perfective? The same demand will be renewed, and cannot be refused. Yea, in many instances, the young person has actually no one else to look to for advice. Natural parents and god-parents alike too often are precluded from any fitness for giving counsel in things spiritual; and if the parish priest does not take the direction of the person into his own hands, one of two very miserable events will probably ere long, as temptation befalls, occur: either the young person in perplexity will give up the habit of coming to the Holy Sacrament, or else he will become confirmed in a formal, hypocritical way of frequenting it, which can only bring condemnation and ruin. Thus the practice of receiving the confessions, and directing the minds of his people will, we believe, be forced upon a really earnest and energetic Parish Priest, whether he will or no.

It is in this way, we are persuaded, and not on any abstract ground of theory, that Confession has so far made its way amongst us, and specially has commended itself to so very practical a person as Mr. Gresley. Preaching has by all been found insufficient for procuring real thorough repentance and conversion, and it was to supply that defect that Wesley invented the system of classmeetings, which are a kind of mutual lay confession, but which of course, being without authority and the seal of secresy, could have no beneficial effect, and only pander to vanity, and curiosity, and hypocrisy, and other kindred vices.

The rest of Mr. Gresley's volume consists of a Catena of English divines, upon the subject of Confession, some very minute and useful rules for the guidance of a Confessor, and, lastly, the answering of objections, of which we give a few specimens:

"It is objected first, generally, that certain practical evils have been found to arise from the use of Confession, and it may be at once admitted that such is the case. But what then? It is scarcely a paradox to assert that the existence of evils is of itself a proof of the value of the ordinance. Those who have faith in the mysteries of the invisible world will be aware that it is, so to speak, the policy of Satan to use the greatest exertion to mar that which is most excellentto poison that which is most wholesome. If the Ordinance of Confession were not eminently conducive to the rescuing of souls from his power, he would not so strive, as he does, to throw discredit on it. What holy ordinance is there which he does not thus endeavour to pervert? In prayer, for instance, what efforts does he make to distract our minds, so that even when we have cast ourselves on our knees before GOD we cannot be sure of not having our thoughts carried away to the ends of the earth. In the most holy of all ordinances, the blessed Eucharist, we know that it is possible to eat and drink our own damnation.' Eminently holy men have declared that their worst temptations have come upon them at Communion. Why is this? Because Satan too well knows the great value of the Sacrament not to do every thing in his power to destroy its efficacy by the suggestion of

unholy thoughts. Preaching is another of the most effective of Christian Ordinances; yet how many vain preachers have been ruined by self-seeking, and destroyed the souls of their hearers by pandering to their itching ears,-how many careless preachers have starved instead of fed their hungry flocks,-how many heterodox preachers have led themselves and their hearers astray by their false doctrine? Again— what an inestimable boon is the Word of GOD! yet we have an Apostle's authority that many have wrested it to their own destruction.

"Are we, then, to suppress the reading of God's Word, discontinue preaching, discourage Sacraments and prayer, because they have been perverted to evil ends? Surely not. Why, then, Confession? Our own Homilies, in treating of the very subject, say, that When anything ordained by GoD is by the lewdness of man abused, the abuse ought to be taken away, and the thing itself suffered to remain."—pp. 36-38. And then, after noticing some other objections, he thus concludes:

:

"The circumstance of confession being liable to abuse, and the desuetude into which it has fallen amongst ourselves, though no arguments whatever against its legitimate use, yet lead to one important conclusion : namely, that it should be well considered, and exercised under proper regulation. As it is, confession is ordered by the English Church, yet no single direction or caution is given with regard to the use of it. Every Priest is directed to describe himself as a discreet and learned Minister of God's Word,' and to invite the members of his flock to open their griefs to him. One important step towards the beneficial revival of this Ordinance would be the better education of the Clergy. Considering the very defective education which English Priests receive, the licence which prevails at the Universities, the absence of discipline amongst Candidates for Holy Orders, it may reasonably be feared that evil would arise if the practice of confession were indiscriminately revived, and no regulations made in respect to it. To be a good Priest -which is rare, very rare-a man should have lived a very regular life, apart from pleasure, ease, and bad company, given to prayer and sacraments.' While such is not the case, precautions are more than ever necessary, particularly in respect to young females; to debar whom from the privilege of confession would be only less absurd than to debar all other classes on account of the dangers incidental to one class. Let the confession of females take place in Church, and under circumstances of solemnity. Let elderly Priests of staid character only be licensed to hear the confession of females under a certain age. Surely much of the evil complained of might be avoided by some such arrangements. There is a remarkable prejudice in the English mind against auricular confession': that is, the whispering into the ear of the Priest through a hole in the confessional, and therefore perhaps such a mode of confession is not to be recommended. No arguments would prevent uninstructed people from regarding it as Popish. What we want is simply to arrange the best means in which persons burdened with sins may be brought into communication with learned and discreet Ministers,' and so be led to true repentance, and their oppressed conscience relieved by the consolation of the blessed Gospel.

