outward organization. By God's appointment, the spirit and the flesh are linked together, and man cannot put asunder what God has joined. The Saviour of the world was not deterred from anointing the blind man's eyes with clay by any fear lest the virtue should be ascribed rather to the clay than to Himself. The miracle of the loaves was not less likely to be impressive because the multitude was arranged in order, by fifties and hundreds, or because the fragments that remained were carefully gathered up. The foolish Martha who

had everything to think of and everything to do at the actual moment of her Lord's coming, was not more likely to be spiritually-minded than the provident Mary, who had trimmed her lamp and set her house in order, and done her share of the work beforehand, and was ready at a moment when He came to sit at His feet. The Gospel, even when preached by the apostles, was likely to be hindered, if occasion were given to the Grecians to murmur, that their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. That some might be able to give themselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word, it was necessary that others should be appointed to serve tables. The whole consideration of the subject of spiritual gifts in the fourteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, is closed with the warning that God is not the author of confusion, but of peace: and that all things ought to be done decently and in order. A man's ability to rule his own house, was to be taken as one sign of his fitness to take care of the Church of God.

No, my brethren, not one of us will ever think that out of the mere dry bones which we frame together we can constitute a living creature; but we all believe that our Heavenly Father, of his own free love, and for the merits of his dear Son, and in answer to our prayers offered up in his name, will pour down his Holy Spirit upon our hearts, to unite this our body with Christ our head, and all its members in the bond of peace; that the whole body, being fitly framed together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, may make increase unto the edifying of itself in love. We trust to that quickening Spirit, to make us lively stones, built up as a spiritual house upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.

But

In order that our Church may grow into an holy temple in the Lord, it must be fitly framed, and we must be builded together. When the wall of Jerusalem was built, every one had his sword, girded by his side, and so he builded: every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other held a weapon. the Temple was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither, so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in building. So far from needing weapons, they did not need even a tool. May our work be of the same kind. We can have no enemies from without; we ought to have no enmities from within. We shall not have to cut and shape our stones, to fit them into spaces narrowed up by private interests or

vested rights of property: we may take them at once as they have been made ready for us in God's holy word, and build without regard to any other model than the example of our blessed Lord and his Apostles.

Do we, then, boast ourselves against our Mother Church, in thus abandoning some parts of her present system? On the contrary, we desire, as faithful children, to show, so far as God may give us grace, how glorious she might have been in the purity of her doctrines, and in the holiness of her liturgy, if she had been released from those chains, from which the peculiar circumstances of the Colonial Church have set us free. The abuses of private patronage, the sale of spiritual offices, inequality of incomes, the failure of all corrective discipline over the beneficed clergy, the heart-rending injustice of dilapidations, -all springing from the same root of private property,-these are no part of the Church of England, and they must have no place here. We should be guilty indeed, if, with our eyes open, and a free choice before us, we should engraft upon our new branch of the Church of England the same abuses against which the preachers at Paul's Cross and Whitehall remonstrated in vain.

You will forgive me if I detain you a little longer upon this point, because I should feel most acutely any imputation of disloyalty to our Mother Church. I wish you to feel with me, that our constitution simply proposes to remove those abuses which have been encrusted upon her system, and which, for many years back, even the State in England has been endeavouring to reform. It would be tedious to recite all the Acts of Parliament which have been passed to undo the faulty work of former ages, and to bring the Church into that system with which we propose to begin. The equalization of the incomes of Bishoprics, the suspension of Canonries for the better maintenance of the parochial ministry, the facilities afforded for the division of parishes,—these, and other Acts of the same kind, all recognise the existence of evils, which the State in England labours, after its own fashion, to remedy, but which it is our duty to prevent. We are bound to strive, and to pray, that our Church may be holy and without blemish. We must give good heed, that the wheat which we sow in our new soil be free from tares.

I shall now lay before you, as briefly as possible, the various subjects which seem to require your attention; and if in some instances I shall accompany the statement with practical advice, you will not, I am sure, suspect me of any wish to dictate to the Synod any peculiar system; for I trust that we have met here in a spirit of counsel, and that we shall be ready to give up or modify our private opinions, when we find that they are opposed to those of a majority of our brethren.

It may at once be assumed, that frequent meetings of the General Synod ought not to be necessary; and with this view, ample powers of delegation have been reserved to it by the Deed of Constitution. These powers will have to be used to bring into operation two classes of Trusts; the one representing the General Synod itself, and com

petent to discharge certain of its functions; the other invested with powers of local administration under the authority of the General Synod.

I. First Class of Standing Trusts, representing the General Synod. 1. The first of these will be a Board for the determination of questions of reference brought up by appeal from any Diocesan Synod, or other subordinate administration.

2. The second will be a Board of Appointment, to exercise the powers of the General Synod, in appointing new trustees, and in confirming all elections to spiritual offices.

II. The Second Class of Trusts, invested with powers of local administration under the authority of the General Synod.

1. The first and most important of this class of Trusts will be the Diocesan Synods; the constitution of which will require careful consideration.

2. The second will be the Archdeaconry or Rural Deanery Boards, which, though now rendered of less importance by the subdivision of the country into several dioceses, may still be found of use.

3. The third, the Parochial Trusts, including churchwardens, parochial committees, &c.

4. The fourth, all Special Trusts; such as those now in operation for the support of colleges, native schools, and for the management of property held in trust for special purposes.

In constituting these various Trusts, it will be necessary that you should select the trustees, and issue instructions for their guidance.

