and St. Asaph-it is not at a moment when Scotland is convulsed from one extremity to the other, by the most serious schism in her Presbyterian Church which has ever yet happened —it is not at a moment when priests and levellers have raised the flag of rebellion in Ireland, and cry "War to the Saxons!" at the tops of their voices in parties of 100,000 to 500,000 each band-it is not at a moment when illicit distillation has so much increased in Ireland, that the fiscal measure of last year has to be repealed this Session, because it has become an intolerable injury and nuisance-it is not at a moment when Brazil, Portugal, and France are all at the same time refusing to enter into commercial treaties with us, and are hoping to effect our downfall by their refusal—it is not at a moment when even in Spain, multitudes of conspiracies are organized, to overthrow our commercial interests there; and when in America the cry is raised of "We must help the repeal agitation in Ireland"—it is not at such a moment as this, when the strongest, and stoutest, and most patriotic hearts quail for the prospects of this mighty empire, that a PROTESTANT CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT can afford thus to yield to a factious and unprincipled minority! Yet it has done so; and it is apparently less alarmed at its own weakness, than are the united Dissenters by their own audacity. The latter have already called for votes of the public money for the purposes of education, and have expressed "their sincere and candid disposition to approve even of legislative interposition and Parliamentary grants for the accomplishment of the object of national education." In fact, they are alarmed at their own position-terrified at their own success; and, like O'Connell in Ireland, feel and know that they are placed in a position of inextricable difficulty. At such moments as these, and with such remembrances and facts on the one hand, and prospects on the other, let Church Conservatives speak out before it is too late, and insist, in a voice which cannot be mistaken or resisted, that the children of the working classes be neither left in darkness, ignorance, or vice, nor be consigned to the teaching of multiform Dissent, Papistical superstition, or Socialist immorality. W. E. Painter, Church and State Gazette Office, 342, Strand. THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND Quarterly Review. OCTOBER, MDCCCXLIII. ART. I.-The Holy Eucharist a Comfort to the Penitent. A Sermon preached before the University in the Cathedral Church of Christ, in Oxford, on the Fourth Sunday after Easter. By the Rev. E. B. PUSEY, D.D., Regius Professor of Hebrew, Canon of Christ Church, and late Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. Parker. 1843. 2. Tracts for the Times, No. 90.. sages in the Thirty-nine Articles. Remarks on Certain Pas- IN every controversy there is so much to be said on both sides, that persons who have had any experience in such warfare endeavour to bring the subject of contention within as narrow limits as possible, and confine it to points which are decisive; since, by fixing the attention exclusively on these primary considerations, we may hope to determine these; and if we do this, the secondary and minor considerations must follow the fate of these, and may be reckoned on as a matter of course. In the controversy which has arisen at Oxford, and has spread through all the land, in consequence of the publication of the Tracts for the Times, we have long desired to see the question brought to a more simple issue-both for the sake of the contending parties, who seemed hardly to know what it was about which they were contending; and also, and much more, for the sake of the Church, which has been harassed and perplexed by unintelligible disputes, on the most important subjects, between men equally eminent and estimable; and which, moreover, was in the greatest peril of losing, by these contentions, some of her holiest members, all of whom she was bound to cherish and endeavour to retain, as men who, from station VOL. XIV.-T and talent, ought to continue as her pride, and among her brightest ornaments. But, whether arising from the variety of subjects, or from the different views taken of the same subject by different individuals, or from a systematic reserve on all points, like that which on some points they have avowed and justified; from whatever cause proceeding, we never could find points on which issue was fairly joined between the contending parties, and where we could say, without any hesitation, here is indisputable Catholic truth-and here is plain palpable mistake, or heresy. Our readers are well aware that we have given the writers of these Tracts credit for good intentions; only lamenting that they should have put forth opinions, on the gravest matters, rashly formed and unguardedly expressed, not being themselves aware of the theological bearings of the questions, and still less aware of the consequences which would inevitably follow from the general adoption of their opinions. This, however grievous, is to be regarded as mistake, so long as it is simple ignorance; but when those who are competent to pronounce authoritatively on such questions, shall have declared any of these opinions to be unsound, the wilful persisting in such opinions, after such decision, will be worse than mistake, and will be nothing short of heresy. We have, however, at length obtained the means of bringing the question to a point, and that we think a decisive point, both as it regards the Church of England, and in its connection with Catholic truth; and this, not by selections which we might make from the great mass of anonymous writing, which has appeared in the form of Tracts. These we should not be warranted in fixing upon any individual, and if we could, might not be justified in holding the whole party responsible for the opinions of one or two of the writers of the Tracts. But the recognized heads of the party are now before us