WHOSE IS THE LOSS,
OB
WHOSE THE GAIN,
i '
- ' BY THE SECESSION OF THE
REV. MR. NEWMAN, AND OTHERS?
i
CONSIDERED
Iff A LETTER
TO HIS GRACE
THE ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN,

DEC AN US.

WHOSE IS THE LOSS,
OR
WHOSE THE GAIN,
BY THE SECESSION OF THE
REV. MR. NEWMAN, AND OTHERS?
CONSIDERED
IN A LETTER
TO HIS GRACE
THE ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN.
BV
DECANUS.

'E£ r\[iSiv iffihBov, a\\' oiitc l\aav e| t)jimv. — 1 John ii. 19.
' tovs ow . . . an e<f>povow \aSovras a.Seiai', exQpovs fiev 7ra\a[, ipavepovs
Se rofl' 7ryr)cravTo avrois yeyevrjaBai." — Demosthenes de Coronft..

LONDON:
SEELEY, BURNSIDE, AND SEELEY, FLEET STREET.
W. CURRY AND CO., SACKVILLE STREET, DUBLIN.
1846.

L. SEELEY, PRINTER, THAMES DITTON, SURREY.

TO HIS GRACE
THE ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN.
&c. &c.

My Lord,
The long looked-for secession of some of the
leaders of the Oxford movement having at length
taken place, the question naturally suggests itself,
How does this event affect the interests of the
Established Church? — Is it to be viewed as a
subject of congratulation, or of regret ? — Will
this defection from our ranks prove a loss, or an
advantage, to the Church of England ?
As a Protestant and a Minister of the Esta
blished Church, I have been led to consider this
question with deep interest, and I have thought
that it might perhaps prove useful at this important
juncture, to set before my brethren and the public,
some of the considerations which have led me to
view the recent secession of Mr. Newman and
others, as far as it has extended, as a subject rather
B 2

of congratulation than of regret, to sincere and
enlightened members of our Church.
I have felt desirous to address your Grace on
this subject, considering a Letter to a Prelate,
who has so long and so ably raised his warning
voice against the evil tendency of the Oxford
movement, as the most appropriate channel through
which to point out how just were the anticipations
of those, whose discerning minds led them, from
the very commencement of the proceedings of vthe
party from which the " Tracts for the Times "
emanated, to foresee the fatal consequences to which
those proceedings must eventually lead ; and that
at a time when many, whose eyes are noiv opened by
the course of events, despised the warnings given by
your Grace * and several others ; when many who
now regard the movement with alarm, saw in it
nothing more than a praise-worthy effort to bring
men's minds to a proper view of the authority of
the Church, and a just appreciation of the claims
of the Prelates and Clergy to the respect and
attention of her members.
I may assign, as a special reason for addressing
your Grace, on this particular occasion, the fact,
that it has become generally known, that a short
time before the heads of the University of Oxford
Essays (3rd Series) on " Romish Errors ;" and in several
other works.

took the important step of passing condemnation
on Mr. Ward's Ideal of a Christian Church, your
Grace had addressed a letter to the Vice-Chancel
lor, urging that something should be done by the
University, without further delay, to repudiate the
imputations which had begun to create general
distrust of Oxford as a nursery for Ministers of
the Church of England; and which letter has
been generally understood to have, at least, con
tributed to the decided step which was immediately
taken, in the degradation of the author of the
work referred to. The condemnation of Mr.
Ward's book was, within a short time, followed by
his going over to the Church of Rome ; and thus
a train of circumstances appears to have been set
in motion and accelerated, of which Mr. New
man's ultimate secession from our Church was one
of the principal links.
This long-expected event has at length taken
place. And now that the removal from the Church
of England to the Church of Rome, of one of the
chief leaders of the party, is no longer matter of
surmise, of hope, or of fear, but is un fait accompli,
and has been made a subject of triumph by one
party, and a theme of mourning by another, the
question naturally suggests itself — Whose is the
LOSS, OR WHOSE THE GAIN ?

I shall now proceed to the consideration of this
inquiry. When one hears of a large party of men aban
doning their former companions, and going over
to the opposite side, the first impression produced
on the mind is, that those who have been deserted
have sustained a serious loss, and that the opposite
party has gained a proportionate accession of
strength. But this first and natural impression
may not always be correct. A numerical loss is,
indeed, in all such cases, sustained by the party
whom their former comrades have deserted, and
their new allies will have gained an equal accession,
in point of numbers. But it does not always
follow, that the result of such a change thus made
in the relative numbers of the two opposing parties
will prove detrimental to the one, or advantageous
to the other.
A little reflection will serve to correct our first
impressions, and to convince us that, in some cases,
the numerical loss may be a substantial benefit to
those who have been deserted, and that the addi
tion of numbers to the other side may prove a
serious injury to the party to whom the deserters
have given their adhesion. The deserters, for
example, may have been men so injudicious, and
so possessed with an over- weaning opinion of them
selves, as to have occasioned so much anxiety, and

frequently to have caused so much mischief to
their friends, as to render their removal a decided
advantage to those whom they have left, and a
proportionate detriment to those whose ranks they
have joined. Or again, they may have been
traitors in disguise, wearing the uniform, enjoying
the privileges, and receiving the pay of one party,
while in heart and feelings and principle, they may
have been attached to those to whom they seemed
to be opposed, and ready to desert on the first
favorable opportunity which might present itself;
only waiting, perhaps, until they had been en
abled, by wearing the mask, to seduce others to
desert along with them.
In either case, it will be evident, that ' so soon
as they shall have taken the decided step of deser
tion, all honest men whom they have left will re
joice at their secession, and only regret that it has
been so long and so dishonestly delayed ; while
those to whom they will have united themselves
will consider their new associates as rather danger
ous companions, and cannot but suspect that they
may, at any time, play the same game with them
selves, whenever it may serve their purpose. Such
will be the respective feelings of all honest and
sensible men on each side, although pride and party
spirit will probably produce, for a time, a feeling
of disappointment in the minds of those who have

been deserted, and of exultation in the hearts of
those whose cause has been adopted by the rene
gades. Analogous to the case now supposed, is the
event which has been realized in the recent seces
sion from the Church of England, of several mem
bers and clergymen of our Communion,* who have
at length gone over to the Church of Rome ; after
having for many years made it apparent that their
hearts were not with the Reformed Church, and
that if the time should ever arrive when they would
act according to their principles, and come to a just
conclusion from their own premises, they must
eventually leave the Church of which they were
ministers, and unite themselves to that, against the
errors of which they, by their outward profession
alone, continued to protest.
We condemn no man for a change of religious
belief, or for leaving a Church which he conscien
tiously considers to have erred from the truth.
This would be to condemn our Reformers for
having separated from the Church of Rome, and
ourselves, no less, for continuing that separation.
Nay, this would be to put an end to all religious
discussion, and to represent as worse than useless
* The number has been stated as amounting to seventy, of
whom upwards of thirty were clergymen of the Established
Church.

