JAMES SKINNER
 
 JAMES SKINNER 
 
 A MEMOIR 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 "CHARLES LOWDER" 
 
 WITH A PREFACE BY 
 
 THE REV. CANON CARTER 
 
 "Who best 
 Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best " 
 
 
 
 NEW AND CHEAPER EDITION 
 
 .--1 
 
 LONDON 
 
 KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH & CO., i, PATERNOSTER SQUARE 
 
 1884
 
 (The rights of translation and of reproduction arc reserved)
 
 TO 
 
 THE REV. WILLIAM HENRY CLEAVER, 
 
 IN AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE 
 
 OF HIS FATHER, 
 
 AND OF 
 
 THE GREATEST KINDNESS AND ASSISTANCE 
 
 IN THE PREPARATION OF 
 
 THIS MEMORIAL. 
 
 MENAGGIO, LAGO DI COMO, 
 St. Mark's Day, 1883. 
 
 TS94661
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE subject of this memoir was so long withdrawn 
 from any active share in the Church's work, and 
 forced, through continual sickness and suffering, to 
 live for so many years in comparative retirement, 
 often out of England, that it was at first a question 
 whether there was a sufficient justification for 
 writing his life, or sufficient material for its com- 
 position. The circle of his friends had necessarily 
 become much narrowed, and to younger men the 
 position he occupied in the progress of the Church 
 movement was mostly unknown or forgotten. 
 
 But the work which James Skinner did before 
 sickness incapacitated him, was of an important kind, 
 and during his later years, confined almost to his 
 study, he was yet never unoccupied, except when 
 quite unequal to any exertion. Amidst his books
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 he had a well-stocked and valuable library he was 
 continually at work, either preparing private help 
 for those who looked to him for guidance in their 
 spiritual difficulties, or materials of a theological or 
 devotional kind, of more general usefulness, some of 
 which have been published. 
 
 It was felt therefore that there was cause for 
 requesting an intimate friend to undertake some 
 personal record, that the lessons to be derived from 
 his example and the fruits of his learning and 
 mental powers, always bent on the furtherance of 
 Divine truth and spiritual edification, might not be 
 lost 
 
 At first it was intended only to publish his 
 letters and other spiritual papers, but aftenvards it 
 was thought best, and more interesting, to introduce 
 them in a narrative. 
 
 I desire to offer very grateful thanks to those 
 who, at my request, kindly entrusted to me the 
 letters and certain other writings of my dear friend 
 which they had treasured. These have been freely 
 used according to their permission, where it was 
 thought they might be useful to others. It should,
 
 PREFACE. ix 
 
 however, be clearly stated that the author herself is 
 not responsible for the selections made. They have 
 been carefully considered at her express and anxious 
 desire, and a special debt is due to the Rev. W. H. 
 Cleaver for his patient labour in this matter, as well 
 as for his general assistance in the preparation of 
 this volume. 
 
 There has been another feeling actuating the 
 resolve to undertake this work. It was that the 
 lesson of patient endurance under continual suffer- 
 ing and inaction, on the part of one who had been 
 endued with specially ardent and energetic activities 
 of mind and body alike, might not be without some 
 fruit in encouraging and solacing others called to a 
 similar trial. 
 
 His nature was fitted and inclined to enter keenly 
 into the stirring interests of any great cause or of 
 lofty duty, and equally so to enjoy with intense 
 brightness the innocent delights of the passing hour. 
 His whole spirit within him would stir with enthu- 
 siasm, or indignation, or eager zeal, as the cause 
 might dictate, and no one had a more joyous utter- 
 ance or a heartier laugh, as his quick imagination
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 kindled in loving intercourse with others ; for he 
 had a special gift of genial fellowship, and more than 
 ordinary conversational power. 
 
 It was felt, to use the author's words (in writing 
 to me to express her own thoughts as to her work), 
 that James Skinner's life had been "a victory mainly 
 through suffering," as Charles Lowder's had been 
 " a victory through self-denying action," and that 
 this memoir, which her affectionate, reverent regard 
 for my dear friend led her to undertake, would be a 
 true practical comment on the words she has chosen 
 for the motto of her book, 
 
 "Who best 
 Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best" 
 
 T. T. CARTER. 
 
 ST. JOHN'S LODGE, CLEWER, 
 September 8, 1883.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 1818-1839. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction Birth Parentage Early Days Durham University ... i 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 1839-1846. 
 
 Betrothal King William's College Ordained Deacon Burton Agnes 
 Ordained Priest Windsor Letters from Dr. Pusey Southsea 
 Military Prison Letter to Mr. George Skinner St. Mary's, Read- 
 ing Letter from Bishop Wilberforce Corfu 15 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 1846-1848. 
 
 Letters from Corfu Visit to Ithaca Work among the soldiers Letters 
 
 from Rev. G. R. Gleig Funeral of the Archbishop of Corfu . ... 35 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1848-1851. 
 
 Visit to England Journal Marriage Return to Corfu Letters from 
 Corfu Birth of a daughter Resignation of Military Chaplaincy 
 St. Barnabas', Pimlico 5 1
 
 Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 1851, 1852. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Parish of St. Paul's, Knightsbridge The Rev. W. J. E. Bennett- 
 Foundation of St. Barnabas', Pimlico " Papal Aggression " Dis- 
 missal of Mr. Bennett Troubles at St. Barnabas' Correspondence 
 with Rev. and Hon. R. Liddell Letters to Charles Lowder 
 Difficulties with Bishop Blomfield Letters to Rev. and Hon. R. 
 Liddell Letter from Rev. W. J. E. Bennett Domestic sorrows ... 66 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Letters on spiritual subjects ... ... ... 98 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1853- 
 Severe illness Winter at Clifton Letters of spiritual counsel ... ... 122 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 I853-I8SS. 
 
 Failure of health Letter from Mr. Liddell Departure from England 
 Storm in Mediterranean Cairo Journey through the Desert 
 Death of Mr. Ewbank Jaffa Jerusalem Journey to Alexandria 145 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1855-1857. 
 
 Return home Archbishop of Malabar Letters to Bishop Blomfield 
 Dr. Lushington's judgment Serious illness Letters from Rev. and 
 Hon. R. Liddell Resignation of curacy Departure from St. Bar- 
 nabas' Mentone Lenten Rules Letters 165 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 1858-1861. 
 
 Return to England Letters Hillingdon Foundation of English Church 
 Union Letter from Hon. Colin Lindsay Tour abroad Sunday at 
 Zurich Munich Breslau 187
 
 CONTENTS, X11J 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 1861-1865. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Almshouses at Newland Acceptance of parish and Wardenship First 
 days at Malvern Increased services First Church Congress Death 
 of Mrs. Raymond The Warden's Lodge Consecration of St. 
 Leonard's Church Dedication of almshouses Life at Newland . . . 2oz 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 1863-1866. 
 
 Work at Newland Mid-Lent retreat Notes on humility Considera- 
 tions as to Roman claims Letters of spiritual counsel ... ... 223 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 1867, 1868. 
 
 Death of George Ure Skinner Agnes Raymond Skinner Childhood 
 
 Illness Death 251 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 1868-1870. 
 
 Letter from Bishop Wilberforce Lent in London Daily Celebration 
 at Newland Use of vestments Frescoes " Synopsis of Moral 
 Theology" 273 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Introduction to the " Synopsis of Moral Theology " .. 285 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 1870-1872. 
 Increased work Ammergau and North Italy Letter from Brighton 
 
 Serious illness Letters of counsel Fasting Communion ... ... 296
 
 XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 1873-1877. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Failure of health Spring abroad San Remo Val Ansasca Monte 
 Generoso Letter from Pontresina Return to England Letter 
 from Father Benson Letter to Canon Carter Winter abroad 
 Return home Bristol Resignation of Newland Letters from 
 Dr. Pusey Departure from Newland ... 314 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 1877-1879. 
 
 Winter on the Riviera Letters from Dr. Pusey Return to England 
 The Hermitage Religious communities Winter at Cannes Letter 
 to a young priest Letter from Dr. Pusey Cimiez Visit to Dr. 
 Doellinger Summer at the Hermitage Visit to Newland Letter 
 from Dr. Pusey 337 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 1879-1881. 
 
 Winter at Bath Letter from Dr. Pusey Whitsuntide at Ascot Visit to 
 Newland Letters from Dr. Pusey Last Celebration Letters from 
 Bath Letters from Dr. Pusey Last summer at Ascot Last visit 
 to Newland Letters on St. Augustine Resignation of Chaplaincy 
 Letters from Dr. Pusey Departure from Ascot ... 356 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 1881. 
 Letters from Bath Last illness Death Burial at Newland 376 
 
 APPENDIX , $
 
 JAMES SKINNER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 1818-1839. 
 
 "Chacun des Saints est un mot d'un discours infini, une note d'une 
 symphonic immense. " 
 
 THERE is a remarkable account in Cardinal Newman's 
 "Apologia" of his ardent desire, in the spring of 1833, to 
 return to England, after an absence of six months in Italy, 
 and his conviction that he had a work to do in this country. 
 After various hindrances from illness and other causes, he 
 arrived, he tells us, on July Qth, the Tuesday before Mr. 
 Keble preached the Assize Sermon in the University 
 pulpit at Oxford, oh that Sunday, July I4th, which Dr. 
 Newman says he ever considered and kept as the start of 
 the religious movement of 1833. 
 
 When I got home from abroad (he continues), I found that 
 already a movement had commenced in opposition to the specific 
 danger which at that time was threatening the religion of the 
 

 
 2 LETTERS FROM ROBERT HURRELL FROUDE. 
 
 nation and its Church. Several zealous and able men had united 
 their counsels, and were in correspondence with each other. The 
 principal of these were Mr. Keble, Hurrell Froude, who had 
 reached home long before me, Mr. William Palmer of Dublin 
 and Worcester College, Mr. Arthur Perceval, and Mr. Hugh Rose. 
 
 Amongst these remarkable men, perhaps Mr. Hurrell 
 Froude possessed the most original genius ; certainly he 
 was the one who felt himself the least fettered in his course 
 of thought and action. Now that half a century has passed 
 away, it is not unfitting that the following letter, written 
 by him to Mr. Perceval, should be made public. It was 
 written exactly a month after Mr. Keble preached the 
 Oxford Assize Sermon, and is one of so much historical 
 value that to withhold it would be a loss.* 
 
 MY DEAR PERCEVAL, 
 
 The impression left on my mind after my visit to Rose 
 was on the whole _a gloomy one, i.e. that in the present state of 
 the country we have very poor materials to work upon among the 
 clergy and laity ; and that the only thing to be done is to direct 
 all our efforts to the dissemination of better principles. 
 
 Since I have been back at Oxford, Keble has been here, and 
 he and Palmer and Newman have come to an agreement, that the 
 points which ought to be put forward by us are the following : 
 
 I. The Doctrine of the Apostolical Succession as a rule of 
 practice. 
 
 i.e. (i) That the participation of the Body and Blood of 
 Christ is essential to the maintenance of Christian 
 life and hope in each individual. 
 
 (2) That it is conveyed to individual Christians only by 
 the Hands of the Successors of the Apostles and 
 their delegates. 
 
 * It is given here by the kind permission of Miss Perceval, eldest daughter 
 of the late Rev. and Hon. Arthur Perceval.
 
 THE FIRST TRACTARIANS. 3 
 
 '(3) That the Successors of the Apostles are those who are 
 descended in a direct line from them, by the impo- 
 sition of Hands ; and that the delegates of these are 
 the respective presbyters whom each has commis- 
 sioned. 
 
 II. That it is sinful voluntarily to allow the interference of 
 persons or bodies, not members of the Church, in matters spiri-' 
 tual. 
 
 III. That it is desirable to make the Church more popular as 
 far as it is consistent with the maintenance of its apostolical 
 character. 
 
 Newman and Palmer add, but Keble demurs : 
 
 IV. We protest against all efforts directed to the subversion 
 of existing Institutions, or to the Separation of Church and State. 
 
 V. We think it a duty steadily to contemplate and provide for 
 the contingency of such a separation. 
 
 Keble demurs to these, because he thinks the union of Church 
 and State, as it is now understood, actually sinful. In the rest we 
 agree. 
 
 VI. We hold it to be the duty of every clergyman to stir up 
 his brother clergy to the consideration of these and similar sub- 
 jects, and if possible to induce them to do the same. 
 
 If you object to any of these, or anything else strikes you of 
 greater or equal importance, is it troubling you too much to ask 
 that you will write to one of us ? 
 
 It is very important that we should all pull together, and 
 preach the same thing ; at least, if our opinions ever make a noise 
 it will be so. 
 
 So much for principles next as to their application. Does 
 any plan strike you on which we could organize arrangements for 
 the wide publication of tracts on such subjects? 
 
 Could we not, by means of our friends and our friends' friends, 
 contrive railroads and canals for the diffusion of apostolical know- 
 ledge ? 
 
 We mean to have the Epistle of St. Ignatius printed very 
 -cheap ; perhaps on handbills with woodcuts of his martyrdom on
 
 4 FIRST PRINCIPLES. 
 
 the top, and the parts about Bishops printed in capitals, perhaps 
 in red letters. But this will be of little use if we cannot circulate 
 them widely. As to the clergy, perhaps the British Magazine 
 is the best way of getting at them. 
 
 But we may do much by writing on the subjects aforesaid to all 
 our friends, insisting much on their importance, and getting them 
 'to do the same. 
 
 Such of us as know each other well and can be sure of never 
 splitting on minor points, may perhaps form a joint stock company 
 to supply means for printing tracts we approve on a large scale, 
 but all this is for a much more advanced stage of our proceedings, 
 only it is as well to keep it in view. 
 
 I shall leave Oxford next Friday, and shall be in Devonshire 
 for the next month at Darlington, near Totnes, Devon ; but you 
 had best write, not to me but to Keble or Palmer, for whom I 
 only officiate as an understrapper. 
 
 I am sorry to say I forget the watering-place you were going 
 to, so I direct to your Parsonage. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 R. H. FROUDE. 
 
 Oriel College, August 14, 1833. 
 
 Palmer has, I believe, written to Rose, and we shall of course 
 be much guided by his advice. 
 
 To the Hon. and Rev. A. P. Perceval, 
 
 East Horsley Rectory, Surrey. 
 
 " A bold rider, as on horseback, so also in his specula- 
 tions," this letter- proves to have been a true saying of 
 Froude, who had, indeed, "that strong hold of first prin- 
 ciples, and that keen perception of their value, that he was 
 comparatively indifferent to the revolutionary action which 
 would attend on their application to a given state of 
 things." * 
 
 * "Apologia pro Vita sua," p. 106. 1864.
 
 BIRTH AND PARENTAGE. 5 
 
 The history of the movement which he evidently ex- 
 pected would " make a noise " remains to be written. We 
 can but gather up a few records of those who took a part 
 in it, more or less prominent ; believing that it will not be 
 without profit to tell the story of men inspired and working 
 with a fresh keen ardour for principles which they had 
 accepted with all the strength of their being. 
 
 Dr. Newman's words concerning Mr. Froude, quoted 
 above, may be truly said of the subject of this memoir. 
 But in considering his life and his work there is this draw- 
 back, that the task has fallen upon one who, in attempting 
 to fulfil it, can only tell the story of a friend. Yet it may 
 be that love unseals our eyes more than it blinds them, 
 permitting us to behold, even here, that vision of inward 
 beauty which in eternity will be fully unveiled. 
 
 " Clear stands Love's perfect image now, 
 
 And shall do evermore, 
 And we in awe and wonder bow 
 The glorified before. 
 
 James Skinner was born at Forfar, in Scotland, June 
 23, 1818, the youngest x>f ten children. He came of a 
 family remarkable both for ability and for devotion to the 
 Church. His great-grandfather, the Rev. John Skinner, 
 born in 1721, had been brought up in Presbyterian prin- 
 ciples, but while still a lad his poems in the Scottish dialect 
 attracted the attention of Lady Grant of Monymusk, near 
 Aberdeen, who, in the words of a memoir prefixed to his 
 works, 
 
 was pleased to encourage his rustic muse, by affording him in
 
 6 PERSECUTION IN SCOTLAND. 
 
 the house of Monymusk every accommodation for prosecuting 
 his studies, and improving his mind in the attainment of useful 
 learning. Here it was that, enjoying the conversation and the 
 benefit of reading under the direction of a worthy clergyman in 
 that neighbourhood, he became a convert to the principles of 
 Episcopacy, and united himself to the venerable remains of the 
 old-established Church of Scotland. 
 
 He married the daughter of the Rev. Mr. Hunter, the 
 only clergyman of the Episcopal communion in the Shet- 
 land Isles, " whose unwearied assiduity in discharging the 
 duties of his office, often at imminent risk of his life in 
 those boisterous seas, endeared him to the people under his 
 pastoral charge, and made his memory precious among 
 them." 
 
 Mr. Skinner received holy orders from Bishop Dunbar r 
 and was placed in charge of the Episcopal congregation 
 at Longside, near Peterhead, to whom he ministered for 
 sixty-five years. It was a time of trial to his steadfast 
 principles, for, in the words of his biographer, 
 
 after the last Stuart rising in 1745, the Scotch Episcopal Church 
 was doomed to feel, as a community, not only the rigour of the 
 law, but some of the most cruel effects of military violence. 
 Their chapels, or meeting-houses, were either burnt to the ground, 
 or otherwise demolished by parties of armed men sent through 
 the country for that purpose ; and many of the clergy were obliged 
 to leave their houses, under the terror of immediate imprisonment 
 if found at home ; nay, to leave them to the mercy of plundering 
 soldiers, put of the reach of discipline, or acting under the com- 
 mand of officers of the lowest rank, eager, by the strict execution 
 of this barbarous service, to raise themselves in the esteem of 
 some furious and enraged superior. 
 
 Such was the state of things through the North of Scotland in
 
 MILITARY LAW. 7 
 
 the summer of 1746, during which the Episcopal clergy could 
 hardly find a home or place of safety ; and poor Mr. Skinner was 
 for the most part a prisoner, either in custody or on his parole, 
 uncertain how or when he might be called to undergo some 
 heavier punishment. The writer of this memoir has often heard 
 him tell that, on coming home one evening from performing an 
 occasional office in the way of his duty, he found his house in the 
 possession of a military party, some of them guarding a door with 
 fixed bayonets, and others searching the several apartments, even 
 the bedchamber where Mrs. Skinner was lying-in of her fifth child, 
 and little able to bear such a rude, unseasonable visit. No lenity 
 was to be looked for from such unfeeling visitors, who pillaged the 
 house of everything they could carry with them, hardly leaving a 
 change of linen to father, mother, or child in the family. The 
 chapel with all its furniture was destroyed, and for several years 
 the congregation could find no place to meet in for public worship 
 but the clergyman's house, which not being sufficiently large, 
 many of them were obliged to stand in the open air during divine 
 service. 
 
 In 1746 and 1748 (says a writer in the "Encyclopaedia 
 Britannica ") two laws were enacted against the Scotch Episco- 
 palians, which, under the pretence of eradicating their attachment 
 to the house of Stuart, were so contrived as to preclude such of 
 their clergy as were willing to pay allegiance to the reigning 
 sovereign, and to pray for the royal family by name, from reaping 
 the smallest benefit from their loyalty. 
 
 Under these Acts Mr. Skinner was very unexpectedly 
 apprehended in 1753, and being not willing to give the 
 court any trouble in calling evidence to prove his having 
 been guilty of the offence with which he was charged, he 
 " emitted before the sheriff a voluntary confession, acknow- 
 ledging that, in the discharge of his professional duty, he 
 had been in the practice of officiating as a clergyman to
 
 8 SCOTCH BALLADS. 
 
 more than four persons besides his own family." In con- 
 sequence of this confession, he was sentenced to six months' 
 imprisonment. 
 
 His " Verses in the Scottish Dialect " are full of true 
 poetical genius. Robert Burns, in his " Strictures on Scot- 
 tish Songs and Ballads," says 
 
 This first of Songs (Tullochgorura) is the masterpiece of my 
 old friend Skinner. He was passing the day at the town ot 
 Ellon in a friend's house, whose name was Montgomery. Mrs. 
 Montgomery observing en passant that the beautiful Reel of Tul- 
 lochgorum wanted words, she begged them of Mr. Skinner, who 
 gratified her wishes, and the wishes of every lover of Scottish song, 
 in this most excellent ballad. 
 
 In 1787 Burns made a tour in the north and west of Scot- 
 land, and by chance met Mr. Skinner's son at Aberdeen, 
 who wrote the following account of their meeting to his 
 father : 
 
 Calling at the printing-office the other day, whom should I 
 meet on the stair but the famous Burns, the Ayrshire Bard ! And 
 on Mr. Chalmers telling him that I was the son of Tullochgorum, 
 there was no help but I must step into the inn hard by, and drink 
 a glass with him and the printer. Our time was short, as he was 
 just setting off for the south, and his companion hurrying him ; 
 but we had fifty " auld sangs " through hand, and spent an hour or 
 so most agreeably. " Did not your father write the ' Eivie wV the 
 crooked horn ' ?" " Yes." " O, an I had the lown that did it ! " 
 said he, in a rapture of praise ; " but tell him how I love and 
 esteem and venerate his truly Scottish muse." On my mentioning 
 his " Ewe " and how you were delighted with it, he said it was all 
 owing to yours, which had started the thought. He had been at 
 Gordon Castle and come by Peterhead. " Then," said I, " you 
 were within four Scottish miles of Tiillochgorum' s dwelling." Had 
 you seen the look he gave, and how expressive of vexation, had
 
 LETTER FROM ROBERT BURNS. 9 
 
 he been your own son, you could not have wished a better proof 
 of affection. 
 
 A few days later, Burns writes to Mr. Skinner : 
 
 I regret, and while I live shall regret, that when I was in the 
 North, I had not the pleasure of paying a younger brother's dutiful 
 respect to the Author of the best Scotch song ever Scotland saw 
 " Tullochgorum's my delight ! " The world may think slightingly 
 of the craft of song-making if they please, but, as Job says, " O 1 
 that mine adversary had written a book ! " let them try. 
 
 One extract from Mr. Skinner's answer to Burns must 
 be given ; the letter is dated November 14, 1787 : 
 
 While I was young I dabbled a good deal in these things ; 
 but on getting the black gown, I gave it pretty much over, till my 
 daughters grew up, who being all tolerably good singers, plagued 
 me for words to some of their favourite tunes, and so extorted 
 those effusions which have made a public appearance beyond my 
 expectations, and contrary to my intentions ; at the same time 
 that I hope there is nothing to be found in them uncharacteristic, 
 or unbecoming the cloth, which I would always wish to see 
 respected. . . . Meantime, while you are thus publicly, I may 
 say, employed, do not sheath your own proper and piercing 
 weapon. From what I have seen of yours already, I am inclined 
 to hope for much good. One lesson of virtue and morality 
 delivered in your amusing style, and from such as you, will 
 operate more than dozens would do from such as me, who shall 
 be told it is our employment, and be never more minded; 
 whereas, from a pen like yours, as being one of the many, what 
 comes will be admired, admiration will produce regard, and regard 
 will leave an impression, especially when example goes along. 
 
 " Now binna saying I'm ill bred, 
 Else by my troth I'll no be glad ! 
 For cadgers, ye have heard it said, 
 
 An' sic like fry, 
 Maun ay be harling in their trade, 
 
 An' so maun I."
 
 10 BISHOP SKINNER. 
 
 Wishing you, from my poet-pen, all success, and in my othei 
 character, all happiness and heavenly direction, I remain with 
 esteem, 
 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 JOHN SKINNER. 
 
 The venerable priest lived to see his son Primus of the 
 Scotch Church. He writes to him, with a trembling hand, 
 on May 25, 1807, accepting a pressing invitation to spend 
 his last days in the Bishop's house at Aberdeen : 
 
 i cordially embrace your proposal, and am making ready to 
 be with you, God willing, next week. By that time you will have 
 got your Forfar friends about you, and I wish much to share in 
 that pleasure and see once more my children's grandchildren and 
 peace upon Israel. So God grant us a happy meeting even here, 
 and at last a still more happy meeting in Abraham's bosom 
 hereafter. 
 
 The inscription on his monument, in the churchyard of 
 Longside, notes that " on the i6th day of June, 1807, aged 
 86 years, he slept the sleep of death, in the arms of the 
 Right Rev. John Skinner, Bishop of the Diocese of Aber- 
 deen, his only surviving son." 
 
 Bishop Skinner had two sons, who both entered holy 
 orders : William, who was also Primus of Scotland and 
 Bishop of Aberdeen from his father's death in i8i6to 1857, 
 and John, Dean of Dunkeld and Dumblane, and Priest of 
 St. John's Church, Forfar. He married, in 1798, Elizabeth, 
 daughter of Provost Ure of Forfar. She died of consump- 
 tion in 1820, two years after the birth of her youngest child 
 James, and in 1822 Dean Skinner married Innes, daughter 
 of John Duff, Esq., of Dundee, who, childless herself, became 
 the most devoted of mothers to her step-children. But her
 
 DURHAM UNIVERSITY. II 
 
 heart went out in an especial manner to the youngest, a 
 delicate fragile child, inheriting, it was feared, his mother's 
 disease, and he clung to her in return with the most ardent 
 affection. Under her care he struggled through the delicacy 
 of his early years, and at ten years old was sent to school, 
 first in Aberdeen. In 1832 he went to Marischall College, 
 in the same city, and in 1833 to Durham University, when 
 only fifteen. Archdeacon Wright, Rector of Greatham, 
 Petersfield, his great friend at Durham, gives the following 
 account of those early days : 
 
 James Skinner was admitted a Foundation scholar when the 
 Durham University was first opened. He was very young I 
 believe he had not attained his sixteenth year but he had the 
 appearance of a youth of twenty, was bright and cheerful, and soon 
 became a general favourite. Although physically far from strong, 
 he was mentally far beyond his years, but from want of good 
 training was, on starting, deficient in accurate scholarship. He 
 had evidently lived in an atmosphere of high intelligence and 
 theological bearing, and had heard much of Church matters and 
 the opinions of sound divines. This gave him a marked advantage 
 over his fellows, and enabled him always to take a good place 
 in any divinity class ; indeed, his papers in that direction were 
 strikingly able, and surprised the tutors of the University not a 
 little. 
 
 The habits of James Skinner were at first in no way studious 
 I might say quite the reverse. He would, when necessary, read 
 closely for the Debating Society, in which his powers as a speaker 
 soon became notorious. Possessed of a discerning mind and 
 great command of language, he had qualifications to render him 
 an orator of no mean kind. His speeches were so powerful, and 
 his manner so quiet and self-possessed, that few believed him to 
 be a youth of sixteen. In after years this gift was very telling 
 at public meetings and in the pulpit. Strange to say, at a very 
 early period of his priestly career, he seemed to avoid as far as
 
 12 LETTER FROM ARCHDEACON WRIGHT. 
 
 possible any gatherings which would call forth his oratorical 
 powers. 
 
 Of his very early education I know nothing, but feel sure that 
 he never had the advantage of public school instruction. His 
 abilities, I have already said, were of a high order, but had never 
 been carefully cultivated ; and when he entered Durham Univer- 
 sity, a mere boy in years, the amusements and pleasures offered 
 by a large circle of generous friends in and around the old city 
 interfered much with anything like close study. Dinners, dances, 
 picnics, and archery meetings were constantly tempting the young 
 student, and certainly no one more enjoyed and, in his way, more 
 adorned society than my dear friend. A Scotch reel was his 
 delight, and loud and hearty were his shouts when revelling in a 
 Highland fling. Good spirits, a strong sense of the ludicrous, a 
 warm and loving heart, an able brain, with a thoroughly honest 
 learning, combined to make him a favourite everywhere. 
 
 Towards the close of every term he became alive to his neglect 
 of study, and proved what might have been achieved by his high 
 intelligence had he been consistently persevering. About a fort- 
 night before the examination the door of Skinner's room was 
 locked ; no one could get admission ; every hour was given up to 
 the closest application, so that he might make up as far as possible 
 for the time which had been devoted to amusements. When the 
 lists came out his name always occupied a respectable place. 
 
 After residing two years at Durham, I went up to Cambridge, 
 and so for a season lost sight of my friend. He afterwards told 
 me that it was then he began to feel seriously that he had wasted 
 much valuable time, and determined henceforth to devote himself 
 more closely to books. He became assistant master at King 
 "William's College, Isle of Man; and must have then used well 
 'his opportunity, for eventually he was elected to a Fellowship in 
 Durham University, and afterwards, throughout a life of long and 
 severe bodily suffering, secured by a holy career devoted to 
 literary pursuits the love and respect of a very large circle of 
 friends, among whom were many of the most distinguished 
 scholars and divines of England nay, of Europe.
 
 VOCATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD. 13 
 
 A letter from his father shows how early the young 
 student had chosen the priesthood as his sacred profession : 
 
 February 2, 1834. 
 
 . . . When I came to that part of your letter which intimated 
 your resolution to become a clergyman, I was actually moved 
 to tears ! I prayed most fervently that, in adopting the profession 
 of your fathers, you might be aided by that Spirit from on high 
 of whom cometh both our strength and support, as well as our 
 desire to devote ourselves to the service of Him who is " Head 
 over all things to His Church which is His body, the fulness of 
 Him that filleth all in all." Unquestionably, let your studies be 
 prosecuted at Durham, and there (if God permits) let your ordina- 
 tion as well as your degrees be conferred. What changes of 
 overwhelming importance are about to be recklessly introduced 
 by " the powers that be,"' you cannot fail to be aware ; but to the 
 man, imbued as your fathers have been, with no other sentiment 
 or motive but the glory of God and the good of souls, what 
 avails the loss of those things which " are of the earth, earthy " ? 
 The very gates of hell, we are told, shall not be suffered to prevail 
 against the Church ; and if we, fearless of the times in which our 
 lot is cast, persevere unto the end of our course, we have high 
 authority for believing that we shall be both sanctified and 
 saved." 
 
 In 1836 James Skinner took his degree, and a second 
 class in honours. A letter dated February 10, 1836, from 
 his father to Bishop Van Mildert, of Durham, an old friend 
 of Bishop Skinner, was found amongst the Bishop's papers, 
 and is touching in the deep fatherly anxiety expressed in 
 old-fashioned phraseology. He asks from the Bishop 
 
 such counsel and advice, as may enable me to forward my 
 beloved Son's design of following the profession of his Fathers for 
 three succeeding generations ;
 
 14 LETTER FROM DEAN SKINNER. 
 
 and he continues : 
 
 Being now, however, only in his eighteenth year, notwith- 
 standing his Eligibility for a Bachelor's degree, he is far from 
 being eligible for Holy Orders. Hence the difficulty which I 
 and his other Relations in Scotland labour under, as to his dis- 
 posal, during his minority. He himself is of opinion, that could 
 he obtain the situation of Tutor in an English Family of truly 
 sound Political as well as Religious Principle, with access to a 
 good Library, he would pass the time more profitably, than 
 perhaps in any other Situation. But alas ! in my sequestered 
 Retreat I have no access to any such family, nor am I capable to 
 aid my Dear young Man in this, or any other attempt after 
 suitable employment 
 
 Bishop Van Mildert was then suffering from his last 
 illness, but the letter is endorsed by him in faint pencil. 
 His death, on February 21, 1836, prevented the help which 
 he would probably have given to the grandson of his old 
 friend, and James Skinner remained at Durham, studying, 
 until the spring of 1839, when he became Licentiate of 
 Theology. Dean Ranken, of Deer Parsonage, near Mintlaw, 
 N.B., writes of him about this time : 
 
 He was present, as a young layman guest, at the dinner which 
 followed the triennial meeting of the Scotch Episcopal Friendly 
 Society, when something brought him to his feet, and he made an 
 enthusiastic speech, the theme of which was the Church of Scot- 
 land, only then beginning to emerge from more than a century's 
 obscurity. The speech was applauded to the echo, and I remem- 
 ber taking a note of it in my own mind, and thinking that when 
 he came to serve the Church as a Priest, he would make his mark. 
 He was then about nineteen or twenty. For many years his 
 uncle Bishop William Skinner's house was my home during my 
 visits to Aberdeen, and there I not unfrequently saw James and 
 his brothers in their schoolboy holiday time he the brightest of 
 them all, and full of fun and repartee.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ORDINATION AND FIRST WORK. 
 
 1839-1846. 
 " Our Love was new, and then but in the spring." 
 
 IN July, 1839, James Skinner accepted an invitation from 
 his college friend, St. Clere Raymond, to pay him a visit at 
 his father's home, Belchamp Hall, in Essex. One of the 
 family livings, Middleton, was, and is, held by St. Clere's 
 uncle, the Rev. Oliver Raymond, and as the Hall and 
 Rectory were only five miles apart, the two brothers and 
 their families met continually. It is impossible either to 
 omit the beautiful story which follows, or to give it in 
 other words than those in which it has been told : 
 
 I cannot hope to make you know what the charm of Middleton 
 Rectory was in the days of which I write, filled with the bright- 
 ness and merry voices of- five fair and happy sisters. Their beauty 
 and animation would alone have made the house delightful, but 
 in addition they inherited from both father and mother very un- 
 usual talents both for music and painting. Mr. Raymond had 
 made a valuable collection of pictures, and he never allowed an 
 evening to pass without music, in which he took an active part 
 himself, being a proficient on the violin ; indeed, at most times 
 the house was, like Prospero's isle, "full of sweet sounds."
 
 1 6 BELCHAMP HALL. 
 
 There was, of course, frequent visiting between Belchamp 
 Hall and Middleton Rectory ; and Agnes, Mr. Oliver Raymond's 
 second daughter, was an especial favourite with her uncle. I 
 think that he went to Middleton one day, towards the end of July, 
 to bring her back to Belchamp to assist him in making a catalogue 
 of his pictures. I know that St. Clere went there, taking with 
 him his friend, James Skinner, who was staying with us at the 
 Hall ; and that was the first meeting of two who were soon to be 
 all and all to each other. Agnes returned with them to Belchamp 
 Hall, which is just the scene for the idyl which soon began. 
 Perhaps we were imprudent certainly no one had thought of 
 probable consequences; and yet what else could have been 
 expected when such a youth and maiden met, in the very bloom 
 of their early beauty and brightness ? There were daily wander- 
 ings among those ancient avenues and gardens, after-dinner 
 strolls, and musical evenings ; and they loved each other before 
 they knew it Such things happen every day ; but it is not often 
 that first love is so deep and constant in a youth of twenty-one 
 and a girl a few years younger, as to remain unchanged, only 
 increasing in depth and tenderness, through nine years of 
 hindrances and separation. 
 
 Agnes did not stay long at Belchamp, and nothing was said or 
 suspected. She left us on a Monday, and returned with two of her 
 sisters the following week for a ball in the neighbourhood. How 
 strange it is to me to look back through the vista of years, and see 
 in memory those two young creatures as they were at the ball that 
 evening ; dancing together whenever it was possible : he tall and 
 dark, with those wonderful eyes, and such brightness and spirit 
 as I never knew in any one else ; she small and fair, and as gay 
 as he was. 
 
 You must forgive an old woman's love story. Next day there 
 came the only shadow which I do believe ever fell upon the love 
 of those two hearts from the moment they first met until death 
 nay, until now; for death touches not such sacred love as theirs. 
 Some one told James that Agnes was engaged. He believed it 
 at first, and drew back, wounded to the quick ; while she, feeling
 
 BETROTHAL. 17 
 
 the change, became cold and proud. Had he been like most 
 youths of his age, this false report had probably parted them ; and 
 I think it was a proof of an uncommon character that his faith in 
 her, after so short an acquaintance, triumphed, and that he 
 determined not to lose her without hearing the truth from her 
 own lips. He went to Middleton Rectory the next day, and find- 
 ing an opportunity said to her, " I have had a great shock. I 
 have been told that you are engaged." And here the love story 
 of their life began, though mine must end, for from that moment 
 their lives became as one. 
 
 But of worldly hindrances to their union there were abundance ; 
 both were without fortune, and the lover as yet without employ- 
 ment. He returned to Belchamp Hall on the evening of the day 
 on which they had plighted their troth to each other, and without 
 having an interview with Agnes' parents. An engagement at 
 Cambridge which could not be put off obliged him to leave 
 Belchamp the next morning for a few days, but before he left he 
 wrote a letter to Agnes' father, which St. Clere promised to take 
 to him, and it was arranged that James should go over to Mid- 
 dleton to learn his fate on his return from Cambridge. Agnes 
 has told me how she watched him riding up to the door, looking 
 pale and nervous, and of her father meeting him at the entrance 
 with a cheery " Come in, my dear fellow," which greatly comforted 
 him. An interview followed, in which her lover completely gained 
 her father's heart, who fully sanctioned the engagement, but was 
 wisely firm in refusing to entertain any thought of marriage until 
 the young man had taken orders, and could offer a home to his 
 daughter. Meanwhile, he was at once received as a son and 
 brother by the household at Middleton. 
 
 I do not think that Agnes' mother could have loved him more 
 had he been her own son. 
 
 From Middleton James Skinner went to stay with Dr. 
 Hook at Leeds. He had always looked forward to receiving 
 his title to orders from him, and was anxious to see somc- 
 
 C
 
 1 8 KING WILLIAM'S COLLEGE. 
 
 thing of the place where he hoped in two years' time to be 
 at work. One extract from a letter to his betrothed will 
 show the spirit in which he entered upon his engagements 
 and regarded his prospects of earthly happiness : 
 
 The Vicarage, Leeds, August 21, 1839. 
 
 , . . How fervent are my prayers to God, to sanctify our 
 union of hearts with the gentle influences of His Holy Spirit, and 
 make love and fear of Him a bond between ourselves. I pray for 
 
 you, dear , for in a good and gracious God is my implicit 
 
 trust, and that He will help us both, and keep us heart and soul, 
 first His, and then each other's. 
 
 I have spent two delightful days with my worthy and affec- 
 tionate friend, Dr. Hook, and am now just leaving. His affec- 
 tionate and kind greeting of me on Wednesday quite filled my 
 heart, and his pressing invitation to stay on, notwithstanding his 
 own engagement to go to the Archbishop of York's to-morrow, is 
 a most painful thing to refuse. How I long to be settled under 
 him ! I shall love him as my father. I met a party of twelve 
 clergy at dinner yesterday, the celebrated missionary Dr. Wolff 
 among them, who preached an extraordinary sermon in St. James' 
 in the evening. 
 
 About this time Mr. Skinner was appointed third mas- 
 ter at King William's College, Isle of Man, for which many 
 others were his rival candidates. His testimonials gained 
 the appointment for him, in spite of his youth, and of much 
 prejudice against him in the mind of the Principal on 
 account of rumours that he was " a violent Oxford Tract 
 party man." He began his work at the college in Sep- 
 tember, 1839, and remained there until June, 1841. 
 
 I had the good fortune to be in his classes (the Rev. George 
 Deerr wrote *) " more than forty years ago, when he was an under- 
 
 * In the Guardian of January 18, 1882.
 
 LETTER FROM REV. GEORGE DEERR. 19 
 
 master at King William's College, Isle of Man, previous to his 
 graduating as M.A. at Durham, and words cannot tell how he was 
 loved, feared, and reverenced by his pupils. 
 
 He came among us like a star from heaven, for it was in the 
 days when the connection between master and pupil was " war to 
 the knife," when every lapsus memories was visited with a stripe, 
 and a boy's supreme object was to escape punishment. 
 
 Mr. Skinner, however, reversed this order of things, so far as 
 forms were concerned. He not only was an able teacher, clothing 
 with vitality what would have been to many the dry dust of Homer, 
 but he so impressed even rough raw lads by his dignified kindly 
 courtesy, his polished mannerism and earnest devoutness, that he 
 rarely had occasion to resort to corporal punishment. 
 
 On his leaving, we presented him with a copy of Bingham's 
 " Christian Antiquities," which we considered a suitable gift to one 
 whose catholic-mindedness was prononce even in those days, and 
 whose last words to us on returning thanks were, " Never forget 
 your Mother, the Church." 
 
 Should any of his friends wish to perpetuate his memory, I 
 shall be too glad to give anything in my power for one who con- 
 tributed so largely to the happiness of my life." * 
 
 During the summer vacation of 1840 he went to Dur- 
 ham to take his M.A. degree, and soon after was elected 
 Fellow of that University. A pamphlet published by him 
 in 1840, " On the Observance of Lent," is remarkable even 
 now for its strong grasp of principle and perception of 
 the true basis of national prosperity, as well as its evidence 
 of theological learning, very uncommon in a youth of 
 twenty-two. 
 
 On June 27, 1841, Mr. Skinner was ordained Deacon by 
 
 * In a letter written after Mr. Skinner's death to his widow, Mr. Deerr 
 says, " I think I ought to tell you that I am not of your husband's school of 
 thought, but I am a catholic in charity, and my testimony to his worth and 
 saintliness should perhaps therefore be the more valuable."
 
 20 ORDINATION. 
 
 the Bishop of Peterborough at his cathedral, receiving a 
 title from Archdeacon Wilberforce, and entering at once 
 upon work as Curate of Burton Agnes. There was no 
 vacancy at the time for a curate at Leeds, so that he was 
 obliged to give up his earnest and long-cherished wish of 
 beginning his work under Dr. Hook, who wrote to him in 
 January, 1841 : 
 
 I have mentioned you to Mr. Dugard of Manchester and 
 to Archdeacon Wilberforce of York. I would strongly advise 
 you to accept Archdeacon Wilberforce's offer. He is entirely 
 right. 
 
 In the letter accepting Archdeacon Wilberforce's curacy 
 Mr. Skinner says 
 
 Of my Church opinions, while I am most ready to afford you 
 whatever information you may desire, it may suffice to state that, 
 brought up as I have been in the persecuted Church of Scotland, 
 I have been taught to divest Catholic truth of all alloying external 
 influences prevalent in this Erastian age, and that I cherish and 
 value my principles for themselves. The Church, in her ordinances, 
 her Creeds, and her discipline, is my stay, and " to the law and to 
 the testimony " is my appeal. 
 
 Archdeacon Wilberforce wrote in answer 
 
 It is certainly rather a blow to me that you cannot come to me 
 till June. But I so much like your letter that I will wait if I by 
 any means can. 
 
 The death of his father at Forfar, on September 2, 1841, 
 was sudden at the last, although for years he had been an 
 invalid. The tidings were, of course, without a moment's 
 delay sent off to James ; but there was no telegraph in 
 those days and no railroad, and it was some days before 
 the letter reached him. He started at once and travelled
 
 BURTON AGNES. 21 
 
 night and day without an hour's rest, only arriving at 
 home as the funeral of his beloved father was leaving the 
 house. He had been waited for till the last moment. In 
 an almost fainting condition, caused by fatigue and distress, 
 he threw himself from the carriage, and, supporting himself 
 on his brother William's arm, took his place among the 
 mourners. 
 
 Nothing could exceed the Archdeacon's and Mrs. Wil- 
 berforce's kindness to the young curate, who also acted as 
 tutor to their sons. He was continually at the rectory, 
 where he was received as a child of the house, and had the 
 advantage both of access to a valuable library and of form- 
 ing the acquaintance and friendship of such men as Bishop 
 Wilberforce, Archdeacons Churton and Church, Charles 
 Marriott, Henry Coleridge, Sir Charles Anderson, and 
 Archdeacon (now Cardinal) Manning. On July 31, 1842, 
 he received priests' orders from the Bishop of Ripon, and 
 about a year later was forced by health to resign his curacy. 
 It was the first of the many trials of the same kind which 
 through life were laid upon him, forcing him to lay down 
 one cherished charge after another at the feet of the 
 Master from whom he had received them. He had suffered 
 terribly latterly from attacks of quinsy, and could not 
 attempt to encounter another winter in the climate of the 
 East Riding of Yorkshire ; probably also his health had 
 suffered from severe observance of seasons of fasting. 
 Speaking to a friend towards the end of his life of the 
 discretion and guidance needed in the matter, he gave a 
 humorous account of his own unassisted efforts at this 
 time, ending with : " I was my own guide, and an un- 
 commonly bad guide I made."
 
 22 WORK AT WINDSOR. 
 
 He left Burton Agnes in the autumn of 1843, and 
 in 1844 undertook work for a few months under the 
 Rev. Stephen Hawtrey, at Holy Trinity, Windsor, a new 
 district church, built partly for the accommodation of the 
 troops quartered in the town. A good deal of Mr. Skin- 
 ner's work was with the soldiers there. Canon Carter 
 wrote : " His powers as a preacher attracted considerable 
 attention, and made much impression. Some still resident 
 may remember the characteristic strength with which he 
 proclaimed the guilt of post-baptismal sin, in a sermon 
 which aroused a good deal of attention and excitement at 
 the time." The following letters from Dr. Pusey were upon 
 this subject : 
 
 MY DEAR MR. SKINNER, 
 
 I cannot but agree with you in your main outline of 
 what you write to me on post-baptismal sin. Although one state- 
 ment of yours seems to me too strong} that "the absence of wilful 
 sin is the condition of remaining within the Covenant " (or is not 
 the sort of language which I should use), I may myself have led 
 you to use the language which I should not now use (although I do 
 not recollect having made this statement), in that in my tract on 
 Baptism I was intent on inculcating the doctrine of Holy Scripture 
 on one point, without accompanying the teaching with that of 
 the remedial power of the keys. The main of what I taught I 
 should teach now, that there is this difference between baptismal 
 and any other forgiveness, that in Baptism a person becomes 
 altogether " a new creature ; " that he is a different being from 
 what he was before ; that he has nothing to do with his former 
 self; then he had only his birth of nature, now he is born of 
 God ; then he was out of Christ, now he is in Christ. Absolution 
 is a restoration, but conditionally upon continued contrition in 
 proportion to his sin. It is not an absolute, I suppose, but a 
 suspended forgiveness ; the sins belong to the same self, whereas
 
 LETTER FROM DR. PUSEY. 23 
 
 what was before Baptism in a heathen belonged to another self, 
 which was dead after his new birth in Baptism ; he had nothing 
 more to do with them, as far as relates to God's judgment, than if 
 they had been of another self. The sins of the Christian, in pro- 
 portion to their magnitude, still belong to him, are to be repented 
 of to the end. 
 
 The expression in your statement which seems to me to want 
 explanation is "wilful." It is the word of Holy Scripture, "they 
 who sin wilfully," but not in the sense in which it would be com- 
 monly understood now. I should think the expression which our 
 Church uses, " deadly," " mortal " sin, would explain your meaning- 
 better. The word conveys its own meaning ; what is mortal or 
 deadly must destroy life. 
 
 But, then, I think, while insisting on the change which heavy 
 sin makes in a person's state, we ought (which I did not myself at 
 first) to point to the restorative power which Christ has lodged in 
 His Church ; that He has given the commission, " Whosesoever 
 sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them," although not in the 
 easy way which modern systems make, but upon what our Church 
 everywhere insists upon, " true repentance." 
 
 Again, as you were going on to qualify what you said, there 
 will be endless differences according to the degree of light against 
 which people sinned, their continuance in it, the way in which 
 they were led into it, its aggravated character, requiring a deeper 
 penitence to efface it in some cases. Penitence, in proportion 
 to the sin, should never cease; but since our gracious Lord 
 has lodged the earnest of forgiveness in His Church, it may 
 be a bright, hopeful, loving penitence, as Bishop Andrewes 
 quotes from the ancient Church : Da semper dolere, et de dolorc 
 gaudere. 
 
 I think that, in opposition to the easy systems of the day, we 
 have to insist on penitence, as a sorrowful, humble task, never to 
 be laid aside ; that the penitent should never forget what he has 
 been, but continually bewail it before God, out of love to Him, 
 because he has offended Him and His glory. But, then, love 
 always has comfort. He returns to a loving Father, not an
 
 24 REPENTANCE. 
 
 offended God only ; to One who has loved him so exceedingly 
 and loves him still, and has shown this love by recalling him. 
 We must take care that we break not the bruised reed. 
 
 I have, of late years, often had occasion to minister to indi- 
 vidual cases of penitence, by receiving confessions of a whole life, 
 and I have seen the restorative effects of absolution how the 
 chains fell off from the hands, old habits (in some cases) were 
 conquered, new grace and light and strength were infused. I 
 believe that sins are then forgiven, if there be true contrition, and 
 there be no relapses. Although after relapses there may still be 
 restoration, and relapses must be treated very tenderly, lest such 
 be driven to despair. 
 
 If, then, I were to word your fifth statement, it would be 
 written thus : 
 
 Deadly sin, after Baptism, in proportion to its malignity, 
 destroys the life then received ; and although persons may be 
 restored, yet it is in no easy way, but by a deep penitence, in 
 proportion to the sins. 
 
 And I should not have used the expression " the promises 
 consigned upon uninterrupted sanctity? which I should think 
 might be misunderstood as implying something like sinlessness, 
 whereas it is not all sin which so changes a person's state. 
 
 I should hope that you and Mr. H would still come to an 
 
 understanding. I should be very glad to contribute to it, it I 
 might, for from what I have heard, I have a value for him, and 
 think he might understand you better. 
 
 I am not sure whether I have made myself clear, and my time 
 is limited to-night. I should think you might make some expla- 
 nation of your statement, " the absence of wilful sin," etc., so as 
 to be an explanation, not a retractation, such as what I have written 
 in page 4. 
 
 You were going to qualify what you had written. At first 
 sight, it seems to allow too little place for " much forgiven because 
 loving much," to make penitence too dreary a work, unrelieved 
 by hope and love, and not to take account of the restoration 
 through the absolution, the Holy Eucharist, and other appointed
 
 LETTER FROM DR. PUSEY. 25 
 
 means (as I myself first did, although I have since endeavoured 
 to supply what I omitted) ; but one sermon cannot contain all. 
 
 You may make any use you please of this letter to Mr. H . 
 
 With sincere thanks for your kind thoughts of myself, and 
 wishing you all blessings, 
 
 Yours very faithfully, 
 
 E. B. PUSEY. 
 Christ Church, 2nd Week in Lent, 1845. 
 
 MY DEAR MR. SKINNER, 
 
 I see that I ought to have gone a little deeper, and to 
 say that I suspect the whole of the "covenant" theology, and 
 suspect that it brings us into endless difficulties. I know not 
 with whom it began ; although it has had its great vogue with us, 
 from Witsius and the Dutch school, and so Waterland, etc. I 
 see yours is from Bishop Taylor, who is older, and in whom it 
 has a better meaning. I should think, then, that a less technical 
 statement of your meaning would be less objected to. That the 
 state of Christians is implied to be a state of grace in which all 
 former sins having been by Baptism utterly effaced, and the Image 
 of God renewed upon him, he is to grow in grace, that image 
 deepened in him, as he himself is more conformed to that image. 
 That deadly sin casts a person out of a state of grace, and that 
 since there is no second Baptism he has now to be restored by 
 penitence ; that this penitence must be proportioned to the depth 
 and length of his sins ; that he may be restored by contrition, but 
 that it is on condition of continued repentance. If he ceases his 
 penitence, his pardon would cease too. I do not mean that peni- 
 tence need always be equally afflictive, but that there ouf.ht to be 
 a continual sorrow for having offended God. This would seem 
 self-evident. Can one imagine a person, who in anger had caused 
 another's death, ever feeling as if he had not done it ? Can one 
 think that any one should really understand that he had defiled 
 the temple of the Holy Ghost; that this could not be undone; that 
 what had been was ; that he was a changed being, more changed) 
 than Adam by his fall in one respect, in that he has fallen from :
 
 26 RESTORATION THROUGH PENITENCE. 
 
 greater graces ; that if his soul was purified, his body, God's temple,, 
 was changed, and not have continual sorrow, until corruption 
 was swallowed up by incorruption ? 
 
 I should not, then, press on the lower degree of hope, certainly 
 not to the penitent who must in every way be cheered ; but that 
 the hope must be through a different course, " I acknowledge my 
 transgression, and my sin is ever before me." He, too, may be at 
 the foot of the Lord's Cross ; he may wash His Feet with his- 
 tears, and have a sacred joy in them ; but he must never forget 
 what he has been. He may have a lively, have any degree of 
 hope, which God may give him ; but the more he loves God, the 
 more he must hate his former self, and so he must of necessity 
 be a continual penitent. If he were not, he could not have any 
 real love for God. 
 
 Can one imagine an adulteress-wife taken under her husband's- 
 protection, and not continually full of shame ! And shall the 
 adulteress-soul, if it realized the presence of God, not be suffused 
 with shame at the thought of that Presence ? 
 
 With regard to your statement, I should say that it went toe* 
 far : " in the precise Covenant, there is nothing described but 
 pardon upon holiness observed to the end." In that those words, 
 " Whosesoever sins," etc., are a commission to the Church towards 
 her penitent members ; there is provision for restoration from the 
 falls in the Covenant. Again, in our Lord's exhortations to the 
 Churches in the Revelation to repent, I should think it the truer 
 to say that there is comparatively little mention of sin. Thus (as 
 I have implied above) I should not say that the penitent sinner 
 was not under the same covenant, since the power of the keys is 
 part of the commission for ever given to the Church. Nor should 
 I say that he might not have the same hope, nor that he might not 
 attain an eminence of glory (as neither do you), as Saint Mary 
 Magdalene (in a beautiful sermon of Archdeacon Manning for the 
 Magdalene Asylum), only that the course is all along different. 
 It is a course of penitence ; and the deeper the penitence, the- 
 higher the glory. Every tear is stored in God's bottle ; so that 
 penitence may be the more cheerful in that it is not only the
 
 MILITARY PRISON. 27 
 
 condition of acceptance, through the Blood of Christ, but, through 
 that same Blood, a means of glory. At all events, the more a 
 sinner hates his former self the more he may feel that he is in 
 harmony with God. 
 
 I would only say one word more, that I believe obdurate 
 hearts would be more likely to be touched by a more loving exhi- 
 bition of penitence ; that God loved them, showed His love by 
 His forbearance, waited to be gracious to them. I should think 
 the great fault of the Low Churchmen not the way in which they 
 set forth the love of Christ even to the unconverted, but that they 
 make conversion a sort of Baptism, which so effaces sin that there 
 is no need of further penitence. 
 
 If I can be of any further use to you, pray tell me how. 
 
 Yours most faithfully, 
 
 E. B. PUSEY. 
 
 Feast of St. Matthias, 1845. 
 
 In July, 1845, Mr. Skinner undertook the chaplaincy of 
 the District Military Prison at Southsea Castle, where he 
 laboured zealously among the men ; and, prompted, as he 
 writes, " by a deep and earnest sense of duty to a class of 
 men, the most neglected yet not the least promising in our 
 Christian country," he drew up for the Secretary of War 
 a deeply interesting statement as to certain matters which 
 hindered his efforts among them. It is remarkable that 
 even in early youth he could write nothing without taking 
 his stand on some fixed and definite principle, from which 
 all his conclusions were drawn. He may often have failed 
 in not allowing sufficient force to circumstances which 
 might modify those conclusions, but those who knew him 
 best felt the sense of strength and consistency which his 
 immovable adherence to principle imparted to them. Dr. 
 Pusey once said of him (speaking of waverers as to the
 
 28 LETTER TO MR. GEORGE SKINNER. 
 
 Creed), " Oh, as to Skinner, he is like the man in Scott's 
 poem who set his back against the rock and called out 
 
 ' Come one, come all, this rock shall fly 
 From its firm base, as soon as I.' " 
 
 To awaken and foster penitence is, he sets forth in his state- 
 ment, the main end and object of any prison. " But at all 
 events," he continues, "this is the only object of a chaplain 
 and a chaplain's labour, to make prisoners Christian peni- 
 tents ; and it is only in proportion as I make penitents that 
 I am worth anything to the institution to which I belong." 
 He therefore earnestly pleads for certain reforms to enable 
 him to do more for the spiritual good of the prisoners. 
 To his brother George he wrote : 
 
 December 30, 1845. 
 
 As to all this about Dr. Pusey, it may serve to quiet any alarm 
 you may entertain about myself or my opinions to declare at once, 
 that the effect of every recent apostacy (and most especially of 
 Mr. Newman's) upon my own mind has been to strengthen and 
 confirm it in its stable and unalterable attachment to the Church 
 of my baptism. I never had any scruples about my position, and 
 still less have I any now ; nay, rather, I am more and more con- 
 vinced that the present trials of the Church of England are visita- 
 tions upon her for good, the hand of God purging her in order to 
 more abundant fruitfulness, and marks, therefore, of love and 
 favour rather than of reprobation. I believe more than ever that we 
 have with us the elements of that hidden but mighty power which 
 shall finally draw all things to itself, and that, while in no portion of 
 Christendom have the world's evil principles made fewer inroads 
 than on our own, the Church of England may yet, by God's help, 
 be the rallying and centre point, which shall unite the universal 
 Church of Christ into one. 
 
 And as for the line of action which the troubles of these times 
 demand, my mind is equally made up. Not discussion, but
 
 ROME AND DISSENT. 29 
 
 action ; not pulling other people down, but building ourselves up ; 
 not argument so much as prayer, and not external ceremonies, 
 but the culture of the inward life and conscience, the hidden man 
 of the heart, which is at the root and source of all religion. As 
 to Rome, our wise plan is to leave her alone. To her own 
 master she will stand or fall ; and I cannot see what concern we 
 have with palliating them on the one side, or reviling them on the 
 other. " Judge nothing before the time." We did not cast her off, 
 so much as she cast off us. The advance must be made by her, 
 therefore, and when she comes forward and concedes the points 
 which she has made to sever us, it will be time enough for us to 
 rise up and meet her. Meantime, nothing can be so senseless as 
 to busy ourselves with fears and alarms, and then abuse Rome, 
 when we have so much to do with our own hearts and con- 
 sciences, and in fulfilling the work which, each in our own place 
 and station, God hath given us to do. 
 
 With regard to Dissenters, and persons within our own pale 
 who are practically sectarians, our line, as it seems to me, is 
 equally clear. Not heated controversy and unkind, severe lan- 
 guage, but kindness, and gentleness, and love ; avoiding all 
 negations which only exasperate, but insisting on positive privi- 
 leges and blessings, which are sure to win. Matters of mere 
 external import, such as surplices and other ceremonies, however 
 significative in themselves, will always do harm if pressed unduly, 
 and in the wrong place ; and hence all the senseless and wicked 
 outcry which has been ringing from Exeter to York. Let them 
 come last, r\o\. first. First cultivate Christian graces gentleness, 
 submission, obedience, faith and strive to make a flock earnest 
 and serious on right principles, and then all that is Catholic in 
 ritual and external worship will follow naturally : people will as 
 little think of being without it, as of walking the king's highway 
 without their clothes. 
 
 With regard to the Bishop of Oxford,* I do not believe that 
 he will take any persecuting line against any party in the Church, 
 
 * Bishop Wilberforce.
 
 30 DR. PUSEY S POSITION. 
 
 and least of all against the friends of Dr. Pusey, who are in real 
 .truth his own fathers and brethren and best friends. He is by far 
 too long-sighted a man, and too well furnished in the arts of 
 governing, not to see, on the one hand, that all the earnest- 
 mindedness and genuine activity is on the side which the world is 
 hunting down ; and that, on the other hand, with the popular 
 faction, lie the elements of those very evil spirits which have once 
 .already destroyed both discipline and order in the Church, and are 
 ready to destroy them again. I have reason to know Bishop 
 Wilberforce's real mind, as well as any who are not his confidential 
 .friends, and I am saying no more than events will prove when I 
 assure you that his own sentiments, as well as great kindness and 
 .affection of heart, will conspire to urge him to win and secure 
 those very men whom the newspapers would desire him to drive 
 away. He has begun to govern his diocese on the catholic model, 
 .and this is the best earnest that he will go on to do so. 
 
 With regard to Dr. Pusey, it is a mistake utterly to breathe a 
 suspicion about his leaving us. He is day by day strengthening 
 his position in the Church, and gathering round him such staunch 
 men as Hook and Manning, who are not parties to give him their 
 -confidence rashly. I heard myself for it was to myself that Dr. 
 Pusey said it that he was more strongly than ever riveted to the 
 Church of England ; and all that he is doing now confirms this 
 fact. No one knows to how many he has been, within the last 
 month or two, the means of support and comfort, nor how many 
 souls he has kept from straying away. I should almost as soon 
 doubt my own identity, as Dr, Pusey's strong position in the Church 
 of England. He will never, however, publish any condemnation of 
 Newman, and I think he is right; and they are most unreason- 
 .able who require such an unworthy test of his own stability. No 
 man more laments Newman's " fall," as he calls it. He grieves 
 over it, and prays for him ; but Dr. Pusey is too humble-minded a 
 man to force upon the public an act of judicial condemnation 
 involving his own Christian charity on the one hand, and wrong- 
 ing the soul of a fellow-Christian on the other, who has been 
 following the guidance of his own conscience.
 
 ST. MARY'S, READING. 31 
 
 One of the unhappy tokens of our un-Christian age is this con- 
 stant criminating and recriminating each other. Let our own 
 actions be the tests of our sincerity, and we shall be nearer the 
 mark than by proving our zeal by the loudness of our vituperation. 
 
 Nothing can be more inconclusive than that the plain require- 
 ments of the Church of England are dangerous, because certain 
 men have gone, not beyond, but beside them, and landed at 
 Rome. 
 
 On this principle, one must abandon daily service, nay, the 
 doctrine of the Trinity itself; for it is no more true that obedience 
 to the Church of England leads to the Church of Rome, than that 
 the belief in the Holy Trinity leads to Romanism. 
 
 Mr. Skinner had not undertaken prison work with any 
 thought of its being more than temporary, but he remained 
 at Southsea about a year, and then accepted the curacy of 
 St. Mary's, Reading, under the Vicar, the Rev. S. W. Yates. 
 Here his work was entirely of a missionary character, chiefly 
 amongst the poorest and most ignorant. In order to gain 
 the more influence over them, Mr. Skinner and his co-curate, 
 the Rev. H. R. Mercwether,* lived amongst them in a 
 wretched part of Reading, called Hosier Lane, near the 
 National Schools. Close by they established a Workman's 
 Reading-Room, where they spent their evenings amongst 
 the poor who resorted to it. 
 
 Forty years ago, daily services with frequent and early 
 Celebrations were almost unheard of; and when established 
 by Mr. Yates and his assistant clergy, the so-called " inno- 
 vations " excited both astonishment and opposition. The 
 work, however, was signally successful, and the services were 
 largely attended, especially in Lent and Advent, while in 
 one year there was a considerable increase of communicants. 
 * Now Vicar of Tenterden.
 
 32 FAILURE OF HEALTH. 
 
 The weekly offertory was started and was well sup- 
 ported. St. Mary's Church became notorious for being- 
 far in advance of the times, and the clergy were inundated 
 with letters of inquiry from all parts of England as to 
 their doings and the results. One of the first, if not the 
 very first Confirmation held by Bishop Wilberforce was in 
 St. Mary's Church. An eye-witness says, " The Bishop's 
 tact in managing the affair was very striking." For the 
 arrangements on such occasions in those days were very 
 different in most places from what they are now, and pro- 
 bably this was the first place in the diocese where every- 
 thing possible was done to maintain order and reverence. 
 It was a novelty that a procession of surpliced clergy should 
 meet the Bishop at the vicarage, and precede him thence 
 through the west door of the church into the chancel, 
 where the candidates were placed in order, so as to be 
 ready to go up to the Bishop in detachments. 
 
 Alas ! before long, Mr. Skinner's health again gave way. 
 The hard work of Lent, 1846, and the unhealthiness of the 
 Hosier Lane abode at Reading, brought on so serious a 
 failure in strength that he was entirely unfit for the work 
 of the district ; and he gladly accepted an offer from the 
 Rev. G. R. Gleig, Chaplain-General to her Majesty's forces,, 
 an old friend both of his father and of Bishop Skinner, of 
 the post of chaplain to the forces at Corfu. 
 
 His experience of work among soldiers at Windsor and' 
 at Southsea made this offer particularly acceptable to him, 
 and there was this further advantage, that the pay seemed 
 to justify his hopes and those of his betrothed that their 
 long-delayed marriage might take place. They had now 
 been engaged for seven years, separated except during the
 
 LETTER FROM BISHOP WILBERFORCE. 33 
 
 brief happy holidays which twice a year he spent at Middle- 
 ton. But never a cloud had dimmed his enthusiastic love 
 and bright anticipations of happiness. However, Mr. 
 Raymond decided that he must first go alone to Corfu, and 
 prove whether his health and the climate would allow him 
 to make a home there for his bride. He therefore parted 
 from her for the last time in August, 1846, left England in 
 company with his friend Archdeacon Wright, and arrived 
 at Corfu early in September. 
 
 Before leaving the diocese of Oxford he had asked 
 Bishop Wilberforce to give him a " letter commendatory " 
 to the Archbishop of Corfu. The Bishop wrote in answer : 
 
 Woodhall, August 16, 1846. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 By some strange accident your letter has escaped my 
 notice ; and now in much haste I send off what you have desired 
 Should you not have left England already, I would wish you 
 to call on me at 61, Eaton Place, that you may not go forth with- 
 out your Bishop's express blessing. 
 
 Praying that God may have you alway in His holy keeping, 
 I am ever, most sincerely yours, 
 
 S. OXON. 
 The Rev. J. Skinner. 
 
 To Bishop Wilberforce's letter commendatory the 
 following answer was sent : 
 
 To the Most Reverend Lord Bishop of Oxford, etc. 
 
 Athanasius, the Protosyngelos * and Vicar of Corfu, to the Most 
 
 Reverend Samuel, Bishop of Oxford. 
 
 The Metropolitan of Corfu not having been able, on account 
 of the severe sickness with which he has been up to the present 
 
 * The chief monk of a set of monks who live with the Bishop or Arch- 
 bishop, and testify as to his life. 
 
 D
 
 34 LETTER FROM THE PROTOSYNGELOS. 
 
 moment troubled, to answer the letter from your Reverence, 
 dated in the month of August last, it appears to me, as en- 
 trusted with the direction of the Church in this island, that I 
 should send an answer and say that we have with brotherly love 
 received the Reverend James Skinner commended to us by your 
 Reverence ; and that we respect and love him as a Priest of the 
 Most High God ; and we shall not cease to love him, inasmuch 
 as he is given to all that is right and good, and shows himself by 
 his life to be worthy of his priestly office. 
 
 I pray the most merciful God to guard and protect your 
 Reverence, to give you health with long life, and to grant you His 
 direct blessings. 
 
 Corfu, March 8, 1847, O.S. 
 
 [Original Letter of the Protosyngelos^\ 
 T(3 2je/?aoyua>TaTa> Kvpj> 'ETricrKoTrw 'O^ovtou, K.T.A., K.T.A. 
 
 'A6avacrio<; IIpWTCKrvyKeAAos KCU TOTTOTT^P^T^S KepKupas TO> 
 aTO) ^a/xou^A 'EKKTKOTTW 'Qov(ov. 
 
 Xaipetv ev Kuptw, 
 
 MT; Swij$eVros TOU M^rpOTroAtTOu Kep/cupas, evcKa T^S fJ.^ 
 ovSe Ka.Txpva"r)S avrov Selves vocrov, aTrwriycrai TO) ev p.rjvl AvyoucrTO) 
 Trap\r)X.v0oTi Trapa T^S crijs 2e/?acrjU,toT^TOs eTnoTaAe'vTt ypa/x,//aTi, 
 ot 7rtTTpa/A|U,va) rr]v Siev^uvcrtv Ttj<s 'E/CKA?jcrias T^S vr/crou 
 dvTeTTto-Tet'Aai Tavrrjv TTfV 7ri(TTO\r)v KO.I aTrayyetAat ort rov 
 Trapa ri}s cr^s 2e/?acr/x,toT7/TOS crvcrTaOevTa AtSe'cri/xov 'laKca^oi/ ^KtWep, 
 ^lAaSeAe^cus vTrcSe^a/xe^a, KCU a>s Upea TOU 0eoS roC 'Yi^tcrrou tre/3o- 
 p.eOa Kal dya7rai/u,ev, Kat ttyaTrwvTes ov Travcr6[J.f.Oa, are Srj ovra. 
 aya^t'as Trao^s dvayuerpoj', Kat d^t'ws TOU tepariKOu 
 
 Aeo/xai TOV IIoAueXeov eov OTTOS Sta^vAaTT?; Kat TrcptcrKCTny T^ 
 vyeta ei/ /aaKpo/Stor^ri Kat cTrtrev^ai TWV 
 
 upa rp 7' Maprla, ^w^C' e ""
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 LIFE AT CORFO. 
 1846-1848. 
 
 " Stem Albania's hills, 
 Dark Suli's rocks, and Pindus' inland peak, 
 Robed half in mist, bedew'd with snowy rills, 
 Array'd in many a dun and purple streak." 
 
 THE situation of my house is exquisitely beautiful (Mr. Skinner 
 wrote from Corfu in September, 1846). The sea, of a blue sur- 
 passing the imagination like ultramarine is like a mirror on all 
 sides, locked up like a lake within the magnificent mountains of 
 Albania on the one side, and of the island on the other ; and 
 reflecting, in the light of the sun, countless tints of the greatest 
 and most various beauty. Above rises the glorious citadel, com- 
 manding a magnificent view of the Adriatic and the Mediterranean, 
 the shores of Italy, and ancient Epirus, with the Isles of Greece ; 
 and below, at a distance of less than a mile, is the island of Vido ; 
 and on all sides sloping banks and valleys and groves, thick with 
 olive trees, vines, Indian corn, and a profusion of the sweetest 
 flowers. 
 
 The city itself is dirty, and in many streets and lanes dis- 
 gusting : but yet it is very interesting to see the crowds of variously 
 dressed peasants.
 
 36 RELIGION AT CORFU. 
 
 September 18, 1846. 
 
 I was up at seven. At eight I got into the boat, which in ten 
 minutes brought me across to Vido. 
 
 I had service in the Fort the men attentive and devout. 
 After service I went to Captain Domville's cottage, who received 
 me kindly and gave me a capital breakfast. 
 
 The boat came round for me directly after breakfast, and I 
 returned to Corfu. I had just time to cool and refresh myself, 
 and to rest half an hour, and then I was off to the place where 
 the garrison attend service, until the church (which is only just 
 above ground) is finished a large Greek schoolroom very low in 
 the roof, and piping hot, crammed with people up to the ceiling. 
 In this place, I grieve to say, all sorts of sectarians are allowed to 
 hold forth in the evening, so that from the very pulpit which I 
 occupy in the morning American Socinians, Scotch Presbyterians, 
 English Methodists, and sometimes pious devout sergeants, teach 
 their respective heresies at night. It is truly an awfully low state 
 to which the Church of England has been reduced here. She 
 has been exhibited in an exclusive Protestant and anti-Catholic 
 dress ; and, as such, hated and suspected by the Christians of the 
 ancient Church of the country. It might have been far otherwise. 
 The heads of the Greek Church are well disposed to us far 
 better than to Rome but we have not been true to ourselves, 
 and have not only not cared to assert our place among the Catholic 
 Churches of Christendom, but have done overt acts, as if we took 
 pains to identify ourselves with all the sectarian and schismatical 
 rebels of Europe. Only think ; The Government hold communi- 
 cation with the heads of the Greek Church here, through the 
 channels of an independent missionary, come out to convert them, 
 and actually went the length of appointing this very man (the 
 agent of the Bible Society) the Government Inspector of Schools ! 
 
 October 10, 1846. 
 
 ... I anticipated nothing but C 's disapprobation, of 
 
 course, in the step I have taken in coming out here ; nor can I 
 but agree with him in the main. I did not choose it, nor would
 
 CRUISE IN THE " TYNE." 37 
 
 I choose it now ; but, it having fallen on me as on one who had 
 no alternative, it is a charge assuredly of which I am not worthy, 
 but which is most worthy of me, or indeed of the highest in the 
 kingdom of Christ. 
 
 And this is true, whatever else may be said ; whether we 
 regard the numbers, and the education, and the habits and prin- 
 ciples of so large a class of the very flower of England as the 
 British army on the one hand, or, on the other, the carelessness 
 and neglect and cruelty and utterly heathenish manner in which 
 they have been treated by the so-called Christian Government 
 which employs them. 
 
 This is my answer, then, to all objections which are raised 
 now. 
 
 Corfu, October 17, 1846. 
 
 .... The chief cause of the delay of this letter has been 
 my absence from home. Strange, I dare say, it may seem to you, 
 that I should be away from home in a country where I can have 
 no one to go to ! but it is truth, and from Monday to Thursday 
 evening I have been out visiting. Staying, too, in the house of a 
 friend, and yet on the constant move ! In plain English, the 
 Meteor war steamer on this station was ordered down among the 
 islands to pick up a large party of the Tyne who have been out in 
 boats for ten days past, keeping the pirates of the Mediterranean 
 quiet on the coast of Greece, and the officer commanding was 
 kind enough to invite me to accompany him, and enjoy the oppor- 
 tunity of seeing a little of the country. It so happened that the 
 chaplain of the Tyne was on shore, and could take any duty that 
 might occur, and, besides, the cruise would be limited within the 
 week and obviate the necessity of my being out on a Sunday an 
 occurrence which might not again recur as long as I remained out 
 here ; and therefore I closed at once with my friend's offer, and 
 enjoyed it exceedingly. 
 
 ... It was a beautiful evening when we left the magnificent 
 basin of Corfu with its rocky sides, and the sea was like a mill- 
 pond with its ultramarine blue, as bright as a jewel, and every-
 
 38 ITHACA. 
 
 thing promised well. Take a large map and follow me. The 
 beautiful bay of Kastrades, with Ulysses' Rock (said to be the 
 ship which, conveying him hither, was changed into a rock), 
 Seftimo, and Cape Bianco, passed in quick succession, while the 
 mountains (on the other side) of Albania the ancient Epirus, and 
 now belonging to the Turks, and part of Turkey in Europe re- 
 flected all manner of exquisite tints in the setting sun. Soon 
 appeared Parga on the Turkish coast, and the islands of Paxo 
 and Anti-Paxo, very faint of course, as twilight endures but for a 
 moment in this country, and unless it be the season of the moon 
 it is dark as pitch immediately. I just saw where we were, and 
 went below satisfied. The fine weather with which we started 
 continued all night, and but for the closeness of the vessel and 
 the vibratory motion of the steam engine, I might have fancied 
 myself at home. Next morning I woke at half-past five, and 
 found the vessel stationary. I rubbed my eyes and jumped up, 
 and, peeping through the port-hole, just discerned in the east one 
 mass of burnished gold gleaming upon a glorious mountain which 
 appeared before me. I was on deck in an instant, and on ascend- 
 ing the companion ladder met the captain's servant, who was on 
 his way to call me to get up and see the entrance to the harbour 
 of Ithaca. The scene on reaching deck beggars all description. 
 There surrounded me on one side the precipitous rocks of Ithaca, 
 with water up to the very edge, in which we could find no sound- 
 ings presenting all imaginable varieties of strata of rock and 
 colours of vegetable matter upon their surface ; on the other, the 
 picturesque Santa Maura, with its huge Monte Vonno, encircled 
 with a host of other islands, Kalamos, Meganisi, Atokos, etc., and 
 before me to the eastward, with the sun rising on their summits, 
 the lofty mountains of Acamania and the Peloponnesus. 
 
 I was not sorry to find myself safe in the snug harbour of 
 Bathi, the chief town of Ithaca the veriest little den (entirely 
 shut in by rocks and mountains) you can conceive. The name 
 is derived from the Greek word which signifies " depths," an'd is 
 so called from there being no soundings in the harbour. 
 
 Breakfast being over, Captain Butler and I prepared to go
 
 PALACE OF ULYSSES. 39 
 
 ashore to pay our respects to the resident. He received us most 
 kindly, and told us we might expect the gunboats in search of 
 pirates in the bay of Bathi that very day, or the next, so that we 
 had better not remove from Ithaca, but keep where we were till 
 they should come up. To this we assented, and also to his kind 
 wish to see us at dinner at half-past six o'clock. Meantime he 
 proposed a reconnoitre of the island, and suggested one or two 
 places within reach for our inspection the Fountain of Arethusa, or 
 the School of Homer, or the Palace of Ulysses. This last being 
 on the whole nearest, and not the least interesting, we procured 
 horses and rode as far as they could carry us, and then we began 
 a steep ascent of more than two miles ; at the direct termination 
 of which, on the summit of Mount Aito y this royal personage had 
 his castle. Nothing but one or two ancient walls remained to 
 mark it, and the chief attraction, beyond the imaginary one, is the 
 magnificent view from the height, comprising the Mediterranean 
 down to the Morea, the islands of the Archipelago, and the 
 Adriatic up to I cannot tell what part of the Turkish coast. 
 Immediately below (the sea running with tremendous force in a 
 breadth of seven miles between) lies the island of Cephalonia, in a 
 little village of which, called Samos, it is said that thirty four of 
 Penelope's suitors took lodgings ! I concluded they must have 
 been desperately in love to have undertaken such a ferry, and 
 then have blown themselves with such a hill. For the latter I 
 can speak, it would be a very rare temptation which would induce 
 me to essay it again. And yet it was most beautiful ; every rock 
 was covered with flowers. I literally waded among myrtles, and 
 every now and then refreshed my mouth with the arbutus fruit, 
 which was ripe and in great perfection. After we had descended, 
 we found the Greek guides, with our horses, waiting for us at the 
 bottom, and we returned to Bathi. 
 
 It was quite early when we reached the town ; we therefore 
 rode out in another direction, up a most beautiful valley, and, at 
 my request, stopped to call upon the Bishop of Ithaca. I went 
 in and announced myself as a priest of the Catholic Church of 
 England, and was most cordially received by an aged, patriarchal
 
 4.0 BISHOP OF ITHACA. 
 
 prelate, upwards of eighty, with his robes on, and a grey beard, 
 as white as snow, flowing down to his waist. He seemed much 
 gratified by my visit, and said as much. I had an interpreter, of 
 course, for although I can already understand most of what is 
 said in modern Greek, I cannot yet converse in it. He offered 
 me wine and fruit, both of which I declined. I left the old man 
 highly pleased and convinced that he is a Bishop, as a Bishop 
 should be living frugally, seeing all classes, and being seen by 
 them, walking about his diocese, and in constant communication 
 with every one who comes under his episcopal control. . . . 
 
 Major Scargill even remarked to me, "Ah! I never see that 
 old man without identifying him with what Bishops once were, 
 and ought to be again." 
 
 Next morning it was raining and very disagreeable, so we 
 could make no excursion, but at four o'clock we had a dinner- 
 party on board, consisting of Captain Butler, his son, the resi- 
 dent, and two officers of the Tyne, who had by this time returned 
 from their cruise and were all hands on board of us, and ready to 
 return to Corfu as soon as we were inclined. It was very inte- 
 resting to me to see the boats return from their expedition. The 
 men, including ten officers, were about forty-five, who had been 
 knocking about day and night in open boats for ten days past, 
 among the bays and harbours of the Turkish and Greek coasts, 
 but without success. I was present at the unloading of the boats, 
 and you never witnessed such a scene. The merry laugh of the 
 Jack Tar inquiring "What news?" the cheer of joy and the 
 dance of delight on hearing that they were " homeward bound " 
 this from the married men ; but the sigh of regret from others, 
 that their merry cruise was over. Then the mixture of things 
 pots and kettles, with cutlasses and salt beef; empty bottles and 
 broken plates, with boots and shoes ; casks of water, with rifles 
 and bayonets ; pork and pistols ; carpenter's tools and gridirons 
 and saucepans ; old leather and ship's biscuits ; books and salt 
 butter ! Such a medley I never saw, and never laughed so much 
 at seeing. We had a pleasant party at dinner, and the naval and 
 military men amused me with their tales of many a battle and a
 
 RETURN TO CORFU. 41 
 
 bloody fray in which they had borne part. Major Scargill spoke 
 of the siege of St. Sebastian, at which he was present, and Captain 
 Butler of the ill-fated battle of New Orleans and other scenes of 
 the American war in which he had taken part, whilst the younger 
 men of the party confined themselves to their humbler, but scarcely 
 less interesting, rencontres with privateers or slavers. Towards ten 
 o'clock, the sounds of music summoned us on deck, and there, to 
 my great delight and the tender reminiscence of dear old England, 
 we found the sailors sitting round on the main deck, playing at 
 " a song, a cobbing, or a pint of salt water ! " Almost all sang, 
 and some with most excellent voices, giving with great spirit and 
 taste many of our best old sea-songs. 
 
 We were off next morning at two o'clock, but had not long 
 made the open sea, when a heavy gale of wind set in, and the 
 ship rolled fearfully. I slept soundly, however, in the midst of it 
 all, though when I awoke about six and tried to get up, I found it 
 impossible to stand ; so I went to bed again and remained there 
 until twelve o'clock in the day, when we had just cleared Prevesa 
 and the Gulf of Arta. It now became smoother water, as the 
 headland of Corfu protected us from the south-west, from which 
 the wind was blowing furiously, and at about three o'clock I was 
 not sorry to find myself once more safe and sound in Corfu. 
 
 November 22, 1846. 
 
 . . . The country is now in great beauty : the picturesque 
 peasants are gathering in their olives, and you may see hundreds 
 of women and children, in their national costume, lying under the 
 trees in the groves picking up the fruit after it has fallen, the only 
 way in which they can obtain it. Then the orange groves are 
 now one glow of bright golden fruit among the greenest leaves. 
 Lemons, citrons, and these kindred fruits are now ripening ; and 
 so numerous are they, that one passes by without either wondering 
 or coveting ! Indeed, you may help yourself, if you please, and 
 no one will challenge you. I have by this time seen most of 
 the country, although years will not suffice to see it as it should 
 be seen. Through the interminable groves and passes and sweet
 
 42 NEW YEAR'S DAY. 
 
 valleys I have ridden a great deal and great distances, and 
 sometimes have seemed to lose my breath as some of the 
 grander views have opened upon me. I am taking every step to 
 lay in a stock of health and strength for the summer. This may 
 sound strange, but here that is the trying time, and very lew 
 escape fever. The heat here is beyond anything, and I am told 
 that a few years of it enervates the constitution far more than the 
 extremest heat of India. This, however, does not usually last 
 more than three months, and all the rest of the year, except one 
 month of rain, is delicious ; and what is also an advantage, when 
 the rainy season does come, it never so rains on any day but you 
 may have your two hours' fair and dry walk. 
 
 January 6, 1847. 
 
 I am gloriously well. Everybody is liable more or less just 
 now to catch cold, but I have quite escaped, and I attribute it 
 mainly to my regular habit of sea-bathing, which to this 6th day 
 of January I have never omitted. We are still in the midst of our 
 Christmas festivities. The Greek Church keep the old style, so 
 that this very day is their Christmas Day. The Latin Church also 
 conform, and I regret on many accounts that we do not follow 
 the example, and when " we are in Greece, do as Greece does." 
 I must return my calls to-day on the dignitaries of the Church who 
 honoured me on my Christmas Day. It is a delightful custom, 
 that which they retain here, of paying gratulatory visits on all the 
 great festivals, and on the commemoration of each other's patron 
 saint. 
 
 On New Year's Day we had a levee at the palace, being the 
 anniversary of the Ionian Constitution. All the officials and 
 heads of departments were there in their full costume myself 
 among others. The Latin Bishop was there in his magnificent 
 robes, glowing with scarlet. The aged Patriarch of Santa Maura, 
 to whom I was introduced, seemed struck with the similarity of 
 my gown to his own, and, shaking me by the hand, remarked how 
 very much more "respectable" I was " than that there" Latin Bishop 
 u piu rispettabile che quello ll" pointing at him with undisguised
 
 UNIVERSITY AT CORFU. 45- 
 
 contempt The Greeks have an utter horror of the Roman 
 Catholics, amounting almost to the feeling which they bear the 
 Jews, whom it is lawful to shoot during Passion Week ! However, 
 this same Roman Bishop (who, strange to say, is an Irishman) 
 is more than a match for these fine old greybearded prelates. 
 He knows more by his little finger, than they do by the experience 
 of a lifetime, and being shrewd and cautious, he steals his march 
 upon them with great skill. He and I are very good friends, and 
 I am going to dine with him to-morrow, to discuss some matters 
 of common interest in garrison affairs. A very considerable pro- 
 portion of the soldiers are Roman Catholics ; and I am anxious 
 that something should be done, to give these poor fellows more 
 consideration than in past years. Besides this, I hope to get some 
 information out of him as to tactics at Rome, from which he has 
 very recently returned. Lord Seaton has paid me a compliment 
 in taking me into his confidence in the rearrangement of the 
 University here, and I am at present sitting on a committee of 
 inquiry into the administration of that institution, for the last ten 
 years under a Dr. Orioli from Bologna (an Italian), who is about 
 to leave it. It adds greatly to my work, but is very interesting 
 from the insight which it gives into the system of foreign educa- 
 tion generally, and of these islands in particular. Nothing can 
 be more wretched. There is not a student in the institution who 
 can write an original exercise in any one of the languages, ancient 
 or modern, which are taught ! Everything is done for show there 
 is no substance ; and as for religion, there is practically no such 
 thing taught In point of fact, the pupils may be anything or 
 nothing. And what is the result of this ? There are not a dozen 
 priests in the Ionian Church who can read and write, and not 
 more than half that number who can give any account of their 
 creed. The condition of the modern Greek Church is one of 
 absolute vacuity : they have a form of worship which is not wor- 
 ship, but consists in the mere " irpcxrxwryo-is," or reverential obeis- 
 ance to the saints ; among the masses, there is not even the 
 pretence of " Xarpeio," or the worship (properly so called) of God. 
 We are purposing great things, and we have already recommended
 
 44 ILLNESS. 
 
 a complete clearance in the University, and the adoption of a dis- 
 tinct system on the Anglican model. We have recommended 
 also an application to Oxford, and have succeeded in getting 
 some first-rate men to apply for the office of Director. 
 
 June 14, 1847. 
 
 I had a class of women to-day at twelve to be examined for 
 confirmation, eight or nine, and much satisfaction I had in them. 
 Thank God for this ! I hope to make these wives of the men 
 very useful in helping me to soften and Christianize the soldier. 
 They seemed impressed by my words, and one woman particularly 
 answered every question I asked her, and proved that she had not 
 forgotten her Catechism, which she seemed to have learnt well. On 
 leaving, she said, " God bless you, sir, for all your kind advice." 
 
 In the evening the palace servants came for instruction and 
 examination, and afterwards I walked up to the chapel room and 
 gave an hour's public lecture to all the candidates. 
 
 Their attention and devotion greatly rejoiced me, and I felt 
 much encouraged. My numbers have now swollen to one hun- 
 dred and fifty candidates, and it is becoming quite a revival among 
 the regiments. A good many non-commissioned officers have 
 attended classes ; and I am more thankful for this, for I feel that 
 they influence the men under their command. Besides public 
 instruction, I am making a point of seeing each one separately. 
 O, what a glorious band of communicants may I not hope, through 
 God's blessing, to raise out of this ! I want to prove to the world 
 that soldiers are not the degraded beings which some are apt to 
 count them, but that among this unequalled body of the youth and 
 flower of our country, there may be trained up a strong band of 
 good Christian Churchmen. 
 
