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indeed. The Bishops of Gloucester and Winchester had both spoken so plainly, that some of the chief conspirators could not but feel, however unwilling to allow, the force of their judgments. Mr. Williams, the author of the Tracts on the Prayer Book and on Reserve, felt the decision of the Bishop of Gloucester, and attempted a brief reply to it: and Mr. Keble could not but be sensitive under the full and profound condemnation of the Bishop of Winchester. Accordingly a new appeal was to be entered, and another attempt to overawe the bishops was to be made, in an address, not to a layman, nor even to a presbyter, but to the Archbishop of Canterbury himself. This was undertaken by Dr. Pusey. He avows that "on the issue (of the present struggle) hangs the destiny of the Church ;" and accordingly endeavours, in his own way, to influence and determine that issue. For one professing, as he does, by the adoption of Mr. Newman's declaration, that "the slightest word of censure from a bishop is a heavy thing." the work he had taken in hand was a difficult one. He was about to controvert and get rid of the judgments of the Bishops of Gloucester and Winchester, and such a work was treason against his own principles. He must blind the reader, in order to accomplish his design upon him, and this he does by the marvellously extravagant assertion, that he does "not for a moment wish to criticise what they have said in itself." (pp. 2, 3.) But though he will not criticise what they have said in itself, for no doubt this would be most disrespectful to their words, he has no scruple at all in criticising their actions, and therefore with respect to their condemnation of Tracts 80 and 87, on Reserve, he says, "without disrespect I cannot but regard it as an instance in which the bishops have been unconsciously acted upon by current statements and vague accusations, rather than themselves acted on their own dispassionate and mature judgment;" and even superadds the assurance that this same episcopal condemnation of these very Tracts "is but one form of that habit of mind against which they were so directed.”. (pp. 76-79.) Such, and much more to the same purpose, in which the bishops are treated very respectfully in profession, but very cavalierly in effect,-is the manner in which these adulators of bishops treat their idols when they do not conform to their views. Let but the bishops be passive and suffer the spread of this heresy, and they shall be beloved and honoured even to the extremest point; but let them dare faithfully to reprove and condemn these errors, and they shall then be taught their own ignorance by its exposure to the world.

Nevertheless, they have many of them spoken, and there is one point upon which all are UNANIMOUS; and that is, the character

of the far-famed "No. 90." That the most favourable opinion of that publication may be taken, we will select the recorded judgment of the Bishop of Exeter, one of the most friendly to the Tractwriters. If his language is strong, let it be remembered that it is that of one who professes the highest admiration for these writers generally. His lordship is pleased to say,

"The tone of the Tract, as it respects our own Church, is offensive and indecent; as it regards the Reformation and our Reformers, absurd, as well as incongruous and unjust. Its principles of interpreting our Articles I cannot but deem most unsound; the reasoning with which it supports its principles, sophistical; the averments on which it founds its reasoning, at variance with recorded facts."-(pp. 30, 31.)

Now this is the judgment of a friend to the system,-of one who in introducing the subject of the Tracts into his charge declares it to be his object, "to do an act of simple justice to them, at whatever hazard of sharing in the obloquy, which has been heaped not only on them, but on many who, differing from them in important particulars, as I have declared myself to differ, do yet, like me, regard them with respect and gratitude, as good, and able, and pious men, who have laboured most earnestly, and, on the whole, very beneficially, in the service of the Church of Christ." Such, then, being the judgment of their own friend respecting Tract 90, and all the bishops being unanimous in its condemnation, there is just one point respecting it which we would recal and fix in the mind of the reader. We have shown before that every error held and taught by the Tract-writers had been held and taught previous to the appearance of the unanimously-condemned Tract; we have shown that this same Tract did but draw together in its pages the sum and substance of the whole system, as previously taught; we have further given the evidence of one of the chiefs of the conspiracy to the same effect, for Mr. Keble "found hardly anything in it which had not been before avowed, and explained, and vindicated." And yet, we have the extraordinary fact to contemplate, of the bishops unanimously condemning this Tract, which is the sum of the system, and yet subsequently splitting themselves into sections, when speaking of the system itself. Such are the contradictions of the age, such the unity of the Church resulting from its uniformity. Let us not omit, however, to remind our readers of the point at issue with the Tract-writers. The sense of Tract 90,

"evading rather than explaining the Articles," is the sense in which Mr. Keble contends for their "Catholic subscription," and he affirms that to a person "really reverencing the bishops as the

Apostles' successors," the judgment of all, or of a majority of the bishops ex cathedrá, would be tantamount to that of a Synod. We have the very case assumed occurring in its fullest extent; for the bishops are unanimous in condemning the Tract, its system of evading the Articles, and the "Catholic sense" in which it has been attempted to subscribe them. The honesty and sincerity of the Tract-writers, then, is now upon its trial. They profess to regard the bishops as the successors of the Apostles; how will they now act under their condemnation? We have little doubt; for, as we have before said, they are not the sort of persons to be martyrs, however they may be prepared to do violence to their own consciences.

