and as from their casting off in order to gather the Church, the grace of God was glorified, so shall it be glorified in a still higher degree, when, after the completion of the Church, they shall be received again into the favour of God, The Jewish mystery is regarded, therefore, as being totally distinct from Christianity as running parallel with it, but running beyond it; as carried on now, during the time that the Church is gathering, in an under current, consisting of those Jews who believe in Moses and the prophets, in a limited sense, but do not believe in Christ; which current shall re-appear as a mighty river after the Church has been perfected, to the still greater glory of God, and the still greater blessing of men, than that glory and that blessing which have resulted from their first rejection. The casting away of them has been the enriching of the world, by diffusing those blessings which had been before pent up amongst them—the receiving of them shall be as life from the dead, and making the world itself to be like the paradise of God; or whatever is signified by the restitution of all things.

Making St. Paul's address to the Romans his groundwork, Mr. Barclay applies all the promises made to Abraham, that in his seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed, to this future time for their full accomplishment; not denying that they had a spiritual application to the spread of Christianity throughout the earth, and the gathering a Church from all the families of mankind. And, of course, the fuller, and more precise and specific promises, made in the prophecies of Isaiah and Ezekiel, are all referred for their final accomplishment to the time when Israel shall be again gathered as a nation, not again to be cast off. It is blindness in part to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in ; but when this shall have taken place the word to Israel will be" Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." And, as during the present dispensation, the Church is the only light, but a light shining in darkness, so then the restored Israel will become a light in a higher sense the light of the world.

Mr. Barclay thinks that, when the Jews are restored, they will have two acts of repentance to go through-the first. for their unfaithfulness to the privileges they had, before the coming of Christ, in their breach of all the Mosaic statutes and ordinances; the next, for their unbelief in Christ himself, and the loss of those privileges of the Gospel which were first offered to them both by Christ and the apostles. These are two classes of sins of quite a different character, though it is evident that if they had truly discerned the first, and repented of it, they would have received grace to escape the second: for it was their pharisaic

self-satisfaction that hardened them against the acknowledgment of Christ, and so led to their being rejected as the people of God, and being given over to judicial blindness and hardness of heart. This is obviously the most difficult part of the subject; but Mr. Barclay thinks that some preternatural mental blindness must be understood from the facts, as well as the plain declarations of Scripture; that but for this, no honest Jew could remain, as none could believe Moses and the prophets without also believing in Christ; and but for this, therefore, none would remain through whom God's ulterior purposes concerning the Jews could be accomplished. And he argues that, as Christ for a time spake in parables, and forbade the disciples to speak of many occurrences till after he should be risen from the dead, so God may have determined to conceal, at present, much of what he is doing by the Jews, and conceal it also from the Jews, which yet shall become clear and evident at the proper time.

In connecting the Jewish mystery with the gathering of the Church, Mr. Barclay thinks that the two will very much coalesce towards the close of the present dispensation; and that the expression of St. Paul, that the restoration of the Jews will be as life from the dead, indicates the literal resurrection of those that sleep in Christ, and the translation of the saints which he has spoken of in the epistle to the Thessalonians; so that the restoration of the Jews, and the first resurrection, will be simultaneous events. And he thinks that while there is a work of sifting and purgation going on among the Jews, to prepare those among them who are faithful for the return to the favour of God, so there will be a purification of the Church, to prepare those who abide faithful for the kingdom of heaven.

These considerations are urged as motives for continual watchfulness, and preparation for the day of the Lord, all of which is done with great earnestness, and with abundant reference to Scripture. But we think that Mr. Barclay's book will be chiefly valued by those who are already of the same opinion with himself. It is all assertion: there is no attempt at argument; and, to meet the difficulties with which persons in general find the Jewish question surrounded, requires a greater sympathy with those difficulties than we meet with in Mr. Barclay-a greater command of reasoning and of language than he possesses-and, also, much more development than is attainable in one small volume.

We do not mean to speak desparagingly of this work, and thank Mr. Barclay for what he has done; but we think that the powers of the highest intellect, embodied in a folio volume, would scarcely be sufficient to develope, in an adequate manner, the mystery of God's dealings with the Jews.

The Principles of the Book of Common Prayer considered. A Series of Lecture Sermons. By Rev. W. J. E. BENNETT, M.A: London to Utsibod 20192 129d

Cleaver. 1845.

THE people of England are not justly chargeable with a love of innovation or change; but, on the contrary, manifest an attachment to old things to what they have known from their youth, and to the customs and practices of their forefathers. The objections which have been made to the endeavours after restoration have almost always arisen from dislike of innovation, under a suspicion that the things sought to be introduced were novelties to the English Church, as they would be if they were intentionally omitted in our rubric; or under the feeling that, when they had been suffered for a long time to fall into disuse, they shocked our accustomed habits, and grated upon our orderly associations, just as much as if they were in all respects innovations. The people of England require to have a sufficient reason, given for any change: first, that they may be assured that it is not brought in by the whim or caprice of any individual, since in such a case, the whim and caprice of another might again turn it out; but secondly, and chiefly, lest some error may come in which they may not discover, until after it has wrought mischief, and when it may be dangerous or even impossible to apply a remedy, As Mr. Bennett observes

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"The many controversies which have arisen of late on the subject of the Prayer Book, may be referred partly, indeed, to the prejudices of the laity; but perhaps more so to mistakes in the teaching of the clergy. We have in general found that any restoration of the forms and ceremonies of our Church, which were usual at the Reformation, have been met by the people with distrust and sistance; but, at the same time, we must in candour allow that in many cases the distrust and resistance has been the consequence of the want of information, rather than a wilful disobedience, to the Church's laws. The clergy should reflect that they anticipate the natural order of things, when they strive to gather the fruit before they have sown the seed."

