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A LETTER

RESPECTFULLY ADDHKSSED TO

THE REY, J, H. NEWMAN,

UPON SOMZ PilSSACES IN HIS

LETTER TO THE REV. DR. JELF.

BY N. WISEMAN, D. D.
Bishop of^iMelipotammtP — ..

LONDON :
CHARLES DOLMAN, NEW BOND STREET.

MDCCCXLI.
mi {1,1%

BIRMINOHAM :
»B1KTED BY WULIAM 8T0KI.

A LETTER, src.

St. Mary's College, Oseott,
March 27, 184 J.
Rev. Sir,
The second edition of your Letter to Dr. Jelf
has just reached me ; I had not be'en able to see it
sooner. In addressing directly to yourself some ob
servations upon it, I hope you will not consider me as
presuming' upon the passing acquaintance I made with
you some years ago in Rome, however pleasant to me
the recollection of it may be, but as moved by consider
ations of a higher character. I have sufficient con
fidence in your candour and in your powers, to believe
that, if I shall be so happy as to convince you of the
inaccuracy of any of your views and statements, you
will be the first to correct them, and will be able to
remove the impressions you have produced, far better
than I could ever hope to do. On the other hand, did
I address the public only, as though entering into
controversy, against you, and not into discussion with
you, I might appear to exclude from my earnest anxiety
to convince, the very person in whom the character
of the present theological- enquiry naturally prompts
me to feel most interested. I will, therefore, tem
perately but frankly, proceed to offer you my ob
servations upon such parts of your Letter, as must be
distressing to every well-instructed Catholic.
The purport of your Letter to Dr. Jelf is to vindi
cate yourself against the sentence of four tutors of

Colleges, who have represented the Tract No. 90,
of which you are the author, as asserting that tbe
Thirty-nine Articles do not condemn " Purgatory,
Pardons, Worshipping and adoration of Images and
Relics, the Invocation of Saints, and the Mass, as they
are taught authoritatively by the Church of Rorae."
Your reply to this is, that you " consider that they
do contain a condemnation of the ' authoritative teach
ing ' of the Church of Rome, on these points : " that you
" only say that, whereas they were written before the
decrees of Trent, they were not directed against those
decrees." P. 4. Your next paragraph — painful though
it be to my feelings — I must give in your own words.
"As to the present authoritative teaching of the Church
of Rome, to judge by what we see of it in public, I think it goes
very far indeed to substitute another Gospel for the true one.
Instead of setting before the soul the Holy Trinity, and Heaven,
and Hell, it does seem to me, as a popular system, to preach the
Blessed Virgin, and the Saints, and Purgatory. If there ever
was a system which required reformation, it is that of Rome at
this day, or in other words, (as I should call it) Romanism or
Popery." P. 5.
In further explanation of your meaning, you quote a
passage from another of your writings, from which I
think it sufficient, at present, to extract the following
sentence. " In the Roman Schools we find St, Mary
and the Saints the prominent objects of regard and dis
pensers of mercy, Purgatory or Indulgences the means
of obtaining it, the Pope the ruler and teacher of the
Church, and miracles the warrant of doctrines." Ibid.
Your intention seems to be, as far as I can gather it

5
from these and other "passages in the Letter, to establish
a distinction between the doctrines defined or decreed in
the General Council of Trent, and the authoritative
teaching of the Roman Church, that is, I suppose, of the
Catholic Church in communion with Rome. It is not
your intention, t presume, to designate by the term " au
thoritative teaching " local abuses, or the extravagances
of individual writers, but the teaching by authority,
which that Church, as a Church, sanctions and pursues.
The existence of any such authoritative teaching at
variance with the doctrines ofthe Tridentine Synod is,
to me, a novel idea ; and I think will prove so to all
Catholics. It is chiefly with respect to its existence and
its supposed objects and systems, as described by you,
that I take the liberty of respectfully addressing you.
Suppose I were to assert, that in the Church of
England, there is an " authoritative teaching," at
variance with the Articles, as interpreted by you in the
Tract. You believe your interpretation of the Articles
to be the only one reconcilable with catholic truth, or
that can bring your Church into harmony with the
Catholic Church.* Suppose then further that I reasoned,
that your Church was not to be judged by the Articles,
but by such authoritative teaching, and that therefore its
doctrines, and consequently itself, are not catholic. How
? •• But these remarks are beyond our present scope, which is merely to
shew that while our Prayer book is acknowledged on all hands fo be of
Catholic origin, our Articles also, the ofiFspring of an uncatljolic age, are
through God's good providence, fo say the least, not uncaiholic, and may be
subscribed to by those who aim at being catholic in heart and doctrine."
Tract p. 4,