"But such arrangements come most properly under the Episcopal department. It is for Priests to consider how they may best carry out the actual instruction of the Church; and it is in the hope of contributing to this result that the present volume is written."-pp. 43-45.

One other still more deeply-rooted objection lies, we fear, in that kind of pride which makes us shrink from acknowledging that we have done wrong in permitting an ordinance so essential to fall into comparative disuse. We trust, however, that the Clergy will rise superior to this temptation, and shall therefore merely conclude with Mr. Gresley's weighty and candid words upon the subject: "It will be said, perhaps, that if this is the way to repent, and obtain God's forgiveness, it is to be feared that the members of the English Church are in evil case, in consequence of the very general disuse of Confession. It may be so. It may be that many souls are lost for want of this Ordinance. I should not have written this book if I did not most fervently hope and believe that, if it tended to the revival of Confession, it might, under God's blessing, be conducive to the salvation of souls."-p. 99.

REVIEWS AND NOTICES.

The Church's Claim to Self-Government. A Charge, delivered to the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Cleveland, at the Ordinary Visitation, July, 1851, and published at their request. By EDWARD CHURTON, M.A., Archdeacon of Cleveland. Rivingtons.

ARCHDEACON CHURTON is always an agreeable writer to meet; but specially on points connected with the history of the English post-reformation Church does he seem to be at home. We know indeed of no one who may be said to have more thoroughly imbibed the tone of Churchof-Englandism (as distinct from the simple Catholic tone), in its purest and highest form; while from the copious stores of his reading he is able to illustrate the events of the day by the views and principles entertained by those who have gone before. The Charge commences with a glance at the recent Papal Aggression, on which subject, though not unfavourable to the Act which has recently passed the Legislature, the historical notice which he furnishes of legislation on the subject, shows that he is quite alive to the inconsistency of those who have been most concerned in advocating it.

"In the year 1699 a Bill was passed by both Houses of Parliament, and received the royal assent of King William III., by which all persons educated in the Roman Catholic religion, or suspected to be of that religion, if they succeeded to any estate before they were of the age of eighteen, were to take the oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, and the Test, as soon as they came

to that age-till they did so, the estate was to devolve on the next of kin, being a Protestant; but was to return back to them upon their taking the oaths. By the same Bill all Roman Catholic Priests were banished, and were to be adjudged to perpetual imprisonment, if after banishment they should return into England again and a reward of £100 was offered to every one who should discover a priest, so as to lead to his conviction. This law, which one might almost call a sentence of outlawry against all Roman Catholics, received its fiat from King William III., the great champion of toleration. It was not repealed till about the eighteenth year of King George III., in the year 1778.

