formation, being the first publickly used by royal authority, and free from the errors of Popery, which were not expunged from other works at the same period. This short treatise, and the Preface or Prologue to the Bible, which latter first appeared in 1540, have been quoted as curious specimens of the progress which had been made in the promulgation of the Protestant Faith, under Henry's wavering auspices. "CRANMER'S CATECHISM, or A Shorte Introduction into Christian Religion, for the synguler Commoditie, and Profyte of Children and young People, set forth by the Mooste Reverende Father in God, Thomas, &c. was printed in 1548, and though not acknowledged by any publick act of the legislature, claims every attention on account of its editor, its patron, and not less of its own merit. Plain and explanatory, it is not only calculated to convey the rudiments of Christianity to the young and uneducated, but to furnish much valuable information to the theological student. The custom which formerly obtained of uniting the two first Commandments, and dividing the last into two is preserved. "EDWARD THE SIXTH'S CATECHISME, or • Playne Instruction, conteynynge the Summe of Christian Learninge, sett fourth by the King's Maiesties Authoritie, for all Scholemaisters to teach,' received the sanction of Convocation, at the same time (in 1552) with the Fortytwo Articles, and in 1553, was published with them by the Royal Authority, and having been assented to by the Convocation, is carefully to be pernsed by the inquirer into the state of religious opinion at the termination of Edward's reign. It is brief, but clear and forcible in its expositions, and is therefore every way fitted for the use made of it in these volumes. "JEWELL'S APOLOGY, intitled in the original Latin, Apologia Ecclesiæ Anglicane, Authore Joanna Juello, Episcopo Sarisburiensi,' was published in 1562, by the Queen's authority, and with the sanction of the Convocation; and it soon acquired such great celebrity as to be considered the national confession of faith. "ARCHBISHOP PARKER'S PREFACES, were prefixed to the Old and New Testaments in that famous edition, published in 1568, which is called the Bishop's Bible. This version of the Scriptures, and the treatises attached to it, cannot but be regarded with great interest, when it is recollected that about the time of its publication, there was a greater dissonance of opinion in some most important questions, than perhaps at any other, and that there was a constant struggle to establish as the sense of the Church of England, tenets incompatible with the views of the first reformers. "About the same time came forth, (1570) NOWELL'S CATECHISM, Dean of St. Paul's, written as he asserts in his address to the Archbishops and Bishops, with not less careful attention to the Latinity, than to the doctrine, in order that the youth might obtain an acquaintance with pure classical language, as well from books of Christian piety, as from the profane, fictitious, sometimes impious and impure fables of the poets. "The last work referred to, is intitled 'REFORMATIA LEGUM ECCLESIASTICARUM, ex authoritate primum Regis Henrici 8. inchoata; Deinde per Regem Edvardum 6. provecta, aduactaque in hunc modum, atque nunc ad pleniorem ipsarum reformationem in lucem ædita, 1571.' Much presumptive authority, but no positive sanction, either of the Legislature, or of the Church, is to be ascribed to this important compilation, nor is it to be doubted, that the statutes of which it consists, would have passed into laws, if the life of the king (Edward) had been spared a little longer.” These are 52 in number, and embrace equally subjects of doctrine, ecclesiastical laws, and church discipline, Dr. B. adds, as a consummation to his account of these works of the reformers, an English version of that great document from which it is easy to trace not only the substance, but the very words, of many of our Articles of Faith, the CONFESSION OF AUGSBURG; the first in point of date, and perhaps too the first in excellence, of all the Protestant Confessions that appeared between 1530, and 1586. Our own reformers never lost sight of the sound principles in which it was composed, while engaged in the arduous task of preparing a national Confession for the Church of England. This work which is likewise denominated the Augustan Confession was presented to the Emperor Charles V. at the memorable Diet of Augsburg, by the noble Protestants of Germany, in 1530. It consists of 21 articles, evidently the prototypes of those, and of the Canons, which were adopted for the Church of England. The first of the three volumes before us, is divided into two parts; of which, the former consists of seven chapters: 1. Of Religion and the Scriptures; 2. Of the Nature and Attributes of God; 3. Of the Trinity; 4. Of God the Father; 5. Of Creation; 6. Of Providence; 7. Of the Fall of Man and Original Sin. The latter, of six; 1. Of the Covenant of Grace; 2. Of Jesus Christ the Son of God; 3. Of the Incarnation of Christ; 4. Of the Names and Offices of Christ; 5. Of the Humiliation of Christ; 6. Of the Exaltation of Christ. verance. discourse on the Humiliation of Christ, and the subsequent proofs and