These and other reforms had been mentioned fourteen years ago by Dr. von Hirscher,* Dean of Freiburg in the Breisgau, as necessary for the Roman Catholic Church of Southern Germany; and although his movement was suppressed by Rome, there is abundant reason for believing that there is a wide feeling of sympathy with his views of reform both in Germany and in Italy. His little work, known in England through Mr. Cleveland Coxe's translation, has lately been rendered into Italian by Count Tasca, and has, we are told, been eagerly read by many Italians. 'Let us once get Rome,' said a "celebrated Italian advocate" to Dr. Wordsworth, and then all the questions which were agitated at your English Reformation in the sixteenth century will come upon us. Yes, flow in upon us in a torrent, before we are prepared for them' (i. 227). But, however the question as to the possession of Rome may be settled, we are convinced that the movement which has been begun must go on; and it is important to all who value Christian unity, or even who care for Christian faith, that this movement should, if possible, be wisely moderated and directed. We cannot be surprised to find that some zealous Protestant communities have endeavoured to take advantage of the present circumstances of Italy for the propagation of their own opinions. The Vaudois have established congregations in Turin, Florence, and elsewhere, and our own country has contributed missionaries from the Plymouth Brethren and from the Free Kirk of Scotland. Of these efforts we must say something, but shall not say much. It is one thing to sympathise with the Vaudois in their struggles for the preservation of their hereditary faith within their own valleys, but it is another and a widely different thing to sympathise and to co-operate with them when they come forth from their valleys for the purpose of converting a nation to their system. And that system appears to us altogether unfit for the work. It may find here and there in individuals that character of mind to which it naturally recommends itself, but it can have no attractions for the great mass of such a people as the Italians in an ecclesiastical assembly, and, if approved there, might be brought to the Parliament for its sanction. Wordsworth, i. 169, 170. Sympathies of the Continent,' 181, seqq. We are surprised to find in a book by a writer of Dr. Wordsworth's reputation the popular and sentimental account of the origin of the Vaudois, which derives them from Claudius of Turin in the ninth century, and supposes their name, Waldenses, to be formed from Vallis, not from that of Peter Waldo (i. 258-9). In another place (i. 163), where Dr. Wordsworth professes to give the history of St.. Bruno's conversion (without showing any suspicion of its truth) which has been long ago exploded by Launoy and others, he seems to have mixed up with it some circumstances of the story of Peter Waldo. -trained -trained in a historical religion, with a graduated hierarchy, a high doctrine of sacramental grace, and all the varied influences of ritual and ceremonial splendour. And these objections hold yet more strongly against the Plymouth and the Free Kirk movements, which have not in their favour that community of race between the teachers and those whom they address which might in some degree recommend the Vaudois to their Italian brethren.* Indeed there is reason to fear that much harm has already been done in Italy by the proceedings of unwise propagandists. Dr. Wordsworth tells us, for instance, of an English clergyman who went to Rome in order to circulate tracts among the bishops assembled for the Japanese canonization. He was treated wisely, as well as with much forbearance, by the Roman authorities, who sent him quietly away, paid the rent of his lodgings, and gave him a compensation for his confiscated tracts. Dr. Wordsworth heard of this clergyman in the Vaudois congregation at Florence, where it was announced from the pulpit that he would deliver an address in the course of the following week (i. 302); so that the poor man may have the comfort of knowing that he has done his best to make our Church ridiculous in the eyes of Italian Protestants as well as Romanists. We have heard privately of other foolish doings in the same line, which it is needless to drag into the light; but there have also been displays of something worse than mere foolish enthusiasm; for it is stated that some of those who have seceded from the Roman Church have fallen into the denial of all notion of a ministry, the hesitating to pray to the Holy Ghost, and the merest antinomianism.' Such excesses as these cannot but tend very strongly to throw discredit on the movement out of which they have sprung. Indeed, while we sincerely wish to give all due credit to the benevolent intentions and zeal of the persons concerned in the attempts which we have been speaking of, it may be questioned whether the result of these irregular exertions can be regarded as in any way good. On this point we may quote a passage which, although somewhat pedantic in expression, is very sound and true in substance, from an instructive article in the American Church Review' for July, 1863: "The fundamental facts-no matter whether right or wrong-to be accepted as facts by the missionary of a pure faith, in dealing with the Italian character, are these: the Italian mind will not apprehend as positive a purely subjective religion; the negative and destructive part only of such a work can be successful. They may receive theo *American Church Rev.,' 270. + Colonial Church Chron.,' 53. logical logical doctrines in the abstract as philosophic truths; but inorganic Christianity, as a real and practical power grounded in the intellect, vitalised by the affections, and fruitful in the life, is, as a rule, an impossibility in Italy. There, Christian worship means a priesthood, sacraments, a liturgy: the church of Christ is a visible church, an organised institution, administered by an order solemnly set apart for the service of the Sanctuary, governed by a hierarchy consecrated to this holy function by Divine authority; it is, in fine, a historic church; in Italy, it is their historic church. To reject that church is to reject the Church of Christ, to reject religion itself as a religion, however some of its dogmas be retained as speculative truths.'