THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK AND HIS CLERGY.

TO THE CLERGY OF THE RURAL DEANERY OF DONCASTER WHO
SIGNED THE ADDRESS.

MY REV. BRETHREN, -I have received with great satisfaction your temperate and seasonable address. The opinions therein stated have my full concurrence. The indignation you feel "at the attempt now made by the Bishop of Rome to establish a complete Papal hierarchy in this kingdom," appears to be almost universally felt. But the manly and courageous letter of the Chief Minister of the Crown will relieve us of much of our anxiety on that head.

I cannot state more exactly my agreement with the sentiment expressed in your third paragraph than by the following extract from a charge delivered by me to my late diocese, in June, 1845-"We have good reason to believe that Christianity was first introduced into these islands by the labours of an Apostle, or of Apostolic men, and had made much progress, long before the missionaries of Rome ever touched our shores. And if, in the course of time, in ages of ignorance and darkness, our Church became so closely connected with her, and through her usurpations so subjected to her power, as to partake of her corruptions and her sins, at length the burden was too grievous to be borne, the bondage was broken and rent asunder, and our present purity of faith and practice was restored on the authority of God's Word and on the testimony of the primitive fathers. Are you now, after three centuries' enjoyment of freedom, to be again burdened with a heavy yoke which your fathers could not bear, and to be again brought under the tyrannous rule of one who 'sitteth in the temple of God, exalting himself above all that is called God'—usurping a title and a dignity which cannot be proved to have any foundation in reason, in Scripture, or in historic truth? Against the multiplied and dangerous errors of Rome, our venerable Reformers testified unto death. Are we so degenerate as to be beguiled into the snare which her ever wakeful ambition is continually plotting for our captivity, entanglement, and ruin ?"

It required, perhaps, no great reach of foresight to be able to predict the dangers that were approaching. They were foreseen and foretold, and the voice of warning was raised in various quarters against the sure and inevitable tendency of the Romanising spirit in which too many of our brethren in the ministry so freely and rashly indulged. You truly describe as "of exceedingly dangerous tendency, both to themselves and their flocks, their adoption of opinions and practices which are in conformity with those of the Church of Rome, and foreign to those of that pure and reformed branch of the universal Church so happily established in these realms."

You next allude, in words of deep import, to the solemn oath taken at your ordination, as on other subsequent occasions, wherein you "declared your assent to the principles embodied in the Ordinal, Articles, and Canons of our Church-that the Queen's Majesty, under Ged, is the only supreme Governor in this realm, as well in all spiritual or ecclesiastical causes as in temporal." You are aware that some clergymen, in the unrestrained indulgence of their rights of private judgment, have narrowed the interpretation of the obligation under which they were bound, whenever and as often as they subscribed the three articles of the 36th canon, contracting its force and meaning within limits (to common apprehension) little accordant with the plain language of that canon and with its known purpose and object, as confirmed by the 2nd and 27th canons of the same year. No wonder, therefore, when our abjuration of all foreign pretensions is nullified by such a construction, that the Bishop of Rome, ever on the watch for regaining and re-establishing his ascendancy, should step in and claim us as part of his heritage; for it is an acknowledged rule of his Church, that not only those who submit to and continue in his communion, but all who, like ourselves, have long ago renounced and quitted it, are, nevertheless, still under his dominion. This is evident from the catechism published by order of Pope Pius V. :-"Non negandum, tamen, quia in ecclesiæ potestate sint hæretici et schismatici qui ab ecclesiâ deseruerunt, ut qui ab eâ in judicium vocentur, puniantur, et anathemate damnentur." The same doctrine is stated more recently in a celebrated work, "De Ecclesiâ Christi." "Ecclesia suam retinet jurisdictionem in omnes apostatas, hæreticos et schismaticos, quanquam ad illius corpus non jam pertineant." So that we are all accounted as part and parcel of that spiritual dominion which we have forsaken and abjured.

I rejoice, therefore, that you have entered your timely and "indignant protest" against this intolerable and usurped authority, and that you will not suffer yourselves to be again brought under its sway; and I cordially join with you in the hope that this "audacious movement of the Papal See will be overruled for good" by Him at whose disposal is the issue of all events, so that the true faith of the Gospel may continue and be universally held among us throughout all generations.

