tinuity of narrative they prevent its becoming tedious, and afford an opportunity for reflection. We subjoin the following as a specimen of the author's style and manner.

"It is useful to contemplate these strugglings toward liberty of conscience-this settling down towards a permanence of religious order. Who that beholds the sufferings of the reformers, but must feel thankful that he is permitted to sit beneath the spiritual vine, with none to molest or make him afraid; that he is allowed to worship as the bible teaches him, with none to interpose between his conscience and his God.

"Cranmer was never idle; and all his exertions were devoted to forwarding the holy cause. He did not despair because he could not effect every thing; neither was he so rash as to expect all at once. His enemies were powerful; but he knew there was one mightier than they between the cherubim and in that one he trusted." pp. 61,62.

"From Henry's tomb there sprung forth a vine, which, though tender in age, was beautiful in promise, and rich in fruit as the clusters of Eshcol. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. It passed away, but its memorial lived, fresh to the view of each succeeding generation, and fragrant even now as the odours of sweet incense. Edward, the Josiah of England, succeeded his father. He was only nine years old when he began to reign, and, by the will of his father, was placed under the care of sixteen counsellors, who were to govern the kingdom until the completion of his 18th year. Of these counsellors, Cranmer was, blessed be God, chief in influence." pp. 69,70.

"It is pleasing to pause amidst these contemplations, and let the mind wander forward to that rest, where all who name the name of Christ shall depart from iniquity, where all earthly motives shall be destroyed, all errour shall be cast out, and every individual, soul and body, shall be thoroughly reformed. "Every man has an empire in his own breast, and at the head of that empire is a pope, with all his train of foolish observances, and tempt ing indulgences—with all his power of putting darkness for light, and light for darknesswith all his pride-with even his arrogating the place of God. That pope is self. He must be dethroned, and the humility, and the constancy, and the prayer, of a Cranmer, engaged in carrying on the work of purification, and the elements of primitive excellence must be sought for, and, according to them, the soul must be new modelled, and every facul29 ADVOCATE VOL. II.

ty, and every power, must be raised from the grave of sin, and made to rejoice in the life of righteousness.

.

"The selected bishops and divines, en

gaged in examining, and reforming the offices of the church." pp. 83,84.

"The Lord's ways are not as our ways, nor his thoughts as our thoughts. Had the rising church been left to decide, Edward would have continued on the throne of England until the reformation was perfectly established, and the rubbish of superstition swept away entirely. Instead of that, we see him summoned to the tomb, and in his room, not a protestant, not a friend to pure and undefiled religion raised up, but a daughter of Rome, a patroness of ignorance and persecution. God is his own interpreter,

"And he will make it plain." pp.147, 148. "We have almost arrived at the end of this career of blood, and we may begin to perceive a reason why divine Providence permitted it. The attachment of the people of England to popery, was of so long continuance, and so deeply rooted, that it was, by no means, easy to eradicate. The acts of Henry were so contradictory, that he left the nation much distracted. And though a more consistent course was carried on during the reign of Edward, and more powerful means were brought to operate, still the influence of the priests continued great; the body of the people had not been well instructed; competent teachers, in sufficient number, could not be obtained; the magnificence of the Roman ceremonial was pleasing to the multitude: so that the reformation was continually in danger. The reign of Mary was wanting to establish it. She burnt up all attachment to popery, in the fires that consumed the martyrs, and thoroughly purged the nation of all hankering after the tender mercies of Rome. Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain." pp. 203, 204.

We need not point out to our readers the excellent tendency of such reflections, and especially the great impres sion they would be likely to make upon the minds of youth, when connected with the perusal of the history from which they originate. It is in this way we are desirous to have the history of the Christian church considered; and the important lessons to be derived from it pointed out to the view of our catechumens.

Where there is so much to be com

mended, it is painful to be obliged to detect faults. It is our province, however, to censure justly, and this includes both praise and blame, where each are due. We think that the author has in some cases sought for reflections which did not spontaneously arise, in consequence of which he has been betrayed into a quaintness of expression, at variance with good taste. The introduction to the eighth chapter appears to us to have these faults.

"Times of trial celebrate many marriages. They create a kindly feeling among all who are surrounded by the same cloud of affliction, and tie, in the knot of concord, hearts, that by nature seem to be separated. They annihilate the distinctions of clime, and colour, and kindred; and throw into one temple of union, the learned and the ignorant, the rich and the poor, the high and the lowall the discordant opposites of which society is capable; melting away jars at the altar of devotion; consuming differences in the censer of love.

"The mind, at such seasons, has no leisure to brood over trifles, or nurse prejudices. It gives the whole grasp of its attention to things of the greatest moment, and is not warped to the denial of evidence, by a fear of the destruction of theories. The voice of truth is heard with distinctness; all its accents are allowed their full weight, and no deceiving echoes are sought for to lessen its effect.

"Hence we see the reformers of the island

and the continent, of Germany, Geneva, and Britain, forming one council of advice, and bringing their wedded energies to bear on the improvement and prosperity of the church of England;-Cranmer, and Calvin, and Luther, approaching nearer in their views of many principles, than some of their followers have been willing to acknowledge." pp. 105,106.

