matter, and clear and unaffected in style. Mr. M'Evilly has also the rare merit of not attempting to push the meaning of texts beyond their real force in the eagerness of controversy; witness, for instance, his exposition of the text sometimes cited as a scriptural proof that marriage is a Sacrament. The work is designed for both clergy and laity, and is certainly equally well adapted for both.

Occasional Prayers for People of the World and for Men in Business. Compiled and paraphrased from the Holy Scriptures. (Burns and Lambert.) The idea of this little book is very good, and the execution is satisfactory. There are few persons who do not at times feel the inexpressive and wordy character of too many of the prayers which are written for private use, and such will welcome the present compilation.

Ordo Administrandi Sacramenta, &c. Permissu Superiorum. (Richardson.) This is the edition of the ritual which has been prepared by the desire of the Synod of Westminster. It is of convenient size, and the type is clear.

MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE.

A History of the Christian Church during the Reformation. By C. Hardwick, M.A. (Cambridge, Macmillan.) This is one of a series of "manuals," of which we are told that, "the authors being clergymen of the Church of England, and the series being designed primarily for the use of candidates for office in her ministry, the books will seek to be in accordance with her spirit and principles; and therefore, in treating of the opinions and principles of other communions, every effort will be made to avoid acrimony or misrepresentation." This appears a special non-sequitur, when we remember that the Anglican Church has been always so bitter to those who dissent from her, that we believe there is a pretty general consensus of Nonconformist authorities in regarding her as the star whose name was wormwood" of the Apocalypse. The present book may, for all we know, seek to be in accordance with history; but the writer certainly reproduces

"The tale revived, the lie so oft o'erthrown,"

with regard to Henry VIII., Catherine, Anne Boleyn, and Cranmer, to which we had fondly hoped Lingard had given the coup-de-grace.

Sermons in Stones, or Scripture confirmed by Geology. By Dominick M'Ausland. (London, Bentley.) What Mr. M'Ausland confirms by geology is certainly not Scripture, but a questionable explanation of it. We have our own very definite idea of the exact conformity of the cosmogony of Moses, rightly understood, with the results of modern science; but we do not think that persons can enter into the idea of the most ancient of all writers without a very profound study of the mythological remains of antiquity. The phraseology of Moses must be expounded by them, not by modern theories of geology.

The Third Yearly Report of the Cork Young Men's Society. (Cork, Roche.) The Cork Young Men's Society is one of the most gratifying 66 signs of the times." It seems made for work, and not for talk; and its progress has been proportionately solid. The present Report sets a good example to report-makers in general, by telling how many of the members observe the rules and how many do not. It is a hearty, but not boasting record of the successes of the past year.

Lectures on the History of Ancient Philosophy. By William Archer Butler, M.A., late Professor of Moral Philosophy in the (Protestant) University of Dublin. Edited by W. H. Thompson, M.A., Regius Professor of Greek, Cambridge. 2 vols. (Cambridge, Macmillan.) These two volumes, though very incomplete, are too important productions to be summarily dismissed; so we will only call our readers' attention to them, especially to the second volume, on the Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy. There is much that is hazy, and much that is buried under pompous altisonance, and also a very disagreeable trick of improving the occasion by making references to apparent analogies in Catholic philosophy, of which we give one specimen. In vol. i. p. 252, we are told that the entire mass of speculation in India bears this common character, that it all professes to be exposition of ancient revelation;" and then he compares Indian philosophy with that of the Catholic schools, and says that the rivalry of Gótama and Kanáda is reproduced in that of Scotus and Albertus and Occam. Yet, seeing that these Indian sages teach all systems, from pantheism pure to materialism and atheism, their divergencies might find a much better parallel in the disagreements of Protestantism. School-theology was not a mere interpretation of Scripture, but Protestant theology is. It is, as Sir William Hamilton says, "little else than an applied philosophy and criticism" (Discussions, p. 333). Neither did school-theology ever extravagate into fatalism, antinomianism, socinianism, or any system which virtually denied the revelation it professed to expound. The Protestant theology is the real "Western echo" of the Indian philosophy. Once permit private interpretation of revelation, and, as in India, reflective inquiry and daring sceptical speculation will and must manifest themselves, however concealed under the prudent veil of exposition and theological commentary.

After Dark. By Wilkie Collins, author of "Basil," "Hide and Seek," &c. 2 vols. (London, Smith, Elder, and Co.) We can seldom speak in so high terms of a book of tales as of these two volumes; they are thoroughly artistic, have an originality and a style of their own, are neither theological and moral, nor irreligious and immoral, can offend no one, nor do harm to any. They consist of several tales, all but one republished from Household Words, and set in a most charming framework of leaves from a diary and prologues. Mr. Collins, as we said when speaking of Hide and Seek, is a thorough artist, and exhibits his details with the skill and the finish of a pre-Raphaelite painter. Our readers must positively make acquaintance with these volumes themselves.

