New Year's Day is ever an important time in France, as the Emperor's words to the Foreign Ministers, who pay their respects to him according to the Continential custom, are considered to be a guide to his intentions, whether for peace or This year all that is reported is thoroughly pacific, and

war.

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LONDON, JANUARY 5, 1870.

The Week.

WE commence by wishing all our readers a very happy New Year. As regards ourselves we have to announce that the price of the CHURCH HERALD is reduced to ONE PENNY, in deference to the wish of a large number of persons who desired that the principles we advocate should be brought under the notice of all classes of readers as generally as possible. Having had the good fortune to arrange with so energetic a publisher as Mr. Bosworth, for our future we feel no anxiety, if only our readers will assist by making the paper known among their friends. The principles we advocate are those stedfast Church and State ones with which we set out. We intend to do our best to make them appreciated by forcible and well-written articles, stating plainly and boldly what we consider to be right and true, and pointing out unflinchingly the errors which are prevalent. In doing so there seems to us no call to exceed the ordinary limits of courteous language. Where severity is needful, we shall act on the advice given by a Yankee to a friend of ours: "Siree, you may have to tread on a man's toes in a crowd. Now, Sir, you must du it po-litely. You must not crush nor mangle his toes, which would be rude; and you might have to re-peat the operation. No, Sir, you should simply tread heavy, and pulverize the critter's toes into impalpable dust." If, however, our friends look to us for bitter satire, they will be disappointed. We consider it unfitted for our pages, where, especially, dealing so much as we must do with Church matters, an essentially Christian tone and temper must pervade everything. Our aim is the honour of God, our Queen, and country.

The New Ministry in France, which has been formed by M. Ollivier, consists of the following:-M. Ollivier, Minister of Justice; Count Daru, Foreign Affairs (Left Centre); M, Chevandier de Valdrome, Interior; M. Buffet, Finance (Left Centre); General Leboeuf, War; Admiral Rigault de Genouilly, Marine; M. Segris, Public Instruction (Right Centre); M. Talhouet, Public Works (Right Centre); M. Louvet, Commerce; Marshal Vaillant, Imperial Household; M. Richard, Fine Arts. The will of the Sovereign is so much more an active force in France than with ourselves, that the formation of a Coalition Ministry there does not indicate such a change of policy as we should have here were Mr. Gladstone to go out of office, and Messrs. Bright and Beales to form a Ministry.

Empire. Now, it appears, his Royal will is to overrule absolutely the Spanish vox populi.

Contradictory reports are rife as to the strength and activity of the Moderate party in the Council at the Vatican, but we believe that in a little time their full strength will be found quite equal to preventing any Ultramontane dogma being sanctioned. Deep interest and anxiety must, however, be felt Council. Death has already removed several members, and until we know the result of the meeting to-morrow of the one cannot but fear that the new appointments will be made rather with a view to strengthening a party than for the general benefit of the Church.

The trial and sentencing of Tropmann do not give us a favourable impression of a French criminal court, as contrasted with our own. There is a want of dignity altogether, and we think, the examination of a prisoner is much to be repiehended when so carried on. Further, the advantage of a private execution is evident in the encouragement it affords to penitence.

remark, except that the mob showed itself much the same as Of Bishop Temple's reception at Exeter there is little to in the old surplice-riot days, namely, quite ready to aid those who are opposed to the Church's teaching and authority; and as to the Sermon, it was very much a repetition of the ideas of Dr. Temple's Essay. Throughout we find conscience made supreme, even in one passage apparently placed higher than the Holy Spirit as a guide and authority. That there is no word of apology for "Essays and Reviews," much less of retraction, does not surprise us; the same sort of thing has been done time after time, and we only marvel that, when a man refuses to explain under circumstances such as Dr. Temple's were, any one should take the trouble to twist some utterance of his into a promise of a future statement. We all know that if Dr. Temple disapproved of "Essays and Reviews," he would long ago have withdrawn from their bad company. Not having done so was enough, we think, to show that his sympathy was with the

other six writers.

Mr. Lowe's new scheme for collecting the Assessed Taxes is now come upon us with full severity, and there seems no answer vouchsafed to the charge that we have to pay twice over for the next three months. We observe another hardship; it was said to be a great merit of the scheme that we should simply have to pay on one day in the year for what we then had, but now it seems that we are bound to take out a licence within twenty-one days of making any addition at any time in the year to our taxable articles, under a twenty pounds penalty.

All that our Government, whose boast ever is that they are the friends of the people, will say as to emigration is, that they have not authorised the statement which was circulated of their refusing all assistance to an emigration scheme. A

We are glad to learn that the report that the Archbishop of Canterbury has suffered a relapse is unfounded, and that on the contrary His Grace continues to make satisfactory progress.