 The intense heat brought on an acute illness, but in 
 June he writes : 
 
 You need no longer be anxious on my behalf. My strength is 
 daily returning ; the doctor to-day pronounced me going on well 
 towards recovery, and brought me an invitation from Sir J. R. to 
 go out yachting with him. The morning was so lovely that never
 
 WORK WITH SOLDIERS. 45 
 
 did I feel more reluctance in saying, "No duty before pleasure ; I 
 have too much to do ! " I then went off to the palace, and sat 
 half an hour with Lord Seaton, arranging to go and receive the 
 Bishop, and also requesting that the whole garrison might be 
 ordered to church to witness the Confirmation and hear the Bishop's 
 address. 
 
 Lord Seaton was most kind and cordial, and gave me every 
 possible help and encouragement. 
 
 From the palace I walked to the citadel, and assembled round 
 me all the non-commissioned officers of the i6th Regiment. This 
 was the only regiment in which no non-commissioned officers 
 had presented themselves as candidates. I made them a speech, 
 and charged them with the shamefacedness of such a fact, en- 
 larging upon their responsibilities and the awfulness of their neg- 
 lecting and setting aside this opportunity of bringing a blessing 
 upon themselves and others. 
 
 Every non-commissioned officer who had not already been 
 confirmed came forward and entered his name. 
 
 When I got back to my house it was past seven, and I found 
 a large party of artillerymen and sappers and miners, who had 
 come to be examined and instructed. I was too glad to see them 
 to send them away. 
 
 June 1 8. This morning I woke full of anxiety and excitement, 
 expecting the Bishop, expecting a considerable allowance of work, 
 and expecting letters, the mail being due to-day. It was a bright 
 delicious morning. I had barely finished with my pupil, and had 
 interviews with one or two candidates for Confirmation, when the 
 steamer was signalled from the citadel. 
 
 To my bitter disappointment there was no Bishop ! I felt 
 sadly put out ! I was all ready for him, and had been hurried by 
 him considerably and after all, not to come ! I could have 
 cried ! We pulled away from the steamer, and returned to Lord 
 Seaton to announce our bad luck. He was almost as much dis- 
 appointed as I. ... When the letters were delivered in the even- 
 ing, a note from the Bishop informed me that the illness of his 
 sister had detained him at Malta.
 
 46 CONFIRMATION IN GARRISON. 
 
 July 12, 1847. 
 
 I have just heard that I must be in readiness to start to-morrow 
 morning at six o'clock for Cephalonia and Zante with the Bishop of 
 Gibraltar, who has brought no chaplain with him. I am com- 
 pletely knocked up ; and no boy ever hailed a week's holiday with 
 more joy and satisfaction than I do. 
 
 The Bishop says he never had such a Confirmation. There 
 was one burst of response from all the men during the Litany, 
 which went to my heart and brought up tears. That service being 
 ended, all stood up with their hands in front. 
 
 I then read the preface, which was followed by the Bishop's 
 address. Then came the remainder of the service the men 
 responding nobly. And then the Bishop proceeded to lay his hands 
 on, and to bless every person individually ; which was very striking 
 and the more that every one of my fine fellows said Amen 
 aloud to each other's blessing. All was over about 7.30. I never 
 in my life witnessed a Confirmation so affecting; if the Bishop 
 of Oxford, instead of the Bishop of Gibraltar, had been administer- 
 ing, what an effect it would have had ! 
 
 There were a hundred and ninety-three candidates, and on 
 Sunday last I admitted to the Holy Communion a hundred and 
 thirty whom I had prepared ; the great body of whom I hope to 
 bring up monthly to that holy ordinance. 
 
 Although knocked up, I am, thank God, much better in 
 health. I am now broiling while I write, and with the greatest 
 difficulty with the thermometer at 80 odd (and at night too)- 
 I long to get away, and shall start at six to-morrow morning, and 
 shall have a delicious sail down the coast of Epirus, through the 
 islands, and on to Zante, coasting the Peloponnesus in all, about 
 a hundred and forty miles. 
 
 August 18, 1847. 
 
 God is blessing me, all unworthy as I am ! 
 
 Last Sunday, at the ordinary monthly Communion, there were 
 upwards of eighty communicants, sixty of whom were soldiers. 
 Formerly, at no Communion throughout the year did the number 
 of soldiers reach six.
 
 ADDRESS TO SOLDIERS. 47 
 
 May God grant us all perseverance, and, above all, may He 
 grant that, having preached to others, I myself may not be cast away ! 
 
 Mr. Skinner must have been a very congenial chaplain 
 to soldiers, because he had so much of a soldier spirit 
 himself. There was no mistaking his meaning, and he 
 never shirked walking straight up to the enemy's guns. 
 An address of his to the soldiers on Confirmation was 
 printed at the Government Press at Corfii in 1847, and one 
 sentence of it is very characteristic : 
 
 All of you who are communicants without having been con- 
 firmed, must, of course, present yourselves as candidates. I could 
 not have admitted you to Communion on any other condition. 
 You must either have been already confirmed or be desirous of 
 it. Your opportunity has arrived, and I shall expect you ! 
 
 The men felt they had to do with a strong man, and 
 respected him accordingly ; they knew there would be no 
 weak admittance to the Holy Communion of those who 
 refused to comply with the conditions of admittance laid 
 down in their chaplain's "order-book." With him, the 
 trumpet never gave an uncertain sound. 
 
 The Chaplain-General to the Forces seems to have 
 taken the same view of his character. He writes : 
 
 War Office, April 5, 1847 
 MY DEAR SKINNER, 
 
 Your welcome letters of the 23rd of February and xoth 
 of March reached me together the day before yesterday. You 
 are a fine fellow a man after my own heart, who will not permit 
 himself to be overcome by difficulties, and to whose exertions God 
 is sure to give a blessing. . . . 
 
 You are doing good service with your Lent lectures ; and it 
 gladdens my heart to learn that the officers attend. I saw a 
 Captain Fanshawe, of the Engineers, the other day, who spoke of 
 you and your usefulness exactly as I could have wished. . . .
 
 48 LETTERS FROM REV. G. R. CLEIG. 
 
 God bless you, my dear Skinner, and forward you in all your 
 righteous endeavourings. 
 
 Ever yours most sincerely, 
 
 G. R. GLEIG. 
 
 War Office, August 4, 1847. 
 
 MY DEAR SKINNER, 
 
 Lord Seaton's application in your favour for a horse 
 allowance has gone directly to the Secretary at War, and will be 
 decided upon without my having an opportunity to support your 
 claim. / quite feel that a horse is as necessary for you as it is for 
 a clergyman in the West Indies ; but there may not be the same 
 feeling upstairs ! But whatever the answer may be, you must not 
 think of resigning. Rather relax a little in your efforts during the 
 hot season. Do anything, indeed, except abandon a place in 
 which you are doing so much good, and to which I should find 
 extreme difficulty in sending, just at present, a fit successor. I 
 am aware of the difficulty of relaxing to a generous nature like 
 yours. But remember that the choice lies between putting re- 
 straint upon yourself, and suffering, it may be, some inadequate or 
 ill-disposed stranger to come and mar all that has yet been done. 
 Don't talk of resigning under any circumstances. Rather be 
 patient and persevering, and good will come out of it to many, as 
 well as to yourself. 
 
 I rejoice heartily over your successes with the poor soldiers 
 and their long-neglected families. Believe me, that the reports 
 which I receive of you from all quarters among others, from Lord 
 Seaton make me glad ! I thank God that you are what you are, 
 and I pray earnestly that you may reap, in more ways than one, 
 the fruit of the good tree which you have planted. 
 
 I am always yours most sincerely, 
 
 G. R. GLEIG. 
 Rev. J. Skinner. 
 
 January 13, 1848. 
 
 I dined last night with the Roman Catholic Bishop, and had 
 a very pleasant party. It was very interesting. He was supported 
 on his right by the Archbishop of Corfu, and on his left by myself.
 
 FUNERAL OF ARCHBISHOP OF CORFU. 49 
 
 There were, besides, three Roman Catholic priests (an Italian, 
 a Spaniard, and an Irishman), a Romish layman, and two Greek 
 nobili. 
 
 Our conversation was all in Italian. We did not touch on 
 controverted points in the least. We were all most friendly 
 together, and I went home lamenting that such brotherly union 
 could not be real, and deeper than the mere common courtesy of 
 hospitality. 
 
 March 8, 1848. 
 
 Yesterday the funeral of the Archbishop of Corfu took place, 
 and a most imposing scene it was. No one could fail to be im- 
 pressed by the amazing reverence and decorum of an immense 
 crowd, which in England would probably have been riot, con- 
 fusion, and profanity. There were upwards of two hundred 
 priests in full copes, magnificently embroidered, and each, in 
 ranks of two files, carrying candles and chanting solemnly as they 
 went the mournful funeral psalm. Then came the body, sitting 
 erect upon the archiepiscopal throne, magnificently robed, with 
 the gorgeous mitre on its head, the Gospels bound in gold and 
 jewels in its right hand, and the crosier of gold in its left, borne 
 on the shoulders of six priests in full canonicals. The expression 
 of the good old man's face was that of calm innocent sleep, and 
 not in the least like the horror of death. Behind followed all the 
 authorities, senators, legislators, and others, military and civil, I 
 among them in full canonicals, making in all a procession of 
 many hundreds, and accompanied by the inhabitants of the whole 
 island, to the sum of many thousands. 
 
 It was a strange mixture of ecclesiastical with military pomp. 
 The deceased prelate was buried with the honours of a major- 
 general. The guard of honour preceded the two hundred and 
 fifty priests, their splendid band playing the " Dead March " in 
 Saul ; and the great guns from the citadel, as well as the field 
 guns of the Royal Artillery, fired the usual salute. 
 
 Beautiful and striking as a military funeral is in itself, to my 
 mind the mixture was the only drawback to the extreme beauty 
 
 E
 
 5O FUNERAL CEREMONIAL. 
 
 and solemnity of the whole ecclesiastical ceremony. First, 
 because it was so obviously incongruous, and second, because 
 wherever our English are required to join in an occasion of the 
 kind, they cannot leave their irreverent remarks and manners 
 behind them. A funeral oration was pronounced in Greek by a 
 priest. He commenced it standing at the feet of the body as it 
 sat on the throne ; but presently such an outcry was raised by the 
 multitude outside to hear it, that he proceeded out of doors, and 
 concluded in the open air. 
 
 The body was buried just as it sat, erect and in all the 
 paraphernalia of office ; lowered into a vault prepared for it, to 
 abide the day of the restoration of all things. There is something 
 in this which perhaps jars upon the notions which our customs 
 are apt to suggest ; but no doubt this uncoffined corpse expresses 
 the more lively faith in the resurrection, and especially the attitude 
 of watchful preparation which ought especially to be associated 
 with the office of a prince and a ruler in the Church of God.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EARLY MARRIED LIFE. 
 1848-1851. 
 
 " The time is great. 
 
 What times are little ? To the sentinel 
 That hour is regal when he mounts on guard." 
 
 IN May, 1848, Mr, Skinner was allowed to find a locum 
 tencns, and to return to England on six months' leave for 
 his marriage, to which, after the long probation of nine 
 years, Mr. Raymond had given his full consent A few 
 extracts follow from the journal kept on his way home. 
 
 May 24. Left Corfu under a royal salute from the batteries in 
 honour of the Queen's birthday. Just before weighing anchor there 
 came on board a Russian nobleman and suite of ten persons, 
 Count Tolstoy, his sister Madame Apraxia with her daughters, 
 and an English governess. I had formed high anticipations of 
 this party from the account of one or two friends who had known 
 them, and considered myself exceeding lucky in having them for 
 fellow-passengers. . . . The Russian family were accompanied by 
 the Kiisters, Mussurus, and Mr. Meyersbach, and Scandella, the 
 Spanish priest, followed. He introduced me to the count, who at 
 once pulled out an old number of the Christian Remembrancer as 
 a sort of card ; and pointing to a review of Blackmore's " Russian 
 Church," edited by Palmer, began to ask me if I was a " Puseyite." 
 He had been to Oxford and had made Dr. Pusey's acquaintance,
 
 52 RUSSIAN FRIENDS. 
 
 and spoke most enthusiastically of Palmer and all his interest in 
 the Oriental Church. He lamented that the tendency of Church- 
 people in England was Romeward, and seemed surprised when I 
 corrected him, and claimed for the Oriental Church a large share 
 of our sympathy ; although naturally our affections lay in the 
 West 
 
 We discussed Palmer, and agreed that his tendency, from 
 manner, temperament, and language, was rather to drive people 
 from than to win them to his views. " Palmer," he said, " had 
 told him of himself that it was said he was antediluvian ! " 
 
 I was introduced to the English governess, whom I had seen 
 in my church on Sunday a very pleasing person, on presenting 
 whom the count said, " We have many battles, elle est un peu 
 protestante ! " I said, " Plus d'un peu peut-etre," for there are 
 many who are z^//r#-Protestant. "A little protestant," he replied, 
 " is more than enough." 
 
 Spoke of the ignorance and superstition of the Greeks. Not 
 so in Russia. The gospel is preached there, and the sacraments 
 administered in a language understood by the people. 
 
 In Russia a priest is obliged to marry. If a deacon's wife dies, 
 he cannot be made a priest ; he must either become a monk, or 
 remain a deacon. 
 
 The count was very much struck by the French school of young 
 men in Corfu, and regarded it as a most melancholy sign. 
 
 The young ladies made themselves exceedingly agreeable : 
 like all Russians, their knowledge of languages is endless. They 
 speak English beautifully. " Are you chaplain to the regiment ? " 
 asked one. " How can men do well without each knowing their 
 priest, and having his spiritual wants supplied ? I suppose you 
 will speak to the Government and have this arranged when you go 
 to England ! " 
 
 Count Tolstoy spoke with great horror of our admission of 
 Jews into Parliament, and asked me whether it could be true (as 
 was alleged) that any of our Bishops would vote for the Jew Bill. 
 
 Spoke with surprise of Hampden's appointment, and the 
 degradation of our Church to the State.
 
 CLERGY IN RUSSIA. 53 
 
 A Prince Mouriisie on board appeared to be a person worth 
 discovering. Of a wealthy Moldavian family, he had been expelled 
 from his country just now for leading in a movement, not for a 
 republic, but simply for a constitutional administration of his 
 country's laws. He states what is remarkable that nothing 
 gains such ground in his country among the better classes, as that 
 loose French literature which leads to infidelity. . . . 
 
 May 25. Came on deck about eleven, and had a long talk 
 with Madame Apraxia, a most delightful person. She had con- 
 ceived quite erroneous views about the relation of Greeks and 
 English at Corfu. Explained that the Greek. Society had made 
 itself distasteful to the English, and the English mutually so to 
 the Greeks, on account of many circumstances in private life 
 which would not bear repetition ; that there were faults on both 
 sides for which no mere external results were sufficient to account. 
 Explained also the nature of the power of veto which the Ionian 
 Government exercise upon the selection of a Bishop by the clergy, 
 and suggested how wholesome it was, considering the station 
 and attainments of the electors. 
 
 She spoke most enthusiastically of her own Church in Russia, 
 and with excessive horror of the processions and worship of relics 
 in Corfu "tout a fait a la Romaine" and disclaiming it entirely 
 for Russia ! 
 
 Education in Russia for the priesthood very complete. Five 
 years at the Seminaire, of which there is one in each province, 
 and ten at the Academic, of which there are five Petersburg, 
 Moscow, Kief, Kassan, and Kharschoff. 
 
 Often consecrated deacon and priest in one day. 
 
 Towards afternoon a strange steamer came in sight, bearing a 
 red flag, or a black one on the main. She fired metre guns at us, 
 and seemed bearing down rapidly upon us. We put on steam 
 and got out of her way. The captain was dreadfully alarmed, 
 and did not seem to know what to do. The suspicions are that 
 she was a Genoese, and we did wisely to get away ! 
 
 May 26. Awoke about seven by the stopping of the steamer. 
 A fishing-boat astern came to announce to us the pleasing intelli-
 
 54 POLA. 
 
 gence that Trieste was blockaded, and that our orders from the 
 Austrian Lloyd's were to go into Pola and remain there; that 
 the united Genoese, Sardinian, and Venetian fleets were on the 
 look-out to take up all the Austrian steamers they could find, and 
 that on no account we must risk our packet, which for making a 
 defence was in as helpless a position as can well be conceived. 
 It seems to me, a great mistake sending us to Pola : we ought to 
 go up to Fiume, where there is secure anchorage, and the distance 
 from Trieste much shorter. However, go we must ! 
 
 Reached Pola about nine o'clock, one of the most lovely bays 
 imaginable. Full of beautiful little islands, and crowned by the 
 most magnificent ruin conceivable an Amphitheatre larger than 
 the Coliseum at Rome, or than that at Verona, built by Augustus ; 
 it is the attraction, of course, to this place, interesting as it is on 
 account of its historical associations, as old as Jason and the 
 Golden Fleece. 
 
 After breakfast, visited all the lions. Temple of Augustus and 
 Roma a most beautiful little ruin, perfect and rich beyond ex- 
 pression. Temple of Diana not so perfect, and apparently so 
 disfigured by Venetian renovation, as to have lost its original 
 character. The Amphitheatre the sight of the whole ; stupendous 
 effect ; scale magnificent ; perfect in all its arches, and sufficiently 
 preserved in all its interior proportions. A gateway very elegant, 
 recently discovered, and not mentioned by Murray. The "Porta 
 Aurea " a most beautiful triumphal arch of the same age with the 
 Amphitheatre. We then walked to the site of the ancient city; a 
 mere plain, with not so much as a stone upon it. 
 
 May 27. Dressed this morning earlier than usual and went 
 ashore. Spent half an hour in the cathedral most calmly. With 
 my own Prayer-Book, the early English windows, the narrow 
 chancel, and the short transepts, I could have imagined myself in 
 an English country church. Felt, in spite of our divisions, that 
 the house of God, in whatever land, was a home. 
 
 Returning to the steamer, I found Count Tolstoy, Madame 
 Apraxia, and her daughter pushing off to go to church ; having 
 discovered that there was an Oriental church in the town, pre-
 
 PEVOI. 55 
 
 sided over by a Sclavonic priest. I had mentioned to the count 
 the interest I took in these matters, and we had arranged to visit 
 this church together. However, on his return to the ship he told 
 me that he had not found the priest, who lived at a village called 
 Pevoi, eight miles distant, and to whom, therefore, it would be 
 interesting to pay a visit. The count having ordered the only 
 available carriage in the place a primitive cart, made of a few 
 unworked larch spars, and drawn by two rough ponies we made a 
 start. The count was a delightful companion, and the country 
 most lovely. Vineyards on all sides, and highly cultivated fields, 
 betokened an industry in the inhabitants which I greatly envied 
 for the not less favoured natives of my own Corfu. 
 
 The count is the warmest Churchman I ever met All his 
 whole soul is centred in this subject, and all his conversation leads 
 to its interests and concerns. Our conversation took a general 
 turn. Lamented bitterly the vaunt, often too justly made, that the 
 followers of Mahomed were more virtuous and devoted than the 
 disciples of Christ. The count believes this accounted for by 
 ascribing it to the devil's agency. Mahomedans very nume- 
 rous in Russia, especially in Chassau, the natives of which are 
 very much to Russia what the Moors are to Spain. The bond of 
 unity, he said, is much stronger in attaching Orientals to the 
 Church and to each other, than among the Western Christians, 
 partly probably because of the continued persecutions, which must 
 sharpen the feeling of mutual love in those who have equally to 
 share them. Russia the only country in which the Orthodox Church 
 of the East is triumphant ; and Nicholas, being the only orthodox 
 monarch in Christendom, is prayed for by all the orthodox Christians 
 at Antioch and Jerusalem, as well as at Petersburg and Moscow. 
 
 We drew near to Pevoi, and soon found an affecting illustration 
 of our conversation. 
 
 This is a remarkable village. Alone in Idria it unanimously 
 adheres to the orthodox Eastern Church, and preserves the Illyric 
 language, which approximates very closely to the Sclavonic, of 
 which indeed it is but a dialect. I was struck by the evident 
 shame with which the Roman Catholic inhabitants of this immc-
 
 56 SCLAVONIC PEASANTS. 
 
 diate neighbourhood regard the Illyric. They speak Italian, and 
 will not allow that they know any other ! Not so the simple 
 Pevoites. Murray speaks of them as a Greek colony. They are 
 no such thing, nor does their costume or manner in the least 
 resemble Greek. They have no connection with Greece whatever. 
 They are Sclavi, and were originally bred upon the soil, and remain 
 a witness to this day against the apostacy of their country, upon 
 which no doubt Roman and Venetian influence has done its work. 
 We had some reason to doubt, at one part of the road, whether 
 our voiturier was not misleading us : and getting out of the car- 
 riage, we accosted two poor women tending their few sheep in the 
 green lane. The count spoke to them in the Sclavonic tongue, 
 and it was delicious to see their bright eyes beam love upon him 
 as he uttered the words, " Are you faithful Christians of the Holy 
 Orthodox Oriental Church of Christ ? " They instantly made the 
 sign of the cross according to the Eastern mode, and replied, 
 " We are faithful Christians of the Holy Orthodox Church of 
 Christ by the grace of God ! " " And Sclave ? " added the count. 
 "Sclave," they replied. "And I am so also," he continued, 
 " a Russian, and am come to wish you God-speed." The women 
 burst into tears, and would have embraced him had he permitted 
 them! "Voila" he turned to me "voila, c'est la force de 
 1'Eglise ! " It certainly was a touching scene, and I sighed within 
 me for some better evidence of such a bond among ourselves, 
 than the cold, heartless, and unreal profession which makes us but 
 brethren in name. These women directed our steps .aright, and 
 we were soon in the village. We instantly sought out the priest, 
 and found him a right hearty, good-looking old gentleman, in the 
 best possible state of bodily preservation. He was dressed in a 
 blue cassock with a crimson band, a skull-cap, and had a grey 
 flowing beard. He welcomed us with no less affection than the 
 poor women. To me, as a priest of the English Church, he was 
 exceedingly kind, and said in Italian (for we conversed in that 
 language) how much it gratified him to make the acquaintance of 
 a priest of that Church, to the honour of which he had heard so 
 much. It seemed, however, to delight him most (as I have always
 
 MARRIAGE. 57 
 
 observed in the Greek priests) to feel and know that I was not a 
 Romanist. He addressed me always as " Reverendissimo " ! 
 Soon we had all the Church books and holy vessels, and all the 
 things appertaining to the sanctuary, upon the table, and I was 
 delighted with all. The holy vessels were handsome and plain 
 great beauty, but no tawdriness ; and what pleased me most, the 
 Holy Gospels were reduced to the language which the people 
 spoke and could understand. The old priest dwelt to me with 
 much emphasis upon his rejection of the word hostia, and his 
 preservation of the unmutilated Sacrament of the Body and 
 Blood of our Lord. We adjourned to the church, where all 
 things, much simpler and more decent than in the Ionian Isles, 
 pleased me greatly. He catechizes the children of his parish, and 
 has a good school two important facts which one looks for in 
 vain either in Greece or in the islands of the Ionian republic. 
 The good man's hospitality was not confined to kind words. He 
 produced some delicious muscat, made from his own vines and by 
 himself, and called, from its exquisite flavour of roses, " Vino di 
 Rose." He insisted, moreover, after the manner of the East, on 
 giving us coffee, but we escaped on condition of taking with us a 
 bottle of his favourite wine. 
 
 Our voiturier proved rather a good specimen of the cautious 
 Austrian. I asked him on which side he was, but he would not 
 understand my question. At last, putting it to him in the very 
 most direct way, whether he preferred the Austrian, or would 
 choose the Italian Government, he simply replied, " Si dice che ci 
 sara un' altra potenza qui." " Non e vero," I said, " ma se ci sia, 
 sara molto peggio per voi." He seemed for an instant to sup- 
 pose I had said buono, and seemed delighted with the sentiment ; 
 but on my repeating peggio very strongly, he said, " Ah, peggio. 
 Si, si, sicuro peggio anch' io penso cosi." His real opinion 
 evidently was the other way. 
 
 Early in June Mr. Skinner arrived in England. 
 
 We were married on July 18, 1848 (Mrs. Skinner wrote), and I 
 became his blessed, happy wife. The summer was spent in Scot-
 
 58 RETURN TO CORFU. 
 
 land and different parts of England among his relations and mine, 
 and in November we found ourselves in our lovely home at 
 Corfu. His life, as regards his work, was much the same after his 
 marriage as it was before. I remember quite well being struck by 
 the marks of love and respect shown to him by the soldiers. 
 Many years after this time (I think in the summer of 1859 or 
 1860), as we were walking in St. James's Park, a soldier saluted 
 my husband from his sentry-box, the noise of his musket attract- 
 ing our attention. We stopped, and then the man said, "You 
 were my chaplain, sir, at Corfu ; " and his whole face glowed with 
 pleasure. 
 
 In the early spring of 1849, my husband had several very 
 severe attacks of quinsy, one of these bringing him nearly to 
 death's door. All the following summer he was much out of 
 health, but he worked on, never sparing himself even in the hottest 
 weather. By this time the garrison church in the citadel was 
 completed : it was never consecrated, only licensed by the Bishop 
 of Gibraltar. My husband now increased the services, so as to 
 give the soldiers the opportunity of coming voluntarily to some of 
 them. The regiments were only required to attend church once 
 on Sunday, and that in the morning, and this was the only service 
 (except an early one at Vido) that the chaplain was required to 
 give. But my husband had an afternoon service every Sunday, 
 and also week-day services in the evening, with sermons or instruc- 
 tions during Advent and Lent, which were well attended, and on 
 Saints' Days. He also had communicant classes frequently, both 
 for the soldiers and for their wives, at his own house. 
 
 His home life was one of almost ideal happiness and 
 brightness. To his brother George, who three years pre- 
 viously had married Margaretta, eldest daughter of Mr. 
 Raymond, he writes, on New Year's Day, 1 849 : 
 
 All the signs and tokens of Christmas joy which we see around 
 us here, different as many of them are, recall to our memories the 
 blessings and happy gifts of that happy time as we knew it at
 
 ^NEW-YEAR CEREMONIES. 59 
 
 Middleton, and among the circle of those we loved most on earth. 
 And the greatest joy of all, to absentees such as we, is this : that 
 in those circles of loved ones, which go on gathering round the 
 paternal hearth, first missing one, and then another of its members 
 year by year, we are not forgotten. Though absent in body, we are 
 present in spirit, and the chords of Christian love answer to each 
 other in all our hearts, as if no separation between us were known. 
 My dearest George and Maggie, may this return of another year 
 be to you and your pets the foretaste of many, many happy years 
 to come ! God will make us happy in His own way. That is 
 better than our way. Though, therefore, you may have your 
 sorrows and your trials, you will haply be the rather happy. And 
 so I pray for you, not that you may have all the future as you 
 may wish it, but that your future may be happy, as God wills and 
 works for the enduring comfort and joy of all who love Him. 
 
 This has been an eventful year which has just passed to me 
 an especially eventful year. Blessings have preponderated in my 
 cup, as they do, I think, in the lot of most of us, if we are candid. 
 Now do you, my dear brother and sister, pray for me that the 
 year I have entered upon to-day may be a year of gratitude to 
 God, and the benefactors He has raised up for me, and that I may 
 show my gratitude and love in obedience. . . . 
 
 Two or three letters from the young wife to her mother 
 give so vivid a description of the quasi viceroyalty at Corfu 
 while still connected with England, that they are inserted 
 here. 
 
 New Year's Day, 1849. 
 
 The ist of January is the anniversary here of the Constitution 
 of the United Ionian States, and is a very grand day. Lord 
 Seaton holds a levee, at which all the Greek and Romish clergy, the 
 gentlemen of the town, the officers and senators, Greek and Eng- 
 lish, attend. Sometimes Lady Seaton asks a few ladies to witness 
 the proceedings from a gallery in the state-room, and I was asked 
 and went with Mrs. Walpole. It was rather an absurd sight, because 
 there is so much form and fuss about nothing. The levee is held
 
 60 ASCENSION-DAY " FESTA" 
 
 at eleven o'clock. Lord Seaton in a most splendid uniform, and 
 completely covered with orders and medals, stands in the room 
 surrounded by all the principal people of the place ; he represent- 
 ing the British sovereign, and they the English court. James 
 (representing, I suppose, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York 
 at least, if not the whole bench of Bishops, English and Irish !) 
 stood on one side in his full canonicals, his tights and silk stock- 
 ings, with blazing buckles on his shoes. 
 
 Then all the staff officers and other great men stand round, all 
 splendidly dressed. When the court is quite arranged, the scene 
 begins, and every one who likes to come and bow to the Lord 
 High Commissioner does come, and when the bow is made, the 
 bower walks out of the room through another door ; and so, when 
 every one who intends to come has come and is gone, Lord 
 Seaton bows to his court and immediately retires to recover, I 
 should imagine, the crick in his neck occasioned by such continual 
 bowing ! It did my heart good to hear the fine band playing the 
 English national airs, "God save the Queen," "Rule Britannia," 
 etc., and my chief amusement consisted in observing the awkward 
 bows and scrapings of some of the unfortunate men, who evidently 
 did not know what to do with either their heads, arms, or legs. 
 
 May 29, 1849. 
 
 The Greek Ascension Day is, like their Easter, one week 
 later than ours, so last Thursday was their Festa, and it is the 
 festa of the year. In the morning they all go to church, and as 
 usual I found that Pierro had gone at four o'clock in the morning. 
 The afternoon is devoted to rejoicings of a more worldly turn. 
 About two miles out of the town is a beautiful place called 
 Ascension ; it is a pretty village, consisting of but few cottages, 
 but a beautiful olive grove on a cliff just above the blue sea. To 
 this place on Ascension Day all the Greek peasants repair, and 
 spend the day in roasting lambs whole (I saw about ten at one 
 fire!), eating, drinking, singing, dancing, and fiddling. The 
 country women, some coming from immense distances, appear in 
 the gayest and richest costumes, and women who on other days
 
 THE " ROMAIKA." 6l 
 
 nave to work in the fields and wear the coarsest clothing, on this 
 day come out arrayed in the richest Genoa-embroidered velvet 
 and real gold ornaments. Several of them had no less than six 
 or seven heavy gold chains round their necks, and their fingers 
 covered with rings, some as large as a half-crown piece, roughly 
 set, but very fine stones. They would scorn to wear imitations, 
 and work hard and save all to buy this festa finery. The richest 
 dresses look the oldest, and, I am told, have been handed down 
 from generation to generation as heirlooms. The prettiest and 
 most amusing sight was to see the peasants dance the Romaika. 
 They stand in a circle, the men on one side and the women on 
 the other, each person holding the end of a handkerchief, by 
 which means the circle is united. Then they- dance round very 
 slowly to the music of two fiddles, the fiddlers standing in the 
 centre of the circle, which play a very monotonous tune, and both 
 dancers and fiddlers look as intensely grave as though it were the 
 most important moment of their lives, and perhaps their gravity 
 is the most ridiculous part of the scene. Everybody in Corfu 
 goes out to see the Festa, some in boats and some in carriages, 
 and certainly it is a pretty sight. We went and returned by water, 
 taking Paraskevi with us, who was dressed in a lilac barege dress, 
 white shawl, and drawn white muslin bonnet with pink flowers 
 inside ! J3be, had brushed her hair till it shone like a raven's wing, 
 and had washed her bronzed face till that shone again like a brass 
 pan. However, I must say she had managed to arrange her 
 dress very becomingly, and I am so really fond of the dear little 
 creature that I can overlook this one weakness, love of finery. 
 
 June 7, 1849. 
 
 The new Lord High Commissioner, Mr. Ward, is come, and 
 Lord Seaton is gone. This is a matter of great regret to the 
 majority of the people here. . . . On Friday we went to take leave. 
 It was most affecting. , , , But the sight on Saturday was the most 
 imposing I ever witnessed, and so touching that I am sure I have 
 not cried so much since I left England. But I must tell you, 
 what will interest you perhaps as much as anything to hear, that
 
 02 DEPARTURE OF LORD SEATON. 
 
 in the morning, when James went to take leave, Lord Seaton's 
 manner was most warm and friendly to him, and on parting he 
 said, " I must again repeat what I have often had occasion to 
 remark, that you are the best military chaplain I ever met with, 
 and I have had a good deal of experience. You know the way 
 to gain a soldier, and I highly approve of all you have done and 
 are doing here." Was not this pleasing, dearest mother? . . . 
 But I must now tell you of the departure. The steamer which 
 was to take them to Trieste lay exactly opposite my windows, 
 about half a mile from the shore, and the place where the party 
 would take the boat is exactly under my windows, so I could not 
 have been better situated to see the whole procession than on my 
 own balcony. . . . The scene was a heartrending one. It was just 
 like a funeral ; everybody with such a long face, and many in 
 floods of tears, sobbing and crying. The crowd under our 
 windows was immense, and the sea seemed alive with boats filled 
 with people. At last the palace party, preceded by an awful 
 cloud of dust, and a mob of people running to get good places on 
 the sea-wall, made its way towards the boat. It was a large pro- 
 cession, but of course the principal actors in the scene were Lord 
 and Lady Seaton, their three sons and three daughters. They 
 walked quickly, the ladies with their veils down, and Lord Seaton 
 bowing to all around, who set up a deafening cheer. ... As soon 
 as he set his foot on the boat, the cannons began firing, and the 
 Greek and English bands played "God save the Queen." It 
 sounded so beautifully off the water; but it was when the band 
 struck up " Should auld acquaintance be forgot," that every eye 
 was moistened, and here the cheering was immense it echoed 
 again from the rocks ; and through the telescope I could see how 
 deeply affected poor Lady Seaton and the Miss Colbornes were. 
 Lord Seaton stood up in the boat, bowing to all around, and as 
 it neared the steamer the shouting seemed to increase. I saw 
 people crying as if they had lost their dearest friend, and I think 
 James and I were among the worst ! However, it came to an end 
 at last. A great many people accompanied them to and got on 
 board the steamer, but these, too, were obliged to tear themselves
 
 FAILURE OF HEALTH. 63 
 
 away. The noise and cheering and shouting "Adieu, adieu" did 
 not cease till the steamer was fairly on her way, and for myself I 
 watched till it had got many miles away. As soon as ever they 
 were fairly off, the guns began firing again for Mr. Ward, who, 
 until Lord Seaton had really vacated, could not be saluted as 
 Lord High Commissioner. 
 
 The happiness of the home at Corfu was completed by 
 the birth of a little daughter on November 4, 1849. It ' ls 
 touching, remembering the end, to read the newly made 
 father's words of thankful delight, and his playful descrip- 
 tion of her who was to be his only child. 
 
 My heart is too full of joy and gratitude (he writes to Mrs. 
 Raymond) to trust myself to words, when I would tell of God's 
 love and goodness and my own unworthiness. Pray for me that 
 I may love and serve Him better, and so shall the praise I owe 
 Him be the more acceptable in His pure and holy eyes. And 
 now I will tell you of my precious little gem, the future " Agnes 
 Raymond " for so, after that name which I have loved so long 
 and faithfully, she is to be called. / could swear it before the 
 justice, there never was such a child born ! A perfect beauty ! She 
 promises to be lusty and strong, and of an easy temper ; so at 
 least I think, for she goes to sleep with as much coolness and 
 composure, as if the world could go on without her. In fact, a 
 new and irresistible reason has grown up why I should try to get 
 home, and find employment out of a garrison town. 
 
 Without any exaggeration, she is one of the very loveliest 
 babies that ever was born, and whether she pleases other people 
 or no, she pleases her papa and mamma, and makes them pray, 
 with deep and earnest prayer, that she may grow up good which 
 is better than beautiful steadfast in faith, and rooted in charity, 
 and that she may so pass the waves of this troublesome world, 
 as finally to reach the land of everlasting rest. 
 
 In the spring of 1850 Mr. Skinner's health again broke 
 down and at times he was utterly unfit for his work. His
 
 64 RESIGNATION OF CHAPLAINCY. 
 
 doctor declared that he could not, without great risk, venture 
 on another hot season at Corfu ; and his friends in Eng- 
 land, being most anxious that he should return home, 
 made every effort to find some work for him in this 
 country. At that time the incumbency of the Episcopal 
 church of St. Mary's, Glasgow, was vacant. Mr. Skinner 
 was known to some of the trustees, and, as there seemed, 
 to be no doubt of their unanimously electing him, and that 
 the Bishop of Glasgow pressed him to accept the post, he 
 left Corfu in May, 1850, with the hope of undertaking work 
 in his native land. 
 
 There are a few lines in his handwriting of parting 
 counsel to his soldiers : 
 
 One word more and I have done. 
 
 There are some here to whom I now speak for the last time. 
 That is a solemn thought, for it involves the humbling reflection 
 that next time we meet, it may be to give in our accounts before 
 the tribunal of God. May God's blessing go with you, and bring 
 you safely through all the changes and chances of this restless 
 world. But let the warning of this season upon which we are 
 about to enter be told, and let my last caution to you be remem- 
 bered. A man must either deny or indulge himself. There is 
 no middle or indifferent state. The not denying is indulgence. 
 It is throwing the reins on the neck of his lusts, though he may 
 lack the boldness to set the spur. O my men, positive sins 
 gather and fester in the untended moral habit before you are 
 aware that they have so much as gained an entrance. It may be 
 you do not seek the sin ; you may not be forward in the temptation ; 
 you may not invite it. You may be minded not to indulge it ; 
 you may even be troubled at its approach ; but if you do not deny 
 it, the plague spot will fasten upon you and bring you to ruin. 
 
 Out of small beginnings such as these there often issue such 
 settled sins as turn men back from following Christ for ever ! 
 
 May God in His mercy save you from such a fate!
 
 RETURN TO ENGLAND. 65 
 
 Of one thing I am quite sure (Mr. Gleig writes), that his 
 retirement from the service was a great grief to me, both because 
 I felt that the army lost thereby an able chaplain, and because the 
 reasons which induced him to take the steps seemed to me, at 
 the moment, inadequate. . . . The last time we met was at Alder- 
 shot, where he visited his son-in-law,* Mr. Fisher, I think in the 
 year 1874. He then looked ill and worn, but retained all the fire 
 and vigour of mind which distinguished him through life. He 
 was a noble fellow; a little too stern, in my opinion, as a 
 Churchman for the age in which he was born, but worthy of all 
 esteem as a man of the purest life and most unbending principle. 
 
 Through his zeal, activity, constant attention, and able instruc- 
 tion, the conduct of the regiments was much improved under his 
 charge at Corfu. 
 
 The late venerable Field Marshal Lord Seaton wrote, 
 on September I, 1849 : 
 
 I believe no chaplain ever discharged his duties with greater 
 profit to the soldiers than he did during the time I was in 
 command on that station. 
 
 But it seemed as if, through life, he was ever to sow the 
 seed which others were to reap. He went to Glasgow on 
 reaching England, but after every arrangement had been 
 made for his becoming Incumbent of St. Mary's, where he 
 \vould have had a large field of missionary labour, he became 
 so ill that all hopes of his undertaking the post had to be 
 abandoned, and it seemed most doubtful whether he would 
 ever be fit for work again. 
 
 It was necessary that he should undergo some regular 
 medical treatment, and, with his wife and child, he took up 
 his quarters in London. 
 
 * His nepheio-\s\-\x i ft.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ST. BARNABAS', PIMLICO. 
 
 1851, 1852. 
 
 "*O che sant' uomo, ma che tormento!' diceva tra se Don Abbonclio. 
 ' Tutti questi santi sono ostinati.' " 
 
 ST. PAUL'S, Knightsbridge, the mother church of St. Bar- 
 nabas', Pimlico, is itself a new church, the first stone having 
 been laid in November, 1840. The district attached to it, 
 taken from the parishes of St. George's, Hanover Square, 
 and St. Peter's, Eaton Square, was formed into a benefice 
 distinct in itself, and invested with a completely parochial 
 character in things ecclesiastical. It consists of a long 
 narrow strip of land, about a mile and a quarter long, 
 running from Hyde Park down to the Thames, near Chelsea 
 Hospital, containing, in 1840, a population, at the lowest 
 estimate, of twelve thousand. Of these a large number 
 were amongst the first in London, as to rank, riches, and 
 education, while a far larger number were amongst the 
 poorest and most neglected. 
 
 Where was the man to be found who could deal wisely 
 with both rich and poor, and bring a powerful influence to 
 bear upon important work in the new district? Bishop 
 Blomfield, with whom the appointment lay, chose for this
 
 REV. W. J. E. BENNETT. 6/ 
 
 post the Rev. W. J. E. Bennett, then Minister of Portman 
 Chapel, Baker Street " Mind you make a good Churchman 
 of Lord John Russell," the Bishop said, when sending the 
 new incumbent to his charge. " I'll try," was Mr. Bennett's 
 answer. He went to St. Paul's possessing the Bishop's 
 entire confidence, and earnestly desiring to carry out his 
 wishes. " I hope I shall do as you would desire," he said 
 to the Bishop, " but if at any time you should be displeased 
 by my line of action, / promise you that I will resign my 
 benefice" His ministry at St. Paul's began in 1843, when 
 the new church was consecrated at a critical and important 
 moment. For in the preceding year the Bishop of London 
 had given the famous Charge by which, on the whole, he 
 set the seal of his approval on the Tractarian movement 
 We have seen, in Mr. Froude's letter, how the first seeds 
 of this movement were sown ; now for nine years it had 
 grown vigorously, its teachers filling churches and pulpits, 
 and laying hold of the hearts of men. And then, to use 
 Mr. Bennett's own words, "just when the revival was at 
 the height of its popularity, without any of the fears or 
 jealousies which subsequently molested it, the Bishop of 
 London, in his Charge of 1 842, thought fit to introduce it to 
 the observance of the clergy in terms of general approba- 
 tion." Speaking of the celebration of divine service, the 
 rubrics and canons, Bishop Blomfield used these words : 
 
 Now, it is impossible to deny that a great degree of laxity has 
 crept over us in this matter, and we are much indebted to those 
 learned and pious men who have forcibly recalled our attention to 
 a branch of duty too imperfectly performed. In some instances, 
 indeed, they have gone beyond the line of duty and of prudence, 
 in recommending or practising ceremonies and forms not autho- 
 rized by their own Church, and in ascribing to others an import-
 
 63 BISHOP BLOMFIELVS CHARGE. 
 
 ance which does not properly belong to them ; but there can be 
 no doubt of their having mainly contributed to the progress which 
 has been made during the last few years towards a full and exact 
 observance of the Church's rubrical injunctions, as well as to a 
 better understanding of the foundations and proportions of her 
 polity, and the nature and value of her discipline. . . . The truth 
 is, reverend brethren, that until the Church's intentions are com- 
 pletely fulfilled, as to her ritual, we do not know what the Church 
 really is, nor what she is capable of effecting. It is the instrument 
 by which she seeks to realize and apply her doctrines ; and the 
 integrity and purity of the one may, as to their effect be marred 
 and hindered, in what degree we know not, by a defective obser- 
 vance of the other. 
 
 Bishop Blomfield's Charge was the spark which kindled 
 materials ready and prepared into such a fire as he had 
 little thought of. 
 
 But upon none could his words have fallen with greater 
 effect than upon the young Incumbent of St. Paul's. His 
 heart grew warm towards the system of church restoration 
 so prominently put forward ; his reason was convinced, his 
 determination was fixed, and he was one with whom no 
 wavering was possible, either in principle or action. He 
 came to his new work fresh and ardent, resolved, in a 
 new church and with a new congregation, to carry out 
 the line of action suggested by the Bishop's Charge. 
 
 And seldom can any priest have met with so hearty and 
 joyous and affectionate a response from his flock, or left 
 a deeper mark behind him. But his very success in 
 influencing the educated made him the rather turn to the 
 poor and ignorant, who were in danger of being crowded 
 out of St. Paul's. About six thousand of these lived in the 
 district adjoining Chelsea Hospital, and at the furthest
 
 SIR. BENNETT'S APPEAL. 69 
 
 distance from the church : two thousand poor children 
 needed education, and there was room but for four hundred. 
 Mr. Bennett, therefore, set before his richer parishioners the 
 duty of providing church and schools for this poorer district, 
 at the cost of at least .14,000. He wrote them a letter 
 which even now, as one reads it, stirs the heart like a 
 trumpet note. After telling them the facts of the case, he 
 said : 
 
 The existence of this poor population now immediately 
 around you depends entirely upon yourselves. You are the 
 indirect creators of it. It is you that have brought them here, 
 from the magnificent dwellings in which you live, and the horses 
 and carriages which you keep, and the many servants whom you 
 require to minister to your wants. Belgrave Square, Eaton Place, 
 Chesham Place, and Lowndes Street, with others of the like 
 grandeur and comfort of dwelling, is the cause of Ebury Street, 
 and Queen Street, and Clifford's Row, and New Grosvenor Place 
 being filled with a population of poor men, women, and children 
 striving, labouring men, working from hand to mouth, day by day, 
 to sustain life. . . . Come with me into the lanes and streets of 
 this great city. Come with me and visit the dens of infamy, and 
 the haunts of vice, ignorance, filth, and atheism, with which it 
 abounds. Come with me and read the story of Dives and 
 Lazarus. Come with me and turn over the pages of the Holy 
 Book, by whose precepts your lives are, at least, in theory guided. 
 Then look at your noble houses, and the trappings of your 
 equipages, the gold that glitters on your sideboards, and the 
 jewels that gleam on your bosoms ; then say within your secret 
 conscience, as standing before the great and terrible God at the 
 day of judgment, What shall I do if I give not of the one, to 
 relieve the other? 
 
 Only one answer could be made to such words from a 
 man who held the hearts of his parishioners in his hand
 
 70 CONSECRATION OF ST. BARNABAS\ 
 
 in 1847 the first stone of St. Barnabas' Church was laid. 
 On St. Barnabas' Day, 1850, it was consecrated by the 
 Bishop of London, who up to this time was kind and 
 cordial in every way, and Mr. Bennett took up his residence 
 in the Clergy House adjoining the church, in order to live 
 amongst the poor. 
 
 Of course, such an aggression on old days of sloth and 
 negligence could not take place without a storm being 
 aroused. As early as January, 1 847, the Bishop wrote to 
 Mr. Bennett, saying, " I send you a letter which I have 
 received to-day. ... I really fear that you are carrying 
 things too far." The letter sent is too curious a specimen of 
 the complaints made nearly forty years ago to be omitted. 
 
 Knightsbridge, January 7, 1847. 
 
 MY LORD BISHOP, 
 
 As a resident Protestant of Knightsbridge, and an at- 
 tendant, with my numerous family, to (sic) St Paul's Church, 
 I have of late, with grief, witnessed those errors (as I conceive) 
 in the simple rules laid down in our reformed Established Church, 
 and which I am fearful would embue in my youthful family 
 Romish doctrine. We have, for the present, withdrawn ourselves 
 from attending the said church, and humbly implore your Lordship 
 to cause a searching investigation to (sic) the unhappy practices- 
 there, ere I return with my family to St Paul's. 
 
 I am, my Lord Bishop, your obedient servant, 
 
 WILLIAM ROBERTS. 
 
 To the Bishop of London. 
 
 " William Roberts " was vainly sought for among Mr. 
 Bennett's parishioners, and his letter was probably one of 
 many written under fictitious names with reference to St. 
 Paul's. 
 
 But more powerful aid to the malcontents was at hand.
 
 THE '' DURHAM LETTER." 71 
 
 The publication of the Pope's Bull, dated September 24, 
 1850, endowing the Vicars Apostolic of the Roman Com- 
 munion in England with sees and titles, raised a storm of 
 popular indignation which broke over the heads of that 
 party in the Church which had all along been accused, more 
 or less, of favour towards the Church of Rome. Time has 
 proved that the storm which seemed to shake all Eng- 
 land was a mere passing scud, but all in authority were 
 influenced by what they considered impending dangers. 
 That the Bishop himself was alarmed as well as indignant, 
 there can be no doubt, while the Lord Mayor at his feast, 
 the Lord Chancellor his guest, counties and parishes in 
 their meetings, all combined together, and fed the flame 
 and catered to the popular will. Especially a letter from 
 the Prime Minister, Lord John Russell, to the Bishop of 
 Durham, described a certain party in the Church of Eng- 
 land in terms so bitter, so clever, and so plainly directed 
 against the movement in his own parish, that it was pretty- 
 sure to draw down the worst of the storm on St. Barnabas' 
 Church, its clergy, and congregation. And so it proved. 
 On November 10, 1850, the "St. Barnabas' riots" broke 
 out, an infuriated mob filling the church and ruling in the 
 street. The police, the special constables, the entreaties 
 of the congregation could not restrain or keep them off; 
 while no word was said in deprecation of such scenes either 
 by Prime Minister, Home Secretary, police magistrate, or 
 Bishop. The latter yielded to the storm, and after a long 
 correspondence with Mr. Bennett, in which he tried to 
 induce him to take the same course, he wrote to him on 
 November 27, saying that unless he could comply, sim- 
 pliciter and ex animo, with certain requisitions, he must call
 
 72 PARISHIONERS OF ST. PAUL'S. 
 
 upon him to fulfil his offer of retiring from a charge which 
 the Bishop thought he could not continue to hold without 
 great injury to the Church. 
 
 It is impossible, even at this distance of time, to read 
 without a burning heart the documents which give the 
 story of those days, especially of the persevering, almost 
 passionate, endeavours of the parishioners to retain the 
 pastor who had gained their enthusiastic affection and con- 
 fidence. A " committee of the poor " was formed to co- 
 operate with the " general committee," and a letter of the 
 parishioners, signed by Sir John Harington as chairman, 
 was sent to the Bishop of London, in the third paragraph 
 of which he was entreated to specify what he wished to be 
 altered, omitted, or supplied in the services at St. Paul's and 
 St. Barnabas'. 
 
 We ask for this information (the letter continued) because, 
 considering the important interests which this removal of Mr. 
 Bennett from this parish involves, we are determined, with the 
 least possible delay, to take the best legal advice as to the means 
 of trying in the Ecclesiastical Courts those questions for which 
 your Lordship has pronounced Mr. Bennett to be " unfaithful to 
 the Church of England." 
 
 The reply to the letter was as follows : 
 
 Fulham Palace, January 16, 1851. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 The Bishop of London has directed me to state, in 
 answer to your letter of the i3th instant, addressed to him "on 
 behalf of the parishioners, etc., " that he declines acceding to the 
 request contained in the third paragraph of that letter. 
 
 I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant, 
 
 W. G. HUMPHREY. 
 
 Sir John E. Harington, Bart. ; J. H. Gibson, Esq.
 
 RESIGNATION OF MR. BENNETT. 73 
 
 Nor were the parishioners more successful in their 
 entreaties to Mr. Bennett to delay his resignation until 
 the charges brought against him could be tried before a 
 lawful tribunal. He felt bound in honour to redeem- the 
 pledge which he had, perhaps hastily, given to the Bishop 
 when chosen by him as Incumbent of St. Paul's, and on 
 Lady Day, 1851, he resigned his charge and left St 
 Barnabas'. 
 
 The rivet that binds the resignation (he wrote to Sir John 
 Harington) is the Bishop's acceptance of it, and that, in his epis- 
 copal judgment, / am guilty of unfaithfulness to the Church of 
 England. ... Although we may be forcibly separated from each 
 other by what we cannot but consider an unjust decision of the 
 Bishop, the memory of our struggle during the last few months 
 for the freedom and privileges of our Church will never be erased 
 from my memory. 
 
 Mr. Bennett was thus forced to lay down his arms in 
 the very outset of an important struggle. What the final 
 judgment of Englishmen has been in the matter may be 
 seen in the present condition of the churches on which he 
 was the first to leave his mark, and in that of thousands 
 throughout the country which have been more or less 
 influenced by the spirit and the work which he introduced 
 into his parish. The Rev. and Hon. Robert Liddell was 
 appointed as his successor. A few days before entering on 
 his charge he wrote to Mr. Skinner : 
 
 Beckett Farringdon, March 20, 1851. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 Thank you very much for your most kind and most 
 Christian letter. It is a source of deep thankfulness and conso- 
 lation to me that I have been, by God's good providence, brought
 
 74 CURACY OF ST. BARNABAS'. 
 
 into contact with one who will prove to me so valuable a coadjutor 
 as yourself. 
 
 I need hardly add that I have, from the first moment of my 
 acquaintance with you, fully purposed to place my first curacy at 
 your disposal ; and I pray that God in His goodness may restore 
 you to your full strength. I will not on any account tax your 
 physical strength at present, beyond what your medical man and 
 your own feelings suggest as advisable. I shall have the aid of 
 your mind. . . . 
 
 Believe me, my dear sir, very truly yours, 
 
 ROBERT LIDDELL. 
 
 The riots had continued through the winter, and were 
 still in full force ; but Mr. Skinner was by .this time so 
 much restored in health that he did not hesitate to accept 
 a post in the very thick of the battle. He was longing to 
 be at work again, and on Lady Day, 1851, he became 
 Senior Curate of St. Barnabas'. The story of the next six 
 years' battle, ended victoriously by the Privy Council judg- 
 ment on March 21, 1857, has been briefly told in the Life 
 of Charles Lowder. It was written exactly two years ago, 
 in Mr. Skinner's house, gleaned from documents and letters 
 collected by him in the midst of mortal weakness and 
 suffering. They are still in the writer's possession, un- 
 touched, as when he left them ; but the difficulty of going 
 over the same ground, on different lines, is not lessened by 
 the mournful liberty which death has given to those whom 
 he loved and trusted. For he can no longer be appealed 
 to for information ; the ready help is gone, without which 
 the story of his friend's life could not have been told, 
 and there is no one left to do for him what he did for 
 another. 
 
 Yet his life at St. Barnabas' cannot be passed over. We
 
 LAWFUL FREEDOM. 75 
 
 cannot tell, while still walking amid the dim shadows of 
 earth, what has been really the most important part of a 
 man's work in this life. Only, from time to time, gleams 
 from another world seem to show us that the very work 
 and efforts of which he thought least himself, have been 
 the most powerful " to work a wonder little meant," and 
 that strength is never so perfected as in weakness. 
 
 But, humanly speaking, his work at this time was the 
 most important part of the earthly task given to James 
 Skinner ; for St. Barnabas' was just then in the very fore- 
 front of the English Church's battle, both for freedom to 
 worship God, and against the heathenism of London. If 
 the fortress most fiercely attacked had not been, in spite 
 of human failings, well and strongly held, the issue of 
 the battle all along the lines must have been seriously 
 changed. 
 
 The principle for which Mr. Skinner fought was freedom 
 to use all those lawful aids to devotion which he found in 
 existence at St. Barnabas', which the people earnestly 
 desired, and which he found actually of important use in 
 teaching the poor and ignorant. If he struggled with what 
 might seem even extreme pertinacity for some detail, it 
 was because he knew that to yield a number of small things 
 for no better reason than a vain effort to allay popular 
 outcry, was really to yield a great principle. He knew also 
 what the effect would be on his congregation, since men do 
 not work enthusiastically in irons. Much had to be learned, 
 and has been learned, since the days when rekindled faith 
 and reverence were seeking to find expression ; but all the 
 same, he fought a steadfast battle for law and Christian 
 liberty. He carried out in action what Bishop Blomfield
 
 76 LETTER TO MR. LIDDELL. 
 
 had laid down in his Charge, that ritual " is the instrument 
 by which she [the Church] seeks to realize and apply her 
 doctrines ; " and he contended against the spirit which 
 then, as now, would fain forbid to clergymen and their 
 congregations any expression of faith and reverence in 
 excess of that measure which alone seemed reasonable to 
 a certain number of Englishmen. 
 
 Writing to Mr. Liddell after a month's experience in his 
 new post, he says 
 
 If the work is to be done at all, it must be on some one dis- 
 tinct and complete principle, and by men whose energies are 
 warmed by one common spirit. 
 
 For myself, I am willing to give myself and all I have un- 
 reservedly to the service of the Church in this district, but before 
 I take the step of sacrificing all other prospects and positions, I 
 must see my way onward a little in this; there must be some 
 definite and decided understanding between yourself as incumbent 
 of the parish, and me as the responsible curate of this section 
 of it 
 
 Our duty to our parishioners does not seem to concern us with 
 what has gone before. The simple question is, Are their accus- 
 tomed privileges in respect of the spiritual and material constitution 
 of the Church of St Barnabas within the law and order of the 
 Book of Common Prayer? If they are not, cut them off; if they 
 are, keep them up. 
 
 I cannot but think that upon such a general basis as this \ve 
 might work on most successfully ; and, with a clear and defensible 
 principle before us, we should have a reasonable answer on every 
 side to him that asked us. 
 
 To take an instance or two. First, in a material point I will 
 pass over the cross on the altar, which is not decided, but will 
 shortly be settled probably, and the candlesticks, which are clearly 
 decided ; and I will take the change of coverings for the altar 
 table. The Church has ordained variety of seasons, and the
 
 USE OP RITUAL. 77 
 
 commemoration of saints and martyrs. She evidently, therefore, 
 enjoins us to teach their observance. 
 
 In this Church of St. Barnabas, the usage has been to turn the 
 order about a covering for the altar into a lesson ; not to make 
 that order a mere form, but to allow nothing in the church which 
 teaches nothing; to make the covering of the altar, therefore, 
 carry to the eye the same lesson which the announcement of the 
 minister before the sermon carries to the ear. The usage is nothing 
 but the fulfilment of the Church's order through another sense 
 which is very acute and susceptible, and, especially with the poor, 
 capable of most valuable service. 
 
 When the poor of St. Barnabas', therefore, see a white covering 
 on the altar, they remember that they are keeping some great feast 
 connected with our Blessed Lord's life and history. When they 
 see a red covering, they remember that they are commemorating 
 some glorious martyrdom, or keeping a feast of the Holy Ghost. 
 When the covering is green, they are reminded that the season is 
 ordinary ; when violet, that it is Lent ; when black, that it is a 
 funeral day, or the darkest day in the Church's year. Thus what 
 looks so trivial a direction of the Church's law becomes a great 
 help and remembrancer. We cannot afford to lose any helps to 
 devotion. The most fervent among us are not fervent enough. 
 
 But the altar-cloths of St. Barnabas' have an interest over and 
 above their usefulness. They have been offered solemnly to God 
 costly ornaments for His Board, for the use of a Free Church 
 chiefly designed for the poor ; deeply loved and valued, and prized 
 with an honest pride, by the poor, and by all who worship with 
 them. And the poor claim that their altar-cloths should not be 
 set aside ; that the same principle which allows their neighbours 
 to have a change of cloth on Good Friday, should suffer their 
 privilege of a change on Easter Day to be continued to them. 
 
 Now take the service. Is the choral mode a lawful mode, or 
 is it not ? 
 
 The usage of St. Barnabas' Church is choral. The use of it 
 in the mother churches of the country proves it to be our 
 Church's highest standard of worship. The people here have
 
 78 RIGHTS OF THE CONGREGATION. 
 
 been trained to that highest standard, and they claim to keep 
 where they have been trained. They claim not to be forced back. 
 
 It would be almost wicked in us, were it not impossible for us, 
 to attempt to stop this fervour and love of a warm and real and 
 hearty service to God. We may raise people's minds upwards 
 and onward, but we can never without danger drive them back- 
 ward and downward. 
 
 I would act in stern and uncompromising fidelity to the 
 Church's law. I would discountenance anything and everything 
 which savoured of unfaithfulness in the remotest measure to the 
 plain will of the Book of Common Prayer, and I would keep in 
 wholesome check through the pulpit all fervid and haply morbid 
 imaginations. But I would bear in mind that there will be always 
 more danger of false tones and forms of mind where there is no 
 vent afforded for every true and loyal and right and healthy feeling. 
 For myself, I am at your service. But I must know for certain 
 on what principle we are to work. For though I could go to- 
 morrow and work upward within the simplest cabin as a missionary 
 'mid an untrained multitude, without the comforts of a beautiful 
 church or rich chancel or choral service, I could not work a day 
 downward in such a district as this, where my first labour must 
 needs be to unteach the people the lesson of love and obedience 
 to the Prayer-Book which they have learnt so well. The same 
 line which would deter me from beginning choral service, or altar- 
 cloths, or surplice, or anything out of usage in any other parish, 
 would compel me to keep them here, where the true and highest 
 standard of our Church's law and practice has been established, 
 and is fixed in the hearts of the congregation. 
 
 This long letter has been given because it lays down, in 
 Mr. Skinner's own words, the lines upon which he fought ; 
 and it is not unprofitable to review the grounds of our 
 position, even now when those things are common in most 
 churches which at St. Barnabas aroused such fury amongst 
 the mob that order was only preserved during divine service
 
 MR. LIDDELDS POSITION. 79 
 
 by keeping a large body of gentlemen on the roll of sworn 
 special constables ; some of whom were posted Sunday 
 after Sunday by the chancel gates to prevent the ring- 
 leaders from breaking into the choir. Mr. Liddell's wish 
 was to remove the occasion for some of the outcry by sup- 
 pressing all practices at St. Barnabas' which exceeded those 
 in use at the mother church. In a letter to the Rev. H. 
 Montagu Villiers, ended but a few days before his death, 
 Mr. Skinner says 
 
 The deliberate choice of Mr. Liddell, after fifteen years at 
 Barking, to fill the post from which, in plain terms, Mr. Bennett 
 was dismissed, is ample evidence on the Bishop's part, not only of 
 the personal regard, but of the estimate, as to concessions to the 
 episcopal view of the difficulties of the position, with which the 
 new incumbent was credited at London House. It need hardly 
 be said, therefore, that when he entered upon the charge of SS. 
 Paul and Barnabas in March, 1851, at a time of intense anxiety 
 and distress in the parish, as well as of politico-religious excite- 
 ment in the country, he came blessed, and not a little em- 
 barrassed, by the confidence of Bishop Blomfield, whom from his 
 boyhood he had learnt to love and admire. . . . 
 
 The battle which began in 1850 was fought for the principle of 
 rites and ceremonies in public worship. . . . 
 
 The policy of the Bishop and, so far as they went, his instruc- 
 tions to Mr. Liddell were on the side of suppression, even in 
 things so obviously reasonable as choral service and the beautify- 
 ing of the holy place with flowers at high festivals ; and if Mr. 
 Liddell had been an instrument in his diocesan's hands, he might 
 very soon have effected the obliteration of Mr. Bennett's work, to 
 the general discontent, not of a party, but of the parish all round. 
 But his attitude being invariably like Orlando's in "As You Like It," 
 
 " Let gentleness my strong enforcement be " 
 
 he tided over each difficulty as it arose, and eventually overcame 
 it. ,
 
 SO ALTAR VESTMENTS. 
 
 I well remember his first opposition to my own administration 
 as his "Lieutenant" (so he always kindly called me) at St. 
 Barnabas'; and, as it illustrates his general line of loving 
 generosity, I will record it fully. 
 
 When we took up our charge in the middle of Lent, 1851, the 
 altars of the two churches were vested in violet. But, when 
 Easter arrived, the vestment had to be changed, and the question 
 arose to what colour. The Bishop had instructed the new in- 
 cumbent to go back to the uniformity of a red cloth for all seasons 
 alike ; and his resolution to do so at St. Paul's was finally made. 
 But the circumstances at St. Barnabas' were, I ventured to think, 
 so different that I pleaded for our liberty to act independently ; 
 and the more because the priest in charge there had never been 
 brought under any pledges to the Bishop. 
 
 A complete set of the various altar vestments suited to the 
 seasons had been solemnly offered and accepted by the faithful, 
 and the red one, not being plain, but specially designed for Whit- 
 suntide and Martyrs' Days, with the proper symbols upon it, could 
 not possibly be used at Easter without an impropriety which 
 would look nothing short of absurd. I therefore entreated to be 
 allowed to put on the proper covering of white, in exchange for 
 violet, if any change was to be made at all. Four or five times in 
 the course of that Holy Week I had to return unsuccessful from 
 the charge; the incumbent had undertaken to the Bishop to go 
 back to the plain red covering, and what he should do at St. 
 Paul's must be done at St. Barnabas'. 
 
 Within ten minutes of beginning our first Evensong for Easter 
 on Saturday night, I made one last effort, which was effectual for 
 us, thank God, without shaking the consistency of Mr. Liddell. 
 "Well, my dear Skinner," he concluded, "I must leave it to your 
 discretion." " Thank you," I replied. " I hope I am not abusing 
 your generosity, but my mind is made up; our altar shall wear 
 the white." 
 
 Mr. Liddell's generosity also gave Mr. Skinner the 
 power of choosing the men who were to work with him at
 
 LETTER TO REV. CHARLES F. LOWDER. 8 1 
 
 St. Bainabas'. He writes, in answer to the first letter he 
 ever received from Mr. Lowder : 
 
 Parsonage House, St. Barnabas', Pimlico, June 18, 1851. 
 
 MY DEAR SlR, 
 
 I ought much sooner to have replied to your most ex- 
 cellent letter, of date St. Barnabas' Day ; but pressure of engage- 
 ments of a very engrossing kind must plead my excuse. 
 
 I am the advertiser A. B., and the position which I hold, and 
 in which assistance is required, is the senior and responsible curate 
 of this very important and delicate charge of St. Barnabas', Pimlico. 
 
 Mr. Liddell, the incumbent, is resident in the upper part of the 
 parish, and, devoting himself mainly to St. Paul's, Wilton Place, is 
 kind enough to commit the management of this district to me. 
 
 I am anxious to work out the great objects which Mr. Bennett 
 had at heart, and for which such rare appliances are by him be- 
 queathed to our hands ; and for this purpose, I regard as first and 
 foremost that combination of energetic counsel and unity of 
 action which alone the collegiate life enables us to supply. 
 
 Both Mr. Liddell and myself are much pleased alike with the 
 substance and the tone of your letter, and we cannot but lean to 
 the hope that in such a one as yourself we should find a fellow- 
 workman of like mind, whose zeal, and piety, and earnestness 
 would comfort and cheer our hearts, and bring blessing upon our 
 work. . . . 
 
 It would greatly facilitate our negotiation, could you make it 
 convenient to call on me here on an early day, and if, meantime, 
 you would turn over in your mind one or two points, about which 
 we might have further converse when we meet. . . . 
 
 If you are in town and could so come down here as to enable 
 me to have the benefit of your help on Sunday next, in the morn- 
 ing service, I shall be much pleased. 
 
 Meantime, believe me to be, dear sir, 
 
 Your very faithful brother, 
 
 JA. SKINNER. 
 The Rev. C. F. Lowder. 
 
 G
 
 82 HOUSEHOLD AT ST. BARNABAS'. 
 
 St. Barnabas' Parsonage, July 8, 1851. 
 
 MY DEAR MR. LOWDER, 
 
 Pressure of work has alone hindered me from saying how 
 much I thank and bless you for your truly Christian and most 
 delightful letter. My heart quite warms towards you as I read 
 your earnest words of zeal for the work which lies before us in 
 poor St. Barnabas'. I see also a humble spirit of faith and love 
 and meekness, from which I anticipate not only God's blessing on 
 your exertions here, but a lesson for myself, which I trust I shall 
 have grace to learn. 
 
 I hope you will bear with my many infirmities, and not be 
 discouraged by the proofs which you will probably discover of the 
 sad measure in which I fall behind you in almost everything. 
 One source of unspeakable comfort is, the entire congeniality of 
 sentiment which I know exists between us. If we work and pray 
 and strive together, surely we shall not miss the aim of our labours. 
 May God be with us. 
 
 Mr. Poole has arrived, and is now with us a very nice, quiet, 
 earnest, right-minded young man. 
 
 And now, my dear brother, when can you come to us ? I am 
 yearning to have you at once, for we cannot set our machinery on 
 foot, or attain that method or coherence in our plans which is 
 essential to their success, till we get our staff together, and I want 
 your counsel in many things. . . . 
 
 Ever affectionately yours, , 
 
 JA. SKINNER. 
 Rev. C. F. Lowder. 
 
 Mr. Lowder came into residence at St. Barnabas' in 
 September of the same year. One wing of the college had 
 been built for the assistant clergy, containing a sitting-room 
 and bedroom for each. There was a common dining-room 
 for all, including the senior curate and his family, and Mr. 
 Lowder speedily became the favourite playmate of the 
 little daughter of the house and of her cousins.
 
 "HOLY WAR OF BELGRAVIA." 83 
 
 He was always up to some fun and mischief (one of them has 
 said, in recalling those days). We used to play in a court upon 
 which his rooms looked, and one day I remember his calling to 
 us from his window, and when we rushed over expecting sugar- 
 plums, we received instead a gentle shower from a watering-pot. 
 We were, of course, in shrieks of delight at the joke, which is more 
 than our nurse was. 
 
 The clergy of St. Barnabas' had more than enough to do 
 in their work amongst the poor around the church, which 
 had been specially built for the poor, without hindrances 
 thrown in their way by attacks and misrepresentations on 
 all sides. Letters in the Times, headed " The Holy War of 
 Belgravia," stated that the service at St. Barnabas' was " in 
 exact imitation of the ceremonial of Roman Catholics, less 
 the bells and the incense." * Nor were there those wanting, 
 even among so-called High Church clergymen, who, 
 disapproving of anything not precisely on the model which 
 they had set up for themselves, were forward to bring what 
 they disliked before the Bishops. These private represen- 
 tations and misrepresentations had their effect, and were 
 the source of endless difficulty and trouble to Mr. Skinner 
 and his co-curates. It is certainly curious, at this time, to 
 find the Rev. J. W. Burgon vehemently protesting against 
 such practices as " holding up your hand in the air while you 
 pronounce the Benediction," the eastward position, and the 
 vergers wearing cassocks, as being " unauthorized innova- 
 tions or worse," and as " savouring more of Rome than of 
 England." The following statement in a leading article of 
 the Morning Post of July 20, 1851, shows how absolutely 
 without reasonable cause was the storm raging just then 
 around St. Barnabas' : 
 
 * The Times, July 14, 1851.
 
 84 DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 The opponents of these things have sought to bring them into 
 popular hatred, by calling them " Popery." Now this, at all events, 
 is something more than an exaggeration it is an error a delusion, 
 and the propagation of it works a great injustice. For whether 
 the practices objected to be right or wrong, excusable or inexcus- 
 able, they certainly do not constitute Popery, and he must have a 
 very light and trivial, not to say ignorant, notion of the tremendous 
 evil of Popery who allows himself to think that a manner of 
 worship and prayer not forbidden by the Church of England is to 
 be identified with that system of error against which the Church 
 of England so vehemently protests. That such services as are 
 objected to in certain churches of the parish of St. George's, 
 Hanover Square, are not forbidden by the Church of England 
 appears from the directions of the Prayer-Book, which command 
 the Litany and all the Creeds to be either sung or said, plainly 
 allowing a choice between the two; and, indeed, the services 
 objected to do not differ from the usual services in English 
 cathedrals, except in the more frequent celebration of the Com- 
 munion, in the frequent collection of alms (at St. Barnabas'), even 
 when there is not a Communion, and a far more energetic, earnest, 
 emphatic manner on the part of the clergy and the congregation 
 than is usual in our cathedrals. 
 
 The church and college (to quote a few words from the Life of 
 Charles Lowder) were in a difficult and anomalous position ; not 
 independent as now, but legally a chapel-of-ease to St. Paul's, 
 Knightsbridge, served by curates, under its incumbent, while its 
 whole constitution and raison d'etre tended to force the clergy who 
 ministered there into an independent course of action. 
 
 Besides this, both Mr. Liddell and his lieutenant at St. 
 Barnabas' worked under considerable pressure, of different 
 kinds the latter from the congregation, who demanded that 
 he should guard the lawful liberty which they had made up 
 their minds to preserve ; the former from his Bishop, from a
 
 LETTER TO MR. LIDDELL. 85 
 
 large number of his congregation, and from other powerful 
 influences brought to bear upon him. He wrote to Mr. 
 Skinner in March, 1852, laying down twelve points in which 
 customs at St. Barnabas' were to be changed. " My object 
 in them," he wrote, " is to assimilate the services at St. 
 Barnabas' as closely as possible to those at St. Paul's." 
 
 A long correspondence followed, full of entreaties, on 
 the part of Mr. Skinner and Mr. Lowder especially, that 
 their people might be left to the free exercise of customs 
 which had become dear to them. For amongst things 
 prohibited were, chanting the Sanctus and Gloria in excelsis, 
 the clergy and choir turning to the east at the Gloria, and 
 the placing of flowers at any season upon the altar. Mr. 
 Skinner writes to Mr. Liddell on March 10, 1852 : 
 
 . . . The principle upon which I avowed my intention to act 
 in this post . . . which I drew out at the time in writing, and to 
 which you signified your assent, was this : all change, for change's 
 sake, is evil. We proceeded, as soon as we knew our definite line, 
 to act out this principle. Wherever positive duty to the Church 
 of England did not require a change in the manner of conducting 
 the services of St. Barnabas', we agreed to conduct them as they 
 had been from the beginning. 
 
 The service here is conducted now exactly as you have seen 
 it conducted, and as you have conducted it yourself. . . . 
 
 I wish with all my heart that I did not seem to be at variance 
 with you on this subject. You will believe me when I say that 
 it is with the greatest pain that I am compelled,, by a sense of 
 duty, to entreat you to leave us as we are. You ask us to change 
 certain things which never yet have been changed. And for what 
 gain? No principle is attained by the sacrifice, and a veiy 
 intelligible principle is lost : and what will be its effect ? 
 
 As to any change in the Communion Service; I cannot 
 believe that you wish us to undo every advance to method and
 
 86 REFUSAL TO WORK DOWNWARDS. 
 
 coherency, to which, with much pains and care, we have but just 
 arrived. . . . 
 
 The only consistent thing, short of our present rule, would be 
 to give up the whole choral service, and have the old reading 
 type restored. 
 
 You wish my difference with you, if any, to be submitted to 
 the Bishop. I heartily pray it may not have come to such an 
 issue yet You know full well as I the result of the Bishop's 
 arbitration, and that he would gladly seize any opportunity, which 
 he would be the last to in-vile, to overthrow our whole work in 
 this place, and commit it to other direction. And this I say with 
 all duty and respect for the Bishop, who has different private views 
 of the ritual of the Church from ourselves, but who has no wish 
 to force those views on others. 
 
 Yet if you give him the opportunity, he will not be slow to 
 improve it. I have too high a sense of your fairness and 
 generosity, however, to suppose for an instant that you are now 
 resolved to force us back from the ground we have already gained, 
 and which you yourself have helped us to win ; or, hi other words, 
 that you will be willing to run the risk of overturning the work 
 which God has hitherto prospered in our hands. 
 
 We trust we are acting out of no self-will, but solely from a 
 deep sense of duty, gathered from a close and intimate con- 
 nection with our people, in this declaration of our determination, 
 God helping us, to stand or fall with their and our own rightful 
 claim to have continued to us, unimpaired, the blessings of God's 
 worship 'hi its external type and inward beauty, with which now 
 He has been pleased to gift us. 
 
 I can answer to God we have but one single aim to 
 strengthen the foundations of the Church of England in the hearts 
 of our people, and to bring forth true, loyal, and loving fruits of 
 patience and faith from the principles, in which they have been 
 trained. These principles may be, in some sort, different from 
 those held by many of your excellent people at St. Paul's ; they 
 may take a larger and wider view of Church membership, and 
 recognize deep spiritual things where others see only empty and
 
 MR. LID D ELL'S REPLY. 8/ 
 
 barren forms : but these principles of the St. Barnabas' people are 
 not therefore wrong, because they are not precisely the same as 
 the principles of the St. Paul's people. And I would earnestly 
 hope that we who are called to minister to both may, by God's 
 grace, build up both in the true faith and fear of God, without 
 cramping ourselves, and embarrassing and perplexing consciences 
 with positive unalterable laws of uniformity, which will infallibly 
 offend both, and hinder our work for their souls. 
 
 In reply, Mr. Liddell writes : 
 
 March n, 1852. 
 
 Let me hasten, my dear and truly valued friend, to relieve 
 your mind of needless pain. 
 
 What I have said to you in all our intercourse, that I have 
 meant I love you for your earnestness, I value you for your 
 ability, and I know not now where I could have found a man, on 
 the whole, so well qualified as yourself for the post which you 
 fill. But this does not imply that I think we are identical in all 
 matters of opinion, and that you may not see some things with a 
 higher amount of mental and spiritual colouring than I do. 
 
 The very circumstance of my always coming straight to you to 
 consult about measures, shows that I consider you my head and 
 responsible curate my lieutenant and I believe it is most for 
 the welfare of the parish that I should, in all ordinary matters, 
 leave you as free as possible. 
 
 But there are things in which my parishioners, the Church at 
 large, and our diocesan will and must hold me, not you, responsible, 
 and in these, as now, I must act to the best of my own judgment. 
 As to the Bishop who placed me here, I owe it to him to satisfy 
 his mind, to the utmost of my power, upon all points connected 
 with the parish. I do not expect to be able to satisfy him entirely; 
 but I feel that, at any rate, the only way for me to maintain my 
 present position is to be able to assert that, barring the difference 
 of the choral service, the usages of the two churches under my 
 'care are the same.
 
 88 LIBERTY IN NON-ESSENTIALS. 
 
 A few days later, Mr. Skinner writes to Mr. Liddcll : 
 
 I am most grateful to you for your kind note ; and the kind 
 terms of it to myself personally are just what I knew you would 
 be forward to express if you felt them. They greatly relieve my 
 mind. 
 
 You judged most wisely, I think, that there could, and that 
 there ought to be no strict uniformity between two churches, the 
 very design of which most certainly was that they should be 
 adapted to two very different and distinct classes of mind, equally 
 held, thank God, within the pale of the English Church. 
 
 I feel strongly that the Church at large, the parish, and the 
 Bishop look to you and not to me. I feel also strongly that you 
 must act to the best of your own judgment. 
 
 Forgive me if I have seemed to allow my earnest desire to 
 .express myself clearly to outrun the measure of deference and 
 respect which I most heartily feel for you, and most earnestly 
 desire to show. 
 
 We do most earnestly desire to be an abiding help and comfort 
 to you ; but we should cease to be that comfort if we yielded our 
 conscientious sense of its first and most necessary ingredient a 
 firm and persevering adherence to the one line of administration 
 upon which we set out, and which hitherto God has been pleased 
 to bless. We earnestly pray that you will be induced to consider 
 our sincere and hearty desire to go on as we have begun. 
 
 36, Wilton Crescent, Saturday night, March 13. 
 
 MY DEAR SKINNER, 
 
 I fear I gave you distress in my conversation to-day, 
 and as I know that a loving word is never thrown away upon a 
 loving heart, I write a brief note to beseech you not to suppose 
 that I can for one moment forget the self-denying zeal and devo- 
 tion which you and your fellow-labourers are displaying day and 
 night in every portion of your ministerial work. Believe me, I do 
 appreciate it thoroughly ; and it is my desire to uphold you in all 
 essential matters, which prompts me to avoid all possible dis-
 
 LETTERS FROM MR. BENNETT. 89 
 
 crepancies between our respective churches in non-essentials. 
 God bless you all. 
 
 Believe me, my dear Skinner, 
 
 Your affectionate brother in Christ, 
 ROBERT LIDDELL. 
 
 The notes which follow, from the present venerable Vicar 
 of Frome, are interesting, especially now that in his new 
 parish he has overcome all opposition, and peacefully 
 carried out far more than he ever attempted to introduce 
 in his London parish. 
 
 32, Connaught Square, Whit-Monday, 1851. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 My intention was to call on you before I departed, 
 but I have been so hindered by a multitude of troubles and 
 arrangements necessarily attending my departure. May God's 
 blessing be with you in your works, and may you have grace to 
 perfect the work which it pleased God to permit me only to begin. 
 
 I have planted, you must water, and God will give the 
 increase and He alone. 
 
 I shall be far away in Germany on St. Barnabas' Day, but I 
 shall worship somewhere in the great fold of the Catholic Church, 
 and my prayers will go up for the poor of St. Barnabas' never to 
 be forgotten. If you have an opportunity, tell them so. Peace 
 be with them. 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 WM. J. E. BENNETT. 
 
 The Annunciation, 1852. 
 
 MY DEAR MR. SKINNER, 
 
 This is, as you know, the anniversary of my departure 
 from St. Barnabas'. I am come to communicate with you this 
 morning, to express my thankfulness to God for the preservation 
 of so much to the Church through Mr. Liddell's and your means, 
 and to pray my intercessional prayer at the altar where once I
 
 90 COMPLAINTS TO THE BISHOP. 
 
 ministered, that it may be put into the heart of Mr. Liddell and 
 yourself still to go on in wisdom and meekness in the path already 
 begun ; so that by-and-by not for either one or other of us, but 
 for the Church and poor Christ's kingdom may prevail. 
 
 My faith is, even yet, that the time will come when greater 
 light than as yet we see will be vouchsafed to all of us, and while 
 some go on in zeal and suffer, others will be melted and turn 
 to the Church, whose love and faith they yet know not But the 
 abandonment of self is the principle. I feel that I, for my part, 
 have failed most miserably in this. May God forgive in me all 
 that is past, and direct me better at Frome. I feel sure I may ask 
 your prayers in return for my guidance there, for there is much 
 that is full of fear to me. 
 
 Bishop Blomfield was also assailed by petitions against 
 the worship at St. Barnabas', from those who had nothing 
 whatever to do with it. The character of some of these 
 petitions may be gathered from the following letter : 
 
 St. Barnabas', March 15, 1852. 
 
 MY DEAR MR. LIDDELL, 
 
 I have made it a duty to institute every inquiry about the 
 persons who have signed the petition to the Bishop, and I hope 
 you will press upon his lordship how very far from worthy such 
 fifteen names are to represent in any sense whatever the feeling of 
 the St. Barnabas' district and congregation. They are a few petty 
 tradespeople, living in one street, almost adjoining each other, who 
 from the very beginning have steadily set themselves to oppose the 
 Church. They are the very same individuals who instigated the 
 former disturbances at St. Barnabas', and whom the complete 
 uprooting of our entire work would alone satisfy. 
 
 The great majority of them are persons of Dissenting opinions 
 "in religion, who are either formally joined to some sect or other, 
 or who frequent habitually the worship of the meeting-house. 
 They are none of them frequenters of St Barnabas'. They are 
 persons on whom the burden and weight of religious responsibili-
 
 . BISHOP BLOMFIEUyS VISIT. 91 
 
 ties cannot possibly bear with all the force they would represent, 
 for they are precisely the very persons who make Grosvenor Road 
 a disgrace to our district 
 
 I earnestly trust the Bishop will not suffer our work to be dis- 
 turbed on such testimony, or the great body of witnesses which 
 might be called on the other side to be overlooked. I take this 
 opportunity also of saying that I hope you will assure his lordship 
 of the very sincere desire by which we are actuated of discharging 
 our duty in this place, within the plain law of the Church of 
 England, and according to the truest loyalty and love. 
 
 I have just learned that of eleven shopkeepers who have signed 
 the petition, eight keep their shops open on Sunday. It is also 
 worthy of notice that although this petition has courted signatures, 
 there are none of the most respectable Dissenters even who have 
 given their names. 
 
 Believe me, my dear Mr. Liddell, 
 
 Your faithful brother in Christ, 
 
 JA. SKINNER. 
 
 " I shall be ready to receive you and the Bishop at 
 three," Mr. Skinner writes on March 1 5. The result of the 
 Bishop's visit has been told in Mr. Lowder's Life, and need 
 not here be repeated,* especially as orders issued without 
 regard to authority could, in their nature, have but a tran- 
 sitory effect. The same may be said of the changes en- 
 joined by Mr. Liddell, although for a time most of them 
 were complied with ; for in the end it was the services at 
 St. Paul's which, in respect of every point in dispute, became 
 assimilated to those of St. Barnabas'. Of another repre- 
 sentation made to the Bishop, Mr. Liddell writes on 
 June 28, 1852 : 
 
 ... I told him how impertinent we thought it, but that we 
 should of course pay deference to any communications from him- 
 * See " Charles Lowder : a Biography," p. 37.
 
 92 LETTER TO BISHOP OF LONDON. 
 
 self if he thought fit to notice such fellows ; that we courted pub- 
 licity, and that you would be glad to go to him and give him full 
 information upon any charges brought against St. Barnabas'. Also, 
 that we were sure it was nothing but an election trick. I hope he 
 will snub them, but I think a bold front is all we have to show. 
 
 To Bishop Blomfield Mr. Skinner writes on July 1 5 in 
 reference to two points mentioned by the Bishop in an 
 interview with him that morning, and concludes his letter 
 thus : 
 
 I hope your lordship will forgive me for troubling you with 
 this explanation, and also for adding that there is too good reason 
 to fear that any adjustment of these two points to whatever form 
 would still leave where they are the objections of those who per- 
 sistently memorialize your lordship against us. The objection is 
 to our work as a whole, the success of which, by God's blessing, 
 has made itself seen and felt in the numerous assemblies of 
 devoted daily worshippers, in the constancy and frequency of 
 attendance at the Lord's Table, and in the deepening growth 
 amongst us of penitence and true religion ; facts to which, if your 
 lordship pleased, most willing and ready witnesses might be called. 
 
 Some of the details of the battle for liberty in 1852 
 have been given because it was the beginning of a struggle 
 of which we are far from seeing the end, or being able to 
 estimate the importance. Mr. Skinner wrote himself, on 
 his deathbed : 
 
 Those of us who remember the early dawn of " the Oxford 
 movement," in 1832-3, have no difficulty in recognizing two dis- 
 tinct stages in its course ; the first devoted to dogma, or the explicit 
 statement of facts and doctrines ; the second, to the application of 
 fixed theological principles to the practice of morals and public 
 worship. The first stage may be said to have already passed into 
 the second, as early as 1842, when Bishop Blomfield delivered the
 
 COURAGE IN LEADERSHIP. 93 
 
 celebrated charge which revived the long-forgotten claims of the 
 Rubrical Law of the English Prayer-Book upon the obedience of 
 the clergy. But this preliminary passage received a formidable 
 check, through the rebellion of the Islington clergy, who com- 
 pelled the Bishop to recede from his position ; and it is, therefore, 
 probably, more correct to say that in 1850, with the consecration 
 of St. Barnabas', Pimlico, a chapel within the parish of St. Paul's, 
 Knightsbridge, commenced the second stage of that wonderful 
 movement which is still in its full vigour of reviving the spiritual 
 life of the Church of England.* 
 
 To him, for a brief season, was committed the leadership 
 of this second stage of the movement, and he held it with 
 invincible courage and fidelity. He brought to the work a 
 naturally strong will ; and men complained at times that 
 he was too stern and unbending. It may have been so ; he 
 spoke strongly in his latter days to an intimate friend of 
 the " dominant passion to have our own estimate of truth 
 asserted," as though it were one of which he had felt the 
 force. Yet the world knew little of the tenderness that was 
 combined with an iron will, or of how " a soft answer " could 
 in a moment turn his most eager moods into gentleness. 
 
