greatest need, of the prayers of the people, but so great an ignorance is spread abroad, that the nature and necessity of ordination is well nigh forgotten; and persons, as it is well known, have taken upon themselves to officiate in sacred things, and even to administer the Holy Sacraments, without having received the Divine commission, and in entire ignorance of their sin and danger; insomuch, that, if reminded of it, they express great indignation. So completely do important truths vanish from the minds of men, if the proper means devised by the Church to preserve them are neglected.

Lastly, with regard to the Offertory; the directions given in the Prayer Book respecting it are as plain and peremptory as they can be. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that this part of the service is almost universally disused. The consequence is a most lamentable decay of Christian charity. The charity of the early Church, the munificence of the Middle Ages, have passed away; a prevailing forgetfulness of the duty of making offerings for God's service, has supervened; and, consequently, a most grievous neglect of proper provision for the ordinances of religion to meet the wants of the

people; and an influx of heathenism, which, now that it has become too alarming and too obvious to be disregarded, we seek to remedy by the most irreverent and ridiculous devices; scraping money together by appeals to the vanity and luxury of the people, instead of falling back on that grave and edifying ordinance provided and enjoined by our Church.

In a word, the influence of our Church system, its beauty and holiness, nay, its very existence is in jeopardy, by the systematic neglect of her own rules. In theory, they are admirably well adapted to our wants, well calculated to keep alive the spirit of piety; but, by the faithlessness of past generations, and the wilfulness of the present, our Church is denuded of many of her most valuable attributes, and clipped down as nearly as possible to the standard of the conventicle. And so inveterate have these abuses become, that he who ventures to cry out against them, and warn men of the sin and absurdity of neglecting their own principles, is looked on as an innovator and disturber of the peace; and the obstinate defier of the Church's rules, is reputed to be the consistent Churchman.

However, the abuses and corruptions of the

English Church are beginning to totter, and it needs, we trust, but a little more perseverance to restore her to something like her real beauty and holiness.

CHAPTER X.

PRACTICAL DEFECTS OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH ITS WANT OF DISCIFLINE GENERALLY

THE next practical grievance of the Church of England, and, in fact, that to which the former may be attributed, is its Want of Discipline.

The word discipline is used in two senses,first, generally, as the power to preserve union, order, and obedience in the Church; secondly, with a more specific application to the "godly discipline" of penance, alluded to in the Service for Ash Wednesday. At present I wish to speak of the general subject of discipline, or preservation of order.

In this respect, it must be confessed that the English Church is sadly deficient,—not in theory,

but in practice. There is no want of discipline and obedience in theory. Each Bishop, at his. consecration, promises,-" In the Name of God, Amen. I, N, chosen Bishop of the Church and See of N, do profess and promise all due reverence and obedience to the Archbishop, and to the Metropolitan Church of N, and to their successors. So help me God, through Jesus Christ." Afterwards, the Archbishop demands of the Bishop-elect," Will you maintain and set forward, as much as shall lie in you, quietness, love, and peace among all men; and such as be unquiet and disobedient, and criminous, within your diocese, correct and punish, according to such authority as you have by God's Word, and as to you shall be committed by the ordinance of this realm?"

To which the Bishop gives answer, "I will do so, by the help of God."

Again, it is demanded of each Priest, at his ordination :

"Will you give your faithful diligence always so to minister the Doctrine, and Sacraments, and the Discipline of Christ, as the Lord hath commanded, and as this Church and Realm hath received the same, according to the Command