We have been asked by the Treasurer of the Association for Promoting the Unity of Christendom to remind the Members that the subscription, one shilling, is now due from all who can afford it, and should be sent to G. J. Murray, Esq., Purbrook House, Cosham, Hants.

The friends of Dr. Boyd, Dean of Exeter, confidently assert that

when first Dr. Temple was nominated, the Dean had quite made up his mind to oppose the election. Owing, however, to the strongest and most earnest solicitations from Archbishop Tait, the Dean veered round from

north to south.

We regret to announce the death of the Rev. W. J. Coope, Vicar of Falmouth, who has for so many years fought steadfastly in the Church cause, regardless of failing health, and the coldness or rebukes of those who ought to have aided him. As the presentation is stated to be in the hands of Mr. Coope's representatives, we may hope to see him succeeded by one who will carry on his good work, while for him we pray Requiescat

in pace.

The Church Press Company is being wound up voluntarily, that it may be reorganized, and a larger capital obtained. We cannot advise any of our readers to take shares until sound principle instead of expediency is made the guide of those who control the action of the company. Its custom has been to publish books which might be popular, whereas the use of an Association of the sort is to assist those whose outspoken language renders it difficult to obtain a publisher among those to whom publishing is a means of livelihood.

TAXES UNDER A LIBERAL MINISTRY.-A correspondent writes in the Times"I have paid taxes for male servants, armorial bearings, &c. for the year 1869-70, which terminates at Lady Day, 1870. Yesterday I received formal notice that I must at once declare what licences I required in respect of these same male servants, armorial bearings, &c., for the year 1870-i.e., from the 1st of January to the 31st of December. As I was also informed that if I was unprovided with these licences for a single day I was liable to an information, entailing heavy penalties (of which penalties a large slice goes as a whet to the informer), and that the energies of the whole tribe of Excise informers was to be concentrated for a while on the ordinary assessed taxpayer, I made my declaration and paid my licence duties. The question simply is this-Has Mr. Lowe imposed upon my verdant nature, and extracted an extra quarter's taxes from me, or does the law as passed enable him to make us all pay taxes twice over, from January to April, 1870."

Reviews of Books.

VIKRAM AND THE VAMPIRE; OR, TALES OF HINDU DEVILRY. Adapted by Richard F. Burton, F.R.G.S., &c. With thirtythree illustrations by Ernest Griset. (Longmans and Co.) The book containing the Hindu tales here put into English form by Captain Burton is of great popularity in the East. It occupies somewhat the same position in Hindu literature that the " Legends of King Arthur" do among ourselves. An Eastern teller of the tales informs his readers that it is "a

string of fine pearls to be hung round the neck of human intelligence; a fragrant flower to be borne in the turban of mental wisdom; a jewel of pure gold, which becomes the brow of all supreme minds; and a handful of powdered rubies, whose tonic effects will appear palpably upon the

mental digestion of every patient. Finally, by the aid of the lessons inculcated in the following pages, man will pass happily through this world into the state of absorption, where fables will be no longer required."

In a short preface to the present collection Captain Burton claims for the originals of these tales that they are the beginning of that fictitious history which ripened to the "Arabian Nights' Entertainments" and which, fostered by the genius of Boccacio, produced the romance of the chivalrous days, and its last development, the modern novel. Like Oriental pearls, the stories are hung upon a very slender string. After the manner of the "Arabian Nights," they are told to gain time. A Baital, or Vampire, being cut down from a mimosatree by the great King Vikramaditya the Brave, at the request of a wicked Jogi, or devotee, who had begged Vikram (short for the aforesaid) to find the Vampire and bring it to him, tells the stories to Vikram on the way. He professes to be loquacious, and proposes to ask a number of questions, on the understanding that whenever he can extort an answer from Vikram, he is to have the respite of a run up to his favourite place in the siras-tree, but that when the Rajah remained silent, either being at a loss to reply, or through humility or ignorance, then the Vampire would allow Eleven stories follow, to ten of which the Raja is unable to himself to be taken without resistance to the wicked Jogi. restrain a reply, and on each occasion the Vampire has his run, is again captured, and proceeds with another tale. But a question at the end of the eleventh story quite puzzles him, and he is silent perforce. The question was this:Two white outcasts, father and son, observe footmarks "Come in the forest, and decide them to be those of women. "What let us search the forest for them," cries the father. an opportunity of finding wives fortune has thrown into our hands." They observe that the footmarks differ in size, and do not agree as to which is that of the elder woman. The son proposes that he should have her with the short feet, and his father the other, which accordingly takes place, and a child is born to each.

