in England, in reply to some statements made by Liberationists." Mr. J. G. Hubbard occupied the chair. In a paper carefully compiled from the examination of documents bearing on the subject in the British Museum, Mr. Courtenay came to the decided conclusion that the endowments of the Church did not originally proceed from the State, but sprang from private munificence and liberality. The paper further showed that the tripartite division of tithes never prevailed in England, although that system obtained on the Continent, and was strongly urged upon the ancient British Church by foreign ecclesiastical magnates. A favourable discussion followed the reading of the paper, and the thanks of the meeting were voted to Mr. Courtenay at its close.

On Wednesday the Rev. H. P. Liddon was installed a Canon of St. Paul's Cathedral. The ceremony took place at the afternoon Service after the First Lesson. The Dean was conducted from his stall to the sanctuary, the organist playing a voluntary on the organ during the time. Then Canon Gregory led Mr. Liddon by the right hand to the sanctuary gates, where he was received by the Dean, who conducted him to his stall in the sanctuary. The Dean then formally installed him, a Prayer in Latin was recited by the Dean, the Lord's Prayer was said aloud by Mr. Parry, and the Dean pronounced a Benediction over him. The new Canon then stood up and bowed thrice to the Dean, the Dean bowing once to the Canon. The Dean then stated that he had appointed Mr. Liddon a seat in the Chapter of the Cathedral. Thus the proceedings ended. The Dean returned to his stall, and Canon Gregory took his seat by the side of Canon Liddon in the sanctuary, and the Service was concluded in the usual manner.

The new Canon of St. Paul's, the Rev. H. P. Liddon, preached his first Sermon in that capacity on Sunday. Many Ecclesiastical dignitaries had places assigned to them in the stalls, while in the body of the Cathedral were many other Clergymen and several members of the House of Commons. Mr. Liddon preached from John xiv., 8, 9, from which he dwelt on the real nature of the Christian Faith. Referring to the necessity of moral earnestness for the appreciation of truth, he said that the floating scepticism of the present day could not in any sense be dignified by the name of intellectual anguish; it was due, at bottom, solely to moral inconsistency. He applied these and other points in a strain of extraordinary eloquence, which, it is said, every now and then startled the congregation. There was an immense gathering. As he is the Canon Residentiary this month he will preach at the afternoon Service of the next four Sundays.

A correspondent informs us that on Easter Day a handsome offering was presented by Miss St. John Mildmay, daughter of Archdeacon St. John Mildmay, to the Parish Church of Chelmsford, to which she desires to call the attention of our readers, as an example of artistic talent devoted to the service of the Church:-Miss Mildmay's work consists of two paintings eleven feet high upon either side of the east window, representing an angel under an elaborate canopy, with a back ground of gold. The angels are robed in white, with scarlet and blue wings, and each one holds a scroll: on the one is written, "Holy, Holy, Holy," on the other "Lord God Almighty," the whole forming, with the stained window, a sort of triptych. On each side of the altar is a rich diaper, with blue fleur de lys and white roses. The whole is completed by the text, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain," on a band of gold above the altar. Such a work as this is well deserving of imitation, and we would commend it to the attention of those who have time and talents to bestow, and might employ them in beautifying the sanctuary.—John Bull. The Parish Church of Great Yarmouth was opened last Thursday. The day was ushered in by an early celebration of Holy Communion at 8 a.m., and it was an almost unique sight to see two Bishops and sixteen Clergy (all old or former Clergy of the parish, and nearly all Oxford men) within the altar rails. The Bishop of Rochester was the Celebrant; the Epistoler, the Rev. B. Vaux; the Gospeller, the Rev. H. R. Nevill, the Vicar. There were a large number of communicants, the poor being well represented. At eleven o'clock the Church was filled by a congregation of upwards of 4,000, and the Clergy and choir (the latter for the first time vested in surplices) entered the Church in procession, singing the hymn, "We love the place, O God." The prayers were intoned by the Rev. F. C. Skey, Precentor of Bristol; the Lessons being read by Mr. Vaux and the Bishop of British Columbia. The Service was fully choral. The Sermon was preached by the Bishop of Rochester from Psalm cxxxii. 16, "I will also clothe her Priests with salvation, and her saints shall shout aloud for joy."

At an important meeting on Wednesday, at Gateshead, of the supporters of the Educational Union, Lord Ravensworth, who was President, made a very effective speech. After quoting from recent remarks at Leicester by the Bishop of Peterborough, he said that he wished he could see an attempt to practise the amicable and friendly tone recommended by the Right Reverend Prelate. The noble Lord strongly deprecated the language recently used towards the Established Church by Nonconformists. The State, he maintained, should endeavour to make good citizens, which could only be accomplished by religious education. While generally opposing the Government Bill, he thought the compulsory clauses would be difficult to work, and concluded an effective speech as follows:-"I do believe in my conscience that to inaugurate a system of national education from which religious teaching shall be

excluded by enactment will be fatal to the national character, subversive of the national institutions, and dangerous to the national interests; in a word, that a system so inaugurated and so established in this Christian country will be offensive to God and injurious to man."

On Monday, St. Mark's Day, the foundation stone of St. Mark's, Notting-hill, Parochial Schools, was laid by Lord George Hamilton, M.P. for Middlesex. In his address the Vicar, the Rev. E. K. Kendall, referred to the work done in the past by the Church of England, which land with schools approved by parents who cared for their children's real had practically solved the problem of primary education, covering the good, and the influence of which had tended to soften down religious differences. He also pointed to the case of the schools which they were now building in his parish, as an instance of what was being done all over the country by voluntary efforts, and mentioned that, of the estimated cost of £3,000, about one-eighth part would be discharged by Government grant. In his reply Lord George Hamilton alluded to the religious difficulty as more in theory than in practice, and expressed a wish that the advocates of secular education would show as liberal a spirit as the Church of England had done. After the ceremony, Service was held in St. Mark's Church, and an able Sermon was preached by the Rev. A. Barry, D.D. The collection amonted to £206.

