worship of the Lamb." (Faber's "Foreign Churches," page 614.) 66 As a natural consequence of these publications, atteinpts are made to bring back the Breviary among us. It is reported, that some of the Oxonians not merely have it in their possession, (to which, of course, there can be no objection, so long as it is only used for the purpose of study,) but recite it daily. The Tract No. 75, which perhaps gave more offence at the time of its publication than almost any other, is still on sale, that it may suggest character and matter for private devotion;" and, very recently, another work of the same kind has been published, the structure of which harmonizes so exactly with the passage last quoted from Dr. Pusey's Letter to the Primate, as to "suggest" very powerfully to our minds the idea, that it has been compiled under his direction, if not by himself. Its title, printed with a due ecclesiastical intermixture of black and red, runs thus: "Devotions commemorative of the most adorable Passion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Translated from Catholic Sources. With an Appendix, containing the Office of Tenebræ for the three latter Days of Holy-Week, and other Portions of the divine Office of Holy and Easter Weeks. Translated from the Roman Breviary." "The Catholic sources from whence it is " compiled" are principally, the writings of Cardinal Bonaventure, (the author, be it remembered, of that blasphemous Psalter of Our Lady which so conclusively fixes the guilt of idolatry on the Romish Church,) and the Breviary; there being just thirty pages out of one hundred and forty-six supplied from other writers. It should be added, that among the extracts from the Breviary, thus selected for republication in English, are included the hymn Pange Lingua, in which the cross is invoked in terms that have * 18mo. 1842. "London, Burns; Oxford, Parker; Cambridge, Stevenson." The reader will observe, that care is taken to supply the Universities with this manual. been often condemned as idolatrous; and the antiphon, Crucem tuam, though the grossest portion of the same service, including the hymn Vexilla Regis,§ is suppressed and kept back for the present. If it should be said, that this volume is partly intended, like No. 75, to illustrate the Prayer-Book by contrast, the reply is at hand in the Preface, which shows that it is not designed for study, but for use : The present series of devotions has been compiled with the view of supplying, in a measure, the want which is believed to be extensively felt, of some assistance towards realizing, for the purposes of meditation, the solemn subject of the Passion and Holy Weeks.......The compilers would earnestly deprecate the pe "O faithful cross, thou peerless tree, Leaf, flower, and bud. Sweet is the wood, and sweet its weight, In the Romish Church, the use of those words is accompanied or followed by solemn and avowed acts of adoration; the cross on the altar is bowed to and kissed, and with these acts the strain of the hymn is in perfect harmony. But it is at variance with everything in the English service. Does Dr. Pusey long to see the Romish ceremonies of the holy-week restored? $ "Then all sing together the antiphon, We adore thy cross, O Lord, and praise and glorify thy holy resurrection; for, lo! by this tree joy hath come throughout the whole world." (" Devotions," &c., page 53.) § It is in this hymn that the famous (or rather infamous) stanza occurs: O crux ave spes unica, Reisque dele crimina; which has been thus honestly translated for the use of English Romanists of a former period (Office of Holy-Week. London, 1729) : "Hail, cross, our hope, on thee we call, The recent translation of Mr. Husenbeth is a disingenuous softening down of the last two lines, in order to evade Protestant objections; thus: "May graces to the just increase, From guilt may sinners find release." (Missal for the Laity. London, 1833.) rusal of them in the spirit of criticism. If they cannot be used, let them be at once laid aside." (Preface, pages 1-8.) Now let the reader observe how this volume is spoken of in the last Number of the British Critic, a pub. lication which Dr. Pusey has characterized as 'expressing for the most part our sentiments :" "We hail, with peculiar pleasure, the appearance of this little work, 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 Churchman more of such devotional treasures. It is by such exhibitions of Catholic truth that the English Church will best retain her hold on the affections of those of her children who may be wavering in their allegiance; and it is thus also that many religious minds, who are as yet in greater or less degree in bondage to the popular religion, may feel the far deeper and truer gratification to their religious cravings, which the Catholic system supplies.......It may be added, that the Office on the Passion, with which this work commences, will be found very appropriate for those who may wish at other seasons of the year, (for example, on an ordinary Friday,) to make some special commemoration of our Lord's death." (British Critic, No. 62, page 550.) Having thus established their preference of Rome over England with regard to matters of ritual and worship, (which may fairly be taken as including all other things-since the worship of a Church is that in which both its doctrine and discipline is embodied,) by a series of decisive extracts, all (except two) taken from the later publications of their chief writers, we ask our readers to mark the gross and glaring inconsistency of these persons. With one breath they cry up the Prayer-Book, with the next they cry it down; now they praise the Romish formularies almost to the skies, now they strenuously decry *Letter to the Bishop of Oxford," page 20. any alteration in our own; here we have a loud lamentation over the losses we have sustained at the Reformation, there an earnest exhortation to "sit still," "work on in chains," and " patiently bear about the body of death.""