as I wish now and ever to avoid any thing like controversial epistolatory correspondence, I should decline answering any objections they might entertain on any of the views I have expressed in the above letter. It has been my object through life to steer clear both of the Scylla of religious disputes and the Charybdis of political strife; and I hope to continue this course, steering my vessel till I reach, if haply I ever should be able to reach, the haven where I would be!

Ι

THE CHURCHES OF ENGLAND AND ROME

COMPARED.

It is the policy of certain parties at the present day, and we regret to say that this practice is not confined to Romanists, to endeavour, by all the means in their power, to make out that the differences between the Churches of England and of Rome are few, and of little moment, and to assert moreover that they agree in all the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. It becomes highly necessary, therefore, that the true state of the case should be ascertained, in order that weak and credulous persons may be no longer imposed upon and led away by these false and designing statements. The best mode of doing this will be by bringing forward and placing before the reader, the authoritative declarations and enactments of each of the two Churches on various articles of religion, which will form an excellent criterion for deciding upon the points of agreement or difference between them.

The documents to which we shall refer with regard to the Romish Church, are the decrees and canons of the Council of Trent. This council was first assembled in 1545, and continued its sittings under the authority of succeeding Bishops of Rome, for the space of eighteen years following. It was originally assembled on account of the danger which the Romish church apprehended from the Reformation, and had particular reference to the religious opinions of the time. It is also the latest council which the Romish church has held, its decisions were sanctioned by a Bull of confirmation from Pius IV., Bishop of Rome, its authority with Romanists has never been superseded, nor have its decisions on points of doctrine been repealed, but "they continue to be regarded as the sacred oracles of that Church by all members of the communion; that Church, whose boast it is, (and who shall gainsay it?) that she is always the same.","

6

With regard to our own Church, the authoritative declarations to which we shall refer, will be chiefly the "Thirty-nine Articles of Religion." These, as our readers are doubtless aware, were published during the reign of Queen Elizabeth in the year 1562, and were revised and received their last alterations in the year 1571, from which period they have continued to be the test of faith and doctrine among members of the Church of England.

Having premised this much, we shall now proceed to lay before our readers the documents to which we have alluded, and shall arrange them side by side in parallel columns; they will thus be

enabled to discover, by comparison, that so far from the two Churches being in agreement with each other, in numerous fundamental doctrines and ordinances they are totally and diametrically opposed.

The first point which we shall examine, will be the doctrines held by the two Churches concerning the rule of faith :—

RULE OF FAITH OF THE ROMAN CHURCH,

ACCORDING TO THE DECREE OF THE
FOURTH SESSION OF THE COUNCIL OF
TRENT.

1. Of the Canonical Scriptures.
"The sacred, holy, cecumenical, and
general Council of Trent, lawfully
assembled in the Holy Spirit, the three
before-mentioned legates of the Apos-
tolic see presiding therein; having
constantly in view the removal of error
and the preservation of the purity of
the gospel in the Church, which gos-
pel promised before by the prophets
in the sacred Scriptures, our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, first
published with his own mouth, and
then commanded it to be preached by
his apostles to every creature, as the
source of all salutary truth and discip-
line of manners; and perceiving that
this truth and discipline are contained
both in written books and unwritten
traditions, which have come down to
us, having been received by the apos-
tles from the mouth of Christ himself,
or been transmitted, as if by hand, by
the same apostles, under the dictation
of the Holy Spirit; following the
example of the orthodox fathers, doth
receive and reverence, with equal
piety and veneration, all the books, as
well of the Old as of the New Testa-
ment, since the same God is the author
of both; and also the aforesaid tradi-
tions, pertaining both to faith and to
manners, forasmuch as they were
dictated by the mouth of Christ, or by
the Holy Spirit, and have been pre-
served in the Catholic Church by
continual succession.

"Moreover, lest doubt should arise in any one, what are the sacred books which are received by the council, it has judged proper to annex a list of them to the present decree. They are these following: Of the Old Testament, the five Books of Moses, namely, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy; Joshua; Judges; Ruth; four Books of Kings; two Books of Chronicles; the first and second of Esdras, (the latter is called Nehemiah); Tobias; Judith; Esther;

RULE OF FAITH CF THE CHURCH OF
ENGLAND, ACCORDING TO HER SIXTH
ARTICLE.