Says the Vampire, "Now then, by my feet and your head, O warrior King Vikram, answer me this question. What relationship will there be between the children of the two white Pariahs?"

The ties of relationship involved in the question are too much for the Rajah. After long perplexity all that he utters is Ahem! The Vampire is then taken to the Jogi, and the book ends felicitously, after the approved Eastern manner.

Of course the charm of it lies in the tales themselves, and we can truly say that they are capital. Wanting altogether in the luxurious elegance of the "Arabian Nights," they are not less thoroughly Eastern in character. They are full of humour, and abound with bits of deep insight into human nature, mingled with a good deal of roguish cunning. They contain, therefore, a fund of elementary wisdom-of a not very exalted order certainly-but still it is wisdom in its way. Of the stories themselves we are unable to give any outline, but we can truly say that they are very entertaining, and told in a wonderfully dry humorous manner. Captain Burton says he has "ventured to remedy the conciseness of their language." If he has done much in this way, the style of the original must, indeed, be compressed and pungent. But we must confess to a doubt which has repeatedly crossed our mind on reading the book, whether we are not under a much larger debt to Captain Burton for his part in the stories than it has seemed good to him to lay claim to.

In conclusion we will give our readers a few samples of the moral and philosophical reflections with which the stories abound :

As Indra, during the four rainy months, fills the earth with water, so a king should replenish his treasury with money. As Surya the sun, in warming the earth eight months, does not scorch it, so a king in drawing

revenues from his people ought not to oppress them.

As Vayu, the wind, surrounds and fills everything, so the king by his officers and spies should become acquainted with the affairs and circumstances of his whole people. As Yama judges men without partiality or prejudice, and punishes the guilty, so should a king chastise, without favour, all offenders. As Varuna, the regent of water, binds with his pasha or divine noose his enemies, so let a king bind every malefactor safely in prison. As Chandra, the moon, by his cheering light gives pleasure to all, thus should a king, by gifts and generosity, make his people happy. And as Prithwi, the earth, sustains all alike, so should a king feel an equal affection and forbearance towards everyone.

His forethought and prudence taught him to regard all his nearest neighbours and their allies as hostile. The powers beyond those natural enemies he considered friendly because they were the foes of his foes. And all the remoter nations he looked upon as neutrals, in a transitional or provisional state as it were, till they became either his neighbours' neighbours, or his own neighbours, that is to say, his friends or his foes. He was mindful of the wise saying "if the Rajah did not punish the guilty, the stronger would roast the weaker like a fish on a spit."

we

It is written in the Scriptures (shastra) "Of Ceremony" that " must not go empty-handed into the presence of the following persons, namely, Rajas, spiritual teachers, judges, young maidens, and old women whose daughters we would marry."

He was a philosopher, that young man. But after all, Rajá Vikram, what if mortal philosophy? Nothing but another name for indifference! Who was ever philosophical about a thing truly loved or really hated?no one! Philosophy, says Shankharacharya, is either the gift of nature or the reward of study. But I, the Baital, the devil, ask you, what is a born philosopher, save a man of cold desires? And what is a bred philosopher but a man who has survived his desires? A young philosopher?-a cold-blooded youth! An elderly philosopher?-a leucophlegmatic old man! Much nonsense, of a verity, ye hear in praise of nothing from your Rajahship's Nine Gems of Science, and from sundry

other such wise fools.

At the same time he warned his master that to all appearances the lady Padmavati was far too clever to make a comfortable wife. The Minister's son especially hated talented, intellectual, and strong-minded women! he had been heard to describe the torments of Naglok, as the compulsory companionship of a polemical divine and a learned authoress well stricken in years and of forbidding aspect, as such persons mostly are. Amongst womankind he admired-theoretically, as became a philosopher-the small, plump, laughing, chattering, unintellectual, and material-minded. And therefore-excuse the digression, Raja Vikram he married an old maid, tall, thin, yellow, strictly proper, cold-mannered, a conversationist, and who prided herself upon spirituality. But more wonderful still, after he did marry her actually loved her-what an incomprehensible being is man in these matters.

"When I love a woman I like to tell her everything to have no secrets from her to consider her another self"Which habit," interrupted the pradhan's son, "you will lose when you are a little older, when you recognize the fact that love is nothing but a bout, a game of skill between two individuals of opposite sexes; the one seeking to gain as much, and the other striving to lose as little as possible; and that the sharper of the twain thus met on the chess-board must, in the long run, win. And reticence is but a habit; practise it for a year, and you will find it harder to betray than to conceal your thoughts. It hath its joys also. Is there no pleasure, think you, when suppressing an outbreak of tender but fatal confidence, in saying to yourself, "Oh, if she only knew this?"

