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 ST. MATTHEW'S CHAPEL, 
 
 QUEBEC; 
 
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 IN ANSWEB TO TUB 
 
 EEV. DE. PEECY'S liETTEE ON 
 "TEACTAEIANISM." 
 
 ;,' _ ,;. BY THB ■. '■- • '" ./.."',■ 'ry' ' ,' 
 
 Rev. henry ROE, B.A., r 
 
 Curate in tiatge of St. |Hatt|)e&)'« ffifiBiya, anU of tf)e 5&t. Utiuis antJ 55t. 
 
 .f.-;(*; 
 
 (!^ue6ec: 
 
 p. SINCLAIR, ST. JOHN STREET; 
 
 XONTBBAL :— PfilNTBD BT JOHB LOVILL. 
 
 1858. 
 
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 ST. MATTHEW'S CHAPEL, 
 
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 /.i 
 
 QUEBEC; 
 
 a AMBWIB TO THB 
 
 REV. DR. PERCY'S LETTER ON 
 
 't ■ , ; , . 
 
 "TRAGTARIANISM." 
 
 BY TBI 
 
 Rev. henry roe, B.A., 
 
 CotiU in f^jp oC iSt. iPBlottijein's CDfiapel, anH of % iSt. IcMi «dr 41. 
 
 3o};n'8 i^uimrlw* 
 
 
 p. 8IN0LAIR, ST. JOHN STRBBT; 
 
 MOBTBBAL :•— PBIKTBD BT JOHN lOTBU. 
 1858. 
 
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TO THE CONGREGATION OF ST. MATTHEW'S FREE 
 
 CHAPEL, QUEBEC. 
 
 My Dear Brethren, 
 
 J. ..^_ 
 
 I feel myself compelled to notice an open, violent and un- 
 provoked attack which has been made upon me, by the Rev. Dr. 
 Percy, in a letter just published, and aildressed to the Lord Bishop 
 of Quebec, on the subject of '• Tractarianism in the Church of Eng- 
 land"; and I think it best to address what I have to say in answer 
 to this attack, to you rath(^r than the Bishop. To him, as my 
 Rector as well as ray Bishop, any such defence as this ought, 
 under oidinary circumstances, to be made.. But as his Lordship 
 has already investigated the main charges here laid agaittst me, 
 and openly acquitted me of them, all that remains for me to do 
 is, by a plain statement of the facts of the case, to guard your 
 rtiinds against those hurtful impressions which this letter is calca- 
 Ikted and evidently intemleJ to produce. 
 
 That I am the chief, if not the only individual aimed at, no one, 
 I presume, who rea Is Dr. Percy's letter, will have any doubt. 
 The frequent reference to *' the St. John's and St. Lewis suburbs," 
 8s the part of the parish in which the tract he condemns is circula- 
 ted, — his animadversions upon Dr. Beaven's catechism, linked with 
 the charge of its "surreptitious introduction into the Depository 
 of the Church Society " — tlie allusions to "unfledged Divines of 
 unfledged universities," all openly declare this. I need nf)t hesitaie, 
 tberefore, to spcaR of the letter as a personal attack upon myself. 
 
 Di . Percy professes to write his letter in order to substantiate certain 
 (Ai iigos of Tractarianism and Romanizing tendencies and practices 
 which ho brought forward against some of his brethren of the 
 clergy in a platform speech on the 26th February last. The par- 
 ticular charges made in that speech, however, he, in this letter, 
 only alludes to in a general way, as " having expressed his belief 
 
 / 
 
 I i- 
 
th«t Tractarian principUa were being disseminated by certain in- 
 dividuals in this Diocese." To "substantiate the charges then 
 made, to establish the allegations offered," he passes them by in 
 silence. To prove me a ** modern innovator, an introducer of 
 Oxford Tiovolties," he brings up a tract written nearly 200 years 
 •go, and cinuilatcd by the Society that published it ever since I 
 This is certainly a strange mode of vindicating his truthfulness. 
 Why then docs he adopt it ? Evidently because ho knows his 
 former charges to bo groundless ; and not having the manliness 
 openly to acknowledge his error, he hopes to cover his retreat 
 from the old ground with the brisk fire ho opens upon the new 
 «nemy, and that, in the dust and noise he excites about it, his 
 former libel will escape detection. ,, . , , .i ,, 
 
 This example I must beg to decline copying ; and before pass- 
 ing on to examine his new grievance, I must say a few words 
 •bout the original attack itself. 
 
 Dr. Percy is reported to have said, (Mercury of 27th February 
 1868 ; and the report of the speech was evidently furnished to 
 the paper, and is. therefore aM/Aen<tc) ; — 
 
 "But after all,- he believed that the ground of opposition offered 
 by some was, not that it (the Colonial Church and School Society) 
 was not in their estimation a Church Society ; but, to adopt the 
 conventional term of the day, an Evangelical Society. It would 
 not tolerate their longings for a closer propinquity with Rome, 
 their lighted candles, their antependiums, their altar flowers, their 
 altar coverings of different hues for different vigils, fasts and festi- 
 vals, to use John Milton's words, " black, white and grey, with 
 •U their trumpery." It relished not the Latin prayers, the cross- 
 ing, the genuflexions, the auricular confession inculcated in the 
 oalendius for this year, most shamelessly denominated the 
 " Churchman's diary" ; but which, with greater regard to truth, 
 might have been stj/led the " Bomanizer's ritual." It abhorred the 
 whole Tractarian system, that mongrel Popery, which some would 
 substitute for our glorious Protestantism, for the faith and worship 
 of the Church of England. It loathed in members of that Church 
 the superstition which, while it assumed to elevate, would sink 
 into a mummery the most precious Sacrament of the God and 
 
 \ > * > 
 
 ■L ^*--'»iiii>ii,iii> 
 
Savioar. These thingn it rejected and abhorred. Theao were the 
 reasoriR (as he well believed) whi(;h caused it to be looked upon 
 with disfavour and ill-will by the Tractnrian and by tbu liotnanii- 
 ing Ghurcliinan." 
 
