of our Low Church brethren a warm testimony to the value of the Church's system of services from Advent to Advent, and to the spirituality and appropriateness of the Church's prayers. The more Mr. Wheeler enters into the spirit of that system and of those prayers, the more surely will he learn to value her highest service-her true 'Liturgy--and we cannot but hope that when he next appears in print, he will be found to have imbibed fuller and higher sacramental views.
8. We have reserved to the last what is perhaps the most remarkable book of all. It is not, strictly speaking, a book of sermons, but, as each section has for its heading one of our Blessed Lord's parables, which-or rather one aspect of which-is then explained (after a fashion), it may be regarded roughly as coming under that head. The parables which Canon Winterbotham selects are 'The Parables of the Kingdom'-that is, those which our Lord introduces with the words 'The Kingdom of Heaven [or The Kingdom of God] is like,' &c. These are fifteen in number, and they are treated in order in rather startling fashion. The book is undoubtedly able, suggestive, and original, furnishing food for thought in every page. Moreover, the writer is evidently a sincere believer and a sound Churchman. His position as a Canon of St. Mary's, Edinburgh, would lead us to assume this; and the assumption is not really belied by anything which his book contains. But he certainly treats his subject-well, to put it mildly, in a most unconventional way; and what he writes is calculated to unsettle the preconceived ideas of many; in fact, this seems to be his intention. To give a few instances. Our Blessed Lord's interpretation of the Parable of the Sower 'adds nothing whatever to our understanding.
We should have been able to interpret the good seed, the birds of the air, the thorns, the shallow soil, for ourselves' (p. 32). In the Parable of the Tares 'there is a deliberate confusion between the seed and the people in whose hearts the seed is sown. . . . If it were anywhere else, we should certainly say it was confusion of thought, due to careless and inaccurate mental processes. The seed is one thing it is confessedly the word of the kingdom. The people who get sown with the seed, who profit or do not profit by it are another thing they are confessedly the hearers of the word' (pp. 37-8). He lays great stress on the fact that the characters in the earthly story' are not in themselves held up for our imitation, and works this out in startling detail. Thus in the Parable of the Hid Trea
"the man "hid" the treasure found, i.e. he kept his discovery back, gave no hint that the field was anything better than its neighbours; bid for it, and bought it in a casual, careless way, as though he wanted it for building on, or to make a brickfield of. That was odious-or at least was objectionable. And there is not anything more noticeable in our Lord's parables than His entire indifference to the moral character of those whom we might call the "heroes" of His stories' (p. 79).
This idea he works out in detail in many parables. In the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard the householder's plea, that it was VOL. XLVII.-NO. XCIV.
lawful for him to do what he liked with his own, is untenable now, whatever it was then.' He is capricious and unjust' (p. 126). In the Parable of the King's Supper our Lord never used in His teaching any piece of imagery more frightful than this of the man without a wedding-garment. The horribleness of it might really be considered gratuitous if it were not His. . . . The action of the king, indeed, in this matter is, on the face of it, arbitrary and passionate' (pp. 139, 140). In 'The Rich Man and Lazarus :'
'The story is designedly clothed in the crudely materialistic language current among the Jews, because it is directed against Jewish covetousness and Jewish superstition. God is not referred to in the story. Father Abraham is the "divinity" of the piece. No Christian can by any possibility accept the theology which is implied in it, because it is simply the theology of a debased Judaism which looked no higher than to "Father Abraham" for hope of good things in the life to come' (p. 157).
In the Parable of the Ten Virgins:
'From the point of view of the Gospel they [the wise virgins] are distinctly worse than the others. The only fault charged against the foolish virgins is "foolishness," want of foresight, carelessness. The wise virgins are simply wise in their own interests; they are selfish and hard-hearted. They decline to part with any of their oil, for fear they should not have enough left for themselves; they get rid of the importunity of their sisters by sending them to buy oil at the shops-in the middle of the night!' (p. 167).
Finally, in the Parable of the Drag Net:'
'There is another thing which we cannot avoid seeing, strange and uncomfortable as it is. The fishes within the net are neither better nor worse than those outside. They are, as it says, "of every kind." Broadly speaking, they only differ from the rest of their kith and kin by the fact (with all that depends upon it) of being within the net. Christians at large are no better and no worse than the rest of mankind, except so far as the fact of being Christian and under a certain pressure of Christian opinion has affected them for good. It is useless to pretend to ourselves that it is otherwise. The average of human character is singularly level through all the great religions of the world, Christianity included' (p. 105).
These extracts, it will be admitted, are sufficiently startling. Nevertheless we believe the book is an honest attempt to discourage injudicious interpreters from tampering with the eternal and immutable laws of morality, and on the principle that the Advocatus Diaboli is a useful functionary, we do not think that it ought to be hastily condemned.