The Annual Meeting of the "Church Association" is fixed for the 23rd inst., at St. James's Hall, at 2.30 p.m.

JUNIOR CONSERVATIVE CLUB.-We are requested by the honorary secretary, Mr. S. R. Townshend Mayer, to state that Colonel Haly and Mr. Robert Kell have been added to the standing committee of this club. Mr. J. T. Agg Gardner has been appointed a trustee, and Mr. W. T. Charley, M.P., has consented to become a patron. The plan of the club has the approval of the Right Hon. Gathorne Hardy, M.P., Mr. W. Cunliffe Brooks, M.P., Sir John Gibbons, Bart., Major-General Gore-Munbee, and other prominent members of the Conservative party.

ADMIRALTY ECONOMY.-"Is it true," writes a correspondent who signs himself An able Seaman," "that officers in Her Majesty's navy may pay their way to promotion by working on their lordships' love of economy? We think it not unlikely, but we can hardly believe the story to be true which, as our correspondent says, suggests the enquiry. According to him: "A naval command in the China seas was not long since vacant. Application was made for the post by a gentleman who would certainly not have got it in the natural course of promotion, and who had no particular qualification for it but this: he was willing to forego the passage money usually allowed on such occasions. He announced to their lordships his readiness to fall in with their policy by paying the money out of his own abundant, patriotic pocket-and his merits were rewarded. He got the appointment." If we did not know that this story is commonly repeated, we should not print so extraordinary a statement. It cannot be true. And yet-is it ?--Pall Mall Gazette.

PREFERMENTS AND APPOINTMENTS.

The Rev. J. W. Alloway, to be Chaplain to the Infirmary, Leicester.
The Rev. R. K. Arbuthnot, to the Vicarage of Semperingham, Lincolnshire.
The Rev. John Marks Ashley, to be Minister of Oxford Chapel.

The Rev. Frederick Cox, Incumbent of St. Andrew's, Watford, to the Rectory of Upper Chelsea,

The Rev. John Evans, to the Prohendary of Rugmere in St. Paul's Cathedral. The Rev. T. Huntley Greene, Rector of Marsh Gibbon, to the Vicarage of All Saints'. Knightsbridge.

The Rev. John Winter (late of St. John's, Wednesbury), to the Rectory of Tarrington, near Ledbury.

Home and Foreign Church News.

A Processional Cross is now used at St. Paul's Church, Bow Common. The Rev. W. Upton Richards is said to be dangerously ill.

Carols were sung at St. Paul's, Knightsbridge, after Evensong on the Sunday after Christmas Day.

Last week the Bishop of Ripon consecrated a Church, dedicated to St. Thomas, at Sutton, Crosshills, near Keighley.

The centre window of the Chancel of Ruswarp Church, near Whitby, has been filled with stained glass.

A Mission is being held in Stroud. It commenced on New Year's Eve, when the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol was the preacher.

The choir of St. James's, Tunbridge, has been vested in surplices, and the Vicar has discontinued the use of the black gown.

On Christmas Day the Prince and Princess of Wales attended Service at All Saints' Church, Margaret-street.

senior members of the Cathedral Choir. On Friday evening the Bishop of Exeter entertained at dinner the

The Rev. Dr. Vaughan has consented to act as Chaplain to the St. John's Sisterhood for training nurses.

The Master of the Temple will resume his Greek Testament readings on the 11th of January. The subject will be St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians.

The Christmas decorations at St. Mary-the-Less, Lambeth, were very chaste this year, and were done, we are told, by Mrs. and the Misses Gladstone.

On Christmas Eve, the Rev. Martin Rule, late Curate of St. Paul's, Brighton, was received into the Roman Obedience by Canon Oakeley, at St. John's, Islington.

Of course there are various rumours as to the future occupant of the See of Manchester. Amongst others Dean Hook and Dr. Miller are mentioned.

We hear that Father Ignatius sent to Mr. Denton, Vicar of St. Bartholomew's, Moor-lane, asking to be allowed to preach again in that Church, but the Vicar declined to allow him.

The Rev. James Stephen Hodson, D.D., of Merton College, Oxford, has been appointed Head Master of Bradfield College in the room of the Rev. Dr. Hayman.

The Spectator says that the Bishop of Exeter's Sermon on his enthronization was a singularly simple, noble, and impressive Confession of Faith."

of the Psalms on Sunday mornings in Doncaster Parish Church with a We regret to hear that the Rev. Mr. Pigou has abolished the chanting view to shortening the Service.

of cassocks and surplices this Christmas. Processional hymns were used The choir of St. Bartholomew's Church, Dublin, have adopted the use before and after the Services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The congregations were large and reverent, and the offertories above 201.

