dangerously ill, and has been prayed for in the Churches of that town.

We learn from the North-German Gazette that the idea of an Ecu

menical Council to be summoned by the Orthodox Greek Church is gradually gaining ground in that communion.

The Rev. Alex. Shand, M.D., LL.B., a Priest of the American Episcopal Church, has presented a petition to the Established Presbytery of Dundee for admission into the communion of that body,

Mr. John Brenchley, of Milgate, near Maidstone, has bequeathed £10,000 to the Bishop of London's Fund. The total amount paid and promised to the fund now exceeds £400,000.

A vote was taken at the Ecumenical Council on Wednesday, on the establishment of a Universal Catechism, when there were as many as 70 non placets and 50 conditional placets.

The Rock states that Lady Lambert, widow of Admiral Sir George Lambert, K.C.B., who died suddenly, about a year ago, in one of the roooms of the United Service Club, has joined the Romish Church.

At a Special Service at the Frome Parish Church on Sunday morning, a "Mass for the repose of the soul of Lord Auckland, ex-Bishop of Bath and Wells," was celebrated. The Rev. W. J. E. Bennett alone communicated.-Dorset County Chronicle.

The corner-stone of a new Church-estimated to cost 10,0001.-was laid with Masonic (!) rites at Falinge, on the outskirts of Rochdale on Saturday. Mr. Albert Hudson Royds is the founder, and he took part in the ceremony.

We (John Bull) understand that the Select Committee on the Burials Bill will recommend a clause exempting any parish from the operation of the proposed Act, if it provides a suitable burial ground for Nonconformists.

The Record regrets to learn that the Right Rev. Lord Arthur Hervey has already applied for a credence-table for his Cathedral at Wells, and that this is understood to be with the intention of introducing credence

tables to the whole of his Diocese of Bath and Wells.

The Record has "good reason to believe that the House of Lords will throw out the "Deceased Wife's Sister Marriage Bill," and that, as a compensation, it will pass the "Women's Disabilities Bill" with reference to the elective franchise!

One of the heaviest indictments we have ever seen against the Ritualism of Choral Service is the fact recently discovered by an English Clergyman, that the organ-blower has no chance to kneel down during the prayers!-Gospel Messenger.

Archdeacon Allen has just delivered his Charge in the Archdeaconry of Salop. It was devoted to four leading topics (1) Church extension, (2) Missions, (3) Union, (4) Confession. Under the last head the Archdeacon stated his own peculiar views on the subject.

It is generally thought that in "Lothair" Mr. Disraeli intended to describe Monseigneur Capel under the designation of Father Catesby, and it is noticeable that in the third volume on one occasion the name Catesby has actually been printed Capel by mistake.

The Bishop of Colombo left England on Tuesday evening for his Diocese. Any communications for the Bishop may be addressed to the care of Messrs. Day and Hassard, 28, Great George-street, West

minster.

The parishioners and friends of the Bishop-elect of Chichester on Monday week presented him with an address and a service of plate, on the occasion of his severing his connection with the parish of Middleton, where he has officiated for thirty five years.

The Churchwardens of Allhallows Staining give notice that the parish has been united for ecclesiastical purposes to that of St. Olave, Hartstreet, and the closing Service took place yesterday, when the Rev. T. F. Stooks read a Pastoral from the Bishop of London.

The Bishop of Ripon on Tuesday last consecrated the new Church of All Saints' at Burton-in-Lonsdale, which has been built at the expense of Mr. Thomas Thornton, of Lloyd's and of Brixton-hill, "for the benefit of his native place."

We (Globe) learn from our Oxford Correspondent that in a Congregation to be holden on May 14 a statute will be promulgated to abolish the existing privileges of certain members of the University, with regard to keeping a less number of terms than others before taking their degrees; existing rights, however, will be preserved.

At the monthly meeting of the S.P.C.K., held on Tuesday, the Rev. Henry Swabey, M.A., was elected Secretary of the Society; and the Rev. John M. Fuller, M.A., late Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, and late Crosse and Tyrwhitt and Kaye University Scholar, was elected Editorial Secretary.

A document signed by the Archbishops of Dublin and Armagh reminds the Protestant community that next year the Church begins to be supported by voluntary contributions, and points out that its sustentation should not devolve solely on the wealthy. The Pastoral was read in all the Churches on Sunday.

