truth," but the "whole truth," and to take care, that others advance upon the same topics, "nothing but the truth."

Such is unquestionably the honest and just purpose of this Introduction, which is more deserving of the name of a book from its importance than its length, though it extends indeed as far as cxvi pages. But it is not the business of a reviewer to make a book of his own remarks. We must have regard to our prescribed limits, however tempted to transgress. In order to give as briefly as possible, some fair and proper specimens of Mr. Todd's industry as an antiquary, and correctness as an historian; and some idea of the particular object and design of bis present interposition, we shall take the first charge brought against Archbishop Cranmer, by the Romanists, whose names appear in the title-page. Passing by Dr. Lingard, whom Mr. Todd, indeed, follows "step by step," and with no small pains, we shall, for the mere sake of brevity, notice Mr. Butler's remark upon the Primate.

"Although when he was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury, Cranmer took the customary oath of obedience to the see of Rome, did he not, just before he took it, retire into a private room, and protest against it? Was this honourable ?"

Without stopping to refute this particular fact, we shall at once take upon us to assert, that nothing seems to admit of fairer contradiction, than the privacy of Cranmer's protestation, as bearing upon the point in question. That he did protest against the oath, is not denied; but whatever he might do in a private room, whatever he might do previously, before a few chosen witnesses, there was not wanting that open and public protestation at the last, in the presence of those by whom he was consecrated, which should protect him most effectually from the charge of such artful, insincere, and clandestine dealing, as Mr. Butler scruples not to accuse him of. The protestation indeed still exists, and Mr. Todd transcribes enough of it to satisfy any impartial mind.

"In Dei nomine amen. Coram vobis, autentica persona, et testibus fide dignis hic presentibus, ego Thomas in Cant, Archiep. electus, dico, allego, et in hiis scriptis, palam, publicè et expressè protestor, &c." Reg. fol. 4. Introduct. p. xli.

Nor was this measure of protesting against the oath, an evasion of Cranmer's own invention; he acted, as history shews, upon the deliberate counsel and advice of the best canonists and civilians,

But, after all, we may surely be permitted to observe, that whatever of insincere or dishonourable conduct may appear in

this transaction, Protestantism should not bear the blame of it; for it happens to have been entirely consistent with the form of the investiture of prelates before the Reformation,-as the following statement may serve to shew:

"On every vacancy of a bishopric the king seized the temporalities, granting a licence for an election, with a special recommendation of the person; which, being returned, the royal assent was given, and sent to Rome, that bulls might be expedited, and then the bishop elect was consecrated. After receiving consecration in virtue of those bulls, the bishop came to the king, and renounced every clause in the bulls that was contrary to the king's prerogative, or to the law, and swore fealty; and then were the temporalities restored."

Now this was not a Protestant but a Roman Catholic method of investiture, and surely we might retort upon Mr. Butler, and ask him, "Was THIS honourable?" It was not of Protestant; but of Roman Catholic prelates, that Henry complained to his parliament, in 1532, that they were in the habit of taking oaths totally inconsistent, if not absolutely contrary, the one to the other. That Mr. Butler should have fixed upon such a manifest remnant of Popery to allege against Cranmer, as the first fruits of his Protestantism, is a manoeuvre (we can call it by no other name) unbecoming a person so well versed in history. But there is nothing more curious, in the proceedings of the whole triumvirate opposed by Mr. Todd, than the manner in which they load the reforming archbishop with charges, which, in all reason, apply as strongly, and often more strongly, to Gardiner and Bonner, their own favourite, persecuting, and Popish prelates. Mr. Todd has admirably pointed out instances of this, too palpable to be resisted; and we are only sorry that we cannot do justice to the importance of his remarks in a publication of this nature. But we hope the work itself will be consulted by all who are anxious for the support of the Protestant Church of these realms, against the cavils and unfair attacks, calumnies, and reproaches, of modern Romanists. We most earnestly hope Mr. Todd will continue to keep his eye upon them, for the sake of truth. Accidental misrepresentations may be forgiven; but wilful ones deserve not merely to be corrected, but exposed. We can scarcely fancy that those corrected by Mr. Todd, in his learned Introduction, could be otherwise than wilful; for Dr. Lingard, Dr. Milner, and Mr. Butler, are all of them writers who can scarcely be suspected of falling into accidental misrepresentations. Is it possible, for instance, that Dr. Lingard could assert, through mere ignorance, or want of recollection, that Cranmer was the first who

discovered that the Pope was the Antichrist of the Apocalypse, when it was so easy for Mr. Todd, or any other watchful critic, to adduce against him Wicliffe, Chaucer, Dante, and even the clergy of Italy, at the beginning of the sixteenth century? Is it possible, as Mr. Todd himself observes, that Mr. Butler, in citing Bp. Taylor as a high authority on his side, should not have known that he was citing the Bishop against himself? that there was in existence a well known after-work of that admired prelate, seventeen years younger than his " Liberty of Prophe sying;" in which "his reading and judgment being more matured," to use Mr. T.'s expression, he holds a totally different opinion? See Introduct. pp. xxiv, xxv, &c.