Of the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures
for salvation.

"Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation, so that whatsoever is not read thereiu, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an Article of Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.

"In the name of the Holy Scriptures we do understand those canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church.

"Of the names and numbers of the canonical Books:

Genesis,

Exodus,

Leviticus,
Numbers,
Deuteronomy
Joshua,

Job; the Psalter of David, of 150 Psalms; the Proverbs; Ecclesiastes; the Song of Songs; Wisdom; Ecclesiasticus; Isaiah; Jeremiah, with Baruch ; Ezekiel; Daniel; the twelve minor prophets, namely, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi; and two Books of Maccabees, the first and second. Of the New Testament, the four gospels, &c.

"And if any one shall not receive as sacred and canonical all these books, with every part of them, as they are commonly read in the Catholic Church, and are contained in the old Vulgate Latin edition; and shall knowingly and deliberately despise the aforesaid traditions; let him be accursed."

Judges,
Ruth,

The first Book of Samuel,
The second Book of Samuel,
The first Book of Kings,
The second Book of Kings,
The first Book of Chronicles,
The second Book of Chronicles,
The first Book of Esdras,
The second Book of Esdras,
The Book of Esther,
The Book of Job,
The Psalms,
The Proverbs,

Ecclesiastes, or Preacher,
Cantica, or Songs of Solomon,
Four Prophets the greater,
Twelve Prophets the less.

"And the other Books (as Hierome saith) the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine; such are these following:

The third Book of Esdras,

The fourth Book of Esdras,

The Book of Tobias,

The Book of Judith,

The rest of the Book of Esther,

The Book of Wisdom,

Jesus the son of Sirach,

Baruch the Prophet,

The Song of the three children,

The Story of Susannah,

Of Bel and the Dragon,

The Prayer of Manasses,

The first Book of Maccabees.

The second Book of Maccabees.

"All the Books of the New Testament, as they are commonly received, we do receive, and account them canonical."

In these two documents, which form the respective rules of faith of the two Churches, the three following points of difference, all of them of the greatest importance, are observable. I. The Roman Church receives with equal reverence the written books of the Old and New Testament, and certain " unwritten traditions pertaining both to faith and manners;" whilst the Church of England pronounces that "Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation." II. The Roman Church includes the booksof the Apocrypha, among the sacred and canonical Books of the Old Testament; which she declares, in all and every part, to be entitled to be received with equal veneration; whilst the Church of England places "other books," (that is the Apocryphal ones,) in an inferior class, and declares that she "doth not apply them to establish any doctrine.” III. The Roman Church receives the Scriptures "as they are contained in the old Vulgate Latin edition;" declaring also, in a subsequent passage, "that the same old and Vulgatę edition, which has

been approved by its use in the Church for so many ages, shall be held as authentic in all public lectures, disputations, sermons, and expositions; and that no one shall dare or presume to reject it, under any pretence whatsoever;" whilst the Church of England, on the contrary, does not receive the Holy Scriptures in the old Latin Vulgate edition, but has provided for herself a translation out of the original Hebrew and Greek tongues, and so far from holding the Vulgate as authentic, she in fact rejects it.

(To be continued.)

THE BLESSINGS OF COMMUNION WITH THE CHURCH*. So long as we live in communion with the Church we are sure to enjoy all those means which Christ has appointed for our salvation, faithfully administered in the same way and in the same manner which our blessed Lord appointed; we are sure to be fully instructed in our whole duty both towards God and towards man; we are sure to pray together in a form, which, both with regard to its matter, its method, and its manner, is in the most perfect conformity and agreement with the word of God; we are sure to have the Sacraments of Baptism and the Supper of our Lord administered unto us, according to the institution of our Blessed Redeemer, without any addition or diminution; we are sure to have all these performed and done by persons authorized thereunto by Christ himself, and we are sure that what they teach us is sound and orthodox, the very same doctrine which Christ and his Apostles taught; for when they are ordained they solemnly profess and promise in the presence of God, that they will instruct the people committed to their charge out of the Holy Scriptures; and that they will teach nothing (as required of necessity to eternal salvation) but what they are persuaded may be concluded and proved by the said Scriptures; neither can they afterwards be admitted to preach until they have subscribed to the Articles and Liturgy of the Church; in which the doctrine of the Apostles is fully contained. And besides this, so long as we continue in communion with the Church, we are sure to have the Word of God and the Sacraments administered to us, by those who have the charge of our souls committed unto them, and who are therefore obliged, both by their duty and their own interest, to take as much spiritual care of us as of themselves; since their own eternal salvation depends in a great measure upon the faithful discharge of their office towards us. To which office also God has

