484

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

WITH reference to the "entry" mentioned in the paper on Bishop Hough of Magdalen College in our last number,-" E. Vernon at Meare in Staff: sh: to be put in ye stone bag," the Rev. Hugh A. Stowell, (Rectory, Breadsall, Derby,) in a letter to the writer of the paper, suggests the following probable explanation:

"Will you allow me to suggest that the explanation of the last of the difficult entries in Bishop Hough's Diary, which you propound for solution, is as follows, viz., that it is a memorandum of the address of some person to whom he intended to write; the stone bag' being, I take it, the bag of letters for Stone in Staffordshire, and this part of the address being for the guidance of the carriers, (who then did postal duty,) as we might say, Mr. E. Vernon, Meare, viâ Stone, Staffs. The town of Stone was then of more consequence in its shire than now, but is still a post and market town. There are in Staffordshire a parish called Maer, and a township of Meer in the parish of Forton; but though the Vernons have for centuries been connected with that county, I cannot find that they ever resided at either Maer or Meer. Perhaps Mr. E. Vernon was only on a visit there."

The Rev. J. Hodgson, Bloxham Vicarage, Banbury, also writes,

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"I am interested in that notice from Bishop Hough's Almanack for 1696, which appears in the Ecclesiastic of this month. I fear I can throw no light on the extract, Bloxum near Banbury. I have promised the parish not to institute till a month hence.' But I can add this information corroboratory of the extract. I find by the Register of Burials: Anno Dom. 1696, buried, May 14, Mr. Nicholas Page, our Minister.' This shows the living was vacant that year. I find that the handwriting of the person who made the entries from 1684 to 1696 changes on March 1, 1696, in the baptisms; Nov. 10, 1696, in the marriages; and March 8, 1696, in the burials; and in 1698, Í read at the bottom, in the same changed handwriting, 'Ita attestatur Tho. Fletcher,' who was vicar next to Mr. Page. You must bear in mind that February and March 1696 are the end of the year; 1697 begins March 25. It seems therefore as if some months elapsed before Mr. Fletcher succeeded Mr. Page, viz., May to January or February following, up to which period the same handwriting as before is in the register, the last being Feb. 15, (baptisms,) and Feb. 9, (burials,) as if Mr. Fletcher began to reside in March.

"I have set an acquaintance to go among the old people, and see if he can hear of any tradition of the parish opposing or objecting to this Mr. Fletcher, or anything that can lead to a reason why the bishop should have promised not to institute; but I am not sanguine of success.

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Works intended for review in the Ecclesiastic should be sent through the Publishers: they will so come before the Editor, and will be fairly noticed according to their merits. He can hardly be expected to attend to a private request that he would favourably review a book which he has never seen.

485

THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD.

The Church and the World: Essays on Questions of the Day in 1867. By Various Writers. Edited by the Rev. ORBY SHIPLEY, M.A. Second Series. London: Longmans. 1867.

THAT a bulky volume, costing fifteen shillings, should arrive at a third edition in twelve months, and each of those editions unusually large, is a certain proof that the subjects treated in the volume engross a very considerable amount of attention: in fact, no book has received such universal notice from the press as the first series of "The Church and the World" has done, since the publication of the "Essays and Reviews." The unusual interest aroused by this volume is further manifested by the fact, that a second series has appeared, which has a promise of an equally rapid sale with the former. Already, too, we hear rumours that a third series for next year is in preparation.

In the present volume, the same plan is followed out as in the former; that of independent essays by independent writers, no writer of the first series appearing in the second-a fact, which shows that the Catholic school among us is not unprolific of men of thought who can wield the pen with vigour.

The present volume consists of Sixteen Essays, two of which are anonymous; they may be roughly grouped into four classes, which will stand thus:

Historical. No. 1, "Some Results of the Tractarian Movement in 1833," by Mr. Bennett: 5, "Greek Rites in the West," by the Bishop of Brechin.

Sacramental. No. 3, "The Sacrament of Marriage," Mr. J. W. Lea: 7, "Private Confession and Absolution," Mr. J. Chambers: 11, "A Layman's View of Confession," Mr. J. D. Chambers: 15, "The Three Vows," Mr. Humphrey.

