political hostility to the Church, nor fear of its increasing influence, would have induced them to make common cause with those who openly avow that they regard religious teaching as the mere "trimmings" of education. The enemies of the Bill are so active, and so noisy, that it is important that pains should be taken to let Ministers and Parliament know that after all they constitute a very small minority, and that a vast majority of the people of England are determined that they will be no parties to a system of National Education from which religious teaching is excluded.

Very little progress has been made with the Irish Land Bill. After it was read a second time, delay was caused by the introduction of a Peace Preservation Bill, which it was thought necessary to pass immediately. It consisted of very strong coercive measures, but the statement of the Irish Secretary furnished abundant proof of its necessity, and of the mischief which was likely to arise from any further delay. The Land Bill was then proceeded with, and no less than ten days have been occupied with it in Committee; and the result has been the passing of a clause and a half, and the withdrawal of a third. There is no doubt that Mr. Gladstone has great difficulties to contend with. The Bill itself is one of a most unusual and anomalous character, and the anxiety to satisfy some of his Irish supporters has induced him to make concessions, and occasionally to use expressions, which have alarmed his more moderate friends. The consequence has been, that in some divisions many of his ordinary supporters have been found voting against him, while others who could not honestly support him have left the House without voting.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has been the most fortunate of the Ministers. The large surplus at his disposal, arising partly from retrenchments, and still more from the increase in the revenue, made his task an easy one. A very small portion of the surplus is to be applied to the reduction of the National Debt, and nearly all of the remainder to the reduction of the Income-tax to the amount at which it stood previously to the Abyssinian war, and to taking off one-half of the tax on sugar. We confess that we regret that a larger portion is not applied to the reduction of our debt. The United States have set us a noble example in this respect, which it would be well for us to follow. The temptation to a Minister to acquire popularity by taking off taxes is so great, that it is only a strong Ministry, who can, like the present, reckon on a large majority, who can venture to employ a surplus in any other way. We believe, however, that the ultimate gain to the nation would have been greater than that which will arise to the consumer from reducing the price of sugar a halfpenny a pound.

The proceedings of the Convention of the Irish Church would have deserved particular notice here; but the subject has been so fully treated of in an article devoted to the subject, that we need only refer to it.

The state of affairs in France is, we fear, becoming serious. The conduct of the Emperor during the last few months had done much to reconcile the friends of Constitutional Government to him and to his dynasty. They had begun to believe that he was in earnest in his abandonment of personal rule, and that henceforth he would be content to submit to Parliamentary Government. He has now shown that he is determined not to leave himself without the means of retreat from his new position. It will be remembered that the previous changes in the Constitution, to which he owes his power, derived their authority from the vote of the French people. The Emperor, with some plausibility, contended that what the French people had decreed, should not be altered without their sanction, and that the new Constitution should therefore be submitted to them for their approval. To this there seemed no great objection, and the Ministers were willing to agree to it as a means of conciliating the Emperor and obtaining a popular sanction to Parliamentary Government. But, unfortunately, the Emperor insists upon retaining the power of taking the same course in future, and thus appealing to the people to sanction changes which he may propose, not only without, but against, the declared will of the Legislature. Past experience shows the danger to which Constitutional Government would be exposed if the power were thus placed in the hands of a ruler, at the head of an immense army, at any time to substitute the irregular expression of the popular will for Representative Government. The consequence has been, that the Ministers who were best entitled to the confidence of the country have resigned, and that suspicion and discontent extensively prevail.

There seems to be no diminution of the unfriendly feeling which has for some time existed in the United States towards this country, and the slightest accident is sufficient to draw forth the expression of it. Just now this feeling has been shown by the manner in which the news of an unfortunate collision in the Eastern Seas, between an American ship and a ship belonging to the Peninsular and Oriental Company, has been received. The matter was immediately taken up in the American Congressviolent speeches were made, and it seems to be considered as constituting a fresh ground of complaint against this country. As long as this feeling exists-and we fear that it will exist as long as the Alabama question remains unsettled-we cannot but feel that there is no real security for the continuance of peace, essential as that is to the true interests of both countries.