In the selection of trustees of the second class, you will, I have no doubt, accept, in most cases, the recommendation of the local representatives. The right principle for our guidance seems to be contained in the words of the Twelve, in Acts vi. 3: Brethren, look ye out among you... men of honest report, . whom we may appoint over this business.' The General Synod will act wisely in appointing men who possess the confidence of their own neighbours.

The same principle will apply to all spiritual offices. The Board of Appointment must not interfere needlessly with the Bishop and his Synod. But there are cases in which its powers will be brought into operation; as, for example, when the Diocesan Synod cannot agree with any congregation on the election of a minister, in which a reference ought to be made to the Board representing the General Synod, whose appointment should be final. But the highest duty of the Board of Appointment will be to take effectual care that no simoniacal contracts, or corrupt practices, be allowed to interfere with the simple rule of putting the right man in the right place. Their office will be, like that of the prophets and teachers at Antioch, to separate the ministers of Christ for the work to which they believe the Holy Ghost has called them. It cannot be consistent with the right discharge of this plain duty, that money, upon any pretext or in any manner, should have any weight or influence in the appointment to a spiritual office.

I think that we shall all agree in leaving the Diocesan Synods as

much freedom of action as possible, subject, however, to a few general rules, to secure uniformity of action among the various Dioceses in matters of primary importance.

The first of these is in the appointment of clergymen. This power might, I think, be well vested in a Diocesan Board, composed of the Bishop, as chairman ex officio, and two clergymen and two laymen, elected by the Diocesan Synod. It might be a standing instruction to the Board, upon the vacancy of any cure, to call for a deputation of the parishioners, and to concur with them in making a new appointment; or, if the two parties shall be unable to agree, then to refer the question to the Board of Appointment acting in behalf of the General Synod. If the new appointment should involve the removal of a clergyman from a parish to which he is already engaged, then a deputation also from that parish should be invited to attend. It ought, I think, to be a valid ground of objection on the part of any parish to the removal of their clergyman, that he is maintained by them at the full scale of income to which he is entitled. Parishes ought not to be allowed to compete with one another for popular clergymen, by holding out inducements of greater emolument. All such practices are contrary to the nature of a spiritual office, and degrading to the clerical character.

(To be continued.)

MISSIONARY BISHOPS DEBATE IN CONVOCATION. THE following Debate took place in the Upper House of Convocation, on Wednesday, June 22:

The BISHOP of OXFORD said, there was a matter upon which he should wish a Committee of the Lower House to be appointed, so that they might prepare a report. He meant the employment of the higher order of the Christian ministry in the Missionary work. There was a strong impression on the minds of many, and he believed that it was a growing impression, that the Missions of the Church of England would never possess their true vitality, or root themselves firmly in heathen countries, until they had a Missionary Episcopate. At the same time he was aware that the entering upon such a line of Missionary operations was manifestly attended with many questions of difficulty. There were many questions,-in the first place, as to who should settle, when it was desirable, that any particular Mission should be headed by a Diocesan. Another difficult question, also, was what the conditions should be in relation to the native Churches so constituted, and the mother Church, if it pleased Almighty God to prosper the work of conversion; how it should be secured that the native congregations should retain the faith of the mother Church, and how the work should be maintained. All these matters were worthy of the calmest consideration, and he thought they might thus receive some solution. It seemed to him that the Lower House of Convocation might select a Committee singularly well suited to consider this matter, and to report to the Upper House, not of course to bind Convocation in any way, but merely to examine the question and to report upon it.

There were at present men of great learning in the Lower House. Some of the Archdeacons and Canons had given this matter close and careful attention, and there was every reason to believe that those were the persons whom the Lower House would select as their Committee. That Committee would report to the Lower House, so that they would have the benefit of the views of the Clergy as represented in that Synod. His Lordship concluded by proposing a resolution to that effect.

The BISHOP of LONDON said he was extremely glad that the Bishop of Oxford had mentioned the subject. All of them were, no doubt, aware that for some time past there had been a good deal of discussion of a private nature on this very important subject, and that morning he had received an intimation that a meeting of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts would be held next week, for the consideration of the matter. Now one great difficulty which had attended this matter hitherto was, that no opportunity had been presented for considering it in an authorised and calm manner. It had merely been the subject of conversation or discussion at private meetings and in committees of various kinds, and yet an impression had gone out to the country that some scheme of this kind was about to be launched on the Colonial Church. He should wish to suspend his decision on so difficult and important a question until it had received that full consideration which the Bishop of Oxford had so well stated the importance of the subject required. He had at some of these merely private meetings expressed his opinion of the difficulties which stood in the way of this scheme, as it was intended to be launched without any competent authority; but that would by no means prevent him from giving to it his cordial assent, if it should be proved a desirable thing to be introduced by competent authority. As the subject had been so much discussed, he thought it would not be undesirable for him to throw out some of the difficulties in connexion which had occurred to his own mind. The plan, as he understood, was this, that under the Metropolitan of the African division of our Colonial Church, a Bishop should be consecrated for Missionary work, by that Metropolitan (the Bishop of Cape town) and his two suffragans, and it appeared to him that it was impossible that this could come to pass without a very serious change in what had hitherto been the universal practice of the Church of England-namely, that the Queen shall, in virtue of her supremacy, nominate all Bishops of the Church of England, either in the Colonies or at home. Another difficulty was this,- that it was proposed, as he understood, that these Bishops should be consecrated without the Royal mandate. Now, those who were acquainted with the Consecration service, knew that the reading of the Royal mandate was as much a part of the Consecration service as any other part of it, and if the Royal mandate might be dispensed with, he did not see why the subscription to the Thirtynine Articles, or any other part of the service, might not equally be dispensed with.

There was another difficulty with regard to the scheme which had been commonly talked of. He had heard it said that this was a plan