corroborations. "1. The state of humiliation in which it pleased the Eternal Son of the Most High to effect the redemption of the fallen race of Adam, commenced doubtless with his Incarnation. All the cir cumstances of his life, some of which were most painful and distressing, exhibited the absolute submission which He had im posed on himself, as necessary to the performance of the mighty work he had undertaken; and it appears that from the Manger to the Cross, every incident of his life concurred, either directly or indirectly, to fill up the measure of his afflic tions. "As the ministry of our Lord drew towards its close, he went up for the last time to Jerusalem, at the Feast of the Passover. At his entry into the Holy City on this occasion, he allowed himself to be greeted as a sovereign. Still the humble style and unostentatious retinue of the meek and lowly Jesus, were sufficient evidence that his kingdom was not of this world, and that it was the triumph of a spiritual, and not a temporal potentate. The first act of authority which he exer cised, was to drive from the Court of the Temple those who had dared to dishonour and defile it. 3. The first stage of his humiliation may here be supposed to end; and the second, that of more intolerable suffering, and far deeper degradation, to begin. Having celebrated the Passover with his disciples, he went into the Garden of Gethsemane, where the first scene of his The second volume is also divided into two parts, the former of which consists of eleven chapters: 1. Of the Holy Ghost; 2. Of Predestination, Election, and Reprobation; 3. Of Vocation; 4. Of the Gospel; 5. Of Faith; 6. Of Justification; 7. Of Adoption; 8. Of Sanctification; 9. Of Good Works; 10. Of Repentance; 11. Of PerseThe latter, of four; 1. Of the Church; 2. Of the Sacraments; 3. Of Baptism, Regeneration, and Renovation; 4. Of the Lord's Supper. The third volume is divided Pussion was completed. His agony of into three parts, the first of which consists of eleven chapters: 1. Of the Moral Law, and the remaining ten of the Commandments in succession; the second, of two; 1. Of Prayer; 2. Of the Form of Prayer; and the third, likewise of two; 1. Of the Resurrection and Last Judg. ment; 2. Of Eternal Life. Each of these subjects is discussed at such considerable length, that if we were to admit one entire article, we must exclude all mention of the rest. We shall there. fore give an abbreviated extract from each volume, as a fair specimen of Dr. B.'s plan and its execu. tion, selecting from the first, his REMEMBRANCER, No. 42. soul was such as to produce the most violent effect on his corporeal frame, even so that the blood forcing itself through the distended veins, mingled with the sweat which fell in large drops from his This Passion of our throbbing brow. Redeemer, as it proved that he was sub、 ject to corporeal infirmities and pains, to mental anguish, grief, and apprehensions, affords us assurance that he is touched with the feeling of our infirmities." "4. Betrayed by Judas, he was conducted to the palace of the High Priest, and declared to be guilty of blasphemy, in asserting himself to be the Son of God. The Jews were not permitted, in consequence of their subjection to the Romans, to put any man to death. Jesus was therefore sent to Pontius Pilate the Ro man Procurator, who ordered him to be scourged, to be arrayed in the ensigns of ЗА mock majesty, and to be crucified. At length, he was led forth, bearing his cross, so long as his tender frame could sustain it, to the Hill of Calvary. There he underwent the most painful and ignominious death which even the Roman law permitted. So lingering and cruel was the death by crucifixion, that the Romans inflicted it only on the vilest malefactors. Having endured for six hours, from nine o'clock in the morning till three in the afternoon, the ineffable torments of mind and body, to so great an extreme was he depressed by submission to the penal wrath of his heavenly Father as to exclaim My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' His precious death was announced by supernatural phenomena, by the restoration to life of certain bodies of saints which slept,' and by the rending of the great veil of the temple. 5. In order that the body of Jesus might not remain on the cross during the ensuing sabbath, the Jews begged of Pilate that it might be taken down as soon as it was ascertained that he was dead. A soldier pierced the side of Jesus with a spear, and from the wound flowed blood and water, physically demonstrating that death had taken place. Joseph of Arimathea, with Nicodemus, having requested the body, wrapped it in fine linen and spices, according to the custom of the richer Jews, and laid it in his own sepul chre, newly hewn out of a rock. A great stone closed the entrance to the tomb, and the Jews set a watch to prevent the access ⚫of any person to the spot. The burial was not permitted, till Pilate had been convinced that he was really dead, and had thus afforded unquestionable evidence of this most important fact. 6. The soul of Jesus Christ, thus separated from his mortal body, descended into hell, the invisible place of departed spirits." Of these facts and all the