Believe me to be, Rev. Brethren, your faithful Friend and Servant,

T. EBOR.

At a meeting of the President and Fellows of Sion College, the following reply of the Bishop of London to the address from that body was read to them :

"Fulham, Nov. 5, 1850.

“Rev. and Dear BRETHREN,-I expected nothing less from the President and Fellows of Sion College than an expression of the indignation with which they regard the recent usurpation of authority by the Bishop of Rome, in pretending to re-divide the kingdom of England, which has formally rejected and cast off his tyranny, into new dioceses, and appointing new Bishops to preside over them, treating as mere nonentities the ancient Archbishoprics and Bishoprics of England, recognised as they have been by his predecessors, although existing independently of them.

"In order to avoid doing that which is forbidden in terms of the laws of our country, he has done that which is a palpable violation of the laws of the Catholic Church, even of that division of it over which he presides. Hæc est moderna Ecclesiæ descriptio' (says Van Espen) ut, et Episcopatum et Archiepiscopatum, sive Metropoleon, institutio, seu erectio, non nisi authoritate Patris, interveniente, tamen principis consensu, imofere non nisi id ejus postulationem fiat.' In fact, the recent proceedings of the Pope can be defended, even upon the principles of his own Church, only on the ground that this realm of England is in partibus infidelium, or that he treats us not merely as heretics or schismatics, but as unbelievers. "You have justly designated this novel and presumptuous movement of the Court of Rome as a bold attempt to undermine and destroy our constitution in Church and State. The extension of Papal authority is as little compatible with the safety of the latter as it is with the independent purity of the former. None of the decrees by which former Popes have asserted a right of interference in the government of a country have been abrogated or disowned. All the offensive weapons of the Romish Church are suspended in her armoury, ready to be taken down and wielded when a fit season shall occur. The recent act of the Pope is virtually an interference with the Government of England, and ought to be denounced and resisted as such. 'As it is lawful,' says Bellarmine, to resist the Pope if he should invade our bodies, so it is lawful to resist him invading our souls or troubling the commonwealth.' 'It is of perilous consequences,' says Dr. Barrow, that foreigners should have authoritative influence upon the subjects of any power, or have power to intermeddle in affairs,'-one of the wise observations so thickly strewed over that masterly treatise in which he has effectually destroyed the notion of the Pope's supremacy.

"But it is for us, the ministers of a Church which, by God's blessing, cast off the slough of Romish corruptions at the Reformation, to warn our people against this daring attempt of a foreign Bishop, as being an open aggression upon the purity of our faith and worship, and upon our religious freedom. Let us warn them to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and 'not to be entangled again in the yoke of bondage.' Let us be careful to impress upon them the true nature of the differences that separate us from the Church of Rome, and the grounds upon which our own, as a true branch of the Church Universal, claims and merits their allegiance.

"If you are faithful to cur trust we shall have no cause to fear. The light which was re-kindled at the Reformation, far from being extinguished by the emissaries of darkness, will burn more brightly still upon the Church or golden candlestick, and the people of England will rejoice more and more in its brightness.

"I thank you, reverend and dear brethren, for the assurance of your prayers on my behalf, and commending you to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, I remain your affectionate friend and Bishop,

"To the Rev. President and Fellows of Sion College."

"C. J. LONDON.

The Bishop of Exeter has made the following reply to an address presented to his lordship by the churchwardens and a deputation of lay members of the parish of the Holy Trinity, Exeter :

"BROTHER CHRISTIANS, AND BROTHER CHURCHMEN,-I receive with great satisfaction the address which has just been read to me. The recent acts of the Bishop of Rome, affecting, in direct contradiction to the canons of the Catholic Church, to place bishops in this land, which is throughout already occupied by an Episcopate nearly as ancient as that of Rome itself, cannot fail to have excited in every fathful member of Christ's Church amongst us a feeling of indignation at its presumption, and a firmer resolution than ever to resist the unrighteous and uncatholic spirit which has prompted it.

"Whether this act be indeed, as you designate it, an 'aggression on the constitutional rights and sovereignty of the Crown of England,' after all the changes in our constitution which modern legislation has introduced, I do not pretend to say. If it be, it is manifestly the duty of the advisers of the Queen to take steps to vindicate the outraged rights and honour of their royal mistress.

