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not be avoided in perhaps ten cases out of a thousand, at first some riflemen made their appearance on our flanks; the number of which gradually increased, and finally rendered a counter-movement on our part necessary. This was generally the signal for the enemy's grand attack; and we soon saw ourselves surrounded by an impenetrable chain of riflemen, whose vast superiority in numbers drove our skirmishers back upon the column, on which a heavy fire was then directed from all points. Let any one imagine a corps of from 1,200 to 1,400 men in a mountainous tract of country, in which the formation of the ground is such as to preclude all possibility of a regular movement, and which is intersected by deep ravines and hollow-ways occupied by the enemy, surrounded by from 6,000 to 7,000 insurgents swarming about them like bees, and he will be enabled to form a correct idea of the embarrassment which we were in the almost daily habit of encountering. If we advanced, the enemy retired, and the flanks and rear of the column were assailed; which was also the case whether we attacked their flanks, or retired. Nowhere did we meet with resistance, but everywhere a shower of bullets; nowhere a resolute opposition, but from all sides a tremendous fire kept up just within gun-shot. After having fought for a length of time in this way, during which we had generally lost a third of our numbers, and left no means untried which offered any chances of repelling the enemy, it became necessary to think of effecting an escape. On our retreat we frequently found the country in a state of insurrection, and while the inhabitants obstructed our passage, we became surrounded, and even cut off, by means of powerful movements on our flanks, from every new line of march. If a column, thus situated, did not find the ground particularly favourable to its retreat, or if it was at the distance of more than one day's march from the main support, not even the best dispositions of its commander, nor the utmost steadiness and perseverance of the men, could save it.

"It was precisely in this way that the attacks were made upon our supplies, only, that in general, (unless a very considerable escort made the attack problematical,) whole districts took up arms, dug ditches across the wood, and, by rolling down pieces of rock, rendered the defiles impassable.

"The author was once in an expedition of this kind, in one of the most impassable districts of the wild Pena golosa. The troops had done every thing in their power to oppose the enemy, on whom they had made at least forty attacks with extraordinary courage. But they began to flag, and instead of courageously charging the enemy, preferred concealing themselves behind rocks, and keeping up an unprofitable firing. Nearly the whole of our officers were wounded. Colonel Pascal himself, the commander of the column, had his arm shattered. At last, by means of words and menaces, he assembled the greater part of the corps in a valley, where they were immediately surrounded by the Spaniards. Under a heavy fire, he cried out to the men with a stentorian voice, and reproached them with their cowardice. "Vilains conscrits," he said, ". you have no

thing to lose but your life, for you have already lost your honour contre ces gueux de brigands; but cowards, like you, do not deserve even your life." Hereupon, he took his pistols, which after the loss of his horse, he carried under his arm, and shot two monks whom he had surprised the day before." Now, go," he then said to his men, " and let yourselves be killed and burnt: but whoever is a good Frenchman, let him follow me." With a far-resounding en avant we rushed upon the Valencians, and succeeded, after several bold attacks, in securing more favourable ground, upon which we formed ourselves anew, and finally effected our escape from the enemy. The Poles, who were in this expedition, did not understand a word of Colonel Pascal's energetic speech, but his action had such an effect upon them, that they fought with unexampled bravery.

"It deserves to be mentioned, as a fine trait, that the troops, to whom the Colonel had not previously been known, (as he had only been dispatched from Xerta, of which place he was commandant, to conduct the expedition,) but whose esteem he had gained by his brave conduct, would not forsake him, when another bullet shattered his jaw-bone; they carried him upon their muskets, about two leguas, when the abatement of the pursuit allowed them time to construct a litter." P. 68.

ART. VIII. A Letter to Charles Butler, Esq. of Lincoln's Inn in Vindication of English Protestants from his Attack upon their Sincerity in the Book of the Roman Catholic Church." By C. J. Blomfield, D. D. Bishop of Chester. 8vo. 24 pp. Mawman. 1825.