A Constitutional History of Jersey. By J. Le Quesne, Esq. (London, Longmans.) This book is almost large enough to chronicle every event that could ever have happened in that little quart-pot of an island; -no offence to the Jerseyites, for the largeness of the liquid may more than balance the smallness of that which contains it. The Jersey people may be as strong ale in a weak vessel, while we are small-beer in a large barrel. It is said that a deputation which came from the island to demand some concession from William Pitt reminded him that they, the Normans, were the conquering race, we, the Saxons, the conquered. Howbeit, in days when we tolerate voluminous monographs on some microscopical moth, we have no right to complain of the prolixity of the present work; it is defensible on the principle, fiat experientia in minimis ; the pure Norman character, its law, and its government, may, thanks to modern processes, be better examined in a specimen weighing half a grain than in a sample big enough to lade a waggon.

The blessings of the Reformation penetrated early, and made themselves severely felt in the Channel Islands. April 25th, 1573, Richard

Girard was flogged through the town of Guernsey for upholding Mass. In 1593 all strangers were ordered to profess the established religion within a given period, or to quit the island. In 1567 all persons found en pélerinages were for the first offence to be fined forty sols, and for the second to be punished à la discretion. All idolatrous and superstitious persons, who did not renounce the Pope and the Mass, and who would not hear the Presbyterian word or receive its sacraments, were to be presented to the court and punished. In Jersey, in 1567, Guillaume Fautrast was imprisoned for having heard Mass in Normandy, and for having brought to the island un livre papistique et de l'eau bénite. In 1562 it was ordered that legends and breviaries should be burnt by the hands of the owners themselves.

Nor does this extremely "little brief authority" exhibit its paternal care only towards the naughty boys who would be Catholics;—with genuine Protestant inquisitorial spirit, in 1576 it imprisons several persons for not having taken the Communion; and orders that they shall not be liberated till they can say the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer. All persons not communicating for a year and a day-not attending sermons morning and evening-not attending service on fastdays-were fined; a man who was heard swearing was fined if rich, and put in the stocks if poor (on the "popish" principle, qui non solvit ex crumena, luat in cute). There was a penalty if one from every household did not attend service on Wednesdays and Fridays; if shops were not shut during Wednesday service; and the absentee from Sabbath holdingforth was to be punished à la discretion. As these mild means do not seem to have been effectual, we soon find laws to banish from the island such as refused to "hear the word," or to communicate; other regulations compelled people to attend pour rendre raisons de leur foi. The same sapient authorities forced one Thomas de France to marry against his will; and, with the usual Protestant contempt both for the sanctity of the union and for the rights of the poor, on the 26th March 1647 they absolutely decreed that "persons of basse condition should not be allowed to marry!"

Mr. Le Quesne's book is long, but full of little details like those we have extracted; its arrangement is not very good, but there is an index. Finally, there may possibly be some among our readers who would wish to know something of the Normans of these islands; they will be glad to be told where they may obtain the required information. We may add, that the recent expulsion of Ledru Rollin and Co. has given us a more favourable opinion of the constitution of Jersey than any thing that we have seen in this volume.

Sinai and Palestine, in connection with their History. By A. P. Stanley, M.A., Canon of Canterbury. (London, Murray.) This book is a curious compound of a traveller's journal and a student's essay. It combines, however, to a certain extent, the merits of both plans, and gives us at once a geographical view of the history, and a graphic delineation of the topographical features of the Holy Land. Mr. Stanley unfortunately exhibits much of the sceptical spirit of a German neologian; but he also writes as if he had a heart to which unbelief was a pain, and which can appreciate the happiness of faith, though it has not the strength to embrace it. Hence, while controverting old ecclesiastical traditions, he very seldom speaks in an offensive tone. We do not know that this is religiously a very favourable symptom. Just as "in foro scientia there's no such thing as murder-it's only death," so our modern psychologists look upon all kinds of religious beliefs as so many mental hallucinations, no more to be chided than the vagaries of the * Tristram Shandy.

inmates of Bedlam. In foro scientiæ there is no such thing as falsehood or superstition, heresy or infidelity—it is only a necessary secretion of a peculiarly formed brain.

We abridge the following account of the Greek Easter at Jerusalem from the chapter on the Holy Places.-On Holy Saturday morning, a spectator in the gallery of the dome of the Holy Sepulchre would see the whole space beneath him wedged with pilgrims, except where the shrine itself stands out in the midst, and where a strong guard of Turkish soldiers keeps a lane vacant. About noon the stillness of the crowd is broken by a tangled group of Arabs rushing round the sepulchre: they think that the fire will not come unless this ceremony is gone through; accordingly, these confused masses of twenty, thirty, or fifty men will at intervals start in a run, catch hold of one another, and leap on each other's shoulders or heads. Some of them are clothed in sheep-skins, some almost naked; the group generally preceded by a fugleman, who marks time by clapping his hands, while his followers respond by wildly howling, "This is the tomb of Jesus Christ-God save the Sultan!""Jesus Christ has redeemed us!" From these insulated groups the infection spreads, till the whole rotunda is filled with a racing torrent of wild figures, like the Witches' Dance in Faust, wheeling round the sepulchre.

