but we shall find it very common at a period shortly subsequent, and may doubt whether in reality the monasteries were more weakened or strengthened by the system.

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From the accession of Canute to the death of Edward the Confessor, the number and the privileges of the Monasteries were continually increasing. Bury especially, owed its splendour to the piety of the former, and Westminster to that of the latter. King Edward had vowed to make a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Peter, but was released from his obligation by the Pope, on dition that he should found a Monastery in honour of the Saint. The real or pretended charter is still in existence, and conveys more extensive privileges to the Abbott and Monks of Westminster, than any of which we have hitherto heard. It deprives Bishops, Archbishops, Kings, and perhaps Popes of all authority whatsoever over the Abbey and those who may give themselves up to it; and endows the house with very large estates. The ordinary privilege of Sanctuary which was possessed by all Churches, is enlarged in the case of Westminster by the most unqualified language; and if the Confessor executed such a monstrous deed, he may be pronounced guilty of that imbecility which is laid to his charge. But in all probability the deed is a forgery. There is no proof that the religious houses of the AngloSaxons possessed half the immunities, which were afterwards bestow. ed by the Normans. The general character of the Monks was respectable, if not exalted, and there is no reason to suppose that they were in possession of that wealth and magnificence which they subsequently acquired and abused.

The laws of King Canute have been alluded to already: they consist partly of a re-enactment of the codes of King Edgar, and other princes; and partly of sundry new visions required by the altered state REMEMBRANCER, No. 48.

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of his dominions. They become of more importance, from the probability, that what are called the laws of Edward the Confessor, were in reality a mere compilation from these earlier statutes. And as Ed. ward's laws were compiled after the Conquest for the use and instruction of our Norman masters; a code which has not been exposed to so corrupting a process, is entitled to much greater confidence and respect. Canute commences with an acknowledgment of what is due to God, and with an injunction to frequent and protect the Church. Its violators are severely condemned, and made liable to condign punish. ment. The ministers of religion are declared entitled to respect and consideration. They are permitted to answer an accusation against them, by denying its truth with a sacramental oath; but are to be expelled and deposed if found guilty of a crime. The whole clerical order is especially admonished to lead a pure and blameless life. Marriage within the sixth degree of relationship is prohibited; as is also inarriage with a godmother, a nun, a divorced woman; and the having more wives than one. Tithes are to be regularly paid under pain of forfeiting eight tenths of the whole. A Thane possessing a Church in his own right, is directed to pay one third of his own tithes towards its support,-if it possessed a burying ground-if not the whole tithe was to be paid to the mother-church, and the Thane's Church to be supported out of the remaining nine tenths. The observance of feasts and fasts, and especially of the Sabbath, was strictly enjoined. The remaining laws are so many exhortations to virtuous living, faith, devotion, and repentance; and the substance of the whole is repeated and enforced in the Secular Code which follows. If these laws do not exhibit much legislative skill, or appear suited to a very refiued state of society, at least they are drawn up with a re4 Z

gard to religion and morals, which is not always found to distinguish similar enactments.

One subject which is incidentally noticed in these laws, deserves to be separately and particularly considered, namely, the division of the whole country into parishes. Canute's reign has been already men. tioned as the probable æra of this occurrence. Had it happened after the Conquest, the Norman writers would certainly have given us an account of it. Had it been a regulation of the Confessor, some remarks must have been made by the contemporaries of the Conqueror upon so recent and important an alteration in the law of the land. We infer therefore that the division had probably taken place before the death of Canute, and at the same time there is ample proof that it had it not been completed any considerable time before his accession. The constitutions of Odo, Archbishop of Canterbury (Wilkins I. p. 213.) contain, among much other curious matter, an injunction to the Bishops to visit their parishes every year, preaching the word of God to the people. No similar order was given to the priests. These constitutions bear the date of 943; the year in which the Ecclesiastical Laws of Hoel Dda, Prince of Wales, are also said to have been enacted. The latter make mention of the seven Episcopal Houses of Demitia, without the slightest hint of a subdivision into parishes. It is certain ou the other hand, that the statutes of King Edgar, (A. D. 959.) speak distinctly and repeatedly of parochial churches; and that some such churches existed at that time, and many years before, is a fact which there is no disposition to dis pute. But Edgar's statutes bear a most suspicious resemblance to the subsequent laws of Canute, and it is probable that they were produced at a much later period than that to which their title refers. The council of Enham, A.D. 1009, pro

