APRIL 1, 1837.
The publishers have great pleasure in offering to the public, the
following notices of this work. They feel well assured, that the well
known character of the sources from which they come, will secure for
them all the attention and credit which can be desired.
_Gambier, Feb. 24, 1837._
MESSRS. WM. MARSHALL & CO.
GENTLEMEN:--You are perfectly welcome to the use of my
name, in recommendation of the “Library of Christian Knowledge,”
so far as it has been published, as a valuable depositary of the
precious things of “the glorious Gospel of the blessed God;” to
which no inquiring mind can apply in a prayerful spirit, without
edification. Though I know not what works are to follow, I have
entire confidence, that the editor, the Rev. H. Hooker, will
select such only, as will be “for the edifying of the body of
Christ.” Yours, very truly,
CHARLES P. M’ILVAINE, D. D.
_Bishop of Ohio._
_St. Mary’s Parsonage, Burlington, 30th March, 1837._
MESSRS. WM. MARSHALL & CO.
At a time when the country is inundated with a flood of trash,
I have regarded your proposal to publish a LIBRARY OF
CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE, as an auspicious sign of the times;
and I most heartily bid you “God speed!” in your commendable
enterprise. Thus far, my numerous avocations have prevented my
particular attention to the volumes which compose it, and I can,
therefore, speak with confidence only of two of the series. The
volume which you have now in press, Blunt’s _Sketch of the
Reformation in England_, I have long considered among the
most valuable books which the Church of England, fruitful in
all good works, has lately produced; and the volume entitled,
_Popular Infidelity_, written for the series by my
accomplished and intelligent friend, the Editor, will take its
place among the standard books of our language. If, indeed, I
had seen none of the series, such is my confidence, founded
on long and intimate acquaintance, in the Rev. HERMAN
HOOKER, who has charge of it, that I should not hesitate to
commend the undertaking to the confidence of the Church, and to
the acceptance of the whole community. Praying fervently that
HE, who in every good work gives the increase, may
direct this Christian enterprise, and make it promotive of the
Gospel in the Church, I remain very respectfully yours,
G. W. DOANE, D. D.
_Bishop of New Jersey._
_Philadelphia, Feb. 8, 1837._
MESSRS. WM. MARSHALL, & CO.
GENTLEMEN:--In reply to your communication, in
reference to the “Library of Christian Knowledge,” edited by the
Rev. Herman Hooker, I take pleasure in saying, that I regard
it as one of the most valuable and substantial publications
of the present day. The original works from the pen of the
talented editor, I regard, as among the ablest productions of
modern times; and his excellent taste has led him to select from
the English writers, some of the richest stores of theological
truth. I rejoice to know, that this work is to be continued,
and I wish it all success. In my view, both the editor and the
publisher, are conferring upon the country a rich blessing in
this publication.
JOHN A. CLARK,
_Rector of St. Andrew’s Church, Philadelphia_.
_Princeton, N. J. Feb. 18, 1837._
The “Library of Christian Knowledge,” edited by the Rev.
Herman Hooker, and published by Marshall & Co. in a series of
small volumes, is upon a plan well calculated to be useful.
The publication of religious treatises, characterised by
sound evangelical sentiments, and animated with the spirit of
genuine piety, cannot but be highly beneficial to the Christian
community.
The five volumes of this series which have been already
published, meet with my cordial approbation; and if these may
be considered a fair specimen of those which are to follow, the
work may be safely recommended, as furnishing materials for a
valuable CHRISTIAN LIBRARY.
A. ALEXANDER,
_Prof. of Didactic Theology, in the Theological Seminary,
Princeton_.
_Princeton, Feb. 16, 1837._
MESSRS. WM. MARSHALL & CO.
GENTLEMEN:--I have attended with much interest to
the volumes of the “Library of Christian Knowledge,” as they
have successively appeared; and exceedingly rejoice, both
in the plan of the work, and thus far, in its execution. I
have a high opinion of the piety and the talents of the Rev.
Mr. HOOKER, the editor, and consider him as well
qualified to conduct a work of this nature. If the future
volumes should bear a stamp similar to that of those which
have hitherto appeared, I shall be glad--and every friend of
genuine Christianity, I should hope, would be glad--to see them
universally circulated. Wishing you, and the excellent editor,
every encouragement in this publication, I am, gentlemen,
respectfully yours,
SAMUEL MILLER,
_Professor of Eccl. History in the Theological Seminary,
Princeton_.
_Philadelphia, March 2, 1837._
MESSRS. WM. MARSHALL & CO.
GENTLEMEN:--I have just received your communication of
the 28th ult. respecting the “Library of Christian Knowledge,”
now in the course of publication by you. I had supposed that the
work had already established for itself such a character, as to
need no recommendation from any quarter. But, as you are pleased
to suppose that my opinion of it, may be of some use in aiding
its circulation, I cannot refuse to give it to you. And I can
truly say, that, judging from the character of the works already
published in the series, I think it a most valuable publication;
and one well calculated to introduce and cherish a taste for
literature of a high order, and for religious sentiments,
the most evangelical and pure. As to the Rev. Mr. Hooker,
your editor, I regard him as one of our most accomplished and
intellectual men. Any thing that he adjudges fit for the press,
and any thing that comes from his pen, has for me sufficient
recommendation in that very fact. His name ought to be, for
any work, a full passport to the confidence of the public. His
work on “Popular Infidelity,” alone, which makes up your fifth
volume, is of itself sufficient to secure him a high and lasting
reputation, as a man of profound thinking, of very great logical
power, and of very enviable literary attainments. I think that
volume alone will be worth the price of the whole set. Wishing
you success in your laudable enterprise, I am, gentlemen, very
respectfully, your obedient servant,
HENRY W. DUCACHET, M. D.
_Rector of St. Stephens, Philadelphia._
_Philadelphia, March 17, 1837._
MESSRS. WM. MARSHALL & CO.
GENTLEMEN:--I have read several of the volumes of the
“Library of Christian Knowledge,” edited by the Rev. H. Hooker,
and desire to express my strong sense of the importance of
the project, and of the worth of the books, which have been
published. It is a very important design which proposes to turn
the reading of the religious community, from the lighter works
of imagination which have been rather gaining in popularity
among such readers, to a grave and instructive class of books.
I consider Mr. Hooker’s selection, to have been eminently
judicious, as far as regards the real improvement of his
readers; though I should not be surprised, if some less useful
works, should outstrip these, in the market. The worth of a
book is too much determined, by the way it sells. If the actual
value is the standard of estimation, the Library of Christian
Knowledge, will stand very high. Respectfully yours,
STEPHEN H. TYNG, D. D.
_From the Rev. Charles Henry Alden, A. M. Principal of the
Philadelphia High School for Young Ladies, No. 6 Portico Square._
As editor of the “Library of Christian Knowledge,” it is
difficult to conceive of one better qualified in all respects,
than the Rev. Mr. Hooker. Remarkable for his mental discipline;
familiar with our literature, and especially with the higher
order of Theological Letters; habitually conversant with
principles of human nature, and embracing in his wishes to
benefit others, all sensible and good men, he has rendered a
most acceptable service to your readers, and secured an enviable
distinction to himself.
The selected works so far are, in my judgment, most excellent.
“M’Laurin’s Essays” can never be depreciated but by such as
have no sympathy with intellectual elevation and manly piety.
“Goode’s Better Covenant” has already passed to the second
edition; and few men of intelligence, but must admire its
chaste, simple and manly style; and its clear discrimination and
affecting views of Christian doctrines and Christian duties.
“Russell’s Letters,” comprising No. 3 and 4, are of far more
extensive application than their title imports. No person of
reflection, whether he be a religious man or not, can fail of
finding both interest and profit in the reading. No. 5, Mr.
Hooker’s original work, has been so recently published, and so
extensively spoken well of, that I will say only, that if a man
desires the best of company, in which he will find what will
please and improve and dignify, during his reading hours, let
him discourse with “Hooker’s Popular Infidelity.” Yours, very
respectfully,
CHARLES HENRY ALDEN.
_Feb. 20, 1837._
_Baltimore, Feb. 15, 1837._
MESSRS. WM. MARSHALL & CO.
GENTLEMEN:--In answer to yours of the 4th inst. it
gives me pleasure to state, that I have read the volumes of the
“Library of Christian Knowledge,” already published, and am
gratified that evangelical works of such distinguished merit
have been offered to the reading community in a form so popular
and attractive. You have done well, I think, in securing the
editorial services of the talented author of “The Portion of
the Soul,” and “Popular Infidelity,” whose well known taste and
established orthodoxy, give assurance that he will select no
works, that will not be worthy of perusal, and well adapted to
the peculiar wants of the church, at this interesting period.
I am happy to find, that you design to continue the publication
of the Library, and sincerely hope that you will be sustained
in it by the liberal patronage of the Christian public. Yours,
respectfully,
J. P. K. HENSHAW, D. D.
_Philadelphia, March 13th, 1837._
MESSRS. WM. MARSHALL & CO.
GENTLEMEN:--I am gratified to learn, that you are
about issuing a sixth volume of your “Library of Christian
Knowledge.” The volumes already published constitute a very
valuable accession to our stock of religious literature, and are
worthy of a place in every Christian family. The editor is well
known to the public, as the author of several practical works
of great value; and I am acquainted with no man who is better
qualified than himself, to superintend a publication of the kind
in question. Believing as I do, that you are very effectually
promoting the interests of true religion, by placing within the
reach of American Christians, such works as those contemplated
in the plan of your library, I trust the enterprise will receive
a liberal and growing patronage, which will enable you to make
it, in extent as well as in character, a complete “Library of
Christian Knowledge.” I am, very respectfully, yours, &c.
H. A. BOARDMAN,
_Pastor of the Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia_.
_Baltimore, Feb. 27th, 1837._
MESSRS. WM. MARSHALL & CO.