 Here, then, the charges are tolerably distinct, — that some of 
 the Clergy in this Diocese decline supporting thoC'olonial Church 
 and School Society, because it " will not tolerate their lighted can- 
 dles and antependiums, and altar flowers, and altar covoringw of 
 different hues for the different vigils, fasts and fefitivalV' atid be- 
 cause, cspeciHily, it does not " relinh the Churchman*s diary, with 
 its Latin prayers and crossing, and genuflexions, and auricular 
 confession" — which, of course, we are to understand that they 
 use. This whs the statement of the speech. '^ ' .... 
 
 Now either Dr. Percy knew the principles, views and prac- 
 tices of those his brethren of the Clergy, or he did nOt. If he 
 knew nothing at all about them, then how criminal were the in- 
 ventions of his speech! If he did know them, then he know be 
 was uttering an unmixed calumny ; for among the Clergy who 
 decline supporting the Colonial Church and School Society, and 
 who object to its being forced by means of the Church Society into 
 a quasi-official connexion with the Diocese — there is not, Dr. P. 
 well knows, a single one to whom any part of his charges can 
 be made to apply with any degree of fairness. Of the five Clergy 
 who had offended Dr. Percy and his friends a few days before, b/ 
 voting against a clause of his Report laudatory of the Colonial 
 Church and School Society, and who, it is well known, were the 
 parties aimed at in that speech, four live here in town, and have 
 been among you a sufficient length of time for it to be known if 
 they had any "insane desire for the revival of popish practices, 
 and the introduction of frivolous novelties." Of them you are all 
 as good judges as Dr. Percy. And the fifth Clergyman is the last 
 man to whom even Dr. Percy would apply his own speech. 
 
 This part of his charge is so notoriously and extravagantly un- 
 founded, that one is lost in amazement he did not select a more rea- 
 sonable ground of attack ; and to me the most surprising part of 
 all Dr. Percy's late proceedings is, that he should have hit upon 
 charges which are so manifest an outrage upon the understanding 
 and the senses of every reasonable Churchman. 
 
 ««>.- «. 
 
I Tlio saddoat part of thiH moHt unhappy Rpeeoh in that roitpecting 
 the Churchman'a Diary. At »i larire mcietiiif;; of a Comiuitteo of 
 the Church Soiiioty, held a few days ht-fori', Dr. Percy broujcfbt 
 this Hulijoct up, fltid aHHcrtud thai this Diary wnn in \\m in the Dio- 
 cese. Oui of the five Cleij^y referred lo ftl»ove, three wore pre- 
 sent and at onco declared that they had never even seen the honk.* 
 And when Dr. J'. wa« prosRcd to name the Clergy who used it, 
 it came out that he only knew of one Clergyman who posMesHed 
 a copy. And yet, a few day) after thixy he brings up the charge 
 again in a public speech, and Bcnds it out to the world, through 
 tlie prena, to Hcatter its poiRon all over the country, and to be 
 a Heed of distrust and alarm to the whole Church 1 But the most 
 hoart-sickcning part ot this transMction reuiuins behind yet. At 
 the very moment that ho was accusing his brethren — who did not 
 tide with this new Society — of Tractarianism, because of their 
 relish for '* the Churchman's diary," he knew that not one of the 
 clergy who objected to the Society had ever seen a copy of that 
 work ; he knew or. at least, had the best reaaon to believe, that th€ 
 only Clergyman in (he Diocese who ponsessed, or had ever aeen a 
 ropy, was his own most intimate friend and companion, who v>a» 
 aitting on that very platform by his side to advocate (as be did 
 advocate and very ably) the cause of the Colonial Church and 
 School Society / ! 
 
 After you have read this, my brethren, you will not be surprised 
 at Dr. Percy's strange silence about tlio charges and allegations 
 which his letter is professedly published to substantiate. 
 
 I now pass on to the letter itself, the main body of which is taken 
 up witli a review of one of the Cliristian Knowledge Society tracts, 
 " Nelson on the Ember Days at tho Four Seasons." 
 ,' Out of this tract, with a spirit, an energy of purpose, a clever- 
 ness and a wit, — which might have been better employed in a 
 more worthy cause. — and I must add with an unscrupulousness in 
 the perversion of the author's meaning, and a reckless unfairness 
 in every part which shock and astonish me, — he attempts to fasten 
 
 • The other two, and every other Clergyman I have seen since have 
 told me the same thing, that they had never even seen the book referred to. 
 
<m Robert Nelson the chnrge of doctrinal notoundneie, n4 
 through him Boroanizing lentimentB and tendenoiea upon ma. 
 
 Well then, one thing is gained to begin with ; you may now 
 Qome to a pretty dear knowledge of tho state of the wholi 
 Diocese, and the danger it is in from Romanizing tende»- 
 oies in the Clergy. '*The laity (Dr. P. asHurea us) are tho- 
 roughly sound, and to a man opposed to Oxford noveltieai*' 
 ^' There is nought of unsoundness" (he pronounces) "in tb« 
 Clergy as a body" ; and of the few tainted ones, / am the vor«|. 
 I am the greatest Romanizer in the Diocese. If yon wish to know 
 how much Tractarianism and sympathy with Rome there is in tho 
 Diocese, you have nothing to do but to step into the ** St. Lewii 
 and St. John*s suburbs," and there you have it all concentrated ia 
 the doings and sayings of my unfortunate self I I accept tJM 
 charge. I thank Dr. Percy for fastening it here, I believe it to 
 be true. I am persuaded that there is not a single Clergyman in 
 the Diocese \fho is more Romanistic in bis doings, feelings, and 
 tendencies (always excepting Dr. P. and bin party, — who are ia 
 the most effectual manner, playing into the hands of Rome) than 
 I am myself. How alarming, then, is the danger we are in from 
 " Tractarianism in the Church of England," in this Diocese, yoa^ 
 my dear brethren, who have seen my life and conversation, bava 
 been listening to my teaching and conversing familiarly with ma 
 in private for now more than three years, may judge. 
 
