the earlier Catechism, was published both in Latin and English, and has been ascribed to Poynet or Nowell. This Catechism fell through with the English Prayer Book upon the death of King Edward and the accesssion of Queen Mary, but the matter came up again under Queen Elizabeth. The Catechism of Alexander Nowell, Dean of St. Paul's, published in Latin in 1562–3, and translated into English by T. Norton, was presented to the Convocation of Clergy in that year, and again in 1570, but was rejected.' Indeed, it was hardly suitable for the purpose, even if it had not been Calvinistic in its tendency; for it was long and heavy, and not altogether edifying for the class of persons for whom it was intended. It forms a strange contrast to the simplicity and intelligibility of the Church Catechism.

(ii) The failure of Nowell's Catechism to secure authoritative recognition caused the Puritan party to agitate for further instruction for the young; and at King James I.'s accession a presentment was made of the grievances which were felt about religion, and among the things demanded was an enlarged Catechism. The Hampton Court Conference (1604) was appointed by the king to consider the grievances alleged, and one of the few concessions made to the Puritan demands was the addition of the last portion of the Catechism, dealing with the two Sacraments, which has been commonly attributed to Overall, Dean of St. Paul's and Prolocutor of the Lower House of Convocation, upon the authority of Cosin.2

(iii) The need of a longer Catechism was felt again in 1689, when King William III.'s commissioners were making proposals to improve the Book of Common Prayer with a view to the comprehension of Dissenters. Fortunately for the Eng

1 Nowell's Catechism was republished at Oxford in 1835, and again by the Parker Society in 1853.

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2 Bishop Cosin (Works, vol. v., A.-C. Library, 1855) says: 'The addition was first penned by Bishop Overall (then dean of Paul's) and allowed by the bishops' (Notes on the Book of Common Prayer, 3rd series, p. 491). Cosin had been Overall's chaplain : he refers to my Lord Overall's teaching' (Ist series, p. 155). These Notes were written in 1619, 1638, and 1640. Mr. Blunt (Introduction to the Catechism, p. 242) says: It is also pretty well established, from internal evidence, that Overall translated them from some Latin formula, probably from an ancient A.B.C. with the Catechism of unknown authorship, which was used in St. Paul's School, and of which there is a reprint dated 1687,' and he would trace this Catechism to Erasmus and Colet. However, Dr. J. H. Lupton's Life of John Colet (London: George Bell and Sons, 1887) gives Colet's Catechyzon' in Appendix B, but there is nothing in it which at all resembles the Church Catechism.

lish Church their recommendations never came before Convocation, and therefore remain only as a record of what the Prayer Book might easily have become in the hands of incompetent revisers, especially if they were actuated, as these commissioners were, by a revolutionary spirit. For our purpose, however, it is necessary only to note that in the Catechism, after the summary of the Creed, three questions and answers were added concerning the Church: (1) as to its foundation by Christ, (2) as to its universal character, and (3) as to the privileges afforded within it, being the last four clauses of the Creed amplified. The only other proposals were to break up the Duty towards God and one's neighbour into questions and answers according to the Ten Commandments, and to treat the 'I desire' in a similar way.1

2

No further attempt was made to alter or add to the Church Catechism until our own day, when two proposals were made to compile additional questions and answers dealing with the Church, the ministry, and the Sacraments. (a) The first proposal was made by Bishop Charles Wordsworth of St. Andrew's, and received synodical sanction from the Scottish Episcopal Church in 1878. This consisted of nine questions and answers relating to the Three Orders of the Ministry and their several functions, to Confirmation and admission to Holy Communion. They are useful and sound in doctrine, being founded chiefly upon the language of the Prayer Book, but they are awkward in form: they attempt too much in a small space, and lack rhythm. Those treating of Confirmation are specially heavy and cumbrous. (b) The second proposal came from the Lower House of Convocation (Canterbury) in 1886, the present Dean of St. Paul's having moved for a committee 'to prepare a few Questions and Answers on the Church, which may be used as supplementary to the Catechism.' Great pains were taken to draw up twelve Questions and Answers which would be worthy of the high standard of the Church Catechism, and at length, in July 1887, they were agreed upon in the Lower House. Next year (April 27, 1888) the proposed supplement was laid before the Upper House, but the bishops, 'while acknowledging the pains which the Lower House had bestowed on ' the work, declined to consider the Questions and Answers on the ground that 'formularies professing to set forth the

1 Compare Robinson's Church Catechism Explained, Note E, pp. 166-7, and Proctor on The Book of Common Prayer (2nd edition, 1856), p. 154, 'Alterations proposed in 1689.'

Compare Robinson (ut supra), Note F, pp. 168-9.

doctrine of the Church... ought to proceed from the Upper, and not from the Lower, House.' It is much to be regretted that the Upper House adopted this attitude of non possumus in regard to the proposals of the Lower House, and has done nothing to remove 'the existing ignorance respecting the Church of England and her claims on the allegiance of the baptized members of her communion.' 2

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(B). We pass on now to consider briefly some of those Private Catechisms which have been drawn up by Churchmen of various schools to supplement the authorized teaching of the Church. The number of them is excessive and daily increasing, but so far none has appeared which entirely meets the want of the parish priest, although he may be able to compile for himself from them that body of divinity'3 in which he judges fit to instruct his flock. The consequence is that there is no uniformity and no certainty in the catechizing of the young; the parish priest is a law unto himself,' and the Church suffers from this lawlessness. Not that there is any lack of sound teaching to be found in the best Church writers, but that there is a great neglect of certain parts of the Church's teaching, because this or that subject may be distasteful to the individual priest, which a duly authorized manual would tend to remove, and the laity would look to have it taught in full. It cannot be necessary to speak of 1 Compare Robinson (ut supra), Note G, pp. 171-2.