9
all efforts to bring into the way of truth those
whom we believe to be in error. For, if it be
wrong for people to change their opinion on the
subject of religion, it is manifestly culpable in us
to endeavour to persuade them to do so ; or even
to make converts from infidelity, or paganism, to
Christianity. So far are we from condemning any
for a conscientious change of religious belief, and
a consequent removal from one Church to another,
that we consider as deserving of the highest com
mendation those conscientious persons, who pro
ceed to examine as soon as they doubt, and to
act as soon as they have decided : and, in propor
tion to the confidence which we entertain of the
truth of our holy religion, and the strength of our
conviction of the solid foundation on which our
Church rests, do we feel a full persuasion that can
did inquiry, pursued in a right spirit, will not fail
to strengthen our cause ; and that such investiga
tion need only be dreaded by those who have not a
firm belief that truth is on their side.
But what was the case in the instance before us ?
Are the facts such as to warrant the belief, that
the parties referred to acted as soon as they were
convinced ? A body of men, continuing for seve
ral years to maintain an outward connection with
the Church of England, at the same time hold and
teach those doctrines which constitute the essential

10
difference between our Church and the Church
of Rome — maintaining the very principles and
practices on account of which our Reformers sepa
rated from that Church ! These men continue to
hold outward communion with the Church of Eng
land, and yet are found denying the right of pri
vate judgment, and setting up the fathers as the
authoritative interpreters of Scripture, and of late
years avowing, what all along was suspected, that
they meant that the present and mediaeval churches
were to be the authoritative interpreters of the
fathers themselves,* — making tradition "another
great gift equally from God " f with the Bible it
self, — representing the eucharist as a sacrifice,^
and the ministers of the Christian religion as sacri
ficing priests, — attributing to the clergy " the
power of making the body and blood of Christ," §
and representing them as being " intrusted with
the keys of heaven and hell,"|| and endowed " with
the awful and mysterious gift of making the bread
and wine Christ's body and blood," §§ insomuch
that our's is " the only Church in this realm which
has a right to be quite sure she has the Lord's
body to give to his people ;" II — maintaining that
* See Newman's Sermon on Development, in his Sermons on
Subjects of the day, 1843 ; also his Essay on Development, just pub
lished, 1845. t Tract lxxi. % Tract Ixxxi.
§ Froude's Remains, Vol. i. p. 32(5. || Tract x.
§ § Tract x. If Tract iv.

11
prayers for the dead* and the practice of exorcism
in baptism,^ are justifiable, because sanctioned by
tradition ; — holding the invocation of the Virgin
Mary and other departed saints, with the venera
tion of their images, to be lawful, or at least that
the Tridentine decree in favour of these practices,
expressed rather strongly, may " possibly admit of
a honest interpretation.''^; In a word, holding " the
whole cycle of Romish doctrine," § and justifying
all Romish practices, and yet continuing to main
tain an outward connection with the Church of
England, which protests against all those doctrines
and practices ! ||
If these men had been ignorant of the tendency
* Tracts, Vol. iii. p. 22.
t Tract on Baptism. Also Mr. Sewell, in his Christian Morals,
tells his readers that the ancient Catholic Church (the Church of
1500 years ago) so far from rejecting what silly and ignorant men
call superstitious mummeries, " would have first taken the infant,
and solemnly exorcised it ; that is, by prayer and breathing on
it,  would endeavour to free it from the power of an evil
spirit, to which its birth subjected it." — (p. 146, and seq.)
% Tract lxxi. And similarly Mr. Palmer, " many things (in
the Decrees of the Council of Trent) which appear to us to con
vey heterodox meanings, have been explained by eminent Roman
Catholic theologians in a tolerable sense ; nor do I here deter
mine whether any thing contrary to the faith be found in the
Decrees of that Synod." — Treatise on the Church of Christ, Vol. ii.
p. 248, Edit. 1838.
§ Ward's Ideal of a Christian Church, p. 565.
|| Mr. Sewell, following in the train ofthe Tracts, (in 1840)
says he is not " at all concerned to defend our English Reformers,
who rejected exorcism. ... as liable to superstitious uses ; for
superstition is better than indifference," &c.

12
of their principles, there were not wanting in the
Church faithful men to unite with your Grace in
pointing out that tendency, to warn both the
teachers and the disciples of their danger, to indi
cate to the unwary the terminus to which the road
on which they had entered must inevitably con
duct them, and to point out the conclusion to
which the premises which they held must lead all
who would prove true to the principles which they
had adopted.*
But how did the leaders of the party, thus left
without excuse, treat these warnings ? Not only
did they disregard them, but they accused those
who raised the warning voice, of misrepresentation
and calumny. The " Pope's pastoral," for exam
ple, at an early period, exposes the principles of the
" Tracts for the Times ;" Dr. Pusey replies by in
dignantly denying the Romish tendency of the
Tracts, and cites from them passages containing
severe censures against Rome, with a view to re
fute the charge of a leaning towards that Church.
Nevertheless, conscious that there was too much
ground for the accusation, and apprehensive that
* E. g. The Pope's Pastoral Epistle. Occasional Sermons by
Dr. Hampden, Regius Professor of Divinity. Sermon on the
Revival of Popery in Oxford, by Dr. Faussett, Margaret Profes
sor of Divinity. Rev. G. S. Faber's Provincial Letters. Bishop
M'llvaine's works. Dr. Hampden's Lecture on Tradition. 1841.
Powell on Tradition. Index to the Tracts, &c.

13
they had spoken out too plainly, at so early a stage
of their proceedings, the editors of the Tracts
seize the first opportunity, on bringing out a new
edition, to qualify certain strong expressions to
which reference had been specially made ; and this
without any apology, or explanation, or even a
notice that any alteration had taken place. The
Pope's Pastoral quoted passages which are shown
to be most unguarded, and calculated to defeat
their object, supposing their design to have been
to entrap the unwary, and to lead men's minds by
imperceptible degrees towards the Church of Rome.
It is denied that such is the design, or the ten
dency ; and yet the advice is taken, and the
alteration made, in such a way as to have the effect
of throwing the readers off their guard. They
deny the aim and tendency charged against their
writings, and at the same time adopt the very
steps which common prudence would suggest, had
the design been such as was alleged against them.
They follow the advice given in the Pope's Pasto
ral, as implicitly as if they had received it as
genuine, and had already vowed allegiance to the
Holy See ! *
In the meanwhile, the censures of Rome, which
were prudently interspersed throughout the pages
of the Tracts, are relied upon, as the best evidence
* See Appendix A.

14
that they have not a Romanist tendency ; and they
are appealed to in such a way as to imply the
admission, that in the absence of these censures,
the charge might be fully substantiated as to the
aim and tendency of their writings. Well ; within
a few years after, Mr. Newman retracts all these
censures,* acknowledging, that in applying them
to the Church of Rome, — " a communion so an
cient, so wide-spreading, so fruitful in saints" — he
was " not speaking his own words," — but merely
" following almost a consensus of the divines of
his Church," or, to use the language of his friend
quoted by him with approval, " relapsing into
Protestantism," and dealing in " slang ;" that " such
views, too, were necessary for his position," f and
that such censorious language was "to be ascribed,
in no small measure, to an impetuous temper, a
hope of approving himself to persons' respects, and
a wish to repel the charge of Romanism ;"J — thus
* This was in 1 842 ; but Mr. Dalgairns, an inmate of Mr.
Newman's at Littlemore, had virtually retracted them for his
Chief, in a Letter to L'Ami de la Religion, dated May, 1841.
t This necessity was perceived by the Author of the Pope's
Pastoral ; he was not deceived by these censures of Rome, and
accordingly he represents the Pope as thus excusing them — " We
mike allowance for those difficulties which impede your percep
tion or your avowal of truth ; we pardon, therefore, some ex
pressions towards us — compelled, no doubt, partly by the unhappy
circumstances of your country." — Pope's Pastoral Epistle, p. 6,
Fourth Edition, 1836.
% The necessity of employing all means to set at rest suspicions
of a Romish tendency, is also distinctly acknowledged in the