"But perhaps there is too much reason to fear that the innovations which have been made within the last few years in our fundamental laws, have, in truth, removed all impediments to the intrusion of such bulls from Rome as that which is the subject of our present complaint. If this shall prove to be the case, it will become the people of England to blame their ow

culpable disregard of their highest interests, in spite of warnings repeatedly pressed upon them, rather than to indulge in furious but idle invective against the wary adversary who has turned their imprudence so largely to his own account.

"Be this, however, as it may, it is a branch of the subject on which it does not become me here to dwell. In Parliament, so long as it shall please God to give me strength to go thither, my voice shall ever be raised, as it always hitherto has been raised, however feebly and ineffectually, to assert the ancient principles of English law, principles which, so long as they were permitted to retain their force, were the security alike of the majesty of the Crown and the best interests of the people.

"But, out of Parliament, my duties are of a spiritual character. When called on, therefore, as 1 now am, to address a highly valued portion of Christ's flock, over which he has constituted me the pastor, I would confine myself to the religious aspect of the case before me. Looking at it thus, I cannot but invite you to discern, in the present occurrence, a new proof of the wise dispensations of God's Providence, overruling all the designs of men, and all the events in life, to the accomplishment of His own blessed purposes for the ultimate good of His Church, and a fresh call on us to use faithfully, and thankfully, the great blessing which He has bestowed on this favoured land, by planting in it a true branch of that Church, and placing over it, and empowering with His authority, in unbroken succession from the Apostles, those of whom the great Apostle of the Gentiles himself has commanded all Christians 'so to account, as ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.'

"Human policy may be at a loss in dealing wisely and effectually with the out-breakings of Papal presumption, backed as it is by a powerful and pampered party, which has hitherto been suffered to preserve its course almost without control. But, there is one simple and sure way of securing ourselves against all our dangers. Be we faithful to our own Apostolic Church, be we in earnest when we call ourselves Churchmen, be we sincere in showing forth our sense of the value of that holy ordinance which, by God's bounty, we enjoy your bishop feeling, as he ought, the lawful force of those special obligations which he incurred when admitted to his sacred office-the people testifying their reverence for that office-God's ordinance, I repeat, for their edification, not, indeed, by a blind and unreflecting, but by a ready, a dutiful, a confiding spirit of attachment to him who bears it—and then, I will not say we may laugh to scorn-for scorn is not a feeling which ever becomes a Christian-but we may view, with calm reliance on an Arm more powerful than man's uplifted for protection, the most daring displays of Roman ambition, revelling in the proud assurance of legal impunity—if our laws do, indeed, permit such doings to pass with impunity.

"Meanwhile, I must not omit one consideration which forcibly impresses itself upon me. Far be it from me to forget the demand of Christian charity, that we rejoice not in iniquity,' still we may rejoice, thankfully rejoice, in hoping that this shameless demonstration of the true character of Papal Rome will do much in awakening to a better, a more truthful mind, those amongst us who, feeling with distempered acuteness the fancied or the real deficiencies of our own system, may have been tempted to look with too much complacency to a quarter which henceforth no consistent, no true Catholic, can hesitate to regard as most schismatical. "In conclusion, accept-what is worthless, indeed, to all who deem it worthless, but what will never be lightly valued by any who regard it as it is, the voice of any one who speaks, be he himself as unworthy as he may, with the authority of God's appointed minister-accept your Bishop's blessing. The Lord bless you, and keep you! The Lord make His face to shine upon you, and to be gracious unto you! The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace-together with the Spirit of Peace-both now and evermore!"

The close of his lordship's address, the Exeter Gazette states, was delivered in the most emphatic manner, and was responded to with an audible "Amen" by those on whom the solemn benediction was bestowed.

The Bishop of Bath and Wells has issued the following letter to his clergy: "To the Reverend the Clergy of the Diocese of Bath and Wells.

"Reverend BRETHREN,-You will have heard with feelings of shame and indignation (shame at an act so disgraceful to a minister of Christ, and indignation at the insult offered by him to the Sovereign and people of England), that a foreign Prelate-the Bishop of Rome-has taken upon himself to set at defiance the laws, constitutions, and recognised usages of the Church Catholic, by assuming to himself the spiritual jurisdiction of this kingdom, and by parcelling out into pretended dioceses of his own devising a country which has been ruled by its own bishops from the earliest period of Christianity.

