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strong expressions it contains as to the danger of an unworthy receiving are unseasonable, and are found in practice to disturb the minds of some of those who remain to communicate. These objections would, in our judgment, be in a great degree removed if this address were read, as the exhortations which precede it are ordered to be read, at the conclusion of the sermon, to the whole congregation, rather than after the prayer for the Church Militant. Having regard to the place of this exhortation after the two which immediately precede it, and which are distinctly ordered to be read at the close of the sermon, and to its tenor as applicable to the whole congregation, consisting of those who have, or have not, yet resolved to remain and communicate, rather than to those who have already begun to take part in the Communion office, there does not appear to be so distinct a settlement of the place in the service at which this exhortation must be read as to prove that it may not be read immediately after the sermon, and before, instead of after, the prayer for the Church Militant, when the Holy Communion is administered.

An order in the Canons bearing on our services, which was brought under our notice as containing rules which tend to cramp the Church's expansive power, by interposing hindrances to the more general use of her Offices, was the prohibition, contained in the 29th Canon, of parents standing as sponsors for their own children. As to this, while we thankfully recognize the great benefits which arise from engaging other fit persons, where they may be had, to undertake the charitable office of sponsors, we are of opinion that the main reasons which appear to us to have induced the Church of England to prohibit parents acting as sponsors for their own children no longer exist; and having regard to the difficulty now often found, especially by the poor, in obtaining fit sponsors for their children, we think that a relaxation of this prohibition is desirable.

"As to the second head of our inquiry-namely, whether any, and, if so, what modification of the Church's present agency is needful to enable her more perfectly to discharge her spiritual functions—we would express our opinion :-

"1. That some additional agency is necessary to enable the Church, especially in large and populous parishes, to fulfil her LORD'S command to preach the Gospel to every creature.

"2. That some of the present needs of the Church might be supplied by a more general and systematic co-operation of the laity in works of Christian charity; in visiting and instructing the sick, poor, and ignorant; in exhorting the careless; in teaching children and adults in schools; in collecting funds for the extension of the Church at home and abroad; and in all other labours of Christian love which can, consistently with the rules of the Church, be performed by laymen; that such works must be undertaken and conducted under the superintendence of the parochial clergy, and should bear in marked features the character of being lay assistance rendered to the ministers of CHRIST in their proper work, and should be conducted with the especial aim of bringing souls under the direct action of that ministry.

3. That, besides this more general and systematic agency of the

laity of the Church, as parochial district visitors and the like, some extension of the ministry is greatly needed among us.

"We are of opinion that this need might in some measure be supplied, if the Bishops should be willing, in such cases as to them might seem meet, to admit to the order of deacons, literate persons, and those who had not attained the same proficiency in the classical languages as is now required in candidates for the office of a deacon.

"Provided that in all such special cases the Bishop be satisfied as to the moral character and religious life of the candidates, as to the soundness of their doctrine, their knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and of the Articles and Offices of the Church, and their possessing a peculiar gift for imparting religious instruction. Provided further, that all persons who have been admitted deacons upon these terms shall be strictly confined to the discharge of the duties of the diaconate as defined in the ordinal of the English Church, shall be incapable of filling a sole cure, and shall not be admissible to the office of Priest until they shall have served five years at least in the lower office, and have made themselves acquainted with the branches of learning now usually required of candidates for the priesthood; and that these conditions be stated in their letters of deacon's orders.

"Further, we are of opinion that various means might be adopted to render more effectual the exercise of the Church's missionary office towards our home population.

"It is deeply to be deplored that there are at present large numbers of the poorer population, especially in our great towns, who are habitually absent from the public worship of GoD, and live with little or no sense of true religion; and new and increased efforts are urgently required to give them a saving knowledge of the Gospel, and shelter them within the fold of the Church. For this work there is need of men specially fitted for and devoted to direct missionary operations at home. We would, therefore, suggest the placing in the midst of such a population clergymen who might, with a view to economy, Christian fellowship, and united prayers and action, live together, minister in one central Church, and, with due regard to ecclesiastical rule and authority, might labour around it in preaching, exhorting, visiting the sick and poor in their own houses, and superintending schools. We think it would be desirable that men possessed of needful gifts for this work should be especially encouraged to undertake it for a time, and be recognized as having a special claim for preferment out of public patronage in less laborious spheres after a term of service.

"Further, we think that good would result if those who were gained by these means as converts were associated together in closer religious fellowship and action than has been common among us. Such converts, we believe, would thus be themselves built up in the true faith, would become an attraction and shelter to others, and would, under GOD's blessing, spread around them in their homes, and among their companions, a saving knowledge of CHRIST and of His Gospel.

"We believe, further, that the due action of the Church's missionary office among the home population would be promoted, if a

body of clergy were organized for the special work of preaching and exhorting, under the Bishop's sanction, throughout his diocese. Such clergy might most properly be connected with the Cathedral Church, and might be licensed by the Bishop for temporary Service in parishes where their presence was desired by the parochial clergy. We believe that such an institution would be of great service in parishes of unmanageable size, in those which might have been injured by past ministerial neglect, by the action of demoralizing influences, or by the inculcation of Roman or other error; and lastly, that it would tend, in a beneficial manner, to supply wants arising from such inequalities in ministerial gifts as must be found in so numerous a body as the English clergy.