ALEXANDER,
Archbishop
(Armagh), The Leading Ideas
of the Gospels, 509
Amram, Mr. D. Werner, The
Jewish Law of Divorce, 262
Archbishops, the two, on recent
controversies (the Archbishop of
Canterbury's Charge delivered at
his First Visitation, and the
Archbishop of York's Pastoral
Letter on The Present Distress),
476 sqq. the Archbishop of
Canterbury here speaks as Pri- |
mate of All England, 477; his
personal judgment on the value
of the Prayer Book, ib. ; on other
points he explains, as official
Head of the Church, the different
forms of teaching which he be-
lieves to be lawful in the Church
of England, ib.; his statement
of two opposing opinions on the
doctrine of the Eucharist: the
Zwinglian (which is not that of
the Church of England), and
that of those who believe that
'the Sacrament conveys to the
receivers a special mysterious
gift' (to which the Church of
England is committed), 478; an-
other division of opinion: (a) that
'the Real Presence is attached
to the Elements from the moment
of their consecration,' and (b)
that the Real Presence is be-
stowed in the reception, and not
before,' 478 sq.; criticism of the
statement that both views, (a)
and (b), are lawful in the Church,
479; the Archbishop of York's
opinion, ib.; Dr. Temple's view
of the Lutheran doctrine com-
monly called Consubstantiation,'
481; his statements on 'the
proper objects of worship and
prayers for the dead,' ib.; Dr.
Maclagan's statement on the
same subject, 482; opinions of
both Archbishops on the prac-
tice of Confession,' 482 sq.; criti-
cism of some points, 484; Dr.
Temple's treatment of uni-
formity in ceremonial,' ib.; Dr.
Maclagan on the same subject,
485; on external marks of adora-
tion of the sacred Elements, 486;
the subject of the use of hymns,
ib.; both Archbishops condemn
the ceremonial use of incense,
ib.; criticism of Dr. Maclagan's
statement that 'the use of incense
in any form was certainly un-
known in the primitive Church,'
487; the Archbishops' treatment
of the reservation of the Blessed
Sacrament, ib. ; the use of 'addi-
tional services,' 488; Dr. Temple
on the power of the bishops':
'coercive jurisdiction,' and the
episcopal veto, 489; the Arch-
bishop of York on the obligation
of priests and deacons to say
daily the Morning and Evening
Prayer,' 490; the observance of
Holy Days and Seasons of the
Christian year, 491; answer to
the objectionIf all this which
the Archbishops have stated is
true, the Church of England is
only a compromise,' &c., 492;
the real meaning of the Church's
toleration of divergencies, ib.;
the advance in doctrinal belief
in recent times calls for thankful-
ness and congratulation, 493 ;
appeal of the Archbishop of York
to the spirit of self-sacrifice which
may be shown in the obedience
of the clergy to constituted au-
thority, 494; the force of such an
appeal may be diminished if a
minority of the bishops continue
to act and speak in the future as
they have done in the past, 494 ;
the time is full of anxiety, but
also of hope, 495
Arnold, Thomas and Matthew, and
their Influence on English Edu-
cation (by Sir Joshua Fitch, in
the 'Great Educators' Series),
466 sqq. points of contact and
resemblances, but great differ-
ences, in the temperaments and
characters of father and son,
466; estimate of Sir J. Fitch's
work, 466; Thomas Arnold's re-
formation of the spirit of our
public school system through his
position at Rugby, 467; good
effects of early training of boys
in responsibility, 467 sq.; the
social organization of Arnold's
school, 468; basis of his educa-
tional system, ib. ; how he utilized
the various class lessons for
his object, 469; Arnold's share
in the religious controversies of
his time, 470; his Church prin-
ciples, ib.; the career of his son,
Matthew his early education,
471; how his circumstances
acted on the development of his
genius, ib.; like his father, he
tried to educate his generation,
ib.; work as Inspector of Schools,
472; his literary work on re-
ligion his teaching was in the
name of a God whom he knew
only as a stream of tendency,
not ourselves, that makes for
righteousness,' 472 sq.; exaggera-
tions of his gibes on the vulgarity
of English taste, 473; his share
in the credit of raising the popu-
lar taste, ib.; Friendship's Gar-
land, ib.; his catchwords:
"Philistines," Barbarians,' 'sweet-
ness and light,' ib.; Matthew
Arnold's supreme canons of
criticism, 474; his poetry:
it excels that of his chief con-
temporaries in intellectuality,
475; both father and son left
their marks on the England of
their day, 476
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AMPBELL, Rev. D., Hymns
and Hymn Makers, 522
Chaucer, Geoffrey, The Works of
(Globe Edition: ed. A. W. Pol-
lard, &c.), 530
Church Reform, 219 sqq.: the cry
for Disestablishment replaced
by that for Church Reform, 219;
reasons for this change of atti-
tude, 220; the Essays in Aid of
the Reform of the Church (edited
by Canon Gore): their main line
of argument, 221; their plan,
and general character, 222; the
essays of Mr. Rackham and
Lord Balfour, 223; Mr. Justice
Phillimore, Mr. Sturge, 224;
Canon Gore, Canon Scott Hol-
land, 225; Mr. Lyttelton, Mr.
