delayed a hundred years. Still it is true that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. To this glorious company we owe, under God, unspeakable blessings; and not least that detestation of Rome which, in spite of all that has been done, weakly or treacherously done, amongst us for the last thirty years, fills England, and every truly English heart, with a horror of the papacy. To them we owe not a little of our supreme reverence for the Bible; and our national impatience of every attempt to shackle us with any article of faith which may not be distinctly proved out of this written word. In them the church of England boasts a cloud of witnesses to the truth of God, who for calmness, courage, clearness of intellect, heavenly zeal, meekness and fortitude, coupled with the total absence of fanaticism-that is, of a state of mind too much excited to allow them to estimate their danger, and deliberate upon its horrors-are without a parallel in the whole history of the church catholic on earth. No church ever had such cause as we have to cry, "The noble army of martyrs praise Thee, O God!" No church ever had such cause to "bless His holy name for them who are departed this life in His faith and fear," and to pray that " we may have grace so to follow their example, that with them we may be partakers of the heavenly kingdom." No church will ever deserve a condemnation so deep as ours, if we should once more tamper with the Antichrist who bound them to the stake, and jested over their dying agonies; and even then, still insatiate, would, if his impotent blasphemies availed, have consigned them to hopeless and eternal misery!

DR. TEMPLE'S PLACE AMONGST THE OXFORD ESSAYISTS.

The Education of the World. By Frederick Temple, D.D., Chaplain-in-Ordinary to the Queen; Head Master of Rugby School; Chaplain to the Earl of Denbigh.

THE volume of which this is the introductory essay has already been brought under the notice of our readers. The object of this paper, however, will be clear and definite, and the line of argument distinct from that of the preceding articles. If we touch upon points already treated of, it will be only incidentally; and we shall not grudge either time or trouble which may serve to awaken public attention to the fearful assault upon religious truth made by this volume of Essays and Reviews. Turning from the volume as a whole, we now select a single essay-that of Dr. Temple-to which we think that our attention should, for several reasons, be specially directed.

The position of its author, as head master of one of our largest and most popular public schools, renders his opinions upon all grave subjects, but more especially those of a moral and religious character, a matter of importance. Some four or five hundred of the sons of our upper classes are committed to the care of Dr. Temple at Rugby; his views must necessarily influence the minds of his pupils, who are destined, in many cases, to be the leading men of the next generation in church and state. Who can estimate the result, if these young men are drinking in error at what should be the well-spring of Christian truth?

This general influence of Dr. Temple's position is increased by his own character. Dr. Temple is not an every-day man. In his case, difficulties have been manfully struggled with, and nobly overcome; high distinction has been the well-earned reward of self-denial, and success has attended upon his undertakings. With this is combined a cheerfulness of spirits and energy of constitution which gives a sympathy in the games and physical pursuits as well as the studies which make up public-school life. Thus a character is produced which the warm heart of boyhood regards with romantic interest and even veneration. Few men have ever possessed, in an equal degree with the present head-master of Rugby, the qualifications for winning the affections and moulding the characters of the upper classes of a large school.

Does the essay contributed to this volume lead to the conclusion that the rare gifts which centre in its head-master will be for the good of Rugby?

There is a further reason which seems to render a special consideration of this essay almost indispensable. Whatever opinion may be expressed as to the remainder of the volume, an exception is almost invariably made in favour of Dr. Temple's essay. To a superficial reader it presents many attractions. There are some passages which, if viewed alone, and not qualified by the context and general line of reasoning, would be read with satisfaction; but we cannot allow an undue consideration for the writer to blind our eyes to the pernicious tendency of what he has written. We believe that with many this essay escapes rebuke, or receives it in a mitigated form, simply on account of the name of its author.

Attention is also drawn to the preliminary advertisement; but this cannot be accepted, in common fairness, as relieving any individual partner from the responsibilities of the firm. A review, in which all contributors write anonymously, offers no parallel; in such a publication a writer is, generally speaking, ignorant of the character or even the name of other writers; the editor, who brings together the different articles, is the organ of communication between persons otherwise unknown to each other. But here is a book which bears on its face the names of seven writers, many of them well known. Dr. Temple could scarcely have been ignorant of the sentiments, reputation, and religious views of those with

whom he associated himself. Knowing this, he was willing to stand forth as one of the seven champions of this new school of Christendom. He must be content to be judged by the maxim, "Noscitur a sociis." They must be regarded as all agreeing in the principles and general scope of these essays. They were willing to appear before the world as joint advocates of that particular school of theology to which they have attached themselves, and as such they will be regarded as associated agents for good or ill in this work.

Independently, however, of this joint agency and responsibility, it will be admitted that each contribution may be examined upon the ground of its own statements. This we now propose to do in the case of Dr. Temple's essay on "The Education of the World." Such a course is fair to Dr. Temple, and just to Rugby School; the result will show whether the writer is exempt from the errors which mark the rest of the volume, or whether his essay contains the germ of those errors, and fitly introduces and prepares the reader's mind for all that follows. We confess that we have been led to the latter conclusion, 'the grounds of which we will now give. 1. Our first ground of complaint is, the negative character of the theology of this essay.

