crowning with thorns, by the ram caught in the thorns, and by Daniel in the lion's den; the carnage of the Cross, by Isaac carrying the wood for the sacrifice, and by David going forth to meet Goliath; the Crucifixion, by the fountain in Paradise, the Paschal lamb, the passage of the Red Sea, the prayer of Moses on the Mount, the brazen serpent in the wilderness, and the rock which yielded sweet water. Coming to the Glorious Mysteries, we find that the sign of the prophet Jonas, and Samson bursting the bonds of the Philistines, typify the Resurrection; the High Priest entering into the Holy of Holies, and Elias taken up from earth, the Ascension; the giving of the Law, and the sacrifice consumed by fire from heaven, the mission of the Holy Ghost; the visit of the Queen of Saba to King Solomon, and the return of Judith with the head of Holofernes, the Assumption; while the coronation of the glorious Queen of Heaven is shown to us as shadowed forth by the raising of Esther to the royal throne, and by her intercession for her people.

We hardly, however, think that all the types are happily chosen. Thus, e.g., after the striking type of the visit of Elias to the widow of Sarephta, including within itself several other types, such as the drinking of the torrent by the way during the three. years and a half that the heavens were closed, the passing over to the Gentiles, the handful of meal, and the cruise of oil that wasted not, shadowing forth, as they did, the true bread, which cometh down from heaven, which was anointed with the unction of the Holy Ghost, and which, though eaten from day to day on the altars of the Church, wastes not, neither is diminished; the two sticks, as a figure of the Cross of Calvary ; and, lastly, the resurrection of the dead boy, when laid upon the prophet's own bed, and touched by the prophet's body, as typical both of Our Lord's rising from the dead, and of the resurrection of the just to life eternal at the last day, because they have been touched by the body of Our Lord-after such a type as this-or rather, as we have said, such a collection of types—the weariness of the same prophet under the juniper tree seems to us hardly so striking. We should have thought that King David-the most typical, perhaps, of all the Old Testament characters-who when flying from the face of his own son Absalom, passed over the brook Cedron, and went up the Mount of Olives weeping and barefoot, with his head covered, and shortly afterwards was cursed by Semei, and stoned, and covered with the dust of earth, would have been a far more vivid type of Our Lord in His bitter agony. So, too, the rainbow of many colours, as typical of the many-hued appearance of our Lord's Body when scourged at the pillar, seems to us somewhat fanciful and far-fetched-not, certainly, calculated to further one of Mr. Formby's chief objects in publishing the work-namely, the preserving men's minds from unbelief, by giving them “an insight into the marvellous methods by which Divine Wisdom, long ages ago, has prepared the way for the Christian mysteries." For our own part, we much doubt whether minds suffering from temptations to unbelief, especially at the present day, will greatly be relieved of their doubts by the light which the comparison with the types of the Old Testament is found to reflect upon the mysteries of Christianity. To us it seems, although we wish to speak with great diffidence, as if the beauty of harmony between type and mystery can only be fully realized by those who have drunk deeply of the spirit of the Church,

who have meditated long and attentively on Holy Scriptures in the spirit of little children, and whose eyes have been opened to the hardly lesser harmony which exists between the Church's dogma and spirituality and devotions.

Again, the explanation of the Mystery of the Coronation of Our Blessed Lady opens with a passage from the Apocalypse about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Apoc. xix.). Now, this is no doubt very applicable to the joy of all the Saints, which forms the second point on which the Church wishes us to meditate in this mystery. But the joy of all the Saints is but the secondary point, the chief one being the coronation of our Lady. And here we naturally look in Mr. Formby's pages, but in vain, for some allusion to that "mighty sign" which St. John saw in heaven when the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the Ark of His Testament was seen in this temple, and there were lightnings, and voices, and an earthquake, and great hail-a -a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." (Apoc. xi. 19; xii. 1.) As the first book of Scripture foreshadows the redemption of mankind and the overthrow of Satan's power by bringing before us a Woman, a Child and a Serpent, so, too, the last book of Scripture sets before our eyes the final victory of the Mother and the Child over the old Serpent, who seduceth the whole world, as also the coronation of the Mother as the Queen of all Creation, the sun being her robe and the moon her footstool, and the stars of heaven her crown.

*

The doctrinal exposition of the Mysteries is for the most part conveyed in extracts from the fathers and doctors of the Church, of whom short biographical notices are also given.