The English Presbyterian Synod was sitting last week in London, and on Thursday there was a long discussion on the propriety of rescinding the resolutions previously passed prohibiting the use of instrumental music in the Presbyterian Churches. Ultimately a motion was adopted effect is that congregations will exercise their discretion in the matter. by a large majority-121 to 49-by which that course was taken. The The inveteracy displayed by several of the adverse speakers was somewhat amusing. One minister (a Mr. Railt) said that when he left a quiet Scotch manse some time ago he never dreamed that he was going to join an organ-playing community in England. He should rather expect the blessing of God in connection with the use of the bagpipes, played with all the intelligent energy and natural enthusiasm of the Highlanders, than in connection with the use of mechanical contrivances played by professional musicians. Another (a Mr. Alexander) said that the absence in the Book of Leviticus of any directions whatever with regard to instrumental music, while everything else was minutely specified, was to him conclusive on this point; and he deprecated the feeding of souls with such rubbish. As to the cry for congregational liberty, he warned the Synod against yielding to it, for in such matters the appetite for liberty "grew by what it fed upon."

The Bishop of Bath and Wells has laid the foundation-stone of St.

Andrew's Church, West Walcot, to be built from designs by Mr. Gilbert Scott. Previously there was Service in Christ Church, the Mayor and Corporation of Bath attending in state; when a Sermon was preached by the Bishop, from St. Matthew xvi. 18, in the course of which he said that whatever legitimate doubts might hang over the exact interpretation of the words, "Upon this rock I will build my Church," there yet shone through those doubts and difficulties of interpretation a clear, full Whether the rock which Jesus here spoke of as that on which His Church light of momentous truth in which we might all well walk and be glad. was built was Himself, the Rock of Ages, the chief corner stone, or whether it was the confession of a true faith that had just come forth from Peter's mouth, or whether, as he (the preacher) rather thought, it these interpretations expressed certain truth, and each might have much was the Apostle Peter himself, he would not stop to inquire. Each of said in its favour. A procession was formed after Service to the site of the new Church, where the Bishop laid the stone. In digging for the foundation of the new Church the workmen came upon the old Roman highway called Via Julia.

The principal portion of a new reredos in Chichester Cathedral has just been erected. It consists of a deeply-recessed arch, filled with sculpture with an inlaid and carved pediment over, the front order of the side of it. Behind the altar the arch is recessed about two feet, in order arch being supported above the altar by massive pillars standing on each to receive the sculpture, the height of which is 13ft. and the width 8ft. 6in. It represents the Ascension, conventionally treated, and the figures each of them are life size and sculptured in Caen stone. That of Our Saviour is slightly raised from the surrounding Apostles. His feet rest on a cloud, and a vesica surrounds him. He is looking down on the Apostles with his hands raised in benediction. The Apostles stand and kneel around, and prominent amongst them is the figure of St. John, "The Disciple whom Jesus loved." He and the others are gazing some earnestly, some rapturously, but all lovingly, and with varied expressions of countenance, on the figure of Him who is gradually receding from their sight, and bringing to mind the inspired words, that as he was blessing them he was parted from them, and carried up into Heaven." On each side of the vesica are figures of the two angels bearing scrolls, and over and around it are grouped rejoicing angels holding various instruments of music. The design for the sculpture was arranged by Mr. Clayton, who assisted in the completion of the models. The sculpture is raised about 2ft. 6in. above the top of the altar, immediately over which is a projecting alabaster super altar, supported on moulded corbels. Springing from the sloping mouldings of the pediments are corbels richly carved, which will support kneeling figures of

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angels, and on the finial also is a standing figure of an angel bearing a crown over the head of the Lord in the sculpture below, thus uniting the whole in one grand composition. The centre of the tympanum of the pediment is filled with a deeply-moulded circle of alabaster, with spars, having in its centre on a marble mosaic ground the emblem of the Holy Trinity to whom the Cathedral is dedicated. The spandrils are filled with porphyry, with mosaic borders of green, marble and porphyry. The recess in which the sculpture stands has two orders of deeplymoulded arches resting on shafts of serpentine.

The Bishop of Chester has consecrated a new Church at Warmingham. The Bishop of Moray and Ross, who was present at a subsequent luncheon, said that he appeared before them a victim of disestablishment and disendowment. They had heard of that with regard to the sister Church of Ireland, but they were not aware that there was set before them long ago an example of disestablishment and disendowment in Scotland. It was his privilege to be a Bishop of a disendowed and disestablished Church. If they would like to know what was the result of disendowment and disestablishment, everything taken from them in six months, all the property of the Bishops, Deans, and Canons, he would give them a fact or two to show it. They had formerly in Scotland 111 Clergymen, two Archbishops, and twelve Bishops; but when the penal statutes were repealed, at the end of 120 years they had forty-two Clergy and six Bishops, the result of disendowment and disestablishment. If ever it should be the lot of the English Church to be disestablished and disendowed, a place like that-and there were hundreds of thousands of them in the country-would soon find the miserable result of being deprived of a resident Clergyman supported by those who had been blessed with the means of doing so. A greater misfortune could never befall England than the disestablishment and disendowment of the National Church. It would prevent many places having a Clergyman, because they would be unable to support one, and it would be a great burden upon many who bore no burden now if their Clergy were to be paid. Such was the wretched poverty of the people in some of the parishes of his own Diocese, that they could only raise £14 or £15 per year towards the Minister's salary; and if it was net for a society they had, which gave them some £40 or £50 more, they could not possibly maintain themselves in the parishes. In the last century there were civil laws passed against the Episcopalian Ministers in Scotland, under which they were forbidden to conduct Service in any Church or Chapel, and only allowed to do so in their own houses. The penalty for infringing these laws was six months' imprisonment, or, if repeated, transportation for life. In 1792, he was thankful to say that these penal statutes were removed.