A grand festival of Freemasons will be held at Peterborough on May 19, under the presidency of the Duke of Manchester. There will be a special afternoon Service at the Cathedral, with a Sermon from the Bishop of Peterborough. It is expected that the Prince of Wales will be present.

the Church Bells' Restoration Fund. On the whole, the entertainment A concert was given on Thursday last, at Godmanchester, in aid of was a great success, and the promoters will, no doubt, be encouraged to come forward again. Several pounds have been added to the Restoration Fund by this concert.

The Hon. Mark Rolle has set a good example to other landlords by issuing a circular to the tenants on his estates, expressing his wish to take upon himself in future the liability to pay Church-rates in cases where his tenants have a conscientious objection to pay the rates. About nine-tenths, we understand, of the tenantry desire to pay the Churchrate themselves.

All Saints's Church, Clifton, which has already had £14,000 expended on it, is still far from finished, and the Rev. R. W. Randall, Vicar, has to complete the work, of which £8,000 is necessary for immediate expenissued a statement in which he says that as much more will be required diture. Towards the smaller sum a congregation by no means rich have guaranteed about £6,000 during the next five years.

At a conference of school teachers and Members of Parliament, held at the Westminster Palace Hotel on Saturday, resolutions were passed assemble at the same time, that children not attending religious instrucdeclaring it to be essential that all children attending a school should tion should be employed in some other school work, and that the time for religious instruction should be set forth upon the walls of the school

room.

The Rev. Thomas Collins, of Knaresborough, died there on Sunday

last, in the 90th year of his age. When 80 years old his birthday fell on a Sunday, and he preached a Sermon on the text, "I am this day fourscore years old." He lived, however, to preach again the next time it fell on Sunday, when he was 86. The Rev. gentleman is succeeded in his estates by his eldest surviving son, Mr. Thomas Collins, M.P. for Boston-a sound Tory Churchman.

The annual meeting of the Scottish Central Association of Schoolmasters was held at Stirling on Saturday. A resolution was adopted, stating that in practice they found no difficulty necessarily connected with communicating religious instruction in their schools; that a national system, combining the leading features of the parochial system, was the most desirable for the country, and that the Revised Code examinations tend to lower the status of schoolmasters.

The anniversary festival of the Natal Guild, combined with that of the Maritzburg Association, will be held on Thursday, as follows:-Holy Communion-St. Lawrence, Gresham-street, 7.30; St. Mary Magdalene, Delamere-terrace, 8.30; All Saints', Margaret-street, 11. Te Deum and Sermon by Rev. T. T. Carter.-All Saints', Margaret-street, 12. Evensong and Sermon by Rev. E. Field.-St. Lawrence, Gresham-street, 8. Anniversary Meeting.-St. Lawrence, Gresham-street, Vestry, 6.30. New members will be admitted before or after the Services or Meeting. The offertories will be devoted to the use of the Church in Natal.

The Rector and vestry of Christ Church, New York, have decided to abandon the gallery quartette system in that parish; and last Sunday an antiphonal choir of sixteen boys and ten men, vested in cassock and cotta, were to take their places in the Chancel for the first time, inaugurating the full Choral Service, under the charge of Dr. Henry radical, and that in an influential parish, is, our correspondent adds, a S. Cutler, the newly-appointed organist and choir master. A change so damaging blow to the quartette system in America.-Choir.

At a meeting of the Shifnal Ruridecanal Chapter on the 25th ult., the following resolution was passed nemine contradicente:-"That while some alteration in the present Lectionary is desirable, this Chapter is of opinion that the Lectionary put forth by the Ritual Commission is unsatisfactory." The Secretary of the Chapter was requested to communicate the above to the Bishop of the Diocese and the Proctors in Convocation. The Chapter also sent a petition to the House of Commons in favour of the Government Education Bill.

Mrs. Tait desires to raise this year £3,000 to complete the Orphan Home now being built near Broadstairs for about sixty orphans from London and the Diocese of Canterbury. There are now thirty-four orphans in a small house near Fulham, taken until the 25th March, 1871. They will be among the first to occupy the new Home at Broadstairs. Contributions may be sent to Mrs. Tait, Addington Park, Croydon; or to the St. Peter's Orphan Home account, Messrs. Herries, Farquhar, and Co., 16, St. James's-street, S.W.

In Longdon Church, near Tewkesbury, whish has just been reopened after restoration, there is over the altar an almost life-size picture of the Crucifixion, by the late Curate, the Rev. W. Calvert, now Vicar of St. John's, Kentish Town, London. A stained window has been erected by the parishioners to the memory of the late Vicar, the Rev. C. F. Secretan; another to the late Mrs. Horley; and two others to deceased sons of Mr. E. G. Stone; another, by the Rev. A. C. Lefroy, to his brother-in-law,

Canon E. Hawkins, late of Westminster; another to the late Mrs. Ellis, of Eastington, and her son William.

