in assisting the penitent in his return to God. The best sort of clergyman, in modern estimation, is one who preaches an interesting sermon, so as to keep his fashionable hearers from yawning, and looks well to the poor-is active on committees for soup and blankets, clothing clubs, and so forth; and so has a tolerably good congregation of all classes. All this is good as far as it goes; but it is not the whole, nor the principal part, of a priest's duty. Few, especially amongst the upper and middle classes, ever think, at least while in health, of consulting their Priest on the state of their souls. I do not mean that, at present, if a parishioner were to consult his Clergyman, the latter would not be ready to give the best advice he was able; but, I apprehend, that in a great many instances that advice would be very inefficient. We have been accustomed to think that all that is necessary is to "deliver the message of salvation"-to tell people that they are great sinners, and, consequently, in a dangerous state, and that what they have to do is to believe in Christ, and to think that, when this is done, all is safe. We have been so unaccustomed, except in cases of sickness, when often it may be too late, to

guide the tender conscience

to direct each

person what to do, in order to kindle or cherish godliness in his soul, and to apply the medicine of the Gospel to individual cases, that much is required to be learned by us in this department of ministerial duty; and a habit re-established in the people of resorting to the Ministers of religion for the relief of their conscience, and the guidance of their steps. This, of course, will be called, according to modern prejudices, an attempt at priestly interference and domination. Again, I say, never mind what it is called by the prejudiced or designing, so you have the authority of the Bible, and the instruction of the Church.

In short, that which is required, is to bring the ministrations of the Church prominently forward, and incorporate them with the daily interests of men. Instead of the Church Service being, as it is now, a mere hebdomadal ceremony, dissociated from all our ordinary habits, our daily habits should be moulded by the Church. The Church should not be forced to yield, as it does, to the usages of society; but society should adapt itself to the Church. Christmas-day, Lady-day, Michaelmas-day, are

still the traditional evidences of a time when daily life was guided by the ordinances of God. Let us hope to see the time when the Church Almanack shall again, in some degree, regulate our social habits; and religion shall be brought continually before us, not as a gloomy, unsocial thing, but as mingling cheerfully with all our occupations and interests. It is, in truth, the leaven whereby alone the social system can be saved from corruption, and be rendered acceptable to our Father in Heaven.

There is a remarkable instance at Lichfield of the manner in which the Church has been found to give way to the world. The principal fair takes place on Ash Wednesday; and, until lately, Ash Wednesday has been put off to the next week!

CHAPTER XVII.

PROSPECTS OF THE CHURCH.

A FEW years ago there seemed a reasonable hope that the English Church would have righted herself, and reassumed her true position, without having to pass through any serious or lengthened struggle. When reminded of her high claims and privileges as the Spouse of Christ, she seemed to awaken to a sense of her condition: and when told of her glaring departure from the spirit and letter of her own laws, there appeared to be a candid acknowledgement of the truth of the impeachment which her best friends brought against her, and very evident symptoms of a readiness to return to the old path.

But these fair hopes have been disappointed, though not destroyed. So many difficulties and

obstacles have arisen, that it is manifest the restoration of the English Church must be the work of time, and liable to reverses. One of the principal causes of the hesitation which even good Churchmen feel in proceeding with the career of improvement, is the conduct of some of those who have been amongst the most. prominent advocates of the movement. It is a sad example of human infirmity, that men, whose learning, ability and piety, seemed to mark them out as amongst the chief instruments of Divine Providence to restore their Church to its integrity, should have been carried away from their high object by the very eagerness of their zeal, until at length they have dared to despise the mother who has nurtured them. Yet so, alas! it is. For a while charity forbade that we should believe the possibility of such a change. The occasional occurrence of harsh and disrespectful sayings, respecting the English Church, were set down as paradoxes, or hasty expressions, of men hurried on by a pardonable enthusiasm; or a dutiful, though ill-regulated, sorrow for defects in one they loved; and their friends were unwilling to admit the possibility that those who had once appeared the Church's