The Bishop of Colombo has addressed the following letter to the Rev. H. Hanson, Cambridge:-"My dear Sir,-I do not think that people in England are generally aware of the actual position with regard to Christianity now occupied by Bishop Colenso, or the serious extent to which he has compromised the faith by his writings. I am not speaking of the effect they must necessarily have on all missionary work in Natal, but of my own experience of the mischief caused by them in Ceylon. The Buddhist Priests are far too subtle not to perceive the value of such an ally to their cause, and have not been slow to avail themselves of the advantage thus offered to them. They not only sedulously proclaim the fact of a professing Christian having denied the truth of our Scriptures, but have been at the pains to master the arguments employed by Bishop Colenso, and use them against their opponents. One of them, indeed, has, contrary to all previous custom, attempted an aggressive movement against Christianity, and the distribution of Buddhist tracts (in which Colenso's objections to the Pentateuch form the chief ingredient) has been resorted to as an engine in this attempt-unsuccessful, I am glad to believe, in its main object, but not without effect in hindering our own missionary efforts. And this is the more to be regretted as it leads to animosity, and there has been growing up of late a better feeling between the missionaries and the heathen, a feeling which I have been most anxious to foster. It is with great regret that I make this statement, but the facts are too serious and important to be passed over in silence, and on returning to England I was painfully impressed by the evident misconception which prevailed of the real nature of the case in Natal. To many, it seems, it has appeared to be only a question of agreement with the views of Bishop Gray that was involved, and I fear that party strife at home has contributed not a little to this delusion. It should be distinctly understood that we who are engaged in spreading the Christian faith have to meet objections brought against it, not from heathen writings, but those of a Christian Bishop. It is like Balaam fighting on the side of Midian against Israel. But we are, observe, in the battle, not (like those at home) only theorising about these things; and yet, even at home, this is surely not a time to speak slightingly of creeds, and to tamper with the 'faith once delivered.' I am myself most unwilling to come forward as an accuser of anyone, but I should feel myself guilty of what I will call 'reticence' on the wrong side did I hesitate to give you my testimony on this lamentable subject.-Believe me, yours very faithfully, "PIERS COLOMBO. Danbury Palace, Chelmsford, April 16, 1870."

THE EVENING LECTURESHIP OF ST. SWITHIN AND ST. MARY, BOTHAM. This appointment is now vacant, and nearly 40 applicants sent in testimonials to a committee composed of the Rector, the Wardens of the

United parishes, and six country gentlemen who have selected the following candidates to contest for the prize :-The Revs. Messrs. Clowes, Finch, Jacob. Kempthorn, May, and Ward. They will preach, as the notice informs us, in turn at the Church of St. Swithin, on the mornings and evenings of Sundays, the 15th and 27th. Mr. Clowes very wisely has withdrawn his candidature.

Philip, Regent-street, and Professor of Divinity in King's College, will BOYLE LECTURES.-The Rev. Stanley Leathes, M.A., Minister of St. deliver his third course of Boyle Lectures in Her Majesty's Chapel Royal, Whitehall, on Sunday afternoons during the months of May and June. Divine Service commences at three o'olock. The object of Mr. Leathes' first course of lectures was to show the witness of the Old Testament to Christ, that there were certain features in it which could not otherwise be interpreted than of one to come, and that these features were indestructible by criticism. In the second course the four indisputable epistles of St. Paul were treated as the basis on which the whole edifice of a supernatural Christianity was capable of being raised. The purpose of the present course will be to show that even if the authenticity of St. John's Gospel is disproved, there is after all a remnant of testimony enshrined in it, which, seeing it is corroborated and not contradicted by the other Gospels, is independent of the results, oftentimes conflicting, at which critical scholarship may think it needful to arrive.

WIVELSFIELD, SUSSEX.-The old picturesque Church of this parish ration, under the auspices of Messrs. Slater and Carpenter. The opening was reopened on Thursday, the 21st ult., after enlargement and restoService was very effectively rendered, chiefly through the instrumentality of the excellent choir of the adjoining parish of St. Wilfred. A considerable number of the neighbouring Clergy and gentry were present, occasion. The advance of correct principles in Church arrangements is and the Dean of Chichester preached an excellent Sermon on the very noteworthy in our neighbourhood. Neither the worthy Vicar of the charge of excessive ritualistic tendencies. latter parish nor any of his parishioners are at all obnoxious to the They would be much astonished to be charged with them, yet it may be doubted whether the celebrated Services at St. Barnabas, Pimlico, which created so much excitement throughout the kingdom some few years since, presented in any respect more advanced ritualistic features than were here taken for granted. The surpliced choir, the chanted psalms, all the arrangements and adornments of the chancel and sanctuary, including the altar placed front of it, and covered with a beautifully embroidered frontal and on a foot-pace to make it almost impossible to stand otherwise than in super-frontal, all seemed to be taken as matters of ordinary course by those present. Yet the time is not distant when they might have created a ferment through the Diocese, and provoked solemn rebuke and remonstrances from the Ecclesiastical authorities. It need scarcely be said that the Church has been thoroughly well treated by the architects above mentioned. Great reverence for the old work and simplicity of treatment in the new are the characteristic features of the restoration, combining to produce quite a model example of what the restoration of such a Church should be. After the Service many of the visitors partook of luncheon under a tent in the Vicarage grounds, and all passed off in a manner which must have been most happy to those who had brought such a work to so satisfactory a conclusion. It may not be out of place to reproduce a little anecdote given by the Dean at the luncheon. In the course of a warm eulogy of the Bishop-elect of the Diocese, who had been his friend many years, he gave as an instance of the Bishop's scholarship that in preaching lately at Manchester in the presence of the Archbishop of Syra and Tenos, a considerable part of his Sermon was in the Greek language. When afterwards expressing his fears that the Archbishop had not understood him he was assured that he had made himself perfectly intelligible by producing the language according to accent instead of according to quantity.

