venture to recommend it, with much cordiality and confidence, to all who may desire to possess an extremely able and we may now add standard, treatise on the Nicene Symbol.

There seems a good deal of matter in The End of All Things, (London: Darton,) but the author having a theory of his own makes everything subservient to that theory, and ignores all that goes against it. In one thing he is no doubt safe, in concluding (that is) that much of what is absurd is mixed up with the Millenarian Theory. There was even a heresy under that name condemned in the early Church, but no sound Roman Catholic Millenarian either now or formerly held the absurd and even impious propositions which the Church at that early period condemned under the name of "the Millenarian heresy."

It is notoriously an open question among Roman Catholics, whether our Lord will reign personally on earth during the thousand years, of which S. John tells us he saw Satan bound during that period, and the Saints living and reigning with our Lord during the same, the first Resurrection having preceded it.

In a brief notice it would be impossible to enter into the arguments for and against so mysterious a question. In the Roman Communion there are able writers on both sides of it, as there are also in that of our own Church. But without enlarging upon this, it is sufficient to remark that the author altogether contradicts the statement of the inspired psalmist, "He hath made the round world so sure, that "-to translate literally it shall never be moved," non movebitur in aternum, as the Vulgate words it; while on the other hand he overlooks the new earth, or renovation of the earth, of which S. John speaks, as well as the whole argument derived from the resurrection of the body, for which, if the eternal abode of glorified humanity were to be in some ethereal heaven, we can see neither a reason nor an intelligible explanation. S. Paul tells us that the whole creation groaneth under the effects of Adam's fall, waiting "for the great restoration of all things." What can this mean? but that great and divine resurrection of the whole creation of God, which will at once justify the mystery of the antecedent probation, and set forth that infinite and incomprehensible mercy which God has already manifested in the Incarnation and Death of the Eternal Word. The author of The End of All Things has evidently not duly pondered over the ineffable mystery of the Incarnation, and its obvious relation with the future condition of redeemed humanity after that Resurrection of the Flesh, which from the days of Job to those of the Apostles, and in all subsequent ages of the Catholic Church, has ever been a cardinal point of orthodox belief. We shall revert to this subject at length, on another occasion.

Most of Mr. William Bright's verses in his new volume, entitled

Hymns and other Poems, (London: Rivingtons,) are written with scholarly taste, general theological precision, and an accurate knowledge of English versification. The 66 'hymns" are superior to the "poems," but several of them are somewhat unequal, suggestive of a certain school of versifiers which was a natural development of the classical style of the seventeenth century; while, in some instances, we are unpleasantly reminded of the once popular metrical version of David's psalms. In form and subjects the book challenges comparison with the Lyra Apostolica, but it wants that true poetical afflatus which made this last-named collection so deservedly popular, while the marked Catholic characteristics of that beautiful volume are likewise lacking. Of this we instance a noted example of imperfect dogmatic teaching in "The Evening Absolution." It is not an "absolution that comes at evensong, but a "declaration of absolution," two very different things. The "Hymn for Michaelmas " is good, but for practical purposes might have been well compressed. "Easter Communion,' not open to the same objection, is sweet, terse, and musical. "Secular Opinion," though not remarkable for its poetry, is, however, eminently so for its vigorous thought and telling truths; the same will apply to "Antichrist." "Ritual" is a beautiful poem, while "S. Fructuosus

and some others are

undoubtedly prosaic and heavy. Poetry, we should say, is not Mr. Bright's forte, though the present exercises will no doubt be acceptable to people who are fond of plain religious verses, full of useful teaching, of which the following on "Hell" is a fair, average specimen :

"Not true-not true! our souls protest

From that fell yoke our minds are free;"
So raves the cry of fierce unrest-

"Eternal Death? It shall not be!

"For ended faults, an endless pain?
All mercies lost in vengeful ire?
Nay, more-God's justice ye profane,
Who say it feeds a quenchless fire.
"Sooner than woe should age endure,
Perish the hope of constant bliss!
Nor say, Christ's words have made it sure;
They could not mean a doom like this."

They could not mean! O blinded hearts,
What means your strife with that high law
That forms us free to take our parts,
And makes us hold ourselves in awe?

Go, read the cause of endless death
In that dire mystery of a will
That holds, beyond the parted breath,
Its fixed persistent choice of ill.

Ye dare not say, "No choice can last,"
Or, "God must needs our freedom quell;"
Then learn, 'tis no mere vanished past

That calls for penal throes in Hell.

No! 'tis the soul whose will intense
Survives Probation's measured day,
And, bidding goodness still "Go hence,"
Finds answer, "Take thine own dark way."
Heed this, O man, ere grace be spent ;

To fall from God and scorn to rise,
To sink in woes and ne'er repent,

This makes the death that never dies."

The Report of the Norwich Congress, 1865, (Norwich: Cundall & Miller,) is by far the most complete, best arranged, and satisfactory Congress Report that has yet been issued. Full of valuable matter on subjects of crucial interest to all churchmen, it deserves a wide circulation, being extremely well edited, clearly printed, and published at a very reasonable cost.

