ART. VIII.-1. An Inquiry into the Doctrine of the Church of England upon Absolution. By the REV. WILLIAM MASKELL, M.Ä. Vicar of St. Mary's Church, and Domestic Chaplain to the Lord Bishop of Exeter. London: Pickering. 1849.

2. A Letter to the Rev. W. Maskell, M.A. By the REV. F. T. HILL, M.A. Incumbent of Estcot Church, St. Mary, Exeter. Exeter Waters. 1848.

3. Auricular Confession. A Sermon preached in the Parish Church of Leeds, October 29th, 1848. With a Preface, Appendix, and copious Notes. By WALTER FARQUHAR HOOK, D.D. Vicar of Leeds. London: Rivingtons.

IF the doctrine of the Church of England be indeed doubtful upon this point [sacerdotal absolution]-and doubtful I cannot conceive it to bethen I humbly offer all that I have said as materials towards discussion. For many a year we have neglected inquiry about sacerdotal absolution altogether. Is it a truth of the Gospel, or is it a fiction or pretence? Whatever it is, let us try to settle it.'-P. 227.

So speaks Mr. Maskell, and so would speak his reviewer, with not less sense of the greatness of this question, nor of its difficulty; for while its roots reach to the profoundest depths of theology, it connects itself with the practical life of every Christian. We would fain be able to bestow upon it such calm and studious attention as did the learned Morinus, during those twenty-five years which elapsed, as he tells us, between the announcement and appearance of his work, 'De Disciplina in Administratione Sacramenti Pœnitentiæ.' Such leisure is not afforded men in these railroad days. Even Mr. Maskell's learned volume was written in twice as many days as the French divine devoted years to his labour (Preface, p. x.); and we almost tremble to think how soon we must submit the lines we are writing to the judgment of our readers.

The hesitation with which we enter on what must of necessity be a hasty and imperfect consideration of this great subject, is somewhat alleviated by the character of the main work which lies before us. With Mr. Maskell it is always satisfactory to converse, because he is everywhere calm, candid, precise,―and because he evidently approaches the subject with a mind well stored with the most valuable materials.

Of the other works with which we have headed this article it will not be necessary to say much; Mr. Hill's letter, though written in a pleasing tone, is not very deep, nor in our judgment perfectly consistent: while of the third work on our list we wish to say as little as we can, lest we should say anything

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inconsistent with our sincere respect for its author. The larger part of it is foreign to our subject: and the references which it contains to his own conduct are sufficient to assure the theory of the late Master of Rugby can never consist with the well-known practice of the Vicar of Leeds. Even respecting Mr. Maskell's work we must observe, that had it been presented to us as a premeditated treatise, instead of 'diatribe extemporalis,' we should certainly have looked for a more philosophical setting forth of principles, such as give their peculiar value to the writings of Hooker, or Taylor, or any of our older divines. The custom of those writers, before they approached anything of a technical nature, was to lay a deep foundation in the general principles of human nature and the Divine economy, and thus to show us the causes which led to those errors which it was their object to refute. Ἐπεὶ οὐ μόνον δεῖ τἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ αἴτιον τοῦ ψεύδους. τοῦτο γὰρ συμβάλλεται πρὸς τὴν πίστιν. It would be unreasonable, no doubt, to censure Mr. Maskell for turning aside from questions which were forbidden by the limits prescribed to him. But we cannot help imagining that had he allowed himself scope for a more profound consideration of the things about which he treats, his judgment respecting the force of the words which he has occasion to consider might in some cases have been modified.

I shall not,' he says, 'argue at all whether sacerdotal absolution, as that term is used in our Church, does or does not convey the Divine grace and pardon: I am justly warranted in taking this for granted.'-P. 6.

Had Mr. Maskell given us a more full account of what the thing is which sacerdotal absolution communicates, he would, perhaps, have more clearly realized his own position, and done more justice to the opinions of others. The deficiency is not to be charged so much on himself, as on the following circumstances which have compelled him to appear somewhat hastily before the public.

' In August last,' he says, 'at the visitation of the Bishop of the diocese, I preached at Totness. My sermon contained statements upon chief doctrines of the Christian faith, which, left to recollection only, might very easily have been mistaken or exaggerated. The Bishop, with the concurrence of many of the clergy, desired that the sermon should be printed, in order that himself and all who had heard it might have an opportunity to judge of it after deliberation. In expressing this desire, his lordship declared at the same time, that there were statements in the sermon, to which, as he heard them, he did not assent.

When published, the sermon caused excitement and adverse remark in several parts of the diocese. . . . In particular, twenty clergymen addressed a memorial to the bishop, calling on his lordship for the expression of some grave episcopal censure of the sermon.'-Pref. p. vi.

One sentence only is quoted from the complaint of these (as we hear) Plymouth Brethren.

The statement [in the sermon] that the absolution pronounced at the administration of the Lord's Supper is intended only to meet the case of venial sins, . . . . we allege to be in opposition to the form itself, in which the priest pronounces these words, "Almighty God have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins.”

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Mr. Maskell's remarks on this sentence show the design and extent of his work, which has been (perhaps unfortunately) narrowed by a desire to grapple with this particular objection.

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'This sentence,' he says, 'as it seems to me, (coupled with the fact that no objection was made against my interpretation of the form in the Office of Visiting the Sick) can only mean, that in their opinion, the form in the Communion Service conveys remission of all sins. In other words, the efficacy which I restrict to a form of absolution after oral confession, is by them extended to the form after a general confession in the Liturgy. on the contrary the memorialists had denied the grace of absolution, or explained it away;-if, that is, they had declared my doctrine to be unsound, because absolution is only a preaching generally of the promises of God; or a particular declaration of His promises to an individual; or again, is only exercised in the administration of the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist;-this would have been another, and an equally intelligible line of argument: but then they would not have found the errors on which it must be based treated of, except very briefly, in the following pages.'-Pref. ix.

