The Press. — London, England, 1853-06-18 00:00:00

JUNE 18, 1853. to avert, he must indeed " idealise." and soften its horrors. or we turn with disgust, and some thing like resentment, from his work. But in Hogarth's minute representations of distressful truth we recognise a warning to those sur rounded by like temptations, and a wholesome lesson to ourselves. We are pained, but we escape from our present pain by an aspiration after future goods. " Such things were"—we feel" Such things ore—but we ourselves may do much for their prevention and cure. It is good fin• us to see them." We have no time to pursue this thought further at present. We should gladly have seen it illustrated by Mr. Thackeray's powerful pen. On the whole, we think Mr. Thackeray has added nothing to his literary reputation, nor to our critical literature, by his recent publica tion, but he has produced a lively volume, which may agreeably pass an idle hour, and excite, it' not gratify, a curiosity respecting our classical authors among the rising genera tion—too well disposed to let them fill into oblivion altogether. THE CONVOCATION CONTROVELSY. By A. J. 1. Last Glimpses of Conroeotion. Joyce. London : Bosworth. THIS work is opportune, though not intended for permanence ; and useful without pretend ing to originality. As a repository of histori cal facts, some of them not easily accessible from other sources, it will be consulted by most unlearned persons who desire to make themselves acquainted with the Convocation controversy. The writer objects to a revival of this ancient assembly, which Dr. Johnson •• would have faced a battery of cannon to re store to the Church," for the reason which in duced Mr. Hume to support. it in the House of Commons—namely, that synodical action is inconsistent with the connection of Church and State. He points out with great clearness. in an introductory chapter, the variety and discrepancy of views entertained by those who seem to be acting in concert, and advocating a simple return to the policy of old times. It is easy enough to petition for the revival of Convocation, but much less easy to define the object contended fin•. Shall the ecclesiastical assembly of 1840-60 be identical with that of ? or shall it be framed on a new prin ciple? Is the basis of the movement restoni- Um, or is it reconstruction? Assuming (which seems by no means certain) that the necessity of some departure from ancient precedent were admitted on all hands, the question still remains open, of what nature shall the change be? How far is the representative element to be admitted ? Are laymen privileged to hike part in the proceedings ?—to what extent, and through what agency? Until these queries be answered—and to no one of them have we yet heard an answer—the demand for revived synodical action is like the demand for elec toral ref win—it may mean anything or no thing. And it seems a little suspicious that nearly all the leaders in this movement are men pledged to maintain, so far as in the pre sent age may be practicable, the supremacy of the clerical over the lay element in the Church. It is, no doubt, within the range of possibility that an ecclesiastical senate should be framed capable of embodying and directing the public opinion of Churchmen. But such a senate or council must contain at least a tiiir infusion of laymen ; whereas, in the Synods of the seventeenth and eighteenth century, not only were the laity without re presentatives, but the working clergy them selves possessed little influence. " A recent writer," says Mr. Joyce. " who compared the Lower House of Convocation to the unre formed House of Commons, with its rotten boroughs and nominee members, did the bitter great injustice. Of the 144 members of the Lower House, more than half-7 S—are deans and archdeacons, sitting as a matter of per. sonal right and for life, if not promoted to the episeopal bench ; 2•.. more are delegates and 1101flimees of the cathedral chapters ; leaving only 44, or less than a third of the whole body, to embody the representation' of the great mass of the clergy ; and even among these there are a few nomineeships." This will never do! Convocation, to be restored. must THE PRESS. Brat be reconstructed and we suspeet that its advocates will find some trouble itt framing their plan. : What is it to h .' u•luft is it to do . 