nicknamed Tractarians or
Puseyites. Their cardinal doctrine was that the Church of England was a
part of the visible Holy Catholic Church and had unbroken connexion with
the primitive church; they inculcated high views of the sacraments, and
emphasized points of agreement with those branches of the Catholic
Church which claim apostolic succession. Their party grew in spite of
the opposition of low and broad churchmen, who, specially on the
publication of Tract XC. by Newman in 1841, declared that its teaching
was Romanizing. In 1845 Newman and several others seceded to Rome.
Newman's apostasy was a severe blow to the church, though permanent
injury was averted by the steadfastness of Pusey. The Oxford movement
was wrecked, but its effect survived both in the new high church party
and in the church at large. As a body the clergy rated more highly the
responsibilities and dignity of their profession, and became more
zealous in the performance of its duties and more ecclesiastically
minded. High churchmen carried out rubrical directions, and after a
while began to introduce changes into the performance of divine service
which had not been adopted by the early leaders of the party, were
deprecated by many bishops, and excited opposition.

The church and the law courts.

In 1833 the supreme jurisdiction of the Court of Delegates was
transferred to the judicial committee of the privy council. Before this
court came an appeal by a clerk named Gorham, whom the bishop of Exeter
refused to institute to a benefice because he denied unconditional
regeneration in baptism, and in 1850 the court decided in the
appellant's favour. The decision was followed by some secessions to
Rome, and high churchmen were dissatisfied that spiritual questions
should be decided by a secular court. The "papal aggression" of that
year, by which Pius IX. appeared to claim authority in England, roused
violent popular indignation which was used against the high church
party. However, it afforded an argument for the revival of convocation,
and, chiefly owing to the exertions of Bishop Wilberforce of Oxford,
convocation again met in 1852 (see CONVOCATION). Meanwhile broad church
opinions were gaining ground to some extent owing to a reaction from the
Oxford movement. Among the clergy the broad church party was
comparatively small, but it included some men of mark. In 1860 appeared
_Essays and Reviews_, a volume of essays by seven authors, of whom six