IV. That it was held there, that, in order to reach to the kingdom of heaven, it is necessary to obey God's law.

The Peace of Westphalia brought no peace to Calixtus, yet, in spite of opposition, the sympathy of his friends was strengthened, and the influence of his moderation increased. The Emperor himself spoke in high terms of approbation of the calumniated Professor, and expressed a desire to become a Calixtine. A general visitation in 1650 set the government of the University of Helmstadt on a firmer foundation, and the exactness with which the duties of the Professors were defined, bears witness to the care which Calixtus was still able to bestow on his beloved University.

The concluding events of his life are briefly told. The marriage of a niece whom he had adopted, a visit with which Duke Augustus honoured him, the advancement of his son to a Professorship and his doctor's degree, were the chief events of his domestic life, and during this time, he was occupied in the composition of his "Desiderium et Studium Concordiæ Ecclesiastica." In this he reiterates his principle that in terms of communion we must distinguish between what is essential to salvation and what is not so, and that in all that relates to the Christian mysteries we must be content with the quod, without disputing about the quomodo. In this, however, there was no approbation of indifference, since agreement with respect to the quod was presupposed. Further than this, he was strong in his denunciation of the Socinians as denying doctrine, which was the very basis of Christian truth. The Lutherans had not satisfied themselves with stating the facts of Christian doctrine, but must needs define in their confessions the explanation of these facts. This was a fault into which the Council of Trent had also fallen, and from which in God's providence the Church of England had been preserved. The three creeds are still our terms of communion, a wider and more tenable basis than the Augsburg confession, the Formula Concordiæ, the Creed of Pope Pius IV. or the Tridentine Decrees. Our appeal to early Fathers and the General Councils, on which our Reformers rested, was identical with that of Calixtus, and thus the English Church, in spite of the narrow views of some of her members, is free from the censure contained in the following words.

"If the ancient martyrs were Christians, then is that knowledge sufficient for salvation which they possessed and which was demanded from them in the creeds. There cannot be any path for the teachers of the Church different from that by which others travel. And, therefore, that which such teachers have (a fuller theological development of that faith which saves) can be no essential pre-requisite to salvation. No! no! that were a narrow gospel; and the outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh could be but meagre, if the Church existed only in the rigid Lutherans."-P. 314.

The stringent Lutheran party were not content with assailing

the author of these words of peace. Controversy had become essential to their being; and an instance of this is seen in the dispute which rent the University of Wittemberg in 1653. The question was whether one drop of the SAVIOUR's blood was sufficient for the redemption of the world. Some maintained that it was, while others asserted the contrary, although they admitted that it might have been so, in so far as concerns the dignity of the Blood of CHRIST; but that it was otherwise ordered in the Divine decrees, in such wise, that not one little drop sufficed, but that the redemption of mankind required the effusion of much blood.

The intestine strife of Protestants resulted in the secession of not a few to Rome. Men were disgusted with the scorn with which such efforts for peace as those of Calixtus and his friends were met, and in Rome they sought their rest. Duke John Frederick of Brunswick and Queen Christina of Sweden were amongst the deserters from the Protestant cause. With respect to the former, Calixtus was consulted on the effect this step would produce on his right of succession; and, deciding as an impartial judge, his opinion was adverse to the claim. These events were, doubtless, a source of much sorrow to Calixtus, as they tended to obscure his dream of union; but his last days were now at hand, and his work was nearly finished.

On the first of February, 1654, his wife was taken from him; an irreparable loss, no doubt, but one which he was not permitted long to feel. His own health soon declined: increasing languor overspread his frame, but his books were still his solace. These he found the hardest thing to part with. Compared with this, forgiveness of the injuries he had received was an easy task; but in simple piety he yielded himself into GoD's hands. His studies were never entirely given over up to the day of his death; and afterwards an explanation of various difficulties in Holy Scripture was found upon his table, on which he had been engaged during his illness. His only desire to live was to promote the scheme of pacification so dear to his heart; but the tide of life was fast ebbing, and after being visited by his confessor (for Lutheranism still retained a form of confession), he gently fell asleep on the 18th of March, 1656. He was laid beneath the altar of S. Stephen's Church at Helmstadt, and his funeral was attended by the Hereditary Prince Augustus and the Duke Rudolf Augustus. Representatives of the other Dukes and of the States were present, to pay this last tribute of honour, and amongst them came the representative of the Abbot of S. Ludger, a Roman Catholic Prelate who had always rightly estimated the merits of Calixtus, whom Bossuet styled "Le plus habile des Lutheriens de notre temps; qui a écrit le plus doctement contre nous."

There may have been defects in the system of Calixtus; for what human philosophy is faultless? These were, however, very

trivial matters in comparison with the great aim of his life. He laboured for peace, but never beheld the fruit of his work. Yet that which he saw at a distance, it may be our care to promote. It is remarkable that he said nothing respecting the consolidation of Christians into one ecclesiastical system. He dealt with the previous question, the dispersion of prejudice and their agreement in faith, for he was a theologian and not an ecclesiastic, and, therefore, looked at these matters from his own point of view. When the previous question is settled, unity, though not perhaps uniformity, will follow as a matter of course. When the Churches will agree in appealing to the Church's early history and the authority of the first five general Councils, and when they will be content to let each Church enjoy without rebuke their own national customs and local traditions, then may we expect that the work of Calixtus will be recognized. There is, however, one thing which this great man did not appear to take into his account, and that was the necessity of Episcopacy, not only as a matter of ecclesiastical regulation, but as pertaining to the essence of the faith. Perhaps his utter failure was the consequence of this omission, and if so, even this is an instructive lesson.

