The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-09-12 00:00:00

The History of our Blessed Lord. Burns, London.

This little work is a poem in easy verse, and illustrated
with coloured plates, for young children. The versifica,
tie% is simple, and may be readily committed to memory,
whilst the plates are attractive for children, and calcu-
lated. to impress the subjects. of them on their young
minds.

Church. of England Magazine for September. Burns;

London

This- publication has lately improved amazingly. it la,
sound and instructive, and deserves its high and distin—
guishing title. To the sermons generally we apprehend,
no exception can be taken, whilst " the sketches from
Natural History," " The Islands, bakes, and Rivers of
Great Britain and Ireland," accompanied with engravings,
convey a great mass of important information. There is
also interspersed-in each number a considerable quantity
of miscellaneous matter.

SELECTIONS

FAMINES 1.,,,1411430..—The Rev. Robert Everest, in a
paper published in the Slatietical Journal, has adduced
some facts to show that the unfavourable seasons in India
recur periodically,—a discovery which, if established, will
afford an opportunity of providing against one- of the most
afflicting evils in that country. In examining the lists of
prices of grain at Chinsurah, in Bengali he found that
the principal minima, or periods of scarcity, were in the
years 1752, 1770, 1:188, 1807, 1826, sbewing an average
interval of 18/ years, so nearly the same, as that of the
lunar cycle, as to lead to the idea that the atmospheric
changes were dependent upon it. But to be certain that
these equidistant recurrences were not merely fortuitous,
resulting from localtoircumstances, he procured lists from
most of the principalcities to the west andaaorth-west of
Calcutta, for a distance of 1,000 miles. The results ob-
tained were—great irregularity in any one list, but the
more numerous the lists were, the greater. was the ap-
proximation to a regular ascending and d'scending series,
with recurrences at about eight or ten years' distance,
leading to the belief that, if we could obtain a correct
measure of the average atmospheric changes-over a con-
siderable surface, we should observe something like regu-
lar intervals in the seasons.—Asiatic Journal.

WIT OF LAFAYET'FB. - Last week La Payette had
a, quarrel with a battalion of the National Guard on the
subject of drill ; they considering the manual exercise as
an infringement of the rights of man. The general being
of the contrary opinion. a deputation of corporals, for
any thing higher would have looked too aristocratic,
waited on him at the quarters of his staff in the Place
Vendome, to demand—his immediate resignation. On
further enquiry, he ascertained that all the battalions,
amounting to thirty thousand men, were precisely of the
same sentiments. Next morning happened to have been
appointed for a general review of the National Guard. La
Fayette appeared on the ground as commandant at the
head of his staff, and after a gallop along the line, sud-
denly alighted from his horse, and taking a. musket on
his shoulder, to the utter astonishment of every body
walked direct into the centre of the line, and took post in
the ranks. Of course all the field-officers flew up to learn
the reason. " Gentlemen," said he, "I am tired of re-
ceiving orders as commander-in-chief, and that I may
give them, I have become a private, as you see." The
announcement was received with a shout of merriment;
and, as in France a pleasantry would privilege a man to
set fire to a church, the general was cheered on all sides,
was remounted, and the citizen army, suspending the
" rights of man" for the day, proceeded to march and
manoeuvre according to the drill framed by despots and
kings."—Marston, or Memoirs of a- Statesman, in
Blackwood's Magazine.