On Monday the Bishop of Ely presided at a meeting of the Church Missionary Society at Cambridge. He traced the apparent decay of Missionary effort to the active Unbelief which existed in the University and elsewhere, and to the stupid, passive indifference which was spreading amongst the people of the large towns. The unbelief of the present day was developing into pure Materialism and the most thorough Atheism. He considered this state of things was only temporary, and believed it would soon pass away.

West Alvington, Devon, contains, besides the Mother Church, three distinct Chapelries, the whole comprising a population of nearly 2,500 souls. Though only appointed in 1865, the Rev. A. Earle, Vicar, has succeeded not only in founding and extending schools, but has rebuilt one and restored two other Churches, and on Tuesday week that at Marlborough, having been repaired by Mr. Coad, architect, at a cost of £2,200, was re-opened by the Bishop of Exeter, who preached. Among the special gifts may be noticed a five-light east window, by Wailes, presented by Captain Pinwell, and the reredos by the Rev. J. W.

Pinwell.

At St. Luke's, Lower Norwood, Surrey, the new Vicar, Mr. Randolph, has introduced the Weekly Offertory. In the days of his predecessor, a Low Churchman appointed under the reign of Archbishop Sumner, the congregation had become so small and disaffected that an afternoon collection for the Churchwardens' expenses made at the doors is credibly reported to have amounted to twopence! And this is a large and important Parish Church. Soon we trust to hear of a great change for the better in other things besides money, especially since an ignoramus writing in the South London Press complains that Vicar and Curate turn their backs upon the congregation at the Creed, in what he considers to be a very improper and uncourteous manner!

On Thursday the meeting of the Choral Societies of Brighton and Sussex was held in St. Peter's Church. The Service was intoned by the Rev. Mackenzie Walcott, Precentor of Chichester, and the Dean, Dr. Hook, preached "where," on 'why," and "how" to praise God, taking his text from Psalm cl. Mr. Walter Newport conducted with great spirit and success, but the organ accompaniments in the suffrages and hymns and psalms were colourless and loud; the accomplished musician apparently reserved his art for the more ornate portions of the Service. The Clergy entered the Church in procession from the west door, singing the hymn "Light's Abode."

A great variety of subjects have been submitted to the Bishop of Rochester for the consideration of the Diocesan Conference when it meets in July, and though the following have been selected for discussion, it is doubtful whether there will be time for the Conference to enter upon more than two or three of them:-1. The status and liability of Churchwardens under the alteration of the law relating to Churchrates. 2. The appointment of a Committee to consider the future constitution of Diocesan Conferences. 3. The simplest practical alteration of our Services with a view to abbreviation, if necessary, and variety of adaptation. 4. Organisation of lay help, and extension of the diaconate. 5. Our duty in the present state of the educational question.

Dean Green writes to the Treasurer of the Cambridge Branch of the Natal Church Fund:-"We have now an acknowledged position, and seem to be increasing, whilst Colenso is evidently decreasing. Our greatest want is men, and in these days, when we are deprived of endowments, and people don't pay tithes, it is difficult to know how to support the Clergy. One hopeful sign that there is still life in the Church in Natal is to be found in the fact that there is a greater missionary spirit in it at present than I have ever known to pervade it. Bishop Macrorie last Sunday ordained a German missionary, formerly of the Prussian Reformed Communion, who brought with him 400 souls to

the Church."

At the meeting of the Church Missionary Society the Bishop of Ripon made the following statement, which may in some measure account for the utter failure of our Church Missions:-"But here is one thing that the report does not tell of. It honours the two Sacraments of our holy religion, and gives them the place assigned to them in the Word of God; but it does not exalt them into any place of undue prominence; it does not tell, for example, in reciting the progress of our Missionary warfare, of very frequent celebrations, nor of a very gorgeous ritual, nor of long processions of white-robed Priests and Friars; nor of highly decorated Churches and ravishing strains of music; but it does tell us of the still small voice of the Gospel uttered in the power of the Holy Ghost by men whose hearts are deeply imbued with the love of Christ."