0 By Thomas Willia►us, NI.A., Areh deacon of Handal. London : J. W. Parker and Son, \Vest Strand. AIIeIIDECON WILLIAMS appreciates but slight ingly the arguments in favour of vont-ova tions' resuscitation, which rest solely upon analogy. Neither ill the Synods to be found among other religious communities, nor in the assemblies by whielt laymen tramsaet their political and secular business, eon be recognise any valid reason for restoring Convocation to the Church. He turns, ac cordingly, with most interest to the jsisitire phase of the question. Ho inquires, as into by far the most important problem, for a solution of these two queries : If the Angli can Synod were again assembled, what is it. to be ? what is it to do? Is it to revive under its ancient form, as a purely spiritual assem blage? or is it to be reformed by ant infusion of the lay element? Is it to be a judicial, an administrative, or simply a deliberatt ive body? is it to have control over questions of property, of doctrine, or of discipline ? one, or more, or all together of these ? Replying to these queries, the Archdeacon contends that, if the constitution of the Synod were to be strengthened and its powers en hanced, at virtual separation of Church anal State—to the serious peril of both—must be the consequence. If they remain as they were, the action of the Synod would be inetii eient for any purpose worthy of its elaborate organisation and the dignity of its members. If questions of law come under its jurisdiction. the Royal supremacy would be infringed—if questions of doctrine, the unity of the Church imperilled—and if questions of property. the interposition, and therefore the sympathy and support. of Parliament would be lost to the Church. Admitting, as beyond a doubt, the right of the Church to synodical action, the author argues that the proper functions of at Synod are only oveasional—that it is at tri banal which should only be elated into activity upon rare and important exigencies. Coun cils, he declares, should he, not the normal, but merely the exceptional. condition of the Church ; since from their decisions are to be anticipated no other results than " stricter definitions ; narrower symbols of communion exclusion rather than comprehension." 3. Church and Stale, and Cmmwation. By ti. Hailey Prentice, M.A., Barrister-at-1 saw. Lon don : H. Parker, Stnind. Ntlt. PRENTICE sums up, with much terse ness and lucidity, the principal arguments heretofore urged by the advocates of Convoca tion. Ancient prescription ; inherent rights ; royal charters ; legislative ,unctions ; the actual existence still permitted to the Synod, which lives on after so long an interval of dormancy; are all arrayed with much skill in behalf of the plea for rehabilitating synodical action. The author affirms, however, that Convocation, to be useful, must be refformed, and concedes almost everything that even Archdeacon Williams would demand, by consenting to remove questions of law and doctrine from its jurisdiction, and proposing to confine the powers of a renovated Convocation to minor points of discipline, to the settlement of eon ' troversies respecting church musk, intoned prayers. surplices, schools. and pews. /.ei►yrr Exercises iel Latin l'rerge Composition by .1. W. Donnldiom, 1).1). actin►! firanitilitiiiv But By the Same, London : J. W. Parker and Son. THEM.: exe►cises are intended fin• the use of those students who wish to possess the faculty of writing easy and perspicuous Latin. Few have ever succeeded in this practice, and the present disuse of laatin as the language of scholarship and philology n►akes its revival less probable. In England there are two► additional difficulties : the over-preeiseness of our Latinists, which almost confines them to topics already handled by Cicero ; and the 163 unfortunate habit, which has lately sprung up in our public schools, of teaehing boys to write t ;reek before they eau possibly have attained and• mastery of Latin eomposition. We have not room to enter upon the question w►•hether this revival, if suecessful, would be advan tageous. But these exercises appear to be interesting and well chosen. The work, however, is not free from 1)r. Donaldson's usual fault of aba s ing hi s r i va l s . Mr. George Long and Professor Key are two of our best Latin scholar —perhaps the two most distinguished teachers of Roman law and Latin philology respectively. Dr. Donald son thinks proper to speak of them in the following manner : Ur, o c o rs e Long, who . . . . has returned at the eleventh hour to the Lahti litu k ttm . e.ze. whieh he hail newt. propvrly learned. or had tittirely forgotten."