6
would you reply ? I think you would justly ask, where
does that authoritative teaching reside? Who ha
power to make it, so as to limit the interpretation of the
Articles ? You would not be satisfied with extracts
against Transubstantiation, the Mass, a middle State
of souls, and honouring of Saints, from hundreds
of writers and divines in communion with your Church,
who have proclaimed that these things are, completely
and without reserve, condemned in and by your Church.
You would not be content with the joint opinion of
College Tutors, or of the hebdomadal board, or, I
believe, of individual bishops, whose sentiments are
in part recorded on your views. None of these, indi
vidually or collectively, would you allow, I think, to
have the character of an authoritative teaching ; certainly
not to tbe extent of justifying an opponent, in fastening
upon your Church their sentiments, instead of the Articles.
Let us apply this case to ours. It is a serious thing to
charge us with setting up the Blessed Virgin in place
of the Holy Trinity, and Purgatory instead of Heaven
and Hell. We naturally ask, what shall be considered
sufficient evidence of there being an authoritative
teaching, that supersedes the solemn and synodal
decrees of our Church, and makes us responsible in
solidum for its lessons ? This I have endeavoured to
discover in your Letter ; and yet I own, I have been
foiled, even as to any plausible conjecture concerning
what you yourself had in mind, when you adopted the
term. You seem to have rested content with certain

vague generalities, not easily reduced to tangible
forms. I will try to enumerate some of your various
evidences of this " authoritative teaching."
1". " What we see of it " (I suppose of our teaching) " in
public." p. 6.
2°. The doctrine of " the Roman schools." Ibid, and p. 8.
3°, The teaching of the Catechism of the Council of
Trent, p. 5.
4", " Popular notions " of Catholics, as attested hy the
Homilies and Jeremy Taylor. Ibid.
5". The abuses which Luther assailed before the Council
of Trent. Ibid.
6°. Popular worship and practice of Catholics in
general, p. 7, par. 1.
7". The honours paid to saints in catholic countries. Ibid.
par. 2.
8°. The sentiments of " all the best writers " upon such
subjects, p. 10.
I could add some other heads I think ; but these will
suffice. I put it, Rev. Sir, to your candour and good
sense, whether you would admit such evidences as
these, of a teaching in your church, sufficiently authorita
tive, to be considered as taking place in it of the Articles
you have subscribed. To " the teaching of the Roman
schools, the Catechism of the Council of Trent, and the
sentiments of the best writers," I have no objections to
make. But that you should give as evidences of autho
ritative teaching " popular notions " and practices, &c. is
certainly surprising. Popular notions concerning the

Bible and Rule of Faith, you surely would not admit as
evidence of the teaching of your Church: popular
practice as to fasting, the Euc'iarist, and prayer, you
would not allow to define your doctrines on those subjects.
But you must bear with me if I go into details, both
as regards the evidences which you refer to, and the
doctrines you suppose them to teach.
P. The Roman Schools. I have given one extract
where you appeal to these, in support of your views.
In the Tract p. 24, you express a similar sentiment, and
you have copied it into your Letter. "What is opposed'
(by Art. xxii ) "is the received doctrine of the day, and
unhappily of this day too, or the doctrines of the Roman
Schools." After the extract, you thus proceed. " This
doctrine of the Schools is at present, on the whole, the
established creed * ofthe Roman Church, and this I call
Romanism or Popery." P. 8.
What, I beg leave to ask, are these "Roman Schools?"
What does the term signify ? Where is the teaching of
these Schools authentically recorded ?
Bear with me, ifi speak too prominently in my own
name, because I have some right to come forward as evi
dence in this matter. I have resided for two and twenty
years in Rome, intimately connected with its theological
education. For five years I attended " the Roman
Schools " in the Roman College, where all the clergy of
the City were obliged to be educated. I went through
* Here we have au instance again of vagueness of language, on mat
ters which require strict accuracy. What constitutes "the established
Creed of a Church?" Is it not the doctrine of its /ormw/an'es, as solemnly
recognized by its authorities? How then is the term here applied 7

the entire theological course, and publicly maintained it
in a thesis. Since then I have been always engaged in
teaching theology in our national College ; and for some
years have held the office of a professor in the Roman
University. I ought therefore to be tolerably acquainted
with the doctrines of the Roman Schools.
Now I solemnly assure you that, throughout the entire
course of studies, I never heard a word that could lead
me to suppose, that our Blessed Lady and the Saints are,
or ought to be, the "prominent objects of regard," or
could be " dispensers of mercy : " or that " Purgatory
or Indulgences are the means of obtaining it, &c." *
Moreover I declare, with all sincerity and earnestness,
that I have always there heard and taught, exactly the
contrary to what you represent as the doctrine of the
Roman Schools. Surely if there be any place, institution,
system, or code, on earth, which has a right to this name,
it must be that of the very schools to which I refer.
But perhaps you will say, that it is not the formal
teaching which you mean, but the spirit infused into
the whole system of the Roman schools ; as if one should
say of the Oxford school, (not schools) that it taught
certain doctrines, he would not signify that such
doctrines are delivered ex cathedra, but that they are
instilled throughout the course, and form its soul or
spirit. But to produce this effect, some means at least
are necessary. The doctrines, which it is wished to
* The very idea sounds new, that Purgatory is ever considered a means
of obtaining mercy, at least to the living who are ever exhorted to escape it ;
a place of mercy we certainly consider it, I never remember hearing or
seeing it enumerated among the media or means of mercy.

