Words such as apostolic succession, catholic, pries, penance, eucharist and mass aroused in the minds of members of the Church of England images and long-held prejudices associated with Roman Catholicism or Popery. The use of such words and phrases by the Tractarians provoked strong reactions from members of the Church of England and Protestants to whom such things were abhorrent. These reactions did not fade away until well into the 20 th century. In the 1890's Walter Walsh published an inflammatory attack on the Movement he called The Secret History of the Oxford Movement which ran to many editions. The offending section of the book appears under Brief Answers to Objections Brought Against Confession.
Confession is the toilet of the conscience.
Those children who will not be attended to by their mothers, remain all day dirty and disgusting. The souls who will purposely neglect the cleansing of confession are unclean souls, vile and base souls. Then do send me a shilling, there's a dear child, towards a Shrine for our Lady in our poor Church of St. John. Doncaster While to-day we may regard Walsh's polemic with considerable amusement, he nevertheless expressed what some Anglicans felt about the influence of the Puseyites in trying the change the character and ethos of Anglicanism. But in spite of such calumny the Oxford Fathers were men of immense zeal and devotion.