IN our review of the Book of the Roman Catholic Church, we directed the reader's attention to a passage in which the clergy and laity of the Church of England were accused of notorious and most hypocritical infidelity. The subject has been taken up by the Bishop of Chester; and we cannot refrain from transcribing his remarks upon a calumny which has excited universal astonishment. Without repeating the libel, which has already appeared in our pages, we proceed at once to his lordship's dignified reply.

"Permit me, Sir, to ask, whether there be in any part of Dr. Southey's book, a grosser attack, a more groundless and gratuitous calumny, than that which is contained in this extract from your answer? You assume, as a matter of notoriety, that the great body of the English clergy, ten or twelve thousand ministers of the Gospel, many of them not less learned nor less sagacious than yourself, are hypocrites and liars; that for the sake of preferment, no necessity compelling them, they set their solemn attestation to that which they do not believe to be true, and place their souls in jeopardy. I

know not what answer can be given to such insinuations, as these, except a positive and indignant denial. What other answer couldyour own clergy give, supposing we were to retort upon them the same charge? They could only declare, on the faith of Christians, that they firmly believe the doctrines which they profess; and this we declare, in the most solemn and unqualified manner, of ourselves.

"That the clergy of the establishment prevaricate and falsify for the sake of preferment, is a charge which you will hardly advance in so many words; and it is a charge, which if you intend it to be general, may be disproved by an appeal to facts. You are probably not aware, Sir, how many young men of respectable abilities and acquirements enter into the ministry of the church, who have no prospect whatever of preferment, properly so called; who have no hope of obtaining more than a pittance, far inferior to that which they might have obtained as tradesmen, farmers, or even as mechanics. Will you, Sir, seriously contend, that 50l. or 60l. a year, is a bribe, sufficiently large and tempting to induce a young man of education and of serious habits to set his solemn testimony to the truth of that which he believes to be false? yet I could produce to you, in my own diocese, many instances of pious, able, and exemplary clergymen, who are labouring in their vocation, and doing the work of an evangelist, for no greater sums than these.

"You have charged us with prevarication:-it had been scarcely, if at all, more opprobrious had you termed us atheists; but that is a hard word, and open, undisguised abuse would have alarmed many, who may be taken off their guard by smooth and easy inuendoes : "His words were softer than oil; yet were they drawn swords."

"Be pleased to inform the world, Sir, for this at least we have a right to demand of you, what are the grounds of your insinuation against the English clergy? Have you taken your opinion of their insincerity and hypocrisy from their own declarations, from their discourses, from their writings in defence of religion? Have you ever heard the sigh or shuddered at the smile of one of these Judases, whom you suppose to exist, in more than their due proportion, amongst the ministers of our church? Bring forth your proofs; and let them be stronger proofs than those which Dr. Milner has brought forward; in the mean time you surely do not quote, as an authority for so grave a charge, the casual expression of one, who first apostatized from the Protestant, then from the Roman Catholic, and lastly from the Christian faith? What concord is there between Mr. Butler and Gibbon?

"That there are no instances of clergymen, who subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles with some degree of hesitation and doubt, is more than I undertake to assert: if there should even be some, who call in question the grand doctrines to which you allude, who are as deficient in conscientiousness as they are in right belief,—nay, should there be one or two who even ridicule and make a jest of those articles which they have solemnly assented to--and who, by virtue of that assent, hold preferment amongst us-still our Church will

incur no reproach which is not applicable to yours, and to the pri mitive church itself, into which we know that certain men crept unawares, who were before, of old ordained to this condemnation denying the only God and our Lord Jesus Christ.' But to your question, are these doctrines seriously and sincerely believed by the great body of the present English clergy?' we answer, unhesitatingly, YES: and we make the same answer in the name and on the behalf of the laity; whether in or out of the established church. Upon these points there is no difference of belief between us and the great body of Protestant dissenters. Those who deny the doctrines in question, are in point of numbers, when weighed against those who believe them, as dust in the balance: and you, Sir, can hardly be ignorant of this fact; unless it has been your fate to pass much of your time in the company of those, whose chief employment and delight it is, to attack revealed religion through the sides of the established church; to describe her doctrines as incredible, and her clergy as insincere; and so to bring the Gospel itself into disrepute." P. 7.