We have previously noticed the re-opening by the Bishop of Oxford of Shiplake Church, near Reading; but in connection with the building it may be mentioned that here the poet Tennyson was married, and at the same altar-rail, in the year 1776, the Rev. James Granger, the historian, died while administering the Holy Communion. Eleven windows have been filled with stained glass by Messrs. Horwood, of Frome; the small Baptismal window being presented by Sir R. Phillimore. Handsome chandeliers have been added, made by Hardman. The pulpit and reredos are of alabaster, carved by Mr. Earp. The alter-coverings are

A very

by Helbronner. The font was the gift of Canon Howman. beautiful service of altar-plate has also been presented to the Church. The banner, which is very much admired, was the work of the Misses Swinburne, who also tastefully decorated the Church with choice flowers on the day of re-opening.

On Sunday afternoon Canon Liddon preached at St. Paul's Cathedral to a congregation which numbered considerably over 2,000 persons on the subject of the Christian Life. In one part of his Sermon Mr. Liddon addressed the members of the choir. He urged them in affectionate language to lead pure, Christian lives, and, above all, to cultivate habits of reverence whilst engaged in their duties in the Cathedral. The majority of the congregation who attended there, he said, were practically heathens. They went there to look on, or to hear the singing, but not to pray; and if they saw the members of the choir sitting when they should be kneeling-lolling about, talking, and laughing when engaged in God's Service it was impossible to say what incalculable harm would thereby be done. On the other hand, if they saw those engaged in the Service really earnest in their devotions, they, too, might be led from mere sightseers to become Christian worshippers.

The Record is sorely grieved at the part the Bishop of Winchester took at the recent Confirmation at Wymering. In a leading article the narrative we cannot but listen with grave and melancholy doubts to Editor gives utterance to the following lament:-"After reading the professions of Evangelical simplicity. With all the din of this procesBishop in the words of Samuel the prophet to the vacillating Saul. They sional re-echoing in our ears, we are almost constrained to address the are words which on another occasion were applied by a Protestant Member of Parliament who enjoyed the friendship of the Bishop's father, to another halting Protestant, What meaneth, then, this bleating of the sheep and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?' We can hardly reconcile the patronage of such exhibitions as those seen at Wymering with anything approaching to the Evangelical simplicity of the Reformed Church of England."

A confirmation was held on Wednesday last at the English Church in the Avenue Marbœuf, by the Bishop of Colombo, acting for the Lord Service commenced at two o'clock. The Litany Bishop of London. having been said by the Rev. T. Hoare, the hymn commencing, "Lord, shall Thy children come to Thee" was sung. The preface to the Confirmation Service was then read by the Rev. G. G. Gardiner, after which the Bishop delivered a short but impressive charge. He then administered the solemn rite to the young persons, repeating the words over every one severally. Another hymn was then sung, and the Service brought to a close. Several Clergymen assisted at the ceremony, who were invited to meet the Bishop in the evening, and to wish him Godspeed on his journey to his distant Diocese. We understand that his Lordship left England, at the request of the Bishop of London, earlier than he would otherwise have been obliged to do, in order to confirm at Paris, Compiegne, and Lyons, en route to Marseilles.

The following are a few details, not generally known, about the Imperial Choir in Russia :-"Since the seventeenth century there has existed a society of singers, destined for the religious ceremonies of the Court. The members of the society originally came from Kiew, and followed the Court from Moscow to St. Petersburg. At the present time there are in the establishment fifty singers, basses, tenors, contraltos, and sopranos (very young boys); most of them are the younger sons of Russian Priests, the eldest sons succeeding to their fathers in the Ministry. The boys are received into the society from the age of nine, the Emperor providing for their maintenance and elementary education, until they are seventeen, the period at which the voice changes. If at the end of these studies they have no vocation for singing, they are at liberty to besides whom there are professors, singing masters, choir masters, and an follow other callings. A director is at the head of the establishment, inspector-general." The choir is employed solely in the Divine Service, which is celebrated at Court, and it is an exceptional case when its members are permitted to lend their services in concerts for charitable purposes.

The Dean and Chapter of York are appealing for funds to maintain and improve the Minster Library, the fund from which it has hitherto been supported having passed into the hands of the Ecclesiastical Commission. Assistance may be rendered effectively in the following ways: 1. Special contributions to enable the Chapter to increase the sum of £300 which has been invested for endowment, or for the general purposes of the library. Also donations of books, particularly in divinity and history, in which branches of literature the library is already rich. 2. Annual subscriptions of a guinea, which will enable the subscribers to consult the library and take books (except works of reference and such as are very rare) to their own homes. The Dean and Chapter propose with the money which in these ways accrues to them to ensure the permanence and utility of their library, and to purchase more books. A catalogue of the works which the library contains will also be printed. Any annual subscriber of a guinea, being accepted by the Dean and Chapter, will be admitted to the privileges of the library, subject to such regulations as shall be deemed necessary. The library will be open three days a week, on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, from 11 o'clock till 2.

