objections are, in genere, perfectly different from those of Canon Villiers; so the conclusion to which he arrives assuredly implies no protest against a return to the old Cathedral principles." We may leave Dr. Wordsworth and Mr. Villiers to neutralize each other.

"I would rather respectfully suggest, that, it being laid down as a general fundamental principle, that the energies of Canons should be devoted as much as possible to their Cathedral, the Cathedral City, and the Diocese, it should be left to the authority, which the Cathedral Commission has recommended to be constituted for the revision of Cathedral Statutes, to examine carefully into the circumstances of each Cathedral Church, City, and Diocese, severally, and to make regulations accordingly, as to the residence of Canons, and as to the Tenure of Benefices with Canonries.".P. xlv.

The word energies' in this minority report is unfortunately a somewhat vague expression. The substitution of time would have improved the clause, which would then have been, in spirit, identical with the Report itself'-the nine months being assumed as the symbol of the requisite concentration of time.

But to revert to the body of the Report. The Commission proceeds to handle the far too long and much neglected 'Greater Chapter,' and recommends its recal to renovated life under provisions based upon the sound advice that the constitution of the Old Foundation (in its later form, as above described) be taken as the model for all Cathedral Churches.' It is then suggested that the Prebendaries of the Old and the Honorary Canons of the New Foundation be termed for the future (simpliciter) Canons,' that they, being not fewer than twelve, be appointed by the Bishop, and form together with Dean, Canons Residentiary, and Archdeacons, the Greater Chapter of the diocese, and enjoy the right now possessed by the Prebendaries of the Old Foundations of roting at the election of a Bishop, and of a 'Capitular Proctor of Convocation,' and 'take their places in 'Choir and Chapter next to the Canons Residentiary and Arch'deacons, according to seniority of appointment.' A provision follows, that the Canons Non-Residentiary,' as they are styled through the remainder of the Report, ipso facto, forfeit, except under licence, their position by ceasing to reside in the diocese.

1 The Journals of the House of Commons at this instant afford a curious instance of the popular appreciation of the truth, that Canons ought to work at their Cathedrals for their stipends, while at the same time they show into what blunders ignorant and self-confident reformers are apt to fall when they apply the axe and not the probe. We refer to the very objectionable Carlisle Canonries Bill, now before the House, under the care of Mr. Ferguson, one of the members for that city, which passed its second reading by the narrowest majority. This measure proposes to confiscate the next stall at Carlisle which may fall in, in favour of the parochial Clergy of Carlisle. The idea that the Canons themselves could never be awakened to spiritual work in the place seems to have struck the promoters of the scheme.

2 We take for granted that our readers are aware of the distinction between the Old and New Foundations.

The next topic is the attitude of the Bishop towards the Cathedral and the Chapter, which the Commission rightly wishes to place upon a footing perfectly different from that which it has heretofore practically been in every cathedral, however in those of the Old Foundation a different state of things may exist

on paper.

In the words of the late Bishop of Salisbury, the Bishop has in general, "extraordinary jurisdiction as Visitor, but no ordinary jurisdiction as Bishop."

'At the same time we find that the Bishop's authority as Visitor has not been exercised either regularly or frequently.

To provide a remedy for these defects, we deem it desirable to connect the Bishop, the Chapter, and the Greater Chapter with the Bishop, so as to ensure, as far as possible, periodical revision of Cathedral affairs, and to provide opportunities of mutual conference; by which means, we trust, many questions, which might otherwise grow up into subjects of appeal, will be considered and adjusted as they arise.'-P. viii.

The first recommendation towards carrying out these not very reactionary nor withal very revolutionary suggestions is one with which it pleases the Times to make itself very merry —' for gentle dulness ever loves a jest.'

"That the Bishop, wherever it may be practicable, have a place of residence in the Cathedral City, or in its immediate neighbourhood.”P. viii.

.

