'.'S-^<'<
 
 r)4 
 
 CHAPLAIN-CURATES. 
 The Rev. C.E. T. Roberts, Gothic House, St. Ann's Road, N. 
 The Rev. H. J. Stephens, 4, Castlewood Road, Clapton Common, N. 
 
 SUGGESTED MODES OF EMPLOYMENT. 
 
 1. — Occasional Parochial Missions. 
 
 2. — Courses of Special Sermons or Addresses in Churches or Mission 
 Rooms. 
 
 3. — The Assistance of Clergy in cases of Sickness or other emergency. 
 4. — Addresses to Men, whenever opportunity can be found. 
 5. — Work among those engaged in special employments, such as Policemen, 
 Sailors, Cabmen, Dock-labourers, Costermongers, &c. 
 
 6. — Very short mid-day Addresses in Factories or Workshops. 
 7. — Open-air Addresses. 
 
 8. — Assistance in the formation and conduct of Bible-Classes on Sundays 
 or Week-day Evenings. 
 
 9. — Addresses to Women at Mothers' Meetings, &c. 
 
 10. — Addresses to Sunday School Gatherings, whether of Teachers or of 
 Senior Scholars. 
 
 11. — Special Addresses on the subject of Confirmation, or to gatherings of 
 former Confirmation Candidates. 
 
 12. — Preaching for the East London Church Fund. 
 
 The Bishop adds to this, that (as the work in his District requires very 
 special training), Mr. Roberts will take into his house a few young men 
 preparing for Ordination, and desirous of having their first experience of 
 Pastoral Work with titles in East London.
 
 ^ i^xx^-^I t,//a*^^^^5C-' 
 
 Rights and Duties of Churchmen at 
 the 2>resent time, 
 
 DELIVERED TO THE 
 
 CHURCSWARBENS AND SIDESMEN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ARCHDEACONRY OF MAIDSTONE, 
 
 at tf)e iSaster Uisitaticin 
 IN APEIL, MDCCCLXXX., 
 
 BY 
 
 BENJAMIN HAREISON, M.A. 
 
 ARCHDEACON OF MAIDSTONE. 
 
 PRICE SIX PENCE 
 
 Itcntion 
 
 PJVINGTONS, WATERLOO PLACE 
 
 HIGH STREET 
 
 TRINITY STREET 
 
 MAIDSTONE : F. BUSYARD ; 
 
 CAXTKRBUUY : A. GINDER, ST. GEORGE'S HALL 
 
 HAL DRURY, MERCERY LANE. 
 
 ^
 
 TO THE 
 
 CHUECHWAEDENS AND SIDESMEN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 AECHDEACONEY OF MAIDSTONE, 
 
 WOKTHY EEPRESENTATIYES OE THE FAITHFUL 
 
 liAITY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, 
 
 THIS 
 
 IS INSCRIBE^ WITH FEELINGS OF GREAT RESPECT 
 AND REGARD. 
 
 Precincts, Canterbury, 
 May VII., MDcccLxxx.
 
 rraxTED at the 
 
 OFFICE OF THE "ZiIAIDSTOXE AXD KENTISH JOFRNAL,'' 
 
 13, MIDDLE ROW, MAIDSTONE. 
 
 3?^
 
 ^^ OH.^^K,a-E. 
 
 My Brethren op the Laity, Churchwardens, 
 AND Sidesmen. 
 
 lu conformity with the custom which has been 
 established now in this Diocese for a considerable time, 
 you are cited to attend the usual Visitation held after 
 Easter, although the citation of the clergy is reserved 
 for the Visitation of the Archbishop. By the present 
 arrangement, inconveniences are avoided which arose 
 out of the practice of deferring the presentments of the 
 churchwardens and the admission of their successorg 
 till the visitation of the Diocesan in the autumn : the 
 time of service in the office of churchwarden is divided 
 equally ; the complete year of office is the period 
 assigned to each ; and the new churchwardens, admitted 
 now, are in a condition to act, and to have all things ia 
 order when the Archbishop comes. 
 