 Private sorrows and anxieties also weighed heavily 
 upon him at this time. In January his wife's eldest sister 
 died, doubly dear to him through her marriage with his 
 own brother. He writes to her mother : 
 
 Chipperfield House, January 26, 1852. 
 MY EVER DEAREST MOTHER, 
 
 You have often said that I had the power, through God's 
 grace, of soothing and comforting those who mourn. I have 
 never thought so myself, except that it has been that out of my 
 weakness God has been pleased to bring strength to those who 
 
 * Letter to Rev. H. Montagu Villiers.
 
 94 LETTER TO MRS. RAYMOND. 
 
 have looked simply to Him. However this may be, to none do 
 I owe all the comfort I can speak, after my poor dear sorrowing 
 widowed brother, more freely than to yourself, the mother of our 
 departed darling; and this I owe, dearest, not more out of the 
 tender ties which bound you to your child, than out of the deep 
 unfeigned love I bear you yourself. 
 
 Alas ! alas ! how little do we know the future ! and how well 
 it is for us that so God should order His blessed will ! And yet 
 our poor weak, faithless hearts keep desiring issues for themselves ; 
 hoping, and fearing, and doubting, and distracting themselves, as 
 if we dared not trust our all with Him Who loves us, and would 
 only save us from sin and from ourselves ! How much this has 
 been the case throughout our beloved Margaretta's sickness ! 
 How faithlessly have we longed and prayed for other results than 
 that which it has pleased God to bring about ! The weakness of 
 flesh and blood may well excuse this infirmity ; but how shall we 
 stand excused now that God has spoken, if we do not bow to His 
 Almighty Will, and kiss the rod of love wherewith He smites us ! 
 Oh, my beloved mother, what mercy and compassion and pity 
 of our gracious Father, through His Beloved Son, may we not 
 discern in the midst of this deep and piercing sorrow! There 
 is no passage of her guileless life which will not bear our thinking 
 happily upon : her child-like innocence of will ; her unspeakable 
 strength of faith in Him who died for her, and all the blessedness 
 of grace which He provided in His Church ; her anxiety to do 
 right, to bring up her children well, to guard the spiritual life of 
 her servants and dependents, to do her duty to George, whom 
 she loved with an angel's love. She never thought of herself 
 but as one that had done little and had much to learn. 
 
 I know your dear anxious heart will also be comforted at what 
 remains to be told. You know how deep rooted has ever been the 
 affection between all our mutual relations in the double tie which 
 has ever made us one family rather than two. We have felt 
 therefore that her spirit will rejoice over the knowledge (if it be 
 permitted) that henceforth we shall indeed be one household and 
 one family, living under the same roof, and training up our children
 
 TRIALS. 95 
 
 under the shadow of that temple of God's house, whither His 
 Providence hath guided me. 
 
 Last year at this time, when no thoughts of this affliction 
 were present, I was myself an outcast as it were, without home in 
 this world, and all but summoned off to another. Now, God 
 smites in another direction ; and while with one hand He takes 
 away, with the other He raises up a home, and an affectionate 
 heart to fill a mother's place ; and, above all, a full and gracious 
 supply of all the means of grace and blessing whereby we may 
 learn to make a heaven on earth, and live in close communion 
 with the spirits above ! 
 
 We have abundant room at St. Barnabas' to take in the three 
 children, and to give George rooms for himself, where he can 
 cany on his business with half the wear and tear to his body, and 
 see his pets cared for with less anxiety to his mind. 
 
 May God grant us also the comfort of deep and lasting profit 
 to our souls, long, long after the burden of His Hand shall have 
 passed away ! This, after all, will be the real comfort, that we 
 have been now closer to God's side, and taken more completely 
 out of our wicked selves ! 
 
 Meantime, dearest mother, let us send on, together with our 
 sainted treasure, messengers to view the country which God will 
 give us our faith in believing ; our hope in expecting ; our love 
 in obeying. Oh, will not these messengers bring back to us 
 the blessed word that " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor 
 hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, the things 
 which God hath prepared for them that love Him " ? 
 
 A still greater sorrow threatened him in his wife's long 
 and dangerous illness. The loss of her sister told severely 
 on her health, and in Lent of this year she was sent to 
 St. Leonard's-on-Sea, where she became so dangerously 
 ill, that a telegram was sent to Mr. Skinner on Good 
 Friday morning, summoning him, as it was thought, to 
 her death-bed. He could not set out at once, but was
 
 96 LETTER FROM LORD RICHARD CAVENDISH. 
 
 forced to take his part in the services of the day, and to 
 preach. When he arrived at St. Leonard's the same 
 evening, there seemed small hope of her life, and though 
 the severity of her illness gradually abated, she continued 
 an invalid for more than a year. All this anxiety made 
 the continued worry of complaints against him to the 
 Bishop the more trying. Writing of one of these, Mr. 
 Liddell says 
 
 September 3, 1852. 
 
 I am only thankful, my dear Skinner, that those who are 
 watching for our halting cannot attack us upon any more impor- 
 tant matters ; and the longer we can go on steadily endeavouring 
 to develop the mind of the Church, the more we shall rivet the 
 affections of all candid and devout Church-people, and discern 
 the opposition of such ignorant meddlers as the St. George's 
 Vestry. Pray write me a line to tell me how you and Mrs. 
 Skinner are. I presume that she has ere this gone down to her 
 father in Essex. I expect to be back at home by the end of the 
 month. 
 
 A few days later, Lord Richard Cavendish writes : 
 
 Compton Place, Eastbourne, September 15, 1852. 
 
 MY DEAR MR. SKINNER, 
 
 Your letter has grieved me deeply on your account. 
 Most sincerely do I sympathize with you in this most trying 
 affliction which it pleases God to send on you. I had hoped from 
 what I last had heard of Mrs. Skinner that she was much better. 
 May God grant you a merciful answer to your prayers for her, 
 even although it be not in the way which you would naturally 
 most desire. It is sad, too, with such a constant trial pressing 
 upon you, to have all the misery of this wretched struggle with the 
 Bishop, to whom you ought to be able to look for your principal 
 support. It is most needful that a stand should be made against 
 the unlawful commands of a Bishop issued merely in the vain
 
 FEARS. 97 
 
 hope of " satisfying a public " who will never be satisfied with any- 
 thing short of the abolition of all Catholic doctrine and worship 
 in the English Church. The notion of your having on any 
 account to leave St. Barnabas' fills me with dismay. I dare not 
 think of it. I can only say, may God be merciful to us ! 
 
 I wish I could hope to hear better news of Mrs. Skinner. 
 What I can do to help you in your present straits I will, and that 
 is to remember you daily in my prayers. 
 
 Ever, my dear Mr. Skinner, yours, 
 
 RICHARD CAVENDISH.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LETTERS OF SPIRITUAL COUNSEL. 
 
 "Jam non consilio bonus, sed more eo perductus, ut non tantum recte 
 facere possim, sed nisi recte facere non possim. " 
 
 THAT which the world saw at St. Barnabas', and either 
 attacked or valued, was perhaps but a small part of the 
 work for souls which went on, silently though without con- 
 cealment or mystery, increasing year by year. It was at 
 this time that Mr. Skinner was called on to minister largely 
 to individuals whom his preaching had first attracted and 
 then roused. Henceforward, to the end of his life, the teach- 
 ing and training of minds and souls " requiring " at his hands 
 " counsel and comfort " formed a considerable part of his 
 work Some of the letters addressed to those whom he thus 
 taught have been kindly given, in the hope of others gaining 
 help or comfort from them, although, for obvious reasons, 
 dates are omitted. And this prayer was also written 
 during his early days at St. Barnabas' : 
 
 O most gracious Jesu, Who art the Author of all grace, and 
 Who alone workest through the means of grace vouchsafed to us 
 in Thy Church, I humbly beseech Thee that, as Thou hast been 
 pleased to consign to me, Thy deeply unworthy servant, the awful 
 power of binding and loosing in Thy Name, thou wilt graciously 
 vouchsafe me such a measure of holiness and purity, as may
 
 DIFFERENCES OF OPINION. 99 
 
 enable me to discharge this high office as becometh Thy priest 
 and ambassador for souls. 
 
 O, let there be in me a heart of faith and chastity, that while 
 I minister Thy cleansing to the uncleanness of others, I may not 
 myself contract the least spot or stain of sin. Let there be in 
 me a burning desire for the salvation of souls for which Thou hast 
 poured out Thy blood, and a clear and full estimate of the horrible 
 loss and gain which they sustain who lose heaven and gain hell. 
 O, let there be in me the sweetness of a good father, the gentle- 
 ness and skill of a good physician, and the loving care of a tender 
 shepherd. Grant that I may be enabled to soothe the afflicted, 
 to illuminate the blinded, to speak peace to the disturbed, to 
 assure the timid, to strengthen the falling, to stimulate the 
 slothful, to establish the weak, to heal the sick in soul, and to 
 counsel each of Thy people according to his or her need. Grant 
 that I may be able to persuade each of the great things which 
 pertain to the soul. And, O most loving Jesu, give me a deep 
 sense of my own vileness and unworthiness, that to those who 
 come here to be absolved by the power of Thy high authority, I 
 may yield an ear of earnest attention and patience, and a heart of 
 love and purity and true sympathy ; seeing that I also am tempted 
 and that sin is the common curse of man. 
 
 These things I earnestly beseech Thee to grant for the sake of, 
 those merits whereby Thou hast gained peace and pardon and 
 all things, O holy Jesu. 
 
 To . 
 
 Differences of opinion among those whom you respect are 
 entirely compatible with a fixed unity of principle binding all in 
 common to one most holy faith. And the circumstance that the 
 clergy are not in all details agreed among themselves, so far from 
 relaxing your hold upon the positive teaching of the Church of 
 England in the Prayer-Book, should rather serve to rivet it more 
 ilosely. For whatever men may say or think about the state- 
 ments of the Prayer-Book, there the statements are, to be judged 
 by the common sense of every one; and the variety of judgments
 
 100 FREEDOM WITHIN LIMITS. 
 
 about those statements their force and application in detail, their 
 bearing upon other statements, and the like is just the token 
 which one would look for and expect of healthy freedom in this 
 free country of ours. 
 
 No doubt there is another state of things in countries where 
 obedience to the Pope is the highest law of conscience. But I 
 leave you to say which of the two is the greater wrong to a 
 Christian's moral sense to force and compel an absolute agree- 
 ment not only about essential doctrine, but about all the details 
 in which that doctrine is concerned ; or, to state plainly and un- 
 equivocally great principles of truth, as the English Church does, 
 and to leave her members free to apply those principles to them- 
 selves, as the judgment and conscience of each shall suggest. 
 
 The difference between two such conditions of things is just 
 the difference between an artificial and an unnatural, and there- 
 fore an unreal state, and a natural and real state. You mention 
 Mr. Neale's writings on the subject of confession. Well, it is 
 just as natural and real for Mr. N. to apply his view of the 
 Church's truth about confession, as it is for your father, or for 
 Mr. A. or Mr. B., each to apply theirs. But it would be very 
 unreal and unnatural if all these gentlemen were compelled 
 to hold the same views exactly about the use and application of 
 confession, whether they really and honestly did so or not. And 
 yet all of them do hold the great broad principle set forth in the 
 Prayer-Book, that confession is a lawful and charitable provision 
 for sin-sick souls. 
 
 And I would have you reason in the same way on the subjects 
 about which the clergy differ. It is better that they should differ 
 honestly and naturally, as the constitution of all human minds 
 requires, than that they should agree dishonestly and unnaturally, 
 so long as the great essential truths laid down by the Church are 
 held in common. 
 
 God has given each of us the responsibility of using our 
 faculties of judging both our intellectual and our spiritual faculties. 
 But if in all details we were forced to think alike, there would be 
 no room for exercising this responsibility at all.
 
 TRUTH AND OPINION. Id 
 
 And now I will leave this part of the subject. I beg you to 
 read what I have just written in connection with my last letter, in 
 which I specially considered your father's particular sentiments 
 on the subject of confession as offering no just cause on your 
 part, even though you do not feel exactly with him, for withhold- 
 ing from him the confidence which he deserves to receive, and 
 which your own filial heart prompts you to give. 
 
 To THE SAME. 
 
 In your case I do not advise confession at all for the present. 
 
 And here I will add . . . that your duty is now plainly to 
 put away from you all subjects of controversy and difference of 
 opinion. Satisfy yourself once for all that truth is one thing and 
 opinion is another thing. There can be no division in truth, 
 which is absolutely one, though every truth has many sides. But 
 opinion may be diverse without being wrong, and as long as there 
 are many men in the world, there must and will be many minds. 
 It is the province of charity the great cardinal grace of the 
 gospel to harmonize these two absolute facts, which never can 
 cease to co-exist the oneness of truth, and the multiplicity 
 of opinions. It is clearly a snare to you to allow your mind to 
 dwell unduly on this apparent paradox, to which only love can 
 reconcile you. Cast the thought of it aside, and love will do her 
 work for you all the better. Curious questions may puzzle every 
 man, but they will profit no man; meanwhile they bring sure 
 trouble with them, unsettling and disturbing consciences which 
 they neither profit nor instruct And what if you do err in that 
 which is doubtful and obscure ? There can be no sin in it, unless 
 it be in a subject which you plainly understand. 
 
 To THE SAME. 
 
 I ought not to say that your last letter disappoints me, because 
 it only confirms the impression which I have formed of your case, 
 and tried to describe to you. You are still repeating forms of 
 complaint against yourself which I have traced to their proper
 
 102 HINDRANCES TO CONFESSION. 
 
 source, and you are investing them still with that same colour of 
 hopeless despair which your better judgment has already pro- 
 nounced a delusion. There needs no stronger proof of the morbid 
 state of your imagination. 
 
 I will not pause, therefore, to go over again the same ground. 
 . . . I retain my opinion that formal confession would not 
 be an advantage to you just now. It would only create evil. It 
 is much safer for you to write freely to me about yourself as diffi- 
 culties arise. The irritability and discontent of which you com- 
 plain may, of course, become wilful sin, if you encourage it, or 
 do not resist it ; and then, with any other special sins indulged 
 in like manner, it might become a fit subject for special con- 
 fession. . . . But meantime I advise you to go on making your 
 self-examination and confession before God in the ordinary way 
 of devotion, and frequenting the Holy Communion with the 
 general intention of beseeching His grace, and such special inten- 
 tions as I suggest according to your special needs from time to 
 time. 
 
 To . 
 
 If your parents determine, at all risks, to hinder you from 
 consulting an English priest of the Church of Christ in which you 
 were baptized, in the troubles which beset you, they must be 
 prepared to bear the responsibility of all the consequences in time 
 and in eternity. 
 
 As they already know, I will be no party to your secretly 
 coming to me. 
 
 I would entreat them to take the part of charity and of 
 common sense, and to leave a person, at your age, free to act, 
 according to your light, in the things which concern only God 
 and yourself. 
 
 But, if otherwise, while I am not at liberty to decline to help 
 you if you resort to me for medicine to your soul, I am not at 
 liberty to receive you without their knowledge, though, if it must 
 be so, without their consent. 
 
 Will you make this clear to your parents, with my respects ?
 
 CONTRITION AND PENITENCE. 1 03 
 
 To 
 
 There is nothing more simple than the law of the spiritual life 
 concerning sin. First, we must be convicted of our sin, looking at 
 it always, not from our own point of view, but from God's ; judg- 
 ing ourselves as we know the All Holy judges. Of course, unless 
 the Holy Spirit helps us to this conviction, we cannot have it, of 
 ourselves, and without earnestly asking to have it, through the 
 Holy Spirit. Next, we must have contrition for the sin which we 
 know in ourselves, and have been convicted of by the Holy Ghost. 
 That is, our hearts must be wounded with true sorrow and grief 
 for having separated ourselves from God, and outraged His love, 
 which is so great for us, by disobeying Him and opposing our- 
 selves to His will. Of course, also, unless the Holy Spirit helps 
 us to this contrition, we cannot have it : we cannot make ourselves 
 have sorrow by an effort of our own. He gives us this sorrow if 
 we ask really to have it ; and then He accepts His own gift, when 
 we offer it back to Him in confession, and gives us the greater 
 gift of pardon in return. There can be no pardon, conveyed by 
 absolution, where there is no contrition in the penitent Confession 
 is essential to penitence,* but contrition is essential to confession ; 
 so that without contrition there is neither penitence nor pardon. 
 
 Well now, dear , how does this law of spiritual life in peni- 
 tence affect you in the matter of - ? i. Examine yourself in 
 regard to her (as to anybody and everybody with whom you have 
 intercourse) : how you stand not before her, or from your own 
 point of view but as before God, remembering His standard of 
 perfect love to Himself, and of love to your neighbour as to yourself. 
 
 Of course, looking at yourself from your own standard, you 
 will not, probably, see much, if anything, to condemn. But, con- 
 sidering what the works and fruits of the Spirit and the flesh are, 
 respectively (see the Epistle for Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity), 
 and their results from God's point of -view ; considering also the 
 model of sweetness and patience and gentleness and endurance 
 of wrong " even unto death " which He has given us in Jesus ; 
 * See note at end of chapter.
 
 104 " NUNC C(EPL" 
 
 considering how it would fare with you in the Judgment if your 
 
 allowance for and patience with (for example) should be taken, 
 
 then, for the measure of God's allowance and patience with you; 
 then, perhaps, it will be different ; and if you ask God the Holy 
 Ghost to give you light, your heart will, perhaps, be convicted of 
 much, in thought and word and deed, which He must condemn 
 in you, and which, therefore, His dear child must condemn in 
 herself. 2. Having been convicted by God the Holy Ghost of 
 sin (not before man or according to man's standard, perhaps, but 
 of sin before Him), your mind will not dwell (for example) on 
 's faults and sins (they may be very great, and she may have 
 been " intolerable "), but on your own faults, and especially on 
 .your want of a Christlike spirit and temper under provocation ; 
 and then, asking for true sorrow, the Blessed Spirit will give it 
 you : and having true sorrow for being, in anything, opposed to the 
 love of God and the mind of God, you will not spare yourself or 
 justify yourself, or think that any amount of wrong in another can 
 make wrong to be right in you ; and so you will give evidence of 
 your sorrow, and God's pardon will be sure to be yours. 
 
 We must not be taken up with the sins or faults of others, 
 and make out that these are our own justification, in any way, for 
 falling short of the highest Christian type of character : we must 
 measure ourselves by the highest and leave others alone, and 
 simply grieve in God's presence for our own shortcomings, and 
 pray for His pardon upon our penitence. May God guide you 
 into all His whole truth, and make you His own without a single 
 reserve. 
 
 To 
 
 It is a great consolation of the soul that it is in the hands of 
 Almighty God, who is Love, and that He knows our necessities 
 before we ask, and our ignorance in asking ; and that if He gives 
 the will to desire to be more moulded to His mind, He will 
 accomplish it So the worst would be to think you can't do 
 better. Nunc cxpi should be our motto every day. There is no 
 imit to our powers of failure, or of success, because He is so
 
 SELF- WILL. 105 
 
 strong that He can work in us. That is the comfort if you 
 desire His work in you. It is a great mercy that your eyes should 
 be open to know one very besetting sin, love of self. It is an 
 earnest that He will enable you to overcome it. Say nunc coepi 
 in full confidence that He will enable you to overcome. 
 
 I have often had occasion to point out to you multiplied hin- 
 drances to grace through self-love, that root of bitterness against 
 which you have to contend. It is a subtle temptation of Satan to 
 lead you to desire your own will in good things. What He wills for 
 you is really nearest to Him. " Who shall separate us from the 
 love of Christ ? " You are brought nearer by bearing, by being 
 cut off. Sacraments are His; He supplies them through the 
 great sacrament of obedience. You substitute your own will for 
 that, and are over-persuaded by love of self to desire what you 
 would like instead of what He desires for you. So if you analyze 
 it, 'it is absence of love for Him, and love of self. You make 
 yourself unhappy because you can't get what you will, instead of 
 being happy in what He wills : if you loved more, you would 
 have more joy in submitting, than in the fulfilment of your wishes. 
 You have to ask Him to give you more love : nothing can 
 separate you from His love ; you can have no trial compared to 
 those of the early Christians ; and yet St. ( Paul says, " None of 
 these things move me." It is wrong to speak of being cut off ; 
 it is a preference of your own will to the will of God. The same 
 is the cure for that other thing you speak of loss of fervency in 
 good works lest you should go wrong. Again, intrusion of self; 
 nothing is wrong to one who loves. Good works are acceptable 
 according to their motive if it be love of God, not of self. 
 Begin with a distinct desire to do any good work as a fruit of love, 
 and you can't go wrong ; all is possible to him that loveth. The 
 key to both your troubles is love : you have failed because of 
 shortcoming in love ; you will succeed as you love more. 
 Meditate for a few minutes each day on the Gospel for St. Michael 
 and All Angels : " Except ye become as little children." Set the 
 picture of a little child before you the simplicity of its love, its 
 humility and trustfulness. You are not as a little child, pray Him
 
 106 GAIN THROUGH SUFFERING. 
 
 to make you more like one ; a little child does not ask why it is 
 here or there. 
 
 To THE SAME. 
 
 One great fault of yours is to look out for extra help when not 
 making the most of what God has given you. You do not wilfully 
 neglect the latter, though the passage is easy from failure in using 
 to wilful abuse and neglect ; and you must watch lest you cross 
 the line which separates them. It is obvious that God's dealings 
 are not general, but particular : He deals with each one of us as 
 if there were no other soul in the world, and all becomes profit to 
 you according as you use it or not If you fail to use grace, 
 through suffering or doing, it is vain to look out for other means 
 of grace of your own choosing : you are not to expect help in your 
 own way if not taking it in His. To speak more in detail : you 
 do not make the most of sacramental dealings in bearing, in 
 suffering, in humiliation. He sends trials whether you will or no ; 
 you do not derive as much help as you might from them, while 
 you think you might have more helps in other circumstances. It 
 enters into the radical defect which you have to cure, God helping 
 you, that of desiring your own way of profiting instead of His ; 
 I consider that a sore place in your spiritual constitution, against 
 which you have to be on your guard. There is more profit in 
 submission than in having your own way in spiritual things to the 
 utmost, apart from Him. 
 
 But one of your great difficulties is the ever impelling desire 
 for your own will in Divine things, as in others ; you can resign 
 yourself, but not with the grace of feeling it is best ; there is an 
 absence of joy in humiliation and suffering. Joy in being mortified 
 should be your aim ; and you are very far from that. There is 
 a subtle form of justifying yourself, an unwillingness to humble 
 yourself so as to take what is appointed for you. You would rather 
 go through things in your own way. Your tendency is to try and 
 compass the ends which seem to you good in your own way, 
 without thinking if they are pleasing to God. A most desirable 
 habit is silence under reproach to be willing to be blamed amiss.
 
 SPIRITUAL TRIALS. 1 07 
 
 Aim high, and walk low ; let self-abnegation be your aim ; pray 
 for the grace of reticence and self-control. Think of what was 
 
 most beautiful in , conformity to God's will, humility, and for- 
 
 getfulness of self. The lesson of the Incarnation is humility and 
 self-sacrifice. 
 
 We must discriminate between what is outside of us and that 
 which is within us. That which is outside is God's ordering ; 
 that which is within is subject to our own will. It is a fit matter 
 for confession if any act of the will has been against His will 
 self-choosing, self-will, etc. As to overstrain physical conditions 
 leading you to leave obligations undone it is not wrong if not 
 wilfully brought on yourself. Knowing how exhausted you get, 
 yon must watch not to waste physical force ; you are not careful 
 enough. Husband your power for the great purposes of life ; 
 spiritual exercises abridged for the sake of love is not sin. That 
 is outside. Your cold feelings are not you, not part of your moral 
 self;' they are part of your imagination, of your sensitive nature ; 
 you are not responsible for feelings without you indulge them. 
 Thoughts which disturb us are either from the Holy Ghost or 
 from the evil one. Doubts are emanations from hell, all around 
 us, excessive in this age. The presence of such trials is evidence 
 from God of real childhood, if you are made to feel that you are 
 surrounded by evil, and in a conflict. Say " Get thee behind me, 
 Satan ; " practise continual renunciation of him and his agents ; 
 avoid them, and protect yourself by the sign of the cross, and, 
 "Deliver me, O Lord." 
 
 As to desolation, loneliness, all seeming barren that is from 
 God, and the end good. It is His chastening hand. All must 
 be chastised. To some His scourging comes in suffering, be- 
 reavement, loss of property ; to others in spiritual losses. He 
 knows what is best ; chastises us that we may be brought low. 
 No doubt He sees your anxiety about spiritual helps, and throws 
 you back to bring you closer to Himself. 
 
 And so, my dear child, you learn year by year as your prob.x-
 
 IOS SCRUPLES. 
 
 tion goes on, and you come nearer to the end, as the borders 
 grow narrower, closing around you, and you feel the pressure of 
 your probation, that you are to be saved in His way, not in your 
 own. What does it matter, if we be saved in the end, whether it 
 be as a brand plucked from the burning, or after years and years 
 of spiritual consolation ? Seek compunction, not consolation. 
 What we have to do is to grow in humility ; your danger is to think 
 much of self. He brings you into a lowlier state, makes you know 
 you are far behind instead of far on. 
 
 The letter which follows was written to one, now long 
 gone to her rest, with a constitutional tendency to insanity, 
 and preserved from it by the wise and thoughtful counsel 
 and forbearance which " comforted the feeble-minded." 
 
 To 
 
 Thus much I wish to impress upon you, whatever the subject 
 may be. As to the particular subject of confession take this once 
 for all, and then leave all doubt and scruple God has appointed 
 spiritual persons to be guides of souls, whose office it is to direct 
 and comfort, to refresh the weary, to strengthen the weak, to con- 
 firm the strong, and to instruct the doubtful. To use their advice, 
 therefore, in humble gratitude to God, is the actual remedy which 
 God has appointed. 
 
 And now I will pass on. 
 
 I have, in a former letter, shown you such a picture of yourself 
 as I hope quite serves to convince you that you are suffering from 
 a diseased conscience. If you follow up its symptoms farther, 
 you will be the more convinced of this. It is most important that 
 you should be quite convinced of it. 
 
 Accusing yourself, without definite form or matter ; your very 
 best efforts making you fear ; most earnestly unwilling to offend 
 God, yet not knowing how to avoid it ; not standing anywhere for 
 fear of slipping everywhere ; thinking every step a danger and 
 every attempt a failure; and believing yourself drowning, when
 
 SPIRITUAL SICKNESS. ICX) 
 
 you are firm on dry land. It is as if you were walking in the 
 dark, where you see nothing to frighten you, and yet your fancy 
 is presenting all manner of evils to trouble and alarm you ; a 
 horror of you know not what ; taking advice, and then doubting 
 whether your adviser understands you, and so not following it or 
 reaping profit from it ; more at peace and rest for a little time, 
 and then, all anew in wretchedness and misery again. Such are 
 some of the symptoms which mark your disease, and show that 
 it is a disease. And then the effects of it, which confirm the 
 symptoms and prove the correctness of the decision a certain 
 coldness and distaste at God's service, even at your devotional 
 exercises and at the Holy Communion ; and from distaste, a cer- 
 tain discouragement and hopelessness about them all ; then also 
 a derangement of bodily health and strength, a want of energy 
 and vigour and spirit, and a growing incapacity for the ordinary 
 duties of life. 
 
 A consideration of these symptoms and effects make it plain 
 that your state of mind is not a departure from God and goodness, 
 but a state of disease and a disease which, without any doubt, 
 may, with His help, be certainly cured. But first let us inquire 
 how and whence it has come upon you. And this is very impor- 
 tant for you to know and think over. To know whence your 
 trouble comes will help you greatly to bear it, nay, even to profit 
 by it. This will suffice for the present letter. 
 
 First, then, it may be that this comes to you direct from God. 
 He has a design of mercy in it for your greater perfection. 
 Either He would punish you for some presumption and boldness 
 in His sight, hidden from yourself hitherto, but known to Him ; 
 or, which is most probable, He would detach you more from self, 
 and from your appetite for sensible delight in serving Him ; He 
 would take you off from the desire of always feeling Him nigh, 
 in order that you might rather learn to serve Him for His own 
 sake, and not for the comfort which it brings. Or it is possible 
 that God may be preparing you, through a process of suffering in 
 the spirit, for the reception of some great and unspeakable grace. 
 The second seems the most probable purpose, if one may venture
 
 I'lO DOUBTS. 
 
 to speak of what is probable with God. But whatever it be if 
 it be from God, and so far as it is from God it will be but for a 
 time, for " the twinkling of an eye : heaviness may endure for a 
 night, but joy cometh in the morning." In all such a case, it is 
 with you as with the moon the nearer she approaches the sun 
 the less does her light shine. But her light remains the same in 
 itself. So in the midst of your darkness which God causes He 
 makes you to love Him nevertheless, though you are not sensible 
 of your love, nay, though you think you are offending Him. By- 
 and-by, this cloud will pass away from you, just as the vapours 
 which the sun draws up from their thickness and coldness on the 
 earth by-and-by disperse and fall down as the brightest dew. 
 
 It is easy to tell when your trouble comes from God, by the 
 submission to His holy will, and by the docility and trustfulness 
 and humility with which you conduct yourself under the process 
 of cure. 
 
 But secondly, your disease may come from Satan, the evil 
 one, the enemy of souls. And that it does so, in part, appears 
 from the nature of it. Let not this amaze or discourage you. It 
 is the especial work of Satan to come between us and our peace. 
 And that he should come between you and yours is nothing 
 strange. He has also especial power over our imaginations ; and 
 he wrongs us through this power ; he excites fears and doubts no 
 matter how, with foundation or without foundation, it is all the 
 same to him, so he disturbs and discourages us. Just like an 
 opposing army set down before a citadel to take it ; by feigning to 
 attack, or by really attacking, no matter which, if only it wears out 
 the besieged, and vexes them by perpetual watching, and so gains 
 its position at last such is the devil's way. 
 
 He suggests doubts and scruples about things indifferent, and 
 makes difficulties about everything, because he wishes you to do 
 nothing. He would have you believe that you have fallen out of 
 God's favour, and are an object of His hatred, because he wishes 
 to discourage you from serving God at all. He exaggerates and 
 misrepresents the difficulty of this and that duty, because he 
 wishes to disgust you with all duty. If a thing be hard to do, he
 
 NATURAL TEMPERAMENT. Ill 
 
 says it is impossible. He would cut off all confidence in God as 
 being " a hard master," because he wishes you to " bury " your 
 talent in the earth', and to give up trading with it ; that is, give 
 up church, and services, and Holy Communion, and prayers and 
 meditations. 
 
 Thirdly, your disease may come from your own natural consti- 
 tution and temperament, that is, from your weakness and infirmity. 
 And this is greatly your case. Men are open more or less to spiri- 
 tual diseases according to their form and texture, by nature, in 
 /nind and body. (Just as it is in the vegetable world : the fir tree is 
 more apt to produce worm-eaten wood than the cedar or the oak.) 
 And when this is the case, Satan takes advantage, and makes 
 religion, as it were, strike itself upon the face by the weak trem- 
 blings of its own fingers. Weak health, for instance, making 
 your bodily strength very unequal, and so affecting the spirits. 
 A naturally shy and timid and reserved and cold disposition. 
 Feebleness of mind easily deceiving itself, and taking that for 
 wrong which is simply indifferent Ignorance also and want of 
 information. Then, and this perhaps most of all, a certain amour 
 propre, if I may so express it, which sets a person upon seeking 
 too great an assurance of the goodness and correctness of his 
 devotions and duties a greater assurance than is possible and 
 solely for his own greater comfort in religion. 
 
 And now I think I have exhausted the root and source of that 
 spiritual disease under which you suffer. My object is that you 
 may steadily and patiently look it in the face and see what it is 
 a disease. That it is not a state of sin, or a state in which God 
 is angry with you ; rather otherwise a state in which God is 
 dealing with you graciously, or in which He is pitying you with 
 His loving pity and ready to help you with His almighty arm. 
 
 To THE SAME. 
 
 I fear I have much disappointed you, by so long delaying to 
 answer your letter. 
 
 But you will kindly believe that indifference to your needs has 
 net been the cause. Indeed, since I saw you at you ha\e
 
 112 PATIENCE. 
 
 never been a day out of my thoughts, and you are always remem- 
 bered in my prayers. 
 
 I am not very strong, as you know ; and the weakness under 
 which I suffer affects all I undertake to do. Yours is an exceed- 
 ingly difficult spiritual case to deal with, and it has been from an 
 exceeding desire to deal with it wisely and well, that I have not 
 been able to make up my mind about it sooner. I earnestly hope 
 and pray that you may be no sufferer through this deliberation. 
 Nay, rather I may hope that after you have recovered the first 
 disappointment, you will be the gainer. 
 
 I wish, deliberately, to go through your difficulties, one by one, 
 and to analyze them to you, that you may face them as they really 
 are and not as you imagine them to be. And then I wish to 
 attack your enemy from all the different points on which he has 
 made himself assailable. This will take some time. And both 
 you and I will have to exercise all that waiting forbearance which 
 is necessary with everything which cannot be done offhand and at 
 once. I will write first one letter and then another, as I can it 
 may be often at some interval, one from the other ; and you will 
 kindly study and pray over what I write, and not be impatient or 
 lose heart, because I do not write quickly enough, or you do not 
 quickly enough gather up the comfort you hope for. 
 
 And remember that all I attempt to offer, and all you do 
 your best to receive, will go for nothing without God's special 
 grace, which you must beg for by special prayer. I advise you to 
 consider solemnly, for a second or two, that you are submitting 
 yourself to guidance and direction at the hands of one to whom 
 God's providence has sent you, and then to kneel down, and in 
 thought of that means being blessed to you, say, " O Lord my 
 God, I beseech Thee, strengthen me with that blessed Spirit of 
 Thine, the Ghostly Comforter, and daily increase in me Thy 
 manifold gifts of grace, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, 
 the spirit of counsel and ghostly strength, the spirit of knowledge 
 and true godliness, and fulfil me, O Lord, with the spirit of Thy 
 holy fear, even through Him who hath sent down the Spirit upon 
 His Church, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
 
 SELF- TORMENTING. 1 1 3 
 
 I will first of all speak of what is on the surface of your letter, 
 and what comes first is " the great trouble" you spoke of when I 
 saw you. Now, my dear child, I am far from underrating that 
 trouble. But face it and see what it really is. Ought it to remain 
 a trouble ? Supposing that your father vra& fordng\i\s opinions on 
 the subject of confession upon you, and requiring you to yield to 
 them and to the results which seem to follow upon them, you 
 might then doubtless feel that a great trouble was laid upon you. 
 But so far from this being the case, your father leaves you entirely 
 free ; and you are under the direction of one in whom you have 
 the comfort of knowing that he has confidence, who yet does not 
 certainly regard confession as necessary for all, and, under your 
 present circumstances, not necessary not even desirable 
 for you. 
 
 But the trouble is that you do not feel a confidence that your 
 father is right, and that such a feeling branches out, and unsettles 
 your general strength of reliance on his judgment. And this not 
 with any regard to yourself personally, but with regard to others 
 and what must needs come under your observation. 
 
 Now, my answer to this statement of the case is very plain and 
 easy. I do not so much say how such a feeling might well arise 
 in your mind, as that such a feeling ought not to be. Such a feel- 
 ing might most naturally arise. But it might also most naturally 
 be put down. And I will tell you how. 
 
 The subject of it all is this question of confession a difficult 
 and a most important question. Your father has made a sort of 
 special property in it, and taken it up warmly and earnestly. And 
 like all men who take up one subject warmly and earnestly, he has 
 overpressed some of its bearings and relations, and disturbed its 
 main position with respect to other subjects. It is the natural 
 infirmity of human minds to do this. Your father's mind is only 
 human, and it should be no prejudice to his general judgment and 
 wisdom, that he has done on the subject of confession what all 
 human minds are liable to do on subjects which they take up too 
 exclusively. 
 
 But then there is So-and-so, and several others, who take 
 
 I
 
 114 FILIAL DUTY. 
 
 advantage of this infirmity, and instead of trying to make it less 
 by doing their parts more considerately, make it greater and do 
 their best to fix and establish it. And this is a great daily sorrow 
 to you. 
 
 Well, and I can understand that. But over against it, you 
 should set your own liability to misunderstand and to misjudge. 
 And you should stir up within your own heart the grace of charity 
 and love. And then you would say, " I may mistake So-and-so 
 her or his needs may be very different from what I take them to 
 be ; so may all the kindness, and love, and attention, and readiness 
 to meet their wishes which I see on my father's part. And, at any 
 rate, he is the servant of men for Christ's sake ; and the less he 
 spares himself the more is he like his Master." So you would 
 reason all hardness and danger of unkind or unloving thought 
 out of your mind. 
 
 And, lastly, on the whole view of this " trouble," it should be 
 put down and expelled by the force of one overpowering conviction, 
 that, be your father right or wrong in his opinions, while his love 
 for you has set you free from their operation on yourself, he is 
 most single-hearted and earnest and sincere in his desire to save 
 the souls of men. I sum up this letter and this part of my subject 
 with but one or two earnest words of counsel : 
 
 Ask God for help to drive away this trouble. Read what I 
 have written again and again about it, and begin to act upon the 
 strength of the conviction which it leaves. 
 
 Continue to trust in your father's judgment in general, even 
 though the natural infirmity of man may have led him to make a 
 mistake in some particular. 
 
 And above all things try all your own judgment of all things 
 by the test of inward humility and meekness as respects yourself, 
 and true Christian charity and love as respects others. 
 
 I will write again very soon. Meantime I commend you 
 earnestly to the love and mercy of our God.
 
 SPIRITUAL HUMILIATION. 115 
 
 To 
 
 I have not left myself room enough, or strength enough, to 
 add what is in my heart to say about your spiritual report of your- 
 self this Easter, 
 
 What I gather about you is, that you do not rise to the joy of 
 the forty days; that you are dull and cold, and more stiffened 
 than purified by Lent , that you have to mourn the absence of 
 that consolation to a " broken heart " which ought to come, at 
 Easter, to the pardoned penitent Well, so it may well be, 
 and you still be a greater gainer than if it were otherwise. Con- 
 solation is not so good for the soul, or so great a gift from 
 God, as compunction. And, perhaps, He wills that this grace 
 should be deepened in you by showing you your need of humilia- 
 tion in the consciousness of great shortcomings. You have, it 
 may be, thirsted greatly after heavenly things, but for yourself 
 more than for His glory; and so your thirst has not been 
 quenched. It has not been pure thirst for love of Him ; it has 
 been rather a keen thirst for what brings joy and peace to your 
 own soul ; and therefore, to humble you out of self and into Him, 
 your thirst has not been satisfied. You are dry and parched still, 
 as in a land where no water is. 
 
 It will nevertheless be to you a gainful Easter-tide and Ascen- 
 sion-tide, if you will but offer your "dulness" to God, as the 
 result of your own infirmity ; and ask Him to turn it into the 
 grace of cheerful, humble patience, operating in increased watch- 
 fulness against self-pleasing, increased bravery in perseverance in 
 baffling your enemy, your besetting enemy, who seeks to under- 
 mine your service to God by mingling the motif of it. Take for 
 a penitential exercise, for ten days, a short meditation on the 
 forty-ninth chapter of the third book of the " Imitatio," with the 
 Collect for Easter Day to conclude. 
 
 God bless and keep you ever.
 
 If 6 INSANITY. 
 
 To THE SAME. 
 
 Hope, and rely on grace given, and use it diligently, absolutely 
 surrendering self and all self-comfort to God, and leaving the 
 whole issue of consolation and joy and peace in believing to Him. 
 Your real danger now is not so much that you do not grow on 
 unto perfection, as that you are grieved and wounded and dis- 
 appointed and in despair, because you do not see and feel you: 
 progress, and because you are trusting and expecting to see it 
 and to feel it, without the evidence of His Spirit to your spirit 
 that you are diligent and patient and self-forgetting. Let go self, 
 and do your present duty ; abandon all the desire for consolations, 
 and cling to compunction and trustfulness and hope ; and then 
 your growth will be undoubted, whether it be manifest or not 
 
 The following letter, to one who had the trial of seeing 
 a noble-hearted and beloved husband become insane, is 
 given because it may possibly be of comfort to other like 
 sufferers : 
 
 . . . You need never fear doing wrong by writing, at all times, 
 freely to me, whenever you find the least relief in giving vent to 
 the fulness of your poor aching heart. 
 
 It is most natural for you to feel as you say, and to say what 
 you feel. But you know that nature is not our best guide and 
 comfort in a sorrow like yours. Nature must have her way, and 
 there is a certain kind of relief in giving her free scope ; and, for 
 a time, there will be little hope in the effort of setting anything 
 against her. But grace is the power which surpasses nature, and 
 controls and sanctifies and sweetens all her emotions. 
 
 If I could help you to banish the vision which haunts you, by 
 saying, " Banish it," the thing would be soon and easily done I 
 Yet, by-and-by, God will mercifully also take this away. Mean- 
 time, set over against it the certainty that it was not really he 
 whom you saw so strangely and mysteriously changed, but his 
 poor oppressed body, with his own true spirit away and the
 
 LOVE IN CHASTISEMENT. 1 1/ 
 
 disease, which mangles and mars the best of us (so miserable is 
 sin in its effects upon man), consuming him. It was not he whom 
 you saw, and will, in God's good time, see again : it was the sin 
 of our common nature, from which, by-and-by, he will be purged 
 and separated for ever. The words he uttered were not his 
 words, but the words of evil, out of and beyond his control ; as 
 much so as if they had been spoken by another personality, out 
 of his sight and hearing and reach. 
 
 The visitation of insanity is a fearful mystery which we cannot 
 measure ; and it is better not to speculate upon it. The truth is 
 that God suffers it to befall those whom it does befall, out of His 
 mercy and love ; and we can know no more. It is no disparage- 
 ment of God's mercy that so fearful a punishment should be laid 
 upon any child of His love because the more grievous the 
 chastisement here on earth, the more fully will love be known in 
 heaven, when the veil shall be taken away which conceals the 
 motive of it now. It need not be his own sins which bring this 
 visitation ; the fathers' sins are visited on the children, for many 
 generations, in the wonders of God's moral world : neither need 
 this be undoubtedly ; for as of the man born blind, so of your 
 dear one, it may be that " neither hath this man sinned nor his 
 parents," but that the will of God may be fulfilled, and His glory 
 made manifest ! 
 
 There is only one thing which we know for certain, and that 
 is, " God is love ! " and the suffering which love involves, because 
 of the sins of mankind, we know by the sufferings which Jesus 
 bore, who Himself knew no sin. Look on that picture, and you 
 will see how vain and unworthy (though so natural to poor flesh 
 and blood) is the thought of God seeming to be "unjust" or 
 " cruel " in permitting your dear one to go through this crucible 
 of suffering, or rather you to go through it (for mercifully he does 
 not suffer), on his and your way to glory and rest. 
 
 What matters it, after all, what befalls us, while we know 
 that the hand is God's which strikes? It is only for a little while 
 we are in the dark. He is All Light. We know nothing ; He 
 knows everything. Who need care about the way, so it be not
 
 Il8 DEPRIVATION OF SACRAMENTS. 
 
 our own self-chosen way, and so it be the way which God chooses, 
 whereby to lead us safely home ? Comfort your poor heart with 
 the thought 
 
 " I will be still, 
 Do Thou Thy will, 
 
 My God!" 
 
 Think as little as you can of your dear one's present state; 
 think much of the state in which, after a little while of endurance, 
 both you and he will be glorified together with Jesus for ever. 
 Commit him, every minute, to God's hands ; pray for him there, 
 and leave him there, happy m the safety which must be there. 
 
 In like manner, commit yourself with confidence to your 
 Heavenly Father, who knows your every sigh and misgiving and 
 fear, and loves you with an eternal love, and who cannot do you 
 wrong. 
 
 After He has troubled you awhile He will return and speak 
 peace to you : He will always " stablish, strengthen, comfort, 
 settle you." I always pray and offer for you. . . . God be with 
 you. 
 
 To another, suffering from long illness, he wrote : 
 
 are cut off from external aids and means of grace, and 
 your inner stock of spiritual strength seems feeble and unequal to 
 the demand upon it ; and all seems too hard to be borne patiently, 
 because the power of patience seems to have died out from want 
 of the feeding help of grace. Shut up, and cut off, and cast on 
 one's self and one's self so barren and slow oh, the difficulties 
 and disheartenings are many, and you feel almost "frightened" at 
 the result. Well, my view of it all may be wrong, but it is decided 
 and clear. 
 
 Who are we that we should ever, even in thought, imagine for 
 ourselves a more profitable and salutary probation, as to the 
 spiritual life, than the probation that the providence of God 
 assigns ? If it be God's doing that you suffer loss and pain and 
 cutting off and shutting up, shall He not make His own will and
 
 RULE IN ILLNESS. 1 19 
 
 your conformity thereunto more sacramental and prodigal of grace 
 to your soul than if you had the ordering for yourself of daily 
 communions and daily instructions at will ? It is a sign of abso- 
 lute unbelief when we are more in search of God's means of grace 
 than of God, and therefore more out of heart, when God shuts 
 us up from sacraments, drawing us closer to Himself through the 
 obedience of suffering, than when we have access daily and hourly 
 to the altar, but have no check upon the gratification of our own 
 desires. 
 
 I have no doubt but that God is dealing more personally and 
 intimately, and, I will add, more effectively (if you do not hinder), 
 for the glory of His own name and the purification of your soul, 
 by cutting you off from outward helps, and causing you to suffer, 
 than when He was pleased to bring a plethora of sacraments to 
 your door. 
 
 And I say the same of rules of life, and counsels of perfection, 
 and precepts of duty, and laws of conduct, by which you have at 
 various times been overwhelmed. God is more loving to you in 
 throwing you back upon His former gifts and causing you to use 
 the grace which you have already received, than if He were to 
 stay His chastening and correcting hand, and invite you to go on 
 heaping fresh gifts upon the mass of so many unused. 
 
 Do not vex your memory with rules which were applicable in 
 detail to other circumstances, but which are only good for present 
 emergencies in their principle and in their substance. Let your 
 rule be simple, viz. to use, hour by hour, day by day, the actual 
 fact of suffering by the will of God. It is an actual fact that the 
 root of most evil in all of us, as in you, is our amour propre self- 
 love ; and it is an actual fact that God sends us suffering that 
 this self-love may be mortified and killed. Let your rule be 
 to practise (i) detachment from your own will in everything, 
 welcoming restraints, sacrifices, losses, etc., as gain : (2) detach- 
 ment from your own credit with others, as matter of gratulation 
 and satisfaction ; and to welcome slights and snubs and even con- 
 tempt ; at any rate, to be more glad when others seem not to care 
 or to sympathize, than when they soothe and flatter and caress :
 
 120 ABSOLUTE SUBMISSION. 
 
 (3) detachment from your own ease, and from that comfort and 
 convenience which make as if the one desirable thing were to 
 get rid of suffering and pain and discipline; and to welcome 
 external persons and things, which at least tend to qualify all 
 refreshment, if they do not minister to the reality of your morti- 
 fications. 
 
 Aim at these examples of a rule of mortification, if only to 
 witness to God that the desire of your heart is to co-operate with 
 Him ; not to please yourself with Him, in your own way, but to 
 obey and honour Him, in His way. And trust Him implicitly and 
 wholly not His promises, or His sacraments, or His priests, or 
 His grace all these; but not these only but HIM. He is over 
 you, in you, above you, below you ; all around you to keep you, 
 to bless you, to heal you, to save you. Trust yourself to Him 
 with the trust of an infant ; of absolute, undoubting, unconditional 
 surrender. And doubt not that all things, for body and soul, will 
 work together in the march of good of final ultimate good 
 through whatever evil you may have to pass. 
 
 God ever bless and keep you. 
 
 To . 
 
 As the Incarnation of the Eternal Son Himself had no 
 higher end than the glory of the Father, so a fortiori your life 
 and mine have no end conceivable but that, and that alone. But 
 the end of His glory can only be attained through obedience, 
 sanctified by the sacrifice of the Cross. The obedience of the 
 Eternal Son and His sacrifice are at once the pattern and the 
 plea of ours. In Him and with Him all vicarious sacrifices and 
 sufferings are consummated and finished. In Him every man 
 must bear his own burden. " No man may deliver his brother nor 
 
 make agreement unto God for him." God has no need of ; 
 
 nor does He want , except in His own time and in His own 
 
 way. The notion of 's so-called usefulness to the Church 
 
 and of 's so-called unusefulness is a purely human and short- 
 sighted and faithless notion. God can serve His Church far more
 
 USE OF GRACE. 121 
 
 fully by taking away from work, if so He shall see fit, than 
 
 by granting him strength for work. 
 
 We need not look on, except to be sure that God will deal 
 with us according to His mercy and our needs. The present 
 need, at the present time, according to the present opportunity of 
 grace, is what He would always have us satisfy. 
 
 NOTE. To prevent possible misconception as to Mr. Skinner's teaching 
 on the subject of Confession, the following extract is given from a pastoral 
 letter to his parishioners at Newland : 
 
 Confession of Sin. 
 
 l< I offer the opportunity, to such as may desire it, of confession of sin, 
 privately, and special absolution for the same. I can but repeat, on this 
 subject, what I said last year. 
 
 "Confession to God, in secret, is a necessary part of repentance not 
 merely a confession of sin on the whole, but of separate sins, one by one, in 
 detail ; and therefore confession of sin to God is required in Lent. Confession 
 of sins to a priest is not a necessary part of repentance ; but it is, in mercy, 
 as much provided by the Church of England, as by every other part of Christ's 
 Church on earth, for sin-stricken souls. I am sure it is as much needed in 
 England as in any part of the world. For it is the assurance to ourselves, not 
 only of the truth and the shame of our repentance, but also of an admission 
 to pardon which the order of the priesthood is appointed specially to convey. 
 Therefore, if any one ' cannot quiet his own conscience, but requireth further 
 comfort or counsel, let him come to me, or to some other discreet and learned 
 minister of God's Holy Word, that he may receive the benefit of absolution, 
 together with ghostly counsel and advice, to the quieting of his conscience, and 
 the avoiding of all scruple and doubtfulness.' "
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 LETTERS AND SPIRITUAL COUNSEL Continued. 
 
 1853- 
 
 *' I, loving freedom, and untried ; 
 No sport of every random gust, 
 Yet being to myself a guide, 
 Too blindly have reposed my trust : 
 And oft, when in my heart was heard 
 Thy timely mandate, I deferred 
 The task, in smoother walks to stray ; 
 But thee I now would serve more strictly, if I may." 
 
 IT would be difficult for any one to write letters to those in 
 illness so full of experience and sympathy as some of those 
 in the last chapter, who had not learnt in suffering what he 
 taught. Yet the writer's own lessons in that school were 
 but beginning. During 1852 his health was fairly good, 
 though he broke down in July from overwork in excessive 
 heat, and was sent out of London by his doctor's orders. A 
 short visit to Guernsey patched him up, and he returned to 
 his work with his usual ardour. The Lent work of 1853 
 tried him much, but he did not take any rest until after St. 
 Barnabas' Day, when he left England with the Bishop of 
 Columbia for a short tour abroad. But at Paris, after a 
 fatiguing day, he was attacked by sudden and violent 
 haemorrhage from the lungs. His wife was sent for at 
 once, and arrived, in the greatest anxiety, to find him 
 better than could have been hoped ; still the attack was
 
 RULE OF LIFE. 123 
 
 so serious, and had so enfeebled him, that his returning to 
 London for some time was out of the question. As soon 
 as he could move he was sent by his Paris doctor to Lippe- 
 Springe, near Paderborn, in Westphalia, to try the effect of 
 its baths and waters, under a Dr. Bolle, who had been most 
 successful in similar cases. There he arrived on August 7. 
 Dr. Bolle took the warmest interest in his patient, and 
 after four weeks of treatment at Lippe-Springe, Mr. Skinner 
 seemed sufficiently recovered to return to his work. 
 
 On September 16 he and his wife were again at their 
 St. Barnabas' home ; but his doctors pronounced him en- 
 tirely unfit to set to work, and ordered him out of London 
 at once. As a locum tenens had been provided, he was able 
 to obey, and again left London. Later in the autumn, he 
 made another effort to resume work, but it soon became too 
 evident that this was impossible, and he decided to winter 
 at Clifton, where he established himself with his family in 
 December, entirely giving up active work, except by corre- 
 spondence. To one who had asked him for a rule of life, 
 he writes ; 
 
 I send you a sketch of a Rule of Life. 
 
 Aim after accomplishing it, and do not be disheartened if you fail. 
 Aim high, and begin again when you fail, like the October fly 
 on the window pane. 
 
 A Rule of Life, 
 
 All Rules of Life must be made to resolve themselves into six 
 principal things, which those who seek to please God must set 
 themselves to do by the help of His grace. 
 
 I. To purify their souls entirely from those past sins which 
 they have committed, 
 
 II. To abstain from committing new sins. 
 
 III. To fulfil, faithfully, all their duties.
 
 124 RULE OF LIFE. 
 
 IV. To aim at the practice, more and more, of Christian 
 graces and good acts. 
 
 V. To bear, patiently, the evils of life. 
 
 VI. To do all things to the glory of God. 
 In detail, aim at the following : 
 
 I. If you go to bed at 1 1, rise at 6.30. 
 If you go at 10, rise at 6. 
 
 II. Your first thought on waking let it be of God. 
 Your first emotion an act of love to God. 
 
 Your first words " In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 .and of the Holy Ghost," and the Veni Creator. 
 Your first action the Sign of the Cross. 
 
 III. Rise, at once, without delay, and, having washed, begin 
 your prayers, before completing your toilet, with 
 
 (a) An act of faith. 
 
 (b} of adoration. 
 
 (c) ., of thanksgiving. (The "Treasury of Devotion" or 
 the "Twenty-one Heads" will give you forms.) 
 
 (d) An act of oblation of yourself to God, and of your actions 
 during the day, resolving that you will not do anything without 
 the thought of pleasing Him. 
 
 At the conclusion of these acts, make a resolution to walk all 
 the day as in the presence of God, and pray God the Holy Ghost 
 to help you. 
 
 IV. Then go on with your dressing : have a Psalter open on 
 your table, or the " Imitatio," and say psalms, or read a portion of 
 the " Imitatio." 
 
 At the end of your dressing and before you go down to 
 breakfast, 
 
 Finish the rest of your devotions 
 
 (a) Your confession ; 
 
 (b) Your petitions ; 
 
 (c) Your intercessions. (See the "Treasury of Devotion,'' 
 Horst's "Paradise of the Christian Soul," etc.) 
 
 And make an act of spiritual communion, joining yourself on 
 to the altar of this church, or of some other when there is a daily
 
 RULE OF LIFE. 12$ 
 
 celebration. (See the Manual of the Confraternity of the Blessed 
 Sacrament.) 
 
 V. After breakfast, go about your household duties as unto God r 
 remembering that your husband, your visitors, your servants, are, all, 
 in His sight, and that you must behave to them as in His presence. 
 
 Transact all business, letter-writing, etc. 
 
 VI. At noon (any time between twelve and two) go to your 
 room for half an hour, or an hour (if you can). 
 
 (1) Make a self-examination of the day (so far), and reneiv the 
 resolution of the morning, for the remainder of the day. 
 
 (2) If you should ever miss making it now, make it before 
 you dress for dinner. 
 
 (3) Read some portion of the Holy Scripture, and meditate 
 upon it. (See Du Guesne.) 
 
 Say " Sext " or the Sixth Hour. (" Treasury of Devotion.") 
 
 VII. Spend the afternoon in 
 
 (a) Visiting sick and poor to relieve them ; 
 
 the ignorant to teach them ; 
 
 friends and neighbours for Christ's sake. 
 Or (b) working for others in some way. 
 
 Or (c) reading for the cultivation of your mind and its 
 or writing J faculties. 
 
 VIII. Spend the evening in the social duties of your home, or 
 (within limits) in society out of it ; but always remembering that 
 God goes with you everywhere, and watches your conduct, in- 
 wardly and outwardly, with His loving but piercing eyes. 
 
 IX. As a rule, go to your room at 10 p.m., and 
 
 (1) Begin your devotions, as in the morning, with the four acts. 
 
 (2) Then your self-examination for the day, always beginning 
 with the besetting sin which you have set yourself especially to 
 overcome 
 
 (3) Note down the results of your examinatioa 
 
 (4) Then your acts as in the morning 
 Of (i) Confession ; 
 
 (2) Petition ; 
 
 (3) Intercession.
 
 126 RULE OF LIFE. 
 
 X. When you are ready for bed, (i) look at it, as on your 
 grave, and go into it, with the same sense of going to God as 
 when you die. 
 
 (2) Let your last thoughts, affections, words, and actions be 
 the same as at waking; only, when you sign yourself, say, " Into 
 Thy hands I commend my body, soul, and spirit, for Thou hast 
 redeemed me, O Lord, Thou God of Truth." 
 
 If you wake fifty times in the night, sign yourself again, with 
 the same words, as often as you are consciously awake- 
 
 For general counsels take these : 
 
 1. Communicate every Sunday and feast-day (if possible), and 
 aim ays fasting. 
 
 2. Visit the poor once a week. 
 
 Work for them on Wednesdays and Fridays. 
 
 3. Observe the Friday fast and that of vigils. 
 
 4. Take one day in the month and keep it reserved and quiet, 
 as a day of recollection. Examine yourself by this Rule of Life, 
 and mark wherein you have neglected, or been lax about it ; you 
 "will renew your resolution and purpose about it 
 
 5. Be sure to keep an annual retreat somewhere, and to make 
 your confession, on an average, not less than four times a year. 
 
 6. If at any time roused to anger or provoked, do not speak, 
 save under strong necessity, and when you do speak, let it be with 
 tientleness and after consideration. 
 
 O 
 
 Do not visit (except under a strong necessity) people who 
 openly offend God in their ways and habits of life, and when you must 
 go, let your visits be short and your manner grave and serious. 
 
 There are two sorts of persons with whom you cannot associate 
 too much : 
 
 (1) Those whose good example encourages and helps you ; and 
 
 (2) Those whom you believe have power to bring you more 
 out of the world and more near to God. 
 
 7. Never be afraid to stand up for Christ. 
 
 Have zeal and bravery enough always (as much as you can) to 
 stop all doubtful, loose, and uncharitable conversation in your 
 hearing. And when you cannot hinder, yet have the courage to
 
 SELF-EXAMINATION. I2/ 
 
 say that you are not on that side. If the position of those who 
 offend hinder you from an outspoken protest, still protest by 
 silence and gravity. 
 
 8. Be careful to remember that human respect will profit you 
 nothing. 
 
 9. (i) Resist the temptation to complain of weather, heat and 
 cold, etc. 
 
 (2) In these trials, and in sickness, accept God's will and say, 
 " Thy will be done," and surrender yourself to Him. 
 
 10. Be careful to calculate what your means are to spend ; and, 
 on principle, devote at least one-tenth to God. 
 
 To THE SAME. 
 On Uncharitableness. 
 
 If people would only examine themselves earnestly, deeply, 
 they would find so much sin in themselves, as should keep them 
 from the presumption of judging harshly and censoriously the sins 
 of their fellow-creatures. Because you must know, if you are true 
 in your self-examination, far more evil of yourself than you can 
 possibly know of any one else. 
 
 On Self-examination. 
 
 Make yourself questions. Take the Sermon on the Mount, 
 and by it make yourself questions. This properly done will bring 
 in the commandments 6th, 7th, and 8th. 
 
 For instance 
 
 Am I poor in spirit ? 
 
 Do I not show anger at once if slighted, not respected or 
 looked up to ? 
 
 Have I (if offended) tried at once to show gentleness with a 
 calm, quiet spirit ? 
 
 It must, of course, be remembered, in reading such 
 letters as the foregoing, and those which follow, that
 
 128 GRACE INTERCEPTED. 
 
 although they are given with the hope that they may be of 
 comfort and profit to many, they were written to individuals 
 whose special needs their adviser knew intimately, and 
 ought not therefore to be taken as his measure of instruc- 
 tion or advice for all. This explains also the difference in 
 his counsels to different correspondents, e.g. as to confession. 
 He was wont, in general, to speak of confession as a great 
 means of overcoming such faults and infirmities as, though 
 not " deadly," yet intercept grace, and of the " benefit of 
 absolution," as removing such hindrances to the full opera- 
 tion of grace upon the soul. Upon this subject he writes : 
 
 Faults which are of habit become matter for more frequent 
 confession, in proportion to their power of intercepting grace. 
 
 It is a mere truism to say that a habit (say) of forgetting the 
 Divine Presence, or of omitting spiritual reading, etc., must more 
 or less hinder grace. Consider some such help as this : 
 
 1. Your breach of rule, by omission or by commission, day byday. 
 
 2. Did conscience remind you of it, and how often ? Was con- 
 science instantly obeyed ? Or was it put off? Or was it stifled ? 
 
 3. Did any person remind you of it, or of any other fault ? Or 
 did any circumstance remind you of it ? And, 
 
 (a) Were you humbled ? And, 
 
 (b) Were you improved ? Or, 
 
 (c) Were you only irritated, vexed, or put out ? 
 
 4. Your speech was it hasty, or inaccurate, or impatient, or 
 censorious, or complaining? Or was it unnecessary talk which 
 could do no good and might do mischief. 
 
 Make up your account at the usual time, and put it aside ; I 
 don't mean forget it God forbid but do not let it impede you 
 from a fresh start and a renewal of hope, and another " Nunc 
 ccepi" Keep it by you, till you can see your regular confessor, 
 laying it down meanwhile at the foot of the cross, and beginning 
 promptly and faithfully again.
 
 ROMAN DIFFICULTIES. 129 
 
 Read as a help to meditation upon your needs, the " De 
 Imitatione," lib. ii. c. 2, " de Humili Submissione." 
 " Dei est adjuvare et ab omni confusione liberarc? 
 
 To 
 
 I deprecate changes in a Confessor, as highly as man can do ; 
 but then, I mean change for change's sake. When a soul needs to 
 be unburdened and set free, and has no access to its accustomed 
 spiritual helper, the healthy and the natural course would be to 
 call in the nearest and best that can be had. It is by no means 
 the least of the blessing of doing this, that one practises one's self 
 against the temptation to lean upon special instruments, rather 
 than upon Christ alone. 
 
 Do not allow yourself to be agitated unduly in the act of con- 
 fession; because this excessive emotion impairs the lucidity and 
 clearness of your self-accusation, while it adds nothing to the 
 element of contrition. I think we are more really in the spirit of 
 contrition (that is, of sorrowing love) when we are calm, and 
 collected, and restrained, and distinct and specific in our sentence 
 against ourselves. 
 
 The two following letters are to people unsettled in 
 their allegiance to the English Church ; the first being to 
 one whom he had advised to seek an interview with a 
 distinguished English theologian : 
 
 I do not decide whether it would have profited you or no to 
 have seen Dr. Pusey ; but it was a duty for the omission of which 
 you have offered no adequate reason. That you were "surprised" 
 by his letter, and disappointed by his arguments, was not con- 
 clusive that you understood him ; still less were your notions of 
 what Dissenters say, and your imagination of Dr. Pusey's rule of 
 faith, so necessarily accurate, that, in so momentous a matter, you 
 could. dispense with the common justice of hearing him out But 
 it is the course which others have taken before you, first, to form a 
 
 K
 
 130 NATIONAL CHURCHES. 
 
 will and a purpose for themselves, and then to hurry on with it 
 without justice to others. 
 
 I cannot understand Dr. Pusey as you have done, or else I 
 differ with him as much nearly as yourself. In one sense, surely, 
 different Churches the Churches, that is, of different nations and 
 people ; such Churches in plurality as St. Paul speaks of when he 
 says, "The Churches of Christ salute you" in one sense, surely, 
 different Churches are parts of Christ's mystical Body, and so 
 parts that in no other way can Christ's mystical Body be made up. 
 For in no other way but by a union of distinct members, can a 
 Body be composed. And so, too, the various members of the Body 
 may co-exist in various conditions of vigour and energy, and even 
 of soundness. Just as a limb or an eye may be infirm without 
 losing all the life which flows in common through the body. 
 
 Thus the Churches of Jerusalem, and Antioch, and Crete, and 
 Ephesus, etc., were all distinct Churches in one sense, being parts 
 or members of the Body, and yet they were all one as being the 
 Body collectively. They were not the Body, each by itself; they 
 were but parts or members ; they were only the Body, together. 
 
 Now, it is only plain truth, plain alike in fact and in common 
 sense, to say that the plenary inspiration of God the Holy Ghost 
 was promised, and is granted solely and alone, to the whole Body 
 of Christ. Do not slur this over. Take the passages of Scripture 
 which you quote further on to support your peculiar claims for 
 Rome "Another Comforter with you for ever" "The Spirit of 
 Truth to guide you into all truth," "to teach you all things, etc." 
 To whom were these words spoken? To whom were they 
 fulfilled? To the whole college of apostles, the whole Body of 
 Christ. And so, the whole Body of Christ can never err. And so, 
 the Spirit of Truth abides in it for ever. But the parts of that 
 Body need not be, and have not been, all alike saved from error. 
 The earliest errors which crept into the Church affected some 
 Churches much, others a little, others not at all. And they were 
 errors which struck deep at fundamental truth the Gnostic heresies 
 first, and later on the Arian. Yet this partial corruption, while, of 
 course, it weakened all, never either altogether destroyed the
 
 PROMISE TO WHOLE CHURCH. 131 
 
 parts, or in the least degree undermined the whole. When the 
 Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Church there was no such 
 system set up with it, as Rome has since set up for herself a 
 system which destroys the integrity of the parts of Christ's 
 mystical Body while it carnalizes the whole ; but the Holy Spirit 
 came down upon the twelve and filled the room where they were 
 sitting. It came down to illuminate and guide the whole Body, 
 as a whole ; and only as a whole was that a guidance and an 
 illumination for ever. One apostle was not above another, nor 
 one Church in subjection to another. St. Peter was not St. James's 
 master, nor Jerusalem subservient to Antioch. All the rulers of 
 the Churches were equal in their share of that gift, and only as 
 they drew off and separated one from the other, and claimed to 
 teach apart, could the permanency and the profit of it fail. But 
 the various Churches soon began to teach apart, some in this 
 way and some in that ; and some fell besides into deadly sins (as 
 the Churches of Asia Minor) : and just so, and in the measure of 
 their several defections from the common faith and teaching of 
 the Holy Ghost, the Churches of Christendom were more or less 
 inspired. 
 
 I cannot, therefore, understand Dr. Pusey, as you do, to say that 
 "the Holy Spirit does not teach the same doctrine to all." But I 
 understand him to say that the Holy Spirit has taught all, and 
 taught all the same, and all have, or might have, what the Holy 
 Spirit taught : but that while the Holy Spirit has thus brought 
 .all in one, man and his evil master have ever been seeking to drive 
 all asunder ; that they have too well succeeded ; that doctrines 
 not taught by the Holy Spirit, because not taught to all, have been 
 taught by some, and so it has been brought to pass, as Dr. Pusey 
 says, " that some has been permitted to fall into error." 
 
 You seem to me partly not to do Dr. Pusey's statements justice, 
 and partly not to understand them. Surely there must be a 
 -degree of inspiration short of plenary inspiration, else you and I 
 would be individually infallible. All inspiration, therefore, from 
 God the Holy Ghost (speaking ordinarily) which is not the in- 
 spiration of the whole Body of Christ acting together, is short of
 
 132 FRUITS OF DIVISION. 
 
 plenary inspiration. The division of Christendom is a fact which 
 you must face, account for it as you may. I am not authorized to 
 explain it, any more than you. But I must demur to the com- 
 placency with which Roman Catholics arrogate to themselves all 
 the right, and attribute to the rest of the Christian world all the 
 wrong. The truth is, mankind is altogether wicked, and our 
 divisions are our great wickednesses and their fruits. Yet God is 
 gracious and bears with the most wicked, even while Pie punishes. 
 In whatever degree the people of the Roman Church, or the 
 Russian Church, or the English Church have sinned against God 
 (and I suppose all have so sinned grievously), there is punishment 
 for them. And one punishment which we see and recognize is 
 religious division. Now the origin and course of that division 
 reveal themselves. There could not be division under plenary 
 inspiration. Under plenary inspiration the Roman and the 
 Russian and the English Church were one ; in common with the 
 rest of Christ's mystical Body, they were made depositaries of the 
 common faith. This common gift was to be the common bond 
 and the common pledge of their illumination to the end of the 
 world. The origin of division, therefore, and the departure of 
 plenary inspiration in this or that Church, were contemporaneous. 
 Pride and the grieving of God's Spirit and the course of such 
 division lay along the line of separate teaching teaching either 
 short of or beyond the faith once delivered to the saints. 
 
 To 
 
 . . . You must take your utter dissatisfaction with yourself as a 
 good sign, if it make you humble, and resigned to have nothing to 
 offer but an earnest will, amid continued beginnings and little 
 progress. You have the infinite and inexhaustible merits of the 
 Cross to offer ; and we cannot too soon learn how, when all is 
 done, there is nothing worth God's acceptance but those ! You 
 are not a "humbug," if you have nothing to say to God but the 
 " old, old story " of your utter helplessness and shortcomings, so 
 long as you are conscious of giving Him your heart and will, and 
 trying to prove your love by 3*our obedience and submission.
 
 FAITH IN THE WHOLE CHURCH. 133 
 
 You are only a " humbug " when you go to Him pretending to 
 love Him, and to honour Him, and to try to please Him, when, 
 all the while, you know you are only bent upon glorifying and 
 pleasing yourself. . . . 
 
 As to your " faith in the English Church," which you say you 
 are " losing : " I should like to hear in what " Church " you are 
 gaining faith ! Try and see that " English " is but an accident 
 which may change, and does change with the English wind, but 
 to which we attach nothing of " faith." The Church is the Body 
 of Christ the same in its integral elements, all the world over ; 
 and it is in that wherein you have " faith " which can never be 
 shaken, because that can never be changed. God has made you 
 an Englishwoman. Well, that is an accident over which you 
 have no control ; you cannot change it : so you must accept it, 
 with all its advantages and ^advantages. You cannot make 
 yourself a Roman seeing that God has willed you to be something 
 else. But " the Body of Christ," though in England it must bear 
 the trial (as our Lord did in the flesh in Judaea) of English unbe- 
 lief and carelessness and profanity, is not really affected by it 
 It is not changed by it, and it remains to you the home of your 
 soul, in which you trust, and in which you wait till you are released 
 altogether from faith and enter into enjoyment and possession. 
 
 If you saw as much as I have seen of the Roman, and French, 
 and Spanish accidents, infesting and affecting the Body of Christ 
 in what is called (by a contradiction in terms) " Roman Catholic 
 countries," you would admit that our English accidents are not 
 halfsQ mischievous in their direct dishonour to God. What we 
 all want is (i) a spirit of love and patience to help us, each in 
 our place, to bear with the separate and the common trials of our 
 probation in the world; and (2) a spirit of zeal and devotion and 
 gratitude to make the most of these means of access to the powers 
 of grace and holiness which we possess. 
 
 The four letters which follow are evidences of careful 
 teaching in the midst of weakness to those who asked 
 for it :
 
 134 LIGHT GAINED BY LOVE. 
 
 To 
 
 It has pleased God to give you largely the gift of faith ; while 
 you have it you must diligently use it One way is think, how if 
 you had it not ? and so brace yourself to hold on to it as your. 
 only hope. The mystery of one having it, and another not having 
 it, is not to be inquired into ; but perpetual thanksgiving is due 
 from those who have it. It is a help and protection against the 
 evil of doubt, to make a thanksgiving for the faith which for you 
 raises all questions into a sphere where nothing can touch that 
 faith if you keep close to the Creeds, about which we are safest 
 when not speculating. We are all most safe when trying to 
 live up to our faith. God's presence is not theory: it is life. 
 You become conscious of it by doing His will. " He that 
 doeth," etc. 
 
 You cannot be too careful about renewing all rules of life, and 
 watching where most you fail. You are most sure of God keeping 
 you in the faith when doing His will most of all when keeping 
 the cardinal law of love. " On these two commandments hang 
 all the Law and the Prophets." "Love is the fulfilling of the 
 law." Every breach of love, therefore, is a weakening of our hold 
 of the kingdom both of light and love. 
 
 You continually sin against love without meaning it ; running 
 the risk of offending God through the wish of being agreeable, etc. 
 Make an act of humility from time to time, seeing you waste the 
 grace He gives waste it without meaning to do so. If our hands 
 were full of gold dust, we should lose it even if we did not mean 
 io do so, unless careful not to let it slip through our fingers : so it 
 is quite possible, without meaning it, to waste grace and the power 
 of love. Therefore make faults, such as wandering in prayer from 
 laxity or negligence, subjects for great humility for acts of 
 humility. Say, " O my God, I lay this before Thee as an evidence 
 of my sorrow ; accept this my humiliation ; join it to the humiliation 
 of Thy dear Son upon the cross." So, also, when you speak 
 disparagingly of others. When we can't praise, we should be 
 silent, and not speak of infirmities and faults, especially of grave
 
 GRACE AND NATURE. 135 
 
 ones ; contempt in speaking of others is a great sin. Take those 
 counsels with respect to faith and the life ; both are sustained 
 by watching over little things, especially those you fail in. 
 
 Note this general rule, which you do not keep in mind You 
 should fix yourself on the Giver rather than on the grace which He 
 gives. Whether grace be given more or less, it will not affect 
 your spiritual barometer. Don't dwell unduly on whether you 
 profit little or much ; your duty to the Giver is all the same, He 
 gives the feeling of profit and takes it away. You are depressed ; 
 you think you are less in favour. Let your mind be fixed on the 
 Giver. Of earthly blessings we say, " The Lord gave and the Lord 
 hath taken away : " so we should say of gifts of grace. 
 
 To . 
 
 . . . There are in you two motive powers, that of grace, and 
 that of nature ; and you are more governed by the power of nature 
 than by that of grace. You have to overcome also your natural 
 temperament Love of self is at the root. The opposite power of 
 grace is a supernatural gift ; you must pray more and more for it ; 
 only so can you overcome. Try and work it out by closer medita- 
 tion that there are these two powers, and that you are too much 
 governed by the one, too little by the other. Strive to overcome 
 and to grow. Fiat voluntas tua would embody all. What a 
 mistake it is to suppose that we are unacceptable to God because 
 in illness we cannot perform all our devotions ! To lie still and 
 say, " Thy blessed will be done." is sufficient no effort of head is 
 necessary for that. In any disappointment, even trifling, say that 
 " Fiat" He is pleased to exercise you continually, and all may 
 depend on whether you accept unreservedly whatever He may 
 appoint for you. 
 
 Take another thought, and carry it about with you : that all is 
 acceptable to God according as to whether we do all in a spirit of 
 compunction. Our habitual spirit ought not to be one of doubt, 
 but of contrition. Cultivate it ; consider for a moment what 
 a life of ingratitude yours must seem to God, yet if you bring Him 
 a contrite heart He asks no more ; and the spirit of contrition is
 
 136 OMISSIONS. 
 
 the spirit of peace ; the humble soul does not ask more. Never 
 be disheartened ; look forward cheerfully, start afresh. 
 
 Take the third book and fifty-fourth chapter of the "Imitatio;" 
 it contains a categorical statement of the opposing forces of 
 nature and of grace. There are sixteen propositions as to the 
 working of nature as opposed to the work of grace. Draw it 
 out in writing ; so you will have a clear picture of self as nature 
 moves you, and of grace which fails to move you. Make use of 
 this for self-examination, and resolution, and prayer. The fifty- 
 fifth chapter is a prayer ; use it at least once a week. In that 
 way you may gain a fresh flood of light to see the difference 
 between what grace would have you be and what you are by 
 nature, and to perceive that you are not sufficiently careful to 
 draw to yourself God's grace and love that you go on carelessly 
 in natural ways. 
 
 To . 
 
 I. Of course, wilful or known, and not made up, breaches of 
 rule, as to examen and devotions, are " negligences " to be con- 
 fessed. In sickness, the loving soul does not neglect them, but 
 keeps them as best she can, by an act of the will, if every other 
 power should fail. You are accepted, "according to what you 
 have not according to what you have not" 
 
 II. Your sense of uneasiness under omissions, and your con- 
 sciousness of they/g/// to keep up your examen, are signs of God's 
 blessed Spirit uniting with your spirit to overcome the tempter. 
 Thank Him for such signs ; pray that you may never be without 
 them, till all need for them shall be removed. 
 
 III. Impatience with the stupidity of a servant, and im- 
 patience under barrenness of spiritual condition, are the two 
 extremes of the same line of evil inordinate love of self. 
 Patience is the test of unselfish love for God alone. Why is it 
 difficult, as you say, to " rejoice " always ? Because you only then 
 know what true joy is when you can welcome tribulation and 
 privation and suffering. " For the joy that was set before Him, 
 He endured the cross." So long as you look upon loss, and trial,
 
 EXERCISE OF HUMILITY. 137 
 
 and discomfort, and sorrow as miseries to be avoided and escaped 
 from, you will be a stranger to joy. 
 
 IV. Whenever you feel weary and dejected, and out of heart 
 from any cause besides sin in yourself or in others, in Church 
 or State, meditate carefully for half an hour upon the last chapter 
 of the second book of the "Imitatio," the "Regia Via Crucis." 
 God be with you. Amen. 
 
 To . 
 
 Take three days a week for a month, and on each of these 
 days consider, before you begin your mid-day prayers, as follows : 
 
 I. That, notwithstanding the diversity of thoughts and 
 opinions among men, all agree in these : 
 
 (a) That no man is low in his own opinion of himself; 
 
 (b) That no one likes to yield to, or submit himself to others ; 
 
 (c) That no one, however humble, does not think he deserves 
 to be well thought of; 
 
 (d) That all are anxious to excel their neighbours ; 
 
 to pardon their own faults ; 
 
 not easily to pardon others ; 
 
 to keep their own opinions ; 
 
 to admire their own goods ; 
 
 to approve their own plans and dis- 
 
 parage others ; 
 
 to make their ignorance appear 
 
 wisdom, and to affect to know all 
 when they know nothing. 
 
 This is not very wonderful, considering the selfishness of men. 
 But 
 
 II. It is wonderful that even righteous men, who seem to love 
 God and to desire His honour above all, do secretly indulge in 
 self-conscious thoughts, and resolve everything by an appeal to 
 self, doing even what is right, not with the end of pleasing God, 
 but for the enjoyment to themselves of a consciousness of duty. 
 And the holier and higher the duty, the more subtle and powerful 
 is this tendency of self-love.
 
 138 USE OF SICKNESS. 
 
 III. i. Read i Cor. xiii., and compare Haggai i. 6. 
 
 2. Make a confession of your life-long weakness, in respect of 
 absolute simple love to God as a motive. 
 
 3. Make a resolution to do and bear all out of love and in 
 forgetfulness of self. 
 
 4. Say the Collects for Whit-Sunday and Quinquagesima, and 
 the Lord's Prayer, and the Angelus. 
 
 Most of the " spiritual letters," as they may be called, 
 contributed to this volume, have been sent anonymously ; 
 those which follow appear to have been written to one in 
 illness or weakness. 
 
 Of course it is possible to perform self-examination per- 
 functorily, so that it becomes a deceit instead of a help to the 
 soul But generally, certainly for you, it is a rule that in propor- 
 tion as you let yourself be hindered in self-examination, so far you 
 are not faithful to grace received. That is a practical test as to 
 whether you are improving grace or losing it. 
 
 There are, of course, degrees of time and detail, of infirmity 
 and occupation, into which I do not enter; many things may 
 hinder length or detail, but the thing itself is a test by which to 
 measure one's self. In hearing of others' unbelief, prayer for them 
 is our own safeguard : we should think of them as withered trees, 
 which yet may be revived by grace won by prayer. 
 
 The difficulties which have hindered you in performing your 
 spiritual obligations were all details brought on you by Almighty 
 God His way for you. "The secret of the Lord is with them 
 that fear Him." When He chose the house of sickness, and 
 anxiety, and strain for you, it was His way ; in that way He was 
 revealing Himself. The question is, Did you take it in ? Your 
 great failing has been that, instead of opening your mouth that He 
 might fill it, and your heart that He might come in, you were 
 tempted to lament, to think how cut off you were from spiritual 
 privileges. He could have brought you to more sanctity by your 
 want of them. Be sure that He is not angry with you, but that
 
 SUBMISSION IN ILLNESS. 1.39, 
 
 He is providing you with something fresh to make you sit loose to- 
 the world and all worldly things, and all the world's ways. Try 
 and think less of difficulties and hindrances, and see only His 
 hand in all : " him shall He teach in the way that He shall 
 choose" not in your way, but in His way. "Them that are 
 meek shall He guide in judgment:" all your judgments and 
 will must be brought under Him. So you will be able to rejoice 
 in difficulties the love of Him filling your heart. 
 
 Make, then, a fresh beginning of self-examination ; let it be a 
 test, not of formality, but as to your standing in the kingdom of 
 grace. Next, look on the past as a page of holy meditation and 
 spiritual reading, wherein to see God's choice for you. Keep it 
 before you as His way of teaching and bringing you nearer, as 
 being best for you the simplest and purest indication of love. 
 Meditate upon it, as a subject for humiliation that you were not 
 able to take it up, but that now you will try to do so. 
 
 There can be no doubt about one thing that God is minded 
 to prove you ; as in other ways, so especially through bodily suffer- 
 ing and infirmity ; and that, if human means fail to relieve you of 
 it, it is because He wills the infirmity to remain. What a relief 
 there is in this, and how it compensates for all the mistakes and 
 false hopes of men ! You are in the hands of the All-loving and 
 the All-wise ; and you are far happier to be an invalid with Him 
 near, than to be the strongest and the ruddiest among those who 
 are farther off from Him. 
 
 I will prepare for you, if I can, against Lent, some simple and 
 easy exercises of the great and unspeakable grace of "abandon" 
 to God. Meantime, I would advise you to lay yourself open, with 
 absolute passivity ^ day by day, and every day, and all day, to all 
 that is meant by the call to bear His will " O God, I have now 
 nothing to do but to love and bear." 
 
 Do not fidget yourself and fret because your devotions, in. 
 letter and spirit, are scantier, and poorer, and less regular and 
 fervent than you like. This is a scare from the proud spirit of
 
 I4O SPIRITUAL DEPRIVATIONS. 
 
 evil. Appeal to the Spirit of good, who will reconcile you to be 
 content to pray and to read for years without fruit, with St. 
 Antony, and St. Francis, and St. Teresa, and St. Catherine, etc. 
 Remember that the Holy Spirit makes more and greater saints 
 through patience and humility, than through energy and zeal. 
 Patient suffering in soul and body is the gate of heaven. You are 
 brought into conformity with the risen Jesus only and in such 
 measure as you are conformed to Him in patience under the cross. 
 
 I very lately saw a letter from a dear friend of mine, a Roman 
 Catholic, who is a greater invalid than .you just now, and entirely 
 shut up and off from everything spiritual and temporal in the way 
 of refreshment. I was much struck by her words, and I noted 
 some of them for your benefit, because they seemed to me exactly 
 what you want to hear again, and from an independent source. 
 
 "I have been now ten days without even going down to 
 
 chapel (in the house) for Holy Communion. The Pere M 
 
 won't let me even speak of it as a privation ' Le bon Dieu peut 
 bien se communiquer autrement que par le Sacrement, quand il 
 en prive une ame. La souffrance est en elle-meme un moyen 
 d'union a Dieu;' and I feel every day the truth of what the 
 Pere says ; for I have never been more completely shut out from 
 everything, even from reading ; and I have never been happier. 
 There seems nothing in the world left for me but to desire to love 
 God better. The Pere came to me the other day and told me 
 he thought I must resign myself to not going out at all, but to 
 keep my cellule through the winter. 'Vous menerez un peu la 
 vie d'un Chartreux ; qu'est ce que vous pouvez demander de 
 mieux ? ' he said with a radiant look, as if it were the brightest 
 and happiest life possible ; and he left me feeling as if it were. 
 Everything in life may be made use of, as means towards the 
 end, that is, the service and glory of God ; and an indication of 
 the Divine will that one thing may be more a means than another 
 thing is the only reason for a preference. So, if ill health is more 
 a means to the end, one prefers it, or, as the Pere Provincial once 
 said to me, " If it seems God's will to draw you close to Him- 
 self par la vote des privations dans les choses spirituelles, even the
 
 PATIENT WAITING. 141 
 
 privation becomes, in a way, sweeter than the abundance would 
 be.' They always say in public troubles, ' Le bon Dieu est 
 toujours la ; tenons nous prets a tout, faisons ce que nous pouvons 
 pour eloigner le mal ; et Dieu saura bien tirer sa gloire de tout ce 
 
 qui arrive.' Pere M always says, ' Pray and prepare, but do 
 
 not trouble. II ne faut pas vouloir presser le bon Dieu,' and 
 this quiets me when I get impatient." 
 
 These words signify the same thing that I have very often 
 urged upon you, but I send them because they come from an 
 independent source, and are very comforting. Whenever you 
 are tempted to impatience say, " II ne faut pas vouloir presser le 
 bon Dieu." 
 
 God ever bless and keep you. 
 
 What I seem to see about that passage of your life is that there 
 was an inordinate strain on your physical powers, and that there 
 was not in you that patience and submission, and open-mouthed 
 receptivity, which there ought to have been. It was His provi- 
 dence which brought the greater strain upon you, and there was 
 not a responsive readiness on your part. Indeed, what we should 
 try for when He visits us within or without, by sickness in our- 
 selves or in others, by temptation or desolation or barrenness, is 
 to aim at stirring up an answer of patience and love like Job's 
 " Though He slay me," etc. And what seems to me is that you are 
 chiefly wanting in simplicity of patient waiting on God. Your 
 natural activity of character leads you to be anxious to compass 
 even the best ends in some other way than His. But we are 
 safest when the expression of our heart is, " I will lie still." Your 
 natural impulse is to do something active to compass what you 
 think within reach, when it may not be so, and that has a ten- 
 dency to bring you into collision with God instead of into harmony 
 with Him. The simplicity of patience touches the depth of your 
 difficulties. The tendency to speak rashly of others arises from 
 the same cause ; not, God forbid, from malice or unlove, but from 
 a restless activity wanting to make everything square with your
 
 '142 PEACE, 
 
 own views. And so, dear , there is a continual tendency to relax 
 
 your rule, partly from a strain on your physical powers, which I 
 think you might sometimes avoid by husbanding them better, so 
 as to be ready for spiritual things. It is much more important to 
 ibe ready for spiritual reading and other obligations, than to do 
 many things. Sometimes you cannot help it, and then you must 
 .offer it to God. 
 
