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of Protestantism; it will not be an easy task, nor will it be accomplished without producing a schism even in their own party-but the separation must take place; the "cold, infernal, black tartarean dregs" must be "downwards purged," that the pure waters of evangelical truth may once more be recognised as in the olden times. The pious Bishop of Chester, in a charge lately published, has sounded the alarm in England" Many subjects," says he, "present themselves, towards which I might be tempted to direct your thoughts one more especially concerns the church at present, because it is daily assuming a more serious and alarming aspect, and threatens a revival of the worst evils of the Romish system, under the specious pretence of deference to antiquity, and respect for primitive models: the foundations of our Protestant Church are undermined by men who dwell within her walls; and those who sit in the reformer's seat are traducing the reformation. It is again becoming matter of question, whether the Bible is sufficient to make men wise unto salvation: the main article of our national confession-justification by faith-is both openly and covertly assailed; and the stewards of the mysteries of God, are instructed to reserve the truths which they have been ordained to dispense, and to hide under a bushel those doctrines, which the apostles were commanded to preach to every creature."

The bishop of Winchester participates in these sentiments of his brother the Bishop of Chester; and consequently these two evangelical prelates are marked men by the Oxford divines; Mr. Newman, a leader of the school, is reported by the Record Newspaper to have said, "That the sees of Chester and Winchester are, from the unfitness of the men who occupy them, ipso facto void; and that the clergy of those dioceses cannot be justly called on to render their nominal diocesans canonical obedience !"

How forcibly this reminds us of the practices of the Jesuits, who professed to elevate Churchmen to the highest eminence, and to pay the most profound respect to the ecclesiastical dignitaries, but who never scrupled to stir up sedition amongst the clergy in those districts, where Bishops presided adverse to the plots of the Jesuits.

In the mean time the Oxford school is rapidly increasing in numbers, and is sending forth its teachers into all parts of the kingdom. Mr. Newman, the vicar of St. Mary's, Oxford, has about 200 professed disciples amongst the gownsmen, all training up for the church, and all thoroughly indoctrinated in the "Tracts for the Times ;" and of the clergy in the country, multitudes have given in their adhesion to Puseyism, and multitudes more will follow their example.

Mr. Newman has lately published a new volume of sermons, with this dedication, "To the Rev. Hugh James Rose, Principal of King's College, London, and domestic chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who, when hearts were failing, bade us stir up the gift that was in us, and betake ourselves to our true mother, this volume is inscribed by his obliged and faithful friend, The Author.-Nov. 14, 1838."

The Bishop of Oxford has given in his adhesion to Puseyism; and in a charge to the clergy of his diocese, lately published, thus speaks that prelate." With reference to error in doctrine, which has been imputed to the series of publications called the Tracts for the Times, it can hardly be expected that, on occasions like the present, I should enter into, or give a handle to, any thing which might hereafter tend to controversial discussions. Into controversy I will not enter; but, generally speaking, I may say, that in these days of lax and spurious liberality, any thing which tends to recall forgotten truths is va

luable; and where these publications have directed men's minds to such important subjects as the union, the discipline, and the authority of the Church, I think they have done good service but there may be some points in which, perhaps, from ambiguity of expression, or similar causes, it is not impossible, but that evil rather than the intended good may be produced on minds of peculiar temperaments. I have more fear of the disciples than of the teachers. In speaking, therefore, of the authors of the Tracts in question, I would say, that I think their desire to restore the ancient discipline of the Church most praiseworthy; I rejoice in their attempts to secure a stricter attention to the Rubrical directions in the Book of Common Prayer, and I heartily approve the spirit which would restore a due observance of the Fasts and Festivals of the Church."

The Bishop of Lincoln had, about a twelvemonth ago, given in his adhesion to Puseyism, in the usual form of a charge.

The Archbishop of Canterbury under the influence of his chaplain, Mr. Rose, is supposed to be entirely of the Oxford school.

THE CATHOLIC MAGAZINE

SPECTS OF ROMANISM

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PRO

THE CA

THOLIC INSTITUTE OF GREAT
BRITAIN
WEEKLY PRAYER
MEETINGS ON THE CONTINENT FOR
THE CONVERSION OF ENGLAND.