THE PB.INCE O 1 WALES AT BRIGHTON —But simple
as was the exterior of the cottage, all within was costli-
ness, so far as it can be united with elegance. Later days
somewhat impaired the taste of this accomplished man,
and he sought in splendour what was only to be found in
grace. But here, every decoration, from the ceiling to
the floor, exhibited the simplicity of refinement. A few
busts of his public friends, a few statues of the patriots of
antiquity, and a few pictures of the gnat political ge-
niuses of Europe—among which the broad forehead and
powerful eye of Machiavel were conspicuous—showed at
a glance that we were under the roof of a political per-
sonage. Even the figures in chased silver on the table
were characteristic of this taste. A Timoleon, a Brutus.
and a Themistocles, incomparably classic, stood on the
plateau; and a rapier which had belonged to Doria, and a
sabre which had been worn by Castruccio, hung on either
side of the mantelpiece.lllThe whole had a republican ten-
dency, but it was republicanism in gold and silver—
mother-of-pearl republicanism—the Whig principle em-
balmed in Cellini chalices and porcelain of Frederic le
Grand. Fortunately the conversation did not turn upon
home politics. It wandered lightly through all the plea-
santer topics of the day ; slight ventilations of public cha-
racter, dexterous allusions to anecdotes which none but
the initiated could understand ; and the general easy in-
tereourse of well-bred men who met under the roof of
another well-bred man to spend a few hours as agreeably
as they could. The prince' took his full share in the
gaiety of the evening - and I was surprised to find at once
so remarkable a familiarity with the classics, whosesound
was scarcely out of my college ears ; and with those habits
of the humbler ranks, which could have so seldom come
to his personal knowledge. To his exterior, nature had
been singularly favourable. His figure, though full, still
retained all the activity and grace of youth ; his features,
though by no means regular, had a general look of manly
beauty, and his smile was cordiality itself. I have often
since heard him praised for supreme elegance ; but his
manner was rather that of a man of great natural good-
humour, who yet felt his own place in society, and of that
degree of intelligence which qualified him to enjoy the wit
and talents of others, without suffering a
4** sense of infe-
riority. Among those at table were C***land H***,
names well known in the circles of Devonshire House;
Sir P***** F44-****, who struck me at first sight by his
penetrating physiognomy, and who was even then sus-
pected of being the author of that most brilliant of all
libels, Junius ; W******, then in the flower of life, and
whose subtlety and whim might be seen in the fine fore-
head and volatile eyes ; some others, whose names I did
not know, and among them one of low stature, but of sin-
gularly animated features. He was evidently a military
man, and of the sister isle, a prime favourite with the
prince and every body ; and I think a secretary in the
prince's household. He bad just returned from Faris ;
and as French news was then the universal topio, he took
an ample share in the conversation.—Maraton, or lifrporil
of a Statesman, in Siackwood's Maga;ine,

Thus, Dr. Donne advocates. the use of. the expression,
This is Christ's body, and then explains- that he uses the
words in the same way as when he speaks of light as being
the sun when it is not really and truly the sun. Dr.
Pusey considers it honest to quote the " high language"!
which answers his purpose, and to omit the exp lanatian
Dr. Jackson is the next authority cited ; and he is.
quoted with equal dishonesty. A passage is taken from
his works, vol. iii. pp. 333', 334; but the Catena-compiler
stops short in the middle. Here is. the close of the pas-
sage, which gives Dr. Pusey's interpretation of John vi.
56, a direct denial.
" So then a man by eating Christ's body merely sacramentally
may be hardened—may be excluded from his gracious presence.
But no man hath Christ dwelling in him, by this manner of
eating his flesh anddri nking his blood, unless withal he eat the
one and drink the other spiritually. The eating,, then, of
Christ's body, and drinking his blood merely sarramentally,js
not the eating mad drinking here meant." (John vi. 560

We pass over a crowd of people like " Bishop Forbes,"
Sutton, White, Thorndike, &c. &c. who, if they yet lived,
would stare to find themselves ranked among "our Great
Divines of the English Church,"—and pass on to Bishop
Beveridge. Here the Catena-maker advances in auda-
city,—venturing even to the mutilation of sentences, to
suit his purpose. From the Bishop% tract On Frequent
Communion, he gives this citation:—
" When we hear the words of cowecration repeated as they
came from our Lord's own mouth. ' This is My Bedy which:is
given for you" and ' This is My Blood which was shed for you
and for many for the remission of sins ;' we are then steadfastly
to believe, that although the sikbstance of the Bread and Wire
still remain, yet now it is not common bread and wine, as to its
use; but the Body and Blood of Christ in that Bacrament4
sense wherein he spake the words."

Aye, but Bishop Beveridge did not thus end the sen.
tence. He thus continued
--- insomuch, that whosoever duly receives these his
creatures of bread and wine according to Christ's holy institu-
tion, in remembrance of his death and passion,, are rirtalter* of

his most precious body and blood, as it is expressed in the
prayer of consecration."

Again, from the next page of the itime tract, the fol-
lowing passage is given by Dr. Pusey :

- - _
" When it comes to our turn to receive it. then We are to lay
aside all thoughts of bread and wine, and the minister and every
thing else that is or can be seen, and fix our faith, as it is' the
evidence of things not seen,' wholly and solely upon our blessed
Saviour, as offering us His own Body and Blood to preserve our
bodies and sou s to everlasting life, which we are therefore to
receive by faith, as it is the substance of things hoped for,'
steadrastly believing it to be, as our Saviour said, His Body
and blood,' which our Church teacheth us are verily and indeed
taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper."