+ Which are we to believe? Must we suppose the writers equally sincere in both? Or must we not rather suppose that they have two purposes to serve; that they design by the one class of passages to carry on their agitation till they effect their avowed purpose of " unprotestantizing" the realm, and by the other, to quiet the apprehensions of those in authority, and, if possible, to prevent any effectual resistance from being offered before the work is done? "If possible," did we say? Alas! it is but too possible, as the last article on our list makes manifest. They have succeeded in blinding the eyes of the Bishop of Oxford, and bringing him into entire subserviency to their views in almost every particular. A careful examination of his late Charge will satisfy our readers on this point; and we cannot reflect on the course which his Lordship has taken throughout, in connexion with other circumstances which have recently happened at Oxford, without feelings of most serious apprehension. Let it be remembered, in the first place, that, at his last Visitation, the Bishop of Oxford had given his public testimony in favour of the Leaders of this school. He had, or might have, (he confessed,) some fear of their disciples, but of the Teachers he had none. They had laid him under no necessity of interfering with them for having published false doctrine; nor had he any fear that they ever would do So. Such was the impression produced in their favour by that Charge, that Dr. Pusey, within a year of its delivery, addressed to His Lordship a long and most elaborate exposition of the system, acknowledging the "acquittal" they had received at his hands, and thanking him for the " refreshing and paternal praise" which he had been pleased to bestow. This was in 1838. In 1842, His Lordship says,― "I cannot but think, that these four years will be hereafter looked upon as the commencement of one of the most important epochs in the history of the English Catholic Church. 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 in my last Visitation. Those principles have, during this short interval, spread and taken root, not merely in our own neighbourhood and in other parts of England, but have passed from shore to shore, east and west, north and south, wherever members of our Church are to be found; nay, are unquestionably 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 for good or for evil; and they are forming at this moment the most remarkable movement which, for three centuries at least, has taken place among us." (Page 9.) His Lordship goes on to declare, that these principles have grown in spite of opposition, calumny, and mistrust; he hints that they are not indebted to human selfishness for any measure of their success, inasmuch as they oppose it in every possible way, and that these circumstances are a reason for treating the system at least with -" as much of prudence and circumspection, as Gamaliel prescribed in a not very dissimilar instance." (Page 12.) "A not very dissimilar instance!” We pray the reader not to overlook that expression. The spread of Christianity in the pentecostal age was not very much unlike the spread of Tractarianism in 1838-42! And both should, of course, have been "let alone." But this has not been the case; and his Lordship deprecates much the style and tone of the anti-Tractarian publications, censures those Clergymen who have opposed them in public meetings, or newspapers, and praises and approves the spirit in which the Tractarians have met the attacks made upon them. He then, after stating the opinions which he had expressed four years ago, pronounces that, -"during the period which has intervened, I have, speaking generally, seen no reason to alter my sentiments." (Page 16.) We have next a statement, that the "Tracts for the Times are at an end, and an acknowledgment of the excellent behaviour of the editors in stopping the series; an explanation of the case, as it stands, with regard to No. 90, immediately followed by something like an apology for that most remarkable publication. We scarcely see what Mr. His Newman could desire more. diocesan stops him in his course, certainly; and of this Dr. Pusey affects to complain as a heavy misfortune to the party. He does not, however, prohibit him from publishing a long letter, in explanation and defence of it, addressed to himself; nor does he forbid the publication of new editions of the "objectionable" tract, with additions and alterations in each; and when he comes to speak of the matter ex cathedrá, he says, in effect: True, you have done wrong; but it is no more, nor so much as many others have done before you, and I am satisfied that you meant well throughout." The next paragraph contains a modified, hesitating, and reluctant censure on the Tracts. "No doubt there are many imperfections in them." But, since it may well be rejoined, "In what human work are there not?" this is saying very little. "The language is often obscure, equivocal, and most unguarded.' I feel also bound to say, that the authors have seemed to me too indifferent to the dis cord 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." (Page 19.) And then immediately follows a prayer, that what is evil in the Tracts may be rendered innocuous, and what is good made a blessing; and that the writers may profit by their past experience. A particular enumeration of the benefits they have produced, closes the paragraph, as if to heal any wound which the foregoing sentences may have inflicted. What Bishop Bagot, with the views he entertains, can mean by "hurrying on a crisis," we are at a loss to know. If the secession of individuals to Rome is the crisis which is to be produced, surely the sooner it comes the better; but the Tractarians deny that they have produced this result, and he in the main approves their teaching. If they continue those labours, which he acknowledges to have been so much blessed hitherto, what can arise from them but