10
bring prominently forward, will be repeatedly inculcated
and insinuated, and their importance dilated on. Yet
here again, I cannot recall to my mind any circumstance,
which, upon reconsideration, appears tome like any such
attempt, or such a system.
The distribution of the theological course was at that
time as follows. One professor occupied four years (an
hour's lecture a day) upon the Sacraments, the " instru
ments of grace and pardon," as you rightly tell us, in
the ancient Church. Another professor distributed his
course, as follows : first year, De Locis Theologicis, and
chiefly Be Ecclesia ; second, De Deo Uno et Trino ;
third, De Incarnatione ; fourth, De Gratia. A third
professor was engaged two years on Scripture ; and a
fourth, the same time, on Moral Theology. These were
the obligatory courses, without having attended which,
no one could receive Orders. Now, I ask you, are the
Anglican " schools " so arranged as to " set before the
soul, the Holy Trinity," or to make " Christ the Son
of God, his grace, his Sacraments and his Church, the
main aspect in the economy of Redemption," more
decidedly, more clearly, or more essentially, than does
this theological system ofthe Roman schools? You are,
I dare say, conversant with the order and matter ofthe
theological treatises which I have enumerated : but I am
sure many others of my readers will hardly know, where
those matters, which you consider the prominent ones in
the Roman schools, are introduced in them. For their
sakes I will state it. All that is taught about " St. Mary

11
and the saints," their relics and images, is introduced
into a short treatise at the end of De Incarnatione.*
Indulgences are spoken of in a supplementary treatise,
or appendix, to Penance, among the Sacraments.f
And as to Purgatory, which your readers will naturally
suppose has quite superseded in our minds heaven and
hell, it comes in between the two, occupying far smaller
space in our theological works than either of them, J
in a tract appended to that De Deo Creatore, which is
often distinct from the one on the Trinity.
This forms the doctrinal teaching of the " Roman
schools ; " and if it be such as I have described it in their
very centre, I suppose no one will doubt that the authori
tative teaching of other Catholic places will not go beyond
Rome itself, in what you consider Roman doctrines.
But perhaps I have not as yet caught your meaning :
your expression may be intended to apply to the ascetic,
rather than to the dogmatical, teaching of Rome. Let us
then examine this. In the first place, I may observe that
in speaking of authoritative teaching in a church, and
appealing for its existence to its schools, one naturally
understands the dogmatical schools, as indexes of dogma
tical teaching. But secondly, there is, properly speaking,
no other school. We must examine the ascetic
teaching chiefly in authorised and sanctioned practices.
•In the theological course now pursued at the Roman College, that of
Father Perrone, the treatise De Incarnalione occupies upwards of 360
pages : that on the Saints, their Images, Relies, &c. under one hundred.
Vol. iv. Rom. 1836
t Tn Perrone's work it occupies less than 50 pages. Matrimony occupies
upwards of 200. Vol. vii.
X Ibid Vol, iii. Heaven occupies about 45 pages, Hell 53, Purgatory 23.

12
Do these, then, countenance your assertion, of an au
thoritative teaching which has usurped the place and
authority of the Tridentine Canons, and has made those
blasphemous and idolatrous substitutions, which it is
painful to me to repeat ?
Every year, the pulpit of almost every great church
in large cities, and of every metropolitan and parochial
church in other places, gives a regular course of Lenten
sermons, often filled with warm and feeling eloquence.
The general practice is to devote one sermon, (on the
third Sunday) to Purgatory. Indulgences I have never
heard introduced into the series : the B. Virgin seldom
more than once, on the commemoration of her Dolours.
But death, heaven, hell, judgment, form the theme
of many discourses. A fortnight towards the end
of Lent is always set aside (in addition to the course in
the morning) for daily instructions to crowded churches,
on what ? on purgatory or indulgences, as the means
of obtaining mercy ? No : but on the paschal duty of a
sincere repentance and confession, and of a worthy
participation of the B. Eucharist. I doubt if those two
topics are even alluded to.
The spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, or a spiritual
retreat, are considered the most efficacious means of
bringing men to a sense of duty, and a life of virtue.
And I will say, from tolerable experience, that their
efficacy is little short of miraculous. They consist in a
series of meditations (based upon the consideration of
Man's end) much in the following order : on sin, on

13
hell, on death and judgment — several on each — not one
on purgatory ; then, on the incarnation and birth of our
Saviour, on the mysteries of His infancy, on His life, then
on His sufferings and death ; afterwards on His resur
rection, on heaven, the Blessed Eucharist, and the love of
God ! Not one on the Blessed Virgin! The pulpit and the
spiritual retreat are the two principal means of individual
sanctification, in the owiward economy of the Church.
Take the Italian, or French, or Spanish catechism ;
and candidly examine, whether in any of them, the
Trinity and Incarnation, and the entire Creed be not the
primary and principal subjects of instruction : — whether
any thing is taught the children who learn their faith in
it, that can lead them to suppose that the Blesssd Virgin,
purgatory, images, and indulgences, are the main sub
jects to be attended to.
I really do not know where to look for an "authorita
tive teaching " as carried on in the " Roman schools,"
beyond the places and objects which I have enumerated,
and I cannot find in any of these the smallest proposition,
or intimation, at variance with the Decrees of the holy
Tridentine Synod. But before quitting this subject of
the Roman schools, permit me to draw your attention to
one ofthe specific doctrines which you seem to attribute
to them. You will bear in mind that you identify what
was the received doctrine of the Roman schools when the
Articles were drawn up, with what it now is. (Tract p.
24. Letter p. 8.) The passage, then, to which I allude is
thefoUowing startlingone. "For instance as toPurgatory,