This excitement continues till the procession emerges from the sacristy, and defiles thrice round the tomb. After the third circuit, one great movement sways the multitude from side to side; they rush on the soldiers, who, according to orders received, always consent to be driven out at this juncture; the procession is broken through-the banners stagger and waver and fall, amid the flight of priests, bishops, and standard-bearers hither and thither before the tremendous rush; a small compact band encircles the bishop who is to "make the fire," and conducts him to the sepulchre, and closes the door behind him. The whole church is now one heaving sea of heads, yelling with the most frantic uproar. By the aperture in the side of the tomb stands a priest to catch the fire; from him there is a narrow lane left for him to pass out of the church, and on each side of the lane hundreds of bare quivering arms hold tapers ready to be lighted. At last the moment comes: a bright flame appears inside the hole; slowly, gradually, the fire spreads from hand to hand, from taper to taper, through the vast multitude, till the whole edifice is one blaze of candles. The bishop is carried out fainting from the tomb, as if overcome by the glory of God who descended to kindle the fire; a mounted horseman gallops off to communicate the sacred fire to the Greek monks of Bethlehem; and then is the great rush to escape from the rolling smoke and suffocating heat, and to carry the sacred flame to every house in Jerusalem; whereby in 1834 hundreds were trampled to death. But the wild enthusiasm terminates from the moment that the fire is communicated; and one of the most extraordinary parts of the spectacle is the rapid subsidence of a frenzy so intense into the profound repose with which in the evening the same pilgrims await the midnight Mass.

This fire-kindling is a known cheat; all Greek priests who know any thing of the matter acknowledge it to be so. So Mr. Stanley does very unfairly in comparing it to the "juggle" of the blood of St. Januarius, which is certainly not acknowledged by any ecclesiastic to be such, and of which those who refuse to believe it have hitherto failed in giving any rational explanation, such as can remove it from the province of supernatural things.

The "Canon of Canterbury" does not scruple to affirm that our Lord passed an "unconscious infancy" in the cave of Bethlehem; and, in

accordance with the English principle of reducing every thing in religion to a great vague outline without any certain details, he tells us that the doubts which envelop the lesser questions about Palestine do not envelop the greater they attach to the Holy Places, not to the Holy Land. The clouds which cover the special localities are only specks in the clear light which invests the general geography of Palestine." So Christianity, we suppose, is a great blur of light, with no particular focus, no certain

centre.

FOREIGN LITERATURE.

Le Correspondant. Nouvelle Série. (Paris, Douniol.) In a review of Macaulay's History of England, we mentioned the change that had taken place in the management of this old-established periodical. It is certainly greatly improved in ability, and is much more interesting than under its former editorship, and therefore ought to be taken by all who wish to be au fait on the subject of French Catholic literature. At the same time we regret some of its crypto-political tendencies. It seems to be the bane of religion in France, that so many devout people cannot let the government alone. Either they are vehement in connecting themselves with it, or they are its fierce opponents. The Bourbons did immense mischief in this way on their restoration, by forcing a sort of appearance of national Catholicism on the French people, when nineteen out of every twenty of them abhorred the very name. Just now there are many good Catholics who are far too demonstrative of their Imperialist or anti-Imperialist feelings. They will not treat the Emperor's régime as it is, namely, a great practical gain to religion and order; but they must needs either puff him to the skies as a man and almost a saint, or they must do their best to upset every thing and bring in red-republicanism, only because Imperialism has its disagreeable drawbacks. The Correspondant is too much of the latter school. Count de Montalembert has already brought down on it a sort of government warning. In the number before us is an article on the character of the religious polemics of the present day, by Prince Albert de Broglie, which will repay attention, and which indicates the tone of thought of an important portion of French Catholic society. The same number has also a clever and discriminating article on Brownson, and a paper on Oscar de Redwitz, whose Amaranth was reviewed some time ago in the Rambler. We hope the new management will prosper; but we take the liberty of entreating its writers to let the Emperor alone. He is too powerful to be meddled with, without getting the worst in the fray. We cordially sympathise with the annoyance that Frenchmen must feel at his severe censorship of the press; but clearly it cannot be helped in the present state of France. Let not M. de Montalembert and his collaborateurs turn such wistful eyes on England. We can assure them that if there was the smallest danger that any man's writings would render the government of Victoria insecure, he would be silenced with an instantaneous severity at least equal to that which the Emperor finds necessary for his régime. It is not many years since the editor of a London newspaper-Leigh Hunt-was put into prison for two years for calling George IV. an "Adonis of sixty."

Death.

On the 1st of March, at the Convent of the Good Shepherd, Hammersmith, in her twenty-ninth year, Sister Mary of St. Jane Frances de Chantal (Charlotte Thompson), professed on her deathbed. R. I. P.