vides, that if any person dies out of his parish, the funeral dues shall nevertheless be paid to the Monastery to which they rightly belong. And even in the year 1061, a Bull of Pope Nicholas makes mention of the county (parochia) of Linsey as wrongfully attached to the Archbishop of York. The words therefore were used in a very indefinite sense, and could not have been long known as the lawful description of our modern parishes. Yet the laws of Canute distinctly recognise four sorts of churches-primaria, medi. ocris, minor cum cœmeterio et campestris sine cemeterio. Also in his famous letter upon his return from Rome, after having stated that he had obtained the promise of a free passage for English pilgrims to the Apostolic See, and a diminution of the excessive charges which had been made for the Archiepiscopal Pall, he exhorts his subjects to obey the laws, pay plough-money and peter-pence; and tithe of the increase of animals, fruits, and seeds-ad ecclesiam sub cujus parochia quisque deget. These autho rities are sufficiently express; and if the subject is not free from difficulty and doubt, they still are entitled to considerable weight. With respect to the notions then entertained about the right and origin of tithes, they are declared in the laws of the Confessor to be due without any exemption, since “this did St. Austin teach and preach, and this has been granted hy the king, the barons and the people."

Another custom incidentally mentioned in the laws of Canute, is the trial by Ordeal, with which we become more familiar during the reign of the Confessor. The Or deal in all its branches was at tended with so many religious rites and ceremonies, that it cannot be entirely separated from the ecclesiastical history of our country; al though the ecclesiastical as well as the civil historian is at a loss to explain how so absurd and barbarous a

practice could be admitted into the laws of a Christian people. The custom seems unquestionably of Northern origin, a remnant of magic imparted to their English subjects by the Danes. A ready belief was accorded to it by the superstition of those times, and the Popish doctrine of the sacrament, which was rapidly gaining ground, may have been engrafted upon the old Scandinavian enchantments. It is not absurd to suppose that the Corsned, or sacred morsel, which is said to have choked the great Earl Godwin, consisted of a piece of the transubstantiated bread to which supernatural sanctity would of course be ascribed. And when the people believed that God was present at the trial, conscious guilt would generally shrink from the investigation. This hypothesis, how. ever, goes but a little way to explain the phenomena, and the historian and the philosopher have yet to discover how the miracles of walking blindly but securely over heated plough-shares, plunging the

hand into boiling water, and drawing it back unhurt; how these and other prodigies were performed from day to day in the ordinary administration of justice; and before the eyes of an intelligent people. The true solution, probably is, that they never were performed at all, and that the accounts of them which are handed down to us were the fictions of a much later day.

The same judgment may safely be pronounced upon the other great miracle of the age of the Confessor, viz. the cure of the king's evil by the application of the royal hand. This story is not vouched for by contemporary writers, but was first broached by William of Malmsbury at the distance of nearly two centuries. When we remember how long and how firmly the effect of touching for the evil was credited ; and that even Collier contends with earnestness for the reality of the cures, we feel less surprised at the success of the Ordeal, and the Corsned.

SIR, WHEN every thing connected with the discipline of the Church and the character of the Clergy, is made a subject of severe scrutiny, if not of unjust reflection, it may become necessary to look to matters not essential, perhaps in themselves, and in more indulgent times scarcely worthy of regard, which, however, assume a greater consequence according to existing circumstances. The prevailing habits of society, and the feelings which local or accidental causes may excite in the minds of the Laity towards the Mi. nisters of the Established Religion, must be taken into account when we

endeavour to estimate the

parture from any rule or custom, although it relate to mere externals, which has heretofore been deemed beneficial or expedient. It is the duty, therefore, I apprehend, of every sincere well-wisher of the Church of England, fearlessly to point out the ill effects which he may observe to arise from inattention to whatever has been once considered of importance by all Churchmen, and may still be so by some, although the general opinion respecting it may, in the present day, be changed.

This persuasion must constitute my excuse for troubling you with the following remarks:

I am far from supposing that a state of things requiring the utmost

caution, and the most exemplary conduct in those who have voluntarily devoted themselves to a sacred profession, is by any means unsalutary; or that the great interests of Christianity, or of the venerable branch of the Catholic Church to which we belong, are at all in dan. ger from that jealous spirit which is now abroad, and which pervades not only the large body of those who dissent from the doctrines, and disapprove of the constitution of the Church, but is sufficiently active amongst the lay members of our own communion.

Little danger is to be appre. hended from the watchful eye of an adversary, or of a too rigid friend, if we be aware of the constant scrupulous examination of our actions, and be thus enabled to defeat the inimical purposes of the former, and avoid giving occasion to the latter to withdraw his esteem and solicitude for our welfare. But very alarming is the state opposed to this-one of apathy and disregard of public opinion, into which all establishments are liable to fall, so long as they continue in undoubted security, and have no cause to suspect that there is any secret hostility towards them, or any silent preparations for attempting their subversion.

