The first silent preached retreat in the Anglican Communion was held in 1858. The exercise quickly aroused suspicions because it appeared to be dangerously close to Roman Catholic practice. Based upon original printed sources, this paper reviews arguments put forward during the next ten years by three advocates of the led retreat, to counter such fears. Far from being part of a Roman plot, they claimed that the retreats were an expression of a fundamental spiritual principle, which was not limited to any particular denomination and party.
