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THE

CHURCH OF ENGLAND

Quarterly Review.

JANUARY, MDCCCXLV.

ART. I.-Bishops' Charges. "Church and State Gazette." London: Painter. 1844.

2. Vincentii Lirinensis, Commonitorium. Oxford. 1836.

THE "Commonitorium" of Vincent of Lirins, though small in bulk, is weighty in matter; and we scarcely know another work of the same brevity which has attracted equal attention, or has received such general and unqualified praise. Written so early as the fifth century, and by one who, in humility, called himself Peregrinus, in order to conceal his name; avowedly composed only to refresh his own memory, by a short manual of the result of much enquiry, and therefore put together in language as concise and simple as it is possible to use, consistently with clearness, which is the main object of the "Commonitorium;" yet this treatise has been received by Churchmen of all parties as a sort of canon for defining and testing the pretensions of those who put forward any claim to apostolic authority or Catholic sanction for their doctrines; and it has also been regarded as one of the most powerful arguments that we should receive such doctrines only as have this authority and sanction. During the fierce controversies of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Vincent's canons were continually cited; and, in the less impassioned discussions which have ensued, he has been appealed to with equal confidence by divines of the Anglican and of the Roman communion. Nay, when the motive has not been at all controversial, and the

VOL. XVII.-B

object is solely the ascertainment of truth, we find Vincent's rules recommended and applied, as the best that have been devised) for this purpose, The names of Cranmer, Ridley, Jewel, Bilson, Hooker, Usher, Beveridge, and Hammond, may be mentioned among our earlier divines, as not only employing Vincent's method for ascertaining Catholic truth, but expressly naming him; and among our contemporaries we may mention the honoured names of Bishops Kaye and Jebb, as giving their testimonies to the importance of the rules, and the practicability and efficacy of the method laid down by Vincent for guarding the truth of God-that sacred deposit committed to the care of the Church of Christ.

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One might be tempted to conclude that there lurks in Vincent some capability of expansion and contraction, to suit opposite cases, when we find him referred to by Anglicans and Romanists; and that it argues such looseness, in all cases, that it would therefore apply in none with sufficient precision. But this is not the fact. It is not owing to any vagueness, or want of precision, that this treatise has been thus generally appealed to, but from its comprehensiveness-it does really apply to all cases, and suggests the proper test in each case: and the source of error is to be sought for, not in Vincent himself, but in those who take the instrument in hand. For some have misunderstood Vincent, so as to take in hand another kind of instrument, which is not that which he describes; and others try to use his instrument in cases to which he declares expressly that it does not apply: and of course both these classes find that the instrument in their hands either wholly fails, or produces results the very opposite of those which would have attended its proper application.

We think it quite obvious and indisputable that such of the Romanizers as profess to agree with the "Commonitorium" must either misunderstand or wilfully pervert Vincent of Lirins; for his canons completely make against all the innovations of Rome, and are clearly and strongly condemnatory of every thing which is properly, that is, exclusively and characteristically, Roman. And, on the other hand, we think that all true Churchmen among ourselves cannot but prize the "Commonitorium;" and recognize its importance to us when it is rightly understood. All who truly acknowlege a visible Church— that is, any congregation of faithful men, members of the body of Christ, and having one common bond of faith and practice-must, we think, assent to the tests and safeguards proposed by Vincent of Lirins, if they take them altogether, and as a whole, and apply each exactly and only as he meant

it to be applied And where Churchmen reject or undervalue the "Commonitorium," we suspect it to proceed either from some misunderstanding of its meaning, or from a secret unconscious spirit of sectarianism lurking in the heart, though, in expression, and form, and demeanour, they may seem or desire to be Catholic

We would not be understood as condemning those who are not aware of the importance of a Church; we are far from despising those who have no desire to know what Catholic truth is; and who, content in the possession of the heartfelt truths of the Gospel, are desiring, as they say, to know nothing save Jesus Christ and him crucified; satisfied in knowing experimentally that they themselves are saved through faith in the blood of Jesus. On the contrary, we most fully concede that personal salvation is, and ever must be, the first, the most important question to be determined by every individual. "What must I do to be saved?" is the first question for every man; and the same simple answer must be given to every man, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved." Until this is made sure, and we have laid hold on that salvation, it is idle and vain to talk about Catholicity and forms of faith the faith itself is the first thing-the forms are subsequent and secondary things-are for preserving and strengthening that which is assumed to be already given. What would it matter to me to be told of Catholicity, or of the faith held by the Church, if it be a body to which I do not belong? I must first be assured that I am a living member of the body, and take continual care that I lose not my place, and be not finally cast out. And if, unassured of this, I trifle away my time with forms and ceremonies, they may become the very snares of Satan-busied in which, and blinded by which, I may lose the reality, and peril my eternal salvation.

But being saved through Jesus Christ, it is ours to hold fast that salvation-having the faith, it is our part to keep this faith whole and undefiled-having received a new life, there is the growth in grace to be ever thought of, and cared for. A promise is set before us, not only of an entrance, but of an entrance to be ministered to us abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And this promise is to those who give diligence to make their calling and election sure, and who, in doing these things, shall never fail. And what things are they? What diligence is it? It is the diligence of adding to their faith, virtue and knowledge, and the other Christian graces, the consummation of all which are brotherly kindness and charityChurch graces all of

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