puted or disallowed votes; Mr. Bennett has appealed from the parliamentary inquisition to the Church of England by representation; and then there are the means of working parishes, of extending Church accommodation, and hundreds of practical matters, which might claim the attention of so grave, learned, and pious a body. Under these circumstances, we hope that the "sham" in the Jerusalem chamber will become a reality, and that the two houses will be allowed to transact the business that presses upon them. Something more than a rumour has reached us, that the Earl of Derby intends to advise the Queen to grant her gracious permission for the transaction of business; and from the tone assumed by a certain leading journal upon this subject, we should be disposed to think that such will be the case.

We take it for granted that all our readers sympathise most fully with us in these our prayers and wishes; but if any are in doubt herein, we would recommend to them a careful study of a most able and valuable treatise on the "Constitutional Nature of the Convocations of the Church of England," by the Rev. William Fraser. It is by far the best compendium we have met with upon this important subject. The following are his concluding words :

"It is more than excusable-it is right-to take it as the remedy for the difficulties of the present; and for some remedy the Church has long and most patiently been waiting. It is certainly the most practical form in which she can obtain synodal action; it is, with scarcely less certainty, the most desirable. Surely, in His good time, the crippled hand will be restored, and stretched out whole!

"In the interim, it belongs to Churchmen to petition for the synodal action of Convocation, not from temporary motives, or as being prompted by individual or party feelings, but as a constitutional duty. 'Tacemus omnes' was, ere this,-and has been for this long time,-a word of evil omen to our Convocation and to our Church."

These are sober words, and we commend them to the consideration of all.

The Scottish Church has suffered a heavy loss in the death of the venerated Bishop Torry, the last Scottish ecclesiastic, "who had exercised his ministry in the times of the penal statutes." According to the account in the Morning Chronicle, his funeral was such as became a Catholic Bishop, of a sound and long-tried branch of the Catholic Church. Our readers, doubtless, remember the noble effort made for the erection of a Cathedral at Perth, where some return might be made to decent rituals and proper celebration of Divine Service, and in connection with which a well-defined plan of missionary operations might be carried out. The body of Canons, under the able and

learned Dean, have been engaged for some time with, we believe, great success upon their grand mission. And here in this Cathedral the remains of the Bishop repose. The body of the Bishop was removed from his residence at Peterhead to Perth, where it was received by the Revds. Chancellor Chambers and Canon Haskoll. Of the funeral itself, the following is the account of the Morning Chronicle :

"It lay in state in the nave, under a hearse hung with black, and decorated with the arms of the three Sees over which the deceased Prelate had presided. Upwards of 1,500 of the townspeople were admitted in the course of the evening, and the good order observed, and reverential feelings exhibited, would scarcely have been equalled in any English cathedral. The cathedral clergy watched the corpse by relays during the whole night; and the effect after midnight, when all lights were extinguished but the six wax tapers on both sides of the hearse, the darkness of the high-pitched roof, and the dim obscurity in which the choir was invested, formed a very striking scene. On Wednesday, the Holy Eucharist having been celebrated by the Dean, and morning prayers said, as usual, the clergy of the united and other dioceses assembled in the sacristy of the cathedral. There were present, the Bishops of Brechin and Moray, all the Incumbents of the united diocese but three, and the Warden and SubWarden of Trinity College, Glenalmond. Of other dioceses, about fifteen or sixteen, among whom were the Rev. P. Cheyne, of Aberdeen; the Rev. J. B. Pratt, of Cruden; the Rev. J. Alexander, of S. Columba's, Edinburgh; the Rev. G. Rousan, of Peterhead, &c. The corpse had been removed into the western porch of the unfinished nave, where it was met by the Bishop of Brechin, and the procession was formed in the following order :

The nave, in its present unfinished state, not being long enough to contain the other clergy, those of the diocese, vested in surplices, kept their places in the choir, those not of the diocese, who wore gowns, remained outside the screen, on the south side. The sentences having been sung, the bier was set down before the altar, and the choir took their places, while the nave was filled with an immense crowd, admitted, in the most orderly manner, by tickets. The funeral Psalms were chanted to the second Gregorian tone; the lesson was read by the Dean; the anthems were sung by the choir, the organ playing the "Dead March' while the coffin was lowered into the grave; and the concluding prayers said by the Bishop of Brechin. The Dies Ira,' from the Hymnal Noted,' was sung by the choir, and the funeral sermon was then preached by the Rev. J. B. Pratt, of Cruden, one of the deceased Prelate's oldest friends. This excellent sermon will, we understand, be published. The preacher traced the Bishop's career from the time when, under the penal laws, he officiated in a farm-house kitchen, to the consecration of his cathedral church and the institution of his chapter; showed that one sentiment had pervaded his whole life-namely, the desire of approximation to the Primitive Church; dwelt on his efforts for union with the rest of the Catholic Church, and especially with the East; referred to the labour he had expended in the service of the Scottish Church, and more particularly in the extension of its offices, by which he had been exposed to the misunderstanding of superficial thinkers; showed how faithfully he had followed the Gadderars, and Kilgours, and Rattrays, in his piety, and learning, and faith; and concluded with the prayer that his successor might tread in his footsteps as he had trod in theirs. We understand that it is in contemplation to erect a high tomb, with effigy, over the remains of the Bishop. They lie on the north side of the altar. At the conclusion of the ceremonial, the assembled clergy were entertained by the Canons in the College hall, the Dean being prevented by severe domestic affliction from being present. As we should have mentioned, the Bishop of Argyll was hindered by illness from preaching the funeral sermon.'

