"We are, perhaps, too apt to judge of these institutions by their issue, and by the aspect they wore when, in their decline, they were brought into contact with an increase of knowledge, and under a searching and no friendly inquisition. But it is impossible to overrate the blessed effects, which, under the special guidance of God, they were the means of producing, in keeping alive and diffusing the light of Christian truth, during these ages of ignorance and social disorder. For they presented to the eyes of men the kingdom of Christ, as a visible body and form of society; they exhibited that society held together by a spiritual rule; men's hearts and consciences controlled by an invisible influence, and by faith in an unseen power, which enabled them to overcome themselves, live in obedience and peace, and be active in religious service. They at once asserted and embodied the existence of a spiritual authority apart from, and far above, the reach of temporal power. Within them Christians of more pious and thoughtful hearts sought a home secure from the storms of the world around; mind was brought into contact with mind; all that remained of learning and philosophy found there a sanctuary, and, by being allied to religion, was saved, and became its handmaid in civilizing and converting. The solemn and stated ceremonial, and unceasing round of services, impressed the pagan mind with the reality of unseen things, and formed a powerful contrast with the savage sacrifices offered to those beings whom superstition had invented.

"Besides this, the inmates were not mere solitaries; but the numerous brotherhood found their allotted tasks in the practice of all the arts, the production of manufactures, the education of youth, the copying of the Scriptures, the cultivation of learning, and the active offices of charity. It could not be, too, but that the holy austerity they exhibited, the spirit of obedience, the power of the Christian faith, the blessings of civilized life, should attract the unsettled tribes amongst whom the convents rose, and to whom they became the present dispensers of light, as indeed they contained in germ the civilized advancement of subsequent ages. Within them, moreover, was found an asylum for the oppressed and injured, for orphans, for redeemed slaves, for helpless infirmity. Within them, schools were formed for the instruction of the young, and of the newly converted ;-here was nursed the spirit of Christian enterprize, and native missionaries were trained and sent forth, sometimes into the surrounding country, sometimes into distant lands, to bear the knowledge of the Redeemer. Thus were gathered together all the main instruments for evangelizing a heathen country; hence, under God, tribes were converted, and the kingdom of Christ extended; until what religious men founded in piety, princes afterwards established on worldly policy, for the civilization of their dominions.”—Pp. 123–125.

The whole book is not too long for the purpose of giving a brief view of its vast subject; and the reader, if he would enter on the details of the present state and requirements of the work, must be referred to the Lectures and their valuable Appendix of Illustrations. He may be referred to them with the assurance that he will not find many words wasted, for the author has matter enough and to spare, and a mind to arrange and digest it. Minute history is not to be expected, and must still be sought in separate sources of information; but one to whom the study is not already very familiar will find his inquiries much facilitated by perusing such a statement as Dr. Grant's of principles as well as facts. Nos. XV. and XVI. of the Appendix will be interesting to those who love to remember the works of God in old time. Nos. XLIII, and XLIV. show a contrast between ancient and modern practice that is worth observing. In the lectures themselves, the Author is necessarily more directly

occupied with principles. One subject of deep interest to thoughtful minds is thus beautifully touched, at the close of a review of present

wants:

