respecting the obligation of the members of the church of England to attend the services of the church of Rome, in countries subject to that power, in order to avoid schism, is indeed "a fiction and an absurdity."* The following quotation from one of our good old divines is much more pertinent to our question, and presents a more faithful expression of the sentiments of our church. "Question: But the forsaking the Roman church opens a way to innumerable sects and schisms, and therefore it must not be forsaken. Answer: We must not do evil to avoid evil; neither are all courses presently lawful, by which inconveniences may be avoided. If all men would submit themselves to the chief mufti of the Turks, it is apparent there would be no divisions; yet unity is not to be purchased at so dear a rate. It were a thing much to be desired, that there were no divisions; yet difference of opinions, touching points controverted, is rather to be chosen than unanimous concord in damned errors: as it is better for men to go to heaven by divers ways, or rather by divers paths of the same way, than in the same path to go on peaceably to hell. Amica pax, magis amica veritas.Ӡ But here a question is put to me,-in condemning Mr. Bennett, are you not also condemning yourself? do you not come under the same category as the several Reverend Gentlemen, whose published travels he has quoted, to prove that they also frequently visited Roman Catholic churches on the continent, and were often present at the services performed in them. I am ready to confess that I do belong to this category, but I contend that the whole question of blame or innocence is involved in the animus of the attendance. At Naples I thought it no scandal, as a Protestant Clergyman, to approach the altar rails, in order to examine the crystal shrine, which was said to contain the liquified blood of St. Januarius, on the day of his annual miracle; but I shrunk back when the priest proffered it me to kiss. To inspect this cheat I considered an unblameable matter of curiosity to have kissed it I should have considered an act * Mr. Bennett on the Bible. See Protest. + Chillingworth-answer to the 5th chap., sect. 72.

derogatory to my common sense as a man, and scandalous, to say the least, to my profession as a minister of the church of England. Neither should I have felt disposed to have sat within the rails, "as a canon," on this occasion, (see p. 41,) as, according to my judgment, such an act would have given a certain sanction to the deception practised by the priests, and to the idolatry of the people.

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I contend, my Lord, that in all laws, both human and divine, it is the "animus" of the action which is regarded as constituting its innocence or guilt; its praise or blame. Thus the man who gathered sticks on the sabbath was stoned, whilst the disciples who plucked the ears of corn on the sabbath, were pronounced blameless, by one who never erred. The actions were similar in kind, but the motive distinguished them. The wanton and unnecessary profanation of the sacred day was a crime, but to satisfy the necessary call of hunger was innocent. Thus St. Paul, in his beautiful chapter on Charity, clearly estimates the value of this christian grace in the sight of God, according to the "animus" with which it is performed, when he says, Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor; and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.' In human law the great difficulty in such questions arises from the incompetency of the judge to decide on the motive; still we find the principle of "animus” acknowledged by high authority. Thus, in the esteemed commentary by Hoppe, of the famous Justinian Institutes, we read on the chapter "de injuriis," lib. iv. tit. iv. " Quicunque doli non sunt capaces, aut animum non habent injuriandi, illi injuriam non committunt, per consequens, nec injuriarum tenentur." Thus human laws take cognizance of the intent. A homicide may be justifiable, or it may amount to manslaughter, or it may be condemned as murder, according to the "animus" of the agent. A taking the goods of another may be altogether innocent, if the taker purposes to restore them; there must be the felonious intent to render the act criminal. A police officer and a seditious * See also Acts iii. 17; Luke xxiii. 34; 1 Tim. i. 13.

demagogue both attend an unlawful assemblage, the one to excite the persons assembled to treasonable violation of the law, the other in the performance of his duty to counteract rebellion. The act is the same; but in the one it is criminal, in the other praiseworthy. The only difficulty in the question consists in the incompetence of human judges, in many cases, to judge of the motive. Let the motive be avowed, the difficulty no longer exists. Curiosity, or the desire of information respecting the Roman Catholic ritual and form of worship, which has possessed such an important influence on the affairs of Europe for so many centuries, is surely natural, and not otherwise than praiseworthy. Such are the motives which usually induce the English traveller to witness the ceremonies of the church of Rome: but not so with Mr. Bennett. He was avowedly actuated by a preference of the Roman Catholic worship, under the circumstances, to the worship of his own church. Whether any circumstances can excuse this preference, in a minister of the church of England, is the question we have been dealing with; and if I have failed to prove that no circumstances could excuse such preference, the fault is my own, and not the want of truth in the cause I advocate.