-268-9. The opinion here expressed as to the unfitness of a naked Protestantism for Italy (and such is the only kind of Protestantism which Italians in general have any knowledge or conception of) might be abundantly confirmed from other authorities ;* and the American reviewer tells us that some excellent persons, whose feelings and expectations were all the other way, have been convinced by experience of the impracticability of securing general or permanent reformation on the principle of an entire rejection of every feature of their former Church' (p. 243). Moreover, in addition to theological prepossessions there is, as a distinguished layman at Turin told Dr. Wordsworth, a jealous feeling of nationality, which must not be lightly offended: "The Italians,' he said, 'are excessively sensitive in this matter; they are influenced by national pride to such a degree that they imagine that there is scarcely anything good which is not of Italian growth; and that Italy has no need of learning from any other country, but has a prescriptive right, even from the time of her Ciceros and Virgils, to be the teacher of the world. Therefore the course of all wise reformers will be to show to the people of Italy that genuine reformation is a restoration of Italian church polity; that is not an exotic, but of indigenous growth; and then there is some hope that it may be accepted in Italy,-but not otherwise.'i. 275-6. In so far, then, as any proselytism is concerned which would aim at drawing over individuals from Rome-at breaking the ties which bind them to the history of the past, and to the outward communion of a hierarchical Church—we think it well to keep aloof from the Italian movements. But yet there is a part which it seems to us that English Churchmen may properly take in the present state of Italy,-simply by making the principles of our own e. g. Azeglio, 55; Reali, 5-6; Wordsworth, i. 172; Italian Letter, ib. xxiv; Zaccaro, 11; L. M. H.,' 61-2, 65, seqq. Church Church known to persons who are likely to influence the opinion of the Italians, and, above all, to such of the Italian clergy as are willing to receive information. Of the gross darkness which prevails all over the European continent as to what the English Church really is, every one who has conversed with foreigners, or has read foreign books in which the subject is mentioned (in whatever interest they may be written), can furnish ample and laughable proof; and it is certain that the reports which are spread abroad by converts from our own Church to Rome, are not likely to set matters in a truer light.* To remove this misunderstanding is the object of the Anglo-Continental Society,' which has now been labouring for some years with zeal and discretion, although with very limited means, to promote the translation and circulation of such works as are suited to give a more correct idea of Anglican doctrine and practice. The purpose of its operations in Italy (to which much of its attention has been directed) is declared to be to raise up a spirit of reform within the bosom of the Italian Church, which may eventuate in a national reform of the whole Church of Italy, carried out by the authorities in State and Church; not to establish a new Church, nor to draw individuals out of the Italian Church into separate communities, but to help forward the internal reformation of the Italian Church by the instructed mind of the Church.'t The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge has also given powerful aid towards the object of making known the principles of our Church by publishing an Italian translation of the Prayer-Book, and by liberally supplying copies of this for distribution or for sale at a low price: 'During this last winter,' says the churchman whom we cite as "L. M. H.," I could not but feel thankful to see that the seed thus sown was, in several instances, manifestly yielding good fruit, in in crease of sympathy with the Reformed Episcopal Church, in the removal of misapprehensions, and in the promotion of a desire for analogous reforms in the Church in Italy.'-p. 29. And the same writer tells us of the effect on a parish-priest in the neighbourhood of Naples, with whom he is well acquainted : 'Last year, he was greatly interested in our Prayer-Book and in * See Wordsworth, ii. 63. + Report' (No. 22) p. 1. Information as to this Society may be obtained by application to the secretaries-the Rev. F. Meyrick, Palace Plain, Norwich, and the Rev. Dr. Godfray, Beau Séjour, Jersey. See the Report of the S. P. C. K. for 1861, p. 85. Jewel's Jewel's Apology. (The Latin edition has frequently told well upon priests.). .. This year, I was thankful to find, in his case, as in others, that increased knowledge of the real character of the Reformed Episcopal Church manifestly led to increased sympathy with us, and desire for analogous reforms in the Church of Italy. He gladly joined with us in short morning and evening prayers, in which the Italian version of our Prayer-Book happily enabled us to unite, reading alternately the Psalms for the day, with a Lesson and a portion of the prayers. He said afterwards, "If we could but have our church services in our own tongue, and could have this intelligible reading of the Psalms by priests and people, and the Scriptures read out in our own tongue, in the reverent way that seems habitual to English churchpeople, the face of things would be wholly changed in our churches. Now, unhappily, our people too often come in and out, chatting and laughing, not heeding the service; and when we complain, they say, "It is in Latin, and we cannot understand."'-pp. 45-6. Count Tasca, a nobleman whose services in contributing to the religious enlightenment of his countrymen are above all praise,* spoke as follows to Dr. Wordsworth : 'I lent a copy of [the Italian translation of the Prayer-Book] to a priest who used to rail against England as a land of schismatics, heretics, and infidels; and he confessed to me that the Litany in that book was the most beautiful form of prayer he had ever seen. After the battles of Magenta and Solferino I was entrusted with the superintendence of the military hospitals. I translated many of the collects and prayers of the English Prayer-Book into various languages, and put them into the hands of the soldiers on their sick beds. Almost all accepted and used them, and expressed the great comfort they found in them. Some of the Roman Catholic clergy and bishops who visited the hospitals were delighted with them, and I was warmly thanked for what I had done. . . . At last, however, it was discovered that they were translated from the English PrayerBook, and then one of the bishops in my neighbourhood denounced them as heretical.'-i. 103-4. Again, let us hear Father Felix,' a Sicilian by birth, of whom more will be said hereafter :— It is indeed a great pity that the real principles and the true doctrines of the Church of England are so little known to the communions which differ from her. It is my firm persuasion that, if the Church of England were presented in its true colours, and its tenets simply expounded, it could not fail to strike the mind of every sensible Christian. A fair statement of her doctrines would confer an immense benefit on her sister churches on the Continent. They know what the Church of England is not-that she is not Tridentine; * See the American Church Rev.,' 249, seqq., and Anglo-Cont. Soc. Report, pp. 2-9. but |