its use is commonly so limited ? Is it the fault of our people ? At least, is it solely theirs \ None of us can truly and honestly say that it is, till he has tried — seriously, earnestly, for some consider- able time, tried, and tried in vain, — to win his flock to unite with him in that week-day sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, for which the Church has so faithfully provided, especially on all those " Feasts which the Church hath appointed to be observed."" 4. On this matter, however, I do not pretend to prescribe to you any rule. It must be left to your own judgment and your own feeling. But teach and discipline your feeling ; note well the prac- tice of which you read in the history of some of the best and holiest men our Church has ever produced ; note, too, the effect of the same practice in those of our own day who are known diligently to follow it. Are they mere formalists \ Are the}^ devoid of spiritual and vital religion ? Above all, try the practice fairly, devoutly, and in preaching: its importance and results. 597 the fear and love of God : try it yourselves, and note its effect on your own souls. Mark whether a holy composure, a pious joy, an increased ability to go through your other services (I will not call them labours), attend not the habitual use of these much-depre- ciated Ordinances. 5. In country parishes, it may not be easy soon to gather a con- gregation. Yet often, even there, the aged, the infirm, and some of those whose station exempts them from constant occupation, might be brought gladly to avail themselves of the more frequent ministrations of their pastor, if he shew himself in earnest in exe- cuting his high commission, as minister of God's Word, in confor- mity to the injunction of the Church. 6. In pressing this matter upon you, I am not ignorant that many good men have thought — some, perhaps, of those whom I now address may think — that the most valuable portion of public worship is the Ordinance of Preaching; and we are sometimes told, in a tone of seeming triumph, that the great work, for which our holy office was appointed, is, to " preach the Gospel."" 7. From the earliest days of the E.eformation there have been two parties in our Church — each of them including many sincere and excellent men — who are, and have been, more strongly distin- guished by their feeling, if not their language, on this particular, than by almost any other differences whatever. 8. On which side the voice of the Church has spoken, I need not say. But let me ask, has not experience also spoken I and is not its testimony with the Church ? What are the results, the endur- ing results, of the most eloquent, the most fervent, the most suc- cessful Preaching, if it be not kept in due subordination to the immediate and proper purpose for which the congregation is assem- bled in God's house — emphatically called by God himself " The House of Prayer,'"^ — humbly to acknowledge our sins before God — to render thanks to Him — to set forth His praise — to hear His holy Word — to ask those things which He knows to be necessary as well for the body as the soul — above all, to feed together spiritu- ally on the Body and Blood of our Blessed Redeemer ? 9. What, I again ask, are the results, the enduring results of the preference of Preaching to a service such as this ? Has not expe- rience shewn how little they can be depended on ? 10. And, after all, what is to preach the Gospel ? Is it merely the delivery of oral discourses ? In proclaiming the Gospel to the heathen, this may, indeed, be the best or the only way. But in the instruction of those who have been already brought, by God's ^ See Note 9, p. 586, supra. The Ordinance of Preaching has been so systematically disparaged by writers of the Tractarian School, (though strange to say, regarded by some of them as a part of the Communion Service) that I have given below the whole of the Bishop of Ossory's valuable remarks upon the subject, though bearing but indirectly on the present controversy. — Ed. 698 THE CHURCH SERVICES. PREACHING. mercy, into the fold of Christ, can the same be truly said ? What is catechising? What the reading publicly in the congregation the written Word of God I What the intelligent and devout use of our own admirable Liturgy ? Can any Sermons bear comparison, even as instruments of Christian instruction, with the wisdom, the perspicuity, the fulness, the wonderfully proportioned exhibition of the whole Will of God, which that blessed book presents 1 Of all its praises, this, its observance of the just analogy of Faith, is per- haps the highest. In it, no one portion of evangelical truth is un- duly exalted above the rest ; no favourite Doctrine can be there detected — nothing sectarian — nothing that is not Catholic, in its tone, as in its sense. Only teach your people to know the method, the system, of the whole book, and the purpose, as well as the meaning, of every part. Teach them, in short, to know the riches of the treasure which is there given into their hands. Shew to them, that it is not merely a manual of daily devotion, but also an epitome of a Christian's life : of his life, said I ? — ay, and of his death. From the font to the grave, it seeks to shed its enlighten- ing, its chastening, its consoling influence on all we do and all we suffer.* Be it your part to teach your people to use it as they ought ; to pray its prayers ; to " pray with the spirit, and to pray with the understanding also." And then be assured that they will listen even to the preacher, if not with the same barren wonder at his fancied talents, or the same brief subjection of their feelings to his rhetoric, yet with minds and hearts better fitted to receive, and to retain, whatever of good they may hear from him. See also Pars. 1!, 12, in Chap. XXII.; 13—25, in Chap. IX.; 20—40, in Chap. XII. ; and 162—170, in Chap. XXVI. MusGRAVE, Bishop op Hereford. — 1842. [Restriction on the use of Scripture would be likely soon to result from Reserve in displaying any of the treasures it contains, and disuse of Preaching would follow, though Preaching, and hearing, and reading the Scriptures, are manifest means of grace, as well as public and private Prayer, and the Sacraments of the Church.] See Par. 16, in Chap. XVII. Here let me express my cordial thanks to those among you, if any such be now present, who, in compliance with my wishes, or * I may be permitted to recommend a selection from the works of the great divines of the seventeenth century, entitled " Illustrations of the Liturgy and Ritual, by the Rev. James Drogden"^ recently published, as a most valuable addition to every paro- chial Clergyman's, and indeed to every Churchman's library. 1 His Lordship has, I must be allowed to observe, omitted a most important part of the title of Mr. Brogden's Work. The following is the original : '* Illus- trations of the Liturgy and Ritual of the United Church of England and Ireland: being Sermons and Discourses, selected from the Works of eminent Divines ivho lived during ike Seventeenth Century.'''' The Book itself then affords no slight testimony to the value and importance attached by " our best Divines" to the Ordinance of Preaching as an instrument of Cliristiau instruction. — Ed. OBSERVANCE OF HOLIDAYS. 599 from a strong sense of duty, have been pleased to give your parishioners a second Service or a second Sermon, on the Sunday. The universal prevalence of this double full Service is so obviously desirable, that I shall feel bound to enforce it in every instance of a new incumbency, except where, from some peculiar difficulties in the locality, or from the narrowness of the income, or other un- avoidable circumstances, it cannot well be enforced. — Charge 1842, pp. 15, 16. Se also Pars. G0_65, in Chap X. ; 67, 68, in Chap. VI. , 69—72, in Chap. IX. ; 80, 81, in Chap. II. CoPLEsTON, Bishop of Llandaff. — 1842. 29. The more frequent performance of the Daily Service, and especially of the celebration of the Holy Communion, the most devout and solemn ministration, both outwardly and inwardly, of these sacred offices, the frequent explanations to our flock of their true design and meaning — these are duties which, according to the circumstances of each parish, a conscientious Minister will gladly perform, and gladl}^ increase as opportunity shall be given, and need require ; carefully remembering the Apostolic rule, that in the Church all things are to be done unto edifying — that such is the design of these very Services — that the most exact observance of the Rubric has no virtue in itself, and that it may be practised by those who will never impart a corresponding sense to their con- gregation,— and may even be indiscreetly obtruded and magnified, as if, besides decency and solemnity, it possessed a saving merit of its own. See also Pars. 27, 28. 38, 39, in Chap. VI. Blomfield, Bishop of London. — 1842. Vide Pars. 29—33, in Chap. XXII. 34. I desire more particularly to call your attention to the duty incumbent upon you, of celebrating Divine Service upon each of the days on which we commemorate the leading events in the history of our Blessed Lord — not only his Nativity, Crucifixion, and Resurrection, but his Circumcision, his Manifestation to the Gen- tiles, and his glorious Ascension. It is my wish that, in obedience to the Church's directions, you should celebrate Public Worship on all the anniversaries of those events ; on every day in Passion Week, upon the Mondays and Tuesdays after Easter-day and Whit-Sunday, and upon Ash- Wednesday. By specifying these particular days I do not mean to insinuate, that the other Festivals and Fasts of our Church are not also to be duly kept ; but if any distinction is made, those observances, which are appointed in honour of our Blessed Lord Himself, and the solemn commence- ment of our great penitential Fast, are entitled to peculiar respect. 600 • THE CHURCH SERVICES. DAILY PRAYERS. The reason which is commonly assigned for the non-observance of some of these holy days — namely, that the people will not go to church even if we celebrate Divine Service, I consider not to be of such weight as to preponderate against the plain requirements of the law. The people's neglect in this particular, which began in an age when the Church's discipline was sadly relaxed, was perhaps suffered to grow into a confirmed and almost universal habit, by the too great easiness of the Clergy in giving way to it ; in not pressing upon their hearers the duty of frequently attending Church, and giving them opportunities of doing so. It must needs take some time to overcome that habit ; but the Clergy must be the first to attempt it, and they are not to be blamed for making the attempt. Let them do their part in carrying out the Church's intentions, and then none of the Laity will have cause to complain of being deprived by their means of any one of the opportunities and privileges to which all her children are entitled. " The life and Avelfare" (says Dr. Thomas Jackson), " as well of Church as of Commonweal, depend, next under God, on the frequent and fervent Prayer of the Church ; and to neglect such laws and canons, though made by men, as enjoin us to the frequent and decent performance of such duties, is to transgress all those branches of God's law which command us to seek the peace and wel- fare of the Church and Commonweal, wherein the safety of the King and State under whom we live, and (which is above all) the advancement of God's glory is concerned." 35. With respect to Daily Service, the Rubric directs, that " the Curate or Minister in every parish church or chapel, being at home, and not being otherwise reasonably hindered, shall say morning and evening Prayer in the parish chiu'ch or chapel where he minis- ters." Of the reasonablness of the hindrance, which may excuse a Clergyman from the daily celebration of Divine Service, he must himself be the judge, subject always to the authority of the Bishop, in case he shall see fit to interpose it, and to require such celebra- tion. In many cases it may be diflScult for one clergyman to per- form all the Services appointed by the Church ; and that the fra- mers of the Rubric did not intend to insist upon an uninterrupted daily performance of Divine Service, appears, I think, from the di- rection given to the Curate, that when it is performed, he shall cause a bell to be tolled a convenient time before, to give the peo- ple notice. But it is quite clear, that any Clergyman who thinks fit to comply with the Rubric in this respect, and has daily Prayers in his church, is justified, and more than justified in doing so. " As- we are not excused by," says Dean Comber, " so we ought not to be dis- couraged at, people's slowness in coming to Daily Prayers ; for their presence is indeed a comfort to us, and an advantage to themselves : but their absence does not hinder the success, nor should it obstruct the performance of our prayers.'' ■ — " Let our congregation be great or small, it is our duty to read these prayers daily." 36. In my primary Charge to the Clergy of this Diocese, in speaking of Matins, I expressed a wish that the experiment should MORE FREQUENT COMMUNION. 601 be tried, not on Wednesdays or Fridays only, on which days the Litan}^ might still be used at eleven o'clock, but on every day ex- cept Sunday, agreeably to the practice of the early Church and of our own in its better ages. In expressing tbat wish I had in view the parish churches in towns : and where it has been carried into effect, I believe that a considerable number of persons have been found to profit by the opportunities so afforded. I know of no reason why the same practice should not be resorted to in country parishes, where the resident Clergymen are desirous of giving full effect to the Church's intentions, although the employments and habits of our rural population may prevent it, for a time at least, from producing much effect. The truth is. Reverend Brethren, that until the Church's intentions are completely fulfilled, as to her Ritual, we do not know what the Church really is, nor what she is capable of effecting. It is the instrument by which she seeks to realize and apply her Doctrines ; and the integrity and purity of the one may, as to their effect, be marred and hindered, in what degree we know not, by a defective observance of the other. o7. I would urge this consideration upon you, with an especial reference to the more frequent celebration of the Holy Communion, the most appropriate and distinguishing act of Christian worship. I am persuaded that much of the backwardness and unwillingness to communicate, which the Clergy have so much cause to lament in countiy parishes, has arisen from the practice of having only quarterly Communions. The people are brought to consider the Lord's Supper, not only as the most solemn office of devotion, but as something so mysterious and awful, that the Church can venture to celebrate it only upon rare occasions ; and they are naturally led to question their own fitness to receive it. They are reminded of the duty only once in three months ; and while they are doubting, and perhaps all but resolved to communicate, the opportunity passes away, and they think no more of it for another quarter of a year. A more frequent celebration of those holy Mysteries, with proper instruction on the part of the Clergy, would keep the duty of communicating more constantly before the eyes of the people : the disobedience and neglect, which they practise once a quarter, they will be less likely to practise every month, or every week ; and I believe that in few instances have the Clergy multi- plied the opportunities of parochial Communion, without increasing the number of communicants. 38. I am sorry to find that the number of parishes in this Dio- cese (principally in the country) in which the holy Sacrament is administered only four times in the yeai*, is much greater than I had imagined. I trust that when I renew my inquiries, if I should be spared to do so, I shall not find a single instance of the kind. The rule laid down in the Rubric and Canon, that every parishioner should communicate at least thrice in the year, seems to have been 602 THE CHURCH SERVICE. — MONTHLY COMMUNION. mistaken by some of the Clergy for a direction as to the number of times at which they are to minister the Holy Communion ; whereas it is obvious, that if every parishioner is to communicate thrice, there ought to be at least six administrations ; for it is difficult for a poor man and his wife, having a family, both to attend church at the same time. I think that in every parish there ought to be a monthly Communion.* 89. The reasoning of Bishop Butler on the frequent and decorous celebration of Divine Worship is so just in a philosophical as well as a religious point of view, that I cannot forbear fi'om adducing it, even at the risk of wearying your patience. The times are so pe- culiar, and the subject engages at the present moment so much of public attention, that I may be excused if on this occasion I exceed the usual limits of a Charge. " Nor does the want of religion," he observes, "in the generality of the com- mon people, appear owing to a speculative disbelief, or denial of it, but chiefly to thouglitlessness, and the common temptations of life. Your chief business, therefore, is, to endeavour to beget a practical sense of it upon their hearts, as what they acknowledge their belief of, and profess that they ought to conform themselves to it. And this is to be done by keeping up, as well as we are able, the form and face of religion with decency and reverence, and in such a degree as to bring the thoughts of religion often into their minds ; and then endea- vouring to make this form more and more subservient to promote the reality and power of rehgion. The form of religion may indeed be where there is little of the thing itself; but the thing itself cannot be preserved among man- kind without the form. And this form, frequently occurring in some instance or other of it, will be a frequent admonition to bad men to repent, and to good men to grow better, and also to be the means of their doing so. In Roman Catholic countries, people cannot pass a day without having religion recalled to their thoughts by some or other memorial of it, some ceremony or public religious form occurring in their way, besides their frequent holy days, the short prayers they are daily called to, and the occasional devotions enjoined by their confessors. By these means their superstition sinks deep into the minds of the people, and their religion also into the minds of such among them as are serious and well disposed. Our Reformers, considering that some of these ob- servances were in themselves wrong and superstitious, and others of them made subservient to the purposes of superstition, abolished them, reduced the form of religion to great simplicity, and enjoined no more particular rites, nor left any thing more of what was external in religion, than was in a manner necessary to preserve the sense of religion itself upon the minds of the people. But a great part of this is neglected by the generality amongst us : for instance, the service of the Church, not only upon common days, but also upon Saints' days ; and several other things might be mentioned. Thus they have no cus- tomary admonition, nor public call to recollect the thoughts of God and religion from one Sunday to another.'' And then, having spoken of the care which * The King's Injunctions given to the Archbishops in 1694, direct "That the Bishops douse their utmost endeavour to obHge their Clergy to have pubHc Prayers in the Church, not only on holidays and Litany-days, but as often as may be, and to cele- brate the Holy Sacrament frequently." Concerning frequent Communion see George Herberts Country Parson, chap, xxii., and Bishop StiirmfifJeets Eccl. Cases, p. 5f). The requisition of the 21st Canon goes no further than that "in every parish church and chapel, the Holy Communion shall be ministered so often, and at such times, as every parishioner may communicate at the least thrice in every year, whereof the feast of Easter to be one." MINISTERIAL DRESS. — THE SURPLICE AND GOWN. 603 ought to be taken to repair and adorn churches, he adds, " But if these appen- dages of the Divine Service ought to be regarded, doubtless the Divine Service itself is to be more regarded ; and the conscientious attendance upon it ought often to be inculcated upon the people, as a jjlain precept of the Gos23el, as the means of grace, and what has peculiar promises annexed to it. But external acts of piety and devotion, and the frequent returns of them, are moreover ne- cessary, to keep up that sense of religion, which the affairs of the world will otherwise wear out of men's hearts ; and the frequent return, whether of public devotions, or of any thing else, to introduce religion into men's serious thoughts, will have an influence upon them, in proportion as they are susceptible of re- ligion, and not given over to a reprobate mind. For this reasou, besides others, the Service of the Church ought to be celebrated as often as you have a con- gregation to attend it."* 40. I have cited these passages at length, as expressing the sen- timents of a profound thinker and a wise man ; not as deeming it necessary to offer any arguments in justification of those Clergy- men, who are desirous of obeying all the directions of the Rubric, and of exhibiting to the people what is really the established, though long neglected order of the Church. 58. With respect to the Habits proper to be worn by the Clergy, when ministering in Divine Service, no question is made, as far as the Prayers are concerned ; but it is doubted, whether a Clergyman, when preaching, should wear a Surplice or a Gown. I apprehend, that for some time after the Reformation, when Sermons were preached only in the morning as part of the Com- munion Service, the Preacher always wore a Surplice,"f* — a custom which has been retained in Cathedral Churches, and College Chapels. The Injunction at the end of King Edward's first Ser- vice-book requires the Surplice to be used in all churches and chapels in the saying or singing of matins and evensong, baptizing and burying. And the present Rubric enacts, that all the ornaments of Ministers, at all times of their ministration, be the same as they were by authority of Parliament in the second year of King Edward VI. The Gown was probably first worn in the pulpit by the Licensed Preachers,:J: and by the Lecturers, who preached when no part of the Communion Service was read. In the King's Injunctions of 1633, to the Archbishop, a direction is given that " where a lecture is set up in a market-town, it may be read * Charge to the Clergy of Durham, 1751. Republished by Bishop Halifax in IIM, p. 17. + Or possibly an albe, or close-sleeved surplice. t It was proposed in the Lower House of Convocation in 1562, " tbat the use of copes and surpHces might be taken away, so that all Ministers in their ministry use a grave, comely, and side-garment, as commonly they do in preaching ;" i. e., I conceive, when Sermons were preached without the reading of the Common VT&yei.—Sirype^s Ann., I. i. p. 501. 604 THE CHURCH SERVICE. MUMBLE-MATINS. by a company of grave and orthodox Divines, and that they ever preach in such seemly habits as belong to their degrees, and not in cloaks." When there is only one officiating Clergyman, and the Prayer for the Church Militant is read, which must be read in a Surplice, it seems better that he should preach in the Surplice, than quit the Church after the Sermon, for the purpose of changing his habit. It would perhaps be most consonant with the intention of the Church, if the Preacher wore a Surplice when preaching after the Morning Service, and a Gown when the Sermon is in the evening.^ Upon the whole, I am hardly prepared to give any positive direction on this point for this particular Diocese, although it is certainly desirable that uniformity of practice should prevail in the Church at large. 59. A more important point than that of the dress of the offi- ciating Clergyman, is the manner in which he reads the Common Prayer. No person objects more strongly than I do to a declama- tory, or dramatic mode of reading ; but I do not understand why those Clergymen, who seek to avoid that fault, should pass to the opposite extreme of rapid and monotonous recitation, which they describe as reading pla^io cantu. I am aware, that in the old Rubric even the Lessons were directed to be sung in plain tune, as also the Epistle and Gospel. But this was wisely altered. There are certain parts of the Service which the Rubric still directs to be said or sung ; with reference probably to " choirs, and places where they sing," as the Rubric expresses it, and to parish churches and chapels, where the prayers are said, and not sung. But whether said or sung, it should be devoutly, audibly, and distinctly. The 14th Canon directs that the Common Prayer "be said or sung distinctly and reverently."" Queen Elizabeth's Injunction of 1559 was, " that all Readers of Public Prayers be charged to read leisurely, plainly, and distinctly." The writer of the Homily on Common Prayer cites a constitution of Justinian to the same effect: the rule laid down in the Reformatio Legum is, " Partite voces et distincte pronuntient, et cantus sit illorum darns et aptus, ut ad auditorum sensum et intelligent iam pervenianty The reason, why so great a stress was laid on the distinct reading of the Church Service, independently of its obvious necessity, was the general prevalence of an opposite practice amongst the Popish Clergy, many of whom, after they had conformed to the Liturgy, read it as they had been accustomed to read the prayers in their Breviary.* 60. It is much to be regretted, that any of the Clergy of our Reformed Church, which justly glories in a form of public Prayer, * The Clergy who read in this hurried and indistinct manner were called, in derision, " Mumble-Matins." "^ See note 4, p. 591, supra. — Ed. CONFUSED AND INDISTINCT READING. 605 SO framed that the people may both understand it and bear a part in it, should think it necessary, or profitable, or consistent with the Church's intentions, to read it in a hurried and indistinct manner. " It is an absurdity and an iniquity," says Bishop Gibson, " which we justly charge upon the Church of Rome, that her public service is in a tongue unknown to the people ; but though our Service is in a known tongue, it must be owned, that as reading it without being heard makes it to all intents and purposes an unknown tongue, so confused and indistinct reading, with every degree thereof, is a gradual approach to it." See also Par. 57, in Chap. XX. 75. There are still a few points connected with the orderly per- formance of Divine Service, which, as 1 am frequently consulted upon them by the Clergy, I will briefly notice before I conclude. I think that it is not correct to commence Divine Service Avith a Psalm or Hjmn.^ The Psalms and Services had better be said than sung, where the congregation are not sufficiently versed in the knowledge of music to take part in them. Where a Sainfs-day falls upon a Sunday, the Collect for the Saint' s-day, as well as that for the Sunday, should be read, and the Epistle and Gospel for the Saint's-day, but the Lessons for the Sunday. The Minister should himself give out the Psalms to be sung, and all notices that may be lav^'fully published in church. The Prayers for the Ember Weeks should always be used as appointed. The Responses in the Communion Service should be said, rather than sung, where there is not Cathedral Service. After the Nicene Creed, the Minister should, in all cases, declare what Holy Days or Fasting Days are, in the week following, to be observed. Baptism is never to be administered in private houses, except in cases of urgent necessity ; and all such Baptisms should be duly registered within the time prescribed by law. This I request you to take as my authoritative direction, as well as what follows : That you will not permit any Clergyman to officiate as your temporary substitute, or assistant, not being a personal friend or acquaintance of your own, who shall not have first exhibited to me his letters of orders and testimonials ; and that no Clergy- 3 The following extract from Queen Elizabeth's Injunctions to the Clergy, a.d. 1559 is taken from Sparrow's Collection of Articles and Canons, p. 80, 4to edition of 1684. " For the comforting of such as delight in music, it may be permitted, that in tlie beginning or in the end of Common Prayer, either at Morning or Evening, there may be sung a Hymn, or such like song, to the praise of Almighty God, in the best melody and music that may be conveniently devised, having respect that the sense of the Hymn may be understood and perceived." — Ed. 606 THE CHURCH SERVICES. PREACHING: IN MANY RESPECTS man, serving only one church, omit either Morning or Evening Service on Sundays. Mountain, Bishop of Montreal. — 1842. Vide Pars. 1—13, in Chap. X. CBrien, Bishop of Ossory, Ferns, and Leighlin. — 1842. 1. The Editors of Mr. Froude's Remains have thought fit to pre- serve a conversational sneer of his at " young parsons'" " who have got into the way o^ performing the service impressively C'^ and another, couched in the felicitous phrase, for its purpose, oi '"'■ preaching the prayersy-]- Both, I believe, like many others which they have thought worthy of publication, have done more to introduce evil than to correct it. Pithy sayings, which sound acute or refined, will always have irresistible attractions for numbers, including not a few who are not very capable of making a discreet use of them. And they offer so compendious a mode of settling what' it would be troublesome to settle regularly, that when they obtain currency, they are sure to be mercilessly used. And I believe that these phrases, so far as they have had any effect, have done something to introduce a dry and cold, which with many must degenerate into a negligent and irreverent, tone, in reading the Services of the Church. It is very plain, however, that it is only under a great mistake of what might be a true sense and proper application of such phrases, that they are allowed to produce such an effect. A deliberate attempt to produce an impression upon a congregation, by the tone and manner in which a Minister addresses prayers to God, is very leniently treated, when it is condemned as bad taste. It is doubtless vile taste, but it is something very much worse too. But to assume a tone and manner unsuited to the sentiments to which we are giving utterance, in order to escape such censure, and avoid giving such offence, is, to say the very least, just as bad in point of taste and feeling. We may justly be offended — we cannot but be much offended — when we see, or imagine, that a man is aiming at being impressive, in such a case — but to be offended with his being impressive, would be to be offended with him for feeling as he ought, what he is addressing to God, and for allowing his feelings to appear, without putting any artificial restraints upon them. For any man who does this in reading our Services, (un- less he labour under some special physical disqualifications) must be impressive ; — not in the way of striking a congregation as im- pressive, but of imparting to them the feelings by which he himself is moved. I hope, therefore, that you will not be driven by any such scoffs, into that hardness and deadness, which are now some- times assumed, and which contrast so painfully with the earnest- * Vol. i. p. 43fj. He is reported to have added : " I do not suppose the Catholic service could be performed impressively." t Ibid. p. 435. THE HIGHEST DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN MINISTER. 607 ness, and solemnity, and cordiality, of the tone of our public Prayers; and which, moreover, are so calculated to damp the spirit of de- votion in those whose petitions you are offering. 2. Those who think that in such Services the Minister is per- forming an office for the people, rather than imth them, may very consistently disregard such an effect.'* And indeed those who appear to look back with some measure of regret at the change made at the Reformation from the Latin Services, may hail it as a step taken towards the recovery of what we have lost, when the prayers are delivered so as not to he heard and understood hy the people. But he who cordially enters into the character of our Service, as one in which Minister and people are to join together in worship, will be under no temptation by posture, tone, or manner, to offer any impediment in the way of his people's addressing God with him, as they were intended to do ; praying with the Spirit^ and praying with the understanding also. 12. And this brings me to the last point which I think it neces- sary to notice in the duties of your important office — I mean your public Preaching, Though I have come to it last, in many im- portant respects I cannot hesitate to assign to it the highest place among the duties of a Minister. It is, no doubt, best discharged in conjunction with those parts of the pastoral office of which I have been speaking.^ Indeed, perhaps it can never be discharged effectively except in such combination. While, on the other hand, it will be collected from what I have been saying, that I regard the other branches of the pastoral office as performing one of their most important functions, when they are thus making preparation for, and seconding, the public addresses of the Minister. But without entering too far into the subject, I may remind you that there is this to distinguish your labours in the pulpit from all others — that they are exclusively your own. In other parts of your work you may, and if your sphere be an extended one, you must owe much to the aid of others. In relieving the sick and indigent, you will have to resort, not merely to the contributions of your flock, but to the personal agency of the active and benevolent, in distributing the funds which have been thus provided for you. And not merely in such kindly offices to those committed to your care, but even in instructing them, you may owe much to the like assistance. And such an employment of qualified auxiliaries, if kept under proper direction by a Minister, may be eminently useful, — useful to the teachers, as well as to the taught. JNIany a Minister sees a crowded Sunday School break up, with the happy feeling, that the duty of training the young committed to his care, in the nurture and admo- nition of the Lord., has not been neglected, who would be obliged to * See note 6, p. 593, supra Ku. * Parochial Visiting, Catechising, T'arish and Sunday School Instruction, — Ed, 608 THE CHURCH SERVICES. PREACHING: ITS HIGH IMPORTANCE! look with very different thoughts, upon this interesting and im- portant portion of his flock, if they had heen left entirely to what he could do, unaided, for them. And so by the aid of others, a man may be filling effectively a sphere of action in which he would be toiling without hope, if he were deprived of such assistance. But in the pulpit you must stand alone. The members of your congre- gation, who may do much with you and for you elsewhere, can neither represent nor assist you there. When you enter the pulpit, you leave all such auxiliaries behind you. And if you descend from it M'ith the feeling that your people have been imperfectly taught, rebuked, or exhorted by you, you cannot have the consolation, which in other cases you may in some degree enjoy, that your de- ficiencies have been supplied by others. IfS. If the deficiencies of which you are conscious arise from a want of natural powers, our Lord is not the austere Master that wicked and slothful servants sometimes represent Him to them- selves. He does not reap where He has not sown, nor gather where He has not strawed : and you may be at peace as regards Him, and the account which you are to render to Him. Even for his flock, when such is the cause of his deficiencies, the Preacher may hope, that He who has used the foolish things of this world, to confound the wise ; and weah things of the world, to confound the mighty, will employ his feeble ministry to baffle Satan's craft, and to pull down his strongholds. But if the deficiencies of his Sermon have arisen from this — that the time and thought which it required, have not been spent upon it, the case is far different. Even when he knows that the time which he has taken from preparation for the pulpit, has been spent in parochial labours, — and I desire to consider no other cause of want of due preparation, — I think he must feel that, without comparing the duties in any other point of view, he has been sacrificing the one in which his failure affects the greatest numbers, and in which it is least capable of being remedied or supplied, 14. And though I do not mean to pursue the comparison at any length, I cannot avoid saying, further, that I think that it is in the pulpit, that a Minister appears most distinctly and impressively in his office as God's ambassador. He ought never to lose sight of this office, even in his teaching from house to house. Everywhere, and under all circumstances, he ought to be ready, in this character, to take advantage of all opportunities which may offer themselves to him, of beseeching men to be reconciled to God. But I need not say that there are many and serious impediments to the exercise of the duty elsewhere : and that the 20ord of Reconciliation committed to him, would find in private, not merely many a heedless, but many an impatient hearer. But there is none of the same kind of im- patience, when it is delivered from the pulpit. Men feel that they are assembled to hear it. And, to say nothing of what it owes, when so delivered, to earnestness, and solemnity, and fervour, and HAS BEEN SYSTEMATICALLY DISPARAGED. 609 other accessories, whlcli naturally belong to a public address, but which are not easily connected with the more familiar style of private teaching, it falls from the pulpit upon ears which are in some measure prepared to hear it, — which at least are not closed against it by the feeling that it is out of place. And if it be true that it is in the pulpit that a Preacher of the Word best and most effectively discharges this most important part of his office, it must be felt that it offers even more obvious advantages for the exercise of other parts ; that it is there that he can reprove^ rehiJce, and exhort, with the fullest weight of ministerial authority ; and in a tone which could not be employed to individuals, without defeating its own object. And these are such clear and such important dis- tinctions that I need not advert to any other. 15. I might end here what I had to say about this part of your duties, but that it is one of the points to which I referred, upon which studious attempts have been made to change the views and feelings of Ministers in recent times.^ Preaching has been systema- tically disparaged, and even expressly described as an instrument which " may be necessary in a weak and languishing state " (of the Church), but one which " Scripture, to say the least, has never much recommended !"* I will not do so much wrong to your acquaintance with Scripture, as to set about any regular exposure of this hardy misrepresentation of it. You will need no proof that you are to teach publicly, as well as/rotn house to house ; to preach the icord ; to do the work of an Evangelist ; and that in "Preaching," you are using an in- strument which Grod has appointed, and employed, and honoured, and blessed, in bringing sinners to Christ, and building them up in the Faith. And what I have said, had not for its purpose to prove this to you, but to draw attention to a few out of the many considera- tions which serve to shew the high and peculiar importance of this branch of your duties. I hope, few as they were, they were suffi- cient for their purpose ; which was, to procure for this part of your office the place which it ought to hold in your estimation ; and this, that it may in practice receive the measure of attention which it requires. For it is a great work, which can only be carried on successfully when a yimhier gives himself to it, — studies, thinks, and prays over it. 16. When I speak, however, of the study and labour which right preparation for the pulpit requires; I am far from intending that * Tract 87, p. 75 ; — " Not that we would be thought entirely to depreciate Preaching as a mode of doing good : it may be necessary," &c. 6 " And, besides, so much of what is most elementary, and what has been long re- garded as most fixed, has been unsettled in our times, that there is scarcely any point, whether of doctrine or discipline, upon which it is not doubtful what views and prin- ciples men now hold. So that there is hardly any thing so elementary, or so certain, upon which it may not be necessary to say something to correct or to determine the views of some who hear me, and, even beyond what that purpose requires, to make known my own." — pp. 4, 5 Ed. 2 R 610 THE CHURCH SERVICES. PREACHING. their aim should be graces of style, or any of the artifices of com- position. For the general purposes of addresses from the pulpit, I am sure that simplicity and directness are above every artificial or- nament ; and that when seriousness and cordiality are combined with them, they leave nothing to be desired in a Sermon, as regards what is generally meant by style. And they are within the reach of every one ; and indeed are rather to be regarded as the natural result of a right state of mind and feeling about the momentous subjects of your discourses, and about those to whom they are ad- dressed, than as qualities to be bestowed on a composition, as the fruit of special effort in every particular case. 17. With respect to arrangement, somewhat more direct labour may be required — particularly in some cases. For there are some persons in whom arrangement seems plainly a natural gift — who not only naturally, as it seems, express themselves so clearly that each separate thought is easily understood by the very plainest hearers ; but who, with as little apparent effort, arrange their thoughts in the way most favourable for taking in, and retain- ing the entire. Some, on the other hand, labour under natural disadvantages in both respects. But a deficiency in powers of arrangement is, I believe, the more common. At least, one not unfrequently hears a Preacher who frames his sentences so that each conveys with sufficient clearness what was intended ; and yet there is such a want of connexion between them as they succeed each other; and the parts into which it would be natural to divide what he says, are disposed so little according to their sequence and de- pendence in the order of thought ; that to understand the whole scope and purpose of his discourse, requires more mental effort than his humbler hearers are able, or his more cultivated hearers disposed, to make. If a Preacher keeps his hearers in this sort of puzzle while he is speaking, and if, when all is over, the perplexity still remains, they will be likely to get into the habit of acquiescing in this state, and be satisfied with taking away astray thought or two, giving up all effort to understand his discourse as a whole. 18. Such a result is sufficiently unhappy to make it well worth while for those who can only attain to clearness of arrangement by pains and thought, to take all the trouble about it which they find necessary to ensure it. And I suppose no one is likely to excuse himself from such labour by saying, That his hearers know nothing about method, and that they would not know whether his discourse were well or ill arranged. This would be to mistake entirely the whole case. The nature and objects of method are wholly misun- derstood, when it is supposed to be something which is intended to attract attention to itself, — to be an object of adraii-ation, or a source of pleasure to a man's hearers. It will, of course, always exhibit itself to competent persons, who take the pains of analyzing any skilful composition ; and will be perceived, without any effort, by one whose mind has been much exercised, and whose attention is THE CHURCH SERVICES. PREACHING. 611 much awake, about such matters. But its excellence lies in being felt, not seen. It is but a means to the end, of rendering it easy to hearers to take in and retain a discourse ; and the less that it is perceived, the more is it fitted to answer its end. So that it would be a total mistake to estimate its importance in a particular case by the degree in which it, or the want of it, was noticed by your hearers. It is little likely to be observed by uneducated persons, and the want of it just as little. But it makes itself felt by all, and the want of it is felt by all too. Indeed, the case is even stronger. For those who would most readily perceive defects in arrangement, are the very persons who can most easily dispense with the aid which good arrangement gives. And it is those who are least ca- pable of perceiving such defects who are sure to suifer from them most. So that for the sake more especially of those very congre- gations in which your want of method is least likely to be detected and complained of, the arrangement of your discourses requires pe- culiar attention. It will require, as I said, very much more care and labour from some than from others. But it deserves all that it may require from all. 19. But when I spoke of study and labour, I was thinking much more of the materials of your discourses, than of their composition. For a man who preaches much, without from time to time renewing the stock of matter with which he began his career, however sound or pious he may continue to be, will be almost sure ultimately to become a very barren Preacher. And I only say almost^ in consi- deration of a few rare instances, in which observation of life, and intercourse with varieties of character, seem to make an original and peculiar cast of mind, independent in a good measure of reading. But these are rare exceptions. Generally, and all but universally, the Preacher requires to have his own mind supplied and exercised by books. And to derive full advantage from them, I need hardly say, that he must not only read, but think. Undigested reading is better, I am sure, than none. I know that a diiferent opinion is entertained by some, but this is mine. For there is no one who does not take away some matter from what he reads, and no mind can be so inert as not to be forced to some activity, while taking in new facts or thoughts. And, what is not to be put out of view, every mind becomes continually more unfurnished and more inert, when reading is wholly given up. But the benefit to be derived from reading without purpose and thought, of course falls far short of that which reflection will draw from the same, or from scantier stores. And this applies very particularly to the most fruitful, as well as the most important of the sources from which the Preacher''s materials are to be drawn. By reading the Holy Scriptures, with- out meditating upon them, a man may no doubt obtain considerable acquaintance with the facts and doctrines which they contain, may become an adroit controversialist, and a well-furnished textuary. But, unless he studies the sacred volume with patient thought (I 2 R 2 612 THE CHURCH SERVICES AND FESTIVALS. need not add to you, my brethren, with earnest prayer), until he becomes imbued with its spirit, as well as acquainted with its con- tents, his use of Scripture will be comparatively jejune, and cold, and unprofitable. And so, you remember, the Apostle exhorts his beloved son in the faith : — " Meditate upon these things — give thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear to all." A nd, certainly, all do feel the difference which there is between one who is giving out crude materials, taken in hastily for the occasion, and one who is drawing from the stores which he has laid up in this meditative study of Divine truth. Bagot, Bishop op Oxford. — 1842. 44. With this view 7 you will take care, that, so far as in you lies, none shall have it in their power to say, that they sought Rome because their own mother withheld from them the spiritual sustenance which they needed, or because they were discouraged from living (instead of being encouraged to live) according to the system prescribed in the Prayer Book. 45. Let the slovenly method, in which the Divine offices have, perhaps, in some places been performed heretofore, cease at once, and for ever, in all ; let our Churches be no longer left to damp and dilapidation, but meet (as far as we can make them so) for the presence of Him who hath promised to come among us there and bless us. 46. Above all, let the ministration of the blessed Sacraments be duly and reverently performed : the one no longer solemnized out of its proper place in the service, the other more frequently ad- ministered. I well know that we have been so neglectful, that our people have ceased to value much which we could restore to them, and it will only be Avhen we have taught them to look on attendance upon the ordinances of religion as a blessing and a privilege as well as a duty, that we can bring them back to the habits and feelings of a better day. And this can only be done gradually, most gradually, and in the exercise of that sound dis- cretion, which prefers slow but sure advance, to that more rapid and excited movement which is sure ere long to halt and linger, and is not rarely forced to retrace its steps. 