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It only remains to us now, in conclusion, to notice the most recent phasis which the Tractarian system has exhibited, and then to leave the case in the hands of the Church. The most eminent writer of the whole sect, he whom Mr. Ambrose Lisle Phillips has somewhat panegyrically described as "decidedly the most learned Clergyman in the whole Church of England," has recently put forth a paper, though without name, yet bearing such plain indications of its source as to leave no doubt concerning the author, which paper is of the most decidedly Romeward tendency of all that he has written. Every previous declaration against Rome; all for which he had been most applauded by his own diocesan; all upon which he has rested the defence of himself and his system, when charged with Romish predilections; all this has been recalled, with expressions of regret that he should have been betrayed into such harsh views of those with whom he was, in his heart, fraternizing; and he has thus substantially accomplished the prediction to which the crafty Dr. Wiseman long since gave utterance respecting him. Why not suspect," said that astute controversialist, "that a further approximation 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 before-hand branded with opprobrious and afflicting names, that which you now discover to be good and holy?"

Immediately after the publication of this paper, some untoward circumstance gave Mr. Newman one more opportunity of appearing in the University pulpit, from which he had long been excluded. He seized the occasion to deliver a carefully-wrought and very able discourse, on "the Theory of Developements in Religious Doctrine;" and in a remarkably short period after, produced a volume, in which this discourse was included, entitled "Sermons on the Theory of Religious Belief, preached before the University."

The drift of this publication is, to sooth, to mystify, and to gain time. Great caution is apparent throughout. The author's pecu

liar skill, in insinuating and plausibly concealing his real objects, is manifest throughout. To the multitude, the work is as much out of reach as if it were written in Greek. Even students will often lay it down in great perplexity as to its real purport. But the more they are perplexed, just so much the more will they laud the work, as "full of thought," and as "really profound." In truth, it is difficult to draw any one distinct proposition from it,-save, perhaps, that Divine truth is not revealed in Scripture; but only suggested, and the idea given to the Church, to be "developed" in the lapse of future ages.

But though it "proves nothing," and avoids asserting anything, no opportunity is permitted to escape, of quietly stating things as facts, which may answer the writer's end. For instance :

"These aggressions upon heathenism were only the beginning of the Church's conquests; in the course of time the whole mind of the world, as I may say, was absorbed into the philosophy of the cross, as the element in which it lived, and the form upon which it was moulded. And how many centuries did this endure, and what vast ruins still remain of its dominion! In the capitals of Christendom the high cathedral and the perpetual choir still witness to the victory of faith over the world's power."-(p. 314.)

Here it is quietly and unobtrusively assumed, that "the philosophy of the cross" did rule in the world, in times gone by; that this did endure for centuries; and that our cathedrals and choirs are ruins and relics of this high and holy state of things. Not a word of the fact, that during these bygone years, the whole visible church was possessed by the APOSTASY: that the MAN OF SIN sat in the temple of God, shewing himself as God; and that every sincere Christian who became known as such, was instantly hurried to the stake or the dungeon!

In like manner the Jesuit principle is quietly insinuated, in a note, thus :

"Hence it is not more than an hyperbole to say, that, in certain cases, a lie is the nearest approach to truth. This seems the meaning, for instance, of St. Clement, when he says, 'He (the Christian) both thinks and speaks the truth, unless when at any time, in the way of treatment, as a physician towards his patients, so for the welfare of the sick he will be false, or will tell a falsehood, as the sophists speak.”—(p. 343.)

A passing blow, too, is aimed at Protestantism, in such a groundless assertion as this:

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"It is a serious fact, that Protestantism has at various times unexpectedly developed into an allowance or vindication of polygamy.”—(p. 327.)

The only discernible drift, however, of the discourse, and of the volume, is thus expressed :

"Scripture, I say, begins a series of developements which it does not finish; that is to say, in other words, it is a mistake to look for every separate proposition of the Catholic doctrine in Scripture."

This is, we apprehend, the chief object of "the theory of de

velopements." We gather from this new device, that the writings of Mr. Goode and others have produced a visible and sensible effect, and that the tissue of fallacy requires to be rewoven. Α "theory," accordingly, has been constructed. It may, and probably will, pass for a wondrous work, with the juvenile and the predisposed. But it is wholly deficient of the least support in Scripture or in common sense, and we cannot estimate its effectiveness at anything higher than the minimum value of a single "Tract for the Times."

THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN, LITERAL AND FUTURE. By the Rev. R. GOVETT, Jun., M.A., &c., &c., London: Hamilton. 1843.

THE Revelation of St. John, ever since it was given to the Church, has been equally the object of the scorn of the infidel, the neglect of the worldling, and the deep and earnest reverence of the devout Christian. It comes to us with such various claims on our notice, from the time when it was given, the title it bears, the blessing pronounced on those who read it, and the place it occupies in the close of the sacred canon, that every one who honours the word of God cannot fail to regard it with peculiar interest. On the other hand, the difficulty of interpretation has made it seem an exercise and test for the humility of faith, no less than a source of direct instruction.

The general view of this prophecy, which naturally suggests itself first of all to the simple mind, is that it contains a sacred history of the Church of Christ and its various trials and fortunes, till the full advent of Messiah's kingdom. This has accordingly been the common opinion of the early writers of the Church, except some few who regarded it as a history of past events rather than a prophecy, or a series of doctrinal mysteries without any historical meaning. We have now before us three of the early commentaries, and they all agree in this maxim. Thus Victorinus remarks on the seals, "When the Lord had ascended into the heavens, and opened all things, he sent his Spirit, whose words were like arrows, piercing to the hearts of men, so as to vanquish their unbelief." The words of Primasius are still more explicit and clear, "After the rise of the Church, which had been founded by the preaching of the Apostles, it was fitting to be revealed (oportuit revelari) how it should be more widely propagated, or within what bounds it would be contained,

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