THE Catholic Magazine begins the year with an article on the prospects of catholicism, full fraught with customary abuse of the reformers, and sanguine anticipation of the return of England into the fold whence she has strayed. Nor are the hopes of the Romanist bounded by this limit. After expatiating on the comparatively small numerical success which has hitherto attended the efforts of protestant missionaries, and telling us, "Her missionaries confess with sorrow their disappointment at the smallness of the

numbers they can muster around them; and it is a matter of chagrin to our opponents to contrast the futility of their own efforts with the success that has blessed those of catholics;" the writer asks," How is it that the faith of England has not kept pace with her conquering arms? that her boundless resources, wielded with all the persevering energy of her character, have been so unavailing? God has not been with her. The pastors of her Church have not been commissioned 'to go and teach all nations.' To this conclusion, the candid Protestant may also come, who is moved by her signal discomfiture to ponder on why it should be so." But it seems better days are in store for England; "May it be that the reformation was permitted to burst with such fury on our land as a trial of her worthiness, and that by her having passed the fiery ordeal with the life blood of virtue still undried and active, His selection has been justified? If it be thus, then the faith she is about to receive again will be preserved with a jealous. sense of its value, heightened by her experience of privation; and she will

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go forth to diffuse it amongst others with an earnestness more ardent, from a better appreciation of the blessing she is conferring ;" and "add to her splendid career the crowning glory of carrying the Gospel (i. e. popery) to the uttermost ends of the earth." matters are flowing to this blessed consummation, is clear as the light of day, from what is passing around us. The leaders of our adversaries are exerting themselves to the utmost, in mustering and marshalling their forces to repel the formidable invasion of what they insultingly term Popery, which they acknowledge to have already made alarming progress A writer in Blackwood's Magazine, for October, of last year, seems to be the generalissimo of the band of zealots. In that periodical, an article on 'The Progress of Popery' appeared. It embraces a very extensive range,

including the whole of the British dominions and the United States, with an occasional glance at some districts on the Continent of Europe, not omitting the labours of the Jesuits in China. The article in question, has created considerable excitement, as its contents are well calculated to do. As if the magazine alone had been insufficient to spread the alarm speedily or widely enough, the fiery cross was caught up by the Times, and hurried abroad to swell the gathering; while the slogan was pealed from the thousand tongues of the 'Protestant Association,' a self-engendered party-coloured hydra, whose bunch of heads is held together by the sole bond of hatred to our holy faith. The writer deserves considerable credit for the pains he has taken to collect the facts which justify his apprehensions, and his statement of these is, in the main, wonderfully ac

curate.

"The Catholic Directory and Annual Register, for the present year, when compared with that for the last, from which the writer in Blackwood has drawn much of his information, shews an addition of thirteen to the number of chapels, and three new stations where divine worship is celebrated, making, in all, of the former, five hundred and thirteen, of the latter twenty. This account is, we doubt not, sufficiently encouraging to the friends of truth; but the by-gone year has given birth to an association, from which we sanguinely anticipate the most brilliant results. This is already widely known as The Catholic Institute of Great Britain,' in whose hands it is proposed to concentrate the disposable means of the entire Catholic body, for the purposes of exposing the misrepresentations which distort our doctrines, shewing what are our real tenets and defending them, rebutting the calumnious charges which are brought against us as members of society, and protecting from oppression of every description,

to which as Catholics they are liable, the poorer members of our communion. The existence of a few months has imparted to this body a degree of strength which augurs well for the future; and on the first of its fields, it has achieved a glorious victory."

Thus flushed with success and confident of triumph, the leaders of the Romish Apostate Church, are pressing onwards along the via media made smooth for their advance by the diligent pioneers of the Oxford School, -"facilis descensus Averni."

"The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down of strong-holds ;" was the language of the first heralds of the crucified Redeemer-superstitions sustained by the accumulated veneration of ages, were laid prostrate before them, and the darkness of Paganism fled away; but now the case is altered against these encroachments of her rival "sister," the Church of England has a vast armoury of carnal weapons, a goodly array of Acts of Parliament, a clergy supported by many millions annually, to teach the people her purer faith; and yet she trembles before the advance of a system, supported solely by the voluntary advocacy of its members, and these a small minority of the English population.

It is curious to observe Romanists now professing to have learnt the lesson, that the Lord "did not invest his apostles with the trappings, which till then had secured for their wearers the respect of the world," but "taught them to look to the Comforter,' as the promoter of their labours, and their refuge in trouble." Still more singular is it to find them resorting to prayer for the conversion of heretics.

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Mr. Spencer (brother of Earl Spencer), who "glided from the principles (of the Oxford tracts), as taught by Mr. Vaughan of Leicester, to the Church of Rome, justly arguing that there is no half-way house," (Christian Observer 1837, p. 146), has been

strenuously exerting himself in the attempt to bring back England once called "The Isle of Saints," into the bosom of the Church of Rome; and states as the result of his recent visit to France, that the jesuits, the superior clergy, and religious houses in France, are setting apart every Thursday for special prayer on behalf of England, adding "I saw enough while there to convince me, that ere long all the nations of Europe will be joined in one great society of prayer for the conversion of this kingdom.'

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We should nothing fear the progress of Romanism were these the only weapons employed; but when we consider the Satanic ingenuity with which every feeling of the natural heart of man is appealed to in support of that system of error, we cannot say that serious ground for alarm does not exist. "No peace with Rome" must be our motto; but we trust all our readers will carry on the warfare in the spirit which pervades the following observations from the of the amiable Dr. Smith. "Let pen them PRAY. We thank them for their charitable feeling. If there be any among them who worship the Father in Spirit and in truth, through the Divine Mediator, their prayers will be graciously answered (notwithstanding their own delusions), not in the way which they look for, but in blessings infinitely greater to us, and to themselves. And let us reciprocate the charity in praying that they may be delivered from the snare of the devil,' and brought to the freedom which Jesus gives."