 With re»p<5ct to the Tract on tho Ember Seasons, he finds a 
 two-fold ground ot blame : — 1st. That " its object, or, at least* 
 its tendency, is to exalt unduly the importance of external ordi- 
 nances, and to magnify, beyond all reasonable bounds, the dignitr 
 of the clerical order," and that it is full of '' Romish figments and 
 most unscriptural falsehoods." And 2nd. That it is " unprofitii- 
 able reading for the illiterate poor of these suburbs, for tha 
 ungodly and the sinnner; a work not calculatod to be instru- 
 mental in winning soub to Christ, and in turning them from dark- 
 ness to light"; that its subject matter is " worthless husks for yooi^ 
 hungry souls," — nay, that in giving it to you, I give you " a stone 
 Car bread, and instead of fish a serpent" , , 
 
 
 
p I 
 
 ■t I 
 
 ^ This, my brethren, — let me notice in passing, — is really an at- 
 tempt to create a wide-spread suspicion of the soundness of the 
 publications of the noble and venerable Society for Promoting 
 Christian Knowledge. Dr. P.*s object in selecting an S. P. G. K* 
 Tract is evident He thinks, with a single sweep of his pen, to 
 wreak his own vengeance upon me and to please those who have 
 long been striving to bring this great Society into odium. 
 
 Into the defence of the venerable Society, or of this most excel- 
 lent Tract, I do not enter. In the case of either, it would be pre- 
 Mimptuous, it would be traitorous in me to do so. It would be an 
 insult to the feelings and understanding of every sound and intelli- 
 gent Churchman to begin now to vindicate, against such an attack 
 at this, the venerated, the world-wide honoured name of Robkrt 
 Nklson. 
 
 ftV ■■■■(».■!■■« 
 
 ROBKRT NBL80N*S FESTIVALS AND FASTS f 
 
 
 ' As I read the name in the letter I pr.us>ed in unfeigned astonish- 
 ment, and as I write it now I can scarcely believe my senses. Is 
 this the work the Rev. Dr. Percy, the Secretary of the Church 
 Society of the Diocese of Quebec, and Cathedral lecturer, selects 
 that he may fasten upon those who circulate it the brand of Ro- 
 manizing 9 Robert Nelson, the gentle, the learned, the liberal, the 
 type of everything that is noble and saintly in a layman, of every- 
 thing that is true-hearted and loyal in a son of the Church of Eng- 
 land, among all her many glorious sons, is to-day found to be " an 
 old superstitious non-juror !^^ Surely, Dr. Percy supposed in those 
 whom he hoped to cat jh by his letter a depth of ignorance to 
 which not many in Quebec are yet sunk. 
 
 One benefit, my dear brethren, I trust and hope, may flow from 
 tfiis shameful attack upon his memory, that those of you who are 
 as yet unacquainted with his life and writings, will be stimulated 
 to study both the one and the other. '- ' - -■'■•' ' »-*' i sJ- 
 
 If it were asked, to what layman since the days of the 
 Reformation does the Church of England stand most deeply in- 
 debted! — with scarcely a dissenting voice the whole Church 
 would answer. To Robert Nelson. His chief honour are his 
 good and pious works, for the glory of God, the edification of 
 

 9 
 
 His Church and the conversion of the world, to which he devoted 
 his fortune, his time, his fine talents and all his heart. He 
 was one of the most prominent of the founders of the two 
 great Missionary Societies which have nourished the Church 
 in this Diocese from its infancy. But he is hest known hy 
 that most useful work, four chapters of which form the Tract in 
 question, — his Companion to the Festivals and Fasts, — a prodigy 
 of learning, genius and piety ,-^a work which has gone through 
 numberless editions^ at home, has been translated into various 
 foreign languages, and is now and has been ever since its pub- 
 lication in as familiar use as household words, among all classes 
 and parties of the Church of England wherever throughout the 
 world she has a foothold. From this book it is that Dr. Percy 
 "drags forth unwholesome and erroneous doctrines from their 
 DARKNBSS tnto the light of day, that they may he known and con- 
 demned and shunned hy the true children of the Church'''' !! ! 
 And is it then come to this ! The pupil, the companion, 
 the biographer of Bull, that giant defender of the faith against 
 heresy and Popery, — the bosom friend of Tillotson, who died 
 in Nelson's arms, — our Church's pride and glory for his mas- 
 terly and commanding defence of her against Bossuet, Rome's 
 greatest champion, — is held up to the hatred and scorn of the 
 Canadian Church by one of her own dignified Clergy, as an un- 
 sound Protestant in his life, and a teacher of Romish figments in 
 his writings t 
 
 Treated as the Tract has been in this unhappy letter, with such 
 unfairness, dishonesty and bad temper, with sneers and insinuations, 
 it would be easy to prove any book, the Prayer book, nay, the 
 blessed Bible itself, unsound and heretical. < ' 
 
 Let me briefly point out a few instances of this kind. 
 
 Nelson "is seduced" says Dr. P. (p. 7, 8) "into an unholy 
 eftbrt to elevate (the Festivals) to the same level of sanctity with 
 the Lord's Day, to rank the institutions of man high as the 
 ordinances of the Lord." Now pause and think, think, dont be 
 carried away with sound, but think. Do Nelson's words 
 
 * The S. P. 0. E. edition of 1836, was the 26th edition. 
 
B-i i 
 
 M 
 
 convey the meaning Dr. F. puts upon them ! Certainly not. Bie 
 •ftys uothing here '>i" the comparative sanctity or rank of the 
 Lord's Day ati' > Festivals; he is merely speaking of thtf 
 manner of their oh rvance ; and he says, it iii probable it vras the 
 intention of the coippilers of the Liturgy that they should be 
 observed after the same manner^ viz. : " with rest from ordinary 
 labour, as well as with prayers and thanksgivings." In the first two 
 chapters of the work, (and sorely Dr. P. ought to have examined 
 those chapters !) the distinction between them in point of authority, 
 sanctity and lank, is clearly and strongly marked, and the " high- 
 er honor'' is given (not to the Sabbath Day, for Christians do not 
 observe that day, but) to the Lord's Day. 
 
 Hooker, whom Dr. P. mentions with honour, and from whom 
 Nelson evidently borrowed his thoughts and arguments on this 
 point, (and indeed every divine who has written on the subject,) 
 must be included in Dr. Percy's censure, for he takes the same 
 ground and defends it at great length, '^ against the Puritans of 
 his day." 
 
 " Feiitival solemnity (says Hooker) is the due mixture of these 
 " three elements, praise, bounty and re8t.***Touching thoseFestival 
 " days, *** which we now observe **** " what remaineth but to 
 " keep them throughout all generations holy, severed by manifest 
 " notes of difference from other times, adorned with that which 
 " mo3t may betoken true, virtuous and celestial joy ? To which 
 ** intent, because surcease from labour is necessary, ****** so the 
 " voluntary scandalous contempt of that rest from labour where- 
 ** with God is served, we cannot too severely correct and bridle." 
 