47. Two Services on the Sunday, where hitherto there has been but one ; the observances of the Festivals, of Lent and Passion Week, and, as opportunity may offer, of the Ember and Rogation days, may in due time bring us back to the restoration of the Daily Service. The Church Fasts kept will accustom men to habits of self-denial, and we may have more hope, that luxury will diminish, "? " — Preserving those of your flocks wlio are most exposed to them, from the perils of these dangerous days."— See par, 43, in Chap. XVIII. — Ed. IMPORTANCE OF THE CHURCH SYSTEM. 613 and almsgiving increase ; the Offertory will not be as now, almost a mockery of offerings, — not as now, rarely read, but regularly, and largely contributed to. In a word, let the teaching of the Church and her holy practices as a Church be systematically brought forward, taking care, of course, all the while that an exaggerated and undue importance is not given to externals, — that, to use the language of a popular cry,^ " the Church be not set in place of the Saviour ;" let there be, in short, a nearer approximation, year by year, to the system prescribed by our Prayer Book, and I do not fear but that the result will be a vast increase of piety, devotion, and charity among us, and those Catholic aspirations and longings, which we hear of as now seeking relief irregularly and inadequately, and as looking towards other communions, will find safe and suffi- cient vent in our own. 48. Be sure there is at this time an expansive principle within us, which can no longer be pent up with safety. If you attempt to repress it, an explosion, the limits of whose destructive force none can tell, will inevitably follow. But we have a safety-valve ready provided in the Church system, which, if only properly used, may yet bear us harmless. See also Par, 26, in Chap. VI., 33, 34, in Chap. XX., 54, in Chap. II. Denison, Bishop of Salisbury. — 1842. Vide Pars. 4, 5, in Chap. VI, Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 1842. Vide Pars. 42. 46, in Chap. Ill,, and 47, 48, in Cliap. XXV. Thirlwall, Bishop of St. David''s. — 1842. ^It was a state of things so far similar to our own, as to hold out what may still be in some respects a useful warning to our- selves, that drew the following observations from one of our old Divines : — " As to Sermons, I hope they do not undertake to be as eminent a part of the Worship of God among us as Prayer. If they do, I must the less blame the poor ignorant people, that, when they have heard a Sermon or two, think that they have served God for all that day or week ; nor the generality of those seduced ones, who place so great a part of piety in hearing, and think so much the more comfortably of themselves from the number of hours spent in that exercise, which hath of late been the only business of * See Note 9, p. 275, snpra Ed, 9 His lordship is speaking of certain Clerical meetings in his diocese, at which "a, number of Clergjinen attend Divine Service, and the greater part of the time is occupied with public discourses addressed to the congregation." p. 19. — Ed. 614 THE CHURCH SERVICES, DAILY PRAYERS. the Church, (which was by God entitled the House of Prayer) and the Liturgy at most used but as music to entertain the auditors, till the actors be attired, and the seats be full, and it be time for the scene to enter." Thus, where a prejudice — I fear not an uncommon one — prevails against the use of a Liturgy, or a disposition to consider the Sermon as the most important part of the Service, a Clergyman, particularly a young one, may easily be tempted to humour this prejudice by arbitrary curtailment, or rapid reading, or by the introduction of extemporaneous Prayers. In each of these ways he is tacitly casting a slur upon the Church, and sanctioning one of the principles most opposed to her Doctrine and spirit. — Charge^ 1842, pp. 21—23. Pepys, Bishop of Worcester. — 1842. 20. But we are told that the Clergy have been guilty of neglect in one more important point. That the Prayer Book requires a Daily Service, which yet is rarely, if ever, performed. 21. Now upon this point I must, in the first place, express ray doubts whether the compilers of our Liturgy ever contemplated the performance of a Daily Service generally in the parochial churches of this Kingdom, Such a Service is, indeed, provided for in the Prayer Book ; but then it must be recollected that it was necessary to provide in the Prayer Book for the Service in Cathedrals, as well as for that in parochial churches of the country. In the former, the Daily Service is still performed ; and, as Cathedrals are usually situated in large towns, it is probable that out of a considerable population many may be found to profit by it : this, however, is ordinarily not the case in the country ; and it may be doubted whether much spiritual benefit would be derived from the performance of a Daily Service, where the various occupations of the inhabitants of the parish prevented the chance of a congregation. 22. The preface to the Prayer Book, indeed, directs that all Priests and Deacons are to say, daily, the Morning and Evening Prayer, either privately or openly. It is clear, therefore, that the option is afforded them. How far they comply with this direction, by reading the Daily Service privately, is a matter which, of course, can be only known to themselves. 23. It may, however, be observed, that the motive which, pro- bably, induced the compilers of our Liturgy to require that the Daily Service should be thus, at least, privately read, now, happily no longer exists. So ignorant were the Clergy of those times, even of the Scriptures, that the reason assigned for their being thus required to read privately the Service provided for each day in the Prayer Book, is that they might thereby acquire a competent DAILY service: HOW FAR ENJOINED. 615 knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, by reading every day those portions of them which are allotted for each day's Service. I need not say that the improved system of theological education, which has been adopted in modern times, and the degree of proficiency which is now required from every candidate for orders, has rendered the reading of the Daily Service, however edifying it may be as a devotional exercise, no longer necessary for the purpose of acquiring a knowledge of the Scripture. 24. I am far from meaning by these observations, in any degree, to depreciate the importance of this or any other religious duty. We cannot be too much engaged in such duties ; and they may be performed, no doubt, with much spiritual advantage, by such of the Clergy as have the population of large towns committed to their charge : but, when I consider the onerous duties which now devolve upon the Clergy, compared with what was required of them at the time our Liturgy was compiled, — when I recollect that so inadequate were the Clergy of that day* considered to the office of Preaching, that none were allowed to preach without a license from the Bishop ; and that those who were not so licensed were required to procure a licensed Preacher only one week out of four, — when, on the other hand, I refer to the returns which have been made to me, and observe that, in a majority of parishes in this Diocese, two Sermons are preached every Lord's-day, — and when I know that, in addition to the labour thereby required, increased attention has been paid to the establishment and super- intendence of schools, and that the personal visitation, at their own houses, of the inhabitants of a parish, is very rarely neglected, — I could not bring myself to impose upon those, whose important functions are already so ill-requited, the additional burden of a Daily Service.^ ' A writer in the Irish EcclesiasticalJournal '^ {&r from wishing to depreciate or deny the value of the Daily Service," observes, " The clause requiring ' all Priests and Deacons to say the Common Prayer daily,' unless let by ' sickness, or other urgent cause,' permits the alternative of saying it e\t\\ev ^ openly or privately.'' There is, therefore, no peremptory order here that the performance of the Daily Service should be in the church. May not this order have been introduced to supersede the prac- tice with which the great body of the Clergy were familiar, before the Reformation, of daily reading a portion of the Romish offices — a duty imposed under the penalty of mortal sin, — and thus substitute for the follies and blasphemies of the Breviary, our pure and Scriptural Liturgy ? " It would appear, also, that this clause had reference to Clergy without cure of souls, such as those attached to Collegiate and Cathedral Churches, rather than the paro- chial Clergy ; for the following sentence, relating to ' Curates ministering in any church or chapel,' is much less stringent, admitting as grounds of exemption from the performance of this duty, not merely ' sickness or some other urgent cause,' but ' not being at home,'' or ' being otherwise personally hindered.'' " — Ed. 616 CHAPTER XXIV. INTRODUCTION OF NOVELTIES. Bagot, Bishop of Oxford. — 1838. 1. I have spoken of increased exertions among us, and of an increasing sense of our Christian responsibiHties ; and, therefore, you will probably expect that I should say something of that peculiar development of religious feeling in one part of the Diocese, which has been supposed to tend immediately to a revival of several of the errors of Romanism. In point of fact, I have been con- tinually (though anonymously) appealed to, in my official capacity, to check breaches both of doctrine and discipline, through the growth of Popery among us. 2. Now, as regards the latter point, breaches of discipline, — namely, on points connected with the public Services of the Church, — I really am unable, after diligent inquiry, to find any thing which can be so interpreted. S. I am given to understand that an injudicious attempt was made, in one instance, to adopt some forgotten portion of the ancient Clerical dress \^ but I believe it was speedily abandoned, and do not think it likely we shall hear of a repetition of this or similar indiscretions.^ 2 His Lordship probably refers to the ease of a young man mentioned by Dr. Puskv, in a letter to the Rev. G. Townsend, which appeared in the British Magazine. Tliis " Clergyman," says Dr. P., " who was at the time at Oxford, but not connected with any parisli church, (thinking this to be enjoined by the Rubric prefixed to the Morning Prayer,) ' wore in the time of his ministration such ornaments as were in this Church of England, by the authority of Parliament, in the second year of the reign of King Edward the Sixth.' The scarf had then, it is said, two small crosses — one at each end ; it is a simple and unostentatious dress." — Ed. 3 A recent number of the English Churchman (1843) speaks of the Maniple " as something which we once possessed, and which, with all its accompanying ancient and sacred vestments, English Priests may yet claim to wear." The "Maniple" is de- scribed to be " part of the celebrating Priest's vestments, to hang over the left arm.'''' Mention is also made of an intention to revive "Chasubles," and "Copes," and " Surplices close in front;'''' also "a Corporal Cloth, of delicate material, and marked with the Jive crosses.''''— Ed. INTRODUCTION OP NOVELTIES. 617 4. At the same time, so much of what has been objected to, has arisen from minute attention to the Rubric ; and I esteem uni- formity so highly, (and uniformity never can be obtained without strict attention to the Rubric,) that I confess I would rather follow an antiquated custom, (even were it so designated,) with the Rubric, than be entangled in the modern confusions which ensue from the neglect of it. HowLEY, Archbishop of Canterbury. — 1840. 6. In the celebration of Divine Service, the introduction of Novelties is much to be deprecated ; and even the revival of usages which, having grown obsolete, have the appearance of Novelties to the ignorant, may occasion dissatisfaction, dissension, and con- troversy. In cases of this nature it may be better to forego even advantageous changes, and wait for the decision of authority, than to open fresh sources of misapprehension or strife by singularity. Broughton, Bishop of Australia. — 1841. Vide Par. 41, in Chap. XIX. Maltby, Bishop of Durham. — 1841. Vide Pars. 9—10, in Chap. XX. BowsTEAD, Bishop of Lichfield. — 1841. 6. The tendency of these views has been to introduce Novelties into the celebration of Divine Worship — a practice which the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his recent Charge, has strongly depre- cated. Longley, Bishop of Ripon. — 1841. 4/8. The motive for reverting to Usages, respectable from their antiquity, though unauthorized by our own Church, may be pure and unimpeachable ; but where the adoption of them is not im- perative, it will surely be better to avoid all occasion of mis- apprehension or controversy. Our venerable Reformers may possibly have discarded some things indifferent, which might well have been retained ; but as these usages have once disappeared, may it not be attaching more moment to them than they deserve to insist upon their re-production, even at the risk of peace ? It is in vain to say that such matters ought not to interrupt the harmony of the Church. What has been, will be, under like circumstances ; and the truest wisdom would seem to dissuade from the intro- duction of Novelties, where such consequences may possibly ensue, 618 INTRODUCTION OF NOVELTIES. unless the plea of conscience can fairly be maintained. The discussion of such matters having of late more than usually occupied the attention of Churchmen, these observations will not, I trust, appear misplaced. See also Pax. 4, in Chap. XXII. Beresford, Archbishop of Armagh. — 1842. 4. In conclusion, I would only add this one caution : Give to the "weightier matters" of the law and of the Gospel of Christ, the greatest portion of your attention and care ; and do not expend upon " strifes of words,"" and on observances of comparatively little moment, those efforts which ought to be employed chiefly in en- deavouring to reform the wicked, to instruct the ignorant, and to save the souls of those who are committed to your charge. And, may Almighty God, who only can, vouchsafe unto us the ability, through the assistance of his Holy Spirit, in these and all other parts of our Christian life, to imitate our great exemplar, Jesus Christ ; whose Word, and Praise, and Recognition of our imperfect Services, shall prove our rich reward and crown of glory on the day of his appearing — " Well done, good and faithful servants, — ye are they that I have chosen ; — ye have fed my flock, ye have taught my truth, not by constraint but willingly, — not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind ; — ye have kept yourselves unspotted from the world ; — enter ye into the joy of your Lord." Mant, Bishop op Down and Connor, and Dromore. — 1842. Vide Par. 17, in Chap. VIII., Pars. 83 and 89, in Chap. XXIII. Musgrave, Bishop of Hereford. — 1842. 19. And we are to blame if we encourage any revival of Cere- monies and Usages not authorized by the Rubric, and contrary to the simplicity and spirituality of the Gospel, which by substituting vain, and profitless, and variable forms, for inward and vital holiness, tend to draw off the mind from the true and real object of worship. 20. Forms are not wholly matter of indifference. If on the one hand the Roman Church in her childish fondness for forms has multiplied them beyond measure, attributing to them something of a Sacramental principle, while others have been absurd enough rashly to reject even those which are manifestly ancient and ap- proved, our Church has wisely retained such, and such only as are essential to secure order and vitality to the Service. 23. Cautioned by the past in our own country, and by what is every where seen now in countries connected with the Roman See, INTRODUCTION OF NOVELTIES. 619 we should take care lest by multiplying Observances in themselves harmless, and insisting on practices, in themselves perhaps unob- jectionable, a spirit of pride and self-sufficiency be engendered, tending to weaken reliance on the efficacy and value of Christ's Atonement ; and instead of making this the only ground of pardon and acceptance with God, the notion of human merit should pre- sumptuously occupy its place. 24. The worst error of the Church of Rome has ever been con- sidered this, that we are justified by works, or peradventure by faith and works. 55. Though I have observed with unmixed satisfaction the care of late taken to improve the condition of many of our Churches, I cannot omit to warn you against the introduction of any Decorations unauthorized by the Rubric and recent custom.* 56. Novelties in this kind, though in themselves possibly inno- cent, may wound the conscience of a weak brother on the one hand, and on the other, may generate and foster anti-scriptural and dan- gerous inductions. It is possible to imagine some, which mistaken piety might consider as " efficacious emblems,"" and in process of time, by an easy gradation, might regard with the same veneratioii as those " effectual signs of grace," the Sacraments themselves. 57. Nor would I advise you to read the different parts of the Service in places not of late usual in your Churches, without at least the previous approval and permission of the Ordinary. 58. With your private and personal observances, I have no wish to interfere ; and I \vould only pray that they may all tend to pro- mote your growth in holiness, to " make you wholesome examples to the flock of Christ,"" and to add fresh energy and success to your Ministry. 59. I would only warn you against introducing Novelties in Faith or Practice unknown among us from the age of the Reformation down to these times. To do this on the ground of recalling the usages or sentiments of the Nicene age, or of any age immediately prior, or subsequent thereto, as if any of these were more united in faith, more pure, or wiser, or holier, or more spiritually minded than ours, is an assumption unsupported by proof from Ecclesiastical History, and has no existence except in the imaginatiouj^of some zealous and stirring spirits whose speculations and prejudices appear to lead them to prefer to our own the practice of an unsettled and contentious age. CoPLESTON, Bishop of Llandaff. — ]842. Vide Pars. 30—32, in Chap. XX., and Par. 57, in Chap. XXIV. * See note 5, p. 525, supra. — Ed. 620 NOVELTIES. OBEISANCE TOWARDS THE Blomfield, Bishop of London. — 1842. 43. As to those Forms and Ceremonies which are expressly en- joined in the Rubric or Canons, and which, as is said in the eighteenth Canon, are intended to " testify the people's humility, Christian resolution, and due acknowledgment that the Lord Jesus Christ, the true eternal Son of God, is the only Saviour of the world," I think that upon the principle asserted by Bishop Butler they are clearly reasonable, and that, being enjoined by the Church, they are obligatory upon its members. Such are the various de- votional Postures prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer, and the doing lowly reverence when in time of Divine Service the Lord Jesus is mentioned, as directed by the same Canon ; which custom, says Hooker, " sheweth a reverent regard to the Son of God, above other messengers, though speaking as from God also : and against Infidels, Jews, and Arians, who derogate from the person of Jesus Christ, such Ceremonies are most profitable." 44. Again, although I do not consider the Canons of 1640 to be binding upon the Clergy, I see no very serious objection to the custom therein commended, as having been the ancient custom of the Primitive Church, and of this also for many years in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, of doing Obeisance on entering and leaving churches and chancels ; not, as the Canon expressly declares, " with any intention to exhibit any religious worship to the Com- munion-table, the east, or church, or any thing therein contained, in so doing, or to perform the said gesture in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist from any opinion of the corporal presence of the Body of Christ upon the Holy Table, or in the mystical Elements, but only for the advancement of God's glory, to give Him alone that honour and glory which are due unto Him, and no other- wise. 45. But that the Clergy, although they are at liberty to use this custom, are not obliged to do so, even if that Canon be in force, is clear from the words of the Canon itself, which heartily commends, but does not enjoin it. " In the practice or omission of this Rite (it says), we desire that the rule of charity prescribed by the Apostle may be observed, which is, that they who use this Rite despise not them who use it not, and that they who use it not condemrfnot those that use it." If those persons, who practise these obeisances towards the Holy Table, do so under the notion of a bodily presence of Christ in the consecrated Elements, or if the people are led to suppose them to do so, then I consider the custom to be objectionable, and at variance with the spirit of our Reformed Church. If otherwise, the Clergy, who observe it, are bound to explain it to the people, in the sense in which it is explained by the Canon.5 * The writer of the article on Rubrics, in the Quarterly Revieu; (see note 4, p. 591, supra,) alluding to this passage in his Lordsliip's Charge, inquires — "Now how is the HOLY TABLE. TURNING TO THE EAST. 62l 46. The same Canons of 1640, declare that the situation of the Holy Table at the east end of the church, being in its own nature indifferent,^ and that wherein no religion is to be placed, or scruple made thereon, " doth not imply that it is, or ought to be accounted, a true and proper Altar, whereon Christ is again really sacrificed ; but it is, and may be called an Altar, in that sense in which the Primitive Church called it an Altar, and in no other." Those per- sons who hold not simply a real, but a hodily presence of Christ in the consecrated Elements, can scarely avoid holding also the notion of a propitiatory sacrifice ; and to this notion of a hodily presence is to be traced a superstitious reverence for the external circum- stances of the Eucharist. Our own Church, admitting the Doctrine of a real, though spiritual presence, utterly rejects that of a cor- poral presence, which, however it may be veiled under obscure or unintelligible terms, is virtually one of the errors of Transubstan- tiation.'^ It is expressly declared at the end of the Communion Service, that by the custom of kneeling to receive the elements, " no adoration is intended, or ought to be done, either unto the Sacra- mental Bread and Wine then bodily received, or unto any corporal presence of Christ's natural flesh and blood." 47. " The Ceremonies, (says Bishop Fleetwood,) allowed in practice in the Church, though not enjoined by the Rubric, are such as were used in the Church before and when the Rubrics were made ; and being reasonable, and easy, and becoming, were not en- forced by any new law, but were left in possession of what force they had obtained by custom. He that complies not with these Ceremonies, oiFends against no law, but only against custom ; which yet a prudent man will not lightly do, when once it has obtained in general." * 48. With regard to Worshipping towards the East, there can be no doubt of its having been a very ancient practice of the Church ; for it is mentioned by Clement of Alexandria, and by Tertullian. Bishop Stillingfleet, one of the most learned of our Divines, con- siders it to be one of those customs derived from Primitive times, and continuing to our own, which there is no reason to oppose, but rather to comply with. "And of all customs," he observes, " that • Works, p. 723. Minister who practises this rite to Iviiow whether the people misunderstand it or not ; and how, in what form, and at what time is he to ' explain ' the matter ? Is it at the vestry, or in an allocution from the Altar, or in a Sermon, and if so, on what text? But suppose, as is most likely to be the case, the Minister who does practise these obeisances does so not in the sense of the pretended Canon — about which he probably knows nothing — but in the very sense condemned by his Lordship — and suppose, what may happen, that he has already brought the minds of his flock to adopt much of his own way of thinking as to Ritual matters generally — then, we presume, there will be no misunderstanding ; the Priest will have nothing to explain ; and the objectionable prac- tice will never be objected to.'"' pp. 274, 275 Ed. 6 See Note 5, p. 592, supra — Ed. ' See Note 4, p. 416, supra.— Ed. 622 INTKODUCTION OP NOVELTIES. ORNAMENTS. of contention and singularity, where there is no plain reason against them, doth the least become the Church of God." * 49. I do not, however, consider it to be the intention of our Church, that the officiating Minister, when reading prayers, should turn to the east with his back to the congregation.^ Bishop Spar- row thinks, that anciently the Reading-desk was so placed, that the Minister looked to the east, away from the people, to whom he is directed to turn in reading the lessons. But the Reading-desk was not known in the early years of the Reformation. It is not men- tioned in the Injunctions of King Edward VI., nor in those of Queen Elizabeth, nor in any Canons or Visitation Articles before the Canon of 1603. The first Rubric in King Edward's Common Prayer Book, orders, that the Minister so turn him in reading prayers as that the people may best hear him ; and as the custom- ary place for reading the prayers was then the chancel, at the Communion-table, it is clear that he could not have faced the east.-f* It appears, however, from the proceedings of the Savoy Conference, that it was customary at that time for the Minister to turn to the people only when he spoke to them, as in the lessons, absolution, and benedictions ; " when he speaks for them to God," it was argued by the Bishops, " it is fit that they should all turn another way,^ as the ancient Church ever did, the reasons of which you may see in August, lib. 2, de Ser. Dam. in Monte.''' \ 50. I myself approve of, as convenient, though not necessary, the arrangement lately adopted in several churches, where the Reading- desk is near the east end of the church, by which the Clergyman looks towards the south while reading Prayers, and towards the west while reading the Lessons.^ 51. With respect to those Ornaments of the Church, about which there is a difference of opinion, where the Rubric and Canons are not clear, the judgment of the Bishop should be sought for. A • See the Bishop of Lincoln on Tertullian, p. 402, and on Clement of Alexandria, p. 452. John Gregorie''s Works, p. 89. Bishop Slillingfleefs Eccl. Cases, p. 382. Stave- ley on Churches, p. 155. Joannes Damaseenus says, that praying towards the East was &ypaos irapaSoffis tuv a.TToar6\uv. It was however, not a universal practice. Socrates, Eccl. Hist. v. 22, says that the Churcli of Antioch in Syria had tlie altar to the West, a.vT'ia'Tpo<\)ov exet t^j/ Oicnv. So the ancient Church of St. Benedict, at Paris. See Mabillon Lit. Gall. p. 68. ■^ Hamon L'' Estrange Alliance, p. 328. + Dr. CardweWs History of Conferences, p. 353. 8 See Note 6, p. 593, supra. " I am sure the Daily Service is a great point ; so is kneeling ivith your back to the people, which, by-the-bye, seems to be striking all the Apostolicals at once." — Froude's Remains, vol. 1, p. 390 Ed. 9 His Lordship has omittted one position, which, with the addition of a practice lately introduced by certain priests of the Tractarian School, will render the " arrange- ment" complete so far at least as the four cardinal points oi' the compass are concerned. In reading Prayers, then, tlie Clergyman will look towards the West ; in reciting the Creed, towards the East ; in reading the Lessons, towards the South ; in burying a Dissenter, towards the North Ed. LIGHTS UPON THE COMMUNION TABLE. 623 question has arisen about placing Lights upon the Communion Table. Some doubt may be entertained as to the law in this par- ticular. They were forbidden by the Injunctions of King Ed- ward VI. in 1549 ; but they were in use when the first Liturgy of that monarch received the authority of Parliament, and therefore seem to be sanctioned by the Rubric in our present Common Prayer Book. But whether it be so or not, they have always been retained in the Chapels Royal, in Cathedrals, and in College Chapels ; and I see no objection to them, provided that the Can- dles are not burning except when the church is lighted up for Evening Service.^ 76. In conclusion. Reverend Brethren, let us be careful to bear in mind ourselves, and to teach our people, that the outward means and aids of religion are not religion itself; but are so far valuable and useful as they contribute to the great ends of religion, to form Christ within us, to establish the life of God in the soul, and to keep us within the precincts of his grace.* The more careful we are to observe all the external circumstances of devotion, the more diligently let us cherish in ourselves, and strive to promote in others, those spiritual affections which they are intended to excite and strengthen. See also Par. 42, in Chap. XXII. CBrien, Bishop of Ossory, Ferns, and Leighlin. — 1842. 3. And in leaving this head, I must express my satisfaction in believing, that there is no need that I should administer any caution to you against those singularities in Dress, and Gesture, and Posture, which one hears of from time to time, as introduced by * " Ceremonies are advancements of order, decency, modesty, and gravity, in the service of God, expressions of those heavenly desires and dispositions, which we ought to bring along with us to God's House, adjuments of attention and devotion, further- ances of edification, visible instructors, helps of memory, exercises of Faith, the shell that preserves the kernel of religion from contempt, the leaves that defend the blos- soms and the fruit ; but if they grow over thick and rank, they hinder the fruit from coming to maturity, and then the gardener plucks them ofif.'' — Archbishop Bramhall, p. 488. ' " Two Lights should be placed upon the Altar according to Edward the Sixth's order, ratified in our present Prayer Book. We think it plain that these Candles were meant at the Reformation to he lighted, as had been usual, during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist ; otherwise they do not svell signify (in the words of the Injunction) the truth — Christus Lux Mundi." — British Critic, April, 1840, p. 273. Mr. Avlipfe Poole, one of Dr. Hook's Curates at Leeds, writes to the same effect in his Pamphlet on The Anglo- Catholic iise of Two Lights npon the Altar. It "has been again and again asserted of myself, and that by many who might have seen with their own eyes that it was not so," that I " burn candles at mid-day Had it been so, I defy them to prove it either wrong in itself, or superstitious or Popish. I suspect, too, that it may be found to be the real intention of tlie Church in the Rubric so often referred to." p. 24. — Ed. 624 NOVELTIES. ECCENTRICITIES IN DRESS. individual Ministers, — but apparently with a kind of concert,^ — into the services of the Church in the sister country. I am happy to believe, that in these Dioceses there is no trace of such mischievous fopperies. If they appeared in ordinary times they might only deserve to be censured as individual frivolities ; ex- hibitions of that uneasy vanity, which in common life leads those who are harassed by a craving for distinction, and who have no better mode of attaining it, to seek it by eccentricities in dress, or equipage, or deportment ; — only far more reprehensible as appearing in God's Ministers, and in His house, and in His solemn service. 4. But ours are no ordinary times. We live in times when the design of unprotestantizing the National Church has been openly avowed as the great aim of the most active party in the Church ; and when, even in a quarter where the designs of the party are most cautiously spoken of, the Church of Rome is repre- sented, not only as possessing much that is Catholic in common with ourselves, but not a little also, of which the Reformation has divested us, and which, it is confessed, there is a longing to re-appro- priate. When such is our position, and when these novelties in externals are brought forward by the party who have already done so much, and who publish their determination to do whatever more may be necessary, to accomplish what they at last avow to be their great end ; and when, finally, these Innovations have a manifest tendency to assimilate us in externals with the Church of Rome — 2 See notes 2, 3, p. 616, supra. Singularities in dress have not been confined to the Services of the Church. Witness the grotesque figures which have from time to time, of late years, attracted the attention of the public in the streets and Convocation House at Oxford. An attempt has also been made towards " the general resumption of the Cassock by the Clergy." It was gravely proposed that^^y*^^ persons should simultaneously assume this garb in London on Michaelmas Day. The Rkv. Michael Gathercole, Editor of the Church Intelligencer, put down his name as " number one," and " the matter" was said to be " in a fair train." Much discussion followed as to the shape and material of the habit, whether it should be " double or single-breasted,'''' fastened with a " Surcingle,'''' " loops or buttons.''^ It was to be " longer,^' Mr. Gathrrcole informed us, " for the drawing-room than for common wear, and would be incomparably more convenient and comfortable, and very much less ea'pensive (sic) than our present dress, for any thing might be worn under the Cassock, which, with a simple ichite neckerchief without any collar, would thus far complete the dress. One of Mr. Gathercole's corre- spondents states that his " shorter Cassock, for daily use, reaches half-way down from his knees to his feet, and is a most comfortable dress ; the larger Cassock, reaching nearly to the feet," and being " better adapted to solemn occasions, such as public worship, visitations, evening society, &c." " Moreover," he continues," my Morning Cassock is not of silk, but of a strong woollen stuff — a sort of serge, which is very cheap, and renders this by far the cheapest dress a poor Curate can wear. It will last twice as long as a black coat, and costs only half as much, besides saving the waistcoat and trowsers," &c. This gentleman's sash is " permanently sewn on to the back, and the two ends fasten together with hooks and eyes (sic) on the left side of the body." Another correspondent, "An Oxford Bachelor,'''' writing on the "Feast of St. Cyprian, 1842," modestly suggests that " a petition should be signed to the Bishops of the Church, begging their Lordships to enforce observance to the" J-lth " Canon," to the intent that he and his brethren " who wish to be distinguished from Schismatics and others, as Clergy in the Holy Catholic Church of Christ," might " re-assume" the *' Clerical Costume" without being " made the victims of a persecution" ! — Ed. MR. PAGEt'k picture OP THE DISCIPLES. 625 when such is the case, I do not think that any one who does not share in this design, and desire to promote it, can consistently imitate any of the practices to which I have referred. And it is, as I said, with iinmingled satisfaction, that I find that no disposition has been evinced among us, to commit any of these irregular re- appropriations ; or to adopt any of these devices, novel or obsolete, for the decoration or dedecoration of sacred edifices, and those who minister in them. Bagot, Bishop of Oxford. — 1842. 27. And now, since nothing can be more unfair, than to make the teachers responsible for the proceedings of the disciples,^ where the latter are now wholly beyond their control, I would say a few words with respect to those, who, as you know, excited my fears heretofore, and have since in some instances verified them. 28. I am happy to say that, so far as the Parochial Clergy are concerned, the caution which I felt it my duty to give at my last Visitation with respect to the revival of obsolete practices, which were calculated to give offence, without any adequate advantage resulting, has been, so far as I have been able to ascertain, at- tended to. 29. Of course questions about vestments and matters of a similar description, cannot be raised without much higher principles being involved. It was not a contest whether the red rose or the white were the fairer flower, which in a former age deluged our land with blood. These were but the outward badges of the strife of political opinions within. 30. Still, in the present state of the Church, when there are already such miserable divisions among us with respect to the essentials of Religion, it does seem to me worse than folly in those 3 The following picture of these unhappy " Disciples " is drawn by a Master's hand, being the work of his Lordship''s Chaplain, the Rev. Francis E. Paget, M.A., Rector of Elford. " Churchmen have now and then been distressed of late years by the intolerable folly of disciples of the Tractarian School, who, in their vanity and love of notoriety, have made it the apparent object of their lives to render themselves as unlike their neighbours as possible, — not in holiness, self-devotion, and secret (sic) acts of self- denial, but by making themselves conspicuous in externals ; bowing, and crossing, and performing all manner of notable antics, — and thereby distracting their neighbour's attention, instead of aiding their devotions ; wearing, not crosses only, but crucifixes (sic) as conspicuously as possible ; writing notes to their tailor or green-grocer, and dating them ' St. Elhelbxirga''s Day,'' or ' The Morroiv of the Tnaislation of the Bones of St. Si/mphorosa ;'' lighting and extinguishing candles at their prayers" (as taught by the Editor of Devotions on the Passion? See note 9, p. 511, supra. — Er>.) ; hitting, in short, upon every conceivable singularity that seems to savour of Popery, and at the same time is likely to direct attention to themselves It is, of course, self- evident that such persons must be among the weakest of the weak, very well inten- tioned, — but geese ; (sic) neither more nor less. They may damage any cause, but would do honour to none : and in all probability would be Mahometans or JMormonites, were Mahometanism or Mormonism to become fashionable." — Warden of Berkingholt. A Tractarian Novel, pp. 38, 3!) Ed. 2 s 626 NOVELTIES. INDISCREET YOUNG MEN. who SO far allow their zeal to master their judgment, as to go out of their way to create fresh causes of dissention, by giving undue importance to things indifferent, and even of questionable value. And besides, those, who profess to be guided by Catholic principles, should remember that one of the first principles of Catholicism is " aj/eu Tov iTTiaKOTTov yLtT^Sev Trpdacrecv,'''' * to do nothing without Episcopal sanction. .31. Generally speaking, indiscretions such as I have alluded to emanate only from very young men ; and such persons may be quite sure that, whatever be their talents, or how sincere soever their zeal, there cannot but be great defects of character in them — they can hardly be otherwise than self-confident, or vain, or deficient in humility, or far from having disciplined minds . Pepys, Bishop of Worcester. — 1842. Vide Par. 26, in Chap. III., and Par, 37, in Chap. VI. • Ignatius ad Trail. § 2. 627 CHAPTER XXV. character, tendency, and effects of the tractarian movement. Wilson, Bishop of Calcutta. — 1838. Vide Par. 1, in Chap. I. 2. It is to lue, I confess, a matter of surprise and shame, that in the nineteenth century we should really have the fundamental posi- tion of the whole system of Popery virtually reasserted in the bosom of that very Church, which was reformed so determinately three cen- turies since from this self-same evil, by the doctrine, and labours, and martyrdom of Cranmer and his noble fellow-suiferers. 3. What ! are we to have all the fond tenets which formerly sprung from the Traditions of men re-introduced, in however modi- fied a form, amongst us ? Are we to have a refined Transubstan- tiation — the Sacraments, and not Faith, the chief means of Sal- vation— a confused and uncertain mixture of the merits of Christ and inherent grace in the matter of Justification — Remission of sins, and the new Creation of Christ Jesus, confined, or almost con- fined, to Baptism — perpetual doubt of Pardon to the Penitent after that Sacrament — the duty and advantage of self-imposed Auste- rities— the innocency of Prayers for the Dead — and similar tenets and usages which generate " a spirit of bondage" * again asserted amongst us ? And is the paramount authority of the inspired Scriptures, and the doctrine of the Grace of God in our Justification by the alone merits of Jesus Christ which reposes on that authority, to be again weakened and obscured by such human superadditions; and a new edifice of "■ will-worship," and " voluntary humility,"" and the " rudiments of the workl,'" as the Aj)ostle speaks, to be erected once more in the place of the simple Gospel of a crucified Saviour? My language is strong, my Reverend Brethren, but I think you will agree with me, that it is not too strong for the occasion. You shall judge for yourselves. * I confine myself to topics of which no dubious intimations have been given. I say nothing of wliat may possibly follow — the prohibition of the unfettered use of the Scriptures — Purgatory — the Veneration of Relics — Prayer to the Virgin Mary the Intercession of Saints — Works of Supererogation — Monastic Vows— the Celibacy of the Clergy, &c. &c. 2 s 2 628 CHARACTER, TENDENCY, AND EFFECTS 18. All this is but too natural. The false principle will go on " eating as doth a canker," if things proceed as they now do. The inspired Word of Crod will be imperceptibly neglected ; and the Traditions of men will take its place. The Church will supersede the Bible. The Sacraments will hide the glory of Christ. Self- righteousness will conceal the righteousness of God. Traditions and Fathers will occupy the first place, as we see in the sermons of the chief Roman Catholic authors of every age, and Chi'ist come next or not at all ; and a lowered tone of practical religion will come in. 19. The whole system, indeed, goes to generate, as I cannot but think, an inadequate, and superficial, and superstitious religion. The mere admissions of the inspiration and paramount authority of Holy Scripture will soon become a dead letter ; due humiliation before God, under a sense of the unutterable evil of sin, will be less and less understood; a conviction of the need of the meritorious Righteousness of the incarnate Saviour, as the alone ground of Justification, will be only faintly inculcated ; the operations of the Holy Ghost in creating man anew will be more and more forgotten; the nature of those good works which are acceptable to God in Christ will be lost sight of; and " another Gospel," framed on the Traditions of men, will make way for an apostacy in our own Church, as in that of Rome — unless, indeed, the evangelical piety, the reverence for Holy Scripture, the theological learning, and the forethought and fidelity of our Divines of dignified station and esta- blished repute at home interpose by distinct cautions to prevent IT — as they are beginning to interpose, and as I humbly trust they will still more decisively do ; and as their signal success in the in- stance of Neological theories a year or two since, may well encourage them to resolve on. Sumner, Bishop of Chester. — 1838. 1. Many subjects present themselves, towards which I might be tempted to direct your thoughts. One more especially concerns the Church at present ; because it is daily assuming a more serious and alarming aspect, and threatens a revival of the worst evils of the Romish System. 2. Under the specious pretence of deference to Antiquity, and respect for primitive models, the foundations of our Protestant Church were undermined by men who dwell within her walls, and those who sit in the Reformers' seat are traducing the Reformation. 3. It is again becoming matter of question, whether the Bible is sufficient to make man wise unto salvation ; the main Article of our National Confession — Justification by Faith, is both openly and covertly assailed : and the Stewards of the Mysteries of God are instructed to reserve the truths which they have been ordained to dispense, and to hide under a bushel those Doctrines which the Apostles were commanded to preach to every creature. OF THE TRACTARIAN MOVEMENT. 629 4. It is not from any feelings of favour towards these new Doctrines that I do not add my voice to the warnings which have been already raised, and ably raised, against them.* It is rather because I sincerely believe that the voice of warning, however needful elsewhere, is little needed here.'* We may regard it as a compensation for urgent and laborious duties, that the business of a diocese like that of which we are members, leaves no time for " fables and endless genealogies," and questions which are not "of godly edifying." We have too much to do with reaUties to be drawn aside by shadows. Bagot, Bishop of Oxford. — 1888. Vide Par. 1, in Chap. XXIV., aud 7, in Chap. VI. Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter. — 1839. Vide Par. 45, in Chap. VIII. ; Pars. 46— 57, in Chap, XX. ; 58—61, in Chap^ XV. ; and 62, in Chap. XVII. Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 1889. 15. I cannot bring myself to apprehend much danger, at this advanced period of the world, and in this enlightened and re- formed country, of the extensive prevalence and the revived supremacy of that corrupt Ohurch ; except as the result of the righteous judgments, and the inscrutable counsels of the Most High. But this I cannot avoid saying, that, while I fully and frankly acquit the pious aud learned writers to whom these re- marks are intended to apply, of any the remotest intention to bring us back to the wretched and degrading bondage of that un- scriptural communion, there is the greatest danger of accrediting its pretensions and errors, by exhibiting and advocating sentiments and practices, drawn, indeed, from the writings of Christian antiquity, but in which the germs and first principles of some of those cor- ruptions may not obscurely be traced ; and, what is more, of superseding the supreme and sole authority, and the infinite supe- riority and incomparable excellence of the inspired Volume ; and of " teaching"" and receiving "for doctrines the commandments of men ;"" of forgetting, denying, or explaining away, the distinguishing principles of the English Reformation ; aud, above all, of mistaking * See especially Revelation not Tradition, hy Dr. Shuttleworth : Capes on Church Authority : Charges by Archdeacon Browne and Mr. Townsend. * The state of the Diocese of Chester, affords an unanswerable refutation of the fallacy that it is useless to attempt to increase the efficiency of our Church, or check the progress of Dissent, on any other than Tractarian principles. — See note 5, p. 33, supra. — Ed. 630 CHARACTER, TENDENCY, AND EFFECTS and counteracting the very nature and design of the Gospel, as a dispensation not of form and shadow, but of substance and of power ; not of works, except as the fruits of faith, but of grace ; not of the letter, but of the spirit ; not of slavish terror, but of filial confidence and freedom ; not " of meat and drink, but of righteous- ness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." 16'. There is, I need scarely say, nothing new in the views which I am opposing ; nor is there, indeed, any thing which its supporters would more indignantly repudiate than the imputation of novelty. It is, in fact, only the revival of a system often refuted — derived essentially from Romanism, and consistent with its intolerant and exclusive principles, but abhorrent from those of genuine Chris- tianity, and of our Reformed Church ; which, however graced and illustrated, as it has been, by some great and venerable names, once contributed to deprive the Church of its national influence and of its temporal privileges, and which, unchecked and predominant, would too surely lead to the same unhappy result ; which, though now again arrayed in the attractive and imposing form of primitive Christianity, would, ere long, degenerate into mere ritual and superstitious observance, and cold and barren orthodoxy ; and once more call forth the spirit of irregular and enthusiastic zeal, to restore amongst us the neglected truth, and the decaying but vital energy of the Gospel. See also Par. 7, in Chap. VI. Beresford, Archbishop of Armagh. — 1841. Vide Par. 5, in Chap. XXI. ; and Extract, p. 138, supra. Carr, Bishop of Bombay. — 1841. Vide Par. 2, in Chap. XVII. Wilson, Bishop of Calcutta. — 1841. ordination sermon.^ But you will expect me to say something concerning India. I am full of fear ; everything is at stake. There seems to be something judicial in the rapid spread of these opinions. If they should come over here, and pervade the teaching of our Chaplains, the views and proceedings of our Missionaries, our friendly relations with other bodies of Christians, and our position amongst the Hindoos and Mahometans, I-chabod, the glory is departed^* may be inscribed on our Church in India. All real advances in the con- version of the heathen will stop. Our scattered Christian flocks * 1 Sam. iv. 21. See note 4, p. 32, supra. — Ed. OP THE TRACTARIAN MOVEMENT. 