that many of those whose visits are few and far between are the first to find fault with the service and to suggest alterations as to time and mode; and that they are patronising and dictatorial to the clergy, as though they were the servants of the State, which neither appoints nor pays them. A layman, rarely seen in his parish church, informed the vicar that he was about to be married, and that he must insist on certain omissions from the Marriage Service. Being informed that such exceptions were illegal, he became exceeding wroth, and denounced any allusion to the causes for which matrimony was ordained as indecent. The vicar replied that "to the pure all things were pure," and that the indecency was in the mind which suggested the thought-honi soit qui mal y pense. "May I ask," he added, "whether you have any plan for replenishing the earth more satisfactorily than by the procreation of children, to be brought up in the fear and nurture of the Lord, and to the praise of His holy name'?"

The clergy respectfully but firmly decline to be patronised, domineered, or pitied. It is sometimes said by their contemporaries at college, when their sacred work and serious responsibilities have constrained them to decline pleasant invitations, and to be more thoughtful and less exuberant, that "Poor So and So is very much gone off," whereas "poor So and So So" is under the impression that he is very much come on, and was never happier in his life. Not long ago, some similar words of compassion were repeated to

the young friend of whom they were made, and from whom I received an account of the effect which they produced. "I heard this account of my collapse," he said, "with a merry heart, and Sam Weller's words came from my lips, 'If he knowed who was a-coming, he would soon change his note, as the hawk remarked with a cheerful laugh when he heard the robin redbreast a-singing round the corner.' My commentator was a college friend who, having once made a long innings in a country match, had held himself ever since in high admiration as a bat, and whose wicket it had been my frequent privilege to lower, though I failed to subdue his pride. Opportunely for the assertion of my manhood, and to disprove the statement that ordination had an enervating influence upon the body and a depressing power upon the spirit, I had promised to play with an eleven of our parochial club against the cricketers of a village where my friend was squire and of great renown as a mighty hitter. We were some distance apart, and it was evident that my presence was not expected, and that there was a modification in the customary joy of his welcome. A moment o'er his face a tablet of unutterable thought was traced,' and I knew that he heartily wished 'poor So and So' had been on a missionary tour. The meeting reminded me, if I may be permitted to associate common folk with heroes, of that delectable record how that on an occasion when the Hon. R. Grimston was making more runs at Lord's than was was approved by his

opponents, the Rev. Mr. Fagge, whose style of bowling was especially obnoxious to the Hon. Robert, was 'put on' with fatal results. The batsman retired to the pavilion, took off his pads, and sat down by the side of his friend Ponsonby as sulky as Achilles. After a period for thoughts which were too deep for words, he relieved his mind by remarking that he wished Fagge was dead, but being severely rebuked by his companion, he came after another interval of gloomy silence to his better self, and sighed, I wish they would make Fagge a bishop.' I do not know what my old college friend said in the tent, but I got his middle stump in my first over, and in his second innings he was caught in long field from an enticement specially designed

for that consummation."

My convictions are, after sixty years of intercourse with clergy and laity of all degrees and orders, that there are faults on both sides; that there is in too many parishes a Diotrephes who "loveth to have the pre-eminence," be he squire or parson; and that these mutual recriminations are more commonly caused by self-conceit and self-interest than by conscientious scruples. Sirs, ye are brethren." The laity must not lay all the blame upon the clergy, like the farmer who, when a downpour came soon after the prayer for rain had been said in the church, remarked to his neighbour, "It's just like our parson, he always overdoes everything"; nor must the clergy assume a Papal infallibility. Let them both have a remembrance

of the mote and the beam. If we would keep in mind the words of Thomas à Kempis-"How canst thou expect that perfection in others which thou canst not attain for thyself?"-if we had more of the charity which "believeth all things, hopeth all things," which cries, "Alas, my brother," and less of the harsh inclinations to think evil and to condemn ; if we thought more of the ancient Scriptures and less of modern scribes, more of principles and less of persons; we should see everywhere, as we see now whenever men hold the faith in the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace and righteousness of life, how good and joyful a thing it is for brethren to take sweet counsel together and to walk to the house of God as friends.

CHAPTER XIV

Preaching and Speaking

Male si mandata loqueris,
Aut dormitabo aut ridebo.

HORACE.

We want a greater variety in our Church services, earlier and later, so that we shall not speak of ourselves as "brought to the beginning of this day' when we draw nigh to the meridian, nor pray to be delivered from "the perils of this night" between three and four p.m. We might have special services of praise and thanksgiving, of intercessory and penitential prayer, for sacred music, for sermons. They should be short and simple. We want more opportunities of public worship, such as such as will be most convenient for all grades, and we want more aids to devotion. If the people when invited decline to attend them, the clergy have a Divine commandment to go out into the streets and lanes and compel them to come in. How can we compel? By making a great united effort, such as that which is made by the Church and the Salvation Armies. We want