'Bishop Burnet was one of the supporters of this law, and he gives his reasons for supporting it: I was for this Bill,' he says, 'notwithstanding my principles for toleration, and against all persecution for conscience' sake." It must be confessed there was some difficulty in reconciling the act with the principles. I had always thought,' he says, 'that if a Government found any sect in religion incompatible with its quiet and safety, it might, and sometimes ought, to send away all of that sect, with as little hardship as possible.' This, of course, was no more than the principle, upon which the Spanish Government of Philip III. had deported the Moriscoes. 'It is certain,' he says, that, as all Papists must be ill subjects to a Protestant Prince, so this is much more to be apprehended, when there is a pretended Popish heir.' And again, 'This Act hurt no man that was in the present possession of any estate it only incapacitated his next heir from succeeding to that estate, if he continued a Papist. So the danger would put those of that religion, who were men of conscience, on selling their estates; and in the course of a few years might deliver us from having any Papists left among us.' Of course : but is it not strange that the zealous historian of the Reformation should not have thought it better to incur the risk of any amount of suffering, to wait till the fires of Smithfield, if it were the ALMIGHTY'S will, should be lighted anew,-than secure the Protestant succession by a mode of prescription like this, which, he confesses, would be harmless to all hypocrites and dissemblers, and only make its prey of men of conscience?' "But was this merciless Act ever put into execution? During nearly eighty years while it remained in the Statute-book, there is, I believe, one instance in which it was enforced. The Lord Chancellor Harcourt, before whom the case was brought, had put an easy construction upon it, which would have made it ineffectual; but on an appeal to the House of Lords this milder construction was reversed: so that the Roman Catholics were made to feel that they held their estates on a precarious tenure. It was one of those laws, which was urged on in those days by a fierce political animosity; in which not only Romanists, but Protestant Nonjurors, and especially the Scottish Episcopal Churchmen, were often included. Such laws defeat themselves by their own atrocity: they cannot be executed in a free country, nor will their execution be attempted by any enlightened Government.". -pp. 9-11.

As illustrative of the great diversity of opinion with which the peculiarities of the Church of Rome have been regarded by sound members of our own Communion, and consequently as suggestive of moderation in our views, the Archdeacon contrasts the recorded sentiments of Evelyn and Dr. Johnson; the former of whom regarded the denial of the Cup in the Holy Sacrament to the laity, as "a decree which makes heretics of those who adhere to our Blessed SAVIOUR'S own institution;" while the latter thought it "no greater deviation from Apostolic practice, than sprinkling instead of dipping in Holy Baptism."

In comparing our state with that of the Church of Spain, he has also some valuable remarks tending to modify the strictures of Messrs. Debary and Meyrick. Thus, for example, the decree denouncing banishment on any one who shall "apostatize from the Catholic religion" means (he considers) not the Roman, but generally the Christian religion, Catholic and Christian being with them (as they should be with us) convertible terms.

The main subject of the Charge, as the title implies, is the necessity of reviving Convocation, which he considers, in the words of the late Dr. Samuel Jervis, of the American Church, to be due to us "as the equivalent for the repeal of the Test Acts." If the legislative power of the Church were thus restored, he would be content that the appellative jurisdiction of the Crown, to be exercised fairly by the judges of the land, should remain. In this part of his subject he recites some curious anecdotes illustrative of the miserable jealous spirit with which the patronage of the Church was exercised by the administration which closed the doors of Convocation, and others which succeeded to the same line of policy, which makes us regret that the writer had not taken up the subject of the Church since the Revolution, rather than the well-intentioned author whose first essay is reviewed in our present number.

Medieval Hymns and Sequences.
NEALE. London: Masters.

Translated by the Rev. J. M.

THE popular notion of the Latin hymns of the middle ages has been, that they are a collection of very doubtful theology, wrapped in barbarous and unclassical Latin, and forced into a jingling similitude of modern verse. Mr. Neale's taste and learning have led him to take a prominent part in attempting to disabuse the popular mind of this error, by showing what these hymns really are, and unlocking the treasures which they contain of true poetry, deep feeling, and Catholic Scriptural Theology.

In the work before us we have translations of some of the most beautiful Mediæval Latin poems, as in the "Hymnal Noted," we recognise we presume, the same hand in the translation of what may more properly be called Hymns. The author has endeavoured, by a strict reproduction in English of the Latin metre and diction, to convey to his readers an accurate idea of their real nature and power. The task is a difficult one, and executed as Mr. Neale can execute it.

Perhaps the stern rule of exact adherence to the rhythm and flow of the Latin original is better appreciated by the learned than the unlearned reader. We question whether it may not be made too uncompromising. It is possible that what Mr. Neale shrinks so much from, a departure from accurate similarity in the translation, may, after all, enable one to enter better into the spirit, though not the letter of the original. Some of the hymns exhibit a ruggedness which would not prepossess all persons in favour of them. A second edition would probably allow the removal of this, and of an appearance of hurry, and want of polish, which is here and there observable. In these days,