631 will miss the sound and wholesome nourishment for their souls. Our converts will quickly dwindle away to a nominal profession. Our Native Oatechists and Missionaries will be bewildered. A scheme which substitutes self and form and authority of office, for weight of Doctrine and activity of love, will be eagerly imbibed. The spirituality of our Missions will be gone. And nothing in the whole world is so graceless, as the eminent Gericke once observed, as a Mission without the Spirit of Christ. — pp. 62, 63. Sumner, Bishop of Chester. — 1841. Vide Par. 4, in Chap. I. ; Pars. 6—11. 15, in Chap. XIII. ; 21—26, in Chap. IX. ; and 27 in Chap. X. Maltby, Bishop of Durham. — 1841. 3. Without further preface, then, I must express my deep concern that, instead of employing the resources of their piety and learning to heal the dissensions, which were already too prevalent, some Members of our Church have embarked in the perilous enter- prize of introducing among us a fresh element of discord. 4. It is scarcely necessary for me to state, that I am adverting to some recent publications, which contain opinions bordering at least upon those, against which our Reformers strenuously con- tended, and at length successfully prevailed. I mean, more par- ticularly, such as relate to the Doctrine of Transubstantiation, and to the authority of the Fathers asserted in the inordinate deference claimed for Tradition. See also Par. 7, in Chap. III. ; and 13, in Chap. I. 14. But in quitting this very unpleasant subject, it may not be unseasonable, if I add a few general remarks upon the consequences of misplaced zeal. For indeed there is scarcely any source, from which evil may flow so securely and spread so widely. And for this obvious reason, that it takes its rise in good intention. Its admonitions, therefore, are received at first with respect, and after- wards with approbation. And often does it happen that the mischief which it creates is not perceived until it has taken such deep root, as to resist every eflfbrt to remove it. For the same reason, I am aware of the difficulties which surround every vigorous endeavour to trace its origin and warn against its consequences. The zealot, who feels secure in his honesty of purpose, complains that- he is treated unjustly; while others, who do not share the same extent of error, still think that, where a fault is only in excess, it should be protected by the excellence of the motive. But neither of these parties is aware of the deceitfulness'of the human heart ; nor how unconsciously feelings of pride and selfish- ness mix themselves up with designs originally good. The mere 632 CHAKACTER, TENDENCY, AND EFFECTS love of singularity ; attachment to friends ; the importance arising from leading- a party ; nay, the very spirit of opposition engendered by our enfeebled nature ; — all concur to produce the desire of being noticed for something new, and to push that novelty to extremes.* 15. Your own observation, my Reverend Brethren, will suggest to you various ways, in which a zeal of the kind I have alluded to at once fails in its object, and aggravates the very evil which it wishes to correct. So sensible, indeed, am I of the danger which arises from exceeding the bounds of moderation in all things, especially such as are connected with religion and morals, that I could not omit this opportunity of calling your attention pointedly to the hazard of commencing any course of action which zeal may prompt, but judgment will not second. We shall, therefore, all of us do wisely, if we continually call to mind, and accustom ourselves to reduce to practice, the weighty admonitions of the Apostle. " See that ye walk circumspectly. Let your moderation he knoion unto all men. If it he possible, live peaceably with all men — giving no offence in any thing, that the ministi'y be not blamed.'''' See al80 Pars. 9, 10, in Chap. XX. Monk, Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. — 1841. Vide Par. 1, in Chap. I. ; 5, in Chap. VIII. ; 7, in Chap. XVIII. ; 9, in Chap. V. BowsTEAD, Bishop of Lichfield. — 184]. Vide Par. 5, in Chap. XXIII. : 6, in Chap. XXIV. ; and 7, in Chap. XIX. LoNGLEY, Bishop of Ripon. — 1841. Vide Pars. 5, 5/8, by, in Chap. VI. Sumner, Bishop of Winchester. — 1841. Vide Par. 3, in Chap. XIII. ; 4, in Chap. XVII. ; 8, in Chap. VIII. ; and 9, in Chap. XIX. 10 And lastly, I cannot but fear the consequences for the cha- * Among other instances, which may be remarlced in the present day, as producing some counterpoise to the benefit which is really intended, and in many cases effected, I may venture to mention the cause of Total Abstinence, and the Observance of the Sabbath. Nothing surely can be more laudable than the wish to rescue our impro- vident brethi-en — aye, and sisters too, for I grieve to say that, in the lower classes the evil is not confined to males — from the manifold evils of intemperance ; but, most especially, from the debasing and noxious habit of dram-drinking. Yet, excellent as the cause is in itself, and pure as may be the wish of supporting it, sometimes it is based upon arguments so unsound, as to produce their own refutation ; or pleaded at times and mi a manner so unseasonable, as to provoke opposition, instead of winning conviction. Again ; every one, who has a due regard for religion, must be fully im- pressed with the necessity of devoting one day in seven to the thought and duties of religion ; and of abstaining, as much as possible on that day, from all worldly business and pleasure. But when the rigours of the Mosaic Sabbath are attempted to be en- grafted on the Lord's Day of the Christian -, and when those of our brethren, who are doomed to hard toil every other day in the week, are grudged even the wholesome and necessary refreshment of air and exercise, the law we would so enforce becomes offensive by its severity ; and a disposition is created rather to abstain from what is right, than comply with what appears unreasonable. OP THE TRACTARIAN MOVEMENT. 633 racter, the efficiency, and the very truth of our Church, if a system of teaching should become extensively popular, which dwells upon the external and ritual parts of religious service, whilst it loses sight of their inner meaning and spiritual life; — which defaces the brightest glory of the Church, by forgetting the continual presence of her Lord, seeming in effect to depose Him from his rightful pre- eminence ; which speaks of the Sacraments, not as seals and pledges, but as instruments of salvation in a justificatory and causal sense ; not as eminent means of grace, inasmuch as " faith is confirmed and grace increased " in them, as our Article speaks ; — not as that they " be not only badges or tokens of Christian men\s profession, but rather certain sure witnesses and effectual signs of grace," as our Article speaks again — but as if they were the only sources of Divine grace, to the exclusion of any other; — the means — the keys of the kingdom ;* deprecating, as superstitious, an "apprehension of resting in them,"j* and investing them with a saving intrinsic efficacy, not distinguishable by ordinary understanding, from the opus operatunijl — which tends to substitute, at least in unholy * " The keys that can open and shut the Kingdom of Heaven, we, with St. Chry- sostom, call the knowledge of the Scriptures ; with TertuUiau, the Interpretation of the Law ; with Eusebius, the Word of God." — Jewel's Apology. + Advertisement to vol. ii. of Tracts for the Times, p. 5. X Hence we have almost embraced the Doctrine, that God conveys grace only through the instrumentality of the mental energies, that is, through faith, prayer, active spiritual contemplations, or (what is called) communion with God, in contra- diction to the primitive view, according to which the Church and her Sacraments are the ordained and direct visible means of conveying to the soul what is in itself super- natural and unseen. For example, would not most men maintain, in the first view of the subject, that to administer the Lord's Supper to infants, or to the dying and insen- sible, (apparently insensible — second edition,) however consistently pious and believing in their past lives, (under all circumstances, and in every conceivable case second edition) was a superstition.' and yet both practices have the sanction of Primitive usage. And does not this account for the prevailing indisposition to admit that Bap- tism conveys Regeneration ? Indeed, this may now be set down as the essence of sectarian Doctrine (however its mischief may be restrained or compensated in the case of individuals) to consider Faith, and not the Sacraments as the instrument (the proper instrument — second edition) of Justification and other Gospel gifts," — Adveiiisement to vol. ii. of Tracts. " As well might we pretend the Sacraments are not necessary to Salvation, wliile we make use of the Offices of the Liturgy ; for when God appoints means of grace, they are the means." — Advertisement to vol. i. of Tracts, p. 3. " Had he been taught as a child, that the Sacraments, not Preaching, are the sources of Divine grace." — Advertisement to vol. i. p. 4. " Then you will honour us with a purer honour than you do now, (many men do now — edition, lti39,) namely, as those who are intrusted (as those [if I may say so] who are intrusted — edition, 1839,) with the keys of heaven and hell, as the heralds of mercy, as the denouncers of woe to wicked men, as intrusted with the awful and mys- terious gift of making the Bread and Wine, Christ's Body and Blood, (mysterious privilege of dispensing Christ's Body and Blood — edition, 183!),) as far greater than the most powerful and the wealthiest of men in our unseen strength and our heavenly riches." — Tract 10, p. 4. " Something beyond the ministration of the Word is committed to the care of the Pastors, when our Lord speaks of the ' Keys of Heaven,' viz. the Ministration of the Sacraments." — Tract 35, p. 1. " Compare with this view the passage, Matthew xvi. 19, and compare with it also the view of our Church, which will not be suspected of under- valuing the Sacraments ; yet the language of the Rubric at the end of the Communion of the Sick is as follows: ' But if a man, either by reason of extremity of sickness, &c. 634 CHARACTER, TENDENCY, AND EFFECTS minds, for the worship in spirit and in truth, the observance of " days and months, and times and years ;"" — for the cheerful obe- dience of filial love, an aspect of hesitation, and trouble and doubt ; — for the freedom of the Gospel, a spirit of bondage ; — for the ways of pleasantness, and the peace which passeth all understanding, the valley of Baca and a body of death ; — which works out salvation, indeed, with fear and trembling, but without any foretaste of the rest that remaineth for the people of God, and without joy in be- lieving. Beresford, Archbishop of Armagh. — 1842. Vide Par. 3, in Chap. XXI. Mant, Bishop of Down and Connor, and Dromore. — 1842, Vide Par. 1, in Chap. XX. -, 17, in Chap. VIII. ; Pars. 20. 24—26, in Chap. XX. ; 30—36, in Chap. XXI.; and 37—49, in Chap. XVIII. Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter. — 1842. Vide Pars, 41—68, in Chap. XXI.; and Par. 69, in Chap. VI. MusGRAVB,* Bishop of Hereford. — 1842. Vide Pars, 21, 22, in Chap. XXVI. ; 23, 24, in Chap, XXIV.; Par. 44, in Chap. XIII. ; 45, in Chap. XV. ; 56, in Chap. XXIV. ; 64, in Chap. X. ; 71, in Chap. IX. ; 74, in Chap. I. ; Pars. 76. 78, 79, in Chap. V. Knox, Bishop of Limerick. — 1842. 1. In making a few observations on matters connected with the general interests of the Church, I had intended to treat fully on a subject which appeared to be a great and fearful evil, calculated to assimilate truth and error, and to mislead the unwary. I am, however, thankful to say, that it will be now unnecessary to occupy your time, as I trust and hope the excitement caused, and the errors propagated, are fast subsiding,^ and that the wise and prudent on both sides are renouncing the violence of extreme opinions, and do not receive the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood, the Curate shall instruct him, that if he do truly repent him of his sins, and steadfastly believe that Jesus Christ hath suffered death upon the cross for him, and shed his Blood for his redemption, earnestly remembering the benefits he hath thereby, and giving Him hearty thanks therefore, he doth eat and drink the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ profitably to his soul's health, although he do not receive the Sacrament with his mouth." — Puofessor Scholefield's Five Sermons, p. 119, note 32. ^ "That hope has unhappily passed away." — Charge of the Bishop of London, 1842, Par. 2, p. 9, supra En. OP THE TRACTARIAN MOVEMENT. 635 seeking the good old ways, wherein our Fathers in the Faith walked before. 8. I will not, my Reverend Brethren, longer delay on a subject on which the Irish Church is little, if at all tainted. As a body, they stand forward on this as on every other occasion, the bulwarks of the truth — the champions of pure and apostolic faith. Let the words of the Bishop of Exeter suffice — " That as the pubhcation of these Tracts had ceased, the excitement which they had caused, would likewise cease, and that the Church would continue peaceably to derive benefit from what was good" in them, free from those mis- chievous extravagances which the admirers of them had, in some places, given themselves up to." See also Par. 2, in Chap. VI. CoPLESTON, Bishop of Llandaff. — 1842. 19. It was, therefore, with pain and sorrow, that I observed the early indication of that evil, which almost invariably attends the formation of what must be called a school, or a party, '^ in matters of religion. The points on which they first insist are soon ex- hausted : and there is a tendency, unconsciously perhaps operating, to provide fresh materials, to multiply the topics of animadversion, to exaggerate their importance, to enlarge the field of action, to work upon feelings that have once been moved, and to engage them in some new direction : till at length the older lessons begin to be slighted or forgotten, although still infinitely more pregnant with instruction, and more momentous than those which have superseded them in gaining the attention of the day. 20. What, for instance, can more strikingly demonstrate the danger of dwelling upon one point, however essential, till it acquires an all-absorbing power over the mind, than the case which these "^ Dr. Puskv, in his Letter to the ArMisliop of Canterhun/, (p. 29, note) utterly dis- claims the existence of "a party." " It is, indeed," he adds, " not the least remark- able circumstance in the present redoration of our Church, how little of the character of a parti/ attaches to those who have concurred in it." Yet we find Mr. Froude, at th^ commencement of the movement, not only quoting " the Useful Knowledge Society '* as having " proved that the poisoni/u/ si/stcin may be carried on by a Parti/;'''' but speaking of themselves as the " Apostolicab,'''' and of their "Association''^ as "a conspiracy." — See Froude's Remains, vol. i. pp. 'Ml. 32G. 329. 377- 390. 420. Even Mr. PAL^rER, in his Narrative of Events, (p. 34,) admits that "it is no longer possible to conceal from them- selves the growth of something like a Party,'''' a fact of which he proceeds to give the most convincing evidence. Nor have such expressions been confined to letters and pamphlets ; they have found their way into the Pidjnt. During a recent sojourn on the coast of Devon, "my ears were stunned," — to use Mr. Ward's expression, — with such "miserable watchwords" as "IFc Anglo-Catholics^'' teach so and so. I must add that the scenes which I witnessed in the House of God, on the occasions to which I refer, were more than enough to ac- count for the sj-mptoms of dissatisfaction and disgust which are beginning to manifest themselves but too plainly among the laity of the Diocese of Exeter. — Ed. 636 CHARACTEK, TENDENCY, AND EFFECTS writings acknowledge to have occurred within their own sphere. A distinguished member has openly joined the Romish Church ; and, though already an ordained and officiating Priest, has sub- mitted to be ordained anew, simply on the ground that he could not reconcile the Unity of the Church, as answering to its types in the Old Testament, except by admitting the Supremacy of the Papal See.* Yet the prodigious enormities of that See, in doctrine, in discipline, and in profane practice, are not only not denied by his former associates, they are set forth in all their extravagance and atrocity, and are even admitted to be more flagrant now than when our Church on that account renounced her authority, and prac- tically withdrew from her Communion. 40. What the tendency of all this is, if the history of the last age has not sufficiently instructed us, the experience of the present age too plainly shews. It has ever been the policy of Rome to pro- vide this species of allurement, adapted to minds of a devout tem- perament, as well as to captivate the worldly-minded and the vulgar by imposing Ceremonies. All are thus alike tempted by what is to each the most attractive bait. All errors, whether of credulity, or superstition, or fanaticism, are not only tolerated, but, if held in conjunction with her Creed, are sanctioned, and are em- ployed as means of increasing the number of her votaries, and of insuring their blind submission. The devout but inexperienced mind, thus flattered and encouraged in its favourite propensity, is easily brought to think our Form of Worship insufficient ; and after much tormenting doubt and perplexity, seeks relief at last in that Communion which not only indulges its weakness, but assures it that under her guidance and authority it cannot err ; and this desperate resolution once made, there is no retreat. 41. This disease of the soul, under whatever form or denomination it may be classed, is essentially the same. In a work published about the middle of the last century, entitled, " The Enthusiasm of Methodists and Papists compared, "i* a multitude of striking parallelisms are exhibited, intended to guard the Church against the rising sect, and using the example of Popery as an acknow- ledged standard of error, by which the nature of the other might be illustrated, and its dangerous tendency exposed. In the present * Such is the account Dr. Pusey gives of Mr. Sibthorp's secession. " In studying the types of the'Old Testament, he found the Unity of the Church prominent, in a degree in which it is not in this day fulfilled, unless the Roman Communion be the Church, and therefore he joined it." Dr. Pusey goes on to controvert his rea- soning, by shewing that holiness is even more distinctly foretold as a characteristic of the Church than Unity ; and as holiness may be, and is, imperfect in the Church of these days, why may not Unity ? — Pusefs Letter to the Archbishop of Canter- hurii, p. 23. Dr. Pusey's reasoning may be conclusive as an argumcnfum ad hominem, but it leaves untouched Mr. Sibthorp's error, in supposing that the Unity of the Church requires or implies, ?'» «»^ sense, the subjection of the Church to one human governor ; an error which seems to have been the main cause of the long acquiescence of European Christendom in the Papal pretensions, -|- By Bishop Lavington, of Exeter. OF THE TRACTARIAN MOVEMENT. 637 age, the order of the lesson might be inverted. Of the evils of sectarian enthusiasm we have had abundant proof; and they may now be held up as a beacon light, guarding men against an approach to that more seductive, and I may add more fatal, danger, to which these rash teachers are exposing the younger members of our Church. They seem to think it enough, here and there to protest against certain Popish corruptions; but they love to lead their dis- ciples to the very confines of that treacherous ground — they en- courage a taste and a liking for the prospect — they study to make its boundaries less distinct and perceptible, and they seem intent upon smoothing the way, and affording facilities for passing on from our own side to the other. 42. If this be not dangerous to the purity of our Church, and of the faith which has been established among us by the blood of Martyrs, it is hard to say what is; and if it be reconcilable with that allegiance to which all her Ministers have over and over pledged themselves, then have we cleansed our sanctuary in vain. 43. But 1 entertain good hope that the reality of the danger, evidenced as it is from day to day by the fruits of this delusion, and denounced from authority by those who, far from being pre- judiced against the writers, were amongst their earliest friends and favourex's, will work that conviction which reasoning alone seldom brings to a mind warmed with fancied discoveries in religion. See also Par. 37, in Chap. XX. ; Pars. 38, 3f), in Chap. VI. ; and Par. 57, in Chap. XXVI. Blomfield, Bishop op London. — 1842. Vide Pars. 14, 15, in Chap. XXI. ; 16, 17. C3, in Chap. XVIII. ; and 52. 61. 70, in Chap. XX. Mountain, Bishop of Montreal. — 1842. Vide Pars. 14—17, in Chap. XVIII. O'Brien, Bishop of Ossory, Ferns, and Leighlin. — 1842. Vide Pars. 92. 94—96. 100. 111. 122. 126. 141. 153, 154. 158—162, in Chap. IV. Bagot, Bishop of Oxford. — 1842. 36. Further; — the rude, unthinking, and unjustifiable manner in which some have allowed themselves to speak of the Reformation, has a direct tendency to produce that frame of mind which under- estimates the intolerable evils and errors of the Romish system, — which slurs over its defects, conceals its guilt, and thereby inclines the doubting, the thoughtless^ the self-willed, the half-educated, to listen to the suggestions of those who offer them, in communion with the Roman obedience, the unity which they long for, and the support of a guide who claims to be infallible. 638 CHARACtEE, TENDENCY, AND EFFECTS 37. And let no one think, that this is an imaginary evil, or that there is no danger at the present time of a secession from our ranks to those of Rome. There is very great danger, very imminent danger, one that it behoves us to look steadily in the face, and be prepared for. I do not mean that I anticipate any defection, my Reverend Brethren, from those of our own profession :^ I trust and believe, that the Clergy generally are too fully persuaded in their own minds that the Church in which they exercise their Ministry has all the marks of a branch of the true Church,^ to make them have a thought or a wish beyond it. And I see nothing in a few sad cases which have occurred of late, to make me change my opinion. When persons of not very strong minds find that extreme opinions on one side are erroneous, they commonly run into those of an opposite description. When they Lave made the discovery that Calvinism is unsafe ground to stand upon, they conclude that Romanism is the only thing which can afford them the sure footing they require. The Puritans believed that the contradictory of Popery was purity of faith. This, of course, was a great error, and has been repudiated ; but error is multiform, and the danger now is lest persons, who have originally been leavened with Puritanical tenets, should, on finding their error, rush to the other extreme, and take it for granted that what is nearest to Popery is nearest to truth. 38. My fears, however, as I have already observed, are not with respect to the Clergy, but to the rising generation. The religious movement of the last ten years has been gradual : those who have most contributed to it, seem rather to have been led on from one opinion to another, than to have seen from the first whither they would advance,^ or to have started with any definite system ; we, therefore, my Reverend Brethren, have had more opportunity to view things calmly and dispassionately. 39. But with respect to young persons this can hardly be said to be the case. With all the impetuosity and self-confidence of youth about them, — reckless of consequences, and full of exaggerated notions of the rights of private judgment, — they find themselves in the midst of a controversy, which has brought many older persons — persons of the highest talents and deepest religious feelings, — into a miserable state of doubt and disquietude. 40. They see, on all sides, a spirit at work, which nothing human can quell : there is a desire for unity and Catholic privileges which interests them ; and they observe the persecuting uncliristian spirit, in which many act and write who oppose themselves to the present s Of the Twenty-four converts who have already seceded, through Tractarianism, to Popery, Fourteen were Members of the University of Oxford, and Evjlit Clergymen of the Establishment. See Appendix H Ed. 9 Mr. Newman's Sermons on Subjects of the Day were not published when liis Lord- ship delivered tliis Charge. See note 7, p. 1 14, siifra. — Ed, • See note 3, p. 123, supra Ed. OP THE TRACTARIAN MOVEMENT, 639 movement .2 With the generosity which is natural to their time of life, they are disposed to take part with those whom they think hardly treated ;^ and then, perhaps, in place of giving themselves up to the Church system and so becoming practically better than they were before, — humble, diffident, self-disciplined, thankful for the blessings they possess, — they become mere talkers, perhaps even irreverent declaimers on subjects which are too hard for them, or which, at any rate, they are too ignorant, if not too shallow, to view in all their bearings.* 41. Meanwhile Eome has her eye upon them; and, adapting herself to their tone of mind, represents her creed, not as it is, but as they wish it to be. She keeps what is essentially Popish as much as possible in the back-ground ; brings what is Catholic prominently forward ; and so in the end wins them over to her side, because they are too impatient to learn that the middle way of truth, the way of the English Church, is as far removed from Popery on the one side, as from Puritanism on the other. 42. I must, therefore, exhort you, my Reverend Brethren, that, as on all other accounts, so especially on this, you extend, at the present time, a double measure of care and watchfulness towards the younger members of your flock. [I feel also bound to say, that the authors of the Tracts have seemed to me far too indiiFerent to the discord and distraction which their actions and their writings have caused ; thereby hurrying on a crisis, from the acceleration of which nothing is to be hoped, and every thing to be feared.] See Par. 24, in Cap. VI. Denison, Bishop of Salisbury. — 1842. See Par. 1, in Chap. I. ; and Pars. 7, 8, in Chap. XVIII. Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 1842. 12. It will, perhaps, be in your recollection, my Reverend Brethren, that, in my observations upon this subject at my last Visitation, I felt bound to state " that, on the subject of Tradition, either as forming, as it is asserted, together with Holy Scripture, the joint Rule of Faith, or as being its only just and legitimate interpreter, — on the Doctrine of the Sacraments, as almost the exclusive and necessarily efficient channels and means of grace, — on the forgiveness of Sin after Baptism, — on the grand Article of Justification by Faith, — on Reserve in the communication of Divine Truth, — on some inferences drawn from the Constitution of 2 See note 4, p. 135, supra Ed. 3 gee notes 4, 5, 6, pp. 142, 143, supra Ed. * See the picture of the Disciples, drawn by liis Lordship's Chaplain, the Rev. Francis C. Paget, note 3, p. 625, supra, — Ed. G40 CHARACTER, TENDENCY, AND EFFECTS the Church, — and on the due estimation of Ecclesiastical Rites and Observances, — the authors of the Tracts in question appeared to me to hold tenets and opinions opposed to Holy Scripture, and to the genius of Christianity, and at variance with the sound and authoritative principles of the reformed Church of England."" * LS. Wlftn I add that, at the period when these Avords were addressed to you, the last and most celebrated number of the Oxford Tracts, in which an ingenious and elaborate attempt is made to reconcile subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles, with the adoption, under the name of Catholic truth, of the very errors of the Romish Church which those Articles were intended to coun- teract and condemn, had not been published, you will not be surprised to find, that the objections which I then expressed against the system maintained in those Tracts, instead of being diminished, are considerably strengthened and confirmed. 46. My contest with them is not so much as to the extent of their influence, whatever it may be, or the amount of their success, so far as it may have proved beneficial, as with regard to the quality of their instructions, and the tendency of their proceedings ; and my contention and my conviction is this — that, hy admiiimg a false principle respecting the Rule of Faith, they have introduced and accredited a system of religion, resembling indeed, to a certain extent, what is ancient, but at variance at once with the inspired standard of Primitive Christian truth, and with the Reformed Doc- trine of our Church ; and productive of effects specious and ex- ternally fair, and commendable in the eyes of men, rather than of what is sound and spiritual, and really profitable to mankind. 47. We find, therefore, in the puljlications, and in the disciples of this School, loud, and doubtless needful calls to repentance, but not always directed to the objects, and encouraged by the motives, inculcated by the Evangelists and Apostles, and by the Reformers of our Church: exhortations, just and edifying when accompanied by due discrimination and warning, to the frequent communion of the Lord's Supper; but not always requiring that individual and personal exercise of faith and spiritual regard to the crucified Saviour, without which the symbols of his Blessed Body and Blood are received in vain ; the studied depreciation of Preaching, and even of reading the Word of God, and a scrupulous and minute attention to Forms and Ceremonies, some of which are trifling and obsolete, without a due estimation of the importance of reading and hearing that inspired Word, and without a wakeful remembrance of the characteristic principle of Christianity, that " God is a Spirit, and that they who worship him,'" acceptably, " must worship him in spirit and in truth." * Charge in 1839, p. 27.* ^ See Par. 8, p. 153. supra. — Ed. OF THE TRACT ARI AN MOVEMENT. 641 48. We find them exalting very highly the privileges of the Church, and the power of her Ministers ; but sometimes forget- ting that the one are dependent on the character and disposi- tions of her members, and that the other are, after the example of the Apostle, to preach " not themselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and themselves their servants for Jesus'' sake ;" extolling the glory of the ancient Church, much of which was dazzling rather than intrinsic, and earthly rather than divine ; and asserting the superiority in some respects even of Romanism itself, and un- gratefully and unjustly disparaging and depreciating the English Reformation, and the characters, labours, and writings of its most distinguished founders, witnesses, and defenders. 49. In these features of the Traditional School of Divinity, I trace not any close resemblance to that pure and Primitive Chris- tianity " which," as the Apostle assures us, " at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him, God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost," by whose gracious inspiration they recorded it in the New Testament, "for obedience to the faith among all nations ;" and which, rescued from the ignorance, the superstitition, and the corruption of ages, was restored and embodied in the Reformed Liturgy and primitive polity of the Church established in these realms. Of this, I will only say, that it exhibits, like the Divine system which it enshrines and preserves, that which a great statesman * of a former age justly styled " the perfection and glory of human nature," true religion ; " an active vital principle of faith," unsullied by the su- perstition which debases, and the irreverence which degrades it ; which speaks peace to the troubled conscience, and inspires the penitent with hope ; which affords full scope to the sublimest exercises of faith and love, yet requires and ensures the principles of holiness, and the practice of every moral and social virtue ; which is equally the friend and supporter of freedom, rightly so called, and the avenger of licentiousness and disorder ; which, while asserting her own primitive constitution, and desiring its universal extension, is contented to leave other communities to stand or fall by the un- erring decisions of their own Master ; which prefers truth to the sacrifice of any portion of that sacred deposit to the morbid craving for hollow and unholy union, and patiently waits and prays for the fuller development of the one, and the universal attainment of the other. Of such a religion and such a communion I would fervently pray with the Venetian patriot of old, " esto perpetua !" See also Par. 55, in Chap. XXVI. Thirl WALL, Bishop of St. David''s. — 1842. 17 But to many persons all that I have been hitherto saying on * Lord Chatham. 2 T 642 CHARACTER, TENDENCY, AND EFFECTS this subject will probably appear quite foreign to what they reg'ard as the main question : that is, whether errors have not been main- tained within the Church, by some of her authorized teachers, which are so clearly subversive of the fundamental Articles of her Faith, that they cannot be safely tolerated. ]8. The question, it must be observed, is not as to the absolute and exact coincidence of every thing- that has been advanced with the Doctrine of the Church, but as to the amount and importance of any supposed departure from it : not whether statements have been made, which are not fully borne out by her authentic language, but whether any such as are essentially inconsistent with her vital principles : so far exceeding the just limits of private speculation, as to violate the terms of communion, and to render those who per- sist in them guilty of a breach of their most solemn ministerial en- gagements.6 Much may have been said that may demand very earnest attention, that may be a fit subject for warning or censure; but if it stop short of this point, it ought not to disturb the peace of the Church, but may be safely left to await the issue of free dis- cussion. I must own that I have hitherto met with nothing to convince me, that matters have been brought to such a melancholy extremity. It would manifestly be both impracticable and unsea- sonable to enter at large into the grounds on which my judgment has been formed : but I will offer a few observations on some of the subjects with regard to which others seem to have been led to an opposite conclusion. 68. I will add but one word before I drop the subject. It has been alleged as an objection against the Movement which gave rise to this Controversy, that its tendency is directly counter to the spirit of the age, and betrays that its authors have been misled by a blind antipathy, which prevents them from discerning between the good and the evil in the character of their own times. I do not know whether the fact warrants the inference : but doubtless so to set ourselves above the spirit of our age, would be no less foolish and blameable than the idolatrous admiration which bows to it as infal- libly wise, and perfectly good. 1 would only observe that if such be the real nature of the movement, there can be little reason for alarm about its progress. It is as if one should dread a series of encroachments on the bed of the sea, because an attempt has been somewhere made to shut it out by a dike. See also Par. 2, in Chap. I. ; and Pars. 7, 8, in Chap. VI. Pepys, Bishop of Worcester. — 1842. Vide Par. 25, in Chap, XXII. ; 27, in Chap. XVI. ; and 37, in Chap VI. See note 8, p. 503, supra. — Ed. OF THE TRACTAKIAN MOVEMENT. 643 *^* I close this chapter with the following eloquent passage from Professor Gar- Bett's Dampton Lectures : — " The system is Romanism ; not partially, but essentially ; not ^et Romanism, in- deed, as historical recollections have expressed it, or as the conclusions of reason have demonstrated it to be ; not Romanism in all its palpable and revolting incongruities to the heart and understanding. But — Romanism, as it has, in all ages, represented it- self to the young and to the devout — Romanism, as it is, when purified by elevated feelings, and minds originally trained in Scripture truth — Romanism, as it combines with itself all that is grand and beautiful in art, specious in reason, and seductive in sentiment — Romanism, which may be safe, in those scripturally trained minds, who have presented it to themselves and to the world in this beautified shape — but Ro- manism, still perverting the truth of the Gospel while it decorates it — Romanism, which though it looks paternally and benignly in the amiable spirits of its present ad- vocates, involves principles ever fatal to human liberty and progression — Romanism, with the establishment of whose theory the Articles of the Church of England cannot coexist, and whose unseen and unavowed operations in practice will paralize her spi- ritual power, aud destroy the Church of Christ, by substituting human forms for her Prophet, Priest, and King." — Dampton Lectures, 1842. Lect. 8. Part 2. p. 502. In addition to the Publications already quoted in the foregoing pages, the reader will find nmch valuable information as to the real character of the Tractarian iVIovement in — Letters on theTendency of the " Tracts for the Times,^'' hy the Verv Reverend Ed. N. HoARE, A.M., Dean of Achonry ; The Tendency of " Church Principles,''^ so called, to Romanism ; proved and illustrated from the recent Pamphlet of the Rev. W. Palmer, and from Dr. Hookas " Church Dictionary,'''' by the Rev. F. Close, A.M., Incumbent of Cheltenham; — The Divine Warning to the Church at this Time, of our present Enemies, Dangers, and Duties, and as to our future Prospects, by the Rev. Edward Bicker- STETH, M. A., Rector of Watton, Herts ; — The most ancient and the most modern Oppo- sition to Christian Truth compared ; a Sermon preached before the University of Oxford, on St. Stephen^s Day, 1841, by the Rev. G. A. Jacob, M.A., of Worcester College ; — A few Remarks on the Idolatrous Tendency of some Parts of the Oxford Tracts, by A Churchman •, and. The Question "Is Traclarianism or Protestantism True CatholicismV briefly considered, in a Letter to a Friend, by the Rev. Robert Wood Kvle, B.A., of Trinity College, Dublin. — Ed. 2 T 2 644 CHAPTER XXVI. REMEDIES FOR THE EVILS OF THE TRACTARIAN MOVEMENT. 1. SCRIPTURAL TEACHING. 2. REVIVAL OP CONVOCATION. 3. ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE. Wilson, Bishop of Calcutta. — 1838. 21. I need not say the best preventive or remedy for all these evils is the old Doctrine of our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus, fully and scripturally developed, and accompanied with that affec- tionate pastoral care, and that mild discipline and order, which our Protestant Episcopal Church has provided. 22. Teach 7 then, brethren, more determinately than ever, the ruined and fallen state of man as the Holy Scriptures reveal it. Unfold the unspeakable malignity of sin as committed against God — the deep, and in a proper sense, total corruption of our na- ture in all its powers — our inability of ourselves to do anything- spiritually good — our moral responsibility — our guilt, demerit, ruin, condemnation, helplessness — the inconceivable value of the soul — the nearness of eternal Judgment — the everlasting duration of the miseries of a lost state. And point out the remedy for all this, with the simplicity of the inspired Apostles, in '"'' Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ." 23. Teach the Atonement and Satisfaction made to the Divine Justice and government by the Incarnation and obedience unto death of the consubstantial and coequal Son of God. Clearly explain that Justification is the penitent sinner's being accounted and dealt with and treated "as righteous in God's sight by Faith only in the merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and not for his own works and deservings ;" distinguish, as Hooker did, between Justifi- "^ Compare the specimens of Evangelical Teaching contained in the following ex- tracts from the Charges of the Bishop of Calcutta, and the Dean of Salisbury, with the calumnious misrepresentations of the views of the " Ultra- Protestant Party,'* in Appendix E. The italics throughout the following Extracts are not all his Lordship's En. BEST REMEDY FOR THE EVILS OP TRACTARIANISM. 645 cation and Sanctification,* and boldly preach, as he did, that God " hath made Him who knew no Sin, to be Sin for ns, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."" Account this as Luther, the Articulus stantis aut cadentis ecclesice. Read again, I entreat you, the incomparable treatise of that great Reformer on the Epis- tle to the Galatians, which it seems will be once more as requisite and appropriate in our Protestant Churches now, as it was three centuries since. "j* 24. Teach also, the Personality^ Divinity, and Inward Wo^^ls of God the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, in all Scriptural fidelity, as infusing the Righteousness of Sanctification ; as renew- ing man after the Divine image ; creating him in Christ Jesus unto good works ; raising him from spiritual death ; inscribing the law of God upon his heart ; transforming him in the spirit of his mind; as commencing first, and then carrying on that new Birth and life of holiness, which is the preparation and qualification for serving * " There is a glorifying righteousness of men in the world to come, as there is a justifying righteousness, and a sanctifying righteousness here. The righteousness, wherewith we shall be clothed in the world to come, is both perfect and inherent. That, whereby we are justified, is perfect, but not inherent. That, whereby we are sanctified, is inherent, but not perfect." — Hooker'' s Discourse of J uslijication, sec. 3, m. 16, 17. Or, as ]Mr. Faber states it with its consequences : " First, in order, comes the foren- sic righteousness of justification : a righteousness, reputatively made his through Faith, and on account of the perfect meritoriousness of Christ. Next, in order, comes the in- herent righteousness of sanctification ; a righteousness infused into him by the Holy Spirit after he has been justified. And, last in order, comes the complete righteousness of glorification ; a righteousness acquired by him, when his corruptible puts on incor- ruption, and when his mortal puts on immortality." — Faber on Justification, p. 17. f " The sagacity of Luther," observes, again, Mr. Faber, " readily perceived that the Doctrine of Justification constituted the broad boundary of demarcation between the Church of Rome and the Churches of the Reformation. Well, therefore, did he call it, the Article of a standing or falling Church. In truth, the Doctrine as defined and interpreted by the Roman Church, is the ample foundation, upon which all its anti-Scriptural fopperies and all its anti-chiistian impieties securely repose." p. 211. " In short, the result of the Anglican Doctrine, or rather the perfectly harmonising result of the Reformed Doctrine, is to make Christ alone, in full-orbed glory and in undivided meritoriousness, the Saviour of sinful man: while the whole drift and object and necessary tendency of the Romish Doctrine, so unhappily taken up by Mr. Knox as scriptural verity, however speciously disguised and decently wrapped up in distinc- tions which distinguish not, is to make Church, and Priest, and Sacraments, and Saints, and Purgatory, and Extreme Unction, and Pilgrimage, and Penance, and Or- dinances, and Notions without end and without measure ; in a word, miserable man's own self, essentially embodied in his own inherent and meriting righteousness, a col- lege of Saviours, if not avowedly supercessive of Christ, yet, to say the least, concessive with him." — Faber, p. 2G2. Let the writer be permitted to return his best thanks to Mr. Faber, for his most able and opportune Treatise on Justification. It is full forty years since he became first acquainted with him at Oxford, and he now seizes with pleasure the occasion of pub- licly acknowledging how much sacred literature is indebted to him for his various valuable publications. The fearful mysticisms of Mr. Newman's new theory of Justification I will not dwell on, as the book has only just reached me, December, 1838. He seems, however, to hold that Justification consists in the presence of the Saviour Himself within us ; in our being accounted righteous in the sight of God, because there is within us, after Baptism, the very author and finisher of our Salvation This is far worse than Popery. 646 BEST REMEDY FOR THE EVILS OF TRACTARIANI3M. and loving God both on earth and in heaven — and in developing this, shun the fatal error of limiting, or appearing to limit, the de- termined commencement of all this mighty transformation to the change of state and attendant grace — important and blessed as they are — received by the infants of the faithful in the Sacrament of Baptism. 25. Teach, again, the indispensable necessity of good works in all their ramifications, as '"'' the fruit of Faith and following after Justi- tification ;" " So that by them a lively Faith may be as evidently known as a tree is discerned by the fruit." Enter into all the de- tails of duty as opened by our Lord in his Sermon on the Mount, and by the Apostles in the practical division of their Epistles. — Enforce the perpetual ohligation of the Moral Law upon every hu- man being. Explain the interior life of Communion with our Heavenly Father reconciled to us in Jesus Christ ; the duties of private and family Prayer ; of diligent study of Holy Scriptm'e ; of separation from the follies of the world, and of '"'' growth in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ"" to the last hour of life. 26. Teach, further, in connexion with all this, the Constitution of the Christian Church, the dignity and importance of the Public Worship of Almighty God, the grace and efficacy of the Sacraments, the Divine authority and perpetual obligation of the Lord's Day,* and the duty of reasonable subjection to the Order and Discipline of the Church as ordained by Christ its Divine Head. Finally, in- struct men to ascribe the whole of their salvation in its purchase, its offers, its application, to the merciful will and choice of God in Christ Jesus. 27. Forgive my warmth, my honoured Brethren. I speak as a father. The Gospel will soon slip from our hands, should this new Rule of Faith be for one single moment acquiesced in. 28. If abuses of the weighty principles I have been referring to should arise, as they will, oppose them, I pray you, not by over- statements of the truths themselves — much less by calling in aid from a new Rule of Faith ; but by taking into your view the whole compass and amplitude of each truth as it lies in Holy Scripture ; and using it in the proportion, and for the ends, and in the spirit in which it is there revealed, with a wise and discriminating adaptation of your instructions to each passing emergency. This is theology — this is the Gospel. This is to follow our Reformers. This is to unite the inspired wisdom of St. Paul and St. James. This is to * As an example of the language of the new School, I may call attention to the feebleness of the following manner of putting the Doctrine of the Authority and Obli- gation of the Lord's day. — " The observance of Sunday as the holiest day." ^ — Sermon on Tradition, p. 38. * See an extract from a Sermon by Professor Sewell ; Note 6, p. 259, supra.— Ed. BEST REMEDY FOR THE EVILS OF TRACTARIANISM. 647 avoid all unfaithfulness to truth on the one hand, and all insidious perversions of it on the other. 29. Instruct your flocks, for example, in all those texts of in- spired Writ which describe or imply the entire fall and corruption of man; and also those which insist on his accotmtableness, and his duty to use those means to which God attaches the promises of grace ; and preach on both these series of passages in order to pro- duce, and in a manner calculated to produce, and for no other object but to produce, contrition of heart for sin, both original and actual, and earnest Prayers for the aid of the Holy Ghost. Let these texts appear in your discourses, as they do in Scripture, not as abstract dogmas, but as humiHating arguments for Self-knowledge., Confession, Penitence., Faith, and heartfelt Returns to God. No abuse can then arise. 80. Preach Justification by Faith only, but that not by a dead notional belief — a mere presumption — the faith of devils — but by a living, heartfelt holy principle of reliance upon Christ, springing from an awakened and contrite spirit, and necessary to the conso- lation of the penitent's mind, when sinking under the conscious- ness of guilt and unworthiness. Let Justification be employed in your discourses, as it is in the writings of St. Paul, as the remedy against despair, and the motive of love to God, and of filial and un- reserved obedience. Thus you shut out all perversions, 31. Preach the influences of the Holy Ghost — but operating in a manner not to supersede, but aid our endeavours ; not to exclude, but magnify the inspired Word of God ; not by sudden il lapses or sensible movements, but in a way agreeable to our moral and ac- countable nature ; not appearing in animal fervours and over-con- fident claims, but in the meek and solid fruits of " all goodness, righteousness, and truth.'''' This is wholesome doctrine. 