paper at
Christmas, called _Puritanism and the Church of England_, to show how
the Church, though holding certain doctrines like justification in
common with Puritanism, has gained by not pinning itself to those
doctrines and nothing else, but by resting on Catholic antiquity,
historic Christianity, development, and so on, which open to it an
escape from all single doctrines as they are outgrown."

That "last paper" appeared in due course, and it stated the position of
the Church of England as the historical and continuous Church in this
land, with an uncompromising directness which would have satisfied
Bishop Stubbs or Professor Freeman. With equal directness, it affirmed
that Protestantism, "with its three notable tenets of predestination,
original sin, and justification, has been pounding away for three
centuries at St. Paul's wrong words, and missing his essential
doctrine." It traced, briefly but very clearly, the history and
development of the Universal Church, justified the Church of England in
separating from Rome on account of Rome's moral corruptions, condemned
the Nonconformists for separating on the mere ground of opinion,
extolled the comprehensiveness and simplicity of Anglican formularies,
and suggested to the Dissenters that, if they would only swallow their
objections to Episcopacy and rejoin the Church of England, they might
greatly strengthen the national organization for promoting Religion. In
doing this they would only obey the natural instinct which bids all
Christians worship together. "_Securus colit orbis terrarum_"--those
pursue the purpose best who pursue it together. For, unless prevented by
extraneous causes, they manifestly tend, as the history of the Church's
growth shows, to pursue it together."

The two papers on _St. Paul and Protestantism_ together with that on
_Puritanism and the Church of England_ were published in 1870 in a
single volume bearing the former title, and to this volume Arnold
prefixed a preface, enforcing his doctrine with some vigorous hits at a
dissenting Member of Parliament called Winterbotham, for glorying in an
attitude of "watchful jealousy"; at Mill for his "almost feminine
vehemence of irritation" against the Church of England, at Fawcett for
his "mere blatancy and truculent hardness." He concluded by re-affirming
his main object in this theological controversy. "To disengage the
religion of England from unscriptural Protestantism, political Dissent,
and a s