exact universally a more stringent morality "would be to narrow over-much the facility of pardon." He has supplied us with a number of examples of cases of conscience, as to the soundness of which he offers no opinion, but tells us that they are "mostly taken from works of authority:" and from these we select two, as illustrations of the kind of moral teaching which casuists supply. "Antony, a manufacturer of cards and dice, discovers that the games for which he has provided the instruments have been generally condemned by moral writers, and doubts whether it be his duty or not to cease from making them. The following answer is proposed. Some things minister to evil necessarily, others by the fault of them that use them. To be concerned in providing the former is manifestly wrong; but with regard to the latter, he that makes them, if he desire that they be rightly used, does not partake of the sin of them that abuse them.......Antony, therefore, is not to be condemned for making cards and dice, inasmuch as they may be used for innocent recreation." (Pp. 334-5.) The other "case" is even more lax. "A husband is advised by doctors not to let his wife, who is extremely ill, know of her danger. If he cannot do this without a lie, is he right in telling that lie? Yes, for the time. But if she get no better, she must be told the truth. The object is to avoid a sudden shock, and this without injury to the soul. If the truth were told, and death were immediately to ensue, no spiritual end would be gained; but modified deception might benefit the health, and cause a delay which might be used to the benefit of the soul." (P. 332.) And this is the kind of teaching, and of practice, that is to be substituted for the "defective doctrines and morals" of Protestantism! This is the assistance to the conscience which properly qualified "confessors" and "directors" will give to "the faithful." The King's highway, "the way of holiness,” is made, but it is not sufficiently plain; the "wayfaring man" (according to Anglican guides) is certain to "err therein," unless assisted in his progress to heaven by directors of his conscience, and counsels such as these. The question of re-union between the Methodists and the Estab lished Church has recently been once more brought under public consideration. With all kindly feeling towards that Church, and all respect for the good intentions of the reverend gentlemen who may wish to make any overtures in good faith to our own Church, truth compels us to say that such union is out of the question, while & school of theologians like the writers of these essays can maintain their ground and propagate their opinions within the pale of the Establishment. If such men were to arise among our own ministers, "speaking perverse things," Methodism could silence them within a month, and rid herself of them for ever at the next ensuing Conference. We do not mean this for boasting; God forbid! We grieve that a sister Church is so helpless in these matters. But shall we accept such men as brethren in the ministry, and hand over our beloved flockt to their guidance, or even to the chance of having such shepherds placed over them? The thing is utterly and hopelessly impossible. Meantime these ultra-Anglican teachers, while they diminish the influence of their church in one direction, cannot add to it in the other. They can alienate even friendly Nonconformists; but they cannot, in the least degree, conciliate Rome. She scorns their advances, and will concede nothing to their flattery. The treatment their great leader has received might surely satisfy them on this point. Before any of his recent victories, before French bayonets had once more intervened between the Pope and the Italian people, at a time when his throne appeared to be tottering under him, Pius IX. placed Dr. Pasey's "Eirenicon" in the Index Expurgatorius! But these opinions and practices, powerless for good, mighty only for evil, are now propagated throughout our land with an ardour which never relaxes, and an energy which is not always scrupulous as to the means and agents it employs. The volume before us is only one out of many issued by men belonging to a great theological party which is possessed of immense wealth, political influence, literary power, reckless audacity, and determined perseverance. The action of this party has already produced important results upon the social and spiritual condition of our country; and only He who sees the end from the beginning can discern what the final consequences may be. Of the ultimate triumph of their principles these apostles of error entertain no doubt; and one of them exults over its approach in the following choice terms 'We, Catholics, have a mountain of Protes But we have a tant prejudice to remove before the Sacrament of Reconciliation can be brought to resume its legitimate prominence. great and burning love for souls, and a strong faith in Christ and His will be rooted up and cast into the sea. What art thou, O great ordinances, so that we know it is but a little while and the mountain olics, follow on the traces of the Evangelicals, and where they mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain.' We, Cathsowed in tears we reap in joy. Their work is done; and decay, accord. ing to their Own We must increase, they must decrease. They have pointed to