14
I consider (with the Homily) that the Article opposes the
main idea really encouraged hy Rome, that temporal punish
ment isa substitute for hell in the case ofthe unholy, and
all the superstitions consequent thereon. (Letter, p. 24.)
You are aware. Rev. Sir, that your assertion weighs
much with many : that you are believed to have made
no common study of catholic works of theology and
piety, and to have endeavoured to gain acquaintance, to
a greater extent and in a kinder spirit than most others,
with the true doctrines of our Church. A doctrine like
the one which you state, is wicked and fiendish, driving
men headlong, because cruelly hoodwinked, to perdition.
Can you prove that Rome has "really " ever "en
couraged," or does now "encourage" such an idea?
In what formulary ? in what decree or declaration ? by
what practice? by what connivance? I cannot remember
anything, published or done, that can possibly be con
strued into any such encouragement. If you have proofs
of this terrible assertion, I earnestly call upon you to
produce them ; if you have not, I entreat you in charity
to recall it.
2. Another evidence of an authoritative teaching in
the Catholic Church, which goes beyond, or supersedes,
the Tridentine decrees, you draw from the Catechism of
that Council. This looks the most plausible of all your
corroborations of your theory ; but I think upon con
sideration you will see that it has been unfairly used.
First, to put the Catechism at variance with the
Council, which ordered it to be drawn up and published.

15
strikes one, at once, as unnatural, and as a fallacy.
Those who compiled it and revised it were among the
most learned and zealous assistants at the Council ; they
undertook to embody in a catechetical form, its doc
trines. We must suppose these men, (and mind they
were St. Charles Borromeo, Sirletus, Seripandus,
Foreiro, Medina, and others of equal character) delibe
rately contradicting their own acts, or else not knowing
what they had previously decreed. Such hypotheses
cannot be reasonably sustained.
Secondly. The fact, in truth, is, that the Catechism is
a popular exposition, and therefore admits greater lati
tude of expression ; it even states matters not of faith.
Thus you will find that doctrine of Angels-guardian
taught and expounded in it, which is only a pious belief, not
an article of faith : we are also told there that the Apostles
drew up the Creed, though this has not been defined
by the Church. It employs, therefore, the usual language
in which a doctrine is spoken of in the Church. From
the time of St Augustine it has been usual to call pur
gatory, whatever its purgation may consist of, a fire, a
cleansing fire, &c. But to say, that the incidental use of
such a term constitutes an authoritative teaching, more
binding and decisive than the cautious phraseology of a
dogmatical definition, is, I fear, a straining of facts for the
sake of an argument.*
• To show how far catholic divines are from imagining that this expression
of the Catechism interferes with the liberty allowed by the decree, I will
quote the words of Perrone; which are, in fact, the language of every
catholic theologian. " Omnia igitur quae spectant ad locum, durationem.

16
Thirdly. Your theory is, that the authoritative teaching,
which has replaced the Tridentine doctrines, has made
Purgatory or Indulgences usurp the place of the sacra
ments as « means of obtaining mercy," And you quote
the Catechism as evidence of this teaching. Will your
readers, think you, imagine, that in that voluminous
compilation, the subject of Purgatory occupies just two
sentences ? that in treating of Penance, Indulgences are
not even mentioned ?
Fourthly. If the Catechism be better evidence of what
we authoritatively teach, than even the decrees of the
Synod, why not let us have the entire benefit of such
evidence? For instance, let us be tried by the very
test you have proposed for Purgatory, on the subject
of Images. After explaining their lawfulness and use,
the Catechism thus proceeds. " But as the enemy of
mankind, by his wiles and deceits, seeks to pervert every
the most holy institution, should the faithful happen
at all to offend in this particular, the pastor, in accord
ance with the decree of the Council of Trent, will use
every exertion in his power to correct such an abuse,
and when occasion offers, will explain the decree itself to
poenarura qualifatem, ad catholioam fidem minime spectant, seu de6nita ab
ecclesia non sunt. Num scilicet... .ignis purgatorii sit materialis an meta-
phoricus ; utrum scilicet consistat in quadam a^nimitristitia exortaex anteactae
vitae consideratione, foedidate pecpati, &c . . . . diversae olim de iis ex*iterurit
inter veteres Ecclesiae Patres, et inter scholasticos etiam recentiores adhuc
vigent discrepantes sententiae." Vol. iii. p 321. Surely this will satisfy any
reasonable mind, that we are as free to speculate on the nature of purgatory
since the Catechism called it a fire, as we were for the <m;o years between the
ratification of the Council (1564) and the publication ofthe Catechism, (1666.