SCRIPTURE OR TRADITION AS THE RULE OF FAITH. THE religion of the Roman Church is based on a twofold system-SCRIPTURE and TRADITION. The Council of Trent decreed that it "receives and venerates, with equal affection of piety and reverence, all the books of the Old and New Testaments, and also the Traditions pertaining to faith and morals, inasmuch as they either came from the mouth of Christ himself, or were dictated by the Holy Ghost." This places Scripture and Tradition on an equality. The religion of the Greek Church states that Divine Revelation is spread and preserved Church is based on the same system. The Catechism of that by two channels-Holy TRADITION and Holy SCRIPTURE. By the name Holy Tradition is meant the doctrine of the Faith, the Son of God, the Sacrament, and the Ritual, as handed down by word and example from one to another, and from generation to generation." This also places Scripture and equality.

Tradition on an

This theory as to Tradition was received among the Pharisees in the time of our Lord. They believed that the revelation made through Moses was left by him, in part written and in part oral-in other words, partly in the Scriptures, and partly in Tradition; that the latter was an oral teaching transmitted from father to son, and from son to grandson, and from grandson to great-grandson, through many generations; so one portion of the revelation was transmitted through an inspired channel, while the other was necessarily transmitted through an

uninspired channel.

There is a

Mark:

"Then came

striking illustration of this in the Evangelist

together the Pharisees and certain of the Scribes....

*A Lecture on Tradition, by Rev. Dr. Littledale.

Vol. 69.-No. 390,

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And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they cat not. And many other things there be which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, brazen vessels, and of tables. Then the Pharisees and Scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?

"He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For, laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups; and many other such like things ye do.

"And He said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God that ye may keep your own tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered and many such like things ye do." (Mark vii. 1—13.)

:

It is thus apparent that the very same system of Tradition prevailed among the Pharisees that now prevails in the Roman and in the Greek Churches. There are, in the above narrative, two of these traditions; one relating to the ceremonial of washing, and the other relating to the fifth commandment. And our Lord rejects and rebukes them; and the Protestant and Reformed Churches, like Him, reject and rebuke the same system prevailing in the Churches of Rome and of Greece.

The theory of Tradition is, that the Apostles committed one portion of the Christian revelation to writing, and another portion to oral teaching; that is, one portion to the Scriptures, and another to Tradition; that this latter has been transmitted from bishop to bishop, from priest to priest, and from father to son through many generations. The result of this, therefore, is that, supposing the theory to be true, the portion that is derived through the Scriptures comes through an inspired medium, while that derived through Tradition comes through men who are not inspired, and therefore through an uninspired medium. This at once stamps all that is traditionary with the impress of uncertainty.

And this is the essential character of Tradition. It is clear that in the Antediluvian world true religion, being left to Tradition, perished in consequence, and the Deluge was the result.

After the Deluge, the three sons of Noah still possessed the knowledge of true religion from him who was "a preacher of righteousness;" but as their descendants became scattered through the world, the further they were removed as to place and as to time, the more and more the Tradition derived from Noah faded and faded away in successive generations, till scarcely a trace of the original truths remained in those mythological forms that grew out of the perverted traditions and assumed the varied forms of the mythologies of the heathen world. It is the fashion just now to regard these mythologies as original religions, created for the purpose of preparing and educating the world for the advent of true religion, whereas they are the perversion and corruption of true religion through oral or traditionary transmission. The mythologies of ancient Assyria, of ancient Egypt, of Greece and of Rome, were all the perverse offspring of ever changing Tradition. If we ask Brahminical or Buddhist priests, they will alike appeal to their traditions; while if we ask the negro of Africa of his religion, he will appeal to the traditions of his fathers; and if we ask the Red Indian of America for the source of his belief, he too will appeal to the traditions of his ancestors. In every land and in every age, Tradition has been the argument of every false religion, and of every error in true religion.

Our argument does not suppose any settled or intentional purpose to pervert the Tradition. It only assumes the infirmity of our nature. The superstitious tendencies of some minds will give it a certain colouring. The imaginative nature of others will inevitably make certain additions to it; while the defective memory of others still will cause omission from its integrity. The result will be a gradual departure, in additions to, and omissions from, the original. There is a striking illustration of this in the fact that the interval between Noah and Abraham was so short that, in the then length of human life, one person might almost have bridged over the space, and have conversed with them both. The facility for preserving the tradition pure was very great. And yet we read that idolatry had already begun. "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other Gods. And I took your father Abraham, &c." (Josh. xxiv. 2.) And in still later times, even in the present day, while the Roman Church claims an unbroken tradition from Apostolic times for the existence of Purgatory, the Greek Church with equal tenacity claims an unbroken tradition from the times of the Apostles against a belief in the existence of Purgatory. Such is the uncertainty of Tradition.

This is the inherent defect of Tradition as a vehicle for the