the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world, standing afar off, not having the promises; but we possess Him with all the graces but we face to face. They knew in part; but we know the way of flowing from His sacred wounds. They saw as through a glass darkly; perfectly. They have indicated the blood of Christ as acknowledgment, has marked them out for its own. God more the cleansing stream; With this beautiful specimen of Christian humility we take our leave of a volume, the tone of which is calculated, under the present cir. eumstances of the Church of England, to fill with sorrow and alarm the minds of those who love the truth "as the truth is in Jesus," the "faith once delivered unto the saints." As we close it, we repeat the exclamation of the Psalmist, "It is time for Thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void Thy law." and we plunge sinners therein." (P. 45.) The insertion of any article in this list is not to be considered as pledging us to the approbation of its contents, unless it be accompanied by some express notice of our favourable opinion. Nor is the omission of any such notice to be regarded as indicating a contrary opinion; as our limits, and other reasons, impose on us the necessity of selection and brevity.] Ante-Nicene Christian Library.Tatian, Theophilus, Clementine Recognitions. Clement of Alexandria, Vol. I.-Irenæus, Vol. I.-Hippolytus. Vol. I. Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark. These volumes fully sustain the character of the series to which they belong, and merit the eulogy which we pronounced on the first two volumes in a former number of this Magazine. The enterprising publishers deserve the thanks of all theological students, for placing within their reach, at a moderate cost, writings which are associated with the early conflicts and triumphs of Christianity, and which mark the development of thought in the first periods of the Church. Several things in these works are well worthy of attention. The great facts of Christianity are everywhere recognised and assumed as undoubted. The doctrines which are taught, the morality which is inculcated, and the hopes which are avowed, are all connected with the life, the death, the resurrection, the ascension, and the mediatorial glory, of the Lord Jesus. Christianity, then, as now, was based upon these facts; and these early writers felt that, in asserting them, they were affirming that which could not be successfully contradicted. It is equally obvious, that the Holy Scriptures, as we have them, were held by the early fathers as inspired and authoritative. Not only are the Sacred Books of the Jewish Church appealed to, but the writings which form the New Testa ment are repeatedly cited, as decisive on all questions of Christian doctrine and practice. It is im possible to read these volumes without a deep and settled persua sion, that the Books that we cherish, as unfolding the mind of Christ, and disclosing the perfect scheme of human redemption, were held as sacred by the early Christians. They clung to them, even as we do, as the productions of the apostles, or directly sanc tioned by their authority. It is instructive and pleasing, also, to observe the manner in which the early Christian writers assailed the heathenism with which they were surrounded. They exposed, with withering severity, the low, sensual, and degraded character of the mythology which prevailed among the multitude; and they pointed out the uncertainty of the speculations of phi losophy, and their inability to meet the deepest wants of the human spirit. They asserted the antiquity of the truth respecting God which Christianity sets forth, and the pure and elevating tendency of all its doctrines. Their vindication of the religion of the Lord Jesus from the charges brought against it by its adversaries, is conclusive and triumphant. The works comprised in these volumes differ, of course, very widely in their character. One of them-the Recognitions of Clement -is curious, as a work of fiction, written at a very early period, in the interest of Christianity, but it possesses no inherent value. It is correctly described by the editors as "a kind of philosophical and theological romance;" and they very properly add," The writer of the work seems to have had no intention of presenting his statements as facts; but, choosing the disciples of Christ and their followers as his principal characters, he has put into their mouths the most important of his beliefs, and woven the whole together by a thread of fictitious narrative." The title of the book is derived from the incidents which are brought out towards the close of it. Clement, a young man descended from an illustrious Roman family, had for about twenty years supposed that his father, mother, and two brothers had all perished. In the course of his journeyings with the Apostle Peter, to whom he was introduced by Barnabas, he first discovers his two brothers; then, by a very remarkable series of circumstances, his mother, and, finally, his father; and they are all united in the profession of the Christian faith. In the course of this work we find an account of an imaginary discussion between Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest, aided by some of the Sadducees and Pharisees, and the whole company of the apostles, in answer to a challenge given by the former; and we have also a lengthened narrative of discussions between Simon Magus and the Apostle Peter,-who is represented as following the deceiver from place to place, to counteract his efforts, and win men to the faith of Christ. Several of the doctrinal views advanced in this work are chargeable with serious error. The sacrifices of the Levitical economy, for instance, are represented as allowed by Moses, only because the people had been so long used to sacrifice, that he deemed it impossible to break them of the practice VOL. XIV.