But this was not the close of the Bishop's sentence. He
went on to say,—
" - by which means, whatsoever It is to others, it will be
to us who receive it with such a faith, the body and blood of
Christ our Saviour, the very substance of all things hoped for.'
upon the account of his body that was broken, and his blood
that was shed, for us." 1

Now these are not unimportant suppressions. Dr.
Pusey's doctrine is, that " It (the body) is there, inde-
pendently of our faith." The teaching of Bishop Bever-
idge is, that only to faith is there any presence or recep-
tion of Christ's body at all. Yet the Bishop is cited as
supporting Dr. Pusey's doctrine !
We shall give but one more instance, and it is that of
an Archbishop. whose name, remembering the moderation
of his views, we were not a little astonished to see in Dr.
Pusey's Catena. We will give the citation entire:—
"Archbishop Wake."
"The bread which we break. is, not only in figure and simi-
litude, but by a real spiritual Communion, His Body. The Cup
of Blessing which we bless is, by the same Communion, His
Blood." 2

There was something very suspicious in the look of this
citation, standing, as it does, without reference to any
chapter or page, or even work, from whence it was taken.
However, we took the trouble to seek for the passage,
and we found it at p. 165 of the "Archbishop's Commen-
tary on the Catechism, sixth edition." But at page 163,
of the same volume, we found these plain declarations

" Q. Are the body and blood of Christ really distributed to
every Communicant. in this Sacrament?
"A, No, they are not ; for then every Communicant, whether
prepared or not for it, would alike receive Christ's body and
blood there: That which is given by the priest to the Comma.
nicant is, as to its nature, the same after consecration that it
was before, viz., bread and wine : only altered as to its use and
signification.
"a. If the body and blood of Christ be not really given and
distributed by the priest, how can they' be verily and indeed
taken and received by the faithful Commdritcaut ?
" A. That which is given by the priest is, an to its substance,
bread and wine as to its sacramental nature and signification,
it is the figure, or representation, of Christ's, body and blood.
which was Lroken and shed for us. The yery body and blood of
Christ, as yet it isnot. But being with faith and piety received
by the Communicant, it becomes to him, by thetkrsning of God,
and the grace of the Holy Spirit, the very body and blood of
Christ."

Here, then, again, we have Dr. Pusey's fake doctrine
eschewed and condemned in the plainest and most distinct
manner. That which he holds, the Archbishop flatly de-
nies : that which the Archbishop teaches, he condemns.

1 Bishop Beveridge's' Works, 1824, vol. i. p. 603, 6Cb44.
2 Dr. Pusey's Serfton : Appendix, p. 78.

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE BISHOP OF OSSORY'S CHARGE ANJI

" THE TRACTS" (RESERVE).

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.-

Syn:,—l forbear noticing the earlier parts of this admi'--
rable charge. not that they are deficient in interest or less'
ably dealt with, but by reason of their being more in the
ordinary routine of similar publications—and come at
once to the subject of Reserve, being one of those on
which the bishop feels it necessary " to correct or deter-

mine the views of others, and even beyond what that par-
pose requires, to make known his own" (p. 5).
But first we must bear in mind the-extreme reverence
with which the disciples of the tract school affect to treat

,he opiniens-of m bishop. Mr. Newman, in his letter to

:he Bishop of Oxford, 1841, repeats the-sentiment he had

uttered three years before to the archdeacon—A bishop's
lightest ward, ex cathedra', is heavy. His judgment on
a book cannot be light. It is a rare occurrence." Dr.
Pusey, also, in his letter to Dr. Jelf, of the same date,
writes in the same strain. It is to be f*ared, however,
that this professed respect for the sentence of a bishop
is to be received with considerable limitation, and holds

valid only when.his feelings are in unison with those of
the party; else•what is to be said of Di Pasey's stric-
tures on the bishops, conveyed in the blandest terms ima-
ginable in his, letter (1842) to his Grace the Archbishop
of Canterbury, "on the present crisis on the English
church ;" or still more, of that vaunt (cited in the
Churchman's Monthly Review, January, 1842) lately
issued from the lips of a tractarian, that "'steps must
shortly be taken-to hring the refractory bishops, to their
senses."
The learned prelate,. wheee charge is now- before me,
after pressing apon his assembled clergy the obligation to
a patient, prayerfnl and reverent study of the whole sa-
cred volume, that they may be enabled rightly. to divide
and to declare the whole counsel and truth of God, is led

to grapple with those tracts. especially in which an oppo-
site doctrine is taught and defended. Both tracts 80 and

87 are entitled "-o; Reserre,in Communicating•Rkligious
Knowledge:" but' the bishop confines himself to the re-
serve recommendeclin ,commnicating the great doctrine
of the atonement. We have large quotations from the