"This most deplorable work of schism affects to transfer the episcopal charge of the county of Somerset from my hands to those of a pretended Bishop of Plymouth.

"Such an act calls for a prompt and decisive course of condemnation and resistance, as from the entire clergy and laity of England, so, on our own account, from those of this diocese.

"In such a course I recommend you to proceed without delay. I am never willing to advise the clergy to introduce controversy into their pulpits; but in a struggle for life or death (which this may prove), the physician must not shrink from unusual remedies; and therefore I must urge you, both in your public and private teaching, to bring the subject of this letter under the

immediate attention of your people, displaying to them at the same time the true character of the Romish schism, its pestilent errors, its unchanged and unchanging character of evil.

"I exhort you to take care that, as far as in you lies, your flocks, from the highest to the lowest rank, shall be instructed on these points; so that the humblest cottagers in our villages, and the youngest children in our schools, shall be made to understand both the nature of this recent act of Papal aggression, the injury intended to be inflicted on them thereby, and the dangers which threaten them.

Having thus roused the attention of the whole Protestant population of the diocese, I would recommend you to invite them to join with you, first, in a solemn protest against, and an unqualified renunciation of, the intended and usurped authority of the Bishop of Rome; and secondly, in an urgent appeal to the Government of the country, to take such steps as shall vindicate the Queen's authority; as shall demonstrate that no foreign Prelate hath or ought to have any jurisdiction, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within these realms; and as shall neutralise and render ineffective the measures devised by the Bishop of Rome, and frustrate all his further attempts on our Church and State.

Earnestly desiring your prayers, and earnestly praying for you, and for your flocks, that in these dark and dangerous days we may have light given us to see the course of duty, and grace to adhere to it unflinchingly, I remain, your affectionate brother in Christ, and Bishop, "BATH AND WELLS.

The Durham Chronicle contains the address from the Dean and Chapter of Durham, to which the Lord Bishop replied as follows:

"Auckland Castle, Nov. 5, 1850. "DEAR MR. DEAN,-I have read the address of the Dean and Chapter of Durham with the purest satisfaction, as expressing, in language firm and moderate, the Protestant feelings of so many enlightened clergymen. It is scarcely necessary for me to assure you and your brethren that I entirely assent to every principle you have asserted, and every expression you have em. ployed. Nor will any effort of mine, if called for, ever be wanted in an endeavour to check the arrogant and obtrusive spirit of popedom, and to assert the undoubted rights of conscience, as maintained by our forefathers at the Reformation, and transmitted to ourselves as the most precious birthright of Englishmen. I had much more to say upon this occasion, but the subject has happily been taken up by a more powerful hand. I am rejoiced to have an opportunity of stating here, I have this morning received from Lord John Russell an able and satisfactory statement of his opinions and intentions upon the subject, with full permission to publish it, if I think fit. I am, in consequence, about to communicate it to the press, because I am sure it is calculated to do much good, and to calm the minds of all who have been disturbed by the late unwarrantable assumptions of Rome. I feel assured that you will peruse this document with as much pleasure as I have done.-Believe me always, dear Mr. Dean, yours most faithfully, "E. DUNELM.

66

Very Rev. Dean of Durham."

CONTENTS.

THE "ROMAN CATHOLIC QUESTION."

FIRST SERIES--The Apostolic Letter of Pope Pius IX.; Cardinal Wiseman's Pastoral; the Two Letters to the "Times" by Bishop Ullathorne; Lord John Russell's Letter; the "New Batch of Bishops," from the " Weekly Dispatch;" Two Letters by the Rev. G. A. Denison; a Letter from Benjamin D'Israeli, Esq., M.P.; Review and Extracts from Ambrose Phillips's "Letter to the Earl of Shrewsbury;" concluded by a Biography of Cardinal Wiseman.

SECOND SERIES-The Bishop of London's Charge, at St. Paul's Cathedral, November 2nd, 1850; and the Rev. Dr. Cumming's Lecture, at Hanover-square-Rooms, November 7th, 1850.

