4 APRIL 1891, Page 28

The Comfortable Words. By Thomas Thomason Perowne. (Elliot Stock.)—The Archdeacon

of Norwich here publishes certain meditations on the "Comfortable Words," which originally took the form of short addressee substituted for a sermon, prior to the administration of the Lord's Supper. The consideration of the "sentences of Holy Scripture to be said by the priest after he has pronounced the absolution in the Communion Service," which are peculiar to the liturgy of the Church of England, "falls under four heads,—the Word of Grace, the Word of Love, the Word of Truth, and the Word of Peace." The Archdeacon writes as he ought, simply and concisely, and yet not without a certain epigrammatic force, as when he says :—" The Christian's aim is perfection. He has perfect forgiveness. He would have perfect holiness." His quotations, both in prose and verse—such verse as Boner's no less than Xeble's—from other writers illustrative of and supporting his views, are not too long, but very much to the point.