 But it is plain to common sense that we cannot observe the 
 Festivals as our Church appoints, by going to public worship, 
 without resting, more or less, from ordinary labours. 
 
 But again •.—In neither the offices for Baptism or Confirmation," 
 (to which Nelson refers), says Dr. P., "is fasting once men- 
 tioned." It could scarcely be expected that Infants should pre- 
 pare themselves for baptism by fasting ; but if the Dr. had looked 
 into the office for Adult Baptism, he would have found the direc- 
 tion Nelson refers to in the first rubric, , 
 
 He 
 is 
 
11 
 
 .^«,Agaiii, Dr. P. (p. 11) quotes Nelson as follows; — "Confif- 
 mation conveys Divine grace to encounter our Rpiritnal eneiniep, 
 and to enable us to perform what we undertake." *' Indeed (cries 
 Dr. Percy) Confirmation conveys divine grace, enables us to en- 
 counter our special enemies, and to perform what we undertake I" 
 But Nelson says not that Confirmation enables, but that *^ divine 
 ffrace" conveyed in Confirmation, *' enables us." 
 
 "If this be indeed the case, (proceeds Dr. P.,) then is the 
 Bomish doctrine of the opus operatum true.^^ Now what 
 is the doctrine of the opus operatum ? It is this ; that grace 
 is so inseparably tied to the reception of the sacraments that they 
 themselves contain and convey grace, independently of the faith of 
 the receiver. Does Nelson teach that Confirmation conveys gracjB 
 independently of the faith of the receiver ? No, for Dr. P. himself 
 quotes him as saying, that " the laying on of hands and autho- 
 ritative prayer conveys to such persons who sincerely renew their 
 baptismal vow a proportionable degree of God's grace and Holy 
 Spirit," ''and these graces are obtained by those who &ve qualified 
 " to receive them." 
 
 ♦' Qualified to receive them," — " the Romish grace de congruQ, 
 I presume," Dr. P. puts in parenthetically. This is most lamen- 
 tably dishonest, when in the 3rd following question on the very 
 next page, Nelson asks, "what qualifications are necessary fojr 
 the candidates of this sacred ordinance," and explains them to be 
 that they be thoroughly instructed, and prepare themselves by 
 prayer, fasting and good resoluiions. The liomish grace de con- 
 gruo is, that ' good works done before the grace of God, merit 
 reward at His hands.* What this has to do here, it is hard tp 
 see. s-^ ■ !" ■ 
 
 But in this case, again, Nelson's statements are taken (as any 
 one may see who compares the two) from Dr. P.'s own authority, 
 the judicious Hooker. 
 
 Dr. Percy ' denounces ' the statement, that " Our Spiritual lif$ 
 is maintained by the Holy Eucharist,''^ * as a Romish figment and 
 a most unscriptural falsehood.' And yet in the Prayer Book it 
 is said that "Christ is given to be our spiritual food and 
 iustenance in that Holy Sacrament" ; and that those who 
 
 ■■/ ■■^^--Sft-- 
 
IV^ 
 
 receive worthily, " dwell in Christ and Christ in them — are one 
 Vfith Christ and Christ with them." Is it not by this union 
 with Christ that the life of our Souls is t maintained ? If the 
 learned Dr. had ' refreshed his memory ' a little with the homily 
 on the Lord's Supper, and had glanced at the writings of Hooker, 
 Cranmer, Latimer, Ridley, Jewell, Pearson, and our other great 
 Divines, (or indeed, of Calvin and the Westminster Confession), 
 he would have found they all come under this same reckless and 
 sweeping condemnation of teaching 'Romish figments and unscrip- 
 tural falsehoods.' 
 
 In the tiist part of the Homily of the Sacrament we read, " in 
 the Lord's Supper there is the communion of the body and blood 
 of the Lord, whereby our souls live to Eternal life." s. :*> 
 
 • Hooker says (Lib. V. 57) " The grace which we have by the 
 Holy Eucharist doth not begin but continue life" 
 
 Cranmer, in his examination before Queen Mary's commis- 
 gioners, says :* " By Christ's passion we are filled at His table, and 
 whose blood; we receiving out of His holy side, do live for ever." 
 
 Ridley says,f " He that eateth and d^inketh worthily eateth 
 life and drinketh life." * '' - ' 
 
 " But enough and more than enough. ; « > 
 
 Again : — Dr. P. quotes Nelson as saying that " by the execu- 
 tion of the priest's oflBce, the pardon of our sins is signed and 
 sealed to us," and comments on it thus : " what the meaning of 
 this may be, I do not pretend to understand : and in the hope of 
 an explanation being offered, pause for a reply." This is some- 
 what astounding, when the very next words in Nelson are, " For 
 by the administration of the sacraments are the benefits of Christ's 
 sacrifice really conveyed to all worthy receivers." This is Nel- 
 Mon's explanation, and the words " the meaning of which" Dr. P. 
 " pretends not to understand," are simply a quotation from the 
 27th Article (" of Baptism.") "The promises of the forgiveness of 
 «n are (in it) visibly signed and sealed." 
 
 • Pox's Book of Martjrs, p. 690, 691. Seymour's edition. 
 tFox, p. 696. 
 
Five whole pages of the letter are taken up with proving that' 
 the Church of England does not believe in judicial absolution by'' 
 a priest. But who ever said she did ? Not Nelson, for his words 
 are simply quoted (as Dr. P. allows) from the Communion Ser-' 
 vice ; certainly not I, nor any one else in the Church of England 
 that I ever heard of. Hooker's excellent statement — quoted, in 
 part, by Dr. Percy — embodies the highest view held and taught, 
 80 far as I know, by any of our clergy. > '. .) '' hi 
 
 But what would any one gather from Dr. Percy spending so 
 much of his strength in disproving the power of judicial absolu- 
 tion in the ministry, but that I and others embrace the Romish 
 view ? Is this honest — is it candid — is it the part of Christian 
 charity — of brotherly love ? 
 
