themselves from sin is not allowed to appear. Particular instances, however, must fail to convey an adequate notion of the liberties which have been taken with the good Bishop. There is throughout a general lowering of doctrine, and a modifying of all dogmatic statement. No doubt the Committee of the Society for Promoting Christian. Knowledge consider these things" antiquated;" but then we think they ought to have apprised us of this their opinion, because there are some who have been taught to consider truth as "the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.

To speak more seriously. We have long lamented the tone of the Society's original publications; but so long as the subscribers choose to allow a certain number of pragmatic London clergy, with a sprinkling of briefless barristers, to elect and re-elect themselves into committees, it has appeared to us that they have only themselves to blame; and we have been wont to confine our purchases at the Depôt to Bibles and Prayer-books, and a few of the old standard works. We do not profess to say that the sacrifice has been very great to us. We could, even without a very great pang, retire from the Society altogether; but to see the Committee sailing under false colours, and pretending to republish the works of our standard divines, while they really substitute inventions of their own, does move our indignation. We can only compare their conduct to a man who, having stolen a coat, is compelled to tear and soil it, lest its goodness should betray the secret of the theft. Why, in these days of rail-road communication, should a few metropolitan rectors and vicars monopolize the whole management of this and the other Societies?

A Pastor's Memorial of Egypt, the Red Sea, the Wildernesses of Sin and Paran, &c. &c. By the Rev. GEORGE FISK, Prebendary of Lichfield, Rural Dean, and Vicar of Walsall. London: Seeley. THIS volume purports to be written for the benefit of the author's parishioners, and conveys, undoubtedly, the impressions produced upon a mind trained in the most rigidly ultra-protestant school, by the scenes presented to it during a rapid and hasty tour throughout the countries named in the title-page. The author had an undoubted right to record those impressions for the advantage of his flock; but we deprecate the attempt to give enlarged publicity to such crude, prejudiced views as are displayed in the volume before us. It contains much that is interesting, much which bears marks of piety, and reverence for holy things and hallowed associations; and yet, at the same time, it is impossible not to feel pained at the self-satisfied spirit with which Mr. Fisk surveys all indications of zeal and devotion in any other communion than his own; the invariable sneer of pity at every form of religious faith saving that of the Church of England; the utter want of sympathy, alike with the self-denying austerities of the recluse, and the gorgeous magnificence of the cathedral-the spirit, in a word, which led a priest of the Anglican Church to travel through the most hallowed spots of the Holy Land without one feeling of regret at the suspension of Catholic communion which made him an isolated individual, incapable of offering the right hand of brotherly fellowship to the Christians in whose lands he was a pilgrim,-shrinking from

their worship as though it was a pollution, and viewing their most solemn services as a show to be gazed at, an abomination, to be contemplated only for the purpose of qualifying the spectator to speak to the monstrous superstitions, from personal inspection, at some future meeting of a Protestant Association!

We are no defenders of modern popery, as may appear from our last number; but, at the same time, we cannot but believe that no advantage is gained for the cause of truth by such sweeping and unguarded assertions as that of Mr. Fisk, after contemplating the flocking of pilgrims to St. Peter's at Rome, during the Holy Week:-" It was altogether an imposing scene; but the great drawback upon it all, was the melancholy feeling, that religion-the religion which saves souls and glorifies God-had no place in this splendid temple of a false system."

It is a circumstance which strikes Romanists with amazement, and is, in truth, inexplicable to every truly Catholic mind, that members of our Church, who profess to hold such views with regard to the ceremonies of Popery, feel no scruple whatever in attending them for the sake of gratifying curiosity, even at the sacrifice of time which one would think would have been far more profitably employed in secret meditation, or in participation in the worship of their own communion. Yet here, upon his own showing, Mr. Fisk, an English clergyman, thought proper to pass the Holy Week, (a week, be it observed, which his own Church, no less than that of Rome, directs to be spent in daily public prayers, in fasting, and silence, and penitence)-in hurrying from church to church to see, as a sight, the most solemn religious ceremonials. Good-Friday, indeed, saw him at the English chapel in the morning-where "it was no small privilege to be permitted, in the very stronghold of Popery-to hear the truth as it is in Jesus, simply and faithfully proclaimed." The rest of that most solemn day, however, was passed in exploring some of the more distinguished churches of the city-sneering at the devotion of those who "knelt, and fervently kissed the feet" of a crucifix-in lionizing the Pantheon, the Mons Capitolinus, and the ancient scenes of the eternal city. We doubt not the pious intentions of Mr. Fisk; but we must be permitted to ask whether he is capable of comprehending or appreciating, in his prejudiced state of mind, the devotion and reverence which actuated some at least of the Romish worshippers whose acts he contemplated with so contemptuous a pity?