There are many indications which point to the possibility of Calixtus's dream being realized. The moderate tone of the recent congress at Munich under the presidency of Dr. Döllinger, a man from whom the Church may expect much, the inquiries of Italian Priests respecting the doctrines of the English Church,-and the existence of a Union party in Germany, France, and England, all speak to the same effect. We may help on the work; only let us remember that union is not weak compromise, but the mutual acceptance of a standard of appeal on which all are agreed.

We thank Mr. Dowding very sincerely for his work. Valuable as the life of such a man must ever be, we think it doubly so in these days, when not division only, but a false standard of unity, are amongst the prevailing evils of the age.

REVIEWS AND NOTICES.

Mr. LIDDON'S Sermon on the occasion of the Consecration of the Bishop of Nassau, entitled, Apostolic Labours an Evidence of Christian Truth, (Oxford and London: Rivingtons and Parkers,) is no common production. The preacher has succeeded in rendering it a plain, though vigorous defence of the Christian Faith, by his able treatment of the two propositions on which he grounds his argument. 1. That the Gospel has stood the test of time, before which all merely human institutions have crumbled away sooner or later. 2. That the selfexpanding action of the Church has never failed, because our LORD knew Himself "able to create and to command an ever active, ever youthful enthusiasm, which in the last ages of the Faith, no less than in the first, would carry forward His doctrine into all the regions of the earth.' Mr. Liddon sums up his argument in the following words :"It would not be difficult to show, by an exhaustive induction, that the idea of a truth so beautiful in its evident symmetry, as to compel the absolute homage of the intellect and of the heart, so strong in this compulsion, that alone and unarmed it can dare to pass forth on the lips of an unlettered Apostolate, to demand submission from the passions and prejudices of man-is strictly proper to our REDEEMER'S Gospel, and undiscoverable elsewhere."

The first series of Tracts for the Christian Seasons, (Oxford: Parker,) which, under the auspices of the lamented Bishop Armstrong, appeared some twelve or fourteen years ago, did no small work for the Church in their day; and it is with much satisfaction that we welcome the appearance of a new series, which is likely, if we mistake not, to perform a yet more effectual mission at the present time. The evils with which they have to cope are very different from those which called forth their predecessors, and we augur well of their success, because they appeal plainly, yet forcibly, to the intellect on the very points which are critical for loose thinkers. Nothing can be better than these tracts for distribution amongst the men of the middle and lower classes, whose love of independence, moral and social, lays them specially open to the dangers of our times.

Mr. SEDDING and Dr. LITTLEDALE have between them given us a first-rate collection of Ancient Carols for Christmas and other Tides, (London: : Masters,) in which the fine old tunes harmonized by the first are wedded to beautiful and appropriate words by the second. In a preface, written very successfully in the style of old times, Mr. Sedding shows how much research was required to bring these noble carol tunes to light, and also how great an improvement is the substitution of Dr Littledale's devotional verses for the original rhymes.

Let all be Friends together, (London: Masters,) is another Christmas song, the words by the Rev. T. R. J. LAUGHARNE, the music by JESSE SALISBURY. The air is very simple, in four parts, and would sound lively and pleasant sung by several voices, and inculcates the

special peace and charity taught by Christmas-tide, in very pleasing

verses.

Charity at Home, (London: Masters,) a very winning little tale, teaches the danger of forgetting first duties in an eager stretching forward to heroic acts of special self-devotion. It is a book we strongly recommend, as it may be extremely useful in checking an unholy emulation in religion; and shows that there may be no truer confessors and martyrs than some of those who have never left the threshold of their natural homes.

Upward and Onwards, a story for girls, (London: Masters,) is a sensible little work on the duties and temptations of servants, cast in the form of a tale, which will prove attractive to them.

Mr. MONTAGU BURROWS has published a Lecture, which he delivered in the Town Hall of Oxford, on The Manchester Church Congress, and its probable Results. (J. H. Parker.) As a summary of what took place at Manchester, it is not so good as some other accounts which we have seen; but it will be found useful in stimulating and encouraging the efforts of Churchmen. Mr. Burrows pleads for and predicts a threefold Reformation in the Church of England. 1. Of the individual life, by men of a higher tone of Parochial work. 2. Of the relation between Clergy and Laity, by means of Conferences, &c. 3. Of the relation between Church and State, especially as seen in the appointment of Bishops and other Dignitaries.

Dr. STANLEY'S Course has been so uniformly prosperous, that we can forgive him a large amount of self-glorifying in his Farewell Sermon at Oxford. We cannot, however, but think it most unwise to congratulate young men, that "in their minds the stream of progress flows most fast and free!" It is well for Dr. Stanley himself, that he is removed from the temptation of offering such adulatory counsel; and we quite believe that he will be benefited by a removal to London. In the conventional religionism of the metropolis he will find an adversary far more worthy of his prowess than the generous and singularly unprejudiced faith of Oxford.

Messrs. Mozley's Monthly Paper of Sunday Teaching contains, as usual, an immense amount of useful instruction. We submit, however, that the Questions on the Collects are really too minute, and that there is an unnecessary array of texts thrust upon children.