In London a great movement is being made by the civil authorities to ameliorate the awful condition of the poorer classes, by securing cleanliness and decency in the lodgings frequented by these unfortunate persons. But such evils exist in the country as well as in London; and we have often in our experience met with most appalling cases of wretchedness, misery, and depravity. This subject was most admirably and eloquently alluded to by Mr. A. B. Hope, at the Cranbrook Agricultural Meeting, when he set forth the desirableness of building cottages for the labouring classes, in which there should

be at least more bed-rooms, stating at the same time that the noble warrior, the Viscount Beresford, the companion in arms of the great Wellington, had devoted himself to the development of the plan on his own estates. We are not surprised to find Mr. Hope uttering such sentiments, though we are daily rejoiced to see the great advance which such views are making, as we are certain that, until this subject receives greater consideration, the efforts of the clergy to reform the poorer members of their flocks will not be as successful as they should be. Nor are we less delighted to have had the opportunity of reading the stirring speech of that chivalrous nobleman, and consistent Churchman, Lord John Manners, delivered at a meeting of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel at Colchester, the borough which he represents in Parliament. It is one of the best speeches we have read for a long time. And we most heartily re-echo his words-" Let town vie with town, and diocese with diocese, in giving efficiency to the operations of this society, until

"England, in time, shall claim and keep

A nobler style than mistress of the deep;
Mother of Churches this her glorious name,
Her best prerogative, her chiefest fame."

Notices to Correspondents.

VERAX. We are quite puzzled to know to what Verax refers in the pages he has sent to us, as we have read them most carefully, and yet cannot divine. If he will be kind enough to write and inform us of the specific grounds of objection, he will really lay us under an obligation.

BETA. We have so often answered this question, that it seems needless to ask it again, and still less to answer it. However, we must say that we have no sympathy at all with people running away from their own parish Church, which is, as it were, the symbol of unity. Whatever errors may pervade the discourses, the prayers are the same in all places. We would recommend Beta to read the Bishop of Exeter's letter to the Churchwardens of Bramford Speke.

MARY.-The life of Alcuin has already appeared in our pages; and, much as we admire the style of the specimen sent us, we cannot insert a second biography, unless new and striking facts are brought to light. It is intended, next year, to have a series of biographies, each life being complete in itself. We shall not confine ourselves to ecclesiastics.

DIRECTION. Our valued clerical correspondent only does us justice in his letter. Our own opinion is pretty much in accordance with his; but it is difficult to deal at times with everything as one could wish. As to the length of the papers to which he refers, we differ, and for good reasons, as we have received thanks from many quarters, and know that they are welcomed in many a circle.

A STUDENT would find Foulkes' "Manual of Church History" most valuable. His query is answered in page 209 of that work, which we transcribe. "The Jacobites were so called from one Jacob, a disciple of Severus, who professed nearly the same opinions with his master, and against whom S. Ephrem is said to have written. They further imbibed the errors of the Apollinarians; and are to be still found scattered about Armenia, Syria, Egypt, and Ethiopia." Also, a partizan or adherent of James II., after his abdication. For an account of this party we would recommend the perusal of the Rev. William Gresley's historical tale of "Coniston Hall, or the Jacobites."

MAUDE's first act next morning was to write a long letter to Henry, in which she detailed the alarming conversation she had heard the night before between Mr. Damer and his daughter, and besought her brother to relieve her from the excessive anxiety it had awakened in her mind. If really he were engaged in any such sinister projects as those which had been attributed to King and his followers, she prayed him with all the energy of her deep affection to take warning from the threatening expressions made use of by Mr. Damer, who was not only a good judge of the probable results of such open defiance of the laws of the land, but likewise in himself a sufficiently influential person to render it nearly certain that his advice would be adopted, as to the measures pursued against the conspirators. She reminded Henry that the justice of man was more speedy of execution than the justice of GOD; which was no less immutable and sure, although His superhuman mercy and long-suffering might leave a longer space for repentance than the mortal judge would give. He was in revolt, alike to laws human and divine, and surely he could not be blind to the retribution that must await him. She concluded by entreating of him not only to renounce, at once and for ever, all these dangerous companions and their evil plans, but to write her a letter in which he should explicitly state such to be his intention, in order that by this means she might dispel Mr. Damer's suspicions against him, as she felt sure Miss Damer would assist her in doing, if she stated the case to her so as to enlist her good offices.

To this letter Henry, usually the worst of correspondents, sent an answer by return of post; but poor Maude's vexation was beyond all words, when she saw that the motive of this wonderful promptitude had been the very opposite to what she desired.