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him to speak of these writers, their own venerated Diocesan, has anticipated all other testimony. My object is, 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.

[There is one leading particular in their teaching, on which, when I warmly commend it, I venture to assure myself that I shall have the assent of most among you; I mean the stimulus which they have given to a life of systematic piety.]

Vide Par. 3, in Chap. XXIII.

12. I was brought to this matter (the observance of the Rubrics) by a wish to do justice to one especial benefit which has been rendered to the Church by the writers of the "Tracts for the Times."

[There is another particular, in which they appear to me equally entitled to our gratitude; I mean the zealous and effectual manner in which they have enforced the great evangelical truth, that the true Christian life is not an individual, but a corporate life;

The writers of the Tracts have largely contributed-not to revive, for it was never dead, but to spread and strengthen, a practical sense of this our corporate character, as we are Christians.

. . For earnestly impressing this truth, and others connected with it, and the consequences resulting from them, the writers of whom I speak, appear to me to merit the grateful acknowledgment of true Churchmen, in proportion to the contumely which has been, in some quarters, most unsparingly showered upon them.]

Vide Pars. 13, 24, and 25, in Chap. IX.

[In like manner they have successfully laboured to impress the necessity and efficacy of the Sacraments, as the appointed means, in and by which God is pleased to impart the vital and saving grace of Christ.. . . On this matter of the Sacraments, I am thankful to the writers of the Tracts for the stimulus which they have given to us: and with the expression of this feeling I would gladly close what I have to say of them. But-]

Vide Pars. 26 and 40, in Chap. XII.

69. And now, as the publication of the Tracts has ceased, let us hope that the excitement caused by them may cease also; that the Church may peaceably benefit by the testimony to its own principles which has been ably borne in some of them-free from the errors which characterise others-free, too, from the extravagances, the puerile but most mischievous extravagances, which have, in

some places, marked the practice of their disciples. It is gratifying to believe, that, in this diocese, the favour with which many of the Clergy have regarded these publications, has not been, in any one instance, thus disgraced.3

MUSGRAVE, BISHOP OF HEREFORD.-1842.

66. I have thus, as briefly as possible, hinted at some prevailing opinions and practices of the present day, which appear to me to be erroneous and reprehensible. To notice them in greater detail, or to embrace a larger number of them, would lead me far beyond the limit assigned to such occasions as this, and at best I could only glance at them rapidly.

67. Yet I must be permitted to say, that somewhat simultaneously with, though many think independently of, these erroneous views and proceedings, has been aroused a spirit of revived inquiry into the grounds, privileges, and duties of Church Membership, with stricter attention to rule and discipline, and a higher regard for the "decency and order," not only of worship, but also of the sacred edifices in which that worship is to be solemnized, a more frequent celebration of, and a more general attendance on, the Holy Communion; a worthier estimate of the Sacraments, a more devout observance of the Lord's Day, and of the fasts and festivals of the Church, a higher tone of moral and religious sentiment, for some time past extending through every grade of society, and a growing desire for unity, discipline, and order.

68. And while we lament the preponderating evil 5 on the one side, we desire not to forget the amount of good contained in the

3 I have no wish to defend "the puerile and most mischievous extravagances" to which his Lordship refers, and which-I speak from my own personal observationhave found their way, but too soon, into the Diocese of Exeter. Some little allowance, however, ought surely to be made for the "younger adherents" of those "rash teachers" who, to quote the testimony of the BISHOP OF LLANDAFF, "seem to think it enough, here and there, to protest against certain Popish corruptions; but love to lead their disciples to the very confines of that treacherous ground-encourage a taste and a liking for the prospect-study to make its boundaries less distinct and perceptible, and seem intent upon smoothing the way, and affording facilities for passing on from our own side to the other. If this be not dangerous to the purity of our Church, and of the faith which has been established among us by the blood of martyrs, it is hard to say what is; and if it be reconcilable with that allegiance to which all her Ministers have over and over pledged themselves, then have we cleansed our sanctuary in vain."-Charge of 1842. Vide Pars. 41, 42, in Chap. XXV.—ED.

