Why, however, place a Clergyman in a dilemma, which may be avoided by simply adhering to the practice of the Church, as handed down to us from our forefathers?

There does not appear to be any authority by which the CHURCH, since the Reformation, is empowered to collect monies, nor by which any contributions, except the alms collected at the Offertory, are placed at the disposal of the Church; and the purpose to which even those alms are to be applied is pointed out, and in the disposal of them the Clergyman and the Churchwardens are united: one Churchwarden being appointed by the Minister, the other by the parishioners.

The laws of the Church require that the bread and wine for the holy Communion be provided at the expense of the parish:-that all other requisites for the church be paid for in the same way; and the parishioners are authorized and obliged to make a rate on the parish to meet these expenses. The repairs of the church are also to be regulated and paid for by the parishioners; wherein if they neglect to do their duty, the law will compel them to do what is right.

The Ecclesiastical Dues are to be settled at a certain season of the year, but there is not any authority to collect them in the church.

The manner in which collections in obedience to Briefs, Queen's Letters, &c. &c., are to be made, is particularly pointed out in those documents; they are not to be made during the reading of the Offertory, nor presented at the holy table.

With the assent and permission of the Minister, and the sanction of the proper authorities, collections in aid of charities, and for charitable purposes, are frequently made: the cause is generally advocated and recommended from the pulpit, but the collection should be made at the door of the church by the patrons of the cause, or by their servants; and the collection should not be brought to the communion table, but should be carried into the vestry.

No monies should be collected at the Offertory, except the alms offered at the Holy Communion.

The making other collections during a service at the Communion Table, is a relic of the discipline of the Church of Rome; the collections so made were at that time applied to different purposes, viz.-for Pardons, Pilgrimages, Trentalls or Masses, Decking Images, Offerings of Candles, giving to Friars, &c.; and it is not impossible but some of them found their way to Rome, either in company with, or under the name

of Peter pence. In the twenty-seventh year of

Henry VIII., all these collections were directed to be appropriated to the relief of the poor; and it was ordered they should be deposited in boxes, which were to be placed in the several churches for that purpose, and in which the other contributions of the people, which the Churchwardens were to collect for the same object, were also to be placed. These monies were to be dispensed for the relief of the poor, vagrants, &c. &c., by the Churchwardens, who were at that time the relieving officers. The boxes were consequently under their custody.

On the establishment of the poor laws, the mode of collecting the funds and of administering relief was altered, and the poor boxes fell into comparative disuse; still they were permitted to remain in the churches. The alms collected at the Offertory were placed at the disposal of the Minister and Churchwardens to be distributed to such distressed persons as they might think deserving of them. If it should be thought advisable to restore the use of the poor boxes, it will of course be understood that the monies which may be voluntarily put in them will be appropriated to the relief of the distressed, and distributed under the same management as formerly: otherwise it will not be a restoration of the poor boxes, but an innovation, viz., the placing boxes in the churches for re

ceiving contributions. The propriety and even the legality of doing which may be very questionable.

When the Poor Laws were established, the necessity of making collections for the poor ceased: and as all expenses relating to the Church are provided for by law, no collections, except the offerings at the Sacramental Service, were authorised or made during the public worship :—special collections for charities, &c., when made, were made at the doors of the church as the people retired. The reasons for this arrangement will be apparent. No legitimate claims could be made upon the Clergy, and, therefore, it was not thought advisable to invest them with the power of making collections to be placed at their disposal. It was feared that the exercise of such power might occasion dissatisfaction, and it was desirable, as far as could be, to prevent the possibility of collision between the Minister and his flock. The wording of the Rubrics which relate to the alms collected at the holy Communion proves the great anxiety and care of the Reformers to guard against the re-introduction of the system of making general collections, and so to avoid the abuses which had previously resulted from it.

INTONING, OR CHANTING.

It is probable the practice of intoning, or chanting the service ceased in Parish Churches in 1549, the first book of Edward VI., when the whole of the Church Service was put into English, and the people were enabled and required to join in the very words of the Liturgy: it is reasonable to suppose the congregation would not be able to take up the chant, and that any attempt to do so would materially disturb and derange the ceremonial. It may, therefore, fairly be concluded, that the services were read in a plain and uniform tone, and the appointment of the Parish Clerk, to lead the responses, probably prevailed at this period, In Cathedrals, Collegiate Churches, and Colleges, where there were several Clergymen and also choirs to take up the different parts of the services, the chant was continued.