GENTLEMEN:--I am extremely sorry, that it is not in
my power to comply with the request contained in your letter.
The difficulty arises from no indisposition to accommodate you,
nor from any want of confidence in the work, with which you are
furnishing the public, but simply from the fact, that I have
only the last three volumes of the series, and of these, have
been so situated, as to have read only volumes three and four.
If I had the leisure at present, it would give me pleasure
to procure and peruse the others; and then forward you the
recommendation, which I am sure I should feel authorised to give.
“Russell’s Letters,” I have read with more satisfaction than I
have derived from most of the modern publications which have
come under my notice; and I do not hesitate to say, that the
pleasure of perusing those two volumes, would be an equivalent
for the price of the five. In the competency of the editor
to continue the series, I have full confidence. He has given
sufficient proof in the character of the selections already
made. I am therefore gratified to learn that the “Library of
Christian Knowledge” is to be enlarged. In haste, yours truly,
J. JOHNS, D. D.
MESSRS. WM. MARSHALL & CO.
GENTLEMEN:--Your favour of the 13th inst. was duly
received. But the engagements of the season, through which we
have been passing, must be my apology for not sooner returning
an answer.
I have not read all the volumes of “The Library of Christian
Knowledge,” but what I have read, and especially what I know
of their able and pious editor, and of his writings, make me
confident in saying that the series which he is engaged in
publishing, will prove a valuable addition to the religious
literature of the country. We need a multiplication of such men
as Mr. Hooker, and of such works as he writes and publishes; and
this need should lead us to receive most thankfully, and improve
most faithfully, so far as it shall extend the rich supply which
he is furnishing. Very respectfully, your friend,
JOHN I. STONE,
_Rector of St. Paul’s Church, Boston_.
_March 27th, 1837._
_Philadelphia, March 31, 1837._
MESSRS. WM. MARSHALL & CO.
GENTLEMEN:--Few men exert a more decided, extensive,
and lasting influence upon society than Booksellers; and in
these times, when so many prostitute the press to gratify and
increase the appetite for books that are worthless, or decidedly
immoral in their tendency; it is exceedingly gratifying to find
here a firm, who bring nothing before the world which can injure
their race. So far as I have noticed, you have as yet published
nothing at which you need blush, should you meet the book on the
parlour table of your best friend.
Among others of your productions, I have read your “Library of
Christian Knowledge,” edited by Mr. Hooker. Ever since I read
the little work of Mr. H. entitled “The Portion of the Soul,” I
have felt sure, that he was safe; by which I mean, that any work
to which he might prefix his name, would be a sound, discreet,
judicious book. His taste is correct, discriminating; and his
own pen at times, is guided by a hand of no ordinary strength.
Honestly attached to the Episcopal Church, he, nevertheless,
is so endowed with the limbs of a man, and the heart of a
Christian, that his denominational habits do not hinder him
from appearing in a _working dress_, in the vineyard
of his Master. I can sincerely recommend the “Library,” as
containing such works of practical piety, as will be useful
in every family, and I could wish that the circulation of such
works might banish the light reading of the age. I hope your
circulation will be very extensive. Respectfully yours,
J. TODD.
* * * * *
THE LIBRARY OF CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE. Edited by the Rev. Herman
Hooker, A. M. Author of “The Portion of the Soul,” &c.
Four volumes of this series have appeared, and if we may consider these
as a specimen of the work, we congratulate the Christian public on the
prospect of being supplied from time to time, with a rich feast of
evangelical matter, calculated to give nourishment and refreshment to
the spiritual life of believers.
M’Laurin’s Essays is not a recent work, but the lapse of years can
never destroy its value. While the observations of the author are
strictly orthodox, they are philosophical, and if read with candour
and attention, must have a powerful effect in correcting mistakes and
expelling prejudices where they have been imbibed, and in enlightening
the mind, and invigorating the faith of the sincere Christian. We would
strongly recommend the perusal and reperusal of these essays to the
young theologian. Too great a proportion of time, we fear, is spent
by the young ministers of our day in light reading, which, while it
gratifies a prurient curiosity, has no tendency to strengthen the mind.
The effect produced is superficial knowledge, and a distaste for deep
and solid research. Religious people are now distinguished for bustling
activity and a show of benevolence and zeal; but there exists a sad
deficiency of profound and systematic knowledge even in those who have
enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education.
The whole life and energies of M’Laurin were devoted to the highest
good of his fellow men; and this lovely principle beams forth
brightly in his works. Originality, truth, and beauty, are prominent
characteristics of his writings. * * His elements of thought, from
whatever source they are drawn, from external Nature, from the
exercises and sentiments of the soul, or from the mysteries of
redemption, are formed into complete emblems of the richness and
peculiarity of the mind from which they proceed. The advantages of a
well balanced mind, of a proper discipline of all the powers, and a
nice adjustment of them to each other, is strikingly seen in these
essays.
In conclusion, we would say the richness and power of thought, the
simplicity and greatness of conception in M’Laurin can be realised
only by his readers; and to those who would study the revelation of
God to man, in its symmetry, its magnitude, its intrinsic excellence,
“its easy, free, and unincumbered plan,” these essays will be a most
powerful assistance.--_N. Y. Literary and Theological Review._
* * * * *
LIBRARY OF CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE, _Vols. 3, 4, 5; Edited by
Rev. Herman Hooker. Philadelphia: W. Marshall, 1836_.--This series
is, as a course of rare and valuable works in the practical department
of theology, far in advance of any that has ever been published in the
United States. “M’Laurin’s Essays,” and “Goode’s Better Covenant,”
the first of the course, are intellectually and evangelically works
of such high character, and withal, so little known hitherto to the
American public, that Mr. Hooker has already won for his “Library”
golden opinions, and the announcement of a new volume of the series,
is taken by the reading community as an invitation to a spiritual
and intellectual banquet, where “nothing common or unclean” will be
presented to the taste. Vols. 3 and 4 contain “_Letters Practical
and Consolatory; designed to illustrate the nature and Tendency of the
Gospel; by the Rev. David Russell, D. D.; with an Introductory Essay,
by the Rev. H. A. Boardman, Philadelphia_.” The hasty glance which
we have had opportunity to bestow on these volumes, has satisfied us
that they are worthy successors to those of the series already before
the public. This is sufficient praise. The 5th volume contains an
essay by the Editor, the Rev. Herman Hooker, A. M. on “_Popular
Infidelity_.” Mr. Hooker is already extensively and favourably known
as an author, through his work, entitled “The Portion of the Soul.”
We have read his volume on “Popular Infidelity,” much to our pleasure
and edification. Mr. Hooker has a clear and philosophical mind, which
analyses truth to its simplest elements, and presents it in pure,
plain, Saxon English.--_Christian Witness, Boston, Aug. 12, 1836._
* * * * *
THE BETTER COVENANT PRACTICALLY CONSIDERED. By the Rev. Francis
Goode. Vol. 2, Library of Christian Knowledge.
THE BETTER COVENANT.--This work of the Rev. FRANCIS GOODE, has recently
been published as the second volume of the _Library of Christian
Knowledge_, by Messrs. W. Marshall & Co. of this city. The best
characteristic of the work probably is, its faithful development of
Scriptural truth, in language entirely appropriate to the importance
of the subject, while it is so clear and satisfactory as to be easily
understood by the plainest reader. Its character in other respects is
well and justly expressed in the letter of Bishop M’Ilvaine contained
in the preface.--_Episcopal Recorder._
_From the N. Y. Christian Intelligencer._
THE BETTER COVENANT.--We have read this work, of which we
had not previously heard, with great and unmingled pleasure. It has
reminded us of Jewell, Hopkins, Leighton, &c. of the church of which
he is a member, in generations gone by, as well as Owen, Flava, &c.
among the non-conformists, as it unfolded the choicest of matter, of
sound evangelical doctrine moulded in the happiest form of experience,
and practice. The author is at present lecturer at Clapham, known to
many as the residence of Wilberforce, Thornton, and others greatly
distinguished by piety and philanthropy, and was formerly lecturer in
the mission church in Calcutta. Bishop M’Ilvaine in a recommendatory
letter thus speaks of it: “As a book of divinity; divinity as it should
be, not cold, and abstract and dead, freezing the affections while it
exercises the intellect, but retaining the living beauty, and heart
affecting interest of the revelation it proceeds from--divinity adapted
to the intellectual wants of the closest students of divine truth,
which provides the simplest, and sweetest nourishment for the spiritual
necessities of the humblest Christian;--As a book of practical piety,
especially in regard to the display it gives of the nothingness of the
sinner out of Christ, and the completeness of the believer in Christ,
and its tendency to promote a spirit of active, cheerful obedience, by
all those motives of thankfulness, love, peace, and joyful hope, which
belong to the adoption of sons--I know of no book of the present age
more valuable. Students of divinity will find it a book to be studied.
Readers of devotional writings will find it full of divine knowledge,
of experimental truth, and of excitements to prayer, and praise.” With
this strong recommendation of Bishop M’Ilvaine, we feel ourselves
willing to accord.
The first volume of the series of the Library of religious knowledge,
is M’Laurin’s Essays, a work of acknowledged standard excellence. If
the succeeding volumes should be equally valuable with the two already
published, the series will have a just claim upon the patronage of
our religious public. We have seen it stated that it is designed to
introduce into the series, _Letters on Religious Subjects, by the
Rev. David Russell, of Dundee, Scotland_, a work little known to
American Christians, but of very sterling merit.
_From the Episcopal Recorder._
THE BETTER COVENANT PRACTICALLY CONSIDERED.--The above is the
title of a work which has recently been published in this city, as
the third volume of the Christian Family Library, edited by the Rev.