 Next, there is a want of simple patience in your attitude 
 of mind. Most of all, the old taint of self-love, that root of 
 .^bitterness in so many of us, making us speak rashly of others. If 
 we had always before us a sense of our own vileness we could not 
 feel inclined to speak so of others. 
 
 Take the thirty-fourth Psalm with this spiritual intention. The 
 keynote and burden of that Psalm is, " Come, ye children," etc. 
 Let then that be the aim of your soul, to learn more deeply and truly 
 what the fear of the Lord is. To put it in a practical form : we 
 may see one way in guarding the tongue. " What man is he ... 
 let him refrain his tongue from evil." And then, " seek peace 
 and ensue it." Make a little meditation on those two words, 
 " peace " and " ensue." Peace with God, with yourself, with your 
 neighbour. Seek them as an evidence of the fear of the Lord 
 not a slavish fear, but a filial fear, bringing peace with Him, and 
 yourself, and others. There can be none without a guarded 
 tongue. Censure of others, and, still worse, inaccurate words or 
 unloving words of others, are all hindrances to peace ; avoid all 
 evil-speaking. And then ensue, i.e. pursue. St. Paul uses the 
 latter word, which is what ensue means. Pursue, follow after 
 peace ; run after it as something which is running away from you. 
 In company occasions arise of losing it, but do not let it go ; run 
 .after it till you find it, and then hold it fast. 
 
 Of course, dear , there is no difficulty in spotting the weak 
 
 place ; you say, and rightly, that there must be something very 
 wrong when you get upset in any strain. What is this wrong ? It 
 is very simple and plain that you are too intent on doing what 
 your conscience tells you you have to do as to rule, etc., and
 
 BEARING MORE THAN DOING. 143 
 
 forget to bear. Yet where you fail in doing may be nothing ; you 
 may be disabled, may be hindered by exhaustion from fulfilling 
 your rule. God may in His providence take away from you the 
 power of doing, but He never takes from you the power of bearing. 
 And there is where you fail. The secret of your failure lies in a 
 small compass : you do not make the most of your infirmities. In 
 time of strain you struggle instead of bearing and saying, " It is 
 'better forme." Your impulse is to look out for human sympathy. 
 When He sends a strain it is part of His will, and so His disci- 
 pline for you ; but you do not utilize your sufferings, and so you 
 lose profit ; you are bent on self rather than on His will ; you 
 want to be free from trouble instead of accepting it. I do not 
 know whether it would have been possible at , but your per- 
 fection would have been to have said nothing, and laid it before 
 God. That lies at the bottom of almost all amiss in your spiritual 
 life, an absorbing interest in self, and that you may be an object 
 of interest to others. Also, there is an absence of humility, there is 
 pride for humility and patience are sisters. If you were really 
 patient you had rather bear them that others should be troubled. 
 
 Take a note of this : that what you have to watch against is 
 giving way to impulse in thought, word, and deed. Watch against 
 acting, speaking, or thinking, or writing on the impulse of the 
 moment, without weighing consequences both to yourself and to 
 others. 
 
 Next as to your rule ; be more taken up with the duty of 
 bearing than of doing. God calls you rather to the passive than 
 to the active in the spiritual life ; perhaps because He sees it is 
 harder to you to Orwell than to do well, and so His vocation for 
 you is to bear rather than to do. You have more to do in bearing 
 than in any other form of obedience to His will. 
 
 Take as a general law to strive for gladness, and joy, and 
 brightness in fulfilling your part. Put down gloom and despair ; 
 be more glad at contretemps than at success, because better for 
 you.
 
 144 ANGUISH AT DEATH. 
 
 It is a strange mystery (the depths of which we shall never 
 know till the manifestation of all things), that many, to whom we 
 might probably with confidence impute an almost certainty of 
 calm and reposeful faith and hope and love, in the midst of the 
 final struggle which waits upon the passing soul, are then beset 
 with horrible fears and doubts which often express themselves in 
 heartrending cries of distress, amounting sometimes to despair. 
 These phenomena are no measure, happily, of the soul's accept- 
 ance with Him, who knows its every pulse, with a certainty which 
 cannot err. Physical disease will often account for much, a 
 nervous temperament for more ; but, after all, there is no account 
 to be given of it, except the permission of God, who is often 
 pleased in this way to bring those whom He most loves and 
 draws closest to Himself into real contact with the full mystery of 
 suffering, in order for their more perfect entrance into joy. "As 
 My Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you," is the measure 
 of God's love to the elect soul. Well, we know that the Father's 
 love for Jesus was through such suffering, in the foretaste of death, 
 as found expression in " strong crying and tears," and that Jesus 
 was " heard in that He feared."
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 VISIT TO THE EAST. 
 
 I853-I8S5. 
 
 " Here lurks no treason, here no envy swells, 
 Here grow no damned grudges ; here are no storms, 
 No noise,- but Silence and Eternal Sleep." 
 
 THE winter of 1853-4 was happily spent at Clifton, but in 
 the early spring of 1854 Mr. Skinner had a dangerous 
 attack of pleurisy which deprived him of the little strength 
 he had gained. His kind friend at St. Paul's writes to him 
 at this time : 
 
 36, Wilton Crescent, April 6, 1854. 
 MY DEAR SKINNER, 
 
 From excessive press of business at this critical time, I 
 have delayed answering your very touching letter longer than I 
 could have wished; and now my answer must, of necessity, be 
 brief; much briefer than I desire in writing to you, my dear 
 friend, for I should like to have a long conversation with you after 
 so long an intermission of communication between us. 
 
 It is unspeakably distressing to me to be obliged to say that 
 for your own health, perhaps I ought to say your life's sake, I 
 cannot consent to your doing any duty whatever at St. Barnabas' 
 at present. My authority for speaking so positively is contained 
 in the enclosed note from Dr. Chapman, which I will ask you to 
 return to me when you have perused it. ... 
 
 L
 
 FAILURE OF HEALTH. 
 
 I would fervently pray to be enabled to see God's hand in 
 reference to your condition, and to follow His guidance. 
 
 If we both are alike influenced by a simple-hearted desire tc 
 do right, to do His will, let us be assured, my dear brother, that 
 He will provide. I cannot see my way at present further than tc 
 say, "Comeback to your home at St. Barnabas' when you feel you 
 can do so with safety and convenience." For the rest, let us wait 
 for God's good providence to lead us, for indeed it is an occasion 
 for putting to the test our Blessed Saviour's words, "Sufficient 
 unto the day is the evil thereof." 
 
 Be assured that, under any circumstances, I shall not cease tc 
 feel the warmest affection towards you, and to make any efforts in 
 my power to lighten your cross. Give my kindest regards to dear 
 Mrs. Skinner, and believe me, my dear Skinner, 
 
 Your faithful and affectionate brother in the Lord. 
 
 ROBERT LIDDELL. 
 
 Rev. James Skinner. 
 
 It was ever necessary, through life, to hold him back by 
 positive injunctions, for the moment he recovered from the 
 severity of illness, his desire to be at work persuaded him 
 that he was capable of it. He returned to St. Barnabas' 
 in the middle of April, for Easter, but was unable even to 
 go into church for a month after he reached home, and 
 then only in an invalid chair to receive the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment Yet he rallied in a measure, mostly through force 
 of will, preaching on St. Barnabas' Day, the first time for a 
 year, and taking a fair share of work during the summer. 
 But at times he was quite unfit for it, his feeble condition 
 causing the gravest anxiety to his friends, and as autumn 
 advanced his doctors pronounced an entire rest from work 
 and change of climate for the winter necessary for the pre- 
 servation of his life. It was arranged that he should make a 
 tour in the East, the climate of Egypt and the Desert being
 
 VOYAGE TO ALEXANDRIA. 147 
 
 recommended ; and Mr. Liddell, kind as ever, consented to 
 this second long absence on the part of his senior curate, 
 in the hope of eventually retaining him at St. Barnabas'. 
 
 On October 20 he sailed from Southampton to Alexan- 
 dria, circumstances obliging him to undergo the trial of 
 separation from his wife, who remained in charge of the 
 children and household at St Barnabas'. He encountered 
 an awful storm in the Mediterranean, the same which 
 during the Crimean War wrought havoc among the ships 
 in the Black Sea. 
 
 After describing in a letter from Malta a terrible 
 hurricane in the Bay of Biscay, he writes from Alexandria, 
 November 4, 1854 : 
 
 And now begins, or rather continues, the thread of my misery, 
 spun out shortly but strongly in that scrap from Malta. All the 
 horrors of the voyage, begun on the second day after entering 
 the Mediterranean, were now repeated with compound interest. 
 The ship rolled and tossed, and tossed and rolled, and creaked 
 and shook, as if she would go to pieces every instant. The 
 hurricane continued on and on, and we continued on our course, 
 struggling against it ; as if, though other ships put back, there 
 were nothing for us to fear. It was the very " Euroclydon " which 
 shipwrecked St. Paul ; and as we passed under the lee of Crete, 
 and drove our heads against the blast which pierced the way 
 where " two seas meet," I thought of the blessed apostle, and of 
 the Providence which watched over him, and I prayed that 
 though haply there might be none among us such as he, for whose 
 sake all the other lives were given, yet the same protecting Spirit 
 might not fail us in our need. I spent all my time, night and day, 
 in prayer. I was too faint to speak, and too ill to unclose my 
 eyes ; but fixed my inner eye steadfastly upon our only and alone 
 Captain and Saviour, and said thousands of times, " O Saviour of 
 the world, who by Thy cross and precious blood has redeemed us,
 
 148 STORM AT SEA. 
 
 save us and help us, we humbly beseech Thee, O Lord ! " It was 
 an awful time. First, we lost our jibboom and top-gallant halliards ; 
 then our whole figure-head and all the forepart of the exterior ship 
 was wrenched off. Then the captain was thrown off the forecastle 
 and his arm dislocated. Then about midnight, when the ship was 
 rolling fearfully, and everything on every side was falling to pieces, 
 with deafening noise there came a tremendous sea, washing clean 
 over the ship and filling almost every cabin with water, and an 
 awful yell of agony " murder" I jumped up with all the fresh 
 life and energy which imminent danger lends for the moment, to 
 ascertain what had befallen us. A poor fellow, a seaman, had 
 been knocked down by the sea, and both his legs fearfully 
 shattered to pieces. Then the horses on board, one after another, 
 knocked to bits, died, and were thrown overboard. And so we 
 went on hardly existing the cabin full of water ; my very bed 
 drenched till on the eighth day God had pity, and stayed the 
 stormy sea, and "delivered us out of our distress;" "for He 
 maketh the storm to cease, so that the waves thereof are still." 
 
 That wonderful psalm, read in church when I was being tossed 
 in the Bay of Biscay on the 2 2nd, and when you were so anxiously 
 thinking of me, has been much in my thoughts. 
 
 Cairo, November 16, 1854. 
 
 ... I was very glad to leave Alexandria, although I had 
 a satisfactory sojourn there. I completed all my investigations, 
 and finished off with a visit to the Bishop and Metropolitan of the 
 Coptic Church. He was very civil, and as communicative as 
 ignorance and habit combined ever allow these men to be. He 
 answered all my questions, but suggested no information himself. 
 I carried on my conversation through an interpreter, for he knew 
 no language but his own. I smoked a most delicious pipe with 
 him, a pipe of the finest Latakia, and drank some of the richest 
 coffee I ever tasted ; and so took leave. 
 
 I also visited all the Roman Missions in Alexandria, and 
 entered into all the minute details of their extraordinary work. 
 I was received with the greatest kindness, alike by the Brothers
 
 CAIRO. 149 
 
 and the Sisters of the Orders who are there ; and never was more 
 pleased with anything, or more thankful that God had His instru- 
 ments for every part of His work for our souls, and was using 
 them, each according to its separate adaptation, to the end. The 
 Romanists are apparently the only body of Christians in Egypt 
 doing anything : the poor Copts, besides being as deeply stained 
 with the Monophysite heresy as they were when first it was in- 
 vented, are in a state of absolute degradation and powerlessness ; 
 the Catholics are inert, and lethargic, and asleep ; and we English 
 are worse than dead. There is a fitful, irregular, feverish stirring 
 among the American sects, who are sending missionaries ; but 
 they vapour and smoke, and then their work comes to naught. 
 
 Cairo, November 29, 1854. 
 
 . . . To-day I have been a long ride to Rhoda Island. 
 Nothing can give you an idea of the surpassing beauty of the 
 day, or of the scenery ! The setting sun on the vast pyramids 
 of Ghezeh, behind the cluster of lofty and graceful palms which 
 skirt the bank of the royal river, was a sight never to be forgotten. 
 This Rhoda is celebrated for a very ancient Nilometer an instru- 
 ment for measuring the height of the inundations, which has been 
 in use for more than two thousand years. It is the place preserved 
 by tradition as that wherein the daughter of Pharaoh discovered 
 the infant Moses. . . . 
 
 I am going to-morrow to visit the traditionary chamber where 
 dwelt the Holy Family when they "came down into Egypt." 
 It is some four miles off; and also, in another direction, the 
 sycamore tree, under which they rested with the Holy Child on 
 their weary way. Every step in this country is full of interest ; 
 for either one is treading the ground whereon saints and God's 
 servants of old have walked, or gazing upon the same objects as 
 the most renowned beings and the most gifted philosophers of 
 heathendom were familiar with. . . . 
 
 I paid a visit of three hours the day before yesterday to the 
 Coptic Patriarch, and had a long and intensely interesting dis- 
 cussion. He is to give me letters commendatory to the Bishops
 
 150 UP THE NILE. 
 
 of Upper Egypt. On Sunday I visited the Greek church and 
 convent ; also the Syrian and Franciscan (Latin). I am going to 
 visit the Greek Patriarch, and the Armenian also. . . . 
 
 This is a wonderful time among the Mahomedans. The 
 pilgrims have just come in from Mecca, and the religious cere- 
 monies consequent on that event keep the whole city in an uproar 
 from morning to night. It gives me an impression of depth in 
 degradation, to which I had no conception human nature, io 
 any part of God's earth, had ever fallen. 
 
 Eshneh, Upper Nile, December, 1854. 
 
 Thank God, I am excellently well ! I hardly ever felt better 
 in my life, and this magnificent climate just suits me : it has 
 already made a new man of me, though I am but one quarter of 
 my time in it. I have gained greatly in strength and in flesh, and 
 am, in fact, with my beard and moustache, more like a great 
 stalwart heavy dragoon, than the poor half-starved-looking parson 
 you used to know. 
 
 March 5, 1855. 
 
 Our last day in Cairo was a busy one. Breakfast was got 
 over before eight, and by nine we were waiting by appointment 
 for his Holiness the Orthodox Patriarch in his episcopal palace. 
 The Rev. William W. Ewbank and the Rev. G. P. Badger were 
 with me. The former is Incumbent of St. George's, Everton, near 
 Liverpool an able and zealous worker in his own sphere; a 
 large-hearted and affectionate soul without a spark of party spirit. 
 We are wide of each other on a great many theological subjects 
 of the deepest interest ; but where love is, differences earnestly 
 and honestly held do but gender mutual respect. 
 
 After waiting an hour, the Patriarch's arrival was announced. 
 We descended from the secretary's room to meet him, and found 
 him waiting in the court below. He was very courteous and 
 civil, and showed the way through a suite of very comfortable 
 apartments to a handsome receiving-room furnished with luxurious 
 divans, where the never-failing chibouque with sweetmeats and 
 coffee were served. The interview was summed up by a request
 
 START FOR JERUSALEM. 1 5 I 
 
 for letters introductory to the Patriarch of Jerusalem, which were 
 granted at once, and we took our leave. 
 
 Then, a visit to the Consulate, and the usual preliminary 
 arrangements of passport vise, etc., and we reached our hotel and 
 relapsed into the throes of packing. We were not fairly off till 
 four o'clock in the afternoon ; then, drawn up before the Oriental 
 Hotel, an imposing cavalcade eleven camels with as many 
 Arabs, tents, water-casks, provision crates, and packages without 
 end we were the observed of all our friends, who gathered in 
 force to see us start and bid us a cordial adieu. 
 
 And now the first difficulty was over: the three formidable 
 plunges of the rising camel each of which seems to promise in- 
 evitable dislocation and a public discomfiture were accomplished, 
 and we were moving majestically along the Usbequieh as if we 
 had been born children of the desert, and the heaving motion of 
 this " desert ship " were second nature. 
 
 I can tell you, however, it is far otherwise. I never felt more 
 uncomfortable or less at home in my life. The pitch with 
 which the brute hauls up his off-legs after he has spread out his 
 near ones, is exactly like the rolling of a ship in a ground swell. 
 Mrs. Ewbank is on a donkey, and a famous donkey it will be if it 
 contrives to survive this long desert journey and reach the Promised 
 Land. 
 
 March 6. 
 
 By noon we reached a shady rock and dismounted to refresh 
 ourselves and rest. No one but soon learns in this land what that 
 meaneth " The shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land." But 
 the slowness of our progress admitted of little indulgence in 
 that way. The point is first to make out the day, and then to 
 rest. Of all intermediate stoppages camels and Arabs and ser- 
 vants are alike impatient. Indeed, it is a weary work at best ; 
 every bone aches, every nerve is on the stretch. Ewbank bears it 
 more bravely than I. There he sits upon his camel as airily and 
 lightly as if bone-breaking were nothing ; while I am a perfect 
 wonder to behold, with a series of endless folds of muslin girded
 
 152 THE DESERT. 
 
 round my body for support swathed like a mummy. I am certain 
 he will not endure to the end as well as I ; for there is hardly 
 anything so important against the motive evil of camel-riding as 
 this precaution of support 
 
 March 7. 
 
 The wind has changed its quarter, and though the sun is 
 stronger the breeze is fresher, and we set out in good heart and 
 spirits. 
 
 Presently we entered Wady Digheleh a narrow defile between 
 the broken rocks, full of shrubs and thistles and bright little 
 flowers which seem to " waste their sweetness on the desert air ; " 
 and yet " waste " is not the word, for the camels find in them 
 many a cherished morsel. It is, however, a great addition to the 
 tedium of the way, that no flower or shrub is allowed to escape 
 us; the camels are diligently led up to each and invited to 
 regale themselves. 
 
 March 8. 
 
 We started this morning at eight, having breakfasted, as before, 
 in the open air. Mutton chops, poached eggs, and rolls with 
 butter, and preserved limes and oranges. Of course we carry 
 with us our own commissariat ; and unhappy cocks and hens, with 
 a supply of turkeys for Sundays, are at once our companions de 
 voyage, and the victims on whom we prey. 
 
 To-day we traversed a magnificent and extensive plain. Here 
 we fancied the " harnessed " ranks of the hosts of Israel toiling on 
 in the burning sun, commanded by the keen eye of their inspired 
 leader, undimmed by the long use of eighty years ; and we tried to 
 picture to ourselves the magnificence which a whole nation slowly 
 marching down this valley must needs have added to the view. 
 The tread of many feet the sound of many waters and the 
 banners of the tribes of the house of God following the awful 
 cloud in front never lost to sight yet never seen by all at once 
 winding round and round endless from the multitude of souls 
 endless from the turnings of the valley and the bones of Joseph 
 swelling out the mighty procession into the magnificent ceremonial
 
 2LLNESS OF MR, EWBANK. 153 
 
 of an Eastern funeral. Flowers of every hue, and sweet herbs of 
 varied fragrance, lent their enchantment to the picture. 
 
 March 12. 
 
 Ewbank had an unquiet night, and is not feeling very well ; 
 but whether from indifferent water, or the camel motion, or both, 
 his feelings. are the common lot of desert travellers ; few make so 
 light of them as he. 
 
 March 17. 
 
 To-day is an unexpected day of rest. Poor Ewbank was 
 with difficulty persuaded to make it so ; he was so unwilling to be 
 a clog to our progress. " Do not have the baggage-caravan sent 
 off this morning, till you hear further," was Mrs. Ewbank's early 
 message to me ; and I had no need to be assured of the absolute 
 necessity of a pause. It is a hard trial to be laid up in this 
 wilderness of Sin far from medical aid and the common comforts 
 of home. 
 
 March 18. 
 
 Another day of rest. Poor Ewbank goes on very badly, and 
 his wife having done her utmost came to me. Alas, poor souls ! 
 what can they do ? I am the sole being in this wide wilderness 
 to whom they can look, under God, for help and sympathy ; and 
 I must not shrink from using such remedies as I have. I took my 
 globules and tinctures, and administered them, after all the study 
 I could apply, according to Hering's book ; but I have far more 
 confidence in the prayer which I most earnestly offered up to 
 God for my poor friend. 
 
 On the north border of the valley, as we rest here, rises Gebel 
 Nazareen, and I aspired to stand upon his heights, and see the 
 sunset over Serbal. It was a much more difficult and hazardous 
 undertaking than I supposed. Once on the summit, the reward 
 is full. There to the east, over a thousand subject pyramids, rise 
 high the massive towers of " the Mount of God ; " and ever as 
 the sun declines in the opposite horizon, the shadows flit here 
 and there, and rise and fall All the brightest and deepest
 
 I 54 MOUNT SERBAL. 
 
 hues gather in upon his breast, and gleaming with a vast un- 
 earthly light, half dazzle one with beauty, half awe with fear. 
 Then it flashes across my mind that on those very heights " they 
 saw the God of Israel, and there was under His feet, as it were, a 
 paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven 
 in His clearness." I sat down and gazed till all was dark once 
 more upon his lofty brow. 
 
 March 19, 20, 21. 
 
 Here we are still. Three days more have passed, and we 
 may not yet so much as think of striking our tents and moving 
 on. Poor Ewbank goes on as badly as possible, and we are 
 utterly alone in this desert, with no human aid at hand. Fever 
 keeps his pulse up to a persevering range of 102 to 120, all the 
 most alarming symptoms continue what will be the issue God 
 only knows. I have great laith in this most delicious and salutary 
 air ; indeed, but for the sorrow which causes it. I could not but 
 accept this rest for myself as one of the best things that could 
 have happened ; for day succeeds day in the same unbroken, 
 changeless line of brilliant skies and soft invigorating breezes, and 
 the life which one leads, houseless, beneath this firmament of 
 gorgeous blue, has a charm of health about it which they who 
 only know the March winds of England cannot understand ; and 
 so, if only poor dear Ewbank were round the corner, I should 
 hope the very best for him from the mere climate. But when 
 this round shall be made, or, if made, when his worn and ex- 
 hausted frame shall be able to endure our only instrument of 
 locomotion the slow, tedious, rolling, bone-breaking camel is. 
 more than I can say. 
 
 March 22, 23, 24. 
 
 Three days more in this vale of sorrow for so, indeed, it is 
 to us. Poor Ewbank is still as ill as he can be, and I fear he is 
 growing weaker daily, and the power of rallying gradually lessens. 
 He is even cheerful in the midst of suffering, and does not 
 apprehend danger ; he buoys himself up with hope ; but I have 
 my own misgivings, and I am inclined to think that he himself
 
 LETTER TO THE ARCHIMANDRITE. 155 
 
 has more doubts than he chooses to express his hopefulness is 
 for the sake of others. He lives upon the hope of reaching the 
 convent " My chief earthly hope now," he says, " is that I may 
 get to the convent ; " and as we are sending off Hussein to get 
 from the worthy monks a few necessaries which our prolonged 
 delay has exhausted, I think I may as well suggest the possibility 
 of their sending us a litter. I have no hope of being able to use 
 it, for his feebleness and exhaustion forbid the very thought of 
 motion. But I wrote as follows, only the language which I used 
 was Italian I was afraid of venturing my Greek : 
 
 'Wadi Firau, March 24, 1855. 
 
 " To the Most Rev. the Archimandrite of the Convent of 
 Mount Sinai. 
 
 "MOST REVEREND FATHER. 
 
 " I take the liberty of apprising you of our present un- 
 fortunate situation, because I am well assured that, of your 
 Christian charity, you will do all you can for our assistance. 
 
 "We are three English travellers journeying from Cairo, by the 
 desert of Sinai, to Jerusalem. One of us is a lady, and the two 
 others are priests of the English Church, travelling for the benefit 
 of broken health. 
 
 " The lady is the wife of one of us, who, most unfortunately, has 
 been seized in this valley with grievous sickness ; and not only 
 has our progress been hindered here for a whole week, but the 
 natural strength of our traveller is so reduced, that when we shall 
 be able to proceed it is impossible to say. 
 
 " In this sad misfortune, we beseech you, most reverend father, 
 to send us, according to your ability, whatever is wanting to our 
 needs. Especially, we pray for twenty loaves of bread ; and if 
 there be anything else suitable for a sick person which you can 
 send us in this emergency, we shall be for ever grateful. 
 
 " Finally, most reverend father, we shall greatly rejoice if you 
 can suggest any mode of transport less difficult and uneasy for an 
 invalid than the restless camel If any sort of carriage could be 
 fitted up of wood, upon which the bed of our sufferer might rest,
 
 156 DYING IN THE DESERT. 
 
 and so, by soft and slow degrees, he could be brought to your 
 hospitable gate, it will not be necessary to assure you ot our ever- 
 lasting obligation. 
 
 " I am always, with the highest consideration, 
 
 " Your most humble and obliged servant in Christ, 
 
 " JAMES SKINNER." 
 
 My poor friend is glad to hear what has been done ; but I 
 observe a greater amount of fever, and an unconsciousness of 
 time which I have not noticed before. In the afternoon, towards 
 four o'clock, I always have a little " service " with him. I say a 
 short psalm, and read a few verses from Holy Scripture; after 
 which I pray for Him, and then, rising from my knees, I bless 
 him with "the laying on of hands," committing him to Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost, with Whom, be the end life or death, he is 
 safe. He longs for this little " service " as the event of the day. 
 To-day he asked, " Is it four o'clock yet ? " when as yet it was 
 hardly one. It is very touching to see his worn features lit up 
 with the spirit of devotion, and his poor head raised from its un- 
 easy pillow to receive the blessing. 
 
 March 25, 26. 
 
 All our waiting is over ! Our prayers are answered other- 
 wise than we had deemed still they are answered for good as 
 God knows best Our dear friend has passed to another " Jeru- 
 salem " than that our toilsome pilgrimage along this valley had in 
 view. 
 
 Saturday night was a time of much uneasiness and suffering ; 
 and early yesterday morning the conviction seized Mrs. Ewbank 
 that her beloved husband could not struggle through. She con- 
 sulted me, and I could not say that I differed from her. It was 
 not a difficult task to express our convictions to him ; secretly, I 
 believe, he had shared them for some time ; and he had that sense 
 of death always upon him, which made him always ready to die. 
 And yet he was so genuine and true to nature, that he could pretend 
 to nothing which was not thoroughly real. His own wish would
 
 MR. EWBANJCS DEATfc 157 
 
 have been to live on ; but he was glad to do the will of God ; 
 and so he expressed himself to me, and made my office easy, 
 when I had to speak of setting his earthly things in order. 
 
 After a time I had my " service " with him ; and then he 
 asked me to read some poetry to him. He asked for the 
 " Christian Year," and I repeated the hymn for the day 
 
 " The Historic Muse, from age to age, 
 Through many a waste heart-sickening page 
 
 Hath traced the works of man ; 
 But a celestial call to-day 
 Stays her, like Moses, on her way, 
 The works of God to scan. " 
 
 Then came the night the trying night ; it was the last ! And 
 now the struggle is over, and he is where mortal sorrow is 
 unknown. Oh, most wonderful dispensation of the providence 
 of God ! Journeying through Europe, in weak but renovated 
 health, he had reached Egypt in December, with every assurance 
 that all was prospering with the object for which he had quitted 
 home. In Alexandria, though prostrated by a fit of his accus- 
 tomed asthma, he soon rallied again, and proceeding up the Nile, 
 by steamer, as far as Assouan, had returned to Cairo, with every 
 sign of a fixed and steady improvement upon him. I was seeking 
 a companion for the desert by Sinai and Nachl so was he ; and 
 we joined our arrangements together, as far as Jerusalem. Never 
 did a party start for this long, somewhat fatiguing, but usually 
 invigorating tour in better condition and spirits than we. If any 
 one of us excelled the other in strength, it seemed certainly to be 
 he who is now in the midst of us a corpse. And his broken- 
 hearted widow sits by my side ; and with her and God I am alone 
 in this valley of desolation. 
 
 This morning I came to him at one ; he was then struggling 
 for life. The residue of his strength amazed me ; it seemed as if 
 there might be hours of struggling before him. At half-past two I 
 came again, and never left him more. The time was spent in 
 prayer. At five minutes past five he whispered to me, " Now it's 
 coming ! " then, the last heave of waning life and he was gone.
 
 158 THE TOMB IN A ROCK. 
 
 I closed his eyes in peace ; and of all his bright and sweet and 
 winning example, there was an end. 
 
 The burning mid-day suns of Arabia leave no choice of hours 
 between the two final steps in the history of man. It was a horrid 
 thing to bury him, all alone and unshaded, in the waste " howling 
 wilderness," but before the scorching sun was over the horizon, 
 I set out in search of a burial-place for his remains. 
 
 Alas ! for an hour I wandered up and down, and no safe place 
 appeared. At length Toolisman, our most ancient Arab, the 
 driver of his camel (as if that closer personal connection had 
 entitled him to be " eyes to us " in this perplexing darkness), sug- 
 gested a secret cave at some distance to the south. " It was," he 
 said, "a hiding-place for corn and other provisions, but it has 
 long since been disused in these peaceful days ; it is perfectly 
 safe, and none will disturb him there." So off we hurried, without 
 loss of time, following Toolisman ; and there, midway in a moun- 
 tain, where we hope no beast of the wilderness can reach, or 
 storm dislodge, his bones, I fixed to have him laid. 
 
 A long and weary morning, hot and sultry, is passing now. 
 The feverish anxiety of the past night is pressing heavily on us 
 both, and we are waiting, solemnly and thoughtfully, for the 
 evening cool. Then the mournful cavalcade must go forth ; and 
 all uncoffmed we shall commit to the rock, with blessed words, all 
 that remains of as sweet and gentle a servant of God as ever fell 
 to my lot to see. 
 
 March 27. 
 
 All unwillingly the hard-natured Arabs lent an assistance 
 I could have too gladly spared, had there been any more feeling 
 hearts or readier hands at my command. Their sheikh away on 
 his mission to the convent, the accustomed voice of command 
 was wanting, and, moreover, there was the difficulty of overcoming 
 a religious scruple. 
 
 The body was soon prepared for it is due to Arminius, our 
 Coptic dragoman, to say that no efforts of his were wanting to 
 fulfil my wishes and then, all swathed in his sheet, and laid upon
 
 BURIAL, 159 
 
 the iron bedstead, and decently covered with the counterpane, we 
 raised the dear burden upon the shoulders of the Arabs, and the 
 mournful procession left the camp. It comforts me to think that, 
 though contrary to our notions of reverent decency at home, a 
 coffinless sepulture is true to Eastern usage, and to the most 
 precious precedents. 
 
 Mrs. Ewbank was able by this time to raise her head, and the 
 very exertion of discharging the last earthly duty of a wife now 
 left to her seemed a grateful relief. We followed the bier at 
 a distance, for the desert is rough and stony, and the Arabs' step 
 was fleet. Little passed between us in words. 
 
 Then we arrived at the cave, partly dug. out of the rock, and 
 partly built up with dark red sandstone, with an aperture just 
 large enough for one man to enter. 
 
 The body was laid close under this aperture. I beckoned 
 the Moslem savages to retire out ot sight while the broken heart 
 of the poor widow vented its fulness in the last gaze upon what 
 remained of her departed treasure. Then we gently and slowly 
 unbound the body irom the bier and laid it in the cave, with its 
 face on the forward journey toward "Jerusalem." The widow, 
 our dragoman, and I stood by the door, while I read the service 
 ot the Church. 
 
 One long look more, as he lay all peacefully within this " new 
 tomb hewn in the rock," asleep in Him who so was laid before 
 him, and then the Arabs built up the aperture with great stones 
 and cement of sand and water, and the tomb was " sealed " till 
 the " day of refreshing " dawns. 
 
 I am in an exhausted state, and must not entertain the notion 
 of proceeding onward through the desert sixteen sad days more 
 to Jerusalem ; although the poor widow would gladly accomplish 
 what had so absorbed him from the first. I dread my own failing 
 by the way, and I have no security for her holding out. 
 
 March 28. 
 
 Yesterday afternoon, after all arrangements were made to 
 start on the morrow, I heard a rumour of a caravan approaching,
 
 l6o RETURN TO SUEZ. 
 
 and soon Messrs. Drummond and Gott arrived. They were the 
 first European faces I had seen since I quitted Cairo, and never 
 was the sight of an Englishman so welcome to my eyes. A few 
 words sufficed for explaining our position, and then all was kind- 
 ness and sympathy at their hands. 
 
 This morning we were off by eight o'clock. The heat of the 
 air was stifling, and all was depressing as we quitted this desolate 
 valley, part of which is the oasis of Sinai. God knows it has 
 been a wilderness to us ! Every step of the road has a familiar 
 aspect, but all too melancholy bound up with him who is gone 
 from us, who, but three weeks ago, passed onward with us the 
 life of our expectation. 
 
 March 29. 
 
 On the move at half-past eight; before two in the afternoon 
 we were once more upon the shores of the Red Sea. 
 
 March 31. 
 
 All yesterday was spent in hopeless expectation. A burning 
 sun overhead, and the reflected heat of sand and sea, made our 
 tents all but unendurable. 
 
 Another hour on the hot sand, and many wistful and searching 
 looks across and up the gulf satisfy us that some mistake there 
 must be, and that waiting longer we shall only waste our precious 
 time and wear our slender strength. 
 
 So by noon we are once more mounted and under motion, 
 toiling on at our wonted pace, over that too familiar ground, the 
 pain of which we had thus vainly striven to avoid. 
 
 The mournful party at length reached Suez, and were 
 obliged by fatigue to remain there during Holy Week. 
 
 I never spent such a Holy Week before. If it were right, I 
 would pray that I might never spend such a one again. But God 
 knows what is best for each of us, and we are safest when we 
 submit patiently and thankfully to Him. Our Easter Day was 
 spent on the beaten track between Suez and Cairo, and we did 
 our best to keep it holy, with the deep marks of His visitation
 
 JAFFA. l6l 
 
 fresh upon our souls. One night in Cairo for rest, and then at 
 Alexandria I had the comfort of committing my broken-hearted 
 charge to tried friends, to return with them to England, while I 
 took my place by the steamer for Jaffa. 
 
 We had an indifferent passage, but were off Jaffa by three 
 o'clock on the second day from Alexandria. Owing to the 
 tremendous surf which was beating against the open roadstead, 
 no one would venture out to take us ashore. We were not able 
 to land till the next morning, and got ashore in the midst of four 
 or five hundred pilgrims, returning from the Holy City about 
 eight in the morning. There are no hotels in Jaffa, except one 
 miserable khan, kept by a Jew, a wretched place, though wonder- 
 fully picturesque as seen from the sea. I happened to have a 
 parcel in charge for the missionary of the Church Missionary 
 Society station there, so I resolved to impose myself on him. 
 
 Mr. Cayley (son of one of the Yorkshire M.P.'s), an ex- 
 cellent Arab scholar, and dressed in the costume of the country, 
 offered to act as my dragoman, on condition that I would take 
 him with me to the missionary's : so I agreed, and off we sallied, 
 with a score of picturesque porters carrying our baggage; and 
 threading some of the dirtiest streets in the world, we reached 
 the Rev. Padre's just as he was getting up his Arabic sermon 
 (it was Sunday) for an early service. His pleasant and good- 
 natured wife soon appeared with an invitation to partake of coffee, 
 for which we were quite ready. 
 
 The missionary left for his service, and then we sat down in a 
 little humble, uncarpeted, stone-ceiled room, and made ourselves 
 very happy over excellent coffee and sweet bread and butter. I 
 then lay down to rest for half an hour, and afterwards joined in 
 the English service at eleven o'clock. The worthy divine read 
 the service in his little chapel very reverently in the presence of 
 his wife and child and myself and two servants ; there was also the 
 consul's governess. This formed the congregation. This mis- 
 sionary had no surplice, nor distinctive dress of any kind. But 
 in spite of this, it was such a comfort to me as I can never tell. 
 To worship once more with fellow-Christians in a place set apart 
 
 M
 
 1 62 PLAINS OF SHARON. 
 
 for God, was a blessing I could not measure so as even to think 
 of it adequately, much less speak of it to another. The mis- 
 sionary's wife played the organ in the little chapel room, and we 
 sang a dear old familiar psalm-tune, and I felt as if my heart would 
 burst as I recounted God's special mercies to me through that 
 month, which seemed a year of sorrow. We were invited to par- 
 take of the simple dinner after service, and by the time that was 
 over the mule-drivers came round about the premises and urged 
 us to our departure. 
 
 Our way lay through groves of cactus in full golden blossom 
 and forests of orange, lemon, and pomegranate trees. Then we 
 emerged into the plains of Sharon, and my eyes feasted upon the 
 brilliant green of rich cornfields a feast for which the long use of 
 the barren desert had prepared them with a relish altogether 
 unknown to my fellow-travellers. We were a party of four a 
 German, a Welshman, Cayley, and myself. 
 
 By-and-by, as the sun went down, we reached the charming 
 village of Ramleh, and stopped at the Latin convent. The fine 
 old monk who opened the great gate for us, made us most wel- 
 come ; asked no questions about our faith ; inquired simply from 
 what province " da che provincia " we came, and then showed 
 the way up a long winding stair, and through an ample court 
 shaded with orange trees, to our cells. . . . 
 
 We were off next morning by cock-crow. The passage from 
 Ramleh to Jerusalem lies over the mountains, and is just as vicious 
 a specimen of an impassable country as I ever trod upon. Huge 
 rocks and stones lie across the path at every turn, and it is im- 
 possible to advance on the swiftest horse beyond the pace of a 
 mile an hour. 
 
 After five or six hours of desperate fatigue, through which we 
 began to disbelieve the existence of Jerusalem, so far remote it 
 seemed, and so like a phantom which escapes as you approach, 
 we, at weary length, came in sight of the city walls. We had 
 passed Emmaus or what is taken for it and Kirjath-jearim, 
 whither the Ark was brought, and then came suddenly down upon 
 the Valley of Gihon.
 
 JERUSALEM. 163 
 
 Down far on the left was the Valley of Hinnom beautiful with 
 a beauty all its own of green foliage and grey rock mixed, and 
 betokening nothing of the horrors of Tophet, with which every one 
 doubtless invests it who thinks only of Moloch and the sacrifices 
 offered at his shrine. 
 
 And now we were through the Hebron or Jaffa Gate, and 
 within the city. Much as my mind had yielded itself to the first 
 indescribable impressions of the City of Peace and its associations, 
 now they quite vanished, and I was overwhelmed by two miserable 
 sublunary anxieties how I should keep my seat among such: 
 broken pavement and avoid tumbling in the dirt ; and next, how I; 
 should ever find a habitable quarter amid such wretchedness and 
 filth ! However, I got over both these anxieties, and found com- 
 fortable quarters at this hotel, and a host of friends whom I had 
 met in Egypt. 
 
 ... I cannot now enter into what I have seen here, and what 
 I think. All is uncertainty on every subject. I wander along the 
 Valley of Jehoshaphat and Hinnom, and climb the Mount of 
 Olivet, and linger amid the trees of Gethsemane, sure that there, 
 at least, I am safe in treasuring up the most blessed associations 
 vouchsafed to man. But all the absurd traditions of this being 
 the spot of the " Ecce Homo," and that the house of Dives, etc., 
 etc., are only painful in the extreme. The site of Calvary and the 
 Holy Sepulchre also, if it be true, is sadly profaned by the bitter 
 hostilities of the rival Christian bodies, who congregate around it, 
 and whose utter disorder and irreverence must be the subject of 
 Moslem pity, as it is of every earnest Christian's deep and unutter- 
 able disgust. . . .* 
 
 In a letter from Alexandria on his return from the 
 Holy Land, he says 
 
 May 18, 1855. 
 
 I joined a Quaker for my travelling associate, a Mr. Fox, 
 and we made the whole tour of Palestine in company. He was a, 
 
 * During his stay at Jerusalem Mr. Skinner sat to Holman Hunt, at the 
 artist's request, for a sketch of one of the Rabbi in the " Finding in the Temple.'*
 
 164 BETHLEHEM AND NAZARETH. 
 
 very intelligent person, and I had great pleasure in his society ; 
 but it is a somewhat curious circumstance that I should never have 
 been able, all through, to find anybody to travel with exactly like- 
 minded with myself. Perhaps this has been for my good, and I 
 have learnt to value and estimate more highly the good which is 
 to be found where I have perhaps been too little accustomed to 
 look for it. The first journey we took was over the Mount of 
 Olives to Bethany, and so on, across the hill country of Judaea, to 
 Jericho. This was a way full of danger, and we had a special, 
 armed guard to protect us against robbers. We passed through 
 the scene of the parable of the Good Samaritan, which retains to 
 this day its reputation for the haunts of hard and cruel bandits. 
 On the plains of Jericho we encamped, a large party ; and next 
 day started for the Jordan, where we bathed ; and then reached 
 the Dead Sea, into whose waters we also plunged, and experienced 
 the most unpleasant sensations possible. We spent that night in 
 the rocky convent of Mar Saba, far up among the mountains, 
 where John Damascene and Cyril of Jerusalem lived and died ; 
 and next day proceeded to Bethlehem. 
 
 A day or two more at Jerusalem sufficed for a rest, and then 
 we set out finally for the north. First, to Bethel, and then to 
 Sychar and Samaria ; then across the plain of Jezreel (so asso- 
 ciated with all history, from David down to the Crusades) to- 
 Nazareth, where, in a convent, we spent a charming evening and 
 night. Nazareth is the sweetest village, with the handsomest 
 peasantry, I ever remember to have seen. Thence we ascended 
 Mount Tabor, and the same day made our entrance into Tiberias 
 by the soft blue Lake of Gennesaret. We explored Bethsaida and 
 Capernaum, and made a day of it to Cana of Galilee, where we 
 pitched our tent. Next day we passed down the lovely plain of 
 Zabulon, and arrived at Carmel, where, on the summit of a moun- 
 tain, we took up our quarters with the brethren of the convent. 
 On the morrow we reached St. Jean d'Acre, and so on to Tyre. 
 Another day brought us to Sidon, then to Beyrout, and then the 
 French steamer to Alexandria, whence I now write. . . .
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 LAST DAYS AT ST. BARNABAS'. 
 1855-1857. 
 
 " I argue not 
 
 Against Heaven's hand or will, nor bate a jot 
 Of heart or hope ; but still bear up, and steer 
 Right onward." 
 
 ST. BARNABAS' DAY, 1855, was indeed a joyful time to the 
 family at the parsonage, since just before the festival they 
 had the happiness of welcoming back the husband, father, 
 and brother, apparently entirely restored to health and 
 vigour, ready and eager to throw himself again into work. 
 During his visit to Egypt, he had made the acquaint- 
 ance of the Archbishop of Malabar, who was think- 
 ing of making a visit to England upon some matters 
 connected with the interests of his flock at Malabar, the 
 descendants of a flourishing Nestorian community, but not 
 now themselves in formal heresy. Mr. Skinner gave him 
 letters to several people in England who might be of service 
 to him, expressed a hope that he would not forget to pay 
 St. Barnabas' a visit, and thought no more of the matter. 
 Shortly after his return home, his servant came in during 
 dinner to say that there was a gentleman in the hall with 
 a large box, who could not speak English. He went
 
 1 66 VISIT OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF MALABAR. 
 
 into the entrance hall, and was instantly clasped in the 
 arms of his friend the Archbishop of Malabar, and fervently 
 embraced. When he could extricate himself and look at 
 his guest, his horror was extreme ; it was the same vene- 
 rable face and figure, with a flowing beard, that he had seen 
 in Egypt, but attired in the full and correct costume of an 
 English midshipman ! The effect may be imagined. To 
 Mr. Skinner's instant queries as to the reason for his choice 
 of dress, the Archbishop told him that during his voyage 
 to England he had been assured by some English middies 
 on board that unless he provided himself with a suit of 
 clothes in all points similar to their own, including the cap, 
 he would be mobbed in London. However, he had brought 
 his luggage with him, and he pointed to a huge packing- 
 case, which, he said, contained his robes. Mr. Skinner 
 immediately locked every door leading from the hall, and 
 then and there insisted on his friend unpacking and putting 
 on his proper attire, after which he introduced a splendid- 
 looking Eastern Prelate to his family. 
 
 The unexpected guest stayed for just a year ; always 
 communicating at the altar of St. Barnabas'. Mr. Skinner 
 took him to Lambeth, having procured for him an inter- 
 view with the Archbishop of Canterbury, who found himself 
 at once enfolded in the close embrace of brotherly affec- 
 tion, struggling vainly against the repeated tokens of love 
 bestowed upon him, and looking reproachfully at Mr. 
 Skinner and his chaplain for having brought him into the 
 predicament. 
 
 The following letters, practically giving freedom to the 
 daughter church of St. Barnabas', set the senior curate 
 forward on his course with the more ardour :
 
 LETTER FROM MR. LID DELL. l6/ 
 
 8, Chesham Street, June 27, 1855. 
 
 MY DEAR SKINNER, 
 
 Now that you are returned to St Barnabas', restored by 
 God's blessing to health, I will lose no time in trying to make 
 such arrangements about your position there, as may be mutually 
 satisfactory to us, and beneficial to those committed to our care. 
 
 Both of us, and many of our best friends, are convinced that 
 an institution like St. Barnabas' can never prosper to its full 
 extent without a resident head, who shall have power to govern it 
 and be responsible for it. 
 
 I, the incumbent, cannot do this, because my presence is no 
 less constantly required at the parent church of St. Paul's. 
 
 I therefore wish to commit to you, as far as I lawfully may, 
 the authority and responsibility of St. Barnabas' ; deeply con- 
 vinced, as I am, of your unswerving devotion to the cause of the 
 Church of England generally, and to that of St. Barnabas' in 
 particular. 
 
 I propose, first, to commit the charge of the other curates, the 
 school teachers, chorister boys, and all persons connected with 
 the work of St. Barnabas' to you ; an appeal lying to me from 
 them in any instance in which they may think they have cause of 
 complaint against you. 
 
 Secondly, in all ecclesiastical matters, I would ask the Bishop 
 of the diocese to agree to refer to you primarily for explanations, 
 etc., etc., and to hold you, in your measure, responsible for the 
 right ordering of what is committed to you, though his lordship 
 would, of course, reserve to himself the power of making me, 
 the incumbent, ultimately responsible. 
 
 I think it desirable that you should yourself seek an early in- 
 terview with the Bishop ; submit this letter to him, and obtain, as 
 I should like, his lordship's approval of what is therein proposed. 
 
 Awaiting the result, I am, my dear Skinner, 
 
 Yours ever truly, 
 
 ROBERT LIDDELL. 
 
 Rev. James Skinner.
 
 168 LETTER TO BISHOP BLOMFIELD. 
 
 Fulham, July u, 1855. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 I see no objection to the arrangement proposed by 
 Mr. Liddell in his letter to you of the 27th ult. But it must be 
 understood that I must still look to him as being ultimately 
 responsible for the management and conduct of Church matters 
 at St Barnabas'. 
 
 I am, my dear sir, your faithful servant, 
 
 C. J. LONDON. 
 The Rev. James Skinner. 
 
 St. Barnabas' was not long left in peace. Apparently 
 a document containing many articles of complaint was 
 sent to the Bishop of London, who required an explanation 
 from Mr. Skinner. It is given in the following letters : 
 
 St. Barnabas' Parsonage, July 12, 1855. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 I have the honour to acknowledge your lordship's note 
 of the nth inst, enclosing a communication from Mr. Charles 
 Smyth Vereker. 
 
 Your lordship will not expect any remarks from me upon that 
 document, except so far as it refers to St. Barnabas' Church and 
 College especially. 
 
 Art. 15. The clergy of St. Barnabas' live in college, and 
 in common upon their own means. The boys of the choir are 
 poor orphans scholars clothed, educated, and maintained at the 
 cost of private persons who contribute money for the purpose. 
 
 The establishment is neither large nor expensive ; and the 
 residence of the senior curate, or head, in the college, with his wife 
 and family, saves it from the imputation (whatever that is worth) 
 of monasticism. 
 
 Mr. Vereker speaks of a vestry or sacristy, fitted up for 
 auricular confession, with altar, cross, etc. I have to assure your 
 lordship that this statement is incorrect. 
 
 The vestry referred to, from its convenient position, is well
 
 LETTER TO BISHOP BLOMFIELD. 169 
 
 .suited for the evening family prayers of the whole establishment, 
 and is used for that purpose. But there is no " altar " fitted up. 
 A plain and simple cross stands on the window ledge. 
 
 This room is also used by the clergy to meet such persons as 
 desire to see them privately not being able to quiet their own 
 consciences, but requiring further comfort and counsel In this 
 room they come to us, or some other, and open their grief ; and 
 as their needs require, they "receive the benefit of absolution, 
 together with ghostly counsel and advice to the quieting of their 
 consciences and avoiding of all scruple and doubtfulness." 
 
 Mr. Vereker also speaks of denial " to the poor of the con- 
 solation of the Lord's Supper, unless they previously submit them- 
 selves to the degradation of a full confession to the priest of their 
 conduct during their past lives." I believe this statement to be 
 simply false. 
 
 I have the honour to be, my lord, 
 
 Your lordship's dutiful and faithful servant, 
 JA. SKINNER. 
 
 St. Barnabas' Parsonage, August 3, 1855. 
 
 MY LORD BISHOP, 
 
 I beg to return the copy of your lordship's letter to Mr. 
 Vereker. There is only one observation which I desire permission 
 from your lordship to make. 
 
 With respect to auricular confession, your lordship says, " Mr. 
 Skinner denies that it is practised." Now, I fear this positive 
 statement may render me liable, in Mr. Vereker's mind, to the 
 imputation of want of straightforwardness. 
 
 I have not the least objection to acknowledge that what Mr. 
 Vereker calls "auricular confession" is practised in the sacristy 
 of St. Barnabas'. 
 
 Persons come there (it is the most convenient place) to " open, 
 their griefs and to receive the benefit of absolution, together with; 
 ghostly counsel and advice." 
 
 I think this is exactly what I stated to your lordship in my
 
 I/O LETTER FROM DR. IRONS. 
 
 letter of the i2th of July, and I make no doubt that this is 
 exactly what Mr. Vereker means by "auricular confession." 
 
 Although, therefore, Mr. Vereker's statement, as a whole, about 
 the sacristy was incorrect, I cannot say, understanding as I do his 
 mind, that we do not hear " auricular confessions." I cannot 
 say that persons do not come to us to confess, or that we do not 
 hear such confessions with our ears. 
 
 With great respect, 
 
 Your lordship's faithful son and servant, 
 JA. SKINNER. 
 
 P.S. I have omitted to observe, with reference to Mr. Vereker's 
 notion of choristers tending to "suppress congregational psalmody," 
 that in no church in your lordship's diocese is praise more con- 
 gregational than in the chapel of St. Barnabas'. 
 
 The suit of "Westerton v. Liddell" was meanwhile 
 proceeding, and the late Rev. Dr. Irons wrote on this 
 subject to Mr. Skinner : 
 
 Brompton, July 28, 1855. 
 
 MY DEAR SKINNER, 
 
 The question to my mind is, whether Dr. Lushington 
 will postpone his decision long enough to enable us to make any 
 impression on him ? 
 
 And next, whether we ought not to call a meeting of good 
 Churchmen to form a league for mutual defence and common 
 action in the event of an adverse decision ? 
 
 Will you let me know what you think on these two points, and 
 whether you contemplate anything definite ? 
 
 For myself, regarding the Church of England as the hope and 
 stronghold of Christianity in these latter days, I am prepared, by 
 God's help, to adhere to her while vitality remains at all. The 
 points now at stake, let us be thankful, are not vital ones. They 
 are very sacred, but we must not misjudge their relative value in 
 the great system of revelation. 
 
 You may command any service I can render in this matter.
 
 DR. LUSHINGTOWS JUDGMENT. I? I 
 
 The principal things that occur to me, on reading the case, 
 have been the omitting to notice the word "retained" in the 
 Rubric, and the re-introduction of the word "priest" in 1662 in 
 connection with the removal of the Rubric, referring us to the first 
 year of Edward VI. 
 
 When the case of Faulker and the round church at Cambridge 
 was in court, Bayford was advocate for the malcontents. His 
 brother-in-law told me, in private, that Bayford's feelings were 
 more with Churchmen than with Puritans, and that, when 
 arguing against altars (as an advocate), he came upon, and now 
 has in his possession, a faculty issued by Queen Elizabeth for the 
 erection of a stone altar ; a fact which he would have been able 
 to use triumphantly if he had been on the other side. I will try 
 and see you on Monday ; if not, on Tuesday. 
 
 Let us seek from God His guidance and support, and com- 
 fort ourselves with knowing we have only to do our own 
 individual duty. The Church is God's Church. The cause is 
 wholly God's. I am not in the least anxious. God knows what 
 is best for us. 
 
 Your brother in Jesus Christ, 
 
 W. I. IRONS. 
 
 Rev. J. Skinner, St. Barnabas' College. 
 
 P.S. Of course Liddell and the Oxford men are in com- 
 munication. 
 
 Dr. Lushington's judgment, a signal triumph for Mr. 
 Westerton over his vicar, was given in December of this 
 year. A summary of the foundations which he laid down 
 for his conclusions is thus given by Mr. Skinner, First 
 
 (a) Avowing that he had "no authority to guide him," he 
 nevertheless set aside the Ecclesiastical Common Law of Celtic 
 and Anglo-Saxon times, and the Provincial and Diocesan Con- 
 stitutions, all being still alive and in force where not contrary to 
 
 statute.
 
 1/2 DR. LUSHINGTON'S JUDGMENT. 
 
 (b} He assumed arbitrary rules of policy as a guide, converting 
 words into a negative and exclusive sense which are affirmative 
 and directory; laying down that what the Church has prescribed 
 is a virtual prohibition of everything else, ejusdem generis, contrary 
 to common sense and English jurisprudence ; limiting the liberty 
 which the law allows, and imposing the tyranny of a minimum 
 when the Church gives the freedom of a maximum. 
 
 " The policy of one age," says Story in his " Conflict of Laws," 
 "may ill suit the wishes of another; but the law is not to be 
 subject to such fluctuations." Nevertheless, Dr. Lushington 
 undertook, on principles of arbitrary selection, to enact laws for 
 the Church of England. 
 
 Now, secondly, observe the conclusions to which he arrived. 
 
 (1) He outraged and insulted Christianity, by abrogating the 
 use of the cross altogether as a symbol to adorn our churches. 
 
 (2) He pronounced the Church of England to be a newly 
 constituted society, without identity or continuity or connection 
 with the historical Church of Christ ; his decision was equivalent 
 to a revolution, to an entire reconstruction of the Church, on 
 wholly new and unheard-of principles. 
 
 (3) The Sacrament, commonly called "the Mass" in the times 
 preceding the third year of Edward VI., he declared to be 
 " annihilated root and branch, extirpated by authority of Parlia- 
 ment," and a new ordinance, with no relation to the former, sub- 
 stituted by the same authority, in its place. 
 
 (4) He insulted the character of one of the greatest men that 
 England has known the Christian philosopher and Bishop, Butler 
 of Durham, and, though occupying the seat of justice, 
 
 " Rebus et ordine dispar," 
 
 pronounced him to be a " deviator into Roman Catholic practice," 
 so "shadowing the purity of his faith, and the integrity of his 
 character." 
 
 The gravity of such a crisis to the Church, as these sweeping 
 conclusions of the Consistory Court of London brought upon her, 
 can hardly be measured ; and it will be impossible for the historian
 
 PRIVY COUNCIL JUDGMENT. 1/3 
 
 of the future to evade the duty of minutely detailing the circum- 
 stances and arguments of attack and defence. 
 
 This is not the place or the time for a detailed history of the 
 long litigation, as to the ornamenta (i.e. the furniture of English 
 churches and the vestments of the English clergy), which has 
 made " the Knightsbridge churches " famous ; but it is the place 
 and the time for saying, with all distinctness, that the inestimable 
 gain which resulted from the issue of that litigation to the whole 
 Church, is mainly due, under God, to the courage and persever- 
 ance and self-denying love of Robert Liddell, who bore con- 
 tentedly the weary weight of the worse than uncertainty of judicial 
 decisions on religious questions, from 185410 1857. 
 
 . . . Through his zeal, carrying the case, amid all the dis- 
 couragements of defeat by the way, to the highest Court of 
 Appeal, the Church has obtained that vantage ground of triumph 
 which secures the whole principle, for the fruits of which she is 
 fighting still, and from which she is resolved, God helping, never 
 to be dislodged. 
 
 We are not now concerned with the question of the fitness of 
 the Privy Council, in Judicial Committee, to sit upon spiritual 
 and ecclesiastical questions ; least of all are we concerned with 
 the consistency of judgments, at various times pronounced by the 
 same Court upon the same subjects. What we are concerned 
 with is this : that, rightly or wrongly, hearing the appeal from 
 the two Courts below, the Privy Council reversed nearly every im- 
 portant dictum in which the former were agreed, and established, 
 for ever, a historical fact which is not less a principle of religion. 
 And what fact? That the "Ornaments Rubric" of 1661, which 
 stands in the forefront of our Prayer-Book, covers the legality of 
 the things so much disputed, and for ever connects the Church of 
 England of to-day with the Church of England of ancient times. 
 
 It is nothing to us, though it is a discredit to them, that judges 
 have since sat in that Court of Appeal who have seemed to confirm 
 Dr. Lushington's view of policy and his wild and revolutionary 
 opinions, rather than their own solemn decision. We only claim 
 to be supported by the result for which we contended so long andi
 
 1/4 ORNAMENTS RUBRIC. 
 
 so laboriously in the Knightsbridge suits, and we mean never to 
 let that support go. Not the use of the cross only, but of all the 
 ornamenta which our public worship requires, is secured to us by 
 statutable authority, according to the judgment of the Court of 
 Appeal. 
 
 Let me quote the exact words " Here it is to be noted that 
 the minister, at the time of the Communion, and at all other times 
 of his ministration, shall use such ornaments in the church as 
 were in use by authority of Parliament in the second year of the 
 reign of King Edward VI., according to the Act of Parliament set 
 in the beginning of this book." " Here the term ' ornaments ' is 
 used as covering both the vestments of the ministers and the several 
 articles used in the services ; it is confined to such things as, in 
 the performance of the services, the minister was to use." "The 
 Rubric to the Prayer-Book of January i, 1604, adopts the language 
 of the Rubric of Elizabeth. The Rubric to the present Prayer- 
 Book adopts the language of the Statute of Elizabeth ; but they all, 
 obviously, mean the same thing that the same dresses, and the 
 same utensils, or articles, which were used under the first Prayer- 
 Book of Edward VI. may still be used." 
 
 I beg you to notice how plain and clear and unambiguous was 
 their way to this decision ; they speak of it as obvious ; they were 
 not driven to read a not into the text, or to interpolate the 
 "Advertisements" of Elizabeth in order to extract some more 
 popular explanation; but, they said, with the simplicity of fair- 
 dealing men, " when reference is made to the first Prayer-Book of 
 Edward VI., with this explanation of the term ' ornaments,' no 
 difficulty will be found in discovering among the articles, of which 
 the use is there enjoined, ' ornaments ' of the church as well as 
 ' ornaments ' of the minister. Besides the vestments, differing in 
 the different services, the Rubric provides for the use of an 
 English Bible, the new Prayer-Book, a poor man's box, a chalice, 
 a corporas, a paten, a bell, and some other things." That these 
 articles were included in the term " ornaments " of the church, at 
 the period in question, is clear. 
 
 No subsequent manipulation of the Ornaments Rubric by the
 
 SERIOUS ILLNESS. 1/5 
 
 Privy Council can deprive us of the first, the natural, the common- 
 sense construction which such men as Lords Cranworth, Wensley- 
 dale, and Kingsdown, Sir John Patteson, and Sir Wm. Maule 
 put upon it. But for this we are largely indebted, under God, to 
 Robert Liddell ; and the present sanctuary and reredos erected 
 in St. Paul's in 1870 is the fittest, as it is the most telling, witness 
 to the debt ; for every detail of that structure was passed through 
 the Consistorial Court, and declared to be according to law. 
 
 The anxiety and disappointment of the suit, however, 
 without the final victory, all came during Mr. Skinner's 
 charge of St. Barnabas', He worked through the winter of 
 1855, but in the hot summer of 1856 began again to suffer 
 from serious attacks of illness, entirely disabling him from 
 time to time. He struggled on, against his doctor's re- 
 peated assurance that, unless he at once entirely gave up 
 all work for two years, he would soon have to give it up 
 altogether. 
 
 In August he ruptured a small blood-vessel from 
 violent coughing, and it was then that he had to look the 
 fact seriously in the face that he must resign the curacy of 
 St. Barnabas' and leave London. The two following 
 letters were written about this time : 
 
 Middleton Rectory, August 13, 1856. 
 MY VERY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 Thanks for all your kind and affectionate words. I do 
 feel quite resigned to God's will, whatever that may be. I hope 
 it is not my own will that, being thwarted, perplexes me. I try 
 myself honestly ; and I think the one difficulty which presses, in 
 connection with my sickness, is, how far I may go in hindering 
 the work of St. Barnabas', by keeping out an abler man. Do not 
 flatter me by telling me that I am the man, etc ; for that is very 
 humbling, knowing myself as I do. God makes men for His
 
 1/6 SERIOUS ILLNESS. 
 
 own purposes : He puts down one and raises up another. And 
 if He intimates as much, I must take it to myself that He has no 
 longer use for me in my present sphere. So, really, ought I not 
 to resign at once, and allow another to come and take my office ? 
 That is the one question which perplexes, now again, as once it did 
 before. I do not think that there would be means forthcoming 
 for an extra man ; and if there were, I must still work and move 
 as the life of the whole : and am I fit for it ? 
 
 The cough continues very, very unyielding : no more blood, 
 but pain and sleeplessness and feebleness unutterable. But I 
 do not wish to seem to complain. God is Love ; and so I feel 
 and know Him to be. 
 
 Reading, Berks, SS. Simon and Jude, 1856. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 We are now drawing near homeward, and we are both 
 glad of it To-morrow, please God, we shall be at St. Barnabas' 
 once more. Yet now I must feel, what I have always so dreaded, 
 that I am coming to call St. Barnabas' home for a little, and then, 
 no more. 
 
 The trial to myself is very heavy : I cannot bear the thought 
 of it To others, I feel sure there will be no loss which will not 
 be tenfold made up by the appointment of a stronger and an abler 
 man. But it is sad to feel one's self cast off, at such a crisis for the 
 Church as this ; and I need your prayers for faith, and patience' 
 and endurance, and all graces of hope and love. 
 
 I am really stronger in body, though my cough continues, and 
 my voice is often gone. 
 
 Still he struggled against the conviction, hoping, with 
 the sanguine hope which was part of his nature, that 
 temporary absences would give him power enough to hold 
 on to his passionately loved church and district. As before, 
 his kindest friend had to come to the rescue. 
 
 I consider it cruel towards you and your dear wife (Mr. Liddell 
 wrote on November 5, 1856) to allow you to remain at St. Barnabas'
 
 LETTER FROM MR, LIDDELL. 177 
 
 in your present state. Not only are you unable to do any duty, 
 but it will be in my opinion as much as your life is worth to 
 reside at St. Barnabas' during the approaching winter months. . . . 
 My own private conviction, in which all friends whom I have 
 consulted concur, is that the only reasonable hope of your 
 restoration to health, and of the prolongation of your valuable life, 
 is to go abroad to the same climate which did you so much good 
 before. But I wish to fortify my own opinion by that of a 
 medical man. 
 
 Two days later, after quoting the medical opinion, he 
 continues : 
 
 Now, my dearest friend, with deep grief, but without any 
 doubt as to what my duty is, I feel imperatively bound to call 
 upon you to resign the cure of St. Barnabas'. 
 
 You yourself know how I had anticipated availing myself of 
 your services there. 
 
 But disabled as you are, by the sovereign will of God, I must 
 bow my head and seek for another coadjutor. 
 
 I feel that it is of infinite moment to you that you should get 
 away to a warmer climate immediately, while the weather is yet 
 such as not to prevent your moving. 
 
 Whatever your own self-devotion may be, / have to remember 
 your poor wife and child, to whom you must be everything ; and 
 I cannot suffer you, so far as my influence goes, to remain in a 
 locality which I verily believe would be your actual death before 
 the winter was over. . . . 
 
 I have no misgivings about St. Barnabas' eventually coming 
 right, if we do our own duty. It may comfort you under the painful 
 prospect of your severance from St. Barnabas', to mention, in close 
 confidence, that so soon as I shall have received from you the 
 formal intimation that you resign your curacy in compliance wit/t. 
 my request (for I will take the whole responsibility of the act upon 
 myself), I purpose to offer the post, so onerous yet so honourable,, 
 to Mr. Gresley. But I have as yet had no communication, direct 
 or indirect, with him upon the subject. 
 
 N
 
 178 RESIGNATION OF ST. BARNABAS\ 
 
 I am simply inclined to believe that he might take it, and I 
 consider that it would be impossible to find a more eligible man. 
 Believe me, my dear Skinner, with true affection, 
 
 Your faithful friend and brother in Christ, 
 ROBERT LIDDELL. 
 
 Mr. Skinner apparently sent in his resignation the same 
 day, for the following touching note bears the same date as 
 the preceding letter : 
 
 36, Wilton Crescent, November 7, 1856. 
 MY DEAR SKINNER, 
 
 I cannot comment on your letter ; it is too touching, and 
 makes my very heart ache. 
 
 No, dearest friend, I will not hurry you so far as your domestic 
 arrangements are concerned ; only would I hurry you personally, 
 and that from love, that you may not throw away a chance of 
 improvement by delay. 
 
 If want of money stops you I will try and advance you what is 
 necessary, and trust to the sympathy of friends for helping. 
 
 My single view is to get you into a warmer climate before it is 
 too advanced in the winter for you to be able to move. 
 
 But in this, take the advice of your medical men. I am, how- 
 ever, much mistaken if they will not press the same point. . . . 
 
 I have no time for more. God ever bless and support you. I 
 wish for efficiency's sake it were me to go and you to stay. 
 
 Always, my dear Skinner, 
 
 Your faithful and affectionate friend and brother in Christ, 
 
 R. L. 
 
 On Christmas Day, 1856, Mr. Skinner preached his 
 farewell sermon to an overflowing congregation, and on the 
 last day of the year left his home at St. Barnabas' in 
 obedience to the call which bade him part from the work 
 dearest to him on earth. 
 
 His congregation connected his name with St. Barnabas'
 
 DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND. 179 
 
 for ever by placing a certain sum in consols, " to be paid in 
 half-yearly dividends to such poor person or persons, being 
 communicants at St. Barnabas', as he should during his life 
 from time to time nominate in writing to receive the same, 
 such nomination to be yearly made on the Feast of St. 
 Barnabas' ; " and a brass tablet recording the benefaction 
 was placed on the tower pier in the church.* 
 
 Mr. Skinner was unable to leave England until March 2, 
 1857- 
 
 On that morning (his wife wrote) there was a special celebration 
 of the Holy Communion at St. Barnabas', at which one hundred 
 and ninety-two communicated with us. A number of our dear 
 friends accompanied us to the Waterloo Station, and saw us off to 
 Southampton ; and thus we took leave of our beloved St. Barnabas'. 
 
 The travellers reached Mentone on March 1 1. A few 
 extracts from letters home describe their way of life. 
 
 Hotel des Quatres Nations, Mentone, March 13, 1857. 
 
 . . . We have been house-hunting ever since we arrived 
 (Wednesday, nth), and hope we may have found at last a pretty- 
 little villa likely to suit us Villa Ste. Antic. It is in a lovely quiet 
 situation, standing alone with a garden in front and facing the sea, 
 on the east side of the town, and about ten minutes' walk from it. 
 It is backed with a grove of orange and lemon and olive trees. 
 Our landlord, M. Massa, is a 'gentlemanly, agreeable person, 
 ^ind a first-rate violinist, and has been frequently to the hotel to 
 play with me. It is most delightful to both James and myself, 
 and brings back to my mind happy hours at Middleton with my 
 dear father. 
 
 . . . There are only two English families here besides our- 
 selves, and they have been here all the winter. The Rev. John 
 Monsell,t with his wife and three charming daughters; the 
 
 * It was removed by his successor, and placed behind the font. 
 
 t Afterwards Dr. Monscll, Vicar first of Egham and then of Guildford.
 
 180 MENTONE. 
 
 youngest much out of health ; it is for her sake they are here. 
 The other family are the Rev. Thomas Arthur Babington,* with his 
 wife and two little girls, about the same ages as our children. Mr. 
 Babington is much out of health, and has to give up duty for the 
 present. They are most kind, agreeable people. 
 
 At present there are no other English families here, and I was 
 told the other day that this is the first winter that any English have 
 visited Mentone. Nice is the favourite place, but we cannot 
 understand its being preferred to Mentone. 
 
 Villa Ste. Anne, May 18, 1857. 
 
 . . . We like our pretty villa very much, and we fit into it 
 beautifully. We are able to reserve one room for an oratory, and 
 James has fitted it up beautifully. We have full sendee e very- 
 Sunday, with Holy Communion. Our dear friends the Monsells 
 and Babingtons, I regret to say, have left ; but I think the Babing- 
 tons will return in the autumn. 
 
 Villa Ste. Anne, Mentone, December 30, 1857. 
 
 . . . There are a number of English families here, besides our- 
 selves and the Babingtons, this winter, and many are most thank- 
 ful to avail themselves of the services in this house on Sundays 
 and holy days. On Christmas Day we had twenty communicants. 
 There is a door between the little room which we have fitted up 
 as an oratory and the drawing-room. So we open this door now, 
 and most of the congregation are in this larger room. We have 
 full choral service ; I play the piano, and the children and others 
 sing capitally. 
 
 Mr. Babington and James take the sen-ices between them, 
 which seem to be much valued by the English visitors. Dear 
 James usually gives an address, and this quite takes me back to 
 St. Barnabas'. . . . Crowds of the inhabitants assemble at our 
 gate during the service the music attracting them. I think they 
 are much puzzled at our proceedings. 
 
 Mr. Skinner did not cease to try and help by corre- 
 
 * Afterwards Rector of Wanlip, Leicester.
 
 LETTER OF ADVICE. iSl 
 
 spondcnce those whom he had formerly taught He writes 
 to one of these, giving some suggestions as to special 
 Lenten devotion : 
 
 I advise you to take half an hour or twenty minutes of every 
 day this Lent . . . take a certain period of your life ever)' day, 
 comparing it, as it was, with what it is in God's sight, the light of 
 His love having come upon you to illuminate your view of it. At 
 another part of the day, take, each day, one of these four necessary 
 virtues, and resolve to exercise them : 
 
 1. Humility by keeping yourself always back, as nothing ; 
 looking upon God as all ; humbling yourself to your neighbour, in 
 something or other, daily. In order to this, think upon what 
 you have deserved by your ingratitude to God and your sins, and 
 therefore that the least service you receive from others is more 
 than, often, you have paid to God, and more than you have really 
 deserved. 
 
 2. Penitence frequently recall your chief sins, and place 
 yourself before God as a penitent, in the spirit of the Magdalene, 
 or St. Peter, or the publican. Offer to God, in a penitential spirit, 
 whatever pains, or trials, or sufferings you have, and even death 
 itself. 
 
 3. Resignation resigning yourself to God's will in all events, 
 remembering that nothing happens without His permission and 
 pleasure ; and that this or that cross is what God, from eternity, 
 has designed for you, to be your probation. 
 
 4. Recollection calling to mind, as often as you can in the 
 day, the presence of God. Making frequent ejaculations and 
 aspirations, and acts of love to Him ; offering Him frequently in 
 the day your whole being ; and banishing, as much as you can, 
 all vain amusements, and anxious cares, and irregular affections, 
 that you may the more easily repose in Him. 
 
 You should say the seven penitential psalms, one every morn- 
 ing, and the fifteen gradual psalms, one every evening, during 
 Lent ; in thought of the humility of Jesus, and of your desire to 
 be Inimbled and to be humble.
 
 1 82 LENTEN RULE. 
 
 As to fasting, you must not attempt it, except under medical 
 advice ; but deny yourself in inner things, such as pleasures in 
 social sympathy, reading, etc. 
 
 To another, who had asked for a Lenten rule, he gave 
 the following ; it is written in pencil, and evidently during 
 a time of weakness : 
 
 I. Make this Lent the occasion for practising the ordinary 
 discipline of a regulated Christian life, according to the sketch 
 which you have already received. 
 
 II. Distrust yourself, but trust the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Begin everything by saying imvardly, " As many as are led by 
 the Spirit of God, THEY are the Sons of God." 
 
 And in order to rooting this dependence on the Spirit into 
 your life, meditate quietly once a week (say, on Sunday evenings) 
 on Rom. viii., concluding with the " Veni Creator." 
 
 III. Aim continually and continuously in all things, great and 
 small, inward and outward, to honour and glorify God, as ihe 
 motive and purpose. The regeneration and perfection of a soul 
 is nothing for its own sake. But for the glory of God it cost the 
 Incarnation and Crucifixion (in that Incarnation) of the Eternal 
 Son. You only live, therefore, at all, that you may glorify God ; 
 and you never so glorify Him, as when you are conformed to the 
 life of God in our flesh, and when you offer that life and that death 
 as the sacrifice which your sin caused and His love accepted. 
 
 For special Lenten discipline, take 
 
 1. One penitential psalm (out of the seven) to be said before 
 each of your regular acts of devotion, both in closet and at 
 church. 
 
 2. One book for spiritual reading, an hour in the morning. 
 
 3. One book for spiritual reading, an hour in the evening. 
 To refuse all other reading on Wednesdays and Fridays. 
 
 4. Exempt from fasting from flesh meat except on .... 
 
 5. Instead of such fast, to give the cost of a portion of meat to 
 some poor or sick ; and to say a special intercession for the self- 
 indulgent and luxurious in all different ranks of life.
 
 OVER-OCCUPATION. 183 
 
 (a) The Court. 
 
 (b) The aristocracy. 
 
 (c) The clergy and gentry. 
 
 (d) The mercantile and trading. 
 
 (e) The army and navy ; and also for the profligate and 
 abandoned in vice, both rich and poor. To say this specially in 
 a church (if there is opportunity) on all days on which you eat 
 flesh meat by exemption. 
 
 6. Every day in Lent, on which you communicate, say the 
 prayer of St. Gregory on the Passion before receiving, with a short 
 act of contrition, either overnight or in the morning. 
 
 7. On days on which you do not receive, say the Stations of 
 the Cross and the Litany of the Passion. 
 
 The following letter appears to have been written with 
 the feeling, from his own experience, of the evils of over- 
 occupation : 
 
 I am clear in my judgment that you are sinning against one of 
 the highest duties to God, your neighbour, and yourself, in im- 
 posing upon yourself an amount of work which would be beyond 
 your strength if you were a paid Secretary of State. I well know 
 your zeal . . . but really good work is never done, when it is out 
 of proportion to our means of doing it well ; and no work is really 
 well done when it is only effected by the sacrifice of powers which 
 are all wanted for other ends, none of which can afford to be 
 missed, even in part, much less altogether. 
 
 I cannot understand why you should not compel yourself to 
 see that. Even when things most crowd in upon you, the work of 
 disposing of them is better done quietly and deliberately, one after 
 another, as strength will bear, than tumultuously, under the misery 
 of strain, pressure, and exhaustion ; and, spiritually, you should 
 try always to remember that everything (no matter what it may be) 
 which comes to your hand to do can only be good when it is 
 done for God, and that nothing is well done for God which is 
 done without due regard to His peace-bringing and restful 
 Presence.
 
 1 84 LETTER IN ADVENT. 
 
 In Advent he sent to one whom he had taught 
 
 T/ioughts of Prayer on the Incarnation. 
 
 An Exercise before Christmas. 
 
 I. That the will of God elected, from all eternity, to empty 
 Himself of His glory and to take flesh, in order that I might be 
 restored to the glory which I had lost. 
 
 Glory be to the Father, etc. 
 
 Our Father. 
 
 Collect for Annunciation and for Christmas. 
 IL That the will of God to accept the humiliation of the 
 Incarnation was to Him a joy, and that He rejoiced as a giant 
 " to run his course," thereby identifying all profitable and real joy 
 with self-sacrifice. 
 
 Glory be to the Father, etc. 
 
 Our Father. 
 
 Collect for Annunciation and Christmas. 
 
 III. That the will of God to be humbled and to identify humi- 
 liation with joy, finds its expression in the life of Jesus Christ, 
 from the womb to the cross, offering to me, in detail, the things I 
 have to do and fear, in order to be " made like " unto Him. 
 Glory be to the Father, etc. 
 
 Our Father. 
 Collect for Annunciation and Christmas, 
 
 He writes later to the same pupil : 
 
 Try to cultivate that perfect contentment and sufficiency in 
 Jesus, which the Blessed Virgin had in her Son, so that she felt 
 nothing as a sorrow or trouble in her tried life, till she was 
 separated from Him. Surely with Him, and in Him, we have 
 all else. To be unhappy about anything, therefore, except losing 
 Him is a sign that we are not cultivating, absolutely, our privilege 
 of possessing Him. An ancient spiritual guide who is a great 
 help to me says that in seeking a perfect knowledge of one's 
 self, there are specially the emotions to be watched of the four 
 passions (i) Joy, (2) Sorrow, (3) Hope, and (4) Fear, as being the
 
 SPIRITUAL FEEBLENESS. 185 
 
 roots or sources of all emotions whatever. One should restrain 
 them in their first rising, not only when they are engaged on 
 wrong objects, but on objects which do not really concern or 
 belong to one : because one is perpetually excited to joy, to 
 sorrow, to hope, to fear, about mere trifles or imaginary things ; 
 and so the soul's strength gets weakened through occupying the 
 mind and the will with objects beside the Divine end. When the 
 things are really necessary, and do concern our real self, then we 
 may safely leave them with God, commend them to Him, and so, 
 as it were, " divinize " them. Thus, if you have a joy naturally 
 and necessarily growing out of some blessing, in grace or in nature, 
 something beautiful and good, let your joy not be in it, but in God, 
 whose work it is. " I will rejoice in giving praise for the opera- 
 tions of Thy hands." So if you have hope in a matter of health, 
 or success in an undertaking, or an honour expected, take care 
 that it is in Him, and because of His will being done and 
 His glory increased. And so also, if you have a grief, or sorrow, 
 or cause of depression and anxiety, do not let your fear have any 
 respect to the evil in itself (except as it is some plain fault in your- 
 self) ; let it expend itself on what the loss of God would be. 
 
 Another method is to think, when a great joy comes, of how 
 much more after one's deserts it would be to have a heavy sorrow ; 
 and so to learn the more to attribute it alone to God. And then 
 when depressed with one's little success in spiritual gifts and pro- 
 fitableness generally, there comes a conviction that, after all, one 
 has only been dealt with as one deserves ; and this conviction is, 
 by the law of God's providence, a substantial gain in the spiritual 
 life. So also if one is agitated by fears and misgivings, the way is 
 to turn them into acts of the will, in the exact opposite direction. 
 This was St. Francis's rule " Accipe dulcia pro amaris, amara pro 
 dulcibus." I think my child may try to imitate it, in her measure, 
 with good results. 
 
 Is it not so, that the enfeebling of the soul's strength, which 
 seems occasionally to manifest itself in you, comes of too little 
 trust in God, and too great introspection of and dwelling upon 
 self, or on human aids ? The first remedy for it is to believe that
 
 1 86 COURAGE. 
 
 God's care for you is singular, just as if you only lived. There is 
 nothing ordered for you that is not ordered by Him, for His own 
 greater glory and your greater profit (i St. Peter v. 7). In every 
 trouble appeal to Him ; lay it before Him, and then leave it, in 
 perfect confidence as to the result. 
 
 The next remedy is to extinguish, to the uttermost of your 
 power, all anxiety to stand well in human eyes, and to banish 
 every rising of vanity, and vainglory, and love of applause. One's 
 care and anxiety should rather be, lest one should not incur the 
 reproof and rebuke of the world, and even of respectable and good 
 men ; at least, if equal glory should be rendered to God by so doing, 
 and one's own will and opinion is not the end served. It seems 
 to those whose experience in spiritual life is long and abundant, 
 that in things lawful one should aim at that which would be less 
 acceptable to men, if one would gain complete mastery over that 
 timidity and pusillanimity which are such hindrances in serving 
 God. 
 
 May God the Holy Ghost bless these hints to you.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 LIFE AT HILLINGDON. 
 1858-1861. 
 
 " Our wills are ours, we know not how ; 
 Our wills are ours, to make them Thine." 
 
 IN the early summer .of 1858 Mr. Skinner returned with 
 his family to England, having spent a year in his home on 
 the Riviera. He had made an excursion to Lyons during 
 the previous summer, to try, by the advice of his London 
 doctor, a course of electricity under a famous practitioner, and 
 for a short time it had done him much good. But, although 
 travelling by easy stages from Mentone to London, he was 
 so unwell that at one time it was feared that he could not 
 continue the journey, and when at last he reached England, 
 his friends were shocked at his appearance, for he looked 
 almost like a dying man. After a time he went to Scotland, 
 near Inverary ; and he said long afterwards, " As soon as 
 my foot was upon my native heath, I began to revive." 
 The bracing climate did him far more good than the south 
 of France, but he was still too much of an invalid to 
 attempt any work for others except by letter, and he spent 
 the winter of 1858-9 at Clifton. 
 
 To a friend who had written to him on the subject of
 
 1 88 SCOTCH LITURGY. 
 
 difficulties in prayer, and also on the difference between the 
 Scottish and English Liturgy, he writes : 
 
 ... A few words, on each of your difficulties, may suffice for 
 the present. 
 
 I. The Scottish Liturgy is founded upon the ancient Liturgical 
 models of the East, all of which bring in the invocation for the 
 change in the elements, by the action of the Holy Ghost, after 
 the words of the institution. 
 
 II. The English office is founded upon the Roman use, which 
 brings in the invocation before the words. Indeed, the English 
 (modern) office has omitted (alas !) the specific words of invoca- 
 tion altogether ! But it implies the invocation, which is sufficient 
 for the validity of the consecration. " Hear us, O merciful Father, 
 we most humbly beseech Thee ; and grant that we receiving these 
 Thy creatures of bread and wine, according to Thy Son our 
 Saviour Jesus Christ's holy institution, . . . may be partakers of His 
 most blessed Body and Blood" 
 
 This is a plain and direct prayer to God (who operates always 
 by the Third Person in the glorious Trinity) to make the Com- 
 munion of bread and wine to those who receive them the 
 Body and Blood of Christ. 
 
 Therefore, to all intents and purposes, so far as the invocation 
 is necessary to the validity of consecration, the English office has 
 that invocation. The only question is (i) ought it to be offered 
 before the words of institution or after them ? and (2) can it affect 
 the consecration itself, its being either the one or the other ? 
 
 The answer is 
 
 1. The Eastern Church has from the beginning observed the 
 use of the invocation after the words ; while the Western Church 
 (except the ancient Spanish, and perhaps the Gallican, both of 
 Eastern origin) has observed it before the words. It may, conse- 
 quently, be either way (though the Eastern is the more ancient). 
 Because 
 
 2. The consecration depends really upon our Blessed Lord's 
 own words, which being His words, are the words of the Holy Ghost
 
 METHOD IN PRAYER. 189 
 
 also, and carry with them what they import, and so long as the in- 
 vocation is allied and attached to the words, it can in no degree 
 be important whether it precedes or follows them in its effect 
 which is to witness that He who transforms the creatures into the 
 Body and Blood of Christ is the Holy Ghost. 
 
 III. As to books of devotion, if they distract you, set them 
 aside, at least for a time. But you must be very careful not to let 
 your mind roam at random, even in prayer, without a book ; if 
 so, you will probably land in greater distraction than before. I 
 would advise you to arrange, first, in your mind, the order of your 
 prayer, under each head of devotion ; and then to let it go free, 
 to use its own devotional instincts in the expression of each. For 
 instance 
 
 1. Adoration. 
 
 2. Thanksgiving. 
 
 3. Confession of sin. 
 
 4. Oblation of self. 
 
 5. Petition for grace. 
 
 6. Intercession for others. 
 
 You will find this plan expanded in my " Twenty-one Heads." . . . 
 
 i. As to the power of "realizing" God's presence in His 
 house or anywhere : you must first consider that it never can be 
 realized ; that no flesh can adequately or truly see God. It is 
 possible, therefore, that straining after something which cannot be 
 " realized " you fail, and so grow disheartened and discouraged 
 without good reason. The consciousness of God's presence with 
 us always is a moral and spiritual gift, which deals entirely with 
 the conscience, and keeps it restrained and controlled, and, so to 
 say, under continual fear of offending. The exercise of this 
 becomes habitual to those who desire to have it, and who make 
 a point of continually asking the Holy Spirit to give it to them 
 and to keep them in it. If you will make a point every day, and 
 frequently during the day, of asking God the Holy Spirit to keep 
 you under the sense of the Divine presence, to rule all you say
 
 I9O DISTRACTIONS IN PRAYER. 
 
 nnd think and do, and will put the card which I send you in the 
 form of a prayer (which you may learn by heart, and say often 
 during the day), you will be much helped. 
 
 2. As to distractions in prayer take this advice. Some are 
 voluntary, others are involuntary. Of the former, if you are guilty 
 of them, consider how dishonouring and insulting to God it must 
 be to behave to Him worse than your politeness would make you 
 behave to a friend ; to come to speak to Him, and to hear Him 
 speak, and then wilfully and on purpose to turn your mind and 
 thoughts away from Him elsewhere. To do this wilfully is, of 
 course, wilfully to rob yourself of grace of the very thing which 
 you pretend to seek for ; and it is worse than this it is wilfully 
 to provoke God to anger by the very means by which you pretend 
 to conciliate Him. The very thought of such an awfully wicked 
 thing would keep every one from voluntary distractions in prayer. 
 Yet some are guilty of these, and the only remedy is to seek out 
 the cause and remove it. The cause is some unguarded and 
 unmortified affection for earthly objects which are deliberately 
 encouraged to come in between the soul and God. You may 
 easily multiply the wilful distractions in prayer by the wilful acts of 
 unmortification of the senses. They who yield up everything they 
 ask for to the outward senses must, of course, be filled with dis- 
 tractions, for which they have none but themselves to blame. 
 Get into the habit of controlling and mortifying the tongue, ear, 
 eye, etc., and roluntary distractions will soon cease. Or again, 
 those who do not prepare themselves for prayer, who neglect to 
 be in church before service for the purpose of prayer, that they 
 may pray, or else do not well consider, before they begin their 
 private prayer, what it is for they are going to thank God or to 
 ask Him, are sure to be distracted ; but that again is their own 
 fault. For nothing could be simpler and easier than to consider 
 beforehand the order and the matter of the prayer which they 
 are going to offer. 
 