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ATTEMPTS TO ASSUME AN UNSECTARIAN POSITION-INDEPENDENT MISSIONS.

WE are quite aware that the position taken, in its prospectus, for the present series of "The Inquirer," will produce various feelings in the minds of many. A religious periodical of

an unsectarian character! Impossible! --will be said by many who know more of what the working of man's mind upon the things of God has been and is, than they know of the working of the Holy Spirit, by the things revealed in Scripture, upon the mind of God in the renewed saints. On the other hand, many will perhaps discern, not only a want of wisdom in the attempt- the chimerical attempt-of “ a religious periodical, of an unsectarian character," but fear lest some dishonest artifice, some subtle trap, be about to be presented to betray the unwary. We are aware of these and many similar objections which will rise in the minds of many; but still we desire to take no other position than that laid down, of a religious periodical of unsectarian character. We do not say we shall attain to this position fully or perfectly, even in part; for we know the difference between "desiring to do" and "doing:" still, we say, "Other position we dare not attempt to take." And why? Because in Scripture we find that to them that are faithful there is but "one body, and one Spirit... One hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Eph. iv. 4-6). Howsoever much, therefore, men (and, alas! godly men) may deride the idea of freedom from sectarianism, we lay claim to it, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, as knowing that if we obtain it not, our God will say, "Are ye not carnal, and walk as men?"

We shall be glad, at some future time, to enter into the scriptural doctrine of the visible unity of believers on earth; to meet every objection brought forward by enquiring minds, and to labour to show the fallacy and sophistry of the position held by many against it. At present we desire rather to call attention to the incontrovertible facts-and facts are stubborn things that the Holy Spirit, is in every part of the world, bringing a

people prepared of the Lord into this position.

What else means the fact of thirteen having sailed within the last year for India, to be missionaries among the heathen, without connexion with any society? They went forth, as men of God, taking nothing of the Gentiles. What else means the fact of Mr. Grove's present residence at Chittoor, separated from all by the religious bodies in India? What means the attempt now making by the Swiss missionaries in the Mauritius, among the Hindus, and in the Sechelle isles? What means the poor weak few companying together in Canada? Bitter, indeed, would it be if we could think that these attempts are the results of the thoughts of the poor simple ones who have made them. So ignorant, so weak, so frail are they, one and all, as far as we know them, that, but for the thought that our God is with them and in the attempt, the very mention of them would only lead to sorrow. If we come nearer home, we find in Holland a strange and singular movement, hardly to be accounted for on any other principle. In France, again, we hear of men beginning thus to work in evangelising, not as the organs of this or that party, but upon the enlarged basis of those things which are common to all who are in Christ Jesus. In Switzerland, too, we hear of this brother and that brother giving themselves to the especial work of pressing upon all that love Jesus, whether members of the national church or not, the imperative duty of the visible unity of believers. And in England, we find the same object sought after by many from various quarters, without any connexion. We have seen many clergymen of the Church of England leave their position on this plea. Within the last eight years, not fewer perhaps than thirty,-some from the Society of Friends are seeking the same. In other places, we find "a Baptist minister" renouncing clanship on this plea; and in others, a Wesleyan minister"; and in others,

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ministers from among the Independents, Presbyterians, &c.

Now, if we converse with or hear from any such, what do we find to be the common plea for their conduct? "We left our position, because it was sectarian and carnal; and now we are seeking to walk in holy separateness from the world,—in good faith and love with all that love our Lord." It would be easy to examine even London, and show in many of the larger congregations, how the same exercises of mind, which lead those to whom we refer to take their present position, are working extensively in the congregations; but we forbear, lest the attempt might lead into personal controversy. We may, however, refer to the fact of the very unusual number of books and tracts which have appeared within the last three years upon that old doctrine of faith, "The Communion of Saints :" more, perhaps, than in the three hundred preceding years; certainly more than in three times thirty years before. And why

is this? We believe it is because our God is calling the attention of his own to the good old paths. The theory of "the communion of saints," good old doctrine as it is, is very beautiful and very lovely; but to the old bottles of modern systems, it is found to be as new wine: and this is just where many are standing at the present moment. They have searched, and they have found some of this new wine, and behold it is very pleasant to the taste. Let such remember, that the old bottles cannot bear it, and let them not try to put it therein, lest the bottles be burst, and the wine be spilled, and so both be lost. But new wine must be put into new bottles. And be it remembered, that oft, ere the bottle really bursts, it will make a sad ado, as though it were murmuring or complaining of the said new wine. But let the wise understand these things, and that the sum and substance of the complaint is this," The old bottle cannot contain the new wine."

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