Herman Hooker. The author is the Rev. Francis Goode, of the Church of
England, an accomplished scholar, and most devout and godly man. Many
excellent treatises upon practical and experimental religion have been
issued from the press within the last few years, but none that we have
seen is at all to be compared with this. Indeed, we think it decidedly
the best book of the kind we have ever read. We know of none in which
the glory and excellency of Christ’s salvation is so clearly, fully and
delightfully presented to the mind. Throughout, Christ crucified is
all in all to the sinner’s soul. Accordingly, as it richly deserves,
it is spoken of in the highest terms of commendation, by both clergy
and laity. Some of the former, believing that they could not in any
other way more effectually preach the Gospel in all its freeness
and richness, have even recommended it from the pulpit to their
congregations.
We would wish to see his book in every family in the land. We are
deeply persuaded that no Christian could rise from its perusal without
more enlarged and affecting views of what his Saviour had done for him,
without more humility, penitence and gratitude to God, and without a
more fixed determination, or divine aid, to follow on to know the Lord
and to be filled with all the fullness of God.
* * * * *
GOODE’S BETTER COVENANT.--We have had but little time to examine this
book; but have seen enough of it to desire the opportunity of giving it
an attentive perusal. It is undoubtedly a _good_ book, written by one
who gives strong evidence of his own personal interest in the _better
Covenant_ than the covenant of works. He is much of an old fashioned
divine for one of modern times, who makes Christ all in all in the
sinner’s salvation. The edition of GOODE, published by Wm. Marshall,
Philadelphia, contains a preface and table of contents, by the Rev.
Herman Hooker.--_Philadelphian._
* * * * *
GOODE’S BETTER COVENANT.--This volume is made up of Lectures
by the Rev. Francis Goode, a clergyman of the Church of England, on
portions of the 8th chapter of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews, and
portions of his Epistle to the Philippians. Mr. Goode is understood
to be one of the brightest spiritual lights of the mother Church. The
introduction by Mr. Hooker, contains a letter of Bishop M’Ilvaine, in
which he expresses great satisfaction in view of the republication of
the work in this country, and classes the author with the Bickersteths,
Noels, Melvilles and Wilsons of the Church of England. We have not had
opportunity to read the book in course, but have formed a high estimate
of its intellectual and evangelical excellence from the parts which
have fallen under our notice.--_Christian Witness._
* * * * *
The author of this work is a clergyman of the Church of England. This
book is replete with practical thought and instruction on some of
the most important doctrines of Christianity. It is a work which it
gives us a pleasure to recommend to readers in every church, and of
every class. We have copied an extract from it on the first page of
this paper, under the head of “Views of Doctrine.”--_So. Religious
Telegraph, June 10, 1836._
* * * * *
We have read this book with great pleasure. The author, a clergyman of
the Church of England, appears to have learned from the Bible the same
great truths of Christianity which strongly mark the writings of John
Calvin, Leighton and Owen. Bishop M’Ilvaine says, “I am truly rejoiced,
that the theological literature of this country is to be enriched
with the addition of so excellent a work.”--Sold at the Bookstores of
Messrs. Yale & Wyatt.--_So. Religious Telegraph._
* * * * *
LIBRARY OF CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.--This will undoubtedly prove
to be a most valuable series of books. The editor is, at once, a man of
genius, taste and erudition, and we are quite sure that no work will
bear his name as editor, which is not possessed of sterling merit. Two
volumes of this series have already appeared: the first, _M’Laurin’s
Essays_, we noticed some time since as a volume rich in profound and
valuable thought; the second, “_Goode’s Better Covenant_,” is now
before us. The writer is a living divine of the Church of England, but
the book has nothing in it of a sectarian character. Bishop M’Ilvaine
(in a letter to the Editor) says, “As a book of practical piety, I
know of no book of the present age more valuable.” This certainly is
high praise and comes from a high source: if we do not esteem the
work quite as highly as the Bishop, (perhaps because we have not
studied it as carefully,) we are fully prepared to pronounce it a most
excellent book. We understand that another volume is nearly ready for
publication, which is to be followed by an original work on Infidelity
from the pen of the accomplished editor.--_Boston Traveller._
* * * * *
This volume cannot be read by the pious without sensible profit. It
breathes the very spirit of ardent piety, and directs continually to
CHRIST, as the only source of strength and growth in grace.
The kind of faith here inculcated, is not a cold rational assent to
general propositions, but a cordial, living principle of action, the
exercise of which is commonly accompanied with a sweet persuasion of
pardon and acceptance. Nothing animates and encourages the pious soul
in its spiritual pilgrimage so much, as the smiles of the great Captain
of Salvation.--_Biblical Repertory, Princeton._
* * * * *
LETTERS PRACTICAL AND CONSOLATORY, DESIGNED TO ILLUSTRATE THE
NATURE AND TENDENCY OF THE GOSPEL. By the Rev. David Russell, D.
D. with an Introductory Essay, by the Rev. Henry A. Boardman.
Vol. 3 and 4, Library of Christian Knowledge.
We are much gratified that the theological writings of the Rev. Doctor
Russell of Dundee, begin to attract the attention of American readers.
The editor could not easily have hit upon a work better adapted to
instruct and comfort the pious reader, than these small volumes of
letters. They are, we think, the best productions of the gifted
author’s pen. They appear to have been written in the course of a
real correspondence, which gives them a greater freedom of style than
could easily be attained in letters originally intended for the press.
Though the letters are practical, and particularly suited to afford
rich consolation to the children of sorrow, they are nevertheless
eminently instructive. There are few books from which a clearer idea
can be obtained of the doctrines of the Christian system than from
these Letters. They contain, as do his other writings, the pure Gospel
of Jesus Christ. The peculiar excellency of these volumes is, that you
have the truth exhibited, not in a controversial or even a systematic
form, but in its practical bearings, as a guide both to faith and
practice. The style is clear, concise, and easy; and possesses a
vivacity which keeps up the interest of the reader.--_Biblical
Repertory and Theological Review._
* * * * *
RUSSELL’S LETTERS, _Practical and Consolatory_, designed to illustrate
the nature and tendency of the Gospel, with an introductory Essay by
the Rev. H. A. Boardman; forming volumes 3d and 4th of the Library of
Christian Knowledge; edited by Rev. Herman Hooker. This work has just
been issued by the enterprising publishers, Wm. Marshall & Co. The
Introductory Essay is a well written exposition of the characteristics
of the work, abounding with specimens of the happy style and temper of
the author. He expresses the opinion that no work of recent origin is
so worthy to be read and admired by all classes of Christians as these
letters of Dr. Russell. The examination which we have given them leaves
us with the opinion that this is a just estimate of their value. The
Letters are written in a natural, intelligible, and appropriate style.
A spirit of ardent, simple, and affectionate piety runs through them,
which must win the confidence and awaken the interest of the reader.
The author has published several other works, all of which are in high
repute; but his Letters have, perhaps, been more popular, and more
extensively circulated than any other of his productions.--_Commercial
Herald._
* * * * *
RUSSELL’S LETTERS, in two volumes, exhibit, in a chaste and
intelligible style, the most important features in the plan of
redemption and of Christian duty. The letters were actually addressed
to an individual, previous to publication, for this purpose; a
circumstance which has been justly thought calculated to ensure for
them a peculiarly _practical_ character. Those who desire clear and
profitable instruction upon the subject of religion, from an original,
but judicious, well balanced and pious mind, will not be disappointed
in perusing Russell’s Letters.--_Episcopal Recorder._
* * * * *
The Rev. Mr. Boardman thus speaks, in his Introductory Essay, of the
author and his works:--“The name of Dr. Russell is familiar to the
friends of Christ throughout the united kingdom--and his eminent piety,
talents, and usefulness have placed him in the front rank of those
celebrated divines, who are justly regarded as an ornament of his
country, and an invaluable blessing to the age. His various writings
are held in high estimation on the other side of the Atlantic, and it
is not a little surprising that the extensive circulation which they
have had there, has not led to an earlier republication of them in the
United States. This series of Letters is perhaps the most interesting
of all his works. Those who may peruse it, will not deem the opinion an
extravagant one, that it will hereafter rank with the standard volumes
on practical religion, which find a place in every Christian Library.”
* * * * *
POPULAR INFIDELITY. By the Rev. Herman Hooker, M. A. Vol. 5,
Library of Christian Knowledge.
When, in our first volume, we took notice of the Rev. Mr. Hooker’s
“Portion of the Soul,” we expressed the hope, that, from the golden
vein thus opened, we should have other and richer specimens--and we
ventured to predict, that, the more it should be worked, the finer
would be the ingot. We are proud to record our predictions. In the
present volume our most golden dreams are more than realized. It is a
book of an age; and we will say of a better age--“specimen melioris
ævi.” It shall be taken down, in the dark, from the same shelf on which
the writings of South, Taylor, Barrow, Boyle, Bates, and How, repose in
glory unsurpassed of earth; and shall be replaced again, when read, by
the most ardent lover of them all, as worthy of the high companionship.
We know what we have said, and we challenge doubters to the proof.