—Prr• fate, p. 17. A Slr. K. . . . . 1 learn front the l'hutsieul Ntusentn. for I haw not seen his hook, that he loot pub. lished a Latin grrilllllllll'.--Preftwe, r . 41. The impudent affectation of the latter ex traet is remarkable. Dr. Donaldson decides that a now Latin 011111111 HE IIeVeSSIIVy : he writes and abridges it ; he praises himself for the originality of his views,—all this with o ut stooping to look at the work of a really original writer. The abridged grammar has isonsidemble merits: in its best parts it agrees with its neglected rival. Dr. Donaldson might im prove several pa sages by condescending to study—" A Mr. Key." The Dublin l'airerxity Maya:ine, Ns). flit, for June, : Metilashati. Tor entrent number of this periodical contains an article specially worth the attention of all interested in the Lapilli discoveries at Ninewli. It is a review of Mr. Layard's new work, and while allowing him his laurels as a discoverer, and an ClttliValiltl'. it rails. iu question his competence as a translator, and inti mates, with some pungency, that \lr. Layard has jumped to his conclusions. The reviewer says : Indeed, if we 14111111 114 - 11.11111111' 1111141'h es that the readings of w • newly - discio ova ittscriptisons given in this volatile clash' lie depended on 1114 Ipmnille tlillll4llllol l / 4 , we would give it the palm for intero . st, not only over the find volume, lan irs's any 11I111.1' Wllll Of S . 'tar scope in our own gencrat ion ; fi.r, it ' these inseriptions have been rightly deciphered, ae sirs' introthwed directly into the hulls and temples of Sentiacherili, the ciattempiorary of Iletckiali, *we befiore us the %IT) ilto. Assyrian inionarelt, and read iu detail the Tative of his Wars Mid 141111111194 a PIItTIOI . II 1111 the Willis 111111 tllll,ll't4 tot his palace. It is trite we ea 111 l lot loving ourselvi s to rely implicitly ion those read. Mgt:, lint many of our readers may ; and, in either case. the work is one which challenges attention, and west revei%e it moire 111' iv,. accouglauied by admiral Mu, as Wl' accept it with Ol' Within(' I'lllll'lll'e ill this particular." Elsewhere lie plainly intimates his opinion on the mode in which Mr. Layard has entitled his various tratitslations. Ile 11.1notits " Beading in the table of 1.111111.1111.—' I vi. I tiscoovery of the I :rand Entrance to the Palms . 11f lionyttujik --of the name of Settnacherili int the Inseriptioass -- the Records of that King 1111 the Ilitteliptiolis awl 1111 the Abridged Trinislittion oil them—Name of Ilezekiali -- Account of Seimucherib ' s With ell'W/1-16411Aery id Sculptures at lionyttMil., representing the ,siege tit ' Lulsish- - Clllll6lllllltislis Of Ilistoorieal Records of the Bible ' —one feels a tiatitral and praisewoolthy &sir ,e to hr in II position to write, 'I x librim ll N ' in the flyleaf Of 1441 retnark id ole a volume. Tito demise would, we need sesreel Ss remark. lie 1411114/11.11114 rettneeil in intensity, it' the alibir inserted the word 'supposed' befoir• the name of ' 4iglllll - the Worst Isetion• the WIWI! 'lll'llllOllV 'lo.llll'/' • I'llllllllllW inn: ' andiatr eer• 11111 tautly. W/I 11E011114 the hitter coimie---eonnuervial.instinot is 1111111. its favour 1.4 the This article is, itialotiliteillv. an 11,14 i. OW, and ex. Whits the knowledge of an llrientuhist. We have heard rumours of a fortheoming work in which the whole subject of Mr. lAv aril's translations will be discussed, and until then we w ill reserve the full expression of our sentiments on the degree of ac ceptance which '4llOlllll i.e given to the interpretations offered in the last work Of our fle.4oryetily famous Iffirrk:r(,oftx Maga...lite, for .1 tine. 1,4 onolon : 'nark • wood and Sons. Ebony. for the cataent mouth, piesents us with a gt•od !errl imitilrer,witieb staffers only from comparison with it proslece,siars. We miss l'isistratus Caxton — there is no den) log it, and wait, hut atiently perhaps, for the avatar of some new series from the same or other üble hands. But " Blackwood," in this it start. June, is CCCCLI I. numbers old, and 'a still the best magazine going ; whit more need to said?