has been well observed, had not so little in them of the dove, or so much of the serpent, as to make the articles of the church like an upright shoe, to be worn on either foot,'-and therefore we may say of our first reformers, in reference to the present book of articles, as was affirmed of them by Dr. Bancroft, then Bishop of London, in relation to the rubric in private baptism, that is to say, that those reverend and learned men intended not to deceive any by ambiguous terms.' 'The end they aimed at was, ad tollendam opinionum dissensionem, et consensum in vera religione firmandum; which end could never be effected, if men were left unto the liberty of dissenting, or might have leave to put their own sense upon the articles, as they list themselves." The king's declaration prefixed to the articles, which was made with the advice of the bishops, enjoins, 'that no man hereafter shall either print, or preach, to draw the article aside any way; but shall submit to it in the plain and full meaning thereof; and shall not put his own sense or comment to be the meaning of the article, but shall take it in the literal and grammatical sense.'

"With respect to all attempts to give to the articles of religion a greater latitude of sense than the words upon the face of them will bear, and, especially, all endeavours to make them look towards the errors of the church of Rome, when they are unquestionably, as to the points of difference between the two churches, neither more nor less than a solemn and emphatic protestation against those errors, I will express my own opinion in the words of Bishop Jeremy Taylor. Speaking of the different methods, by which wise and peaceful dissenters might be drawn to subscribe, together with churchmen, some common confession of faith, he concludes, And at last, in such cases, let the articles be made with as great latitude of sense as they can; and, so that subscriptions be made to the form of words, let the subscribers understand them in what sense they please, which the truth of God will suffer, and the words can be capable of. This is the last remedy: but it is the worst: it hath in it something of craft, but very little of ingenuity (ingenuousness): and if it can serve the ends of peace, or of external charity, yet it cannot serve the ends of truth, and holiness, and christian simplicity.'

The Archbishop of Armagh thus writes,

"The attempt to accommodate our Articles and formularies to those decrees, to which they have hitherto been considered most adverse, and into accordance with which they cannot be brought, without an extreme ingenuity, or, to speak more plainly, a perverseness of interpretation, is, in my eyes, as well as in those of the instructors of our English academic youth, of dangerous ten

dency, and likely to disturb the peace and tranquillity of the church. To describe the language of the articles as so pliant as to be capable of being honestly subscribed by members of the Romish communion, or by those who are desirous of joining it, is to destroy their value as a standard of our church's faith, agreed upon for the avoiding of diversities of opinions."

And the Bishop of Exeter entirely concurs with these views:-"I would say, that the only sound principle of interpreting the Articles, is to understand them in the sense in which he, who subscribes, has sufficient reason to know that they are understood by the authority which imposes the subscription-in other words, by the legislature, both the civil and the ecclesiastical legislature; for both have alike imposed it. The civil legislature, indeed, or parliament, we may well believe, has intended that they be understood in the sense of the ecclesiastical, or convocation; and, as no different sense has been put upon them by any subsequent parliament or convocation (though both have subsequently renewed the requisition by subscription,) we may fairly look back to the sense of the convocation of 1571, which must have been the sense of parliament in the same year, when both legislatures, for the first time, imposed the duty of subscription.

"Now the convocation of that year, in the very canon which imposed subscription to the Articles, tells us what is the sense which they were designed to bear, namely, the Catholic sense; for, as it there enjoins preachers to teach nothing to be religiously holden or believed but what is agreeable to the doctrine of the Old and New Testament, and has been collected out of the same by the Catholic fathers and ancient bishops,' it must be considered as following its own rule in putting forth a book of Articles for the establishing of consent touching true religion;' and it is as a security for the observance of this rule, that subscription to the Articles is required, 'which Articles,' it proceeds to say, 'have been collected out of scripture, and agree in all points with the heavenly doctrine therein contained.'

"If this statement asserts the very principle propounded in the tract, namely, that the Articles are to be understood in the Catholic sense, it will, nevertheless, be found on consideration to be utterly irreconcilable with the application of that principle, as contended for in the tract: for it is there maintained, that any man will satisfy the duty incurred in subscribing the Articles, if he assents to them, not in their plain, and obvious, and grammatical sense, but in that sense which he, of his own mere opinion, shall determine to be Catholic:' whereas the canon shows that the plain, and obvious, and grammatical, is also the Catholic

sense; and the preacher or minister who shall adopt any other sense as the Catholic, does, in truth, prefer his own private judg ment on the point to the declared judgment of the Church synodically assembled a procedure as uncatholic, and schismatical as can be well imagined."...

