LETTER XII.

TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE CONSORT.

SIR,-It is matter for rejoicing that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales has, for a season at least, left Oxford, and that in a few days he will proceed on his voyage to Canada. For some months, at any rate, he will be out of harm's way.

But, Sir, the pleasure derived from the fact of the Prince having left Oxford is much modified by the fear that the evil may have been already done! All processes of poisoning are, from their very nature, brief. The wasp, the viper, and the rattlesnake do their deadly work in an instant; and the Papal virus may be injected into the human mind in the shortest space of time. A single thought may form the germ which, when developed, will constitute a man a zealot or a devotee-a slave to the Vatican. The very sight of Dr. Pusey may implant that germ; and a single conversation with Bishop Wilberforce may give to it vitality. The Prince of Wales was hardly settled in Oxford when he was invited to Cuddesdon Palace to dine with the Prelate-doubtless an act of courteous propriety;

but this solitary circumstance might have served to ruin the Heir-apparent to the throne of England! There is a power of fascination about the Bishop which renders it perilous to come within the reach of his influence. His whole being appears to be so replenished with the essence of Popery, that, so to speak, it streams forth on all sides like electricity, penetrating the soul of both sexes and all conditions! It is a most astounding fact,—a fact unparalleled in the history of the country,-that no fewer than twenty-three of his own circle have seceded from the Church of England, and become Papists-viz., five members of his elder brother's family, his second brother Archdeacon Wilberforce, his wife and six children, Archdeacon Manning, the Bishop's brother-in-law, and another brother-in-law, the Rev. G. D. Ryder, his wife and six children. The fact is so extraordinary as to entitle it to public attention. The inquiry suggests itself-How does this come to pass? There must surely be something in His Lordship to explain it. Is it a thing of air and manner,-anything said or done? Is it a hint, or a lecture, or is it somewhat indescribable and inconceivable ? Be this as it may, the fact is indisputable. His very shadow seems endowed with a perverting power!

It may help our inquiry if we look a little more closely at the ecclesiastical position of this Bishop.

Well, he is what is known as a Tractarian or a Puseyite-a chief and a leader in the body. These terms are interchangeable, but neither explains the other.

It is, therefore, important to ascertain what is meant by them, for there is reason to apprehend that the bulk of the Protestant people of these kingdoms have but a vague notion of their meaning. They view the words as indicating a system that is strongly marked by Romanism, and that is all; but that, while correct so far as it goes, is but a very imperfect representation of the true facts of the case. On such a theme precision of idea is of the utmost moment; and we have the most abundant means of attaining to it. The party at the outset had the merit of honesty, at least, as to their object; it is now some twenty years since they issued a manifesto in which they courageously said:

It ought not to be for nothing; no, nor for anything short of some very vital truth; some truth not to be rejected without fatal error, nor embraced without "radical change," that persons of name and influence should venture upon the part of "Ecclesiastical agitators;" intrude upon the peace of the contented, and raise doubts in the minds of the uncomplaining; vex the Church with controversy, alarm serious men, and interrupt the established order of things; set the "father against the son and the mother against the daughter," and lead the taught to say, "I have more understanding than my teachers." All this has been done and all this is worth hazarding in a matter of life and death; much of it is predicted as the charac

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teristic result, and therefore as the sure criterion of the truth. An object thus momentous we believe to be the UNPROTESTANTIZING (to use an offensive, but forcible word) of the National Church; and accordingly we are ready to endure, however we may lament, the undeniable and in themselves disastrous effects of the pending controversy. We cannot stand where we are, we must go backwards or forwards; and it will surely be the latter. It is absolutely necessary towards the consistency of the system which certain parties are labouring to restore, that truths should be clearly stated which as yet have been but intimated, and others developed which are now but in germ. AND AS WE GO ON, WE MUST RECEDE MORE AND MORE FROM THE PRINCIPLES, IF ANY SUCH THERE BE, OF THE ENGLISH REFORMATION.

Further on in their career, we have a most important testimony. Your Royal Highness may possibly have heard of the Rev. W. Dodsworth, who at one time figured rather conspicuously among the clergy of the Established Church at the Westend of London. That gentleman was the disciple of Dr. Pusey, and after his secession from the Church of England, and his entrance into that of Rome, he publicly acknowledged his obligations to the Doctor as follows:

By your constant and common practice of administering the sacrament of penance; by encouraging everywhere, if not enjoining, auricular confession, and giving special priestly absolution; by teaching the propitiatory sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist, as applicatory of the one sacrifice on the cross, and by the adoration of CHRIST REALLY PRESENT on

the altar under the form of bread and wine; by your introduction of Roman Catholic books "adapted to the use of our Church;" by encouraging the use of rosaries and crucifixes, and special devotions to our Lord, as e. g. to his five wounds; by adopting language most powerfully expressive of our incorporation into Christ, as e. g. our being inebriated by the blood of our Lord;" by advocating counsels of perfection, and seeking to restore, with more or less fulness, the conventual or monastic life: I say, by the teaching and practice of which this enumeration is a sufficient type and indication, you have done much to revive amongst us the system which may be pre-eminently called SACRA

MENTAL.

Sir, this is one of the most important testimonies connected with the movement. As a confession it is explicit, complete, and decisive. It excludes all argument as to the tendency of Puseyite teaching. It is analytic, positive, and definite. The entire Romish system is here set forth in embryo, and something more. Nothing is wanted but full development to fit it for the Eternal City. Our conception of the real state of the case, however, will be greatly enhanced if we attend to the relation which obtains between the University of Oxford and the Diocese of Oxford. That relation is most intimate; that University is to be viewed as a great normal institution, and the diocese as a great model school; the lessons taught by Pusey are exemplified under the superintendence of Wiberforce.

A very important publication, entitled "Facts