2 The subsequent history of these Questions and Answers is as follows. When the Upper House resolved that a subject of this kind should not be initiated in the Lower House except by way of petition, the Lower House acquiesced dutifully, and then petitioned the Upper House to take the subject into consideration, and to prepare such Questions and Answers, in order that the existing ignorance respecting the Church of England and her claims on the allegiance of the baptized members of her communion may be removed.' The Upper House agreed to appoint a committee of its own, and in July 1889 Bishop Ellicott, representing the committee, informed the Upper House that the committee had agreed on a general form, and hoped that a complete draft would be ready next year. That 'next year' (1890), however, passed, and so did the first half of 1891; but on June 30, 1891, the same prelate announced in the Upper House that the committee felt it was not desirable to formulate any Questions and Answers. It was proposed, instead, to compose a general declaration relating both to the Church at large and to the Church of England.' But this plan has never been carried out, so far as we can discover.

3 Compare George Herbert's A Priest to the Temple, chap. v. 'The Parson's Accessory Knowledge.' 'The Country Parson hath read the fathers also, and the schoolmen, and the later writers, or a good proportion of all, out of all which he hath compiled a book, and body of divinity, which is the storehouse of his sermons, and which he preacheth all his life. This body he made by way of expounding the Church Catechism, to which all divinity may easily be reduced.'

works upon the Church Catechism so well known and of so elaborate a kind as those of Bishop Andrewes, of Beveridge, of Hammond, of Ken, of Nicholson, and of Secker. They are of the greatest value as books of reference, and have been employed by every writer of notes upon the Church Catechism, but they would not serve the present need, being too lengthy and complex for a child to learn by heart or to be used as text-books in schools, and being couched in language which is not easily understood by young people. The clergy do well to go back to them for illustration and minute analysis, and may derive from them great help in preaching and catechizing.

(i). There were, however, two works in the sixteenth century, which may be appealed to as indicating the form, if not the substance, of a Longer Catechism. Both are strongly Calvinistic, and by no means attractive to the modern student, but there is a certain excellence in the order of subjects and a completeness of treatment in both works which may suggest such a course of instruction as is at present needed.

3

The first of these is the Catechism of Thomas Becon, 2 in which the subjects treated of are: 1. Repentance. 2. Faith, including the Creed. 3. The Law. 4. Prayer. 5. The Sacraments. 6. The Officers of all degrees (temporal and ecclesiastical), including the Christian ministry. 7. Social relations (e.g. husbands and wives, parents and children, etc.). This list of contents is suggestive, because, while it follows the lines of the Church Catechism, it largely supplements it, and indicates the kind of teaching necessary for elder children. The second is Bullinger's monumental work, called the Decades; it is far too elaborate and too exhaustive for these times, but as a book of reference, particularly upon the Decalogue, it is very valuable. In the matter of analysis it is suggestive, and there can be no doubt about the learned character of it, but it is strongly Calvinistic, and has been cited here only for its general contents. A manual of Christian doctrine would do well to follow Bullinger's list of subjects, although his teaching may not be the same as ours, Churchmen are well advised to learn from those with J. H. Overton's Life in the English Church, 1660-1714, pp. 267, 268, may be referred to in respect of Catechisms; and for a useful list of works on the Church Catechism, see E. J. Boyce's Catechetical Hints and Helps (S.P.C.K. 1869-1888).

1

His Works were published in 1560, and republished by the Parker Society, 1844, large 4to. The Catechism occupies 400 pages.

3 Published by the Parker Society in five volumes, 1849-1852.

whom they cannot altogether agree. Methods of instruction are not the monopoly of any one party. The Decades contain the following heads of instruction: 1. The Word of God. 2. Faith and the Creed. 3. The Law (including the Decalogue, Ceremonial laws, &c.) 4. Sin. 5. The Gospel of Grace. 6. Repentance. 7. Doctrine of God in Three Persons. 8. The Spirit World (Angels, &c.) 9. The Church and the Ministry. 10. Prayer. II. Sacraments. 12. Church Institutions, Discipline, &c. This is a comprehensive list, but there is not one subject of which any wellinstructed Christian ought to be ignorant, and yet how little authoritative teaching an English Churchman has on these points !!

(ii) On the other hand a reference to the Catechism of the Council of Trent, which was produced in the same period, may not be out of place to show how much better the Roman clergy are provided for than the English. An outline of the contents may serve for a guide in anything similar which might be undertaken for the English Church. Part I. deals with the Twelve Articles of the Creed: Part II. with the Sacraments (seven); Part III. with the Decalogue; Part IV. with Prayer. But the whole Catechism is so well arranged, and so explicit in its subordinate parts, that the English Churchman may well long to have some such book to refer to in doubt, and the suggestive plan, set forth in the Preface, for a course of instruction during the Church's year, makes it still more valuable to the parish priest.

(iii) We pass on to our own times, to inquire what books have been provided of the kind which we desiderate. The number of books which could be mentioned is beyond the limits of this article and the scope of our inquiry, but we may mention certain works which in the experience of a parish priest have been found helpful for purposes of public catechizing and private instruction; for both these sides of the subject should be kept in view.

(a) There is a Catechism which some years since had a good reputation among English Churchmen, and was deservedly popular for the purposes of public catechizing. Dean Ramsay, of St. John's, Edinburgh, was a clergyman of wide influence, and famous for his catechizing. His little

1 Bullinger's Decades, like Calvin's Institutes, were thought worthy of being made a text-book for students in the Universities.' The Southern Convocation, as late as 1586, recommended them to the younger clergy for help in preparation for preaching. Compare Archdeacon Hardwick's History of the Reformation, ch. iv. pp. 240, 241, and note (4th ed. 1874).