Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-09-22
DIR. PUSEY.
Points in the Career of the Famous Ok
ford Professor.
Nst0 York Times.

Nst0 York Times.
Yesterday the two foremost men of tho
Church OF England were lying on the bed
| OF death, Both were able men, and, exeent
In the opinion Of heated partisanship, were
OF exemplary piety. The one, as Arch
bishop of Canterbury, ranked next to the
royal family, and was the highest dignitsrv
OF the Anglican Church. The other was
| Professor OF Hebrew in Oxford UniversItv
But no Archbishop Of Canterbury since the
days OF Laud has made SO deep and broad
and lasting impression on the Church az
| has DR.. P1seY, and It would not be ton
much to say that, judging by the Influence
he welded, the true Primate OF all Englsnd
was to be found at Oxford instead of Cam
terbury.
"Puseyism" as a party name has passed
almost out OF recollection, but there was
time when the great Catholic revival In the
| church was universally known as "Pusey-
| ISM" The name was never q happy one
| DIR. PuseV, prominent as he was during the
years when the Oxford tracts startled out of
sleep the ferVor OF the church, was not at
that time the real leader OF the revival. l.
was impossible in the nature of things that
Newman should be other than the leader In
| any movement in which he took an active
part, and, though Pusey was for a time
more prominently before the public the
Iractarian movement drew its true inspira-
ton from the msschless genius and divine
spirit OF Newman. Nothing could have
been more abhorTent to the nature of
either than to have been regarded as the
founder Of q sect or OF q new school OF re-
ligious thought. Had the movement been
really entitled TO the name OF Puseyism or
Newmanism It would have remained insig-
nIflcsnt. Long before Tractarisn principles
had leaVened the church "Puseyism" passed
out Of use, whether as q badge Of honor or
brand OF reproach. II was not until after
Newman committed the inexpicable mis-
take OF abandoning the church that DIR.
Pusey became the leader OF those who re-
mained faithful. From that time his leader.
ship was unquestioned, and he lived to see
the virtual triumph of the principles for
which he had coniended with a courage that
did not falter when Newman forsook him or
when Bishops silenced him.
The Oxford Tracts when read for the first
time bY Churchmen OF the present genera
ton, are full OF surprises. The popular Inn
preston as to them is that they advocated
the doctrines and practices OF the Roman
Church. The reader finds, on the contrary,
that the tenets supported by them were the
"apostOlical succession, - "baptismal reoen-
eration," the Real, not the Corporal, Pres
ence in the Holy Communion, and the au-
thorlty Of the Church. These were
the distinctive principles which the
Tracts of the Times advocated, to
the unspeakable horror of the dull
Cnurchmen of the day. They are the
principles which are held without question
to-day by vast majority of the clergy and
laity Of the Anglican Church. Even the
Glow Churchman" clings srdently TO the
"apostolical succession" and clergymen
holding the ZWinglian theory OF the sacra-
ments are almost unknown in this country
since the secession OF DR.. Cummtns. Even
''Tract 90," for which Newman was solely
NH Fah ~ nkrE 10Th
speaking, an integral part of Tractsrianism,
contains many things which Churchmen
who are unacquainted with the Oxford
Tracts and have vague horror of them IN
hesitatinglY accept.
Tractsrianism should not be confounded
with modern rituslism. The latter is un-
questiouablY the outgrowth of the former
but so was Methodism the Outgrowth OF
the Church Of England. While there are
ritualists who hold without change the
doctrines taught by the Oxford Tracts,
there are unquestionably others who hold
doctrines more Roman than Catholic. For
the latter, as we'll as for ritualism generally,
Tractarianism cannot be held responsible.
Its distinguishing principles were few, and
were formulated and supported with per-
feet frankness. Whatever may have been
added to them by advanced ritualists, those
principles alone can be called Tractsrianism,
and nothing could be more unjust than to
lOlQ Jle WrlbeFS OF Jle tracts responsible
for the vagsries of Father Benson or Brother
Ignatius.
Neither Pusey nor Newman sought to Ro-
manize the Anglican Church. Just as
Wesley found the clergy sunk in worldli-
ness, so the Oxford Reformers found the
clergy Of their day ignorant of, or indiffer-
ent to, doctrines which were neither new
nor foreign, but were the almost forgotten
heritage of the Church. The clergy who
profC seed t.: .lieve in the Holy Catholic
Church seemed unconscious that the Church
OF England differed in any way-except in
wealth and power-from the sects about
her. The Tractarian movement was an
effort to induce the Church to claim her
heritage, and its success has been none the
less complete because the debt that Church
men Of the present day owe to the Oxford
Reformers is not always recognized.
During his earlier days DR.. Pusey met
with plentiful abuse. He was called a
traitor to the church, secret emissary Of
Rome, Jesuit charged with the destruction
of the Church of England and the principles
of the Reformation. He has outlived these
ISLANDERS. He has lived to see the Church he
loved transformed by the lshors of the little
band of "Tractariars" and infused with
their fervid devotion. He will be mourned
wherever an Anglican Church raises its
spire, and his memory will live and his fame
grow brighter through the ages.