 Worst of all is the meaning Dr. P. puts upon Nelson's words, 
 p. 17, 18, that •' no one can be turned from darkness to light except 
 by a priest, and that Nelson will not allow the most pat^sing allu- 
 sion to the fact that sinners may be converted through lay agency, 
 or through the study of the Word.^^ Why did not Dr. Percy 
 look into Nelson's chapter on the Word of God,' in which he 
 calls those holy oracles " the power of God unto Salvation " f 
 And surely Dr. P. must have forgotten, when ho was writing this, 
 that Nelson was himself a layman, and that his whole life was de- 
 voted to promoting the salvation of his fellow men. Though it is 
 strange, when, in the preface to this book, — which Dr. P. seems 
 to have examined, — Nelson speaks of the religious societies of 
 laymen, of which he was a member, as united together " to pro- 
 mote their own salvation as well as that of their neighbours." 
 
 But I willingly turn from this sickening exposure, to something 
 else. : < 
 
 I find myself overwhelmed with ridicule for giving such a tract 
 as this, — so full of curious learning, of authoriiies from the old 
 fathers and even from the pagan classics, — '* into the hands of the 
 illiterate poor" of these suburbs. 
 
 The tract is composed of four chapters, taken without altera- 
 tion or abridgement out of the original work. That work was 
 
 • See Index to Nelson, under "Word of God." , j: 
 
 V«»-.)i" 
 
intended for the learned as well aa the unlearned, and is so skil- 
 fully framed as to be attractive and useful to both. «. .. tl * i*'tf 
 Nothing .iould be more unfair than Dr. Percy's treatment of the 
 learning ot this book. It is pretty miwh the same as if one were 
 to bnng together into one view the genealogies in Genesis, Cl.io- 
 mcles, St. Mnlthew and St. Luke,-together with Moses' account 
 of the Dukes of Edom, several chapters of his minute directions 
 about the building of the Tabernacle, and some of the obscure 
 passages from the Prophets and the Revelation,— and cry in tri- 
 umph, « There ! see what a book the Bible is ! What an unnro- 
 fitable work to put into the hands of the illiterate poor! What 
 husks for hungry souls ! " Would this be fair ? And yet this is 
 exactly the way Dr. Percy has treated Nelson. 
 
 It is quite true that the more learned parts of the tract are 
 not so suitable for some of you, my brethren ; but nine-tenthi 
 of the tract are level to the apprehension of any man of com- 
 mon understanding, and contain valuable and solid instruction 
 which the nx^st illiterate might profit by. I hope that no one 
 of you, my brethren, who can read English, consi.lers himself so 
 Illiterate as to be incapable of understanding what is the office 
 and work of a bishop, a priest, a deacon, or even of an arch- 
 deacon in the church of God,-no one so thou<rhtIes8 as to 
 imagine it is a matter of no concern to him to know anything 
 about the constitution, and authority, and duties, and bom fiis of the 
 Christian ministry. You cannot intelligently use your pmyer- 
 books, you cannot intelligently repeat the Creed, you are liable 
 constantly to be drawn away into schism and many errors if you 
 know nothing of these things. Dr. Percy seems to me to' under- 
 rate the mtellectual capacity of "the illiterate poor of these sub- 
 urbs," when, looking down upon you from the sublime pinnacle 
 of h!s own lofty and commanding genius and gigantic learning 
 be pronounce* you incapable of deriving any advanra-re from the 
 reading of this tract. ''All Scripture is profital.ly," a°id whatso- 
 ewr things are written therein, are written for the iD<^tr:iciion of 
 poor and rich, learned and unlearned alike. The nature, office 
 md orders of the Christian ministry,— the subjects treated of in 
 this tract,- are declared by our church (Preface to the Ordinal) 
 
 «l 
 
>d is so Bkll- 
 
 afmentoftho 
 ' if one WQfQ 
 
 OfK^^'S, Ciiio- 
 
 ses' account 
 e directions 
 the obscure 
 ^ crj in ti'i- 
 ' an nnpro- 
 »»•' What 
 ' yet this is 
 
 ' tract are 
 ■ine-tentha 
 ' of corn- 
 istruction 
 t no one 
 'msejf so 
 
 'le office 
 *n arch- 
 8 as to 
 
 nytliiiig 
 s of the 
 prij^er- 
 » ii«b/e 
 ^"f you 
 under- 
 
 e 8ub- 
 
 Ti«c/e 
 i-ning, 
 n the 
 lats.). 
 :>n of 
 >ffice 
 »f in 
 Hal) 
 
 to bo rerealed in Holy Soripttire, and "evident unto all 
 men who diligently read the Word of God." How ungrateful, 
 hoir dishonouring to Christ to treat with proud disdain, as worth- 
 loss husks, soripturat instruction about tiiat ministry, which the 
 gf)od Shepherd, in his immeasurable love, gave for the feeding, 
 the healing and the salvation of his flock ! 
 
 But besides this important instruction, — which I am persuaded 
 was never more necessary than it is now, when men have litcMally 
 ** heaped to themselve$ teachers," — instruction, the wide spread 
 diffusion of which would tend most materially to what is 
 sadly wanting in Quebec, the revival of a higher and better state 
 of religion, among both clergy and laity, than that with wiiich 
 we are now contented, — besides this, there are man\ pious and 
 practical lessons scattered through the tract ; and, what is more, 
 many beautiful and holy prayers, which perhaps jou would seek 
 in vain any where else; — prayers, which, if they were more used 
 in Robert Nelson*s spirit of faith and love, we should see more 
 of Robert Nelson's good and pious works, and leas of such mi- 
 serable exhibitions of our we^knens and disunion as are furnished 
 to the scum and derision of the Romanist, the dissenter and the 
 infidel by Dr. Percy's most ill-judged letter. 
 
 If indeed,— as any one would naturally conclude from Dr. P.'s 
 letter, — Ifed your souls with nothing else but learned disquisi- 
 tions on th^ Christian ministry, if this were all of (he Bread of 
 Life I dispensed to yon, then indeed his severest censure would 
 be richly deserved. But the opposite of this is tru«^ ; I find, 
 in looking back, cause to blame myself for not having given you 
 more instruction, (as I never did, I fear, even once from the pul- 
 pit) on this and kindred sulijects. In ray zefd to speak of ♦' the 
 things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ," [ have neglected to 
 instruct you in the nature and constitution of "the Kingdom of 
 God," (Acts 28, 31). If it should please Goo to bring me back 
 among you again, I hope to correct this error. 
 