15
acknowledging the justice of all the charges implied
in the Pope's Pastoral. And yet, notwithstanding
this retractation of the censures,* and this acknow
ledgment of the objects for which they had been
employed, Mr. Newman and Dr. Pusey remain in
outward connection with the Church of England.
A new difficulty, however, now arises. Several
persons who had heartily adopted the views of the
party, having some regard for appearances, and, it
may be hoped, for truth and honesty, press their
leaders to show cause why they should not join the
Church of Rome. This is known to have been the
origin of Tract 90, by which an effort was made to
Pope's Pastoral — " We perceive, from many portions of your
Tracts, that those around you have some misgivings, that you are
attached to what they call Popery. Do not awaken any such
suspicions by avoidable imprudence." — Pastoral Epistle, p. 33.
* It is to be observed, that Mr. Newman never acknowledged
himself as the Author of the Letter to The Conservative Journal,
from which the above quotations have been made, (although
printed in 1842) until November, 1845. His friends at Oxford
first showed it about as his, but afterwards disputed the fact, and
pronounced it a vile forgery. Thus, while the letter served the
purpose of satisfying those who objected to the apparent Protes
tant tendency of his writings, the denial of it as his, silenced the
suspicions of those who objected to the Romish tendency of his
works. Mr. Newman now, however, avows himself the Author, in the
" Advertisement " to his Essay on the Development of Christian
Doctrine, just published — reprints the whole of it, and quotes
other passages from his previous writings, especially one from his
Prophetical office of the Church, in which he describes Rome as
a " Church beside herself," and sums up — " All these I now
retract."

16
reconcile adhesion to the Church of England with
the adoption of all those peculiar doctrines of the
Church of Rome, against which certain of the
Articles of our Church were, in the opinion of all
honest and intelligent men, expressly intended to
protest. This " ingenious device," however, after
having served its purpose for some years, has
ultimately failed; and now, Dr. Pusey having
been inhibited, Mr. Ward degraded, and Mr.
Oakeley suspended, at length, Mr. Newman and
others go out from our Church, to escape, as it
would seem, being turned out.
And thus, after so many shiftings and turnings,
after so many protestations against a Romish ten
dency,* and retractations of the grounds on which
they attempted to disprove that tendency, — these
men at length go out from us, and join the Church
of Rome ; without assigning any reason why they
did not take that step ten years before, and without
making any apology to those whom they had been,
for a dozen years, accusing of calumny and mis
representation and all uncharitableness, for pre-

* Vide Appendix to Dr. Pusey's Letter to the Bishop of Ox
ford, containing " Extracts from the Tracts for the Times, the
Lyra Apostolica, and other publications, shewing, that to oppose
Ultra-Protestantism is not to favour Popery," 1839. See also
Newman's Letter to the Bishop of Oxford, and his Letter to Dr.
Jelf ; Pusey's Letter to Jelf ; and his Letter to the Archbishop
of Canterbury.

17
dieting the result which has at length been
realized !
Having thus pursued the several stages of this
secession from our Church, over which the Tractites
bitterly mourn,* while the Romanists triumphantly
rejoice,f we proceed to consider the consequences
of this defection, as it respects the several parties
concerned. I. As in the analogous case of the deserters
alluded to, by way of illustration, at the commence
ment of these remarks, the numerical loss is an
advantage to those whom they leave — as it was
better Catiline should leave Rome than corrupt
the citizens — so in this case, it will on reflection
appear, that the departure of Mr. Newman and
his disciples is a matter of congratulation to our
Church, and not, as many seem to feel, of painful
regret, except so far as the parties themselves are
concerned. It surely cannot be viewed in any other light,
than as a subject of thankfulness, that a body of
active and zealous men, the tendency of whose
teaching and example has been, for ten years and
upwards, to wean the minds of the unwary from
attachment to the principles of our Church, should
have at length removed themselves from a position
which they were too long allowed to retain, and
* See Appendix B. t See Appendix C.

18
which gave them peculiar advantages against us,
and afforded them abundant opportunity of spread
ing their doctrines, and of seducing others from
their attachment to the principles of our Church.
Besides, as the result has proved that it is no breach
of Christian charity to think that such was not
only the tendency of their writings, but the very
aim and object of the writers, * it is some con
solation to candid minds to find men, even at the
eleventh hour, acting consistently with their prin
ciples. Thus the Church of England has evidently been
no loser by the secession of men, who, having so
long entertained " the whole cycle of Romish
doctrine," yet continued to maintain an outward
appearance of attachment to the doctrines of the
Reformation — " holding the principles of one
Church and the emoluments of another." We
have, on the contrary, gained much by this volun-
* This is unreservedly admitted by Mr. Oakeley, in his last
published pamphlet, who thus betrays the real motive with which
Newman and others remained so long in the Church of England.
He says (p. 35) " I have now come round to the opinion with
which others wiser than myself (sc. Newman) began. The at
tempt to infuse the Roman spirit into the Anglican body is like
putting new wine into old bottles. . . . But I cannot go so far
as to regret that the experiment has been tried. . . . That Rome
must be restored to us sooner or later, many of us have long seen
and felt ; and the hope we cherished was, that the force of the
transition might be broken, and the eventual substitution come
about through a gradual process of absorption."

19
tary, although tardy, separation of men whom
conscience, if not ecclesiastical discipline, ought to
have removed from us long since, before they had
effected a vast quantity of mischief, alike to the
cause of Christianity and to the interests of the
Established Church.
IL And while our Church has sustained no
injury by the loss of such disaffected members,
neither has the Church of Rome gained any thing
more than a numerical advantage by this accession
to her rank. That Church has no reason to be
proud of the acquisition of men, who have so long
continued in a confessedly wilful schism, by main
taining an outward connexion with the Reformed
Church. Instead of receiving them with open
arms, the authorities of the Church of Rome ought
to subject them to long and severe penance ;
unless, indeed, on the principle that the end jus
tifies the means, they may appear worthy of double
honour, in recompense for having so long and so
patiently submitted to wear the mask of heresy
and schism, and even to receive " the wages of
iniquity," in order to gain proselytes to " Mother
Church." But can the Romanists trust these new con
verts ? Can they be sure that they who have been
wearing the mask of Anglican Church profession,
have now done more than change one mask for
c 2

20
another ? The Church of Rome may well suspect
the stability of these new converts ; while they
must also feel some misgivings as to their sincerity,
when they call to mind for how long a time they
remained in outward connection with the Church
of England, after they had adopted the whole
cycle of Romish doctrine.
But while the Church of England sustains no
loss, and the Church of Rome acquires no gain,
in point of character, by this movement, yet this
partial secession of disaffected members of our
communion will, it is to be feared, be attended
with detriment to our Church, and a corresponding
advantage to the Church of Rome ; not on account
of the members who have withdrawn themselves,
but by reason of those who still continue in out
ward connection with us, while they hold principles
in common with those who have left us , occupying
the same position which those who have at length
seceded previously held, with so much injury to
our Church. The Roman Catholics have this
advantage from the present position of parties,
that having an extensive body of sympathizers
remaining behind, they are enabled to ascertain
the state of things amongst us, and to make their
calculations and combinations accordingly, to keep
open a communication (through Littlemore from
Oscott to Oxford) with the body of Anglican

21
High-churchmen, to make use of the Endowments *
of our Church for the promotion of Romish prin
ciples, and gradually, through the associations of
private friendship, to break down all Protestant
prepossessions against Rome.
So far, then, are these secessions from our
Church from being an evil in themselves, that they
would be a great advantage if they were more
extensive ; nor can we have peace or security until
the numerous body of the Via-Media men, who
still remain, shall have followed in their train. And
while, as I have remarked, the Church of Rome
gains something by the secession of some, while so
many are still left behind, it is to be observed that
it is attended with this disadvantage to that
Church, that the fact of secession alarms the laity,
and makes them less accessible to the assaults, and
less exposed to the wiles, of the Romanists and the
Tractarians. III. Now that the Church of England is well
rid of some of those who long had troubled her,
there remains yet a party whose present position
demands attention. The Via-Media men have
received a great shock. This open secession of
some of their party " who seemed to be pillars,"
cannot but prove " a heavy blow and great dis-
* It is somewhat remarkable that, for the most part, those who
have left us have had but small share of our endowments, which
are fully enjoyed by the Via-Mediists.