The Special Services at St. Paul's Cathedral were commenced on Sunday evening. The Dean read the Lessons, and the Bishop of London preached the Sermon. Next Sunday, the Rev. W. W. Champneys, Dean of Lichfield, will be the preacher.

On Friday the Bishop of London consecrated a new Church at Hampstead, dedicated to St. Stephen. A luncheon followed the Service; but the Bishop, remembering that all Fridays are days of fasting, did not stop to it; his place, however, was filled by the Vicar of Hampstead.

The Rectory of Wellington, Shropshire, is announced for sale. The advertisement sets forth that there is a good modern residence and the income is nearly 1,000l. a year. The patronage is in the hands of a layman.

the Churchyard of St. John's, Heaton Mersey. The funeral was strictly Dr. James Prince Lee, Bishop of Manchester, was buried on Friday in private, and the chief mourner was the Bishop's widow. May he rest in peace!

A correspondent complains to us that he was present at Evensong last

A correspondent in the Pall Mall Gazette suggests that the Se of Manchester should be restored to Chester, and that two Suffragan Bishops should be appointed, at a salary of 5007. a year each, and thus save 4,000! Truly this is an age of niggardliness in all that relates to the honour of Almighty God.

There is no truth whatever in the statement that Mr. Gladstone twice asked the Bishop of Winchester to take part in the consecration of Dr. Temple. The real fact is that Dr. Temple having been ordained Deacon and Priest by Bishop Wilberforce, he much wished and strongly urged upon him to take the chief part in his consecration as a Bishop.

Father Hillyard of Norwich has received several Christmas presents from the congregation of St. Augustine's. Haggerston, in recognition of his devoted service there during the late Mission. The Vicar sends him a cassock and cincture, the choir a box of books, the women of the Bible class a silver crucifix, and a professional "pedestrian" a box of French plums.

A Mr. Collins, writing from Bodmin to the Western Morning News, compares Dr. Temple to St. Stephen, and prays that he (Dr. Temple) may, in the words of the Collect for the day, "in all his sufferings upon earth for the testimony of the truth (!) steadfastly look up to heaven; and being filled with the Holy Ghost, may learn to come and bless his perse

cutors."-What next?

The baptism of the daughter of the Queen of Naples took place on Tuesday at the Farnese Palace at Rome. Cardinal Antonelli, representing the Pope, held the child at the font. The Empress of Austria, the ex-Princesses of Naples, Tuscany, and Parma, several Cardinals, and a deputation from the Neapolitan provinces were present. The infant Princess received the names of Christina Maria Pia.

The litigation as to whether the claim of Dr. Jebb, as Prælector of the Cathedral of Hereford to be presented to the Canonry rendered vacant by the death of Canon Huntingford was well founded, has at length ripened into a state fit for presentation to the Court for argument and decision. It has now been set down for hearing. There is reason to expect that it will be reached in the ensuing Hilary Term, commencing on the 11th instant.

The Rev. W. G. Clark, the public orator of the University of Cambridge, has written a letter to his Diocesan, the Bishop of Ely, stating that he no longer abides by some of the declarations made at his Ordination, relating to the infallibility and truth of the Scriptures, and therefore that he renounces his ministerial office, and desires in future to be a layman. He protests against any law which prohibits his doing so as unjust and unnatural.

A writer in the Daily News says:-"It is a favourite objection of Catholics against Protestants that they keep their Churches shut; and though most of the pronounced Ritualistic Churches are open at this season "for private devotion," the Catholic Churches are this year, as a rule, rigidly closed, except at Service time. I called on the Innocents' Day at five or six such Churches at the West and East ends of London, and in no case could I enter the building."

The Rev.R. H. Bradley remarks as to Ritualism at St. Lawrence's, Jewry, that the Service seems more devout and hearty than in 1862, and that he saw nothing either in dress or gesture to distinguish the congregation as Ritualistic. As to those who had been "driven away" by changes he believes the first requisite for being driven away is to attend, and that he did not recognize a body of parishioners in the six elderly ladies to whom it was his privilege to preach in St. Lawrence's Church in 1862."

The City Press says a dangerous crack has been discovered in the north wall of St. James's, Aldgate, imperilling, it is feared, the whole structure. The fissure is so complete that the people in the premises which abut on the Church can see through into the building. The Churchwardens have promptly closed the Church for the purpose of a careful official examination. The congregation have found a temporary place of worship at the neighbouring Church of St. Catherine Cree, in Leadenhall-street-a very large, handsome Church, with a congregation of about twenty persons attached to it.