 I am glad to be able to renew the expression of the 
 satisfaction which I felt when I last addressed you thus, 
 four years ago, that so little difficulty had arisen — so 
 much less than might have been looked for — in getting 
 men to serve as churchwardens under the altered cir- 
 cumstances of recent times. Our best thanks are due 
 to those who are willing to undertake the trouble— 
 which, I am afraid, is oftea very considerable—
 
 in getting in the many small sams which make up the 
 Chnrch rate. Tiie least that parishioners can do, in 
 return for the services thus readerel them by their 
 neighbours, is to give them as little trouble as possibb 
 in collecting tho rate. It is a wise course that has been 
 followe 1 in the great majority of parishes in adliering 
 to the principle of a rate ; in other words, sharing the 
 pecuniary liability according to the proportion of 
 property — l\u\ oM principle of the Church rate which 
 made the property of the parish responsible for the 
 necessary charges of Divine worship, thus supplying 
 to the poor of our p3ople that which the piety of our 
 forefathers desig le 1 for them by means of tithe and 
 Church-rate, the ministration of the ordinances of 
 religion, and the moans of grace, to all that would 
 " come unto the waters," " without money and without 
 price." And it may be of use, I think if I refer, 
 to the action of an important parish in the archdeaconry, 
 which has just bec;n brought by circumstances par- 
 ticularly under ray notice. 
 
 '• The history of the financial experiment," as the 
 churchwarden, who repoits it. designates it, is this. 
 *' After the compulsory church rate was abolished by law, 
 instead of continuing it as a moral obligation upon 
 Churchmen at least, it was allowed to fall into desue- 
 tude. Pew rents in the parish church could not be 
 demanded. Hence nothing remained but to make an 
 annual subscription. This was erroneously called a 
 ' Voluntary Rate.' Some contributed largely ; some 
 nothing at all. The consequence was, as you may svl^^- 
 \>oie, unsatis/acto) ij. Offertories were introduced; but 
 they failed to meet the exigencies of the case. Thus it 
 was felt that some mxle must be devised to 
 apportion the burden fairly, and to introduce some 
 principle of justice which would act and work satis- 
 factorily. The church council of the parish church 
 met twice, and considered the whole question. Their 
 resolution was to propose a Church rate on rateable 
 value to a general meeting of seatholders in the parish 
 
 , UIUC . 
 
 v./
 
 church, A rate of Is. ia the ^ was passed to meet 
 the expenses," and it has worked harmoniously. 
 
 The point to which, as you will perceive, ray 
 brethren, I desire to call special attention, in this case, 
 as worthy of notice and of commendation, is the adop- 
 tion ot rateable value as the basis of the voluntary 
 church rate. The mseting hehl in the case referred to 
 consisted of those who were specially interested, aa 
 ordinary attendants, in the service of their parish 
 church ; and on whom, in default of compulsory action 
 in regard to the whole body of parishioners, the obliga- 
 tion seemed to lie, to do what the parish was in the 
 eye ot the law, bound to do, viz., to repair the parish 
 church, and to provide all things necessary for Divine 
 Service therein. " Pew rents in the Parish Church" — 
 this was the principle on which they started — " could 
 not be demanded." And this principle of the Church 
 and of the law of England, I am afraid, needs to be re- 
 called to mind in the present day. I have reason to 
 think — though the matter has not, as yet, come before 
 me officially, and therefore I give no judgment in regard 
 to any particular case — that in the case of the parish 
 church of a large and important place, at the same 
 time with the completion of a work begun several years 
 ago, viz., the substitution of low, open seats for high 
 pews, there has been a resolution passed to assign pew 
 rents to the seats in the church. Without reference, as 
 I have said, to any particular parish, I am bound, by 
 the duties of my office, to say that any such resolution 
 is contrary to the law, and that the assignment of pew 
 rents in an old parish church is altogether and absolutely 
 illegal. 
 
 I mast also plainly say that the same character belongs 
 to any voluntary Church rate, so called, which is 
 grounded on the numhzr of seats which this or tha^ 
 family I'equires for its accommodation in the parish 
 church. This, under a thin veil, is, to all intents and 
 purposes, a system of peio rents. To levy a Church 
 rate, by common consent of the congregration of a parish
 