circumstances attending them, follow first the proofs from Scripture, in sections numerically referring to the above, copiously and industriously collected from all parts of the Old and New Testament; secondly, extracts from the Book of Common Prayer, viz. "MORNING PRAYER. Te Deum. When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers. "We therefore pray thee, help thy ser vants whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood, &c. "APOSTLES CREED. I believe... in Jesus Christ... who suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into Hell, &c. For "CREED OF ST. ATHANASIUS. as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ; .... "Who suffered for our salvation, descended into Hell, &c. . "LITANY. By thy Baptism, Fasting, and Temptation. "By thine Agony and bloody sweat; by thy Cross and Passion, by thy precious Death and Burial, &c." From the Collects for the first Sunday in Advent, and in Lent, &c. the Nicene Creed, and sundry other ́ parts of the Communion Service, from the PUBLICK BAPTISM OF INFANTS, the CATECHISM, and VISITATION OF THE SICK: 3dly, from the Thirty-nine Articles, II. and III.; 4thly, from three of the Homilies which treat of the Misery of Mankind, their Salvation, and of the Passion; 5thly, from the SUM AND CONTENT OF HOLY SCRIPTURE, viz. "In the New Testament therefore it is most evidently declared that Jesus Christ, the true Lamb and Host is come, to reconcile us to the Father, &c." Sixthly, from Cranmer's Catechism, viz. "For seeing that Christ was that most innocent lamb, that never was blotted with any spot of sin, and yet he suffered for us as a sinner, it is evident hereby that he died not for himself, but took upon him our sins, and bore for us the burthen which we should have borne." Seventhly, from King Edward the Sixth's Catechism, from which we find it more difficult to extract a specimen than any other part of the work, so quaint and obsolete are the forms of expression between the Master and the Scholar, though doubtless the doctrine be sound and blameless. "Master. All these foundations that thou hast said arc most true. Now, therefore, let us go forward to those his doings, wherein lieth our salvation and conquest, against that old serpent. "Scholar. It shall be done, good master. After that Christ Jesus had delivered in charge to his apostles, that most joyful, and in all points heavenly doctrine, the Gospel, which in Greek is called Euangelion, in English, good tidings, at length was he sore scourged, mocked with pointing, scorning, and spitting in his face: last of all, his hands and feet bored through with nails, and he fastened to a cross, &c." Eighthly, from JEWELL'S APO LOGY FOR The Church, viz. “We say that man is born and does live in sin, and that no man can truly say bis heart is clean, that no mortal can be justified in the sight of God by his own deserts, and therefore our only refuge and safety is in the mercy of God the Father by Jesus Christ, and in the assuring our selves, that he has pacified all things by the blood of his cross. Now, if there be any who think that this sacrifice is not sufficient, let us go and find out a better. But as for us, because we know this is the only sacrifice, we are contented with it alone, nor do we expect any other; and because it was only once to be offered we do not enjoin the repetition of it; and because it was full, and in all its members and parts perfect, we do not substitute to it the perpetual successions of our own sacrifices." It is impossible to read this last sentence, without observing its direct denial of the perpetual sacrifice in the mass. Ninthly, from NOWELL'S CATECHISM, which likewise consists of a Dialogue between a Master and Student; and lastly, from the REFORMATIO LEGUM, in which occurs a chapter of the Death or Sleep of Souls, and of the Resurrection, thus commented on. "Some impiously philosophize, that the sonls of men departing this life, when once they have left the body, are either immersed in sleep, or return to nothing, till the day of the last judgment, and they will be aroused from sleep, or rise from death with their own bodies....For in like manner as Jesus Christ was recalled to life in an entire, true, and perfect body, nor did his soul perish or fall asleep; so we who are members of Christ live in the soul after death, but following our head shall rise again with souls and bodies at the last judgment." The next specimen we shall offer is from the second volume. But we must considerably abbreviate it, presenting only the leading subjects of the seval sections. It is intitled, On the Sacraments. "1. The word Sacrament, meaning originally an oath of allegiance, is now restricted to certain consecrated matter or 6. Christ dained by our Saviour to be an outward visible sign of an inward and spiritual seals of grace. grace. 2. Sacraments are the signs and 3. They are the signs and seals of the New Covenant, and mes morials both to God and man, by which each signifies his adherence to his part of the covenant established; a mutual act, by which, God binds himself to impart the terms on which it is conferred. Thus salutary grace, and man promises to fulfil are God and man united by a mutual Pledge! 