The attendance of clergy, numerous as it was, was yet more remarkable for weight and importance, judging of these by a truer standard than is commonly referred to in such estimates. The very stamina of the Church were there; the hard-working pastor of many a fold, far and near, whom no ordinary occasion could tempt to leave his few sheep even for a day, or to have a thought outside his parish, would not be absent from such a sight, though it were but his one holiday in the year. There were meetings face to face, of those who had perhaps hitherto never met but now felt themselves friends in the one desire and endeavour which had animated them. Little incidents, too, to which the occasion gave a weight and pregnant interest, were noticed. Seldom, till then, for many a long year, had crowds been seen kneeling on the bare pavement of an English cathedral. At one period of the service, the sun's rays suddenly broke through the heavy clouds which had obscured them; and it was, in no irreverent spirit, observed, that they first fell on the spot in which a Christian lady chanced to be kneeling, who was privileged to lay upon the altar that day no common offering. May it be an omen of its acceptance with Him who condescended when on earth to be tended by the hands of 'honourable women,' and who has deigned to commend to the remembrance of the Church Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and 'others, which ministered to Him of their substance.' Sadder memories, too, could not but mingle themselves with the prevailing thoughts of thankfulness and hope. There were those whom it was a pain to miss there, and to know that they had given their hearts away to another Mother than Her that bare them-who had been once her flower and stay, but now counted her as an enemy! Who can tell but that a few such sights as these had fixed their wavering choice,' and kept them still at her side? God's will be done. But bitter indeed has been the stroke:

'For heavy was her children's crime, and strange her punishment!'

What a lesson does it teach of the fiery trial through which a Church that had a name to live and was dead' had to pass, ere she could be purified! and how keenly does it point the admonition which rebuked the 'angel' of her Sardian prototype, Be 'watchful, and strengthen the things that remain, that are ready 'to die!'

The thought we have just dwelt upon brings us to the point which we have all along had in view, in our remarks on the late Consecration of Colonial Bishops. We have dwelt with thankfulness and hope on whatever of better omen or brighter prospect we could espy in the circumstances either of that ceremonial or of other recent events in the Church. To some we

shall seem to have over-estimated those circumstances. We shall be reminded that, in the manner of conducting that Consecration in particular, there was room for improvement. There is a degree of ritual pomp and circumstance allowed or prescribed by our Church beyond what was arrived at here, and which might fitly have been realised on such an occasion. The vestments of the clergy, e. g. were wanting in uniformity, as was observed by a contemporary writer. It might well have been borne too, if greater regard had been had to the retaining of 'such ornaments of the Church and of the ministers thereof, as were in this Church of England, by the authority of Parlia'ment, in the second year of the reign of King Edward the 'Sixth:' greater regard, that is, to the elder Rubric, rendered binding on us by the one just quoted: Whensoever the Bishop 'shall celebrate the Holy Communion in the Church,... he shall ' have on him, besides his rochette, a surplice or albe, and a cope 'or vestment' (Prayer Book of 1549). The arrangements for the accommodation of worshippers, again, were far from what might have been achieved. And we do not deny these things. were we willing to sink the consideration of them in that of the whole. There may have been a little over-partiality in this. Be it so. We have no fear that, when we have done, we shall be deemed indiscriminate eulogists of the proceedings of that day.

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For, in truth, we have grave matter to allege, in connexion with those proceedings. For ourselves, we could by no means contemplate them with unalloyed satisfaction; and we plead guilty to no inconsiderable degree of anxiety, on account of their having been allowed to pass so utterly unchallenged as (with the unimportant exception above alluded to) they have been. It will be necessary, in order to put our readers in possession of the grounds of our dissatisfaction, to recur once more to the character of that movement within the Church, the external effects of which we have already commented on. In its first stirrings, then, and in all its more healthy subsequent stages, its prime characteristic has been depth;-to search deep for the old foundations, and throw the weight of the Church's superstructure fairly and firmly upon them, was the work enterprised and successfully carried out. And now, 'feeling the Rock beneath her feet," the Church began to rear another front, and take a bolder position towards her enemies on either side. The root struck downward was in due time seen to bear its fruit upward; and then began, in happy hour, the stretching out of branches and boughs to sea and river. In added breadth of domain, as well as in firmer grasp on her home territory, she began to assert her empire more worthily. And here began, too, her hour of danger; danger, we fear, not altogether

avoided. As long as she was fighting, as it were, for her own hand,'-while she could afford to be thus single in her aim, to have no eye for anything else than the faith once delivered to the saints, so long there was no fear of her faltering in that championship. It was otherwise when the principles asserted had won for themselves acceptance, and dominion, and influence. Then she began to have something to lose. Her spiritual wealth began to be somewhat of the same snare to her that worldly wealth is to its possessors. It would seem a pity, perhaps, to be parting with this or that hopeful plot of territory, or the advocacy of such and such an able defender, by standing out too stiffly, when the graceful concession of some point, not of the very last importance, might secure the desired benefit. And to a certain extent it might be allowable to be wise' in this way. Still, in the desire to compass several minor aims, the one would run the risk of being less steadily contemplated. In the satisfaction felt in occupying breadth of surface, a sense of the paramount importance of deep grounding and rooting would be apt to be merged. For a considerable time, however, we thankfully testify our belief, there were few symptoms, indeed, of weak or unworthy giving way in matters of doctrinal importance. We wish we could extend the eulogium up to the present hour. We have noticed here and there, with regret and misgiving, an inclination to make light of vital and fundamental differences, and to purchase peace at the expense of truth. The temptation has come plausibly veiled, we may be sure, or it could not have seduced men otherwise valiant for the truth. It presents itself in the form of charitable hopefulness that things will mend, if fair play is given them; that the Church's inherent vitality will expel any chance virus admitted into her system; that, let her once cover breadth of ground, depth will follow as a matter of course; that you must make common cause with men if you would win them, &c. To some such creditable motives we are willing to ascribe a certain tone of syncretism or indifferentism, which we have perceived creeping over the religious mind of the day.