Of course we do not pretend to follow any argument of our daily contemporary, for argument there is none about him. The point of the joke, that Mrs. Bishop' is to be bored to death with the cathedral, &c. &c. Q. E. D. Is Printing-house Square so very delectable that a twelve or even a nine months' residence there and thereabouts is a thing to be sighed after for its own sweet sake?-and is there no Christian chivalry in the ministers of the Christian religion which makes them undergo cheerfully for their Lord's sake a degree of coercion much less than that which the scribes of a soi-disant leading journal' will readily accept for the sake of the advantages, real or imaginary, which their position offers? But, after all, there is no need to argue the point. This sort of Machiavellian logic, grounded upon a creed of universal Cynicism, is the easiest basis in the world on which to set up a flippant tirade, and, for the same reason, most difficult to expose to those who choose to be bamboozled by claptrap. The rest of the world do not demand a reply, for they see through the sophistry, however they may laugh at the wordconjuring.

To prevent the Episcopal connexion from becoming a specious nonentity, the recommendation follows, that the Bishop shall annually preside at an Ordinary and also at a Greater Chapter; and, moreover, have power to summon on any special

occasion additional meetings of either Chapter, and may preside at the same. The next reform is, to confirm the authority of the Dean, and in his absence of the Vice-Dean, or failing such office, of the Senior Resident Canon as his regular deputy.

We now come to a subject which would a few years since have excited by its very name greater trepidation, in well-disposed quarters, than it is very likely at the present day to elicit, -Revision of Statutes.'

The recommendation of this section is

"That a Cathedral Commission be appointed by Act of Parliament for a period of ten years, consisting of the two Archbishops, two Bishops of the province of Canterbury, and one of York, to be chosen by the Bishops of each province, respectively, and four other persons, members of the Church of England, (one of whom shall be Dean of a Cathedral Church,) to be appointed by the Crown." -P. ix,

and that this new Commission have concurrent jurisdiction with the respective Chapters (episcopally controlled) and their Visitors to reform, or, if none exist, to frame Statutes, subject, of course, to the form of the approbation of the Queen in Council.

We cannot refrain from a little surprise at this recommendation. Surely of Commissions touching Church matters we have enough, and more than-much more than enough. They have fairly culminated in this most practical one, whose Report we are treating. We understand that within this very month a Select Committee of the House of Lords has crushed in the egg an imminent Parishes Commission.' Would not a Joint Committee of the two houses of the two Convocations of Canterbury and York be just as efficient? If such were appointed, we should not then object to the Crown nominating two or three lay assessors, one at least of them to be a lawyer or judge.

There is one Chapter excepted from the above recommendation as a body per se, and that is the Queen's Free Chapel, 'within the Castle of Windsor,' or St. George's Chapel, as we of the populace are wont to term it. All, therefore, that the Commission proposes in respect to this Chapel is, that out of the two Canonries which the ci-devant reform would have absolutely suspended, one should be attached to the Vicarage of Windsor, with a stipend of two-fifths of its actual income, and the other have its revenues distributed between the thirteen military knights,' as the somewhat impulsive goodnature of William IV. dubbed the charitable institution, known for centuries as the Poor Knights of Windsor.

Far be it from us to derogate rashly from the prerogatives attached to any appanage of Royalty in this levelling age. There is, in sooth, little enough heed taken of the symbolic dignity which all true philosophy of human nature says ought to hedge the personal representative of imperial nationality.

Specially at this particular crisis of Archeologists who are not foreign secretaries, and Australian notabilities who are not what they themselves threw up in a pet, and elderly surveyors, who are not Chancellors of the Exchequer, and gardeners who are not Dukes in title as well as in influenceall howling together for Administrative Reform; we should be more loth than usual to advocate any special diminution in the Royal State. But still in one feature, which we shall have to point out further on, the Commission appears to us to have respected the prerogatives of Windsor by abstaining from recommending that which would have been alike an augmentation. of its dignity and a measure of practical good.

The ensuing recommendations we quote as they occur in the Blue-Book. Some, perhaps, may sarcastically hint that certain dignitaries would not now be where they are had the one which appears the first been in past times the recognised accompaniment of patronage.