THE BISHOP OF LONDON'S FUND.--On Monday, May 2nd, a meeting King's College. The Clergy and Churchwardens were invited, but it was held to promote the objects of this fund, in the large theatre of ladies was extremely scanty. The Bishop occupied the chair. Amongst was evident that very few laymen were present, and the attendance of the Clergy we noticed the Revs. Canons Nisbet, T. J. Rowsell, D. Moore, J. Moorhouse, G. H. Wilkinson, T. F. Stooks, and B. Compton. Three subjects were proposed for discussion :-"1. How far may the Bishop of London's Fund be considered to have fulfilled the intention of its founders and supporters? And if it has in any degree failed, where and from what causes?" In his opening address the Bishop recounted what what had been already done. He admitted that at first sight the amount of money subscribed is disappointing, since after nearly six years the sum raised was not £600,000, but less than £350,000. But turning from the that these have exceeded the most sanguine hopes of those who instituted amount of money to the results, he thought it no exaggeration to say the Fund. In about six years, sixty new parishes have been formed, and entirely completed, with their Churches, Clergy, schools, and in some cases Parsonages and endowments, thus providing for a population of 350,000 persons, and about 40 more districts are in progress, and will be completed within the 10 years. Thus at least 100 new ecclesiastical districts will have been formed and completely equipped. All this time the population has been increasing rapidly, the estimated rate for the Diocese of London being 32,000 annually, or about 190,000 in the six

years.

Hence if it be allowed that a parish should not consist of more than 4,000 souls, it would follow that they had gained actually only 50,000 from the vast population still existing without the means of grace. He asked if it were not possible to organise some plan for making the objects of the fund better known; and explained that the purpose of the meeting was to receive and consider any suggestions which might be made. The discussion was opened by the Rev. T. F. Stooks, who showed how well the fund had worked in giving moral encouragement, as well as pecuniary help, to Clergy struggling with poor and over-crowded parishes. He said that as yet they had scarcely drawn anything from the large lower half of the middle class, who could not afford "the abominable conventional guinea subscription," and so gave nothing. It was certain that a large sum might be raised by the collection of small subscriptions. The Rev. J. M. Nisbet followed, and, after showing how much the responsibility of the Parochial Clergy had been lessened by the action of Missions supported by the Fund, he suggested that the experiment made at the commencement should be repeated, and that a raid should be made upon the wealthy classes of London. He thought that 100 laymen of wealth, position, and character might be found to undertake a visitation of the wealthy part of London, and personally lay before them the facts of the case. The Rev. T. J. Rowsell gave an instance of successful application to a City Company, who had given £3,000 towards a new district in the East of London, as soon as the matter was properly brought before them. The second subject was "The best means of maintaining public interest in the operations of the Fund, which, from the experience of similar efforts, may fairly be expected to languish after an existence of six years." On this Mr. Powell and Revs. J. Moorhouse and H. W. Haygarth spoke. All apparently agreed that individual exertion and personal application would alone succeed, and that printed appeals sent by post were of little value. The Bishop added that he thought the time was now come for making a great effort, and explained the means to be taken for a canvass in the Diocese. On the third question alone was there any appearance of a difference of opinion. It was "the comparative advantages, with a view to reaching the masses of the people, of subdividing parishes into small districts, or of maintaining larger districts with additional Mission Houses and Curates." The first speaker was Mr. J. G. Talbot, M.P. He began by referring to the great benefits which had resulted from division of enormous parishes, instancing Westminster, in the whole of which there used to be only two Parish Churches. But he thought that this subdivision had now been carried far enough, and that a multiplication of Services was needed now. was strange that such Churches as St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey should be so little used on Sunday, when with their large staff of Clergy constant Services might be provided. In short, much more use might be made of the buildings which we have. These remarks were received with much applause. No following speaker controverted them. The Rev. D. Moore spoke against using Mission Chapels or licensed school-rooms as other than temporary expedients. We must guard against letting the poor suppose that they were to worship God in a mean building, whilst the rich men went to a handsome Church. Two or three other speakers followed, one Clergyman protesting strongly against cutting off a district against the wishes of its inhabitants, and placing a pauperized person in a pauperized population." The Bishop summed up, saying that this subject alone would furnish material for a conference; no hard and fast line could be drawn, but greater care might be exercised in the subdivision which would necessarily go on through the action of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and especially to avoid all the poor being left in one district and the rich in another. The proceedings closed with the usual vote of thanks to the chairman.

lt

The New York Church Journal records progress as follows:-The Bishop of the Diocese held an Ordination in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Brooklyn, on Wednesday, April 6th, when he admitted to the Diaconate, Mr. J. J. A. Morgan, formerly Pastor of the Presbyterian Society in Hempstead, and yet a resident of that place; also Mr. Oliver S. Taylor, formerly a Congregationalist Minister.