-NEW SERIES. entirely, and therefore contented himself with requiring that sacrifices should be offered only to God. The excellence of Christianity, too, is made to consist very much in the appointment of baptism in the place of sacrifices, and as the medium of forgiveness and salvation. In the teaching of St. Peter, as set forth in this romance, we find a great contrast to his bold, evangelical discourses recorded in the Acts of the Apostles; and we feel increasingly, how precious-how inestimable— are the few records which we have of the actual preaching of this eminent servant of the Lord Jesus. But the Clementine Recognitions form an exception to the general character of this series. The early Christian writers, whose works are thus brought before the English reader, are distinguished by the earnestness of their convictions. We feel, as we read them, how firmly they held the facts and the essential doctrines of the Christian scheme, and with how great boldness they confronted the various systems which were opposed to the knowledge of Christ. Of the writings of Clement of Alexandria, Irenæus, and Hippolytus, a portion only is as yet issued. The volume of Clement contains his "Exhortation to the Heathen,"-his Instructer," a kind of manual of Christian morals and behaviour,-and the first book of his Stromata, or "Miscellanies." The volume of Irenæus contains a considerable portion of his great work" against heresies," embracing an extended statement and refutation of the Gnostic systems, and a vindication of the Catholic faith. The chief work of Hippolytus, which has only been discovered within the last twentysix years, is entitled, “A Refutation of all Heresies." It is to be 2 A regretted that the second and third books of this treatise, and part of the fourth, are missing: but, even as far as we possess it, it is an elaborate work. It embraces a review of the systems of the Greek philosophers, and of the Chaldæan astrologers; and then deals with the various heresies which had sprung up within the Christian Church, closing with a statement of the author's own religious convictions. We have only to repeat, in conclusion, our deep sense of obligation to the Messrs. Clark, for placing these works before the general reader in so attractive a form, and for securing the services of translators and editors who are scrupulously intent on the fidelity and accuracy of their versions. We trust that the enterprise will be liberally sustained. The Quakers, from their Origin till the Present Time: an International History. By John Cunningham, D.D., Author of "The Church History of Scotland," &c. Crown 8vo. London: Hamilton. -The author of this volume has given a lively and interesting sketch of the rise of Quakerism, of its progress, and of its present state, including an account of its principal agents and advocates. It was originated in the time of the English Commonwealth, by George Fox, an uneducated shoemaker; who, imagining that he had a call from God, travelled extensively both in England and America, inculcating what he believed to be Divine truth, revealed to him through the Bible, and also, as he thought, through the direct teaching of the Holy Spirit. Many persons received his testimony, and endured with him no small amount of public scorn and violence, as well as imprisonment along with thieves and murderers. These annoyance which they offered to the clergy, when engaged in their public ministrations; partly on account of their refusal to pay church-rates and tithes; and partly on account of the indecent manner in which some of them presented themselves to the public, both men and women sally. ing forth, in a state of perfect nudity, into fairs and markets, as well as into worshipping assemblies, professing to deliver messages from God, after the example of the Hebrew prophets. In their zeal for spiritual religion these reformers not only inveighed against all liturgies and prescribed forms of worship, including the singing of psalms and hymns, and against all studied sermons; but also discarded the Christian sacraments, and condemned as hirelings all classes of ministers who received salaries in acknowledgment of their official services. The quiet and peaceful demeanour of the people who bear the name of Quakers in the present day presents a perfect contrast to the turbulence of Fox and his immediate disciples, who rushed into the parish churches at the time of public worship, contradicting the clergymen, and denouncing the use of the Book of Common Prayer as mere lip-service. For these things, we conceive, the Quakers are not to be praised; but on many other accounts they are justly entitled to high com. mendation. From the time of their origin, they have been the consistent and unflinching advo cates of religious liberty, having resisted all attempts to coerce the |