summons, under Bankruptcy Act, 1869. In case any beneficed clerk who shall be adjudged a bankrupt shall fail to obtain an order of discharge within a period not fixed by the Bill, and a representation to that effeet shall be made by the judge having cognizance of the bankruptcy, to the Bishop of the Diocese within which the Benefice of such bankrupt is situate, it shall be lawful for the Bishop, after having given to such bankrupt sufficient opportunity of showing reason to the contrary, sumseal to declare that such bankrupt has forfeited his Benefice. Such bankrupt may within one month appeal to the Archbishop of the Province, who shall confirm or annul the decision of the Bishop as to the said Archbishop shall appear just and proper. Where the forfeiture is not appealed against, or is confirmed, the Benefice is to be void on publication of the forfeiture in the London Gazette.

On Monday evening a meeting of the Clergy and Laity of the parish of St. George's-in-the East was held in the Vestry Hall to consider certain proposals brought forward by the Rector for the restoration of the fine old Parish Church. The Vestry was unanimous on one pointnamely, the need of restoration-but there was some division as to the manner of carrying out the restoration. The Rector intends to restore the Church, to remove the pews, reading-desk, Clerk's desk, and erect choir-stalls, &c.-in fact, to make the Church a place of prayer-not a mere preaching establishment. One parishioner somewhat objected to this. He thought the Church should be "beautified" by paint, varnish, and whitewash, and the pews, so comfortable for napping in during the Sermon, should remain as at present. Fortunately, the majority were of a different opinion, and it was resolved that plans should be prepared for the restoration, and funds collected for carrying it out. Nearly £150 were collected at the meeting, and about £500 have been promised; but nearly £2,000 will be required, and this sum it will be impossible to raise in the parish, so the alms of Churchmen generally are solicited, and may be sent to the Rector. We would suggest that each person who took part in the well known disgraceful riots some ten years ago should, as a penance for their horrible sin, send an offering of £1

or more.

We are commonly told that were the Church free from State control the Bishops would be men of active sympathy with their Clergy, and that Catholic teaching and practice would flourish under them. Let those who think so study an American picture, which we take from the New York Church Weekly ::-"The power of our Bishops is not like that of the Roman and Methodist Bishops, a power and readiness to set every man at his fitting work, but an unlimited and irresponsible power of repression. Hence, the only real exercise of Episcopal jurisdiction among us, is either suppression or ignoring. Beyond these things, our Bishops have, perhaps, quite an easy time. Our Bishops are, as a rule, repressive, repulsive. What wonder, when they cannot, dare not, take any aggressive step? We have no question ourselves, as to their Episcopal rights and jurisdiction. We who write will personally push our obedience to what the world would call absurdity. But we who believe in Bishops are very tired of the continual submission of our individual opinions or wishes to mere caprices, or to absolute self-will, which, when 'it is done, is nothing but a heedless self-sacrifice to a theory which no one practises except ourselves, and for which no one cares a fig."

A very discreditable scene occurred in the Church of Brigg, Lincolnshire, on the Sunday after Easter. By a preconcerted plan some disaffected members of the congregation determined, as far as possible, to mar the beauty of decency and order by obstructing the choir and Clergy as they were proceeding as usual from the choir down the central alley, on the way to the vestry, singing the hymn "Songs of praise the Angels sang," some of the brawlers (we with shame confess) claiming the position of ladies. It appears that it was arranged that as soon as the choir left the choir a number of persons, who had purposely seated themselves next the alley, should rush out and proceed in the opposite direction, so as to create as much disturbance and annoyance as possible to the devouter members of the congregation, who believed themselves to be in the Divine Presence. At first this was thought to be unintentional, and

the Curate, observing a lady in the crush, politely suggested that she should seek refuge in a pew, but as this was the reverse of the plan the advice was unheeded. The procession, however, eventually finished their hymn, only regretting that, in common with the Christian members of the congregation, they were compelled to regard what had occurred as a wilful attempt to convert the House of Prayer into a scene of mob rule and profane disorder.-John Bull.