22
couragement" to men, who have been looking down
with dignified contempt on the errors of Romanism
on the one hand, and, on the other, on the Low-
Churchism of those who viewed the Oxford Tracts
as the high road to Rome. " Oh," say they, "we
disapproved of the later tracts, it was ' only the first
two volumes that we admired." Well, but what
do they now say to the Pope's Pastoral Epistle,
which, from the first two volumes alone, discovered
and pointed out all that has since occurred, and
which these men cried down as uncharitable, and
condemned as misrepresenting the views of the
writers of the " Tracts for the Times ? " * Then,
indeed, when faithful sons of the Church of Eng
land pointed out the inevitable result of their views,
and the dangerous tendency of the Tracts, these
Via-Media men were ready to exclaim, " Is thy
servant a dog that he should do this- thing ?" f
And yet it has been done ; the legitimate conclu
sion has followed from the premises What do
they who boasted of their prudent position between
two extremes (while really in the dangerous posi
tion of those who "halt between two opinions")
say, now? Are they still without understanding?
Do they still dream of a union of Romish doctrine
* See Appendix D.
f See, for example, Dr. Pusey's Earnest Remonstrance to the
Author qf the Pope's Pastoral Epistle to some Members of the Uni
versity of Oxford*

23
with an Anglican supremacy ? Do they still fancy
that they are not bound for Rome, where so many
of their quondam companions have already arrived,
while they themselves are " as far as Appii Forum
and the Three Taverns ? " *
Nothing can be more dangerous than the cha
racter of this boasted Via-Mediism ; and the dan
ger of such a position is not greater than is the
inconsistency of those who maintain it. It holds a
* How far Dr. Pusey has gone towards Rome may be seen
from his late avowal in the English Churchman, that he " does
not understand the Articles as condemning any doctrine formally
ruled by Rome ;" as also from the fact of his having published
two Jesuit works, and having advertized several others, including
those of Saint Ignatius Loyola! ! — "Edited and adapted to the
English Church ! " How far he has departed from the principles
ofthe Church of England will be seen from the following passage
which occurs in the preface to one of these works. — " It is almost
the inevitable consequence of such compendiums or arbitrary
selections, or substitutions of doctrine, as of * Justification by
faith,' or even ' the Atonement,' for ' Christ crucified,' that in the
end they contract men's faith, risk its forfeiture, and banish con
templation of its object." Contrast this with the declaration of
the Xlth Article, that Justification by faith only " is a most
wholesome doctrine." For other examples of approximation
towards Rome, by this party, See Sewell's Christian Morals. This
writer, (speaking ofthe Sacrament) leads inevitably to the im
pression that the primitive theory, as he calls it, and the Roman
practice, are in all but exact accordance. His Sacramental sys
tem contains, as primitive — Orders, Marriage, Exorcism, Baptism,
Confirmation, the Eucharist, and Extreme Unction. Thus he
describes the process, — Married by the officers of the Church, we
have children in grace — the evil spirit is exorcised by priestly
" insufflation " — more grace poured in at baptism and confirma
tion—a constant supply by the Eucharist— and finally, by the
Viaticum. See also Palmer's Treatise on the Church, Vol. i. 231,
510, 523, 535. ii. 171, 440, 443, &c.

24
false position, suspended (without any definite
principle to rest upon) between the Romish pre
mises, which its admirers hold to be indispensable
to the character of " The Chiirch," and the Romish
conclusion from which they arbitrarily choose to
bold back.
Even when the advocates of this Via-Media are
sincere, their dulness is most mischievous to our
Church, by retaining them, from going over with
the rest, in the positron to pervert our people by
seducing them unguardedly to adopt the premises ;
and thus handing over to the Church of Rome
those of their disciples who are too clear-sighted or
too honest not to see and to adopt the just conclu
sion. We can only give credit to the Via-
Mediists for honesty, at the expense of their intel
lect.* They are either too dull to perceive the
conclusion to which their premises lead, or too dis
honest to adopt and act upon that conclusion when
perceived. " Anglican High-Churchism, " said
one of these who had taken the successive degrees
in Via-Mediism, " is all a sham ;" and he went
accordingly to Rome, without waiting for Mr.
Newman and those who have accompanied him in
his recent secession.
But while, as has been already observed, our
Church has cause rather for congratulation than
* See Appendix E.

25
for regret, at the secession of so many of her mem
bers and ministers, it is truly melancholy to reflect
on the great mischief which has been done by this
entire movement, not only to the Established
Church, but, there is too much reason to fear, to
the cause of Christianity itself. Here have been
men using all their influence, for a series of years,
to spread their pernicious principles ; and this in a
position which gave them peculiar facilities for
working on the minds of the younger members of
our Church, at that critical period of life when these
were preparing for taking orders in the ministry :
at the very fountain head, the poison was infused,
which was to spread by numerous channels, through
out the length and breadth of the land. In that
University where it was intended by our civil
and ecclesiastical rulers that candidates for holy
orders should imbibe the principles of the Refor
mation, measures have been systematically adopted,
and means have been assiduously employed, by
individuals of influence, to promote the spread of
opposite principles, and to produce in the minds of
the students the persuasion, that the Reformation
itself was a great sin, and the distinguishing doc
trines of Protestantism opposed to those of the
"Catholic" Church.
And not only this ; not only were efforts made
to bring into disrepute the constitution and the

26
doctrines of our Church, by men who were receiv
ing her emoluments ; but in a seat of learning and
in a Protestant university, where it was intended
that the minds of youth should be exercised in the
evidences of Christianity, for the confirmation of
their own faith, and in order that they might " be
ready always to give an answer to every man that
should ask them a reason of the hope that was in
them" — even there, and in the middle of the 19th
century, has all appeal to evidence been discarded,
by divines of great influence, as worse than useless ;
and all investigation and inquiry denounced as sin
ful and presumptuous. And, alas, all this is going
on still, through the instrumentality of those who
have not yet seceded.
From such seeds, sown at such a time, and in
such a soil, what evil fruits may not be appre
hended ? Is there not too much reason to fear,
that, while the clergy, who are imbued with the
principles of such a system, will be found to be
alienated in their minds from the Church which
they profess to serve, and in heart inclined to
Romanism, and giving to forms and ordinances
the prominent place which faith and practice should
occupy, the laity, of whom so many have imbibed
the same principles, will be found to sink into in-
differentism or total infidelity? Uninquiring ac
quiescence is not the character of the present day ;