\ \

17
the people" (fee* Is this an " authoritative teaching "
which supersedes the decree of Trent, or a sanctioning,
onthe subject of images, of more than if warrants ? I
beg in like manner to refer you to the instructions of the
Catechism regarding the worship of Saints.f And again
I ask, if its doctrine have to prove so much for you on
purgatory, because fire is merely mentioned, ought you
not to have given us the benefit of what it proves on all
the other subjects, included by you under the title of
Roman doctrines ?
3". " I conceive that what 'all the best writers' say is
authoritative teaching, and a sufficient object for the
censures conveyed in the Articles, though the decrees of
Trent, taken by themselves, remain untouched." p. 10.
I am willing to admit the test ; and therefore shall be
satisfied that you are right, if you will give the testimony
of all, or any, of our best writers in favour of what you
call "Romanism or Popery," that is, "preaching the
Blessed Virgin, the Saints and Purgatory," instead of
"the Holy Trinity, Heaven and Hell," &c. I might, indeed,
justly protest against having the authoritative teaching of
the Catholic Church decided by the opinions of one indi
vidual, or of any number of individuals, however respec
table, if such teaching be contrary to, or beyond, that of
our last General Council; as much as you would against the
doctrines of your church being determined by the opinion
of Bishop Hoadley, or its principles by those of Bishop
Newton, rather than by the Articles. But I have no
• Catechism. Rom. Part. iii. Vol. . p. 'Wl, Ed. Rome, 1839. Latin and
Engligh, t Ibid. p. 27.
U

18
objection to waive that plea, and accept you own terms.
Our best writers are well known to you better than to
most : show in them such a system as you have des
cribed, and you will have done something towards
carrying out your views. But Dr. Lloyd's bare assertion,
which is all you now have, will not suffice.
However, after all, allow me to put it to yourself,
whether you have not inadvertently, fallen into a mistake,
in applying his words 1 They are as follows : —
"That latria is due only to the Trinity is continually
asserted in the Councils ; but the terms of dulia, and hy-
perdulia have not been adopted or acknowledged by them
in their public documents ; they are however employed
unanimously by all the best ivriters of the Romish Churck."
On these words, you make the comment with which
I began this paragraph. Your object is to confirm, by
the words of Dr. Lloyd, a discrepancy between the
Council of Trent and catholic writers of celebrity. Dr.
Lloyd, however, speaks of Councils in the plural. And
in fact, I think you will not find the word latria any
more than dulia in the decrees of the Council of Trent.
Therefore, no proof of discrepancy between it and writers,
can be drawn from this statement of Dr. Lloyd's.
Moreover, I will observe, that the use of terras by certain
writers, will not put them in contradiction to the Council,
simply because it happened not to employ them: the
doctrine of both is one.
40. These seem to be the only sources which could
have a right, with any plausibility, to be alleged as
evidence of an authoritative teaching in our Church,

19
distinct from its formularies. They all give the same
results as these. I will now glance at your remaining
heads of evidence.
I think you yourself, when you endeavour to analyze the
conviction in your mind of the existence of your " autho
ritative teaching " in the Catholic Church, will find that
it is not based upon the use of the word " fire " in the
Catechism, nor on any teaching of any Roman Schools,
nor upon the works of" all our best writers ;" but rather
upon what you call the " popular worship " (which you
identify with our " existing creed ") p. 7. upon « popular
notions of catholics, " on " what is seen in public, " and
on such like very popular and generally admitted themes
of anticatholic declamation. I do not think you would
deliberately allow yourself to be led away by these. I
do not think you would reflectingly take, for a guide of
your sentiments, the prejudiced statements of travellers,
or the assertions, however unanimous, of the great body
of writers against us. But it is exceedingly difficult to
think, differently from what every body about us has
always been thinking and saying. It is almost impos
sible to stay the mind, when hurried on by the press of
those behind, and on either side of us. And so I fancy
that you, like many other candid men, (and I am sorry
to add, occasionally some catholics) having heard every
protestant traveller, and every protestant writer, and
in fact almost every protestant man and woman, describe
or take for granted, the superstitions ofthe Italians, or of
Spaniards, and their enthusiastic devotion to the Mother
of God, or their confidence in Indulgences, &c. have too

20
implicitly assumed all this ; and so have come to
construct your theory, that this " popular religion " is
the fruit of a certain authoritative teaching, although
this does not exist in any tangible or visible form.
Perhaps, indeed, you would consider a tacit sanction of
such practices and doctrines as you describe, equivalent
to an authoritative teaching of them. If so, the expres
sion is likely to mislead ; but my task remains the same.
First, then, I would most respectfully ask, are you pre
pared to say, that any extent of corruption, or sanction of
error by the members of a church, if at variance with its ac
knowledged formularies, deprives the Church ofthe benefit
of these, and warrants its being treated as having admitted
a new faith? If you are then, I answer, that you and your
friends, from the early Tracts down to Mr. Bowden,* have
been grievously in error, when you have maintained that
the supposed corruptions in the Catholic Church, before
the Council of Trent, did not invalidate its title to be the
true Church, because such errors were not embodied in
formularies of faith. For, if practical corruptions are to
be taken as stronger declarations of the Church's belief
than the formularies themselves, then had the Church
forfeited all claims, and sanctioned error, as much before,
as after, the Synod. Now your argument does assume,
that certain supposed practical corruptions amongst us
have more right to indicate our " existing creed," than
the very decrees of a Council, to which we all are bound.
Further, I ask you, whereas the Established Church, for
a considerable period, (as during the last century,) had
* Life of Gregory VII. vol. i. p. 7.

