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TMCTARIANISM,
ITS NATURE AND TENDENCY
ILLUSTKATISD BY 4 Ul£
EXTRACTS FROM THE "BRITISirTRITKJ,'
WITH REMARKS.

Scatidit fatalis maehina nniiu.^-,
Fceta armis : piieri tiicum iniuiptajqiie puellbe
Sacra caiiunt, fudmiirpio manii coiitingere gaiKfent.
Ilia subit, medi/eque niitmn.-i illabitiir iirbi.
O patria I a^.n. ii. -iST.

The iflCTeasing dangers of that once famous fJniveraity whose
name is now unhaj^pily associated with tbe " Tracts for the
Times," and the conviction that- in tlioee d&ng.ers our Pns-
testant Church aftd State are deeply- involved, must stir up
the faithful sons of Oxford to every possible effort' for ex
posing and- repelling the insidious and daring attacks of the
enemy. And it is conceiAed that nothing can be mov.: ef
fectual to tfei« end, than bringing to general notice the re
corded aTid published sentiments of those false brethren,' wl.u
are wounding the very bosom which has cherished and nou-
lislied them.
In this paper, the attention of the public is directed to
certain , extracts from the British Critic. This periodical
.(totally tmworthy of it3 name, for a more anti-liriiii-h pub-

2
lication was never put forth) is conducted with great ability
and peculiar craftiness. In reading its treacherous and hostile
articles, (especially those' in the number for July 1841,) it is
hardly possible to believe that they were written by- members
(much less by ministers) of the Church of England : one
cannot help feeling as if in the hands of Papists and Jesuits
— ill disguised, and banded together for the nun of all we
hold dear.
It may perhaps be necessary to premise, that since the
Bishop of Oxford recomrt tended the discontinuance of .the
" Tracts for the Times," the British Critic has become the
grand official organ of the Tractarian party ; that its articles
are always submitted for revision and approval to persons
of note among themselves, and consequently come forth
with much more than mere individual authority. Viewed
in this light, as deliberately and boldly expressing the united
opinions and purposes of a body of clergymen, formidable for
their talents, their influence, and their growing numbers, the
following passages demand the deep and serious attention of
all who value the integrity and existence of our reformed and
i'rotestant Church. — They are selected from an article on
Bishop Jewel, the objects of which are — td dejireciate the
Reformers aod the Reformation, to denounce Protestantism,
to concihate adniiration and aifection for Papists and Popery,
and especially to disparage the Church of England as by law
established. Hrith:h Cm I. , No. 59, page 2. " We talk of the ' blessings
" of emancipation froux the Papal yoke/ and use other phrases

of a like bold and undutiful tenour." — Page 3. "We (rust,
" of course, that active and visible union with the see of
" Rome, is not of tbe essence of a church ; at the same
" time, we are deeply conscious that, in lacking it, far from
" asserting a tight, we forego a great privilege. Rome has
f 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 sins and
" for our own, we are estranged from her ' iii piresence, not
" in heart ;' may we never be provoked to forget her, or cease
'^'. to love, her !" [Very remarkable is the change. oi Tractarian
feeling and language towards Rome. Formerly she was stig
matized as " crafty, obstinate, wilful, malicious, cruel, and un
natural;" and we were warned that "if induced to believe
the professions of Rome, and make advances toward her, as
if a Sister or a Mother Church, (which in theory she is,) we
should find, too late, that we were in the arms of a pitiless
and unnatural relative, who would but triumph in the arts
which had inveigled us within her reach !" — Newman on Ro
manism and Popular Protestantism, p. 101..— -Hence it would
appear, that Mr. Newman had once " a strong feeling against
Rome;" but now, (as the public have been told on undoubted
authority,) he "has no such feeling at all." Can the reai
.nature and tendency of Tractarianism be more convincingly
shewn ?]
:! Page 1.3, 14. " It seems — a, good deal to say, that what
** Ridley and Latimer maintained — was the Truth. — To
," call the earlier reformers, martyrs, 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 Avhich these persoi^s suffered were the Tkuth."
[" It iii lamentable, that any should now be found, not
among.st the enemies of our Church, but amongst her sons
and servants, to speak irreverently and disparagingly of those
holy men, who proved their sincerity by the test of niar-
tvTdom.''-r7rFrom i/ce Bishop of LondoiUs Se)"mon at ^. PauVs,
.Jan. 30, 1842.]
Page 15. "The lights of the Church in the middle ages,
'¦ Hildebrand, Becket, and Innocent." [These are the models
jiow held up lo our ^tud'uts, junior clergy, and future bishops !
Such was ;that fraiitic bigot, the late uuhapi)y Mr. Froude;
and Uvinff Imitators might be. named, who have exhibited
their spirit " in language, the keeimes's and severity of which
can hardly be exceeded.'"]
Page 24. "No externals without meaning. Gorgeous cha^
•'lices presume tlie intrinsic preciouspess of the consecrated
"element which they inclose; altahs, a propiti.vtoby
¦' s-^cniFicE." [iV word or two on this extract. Here is un
folded and declared the tni.t reason why the TractariaiHS are
so anxious, wherever they can, to erect a stone altar (which
is not the legalized furniture of our chancels) instead of the
jiroper com'Munion-tabk, as ordained by the 82d canon. It is,
til affix, if possible, the idea of " a propitiatory sacrifice" upoa
our Protestant communion-service, and thus to bring it back
as near as they can to the Popish mass. Formerly, they
used to pretend that it was merely on architectural grounds.