On Easter-Sunday Mr. Fisk would, we presume, have attended the English chapel again, and probably have partaken of the Holy Communion according to the rites of the Church of England; but he felt that the duty of testifying against Rome must supersede, upon this occasion, even those sacred services. Rome could be seen but once— Easter would probably return again.

'Feeling that I ought to embrace every opportunity of seeing Popery in the magnificent form which it assumes at head-quarters, in order that future protests against it might be based upon actual experience, I resolved on being present at St. Peter's on Easter-day. Popery, as it is, can be thoroughly understood only in Rome. We may read of it in books, and become intimately enough acquainted with its dogmas and doctrines and discipline. We may trace its insidious workings in our own land, whether it go like the serpent, or speak like the lion; but as to its power to influence the mind, by captivating the imagination-this must be looked for in Rome!

Notices of Books.

"As early as nine o'clock on Easter Sunday, we found the church thronged by those who were eagerly waiting for the ceremonies of the day; while the whole extent of the area was lined by the papal guards in their picturesque Swiss attire, keeping a due space for those who were to take part in the proceedings. All Rome was throbbing with life and animation. Its week-day dullness, and moping inactivity, were quite banished. All was glitter and glare and display. Carriages of nobles and cardinals -the latter, with their splendid gold and sumptuous scarlet trappings, thronged the streets, which resounded with the clattering of wheels and the cracking of whips. All notion of Sabbath quiet and peacefulness was at an end. I thought of Christ and his meekness, and asked within myself-Are these the genuine followers of such a Master? as my eye glanced upon nobles, cardinals, and inferior ecclesiastics, monks, pilgrims, and devotees, all pressing on together in a current of excited eagerness, as if to some secular spectacle.

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I took my station on the south side of the high altar, amidst one of the largest assemblies I ever witnessed; and certainly, I must admit, one of the most picturesque and striking. Perhaps it would not be easy for the most vivid imagination to conceive any thing more splendid and dazzling, in its way. And there was something, too, in the season of the year-the blandness of the atmosphere without, and the brightness of the light within, that helped the mind and stimulated the imaginative faculty. It was at about ten o'clock that the great western doors of the cathedral were thrown wide open, while the choir within sang the introductory anthem. By and by, the papal procession began to enter, advancing up the middle of the nave, which had been kept by the pontifical guards. The procession was headed by soldiers in armour, followed by a large retinue of the civil officers of the Pope, in costume, and a great body of ecclesiastics, monks, friars, &c. in the various habits of their orders. Then came the Patriarch of the Greek Church, crowned, accompanied by several bishops of the same Church, and their various officers and attendants; and after them, a very large assemblage of bishops of the Church of Rome, in their splendid and gold-embroidered robes It was, perhaps, half an and mitres; next, a great number of cardinals in their state attire of scarlet and purple, attended by their train-bearers and other officials. hour before those who formed the procession had taken the several places assigned for them. A large space behind the high altar, in which stood the papal throne, was carpeted and superbly decorated with gorgeous drapery of crimson and gold, and set apart for the distinguished members of the procession, except for the cardinals, whose place was immediately about the high altar, so as to be in attendance upon the Pope. As soon as all were in their places, a loud flourish of trumpets from without, responded to by another within the cathedral, announced the arrival of the SovereignPontiff himself. Every eye was turned towards the entrance on the south side, where there is a communication with the Vatican, and soon was seen the uplifted golden cross of the Pope, and next, himself, borne aloft over the heads of the people in his He wore his robes of state gilded chair of state, under a rich canopy, with fans of large dimensions made of peacock's feathers, continually waving from side to side.

