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children after infancy, but yet before they und much of sin, and when they can competently und fundamentals of religion . . . but still the sooner I mean, after that reason begins to dawn.' A justly conceived to be the way of the Church of E

Even, then, if infant Confirmation is the go which it may be desirable to aim hereafter, it is possible. The restrictions of the English rule, whic certain qualifications, must be honestly accepted, firmation must not be sought at an earlier age thar be considered 'years of discretion.' Moreover, in t imperfect condition of Churchmanship among Engl it may be doubted if we are ready for a general very young Confirmation. Where home influences a children, it is most likely better that they should c age of some degree of independence, if Confirma be deferred at all beyond infancy. On the other ha parents are religious Church people, Confirmation ca in most cases, be too young. And where it is a q sending children out into the world with or without tion, it certainly should always be allowed to pred leaving home if they are fit to receive it. The mo need of the time is, therefore, that there should be fu tunity of securing it before the end of an ordinary s among the poor. If even twelve were made the u it would meet this pressing want, and would afford measure of relief. Still younger Confirmation might b as people became more ready for it. But all fixed s of age must work unsatisfactorily in practice. It wo far better to allow the parochial clergy themselves liberty to judge of the qualification of their own ca apart from restrictions as to age. No one can be so they to know what is best in each individual case. are not competent to decide whether a child ought to firmed or not, they ought not to be trusted with the tion of candidates at all.

The matter rests absolutely in the hands of the since they undoubtedly have the power to reject ca whom they are personally indisposed to accept. Littl fore, can be done by others, except by urging the reform in every legitimate way that they are able. It times said that, as godparents are bound to see th godchildren are brought to the Bishop to be confir

1 Taylor, Works, vol. xi. pp. 289-291.

him, so soon as they can say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments in the vulgar tongue, and be further instructed in the Church Catechism set forth for that purpose,' so the parish priest is bound to present all who are thus qualified, regardless of the fact that his Bishop happens to impose the additional qualification of a particular limit of age in his circular of Confirmation instructions. And, no doubt, if the clergy systematically presented young candidates, leaving on the Bishop the onus of rejecting them, it might have the effect of gradually convincing the episcopate of the need that is felt by so many for early Confirmation. But such a course would be open to grave difficulty if practised on any large scale. It is a great trial to a candidate to be prepared and then at the last minute to be refused, and may do the child much more harm than to wait patiently without Confirmation till the age prescribed. It would also inevitably produce strained relationships between Bishops and clergy, edifying neither to themselves nor to their flocks.

There is another course, sometimes suggested and occasionally practised, which would partly meet the difficulty, and which at first sight seems less open to objection. If it is impossible to obtain early Confirmation, there is not the same impossibility about early Communion. This would fortify children with one infinitely great source of strength; and, if they may not have all sacramental grace, at least they should have all they can be allowed. Every reason which makes for early Confirmation applies equally in favour of early Communion. The rubric of the Prayer-Book only requires that 'there shall none be admitted to the Holy Communion until such time as he be confirmed, or be ready and desirous to be confirmed. There can be no question that the last qualification is satisfied by many young children. There is no inherent necessity, in the nature of things, that Confirmation should precede Communion. In the early Church the Holy Communion was administered to unconfirmed infants, at whose Baptism no Bishop was present, and this was still the rule in the time of Charlemagne. In Archbishop Peckham's Constitutions, in 1281, the only reason given for requiring that Confirmation should come first was to prevent its being ignored altogether :

'Many neglect the sacrament of Confirmation for want of watchful advisers; so that there are many, innumerable many, who want the grace of Confirmation, though grown old in evil days. To cure

1 Bingham, XV. iv. 7.

VOL. XXIII.-NO. XLV.

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this damnable neglect, we ordain that none be admitted ment of the Lord's Body and Blood that is not confirme the point of death, unless he have a reasonable impedim The same rule, without the reason for it, is gi Sarum Manual; 2 and from this source it has foun in some form or other, into every edition of the Engli Book. The Puritans, at the Savoy Conference, obje rubric, but only by way of putting a slight upon tion. The Bishops consented to add the clause of and desirous to be confirmed,' which had been abse to meet exceptional cases; and, in doing so, they ably modified the stringency of the regulation, and way to the altar open to those who were unconfirm fault of their own.