Legal. No. 4, "Public Law and the Colonial Church," Rev. E. Huff: 12, "On the Court of Final Appeal in Causes Ecclesiastical," Anon. : 13, "The Ritual Law of the Church of England," Hon. W. Colin Lindsay.

Ecclesiastical. No. 2, "Preachers and Preaching," Dr. Evans: 6, "Sisterhood Life," Anon.: 8, "Religious Toleration," Mr. Blacker: 9, "Church Music," Mr. Rumsey: 10, "The Curate Question," Mr. Baker: 14, "Latitudinarianism," Mr. Oldknow: 16, "On the Symbolism of Ritual," Mr. Le Geyt.

Of the first group, the Bishop of Brechin's Essay is a most learned one, on a subject very little known; but it is not exactly suited to a book on "Questions of the Day." It is better adapted to the pages of the "Christian Remembrancer."

VOL. XXIX.-NOVEMBER, 1867.

3 s

Mr. Bennett's Essay, however, is exactly what it professes to be, an Essay on one of the great "Questions of the Day;" the rise of the great Catholic School in the Anglican Church. It illustrates most fully that universal law of ethics, progress by antagonism. The darkest and coldest hour of the night is that which immediately precedes the dawn, so the first quarter of the present century was, in a religious sense, the darkest and the coldest. Not only was there an immense population rising up on all sides untended and uncared-for by the Church; but there had been almost lost in the darkness of the eighteenth century, much of what is distinctive of Catholic teaching and Catholic worship. The hierarchy of the Church was dignified and wealthy, churchgoers were respectable; but the only life and energy were among Evangelical preachers, who ignored almost everything that is Catholic. Still, however, the seed of Catholic truth and worship lay in the Prayer Book, and life was in that seed, though outwardly invisible. There was fire in the ashes of the altar, though outwardly only ashes appeared. Divinity lecturers at our universities still quoted the Fathers, and appealed to early tradition, and still used orthodox language on the Sacraments, and the constitution of the Church. Among old High Churchmen there was a traditionary reverence for the great divines of the seventeenth century. So much had been preserved; and the preservation of this made it possible to revive and restore the whole Catholic Faith. The dew of grace fell on the grain, and it sprouted and grew; the breath of the Spirit fanned the embers into a flame, and the Altar of Truth again glowed with light and heat.

It was the suppression of ten Irish Bishoprics, the threatened assault on the temporalities of the English Church, that awoke Oxford, and led to the issuing of the "Tracts for the Times," and the "British Magazine." Up to this time apologists for the Faith confined themselves almost exclusively to refuting the infidel writers of the eighteenth century; apologists for the Church to attacks on Popery, and to defending the "Establishment." The attitude of the new Reformed Parliament towards the Church opened the eyes of Oxford men to the fact that the old line of defence was wholly inadequate to the present emergency. It was not a learned infidelity that was the enemy to be feared, but a universal ignorance of the spiritual claims and position of the Church as the Body of CHRIST; it was not the vulgar cry of a few Dissenters against endowments and Church-rates; it was the organized attack on the divine institution of the Church as the witness to the truth. The Prime Minister of the day brought this matter to an issue by the appointment of Dr. Hampden to the chair of Regius Professor of Divinity in Oxford. This was a crisis, but the Tract writers were equal to the emergency. "They worked the harder, they wrote the more. Advancing more boldly into the enemy's camp, they