in their avowed publications; and issue is joined on grounds chosen by them respectively-Dr. PUSEY and Mr. NEWMAN have expressed themselves plainly and openly, and their doctrines have been declared to be erroneous by the Bishop of Oxford and the Vice-Chancellor. The official competency of the Bishop of Oxford and of the Vice-Chancellor to decide on the doctrines of the Tracts, no one, we presume, would dispute; and the writers of the Tracts have so far acknowledged it as to discontinue their publication. But their whole conduct shows, also, that these gentlemen doubt the real competency of those who have thus decided against them; and think themselves to be in the right, and their ecclesiastical superiors to be in error, in this matter. They have remon strated with the Vice-Chancellor; they have furnished Dr. Pusey with notes to append to the publication of his sermon, and manifestly adhere to their opinions, as if there were some higher tribunal in the Church, whose judgment they ought to await; and almost looking to public opinion for a verdict contrary to the judgment of the Church, instead of acknowledging their errors, retracting their opinions, and doing what in them lies to make amends for their faults. It is to this their honest conviction, that they are in the right, we shall now address ourselves; more especially as it is the only view of the question which will enable us to deal with it as mistake, and to point out the errors seriatim; we should otherwise be obliged to treat it as heresy, which would be a necessity as painful to us as we are sure it would be to these holy men, who think themselves pre-eminently orthodox, and have devoted themselves entirely to the investigation of Catholic truth. No right-minded person can read the preface to Dr. Pusey's sermon without feeling for him; and it is evident that he believes himself to be a sufferer for the truth's sake. He also assumes that he has been at more pains to ascertain what is the truth, than they have who differ from him; and he thinks that he holds these doctrines in perfect consistency with the formularies of the Church of England. It is this abiding consciousness in Dr. Pusey that alone renders tolerable the very offensive form of self-complacency which his preface takes; and we should, but for this extenuation, be constrained to deal with the passages-in which he speaks of his opponents in the same breath with "Jews, Pagans, Arians, and each class of heretics as they arose," while he thinks his own doctrines to be "the truth of God, cast out and spoken against, and trodden under foot of many"-as indications of a contemptuous spirit in Dr. Pusey, which could only provoke contempt. And on the most favourable view of these expressions, they show that our difficulty is great in dealing with such a case; for the ear must be stopped, the heart must be fortified by such a consciousness, against everything which runs counter to it. We must, however, examine on what foundation this confidence is based, that we may see how far it can warrant Dr. Pusey in holding to opinions which have been condemned by his ecclesiastical superiors; and this we must do for the sake of the Church, even though what we write should fall powerless on understandings which are pre-occupied by these opinions. Dr. Pusey himself informs us what are the grounds of his confidence in the truth of his statements, saying "I lived for the time in holy Scripture, and its deepest expositors,į the fathers; and was careful to use rather their language than my own, lest, on so high a subject, I should seem to speak over boldly." And also "Once more to repeat my meaning; in order to relieve any difficulties which might be entertained by pious minds, trained in an opposed and defective system of teaching, before whom the sermon may now be brought. My own views were cast in the mould of the minds of Bishop Andrewes, and Archbishop Bramhall, which I regarded as the type of the teaching of our Church." And he says that "The notes were put together with the view at once of showing those who were to pronounce upon the sermon, that I had not used high language of my own mind, and that they might not unconsciously blame the fathers, while they thought they were blaming myself only." And these notes did not save the sermon from condemnation, simply because the Vice-Chancellor understood the fathers one way-Dr. Pusey understood them another way. For it does not appear that Dr. Pusey is in possession of any peculiar method of ascertaining the truth-any talismanic power not also possessed by the Vice-Chancellor, and every learned man, and by every private individual, in the measure and degree of each. He formed his opinions much in the usual way; by studying Scripture, with the help of the best expositors he could find, endeavouring to cast his own views in the mould of thought of the most eminent individuals he knew of in his own Church. But what is there in this which entitles Dr. Pusey to claim any superiority over those "before whom the sermon may now be brought?" Have we not the Scriptures and the fathers; yea, even the writings of Andrewes and Bramhall? What right has Dr. Pusey to assume, that those pious persons who differ from him have necessarily been "trained in an opposed and defective system of teaching?" He ought not to hazard such imputations; he ought to show in what respects their system is defective as compared with his own; and, as the question at present stands, we can only regard it as between the private opinions of Dr. Pusey and the private opinions which he disputes. For Dr. Pusey does not seem to regard the judgment of a Bishop or Vice-Chancellor as anything more than their private opinion. It is necessary to insist on this point, because it enables us to detect the fallacy upon which this whole system rests, in its being continually assumed, that where many coincide in private opinion, this constitutes Catholic truth and it is the more necessary, inasmuch as those who maintain this system |