-white-silk and gold, and his triple crown. He sat more like an image than a living man, with bis eyes for the most part closed, and occasionally moving his hands, as if in the act of benediction. His person is far from prepossessing, however the weight of years upon his brow might entitle him to be called venerable. I should speak of his countenance as being a bad specimen of the vulgar Italian. He was soon seated on his throne behind the high altar, and received the homage of bishops and others. His triple crown was then removed from his royal brow, and forthwith offered and deposited on the high altar; and then, wearing a plain white skull-cap instead, he was arrayed no longer in royal, but in priestly vestments, for the purpose of saying mass, according to annual custom. During the whole ceremony, the Pope, aged as he is, appeared like a hale and active man. The scene was certainly imposing and splendid in the extreme; but, alas, no religious feeling could for a moment be connected with it. It seemed altogether a matter of mere external display and ceremonious pomp ; and I could but feel how gracious a lot was mine, that I should be a member of a Church through which both the Bread of Life and the Water of Life are really dispensed to the people. And, alas, I thought, if a poor guilty and sin-withered soul, craving after salvation, had entered St. Peter's at that moment, he might have been dazzled by the church's splendour, so as to have forgotten for a season the burthen of his sorrows, but would have departed without an answer capable of bringing peace and consolation! "The Mass was complete-the host was elevated-the idolatrous adoration of the "bread-god" was performed, and the immense congregation began to disperse, in

NO. XXXVI.-N. S.

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order-some to witness, and others to receive, the Papal benediction from the front balcony of St. Peter's. Following the crowd, I made my way to the grand area without; and it was an overpowering scene, when I beheld its vastness crowded with masses of people waiting for the remaining ceremony. I cannot say that they appeared like persons expecting to receive a spiritual benefit, and so far they were right; but yet, there they were, alas, the vassals of a sovereignty which based its magnificence upon the ruins of spirituality. The blue of an Italian sky hung over us, and the lustre of the brightest sunlight broke upon the lovely fountains that were casting their misty streams far and wide. The great bell of St. Peter's and other bells were tolling, military bands were playing, and all were at the height of expectation, when, at length, bells and music suddenly ceased, and a dead silence pervaded the bare-headed and attendant thousands. Immediately the Pope presented himself at the middle balcony, in his full pontifical robes and triple crown, borne forward in his chair of state, and gave the accustomed benediction-signing it, as it were, by the motion of his hands. Some prostrated themselves on the pavement, while others fell upon their knees, and a few remained erect, as mere spectators. As soon as the ceremony was complete, a volley of heavy cannon thundered from Fort St. Angelo; again the military bands burst forth with their acclamatory strains, and soon the area was empty and silent, except as it was traversed by the carriage of a lingering cardinal or noble, weading his way from the splendours of the Vatican. How sweet and refreshing was the simple scriptural worship in which we joined in the afternoon, at the English Protestant Chapel: how affecting the contrast it presented to all we had witnessed in the lifeless formalities of popery, splendid and imposing as they were to the perception of the carnal mind!"-Pp. 23-26.

Undoubtedly, had we been at Rome, and had been apprized of the unprecedented sight which was that day to be seen in St. Peter's, we should have hesitated whether it were not worth witnessing, at any sacrifice. The spectacle of "the Patriarch of the Greek Church crowned, accompanied by many bishops of the same Church, and their various. officers and attendants," in procession in St. Peter's at Rome, preceding the Pope himself, in perfect amity and christian fellowship, was certainly so singular and gratifying, that we really are inclined to envy Mr. Fisk the privilege of beholding it; especially as, so far as our information goes, he is the only person who was ever so fortunate as to witness such a public testimony of the re-union of the Greek and Romish Churches, which such a circumstance plainly indicates.*

From Rome, Mr. Fisk passes on to Naples, where he finds "clergy and monks of all orders swarming about the streets, and loitering in and 'about the churches." The pleasing contrast afforded by the remembrance of his own parish of Walsall, with its select complement of six clergymen to fifteen thousand souls, must have occurred most refreshingly to his mind; but yet, will he not agree with us, that if Rome multiplies mendicant friars, and religious of all classes, to an extreme, the Church of England languishes and is failing for lack of more clergy?—and must there not be something of wisdom in the system which permits and encourages men of all classes and temperaments to enlist themselves in the service of the Church, when we see that Rome preserves her hold upon her people, while the Church of England cannot grasp the affections of her nominal members for want of a more numerous and devoted body of ministers? Are we in a position to pity that communion in which clergy swarm? Would it not be wiser in this to emulate the "wisdom of the serpent," displayed by the Church of Rome, while we plume ourselves upon the domestic simplicity and harmlessness of the Church of England?