good? Yet he declares, that 66 discord and distraction" have arisen; that a crisis will eventually arrive, and that they are to blame for having, in any measure, hurried it; that is, we suppose, for not having acted more fully upon their own principle of reserve," and kept back certain views till the public were ready for them. But this, as we shall have occasion to observe before long, is not the only instance in which he speaks inconsistently. Proceeding with his painful task, his Lordship next adverts to the "disciples," of whom he expressed his fears four years ago, and praises the parochial Clergy for having generally observed his directions about vestments. We infer, that some of the non-parochial Clergy have not been equally obedient; for he immediately subjoins some cautions against acting independently of the Bishop. Mr. Palmer's anathemas are next adverted to, and pronounced "quite inexcusable; "though it is kindly suggested, that even they may have a harmless meaning. And are produce that frame of mind, which under-estimates the intolerable evils and errors of the Romish system, which slurs over its defects, and conceals its guilt." (Page 25.) adds this passage :- "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. If, with me, you believe that there is an almost incalculable 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 to be as subtle, as dangerous, and as false, character;-if, with me, you believe her as she has ever been; as shameless 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, and not from us ;-if, with me, you have (because you know her real character) a deep and increasing dread of her workings and artifices;-if, with me, you look upon her as schismatical and antichristian;-if, with me, you feel that our own Church is pure in doctrine, apostolical in ministry; and that, if a man will live as her Prayer-Book would have him live, he will not miss his salvation; you will be more than ever zealous to keep those who have been baptized among us within our pale. You will leave nothing undone, which a sense of your tremendous responsibility, which your feelings of devotedness and affectionateness can suggest, towards preserving those of your flocks who are most exposed to them from the perils of these dangerous days." (Charge, page 29.) * We were at once glad and grieved to read these words. Glad, that the amiable author, in spite of the misleading influence of those about him, and his evident devotion in heart to the Tractarian system, retains enough of what should be the feeling of an Anglican Bishop, to denounce the Church of Rome as his " false, dangerous, persecuting, schismatical, cunning, superstitious, and antichristian; but grieved no less, at the amazing inconsistency which appears between his Lordship's language, with reference to Rome, and sayings and doings" with regard to Puseyism and its abettors. A more humiliating spectacle than a Bishop stultifying himself at a Visitation can scarcely be imagined. But mark the position in which his Lordship is now placed: first, with regard to the leaders of the party. Of these he entertained no fear in 1838; he acquitted them, he praised them, and dismissed them with honour. In 1842 he "has seen no reason, generally speaking, to alter his opinion;" he speaks of them as men "whom it cannot be wise to seek to expel from the bosom of the Church, who love her with no common love, and seek to serve her with no ordinary devotion." (Page 32.) Now, having heard his Lordship's opinion of Rome, we will inquire how these men, of whom he has no fear, and whom he believes to be God's instruments for bringing Church principles before men's minds, (page 20,) speak of her : "It is painful to think and speak of these things in another member of the mystical body of Christ, who once was the bulwark of the faith, and a pattern of zeal, and who still has holy practices and institutions, which we might gladly imitate." (Pusey's "Letter to Jelf," page 160.) "That communion which embraces the largest portion of Christendom, and * His Lordship's Chaplain is the Rev. F. E. Paget, Rector of Elford; the author of three or more volumes of " Tales," designed to inculcate Tractarian doctrines and practices, and editor of two volumes in the series, generally known as "Oxford Reprints." (Pusey's "Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury," page 31.) "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 devotedness, and other feelings, which awe, mystery, tenderness, reverence, may especially be called Catholic." (Newman's Letter to Jelf," page 26.) "The whole confusion at Oxford arises from a dispute about the disposal of second votes. All are agreed to give their first votes to the Church of Eng land; but as to their second votes, some would give to Rome, others to Geneva. For myself, I should greatly prefer, in this matter, the system of single voting; allowed, and some may give theirs to but if second votes are to be required or Geneva, it seems only reasonable to allow others to give theirs, if they prefer it, to Rome." (Perceval's "Letter to the Bishop of Chester," page 6.) "When continental Catholics, now more or less in error, shall perceive that a church can be reformed without ceasing to be a church,.........they will see us to be, what we are in fact, one church with them." (Hook's Sermon, page 21.) "But if any approach to Rome, so long as she continues corrupt, must be fraught with danger, not less dangerous is the opposite extreme; if novelties of addition are not to be endured, still less are novelties by diminution." (Jelf's Sermon, page 21.) preface to refer exclusively to Eng(N.B. This is explained in the lish Dissenters.) "None can deny that the Romanists have greater love to Christ than the English Dissenters." (Perceval, ubi supra, page 4.) All these extracts are taken from very recent publications: were we to go back to 1838, (when his Lordship had no fear,) we should find several similar passages, containing |