promised the assistance of His grace and Holy Spirit, in order to render it effectual to us for the great ends and purposes for which it was ordained. So that, if we consider all these circumstances, we must become convinced, that it is morally impossible that we should be led into error, that we should be ignorant of the truth, or that, in humble dependence upon the merits of our crucified Redeemer, we should fail to attain grace and salvation, provided we hold constant communion with the Church, and sincerely believe, and live according to, the truths which are taught in it.

* Abridged from Bishop Beveridge.

372

BIOGRAPHICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS ANECDOTES. MAGNIFICENCE OF ANCIENT TIMES.-CARDINAL WOLSEY'S HOUSEHOLD AT

IN his hall he maintained three boards, with three several officers a steward, who was a priest; a treasurer who was a knight; and a comptroller, who was an esquire; also a confessor, a doctor, three marshals, three ushers of the hall, and two almoners and grooms. In the hall-kitchen were the clerks, a clerk comptroller, and a surveyor of the dresser, and clerk of the spicery; also two cooks with assistant labourers, and children who acted as turnspits, twelve persons; four men of the scullery, two yeomen of the pastry, and two paste-layers under them. In his own kitchen there was a master-cook, who was dressed daily in velvet or satin, and wore a gold chain; and had under him two cooks and six assistants; in the larder there were a yeoman and a groom; in the scullery, a yeoman and two grooms; in the buttery, two yeomen and two grooms; in the cellar, three yeomen and three pages; in the chandry, two yeomen ; in the wafery, two yeomen; in the wardrobe of the dormitory, there were the master of the wardrobe, and twenty assistant officers; in the laundry, a yeoman, groom, and thirteen pages, two yeomen purveyors, and a groom purveyor; in the bake-house, two yeomen and two grooms; in the wood-yard, one yeoman and a groom; in the barn, one yeoman ; at the gate, two yeomen, and two grooms; also, a yeoman of his barge, and a master of the horse, a clerk of the stables, and a yeoman of the stables, a farrier, and a yeoman of the stirrup; a maltour and sixteen grooms, every one keeping four horses. In the Cardinal's great chamber and in his privy chamber, there were the chief chamberlain, a vice chamberlain, and two gentlemen ushers. There were also six gentlemen waiters, and twelve yeomen waiters; and at the head of these were nine or ten lords, one of them having five servants of his own, and each of the others two or three. There were also gentlemen cup-bearers, and gentlemen carvers, and forty sewers for both chambers, besides six yeomen ushers and grooms attached to the Cardinal's own chamber. Besides these, there were in attendance upon his table twelve doctors and chaplains, the clerk of the closet, two secretaries, two clerks of the signet, and four counsellors at law. He had also a riding clerk, a clerk of the crown, a clerk of the hamper, and a chaffer, a clerk of the cheque for the chaplains, and another for the yeomen of the chamber; fourteen footmen, a herald at arms, a sergeantat-arms, a physician, an apothecary, four minstrels, a keeper of his tents, an armourer, an instructor of his wards; an instructor of his wardrobe, and a keeper of his chamber, also a surveyor of York with his assistants; there were also numerous priests and attendants in the chapel and vestry.

All these individuals were in daily attendance and had tables constantly provided for them; eight of which were for the chamberlains and gentlemen officers, one for the young lords, and another for the sons of gentlemen who were in his suite, all of whom were attended by their own servants, in a number proportioned to their respective ranks.

An extraordinary instance of Wolsey's celerity of action is recorded in the account given of his embassy to the Emperor, the object of which was a treaty of marriage between Henry VII. and Margaret Duchess of Savoy. Having received his despatches, Wolsey set forward from Richmond; about four in the afternoon he reached London, where he found a barge from Gravesend ready to receive him: in less than three hours he was at Gravesend, where he only stayed while post-horses were provided *We are indebted to Mr. Jesse's Account of Hampton Court Palace for these anecdotes of Wolsey.