4 Vide Charges of the Bishops of OSSORY, par. 95, p. 42, and LLANDAFF, par. 18, p. 36, supra-ED.

5 Mr. PERCEVAL, in the second edition of his Collection of Papers, &c., published in 1833, thus speaks of the Episcopal Charges delivered during the preceding year:"The high commendation bestowed upon the Tracts and upon their authors, by several of the English Prelates, in the course of the present year, 1842, affords no pretence for altering this sentence ;-(the value of the Tracts has been more openly acknowledged in the Colonies than in the Mother Country;)—because, in every instance, these commendations have been accompanied by cautions and censures to such an amount, that, but for their Lordships' own expressed conclusion, that the good has preponderated, one might not unreasonably have supposed that they

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opposite scale. Lax and uncertain notions were afloat respecting the Unity of the Church. An outward and nominal conformity was often deemed sufficient: a defective and partial allegiance was the result.

KNOX, BISHOP OF LIMERICK.-1842.

2. I freely admit, when the zeal of pious, but, perhaps, enthusiastic men, first set forth those writings, entitled "Tracts for the Times," much good resulted, as it opened the eyes of many to truer notions of Church discipline and Church power; but, alas, (as is too commonly the case,) carried away by too hasty and indiscriminate a zeal, the barriers between truth and error, if not broken down, were at least so far obliterated and merged together, that to those less learned than the authors, there appeared little distinction.

COPLESTON, BISHOP OF LLANDAff.—1842.

16. There is a class of publications which has attracted almost universal notice,-sometimes for praise, but of late more frequently for censure and admonition,6 from those whose office in the Church requires them more especially to watch over the purity of our Doctrine, and the due administration of religious ordinances. To these publications the topics to which I have just adverted naturally lead me. I know they originated in a desire to correct a laxity of opinion, or rather a culpable thoughtlessness, and a superficial knowledge of divine things, too frequent among those who were educated for the Ministry; and they have brought many minds to think seriously, to feel deeply, and to reason justly, upon points which in the last age were either little understood or little regarded. They have opened sources of information, and excited a spirit of inquiry among theological students, which may be productive of much good. In particular, they have displayed, in all its fulness and beauty, the nature of that heavenly institution, the Catholic Church of Christ; they have developed the characters of unity, of sanctity, of authority, which belong to it; and they have raised an awful sense of the mystery of man's redemption, and of the means

had arrived at a very different opinion concerning the value of the movement"! !— p. 6, note.

That the Bishop of HEREFORD is not singular in his opinion, will be seen by referring to the Charge of the Bishop of LLANDAFF, who also speaks of "the predominance of evil," arising from the Tractarian movement, in still stronger terms. See Charge 1842, pars. 16 and 39.

Now, giving Mr. PERCEVAL the full benefit of the somewhat different conclusions of the Bishops of EXETER (1839, par. 64), SALISBURY (1842, pars. 3 and 5), and St. DAVID'S (1842, par. 5), the language in which he has recorded the relative proportions of praise and censure bestowed by the English Prelates upon the Tractarian movement, is, to say the least of it, most unfortunate.-ED.

6 See Mr. PERCEVAL's direct assertion to the contrary.-Note 5, page 160, supra. The italics are not his Lordship's.-ED.

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which the Church is commissioned to employ, for impressing upon all her Members a constant veneration and love towards the Redeemer, and for enabling them to make a personal application of his merits to the benefit of their own souls.

17. These are principles, indeed, which have never been absent from the teaching of the Church; but they have been more or less prominent, and they have had more or less influence, according to the temptations and corruptions of each succeeding age; at one time buried and stifled, as it were, in the superstitions of Popery, -at another, coarsely and rudely handled in the rage of Theological controversy,-or, again, slumbering amidst the formalities of a settled and secure establishment.