This language can neither be misunderstood nor answered. Most sincerely must the Church of England and the whole body of Protestant Christians rejoice in the possession of such a champion as the Bishop of Chester. It was due to the cause at the present crisis, that her defenders should be found in every class, from the highest ranks of the hierarchy to the humble parish priest. And the distinct and indignant denial of Mr. Butler's assertion, is made with peculiar propriety by this distinguished prelate. The Roman Catholic accusation is fully and fairly met. The Protestant Church has pleaded not guilty; and if Mr. Butler is unwilling to appear in the character of a calumniator, he must substantiate or retract his charge.

Having answered the most offensive passage in the Book of the Roman Catholic Church, the Bishop of Chester declines exposing its other numerous faults. That task is in other hands, and will be accomplished to the satisfaction of the Protestant world. But the Bishop gives a sample of the manner in which he could execute the work, and the point is so important, and at the same time so ably stated, that we cannot pass it over. It relates to a subject which has been already noticed in our journal, Mr. Butler's appeal to the creed of Pope Pius IV.

"For an exact account of that faith, you refer us to the creed of Pius IV. published in 1564, not as the act of a council, but in the form of a bull, and ever since that time considered as an accurate and explicit summary of the Roman Catholic belief. "Catholics, on their admission into the Catholic church, publicly repeat and testify their assent to it, without restriction or qualification. And

you give us the creed itself at length. Now the last clause but one in that creed is as follows: I also profess and undoubtedly receive all other things delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred canons, and general councils, and particularly by the holy Council of Trent and likewise I also condemn, reject, and anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all heresies whatsoever condemned and anathe→ matized by the church.'

"Whatsoever therefore is declared and defined in any of the canons of the Roman Catholic church, or in the acts of any generat council, not merely, though particularly, the Council of Trent, we may, by your own avowal, consider to be an article of the Roman Catholic faith. This concession, I apprehend, involves consequences which you were either not aware of, or supposed we should not discover. When the Council of Constance had determined that the cup should be taken from the laity, the Bohemians were so much dissatisfied that the Council of Basle restored it to them. Which council was infallible? Which decree is to be undoubtedly received?? The Council of Basle in 1431, decreed that a General Council is above the Pope; but the Lateran Council in 1546, declared this decree to have been the source of corruption and abuse. The Council of Constantinople forbade the worship or reverence paid to images; the second Nicene Council enjoined it; the Council of Frankfort prohibited it; and it was finally re-established by the Council of Trent. But it must be confessed, that the expression of Pius IV. admits of a happy latitude and ambiguity; and if this be the creed to which all persons entering into the ministry of your church are obliged to assent, since even the Roman Catholic divines themselves are by no means of one opinion, either as to the number or authority of general councils, nor consequently of the things defined and declared' by them, you are at least as likely as we are to have a great many clergymen who subscribe with a sigh or a smile.'

"May I not ask, without imputing to you individually tenets which you will be the first to disavow, whether it does not seem to follow, as a necessary consequence of your admission, that all true Roman Catholics must still believe that doctrine which has caused so much mischief in the world, that the Church of Rome may excommunicate and depose kings, and extirpate heretics; for one of these rights was claimed for her by the Council of Trent, and the other by the fourth Lateran Council? Nor will it avail you to say, that these are merely points of discipline, not of doctrine; since the creed of Pius IV. says, I profess, and undoubtedly receive all other things,' not only defined, but declared by the several councils, and particularly by the holy Council of Trent.' But why particularly? if all general councils were infallible, and their decrees undoubtedly true, how is it that the Council of Trent can have a pre-eminence of orthodoxy? Indeed, Sir, you had better have kept in the back-ground that Creed of Pope Pius IV.; for I foresee that this comprehensive clause of it will involve you in very serious difficulties..

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