4. Sacraments are outward marks, by which Christians are distinguished from all who are not members of Christ's body. 5. It is necessary to a Christian Sacrament that it should be ordained by Christ himself. has also appointed the persons by whom the Sacraments are to be administered, to those who are duly ordained to preach the word, the ministers of the Gospel. 7. The first of the two parts of which a Sacrament consists, is the outward visible sign. 8. The second part is the spiritual thing signified is not inherent in the sign: grace, or the thing signified. 9. The it is only relative and sacramental, the sign being the object of the senses, and the thing signified, of faith. 10. The outward sign is accompanied by the inward grace, but is not the efficient cause of it. 11. The dispositions necessary to the due reception of the Sacraments are Faith and Repentance. To those who do not rightly use them, the Sacraments are vain and fruitless. 12. The Church of England acknowledges only two Sacraments, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper." "Confirinatory Texts from Scripture." "A portion of the Catechism." "The 25th and 26th of the Thirty-nine Articles." "The Ninth Homily." "KING EDWARD THE SIXTH'S CATECHISM, in which the Sacraments are defined to be certain customary, reverent doings and ceremonies ordained by Christ that by them he might put us in remem- ་ "NOWELL'S CATECHISM, which describes them to be an outward testifying of God's good will and bountifulness towards us, through Christ, by a visible sign, representing an invisible and spiritual grace.'" And the "REFORMATIO LEGUM, which affirms that Great is their thoughtlessness, who so undervalue the Sacraments, that they wish them to be considered as mere naked signs and external tokens only, by which the religion of Christians may be known from others. A Sacrament is a visible sign instituted by God, by which the grace derived to us from the promises and merits of Christ, and the remission of sins set forth in these promises, are sealed.'" Our last specimen is from the third volume, the article "OF THE MORAL LAW. 1. What is meant by the Divine Laws in general. 2. It is necessary to distinguish those precepts which are peculiarly Mosaic from those which belong to the Law of Nature. 3. The Mosaic Laws of three kinds, Moral, Ceremonial, and Judicial. 4. Signification of the word Decalogue. 5. The Decalogue obligatory on all Christians. 6. Certain Rules in interpreting the Decalogue. 7. Tables of the Law. 8. Substance of the Ten Commandments." This is followed as before, by correspondent sections, containing extracts of confirmation from every part of Scripture, from the Book of Common Prayer, from the Com. mandments, the Baptism of Infants, the Catechism, the Seventh Article, the Fifth Homily, Cranmer's, Edward the Sixth's, and Nowell's Catechisins. The idea of this work is certainly new. We have never met with such an accumulation of authorities, sacred and secular, collected in so small a compass, confirming and elucidating the original doctrines. It must therefore, of course, be highly useful to the young student who is preparing himself for the sacred office, as well as to those who have entered the threshold, and wish to look back upon, and contemplate the sacred bases of their Faith, and the coincidence of their established formularies, with the doctrines of our immortal reformers, who drew from the living fountains their streams of health, unmixed with the extraneous matter which had for so many ages pol luted it. Neither must the Introduction pass without our commendation. To those who would obtain a correct knowledge of the gradual steps by which the Reformation was accomplished, from its earliest dawn under the wavering auspices of Henry VIII., to its completion under Elizabeth, together with much biblical information on the same subject, the Introduction will prove a valu. able compendium. But a principal merit of this work, consists in the excellence of its author's intentions. "He who writes on common topics, has at stake his character for literary attainment or scientific research,—he has to dread the lash of criticism, which may justly, perhaps, inflict a severe punishment for ignorance, or for folly and presumption, in attempting to teach to others that with which he himself is unacquainted, -he has to apprehend the mortification the shelf, unheeded or thrown aside by of observing, that his volumes mildew on those for whose improvement they were designed. In addition to these causes for anxiety, a heavy burthen is laid on him who trusts himself to handle religious subjects: he has a much more arduous cause before him, in proportion as the weight of his responsibility is incomparably greater; as his freedom is more fettered; as the path is often intricate and dark, and as the danger of deviating from the one right but narrow way, is rendered much more formidable, by the chance of drawing others with him into perplexity and peril. He writes not for the entertainment, but for the instruction of his fellowcreatures; and assumes, therefore, in the very act, that he has ability to teach them. He awaits the sentence not only of man, but of God; not only of those |