- .
tracts in question, .in order (as he says—p'.43), "to fix
beyond any reasonable doubt their true object as regards
thin aootr;ne." Against No. 80 it had been timed, that
it discountenanced-the priaelting of the atonement to, im-

penitent sinners to briny them to repentance, and to pe-
nitent sinners to confirm them in holiness—hat, it con-
demned any preaching which makes this truth the

foundation of offers .of mercy to sinners, the- source of
Christian morals to holiness, which makes it the instru-

meat of converting •and reforming, of drawing-:men to
Christ, and after Clirist. After a lapse of nearly three
years No. 87 appears, in which the writer gives what
seems to be a disavowal of the object imputed to the pre-
ceding tract on the -same subject, but what really leaves
the full weight of the charge upon him still ; for. he dis-
claims having even-recommended that " it (the doctrine
of the atonement) should be intentionally and designedly
withdrawn from all public mention" (Tract 5,7-=p. 52).
He is not charged :with having condemned all- public
mention of that doctrine, and' his disclaimer goes•not a
whit further; while rnultipliettpassages from the tracts in
question leave it beyond doubt that the charge, already
given in substance, is well founded, and which after all is
not inconsistent with the literal truth of his disclaimer.
A " mass of sophistry and misrepresentation and con-
fusion," " arguments scattered without much regard to
order," through " these very long, very rambling and
very misty treatises," philosophy and natural instinct,
Scripture and tradition, are all made to combine in en-
forcing the duty. of Reserve, for which the writer pleads.
And if the writer's statements left his purpose in any re-
spect doubtful, the course of the reasoning by which they
are sustained most make it. perfectly clear."' Such are
the sentiments and suck the expressions of Dr, O'Brien
with reference to these tracts- : and to every one acquainted
with the mind and manner. of that amiable and eminent
Christian and prelate, they, will convey a more than ordi-
nary weight of deliberate censure upon " that series of
publications -shich (as he observes elsewhere) have ac-
quired such unhappy celebrity."
Instead of entering into a detailed examination.of all the
arguments in these tracts,.the bishop confines himself to a
single division, choosing (as he says) the arguments which
have been drawn from the example of the teaching of our
blessed Lord in the course of his earthly ministry. " I
select those arguments (adds his lordship) because, while
they are in their own nature the most important, they
seem to have been most relied on in the tract, and they
certainly have contributed more to the impression which
it has made than any other which it contains ; and, more-
over, they furnish a fair specimen of the general character
of the reasoning employed in the divisions- which I am
obliged to omit." (p. 4k)
Before entering, however, on this examination, his lord-
ship finds it necessary, by way of safeguard against the
insidious poison of these tracts, to forewarn his clergy of
the eg;eivocal use of the principal term that obtains almost
universally throughout them. Reserve is not merely used
for hclding back certain truths, and keeping silence about
them, but also for caution, and for discretion, and for
reverence in treating them. And all that the author can
find in support of the duty of reserve in any of the latter
senses, is taken by him, apparently without any doubt, as
of no less force to• prove it to be a duty, in a former sense ;
and when pressed with arguments against his rule of re-
serve in one of the senses of the word, he is able to retreat
into one of the other senses, in which he is safe from all
disturbance." (p. 47).
This letter has already so far erewded the limits I in-
tended for itethat 1 must reserve foe a further communie
cation the bishop's exposure of "the wonderful careless-
ness of the tract writers in dealing with Holy Scripture,"
the arbitrary violence with which they treat it, making it.
prove and disprove what they like, and seeing in it, what
they want,, and nothing else," not merely misrepresenting
and perverting Holy Scripture, but even attempting to
maintain their point against its. positive and expresseestie
'irony." (p.p. 224-5).
I cannot conclude better than by extracting the note
(p. 24) in the last charge of our own revered Bishop of
Chester " The divinity of the Oxford tracts has. been, as
completely refuted in all its parts as any erroneous opinions
can ever be refuted ; and. it is a sign of the discretion, if
not of the candour of the writers, to treat these answers
generally as if they had, never been written. If this con-
tinue to be the case after the recent publication of Mr.
Goode's elaborate "Rule of Faith and Practice," it must
be considered as a tacit acknowledgment of completerefu-
tation."
It has continued to be the case, (since the puny drivel-
ling in this instance of the British exilic, having neither
grappled with a single fact, nor disproved a single argu-
ment, cannot be considered as an answer)—it still con-
tinues, and is likely so to remain, for reasons best known
to those discreet gentlemen themselves, notwithstanding
the publication of the charge now under our conside-
ration. Mr. Williams, the defeated candidate for the
Professorship of Poetry, the author of the tracts in ques-
tion, is more likely to imitate the flippant assumption of
his leader, Mr. Newman,. (coolly gettieg rid of Dr.
O'Brien's masterly work on " Justification by Faith only"•
as undeserving of notice,. because only setting forth, hy
Mr. N.'s account, the old Lutheran view of the sutoject,)
than fairly to canvass the statements put forward b, the
learned prelate, and candidly to admit the eenvincieig
power of the truth they contain.

I am, Sir,

YOr)1/4
A. M.

Liverpoal, September 91h, 1843.