21
forgotten orrejected those views which you have revived,
and authoritatively taught, as far as universal teaching
public and private went, views of the Articles diame
trically opposed to your present ones, do you consider
this universal defection, as establishing the doctrines of^
your Church, in preference to the Articles ?
I think, therefore, that it will uot be easy to
determine, that the decrees of Trent are to be put
aside, by any amount of practical departure from them.
A catholic can never be obliged, by any authority, to
go beyond them : and therefore, if such universal
defection exist amongst us as you imply, he may be
like Lot in Sodom, standing alone in virtue ; but
his faith or creed will be that of the Council.
But, secondly, let us come to the question of fact,
which is the more important. Is the popular belief and
practice in catholic countries such as to warrant your
theory ? Allow me to ask you what means you have
used to arrive at a knowledge of the " popular notions "
of catholics on the points at issue? or of their belief?
For by these must their practices be mainly judged.
What evidence have you, for instance, that they go
beyond a sound faith respecting our Blessed Lady?
Have you ever seen a popular work that told them
or insinuated to them, that she could be the object
of faith ? that to her sacrifice could be offered ?
that she could forgive sins 1 or that any other prero
gative of the Supreme Being belongs to her? Or
have you yourself been able to converse with the people,
and ascertain their ideas, upon these and similar topics 1

22
or have you received information concerning them, from
such as have had means or opportunity of ascertaining
them? If not, allow me to assure you that you may
have been easily led into error.
Perhaps you will tell me that such investigation is un
necessary (although I think christian charity will consider
none too troublesome, before pronouncing a sentence of
idolatry upon many millions,) because gross abuses meet
the eye ; because crowds are seen praying before images
of the Blessed Virgin and the shrines of Saints ; because
Indulgences are proclaimed on all sides, and Purgatory
is placed before the thoughts by frequent representations.
Now, to examine this view ofthe case, let us take as
an instance, an Italian peasant. What are the religious
exercises which are enjoined him, and which he regularly
attends ? First, the holy sacrifice of the Mass, every
Sunday and holiday, and pretty generally every morning
before going to work. He knows, as well as you or I,
what the Mass is, and that it cannot be offered up to
any, save to God. 2ndly, the Holy Communion at least
several times a year; often, much more frequently.
3rdly, as a preparation for it, confession of his sins,
made penitently and contritely. These two sacraraents he
well knows have nothing to do with the Blessed Mother
of God ; nor can Indulgences, * still less Purgatory, be
•When Mr. Newman tells us that Indulgences have usurped the place of
the Sacraments, he probably overlooked the fact that no plenary indulgence
(save one or two) can be gained without confession and communion. Thus
an Indulgence, instead of replacing the sacraments, ensures their reception.
A condition always is, that the faithful be "vere pcsnitentes confessi et sacra
communione refeoti." ee Bouvier (Bp. of Mans.) Traite des Indulgences.
p. 65, Toumay, 18S7.

23
substituted for them, 4thly, the Benediction, or adora
tion of the Blessed Sacrament, generally in the evening
of all festivals, and often on other days. To this we
may add the forty hours' prayer, or exposition of the
Blessed Sacrament for that space of time, watched by
adorers day and night. Among the prayers most fre
quently inculcated, and publicly recited, are acts of faith,
hope, charity, and contrition, which are always repeated
by the children after catechism, and well known by the
most illiterate. These leading exercises of worship and
devotion all belong to God : the principal one that
is referable to the Blessed Virgin is the Rosary. This
generally forms a part of family evening devotions, and is
moreover occasionally said in public. * I would gladly
enter, did my present object permit such details, into an
explanation and analysis of this devotion, one of the
most beautiful to my mind ; at present I need only say,
that every book of devotion will show you, what the
Catechism in Italy, and I believe in Spain, fully explains,
that the Mysteries of Our Saviour's Birth, Death, and
Triumph, are the real objects of this form of prayer"
However, take it as you please ; consider it as a devotion
principally addressed to the Blessed Virgin, and add to
it any others usually said, as her Litany — and I ask you
what do they amount to, compared with the exercises of
piety which I have before enumerated, the raost solemn by
far, and the most indispensible ? For every catholic,
however ignorant, knows that he must every festival
• The Rosary is likewise the prayer of those who cannot read, and who
find their attention kept up best by some outward practice, such ae the use
of beads affords,

24
assist at Mass, under pain of sin ; but none imagine that . .
a similar penalty is attached to the neglect of any of their
devotions to the Blessed Virgin. This surely forfns a
most important distinction between the two worships,
that to God, and that to the greatest of the Saints.
But again, I shall be told, that the manner in which the
poorer Catholics pray before her images and those of the
Saints, betrays a greater fervour of devotion than they dis
play at other times; nay, that it even indicates a supersti
tious trust in those outward symbols themselves. This ap
pearance may be partly true ; though I am ready most
completely to deny, that half the ardour, enthusiasm,
and devotion is ever exhibited before relics or images,
which you may see any day before the Blessed Sacrament,
when it is exposed to adoration. But at the same time, I
will assert that the tenderer emofions are not the proper
tests of higher feelings, such as confidence, veneration, and
homage. A child may be more fondling and affectionate
with his mother, while he will more reverence, more
obey, more believe, and more confide in his father.
And so I conceive, that the morfe sensible part of
devotion, that which works upon natural feelings, may
be more apparently excited by the joys, the sufferings,
the glories and the virtues of beings more akin to our
nature, than by contemplation of those, however much
more perfect, of a Being infinitely removed from our
sphere. What thought so powerful as to be able to mea
sure the abyss of suffering, which overwhelms the heart of
Jesus, expiring on the cross ? But what mind so dull, or
what heart so callous, as not to be able to apprehend the