 As to involuntary distractions do not be so much distressed 
 about them, as anxious to accept them as a just punishment from 
 God for past sins, in the spirit of humility and repentance
 
 CONTROVERSY. 19 1 
 
 submit to them and bear them, condemning yourself, and asking 
 God for grace not to yield yourself to them. There are two 
 things to consider in them. There is the distraction in itself, and 
 there is the painful sense which it brings with it. The distraction 
 in itself you cannot but hate, you cannot but not consent to it, 
 but the pain which it brings to you is good for you it is a sign 
 that you do not love to be distracted, and that you love prayer ; 
 for those who do not love prayer love to be distracted. In this 
 way, distraction is like any other temptation to which you do not 
 yield an evil in itself, but an instrument for humbling you and 
 making you vile in your own eyes, which is the way of becoming 
 great in the eyes of God. Besides, distractions of this kind are 
 often the punishment for having long neglected prayer, or used 
 it amiss in days gone by ; yes, and for having too long put off the 
 effort to do better. It is but just that God should, for a time, 
 refuse to us those graces which He would have given to us had 
 we persevered in prayer without failing away, but which we did 
 not care to have when we might. Prayer is familiarity with God, 
 but you do not become familiar with one whom you have seldom 
 spoken to or cared to see, all at once, do you ? 
 
 But take your distractions, so long as they are not wilful, as 
 your just punishment. Bear this humbly as your desert. Perse- 
 vere continually and earnestly against them ; praying on in spite 
 of them. God may take them away from you and set you free, 
 or He may not. Never mind. Go on trusting Him for years ; yea, 
 even unto death. 
 
 3. As to controversy my earnest advice to you is always to 
 decline it as a rule. For the most part, you will do no good with 
 it to others, and you will greatly wrong yourself. Set a good 
 consistent example of holy living, according to the rules of the 
 Church, being always bright and cheerful among those with whom 
 you live ; say frankly that you prefer not to discuss religious con- 
 troversy and you will do far more good to others and to yourself 
 than by any other way. The way of love and gentleness is the 
 conqueror's way always. Christianity is something for us to live 
 ouf, not to talk about.
 
 I Q2 LENTEN THOUGHTS. 
 
 In Lent he wrote to another : 
 
 Draw up categorically the revealed tokens of love in the 
 Epistle for Quinquagesima, and every day take one point, and 
 exa nine yourself by it, beginning again when you have gone 
 through the fifteen. On Wednesdays and Fridays take them all, 
 and go through them. There is nothing so humbling as that 
 Epistle, in which the Holy Ghost has revealed that we may possess 
 every possible gift, and yet be nothing. 
 
 As to spiritual exhaustion, the feeling as though all were of no 
 use it is in the experience of all, you are not singular ; and there 
 is this to learn from it, that God is humbling you, and so bringing 
 you nearer to Himself; that it is more profitable than consolation, 
 because through desolation we are more humbled, and humiliation 
 is the only way to solid exaltation, even though it may go on to 
 the end, till we reach the other shore. 
 
 What God sees in you is the want of self-subjugation. He 
 out of love brings you to this. Take it as a sign of love, thank 
 Him for it Say to yourself, " Who am I ? I am not an angel. 
 I am not as Adam was created. Yet if an angel fell, if sinless 
 human nature fell, who am I, to think I should not fall ? " This 
 brings me to what is far more dangerous than spiritual desolation 
 the habit of forgetting what has been enjoined on you as helps 
 to spiritual progress. You remember what Dr. Pusey says " that 
 men more often forsake God through forgetting Him than through 
 denying Him." It is- like the danger of losing a treasure through 
 putting it into a vessel with holes. It is like putting sand of gold 
 into a sieve. We ought to be adding to our store, not losing. 
 When we forget, we are not "holding fast that we have." We 
 cannot afford to lose grace ; watch against that, against not living 
 in the presence of God. 
 
 Aim at nothing short of perfection. And yet you should 
 think why you so continually fail not only as to your own 
 standard, but even as to a lower standard, coming short of even 
 respectable spiritual progress. It is that self-adoration. But do 
 not be disheartened ; it is a universal epidemic, which can only be
 
 HILLING DO tf. 193 
 
 counteracted by supernatural aid. What you have to think of 
 is, what efforts are you making to overcome it ? Are you in 
 earnest ? Are you humbled ? 
 
 The summer of 1859 was spent amongst friends in 
 England and Scotland, and in October Mr. Skinner settled 
 himself with his family at Hillingdon Cottage, near Ux- 
 bridge, with the thought that it might be his permanent 
 home for years. He was anxious to be near London, as 
 he was much occupied at this time with setting on foot and 
 organizing the English Church Union, in concert with the 
 Hon. Colin Lindsay, whom he had frequently met during 
 the summer of 1859. 
 
 Archdeacon Denison has told us lately that " there is 
 the English Church Union itself gathering into one as- 
 pirations and local efforts in the cause of the Church of 
 Christ. I was in 1 860 chairman of the meetings at Mr. 
 Trower's rooms, in Victoria Street, which issued in the 
 formation and development of the English Church Union. 
 I have lived to see nearly every one with whom from the out- 
 set it had been my happiness to labour in the first and best 
 of all common and public causes to see these pass away." 
 
 For the first two or three years (Mr. Lindsay writes) Mr. 
 Skinner and I met very frequently, and many consultations we had 
 together on various subjects. 
 
 The English Church Union was no doubt the issue of his 
 brain as you will see from the enclosed, it was originally the 
 old Church of England Protection Society that he founded. 
 Although I was the first president, he was, till he resigned, the 
 real leader of the society. I became his successor, as it were, his 
 mantle falling on my shoulders, though I had not a spirit equal to 
 his. He was one of the most remarkable men I ever knew, and 
 had he been blessed with strong health would have left the impress 
 
 O
 
 194 LETTER FROM HON. COLIN LINDSAY. 
 
 of his mind upon the whole body of the Church of England. 
 One begins and another takes up the work, the architect being 
 often removed and the work left behind. 
 
 12, Prince of Wales Terrace, Kensington, December I, 1882. 
 
 MY DEAR MRS. SKINNER, 
 
 You asked me to "give you any information in my power 
 as to the work Mr. Skinner and I did together many years ago ;" 
 and you ask me whether he had not, with me, a great deal to do 
 with the founding of the English Church Union, and also with 
 the first bringing out of the Church Review ? 
 
 It is more than twenty years ago since I first met Mr. Skinner, 
 and my meeting with him was brought about in the following 
 manner : 
 
 In 1849 a number of Church Unions were formed in various 
 parts of the country, which in the course of a few years became a 
 number of disorganized bodies A few years after (I forget the 
 exact year), Mr. Skinner and I, then strangers, conceived the idea 
 of so reorganizing these Unions that, out of the chaos, union and 
 united action might be the result. Mr. Skinner, with Mr. Perry * 
 and others, founded the Church Protection Society, and I, who 
 was then President of the Manchester Church Society, with the 
 committee of the association, called a meeting of all existing 
 Church Unions and the Church of England Protection Society, 
 which took place in London. This meeting resulted in the selec- 
 tion of the last-named society as the nucleus from which the whole 
 Church Union system was to arise. 
 
 The Church of England Protection Society, under the manage- 
 ment of Mr. Skinner, amended its rules, adapting them to altered 
 circumstances, and changing its name to that of the English 
 Church Union. I subsequently became president, and my old 
 friend Mr. Skinner honorary secretary For a few years we worked 
 together, and many plans were formed and carried into effect by 
 us both, with the consent of the council. 
 
 Among these was the establishment of a paper which took the 
 
 * Rev. T. W. Ferry, now Vicar of Ardleigh, Essex.
 
 FORMATION OF "ENGLISH CHURCH UNION." 195 
 
 name of the Church Review. I do not remember whether he or 
 I first proposed its institution ; we talked over the matter many 
 times between ourselves, and the result was the Church Review, 
 which was intended to be the organ of the Union, and the medium 
 of communication with members. Mr. Skinner was its first 
 editor, and he worked at it with a will and earnestness which 
 ultimately obliged him to give it up for want of physical power. 
 The articles in the first and, I think, the second volume were 
 chiefly his, and very able they were. 
 
 But we did more together than establish this paper. We laid 
 down the plans for developing the Union, by the formation of 
 local branches and other forms of organization, the results of 
 which we now see in the present body. 
 
 I think I have said everything connected with Mr. Skinner's 
 work in the foundation and development of the English Church 
 Union, in which he had the largest share, as also in the case of the 
 Church Review, and I think that the present members of the Union 
 owe him a great debt of gratitude for the wisdom, energy, and 
 marked ability he displayed at the beginning of the career of both. 
 
 The English Church Union is now a powerful body for good 
 or for evil (the former I hope, though I am no longer a member 
 of the Church of England) ; but the Church Review is, unless 
 greatly improved, a poor affair. 
 
 A few years after the formation of the Union, Mr. Skinner 
 resigned his post of honorary secretary, and I assure you I missed 
 him greatly for many a month ; for I had to carry on the work 
 without his valuable assistance, without his knowledge to instruct 
 me, and without his long experience to guide me. His resignation 
 was a great loss to us all. 
 
 It was a great, though sad, pleasure to meet him last year at 
 Bath, after so many years' separation. My meeting him again 
 revived all my earlier affection for him, and I mourned for him 
 when it pleased God to take him. Daily do I pray for his soul, 
 for I believe He always acted in perfect good faith towards God 
 and His Church. 
 
 I am yours truly, 
 
 COLIN LINDSAY.
 
 10.6 TOUR ON THE CONTINENT. 
 
 Meantime, in his quiet country home, and without the 
 anxieties of a cure of souls, Mr Skinner was gradually re- 
 gaining some measure of health. In the summer of 1860 he 
 went abroad with a friend, visiting Switzerland, the north 
 of Italy, Vienna, and other places. It was during the Pro- 
 testant furor at St. George 's-in-the-East, and his account 
 of a Protestant service at Breslau is evidently written with 
 a view to English bigotry. 
 
 Bellagio, Lago di Como, August 13, 1860. 
 
 I spent some days at Zurich, and I find that once greatly 
 privileged place in Puritan estimation wholly given to indifference 
 or unbelief. There is but one pastor in the place who preaches 
 " evangelically," and he is so dull that few go to hear him. 
 
 The Protestants of Zurich have no religious creed by which to 
 live, and so they live by the light of conscience. There is a 
 good moral life among many, and a bad moral life among many. 
 But, speaking generally, there is a religious life among none. On 
 one day in the week, Sunday, they worship God by preaching in 
 the churches, early in the morning, to which few go. The rest of 
 the day is given to pleasure. And the pleasures of Zurich are 
 just such as would naturally follow a sapless service of preaching, 
 and contrast with the pleasures which follow a living service of 
 Eucharistic sacrifice. 
 
 I do not approve of all the pleasures in which I see th<5se 
 indulge who have attended early Mass in other places, any more 
 than I approve of the pleasures of the people at Zurich. But I 
 say that in the two kinds of pleasure there is a contrast ; and the 
 pleasures at Zurich, which are of the lowest kind beer-drinking 
 and shooting are in the teeth of the religion which the people 
 profess. Catholics may exceed in their Sunday pleasures. But 
 they do not please themselves at the cost of their religious pro- 
 fession. The Protestants of Zurich both exceed in their Sunday 
 pleasures and set their religious profession at defiance. I believe
 
 PROTESTANTISM ABROAD. 197 
 
 that the profession of Protestantism at Zurich is the profession of 
 no religion at all. 
 
 Again, there is a state of confusion among Protestants abroad 
 for which I was not prepared. There are some three or four 
 hundred Swiss and German Protestants at Milan, Lutherans and 
 Calvinists. Nothing can be more distinct than the creeds of 
 Lutherans and Calvinists, and nothing more important than the 
 distinction. The whole doctrine of the Incarnation and its effects 
 is implied in it. Yet at Milan the Lutherans and Calvinists have 
 but one "minister" between them, and one church. First, their 
 Holy Communion is celebrated for Lutherans by this* pastor, who 
 is himself a Calvinist, and received by the people outside the rails, 
 kneeling, with the wafer placed in the mouth, and the cup not 
 passed into the hands. And then it is celebrated, by the same 
 man, for Calvinists, and the people enter within the rails, 
 approach the table, stand, and (as I am told) help themselves. 
 And all this is done, with no sense whatever of its inconsistency, 
 not to say profanity, for the sake, first of economy, and secondly 
 of preserving a notion of unity among themselves in the face of 
 the Latin Communion. 
 
 Such is Protestantism. And in the Roman Church the state 
 of things is little better. Since the political boulevcrsement of last 
 year and this, contempt for the Church among the higher classes 
 is openly avowed. The whole body of the priesthood is spoken 
 of with disrespect, and the ordinances which they minister with 
 profane disregard. Women are the chief worshippers, and for 
 them, and for children, and for the poor it is plainly said the 
 system may do. The educated men despise it. A Milanese 
 gentleman, whom I met recently, treated excommunication as an 
 excellent joke ; and, including himself in the sentence which is 
 supposed to affect the King of Sardinia, asked derisively, " What 
 can it work on me ? I am the same man the day after it that I 
 was the day before it ! " The corruption of the Church, through 
 Roman error and extravagance, is now bringing forth its proper 
 fruits. And God only knows at what a terrible cost to how many 
 thousand souls !
 
 I9 8 LETTER FROM MUNICH. 
 
 Meantime, of all the blessings which we English Catholics 
 enjoy, the greatest by far is that safeguard against Protestantism 
 on one side, and Romanism on the other the Book of Common 
 Prayer. 
 
 May God preserve it whole and entire to us, and us faithful 
 and unflinching to it, should be our daily prayer. 
 
 To his child he wrote : 
 
 Munich, September 6, 1860. 
 
 MY DARLING, 
 
 . . . Innspruck is a lovely place. I was there last 
 Sunday. And Sunday was the " Feast of the Guardian Angel." 
 The simple people of the beautiful mountains and valleys and 
 river-sides love to think of the angels that keep watch over their 
 beloved land, and over themselves and their families ; and they 
 keep one day in the year as a great and holy festival, and they 
 devote themselves, all that day, to blessing God for their guardian 
 angel. I was very fortunate in finding all this out, and making 
 my way across the river Inn to the suburbs of the town, where, in 
 procession, the peasants, in beautiful costumes, were carrying 
 banners to the sound of music, before and behind a large image 
 of the " Guardian Angel," and saying prayers and singing hymns. 
 First came the men with their rifles, with which they are always 
 ready to defend their valleys; then, the priests in their vestments; 
 and then, women and little girls dressed in white, with beautiful 
 garlands of flowers. It was a lovely sight, and the simple piety of 
 the peasant people moved my heart and made me glad. 
 
 May God bless my darling little girl, and make her guardian 
 angel to keep watch over her ! And may she never frighten her 
 angel away, by naughty words or thoughts or deeds ! 
 
 To a friend he wrote from Dresden : 
 
 Perhaps the most remarkable churches at Breslau are the two 
 Protestant parish churches of the city the St. Mary Magdalene 
 and the St. Elizabeth churches. They are remarkable, not simply 
 as treasuries of art which they are emphatically but as tokens
 
 SERVICE AT BRESLAU. 199 
 
 of the spirit of Protestantism at Breslau. Nothing has been de- 
 faced or destroyed in these churches. Even the huge " sacra- 
 ment houses " remain. The Reformation which began here in 
 1523 seems even now to hold the place which it held then ; not, 
 probably, in respect of the fervour of its adherents, but in relation 
 to the old religion which went before. 
 
 I witnessed an extraordinary scene at St. Elizabeth's, which I 
 will try to describe. While examining the church, which, like all 
 "Protestant" churches, had been locked up, and was only 
 accessible through five silver groschen, I suddenly observed per- 
 sons entering and walking eastward, as if for service. A bell also 
 began to ring from the tower of the church. Was there to be a 
 service ? I inquired of my attendant. Yes, was the reply. So I 
 took a seat and prepared to assist at it. 
 
 Several respectable well-dressed men tradesmen of the town 
 apparently took their places north and south in the choir stalls, 
 which " remain as in times past ; " while a few stragglers, men and 
 women, occupied places in the nave. And then I began to ex- 
 pect the " minister," and to conjecture what the service might be. 
 But suddenly, to my surprise, one of the respectable men went off 
 with a Latin antiphon, and the rest took it up, and on they 
 hurried through an hour service of the Roman Breviary ! It was 
 the most absurd and ludicrous imitation of the most careless and 
 slovenly and perfunctory type of a Roman ministration it had ever 
 been my lot to hear. The burlesque lasted for an hour, during 
 which persons might be seen laughing heartily ; and then it came 
 to an abrupt end ; and the performers departed hastily, as they 
 had arrived. 
 
 I arrested one of them, and begged for an explanation of this 
 painful exhibition, and of the position of those who had acted in 
 it I used the words "Breviarium Romanum," "Ad Vesperas,"- 
 " Completorium ; " but he said he was quite ignorant of Latin, and 
 did not know whether those words explained the service or not. 
 However, he kindly consented to show me the manuscripts from 
 which he had been singing. It was a jumble of the vespers and 
 compline offices written out and sung by rote ; and I found the
 
 200 ST. ELIZABETH'S CHURCH. 
 
 singers to be the paid choirmen of the Protestant Church of St. 
 Elizabeth, and the reason to hang upon the tenure of a considerable 
 endowment from the chapter of the Cathedral of St. John Baptist, 
 which would be taken away the moment that the office should 
 cease to be sung ! The priest's part should be sung by one of the 
 clergy ; as, no doubt, the whole should be sung as worship. But 
 not so. The clergy avoid it : it is sung chiefly for the money. 
 It is in the bond that they should sing. So sing they must, as 
 seldom as possible once a month or twice and with more 
 irreverence and contempt than it is possible to describe. It is 
 difficult to say how discreditable to both sides to the Roman 
 cathedral and to the Protestant St. Elizabeth's is the con- 
 tinuance of this enormous profanity. 
 
 No sooner was the burlesque ended, than the real service of 
 the Protestants began. The organ pealed forth the magnificent 
 hymn of Luther, and men and women, chiefly poor, began to 
 arrive. And now for the daily evening service of the Protestants 
 of Breslau. Let there be no mistake. Let those who use the 
 word " Protestant " in England, so ignorantly, learn. The thing 
 at Dresden is a degeneracy. At Berlin it is a modern device. 
 The angry men at St. George's-in-the-East, the sober men at St. 
 George's, Hanover Square, have not got the thing at all. This at 
 Breslau is the model of Protestantism the only true Protestant- 
 ism the traditional Protestantism of 1529, when the Elector of 
 Saxony, and the Landgrave of Hesse, and the Prince of Anhalt, 
 and the deputies protested in the Diet of Spire against the Edict of 
 Worms. Let me describe it as I see it now, recalling St. Eliza- 
 beth's at Breslau. 
 
 The organ is sounding out the hymn of Luther, while a young 
 man, of grave and earnest aspect, arrayed in a black vestment 
 with a white ruff, after the pictures of Fathers Luther and 
 Melanchthon, ascends the pulpit With much devotion and 
 gravity he reads a lecture, and then turning eastward, all the con- 
 gregation turn eastward, while he sums up with the Lord's Prayer. 
 And now there is a pause. While the preacher descends, all eyes 
 are on the altar, the " high altar," over which a colossal crucifix,
 
 SERMON AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 2OI 
 
 with the Blessed Virgin and St. John on either side, is exalted, 
 and upon which two high candles burn in the broad light of day. 
 And presently the grave young man issues forth from the sacristy 
 yes, there is a "sacristy" too, and with an altar in it, "as in 
 times past." No longer in his black vestment, he is now robed 
 in a surplice, and that as short as the most advanced " Puseyite " 
 could desire. Turning his back to the people, and standing in 
 the midst of the altar, he " intones " or sings his prayers. Finally, 
 he turns round, and waving his hand in the form of the cross, he 
 blesses the people, and they depart. 
 
 He must have been in much stronger health now (his wife 
 writes), for I find this entry in my journal : 
 
 " Sunday, April 21. James preached in the evening at West- 
 minster Abbey, at the request of the Dean.* It was a crowded 
 congregation, and most attentive : a striking sight. Martin 
 Luther's hymn was sung not only by the fine choir, but by that 
 great mass of persons. I never heard it sound so grand. I was 
 most agreeably surprised in the strength and clearness of my 
 husband's voice He preached for three-quarters of an hour ; his 
 voice quite filled the nave, and it appeared to be no effort to 
 him, nor was he the worse for the exertion." 
 
 * Now Archbishop of Dublin,
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 NEWLAND. 
 1861-1865. 
 
 " O happy days, O months, O years, 
 
 Which, even in this dim world of woe, 
 'Tis now impossible can show 
 The print of grief, the stain of tears ! 
 
 " O blessed times, which now no more 
 Exposed to chance or change remain ; 
 Which having been, no after stain 
 Can dim the brightness that ye wore ! " 
 
 JOHN REGINALD PYNDAR, third Earl Beauchamp, married, 
 in 1814, Charlotte, only daughter of John, first Earl of 
 Clonmell. This lady had a large fortune and died child- 
 less in 1846. She had expressed a wish that some part of 
 her fortune should be devoted to founding an almshouse 
 for aged agricultural labourers ; and her husband directed 
 in his will (made in 1847) that .60,000 should be devoted 
 to the erection and endowment of almshouses at Newland, 
 in the county of Worcester. 
 
 Lord Beauchamp died in 1853, and his wife's nephew, 
 the Hon. Charles Grantham Scott, to whom he had 
 bequeathed his estate of Newland, gave a piece of land for 
 the almshouses, close to the then existing old wooden
 
 PARISH OF NEWLAND. 203 
 
 parish church, supposed to have been built in the time of 
 Edward III. 
 
 After six years' delay and litigation, an order and a 
 scheme, for the management of the charity, was in 1859 
 issued by the Court of Chancery. It was to be managed 
 by twelve trustees, and a private Act of Parliament was 
 obtained, enabling them to purchase the advowson of the 
 living of Newland. In 1861 it became vacant, and was 
 offered by the trustees to Mr. Skinner, together with the 
 office of Wardenship of the projected almshouses. 
 
 The parish was very small, containing only thirty-six 
 families, with four in the hamlet of Woodsfield, and the 
 whole thing seemed to be within his powers. He accepted 
 the charge, and in October, 1861, took up his abode at 
 Malvern Link, for the land on which the almshouses, the 
 new church, and the Warden's house were to stand had 
 not even been drained. His wife's journal notes on the 
 day after their arrival : 
 
 October 10. As soon after breakfast as possible, James and 1 
 walked over to our own little parish of Newland, the scene of his 
 future labours, about a mile from Somers Villa, the house we are 
 now in. The country is entirely new to me, and much delighted 
 I am with it ; and on such a brilliant morning as we fortunately 
 have, the fine scenery looks to great advantage. 
 
 We first went into the curious little old church, built entirely 
 of wood, as old as the fourteenth century; hardly another like it 
 in England. It is to come down when the new one is built, 
 though it seems rather sad, I think, to contemplate this necessity. 
 We afterwards went to the little village school, and to one or two 
 cottages, with all of which we were much pleased, and the pooi 
 people seem to look forward with great satisfaction to having 
 a resident clergyman among them. I believe it is forty years 
 since the parish has had that blessing.
 
 204 ARRIVAL AT MALVERN LINK. 
 
 It was the beginning of a time of exceptional happiness 
 and beauty. For the sake of those who remember what 
 that home at Newland became, it is impossible to withhold 
 the following extract from a letter of Mrs. Skinner's to her 
 mother, with its vivid account of their first days in the 
 neighbourhood : 
 
 Somers Villa, Malvern Link, October 17, 1861. 
 
 . . . We had a comfortable journey down here, and found 
 everything ready for I found a letter from George, saying 
 
 that he would bring the children on Friday or Saturday at latest. 
 As Taylor's men said the things would be down the day after us, 
 there was no time to be lost in finding some place to receive them. 
 The only thing we could do was to rent three empty rooms in 
 a house not far from us. This done, we put the matter from our 
 minds for a bit, and the morning being exquisite, and the country 
 around as lovely and magnificent as any I have ever seen, we 
 enjoyed our walk to Newland, about one mile from this house. 
 There James showed me the site of the almshouses, and where 
 our house is to be, and no words can tell you how beautiful the 
 spot is. We went into the little ancient church ; it is in a rickety 
 state, but nicely arranged, and it seems sad that it should come 
 down, which you know is contemplated as soon as the chapel to 
 the almshouses is built, which is also to be the parish church. 
 We afterwards went to the school, and to some of the houses, and 
 then home to the Link. As none of our packages had come, 
 and we had nothing to do, and were too tired to walk any more, 
 we took a carriage and drove to Malvern Wells, through the most 
 lovely scenery ; calling on our way on the Pembertons, who were 
 not at home. Next day, Friday, we began to get anxious at the 
 non-arrival of our goods. Towards the afternoon, just as it began 
 to rain heavily, some, but not all, of our things began to arrive ; 
 among others, several cases of books. There was no room to 
 bring them into the house, so they had to be unpacked at the 
 entrance ; and James and I and the two maids seized upon the 
 books and rushed into the house with them as fast as they were
 
 FIRST SUNDAY AT NEWLAND. 2O5 
 
 unpacked. Oh, how dreadfully tired we were ! Poor James had 
 his sermon to prepare for the next day, and many arrangements to 
 make. He looked so dreadfully ill and worn out, I quite 
 dreaded his falling ill. To our relief, the men came to say 
 that the rest of the vans, through some mismanagement of the 
 railway authorities, had gone astray ; it was really a relief, because 
 we felt we had time to look around us So we went to a farmer 
 in Newland, and asked if he could help us to stow away some of 
 our common things; he was very good-natured, and offered us 
 the use of a famous dry loft, which would hold an immense 
 quantity. About three o'clock the dear children arrived with 
 George, they were in high spirits and very little tired ; both 
 James and I were much the reverse. The darlings cheered us, 
 and we had a much better night, and got up on Sunday morning 
 refreshed. It was fortunately a most lovely day ; we all walked 
 to Newland. The little church was well filled, chiefly with poor ; 
 and oh, what a happiness it was to see dear James in his own 
 church again ! I felt quite ashamed of the distress I had lately 
 allowed myself to be in, when all the signal blessings God had 
 given me crowded upon my mind as I knelt in that quiet little 
 church ; and thought how different all might have been. They 
 seem all a nice set of people well-behaved, and attentive, and 
 simple minded; they all join heartily in the service. There is 
 only a little harmonium which leads some school children, who 
 have remarkably good voices. This is the choir at present ! Next 
 Sunday I am to play. As the foundations of our new house have 
 not yet begun to be dug, we are not likely to be troubled with 
 the sight of our furniture again at present. I am now getting 
 over my fatigues, and I hope James will not be the worse, though 
 since Sunday he has been very unwell. I wish we were rather 
 nearer to our parish, though we are lucky to be so near ; but it 
 is hard work to walk there and back, besides walking about the 
 parish, going to the school, talking, etc., etc. I think this fine 
 air will agree well with all of us. 
 
 Alas ! before another Sunday came round the Vicar
 
 206 PASTORAL LETTER. 
 
 of Newland was so ill as to be unable to leave his bed. He 
 had not had so bad an attack for two years, and the verdict 
 of the Malvern doctor was, " This is no place for you ; you 
 must quit it without delay, and go to Madeira for the 
 winter." It was a discouraging beginning to his new life ; 
 but serious as the attack was, he rallied from it sooner than 
 he had ever done in the like case. Fortunately there was 
 no difficulty about parish work in the mean time, as a 
 curate had already been installed, and on November 3 
 Mr. Skinner preached for the first time in his little church, 
 and considered himself recovered. He lost no time in 
 making himself acquainted with his parishioners, and formed 
 many plans for increased church services. His great desire 
 was to increase the number of Celebrations. Until the last 
 few years there had been only three Celebrations yearly at 
 Newland, and there had frequently been a difficulty in 
 getting the requisite number of communicants even at 
 Christmas and Easter ; in the late incumbent's time there 
 had been a celebration every second month. At Christmas 
 Mr. Skinner presented his parishioners with a " Newland 
 Almanack," and prefixed to it a pastoral letter in which he 
 says 
 
 Once at least in every month, and as often as there is a red 
 line in this calendar, the Blessed Sacrament will be offered to you 
 in Newland Church. I do not wish any to come to it who are 
 not prepared to come, and who do not know Whom they receive 
 when they " eat that bread and drink that cup." But I am ready 
 to instruct and to prepare as many as will come to me to be made 
 ready by prayer, or by " ghostly " or spiritual counsel, or, if need 
 be, by the "benefit of absolution." In a short time, if it pleases 
 God, we shall have a new and enlarged parish church built for us. 
 We shall then have daily services twice a day at the least.
 
 INCREASED CELEBRATIONS. 2O/ 
 
 Nothing shall hinder, but we shall have, without stint, the full pro- 
 vision which the Church of England has made for your wants and 
 for the wants of all her children. Surely it will be a good rule for 
 us to try to give to God our very best offering in return for His so 
 much love to us. Meantime, let us train and prepare ourselves for 
 our new church and for those fuller services that great blessing. 
 Just as that blessing, when it comes, shall in turn, as I hope, train 
 and prepare us for the enjoyment of God, face to face, in heaven. 
 
 In the pastoral letter in the almanack for 1863, it is 
 noted that there were twenty-three Celebrations in 1862, as 
 against seven in the previous year, and before seven years 
 had passed Newland parish had the blessing of a daily Cele- 
 bration, at which worshippers and communicants were 
 never wanting. And this is noteworthy, for it might have 
 been thought that it would be impossible to keep up this 
 service in a very small agricultural parish. But, indeed, 
 from the first the people seem to have responded to the 
 instruction given to them 
 
 One who knew the parish at this time writes : 
 
 I suppose the first week-day service that St. Leonard's, New- 
 land, had seen for many a year was on Epiphany, 1862. The 
 vicar had full service in the morning with the Celebration of Holy 
 Communion. It was considered quite an innovation, but there 
 was a fairly good congregation and more communicants than the 
 last Sunday celebration. During Holy Week this year the daily 
 services, both morning and evening, for an agricultural parish, were 
 well attended, and on Good Friday and Easter Day the little 
 church was crowded, while on Christmas Day, 1863, it was so full 
 that there was hardly standing room. There were two Celebrations 
 and an increase of fifty communicants. The Bishop of Worcester 
 had held a confirmation in this little church the previous October, 
 for thirty-six candidates, amongst whom was the vicar's only child, 
 Agnes. The foundation stone of the new church and almshouses
 
 203 LETTER FROM OXFORD. 
 
 was laid on April 23, 1862, by the Dowager Countess Beauchamp, 
 widow (by a second marriage) of the Founder, and the ground lying 
 between the old church and that given for the almshouses was 
 consecrated as a burial-ground for Newland parish. It had never 
 possessed one before, the Capella de Newland, as it is called in 
 old deeds, having been served by the monks of Malvern Abbey 
 to which it was attached. 
 
 The following letter from the Vicar of Newland to his 
 wife, who was absent from home, gives a bright glimpse of 
 home life, and an account of the second Church Congress: 
 
 Malvern Link, July 12, 1862. 
 
 . . . Here I am, safe and sound again, among our pets safe 
 and sound also, praised be God. I found them charmingly well, 
 and so glad to get me back. Aggie talking of nothing but her 
 prospect of breakfasting with me next morning, and the pleasure 
 of making my mess. Insomuch that I proposed that I should 
 save her a bad night of exciting expectation, and have my break- 
 fast then and there on the spot Maggie was in all the dignity of 
 landladyhood, bursting with importance, mingled with a tinge of 
 misgiving, lest I should not like the minced beef. She felt it her 
 duty to go out and in ; and ring the bell ; and give orders ; and 
 countermand the orders when given ; and ask about tea before 
 dinner was over ; and " How about hot water ? " and " Now, take 
 your hot water, uncle, before it gets cold ; " and " When shall we 
 have prayers ? " and " Now ring the bell and begin," and so on. 
 This morning, long before half-past eight, I was disturbed at my 
 toilet by the housekeeper's knock. "Are you ready for prayers, 
 uncle ? " " Yes, dear, when the time for prayers has arrived I 
 shall be ready." " Oh ! " And then off I heard her little feet 
 scamper to the Petfordian domain in the basement, her heart 
 bursting with the dinner for to-day ! 
 
 Aggie kept awake half the night with wishing for breakfast 
 time to come was in her place, presiding over the teapot and the 
 cosy, instantly after prayers, and very full of delight to her was that
 
 FIRST CHURCH CONGRESS. 2O9 
 
 steaming urn and little crockery teapot. But my mess, on which 
 she had greatly reckoned as an exercise of skill and affection, 
 could not be made ; so I dispensed with it, and gave the surplus 
 of the cream to Aggie herself, which greatly contributed to recon- 
 cile her to the disappointment. Poor dear Mary looks sweet as 
 sugar, and says, " Oh how I should like to breakfast with uncle, 
 but Miss Levien does not like it, and so I suppose I shall not." 
 
 They are dear good little pets, and seem so anxious to be 
 pleasant company to me. 
 
 Now I hear you saying, " Why have you never told me any- 
 thing of your proceedings at Oxford ? " So, then, here goes. 
 
 . . . Immediately on arrival, I had luncheon in the common 
 room, where a pleasant party were assembled, and then off with a 
 brother of Walton's to the theatre. There I saw hosts of friends, 
 almost everybody I had ever seen or known for twenty years past, 
 and most delightful it was to greet the old familiar faces. This 
 really was the charm of the gathering. I need not say what the 
 papers were, for you may read that in the public accounts. But 
 this I will say, that / did my part uncommonly well, and I believe 
 it was one of the most difficult to do ; I listened to the wise and 
 the foolish with equal perseverance to the end. Ellicott read his 
 paper in the morning, before I arrived, and he had left Oxford 
 before I could get near him. Some good Cambridge men 
 spoke the best, by far, Harold Browne ; Howson also dis- 
 tinguished himself. The tone of the Cambridge men did not 
 make them shine at Oxford, I am afraid. There was a hard- 
 headed utility in their views, but a want, for the most part, of 
 the more delicate shades of feeling which indicate a deep and 
 thoughtful philosophy in things ecclesiastical. I should except 
 George Williams. ... I was much struck with the contrast which 
 Carter and Pusey and Massingberd and others presented in all 
 this. We had some very delicate and difficult subjects "Sister- 
 hoods," for instance which brought all this out. But there was 
 a marvellous spirit of harmony and unity and love pervading the 
 whole Congress, for which we cannot be too thankful; and if we 
 owe it to anything under God's Spirit, we owe it to the skill and 
 
 P
 
 210 OXFORD CHURCH CONGRESS. 
 
 tact and amazing judgment with which the Bishop of Oxford con- 
 ducted the proceedings. At one of the evening meetings, Mey- 
 rick read a paper on our relations to the Continental Churches. 
 I had sent in my name to speak upon it ; but long before it came 
 to my turn, the temper of the meeting had waxed so warm that I 
 foresaw a great row. The Bishop, with most consummate skill, 
 shifted the scene, and passed to another subject which was a 
 much less exciting one. Next morning he said to me, " I hope 
 you were not offended that I did not call on you to speak last 
 night." "No, my lord, not a bit; I saw what was brewing, 
 and I think you did most wisely to pass on to another subject." 
 " Yes," he said, " in that electric condition of the atmosphere, it 
 was not safe to invite a storm, so I omitted to call on you or on 
 any one to say anything." 
 
 ... I will just add, particularly, the order of my day, and 
 you will be amazed at the extent of the grind. 
 Tuesday. Arrived at i p.m. 
 Theatre from 2 to 5.15, without intermission. 
 5.30 to 6.30. Evensong (choral) in Merton Chapel, a glorious 
 Gregorian service. 
 
 6.30 to 8. Dinner and dessert in Merton Hall. Here Mild- 
 may, Lawrell, Beresford Hope, and lots of friends, most jolly. 
 
 I was so knocked up that I could not go to the " evening " in 
 the townhall ; so at 9 o'clock I went to my rooms. 
 
 Wednesday. Called and up at 6.15. At 7.15 down, and in 
 the vestry of the chapel, which is also the parish church of St. 
 John Baptist in Oxford, and where all the services for the Con- 
 gress were appointed to be held. Had been invited to assist in 
 the Celebrations. These services were all special, and there was 
 no regular staff of clergy to assist the incumbent of the church, 
 who is a Mr. Serjeant, a cousin of the Bishop of Oxford's, and a 
 Fellow of Merton. It was hardish work for me, and perhaps I 
 ought to have declined, but I could not resist such a privilege. 
 Well, at 7.30, the Bishop of Oxford, and the Bishop of Tasmania, 
 myself, and Serjeant took our places at the altar Tasmania cele- 
 brant ; I gospeller ; Serjeant epistoller ; and the Holy Communion
 
 OXFORD CHURCH CONGRESS. 211 
 
 was administered to the great body of the Congress in Oxford. 
 After the blessing we immediately went to matins, the Bishops 
 remaining in their places, Serjeant and I taking it between us. 
 
 At 9.30, breakfast. 
 
 At 10.30 to the theatre. Papers and discussion till 1.15. 
 
 1.15 to 2. Luncheon in Merton Hall. 
 
 2,30 to 5.15. Theatre again. Papers and discussion. 
 
 5.30 to 6.30. Chapel at Merton (full choral). 
 
 6.30 to 8. Dinner in Merton Hall, a large ~nd most pleasant 
 party. Swinny of Cuddesdon, Butterfield the architect, and the 
 rest more than twenty in number. 
 
 8 to 10. Meeting in townhalL 
 
 Thursday. Up at 6.15 again. In vestry by 7.15 : prepared 
 for a grand choral celebration. Bishop of Oxford on throne ; 
 Bishop of Tasmania next him ; Lowder as a fourth priest ; Ser- 
 jeant celebrant ; Lawrell gospeller ; myself epistoller and as- 
 sistant. Most magnificent service ; nearly four hundred commu- 
 nicants, including Bishops of Capetown and Honolulu, besides 
 Oxford and Tasmania. After this I was too tired for matins and 
 went to breakfast. 
 
 10.30101.15. At the theatre. Papers and discussions. 
 
 1.15. To Balliol College. Luncheon the first with Furse, 
 and Jenny, his dear little wife. Obliged to hurry off to All Souls' 
 College to answer an invitation from the warden of that college, 
 who has taken a leading part in the Congress, to have my portrait 
 taken, in a group of the members, by a photographic artist, and 
 to lunch, the second time, with them afterwards. Here I met the 
 Bishop of Capetown and chatted with him of old days ; the late 
 Lord Chancellor of Ireland and M.P. for University of Dublin, 
 Joseph Napier, whom I met at Innspruck two summers ago, and 
 took for a self-appointed parish clerk to me, when I read the 
 prayers on Sunday in the hotel ; Sir Charles Anderson, whom you 
 remember meeting at Burton Agnes ; and many others. At 1.30 
 we formed ourselves in a group : the four Bishops in the centre ; 
 the taller men behind and the smaller in front I have the satis- 
 faction of being taken standing next to dear T. Carter of Clewer.
 
 212 DEATJf OF MRS, RAYMOND. 
 
 It will be an interesting group. After this operation, which was 
 long and tedious, but which the Bishop of Oxford and Archdeacon 
 Denison contrived to lighten by their jokes and good-humoured 
 chaff, we went to luncheon in the Warden of All Souls' house. 
 There I met Mr. Cust, now the Vicar of St. Mary's, Reading, who 
 re-introduced himself to me, as having met you and me at Hunts- 
 moor. Do you remember singing with him and Lady Emma his 
 wife ? 
 
 Then back again to the theatre till nearly 6. Then to chapel 
 at Merton. Then I went to All Souls' Hall, to dine with F. L. 
 Very pleasant, but the ale of tremendous power, quite beyond me. 
 
 At 9 off again to the townhall, where Bishop of Tasmania on 
 Synods. Capetown very interesting, so also Joseph Napier. Met 
 Richards of Farlington, Finlay and his wife, and hosts of others; 
 Got home to bed a little before 12, going en route to revisit New- 
 man's old rooms at Oriel, which a friend of mine was inhabiting. 
 
 Friday. Up 7.30. Breakfast 9, in Merton. Men all going down. 
 
 10.30 to St. Mary's. Litany, and a magnificent sermon from 
 S. O. on African Missions and dear Bishop Mackenzie. Then 
 to meeting on that Mission's affairs in theatre : painful discus- 
 sion upon the fighting with the natives. " Was k right ? " Most 
 terribly painful. Pusey spoke condemning it ; so Selwyn, also 
 from Cambridge. I agree with them, but deprecated the discus- 
 sion at such a moment. Capetown spoke most deliriously. I could" 
 tell you volumes of intensely interesting matter on this head, but I 
 can no more. Did not leave theatre till 2.45 ; snatched a sand- 
 wich and a glass of beer with Mildmay in the buttery of Merton. 
 and then off to catch 3.25 train. 
 
 Found two old friends in the carriage, one of whom (a Fellow 
 of Trinity, Oxford) not seen for twenty years ! and so home to- 
 Malvern. 
 
 Praised be God for all His mercy. 
 
 He writes in June, 1863, of the death of Mrs. Oliver- 
 Raymond, his wife's mother, who had ever been a loving: 
 mother to him.
 
 THE WARDEN'S LODGE. 213 
 
 , . . She who " bore children and guided the house, and gave 
 none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully" the mother 
 of all who came within her care, has gone to her rest. She died 
 about the rising of the sun last Monday, the first of the summer 
 days, and on Friday her body was laid in the grave in the face 
 of many to whom, all her life, God had given her for a light Day 
 by day, from her death, the prayers which she so loved went on in 
 the parish church, and her husband and children found in them 
 their best consolatioa Her hands were crossed upon her breast 
 in death ; and indeed it was the cross which most she strove in 
 life to take up, and to cling to as all her hope. At her burial at 
 Middleton the " mourners " were themselves the choir, and they 
 prayed and sang with earnest tongues, and with a good courage all 
 their own: It is good to think of her, whom we so loved, at rest. 
 Formed by the grace of God in the school of Christ, she learned 
 all she knew from Him by whom she was called silently and 
 unostentatiously to teach others. There are now alive many holy 
 and useful men and women, who trace, under God, all the good 
 that is in them to her sweet life. It is something to have had to 
 do with the training of two brothers and three sons for dedication 
 to God in the holy office of the priesthood. What they owe to 
 her God will repay. 
 
 The house for the Warden was the first part completed 
 of the buildings at Ncwland, and in November, 1863, he and 
 his family took possession of their new abode. Amongst 
 his papers were found the prayers, written in pencil, Used 
 on this day at family prayer : 
 
 We yield Thee hearty thanks, O Lord our God, for Thy great 
 goodness in mercifully ordering our way to this our present earthly 
 dwelling-place, and for all Thy gracious providence in leading us 
 into it, and settling us in the same in peace and quietness. Send 
 Thy Holy Spirit to go before us, and with us, and after us, in all 
 our going in and coming out of this house. Mercifully assist us 
 who put our trust in Thee in every duty each one of us has to do
 
 214 CONSECRATION OF CHURCH. 
 
 in this place ; and vouchsafe to be our Companion every day, 
 from morning to night and night to morning ; that we may love 
 Thy presence and walk in it vigilantly, and being delivered from 
 all errors and adversities, may joyfully serve Thee in all godly 
 quietness ; and grant us Thy peace all the days of our life, through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, to all Thy servants who live 
 in this house, the spirit of mutual love and duty one to the other, 
 and above all of grateful obedience to Thee : give us comfort and 
 support under all circumstances of our life, and Thy merciful 
 guidance unto the end, that living in all holy and godly conver- 
 sation, we may be afflicted by no adversity, and may finally attain 
 to the perpetual enjoyment of Thy loving' mercy, through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 The new Church of St Leonard and the almshouses 
 were not completed until the following year, 1864. On 
 Sunday, July 17, the last services were held in the old 
 oaken church, the spiritual home of many generations. 
 One who was present wrote at the time : 
 
 " The last Sunday in the dear little old church ! Enormous 
 congregations both morning and evening. Not a third part could 
 find room inside ; so as the weather was dry and rery hot, the 
 windows were taken out on the north side, and a great number of 
 people joined in the service, sitting, standing, and kneeling on the 
 grass. 
 
 On the next Thursday, July 21, the new church was 
 consecrated, and the almshouses were dedicated, by the 
 Bishop of Worcester. He was met at the great gate by a 
 procession including about sixty clergy, and all walked 
 round the east and south sides of the quadrangle, chanting 
 Psalms ciii. and Ixxii. Then, halting opposite to the great 
 gate, the Bishop prayed :
 
 ALMSHOUSES DEDICATED. 21$ 
 
 O God, from Whom all good gifts do come, we heartily thank 
 Thee that Thou didst put into the heart of Thy servant John 
 Reginald, sometime Lord Beauchamp, to found and of his 
 chanty to endow for ever these almshouses to the honour of Thy 
 name and the comfort of Thy poor ; grant, we beseech Thee, 
 that they who shall here profit by this Thy bounty may truly and 
 godly serve Thee for ever and ever; through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. Amen. 
 
 The procession then moved round the west and north 
 sides of the quadrangle, still chanting, and, returning to 
 the great gate, after Veni Creator had been sung the 
 Bishop pronounced that 
 
 Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God to allow this 
 charitable work, and to accept these almshouses for the comfort 
 of His poor, we hereby pronounce this house of prayer and of 
 alms to have been in all things duly completed, and we declare 
 the same to be for ever open : in the name of the Father, and of 
 the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 
 The consecration of the church then took place. Thus 
 this beautiful work was begun, a gift from Ireland to 
 England. For it was but the fulfilment of the pious thought 
 of a noble Irish lady, and a large portion of the fortune 
 which she possessed had been devoted to this charity. 
 
 There is nothing lovelier or more perfect of its kind in 
 England ; it seems, as the late Bishop Forbes said, " like 
 a bit of the Middle Ages let down amongst us." A traveller 
 on the road through the village common of Newland might 
 pass the almhouscs without observing more than clustered 
 chimneys rising behind a belt of trees, and a handsome 
 gateway, but within the deep-arched portal there is what 
 almost seems an enchanted scene, a very paradise of peaceful 
 and holy delight. The whole place has already a look of
 
 2l6 THE QUADRANGLE. 
 
 age, partly from the luxuriant flowering creepers with which 
 the buildings are covered, partly from the ancient elms 
 which shade the smooth turf of the quadrangle, surrounded 
 by a broad gravel terrace walk. The east side is formed 
 by the church and the Warden's house, connected by a 
 cloister, the north and west sides by the almhouses, while 
 the south is left open to the view of the Malvern Hills. 
 There is an entrance to the church by the south porch 
 through the cloister for dwellers in the quadrangle, while 
 the north porch opens on the village common. In the 
 buildings there are rooms for twenty-four or more alms- 
 people, married or single, who are received from any 
 county in England, and have an apartment of three rooms 
 assigned to each, with a pension varying from seven and 
 sixpence to twelve shillings a week and allowances of gas 
 and fuel. The trustees of the charity were also ordered 
 by the Court of Chancery to "establish and maintain a 
 school of industry for ten or more children," to " reside on 
 the premises, and be boarded and clothed free of charge," 
 to " assist as choristers in the celebration of divine service 
 in Newland Church, as the Warden should from time 
 to time direct." None were elected who had not really 
 good voices ; thus an excellent choir was insured for the 
 church. 
 
 Here, in this home of devotion and charity, a season of 
 such happiness and beautiful brightness was granted to 
 the "Warden and his household as is seldom the lot of God's 
 servants on earth. His aged stepmother, accompanied by 
 his only sister, had, at eighty-three, left her Aberdeen 
 home to settle near her beloved son. No warmer love ever 
 existed between a mother and son than between these two ;
 
 4 UNDA Y A T NE WLAND. 2 1 / 
 
 and until her death, nine years later, it was one of the chief 
 objects of his life to add to her happiness and comfort. 
 The orphan children of a brother of Mr. Skinner also lived 
 at Malvern Link, to be under his wing, and his beloved 
 brother George, with his two girls, still made part of his 
 own household, so that the quadrangle and the Warden's 
 Lodge were full of the sound of merry young laughter, 
 and the voice of joy and health was in the house. 
 
 The services, the beauty of the church and place, and, 
 perhaps more than all, the preaching attracted many besides 
 parishioners, and on Sundays the church was always 
 crowded ; during the summer it often happened that 
 numbers were unable even to get into the porch. The 
 seats were all free ; but, to prevent parishioners from being 
 crowded out by visitors, none but parishioners were allowed 
 to take seats until the bell had ceased ringing. Then what 
 a rush there used to be for seats ! There certainly was 
 no room left for any " aggrieved " one who might loitcr 
 in during the exhortation. 
 
 The old wooden church was taken down in 1865, when 
 the vicar writes to his parishioners : 
 
 You will not be sorry to look upon the dear old church at 
 the top of the Newland Almanack once again. Sadly forlorn 
 and deserted it looks beside its new and more ambitious sister. 
 But it will not be easy to rob you of your love and reverence for 
 those old oaken timbers which have borne the sanctuary of God 
 in this parish for so many centuries. It will be good for you that 
 such love and reverence should never die. It will be good for your 
 children and for your children's children to know and to remember 
 what that little church has been to the Newland people for five 
 hundred years of England's most stirring history ; for, indeed, the 
 new church itself is nothing to us unless it be the continuing of
 
 CHURCHYARD CROSS. 
 
 the old. Bearing the same dedication to God and S. Leonard,, 
 deacon and confessor, our new church appeals to the same 
 traditions handed down from the first days of Christianity in 
 England to our fathers and their children, and onward to us ; or 
 else it appeals to nothing which we can regard. 
 
 But the remembrance of the little ancient church is not likely 
 to die out. A portion of it is now being restored to serve as a 
 " lych-house," or sacred chamber, in which the bodies of our 
 departed pensioners may rest in stillness and safety, between the 
 hours of death and burial. This will enable us to secure greater 
 reverence towards the remains of the dead, and more security for 
 the health of the living, than is often possible in the small, and 
 sometimes crowded, rooms of cottages. 
 
 The lych-house has been built, opening from the 
 cloister. Besides this memorial, a lofty stone cross covers 
 the exact site of the altar of the old church, bearing the 
 inscription : 
 
 4- Deo -f- Optimo + Maximo. 4- 
 
 4- Salvatori + nostro -f 
 
 4- qui + proposito + sibi + gaudio + 
 
 4- sustinuit + crucem + 
 
 # 
 
 + Sacram + in + memoriam 4- 
 
 4- Sancti 4- Leonardi 4- apud 4- Newland 4- Sacelli 4- 
 4- jam 4- inde 4- seculo 4- a 4- decimo 4- quarto 4- stands 4- 
 
 4- nuper 4- demoliti 4- 
 
 4- cujus + super 4- altari + hie 4- posito 4- 
 
 4- Sacra -f sanctissima 4- mysteria 4- 
 
 4- sacerdotes + de 4- Newland 4- 
 4- quinque -f per 4- secula 4- exequebantur 
 4- quorum 4- supremus 4- et 4- minimus 4-
 
 FIRST DAYS AT NEWLAND. 219 
 
 4- hanc 4- crucem 4- 
 -f e 4- beneficientia 4- fidelium 4- 
 
 + dicavit + 
 + A + D 4- MDCCCLXVI + 
 
 # 
 
 4- Quam 4. toto + penitus + dilectam + cordc + fovebam x 
 
 + Defuncto + est 4- cadem 4- 
 
 crux 4- mihi 4- sola + salus 
 
 It is hard not to linger too long on halcyon days, for- 
 getting that they cannot have the same charm for others 
 as for those who shared in them. The vision of that lovely 
 and peaceful quadrangle, with the blue-cloaked pensioners 
 slowly wending their way to daily prayer, and the tall form 
 of their Warden passing through the cloister, is one that 
 can never fade from the hearts of those who for a time 
 dwelt there. 
 
 The following letter is written by one who lived there 
 for many years : 
 
 Those early days at Newland what a charm they had ! The 
 whole scene comes back to me, after long years, like some tender 
 vision of loveliness seen in the glow of morning. Alas ! the 
 " light of setting suns " seems on it now. 
 
 The " college," with its picturesque little archways, its charm- 
 ing church and house, its smooth grass and stately elms, made a 
 most characteristic framework to a picture that hardly seemed to 
 belong to the hard realities of these times. 
 
 There, on a sunny day, the old pensioners in their blue gowns 
 sauntered to and fro, the bright girls from the Warden's home
 
 220 THE WARDEN'S HOME. 
 
 flitting by ; the Warden himself strolling out with a kind greeting, 
 and a word to one and another that left a smile of pleasure 
 behind it. His wife, whose fairylike swiftness as she came and 
 went often made us laugh, was now beside him, now in one of 
 the houses, now out again, then vanishing among her flowers. 
 Pleasant voices, eager helpfulness, gentle ministration, there were 
 everywhere. 
 
 I think I can see the Warden still, as he used to be in those 
 dear old days tall and with a singular dignity of bearing, already 
 grey in hair and beard, pale and worn as one who had indeed 
 borne " the burden and heat of the day," but with a face full of 
 brightness and beautiful with intellectual power. His dark-brown 
 eyes seemed to reflect every change of mood and thought, flashing 
 with chivalrous enthusiasm as he defended the good old cause, 
 or melting into tenderest sympathy at some pathetic tale. As he 
 went about the quadrangle in his cassock and cap, or stood gently 
 looking down (he almost always had to look down) at some eager 
 speaker, I used to fancy him like those figures who flit through 
 the pages of history in the days of strife between Puritans and 
 Cavaliers. 
 
 It seemed to me that there was ever a special grace and 
 fitness in all his surroundings. The pretty house, with its 
 essential refinement, and artistic memorials of wanderings in 
 many lands ; the graceful little mistress of it, with her deftness, 
 readiness, and tact ; the daughter, with her refined loveliness and 
 almost startling beauty of mind and character ; her sweet sister- 
 friends, scarcely less the Warden's children than herself; the whole 
 charm of that unique home was just right, just what it should have 
 been for him. 
 
 Of course, one so well known and beloved had many 
 outside his parish to claim his assistance and care. One of 
 the features of that Newland life was the constant coming of 
 friends from wider circles, bringing the stir of the world into that 
 calm retreat. Mr. Skinner was not a clergyman who could be 
 actually " buried in the country." How they used to come, those 
 many friends ! Eager, cordial, rejoicing, or sad and cast down
 
 BYGONE DAYS. 221 
 
 and sorely in need of comfort, it mattered not there was room 
 in that large sympathy for all. Clergy of his own school, with their 
 many tales and hearty merriment over bygone misapprehensions 
 and worries ; eager young men, full of hopes, schemes, and fancies ; 
 friends fresh from the busy stir and interests of London society ; 
 weary toilers ; laden souls full of doubts and fears all these came, 
 and many more. Sometimes claims made upon his time were 
 somewhat inconsiderate, and those who enjoyed his sympathy 
 were apt to forget that he had many poor people, and many ser- 
 mons, and a great many books to occupy him. But his wife was 
 always at hand always understanding every change of look, every 
 glance or sigh. Her unfailing tact often came to his aid, and 
 secured for him a little quiet and rest. Their union was indeed a 
 perfect one perfect in those bright days ; perfect in that day of 
 sorrow when they went out hand-in-hand from the room where they 
 had taken their last look at the fair, still face, dearest to them on; 
 earth went out broken-hearted, but brave, to comfort each other 
 and serve God in the world till eventide. May I not say, perfect 
 still ? for surely death must be too weak to change the union of 
 two such souls ? 
 
 Dear Newland ! Dear old days ! Looking back upon their 
 sweetness, I see more and more that the spell, the charm of all 
 that formed their bright happiness, was contained in that one word 
 Love ! 
 
 He whom we have lost for a little was the centre of all that 
 happiness, and his power came from the strength of love which 
 he possessed. The visible beloved and lovely around him, how 
 unspeakably he loved them ! But more, far more, the love of the 
 Altogether Lovely shone through his life, and gave power to his- 
 beautiful words. He loved that Divine Master to whom his 
 whole being was consecrated with a sensible intensity of which I 
 feel I have no right to speak. Only we cannot forget the thrill of 
 overpowering emotion in his sermons, the faltering voice with, 
 which the history of the Passion used to come from him. 
 
 It is impossible to put the sweetness of those bygone days 
 into words, but those who remember will ever cherish them, and
 
 222 PAST AND FUTURE. 
 
 thank God and take courage that such a life was still possible in 
 these darker days. They will dwell on the recollection until our 
 little pasts are swallowed up in the great future until the most 
 perfect earthly beauty and happiness are more than fulfilled in the 
 unspeakable and eternal joy which it hath not entered into the 
 heart of man to conceive. 
 
 There are some lines from the " Lyra Innocentium " 
 written out in pencil by Mr. Skinner, apparently at the 
 same time that he wrote a prayer for a blessing on the new 
 home : 
 
 '' A holy household ; yet beware ! 
 
 Even here may lurk a snare. 
 
 These home delights, so keen and pure, 
 
 May not for aye endure. 
 
 Ere long, perchance, a sterner sound 
 
 Will summon : where wilt thou be found ? 
 
 Even holy homes may hearts beguile, 
 
 And mar God's work awhile !"
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SPIRITUAL WORK AT NEWLAND. 
 1863-1866. 
 
 " But first, and chiefcst, with thee bring 
 Him, that soars on golden wing, 
 Guiding the fiery-wheeled throne, 
 The cherub, Contemplation." 
 
 FROM this time Newland became a centre of vigorous 
 Church life and religious teaching ; young clergymen often 
 came there for a time as curates, to learn and to read before 
 undertaking larger work, and the help which they received 
 was perhaps one of the chief ways in which the Vicar of 
 Newland, himself unable to undertake hard mission work, 
 was of use to the Church. 
 
 " Wouldst thou go forth to bless, be sure of thine own ground ; 
 Fix well thy centre first, then draw thy circles round," 
 
 has been well said, and it is a truth about which Mr. Skinner 
 felt very strongly, believing that work, during the first year 
 or two of priesthood, which gave leisure for thought and 
 study, was the most profitable in the end. The inscription 
 over the study of Zachary Ursinus was put up on the cross 
 in the library at Newland :
 
 224 RETREAT FOR MID- LENT. 
 
 Amice quisquis hue venis 
 
 Aut tace 
 
 Aut agita paucis 
 
 Aut discede 
 
 Aut me laborantem adjuva. 
 
 I look forward to great happiness in being associated with you 
 in our work for some time longer (he writes in 1866 to a young 
 friend who had just received priest's orders), though I feel that 
 the time must come when I shall lose you, through the necessity, 
 which will be inevitable, of introducing you to larger and wider 
 fields of labour. 
 
 There was nothing like Newland Church then in the 
 neighbourhood, and many earnest spirits were attracted 
 thither, desiring to be further instructed. The following 
 paper seems to have been written for one desiring to devote 
 a week during Lent to special acts of devotion. It was not 
 unusual for people to come for a few days to dwell near the 
 church, for a kind of private Retreat, and the Vicar of New- 
 land did not spare trouble in helping them. He had taken 
 part, by Bishop Wilberforce's invitation, in the Lent Mis- 
 sion held at Marlow in 1865, and this paper may have been 
 drawn up for some one who came under his influence at 
 that time : 
 
 Mid-Lent, 1865. 
 
 1. Take three days for special preparation of heart and mind 
 (a) that an earnest desire for separation from the world and 
 closer union with Christ may be excited and inflamed within you ; 
 (V) that you may go to the special devotions of the following days, 
 not by constraint or formally, but deliberately and with joy and 
 gladness ; (c) that you may arrange other matters so as to escape 
 all interruption whatsoever. 
 
 2. In each of these three days have regard to the special pre-
 
 MID-LENT RETREAT. 22$ 
 
 sence of God the Holy Trinity, and offer them all three, separately, 
 to the three distinct Persons, and again all three in one to the 
 Blessed Unity, that your three powers of memory, intellect, and 
 will may be fully and wholly consecrated to Him. 
 
 Say daily twice, morning and evening, the Veni Creator in 
 both forms in the Ordination office. 
 
 Use these ejaculations, Jer. ix. i, 2 ; Ps. Iv. 6-8 ; Ps. Ixxxiv. 
 1-13 ; Ps. xlii. ; Ps. xxiii. 
 
 Resolve, deliberately, to employ a fixed time at the end of these 
 three days, for special scrutiny of yourself, and offer your resolu- 
 tion to God, saying Ps. cxix. 57-72. 
 
 3. Meditate daily upon Moses' retirement in the mount, neither 
 seeing any nor seen by any for forty days and nights. 
 
 Upon Abraham's going up into Moriah with Isaac alone, the 
 servants and the ass left behind. 
 
 So you propose to be alone with God. None in all the world 
 but He and you ; blind so as to see none but Him, deaf so as to 
 hear none but Him, dumb so as to converse with none but with 
 Him : dead to all else, alive only to Him. 
 
 Meditate daily on Jesus' often retirement into the mountain 
 or the desert, to pray, and unite your solitude with His solitude 
 and so try to learn from Him what you must do for the full re- 
 paration and restoration of your broken life and what is the end 
 of this retirement. 
 
 (a) Jesus' solitude in His mother's womb for nine months. 
 
 (b) In Nazareth, till He was thirty. 
 
 (f) In wilderness, when He fasted for forty days and forty 
 nights. 
 
 (d) In wilderness of Ephraim (St. John xl 54). 
 
 (e) In the court (St. Matt. xiv. 23). 
 (/) In Tabor (St Matt. xvi. i). 
 
 (g) In country of Decapolis (St Mark vii. 33). 
 (/*) In Olivet (St. Matt. xxvi. 36-39). 
 
 (i) In the Blessed Eucharist, where in a mystery He is alone. 
 (/) After His resurrection forty days on earth almost always 
 alone. 
 
 Q
 
 226 MID-LENT RETREAT. 
 
 Take one or more of these instances of solitude each day, and 
 dwell thoughtfully upon it, that you may alone converse with 
 Jesus, God and Man, and bring all your life, inner and outer, into 
 His presence, and so derive from His solitude, that yours may be 
 perfected and all your shortcomings supplied. 
 
 4. The object with which you are to give up seven days, after 
 these three, to special dedication to God is 
 
 (a) For a thorough scrutiny of all your life, your actions, daily, 
 weekly, monthly, yearly 
 
 Your defects and imperfections. 
 The causes or roots of these defects. 
 The means of curing and correcting these defects. 
 Here you are to read over, carefully, all such causes and such 
 means as have been given to you in writing. 
 
 (b) To inspect your heart, your passions, affections, motives, 
 intentions, propensities : 
 
 What most wounds and hurts and hinders your spiritual life. 
 
 To reduce all such hindrances to the rules that you have 
 received, and to rearrange or rewrite them, if they should have 
 fallen into confusion or disuse. 
 
 (c) To consider carefully the special and particular gifts and 
 powers toward the use of which for Him God allures and draws 
 you, or for which you have the greatest need, and to inquire and 
 note down the means of acquiring them and turning them most to 
 profit. 
 
 (d) To consider carefully 
 
 Your state of life unto which God has called you. 
 
 Its duties, in order. 
 
 Your sins and shortcomings and defects in it 
 
 Remedies which you know against these sins and defects. 
 
 Remember that salvation is in the state into which God calls 
 you, or it is nowhere. 
 
 5. To consider carefully that the end of the exercise which 
 you are about to undertake is your amendment and growth in grace 
 and improvement, and to take care and to pray against the danger 
 of missing that end and so undertaking the exercise in vain.
 
 MID-LENT RETREAT. 22? 
 
 Day I. 
 
 To be devoted to the consideration of the end for which you 
 were born. 
 
 1. (a) Not many years ago, and you had no being; none 
 spoke of you, or thought of you. 
 
 (b) You owe it to God's goodness that He brought you out of 
 that nothing in which you lay, to be what you are, His child, His 
 heir, although He had no need of you. 
 
 (c) This your being, the highest and noblest of all creation, is 
 capable of an eternal prolongation and of the most perfect union 
 with God Himself in glory and bliss. 
 
 (d) The end of your being, therefore, not to make a figure in 
 the world, or to do your own pleasure, but to praise and love and 
 honour and serve God, and at length to enjoy the glory of His 
 kingdom in heaven. 
 
 (e) God has given you means of reaching this end 
 Intellect, to know God. 
 
 Will, to love God. 
 Eyes, to see His works. 
 Tongue, to praise His name. 
 All your senses and members to do Him service. 
 All creatures to help you. 
 
 There is nothing which God has made but He has made it for 
 you, to be used for His honour and glory. 
 
 2. The emotions which you are to seek to be stirred up in you 
 because of these considerations are 
 
 (a) Humble yourself in the thought of your nothingness. 
 
 (b) Thank God for bringing you out of it and giving you life 
 with such an end to live for. 
 
 (c) Grieve over your abuse of life and the means of living for 
 such an end as He has given you. 
 
 (4) Offer Him yourself anew body, soul, spirit, with all your 
 powers and affections professing and declaring that you desire 
 -and seek to live but for God and God alone. 
 
 You have many suitable prayers and forms for turning this
 
 228 MID-LENT RETREAT. 
 
 day's exercise into devotion. Use such as are most suitable and 
 familiar to you. Be careful to kneel at the beginning and at the 
 end. But, during the day's exercise, use such a position as best 
 enables you to fulfil it with self-recollection and without injury to 
 health. 
 
 Day II. 
 
 To be devoted to thoughts proper to the purging of your life 
 and a general confession of sin. 
 
 1. Place yourself in the presence of God and implore the help 
 of His Holy Spirit. Seek for light to know your state as He knows 
 it, and for gratitude to acknowledge the light already received. 
 
 2. Do not go so much into the past years of your life as into 
 the present since your last confession. 
 
 (a) Your accustomed sins. 
 
 (b) Your perverse tendencies. 
 
 (c) Your affections which are least under control and most 
 hindering to you. 
 
 (d) The common and ordinary faults, daily, weekly, monthly, 
 yearly. 
 
 (e) Your ungratefulness. 
 
 (/) Your progress or retrogression in the spiritual life. 
 (g) Your conduct towards God. 
 (/z) Your conduct towards your neighbour. 
 (/) Your conduct towards yourself. 
 
 Use such prayers and devotions as you have already in use. 
 Say Ps. li. 
 
 Day III. 
 
 Devote this day to the consideration of the results of the last 
 day's work. 
 
 1. Return thanks to God for any amendment in your life since 
 last resolutions made, and acknowledge His mercy alone in it and 
 nothing in you. 
 
 2, Humble yourself before God, and own that your little 
 advance has been through your own fault, because you have not 
 faithfully and courageously and constantly corresponded with the
 
 MID- LENT RETREAT. 22$ 
 
 light and help which He has given you in prayer and Holy Com- 
 munion, and at other times and in other ways. 
 
 3. Promise that you will for ever praise God for His grace 
 and love vouchsafed to you to withdraw and win you off from so 
 much evil about and around you. 
 
 4. Beseech pardon for your unfaithfulness and disloyalty in 
 not answering His calls. 
 
 5. Offer your whole heart to Him that He may make Himself 
 Master of it and reign exclusively in it. 
 
 6. Pray Him to make you more and more faithful to Him. 
 Use, as before, such prayers and devotions and materials as 
 
 you possess, fit for this exercise. 
 
 Day IV. 
 
 Devote this day to the consideration of death, and to the 
 disposing and arranging of all things as if you were immediately 
 to die. 
 
 This is the fittest time for such an arrangement of the heart 
 and soul. Therefore let your mind, all day, be as much possessed 
 with the reality of your death, as if you knew for certain that it 
 was to take place to-morrow. 
 
 Use the seventh part of the " Paradise of the Christian Soul." 
 
 Day V. 
 
 Devote this day to the consideration of the life of light which 
 God the Holy Ghost gives you in the knowledge and imitation of 
 the life of Jesus Christ. 
 
 The object before you is to renew your election in Him by 
 which you bear His Name, are a subject in His kingdom, and are 
 enlisted to fight in His army. 
 
 1. Your need of His life and example by which to regulate 
 yours (Rom. viii. 26-30 ; and first Epistle of St. John ii. 6). 
 
 2. Dwell on that word "ought" which means must: not a 
 counsel therefore, but an obligation and a necessity. 
 
 3. Bless God for this Great Exemplar.
 
 230 MID-LENT RETREAT. 
 
 4. Be humbled, that with His whole life before your eyes, you 
 have ruled yours so little according to it. 
 
 5. Offer yourself to Jesus Christ, as a piece of wax, soft and 
 ready to receive His Image, that He may be pleased to imprint 
 His image upon it, and that you may think and speak and act, in 
 all things and ways, as He would think and speak and act. 
 
 1 6. Collect and make an epitome of what Jesus did and suffered 
 for thirty-three years in respect of matters and circumstances 
 which you also have been called to do and suffer. 
 
 7. Get rid of fear and shame that you should have to do and 
 suffer what He did and suffered ; and blush not to call Him Master. 
 
 8. Confess that you have not done and suffered after His 
 example. Remember St. Paul's " glory " in nothing but in the 
 cross by which He was crucified unto the world and the world to- 
 Him. 
 
 9. Offer your life anew to Christ to be re-modelled after Him. 
 
 Day VI. 
 
 Devote this day to the consideration of your life as united to 
 the life of God in Christ. His unspeakable blessings of love to 
 you : Your unspeakable debt of love to Him : His blessing to you : 
 
 1. Who it is who gives you blessing. 
 
 2. Who you are who receive it. 
 
 3. Why it is conferred. 
 
 4. How, in what measure, with what love. 
 
 5. Without any the least desert, but against desert not only 
 freely, but in spite of non-deserving. 
 
 Your debt of love 
 
 1. Purity of intention and purpose. 
 
 2. Conformity of your will with His Will. 
 And in order to excite this, consider 
 
 (1) Excellency of your soul, in that God, of His own free will, 
 embraces it. 
 
 (2) That your soul has but one regard, eternal union with 
 God why should you be taken up with anything less ?
 
 MID-LENT RETREAT. 23! 
 
 (3) That your soul can take in God and be taken in of Him 
 why should you rest in any creature ? Out of the ark, the dove 
 found no rest for her wing ; out of God, your soul can find no 
 rest. 
 
 (4) The greatness and dignity of a holy life ; the peace, the 
 joy, the hope that it brings in the midst of trial outside. 
 
 (5) Compare the love wherewith you are born up and in to God, 
 and wherewith He embraces you, with the love which carries you 
 into the creature, and wherewith the creature persecutes you. 
 
 (6) Think of the saints and their lives in God and their wit- 
 ness for Him. They were what you are. You have same means 
 and graces and gifts. 
 
 (7) Think of Christ's love for you, specially in His Passion 
 and death. Before you were born, He thought of you on the 
 cross, and of providing for your spiritual wants ; just as a mother 
 prepares cradle and clothes before her child sees the light. 
 
 (8) Think of the eternity of God's love. It began with 
 eternity and runs through eternity that is, it is without beginning 
 or end ; and this love is for you. 
 
 Use as before prayers which befit these thoughts. 
 
 Day VII. 
 
 Devote this day to resolutions of a more pure and holy and 
 devoted life. 
 
 Offer them to God. 
 
 If you have opportunity, go to Holy Communion with this 
 offering. 
 
 If you have the " Introduction to a Devout Life," by St. Francis 
 de Sales, use the protestation in the first part, c. 20 ; if not, use 
 the act of good resolve in the " Paradise," iv., " Practice of Virtue," 
 p. 47. 
 
 Consider that you have now a fresh call to conduct yourselt 
 everywhere, at home and abroad, that whosoever shall see you~ 
 shall know that you have been with God. " This hath God done." 
 
 When you return again to your ordinary daily life, be natural
 
 232 " NOTES ON HUMILITY." 
 
 and watchful nevertheless. You will have need of all the powers 
 which you have been seeking to keep you from falling. But be of 
 good heart ; and go to your duties brightly and sweetly, and say, 
 "I know Him in whom I trust and believe." God bless and 
 keep you. J. S. 
 
 The " Notes on Humility " seem to have been given 
 as helps to self-examination during a day's private retreat. 
 
 Notes on Humility how to acquire it, 
 First Part. 
 
 Pride is inordinate love of self, of one's own excellence, which 
 we inherit from the Fall ; " eritis sicut Dei." 
 
 I. The first sin to rise, the last to die ; you see it in the infant, 
 and in the aged saint ; the most universal, and yet the last to be 
 acknowledged " Bene practicatum et male cognitum" says Syl- 
 vester ; and so most difficult to cure : that which you don't know 
 you don't amend. 
 
 II. Pride is distinct from ambition, presumption, and vain- 
 glory; thus 
 
 Ambition craves for excellence in dignity ; presumption craves 
 for excellence in work ; vainglory craves for excellence in repu- 
 tation. But pride is confined to personal excellence. 
 
 III. Pride is a mortal sin because and whenever 
 
 1. It includes disrespect towards God : 
 
 (a) Not willing to submit to Him ; (b} taking credit to self 
 for what He alone has done ; (c) thinking one has deserved what 
 is purely gratuitous. 
 
 2. It includes avowed contempt of one's neighbour : 
 
 (a) Not willing to own a lawful superior; (fr) despising equals 
 or inferiors in the temper of the Pharisee to the publican. 
 
 3. The heart is fixed upon it, as its object, as the end of life. 
 And this happens when one would rather sin mortally, by 
 
 breaking a plain law of God, than not gratify one's pride, ambi- 
 tion, presumption, or vainglory. Hence it is a mortal sin for a man 
 to obtain a spiritual or temporal office for which he is unfit, and
 
 "NOTES ON HUMILITY." 233 
 
 xvhich he holds to the damage of the Church or the State ; or for 
 a man or woman to put a scandal in the way of another rather 
 than put off a superfluity in dress or equipage. 
 
 IV. Pride, even when it is venial, either through incomplete- 
 ness of act or deliberation, or through insignificance of matter, is 
 always dangerous and harmful, because (a) it is a hinderer of 
 grace, and (&) it is a root of evil. 
 
 V. St. Thomas and others say that God sometimes permits 
 the pious to fall into such sins as lust and luxury, that they may 
 be humbled by the shame of them, and so be recovered from 
 pride ; which he takes for an evidence of the deadliness of the 
 disease which requires another disease to cure it 
 
 VI. It is remedial to consider 
 
 1. What Holy Scripture says, and through it the Holy Ghost, 
 reprobating and condemning the vice of pride and its associates, 
 praising and commending humility. 
 
 2. Humility and self-contempt (the opposites of pride) are the 
 results of a thorough knowledge of our own worthlessness. There- 
 fore it is remedial often and again to contemplate our own vileness, 
 body and soul. 
 
 3. Remedial also (a) often to consider the example of Christ, 
 in every detail of the incarnate life, (b) Prayer, (c) attendance at 
 daily Eucharist, (d) at every conscious temptation to a proud 
 thought, to make an inner ejaculation to Jesus Christ to be made 
 humble by His humiliation ; to cite a text of Holy Scripture to be 
 used as a sword to kill pride. 
 
 4. Remedial also against vainglory ; besides the above, to con- 
 sider how utterly vain a thing must be which, in God's sight, can 
 not only do nothing for man, but can only do him wrong, which 
 takes away our reward (" Verily they have received their reward"), 
 and in the place of it puts us in the position of objects of God's 
 revenge. 
 
 VII. Rash judging or suspecting others is a fruit of pride. 
 
 St. Thomas gives three roots or sources of this rash judgment: 
 
 1. Being evil one's self, one thinks and speaks evil of others. 
 
 2. One dislikes another, or despises or hates him, or is vexed
 
 234 " NOTES ON HUMILITY." 
 
 or angry or envious towards him ; and so, on light grounds, 
 judges him hastily, because every one is apt to believe easily what 
 he prefers should be. 
 
 3. One has had long and varied experience, and so learns to 
 distrust. 
 
 Other causes are 
 
 (a) Too good opinion of one's self compared with another's 
 gifts, leading to depreciation of them. 
 
 (b) Credulity easy ear to uncertain things about others. 
 
 (c) Ignorance by which internally one judges without knowing. 
 
 (d) False persuasions. From physiognomy, dress, manner, 
 gestures, etc., one concludes such and such vices. 
 
 VIII. i. It is remedial in general against rash judgments 
 
 (a) to correct one's own faults, by which one will cease to see 
 faults in others, or at least to attribute to others the same motives 
 and intentions of amendment as one has one's self. 
 
 (b} To cultivate love which thinketh no evil. 
 
 (c) To forget- the evil one has seen, and to try to remember 
 the good. 
 
 2. It is remedial against 
 
 (a) Too good opinion of self to remember (as supra) and to 
 look to one's own faults. 
 
 (b) Credulity to remember how fallacious all human judg- 
 ments are, and never to listen to reports of evil. 
 
 (c) Ignorance to remember that all rash judgments, even 
 internal, are hateful to God. Every one has jus or right in his 
 good name among men, which you wound when you take it 
 away. 
 
 (d) False persuasion to be charitable. 
 
 (e) Evil interpretations to pray against them daily, and to 
 practise the opposite. " Judge not, and ye shall not be judged " 
 (St. Luke vi.). " Who art thou that judgest another? " (Rom. xiv.). 
 "Judge nothing before the time" (i Cor. iv.). 
 
 3. Against loquacity and lightness and giddy talk remember 
 St. James i. 26, " If any man among you seem to be religious, 
 and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this
 
 " NOTES ON HUMILITY." 235 
 
 man's religion is vain." It is a far more grievous injury to one's self 
 than to any other, dissolving favour and friendship with God and 
 peace with and in Christ 
 
 Consider besides the guilt and the gravity of the obligation to 
 make restitution. Consider the rule, " Quod tibi non vis fieri 
 alteri nefcceris" 
 
 Second Part. 
 
 I. The whole matter is really seated in the inner life. It is 
 that which, as in the sight of God, has to be examined the 
 emotions, passions, and hidden springs of thought and word and 
 act and look. 
 
 II. Let me suppose that I am unjustly rebuked and re- 
 proached ; in matter, without adequate foundation ; in a manner 
 exaggerated and untender. 
 
 III. What I have to examine my conscience about is the way 
 in which I have taken this visitation and used it 
 
 (1) As towards God. 
 
 (2) As towards my own soul. 
 
 (3) As towards my neighbour. Let me say the Veni Creator, 
 and at the verse 
 
 " Enable with perpetual light 
 The dulness of my blinded sight," 
 
 stop acknowledge my natural blindness in spiritual things, and 
 repeat the verse three times. 
 
 IV. As towards God. Examine my humility in the light of the 
 following thoughts, cast upon my way of receiving reproach. 
 
 i. When we are corrected by any (justly or unjustly), it may 
 be (is it not always ?) God who is dealing with us. But He, 
 the Highest of all, is only pleased to show Himself to the humble. 
 His correction to those who resist is intolerable; to those who 
 humble themselves it is, as it were, a communing and a co-opera- 
 tion with Him (Ps. xxxiv. 18). He is glorified when, for love of 
 Him, we are abased. " When men are cast down, then thou shalt 
 say, There is lifting up ; and He shall save the humble person " 
 ('Job xxii. 29).
 
 236 "NOTES ojv HUMILITY:* 
 
 2. St. Ignatius says that among refined and cultured people 
 there is far greater need for inner contempt of themselves, and for 
 mortification of the desire for human respect (and, therefore, for 
 humiliation by reproofs and shame), than for corporal austerities. 
 
 Jesus elected to be called, and to be, the " outcast " of the 
 people and a "reproach" among men. 
 
 It is very common for persons to use words of self-reproach 
 and self-rebuke and self-contempt, who are really very sensitive 
 to the good opinion of others, and whose pride makes them to be 
 wounded to the quick, if others reproach or rebuke them. When 
 we learn to take pleasure in being thought little of, and to despise 
 praise, we are getting near to perfection. 
 
 3. If humility does not show itself in our reception of little 
 crosses with cheerfulness and acquiescence, it is not true that 
 what makes us patient under great crosses is humility. 
 
 4. The more God has given us of grace and light and oppor- 
 tunities, the more need for our being humbled, because there is the 
 more matter for humility. The more you are in debt, the poorer 
 you ought really to consider yourself to be. 
 
 5. St. Ignatius says it is more difficult, and therefore more 
 rare, to mortify the spirit than the body. Philosophy can help 
 men to the latter. Only the Spirit of Jesus teaches the former ; 
 and they who never learn it do not learn Him. To bear external 
 evils is only the husk of patience ; to bear the inner wounds of 
 the spirit is to have the substance of patience and humility, which 
 alone can breed patience. 
 
 6. Humility is the first gift to which other gifts are liberally 
 added. Forgiveness and peace and favour with God come gene- 
 rously behind, but none of them before humility. The deepest 
 valleys receive the most water from the lofty mountain-tops. If, 
 first, the vessel of the soul is not emptied, wholly of itself, there 
 will be no room for God to fill it with Himself. 
 
 7. God overrules every event in the life of each of His 
 children for the supply of the need and the spiritual need 
 which He knows to exist in each, and which He must be trusted 
 to supply in His own way. The real ever-pressing question which
 
 "NOTES ON HUMILITY." 237 
 
 the soul has to put to itself, daily and hourly, in the presence of 
 each detail of the special Providence of God, who made that soul 
 for His own glory, is this : " Am I humbly giving God thanks, 
 and rejoicing in Him and in His will evermore ? " 
 V. i. As towards my own soul ; let me examine 
 
 (a) The end of probation, sanctification, salvation, through 
 purgation, mortification, contrition. 
 
 (b) The end of glorifying God, through use of His Spirit in 
 maintaining the consciousness of His presence, and so the end of 
 sanctifying and transforming (by restraining and disciplining) the 
 whole life of thought and word and act and feeling the life of 
 every capacity intellect, imagination, memory, will. 
 
 2. Troubles, crosses, worries, disappointments, reproaches, 
 mistakes and cruelties (unconscious) of others, etc. " Non sunt 
 tibi scandala (offences) sed prixlia (battles)," says St. Cyprian, 
 " nee debilitent aut frangant Christian! fidem, sed potius osten- 
 dant, in colludatione, virtutem." To be praised and flattered 
 would be no battlefield or victory to those prone to love such 
 fields ; to be reproached and rebuked and misrepresented any- 
 how to be humbled is a "prcelium" in which victory must 
 follow, if we accept the field. 
 
 3. God sometimes sends us sweetnesses for our good ; more 
 often (because more safely), what is bitter. St. Augustine puts 
 it : " J?es prospera donum est consolantis, res autem adversa ad- 
 monentis >ei." " I will thank the Lord for giving me warning" 
 is a blessed test (when we have to bear a reproach) of whether 
 we are using it aright. 
 
 4. The monk Cassian, speaking of trials in general, says they 
 are sent to us in three ways " triplici modo inferunter" 
 
 (a) " Plerumque ob emendationem." 
 
 (b) " Nonnunquam ob merita delictorum." 
 
 (c) " Interdum ob merita delictorum." 
 
 Of course, often they come for all three purposes, especially 
 for the last ; to punish us for past sins, of which the traces still 
 remain. 
 
 5. It were fearful to think what some of us might become if
 
 238 " NOTES ON HUMILITY? 
 
 we had no such instruments to discipline and correct us. St. 
 Gregory says that " those who were compelled to come in to the 
 supper of the great King " represent the souls who, had they not 
 been compelled by the discipline of suffering, would never have 
 come to Christ at all. 
 
 6. The brevity and afflictions and trials of life are the results 
 of our sins which are always present to God ; it must be good for 
 us to have them, anyhow, recalled to our souls. " Thou hast set 
 our misdeeds before Thee and our secret sins in the light of Thy 
 countenance." The Vulgate renders it, " Sceculutn nostrum in 
 illuminatione vultus Tui;" as if our negligences and ignorances 
 and sins were our life. We are never so likely to be contrite 
 for those, as when we desire ourselves to see them as God sees 
 them, and to take the rebukes of our fellows as a humiliation and 
 punishment which we deserve. 
 
 The question, therefore, as concerning our own souls in the 
 matter of any special humiliation, is, " What use have I made, or 
 am I making, of it in the light of these six considerations ? " 
 
 And i. How as to imitating our dear Lord in it, and being 
 glad to be called, in any way, to be like Him in bearing ? 
 
 2. How as to thanking Him for it in the presence of the 
 mystery of His Incarnation, of His joy in humiliation, His patience 
 in suffering : 
 
 (a) The mortification of my spirit (understanding) to faith ; 
 
 (b) The mortification of my imagination, and memory, and 
 fancy to hope ; 
 
 (c) The mortification of my will, passions, emotions, fears, to 
 love ? 
 
 3. How about the contrition of which the penitent David is 
 an example, saying, " I acknowledge my faults, and my sin is ever 
 before me " ? the past unforgiven sin, not in detail, but in general ; 
 it is never absent from me ; it preserves my contrition and 
 humility ever fresh, and makes me take punishment when it 
 comes in this life as love. 
 
 VI. As regards my neighbour. 
 
 i. At the worst he cannot be worse than an enemy smiting
 
 " NOTES ON HUMILITY." 239 
 
 me, in hatred and malice and falsehood ; and yet were he that, 
 and were I, as Jesus, sinless, I must needs take his treatment 
 gently and sweetly, and offer him my cheek to smite. 
 
 2. The question as to any special reproach is not whether the 
 charge may not be exaggerated or unjust (all human judgments 
 are unjust more or less), but whether (a) there be any failing at 
 all of the kind with which I am charged in my life, heretofore or 
 now, and (b) whether there be any room for me, in these several 
 respects, to improve and become a more perfect character. 
 
 3. It is not good to dwell upon the disqualifications of others 
 for correcting us, and upon the defects in their method of doing 
 so ; least of all upon the wrong which we may be tempted to think 
 they have done us. Admitting that (i) I have need to be 
 amended, and (2) that God overrules all instruments for the 
 amendment of those who need it, why should I not gently submit 
 myself to be corrected and take it for love ? 
 