The following address has been signed by 149 of the Clergy of the

Diocese of Exeter, of whom 11 are Rural Deans: To the Right Rev. Bishop Trower, the Ven. Archdeacon Freeman, the Rev. Canon Sackville Lee, the Rev. Prebendary Lyne, the Rev. Prebendary Tatham, and the Rev. Prebendary Harris.-We, the undersigned Clergy of the Diocese of Exeter, desire to offer you our most sincere thanks for your courageous opposition to the election of Dr. Temple to the See of Exeter; and we earnestly pray that it may please Almighty God to bless your efforts for the maintenance of His Holy Faith."

The Parish Church of Folkestone has just been adorned by a large mural painting. The subject is our Blessed Lord enthroned in majesty between our Lady and St. Eanswith, the two Patrons of the Church. The drawing and colouring of this picture are very bold and rich, and do credit to the artist, Mr. Andrew B. Donaldson, and the parishioners of Folkestone may congratulate themselves on possessing a work of high art such as few English Churches can boast. The vehicle employed in this picture is oil, and gold is largely introduced; it is believed that it will prove more permanent than fresco, and the effect is certainly richer. A "very pleasing instance," observes a local paper, of the union of all Christians for one purpose was witnessed in the Cathedral city of Wells, Somerset, the other day. At the invitation of the Rev. G. Blisset, Incumbent of East Wells, the ministers of the Nonconformist "Churches' in the city met at the Vicarage, and in the evening held a public meeting in the parish school-room, to talk about the Council at Rome. meeting was a most refreshing one, and at the close Mr. Blisset invited those present to another united meeting in the first week of the new year. Such an occurrence is quite unprecedented in this city.

"The

Last night, a meeting was held in St. John's School-room, Old Ford, to promote the erection of a new Church in the parish of Bethnal Green. We can confidently assert that the Church is not wanted, for the ten or twelve Churches already existing in the parish are not half filled. However, it will be another Living-or, more correctly speaking, another "starving"-for a new Vicar, who would be much better employed as a Mission Priest, and attached to one of the existing districts. The income of the Vicars at the East-end are supposed to be 3007. a-year. We doubt much if any of them actually clear 150l. a-year.

The foundation-stone of St. Saviour's Church, Battersea Park, was laid yesterday by H. S. Thornton, Esq. The Archdeacon of Surrey delivered an address; he was followed by other speakers, among whom was the Vicar of Battersea. A bottle was placed in a cavity below the stone, containing a description of the undertaking, and, besides coin of the realm, a copy of the Standard newspaper. The Church is designed in the earty French Gothic style, by Mr. E. C. Robins, of Southamptonstreet, Strand, and comprises a nave and clerestory, chancel, north and south aisles, an organ chamber, and vestry, with a small gallery over the entrance lobbies at the west end of the nave, and it affords accommodation for 700 people.

The Bishop of Winchester has commenced work in real earnest in his new Diocese. After his reception of 120 Clergy last week, at Farnham Castle, he consecrated a new Church at Farnham on Tuesday week, and preached in the afternoon in the Parish Church, for the schools. On December 23 his Lordship consecrated a new Church at Outwood Common, near Reigate; and on Christmas Eve reopened the Church at Bedhampton, near Havant. On Wednesday evening he preached in the Parish Church of Guildford, and the following morning he reopened the Church of St. Mary, Guildford. Bishop preached at St. Mark's, Reigate, and on the morning of the Festival celebrated the Holy Communion in the same Church.

On the Eve of the Circumcision the

On Sunday last a very beautiful paten was presented to the Parish Church of Leeds by the Recorder of Leeds. The paten is of silver, and in the centre and round the edge are set jewel-wise a number of gold coins of Spain, England, and France. An inscription on the back of the paten explains the history of this adornment, and perpetuates the memory of an awful catastrophe. The inscription runs thus: "The coins in this paten were found on the body of George Benjamin Maule, Esq., who was killed, together with 14 fellow travellers, on the night of the 14th September, A.D. 1850, by being washed down a mountain torrent into the sea near Oropesa, on the coast of Valencia, in the kingdom of Spain. Dedicated to the Holy Services of Leeds Parish Church by his brother, the Recorder." The paten was presented during the offertory by Mr. R. B. Turner, on behalf of the Recorder.

