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strengthened in corrupt, unchristian, and negligent sentiments. These it is very desirable to combat and overthrow; desirable, also, is it to take advantage of homely, familiar, illustrative teaching, but not in church. There is something truly unearthly in that sacred pile, and it nears our notions of heaven; and nothing approaching to familiarity, nothing likely to provoke a smile, nothing having a tendency to make all above the very poor say, "Ay, that is very useful for the poor," themselves meanwhile never dreaming of self-improvement, should be hazarded. "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth," is the language in which every child of the church should receive the words of knowledge and instruction from the one appointed channel of communication; and the pastor himself, as that appointed channel, should never fall below a dignified simplicity in his sermons. Wherefore I conclude, upon the whole, that cottage and school lectures need not be injurious to a reverential regard for the consecrated place of worship, rather the contrary; and that the kind of teaching conveyed by those lectures is not expedient to be delivered within the holy temple.

I hope to see the time when I shall perform the daily service, but even then I should be sorry to close my catechetical schools until a far more widely extended church spirit, and knowledge of the elements of the gospel, exist, than is at present to be found among the ἀκροώμενοι of my flock. CATECHIST.

ON THE TRANSPOSITION OF ONE OF THE PRAYERS IN THE

LITURGY.

SIR,-Permit me to inquire by what authority the prayer commencing with the words, "O God, whose nature and property is ever to have mercy, and to forgive," has been placed in modern Prayer Books before that for the high court of parliament instead of coming after that for all conditions of men, which was its original position? To say nothing of its peculiar adaptation as a closing supplication for divine mercy, to be used just before we enter on the duty of thanksgiving, there does appear to have been a very unbecoming liberty taken in the transposition of this beautiful prayer, and one which in these days it is not altogether safe to allow to pass unnoticed.

I am, Sir, yours, &c.

W. M.

ON ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONS.

SIR,-Some time ago, an article appeared in the British Magazine, I believe by the Editor, recommending the clergy to petition against the Ecclesiastical Commission. At the period to which I allude, the recommendation was not very generally attended to; perhaps from an idea that the Ecclesiastical Commission would not continue to act, or from a feeling that sufficient disapprobation had been expressed by

some of the bishops, several archdeacons, and others; and while matters were in suspense, this may have been the wisest course to follow. But now that the ministry have expressed, in the speech from the throne, their intention of bringing forward some further recommendations of the commissioners, it surely does behove us to give sedulous attention to what is passing.

I trust this hint will not be lost upon the clergy; and, to occupy no further space, I am, Sir, &c. S.

ON MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS.

SIR,-In a late number of "The Record," with some remarks on prayers for the dead, the editor, evidently joining the subjects together, censures the admission of the motto "Requiescat in pace" into our churches, as "a departure from ancient examples, and a perversion of the truth."

It may be true that " Obiit in pace," "Quiescit in pace," and other phrases, are most commonly to be found added in ancient epitaphs, but I cannot from hence draw a peremptory conclusion that the words "Requiescat in pace" are a perversion of the truth, nor do I perceive what truth is perverted. Whenever I have seen such an inscription on a hatchment, or a tomb, my feeling has been that it denoted a submissive and soothing hope, neither unbecoming a Christian to express, nor a churchman to record.

In the Order for the Burial of the Dead, the minister, praying for himself and the congregation, beseeches "The merciful God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that when we shall depart this life, we may rest in Him, as our hope is this our brother doth;" and I own that I see nothing in the repudiated motto not in harmony with the service of the church, or with the scriptures.

I believe that the words "Requiescat in pace" have been inscribed on thousands of tombs, for more than an hundred years, and in more instances than one, even on prelatical or episcopal monuments, and certainly with consent of constituted authorities, not only in churches, but in cathedrals. I addressed a letter (with the exception of the last paragaph) to the editor of the "Record,” containing in substance what I have now written: my letter was not inserted, but I saw in the notices to correspondents the following:

"We think "G. S." strains the point: the expression in the liturgy cannot be misunderstood, the other may; and under the general direction 'abstain from all appearance of evil,' we decline to withdraw our condemnation of it."

Now who strains the point, and what is the point strained? Is it the person who defends the motto, from its long usage, its apparent sanction, and from his thinking a pious hope only is expressed, and found in the burial service; or he who forces a violent interpretation upon it, passes sentence of condemnation, and denounces its admission into churches? to my mind, the strain was on the part of the editor

of the "Record," who seemed to prefer a captious objection to a charitable construction.

Good old Isaac Walton, in his life of Sir Henry Wotton, says of his times, (and it is painfully true of our own,) that "the weeds of controversy grow daily to be more numerous, and more destructive to humble piety;" and the venerable Hooker complained in his day that" former simplicity and softness of spirit is not now to be found, because zeal hath drowned charity, and skill, meekness;" and it is clear, that if the din of controversy is to be for ever sounding in our ears, we can never attain the desired blessings of unity and peace.

As to the general direction," abstain from all appearance of evil," I should be sorry to disregard it; but there is more than the appearance, there is the reality of evil, in perpetuating controversy, especially on minute and unessential points, thus causing needless divisions, and leading so many to overlook, or transgress, the Christian injunction, "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."

G. S.

P.S. I put my initials only, as above, when writing on this subject before, but I now add my name, because I shall certainly, whenever applied to for the purpose, admit the motto, "Requiescat in pace" into my church, satisfied that it neither opposes any truth of religion, nor violates any rule of ecclesiastical authority. I am, Sir, yours, &c. GEORGE SHERER.

Vicarage, Marshfield, Gloucestershire,

ON INSCRIPTION S.