 6 
 
 church, on the rateable value of property, as has been 
 done in the instance which I spoke of j ust now, is a thing 
 distinct in principle from this ; it still remaine the 
 duty of the churchwardens to arrange for the seating 
 of the congregation according to the requirements of the 
 several parties. And this leads me to speak of the prin- 
 ciples and operations of a society of which we hear a 
 good deal now-a-days, a society entitled " The Free and 
 C/Uyy\ ' Pnftppropi'iatod Church Association ; " and I must call 
 the attention of my brethren, the churchwardens, to it, 
 inasmuch as it affects essentially the office,and, as far as 
 the seating of the parishioners is concerned, which has 
 always been considered an important part of the church- 
 warden's ofBce, would supersede it altogether. If by 
 " free and unappropriited churches" is meant churches 
 in which there are no seats or pews appropriated to cer- 
 tain houses or families in the parish — which, undoubtedly 
 can be so appropriated only by faculty from the Ordinary— 
 and that all the seats in the church are not only free 
 from payment, but also are assigned to the use of in- 
 dividual parishioners, or families, simply by the discre- 
 tion of the churchwardens from time to time — from Sun- 
 day to Sunday, in fact, as far as any right or preference is 
 concerned — there is no objection to the designation •* free 
 and unappropriated." The Incorporated Church Build- 
 ing Society was accustomed, in fact, to use the term in 
 the form of stipulation made with churches which the 
 Society helped to build or to enlarge, and embodied in the 
 inscription which it required to be put up in a conspicuous 
 place in each church, specifying the number of seats, so 
 provided by the aid of the Society's grant. But the 
 new Association to which I refer means something very 
 different from this. It goes on the principla which may 
 be expressed in the popular English phrase, "First 
 come, first served." It starts, indeed, with this as its 
 first principle — and a perfectly sound one it is — that the 
 parish church was intended for the use of all the 
 parishioners, and not of a favoured few. But, by its 
 practice, it goes on to deprive the parishioners of their
 
 rights, by throwing the church open, as soon as the doors 
 are open, to every one who likes to seat himself there. 
 In towns, especially, as we know, the distinctions of 
 parishes are oftentimes but feebly marked, or well nigh 
 disregarded ; and so where there is a popular preacher, 
 or an attractive musical service, the rights of parishioners, 
 whic 1 had been put forth so prominently and conspicuously 
 on the banners of the Association, are altogether 
 sacrificed. I need hardly observe how seriously this 
 affects the aged and infirm — those precisely who need 
 most to be protected and cared for. 
 
 But, instead of any further words of my own on this 
 subject, I would recal to remembrance what was said by 
 our late revered Diocesan, Archbishop Longley, some 
 sixteen years ago, in his primary charge. He said, *' As 
 a means of facilitating the attendance at public worship 
 on the part of our rapidly increasing population, there 
 has arisen an Institution entitled * The National Society 
 for Promoting Freedom of Worship in the church.' I 
 have been repeatedly asked, said the Archbishop, to 
 give it my countenance ; but I have not, as yet, felt my- 
 self at liberty to do so. I fully recognize the importance 
 of having all our churches open to the parishioners with- 
 out any payment for their seats. Let them enjoy the 
 Ministry of the Word as they do the Ministry of the 
 Sacraments, without money and without price ; and if 
 this were all, I should entirely sympathize with the move- 
 ment. But I believe it transgresses these limits, and 
 supersedes the ancient rule of the church, which assigns to 
 the churchwardens, subject to the control of the Ordinary, 
 the duty of seating each of the parishioners, that is, of 
 assigning to each inhabitant or family certain places in 
 the church to which they may resort for public worship 
 without let or hindrance, unless it shall be found 
 necessary, for special leasons, to make some different 
 arrangements sanctioned by the churchwardens and con« 
 firmed by the Ordinary. The privilege thus by law es« 
 tablished has in many instances," said the Archbishop, 
 " been grossly abused,and an illegal claim set up for a pro*
 
 8 
 
 perty in those scats, the right of letting or of selling them 
 having been nsserted, even thongh the party should cease 
 to reside in the parish. It is important," he added, " in 
 the interest of the parishioners themselves, that all per- 
 sons should be disabused of so erroneous an impression. 
 As soon as an individual ceases to reside in a parish, he 
 ceases to be a parishioner, and ceases to have any claim 
 whatever to a seat in the parish church. It then reverts 
 to the churchwardens, who assign it to some other party. 
 All payments, therefore, for the purchase of pews in 
 parish churches, and all rents demanded for the use of 
 pews in the same, are illegal, and cannot be enforced by 
 law. Now this new Society," said the Archbishop, " if 
 I am correctly informed, proposes to deprive the church- 
 wardens of that function of their office which empowers 
 them to seat the parishioners accordiag to the above 
 regulations, and to throw open every sitting in the church 
 to the first comer, whenever the congregation assembles 
 for public worship. This system is unnecessary," his 
 Grace went on to say, " where the church accom- 
 modation is adequate to the population, and all can 
 without difficulty be seated ; it is highly incon- 
 venient where the nuaiber of inhabitants exceeds 
 the capacity ot the church to accommodate them, 
 and where confusion is likely to ensue from the 
 competition for places before the service begins. 
 In such a struggling crowd the aged and infirm, who 
 need and value the public ministrations of our Church, 
 at least as much as any others, would find it in vain to 
 persevere, and would thus be entirely debarred from en- 
 joying the benefit of rights which they share in common 
 with others. If the society would confine itself," his 
 Grace proceeded to say, ** to efilorts for establishing the 
 freedom of public worship by abolishing all payments 
 for seats, at the same time providing adequate stipends 
 for the clergy, without having recourse to such means 
 for their support, it should have have my willing coun- 
 tenance." 
 The friends of the " Free and Open Church " move-
 