"That on the appointment to any Canonry, a written statement of the qualifications or past services of the person appointed be signed by the Patron, to be presented to the Chapter, and preserved among their records."

It appears by the Table given in our First Report (page 41), that the Canonries in the Patronage of the Crown and of the Lord Chancellor are confined to certain Cathedrals; and that whereas in some Cathedrals, the Bishop has not one Canonry in his Patronage, in others the Bishop has the Patronage of all.

It seems desirable to suggest a remedy for these inequalities. We therefore recommend,

"That exchange of Patronage of Canonries be made (according to the Table annexed to this Report), on the principle that the Patronage of the Crown and of the Lord Chancellor should be more equably diffused, and that every Bishop should have the Patronage of some Canonries in his own Cathedral.

"That in case of a Dean or a Canon Residentiary being desirous, by reason of old age or other infirmity, to retire from his Deanery or Canonry, he be allowed, with consent of the Bishop and Patron, or, if the Bishop be Patron, with consent of the Archbishop, to receive from his successor, as a retiring pension, such sum as may be approved by the Bishop and Patron, or by the Bishop and Archbishop, as the case may be."

We also recommend,

"That if possible the several Canonries of Norwich, Rochester, and Gloucester be severed from the headships of Catherine Hall, Cambridge; Oriel, and Pembroke Colleges, Oxford; to which they are now respectively attached, such annexation being incompatible with the amount of residence and duties which we have recommended for the Members of Chapters." -Pp. x, xi.

The result of the suggested interchanges of patronage is to add six to the number of stalls at the disposal of the Prime Minister, and to diminish the Episcopal patronage to the same extent, leaving thirty-three instead of twenty-seven Canonries in ministerial patronage, and reducing the Episcopal nominations

om ninety to eighty-four, the Lord Chancellor remaining, as neretofore, patron of twelve stalls. We cannot exactly see the reason for thus swelling the power of the Executive, while, of course, we have no difficulty in picturing to ourselves the readiness with which successive Premiers would accept, at least, this portion of the recommendations. It must, however, be remembered that, as we shall see, with the renewal of the Greater Chapter the influence of any one Canon is greatly reduced. The new arrangement will leave the Bishop of London patron of two stalls instead of one in his Cathedral; while the diocesan of Westminster will have the same amount of patronage in that Church. Two Canonries, moreover, at Oxford will come within Episcopal patronage. We wonder that the opportunity was not here taken to advise, saving existing interests, the severance of the Greek Professorship at Cambridge from the Stall at Ely, to which the arrangements of 1835 tied it. This unmeaning enactment shuts any layman out of that not necessarily clerical office. Had it existed at an earlier period, Porson would never have been Greek Professor.

The next section has reference to Archdeaconries. The recommendation is, tổ sever Canonries and Archdeaconrics, except in the case of the Archdeaconry in which each Cathedral locally stands, the other Archdeaconries being endowed with some benefice within their circumscription, and, as we have seen, remaining members of the Greater Chapter. In the case of the Resi dentiary Archdeacon, the performance of his peculiar duties is to reckon as a portion of his residence, while, on the other hand, he is not to undertake any Cathedral duties which in the Bishop's judgment are incompatible with his own office. This proposal carries with it an advantage which is not at first sight evident -that of facilitating the increase of Bishoprics, against which the present connexion of the more distant Archdeacons with the Old Cathedral must operate as an impediment.

From Archdeacons the descent is rapid to Minor Canons, a branch of the subject upon which the Commission says it has 'bestowed much attention.' The conclusion attained is, that it is desirable that the Minor Canons be not less than four for each cathedral' (including, it is explained, Vicars Choral in Holy Orders,') 'should be for the most part young men, performing their cathedral duties, and at the same time partaking of pastoral work in the neighbourhood of the cathedral church,' with stipends increasing with length of service. All this implies that the office is not to be a life one: at the same time it is broadly recommended with respect to the right which Minor Canons claim to capitular livings, that there shall not be an absolute compulsion to convert a good singer into a bad parish priest -while in compensation, however, there shall be a running power