Mr. Formby thus explains the idea which he had in view in composing this work :

"Taking a lesson from the wisdom of the Church (who, in prescribing to her clergy and religious communities a system of prayer in common, uses especial care that the Breviary employed for this end shall be the richest possible repertory of knowledge ranging through the Sacred Scriptures, Patristic Theology, and Biographies of Saints), and the conclusion could not but plainly appear that the knowledge of God and the spirit of prayer were always intended to be yoked together, and that the happiest fruits were to be looked for from their union. Knowledge, by itself alone, St. Paul says, puffeth up (1 Cor. viii. 1), and ignorant piety borders on superstition; it is their union that tends to make the Christian.

"But if knowledge and prayer are always intended to be yoked together, there certainly will be found in use in the great body of the faithful at least some one well beloved and universally accepted form of prayer to whose nature it would likewise belong, to be in a similar manner associated with knowledge, and which in consequence could not fail to possess capacities for conferring upon the general body of the faithful benefits similar in kind to those which accrue to the clergy, from the use of their Breviary. And what other can this be than the devotion of the Holy

* See Dr. Newman's Letter to Dr. Pusey in his "Eirenicon."

Rosary with the beautiful system of popular theology contained in its fifteen mysteries? Again, like the Breviary, the Rosary enjoys the privilege of being either the joyous, social prayer of a multitude, or the pious exercise of complete solitude. And in either case the use of the devotion makes the same demand upon the mind of the pious reciter for a knowledge of the particular mystery which for the moment happens to be under contemplation.

"It remained, then, but to endeavour to collect together a volume of such doctrinal explanatory matter as could suffice to store the mind with the knowledge requisite to enable the act of the intelligence easily and pleasantly to accompany the words of the prayer, and thereby to offer the valuable twofold benefit of bringing a perceptible access of continually growing relish for the practice of the devotion, as also a pleasant and acceptable aid in what St. Paul declared to be the very necessary labour of endeavouring to please God by growing in knowledge.""

Now, agreeing with Mr. Formby in the main, there are nevertheless a few points upon which we must dissent from him. We agree with him in thinking that the knowledge of God and the spirit of prayer should always go hand in hand together, but there may be a deep knowledge of God without much knowledge of Scripture history, or of the types of the Old Testament; and, therefore, we regret that Mr. Formby, in speaking of the necessity of "increasing in knowledge," has not always added the words which St. Paul adds-" of God." For the same reason, we cannot utter so sweeping an assertion as that made by Mr. Formby when he says that ignorant piety (under which he would include, we presume, the piety of the unlearned) "borders on superstition." On the contrary, we believe and know by experience that there is often far more knowledge of God amongst our unlearned poor than amongst our learned rich; nay, we will even go further, and say that we believe that the higher kinds of prayer are more often bestowed by God upon the former than upon the latter. Oh, surely, surely, there is many a poor Catholic who has never heard of the rainbow as the type of the many-hued body of Our Lord when scourged at the Column, or of the Queen of Saba, or of Queen Esther; but whose prayer or recital of the Rosary is full of the knowledge of God, because the mind of that poor Catholic is fixed upon God alone, or upon the central object of the mystery which he is contemplating. On the other hand, does it not too often happen to the learned, that with much knowledge about the things of God, their prayer is deficient in the knowledge of God himself, because their minds, instead of being fixed on God alone, are allowed to dwell too much upon what, after all, are but the means, and not the end? Nor will it do to quote, as Mr. Formby does, the words of St. Paul, "I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray also with the understanding" (1 Cor. xiv. 15), for it is clear from the context that the apostle is speaking of praying in an unknown tongue, in which "the spirit prayeth, but the understanding is without fruit,” and not in any way of ordinary prayer; for who can say that the higher kinds of prayer to which we have alluded above are without fruit to the understanding? In such prayer the spirit is enkindled with the fire of the Holy Ghost, and the understanding is lit up with the light of the Incarnate Word. Are we not told by all spiritual writers, that just in proportion as we are filled with God, and our prayer grows purer, so will images and the thoughts even of holy

things and holy scenes drop away from our minds, which will remain fixed upon God alone? So, too, are we not also told that those who are engaged in the study of theology run a special danger of becoming distracted in prayer, and cold and barren in meditation, and this on account of their more than ordinary knowledge of the things of God?