 ment, I regret to be compelled to add, are constantly 
 attacking the Incorporated Church Building Society, in 
 a way calculated to injure its operations and hinder its 
 work, because it does not exert an authority, which it is 
 really powerless to exercise, against those who, in divers 
 cases, have not kept faith with the Society in regard to 
 the amount of free church accommodation which was 
 stipulated for when the Society's grant was made. 
 When the Society has made a grant, it takes caro 
 that these stipulations shall be conspicuously exhibited, 
 on tables to be " known and read of all men " ; but it 
 cannot take legal proceedings against a parish for the 
 enforcement of the conditions : it must leave the parish, 
 whose interests are concerned, to look after the interests 
 of its own congregations, its own poor, with its appeal, 
 if need be, to the authority of the Ordinary, the Bishop 
 or the Archdeacon. The office of churchwarden is 
 not an abuse to be got rid of, but a provision requisite 
 for good order in the congregation, and decency in 
 Divine worship, " For God is not the author of 
 confusion," saitli the Apostle, " but of peace, as in 
 all churches of the saints." And what St. James 
 says on the subject of the Christian assemblies is 
 in truth a plea for the rights of the poor and 
 helpless, such as I am contending for. They were 
 not to be thrust aside while the wealthy were preferred. 
 But the Apostle's language rather implies that there 
 were persons in the congregation whoso duty it was to 
 take order for their sitting, and to say to one and another 
 " Sit here," and " Sit there" : what St. James rebuked hi* 
 brethren for was the undue respect they paid to the 
 wealthy and well-dressed. I have thought it right, my 
 brethren, to say thus much ; under the conviction that 
 this is one of the cases in which a good and rightful cause, 
 uch as that of free accommodation in our churches, for 
 the poor especially, is seriously hindered and thrown 
 back by the system and tactics of a crusade which em- 
 bodies principles really at variance with each other,and not 
 only affords no security for the rights of parishlonQrs in
 
 10 
 
 their parish church, but even adopts rules and maxims 
 which are fatal to their preservation. 
 
 In connection with these matters, as bearing on the 
 duties of Churchwardens, I should wish to recal to 
 memory some works, accomplished in the course of the 
 year which has passed since my last Visitation, the com- 
 pletion or the inauguration of which marked what I may 
 call red letter days in the ecclesiastical annals of the 
 Archdeaconry and Diocese ; and which the laity of the 
 church, in full sympathy of the clergy, may regard with 
 special satisfaction and thankfulness on their own part. 
 Last summer saw the re-opening of the old parish church 
 of St. Peter and St. Paul, Tunbridge, after the enlarge- 
 ment and almost re-building of the f abric,at a cost bearing 
 witness to great liberality and active exertion on the part 
 of the patron and other zealous friends, and supplying 
 to a greatly increased number of the parishioners the 
 means of devout attendance at Divine worship. I would 
 mention, in relation to the subject with which I was 
 dealing just now, that, had it not been for very careful 
 consideration and arrangement of the churchwardens, in 
 regard to the parishioners at large, the gathering on the 
 day of re-opening by the Archbishop would have 
 been a scene of hopeless confusion, dissatisfaction, 
 and disorder. The interior of the church having 
 been completely rearranged, and the congregation to be 
 provided for including Tunbridge School, with its large 
 number of boys who, by the Pounders' will, attend the 
 parish church, — to sav nothing of the crowd of visitors 
 from the neighbourhood who came in to attend the 
 service at the reopening — the result would have been 
 full of discredit and discomfort, if a scheme for the 
 seating of the parishioners had not been prepared by the 
 churchwardens, who, as the officers of the Ordinary, 
 obtained for it official sanction, and secured general 
 satisfaction and harmony. 
 