It is the object of the author to unmask that secret _infidelity of
the heart_, of which St. Paul gives admonition, in his epistle to
the Hebrews--“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil
heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God”--and he has well
accomplished it. His pen seems an Ithuriel’s spear, to strip the subtle
fraud, which he pursues with singular skill, of all its multiplied
disguises. His page teems with illustrations, the rarest, the aptest,
and the most beautiful, of his important theme. It is impossible,
plain as the truths are which he speaks, to be offended with him, from
the pure benevolence which is felt to be his prompter; and, such the
vein of keen, but half repressed and silent, humour which pervades the
book, that, once taken up, it is impossible to lay it down till it is
finished. We began to mark the passages which, for the thought or the
expression, struck us, as we read, by turning down the leaf; and the
volume lies before us, increased by half its thickness. To review it,
as it deserves, is not within the compass of our craft. Not to commend
it to universal notice, would be to do our readers an unpardonable
injustice. There was great want of such a book, which, by its engaging
character, should tempt men to become acquainted with themselves--which
should expose the vanity and recklessness with which many, “who profess
and call themselves Christians,” are running the giddy round of
self-delusion and self-dependence--which should bring home the thoughts
of men to God and their own hearts; and induce them, in the noise and
bustle of this restless age, to commune with themselves, in their own
chamber, and be still. Such a book is here furnished--unpretending
and artless, yet sagacious, powerful and persuasive--as fearless as
the Baptist, yet with the Evangelist’s gentleness and meekness--deep,
searching and thorough, yet clear and intelligible to the simplest
reader--wearying none with its minuteness or prolixity, offending none
with its abruptness or severity, delightful to all for its ease, its
perspicuity and its amenity.--_Missionary._
* * * * *
It would be far exceeding our limits to expatiate on the character of
the age, or to show by an analysis of Mr. Hooker’s work, how skilfully
and eloquently he has aimed to arrest its pernicious tendencies. The
“Popular Infidelity” as well as the “Portion of the Soul,” is a work
eminently adapted to the age; and if we have any fault to find with the
author, it is that he does not himself view it in that light; that he
writes professedly _for a class_, instead of challenging attention
to the work which he is really accomplishing, of writing for his age,
and thus speaking in that loftier tone which the reformer is authorised
to assume. Infidelity in its more subtle forms, and such as Mr. Hooker
has described, _is_, we fear, a characteristic of the age: few
pens have revealed more clearly than his its philosophy and impiety,
and our only regret is, that he has not brought the actors and the
actions of the Christian world side by side with the original which
he so vividly conceives, and thus given a popular estimate of their
deformity.
Again, reminding the reader, that the infidelity of which Mr. Hooker
treats is to be found not in the outward ranks of avowed unbelievers,
but in the inmost recesses of the hearts of professed Christians, we
beg leave earnestly to recommend the work to general perusal. It is
written in a pure strain of Christian philosophy, and should find its
way to the closets and affections of all those “who profess and call
themselves Christians.”--_New York Churchman._
* * * * *
In the very first chapter of this work, one finds himself introduced
into a new and delightful field. To most readers new emotions and
unaccustomed trains of thought spring up in the mind, awakening and
enkindling the desire for deeper and fuller insight into the great
truths there brought to view; and as one proceeds ideas continually
cluster around the mind with all the interest and freshness which
novelty and a deep insight into our nature can give them. But here
let it not be forgotten, that an imperious call is made upon our own
undivided attention. If we expect to enter into the spirit of the
book, and fully to grasp the author’s argument in all its relations
and bearings, we must make up our minds to more of an intellectual
effort than is required in the perusal of most books which issue from
the press. There is an originality in the conception of “Popular
Infidelity,” an intellectual superiority in the execution to which few
books of the present day can lay claim.
On the whole we think the treatise on Popular Infidelity one of the
best practical works that has appeared for some time; and we would
confidently recommend it to the attention of all who wish to become
intimately acquainted with their own character. It is eminently
calculated to promote the cause of deep, genuine, and enlightened
piety, and will suffer nothing, to say the very least, in a comparison
with the popular and useful works of Phillip. We have seldom seen a
work which so accurately analyses the feelings and principles of the
human heart, lays bare the secret springs of human action, and presents
to view one’s _real self_.--_Episcopal Recorder._
* * * * *
POPULAR INFIDELITY.--This is the fifth volume of the Library
of Christian Knowledge, and a volume on a subject which claims all
the attention the author has given to it. It is a prominent part of
the merit of his work that he gives a clear _diagnosis_, an
intelligible description of the disease for which religion is a cure.
The disease is self-deception in various forms and of various types.
Some of the author’s phraseology relating to doctrines seems to imply
belief in certain points concerning which we should differ from him.
But his views of human ability, of the use of reason in relation to
religion and of spiritual influences, appear to us to be sound and
scriptural. Without being able to go into a particular description of
the work, we judge from what examination we have made, that it may
be safely read, in general for doctrine, and every where for reproof
and correction, by Christians of all sects.--_Boston Christian
Register._
* * * * *
POPULAR INFIDELITY. By the Rev. HERMAN HOOKER, M. A.--This work
supplies a desideratum. _Popular Infidelity_, of which it treats,
has been too long permitted to extend its influence, without any
direct opposition from the religious press. Those who could, have
refrained from defending “the faith once delivered to the Saints;”
and Heresy has been permitted to stalk abroad triumphantly, where
the principles and doctrines of the Scriptures should have taken
precedence. Every Christian--every clergyman at least, who would defend
his belief--should fortify himself with this unanswerable volume.
--_Philadelphia Gazette, Aug. 8, 1836._
* * * * *
POPULAR INFIDELITY. By the Rev. Herman Hooker, M. A.--This is the
fifth volume of the Library of Christian Knowledge, and is an original
work of the accomplished editor of that valuable series. All classes
of Christians may find food for reflection in the very important
considerations suggested by the author. The work is not, as might
be supposed, a defence of the outworks of Christianity against the
scepticism of the professed Infidel. But it is a most able and eloquent
attack upon the practical infidelity of professed believers. Every kind
and degree of unbelief are powerfully assailed. The secret enemies
of faith are dragged from their lurking places, stripped of their
disguise, and held up to the light in their naked deformities. The
extensive reading of this work cannot but promote the cause of religion
in the community.--_National Gazette, Aug. 6, 1836._
* * * * *
POPULAR INFIDELITY. By the Rev. Herman Hooker, belongs to a class
of works which are seldom read as extensively as they deserve. Its
purpose is to show to what extent a practical disbelief in Christianity
exists even among those, who living in a Christian community, and
committing no violation of its external ordinances, believe and call
themselves Christians. That this adherence to the form, without
retaining the substance, is too common among all classes, is a truth
which even superficial observation will render manifest, but which
Mr. H. illustrates by many well chosen examples. We wish his essay a
circulation corresponding to its merits.--_Commercial Herald, Aug. 9,
1836._
* * * * *
POPULAR INFIDELITY. By the Rev. HERMAN HOOKER, M. A.--We have read this
book with no ordinary interest. The subject on which it treats is of
vital importance to every class of readers. We have several valuable
works upon this subject, but none, that we know of, which occupies the
ground taken by our author.
He has descended into the dark arcana of the human soul, and following
the intricate winding of the unbelief through all its hidden and unseen
influences, has exposed the fallacy of that popular sentimentalism
which often passes for religion, and shown the contrariety which exists
between the professed opinions and conduct of men, to be owing to the
latent infidelity of the heart.
It will be difficult to find a book, that so drives us into the
contemplation of ourselves; that so accurately analyzes the thoughts
and feelings of men, and so vividly exhibits the self-flattery, by
which we cheat ourselves into the belief, that we reverence and admire
the character of God, when all we admire and reverence, is but the
image of ourselves, which we have contrived to ascribe to him.
In a word, it is rich in the most difficult of all knowledge, the
knowledge of ourselves. It is full of thought; thought that often
surprises, not only by originality of conception, but by the striking
and beautiful contrast in which it is presented.
Few persons, we imagine, can read any one chapter of this book, and not
wish to read the whole. The style is colloquial, nervous, and animated;
the language, in a high degree, Saxon.
The author is peculiarly happy in his citations from the Scriptures.
The passages cited, not only illustrate and enforce the sentiments he
advances, but the manner of their introduction illustrates and enforces
them; so that they are seen to possess a charm, and an extension of
application, which the reader had before failed to observe.
We have seldom read a book in which so little could be anticipated. As
the reader turns from page to page, he finds his curiosity continually
excited by new and unexpected thoughts, presented under a rich variety
of beautiful and striking illustration. When he supposes himself at
the end of the subject, it comes up in a new light, and new fields of
contemplation open before him.--_N. Y. Evangelist._
THE
LIBRARY
OF
Christian Knowledge.
EDITED BY
THE REV. HERMAN HOOKER, M. A.,
AUTHOR OF THE “PORTION OF THE SOUL,” &C.
VOL. VI.
[Illustration: LABORE RELUCENS.]
PHILADELPHIA:
WILLIAM MARSHALL AND COMPANY;
MDCCCXXXVII.
SKETCH
OF THE
REFORMATION IN ENGLAND.
BY THE REV. J. J. BLUNT,
FELLOW OF ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
With an Introductory Letter,
TO THE EDITOR,
BY GEORGE WASHINGTON DOANE, D. D.,
BISHOP OF NEW JERSEY.
[Illustration: PAUL’S CROSS.]
PHILADELPHIA:
WILLIAM MARSHALL & CO.
1837.
“They that goe downe to the sea in ships, and occupie by the great
waters, they see the workes of the Lord, and his wonders in the deepe.
For God is marvellous in the surges and tempests of the sea: he is
marvellous in the firmament of heaven: but much more marvellous is
he in the surges and stormy tempests of his church. Heere may we
behold the worke of his hands. This is the shop of his power, of his
wisedome, of his light, and truth, and righteousnesse, and patience,
and mercy. Heere may we see the children of light, and the children of
darknesse: the vessels of honor, and the vessels of shame: the assaults
of falshood, and the glorie and victorie of truth. Heere shall we see
how God leadeth even into hell, and yet bringeth safely backe: how he
killeth, and yet reviveth: how he refuseth the full, and feedeth the
hungrie: how he is the ruine of many, and the resurrection of many.
Heere may we see the wonderfull waies, and the unsearcheable judgements
of God.”
BISHOP JEWEL, _Sermon on Josh._ vi. 1.
Philadelphia:
T. K. & P. G. Collins, Printers,
No. 1 Lodge Alley.
PREFACE.
The Reformation is one of the most remarkable events in our history,
whether considered in relation to politics or religion; for its
influence was most powerful upon both. My own reading, profession,
and taste have led me to regard it in the latter rather than in the
former light; and therefore, brief as the following sketch is, it will
not be found of the nature of an abridgment of larger histories of
the Reformation which have contemplated it in all its many bearings,
but a continuous, though succinct account, of its rise, progress, and
consummation, chiefly considered as a great Revolution of the Church.