'S2. Preach the merciful Will and Election of God in Christ Jesus; but not to lead men to rush into the secrets* of the Almighty, but in order to gather grounds of gratitude in the results of the Divine Dispensations in Providence and Grace ; whilst, "in our doings, that will of God is to be followed, which we have ex- pressly declared unto us in the Word of God."^ See also Pars. 33—36, in Chap VIII. Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 18S9. 17. Deeply, however, as I regret the prevalence of opinions, the • Quidam non sincere coram me ambulant ; sed quadam curiositate et arrogantia ducti, volunt secreta mea scire, et alta Dei intelligere, se et suara salutem negligentes. Hi srepe in magnas tentationes et peccata, propter suam superbiam et curiositatem, me eis adversaute, labuutur. — Thomas a Kempi.s, lib. iii. cap. 4. 9 It may be questioned whether the records of the Church, since the days of the Apostles, can furnish a more perfect specimen of evangelical teaching,— an exhortation more " profitable for Doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteous- ness," than that which is contained in the foregoing extracts. — Ed. 648 BEST REMEDY FOR THE EVILS OP TRACTARIANISM, errors and dangers of which I so solemnly deprecate, " I hope bet- ter things,"" even things which, under the superintending guidance and control of its exalted Head, will tend to the purity and in- creasing union, strength, and influence of the Church, " though I thus speak." I am especially anxious that those of the same " household of Faith," however differing, partly, I doubt not, from an imperfect apprehension of each other's sentiments, and the un- avoidable ambiguities of language, should cultivate towards one another the most "fervent charity," cherish feelings not of distance and distrust, but of mutual confidence and regard, and endeavour, if possible, to think and " to speak the same things ;" but, at all events, " to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace ;" to avoid "doubtful disputations" as tending to alienation and discord, and to direct our most strenuous efforts to the maintenance and defence of those grand and master-truths which lie upon the very surface of Holy Writ, and in which we all substantially agree as "necessary to Salvation."' 18. To what, then, my Reverend Brethren, do these observations and strictures principally tend ? ^ To guard you, to whom I do not, though invested with ancient and extensive authority, affect to speak ex cathedra, but to some of you as my equals in age, to the greater number as an elder Brother, against being drawn aside by plausible and attractive, but unsound and unscriptural theories, " from the simplicity which is in Christ," to entreat you, in all your studies, ministrations, and judgments, to refer, not to the Tradi- tions or opinions of men, however worthy of reverence and regard, but to the inspired AVord of God, as the sole and exclusive Rule of Faith and criterion of practice, interpreted with the aid of all the learning, ancient and modern, of which you may be masters, according to the wise, and moderate, and truly Catholic decisions of the Church of which we are Members and Ministers, as con- tained in her authorized Documents and Formularies — never to for- get, that our Ministry is, by way of eminence, " the Ministry of Reconciliation" — to preach boldly, after the example of the great Apostle to the Gentiles, " Salvation by Grace, through Faith" in a crucified and risen Saviour, the only satisfactory evidence of which is, a new, a devout, and a holy life — to announce the pro- mise of Forgiveness to all, who, at any time, and under any pres- sure either of guilt or terror, " with hearty Repentance and true Faith" turn unto God — to teach, with the blessed Apostle St. John, that it is at once the duty and the happiness of the Christian " not to sin ;" but that " if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" — to withhold in our ministrations " nothing that is profitable," but to " declare the whole counsel of God" — to insist upon the right reception of the Sacraments, as essential to their efficacy — and, in opposition to the 1 See note, p. 644, supra. — En. BEST REMEDY FOR THE EVILS OP TRACTARIANISM. 649 extravagant and exclusive pretensions of the Churcli of Rome, to adhere to the milder, more tolerant, and more Scriptural principles of our own Apostolic Church, of her wise and holy Reformers, and of her most learned and able defender, the venerable and judicious Hooker, upon all that concerns the great subject of Ecclesiastical Polity. 19. These, as you will readily perceive, are but hints and sug- gestions, which I must leave to be developed and applied by your own private meditations and judgments. They are oifered as the result of much serious deliberation, and of no slight experience ia the school of Christ, with earnest prayer to Him who "maketh men to be of one mind in an house," that he would " shew to them that be in error," whoever they may be, " the light of his truth, that they may return into the way of godliness," and that " all they who do confess his holy name, may agree in the truth of his Holy Word, and live in unity and godly love ;" that " God who did once teach the hearts of his faithful people by sending to them the light of his Holy Spirit, would grant unto us, by the same Spirit, to have a right judgment in all things," and that, " proving all things, we may hold fast that which is good." Carr, Bishop of Bombay. — 1841. Vide Par. 6, in Chap. VIII. ; and 8, in Chap. X. Wilson, Bishop of Calcutta. — 1841. ordination seemon.2 Sumner, Bishop of Chester. — 1841. Vide Pars. 6—20, in Chap. XIII. ; and 27—30, in Chap. X. Monk, Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. — 1841. Vide Par. 10, in Chap. V. ; and 11, in Chap. II. Sumner, Bishop of Winchester. — 1841. Vide Pars. 11—18, in Chap. II. Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter. — 1842. 70. While the recent excitement was at its height, loud calls were made on the Bishops, from many quarters, for their formal and united judgment on the Doctrine of the Tracts. Whether the oc- casion demanded such a judgment from us or not, it is a sufficient 2 Vide infra, -p. 660 Ed. 650 REMEDIES FOR EXISTING EVILS. reason for our not having given it, that we have not legally the power to meet for such a purpose. 71. But this, in conjunction with many other considerations, forces upon us the question, whether it is right — whether it is con- sistent with (I will not say the honour, but) the uses, the safety, the constitution, of an unmutilated branch of the Catholic Church, to be kept without the means of synodical action. I say without the means ; for, while we are systematically restrained from using the means which in theory we possess, we are as much without them, as a maniac in a strait waistcoat is without his arms. 72. Whether the conduct of either House of Convocation, a hundred and thirty years ago, justified or required the temporary suspension of its sittings, is a question of history, into which we need not enter. But, be that question answered or not, there is another, in which we are too much interested to decline answering it. Does the conduct of Convocation, at that time, justify or excuse the closing of its doors for ever to every thing but the idlest formalities ? I should as soon say, that the usurpations of the Long Parliament would have justified subsequent Sovereigns, if they could do without Parliaments, in never calling another. Unluckily, the temporal government can do without Convocations, since they have relinquished the invidious power of taxing the Clergy; and, therefore, these assemblies have fallen into desuetude and almost oblivion. But let us be just. This is not the fault of the Govern- ment, but of the Church. Can any one of us doubt that, if at any period after the original causes of jealousy had ceased to operate, the Church had represented to the Government the necessity of its meeting in Synod, from time to time, for some of the most im- portant of its sacred functions — can we, I say, doubt that, if the Church had thus discharged its duty to itself, and, I will venture to add, to its Divine Head, long before this time the ban must have been taken off? Above all, can we doubt that, if such a representation were addressed to the Throne of this realm— while it is filled as, we thank God, it now is — it would meet the most gracious and fa- vourable reception ? 73. In saying this, I am confident that I am not outstepping the course prescribed by the occasion. The periodical meetings of the Clergy are, in these days of improved Church feeling and intelli- gence, regarded with deep interest by the Laity, who are (as 1 am sure you will join me in saying) the great body of the Church. Whatever, on these occasions, is delivered from such a chair as that which 1 here occupy, is sure of receiving more than the attention intrinsically due to it, from veneration for the ofiice, however un- worthily filled. The Laity, then, have a right to hear from their Bishops, what they feel to be the wants and necessities of the Church. In numbering the want of synodal meetings as one of the most crying, I am not speaking on my own solitary judgment. It is a want, which, in generation after generation, and year after RESTORATION OF CONVOCATION. 651 year, the best friends of the Church have not ceased, with growing urgency, to deplore. It is now four or five years since the Arch- bishop of DubHn (I speak it to his honour) zealously and ably pressed the matter on tbe attention of the House of Lords. Other very high authorities supported his view, and not a voice was heard against it.^ Have things since that time changed their nature ? Is that no longer a want, which was then by all unreservedly ad- mitted ? Has experience since shewn, that the deliberations of the Church, on concerns which specially interest it, are unnecessary? Would the legislation, which has taken place on such matters, have been worse — at any rate would it have been less satisfactory — if it had been prepared in some such council as must have deliberated upon them in any Church, which, being entire in constitution, is also free in action I 74. It is said, indeed, that Convocation is not such a body as is suited to synodal proceedings ; that it was not originally constituted for a Synod ; and that the progress of time had developed sources of very grave mischiefs inherent in its constitution. If so, it may be altered, and brought nearer to the model of the Primitive Church,* with such modifications as the existing state of things may demand. Surely, it must be as safe to trust Convocation with the task of reforming its own constitution, as it has been found to trust other bodies in a similar work ; and be it remembered, that the supremacy of the Crown, dutifully acknowledged by our Church even in its Articles, would be at all times ready to prevent or re- press the mischiefs, which might arise from any exorbitant or unwise proceedings of such a body. 75. One of the immediate benefits resulting from this measure would probably be, to better adapt the Canons of the Church to our present condition ; and thus to enable the Ecclesiastical Courts to 3 The subject was again brought before the House on the 4tli of July, 1843, by the Archbishop of Dublin, in presenting a petition from the Members of the United Church of England and Ireland, whose names were thereto subscribed, praying for " The establishment of an Ecclesiastical Governmetd, which shall have authority to determine ivhat is, a?id u-hat is not, binding on tlte Members of this Church, and to ■pronounce respecting any changes which individuals may have introduced, or may propose to have introduced.'''' The prayer of the Petition was supported by the A kchbishop, and by the Bishop op • Salisbury ; the Bishop of Ossorv, on the other hand, expressed his' dissent on the ground that " the evils to be apprehended from the restoration of such powers to the Church at the present moment, far exceed any we are suffering, or can reasonably ap- prehend, from the want of them." His Lordship has since published the arguments which he used on this occasion, in an exjianded form, under the title of The expediency of restoring at this time to the Church her Synodical Foicei-s, considered, in Remarks upon the Appendix to the late Cluirge of his Grace the Archbishop of Dublin. — En. * The following quotation from Gregory Nazianzen is adduced by Mr. Newman in his attempt to prove " the consistency of the Twenty-first Article with a belief in the infallibility of CEcumenical Councils." "' My mind is, if I must write the truth, to keep clear of every conference of Bishops, for of conference never saiv I good come, or a remedy so much as an increase of evils. For there ia strife and ambition, and these have the upjier hand of reason /' Ep. 55." Tract 90, p. 22, 4th edition. — Ed. 652 REMEDIES FOR EXISTING EVILS. administer the Ecclesiastical law more beneficially to all who have recourse to them. 70'. Again : such a Synod might perhaps be permitted, if not to devise a more satisfactory tribunal of appeal than now exists, in all causes involving questions of the doctrine of the Church ; at least to supply to such a tribunal some better means than it now pos- sesses, of knowing what that Doctrine is. As the matter now stands, the Judicial Committee of Privy Council, consisting of Lay- men (very learned, indeed, but in another faculty), is the court of ultimate resort, on questions of doctrine, which must often arise in Ecclesiastical Causes — even on those on which the Church not only hitherto has been silent, but also is not allowed an opportunity of pronouncing. In such cases, these Lay Judges are obliged to pick their course as they can, through ways which they often find very rough and very tangled. 77. True it is, that by a recent law it is enacted, that in every appeal to this Court, in a cause of criminal proceeding against a Clergyman below the rank of Bishop, some one Archbishop or Bishop, being a member of the Privy Council, must be present as a member of the Committee, when the appeal is heard ; but in all other causes — for instance, in a charge of heresy against a Layman, or even against a Bishop — the Court has not the assistance of a solitary Bishop. 78. Am I very wrong, in thinking, that the constitution of such a Court, for such a purpose, does not bear the stamp of absolute wisdom ; that it may admit of some improvement ' Am I even wrong in suggesting, that, in this particular at least, the much-des- pised wisdom of our ancestors will bear comparison with this, one of the latest products of modern legislation ; 79. When Henry VII L rescued the imperial crown of England from its long and disgraceful thraldom to Rome, the most important of all his measures was the Statute of Appeals* — that ijreat law, which defines and describes the Constitution of this Realm more expressly and more closely than any other act in the statute-book. In vindicating the inherent right of the Crown " to render and yield justice, and final determination, to all i^jianner of folk within this Realm," it says, that " when any Cause of the Law Divine happened to come in question, or of spiritual learning," that part of the said body politic, called the Spirituality, always hath been reputed, and also found — both for knowledge, integrity, and suffi- ciency of number — meet of itself, without the intermeddling of any exterior persons, to declare and determine all such doubts, and to administer all such offices and duties, as to their rooms Spiritual do aj)|)ertain." ious writers of the Church, and the remem- brance of your Ordination Vows will be the best security against the errors of which we iiave been speaking. 22. If .such deviations from the truth have been of late pro- pounded, we cannot believe that, fenced round about as our Zion is, with testimouies so directly opposite, they can spread very RESTORATION OF CONVOCATION. 657 widely, or have any long continuance. And as history informs us of a time when similar errors were broached and resisted, and by the good Providence of God were over-ruled and dispersed, we would fain persuade ourselves of a like happy result in this our day. CoPLESTON, Bishop op Llandaff, — 1842. 57. But the distraction introduced into our Church by the cir- culation of opinions such as these, and by ostentatiously practising forms of no intrinsic importance, as if they were vital parts of Christianity, is an evil which requires some more definite and de- cisive authority to control it, than the actual condition of our National Church supplies. The Diocesan is in the first instance the appointed guide in cases of doubt. But different Bishops may decide differently; and cases of doubt will multiply, as time goes on, and manners change, and unforeseen circumstances arise. Even that serious point of discipline, the repelling Communicants from the Lord's Table, which by the Rubric is in certain cases enjoined, often involves doubts for which no adequate solution is provided. See also Par. 61, in Chap. X. O'Brien, Bishop op Ossory, Ferns, and Leighlin. — 1842. Vide Pars. 158—162, in Chap. IV. Denison, Bishop of Salisbury. — 1842. But, in dealing with such subjects as these, it is impossible not to feel it to be a great anomaly that the Church is not permitted to speak her own sentiments through her rightly constituted organs, and to exercise those functions of deliberation and judgment which are entrusted to her by our constitution in Church and State. It is impossible not to feel, that it is unsatisfactory that the Church should not have any recognised mode of deliberating on subjects of whatever interest ; of adapting her system to new exigencies ; or of recording her decisions on the most important matters. This has now been the case for above a century ; and we may well rather be thankful that no greater evils have resulted from it, than be sur- prised that some things have grown obsolete, which yet there is no authority to alter ; that anomalies have sprung up, which it will be difficult to remove ; and that various functions of high importance, ' which ought to be discharged by the Church on its own authority, and in its own sacred character, are carried on, with more or less of irregularity, but most imperfectly at best, by self-constituted societies, which have been almost compelled to undertake offices, from which the Church, in her proper character, is debarred. I am not ignorant that much may be said in justification of the 2 u 658 REMEDIES FOR EXISTING EVILS. state of incapacity in wliich the Church has thus been placed. The history of the proceedings in Convocation at tlie beginning of the last century is in many respects a painful one: and though we may deem that its apparent resolution to uphold sound principles was the immediate cause of the restraint imposed upon it, it is perhaps not to be regretted that its sittings were at that period discon- tinued. It may be admitted, too, that there has not improbably been a providential compensation made to us for the loss of positive advan- tages, in that the Church has been restrained from evil action by the very trammels which have prevented her from making changes for good. It may well be imagined, that if the Church had always possessed the power of free deliberation and legislative enactment, she might, in some period of her history, have exercised such power in a manner unbeseeming her character as keeper and witness of the truth of God. She might perhaps have been drawn aside from the path of Catholic verity; and we might have had now to mouru over some fatal error, which it might be impossible to repair. And thus the forced incapacity of the Church for consultation may have operated, by the goodness of God, as a means of preserving from the faithless and wayward spirit of her members the blessings we are thankful to enjoy. It is, however, obvious, that any advantage of this kind is de- pendent upon the fact, that this bondage of the Church really pre- serves us from change; and that alterations, which the Cliurch cannot make for herself, are not made without her, either by the civil power, or in any other mode. But if this should not be the case, but, on the contrary, we should have all the evils of this state of incapacity without its advantages; — if the Church may not have the power of making any changes, however much she may need or desire them, and yet may be com- mitted to the most important changes, without her consent, and perhaps contrary to her opinion, — this state of things is one in which it is impossible willingly to acquiesce, and which, in my judgment, is fraught with evils and dangers far greater than any which are to be apprehended, be those what they may, in the orderly discharge of those functions which rightfully appertain to the Church. No doubt errors might be ct)niniittcd in the exercise of these, and evils might ensue. There niiglit be ha.-^te, and heat, and prejudice, and ignorance, and incapacity, and party divisions, and extreme opinions, and unsound judgments, and all the objections which ever attach to assemblies of fallible men, and from which Synods of Clergy cannot claim to be exempt. Hut I trust that there would be found also |nu(lence, and calnuR'ss, and knowledge, and sound judgment, and moderation, and impartial minds; I trust that faith- ful attachment to God's holy law, and an earnest desire to follow the guidance of the Spirit of wisdom and truth would keep us, if not from the preacuce, yet from the predominance of evil ; would RESTORATION OF CONVOCATION. 659 restrain all excesses of a rash and meddlesome spirit, and teach us to repair what is defective, and to supply what is lacking, without tampering with what is sound, and true, and established, through the teaching of the Catholic Church, on the foundation of the Word of God. In this hope, and with this belief, I am free to avow, that I desire to see the day when the Church of England shall be permitted in a lawful Synod to exercise free deliberation, and to form, as I trust by the blessing of God she would form, a right judgment on those mat- ters, the decision of which deeply concerns her character, her use- fulness, and her peace. — Charge, pp. 33 — 36. See also Extract from his Lordship's Ordination Charge, p. 578, supra. Pearson, Dean of Salisbury. — 1842. 54. In the meantime, much, very much, my Reverend Breth- ren, with regard both to ourselves and to the Church at large, under the guidance and good pleasure of its exalted Head, will de- pend upon the principles and conduct of the Clergy of the Church of England. If, as it has been confidently predicted and asserted by its authors and defenders, it is now "" too late" ^ for Episcopal, or even Archi-episcopal, authority to check and to restrain the Move- ment which for the last few years has been so rapidly and exten- sively prevailing, I have, for one, no other resource but calmly and patiently to await the fulfilment of that Word — " Every plant which my Heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up" — if, indeed, the Movement, so doveloped and expanded, should not, in its erring course, be ultimately absorbed in another, con- cerning which the voice of prophecy has distinctly and awfully de- clared, that " the Lord shall consume" it " with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy" it " with the brightness of his coming." 55. If, on the other hand, as I am willing to hope and to believe, and as I fervently pray, He who sits and watches over the sons of Levi, " as a refiner and purifier," to purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer " unto the Lord an offering in righteousness," should so illuminate the minds and " teach the hearts" of the Clergy of this land, that they may detect the sophistries which at present perplex, and discern, amidst the errors with which it is studiously and too successfully enveloped, "the truth, as it is in Jesus;" and, above all, should give them grace to believe and love that truth, and faithfully to preach it, I anticipate, with delight and joy, the dispersion of the clouds which now obscure it, and the shining forth, with renewed and brighter lustre, of the " Sun of Righteousness, with healing in His beams." 5 The Dean refers to Dr. Pusey's Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, quoted by the Bishop of Ossory and characterized by his Lordship as a " submissive menace." See the Bishop of Ossory" s Charge, 1842, Pars. 155 — 159, in Chap. IV. — Ed. 2 u 2 660 REMEDIES FOR EXISTING EVILS. MORE MINUTE 56. If, finally, with others of that Ministerial body, you, my Reverend Brethren, cherishing and closely adhering to the sacred home of onr forefathers, shall labour to carry out, and to ex- emplify, not the opinions or the practices of a vague Catholic Anti- quity, except a.s they are authoritativelv recognised and approved by our Church, but the Primitive and Scriptural Doctrines and principles of the English Reformation — then would I, in the full assurance of faith and hope, predict the return of those " showers of blessing" which alone "give the increase" to the Church, and accompany and secure the salvation of men. Then shall the offer- ing of our "Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and in the former years" — "and all nations shall call us blessed" — " And they that be wise" — " Teachers,^' as it is rendered in the margin of that sublime text. Teachers of the Truth — " wise to win souls" — "shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars, for ever and ever." Pepys, Bishop of Worcester. — 1842. See Par 13, in Cliap. XXII. Wilson, Bishop of Calcutta. — 1841.^ Ordination Sermon, pp. G3 — 69.'' What course the honoured Prelates and Dignitaries of our Re- formed Church at home may find it right to follow, I cannot pre- sume to conjecture, I shall be guided, as much as possible, in my own proceedings, by the advice and directions of His Grace the Archbishop, under whom we are all placed. Our moderation and charity of spirit as a Church render any public measures difficult of adoption, except in extreme cases, and of some continuance. The University, however, where the controversy began, has, by the voice of its Heads of Colleges and Halls, given a specimen of the view taken of the whole question by our leading autho- rities and Divines. In my own Diocese, till I receive particular directions, 1 shall proceed, as I ought, cautiously but firndy, so far as my iuHuence and mild authority as a Protestant Bishop extend. I have made u|) my mind. I take a very ditlerent view of the case now from what I (lid three years since. I then addressetl a few cautionary remarks to my Reverend Brethren in my public charge* on the • Charge of July, ia'«t. 6 The following obsorvatioiis of the nisiinp ok C'ai.c i'tta have boon reserved for thin phu-e as forniitig an a|i|iroi>riato conelubion to a volume which coiumeuced with an -extract from his Lonl.ship's ('hiirge. Lu. '' See nolo 4, p. 32, supra, — Eu. EXAMINATION OF CANDIDATES FOR HOLY ORDERS. QQ] question as it then lay before me. I did not conceal even at that early period my fears of the tendencies of the Traditional School. But I leaned to the side of charity. I hoped the leaders would have retracted or ceased to repeat their errors. I hoped the cha- racter of those errors would have been soon acknowledged, when the novelty had passed. But I was mistaken. I now look on the progress of these Doctrines in a very different light. I am an alarmist. I believe our Church was never in the danger she now is, except perhaps immediately before the Great Rebellion. Not the high Church party of which Archbishop Laud was then the head, nor the Non-jurors who condemned the glorious Revolution of 1688, carried out so many of the main prin- ciples of the Church of Rome, and professed them so formally, full}'', and systematically within the Church of England, as is now openly done. I must not be wanting to Christianity in the East on this great occasion, little as I can hope to effect. I have already in part an- swered the appeals made to me for my opinion from every part of the Diocese, and I may say India, in various discourses delivered in the progress of my visitation.* I seize the first opportunity, on my return to the metropolis, to lift up, as I am now doing, my warning voice, on this occasion of a solemn Ordination. Upon one point of detail I think 1 should be wrong in withhold- ing from you now my intention. It is my design to institute in my future examinations for Holy Orders a more minute inquiry than formerly, as to the sentiments of each candidate on the subject of the sufficiency and completeness of Holy Scriptures as laid down in our sixth Article, (which contains, indeed, the whole of the Doctrine of this discourse in the most distinct and expressive terms,) and on the great fundamental Doctrines of our Faith im- mediately connected with it. And I shall require also of those who are training for Catechists such previous assurances, at the least six months before they offer themselves for the work, as may satisfy me upon this vital point. A few topics of advice to my Reverend Brethren^ touched upon as briefly as possible, shall conclude this unavoidably long discourse. (1.) Let us beware o^ falling into the opposite class of errors to those which we so justly fear. In avoiding one extreme, let us guard against another. Let us watch against any the least depreciation or neglect of the means of grace, of the various branches of sound cri- ticism for arriving at the best interpretation of Scripture, of the dignity of the Sacraments, of the Divine Authority of- the Episco- pal Polity, and the study of Christian Antiquity. Let there be no omission of any one of the ordinary forms and usages of our Re- formed Church. Let us remain firm, unmoved, enlightened mem- bers and Ministers of her Communion, with an affection and * Especially in five Sermons delivered at Simla ; and in single discourses delivered at Kurnaul, Dellii, Agra, Saugor, Allahabad, Benares, &c. &c. in 1840 andil541. 662 REMEDIES FOR EXISTIXG EVILS. loyalty unquestionable to her whole Polity, Doctrine, Offices, and Liturgy, to the ntinutest point as settled in our Rubrics and Canons. (2.) Ilastf/ and uncharitable judamente of others should, also, be especially r/uarded against. One of the great evils of controversy is the exaggeration, the false rumours, the names of party to which it gives rise. Let us, then, listen to no idle calumnies. Let us put the very best interpretation we can, with sincerity, upon doubtful actions. Let us impute no motives. Let us bear with slight over- statements on subordinate matters, where we hope the main truths of the Gospel in the salvation of souls are adhered to. Let patience have her perfect tcork in this time of our Church's trouble and rebuke* Let us do more. Let us imitate, as well as commend, what is really praiseworthy in those who may most widely ditier from us, however we may dread the effects of their system. If there be in them activity, zeal, an unworldly spirit, devotedness to their sacred caUing, indefatigable labours amongst their flocks, generosity to the poor, learning, talent, amiableness of demeanour, let us copy these excellent (jualities, only avoiding any approach to the errors which may unhappily be associated with them. (3.) Prayer to Almighty God, the fountain of grace, for the larger effusion of the influences of his Spirit, should be, above all, oftered, and offered without ceasing, that He would withdraw his stroke from us. We should also with deep prostration of soul acknow- ledge his righteous chastisement of us as a Church, for our unfruit- fulness and manifold provocations of his Holy Spirit. These con- troversies are permitted in anger ; and if we turn not to hint that stniteth us, neither seek the Lord of Hosts,'f we cannot expect that He will interpose on our behalf. He only can interfere with effect. His Holy Spirit can alone restore the Holy Scriptures and the great truths of the Gospel to their just supremacy. His mercy alone can dissipate opposing errors; His powerful grace cause all these baneful traditions and inventions of men to be rejected, and the vital truths of the Gospel of Clirist to be believed and preached. It is not argument we want, but Divine influence, to save our Church. (4.) In this spirit let us humbly trust in the name of the Lord, and stay ourselves upon our God.\. The times were, and are still, big with hope upon the whole. The apostacy is not fully come in. All may be remedied. The world sighs for salvation. Our Mis- sions are bursting out with life. The power of our great Protestant country is extending on all hands. An access for the Gospel into the interior of .the chief heathen nations seems preparing. We may hope, then, that the dark temjiest now gathering over us may yet be dispersed. God's ways are not our ways. Possibly the • Jauicb i. 4 ; laaioU x.\.\vii.3. + Isaiab ix. 13. ij: Isaiah 1. 10. PATIENCE. PRAYER. DEPENDENCE UPON GOD. 663 bold protest which the great body of our Church is now entering against these corruptions of the Gospel, may be blessed to a rapid return of our younger Clergy (for it is the young chiefly who are led astray) to the ways of truth. Then the threatened apostacy will be arrested. Then the pure Gospel will resume its sway. Then the Lord Christ will return to us as a Church and people. Then his Cross and Passion will again be known, beloved, acknow- ledged, relied on, gloried in, as the only meritorious ground of Jus- tification ; and his Spirit sought for and honoured, as the only gracious source of holiness and comfort. Then our Church, in com- mon with the other branches of the universal Body of the Faithful, will shine brighter than ever, holding forth the Word of Life to them that sit in darkness ,-* till at length the earth he filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.']' Deo soli Gloria. * Phil. ii. 16. t Isaiah xi. 9. 665 APPENDIX. A. I. Letter of the Four Tutors to the Editor of the " Tracts for the Times." II. Resolution of the Hebdomadal Board with reference to Tract 90. III. Mr. Newman's Letter to the Vice-Chancellor. B. I. Mr. Newmans Retractation. II. Letter to Mr. Newman, from A Member of Convocation. III. Letter to Dr. Pusey, from Another Member of Convocation. IV. Second Letter to Mr. Newman from A Member of Convocation. V. The Method of Economy ; Extract from a Charge by the Bishop of Ohio. C. I. Letter of John Dobree Dalgairns, Esq., M.A. of Exeter College, Oxford, to the Univers. II. Letter of the Rev. G. Spencer to the Univers . D. Tractarianism in the Seventeenth Century. I. Extract from the Works of Thomas Goodwin, D.D., sometime President of Magdalen College, Oxford. II. Extract from Hallam's Constitutional History. E. Calumnious Misrepresentations of " Ultra-Protestant" Teaching. F. ' Illustrations of the Meekness, Charity, and Forbearance, displayed by the Tractarians. G. Tractarian Reverence for Episcopacy. 666 APPENDIX.— CONTENTS. H. List of Seceders through Tractarianisin to Popery. I. Controversial Tactics of the Tractarians. Garbled and disingenuous quo- tations. K. Specimens of Tractarian Manuals of Devotion. L. Union of Church and State. DOCUMENTS RELATING TO TRACT 90. 667 ATPENDIX A. I. LETTER OF THE FOUR TUTORS TO THE EDITOR OF THE TRACTS FOR THE TIMES. TO THE EDITOR OF THE " TRACTS FOR THE TIMES." Sir, — Our attention having been called to No. 90 in the series of '•' Tracts for the Times, by Members of the University of Oxford," of which you are the Editor, the impression produced in our mind by its contents is of so painful a character, that we feel it our duty to intrude ourselves briefly on your notice. This publication is en- titled " Remarks on certain passages in the Thirty-nine Articles ;" and, as these Articles are appointed by the statutes of the University to be the text-book for tutors in their theological teaching, we hope that the situations we hold in our respective colleges %vill secure us from the charge of presumption in thus coming forward to address you. The Tract has, in our apprehension, a highly dangerous tendency, from its suggest- ing that certain very important errors of the Church of Rome are not condemned by the Articles of the Church of England : for instance, that those Articles do not contain any condemnation of the doctrines — 1. Of Purgatory, 2. Of Pardons, 3. Of the Worshipping and Adoration of Images and Relics, 4. Of the Invocation of Saints, 5. Of the Mass, as they are taught authoritatively by the Church of Rome ; but only of certain absurd practices and opinions, which intelligent Romanists repudiate as much as we do. It is intimated, moreover, that the declaration prefixed to the Articles, so far as it has any weight at all, sanctions this mode of interpreting them, as it is one which takes them in their " literal and grammatical sense," and does not "affix any new sense" to them. The Tract would thus appear to us to have a tendency to mitigate, beyond what charity requires, and to the prejudice of the pure truth of the Gospel, the very serious differences which separate the Church of Rome from our own, and to shake the confidence of the less learned members of the Church of England in the Scriptural character of her formularies and teaching. We readily admit the necessity of allowing that liberty, in interpreting the formu- laries of our Church, which has been advocated by many of its most learned bishops and other eminent divines •, but this Tract puts forward new and startling views as to the extent to which that liberty may be carried. For if we are right in our apprehension of the author's meaning, we are at a loss to see what security would remain, were his principles generally recognised, that the most plainly erroneous Doctrines and practices of the Church of Rome might not be inculcated in the lectkire-rooms of the University, and from the pulpits of our churches. In conclusion, we venture to call your attention to the impropriety of such questions being treated in an anonymous publication, and to express an earnest hope that you may be authorized to make known the writer's name. Considering how very grave and solemn the whole subject is, we cannot help thinking that both the CBiurch and the University are entitled to ask that some person, besides the printer and publisher of the Tract, should acknowledge himself responsible for its contents. We are. Sir, your obedient humble Servants, T. T. Churton, M.A. Vice-Principal and Tutor of Brasenose College. H. B. Wilson, B.D. Fellow and Senior Tutor of St. John's College. John Griffiths, M.A. Sub- Warden and Tutor of Wadham College. A. C. Tait, M.A. Fellow and Senior Tutor of Balliol College. Oxford, March 8, 1841. 668 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO TRACT 90. II. RESOLUTION OF THE HEBDOMADAL BOARD WITH REFEREN'CE TO TRACT 90. At a Meeting of the nce-CIiancelhr, Heads of Houses, and Proctors, in the Delegates^ Room, March \bth, 184 L Considering that it is enjoined in the Statutes of this, University, (Tit. III. Sect. ii. Tit. IX. Sect. ii. g. 'A. Sect. v. §. 3.) that every Student shall be instructed and exam- ined in the Thirty-nine Articles, and shall subscribe to them ; considering also that a Tract has recently appeared, dated from Oxford, and entitled " Remarks on certain passages in the Thirty-nine Articles,''^ hclng No. 90 of the Tracts for the Times, a series of anonymous publications, purporting to be written by Members of the Uni- versity, but which are in no way sanctioned by the University itself; Resolved, That the modes of interpretation, such as are suggested in the said Tract, evading rather than explaining the sense of the Thirty-nine Articles, awi reconciling subscription to them, trith the adoption of errors which they tcere designed to counteract, defeat the object, and are inconsistent with the due observance of the above-mentioned Statutes. P. Wv.NTER, Vice-Chancellor. III. :MR. NEWMAN'S LETTER TO THE VICE-CHANCELLOR. Mr. Vice-Chancellor, — I write this respectfully to inform you, that I am the author, and have the sole responsibility, of the Tract on which the Hebdomadal Board has just now expressed an opinion, and that 1 have not given my name hithert them, must benefit all parties ;"— and ajcain— " this persuiusion, that 1 am nj-'ht and they are wrontc) is quite consistent both with my honounn^c their zeal for Christian truth and their anxiety for the welfare of our youufe'er members :"— and ajfain, (p. 30,) " Whatever has been said, or is to be done in cxjnse- p. „ , , c. - -. - - —"determined to tate his stand with Mr. Newman," on the jcround of his b-iiiif •'silenced not by argument but by usurped aiithorify." See his Letter to the Bishop of Jiiyon. pp. 4— C. —Ed. Newman's retractation. OlKovofiia. ^evaKta-/j,o<;. 669 APPENDIX B. I. MR. NEWMAN'S RETRACTATION. The follounng Letter has been forwarded to us for puhlication. It is without any sig- nature ; but we dare say some of our Oxford readers will find no difficulty infixing upon the name of the writer.* For ourselves, we give it without note or comment The Con- servative Journal. To THE Editor of the Conservative Journal. It is true that I have at various times, in writing against the Roman system, used not merely arguments, about which I am not here speaking, but what reads like de- • clamation.. 1. For instance, in 1833, in the Lyra Apostolica, I called it a " lost Church." 2. Also, in 1833, I spoke of the " Papal Apostasy" in a work upon the Arians.f 3. In the same year, in No. 15 of the series called The Tracts for the Times, in which Tract the words are often mine, though I cannot claim it as a whole, I say — " True, Rome is heretical now — nay, grant she has thereby forfeited her Orders : yet, at least, she was not heretical in the primitive ages. If she has apostatized, it was at the time of the Council of Trent. Then, indeed, it is to be feared the whole Roman Communion bound itself, by a perpetual bond and covenant, to the cause of Antichrist." Of this and other Tracts, a friend, with whom I was on very familiar terms, ob- served, in a Letter some time afterwards, though not of this particular part of it : — " It is very encouraging about the Tracts — but I wish I could prevail on you, when the second edition comes out, to cancel or materially alter several. The other day accidentally put in my way the Tract on the Apostolical Succession in the English Church, and it really does seem so very unfair, that I wonder you could, even in the extremity of olKovo/jda and cpevaKicrixhs, have consented to be a party to it." On the passage above quoted, I observe myself, in a pamphlet published in 1838^ " I confess I wish this passage were not cast in so declamatory a form ; but the sub- stance of it expresses just what I mean." 4. Also, in 1833, I said:— " Their communion is infected with heresy ; we are bound to flee it as a pestilence. They have established a lie in the place of God's truth, and by their claim of immu- tability in doctrine, cannot undo the sin they have committed." Tract 20. 5. In 1834, I said, in a Magazine : — " The spirit of old Rome has risen again in its former place, and has evidenced its identity by its works. It has possessed the Church there planted, as an evil spirit might seize the demoniacs of primitive times, and makes her speak words which are not her own. In the corrupt papal system we have the v^ry cruelty, the craft, and the ambition of the republic ; its cruelty in its unsparing sacrifice of the happiness and virtue of individuals to a phantom of public expediency, in its forced celibacy within, and its persecutions without ; its craft in its falsehoods, its deceitful deeds and lying wonders ; and its grasping ambition in the very structure of its policy, in its assumption of universal dominion ; old Rome is still alive ; no where have its eagles lighted, but it still claims the sovereignty under another pretence. The Roman Church I will not blame, but pity — she is, as I have said, spell-bound, as if by an evil-spirit ; she is in thraldom. " I say in the same paper : — " In the book of Revelations, the sorceress upon the seven hills is not the Church of Rome, as is often taken for granted, but Rome itself, that bad spirit which, in its for- • The Rev. J. H. Newman, whose friends are shewing it about in Oxford as the production of his pen. t Arians of the Fourth Century, by the Rev. J. 11. Newman. 670 NEWMAN^S RETRACTATIOX. OcKOVOfMia AND ^evaKiaflO'i. mer shape, was the aniinatinj;^ principle of the fourth monarchy. In St. Paul's pro- phecy, it is not the Temple or Church of (iod, but the man of sin in the Temple, the old man or evil principle of the flesh which exalteth itself ajjainst God. Certainly it is a mystery of iniquity, and one which may well excite our dismay and horror, that in the very heart of the Church, in her highest dignity, in the seat of St. I'eter, the evil principle has throned itself, and rules. It seems as if that spirit had gained subtlety by years ; Popish Rome has succeeded to Rome Pagan : and would that we had no reason to e.\p(.-ct still more crafty developments of Antichrist amid the wreck of insti- tutions and establishments mIucIi will attend the fall of the Papacy I . , . . I deny that the distinction is unmeaning. Is it nothing to be able to look on our mother, to whom we owe the blessing of Christianity, with affection instead of hatred, with pity indeed, nay and fear, but not with horror ? Is it nothing to rescue her from the hard names which interpreters of prophecy have put on her, as an idolatress and an enemy of Uod, when she is deceived rather than a deceiver?" I also say. — " She virtually substitutes an external ritual for moral obedience ; penance for peni- tence, confession for sorrow, profession for faith, the lips for the heart ; such at least is her .system a-s understood by the many." Also I say in the same paper : — " Rome has rol)berotest against your cursing and swearing at the end of the first Via Media as you do, (Tract 38.) What good can it do ? I call it uncharitable to an exces.s. How mistaken we may ourselves bo ou many poiuts that are only gradually opening on us?'' I withdrew the whole pa.ssage several years ago, 7. I -said in Iff.'iJ '>f the Church of Rome : — " In truth she is a Church beside herself abounding in noble gifts and rightful titles, but unable to use them religiously ; crafty, obstinate, w ilful, malicious, cruel, un- natural, as madmen are. Or, rather, she may be said to resemble a demoniac, pos- sessed with principles, thoughts, and tendencies not her own, in outward form and in outward ])owers what (iod made her; but ruled within by an inexorable spirit, who is sovereign in his management over her, anil most subtle and most successful in the use of her gifts. Thus, she is her real self only in name, and till (iod vouchsafe to re- store her, we must treat her as if she were that evil one which governs her." H. In \n\q, I also said in a Review:— " The second and third CJregories appealed to the peo|)le against the Kmperor for a most unjustifiable object, and in apparently a most unjustifiable way. They became rebels, to estJibhsh infuge worship. However, even in this transaction, we trace the original principle of Church power, though miserably defaced and perverted, whose form ' Had yet not lost All her orif;inal briRhtne^s, nor appeared Less than .-VrclianRel ruined and the excess Of glory obscured.' Newman's eetractatiox. — OiKovofiia and ^evaKiafio^. 