 Shortly before this, the Archbishop had re-consecrated > 
 on another auspicious day, St. Philip's Church, Maid- 
 Utone, enlarged by the addition of a new chancel; with
 
 11 
 
 tower and spire, to the great improvement of the chnrch, 
 and ornament of the town — a memorial offering of 
 family affection and a token of brotherly love. In the 
 neighbourhood of Maidstone, again, there was witnessed 
 the successf al restoration and rearrangement of the old 
 parish church of Leeds, the Archbishop attending at the 
 reopening ; an occasion which was not the less one of 
 sacred joy, although it was in some degrees overshadowe i 
 by the thought that he* wlio, as principal landowner, 
 kindly serving also as churchwarden of the parish, had 
 bestowed a large and liberal gift on the work, and had 
 shown tender kindness to those who had ministered there, 
 had been so suddenly called away before the work was 
 accomplished. I must add now the expression of the 
 great satisfaction with which lately this spring, in Easter 
 week, I was kindly invited to take part in the solemn 
 le-dedication, as I may call it, of the sister church of 
 Bromfield, restored in an admirable manner as a 
 memorial — the most appropriate and fitting, assuredly, 
 that could have been designed— to the memory of him 
 who had so often woi shipped within its walls, and whose 
 mortal remains were resting in the burial place beneath. 
 
 To return to the occurrences of last spring, I must not- 
 omit the re-opening of the church of Charing,aftei exten- 
 sive repair and restoration as a subject of sincere con- 
 gratulation to the parish on the cordial feeling, and the 
 abundant evidence of it happily afforded, which seconded 
 so well the zeal and munificence of Bishop Tuffnell, and 
 his family, the Bishop being at that time curate in 
 charge of the parish, and since removed to the important 
 position of Vicar of Croydon, and Kural Dean of that 
 populous parish and district. 
 
 I will not detain yuu with the mention of other works 
 now in hand, such as the restoration of the ancient 
 church of Minster in the Isle of Sheppy ; and of Queen- 
 borough, a work already set on foot, the better endowment 
 of the hitherto miserable vicarage having been success- 
 
 * Philip Wykeham Martin, Esq., M.P., of Leeds Gastle^
 
 12 
 
 fully accomplished. But I must mention t^vo occasions 
 on which I have been called to take part in a ceremonial 
 which, in each case, was to be welcomed with thankful 
 satisfaction. I was invited last autumn to be present at 
 the laying of the memorial stone of the new church of 
 Shipbourue, to be re-builcat the entire cost of the owner 
 of JFuirlawn, in that parish. And only last week I 
 assisted at the laying of the foundation stone of the 
 church of St. Michael and All Angels, Croydon, the 
 permanent fabric, a noble and costly one, which is to take 
 the place of the temporary church which has been the 
 centre of mission work, very successfully carried on for 
 several years in a rapidly growing neighbourhood, already 
 formed into an ecclesiastical district. The consecration 
 of the new church, just built in the parish of Bromley, 
 has been deferred only in consequence of the Arch- 
 bishop's absence from home, and is to take place next 
 week. A subscription is also in hand for building a per- 
 manent church at Four Elms, in the parish of Hever, an 
 outlying hamlet, in which a temporary church was 
 erected, and a mission established where it was greatly 
 needed and had been long desired, with a view to a con- 
 solidated district, to be formed out of the outskirts of 
 three parishes, Hever, Brasted, and Chiddiugstone. 
 With works such as these which we see in hand, as 
 we pass from deanery to deanery, or from parish to 
 parish, and with the prospects which seem opening be- 
 fore us from day to day, of conservation and improve- 
 ment combined — and that " by means of the gift" of 
 zeal and charity " bestowed by many persons," differing 
 widely on other matters, as in the case of some whose 
 good works I have referred to to-day, and specially of 
 those faithful and excellent laymen, gone from us, and 
 from their different spheres of useful service, whose 
 memories I desired to rccal in my address to the clergy 
 last year — with thoughts and duties and hopes like 
 these, amidst the difficulties and discouragements which 
 constantly beset our path, it cannot certainly, to thought- 
 ful Churchmen, whether of the laity or of the clergy,
 
 13 
 
 appear otherwise than an anxious crisis at which 
 we seem somewhat suddenly to have arrived. 
 It will not, I am persuaded, appear strange to 
 you, my lay brethren, if in few words, before I conclude 
 I advert to it ; it would rather, I imagine, seem strange 
 to you if I did not. Political questions within the lines 
 of the constitution of our country, such as have suc- 
 cessively, under different designations, subdivided Eng- 
 lishmen, in opposing parties, from each other for tJie last 
 two hundred years, it would be out of place to enter 
 upon within sacred walls, and in what is,in point of order, 
 an ecclesiastical assembly and court. But it is a different 
 matter when that which is concerned is the very birth- 
 right of the people " of Enghind ; if I may use the lan- 
 guage of the statesmen who drew up, at the memorable 
 close of the 17th century, the Act of Settlement : com- 
 bining as it does within it the national sentiments, the 
 rights and privileges claimed alike by both the heredi- 
 tary parties which belong to the history of our country, f 
 And our position at the present moment, I think, is one 
 which may well cause us to look out from this happy 
 island home of ours, upon the world on whoso peace and 
 welfare England has, under God's providence, amidst 
 past troubles and dangers of Europe, had an auspicious 
 
 t " And whereas it is requisite and necessary that some further 
 provision be made for securing our religion, laws, and liberty, from 
 and after the death of his Majesty and the Piiucess Anne of Den- 
 mark It is enacted by tlie King's most excellent 
 
 Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords, spiritual 
 and temporal, and Commons, in parliament assembled, and' by the 
 authority of the same, That whosoever snail hereafter come to 
 the possession of this crown shall join in communion with the 
 
 Church of England, as by law established And 
 
 whereas the laws of England are the birthright of the people 
 thereof ; and all the Kings and Queens, who shall ascend the throne 
 of this realm, ought to administer the government of the same 
 aecorJiug to the said laws, and all their officers and ministers ought 
 to serve them respectively kiL'Cording to the same ; the said Loids 
 spu-itual and temporal, and Commons, do therefore further 
 humbly pray, that all the laws and statutes of this realm for secur- 
 ing the established leligion, and the rights and liberties of the 
 people thereof, and all other laws and statutes of the same now in 
 force,may be latifie 1 and confirmed,and the same are by his Majesty, 
 by and with the advice and consent of the Lords, spiritual and 
 temporal, and Commons, and bj ihe authority of the same, ratified 
 ami confirmed accordingly." 
 
 Statute 12 & 13 Crulielmi 3, c. 2 (l). A.D. 1700,
 
 u 
 
 inflaence ; and above all, my brethren, to look up in 
 humble confidence and stedfast hope, nothwithstanding 
 all our shortcomings and sins as a nation, to the throne 
 of Him who " sitteth above the waterflood " and "[re, 
 maineth a King for ever ; " even He ■who alone can 
 " give strength unto his people," and " give his people 
 the blessing of peace."* 
 
 I may, perhaps, the more freely say a few words on 
 tins subject, because, while I write, preparing to meet 
 you in this Visitation, there is absolutely nothing known 
 in regard to political affairs ; save that our Queen, re- 
 turnino- only a week ago from a visit to the tomb of a 
 beloved daughter, over whom all England was mourning 
 last year, applied herself without delay to the difficult 
 and important duty which devolves on the Crown, and, 
 following with faithful and careful observance the lines 
 marked out for her by constitutional practice, has taken 
 steps for the forming of a new administration. The 
 circumstances under which the change of ministiy has 
 taken place are somewhat peculiar ; and we shall, if I 
 mistake not, the better perform the duties which the 
 position of affairs requires of all good citizens, all dutiful 
 subjects of the Queen, and faithful members of the 
 Church, if we clearly perceive and fully realize the 
 position. A few words will state it. Ordinarily, an 
 adverse vote of the Commons of England, in opposition 
 to some particular measure proposed by the Government, 
 or to its general policy, proves that the Administration 
 has lost the confidence of the House of Commons, and is 
 unable to carry on affairs. A resignation of ministers 
 is the lesult — other men are called to the helm, repre- 
 senting the adverse opinions. In the present instance, 
 the dissolution of a Parliament which was drawing near 
 to its natural end having been determined on by the 
 Government, on no precise question of poHcy, and the 
 Ministry having at once resigned, the lines of coming 
 action are entirely undefined and unknown. We know 
 
 f.l 
 
 * ^, judx. iik II.
 
 IS 
 
 nothing at the present moment, even in regard to the 
 general policy, at home and abroad, to be agreed upon, 
 after mutual conference, by the heads of the party now 
 called to the helm ; we know nothing decisively as to the 
 probable composition of the administrative Cabinet ; still 
 less, of the deliberate judgment on important questions, 
 after debate, of the new House of Commons, the only 
 representation known to the Constitution, of " the Com- 
 mons of England." But this we know, that views and 
 opinions of the most diverse and heterogeneous character 
 are gathered in one host ; some of them entirely 
 consistent with the maintenance of our Constitution, 
 with febe sober sense and rational liberty, while others 
 are of a wild and lawless character, utterly destructive 
 of national order and unity, of the welfare of our 
 country, and the peace of the world ; principles in open 
 war, not only with the doctrines of the Church, but with 
 Revealed Religion altogether ; with the very being of a 
 God ; with the maxims of eternal morality and the 
 sanctities and purities of domestic life. We have seen, 
 in the proiiess of the recent conflict, places of professed 
 religious worship turned into centres of political agita- 
 tion, and men whose characters stood high among their 
 fellows fou religious principle and strict conscience, so 
 hurried away by the political feeling of the moment as 
 to be willing to merge all differences of opinion, and 
 give open support to the candidature of avowed 
 infidelity, and views of morality which had outraged 
 public feeling ; canvassing for a seat in a House of 
 legislatare which still, happily, opens all its deliberations 
 from day to day with prayer to Almighty God. We shall 
 surely seem to th« well-judging and candid to take no 
 exaggerated or unreal view of our position, if we feel 
 that we seem suddenly brought, I will not say to the 
 edge of a precipice, but, I may say, to the 
 terrace, as it were, of some hill, or lofty ridge, like that 
 which overlooks some of our lovely plains and valleys in 
 Kent ; and the morning is still dim ; and there is a mist 
 resting upon the landscape ; and we stand in doubt,
 