27
but, inasmuch as it is an easy way of disposing of
the subject of religion, in which, unhappily, men
naturally feel little interest as compared with that
which they take in temporal affairs, it is to be
feared that many will be ready to avail themselves
ofthe indulgence, which the teaching of eminent
divines not only warrants but commends, and to
take refuge from all troublesome doubt in apathetic
indifference. We cannot be surprised if absolute infidelity
should be the result of teaching, of which the
general tone is that Christianity will not stand the
test of close inquiry, that the investigation of
evidence is to be deprecated as profane and hazar
dous, and to be condemned as the act of a " proud-
hearted intellectualist ;" and which pronounces this
" stubborn spirit " of endeavouring to ascertain
what is truth, to be " the spirit of ultra-Protestan
tism" — " grudging obedience and stifling docile
and open-hearted faith." The Christian writers of
this age are therefore censured, for having " shifted
the ground of our belief from testimony to argu
ment, from faith to reason ;" and we are told by the
official organ of this party, that, in giving an an
swer to those who demand the grounds of our
faith and hope, " the poor ignorant uninstructed
peasant will probably come nearest to the answer
of the Gospel. He will say, ' Because my pa-

28
rents told me so, and the clergymen of the parish
told me so ; and I hear the same whenever I go to
Church.' " Of such reasoning, which those who re
commend it naturally suspect, will appear to any
" rational" man " very paltry and unsatisfactory,"
it is gravely pronounced that " the logic is as sound
as the spirit is humble ;" and it is solemnly declared
that " there is nothing to compare with it, either
intellectually, or morally, or religiously, in all the
elaborate defences and evidences which could be
produced" from the writings ofthe ablest divines !*
The antiquity of the Christian Church is the only
other ground, for belief allowed as being consistent
with "docile and open-hearted faith;" and thus the
faith of the Christian is made to rest upon no better
foundation than that which satisfies the Mahome-
dans and the Hindoos ! |
But this is not all. These writers patronize the
system of "Reserve," "Economy," J " Phena-
kism," § or "Double-doctrine;" — the duty of
* British Critic, Oct. 1838. p. 305.
t See Sewell's Christian Morals, passim.
X Of the OiKovoniu, Mr. Newman has given us the following
account in his work on the Arians : — " The Alexandrian Father
(Clement) accurately describes the rules which should guide the
Christian in speaking and acting economically. . . . ' He both
thinks and speaks the truth ; except when consideration is
necessary, and then, as a physician for the good of his patients,
he will be false, or utter a falsehood, as the sophists say.' " p. 81.
§ $f va.tturiJ.os, " Imposture ; deception by a false appearance ;
delusion ; deception." Donnegan's Lexicon.

29
having one gospel for the mass of the people, and
another for the initiated few. Hence it is really
impossible to know what they believe, or whether
they believe any thing at all ; notwithstanding
what they may teach or profess to believe. For,
as your Grace justly observes, in a recent publica
tion,* — " He who professes this principle, and is
' believed in that profession, need not wonder to
' find that he is thenceforward believed in nothing
' else. For when it is known that a man wears
' a mask, all persons will form their own conjec-
' tures as to what is under it. Nor can the ascer-
' tainment of the real private opinion of any in-
' dividual of that School, go one step towards
' removing the veil that hangs over the School
' itself; because, we should remember, the system
'implies not merely double doctrine, but treble
' and quadruple, &c, to an indefinite extent. He
' who teaches for Gospel something different from
' what he secretly holds, may himself be kept in the
' dark no less by his instructors, as to their secret
' belief; and these again may be mystified in the
' same way by others ; and so on without limit."
While all faithful sons of the Church of England
are bound to exert themselves to counteract the
evil which has already been done, and especially
* Addition to the Introduction to the 5th Edition of the First
Series of Essays, p. 6.

30
to guard against the continued efforts of the
remnant of the party who, unhappily for the cause
of religion, still maintain an outward connection
with our Church, let them be thankful that so many
of those men who have wrought this folly in our
Israel, have at length withdrawn from our commu
nion ; taking comfort under the loss which we have
sustained in the secession of so many members
(whose fall, for their own sakes, we must mourn,
and for whose restoration to the way of truth we
should still earnestly pray) by the reflection that
" they went out from us, but (of long time) they
were not of us ; " except indeed, in an outward
appearance of conformity, than which, under all
the circumstances of the case, a distinct separation
is much to be preferred.
In fine, of those who still linger, holding the
principles of one Church and the emoluments of
another, we must adopt the wish of the Apostle,
when he said of those who sought to pervert the
Lxalatian Christians  'OfeXovKaiaTioKo^ovrcci ol ava^atav-rn;
1^.* Gal. v. 12.

* Jortin thinks 6<pe\ov a.iroK6^ovTat, may be translated, / wish they
would cut themselves off ; namely by leaving your society. Ac
cording to Eisner and Wolfius, cut off from all opportunity, hope or
power of disturbing you. " Zenophon uses the word for cutting
off, or dislodging the enemy's troops from an elevated post."— (See
Parkhurst in loco.) In this sense it is very applicable to the case
before us.

31

I cannot conclude this letter, in which I have
had occasion so frequently to refer to the well-
timed pamphlet which appeared under the title of
the Pope's Pastoral Epistle, without calling to
mind the intimate connection which subsisted, for
so many years, between your Grace and the late
Bishop of Meath, who was amongst the first to
sound the alarm, when, just ten years since, he
published that able pamphlet. The recollection
of that connection constituted a reason, in addition
to those which I have assigned at the commence
ment of this letter, for my desiring to address
your Grace, thus publicly, on the subject of these
pages. Had the author of that masterly performance
been spared to us, he would now have seen all that
his quick and discerning mind led him to antici
pate, fully realized. He would have seen the just
ness of all that was implied in that able work, as
to the tendency of the Oxford Tracts, established
by the result ; and all that was implied as to the
motives of the writers, proved by their own con
fessions. But it has been ordered otherwise by the
great Head of the Church ; and while we bow in
humble submission to the Divine will, it is im
possible for one who enjoyed his acquaintance, to
refer to the work in question, without feelings sad-

32
dened by the reflection, that he has since been
removed from amongst us, by death, within a few
short months after he had been, by his elevation
to the highest office in the Church, placed in a
station for which his virtues, his talents, and his
experience alike rendered him peculiarly fitted;
and this at a period of life which, to all human
appearance, held out the prospect of many years
of usefulness in the service of that Church, of which
he was so bright an ornament, and so zealous and
efficient a minister. Scarcely had he entered upon
the duties of the responsible office to which he
had been consecrated, when, in the mysterious pro
vidence of God, he was removed from the scene
of his labours, as we may humbly trust, to his own
unspeakable gain, though to the irreparable loss of
all who enjoyed the advantage of intercourse with
him ; and, as far as human foresight can judge, to
the great loss of the Church and of his country.
The quick penetration for which he was remark
able, enabled Dr. Dickinson, at an early period, to
discover the evil tendency of the Oxford move
ment ; and ably did he expose that tendency,
while he faithfully raised his warning voice against
those principles, which he foresaw would lead to
the evil which has been realized. And, although
he adopted satire as the channel through which to
expose the tendency of the Oxford Tracts, his

33

gentle spirit was equally free from guile and bit
terness. In him were united, as has been most
justly remarked by your Grace (than whom no one
had better opportunities of knowing him intimately)
" the wisdom of the serpent with the harmlessness
of the dove."
With earnest prayers that your Grace may long
be spared, to exercise your high office in the Church,
and to continue to devote your influence and your
talents, to the cause of truth, and to the expo
sure and driving away from our Church of "all
erroneous and strange doctrines" —
I have the honor to be,
My Lord,
with the greatest respect,
Your Grace's most obedient
and faithful Servant,
Decanus.