671 Upon the same basis, as is notorious, was built the Ecclesiastical Monarchy. It was not the breath of princes, or the smiles of a court, which fostered the stern and lofty spirit of Hildebrand and Innocent. It was the neglect of self, the renunciation of worldly pomp and ease, the appeal to the people. " I must observe, however, upon this passage, that no reference is made in it (the idea is shockuig) to the subject of Milton's lines, who ill answers to the idea of purity and virtue defaced, of which they speak. An application is made of them to a subject which I considered, when I so wrote, to befit them better, viz the Roman Church as viewed in a certain exercise of her power in the person of two Popes. Perhaps I have made other statements in a similar tone, and that, again, when the statements themselves were unexceptionable and true. If you ask me how an indi- vidual could venture, not simply to hold, but to publish such views of a communion so ancient, so wide-spreading, so fruitful in saints, I answer, that I said to myself, "I am not speaking my own words, I am but following almost a consensus of the di- vines of my Church. They have ever used the strongest language against Rome, even the most able and learned of them. I wish to throw myself into their system. While I say what they say, I am safe. Such views, too, are necessary for our position." Yet I have reason to fear still, that such language is to be ascribed, in no small measure, to an impetuous temper, a hope of approving myself to persons' respect, and a wish to repel the charge of Romanism. An admission of this kind involves no retractation of what I have written in defence of Anglican doctrine. And as I make it for personal reasons, I make it without con- sulting others. I am as fully convinced as ever, indeed I doubt not Roman Catholics themselves would confess, that the Anglican doctrine is the strongest, nay, the only possible antagonist of their system. If Rome is to be withstood, it can be done in no other way. December 12, 1842. II. LETTER TO MR. NEWMAN FROM A MEMBER OF CONVOCATION. To THE Rev. J. H. Newman. Rev. Sir, In the Oxford Herald of Saturday last there appears a Letter, which, claiming you for its author,* although without any name attached to it, has naturally created a great sensation in the University by its retractation of several of the passages in ygur published writings, in which you were considered to have " pledged yourself the most strongly" (to borrow your own expressionf) " against the Church of Rome." Allow me to point out to you one or two difficulties which have occurred to me in the perusal of your Letter, which have probably suggested themselves to other persons as well. You refer to a series of passages penned by you, between the years 1833 and 1838, in which you denounce the Church of Rome as " a communion infected with heresy, crafty, obstinate, cruel, malicious, and as having bound itself, you feared, at the Council of Trent by a perpetual bond and covenant to the cause of Antichrist ;" and you further cite, with an apparent acknowledgment of their justice, the observa- tions of a friend, in which he blames you for this language, and remarks upon some of your expressions that they were " so very unfair," that he wondered you could " even in the extremity of o'lKovofiia and ^evctKicr/iisJ" have permitted yourself to use them. At the close of your Letter you say, "If you ask rne how an individual could venture, not simply to hold, but to publish such views of a communion so ancient, so * i. e. in the following passag'e :— " Also in 1833 I spoke of ' the Papal Apostacy' in a work upon the Arians,"the title of the work beiug, " The Arians of the Fourth Century, by the Rev. J.H. Newman." t Letter to Dr. Jelf, p. 30. II ^evaKKTuhs in Donnegan's Lexicon is rendered " imposture ; deception by a false appear, ance ; delusion ; deception." Of the olKOVOfxia you have yourself given the following account in your work upon the Arians: — " The Alexandrian Father who has already been referred to (Clement) accurately describes the rules which should guide the Christian in speaking and acting economically. ' Being ever persuaded of the omnipresence of God,' he says, ' and ashamed to come short of the truth, he is satisfied with the approval of God, and of his own conscience. Whatever is in his mind, is also on his tongue ; towards those who are fit recipients, both in speaking and living, he harmonizes his profession with his opinions. He both thinks and speaks the truth; except when con- sideration is necessary, and then, as a physician for the good of his patients, he will be false, or utter a faliiebood, as tiie Sophists say.' "—p. 81> 672 Newman's retractation. — OiKovofiia and ^€vaKihiin. K'uim. \ii. Afthorhml I'on/i.tMtrloruiii hi iirbo ' Ihitiiiitn.' OiKovofxia A\D ^6uaKi<7/j.6<;. ()75 likely it was. But I am induced to address you by the following consideration. The Bishop of Oxford said* long ago, (though, probably, if he has seen your letter, his Lordship would not say so now,) that he had " more fear of the disciples than the teachers;" and you have jourself remarked, f that there are in this place " a number of persons of ])ractised intellects, who, with or without unfriendly motives, are ever drawing out the ultimate conclusions in which your principles result." Well, let ua anticipate the following, alas ! I fear no imaginary, case. A young man, an admirer of the 90th Tract, meditates taking Orders, but scruples at Subscription to the Articles, and the Oath of Supremacy. He doubts whether he can conscientiously declare that " no foreign Prelate otight to have any Jurisdiction, Power, Superiority, Pre-eminence, or Authority, Ecclesiastical or Spiritual, within this realm." Ho knows that there is not a Bishop of our Church who approves of the interpretation of the Articles advocated in the 90th Tract, and accordingly begins to feel something of the " misery," which you have yourself J alluded to, of looking forward to subscription "with doubt and hesitation." But then he calls to mind your principles, and those of Emmanuel Sa. To be sure the safer course is not to take Orders at all ; but you have subscribed the Articles, and taken the Oath of Supremacy, and so has Dr. Pusey, and you keep your Living and Dr. Pusey his Canonry, let the Bishops say what they will ; and he is told in the British Critic that " almost a consensus" of the leading Divines of our Church agree with you. Besides, it is " necessary for his position." If he wishes for a Fellowship or Living, he must do as you have done. And accord- ingly with faltering voice and trembling hand, he takes the Oath, and subscribes the Articles, and — so perishes thy weak brother for whom Christ died. " It is impossible but that offences will come, but woe unto him through WHOM they come. It WERE BETTER FOR HIM THAT A MILLSTONE WERE HANGED ABOUT HIS NECK, AND HE CAST INTO THE SEA, THAN THAT HE SHOULD OFFEND ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES."|| I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient, humble Servant, A MEMBER OF CONVOCATION, March 24, 1843. V. THE METHOD OF ECONOMY. Extract from a Charge delivered to the Clergy of the Diocese of Ohio, Sept. 8, 1843. By Charles Petit Mc'Ilvaine, D.D. Of "the method of arguing and teaching which is called economical by tlie ancients," and which is so thoroughly employed in all the writings and workings of the Tractarian leaders, so as to account for all their apparent contradictions and changes of doctrine, we have some account in JMr. Newman's Hisfori/ of the Arians of the Fourth Century. It " can scarcely," he says, "be disconnected with the disciplii/a arcani. The one may be considered as withholding the truth, the other as setting it out with advantage." " The principle involved " in the cconomi/, as used by the ancients, is " that of repre- senting religion for the purpose of conciliating the heathen, in the form most attractive to theu' prejudices !" {Hist. p. 72.) "It professes to be founded in the necessity of the case, i. e. because those who are strangers to the tone of thought and principles of the speaker cannot at once be initiated into his .system, because they must begin with imperfect views ; and, therefore, if he is to teach them at all, he must put befoi'e them large propositions, ivliich he has afterward to modify; or make assertions which are but parallel or analogous to the truth, rather than coincident with it." " The obvious rule to guide our practice (in the use of the Method) is, to be careful ever to maintain suh- stantial truth." — p. 79, 80. Mr. Newman refers to Clement of Alexandria as "accurately describing the rules icldch should guide the Christian in speaking and tcriiing economically.'^ The following is the passage selected from Clement by Mr. Newman as a just specimen of the economy suited to the use of all Christian writers and speakers ; * Charge, 18.^8. t Lefter to the Bishop of O.iforri, p. 17. t Letter to Dr. Jelf, p.'ifi. l| Luke xvii. 'i, :i. 2x2 V)JG jiiK .Mi.iiion or ixono.vu. " Being ever pcrsuadi'*! ol tlic oinnijjreseuce uf CioJ, iiiul a-sh;inn.'il to come short of the trutli, he Is satisKed with the approval of God and of liis own conscience. What- ever is in his mind is also on his tongue ; towards tliosc who are tit recipients, both in speaking; and livinj^, he iiarniouizes liis profession with his opinions. lie Uith thinks and /tpeaki the truth, ejvejit ir/ien corisiile ration is uccessari/ ; and then, as a jihi/sician fur the good of his patients, he icil/ Im: f'alsr, or utter a faJsehood, a»' //«■ sophLits mi/.^ For instance, the great apostle circumcised Timothy, while he cried out and wrote down, ' circumcision availeth not ;' and yet, lest he sliould so suddenly tear his Hebrew disciples from the law as to unsettle them, accommodating himself to the .lews, ho became a Jew, that he might make his gain of all Nothing, however, but his neighbour's good will led him to do this. He gives himself up to the Church, for the friends whom he hath begotten in the faith, for an example to those who have tlie ability to undertake the high office of a teacher, full of love to God and man ; and so, while he preserves the sincerity of his words, he at the same time di6i>lays the work of zeal for the Lord." CXeiniian's Ilisturi/ of the Arians of' the Fourth Cciiturif, p. Ul.) C'hrysostom .speaks of precisely the same system of economy, calling it sometimes "/>uw/," and sometimes ";«;/," in his work on the Priesthood. >le gives the following illus- tration of its application, in the course of an apology to a friend whom, lii/ an artijice, (i. e. economy,) he had induced to take orders: " 01), excellent and admirable man I I have already observed to you that, not only in war and against enemies, but sometimes even in peace, and towards intimate friend.s, (leecil {anar})) is to be made u.se of. For that you may learn that this is useful, not only to the deceiver, but to the deceived, go and ask the physicians buw they recover the sick from their diseases, and you will learn from them that they do not rely on medicine only, but sometimes calling to their aid decxit as weil, they restore their patients to health. For when the unmanageableness of the patient, and the obstinacy of the disease, do not give scope to the skill of the physician, then it is necessary to put on the mash- of deceit, that they may digt/nise the truth an tJiou^/h ihei/ were actimi upon the staye. Xow allow me to mention one trick which I have heard of a physician's making use of. A certain man fell into a raging fever, and refused to take any thing which could allay the violence of his disease; ami, on the other hand, besought every one w!>o came near him to bring him wine, and procure him tiie means of indulging this per- nicious desire. Now this would not only have increased the fever, but thrown him into a stnte of frenzy ; and, conseijuently, the medical art being altogether at a loss, deceit stepped in and accomplished the wonders which I proceeil to narrate. For the phy- sician bringing an earthen vessel fresh from the furnace, after soaking it in wine and then emjitying it, filled it with water instead, and darkening the room with curtains, that light miglit not betray the artifice, gives it to the patient to drink, as though it were a cup of wine. He, on the other hand, deceived by the smell before he took it into his hand, never stayed to examine what was given him, but draid; it off eagerly, and so got rid of his feelings of suffocation, and escaped a pressing danger. You see, tlien, the use of /mud. But I must not prolong my argument by going through all tin? tricks of physicians. / . Ijoiiiitl fo roiileM ( •' Tin- (r< ner.nl answer, in oppn^itiun tn I'awfN is, No ; l)iTnu!y ((inrcilinir llifin :i niaii in nut tli i>»:n\ liiM.sKlf 1i> ni « I'KiiAr, for i-xninplr, w HTN III i(r«i I Y niiNr.iiMv irii>. * Mriii. oriu i»i i.ii:." ' '— Iti .^^■ < o/rt/)/* /< A'.Wvi'/ y'Ari»'», »ul. li p i..'» — i:i> TIIK METHOD 01' ECONOAn'. 677 liestinod to be abolished." " Our Lord's conduct on earth abounds (it is said) witli such acts of economy. The whole I'evelation of God, as contained in the written Word, is regarded as more or less economical ; requiring the aid of unwritten traditions, and of the inspiration of the matured Christianity of the later centuries, to take away the veil from its hidden truths, and to give clearness, prominence, and assurance to a " latent, mysterious meaning, beyond the letter," wliieh otherwise would not have appeared. Such palmary Doctrines as of the Trinity, the Divinity of Christ, &c., are represented as taught in the Scriptures only obliquely, incidentally, obscurely; and that, if we re- quired for them, " the clearest and fullest evidence," we should not believe tliem. It is supposed that great and prime truths lie concealed entirely in Scripture, so that no eye of private judgment can see them, and nothing but the testimony of tradition — in other words, nothing but the Church, pronouncing them to be true, can make them seem to be scriptural. This is the carte hlanche for the Church to fill up with any thing in the shape of Doctrine, according to the times See Tract, No. 85. In like manner, as the Scriptures are regarded as having been written on a principle of economi), with reference to the fuller revelations and certifications of tradition, so the whole Church, with all its traditions and Scriptures, is a system of cconomi/, with re- ference to all the world without, and to each individual within her pale. To those without, she speaks always under an impenetrable veil. Her effort Is concealment, not publication. To those within, it is reserve, laying aside the veils of truth according as the disciple advances in holiness, making truth "the reward" instead of the means of sauctification. Of this ecclesiastical economi/, or system of concealment, the symbol and sign of the cross, the sacerdotal robes, the sacraments, are a part. Service in an unknown tongue, and a disuse of preaching, will b}'-and-by be disclosed as another part. Of the use of the economy in the work of the missionary among the heathen, Mr. Newman says, " Believing God's hand to be in every system, so far forth as it is true, he (the missionary) will seek some points in the existing superstitions as the basis of his own instructions, instead of indiscriminately condemning and discarding the whole assemblage of heathen opinions and practices. * * * And while he strenuously opposes all that is idolatrous, criminal, and profane in their ci-eed, he will pro/ess to be leading them on to perfection, and recovering and purifying, rather than revcrsinfj the essential principles of their belief" — History of Arians, p. 93. Of the application of the economy in the effort to get back the peculiarities of Ro- manism, in spite of Protestant antipathies, the whole series of Tractarian publications is an illustration. A few specimens conveniently occur in the British Critic for July, 1841. The writings of the English Reformers are regarded by that organ of Tracta- rianism as thoroughly Protestant ; Protestantism, "in its essence and all its bearings, as characteristically the religion of corrupt human nature ;" " its tone and thought essentially Antichristian " (p. 27. 29) ; and yet i\\e emnomical writer says, ^" What Catholic can desire to obstruct or distract this current of deep, filial devotion " (to the writings of the Reformers), " however he may lament its bearing, before he shall have succeeded in pointing out a channel in which it may more safely flow ?" (p. 9.) The meaning of which is, that the Catholic Tractarian will speak respectfully of the writings of the Reformers, until he shall have prepared your mind for the exact opposite, and then he will lay aside the mask, and declare plainly that they are to be utterly re- nounced, as uncatholic and Antichristian. This preparation is considered as havmg been now made. Therefore we read, " We cannot stand where we are -, we must go backward or forward ; and it will surely be the latter. It is absolutely necessary to- wards the consistency of the system which certain parties are labouring to restore, that truths should be clearly stated, which as yet have been but intimated, and others de- veloped which are now in germ. And as we go on, we must recede more and more from the principles, if any such there be, of the English Reformation." To this is added, in a note, the following: "As one among many instances of the way m which Catholic truths modify one another, might be mentioned the tendency of correct views of the sacramental efficacy of Penance, and of the power of the Keys, to Mljust the Doc- trine of the Church concerning 'sin after Baptism ;'" in other words, like that of the Romish Chui-ch, to take away post-baptismal sin. " It is worth considering whether the opposition which the ancient religion encounters in our age be not, in part, owing to the necessity entailed by our circumstances of restoring it by degrees {economically. ) Medicine is never so unpalatable as when sipped.'''' — p. 45. Such is the method of Economy. Thus has Romanism, under the mask of Anglican Doctrine, stolen upon our Protestant ranks. Thus, when we wanted the pure wine of the Gospel, have they taken the cup of Romish abominations, and, imparting to it a deceitful seeming of Gospel truth, presented to us nothing better than the bitter poison of Antichristian error. 67'S m:iii;i; or joiix hoiiisei-: dai.oaikns, esu. A 1' P K N L) 1 \ ('. 1. LETTER OF JOHN DOBREE DALGAIRNS, ESQ., M.A., OF EXETER COLLEGE, OXFORD, TO THE " UXIVER5." Important Letter 'I'lie I'niiers of LSth A])ril, contains the follo\vin<; very fxtra- ufflin.irv and interesting communication from " a young member of the University of Oxford," (lateil '* Oxford, Passion Sunday, lft41," respecting the movement to Catho- licism now in jiro'^ress at Oxford. 'I'he editor of the ['nivers vouches for tlie autheu- ticitv of the k'tter, hut is precluded, for reasons which must be obvious, from giving the name of the writer. " The charity whicli you have always shewn towards the Anglican Church, makes me think you will not refuse to find room in your Catholic journal for the letter of one of the children of that afflicted (,'hurch, which has drunk to the dregs the bitter cup which is tlie lot of all the Churches of Christ. The eyes of all Christendom are at this moment turned to ICngland, so long separated from the rest of Catholic Europe : everywhere a presentiment has gone abroad that the hour of her reunion is at hand; and that this island, of old so fruitful in saints, is once more about to put forth new fruits, worthy of the martyrs who have watered it with their blood. And truly this presentiment is not ungrounded, as I shall prove to you by a detail of what is now pjissing in the I'uiversity of Oxford. This detail is the more important, inasmuch as this L'^niversity is indeed the heart of the Anglican Church, the beatings of which make the remotest members of this great body (juiver. The only end I propose to myself is to give you a just idea of the present position of tiie .\nglican Church, so that the French Catholics may share the emotions of our souls. And I do not believe that it is possible to give you an idea of them otherwse than by an exposition of a small treatise which has lately appeared. I do not flatter myself that you will apjirove of all the ojiinions which I am about to mention. I do not defend them. 1 am their historian— not their author. " ^Slr. Newman, one of our theologians, published, a few days since, the !K(th Number of the ' Tracts for the Times,' in which he designs to demonstrate that the Church of Rome has fallen into no formal error in the Council of Trent, that the invocations of the saints, (the Ora pro nobiti for example,) purgatory, and the supremacy of the Holy See of Rome, are in no way contrary to the Catholic traditions, or even to our autho- rized formularies ; in fine, tliat the dogma of transubstantiation should be no obstacle to the union of the Churcjics, as in this article there is only a verbal dift'erence between them. .\t the same time, he is but little satisfied with our Thirty-nine Articles, al- though he maintains throughout, that the providence of God hindered the Reformers from openly inserting in them the I'rotestant dogmas to which they were but too much attachec, and the fear of him, is before their Eyes, (as David speaks of wicked Men.) And as those in 7'(7i/.s, that profess they know God, yet in their Works deny him, are justly accounted .tt/ieis/x ; so those that shall profess the Refonued Religion, yet in all tiieir Practices, and under-hand Polices, depress it, and advance the I'ojiixh Parly, are justly to be accounted Pa)iisls, and to have received the Number of his Name. " The phrase [ Number of a Name] is not only taken for a Name consisting of Nu- meral Letters, and so, not oidy for Nmnber Arithmetical ; but the word [Xitmber] is in numy Languages put for the Account, Reckoning, or ICsteeni, that is commonly Jiad of Men ; a-s in l^atin we say. He is one niilliiis \innrri, of no Nuniberor .Vccount, and so among the (ireeians, ^v iroA«/iy (vaplBfios, is used by Jlomer, for one in great Account in \Var, being numbered or esteemed a Soulilier. "So then, Number of a Name, is a common Esteem, or Account to be such or such an one; and so the Number of the Beast's Name here, is the common repute or esteem to be a Papist, procured through under-hand advancing of the Popish Cause. It being therefore spoken in a distinct and lower degree from receiving his Name or Mark, (which note out an opi'u Profession) doth yet necessjirily import so nuich, inclining and cleaving to him (though secretly) as shall deserve that account and repute to be so numbered, as being indeed tacitely and in Heart, as truly of his Company, as those that receive liia Nanu\ Now if in opening the meaning of the Holy (ihost in the Phrase here, this'Description shall seem to the Life to jiictun- out a (Jeneration of such kind of Popish Persons as these in any (even the most I'anunis) of the Reformed Churches, certainly there will not want good ground for it: for though they, with an impudent fore-head, renounce the /'(>/«''« Clianicter, and the Name i>{ Papists, ami will by no nieiins be calleil /Vir.vfc <>/ /y*j«/, (though Priests they affect to be called) but boast themselves to be of the Reformation, and opposites to the Papal Faction ; yet 'vith x«< much impudence do they bring in an Imago of Popish Worship and Ccremo- TUACTARIANTSM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 683 iiies, adding to some old Limbs, never cast out, other substantial parts, of Altars, Cru- cifixes, Second Service, and the like, so to make up a full likeness in the p'ublick Service, to that of the Popish Church ; they bring in the Carkass first, which may afterwards be inspired with the same Opinions. All this, not as Popery, or with annexion of Popish Idolatrous Opinions, but upon such grounds only, as upon which ProtcHants themselves have continued some other Ceremonies. And as in Worship, so in Doctrine, they seek to bring in a Presence in the Sacrament of the Lord's Sup- per, beyond that which is Spiritual, to Faith, which yet is not Popish Transubstan- tiation ; a Power in Priests to forgive Sins, beyond that which is declarative, yet not that which Mass- Priests arrogate : Justification by Works, yet not so grosly as in the way of Popish Merit, but as a Condition of the Gospel as well as Faith : and many the like to these ; thus truly setting up an Image of Old Popery in a Protestant Reformed Way, even as Popery is an Image of Heathenish Worship in a Christian Way. Say these Men what they will, that they hold not of the Pope, nor any way intend him, or the introducing his Religion into these Churches, yet their Actions do (and cannot but) make all men number them as such ; and therefore we say. That they have gained that esteem at Home and Abroad in all the Churches ; and it is no more than what the Holy Ghost prophesied of, who hath fitted them with a Description so Characteristical, as nothing is more lilce them than this of these here, who are said to receive the Num- ber of his Name. And they doing this in a way of Apostacy from their former Pro- fession and ReUgion in which they were trained up, and in a Church so full of Spiritual Light, where God hath more Witnesses than all the rest of the Churches, and with ail intention and conspiracy in the end to make way for the Beast, (that going before, as theTwi-light doth serve to usher in Darkness) therefore the Holy Ghost thought them worthy of this Cliaracter, (in this Prophecy) and of a discovery of them unto whom they do belong ; especially seeing they would so professedly deny it. And though haply but in one of the ten Kingdoms, (although the Lutherans else-vvhere look very like this Description also); yet seeing they were to grow to so potent a Faction, as to have power to hmAer W\e ( buyhtg and selling ) quiet living of others amongst them, who will not receive this Worship and Doctrine, (which is a new refined Popery) and with it the Number of his Name ; that is, those Opinions and Practices which do deserve that esteem. And further, because they were to be the Pope's last Champions before his Fall, whom those that are the true Saints, (of whom the greatest Number in the last Age before the Pope's Ruin, is in, or belong to that one Kingdom) are to en- counter and overcome, before the ruin of Rome ; therefore the Holy Ghost thought not fit to leave such a Company out of the Beast's Number and Followers ; and that also, although they were to continue but for a short time ; for the Doom of these Men we liave in another Prophecy (as their Description also) 2 Tim. 3. from the \st verse to the \bth, the Prophecy there being of a Generation of Men to arise in the last Days, (the Papists rising is attributed to the Latter Days, in 2 Tim. 4 chap, but the rise of these to the last of the last Days) who shall set themselves principally against the Power and Spirit of True Worship, and set up a Form or Image instead of it, verse 5. but their Doom is, (verse 9.) These shall proceed no further, they shall have a stop ; and their Folly, and Madness, and H>q)ocrisy (to attempt to bring in Popery with denying it ; and when it is going down, then to build this Babel again) shall appear to all men ; and being discovered, will be their overthrow : but notwithstanding they must proceed further than as yet they have done, even to the killing of the Witnesses in that Kingdom, or tenth part of the City, (as chap. ] 1 . will shew, when in its due order it shall be opened.) And because these last Champions of the Beast, and Healers of the Wound given him, should come in the last Days of all, they are therefore last named, and are said to be last overcome by the Witnesses and ponrers forth of the Vials, as chap. 15.2." — Exposition upoii (he Revelation. First part Cliap. VII, pp 65. — 67 Folio Ed: 1683. i II. EXTRACT FROM THE CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY Ol*' ENGLAND. By Henry Hallam, Esq. " The charge of inclining towards Popery, brought by one of our religious parties against Laud and his colleagues with invidious exaggeration, has been too indignantly denied by another. Much, indeed, will depend on the definition of that obnoxious 1 The time of the author writing this Discourse was in tlic year 1630. Preface to the Reailcr. p.'i.— Ed. GS-t TIIACTAUIAMSM I.\ TIIK ^LVKNTtKNTIl CKNTUUY. word ; which one may restrain to an acknowledgment of tlie Supremacy in Faitii an»l Disciphne of the Roman See ; while another comprehends in it all those tenets which wore rejected as corruptions of Ciiristianity at the Keformation ; and a third may ex- tend it to the ceremonies aud ecclesiastical observances which were set aside at the same time. " In this last and most enlarged sense, which the vulgar naturally adopted, it is no- torious that all the Innovations of the School of Laud were so many approaches, in the exterior tcors/iip of the Cliurclt, to the [toman model. " Pictures were set up or repaired."* — The Communion-table took the name of an Altar ;* it was sometimes made of stone ; — obeisances were made to it ;rii-ly;" in which "the copes and vestments" are said to " follow the colour of the Altar cloth," being " tfliitc," " tlotet," " xrarlrl ," "ureeii," or " litiick," as the Fi-slival may require. '' Similar propensities have developed themselves at /.rff/.t and elsewhere. ' See note I , p. -Jit, Mi/irti. .' .See note 'i, p. 5*J'2, sitjini. • .See pp. 508, ion, and not«' H, p. :nn. J-iH, tuyra. • See Jinle I , p. .IH.t, tii/ira. •• See note .i, p. 50 ; and note 1», p. VM, Mipni. •• " An unmarried Priest will In- preferred," is the constniit language of the Tractarian advertisers. See also note .'>. |i. 110. " See note!), p. 1'.2, and p. ISO, .«(/;)»•«.— Ku. TRACTARIANISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 685 positive, though not divine institution ; content to make the doctrine and discipline of the fifth century tlie rule of their bastard reform. " An extreme reverence for what they called the Primitive Church had been the source of their errors.s The first Reformers had paid little regard to that authority. But as learning, by which was then meant an acquaintance with Ecclesiastical Anti- quity, grew more general in the Church, it gradually inspired more respect for itself ; and men's judgment in matters of religion came to be measured by the quantity of their erudition. The sentence of the early writers, including the fifth, and perhaps sixth centuries, if it did not pass for infallible, was of prodigious weight in controversy. No one in the English Church seems to have contributed so much towards this relapse into superstition as Andrews, Bishop of Winchester, a man of eminent learning in this kind, who may be reckoned the founder of the school wherein Laud was the most pro- minent disciple. " A characteristic tenet of this party was, as I have already observed, that Episcopal Govermnent^ ivas indispensahlij requisite to a Christian Church* Hence they treated the Presbyterians with insolence abroad, and severity at home.' A Brief to be read in Churches for the sufferers in the Palatinate having been prepared, wherein they are said to profess the same religion as ourselves. Laud insisted on this being struck out. The Dutch and AValloon Churches in England, which had subsisted since the Re- formation, and which various motives of policy had led Elizabeth to protect, wei'e harassed by the Primate and other Bishops for their want of conformity to the An- glican Ritual. The English ambassador, instead of frequenting the Hugonot Church at Charenton, as had been the former practice, was instructed to disclaim all fraternity with that sect, and set up in his own Chapel the obnoxious altar and the other Inno- vations of the hierarchy " This alienation from the Foreign Churches of the reformed persuasion had scarcely so important an effect in begetting a predilection for that of Rome, as the language fre- quently held about the Anglican separation. It became usual for our Churchmen to lament the precipitancy with which the Reformation had been conducted, and to in- veigh against its principal instrumentsJ^ .... " Nothing incurred more censure than the dissolution of the Monastic Orders,^ or at least the alienation of their endowments "The Catholics did not fail to anticipate the most favourable consequences from this turn in the Church ''• The Clarendon State Papers, and many other documents, con- tain remarkable proofs of their sanguine and not unreasonable hopes. . . . They drew a flattering picture of the resipiscence of the Anglican party ; who are come to acknowledge the truth in some Articles, and differ in others rather verbally than in substance, or in points not fundamental •, who hold all other Protestants to be schis- matical, and confess the Primacy of the Holy See, regretting the separation already made, and wishing for re-union ;^ who profess to pay implicit respect to the Fathers, and can best be assailed on that side." — Vol. i. chap. viii. pp. 473 — 478. Fourth edition. * " Hall, Bishop of Exeter, a very considerable person, wrote a treatise on the ' Divine Insti- tution of Episcopacy,' which, accordino- to an analysis g:iven by Heylin and others, of its leading positions, is so much in the teeth of ' Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity,' that it might pass for an answer to it. Yet it did not quite come up to the Primate's standard, who made him alter some passages which looked too much like concessions."— Hf!/^/«'i Life of Land, 374. Collier, 379. 8 See Charge of the Dean of Salisbury, par. 0, p. 196, supra- ' See note 9, p. 4-!; and notes f,5,p. 332. 1 See note 5, p. .W.i, sitpra. -' See note 9, p. 35 ; also page 100, and Chapters Will. Xl'X., supra. 3 .See Froude's Remains, vol. i. p. 322. •» Seenote i.p. I'26,iwj'r«. s See pp. 106. 109, supra.— Ev. 'ISn TRACTAniAN MISRRPRRSENTATIOX <»F A P P E x\ D I X E. CALUMNIOUS MISREPRESENTATION OF "ULTRA- PROTESTANT" TEACHING. I. EXTRACT FROM NO. 87 OF THE TRACTS FOR THE TIMES. " The evils to wliieli this modern system has led, in furious forms of dissent,*^ are too evident, wherever wc turn our eyes, leadiiifj men to t/ie neglect of honesty and plain dealing, and at length to indifference, nnsettledness and infidelity. " In the Church it excludes, tcil/i jealous eagerness, all things that may alarm the consciences of those who heartily adopt the system; Obedience to Church Authority, practices of ^fortification, the Fear of God, and the doctrine oi Judgment to come. " It sets forth religion in colours attractive to the world, hy .stimulating the affections, and by slifiing the conscience, rather than by purifying and humbling the heart. Hence its great prevalence in places of fashionable rescjrt.'' " And to those who have in any way forfeited their character for religion and morality or sound doctrine, instead of the proce.ss of painful, secret self-discipline and grailuul restoration, or the open and salutary penance of the ancient Church, it affords an instant and ready mode for assuming at once all the pririleges and authority of advanced piety. " And tlie consequence is, that real humility of heart, and a quiet walking in the or- dinances of God, finds not oii\y t\w world in array against it, but that which considers itself as Christianity also. " Through all its appearances it is marked by a want of reverence ; and, therefore, it can use worldly instruments and worldly organs. It may serve as a ready cloak to cover an unsubdued temper and n worldly spirit, concealing them as well from the individual himself, as from others. It may offer « convenient refuge to those wlio would cling to liie Establishment, rather than the Church, if she sliould be spoiled and persecuted, — PI.. 79, m. II. EXTRACT FROM THK lilUTlSlI CRITIC. " IIow very different tliis from the manner in wliich the sacred mystery is, in the present day, pressed forward liy a peculiar school, whether for the conversion of unbe- lievers, or for winning back stray souls to their duty and allegiance. It is held forth, and touchingly depicted to all men indiscriminately, but specially to be laid hold on as full of virtue and healing efficacy by those who are living in plain neglect or abandonment of their Christian calling. f, Notliingcan be mori: contrnri/ to rryfrii mr than this ai«.Hprtion. .Should thp system of the Tractarians ever unhappily beamie as prevalent as that which is here to (rrievouisly calumniated, it will soon be seen which of the two tends to the edifyiii(rof the Hody of Christ, and which is the prolific source (unintcnlioually indeed, but not on that account less certainly,) of Schism ami Dissent. — Kd. ~ The writer would have been niiicb nearer the truth if he had said — " It sets forth relijrion " as something /o/»//y distinct frum, and oypnsid to, "the world;" hence the cnmilti whieh it excites " in places of fashionable resort " He can li.ive seen but little of such places and of the manner in which the " .System " which he traduces is receivid by the peneriility of those who re- iiort to them, or he could never speak, iw he doi-s elsewhere, (Tract 80, p. 77,; " of I'hristianity having becoim- publicly arriiitiililr to tlie uortd contrary to our Lord's express declarations." Did III- never hear the disciples of Ibis " Modern .School" accused of bein(r " ri(rhteoui urcr- miirli :" and " the teacluM); alluded to" condemned as loo senrc,as /iiir.*/i, e-rrliisli r, and uii r/iarilal)li- f Is this because it " sti/irs llir roiisiii mr," and "urttnlis uilh jiatous ragcrHist practices of Murl ijiration ,\W frar of Cod, and the d'H-trine of f/ir .Jiiftumrnl to come "' It IS not, however, the first lime that leliirion h.is been assailed with chaitres in themselvr* the most op)>ositc and contradictory. "John the Kanlist came iirilhrr latiiiii briad nor drlnAing trim ; and yi- s!iy, lie liatli a ilii it. The .Son of Stan is crime rating and drinkiiig . and ye say, Hflioljf II ettittotiou.s man and a trinc-bibber, a friend of publicans and siiiiMr« ' Hut wiMlcnn i» jiistiriedof all her childn n." I.uke vii. :i.1,:<4.— P.P. " ULTRA-PROTESTANT " TEACHING. 687 " The characteristics of its full reception into the heart of any individual seem^ to he an entire disclaiming of any merit or desert in himself,9 — a watchful jcalonsy of any worth or importance in any thing he can do,' — a casting himself upon Christ,^ a hearty, joyous, confident sense of the efficacy of that hlessed Sacrifice, as complete and life-giving to every one who so apprehends it, and to himself in particular,^ — an affec- tionate acknowledgment of having been brought to feel and understand this,'' and an absorbing contemplation of that Sacrifice without reference to the further necessary realization of the doctrine in his oivn practice. " Hence it is made a matter of present triumphant satisfaction, and the place in the doctrine of snch te.vts as the folloiving is forgotten. The meaning of ' the abounding of the sufferings of Christ in us ' — the ' bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in our body' — the 'filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in onr flesh ' — the knowing ' the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable to his death ■" — seem lost sight of, and have no part in their system. It is made to convey present assurance and comfort, and to relieve tis of the self-denial and severity of practical holiness ; and of the anxieties about falling aivay from a slate of grace ^ or of whether ive dare hope God in his mercy ivill bear with the ' dregs of a polluted life ;' and it is by stimulating the affections, and kindling what are accounted feelings of fervent piety, that men are brought to cast themselves, in a way, out of themselves, and at once, in full confidence of faith, to lay hold of, and apjily to themselves the saving efficacy of this doctrine. "• Is it to be wondered at, that when so deep and mysterious a Doctrine as the Atone-' ment is put forward, as though its heavenly grace and meaning may be at once appre- licndcd and brought home, by a sudden movement of the affections, or an act of the understanding, that there is an impatience of doctrines which require sttbmissive, lowly faith, teachable acquiescence in doubt and uncertainty, as to the immediate blessings on the practice of them, and steady and persevering self-denial ? Is it to be wondered at, that sacraments are slighted as formal, lifeless, and superstitions, while the feelings of the heart are rather made tests of right devotional exercises? Is it to be wondered at, that painful self-denying obedience, the punctual practice of external services, such as public prayer and fasting, are regarded with suspicion, as nnspiritual, formal, dero- gatory to the Redeemer''s merits, and undue restraint on Christian liberty — that there should be a manifest tendency to explain away all mysteries in religion — that men should be offended at the notion of the severities of the Christian faith ; and that the notion of any reserve in Scripture, designed by Almighty God to answer certain moral pur- poses, and brought out practically, as in the teaching and discipline of the early Church, should be impatiently rejected ? " These few remarks have been rather added, because it is notorious how popular Itooks of the day bring forward the Doctrine of the Atonement ; and press it in every rhetorical form, as the great instrument for the conversion of the careless and ill- living." — British Critic, N^o. 50, Review of Tracts on Reserve, pp. 292 — 294. See also in Appendix F. s Dnes the writer of this article really mean to assert that these are not the " characteristics " of a " full reception" of the truths of the Gospel "into the heart of any individual i" If so, " the place in " liu " doctrine of such texts as the following " must surely be " forgotten ;" they can " have no part in" his " system." n " I know that in me (thatis.in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing." — Rom. viii. 8. 1 '■ So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all these things which are commanded j-ou, say. He lire uiiprnjitahle servants." — Luke xvii. 10. ■-• " Lord, '>3 pair of embroid- one, it might be conjectured that the i ered slippers. And among the younger chief objecfof the doctrine was to act as a j part of the female religious world, he was balance weight against that of Mahomet, , known by the name of * Look and die' — a who, atrocious tyrant as he was, shut the eircuinstance of which he was as proud as pates of heaven against all woman kind of the slipper contribution .. . for with whatsoever." , the exception of the east in his eye, nature Vicar of IFrf.rAi//, vol. ii. p. 128. had favoured him, and his tailor and Rowland's K:ilvili>r had done the rest." Warden of /Irrkinfiholt, pp. 'Jfil, 2«2. " Miss Fanny is evi- hail ilone, for the eldest representation of the cliuss of evangelical Mi.ss Wiggins had fainted, and the two young ladies, who slide by insensible de- younger were in hysterics, locally, gentle- men of Mr.Swainham's abilities should take care what they are about. They make terrible havoc . they play with edged tools, and many a soft-hearted and disconsolate milliner's apprentice has had cause ere this to address them as the broken-backeil fnigs did the stone-throwing boys in the fable, ' It may be fun to you,— but it is death to us.' " Warden of lierkinyholl, p. 2f>4. Further «\i(l.-ni'e of Mr. Paokt's guilt will be found in theaccoiniinnying fac-similo of a document designed und published by the Clerical Novelist, and far surpassing any thin" achieve 1 by liis I'uir eumpetitor for the " crou-uinp per/dy." grees through the pious into the amatory, anil siri" hymns where the devotional is a plagiarism from the erotic, and fall in love with the too interesting parson, who debars them from other emotions than these which his own mingled tenderness and spirituality can ^K^'i'tly but di'eply Ilritish Critic, .Tan. 1«3«, p. «!>. SPLENDID COMBINATION OF TAIENTi S^ The Religious Public are respectfully informed that a Meet- ^^ ^ ing of the Berkingholt Ladies Association of the ^nu'V — the Chimeni, npoade XfCDv, oTTidtv Se SpaKcov, fxeaffi) 5f x''M'"pct- I'be creature was something bold and minacious in front, upreared and fxaKpa /8i)8as, portending the awful attributes of power, authority, vengeance, and rebuke ; behind it was lengthy, dragly, crawling, insinuating, elusive, broken into joints, slimy, and venomous; the connection between tlie hind and front, and the substance of the wliole animal, was a something hazy, abortional, chaotic, indescribable, and scarcely within the ken of human vision, — Chimera proper, the ' Board of Six Doctors.' " — Ibid. pp. 255,250. " Sjmrning the Succession of a hundred Saints, shall we quail before the anathema of the President of St. John's ? — content to stake all — peace, unity, and love — rather than rank a Pope above a free general Council of Christendom, shall we, above Pope, and Curia, and Conclave, — above Emperor, Prince, and Parliament, — above Council, Diet, and Synod, — above Articles, Confessions, and Creeds, — enthrone in solitary Majesty Dn. Piiii.ir Wvnter? — a judge who elects his own jury, — who f;ags his victim without reading an indictment, — who condemns upon no law, and who eaves for execution before passing sentence. The only wonder is, that such an irreponsible despot as this theological autocrat, seated on the Swaga of his own » See note 9, p. 407, supra.— ^o. TRACTAKTAN MEEKNESS, CHARITY, AND FORBEARANCE. 693 unapproachableness, has not been already brained by Charlotte Elizabeth's fan ; for we cannot believe that so ' gentlemanly a man' as the elegant President is reserved for a severer fate, or for a sterner champion of the right of private judgment." — English Churchman, No. 29, p, 456. " So long as the voice of the Church is unheard,— so long as the true trumpet gives forth an uncertain sound, or no sound at all, we are compelled to listen to six j)enny whistles, selected and tuned by one ]\Iaitre-de-Ballet—i\ie Sestetto of Doctors must be heard and obliged, while Convocation or a Synod are per force silent." — Ibid. IV. THE "SOUND MAN" AND THE RANTER. " ' Who may that gentleman be ?' asked an old man, ' who came here with Master Reginald, and is so mighty in the Scriptures ?' " ' What !' exclaimed several voices, ' not know Dr. Hookwell of Leeds ; didn't we go, a pretty company of us, to hear him in the old church ?' " ' Oh, God bless him ! is that the great man ?' said the old peasant . . . ' Oh, he is a good man!' cried a prim-looking matron of the party, 'although these Dis- senting folks speak cruel tvords against him.' " ' Oh ! ihegll slander their own mother's son,' returned the old man : ' no heed should be given to the tongue of them.' .... " ' Does sour James go a-preacliing now ?' asked Dick Holmes, . . . alluding to a gaunt hollow-faced man, who wandered over the country anathematizing all who would not believe as he believed. " ' Scum of hell !" cried Will Butler, ' / hope hanging will be the end of his history y and all other such smooth rogues ; the off-scoiirings of the sivine^s bucket are too dainty for him.'' "He was born a vagabond,' said the old man : ' his father was as big a thief as his mother was bad ; . . . and now isn't he a pretty one to preach to his betters ?— I've seen him pray till he cried, and preach till he foamed, — aye, till the shirt on his back icas in a muck of a siveat.'' .... " * Well, let us have done with him.' . . . ' Aye, turn from the Devil to fair angels,' said the old man. ' How beautiful the ladies from the Hall looked to-day,— there's real Gospel there, and no talk about it And that worthy reverend Dr. Hookwell, I love to hear his words .... if my old limbs can bear me to Leeds, feather me if I don't go there soon ! ' '"So will we!' cried several voices; 'not that we run after fine preachers like, but still we like to hear a sound man.' "—Dr. Hookwell ; or, The Anglo-CalhoUc Family,^ vol i. pp. 75, &c. V. THE " CATHOLIC PRIEST." " The Incumbent of a Parish, which is badly circumstanced, because in the Patron- age of the Parishioners, is anxious to obtain a Curacy with a Sound Principled Rector, who knotvs himself to be a CathoUc Priest, and will neither yield up nor compromise the Title ;— if resident, so much the better. The Advertiser wishes for a really eligible Curacy, with such a Rector as he has mentioned, and accompanied with other circum- stances of equal importance, which are reserved for private communications. Letters to be addressed to ' M. R.,' care of The Editor of the Church Intelligencer, Aldme Chambers, Paternoster Row. "N.B. The Advertiser cannot follow the example, which unhappily but too many Advertisements afford :— he will not extol his own piety, nor will he thank any one 0 It appears, from a notice of the publication of certain " Motithly Tracts for Englishmen," in the columns of a Tractarian Journal, that the " Author of • Dr. Hookwell'" is a "Moderate An^lo Catholic Divine," whose writings are associated with those of Mr. Dodsicorth ; Dr. Pusey ■ Dr. Hook ; and Mr. JScinnan, for the purpose of acquainting the public mind with tlie Evangelical earnestness and Sjiiritual Truths of Anglo-Catholicistn." " The Voice of the Church" is a " Tract'' from the same pen. — Ed. 2 y2 G94 TUACTARIAN MEEKNESS, CIIAniTY, AND FORBEARANCE. else for doing it -, and as he is not soliciting the place of Bellman or Town Crier, he considers it unnecessary to allude to his I'oxeer of Voice. No one need Uike or give the trouble of rei)lying to this Advertisement who dues not hate the ' Record,' and all proud, self-righteous, hypocritical, gloomy, nasal, snuffling Kecordism,— like Poison." Cliurch Intelligencer. " See what a complete pattern of meekness and resignation some of the persecuted and slandered Anglo-Catholics have set to the world "!_Z>r. Ilookwell, vol. i., p. 2G(J. See also Appendices G and I. 695 APPENDIX G. TRACTARIAN REVERENCE FOR EPISCOPACY. " He that despiseth the Bishops, despiseth the Apostles. It is our duty to reverence them for their office sake." — Tracts for the Times, No. 10, p. 4. " By none is a professed veneration for the Episcopal office carried to a more extravarrant height than by some who . . . set at nought, with the greatest contumely, every Bishop who ventures to disagree with them." — Archbishop Whately's JCingdom of Christ, Essay II. sect. 43. " Like Sampson shorn of his seven locks, a Bishop, if opposing Tractarianism, becomes weak like any other tnaa." —Faber's ProvincialJLetters, vol. ii., p. 334. I. EXTRACTS FROM THE "ENGLISH CHURCHMAN." " So low were popular notions about any rule in the Church, that it was, perhaps, needful, some ten years ago, for the writers in the Oxford Tracts to magnify the Episcopal order alone ; and they consequently indulged in many somewhat rhetorical amplifications of its dignity There does not seem on any side too much disposition at present to undervalue the Episcopate " It behoves us ... to consider whether some among us may not have been unfaithful both to our duties and to our knowledge of Scripture and Antiquity, by aggrandizing the Episcopate in the tacit depression of the Presbyterate. . . . " Did the Vatican itself ever exhibit a more flagrant tampering with the received doctrines of the Church of England than the Bishop of Chester's late Charge ? No decretals that Rome ever saw, surpassed the quiet, matter-of-course way in which a single Bishop took upon himself to rule what was heresy, and what alone was the doctrine of the Church. And so it is: for pure dogmatism, for the uncontrolled ipse dixit, for the stiffest and most inflexible decisions, Protestant Popery is the most Romanizing religious system which the Church ever saw : we are using either ad- jective in an offensive sense." — English Churchman, No. 56, pp. 56, 57. *' According to the very proper understanding at which we all seem, for various reasons, to have arrived, we should not have thought it right to say much of this or any other Episcopal Charge. . . " The time seems to have come /or complaining of this mode of harassing the Church by publishing these little addresses. " Mr. Newman, with much reverence, once said, that 'a Bishop's lightest word was heavy:' some of the Bishops seem to be anxious to shew that their words are not always to be looked at under this air of authority ; or being heavy, they are not desirous that their weight should be lost. . . . " The present Charge has no pretensions to novelty : down to the very phraseology, every word of it has occurred in the recondite pages of the Christian Observer, and the Church and Slate Gazette, and such h\gh.imthorit\e3. . . . " In a word, though ' small Latin and less Greek,' and very doubtful English, do not necessarily destroy all usefulness in a Priest, or even in a Bishop, they are sore draw- backs from the authority of those who voluntarily come forward as theologians to arbitrate on questions of divinity and scholarship." — English Churchman, No. 55, pp. 43, 44. Review of a Charge by the Bishop of Worcester. 