"Let me revert, in a few words, to the point from which I set out. Nothing has been said on the wide subject of the unity of the whole Church Catholic, the one great want of Christendom; and of this it would be presumptuous to speak. It is, indeed, the condition of the word of God being glorified widely, fully, speedily. As some blessings have for many long years been undoubtedly forfeited through the loss of it; so, on this account also, the exceeding honour of evangelizing the whole world, is, it may be, indefinitely suspended. And for this cause the work of the Church may be, in the same degree, protracted; it may have to go on toiling in broken disorder, doing its task in great trouble, in fear and uncertainty, and reaping its fruit only partially and at intervals. Upon this, however, I venture not to dwell. Yet as regards the procedures of our branch of the Church within itself, we may direct our desires and endeavours towards the drawing out of those hidden powers which lie folded up within its divine system, and which are inherent in its unity. We cannot, indeed, look around us without seeing a stirring and converging of men's hearts towards this point; we cannot but recognise instinctive strivings after it, though it be in the narrow and really baseless schemes of union by which the want is sought to be supplied. We may accept even these as tokens for good; and yet only the more, in patience and submission, aim at calling forth those living principles of action within the Church, which, directed by its spiritual rulers, as the centre of its energies, may bear with them the sympathies and willing cooperation of the whole body. We may be content to bear for a time the taunt, when we are told that we are possessed of no uniting principle, that we have lost all claim to it, all the semblance of apostolic discipline; that we have no concentrated action, nor uniform system; that our power is frittered away in independent irregular doings, and rival associations; that we neither consolidate at home, nor present a compacted front against the adversary abroad;-we may be content to be still, and, as an omen of the coming day when those who bear us evil will shall be able no longer to use any such proverb, may recur in grateful recollection to the auspicious and moving scene, when, under the shadow of one of its most ancient and hallowed sanctuaries, the Church did consecrate to the pastoral office, and did send forth to our country's most distant dependencies, yea, to earth's utmost limits, five of its chosen children, to be the centres of its visible unity, the vicegerents of its rule, the channels of its apostolic gifts and ministrations. ↑

Yet this is but the earnest of greater doings. And only the more vigorously must we second these efforts, and prepare to meet the call when labourers are demanded for the whitening harvest. These leadings of God's providence are surely only drawing on larger results. They cannot stay. Fresh success will demand fresh sacrifice. And the Church at home, if it is to share in the glorious enterprize, must enter on the field with the Church abroad. Though occupying a securer post, and further removed from the scene of strife, still it is militant; it is only not in the first ranks, it must bear its portion of toil. It must support, counsel, repair losses, encourage, supply the whole armoury of warfare; and this surely must be done systematically, with careful earnestness, as carrying the very will of Christ into effect. For it is not merely in

*For it formed the subject of the admirable Sermon of the Bishop of Salisbury, preached before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and published in the Report for 1842. The same topic has been since handled also by a prelate of the American Church, in a Sermon entitled "The Church upon her knees," by the Bishop of New Jersey.

On the feast of St. Bartholomew, 1842, the edifying sight was given to the Church, of the five Bishops of Barbados, Gibraltar, Antigua, British Guiana, and Tasmania, being consecrated in Westminster Abbey.

the unity of operation and external system, but in the energetic unity of a sanctified will acting in these, that the strength of the Church resides, before which the enemies of the Lord will give way, and the gainsayers of the Truth be put to silence."-Pp. 258-261.

Hope is the condition of labour, and labour of hope. Mere visions of the future extension of the Gospel may excite for a time; but the slow fulfilment will disappoint the inactive, and the fruitless thought will die away. But those who can feel that they are bringing but one stone now and then, and having set it in its right place, in a building that shall one day be a glorious temple, can steadily contemplate the complete design in the present rude foundations or unfinished piers. Hope may be strong without being sanguine; for it is a law that has never been broken, that a good work has its good result. Only let all private fancies and human predilections be cast off, or but slightly held, for they are the causes of disappointment. If the work is up-hill for a time, the present exertion is the more laborious, but it is the more necessary; if more is suffered and less seen, a more essential work is done for the Church, and more treasure laid up in heaven.

If there be one characteristic of Dr. Grant's Bampton Lectures with which we are especially satisfied, it is the fearless way in which he owns the ill-success attendant upon almost all our modern Missions. And when we say fearless, we do not mean forward and intrusive: we have often observed an unfeeling parade of domestic weakness and incapacity in some writers when speaking of the Church of England. Such is not Dr. Grant's temper: his is rather a chastened sorrow. Yet the fact remains the same; and, as its index, we may mention that we have positively no authorized manual for the instruction of catechumens or new converts, but Bishop Wilson's Indian Instructed. And another want which Missionaries must have felt is that of practical training in the art of disputing. Not only have they never learned to place the doctrines of the Cross in order, that is, according to due analogy and economy, before the pagan people; but when they have brought their message we are afraid that they seldom know how to defend it. When vast systems, such as that of Hindooism, have to be pulled down, we must have something better than vague declamation with which to replace it.