THIRD SERIES-The Rev. T. Nolan's Lecture; Letter from B. Ilawes, Esq., M.P.; the Pastoral of the Catholic Bishop of Northampton; Letter from Dr. Cumming; Letters from the Bishop of St. Asaph and Viscount Feilding; and the "Vatican Masquerade."

FOURTH SERIES-A Plain Appeal to the Common Sense of all the Men and Women of Great Britain and Ireland, by John Bull; Two Speeches of the Very Rev. the Dean of Bristol; and the "Queen and the Pope."

SIXTH SERIES-The Second Lecture of the Rev. Dr. Cumming, and a Note from the Editor; the Letter of the Hon. Mr. Langdale; the Birmingham Memorial; the Letter of "Catholicus," Cardinal Wiseman; a Roman Catholic Explanation of the Papal Aggression; and the Conversion of H. W. Wilberforce. EIGHTH SERIES-will contain the conclusion of Letters from the Bishops, and a variety of other Articles.

All at the extraordinary low price of One Penny each Series.

LONDON: PUBLISHED BY JAMES GILBERT, 49, PATERNOSTER-ROW.

ROMAN CATHOLIC QUESTION.

LETTER FROM JOSEPH HUME, ESQ., M.P.; FOURTEEN LETTERS FROM BISHOPS OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH;

DR. DOYLE'S SERMON, NOV. 17;

CATHOLIC BISHOP OF NEWPORT'S PASTORAL; AND
A LETTER FROM A CORRESPONDENT.

JOSEPH HUME, ESQ., M.P., ON THE PAPAL
AGGRESSION.

(From the "Hull Advertiser," November 22nd, 1850.)

Our readers will observe that the venerable patriot, who now may be regarded as the father of the House of Commons, estimates Lord John Russell's letter at the same value which we do. Mr. Hume sees in it a dexterous movement by which the retention of power is secured,. and real reform postponed for an indefinite period. Lord John Russell cares no more for the Church question-properly so called-than we do; and most likely views with complacent contempt the manifestations of zeal which his letter has provoked. But his lordship cares a great deal about keeping out the Protectionists, and retaining in his own hands the reins of power. The following is Mr. Hume's letter:

"Burnly Hall, Great Yarmouth, 18th November, 1850.

"MY DEAR SIR,-I cannot lay down the Hull Advertiser of the 15th inst., without offering some remarks on matters therein specially noticed.

"I approve of the manner in which you treat the Papal episcopal appointments, and show the danger to religious liberty by the proposed interference which many, perhaps all, of the addresses to the Crown would recommend.

"It is well for the clergy of the Church of England to pretend to be alarmed at the proceedings of the Catholics, in their nominal and voluntary distinctions; but, if the attempt of the Anti-State Church Societies be well considered, there will be more danger to the Established Church from them than from the Pope's Bull.

"The purpose so dexterously laid hold of by Lord John Russell, of throwing (as I stated some days ago to a friend) a tub to the whale, to stop the course of Parliamentary and finan cial reform for a time, will, I fear, be answered, and the relief I had hoped to be afforded to the country by timely reform be postponed. The Chartists decided the purpose of Lord John at a critical period, and the Pope will now do the same! How weak mankind are!

"It has been stated, and I fear with truth, that Lord John Russell and his lady have been of the party who have followed Mr. Bennet, of Pimlico, in all his Puseyite and Romish principles and practices, even to the very verge, as Lord John says, of Popery; and, therefore, it wears a suspicious appearance in him now to turn round, among the first, to blame the internal traitors to the Established Church, he having, by his example and proceeding, given encouragement to that section of the Puseyites, and been one of their leaders.

"I can understand why the clergy of the Church, who have neglected those duties (as so clearly shown by Sir Benjamin Hall in the case of Wales), may be desirous of raising an outcry of 'The Church in danger from the Pope,' to divert public attention from the real danger from the neglect and incompetency of the clergy within the Church.

"Your view of the subject will be adopted as soon as the thinking part of the public can get their eyes opened to the real merits of the alleged innovation. I say alleged, because Mr. C. C. Greville has shown that the Pope is warranted in all he has done, by the proceedings of Sir R. Peel's Government, which were not at the time objected to by any person except by Sir Robert Inglis and his limited class.

"E. F. Collins, Esq., Hull."

"I remain, yours sincerely,

"JOSEPH HUME.

[James Gilbert, 49, Paternoster-row.

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