believe I have not misunderstood Mr Lowder. If that be the case, we are unhappily driven to this conclusion-that for twelve hundred years after Christ there was no power such as Mr Lowder now supposes to be exercised by the priests of the Church of God in remitting sins; for it is a simple historical fact, quite capable of being proved-and I speak upon it with knowledge from personal investigation-that for more than twelve hundred years after Christ those words were never repeated over any priest when he was ordained by the Bishop, and, what is more, they are not to this day repeated over any priest in the whole of the Greek Church, the Russian Church, or the Eastern Churches at large. It is only in the Roman Catholic Church and in our Church that they are used in the form of ordination. All that I wish to intimate to Mr Lowder and to my clerical brethren, and to this meeting at large, is, that they must be very careful before they put what they call sacramental confession upon the basis of a text which the whole Church of God for twelve hundred years did not suppose to be applicable to that purpose.

The REV. E. H. BICKERSTETH.

OUR discussion has been driven to the concluding words of the subject before us; but it was intended to be based on "Revival Movements." As one who has been privileged to have three Missions in my own parish, and as one who has had the great responsibility of conducting several Missions in the parishes of my brethren, I cannot but desire to bear my humble testimony to the immense blessings from God which I believe have rested upon these Church Missions. I know that the Mission has often brought the pastor into a close personal relationship with the Church workers, which has been beyond all price. I know, as a missioner, when I have come to a parish to conduct a Mission, that God has been pleased to use some of the first words He has put into my lips for the discovery of hearts to themselves. I remember one now who in a large mercantile town came to me in the course of a Mission, utterly broken down under a sense of sin; and, when I asked what had been the occasion of it, the answer was, "Oh, it was your first address to the Church workers: I felt that I was not at peace with God, and yet I was going and telling others that they ought to come to the Mission." I am sure that during the course of these Missions the intercourse with those who come, without any exercise of sacerdotal absolution, has yet been productive of great benefit. I do not believe that England will have the confessional. England abhors the confessional, and will not have it. The essence of pastoral intercourse is freedom; the essence of the confessional is priestly enchainment, and England will not have it. I speak from close acquaintance with a number of business men in London, barristers and others, and with one heart and mind they abhor the Roman confessional. But I am quite sure that the personal intercourse into which we are drawn by these Church Missions is that for which we shall bless God, and for which countless souls will bless God through all eternity. I shall never forget one man coming to me in Sunderland, with a heart overflowing with thankfulness; he had been brought to God through the ministry of the great and blessed evangelist Wilkinson, and he said to me, “Oh, sir, my wife and my son have found Christ under the words you spoke." Nor is it only during the Mission; but the correspondence which springs up after the Mission between the missioner, by the sanction of the pastor, and those to whom he has spoken the words of life, is sometimes invaluable; therefore I do thank God from my heart for these Church Missions.

The VEN. ARCHDEACON EMERY.

WHATEVER differences of view we may have upon certain points of this discussion, I think all of us must be most thankful at the tone of the whole meeting, and at the spiritual way in which the subject has been brought before us. In an experience now of many years' ministry, intermixing as it has been my duty and privilege to do with men of all classes of religious opinion, it has always seemed to me that our differences were mostly differences of words; that we have words sometimes put forth which, if we would only try to come together to interpret them, or only try to carry out the principle underlying them, would probably effect perfect peace and unity amongst us. I do not suppose we shall ever come to perfect unanimity, for from the nature of our mental organisation, from our religious education and the circumstances around us, there will always be differences of opinion on some essential points; but we have heard to-day from the papers which have been read, that there has been a great drawing together of different classes of religious views. It is true that my dear friend Mr Lowder has used the phrase "sacramental confession," which seemed to some to indicate, I suppose, grievous error; at any rate, they did not seem to understand it; but at the same time, as I said, I do believe, even in a case like that, it is to a great extent a question of words; and if not, I say there is this great use in the open discussion of such a subject in the face of one another and in the fear of God, that those who have held, or those who seem to hold, extreme views, learn the views of others, and gradually get corrected. If I may say so, remember the deadness there was in former days, and the revived spiritual life there is amongst us. We have had an actual confession by Mr Grier, in his remarkable paper, that certain friends, dearly beloved in the Lord, have, in his opinion, in certain cases, gone beyond the bounds of wisdom. I am quite sure that when we come, as I trust we all shall come, to read this debate in the published report, and prayerfully think it over, I believe we shall come to the conclusion that there is a great drawing together of opinion amongst us all. I hold that the Church of England does give a power of absolution to the minister of Christ; it cannot be denied; and although I am opposed to habitual confession, I do think there are times and seasons when the opening of the heart to the minister is most useful, and when also the solemn pronouncing the Absolution in the Master's name, and according to the Master's principles, if I may so speak of His willingness to absolve, does bring peace to the soul. I will conclude with this instance-Years ago I used to visit the Cambridge Hospital; and I saw a poor person there who was greatly distressed with spiritual difficulties. I investigated as far as I could the life of that person; great difficulty was experienced, and at the last it came to this-I did what the Church of England allowed me to do under the special circumstances; that really repentant sinner desired me to use my office, and believing that my Master would accept the ministerial act of His servant done in faith and humility, I did pronounce what the Church of England allowed me to pronounce, that that person, if truly repentant, was absolved through Christ.

The EARL of HARROWBY.