 At the four Ember seasons you know it is my custom, to 
 ufge seriously upon you, in a few words, if not in a set dis- 
 course, your duty and privilege to pray for the Christian minis- 
 try. I have wished this to be followed up with a suitable tiaot 
 
 
 '' ""tiHiJ^- .' 
 
 ^M 
 
16 
 
 at the c easons, and Nelson's is the only one I could find on the 
 subject, and in many respects there could not be a better. Ac- 
 cordingly it has been circulated among you by the ladies who 
 from love to Christ and His brethren are engaged in the blessed 
 work of visiting (where they are willingly received) their fellow- 
 Christians, as friends, with Christian sympathy, and to help to do 
 them good. It may bu that a copy of this tract was lefl in a house 
 (though how diflferent a thing this is from Dr. Percy's charge I) 
 where there was " an aged and dying sinner." But I have such 
 confidence in the judgment and disoretion of those excellent la- 
 dies, — whom not only I thank but the whole church, — that I am 
 sure the tracts they select for each individual case are such as are 
 good to the use of edifying. 
 
 Dr. Percy objects that this Tract is " not calculated to prove 
 instrumental in winning souls to Christ, in turning them from dark- 
 ness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, nor pro- 
 fitable for the enlightening of the ungodly and the sinner." ,,; 
 
 But does Dr. Percy suppose there are none except such persons 
 in these suburbs? — no pious and intelligent Christians, whose faith 
 and love might be nourished and strengthened by such a tract as 
 this? None among the nearly two hundred communicants of 
 our Chapel, who might profitably spend an hour, four times a 
 year, in reading over this tract ? Yes, there are many, even 
 among those whom Dr. Percy is pleased to call " the illiterate poor 
 of the suburbs," who are rich in faith, whose minds and under- 
 standings are expanded and purified by the enlightening power of 
 true religion, who are quite as capable of understanding and just 
 as likely to profit by this excellent tract as the richest in Quebec 
 There are many among our poor who read large treatises on con- 
 troverted subjects, and who, by reason of their constant intercourse 
 with Romanists and Dissenters, need to be well armed against 
 their attacks upon the doctrines and polity of our Church. In no 
 one of the sects are the intelligent poor treated as Dr. P. would 
 have us treat our poor. They are looked upon as Christian bre- 
 thren, and are carefully grounded in the principles and reasons of 
 their church discipline and their faith. For such was this tract 
 intended, not for the ungodly and the sinner ; and such might read 
 
8nd on the 
 "«r. Ac- 
 ladles who 
 h« blessed 
 eJr feJlow- 
 leJp to do 
 n a house 
 charge I) 
 •ave such 
 client la- 
 bat I am 
 as are 
 
 }h 
 
 to prove 
 m dark- 
 Jor pro- 
 
 persons 
 se faith 
 ract as 
 ints of 
 imes a 
 
 even 
 spoor 
 inder- 
 eerof 
 I just 
 a bee. 
 oon- 
 urse 
 iinst 
 
 no 
 uld 
 re- 
 lof 
 let 
 ad 
 
 it through and understand it all, — even the Latin quotations, with 
 the English translation Nelson everywhere appends, — to thoir es- 
 tablishment in the faith, and to the edification of their souls. 
 
 The tracts we circulate among you, which are all those 
 of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, — tracts 
 which emphatically convey thu mind of the Church of England, — 
 are with very few exceptions, upon practical religion, such as you 
 must feel, do your souls good. They feed you, not with worthless 
 husks, but " with the sincere milk of the word." God forbid, my 
 brethren, that unreasonable and wicked men should succeed in sow- 
 ing in your minds distrust of those excellent tracts. I cannot express 
 the indignation I feel at the attempt. You have the Word of God 
 in your hands, compare the tracts, as I constantly urge upon you 
 that it is your duty to compare our teaching with that Blessed 
 Book. I know and am persuaded in my heart that the more 
 carefully and seardiingly you examine them in the light of that 
 Holy Word, the more thoroughly convinced you will be of their 
 perfect harmony with it. 
 
 I come now to the last point in Dr. Percy's letter, — the objec- 
 tions taken to Dr. Beaven's Help to Catechising, and the grave 
 charge that I " surreptitiously introduced" that work into the De- 
 pository of the Church Society. 
 
 This charge, coming from a brother, — almost a father in the 
 ministry, — I scarcely know how to speak of. I approach it with pain 
 and heartfelt sorrow. How surprised, then, must you be 
 my brethren, to be told that this same crime was publicly laid to 
 my charge by Dr. Percy at the meeting of the committee of the 
 Church Society referred to above ; and that, after hearing my ex- 
 planation, the Bishop at once fully acquitted me of having insidi- 
 ously {that was the word then used) introduced the book, as a 
 means of propagating my own peculiar opinions into the Deposi- 
 tory of the Church Society." Nay, so evidently satisfactory was 
 
 • The facts of the case are these : — 
 
 I sent to New York for 50 copies of Beaven^s Help for my confirmatioa 
 class. When they came, I told the class how I had brought them in, 
 and that they might either have them gratis, or pay for them as they 
 
 ■■V-'-.';>'»!?:-*.,,.v.-,, 
 
n 
 
 my explanation to the meeting that Dr. Percy's own Hon-in-law, 
 Lieut. Ashe, came forward and expressed the hope that Dr. Percy 
 would withdraw the epithet •' f'nserftoM*." Thi« he pftulantly re- 
 fused to do, wliich one could forgive, as a momentary outbreak of 
 anger and mortification. But when, after all thin, he repeats the 
 charge in a widely circulated printed lettcr,he displays an insatiable 
 desire to injure mo which is almost incredible. I do most sin- 
 cerely gricYe to be obliged to expose these things ; but when 
 charges so hurtful, nay, blasting to my moral character for hones- 
 ty, are published to the world, the duty I owe to myself, to my 
 family, to you, my brethren, and to the church at large, compels 
 me as publicly to refute them. 
 
