The Press.
London, England, 1857-11-21 00:00:00

THE PRESS, NOVEMBER 21,1857.

of the people. The upper classes, though hesitating to
join the ignorant Liisare, are equally unsatisfied with the
clergy and their teaching. The Swedish nature is one
that cannot rest content with mere scepticism or with
rationalism unlightel by religion. It is inclined to reli•
gious faith and consolation. It is, by temperament, almost
superstitious. It will be long in taking to itself new sup.
porters of its faith, or in adopting new means for imparting
religious life, but when it does, it will be with a thorough
renouncing of the old. The present clergy will become
to the peasants as did the hierarchy of England to the
Puritans of the Revolution. They will abhor and renounce
them; and when the change comes, ono of the great
things done will be the utter sweeping away of the
House of Clergy and all political powers belonging there-
unto. The Church will be left to rest where it should, on
the personal relations of pastor and people, on the sac.
tion of the one, and the abilities and self sacrifice and
piety of the other.

Mr. Brace is better at collecting his matter
than in weighing or sifting it. He uses a
drag-net, and offers us worthless stones and
useless sea-weed. A traveller ought to be
specially careful in sorting his subjects. This
volume abounds in matters which a critical
eye would recognise as "quasi facts."

We shall extract some parts of Mr. Brace's
account of a " Sunday in Stockholm "

I have been to-day to the Lutheran High Mass. The
forms are somewhat complicated. The officiating cler-
gyman first, with his face to the people, repeats the " Holy
Holy! art Thou," dtc.—then kneels and utters a prayer.
The congregation do not kneel nor respond. He then
rises, singing the " God have mercy upon us !" and the
congregation respond. The Prayer book, or " Hand.
book," requires responses when prayers are sung, but not
when read. After this, he turns to the altar and sings
the " Gloria in excelsia ;" this is followed by a long hymn
from the worshippers, from ten to twenty verses. The
clergyman then turns to the congregation and says the
" Lord be with you !" they responding; next, facing the
altar, he reads the extract for the day (he sings it on feast-
days). Here he makes another prayer, which is auc•
ceeded by the reading of the Epistle, and the reading or
singing of the Creed. During the first part he faces the
audience, during the latter, the altar. At the name of
Jesus all bow the head. Another hymn is sung, and the
sermon follows, which was shcrt. After this, prayer again,
and on feast-days, they tell me, the Litany ; and then the
royal proclamations, notices of marriage and of death, and
the like. The last exercise is a prayer by the second cler
gyman at the altar, and then, after a few words, the
be►utiful blessing of Moses. The principal priest is
dressed in a white " mass.shirt," trimmed with lace, over
which is a rich red velvet cope, with a gold cross embroi•
dered on it.
He recounts furthet•:—

There still survive on the Swedish Church book the
rules for secret confession to the pastor. It is still re-
sorted to for the worst class of sins ; and the clergyman
is forbidden, under the strongest penalties, to disclose
what is confessed. Only in cases of treason, or where
assassination or murder is threatened, can the clergyman
warn the objects, yet still without disclosing the names of
the guilty parties. In former times, the pastor has been
known to forbid the Sacrament alter such confessions.

elsewhere. The fact that " there arc scarcely
" any houses of ill-fame in Stockholm " cuts
both ways, when we recollect the statistics
already quoted ; and the following fact must
not be overlooked :--
It is significant, in this connection, that the Swedish
Prayer•book alone, perhaps, of all the Church•books of the
world, has a prayer for " Mothers who have been deceived
by promise of marriage ;" and the Swedish law recognises
that the promise, if it can be proved by reliable witnesses,
secures, even before the marriage, to the children the
right of legitimate children, and to the woman all the
rights of a wife.

There is a quantity of matter, good and
middling, in this volume, and it may suit the
list of some book-clubs on account of its
variety. Even now, after its numerous de-
scribers, Sweden presents a good subject to a
close and quick observer like Inglis, or a
brilliant painter in words like Borrow.

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED-NOVEMBER 19.
BOOKS.

The Demon of Gold. By Hendrc. William Lay.
The Life of John Banton, the Irish Novelist. ly Patrick
Joseph Murray. William Lay.
Normiton. A Dramatic Poem. By Mary C. Hunie.
J. W. Parker and Son.
Kavanagh. A Tale. By Wadsworth Longfellow. Illus•
trated. W. Kent and Co.
Early Struggles. By Mrs. A. Crawford. Three vols.

Newby.
Men of the Tims. Biographical Sketches of Eminent
Living Characters. Kent and Co.
The Boscobel Tracts. Edited by J. Hughes, Esq., M.A.
Blackwoods.
The Poetical Works of Robert Story. Longmans.
Religion in Common Life. By William Ellis. Smith,

and Elder.
The Exiles of July. By C. G. H. Constable and Co.
Echo Francais. A. Practical Guide to French Conversation.
Trubner.
The Three Sergeants ; or, Phases of the Soldier's Life. .

E. Wilson
Rides and Reveries of the late Mr. dEsop Smith. Hurst and

Illackett.
Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa. By
David Livingstone, LL.D., D.C.L. Murray.

Review of The Mectintres which have been Adopted in
India for the Improved Culture of Cotton. Smith and
Elder. Answers to Questions Communicated by Lord Over-
stone to the Decimal Coinage.