25 MAY 1889, Page 45

Historical Sketches of the English Church. By the Rev. George

Miller. (Griffith, Farran, and Co.)—This small book, which appears to be only a first instalment, nevertheless carries down its history almost to the present time. It is written in a clear, terse style, and the woodcuts with which it is profusely illus- trated are good of their kind. The author's ecclesiastical stand- point is revealed in his opening sentences, in which he says :- " The Church in England is in every point a true and perfect branch of that kingdom which was formed on earth by Jesus

Christ and is in its authorised teaching and doctrine in perfect agreement with the teaching of Christ and His Apostles." He is much concerned about making clear the continuity of the consecration of Bishops at the Reformation, highly commending Archbishop Parker for his care in this respect. He considers Laud to have been a misrepresented person, that he was by no means the cruel persecutor that his enemies felt him to be. The most peculiar sentiment to which he gives utterance is that the Roman Catholics of our country were schismatic in leaving the Church of England, thus setting an example in Queen Elizabeth's reign which the Puritans soon followed; and he concludes his remarks on this subject by the startling statement that since the time of the three predecessors of Paul IV., according to Roman Catholic law there has been no legally elected Pope !