Few, however, will assert that there is no reason whatever for alarm with respect to the security of the Established Church amidst so many open and concealed enemies as now surround it; who either desire its complete destruction, or the substitution of some new-modelled form of worship, together with a different confession of faith, in place of its Liturgy and Articles. Few will deny that there is some cause for extraordinary vigilance, though they may put great trust in the intrinsic excellence of the principles upon which our Church polity is founded, in the character and numbers of its supporters, and in

the protection which it derives from the British constitution.

If it be but prudent, then, to render, by every honest means, the Church Establishment as estimable, as it ought to be, in the eyes of the community; and the means which present themselves be not necessarily confined to the more important points of a holy and virtuous life, and an active discharge of professional duties, we may be allowed to look a little further and enquire whether there are not some things comparatively trifling, which might, if attended to, produce a favourable impression on the minds of the people, and at the same time have a beneficial effect upon the Clergy themselves.

Among minor matters I do not know any one which is more worthy of serious consideration than the public appearance of the Clergythe dress and outward deportment of the Ministers of Religion.

It is only of very late years that the Clergy have gradually, as a body, dropt all distinguishing marks of their profession. It is now only a few, of the higher ranks in the Church, who can be distinguished from members of the other classes of society; and it would appear that even this small proportion is diminishing. Whether this be or be not an alteration of habits for the better, is fairly a subject of discussion.

Formerly in this country, and up to the present day in all, or nearly all, other Christian countries, even the most humble members of the Ministry have been distinguished by some peculiar badge, or mode of dress; and that not only when in the exercise of ministerial functions, but also in the common intercourse of private life.

The LXXIV. Canon of our Church, in which " decency of apparel,” is enjoined to Ministers, is sufficiently explicit on this head; and, though it be not contended that a literal

obedience is due to that which the Rulers of the Church have tacitly permitted to become obsolete, and to which no oath, as in cases of Rubrical direction, binds him who enters into holy orders; yet the principle on which the Canon rests is not mutable, like the fashion of the garments which it prescribes; and therefore it deserves to meet with such attention as is paid to other canonical injunctions, where compliance with the spirit, if not with the letter, is plainly practicable. The Canon runs thus: "The true, ancient, and flourishing Churches of Christ, being ever desirous that their Prelacy and Clergy might be had as well in outward reverence, as otherwise regarded for the worthiness of their ministry, did think it fit by a prescript form of decent and comely apparel, to have them known to the people, and thereby to receive the honour and estimation due to the special messengers and ministers of Al. mighty God: we therefore following their grave judgement, and the ancient custom of the Church of England, and hoping that in time newfangleness of apparel in some fac tious persons will die of itself, do constitute and appoint," &c. Then follow certain modes of attire for the different grades of clerical persous, to be worn in public and in private. With any such particular forms of dress I have nothing to do, because authority may most wisely dispense with, or custom conveniently change, things so indifferent as the quality and shape of garments, which were weli adopted to the manners of the times in which they were prescribed, but would not now accord with the habits of society. The principle which the Canon affirms may, however, be respected without an adherence to any objectionable style of dress; and need not therefore be abandoned. It is

laid down as a thing desirable, that those who are set apart for the ser. vice of the sanctuary should be

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readily recognized as the Ministers of God, and outwardly distinguished from members of the secular professions. This appears to me to be as obviously reasonable, as it has been universally acknowledged. But, it may be said, Halitus non facit Monachum, and a Clergyman is not the less a distinct character, because he does not wear a peculiar garb. He is equally responsible as a Minister of Christ, and as a person subject to ecclesiastical autho rity, How then can it be of any importance either to the public or to himself, that when he is not in the act of officiating, he should be known to belong to any particular profession?

I should reply, that the advantages attending the practice of distinguishing from the Laity, not only all who have a cure of souls, but the Clergy in general, seem to me not a few, or of trifling magnitude. If the elder and the beneficed Clergy were always outwardly distinguished, they could not but feel conscious, at all seasons, of the great obligations which lie especially on them, of preserving the sanctity of manner and Christian dignity of demeanour becoming their conspicuous station. They would be constantly aware that all classes of their parishioners, looking upon the badge of their sacred profession, would expect from the wearer an uniform and consistent piety, and an exemplary course of con duct. They would take a pride in being personally known, as the shepherd of their flock, to all who might desire their assistance or advice; an honest pride which would lead them to the performance of many a good work, as the friend of the poor man, and the counsellor of the rich. Whatever tends to draw closer the bonds of union which do, or ought to, exist between the parish Priest and his parishioners must be deemed a valuable accessary at least to the cause of Religion, and highly beneficial