"For a man successfully to address himself to a Brahmin it will not be enough that he be personally pious, and zealous, and filled with a compassionate love of souls: not enough for him to be fluent in speech and versed in Scripture; nor, on the other hand, in addressing the savages of Africa or New Zealand, is it alone needful that he possess quickness of thought, be kind, or prayerful, or apt at instruction."-P. 246.

And so Dr. Grant goes on to instance, as illustrations of these

A recent writer (Mr. Scott, in his Appeal, &c.) says that even this, as published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, is shorn of its very useful and practical preface. What we need is something in the way of St. Augustine's De Catechizandis Rudibus: the order and proportion of disclosing the articles of the creed we have been led to deem unimportant.

needs in Anglican Missionaries, philosophical acumen with which to combat the acute and subtle philosophy of the Hindoos (a subject on which the very learned work of Mr. J. B. Morris does the thankworthy office of showing our deep ignorance)-accomplishment in liberal arts, which was the chief secret of the success of the Jesuits in China-practical skill in languages, which was an eminent qualification of the gifted H. Martyn. Indeed, it may be that the very fervour and zeal of many Missionaries-especially the self-sent -to say nothing of the absence of the Church's grace in their ministrations may have contributed to their failure. Zeal without knowledge is proverbially dangerous: and it is quite remarkable what systematic and well-digested methods of conversion were adopted even in what we term the dark ages, which have been succeeded by that which was not inspired for such a purpose, viz. the Bible without note or comment.

The present author gives in his Appendix a very useful instance of the superior method which we have abandoned.

"The following are instances of the course of instruction adopted by Missionaries, in which it will be observed how the external facts of revealed truth were primarily brought forward.

"The first passage is extracted from Mr. Turner's History of the AngloSaxons, vol. ii. pp. 486, 487, 6th edit.

"We have an intimation" (he says) "of the plan of instruction which they (the Missionaries) adopted for the change of the pagan mind, in the following judicious directions of Alcuin for a progressive information:—

""This order should be pursued in teaching mature persons:

"First, They should be instructed in the immortality of the soul; in the future life; in its retribution of good and evil; and in the eternal duration of both conditions.

"Second, They should then be informed for what sins and crimes they will have to suffer with the devil everlasting punishments; and for what good and beneficial deeds they will enjoy unceasing glory with Christ.

"Third, The faith of the Holy Trinity is then to be most diligently taught: and the coming of our Saviour into the world for the salvation of the human race. Afterwards, impress the mystery of His passion; the truth of His resurrection; His future advent to judge all nations; and the resurrection of our bodies.

"Thus prepared and strengthened, the man may be baptized.'*

"Similar to these topics are those advanced by Boniface, Bishop of Rome, in a letter to Edwin, King of England, A.D. 625, in order to persuade him to embrace the Christian faith. After the first salutation, he proceeds:―

"Supernæ igitur Majestatis clementia, quæ cuncta solo verbo præceptionis suæ condidit et creavit, cœlum videlicet et terram, mare, et omnia quæ in eis sunt, dispositis ordinibus, quibus subsisterent, coæterni Verbi sui consilio, et Sancti Spiritûs unitate, dispensans, hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem suam ex limo terræ plasmatum constituit, eique tantam præmii prærogativam indulsit, ut eum cunctis præponeret, atque servato termino præceptionis, æternitatis subsistentiâ præmuniret. Hunc ergo Deum, Patrem, et Filium, et Spiritum Sanctum, quod est individua Trinitas, ab ortu solis usque ad occasum, humanum genus, quippe ut Creatorem omnium atque Factorem suum, salutifera confessione fidei veneratur et colit; cui etiam summitates imperii rerumque potestates submissæ sunt, quia ejus dispositione omnium prælatio regnorum conceditur. Ejus ergo bonitatis misericordia totius creaturæ suæ dilatandæ