On the Ritual question we have received, (1) Doctrine and Ritual, a Letter to the Bishop of London, by a Layman (London: Palmer,) thoughtful, pointed, and suggestive, written with scholarly power, in a tone worthy of all commendation; (2) Ritualism, its importance and necessity, (London: Palmer,) a letter to the Bishop of London, by Mr. Place, and is a useful publication; (3) The Queen's Vesture, (London: Palmer,) a sermon by Mr. H. Moore, though unpretending and plain, is a wellreasoned and clever discourse-likely to be valuable for cir culation as a tract; (4) The Ritual of the Anglican Liturgy, by a Catholic Priest, (London: Palmer,) is a small, well-printed volume of brief, but accurate and needful directions for the proper celebration of Divine service. In some particulars its rules may seem to go beyond what is lawful, but generally speaking the principle that what was not forbidden at the Reformation is still legal, would cover almost all that is here ordered. The practical directions at p. 27 to the end are very valuable, and few could study them without being all the wiser for so doing. For the clergy and sacristans this is a publication of true interest, and can be well recommended. Should it shock a few, by the straightforwardness of its language, it will not only edify many, but give them sound rules for a guide, and refer them to a list of excellent books for further instruction.

A second edition of the Devotions for the Three Hours' Agony of our Most Holy Redeemer (London: Palmer) will be welcomed by many. It has been largely adopted at several London churches with good results, and deserves to be widely known. The oftener such devotions are restored the more accurately will English Churchmen measure how much was iniquitously flung aside as superstitious and useless by the Anglican Reformers.

Mr. Collyer Knight, in his small treatise The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, (London: Longmans,) has brought together with some ability and considerable care several telling arguments, and not a few pertinent facts, very damaging to Bishop Colenso's method of Biblical criticism.

We have never read a sermon more carefully guarded in its statements, nor more remarkable for the extreme moderation of its tone, than that on The Christian Sacrifice (Dublin: Hodges, Smith & Co.) by Mr. Arthur Dawson. And yet, we learn with surprise and indignation that Archbishop Trench gave the writer the alternative of immediately withdrawing it, or of resigning his grace's chaplaincy. It bodes ill for the defence of the Irish Church, which High Churchmen here are attempting to make, that a Puritanism, reckless, vulgar, powerless for good, and ignorant, should have compelled the Archbishop to have acted as he has done. Such a deed is not unlikely to prove a large nail in the coffin of the Hibernian establishment.

Daily Communion an Ordinance of God and Early Confirmation, (London: Palmer,) two admirable publications by Mr. Pollock of Birmingham, will be found very useful in any places where the Catholic Revival is being carried on: being written in an excellent spirit and with clearness and ability. They are both second editions.

Church Work, (London: Hayes,) still marked by that practical spirit of earnestness for which it has been always noted, well deserves to be known beyond the limits of the S. Alban's Guild.

The First Annual Report of the S. Lawrence Parochial Association, Norwich, is highly promising for the future.

Dr. Vaughan's sermon on Free and Open Worship (London: Macmillan) is eminently practical, and will carry weight with many, for it avoids the excessive exaggerations of certain advocates of this movement. Mr. Temple West's God and Casar (London: Masters) is a bold and outspoken protest against Erastianism and State tyranny. The remarks upon the disgusting Divorce Court are very much to the point. The New Crusade against the Cross and Ritual, (London: Palmer,) a letter to Dean Close, is a well-intentioned and in many repects sound defence of Catholic practices, by one who might no doubt write in better taste if he made the attempt. Strong arguments are to be preferred to strong words. Mr. Burns' Short Manual of Confirmation for Roman Catholics will be acceptable, for it is well arranged, formally sanctioned, and exceedingly cheap.

The late Music Meeting at Gloucester, (London: Masters,) a much-needed protest by Mr. Davies of Abbenhall, is like all he writes-plain, practical, and catholic.

S. Augustine, or the Fruit of a Mother's Prayers (London: Palmer) is a simple sketch of the life and conversion of that eminent saint and doctor-free both from sentimental exaggerations and grotesque stories, and, therefore, likely to be useful to many.

Mr. Ackland's Evidences for the Bible (London: James Parker & Co.) is a book of no common character. Remarkably thoughtful and suggestive, it brings before the reader, in a systematic form, a train of thought and line of reasoning, admirably calculated to be of great service in our present trials. The book is perspicuously written and well condensed; as a preparation for a judicious and thorough study of Bishop Butler's masterly treatise nothing could be better.

The Office for a Confirmation Class, published by Mr. Palmer, good and appropriate, is deserving a general notice and use.

We have received two pamphlets on the Conscience Clause, one published by Rivingtons, the speech of the Archdeacon of Taunton in Convocation, the most telling, clear, and brilliant attack on that Clause we have ever read; the other A Reply (London: Ridgway) by Mr. John Oakley. This paper which was read at one of Mr. Kempe's Broad-Church domestic convocations, is written with feeble sobriety, in good and not unpolished language. The attempted replies to the well-known Seventeen Reasons of the Archdeacon, however, are as weak, irrelevant, and pointless, as they possibly could be. We are well enough aware that the Committee of Council were on the lookout for clerical support-this they have obtained, but clerical arguments of any value or force have yet to be hunted up. Mr. Oakley has failed conspicuously to do what abler men might have tried in vain to accomplish, viz.-to fight Principle with Expediency. But he certainly deserves a School-inspectorship, with Mr. Lingen's solemn benediction, for his Quixotic self-assurance.

We have seldom read anything more jejune or devoid of sound argument than a tract which has just been issued by Mr. Parker entitled The Priest at the Altar. To Catholic churchmen it must always be a question of extremely small moment what were the particular crotchets or "views" of the Anglican Reformers, still less what are the opinions of their modern admirers as regards Catholic practices. It is our duty to see first what the present law of the Church of England is, and secondly, to carry it out. Happily an overruling Providence stayed the hands of the rash and the meddlesome, at a dangerous crisis, while, in the particular point here considered, the old rules would of course come in, if there was any ambiguity in the new. But there is none-common sense teaches the simple that the north end and the north side of a table are not identical,