Would that there were more unity and concord, and less of party spirit, so that churchmen could meet oftener. It would also be a great gain if their Bishop could come and visit them,—not on stated occasions only for the village Confirmations, once in two or three years, and then only for a short time, having to hurry off as soon as the service is over, and he has partaken of a hasty lunch, in order to be present at another Confirmation some few miles off,—but could come quietly and spend a Sunday with them, go to their Schools, speak a kindly word to the Sunday teacher, and even speak pleasantly to some labourer who may be lounging outside a church in his shirtsleeves, and ask him to come to church, as the writer knows one saintly Bishop did who has now gone to his well-earned rest in the Paradise of GOD : if the Bishop could thus come and see his clergy, and encourage them to open out their hearts to him, tell him of their difficulties, and seek for his fatherly counsel and advice, and so feel that they have a Father in GOD set over them who feels for them, and knows their work, it would be an invaluable support and assistance to them.

It may be answered that this is more than can be expected of the Bishops, who have so much work to do, and are now overburdened with the toil and responsibilities attaching to the Episcopal Office. But is it too much to hope that, with the increase of Bishops, this may be done? It would be a great incentive to work, and a great help to many a clergyman who is now toiling on single-handed in a large scattered rural district, and would also keep up the interest in the work of the Church; and so instead of being unthought of and passed over, it would be known, and the cause of CHRIST's Kingdom on earth would increase mightily. The Church of England has a glorious future, and she may indeed become a praise in the earth, but all organizations must be utilised, and the Church's work must be done in the Church's way.

But some will say, Does not the Church exist? Is she not by law established? Is she not doing her duty in the country parishes? Why are we to take such a despondent view? In reply, we say, The Church does exist, but is her existence a healthy existence? Is her work fruitful? Does Dissent languish and die? or rather does not Dissent flourish ?

And what is the ideal which many picture to themselves of a country parish? Something of this kind I imagine

A beautiful village scene, such as artists love to picture, with trees

rich in luxurious foliage, the wandering musical little brook, cottages clean and nice, whitewashed it may be outside, gardens neatly cultivated, the roses and the honeysuckle sending out their sweet perfume, the farm-yard with its horses and its cattle, its pigeons and its poultry, and in the centre of the village the church, with spire towering heavenwards, the walls strong and firm, supported by solid buttresses, the churchyard well kept, the graves nicely covered with flowers, the tombstones with their various inscriptions, the walks neatly laid out, well gravelled, the weeds carefully dug up, and everything so decent and in order that it may well speak of the Resurrection and the Life Everlasting, truly a "GOD's acre."

And then inside the church,-what is the ideal that good church people picture to themselves? The interior scrupulously clean, the pillars with their rich carved capitals, the Communion plate of silver, the Altar properly vested, adorned with fitting ornaments, vases filled with the choicest flowers, the windows bright with stained glass, the choir surpliced, the bells ringing out their merry chimes on Sunday for early Celebrations, for Mattins and Evensong, and also the Church's Daily Office of Prayer and Praise offered up within its sacred walls, the courts of the LORD's House filled with worshippers entering heartily into the spirit of the services, " singing lustily and with a good courage," realizing indeed that they are to worship, the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

But to some whose minds are not of an æsthetic turn, what is the ideal which they picture to themselves of the Church services in a country parish? They will imagine everything scrupulously clean, the seats open and well arranged, the choir of boys and girls supported by some of the older members, singing the service with a heartiness which shows that they appreciate it; and in all cases the Sunday School well filled with children, all, rich and poor alike, approaching the Altar of GOD, receiving there the true Bread which comes down from Heaven; the pastor diligently visiting his flock, the sick and the afflicted, and all feeling that they have in him a friend, one who is ready at all times to succour them,—the pastor, it may be, who has prepared them for Confirmation, who has joined them together in the sacred bonds of holy matrimony, from whose hands they first received the Holy Communion.

But is the ideal which imagination pictures true? Is it real? Is the country parish such a perfect elysium? Alas! it must be con

fessed that in too many cases it is not. Not in all, GOD forbid that we should thus impugn the character of all the Clergy of the Church of England who are located in rural districts, for that would be indeed a very grave and serious charge to make; there are at this moment, earnest men, and many of them, who are striving to do the work of the Church in the Church's way, and we would that they were more honoured for their work's sake.

But is the ideal which has just been pictured true of numbers of the country parishes throughout the length and breadth of the land? It must be confessed again with shame, it is not true. Alas! in this our Christian land, in how many of our country parishes does not Dissent rear its giant head in opposition to the true Church of CHRIST, whose commission it is to witness for GOD's truth? wherever we go, be it east, west, north or south, we find the little Bethels where the local brother rants away every Sunday, an occasional visit from the itinerant preacher who may be stationed at the nearest town, being considered as a great event: where is there not the "Independent Chapel," or as they like to be called, "Congregationalist Church," with its located minister who is ready at all times to take the chair and preside at some "Liberation" Lecture, and who propounds to his rustic congregation the injury and the injustice of the Established Church, and complains in the interests of "social and religious equality" that hundreds of Her Majesty's subjects are bound to support a religion which they do not belong to nor believe in, and that it is the duty of all to try and deliver the Church from the bondage and thraldom of her union with the State? in other places there are the "New Connexion" Methodists and the “Free Church,” and the “ Reformers.”

