ary's, Oxford,
and addressed to "the Most Reverend the Archbishop, and the Right
Reverend the Bishops, of the Church of England, in the House of the
Convocation of Canterbury assembled." The petitioners call upon the
Archbishops and Bishops to use "their sacred office and authority,"
and either to purge the Church of heresy or to "authoritatively and
publicly" recommend certain "orthodox and admirable works," which are
calculated to "arrest the spread" of "disastrous errors in the midst of
Our Beloved Church."

In order to show the precise nature of these "disastrous errors," we
print the following paragraphs from the petition:

"Whereas it is generally known that certain clergymen of the Church of
England, in positions of influence and authority, are deliberately and
altogether undermining, by their teachings and public writings, the
faith of this Church and country in the trustworthiness of the
Holy Scriptures, and are altogether repudiating the common faith of
Christendom, that the said Holy Scriptures, as received by this Church
of England, are the infallible and inspired Word of God.

"Also, that by what is known as the 'New Criticism,' these clergymen
do attempt entirely to rob the people of God of the Holy Scriptures
and altogether falsify the teachings respecting them of our Lord Jesus
Christ and of his Holy Apostles-declaring some parts to be 'myths,' some
'fables,' some 'the work of dramatists,' etc."

Ah then, the enemy is within the camp! It is no-longer a question of
"infidel" publications. Church professors, and doctors of divinity,
are sapping the very foundations of "the faith." Orthodox clergymen cry
out--in the language of this petition--for salvation from "the dangers
of Rationalism and unbelief _within_ the Church."

What does all this mean? It means that Free-thought is triumphing by the
permeation of the Churches; that "advanced" ministers are now doing, in
a sober, steady, scholarly way, the very work so brilliantly inaugurated
by Voltaire and Thomas Paine; that the Bible is being subjected to
rigorous criticism, in England as well as in France, Holland, and
Germany; that its documents are being shifted like the pieces in a
kaleidoscope, and every turn of the instrument makes them differ more
and more from the orthodox pattern. At present, it is true, the process
is almost confined to the Old Testament. There, however, it is nearly
completed. Presently it will extend in earnest to the New Tes