 4. Consider the plain language of the Holy Spirit, "Whoso 
 loveth instruction, loveth knowledge, and he that hateth reproof 
 is brutish " (Prov. xii. i). " He that regardeth reproof shall be 
 honoured" (Prov. xiii. 18). "He that rebuketh a man after- 
 wards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the 
 tongue " (Prov. xxviii. 23). " Open rebuke is better than secret 
 love," " Faithful are the wounds of a friend " (Prov. xxvii. 5, 6. 
 Compare with Gal. iv. 16). 
 
 5. (a) I have to manifest the "free spirit" (Ps. li. 12), i.e. the 
 spirit of love. 
 
 The presence of this spirit in me is one of the signs of my 
 own predestination, which (if ;'/ be wanting) may, alas ! be wanting 
 also. 
 
 Why did St. Paul protest (Rom. viii. 38) that nothing could 
 separate him from God ? It was not from any revelation specially 
 vouchsafed to that effect ; for probably at that time, certainly the 
 year before, he knew that he must chasten and mortify himself 
 lest he should become a " castaway." 
 
 But he protested that nothing could separate him from Christ, 
 because he knew that he willed nothing but His will. And this
 
 240 " NOTES ON HUMILITY." 
 
 will of St Paul's was the spirit of love, which David calls " Thy 
 free " or " principal " spirit dominant spirit ; spirit which governs 
 the life, and delivers from the dominion of the flesh. 
 
 (b} This spirit is also the spirit of humility : if I would see 
 others advanced in it I must myself descend; the gold-seekers 
 and the pearl-fishers must go down into the depths of the earth 
 and sea before they find treasure. Consider in this the example 
 of Jesus. 
 
 (c) Evil is never to be overcome by evil, but by good (i Thess. 
 v. 15). What nothing else can accomplish, meekness, His "free 
 spirit," can effect. Patience is the irresistible eloquence. 
 
 (ct) No voice so powerful to win and persuade as the humilia- 
 tion of saints ; it is more than whole libraries of argument. 
 
 (<?) Others may not have had my privileges and blessings ; if 
 they have much to throw off which hinders perfection, they have 
 the more need of the gentle and sweet compulsion of example. 
 
 6. Love and meekness and joy and cheerfulness under all 
 humiliation will bring me a double blessing. 
 
 It will diminish the pain of bodily and mental suffering, 
 
 While it will increase the good of it. 
 
 It cannot give offence, and 
 
 It will not take offence. 
 
 It will have its reward from God ; 
 
 It will be most grateful to man. 
 
 A short paper on certain " Moral Considerations," 
 recommended to those unsettled by the claims of the 
 Church of Rome, may be useful to some minds, and also 
 a few letters on this subject. 
 
 The whole controversy, as between Catholic truth ( Christianus 
 mihi nomen, Catholiais cognometi) and Roman Catholic argu- 
 ment is, of course, too deep and wide for ordinary persons. 
 Therefore, sides are taken, for the most part, either ignorantly 
 without full information ; or wilfully, to please self, or some 
 interest ; or blindly, at the bidding of another.
 
 CONSIDERATIONS AS TO ROME. 241 
 
 Moral Considerations. 
 
 1. That our personal safety, even to eternal salvation, is not 
 the whole end of religion, just as our own honour and glory are 
 not the end of our being. The end of our being is to do and to 
 suffer the will of God, and to honour Him. 
 
 2. That in times of trial and difficulty such as these, when, for 
 the sins of all, the Christian Church is divided in the worldj and 
 visible unity is suspended, the true test of a Christian is patience 
 under the cross, and endurance under that special form of the 
 cross which the providence of God imposed upon us at our first 
 call into His kingdom. 
 
 That the multitude of heresies and divisions in the Church of 
 Christ from the first, caused the name of God to be blasphemed 
 among Jews and Gentiles ; yet the faithful never doubted. See in 
 the earliest apologies of the Fathers for Christianity how the value 
 of heresies and divisions for testing truth is recognized. 
 
 That ignorance and wilfulness always were, and always will be, 
 the chief causes of hastiness and impatience in times of religious 
 trial. 
 
 3. That moral evil, in the form of division in religion, is not 
 stranger than in the form of any other breach of God's command- 
 ments. God has nowhere promised any exception in favour of 
 visible unity in religion from that law by which all other evils are 
 permitted to try His elect On the contrary, division in the 
 Church is expressly provided for in His word. Therefore the true 
 Catholic Church does not require a condition on earth in which 
 there shall be no evil of division. 
 
 That the Church Catholic, from the apostles' days to these, 
 has had, and continues to have, tares sown in it ; and these cannot 
 be rooted up till the great harvest at the end of the world. 
 As early as the end of the fourth century Epiphanius mentions 
 no less than eighty distinct heresies prevalent in the Church, 
 within so short a time from the Day of Pentecost. It is morally 
 a crime, therefore, to say that men must root up each other, 
 because they cannot wait till the great harvest day. 
 
 R
 
 242 CAUSES OF SEPARATION. 
 
 That it is wrong to say that the modern Church of Rome has 
 "rooted up" the Catholic Church in England because she is 
 divided (i.e. Rome herself first divided her, and then gave division 
 as the cause for rooting her up). Because, if a Mahometan, 
 or a Jew, or a heathen should argue against Christianity that 
 it cannot be true, because of the divisions amongst its professors, 
 the Church of Rome could not answer the argument. 
 
 That the charge of Rome, therefore, against England, on the 
 score of division, if good for anything, is good against Chris- 
 tianity itself. Because in moral truth, what is incident to the 
 whole Church of Christ can prove nothing against any one portion 
 of it. 
 
 Churches still remained catholic in early times, even though 
 full of heretics. 
 
 4. That the ground of attack on the Catholic Church of Eng- 
 land is as untenable morally as certainly it is untenable historic- 
 ally j and therefore the whole ground is assumed instead of proved, 
 and rests upon the enormous audacity of a claim, rather than upon 
 the integrity and strength of an argument, or the authority of a 
 revelation. For 
 
 (a) What is that which makes a Church to be catholic and 
 true, but its inherited rightful commission to minister the sacra- 
 ments, received from Christ, and its inherited reception of the 
 universal creeds ? But the Church of Rome cannot deny our 
 inherited commissions, because it came to us from themselves ; 
 and if we have not got it, neither have they. Nor can they deny 
 our reception of the unmutilated creeds ; for we have them, and 
 use them, more perfectly than themselves. 
 
 (ft) What is the moral value of the charge of separation ? It 
 is true we are separated, but who and what separated us ? Sepa- 
 ration may be an argument for, as well as against, a Church. 
 Unity is not necessarily truth. If so, then it would follow that 
 Aaron, at the head of the united congregations of Israel, worship- 
 ping the golden calf, must have been the true Church of the Jews. 
 Indeed, morally, there is more probability that the concurrence of 
 all Roman Catholics (if it were so) in the modern position of
 
 UNION NOT TRUTH. 243 
 
 Popery is a strong argument against it, than the contrary; because 
 it may go to prove that it is only a conspiracy, an overgrown 
 schism from the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of 
 Christ, since there are various causes of union besides truth 
 (indeed truth generally causes division) which notoriously work in 
 Rome ignorance, compulsion, and fear. And equally important 
 is it to note what are the causes of division, and how bound up 
 with man's natural corruptions 
 
 Utter ignorance of Holy Scripture. 
 
 Curiosity and audacity. 
 
 Ambition and vanity. 
 
 Covetousness. 
 
 Contention and strife. 
 
 It is absurd to pretend that these moral evils are to be got 
 rid of by a hard and fast theory of papal supremacy, and an 
 iron law of extermination by authority. They may be lessened 
 or aggravated, but they cannot be expelled, until human nature 
 has passed beyond its field of probation in the flesh, and entered 
 upon its promised perfection in heaven. 
 
 5. The sum of these moral considerations, in the presence of 
 the charge of division brought against us by Rome, is this : 
 
 The more trial, the more reward to faith and patience, in the 
 place of trial into which we are called, from the first. 
 
 As to union, there is more successful combination among men 
 for evil than there is for good. Lucifer's army has the strength of 
 union more visibly than Michael's. There never were three or 
 four pretenders to Lucifer's throne. He always has held, and still 
 holds it undisputed. Unity, in visible strength, therefore, will 
 never pass muster as a go 3d argument for the Catholic Church, 
 whatever Rome may claim for the Roman Church. 
 
 But if (for argument) it should be granted that unity is a good 
 and sufficient evidence for truth, ive have more of it in the 
 English Church than the Romans in theirs. 
 
 More of it, actually ; because we recognize, in the world of 
 East and West, in all the ancient seats of the early faith, in the 
 Churches of Asia and Africa, as well as among our neighbours the
 
 244 UNITY. 
 
 Churches- of Rome and Italy and Gaul and Spain we recognize 
 heartily the truth which is common to all, and we extend to them 
 the hand of Christian fellowship and love ; whereas Rome does 
 nothing but anathematize, it" she has not obtained full and absolute 
 subjection in all things to herself. More of it actually because, 
 if the truth were known, there are no such vital differences touch- 
 ing the soul of Christianity among our too candid and outspoken 
 English countrymen, as are now to be found eating away the spiri- 
 tual life of Italians and Frenchmen and Spaniards, with all the 
 more voracity because well concealed beneath the veil of outward 
 conformity. 
 
 And there is more potential unity among us than in Rome, 
 because, as it was said years ago, so may it be said still the doc- 
 trine of the papal supremacy, developed recently into a dogma of 
 the Faith, necessary to salvation, and culminating in the Pope's 
 personal infallibility, is the seed of division in her bowels. This 
 idoctrine has caused endless feuds and factions in times past, and 
 it must and will cause them, till God shall take it out of the way. 
 
 To 
 
 ... At last I have a few minutes free in which to send you 
 my message of love and blessing for Easter, and to give you a 
 short word of counsel in the difficulty in which you are placed with 
 
 respect to the faithful but wayward . In one word, my advice 
 
 is to let her go from your household, and the sooner the better. 
 Hers is a case of will; cases of will are unapproachable by argu- 
 ment, even where there is capacity to measure the value ot 
 historical and theological facts. But where there is less capacity 
 of intelligence there is the more strength of will. 
 
 The position which she wants you to recognize, of com- 
 munion in things sacred, indifferently, in Roman and English 
 Churches in England, is an impossible position. The Romans 
 Jiave made it impossible ; because they have excommunicated us r 
 and made the terms of communion such that we must deny farts
 
 EFFICACY OF SACRAMENTS. 245 
 
 as plain as that Pope Honorius was condemned (about as plain 
 as that Charles I. was beheaded), before we can accept them. . 
 
 We are the descendants of the " Catholics " who in the first ten 
 years of Elizabeth made no difficulty whatever in conforming to 
 the " Reformed worship." In those days the wished-for position 
 was possible. English and Roman Catholics were merged in one 
 in " Catholic." But when the Pope excommunicated all who 
 would not accept his unlawful terms terms rendered more unlaw- 
 ful than ever since the modern Vatican Council the position of 
 the Romans in England was lost. 
 
 To . 
 
 ... I have just got home from London to find a host of 
 letters in arrears to be answered. . . . What can you do, of course, 
 
 but receive the Blessed Sacrament at Mr. 's hands, closing 
 
 -your eyes to him and to his ways, and stretching out only to your 
 Lord and Saviour, whom he cannot possibly hinder you from 
 receiving. 
 
 It is all very sad, no doubt, and a tremendous trial ; but, 
 thank God, His sacraments do not depend for their vitality and 
 efficacy upon the qualities personally inherent or wanting in their 
 administrators. The efficacy of the sacraments depends solely 
 
 upon Christ's appointment- If -Mr. R be a truly ordained 
 
 priest, exercising his ministry lawfully, his own want of faith or 
 holiness or reverence may and must affect his own soul in the 
 effect of his ministrations of Divine things ; but if he were as 
 wicked as Hophni and Phineas, or as holy as Samuel, he could 
 not affect the Divine things themselves, or hinder the end for 
 which God ordained them. If it were otherwise, how fearful it 
 would be never to feel sure that anywhere one was receiving a 
 valid sacrament for so it would be of necessity, if one's benefit 
 depended upon the faith or the life of the administrator, of which, 
 of course, no human judgment could be certain and secure. Go, 
 therefore, by all means : and do not look at the altar, or at Mr. 
 R ; close your eyes to everything outward, and fix them
 
 246 NATURE OF ENVY. 
 
 upon your crucified Lord, and see none but Him and Him alone. 
 . . . May God ever bless you and yours. 
 
 To 
 
 I am very much grieved for you, and earnestly pray God you 
 may be delivered from the assaults of the spirit of envy, so that 
 the soul which he seeks to hurt may be freed. But know this 
 the nature of envy as a deadly sin : it is deliberate grief at the 
 good which another enjoys, as if that good lessened your own. 
 And it is "deadly," because it kills love, which rejoices in the 
 "good" of another, because every "good" in others glorifies God. 
 Envy wishes the "good " away, and grieves because it is present. 
 The deadliness of this sin arises out of its tendency to counteract 
 the Holy Spirit and the grace, of our loving Lord. And the 
 children which it begets are children of death; e.g. (i) Hatred,. 
 (2) Detraction, (3) Joy in another's loss, (4) The arresting ot 
 friendship between souls. 
 
 When you have well considered what envy really is, I am 
 persuaded you will know that you have not really yielded to it, 
 though you may have run too near to it. It is therefore that I 
 am anxious to protect you against it and against yourself. I. If 
 another's good is to your harm, for example, it is not envy, but 
 fear, to wish that " good " away. II. If another has a " good " 
 which is wanting to you, and that you only so desire to have that 
 " good " as that it shall, in no sense, be lessened to that other, it is 
 not "envy," but jealousy. . . . III. If another has a good for 
 which you are sorry because that other is unworthy of it or makes 
 a bad use of it, it is not " envy," but indignation, which is not a 
 sin, unless it accuse God and His merciful providence to man. 
 Envy is " invidia," from " invidus," a person who does not see. 
 You do not see another's " good " without sorrow on account of 
 that "good." You grieve that another, who is your equal, or not 
 much above you or below you, should have an excellence which 
 gives him or her a superiority, and you grieve because you take 
 that as an evil to yourself.
 
 RETREATS. 247 
 
 I am inclined to think that you have been tempted to some- 
 thing like this, though, I trust, not deliberately to will this that 
 you have had the " sensus" of this horrible sin, but not "con- 
 sensus ; " and it is a maxim, " non nocet sensus, ubi deest con- 
 sensus." I am persuaded that you hate the sin, so far as you see 
 its attack upon yourself, that you contend and fight and struggle 
 with it ; that you are not quiescent under its onslaught, but that 
 you contest its power over you. Continue to wrestle with it and 
 do not fear. The Kingdom suffereth violence, and the violent 
 take it by force ; this is true, in great things and small, of the daily 
 inner life of those whom God loves. And remember, that in 
 actual conflict there is neither victory nor defeat for long, though 
 in the end there will be one or the other. I take it that, in your 
 present case, you have been alarmed at the consciousness of the 
 enemy's presence, and have taken conflict for defeat. Continue 
 to fight, and to fight with more zeal, and with arms sharpened 
 anew in the furnace of love, through persevering prayer ; and all 
 will be well. 
 
 It was about this time that Retreats for the laity as 
 well as clergy were becoming general ; and Mr. Skinner took 
 an active part in their revival. He writes on this subject : 
 
 Do not be anxious about the Retreat. God has charge of it 
 all ; and you have nothing really to do except to surrender your- 
 self to Him and it to Him, to be dealt with as He shall will. He 
 shall be kept in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him : the 
 end of a Retreat is to be more stayed on Him. Begin it, therefore, 
 with a resolute purpose to let go every other care, trouble, anxiety, 
 fear, but the one anxiety to have no thought but Him. 
 
 My earnest advice to you is to let it prove itself, and to ab- 
 stain, wholly, from any forecastings or prejudgments concerning 
 it or its conductor. It is of the essence of any good outcome 
 from a Retreat, that you should believe in the Blessed Spirit 
 before it, in it, and after it as the sole Mover of all good and bless- 
 ing ; and just in the measure in which you are taken up with the 
 human instruments employed, do you mar the simplicity of this
 
 248 RESOLUTION AV RETREAT, 
 
 act of faith, and deprive yourself of your full reward : so think 
 no more of anything about the Retreat, except the absolute 
 surrender of it all, in faith and trust, to God the Holy Ghost 
 
 As to the meditation, week by week, resolved on in Retreat, 
 of course if you find it altogether a failure, you must give it up, 
 and substitute something else. The usual discipline of Retreats 
 implies the continuance of the whole resolution, from the time at 
 which it was taken, on to the time of the next Retreat, at which 
 another will be taken to supply its place. And the rationale of 
 this is, I think, obvious : that, the end of a Retreat being the 
 perfection of the soul's life, the elements which go to make up 
 perseverance in the direction of that end cannot, without loss, be 
 neglected. The resolution is a leading element. If one fails to per- 
 severe in even the resolution, how shall one ever reach the end ? 
 
 However, it would, I think, be an error to substitute the tech- 
 nical form for the spiritual and living thing, and I am of opinion 
 that if you fail to strike sparks of fire out of one form, you must 
 try another. You cannot anyhow be the same since the Retreat 
 that you were before it ; all that you received and gave, then and 
 there, make the difference, and probably nothing will better sum up 
 that difference, or at least commemorate it, than the resolution 
 and meditation which you promised to make. 
 
 And now as to your resolution. I think you ought to go 
 on making it till it has passed into your life. Of course, this is 
 the end of making it ; and if you stop short of the end, of what 
 use making it ? It is not like a penance, given in a penal as 
 well as a remedial sense, with a defined limit. It is an inspired 
 purpose which is never satisfied till it is fulfilled. Not that you 
 will, certainly, be able to know at any time that you have fully 
 accomplished it ; but that your mind and intention and will to 
 accomplish it can never cease. So your resolution will pass into 
 your life of daily or hourly prayer, and will become as much 
 .part of yourself as your daily confession or oblation or thanks- 
 giving or intercession.
 
 PRA I'ER. 249 
 
 As to the precise form of meditation, I am not in a con- 
 dition to speak clearly, because I did not hear the key to it. But, 
 if I do not mistake, I take that to be of comparatively little im- 
 portance, You can change the form of meditation after a month 
 or two, or indeed have no special form at all ; but to the substance, 
 to the thing, in order to which you have dedicated yourself afresh, 
 you must adhere steadfastly, and all the more because it came to 
 you in the course of the Retreat, as direct from God the Holy 
 Ghost Himself. I enclose a prayer which will perhaps be a help 
 to you in shaping this fresh and most important act of devotion. 
 
 Prayer to be said daily by memory. 
 
 I bless and praise and thank Thee, O my God, for Thy Mercy 
 to me in my Retreat ; and now I beseech Thee, 
 
 To grant me pardon of all my sins, perfect contrition, and 
 life-long repentance ; 
 
 To protect me from myself, lest, after so much grace received, 
 I fall back again into my old and too familiar ways, and so add 
 sin to sin ; 
 
 Above all, to strengthen, by Thy grace, every effort which I 
 make to subdue my flesh, to restrain my tongue, to mortify my 
 pride and vanity, and to fix my conscience on Thee, as the One 
 End of all I think, and say, and do. 
 
 Finally, O Blessed Lord, I beseech Thee to pour down upon 
 me such grace as may not only cleanse this life of mine, but 
 beautify it a little, if it be Thy Will, before I go hence and am 
 no more seen. Grant me 
 
 /The loving Fear of Thy most holy Name ; 
 
 ?J~ 
 
 The Humility that never can be too deep ; 
 
 The Patience that never can be too long ; 
 The Discretion that never can be too wise ; 
 The Poverty of Spirit that never can be too meek ; 
 The Obedience that never can be too perfect ; 
 The Courage that never can be too enduring ; 
 Diligence that can never be too exact.
 
 2 5 O CARELESSNESS. 
 
 To these add, O my God, the grace which is greater than all 
 that I may love Thee with all my heart and soul and mind and 
 strength, and my neighbour as myself and that I may persevere 
 unto the end ; and all, for the sake, and through the merits, of 
 Jesus Christ our Lord, who ever liveth, etc. Amen. 
 
 And here I must urgently entreat you to be more watchful 
 against that tendency to "forget" a duty which so very often 
 wounds and mars one's warm and hopeful expectations for you. 
 It is not that you forget some ordinary thing, or even some 
 auxiliary things. That anybody might do through infirmity, and be 
 only a little the worse. But you forget some substantial and 
 special direction to meet some special need ; and this cannot be 
 without great loss and harm. I know that this forgetting is 
 not wilful, and that God, in His love, will bear with you ; but it 
 indicates great remissness of thought and memory in the things 
 which most concern you; and you cannot continue in such 
 remissness without loss. 
 
 Now say once more, Nunc c&pi ; and may the blessed God keep 
 you from falling, and make you to grow more and more in the 
 love of His service and the obedience to His commandments.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 BEREAVEMENT. 
 1866-1868. 
 
 " Tra bella e buona 
 Non so qual piu fosse." 
 
 THE "sterner sound" calling to sorrow and trial of which 
 the Vicar of Newland had thought in his brightest days 
 came first in the comparatively early death of the beloved 
 and most loving brother who, from the time he became a 
 widower, had made his home with his brother James.* He 
 had property in Guatemala, and in December, 1866, crossed 
 the Atlantic for the thirty-ninth time, intending to wind up 
 his affairs in South America, and spend the rest of his days in 
 peace at home. His last letter was begun at a place called 
 Paraiso (in English, "Paradise "), near Panama, where he had 
 gone in search of the scarlet passion-flower, which had been 
 
 * George Ure Skinner, F.L.S., was one of the most accomplished botanists 
 of his day. He introduced into this country discovered by himself in the 
 wilds of Guatemala some of our finest hothouse Orchidaceae. Many arc 
 named after him Barkeria. Skinneri, Cattleya Skinneri, Ly caste Skinneri, and 
 several others. Among the rarest and most beautiful of his discoveries is the 
 Odonioglossum grande. Ornithology also owes much to Mr. Skinner. Not 
 less than twenty species of birds were first sent over to England by him from 
 Guatemala. Mr. Gould, in his beautiful work on " Humming- Birds," acknow- 
 ledges again and again how much naturalists in this country owe to Mr. 
 Skinner's discoveries.
 
 252 DEATH OF GEORGE URE SKINNER. 
 
 long an object of desire. He found it, and described its 
 beauty enthusiastically, ending his letter on the Epiphany 
 at Aspinwall, where, he says, " I came to spend my Sunday, 
 as I can get a Church service." Next day he was a little 
 unwell, and on the pth he was at rest, dying of yellow fever. 
 The loss of this most dear brother and father brought a 
 heavy shadow over the bright life at Newland, and no one 
 suffered more from it than Mr. Skinner. Writing to a 
 friend of his brother, he says 
 
 His heart was always with God. He lived a watchful life, in 
 continual readiness to die. It is remarkable, especially to those 
 who love him, how his heart seemed to be won and possessed by 
 that "scarlet passion-flower" in the latter days of his earnest 
 diligent life, and how the Epiphany was foremost in his mind when 
 he returned to the place where death was lurking for him. 
 
 The sudden blow and deep sorrow told severely on Mr. 
 Skinner's health, and early in March he went to Torquay 
 for a little change and rest He did not return much 
 better, but fought against his weakness, and on Good 
 Friday gave, for the first time, the Three Hours' Meditation 
 on the Passion. Before another Lent came round he was 
 to know, by deep experience, the bitterness and sweetness 
 of the cross, and to teach by example as well as word. 
 For this was the last year on earth of his only child. 
 
 In a letter written at this time, April, 1867, just after 
 her last Easter on earth, she says 
 
 The Easter services have been very joyous and beautiful. 
 All has been as it should, and everything " went well," as we say. 
 The church looks most lovely. Really the chancel is unequalled 
 in beauty. Mr. Phillips presented the church on Easter Eve 
 with the most lovely processional cross, which I will not attempt 
 to describe, but which I trust you will soon see.
 
 EASTER AT NEWLAND. 253 
 
 We finished our work on Easter Eve just in time to get a 
 hurried cup of tea before service ; and then in a state of excite- 
 ment entered the church. Can't you exactly imagine the feelings 
 one experiences when waiting for the service to begin on Easter 
 Eve the thrilling breathless joy, the almost nervous excitement, 
 the listening for the bell to stop, the thought that Easter is come 
 bounding back on one every moment ? Oh, I am sure that Easter 
 joy is that joy which no man taketh from you; I never felt it so 
 really as I did this year. Well, the bell stopped, and then came the 
 joyous shout of triumph, " Jesus Christ is risen to-day, Alleluia ! " 
 and down came the procession headed by the lovely cross, 
 appearing high above the heads of the people, gleaming in the 
 light the symbol of victory victory over death and sin. Oh. 
 how glorious the hymn sounded, and how I shouted it till my 
 voice seemed choked with an almost strange gladness ! . . . When 
 the choir were in their places, the cross was put by papa in a little 
 place made to receive it. That Eve service was almost too 
 beautiful, if such a thing could be ! The whole of the music was 
 glorious, and papa preached; and then while the alms were 
 collected we had " The strain upraise," which was shouted, and 
 the organ pealed out in it famously, and, to crown all, we had 
 " O Paradise ! " as a recessional. There's no time like Easter in 
 this world ; and think of that Easter which is to come ! 
 
 The church looked fresh and quiet and lovely at the early 
 service on Easter Day itself. We had very many communicants, 
 the number during the day being one hundred and thirty-six. It 
 has been a very happy Easter, not like any other not like last 
 year, but still very happy ; and, miss him as we did, how could we 
 wish him back to us, when his Easter must have been tenfold 
 more glorious. But Easter brings us very near those blessed 
 ones, and our joy is their joy. 
 
 She had grown up a tall, fair maiden, and had she lived, 
 her uncommon gifts, both of nature and grace, must have 
 made her remarkable. It belongs to the story of her 
 father's life to tell something of the jewel which he lost,
 
 254 AGNES RAYMOND SKINNER. 
 
 and, as we faithfully believe, has found again. She who 
 has allowed the following sketch to be printed wishes us to 
 remember that it was written in the first instance (by a 
 most intimate companion) only " to meet the eyes that 
 had dwelt lovingly on that pure young face, with the rose- 
 bud colour, flushing and fading at every passing emotion, 
 the 'partridge eye,' and the bonny brown hair all the 
 gracious charms of that brief, early girlhood." 
 
 St. Barnabas', Pimlico, was Agnes' first English home ; 
 there she sang the Psalter in church without difficulty at 
 four years old. Before service began, she used to put her 
 Bible into her mother's hand, and whisper, " Find me about 
 the virgins, mamma " (St. Matt, xxv.) ; then sit quietly 
 reading her favourite parable till the clergy came in. 
 " Hush ! the angels are here," she said, holding up her little 
 finger, when her father carried her, just three years old, 
 into church. It seems to me that there is real poetical 
 feeling in this little rhyme, made up entirely by herself 
 when four or five : 
 
 " Sing, sing, sing, 
 Christmas is coming ! 
 Cheer, cheer, cheer, 
 Christmas now is here ! 
 Sigh, sigh, sigh, 
 Christmas is gone by ! " 
 
 At ten years old she began to give herself rules for keeping 
 Lent, and in this she persevered to the end. After her 
 death her mother found these first rules written out, with a 
 table annexed to show how they had been kept, and each 
 year she added to them. " We used to have such beautiful
 
 CHILDHOOD. 255 
 
 talks together," she said to me when dying, speaking of 
 her mother, " You can't think how she talks of these 
 things, and I never could rest till I had told her everything" 
 Her devoted affection for both her parents was marked by 
 the sensitive enthusiasm which she possessed. How excited 
 she became one day, when quite a child, during a discussion 
 in the schoolroom about martyrdom, and afterwards about 
 what would be the easiest death to die. "Oh," she ex- 
 claimed, "but a martyr would not choose the easiest 
 death." 
 
 Some points in her character did not come out forcibly 
 until after her confirmation, to which she had eagerly looked 
 forward long before, always having an earnest desire to 
 become a communicant. She was entirely a playful, merry 
 child at the time she was confirmed ; after that her character 
 seemed to develop very rapidly, though she very seldom 
 gave expression to her deepest thoughts and aspirations. 
 Those thoughts were ever how she could become more 
 like her Lord. She writes to one intimate friend and 
 companion after her confirmation : 
 
 I wish I were as good as you. It is very hard to be good, 
 but I do think it is easier now that I am confirmed. I have 
 thought of a new plan to help me to be good which I will tell 
 you. I write down every evening when I go to bed each wrong 
 thing I do in the day, and pray God to forgive me them, and at 
 the end of the month I shall compare them with the last month's 
 paper, and by that see how far I am improved and how far gone 
 back. Also the other day I made some resolutions, and wrote 
 them down on paper, and these I read over every morning and 
 evening, and try to keep them as I would rules ; and pray daily to 
 God to help me keep them, and if I have broken any I write it 
 down with the other wrong things I have done in the day. It
 
 256 LETTERS TO A FRIEND. 
 
 would be very nice if you, dear , would do the same, for we 
 
 should be so much more together in the spirit. . . . One is so apt 
 (at least I am) to be puffed up if one improves in the least, instead 
 of giving the glory to God. Suppose I were to die suddenly, as 
 
 K. G did where should I go to ? I long to be able to answer 
 
 without doubt and with real truth : Heaven. Oh, may God have 
 mercy upon me, and bring me to the haven where I would be ! 
 Rest ! what a happy thought ! No more trials, no more tempta- 
 tions, no more sin ; at rest, and at rest with Jesus. And there 
 will be no more partings there, no more sorrow. May God bless 
 and keep us both, and bring us to that other world to live with 
 Him for ever. You don't know how much I wish for your 
 prayers ; they will do me good. Pray for me that my sins may- 
 be forgiven. Promise me that you will always pray this. 
 
 She persevered in her " plan," begun at fourteen, to the 
 very last day that she had strength for it, about a month 
 before her death. She writes at this time of 
 
 the blessing of weekly communion, of lovely services, of the always 
 open church, always ready to receive us, to "rest awhile." It 
 seems like going to Jesus. There are two verses in the " Christian 
 Year " that seem written expressly for me : 
 
 "Mortal, if life smile on thee, and thou find 
 
 All to thy mind, 
 Think, who did once from heaven to hell descend, 
 
 Thee to befriend : 
 So shalt thou dare forego, at His dear call, 
 
 Thy best, thine all." 
 
 Writing in the same strain, she says in another letter 
 
 I think of you always in my prayers and in church. Prayer 
 
 brings us very close together. Will you, dear , say a little 
 
 prayer for me every day at 9.30 ? And so will I for you when 
 I go into church. What should we be if we might not pray? 
 Pray always ! We can pray always ; and as well as bringing us
 
 HOME. 257 
 
 near to God, it seems to bring us near each other, for our prayers 
 ascend together to heaven and meet before the throne of God. 
 
 Here is another bit from one of her childish letters : 
 
 And then there was the stroll home alone ; the half-dreamy 
 feeling of fatigue and happiness ; the sitting down under a hedge 
 in the shade to rest ; the quiet solitude and stillness ; the lovely, 
 lovely everything around ! Of course I was happy. Can you doubt 
 it? And now I am sitting in the schoolroom; the outer blind 
 down ; Dickie hanging in the open window ; the blue sky ; the 
 trees all just the same. Well, it's a world ! A new and original 
 remark ! What sort of a world ? To-day a pleasant one ; to- 
 morrow just the contrary. And yet really the world itself is just 
 the same every day. It's only the complaining, grumbling, un- 
 grateful inhabitants who fancy it different The real difference 
 being in their ever-changing, ever-discontented selves. 
 
 I can't realize that I am going home (she writes at the end 
 of a pleasant round of visits). It is too delightful ! " The day 
 after the day after to-morrow ! " I can say that now. And to- 
 morrow I can say, " The day after to-morrow," and the next day, 
 " To-morrow," and the next day, " To-day." Fancy being able to 
 say, " This evening I shall be home ! " Oh, fancy it ! How ex- 
 quisite the dear church will seem ! How pretty the little boys 
 will look ; how familiar the dear old blue cloaks ! And how lovely 
 it will be, sitting and standing and kneeling between you and 
 mamma on Friday evening at 7.30, at HOME again ! 
 
 And again, later on, when away from home : 
 
 How I long to be at home, especially on Sundays. Dear 
 lovely Newland, and dearest, loveliest St Leonard's ! I can fancy 
 how beautiful k looks. The more I go to other places and to 
 other churches, the more I feel there is no church so perfect in 
 its way as our church at home. It almost makes me frightened 
 to think how much we have to answer for ; I wonder if great 
 privileges do one as much good as they do harm; I am sure 
 
 S
 
 258 EASTER SERVICES. 
 
 sometimes they seem to do harm. One is apt to think lightly of 
 them, and to get careless. And then it frightens me to think of 
 the awful responsibility that rests upon us, especially tue who have 
 hardly known what it is to be without the weekly celebration 
 since we were confirmed. O, how often have I been told that 
 after my confirmation I should have far greater temptations, and 
 also far greater grace to resist them ; and how true it is ! I know 
 and feel what a great help all our privileges are, and I know, too, 
 how little we should be without them. It is not ourselves ; it is 
 God who helps us and makes us resist temptations, and without 
 Him we would be nothing. 
 
 On Easter Day, 1 866, she wrote : 
 
 Certainly the church looks perfect. I don't think it ever 
 looked so well ; but as we say that every time, perhaps you will 
 not believe it But to begin at the beginning. You can fancy 
 with what excited feelings I woke on Saturday morning, and the 
 sobering effect my entrance into church had upon me the sad 
 plain service and the black altar-hangings showing that Easter 
 had not come yet Then there was the quiet eleven o'clock 
 service, and one of papa's resting sermons ; and after that, work. 
 
 She describes the flowers and decorations at loving 
 length, dwelling especially on her own peculiar work, the 
 font decorations : 
 
 I was enchanted with the effect of it when finished, and, of 
 course, claimed admiration from all in turn. Can't you fancy it ? 
 Mamma's quick little nod, and " Very nice ! " K 's half-criti- 
 cizing praise and grave, quiet looks ; M 's suggestions and very 
 
 moderate " Yes." O, how exquisite the service was ! And the 
 processional hymn was perfect. The choir did not come in at 
 the north door, so the voices kept in tune with the organ, and 
 they did sing splendidly those high notes ringing out and coming 
 nearer and nearer. I felt overcome, and half cried with excite- 
 ment. And we heard " The strain upraise " most joyfully sung, 
 and after the sermon, "Sing \ve Alleluia," and then the blessing.
 
 FAILURE OF HEALTH. 2$$ 
 
 Very tired, of course, we were when we at last assembled for supper. 
 I was quite lame with fatigue, but went soon to bed, feeling very 
 happy, of course, though dead tired. And then the next morning 
 the lovely quiet early service, and the church looking heavenly 
 in the early morning light ! All that you must fancy for yourself. 
 It was a lovely morning, bright sun, and Easter joy pervading 
 everywhere. 
 
 Her mother writes of her at this time (1867) : 
 
 She was not in strong health when we received the tidings of 
 her dear uncle's death. Next to her own parents, she loved him 
 most on earth, and her own sorrow and that of her is,ter-cousins 
 seemed to be more than her tender heart could bear. I date her 
 illness now from that event, although at the time we did not feel 
 in the least alarmed at her state. In June I took her to Clevedon 
 for a change, hoping that sea air might strengthen her. At the 
 same time her father went for a rest and holiday with his brother 
 Charles to Paris. Both returned home the better, and as the 
 doctor who. saw my dear child at Bristol assured us there was no 
 cause for alarm in her case, I had every hope that she would soon 
 be quite restored. 
 
 In August James and I and the three girls went abroad. We 
 were six weeks on the Continent. This little tour had been 
 recommended as the best thing for dear Aggie, and good for her 
 father and the other girls. But I doubt now if it was a wise thing. 
 The darling often got knocked up, though we did everything to 
 prevent that She was very poorly when we returned to Newland 
 the first week in October. But she rallied considerably soon after 
 her return, though after a little time she fell back again. 
 
 Once, when eleven years old, she drew on her slate a 
 little tombstone, and it), as it were, a fit of abstraction put 
 her name on it, and added the date 1868. She says when 
 about fifteen : 
 
 I always had a presentiment when quite a child that I should 
 .not live to be twenty. If I do die young, I trust I shall be ready.
 
 26O LENTEN HYMNS. 
 
 Don't think I wish to die, sometimes the thought is very terrible 
 to me. And don't think that I fancy I am going to die; for, 
 humanly speaking, I don't think there is a chance of that at 
 present. It would be almost beautiful to think of dying h;re, and 
 
 being buried here. O, dearest , pray for me, lest the fear of 
 
 death fall upon me. I think perhaps that sickness will be my 
 trial in life, for everything is so happy. And then I can't be un- 
 happy, because " whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth," and I 
 have had no sorrows yet. But it is all in God's hands, not in 
 mine; His will be done. God will give me strength to bear 
 whatever it may be His will to send me, be it illness, death, or 
 service. . . . You will care if I die, I know. But you must not 
 grieve too much : it is only for a very little time, and then no 
 parting, no tears ; all joy and happiness together, and with Jesus. 
 
 During Lent, 1 867, her last, she wrote : 
 
 We have been having the hymn, " Christian, dost thou see 
 them," pretty often lately. We sang it this morning; I grow 
 fonder of it every day, I think. I am so glad when the fourth of 
 the miscellaneous hymns is given out. Then I shut my book, put 
 my hands into my muff, and face the window, so as to turn away 
 from every one and prepare to enjoy it. And they sing it as if 
 they really enter into it. " Christian, answer boldly," etc. And I 
 like the Gloria at the end, for it seems like thanking God for those 
 lovely comforting words in the last verse. Don't you think so ? 
 You see, I am very full of hymns just now. I hope we shall have 
 " Christian " very often next week, and then it won't come again 
 for a year. 
 
 She was in good health and remarkable for her fresh 
 and joyous spirits when she wrote this, but the subject of 
 death seemed present to her mind in her happiest and most 
 light-hearted days. It was soon after Easter, 1867, that 
 Agnes was taken ill ; she had not previously appeared out 
 of health. Her strength seemed quite suddenly to give
 
 SUNSET AT CLEVEDON. 26 1 
 
 way. One morning (May 17), when at her prayers, she was 
 seized with faintness. She was laid upon her bed, and it 
 was several days before she left it ; this was certainly the 
 beginning of the end ; for, although she appeared entirely 
 to rally from the attack, she never was the same aftenvards, 
 either in health of body or elasticity of spirits. 
 
 Her letters in 1867 are seldom as bright as her former 
 ones. They are often much shorter, and contain little 
 allusions to the failing state of her health. Once she com- 
 plains that her voice gets weak ; she becomes exhausted 
 trying to sing in church, and expresses an unusual wish for 
 her " I wish I were going to the seaside to pick up my 
 strength a little. I long to go away." 
 
 In a letter from Clevedon, where her mother had taken 
 her in June, 1867, she says 
 
 The sunsets here are so wonderfully beautiful. I never saw 
 anything like them, I am writing at the window, and as I look 
 up I see such a lovely sight, I wish I had your pen to describe 
 it. The sun just peeping out between some dark clouds, and the 
 red light over the sky, and the golden glimmer on the blue sea. 
 It is not sunset yet, but the clouds are getting ready to receive the 
 sun. The sunset here makes me think of heaven ; it does look 
 as if heaven were behind those clouds, and we were just allowed 
 to have a sort of reflection of the light and glory there. And the 
 golden path on the waters getting brighter and brighter as it gets 
 near the light, seems like that narrow path we have to tread, with 
 the water around us and beneath us, into which one might so 
 easily fall. I love the sunset and the thoughts it brings. Only 
 then the sun sets, and the light grows dimmer, and night comes 
 on, and it seems all over, and heaven shut out But of course it 
 is there all the same, though we cannot see it I am sorry when 
 the red clouds get dark and black, and the little golden windows 
 (the windows of heaven) fade away.
 
 262 TOUR IN SWITZERLAND. 
 
 In this letter she also alludes to some thoughts of special 
 awe which come across her mind at the word " eternity," 
 or " for ever and ever," and also speaks of her death, saying 
 " it may be near." 
 
 In the beginning of August, 1867, she writes that she is 
 going abroad with her parents and cousins a thing she 
 had often longed to do ; but now she dreads the journey, 
 and fears she will be knocked up. " I am beginning to 
 regret leaving the church and everything here for so long," 
 she writes. " I wonder if we shall ever come back?" 
 
 No one, however, but the friend to whom she wrote 
 these letters, was aware of these occasional feelings of 
 depression and disinclination for the exertion of travelling. 
 That they were but occasional is certain, as she was fre- 
 quently enthusiastic in her expressions of pleasure at the 
 anticipation of visiting Switzerland and the places of in- 
 terest which it was proposed to take en route. And that 
 she was able to enjoy these seven weeks on the Continent is 
 shown by the diary she kept during the time. 
 
 When she first returned home her health seemed much 
 improved, and she often spoke of the delight of " feeling 
 well again." Upon the return of this short-lived strength 
 she became very anxious to get out of invalid habits " self- 
 indulgent," she called them ; and she made out a little table 
 for the profitable employment of her time, assigning some- 
 thing to every hour in the day. She recommenced study- 
 ing Latin, and began translating the Psalms into Latin 
 
 Her health began to fail again about the middle of 
 November. She then writes sadly at being obliged to- 
 give up going to the early service, and at again having to 
 " nurse and take care of herself." In one letter she says
 
 LAST CHRISTMAS. 26$ 
 
 Dr. has given me leave to go to church next Friday, so 
 
 I am very happy on that score. I mean to rest all the morning 
 of St. Andrew's Day, and so be able to go to the Confirmation, 
 which will be in the afternoon. And then on Sunday I am going 
 to the Celebration, so you see I have quite a feast of services 
 before me. It seems so long since I went to church ; I hope it 
 won't knock me up, but I mean to keep quite quiet till Friday. 
 
 These days of weakness seemed long and wearisome to 
 her sometimes, and once she touchingly complains, " I am 
 afraid of wishing the time away ; that is so wrong." The 
 depression arising from weakness troubled her too. About 
 Christmas time she was brighter, and was very anxious to 
 assist in the church decorations. Some easy work was 
 brought to her sofa, and she got quite cheerful and happy 
 over it ; but even then she missed the elastic spring of her 
 old spirits, and " wondered she could not feel so glad of any- 
 thing as she used to be." There was a strange intense 
 thoughtfulness in the expression of her face about this time ; 
 her eyes had a peculiar look, as if gazing at something far 
 off. She occasionally talked much of those dear to her 
 who were resting in Paradise : " O for one word with 
 them ! " she once said, " the silence is too intense." 
 
 But at times she was quite bright and like herself again, 
 and so late as the 2nd of January, 1868, she took part, at 
 her own desire, in a concert given to the poor people, played 
 beautifully, and went about among them, as bright and as 
 interested in all that was going on as ever. She was a 
 great favourite among the old pensioners, and often have 
 they since alluded to that evening she spent amongst them, 
 just five short weeks before she was taken away. 
 
 Her father wrote, on January 14, to a friend at whose 
 marriage he had promised to officiate :
 
 264 ILLA r ESS. 
 
 I hope nothing may come in the way of my getting to Fritten- 
 den on the 2ist or the 22nd, but I am in great anxiety about my 
 
 child. Dr. has seen her and pronounced her lungs far gone 
 
 in destruction ; one nearly gone, and the other following, and all 
 embarrassed by utter disorder in the digestive organs. All this is 
 extremely grave, and I know not what to hope for. I do, most 
 heartily and fully, resign her and myself to God's will. But she is 
 
 my only one, and very dear. Yet, what of that, , if there be 
 
 the eternal union in Him to live on already, and to long for and 
 rejoice in hereafter ? You will not forget us in your prayers. 
 
 To the same friend he wrote on the 28th : 
 
 Alas ! alas ! my dear Sidney, my darling continues to be in ex- 
 treme danger, and though God can do all things, and even restore 
 her to me in this life, yet I feel a strong conviction that I am now 
 under the chastening trial of preparing to lose this sweet light of 
 my eyes out of sight. My dear wife was most considerate, and 
 did nothing to alarm me when at Frittenden, though I could not 
 but be anxious enough. But I returned to find the precious 
 invalid entirely confined to bed, and in a raging fever, which must, 
 if it had continued, have cut her off in the course of Sunday. 
 She is a little bit better to-day, but nothing to speak of or build 
 on ; rather the negative state of " not worse," than anything in 
 advance. Pray for us. 
 
 It was the pth of January, the anniversary of her dear 
 uncle's death, that Agnes went to her beloved church for 
 the last time. She then received the blessed Sacrament. 
 After that she became rapidly weaker. On the 2Oth of 
 January she came downstairs for the last time, and after 
 the 23rd was entirely confined to bed. On the 2ist (St. 
 Agnes' Day) she remembered the date, and tried to per- 
 suade her mother to leave her and go to church " because 
 it was St. Agnes' Day." 
 
 It was on the 2Oth that her father spoke to her of the
 
 FEAR OF DEATH. 26$ 
 
 dangerous nature of her illness, and told her that the chances 
 were against her recovery. When he broke this to her, she 
 seemed much agitated, and spoke of " not wishing to die 
 yet." " This world," she said, " is real to me ; the other is 
 such a mystery, so unreal." Soon afterwards, when her 
 mother told her that her father was coming to sit with her, 
 she said in an anxious, nervous way, "Ask him not to 
 speak to me of that again ; it makes my heart thump." And 
 when speaking to her cousin the same day she appeared 
 agitated, and said with tears, " Papa thinks I shall not get 
 well again." The next day her father had a Celebration for 
 her, and it was remarkable that from that time it never 
 again appeared trying to her to have the prospect of her 
 death alluded to. She now asked her father to write to 
 Ditchingham and ask for the prayers of the Church. 
 
 During the night of the 28th of January, she spoke to 
 her mother (who was keeping watch alone with her) of 
 many little matters which were on her mind. She thought 
 of her little pet God-child, Ada, and she begged her mother 
 not to forget her ; she seemed to try that night to remem- 
 ber all she wished to say to her mother, and then asked 
 her to read the ninety-first psalm. 
 
 The following night she said to one of her attendants in 
 a very calm, quiet way, " You know that perhaps I shall 
 die," or words to that effect. And upon being asked 
 whether she would rather die or live, she said unhesitatingly 
 that she would rather live, adding, " Is that wrong ? " But 
 in a very short time (in answer, no doubt, to prayer) a 
 complete change came over her feelings in this respect. 
 She spoke frequently to her father of the prospect of her 
 death, and constantly expressed a hope that " she should
 
 266 PEACE. 
 
 not be afraid." " Ask everybody," she said, " to pray that 
 I may not be afraid." Another doctor was called in, and 
 on her mother telling her that it was not because they 
 thought he could make her well again, she fervently ex- 
 claimed, " Oh, I hope not ; I trust not I long to go ! " 
 
 On the 3Oth the Holy Communion was offered for her 
 in church. In the afternoon of that day the little choir- 
 boys, at her father's suggestion, and her own joyful acquies- 
 cence, came into the house to sing her favourite hymns for 
 her, standing in the hall downstairs, where she might hear 
 them without effort. She had previously made her own 
 selection from the hymn-book used in her dear church. 
 " Those eternal bowers ; " " Jesu, the Virgins' Crown art 
 Thou ; " " Nearer, my God, to Thee ; " " Christian, dost thou 
 see them ; " " Jerusalem the golden." 
 
 During the day, at intervals, she mentioned several little 
 things she would wish to be done " after she was gone." 
 She begged one of her sister-cousins to become an 
 associate of Ditchingham in her place. " Take the money," 
 she said ; " you will work better than I have." To this 
 same cousin she said, " Be a daughter to mamma. Poor 
 little mother ! " She was asked whether she wished to have 
 her pocket-money sent to Ditchingham. " Oh no," she 
 answered readily; "I have fixed about that; there is 
 sure to be a Celebration at my funeral ; I should like all 
 you find to be put into the offertory." 
 
 Each morning from the 3ist of January to the last, 
 there was a private Celebration for her. When she became 
 too weak to bear it in her room, it was held in the adjoining 
 one, and the blessed Sacrament brought to her. And who, 
 among the privileged t\yo or three who knelt by the dying
 
 LAST COMMUNIONS. 
 
 saint's side to receive with her the Bread of Life, can ever 
 forget that ardent, longing look, as from time to time she 
 opened her languid eyes and gazed towards the door, feel- 
 ing the moment approaching for her Lord and Saviour to 
 be brought to her ? 
 
 During these last few days her cough had been very 
 racking and constant, and she suffered much. But her 
 mind was always perfectly clear and peaceful, and she 
 seemed ever to be thinking of her place of rest. "I 
 wonder what language they speak in Paradise ? " she once 
 said. " Oh, how lovely it will be ! " 
 
 Her sick-room was a haven of patient expectation. 
 She was so calm and peaceful that her quietness communi- 
 cated itself to all around. Her beautiful eyes shone with 
 a light that was not of this earth ; in spite of weariness 
 and weakness, her face, as her father one day remarked, 
 "seemed positively shining with grace." There was an 
 atmosphere of quiet waiting in that room ; no sign of con- 
 fused distress ; no stifling of a growing apprehension ; no 
 fear of uttering the great word death, which in too many 
 cases add intensely to the trial and sorrow of such seasons. 
 This was an indescribably tender and touching time 
 beautiful, unearthly ; in many ways heart-breaking, and 
 yet full of comfort Each morning CHRIST was there, and 
 afterwards we felt how truly she " had been with Jesus." 
 
 In former days a fond embrace, a tender, touching word, 
 from those she deeply loved would move her at once to 
 tears. But now, she saw her mother weep, heard her loving 
 parting words, and only fixed upon her a calm, tender gaze, 
 a sort of all-comprehending look, that seemed to penetrate 
 to the very borders of the land " that is very far away."
 
 268 SUFFERING. 
 
 " Dearest little mother, precious little mother ! " she often 
 said, and with inexpressible fondness ; but it was with tear- 
 less eyes, and with none of the dread which had once 
 haunted her of what that mother would suffer in losing her. 
 
 On the Feast of the Purification (the Sunday before her 
 death) her father said to her that he was going into church 
 when the bell rang for the high celebration. " I'm glad 
 you are, darling," she replied. Then he told her he would 
 pray all her prayers for her. " I know," he said, " all that 
 is in your heart of hearts to ask for, and I will ask in your 
 stead." " Thank you, darling," she said, " pray that I may 
 have peace when the time comes." Towards the evening 
 she revived a little, and one of her boy cousins was allowed 
 to see her. He said to her, "I know you are happy, 
 Aggie." She smiled one of the beautiful smiles that used 
 to come slowly on her parched lips, and said, " Yes at 
 least, I hope so." 
 
 On Tuesday, the 4th, she slept a good deal, but several 
 times woke herself trying to sing. Once, upon waking 
 thus suddenly, she said (smiling as if amused at herself), 
 " I can't sing yet. I thought I was singing ' Those eternal 
 bowers.' " She was very suffering and weary towards the 
 evening of this day, and pained with lying on one side, 
 which was getting very sore ; but it was the only position 
 in which she could rest at all. She said to her father, " I 
 thought it would not be so long ; it is very long." He 
 spoke to her of Job's experience, and of the patience of our 
 Lord, and of His prayer. "Dear papa," she said, "how 
 fortunate I am to have you and the others ! God is very 
 good to me. He gave me a good night last night." 
 
 That afternoon she thanked the servants for their kind-
 
 THE LAST NIGHT. 269 
 
 ness, and wished to say " good-bye " to two of them. They 
 took her hand respectfully, but she made an effort to raise 
 herself to kiss them. 
 
 The next day her last on earth she was much ex- 
 hausted, and could hardly keep from falling asleep during 
 the Celebration ; later in the day she suffered much from 
 cough and restlessness, and especially from pain caused by 
 the soreness of lying on one side. But she tried to make 
 light of it, and to be not only patient, but cheerful. " No 
 matter," she said, as one after another tried to arrange her 
 pillows and bed ; " I have made up my mind not to be com- 
 fortable." She asked for some flowers which one of her 
 cousins had brought her the day before, and expressed great 
 regret on finding they were withered : we remembered 
 this, because that little bunch of spring flowers was the last 
 earthly thing that gave her pleasure. 
 
 Towards the evening of this last day she seemed to 
 revive somewhat, and the doctor who saw her about five 
 o'clock pronounced her pulse and symptoms better than 
 the day before ; the servants, therefore, and others who had 
 shared the watching were this night sent to bed, and the 
 child was left alone with her father and mother, who took it 
 in turn to sit by her side. She did not sleep, and at times 
 was very restless and suffering, but her mind perfectly clear 
 and peaceful. " Will it be to-night ? " she once said to her 
 mother. " Oh, how beautiful if it would come to-night ! " 
 This she said several times, interspersing such longing 
 aspirations with caressing words to her mother. " Oh, I 
 hope it won't be long," she again said ; " I am so restless." 
 " You will soon be at rest, my darling," her mother replied. 
 
 During this night, in which she was left alone with her
 
 father and mother, she seemed to feel herself taking leave 
 of them, and asked them to forgive her all that she had 
 done wrong to them. Hard indeed would it have been to 
 say what there was to pardon ! 
 
 But now the end was fast approaching. It was about 
 half-past one on Thursday morning, February 6, that her 
 parents saw the change in her, and the others accustomed 
 to watch by her bedside were called up. " There was a 
 cry made ; " the Bridegroom was indeed coming to her 
 whose lamp was so brightly burning to welcome Him. 
 Yet it was with that sense of terror which she seems to 
 have foreboded that she entered the shadowy valley of 
 death. 
 
 It would not be well, even were it possible, to write 
 down what passed at that most trying time ; when the 
 dear sufferer, heedless of our presence, turned to her father 
 as priest and absolver, to seek the comfort she had never 
 sought in vain. The struggle was a short one ; not attended 
 by bodily suffering : it was but that holy soul's last wrestling 
 with the burdens of earth, and casting off all that fettered 
 it as it passed "within the veil." Never, never shall we 
 lose the sound of her sweet ringing voice calling in those 
 last moments with supernatural strength upon the holy 
 Name : " Jesus ! Jesus ! I cling to Thee ! save me, save me ! " 
 and at the last, " Into Thy hands I commend my spirit, for 
 Thou hast redeemed me." 
 
 We would not, we cannot speak more of those moments. 
 We can only pour out the thoughts that flow from those 
 memories before Him who, in His everlasting love, per- 
 mitted His child thus to drink of the cup He drank of. 
 
 It was over the sweet eyes were closed, upon the
 
 REST. 27 1 
 
 wearied face there dawned the smile of endless peace, the 
 rest she had longed for was hers at last and for evermore. 
 In her own little room, draped with white, and looking 
 like a sanctuary with its sacred pictures and emblems, we 
 watched all that was mortal of our dear one. A little altar 
 {from which she had last received the Bread of angels) 
 stood at the foot of the bed ; and on it burned, night and 
 day, two wax-lights. The whole room looked holy ; and 
 O, the lovely peace of that resting-face, and of the two 
 fair hands across the breast, clasping her little cross. We 
 knew, as we stood gazing on her form, that there was " the 
 rest for ever, and the rapture, and the Hand that wipes 
 all tears away." 
 
 A great calmness came over the bereaved household ; 
 all seemed as if listening to catch some sound from the 
 far-off golden shore to which that happy soul had fled. 
 Many asked to look upon her face once mbre. The 
 school-children came, and many mothers also ; little Ada, 
 too, and other children ; and the sun shone in through the 
 closed curtains every day upon the snowdrops, violets, and 
 other spring flowers, which many loving hands brought 
 daily to add to the sacred beauty of that room. 
 
 The day of the funeral, Wednesday, February 12, 
 was very bright and beautiful, and warm as May. Every 
 part of the Office for the Burial of the Dead was so con- 
 sistently rendered at St. Leonard's, that none of its comfort 
 and beauty was lost. A cross in white metal, shining like 
 silver, stretched nearly the whole length and breadth of the 
 coffin, and round the edge were these words : " All that is 
 mortal of Agnes Raymond Skinner; who fell asleep in 
 Christ, Thursday, February 6, 1868, in the faith and fear
 
 2/2 BURIAL. 
 
 of God. Amen. Aged 1 8." The pall, of violet and white 
 and red, was the same which, two years before, had covered 
 the remains of the Rev. John Keble. The sen-ice was 
 choral, and the psalms and hymns spoke of her to the 
 hearts of the mourners as nothing else could. 
 
 As we followed to the grave, the choir sang the hundred 
 and twentieth to the hundred and twenty-sixth Psalms, and 
 by the side of the grave the Easter hymn, " Jesus lives," 
 was sung. Then the mourners, each in turn, came forward 
 and placed on the coffin an offering of flowers, until it was 
 completely covered with white camellias, azalias, hyacinths, 
 and snowdrops, and then it was lowered into the grave. 
 
 Although the burial-ground was crowded with persons, 
 the perfect stillness was remarkable. Not a sound could 
 be heard, after the final " Amen " of the service, but the 
 singing of birds in the tree which overhangs the grave, 
 rejoicing in the bright sunshine of that warm February day, 
 seeming to thank God that " the winter was past, the 
 rain over and gone." 
 
 We returned home through the garden where she used 
 to play, and so into the quadrangle, the choir singing 
 " Jerusalem the golden."
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 LITERARY WORK. 
 1868-1870. 
 
 " How is it with the child ? 'tis well. 
 Nor would I any miracle 
 Might stir my sleeper's tranquil trance, 
 Or plague her painless countenance. 
 I would not any seer might place 
 His staff on my immortal's face, 
 Or, lip to lip, and eye to eye, 
 Call back her pale mortality." 
 
 ONE letter must be given, amongst the many received by 
 the bereaved father, for the sake of him who wrote it : 
 
 New Lodge, Windsor Forest, February n, 1868. 
 
 MY DEAR SKINNER, 
 
 I read in the paper " only and beloved," and my heart 
 sank within me. May the All-Merciful and Almighty God uphold 
 you. Verily ye have need of His arms, and they can hold you 
 up, yea, in this sore strife ; on this mighty tempest He can breathe 
 His "Peace, be still," and there shall be a great calm. But, 
 indeed, my heart bleeds for you. I know the loss of the best 
 beloved, of the eye of the whole picture of a man's life here ; 
 I know the anguish of closing the eye ,of the firstborn in his 
 beauty and his glory- and I know how the heart breaks and 
 crumbles. But I know, too, how He can hold up of His mere 
 
 T
 
 2/4 LETTER FROM BISHOP WILBERFORCE, 
 
 pity one who cannot, dare not, claim such mercy ; and so I know 
 how far more he will hold up you. May His consolations 
 abound. Many have prayed for you ; amongst them, 
 
 Your unworthy friend, 
 
 S. OXON. 
 
 They who were in close intercourse at this time with 
 the Vicar of Newland speak of his unreserved submission, 
 and the union of his will with the Divine will, as something 
 which left a deep impression on their hearts. He had 
 taught, in burning words, of union with the cross of Jesus 
 as the Christian's highest blessing, and now, " by purest 
 pleasures unbeguiled, to idolize or wife or child," he 
 accepted, with absolute resignation, the stern, sweet token 
 of his Master's love. But he partly broke down under the 
 strain, and was quite unfit for his Lent work. It was taken 
 by the Rev. Euseby Cleaver, who came for a few weeks to 
 the Warden's lodge, lending his own house in London, not 
 far from St. Barnabas' Church, to Mr. Skinner. There, 
 and at All Saints', Margaret Street, he occasionally preached, 
 and took part in the services. 
 
 To his mother he wrote : 
 
 I think I may say what I said at the first, that this little 
 change has been of essential service to me, and, I think, to us all. 
 To me it has been inexpressibly blessed, as helping me to bear my 
 sorrow in the flesh, through much sympathy and kindness on the 
 part of friends ; and still more, as enabling me more and more to 
 realize, through holy and continual waiting upon the means of 
 grace, how closely we are united to those who are gone before, 
 and how thankfully we recognize their greater privilege in being 
 taken into rest before us. I am nearer my sweet darling virgin 
 child than ever I was on earth, through that union with Christ 
 which we both share, and which is more and more vouchsafed to
 
 DREAM OF PARADISE. 2?$ 
 
 us in its blessing, as we more and more worship and adore Him 
 in the blessed Eucharist. 
 
 Mr. Bennett preached last Friday on " Heaven," at St Barna- 
 bas'. I felt how true it was when he said that our only notion (as 
 certainly our first notion) of the bliss and glory of heaven will be 
 found in our joy in the presence of Christ in the blessed 
 Eucharist. I hope and believe, darling mother, that this fore- 
 taste of joy and strength and comfort is already yours. 
 
 I had a great blessing vouchsafed to me the other night. I 
 am not a " dreamer of dreams." I hardly ever have one whether 
 from unworthiness of holy dreams, or from natural causes, such as 
 soundness of sleep and silence of imagination, I cannot tell. Yet 
 so it is ; I never dream or rarely. 
 
 But God gave me a vision the other night, just for a moment, 
 of my precious darling in Paradise. 
 
 I thought I and my wife were carried, we knew not how, over 
 waters of intense darkness to a huge and inaccessible rock, which 
 seemed to have no place wherein an entrance could be pierced. 
 We were not sailing in a boat ; there was nothing like the motion 
 of the sea beneath us. It was water or air or atmosphere, and 
 darker than darkness; but swiftly and easily and pleasantly we 
 were borne over it, to the wall of the great rock. And then, 
 where most unexpected, we penetrated into the rock ; and found 
 ourselves in a vast and infinite inner court, which was all water or 
 air beneath, and no footing for mortal foot, only we were borne 
 on whither we went. Up and on we were carried, into chambers 
 and places filled with inhabitants all enjoying each other's 
 society; and presently we were attended by special guides or 
 ministering servants, whose office seemed to be to wait upon the 
 inmates, who conducted us to where our darling was. I saw her, 
 as distinctly as I ever saw her in life. Exactly the same, only 
 flushed with a lovely colour, and without a speck of corruption ; 
 surrounded, as I thought, by flowers and birds, which she said she 
 ever caught and gathered, and which never died; which were 
 always fresh, and which never needed to be renewed. I drew 
 near to embrace and kiss my precious one, as on earth I was
 
 2/6 DAILY CELEBRATION. 
 
 wont to do. I did kiss her (O, such an unearthly kiss !) ; and 
 she kissed me and smiled on me with such a smile of unutterable 
 bliss, as I see now, to my comfort and my joy, and will see, till 
 I am privileged (by God's mercy if He will) to join her. But I 
 felt that my lips pressed nothing, and my arms embraced nothing. 
 It was purely spiritual ; there was no flesh to resist or respond. 
 It was a token of her bliss and joy, and recognition of my love, a 
 solace to my sorrow, an earnest of my hope, a succour of my faith. 
 I bless God for it. 
 
 He returned home for Holy Week, and took up again 
 his usual work, Celebrating every morning, and giving the 
 Three Hours' Meditation on Good Friday. Hitherto, 
 since the opening of the new church, there had been 
 Celebrations on Sundays and holy days, in Holy Week 
 and Easter week. On Low Sunday this year, the vicar 
 gave notice that the daily Celebration of the last fortnight 
 would continue. And so it has, thank God ; from that 
 time there has never been a day when the showing forth of 
 the Lord's death has not been made at the altar of New- 
 land Church. 
 
 A full set of silk Eucharistic vestments were presented 
 at Easter to the Vicar of Newland, and were henceforth 
 used by him, without the least opposition either from 
 Bishop or parishioners. He had written to the latter in 
 his yearly pastoral letter, when introducing linen vestments 
 the previous Christmas : 
 
 More often and more thoroughly we are taught the truth 
 which is contained in worship by the act of worship represented 
 to the eye, than by the ablest lecture about worship communicated 
 to the ear. It is our duty, therefore, to teach you that the worship 
 of Christ in the Holy Communion is a distinctively higher worship 
 of Him, than the worship of Him in Morning or Evening Prayer.
 
 USE OF VESTMENTS. 2/7 
 
 And we are bound to teach you this fact by those "ornaments " of 
 the church and of the minister which are appointed by authority 
 to set forth that distinction. 
 
 I have not hurried you rashly into the presence of this truth. 
 
 I began in the old church, seven years ago, with such few 
 materials as I had, to show you how much reverential distinction 
 is due to the Holy Table, or altar, upon which altar the commemo- 
 rative sacrifice of Christ's death is offered. I have abstained from 
 all danger of misleading any, by hastily reviving the proper vest- 
 ments of the person of the priest, before I had won you, or, at 
 least, had done my best to win you, to recognize the propriety 
 of vesting and adorning the altar, of which the priest is but a part. 
 
 But now the time has arrived when I can no longer keep back 
 the fulness of the Church's witness to the distinctive greatness 
 of the worship of Christ in the Holy Communion. I should feel 
 myself guilty of treachery to the true English Church if I were any 
 longer to abstain from obeying so plain an injunction as the use 
 of the vestments proper to the celebration of the Sacrament of the 
 Body and Blood of Christ I have therefore begun to obey the 
 principle of the Church's law at Newland, by introducing Eu- 
 charistic vestments of fine linen which can neither cripple our 
 means by their costliness, nor startle us by their colours. 
 
 It is no question between what is essential and what is not 
 essential, in which there may be an endless diversity of opinion. 
 The one and only question is first, what has the whole of 
 Christendom agreed to require ? and, second, in what respect has 
 the Church of England the power or the will to set aside that 
 which the whole of Christendom requires ? 
 
 This question is settled for you and for me by the law of the 
 English Church, which requires me to wear the vestments which 
 were " in this Church of England by the authority of Parliament, 
 in the second year of King Edward VI." 
 
 The second year of Edward VI. was the year 1548-49. I 
 have no more doubt as to what vestments were in use in the 
 English Church in that year than I have as to what king was then 
 sitting on the English throne. But if I had any doubt, it is taken
 
 2/8 FRESCO PAINTIXG. 
 
 away by the inventory of those church goods (still to be seen in 
 the Public Record Office in London) which Edward's Com- 
 missioners found, and " left for use in the Church " of Nni'land* 
 as late as the sixth year of his reign that is, in 1552-53. 
 Let me give you the list of " vestments." 
 
 " Capella de New land, 
 
 " i Cope blue satin with branches. 
 
 " i Cope of green crewel. 
 
 " i Vestment (chasuble) of red satin with branches. 
 
 " i Vestment of green crewel. 
 
 " i Vestment of yellow crewel. 
 
 " With albs, stoles, and fannels." 
 
 Whether the worshippers at Newland, in these days of greater 
 worldly wealth and prosperity, will be content to be outdone in 
 the beauty and richness of the Eucharistic vestments by their 
 poorer forefathers of the days of the Reformation, I must leave- 
 to them. Meantime, I have done my duty by restoring to life a 
 great principle of the English Church's law that the " ornaments 
 of the minister " at the time of Holy Communion are designed to 
 mark that highest act of worship as distinct from every other. 
 
 My earnest prayer to God for you is that, through this out- 
 ward mark of distinction, so visible and plain to the eye, the 
 hearts of all may be drawn more and more to discern the deep 
 spiritual grandeur wherewith this great mystery is clothed a 
 mystery which at once overflows with refreshment and power to 
 comfort and strengthen us, and with wonder and love to make us 
 worship and adore. 
 
 The fresco painting of the walls of St. Leonard's was 
 begun this autumn by two frescoes of the Resurrection and 
 Ascension on either side of the east window, in memory of 
 Agnes Raymond Skinner. Her memory was everywhere, 
 her name continually mentioned, her grave a daily care. 
 " Put white flowers on my little grave, mamma," she had
 
 RETREATS Al NEWLAND. 2/9 
 
 said when a little child ; and now her fair head literally lay 
 amongst her mother's white rose trees, only a hedge of 
 roses separating the burial-ground from the flower garden. 
 Nor could her sweet memory ever " tinge with gloom the 
 stream of joy that circled home." It was a bright home 
 still, only the thoughts of those who dwelt there turned 
 more and more from earthly joys to heavenly things. Two 
 Retreats were held for the first time at Newland in 1870 : 
 one for ladies, conducted by the late Father O'Neill ; the 
 other for clergy, by Father Benson. 
 
 One of the Warden's most cherished schemes was to 
 found a Clergy House of Rest, and he took and partly fur- 
 nished a block of buildings at this time for the purpose. 
 The scheme was not, however, carried out for some years ; 
 meanwhile the rooms were used for Clergy Retreats. 
 
 Early in June, 1870, Father Benson sent a circular to 
 many of the clergy, saying 
 
 It is proposed to hold a conference at our Mission House on 
 Thursday, July 21, with the intention of considering what steps 
 can best be taken for the production of a Dictionary of Moral 
 Theology. I hope that you will be able to take part in it, and 
 that you will come to us at least the evening before. The Bishop 
 of Brechin has kindly consented to preside. 
 
 Father O'Neill also wrote to Mr. Skinner, saying 
 
 The enclosed paper will give you an idea of a proposed 
 plan for supplying one of the great wants of our Church. Many 
 of our best confessors have agreed to take part in it Mr. Carter, 
 Hutchings, King, White, Chambers, etc., besides Dr. Pusey and 
 the Bishop of Brechin. 
 
 Will you kindly contribute also? We want to make it a 
 really good book on the subject.
 
 28O SYNOPSIS OF MORAL THEOLOGY. 
 
 Please consider the matter, and send me any suggestions or 
 criticisms. 
 
 With kindest regards to your wife, 
 
 Yours most truly in Jesus Christ, 
 
 S. W. O'NEILL. 
 
 Mr. Skinner took the deepest interest in the proposed 
 work, and he was one of a committee of clergy chosen to 
 carry it out. He drew out a rough sketch for his own 
 guidance, and took it with him to a meeting of the com- 
 mittee in London, in November, 1870. The other members 
 at once perceived that he had a far clearer scheme in his 
 mind than any one else concerned in the matter, and they 
 begged him to print his sketch for the consideration of 
 others. 
 
 This request (he wrote) brought a responsibility for which I 
 was not prepared, but from which I was unwilling to shrink when 
 pressed upon me. But the mere outline which I had drawn up 
 imperfectly for another purpose could hardly satisfy me for the 
 object of the committee, and I had no choice but to study the 
 whole subject dc novo, and to recast the plan. 
 
 It was a labour which only ended with his life. The 
 committee gave up their intention of treatises, by different 
 authors, on various subjects of Moral Theology, and requested 
 Mr. Skinner to publish, at his own risk, the " Synopsis " he 
 had prepared, as, they said, an instalment of the whole 
 undertaking. There was this advantage in the proposal, 
 that the " Synopsis " would be complete as far as it went, 
 covering the whole field of Moral Theology, and so classified 
 and arranged that the student could at once turn to any 
 subject on which he desired information, and find references
 
 PREFACE TO " SYNOPSIS? 28 1 
 
 to the best writers on that subject. Perhaps the committee 
 also felt that, as Mr. Skinner wrote in his preface 
 
 it is quite possible that it may be a more real help to the 
 clergy to have before them a conspectus of the whole subject, 
 arranged in a scientific form, with direction to authorities which 
 they may consult for themselves, and accept or not, according to 
 their bearing upon the circumstances required, than to be supplied 
 with a cut-and-dry manual, which might be felt to impose too 
 much bondage to a system. 
 
 As the book cannot now be obtained,* the following 
 extract from the preface is given, as it expresses the author's 
 thoughts on an important subject : 
 
 I venture very earnestly to enter a caveat against that " system " 
 of philosophism and casuistry which overran the whole Latin 
 Church for more than a century from 1577, and still extensively 
 retains its hold within the Roman communion. Of this theology 
 it was said, in the preface to the French translation of St Carlo 
 Borromeo's " Instructiones " (demanded by the Synod of Paris in 
 1656, as a corrective, and brought out under the auspices of the 
 Archbishop Peter de Marea), that " any amount of ignorance were 
 far to be preferred to it " hujusmodi scientia quaevis ignorantia 
 longe sit potior ! " 
 
 We should do well to study carefully the treatise by Gerbert, 
 "De recto et perverse usu Theologize Scholastics," and the 
 exhaustive papers on " Conscience," " Probabilism," and " Rigor- 
 
 * The " Synopsis of Moral and Ascetical Theology" was completed by the 
 author before his death, and half of it had been passed through the press by 
 himself, while the whole " copy " was found carefully prepared for the printers. 
 All that was needed was to revise the latter half, and this was done under the 
 close and able supervision of one whose judgment concerning his work Mr. 
 Skinner had himself sought shortly before his death. The work was published 
 by Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., in 1882. Alas ! the whole edition, 
 with the exception of about three hundred copies already sold, perished shortly 
 afterwards in the great fire on the publishers' premises. Another edition would 
 be printed should a sufficient number of persons express a wish to possess 
 copies of a book which is the outcome of enormous labour and great learning.
 
 282 PREFACE TO " SYNOPSIS." 
 
 ism," contained in the second volume of the "Apparatus ad 
 Theologiam Christianam Dogmatico-Moralem " of Daniel Concina. 
 A fair analysis of Concina's history of " Probabilism " will be 
 found in the twentieth volume (p. 224) of the " Bibliotheque 
 Sacree " of the Dominican Fathers Richard and Girand. That my 
 view of the case may not appear to be the mere prejudice of an 
 Anglican, let one passage suffice for a general view of the state of 
 things in the middle of the last century, from the learned disser- 
 tation of Pere Graveson of the Sorbonne, " De Vera Methodo 
 docendi et addiscendi Theologiam Moralem," 1 740 : " Sufficit 
 si generatim dicam alios ad nihilum pene redegisse decem pre- 
 cepta Decalogi, vanis et distortis interpretation ibus, quas ei sug- 
 gessit novum probabilitatis commentum ; alios calumniam, homi- 
 cidia, duella et abortus a peccato excusasse, dummodo hsec fierent 
 animo proprium conservandi honorem; alios usuras et simonias 
 licitas reddidisse ; alios amphibologiarum, et restrictionum men- 
 talium usum permississe ; alios omnem ecclesiastics discipline 
 rigorem in administratione Sacramentorum Poenitentise et Eucha- 
 ristiae penitus sustulisse ; alios prsecepta Ecclesia? de jejunio, de 
 celebratione festorum, etc., multis cavillis oppugnasse ; alios 
 denique magnum de diligendo Deo in lege gratis, quse est lex 
 amoris, prseceptum elevare, totisque viribus tollere de medio ten- 
 tasse. Sic novitii theologi e schola nati legem Christi non solum 
 suavem reddere conati sunt, sed etiam ejus onus ab humeris nos- 
 tris excutere contra totius antiquitatis normam et sententiam. ' O 
 Apostolorum tempora infelicissima ! ' exclamat pius Carthusia- 
 norum quondam Generalis Gujo ' O viros ignorantiae tenebris 
 involutos, et omni miseratione dignissimos, qui ut ad vitam per- 
 tingerent propter verba labiorum Dei tarn duras vias custodiebant 
 et hcec nostra compendia nesdebant' " 
 
 No one can have studied the manuals of casuistry ever so 
 little, or known ever so slightly the practice of the books, without 
 recognizing the dangers of a system of trammels. I am in harmony 
 with the convictions of the best spiritual guides of the Western 
 Church when I say that one of the best qualifications of a good 
 confessor is to be neither systematic, nor personal, nor absolute
 
 INTRODUCTION TO " SYNOPSIS." 283 
 
 in his principles of direction. " Systems " are mischievous in 
 politics, in philosophy, in education, in economy. The spirit of 
 mere system is a danger everywhere ; in the domain of conscience 
 it is an absolute evil. Of course there are great principles of 
 moral and spiritual direction which never change, to which also 
 there is in each conscience a responsive chord by which it touches 
 God. But these principles co-exist with an endless variety of 
 forms in which they are applicable to individuals. There is unity 
 in diversity and diversity in unity. As in the planetary world 
 each star is subject to general laws, and yet each star has its own 
 particular law of gravitation towards its own queen ; so in the 
 great family of the Catholic Church, bound by the common law 
 of duty to the common head, each individual has his own character 
 and heart and conscience, and the function of the spiritual guide 
 is not to cramp them into a certain shape, but to direct them 
 according to their own proper and individual necessities. The 
 initiative of healthy direction does not come from the confessor, 
 still less does it come from a type which has been formalized into 
 an ideal. It comes straight from the penitent, enlightened by the 
 gift of God the Holy Ghost, as to his special need. The mission 
 of the priest (this is Fenelon's view) is to aid, to perfect, to com- 
 plete. He is to take for his basis that of which the individual 
 soul is capable ; not that which he puts there, but that which he 
 finds. 
 
 A long and elaborate introduction to the work had 
 been projected, and was begun. It was to be divided into 
 three heads, treating of (i) The claims of souls upon the 
 priesthood ; (2) The duty of the priest towards souls ;. 
 (3) The priest's preparation for his office. Those to whose 
 judgment the matter has been referred have decided that 
 part of the introduction is too valuable to be omitted. It 
 will be best given separately in the next chapter. Several 
 years after it was begun, Mr. Skinner wrote to the Rev. 
 W. Nevins :
 
 284 LETTER TO REV. W. NEVINS. 
 
 July 15, iSSo. 
 MY VERY DEAR OLD FRIEND, 
 
 ... I am afraid that you will not be satisfied to hear that 
 the " Synopsis " makes no way. The printer is still at fault in many 
 ways ; but the author is, probably, the greatest culprit of all. I 
 stick in the " Introduction " at the immensity of the field to be 
 covered, and the huge difficulty of compression. My aim is to 
 prove that no science and civilization, so called, can supply the 
 place of the moral law of the Catholic Church in the necessary 
 work of counteracting evil and disseminating good in the earth. 
 The Church alone has power to solve the great problem of evil, 
 and to loosen its hold upon men and women ; and for that pur- 
 pose she must be suffered to teach and to apply now, in these 
 latter times, that ancient system of morals which she has received 
 from God the Holy Spirit, and handed on from age to age. . . . 
 As I gather my material for all this, I am more and more appalled 
 by the task I have set mysel
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE CLAIMS OF SOULS UPON THE PRIESTHOOD. 
 
 "The ministers of the Gospel are the ministers of reconciliation, are com- 
 manded to restore such persons as are overtaken in a fault, and to that purpose 
 they come to offer their ministry, if they may have cognizance of the fault 
 and person. 
 
 " In the matter of prudence, it is not safe to trust a man's self in the final 
 condition and last security of a man's soul, a man being no good judge in his 
 own case. And when a duty is so useful in all cases, so necessary in some, 
 and encouraged by promises evangelical, and by the canon of all Churches, 
 and the example of all ages, and taught us even by the proportions of duty, 
 and the analogy to the power ministerial, and the very necessities of every 
 man ; he that for stubbornness, or sinful shamefacedness, or prejudice, or any 
 other criminal weakness, shall decline to do it in the days of his danger, when 
 the vanities of the world are worn off and all affections to sin are weaned and 
 the sin itself is pungent and grievous, and we are certain we shall not escape 
 shame for them hereafter unless we be ashamed of them here, and use all the 
 proper instruments of their pardon, this man, I say, is very near death, but 
 very far off from the Kingdom of Heaven." BISHOP JEREMY TAYLOR, Works, 
 vol. iv. p. 512, Heber's edition. 
 
 i. IT is impossible to resist the'conviction of sin, and the thirsting 
 after holiness, and the longing for a closer union with God, which 
 are happily growing among our people. For one who is content 
 with the standard of external decorum which fulfilled, for the most 
 part, in time past, the popular ideal of an " established " religion, 
 there are a hundred who are dissatisfied with it now. Man's life 
 on earth is more realized as an actual personal warfare with evil 
 a warfare with which all other forms of war are, in comparison, 
 but shadows of conflict ; because, while other wars are about
 
 286 MAN'S LIFE WAR. 
 
 things external to himself, this is a struggle to be carried on within 
 himself, and a struggle for life, and that life immortal. There is 
 an awakened consciousness of helplessness, in himself, running 
 alongside of this revived conviction. And there is a warmer 
 aspiration towards some divinely appointed instrumentality out of 
 himself, some positive and tangible channel through which the 
 mercifully ordained help of God shall be conveyed. Men's eyes 
 instinctively turn to those who are appointed " in Christ's stead " 
 to say, " Be ye reconciled to God." * They turn to the priest- 
 hood. 
 
 2. It is true that a parallel line of thought is to be recognized, 
 keeping its hold, no less actively, upon men's minds, running in 
 the very opposite direction insisting upon human perfectability 
 and the absolute sufficiency of nature, in each separate personality, 
 for all the necessities of man. But the intensity of belief in some 
 supernatural provision of God against the supernatural evils inci- 
 dent to a life of supernatural trial has only gained strength in 
 others by this antagonism. And these believers are, thanks be to 
 God, in such large and growing numbers that they can no longer 
 be neglected or despised. 
 
 3. What is their belief but the result of their experience? 
 More, therefore, than belief, it is knowledge which they have 
 acquired, by honestly studying themselves in the light of the 
 Word of God. That Word does not say that war is merely incident 
 to man's life, but that the whole of his life is war,f and war not in 
 light and easy skirmishes, which suddenly come and go not in 
 occasional incursions of a visible enemy, which pass off without 
 the trouble of opposing him but in decisive battles, internecine 
 struggles, for life eternal. This is more than the belief of thou- 
 sands of our people ; it is their knowledge. They know also that 
 they are fighting with powers whom they cannot see a super- 
 natural army " not flesh and blood, but principalities and powers, 
 rulers of the darkness of this world ; " J that is, with personal 
 angels, wicked spirits, endued with supernatural subtlety and 
 
 * z Cor. v. 2, vi. I ; cf. i Cor. iv. 1,2. t Job vii. I. 
 
 % ICph. vi. 12.
 
 AID FROM WITHOUT. 28? 
 
 strength, and with vast experience, who have everything to gain 
 in the contest, and nothing except victory to lose. It has seemed 
 to them, therefore, more than a theologian's speculation,* that 
 against each child baptized into the Church, there are set one 
 hundred devils to spoil him of the " new man in Christ " which 
 he has put on, and that the cry of Delilah is incessant upon the 
 ear of Samson, " The devils are upon thee, O Christian soul!"^ 
 
 The conscious necessities of the soul send men, under such 
 conditions, instinctively to those whom God has appointed to give 
 them aid. 
 
 4. Again, there is among us a quickened sense of the loss 
 which is sustained by an unwatchful life in the midst of snares ; 
 while common sense suggests, to the least thoughtful, that no 
 watchfulness, as a mere attitude of the mind, is likely to be per- 
 manent unless it is continually strengthened by reinforcements of 
 substantial aid imported from without " Thou art most assaulted," 
 are St. Jerome's words to Heliodorus, J "when thou art uncon- 
 scious of the assault. Our enemy lurks round thee as a roaring 
 lion seeking whom he may devour, and dost thou suppose it peace ? 
 He sitteth lurking in the thievish corners of the streets, and 
 privily in his lurking dens doth he murder the innocent ; and art 
 thou sleeping softly in thy leafy bower of shade a certain 
 prey ? Thou art wrong, therefore, thou art wrong if thou thinkest 
 that the Christian is not always under persecution. For it is thus 
 that self-indulgence, thus that avarice, each in turn, attacks me. 
 It is thus that my ' belly ' aims at dethroning Christ from my heart 
 as God, and that lust seeks to expel the Holy Ghost from His 
 dwelling-place within me, and makes me to violate His temple. 
 The enemy, therefore, does persecute me under a thousand names 
 (cui nomina mille milk nocendi artcs) and with a thousand arts ; 
 
 * " Numerus hostium nostrorum tantus ut Theologorum aliqui clicant 
 unicum hominem a centum diabolis oppugnari " (" Drexelii Palaestra Chris- 
 tiana," pars, i, cap. I, sec. l). 
 
 t Judges xvi. 20. 
 
 St. Jerome, Ep. I. " Ad Heliodorum : " " De laucle vitse solitarioe." 
 
 Phil. iii. 19.
 
 288 IGNORANCE OF DANGER. 
 
 and shall I, in my misery, call myself a conqueror whilst I am 
 a captive ? " 
 
 Sustained caution, therefore, is the sinner's ordinary protection. 
 But this caution has to be sustained. And it is the priest's office 
 to sustain it The enemy knows that he is never resisted except 
 when the object of his attack distinctly recognizes the fact of an 
 assault. An enlarged power of this recognition is what our people 
 are claiming at our hands. 
 
 5. There is an old German proverb : " The devil's powder 
 makes no noise." Hence, the victory is continually lost before 
 the battle has begun. And the wounds which have been inflicted 
 are often mortal ; whilst, worst of all, the wounded soul has no 
 sense of pain. It is in the experience of us all to see men 
 mortally stricken by sin, while they do but laugh, and forget, and 
 die. If they had but felt themselves to be wounded, they had 
 sought the surgeon to be healed. If they had but knoivn their 
 loss, they had earnestly hastened to have it repaired. If St. Paul 
 had been what he declares he was not " ignorant of his de- 
 vices," * Satan would have had " the advantage over him." 
 
 Ignorance of the presence of sin when it is actually killing 
 the soul, and prejudice against the avowal of sin when there is 
 ignorance neither of its presence nor of its effects, are two devices 
 of his, of which we see the fatal " advantage " every day. The 
 sufferers will lay the blame and rightly on the shoulders of those 
 priests who have done nothing, either for themselves or for others, 
 to take such ignorance away. " If we knew," says St. Chrysos- 
 tom,f " that a serpent was lurking in the bed, we should take 
 infinite pains to destroy it. But the devil is hiding in the secret 
 corners of our hearts, and we think that no evil is happening. 
 Idly and confidently we have taken to lie down under it (ava-Tre- 
 -TTTwKa/Acv). The reason is, we do not see the devil with bodily 
 eyes ; although, for this very reason, all the more watchfulness is 
 required. A visible foe we can easily escape ; but we cannot 
 escape an invisible foe, unless we are armed at every point." 
 
 * 2 Cor. ii. II. 
 
 t In Rom. v. 18; Horn. x. 6, Ben. Ed., vol. ix. p. 529, C. D.
 
 " EXCEPTIONAL" THEORY. 289 
 
 It is with this fulness of armour that our people have a right 
 to be clothed. 
 
 6. No question is raised about the fact that " God hath given 
 power and commandment to His ministers" in the Church of 
 England, " to declare and pronounce to His people " in England, 
 " being penitent, the absolution and remission of their sins." Nor 
 is it possible to doubt that, before this remission can be " pro- 
 nounced," the thing to be remitted must also be pronounced ; 
 otherwise the minister might be " remitting " what ought to be 
 "retained," or what the "people" have never "repented" of at 
 all. But a theory has been invented to restrict the use of this 
 power on the part of God's " ministers " the theory of what is 
 called exceptional exercise, by the English priest, of his office of 
 healing the English people. 
 
