The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-01-18 00:00:00

of war, we cannot forget that Rome, in common
with other empires of antiquity, obtained their
greatness by war and lost them by peace. One of
the most important articles in the present number
is on "Auricular Confession," suggested by no less
than five recent publications on the subject. The
writer, from a host of the highest authorities, proves
incontestably that the Romish doctrine of Auricular
Confession is as false as it is modern ; that it is
altogether a Romish practice ; and our church is
snccessfully vindicated from the charge of teaching
or sanctioning it. He also exposes the mis-quota-
tions and false conclusions of the Rev. Prebendary
Gresley, who has written to defend the practice.
We can cordially recommend this article to the
serious attention of any churchman who entertains
any lingering doubt upon the subject. After a
paper on " Elementary Education," a subject on
which it is still difficult to arrive at a satisfactory
conclusion, we have a lengthened notice of " The
Life and Writings of St. Paul," by the Rev. W. J.
Conybeare, and the Rev. J. J. Howson, M.A.,
Principal of the Collegiate Institution, Liverpool.
The revitwer highly praises the work of Messrs.
Conybeare and Howson as very valuable, and says :
" To such persons as desire to possess an appropriate
memorial of the labours, and an elaborate but clear expo-
sition of the writings, of the most illustrious of the Apos-
tles, we can cordially recommend the work now before
us. We have not attempted to give an abridged outline
of the contents; for we had not the heart to mangle
by giving piecemeal that which is so complete and sym-
metrical as a whole."

And, further on, the reviewer says :

" We have only to say that we have derived more in-
formation concerning the history and writings of St. Paul
from this work than from any other we can name."

A notice of Thackeray's " History of Henry
Esmond, Esq.," from which we have quoted on a
previous occasion, is followed by an article on
" Rome and Liberty of Conscience," showing, what
few in this age would be inclined to dispute, the
intolerance and cruelty of Papal Rome. We quote
the concluding remarks of the writer :

DANGER FROM JESUITS.
" The world is rife with Jesuit machinations—they
meet us in the highest and the lowest places. Between
the plans of mighty monarchs which affect the peace and
prosperity of millions—the counsels which organise a
systematic persecution against all liberty of thought and
action, and the subtle missives of discord which find their
way to our firesides and bring social misery to our homes,
there is in the present day a real and significant connec-
tion not to be overlooked. They are under the influence
of the same active agency, and that agency is in the ser-
vice of a church which aims at universal power. She has
entered upon a struggle which must, sooner or later, end
in her own destruction, or in the subversion of all which
honest and Christian men hold most dear. It is therefore
the duty of every conscientious Protestant to watch with
jealous caution each step which she takes, that he may
ascertain how and where she strikes."

An article on "The Fourth Estate" we should
have been inclined to look on with favour, but it is
so tinctured with hyperbole that we must pass it by.
"The Derby Administration and its Opponents" is
treated in a Conservative spirit, the writer very
probably foreseeing much mischief to Church and
State from the Tractarianism of the Peelites in
combination with the levellers and agitators with
whom they are allied. The number concludes with
a long list of notices of new books.

The Christian Family Advocate. Edited by Cathe-
rine Ponsonby. No. VIII. Edinburgh : Wm.
Whyte and Co.

The number for January begins a new volume of
this excellent serial—one of the most hopeful of the
quickly-increasing class of publications devoted to
the unsparing exposure of Romanism, and the ad-
vancement throughout the world of sound evange-
lical religion. The papers, whether in prose or
rhyme, are animated by an all-pervading desire to
promote piety and intellectual culture in the family
circle; and the fair editor must, therefore, have our
best wishes for the success of her praiseworthy un-
dertaking.

Hogg's Instructor. Edinburgh : James Hogg.
Among the many periodicals of the day which are
published at a low price, this one combines much va-
luable information with entertaining tales and anec-
dotes suited for those who read only for amuse-
ment. It has now been published under the form
of a new series for about five years, and maintains
its well-earned popularity. The part for January is
embellished with a well-engraved portrait of that
able historian, Sir Archibald Alison, Bart., and
contains several articles well deserving perusal,
among which we may notice " The House of Com-
mons," " Napoleon the Little," " The Advertise-
ment," " Commercial Excitements and Commercial
Crises," &c.

The Dodd Family Abroad. London : Chapman

and Hall.

Mr. Lever's amusing serial has reached its fifth
number, and the racy humour of the Hibernian
epistles runs freely as ever from the pen of the
veteran novelist. A quiet vein of wit pervades
every line from Mr. Lever's practised pen, and in
" The Dodd Family Abroad" there is a scholarly
tone, coupled with an intimate knowledge of all
classes of society, which preserve the delineations
of character from degenerating into caricatures.
Mr. Lever's novel may not be so popular as one
issued by Mr. Dickens, hut it will be relished quite
as much, if not more, by the refined reader. The
following are extracts :

A RELIGIOUS FRAME OF MIND.
Mrs. D. had fallen into that peculiar condition which is
natural to her whenever she finds a place stupid and un-
exciting, and which she fondly fancies to be a religious
frame of mind ; in other words, she took to reading her
breviary, and worrying Betty Cobb about her duties ; got
up for five-o'clock mass, and insisted upon Friday coming
three times a week. I could bear all this for quietness'
sake ; and if fish diet could insure peace, I'd be content
to live upon isinglass for the rest of my days.

NO FOOLS LIKE OLD FOOLS

It is only the fellows that never were in love when they
were young that become irretrievably entangled in after
life. If you want to see a true sexagenarian victim, look
out for some hang-dog, downcast, mopish creature, or
some suspectful, wary, crafty, red-haired rascal, that
thought every woman had a trap laid for him. These are
your hopeless cases—these are the men that always die in
some mysterious manner, and leave wills behind them to
be litigated for half a century.

THE ENGLISH AT HOME AND ABROAD