Torr, 226; Mr. De Winton, the
Dean of Norwich, Dr. Fry (head-
master of Berkhamstead), 227;
two main purposes in the demand
for Church Reform: Canon Gore's
catalogue of abuses to be re-
moved, 226; Mr. Sturge's list of
reformanda, 230; criticism of
the Appeal of the Church Re-
form League, 230 sq.; the pro-
posed reform of the Convoca-
tions, 231; the formation of
Houses of Laymen upon a repre-
sentative base, and with legal
powers, 232; objections to the
scheme, 233; important points
omitted from it, 236; reforms
suggested as alternatives, 237
Clayton, Rev. H. E., The Spiritual
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Needs of Oxford, 514
Coptic Gospels, the (Mr. Horner's
The Coptic Version of the New
Testament in the Northern Dia-
lect), 38 sqq.: the 'Coptic' lan-
guage, 38; comparison of the
three dialects, 36; slow progress
of Christianity in Egypt: Roman
persecutions, 40; new era: St.
Pachomius, 41; probable date
of the Coptic translation of the
Bible, ib.; source of the Sahidic
version, 42; some remarkable
interpolations in it, ib.; character
of the Bohairic version, 43; the
Middle Egyptian version, ib.;
the Clarendon Press edition of
the Bohairic version: admirable
work of the editor (G. H.'), 44;
some criticisms: mistranslation
of Coptic roots which have each
various meanings, 45; disastrous
consequences of always trans-
lating a word in the same man-
ner, 47; abuse of italicised words,
48 objection to the treatment
of the tenses of the Coptic verb,
49; general appreciation of the
translator's work, 49 sq.
Crisis, The present, in the Church
of England, 1 sqq.; the aims of
Mr. Kensit's party, 2; character
of the newspaper correspondence
on the subject, 3; Bishops of
Southwell and Gibraltar on Con-
fession, 3 sqq.; the 'pronounce-
ment' of the Lambeth Con-
ference of 1878, 4; Dr. Pusey's
rejoinder, 5; position of the
Church of England stated by the
Rev. H. E. Hall, 6; Canon
Gore's view on the practice of
Confession, 7; Canon Newbolt
on the Church's use of the term
'Absolution,' 8 n.; the teaching
of our Lord ignored by the ob-
jectors to Confession, 9; dis-
tinction between Confession'
and 'Direction,' 10; the opinions
of the Bishop of Southwell criti-
cized, ib.; its alleged 'moral
dangers,' I; the anxiety caused
by the Protestant war against
doctrines and practices which
have great authority in the
Church, 12; need of a secure
basis for the future: consolida-
tion and order desiderated, 13;
the wondrous growth of Catholic
doctrine and ceremonial in the
last sixty years, 14; an undeni-
able chaos in the conduct of the
services of the Church, 15;
examples of the treatment of the
service of Morning Prayer, ib.;
the Holy Sacrifice should hold
the chief place in our worship,
16; extraordinary irregularities,
17; examples of tinkering,' 19;
Bishop of Hereford's opinion of
'ritualistic enthusiasts and anar-
chists,' 20; the obligation of daily
saying the Morning and Evening
Prayer, 21; meaning of 'a
reasonable hindrance,' 22 sqq.;
the liberty allowed of using ser-
vices other than those in the
Prayer Book, 24; Sir W. Har-
court's argument from this, and
Lord Stanmore's reply, 25;
Bishop of Winchester's opinion,
26; limitations of the 'jus litur-
gicum' of the bishops, 27; the
Church must keep pace with the
demands of the age, but with
care and deliberation, 29; a
rigid uniformity deprecated, 29
sq.; examples of unnecessary use
of additional collects' and 'ad-
ditional services,' 30; remedy
suggested, 31; neglect of the
rubrics of the Catechism, 32;
grave present responsibilities of
the Bishops: regulated local
option' repudiated, 33; ‘loyal
conformity' the present need of
the Church, 35; interference of
Parliament deprecated, 36; fore-
bodings as to the action of the
Bishops, 36 sq.
DALE, Dr., of Birmingham (the
Life by his Son), 354 sqq. :
excellences of the work, 354; its
method, 355; sketch of Dr.
Dale's life: how he gained the
high position of respect in which
he is held by Birmingham, 357;
appreciation of the views of those
from whom he differed, ib.; rela-
tions with distinguished Church-
men, 357 sq.;_ appreciation of
Pusey and the Tractarian Move-
ment, 358 sq.; his entire accept-
ance of the principles of Con-
gregationalism, 359; relation to
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