 If this theory were true, it would involve a condition of " ex- 
 ceptional " sinfulness in the English people. Let it be conceded 
 that the necessity for disclosing the wounds of the penitent, in 
 order to that function of the healer which is committed by Christ 
 to His ministry, is to be measured by their severity, by their in- 
 herent deadliness, and by the suffering which they inflict, it will 
 still be difficult to prove that this severity of deadliness and suffer- 
 ing is an " exceptional " characteristic of the sins of the English 
 people. Yet if, as ambassadors standing, "in Christ's stead," 
 between souls and an offended God, to "reconcile" them to Him 
 we are only to act " exceptionally," it can only be because the 
 English people offend God, by deadly sin, only on " exceptional " 
 occasions. Is this so ? Will our people say this for themselves, 
 as vehemently as it has been said for (does it not rather seem 
 against T) them ? Does the English Prayer-Book suggest any such 
 idea or any such word as " exceptional " when it simply asserts 
 liberty and repudiates compulsion, in stating the inevitable course 
 to be pursued by those whose consciences must be quieted, or 
 who must be prepared to die ? 
 
 That a sinner should be unable to " quiet his own conscience," 
 even when he has quite succeeded in disregarding it, who is or 
 has been in the habit of committing deadly sin, without letting go 
 
 U
 
 290 DESIRE FOR ABSOLUTION. 
 
 his faith in the means of grace, so far from being the " exception," 
 is the general rule among men of all nations. What is there to 
 make such a case " exceptional " in England ? 
 
 That a state of readiness to receive Christ in the blessed 
 Eucharist, and to meet Him in death and judgment at any moment 
 (which is the only state of life consistent with true Christianity), 
 demands a corresponding habit of purifying and cleansing the 
 conscience, so far from being true only in the sense of occasional 
 and particular and " exceptional " acts, must be universally true, 
 if it be true at all ... 
 
 It is true that light must first have been given from above, to 
 recognize the supernatural gifts of contrition, and of pardon con- 
 veyed through the commissioned priest. But, assuming the 
 presence of such light illuminating the conscience in perfect 
 accord with the freedom of the will, the power of the Holy Ghost, 
 in converting souls, cannot, without blasphemy, be restrained to 
 fitting "exceptional" occasions of which other men looking on 
 (though they may stand in the very highest places) venture 
 to constitute themselves the judges. 
 
 Given two conditions on the side of the sinner (i) the 
 absolute certainty of his faith by the grace of God in the Divine 
 appointment of the priest's absolving office, and (2) the abso- 
 lutely voluntary choice of his own will to set the sacerdotal 
 power of " binding and loosing " in motion for his personal relief 
 then no human authority can, with impunity, restrain to certain 
 " occasions " those powers which Christ Himself has instituted in 
 His mercy for the consolation of all men at all times. 
 
 We cannot force our powers upon the sinner. But when he 
 offers himself I will not say freely, I will say more earnestly, 
 fervidly, imploringly, and under a conviction that they are means 
 of grace provided for his soul, claiming them at our hands, it will 
 be at the peril of our own souls if we refuse to exercise them. 
 
 I will justify these strong words by stronger words than mine, 
 and from a source which Protestants will respect. In his seventh 
 sermon (on St. Luke xix. 18), Chillingworth, the author of "The 
 Religion of Protestants," has these unmistakable words : " Can
 
 EXTRACT FROM CHILLINGWORTff. 29 1 
 
 any man be so unreasonable as once to imagine to himself that, 
 when our Saviour after His resurrection, having received, as Him- 
 self saith, ' all power in heaven and on earth,' and having ' led 
 captivity captive,' came then to bestow gifts; when He, in so 
 solemn a manner, having first breathed upon His disciples, thereby 
 conveying and insinuating the Holy Ghost into their hearts, 
 renewed unto them, or rather confirmed and sealed unto them, 
 that glorious commission which before He had given to St. Peter, 
 sustaining, as it were, the person of the whole Church, -whereby 
 He delegated to them an authority of binding and loosing sins 
 upon earth, with a promise that the proceedings in the court of 
 heaven would be directed and regulated by theirs on earth can 
 any man think so unworthily of our Saviour as to esteem these 
 words of His for no better than compliment, for nothing but Court 
 holy water" (p. 185). 
 
 " Since Christ, for your benefit and comfort, hath given such 
 authority to His ministers, upon your unfeigned repentance and 
 contrition, to absolve and release you from your sins, why should 
 I doubt or be unwilling to persuade you to make your advantage 
 of this gracious promise of our Saviour ? Why should I envy you 
 the participation of so heavenly a blessing ? Truly, if I should 
 deal thus with you I should prove myself a malicious, unsatiable, 
 malignant preacher. I should wickedly and unjustly, and against 
 my own conscience, seek to defraud you of those glorious blessings 
 which our Saviour hath intended for you" (pp. 187, 188). 
 
 " Therefore, in obedience to His gracious will, and as I am 
 warranted and even enjoined by my holy Mother the Church of 
 England, expressly in the Book of Common Prayer, in the Rubric 
 for the Visitation of the Sick (which doctrine this Church hath 
 likewise embraced so far), I beseech you that, by your practice 
 and use, you will not suffer this commission which Christ hath 
 given to His ministers to be a vain form of words, without any 
 sense under them to be an antiquated expired commission of no 
 use or validity in these days.* But whensoever you find your- 
 
 * Compare St Augustine: "Nemo sibi dicat, occulte ago, apud Deum 
 ago ; novit Deus qui mihi ignoscat, quia in corde meo ago. Ergo sine caussa
 
 ENLIGHTENED CONSCIENCES. 
 
 selves charged and oppressed especially with such crimes as they 
 call peccata vastantia conscientiam, that you would have recourse to 
 your spiritual physician and freely disclose the nature and malig- 
 nancy of your disease, that he may be able, as the cause shalt 
 require, to proportion a remedy, either to search it with corrosives, 
 or comfort and temper it with oil And come not to him with 
 such a mind as you would go to a learned man experienced in the 
 Scripture, as one that can speak comfortable and quieting words to 
 you, but. as to one that hath authority, delegated to him from God 
 Himself, to absolve and acquit you of your sins. If you shall 
 do this, assure your souls that the understanding of man is not 
 able to conceive that transport and excess of joy and comfort 
 which shall accrue to that man's heart that is persuaded that he 
 hath been made partaker of this blessing, orderly and legally., 
 according as our Saviour Christ hath prescribed. 
 
 " I have dealt honestly and freely with you it may be more 
 freely than I shall be thanked for: but I should have sinned 
 against my own soul if I had done otherwise. I should have 
 conspired with our adversaries of Rome against our own Church, 
 in affording them such an advantage to blaspheme our most holy 
 and undented religion" (pp. 188, 189). 
 
 7. Neither is it reasonable to suggest (i) that the sinner's 
 ignorant contentment with himself is sufficient to, exempt him 
 from the interposition of our express authority to bring him to the 
 knowledge of, and to the remedy for, his sins ; nor (2) that the 
 exercise of that authority precludes him from the attainment 
 of "health" because it necessarily presupposes a "morbid" and 
 " diseased " condition of soul. 
 
 For (i) while the ignorance of self-complacency in sin is the 
 devil's main device for accomplishing man's ruin it is one of our 
 main words of counteraction, by the help of the Holy Ghost, 
 to enlighten the conscience, so that the sinner may become more 
 and more dissatisfied with himself. " Quietness " of a conscience 
 
 dictum est qua sotveritis in terra soluta erunt in calo ? Ergo, sine caussa sunt 
 claves datse Ecclesias Dei ? Frustramus Evangelium ? Frustramus Verba 
 Christi?" Sermo cccxcii. "Ad Conjugates," Ben. Ed. vol. v. p. 1804, E. F.
 
 SELF-DECEIT. 293 
 
 will never be attained by that process which has been called 
 " training itself." The conscience must be illuminated and taught 
 and disciplined from without. Self is man's most subtle and 
 devouring foe. We know too well how men have " trained " 
 themselves into a state of quiescence, under habits of deadly sin, 
 both of the body and of the mind. Luxury and gluttony of the 
 flesh, pride, covetousness, envy, anger, sloth of the spirit not 
 knowing, in the true sense of " knowledge," because not willing 
 to know, that "they who do such things shall not inherit the 
 kingdom of God." * 
 
 Dr. Donne, the distinguished Dean of St. Paul's in the reign 
 of James I., said, "The more I find confession or any religious 
 practice repugnant to my own nature, the further will I go in it." 
 
 We only learn what sin is and what holiness is how to 
 unlearn the one and how to practise the other, by the same 
 process of discipline by which proficiency in other arts and 
 sciences is attained. 
 
 And (2) while a diseased conscience and a diseased soul are by 
 no means convertible terms, a state of spiritual " health " is not, 
 I suspect, the normal condition of souls with whom the English 
 priest, any more than the priest of other lands, has to deal. 
 
 We are not called to bring the righteous, but sinners, to 
 repentance. " They that are whole need not the physician, but 
 they that are sick." So that it might suffice, in argument, for us 
 to say : " Yes, the multitudes of sick are so vast, so increasing, 
 that we accept the imputation of 'disease' wherewith it is sought 
 to identify, if not to disparage, that priestly office of ' confession ' 
 which we are commissioned to discharge." But while there is no 
 such thing as absolute immunity from spiritual, any more than 
 from bodily " sickness," and while " health " is but a relative 
 term to describe an escape, or a transition, or a recovery from 
 disease into which at any moment the unguarded soul may fall 
 the conscience which is most keenly sensitive to the least approach 
 of evil to the soul is furthest removed from the imputation of 
 " morbidity." Moreover, if " disease " is a variable quantity, so 
 * Gal. v. 19-21.
 
 294 LA W OF REPENTANCE. 
 
 is "health." The same sins which make no conscious impression 
 upon one, are very "grievous" and "intolerable" to another. 
 And the same person, under the light of the convincing Spirit, 
 will recognize " sickness " in himself by those very marks which 
 he once mistook for an indication of health. 
 
 An experienced diagnostician, outside of the patient, is, there- 
 fore, absolutely needed for the infirm of soul as much as for the 
 infirm of body. At least, it is as vitally important for the soul to be 
 kept in health as to be kept from disease. And the claims of 
 the patient on the spiritual physician are as irresistible for the one 
 as for the other. 
 
 8. It will hardly be contended that the Church of England set 
 herself to invent a new law of " repentance " when she awoke to 
 find herself and her children isolated from that visible communion 
 with the whole body of Western Christendom within which she 
 both learned and practised the old and original common law. 
 
 Had the accident of separation and isolation which she did 
 not cause, but has to bear, in the providence of God been 
 accompanied with evidence in continuity of her own exemption 
 from those causes of corruption which were wont to make the 
 spiritual life of her sons and daughters to decay, as they do still 
 the separate and corporate spiritual life of every people, it might 
 have been argued with plausibility that we have no longer need 
 for the " ancient discipline " of repentance in any form. But, as 
 things stand, the reasonable assumption is that the English Church, 
 compelled by the old necessities, abides by the old laws. That 
 the same community which prays that her penitents may " repent 
 according to the preaching of John the Baptist," * who brought 
 all Judea "unto him, confessing their sins" which publicly 
 laments the loss of the ancient severity of penal judgment, 
 uttered in public against the persons of individual sinners previous 
 to their absolution and restoration to communion, and which 
 earnestly wishes that this "discipline" may be restored again, 
 together with that previous confession in private to the "peni- 
 tentiary " which the public discipline involved that the same 
 * See Collect for Nativity of St. John the Baptist, and Mark i. 4, 5.
 
 ENGLISH CHURCH RULE. 2$$ 
 
 community which makes this profession intends at the same time 
 to discourage all personal discipline whatever, and prefers that 
 every guilty conscience should settle both the meaning of 
 "repentance" and the terms of penitence and restoration secretly 
 within itself, is so unreasonable and self-contradictory a proposi- 
 tion that nothing but the violence of deep-seated unreasoning 
 prejudice can account for its appearance among sane men. 
 
 It is beyond doubt that the English Church, in that spirit of 
 comprehension (call it "compromise" if you will) which inspired 
 her policy amid the troubles of unsettlement, leaves her children 
 who sin perfectly free to use all, or to omit to use some, of the 
 remedies which she has received to offer them. It is, further, 
 beyond doubt that the tone of her mind has been, from the first, 
 to lament the relaxation of that discipline which she admires in 
 the Primitive Church. It is therefore not only not certain, but in 
 the highest degree unreasonable to suppose, that, in regard to the 
 one remedial measure which she commends to them as being, 
 at once, the discipline and the consolation of the individual and 
 separate conscience, it is a commendation which she encourages 
 them to reject* 
 
 * See Homilies, Book ii. i, 2, p. 176, and Jewel's "Apology : " " Nam nos 
 quidem utimur priscis et avitis legibus ; et quantum his moribus & temporibus 
 in tanta corruptela rerum omnium potest fieri, discinlinam Ecclesiasticam dili- 
 genter et serio administramur " (p.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 LETTERS OF COUNSEL. 
 1870-1872. 
 
 *' What, many times I musing asked, is man, 
 
 If grief and care 
 
 Keeps far from him ? he knows not what he can, 
 What cannot bear. 
 
 *' He, till the fire hath purged him, doth remain 
 
 But merely dross : 
 
 To lack the loving discipline of pain 
 Were endless loss." 
 
 IT was perhaps during the years between the death of his 
 child and his leaving Newland that the spiritual work there 
 increased so much as seriously to injure the vicar's health. 
 The trustees of the almshouses had, in 1869, withdrawn the 
 support of foundation-boys, on whom the church choir 
 depended, and also the organist's salary, but for some years 
 the choral service was still maintained in the greatest 
 excellence, and in 1871 there can scarcely have been a 
 village church in England where the services were so 
 perfect, both for beauty and reverence. During three 
 successive Lents, 18/0-71-72, the Warden gave "con- 
 ferences" after the five o'clock service on Thursdays, and 
 at these times the church was almost full. They were 
 intended for those not altogether beginners in the spiritual
 
 AMMERGAV AND NORTH ITALY. 297 
 
 life, and perhaps they had even more influence upon souls 
 than his sermons. 
 
 In September, 1871, Mr. Skinner went abroad for his 
 holiday, and, with his wife, went to Ammergau for the 
 Passion Play, and thence from Munich to Ulm, where he 
 notes having a two hours' most interesting talk with Dr. 
 Dollinger, and by Innsbruck to North Italy, delighting in 
 time spent at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana at Milan. They 
 returned over the Spliigen by Como, and through Switzer- 
 land and Antwerp to England, where he arrived in stronger 
 health, and got through the rest of the year fairly well. 
 He went for a short time to Brighton before the next 
 Lent, being again unwell and quite unfit to work. To 
 his wife he writes on the eve of the anniversary of their 
 child's death : 
 
 Brighton, St. Agatha, 1872. 
 
 I am anxious for you to get this to-morrow morning, so I write 
 at once, now that I am out of church, where I have been for 
 Mattins and Sext. How sweet to think of our darling on this 
 the anniversary of her last day of " weariness " (" I am very 
 weary HE was weary too ! "), now with St. Agatha and the troops 
 of virgins, feeding among the lilies ! We sang the hymn 
 
 "In blessed troops they follow Thee, 
 With dance and song and melody," 
 
 though not to the dear familiar tune of which she was so fond. 
 But nothing so realizes her bright eye and thoughtful reverent 
 face, to my mind, and brings her present, as that lovely hymn. 
 Ah yes ... I can sympathize with your weakest moment at 
 this time ; so you need not restrain the natural vent of tears, and 
 even of grief, as you recall the incidents of the last forty-eight 
 hours of that precious virgin's life, in the struggle of separation 
 between her frail and broken body and her keen, undimmed, and 
 sensitive spirit.
 
 298 MERCY IN BEREAVEMENT. 
 
 Of course one cannot but dwell upon the picture which 
 ineffaceably remains printed on the memory on yours naturally, 
 more than on any other the little bed, with the worn-out, pale, 
 languid, yet eager, thirsting, longing face upon it : and every word 
 she uttered, and every sigh she breathed ; from the highest hope 
 down to the bitterest self-reproach ; everything comes back and 
 touches me just as freshly and acutely, as if it were all taking 
 place, really over again. I lay awake most of last night, and gave 
 myself up unreservedly and freely to recall everything, just as it 
 was pleased to come back to me. 
 
 I think, my , that there is good for us in being able to 
 
 reproduce to ourselves that solemn scene ; and, above all, in being 
 able to consider that we ourselves must have our own turn as 
 chief actors in a similar one, when we, too, " shall lie down in 
 the dust." And we could hardly be able to reproduce the scene, 
 and be natural and true, unless also we reproduced something 
 of the emotion which touched and wrung our hearts to the centre. 
 You must not, therefore, try to suppress what is not only natural 
 to your mother's affections, but good for your spiritual life, as 
 keeping fresh in you the reality of the last struggle for which we 
 must all be prepared. 
 
 But, thank God, there is another side to this sweet and bitter 
 anniversary ; and the sweet overpowers and masters the bitter 
 not by annihilating it, but by absorbing it into itself There is 
 nothing yet, in all our married life of unvarying mercy from God's 
 hands, to approach in greatness the mercy wherewith He blessed 
 us and our " little one " whom He lent us, when He was pleased 
 so early to take her home to Himself: to take her in her virgin- 
 hood of fresh and ardent youth, before she could be seared and 
 withered by the scorching sun of the world. 
 
 A blessing, foremost of all, for herself to be so soon delivered ; 
 so soon matured and ripened ; so soon set free from the bondage 
 of evil so soon brought into the very end of her being. For, 
 did not God make her for Himself, and only lend her to us to 
 prepare her for Him ? And a blessing to us to be so soon told 
 that our part in her and for her was finished ; to be so soon relieved
 
 DEATH OF HIS MOTHER. 299 
 
 from the burden of anxiety for her soul (an anxiety which, if we 
 could measure it fully against the risks of sin, would be simply 
 overwhelming) ; to be so soon comforted with the comfort of know- 
 ing that she is with Jesus, which is " better than life ;" and that, 
 though the flesh which she took of us must first see corruption in 
 the grave, the spirit which dwelt in that flesh, and which (because 
 of that indwelling) is allied to our spirit, is for ever free in the 
 presence of Him who gave it What blessing to us (next to the 
 blessing of perfect union with the whole body of Christ in 
 unveiled glory) can be compared to this ? How are we not drawn 
 nearer to Jesus, by the consciousness of her whom, through us, 
 God brought into being, being near Him ! How have not our 
 prayers and praises and Eucharists been intensified in their 
 frequency and earnestness, and, it may be sometimes also, in their 
 sensible joy and consolations, since this blessing befell us, that our 
 " little one " " was not, for God took her ! " 
 
 How have we not been more and more weaned from this earth 
 and its allurements, and made to live with the far greater and more 
 enjoyable company of the spirits of the just, and to lose our relish 
 for any society less satisfying ! And can this blessing be ex- 
 aggerated the blessing of learning, by experience here below, 
 that " There is none, O Lord, in heaven but Thee, none on earth 
 that we can love in comparison of Thee " ? Comfort yourself, my 
 
 , with these thoughts. To-morrow (D.V.) I celebrate at 8.30, 
 
 and shall of course be with you as well as with her. . . . 
 
 He returned home a few days before Ash- Wednesday, 
 and threw himself into his Lenten work " as though he had 
 been a giant" It was his last Lent of continuous work on 
 earth. On April 23 his beloved mother passed away, in 
 her ninety-third year ; clear in mind and heart to the last, 
 and taken to her rest just before the days came when her 
 son could no longer have visited and ministered to her. 
 Every Monday morning he Celebrated in her room, to 
 which she had been confined for a year, and this he did for
 
 300 FAILING HEALTH. 
 
 the last time on Monday, April 22, not knowing that in less 
 than twenty-four hours her pilgrimage would be over. 
 
 It was certainly this year that the final break-down 
 came, from which he never entirely rallied. He had, at 
 Canon King's request, conducted a priests' Retreat at 
 Cuddesdon in July, and in August went for a holiday to 
 Wales. There, at the house of his friend, Mr. Wynne of 
 Aberamfra, he became very ill, and was confined to bed for 
 some days ; returning home in September weak and far 
 from recovered, but persisting in preaching, though sitting 
 in the pulpit. All the rest of this year he was more or less 
 out of health, but he did not take less work ; rather that 
 which came to him from outside his parish seemed to 
 increase every month. 
 
 There was scarcely ever a time, to the very last, when 
 he was not ready to spend himself in trying to help others 
 spiritually. " What a store there must be of love for him 
 in heaven of those whom, by God's grace, he won to God, 
 or to whom he was the channel of God's love, and loved in 
 Him ! " Dr. Pusey wrote of him, after his death. 
 
 The four following letters were written to a young 
 friend whose faith had been disturbed by reading sceptical 
 writings : 
 
 MY DEAR 
 
 You must not be harder on me, in your mind, than I am 
 on myself. I have been unkind in outward seeming, in not 
 writing to you upon the point of your last note, viz. your desire 
 for Holy Communion. 
 
 But, I am not unkind in my heart: I love your soul most 
 dearly, and your poor little heart's troubles are daily in my 
 prayers; and I know you are trying to be patient and good 
 with me.
 
 LETTERS. 301 
 
 But I am very broken in health, and writing, and thinking 
 even, wear me sadly. I know I could not (for I ought not to) 
 sanction your receiving the blessed Sacrament in the state of faith 
 and repentance in which you avowed yourself to be when we last 
 had intercourse. And yet I was not, nor am I now, up to the 
 mark of writing, at length, to say why. 
 
 So now I must ask you to trust me, simply. You ought not to 
 go to that heavenly feast, until you can do so with perfect faith 
 and penitence, and with a purified conscience; otherwise you 
 would throw yourself back, indefinitely, in the course upon which, 
 I hope and trust, you are embarked. 
 
 God bless you ! 
 
 Your ever affectionate 
 J.S. 
 
 I am truly thankful for your letter. I did not expect wonders, 
 and I am not disappointed. If you will only persevere in the 
 course which I have appointed for you, as an exercise of self- 
 mortification, in the consciousness of your own ignorance and 
 presumption in doubting, your full blessing will come in the end, 
 if God wills. 
 
 The four acts of devotion to the Divine Trinity will be most 
 useful, as acts of submission of yourself, even if you do not use 
 them as acts of formal worship. So do not intermit them. Never 
 mind their being beyond you : of course they are beyond you. 
 GOD is beyond you. Still, you must humbly aim to reach Him. 
 I don't want you to be unreal; but it is not unreal to give to 
 God what He claims as His due. It is not merely that we have 
 to think of what -we can give, but also of what He demands. And 
 there is no unreality in acting solely upon the latter thought, even 
 when we are not sure of the former. 
 
 For the present, I do not want you to read any other portions 
 of the Bible than those which I have appointed. But read care- 
 fully now, every day, the Books of Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus, as 
 examples of true philosophy in morals. 
 
 Say, many times a day, that prayer which has struck you
 
 302 LETTERS. 
 
 " Lord, I believe whatever Thou hast revealed, teach Thou me," 
 etc., in Dr. P 's " Miracles of Prayer." 
 
 I will read "Lord Lyttelton," when I have time, and tell you 
 what it suggests. 
 
 But, dearest child, do not yield to the tempter who desires to 
 absorb you in thoughts of speculation, instead of a life of practice. 
 
 " Lord, what shall this man do ? " was a speculation which 
 our blessed Lord rebuked, even in His first apostle. If you 
 desire to avoid hell, and to be blessed in heaven, live in faith and 
 hope and love with God and man, in humble obedience to the 
 call of every duty, and you can then afford to wait till the " veil is 
 taken away," for the solution of all mysteries. 
 
 God bless you ! 
 
 Your ever loving 
 'J.S. 
 
 MY DEAR 
 
 I feel very guilty. You ought to have heard from me in 
 return for your last very nice, and on the whole satisfactory letter, 
 long ago ; but I have been in the utmost uncertainty as to health 
 
 ever since I left England, and sometimes (as lately at , and 
 
 even till to-day) very broken indeed and good for nothing. So I 
 have had a continual shrinking from the effort of writing, because 
 I am always the worse for it. You will, therefore, be tender with 
 me and not judge me hardly ? I have never forgotten you at my 
 best moments ; and my faith is much more in anxious and earnest 
 prayer for you, than in any number of volumes of letters, if I could 
 have written them. Had you been with me in person, it would 
 have been perhaps different; at least, it would have been com- 
 paratively easy to me to have done what I could to help you to 
 recover the precious things you had lost. 
 
 We are now on our way home, which (D.V.) we hope to reach 
 for next Sunday; and I am, therefore, not without hope that I 
 may be able to see you some "time in the course of the summer, if 
 I am permitted to abide at my post at dear Newland. But I am 
 very unwilling to leave you any longer without just one word
 
 DISCIPLINE. 303 
 
 respecting the obligations under which you stand to observe the 
 counsels which I gave you before we parted. 
 
 I. In respect of the discipline as to reading, etc. I think it 
 will be, undoubtedly, for your good to persevere in keeping all my 
 directions; because their object was mainly, not only to sys- 
 tematize and methodize study on the most important of all sub- 
 jects, in place of pursuing the desultory and capricious, not to say 
 wilful, choice into which you had fallen, but also to exercise you 
 in the wholesome discipline of restraint, which is of the essence of 
 soundness in intellectual and moral and spiritual health, as it is of 
 physical. But I do not desire to press this upon you any longer, 
 if you wish to be free ; because I am not entitled to force my own 
 sense of what is best for you upon your will, a moment longer 
 than you are heartily willing. 
 
 II. In respect of your reception of the highest ofall Christian 
 blessings and privileges, the Communion of the Body and Blood 
 of our dearest Lord. It is a blessed sign of returning grace that 
 you should be again reaching out for that mercy, and feeling 
 your need of it, and in any degree longing for it. But I love 
 your dear soul too much to be willing that you should incur any 
 risk of eating and drinking to its hurt; and k therefore I have im- 
 pressed upon you the wholesome spirit of discipline, which guided 
 the early Church in withholding that gift from her children who 
 had lapsed into unbelief, even for many years, until they had been 
 fully and completely restored to absolute and undoubted and 
 undoubting faith. 
 
 There is hardly a greater peril (St. Paul being witness) than to 
 receive the greatest mystery of the faith without faith; not "dis- 
 cerning," that is, not distinguishing the Body of our Lord (in full 
 faith in the incarnation of God in Christ, who then gives Himself 
 to the faithful) from common food. And, I would not, for all 
 the world, encourage you to approach the Sacrament without such 
 faith and such " discernment," held honestly and implicitly at 
 least, to the utmost of your conscious will. I should, therefore, 
 here also greatly prefer that you should, as far as you know how, 
 secure the absolute simplicity of your faith and repentance />*//
 
 304 CONFESSION. 
 
 and tJien, in all humility and penitence, draw near to Him, in the 
 mystery of His own appointment. 
 
 But here again, also, I have no power and no desire to inter- 
 pose my own convictions of your duty between you and your 
 conscience, for a moment longer than your conscience is enabled 
 to accept them ; so that you release me from the responsibility. I 
 am anxious to say thus much, lest you should be chafing under 
 any supposed bondage ; or suffering, in any degree, in the free- 
 dom of your soul, from any supposed oppression of an outward 
 rule. 
 
 May God the Holy Spirit guide and lead and comfort you, 
 and bring you into the light of truth and peace, is ever the most 
 
 earnest prayer, my dear , of 
 
 Your very loving and true friend, 
 
 J.S. 
 
 My DEAR , 
 
 On the subject of confession, it is impossible to mistake 
 the distinctness of the two senses in which it may be used. 
 
 I. In its appointed place, in necessary relation to that power 
 of reconciliation of sinners to God with which Christ has vested 
 His ministers, generally called the "power of the keys" "Whose- 
 soever sins ye remit," etc. ; and 
 
 II. In the discretionary consultation with a spiritual friend, to 
 whom, in order to advice, confession of one's sins and faults may 
 be made. 
 
 In the first sense, confession is a part of penitence, and has a 
 sacramental character. The penitent has recourse to it, as to the 
 ordained way of God, and in order (not to advice and counsel 
 from man, but) to pardon and absolution from God. You cannot, 
 therefore, separate the thought or the idea of this confession from 
 the thought and idea, or from the gift itself of pardon. And so, 
 this confession is part of an ordinance in which the minister takes 
 his place, not as a mere friend, but as a priest, an ambassador of 
 God, in which also he is bound by the canonical law of secresy, 
 more than by the law of honour. 
 
 In the second sense, confession may be a great test of the
 
 CONFESSION WITHOUT ABSOLUTION. 305 
 
 earnestness and sincerity of one's penitence ; just as telling one's 
 mother, or brother, or husband, or wife of one's sin against God 
 and them, would be a mark of humility and earnest purpose of 
 amendment. But not looking to God's pardon as the end, or to 
 submission to the appointed "power of the keys" as the means 
 there would be, in it, nothing attained of that which especially is 
 promised. And the position of the minister to whom the con- 
 fession is made would be, not that of a priest, but of a friend, 
 and his bond of secresy would be nothing but a bond of honour. 
 
 If I understand you aright, you tell me that, as yet, your faith 
 in the ordinance, in the first sense, would not warrant you in 
 resorting to it " for the benefit of absolution," but that as a 
 remedy, without absolution, you would be glad to try it ? 
 
 But that means that you would like to try it without the 
 remedy. Absolution is the remedy to which confession leads up ; 
 otherwise there is in confession discipline, but no "remedy" at 
 all. I am therefore led to believe that you really mean to say 
 that you would be glad to use confession in the second sense in 
 which I have defined it; at all events, until God has given you 
 more light to see your way clear. 
 
 And my reply is By all means, do what you can to satisfy the 
 need which you feel, and humbly and quietly wait till you can do 
 more. It is far better to let the heart open itself, as it can, to the 
 light of grace, than to shut it up because it cannot do all that it 
 might do. So now, do what you will you may rely on me. I 
 will be a priest to you, if you will it ; or I will be a friend, and not 
 a priest to you, if you prefer it. In either case, I will do all I can 
 to help you to please God, and to be happy. 
 
 Yours ever affectionately, 
 
 J. S. 
 
 P.S. How strange it is that people will always, on this 
 subject, torment themselves and obscure it by that bugbear 
 adjective " habitual " ! As if one ought never to tell one's doctor 
 the nature of one's aches and pains, out of fright lest such com 
 munications should become " habitual " ! The only real question 
 is this " Have diseased souls any doctor at all ? " 
 
 X
 
 306 FASTING COMMUNION. 
 
 Whether, however, this sort of confession, in your case, would 
 warrant me in advising you to go to Holy Communion is more 
 than I can say until I had heard it. And, even then, my difficulty 
 would be less as to the reality of your sorrow and your desire of 
 amendment, than as to your faith in the blessed Sacrament, as 
 the channel to you of God's pardon. If you doubt the power of 
 the words said by the priest in absolution to convey pardon to 
 you, why should you trust the words said by him in consecrating 
 the Eucharist, "This is My Body," etc., to do it? 
 
 For indeed, my dearest child, what your soul needs is (i) 
 pardon and peace, and (2) grace and edification ; and these gifts 
 are in God's hands to give as He pleases, not as we please ; and 
 He has been pleased to give them, through His commissioned 
 ministers, in the positive ordinances of His Church. 
 
 Some of the following letters were written about this 
 time ; the first to the editor of the Guardian, the rest to 
 various persons. 
 
 FASTING COMMUNION. 
 To the Editor of the " Guardian." 
 SIR, 
 
 May I trespass upon your columns for my own relief, 
 at a time when, being disabled from writing many letters, I am 
 bound to answer the same question put to me by various persons, 
 in various circumstances ? I beg to disclaim the least value for 
 my advice, except for those who have exercised their discretion 
 by consulting me. 
 
 I will take one as a representative case ; it runs as follows : 
 
 " V/e are two miles and a half from ; and there is only 
 
 one late Celebration here at once a month. Till I had an ill- 
 ness I walked to , or , every Sunday, for the early Celebra- 
 tion ; but now the doctor forbids my doing so, at least for the 
 winter. And if I fast till after the late Celebration I am unfit for 
 work the next day. Do you think I might refresh myself early 
 on the day of Communion ? or must I give up my present work 
 on that account ? "
 
 FASTING COMMUNION. 307 
 
 I venture to answer 
 
 " The rule of the Catholic Church, laid down for East and 
 West (which knows no exception except for persons at the time of 
 death), is that the blessed Sacrament should be received ' the first 
 food of the day,' therefore fasting. 
 
 " There is nothing said about this rule in the English Prayer- 
 Book ; because, evidently, it is just one of those things of fact 
 which never was and never could be gainsaid, and about which, 
 if anything was to be said, it would have been in the form of an 
 intimation, in terms, that the rule is not binding on the English 
 people. 
 
 "But no such declaration appears. Therefore, according to 
 my judgment, the universal custom of the Church of Christ is 
 binding on the children of the Church of England. 
 
 " Yet there are those among our priests who think that the 
 absence of any confirmation of the allegiance due to the custom 
 of fasting Communion, from the letter of the English Prayer-Book, 
 leaves English communicants free to receive, fasting or not. 
 
 " With the greatest love and respect for some of those priests, 
 I cannot so regard it ; nor can I advise others so to regard it. 
 
 " But the present question seems rather to be this : whether, 
 the priest of your parish being responsible to God and the 
 Church, and having deliberately deprived you of the opportunity 
 of receiving the blessed Sacrament fasting, you are to go, for 
 months together, without this Divine sustenance ; or whether, 
 under the special circumstances which you describe, and the clear 
 evidence of the priest's responsibility, you are to receive unfast- 
 ing, and to cast all the weight of the irregularity on him, and on 
 the Bishop who does not interfere on your behalf. 
 
 " I am disposed to think that, if you make it plain to the 
 priest that, in refusing to celebrate in the early morning, deforces 
 you to receive un fasting, against your conscience and the custom 
 of the universal Church, you are committing a less irregular act, 
 by receiving and throwing the responsibility upon the priest and 
 the Bishop, than by depriving yourself or suffering him to deprive 
 you of the food of your soul
 
 308 FASTING COMMUNION. 
 
 " In such a case I would recommend a light refreshment, 
 without meat or eggs or butter, six hours before receiving." 
 
 JAMES SKINNER. 
 
 Newland, Great Malvern, November, 1873. 
 
 To . 
 
 I will not enter now upon the old worn-out controversy of 
 fasting or non-fasting Communion, further than to say that I 
 
 carefully read dear 's paper, which is like him full of loving 
 
 thought for weak bodies, but of very hazy and imperfect concep- 
 tions of canonical law. I have noted all his points, and after 
 having worked up the whole subject as to facts, I mean to draw 
 up a general statement of the Church's ruling by which we are 
 bound. Meantime, let me say that there can be no question 
 whatever but that necessity has been allowed, by canon, to pre- 
 vail in favour of receiving unfasting ; but that when you come to 
 
 define what makes " necessity," all the difficulties arise. 's 
 
 cases only prove that great laxity is sometimes found in some 
 quarters. There are hundreds of instances like hers in the 
 Roman Communion which are no more good against the ca- 
 nonical law than the similar, or rather the more flagrant, cases 
 amongst ourselves. 
 
 is very indignant about calling it a "mortal sin" to 
 
 receive unfasting. But he forgets that the sin is only " mortal " 
 when it is done in contempt of the Church's doctrine of the 
 Divine presence in the blessed Sacrament, and of her discipline in 
 consequence of it. Well, is anybody prepared to deny that the 
 practice of unfasting Communion came in, and holds its ground in 
 this country, on any other basis than this contempt ? And yet, if 
 any one by chance should receive unfasting on the opposite ground 
 of greater faith, and greater discipline, and greater reverence 
 it would not be sin at all. But would it be necessity ? For the 
 generality, certainly, the habitual breakfast cannot be a necessity : 
 for the sick there would be, probably (though not for all sick), the 
 necessity for some food, if communions came late. But why 
 should necessity be urged for the late Communion ? Almost all
 
 SPIRITUAL COMMUNION. 309 
 
 the mediaeval canons enjoin the priesthood to minister to the 
 sick at such hours as their necessities as to food require, so as to 
 forbear forcing an unfasting reception. 
 
 To -. 
 
 I do not know whether you expect me to grant you a dispen- 
 sation to eat before communicating, or to issue a direction to you 
 never to communicate unfasting. But, obviously, I have no 
 power to do either one or the other. If ever there was a case of 
 "to his own master," etc., this is one; and so far as I can see, 
 after fullest consideration, it must be left to the individual con- 
 science, and to none other, to weigh the character of that 
 " necessity " which compels a departure from the mos universalis 
 of the Catholic Church of Christ. 
 
 You are distressed at infrequency of Holy Communion, but it 
 is not due to your will, and He will make up for it in spiritual 
 communion. We must accommodate ourselves to the law of the 
 Church, not make the law of the Church suit our circumstances, 
 and break it. At every spiritual communion for the next month 
 take the Ascension as the starting-point for your thoughts. Think 
 that you are already in heaven, because you are in Him. Be 
 there rather than here ; realize that your human nature has already 
 triumphed. It is a fact : by imagination you realize it. Say, 
 why am I overborne by this humanity ? It has already triumphed 
 in Him. Why should I doubt its being nourished ? I will doubt 
 no more. In this Sacrament I take part in all that He has gained 
 for men ; I will lay all my needs at His feet. 
 
 To . 
 
 I feel deeply how much I have neglected you except in 
 prayer for you, which I think has seldom, if ever, been omitted. 
 But I am more overborne than ever with work and anxiety, and 
 I am less fit to endure. I am now more dead than alive, and I 
 see no prospect of any rest yet ; but rest is not for us hf re below, 
 and we ought to be too thankful to be employed by God to 
 minister to separate souls whom He loves, and to know that, in
 
 310 SELP-W1LL AND TEMPER, 
 
 spite of the gloom which envelops the Church visible throughout 
 the world, He is training individuals rapidly, first one and then 
 another, and moulding them, through and in the faith, against the 
 great final struggle with the Antichrist, which is nearer every day. 
 
 I am due at Bath to preach on Thursday, the nth, and am 
 
 meditating an incursion on and you on Friday, the i2th, for 
 
 a few days. ... I shall then have an opportunity for administering 
 a homily to you upon the connection between "sloth and anger." 
 
 If you will only introduce that middle term of self-will into 
 the problem, you will see how sloth grows ; and how, having 
 grown, it causes " inveteracy " in that loss of temper which is at 
 once a consequence of it and a stimulant to it. Anger, after all, 
 is but a form of the same root of evil, of which there are other six 
 forms ; and when once you catch hold of that root of selfishness, 
 you can see, with a little penetration, how they all hang together 
 and play into each other's hands. . . . God bless you ever. 
 
 To THE SAME. 
 
 . . . By all means ask to admit you into the Confraternity 
 
 of the Blessed Sacrament. 
 
 Remember, however, that such a tie, while it will im- 
 measurably strengthen your hold upon the Divine mystery as your 
 Rock and strength, and unspeakably help you to realize your 
 oneness with the whole Body of Christ, living and departed, 
 must also brace you up to more loyalty and more bravery and 
 more self-restraint, obliging you to live more constantly in the 
 Divine presence, and forcing you to turn every day and its 
 occupations into occasions of honouring God. You will feel the 
 responsibility of setting an example of devotion to the blessed 
 Sacrament, as being what indeed it is devotion to the will of 
 Jesus, in all things, great and small. . . . 
 
 To . 
 
 Easter Eve. 
 
 Try and see, in all events of the week just closing, how they 
 are our warning to us against placing our ideal of a Church, or
 
 SPIRITUAL DEPRIVATIONS. 311 
 
 of personal safety, or of the way in which our salvation is to be 
 wrought out, in things pleasant and smooth. See how there is 
 nothing but the lesson of trial, persecution, hatred, failure, and 
 all the elements most against success. Learn that we are safest 
 when most conscious of having to endure suffering for His sake 
 suffering of intellect not satisfied, of imagination not gratified, 
 of senses not indulged ; suffering bodily and mental. There is 
 nothing more hazardous than having things smooth and accord- 
 ing to our own will. Apply this in detail to the circumstances of 
 your life, inward and outward ; learn that you must be content to 
 do and bear everything that God wills for you ; learn to quiet the 
 impulses of the flesh when you are apt to be excited into self- 
 approbation or self-pleasing, or condemning and judging others. 
 See how our dear Lord dealt with those who brought charges 
 against Him the chief priests, when they charged Him with 
 blasphemy, " What need we any further witness ? " Conceive 
 what it must have been to His mind, Very God what the effect 
 of those words must have been on Him, who was Truth itself 
 to be charged publicly with blasphemy. And yet He answered 
 nothing. If we analyze His conduct before those three tribunals 
 Annas' Caiaphas', and Pilate's we find one witness against our 
 amour prnpre, our desire to have our own estimate of truth asserted. 
 His whole bearing convicts us of this dominant passion of ours, 
 which He had to bear ; He had, as it were, to mortify and subdue 
 the glory which was in Him by nature in order to bear the punish- 
 ment of our self-will. Follow out these thoughts in order to help 
 you to humility in all things. So use the light you have. Who 
 are we to desire a fraction of light ? We leave what we have un- 
 used, and then clamour for more. Try to live up to the light you 
 have to keep grace, not to lose it; it is much easier to lose 
 grace than to keep it, though we have such a liberal Giver. In- 
 stead of making progress, we too often go back, because self comes 
 
 in. Try, my dear , in all things to submit yourself; to watch 
 
 the inner life of purity, and love, and patience, and faith, and hope, 
 whereby we may approve ourselves to the Holy Ghost as belong- 
 ing to the kingdom of God, which cometh not with observation.
 
 312 EUCHARISTIC ADORATION. 
 
 There must be an external organization for the carrying out of 
 God's designs ; but when we come to individual souls, it is their 
 relation to Him which really makes the difference as to a soul 
 going further from Him or coming nearer to Him. This is our 
 consolation in perplexity and difficulties now in these times 
 when it seems as if the world were drawing to its close that in 
 spite of all outward trial, wars, and suffering, and all external 
 signs and tokens, one thing never can be touched the inner 
 relation between the children and the Father their absolute un- 
 reasoning trust, and that more and more as the end approaches 
 and the kingdom grows which cometh not with observation. 
 
 Think of the risen life which you share with your risen Lord, 
 and that that life is a life of perseverance. While you persevere 
 that life is in you. And it is made up of separate acts. You cannot 
 tell if you will persevere. You will if up to that time you perse- 
 vere, and that depends on your faithfulness to grace in life. At 
 the hour of death it is a supernatural gift ; but from now till 
 then you have it in your own power, for perseverance depends 
 on prayer. It is revealed to us in the fact that the disciples for- 
 sook our Lord because they had failed in prayer, " Could ye not 
 watch with Me one hour ? " So your perseverance and mine 
 depends on the diligent exercise of the habit of prayer. 
 
 If the Catholic faith requires us to believe in the Divine 
 presence of the Second Person of the glorious Trinity, m His in- 
 separable natures of God and Man, in the Holy Eucharist by 
 virtue of the operation of the Holy Ghost in the consecrating 
 action then the attitude of adoration towards that Presence 
 follows necessarily I will not say by the law of logic, but by the 
 law of our being, which presupposes a worshipping instinct of love 
 and fear. It is idle to attempt to formalize this proposition in set 
 terms ; but it is worse it is to my mind almost blasphemous (if 
 it were not in itself so evidently the token of imperfect faith) to 
 limit and restrain it by miserable stammering negations. But I 
 must forbear saying anything more, except to repeat that you had
 
 FAITH JN TRIALS. 313 
 
 better pray more and talk and complain less ; in your patience 
 possess your soul ; that is, command yourself in the consciousness 
 of the safety of your soul in the hands of God, " be the earth 
 never so unquiet" and the raging of the heathen never so great. 
 As yet your position is just what it has always been. . . . How 
 long this may continue to be your portion, God knows. He made 
 it for you as an individual ; you did not make it for yourself. It 
 enters into your individual probatioa Perhaps your salvation 
 may hang upon your fidelity in passing through it according to 
 His will. It is not by our "running," but by His "willing," that 
 we are saved. He can save us without sacraments ay, without 
 the Church at all if He sees fit to bring us into such sorrow as 
 that by no fault of our own, and without our own faith and union 
 (subjectively) with His Church failing, though sacraments and 
 the Church itself should be visibly lost to our eyes. You re- 
 member what I said to you at Holy Communion at one day, 
 
 with your difficulties in my mind and in my heart : " They that 
 put their trust in the Lord shall be even as the Mount Zion, 
 which cannot be moved." There is the perfection of stability to 
 the perplexed soul ; it cannot be moved, so long as it rests and 
 waits and trusts in and on Him Who is to it Light and Truth 
 and Joy and Salvation.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 LAST DAYS AT NEWLAND. 
 1873-1877. 
 
 " If singing breath or echoing chord 
 To every hidden pang were given, 
 AYhat endless melodies were poured, 
 As sad as earth, as sweet as heaven ! " 
 
 EARLY in 1873 the Vicar of Newland was obliged to sub- 
 mit to a sentence of exile and rest, and to leave England. 
 From henceforth his life was to be a struggle, most pathetic 
 to witness, against increasing physical weakness and suffer- 
 ing, though the mind remained as vigorous and ardent as 
 ever. He was upheld by hope of restored health and 
 strength, which did not leave him until nearly the end, and 
 by frequent gleams of recovery. At this time the change 
 and rest told at once on his health and appetite ; after 
 a few days' visit to Cannes, and to Mentone, to revisit his 
 old home of 1857-8, he settled himself with his wife, 
 by the middle of March, at San Remo, which was only 
 then beginning to grow into a place of English resort. 
 Here they spent many happy weeks full of repose and of 
 hope.
 
 FRIENDS ABROAD. 3 1 5 
 
 Mr. Skinner interested himself deeply in an English 
 girl who was ill in the hotel where he was staying,* and 
 whose musical talents were, after her recovery, a great 
 source of pleasure and amusement, and almost all ex- 
 peditions were made with her and with her companion 
 friend. It always seemed as though his own great loss, 
 instead of shutting his heart, had opened it, and that the 
 thought of the little grave at home had made him especially 
 tender to sick girls. 
 
 You have asked me to try and recall that time at San Remo 
 (one of the friends writes), but our days were so simple and 
 uniform that there is not much to tell. You know what a power 
 our friend had of making others happy in his company; and 
 I think this proceeded in a very remarkable manner from the 
 real love with which his heart was filled. In him kindness was 
 swallowed up by love. We never thought of him as kind, which 
 always seems to imply a certain effort and self-denial, but he 
 made us feel that his love and interest in those he cared for was 
 so real that they were always a delight to him, and that the 
 self-denial to him would be not to help them or give them pleasure. 
 There was nothing about us too little to be an interest to him, 
 or a source of endless playful comment. "The prairie bird," 
 he used to call Margaret, whose wild, fresh ways amused him. 
 Every day our donkeys, Piccina and Rattina, appeared under the 
 pepper tree in front of the hotel, and, led by little Giuseppe, 
 accompanied us in our mountain expeditions, to be used when 
 required as legs. We used to amuse ourselves occasionally by 
 
 * September 25, 1883. Since the above words were written, and while 
 these sheets are passing through the press, she too, having greatly overtaxed 
 her strength by work amongst the London poor, has passed away, Margaret 
 Leighton, youngest child of the late Sir Baldwyn Leighton, Bart. On 
 September n she dictated a few lines, saying: " I long to be by your side, 
 as I knew you were going through that happy time at San Remo. A bad 
 turn in this illness seems to bring me very near the brink of the land where that 
 dear friend is gone." On September 14 she was at Rest.
 
 3 1 6 DAYS AT SAN REMO. 
 
 trying to alarm our friend for our safety, and still seem to hear 
 his "my dear child, how you do frighten me!" at flying leaps 
 from a bank to the donkey's back. Then there were quiet morn- 
 ings on the olive terraces, among the luxuriant blossoms of the 
 gladiolus. He had always a book in his pocket, generally a small 
 volume of Drexelius, from which he used to read to us, translating 
 as he went along, and these readings often led to grave talk. 
 And the evenings, how pleasant they were in that little sitting- 
 room al terzo, which his dear wife had made homelike. It be- 
 came a home to us also. I remember one evening especially, 
 
 when M , who had been dining out, came in with her 
 
 hands full of roses which she had filled with glow-worms. Then, 
 when the days grew longer, we sometimes spent our evenings in 
 the garden; I never see the almond tree in blossom against a 
 blue sky without thinking of that garden. 
 
 We spent Easter at San Remo. There was a star which used to 
 go up with the moon ; and I remember we stayed out long after 
 dark on Easter Sunday, watching the two "lines of level light" that 
 lay near each other, sparkling and shimmering from the horizon to 
 the shore. I have never seen the same effect since. 
 
 Mr. Skinner always Celebrated himself on Sunday and Saints' 
 days ; and after the Creed gave us a short extempore address, 
 generally on the Gospel. We went with him for about a week to 
 Pegli, and then to Milan, where it was a great pleasure to him to 
 show us the Duomo, which we had never seen before. 
 
 From Milan Mr. Skinner and his friends went to Stresa 
 on Lago Maggiore, where he seemed to get better every 
 day, and where he enjoyed seeing his friend Bishop Nixon, 
 who had a lovely villa outside the town. The Rev. F. 
 Oxenham and his brother joined them at Stresa, and 
 with them made a delightful four days' trip to Macug- 
 naga, and through the Val Ansasca. Mr. Skinner was the 
 life of the party, full of fun and of delight in the pleasures 
 of the excursion, pretending to be the " padre " of his " two
 
 MONTE GENEROSO. 317 
 
 sons and three daughters." In June they went to Monte 
 Generoso, where the bracing air exactly suited him, and 
 where he had the pleasure of a visit from the late Charles 
 Harris, Bishop of Gibraltar, and his sister-in-law, Mrs. 
 Monsell of Clewer, both dear friends. There the com- 
 panions of many weeks parted .from him and his wife, 
 but only for a time ; his friendship for them was constant, 
 tender, and unchanging for the eight years and a half that 
 remained to him of life. 
 
 From Monte Generoso the husband and wife went, in 
 July, alone to Pontresina. 
 
 O, what a delightful journey we had from Mendrisio (she 
 wrote), sleeping at Chiavenna, and driving in an einspdnner 
 from thence to Pontresina, with an intelligent, amusing driver, and 
 through a magnificent country in lovely weather. But our 
 happiness was terribly clouded over as we entered S. Moritz. 
 It was full of English, and we were stopped by some friend, who 
 told us that the English papers had just brought the news of 
 the fatal accident to Bishop Wilberforce. The rest of our drive 
 was a sad one indeed. The tidings have been a shock to my 
 dear husband which he has been long in recovering from. 
 
 He writes to a friend : 
 
 Hotel Rosegg, Pontresina, St. Bartholomew's Day, 1873. 
 
 Too long a time has elapsed since I acknowledged your welcome 
 notes. . . . But I am unequal to much writing, and find myself 
 still obliged to give all I can to the "Synopsis." The almost 
 
 fierce tone of against the precious medicine of confession, 
 
 led on by the popular clamour which should be the first to 
 
 allay, has compelled me to write a much longer and different 
 preface from what I had ever purposed.* . . . 
 
 God is over all truth, and especially over His own gifts, and 
 men can really " do nothing against the truth, but for the truth j " 
 * It was never finished. See above, p. 283.
 
 3l8 LETTER FROM PONTRESINA. 
 
 so that the assaults which begin from ignorance and hostility, 
 separately or in combination, are sure to end in the greater con- 
 firmation of the blessings assaulted. Meantime, the assaulters 
 bring their own souls into grievous danger, and this is the thought 
 
 which saddens the heart, that should rush into such risks, 
 
 for their own souls and the souls of those who trust them, by their 
 attacks, almost blindfold, upon sacred things which the whole and 
 undivided Church has ever jealously guarded and retained. As 
 for ourselves in England, so for you even more in Ireland, that is 
 what I feel in this day of crisis or judgment. And I can suggest 
 nothing but prayer and an entire surrender of the issue to God, 
 
 beseeching Him to protect from themselves (who are their 
 
 worst enemies, by reason of the ignorance and weakness and fear 
 of man which are in them), and to preserve us, as individuals, 
 from all complicity, in thought, word, or act, with heresy or con- 
 tempt of the Catholic faith and worship. 
 
 Time is everything. If God will but, by His Spirit, nerve the 
 Irish Bishops, or any number of them, to veto every one of those 
 mad attempts to untheologize (if I may coin a word) the language 
 of theology upon the profound mysteries of our religion, the Irish 
 Church may not only yet be saved, but may be purged so as to 
 become the mother of many saints in a long future of blessing to 
 the land. If otherwise, she will but fulfil that just law of retribu- 
 tive justice which cannot be set aside. St. Augustine, somewhere, 
 enumerating the greatest curses of a land, reckons two, among 
 others, which I remember (i) the people left without discipline; 
 (2) the Bishops accustomed to negligence. We are, at least, in 
 great danger of these two evils, and of their consequences. 
 
 We are off to-morrow across the Bernina to the Valtelline. 
 and then over the Stelvio to the Tyrol. We shall (D.V.) reach 
 Innsbruck on Friday, and shall remain there a few days, in order 
 to rest, and to see, perhaps, the Brixlegg Passion Play. Thence 
 we proceed to England by easy stages. I am better, thank God, 
 but I am quite unfit for work, and dread the prospect of separating 
 myself from it, more than I can say. 
 
 ' s account of the dearest Bishop of Winchester's last
 
 RETURN TO ENGLAND. 319 
 
 Sunday with them was very interesting and precious to me. Of 
 course, his treatment of the " ninety and nine " was mystical ; he 
 did not mean it to be taken for the first and literal interpretation. 
 Have you forgotten that I read to you, in some of our walks at 
 San Remo, a passage from the "Angel Book" of Drexelius, quoting 
 St. Hilary and St. Bridget (after St. Ambrose), and giving precisely 
 that explanation, or rather application, which the Bishop gave ? 
 I quote the " Horologium " of Drexelius : " Mediolanensis Praesul 
 Ambrosius quosdam sentire ait numerum Angelorum nonagies 
 novies majorem esse omni numero hominum, idque confirmari e 
 Capite XV. S. Lucse, ubi de Pastore sermo qui 99 oves deserit ; ut 
 errabundam unicam reperiat : itaChristus, ajunt, Angelos deseruit, 
 et in hanc incultissimum eremum demigravit, ut humanum genus 
 ab errore revocaret. Ita sentit D. Hilarius et S. Brigita." 
 
 The bracing climate of the Engadine was of much use 
 to Mr. Skinner, and after a tour in the Tyrol he returned 
 to England, and early in November was settled once more 
 in his beloved home. Then again the accounts of his 
 health began to vary. 
 
 The cold and damp of the last few days have reduced me to 
 my old state of nervous weakness and unfitness (he says, shortly 
 after his return). I feel terribly disheartened at my weakness. 
 God help me, and bring me meekly to bow to His wilL 
 
 In December he says 
 
 I am up to very little writing, beyond what falls to me of neces- 
 sity, which is no small share. And I have been very seedy, from 
 time to time, and up to nothing. On the whole, however, I am 
 very thankful to be no worse ; and as I rest mostly on alternate 
 mornings, I manage to "get along." 
 
 So he struggled on, until the end of January, 1874, when 
 Canon King and the Rev. F. Eichbaum came to the 
 Warden's Lodge to arrange about setting on foot the scheme
 
 320 LETTER FROM FATHER BENSON. 
 
 of a Clergy House of Rest, which had long been" anxiously 
 desired by Mr. Skinner. But he took cold while standing 
 about examining the house, and for many weeks was en- 
 tirely laid up by a severe and suffering attack of bronchitis, 
 the worst that he had had for years. Yet he rallied suffi- 
 ciently to begin work again in the. middle of Lent, preach- 
 ing on March 15, sitting in the pulpit, and giving instruc- 
 tions after Evensong on week-days. " My Lents are over," 
 he said one day ; he gave the Three Hours' Meditation on 
 Good Friday, but it was for the last time. 
 
 Father Benson writes to him of the " Synopsis," at 
 which he worked whenever he had time or strength for it : 
 
 Cowley St. John, March 30, 1874. 
 
 MY DEAR SKINNER, 
 
 I have both of your letters many thanks. Your 
 "Synopsis" will be very valuable. It must have taken a vast 
 amount of labour to work it out, and the chronological table of 
 authorities is most useful. A few lines of remark I will not say 
 to each name, but to those which you are yourself most familiar 
 with expressing what school of casuistry the writer belonged to, 
 would be a very great help in letting people know what they had 
 to look for in his writings. Of course, this could not be done for 
 all the names by any one man ; but if it was only done for those 
 which you know readily, it would be a great help. 
 
 I tremble at the idea of a course of lectures, all the more for 
 its being such a short one. What to say in six lectures I really 
 do not know, but I have a programme put into my hands which 
 Wood drew up. As for books, I really grieve to say they are 
 names to me and nothing more. I never get any time for reading. 
 You speak of my work. It is a great mercy to have strength to 
 go on, but although there is not a great many years' difference 
 between us, nevertheless my work is only the reaping of the work 
 done by yourself and others a few years before I began. I hope
 
 LETTER FROM CANON CARTER. $21 
 
 you will have health restored for much work, although it may be 
 of a cloistered student character. We want some men to teach 
 us something not altogether impromptu. 
 
 May all the blessings of this season be abundantly vouchsafed 
 to you. Bodily weakness is a great gift to the soul for Passion-tide. 
 In health we may think about the Passion, but in weakness of 
 body we become absorbed into it to live by its power. 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 R. M. BENSON. 
 
 To Canon Carter Mr. Skinner writes as to the possi- 
 bility of a concordat upon matters of ritual : 
 
 Newland, April 16, 1874. 
 
 MY DEAREST CARTER, 
 
 Dr. Pusey has sent me your letter to him, but I must 
 abstain just now from the general question, as I have only time to 
 reply to the circular, and to state what I, for one, would be 
 content with as a " standard of ritual." 
 
 But I venture to differ from the suggestion which has 
 occurred to your far better balanced mind, with, therefore, the 
 greatest mistrust of my own. I mean your proposition of two 
 categories of ritual : one " absolutely required," and the other 
 " dependent on the sympathies of congregations." The second 
 category would it not be a confession of non-essential and com- 
 paratively unimportant things, of which the Bishops might say 
 with reason, " Well, if you admit that these things are to be left 
 dependent on the people's tastes, you admit they involve very 
 little ; and therefore we will cut them off altogether " ? 
 
 My own view is, that ritual is not absolutely, in any sense, of 
 the essence of worship ; though constituted as men are, they can 
 hardly worship together without it 
 
 I should think it better to put all ritual on the same footing 
 and to say, generally, that as we must have some ritual, and as 
 there is a Catholic ritual, which the use of the Christian Church 
 has sanctified, it is more according to the mind of the English 
 Church to use that which all Christendom has authorized, than to 
 
 Y
 
 322 USAGE OF CHRISTENDOM. 
 
 invent one of her own. All ritual which the Church has authorized 
 by use is the expression of the faith of the Church. There is 
 nothing which does not teach something. The importance, there- 
 fore, of the matters of faith expressed is the measure of the 
 importance of the ritual which expresses it. 
 
 I suppose there is nothing important for itself, and nothing 
 unimportant which expresses the faith ; so that anything which 
 should be left " dependent upon the sympathies of congregations " 
 ought to be, or might be, wholly excluded ? 
 
 I, for one, would rather say to the Bishops, " Here, my Lords, 
 is the minimum of ritual to which, I believe, the English Church 
 is entitled. I am quite content to be restrained within that 
 minimum, until a competent authority shall enforce a uniform 
 order of worship everywhere. If your Lordships will concede this 
 claim to me, I will pledge myself not only not to go beyond it, 
 but to submit to your fatherly counsel, in all questions which 
 may arise between me and my congregation, as to the time and 
 manner of introducing it, for the first time, in our common 
 worship." 
 
 Then the ritual with which I would be content would be 
 that generally laid down as really " lawful " by the judgments of 
 Sir R. Phillimore, based upon the First Book of Edward VI. 
 These, I think, include 
 
 1. The eastward position. 
 
 2, The vestments (priest and altar). 
 The lights. 
 
 The mixed chalice. 
 The wafer bread, 
 will write to you a separate letter on the great general 
 
 fiver affectionately yours, 
 
 JAMES SKINNER. 
 
 To a friend who had asked for information as to 
 books of plain teaching on the Apostolical Succession, he 
 writes :
 
 VISIT TO IRELAND^ 323 
 
 Newlancl, April 28, 1874. 
 
 . . . Mr. Perceval, your relation, wrote a capital tract, or little 
 book rather, upon the "Apostolical Succession," which, for popular 
 purposes, I have never seen superseded. 
 
 Ask to let your cousin read Hugh James Rose's sermons 
 
 on " The Commission of the Clergy," preached before the Uni- 
 versity of Cambridge in 1826. Sermon II. is to her point, and 
 in the Appendix, No. VI., there is an analysis of Courayer's book 
 which will interest her much. 
 
 If has the works of Jones of Nayland, in the fourth 
 
 volume is his " Essay on the Church," which is invaluable. 
 
 As the summer advanced Mr. Skinner revived, and was 
 able to conduct two priests' Retreats one at the Clergy 
 House of Rest at Malvern Link, which was now fairly 
 afloat, and of which he was honorary Warden ; the other at 
 :Stratford-on-Avon. In August he went for a fortnight to 
 friends in Ireland, and was able, on his return, to get fairly 
 through his work. He writes in September : 
 
 I have never ceased to consider how wonderfully kind all my 
 Irish friends have been, at your instigation, who are the kindest of 
 all. But, unfortunately, this consideration had no effect whatsoever 
 upon the intruders upon my time in the form of persons and 
 letters, which have, literally, never ceased since I entered the 
 house. 
 
 The numbers of men and women and priests and candidates 
 for orders who want help seems to be increasing, if I may judge 
 from those who frequent so unworthy an " oracle " as myself, and 
 the programme of our action, in preparing for our defence in the 
 coming crisis, occupies much thought and time. 
 
 Alas ! a sharp attack of bronchitis in December brought 
 a positive veto from his doctor against his venturing to 
 encounter an English spring, but he was allowed to remain
 
 324 WINTER AT CANNES. 
 
 at home until February, 1875, and writes to a friend on 
 Christmas Day, 1874 : 
 
 Thank God for His great and undeserved mercies ! I was able 
 to celebrate the early Communion, and to sing it chorally. O, it 
 was so bright and beautiful ; the altar and chancel gorgeous with 
 light and flowers and all sweet tokens of joy. The little choir 
 took me quite by surprise; I had not expected to be able to 
 sing ; but they were ready and in full force, and so I, too grate- 
 fully, led the way. We had sixty-two communicants at that early 
 hour, and in the slush of mixed frost and thaw and snow-covered 
 roads. I was very tired ; but nevertheless preached after Mattins, 
 and I have been to Evensong, and sang the office, besides taking 
 a " lusty " share in the carols. It has been an unspeakable grace 
 of God to me, to grant me, contrary to all expectation, such a 
 
 blessed Christmas Day, I only hope and pray, my dearest , 
 
 that He has been gracious to you, if not exactly in like manner, 
 yet in equal, if not greater power, by manifesting His precious 
 love to your soul, through silent and hidden tokens of His peace, 
 conveyed (it may be) all the more deeply because with so little 
 outward demonstration or cognizance of the natural sense. The 
 LORD is not " bound," even by what most helps us. 
 
 What you have missed by missing a sight of Andilly ! I am 
 disposed to quarrel with your estimate of the Spanish scholastic 
 learning created and sustained at Alcala and Salamanca. 
 
 The next letter is from Cannes : 
 
 February 21, 1875. 
 
 I have been very unwell ever since my arrival here. Never 
 has there been known, at least for twenty years, such a severe 
 season. On this side Marseilles, which is usually the introduction 
 into "paradise," we entered a country covered with snow. . . . lam 
 more and more out of humour with Cannes. Snow and hail and 
 rain and mistral and sunless days out of doors, while within are 
 nothing but draughts and chills, and miserable bois which wilt 
 not burn.
 
 SUMMER AT NEWLAND. 325 
 
 So the husband and wife went to Hyeres, which suited 
 him well, and after a tour in the Pyrenees returned home 
 in June.* 
 
 Newland, June 9, 1875. 
 
 I have been in England just a week, but most of it in London, 
 contending with furious suns and still more piercing east winds, 
 and rushing about on various necessary labours ; so that I felt 
 disposed to say, what I could not help thinking was true, that my 
 absence had done nothing for me in the way of strength and 
 power. I got home here on Friday night, all alone, and felt very 
 sad and melancholy, in spite of the joy of returning to my precious 
 church and people. ... I could hardly get through my work on 
 Sunday ; but I Celebrated and preached, and again did so yester- 
 day, and I am getting straight 
 
 I remember you and Ireland in my daily prayers, and espe- 
 cially that grand Christian gentle prelate, the Archbishop of Dublin, 
 whom I saw, to my heart's satisfaction, for a really good visit 
 when I was in town, and who kindly condescended to talk with 
 me of what hangs heaviest on his dear large heart He has been 
 most mercifully led, by the Holy Ghost, to stand as St Athanasius 
 would have stood in his place. 
 
 The summer of 1875 was fine and hot, and was a time 
 of rest and blessing at Newland. Never, perhaps, had the 
 vicar's preaching been more full of deep instruction, and 
 never had all outward things been more lovely. Once 
 more, as in past days, friends gathered around him the 
 young, in whom he delighted, and others with whom, in the 
 summer evenings when work was done, there were long 
 talks, both gay and grave, out of doors or in the conserva- 
 tory They could hardly be without fruit in the future to 
 those whom unconsciously he taught. 
 
 But as soon as the autumn and early winter set in he 
 
 * His daughter-nieces had both married.
 
 326 SPRING IN ITALY. 
 
 fell back again, and Dr. Andrew Clark thought so seriously 
 of his case that he ordered him to leave England as soon 
 as possible, and he had to submit to another winter and 
 spring of banishment and wandering ; first at Mentone 
 and Rapallo, and afterwards at Spezia, Pisa, and Florence. 
 He just held his own during this time ; always bright and 
 ready to find enjoyment, though anything requiring exer- 
 tion was a difficulty to him. At Spezia almost all our days 
 were spent in a boat on the gulf, and this suited him, and 
 gave him strength for the time, so that he could enjoy 
 strolls about the shores above Lerici and San Terenzo, and 
 was able to Celebrate on Sundays and holy days, never 
 omitting his little instruction after the Creed, although 
 only given to two or three. 
 
 April and May at Florence was also a happy time, in 
 apartments in the Via Montebello, where Mr. Skinner 
 greatly enjoyed the rest from hotels and tables d'hote, and 
 the family life, with daily drives in the neighbourhood, to 
 Fiesole, or Lorenzo de' Medici's Villa, or the Certosa, all of 
 which he made delightful to the little circle of friends wha 
 were continually together. 
 
 Early in June, 1876, he was again at Newland, when 
 his wife wrote : 
 
 I really think he is much the same as when we parted from 
 you, every now and then seeming unfit for anything, so feeble, no 
 appetite, depressed, and coughing a good deal. Then he will 
 pick up again, and be another man, and seem so much better. 
 But at best he is not good for much, and I certainly think that 
 I never saw him, at this time of year, so poorly as he is now. As 
 to our future, we seldom discuss it 
 
 He did not, of course, mend as the autumn advanced,.
 
 LAST CHRISTMAS AT NEWLAND. 327 
 
 although working and preaching through the summer ; and 
 now thought it right to consult his Bishop on the question 
 of resigning his living, as it seemed plain that he could 
 never again hope to work through a winter at Newland. 
 The Bishop of Worcester was, as ever, most kind and 
 fatherly, strongly deprecating the project of resignation, 
 and saying that so easy a post as Newland seemed exactly 
 suited to one in feeble health, since he, the Bishop, was 
 quite prepared to give leave of absence during the winter 
 months, knowing that the care of the parish would be 
 amply provided for. 
 
 Mr. Skinner returned from his interview with Bishop 
 Philpot greatly cheered, and hoping that he might be per- 
 mitted to remain in his beloved home, but the trustees 
 of the almshouses refused to give leave of absence for the 
 winter, and it was therefore necessary that he should either 
 resign his wardenship, or spend the winter in England. 
 In this perplexity, he was induced to try the effect of 
 Turkish baths at Bristol for a fortnight, and the benefit he 
 received was at first so great that he was full of hope that 
 it might please God to restore him to health. The ap- 
 parent spring towards recovery was only temporary ; he 
 spent Advent and Christmas for the last time in the home 
 and the church which he had formed ; but it was a sorrow- 
 ful time, the last effort of a strong heart to work with 
 failing strength in a climate unfit for him in winter. Those 
 who watched the struggle often felt as though he must 
 faint and die at the very foot of the altar ; and only his 
 indomitable spirit enabled him to get through the services 
 which he undertook. In February, 1877, a few weeks' leave 
 enabled him again to try the baths at Bristol, and there,
 
 328 EASTER AT BRISTOL. 
 
 cut off from all he most valued, he spent Lent and Easter, 
 a trying time, although brightened by the constant and 
 devoted kindness of Archdeacon and Mrs. Norris. It was 
 not without its fruits, even for others. " I think I learned 
 more from him, in some ways, than from any other clergy- 
 man," was said after his death by one who often came to 
 visit a friend who was with him at Bristol. " Do you not 
 remember how, when dusk came on, he used to close his 
 book, and join in our conversation ? He said things then 
 which I have never forgotten." 
 
 On Easter Eve, 1877, he wrote to an invalid friend : 
 
 I deeply sympathize with you in all the apparent loss, the loss 
 in external brightness and consciousness of joy in outward things, 
 which this discipline entails (perhaps you do know that in my 
 own little measure, I have had something of the same kind to go 
 through this Lent and Easter, so that I can have " compassion ") 
 but what is our loss in such respects in the balance over against 
 the unnumbered respects in which we are gainers through His 
 sacrament of obedience ? 
 
 Yet a few days more of hope and brightness were 
 granted to him in his home. He returned there in April, 
 and for about a month made a quick strange rally, preach- 
 ing with all his old force : appetite and sleep returned, 
 and with them strength and energy. There was one last 
 blessed Ascension Day in his church, but the improvement 
 did not continue so as to give him a prospect of spending 
 any winter at Newland, and nothing remained for him but 
 to resign his post. He went to London to consult two 
 eminent physicians. 
 
 I was not a little anxious (his wife wrote in June) to hear 
 the doctors' report of him. On the whole it was certainly satis-
 
 LETTERS FROM DR. PUSEY. 329 
 
 factory, although their verdict namely, that he must rest from 
 work for a while, and that he must not, positively, be here for the 
 winter means, without doubt, that our days at this sweet, blessed 
 home are numbered. I am looking it all in the face now, and 
 know it must be. 
 
 Amongst those who had been the most anxious that 
 this should be averted, was Dr. Pusey, who strongly pressed 
 upon his friend the duty of appealing to the trustees to 
 grant the winter's leave of absence, which the Bishop had 
 expressed his willingness to give. 
 
 I hoped (Dr. Pusey wrote) that so appealed to they would not 
 have deprived you of your home. Do you remember that out- 
 burst of Meg Merrilies to Bertram, who had deprived her tribe of 
 their home ? I ever thought it very eloquent and touching. It 
 was done then. I wish there were a Meg Merrilies to say it to 
 the trustees before it is done. 
 
 Dr. Pusey had given to the matter careful and anxious 
 consideration, and had come to the very strong conclusion 
 that, since the Bishop thought Mr. Skinner's parishioners 
 would lose more by his resignation than by his absence 
 during winter, there was no reasonable cause to deprive him 
 of his post for the sake of the small number in the parish 
 who inhabited the almshouses. He now came forward to 
 soften, if possible, the pain of leaving Newland by offering 
 his friend a post which it was hoped he might still have 
 health to fill, that of Chaplain to the Convalescent Hospital, 
 near Ascot. Dr. Pusey wrote to a friend of Mr. Skinner : 
 
 Christ Church, Oxford, May 13, 1877. 
 
 I have the greatest value and respect and love for Mr. Skinner. 
 . . . But alas ! there is no house fit for him at Ascot. . . . The 
 pines make it a wonderful air, and the ground is very dry, but
 
 330 LETTERS FROM DR. PUSEY. 
 
 there is no house for one accustomed to the thick walls at 
 Newland and its beautiful view. It is but half finished. In 
 fact, there is but one beautiful ward, an unfinished chapel, 
 and rooms for the Sisters; but splendid capacities. It seems 
 a pity to build a convalescent home elsewhere, while there 
 are such capacities here. The pines make Arcachon and 
 Bournemouth what they are; Bournemouth, the best place on 
 our southern coast. 
 
 Later he writes to the same friend : 
 
 I sent your former letter to M. E. Bertha,* but to the wrong 
 direction. 
 
 I cannot doubt but that she would be delighted with the plan, 
 only it seems too good to be realized. The difficulty is about the 
 house. . . . But this is the only hindrance. A new house takes, I 
 fear, time to dry. 
 
 Dr. Pusey was, with his characteristic hopefulness, so 
 anxious that Mr. Skinner should have the benefit of the 
 healthy air of Ascot, and the hospital the benefit of his 
 services, that the difficulty as to a house was overcome. 
 
 In another letter he says 
 
 Everything helps everything. The more efficient the present 
 work is, the more attractive it will be. I do not doubt that dear 
 Mr. Skinner, if God continues him to us, will be of the greatest 
 
 use. I hope that will be able to obtain for us subscribers 
 
 who will enable us to continue the charity to the crowded East 
 End poor, who have no other friends, yet need change of air more 
 than we in our ailments, because the air they habitually live in is 
 bad. . . . 
 
 I am thankful to hear that dear J. Skinner is better. I hope 
 he will look resolutely to whatever good work God may have in 
 store for him, and shut his eyes resolutely on Newland. He could 
 
 * Superior of the Sisters working at the Ascot Convalescent Home.
 
 COMPLETION OF FRESCOES. 331 
 
 not have stayed there without the trustees' leave,* and if he had 
 stayed there f he would have died. 
 
 On July 4 Mr. Skinner sent in his resignation as Warden 
 of the almshouses to the trustees, arranging to resign his 
 parish and to leave Newland at Michaelmas. One work 
 he had the happiness of completing during these last 
 months the painting of his church in fresco. 
 
 Begun years ago, on the east wall, in memory of his 
 child, it had been gradually continued, as offerings were 
 made for the purpose, until, by Michaelmas, the whole of 
 the nave as well as the chancel was completed, and carried 
 out on a scheme which was full of instruction as well as 
 delight to the eye. It is impossible here to describe the 
 loving and reverent care with which each detail has been 
 worked out ; the church stands alone in England in this 
 respect, and in the teaching conveyed by its walls to the 
 unlearned. But it may just be said that on the north side 
 of the nave are represented the corporal works of mercy, 
 and our Lord's miracles of mercy in the arcade above, each 
 one of the latter having a relation to the fresco beneath it. 
 Thus, the marriage at Cana of Galilee is above the fresco 
 representing " giving drink to the thirsty," and the raising 
 of Lazarus above the representation of " burying the dead." 
 
 On the south side, the parables of the kingdom of 
 heaven are represented in the upper space, and the Beati- 
 tudes in the lower arcade ; for instance, Esther before 
 Ahasuerus for " Blessed are the peacemakers," the Annun- 
 ciation for " Blessed are the pure in heart." 
 
 Every moment that could be spared during these months 
 of preparation for departure was spent by the Warden either 1 
 
 * Of absence for winter, which was required, as well as the Bishop's, 
 t i.e. during the winter.
 
 332 LAST DAYS AT NEWLAND. 
 
 in church, superintending the execution of the last frescoes, 
 or wandering slowly through the precincts of the almshouses, 
 as though taking farewell of each stone and each foot of 
 ground, often resting on the seat under the elm tree that 
 shadows his child's grave. There he was wont to talk of 
 her and of her deathbed to a friend, and to express his 
 thankfulness to God for her blessed rest. Only once he 
 almost broke down when watching his wife at a little 
 distance amongst her flowers, and said, " We must try and 
 get her a little garden wherever we go." 
 
 It is difficult for any who loved him to dwell on those 
 last days, when much of anxiety and wearing trials com- 
 bined with the sorrow of leaving his home to break down 
 what remained to him of bodily strength. " I know, O 
 Lord, that Thy judgments are true, and that Thou of very 
 faithfulness has caused me to be troubled," he had taken 
 as his special text when his daughter died ; and now he 
 steadfastly set his heart to consider the same, and to take 
 all sorrows as tokens of a Father's love. 
 
 But the frail earthly tabernacle could not but suffer, and 
 he never recovered the effects of special trials at this time. 
 Until the middle of July he continued to preach on Sun- 
 days ; then, under a strain of mental anxiety, haemorrhage 
 from the lungs came on, and he never preached again until 
 the Sunday before he left Newland. The following extracts 
 from his letters will best give the history of those last 
 days : 
 
 June, 1877. 
 
 I have made up my mind to bear the pang of separation en- 
 tirely from this place at Michaelmas. ... I suppose that I shall 
 have no choice but, being spared, to spend the winter abroad. 
 All being well, I should, I suppose, return to England about June
 
 IRISH DIFFICULTIES. 333 
 
 of next year : and it would then be an unspeakable joy to me to 
 feel that I had anything to give, in giving my poor services, such 
 as they are, to the work at Ascot. My doctor has assured me that 
 of all climates in England of which he has any experience, there 
 is not one more suited to my special infirmities than Ascot. This 
 has greatly strengthened and encouraged me to make up my mind. 
 If it be God's will to call me to .this, service at Ascot (and I am 
 comforted by the thought that both the necessity for my going 
 hence and the suggestion of coming thither are from Him), it may 
 also be His will to restore me to some renewed vigour, that I 
 may do something for Him, there, before I die. 
 
 I do not see what the Bishop of means, quite, by with- 
 drawing from the Synod, unless it is the prelude to withdrawing 
 from the Church. His withdrawal from the Synod * can but weaken 
 the cause he would serve ; unless he means to weaken the whole 
 situation by saying " it is untenable." If he means to abide a 
 Bishop of the Irish Church, the Synod wants his voice and his 
 vote, all day and every day, while it is sitting, 
 
 I fail to understand the logical consistency of 's advice to 
 
 every lay person who can do so, to leave Ireland, as a home, on 
 account of Irish Church difficulties. ... If the fact be so, that 
 there is no longer the Irish Church left to Ireland, of course I 
 understand it at once. But if the Church is still left to the 
 country, albeit under great straits and some perils, and still he 
 advises every one who can to get away, in order to escape from 
 the Church's trials, I am at a loss to know where this advice will 
 stop. We should all have to get out of England, for the same 
 reason, though in a varying degree ; and why not also the good 
 old Italian and French and German Catholics, out of Italy, 
 France, and Germany? What would be the point, in reaching 
 difficulties and perils, at which each soul who could escape would 
 be bound to pause, and say, " This stage has been reached, and I 
 must leave my country and my people ? " 
 
 * In Ireland.
 
 334 LETTERS. 
 
 July 2, 1877. 
 
 Since Wednesday of last week I have been driven to spend 
 most of my time in bed. I have not been so prostrated by my 
 chronic sickness for some years. I fear, therefore, that I cannot 
 get to Ascot quite yet, so I can only hope that both the dear 
 Doctor and you will abide there sufficiently long to enable me to 
 be sure of seeing you both. ... I am afraid I can write no more 
 than to say how deeply grateful I am to the dear Doctor and to 
 you for all your thought of me. But I wish, above all, that God's 
 honour and His poor shall be the first thought, and of me no 
 thought at all, except in so far as I may possibly assist to that 
 end. 
 
 It will never do to build for me. Build for the poor, as much 
 as you like, but not for me, except for their sake and to their 
 good. All is so uncertain. Let us leave all with God. Let us 
 pray to be kept from marring any good and gracious work by 
 thoughts of sel 
 
 July 19, 1877. 
 
 Yesterday we entered on the thirtieth year of our dear married 
 life ; and we felt that God is even more gracious to us in the trials 
 of the end, than in the sweetness of the beginning. 
 
 It has been, all through, a blessed season of patient and long- 
 suffering love and sweetness at His blessed hands ; He has made 
 our married life more and more real to us, as a sacramental figure 
 of our ineffable union with Himself, in His Incarnate Son. What 
 a joy this is ! and that we are still preserved to each other to go 
 on together, whither He shall call. How it helps us to bear the 
 blessed cross which He sends with His love ! 
 
 Has the dear Doctor seen Beresford Hope's appeal?* I 
 should like to know what he thinks of its consistency with the 
 Devon petition, which has received 41,200 signatures. 
 
 I enclose Mr. Hope's letter to me, and my reply to it. 
 
 * It was signed by several influential names amongst the clergy, binding 
 themselves not to use certain points of ritual, including vestments. Dr. Pusey's 
 answer, on being shown the document, was, " I could no more sign it than 
 Skinner could."
 
 DEPARTURE FROM NEWLAND. 335 
 
 I Celebrated (D.G.) this morning, and also on Tuesday last; 
 but I am very feeble, and am torn with cough in the late nights 
 and early morning. 
 
 August 30, 1877. 
 
 1 have not preached or Celebrated, or even occupied my stall, 
 for five weeks. I am such a wreck. But, please God, when I am 
 free from this dearest tie of my life (next to my wife) I shall be 
 better ! And I live now, in more hope of the joy of being with 
 E. B. P. and his work at Ascot. 
 
 Mr. Skinner preached, for the last time in his life, at his 
 own church on Sunday, September 23. He Celebrated on 
 the following Saturday, Michaelmas Day, and left Malvern 
 for London on the same day, with his wife. She wrote to 
 a friend on the journey : 
 
 I will try and write you a scrap to post at Reading. We 
 have really left Newland now, and I am thankful it is over ; rest 
 and repose are what we both need now. Oh, what it all has been 
 no words can tell ! But it is over now. We had a blessed 
 refreshment this morning at that dear, dear altar, and it seemed 
 quite to restore me after a very bad night, he coughing half the 
 night, and both of us too tired and too sad to sleep. But we were 
 wonderfully strengthened this morning, and have been better ever 
 since. It was most trying and touching at the time, however, and 
 I thought my dear husband must break down. The church looked 
 like Easter morning, so full, and all decorated for the festival; 
 seventy-seven received, besides others present who did not 
 receive, and the pensioners' seats were full It was a striking 
 sight, which I shall never, never forget. Yesterday, after Litany, 
 to which all the pensioners came, except Barnes, who is dying, the 
 dear Warden gave them a parting address. Every one was weep- 
 ing, some of them sobbing, and he with much difficulty from 
 emotion was hardly able to articulate. But such words ! Oh, if 
 you could have heard them and taken them down. Then when 
 he had given them his blessing, he stood on the doorstep, and
 
 336 LETTER. 
 
 shook hands with each one as they came out. I don't think the 
 first Warden will ever be forgotten. Dear old Susan, it is indeed 
 sad to see her. She is broken-hearted at losing us. She -would 
 have us breakfast at the lodge this morning, and managed so well 
 for us, borrowing easy-chairs from Sister Matilda and all that was 
 necessary for our comfort, so we had our last meal there this 
 morning. The weather is perfect, and Newland was in full beauty 
 this morning, the garden a blaze of colour. Our last act was to 
 go together to the dear grave. O, how peaceful and lovely it 
 looked ! I am sure that gratitude was the feeling which most 
 filled our hearts. You were not forgotten by us in church ; would 
 that you could have been with us. 
 
 The Chantry, Ipswich, October 4, 1877. 
 
 Just one line (the husband writes) to say I am arrived here. 
 I came last night, alas ! without my darling, who has gone to be 
 with her father at Middleton. I never saw her so thoroughly 
 prostrate ; it made my heart ache to look at her. And I well, I 
 am no better; but I think, somehow, I have been enabled to keep 
 up with less cost of suffering.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ASCOT CONVALESCENT HOSPITAL. 
 
 18771879. 
 
 " For He who once.'a Heavenly Child, 
 Came to a world not clad in bright 
 Spring-blossoms, nor in gay leaves dight, 
 But to its winter bleak and wild, 
 
 *' To faithful hearts comes evermore, 
 
 When grief has touched with finger sere 
 The glories of life's earlier year, 
 As never He had come before. " 
 
 IN the sorrow of leaving Newland, it had been a consola- 
 tion to Mr. Skinner to look forward, if it should so please 
 God, to helping Dr. Pusey in his work for the poor at 
 Ascot. A certain number of services were already given at 
 the hospital by a clergyman in the neighbourhood, and it 
 was arranged that Mr. Skinner should supplement these 
 according as health permitted. Here he spent the last four 
 summers of his life, under the same roof with his venerable 
 friend. Alas ! Dr. Pusey's sanguine hopes and expectation 
 that the air at Ascot would restore him to health were not 
 fulfilled, nor would his doctors even allow him to attempt a 
 winter in its keen air. 
 
 He spent the winter of 1877-78 at Hyeres and Cannes ;
 
 338 LETTERS FROM HYERES. 
 
 and his wife writes at this time of his suffering from " racking 
 cough both day and night, making no way at all. He is 
 so feeble, I feel sadly out of heart sometimes, but try to 
 hope on, and practise patience." 
 
 The extracts which follow of letters from him and from 
 Dr. Pusey will best tell the story of the last years. 
 
 To a friend he writes : 
 
 Hyeres, January 2, 1878. 
 
 It is impossible for me to put off any longer expressing, with my 
 own hand, how much you have been in my prayers all this holy 
 tide, and how earnest is my hope that it may please God to restore 
 you to some degree of health and strength, if it be His will, for 
 the greater enjoyment (as we count it) of His other gifts. Sickness 
 and weakness are His gifts as much as health and strength : it may 
 be lawful to hope for the latter if it be His will ; but it is most 
 acceptable to be content yes, even to rejoice in the former if the 
 latter be denied. I have volumes to say to you on this head, and 
 a very fountain of comfort to which I would fain direct you, but 
 I must yet ask you to task your dear patience a little further. I 
 am never yet able to write without suffering. But it is all with the 
 Blessed God, who orders the life of His servants, not as they will, 
 but as He wills. 
 
 Good Friday, 1878. 
 
 I must just put in a line of love and blessing on this, in one 
 sense the saddest, and in another the most glorious, day in all the 
 year, as this year it synchronizes with the day of your birth. May 
 all the glory of the day at which the angels eternally rejoice be 
 present to bless and comfort you, and to sweeten all the sadness of 
 it wherewith it may please God to bring you nearer to Himselr 
 through suffering. I think one learns by experience that whatever 
 helps us to patience and humility contributes more to our spending 
 Good Friday well, than any flood of " opportunities " and " privi- 
 leges " in outward things. You are always in my thoughts and
 
 LETTERS FROM DR. PUSEY. 339 
 
 prayers, as a disciple in the school of patience, wherein I, too, 
 have need to be a more diligent scholar. 
 