We feel persuaded that if our author had taken a wider range, he would not only-which is less material-have done better execution on his opponents, but likewise better justice to his subject. The objectors, in all probability, have only followed the common practice of those who do not realize the true character of the Church, and desired to call her authorities to their aid, without once considering the principle which they were admitting. To ask for an episcopal sentence, as if it could decide in an arbitrary manner a question of doctrine, is on a par with the application of the same party a few months ago to the House of Commons to give a new standard of truth to the Church of England. Such recklessness implies, that those guilty of it have never realized what is meant by an external standard of truth or falsehood: their own inward caprice is their real guide; and they can afford to make use, at any moment, of a rule which pleases them, because, should it displease them, they are prepared at any moment to throw it away. Such persons could have no real belief in the authority of those other offices which they quote. And if we would convince them of the reality of the subject we are discussing, and would set the truth itself in such a light as may recommend it to unbiassed minds, we must go somewhat higher than our author has done, and consider the principle on which absolution depends.

Two main systems of religion lay claim to the belief of Christians according to one, the Gospel is a new law; it is a new creation, according to the other. The first supposes that

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man being the inheritor of a corrupt nature, and being found incapable of that perfect obedience which was prescribed by God's written law not less than by the dictates of nature, a new law was provided by the Gospel, by which easier terms are offered to mankind. This better law owes its existence to the coming of Christ. In Him God exhibited to the world a Divine Person, who not only set a pure example and imparted sublime doctrines, but by His sufferings and death laid up an exhaustless store of merit. Instead, therefore, of obedience to the old law, which had been found impossible, the new law required nothing but an hearty belief in the mission of Christ. Thus do men gain part in what He has done; and a verdict of acquittal must be entered for them, because by the inward act called faith they appropriate to themselves the merit which has been stored up by Christ. Still it must not be supposed that a holy life is unnecessary; on the contrary, their gratitude for being let off on such terms is sure to lead them to real obedience. And, indeed, to repose with perfect confidence in the mission of Christ, is in itself a proof of no inconsiderable proficiency in morals, since it implies the extinction of pride, the most deadly and pertinacious of human frailties.

To render this system more complete, some add the idea that God selects a part of men to be the subjects of His kingdom, the rest being absolutely excluded; and that the inward feeling of faith, together with the tendency to all other excellences, is a compulsory gift bestowed upon His favourites. But though this theory may be essential to the logical compactness of the system which has been described, it is not in practice universally appended to it.

Quite contrary in all its results is the system which would represent the Gospel as a new creation. The two theories agree, indeed, in supposing man a fallen creature, and that the remedy for the fall has been provided only through the mercy of Christ. But in the mode in which that mercy is vouchsafed they vary. For, according to this second system, the law of God can undergo no alteration; His grace and holy will cannot be moulded to suit our weakness; it is we, rather, who require to be changed, that we may be conformed to His absolute perfection. And what is the process by which this change is made? It began in the Head of our race, Jesus Christ, when, being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Him'self, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the 'cross.' Thus, by union with our nature, did He exalt it, and in His own person afford an example of that perfection which was necessary in ours. The beginning having thus been made in the Son of man, the better seed has been spread abroad by

the communication of Himself, through sacraments, to all who were willing to be joined to Him. But here, as in the other system, His obedience unto death is the sole perfect fulfilment of God's law; for, though the ancient nature has been taken and reformed by Him, yet in Him only does it reach its state of normal excellence; in others it is only tentative and approximate, it never attains its end in this present state, it shows only the point towards which its lines are convergent: the ultimate focus lies in the infinity of a future being. According to both theories, then, men's trust must plainly be in the merits of Christ alone; and in both, faith alone can save them: but according to the first system, faith saves on account of the excellence of its nature; according to the second, through the excellence of the object on which it relies. So that here there is no formal substitution, no sentence of acquittal is passed; the culprit cannot, by a pure act of his mind, put another person in an arbitrary manner in the place of himself, but the merits of the Perfect Member of man's race extend themselves as widely as His nature extends itself. If men are accepted through Christ,' it is because they are really found in Him;' and the virtue of His death is coextensive with the efficacy of His Manhood. Let us express the truth which we are aiming to set forth in that depth and richness with which it was contemplated by the greatest mind of the ancient Church. Ea porro justitia quæ vivit in seipsa, proculdubio Deus est, atque incommutabiliter vivit. 'Sicut autem hæc, cum sit in seipsa vita, etiam nobis fit vita, cum ejus efficimur utcunque participes: ita cum in seipsa sit justitia, etiam nobis fit justitia, cum ei cohærendo justi vivimus, et tanto magis minusve justi sumus, quanto magis 'illi minusve cohæremus.' (S. August. Ep. cxx. 19.) In God only lies the source of holiness, as the cause of life, which extends in an infinite chain from Him to His creatures. The Gospel is that new creation, whereby, through the Son of His love, He has communicated it to a fallen race. This is the new election, the better covenant, which has superseded every other relation of God to man. In Christianity 'neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but 'the new creation. And as many as walk according to this 'rule, grace be on them and mercy, and on the Israel of God.' We are not concerned, then, with the notion of a mere verdict of acquittal, obtained by pleading that which is not our own. What is here spoken of is the extension of that new nature, which carries with it the acceptableness which it has derived from its perfect Possessor. For His sake does it avail, when it is shared by the lowest members of the mystical Body of the Lord. Where this better nature is present, and so far as it is pre

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