"In conclusion, we are of opinion that, inasmuch as the efficiency of the Church depends mainly on the adequate discharge of the duties of the episcopal office, and as it was the design of our Reformers to erect a large number of additional sees, and as the population of England and Wales has since their time been multiplied nearly fivefold, while the episcopate has received scarcely any augmentation in the last three centuries, it deserves attentive consideration, whether for the due performance of the Church's missionary work, an increase in the episcopate is not now necessary, especially in our great centres of population."

We are so thankful to see such a move that we will not for a moment enter into a consideration of details. Something must be done, and that soon; and for their Lordships' report we cannot be too grateful. We hope that the time will yet come when some measures will be taken to relax the binding character of the "Act of Uniformity;" though such a step must be taken by those in authority, since irregular, individual movements are ever dangerous, and produce no little mischief. Whilst upon this subject we may express a fervent hope, that the offer of Mr. Walker to provide a much needed Bishop for Cornwall will be accepted, and a measure fraught with so much good, will be ere long carried out. In the Upper House it was also decided to have a committee of both houses for the consideration of the vexed question of Church Rates, from which no little practical good may be fairly expected.

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

The new volume of "Christian Biography," is one which opens out a new field of view to most English Churchmen, who know generally speaking, but very little of the lights of any communion but their own. Lives of

Russian Prelates, is one of the most interesting volumes we have read for a long time, containing the lives of Nikon, S. Demetrius, and Michael, and a brief but useful introduction by the Rev. R. Thornton, Fellow of S. John's College, Oxford. Nikon was the son of simple peasants, and was born at a time of great excitement in matters ecclesiastical and civil. He early felt a desire to enter the monastic life, but yielding to the wishes of his parents, he consented to become a Parish Priest. After being married for ten years, he retired into monastic seclusion, and subsequently became Archimandrite of the Novospassky monastery, where he became the friend of

the Tsar.

"Some secret influence," says his biographer, "seemed to bind together the monarch and the Archimandrite. Alexis was a deeply religious man, humble, and of keen sensibility; but it is very seldom that devotional princes are at the same time strong of mind and firm of purpose. In their case there seems to be the strongest possible contrast between the wisdom of this world and that which is above, the council table and the altar, the weapon of carnal warfare and the sword of the Spirit, the wrath of man and the righteousness of GOD. And so it was with Alexis. Quiet, loving, self-denying, self-distrusting, he seemed to be drawn irresistibly to one whose character presented in several points so striking a contrast to his own: and to cling with confiding friendship to the stern, resolute, and inflexible Nikon, just as the fruitful vine holds fast by the tree, which, though barren, and inferior in grace, sustains it by superior strength. And a kind of fascination too seems to have attended upon Nikon. The peasant-boy and hermit, uneducated, without knowledge of the world, or of man, suddenly emerged from his cell, a courtier, and companion for royalty itself." For three years Nikon was on terms of close intimacy with his sovereign, and advised him on matters of state as well as religion. At the end of this time he became metropolitan of Novgorod, stipu lating however before he accepted the see that certain obnoxious regulations should not be enforced in his diocese. The labours of Nikon in the Patriarchate, and his unceasing efforts in Church reform are admirably told. To the Church he was faithful against the claims

of the state. Accusations were brought against him, and every effort made to poison the Tsar's mind. At length worn out by constant care, he laid aside his episcopal vestments, dressed himself in the garb of a monk, and though the people entreated him with tears not to abdicate, yet he was fully resolved to do so, saying that if others than he were to administer the office of superintending the affairs of the Church, which belonged to him alone, he could not be their Primate. He was some years after deposed, and sent to end his days in a monastery. For the interesting details of so chequered a life, as well as that of S. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostoff, we refer our readers to the volume itself, which we hope they will all soon possess. The lesson derived from the life of Nikon is well put by Mr. Thornton, and is one moreover full of comfort. "So it is with those who in the midst of a perverse and ungodly generation, set themselves to work the works of GOD. Taunts and revilings may pursue them, cruel persecution and calumny may overtake and crush them, that the excellency of the power may be not of them but of GOD," but their memorial does not perish with them; their LORD thinketh upon them for good, according to all that they have done for His people, "their bodies are buried in peace, but their name liveth for evermore; the people will tell of their wisdom, and the congregation will show forth their praise."

A beautiful and touching Memoir of Helen Inglis, by the Bishop of BRECHIN, illustrating patience perfected by suffering, may well claim circulation, among invalids to whom it will give comfort, and the healthy whom. it will instruct.

The Churchman's Library progresses, the last numbers being entitled "Grace, and how to gain it ;" and "The Prayer Book, and how to use it."

We cannot but give a hearty welcome to Mr. GURNEY'S Songs of the Present. (Clarke and Beeton.) A true poet (which, in spite of idiosyncrasies, Mr. Gurney is) never discharges his high mission so well, as when he devotes his powers to the dissemination of sound principles among the people, and endeavours to cheer, instruct, and elevate them at the same time. To the "Songs of the Present,"

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