but the loss of true Catholic principles if it be carried far enough. And, on the other hand, the Church which is content to deal with cases as they arise by a rough "rule of thumb," and to disregard the study of the principles and the practice of the past, is in danger of still greater disaster. If some parts of Christendom seem to have incurred the former danger, we have not been free from the latter. We have lost immeasurably by the neglect of this study, and have nothing to lose, but everything to gain, by a fuller absorption of the canonical spirit of the Church. But if the result be to bring home to the minds of the Bishops, or of the Church at large, that the revival or the fuller observance of such and such principles or precepts is desirable, we must not forget that they will come into operation not because they were once in force in days gone by, but because they commend themselves to the mind of the Church of to-day, and are made valid by her authority and sanction.'

As a new edition of Sir W. Phillimore's work is sure to be called for eventually, it is worth while to call attention to a few errors and omissions which we have noted.

There were

P. 261, note (c). Cf. Canones Concilii Bracara.' four Councils of Bracara. Which is intended? And for Bracara read Bracaræ.

P. 73, note (t).

The reference to Cardwell, Doc. Ann., is wrong. It should stand ii. 301.

P. 77, note (i). The reference to Lyndwood cannot be verified. Lyndwood is sometimes called Lindwood in these volumes. P. 106 (p).

P. xxxi.

The reference to Gibson cannot be verified.

The Extravagants of Pope Joan the Twenty Second' should be corrected. Pope John of course is meant.

P. 755.

Caudry's case.' This name is usually written Cawdry,

and sometimes is so in these volumes.

P. 16. For Twenty-fourth Council of Lateran read Fourth Council. The reference to Burder v. Mavor in xxxvii as to be found on p. 386 should stand 398.

P. 21.

The reference to Van Espen, note (0), is 'non ad rem.' What is wanted will be found in an earlier paragraph.

When St. Augustine's works are referred to the edition used should be stated.

P. 855. Cœlestus II.' Quere Cœlestin?

P. 993, note (1). Negit quis, read negat.

P. 1074, note (x). There is an error in the punctuation.

P. 1284. For capitulary' read capitularly, as in next page.

ART. XI.-CANON OVERTON ON THE

CHURCH IN ENGLAND.

The Church in England. By JOHN HENRY OVERTON, D.D., Rector of Epworth and Canon of Lincoln. In two volumes. Being Volumes IX. and X. of The National Churches, edited by the Rev. P. H. DITCHFIEld, M.A., F.R.Hist.S. With Maps. (London, 1897.)

By the death of Archdeacon Perry and the departure of Canon Overton into Leicestershire two great sources of historical strength have been removed from the active work of the Church in the diocese of Lincoln. That diocese may reflect with satisfaction that Canon Overton has gone to a living which, if no longer in its area, is in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln, and that he still remains a beneficed priest in the diocese as Prebendary of Stow Longa. But it must regret that the patronage in the hands of the Bishop is so insufficient that he cannot keep some of his best ecclesiastical administrators, historians, and men of great spiritual power, round about him as he would. Mr. Ditchfield's series, containing Canon Meyrick's Spain, Canon Pennington's Italy, and these two excellent volumes by Canon Overton, shows that the Chapter of Lincoln, of which Bishop Wordsworth called Perry the historiographer, is still strong in history. With a hearty respect for the writings and labours of both men, we may assist our readers to appreciate their work, and specially the new work now before us, by comparing the styles of Archdeacon Perry and Canon Overton. In the books of both the character of the men is clearly reflected. In the case of Perry we have, alas! the advantage of obituary notices to guide us in arriving at the impression which the man and his literary work produced. Sub-Dean Clements of Lincoln, in a very touching and thorough memorial sermon, based upon a knowledge of more than half a century, has spoken of Perry's habitual reality, marked independence of judgment, striking accuracy of statement, sober-mindedness, and clear common sense, which made him a loyal and devoted Churchman of the best Anglican type.'1 The Venerable John Bond, Perry's successor in the Archdeaconry of Stow, described his predecessor as an accurate scholar, a well-read Divine, a humble, diligent, truth-seeking, truth

1 Lincoln Diocesan Magazine for 1897, pp. 53-4.

loving man, as simple and straightforward as he was learned and judicious,' who

'not only ever lived and spake as a loyal and devout Churchman himself, but in his careful and pregnant writings... has shown to others the solid ground upon which we stand in the old paths, and why with confidence and hope we may live and work and die in the Church of England, as a true and living branch of the One Holy Catholic Church.'1

2

We do not know that any deductions need be made from these warm encomiums in regard to the positive value of Perry's historical productions, but our own feeling with regard to his literary work, and also to the learned papers which we have heard him read on such subjects as ecclesiastical history and modern Biblical criticism, has always been that it was thoroughly solid and sound, but peculiarly unrelieved by lighter touches, in fact, that it was too dry, even dull and heavy. It is not uncommon, as all tutors in ecclesiastical history will bear us out in saying, to hear pupils, even those who are hard reading men, confess that they are bored by the weight of Perry's solid matter. Even in The Life of St. Hugh where the materials for humour are abundant and unavoidable, it must be confessed that the humour is very dry and the smiles are grim, though the writer plainly enjoys his pleasant task. But we can think of half a dozen historical writers who would have produced a charming Life of St. Hugh. What an account of him would have been given by Mr. Plummer, or Dr. Bright, or Mrs. Oliphant, or the Bishop of Bristol-whose gifts of popular writing make him the Sir Robert Ball of ecclesiastical history-or Canon Overton himself! For in Canon Overton's writings we find the same solidity, accuracy, and loyalty to the Anglican position for which Perry was justly esteemed, and at the same time a lively and even racy style, with touches of humour at every turn. The new broom of our youngest contemporary, Literature, sweeps so very clean that we must beware of superlative criticism, which we are told is an error of lenient reviewers in these days. But we are not afraid to say that in these two volumes on The Church in England Canon

1 The Charge of the Ven. J. Bond, M.A., at his first Visitation of the Archdeaconry of Stow (Keyworth: Lincoln, 1897), p. 4.