We regret that we are obliged to record our opinion that the late Consecration furnishes an exemplification of this spirit. In proceeding to speak more explicitly on the subject, we desire to premise that we are well aware that many may, unknown to us, have shared our dissatisfaction on that occasion, though no opportunity has been given for expressing it. One distinguished instance of this has come to our knowledge. Still it is, we repeat, not satisfactory, that no one public protest or reflection on the occasion, has, as far as we are aware, been made.

We have placed at the head of this article the title of a

series of earnest and well-timed pamphlets on the present aspect of affairs in the Church. We are not here concerned with the particular method adopted by the author for drawing attention to the evils which he deprecates; a comparison, namely, of the alleged danger of the Church of England on the side of Popery, with her 'Real Danger,' on that of Puritanism. We are not called upon to strike the balance here, though we have a strong opinion on the subject. But to the reality and the magnitude of that side of the evil and danger which he has set himself to oppose, we cannot but add our hearty testimony. Not that it needed Mr. Gresley's statements, or our confirmation of them, to satisfy any reflecting person of the existence of these evils. It is a fact which is only too sadly brought home to every diocese, and, we had almost said, to every parish in England, that there is among us a large body of professed members of the Church of England, both of the clergy and laity, who utterly reject and repudiate her most fundamental doctrines. Who knows not that there are those who, ministering at her altars, (and with these is our more immediate concern at present,) altogether deny that the Sacraments convey any grace whatsoever? who deny that any person is regenerated in Baptism, or that the Body and Blood of Christ are received in the Holy Communion? We forbear at present to enumerate at greater length the tenets of this school, or to characterise them according to their deserts. Those which we have mentioned will serve to identify the school itself. Now, against these opinions we thankfully believe that all sound and faithful members of our Church do at heart pronounce their most decided protest. Whether they are in general conscious of the entire extent of the mischief involved in them may be questioned; it is sufficient for our present purpose, that they do in general enter such protest. What we have to complain of is, that, on certain occasions, they are content to let their protest go to sleep as entirely as if they had never entertained it. In their own private practice they utterly repudiate these views, nor would do anything to countenance them; but they are apt to betray a marvellous apathy, amounting to no less than distinct toleration of them, in matters beyond their own immediate control. We confess that we are unable to characterise in any other way the unmixed gratulation with which Churchmen have written, and spoken, and thought of the Consecration in question. Surely we are only stating that which all the world knows, or must have had a shrewd suspicion of, when we say that, of the four persons then consecrated Bishops, one is an avowed maintainer of the doctrinal errors above mentioned.

A few words on the statement itself. We have not thought

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it necessary to specify by name which of the newly-consecrated four it refers to. Those to whom they are severally known will be at no loss on the subject, and to others it must be indifferent. Neither do we profess, or think it necessary, to be able to define, with any exactness, the extent to which these opinions are held in the instance alluded to,-the shade of party to which the holder of them belongs. Of his maintaining the one error above specified,—namely, the denial of the grace of the Sacraments, we are only too well certified. We believe that he himself would avow the opinion in the strongest manner. We would thank God, most earnestly from the bottom of our hearts, to be assured that it was otherwise. And this being the case, we would observe again, makes our position widely different from that of an accuser of the brethren.' is not a case like that of denouncing a bishop' as 'accused of riot, or unruly,' where the accused would deny the charge, admitting that, if proven, it would be a disqualification for his office. No: habes confitentem reum. It is the case of an Arian, gay, in the fourth century, obtaining, through fear or favour, Catholic ordination. We do not say that such things did or could happen; the orthodox bishops were too stout against Arianism for that; but they might conceivably have happened under a lax bishop. In that case, the party who has obtained entrance considers that he has a right there. He maintains, moreover, that the body among whom he is admitted are wrong, and he is right. He has no objection to your calling him an Arian, or by whatever title describes his views, if it be only intended to describe them. And, therefore, be it observed further, the edge of the accusation or complaint turns not against the person obtaining such admittance, but against the body which gives it him. Our quarrel is not,-or, at least, our present concern is not,—with these views: we may marvel within ourselves how the holding of them is reconciled with 'unfeigned assent and consent to all and everything contained in the Book of Common Prayer:'-but our complaint just now is of those who, protesting in general against such views, acquiesce in, or tolerate them in a particular instance. Neither yet is that complaint directed against our ecclesiastical superiors as such unless it be kard ouuBBnkos, it does not touch them. The dereliction, in a particular form, of the testificatory, or remonstrative duty so wisely imposed upon the body of the Church, with reference to the ordination of her ministers, is the one object of our animadversions. Let us also be understood to have every desire to put the matter, as far as may be, in a general and abstract way. We would fain put out of view the particular occasion and the individual case which has given rise to our