 16 
 
 whether, when the cloutls remove, we shall look out upon 
 a scene of tranquil abodes, of peaceful and runil toil, 
 gathered round the church towers and spires of our 
 country villages — a scene like that which the prophet 
 of old saw stretched before him, when he stood " on the 
 top of Peor that looketh towards Jeshimon," with the 
 King of Moab, who had brought him there to curse 
 Israel, " and he saw Israel abiding in their tents, accord- 
 ing to their tribes" ; '•' as the valleys" were " they spread 
 forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of 
 lign aloes which the Lord had planted, and as cedar trees 
 beside the waters " ; or whether the scene is to be such, 
 in England, in Europe, and in the world, as in the des- 
 cription which the poet of " Paradise Lost" has put into 
 the month of the angel, as that which broke upon the 
 view of the angelic armies, when 
 
 " Oulieavenly ground they stoO'l.aiid from the slioro 
 They viewed the vast imiueasiirab'e abyss, 
 Outrageous as a sea, daik, wasteful, wild, 
 Up fi'om the bottom turue I by furious winds 
 Au 1 surging Wiives, as mountains to assault 
 Heaven's height, and witii the centre mix the pole." t 
 
 It is impossible to look out on the continent of 
 Europe and not see what a seething mass there is be - 
 neath the surfase ready to boil over ; how " great 
 matter " is laid up among nations prepared for war, 
 "armed to the teeth," materials highly inflammable, 
 which "a little fire" might in a moment kindle J 
 If the Administration which now conies into power is 
 able to take more effectual measures for the peace of 
 Europe aiid of the world than the late Government 
 did, their efforts will beregai-ded with nafeigned satis- 
 faction by the faithful members of a Church, which 
 has always been distinguished by loyalty to the Crown, 
 and true, unfailing patriotism ; and which, in her 
 appointed daily service, offers up each morning and 
 evening the prayer, * ' Give peace in our time, Lord," 
 distrusting for any effectual aid, any succour but that 
 of Him whose " kingdom is everlasting and power in- 
 
 t Paradise Lost, Book vii. 
 X S, James, iii., 5.
 
 17 
 
 finite;" " because there is none other that fighteth 
 for us, but only Thou, God.'' 
 
 Or if the prevailing feeling among a large body of 
 our cougtituencies has been that coranisrce and agri- 
 culture had been alike sadly depressed, that things 
 could not be worse, and possibly in other hands might 
 b3 better, the clei'gy, -whose sympathies are, to so lai-ge 
 an extent, with those among whom their lot is cast — 
 their country neighbours, the gentry, the yeomanry, 
 and the peasantry of the land — will heartily rejoice — 
 and those in like manner who minister to the 
 people in our towns — in more prosperous culti- 
 vation of the soil, and continued revival of trade ; 
 but neither they nor their lay brethren will forget 
 " whose gift it is that the rain doth fall, the earth is 
 fruitful, beasts increase, and fishes do multijjly ;" f 
 they will not be looking to fallacious hopes of im- 
 possible remedies, much less to sacrilegious despoiling 
 of His Church and peoi^le, who hath said, "I the 
 Lord love judgment ; I hate robbery for burnt offer- 
 ing." They will rather say, in the language of 
 earnest pleading and entreaty of the plaintive prophet 
 of old, "We acknowledge, Lord, our wickedness, 
 and the iniquity of our fathers ; for we have sinned 
 against thee. Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake ; 
 do not disgrace the throne of thy glory ; remember, 
 break not thy covenant with us. Are there any 
 among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause 
 rain ? or can the heavens give showers ? art not 
 thou he, Lord our God ? Therefore we will wait 
 upon thee : for thou hast made all these things." || 
 
 Some persons, I know, would urge the clergy to 
 borrow a leaf out of their adversaries' book, and in 
 their pulpits and their olficial relations with their 
 people take an active part in politics. I am fully 
 persuaded that the clergy will do nothing of the kind. 
 
 t Prayer in the time of Dearth and Famine. 
 
