her pale who will remember her for good when the times of refreshing shall come. Meantime is there not a serious danger that by this narrow and un-Catholic limitation of the Church, whose peace we seek, men do indeed retard the progress of that very unity which they would desire to further? Thus to look upon union with Rome as the only step which is required to restore the indivisibility of the Church is practically to encourage in the highest degree, if not actually to admit, the claim of that communicn to be the only true Temple of the LORD on earth. According to the principles which authorize our resistance to the Papal Supremacy the Eastern Church stands for us on the same ground with that of Rome, and our contemptuous indifference to a reunion with that vast communion, without which (unless the assumption of the See of Peter be genuine) there can be no restoration of unity to the Church, is simply to unchurch ourselves and to render our Western sister more than ever determined that her idea of unity shall alone be realized in the subjection of Greek and English Churches to herself, with (of necessity) the dreadful confession of their apostasy ever since they were separated from her. If, as we believe and affirm, no true-hearted member of the English Church can in conscience desire such a consummation, surely it is worse than unwise so to strengthen the hands of Rome in her antagonism to the only real unity, that the prospect of it is placed farther off than ever. Let men weigh this matter well, for it is no light thing to allow the bias of individual feeling thus to rend yet more asunder the very wounds we pray that God would heal. Henceforward in all their desires and prayers, let them look beyond the blue mountains of Italy to that morning land, where the Sun of Righteousness first rose, and where now from many a rock-hewn convent and solitary chapel on the bare hillside the altar sacrifice ascends, pleading evermore that prayer which is no less theirs than ours "Ινα πάντες ἓν ὦσι ! Lastly, there remains another element needful in all branches of the Church for the final restoration of the whole to peace, and that is the individual holiness of souls. We are too apt to look on the wounds and convulsions of the Body of CHRIST as we do on the politics of the world, and to imagine that any attempt at amelioration must proceed from the higher powers of the Church, and take the form of a public movement. But it is not thus that the building made without hands is to be reared and her ruins repaired. Scalpri salubris ictibus Hanc saxa molem construunt, Aptisque juncta nexibus Locantur in fastigio. On earth as in heaven, the living stones that form the dwellingplace of God the HOLY GHOST must each one be hewn into fitting shape ere there can be aught of completeness or symmetry in the entire fabric: the perfection of the units forms the perfection of the whole-each individual might largely advance the cause of unity in his own person, though he never did more than battle in secrecy and silence with the evil passions of his own soul. If every Christian, whether of the East or West, stood right with GoD, and had no will but His will, where were disunion and dissension, heresy and schism? But there is above all one evil principle, which lurks more or less we fear in the heart of each one of us, and which is the deadliest enemy of the Church of CHRIST, and the sin most to be combated by those who would seek her peace and glory, and that is the intense spirit of worldliness, which seems especially of late years to have come in upon us like a flood. Is it not obvious that to this spirit the calamities of the Church past and present are almost entirely to be attributed? The very state of anarchy and schism in which Christendom is now plunged is so bound up with the political interests of nations, that the godless policy of European governments would utterly oppose a change. As it is in public interests, so in private affairs; what is it that prevents men who are Catholics at heart from teaching the truth boldly and uncompromisingly, and from acting in accordance with their principles ? what is it that makes ecclesiastical superiors fall away from the oppressed, or become themselves the oppressors? what is it that makes men draw back whenever they approach the line that trenches upon popular prejudice? what but the fear of the world, and of its mouthpiece the public press? How many have stifled their convictions from this unworthy cause. How many, seeing the difficulties of that narrow way of truth which runs ever counter to the public favour, have shut their eyes and steeled their hearts to its sweet promise of eternal reward, and have turned to the smooth and pleasant paths which lead to personal aggrandizement and worldly prosperity. How many, yielding themselves to the insidious snare of compromise, have gone on weakly offering a divided allegiance to the Church and to the world, which is a thousand times more hurtful to the cause of truth than the worst and most open enmity could be. No hope is there of unity,-of the blissful vision of a communion of universal love and faith, holy and peaceful as if it were the reflection upon earth of the free glad Church in heaven, no hope of this till the deadly spirit of worldliness has been exorcised from our hearts, and that bold, true, unreserved love of God reigns there in its stead, which would count it all joy not only to live, but even to die for CHRIST and His Church alone. Let us then labour to destroy within ourselves at once the fear and the love of the world, and to educate our children in pure uncompromising principles of VOL. XX. 3 x faithfulness to the cause of holy truth, that haply to another generation may be given the peace we are not worthy to receive. GOD speed that cause! and grant the day be not far distant when the stranger from these northern shores may kneel before the altars of the Latin Church, and bow upon the ruder pavement of the old Greek sanctuary, to meet a brother's welcome, and be fed with that one Bread of Life, through which we are all even now in mystic and spiritual sense one Body under one Head, JEsUs the Anointed of the LORD. REVIEWS AND NOTICES. Practical Hints for Church Floral Decorations. By a Lady. With an Introduction, by the Rev. W. GRESLEY, M.A. Masters. ( THIS is really a very serviceable little manual; for, on the principle that whatever is done should be done well, it is not right to leave to chance a matter which is so closely connected with the Service of the Church, as is the festal decoration of her walls. The "Hints," we are able to testify from our own experience, are very good; and in a preliminary chapter some interesting historical facts are collected together, illustrative of the general prevalence of the custom of so ornamenting churches. The passage from Bingham is worth transcription: There was one way more of adorning churches which I should not have thought worth mentioning, but for its innocency and natural simplicity; that is, the custom of garnishing and decking