* Alcuin, Op. p. 1484.

subdi etiam in extremitate terræ positarum gentium corda frigida, Sancti Spiritûs fervore in sui quoque agnitione, mirabilitèr est dignata succendere.' "In conclusion, he sums up as follows:- Accedite ergo ad agnitionem Ejus qui vos creavit, qui in vobis vitiæ insufflavit spiritum, qui pro vestra redemptione Filium suum unigenitum misit, ut vos ab originali peccato eriperet, et ereptos de potestate nequitiæ diabolicæ cœlestibus præmiis muneraret. Suscipite verba prædicatorum et Evangelium Dei, quod vobis annunciant; quatenus credentes, sicut sæpius dictum est, in Deum Patrem Omnipotentem et in Jesum Christum ejus Filium, et Spiritum Sanctum, et inseparabilem, Trinitatem, fugatis dæmoniorum sensibus, expulsaque à vobis solicitatione venenosi et deceptibilis hostis, per aquam et Spiritum Sanctum renati, ei, cui credideritis, in splendore gloriæ sempiternæ cohabitare, ejus opitulante munificentia, valeatis.'-Bedæ, Hist. Eccl. b. ii. c. xi.

"A similar course of instruction is mentioned in Blumhardt, (vol. iv. p. 218, extracted, as it appears, from the Annales de l'Histoire Russe, by Nestor, a monk of the convent of Kiew, who lived 1056-1116,) as that adopted by a Missionary of the Greek Church, who was sent to convert Wladimir, King of Russia, A.D. 987. The points on which he dwelt were The creation of the world, the fall of man,-the deluge, the elect people of God,-the coming of the Saviour, the divine doctrine which He left in the world,-the eternal joys of the just, the eternal misery of the unbelievers.'

"Directions as to the order in which the doctrines of the Christian faith are to be set before catechumens are given, likewise, by Thomas à Jesu (p. 877), and by Franciscus à Breno (part ii. p. 464.) Additions to the pure faith are, as was to be expected, found in these latter writers; but it may be worthy of consideration whether similar instructions, as to the order in which the verities of the Christian faith should be brought before the heathen mind, might not be useful to our Missionaries."-App. p. 406-408.

Indeed, we scarcely hesitate to say, that one cultivated and accomplished head of Bishop Middleton's College at Calcutta, would do more in evangelizing India than the ordinary run of missionaries; .e. the siftings of the English Clergy, with which it is to be feared our Colonial Churches were, some years ago, all but entirely, and even now remain partially, inflicted. The root of evil, we are convinced, consists in our not having a college de propagandâ fide: and when we mention a college, we desire a missionary foundation on the largest scale. We shall not be misunderstood, as undervaluing in this place the labours of the Society for Propagating the Gospel : none can so painfully realize the deficiencies of such a body, and so practically, as those who are its most active supporters. It is, indeed, quite wonderful how much, and in how good a way, such men as the present secretary contrive to do, and with means the most miserably inadequate, and in spite of influences the most uncheering. One young clergyman employs somewhere, we believe, some portion of his time in rubbing up candidates for orders and missions in the English colonies, under the auspices of the Society for Propagating the Gospel. And this is the whole Missionary seminary of the English Church for we would gladly, but we are quite unable, seek to include the Islington Institution under our system. The present sad condition, however, of the Church Missionary Society, must shut it out from a Churchman's love alike and respect. But so it is: we procure at least a moiety of our missionaries from this unhappy Institution—our versions of Holy Scripture from the Bible Societies,—and