The Bishop of Winchester has presented to the House of Lords a Bill to abolish sequestrations for debt and to provide a more effectual remedy for securing payment of the debts of beneficed clerks. This Bill provides that sequestrations are not to issue upon writs of fieri facias, &c., or to trustees in bankruptcy. On judgment being obtained, and the Sheriff's return of nulla bona being made, a creditor may serve a debtor's

On Sunday evening the Bishop of Winchester held a Confirmation of about 80 candidates, including several from the Female Orphan Asylum, The choir (surpliced and cassocked) was in Beddington Church. augmented by several from St. John's, Croydon. The Rev. Sainsbury, one of the Curates, acted as Chaplain bearing the pastoral staff that was lately presented to the Bishop. The Clergy consisted of the Rev. A. Bridges, Rector, Dr. Barrett (Carshalton-house), Revs. Teulon and -Ellis. Hymns Ancient and Modern are used at this Church, and on this occasion two were used in procession before and after the Service. Evening Service being over the Bishop requested the candidates to stand, when he spoke in his usual fatherly manner on what they were about to do. After which he descended from the pulpit and seated on a chair at the chancel steps confirmed two at a time. He then delivered an address earnestly and evidently to the point, and in conclusion urged on them all, parents and friends, as well as the newly confirmed, to come to the Lord's Table; he said that he had seen the evil of putting it off in many parishes, and said that it was now a good time for the parents to begin and go hand in hand with their children. The Church was beautifully decorated. The bells, with the two new ones (making ten bells), rang out a joyous peal. The Bishop was to have preached in the morning but in consequence of the Consecration of the Bishops, he could not come. The Sermon was preached by the Dean of St. Paul's.

On Tuesday the Parish Church of St. Andrew, White Colne, was opened, after restorations, by the Diocesan, the Bishop of Rochester. The Clergy, in their robes, preceded by a surpliced choir, walked in procession from the Rectory, singing the processional hymn, “Onward, Christian soldiers." The interior of the Church has undergone a perfect change. The small Church was made to appear much smaller by the high old-fashioned pews which blocked up the nave and chancel; now elegant open seats have taken place of those "abominations of the past." The walls of the Church and the old windows, which were very much decayed, have been replaced by new, the windows being in the Cathedral style, with borders of coloured glass. The old tower was found to be so very unsafe that it was necessary to entirely rebuild the upper portion of it, which is capped by a parapet of stone work. From the summit of this tower rises a spire thirty feet high, which has been added during the present restoration. On the west side of the tower a window of stained glass has been placed by the present Rector, in memory of his predecessor. It is executed in a fine bold style, and is illustrative of 'Christ blessing little children." The old porch was an unsightly brick erection, and in its place a really imposing stone porch now stands, The floor of the Church is paved with variegated tiles. The chancel is yet in an unfinished state, but hopes are entertained that before long it will be completed. In an antiquarian point of view the Church has many features of interest. The prevailing style of the building is Decorated Gothic (circa 1350), and in the course of the alterations that were made traces of much earlier work were observed: for instance, some early paintings on plaster were found concealed under a thick coat of white-wash.

Pity the poor victims of the Pew and Puritan system! A pathetic appeal has lately appeared in the Standard from the Vicar of Bow, for money to pay off a large debt incurred in building a Church at Old Ford 13 years ago. Generously but rashly he took this pecuniary responsibility upon himself, and opened a large Church, having 1000 seats to let, and half as many free. "The expected surplus was looked to as a security for the repayment of the heavy advance and its attendant interest." Far from answering this sanguine expectation, the surplus has not even paid the interest of the money advanced, for the people of Old Ford declined to hire the seats. It is scarcely necessary to add that "the Services have been marked by the utmost Protestant and Evangelical simplicity." We have not the slightest doubt of it; and the permanence of this delightful condition has been duly assured best thing these five amiable and pious gentlemen can do, is to pay off by the patronage being vested in five ultra-Low Church Trustees. The the seven thousand pounds between them, for assuredly the public will never do it. As in the East, so it is in the West. The same paper tells us that the Incumbent of West Street Chapel, St. Giles, has called in the aid of the Bishop of Ripon to preach for his Church expenses. Here again the "pure Gospel" is preached, and the pews are to be let, but the dwellers in the unsavoury purlieus of the Seven Dials decline to come and take them. In spite of all his efforts, the Minister, an excel

lent and self-devoted man according to his light, or he would not have worked so many years in this barren field, cannot even make his Church pay its own expenses. Is it not time for these worthy Clergymen to consider whether there may not be something wrong in the system upon which they have been working?