January, 1st, 1846.

APPENDIX.

A.

A remarkable example of the ready compliance with the in
structions conveyed to the Tractarians in the Pope's Pastoral
Epistle, is to be found in the alterations made in one of the
passages quoted in the foregoing letter, from Tract X. The
passage referred to had, on account of its rashness, called
forth the following mild and paternal rebuke (as from his Holi
ness) in the Pope's " Pastoral Epistle to some Members of
the University of Oxford," first published in 1836. —
" We have always urged" (missionaries in benighted lands)
" not to expose their doctrines too openly to the public view ;
" to be satisfied in the first instance, that much ignorance
" should remain, and only to press truth gradually, as the minds
" of men seemed prepared for its reception. These precau-
" tions we would urge upon your attention, because we perceive,
" from many portions of your Tracts, that those around you
" have some misgivings that you are attached to what they
" call Popery. Do not awaken any such suspicions by avoid-
" able imprudence. Rather be satisfied with a slow progress,
" than run the risk of injuring the work in which you are
" engaged. Let it be yours to sow the seed, and those who
" shall be raised up after you will water the plant. Knowing,
" for instance, the feeling which exists among your heretical
" countrymen, we cannot but think it imprudent, that you
" should have used language so open as that which you have
D 2

36

" adopted, when you speak of duly ordained ministers ' as
" ' intrusted with the keys of heaven and hell, and with the
" ' awful and mysterious gift of making the bread and wine
" ' Christ's body and blood.'— Tract X. p. 4."
Such was the timely warning of the Pope's Pastoral ; and
many months did not pass over, before those to whom it was
addressed acted on the suggestion conveyed to them, as ad
visable to be adopted, supposing their object to have been to
entrap the unwary. The writers of the Tracts admit the object,
by adopting the course recommended. That the reader may
judge of the truth of this remark, and see how faithfully the
authors of the Tracts for the Times followed the advice of
the Pope's Pastoral, the passage is subjoined, as found in the
former and later editions respectively, in parallel columns.
The quotations are given from the edition of 1 834 and that
of 1839. The Pope's Pastoral was published in 1836; and
as I find a writer in 1837 quoting the passage as it appears in
the edition of 1 839, I conclude that the alteration was made
in 1836 or 1837 ; but I have not had access to any edition of
the first volume ofthe Tracts published between 1834 and
1839. I therefore subjoin the passage as it appears in these
editions, respectively.

Edition of 1834.
" Then you will honor us with
a purer honor than you do now,
namely, as those who are intrusted
with the keys of heaven and hell,
as the heralds of mercy, as the de
nouncers 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;
as far greater than the most power
ful and the wealthiest of men, in
our unseen strength and heavenly
riches." — Tract x. p. 4.

Edition of 1839.
" Then you will honor us with a
purer honor than many men do
now, namely, as those (if I may say
so) who are intrusted 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 mysterious privilege
of dispensing Christ's body and
blood, as far greater than the most
powerful and the wealthiest of men,
in our unseen strength and our
heavenly riches." — Tract x. p. 5.

Other examples might be given of the effect produced by
the publication of the Pope's Pastoral, in alterations made in

37
subsequent editions of the Tracts ; affording evidence, which
the events that have occurred since its first appearance also
abundantly supply, of the discernment of the writer of that
well-timed pamphlet. We are glad to find that a fifth edition
of the Pope's Pastoral Epistle (together with other valuable
tracts) has been recently published, in the interesting volume
of "Bishop Dickinson's Remains," edited by the Rev. Dr.
West, his successor in the office of Domestic Chaplain to his
Grace the Archbishop of Dublin.

B.

In a letter in the English Churchman, which is generally un
derstood to have been written by Dr. Pusey, Mr. Newman's
defection from our Church is thus noticed : — " It is an ex-
" ceeding mystery that such confidence as he had once in our
" Church should have gone." (Confidence he might have
had in Anglican Supremacy, or independence of Rome, but it is
difficulrto discover evidences of his confidence in the doctrines
of the Reformed Church.) The writer proceeds — "Even
" amid our present sorrows, it goes to the heart to look at the
" former self, and think how devotedly he did work for our
" Church ; how he strove to build her up (!). It looks as if
" some good purposes for our Church had failed ; that an in-
" strument raised up for her had not been employed as God
" willed, and so is withdrawn. There is ajar somewhere 
" The first pang came to me years ago, when I had no other
" fear, but heard that he was prayed for by name, in so many
" Churches and religious houses on the Continent. The fear
" was suggested to me ' if they pray so earnestly for this ob-
" ject, that he may be won to be an instrument of God's
" glory among them, while among us there is so much indif-
" ference, and in part dislike, may it not be that their prayers
" may be heard, that God will give them whom they pray for
<< — we forfeit whom we desire not to retain ? ' And now,

33
" must they not think that their prayers, which they have
" offered so long — at times, I think, night and day, or at the
" Holy Eucharist — have been heard ? And may we not have
" forfeited him, because there was comparatively, so little love
" and prayer 1 . . . . Yet, since God is with us still, He can
" bring us even through this loss. We ought not, indeed, to
" disguise the greatness of it. It is the intensest loss we
" could have had. They who have won him know his value.
" It may be a comfort to us that they do. In my deepest
" sorrow at the distant anticipation of our loss, I was told of
" the saying of one of their most eminent historians, who
" owned that they were entirely unequal to meet the, evils
" with which they were beset ; that nothing could meet them
" but some movement, which should infuse new life into their
" Church, and that for this he looked to one man, and that
" one was N. I cannot say what a ray of comfort this speech
" darted into my mind. It made me at once realize more,
" both that which I dreaded might be, and its end." — Again,
" It is of course, a heavy thing to us" (qu? Protestants or
Tractarians T) "who remain — heavy to us individually, in pro-
" portion as any of us may have reason to fear lest, by what
" has been amiss in oneself, one has contributed to bring down
" this heavy chastisement upon our Church."
It is difficult to imagine on what ground the writer of the
letter, from which the foregoing extracts are taken, feels him
self justified in remaining in the Church of England. He
looks upon Mr. Newman's removal from our Church to that
of Rome, as a mark of the Divine displeasure against the
Anglican Church, and a manifestation of Divine favour, and
a token for good, to the Church of Rome, in answer to the
fervent prayers of the faithful, of that communion. It is
now announced that the Roman Catholics pray, by name,
for the conversion of Dr. Pusey himself. Will he obsti
nately resist the fulfilment of the prayers of the Church of
Rome, — a Church for whose doctrine he evinces so much re
gard, and with which he differs only in a point of discipline, —

39
namely, as to the extent of the jurisdiction of the Bishop of
Rome 1 Can he think this a sufficient reason for remaining
in a position which, if his own principles are just, and his
doctrines true, places him and his associates in a state of
schism ?

C.