18. That this last, however, was the state of our own Church, when these publications began, I can by no means admit. As compared with the preceding age, there had sprung up, long before they appeared, a juster sense of the nature and duties of the pastoral office, and of the obligation of ordination vows; a growing improvement in the performance of public worship, and in the tone and matter of preaching; and, certainly, there was spread throughout society a more enlightened acquaintance with Church history, and with the ground of our separation from the Church of Rome.

[It was, therefore, with pain and sorrow, that I observed the early indication of that evil, which almost invariably attends the formation of what must be called a School, or a Party, in matters of religion.]

Vide Par. 19, in Chap. XXV.

27. And here, perhaps, I shall be met by a remark, that this is all that is aimed at by the writers themselves. Now, I will admit, that they have laboured conscientiously and zealously to restore the spirit of our discipline, in many respects falling into decay-that they have exercised a salutary influence in turning the minds of all, laity as well as Clergy, to a due consideration of the awful mysteries of our redemption, to which the whole of our ritual bears a continual and a close relation-that the feelings have been softened, the heart subdued, the fervour of devotion kindled, by their commentaries on our liturgy-and that men have been taught to value that highly, which, because it had become familiar, they were too apt to slight-and to see a force, a beauty, and a connection with their own spiritual welfare, in many parts of public worship, in which they had often carelessly or ignorantly joined.

28. More than all, they have succeeded in awakening the soul to a just sense of that holy brotherhood, the Catholic Church of Christ; into the privileges of which we are admitted by baptism, and in communion with which we must endeavour through life to continue, if we would inherit the blessing prepared for us from the beginning of the world. A forgetfulness, or an imperfect view of this relation in which we stand as members of Christ's Church upon earth, was, as I before observed, one of the chief errors of

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the day and if the ceremonial of the Romish Church, mixed up as it is with the observances of every day, presenting memorials of it to the eye and to the ear continually, in the Churches, in the streets, and by the way-side, enjoining a scrupulous distinction of meats and days for the same purpose, and bringing back even the old bondage of the law, "Touch not, taste not, handle not ;"—if, I say, she possesses this advantage over us in maintaining union, dearly purchased, indeed, by the superstitions mixed up with, and inseparable from, the whole system, let us, at least, carefully cherish those expedients which our Church provides, in a purer form, for

the same end.

38. As far as this frame of mind tends to correct light and careless performance of religious duty, or habitual want of devotion, or superficial acquaintance with the ordinances of our Church -as far as it promotes the study of their origin, their import, and their sacred use, and to inspire a devout love and reverence for them, it may do much good; and in the instance before us, it has done much good.

39. This it is which has called forth the praise and encouragement of many, who now lament the mixture, or rather, I may say, the predominance, of evil, which has lately manifested itself, and which, if unchecked, threatens to counteract, and even to corrupt, the good already done,8 "to eat as doth a canker"-confounding the relative importance of things, and leading young and susceptible minds to turn away with disgust from any sober statement of Divine truth, which does not harmonize with their own visionary ideas and excited feelings.

[Even giving them credit for having pointed out real defects and irregularities in our Church system, yet these, upon a calm and dispassionate consideration, would appear to be but "dust in the balance,"-]

Vide Par. 44, in Chap. XX.

BLOMFIELD, BISHOP OF LONDON.-1842.

30. Now it is impossible to deny that a great degree of laxity has crept over us in this matter;9 and we are much indebted to those learned and pious men, who have forcibly recalled our attention to a branch of duty too long imperfectly performed. In some instances, indeed, they have gone beyond the line of duty and of

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"A morbid feeling in religious matters," giving rise to "complaints of the insufficiency of our religious offices and formularies."-Vide Par 37, in Chap. XX. -ED.

8 Compare Mr. PERCEVAL's assertion, that, in the judgment of our Bishops, "the good has preponderated."-Note 5, page 160, supra. The italics are not his Lordship's. -ED.

* The observance of the Rubric, &c.-ED.