696 TRACTARIAN REVERENCE FOR EPISCOPACY. "The Bishop of Worcester's argument \sas founded upon two equivocnl words 'scandal' and ' moderation.' It would have been quite as much to the purpose if his Lordship had cited, ' They gave no credence to His word,' as an argument against the table of Trothesis." — Ibid. No. 56, p. 56. II. LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING POST. "Sin, — You liave frequently and ably contended tb.at tlie principles of Popery are more conginial with those of Low Churchmen than with the principles of High Churchmen. As a further proof of this let me refer you to the Charge of the Whig Bishop of Worcester. In that Charge he most strongly advocates the doctrine of mental reservation in the taking of oaths. lie plainly tells his Clergy, that they are only to keep their oaths so far as is convenient. This licence, this latitude, this mental reservation, I)rt. Pei'Vs maintains ex Cathedra.'' Is not this. Sir, to bring in the very worst feature of Popery into our Church ? Is it not high time to have a Convocation called, that the voice of the English Clergj- may be raised against suclj a DAMNABLE HEUESv as this ? — Will uot tho Bishf)p of London, the Bishop of Exeter, the Bishop of Salisbury, and every other honest Bishop,^ repudiate, with indignation, the assertion of the Bisliop of Worcester, that they are ready to exonerate the Clergy from their oaths? " Yours, faithfully, ■"VERITAS." III. THE " CHURCH INTELLIGENCER."9 " We suppose his fTrace would have considerable difficulty in proving his lineal descent from Adam or Noah ; but does it thence follow that his Grace is uot a de- scendant of either of those ancient and respected personages. If his Grace of Dublin has not been consecrated in the regular line of Apostolical Succession, we should be glad to know what better title he has to the revenues of the Archbishop of Dublin than his own groom or cook! If ordination in a regular line of Apostolical Succession be not essentially necessary (sir J then Dr. Unwicke, the Brownist, or any other La\Tnan heretic or schismatic, is quite as much a Minister of Christ as Dr. Whately, and quite as much entitled to the revenues of the See of Dublin. His Grace is a logician ; we shall be glad to see him attempt to defend consistently liis own position on his own principles." — Church Intelligencer. Note by the Editor. " For the last few months, as if there were not enough to !c\vm!iii''s Sermons on Subjects of the Day, ]). ;J79, The following observations on ^Ir. Newman's Malediction, as illustrative of Tract- ? IhtTfador may fomi'his own opinion of this barefaced and wicked assertion, by referring (o 1 arairrapbs :,— l!l of the liisliop nf Worrt sin's Charge, pngi-s S79— 5S2, siijirti.— Ki>. "It will be s«f England. The following hiiiieutatioa upon his recovery appeared in the Tablet of Oct. 21, 1S13. "This is a melancholy tennination to hopi's that were once so bright. A small -but yet, all things taken into account, a cinsiderable number of converts have ji)ined us from Oxford; but of all of them Mr. SinTiionrr. excited the most general and the highest exp«'ctations And thus h.-is become extinguishc-d the brightest light thut I'useyism ha.< i/rt brought us We most earnestly hope that we shall hear the wonderful accessions of strength, that arc to be made, less loudly trumpeted." — Ed . CONVERTS FROM TKACTARIANISM TO POPERY. 699 " It is not for ourselves at all that I write ; it is for our Church, lest she hereafter lose some of the flower of her sons ; it is for them lest they be lost to the office which God had assigned them, and be betrayed into what would be undutifuluess and sin. Unless our Bishops know the extent and character of our dangers, they cannot know how to guard against them ; the very remedies they adopt may aggravate the disease, which they know not of. They may be applying stimulants, when they would, if they knew it, use lenitives. Aiid this I regret to say has been the result of the late Charges of some of our Bishops. It may seem, at first sight, undutiful, that the censures of Bishops should harass and cause impatience, and rather tend to unsettle persons in the Church, than convince and correct It is of course a sad state of things in any Church, that they who should be overseers should need remonstrance from those in inferior office Yet it cannot be denied that to those unacquainted with the way in which that system" ("opposed to Catholic truth") "is held in our Church, some of the Charges did, at first sight, seem to involve a denial of Catholic Truth. There is certainly in them a very inadequate statement of that Truth, and much which, to those not habituated to the mode of thought in the School in question, would seem a contradiction of it.'''' — PusEv'sZe^er to the Archbishop of Canterbury, pp. 38 — 40. See also a passage, to the same effect, from Dr. Pusey's Letter, quoted in note 3, p. 145, supra. " Such conversions to the Church of Rome as have occurred among us are, for the most part, subsequent to March, 1841 ; from which date our Church has, in various ways, and through various of her organs, taken a side, and that the Protestant side, in a number of questions of the day. The authorities who were parties to the Condemnation- of No. 90 of the " Tracts for the Times," by that interposition, released the author, in his own feelings, of the main weight of a great responsibility; the responsibility, which up to that time attached to him, of incu]ceLtmg religious views wAic/;, however primitive, however necessary for our Church, however sanctioned by her virtues, tended, without a strong safeguard, toivards the theology of Rome. Till then, whatever happened amiss in the spread of Catholic doctrine, might be supposed to flow as a direct result from that one cause which alone seemed in operation, the advocacy of patristical theology ; and of its advocates the remedy and correction of all irregularities in the direction of Rome might fairly be demanded. But the state of the case has changed, ivhen persons in station interfered ivith the work, and took the matter into their oivn hands. In saying this, the author has no wish at all to rid himself of such responsibility as really belongs to him. That there are portions of ivhat he has written ivhich have become the disposing cause of certain tendenc'ies to Borne, now existing, he does not deny ; but theological prin- ciples and views have little influence on the mind holding them, without the stimulus of external circumstances. Many a man might have held an abstract theory about the Catholic Church to which it was difficult to adjust our own, might have admitted a suspicion, or even painful doubts, about the latter, yet never have been impelled on- wards, had our rulers preserved the quiescence of former years ; but it is the corroboration of a present living and energetic heterodoxy, tvhich realizes and makes them practical ; it has been the recent speeches and acts of authorities, who had so long been tolerant of Protestant error, tvhich have given to inquiry and to theory its force and its edge. Such toleration of Catholic doctrine may have been impossible or wrong ; that is another question, with which private persons have no right to interfere ; still it may be a fact, that the ivant of it has been the cause of recent secessions.— ^ E\\'MAti''s Sermo7t.on Subjects of the Day, pp. 384—386. 700 APPENDIX I. CONTROVERSIAL TACTICS OF THE TRACTARIANS. " Efforts hare not been wsnting . . .by garbled and disingenuous quotations ... to make the unwary aud unlearned beliere that all the weig-ht of authority is on the side of thate who maintain these errors, while a deathlike silence is prcser^'ed on the unanswerable refutations which have appeared from many learned writers." — Chargeof the Bishop of lltrfjord. 1842, I. SPECIMENS OF THE STYLE IN WHICH THE TRACTARIANS HAVE AFFECTED TO DISPOSE OF THE ARGUMENTS OF THEIR OPPONENTS. Dr, Favssett. "The attack upon tlie Tracts for the Times, begun by Du. Faissett, Margaret Professor, and continued by the SfN and Standard Newspapers, seems gently drawing to its end. It has travelled eastward. The controversy is at present in the hands of Sir Peter Lalrie, who has addressed a Letter to Mr. Cator on the subject of ' PusejTsm.' " — British Critic, No. 53. Notices of Books. Archbishop Whately. See p. 173, and note 5, p. 174, supra. Bishop O'Brien. " We must own to great disappointment in the Charge of the Lord Bishop ok OssoRY. Whatever side his Lordsliip might have taken in the controversies of the day, we looked from a theologian like him, for information less accessible to all than the contents of the British Critic or the Tracts for the Times ; and for something like a positive countcrview to that taken by writers whom he might oppose. We have not, however, found such in the Charge, though the notes promise something like it." Christian Remembrancer, Sept., 1843. Bishop M'Ilvaine. " We will notice, by the itay, that Bishop M'Ilvaine's work on * Oxford Divinity,^ has raised up a very sufficient antagonist in the person of ^Ir.Vanbrigh Livingstone, of New York, whose ' Remarks on the Oxford Theology," chiefly in connection with the Doctrine of .lustification liy Faith, appear very much to the purpose." — British Critic, No. CO. Notices of Books. The following advertisement, which appeared not long after the above notice, will enable the reader more fully to appreciate the merits of Ma, Vanbrlgh Livingstons As an antagonist of Bishop M'Ilvaink. "Just received from New York, i)rice 3s. Gd., — An Inquiry into the Merits of the Reformed Doctrine of ' Imputation," as contrasted with those of ' Catholic Imputa- tion:' or the cardinal, point of Controversy between the Church of Rome and the Protestant High Church ; together with Miscellaneous Essays on the Catholic Faith. By Vamiihgm LiviNcixsoNE, Esy., recently a Member of the Protestant Episcopal ( hurch. With an Introduction, by the Right Rkv. John Hughe*, D.D., Bishop of New York — C. Dolman, CI, Bond-street, London." TIlEATiMENT OF OPPONENTS. 701 Dr. Shuttleworth. " Dr. Shuttleworth has takeu the opposite side, in a little work (Rivingtons) either on ' Avt Tradition, bid Scripture,'' or on ' Not Tradition, but Revelation,' we are not certain which ; for the title-page promises the one and the body of tlie work under- takes the other. The Advertisements have given both. This, we consider, will perplex editors some centuries hence. We hope we are not uncandid to Dr. Shuttle- worth, when we say that this ambiguity at starting is no unfair symbol of the whole production." — British Critic, No. 48. Notices of Books. Mr. GoonE. See notice of Mr. Ward's Review of The Divine Rule of Faith and Practice, note 4, p. 172, supra. Mr. Benson, " Mr. Benson has published Discourses upon Tradition and Episcopacy, directed against persons whom he calls ' Tractarians.' He sajs, the English Church ' is not only constituted according to the Apostolical Model, but it has enjoyed that blessing by an unbroken Succession from the earliest times,' and that Ministers in Episcopal Churches' are by external call ' clearly to be reckoned among the legitimate suc- cessors of the Apostles in their Ministerial office.' Had Mr. Benson said this six years ago, when there was more call for it than at present, probably he would not be writing against 'Tractarians' now." — British Critic, No. 52. Notices of Books. Mr. Townsend. "Mr. Townsend, the Master (we believe is his title) of the Peculiar of Allerton, has published a Chai'ge, which, were we his enemies, we should delight in seeing run to the ' fifth thousand.' It is written against (sic) speaking with Reserve to the world at large on the more sacred subject of religion ! The style is as extraordinary as the matter. In any one else it would be pompous. It is not so in Mr. Townsend. It is his own style." — British Critic, No. 48. Notices of Books. SIr, Stanley Faber. "With no little surprise have we looked into the Rev. G. Stanley Fader's Provincial Letters ; which profess to ' exhibit the nature and tendency of the principles put forth by the several writers of the Tracts Jor the Times, and their various allies and associates." ..." Perhaps we should not be too severe on a writer who has begun to plead the infirmities of age." — Christian Remembrancer, August, 1842. Mr. Garbett. "There is a funny fatality about Mr. Garbett. He is always scribbling — chat- tering, as it were, and muttering to himself in print — writing all manner of nonsense that comes into his head ; ' warmly, because he feels deeply, and unmethodically, because he writes hastily,' to use his own adverbial confession ; or, as others say, ramblingly, because he thinks confusedly — and spitefully, because he is the persecuting party." — English Churchman, No. 109. ReA'iews and Notices. Mr. Close. " The last anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot appears to have been celebrated at Cheltenham with unusual eclat. Among other suitable entertainments of the fulmi- nating, cracking, or phizzing description, the enterprising and spirited Minister of the Parish Church, ever alive to the just claims of innocent recreation, exhibited a sort of polemical ' Jack-in-a-box,' or ' Volcano,' which went off remarkably w-ell. E.xeter- Hall itself never witnessed better flash and bang. Some over-fastidious people may possibly think the pulpit of that sacred and venerable edifice was not the most appro- priate place for an amusement, of which some degree of noise, dirt, and stench are the inseparable accompaniments. But in Cheltenham, — the resort of the good and gay, where the Church and the World so harmoniously combine, where luxury smooths the path of devotion, and the votaries of fashion are enabled to present their offerings on the shrine of genuine piety, — such a scruple, we are sure, is misplaced. " The graceful and gentlemanly exhibitor frankly confessed that his ' accumulated duties ' had not allowed him to manufacture liis own materials, and that he had 702 TUACTARIAN EXTRACTS AND QUOTATIONS. accordingly availed liimself of Mr. (ioooE's abundant magazine, — reserving, however, to liimself the credit of the composition and design. These were, in every sense, worthy of the Author's wuU-known taste and ability. \Vc will add, that he ha.s kindly furnished a full and particular account to the Cheltenham Journal, where it makes a very respectable figure by the side of ' Coursing Mectinys,'' — ' Lord Fitzliardiuge^s J/oiinds," ' (.rand Concerts,'' — 'Series of Winter JJalls,' (one, by the way, on the day of King Cliarles's Martyrdom,) — ' liaino Samee, the far-famed Juggler,' — and other equal attractions. But we are not quite sure that the numerous advertisements of Quack Medicines, in the same columns, will not be thougiit to surpass the ^Sermon in the Parish Church,^ in the sobriety of tone, veracity of a-ssertion, and modesty of style." — British Critic, No. 6'5. Notices of liooks, Mr. Yorke, " Mr. Yohke's ' Pusei/ism of all Ages briefly analysed,'' (Xisbet and Co.,) is a diverting little missile. The Author is, we believe, one of a small guerilla band that has lately been hovering on the flanks of the Christian Knowledge Society, making up, by activity and frequency of attack, what it wants in strength and method ; and, on pretence of waking up that venerable body, pestering it till, as is wont to happen when j)eople are not suffered to enjoy a certain natural allowance of repose, it is harassed into that uiihealtliy and uncomfortable niuod usually described as neither sleep nor wake. " — JJritish Critic, No. do. Notices of Books. See also Appendices F and G. II. TRACTARIAN EXTRACTS AND QUOTATIONS. 1. Quotations from Holy Scripture. " I do not believe that outside the Tracts, (and the other publications of their Authors,) it would be easy to find such an example of handhng the Word of God — I will not say deceitfully — but certainly with the most irreverent carelessness. If it were a solitary or a rare instance, it would have been inexcusable to have spent so much space and labour upon it. But such instances abound in these writings. It is no exaggeration to say that a moderate-sized volume might be made out, (and a very useful one it would be,) of hardly less flagrant examples, from the Tracts, and the other publications of the Tractarian School I am sure that a fair con- sideration even of this one instance, on which I have dwelt so long, would ilo a great deal to secure any right-minded reader from trusting himself in the liands of writers who, though putting forward for themselves almost exclusive claims to reverence for Revelation, and rebuking rather arrogantly the want of it in others, really treat Holy Scrij)ture with the most arbitrary violence ; make it prove and disprove what they like; and find in it what they want, and nothing else." — Charge of the Bisuoi- ok Ussory AND Ferns, p. 452, supra: See also his Lordship's Charge, par. 41, note, p. 445; par. 57, p. 455; and par. 58, note, p. 4.j(j, supra, iic. 2. Quotations from the Homilies. The following instance is adduced by Bishop M'Ii.vaine in speaking of "the false and injurious comparison between the spiritual nature of the Sacraments of the Old and New Testaments resulting alike from Koinisli and Oxford Divinity:" " But what iloes our Church in her Homilies say ? We adduce the following passage, not to shew the truth, for it needs no shewing ; but to shew the miserable shifts to which this system is driven. The second part of the Homily on Faith, after describing the faith of those Fathers, and Martyrs, and other holy men, whom St. Paul spoke of in lleljrews xi. says, ' This is the Christian Faith which these lioly men had, and we also ought to have.' '"And allhougli they were not named Christian men, yet was it a Christian Faith tlut tliiy had : [for they looked for all henejits of Cod l/te Father, through the merits of his Son Jesus Christ, as we now do. Tliis difference is between them and us — that they looked iflien Christ should come, and we be in the time w/wii he is com<\ Therefore, saith St. Augustine, the time is altered and c/utnged, but not the Faith. For wc have both one TRACTARIAN EXTRACTS AND QUOTATIONS. 703 Faith, in one Christ. The same Holy Ghost also that we have had they (2 Cor. iv, 13), saith St. Paul. For as the Holy Ghost doth teach vs to trust in God, and to call upon him as our Father ; so did he teach them to say, as it is written, ' Thou, Lord, art our Father and Redeemer ; and thy name is without beginning, and everlasting.'' (Isaiah Ixiii. 10 :) ] God gave them then grace to be his children, as lie doth us now. But now, by the coming of our Saviour Christ, we have received more abundantly the Spirit of God in our hearts ; whereby we may conceive a greater Faith, and a surer trust, than many of them had. But in effect they and we be all one : we have the same Faith that they had in God, and they the same that Ave have.' " Now is it credible that such a passage could be produced by our Oxford gentlemen, as evidence that the Church teaches nothing opposed to their Doctrine ? It is ex- tracted in Tract, No. 82 — a tract in express defence of Dr. Pusey on Baptismal Regeneration ; and the remarks succeeding it are a fair specimen of the treatment which the standards of the Church, as well as the Scriptures, receive from those scholars and logicians. Thus writes the Tractarian immediately after that extract : " ' Though man's duties were the same, his gifts were greater after Christ came. Whatever spiritual aid was vouchsafed before, yet afterwards it ivas a Divine presence in the soul, abiding, abundant and efficacious. In a word, it was the Holy Ghost himself, who influenced indeed the heart before, but it was not revealed as residing in i/.'— No. 82, p. xiii. Eng. Ed. " But the readei' will ask, in astonishment, how can men thus write under pretence of not being inconsistent with the standards of the Church, when the Flomily says expressly, that as we have the Holy Ghost, so had the Old Testament Fathers? If he will look at the extract from the Homily, he will see how such things may be done. The Tract- writer sets out to quote the Homilies : he begins with the first sentence of the extract as above. Then all that follows, and what we have distinguished by italics, is omitted — the veiy pith of the passage ; just what asserts the very opposite of his Doctrine — all omitted. But does he give us any notice of an omission? 'So far from it that the tivo sentences, next before and after the Italics, are joiiied by a colon, precisely as if they ivere members of the same sentence, and not a word is said, nor is a remark made to indicate that a ivord of the passage has been left out. Comment upon such shifts to hide the glaring departure of this wretched coveting of Popery from the Doctrines of that Church which these writers profess to love, and to be consistent with, is needless." — Oaford Divinity compared ivith that of the Romish and Anglican Churches, pp. 232—234, Another ease of the same descrij)tion is thus noticed by Mv. Golightly in his Brief Remarks on No. 90, Second Edition. "Mr. Newman, in No. 90, p. 74, quotes several passages from the Homilies to prove, that one of the Doctrines taught in them is ' The Propitiatory Virtue of Good Works.^ " ' Merciful alms-dealing is profitable to purge the soul from infection, and filthy spotsof sin.' — 2 book xi. 2, '" The same lesson doth the Holy Ghost teach in sundry places of the Scripture, saying, mercifulness and alms-dealing, &c. — Tobit vi, . . . " ' The wise preaclier, the Sou of Sirach, confirmeth the same, when he says, that " as water quencheth fire," &c Ibid. " ' And therefore that the Holy Father Cyprian admonisheth to consider how wholesome and profitable it is to relieve the needy, &c., by the which we ma,y purge our sins, and heal our ivounded souls.'' — Ibid. " But Mr. Newman has not quoted the following explanation of these passages which occur in the very next paragraph of the same Homily : — " But yet some will say to me, If Alms-giving, and our charitable works towards the poor, be able to wash away our sins, to reconcile us to God, to deliver us from the peril of damnation, and make us the sons and heirs of God's kingdom ; then are Christ's merits defaced, and his blood shed in vain: then are we justified, by works, and by our deeds may we merit heaven : then do we in vain believe that Christ died for our sins, and rose again for our justification, as St. Paul teacheth. But ye shall under- stand, dearly beloved, that neither those places of the Scripture before alleged, neither the doctrine of the blessed Martyr Cypr'xan, neither any other godly and learned man when they in extolling the dignity, profit, fruit, and effect of virtuous and liberal alms, do say that it washeth away sins, and bringeth us to the favour of God, do mean, that our work and charitable deed is the original cause of our acception before God, or that for the dignity or worthiness thereof, our sins may be irashed away, and we purged and 704 TRACTARIAN EXTRACTS AXD QUOTATIONS. cleansed of all the spots of our iniquity: for that mere indeed to deface Christ, AND TO DEFRAiD Hi.M OF HIS (iLORY. Hut tliev nican this, and this is the understanding of those and such like sayings, that God of his mercy and special favour towards them, whom he hati> appointed t') everlasting salvation, hath so offered his grace especially, and they have so received it fruitfully, that, although hy reason of their sinful living outwardly, they seemed befdre to have hceii the children of wrath and pt-rdition ; vet now, the Spirit of God mightily working in thcin, unto obedience to (Jod'swill and commandments, they declare by their outward deeds and life in the shewing of mercy and charity, (which cannot come but of the S])irit of God, and his especial grace) that they are the undoubted children of God, ai)pointed to everlasting life For as the good fruit is not the cause that the tree is good, but the tree must first be good before it can bring forth good fruit ; so the good deera,) that the author of the 71st Number of TUe Tracts for the Tiines, page Q, in quoting the Oath of Supremacy, has omitted the important words " Ecclksiastiial or Spiritual." Mr. Newman has done the same thing in Tract !K), p. 7^. Editions First, Second, Third, and Fourth. So also has Dr. I'usey in his Letter to Dr. Jelf in Vindication of Tract DO. p. V.Mi, where he refers to the oath for the purpose of shewing the consistency of Mr. Newman's view of the Pope's jurisdiction with the teaching of our Thirty-seventh Article. The insertion of the words " Ecclesiastical or Sjiiritunl'"' would have been wholly fatal to the Professor's argument. Mr. Uolightly, however, has suggested in his Brief Remarks on Tract 90, that Dr. Pusey was in all probability led into error by Mr. Newman. priest's office, and observed several other duties as practised in the Church of Rome. \vt, of this very IJishop, Heylyn remarks in his ' Life of Laud,' (p. •ZO'i.) that, 'having; staid in his Diocese loni^ enough to be as weary of theui as they were of him, he affected a remove to the see of He- reford, and had so fur prcffiilid trit/i some great officer of State, that liii tno7tey un.i taken, his conge d'ehrc issued out, his election passed. Hut the Archbishop CDming opportunely to the k.no"w'Iedge of it, and being ashaiiud of so inuc/i baseness in tin man, ii/io could jirtti nd no ol/ier merit titan his money, so laboured the business with the King, and the King so rattled up the iiishop, that he was glad to make his peace not only with the resignation of his election, but the loss of his bribe. He died a Roman Catholic' " Mr. Oakelcy in his defence of Tract 90, rcmarts, that the higher we set Bishop Goodman's Catholicism the more striking is the fact, that one wlio was conscientious enough {'., to suffer penalties rather than subscribe the I^audian Canons {hr ili'l suhscribe them at last, which Mr. tJakeley docs not seem to know) should not have stumbled at the Articles,'' SPECIMENS OF TRACTARIAN MANUALS OF DEVOTION. 707 APPENDIX K. SPECIMENS OF TRACTARIAN MANUALS OF DEVOTION. I. EXTRACTS FROM "HOR^ CANONIC^: or DEVOTIONS FOR THE SEVEN STATED HOURS OF PRAYER."— ZoWo« .- Burns. 1841. " The whole, it may be well to say, is a translation from the Daily Hours of the Roman Breviary. This need occasion scruples to no one in making use of it, as any one at all acquainted with our Anglican Liturgy well knows how much it possesses in common with the Roman Ritual. And, besides, care has been taken to leave out all Collects, and Hymns, and invocatory addresses, which might seem to be at variance with what is truly primitive and Catholic." — Preface, p. 6. " Let us pray for the faithful who are departed. Grant them O Lord, eternal repose, and may perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. " May the souls of the faithful, through God's mercy, rest in peace," pp. 72. 75. O God, who through the fruitful virginity of Mary ever-blessed, hast bestowed upon mankind the rewards of everlasting Salvation ; grant, we beseech thee, that we may evermore rejoice in Him, whom, through her, we have been found meet to receive as the Author of everlasting life . . ." — p. 92. " 0 God, who dost purify Tliy Church by the annual fast of forty days ; grant to Thy family that what they strive by abstinence to obtain from Thee, they may effec- tually obtain by the help of good works ; through Jesus Christ our Lord." p. 99. " 0 God, who through their fasting bestowest pardon on the sinner, and rewards on the righteous ; have compassion upon thy supplicants, that we, confessing our guilt, may obtain the pardon of our sins; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen," p. 110. " 0 Lord, we beseech Thee, of Thy favour pour Thy grace into our hearts ; that we, restraining our sins by voluntary chastisements, may rather now suffer in this life present than be given up to be punished everlastingly ; through Jesus Christ our ' Lord. Amen." — p. 115. " Grant, we beseech Thee Almighty God, that as by our excesses we have wounded the perfection of our nature, so by giving up ourselves to the medicine of abstinence it may be restored ; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen." p. 114. IL EXTRACTS FROM "DEVOTIONS, COMMEMORATIVE OF THE MOST ADORABLE PASSION OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST. TRANSLATED FROM CATHOLIC SOURCES." 5— Zowrfon ; Biirns. J. H. Parker, Oxford ; T. Stevenson, Cambridge. 1842, " With a view to the general object which the compilei*s propose to themselves in the publication of this little volume, they have added, in an Appendix, extracts from the Roman Breviary applicable to the Passion and Easter Seasons," — Preface, p, ix. 5 The BrifAsh Critic thus alludes to the publication of this volume : — " We hail, with peculiar pleasure, the appearance of a little Work called ' Devotiojis Comme- morative of the most adorable Pasxiou of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, translated from Catholic sources ;' and we hope that the great success which, as we understand, it has met with may encourage the compilers to extend their plan and make accessible to the English Church- 2z 708 SPECIMENS OF TRACTARIAN MANlALS OF DCVOTIOX. " At the Washing of the Feet on ^Slaiiiiday Thursday, after Vespers. " After the stripping of the Altar, the Clergy come together at an ai)pointed hour to perform our LonPs eomniand. The Bishop or Superior sings the following Gospel after the usual manner After which he is girded with a towel, and proceeds, with the assistance of the Deacon and Subdeacon, to wash, wipe, and kiss the feet of those that are assembled for that jiurpose After the washing, the Superi'ioii, may feel the far deeper and truer ^Tatihcation to tlieir rcliKioiiii cravin^-T", which the Catholic .System supplii'S."- • No. tii. p. 5.'il. See the Kktract.s from the llislioi' i>J Oi/nnl's Cli/trfir, is I-', and note ;i, p. S.iO. siiyrn. SPECIMENS OF TRACTARIAN MANUALS OF DEVOTION. 709 IV. EXTRACTS FROM "A CHRISTIAN CALENDAR FOR THE USE OF MEMBERS OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH."— J?«r«s, Portman-strcet. 1845. " The Six General Laws or Precepts of Holy Church : — 1. To assist at the Divine Offices on Sundays and Holydays, and to rest from servile work. 2. To fast during the time of Lent, on Ember Days, Rogation Days, and Vigils that are fasted, and to abstain from flesh on Fridays. 3. To confess our sins, as occasion is, to a learned and discreet Priest. * 4. To receive the Holy Communion at least three times a year, of which Easter to be one. 6. To pay Tithes to our Pastors yearly at Easter. C. Not to solemnize holy INIatrimony at certain seasons, nor to marry within prohibited degrees of kindred." — pp. 6, 7. FastiiVG. "The general rule of abstinence at present is, (1) on all fasting days out of Lent, and on all Fridays throughout the year, to abstain from Flesh and Broths, or other things made of Flesh ; and, (2) during Lent, to abstain from flesh, and any thing made of flesh, and also from all VVhite-meats, as they come from Flesh, such as Eggs, Milk, Butter, Cheese, &c. " And the general rule for the quantity is (1) to take only one full meal in the day, ' and (2) that not before Sext or Mid-day, and (3) a small collation is allowed at night, as a moderate support to the weakness of nature till next day at noon. "Dr. Pusey, in his Preface to the English Translation of Avr\\]on''s ' Guide for passing Lent holilf/,'' gives the following as the rule for the Lenten Fast, modi/led by the annual dispensations. ' Flesh-meat — Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, from the First Sunday in Lent to Palm Sunday inclusive ; but on Tuesdays and Thursilays once only in the day. Eggs at the single meal of those bound to fast (after 21 ), and at the discretion of those not so bound, on all days except Ash Wednesday and the last four days in Holy Week. Cheese, under the same circumstances, on all days except Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. This ' meal' is, if necessary, about mid-day, and a half- meal in the evening, or the reverse ; liquids also, including milk, if necessary, are not accounted to break a fast.' — p. xxxviii. note. " Hoiv far persons can conscientiousfi/ avail themselves of dispensations, ivhile they reject the dispensing authority, is a question for their private judgment.''' — p. 7. " The Holy SacrajMents. "The two great Sacraments of the Church, necessary in general cases for Salvation, are (1) Baptism, and (2) the Holy Eucharist. "Five lesser Sacramental Rites, not essential to Salvation, are (1) Confirmation, (2) Penance, (3) Extreme Unction, (4) Holy Orders, (5) Matrimony." — p. 7. " The Nine Orders of Good Angels. " 1. Seraphim. 2. Cherubim. 3. Thrones. 4. Dominions. 5. Virtues. 6. Powers. 7. Principalities. 8. Archangels. 9. Angels." — p. 8. "Colours of the Altar Cloths, Copes, and Vestments. " First Sunday after Epiphany Deck the Altar in ivhite. " Septuagesima Si'nday Lent approaching, the Altar is clothed in violet. " St. Matthias The colour for the Altar is scarlet. " The Preparation The colour for the Altar is black: " Second Sunday after Trinity The colour for the Altar is green. " The Copes and Vestments follow the colour of the Altar Cloth." — pp. 22 — 34. " Directions for the Preparation of the Altar at the time of Celebration. " The Altar should be covered with a pall, that is to saj', with a carpet of silk or other decent stuff, of the colour appointed for the Feast or Office of the day, reaching on all sides to the ground. Over this will be laid the fair white linen cloth, covering the table of the Altar. Upon the Altar may be placed a Cross in the middle, and two Candlesticks with lighted tapers, one on each side of it. On the Epistle side should ba laid a Cushion for the Book." — p. 34. 710 TRACTARIAX DEVOTIONS. PRACTICE OF MR. NEWMAN'. PRACTICE OF MIXING WATER WITH WINE AT THE EUCHARIST. The following is tlie case referred to in a note on Par. 2G of the Charge of the Bishop of Down and Connor and Dronu>rc, |>af;e 519, xiipra : — "The next passage I shall cite rcfiuircs a little prefatory explanation. I published last year some Strictures upon Dr. Pusey's Letter to the Bishop of Oxford, in which I charj^ed Mr. Newman at St. Mary's, awl his Curate at Litllemoor, with violating the rubric hy mixing water with the wine at the Eucharist. In Mr. Newman's own Letter* to the IJisliop 'on occasion of No. !K),' he makes the following reply : — " ' And here, with your Lordship's leave, 1 will make allusion to one mistake con- cerning me, which I believe has reached your Lordship's ears, and which I only care to explain to my Bishop. The cxi)lanation, I trust, will be an additional proof of my ad- herence to tiie princijde of acijuieseing in the state of things in which I Hud myself. It has been said, I Ijelieve, that in the Comnmnion Service I am in the practice of mix- ing water with the wine, and that of course on a religious or ecclesia-stical ground. This is not the case. We are in the custom at St. Mary's of celebrating the Holy Commu- nion every Sunday, and most weeks early in the morning. When I began the early celebration, communicants represented to me, that the wine was so strong as to dis- tress them at that early hour. Accordingly I mixed it with water in the bottle. How- ever it became corrupt.* On this I mixed it at the time. I speak honestly when I Bay, that this has been my only motive. I have not mixed it when the Service has been in the middle of the day.' " Now admitting that the very small quantity of wine which we receive at the Eu- charist, administered early in the morning, might be more distressing to a weak stomach than the same quantity of wine and water, it may be asked, *' Oiii/fit not Mr. Xeiriiinn to have consulted liis Diocesan before he ventured to depart from the rubric, especially when by so doing he knew that he was reverting to a prac- tice discarded at the Reformation ? " Again, ' the wine,' he says, 'became corrupt upon his mixing it with water in the bottle.' Indeed! Water mixed with wine on Saturday night become corruj)t on Sun- day morning! But if so, what prevented his mixing it beforehand in the vestry? Surely it is quite unaccountable that Mr. Ne%vman should have allowed himself to make Buch an excuse. " But why has he made no allusion to his Curate at Litllemoor^ lie .says himself that he does not depart from the usual practice ' when the service is in the middle of the day.' 15ut his Curate did at Littlemoor ; and if Mr. Newman knew it, I must maintain that his silence hero is as unaccountable as the foregoing excuse." — GoUghily''s Brief Ueuiarks on Tract 90, second edition, page 7, 8. • Pafe42. ^ May not the following extracts from the Roman Missal throw some lii;ht upon Mr. Newman's proceeding T " De defectibiis circa Missam occurrentibus. De defectu vini. " Si vinum sit factum pc^iitiLS acctum, vt-l penilfis putriduin, ri'l de uvis acerbis, scu non ma- turix cxpreasum, vel ci adniixtum tiiiitiim aqua, ut viiiuin sit corrtipttim, non conjicitur Sacra- ment urn. " Si vinum caperit acescerctcl corrumj'i, vel fiicrit aliquantiim acre .... vel non fiicrit ml- mixta aqua, .... condcitur SacTixmcntain, seil con^ficiens i;rtiiiler peccal." — Eu. UNION OF CHURCH AND STATIC. 711 APPENDIX L. UNION OF CHURCH AND STATE. EXTRACT FROM THE CHARGE OF THE BISHOP OF LINCOLN, 1840/ " As the effect of the discussions on phiralities and residence has been to cause men to look back to the origin of Parochial Benefices, and to the objects for which they were instituted, so the discussions on the Clergy Discipline Bill have forcibly drawn their attention to the relations in which the Church stands to the State, and the prin- ciples on which the union between them should be founded. Before the Reformation no such union can be said to have existed in this country. The people, 'considered as members of the State, were subject to the King; considered as members of the Church, to the Bishop of Rome : they were, in their religious and temporal capacities respectively, subjects of two independent powers, between which a perpetual struggle was going on. The ecclesiastical history of England, from the Conquest to the Reform- ation, is little else than a history of papal attempts at encroachment, and of resistance to them on the part of the legislature. To this struggle Henry VIII. put an end, by altogether abolishing the jurisdiction of the pope in this realm, and subjecting all estates and degrees, whether ecclesiastical or civil, to his rule. Thus the Church and State were brought into union under one temporal head, and the fundamental article of that union is the supremacy of the Crown. " When, however, we speak of the supremacy of the Crown, we mean a limited supremacy — limited with reference to the authority with which Christ, the Head of the Church, has invested it. ' Some kinds of actions, conversant about such affairs,' says Hooker, ' are denied unto kings ; as, namely, actions of power and order, and of spiritual jurisdiction, which hath with it iuseparably joined power to administer the Word and Sacraments, power to ordain, to judge as ordinary, to bind and loose, to ex- communicate, and such like.'* " It is further to be observed, that the expression "supremacy of the crown," does not convey exactly the same meaning now, that it did at the Reformation. The supre- macy has since Ijeen limited, both in civil and ecclesiastical matters. Many acts, which the crown then claimed the power of doing, by virtue of the royal prerogative, can now only be done with the consent of Parliament ; for instance, the erection of ecclesiastical courts, without the consent of Parhament, was by the act 1 Wm. c. 2, declared to be illegal. " There is inherent in every society, as essential to its preservation, a power of cor- recting offending members, and even cutting them off frojn the body, if the malignity of the offence requires the application of so severe a remedy. This power, therefore, exists in the visible Churcli— the society which Christ intended the professors of his faith to compose on earth. If the Apostles, to whom was committed the office of forming it, had left no directions respecting this power, the Church must itself have prescribed the mode of its exercise. But as they were invested by Christ with autho- rity to bind and loose, so we learn from Scripture that they conferred^ similar autho- rity on those whom they appointed to preside over the Churches which they founded ; • Ecclesiastical Polity, 1. viii. p. 447. ed. fol. 1705. t In the passages quoted by Archbishop Potter, in his Treatise on Church Government, c. v. p. •i52. Crossthwaite's edition. Referred to in note 1, p. 52S, supra.— Ed. 712 I'N'IOX OF CHURCH AND STATE. and in the third century, we find* C}-prian ascribing to Bishops, in virtue of the epis- copal office, the power of deposing offending Ministers, or suspending them from the exercise of their sacred functions ; though he himself appears not to have exercised this power without tlie advice of tlie clergy and the consent of the laity; thereby eliewing that he had acted in behalf of the Church, and as its minister or organt. "The Divine Founder of tile Oiurch conferred on it no external, coactive power. Its censures are addressed to the consciences of men, and designed to lead them to repent- ance, by inspiring them with the dread of exclusion from the invisible Church in heaven ; the only appointed path to which lies through the visible Church on earth. Excommunication, however, even in the primitive Church affected the temporal interests of the lay offender indirectly, by causing the otlu-r members to avoid all inter- course, and to decline all dealings with him ; and tho?e of the clerical offender directly, by the abstraction of that portion of the ecclesiastical funds which would havu fallen to liis share in the monthly distributionj. Wlien, therefore, it is said, that the power of the Church is internal, applying only to things spiritual, that of the State external, applying only to things temporal, it is evident that this distinction cannot always be strictly preserved ; that cases of a mixed character will arise, in which the spirituaHties and temporalities are so blended together, that they cannot be separately dealt with. The spiritual power might degrade an immoral or heretical minister from his office; but if he obstuiately persisted in refusing to yield up the Church in wiiich he had offi- ciated to his successor, unless the temporal power lent its aid, the sentence of the spiritual would remain in great measure inoperative |1. The design of the union of Cliurch and State is, to bring these two powers into harmonious combination ; so that the same sentence which affects the spiritual office, may also affect the tempo- ralities annexed to it. lUit such a combination necessarily implies, that both parties mutually recede from the full assertion of the rights which tliey inherently possess. Otherwise, either the Church would become the creature and slave of the State ; or the State the mere executor of the decrees of the Church. The supremacy rests with the State, because that alone possesses external, coactive power ; but the Church docs not surrender any of the powers conferred on it by its Divine P'ounder ; though it allows some of them to remain in abeyance, and permits the State to prescribe the inode in which others are to be exercised. That jjurely sjiiritual power of correction given by the AVord of God to the Bishop, as the Minister of the Churchg, which apiiears in the earliest times to have been exercised according to fixed rules, though without the fonnality of juridical proceedings — that power he can only exercise in this country, as it is committed to him by the ordinance of the realm. The State, in recognising the spiritual authority inherent in the office, prescribes the mode of its exercise a.s the con- dition of annexing to it the right of external jurisdiction ; of investing it with external, coactive power. The courts in which it is exercised are still called the Bishops' Courts, as they were before the Reformation , but they are in the eye of the law the courts of the Crown. For I can attach no other meaning to the expression — that the Queen is in all causes, ecclesiastical as well as civil, in these her dominions supreme — than this, that all rights of external jurisdiction are derived from the Crown. This is the interpretation put upon it by the most eminent lawyers who have written on the subject : by Sir Michael Forster"!, in the i>assage quoted by the learned Archdeacon of Lincoln in his published charge of bust year; and by Sir Matthew Hale**, who says tliat 'all power of external jurisdiction is originally in the Crown ; and that the power of the keys, in for o conscientite, is not properly a jurisdiction, because it is without any external coercion,' "The Clergy Discipline Bill of last year having been withdrawn, I think it neither • Quiim pro Episcopatug vipore et Cathedrae aiictoritatc habcres potestateiu, qua possU dc illo statim vindicari.— Ep. iii. ail Itoiratiaiium. Ed. Fell — And aj^ain in the Hanic Epistle : Fungeris circa cum poteslate bonorisi tui, ut euin vol dupouas vol abstinea-s. + Quando a priniordio Episcopatug luei gtatucrim nihil, sine consilio vestro, ct sine consensu plebis, nica privata sententia, gercre. — Ep. xiv. ad I're.sbytiros et Uiaconos. ; Interim se adivixione mcnsuriia tantum coutiueant. Cyptiani Ep. xxxiv. ad Prcsbyteros et Diaconos— Divisiones nu'n.iumas. Ep. ad. eosdem, xxxix. II Bingham'g Christian Antiquities, 1. xvi. c. 2. §. 3. 5 Palmer's History of the Church, p. iv. c. xvi. j. 1. 5F " If the principle of a ri|.'ht of jurisdiction, underived from the civil magistrate, ilocit not always lead to the popery of tlie Cliurch of Home, it le.ids to a state of tilings equally niisebievous and more absurd ; I mean, a popery at our donrii. Our Hnce.-ifors, at and about the time of the Ue- fomiation, bad plainly this notion of tlie matter; and therefore they did not content thi-iuselves with barely abolishing the usurped power of the Kishop of Rome, but went to the root of the evil and declnred that all jurisdiction, as well Ecclesia-stical as civil, is vested in, and exercised by delegation from, the Crown." Examination of Bishop Cibson's Codex, p. '23. •• Quoted by Bishop W.irburton in his Alliance, book. li. c. iii. j. 2. on the Supremacy. UNION OF CHURCH AND STATE. 713 necessai'y noi* desirable to enter into the controversy to which it gave rise.* I have been induced to touch upon the subject of the relation of the Church to the State, be- cause opinions have recently been put forth, respecting the independence of the Church, which appear to me to be wholly incompatible with the maintenance of the union between them. As I have already observed, in every union there must be mutual concession. Both parties must be content to recede in some degree from the full assertion of their pretensions ; not to surrender their inherent rights, but to allow some of those rights to remain in abeyance. Without such concession their respective powers will be continually clashing. At this moment, in the northern part of the island, we find one Minister, appointed by the highest authority in the Church, exer- cising the spiritual functions in a parish ; while another, appointed by the lay patron, under the sanction of the civil courts, receives the profits of the benefice. The Churcli says to the State, I have no power over the temporaHties, you have none over the spi- ritualities ; and the parties are thus placed in ap])arently irreconcilable opposition to each other. The design of the union of the Church and State is to prevent the occur- rence of such collisions; to provide against this disjunction of the civil and spiritual condition of the Clergy. " It has been said, and truly said, that in this country the union of the Church and State was not founded on any precise definition of their respective rightsf ; the limits of their respective spheres of action were not exactly marked out. It may be, there- fore, that the State, in the exercise of its political omnipotence, has occasionally evinced a disposition to encroach upon the province of the Church ; and I mean not to say that every indication of such a disposition ought not to be carefully watched. But. let us not, my Reverend Brethren, indulge in unreasonable jealousies ; let us not, whenever a measure is proposed affecting the Church, suspect a lurking design to violate some essential part of its constitution ; especially let us guard against the spirit of exaggeration. The union between the Church and State can only be maintained by a mutual friendly understanding. Before it existed, the Church stood in the position of an independent, and frequently antagonist power: should it now be dissolved, the Church will stand in a very different position ; it will, as to its temporal condition be placed on a level with the numerous sects into which the subjects of the realm are divided." — pp. 17 — 25. * The point at issue in that controversy was not a question between the Church and State, but between the Metropolitan and i>iocesan Courts. t Gladstone on the Stnte in its relations with the Church, c. iv. §. l.'i. 715 ANALYTICAL INDEX TO THE CHARGES. Absolution, duty of urging its importance, 655 ; not necessary to the remission of sins, 388. 