and as a matter of taste, and as a decent preference for; stone
or mafble, as a nobler material than wood, wherewith to furnish
the sanctuary. ^ Such is the mask assumed at p. 152, where
tlie party are indulging in remarks ori the rising church at
Malta : (in which island, by the way, they are as much afraid
of seeing an Enghsh Protestant Bishop as at Jerusalem :) —
" Let us suppose the 'altar,' in a country of stone, not to l)e
" richly worked in that material, or variegated bj'- a combi-
" nation, of the brilliant marbles of the Mediterranean, but to
'¦ b't a. table of cheap unornamented wood, the poverty of this
"material being rather proclaimed than concealed by a velvet
" covering;," &c. This covert advance of semi-Popery, under
tiie guise of ecclesiastical architecture, has been tried at Cam
bridge by " The Camden Society."' But the Bishop of London
has discovered the snare, and has withdrawn his name from
that fraternity. It is to be hoped that his lordship will now
direct his archdeacons and rural deans to. keep a strict eye on
the furniture of chancels, according to canon 82, and be es-
peciallv vigilant in the case of new churches.]
Page 27. ."Protestantism, in, its essence, and in dYl its
" bearingSjis — characteristically the religion of corrupt human
" nafjjre." [Here hote, that when our besiegers first opened
their trenc.bes, they declared war merely against " uUra-Pro-
testantism ;" but now, thinking themselves strong enough to
avow their real obje<.cts, they undisgujsedly denounce '' Pro-
testantisHft-' itself. Ana' one of the assailants, waxing bolder
still and more violent, hesitates not, in the most pubhc and
outrageous manner^ actually to anatlienwiize Protestantism,
andallwho profess k. What nent ? The fagot and the stake:'}

Page 28. " The hold which in a very short time they (viz.
'¦ Tr-ictarian principles) have taken of the affections of people
•• in this- coun tr)^, is something of which not every one has an
" idea. All weapons forged against them seem to fall to the
" ground ; tliey are where they are, despite all which has been
"done, and more which has been nvnttered against tbem."
[The vvord, -inuf tered, has speciaf reference to the too guarded,
tender, and qualified terms of disapprobation in which several
of the Bishops had at that time (July 1841) expressed them
selves in their charges against Tractarian vie^^s and practices.
Since then, many of them have felt compelled to assume a
louder tone ; and it is to be hoped that the time is not far dis
tant when the united voice of episcopal authority will'spEAK
I > tri'.] Page 29. " The question, then, is this, viz. how persons,
" cordially believing that the Protestant tone of doctrine and
" thought is essentially anti-Christian, (a class, we can assure
" our readers, by no means inconsiderable,) can cnnxrien.tionsly
" adhere to a communion lohich has been, made such as ii is?"
[This is indeed a " question" for the Tractarians. Perhaps
Mil. SiivrnoRi' might help them to the- right answer. See
his pamphlet, entitled " Some Answer to the Gluestiov,,"'p,
^J8, et seq.]
Page 45. " It ought not to be for nothing^', no, nor for any
" thing short o'" some a ery vital truth, ('.some truth not to be
"rejected without fatal •ror, nor embraced without radical
"chano-f.) that />f',»a«.< of nan^e and influence should venture
." upon the part of ' ccclesiastual agitators ;' intrude upon the
''¦peace of tlie contented, and raise doul>ts in the minds of the