The following address to the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol is in course of signature in his Lordship's Diocese: -"We, the undersigned Clergy of your Lordship's Diocese, have learned that your Lordship has, as one of the Bishops of the Province of Canterbury, presented to the Bishop of London and the other consecrating Prelates, your solemn declaration that you did not consent to the consecration of Dr. Temple, until such time as he should have publicly and expressly notified his disavowal of the teaching of the Essays and Reviews," in so far as the same is at variance with the fundamental doctrines of the Church of England. We are anxious, without delay, to offer to your Lordship the tribute of our sincere and most heartfelt thanks for this declaration. We praise God that our Bishop has been enabled to stand forth in defence of the faith of the Church when assailed and imperilled, and we desire to place on record, as your Lordship's Clergy, our entire and unreserved

The Church Times, referring to St. Paul's Church, Knightsbridge, saysIn the first place, the Commandments have been moved from above the altar and placed on each side the chancel-arch, a beautiful sketch of the Crucifixion now occupying the centre of the reredos, while the empty niches and panels have been filled in with admirably executed figures of saints. The Church was adorned with great beauty for the Christmas festival; a rood-screen mounted by a cross about twelve feet high being a new feature in the decorations. The altar looked strikingly beautiful, with its numerous bouqueis, and twenty-four wax lights, which threw into bold relief the structural crucifix. On Christmas Day Low Mass was said at 7, 8, and 9.30, and there was a High Celebration after the Sermon, which now precedes the Communion Service in order to prevent the break caused by the departure of the non-communicants after the Sermon. On Sunday evenings, when the Church is entirely free, a Mission Service is held instead of the ordinary repetition of Evening Prayer. This answers well, the Church being quite full.

With the permission of Dr. Barry, the London Association of Church Teachers held a conversazione at King's College on Saturday week. The proceedings commenced at four o'clock with Evensong in the College Chapel, the choir, clergy, organist, and preacher all being members of the Association. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Barry, who selected for his text the words "And they shall all be taught of God." In an eloquent discourse he pointed out that the only education worth the name was the developing of the moral and religious character of the child; and that the only real comfort the teacher could feel in the midst of all his anxieties and discouragements was that he was only an instrument in the hands of the Almighty, and that the pupils under his charge were really taught of God." After Service, tea and coffee were served out in the hall below the Chapel; and then the company adjourned to the theatre, where the Rev. J. G. Cromwell took the chair, and Mr. W. Lawson read a paper on Teachers' Associations.

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A Bewildered Churchman" writes to the Guardian from Birmingham:-"Among other gentlemen officiating yesterday at a Church of Evangelical reputation in this town were two individuals robed in so strange a fashion that I feel constrained to apply to you for some explanation of the mystery of their raiment. One, who I understood is Curate of the Church, wore over his surplice a hood, half red, half white, with black lining. Worshippers on one side of him would take him for an M.A. of Oxford, those on the other would believe him possessed of a similar degree at the sister University. Yet he was not a University man at all. The other gentleman wore an all-silk decoration, something similar in shape, of gorgeous violet hue, overpowering to behold. He was no graduate either, but a student, as I understood, of some Theological College. The Canon of the Church, I find, expressly refuses a hood to such 'ministers as are not graduates,' and permits them to wear only some decent tippet of black,' which is not to be silk. Whence then the red, the white, the violet, and the silk, in these two cases? There is surely an anomaly in the outcry anent reviving old vestments, when Evangelical literate persons' are bedecking themselves at will with new ones, glowing with all the colours of the rainbow!"

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"The Foundress" writes to the Standard:-"The institution for which I plead is the Clergy Ladies' Homes, which has the patronage of the Archbishops and many of the Bishops, and was brought out under the especial sanction of the Dean of Norwich. It is well known how small, even to narrowness, are the incomes of too many of the Clergy and the numerous calls on them, and I must say, as compared with others, the munificence of their contributions to all good works; but, then, their own families too often are placed by the death of husband or father in a position little better than absolute poverty, for, as it has been said by one pleading this cause from the pulpit, 'To a person brought up in refinement that is poverty which to the pauper would be riches.' We have three houses quite full, and had we funds we might fill three more from ladies on our list of applicants. The advantages offered are highly appreciated, as affording them a home in some degree suitable to their station, and enabling them to live, rather than exist, on their very slender incomes. We can say what few, if any other institutions can— that not one sixpence is diverted from the funds raised for the Homes. We have no paid officials to take up the profits, but the whole of the work is done by the hon. treasurer and myself.”—13, Southwick-st., W. On Thursday, December 23rd, there were special Services at Albury Church on the occasion of the opening of the chancel, which has been built at the expense of the Duke of Northumberland from the designs of Mr. A. W. Blomfield. The five windows are filled with stained glass, painted by Lady Rokewode Gage, the three at the east end being memorials to her ladyship's father, Mr. Henry Drummond. The chancel is separated from the nave by a low oak screen, of simple and massive design. At the back of the altar is a handsome reredos, by Messrs. Earp and Salviati, the gift of Earl Percy, M.P. In the centre panel is a red cross, upon a gold background, together with the sacred monograms, the whole in the well-known Venetian mossaic. The side panels are in alabaster, incised with the emblematic representations of vine leaves, grapes, and ears of corn. On the shell, which is a beautiful specimen of Devonshire marble, stands an elaborately wrought pair of candlesticks,

The super-frontal of the altar was executed by the East Grinstead Sisters, and, with the ante-pendium, is the gift of Mrs. G. R. Portal. The simple but effective encaustic tiles, with which the Church is paved, are from the works of Messrs. Maw, and the gift of her Grace the Duchess of Northumberland. It is said that the Duke of Northumberland intends to restore the nave of the Church.