Mr. Theodore J. Cogswell, of Jamaica, has been licensed by the Bishop as Lay Reader and Catechist in the parish of Grace Church.

We have often asserted, without being believed, that separation of Church and State would not put an end to State interference. Here is an instance :-"The decision of the Supreme Court in the Cheney Injunction case may be looked for this week. The interest in the issue is not confined either to the Diocese of Illinois or to the Episcopal Church. All religious bodies feel the importance of arresting such unwarranted interference by the civil authority with religious discipline. The Ecclesiastical trial stands adjourned to April 20th. It is very commonly reported (but we know not on what authority) that if the injunction is quashed Mr. Cheney means to promise conformity for the future, and escape trial. We regret to hear from the same paper that on Maundy Thursday the commemorative celebration of the Holy Communion will be held in the Church of the Holy Trinity, in St. James's, St. John's, and St. Mark's, at 7.30 p.m.

The following Albany record of episcopal acts, from the same paper, indicates a singular fraternity with the Methodists:-"March 27.

Fourth Sunday in Lent.-In Christ Church, Troy, in the morning, the Rev. J. M. Mulford, Rector, preached, confirmed nine persons, and addressed them. In the evening, in the Chapel of Trinity Church, Lansingburgh, the Rev. B. J. Hall, Rector, preached, confirmed twelve persons, and addressed them. March 28th. In the evening, in the Methodist house of worship in Hart's Falls (Schaghticoke), the Rev. W. B. Walker, missionary, preached, confirmed fifteen persons, and addressed them. March 30.-In Trinity Church, Granville, the Rev. J. A. Upjohn, Rector, preached, confirmed nine persons, addressed them, and celebrated the Holy Communion. In the evening, in the Methodist house of worship in Hampton, he preached."

MEETING OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND SCRIPTURE
READERS' ASSOCIATION.

The Annual Meeting of the Church of England Scripture Readers' Association was held on Friday last, at the Hanover-square Rooms, the Bishop of Winchester being in the chair. In his opening address, the Bishop referred to visits which he had made to parts of his new Diocese in the South of London, and spoke of the overcrowding and the vast increase of the population everywhere apparent. Houses were run up in the gardens about London, which one year grew vegetables, and the next, because it is more profitable, grew chimneys instead of cabbages. Many of these were inhabited by the dangerous classes, as they are called; but he considered that a rich man, who neglected the duties of his position, squandered his money on worthless and selfish objects, belonged to a class quite as really and truly dangerous. It was impossible to crowd human beings together, families together, sexes together, without an almost inevitable sacrifice of those decencies of life which are the outworks and safeguards of religion. The office of a Teacher was instanced as one of the works of the Spirit, which office the Reader fulfilled when he carried the Gospel of Christ into those miserable dwellings, and told their wretched inhabitants of the love of God for them.

The Bishop's address was marked by his usual fervour and eloquence, and was warmly applauded.

On the platform he was but feebly supported, no Clergy or Laity of any note being present, unless we except Lord Ebury, who proposed the vote of thanks to the Chairman.

The speeches in moving the adoption of the Annual Report, and reelection of the Committee, were made by the Revs. W. J. Bolton and J. Fleming. In the course of a homely but effective speech, the latter alluded to the pious exertions of William Wilberforce, and the apt illustration was received with prolonged cheering. It is to be hoped that the presence of his distinguished son in the chair is an earnest of better things in the future working of the Society, which is a valuable one, since it was the first to assert and maintain the principle of lay agency in the Church. Until the Order of Deacons is restored amongst us, its Readers are the best substitutes generally attainable. Unfortunately it has too much of a party complexion, and unless the Vicar of a parish be its assistance. Its Committee, which is entirely composed of laymen, a very "moderate" man indeed, he will not be able to avail himself of would be all the better for the infusion of a little new blood into it, instead of being in practice perpetual as well as self-appointed. It might then be more widely useful, and obtain a more extended support than it is ever likely to obtain under existing circumstances.

DECEASED WIFE'S SISTER.

The "religious difficulty" is not got rid of by sending the widower and his sister-in-law to the Registrar's office to get married. Supposing the rule of the Church of England to remain unaltered, the Clergy will still be bound to hold that persons coupled together within these degrees "are not joined together by God, neither is their matrimony lawful." The relations between Church and State in this country are not so smooth that the Clergy can long go on refusing people communion solely declared legal, without giving rise to great confusion. The Clergy will on the ground that they have contracted marriages which Parliament has be within their right, for the present Bill expressly abstains from altering the ecclesiastical law, and as to what the ecclesiastical law on the subject is there is no doubt whatever. A certain number, perhaps a large number, will go on enforcing the rule of the Church, while some, whether a majority or not, will conform their practice to the new State law. But supposing a Bishop pulls up a Clergyman for administering the rites of the Church to persons living in open concubinage, what will be the result of the trial? The fact will not admit of being denied. By the ecclesiastical law a marriage within the prohibited degrees is not a lawful marriage, and persons living together except after a lawful marriage are living in concubinage. There is no escape from this reasoning, and more than one existing Bishop would probably think it his duty to follow out the argument in practice. Of course if the persons contracting these declared legal, or if Parliament is prepared to enact that the Clergy of marriages are content with the solid advantages accruing from their being the State has thought fit to make valid, no difficulty will arise. But, the Established Church shall not regard any marriage as invalid which judging from the noise which widowers actuated by this eccentric passion have hitherto made, they may be expected to resent being thus ticketed in the eyes of their neighbours; and as to the alternative remedy, it may