sent forth tract upon tract, until at last they approached the fatal No. 90. Before the publication of that number, although many previous ones had elicited much observation, and in some cases much alarm, still nothing had been said in any authoritative condemnation. Now, however, No. 90 seemed in the eyes of almost all to be beyond toleration. It was not understood-its purport was not seen. Men rushed with blind determination to convict it of dishonesty, even perhaps before they had read it." (P. 5.) Then followed the Ward and Oakley condemnation; then the condemnation of the whole movement by the whole Episcopate, and the University of Oxford. The then Bishop of Chester, Dr. Sumner, attributed the "Tracts" to the direct agency of Satan. Then came the greatest blow of all-the secession of Dr. Newman, and so many of his ablest coadjutors. If ever a cause was rendered hopeless, it was this! If ever the enemy was justified in sounding the note of victory, it was then! Predictions were now fulfilled, vaticination proved true! The whole movement was one toward Rome; the fact was undeniable-yes, and we well remember the dismay, the sinking of heart, the almost despair that fell upon all when this succession of calamities occurred. of man, it must then have come to nought. not only stood, but prospered. These calamities were but the threshing-flail separating the grain from the husk, the flame consuming the dross, and leaving the metal purer than before. Men read and thought more; Oxford was no longer the one centre of the movement; there were centres in busy provincial towns, and in quiet country rectories. The departure of so many leaders, only made others more self-reliant; it changed the whole aspect from that of a party, to that of a school. Men worked out the great problem for themselves, and did not trust to others.

Had the cause been

But it was not; so it

There are two points specially apparent in reviewing this great controversy, both of which equally manifest the Divine origin of the movement, and the Divine guidance throughout. 1. The "progress by antagonism;" that Catholic truth became clearer and more defined, and more powerful, by reason of the very opposition which it had to encounter. 2. That the writings of opponents were nearly as efficacious for disseminating the truth as those of defenders: the weapons of the enemy were turned against themselves.

It is time to leave Mr. Bennett, and proceed to the second division we have made, and consider the "sacramental." The first of these is Mr. Lea's Essay on the "Sacrament of Marriage." We rejoice to see that men can give things their right names, undeterred by popular prejudice.

The writer calls attention to the fact, and the other two writers on "Confession" re-echo it-that the obligation of the marriagevow, and of personal purity, simply as a Christian duty, are at an

exceedingly low ebb among us. The revelations of the Divorce Court, nay, its very institution, prove this. Those who have ministered long in large towns, especially where confession is also practised, could give information that would appal most of us. The writer of this article is able to assure his readers, that a very large number of those women who walk the streets in our provincial towns are wives of men, such as joiners and stonemasons, who are absent during the week, and often for weeks, at some distant employment; and this practice is not confined to the lowest class, but there may be found among them no small proportion of the shopkeeper-class, and the wives of commercial travellers; most of these excuse their unchastity by saying, that their husbands when from home are equally criminal. This manifestation of evil is much more common in Scotland, and extends more frequently to a higher class of persons than in England; while in Ireland it is very uncommon.

To draw the general conclusion from this premiss, that the Roman Catholic faith is superior in its results to Scotch Protestantism, is to take a wider view than is warranted; but we may with safety draw this conclusion, that unless the sacramental character of marriage is believed in, we can never expect to see its obligations observed. Contrast a Scotch marriage, or a marriage at a Registrar's Office, or a Quaker's marriage, with a properly conducted marriage with the Church's blessing, what is it? A mere declaration on the part of either that they wish to be man and wife; no vow, no obligation, nothing religious, much less sacramental. As long as they agree all may go on well; but when they disagree what is there to hinder a separation, and the formation of a new connection? Nothing but the fear of the Divorce Court, and damages; but if both parties are guilty of incontinency, and have formed new connections, it is equally well known that no damages will be given. In fact the whole law, as it now stands, not only ignores the sacramental character of matrimony, which is to be expected, but it encourages the belief that the tie is only temporary, contingent on mutual agreement, and that the breach of the marriage obligation is not a sin, but is only a breach of contract, to be assessed and atoned for by pecuniary damages. And further still, and more monstrous, that adultery on either side, ipso facto, dissolves the nuptial bond! It is not difficult to see what is the natural conclusion drawn from these premises; and equally plain is the result in practice. Marriage is merely mutual consent and convenience; consequently mutual aversion, or even indifference, is sufficient to make each wish to dissolve a contract, where the only condition is mutually withdrawn. Mutual consent to separate dissolves mutual consent to join: a new connection has probably been formed by one or both parties; so a mutual agreement is made, and the separation completed. The discarded wife