But, though there is no necessity for withholding Communion previous to Confirmation, the usual ord ously the most fitting, and it has been very universal nized. Mr. Jackson sums up the testimony as to saying, 'As Confirmation is the complement to Ba it is ordinarily a condition of Communion.' 4 The the English rubric evidently contemplates that this will only be departed from as an exception. The refusal in modern times to confirm young children is parallel with the circumstances of early days, whe Communion was given, if a Bishop could not be obt confirm an infant immediately. And a wide accep unconfirmed communicants could not fail to result neglect of Confirmation which Archbishop Peckham' strove to correct. Cases where there is not a yearly tunity for Confirmation, and children meantime attain than the age which the Bishop sets as his limit, do come within the scope of the Prayer-Book provision the priest sees reason for it, he may admit them t munion without scruple. Other cases of stronger occur from time to time in all parochial experience one, for instance, would demur to communicate a dying if he is really in a condition to make it desirable should be communicated, on the plea that he is firmed. But these are distinctly of the nature of exc to a rule, and the parish priest would be exceeding t cretion given him by the rubric if he systematically advi young to communicate at an age at which the Bishop

diocese will not confirm them. The responsibility must rest finally with the Bishop, and if he insists upon fixing a particular age, the clergy must perforce abide by it, however regretful sometimes may be their acquiescence.

The desired abolition of age standards will no doubt come in time, if the Church of England maintains her increased vitality. Already they are rejected in some dioceses, and relaxed in others, and must give way before the advancing faith of the people. Meanwhile, wherever a late limit of age is strictly pressed, it is a serious obstacle to the work of the Church. It hinders her from recruiting her communicant roll, in days when she needs to gather all her strength round the altar; and it holds back from the young that means of grace which is especially intended to fortify them, in days when there is a unanimous opinion that they need all the help that can be given them, to strengthen them against the temptations which are rife in every class of society.

ART. IV. THE AMBROSIAN BREVIARY.

Breviarium Ambrosianum. S. CAROLO Card. Archiepiscopo editum; BARTHOLOMEO CAROLO COMITE ROMILLI Archiepiscopo impressum. 4 vols. (Mediolani, 1841.)

How many an English Churchman, his memory full of Dr. Neale's description of the old diocesan and provincial Uses, and perhaps with the 'Essays on Liturgiology' in his pocket, has wandered through Europe, from cathedral to cathedral, in the hope of seeing some of the ancient wealth of ritual and ceremonial, and has felt his delighted anticipation give way to disappointment, and disappointment to scornful indignation, at the faithless policy that has replaced the divine poetry of varied unity by the dull prose of a Chinese uniformity! A few ancient customs linger yet in remote corners, but the province of Milan is, we believe, with the exception of a single chapel at Toledo, the only accessible portion of the Roman Church where one can yet witness a Liturgy different from that approved by the Council of Trent. A travelling Churchman who is interested in liturgical science will not, of course, pass through Milan without assisting once at the Ambrosian

Liturgy, and he will do well to attend Vespers also. If he is acquainted with the Roman services, he will probably have little difficulty in following the Ambrosian Liturgy, but he will find Vespers on a saint's day or great festival very different from that in the Roman Breviary; and, if attracted by the grand ceremonial of the services, he should wish to learn something of them from the ritual-books themselves, he will very possibly be disappointed, as the Missal is out of print, and the Breviary is only to be had from the Archbishop through one of the clergy. We therefore propose giving a description of the latter in the present article, and we hope to return to the former at some future time. We shall endeavour to write in such a manner that all those who have a love for the ancient liturgical heritage of the Church may be able to follow us, even though they should not have made it a special study; we shall distinguish as far as possible those portions of the Use which belong to the original stock; and we hope to show that (as far as our evidence leads us) this stock was of the same family as the Gallican. We shall also notice some points in which the Ambrosian customs offer to us suggestions which may be found practically useful at the present time, as bearing upon ritual1 reforms proposed in various quarters.

Let us at once reassure many who fear that the Ambrosian Ritual will shortly be swept away by the same axes and hammers that have broken down the carved work of the sanctuaries of France, and at the same time let us admit that the destruction is not wholly due to the spirit of centralization, which, though always inherent in Roman policy, has of late shown itself so conspicuously. It was decreed by the Council of Trent that all Uses which could not show a prescription of two hundred years should give way to the Use of Rome as accepted by the Council; and it is obvious that this might be construed in very different ways, just as opinion varied as to what constituted a distinct Use-what sort of proof of prescription must be produced, and to what limits the decree was meant to extend. Soon after the decree was made by the Council, however, the then Archbishop of Milan attempted to abolish the Ambrosian Use and forced the Roman Missal (we are not sure to what extent) upon his clergy. The canons of the Cathedral lodged a protest at Rome; the case was tried, and, the prescription of two hundred years having been proved, the Ambrosian Use was reinstated. It could not now be abolished without the 1 Not ceremonial reforms. We use the word in its legitimate sense.

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