Mr. Klein, a Prussian Clergyman, formerly in the service of the Church Missionary Society at Jerusalem, has furnished the Palestine Exploration Fund with an account of the Moabite stone. Being informed that there was among the ruins of Diban a most interesting stone, with an ancient inscription on it which no one had ever been able to decipher, he went there, and found out afterwards that he was the only European who saw it in a perfect state. He gives the following account of it :-"The stone was lying among the ruins of Diban, perfectly free, and exposed to view, the inscription uppermost. I got four men to turn it round (it was a basaltic stone, exceedingly heavy) in order to ascertain whether there was no inscription on the other side, and found that it was perfectly smooth, and without any inscription or other marks. What time was left me before sunset I now employed in examining, measuring, and making a correct sketch of the stone, besides endeavouring to collect a perfect alphabet from the inscription. According to my correct measurement on the spot, the stone had-1 metre 13 centimetres in height, 1 metre 70 centimetres in breadth, and 1 metre 35 centimetres in thickness, and, according to my calculation had 34 lines, for the two or three upper lines were very much obliterated. The stone itself was in a most perfect state of preservation, not one single piece being broken off, and it was only from great age and exposure to the rain and sun that certain parts, especially the upper and lower lines, had somewhat suffered." He urges the desirability of a scientific expedition to Moab, which would greatly enrich our knowledge of Hebrew archæology.-Globe.

Puritanism has been at work in America, hindering charitable work just as it does here. The Sisterhood of St. Mary carried on a sort of Orphanage under the name of the Sheltering Arms, which was first called into existence by the appeals of committed female prisoners to the ladies of the Mission to the public institutions to keep the babies for them until they should be released and able to claim them, their only alternative being public charity, of which they all stand in terror, or a Roman Catholic institution, which requires the mother to yield all claim to her offspring. The work extending, and a larger building being needed, jealousy was raised and the Sisters compelled to withdraw. The extremely moderate New York Church Journal says:-We hope it is unnecessary for us to say that we are indignant and disgusted at the whole train of circumstances leading to the withdrawal of the Sisters of St. Mary. We have always set the highest value on their faithful and devoted services; and we mourn the decay of Christian courage that permitted such a separation. Perhaps it was because there is nothing about a bazaar to call out as much heroism as an epidemic disease. When the cholera raged in Plymouth and Devonport, some twenty years ago, Miss Sellon established a Sisterhood to nurse the sufferers, and train the Arabs of the streets-a violent outcry was raised against that excellent lady as a secret abettor of Popery; and her work was interrupted, until Henry of Exeter held the shield of his name and countenance over Miss Sellon's band, while he scourged back the evil speaking, lying, and slander' of the day into fit obscurity and silence. In this present year of our Lord and Master another lion-hearted Bishop has found occasion to say some kindly words of the Church Sisterhood at the Cape of Good Hope. Can it be possible that we must go back twenty years in the history of the Church in order to learn our duty in a time of trial? Must we take counsel from South Africa before we can properly estimate the worth of trained, faithful, and devoted Christian women, who are not hirelings, in carrying on the charitable work of the Church? Most of our readers understand what is meant by the term 'Smashing, especially those who travel encumbered with baggage. Ecclesiastical 'Smashing' is a new term for which those who avow their purpose to pursue it as a vocation must bear the blame. For specimens of work hitherto wrought by the new corps, inquire at The Children's Fold and The Sheltering Arms. It remains to be seen whether St. Luke's Hospital is to be added to the list.

MEMORIAL WINDOW TO DR. ROWDEN.-During the past week workmen have been engaged at Chichester Cathedral in placing a memorial window in the north aisle, adjoining the north transept. The window is in memory of the late Præcentor, the Rev. G. C. Rowden, and has been erected by his widow. The name of Dr. Rowden will be for ever associated with psalmody in Sussex. An eminent musical scholar, he was the founder of the Parish Choirs Association, and in many and various modes contributed to the diffusion of higher knowledge in regard to the utterance of praise to God. The new window is in a manner symbolical of these efforts of his life. It represents David, the sweet singer of Israel, playing on his harp, in royal robes, and attended by a band of singers, bearing various instruments. Over the figure of the King is a group of angels, with rolls of music and instruments. The lower part of the window contains the inscription, on a bright ground, "To the glory of God, and in memory of George Croke Rowden, D.C.L., Præcentor of this Cathedral, who died April 17th, 1863, aged 43; and of Grace Emily, his beloved daughter, who died May 5th, 1868, aged 17 years,"

and then follows the text, "Then will I go unto the altar of God: unto God, my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise Thee, O God, my God." A window to the memory of Lady Mary Lennox, aunt of the late Duke of Richmond, which formerly was in the space now occupied by Dr. Rowden's, was destroyed at the fall of the spire in 1861. The glass is by Clayton and Bell, of Regent-street, London.