involve something very like the disestablishment of the Church of England As the Bill stands it does two things; it deprives the law relating to marriages of affinity of any intelligible principle, and it sanctions the very dangerous doctrine that people who wantonly break the law of the land have a right to be idemnified against the consequences of their acts, if the law is subsequently altered. To make the prohibited degrees co-extensive with those of affinity is intelligible. To allow all marriages of affinity is intelligible. To prohibit some and allow others may be intelligible also; but then the difference must rest on some better ground than the fact that certain rich men have already married their wives' sisters, and have no present wish to marry their brothers' wives. When a man can plead that the pressure of what he regards as a higher sanction compels him to break the law of the land, his motive is respectable, even though it may be necessary for reasons of public policy to visit the offence with the prescribed penalty. But there is no conscientious obligation imposed upon a widower to marry his wife's sister.-Saturday Review.

I.-CONCERNING GOD, THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS.

1. If any one should deny the one true only God, Creator and Lord of things visible and invisible, let him be anathema.

2. If any one should not blush to affirm that nothing exists save matter, let him be anathema.

3. If any one should say that the substance and essence of God and of all other things are one and the same, let him be anathema.

4. If any one should say that finite things, whether corporal or spiritual, or spiritual things at any rate, are an emanation of the Divine substance, or that the Divine essence by the manifestation or evolution of itself becomes all things; or, finally, that God is a universal or indefinite entity, which, by a determination of itself, constitutes the universality of things, distinguished into genera, species, and individuals, let him be

anathema.

5. If any one does not acknowledge that the world and all things which are contained in it, both spiritual and material, in regard to their whole substance, have been produced by God out of nothing; or should say that God had created, not by his own will and free from all necessity, but by the same sort of necessity by virtue of which he loves himself; or should deny the world to have been created to the glory of God, let him be anathema.

II. CONCERNING REVELATION.

1. If any one should say that God, the sole and true Creator, and Our Lord, cannot be known with certainty by the natural light of human reason, by means of those things which have been created, be he anathema.

2. If any one should say that it cannot be, or that it is not expedient that man should be enlightened, by means of Divine revelation, as to God, and the worship due to him, be he anathema.

3. If any one should say that man cannot be Divinely elevated to a knowledge and perfection surpassing the natural, but of himself can and ought to arrive at the full possession of the true and the good, be he anathema.

4. If any one should not accept as sacred and canonical the Books of the Holy Scripture in their integrity and in all their parts, according as they were enumerated by the holy Council of Trent, or should deny that they are divinely inspired, be he anathema.

III-CONCERNING FAITH.

1.-If any one should say that human reason is so independent that God cannot exact of it faith, be he anathema.

2. If any one should say that Divine faith is not distinguishable from the natural cognition of God and apprehension of morals, and that, therefore, it is not requisite to Divine faith that revealed truth should be believed on the authority of a God that reveals it, be he anathema. 3. If any one should say that Divine revelation cannot make itself credible by means of external signs, and that, therefore, men ought to be moved to faith solely by the internal experience or private inspiration of each individual, be he anathema.

the Church, till such time as they have completed a scientific demonstration of the credibility and truth of their faith, be he anathema. IV. CONCERNING FAITH AND REASON.

1. If any one should say that there is not contained in Divine revelation any true and properly to be called mystery, but that all the dogmas by the aid of a cultivated reason, be he anathema. of faith may be understood and demonstrated by natural principles and

2. If any one should say that human sciences ought to be treated with teaching, may be considered as true, and ought not to be condemned by such liberty that their affirmations, although contrary to revealed the Church, be he anathema.

3. If any one should say that it may happen that to the dogmas propounded by the Church, sometimes, according to the progress of science, ought to be attributed a sense different from which the Church has understood and understands, be he anathema."

The Constitution then concludes with these words :--

And now fulfilling the obligation of our supreme pastoral duty, we conjure all Christians, by the bowels of Jesus Christ, and especially those who teach or who watch over teaching, and at the same time we command, by authority of the same God and Saviour, that they employ all their zeal and labour to remove and eliminate these errors from the Holy Church, and to spread the light of spotless faith.

And since it is not enough to avoid the actual depravity of heresy, if at the time those errors too are not diligently avoided which are more or less akin to heresy, we admonish all of the duty of observing likewise the constitutions and decrees in which, by this Holy See, have been condemned and banned those other similar depraved opinions which here have not been enumerated at length.

THE BISHOP OF LONDON'S INVITATION. SIR, I cannot but express my surprise at the violent abuse levied at a Priest for sending to the Church Times a circular sent to him from the Bishop of London. The Bishop invited Messrs. Lowder, Nihill, Mackonochie, Going, and any whom the late Judgment may affect, to come to a meeting, and if, after due consultation, it should be thought desirable, to bring with them a legal adviser. The only way the Priest could make known this invitation to "any whom the judgment may affect," was by putting it in the paper which they mostly read. The meeting is as public as would be an invitation to a prayer meeting of the leading Low Church Divines and all of that school of thought. It is as legal and as public a meeting as the Bishop has power to make, or could get Ritualists to attend. The Priest who sent his letter to the Church Times had as much right to do so as Messrs. Nihill, &c., had to withhold theirs. The invitation was not marked "Private," but, on the contrary, was addressed to "Any whom the Judgment might effect." If Messrs. Lowder, &c., regard the letter as a private one, the fact of their letters being word for word, the same as a letter from the Bishop to another Priest, is an accident, and no business of theirs, but merely a private matter between the Bishop and his correspondent. The sender of the letter was not responsible for the remarks the letter called forth. The meeting is so far private that the Clergy generally will not be affected by, or responsible for, anything said or done by those who accept it, and that the Clergy "whom the Judgment may affect," can, if they wish it, decline the invitation, and console themselves by singing the ancient melody, "Will you walk into my parlour, said the spider to the fly." It is painful to hear a person abused when he does deserve it, and simply unbearable to listen to torrents of vituperation poured forth upon a man for furthering the professed object of his Bishop; making his like to see things open and above board, and if this meeting is to be a fair, just, and honourable one, I cannot see why the Bishop or the Clergy should wish to hide it from the Church public who they wish to affect by it. Yours faithfully, CHARLES G. C. DUNBAR. Lambeth, April 22.