9:1

maternal feelings of her, who stands bereaved, at its
foot ? Does not her grief, in fact, present us the truest
and* clearest mirror of His sufferings ? Does not the
Stabat Mater, on that very account, excite the purest
sentiments of love and sorrow for the Son, because His
griefs are viewed through the sympathies of the
Mother ? But, does it follow, that because the illiterate
give way to such feelings as these, more strongly than
others, and exhibit them more openly, we are to judge
their hearts, and pronounce, withotit question or
enquiry, that they have renounced their faith, and
abjured their God? Is not this the sin of Heli, who,
witnessing the deep feeling of Anna's prayer, pro
nounced her drunk ?* And has not many a poor Italian
been equally unjustly judged, when upon similar evi
dence, he has been pronounced an idolater?
There is, I am sure, much serious misapprehension in
this country, regarding the religious instruction of poor
catholics abroad, and their knowledge of their respective
duties towards God and other beings. Their devotional
feelino-s are taken as tests of their convictions and faith ;
and men who never perhaps feel sensible emotions in
prayer to God, measuring the enthusiastic feelings of
foreign hearts towards inferior beings, by their own
towards the superior, judge them not merely extravagant,
but derogatory to higher worship. But interrogate those
who have manifested those powerful feelings, about their
faith, and you will soon find that it is Tridentine and sound.
Allow me, by way of illustration, to relate an anecdote
*lSam. i. 13.

26
communicated to me by a learned and pious friend. He
was on an excursion to Paestum with a protestant com
panion, who often descanted on the superstition and
ignorance of the Italians ; and certainly no spot could
appear more likely to justify his ideas, than the immense
unwholesome plain over which they were journeying;
the inhabitants of which, one would naturally suppose,
must be debarred from all chance of religious instruction.
A little boy mounted behind the carriage, and offered to
be their Cicerone to the ruins, — his dress and appearance
sufficiently bespoke his poverty. To him it was deter
mined to refer the subject of discussion. " Do you love
the Madonna?" was the first question asked. The little
fellow's eyes sparkled with affection and delight, as he
answered in the affirmative. " Who redeemed the
Madonna? " he was then asked. " Her own Son," was
his reply. "Could she have redeemed you?" "Not
unless her Son commanded her." The protestant gen
tleman, (who has often since spoken of his " little
Paestum theologian " as he calls him,) owned himself
surprised and corrected. Here in fact we have that
separation accurately expressed, between the feelings and
the belief. The love of that child for the Mother of God
seemed unbounded ; but he well knew her to be but a
creature, dependant on her Son, and by Him redeemed.
I doubt whether many boys at a grammar school could
have given such answers.*
• By way of contrast, I will mention an interrogatory of a boy frequenting
a protestant school in this neighbourhood , who was met a few days ago, upon
the road by two of our professors, and examined on a far more fundamental
doctrine of religion, " How many Gods are there ? " " Nine." Upon some

27
But, there is another solid test of the sincere con
victions of illiterate catholics, and one to which I
confidently appeal, the sentiments with which they
meet death. Look at the Roman Ritual, "Z)e Visita-
tione et cura infirmorum ;" and see if the practices and
prayers there prescribed, betray any wish, that the
catholic should expire with his trust in " St. Mary and
the Saints," rather than in the Blessed Trinity, or
expecting mercy through Indulgences and Purgatory,
rather than from the Sacraments. Then go on to the
section headed "Modus juvandi morientes," and see if
in the exhortations which the priest is enjoined lo make
to the dying man, or in the short prayers he is recom
mended to suggest, there is a word to encourage such
misplaced ideas. I have not time, or I would for the
sake of other readers, copy out the heads of exhortation.
But, you may perhaps ask, are these prescriptions observed
in practice ? I answer, most faithfully. I have stood
with the Curate, by the death-bed of his parishioner, who
for days and nights is never abandoned by him, and I have
seen the prescriptions of the Ritual faithfully observed.
But beyond this, it has been my happiness, not
once, but often, to attend the poor and illiterate to the
threshold of eternity, by acting as their spiritual
director, in the hospitals of the Eternal City. How
astonishment being expressed at the answer, he reduced the number io four ;
and in fhe end acknowledged that he knew nothing ofthe subject. Yet in this
parish there are endowments for education, (by the Catholic Bishop Vesey,)
belonging to the Establishment, to the amount of perhaps £1000 a year.
Another grown boy owned himself perfectly ignorant concerning the existence
of a Deity. I will match the poor peasants of Italy against those of England.
Oh! that we took beamg out of our own eyes, before we spied motes in others'!