 Expectans expectavi should be our daily " words to take with 
 us." God give to you and me this spirit, more and more. I have 
 been sorely troubled, lately, for my dearest brother's sake, and all 
 his dear ones, who are so loving and united. But God will bless 
 it * to them all, I know. 
 
 Dr. Pusey writes in February, 1878 : 
 
 God seems to be gathering the wheat into His garner so fast 
 among those whom one knows, that one can anticipate nothing 
 about dear Mr. Skinner. My great hope is in his illness. For 
 those are called away whom one did not expect, and those who 
 are not strong hang on. Five whom I know well have been called 
 away since Christmas, and now we are uneasy about dear good 
 Sir Williaraf 
 
 Later on he says : 
 
 I am thankful to hear the improved account of dear Mr. 
 Skinner. As for his infirm health, it is the very thing which, in 
 God's providence, gave him to us. Had he been in better health, 
 he would have been in active work elsewhere. The only thing he 
 has to be careful about is not to do too much. Mr. Roberts can 
 still do whatever he does now, and dear Mr. Skinner can supple- 
 ment it with whatever God enables him to do. So I hope he will 
 put that worry aside, and in the words of the hymn 
 
 " Do the little I can do, 
 And leave the rest to Thee. " 
 
 It is an understood thing that the house is his when, and as long 
 as, he can use it. 
 
 In March Mr. Skinner went to Cannes, where he had 
 another attack of haemorrhage from the lungs. He writes : 
 
 * The death of Mr. Charles Skinner's son, Edgar, who was killed by a fall 
 -from his horse. 
 
 t The late Right Hon. Sir William Heathcote.
 
 340 RETURN TO ENGLAND. 
 
 Cannes, May 21, 1878. 
 
 My wife has said how ill I have been again, so no more of 
 that. My doctor says I shall (D.V.) come right, but it will be 
 the work of a long time and great patience ; so I take up my 
 parable and say, " As for me, I will abide patiently upon the 
 Lord, for in Him is my trust." There is no such cure as that. 
 
 However, my doctor has quite resolved it for me, that if I am 
 alive, I must go abroad again for the winter. 
 
 The mind, as is natural with so corruptible and corrupt a 
 weight upon it, is good for very little. But I try to keep up my 
 heart, and to hope on, relying on the unfailing mercy and love of 
 our dearest Lord. I knoiv, that if it be His blessed will, and for 
 the good of any who are dear in His sight, He will use me for 
 His purposes, and strengthen me for His use ; if otherwise, He 
 has other ends for me, which He will accomplish in His own 
 way. And so I abide in Him, and leave the issue where alone it 
 is safe. 
 
 I never felt myself, before, how truly one is but a pilgrim 
 passing by in this shifting and uncertain world, and how good it is 
 so to feel and so to be. 
 
 In July, 1878, Dr. Pusey had arrived at Ascot for the 
 long vacation. Mr. Skinner was also settled in his new 
 home, and Dr. Pusey occupied his own rooms under the 
 same roof, but was too infirm to take any services at the 
 chapel of the Convalescent Hospital nor was Mr. Skinner 
 ever able to Celebrate there. But he frequently gave in- 
 structions and addresses both in the chapel and the ward, 
 and those to whom he ministered felt in their inmost hearts 
 that, in his own words, God did indeed use him for the 
 good of those dear in His sight ; he quickly won the 
 enthusiastic affection and gratitude of both Sisters and 
 patients, to the former of whom especially his instructions 
 were fresh life.
 
 CONVALESCENT HOSPITAL. 341 
 
 One who was at Ascot during the last days before he 
 left it for the winter wrote : 
 
 On Sunday last he gave a most touching and powerful address 
 on death. But I must tell you a remarkable thing, that the Sun- 
 day before his address was on "final perseverance." A very 
 awful sermon it was, and yet very comforting and most helpful. 
 Just towards the close of it Sister Frances was called out of 
 chapel, and she was just in time to say the last prayers for poor 
 Jane, who died a few minutes before the end of the service. 
 Almost the last words she spoke (I think Sister Frances said they 
 were her last), just before we went in to Evensong, were, "O, 
 do let me go and hear dear Mr. Skinner preach ! " She had 
 been much moved, the Sisters said, by the instructions he had 
 given in the ward. Certainly he is really valued by the Sisters 
 and the patients. 
 
 He wrote a paper about this time, at Dr. Pusey's request, 
 setting down certain principles which he thought it im- 
 portant to observe in the constitution of any religious 
 community. Of this paper, which has disappeared, he sent 
 the following " Abridged Heads " to a friend : 
 
 I. "Popularity." (Dr. Pusey had objected to me that "popu- 
 larity" was not an end to be desired by the community.) " There 
 is a good sense," I said, " of ' popularity ' in which it may mean, not 
 what the people will in order to pleasure and gratification, but 
 what the people need in order to profit and happiness, and in 
 this higher sense I must avow my conviction that, in order to 
 practical usefulness, a religious community in England must be 
 'popular.'" I illustrated my conviction by the fact that, within 
 fifty-seven years of the promulgation of the " Charter of Love " 
 (which was a " new departure " for the religious houses of the 
 West under the Cistercian rule), their establishment grew to 
 five hundred all over Europe, not because the new rule pan- 
 dered to popular tastes^ but because it met the needs of human 
 nature.
 
 342 RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES. 
 
 II. Liberty. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is 
 liberty." This dictum involves the contrast between the spon- 
 taneous and loving exercise of the Christian intellect and will 
 and heart, and the servile tyranny of fear and obscurity, in the 
 work of obedience. The whole question of obedience, in its 
 nature and limits, was continually present to the minds of superiors 
 and governors in religious houses, viz. how the wills of the many 
 are to be harmonized into one. St. Bernard's treatise, "De prsecepto 
 et dispensatione," has been thought authoritative, and he pro- 
 nounces against the mechanical instruments of an Abbot or a 
 Prior's will " Nihil me Prcelatus prohibeat Jiorum qua promisi^ 
 nee plus exigat quam promisi" etc. 
 
 III. The Good of the whole Church, The provision that all 
 should be free exists in order that all may be edified and profited. 
 Good or evil to the whole body of the Church is inevitably in- 
 volved in these communities. Experience, therefore, soon re- 
 quired that none could be set up or carried on, except under 
 laws approved and enforced by the Bishop of the diocese in which 
 they are placed. It came to be defined by canon that all 
 superiors must bring their administrative orders into conformity 
 with such laws, and go neither below, nor beyond, nor beside, nor 
 against them. 
 
 IV. The Authority of the Bishop. The recognition of the 
 Bishop of the diocese, as supreme under Christ, lies at the 
 foundation of religious houses from the beginning, and from the 
 Council of Chalcedon to the Council of Trent it is the subject of 
 canonical enactment 
 
 V. The Authority of Chapters. It was found, as early as the 
 rule of St. Benedict, that there was no safeguard to liberty, or 
 to episcopal authority, within religious houses, except through 
 the exercise of constitutional rights by Chapters. According to 
 the privileges granted to the Benedictine rule, there is nothing 
 to hinder a general or even a provincial Chapter from dispensing, 
 interpreting, modifying, explaining, removing or relaxing, for a 
 time or for ever, the whole body of the statutes, or from adapting 
 obsolete rules and usages to present times and needs, or from
 
 ELECTION OF SUPERIORS. 343 
 
 decreeing them entirely de novo. St. Benedict's rule was for 
 superiors "to do nothing without advice." 
 
 VL Superiors and their Election. Superiors were never chosen 
 but by the Bishop or by the Chapter. By the date of the 
 Benedictine rule (A.D. 526) the Bishop had lost the exclusive 
 power, and the provision (chapter 64) runs, " The Abbot must be 
 elected by the whole community, or at least by a majority; and 
 if they make a bad choice, the Bishop or the Abbots of other 
 houses, or even the faithful of the neighbourhood, may interfere 
 to hinder it." 
 
 This rule was universal in the West. 
 
 The appointment of a superior for life was found an intolerable 
 burden very early, and the house of Monte Cassino demanded 
 from the Pope that no Abbot should hold office for longer than 
 three years at one time. The (so-called) General Council of 
 Latran confirmed this concession which the Popes were forced 
 to make ; and the annual ordinary Chapter and the triennial 
 disciplinary Chapter became compulsory all over the West. At 
 the latter Chapters all questions of reform, and of observance of 
 rule, were debated and settled, the place of meeting for the next 
 Chapter was declared, and not only were all officers appointed 
 for each house .for the next three years, but all delinquent 
 superiors and others (if any) were punished or deposed. 
 
 The terrible winter of 1878-79 was severe even at 
 Cannes, where Mr. Skinner arrived early in November, and 
 he was very ill indeed from that time until the middle of 
 January, often too weak and suffering to leave his bed. 
 
 I lay it all to the weather (his wife wrote), which, though less 
 cold, is miserable. To-day is like an English November, and 
 sunshine seems as far off as ever. One of the St. Paul's clergy 
 Celebrated in our room for him on St. Stephen's Day a great 
 comfort ; the first time he had received since we left Ascot. 
 
 To a newly ordained priest he wrote i
 
 344 LETTER TO A YOUNG PRIEST. 
 
 Cannes, Alpes Maritimes, St. Thomas's Day, 1878. 
 MY DEAR , 
 
 You have been in my heart and in my prayers all the 
 week; and on this day, on which the blessing so earnestly 
 desired for you has, I trust, come down abundantly upon you, 
 I make haste (as well as I can) to send you my congratulations. 
 
 I am not well, and have other letters I must write, so do not 
 measure my love by the length of my letter. There is matter in 
 my mind for a volume, if such an infliction would not be a 
 calamity on you. It may therefore be somewhat fortunate that 
 I have strength for no more than a short note. 
 
 I have observed that you put on your M.A. gown on the last 
 degree day ; so that you have now, by the blessing of God, 
 arrived at what in one sense may be called the culm of your 
 aspiration in academical and ecclesiastical affairs. The " master " 
 is at the top in his own sphere, or faculty, within the university, 
 and is possessed of all the franchise which is needful in seeking 
 (if he be so minded) to teach in the university or to take part in 
 its government. And the priest is at the top, in his own unearthly 
 dignity within the Church, for all purposes for which the ministry 
 exists for teaching through the Word, and for binding up and 
 feeding souls through the blessed sacraments. . . . My earnest 
 and affectionate prayer to God for you is, that He may increase 
 in you, day by day and year by year, the light by which you may 
 grow in the estimate of the priestly office as He sees it, and the 
 grace by which you may be enabled more and more to live the 
 priestly life, and to work the priestly work, for no selfish ends, but 
 simply for His honour and glory. 
 
 I hope you will not think that I am sermonizing you (for that 
 would make me miss my aim) if I add a word or two of affec- 
 tionate counsel, out of the consciousness which God has given me 
 of my own grievous failures, all through my thirty-seven years' 
 ministry, and especially (for want of knowing better) at the begin- 
 ning of it. 
 
 I. About one's meditation or daily mental prayer. It is a 
 steady and persistent habit of this alone that will keep one up to
 
 THEOLOGICAL READING. 345 
 
 the mark. As one is remiss in this, one begins to fail in energy 
 and heart and efficiency in everything. To the priest it is life 
 and breath : it keeps God before him always as the end of his 
 work ; it keeps souls before him always as the subject of his 
 work; and it keeps self ^1 a. distance as the main hindrance and 
 impediment. One learns to pray every moment "relinquam me, 
 inveniam Te." I say nothing of the capacity which one receives 
 for aiming higher and for accomplishing more, through the very 
 increase of consciousness, as to weakness and humiliation which 
 one receives. 
 
 II. About one's celebration of the sacraments. It was some 
 years (alas ! many) before I ever found out why it was, probably, 
 that my ministration, especially of the Blessed Eucharist, was so 
 cold and so perfunctory in itself, and so little, apparently, fertile 
 in fruits of conscious progress in grace. 
 
 When I had learnt never on any account to Celebrate without 
 saying my office of " Preparation," and never on any account to 
 leave ofif after Celebration without saying my office of " Thanks- 
 giving," I found out, by the gain which God gave me, how great 
 had been the loss which my past ignorance (for it was nothing 
 else) had entailed upon me. 
 
 Let me entreat you to acquire the blessed habit, and never to 
 leave it off. Never go to your Celebrations in a hurry : be in 
 church twenty minutes, or fifteen before, in order to have time for 
 your " Preparation," and remain in church the like time for your 
 <: Thanksgiving ; " and do not care to ask or to know what other 
 men say or do about it. ... 
 
 III. About theological reading. Now the time has come for 
 you to begin. At the top you are in one sense, and no more 
 examinations need cramp your liberty. But you are really at the 
 bottom, in view of the overpowering heights which lie before you. 
 I know that you do not set up to be a " student," in the sense of 
 a profound scholar and reading man ; but up to a certain mark 
 every priest, the humblest as well as the greatest in intellectual 
 gifts, is bound to be a student in the Divine science of theology. 
 The difficulty has always been in the choice of subject-matter, so
 
 346 LETTER FROM DR. PUSEY. 
 
 as to husband time and not waste that measure of ability which is 
 variously dealt out to each. Now, let me choose a book for you, 
 which (with your Bible in the Greek, or Hebrew and Greek) may 
 serve for a summary of theological science "The Sentences of 
 Peter Lombard." Don't be frightened at it. The value of it as 
 a help to systematizing and methodizing all your sacred studies is 
 simply enormous. Persevere with it ; a little every day. Make 
 notes as you go on, and don't be deterred by crabbed bits of 
 mediaeval Latin. Unless you keep up your Latin, you will never 
 read to any purpose. If you can get a fellow-curate to read it 
 with you, so much the better ; and don't be scared by the word 
 " schoolmen." Take people as you find them ; seize upon their 
 virtues, let their vices go. P. Lombard may be said to have 
 founded " the schools ; " but while he gave us the inestimable 
 benefit of their method and order and system, the vices of their 
 technicalism did not come till long after him. 
 
 ... I have now pretty well tired myself, and I dare say have 
 also exhausted your patience, though if you know how I love you, 
 and what I would give to insure your being a happy and a faith- 
 ful priest, you might bear this, and much more that I might say 
 to prove it. 
 
 Once more, God be with you always ! 
 
 Your very affectionate 
 
 JA. SKINNER. 
 
 FROM DR. PUSEY. 
 
 Christ Church, Oxford, First Sunday after Epiphany, 1879. 
 
 MY DEAREST FRIEND, 
 
 I have been anxious about the effect of this very 
 severe winter upon you. I have been afraid that you might have 
 suffered less if shut up as I am in England. If we could have 
 foreseen it, I think you would have been better off in my upper 
 story, which in God's providence Cardinal Wolsey built for me. 
 I have been here one-seventh of the time since he built it. This 
 floor is impenetrable to cold, and I can air the rooms by changing 
 them.
 
 EASTER AT CIM1EZ. 347 
 
 I have been longing to hear of you. Has it ever occurred to 
 you to try Algiers ? I have heard of consumptive persons being 
 sent there with advantage. Malta was the one place where 
 Froude lost his cough. France seems to have suffered from cold 
 more than England. At least, we hear of wolves driven from 
 their quarters in the Pyrenees to Lyons. 
 
 ... I hope that, please God, you will be able to give some 
 gentle help next summer in your original office of resident chap- 
 lain which you kindly undertook. But we must not wish you 
 more than God gives ; " Le rien ne demande rien, excepte Dieu 
 toujours et en toutes choses." 
 
 With kindest wishes to Mrs. Skinner (which includes especially 
 your own health), 
 
 Your most affectionate 
 
 E. B. P. 
 
 Easter was spent, with friends who had joined him, at 
 Cimiez, which suited him well, but he was unable to Cele- 
 brate, His Lents were indeed " over ; " he could but 
 " keep " the Three Hours on Good Friday lying on cushions 
 in a lovely garden near Vitali's Hotel. 
 
 From Cimiez they went by San Remo and Cornigliano 
 to Varese, where he spent Whit-Sunday, and, to his great 
 joy, Celebrated for the first time since leaving England. 
 Then by slow stages to Nauheim in Hesse, to consult a 
 doctor of great repute in such cases as Mr. Skinner's. 
 
 Nauheim, June, 1878. 
 
 I am much afraid that I cannot yet speak with any certainty 
 of the future, as Dr. Beneke says I am " one old ffaus, and varra 
 much out of repair" and though something may be done, please 
 God, to relieve my suffering and discomfort, there is little, or 
 nothing, possible to be hoped for in the way of cure. I had two 
 hours' most interesting conference with Dr. Doellinger at Munich. 
 There is no symptom of failure about him, though he is eighty. 
 He is true as steel to conscience and truth.
 
 34 8 VISIT TO DR. DOELLINGER. 
 
 The following are notes of this visit written at the time : 
 
 Visited Dr. Doellinger at Munich, n, Von Ter Tann St., 
 Tuesday, June 17, 1879, fr m I2 to 2 P- m - 
 
 i. Newman. 
 
 Had never intended to wound him not even that the opinion 
 expressed about him should be published ; this through indiscretion 
 of a correspondent who had written to ask for opinion of present 
 position of Church polities. But now, having been challenged 
 to defend his own accuracy as to the consistency of Newman's 
 writings with Ultramontane authority, he had a great mind to prove 
 it by an induction of examples, (i) St. John had great difficulty, 
 though sent to Rome for the purpose, to keep the " Apologia " off 
 the " Index." (2) The whole theory of the development dogma as 
 advanced by Newman runs so counter to the infallibility theory, 
 that the book could not fail to be condemned if it were known and 
 read. Pope Leo probably never read it, and would not be in- 
 terested in it (not a theologian but a statesman). He would read 
 Newman's defence of the temporal power, and this would suffice 
 to commend him for the Cardinalate, added to the great personal 
 merits of the case. 
 
 Asked Doellinger to explain Newman's reference to the Fourth 
 Council as an explanation of the open position left by the Vatican 
 Council, and he could not. The Fourth Council absolutely 
 closed the definition of the faith to the whole of the Occidental 
 Church, whatever difficulties might have remained standing in 
 the East. 
 
 " Newman's influence," he said, " over Congregations, studies, 
 Propaganda, Rites, will be nil in his absence from Rome : no case 
 ever heard of in which an absent Cardinal is consulted. Hergen- 
 rother will reside and will influence. His wholesale defence of 
 everything done by the Roman Curia as perfection makes his 
 promotion natural; but in Germany, in spite of his respectable 
 learning, such blind partisanship made him laughed at by those 
 who know anything." 
 
 ii. Rome.
 
 VISIT TO DR. DOELLINGER. 
 
 " Not a glimmer of hope that anything done in the past will be 
 undone. The prospect as dark as darkness, till the Providence 
 of God reveals the day of justice to all the nations and all the 
 Churches, which will certainly be ; and there will then be a great 
 change everywhere, though we shall not live to see it. But what 
 is even a generation, much less a lifetime, in the sight of God 
 working out His own will ? Meantime the deliberate encourage- 
 ment by authority of unscrupulous ways in treating historical 
 truth leaves no room for hope." 
 
 1. Manning. " I was in London," Doellinger said, "in 1851, 
 when Manning had just been received into the Roman Communion, 
 and he called on me to express his grateful thanks for being the 
 means of this event, in that I had first taught him to believe that 
 truth was possible to a Roman Catholic theologian : heretofore he 
 had felt that Roman Catholics were compelled by their system 
 to reject truth, but since he had read my historical manual, he had 
 learnt, for the first time, that historical truth was paramount as 
 the foundation of theology. This same man, even before the 
 Vatican decree was pronounced, made a violent attack upon me 
 because I had been so absurd as to declare that truth was a superior 
 power to any authority whatsoever, maintaining that the Church 
 represented by the Pope has power to gainsay truth ! " 
 
 2. The latest theological light in Rome is a certain Vincenzi 
 (to whose work, " De Sacra Monarchia," the Quarterly Review 
 called Doellinger's attention), Professor of Theology in the Roman 
 University,* and Keeper of the Vatican archives. His theory is 
 that the Old Testament contains in figure not merely the principle 
 but the personate of Church government, (a) He finds in Moses 
 and the priesthood a variety of dignified offices and powers 
 which no theologians have hitherto discovered ; and (fr) he 
 proceeds to clothe the Pope with the whole discovery. But 
 coming to the history of the Church, he finds the whole body of 
 conciliar authority absolutely silent on the subject not so much 
 as an allusion to these powers in any ancient Council or decree. 
 What can possibly have happened but one thing the historical ac- 
 
 * Commonly called the " Sapienza."
 
 350 .VISIT TO DR. DOELLINGER. 
 
 counts of Councils and decrees must have been forged or tampered 
 with ? There is no other view of the case which will suit the dis- 
 covery ; therefore this is the correct view, and such a book is put 
 forth permissu superiorum. 
 
 3. '' A certain Italian bishop," Dr. Doellinger added, " named 
 D'Avenzo I think of Calvi has recently attacked myself in a 
 pamphlet in which he asks whether it is possible for a man like 
 Alfonso Liguori, a canonized saint, etc., not to have known and 
 acknowledged and understood what he was knowing and acknow- 
 ledging, when he admitted the Isidorian frauds ; and Dr. Avenzo 
 therefore argues that, when Liguori defended his moral theology, 
 it was NOT upon their authority, and that I was to be condemned 
 for my imputation to the contrary. But what took place was 
 this. I had said that among Italian theologians, of which two, 
 who had been canonized, had adopted the Isidorian decrees 
 St. Thomas -Aquinas and St. Alfonso Liguori everybody 
 knew that the first had been deceived into his belief; but 
 that as to the second, while in the prolegomena to his " Moral 
 Theology " he had been careful to tell the world not to trust to 
 the authority of the Isidorian decrees, in the body of the book 
 itself he had taken a whole catena of quotations from the decrees, 
 word for word, and appealed to them as authority. Of course 
 Bishop d'Avenzo might have seen this for himself if he had 
 pleased ; but it would not have enabled him to attack me, and to 
 have been made one of the latest batch of Cardinals." 
 
 iii. Old Catholics. 
 
 " I know very little of what is passing ; no progress here : have 
 ceased to take much interest since I had cause to disapprove of 
 some of the courses taken." 
 
 " As to Loyson hopelessly damaged in public character in a 
 country like France, where a married priest, much more a monk, 
 is an object of dislike and suspicion, not only among the faithful, 
 but among heretics and unbelievers no cause committed to such 
 hands could prosper." 
 
 "As to Bishop Eden and episcopal jurisdiction you must 
 distinguish. There are three theological lines
 
 SEA VICES A T AS CO 7. 351 
 
 *' (i) Of the high Roman : by which the moment a Bishop, even 
 the Pope, becomes heretical in doctrine, his jurisdiction ceases. 
 
 " (2) Of the Catholic : by which his jurisdiction is received so 
 long as his doctrine is the doctrine of the national Church to 
 which he belongs and from which he derives authority. 
 
 " (3) Of the (say) Calvinistic bodies : by which jurisdiction 
 departs as in No. (i). 
 
 " If Bishop Eden takes either (i) or (3) as his principle, his 
 episcopal licence to Loyson may be defended ; and the Archbishop 
 of Paris should be the last to complain, since it is his own view. 
 But if Bishop Eden takes (2), which is the view of the late Bishop of 
 Brechin, his course is quite indefensible ; neither is there any case 
 in the history of the Church of a Bishop passing into another's 
 diocese to give help to the oppressed Church, save on the invita- 
 tion of the Church oppressed. But there is no such invitation 
 from Paris." 
 
 On taking leave, and thanking, and asking him to England 
 " not given up the hope." 
 
 Retains his Provostship of the Royal Chapel, and chaplaincy 
 to the King, who is with him in heart Work carried on by the 
 Deans and Canons under him, who are asked no questions, and 
 therefore (though, at heart, four of them are entirely with him in 
 opinion) say their Mass. 
 
 Retains also his professorship, and his nominee lectures for 
 him in theology. The Archbishop refused to accept any who 
 attended his lectures. 
 
 No " silver lining to the cloud " visible as yet ; but truth will 
 prevail, and what is time in the sight and the will of God ? 
 
 By the middle of July Mr. Skinner and his wife were 
 again at Ascot, and although the summer of 1879 was un- 
 usually cold and wet, he was able to give an afternoon 
 service and address almost every Sunday to the inmates of 
 the hospital, and an instruction on Fridays to the Sisters, 
 besides Celebrating frequently in his private oratory. He 
 says of himself
 
 352 THE HERMITAGE. 
 
 The Hermitage, Ascot, August I. 1879. 
 
 Of course, such a season as this has been most trying to 
 delicate people ; but I must not delude myself or others by sup- 
 posing that all my failing is due to weather. I am much less fit 
 for everything than last year, and can neither read, nor speak, nor 
 walk, nor work, nor attempt anything, with half so much power. 
 My consciousness of debility and helplessness is far greater. . . . 
 
 . . . The dear Doctor comes to me, and I to him, besides the 
 occasional meetings in the wood. He is all sweetness and love, 
 and I never saw him more vigorous in mind, nor do I find him so 
 deaf as last year. He is very keen just now on an answer he is 
 preparing to Farrar's mischievous speculations, which have, I 
 suspect, led that rather unfledged theologian into deeper waters 
 than he knows how to fathom. The Doctor is, of course, quite at 
 home on these intricate and subtle distinctions of the Rabbinical 
 writers of the second century ' about Gehenna, and is exposing 
 Farrar's ignorance in appealing to traditions which really tell the 
 other way. I have been working up one or two points for him, 
 such as the witness of Josephus to the Jewish belief in the eternity 
 of punishment, though queerly mixed up with speculations about 
 the transmigration of souls. . . . He wants me to undertake a 
 translation of the "Acta Martyrum," to which he largely appeals 
 as evidence of simple faith, in a simple believing age, of simple 
 minds, in the eternity of joy and the eternity of suffering which 
 God has revealed to man. But I am past all work, I fear ; for 
 even a long talk tires and excites me, and one hour's work utterly 
 breaks me down. 
 
 But, this year, no one seems able to hold up against the atmo- 
 spheric troubles except the dearest old E. B. P., who is perfectly 
 well, and works all day, while I can do nothing. 
 
 Almost daily notes passed between the friends ; here is 
 one from Dr. Pusey written at this time : 
 
 MY DEAREST FRIEND, 
 
 Would you kindly let me look at Brucker again? I 
 cannot understand St. John ix. 2, except as involving that the
 
 VISIT TO NEWLAND. 353 
 
 disciples supposed some transmigration possible. Wisd. viii. 20 
 would be true of the Incarnation ; however, I suppose it need not 
 imply pre-existence of the soul. If you have A Lapide's " Com- 
 mentary," I should be glad to look at it on St. John and Wisdom. 
 I fear that the weather must prevent your getting on ; me it 
 only keeps in the house, but I use the old remedy of Sir H. 
 Halford, the physician of George III., for old people a small 
 fire and an open window. 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 E. B. P. 
 
 I have been rather better the last few days (Mr. Skinner wrote on 
 Sept 3). Dearest E. B. P. has been very much out of sorts, in 
 the rainy weather; he is now himself again, and sits out all day 
 and every day. I was enabled (D.G.) to minister at the deathbed 
 of dear little Fanny, the smiling child who suffered from spine 
 disease. She suddenly collapsed, dear child, and had a time of 
 fearful suffering in death. I never witnessed a longer "agony" 
 a proof, doubtless, of our dear Lord's love for her ; but what a 
 mystery ! She will be dreadfully missed, and the whole scene 
 was most touching. 
 
 Malvern Link, September, 1879. 
 
 And now of Newland, The weather here is simply horrible, 
 every day more or less wet, and all the country damp and chilly 
 to the last degree. But the hearty and tender welcome which all 
 of every degree grant me touches me deeply. The dear old 
 people whom I am seeing by degrees refresh me. Dear old 
 Moulden (in bed and a great sufferer) wept like a child, and held 
 my hand as if he could not let it go. Old Robert Lawrence, 
 ninety years of age, with his eyes full of tears : " Oh, if you could 
 but say the last words over me ! " I have not been nearer to my 
 old home than the opposite side of the quad. ; I dare not enter. 
 Perhaps I may gather courage before I go. I have great comfort 
 in the church, and go and pray, and examine over and over again 
 the lovely walls, and say my Te Deum in thanksgiving for it, to 
 Him whose it is. HE has quite taken away all regret that I can 
 
 2 A
 
 354 LETTER FROM DR. PUSEY. 
 
 no longer call it mine in any sense ; and He makes me glad in 
 the thought that I had ever anything to do with making it His. 
 Many of the people speak of you and your visit here with such 
 gratitude, thinking it so kind of you to have come to tell them 
 of us. I have not been able yet to communicate anywhere here, 
 but I hope to receive at Newland before I go. I was, thank God, 
 able to receive at the funeral of dear little Fanny at Ascot, the 
 day before leaving. 
 
 Mr. Skinner hoped and intended to try and spend this 
 winter at Ascot, but in October his doctor positively forbade 
 his attempting it, and, as he shrank intensely from the 
 thought of a journey and foreign hotels, sanctioned his 
 trying some sheltered place in England, recommending 
 Bath. There he took up his winter abode. Dr. Pusey 
 remaining at Ascot, wrote to him at Christmas : 
 
 Feast of St. Stephen, 1879. 
 MY DEAREST FRIEND, 
 
 All Christmas blessing be with you and yours. This 
 fighting does make one sick at heart Melanchthon in his late 
 years used the prayer A rabie Theologorum, Libera nos, Domine. 
 We have great need of the angels' prayer : " On earth peace, good- 
 will toward men." 
 
 I am glad that you are well housed ; if you have escaped fogs, 
 on your hill, it has been a marvellous escape. We had a bright 
 November here, but this month, since the thaw, summer and fog 
 have alternated. I have escaped all cold by being shut up, and 
 yet have had air. 
 
 What I hear is most believed is that Jeune, out of instinctive 
 reverence, refused to put in evidence the consecrated wafer, and 
 that it is certain that neither Lord Penzance nor he believed that 
 It was. But that It was, somehow. The Archbishop's letter 
 was a cold one, but did not contain unbelief. I wrote to thank 
 the Archbishop for having recovered It, in the name of tens of 
 thousands.
 
 LETTER FROM DR. PVSEY. 355 
 
 I hope that the Bath chair is owing to the steepness of the 
 hill-side, not to any want of strength ; but I fear that the power of 
 Celebrating early has not yet returned. 
 
 You will be glad to hear that Mrs. 's munificence has 
 
 obtained a locum tenens for the Bishop of Capetown's nephew, 
 Mr. Gray, and that he is to be here for four months. 
 
 The dove-cotes * look very well They are finished, all but 
 the last coat of paint. We must pray for doves to fill them. 
 
 I am again at work on Fan-ax's mischievous book, but the 
 tide has been rolling on meanwhile. M. B. thanks you and Mrs. 
 Skinner for your kind wishes for her and the Sisters, and asks me 
 to give you her most cordial wishes in return. 
 
 Ever yours very affectionately, 
 
 E. B. P. 
 
 New buildings at Ascot for the Sisters*
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 LAST SUMMERS. 
 1879-1881. 
 
 ** Yes ! let the fragrant scars abide, 
 Love-tokens in Thy stead, 
 Faint shadows of the spear-pierced Side, 
 And thorn-encompassed Head. " 
 
 THE winter and spring of 1879-80 were spent by Mr. 
 Skinner at Bath, which suited him better in every respect 
 than the Riviera. But he was seldom able even to go to 
 church, and the extracts of letters which follow tell of no 
 real improvement. He occupied himself in translating the 
 " Manuale " of St. Augustine into English odes, published 
 under the title of " Ccelestia." 
 
 Bath, Shrove-Tuesday, 1880. 
 
 Our weather is now what people call "delicious," but the 
 contrast to what we have had is too great and too sudden for me, 
 and I drop down into the jelly-fish stratum of life without power 
 of revival I have just come in from a long drive over the Combe 
 Down ; it was refreshing ; but I am very tired, and somehow letter- 
 writing tires me more than anything else, though there is nothing 
 else that I do, to make up for deficiencies in that. 
 
 I have just got the Wilberforce Life, and have glanced through 
 it. How curious that your Archbishop began his acquaintance 
 and intimacy with him by leading him to inquire into mystic and
 
 LETTER FROM DR. PUSEY. 357 
 
 scholastic theology ; and how his mind seemed to seize upon the 
 former as the evangelizing element in the mediaeval system ! But, 
 somehow, all through, there seems a poor and disappointing 
 standard, taken for granted as the highest, . . . elevated, by his 
 amazing faculty, into ecclesiastical statesmanship. 
 
 Second Sunday in Lent, 1880. 
 
 How more than kindly are the words of the good Archbishop 
 about my two literary bairns ! I am greatly encouraged to go on 
 and finish the " Synopsis." I get on very slowly with my preface, 
 the difficulty being to omit and compress. And I am so soon 
 tired out, that an hour's work finishes me up. 
 
 Wednesday in Easter Week, 1880. 
 
 This is really my Easter Day \ I have not been able to get my 
 Easter Communion till to-day. I therefore write on my glad day 
 to you, to wish you every blessing that the good God may order 
 for you, even through suffering and privation, in order to your 
 rising, the more, with Him Who must needs suffer before He 
 entered into His glory. 
 
 Dr. Pusey wrote after the death of his only son and his 
 own severe illness : 
 
 Christ Church, Oxford, Saturday in Easter Week, 1880. 
 
 My DEAREST FRIEND, 
 
 The exhaustion of that night was so great that, notwith- 
 standing the great mercy of God to me in it, I was laid up for 
 some weeks, and although I thanked God for having preserved 
 me such a son for nearly fifty years, I could not read the letters 
 which were written in such kindness to me. When I could read 
 them I still could not write of them. 
 
 God was indeed very good. My dear son was cut off from all 
 human aid. He was for those six hours insensible to the outer 
 world. He could hear absolutely nothing, nor feel anything. I 
 did not dare give him the Viaticum because something returned 
 from the stomach. I did not dare even moisten his lips with the
 
 358 RETURN TO ASCOT. 
 
 Blood of Christ But God was with him. Towards the end, the 
 nurse said to me, " He must be going now." I looked at his face. 
 You remember that his features were plain ; but there was a calm 
 heavenly beauty such as I think I have never seen. Others told 
 me that it continued as long as it could be seen. God must have 
 been speaking to him, and left that superhuman beauty. Thanks 
 be to Him. 
 
 Since I have been able to use my brain, Acland advises me to 
 take up what work I could, so I have taken up my often inter- 
 rupted pages, " What is of faith as to everlasting punishment ? " 
 in the hope of also meeting some popular objections. 
 
 I have seen incidentally that you have been able to write 
 to the Times, so I hope that the confinement and the cold have 
 not increased your ailments. 
 
 You will be glad to hear that the Bishop of Oxford has, at 
 the instance of the Mother and all the Sisters and Novices of 
 the society, consented to become Visitor. He wrote a very 
 cordial letter, promising to take an interest in the society. . . . 
 
 Let me hear how you are. 
 
 Your very affectionate 
 
 E. B. P. 
 
 Early in May Mr. Skinner returned to Ascot. 
 
 The Hermitage, May 18, 1880. 
 
 I have not been able to write to you, first, on account of the 
 trouble attendant on leaving Bath, and next on account of the 
 trouble of settling here. Unhappily, I caught a bad cold on 
 Whit-Sunday, when I gave Evensong and an address after having 
 Celebrated, in my own oratory, in the morning. I do not think 
 that I have attempted so much since I left Newland, and I do not 
 think I should have been any the worse if it had not been for the 
 bitter wind and icy cold of the chapel. Poor Sister G. was so 
 very anxious that the Sisters and patients (of whom there are many) 
 should not lose all spiritual brightness and help on such a grand 
 festa, that I could not resist making an effort. And I believe 
 that I did right in trying, and that " my soul received comfort,"
 
 VISIT TO NEWLAND. 359 
 
 though my poor broken body has come to a little extra grief. 
 The cold of this place is far in advance of Bath, nevertheless it 
 is most sweet and reposeful, and freshening and invigorating, and 
 both I and my dear wife felt (for, I think, the first time) what a 
 comfortable, homey, cheery, summer pied-ti-terre had been, under 
 God, provided for us. 
 
 Before Mr. Skinner's return to Ascot this summer, his 
 wife wrote : " He is so feeble ! I now have hardly a ray of 
 hope that he will ever be able for any work relating to his 
 holy calling." 
 
 Yet, as often before, his mind conquered the body, and 
 he frequently gave instruction at the hospital during the 
 summer. In August he paid a visit to his beloved New- 
 land, staying with his sister at Malvern Link. His wife 
 notes in her journal : 
 
 Aug. 12. At five o'clock went to Evensong at Newland, and 
 James went into his old place in the stalls (Mr. White being 
 absent), and read the Second Lesson. It seemed like a dream, 
 and yet so natural. The place was looking its very loveliest, my 
 garden blazing with flowers. 
 
 " I felt nothing but thankfulness and happiness," she 
 wrote to a friend at this time ; " all other feelings were 
 taken away from me." 
 
 Dr. Pusey was at times during this summer unable, from 
 increased deafness, to carry on conversation ; he writes to 
 Mr. Skinner, alluding to a friend's illness, although under 
 the same roof : 
 
 September 28, 1880. 
 MY DEAREST FRIEND, 
 
 Thank you most kindly. I had heard that your wife 
 had said that she had nursed the dear daughter, whom God took, 
 through an attack of gastric fever once, and I was thinking that I
 
 360 LETTER FROM DR. PUSEY. 
 
 might ask her what remedies were used. But I hesitated because 
 of all the sorrowful reminiscences. For one can look back on a 
 whole, not on details. 
 
 The saddest of all losses are those which were brought on by 
 mismanagement, as this of dear Lowder's. It always comes to 
 one, " if he had not," etc. God overrules it, but it seems less 
 His doing than what He does directly. However, one would not 
 disturb his brother's brightness. But his brother might be glad- 
 dened with the thought of dear J. H. N., when, in those early 
 'days, I was regretting some loss of one who might have done so 
 much good : " Perhaps they may do more for us there." Tell 
 him this with my kind regards. 
 
 We must not lose courage at anything. Only think of the 
 days when the whole world groaned at finding itself Arian, or 
 Liberius and Hosius apostatized, or when emperors extruded 
 orthodox Bishops, or a general Council had to anathematize 
 Honorius, or the Robber Council which began in all due form, but 
 where a Patriarch of Alexandria countenanced a Patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople being kicked to death ; or that century when Baronius 
 says the only good of the Popes was to continue the succession, 
 and our Lord seemed to be asleep in the boat, and they were 
 afraid to wake Him up, lest He should come to judge them. 
 
 I suppose that the kingdom of God and the kingdom of dark- 
 ness will grow on together. Did you happen to see in the last 
 Church Times a paper by a Wesleyan, in which Dr. Rigges was 
 quoted as saying that " never in the history of the Church was 
 there such a revival as that in the Church of England in the last 
 thirty years " ? 
 
 Poor ! One ought to pray for him more. 1 heard that 
 
 he said, probably some years ago, that he supposed that the 
 Resurrection would have to be considered an open question. 
 
 But Cardinal Newman has said of late years that he had rather 
 have to do with the open unbelief of this century, than the secret 
 unbelief in the Middle Ages. 
 
 As for the Supreme Court in 1850, I, too, was one who over- 
 rated the mischief of its wrong decisions. It made Baptism an
 
 LETTERS FROM DR. PUSEY. 361 
 
 open question judicially, and the belief has grown ever since. 
 Some one asked Parker why my book on Baptism did not sell 
 now. He answered, "Nobody wants it, because nobody ques- 
 tions the doctrine. Controversy has gone to the other sacra- 
 ment." Mr. Capes must exaggerate ; such shamelessness can only 
 injure those who identify themselves with [him. But his letter 
 shows that consciences must be awake, although his is asleep ; 
 else he would not have to give them a narcotic. I am only 
 afraid of people's tempers and their using [their own nostrum of 
 disestablishment and ejection of Bishops from the House of Lords, 
 and wish there were more of the spirit of the old Tractarian days : 
 " Stand still and see the salvation of, God." There is a great 
 work going on among the young men at Oxford, notwithstanding 
 the evil ; but the darnel shows itself by its gaudy colours, while 
 the corn ripens uninjured by it. With every good wish, 
 
 Your very affectionate 
 
 E. B. P. 
 
 Ascot Priory, October, 1880. 
 MY DEAREST FRIECND, 
 
 My pleasant time is to be over on Saturday. My in- 
 iirmities have been a great hindrance to our seeing one another. 
 I have given up hearing long sentences, though your voice is so 
 clear, for fear of misunderstanding what is said. 
 
 I have written what I could to poor , for it is soothing to 
 
 have one's hopes echoed. " Out of the deep " issues in " O Israel, 
 trust in the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with 
 Him is plenteous redemption." 
 
 I have written a useless letter of remonstrance to , saying 
 
 that in all this agitating there are two parties whom we leave out 
 of consideration, of very different importance, but one of very 
 great weight ; with the other we have a very intimate relation 
 Almighty God and ourselves. 
 
 In our early Tractarian days we used a prayer out of Daniel ix., 
 with other prayers of humiliation and for internal unity. J. H. N. 
 drew them up at my wish. Now we seem to do nothing but bark 
 at and devour one another.
 
 362 LAST CELEBRATION. 
 
 But there is no use in complaining, except to God. 
 You or Mrs. Skinner will tell me how you fare in this coming 
 week. 
 
 Your very affectionate 
 
 E. B. P. 
 
 On October 14, his wife's birthday, Mr. Skinner Cele- 
 brated in his oratory, with her and one other friend. He 
 never Celebrated again. 
 
 By the end of October he was again settled in Bath for 
 the winter. He writes at the opening of the year 1881, 
 which was to be his last on earth : 
 
 Just one line, my dearest , to convey to you my heart's 
 
 best wishes, and my soul's best prayers, for every blessing in the 
 year which begins to-day. 
 
 How little, happily, we can know of what it will bring forth ; 
 but how safely may we commend it and ourselves to God ! 
 
 February 8, 1881. 
 
 You will be glad to hear, at length, that I can say I am a 
 little better, and suffer less, in that struggling for breath, amidst 
 paroxysms of coughing, which has lately been so frequent. ... I 
 am writing a note to E. B. P., who has sent me his letter to 
 Liddon with the title of " Unlaw or Judgments," etc. A wonderful 
 effort at his age, betokening not only his unabated skill in mar- 
 shalling details, with confusion and yet with power, but his bravery 
 and chivalry in defence of truth, and his quiet humour, not without 
 
 sarcasm and malice cache, in bating an offender like . Get it 
 
 and enjoy the telling little bit about the " raw theologian from 
 Belgium," and the cut at the " four tutors." Church's article in 
 the Nineteenth Century is also extremely well done ; it is so quiet 
 in its strength. 
 
 February 28, 1881. 
 
 Oh, my dearest , how my heart bleeds this morning for 
 
 that poor sorrow-stricken sister at , and indeed for all of you
 
 LETTERS FROM BATH. 363 
 
 who loved and treasured that noble soldier * whom God has 
 suddenly summoned to His courts, where arms are no longer 
 needed. 
 
 The only thing that compensates is that they must all have 
 been prepared, at any time, to hear of a soldier's death, for one 
 so stationed in the very forefront of danger ; and more, prepared 
 also that he should win the highest of all a soldier's aims, the crown 
 of loyalty to duty. 
 
 It must be further a source of sweet consolation to his friends 
 to know how his heart and his head were alike devoted, from the 
 beginning of this most miserable war, to the duty of conducting it 
 with as much humanity and righteousness as the circumstances 
 would admit. Oh, what a gloomy prospect lies before the country, 
 and what stricken hearts and desolate homes are now bearing 
 witness to the cost ! The 58th Regiment seems to have been 
 all but annihilated. I see no possibility now of the Free State 
 emerging from the fray, and what will become of the Mission and 
 the many English there, God alone knows. 
 
 I can write on no other subject, my heart and head are so full. 
 of this. Let us besiege the Throne of Grace with prayer. 
 
 March 15, 1881. 
 
 I have been wanting sorely to write to you for many days past, 
 and have not . been able. . . . The change in my general strength 
 this year is very marked ; I am far more feeble and worn out ; 
 and my power of rallying after severe paroxysms of cough and 
 breathlessness is far less. Fiat Voluntas Dei. These are tokens 
 of His love, beacon-i\\g me on to the end. I am quite unequal 
 to any literary work now ; I fear I cannot, anyhow, get on with 
 my paper f on J. K.'s book. I am days together without the 
 power of even thinking about it, far less of writing. And yet I 
 have worked up so much of it that it would worry me most of all 
 to give it up altogether. 
 
 * Sir George Pomeroy Colley. 
 
 t A review on Mr. Keble's " Outlines for Meditation" (Parker and Co.),. 
 promised for the Church Quarterly.
 
 364 LETTERS FROM BATH. 
 
 I return you all the Lowder papers. Many of those letters 
 bring back to my eye his father's quiet, grave, subdued, almost 
 afflicted, yet bright and genial face, and his mother's very sweet 
 and gentle, but very impressive character, as they both almost 
 idolized their son. 
 
 I send you the letters which have passed between E. B. P., 
 M. B., and me, since dear Roberts' death left the poor place 
 in famine. The position now is simply this that whenever there 
 is any priest forthcoming to occupy the house as resident chaplain, 
 I make way for him. 
 
 What a new horror is this from St. Petersburg]! God help 
 us ! " The days are very evil, the times are waxing late," sure 
 enough. May He keep us near Himself in truth, and justice, 
 and mercy, and love, in all our thoughts and words and acts, 
 that we may not fail when the Judge is " really at the gate." 
 
 March 23, 1881. 
 
 I have not had you less continually and warmly in my heart 
 and prayers, that I have not said so sooner in this time of your 
 mingled sorrow and joy sorrow for the irreparable loss to your 
 sight, and joy for the unspeakable gain to the soul of that precious 
 aunt just gone home. Yet God can make up to you for what you 
 must miss, in that ever-teaching face of love and sweetness, and, 
 still more, in that living example of high-souled faith and good- 
 ness ; He can bring all her lessons of the past more vividly " into 
 your remembrance," and can enable you, with more zeal and 
 purpose of heart, to follow them. But nothing could take the 
 place to her of that perfect rest and still more perfect fulfilment of 
 all her longings after God, into which she has now passed. So 
 it is soon made clear that her gain is ineffably more to be joyed 
 over than your loss is to be lamented. 
 
 I love to think of her as with the " saints," who, even in Para- 
 dise, are "joyful with glory" and " rejoice in their beds." 
 
 How beautiful is the symbol of " bed " expressing the repose 
 of the inmost soul, with the conscience cleansed and rested, 
 through the precious Blood !
 
 THE LAST EASTER. 
 
 Conceive, therefore, of that dear tender conscience, ever con- 
 scious of God's eye, and ever straining to please Him, ever awake 
 to the dangers of self-will, and ever eager to avert them by acts 
 of duty in obedience, in humility, in almsgiving, in prayer, in 
 sympathy with suffering, above all, in appointed worship and 
 devotion, conceive of it now and for ever at rest in peace, on 
 shore, at home ; and you will not fail to identify dear Lady Helena 
 with the thousands gone before who are "joyful with glory" and 
 "rejoice in their beds." 
 
 I wish I could write more, but I had another bad night, and 
 am not able, and I am unwilling to delay longer saying something. 
 
 Easter Thursday, 1881. 
 
 I am still sorely crippled, and am, by the will of the Blessed 
 God, carrying my poor little cross into the Easter festival. But 
 I have had comparatively two easier nights ; and I am hoping 
 (D. V.) to throw off the acute pain before the end of the festival. 
 Dearest Eichbaum comes to give me my Easter Communion on 
 the eighth day. 
 
 All blessing be on you to-morrow, your natural as well as 
 supernatural birthday for, surely, in our dearest Lord, you were 
 reborn with Him when He rose from the tomb, raising, as He 
 then did, our common humanity, and setting it for ever free from 
 the bondage of death. 
 
 May 6, 1881. 
 
 I am as before, suffering bad nights and mornings alternately 
 with the enjoyment of greater repose. But I never shall be any 
 better ; and my mind is quite made up to the enjoyment of suffer- 
 ing, or rather of such patience as it shall please the Blessed God 
 to grant me through grace and the cross of His dear Son. We 
 are now beginning to think of our departure from Bath ; and I 
 am a little dreading the colder air of Ascot in this very backward 
 season. But we do not really go thither till the week after next, 
 and by that time summer may have set in, at least in promise. I 
 think it will be my last use of Ascot, and of all that your love 
 provided for me there.
 
 366 LETTERS FROM DR. PUSEY. 
 
 The resolution to give up his home at Ascot was 
 strongly opposed by Dr. Pusey. 
 
 Christ Church, Oxford, March 6, 1881. 
 MY DEAREST FRIEND, 
 
 Nothing seemed to me less likely than that you should 
 not occupy the house which was built for you, as long as God 
 should leave you to us. M. B. thought the acceptance of your 
 offer to resign it out of the question. She said, " It is Mr. 
 Skinner's as long as God shall continue him here." ... It is a sad 
 issue of the bright hopes with which I invited you to be chaplain 
 before that winter abroad, and must have been heavy upon you. 
 But it has been His will. 
 With every good wish, 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 E. B. P. 
 
 To another friend Dr. Pusey wrote in June : 
 
 It is all very disappointing, sadly disappointing to Mr. Skinner, 
 who looked forward so brightly to so much usefulness. But 
 
 " In disappointment Thou canst bless, 
 So love at heart prevail. " 
 
 I wish that Mr. Skinner would not think of moving. And, 
 after all, God alone knows whether we shall be able to have a 
 resident chaplain. ... I cannot bear the idea of dear Mr. Skinner 
 moving. I know what the moving of those books would be ; it 
 would be too great an effort to put them up again for me. I 
 should leave them in their boxes. We do not know yet that the 
 house would be of any use to us. 
 
 Sir W. Gull is taking great interest in Ascot, so that is a 
 bright streak. 
 
 It was true, as he felt himself, that there was a marked 
 increase this year in the weakness and suffering, against 
 which that brave, hopeful spirit had struggled for so long.
 
 LAST WORK. 367 
 
 The lovely summer of 1881 did not, as formerly, bring him 
 any relief or strength ; only it enabled him to sit out, 
 often for hours each day, on the lawn of his little garden, 
 and to enjoy the perfect air and peace. He occupied him- 
 self continually, chiefly out of doors, with collecting and 
 sifting materials for the life of his friend Mr. Lowder, 
 written at this time at his wish and suggestion. This was 
 a great interest and delight to him throughout the summer, 
 and was indeed his last work. 
 
 How vivid is the remembrance of the daily life that 
 last summer, and of the picture which cannot fade from the 
 heart the worn but beautiful form and face, looking only 
 "like an excuse for the soul remaining on earth," the 
 trees and flowers which were a pleasure to him his wife 
 gardening and then resting by him, or going to and fro 
 between his study and the lawn, bringing him papers and 
 books. 
 
 He could never Celebrate now, or give addresses at the 
 hospital, but some priest came every week to stay with him 
 for a night, and to Celebrate in the hospital chapel. And 
 then in the early loveliness and stillness of those summer 
 mornings, the heavenly Food was carried from the altar to 
 him who had hoped to minister there himself. 
 
 Ascot Hermitage, June 25, 1881. 
 
 MY DEAREST , 
 
 A thousand thanks for your tenderly affectionate letter 
 on my birthday, and for all the " pretty " things contained in it. 
 I wish I were worthy of a little fraction of the superabounding 
 love which God gives me. 
 
 I have now entered my sixty-fourth year of grace, and find 
 myself (in mercy to my soul) withdrawn from many a field of 
 work which I have previously wasted or misused (God grant it
 
 368 LAST VISIT TO NEWLAND. 
 
 may not be abused) in the years that are passed. The time 
 which remains to me is all due to this one call, of contrition and 
 preparation for judgment, which presses on me more than I dare 
 say to any but God. I hope that you will pray for me without 
 ceasing, that I may be "accepted at that day" through the 
 precious Blood, in which is all my hope and trust 
 
 So many thanks for all your painstaking detail about my 
 beloved St. Barnabas', though of course I have been over the whole 
 of it with Alfred Gurney, and marked, with mingled feelings, 
 every token, obliterated and left, of the original times. 
 
 August 8, 1 88 r. 
 
 The Doctor gave us rather an alarm this morning, but he is all 
 right again now. He has been overdoing himself lately, with the 
 preface to Philip's book on St. Cyril; and he has taken poor 
 Green's imprisonment most piteously to heart, and the failure of 
 the appeal to the House of Lords. 
 
 In September Mr. Skinner went for a week's visit with 
 his wife to Malvern Link, and spent much of his time at 
 Newland. It was his farewell visit to his dear old friends : 
 every one thought him much more failing than in the 
 previous year, and he was only able to lie in an easy-chair 
 in the " sick chamber " (a bay looking into the church) for 
 service. 
 
 Nothing could have been more delightful to me (he writes, a 
 few days after his return to Ascot) than my Newland visit this 
 year ; I enjoyed it thoroughly, and bless God for His goodness in 
 suffering me once more to make it Though fewer and fewer of 
 the old pets remain, they seem to have gathered in the more love 
 to give me, as their numbers diminish. 
 
 We are already taking first measures for our great move ; and 
 work and anxiety connected with that rather appal me, but, like 
 all things else, it will have an end. 
 
 Mr. Skinner wrote the following letters a few days
 
 ST. ATHANASIUS. 369 
 
 before leaving Ascot, to two friends who had applied to 
 him for advice as to the best books to read up in order to 
 write an essay on the subject given by the Archbishop of 
 Dublin to the " Church History Class " connected with a 
 college for girls which he had founded : " Estimate the 
 debt which the Church owes to St. Athanasius and St. 
 Augustine respectively," 
 
 Ascot Hermitage, October 15, 1881. 
 
 As ta St. Athanasius and St. Augustine, you ask me to do what 
 would be hard if I was myself and among my books ; but being 
 between " the pillar and post " of a forlorn house without order 
 or anything but confusion, and without one book to refer to, you 
 ask me to do an impossibility. 
 
 Meantime, and until the Archbishop goes to Dublin for what 
 he wants, I advise his daughters to talk to him a great deal about 
 the writings which distinguish the two great doctors, to pick his 
 brains, and to extort, from his reading of the original sources (the 
 only safe authority for her essay), the estimate respectively of 
 what the Church owes to each, considering the time and the 
 circumstances at and under which God called each to labour. 
 
 E.g. L How He called up St. Athanasius at a time, from 
 Constantine to Valens, when the Church was exposed to the two 
 formidable fires of secular favour and spiritual deceit, to deliver 
 the truth, and to witness for it by his life and death, upon the 
 foundations of Christianity the mystery of the incarnation of 
 God and the doctrine of the ever-glorious Trinity. 
 
 How God gave him the courage of his convictions (Athan., 
 "Contra Mundum"), as shown in his apologies to Constantine, 
 and " De Fuga sua." 
 
 How, also, the Church learnt from him that depth of inner 
 life which orthodox Christianity presupposes, as the effect in all 
 who really believe the truth ; and which cannot but manifest itself 
 in the mortified lives of those whom God calls to witness. See his 
 view of the solitary's dedicated life, and his " Life of St. Anthony." 
 
 2 B
 
 370 ST. AUGUSTINE. 
 
 Read the Funeral Oration of St. Gregory Nazianzen on St. 
 Athanasius, and what St. Jerome says of him in his " Scriptores 
 Ecclesiastic!." 
 
 II. Then not to compare the two together (which were not 
 wise), but to speak of St Athanasius as the master and pioneer 
 and forerunner in the glorious arena of conflict for the truth, or 
 of St. Augustine, nearly a century later, as the disciple, outrunning 
 the elder champion, not in zeal, but in breadth of operation and 
 in wealth of weapons. 
 
 Consider his marvellous accomplishments and many-sidedness 
 his culture in grammar and scholarship, in dialectics and 
 rhetoric and music, in all of which he not only knew but taught. 
 
 How he formulated Christian morality into almost a science : 
 gave laws to the religious life, and exhibited the first example of a 
 community doing active work for God. 
 
 How he shone before the Church as an inteq^reter of Holy 
 Scripture, and laboured, never with more delight to himself, or 
 blessing to the faithful, in exegesis of the Divine Word, the Old 
 Testament and the New. 
 
 Finally, what a treasury of dogma God gave him to build, to 
 be a bulwark and a resource through all time, for the safe guidance 
 of souls amid the shifting sands of human opinion. 
 
 Negatively, against Jews and Pagans, Stoics and Epicureans, 
 and Manicheans, against Priscillianists, Origenists, Arians, Sabel- 
 lians, Pelagians, Donatists, etc., etc. Positively, upon grace, and 
 predestination, and election, and all the sacraments of the Church. 
 
 DEAR , 
 
 I wrote some helpless words to M . Since writing I 
 
 have got my October number of the Church Quarterly. There is 
 a grand passage upon St. Athanasius (in which I cannot mistake 
 the master hand of Dean Church). It is on pp. 224 to 227, and 
 I greatly commend it to you. Yoitr point of view must, however, 
 be historical, not theological ; it occurs to me, as, possibly, the 
 most profitable reading for you, to gather up the estimate of the 
 two great doctors taken respectively by such different minds as
 
 LETTER FROM DR. PUSEY. 3/1 
 
 Fleuri, Mosheim, Giesler, Neander, Doellinger, in their histories, 
 and to strike your own balance. It will be profitable for you to 
 see Dr. Bright's two recent volumes of St. Athanasius. 
 
 I asked my great neighbour to tell me what he advises you to 
 read, but he has not yet replied. When he does, I will send the 
 result to you. 
 
 Hermitage, October 16, 1881. 
 
 DEAR , 
 
 The dear Doctor wrote the enclosed yesterday, after all ; 
 you will perhaps let me have the letter again, as everything is in- 
 teresting which he writes now in the end of his days, still so full 
 of keen mental strength. 
 
 It occurs to me to say that no " estimate " of St. Augustine's 
 work for the Church of God can afford to disregard his remarkable 
 power as a philosophic writer taking Christianity from the stand- 
 point of the intellectualist, and vindicating for it the highest claim 
 to the dignity of the perfect philosophy. 
 
 There is a beautiful chapter, drawing this out, in the " Con- 
 naissance de Dieu " of Pere Gratry I think the fourth chapter, 
 entitled " La The'odice'e de St. Augustin." 
 
 Ever yours most truly, 
 J. SKINNER. 
 
 I did not tell him that you are the " young lady " so inquiring, 
 lest he should say, as well he might, " Let her take her pitcher to 
 the well that is overflowing at her side, and it will be filled." 
 
 FROM DR. PUSEY. 
 
 October 15, iSSi. 
 MY DEAREST FRIEND, 
 
 The lady would find a good deal, I think, in Bright's 
 Church History, up and down. Especially she would find 
 facts ; which are, of all things, most valuable. I will send you, 
 please God, a notice which I have written, at Dr. Bright's request, 
 to a new volume of St. Athanasius's later treatises. His notes are 
 all condensed information. J. H. N.'s notes of St. Athanasius 
 {of whom three volumes were translated in the " Library of the 
 Fathers ") are a mine of wealth condensed.
 
 3/2 LETTER ON ST. AUGUSTINE. 
 
 The answer which the young lady has to work out is that 
 St Athanasius was the defender of the faith against the various 
 shapes of the Arian and semi-Arian heresies which tried to replace 
 the Creed at Nicasa ; and St Augustine of the doctrines of grace 
 against the Pelagian and semi-Pelagian heresies. 
 
 If she has this 'on her mind, she will be able, I think, easily 
 to fill out what she wants by the aid of Dr. Bright's " History of 
 the Church." 
 
 13, The Paragon, Bath, October 30, 1881. 
 DEAR , 
 
 It has occurred to me, since I wrote to you, that no 
 estimate of St. Augustine's work for the Church would be com- 
 plete which left out the part he took in sanctifying the prin- 
 ciples of justice and equity (justitia et jus), and presenting the 
 Church of Christ as the true tribunal for the settlement of all 
 strife. 
 
 Later down in Church history, you see the high offices of 
 state and of justice held by dignified ecclesiastics ; but it was 
 then too often, alas ! the Churchman sunk in the lawyer or the 
 statesman. But what St. Augustine typifies is the Bishop and 
 shepherd of souls, gathering up into his own high spiritual dignity 
 the office of judge and peacemaker, and absorbing the last in the 
 first; while he is, in the process, laying the foundations of law 
 deep down upon Christian principles. 
 
 St. Ambrose, his great master, led the way. He (St Ambrose) 
 tells us, in his commentary on the hundred and eighteenth and 
 hundred and nineteenth psalms, that the Church should suffer no 
 departure from the strict principle of " justice " in dealing with 
 discipline, lest excommunicated persons should too easily extort 
 restoration from the laxity of spiritual judges ; he dreaded the 
 contagion of sin, when once men saw the road back again to 
 reputation made easy. 
 
 St Augustine seems to have worked on his master's lines, and 
 it is certain that the [impression which his judicial labours made 
 upon his age was very marked ; he makes us greatly regret, now,
 
 CHARACTER OF ST. AUGUSTINE. 373 
 
 how utterly the Church has lost this essential part of her wealth 
 of blessing for " society." 
 
 Posidonius, in his life of St. Augustine (ch. xix.), details how 
 he (St. Augustine) would often spend whole days, fasting from 
 dawn to " the hour of refection," in hearing and settling causes 
 {causas forenses) ; and how, in the short intervals between the 
 evidence of one witness and another, he would make appeals to 
 the litigants, to compare their progress, or their fallings off, in the 
 Christian life ; reproving sinners publicly ', yet with such care and 
 wisdom that none were offended. He used to call this sort of 
 labour " a parergon" or occupation by the way. " How can a 
 man preach or meditate on the sacred writings in a very whirlpool 
 of business ? " he would ask. " Easily : by always treating the 
 occasion and the clients with some word on holy things." Thus, 
 he would suggest to the traders and merchants who came for his 
 decisions, " Thou foolish one, this night thy soul, etc., and then, 
 whose shall thy riches be ? " 
 
 All sorts of every rank resorted to him, to resolve questions 
 of law in money, lands, flocks, etc., etc. 
 
 In his book, " De Opere Monachorum," he avows that, person- 
 ally, he would much rather be occupied in the cloister, without dis- 
 traction, in alternate prayer, study, and manual labour, than in the 
 perplexing office of interfering between litigants and their anxious 
 claims ; but he insists that this was an apostolic duty prescribed by 
 St Paul (i Cor. vl i, etc.) to all resident Bishops, and especially 
 to himself (as he modestly thought), one of the " least esteemed " 
 in the Church (" contemptibiles, qualis ego sum "). He dares not 
 shrink from it. He adds that the patient discharge of it brought 
 abundant consolations ; he was the servant of the Church, and 
 especially of those members who are the weakest. 
 
 Commenting on the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth psalms, he 
 describes, in detail, the sort of difficulties attending judgments 
 which the Church had to solve : how, if the decision was in favour 
 of the rich, a charge was made of fear lest greatness should be 
 offended ; if in favour of the poor, then came a charge of oppres 
 sion of the rich, in order to vulgar popularity, etc. So the secular.
 
 374 LETTER FROM DR. PUSEY. 
 
 authorities were glad to be relieved, and not only left the Church- 
 to settle all disputes, but declined to hear appeals against her to 
 themselves. 
 
 In a word, we seem to see in St. Augustine the typical Bishop, 
 ruling his flock, in externals and internals alike, upon the principle 
 of the Church's " motherhood" in all things, to all her children. 
 You have the type of the episcopal " court of audience " the 
 shadow, at least, of which remained in our own episcopal courts 
 of first instance until (i) the Pope, and (2) the King, took all 
 jurisdiction, virtually, into his own hands. Now, here in England, 
 the Church has no authority whatsoever as a judge, but has yielded 
 all to the Crown, or rather to the Parliament, which is not 
 believing. 
 
 In new countries the Church might reassert her place as the 
 appeaser and adjuster of all disputes ; you might persuade your 
 African Bishop to walk in the footsteps of the great doctor and 
 saint of Hippo, and to reinstate the "court of audience" at 
 Bloemfontein. . . . 
 
 We unite in most respectful regards to the Archbishop and 
 
 Mrs. T , and in love to F and yourself, while I ever am, 
 
 dear 
 
 Most truly yours, 
 
 JA. SKINNER. 
 
 Mr. Skinner gave up his home at Ascot on October 18. 
 The Sunday before, he gave a parting address to the Sisters. 
 in the chapel, his last ministry of any kind, and bade 
 them farewell. 
 
 FROM DR. PUSEY. 
 
 Ascot Priory, October 13, 1881. 
 
 MY DEAREST FRIEND, 
 
 It is very, very sad, as all partings are. I had so hoped 
 that this would have been your home, until God should call you 
 to your everlasting home. I had such bright dreams of your 
 future usefulness here when told me of your thinking o
 
 DEPARTURE FROM ASCOT. 375 
 
 work in a convalescent hospital, and I said of your coming here, 
 " It is too good to be true." It is very, very sad, and although 
 my loss of hearing cuts me off from much intercourse with those 
 whom I love, yet it is pleasant to be under the same roof with one 
 who loves one and whom one loves. But God's will is clearest 
 there where it "triumphs at our cost," and His will has acted 
 by conforming yours to it. 
 
 God knows whether I shall come here another year, i.e. 
 whether I shall see another year. The two houses will be 
 different, in that there will not be one whom I love, as for these 
 many years I have loved you, next door ; and the likelihood of 
 your coming to Oxford must be very small. So it will be a losing 
 out of sight 
 
 I have fixed Monday week for beginning my lectures, please 
 God, so I expect to stay here till Saturday week. 
 
 God be with you evermore. 
 
 Your very affectionate 
 
 E. B. P. 
 
 "We went to Bath on October 18," Mrs. Skinner writes, 
 "and got into our house on November 22. We were in 
 the house together just five weeks."
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 REST. 
 1881. 
 
 '* The morning shall awaken, 
 The shadows shall decay, 
 And each true-hearted servant 
 Shall shine as doth the day." 
 
 THE fatigue of moving, and of settling into his house at 
 Bath, tried Mr. Skinner severely, yet neither he nor those 
 around him had any thought that the end was very near. 
 He writes early in November : 
 
 Bath, Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity, 1881. 
 
 I am worse than a wreck ; whether I shall ever be able to look 
 up again I know not Meantime, all my copy for the "Synopsis" is 
 printed, and they are waiting for more, and my Liddell paper, due 
 next week, not so much as thought of. Tell your cousin E 
 that, under such circumstances, I cannot prepare an "alternative 
 subject " for her class, nor, indeed, should I think it well, if I 
 were ever so free, to do it ; because the class should never be 
 allowed to shirk anything, however difficult, but, in all things, at 
 all times to do its best They are the difficult subjects which test 
 the diligent 
 
 God bless you both. 
 
 Bath, December 3, 1881. 
 
 At last I am wielding this wonderful copying pencil on your 
 behalf, being thoroughly ashamed to put off any more, though I
 
 HOME AT BATH. 377 
 
 am less and less disposed towards the manual operation of a letter 
 every day, and less and less equal to the effort of thinking of any- 
 thing, and of writing what I think. 
 
 I have not had such a long and serious attack as this for 
 years ; and it leaves me, if indeed it ever means to leave me at 
 all, reduced in every direction in all the little power I have had 
 these last half-dozen years. 
 
 However, I am not going to waste my little strength and paper 
 upon such an unworthy subject, so I will just dismiss it by saying 
 that I say a " Gloria " for every shade of relief from distress, as it 
 comes, reckoning on nothing beyond the hour, and trying to be 
 patient and ready for any future which it may please the blessed 
 God to send. 
 
 We are just beginning to feel " homey " and comfortable in our 
 house. . . . Already we both feel that since we left Newland we 
 have had no such sense of " home," and no such accumulation of 
 opportunities, spiritual and temporal, to make it. Here my dear 
 wife has continual services within a few minutes of her door, and 
 already a district of poor people which she has begun to visit. 
 What a difference in her life this will make you can imagine, and 
 what a happiness it is to me to see her so happy ; indeed, her one 
 and only drawback now is my wretched health, with its anxieties, 
 which can never, I fear, be better. 
 
 II, The Paragon, Bath, December 9, iSSi. 
 
 I hasten to send back what you ask for. Forgive my remiss- 
 ness, but I am no longer able to do, or think of, anything as I 
 was wont. I cannot get my hand to write a word yet about 
 Mr. Liddell, and my engagement has been already put off twice, 
 and must now, at once, be fulfilled, coute qui cotite. 
 
 The book has just come in! How perfect the "get up" is, 
 with the edelweiss in the corner, I need not say. 
 
 Forgive my writing more, for I am very much done to-day, 
 and the fog here is thick, and I cannot breathe freely 
 
 He forced himself to the effort of writing a " Letter " for
 
 3/8 PRAYERS OF DREXELIUS. 
 
 the parishioners of St. Paul's, Knightbridge, on the resigna- 
 tion of his old and dear friend, the Rev. and Hon. Robert 
 Liddell. There is no token in it of failing power, but 
 it was only written by a dying effort ; all through De- 
 cember his feebleness and difficulty of breathing increased, 
 and the least exertion seemed to be too much for him. 
 
 The following prayers were found after his death 
 amongst his papers : 
 
 Prayers against Sudden Death. 
 Translated from the " Prodromus Eternitatis " of Drexelius. 
 
 i. 
 
 O most merciful Lord Jesus Christ, by Thy tears and agony 
 and sweat of blood, by Thy precious life-giving death, from sudden 
 and unprepared death, deliver me. Amen. 
 
 ii. 
 
 O most gracious Lord Jesu, by Thy most bitter and shameful 
 scourging and cruel crown of thorns, by Thy most tender Passion 
 and outpouring of Thy boundless love, I most humbly beseech 
 Thee, suffer me not, without the last sacraments, suddenly to pass 
 away. Amen. 
 
 in. 
 
 O my most tenderly loving Lord Jesus Christ, my Saviour and 
 my God, by all Thy sorrows and Thy pains, by Thy most precious 
 blood and ever holy wounds, by Thy last cry upon the cross, 
 " My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me ? " by Thy most 
 strong appeal to the eternal Father, " Father, into Thy hands I 
 commend My spirit," I beseech Thee, take me not from hence 
 suddenly and unawares. 
 
 Thy hands have made me and fashioned me, cast me not out 
 suddenly. Give me, I beseech Thee, space for repentance, and a 
 happy departure in the full possession of Thy grace, that with all 
 my being I may bless and praise Thee, through all eternity. Amen. 
 
 All together daily, or one at a time, as ejaculations. Never-
 
 LAST LETTER. 379, 
 
 theless say, " Fiat voluntas Tua in omnibus, O Deus ! " (see Wisdom 
 iv. 7), and "In te, Domine, speravi, non confundar in ^Eternum " 
 (Ps. xxxi. i). 
 
 But it pleased God that, like many of His servants who 
 had been most constant in seeking Him at the altar, he 
 should pass from earth without the Viaticum. 
 
 On Thursday, December 22, he went out as usual for 
 an hour in a chair ; it was a cold raw day, but he pined 
 for air, and said it would refresh him. When he came in 
 he seemed very ill, could eat no dinner, and got upstairs 
 with much difficulty. That evening, at family prayers, he 
 remained lying back in his chair instead of standing and 
 kneeling, which he had never 'done before, while his wife 
 read. Through the night he could not sleep, even for a 
 moment ; but when his doctor, who had not seen him for 
 some weeks, came early on Friday morning, he did not 
 seem to think him worse than usual, and said that one 
 lung was doing its duty well. His wife was comforted, and 
 read the morning service as usual to her beloved charge, and 
 then he lay reading and meditating for more than an hour. 
 
 He wrote one last pencil note to a friend : 
 
 December 23. 
 
 Just one line of Christmas blessing to you and yours, my 
 
 dearest , from my bed of distress, where I am now confined, 
 
 and have to gasp for breath all day and night, without rest or sleep 
 or any sense of relief for ten minutes. Pray for me, that my 
 patience may endure to the end, and that the blessed Jesus may 
 sanctify my suffering to the honour of His name and my soul's 
 good. 
 
 Will you thank the Archbishop for me, for sending me his 
 very interesting (especially latter part) Charge ? 
 
 I only wish he could have added some constructive little bit or
 
 3 80 LAST CHRISTMAS. 
 
 bits, to help those poor souls who are drifting away into the blank 
 of doubt and misbelief. 
 
 But I can no more. God bless and keep you ever, prays 
 
 Your most afiectionate 
 J. S. 
 
 His sufferings from racking cough and breathlessness 
 were terrible, and the weather was the worst that could 
 be, a dense fog, increasing the difficulty of breathing. Late 
 in the afternoon he got up and lay on the sofa, partly 
 dressed ; there was another bad night, but he slept a little. 
 The proofs of his "Letter" came on Saturday, and he 
 spent some time in revising them, but seemed very weary, 
 and frequently laid them aside. 
 
 This was Christmas Eve and through the wakeful suffer- 
 ing night he asked his wife to say the Adeste Fideles, and 
 towards morning slept quietly, but woke in a startled, rest- 
 less condition. After breakfast he revived, and became quite 
 cheerful over the quantity of Christmas greetings brought 
 by the post. He spent a long time in prayer and medita- 
 tion, and then finished revising his proof, and gave it to his 
 wife for the post. Mr. Dunn, the Incumbent of St. John 
 Baptist's Church, called in the afternoon and arranged to 
 come the following Friday to give him his Christmas Com- 
 munion. He got up in the evening, and lay in his easy- 
 chair, which he preferred to the sofa. " I went down to 
 the drawing-room after dinner," his wife wrote, " and leaving 
 the doors open I played A deste Fideles as loud as I could, 
 that a little bit of Christmas might reach him." 
 
 And so the time went by ; hard nights of weary struggle 
 and suffering, in the day a little less distress, when he lay 
 in his chair with his books, seeming to prefer reading
 
 LETTER FROM DR. PUSEY. 381 
 
 himself to being read to : at night his wife read psalms and 
 hymns to him as he could bear them. In the afternoon 
 of Wednesday, he asked for a pencil and wrote the following 
 note, begging that it might be copied and sent to each one 
 of a list of priests, which he also wrote : 
 
 The Rev. James Skinner, to whom God is apparently bringing 
 the end of long-continued sickness through some painful suffering, 
 desires to have his name placed on the daily list of persons prayed 
 for at the Celebration in your church, and begs you of your 
 charity to add your own prayers. 
 
 One answer to this note must be given : 
 
 Christ Church, Oxford, December 29, 1881. 
 MY DEAR MRS. SKINNER, 
 
 I have, as your dear husband wished, asked three of the 
 clergy here to remember him at the altar, and will, of course, 
 remember him there and continually. I hope that, please God, 
 he may yet do good service to Him on earth, and that what your 
 natural anxiety fears may not be yet. But he has fought a good 
 fight, and you will thank and bless God that, although in frail 
 health during these last years, He has preserved him hitherto to 
 you and to the Church. God bless you and him. 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 E. B. PUSEY. 
 Give your dear husband my tender love. 
 
 That night, Wednesday, the 28th, after about ten o'clock, 
 his cough and some other bad symptoms ceased entirely. 
 His wife hoped this was a good sign, and that he would have 
 a quiet night. Alas ! it was but the sign that the end was 
 close at hand, and that the utterly exhausted frame had no 
 longer any power to struggle ; from this moment he was 
 actually dying, and nothing remained but for the bright 
 and purified spirit to break through the frail, worn earthly
 
 $82 LAST HOURS. 
 
 tabernacle, and find the longed-for rest. There was one 
 more night of most distressing restlessness, and no sleep 
 came : he asked his wife to read the seventy-seventh psalm, 
 and when she had done so, he said, " Oh, how beautiful that 
 is ! read it again." 
 
 " I call to remembrance my song." Those who in later 
 years at Newland heard him sing alone the first few words 
 of the Venite or Magnificat, before the choir joined in, 
 can never forget the beauty of that song, or the reverent 
 worship which it expressed. All through the night psalms 
 and hymns were read to him, as he could bear it he 
 could not sing them yet. 
 
 When the doctor came on Thursday morning he saw 
 that the end was approaching, but did not tell this to Mrs. 
 .Skinner. She sent a friend to be with her husband for a 
 little, and to her he reproached himself for procrastination, 
 saying that he had undertaken too much. " But what is 
 time to me now," he added, "except to know more of 
 the love and consolation and liberality and tenderness 
 of God ? " Then he murmured, " Pax. Rest. O God, 
 have mercy ! " and twice made the Sign of the Cross. The 
 dew of death was on his forehead, yet he never thought 
 he was dying ; roused himself by one last effort, and was 
 settled in his chair by midday. Mr. Dunn called and had 
 prayers with him ; he said that he knew he could not bear 
 more than the shortest service at his Communion on the 
 morrow, and gave minute directions as to what he wished 
 to be done, speaking in a strong, earnest voice. Now also 
 he expressed great regret at having left so many things 
 unfinished, especially the " Synopsis." " That will never 
 come out now," he said, and added, " Ah, the world will do
 
 LAST HOURS. 383 
 
 very well without it ; we think things so important and so 
 necessary, but God knows what is most for His honour 
 and glory." * 
 
 When they were alone together, his wife said to him, 
 
 41 Dr. H , I fear, thinks you much weaker to-day ; " for 
 
 she had perceived this, and thought he ought to know it. 
 He turned his head quickly, looked at her earnestly, and 
 said in a rather surprised tone, " Does he ? " She could not 
 speak ; he seemed to see in her face all that she would say, 
 and after a little pause looked upwards, and said slowly, 
 " This life has no attraction for me beyond yourself ; you 
 are my only tie. My hope and firm trust is in my blessed, 
 dearest Lord, Who loves me. Vile and unworthy as I am, 
 I know how greatly He loves me, and in that love I place 
 all my hope and confidence." He spoke in a feeble voice, 
 and as if it were a difficulty to him to articulate, but his 
 face shone with an expression of rapture. 
 
 His wife tried to say a few words of love, and of their 
 blessed life together, but she could hardly speak. He 
 turned again, looking earnestly and tenderly at her, and 
 said, " Do not let us upset each other ; we must not upset 
 each other." 
 
 He seemed faint and tired, but said that when he was 
 rested she was to bring paper and pencil, and he would 
 dictate a few last wishes. She left him for luncheon, little 
 dreaming how near was the end ; when she returned he 
 bade her bring a sheet of paper and write a letter for him ; 
 then he dictated a note, asking about an address, and 
 taking the pen from her hand signed it himself. 
 
 * It was published in less than nine months. The fulfilment of his wishes, 
 the last sacrifice required from him on earth, was given back to him, and in 
 the way he would most have desired.
 
 384 
 
 Then he seemed quite exhausted, closed his eyes, and 
 lay still. Once again he looked at his wife, asked for a 
 cordial, drank a little, and seemed revived, but disposed to 
 sleep. She sat watching him as he slept quietly, his 
 breathing so much less laboured than it had been that she 
 hoped he would wake up refreshed, and, about 4 p.m., 
 carried a book to the window, as the light was waning. 
 She heard suddenly a slight, gentle, sound, and was in an 
 instant by his side. He lay as in the same calm sleep of 
 the last hour ; there was no trace of suffering, only the 
 drops stood thick on his brow. She did not know, until 
 her faithful servant told her, that the last bonds which held 
 the spirit captive had been gently broken, and that the land 
 of everlasting rest was won. 
 
 " When I wake up I am present with Thee." 
 
 I am constantly by the side of that beloved and most lovely 
 form (she wrote to a friend on January 3). It is not the least 
 like a corpse. I have seen so many, but none like this. His 
 face has lost all the look of weary pain it wore of late, his dear 
 hands are crossed over his breast, and he does not now look more 
 than his real age, sixty-three. He lies on a bed of Eucharis lilies 
 and delicate ferns, and other lovely things ; so many flowers have 
 been sent that I hardly know what to do with them. O, when I 
 come back and find all gone, what shall I do ? But this I know, 
 that my God, and his God, will never, never forsake me. 
 
 Once more she went to Newland with all that was 
 mortal of him who had made the joy of that blessed home 
 in past sunshine hours, and who had upheld her in their 
 deep sorrow. His body was received by the clergy at 
 Newland, and laid before the altar where he had begun the 
 daily Eucharist, and Evensong was said. Far up on the
 
 BURIAL. 385 
 
 Malvern Hills the lights in Newland Church could be seen 
 burning all night where watchers knelt in constant prayer ; 
 some of the hours being kept by working men who had for 
 years been voluntary members of the choir. There was a 
 special choral Celebration at nine next morning, the Eve of 
 the Epiphany, at which the mourners and others communi- 
 cated, besides the usual eight o'clock Celebration. The 
 church was brightly lit up, and beautiful with Christmas 
 holly ; choicest white flowers on the altar, and entirely 
 covering the pall beneath which lay the body of the first 
 Warden of the almshouses. 
 
 It was borne out once more by the south door (through 
 which he had been wont, many times a day, to go to and 
 fro from his house to the church), into the quadrangle, and 
 then through the great gate, past the village common, into 
 the church by the chief entrance. " Now the labourer's task 
 is o'er " was sung after the Lesson was read, and then, pre- 
 ceded by the choir, the old pensioners, and the long train of 
 clergy, the coffin was for the last time taken from the 
 church and carried to the lovely burial-ground. The last 
 resting-place looked like a beautiful grotto rather than a 
 grave, for it was entirely lined with evergreens, with chaplets 
 of white immortelles, and bunches of choicest flowers. 
 There they laid him, close by the grave of his only child, 
 in the midst of all that he had loved best on earth, to 
 rest till the day break and the shadows flee away. 
 
 It has been said, by one greatly honoured, that * " it 
 almost seems as if the members of CHRIST'S Body are to 
 
 * See "The Power of Suffering," by the Bishop of Truro. 
 
 2 C
 
 VICTORY THROUGH SUFFERING. 
 
 do yet more through their suffering, than through all their 
 energizing ; as if we would say it reverently through the 
 wounds of the members, as well as of the Head, life is to 
 flow out It seems as if, in some mysterious way, the great 
 work that Christ had to accomplish, with all its mysterious 
 influence on worlds unknown, as if the benefits of Christ's 
 ' full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice,' could not be received 
 by His Church till the wounds in our hands were so made, 
 that healing could flow forth from them." 
 
 But it is an easier task to write of victory through coura- 
 geous action than of that won by patient endurance, and 
 the story told in these pages, not without difficulty, is meant 
 for those who will read it with indulgent sympathy. And 
 if, as may well be the case, it seem to any that the veil has 
 been too rudely withdrawn from that which is dearest and 
 most sacred, this, too, must be forgiven. For in this world 
 of preparation for eternal joy, the purest and brightest 
 happiness must needs often be succeeded by deepest 
 anguish, and it may be that some sorrowing souls will be 
 comforted and strengthened by a record of suffering borne 
 with unshaken faith and hope, and with ever-deepening 
 love for Him Who, having willed Himself to be perfect 
 through suffering, chasteneth those whom He loveth and 
 scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. 
 
 "Then let it be, enduring for their sake, 
 Hearts that are bleeding now, or once have bled, 
 And which from hence some solace slight may take, 
 That others, of such grief untouched, should say 
 That here what better had been covered, 
 Is bared unto the garish eye of day."
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Since these pages passed through the press, I have 
 seen my dear friend's will, dated August 13, 1867, and I 
 think it well that some extracts from it should be given, as 
 they seem to be especially characteristic, and to express 
 that which, if he could speak, he would wish to make 
 known. 
 
 T. T. CARTER. 
 
 October 12, 1883. 
 
 In the Name of the most holy and undivided Trinity, the 
 Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost : one Almighty and most 
 merciful God. Amen. 
 
 I, James Skinner, priest of the holy Catholic and Apostolic 
 Church of Christ, in England, an unworthy sinner, considering 
 that there is nothing more certain than death, and nothing more 
 uncertain than the manner and hour thereof; hearing in my ears 
 the voice of the Lord Jesus exhorting me to remember that I know 
 not the day nor the hour of the " coming of the Son of man "- 
 resolve and determine, while in fair health and strength, lest death 
 come upon me suddenly and I be summoned away unprepared, 
 to provide for the last, by the help of God's grace. And, there- 
 fore, I hereby declare the following to be my last will and testa- 
 ment 
 
 I declare before God and the whole company of heaven 
 that, as I have aimed, with many shortcomings, to live in the one
 
 388 APPENDIX. 
 
 and only true faith of the most holy Catholic and Apostolic 
 Church of Christ, as witnessed to the world before the division of 
 East and West, so in the same I humbly desire to die, trusting 
 to the help of Divine grace, without which I can do nothing- 
 Wherefore, if, by assault of the devil or the violence of pain in 
 disease, or the aberrations of a wandering mind, I shall, at any 
 time, think or speak, or do anything contrary to the said most 
 holy faith, I do now hereby already revoke it, and protest, in the 
 presence of God, that I do not consent to any such thoughts or 
 words or acts. 
 
 I protest and declare that, on the day of my death, I do 
 long for and desire the blessed opportunity of making my humble 
 confession and receiving the sentence of absolution from a priest, 
 as a part of sincere and hearty penitence. Whereby, thro' the 
 alone merits of Jesus Christ, I may be cleansed from every spot 
 of sin, and my soul may be presented by Jesus in His own spot- 
 less Body, made spotless, to God. Wherefore, if opportunity shall 
 be wanting, I declare this to be my will, and purpose and inten- 
 tion of my heart, to confess myself wholly and fully and purely to 
 God. . . . 
 
 I protest and declare that, on the day of my death, I 
 desire the most holy and blessed Sacrament of the Body and 
 Blood of Christ to be administered unto me, whereby I am joined 
 on to Jesus Christ the Incarnate God, and find all refreshment 
 and strength and safety and shelter in Him. Wherefore, if 
 opportunity shall be wanting, I hereby declare that, at the least, I 
 will spiritually to receive Jesus in this Sacrament ; and I humbly be- 
 seech Him to save me from the enemy in that last hour of conflict 
 and trial, and to assist and sustain and fight for me in the same. 
 
 . . . Whatever may be, in God's wisdom, the manner of my 
 death, or wheresoever, I pray that the holy name of Jesus, and 
 the thought of His kingdom of the redeemed, may be my last 
 word and last thought. And therefore when words shall fail me, 
 I do hereby protest and declare that I desire only to speak of 
 Jesus Christ, and to think of His kingdom purchased for us ; and
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 389 
 
 to praise Him, and to long for complete and perfect union with 
 Him. Wherefore also I pray that the whole court of heaven 
 above, and all faithful friends on earth, and all my beloved ones 
 who may be near or around me, may pray and long thus on my 
 behalf. 
 
 OLD CHUKCH OF NEWI.AND (circa A.D. 1380; taken down A.D. 1864). 
 
 PRINTED BV WIU.TAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND TiECCLKS.
 
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