anathema.

5. If any one should say that assent to the Christian faith is not free, but is the necessary product of the argument of Divine reason; or that only to a living faith, which operates by charity, the grace of God is necessary, be he anathema.

6. If any one should say that there is equality of condition between the faithful and those who have not yet arrived at the only true faith, so that Catholics may have good reason, by a suspension of assent, to call in doubt the faith which they have already received under the teaching of

DR. JACKSON'S PAPAL POWERS AND THE S.P.G. SIR,-For two reasons I was well pleased to hear of what most Churchmen considered the fatal blunder of the late Conservative Premier in recommending Dr. Jackson's translation to the See of London. First, I rejoiced at the fact of his removal from the Diocese of Lincoln, where for so many years he had scowled upon and harassed Catholic-minded Priests. And, secondly, because I thought that soon he would find the policy, which had been sufficient for his purpose up there, quite a failur●

when applied to the able and energetic Clergy in London, whom Bishop Tait had found impossible to dragoon into schoolboy submission at the mere wave of his ferule. You may remember that Dr. Jackson betrayed some qualms himself immediately after the appointment, deprecating opposition if he should simply adhere to the unaggressive policy of an "old fashioned Churchman." That plea was a little bit of craft to get quietly secure into his seat before the old leaven should begin to work; but those who had known Dr. Jackson long fully fathomed it. Now he has waxed bolder step by step, candidates for Orders, Priest Vicars, and even Bishops elect shall have a taste of the rod so abundantly applied at Lincoln. There his fondness for litigation with the Clergy cost him a smart penny once or twice, and had he remained another year in the Diocese a little cloud was arising in two quarters that might have darkened his fame as a successful Pope completely. However, now he is with our London Clergy, and his fatherly counsels are beginning to show the tendency still to be a father-in-law to many of them; whilst not forgetting to provide for his sons-in-law in the common way of Anglican Prelates, which he ever adhered to most scrupulously. But, Sir, I trust that Dr. Jackson's interference with the appointment of Mr. Willis may be fully elicited and explained at the next S.P.G. meeting. Dr. Jackson's liberality to that Society has never been conspicuous more than to any other Society. I have worked hard, and collected a large sum annually, besides subscribing myself regularly, and therefore have a claim to know what power is vested in Dr. Jackson of this Papal character, to deny the mission and prevent the consecration of any Priest with "well defined views," because they differ from those he inherited from Wesleyan ancestors or shared with Dr. Ryan, who has renounced the solemn obligations of the Episcopate. I trust Mr. Willis will show "loyalty" to the whole Church in letting us know the whole case.

I am, Sir, yours obediently,

RUSTICUS OLIM.

HOW MANY SACRAMENTS ARE THERE?

SIR,-One often finds persons talking as though it were positively forbidden by our Church to call anything a Sacrament besides Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. They consider it at the least unnecessary Romanising. Let me commend to all such the following remarks of the Guardian, in speaking of Dr. Pusey's last work on Reunion. Dr. Pusey has a section "on the number of the Sacraments;" but that is a point of minor importance, and would not stand in the way of reunion if other obstacles were removed. For the Roman Church admits that Baptism and the Lord's Supper are Sacraments kar' ¿oyny, and in a sense which does not belong to other Sacraments. Our Homilies, on the other hand, call Holy Matrimony a Sacrament; and the definition of a Sacrament in our Church Catechism is large enough to admit any reasonable explanation that might be offered. Everybody knows in how elastic a manner the Fathers use the word Sacrament, extending its range frequently far beyond the Roman use of it. Yours obediently,

AN ANGLO CATHOLIC.

ST. LOYES. SIR,-I shall feel much obliged to any of your readers who can tell me who St. Loyes was. There is a street named after this Saint at Bedford. May 2nd. Yours faithfully,

FLIPPANCY IN CHURCH PAPERS.

H. E. HARRIS.

SIR,-Many people find fault with the Church Times and other papers, more for their flippant tone than for anything else. When first I saw the CHURCH HERALD, the absence of this flippant tone seemed one of its great merits, and therefore I was sorry to see expressions in it on two occasions which were likely to give an unfavourable impression of the paper.

The one was a sentence punning on Mr. Husband's name, who has, I think, been on all sides very harshly treated. The other is in last week's number, and is a punning sentence of the same sort about a Mr. Fowle, who certainly seems to deserve no tenderness; but the advice given to him is quite unworthy of the CHURCH HERALD.

I am sure, dear Sir, that you will pardon me for drawing your attention to this matter, as such expressions injure the influence of a paper, and in at least some cases give a false impression as to its general character. Yours truly, A TORY CATHOLIC.