The following extracts from The Tablet of Oct. 25, 1845, afford
an example of the view taken by the Roman Catholics, of Mr.
Newman's conversion to their Church.
" Mr. Newman's conversion is * a great fact.' It has been
" looked for anxiously and long ; it has been prayed for, it has
" been written for, it has been dreaded," (by Tractarians or
Protestants ?) " it has at length come." After giving him
credit for " the most penetrating intellect" — " profound learn-
" ing " — " active and disciplined intelligence " — " comprehen-
" siveness of mind," &c, The Tablet adds, " The fact becomes
" more important, when we consider him not merely as an
" individual, but as the head of a school or party in the hos-
" tile camp ; " and proceeds to speak " of the enthusiastic
" attachment with which a vast number of men looked up to
" Mr. Newman, as to one on whose learning, piety, profound
" spiritual discernment, and mastery over the points at issue
" between Anglicanism and Rome, they could perfectly
" confide." Here we may remark, that the " learning" of Mr. Newman
may be illustrated by the fact that, having (with Keble, Pusey,
and others) in the early Tracts for the Times, thrown us back
to the Primitive Church, as furnishing the only adequate evi
dence of the doctrine of the Trinity and the Incarnation, he
now declares, in the " Introduction " to his " Essay on the
Development of Christian doctrine," that he sees no adequate
proof in the anti-Nicene Fathers, of the Trinitarian doctri«e,
except by the aid of the developments of the later Church !

40
Again, with Mr. Newman, the Council of Trent was first
" atrocious," then only " unhappy," at last quite orthodox !
Thus, he had been, as Dr. Pusey said in his Letter to the
Archbishop of Canterbury, a learner while he was a teacher.
The true measure of Mr. Newman's "learning," is abundantly
illustrated in Mr. Croly's admirable Dissertation on the Tracts.
The Tablet has also the following observations, some of
which seem to imply certain misgivings, indicated by such
qualifications as these : — " So far as a remote observer can
" presume, imperfectly at the best, to judge of character, the
" Anglican Establishment has been deprived of the largest
mind," &c. And again, " Judging from such evidence as is before
" the public," &c. These qualifications will be useful, if at any
future time Mr. Newman should, in his erratic course, leave
the Church of Rome for any other Church, or, (as has some
times happened with such unstable characters) for no Church
at all. The Romanists can have but little confidence in their
converts from this school ; and already it is believed that
Newman's Essay on Development, is considered, at Oscott, as
likely to make more Infidels than Romanists. It is prudent,
therefore, in extolling him, to do so under certain limitations,
acknowledging that they can judge of his character, "imper-
" fectly at the best," &c. In the mean while, they attribute
to him some qualifications which are scarcely consistent in
the same individual ; for example, the Tablet proceeds : —
" Judging from such evidence as is before the public, Mr.
" Newman discharged the duties of his post with singular
" efficiency and power ; and showed himself possessed not
" only of the intellectual qualifications" (for being the head
of a party) " but of the moral (?) qualifications also. He was
" eminently discreet and wary in all his movements, at the
" same time that he was singularly bold and intrepid when
" the occasion called for the exercise of these qualities 
" In all his public acts, and we dare say his private sufficiently
" corresponded to them, there has appeared a singular fairness,
" openness, and evenness of mind I"

41
The Tablet represents his hero as " eminently discreet and
wary," and at the same time singularly fair and open in all his
actions ! He would be a rare character if he united these
opposite qualities. " Discreet and wary " he may have been ;
but as to his " singular fairness, openness, and evenness of
mind," we will let himself bear testimony. Apologizing for
his strong, and, according to his own acknowledged conviction,
unjust language against the Church of Rome, he has told us
— " If you ask me how an individual could venture, not simply
' to hold, but to publish such views of a communion so an-
' cient, 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 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 still, that such
' language is to be ascribed, in no small measure, to an im-
' petuous temper, a hope of approving myself to persons'
* respect, and a wish to repel the charge of Romanism."
(Newman's Letter to the Conservative Journal.) Such, by his
own acknowledgment, was Mr. Newman's "fairness, openness,
and evenness of mind." The Tablet describes these qualities,
in this instance, as " singular ; " and it must be acknowledged
that they were not manifested in the ordinary or common way,
in the so long continued use of language, highly useful to his
party, but which was, by the confession of him who used it,
to be ascribed in no small measure, to an impetuous temper
(evenness of mind !) a hope of approving himself to persons'
respect (openness !) and a wish to repel the charge of Romanism
(fairness !).
The Tablet goes on to speak again of Mr. Newman's " In
dustry " — "subtiltyof mind" — "logical perspicacity" —
" large and masculine imagination " — " profound historical
qualifications" — and all "directed by the purest and simplest

42
honesty" ! ! Attributing his vacillation to a sincere prejudice
in favour of Protestantism,* — " checked in the course of re
treat" (" from heresy to the Church") " by the anxieties of his
public position" — the Tablet proceeds to put forth more clearly
the nature of the value which the Romanists set on his perver
sion, — " Never was any testimony more complete than that of
" Mr. Newman to the baselessness and rottenness of Angli-
"can theology, to the necessity ofthe authority of Rome."
For an exposure of the vacillation of Mr. Newman, whether
to be attributed to those rare intellectual or moral qualifications
which the Tablet ascribes to him, abundant evidence is given
in Croly's Index and Dissertation on the Tracts.
The Tablet thus rejoices over this new convert, and holds
out encouragement to those of his party whom he has left be
hind. " Over him, as over all who show themselves like-
" minded, that Church (Rome) will rejoice, as the Shepherd
" rejoices over the lost sheep, and the mother over the child
" who was lost and is found."
The Tablet concludes, in reference to the " great fact " of
Mr. Newman's conversion : —
" God knows it fills us with a joy we cannot adequately ex-
" press, and with expectations sufficiently sanguine (we think) ;
" though not quite so sanguine as those of some better hopers
" among ourselves."
If the " better hopers" (such as Dr. Wiseman) expect that
the rest of the party, including well-beneficed leaders, as well
as young curates, will follow Newman, we trust their expec
tations may be realized ; unless, indeed, through God's mercy,
they be brought back into the way of truth.
* The assumption of Mr. Newman's reluctance to adopt Romish
views, is contradicted by Mr. Dalgairn's Letter, written from Littlemore,
in 1841, telling the Romanists to wait, and they would see the two
Churches united; as also by Mr. Newman's own admission, in 1842,
that he had no personal convictions against Rome, and that, in censu
ring that Church, he was " not speaking his own words," but only
adopting language which was " necessary to his position."

43

D.

" What do they now say to the Pope's Pastoral Lette»,
" which, from the first two volumes alone, discovered and
" pointed out all that has since occurred 1"
In reference to the above inquhy, the attention of the
writer of the foregoing pages has been directed to the follow
ing letter to Dr. Pusey, originally published in 1 843, shortly
after the first appearance of Mr. Newman's retractations of
his censures of the Church of Rome, published in the Conser
vative Journal, Dec. 1842. This letter is so much to the
point, and has moreover acquired so much additional interest
in consequence of the defection of Mr. Newman, since con
summated, and in connection with his tardy avowal of the
authorship of his letter of retractation, in his recent " Essay on
Development," that it cannot fail to prove interesting to the
reader ; — and it may be, that its republication, under present
circumstances, may induce Dr. Pusey to endeavour to satisfy
the public mind by an answer.
" TO THE REV. E. B. PUSEY, D. D.
"regius professor of hebrew.
" Rev. Sir,
" ' A Member of Convocation,' in a public letter, dated Feb.
" 21st, which has hitherto been ' treated as though it had never
" been written,' has very distinctly indicated the character of
" Mr. Newman's recent retractation of certain 'statements'
" and * views ' by which he some years since wished persons
" to understand him as ' pledging himself strongly ' against
" Rome.* Allow me to suggest that your own position is
" materially affected by the terms of this retractation.
*' You will recollect the publication in 1836, by an eminent
* Newman's Letter to Jelf, page 30.