In fact, there never has been, except among Jesuits and heretics, any other principle of subscription than that which every honest man's conscience would point out. About a century ago certain Arians tried the same experiment, which Mr. Ward is trying now, and argued in favor of a "liberal system of interpretation." But Dr. Waterland and other high-church divines of that day, meto them, and put down the proposed immorality with a high hands But what is the ground taken by Mr. Ward at the present moment? His reply to the accusation has just appeared, and we opened it with a natural curiosity to learn the ground which he might resolve to take. That ground is, that the Articles and Prayer Book are so essentially contradictory, that no one can possibly, subscribe them both in the plain and literal meaning of the words ;} and that, consequently, every member of the University must of necessity have subscribed some parts of either the one or the other, "in a non-natural sense," as well as he, W. G. Ward. As serting this fact, in the broadest and plainest terms, he appeals to the members of Convocation "not to give a grossly dishonest vote for his condemnation."

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1

But it will be more just to Mr. Ward to give his own words. He

"I concede that there are some of our formularies which I subscribe in a non-natural' sense. It appears that some have supposed me to concede, in saying this, that I differ from other members of our church in the peculiarly non-natural' sense which I ascribe to certain of our formularies when I assent to them; whereas a reference to the context will show my distinct argument to be, that all, who subscribe our formularies, subscribe several of them in a 'non-natural' sense. And this is the main argument that I propose to illustrate in the present pamphlet: for every other part of the ground I have already trodden in detail. I maintain (1), that every one who now subscribes our formularies is compelled to attach a most violent and strained meaning to several among their number; (2), that, whereas the parties who now divide our church are, in the main, representatives of parties which have existed within her ever since the Reformation, the same violence has been done to the spirit of parts of our formularies by all subscribers to them from the very time when they were first put together, and (3), by consequence from this, that

it has always been intended that they should be subscribed according to an extremely lax and vague construction."

Thus does Mr. Ward force the University to a plain declaration, or confession, on two points :

1. That there is nothing immoral or improper in a subscription being affixed to articles of faith, in "a non-natural sense,"-i. c. in a sense quite opposed to the plain meaning of the words; and equally opposed to the known intent of those who framed them :

2. That so far from this being immoral or improper, it has ever been the practice of all the members of the University; no one ever having been able, in Mr. Ward's view, to avoid "attaching a most violent and strained meaning to several among their number." This is the system or principle of Subscription which Mr. Ward openly and distinctly propounds, and which the University must either RECEIVE, or REJECT. A vote must be taken on the whole question, and if Mr. Ward's system be not utterly repudiated, it will be asserted by him, and not unfairly, to be accepted by the University.

It is plain, then, that not for a century has the University of Oxford been placed in a position of so much peril. Nay, even the violent intrusions of James II. were less dangerous than the efforts of Mr. Ward, just as a man is more seriously endangered by a dose of poison than by an illegal arrest. The Popish monarch endeavoured, by mere force, to thrust Romish masters and rulers on the University. Mr. Ward takes the surer and far more mischievous course of infecting the great mass of the members. The vote of the 13th of February, however it may be framed, must decide whether this course of action shall be permitted to be continued; and continued with greater vigour and effect, from the consent given to it by Convocation. Such must be the result of any escape or acquittal of Mr. Ward.

We feared that the withdrawal of the main question, by the Heads of Houses, would cause a hesitation among their supporters throughout the country. Hence we were greatly pleased to perceive the announcement, just as this sheet was going to press,that this main question would be again revived, in another form. The following Requisition has just been commenced; and we earnestly hope, that every reader of these pages, who is a member of the University, will without an hour's delay, forward his name to Dr. Faussett or to Dr. Ellerton.

"TO THE REVEREND THE VICE-CHANCELLOR AND THE MEMBERS OF THE HEBDOMADAL BOARD.

"We, the undersigned members of Convocation, respectfully but earnestly request that you will take immediate measures for

submitting to the Convocation about to assemble on the 13th of February next, a Resolution conveying the formal censure of the University upon the principles inculcated in the ninetieth num ber of the Tracts for the Times, and a solemn repudiation of the modes of interpreting the Thirty-nine Articles therein suggested. "We consider such a censure on the part of the University imperatively called for, and particularly appropriate to the important occasion already

in Mr. Ward' referred to, inasmuch as we cannot but recognise

in Mr. Ward's Ideal of a Christian Church a legitimate developement of the principles of Tract Ninety, and a practical exhibition of the pernicious effects which must necessarily result from their adoption.'

The following notice intimates the method of procedure to be taken by those members of Convocation who wish to sign the Address: 2900102

Members of Convocation are respectfully informed that the accompanying requisition is in course of signature. Vaga de ozd

"Those persons who may be desirous of subscribing to it, are requested to transmit their names, colleges, and degrees, without delay, either to the Rev. Dr. Faussett, Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, Christ Church, or to Rev. Dr. Ellerton, Divinity Lecturer and Senior Fellow of Magdalen College.

Oxford, Jan. 25, 1845."