1863, a defence of Ecclesiastical Prosecutions, in which he said:" Prosecution is not persecution. It would be an evil day for England when it should be recognised that to appeal to the majesty of the law is to contravene truth and justice.” The Church Review was delighted with Pusey's letter, and burst forth in praise of prosecutors. It said : "None better than Dr. prosecution and persecution. Pusey know the difference between There is something noble in the learned Professor's vindication of the majesty of law. Evil day, indeed, will it be for England when it shall be deemed an act of cruelty to afford a man accused of wrong the opportunity of purging himself from that accusation by the solemn process of a legal inquiry. Dark will be the gloom which obscures the horizon of England's Church when there shall not be to be found among her sons any who will have the moral courage to bring before the Courts to which they may be amenable those who are engaged in poisoning the streams of religious knowledge at their very fountain head." 1 In 1864 the English Church Union unanimously passed a resolution to start a fund to assist in prosecuting Bishop Colenso. At its annual meeting the same year the President of the E.C.U. actually declared that it was the duty of the Union to obey the decisions of the Law Courts. He said:"With respect to discipline the same argument applies. That which has been laid down in the Canon Law, and has been received and acted upon in the Church, especially in her Courts of Judicature, we are, I think, clearly bound to 'defend and maintain unimpaired.'" I do not think the present President of the English Church Union would make such a declaration now. It will thus be seen that in its early years the English Church Union paraded itself before the public as the great maintainer of law and order in the Church. And so-to do it credit-it continued, until it found that law and order were against its sacerdotal and Romanising claims. From that time it has slowly adopted the principles of rebellion against every law and order in the Church opposed to its preposterous claims, and has, in practice, approved of 1 Church Review, February 21, 1863, p. 183. 2 Ibid. March 19, 1864, p. 285. Ibid. June 18, 1864, p. 603. E.C.U. SECESSIONS TO ROME 419 every clergyman of the Ritualistic party being a Pope to himself, and the embodiment of ecclesiastical anarchy.1 The English Church Union has been the best friend to the Church of Rome seen in England since the Reformation. It has, indeed, in only too many instances, been the Preparatory School for Rome. In how many it is impossible for me to say. But I have discovered that the 78 clergymen in the Church of England, mentioned in the Appendix on the next page, were members of the English Church Union when they seceded to Rome. I challenge the Ritualists to produce a list of those who have seceded to Rome direct from the ranks of the Church Association. I do not think they could find even one. Here for the present I must close, reserving for a future occasion my general comments on the Romeward Movement, and what ought to be the Evangelical policy towards it. We can learn many things even from our opponents, and it may be well if the Evangelical party were to learn from them the wisdom of paying more attention to the outward organisation of the Church. Those, on the other hand, who value some of the Romanising changes introduced by the Ritualists, would do well to remember that it is possible to pay too heavily for even good things. To secure musical services, and histrionic performances, by a sacrifice of our Christian liberty to priestly bondage, is at best a poor bargain. 1 Further information on the attitude of the E.C.U. towards Ecclesiastical Prosecutions may be found in the pamphlet, Ecclesiastical Prosecutions, Originated and Advocated by the English Church Union. By Walter Walsh, pp. 8. London: Church Association, 141 Buckingham Street, W.C. A LIST OF CLERICAL MEMBERS OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH UNION WHO HAVE SECEDED TO ROME. Akers, Rev. George Andrews, Rev. Septimus Angus, Rev. George Barlow, Rev. T. W. Barnes, Rev. A. S. Barnes, Rev. Thomas Bennett, Rev. Morden Boothby, Rev. Herbert Briggs, Rev. H. C. Bromage, Rev. R. R. Camm, Rev. J. Brooke Camm, Rev. R. P. Cane, Rev. V. C. B. Chase, Rev. C. H. Clarke, Rev. A. G. Conder, Rev. R. F. R. Cooke, Rev. W. A. Corrance, Rev. H. C. Darlington, Rev. Joseph Davis, Rev. T. Donaldson, Rev. A. M. Duthie, Rev. C. J. Duthoit, Rev. W. Egerton, Rev. J. Eskrigge, Rev. J. Hodson, Rev. C. E. Hope, Rev. Douglas Hunnybun, Rev. W. M. King, Rev. Owen C. Osborne, Rev. Lord T. Godolphin Parker, Rev. H. M. Sharpe, Rev. A. B. Shipley, Rev. Orby Sperling, Rev. J. H. Sproston, Rev. S. Black Gown in the Pulpit, The, de- at Exeter, 268, 269 censures Tract XC., 179 on Adapted" Roman books, denounces a preacher of Auricular the Romanising party severely his traitorous and secret negotia- "a living and moving secret," Bowden, Mr. J. W., 25, 89 Boyle, Dean, on the effect of Pusey's Brawling in Church, case of Burder v. Breeks v. Woolfrey, 125-127 Brighton Protestant Defence Commit- Bristol Church Union, The, 326- a "Statement of Principles" of, 330 opposed by Pusey and Keble, 328, Bull, Rev. Henry, 400, 401 and Pastor Spörlein, 117, 118 Church, Dean, on the contest for the Church and State, views of the early Clerical Retreats, 282, 283 Close, Rev. Dr., on The Restoration o Collette, Mr. Charles Hastings, on Coloured Cloths on Communion Table, Pusey on the basis of, 144, 145 Cowley Fathers, The, on priests as Credence Tables, 252, 253, 359 288 judgment of Bishop Phillpotts, Mr. B. Whitehead on the law as Crosses, judgment of Judicial Com- Cuddesdon Theological College, 389- DALGAIRNS, Mr. J. D., 160, 257 on Tract XC., 165, 166 Newman opens his heart to, 185 his secret negotiations with the his first visit to Oxford, 187 Denison, Archdeacon, 330 Bishop Spencer's correspondence the Rev. Joseph Ditcher pro- Ditcher v. Denison, 342-346 |