I have avoided, as far as I could, taking my materials at second hand.
I have been governed in my choice of them by a desire to seize upon
such as, being characteristic in kind, might not be oppressive in
number; and I have worked them up into a whole, with less regard to the
line and rule by which others may have wrought already, than to the
positions into which they seemed of themselves to fall most naturally.
If in my treatment of the many delicate and difficult questions which
such a subject stirs, I have former writers with me, it is well. I have
not, however, constrained myself to seek out their path and pursue it,
though I am too conscious of my own deficiencies, and of the extreme
uncertainty of history, to be otherwise than pleased, if I happen to
strike into it unawares. If on the same occasions, I have the good
fortune to agree with the voice of my own times, it is well too: it
is folly to be singular, except for the purpose of being right; but
still I have not hearkened out for that voice, and studiously walked by
it. I have gone as my facts directed me, taking them as I found them,
unpacked. For those facts I have generally given my authorities, that
my readers may judge for themselves of the credit due to them; and for
the speculations which accompany them, whether doctrinal or practical,
I may say that they are meant to serve the cause of truth and equity,
not of party; it is for others to say whether they are reasonable, and
to let them prevail only so far as they prove so--_valeant quantum
valent_.
INTRODUCTORY LETTER.
_St. Mary’s Parsonage,_
_Conversion of St. Paul, 1837._
My Dear Brother:
When you proposed to me that I should write an Introduction to
Mr. Blunt’s “Sketch of the Reformation in England,” included, at
my suggestion, in your “Library of Christian Knowledge,” I saw an
admirable opportunity to invite attention to that great crisis of
the Christian world; and I consented. As I meditated on the subject,
it deepened in interest, and rose in elevation, and increased in
magnitude, till it became absorbing and overwhelming. I felt that
_an Essay on the English Reformation_, that should trace it from
its true beginnings, contemplate all its bearings, and carry out its
just conclusions, was a work to fill a volume, and to take up years.
Is not the “Sketch” itself--I was thus brought to think--which Mr.
Blunt has drawn, the very thing best suited to the present purpose?
In its design, a bird’s-eye view of that illustrious passage in the
history of man; in its execution, rapid, vigorous, picturesque; the
manliest conceptions in the raciest words; so intensely interesting
that he who takes it up will never lay it down unread, nor read it
without the strongest impulse to read more--surely, this is the very
result to which I proposed to address myself; and to attract attention
to the study of the English Reformation, and to make men in love with
its ennobling themes, and to imbue their minds with its instructive
lessons, and to possess their hearts with its inspiring influences, and
to inflame them with its martyr spirit, the book itself shall be its
own best introduction.
Were I to designate, dear Hooker, the branch of study which has fallen
into the most unreasonable neglect, and which yet would overpay, with
most abundant, and with richest fruits, the utmost cost of prosecution,
it should be without a doubt, the study of _Church History_.
“It is not St. Augustine’s nor St. Ambrose’s works,” Lord Bacon well
remarks,[1] “that will make so wise a divine”--he might as well have
said, _so wise a man_--“as ecclesiastical history, thoroughly
read and observed.” “There is, in good truth,”--we justify, while we
illustrate, the words of the great Philosopher, by the language of one
who is himself their living illustration, the present Principal of
King’s College, London,[2] “there is, in good truth, no way so certain
to lead us to truth, no way so certain to lead us to _fixed, calm,
and Christian views in divinity_ as the study of it, _by the
way of history_. If we take up a ‘system of divinity,’ whether in
the shape of a body of Articles, or a regular treatise, comprising a
discussion of all the great points of the Christian covenant, useful
and necessary as such things are, each in its own way, yet it cannot be
but that they present all these great points to us in a controversial
view and with a controversial air. This surely cannot be desirable.
Our concern with the great doctrines of the Gospel covenant is to
govern our hearts, lives, thoughts and words by them, to bring the
whole man into subjection to those awful truths which God himself
revealed to us in order to teach us how we are to live here, and how
to live with him hereafter.” Now it is precisely these “fixed, calm,
and Christian views in divinity” which, in this age, and especially
in this country, are most wanted--which are sought for in vain in the
din of religious controversy and the stir of religious excitement--and
for the want of which, to the joy of the infidel, and to the shame and
grief of the meek searcher after truth, who would walk humbly with his
God, Christianity, at times, appears almost unchristianised. And the
inquiries which would lead men to them--which securing to us, upon
the certain warrant of “Holy Scripture and ancient authors,” a sound
rule of faith, should establish for us a sober standard of feeling
in matters of practical religion, and as it were, domesticate among
us that serene and dovelike Christianity, which the sweetest spirit
of our age[3] illustrates well, when he speaks of the “_soothing
tendency_” of the Prayer-book--am I not right when I say, that, as
Christians, not only, but as patriots and philosophers, there are no
investigations more worthy of us--and do I greatly err in the belief,
that already, among the thoughtful and the good, there is a preparation
to receive them favourably, and to bestow on those who lead the way
that best reward and most distinguished honour, their confidence and
acquiescence?
Chiefly, however, to two portions of the ever-flowing stream of history
would I, if the permission were but given me, direct the public
mind--the history of _the Church in the first ages_, and the
history of _the English Reformation_. THE CHURCH OF THE FIRST
AGES were God’s “eye witnesses and ministers of the word.” It is a
maxim of the courts, “_expositio contemporanea est fortissima_.”
The first reception is the best. As we owe the integrity of the text to
them, so are we their debtors for the certainty of the interpretation.
“The contradiction of tongues,” saith Lord Bacon,[4] “doth every where
meet us, out of the tabernacle of God; therefore, whithersoever thou
shalt turn thyself, thou shalt find no end of controversies except
thou withdraw thyself into that tabernacle.” “The fathers of the
Church,” says Townsend,[5] “are unanimous on all those points which
peculiarly characterise true Christianity. They assert the divinity,
the incarnation, and the atonement of Christ; and thus bear their
decisive testimony against the modern reasoners on these points. They
are unanimous in asserting that the primitive Churches were governed
by an order of men, who possessed authority over others who had been
set apart for preaching and administering the Sacraments: and certain
privileges and powers were committed to that higher order which were
withheld from the second and third. The reception of the canon of
Scripture, the proofs of its authenticity and genuineness, rest upon
the authority of the fathers; and there are customs of universal
observance, which are not in express terms commanded in Scripture, and
which rest upon the same foundation. We are justified, therefore, on
these and on many other accounts, in maintaining the utmost veneration
for their unanimous authority, which has never in any one instance
clashed with Scripture, which will preserve in its purity every Church
which is directed by them, and check or extinguish every innovation
which encourages error in doctrine, or licentiousness in discipline.”
“He that hath willingly subscribed to the word of God,” says Bishop
Hall,[6] attested in the everlasting Scriptures; to all the primitive
creeds; to the four general councils; to the common judgment of the
fathers, for six hundred years after Christ, (_which we, of our
reformation, religiously profess to do_;) this man may possibly
err in trifles, but he cannot be an heretic.” This is the doctrine of
common sense not less than of the Church. It was the departure from
it which constituted the necessity of the English Reformation. It is
the departure from it which constitutes the danger of our day. It is
in the return to it, in standing in the ways, and asking for “the old
paths,” that our safety and our hope are to be found. It is a blessed
omen for our times, that, through the zealous devotion of Pusey and
Keble and Newman, the ancient documents will soon be brought, in their
translations of the Fathers, within the common reach.
Of kindred interest, and of scarcely inferior importance, is the study
of THE ENGLISH REFORMATION. For a time, the Church, drunk with
too much prosperity, had wandered and grown wanton. For a time, God
left her to eat of the fruit of her own ways, and be filled with her
own devices. But,
“His own possession and his lot
He will not quite forsake.”
The wrath of man he makes to praise him. The remainder of it he
restrains. When the time came that he would have mercy upon Sion, men
were not wanting to the work, with holy hearts, and giant hands, and
tongues of fire. They took their stand upon the pure word of God. They
appealed to the consenting voice of all Christian antiquity. They
toiled. They prayed. They bled. They burned. They persevered. They
triumphed. The Church, deformed before, was now reformed. She returned
to her old principles, and to her “first love.” “We look,” says Joseph
Mede,[7] “after the form, rites, and discipline of antiquity; and
endeavour to bring our own as near as we can to that pattern.” “If I
mistake not greatly,” says Casaubon, writing to Salmasius,[8] “the
soundest part of all the reformation is in England; for there, with
the study of the scripture, there is the most regard to the study of
antiquity.”
But I must check myself. I may not enter now upon this rich and
tempting field. The time would fail me to tell of Wickliff, and
Cranmer, and Ridley, and Latimer, and Taylor, and Rogers, and the
glorious host of witnesses for God, that “loved not their life unto the
death.”
“Methinks that I could trip o’er heaviest soil
Light as a buoyant bark from wave to wave,
Were mine the trusty staff that JEWEL gave
To youthful HOOKER in familiar style
The gift exalting, and with playful smile.[9]
For thus equipped, and bearing on his head
The donor’s farewell blessing, can he dread
Tempest, or length of way, or weight of toil?
More sweet than odours caught by him who sails
Near spicy shores of Araby the blest;
A thousand times more exquisitely sweet
The freight of holy feeling which we meet
In thoughtful moments, wafted by the gales
From fields where good men walk, or bowers wherein they rest.
Holy and heavenly spirits as they are
Spotless in life, and eloquent as wise,
With what entire affection do they prize
Their new-born[10] Church! Labouring with earnest care
To baffle all that may her strength impair;
That Church--the unperverted Gospel’s seat;
In their afflictions a divine retreat;
Source of their liveliest hope, and tenderest prayer!
The truth exploring with an equal mind,
In doctrine and communion they have sought
Firmly between the two extremes to steer;
But theirs the wise man’s ordinary lot,
To trace right courses for the stubborn blind,
And prophesy to ears that will not hear.--
WORDSWORTH, _Ecclesiastical Sketches_.
