Speaking of the deteriorating effect of the Romish superstition on the morality of a nation, he observes, page 8,

"The morals of the people were such as naturally sprung from the substitution of an external and ceremonial superstition for pure undefiled religion. The following passage, from Cranmer's Confutation of Unwritten Verities,' reveals the moral condition of the priesthood. He quotes two of the so-called Apostolic Canons :Let not a bishop, priest, or deacon by any means put away his own wife, under pretence of religion; but if he do, let him be excommunicated; and if he so continue, let him be deposed.' -Can. 3. Let no bishop, priest, or deacon be received into another bishop's diocese, without a testimony of his good behaviour.'-Can. 4. On these Canons, Cranmer observes, 'If these two laws were thoroughly executed by indifferent (that is, impartial) judges, BEING NO PRIESTS, the realm of England should not swarm so full of runagates, adulterous and sodomical priests.'

"The rest of the passage we forbear to quote. The people could not be expected to be in advance of the priesthood. The descriptions still remaining of the manners of those times, are the best justification of our fathers in determining upon a radical reformation both in jurisdiction and in doctrine. England could no longer tolerate the power of the priesthood, and its melancholy results.'

The mischiefs to be apprehended from the intrigues and foreign influence of the Papacy, and the bondage in which the courts of temporal sovereigns are held by it, are aptly illustrated by the subject of Henry VIII.'s divorce, and the proceedings had thereon.

"2. This divorce clearly illustrates both the supremacy and the baseness of the Court of Rome. It is supposed to bring into prominent relief the evil passions and tyranny of the King. It may be so; but it tells us at the same time, in language that cannot be mistaken, what is meant by the Papal supremacy, and by what principles the Pope is actuated in his jurisdiction. A question of divorce, it would naturally be thought, ought to be deter

mined by the law of the land. To that law the highest personages are subject. No foreign court ought to be permitted either to decide the law, or to execute it. Not so, however, before the Reformation. The Pope was supreme over the Crown. By his law the question must be decided. By his servants the case must be tried. Think of an Italian Bishop having the power to grant a commission to two of his creatures to constitute a tribunal before which a King of England was to be summoned! A VICTORIA appearing before a Wiseman as a judge! The supremacy of the Pope was the degradation of the Crown-a degradation the more bitter, because of the baseness of the judge."

The power of the Pope had become intolerable, and King and people resolved upon diminishing it.

"The first blow which forewarned the Pope of coming events was an Act passed in 1531, to restrain the payment of first-fruits to his Holiness. A large number of Papal bulls was required for the canonical consecration of a prelate. The immediate predecessor of Cranmer in the see of Canterbury had no less than eleven. There was a bull of translation; a bull of absolution from the Church of London; a bull commanding the suffragans of the province to obey him; separate bulls issuing similar commands to the clergy, the vassals, and the people of the diocese respectively; and others relating to the oath of obedience to the Pope, and the gift of the pall.

"In payment for these Roman parchments, the Pope received the proceeds of the first year of the see. The new Act cut this exorbitant price down to a specified sum. Even this was no light one. Cranmer had to pay 900 golden ducats for bulls which the annalist calls obsolete and rotten.'

"The year following an Act was passed to restrain appeals to Rome. Prior to the days of the usurper, Stephen, such appeals could not be made without the special license of the king. They had now become common, to the serious detriment of the clients, the impeding of justice, and the diminishing of the authority of the Crown.

"In 1533 the work proceeded.

Appeals were transferred to the king in Chancery; and the clergy were prohibited from making any new canons or constitutions without the king's leave, a prohibition of the last importance to the freedom of both clergy and laity.

"By the 25th Henry VIII., c. 20, the work of liberating our bishops from all allegiance to the Roman Court was completed. No cleric from thenceforth was to be presented to the Pope for the dignity to which he was appointed. The king received power to grant a licence to elect, with a letter missive nominating the person to be chosen; and every prelate to whom the presentation was directed was to proceed at once to give pall and benediction without reference to Rome."

It was felt that something more must be done. Another glaring evil needing reform was the conventual system-now, alas! defended by those who ought to know better.

They who exposed them had no pecuniary interest in blackening their character. Yet the most satisfactory evidence exists that they were dens of vice. Paul III. appointed a commission of Cardinals, to inquire into abuses to be reformed before the Council of Trent. Their Report contains the following articles :

-

"Art. 13. Another abuse to be corrected is in the religious orders, many of which have become so defiled that their example is a noxious scandal to the laity. We think all conventual orders should be abolished, —not, however, to inflict any injury upon any, but to prohibit the reception of any novices.'

