TO THE RIGHT REV. FATHER IN GOD,

RICHARD, LORD BISHOP OF OXFORD,

ON THE

TENDENCY TO ROMANISM

IMPUTED TO

DOCTRINES HELD OF OLD, AS NOW, IN THE

ENGLISH CHURCH:

WITH A

PREFACE

ON THE

DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION.

BY THE REV.

E. B. PUSEY, D.D.

LATE FELLOW OF ORIEL COLLEGE;

REGIUS PROFESSOR OF HEBREW, AND CANON OF CHRIST CHURCH.

FOURTH EDITION.

OXFORD:

J. H. PARKER:

J. G. F. & J. RIVINGTON, LONDON.

"To say that in nothing they may be followed which are of the Church of "Rome, were violent and extreme. Some things they do in that they are men, in "that they are wise men and Christian men some things, some things in that "they are men misled and blinded with error. As far as they follow reason and "truth, we fear not to tread the selfsame steps wherein they have gone, and "be their followers. Where Rome keepeth that which is ancienter and better, "others whom we much more affect, leaving it for newer and changing it for worse; we had rather follow the perfections of them whom we like not, than "in defects resemble those whom we love."

46

HOOKER, Book V. ch. xxviii. sect. 1.

'They which measure religion by dislike of the Church of Rome, think every "man so much the more sound, by how much he can make the corruptions "thereof to seem more large.. .....Wisdom therefore and skill is requisite to know, what parts are sound in that Church and what corrupted.

66

"Neither is it to all men apparent which complain of unsound parts, with "what kind of unsoundness every such part is possessed. They can say, that " in doctrine, in discipline, in prayers, in sacraments, the Church of Rome hath (as it hath indeed) very foul and gross corruptions; the nature whereof, notwithstanding, because they have not for the most part exact skill and know"ledge to discern, they think that amiss many times which is not; and the salve "of reformation they mightily call for, but where and what the sores are which "need it, as they wot full little, so they think it not greatly material to search." HOOKER, Book IV. ch. viii. sect. 2.

GILBERT & RIVINGTON, Printers, St. John's Square, London.

PREFACE.

1

THE interval of rather more than a year which has elapsed since the first publication of this Letter has, by God's mercy, had much effect in healing the distractions of our Church. Rumours, which were over-hastily believed, have died away; testimony has been borne by persons unconnected with the individuals who were thought to be schismatics, that it is no new doctrine which they teach'; the very fact that things remain as they were, has a tendency to reassure men's minds; since it is ever the tendency of novelty and schismatical teaching, to develope itself further, and detach itself more from the doctrines of the Church; stationariness is a proof of adherence to some fixed and definite standard.

They who hold these views have remained, on the whole, where they were, though they have been thoughtlessly branded with schismatical and partynames; though cast off by a portion of their brethren, and taught by the use of this separatist designation to sever themselves, and account themselves a distinct body, they have still no doctrine or practice 1 See e. g. Quarterly Review.

peculiar to themselves; others also keep fast and feast, Ember days and Saints' days, Lent and Easter season; others increase weekly prayers and Communions, and are thankful for God's gift in holy Baptism; regard Confirmation and Ordination as means of grace; prize the privilege of being members of a Church, and in her of the Communion of Saints; acknowledge or demand obedience to her; regard the Creeds as the deposits of the faith, and to be accepted without questioning, on authority, antecedent to proof; look to future judgment: the common, though partially forgotten, truths, and practices, and principles, which they advocated, have been taken up by others independently of them, nay, in some degree by those who oppose them; or what was before more timidly held, has been openly avowed; and now after the lapse of seven years, since the Tracts for the Times made their first feeble appearance, there is less show of any thing distinctive, less by which they can be designated as a party, than there seemed to be at first. Catholic truth cannot be fettered down by partydenominations, but bursts the bands with which the enemy would bind it, by its intrinsic expansiveness. Party-names will adhere to party-views, and attest their human origin. Catholic truth may be miscalled heresy; but neither the infirmities of those who set it forth, nor the misconception of others, will stamp human superscription on that which is Divine.

Then, also, strife is no element for Christian life; and so some, having discharged what they deemed

their duty in combating what they held to be erroneous, have been pleased, we trust, to withdraw from conflict; content to await the issue, "whether" of the twain "God will prosper, whether this or that." Readers have been wearied of controversy, and have been glad to turn back into greener and more wholesome pastures; so that, although there is much in the disunion still existing, to humble ourselves, much in the condition and prospects of our Church to mingle sorrow and humiliation with joy, yet is there ground, in the restored prospect of peace, to acknowledge the good hand of our GOD here, as elsewhere, dealing mercifully with our Church, and aiding her within, while He suffers the storms from without to beat upon her, and attest, by her increased stedfastness amid their assaults, that she is indeed founded upon The Rock.

While, however, many subjects of suspicion have been abated or removed, the misgivings felt have perhaps concentrated themselves, the rather, in some minds upon a single point, and that the more on account of the difficulties which beset it, the doctrine of justification. With some writers, indeed, (such is the inherent tendency to forget, in the struggle, the character of the things contended for) it seems to be chiefly looked upon as the strong-hold in the system whose scripturalness they contend for: they seem to think that the apparent sense of the Articles and Homilies on this point is with them, as they admit the apparent meaning of the Liturgy to be with