Mr. Fisk moralizes upon the uselessness and "withering inactivity"

*What Mr. Fisk means is, the Patriarch, or at least a prelate of the schismatical— that called the United, Greek Church

of the monastic life. He finds "the furniture" of the monks of St. Elmo "poor and scanty, giving but a slender notion of comfort in any particular,"-comfort, we can readily believe, would not be the remarkable part of a Carmelite cell, however it may be one of an English parsonage; but there are such duties as self-denial, and self-mortification; and possibly there may reside, even under the cowl of a "filthy" and "idle" monk, a degree of self devotion for Christ's sake, and a saving knowledge of the Redeemer. Mr. Fisk thinks otherwise:"In one cell lay an aged monk in bed, sick and helpless; my heart longed to be able to set before him Christ Jesus and Him crucified, apart from the corruptions of the Church of which he was a member; and it was sad to be obliged to leave him with the darkness of death and error about him; but there was no help for it."

From Naples, our author makes a rapid tour to Malta, Alexandria, the Pyramids, Cairo, the Desert, Mount Sinai, and the Holy Land; returning by Constantinople, the Danube, &c. There is much in his descriptions of scenery and incident which is graphic and interesting, especially in his adventures on his route from Mount Sinai to Akabah, during which, the chief of his Bedoween escort was murdered by the head of a hostile tribe, and Mr. Fisk and his companion placed in circumstances of considerable danger. The catastrophe and its sequel is simply and strikingly narrated, and may be taken as a fair specimen of his powers of descriptive writing :

ear.

"I was awakened for a few minutes, as early as three o'clock on the following morning, by the sound of many voices in loud and earnest conversation, amongst which I recognised that of Sheikh Suleiman; but as noisy conversations, at such early hours, are by no means uncommon with these restless spirits of the wilderness, I gave no beed to it, and composed myself for sleep again, intending to rise about half after four, in order to get a dip in the Red Sea, before resuming the march; and this intention I fulfilled; but just while throwing on the few clothes I had then with me, I heard suddenly a loud strife of many tongues bursting forth-not in our encampment, but in a small copse or grove of palm-trees, about two hundred yards distant. At once the thought rushed upon my mind, that the Mezzeni had overtaken us, and were meditating an attack, now that we were so near the place of their main encampment. This was directly confirmed by the sound of a gun-shot in the palmgrove, which was soon followed up by a second. I ran up towards the encampment as rapidly as possible; and just as I reached it, another shot rang awfully upon my I found our party in a state of the greatest consternation, and gathered closely together, gazing wildly towards the grove. The first thing I learnt, was the harrowing fact, that poor Suleiman had just been murdered by the Mezzeni! It was an astounding announcement. To what would this desperate blow lead-here, in the desert? The prospect of further bloodshed was terrible. It would have been insupportable, but for the influence of that inward calmness which is the privilege of the children of God. We were braced up for the worst, and stood gazing upon the scene, in full expectation, that, out of a deep and deadly spirit of revenge, we should be immediately overpowered by the enemy, and held entirely at their mercy; as any show of defence against so many as had now come down upon us, would have been utterly futile, and might have led to the destruction of us all. How wild and desolate this awful theatre of death appeared, while, with the sound of gun-shots still vibrating in our ears, we thought of Suleiman writhing in his death-throes, and eagerly watched the movements of the murderers! We were motionless-almost breathless. Each man among us gazed silently upon his fellow. Our suspense was not of great duration, but long enough to get the heart secretly lifted up in communion with a covenant God of mercy. And there was sweet peacefulness in that brief exercise.

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My worst fears were groundless. The hearts of all men are in God's hands. Our helplessness must have been a powerful matter of temptation to the blood-stained men, over whom the departed soul of Suleiman was hovering. But God restrained them!-