"uncomplaining; vex .the church with controversy, alarm
" Serious men, and interrupt the established order of things;
" ' set the father against the son, and the mother aginst the
"' daughter;' and lead; the taught to say, ' I have mor© under-
" standing tliaii my teacher .' AH this has been done^^Aul all
"this is worth . hazarding in a matter of life and death.— ^ An
tV^bject thus momentous WFj believe to be the U7i-Pr6testant-
" ( ing (to use aii offensive but forcible word) of the National
" Church ; and accordingly, we are . ready .to endure, hoM'ever
" we may lament, the undeniable, and in themselves disastrous,
" effects ol the pending controversy." — [Here the Tractarians
glc>ry in avowing themselves as the troublers of Israel ; thereby
rejecting the -advoeacy of their champion. Dr. Hook, who
(in his " Call for Union ") would fain throw the blairie upoii
their opponents.] .,,.. s', ;,¦>:-.„
«;> Ibid, '" fVe cannot stand where we are: we must go back-
" wards ot forwards; ahd it. will, surely be. the latter. It is abr
" sol utely necessary towards the consistency of the,^ system
"which certain parties are labouring to restore, that truths
" should be clearly stated, which as yet have been hd
'^intimated, and others developed, which are now but in
" germ. And, as we go on, we must recede more and more from
"the principles (if any such there be) of /Ae English Rk-
" FORMATION." Note at bottom of same page. "It is worth
'• ^considering, whether the opposition which the ifiuAent r.jligion
" encounters in our own age, be not, in part, owing to the ne-
" cessity entailed by our circumstances, of restoring it by de-
" grees. Medicine is never so unpalatable as when sipped''
Comment is needless on words so fearfully plain as the

8.^
vvl'.ole of this quotation frorn page 45. And be it marked -,5i*;
they ai-fe tiut 'jrords written and put forth at random, but the
weil-<-ons;iriered (and, as far as can be, official) declarf^tion of
a conijf'ny of men determined to act up to them to the
utmost of their power and - opportunity, and with a spirit
worthy of a better cause. However stealthily the IVactarians
iiiH}' hithcTto have advanced, they have now at length thrown
off the mask, have hoisted their true colours, and, n.. re
manfully avowed their real and , ultiniate object, viz.. to
"recede moke AlVD more FROM THE PRINCIPLES OF
THE EnO LISH ReB'ORMATJOX, TO T.V-PrOTE^TANTIZE IMIR
N.A.Ti')y.\L Church, and to be.storb the A^ciiivr
Re/-to!on;," fis in its palmy days &ttd," middle ages," whvn
" Hildebr^id, Becket, and Innocent" were the "lights of.
the Church." Then will they no longer allow their "un
palatable -osedicine " to be merely " sipped," but vrill force it '
down.* men's throats with a dseiiching-hom.^W^ell; they
have given us fnll a«d. fair warning; and if we do not take
11, it will I;t' our own faTolt. God grrnit, that the people of
England, with their Tuleri ' both in State and Church, (and
eipef-i.illy in the latter,) may .awake to their respective. duties,
ere it be too late ! ind at the liead of those duties must be
specially mentioned — deep humiliation far our. national. and
individual neglect qr abuse of our Protestant privilege; arid
fervent prayer to the A-lmiGhty, that he v. culd yet appear
for lintain., ahd ," lift up a standard against the eivem)'', who
is co-.iiins irilike.a flood."

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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