Let us hope that to this most fruitful field of truth, and purity and
piety, and charity, Mr. Blunt’s delightful “Sketch” may turn many an
eager eye and many a vigorous foot. And for ourselves, dear brother,
when the cares and disappointments and disquietudes of life disturb or
weary us, and we are tempted to fall back, or turn aside, or falter,
on the high, “right onward” course of duty, next to the Author of our
faith, and the bright cloud of prophets and apostles who stand nearest
to his throne, let us direct our eyes to the illustrious fathers of the
English Reformation. “We shall find there,” I cite again the eloquent
and admirable Rose,[11] “bright examples of saints and martyrs--of men
of whom the world was not worthy--who have done all and suffered all,
that men could do and could suffer, for that one blessed cause, and
in so doing and so suffering have found an elevation, a peace and a
joy which nothing could give but the sense of God’s presence, and the
influence of God’s Spirit, blessing his own servants in doing his own
work. So warned, and so cheered, by the voice of Scripture and the
comment of history, we shall betake us each to our humble path with
a clearer conviction of duty, a stronger sense of the danger and the
guilt of neglecting it, a firmer hope of a blessing, a more cheerful
and animating view of the prospect before us.”
And now, dear brother,--who rejoicest in a name, than which the earth
has never known a nobler, the name of “the judicious Hooker,”--in the
hope that, for the love you bear me, you will pardon this strange
rambling, and with the prayer, that God may bless you many years with
health and strength, to serve his glorious Church, with the rich gifts
which he has given you--or, failing these, may comfort and sustain your
heart with Milton’s noble sentiment,
“They also serve who only stand and wait,”--
believe me, with sincere affection, your faithful friend and brother in
the Church and Gospel of our common Lord.
G. W. DOANE.
_The Rev._ HERMAN HOOKER,
_Editor of the Library of Christian Knowledge_.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
British and Anglo-Saxon Churches.--Intercourse with
Rome.--Early Corruptions Page 1
CHAPTER II.
Divisions amongst Ecclesiastics.--The regular and secular
Clergy.--The Pope favours the former.--Exemptions from
Episcopal Jurisdiction.--Habits of the Friars 43
CHAPTER III.
Progress of Grievances under the Norman Princes.--Papal
Interference.--Legates.--Collision of Roman and English
Forms of Law--Inconveniences attending it 47
CHAPTER IV.
Monasteries.--Their Usurpation of the Rights of the
Clergy.--Impropriations.--Evils of the System 60
CHAPTER V.
Early Reformers.--Waldenses.--Wickliffe.--Lollards 75
CHAPTER VI.
Luther.--Erasmus.--Sir T. More.--New Translation of the
Bible.--Demand for it 96
CHAPTER VII.
Cranmer.--The Divorce.--The Supremacy 111
CHAPTER VIII.
Dissolution of the Abbeys.--Church Property.--Immediate
Consequences of the Dissolution 135
CHAPTER IX.
Cromwell.--Gardiner.--Bonner.--The Act of the Six
Articles.--Sermons of those Days.--Proposed Disposal
of Ecclesiastical Property.--Articles of 1536.--The
Bible in Churches.--Bishops’ Book,--King’s Book 165
CHAPTER X.
Edward VI.--Advance of the Reformation.--Erasmus’s
Paraphrase.--Homilies.--Cranmer’s Catechism.--Office
of Communion.--Book of Common-Prayer.--Time of Service,
and Length.--Primer.--Articles of 1553.--Moderation of
the English Reformers 196
CHAPTER XI.
Hooper.--Puritans.--Expectations of the Roman
Catholic.--Edward’s Death.--Lady Jane Grey 235
CHAPTER XII.
Mary.--Suppression of the Reformation.--Persecution of
the Reformers.--Fox’s Acts and Monuments 252
CHAPTER XIII.
Elizabeth.--Her Accession.--Her Caution.--Reformation
again triumphant.--Return of the
Exiles.--Jewel.--Injunctions of Elizabeth compared
with those of Edward.--Progress of the Puritans.--The
Reformation not completed.--Conclusion 276
A SKETCH
OF THE
REFORMATION IN ENGLAND.
CHAPTER I.
BRITISH AND ANGLO-SAXON CHURCHES.--INTERCOURSE
WITH ROME.--EARLY CORRUPTIONS.
The Reformation is not to be regarded as a great and sudden event which
took the nation by surprise. It was merely the crisis to which things
had been tending for some centuries; and if the fire did at last run
over the country with wonderful rapidity, it was because the trees were
all dry. It is a mistake to suppose that whilst the Roman catholic
religion prevailed all was unity. True it is, that the elements of
discontent were as yet working for the most part under ground, but they
were not on that account the less likely to make themselves eventually
felt. The strong man armed was keeping the house, and therefore his
goods were at peace; but he was in jeopardy long before he was spoiled.
Luther was the match that produced the explosion, but the train had
been laid by the events of generations before him.
It may not then be the least useful, nor, perhaps, the least
interesting portion of a History of the Reformation in England, to
trace some of the causes that led to it; some of the incidents that
made it practicable, and some of the abuses that rendered it necessary.
And here there is no need to conceal the obligations we were under in
the first instance to the church of Rome. Neither Gregory himself, nor
Augustin his messenger, appears to have been influenced by any other
than a truly Christian spirit in seeking the conversion of England,
then no very tempting prize; and though there can be no doubt that
Christianity had been introduced into this island much earlier, whether
by any of the apostles themselves; whether after the persecution on
the death of Stephen, by some of the Syrian Christians, “who were
scattered abroad, and went every where preaching the word;”[12] or
whether by devout soldiers of the same nation, whom the famine foretold
by Agabus might have driven into the armies of Claudius, and who might
have come with him into Britain;[13] or whether by some of the Jewish
converts dispersed over the world, when that same emperor “commanded
all Jews to depart from Rome;”[14]--whether from these or from other
sources unknown to us, England was in some degree Christianised,
the existence of a British church before the arrival of Augustin in
the year 597 is a fact clearly established. Its independent origin
is sufficiently attested by the subjects of controversy between the
Anglo-Roman and British Christians; the time of Easter, in which the
Britons followed, as they said, St. John and the eastern Christians,
a point of heterodoxy, it may be observed, in which the Irish also
concurred,[15] who in some other respects accorded with the British
church, building their places of worship, for instance, with wood,
and thatching them with reeds;[16] the tonsure, whether it should be
that of Peter or Paul, or none whatever;[17] the rite of Baptism,
with regard to which, however, the nature of the difference between
the churches does not appear, though a difference there was,[18] and
the same may be said of the celibacy of the clergy. The Britons had
churches of their own; built after a fashion of their own; their own
saints; their own hierarchy,--the British bishops attending a council
as such; and holding no intercourse with the Angles even in Bede’s
time, but looking on them as Samaritans.[19] Moreover, the jealousy
with which the Welsh long afterwards regarded all ecclesiastical
interference on the part of England, their resolute assertion of their
right to a metropolitan of their own at St. Davids, and their actual
exercise of that right till the time of Henry I, argues the same
difference in the rock from which the English and British churches were
originally hewn.[20] Let, however, tribute be paid to whom tribute is
due: Augustin was the founder of the English church as distinguished
from the British, for the Britons made a conscience of leaving the
Pagan invaders to die in their ignorance and their sins: and it is
probable that both in doctrine and discipline the religion of this
country owed to the great Apostle of England (as he has been called)
its revival, extension, and permanent establishment. But Gregory was no
pope in the more modern sense of the word; it was his desire that the
church of Rome should be followed by the church of England when there
was reason for it, not otherwise; he would have some errors reproved;
some he would have tolerated; some he would not have seen, that all
might be done away; ecclesiastical property he would have recovered
where it had been plundered; but that more should be exacted than had
been taken away, or that a merchandise should be made of the loss,
that was to be far from the church.[21] No wonder that the Gospel,
mixed though it certainly was even then with some alloy, should have
made its way in England, recommended by a spirit like this, and that
kings should have been found its nursing fathers;[22] accordingly they
erected crosses; built and endowed churches and monasteries, and the
fierce superstitions of the Saxons made way for the religion of Jesus.
But the mystery of iniquity had begun to work even in Bede’s time.[23]
His portrait of Aidanus or Madoc, a missionary from Ikolmkill to the
Angles near a century before, is clearly meant to contrast with the
ecclesiastics of his own day. He might have been the prototype of
Chaucer’s “poore parson of a towne.” He was chaste; he lived as he
taught others to live; he travelled through the villages teaching the
word, not on horseback, but on foot. Those whom he met, if believers,
he confirmed in the faith; if unbelievers, he initiated in it; unlike
the idlers of these times (says Bede), all who were in his company,
whether priests or people, were busied in reading the Scriptures, or
learning the Psalms by rote. There was a stirring amongst the dry bones
through his exertions; the people flocked to hear the word of God;
churches were built in many places, and monasteries were enriched by
the bounty of the king. Such is the picture drawn by Bede, coloured
perhaps somewhat too highly; for it seems unlikely that such effects,
to their full extent, should have been produced by a teacher who
spoke the language of his hearers but imperfectly, and had occasional
need of an interpreter.[24] Much, however, might have been done, in a
popular cause, even in spite of such an obstacle. Giraldus tells us
that when he preached the crusades to the Welshmen at Haverford West,
he could gain 200 recruits at a sermon in French or Latin, of which
the people did not understand one word, though they knew and approved
its object.[25] Still in a sketch which Bede gives us of the state of
a convent (consisting as was not uncommon both of monks and nuns), at
a period not much later than Madoc, there is a sad falling off. The
case is indeed spoken of as a flagrant one, and the facts are to be
gathered out of a fabulous story of a warning sent by an angel to a
monk of that house; signifying that a judgment was coming upon it;
for that of its inmates none (save one only) were occupied with the
good of their souls; all were asleep, or only awake to sin, both men
and women; the cells intended for study and prayer had been converted
into chambers of revelry and excess; the virgins who had dedicated
themselves to God, having no respect unto their vows, employed all
their leisure hours in adorning their persons, as though they were
brides, or wished to be.[26] Indeed, on one occasion about the same
time, when a panic prevailed through the country by reason of the
plague, it was actually attempted in one quarter of the island where
Christianity had been received, to repair the temples and restore
idolatry.[27] Whatever, therefore, the wheat might be that had been
sown by Augustin and his companions, the tares, it seems, were growing
about it apace, and were ready to choke it. The truth, however, appears
to be, that as yet there was no well-organised church in England. There
was wanted a system in matters ecclesiastical, what was done was done
chiefly by good and zealous individuals. Rome might have supplied the
defect; but the relation in which England stood to Rome is not easily
determined from the history of Bede; it was probably ill defined,
fluctuating, and uncertain, depending in a great measure upon the
accident of the day. Pope Gregory is indeed represented as speaking
with some authority in the answers which he returns to Augustin, who
consults him on the regulations of the infant church;--he may furnish
him with sacred vessels, ornaments, robes, relics, books, and give him
power to consecrate Bishops in Britain, and directions for using it.