 The Catechism in question Dr. P. speaks of as " somewhat no- 
 torious," and " containing many curious, and some unseemly 
 things," and he asserts that it is " rejected by a large section of 
 the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States aa unsound 
 in doctrine. ^^ v •- -- • 
 
 This last statement is the only part of the above that is of any 
 consequence. That Dr. B's catechism, and the society which pub- 
 pleased. To save myself the trouble of giving them out, I gave 25 
 copies, and afterward six copies more, to Miss Wood, the keeper of the 
 Depository, with careful instructions to sell them to none but the mem- 
 bers of my own class. They were all gone in a few days, aa the class 
 numbered nearly ninety persons. For many weeks, if not months, 
 before Dr. Percy brought up the matter in the Depository Commit- 
 tee, there was not a single copy of the book in the Depository. This 
 is the whole history of my " insidious and surreptitious introduction of 
 Beaven's Catechism into the Depository of the Church Society," — a pri- 
 vate arrangement between Miss Wood and myself, of which my whole 
 class were beforehand fully aware. And all this was fully explained at 
 the meeting of the Depository Committee, when Dr. P. first brought the 
 matter up! The strangest point is, that another of our city clergy had 
 previously made a similar use of the Depository, and Hymn books, im- 
 ported by him, were in the Depository at the time I gave the Cate- 
 chism to Miss Wood, (and remained there long after my 31 copies 
 of Beaven were sold) and exhibited for sale in the window, and that 
 without any restriction as to whom they were to be sold to. And yet 
 no fault was ever found with him. But fortunately for my friend the 
 Hymn books were those of the Rbv. Canon Bancroft I 
 
 

 lighoi it, havo the confldoiu-e of ttut great mass of raoderatts raen, 
 und ovoit of tliOHe oiilled Eoamjclical mm in the Americun Chureb 
 Hocumentu for Koinn time |)aHt in my |)OH»eHsion, und extmctfl from 
 wbicli I liuvu published in The Qatbec Quzettc of tho &tli iuat,! 
 will abunduntly satisfy evury rcosonublu man. 
 
 Ah I anid bcfuio of tho tract, \m I repeat of tluH oatecbism, — it 
 would be a worJ nf Htt|)ortirogation tor me to write in dofunce of 
 either. The Hociety Dr. Percy hora aHHuiU, unquuKtionably hat the 
 confidence of all but uu extreme section of the American Church, 
 as the Christian Knowledge Sucieti/ has of llio Church of Eujfland, 
 If I sin in Ubing these publications, I sin in good company. 
 
 For myself, I have been using this little work in the instruction 
 of youth lor now at least eight years that I can distinctly remem* 
 b«r. With its aid I prepared my candidates for confirmation 
 here in 1855, and in Megantic in 1852 und 1853. And after this 
 experience, I thiulc it an excellent work, and better adapted to 
 this purpose than any other I know. It has been condemned by 
 some here, among other things, of jmerility, us abounding in 
 silly questions. But I take leave to my that no one who has not 
 large experience in the practice of catechising ought to consider 
 bimself a competent judge of what is a puerile and needless quea* 
 tion. The fact that this book has been republished in several edi- 
 tions of many thousand copies by two separate houses in New 
 York,* as well as that several editions of it havo been issued m the 
 Old Country, proves it to bo a valuable book. I do not say I 
 agree with every word in it. To challenge such agreement is tho 
 
 • The two separate editions I refer to are that of the P. E. S. S. Union, 
 and that by Dr. H. Anthon. This latter is claimed (by Dr. A. and the 
 Episcopal Recorder) to bo so much altered from Bcaven's as to be sub- 
 stantially a new work, especially in those parts wliich treat of the xni- 
 uiatry and the sacraments. What, then, was my surprise, on carefully 
 comparing the two with a brother clergyman, allowed to be an Evange- 
 lical man, to find Anthon quite os strong and as sound on these points as 
 Beaven ! Those among us who object to Boavcn's Help, would certainly 
 consider Dr. H. Anthon as a Tractarian. Let my readers also remem- 
 ber that the edition of Beaven I and others use is approved by Dr. Lewis 
 of Brooklyn, Dr. Clarke of Connecticut, and other as eminent Evange- 
 lical dWinea aa the American Chnrch possesses. ^^,'..^..^^. 
 
 • :" '««i»*iii**^' ■■**"'*'«^ "^' " 
 
'JO 
 
 prerogative uf iiiHpiration alone. As n u urk i^C irt, I me blemislifg 
 in it, and, eBpecinlly in some parti, it miplit, I thinii, be very raa- 
 tcriilly improved. From some of Dr. Hcavc . ^ explanaiu" ;* of 
 wordu, definitions of theoioj^ical terms, fx( >aitionH ,i ^ !»i>plicft- 
 tious of texts, I disBcnt.* But the book taken as n whol*- Itliink 
 a safe and useful manual to put into teachers' atti children's 
 hands. And in its rfoc/rma/ teaching m all important pinnta, I 
 concur with all my heart, and by it I am content to stantl or fall. 
 
 One word rn<ire ma I have done. I am accused of being a 
 "modem ' . ..\ uOt '' of striving "to introduce Oxford novelties 
 and to 1' viv" expi'ded superstitions," — of '* an insane desire for 
 the revn>il ' ' ^'ractices long obsolete," — of a " cliildlah passion for 
 i\h) inculcation of exaggerated views of things in themselves in- 
 (iillvjient," and of having thus " excited divisions, given origin to 
 doubts, and stirred up strife in the congregation of the Lord." 
 These are grave charges, — I challenge the world to fix one of 
 them upon me, —to point out a single instance, in my teaching 
 or my doings in which I have stepped out of the line of honest or 
 even moderate churchmanship, or have gone beyond or boslde 
 the teaching of the Prayer Book, or the unanimous voice of our 
 great divines. I do not say that I have been as active and as 
 faithful in my pastoral labours among you as I ought to have 
 been. No, I wish I could say so. The prayer book to which 
 (in common with Dr. Percy) I have so solemnly declared my 
 " unfeigned assent and consent," I confess, I thoroughly believe and 
 love, and to teach and carry out the system of religion laid down 
 in it, is the object of my life. But an innovator in doctrine, or an 
 introducer of novelties in ritual matters, I am not and by tUu grace 
 ofGod, Inever will be. A superstitious fondness for excessive 
 ritualism and multiplied an<' gaudy ceremonies, I hold in as real 
 contempt as the Rev. Dr. Percy. My life is the best proof of 
 What innovation have I brought in here ? You know that 
 