The "education of the world," regarded as God's work, necessarily involves moral and spiritual influence. It is not a question simply of the progress of science, of the rise and fall of kingdoms, or of the natural history and successive supremacy of the different races of the human family. GOD is carrying out that great design which will be consummated in eternity, the restoration of man to his lost perfection, the education of immortal beings for glory. Not only is this the true and only satisfactory view of this subject, but it is that which the writer himself takes:

Training has three stages. . . First come rules, then examples, then principles. First comes the Law,* then the Son of Man, then the gift of the Spirit. The world was once a child, under tutors and governors, until the time appointed by the Father. Then, when the fit season had arrived, the Example to which all ages should turn was sent to teach men what they ought to be. Then the human race was left to itself, to be guided by the teaching of the Spirit within." (p. 5.)

Having thus introduced God the Father as educating the world by the Law, his Son, and the Holy Spirit, we have a right to expect that the work of Christ and of the Holy Ghost should be clearly and fully developed. But what do we find ?

1. In regard to the Lord Jesus Christ. We trace correct views as to His divinity. We meet with the expressions, "the Son of man, ""the Son of God," "the express image of the Father," "the Christ, the Son of the living God," "His Divine presence," "His Divine nature." But when we look for some exposition, or

*The italics are, in all cases, introduced by the reviewer, and not by the author of the essay.

at least recognition, of the great work which this Divine Being came on earth to accomplish, the most careful search fails to detect any allusion, however slight, to the atonement. And yet, who can rightly describe God's education of the world without asserting the mightiest influence of which we are susceptible for renewing, quickening, invigorating, and controlling the will and affections? The attractive power of the cross was declared by the Lord himself; its moral power was also dwelt upon by Him, and set forth by the beloved apostle. Its constraining power was the secret spring of Paul's life of perils and daily exposure to death. Where has any agency been found commensurate with that which has called out the energies and sustained the courage of the noble army of Christian martyrs from Stephen until now? Again, we are taught that there is a real and living union between the Saviour and His people, whereby alone their spiritual life and strength is maintained. This is something as necessary as the connection between the branch and the parent-stock of the vine, or any individual member with the body of which it is a part. To overlook these important elements in an essay which professedly takes up the subject of the education of the world as conducted by God the Father through his Son and the Holy Spirit, seems unaccountable on any other grounds than an imperfect perception, on the part of the writer, of the atonement and work of Christ in the economy of grace, or an undue deference to the opinions of some of the school with which Dr. Temple has associated himself.

This omission is the more deserving of remark, because, as has been already stated, the part sustained by the Lord Jesus in the dispensations of God has not been ignored, but is frequently referred to in this essay. Such references, however, are invariably to our Lord as an example. We have quoted one such passage; we give another :

"The childhood of the world was over when our Lord appeared on earth. The tutors and governors had done their work. It was time that the second Teacher of the human species should begin his labour. The second Teacher is example." (p. 20.)

A third passage is still more objectionable, as it appears to describe our Lord so entirely in the light of an example as to make Him bear a part in the education of the world, identical in kind, although differing in degree, with the early church, and even with the heroes of Greece and Rome:

"Our Lord was the example of mankind, and there can be no other example in the same sense. But the whole period, from the closing of the Old Testament to the close of the New, was the period of the world's youth-the age of examples; and our Lord's presence was not the only instance of that kind which has acted upon the human race. Three companions were appointed by Providence to give their society to this creature whom God was educating-Greece, Rome, and the early church." (p. 26.)

If there be any single passage in the essay in which our Lord is spoken of as a Redeemer as well as an Example, we have failed to discover it; and we cannot but protest against a mode of writing consistent with views which strike at the very root of our Lord's mediatorial work.

2. In regard to the Holy Spirit. There is, if possible, a still more grievous deficiency of scriptural truth. By the expressions in a passage already quoted-" the gift of the Spirit," and "the teaching of the Spirit within"- -we were led to hope that when we arrived at the third stage in the education of the world, the dispensation of the Spirit, we should find a clear and prominent display of the work of the Holy Ghost. But it is far otherwise; the expression, Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, never occurs; and in the only other passage in which the subject is referred to, the word Spirit is no longer spelt with a capital to denote a person, and seems to be merged into human conscience. Dr. Temple thus describes the entrance of the human race on the third period of its education ::

"The susceptibility of youth to the impression of society wears off at last. The age of reflection begins. From the storehouse of his youthful experience the man begins to draw the principles of his life. The spirit OR conscience comes to full strength, and assumes the throne intended for him in the soul. As an accredited judge, invested with full powers, he sits in the tribunal of our inner kingdom, decides upon the past, and legislates upon the future, without appeal except to himself. . . Gradually he frames his code of laws, revising, adding, abrogating, as a wider and deeper experience gives him clearer light; He" (i.e., "the spirit or conscience" of man) "is the third great Teacher and the last." (p. 31.)

The next paragraph is equivocal, if not deceptive; because, whilst still speaking of the spirit of man, or conscience, there is attributed to it one of the prerogatives of the Holy Ghost:

"Now the education by no means ceases when the spirit thus begins to lead the soul; the office of the spirit is, in fact, to guide us into truth, not to give truth." (p. 31.)

What can be more injurious than teaching such as this, which substitutes the natural powers of human conscience for the work of the Holy Spirit, confounds the one with the other, and deprives us of the enlightening and sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit? It is His office to occupy the tribunal of our inner man, and, by His indwelling power, to guide and sway the soul: it is He who, in the word of God, has given us a code of laws with which we have no right to tamper: and it is by His help that we gain clearer light to understand, and fuller ability to obey, those laws; whilst the only Judge who can decide and legislate " without appeal except to Himself" is the Eternal One. As the apostle says: "My con