Reference may be made to the pope from time to time, in any crisis of
difficulty, or doubt, or hardship; wholesome decrees with regard to
the method of filling up the sees in case of death may be received
from him; his influence may be asked to protect the liberties of a
religious house; but distance and the turbulence of the times rendered
the intercourse difficult, and subjected it to much interruption. Rome
was in those days pestilential;[28] the Alps were formidable, often
fatal to travellers; the seas were full of danger in the actual state
of navigation; it was a weary way from Calais to Marseilles (one of
the usual routes), and if the political aspect of things rendered
a mayor of the palace suspicious, it might be worse than a weary
way;--a journey to Rome for the sake of gaining religious knowledge
was reckoned in the middle of the seventh century a labour of uncommon
merit.[29] The church of England, therefore, was left a while pretty
much to itself; and though great good came of this, it was not without
its mixture of evil. On the one hand, the liberties of the rising
church were fostered by this non-intercourse with Rome; it threw the
nation very much upon its own resources, and gave to the king, and
above all, to synods of the clergy, an authority in ecclesiastical
affairs, to which they might not otherwise have attained. Perhaps, too,
it cultivated a better understanding between the princes and prelates,
who seem to have gone hand in in hand these early times; the former
inviting, welcoming, and establishing, by grants of land for ever,
the residence of these Christian pastors amongst their own people--a
measure of which they might not have thought the advantages so obvious,
had they thereby subjected themselves and their conduct to the
perpetual animadversion of a third party at Rome; for it is curious to
observe that, within 200 years after the foundation of the Anglo-Saxon
church, Aldfrid, a king of Northumbria, feels himself called upon to
resist the interference of the pope in a case of appeal, and actually
refuses to listen to his recommendation. On the other hand, a want of
combination and co-operation (a defect so injurious to every great
undertaking, and not the least so to the successful preaching of the
word of God,) made itself sensibly felt in the religious establishment
of England. Canons seem to have been published, but not to have been
rigidly observed. The order of episcopal succession appears to have
proceeded upon no very settled or intelligible plan; not that it was
vitiated by any incompetency of the parties to administer the rite;
but that the exercise of the episcopal office was desultory--a synod,
or an individual, or a king soliciting it, a native bishop, or a
foreigner, as it might happen, conferring it;--so that, shortly before
Bede’s time,[30] there was only one canonical bishop throughout all
England. All this worked confusion in the church; it impaired its
efficiency; it gave the ancient prejudices of Paganism, and other
causes of corruption, time to rally, and to debase the Gospel, if
they could not destroy it. Accordingly Oswi, king of Northumbria, and
Ecbert, king of Kent, thought it high time to bestir themselves. They
consulted together on the actual condition of the church, and came to a
determination, in which the church itself concurred, to send a priest
of their common choosing to Rome, to be there consecrated archbishop
of Canterbury, who might thenceforth supply the sees of England
canonically, and set in order its ecclesiastical rites. The office,
however, of reforming the Anglo-Saxon church was not destined to the
man of their choice--he, and all his, died, probably of the malaria;
and Theodore, a monk “of Tarsus, a city of Cilicia,” was finally fixed
upon by the pope, consecrated archbishop of Canterbury, and despatched
to England. He seems to have been one of those persons whose spirit and
talents give a character to the times in which they live. He made a
visitation of all England, correcting abuses, establishing discipline,
ordaining bishops, re-ordaining those whose commission was irregular,
introducing music generally into the churches, the use of it having
been as yet confined to Kent, and encouraging the study of Greek and
Latin, of which the effects were felt in the days of Bede. Thus did he
reduce to order a very disorderly state of things; and, in spite of
the various independent kingdoms into which the island was divided,
and by which misrule had been perpetuated, was an archbishop (and he
was the first) to whom the universal church of England submitted.[31]
That he might consolidate his acts, and render the unity of his church
lasting, he convoked a synod of the bishops and clergy at Heorutford
(Hereford[32]) about the year 673, and proposed for their adoption
several canons, which, as they throw considerable light on the state
of ecclesiastical affairs at that period, are here inserted:--1. That
all persons should keep Easter in common, on the Sunday after the full
moon after the vernal equinox. 2. That no bishop should interfere with
the diocese of another, but be content with governing his own. 3. That
no bishop should be at liberty to disturb a religious house in any
way, nor to take from it any portion of its property by force. 4. That
monks should not migrate from one monastery to another without the
certificate of their own abbot, but should continue under the rule to
which they at first professed obedience. 5. That the clergy should not
withdraw themselves from their own proper bishop to wander about at
large; nor should be received elsewhere unless provided with letters
commendatory from that bishop, under pain of excommunication. 6. That
bishops and clergy, who are strangers, should be treated hospitably,
and be therewith content abstaining from the exercise of their office,
unless permitted by the bishop of the diocese, in which they are
staying to do otherwise. 7. That a synod should be held twice a year;
on which, however, an amendment was moved and carried, that it should
be once a year only, and on the first of August. 8. That the bishops
should take precedence according to the priority of their consecration.
9. That the number of bishops, in consideration of the multitudes added
to the church, should be augmented: and, lastly, that license should
be allowed to no man to contract an unlawful or incestuous marriage;
that no man should put away his wife, but as the Gospel permits--for
the cause of fornication; and that whoso should put away his wife
should never be joined to another, if he would not forfeit the name
of Christian; but either remain single or be reconciled to the same.
From these provisions it may be conjectured what were the prevailing
defects of the church establishment in the seventh century; and it is
not difficult to see in them, though as yet undeveloped, several of the
evils which were destined to call for a reformation eight centuries
later. On the whole, the Anglo-Saxon church was now more perfectly
modelled upon the Roman than it had yet been; and, accordingly, some
years afterwards, a certain king of the Picts, Naiton by name, sent
to England for instructions on church architecture, and the right
observance of Easter, having heard (as he said) that the English had
conformed to the example of the holy apostolical church of Rome.[33]
As years roll on the intercourse between this country and Italy
increases[34];--a pilgrimage to Rome, which, in the middle of the
seventh century, was unusual[35], at the close of it was common enough.
Thus Ceadwalla, king of the West Saxons, abdicated, and repaired to
Rome for baptism; took the name of Peter; died, and was buried in the
church of that apostle. His successor, Ine, commending, in like manner,
his kingdom to the care of younger men, after a reign of thirty-seven
years, repaired to the threshold of the blessed apostles, desiring to
sojourn for a season upon that holy ground whilst on earth, that he
might thereby secure to himself a more friendly reception among the
saints in heaven. Cœnred, king of the Mercians, and Offa, heir-apparent
of the kingdom of the East Saxons, pursued the same course; which,
indeed, was now adopted both by noble and ignoble priests and people,
men and women, with the utmost emulation.[36]
Rome, however, had by this time, corrupted the simplicity of the
faith, as it was taught there by St. Paul in his own hired house; and
whilst, no doubt, the English pilgrims who returned brought away with
them much to civilise and something to edify, they brought away with
them, too, much to corrupt the church at home. For Rome was under a
temptation to mingle sacred and profane together; it did not, like
Constantinople, rise at once a Christian capital. The Gospel was
introduced into it, and had to win its way by slow degrees through the
ancient sympathies and inveterate habits of the Pagan city. It was a
maxim with some of the early promoters of the Christian cause to do
as little violence as possible to existing prejudices. They would
run the risk of Barnabas being confounded with Jupiter, and Paul with
Mercurius. In the transition from Pagan to Papal Rome much of the old
material was worked up. The heathen temples became Christian churches;
the altars of the gods, altars of the saints; the curtains, incense,
tapers, votive tablets, remained the same; the aquaminarium was still
the vessel for holy water; St. Peter stood at the gate instead of
Cardea; St. Rocque or St. Sebastian in the bed-room, instead of the
“Phrygian Penates;” St. Nicholas was the sign of the vessel, instead of
Castor and Pollux; the Mater Deûm became the Madonna; alms pro Matre
Deûm became alms for the Madonna; the festival of the Mater Deûm, the
festival of the Madonna, or _Lady Day_; the Hostia, or victim, was
now the host; the “Lugentes Campi,” or dismal regions, Purgatory;[37]
the offerings to the Manes were masses for the dead. The parallel might
be drawn out to a far greater extent; indeed, so much of the Roman had
been grafted upon the Roman catholic system during the dark ages (as
they are called) that the confusion of ideas and of terms resulting
from it forms quite a feature in the writings of the Italian authors
who lived at the revival of letters. Images, holy and unholy, are by
them crowded together without the smallest regard to decency, though
evidently without any intention to offend against it in the parties
themselves. Such was the process of deterioration which the Gospel was
undergoing at Rome (progressive because profitable) at the time when
our Anglo-Saxon ancestors were improving their acquaintance with that
city by repairing to it for purposes of devotion.