What a spectacle to gaze upon, in, say a parish of two or three thousand souls with three or four chapels of varying denominations, each having a goodly number of adherents, and the Church in the parish likewise, her unfailing bell bidding them draw near to the appointed place where " Prayer is wont to be made." When we see all this, are we not led to question how it is that in parishes where all ought to be peace and concord, there is such a diversity of opinion, and that instead of peace, there is discord and division, and not that harmony which ought to characterise true Christians? well may we remember the late Bishop Selwyn and the New Zealand Chief. When we think of the state of things, is it not enough to make us weep, and even to doubt whether there be any religion among us-whether the Church

has not lost its power, or rather, if it is not in a state of paralysis because it has not witnessed for the truth as it ought to have done? When we think of the many sects and the various forms in which schism shows itself, ought we not to go on our knees and pour out the prayer for unity? ought we not to do all we can to bring about more unity, and try to gather in those who have wandered away from us and gone to feed in other pastures, to the true fold of the Catholic Church of CHRIST? and there is nothing that brings religion into contempt so much as the differences between professing Christians.

But it must be clearly understood what is meant by all this. We must not for one moment think of giving up any portion of those sacred truths, and those principles which are part of our inheritance, we must stand up for these, and it is by "holding our own," that we shall gain more than by "coming down from the mount." The Mission of the Church, especially in our rural districts, has not succeeded as it ought to have done, this is clear from what has just been stated, and the Church must blame herself to a great extent for this defection; the Church has not in all cases been put before the people in the most favourable light, her services have not always been the brightest and the heartiest, the preaching has not always been so earnest, or so full of unction as it might have been. And one cause of this is, that (to use a popular phrase) the round man has been put in a square hole, a man has been appointed to a living who has not been able, (perhaps

it

may be from natural diffidence,) to make himself all things to all men, or at any rate to make himself sociable and popular with his people, a man who by his great abilities, if in a large town, would have drawn large congregations, but who placed in an isolated country parish, feels that he is shelved, and so lives to himself, going through the ordinary routine and seeming to care for little else. Another cause may be this; a young man fresh from College is ordained to a country curacy, he thinks that a rest after College life will do him good, and above all he will get time for reading; he is full of zeal, and has been accustomed to good services, when he comes to the parish. He has pictured to himself what he will do: he will introduce various changes but after a while the novelty has worn off and he finds that matters do not advance as he had expected they would, the Rector, it may be, not caring to introduce these innovations, which indeed cannot be introduced all at once; and so while waiting he gets wearied, his reading does not go on as he had planned, and he either sinks down into the mere come day, go day" sort

of life, or else at the first opportunity he seeks a more congenial sphere where his energies and powers can have full and ample scope. This has its damaging effect on a parish. Or again, another man who may be appointed to a living is a decided "party man," and at his first entrance into the parish, alters the whole style of performing Divine Service. He must carry out the Shibboleth of his party, which Shibboleth he utters with no uncertain sound. It may be that he has a gift for lecturing and public speaking, and so the chiefs of the school to which he belongs, request his services as a preacher, and if he goes about lecturing that will indeed take up time, and the "few sheep in the wilderness" will have to be fed with husks, in the shape of a hastily prepared sermon, not well digested on account of the want of time; and so while the Shepherd is lecturing on the faults and lawlessness of others, the hireling will be busy at work, drawing people to the little Tabernacle, the "Bethesda" or the "Ebenezer," and the Church in that parish will ultimately become a valley of dry bones, or like a tree stunted in its growth.

These, it will be argued, are faults which cannot be overcome, flaws which cannot be eradicated, but if these flaws are not removed, they will increase and ultimately upset the Church; destroy it, they cannot, for the Church as a Divine Institution can exist independent of its connection with the State. She is in the world and yet is not of the world. She is founded upon the Rock of Truth. If she hold fast to the truth, she will flourish, she has her LORD's promise that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against her, and also that He will be with her always, even to the end of the world. The causes which I have stated as hindering the progress of the Church in our rural districts may be said to have their origin in the present system of Patronage, of which the effect is seen in the growth of Dissent; perhaps this may have something to do with it, but there will never be a system of patronage which will suit all parties, and it is far better not to destroy the system that we have, until we have something better to supply in its place. The growth of Dissent is not of a recent date, it goes a long way back, and we have never in our rural districts thoroughly got over the dulness and the apathy of the Church in days gone by; a great deal of the apathy that exists now, is not in our large villages near to towns, but it is in the remote country parishes far away from town influence and where public opinion is not brought to bear on the subject.