44

" divine, now no more, ofa Satire, entitled 'The Pope's Pasto-
" ral Letter to Certain Members of the University of Oxford,'
" which, among other passages, contained the following, ad-
" dressed to your party, and which I transcribe as extracted
" by yourself:* —
" ' We make allowance for those difficulties'which impede your percep-
" tion or your avowal of the truth, (p. 6.) We pardon some expressions
" towards us ; compelled, no doubt, partly by the unhappy circumstances
" of your country. You have indeed sometimes employed terms which
" we well know our adversaries use in derision of us ; but, we repeat, we
" can pardon these, whether they are the result of prejudices still en-
" tertained by you, or are employed for some other reason, (pp. 6, 7.)
" That communion, of which the present circumstances of your country
" have made you, almost unavoidably members, (p. 11.) While we per-
" ceive with delight that you have always spoken, in your own persons,
" in accordance with our sentiments on this head, you have, at the same
" time, selected some tracts from early writers of your communion, in
" which our sentiments are impugned. These, old tracts will not be read
" with much attention, compared, at least, with your own more lively
" productions : they can, too, be readily withdrawn when it is expedient ;
'• for they are not a pledge of your opinions as strong as your own writ-
" ings. In the mean time, you may appeal to your republication of them,
'* as a proof that you have not leagued yourselves with us.' "
" To these insinuations you thought fit to rejoin, in ' An
" Earnest Remonstrance to the Author' ofthe Satire; in which,
" after indignantly charging the writer with ' sacrifice of truth,
" false insinuation, and consequently slandering,' ' want of
" honesty,' and 'evil desertion ofthe truth,' and indulging in
" many just expressions on the beauty of truth, sincerity, and
" simplicity, you thus conclude : —
" ' Now of all this, Sir, you do not believe one syllable ; you do not
" think that, either in the republication of the older, or the protests of
"the more modern tracts against Popery, their editors or authors were
" actuated by any such motives ; while you impute insincerity, you have
" reason to believe them as sincere as yourself. It is an ill tree which
" brings forth fruit thus corrupt.' "
" I am by no means inclined (unless your silence should
" force on me a conviction to the contrary) to dispute, that
* Pusey's Earnest Remonstrance, page 32,

45
" this ' Remonstrance ' was at the time as sincere as it was
" energetic. — But, now that we have in Mr. Newman a
" ' confitentem reum,' now that he has (whether spontaneously,
" or in deference to some eager follower) admitted that there
" were 'difficulties impeding his avowal of the truth,'* such
" perhaps as ' the unhappy circumstances of our country,' —
" that the terms he employed were ' employed for some other
" reason than on account of prejudices still entertained by
" him,'f — now that he has, in effect, ' withdrawn the tracts
" selected from early writers of our communion, in which the
" sentiments of the Bishop of Rome are impugned ;' — and
" has availed himself of the distinction that they were ' not a
" pledge of his opinions as strong as his own writings,'^
" although he, ' in the mean time, appealed to his republica-
" tion' of such views, as a proof that he had not ' leagued
" himself with Rome ;§ — permit me, Rev. Sir, with all de-
" ference, to adopt this means of conveying to you an opinion,
" extensively shared by others, that your colleague has left
" you no alternative but that of ' earnestly remonstrating '
" against confessions, which I cannot characterize in stronger
" language than you did, when they were advanced, in the
" form of charges, by an opponent, unless you would dispute
" his claim to be considered the most accomplished adept in
" the revived arts of 'economy' and 'phenacism.'
" I remain, Rev. Sir, yours, &c.
"Another Member of Convocation."
" Oxford, March 15, 1843."
* " Such views, too, are necessary to our position." — Newman's Let
ter to ihe Editor of the Conservative Journal.
f " Such language is, I fear, to be, in no small measure, ascribed to
an impetuous temper, and a hope of approving myself to persons' re
spect." — Ibid.
I " I said to myself, I am not speaking my own words, I am but fol-
" lowing a consensus of the divines of my Church." — Ibid.
§ Newman's Letter to Jelf, page 30. " I pledged myself most strongly
" against the Church of Rome." Also, see Appendix to Pusey's Letter
to the Bishop of Oxford, containing " Extracts from the Tracts for the
Times, the Lyra Apostolica, and other publications, shewing that to op
pose Ultra-Protestantism is not to favor Popery," 1839.

46
According to the prudent policy of the party, to pass over
without notice the arguments of their opponents, the foregoing
letter was, by Dr. Pusey, " treated as though it had never
been written : " while it was met only by a scurrilous para
graph, the following week, in the English Churchman.
It is true that, at the time when it was addressed to Dr.
Pusey, he might have said, that the Letter to the Conservative
Journal was not acknowledged as Mr. Newman's. But now it
is so acknowledged by Mr. Newman himself, in the Introduc
tion to his recent publication. Is not Dr. Pusey now called
upon to answer it ? And is he not, now more than ever, bound
to state his present views of the Pope's Pastoral? Taking it
in connection with the recent defection of Mr. Newman, and
his full acknowledgment of the Retractation of his Anti-
Romish language, we surely are entitled to expect from Dr.
Pusey some explanation as to his " Earnest Remonstrance."
Does he think now that the* Author of the Pope's Pastoral
took a just view of the case, or otherwise ? He rested his
defence of the Tracts, on the censures against Rome which
they contained ; but all these have been since withdrawn, and
the writer who had "pledged himself most strongly against
the Church of Rome," has now been received into the bosom
of that Church, and has devoted himself to her service. On
what grounds, may we not ask, will Dr. Pusey now justify the
indignant tone in which he answered the Pope's Pastoral
Epistle ? And if he cannot justify it, is he not called upon to
retract the strong language which he used in his answer 1
His continued silence, on this point, will force upon all
candid minds the conviction, that the " Remonstrance " of Dr.
Pusey was more " earnest " than sincere ; and that the not
very courteous language of the reverend Divine — " Now of
all this, sir, you do not believe one syllable," &c., was more
justly applicable to himself, in reference to the indignant terms
of his " Remonstrance," than to the author of the Pope's
Pastoral, to whom it was addressed. Looking at the subse
quent conduct of the party, and the confessions of Mr. New-

47
man, one is compelled to come to the conclusion, that all this
indignant language of remonstrance was merely adopted as
being " necessary to their position," and was " to be ascribed "
(like the censures themselves to which the remonstrance ap
pealed) if not " to an impetuous temper," at least " in no
" small measure . ... to a hope of approving himself to per-
" sons' respect, anda wish to repel the charge of Romanism."

E.

A remarkable instance of the fact that nothing but want of
clear-sightedness, can prevent any conscientious Tractarian
from going over to the Church of Rome, has been recently
presented to the public in the case of the Rev. Frederick W.
Faher, one of the late seceders from our Church. Mr. Faber,
in a letter to the Rev. Sir George S. Robinson, Bart., acknow
ledges, — " That the doctrines I taught at Elton, which were
" what is vulgarly called Puseyism, were Roman, I entertain
" no doubt ; but I was not aware of it myself. I acted bond
" fide, fully believing that what I taught was more in accord-
" ance with the Prayer Book, than the opinions of the An-
" glican party, and was for the good of the English Church,
" which I sincerely loved, and for which I worked to the best
" of my ability. I was certainly wrong. Other parties, who
" condemned Puseyism as Roman, were more clear-sighted ;
" but I do not think they could be more conscientious."
And again, in a subsequent letter, Mr. Faber concludes with
this confession, to which all clear-sighted and conscientious
men must subscribe —
" I do most fully confess, that, in my judgment, submission
" to the Roman Church is the legitimate and only
" consistent end of Puseyism."

L. SEELEY, PRINTER, THAMES DITTON.

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