The John Bull says:-"A Magistrate " lately undertook to inform the Guardian that no more than 144 Clergy had memorialised the Chapter of Exeter against the election of Bishop Temple. The names of 300 who did so are in possession of the Chapter Clerk, while as many more were only prevented from declaring their objections by doubts either as to the proper modes, or as to the utility of doing so. It is not too much to say that, from one end of the Diocese to the other, the appointment is viewed with loathing and detestation. The Sermon, which he sets forth as his manifesto, contains not one word of the recantation and renunciation which he distinctly implied throughout that it was his intention to make after his consecration, and but for his leading the Bishops to expect which he would never have been consecrated. His Sermon is a mere reiteration of the heresy-involving position of his essay-viz., that the conscience is his sufficient and supreme enlightener. He has Nor disWord of God is no authoritative teacher or guide; that every man's owned sympathy or agreement with the other Essayists in the leading principle of their attack on the authority of the Bible, nor given any pledge that he will not admit to Ordination or to Benefices those who deny any Article of the Christian Faith. A considerable number of his Clergy will doubtless await the effect of the inquiry about to be made in Convocation before recognising Dr. Temple as their Bishop, and steps are being taken for united action in the matter.

The Bishop of Lichfield held a court at his Palace on Friday to try some absurd charges brought against the Rev. A. S. Prior, Vicar of St. George's, Wolverhampton. The complaints were ranged under many heads. The chief, however, were that Mr. Prior had, contrary to the practices in vogue before he became the Vicar of St. George's, adopted the Surplice throughout the whole Service, and that, without consulting the wishes of the parishioners, he had determined upon an afternoon Service, at which he lasted five hours. The Bishop distinctly approved of the use of the had desired the attendance of the Sunday-school children. The court surplice, said that he had recommended it throughout his Diocese, and he promised that, if it should get into general use, he would, as far as possible, discountenance every other style of vestment. His Lordship Choral Service; but where such a form of worship had not yet also approved of the afternoon Services. He also approved of the been adopted he thought that it would perhaps be best to cominence the change upon Festival Days. As to the use of the pews at an afternoon Service, there was no doubt that the Vicar was justified by law in using them, notwithstanding that they were tenanted for the morning and afternoon Services, and paid for accordingly. The Bishop added that he should consider any Clergyman a fool who, coming into a new cure, should promise not to make any alteration in the next ten or fifteen years as the case might be. He would, however, pledge his word to the complainants that their Vicar was not the man to lead them either into Ritualism or Popery.

On Sunday the Bishop of Exeter took part in the Services at the Cathedral both at Matins and Evensong, and the Corporation attended in Beloved, state. After Evensong the Bishop preached from the words, be: but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him, for we now are we the sons of God: and it doth not yet appear what we shall shall see Him as He is." The Sermon occupied three-quarters of an hour. Dr. Temple commenced by remarking that one of the most striking characteristics of our nature was that we should be subject in so extraanother. He dwelt on the influence of parents on their children, and ordinary a degree to the influence of personal intercourse with one said that the influence of the homes in which children lived made a greater difference in their lives than any instruction they might get in school, in Church, or from books. This was not only true of childhood, but of manhood. We formed each other's characters simply by living together. "We can," the preacher said, "hardly look into each other's faces without making a real difference in each other's souls." By the influence of a common passion, ordinary men were often transported out of themselves, nd became unrecognizable as the same persons when unmoved. All this was part of the mystery of humanity-part of the strange bond that bound us together as fellow-creatures-intended by God to make us one, and to make us a blessing to each other. The preacher went on to show that God in all His dealings with man made use of what He had implanted in our nature for higher purposes than that for which it seemed originally designed, that through the commonplace characteristics of our nature He communicated to us His truth. For example, He had given conscience as the means by which higher revelations reach the soul; He had made the natural affections-the love of parent, sister, brother-the lessons by which we are to learn of His love. And so, accordingly, this power of sympathy and of mutual intercourse was made use of to be the foundation of the Church, which God had established on earth, for the purpose of helping man to serve Him, and to come to Him. The community of spirit, which St. Paul represented the Church as possessing, was