CONSECRATION OF THE BISHOPS OF CHICHESTER, ST. ASAPH, AND ZULULAND.

On Sunday last, May 8th, three more Bishops were added to the roll of the Anglo-Catholic Episcopate. The Rev. Richard Durnford, D.D., Joshua Hughes, B.D., and T. E. Wilkinson, M.A., were consecrated at Whitehall Chapel, for the Sees of Chichester, St. Asaph, and Zululand (including the parts of Africa by the river Zambesi). In this building, which by the way is most unsuited for the performance of Christian worship, Matins were said at 10 a.m., according to the use of the Chapel, the Priest reading his part most unmusically, and the Canticles, Responses, &c., being sung or intoned by a surpliced choir hidden away in a high organ loft.

At eleven a procession entered, in which Church and State were ludicrously blended; there were the choir and Clergy in surplices, vergers in tufted gowns, beadles in plain ones, barristers in wigs and bands, a doctor of laws in gown and red hood, and finally the Bishops in the well-known black and white costume. At the Holy Communion the Archbishop of York was celebrant, and the Bishops of Llandaff and Winchester Epistoler and Gospeller; the Bishops of St. David's and Lichfield also assisting. In the absence of the Primate a commission had been issued by which the Bishop of London acted as Consecrator of the Bishops-elect of Chichester and St. Asaph, and the Archbishop of York, of the Rev. T. E. Wilkinson, under the provisions of a singular document, in which Victoria Regina not only permitted his consecration to take place, but assumed apparently to give him a jurisdiction in Africa, which Her Gracious Majesty could have no possible authority to

confer.

After the laying on of hands," in which all the Bishops present joined, the celebration proceeded, and many persons remained to communicate. The Offertory was for the work of the new Missionary Bishop.

We have reserved the Sermon to the last. It was preached by the Rev. Julius Shadwell, Rector of Washington, from the text 1 Cor. ix. 22, "I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." It was a frank, manly, outspoken discourse on the office and duty of a Bishop, such as our Right Rev rathers do not often hear. We have only room for an abstract of the principal topics, but this will enable our readers to judge of the quality of the whole.

After showing that St. Paul's remarkable power of adapting himself to all sorts and conditions of men was no mark of his original character, no peculiarity of Saul the persecutor, who was rather contrary to all, except his own particular sect, in his extreme narrow-minded conscientiousness, the preacher traced it as owing, under God's grace, to his strong convictions. He was fully persuaded that the Church was not merely a human, but really a Divine institution; that the Gospel of Christ was a Divine revelation, not only of heavenly love, but of indignation against every form of ungodliness; and he had this further conviction that he had received the grace of apostleship, the ministry of reconciliation, and no choice was left him, except to fulfil it.

"He was as certain of these things as he was of his own existence; he could no more doubt of the Gospel than Moses could doubt of the law which God gave him on Mount Sinai. It was this which emboldened him to speak of heresy and schism in a tone of severity akin to that of his Master Christ, which seems to those who have neither his faith nor his love, the height of intolerant arrogance."

"Good were it for the Church if all her pastors and teachers, and especially her Bishops, had the clear, strong faith of St. Paul with regard to the Divine institution of the Church, and the nature and substance of God's revelation to mankind. Good were it for her if they, hand, and the terrors of the Lord on the other hand, shared with him like him, were influenced by the constraining love of Christ on the one the ability to distinguish between matters of faith and matters of pious opinion, had his nice eye for the distinctions of gifts and character;_in short, his power to become, in the best sense, all things to all men. For should these be unhappily wanting in a Bishop, what is likely to be the result? At first a failing of sympathy towards those who stand outside his own circle of thought, and then a tendency to use his power in a way which, although he does not others do see, is most tyrannical, by making bye-laws and inflicting tests of his own, in addition to those which the Church has enacted and imposed. This on his part; and on the part of those in whose zeal and devotion he sees nothing to admire, who are brooding in silence over motives misunderstood and schemes of usefulness thwarted, there will be alienation of heart, which, sooner or later will develop into open rebellion. God preserve us from rulers, as in State so in Church, of narrow, illiberal mind, who by reason of their own diminutive soul are unable to realize in any practicable way that most important truth that "every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner and another after that."

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Have any the excellent gift of continence, and together with this a desire of choosing the better part, and devoting themselves without dis