"Art. 25. The impiety of changing the last wishes of a testator, with a view of diverting property from the heir-at-law, on any pretence of charitable purposes, should be put a stop to.'

"These articles disclose the secret of the mode whereby the monks enlarged their possessions, and the purposes to which their gains were de- ́ voted.

"We have no reason to suppose that the English convents were superior in honesty or virtue to the Continental. The balance lies rather upon

the other side. Less literary and less refined, our monks and nuns were abandoned to grosser enjoyments.

"Cromwell and the king may have been more desirous to secure their property than to promote their amendment; but that they needed a thorough uprooting, can be doubted by no unprejudiced mind. The corruption of the best is ever the worst. When men and women, who professed to separate themselves from the world, and to consecrate all their hours to Divine service, were living a life of ungodliness and intemperance, public morals demanded the dissolution of their houses, whatever became of their property. That property ought indeed, at the same time, to have been devoted to national purposes, and not to have been given to greedy courtiers.

"It is believed by some that these institutions were favourable to the poor. That belief has been hastily adopted. They tended, in fact, to pauperize the laity by robbing heirs of their rightful estates; and they then stood between the truly charitable, and the truly needy, insisting on being the sole almoners of the faithful."

After going through some further particulars respecting errors in Popish doctrine, the lecturer proceeds :

a

"Reformation in doctrine required corresponding reformation in public worship. The sacrificing priest being constituted a teaching minister, the service must be celebrated in a tongue that the people can comprehend. He and they must unite together in common prayer, and respond one to another in psalms and hymns of praise. The Word of Christ must be distinctly read, and impressed upon the consciences of all. His garb must no longer be an imitation of the Redeemer's at the crucifixion, but a plain linen raiment, and a scholar's gown. No images of human mediators may longer desecrate the house of prayer; and no altar suggest thoughts of sacrifice. A table, stripped of every idolatrous symbol, must be provided, where the communicants may receive, together with the minister, the consecrated bread and wine. The Rubric knows nothing of an altar; its language is express :—

"The TABLE at the Communion time, having a fair white linen cloth upon it, shall stand in the body of the church, or in the chancel, where morning and evening prayer are appointed to be read.'

"Kneeling was still permitted, because it is difficult to wean a people from old habits, even when they have received new doctrines. Yet, lest any should misinterpret the attitude, it is declared,

"That thereby no adoration is intended, or ought to be done, either unto the sacramental bread or wine then bodily received, or unto any corporeal presence of Christ's natural flesh and blood.'

It is preserved simply as a signification of our humble and grateful acknowledgment of the benefits of Christ therein given to all worthy receivers."

At the present juncture we deem the preceding passage peculiarly important, and we commend the lecture as worthy of notice for general reading and distribution.

Select Works of Thomas Chalmers,

D.D., LL.D. Edited by his Sonin-law, the Rev. WILLIAM HANNA, LL.D. Vol. III. Edinburgh: Thos. Constable and Co. London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co. 1855. Sermons. By ТTHOS. CHALMERS, D.D.,

LL.D. Vol. I. 8vo., pp. 680. WE have pleasure in noticing again the reappearance of Dr. Chalmers' works; and the volume of sermons before us contains sermons on subjects deeply interesting to the Christian philanthropist. We need only note the headings to the classes of topics treated of, to show the extensive range of matter taken up at different periods of Dr. Chalmers' very useful life :—

Astronomical Discourses.

These are already too well known and appreciated to need any comment from us.

Commercial Discourses.

There are fifteen of these. In a country like Great Britain, where merchant princes abound, and where trade in every form is carried on to an extent unknown elsewhere, it seems most desirable that the shepherds and pastors of the flock should seek by every possible means to lead the minds of their people generally to consider the importance of sound Christian principle in their dealings with their fellow-men. We remember few sermons especially addressed to mercantile men.

We noticed in a former number some discourses by the Rev. Hugh Stowell on the Prophet Nehemiah. These are valuable, and we hope that others may be induced to follow the example of Dr. Chalmers and Mr. Stowell.

Sermons on Public Occasions. Amongst these is one on "Preaching to the Common People."

We

The last few years it has been proved that a vast amount of practical heathenism prevails amongst our working population. Open-air preaching has been commenced in our Church, and in many instances has, we believe, been much blessed. trust that still larger and more extensive plans will be formed to bring the masses of our people under the sound of the Gospel, and that the Spirit of God may be poured out, so that the dry bones may live.

