"THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE OXFORD MOVEMENT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 143, 19 June 1899, Page 2

"THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE OXFORD MOVEMENT.

The Rev. R. Ferguson last night uldressed a crowded congregation in Devonport Presbyterian Church on , the above subject, taking as a text ■ John iii. 20: "For every one that rloeth evil huteth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest bis deeds should be reproved." The lecturer began by paying a high tribute of praise to the Church of England, referring to its martyrs, its missionary enterprise, its ripe scholarship, its saintly lines, its inspired hymns, its influence for good. For three centuries the Church of England was a bulwark of Protestantism. AH its j martyrs were Protestant martyrs, all , its 39 articles are Protestant, articles, j all its clergy are. sworn Protestants, j pledged by the sacredest vows to uphold the. Protestant faith. The Church of England is the National ; Church of a Protestant realm, the j Queen in her coronation oath promising I to the utmost of her power to main- j tain "the Protestant Reformed Reii- j gion as established by law." This j oath made her 'the supreme head of , the Church of England upon earth.' j By virtue of her Protestantism she I and her heirs in the succession reign ; over the British Empire. Yet for the last 66 years there have been traitors in the camp. Her foes have been of her own household. A conspiracy, known as the Oxford movement, ha ß been secretly and dishonestly at work within her borders to undermine Protestantism and betray the Church of England to the Pope of Home. Falsehood, fraud, and wilful imposition are among the chosen weapons of this forsworn enemy. , The conspirators were at first led by Newman, Pusey, Ward, Hun-el, Froudc, and Manning, and to-day, out of a total number of 23,000 clergy, Farrar states 7000 are Ritualists. Newman dates the birth of the Oxford movement as 14th July, 1833. A few months before he tried to get admission to Rome "on any terms to which he could twist his conscience.' Unsuccessful then, he remained 10 years more a clergyman of the Church iof England. In October, 1833, he i published his "Arians of the 4th i Century,' in which he advocates the Doctrine of Reserve. He writes: I "Speak the truth except where care- | ful treatment is necessary. Then lie." I Ward puts it more plainly still: "Make yourself clear that you are justified in deception, then lie like a trooper. In order to allay suspicions Newman delivered a course of rabid Protestant lectures denouncing the Pope, saying- Rome was heretical, malicious, mad, corrupt, lost, etc. "Flee it like a pestilence," he adds; "it is bound to anti-Christ." Afterwards he withdraws what he calls his "dirty words." "I am not speaking my own words. Such views were then necessary for my position. There are some kinds of verbal misleading that are not sin." Faber, whale pledged to the 39 articles, says he rejoices that Protestantism is perishing. "God willing, my whole life shall be one crusade against the detestable and diabolical heresy of Protestantism." Manning aod Pusey also stand now before the world as perjured clergy-

men of the Church of England. Born and bred in broken vows and bad faith, this conspiracy cannot be of Him who said: "I am the truth," for "No lie is of the truth." The secret societies are the dens of

conspiracy. Among such are the Society of the Holy Cross, the Order of Corporate Be-union, the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, the Guild of All Souls, the Order of the Holy Redeemer, the Society of S. Osmond (now the Alcuim Club), the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Monasteries and Nunneries, etc., etc. The members of' these dens of conspiracy are Church of England Eitualists and their deluded dupes. These societies teach the unecriptural doctrines of Transubstantiation, Purgatory, Worship of the Virgin Mary, Masses for the Dead, the Seven (as against the two) Sacraments, the authority of the Pope over Englishmen, a nd over the Queen and Privy Council. "The object of the Order of the Holy Ecdeemer (for example) is to restore England to her lost place in bumble, implicit, unquestioning submission to the See of Peter and to the authority of the Pope." And thus those Ritualistic clergymen, pledged to the 39 articles, cast their pledges to the winds, and swallow wholesale the very doctrines that the 39 articles call "blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits." Penance and the confessional arc also widely adopted by these secret societies They admit that their first great hindrance is the Protestantism of England. So, say they, let us "cast out- Protestantism,

for the first Protestant was the Devil." "Protestants (they tell us) detest Jesus Christ and prefer immorality." "The Catholic Church is the only earthly home of the Holy Ghost." Why then do not these perjured people leave the Protestant Church of England and join the AntiProtestant Church of Rome? Ihey avoid individual secessions, as far as practicable. Have patience, say they, and we shall guide the ship of England into the haven of Rome. The lecturer, in a strong concluding appeal, referred to an earlier Oxford movement, in which Ridley and Latimer figured as Protestant martyrs. "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, said Latimer, "and play the man. We shall this day light such a caudle by God's grace in England^ as 1 trust shall never be put out. i.ar3£ffK& F^ "Secret History of the Oxford Movement." ——