510. 655. Views of Mr. Wordsworth, Mr. Palmer, and Dr. Pusey, strongly opposed to Scripture and to our Church, 388. 393 — 404. Abstinence, for what purpose to be practised, 359. Agapje, in most churches long discontinued, 258. Albe, description of, 603. Altar, a name carefully eschewed by our Liturgy, Rubric, and Canons, 416. 419 ; dangerous fancies implied in it, ibid., 621. Comparison of the two Liturgies of Edward VI., 419, 420. Antiquity, Tractarians influenced by too indiscriminate admiration of, 149. 151. An undue reverence for, the source of their errors, 196. True value of, 180 ; must be subordinate to Scripture, 221. Genuine primitive Antiquity, what, 222. Its negative testimony conclusive, 235 ; its treasures not repudiated by our Reformers, 239. Uncertainty in the use of the word " Ancient," 250. Apostolical Succession. Views of the Tractarians go far beyond those of the Divines who preceded them, 44. Until lately too much overlooked, 153. Point which separates the true and beneficial from the mistaken and injurious acceptation of the Doctrine, 1 55. Not absolutely essential to the force and validity of the Divine Ordinances, 155. Distressing uncertainty, if one link be doubtful, 253. The Doctrine of our Church, 276—279, 280. 300. 302. Essential to the ivell-heing, but not indispensable to the being of a Church, 295. 320. What it is to be the successors of the Apostles, 299. Not the only security for the efficacy of the Sacraments, 320, or the existence of a Church, 330 ; the contrary position never assumed by the Church of England, 330. Prudence of putting forward the doctrine, as an instrument of controversy questioned, 333. Possessed by our Church, in her regulations and officers, in the sense in which it is essential that she should possess it, 476. Arnold, Dr. Sermons on Christian Life, 331. 504. Articles, 39. See Tract 90. Their right interpretation, 223. 522 — 557. Lowering inti- mations respecting, previous to 1838, 185. Their place in the interpretation of Scripture, 231 ; of inferior authority in themselves to the Creeds, 231 ; how imposed upon the Laity, 232 ; rule of interpretation where the literal sense is doubtful, 233 ; their language explained by the Liturgy, 363. 379. 561, 562. Till of late taken in their literal and grammatical sense, as an honest and un- sophisticated protest against Romish abuses, 532. Ambiguity of expression not attributable to them, ibid., 560. No ingenuous man can appeal from them, 716 ANAI.YTKAI, INDEX TO TIIK CHARGES. [ Articles] as authoritative ileclarations of liis Cliurcli, to any other writings, 533. May be explained away by ingenious persons resolutely bent on the task, 534. Contain a system of P'aith, 535. Do not admit of interpretation borrowed from remote or undefined authority, 53G. Their obligation cannot be evaded by an appeal to the Church Catholic, Ibid. Leave some questions open, 537. True meaning that intended by the framers, 538. Usual and only sound principle of interpretation, 54«. Sense which they are intended to bear de- cided by Convocation in Canon which imposed subscription, 549. Directed against the Decrees of Trent ; statement to the contrary in Tract 90 exa- mined and refuted, 549 — 559. Imposed as terms of Communion, 559 The voice of our Church in them to be our guide, 561. A solemn and emphatic declaration against Romish errors, 563. Argument of Palcy with regard to subscription, 580. Atonement, ^ec Reserve. Doctrine of, to be reserved, 35?. 360. Motives furnished by, 435. 465. The grand subject of the Christian INIinistry, 436. Augustine, St., quoted, 272. Auricular Confession. See Confession. Utterly unknown to the Primitive Church ; the source of unspeakable abominations, 528. Balguv, Archdeacon •, quoted, 596. Baptism. See Sacraments, Justijicalion, Regeneration. Duty of administering after the Second Lesson, 350 — 352. 376, 377. 577. 588. 60.5. 612. Penalties for omitting any portion of the Service, 376. Want of solemnity in administering too common, 377- What our Church teaches concerning, 373. Instrumentally connected with .Tustification, 364. Baptized and regenerate convertible terms, 373. Trine immersion not practised by our Church, 526. Lay or Heretical Baptism; its validity and sufficiency, 281—296. 302_319. 321. Sufficient in cases of necessity, aiid not to be repeated, 282. One of the earliest subjects of controversy in the African Church, 281. Testimony of Cj'prian, 281 ; Tertullian, Jerome, and Augustine, 282. Objectionable sentiment of Chrysostom, quoted by Bishop Beveridgc, 284. Opinions of Archbishops Whitgift, Bancroft and Abbott, 284. Testimony of Hooker, 287 •, of Basil 28,'!, 289. Valid, if administered after the appointed form, 289. Services of a ^linistcr in Holy Orders, not essential in the judgment of our Church, 290. The Ministernot of the essence of Baptism, ibid. Changes in the Liturgy in 1661, 291 ; Condition of the King. Bennett, Rev. .T. E. Distinctive Errors of Romanism, 420. His views of the Eucha- rist, 420, 421. Benson, Rev. C. Discourses, 154, 280, 299. l$inLES. Indiscriminate distribution condemned, 467. Bingham. Scholastic Ifistory of Lay Baptism, 284, 285. 306. .309. 312. BiSMors. Sec Episcojmcy and Reverence. Aj)])ointnient and jurisdiction of, in the .\postolic age, 258. Departures of moilcni Eiiisi-opalians from the ancient model, 259. IVisho|)s of the English Church ; reprehended by the Tractari.Tns in the blandest terms, 117; ailegeil disastrous consei(ucnccs of their condemnation of Tractarian Views, llfi, 119. Tiiuir reproofs ought not to bo sup- ANALYTICAL INDEX TO THE CHARGES. 7l7 LBisHOPs] pressed or softened, 120, Judgment of, required, 1 — 14 ; have no power to meet for the purpose, 649, 650. BossuET. His assumed triumph in conference with Claude, 204. Bramhall, Archbishop ; quoted, 410, 623. Breviary, Roman. See Rome. Our Church wronged of by the Reformers, 50 ; has far greater claims on a Layman's deference than our Prayer Book has, 62. Brewer. History of P apish Transubstaiitiation, 'S.i2. British Critic Specimens of its tone and spirit, 104. 106 ; character of its recent ar- ticles, 497. Quoted, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110. 114, 115, 116. 216. 361. 480. 513.517. Brogden, Rev. James. His Illustrations of the Liturgy and Ritual recommended, 598. Browne, Archdeacon. His Cluxrges referred to, 629. Bull, Bishop. Vindication of the Church of England, 230, 231, 2'S2. Judicium EccksicB CatholiccB, 230. His theory of Justification, 369. Burial. See Disse?ifers and Lay Baptism, Burnet, Bishop. Eaposilion of the Articles, 218, 230. Butler, Bishop, quoted 577 — 602. Butler, Charles, Esq. His letter to the Rev. Dr. Fletchex-, 203. Remarks on Mil- ner's End of Religious Controversy, 203. Calcutta, Bishop of (Wilson). His Ordination Sermon, 1841, 207. Calvinists. Controversy between them and their opponents ; how to be put an end to, 560. Contort the Articles as much as the Tractarians, 565. Candlesticks. See Communion Table, Placing of a matter of importsince, 5ll. Canons. See Rubric. Difference in point of obligation between the Rubric aud Canons, 577. Capes, on Church Authority referred to, 629. Cardwell, Dr. History of Conferences, 589. 590. 592, 593. 622. Synodalia, 2.S4. Catenae. Value of Tractarian Catenae, 58. 175, 176. Examined by Bishop M'llvaine, Mr. Goode, and Mr. Golightly, 175. Mr. Keble's Catena examined by the Bishop of Calcutta, 188—192. Ceremonies, revival of obsolete, 519. 521. 525. 526. 576. 616 — 626. Bishop Jeremy Taylor's remarks on, 527. Interpretation of the Canon Law, 527. Observa- tions of Bishop Fleetwood, 621 ; of Archbishop Bramhall, 623. Charles, King, the Martyr, Baptized by a Scotch Presbyter, 293. Chatham, Lord, quoted, 641. Chillingworth, quoted, 202. 365. Church, The. Senses in which the term is used by theological writers, 580. Erroneous conclusions drawn from the absence of precise scriptural dii'ections respectin<'' the constitution of a Church, 249. 250 ; errors in the opposite extreme, 250, 251 ; a Divine sanction given to a regular Christian community, 251 ; made to usurp the place of Christ, 259. 274 -, the medium through which the offer of salvation is made, not through which the benefit is received, 260. 263 ; danger of personifying, 262 ; danger of substituting an external relation for individual faith, 262. 264; what it is and what it is not, 262—265. 271, 272. 300. Has been made first an abstraction, then a person, then a Saviour, 264. Placed in its true light by the Reformers, 264. Warning -afforded by the Jewish and Roman Churches, 266. The Christian life a corporate life, 267. Union of Christ with his Churcli, 268 — 269. Duty of the Christian towards his own Church, 269. Ghu#ch Authority, no guarantee for the faithful transmission of a religious system, 718 ANALYTK AI, INDEX TO THK CHARGES. [Church Authoiuty] 204; case of tho Jewisli Church, ibid. How regarded by our Reformers, 205. Consequences wliich follow when unduly raised, 2(J0. Church Principles, a favourite term witli those who go the furthest in subverting them 253. Mistaken views of, and their consequences, 257. 259. 2G5— 2(J7. Church of England. State of when the Tractarian movement began, 10, 17. 31 — 39. 121. 160. 1G2. 529. A mean between the two extremes, 120. Basis on which she establishes her principles, 214. Rock on which the Reformers rested her constitution and ordinances, 251. Her institutions not to be vindicated on the ground of exact conformity to ancient models, 258, 259; not precisely coinci- dent with those of the earliest Churches, 258. Respectful attention due to her authority, 273 ; cliallenges the strictest examination of her Doctrines, ibid. Her claims upon our filial confidence, 5\0. Her Ordinances, and her's alono to be observed, 518. Duty of undeviating attachment to her Polity, Liturgy, and Doctrine as she is, 590. Disparaged by the Tractarians, 48. 80, 81. 481. 514. 517. 547. "Our Upas Tree," 61. "An Incubus," itiV/. Has "blasphemed Tradition and the Sacraments," 62. Her real defects as dust in the balance compared with the evils from which the Reformation delivered us, 623. Church Services, to be duly observed, 584, 585, 587. 588. 595. 605. Two required each Smiday, 584, 585. 587. 599. 000. 012. Method of conductuig; Posture, Accent, &c., 595, 590. 004. 000. 007. 012. G23, Daily Service, not to be expected in all places, 584. 587 ; to be gladly per- formed when practicable, 599; intended by our Church, 590. 600; revival of should be attempted, ibid. ; doubtful whether ever contemplated in Parochial Churches, 014; why required to be used privately, 614; may be performed with advantage in large towns, 615. Church and State. See Froude. Union of in some respects an impediment, 528, Motives of the Tractarians in seeking a separation, 528. Remarks of the Bishop of Lincoln, 71 1. Churches, to be duly incommodious, inaccessible, and costly, 408, Clergy, See Ministerial Authority and Character. On what depends the estimation in which they are held, 280. Those of the Church of England the only law- ful guides and spiritual governors of the people of this country, 322. Their increased zeal and learning, 2. 8. II. 22. 31_;J9. 121. 168. Ought to main- tain the principles of the Reformation, 121, 122. Their duty in teaching the Word of (Jod, 2.30. Their dress a point of controversy, 590, 603 ; should be simple, 578 ; eccen- tricities and fopperies condemned, 624. CoMiiEK, Dean, quoted 600. Commemoration of the Dead, advocated by the Tractarians, 50. 510. Service for Bishop Ken's day, ibid. \ results of the practice, ibid. ; rejected by the Re- formers, ibid., 519. Communion of Saints, said to be little heard of among us as an article of faith, 522 ; injustice of the charge, 523. Communion Service, " a judgment on the Church," 63. 80. Communion Table, question of lights upon, 623; no objection if candles are not lighted, ilAd. , CoNKKssioN. See Auricular Confession. How far to bo urged, 655. Confirmation, required for completion of Lay Baptism, 321 ; called in XfelsTij llisbop's liiifitium, il)id. •« ANALYTICAL INDEX TO THE CHARGES. 719 Controversy, in what spirit to be conducted, 15 — 30; when beneficial, 29 ; its dan- gers, 237. Sentiments of Melancthon, 16. Controversial preaching, 30. Convocation. Expediency of its restoration to be doubted, 322. Want of increasingly deplored, 651 ; benefits to be derived from, 651 — 653. 657, 658. CoPLESTON Bishop. Discourses on Necessity and Predestination, 560. Councils, veneration of the Church for the four first general, 218 ; their decisions to be regarded so far as consonant with Scripture, 223. Authorized expositors of the Faith, 234. CouRAYER. History of the Council of Trent, 200. Cranmer Archbishop. Views of the Eucharist, 411. Creeds, how far to be taken as guides, 224 ; great Doctrines of the Faith might have been discovered without them, 224. 225 ; have an a priori claim on our atten- tion, but only so far as they are consonant with Scripture, 224 ; recognised by our Church as the first and most important but not infallible guides in interpreting Scripture, 229. 231. Cross. Suspicious predilection for the emblem, 511. Crosthwaite, Rev. J. C. His Communio Fidelium recommended, 594. Daily Service, See Church Services, Dalgairns, J. D. Esq. His Letter to the Univers, 99. 1 13. Damnation. Meaning of the word in the Communion Service, 353. 581 ; not to be softened down, 353. Calculated to excite alarm in weak minds, 581, 582. Deaconess. An order in the early Church, 258. Dens, quoted, 180. Diocese, at first coextensive with and identical with a Church, 258. DisciPLiNA Arcani, 256. See Reserve. Discipline, Ecclesiastical, one of the three notes of a true Church, 654 ; its great importance, 655. Disciples, of the Tractarian School, their character, 626. Importance of distinguish- ing between them and thek" Teachers, 131. More to be feared than their Teachers, 151. 165. 625. Their Teachers not I'esponsible for their pro- ceedings, 625. Dissent. See Schism. Its evils many and serious, 336 ; not sufficiently appreciated by those who look only to the respectable ministers of Orthodox Dissenting Congregations, 334. Dissenters, duty of living in peace with, 334. Refusal to bury, at variance with the nature of the Ministerial Office, with the analogy of Scripture ; with the practice of the Early Church, and the ordinances of the Church of England, 281 — 286 ; an infraction of the due and charitable order of the Church, 294. Conduct of St. Ambrose on the death of Valeutinian, 286. Grievance of compulsory burial, 322. See Lay-Baptism. DoDWELL. Dissertationes Cyprianicce, 200. Dress. See Clergy, East, worshipping towards, a very ancient practice, 621. Edinburgh Review, quoted, 512. Elvington, Professor, referred to, 549. Episcopacy, reverence for, 117. 139. See Traclarians. Not essential to validity of Christian ordinances, 281 ; mischief arising from the contrary opinion, ibid. The only rallying point for unity of operation in the Church, 325 — 327. Eucharist, Views of the Tractarians, 45. 48. 53. 63. Mystical language of the Fathers, 354, Language of our Church on Doctrine of the real Presence, 408 — 410; of our soundest Divines and Reformers, 410 — 412. "An actual 720 VXAI.YTICAL I\I)i:\ TO TIIF. CFIARtlES. [Eicharist] communication of the sacrificed Body and Blood of Christ," 412. The in- strument of our mystical union with Christ, 413. Hooker's view of, iii21 ; notion of a corporal presence utterly rejected, iiiV/. Water not to bo mixed with Wine, 519. 52C. Kiss of Peace not practised by our Church, .)2C. Duty of urging frequent participa- tion, 413. See Altar. Sacrifice. Transubslantialion. Lord''s Supper. ExcoMMrMCATioN. "The greatest judgment upon earth," G54. Exeter, Bishop of (PiiiLr.roTTs). His animadversions on the statements of the Bishop of Chester, (Sumner) respecting the Sacraments, 342 — Ii47. 350. Faber, Rev. G. Stanlev. His Treatise on Justification, 1»4. 240. (i45. Faith. Not to be exalted to the disparagement of the Sacraments, 414. Fasting. Its necessity and merit too eagerly inculcated, 511. 55!i. Fathers. Special regard due to, 187. 256' ; their excellences and legitimate authority, 196 ; their piety alloyed by superstition and error, 19C. 222. Not certain guides in theology, or judicious expounders of Holy Writ, J9G. 221. Their value as witnesses, 190. 200. 221. 235. Too great deference to their autho- rity led to the corruptions of the Church of Rome, 197. As reasoncrs, we owe to them no more deference than to other pious but fallible men, 200. 221. 2.35. Their opinions not to be disregarded or implicitly subscribed to, 201. Examples of holiness and patient endurance, not authoritative teachers, 208. Their writings valuable for facts rather than opinions, 213. High respect for cherished by the Church, 218. To be read with caution, 221. Con- stantly appealed to Scripture alone, 221. Appealed to by the Reformers, but not as infallible interpreters of Scripture, 240. Considerable diversity of opinion among them on fundamental facts and Doctrines, 242. Their views of the Sacraments often mystical and hyperbolical, 354. Festivals. Institution of new, condemned, 518. 612. Those of our Church to be ob- served, 583. 595. 596. 599. 600. Fleetwood, Bishop, quoted 621. Flowers. The Communion Table not to be decorated with, 525. Font. Position of, 592. FoRMLLARiES. See Home. . Longing of the Tractariana after Popish, 185. 527. 530. Those of our Church arc authoritative rules of interpretation, 232, 2Xi. Froiue, Rev. R. H. An example of the danger of dallying with Romanism, 64, Put forth as the representative and champion of Tractarianism, iliid. .Tusti- ficatiou of by his Editors, 66 — 68. His views of allegiance to the Catholic Church, 69 ; of Union of Church and State, 68, 69 ; of the Eucharist, 69, 72 ; of Saint and Image W'orship in the Church of Rome, 68 — 71. 186: of the sufficiency of Holy Scripture, 75. Results of his principle of allegiance, 71 — 75. 77. Desires reunion with Rome, 98. 99. His sneer at " young parsons" and " impressive services," 606. His Remains qiwtcd, 54. 56, 75. 85. 98. 107. 186. 216. 512. Secotui Series. 77. 107. CiAi'itKN, Bishop. EccUsicB Anglicana Suspiria, 292. (IiiisoN, Bishop, quoted, 605. 653. (!\osTirs. Remarkable for their ii/norance, 253. Other instances of t-imilar misnomers, ihi,l. ANALYTICAL INDEX TO THE CHARGES. 721 GoLiGHTLY, Rev. C. P., began tlie revision of Tractarian Catenjc, 175. His able, manly, and effective pamphlet, ibid. GooDE, Rev. W. His excellent pamphlet, The Case as it Is, 117. 333. His elaborate Ride of Faith and Practice, 1 72. 237. 24C. His Letter to the Bishop of Oocford, 176. Completes the revision of Tractarian Cateute, 175. Gospel. Effects resulting from the preaching of, 20, 2 1 . Gown, When first used, 603. Hacket, Bishop. Life cf Archbishop Williams, 490. Halifax, Bishop. Quoted, 525. Hallam, Henry, Esq. Constitutional History, 490, Hail, Bishop, The Old Religion, 561. His opinion respecting Tradition, 214 ; Wor- ship of Saints and Images, 508. Hammond. Quoted, 234, Hampden, Professor. Totally erroneous impression of his views produced by " Elu- cidations of his Bamptoii Lectures,''^ 425. Hawkins, Dr. Bampton Lectures, 229. 236. Hebdomadal Board, Condemnation of Tract 90 by, approved, 102. 533, Heresy, charge of, as applied to the Tractarians, 193 — 195, Hey, Dr, Lectures in Divinity, 232. 293. Heylin, Dr, Quinquarticular History, 563. Homilies, Quoted, 208, 212. 219. 226. 404, 406, 654, Their value as expressions of the mind of the Church, 2.32, Lowering inti- mations respecting, previous to 1838, 185. Their teaching evaded and misre- presented by Mr. Newman, 86 — 95 ; misquoted, 96, 97. Hooker. His views on Justification, 361, 362. 367. His Ecclesiastical I'olity quoted, 234. 269. 326. 413. His Sermon on Hahhahkuk 1, iv. 358. HoRSLEY, Bishop. His Primary Charge, 355. 366. 371. Disseiiation on the Prophecies of the Messiah, 479. Images, Worship of, how designated by the Tractarians, 508 ; by Bishop Hall, Hid. Condemned by our Church, 531. Infallibility, See Rome. Iren,«us. What he understood by Unwritten Tradition, 198 — 201. 239. Jackson, Dean. Quoted, 600. Jebb, Bishop. Pastoral Tlieology, 232. Jesuits. Their example in China and Japan a warning, 186; again employed as chosen emissaries of the Church of Rome, 492 ; hideous principles of their system, ibid. Jewel, Bishop. Quoted, 236. His challenge respecting the writers of the first six centuries, 197. 236. His warning on the subject of Tradition, 214. His defi- nition of " The Keys," 683. Justification. See Works. The point of attack from the earliest to the present days, 356 ; the Scriptural truth as clear as it is simple, 357 ; obscured by the Tractarian system, 357, 361 ; its practical effects, 360. Views of Hooker and the Reformers, 358. 361. See Hooker. Views of Mr. Newman and the Tractarians compared with our eleventh Article, 361 ; language to which such views lead, 361. The doctrine on which hangs the whole system of religious truth, 362. The corner-stone of the whole system of redemption, 366. Not to be con- founded with sanctification, 362. 367, Teaching of our Church in her Arti- cles and Homilies, 362, 363. 866, 367. 372. Not by infused or inherent 722 ANALYTICAL INDEX TO THE CHARGES. [Justification] righteousness, 3C5. Views of Barrow, 3G5. Views of the Tractarians Ingeniously but ineffectually distinguished from those of the Romanists, 3C6. Inseparably connected with faith in the atonement, 435. Hooker's Discourse on, G45. :Mr. Fabcr's Work ou, 045. Mr. Newman's fearful Mysticisms, 645. 3«7. 3««. Not applied without the intervention of the Sacraments, 3C4. Begins in Baptism, 3G5. 5C2. Expressions " per Fidem," " by Faith," and " through Faith," 3G3, 3G4. By Faith only, Luther's description of, 3fiC. Overlooked, misrepresented, or disjjaraged by the Tractarians, 47. ISS. Their unmitigated hostility to it, 107. Described by them as " fundamentally monstrous, immoral, andanti- christian," lOfi ; as "poisoning Christianity at the root," ibid. ; " a hateful, unchristian, .subtile, and extensively poisonous doctrine," iliid. Their in- stinctive dread of it should quicken to its more vigorous and zealous defence, ibid. The controversy a dispute of words, 308 ; both parties equally orthodox, ibid. Modern theory admitted to harmonize very closely with that of Bi.shop Bull, 370 ; affords no countenance to the Romish Doctrine of Slerit, 372. Principal terms employed admit of various senses ; danger of confusion, 371. Keble, Rev. John. His S<'rmon on Tradition, 178, 179. 181. 185. 193. G4«. His Ca- tena Patnim examined by the Bishop of Calcutta, 188 — 192. Kempis, Thomas a, quoted, G47. Kensai.l, Rev. E. His answer to Dr. Waterland, 292. Ken Bishop. Service appointed for celebration of, 50. 519. Latimer, Bishop. " Something in the Bulteel line," IO7. His views of the Eucharist, 411. Lavington, Bishop. His Enlhusiasm 0/ Methodists and Papists compared, G3G. Lessons. Second Lessons in our Service said to be occasionally out of character with the time, 513. Position of the Minister when reading, 593. G22. Lights. See Communion Table. Lincoln, Bishop of, (Kaye.) His Ecclesiastical History, 207. 220. 230. 231. Liturgies, Ancient. Compared with that of the Church of England to its disparage- ment, 48. 513, 514. 517. Remarks of Dr. Wiseman, 514. Liturgy, English. Depreciated, 7^ — *il. 512, 513. 522, 523. 527. Lessons to bo derived from the changes made in it at the Reformation, 521. Said to be deficient in points of Faith, 522. Lloyh, Bishop, (St. Asaph.) His Srrmon on Xoi: 5th, 490. Lord's Supper. The only way of receiving the Bread of Life, specified by our Lord Himself, 352. Language of the Fathers mystical and hyperbolical, 354. More frequent celebration recommended, 599. GOl ; one Communion in a month at the very lea-st, 352. Position of the Minister at the Table, 593, 594. M'Ilvaine, Bishop. His examination of Tractariiui Catenrc, 175. Mass. Canon of, said to be Apostolic, 48 ; designated tlie Liturgy of St. Peter, ibid. G3. Has a far greater claim on the deference of a layman than the Prayer Book, 62. Meade, Bishop W. H is .S'.rm«7( at the Consecration of the Right Reverend S. Elliott, As-sistant Bighop of Virginia, 215. Melancthon. His sentiments on Controversy, IC. MiDDLEToN, Bishop. Quoted, 184. MiLNER, Dr. His End n/ /iiliffions Controversu , unanswerable objection to its prelimi- nary proposition, 203. ANALYTICAL INDEX TO THE CHARGES). 723 Minister. His position during Divine Service, 593. Is he to turn liis back upon the people ? 593. 622. Ministerial Authority. On what ground rested by the Reformers, 252 ; its founda- tion and origin, 276—278. Warning against exaggerated estimate of, 279. 295. Assertion of Spiritual claims not to be obtruded, 280 ; example of the Apostles, ibid. 297. Danger of high pretensions in the Priesthood, 296. No sign of greatness to vaunt of authority, 298. Importance of explaining the origin, nature, and extent of the Ministerial Commission; 320. 324 ; danger of overstrained pretensions, 323. 328. Analogy between the Levitical Hie- rarchy and the Cliristian Ministry, 323 ; no typical relation, ibkl. Ministerial Character. Importance of to the Church, 26. Moderation. Cliristian, enforced. 15 — 30. MuMBLK-MATiNS. Term to whom applied, 604. Newman, Rev. John. His character by the Bishop of Exeter, 547. His high esti- mation more than neutralized by Tract 90, 553. Has written ably against Rome, 566. His fearful mysticisms on the Doctrine of Justification, 645. His praise of the Method of Economy, 54. His Arians, 55. 216. LeUer to Dr. Faussett, 63. 84. Lutter to Dr. Jelf, 93, 100. 110. 538. 540. 545. 548. 552. Letter to the Bishop of Oxford, 97. Lectures on Romanism, 216. Lectures on tlie Church, 216. Sermons, 333. Lectures on Justification, 361. 367, 368. Non-jurors. Sympathy of the Tractarians with, 98. Novelties. Introduced by the Tractarians have a manifest tendency to a'Ssimilate us in externals to the Romish Church, 624 ; deprecated, 617 — 619; interrujit the the harmony of the Church, ibid. ; caution from the example of the Church of Rome, 619. Nowell, Dr. His Catechism, 364. Obeisance at the name of Jesus shews a reverent regard for the Son of God, 620. Towards the Holy Table under what circumstances objectionable, ibid. OlKovofj-ia. Mr. Newman's commendation of the system, 54. Orders. Purity of descent in om* Church questioned, 62. Ordinances. On what warrant to be received, 524. 526. Ordination. Form of, transmitted by the Apostles for perpetual observance of the Church, 277. Ornaments. Judgment of the Bishop to be sought where Rubric and Canons are not clear, 622. Oxford, Bishop of, (Bagot.) Puts an end to the continuation of the Tracts for the Times ; said to have acquitted the Tractarians, 118. Palev, Archdeacon. Referred to, 580. Palmer, Rev. William, of Magdalene College. His indifferentism, 73. His ana- thema, 495. Palmer, Rev. William, of Worcester College. His Treatise on the Church, 234. Penance. An unhallowed device ; the foulest perversion of God's truth, 510. How regarded by the Tractarians, ibid. ; not to be brought into controversy with the Romanists of the present day, ibid. ^fvuKiafxhs. Defended by Mr. Newman, 54. Pope, The. His grand blasphemy, 187. Supremacy of not to be made a promiuent point in controversy with Rome, 52 ; characterized as simply " an event m provi- dence," 480 ; " ordained of God," 488. Not essential to the Unity of the Chui'ch, 524 ; known to be an hmovation, ibid. ; unheard of during the first five centuries, ibid. Oath of Supremacy misquoted, 488. 3 A 724 ANALYTICAL INDEX TO THE CHARGES. Poi'K PiL'8. Mr. Froudc-'s views of his Creed, G4. PorERv. Name too eagerly attached to much wliich is of the sound and genuine sub- stance of Cliurch of England Divinity, 470". Prayers for the Dead. Not recognised in Scripture, 210; unknown in the apos- tolical age, ibid, ; had their origin in the curiosities of the second century, ibid. ; abolished at the Reformation, ibid. ; at first retained in, subsequently displaced altogether from our Liturgy, ibid. ; since spoken of with tenderness, ibid. ; revived by the Nonjurors and the Tractarians, 220 -, evil effects of their revival, 220 ; encouraged by tlie Tractarians, 50f!, 501) ; decisively discouraged by our Church, ibid. 519,520. 520. 531. 557; language of the Tractarians • on the subject not to be recognised with Christian discretion, 509 ; began in poetry, and ended in idolatry, 528 •, tend directly to the notion of Purgatory, 528. Prayers, extempore before sermons, condemned, 689. Prayer for the Church Militant, 592. Prayer. Seven daily hours of, a fanciful and unauthorized arrangement, 519. Preaching. See Sermons. Importance attached to it, 585, 58G. 597 ; consequences of its neglect, 507. 598 ; holds the highest place in the duties of a christian minister, 607. C09 ; exhibits him most impressively as God's ambassador, ibid. ; an instrument appointed and honoured by God, G09. Preparation re- quired for, G09 — G12. Systematically disparaged and depreciated by the Tractarians, 609. Excel- lent men divided as to its importance from the earliest days of the Reforma- tion, 597 ; testimony of our Church, and of experience to its relative value, ibid. Priest. Christ the only sacrificing Priest under the new dispensation, 32.'!, .324. Private Jud(;ment. Limit placed to it by our Church, 214; some control over, needed, 273 ; danger of opposite extreme, ibid. ; responsibility attached to the exercise of, 274. Protestantism. The religion of corrupt human nature, 106 ; its tone of doctrine es- •sentially anti-christian, 107. Psalms. Singing no part of the Liturgy, 589 ; introduction of strange versions, 595; to be given out by the Minister, 605 ; Service not to commence with, ibid. Pi"RGATORV. What is meant by the Itominh Doctrine, 539. 545, Puritans. Debate between them and the Episcopalians, 589 — 595. P'JSKy, Dr. His Letter Jo the Archbishop of Canterburtj, 117. 176. 387. 485. 517. 521, 622. 636 ; a " submissive menace," 1 19. His Letter to the Bishop of O.tford, 117. 247. 387. 508. His Letter to Dr. Je!f, 414. 479, 480. 484. 513, 514. 534. Quarterly Review. Article on O.rford Thcoloijy, 55. Article on Divines of the Seven- teenth Century, 57. Reformation. A return to a Scriptural Creed and primitive Practice, 475. Princi- ple on which it was founded, 2,39 ; duty of resolutely defending and vindicat- ing its principles, 201. 121. 138. 140. Disparaged by the Tractarians, 46. 48. 156, 476. 478. 480, 496, 499. Mr. Froude's views of, 61. Extract from the British Critic, 104 — 106. A despe- rate remedy ; a fearful jugdmont ; a deplorable schism, IMi, That great schism, 480 ; its i)rinciplcs, if any, must be receded from more ami more, 115. 121. , Reformers; their piety, wisdom, charity, honesty, learning, judgment, and modera- tion, 167. 205. 228. 2.39. 475, 476. 521. 480. 500, 524. We are their debtors to an incalculalilo amount, 497. To be regarded with grateful respect and venerntion, 486 ; did not neglect or undervalue antiquity, 487 ; b.ised the ANALYTICAL INDEX TO THE CHARGES. _ 725 [Reformers] doctrines of our Church on the pure Word of God, 534 ; divested the Church of the mystery in which it had been shrouded, and disclosed it in its Scriptural form, 264 ; their views of Justification, 358 ; their blameless lives and painful deaths, 206. Maligned by the Tractarians, 486. 491. 496. 502. 512. 641 ; not to be allowed the name of Martyrs, 107. Hildebrand and Becket held up to admi- ration in opposition to, 491. Regenerate. Term used by our Church as convertible with Baptized, 373. Regeneration. See Baptism. Scripture and our Church do not say whether it is given where Baptism may not be had, 374. Given alimys to infants, and to adults rightly receiving Baptism, 375, and in Baptism only, 376. The spiritual grace of Baptism, 378, 379. Takes place in some sense or other at Baptism, 379. Registration Act. Has frightfully diminished the number of Baptisms in the Dio- cese of Exeter, 351. Its prejudicial influence, 589. Repentance. See Sin after Baptism. Different sense applied to before and after Baptism, 395. Mr. Wordsworth's views of, 393, &c. Scriptural views of, 389—391. 396—406. Cases of David and Peter, how met by the Tracta- rians, 391. Reserve. See Atonement. Confounded with gradual initiation, 425. Reserve of the early Fathers not that now recommended, 435 ; in what sense its necessity may be admitted, 436 ; undue development of divine truth, 437 — 439. True object of the Tracts on, 439 — 441 ; exclusive and explicit preaching of the Atonement denounced, 441. Doctrine of the Tractarians on the subject inconsistent with the duty of a Christian minister, and with the distinct requirements and provisions of our own Church, 424. 428. 431. 433. 435. 467 ; connected with the denial of forgiveness of sin after Baptism, 468 ; deprives the sinner of motive to repent, and of comfort in repentmg, 427. Opposed to Scripture, 426 — 429. 434, 435 ; violence done to Scripture in attempt to maintain it, 445. 448 — 453. Opposed to the practice of our Lord, 430. 443—457, and of his Apostles, 430. 433. 457. 462 ; the commands rather than the example of Christ to be the rule of his Ministers in preaching, 456. St. Paul's meaning in the ' expression "preaching Christ crucified," 460; argument from experience, 431. Question at issue confused and misrepre- sented, 461 — 463. Important truths on which the Tractarian theory rests misplaced and abused, 463. Attempts to vindicate the system refuted, 425. The endeavour to reserve the doctrine of the Atonement unavailing ; the Bible in the hands of all, 467 ; its indiscriminate distribution censured. Ibid. Meaning attributed to him disclaimed by the author of the Tracts on Reserve, 469 ; terms employed obscure and incautious, 470. Unfavourable prepossession removed in some instances by perusal of the whole treatise, 470, Object indicated by the title very different from suppression, ibid. ; rather a protest agai7ist Reserve, 471. Treatise deficient in practical direc- tions, ibid ; how far profitable, 472. Richards, Rev, W. U. His audacious Catechism, 95. Ridley, Bishop. His views of the Eucharist, 411. Rome, Church of. All mention of her peculiar tenets lost very far short of the Apostolic age, and not resumed in Scripture, 206. An idolatrous Church, 491. Her idolatries equal to the \Vorst that ever prevailed in Egypt or Canaan, 479. Her religion resembles heathen mythology rather than the doctrine of Scripture, 522. Her fi-auds, impieties, and superstitions, 524. Has debased the apostolical form of sound words ; superseded the apostolical 3 A 2 72t) ANALYTICAL INDEX TO TIIL I HAUGKii. [Rome, Church of] commission; corrupted the apostolical communion, 493. Enlists iu her service the frailties, passions, and imaginations of men, 47ti. Charac- terized by the Bishop of Down and Connor, 4Ub ; hy the Bishop of Oxford, 4'Jo. Rev. xviii. 4. applicable to her in spirit, 488. Is in a state Schism if not of Apostacy, defiled by idolatry and superstition, 492. Her errors as much op- posed to truth and godliness now as at the Reformation, 493. Her delusive attractions, 521. Has engendered a monstrous brood of superstitions, 522. Her domineering usurpation and false teaching, 338. No criterion of Catho- licism, 524. Her key-stone, pretended infallibility, 490. 202. 204. 20C. 213. 474. Is a branch, however corrupt, of the Church Catholic, 492. Revival of the controversy between Rome and the Anglican Church, 197. 20G ; wherein it consists, 206' ; importance of studying it, 2(J. 36. Points in dispute on the subject of Tradition, 201, 202. Her abominations not to be kept out of sight, 482. Her errors in Faith to be made subjects of admonition, iltid. Her sins not to. be thought lightly of, 490. Her doctrines not to be re-appropriated, even at the risk of a vast apostacy to' her communion, 487. 491. Solemn duty of protesting against, 493, 494. Dangerous employment of shaping our course as near as possible to the shoals of Romanism, 477. Industriously complimented by the Tractarians, 478, 479, 480. 482, 483. 480. 488, 489. 499. 5Ul. 507. 512. 523. Her faults, enormities, and corrup- tions, extenuated, 478. Her errors and superstitions regarded with tenderness, 53. J5G. J 85. Only appears to be, or may perhaps be idolatrous, 04. 110. Her devotional services commended at the expense of those of our own Churcli, 482, 483, 484. 491. 499. 530. 517. 512. Reunion with, earnestly desired by the Tractarians, 98. IO8. 113; diffi- culty occasioned by Saint-worship, 109; how got over by Mr. Newman, 110. Rendered impossible by the sinister policy of the council of Trent, 473, 474. An object to be sought with prayers, but far inferior to the faithful keeping of of the truth, 474. Proud pretensions of the Bishop of Rome a bar to reconciliation, 474. 48G. Not to be restored by embracing any one of her errors, 490 ; can only be effected by embracing all, ibid. Advantages of, de- scribed by Dr. Wiseman, 490. How long impossible, 498 ; on what principles to be expected, 500. Robinson, Archdeacon, referred to, 574. licBRic. Written in the blood of its compilers, 588. Careful observance of, useful, if tempered with judgment and discretion, 572. 577 ; duty and advantiige of, 574, 575, 57c, 577- (Jl7 ; ought not to be stigmatized jus popish, 577- Literal obedience to, in some cases, impossible, 573. 577 ; has no value in itself, 599. Allowed disuse a fair dispensation, 573, 574. 577, 578, 579. 581, 582. Rile of Faith. Quotations from the writings of the Tractarians, 215 — 217. Protestant principle robbed of its truth and power, 47. Not to be made a prominent point in controversy with Rome, 52. False principle as- serted, 180. Its history and evidences not to be confounded with the Rule itself, 182. Danger of admitting a false rule, 183. A " joint rule" will never long consist with the simplicity of the Gospel, 184. Meaning of ,the expression " Rogula Fidei," in the early Fathers, 198. 201. 231; applied to the Creed by the Primitive Church, 201. 2:U), 231. The title not given by our Ciiurch to the Scriptures, 201. Nothing to be re- ceived as part of which is not read in, or cannot be proved by Scripture, ihid. Rt'S-SKM., Bishop. Sermon on the Historical IJvidence of Episcopacy, 235. ANALYTICAL INDEX TO THE CHARGES. 727 Sacraments, The. See Baptism, Eucharist, and The Lord''s Supper, Excessive and erroneous views of, pervade the writings of the Tractarian Scliool, arising from a tendency to adopt Traditional princijjles, 354. Language of the Tracts compared with that of tlie Church, C33. To be duly and reverently per- formed, G12. Not mere signs of grace, 341 ; the instruments of our union with Christ, 413 ; declarations of Hooker and Barrow, 347, 348 ; extent to which our Church carries her doctrine, 341 — 349. Theii" necessity and efficacy successfully urged by the Tractarians, 342. Unhappily depreciated by good men in our day, 347. Sacrifice, Now no part of the Christian Ministry, 418 ; term how applied in the New Testament, ibid. Notion of Sacrificing Priests at variance with tho Gospel System, 174. Attempt to shew that a sort of Sacrifice is made in the Eucharist, 420. Saints, Invocation of. How designated by the Tractarians, 508 \ by Bishop Hall, ibid. ; condemned by our Church in her Articles and Homilies, 531. 539. 557. What is meant by the Romish doctrine, 538. 545. " Ora pro nobis'''' not con- demned by our Article, 97. Sanctification. Not to be confounded with Justification, 362. Schism. No light evil or venial sin, 2G9. 274. 302. 327. 335. Schismatics. Not necessarily heretics, 289. Scholefield, Professor. Sermons on Scriptural Grotinds of Union, 431. 634. Scripture, Holy. See Tradition. Deposited from the first in the Church, 214; no proof can be furnished of the actual parentage of any unwritten portion, 202. Its absolute completeness a vital doctrine of our Reformed Church, 223 ; care of our Church to secure adherence to this great principle, 225 — 227. A full and sufficient Rule to Christians, 214. Its sole sufficiency and supremacy 223. Its supremacy established in our Church in opposition to Rome, 227 ; testimonies of Irenceus, Athanasius, Cyril, Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine, 227. Importance of adhering to the guidauce of, 220. Corruptions conse- quent on the disuse of, 197. Implicit deference due to, is due to nothing else, 174. Its true rule of interpretation, 208, 209. 212. 235 ; to be sought in our For- mularies and Creeds, 214. 233. 236. 243 ; other helps to the just interpre- tation of, 187. 224. 235 ; the four first Councils, 234. Requires external aid for its due interpretation, 195. Violence done to by Tractarian writers, 445. 448—453. (See Wordsworth, Rev. C.) Its sufficiency a trumpery principle, 75. 186. The Secondary teacher of Divine Truth, 178. Depressed into an attendant and expositor of Tradition, 180. Sermons. See Preaching. Two on each Sunday recommended, 584. 599. May be enforced, ibid., 586 ; consequences of omission, 585. Not to be considered as eminent a part of the worship of God as Prayer, 613. Seventeenth Century. Divines of, opposed to Tractarians, 56 — 61. 176. 507, 508. Sharp, Archbishop. Sermons, 410. Short, Bishop. His History of the Church of England, 290. Shuttleworth, Dr. Revelation, not Tradition, 629. Sibthorpe, Rev. W. Dr. Pusey's account of his conversion, 636. Sin after Baptism. See Wordsworth, Rev. C. Doctrine of the Tractarians robs the Gospel of its glad tidings, and Baptism of its genuine efficacy, 381 : cncou- 728 ANALYTICAL INDEX TO THE CHARGES. [Sin after Baptism] rages the distinction between venial and mortal sin, ibid., 392 ; adulterates the AVord of Life, 404 ; is a natural consequence of their funda- mental errors on Justification, 405 ; destroys the hope of peace with God, 384 ; rejects, as inapplicable to sinners in the Christian Church, much of the most interesting parts of God's Word, 390. 404. Unwarranted by Scripture and our Church, 383 ; diametrically opposed to the New Testament, 384 ; and to the teaching of our Articles, ibid. 391, and Homilies, 397 404. 383. 389. Parable of the Prodigal Son, 389. Extracts from the Tracts on, 386 — 388. Dr. Pusey's views on the subject confused, 387 ; admitted to be imperfect, as making no mention of Absolution and the Eucharist, 407. Sparrow, Bishop. Quoted, 622. ' Spencer, Rev. G. His Letter to the Univers, 99. 1 13. Stilling FLEET, Bishop. Referred to, 527. 578. 621. His Unreasonableness of Sepa- ration, 564. Strype. Annals quoted, 603. Studies, Theological. Should be directed to the controversies of the day, 26. Surplice. Use of, 590, 591. 603. Supremacy, Papal. See Pope. Taylor, Bishop. His Dissuasive from Popery, 2J4. 227. 480. 539. Hia Fides formata, 371. Hia Ductor Dubitantium, 563. Remarks on introduction of unauthorized Ceremonies, 527. TowNSEND, Rev. G. His Charge refen'ed to, 629. Tractarians. Their Learning and Piety, 1. 23. 29. 133—148. 159. 180. 575. Their Uprightness and Sincerity, 134. 523. Their Meekness, Charity, and Forbear- ance, 135. 144. 157. Their Zeal, Combination, and Energy, 10. 135. 141, 142. Their Activity and Perseverance^ 41. 624. Their Reverence for Epis- copacy, 117. 139. 145. 147. 151. Their Deference to Authority, 547. 566. Their LoVe for the Church, 146. Treatment to which they have been exposed, 124. 134. 142. 144. 148. Their views, in whole or in part, those of our best Divines, 146. Description of persons who will condemn them, 157. Their opponents held up as wanton disturbers of the Church's peace, 176. Their feelings towards the Reforma- tion not inconsistent with attachment to our Church, 503. Allowance to be made for their expressions towards the Church of Rome, 501. Proposed ex- planation of some of their most offensive expressions, 505. Charge of Popery unjust and uncharitable, 507. Have been useful in urging the necessity and efficacy of the Sacraments, 342. 354 ; in promoting a stricter observance of the Rubric, 575 j in rescuing the pillars of the Reformation from oblivion, 157. Seo Tractarianism, beneficial effects of. Their Command of the Press, 104. TLeir caution, and politic Conceal- ment, 54. 97. First defection from their ranks, 59. Manifesto of their past proceedings, and future operations, 114. 117. 121. Their avowed object to unprotestantizc the National Church, C24. Their decided bias in favour of Rome, 494. {^cg Rome.) Depart widely from the Protestant sentiments of Bishop Hall, whom they p»-ofess to follow, 508. Their want of fiUal affection and reverence for the English Church, 517, 518. Hold excessive and erro- neous views of the Clu-istian Sacraments, 354. Their zeal too liasty and in- discriminate, 161. Their character as Controversialists, 8. Tortuous criticism and garbled ANALYTICAL INDEX TO THE CHARGES. 729 [Tractaiuans] extracts, ibid. Their treatment of their opponents, 8. 172 ; pass over their arguments in silence, 172 174. Results of their efforts very unfortunate, 511. Their Secession no serious loss, 120 ; a lesser evil than the success of their design, ibid. Why they should remain in the Church a perplexing question, 113; their supposed motive for so doing, 113, 114. Tractarianism. One of the most eventful epochs in the history of the English Church, 11; an arduous and momentous conflict, 12. Its origin, progress, and development, 40—132, 123—125, 126. Its professed object, 41. Ought to be treated with circumspection and forbearance, 125. No new controversy, 128. Represents a contrast of opinions which have always existed in the Church, ibid. ' Different and opposite views of, 129. An attempt to counteract an existing religious system, 130; reality and prevalence of the evil against which it was directed, 131. Has in no one instance received the formal sanction and approval of any member of the Episcopal Bench, 127. Duties to which it gives rise, 15 — 30. Hopes as to its issue, 122. 167. 659. 663. Character of the Movement, 124, 125, 126. 129. 185. 627. 633. 639, 640, 641. The revival of an oft- refuted system derived essential from Roman, 630. The last novelty of the day, 1. At variance with Scripture and our Church, 38. 153. 544. Involves the doctrine of Justification in obscurity, 357.361. Opposed to the Reformation, 10. 213. I^^qq Reformation.) Dan- gerous to the Church, 5. 7. 9. 11. 34. 126. 637. Tendency of the movement towards Rome, 1. 5. 8, 10. 41. 4^. 48. 51. 53. 57. 97, 98. 100. 108. 137. 637. Threatens the revival of the worst evils of Romish superstition, 628, 629. Its disposition to exaggeration, 167. Tends to generate an inadequate, superficial and superstitious religion, 628 ; to sub- stitute formahty for true devotion, 170. 329; to revive unauthorized Forms and Ceremonies, 164 ; to undermine the whole fabric of the Reformation, and of the Gospel, 180 ; to disturb the peace of the Church, 34. 39. 138. 529. 541. 582; to cause scliism, 138. 151. 156. 637; discord and distraction, 34. 39. 138. 165. 170. 529,530. 541. 582. 631. 639. Effects of the movement. On the young, 1. 6. 101. 163. 180. 519. 521. 529. 630. 637, 638, 639 ; on the unlearned, 5. 212. Neglect of the Word of God, 628 ; Exaltation of the Church, Tradition, the Sacraments, self-righteous- ness, ibid. 633 ; a lowered tone of practical religion, 628 ; cold and barren orthodoxy, 630; over-scrupulous observance of non-essential forms, 171. 511 ; revival of bygone follies, ibid. 518, 519. Its effects in India, 1. 186. 630 ; destruction of the spirituahty of our missions, 631. Beneficial effects attributed to the movement, 149 — 171. Successful vin- dication of some most important duties and principles of the Christian Church, 152, 156 ; its union, discipline and authority, 149. 151. 161, 162. 165, 166 ; better understanding of its polity, -164 ; revived inquiry into its constitution, 158. 166. Defence and explanation of Catholic and Apostolic principles, 161. 157. Practical sense of our Corporate Character as Christians, 159. 162. 267. 270. 273. Revived assertion of Apostolical Succession, 153. 166. Juster views of the ministerial function, 154. Stricter attention to the Rubric, 151. 159. 163. 170. Due observance of Fasts and Festivals, 151, 152. 165. Self-denial and discipline, 155. Stimulus' to systematic piety, 159. 162. 166. 596. Necessity and efficacy of tho Sacraments, 159. 166. Spii'it of inquiry among theological students, 161. Revived study of sound Theology, 166. 169; of doctrines of the Primitive Fathers, 730 AXAI.YTtfAI. INDEX TO Til K TTf ARGF.S. 1 Tractarianism.] 158. 1G6. Awful sense of the mystery of man's redemption, ICl. Encreasing sense of the guilt and evils of scliism, 1 05. Rescue of the Pillars of the Reformation from oblivion, 157. Has the good or evil preponderated? 160, IGl. 1C3. 109. Preventives or Remedies for the evils resulting from the Movement, 644 — 663. Scriptural Teaching, 044 — 04!). 