Lastly, there are a few sermons on "The Two Kingdoms," the visible and invisible, being discourses of a character kindred with the Astronomical.

Frewen, Esq., M.P.; R. Spooner, Esq., M.P.; C. N. Newdegate, Esq., M.P.; N. Kendall, Esq., M.P.; Admiral Harcourt, Admiral Hope, Lieut.Gen. Sir George Pollock, Major-Gen. Alexander, Major Graham, Captain Kelley, Dr. Adair Crawford, Mr. R. C. L. Bevan, Mr. J. Braithwaite, Mr. Robert Prance; Sir Walter Farquhar, Bart.; Rev. R. Bickersteth, Rev. E. Auriol, Rev. H. Venu, Rev. W. Short, Rev. J. S. Jenkinson, Rev. W. B. Mackenzie, Rev. Dr. Steane, Rev. Wm. Arthur, Rev. W. H. Rule, Rev. J. P. Dobson, Rev. R. Maguire, Rev. J. T. Baylee, Rev. R. Gunnery, Rev. S. B. Craig; Mr. John Bridges, Mr. George Hitchcock, Mr. Thos. Young, Mr. J. Balster, Mr. Thomas Pewtress, Mr. W. Spencer, Mr. G. H. H. Oliphant, Mr. W. Lincater, Mr. James Lord, Mr. John MacGregor, Mr. Greenhall, Mr. James Catchpole, Mr. J. Carter Wood, Mr. J. G. Sheppard, Mr. Harwood Harwood, Mr. E. P. Hathaway, Mr. S. S. Cooper, Mr. A. Haldane, Mr. W. E. Shipton, Mr. T. H. Tarlton, Mr. Wilbraham Taylor, Mr. G. H. Davis. Sir Robert Inglis, on behalf of the deputation, stated, in an admirable address, that they had come with a view of entreating Her Majesty's Government to resist the Motion of Sir Joshua Walmsley for opening the Museum, &c., on the Sabbath. The following briefly gives the result of the Deputation's interview, which will be very gratifying to our readers. Lord Palmerston's reply was, in the main, satisfactory, and tended greatly to relieve the anxiety of the deputation. His Lordship stated that both himself and his colleagues had come to the determination of opposing the Motion of Sir Joshua Walmsley, and that they would accordingly resist the measure. The deputation murmured applause as an expression of their thanks; and, as they were withdrawing, Sir Robert Inglis, in behalf of the deputation, thanked his Lordship, and also in the most earnest and unaffected manner expressed his thankfulness to that Almighty King who has governed and prospered this empire. The result of Sir Joshua Walmsley's Motion is already known; the attempt has met with a signal defeat in the House of Commons, by a majority of 187,

deciding the question in the right way. We have to congratulate the House, the country, and the general interests of true religion, on this triumphant and happy result. We rejoice exceedingly in this decisive step. It is worthy of the men who undertook the service, and worthy of the cause which they so nobly espoused. The salt of the earth has not yet "lost its savour." Let a step in advance be immediately taken, and a Bill secured for closing on the Lord's-day all the taverns and gin-palaces of England." Edinburgh Rock," March 24.

CLERKENWELL.-RIOT BY IRISH ROMAN CATHOLICS TO PREVENT THE PROTESTANT BURIAL SERVICE BEING READ OVER A CHILD. Humphry Lynch and John Shea, two Irish labourers, residing in Vine-street, St. Andrew's, Holborn, were charged before Mr. Corrie with riotous conduct

It appeared

in the burial-ground of Trinity Church, in the Gray's-inn-road; and also with assaulting the sexton and his assistants in the execution of their duty. The circumstances of the case are the same that several times of late have occurred where Irish residents have buried their dead in the Protestant parish burial-grounds. that the defendants accompanied the body of a child to the above ground to pay a respect to its parents. When the coffin was placed in the grave, the Rev. Dr. Worthington stepped forward to read the usual burial service; but his so doing was objected to, and an unseemly wrangle took place, during which the Rev. Gentleman's book was knocked from his hand by "one of the mourners ;" and the prisoners, seizing the "pickaxe and shovel," commenced covering the coffin with earth. Before the operation was well in full work the sexton and his assistants tried to recover their implements, and a melee took place, during which the assaults complained of were committed, and the prisoners were given into custody. The prisoners asserted that they did nothing beyond using the spades to fill in the earth, when an attempt was made to take them from them. They strongly denied that they struck any one.-Dr. Worthington, who was present, here said that he would not have interfered in the mat