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And they should also reflect how far the forms and ceremonies which were usual at the time of the Reformation were such as involved a principle, and so were retained for the truth's sake; or such as involved no principle, but were only retained, because the people had been accustomed to them, and liked them, and they were regarded as things indifferent. For it is evident, that things which were held to be indifferent, and were at the Reformation retained only because the people had been used to them, and liked them, we ought on the same ground to forbear from reviving now, if they have been long disused, and the people dislike them. With these two qualifications of rejecting error,

how ancient soever it may be, and of not shocking the feelings. of the people in things that are indifferent, we can accept Mr. Bennett's assertion, "It is a true Catholic principle, in its very best sense, to love such usages and customs as bear the mark of antiquity."

The design of this work is not to give such a history as that of Comber, nor such a rationale as the "Beauty of Holiness," by Bisse; but a popular account of what the Prayer Book is intended for, and how these intentions may be, in the best manner, carried into effect. The lectures accordingly treat on the nature of public prayer, and its importance, as deducible both from reason and Scripture; then the history of the compilation of our liturgy, the service and ceremonies, and feasts and fasts. Holy places also are spoken of-the priesthood of the Christian Church is examined-the ornaments of divine services are recommended, including music, &c., and the pastoral character of the Church is not forgotten.

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The Prayer Book, considered in the general, may be said to be taken from the Roman Breviary, with such alterations as were necessary to bring it more into conformity with primitive practices; and, above all, to purge it from those corruptions which had stamped the Roman doctrines with error so incredible and indelible as to contaminate the whole worship of that Church, and to glare out in almost every portion of the service. The reformers of the Prayer Book, finding that the "godly order of the ancient fathers hath been so altered, broken, and neglected, by planting in uncertain stories and legends; with a multitude of responds, verses, vain repetitions, commemorations, and synodals; that commonly when any book of the Bible was begun, after three or four chapters were read out, all the rest were unread." They, therefore, translated all the genuine prayers of St. Austin or any of the old fathers into English; together with such responses and hymns as they found to have been generally used in the worship of the primitive Church, and added such prayers s were now required, for the wants, or necessities, or circumstances of their own situation and of modern times.

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But the grand reform in the Prayer Book consisted in the psalms and lessons; which were so arranged that the psalms were read through regularly once a month, and by the arrangement of the lessons, the whole Scripture was read through in the course of each year: and the short verses and antiphons of the Roman Breviary were excluded, together with still more objectionable lectiones, or short lessons from Ambrose, Chrysostom, and the other fathers, which, however good in themselves, ought not to be brought into the worship of the Church; and the altogether objectionable and, some most abominable, legends,

of saints and martyrs, by which the credulity of the people was continually abused, and the worst superstitions of saint worship and idolatry were upheld.

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Mr. Bennett gives a sample of the Roman Breviary, taken at random, being the first Sunday in Advent, to shew how things which ought to be kept distinct are jumbled together, and readings, which ought to be continuous, are marred by being broken and disjointed; and, above all, how lessons, taken from the writings of Pope Leo and Pope Gregory, are put upon precisely the same footing as Holy Scripture. He gives also samples of antiphons, in which the Virgin Mary and the Saints are addressed with the worship and invested with the attributes which belong to Christ alone, the only begotten Son of God and only Saviour of mankind. And specimens of the legends are also given, such as the liquefaction of the blood of Januarius, on each anniversary of his martyrdom.

Our readers will therefore perceive that this is a very useful and seasonable publication: it may not convey much additional information to those who have read Comber, and Bisse, and Bingham in former times, or Wheatley and Palmer more recently; but to laymen, or such of the clergy as have not directed their attention to the subject at all, and only want useful and practical information, we think that Mr. Bennett's volume will be satisfactory and sufficient.

A Statement of Facts respecting the Instruction given to the Students for the Romish Priesthood in the Royal College of St. Patrick, Maynooth, humbly presented to the consideration of the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled, and to every one of their Lordships in particular. By the Rev. A. S. THELWALL, M. A. London: Seeley & Co.; Dalton. 1845. 8vo.

THIS is an important documentary tract, which, in the compass of thirty-six closely printed pages, contains a large amount of information respecting the class-books and standard works of reference which are used at Maynooth; together with extracts from them, arranged under the heads of perjury, intolerance and persecution, sedition and hostility to a Protestant sovereign. To these succeed documentary extracts on the impurities of the confessional and on the idolatry of the Romish Church, the declaration against transubstantiation made and signed by her Majesty, together with the coronation oath. The tract concludes with a brief but earnest appeal to the consciences of the Lords spiritual and temporal, by whom (we hope) it will be most carefully perused. To our readers we cordially recommend it, as a book of permanent reference on the principles of Popery actually taught at Maynooth.