28
often have 1 said, humbled and shamed by the
glowing sentiments of hope and piety, which lit up
their last moments, "May my last end be like unto
theirs!" Confidence in the intercession of their Re
deemer's Mother they certainly had, lively and affec
tionate; but one who hoped for salvation through
her, or otherwise than through the death and blood
of her Son, I never met. Purgatory I have heard
them speak of, as an object of dread ; and I have often
heard them pray to God, that their sufferings might
be increased here below in expiation of their sins,
that so they might forthwith see His face ; but as a
means of obtaining mercy I never knew it mentioned.
And so I can confidently say, that I never knew one
who put his trust in Indulgences, as a substitute for
the Sacraments; who looked for forgiveness out of
Penance, or for grace and strength in his last moments,
save in the Viaticum of the holy Eucharist, and in
Extreme Unction.
I am satisfied, that if the true sentiments of poor
catholics, in catholic countries, were better examined,
much error would be removed, and much inconsiderate
assertion spared. An eminent professor in Germany, who
after having given promise of great literary celebrity
by his early productions, has since almost exclusively
devoted himself to the duties of the sacred ministry
among the poor, assured me not long since, that he
would rather give up all that he knows in Sanskrit,
Armenian, and classical literature, than surrender the
comfort and edification, which he finds in the spiritual

29
direction of the poor. " I have heard sentences," he
remarked, " from the lips of poor illiterate females,
fraught with profound meaning, and containing a
deeper theology than can be found in books. I have
felt humiliated, at seeing how much more learned they
were in the wisdom of God, than ray study had made
me." I felt and acknowledged that he was right.
I will now draw my letter to a close ; not because I
have touched upon all the points in yours, which I con
sider erroneous, but because I think I have sufficiently
glanced at the grounds on which you maintain the ex
istence of an " authoritative teaching" in the Catholic
Church, at variance with the Tridentine decrees. I
proposed to myself nothing further, than to show the
fallacy of this theory, both as to the existence of the
system, and as to its supposed objects.
You will remember, that your late amiable friend,
Mr. Fronde, in one of his unhappy moments of hasty
censure, pronounced us, not Catholics, but "wretched
Tridentines." This expression was quoted, with apparent
approbation, by his Editors, in their preface.* It seems
hard that now we should be deprived of even this
" wretched " title, and sunk by you a step lower in the
scale of degradation. Still more it seems unaccountable
that you should now court that title, and assert (as your
Tract does) that while we have abandoned the doctrines
of Trent, you, and those who take the Articles in your
sense, interpret them in accordance with those doctrines.
I say this in a spirit, not of reproach, but rather of
? Froude's Remains, vol. i. p.xi.

30
charitable warning. That which you once considered a
heavyimputation,you seem now to consider comparatively
a light blame : for you would now beglad to see us in stricter
conformity (according to your views,) with the decrees of
that Council. You then blamed us for adhesion to
them, you now blame us for departure from them.
Why not suspect your judgments, if you find that
they vary ? If there loas ever a time when you did
not see many of our doctrines as you now view
them ; when you utterly rejected all comprecation
with, as much as prayers to, saints ; all honour,
without reserve, to images and relics ; when you did
not practise prayers for the departed, nor turned from
the congregation in your service ; when you did not
consider bodily mortification necessary, or the Breviary
so beautiful ; when, in fine, you were more remote
from us in practice and feeling than your writings now
show you to be, why not suspect, that a further approxi
mation may yet remain ; that further discoveries of
truth, in what to-day seems erroneous, may be reserved
for to-morrow, and that you may be laying up for
yourself the pain and regret, of having beforehand
branded with opprobrious and afflicting names, that
which you discover to be good and holy ?
I will indulge in one more remark. You observe, p.
11, that "the only thing which can stop this tendency
[to practical idolatry] in the decrees of Rome, [about
Images and Relics] as things are, is its making some
formal declaration the other way." Permit me to ask
you what extent of " formal declaration " would satisfy

31
you ? She has declared her sentiments against image
worship and abuses regarding the saints, in the solemn
acts of her Synod, composed of her Bishops from every
country ; she has declared them in her Catechism ad
dressed to all her parochial clergy ; she has declared
thom in the catechisms which she teaches her
children : she has declared them in her Ritual in the
most beautiful form ; * she has declared them through
every divine, every ascetic, that has expounded her doc
trines ; she declares them through her pulpits, her chairs,
her confessionals : and yet all this, in your judgment,
does not constitute sufficiently authoritative teaching,
but that " popular belief and practice of catholics " out
weighs it all in the scale of evidence. Say then, in
what manner would you have the Church of Rome
draw up and promulgate a declaration that should be
more satisfactory than all those various declarations put
together? In conclusion, I thank you. Rev. Sir, from my heart,
for the welcome information which your letter contains,
that men, whom you so highly value, should be opening
their eyes to the beauties and perfections of our Church,
and require such efforts, as your interpretation of the
Articles, to keep them from " straggling in the direction
of Rome." Would to God the day were come, when
not stragglers, but crowds should press forward towards
the everlasting gates of Christ's one Church, and knock
* In tbe form for the solemn Benediction of sacred Images, in the Ponti
fical, which embodies, in the raost perfect manner, the doctrine of the
Church concerning them.

S32
•forfree admission:, and ;gIadJy!> would I- sit down in the
Jowest place in that His kingdom, to makfeiioom for the
new comersv (rt: frould be avrday of joy such as the
Spouse of the Lanib Hath n'of tasted, since that on which
the bross was inounted on the Imperial Diadem.
I have the honour loreniain.
Rev. Sir, Yours faithfully in Christ,
N. WISEMAN,
Bishop of Melipotamus.
Postcript. — A Letter, addressed to me, has been pub
lished by the Rev. W. Palmer, of Worcester College,
Oxford, as an answer to the foregoing. I will reply to
it, as soon as I can find a little leisure,
St. Mary's College,
Feast of St. Anselm.

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