But it is time to turn to the original work of Cranmer, reprinted in this volume, by the judicious care and attention of Mr. Todd. We have read it, not for the first time, but with particular delight; and have found it fully to answer Mr. Todd's description of it, as abounding in "examples of irresistible argumentation, as well as impressive eloquence." He apologizes for some archaisms and vulgarisms peculiar to the times in which it was written-but indeed they are very few; and we are much disposed to thank him for modernizing the language, because its perspicuity of style is such, that it would be distressing to be impeded by an obsolete orthography. Of the contents of the work a judgment may be formed, from the following account of it by Fox, whose words Mr. Todd has transcribed, and whose fame he has ably vindicated, in conjunction with Dr. Wordsworth, against the rude and unjustifiable censures of Dr. Milner and other Romanists. The following is Fox's account of Cranmer's great work.

During the time of king Henry the Eighth, until the entering of king Edward, it seemeth that Cranmer was scarcely yet thoroughly persuaded in the right knowledge of the Sacrament, or at least was not fully ripened in the same; wherein shortly after being more groundedly confirmed by conference with Bishop Ridley, in process of time did so profit in riper knowledge, that at last he took upon him the defence of that whole doctrine, that is, to refute and throw down, first, the corporal presence; secondly, the fantastical transubstantiation; thirdly, the idolatrous adoration; fourthly, the false error of the Papists, that wicked men do eat the natural body of Christ; and lastly, the blasphemous sacrifice of the Mass. Whereupon, in conclusion, he wrote five books for the publick instruction of the Church of England: which instruction yet to this day standeth, and is received in this Church of England." Introduc. p. iii.

Perhaps this summary of the contents of the work repub

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lished by Mr. Todd, may tempt some persons to ask, whether it be at all suitable to the present times; whether there can be, not merely any necessity for reprinting such arguments, but any utility in putting people in mind of such exploded errors as the corporal presence, the fantastical transubstantiation, &c. &c.? Were we expected to give answer to any such enquiries, we confess we should be disposed to say, that if knowledge be preferable to ignorance, there never was a time in which it was more necessary, or might be more useful, to solicit the attention of the public to such topics, or recal men's recollections to the transactions of past ages. We do not believe, from the time of Henry VIII. to the present day, there was ever so much ignorance displayed as in the debates of a certain assembly, within the compass only of a few weeks or months just past. Indeed, if these be properly and correctly reported, we need be mortified to think how little the real character of the Reformation is understood by persons, who, from their high and eminent station, and the trust reposed in them by the sovereign and the nation, ought to know better. We speak not of those young nobles and sportsmen, whom we cannot expect to be sound divines, but we allude to much graver personages; men of power and influence, of unquestionable talents, and known education, who, if they do not understand such matters as divines, might and ought to know them historically. How short a time is it since Transubstantiation and Consubstantiation were spoken of in the assembly to which we allude, as ignorantly, and, we are sorry to say, as sportively, as if nothing of any importance now depended upon a proper understanding of those terms;-whereas, in our estimation, never before did so much depend upon it. Let us not be supposed so unacquainted with the world, as to fancy that the long word Transubstantiation is much likely to engage the attention of the public, or that in reality we are much in danger of being wearied with discussions about the corporal presence in the Eucharist; these, we know well enough, are things not likely to happen, but then we must be allowed to add, it is because they are not likely to happen, that we are more afraid of the doctrines themselves. To be explicit, we confidently believe that even cabinet ministers, that is some cabinet ministers, may be ignorant, or may have forgotten, that the whole power of the Catholic priesthood may still be said to depend on the term Transubstantiation. For it is through the witchcraft (or hocus pocus, as Archbishop Tillotson would call it) of this word, that the whole trade of Popery is carried on. The corporal presence, or transmutation of the bread and wine into the real flesh and blood of the Redeemer,

is the only foundation on which the Catholic priesthood rest their "gainful traffic of private masses." They have it in their power, through the credulity of an ignorant people, not merely to commemorate, by symbols, the one great sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, but through the doctrine of Transubstantiation, to pretend to offer afresh that very sacrifice for the sins of all who have money enough to pay for it, for the sins indeed of quick and dead, and to receive payment for it, either direct or testamentary. What an influence does this give; and what an interest must be excited in certain quarters to keep up, as well as to augment such a traffic! Here is the danger ;— and those who are ignorant of it in this Protestant country, cannot be too soon awakened to a sense of its proximity.

On two accounts, therefore, we would recommend this curious volume to the notice and attention of the public: First, that through Mr. Todd's able Introduction, they may be taught to be cautious how they trust the advocates of the Romish cause, be they never so eminent;-and secondly, that they may be brought to understand, by Archbishop Cranmer's incomparable Treatise, how little foundation there is in Scripture, in reason, in the writings of the fathers, and in the opinions of our most eminent Reformers, for that mysterious doctrine of Transubstantiation, which STILL lies at the root of all the superstition, credulity, and abject submission of the people in every country in which the Roman Catholic religion is predominant.

A Letter to C. Butler, Esq. of Lincoln's Inn, in vindication of English Protestants from his attack upon their sincerity in the "Book of the Roman Catholic Church." By C. J. BLOMFIELD, D.D. Bishop of Chester. 8vo. p. 36. 1s. London. Rivingtons. 1825.

A Letter to the Right Reverend C. J. Blomfield, D.D. Bishop of Chester; from C. BUTLER, Esq. in Vindication of a Passage in his "Book of the Roman Catholic Church," censured in a Letter addressed to him by his Lordship. 8vo. p. 32. 1s. London. Murray.

1825.

THE Bishop of Chester, moved by a generous indignation at the insult Mr. Butler offered to the clergy of the Established Church, (in his Book, p. 170.) has by a firm remonstrance induced him to disavow the most offensive meaning of his words.