We do not object to the sentiments, but to the mode of expressing them. The "marriages-clouds of affliction knots of concord-temples of unionmelting away jars-consuming differences in the censer of love-grasp of the mind's attention," which is at the same time "warped to the denial of evidence the voice of truth, the weight of its accents, and the deceiving echoes which are sought for," seem to us to present a confused mass of images to

tally inconsistent with the purity of good writing. We have been reminded frequently of the vitiated style of Dr. Chalmers, and are led to suspect that Mr. Allen is an admirer of that distinguished divine, and that, in the contemplation of his excellences, he has insensibly adopted his faults. The introduction to the first chapter is quite in bis manner. The sun rises from his "orient bed" "wakes into being myriads of songs, and gives to the eye all the sublime, and beautiful, and busy of the landscape." The "whole orb of effulgence bursts forth upon the world.". The introduction of this pomp and inflation into the simplicity of the good old English style, is somewhat analogous to the abuses which preceded that reformation of which Mr. Allen is the historian. Should his work come to a second edition, of which it is deserving, we hope that he will restore his style, which is generally good, to that purity which prevailed among the English writers in the golden days of queen Anne.

The publication of a second edition will also enable him to correct some few errours, into part of which he has been led by his author. The chief of these respects the character of archbishop Cranmer. Bishop Burnet did not do justice to that great and good man. He has represented Ridley as the master spirit of the reformation, and has attributed to him, without sufficient authority, the composition of those standard writings which have for three centuries borne the test of examination both by friends and foes. "He had a good judgment," says Burnet, "but no great quickness of apprehension, nor closeness of style, which was diffused and unconnected; therefore when any thing was to be penned that required more nerves, he made use of Ridley." Our author has retained the same sentiment, but expressed it better. had a good judgment, but no great quickness of apprehension. His style was diffuse and unconnected; therefore

"He

when any thing was to be penned that required much nerve, he made use of Ridley."

This insinuation against the capacity of the archbishop is merely a broad assertion, unsupported by the slightest proof; yet, on the authority of Burnet, it has been copied, without examination, by succeeding writers. In Ridley's last examination, the bishop of Glocester, one of his examiners, used this expression, "For what a weak and feeble stay in religion is this, I pray you? Latimer leaneth to Cranmer, Cranmer to Ridley, and Ridley to the singularity of his own wit! So that if you overthrow the singularity of Ridley's wit, then must needs the religion of Cranmer and Latimer fall also." To this Ridley replied, " And whereas he said master Cranmer leaned to him, that was most untrue, in that he was but a young scholar in comparison with master Cranmer; for at what time he was a young scholar, master Cranmer was a doctor, so that he confessed master Cranmer might have been his schoolmaster these many years." Ridley's Life of Ridley, pp. 626-628. Fox expressly says that after Cranmer was made archbishop of Canterbury, his enemies raised malicious reports against him that he was destitute of learning; and there appears to have been a constant disposition to counteract his great influence by representing him as a man of ordinary abilities and slender acquirements, who was obliged to have recourse to Ridley to write what was published in his name. Cranmer's chief work was his treatise upon the sacrament; and of this Ridley gave testimony that he himself was not the author. In a conference which he had in the tower, with secretary Bourne and others, the secretary said to him, as he relates, "Now, then, and how can ye make but a figure or a sign of the sacrament, as that book doth which is set forth in my lord of Canterbury's name? I wiss ye can tell who made it. Did not ye make it? And here was much mur

muring of the rest, as though they would have given me the glory of the writing of that book; which yet was said of some there to contain the most hainous heresie that ever was. Master secretary, quoth I, that book was made of a great learned man, and him which is able to do the like again: as for me, I ensure you, (be not deceived in me,) I was never able to do or write any such like thing; he passeth me no less than the learned master his young scholar."* Fox, Mart. vol. iii. p. 35.

The writings of Ridley preserved by Fox, afford internal evidence that he was not the author of the work which came forth under the name of Cranmer; the style of the one being manifestly different from that of the other. "One short specimen," says Dr. Lawrence, "of the manner in which, when he pleased, he was capable of expressing himself, may be sufficient to disprove the censure of Burnet. After noticing, with some severity, that the Romish antichrist and his ministers, in their doctrine of deliverance from purgatory, take upon them to do for us, that thing which Christ either would not, or could not do,' he thus exclaims: 'O haynous blasphemy, and most detestable injury against Christ! O wicked abomination in the temple of God! O pride intolerable of antichrist, and most manifest token of the son of perdition, extolling himself above God, and with lucifer exalting his seat and power above the throne of God!' Preface to his defence of the true and catholick doctrine of the sacrament. Ought he who was master of language like this, to bę slighted as incoherent, spiritless and inelegant? But to form a thorough

*No other book was set forth in the archbishop's name, than the abovementioned treatise, and the defence of it against Gardiner, except the Lutheran catechism of 1547, which from its sentiments upon the subject of the Lord's supper, could not have been the production alluded to. See Lawrence's Bamp ton Lect. p. 206,

conception of his style, it is necessary to consult his writings themselves, in which to use his own expressions, he flattered himself that he had made 'more clearly appear the light from the darkness, the truth from false sophistical subtleties, and the certain word of God from men's dreams and phantastical inventions.' Ibid. p. 14. He is not indeed always nervous, but he is always clear and flowing, eloquent and impres

sive.