"The Life of St. Hugh of Avalon, Bishop of Lincoln. With some account of his predecessors in the See of Lincoln. (London, 1879.) Compare the Church Quarterly Review, No. 17, and see' Vie de Saint Hugues Chartreux, Evêque de Lincoln (1140-1200). Par un religieux de La Grande Chartreuse.' (Montreuil, 1890.)

Overton has collected a fund of instruction and enjoyment which will bear comparison with any other works upon the same topic. We believe also that another influence has been at work in the writing of this history. Canon Overton has lived at Epworth, Wesley's birthplace, and has, we suppose, written these pages in the very rectory house in which John Wesley was born. He is not without a joyous consciousness that the strong buoyant love for truth which inspires this Anglican History would have commended itself, alike in its method and in its achieved results, to Wesley himself, and he writes, not only out of a full mind and a ready sense of humour, but with a sort of triumphant assurance that in describing facts as they are and in telling an unvarnished tale he is producing a forcible apology for the Church of England, against Rome indeed, but also against Dissent. In saying this we might convey a false impression unless we alluded to the generous impartiality of the author, who is ready to give credit to all the good points of those who differ from him, either on fundamental matters, or merely in the way in which they look at the facts recorded. Canon Overton makes no pretence of hiding his enthusiasm for the Church of England as if he were ashamed of it. Nor does he conceal in any way that he stands in the same position with regard to evangelical doctrine and apostolical orders as the Church Quarterly Review. But he is particularly fair and candid in all parts of his narrative, and in his Preface he shows at once what sort of history his readers may expect from his pen.

These volumes

'strive to bring out prominently how, from the very first, the Church has been inextricably interwoven with the life of the nation; and they dwell upon the action of kings and statesmen, and upon matters which are in one sense secular matters more fully than purely ecclesiastical histories are wont to do. . . . Their primary object is, not "Church Defence," but simply to state facts, to whatever conclusion those facts may lead' (Pref. pp. v, vi).

As the volumes form two of a series, although of course quite complete in themselves, it has been thought sufficient to touch very lightly upon the relation of the Church of England to other parts of the Church in communion with her, whose history has appeared, or will appear, in other volumes of the series.

Canon Overton works steadily through the whole period of the life of the Church in England. The narrative is compact, and, so far as we can see, there has been an economical use of space throughout the work. The first volume consists VOL. XLV.-NO. XC.

I I

of 484 pages, and covers the ground from the earliest records of Christianity in Britain to the close of the Tudor period. A very fair idea of the mode of treatment, so far as space is concerned, may be gathered from the fact that, speaking roughly, about 100 pages are allotted to the history down to the death of Bede. Of the three chapters-the type is defective in the word 'chapter' on p. vii.'-which comprise this part of the work, the first is devoted to 'the British Church,' and the remaining two describe 'the early English Church' before and after the Council of Whitby. The remaining part of the volume is divided into twelve chapters, in one of which (p. 320) we slightly regret that Canon Overton has not followed Mr. Gladstone's example and written 'Renascence' for 'Renaissance.' In the two chapters on the early English Church from the death of Bede to the Norman Conquest, the death of Alfred is the event which naturally marks the division of the period, and there are five chapters on the Mediæval Church from the Norman Conquest to the accession of Henry VII. Then, after the chapter on the Renaissance, follow four chapters on the Tudor period. The map which forms the frontispiece of this volume shows the English and Welsh dioceses towards the close of the eighth century, and the chief places mentioned in this volume in connexion with the British and early English Churches. It will be noticed that this map delineates the state of affairs about a century later than Dr. Bright's new map, which we recently criticized,3 and coincides with Map X. in the new Historical Church Atlas of the S.P.C.K. We have very carefully compared these three maps. For the kingdoms in about A.D. 700 Dr. Bright's is the best; the dioceses, bearing in mind the later date, are more clearly defined by Canon Overton; while the S.P.C.K. atlas marks a much larger number of places than either of the other two maps. Canon Overton has somewhat sacrificed the insertion of names to a desire for clearness. For example, Boston, Crowland, and Felixstowe are not marked. Catterick in the dales is marked, but 'dales' is misprinted and the place is not included in the index. Nor is the Swale in the index (i. 39), for, as our author observes, 'names only casually mentioned have not been included' in what will be

1 A short list of corrigenda is given in vol. i. p. ix, but there are other slips in vol. i. p. 367 note, vol. ii. pp. 101 note, 364, and we regret that the name of a venerable survivor of the early Tractarian tale-writers, the Rev. W. E. Heygate, is omitted in vol. ii. p. 347.

2 The Romanes Lecture, p. 22, n. 26 (Oxford, 1892).

3 Chapters of Early English Church History, third edition (Oxford, 1897), frontispiece; see Church Quarterly Review, No. 89, pp. 13-14.