We trust Mr. Formby will bear with us in making these remarks. We have no desire to depreciate knowledge, still less the knowledge of Scripture, or of all that can throw light upon the mysteries of religion; but we have felt ourselves compelled to offer these criticisms, as it has seemed to us that the learned author has somewhat undervalued the prayer of Christ's unlearned poor; for hitherto, at least, the poor have been for the most part unlearned. Yet it is of these the Apostle St. James writes : "Hearken, dearest brethren; hath not God chosen the poor in this world, rich in faith (the Apostle says nothing about bordering on superstition), and heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love Him?"

We could have wished to touch upon some other parts of Mr. Formby's work, as e.g., upon the fall of Eve, where we fear we should have again to part company from him upon one or two points, but we have already exceeded our space. There is, however, one other remark we must make. The work is called a "popular doctrinal exposition." We shall be glad indeed if the anthor's hopes are realized, but we fear that the price of this handsomely-gotup volume will confine it to the tables of the wealthy; while, from the style in which it is written, and the matter which it contains, admirable though it is, as well as from the quotations from Latin and French poets and writers,* not always translated, it will, if we mistake not, be oftener in the hands of the learned than of those for whom it appears chiefly to have been intended. If we might be allowed to make a suggestion, we would venture to express a hope that before long the author will give us a cheap edition, consisting of the engravings, together with a short explanation of each mystery, with its corresponding types, so that the essential part of the work may be brought within the reach of a larger number of readers.

The engravings, as is usual in all Mr. Formby's works, are excellent, although some of them are hardly free from what we can only call posturedrawing.

Mr. J. H. Powell's designs have pleased us greatly, and are quite free from this fault. Mr. C. Clasen's introductory illustrations are also worthy of special praise.

In conclusion, we must assure Mr. Formby, that if in some respects we have felt ourselves obliged to differ from him, this has only been from a desire to see the "Book of the Rosary" improved to the utmost, and rendered still more profitable for the general good. We yield to no one in gratitude to Mr. Formby for all that he has done for the education of our children, and

At. p. 4, Mr. Formby speaks of the "actual volume of the inspired writings as the 'fait accompli' of the love and mercy of God." We have no objection to the use of a French expression when nothing equivalent to it can be found in English, but we think that in this instance at least Mr. Formby might have contented himself with plain English.

for the encouragement of a higher taste in art; and we heartily go along with him in his earnest hope that, by means of such efforts as his, "the Devotion of the Holy Rosary may be still more widely extended over the earth, so that the knowledge of God may also come to cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea." (Dedication.)

The work has been issued with the permission of the Father Provincial of the Order of St. Dominic, to the third order of which Mr. Formby belongs, and with the "Imprimatur" of His Grace the Archbishop.

We must have only to add that we are sure our readers will agree with us in thanking Messrs. Burns and Oates for the really good taste with which the volume has been produced.

Norwich Cathedral Argumentative Discourses in Defence and Confirmation of the Faith, "Pleadings for Christ." First and second series. Norwich : Henry W. Stacy; London: Hamilton & Co. 1871, 1872.

T

HESE two little pamphlets consist each of three discourses delivered in Norwich Cathedral during the past year. The first four, which are on "Christianity and Free Thought," "Christianity and Scepticism," "Christianity and Faith," and "The Demonstration of the Spirit," were preached by Dr. O'Connor; the last two, on "Above Reason, not Contrary to it," and "The Cumulative Argument in favour of Christianity," were added, by Dr. Goulburn, the Dean of Norwich, who also edited the two series, which are, we believe, to be followed by others. The circumstances which led to the undertaking are briefly indicated in the preface to the first series, where we are told that "The frightful prevalence of sceptical views among all classes of the community, and the alarming fact that even among the clergy themselves insidious objections to the things which are most surely believed among us are gradually winning their way, seem to make it imperative upon all persons and societies intrusted with the guardianship of the Faith to make some definite effort to stem the evil"; and that "It has been thought that this guardianship is one of the special functions of our cathedrals." And very justly. And as infidelity has been defeated in England once, it is not unreasonable to expect that it will be defeated again.

These discourses, therefore, are directed against scepticism. Their main argument and let it be understood that we are by no means in every respect endorsing it, is as follows :-"WE CANNOT DEMONSTRATE CHRISTIANITY.

We can give you the very strongest possible probability-we can give you the very highest degree of evidence short of demonstration-for believing Christianity; but we cannot demonstrate it. I say again, WE CANNOT DEMONSTRATE CHRISTIANITY.”* It is by this circumstance, add the writers, that scepticism illogically attempts to justify itself. A sceptic is to be distinguished both from an unbeliever and from a doubter. An unbeliever is one

* ii. 8, 9.