659. Ecclesiastical discipUiie, 054 — 656. More minute examination of Candidates for Holy Orders, 001. Re- vival of Convocation, 049—654. 057 — 059. Patience, Prayer, Humble Trust in God, 602, 063. Tracts for the Times. Undertaken with laudable motives, 23. 157. 101 ; in some cases productive of important benefit, 23. Their declared object, 42. 149. Their favourable reception accounted for, 43. 54. Secession among admirers of, 65. Brought to a close by recommendation of the Bishop of Oxford, 104. 145. 147. Their language often painfully obscure, equivocal, and unguarded, 165. Their erroneous opinions completely refuted, 172. Quoted. No. 15. 85 ; No. 31. 481 ; No. 'So. 45 ; Xo. 38. 507. 540 ; No. 52. 45. No. 61. 85. No. 63. 48. 513. No. 67. 381. No. 68. 386, 387. No. 69. 388. No. 70. 479. No. 71. 47. 51. 215. 414. 479, 480, 481. 508. 510. 514. No. 75. 49. 483, 484. 510. 519. No. 78. 215. Ao. 79. 502. No. 80. 361. 429. 439. 440. 445. 460. No. 81. 48. No. 85. 79. 215. No. 86. 78. 210. 513,514. A^o. 87. 439. 440. 441. 442. 009. Ao. 89. 79. .Vo. 90. 215. 480. 488. 513. 517. 532—571. Advertisement to vol. 2. 45. 46. Records, No. 10. 683. No. 25. 514. No. 34. 517- No. 35. 683. No. 41. 517. 540. Tract 90. Its publication, ostensible and real objects, 81. 101. 537. 545. 500. Its most mischievous principle examined, 549 — 559. Wherein its error consists, 532. Condemned by the Hebdomadal Board, 102; their censure approved, ibid. 533 ; defended by all the principal Tract writers, 103. Important as an authentic declaration of the principles of the party, 103 ; opened the eyes of many, 104. Described by Mr. Dalgairns, 100. The author's principle examined, and the manner in which lie applies it, 507, 508. Its disastrous effects on the younger members of the University, 101. Its offensive language with reference to the Reformation, 104. Evades and misrepresents the teaching of the Homilies, 86 — 95 ; misquotes them, 96, 97. Its sophistry and evasion, 81. 84,85. 537; its dishonest ca- suistry, 85 ; its unfairness, 86. 102; its dangerous tendency, 533 ; its neces- sary consequences, 545 ; its principles of interpretation examined, 548 — 559 ; endangers the integrity of Subscription, 538 ; at variance with the intentions of the compilers of our Articles, 540 ; and with the Royal Declaration, ib. 563 ; destroys the value of our Articles as a standard of our Christian faith, 533 ; an elaborate attempt to explain away the real meaning of the Articles, and to accommodate them to Romish doctrines, 637. Its interpretation of Articles VI., XL, XII., XIII., XIX., XXI., XXII., XXV., XXVIII., XXXI., XXXV., XXXVII., 642, 543. 546. 548—559. 569. Difficulty occasioned by explicit denunciation of the Romish doctrine, how met by the author, 82. 86 — 95 ; his sophistry exposed, 84 — 85. A process for ascertain- ing the truth the very contrary to that prescribed by our Church, 545. In- decent ; offensive ; absurd ; incongruous ; unjust ; unsound ; sophistical, 547. An uncatholic and schismatical procedure, 549. Discordant with the principles and practices of our Church, 552. The most daring attempt ever yet made by any of her Ministers to neutralize her distinctive doctrines, 550. Its uncandid and tortuous criticism ; its intricate and subtle explanation, 559. ANALYTICAL INDEX TO THE CHARGES. 731 [Tract 90.] A dishonest course tending to corrupt the conscience, and destroy all con- fidence, 560. Its disingenuous subtleties, 560, The source of no unreasonable alarm, 564. One of the methods by which Rome has before sought to beguile us of our common sense, 564. Disturbs the peace of the Church, ibid. An in- terpretation by which the Articles may be made to mean anything or no- thing, 566. Contorts the Articles, but not so much as Calvinistic inter- preters have done, 565. One of the most dishonourable efforts of sophistry ever witnessed in theological discussions, 541. Has more than neutralized the high estimation of its author, 552. Tradition. Said to be the primary teacher of Divine Truth, 178 ; to form, with Scripture, the Rule of Faith, 178, 179 ; to include unwritten as well as writ- ten Tradition 178. 184 ; to be still a mode of imparting Divine Truth in the Church, 193 ; this idea favoured by our Church, 195. Spoken of as equally from God with the Bible, 195 ; as i/te interpreter of Scripture, 196. Its true use and value, 182. Is just and proper evidence, ibid. Has no share in the standard of revealed Truth, 183. Is not of co-ordinate autho- rity with Scripture, ibid. 214. 222. The quagmire of Tradition and the Eter- nal Rock of Scripture no joint foundation, 187. Testimonies of Bilson, Bishop White, Dr. Jackson, Archbishop Bramhall, Bishops Sanderson, Tay- lor, and Patrick, Archbishops Sharpe and Potter, Doctors Brett, Leslie, Waterland, Bishop Vanmildert, and Mr, Bingham, adduced by the Bishop of Calcutta, 188 — 192. In what sense Irenseus speaks of an unwritten Tra- dition, 198 — 200. On what the controversy between the Churches of Eng- land and Rome turns, 199 — 200. Jewish and Roman Churches impaired by deference to Tradition, 205. Not the interpreter of Scripture, but vice verstL, 209 — 211, Dependant on Scripture as the parasite on the tree wliich sup- ports it, but which it gradually overspreads and smothers, 2 1 1 , Its reception as part of Revelation involves the necessity of investing some human autho- rity with infallibility, 213, The over valuing it the ground of all Romish errors, 214, 217. Its reduction to a secondary station the first step to our religious Reformation, 217. Not the implement for digging in the mine of God's Word, 225, Its use in establishing facts, 225 ; in the interpreta- tion of Scripture, 229. Its value as testimony, not as authority properly so called, 236. Its undue prominence in the Tractarian system, 238. Deplorable proof of its uncertainty and insufficiency, ibid. Tractarian statement respect- ing its authority fallacious and untrue, 241. Their claims on behalf of Tradition should be established by miraculous evidence, 254. Difference between them and their opponents not one of principle but fact ; of sound more than of substance, 244 — 248. Are their professions on the subject to be trusted ? 247—248. Transubstantiation. See Eucharist. Not to be made a prominent part in contro- versy .>vith Rome, 52, 64, 414, 508, The abundant source of enormous prac- tical evils, 414. Its primary object the extravagant exaltation of the Romish Priesthood, ibid. Trent, Council of. See Thirty-nine Articles, and Tract 90. Attempt to prove its decrees not irreconcilable with our Thirty-nine Articles, examined and ex- posed. 81—95. Ultra-Pr»testantism. Said to be more like Popery than the doctrines of our Church, 412. Unity, Christian Unity enforced, 15—30, 334. 336—338. 340. Its inconceivable value, 269. 274. Results annexed to it, 269. On what basis to be desired, 500. Correct definition of Church Unity, 288. What is the Unity which 732 ANALYTirAL INOEX TO THE CHARGES. the Scriptures demand ? 335. Disregard of Cliurch Unity occasioned by the usurpation and false teaching of the Church of Rome, 3.'J8— -340. The very subject made a cause of multipUed divisions, 4'J'J. Van-Espen. His interpretation of the Canon Law in the matter of ceremonies, 527. Van-Mildert, IJisnoP. His Li/c of Watcrlaml, 230. His Lectures, 480. Opposed to the Tractarians on the Rule of Faith, 1!)2. Victoria 1 , cap. xlv. Referred to, 30. ViNXENTius LiRiNENSis. His rulc admitted in its fullest sense for proper ends, 182. When safely adopted, 222. Virgin Mary. Devotion to, exaltation and intercessory power of, IIU. ViTRiNUA. Tlte Church and tfic Synat/Of/ue, 258, Wake, Archbishop. Discourse on t/ic Eucharist, 410. W^ALL, Re\', History of Infant Baptism, 289. Ward, Rev. G. W. His Few More Words in Support of Tract ^Q, 514. 517. Waterland, Dr. Use and Value of Antiquity, 228. 230. 236, 237. Case of Arian Subscription, 232, 233. Reply to Kelsall, 284, 285. Quoted on the Rule of Faith, 191. Water. Not to be mixed with wine in the Eucharist, 519. 520. Whatelv, Archbishop. His Kingdom of Christ quoted, 422. Whitgift, Archbishop. Sermon before Queen Elizabeth, 290. Winchester, Bishop of, (Sumner). His Ministerial Clutracter of Christ referred to, 431. Wiseman, Dr. Letter to Mr. Newman, 100. Letter to the Earl of Shrewsbury, 479. 490. 514. Lectures, 203. Wordsworth, Rev. Charles. His Sermon on Evangelical Repentance, 388. 393, &c. His views of Ministerial Absolution, ibid. His treatment of tlie parables in Luke XV. 389. His extraordinary perversion of the 10th Article, 393. His flagrant perversion of Scripture in the case of the Corinthians and Simon Magus, 398, .399. His comment on Rev. ii. 21, 22. and Rev. iii., 20, 400. The translation of the word iTivQriffu, 401 — 404. Woodgate, Rev. A. His Brief Analysis of the Tracts on Reserve, 471. Works. See Justification. Not in the remotest degree meritoriously instrumental to Justification, 302. 305. 559. Cannot justify wholly or in pai't, 300. Are still objects of reward, 300. 733 II. SYNTHETICAL INDEX TO THE CHARGES. *** ^y "reference to the folloioing Index the paragraphs of every Charge may he read consecutively as they stand in the documents from which they are taken. The paragraphs omitted have no relation to the Tractarian controversy. Par. ARMAGH, 1841. Par. 4, 5. Page 572 1—5. Page 532 55 6. 33 617 6. 7. H 474 55 7. ... 35 584 ARMAGH, 1842. CHESTER, 1838. 1—3. 5? 540 5> 1—4. 55 628 4. » 618 CHESTER, 1841. AUSTRALIJ^ ., 1841. )5 1—2. 55 334 1—4. »J 279 55 3—5. 35 2 5—9. 55 153 5) 6—20. 55 356 10—29. »> 281 55 21—26. 53 259 30—38. » 201 35 27—30. 55 296 39—43. n 476 44—46. n 17 DOWN AND CONNOR, AND 47—49. 5» 207 DROMORE, 1842. 55 1. 2. 55 513 BOMBAY, 1841. 55 3—6. ... 55 23 1—2. J» 426 55 7—17. » 217 3. n 208 55 18—20. 55 516 4. w 426 55 21—26. 55 518 5-7. n 208 35 27—36. 55 544 8." n 296 55 55 37—49. 50—54. 35 53 482 300 CALCUTTA, 1838. 5? 55—60. ... Omitted. 1. » 1 55 60)3. 35 589 2. 3. n 627 55 61—64. Omitted 4—17. ?J 178 55 *65— 74. 33 589 18. 19. n 628 >5 75-77. ... Omitted 20. n 186 55 78. 33 592 21—32. » 644 55 79. ■ • ' Omitted. 33—36. w 187 35 55 80—82. 83—87. 55 55 377 593 CANTERBURY, 1840 . 53 88. Omitted 1. )) 334 ?! 89. „ 595 2. 3. n 473 r34 SYNTIIETICAI. INDEX TO THE CHAUGES. DUBLIN, 1841. HEREFORD, 1842. i'ar. ]. 1.3. Page 253 Par. 1. 8. Page 220 n 9. 16. » 433 DURHAM, 1841. »» 17. 18. » 554 „ 1. 2. >» 4 >■> 19. 20. n 618 yj 3. 4. )> 631 ,, 21. 22. „ 656 5. 6. 5> 136 « 23. 24. >» 618 „ 7. 8. n 34 5» 25- -27. 5> 415 „ f>. 10. » 511 » 28- -32. »» 486 >> 11. » 211 y> 33- -37. n 273 J' 1-2. 13. 5> 4 51 38- -44. n 362 ?> 14. 15. " 631 1? 45. 46. 47. 384 486 EXETER, 18.39. 5J 48- -52. 5) 222 » 1. 2. }> 1 » 53. 54. » 520 3- -15. r) 276 » 55- -59. >» 619 ^. 16- -19. n 341 ?? 60- -65. r> 319 )} 20- -28. n 373 »> 66- -68. »> 160 n 29- -36. »> 408 5> 69- -72. » 274 V 37- -45. w 192 n 73. 74. i> 8 ?> 46- -57. )» 507 If 75- -79. »» 140 •» 53- -61. 5> 381 » 80. 81. » 24 62. » 424 1) 63. „ 134 LICHFIELD, 1841. n 64. ?) 152 5J 1. o 4. ji 6 34 EXETER, 1842. » 5. 5» 586 „ 1. 2. n 158 5> 6, « 617 » 3— 10. >> 596 „ 7. J> 478 » 11. » 574 „ 12. ••■> 159 LIMERICK, 1842. « 13- -25. n 267 »> 1. » 634 »> 26- -40. n 342 »» 2. ... 5» 161 >» 41- -68. 5> 546 »> 3. »» 635 n 69. >» 159 n 70- -81. n 649 LINCOLN, 1837. >> 82- 155- -154. -170. if 303 653 " 1. 4. >5 149 LINCOLN, 1840. GLOUCESTER AND BRISTOL, 1841. „ 1. „ 2. „ 3. „ 4. 1.— 11. 197 8—10. 11. 5 136 LLANDAFF, 1842. 5 „ 1—15. „ 336 427 „ 16. 17. « ICl 212 „ 18. >» 35 536 ,, 19. 20. >» 635 478 „ 21—26. „ 488 137 „ 27 28. ,. 162 18 „ 29. ^, 599 SYNTHETICAL INDEX TO THE CHARGES. 735 Llandaff continued. Ossory, Ferns, and Leighl 'in continu ed. Par. 30—32. Page 520 Par. 90. 91. Page 6 jj 33, n 488 33 92—162. 93 41 9p 34—37. » 522 38. 39. „ 163 OXFORD, 1838. 40—43. 59 636 33 1^4. 9> 616 44—50. JJ 523 33 5—7. 93 150 jj 51—56. }>■ 559 93 8. 9. ... 99 583 5^ 57. 53 657 58—61. 5, 320 OXFORD, 1842. J9 J5 62. 3) 340 39 33 1—3. 4—9. 93 33 11 123 LONDON, 1842. 93 10—13. ... 93 142 J) 1. 2. 33 8 33 14—15. ... 33 164 3.-9. 33 322 33 16. 53 145 10—15. 561 33 17—22. ... 99 564 16. 17. 33 490 93 23—26. ... 93 165 18. 20. ,3 223 ,j 27—31. ... 93 625 ^9 21—22. •3 379 39 32. 33 495 23—25. 33 363 59 33—34. ... 93 529 26—28. 13 435 99 35. 93 496 9? 29—33. 3> 575 9) 36—42. ... 93 637 34—40. 39 599 39 43. 93 495 41. 42. 33 577 „ 44—48. ... •9 612 43—51. 33 620 „ 49. 39 145 99 52—57. 93 525 93 50—55. 53 25 58—60. 93 603 61. ,9 527 RIPON, 1841. 99 62—67. 99 491 39 1—3. 99 587 68—71. 33 528 99 4. 99 573 99 72—74. 75. Omitted. „ 605 39 4j3. 5.5^3—57. ... 93 33 617 155 99 99 76. 77. 99 9% 623 24 99 9) 6. 7. 39 93 383 428 99 99 8—9. 33 537 MADRAS, 1839. 33 10. 99 18 1. 2. 93 152 " SALISBURY, 1839, MONTREAL, 1842. „ 1-7. 99 15 1—13. 33 325 14—17. 39 493 SALISBURY, 1842. 9) 18. 33 25 93 1—2. 55 11 99 33 3—5. 33 166 OSSORY, FERNS, AND LEIGHLIN, „ G. 33 566 1842 9> 7—9. 33 497 1. 2. 3> 606 ,, 10—12. ... 99 167 3J 3. 4. 5—11. 9) Oi 623 iiiitted. 33 13. 99 27 3> 12—19. 3, 607 SALISBURY, 1842 35 >> 20—84. 85—89. S3 33 437 386 33 Ordination charge. 1—24. r? 225 736 SYNTHETICAL INDEX TO THE CHARGES. SALISBURY, DEAN OF, 183.0. Par. 1. ... Page „ 2. „ 3—6. ... „ „ 7—8. ... „ „ 9-14. ... „ 1.')— IG. ... „ „ 17-19. ... 8ALI.SBURY, DEAN OF, 1842. „ 1-11. ... „ 12-13. ... „ 14-2!). ... „ 30-32. ... J) "'"^ — "5. ... „ „ 3G. ... „ „ 37—38. ... „ „ 6 J. .. „ „ 40. „ 41. „ 42_4G. ... „ 47-49. ... „ 50—53. ... „ „ 54—56'. ... „ ST. DAVID'S, 1842. 1 "i „ 1 o. ... „ „ 4—8. ... „ „ 9_1C. ... „ 17-18. ... „ 19—24, ... St. David's continuecL 2 PaV 25—34. ... Page 243 135 5> 35—42. ... JJ 330 31 >» 43—50. ... JJ 468 153 J> 51—57. ... JJ 567 196 >» 58—67. ... j> 500 629 » 68. JJ 642 647 » 69—71. ... )> 28 TORONTO, 1841. 125 )> 1—4. JJ 213 639 J> 5. JJ 34 238 5) 6—8. JJ 15G 36G 405 WINCHESTER, 1841 468 JJ 1. 2. >j 6 329 » 3. JJ 361 354 >J 4—7. JJ 429 531 » 8. j> 214 12 J> 9. JJ 479 37 » 10. JJ 632 640 J> 11—18. JJ 19 499 659 WORCESTER, 1842 W 1—4. }j 13 JJ 5—19. JJ 579 12 JJ 20—24. JJ 614 169 JJ 25— '>6. JJ 39 128 JJ 27—36. JJ 419 641 JJ .37. JJ 170 367 J> 38—41. )j 20 737 III. INDEX TO THE EDITOR^S NOTES AND APPENDIX. Abstinence. Efficacy attributed to, 707 ; general rule of, 709. Altar. Indicates an oblation, 417; loss of the term from our Communion Service significant of a judicial visitation, ibid. ; use of inculcated in the 19th cen- tury ! 418 ; a desideratum in the English Church, 419. To be utterly taken down, 507. Directions for preparation of, 709. Altar Cloths. When to be white, violet, scarlet, black, green, &c. 709. Ambrose, St. His life and miracles, by Mr. J. Albany Christie, 111 ; his prayer and intercession, iiid ; yearly commemoration of in the Anglican Church, 112. Quoted by Hooker, 374. Andrews, Bishop. His Discourse on Justification, 346. Angels. The nine orders of good, 709. Apocrypha. Quotations from by Messrs. Newman and Perceval, 359. Apostolical Succession. Held to be indispensable to the efficacy of the Sacraments by Messrs. Froude, Perceval, Palmer, Keble, and Newman, 44. 321. 332. Arnold, Dr. His view of the origin of Tractarianism, 40. His Christian Life, 345. 331. 504. His remarka on the moral and intellectual faults to be discovered in the writings of the Tractarians, 245. His wish to restore certain practices in the Church compared with the desiderata of the Tractarians, 604. Articles, 39. How far corrected or explained by the Liturgy, 364. 5G1. The opinions of the framers not to be regarded, 538. Athanasius. His exposition of John vi. opposed to that of Bishop Phillpotts, 352. Atonement. See Reserve. No Scripture warrant for the use of to stimulate the affections in order to the conversion of the hearer, 441. Not to be promi- nently or explicitly put forward, 469. Augustine, St. His view of heretical Baptism, 307. Quoted in the Homily on Common Prayer, 345. 374. Austin, Sr. His exposition of John vi. opposed to that 'of Bishop Phillpotts, 352. Balaam, the Son of Beor. His " truly Protestant spirit !" 408. Baptism. Perfection of in the opinion of Hooker, 305, 306 ; Lay and Heretical Bap- tism valid, 307, 308. Graces possessed previous to reception of, 374, 375.. Regeneration may be given where Baptism is not received, ibid. Strong language of old Divines as to the benefits of explained, 344, 345 ; in what sense called " Baptism for the remission of sins," the " new Birth," &c. ibid. A sign of Regeneration, 373 ; a seal and pledge of spiritual grace, 380. Teaching of our Church not fairly stated by Bishop Phillpotts, 373. Barrow, Dr. His views of Baptismal Justification, 348, 349 ; of Justification by 738 INDEX TO THE EDITOk's NOTES AND APPENDIX. [ Barrow, Dr.] inherent righteousness, ;J4D. Quoted by the Tractarians in support of their views, 348. Becket, Thomas a. A light of the Church ; a blessed Saint and Mart^T of the Most High, 491. Benson, Rev. C. His Discourses upon Tradition and Episcopacy ; notice of by the British Critic, 701. Bernard, St. Quoted by Hooker on Remission of sins iii Baptism, 349 ; on Bap- tismal Regeneration, 3/4. Bkveridge, Bishop. His language concerning Baptism, 34C. Erroneously quoted by the Tractarians in support of their doctrine of Baptismal Justification, 347. Bible. " The Bible and the Bible only" an unfortunate watchword, 47. 195. Dr. Hook's substitute for it, 195. Bickersteth, Rev. Edward. His Divine Warning to the Church, referred to, C43. Bird, Rev. C. S. His Defence of the Principles of the English. Reformation, 10. 40. 133. 135. 505. His view of the origin of the Tractarian System, 40. His Pamphlet on Reserve, 472. Bishops. Reverence for, see Iractarians. Condemn without any thorough under- standing of the views they censure ; necessary effect of such condemnation, G. 119. Praise without reading, 1/3 ; condemn without reading, or knowing any of the details, 472. 511. Their ignorance of Ecclesiastical history, 173 ; are relieved in their distress by Mr. Goode, ibid. Accused of heresy, 174. 194, 195. Have been the cause of the recent secessions to Popery, 698. 699. The Church harassed by the publication of their Charges, C95. No good ever came of their conference, G51. Not to be trusted as Patrons, 097. Irish, " Lady De Grey's Wild Irishmen," C96. Bradford, Bishop. His Discourse on Baptismal Regeneration, 378. Breviaries. Annual importation of Roman and Parisian Breviaries into Oxford by Mr. Parker, for devotional purposes, 530. British Critic. Quoted, 28. 34, 35. 44. 4G, 47. G5. 144. 151. 172, 173. 174. 194, 195. 19C. 224. 248. 368. 406. 473. 483. 491. 513. 525. 528. 623. 686. 707. Its curious apology for Mr. Fronde's " ironical turn," C5; Mr. Palmer's view of the case, iljid. Its progressive principles, 224. 529. Its treatment of the Bishop of Gloucester, 472 ; of the Margaret Professor of Divinity, G91. Its sympathy with Rome, 497 ; Mr. Palmer's accouijt of, idid. Review of Mrs. Trollope's Y'icar^ of Wrexhill, 688. Its notices of Auti-Traetarian Publi- cations, 700, 701. False citation from Heylin's Life of Laud, 705. Brogden, Rev. .Fames. Illustrations of the Liturgy and Ritual, 598 ; omission of Bishop Phillpotts in quoting the title of, ibid. Broths. When to be abstained from, 709. Browne, Archdeacon. His Charges quoted, 470. 509. Bull, Bishop. His theory of Justification, 370, 371 ■-, refuted by the Bishop of Ossory, ibid.; adopted by Dr. Pusey, 371. Bctter. Not to be eaten in Lent, 709. Calcutta, Bishop of (Wilson) His Sermon on the Sujiciency oj Holy Scripture, 32. 123. 192. His view of the origin and rapid progress of the Tractarian move- ment, 41. 123; of its effects in India, ibid. His fears confirmed by the testimony of the BishojJ of Madras, /in/. His Charge of 1843 quoted, 194. His ex- planation of the term heresy as ai)plicd to the Tractarians, 194. Calendar, Christian. For the use of Members of the Established Churcli, extracts from, 709. INDEX TO THE EDITOr's NOTES AND APPENDIX. 739 Calvinists, Licence assumed by interpretation of the Articles compared with that of the Tractarians, 565. Candlesticks, Triangular, 511. Canons. Infraction of may be excusable and proper in the present state of the Angli- can Communion, 112. Cashel, Archbishop of (Lawrence). His Visitation of the Saa'0}i Church, 367. Re- marks on Mr. Newman"'s Lectures on Justification, 368. Cassock. Various kinds decribed, 624. The Drawing Room Cassock ; the Visitation Cassock ; the cheapest dress a poor Curate can wear ; saves the waistcoat and trowsers ; anything may be worn under it, ibid. Mr. Michael Gathercole's Cassock, ibid. Proposed resumption of by fifty persons in London, on Mi- chaelmas-day, ibid. Caswall, Rev. Henry. His Prophet of the Nineteenth Century, 124. 141. Catena Patrum. Conspicuous place occupied by the Nonjurors in the Tractarian Catenae, 99. 385. 410. Remarks on tlie character of, by Mr. Goode, 704. Ceremonies. Use of Popish forbidden, 507. Ceremony of "Washing the feet on Mauuday Thursday, 708. Charges, Episcopal. The Church harassed by their publication, 695. See Bishops. Chasubles. Use of to be revived, 616. Cheese. Not to be eaten in Lent, 709. Chester, Bishop of (Sumner). " One of the extreme of the Ultra-evangelical School," 33. His Charge "as flagrant a tampering with the received doctrines of our Church as the Vatican ever exhibited," 695. His treatment by Mr. Per- ceval, 41. 298. 334 ; by Bishop Phillpotts, 260. 270, 271. 343, 344. 350. Said to reject statements borne out by Catholic consent, 414. His views of Justification compared with those of Mr. Newman, 368. Chester, Diocese of. Progress of Tractarianism in, 33. Church Statistics, 33. In- ference from the state of, 629. Chichester, Bishop of (Gilbert.) Practical proof of the value attached by him to Mr. Goode's Diviiie Rule of Faith and Practice, 173. Chrism. Use of in Baptism and Confirmatien a desideratum in the English Church, 419. Christian Remembrancer. Its attack on Mr. Croker and the Quarterly Review, 57 ; quoted, 700. Christie, Albany J., Esq. His Work on Holi/ Virginity, 111 ; his dedication to the Virgin Mary, ibid. ; a disciple of Mr. Ne^vman, ibid. ; would restore the Daily Sacrifice, Celibacy of the Clergy, Confession, and Nunneries, 112. Church. Undue exaltation of, 267. 332, " i7cr Sabbaths," 259. Said to be " a not less mysterious part of the Divine Economy for the Salvation of Sinners than the death of Christ," 3.32. " Has the power of dispensing grace through rites of its own appointing," 341. The six general Laws of Holy Church, 709. Church, Anglican. Its present low state described by Mr. Albany J. Gliristie, 111, 112. Its outward notes partly gone, and partly gouig, 114. " The one ap- pointed means," 266. Its treatment by the Tractarians, 503, Its ministers bound by that exposition of the letter of Scripture, which it has adopted, 364, Church Establishment. An "incubus upon the the country," 62; compared by Mr. Froude and the Anti-Church-rate Agitators to the Upas tree, ibid. 3 B 740 INDEX TtJ llli; Kl)iruu"s NOTES AND AI'l'EXDJX. Church and State. Remarks of the Bisliop of Lineolii on the relations of, 528, 711 — 713. Union of, its design and object, 712. The Ciiurcli does not resign any of the powers conferred upon it by its Divine Founder, ibid. Opinions have recently been put forth wholly incompatible with the maintenance of the Union, 713. Consequences to the Church if the Union were dissolved, ibid. Church, Epis( opal in Scotland. Dr. Pusey hints at retirement to, 145. A purer source of orders than the English, 007. Church of Scotland. A Church according to the English and Irish canons, 301. Church Intelligencer. Deplorable instance of the Editor's bigotry, 303. Its treat- ment of the Bishop of Gloucester, 427. Query on the Revival of exorcism, 520. Advertisement from, 693. Clark, Rev. J. A. His Glimpses of the Old World, 40. Clbmbns of Alexandria. His interpretation of John vi. opposed to that of Bishop Phillpotts, 352. Closb, Re\'. F. The Written Tradition, 2G7. His Sermon on (he Fifth of Xovember, notice of by the British Critic, 701. His Tendenci/ o/ Church Principles, 643, Communion, Lav. The only course open to the Tractariaus on Mr. Keble's shewing, 119. 145.535. Communion Table. Bee Altar. Its position according to canon 82nd, 593. Lights to be placed on, 623. Condemnation. See Damnation. Confession, Auricular. Attempt to enforce it, 56. 528. Described by Professor Powell, 56 ; by Bishop Hall, 528 ; by Bishop M'llvaine, ibid. Evil efTects attributed to its neglect, by Mr. Albany J. Christie, 112. Converts to Poperv. See SecessioH. Convocation. Petition for restoration of, 651. Opinion of Gregory Xaziezen, 651. Cope. Not to be worn at the celebration of the Lord's Supper, 507 ; colours of on various festivals, 709, Corporal Cloths. Description of; marked with four crosses, 616. Co.stume, Clerical. Petition to enforce, 624. Recent singularities in, ibid. See Cassock. Cran.mer, Archbishop. His views of Justification, 346. Croker, Mr. His Article on Rubrics, 57 ; abuse of by the Tractarians, ibid. Cross. To be placed on the middle of the Altar, 709. Why preferred to the Crucifix as an emblem, 5 1 2. To be disguised with conventional shapes and decora- tions, 513. Worn on the scarf, 616. Crown. Supremacy of, what now meant by, 711- Crucifix. See Cross. " Crux Fidelis." Extract from the Hjinn, 708. Daily Service. Order for performance of had reference to Clergy without cure of souls, C15. Dalgairns, J. D., Esq. His Letter to the " rnivers,"" in extcnso, C78— 680. Da.mnation. Meaning attached to tlic expression in the Communion Service, by Bishop Phillpotts, .353, effects of such interpretation, ;J54 ; not justified by the original, ibid. ; a groat stinnbling block in the way of weak brtHhren, ibid. Parallel expression in the present and earliest edition of the Ho- milies, ibid. View taken by the Bishop of Worcester, ibid. Dens. His complete Body of Divinity, quoted, 676. Devotions. Continued publication of Tractarian manuals in defiance of the Bisliop of Oxford, .'i.30 ; specimen of, 511. 519. 528. 530. Devotions commemorative of the Passion, extracts from, 707- Devotions for the Holy Communion, extracts from, 708. INDEX TO THE EDITOR 's NOTES AND APPENDIX. 741 AiaKpiyu. Meaning of tlie word in 1 Cor. xi. 29, 353. How explained by Bishop Phillpotts, ibid. Disciples. Picture of the disciples of the Tractarian School, by Mr. Paget, 625. Dissent. Fallacy of supposing that it can be checked only on Tractarian principles ; state of the Diocese of Chester, 629. Dissenters. "Orthodox," 298. Treatment of by the Tractarians, 301. 303 ; to be regarded as excommunicate, 301. Dublin, Archbishop of (Whately). Notice of by the Editor of the Church Intelli- gencer, 696. His heresies compared with those of Luther, ibid. 194. His Kingdom of Christ, 695. Edinburgh, Bishop of (Terrot). His Chargequoted on observance of the Rubric, 579. Eggs. "When allowed, 709. Episcopacy. Reverence for, see Tractarians. " No church can exist without it, nor any christian man, no not so much as in name," 44. One of the essentials of religion, 332. A divine mystery, ibid. Communion with Christ tlirough a non-episcopal association impossible, 333. Episcopate. Has been aggrandized to the depression of the Presbyterate, 695. Eucharist. Protestant doctrine of, said to be as irreverent as the Socjnian heresy, 194. Tractarian views of, 266, 332. Miracle of, greater than that at Cana of Galilee, 409. Doctrine of the real presence how held by the Tractarians, 408 ; ex- plicitly taught in their manuals of devotion, 708. Extracts from Mr. Froude and his Editors, Messrs. Williams, Palmer, Newman, Pusey, Renouf, Hook, 408—410. Opposite view of Archbishop Wake, 410 ; passage suppressed in Dr. Pusey 's Catena, ibid. Any local presence whatever denied by our Church, 412. Extract from Bishop Porteus, 412 ; from Hooker, 413. Mr. Fronde's translation of the word iroiuTt, 416. Reserved as the reward of habitual piety, 425. EusEBius. His exposition of John vi. opposed to that of Bishop Phillpotts, 352. Evangelicals. See Ultra-Protestants. Cleave to the soul-destroying heresy of Luther, on the subject of justification, 368. Exeter, Bishop of (Phillpotts). His prophetic condemnation of Tract 90, 152, Seems to contradict himself in speaking of the views of the Tractarians on Tradition, 193. His unjust animadversions on the charge of the Bishop of Chester, with reference to his Definitions of the Church, 270. 271.350, and of the Sacraments, 343, 344 — 350. Objects to the use of the words Rites and In- stitutions, as applied to the Sacraments, 350. His comment on Acts ii. 40 42. 272. His interpretation of the expression ^' not discerning the Lord's Body" diff"ers from that of our Church, 353, agrees with Mr. Froude and his Editors, 408. His explanation of the word " Damnation " in the Communion Service, 353. at variance with that of the Bishop of Worcester, 354. Quotes incorrectly our Church's definition of a Sacrament, 373. Does not fairly re- present the teaching of our Church with reference to Baptism, ibid. His dis- tinction between the case of infants and adults with respect to the grace of t Baptism, not in accordance with the teaching of our Church, 376, His in- sinuation that the teaching of the Tractarians on the doctrine of the Real Presence has been misrepresented, examined, 408 — 410. His interpretation of John vi. opposed to that of the Fathers, 352. His assertion that we know not how the Body and Blood of Christ are taken and received in the Lord's Sup- per, 352. His singular omission in quotmg the title of IMr. Brogden's Illus- trations, 598. Seems to have forgotten the niaT-fipwv ttjs avajxias, 271. Exktkr, Diockse of. State of not to be wondered at, 635. 3 B 2 742 INDliX TO THE EUlTOirs NOTES AND APPENDIX. Exorcism. Its impracticability in the present day questioned, 520. Fabeh, Rev. G. S. His J'rimitive doctrine of JmtiJiaUion, 3(>«. 509 ; notice of in the British Critic, 701. His Provincial Letters, G95. Fasting. Pardon bestowed tlirougli on tiie sinner, and rewards on the righteous, 707. Kulos for, 709. Faussett Profkssor. Articles on, in British Critic and English Churchman, 091. FtowERS. Directions for adorning Churches with, 525. Wliat colours to be chosen on particular days, ibid. Practice advocated by Jlr. Paget, 525 ; by Mr. Newman, ibid. Font. Edification of the congregation more important than its " significant position," 592. Froude, Re\-. R. H. His Remains quoted, 10. 35. f;2. G«. 194. 267. 332. 538. C22. G35. Ci.97. Part ii. 416. His reverence for Episcopacy 697. His Letters to Jlr. Perceval, 44. His Libel on the Churcli of England, 62. Would rather have had his orders from a Scotcli Bishop, ibid. Embarrassed by bis Ordination engagements, ibid. Accuses Bishop Jeremy Taylor of heresy, 194. His views of tiie Eucharist, 194. 266. His translation of the word irojejTt, 4 1 6. Speaks of " Revelation in antiquity," 248. Fuller. His Church Ilislory quoted, 594. Garbett, Professor. His Review of Dr. Pusey^s Sermon on the Eucharist, 412. His Bampton Lectures, 423. 496. 643. Description of the treatment received by the Reformers at the hands of the Tractarians, 496. Notice of by the English Churchman, 701. Gladstone, Mr. His motive for separating from iiis Tractarian brethren, 124. Gloucester, Bishop of (Monk). Said to condemn without thorough acquaintance, 6. 472. His treatment by the Tractarians, 427. 472 ; pretended change in his views on Reserve, ibid. Golightlv, Rev. C. P. His Letter to the Bishop of Oxford, 147. 175. His Brief Remarks on Tract 90 second Edition, 703. GooDE, Rev. W. His Divine Rule of Faith and Practice, 147. 175. 248. 704 ; notice of in the Britic Critic, 172 ; reviewed by Mr. Ward, ibid. ; Mr. Ward's tes- timony to its utter worthlessness, 1/3 ; different opinion of some who " seem" to have perused it, ibid. His Letter to the Bishop of 0.rford on some diffi- culties in his Lqrd-ihip^s Charge, 143. 147. 175. His Case as it is, 244. 247. His Two Treatises on the Church by Dr. Jackson aiid Bishop Sanderson, 146. 189. His Altars prohibited by the Church of England, 410. Relieves the Bishops in distress, 173. Goodman, Bishop of Gloicesteu, His zeal for union with Rome, 705. His attempt to buy the See of Hereford, 706 ; had no other merit than his money, ibid. ; lost both his election and his bribe, ibid. ; died a papist, ibid. Eulogized by Mr. Oakeley, ibid. Goodwin, Dr. Thomas. His E.rposilion upon the Revelations, 125. 682. (iREGORV, Nazianzkn. His opiuiou of Episcopal conferences, 651. , Greslev, Rev. W. His motive for separating from his brethren, 124. Grindall, Ahchuishop. His Remains, 507. Articles of Inquiry, i7ii. INDKX TO THE EDlTOR^S NOTES AND APPENDIX. 745 Merit. Views of Mr. Newman and the Tractarians. 372. Milk. Is not accounted to break a fast, 709. Miller, Dr. His Letters to Dr. Pusey, 423. MiiNisTER. Directed to turn his face to the people in the only instance in our Servica where he prays for them, 593. Turning his back upon the people a great point, 622. His various positions during Service, ibid. Missal, Roman. Extract from to throw light on the conduct of Mr. Newman in mix- ing water with wine at the Eucharist, 710. MoDKRN Religionists. See Lltra-Protestants. Montague, Bishop of Chester. A great Tractarian authority, 705 ; a scoundrel by his own acknowledgment, ibid. MoRMONiSM. Its rise and progress compared with that of Tractarianism, 123. Want of personal character in its leaders, 141. Morris, Rev. T. E. His Sermon before the University of Oxford, 522 ; is called upon to sign the 22nd Article, 523. MosHEiM. De rebus Christianorum, 123, 124. MozLEV, Rev. T. Editor of the British Critic, 497. Newman, Rev. John Henry. His general acquiescence in Mr. Froude's views, 35: His retractation of the " very hard things" which he had written against Romanism, 46. 97. 100. 669. Resigns his Church preferment as a necessary preliminary to the publication of his Sermons on Subjects of the Day, 110. Asserts the intercessory power of " the Mother of God," ibid. Character of his Lives of the Saints anticipated. 111. Specimen of his pupils, and of the effects of his teaching, iiirf. His advice to his Rome-ward disciples, 114; his effort to keep them from straggling, 126. His lamentation over the Church of England, 147. Remarks of the Bishop of Lincoln on his present position, 150. His distinction between things necessary to be believed and things necessary to be done, 245. His views of the Eucharist, 267. His theory of Justification compared by the Archbishop of Cashel with that of Osiander, 367 ; described by Bishop "Wilson as "far worse than Popery," 368 ; identified by Mr. Faber with that of Knox, ibid ; adopts the very com- parison used by the Papists, 369 ; impugns the authority of Hooker, 370. His views on the Doctrine of Merit, 372. His imprecation against the Bishopric of Jerusalem, 114. 696 ; remarks upon by the Editor of the Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette, 697. His otKovofiia and <[>evaKiafihs, 669 — 677. His misquotation of the Homilies, 703. His practice of mixing water with the wine at the Lord's Supper, 519. 710; his vindication of his conduct a pain- ful sign of the tendency of the Tractarian system to produce a moral obliquity, 519. His Letter to Dr. Jelf, 569. 668. His Lectures on Romanism, 245. 248. 267. His Lectures on Justification, 367. 370. His Arians, 422. 437. His Paro- chial Sermons, vol. vi. 332. 369. His Sermons on Subjects of the Day, 55. 110. 114. 118. 120. 147. 267. 372. 409. 649 ; not published when the Bishop of Oxford delivered his Charge of 1842, 638. Non-jurors. Character of their Theology; its effects on the Tractarians, 98. 147. 220. Notices. Purely ecclesiastical not forbidden by 1st Vict. c. 45, 30. Nowell, Dr. His Catechism an authorized exposition of our Church's views, 365. Quoted, 380. Oakei.ev, Rev. F. His Curate's " most audacious Catechism," 96. His defence of Tract 90, 706, His eulogium on Bishop Goodman, ibid. 746 INDEX TO THt: EUITOR S NOTES AND APPENDIX. Oblation. See Altar and Eucharist. Restoration of the word iu our Communion Service significant of God's mercy, 417 ; a privilege which King Charles and Bishop Andrewes had not, ibid. Made in silence a sign of our humiliation, ibid. ANliat is the oblation intended by Mr. Williams? ibid. OiKovofila. System of, Gdii — G77. Letter to Mr. Newman from a Member of Convo- cation, G7I. Letter to Dr. I'usey from another Member, 073. Second Letter to Mr. Newman from a Member of Convocation, G74. Extract from a Charge by the Bishop of Ohio, G75. Orioen. His exposition of John vi. opjiosed to that of Bishop riiillpotts, 352. OssoRY AND Fer.vs, Bisuop OK (O'Brien.) Ilis Trealine on Justijication, ;}70. Notice of his Charge by tlie Christian Remembrancer, 700. Oxford, Bishop of (Bagot.) His cliarge of "gratuitous agitation," 2G. His inter- ference required contrary to his previous anticipations, 151. His Charge of IS."}}], how regarded by the British Critic, 151. Faukt, Rev. F. E. His Warden of BerkinghoU, not published, when the Bishop of Oxford delivered his Charge of 1842, 144 ; sentiments of his Lordship em- bodied in the cliaracter oi Afiss Mary Clinton, 143 ; the Novel compared with Mrs. Trollope's Vicar of Wrea.hill, 0"88; "crowning perfidy" of the authors, 688. Picture of the Tractarian disciples, 625. His Tales of the Villaye,2i:i. HiG. 482. 493; views on the Sufficiency of Holy Scriptures, 223 ; practice of dressing Cliurches witli various coloured flowers commended, 525 ; the Church of Rome said not to err in matters of Faith, 482. His Milford Malvoisin, 495 ; positive advantages of Queen Mary's accession and reign, ibid. Palmer, Rev. William, of Magdalen College. His Letter to a Protestant Catholic, 52. 74. His views on Papal Supremacy, 52 ; on Transubstantiation, 74 ; his Anathema, 495; his Letter to Mr. Goliyhtly, 496. Pal.mkr, Rev. William, of Worcester College. Attempts to shield the Teachers at the expense of the Disciples, 55. His opinion of Mr. Froude's con- versation, 65 ; of the theology of the Nonjurors and its influence on the Tractarians, 98. His views of Apostolical Succession, 44. His character of the British Critic, 497. His connection with the origin of the movement, 44. 46 ; his alai'm at an early period of it, ib. ; his ten years silence and inaction, 99 ; suspects treachery iu the Church, 120 ; his motive for separating from his brutlu-en, 124; ascribes the condemnation of Tract 90 to personal hostility, &.C., 668. His Xarrative of Events, 44. 46. 55. 65. 98. 120. 147. 195. 635. 668. Paktv. Existence of, disclaimed by Dr. Pusey ; testimony of Mr. Fronde and Mr. Palmer, 635. Pearson, Bishop. Quoted on Sin after Baptism, 385. Perceval, Hon. and Rkv. A. P. His account of the origin of Tracfarianism, 40. His testimony of the Colonial Bishops to the value of the Tracts, 152. His statement of the relative proportions of praise and censure bestowed upon the movement by the English Bishops, 161. 16.3. Summons the Bishop of Sodor and Man to give evidence in favor of Truclarianism, 168 ; his Lordship bears witness to the great good done by tlie iVcslei/ans, and to the importance of increased attention to the Thirty-nine Articles, ibid. His treatment o( the Bishop of CJiester, 41. 359 ; accuses his Lordship of palliating the guilt of Schism, 298. 3;J4. His remarks on a passage in the Charge of the Bishop of Hereford, 418, His explanation of Prov. x. 12, 359. His view of the ffficacy of Ciood Works, 359. His motive for separating from his fJrethren, INDEX TO THE EDITOr''s NOTES AND APPENDIX. 747 124, His Letter to the Bishop of Chester y 41. 298 ; Coilection of Paj)ers, &c. 44. 61. 152. 168. 333. 418. PococK, Dr. Edward. His Comment on Hosea xiv. 9. with reference to the worthy participation of the Lord's Supper, 353. ^evuKifffihs. See oiKovofj-ia. Poisoning System. Advocated by Mr. Froude, 635. Poole, Rev. Avliffe. His Two Lights on the Altar, 023. PoRTEUS, Bishop. Lectures on St. Jlfatthew, ■il2 ; quoted on the Eucharist, ibid. Powell, Professor. His Sermon at St. Martin's, Oxford, 1841, 56. Sees more than he once did of the danger of Tractarianism, 56. His opinion of Auricular Confession, ibid. Pratt, Rev. Josiah. His account of tlie rise and progress of the Tractarian Move- ment, 40. Prayer, Extempore, before Sermon, allowed by the Bishops in 1060, 589. Prayer for the Dead. A desideratum in the English Church, 419. A Catholic practice, 528 ; not publicly inculcated, 528 ; effect of its exclusion from the Prayer for the Church Militant, 520. Cannot be retained in our Church with the Sixth Article, 509 ; is the first step to Popery, ibid. Specimens of, from Tractarian Manuals of Devotion, 707. Intended pubhcation of the VigilicB J\fortuori««. Their relative value in the Colonies and the Mother Country, 152, Tract 90. Its immoral principles and tiagrant dislionesty, 102 ; condemned by the Bishop of Oxford, and the Hebdomadal Board, 36. 103; vindicated by Messrs. Ward, Hook, Keble, Pusey, and all the leading Tractarians, 103. 139. Its continued republication and vindication not to be reconciled with reverence for Episcopacy, 'M). 103. 145. Its earliest condemnation, 152. A desperate effort to "regulate tlie course of the more zealous," 150. List of publications connected with, 570, 571. 753. Letter of the Four Tutors, 067. Letter of Mr. Newman to the V ice-Chancellor, 608. Resolutions of the Hebdomadal Board, 068 ; its condemnation declared by Dr. Hook to be an act of "usurped authority," 668 ; ascribed by Mr. Perceval to " merely per- sonal hostility, and furious agitation," ibid. \ testimony of Mr. Newman to the contrary, ibid. Tractarians. Their personal character. Mr. Bird's remarks on God's purpose in exposing his creatures to the danger of embracing error recommended by personal goodness in its advocates, 133. Want of cliaracter in the Mormon leaders, 141. The worst heresies propagated by honest and conscientious men, 493. Illus- trations of their Meekness, Charity, and Forbearance, 088 — 094. Their "total indifference to consequences," 99. Their Theology. Not that of the body of the English Church ; directly op- posed to that of the Divines of the 17th century, 140 ; opinions of the Bishops of Exeter, Ossory, &c. 140, opposed to that of the Bishop of Oxford on this head, 147. Their masquerade orthodoxy, 57. Their writings marked by moral and intellectual faults, 245. Their professions on the subject of Tra- dition not to be trusted, 248. Their irreverent carelessness in liandling the Word of God, 702. Their conduct towards the Church. Inconsistent with the obligations of members of her communion, 503. Dissatisfaction both of Teachers and Dis- ciples with her Formularies, 132. Tluir want of deference, 503. Their "no common" love for the Church sadly ill-requited, 147. Their conduct as controversialists, 700 — 706. ^lisrepresent the sentiments of our standard Divines, 140, 147. Specimens of their miscjuotations, 43.3. 702 — 700; of their treatment of opponents, 57. 130, 143, 144. 172, 173, 174. 700—702. Their reverence for ICjiiscopaci/, 095 — 097, 098, 699. Mr. Newiuan's im- precation upon the Bishopric of .Jerusalem, 114. The Bishop of Worcester accused of damnable heresy, 174. 194. Bishop Jeremy Taylor shockingly heretical, 194. Bishop Latimer something in the Bultecl Hue, 697. Arch- INDEX TO THE EDITOr's NOTES AND APPENDIX. 751 [Tractarians] bishop Wliateley's heresies, 174. Republication and vindication of Tract 90, 145. Continued publication of Popish Manuals of Devotion, 530. Ml'. Keble's scheme of migration from one Diocese to another according to the sentiments of the Diocesan, 535. Treatment of the Bishops of Chester and Hereford by Mr. Perceval (See Perceval) ; of the Bishop of Gloucester (See Gloucester). Treatment of the Tracts on Reserve by the Bishops, according to Dr. Pusej-, 436, Mr. Woodgate, 472, and the British Critic, ibid. Their Lordsliips' ignorance of the Fathers, and difficulty in dealing with the his- torical argument, 173; blamed as the causes of the recent secessions, 698, 699. Their feelings toward the Reformation. Their continuous protest against the odious Reformation, 57. Their intense hatred of it, 496. Their leaning towards Popery, 56, 57. Remarks of the Bishop of Lincoln, 150 ; their daily approach to Rome, both in doctrine and affectionate feeling, 126. Their secession from the Church. Viewed by the Bishops of Hereford, London, and Ossory, in a different light from the Bishop of Oxford, 145. An evil less to be dreaded than the unprotestantizing the National Church, 145. Anticipated by the Romanists, 150. The Bishops blamed as the authors of 145. 698. 699. Tractarianism. Its origin, rise, and progress. Views of its origin by Bishop- M'llvaine, the Bishops of Chester and Calcutta, Dr. Arnold, Mr. Pratt, Mr. Perceval, ]\Ir. Bird, 40, 41 ; opposite views of Dr. Pusey, 129. Progress of the Manichees and Mormons compared with that of the Tractarians, 123. Its character, tendency, and effects. " Another Gospel," 137. A re- vival of the exploded errors of Popery, 40. Compared with the Laudian movement, 125. 682 — 685. Its character concealed at first under the veil of poetic mysticism, 40. The system described by Mr. Garbett, 643. Its effects in India, 123. List of publications on the subject of the tendency of the movement, 643 ; balance of good and evil resulting fi-om it, 161. 163. Its oppoJients. Chai'acter and qualifications of, compared with those of its supporters, 135 ; stigmatized as gratuitous agitators, 143. Opinion of the Bishop of Montreal, 144. Tradition. The real question at issue, 247. View-s of Messrs. Froude, Newman, and Keble, 248. Full Doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation said to be known by Tradition, 248. List of publications connected with this branch of the controversy, 243. Trollope, Mrs. See Paget, Rev. F. E. Ultra-Protestants, So called. Their views exaggerated and misrepresented by the Tractarians, 130. 686, 687 ; correctly stated by the Bishop of Calcutta, 644—647. Unction, Extreme. A desideratum in the English Church, 419. Unity. Required by the Scriptures, what, 298. Usher, Archbishop. Extract from, on Baptismal Regeneration, 375. Valentinian. His want of Baptism, 374. Virgin Mary Her present power atid influence asserted by Mr. Newman, 110. See Mary. Virginity. Treatise of St. Ambrose, published by Mr. Christie, 11 1 ; a grace harder to acquire in the present state of the Anglican Church than elsewhere. 111; means of acquiring it, ibid. 752 INDEX TO Tni£ eoitok\s xotes and appendix. Wake, Ak< hbishoi'. His Commenlary on the Church Catechism, 342 ; his application of the words " given unto us," ibid. His Principles of the Christian licligion, 410. His views of the Real Presence, ibid. Passage from, suppressed in Dr. Pusey's Catena, ibid. Value of his testimony stated by the Bbhop of Exeter, 412. Ward, Rev. G. His reverence for Episcopacy, 173 ; his Review of Mr. Goodc'a Divine Rule, ibid. His Few More Words in support of Tract 90, 103. 565. 5C9. His Ideal of a Christian Church, 565. 568. Reprints Mr. Richards' "most audacious CatecliLsm," suppressed by the Bishop of London, 'JG. 382. Washing of the Feet. Ceremony on Maundy Thursday, 708. Water. Mixed with wine in the Eucharist by Mr. Newman, 519. Whatelv, Archhishoi', See Dublin. Wheatly. Partially adopted the views of the Nonjurors, 98. WiLBERFORCE, Archdeacon Samc EL. Hls SermoTi on the Ministry of Reconciliation, 436. Williams, Rev. Isaac. His Tracts on Reserve, 63. See Reserve. Avows himself the Author of Tract 86, 78 ; the supposed author of Tract 75, and of the Horae Canonicse, ibid. His Tract on the Changes in the Prayer Book, 416. 419. 520. His Remarks on the Charge of the Bishop of Gloucester, 427. Winchester, Bishop ok (Stmner). His views on Reserve not in accordance with those of the Tractarians, 431 — 433. His Ministerial Character of Christ misquoted, 433. Wiseman, Dr. His Letter to the IJarl of Shreivsbury, 12G. ll'is Letter to Afr. Xetc- man, 126. 569. Rejoices in the Romeward progress of the Tractarians, 126. WooDGATE, Rev. H. Arthur. His Analysis of the Tracts on Reserve ; want of can- dour with which it is conducted, 471. Worcester, Bishop of (Pepvs). Review of his Charge in the English Churchman, 695. Accused of damnable heresy, 174. 194. 696. Works. Efficacy attributed to, 359. 707. Propitiatory value of, 703. Wrexhill, Vicar of. See Paget and Trollope. WvNTER, Dr. Remarks on, from the English Churchman, 692. YoRKE, Rev. C. J. His Respectful Address to the Bishop of London, 561. His Puseyism of all Ages, notice of in the British Critic, 702. 753 CORRIGENDA. Page 63 Line 6 for disproof read disproof. ... 96 ... 54 }> atrocious ») audacious*. ... 123 ... 30 )> where )5 whence. ... 136 ... 7 t! dissentions » dissensions ... 144 ... 44 » VIII. » VII ... 193 ... 47 J) 5 » 7 ... 199 ... 46 5> t » * ... 275 ... 1 » Saviour's >• Saviour. ... 289 ... 56 » parochi » parochial. ... 302 ... 31 >J 1843 >5 1842. ... 314 ... 15 5> § » II. .. ib. ... 41 }> II )5 §. ... 319 ... 24 JJ 254 J> 154. ... 327 ... 1 » 372 51 327. ... 347 ... 52 after issue add Ed. ... 415 ... 50 for Miller read Meller. ... 478 ... 29 j> III. » XXIII. ... 495 ... 38 dele a. ... 530 ... 22 for twelvemonths read two years. ... 559 ... 1 )> betwen j> between. ... 571 ... 24 » M.A. 5> B.D. ... 665 ... 7 }> Newmans J5 Newman's. ADDENDA. The following should have been inserted in the list of publications connected '^ract 90 and the Interpretation of the Articles, pp. 570. 571. 1. Tr.\ctarian. On Subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles. Letter to the Rev. Charles Ehington, D.D., Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Dublin ; occasioned by his Sermon in Trinity College Chapel. By the Hon. and Rev. A. P. Perceval, B.C.L. &c. 3. Anti-tractarian. Subscription to the Thirty-niiie Articles. A Sermon preached in the Chapel of Triiiity College, Dublin, on Sunday the 20;tion. ►>^.^i P ig