What were the doctrines and practices which at present prevailed in
the Anglo-Saxon church, and how far it was exempt from the errors
of later times, it is not easy to determine; more especially as the
ecclesiastical history of Bede, and the early Saxon homilies and
canons, quoted by his commentators, would often lead us to conflicting
conclusions:--
I. With regard to the doctrine of _transubstantiation_, we read
in Bede of the “bread of life,” “the holy bread;”[38] of a man dying
without the “viaticum salutis;”[39] of another, inquiring, when at the
point of death, of his attendant in a monastery, whether they had the
“eucharist in the house?”[40] and though, on one occasion, the mass is
spoken of as a _sacrifice_ (mysterii _immolatio_)[41], yet
it may be contended that the term is Gregory’s own (for it occurs in
the answer returned by him to Augustin’s queries), and that it cannot
be fairly ascribed to the venerable historian himself. Meanwhile a
canon, said to be of the age of archbishop Theodore, (and if so, more
ancient than the history, and though written in Latin, accompanied by
a Saxon translation, which, at any rate, pleads some antiquity in its
favour,) argues the body of Christ to be present in the elements, not
substantially, but spiritually; adding, that this mode is recognised
by St. Paul, who speaks of the Israelites as “eating all of the same
_spiritual_ meat, and drinking of that _spiritual_ rock which
followed them, and that rock was Christ.”[42]
II. On the subject of _image worship_, the Anglo-Saxon church
does not seem to have been altogether blameless. In the preface to
the Laws of Alfred, though the other commandments are enumerated in
their order, the second is omitted, only there is added after the
rest.--“Thou shalt not make gods of silver or gold.” There must have
been a reason for such a change in the positive terms and relative
position of this law; and it is difficult to assign any reason but
one.[43]
III. Purgatory was a part of the Anglo-Saxon creed. This, indeed, was
established on authority. Drithelme, a famous saint (as he proved)
of Northumbria, died and was buried; but he was born to refute the
apophthegm that dead men tell no tales, for he returned to life, and
gave an account of his travels.[44] He had been conducted by an angel
in white raiment towards the sunrising to a valley of vast depth and
interminable extent; the one side of it glowing with fire, the other
pelted by fierce and incessant storms of snow and hail. Between these
two conflicting elements he beheld the souls of miserable mortals
bandied to and fro, anxious to escape from the intolerable anguish of
the moment, and thus perpetually leaping from side to side in this
unhappy valley. Such was Purgatory. But though Drithelme made these
matters known to one Hæmgils, an Irishman, and through Hæmgils they
were communicated to Bede, the doctrine does not appear to have been
universally held in the Saxon church, or, at least, to have held a very
prominent place in its articles of faith. Certain it is, that in some
Anglo-Saxon sermons and confessions yet extant, no mention is made of
it, where mention of it might be expected.[45] Still, the doctrine
was clearly abroad; and in the form it had assumed the Platonic
purgatory was improved upon, and the poets, from Cædmon[46] downwards,
availed themselves of these fearful images, conjured up by the morbid
imagination of the early monks, and consigned, in their turn,
----“the delighted spirit
To bathe in _fiery_ floods, or to reside
In thrilling regions of thick-ribbed ice.”[47]
IV. Purgatory, of course, brought other doctrines in its train--penance
for the living, that they might never come into it;[48] confession,
that penance might be enjoined and adjusted;[49] masses for the
dead, that they might be delivered from it.[50] These acts were
not, perhaps, for a while, considered obligatory. The abuses of the
Roman catholic church did not come of observation, but crept into
the world by stealth, till, having at length established themselves
_de facto_, they were confirmed by the decrees of some general
council, and thenceforth became _de jure_ a part and parcel of the
catholic creed. Thus the use of images by degrees prevailed, till it
was eventually authorised by a decree of a council at Nice in the year
787. The doctrine of transubstantiation gained a footing in credulous
times, and was encouraged from interested motives, (for who should
set bounds to the authority of a priest who had power to produce the
Deity himself at his bidding?)[51] till it was pronounced orthodox at
the council of Placentia in 1095. The communion, in one kind only, had
become customary (from whatever cause,) and the practice received the
placet of the church in 1415, at the council of Constance.
V. The Virgin appears to have been held in great, perhaps in
idolatrous, honour by the Anglo-Saxon church. It is true that--
The _cross_ preceding Him who floats in air,
The pictured Saviour!
was to be seen in the processions of Augustin, and not the Virgin;[52]
and in general her name but seldom occurs in the Ecclesiastical History
of Bede; still even here some shadow of the glories that were coming
upon her advance to meet us. Eadbald the son of Ethelbert, Augustin’s
friend, is said to have founded a church after his extraordinary
conversion (for he had not in early life walked in the ways of his
father) to “the Holy Mother of God;”[53] and Bishop Wilfrid is declared
by an angel (so the legend runs) to have been delivered from death
by our Lord, at the prayers and tears of the Bishop’s disciples and
brethren, and “the _intercession_ of his own blessed virgin-mother
Mary.”[54]
VI. But, indeed, the office of intercession was not confined to the
Virgin.[55] The Saxon _saints_ were powerful both in heaven and
earth; nothing was too great or too mean for their interference. They
could recover a man from the brink of the grave, or cure a horse of
the colic.[56] They could clear an island of evil spirits, though it
had been over-run with them like a warren; and fill it with springs
of water though it had been dry and desolate.[57] They could mend
a fractured skull, and tell whether the party had been baptised
imperfectly, ineffectually, or not at all, by the rate of the
recovery.[58] A hair of their heads could cure a wen.[59] They could
disperse an abscess on the arm (without recourse to surgery,) though
large as a man’s two hands, and though it should have been occasioned
by bleeding when the moon was four days’ old, which (it seems) was
an act of incredible folly.[60] Nor was this all; they could unfold
the secrets of the grave with the utmost minuteness. One could tell
of his encounter with the soul of a sinner in the other world, which
was flung at him red-hot and burnt his shoulder and cheek, though
when relating his adventure, even if it were in the depth of winter,
and however light might be his dress, the saint would sweat as if it
were the dog-days.[61] Another could speak of a journey, under the
safe conduct of a guardian angel to the same mysterious region; of his
approach to the brink of the bottomless pit, through an atmosphere of
insufferable stench and darkness; of the balls of fire which were shot
upwards out of the abyss and fell into it again, scintillating with
the spirits of the damned; of the sudden disappearance of his heavenly
guide; of his hearing behind him in this joyless solitude the hollow
shrieks of dead men’s souls, as they were led to the the pit’s mouth,
mixed with the loud and jubilant laughter of the fiends who conducted
them; of their plunge into the burning bottomless gulf; of the dolorous
moanings and peals of merriment dying away as they went down into the
deep together; of the legion of hideous forms which now encompassed him
about threatening to seize him with their fiery pincers, but having no
power over him to hurt him; of his casting around a wistful eye to see
if there were any to help him; and of his discovering in the distance,
as it twinkled through the darkness, the light, as it were, of a
star; of its rapid approach and gradual development, till the guardian
angel again stands confessed before him; the devils retire; and he is
rewarded for his alarm by a translation to the harmonious sounds, the
Sabean odours, the pure and placid beams of Paradise.[62]
Whilst, however, we gather these exploits of the early saints of our
country from the pages of Bede, it is only just to the memory of that
veracious and single-hearted writer to observe, that numerous as may
be the lying wonders which he relates and believes on the testimony
of others of his own actual knowledge he does not pretend to one.
But wherefore are they touched upon at all? Simply because they are
characteristic of the times whereof they are told: they supply a
gauge by which we can measure the degree and the progress of those
corruptions from which the Reformation finally delivered us. Monstrous
as these legends are, they were the faith of the nation; for if Bede
receives them as facts, were his countrymen in general, so much less
enlightened than himself, likely to reject them as fictions? Moreover,
they are curious as specimens of a vast magazine of materials, which
supplied poetry when it revived after the barbarous ages with much
of its wild as well as ludicrous imagery. Dante worked them up into
his Divina Comedia. His Inferno, especially, is the offspring of an
imagination that had dieted with these monkish mysteries; and it may
be observed by the way, that even our own Paradise Lost may have felt
their influence, and that Milton may be indirectly indebted for many
of the dark and terrible features of this hell to early hagiography.
Romance, if it did not owe its existence, owed much of its furniture
to the same common stock. The poets of romance drew from it, either
directly or through the chroniclers, the adventures that suited them.
Turpin, a fictitious archbishop, is constantly introduced by them with
solemn sneers, as a voucher for the most extravagant feats of their
favourites, and thus the dishonest fictions of the priesthood were
made eventually to recoil upon their own order, and swell the cry for
reformation; for these popular writers, without, perhaps, intending
it, or caring much about the matter, did, undoubtedly, lend a helping
hand to the great cause by laughing at much that was fairly ridiculous
in the doctors and doctrines of their day; happy had they known where
to stop, and not to rush upon things truly sacred with the temerity of
fools.
But one conservative principle there was in the economy of the
Anglo-Saxon church that opposed itself to still further corruption of
the faith of Christ, and that was, the free use of the word of God. The
Scriptures might not, indeed, be very generally read; Bede complains
that they were not; but there was no hinderance thrown in the way of
reading them, quite the contrary: he himself gave a translation of the
Gospel of St. John; one of the Psalter had appeared already; and in
the interval that elapsed before the Norman conquest, other portions
of Holy Writ were put forth from time to time in the same vernacular
language. Virtue, no doubt, went out of these, narrow as might be the
limits within which they circulated; and it is no unusual matter to
find in the pages of Bede, and in the midst of the legends, relics,
visions, and superstitions, of which they are full, occasional glimpses
of better things, and some of the cardinal doctrines of Christianity
still struggling vigorously for their lives.[63]