Whilst these pages have been passing through the press, slower than I could wish, my subject matter has been accumulating; and each week has added some fresh intelligence for my "Facts from Frome." In the first week in Advent, a new order of services was introduced in the parish church, which are set forth in detail in a handsomely printed sheet of folio paper, surmounted with an engraved seal. Since the above date, three services are performed daily in the church, and on Sundays and festivals this number is increased. The first daily service is the Litany, which is intoned, and begins at 5.35, a. m. The other two services, which commence respectively at 8, a. m. and 6.45, p. m., are chanted. It is an ungracious task to raise objections against the frequent celebration of Divine worship, though the preface to our Book of Common Prayer offers a hint on the subject;* but to

* "Christ's Gospel is not a ceremonial law, (as much of Moses' law was,)

those who are acquainted with Mr. Bennett and his views, the question of "Animus" again arises. It is an important object of this system to lead the people to believe that prayer can never be so prevailing as when offered in the church,it is the sacred building, the altar, the priest, which sanctifies the gift, every act of worship must be in immediate connexion with, and under the direction of the church. This must be the one mediator between God and men," and not "the Man Christ Jesus."+ The Apostle has warned us

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not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together," as public worship and the preached word convey their own peculiar blessings; and testify that the celebrants are not timid worshippers who, like Nicodemus, require the darkness to veil their approach to the Saviour. But our Lord has also emphatically directed, "When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." To leave your bed at five o'clock in a cold and wet winter's morning, in order to repair to the church, under the belief that prayers offered up there will obtain a greater blessing than if said in your own "closet," is an ascetic superstition,-to attend the later morning service, and thereby to omit family devotions, which in many houses, would be a necessary consequence, is to neglect a duty which devolves upon the head of a christian household. I shall be told that it is unfair to speak thusthat there is a manufactory near the church, and that the early service is intended for the benefit of the operatives belonging to it. Then why intone the service,-will the young women, who are expected to attend, understand the words better when so pronounced? and why require the

but

but is a religion to serve God, not in bondage of the figure or shadow, in the freedom of the Spirit; being content only with those ceremonies which do serve to a decent order and godly discipline, and such as be apt to stir up the dull mind of man to the remembrance of his duty to God by some notable and special signification, whereby he might be edified." Of Ceremonies, &c. Preface to Book of Common Prayer.

† 1 Tim. ii. 50.

presence of all the clergy belonging to the church, on each occasion? This regular attendance of all the clergy has not only the appearance, but possesses also the reality of much self-denial; and in such personal negation lies the main strength of the Tractarian party: as zeal is often regarded as a test of truth. In the Romish conventual churches the services are regularly performed six or seven times a day; and where there are many altars, masses are being continually offered up: but these numerous services have not produced the beneficial results of either attracting many worshippers or of inducing, apparently at least, any lively devotion in those who do attend. Indeed the church only requires their bodily presence, and at the mass the service is so performed that the congregation can neither understand nor hear. It was probably to avoid such an abuse of public worship that our reformers limited the daily services to the saying of " the morning and evening prayer, either privately or openly," which Dr. Nicholls interprets to mean "family prayer, when a congregation cannot be procured at church,"t and to reading the Litany in the church on Wednesdays and Fridays (canon 15). It is evidently the intention of the present movement greatly to augment our ritual observances, and to bind on our church anew those Pharasaical rites from which she emancipated herself at the Reformation. The spirit in which these services at Frome are undertaken by Mr. Bennett, may be judged of from the seal here given, which heads the paper on which they are detailed.