"To give an adequate idea of his diction seems difficult. It has a certain unobtrusive elegance about it which mocks description; Illam

Componit furtim, subsequiturque decor.

Tibullus, Eleg. ix. 2. 8.

"It was neat without affectation, of ornament rather frugal than profuse, yet in every instance preserving an unostentatious decency and dignity peculiar to itself."-Lawrence's Bampton Lect. Serm. I. p. 21, and Notes to Serm. I. P. 209.

The fate of Cranmer, to borrow still further the language of this able writer, has been peculiarly hard. Living in evil days, and exposed after his death to the malice of evil tongues, he has suffered in almost every part of his reputation. Papists have impeached the sincerity, while protestants have doubt. ed the steadiness of his principles; and a too general idea seems to prevail that his opinions were for ever fluctuating, or at least were so flexible, as to have rendered him little better than a weak instrument in the hands of those who possessed more talent and more consistency. But the fact was far otherwise. He was in truth the chief promoter, and the ablest advocate of the reformation, planning it with the discretion of a prudent, and the zeal of a good man, and carrying it on towards perfection with a firmness, a wisdom, and a liberality, which obtained him no less credit for the endowments of his head, than for the impressions of his heart." F.

MASSACHUSETTS.

THE Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the state of Massachusetts assembled in Trinity church, Boston, on the 19th of June; at which were present ten clergymen and seventeen lay delegates, the representatives of eleven parishes. Hopkinton, Greenfield, Ashfield, Springfield, Great Barrington, Lanesborough, Lenox, Quincy and Cambridge were not represented. The bishop not being present, the Rev. James Morss, rector of St. Paul's church, Newburyport, was elected president, and the Rev. Titus Strong, rector of St. James's church, Greenfield, secretary pro tem. The convention, being organized, proceeded to celebrate divine service, when morning prayers were conducted by the Rev. Isaac Boyle, rector of St. Paul's church, Dedham; the convention sermon was preached by the Rev. Calvin Wolcott, rector of St. Andrew's church, Hanover; and the communion was administered by the Rev. Dr. Gardiner, rector of Trinity, assisted by the Rev Dr. Jarvis, rector of St. Paul's, Boston.

In the afternoon session, the following reports, ou subjects referred last year to the clerical members of the standing committee, were read and accepted.

"The clerical members of the standing committee having been directed by the last convention to revise the constitution and canons of the church in this state, to determine whether any, and if any, what alterations are necessary therein; and to report on the same to the present convention, respectfully represent,

That in consequence of a proposition made at the last diocesan convention, held at Newport, September 27, 1820, to consolidate the diocese more effectually, by providing for annual conventions of the same to be composed of all the clergy, together with lay delegates from all the parishes in the diocese; which proposition is to be acted upon at the next diocesan convention to be held at Portsmouth, in September; your committee have been of opinion that it would be unadvisable to take any measures on this subject at the present convention; they

beg leave, however, to submit to the consideration of the convention, the following resoJution.

"Resolved, That the clerical members of the standing committee appointed by this convention be directed to revise the constitution and canons of this church, and to make such alterations therein as may be rendered necessary or expedient to render them conformable with such regulations of the diocese as may be made at the ensuing diocesan convention, and to report thereon at the next annual convention.

John S. J. Gardiner,
Samuel F. Jarvis,
T. Carlile."

"The clerical members of the standing committee having been appointed to inquire into the state of the journals of the convention of the church in this state, and to have all or such of them printed, as they may think proper, respectfully report,

"That they have examined the journals, and find that in many respects they are unsuitable for publication. They are of opinion, however, that an abstract of the state of the church might be profitably published for the purpose of contributing to a more perfect view of the origin and growth of the American branch of the protestant Episcopal church. They beg leave, therefore, to offer the subjoined resolution, to be acted upon by the convention.

"Resolved, That the delegates appointed by this convention to represent the church of Massachusetts in the approaching diocesan convention, be, and they hereby are directed to propose that an abstract from the journals of each state composing the eastern diocese be formed under the direction of the convention of each state; that the same be entered on the journals of the next diocesan convention; and that the whole be printed for the information of the church in the United States. All which is respectfully submitted.

John S. J. Gardiner, Samuel F. Jarvis,

T. Carlile."

The following report from the standing committee was read, and on motion of Dudley A. Tyng, Esq. recommitted to the standing committee of the present year.

"The standing committee appointed by the last annual convention having been requested to furnish each church in the state with one or more copies of the constitution, canons, and journals of the general convention of the protestant Episcopal church in the United States, and of the diocesan convention, and that of this state, to be purchased with money to be raised by contributions in the several