COPIES OF ANCIENT BRASSES. SIR,-Perhaps some of your readers who take an interest in collecting brasses might like to have a photograph (carte de visite size) of the following in New College and Merton College. 1. Thomas Cranley, 1417. Abp. of Dublin and Warden of New College, in full archiepiscopal vestments with crozier, beneath a triple canopy surmounted by an embattled entablature. 2. Henry Sever, 1471. Warden of Merton College, vested in cope, the orphrey of which is embroidered with eight figures of Saints in niches. On the right side, S. Bishop; St. James the Great in pilgrims' attire; St. James the Less with club and book; St. Paul with a sword. On the left side St. John the Baptist with Agnus Dei on a book; St. John the Evangelist with closed book; St. Bartholomew with flaying knife; St. Thomas with spear and book. 3. Walter Bailey, M.D., 1592, has a beard and moustache, and wears a long open gown in front, with long false sleeves hanging from behind his shoulders, with ruffs at his neck and wrists.

The proceeds will be applied to the Organ Fund of Birchington

Church, Thanet. I shall be happy to forward any of the above on twelve
stamps being sent to
Yours truly,
H. HUNNINGS.
St. Edmund Hall, Oxon.

Notes, Literary, Archæological, &c.

The Builder says that Mr. R. Jackson's statue of Lord Palmerston for Westminster Abbey is completed. It is of what are called "colossal' proportions, and is hewn out of a block of Carrara marble. His lordship is represented in his robes as a Knight of the Garter.

Cardinal Prince Schwarzenberg's pamphlet, "De Summi Pontificis Infallibitate," which was printed at Naples, has been ordered by the Emperor of Austria to be translated from the Latin into German.

We are requested to state that the complaint of a correspondent as to "the somewhat neglected condition of the monuments of Ben Jonson and of Samuel Johnson, which are not very far from each other in Westminster Abbey," is full of mistakes. 1. There is no "monument" of Paul's; 2. The "monument" of Ben Jonson in Poets' Corner is in perSamuel Johnson in Westminster Abbey. His "monument" is at St. fectly good condition, and the inscription pefectly legible; 3. If by "monuments the correspondent means "gravestones," he is again wrong; 4. The "gravestones" of Ben Johnson and of Samuel Johnson are not near each other in Poets' Corner, but as far as possible removed from each other. That of Samuel Johnson is in the south transept, that of Ben Jonson under the north wall of the nave; 5. The inscripable," is perfectly legible, thanks to the care of Dean Buckland, who tion on the gravestone of Ben Jonson, so far from being "undistinguishhad it placed at the foot of the north wall, in order to protect it from the inevitable pressure of the multitudes who frequent the nave, and who now only tread on the modern duplicate that marks the grave close by; 6. The gravestone which bears the name of Samuel Johnson, and which covers his grave, though cracked, is in a perfectly safe condition, and the inscription perfectly legible. No one would think of substituting a modern slab for the venerable "large blue flagstone" described by Boswell as placed over the great man's remains.-Guardian.

News by the mail just arrived tells of the murder of native converts to Christianity at Laos, Chengmai, a district tributary to Siam. They were arrested at night by the King's emissaries, who, without trial, bound their arms behind their backs, put a yoke upon their necks, and tied their ears to a beam of the house by a rope passed through the holes bored for the insertion of earrings. While in this position they were told that a short time would be allowed them for prayer. This over, they were beaten to death with clubs. The King acknowledged his complicity in the murder, and avowed his intention to pursue the same course towards any of his people who deserted the faith of their fathers, as he looked on all such as traitors to himself.

Mr. Bright:"There is good reason to believe that Mr. Bright will not The Weekly Register contains the following statement in reference to again take any active part in the present Administration. Two months ago the right hon. gentleman wrote to Mr. Gladstone, tendering his Premier, to remain, so to speak, a sleeping partner in the firm for some resignation of office, but was induced, at the earnest request of the leagues, the result would be a great falling off in the support given to time longer, knowing that if he now separated himself from his colinactivity cannot last much longer, and it is no longer a secret that Mr. the Ministers by a large section of the Liberal party. But this official Board of Trade. It is true that ill health has something to do with Bright will, ere very long, tender his resignation as President of the the right hon. gentleman's leaving the Ministry, but it is not the only reason. He does not approve of the Irish Land Bill, nor of the Education Bill, and, least of all, of the Irish Coercion Bill. In all probability Mr. Bright's resignation will be officially announced before the Whitsuntide holidays."

Miller, in the 77th year of his age.

April 22, the Rev. Guy Bryan, for fifty years Rector of Woodham Walter Rectory, Essex, aged 88.

April 23. at St. Hilda's-terrace, Whitby, the Rev. William Hewson, Vicar of Goatland, Yorkshire, aged 64.

April 23, at 46, Mantagu-square, Hyde-park, suddenly, the Rev. John James Wason, in the 75th year of his age.

April 23, the Rev. George Allott, Vicar of South Kirkby, near Pontefract, aged 51. April 23, at Foulmire Rectory, after a few hours' illness, of acute inflammation of the windpipe, the Hon. and Rev. Arthur Savile, aged 50, youngest son of John, third Earl, and Ann Yorke, Countess Dowager of Mexborough.

April 24, at the Rectory, Welwyn, the Rev. James Octavius Ryder, Rector of Welwyn, and late Fellow of All Souls' College, Oxford.

April 26, the Rev. Charles Sutherland, late Head Master of Stepney Grammar School, and Curate of St. Philip, Kensington, in his 37th year.

April 26, at Weymouth, the Rev. James Fisher, Vicar of Holy Trinity, Dorchester, aged 47.