 II Jeremiah xiv., •iO-2'2. Comp. ver. l " The word of the Lord that 
 
 came to Jeremiah concerning- the dearth."
 
 18 
 
 The duty of good citizens and patriots devolves upon 
 them ; and I trust they will ever faithfully discharge 
 it. If indeed that should come upon us, which ca me 
 on the remnant of Julah, when they were labour- 
 ing to build up peacefully the walls of their Jerusalem, 
 and Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the Ammonite, 
 and Geshem the Arabian, with ' ' the Arabians and 
 the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites," "conspired all 
 of them together," as we read, "to come and fight 
 against Jerusalem, and to hinder it ;" •**'it will be our 
 duty to do as Nehemiah, the pious governor and the 
 faithful of Judah, did,'*^— ''"We made our prayer unto 
 our God, and set a watch against them day and night, 
 because of them.'" * Our earnest desire is to build up, 
 in peace, the spiritual walls of our holy city ; to labour 
 for the "edification," the building up of our people in 
 their most holy faith ; t and we must look speciallj' to 
 our brethren, the faithful laity to do what Xehemiah 
 looked to his brethren for, when he "set the people 
 after their families with their swords and their spears, 
 their habergeons and their bows ; and I said unto 
 them," saith he, "Be not afraid of them, but remember 
 the Lord, which is great and terrible ; and fight for 
 your brethren, your sons and your daughters, your 
 wives and your houses." X If> like those "feeble Jews," 
 as their adversaries called them, we are even compelled^ ^ 
 as they were, to hold their weapons in the one hand, / 
 while with the other they built up the wall, we shall 
 bear as best we may the grievous hindrance to our 
 work ; !| for we shall feel that there are no less sacred 
 interests at stake than those which nerved the hearts, 
 and strengthened the hands of the remnant of the cap- 
 si vity, if we have to contend for the sacredness of God's 
 house and " God's acre," the religious education of 
 our children, the inviolate sanctity of the Church's 
 laws of marriage, and the peaceful purity of our homes. 
 Amidst whatever changes of sides in the political 
 
 '' Nehemiah iv., 7-9. f St. Jude, ver. 20. 
 X Nehemiah iv., 13, 14. i; Ibid, w. 17, 18.
 
 19 
 
 •vrorld, we shall take for our ovru guidance those words 
 of St. Peter wluch formed part of the Epistle for last 
 week: " Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear 
 God. Honour the king " ; or those other counsels of 
 St. James, which Ave read in the Epistle for this week, 
 *' Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be 
 swif fc to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath ; for the 
 wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." 
 From the conduct of some men it would verily seem as 
 if the outbreak of man's wrath were now sup^Dosed to be 
 the best, the chosen and Divinely approved instru- 
 ment for God's righteousness to work by. But mean- 
 while His faithful servants will liiidj comfort and 
 support in the Psahuist's assurance, "Surely the ivrath 
 of man shall praise thee ; tJie remainder of.icrath shall 
 thou restrain. " We shall think it our wisdom, looking 
 back on a time of political conliict, long j)rotracted and 
 of unexampled bitterness, to have very short memories 
 of things which have been said and done in the past, 
 which had better, as far as may be, be forgotte'i ; Mhile, 
 on the other hand, we practise ourselves to take very 
 long and far-sighted views in regai'd Lo the future and 
 its issues. We shall offer continually from the depth 
 of our hearts the Church's prayer, " that the course of 
 this world may be so peaceably ordered by " God's 
 supreme and gracious " governance, " that Ilig 
 " Church may joyfully serve Him in all godly qu iet- 
 ness." And, above all, remembering that there is 
 that which concerns everyone of us yet more deeply 
 than the safety and welfare of God's Church on earth, 
 though Christ, our Lord and Master, hath taught us 
 to make it the foremost subject of our daily prayers ; 
 that there is that which comes nearer still to our in- 
 dividual concern— the present peace and eternal sal- 
 vation of our own souls, in His everlasting kingdom 
 of glory— we shall earnestly put up the petition which 
 the Church has put into our lips in this week's collect, 
 unto Him "who alone can order the unruly wills and 
 affections of sinful men," that He will grant unto His
 
 20 
 
 people to love the things which He coramandeth, and 
 desire that which He doth promise, ' ' that so among he- 
 sundry and manifold changes of the world our hearts 
 may surely there be fixed, where true joys are to be 
 found ; " through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with 
 the Father and the Holy Ghost, be all glory and 
 dominion, world without end.
 
 
 
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