them with flowers and branches, which was not done at any certain time for any pretended mystery, but only to make them more decent and fit for a body of men to meet in. S. Austin takes notice of the custom, speaking of one who carried away with him some flowers from off the altar. And Paulinus in his poetical way refers to it likewise. But S. Jerome does it the greatest honour to give it a place in his panegyric upon his friend Nepotian, making it a part of his commendable character, that he took care to have everything neat and clean about the church, the altar bright, the walls whited, the pavement swept, the gates veiled, the vestry clean, and the vessels shining; and so far did his pious solicitude about these matters extend, that he made flowers, and leaves, and branches of trees contribute to the beauty and ornament of the churches. These were but small things in themselves (S. Jerome says), but a pious mind, devoted to CHRIST, is intent upon things great and small, and neglects nothing that may deserve the name of the very meanest office in the Church.'"-Pp. 8, 9. Mr. Gresley also mentions that the earliest attendance at Church which made any impression on him was a certain Christmas-Day, which found the Church decorated with flowers. "No doubt (some will say) the flowers took away his thoughts from the Service." But no, the Service also impressed him, and he remembers even now the text of the Sermon. The Anglican Authority for the Presence of Non-Communicants during Holy Communion. Masters. WE earnestly direct attention to this Pamphlet, (reprinted from the Ecclesiologist,) which bears the initials of the learned and exact Author of "Lawful Church Ornaments." It proves most undeniably, on the authority of Cranmer and Ridley, and Bishop Ferrar, and Hooper, as well as from the internal documentary evidence of the Prayer Book, that the intention of the Reformers-while they undoubtedly pressed for more frequent Communion-never was to exclude devout persons from continuing during the celebration, in the body (as distinct from the choir) of the Church. He shows this in respect of both Edward's books, as well as of our present Prayer Book: and in doing this, he proves incidentally (as all recent inquiries have also tended to show) that the revision of our Services in the sixteenth century was thoroughly Catholic, much more so than the highest among High Churchmen formerly supposed. The Caroline Divines in this matter were certainly less Catholic than were the Reformers of the previous century. How different this is from the commonly received opinion need scarcely be said. There is a complete answer here to Mr. Scudamore's not very candid "Communion of the Laity." 1. Confession as it is in the Church of England. By the Rev. HENRY NEWLAND, M.A. Masters. 2. A Plea for S. Barnabas'; the Confessional versus the Social Evil. London: A. W. Bennett. 3. A Reply to the Rev. Hugh Stowell. By a Churchman. chester: Heywood. Man 4. Confession. A Letter to his Parishioners. By C. I. BLACK, B.A. Masters. We think it right just to name these Pamphlets, because though separately not possessing any great merit, collectively they do good service by directing persons' attention from north to south, and from east to west, to the very important controversy which is now agitating the English Church. Such unhappily is the nature of the national mind in England, that it will not seriously enter upon any religious subject unless when rudely forced to do so. And we must say that Mr. Newland's idea of English people being quite willing to accept the doctrine of Confession, if left to themselves, is as inconsistent with fact as is possible to imagine. Tracts have undoubtedly been written on the subject for many years: but as matter of fact, many even of the clergy who theoretically vindicate the ordinance, have never practised it. And much, of course, as we regret the wrong done to individual priests, and the feeling of unbelief and blasphemy that has been stirred up by recent events, we have quite come to the conclusion that nothing short of the sacrifice of individuals and an outbreak of popular prejudice could have brought the question of Confession really before the minds of the present generation. We urge upon our readers, therefore, to circulate the cheap edition of Mr. Liddell's Letter as widely as possible. People will take in the doctrine more readily in connection with a local dispute, than when presented in a mere abstract form. And all that the doctrine wants is a fair hearing and a well qualified advocate. Reminiscences of the Last Days of Shelley and Byron. By J. TRELAWNEY. London: Edward Moxon. THE celebrated names which appear together in this work, belong so entirely to the past generation, that they come to us now with somewhat of novelty; and it may be well that their admirers in the present day should learn what were the real characters of the men, whose writings have exercised only too great an influence upon the age. The book is truly a remarkable one, though not by any means in the sense in which the author intended. Mr. Trelawney, whose career in Greece is well known to all interested in that country, had certainly no idea of conveying a moral lesson in publishing his reminiscences of his poet friends. But assuredly a more solemn and even awful picture could not be drawn of the hollow wretchedness of intellect without GOD, than we have in this account of the last days of these two gifted men—their last days! the days which preceded their entrance on the true, the eternal life: in what petty, worthless trifles do we find their interests absorbed! Shelley, by far the noblest character of the two, talking to Trelawney but a very short time before he perished, of Christianity, in words with which we will not deface these pages, and of death as annihilation, "the chamber of perpetual rest," adds, that the one thing for which he lives, the only object of his existence, is to win the miserable praise of men, the phantom fame, which is the most unreal of all this world's offered treasures. For this he lived, for this he turned his mental gifts against the GOD Who gave them to him; and in the midst of this ephemeral pursuit, death came upon him sudden as the lightning-flash, death bearing within it the mysterious eternal life he had despised, and he passed for ever from the sight of men, to live only in that immortal state which he had so determinately disbelieved. Hardly less mournful was the end of Shelley's friend and cotemporary, Byron. His last days, as described by Trelawney, were full of puerile vanity and petty selfishness. His generous conduct to the Greeks was a redeeming trait; but every word he is described as having spoken, was full of an intense self-consciousness, which is a total bar to all true greatness. Self was his idol, and suddenly it crumbled into dust. He too died a death, not of violence truly, but almost as sudden and lamentable as that of Shelley. And when his cold remains could no longer resist the intrusive curiosity, his own intimate friends |