see her clergy plundered, persecuted, and assassinated,— when we see a vast Popish conspiracy overspreading the whole of Ireland, and extending its ramifications into this country, when we see the great Popish agitator,1 petted and consulted by His Majesty's Ministers, boasting that they are his friends and dictating the course to be pursued with respect to the United Protestant Church,-when we see him glorying without contradiction that, at his mandate, were expelled from their ranks the most talented, the most trusted among them, that before him sunk Stanley and Graham, Lord Ripon, and the Duke of Richmond, and that even Lord Grey with half a century's reputation upon his head, with all the popularity of the Reform Bill fresh upon his brows, was forced to obey the potent spell, ridiculed and almost dishonoured. (Loud and long continued cheering.)

Finally, when we see the King himself, through the Bishops, appealing to his people, to support him against the combined enemies of the Church, and calling upon them to 'speak out.' When we see these and other signs of the times, are we clergy to be silent? (Cheers and cries of 'No! No!')

Are we, because we have to put on the gown, to assume the character of hypocrites, who must dissemble our devotion to our country, or of slaves that dare not give it utterance? (Cheers.)

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I, for my part, will not! I shall speak out!' (Loud cheering.)

I may be charged with indiscretion, or impetuosity, but I would rather be reprimanded with the Spartan, who rushed from the bath without his armour and repulsed the foe, than praised with the soldier, who had let the citadel be taken while he was considering whether the bows of his helmet were properly adjusted, or his belt in its exact regimental position.

The contemporary paper in reporting the foregoing speech adds that :

Though the toast which called up Mr. Molesworth was the closing one of the evening, such was the manner and matter of that gentleman, and such the evident respect for him, which pervaded the whole room, that he commanded marked attention to every word he uttered.

1 Dan O'Connell.

It must be remembered that both by descent and connexions, Mr. Molesworth had reason to be interested in the welfare of Ireland, and that it was the championship of the Irish Church which forced him into politics of a sort.

In January 1835 Molesworth brought out The Penny Sunday Reader, which was remarkable for its popularity, finding its way to North and South America.

In Glasgow a bookseller described the rush upon it in his shop. It was one of the first, if not the first, penny weekly series of its kind.

The Archbishop appointed him preacher at his primary visitation; he also preached the sermon at the consecration of the first Bishops of Australia and Montreal-Dr. Broughton and Dr. Mountain.

Sir Henry Howorth has stated that he was the first man in the kingdom to propose the revival of Convocation, the functions of which were in abeyance.

He printed a scheme in which he laid down the following axioms as preliminary :

(1) Convocation, without the power of decreeing, is no better than a debating society.

(2) The Church as a 'religious body' has an equitably exclusive right to 'initiate' rules as to its doctrine and discipline.

(3) The initiation of such rules by the secular legislature is simple tyranny.

(4) The assent of Parliament to such initiated rules is necessary to make them national law.

(5) There must be only one House of Convocation.

(6) The remodelling of Convocation must be taken up for present usefulness, irrespective of its past history.

Mr. Molesworth soon gained the confidence and respect of the clergy and laity of Canterbury and its neighbourhood, as he had done at Southampton, and he became the leader in religious thought and Church movement.

Although at that time he was considered very 'High

D

Church,' he associated on the most friendly terms with many of the 'Low Church' clergy and with some of the dissenting ministers. In the capacity of one of the six preachers' of Canterbury Cathedral, he preached a sermon on the doctrine of Apostolical Succession, at the primary visitation of Archbishop Howley to his diocese. Again, at an archidiaconal visitation, he boldly rebuked the clergy in a sermon commencing-' Divisions notoriously prevail in the Church. It is idle, it is uncandid, it is impossible to deny it.' He then went on forcibly to advocate toleration in non-essentials-to insist on unity as essential rather than absolute uniformity. He protested against narrowing down God's truths to the standard of their own individual interpretation, but urged them to allow that freedom which the Church of England provides in its Articles ;-latitude for all reasonable shades of religious thought, whether High, Low, or Broad. Mainly through him the barriers between the cathedral clergy and the parochial clergy were broken down. A new life was infused into everything, the Grammar School was remodelled, and the defence of Church and State was fought with unprecedented vigour and ability. Days, and frequently much of the nights, were spent in hard work. Sermons, pamphlets, newspaper articles, contributions to reviews, and other literature flowed from his pen; nor did his literary work interfere with the active performance of his ministrations and visitations of the sick and poor of his parish. He had sometimes to perform four public services on a Sunday, taking the morning and evening services at the parish church as well as services at the jail and at the hospital.

In those days the morning service always included both the Litany and Communion, and he had no curate and no choir. The singing was led by the clerk without musical accompaniment of any kind.

Archbishop Howley frequently invited him to stay at Lambeth Palace to discuss Church matters, and, armed with a long-handled garden tool, would walk with Molesworth in the Palace garden, and in the midst of talk about