 • Of course no skilful catechist would confine himself to the letter 
 of this or any other manual, and, in the case of a book like this which 
 cannot have any authority but is merely used for convenience, ho would 
 carefully explain anything h« tlwaght a mistake or erroneous as he 
 went along. ,.•>,. 
 
 y ;»'(i 
 
n 
 
 T hare ftarrted on the nervicen in this chapel exactly as I found 
 ♦rifltti, iiittvuinciiig no clifnipfd wlmtovor. Was it othorwiHo in my 
 ovuntry mission ? Thoro I was not (|ogfi;oJ by prying hikI Runpi- 
 ck>u* #ye« ; and heinpf then n youngnr man, I wuh moro likoly, in 
 the warmth of youthful zeal, to give promin«»n(;e to any " exag- 
 jferatt'fl viown" of which I might ho po8s<?nsiitl. Did I ever in- 
 rialgc th©r<^ in any of theno vagaries? No, I left the churches 
 exactly : - found them, without alloring a Hingle thing. My 
 time '«':iM V. ditfer'«ntly spfut there («» it, has been hero) from 
 what ;«' V I'tii mIo gatliorfrom l>r. Percy's letter. Why, then, 
 am I i>li i-«ii li iiii 'insane desire f<;r the revival of practices 
 long obso-ififcp'l NVhy,^excopt to uudnrmine, if possible, your 
 corjfidencf n vcu or, if that cannot bo etfectt-d, to brand my 
 cha acter ii bees; mation of those who have no opportunity <d 
 knowing me. 
 
 'h .» ing " excited divisionfl, given origin to doubln 
 le" Is it 80 ? Where are the 'strife, divisions 
 'ng us! I dime among you under trying cir- 
 irae of ' strifo, divisions and doubts.' Uave I not 
 ive now been aiiKuig you more than throe yeais. 
 -ot in Church only, but in your own houses, — 
 ir »K)rrow, in the unbroken quiet of your every 
 *. of diificuity and poverty, and in your more 
 shorter or more lingering sickness of those 
 know if, eitlier in the pul])it or in our more 
 a!id social intercourse, I have taken up 
 ' I speaking of " altar cloths, cMulles, altar 
 flowers," or any sucli like themes. You know I have been in 
 earnest in speaking t<» you, in public and in private about your 
 souls and sin, the lovo of Christ, your duty to Him, and the way 
 to grow like Him. You know, many of you, whether to the dying 
 Christian I ever offered a tract on the dignity of the Christian 
 Ministry. I had more awful, more necessary topics for that dread 
 hour 1 To you I can appeal, and to ray former flock as witnesses 
 to the utter falsehood of these wicked charges. May God, for 
 Christ sake, forgive thos^e who have invented and circulated tliem 
 and change their hearts ! 
 
 I am ao*«H«»«d 
 and stirred U] 
 and doubts' 
 cnmstances, i. 
 made peace ? 
 You have seen 
 in your joy and 
 day j fe, in youi 
 serious trials of 
 dear to you. Y< 
 unrestrained priv 
 my time and yours 
 
 ^>ff*r-'-'' '" 
 
' My tlear Bretbreii, the writing of this letter has been to me a 
 very painful duty. And especially must I regret that I have been 
 obliged to speak, as 1 have here spoken, of one who ought 
 to command the reverence and love of us all. But such a time 
 as this, — when a few extreme men, here among us, reckless of the 
 nature of the means they use, are moving heaven and earth to 
 excite the distrust and fears of Christian people in the Church to- 
 wards their pastors, and to shake the very foundations of their 
 mutual confidence, — when the grossest and most outrageous 
 calumnies, nay, often calumnies the most whimsical and absurd, 
 are circulated and greedily believed, — when the perfect con- 
 cord this whole Diocese has always enjoyed (with the exception 
 of the troubles created here in Quebec from time immemorial by 
 a little but busy party) has now been so rudely broken in upon by 
 Dr Percy's incendiary letter, endorsing as it does his still more 
 violent speech, — this is no time cowardly to hold one's peace. As 
 for myself, I have long been the victim of such calumnies as these 
 busily whispered about, destitute though they are of even the 
 shadow of a foundation. But these things move me not 
 I am strong in the sense of my own integrity, of the invin- 
 cible power of Truth, of the immoveable foundations of the 
 Catholic faith on which I stand, and or the majesty and faith- 
 fulness of that God, who loves the Church He purchased with 
 own blood, lie sitteth above the water floods ; and though they 
 rage and swell, He remaineth a King for ever. In the greatest 
 troubles He shall give the strength of patience to His people, and 
 by the means of those troubles. He will work out finally for His 
 Church the blessing of Peack. May he hasten it here amongst 
 us in His time ! 
 
 Meanwhile, I cannot but thank and praise God that this pressure 
 from without has exercised no apparent evil influenc*^ upon you, 
 my dear Brethren, nor, so far as I can see, interrupted, even for 
 a moment the confidence, respect and affection with which you 
 have ever received me. Our little chapel is full. The congre- 
 gation that assembles there is remarkable, — though I say it — for 
 its quiet, orderly, devout ai.d reverential demeanour, outward signs, 
 as I trust, of the growing devotion of your hearts and minds to 
 
 "N. 
 
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,, .. » 23 
 
 God. The earnest and general responding, the liearty congrega- 
 tional singing, the fixed and eager attention to the word of God 
 both read and preached, the intelligent part you take in the oc- 
 casional offices, the growing attendance upon the week-day service, 
 and, above all, the very large and increasing number of communi- 
 cants, all these are signs, I rejoice to think, of God's blessing upon 
 the faithful teaching of His own truth. I might speak of the 
 prosperous condition of the Sunday School, of the zealous but 
 quiet and unobtrusive labours of our District visitors — but I for- 
 bear. If I have " become a fool in boasting," may I not say to 
 the disturbers of our peace, with St. Paul, " Ye have compelled 
 me !" Now that I am on the point of parting with you for a short 
 period, — though it may be for ever on earth,-^perhaps I shall the 
 more readily be excused for writing thus of myself. Let us " stand 
 fast," my dear friends, "in one mind, with one spirit, striving 
 together for the faith of the Gospel ;" and in doing so, let us " en- 
 deavour to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." 
 
 Your faithful and affectionate 
 
 Friend and Pastor, 
 
 HENRY ROE. 
 
 QuKBKC, 10th May, 1868. 
 
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