SIR,-In a country churchyard is the following inscription:-"In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life, are here deposited the remains of J. B., who died Jan. 1, 1760. Aged 96. The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day."

Is this papistical? If it be not, why is the "quorum animabus propitietur Deus," or the "Dieu de son alme ayt mercie," more so? And yet these latter are perpetually found mutilated, or in part erased, on the sepulchral brasses or altar tombs of our churches. And if neither are objectionable, in what consisted the harm of the Woolfrey inscription? Yours, ANACHORETA.

ATTENDANCE OF CLERGY AT MEETINGS OF WESLEYANS.

SIR,-I should be very glad to be informed whether the following proceeding be not irregular, and contrary to the discipline of our holy church. I read in a local newspaper, that at a meeting lately held at Southampton, in aid of a fund to celebrate the Wesleyan centenary, which meeting is stated to have been "purely Wesleyan, to which none but Wesleyans or their friends were admitted, by

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tickets," a clergyman of the church of England attended, and addressed the assembly. I have always held schism to be a deadly sin; and although the followers of Wesley are of all other sects the most friendly to the established church, they must yet be considered schismatics, and any connexion with them such as is adverted to above must surely be highly improper, to use the very mildest C. H. term. I am, Sir, your faithful servant,

ON CHURCH SOCIETIES.

SIR,-It is much to be wished that some of your correspondents would make themselves better acquainted with the subjects on which they write."H.T.T." (page 300, of the Number for March,) states that the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel is by charter placed under the immediate control of the bishops of the church by virtue of their office as bishops, without any regard to their being subscribers or not." This is not the fact. The only members by charter are the Archbishops of Canterbury and York; the Bishops of London and Ely; the Lord Almoner; the Deans of Westminster and St. Paul's; the Archdeacon of London; the Regius Professors of Divinity at Oxford and Cambridge; the Margaret Professors of Divinity at Oxford and Cambridge. In the original charter, which consisted of ninety-four persons, there were only nine bishops besides the two archbishops, and there were forty-one laymen.

C.M.S.

ON THE PERFORMANCE OF DIVINE SERVICE.

Mr. Editor, I was on the eve of addressing a few lines to you on a subject connected with our form of public worship, when the letter of "A Country Parish Priest," in your last, met my attention. The little, then, that I shall have to say, though embracing the point that he adduces, will go somewhat beyond it. I wish to call upon your readers to consider the general question of reviving those ceremonies which, though once used in our church, have now become obsolete. I will particularize some:-the saying of the Litany at a fald-stool-the officiating minister turning away from the congregation in public prayer, and looking towards the east-the wearing of a cope+ by the consecrating minister at the eucharist. Now each of these

The Editor believes this to be a very great, though common, mistake.

+ Probably they all wish it themselves; and they seem to the Editor to take a very sensible way of shewing such a wish by the very act of becoming correspondents and eliciting information, which can only be obtained so as to be extensively useful by some such mode of intercourse.

If" A Country Parish Priest" appeals to the canon as his authority for wearing a cope in his parish church, a little closer inspection of the 24th canon will shew him that the use of the cope is limited to cathedrals and collegiate churches.

practices taken abstractedly, I much like. The first seems to coincide with the scriptural model, (Joel, ii. 17;) the second would naturally suggest to the congregation that they were assembled not for the purpose of hearing prayers read to them, but that the priest was presenting to God those supplications which they are supposed to be pouring forth from their hearts; and the third, as distinctive of a priest engaged in the highest act of divine worship, is also worthy of regard. But I will ask, are they necessary for the performance of divine service with due decency? Does the disuse of them render languid the devotions of our congregations? I think I can guess what reply will be made; and if I am right, I proceed to ask, is it wise, is it politic, to bring these matters prominently forward at this peculiar conjuncture? If they were matters of doctrine or discipline, I should scorn to make use of the spirit of the times as an argument for the slightest deviation from the paths of truth and order; but this is not the case in the present instance. I will explain what I mean. None of your readers can be ignorant of the charge of popery that is now continually being brought forward against those who maintain highchurch views. With what justice this cry is made, I am, I confess, at a loss to say. For myself, I have this to say, that I never so thoroughly saw the defectiveness of the Romish system as when reading the "Tracts for the Times;" for I am, unfortunately, possessed of one of those wayward minds that, though I had often met with Treatises containing conclusions made-to-hand, incontrovertibly (of course) setting forth that the pope is antichrist, and the papal church the scarlet whore of Babylon, yet, instead of joining in these anathemas, I was rather induced to look with kindlier feelings than before upon a church which, whilst holding fast the great truths of religion, met with such damnatory censures. But when I consulted the "Tracts for the Times," and found the controversy carried on with meekness and learning-falsehood carefully separated from truth-the praise of what is really good in the church of Rome cheerfully ceded to her, I found that I had careful guides on whom I could depend, and the result was what I have stated. But to return. As long as this stupid cry of popery continues, and as all men know that matters of dress and ceremony are of great importance with Romanists, are we doing right in reviving old practices, which, however undeservedly, will yet undoubtedly swell the cry ten degrees louder? I should say, surely not; rather, let us shew the world that in lauding and professing to follow ancient practice we are contending for something weightier than these accidental appendages to religious worship. Let us labour to convince men, the generality of whom seem to think unity in religion an impossibility, that it is no such utopian theory; that we have, in the collected voice of the bishops and fathers, faithful witnesses of "those things which were most surely believed" in apostolic times;

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Let me call your correspondent's attention to note (s) Dr. Hook's Visitation Sermon, where, in speaking of the use of the cope, he says, "But my object in alluding to the circumstance is, not to advocate the revival of what might offend weaker brethren," &c.

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