His Lordship has complained that few of the laity have taken part in the present discussion, and I suppose he has picked me out as the representative of the lay body; and in one respect I suppose I may claim to be so, for I believe I am the oldest layman present. In regard to these revivals I have not much to say; I have had little part in them; I have watched them from a distance, of course, like other people, and with much interest, and I believe from all revivals of every kind good of some sort

will of necessity follow. They stir up the attention of mankind, sluggish and apathetic as it usually is, to spiritual things. They stir up perhaps only to spasmodic action, but it does shake them for a moment at least out of their lethargy. Whether the best means are always pursued I do not say, but at any rate 1 welcome such movements, and wish that God's grace may attend them. With regard to the other point which has been raised, I hope you will permit me to say one or two words. Archdeacon Emery has told us, we sometimes differ about words, when we are not differing about things. But there are occasions when we differ about things-and this is one of them. When we are told that we are not to interfere between the parish priest and his people; that we are not to prevent men from pouring their griefs into his ear, and asking his counsel, I think every man and woman here present will say, let that practice be continued and increased. But when we come to the other question, are we to have sacramental confession, that is quite another thing. It is not a difference of words, it is a difference of things; in fact, the difference between English religion and Roman religion. I say there is no difference between Romish confession and sacramental confession as practised, I do not know how often, but at least by too many priests of the English Church. Now I would say to my brethren and my sisters here present, as the words of the oldest layman present, beware, above all things, of auricular confession. If you wish to undermine the purity of your household, if you wish to undermine the individual character of the English Protestant Reformed Religion, if you wish to prevent a man from consulting his own Bible and his own conscience, then look to auricular confession. I recollect a few words of a former diocesan here when the question was raised before him. He said, "If it comes to auricular confession, the English Church does not encourage it; it permits it in two cases; it permits it on the bed of death, it permits it to the man who cannot relieve himself of the burden of a grievous sin, and who comes in his distress to his pastor for advice, assistance, and absolution; absolution, mind you, by the word of God, but in other cases," the late Bishop of Lichfield said, and I have no doubt it will be confirmed by the present, "The English Church recognises no confession with absolution except in those two cases. I say beware of what is called Sacramental Confession. It is a practice which is most plausible and most seductive; everybody would like to lean upon somebody else's conscience, rather than upon his own, and upon the grace of God assisting him; but it is a fatally dangerous practice, and if I may be allowed to say one last word to my countrymen and country women, it is this, above all things preserve the purity of your own individual conscience; ask advice of your clergy, but do not let them say, 'You shall not come to communion or to confirmation unless I admit you through confession.'"

THURSDAY AFTERNOON, 7th OCTOBER.

The VERY REV. the DEAN of MANCHESTER took the Chair at half-past Two o'clock.

ORGANISATION OF CATHEDRAL AND CAPITULAR
INSTITUTIONS IN LARGE TOWNS.

PAPER.

MR BERESFORD HOPE, M.P.

THE increase of the Episcopate has lately become a prominent subject of interest to Churchmen in Parliament and elsewhere. It is important that in following out the realisation of this practical need, they should not neglect the kindred question of the organisation, particularly in large towns, of the system under which the Episcopate can most healthily work. I merely point to the total absence of any provision for such organisation in the St Alban's Bishopric Act, and pass on. A Bishop, particularly one called to preside over a fresh See, and especially a See in a large town, without Capitular and Cathedral institutions, is a general without his staff; or if you please, a sovereign without constitutional forms. The difficulty most likely to beset the man who undertakes to organise a Chapter is not that of finding work for dignitaries, but of making a good selection out of the various classes of work towards which the members of the Chapter may be made available. Assuming the Cathedral built, the conduct of worship in its highest type comes first. Frequent and stirring preaching comes close after. The pastoral charge of individual souls is a heavy burden. Education, under many forms, from the direct training of the choir and the regulation of the Diocesan College to the general supervision of upper, middle, and elementary schools throughout the Diocese, asserts its supreme importance. Diocesan administration is emphatically a Capitular duty. In the Chapter, too, the Bishop will find his best friends and counsellors in the always delicate and often painful exercise of paternal discipline in its various phases of examination, consultation, and, if needful, admonition. I am not referring to cases in which Parliament may kindly have relieved the Bishop of spiritual attributes. Much must, after all, be left on which he will and ought to have to act upon his inherent powers, and in such circumstances he may need and gladly welcome the help of such a body as this Chapter.

But besides all these considerations, there is a risk which may easily be incurred in organising the Chapter of a Diocese, where the See town is a large one. It is easy to forget, that important as that town may be, it is not the whole Diocese, and that the country portions, as well as other

smaller though populous places in it, have their claims both to be represented and to be looked after. Hence it follows that the newly-constituted Chapter must be somewhat numerous; that is, it must resemble the greater Chapters of our existing Cathedrals of the old foundations. Another inference is, that while residence must be the principle of the lesser or directly working Chapter, perpetual residence should not be the rule of all the members of the entire body. Common sense and the responsibilities of corporate duties dictate that those members of the Chapter specially concerned with the work of the Cathedral should generally reside, such as the Dean, the Precentor, and the Chancellor who would preside over the Choir School, and the head of the Diocesan College. On the other hand, I see the advantage of making certain canonical offices, such as School Inspector, possibly tenable with a country cure of souls, while its holder should only be compelled to a limited residence. Similar advantages must accrue to the Diocese at large in the highly trained residentiaries taking occasional turns of rural preaching, and to the town in otherwise beneficed Prebendaries being called up for their turns of Cathedral preaching. There are yet other arrangements which must be co-ordinated with a Chapter of the future. The Diocesan Synod of Clergy, and the mixed Conference of Clergy and Laity, are essential for the healthy circulation of the Church's life-blood. How, then, are we to ensure that these representations of the entire Diocese should be really working bodies, and yet not trench upon the functions of the Chapters? Obviously by providing that the Chapter shall be the Bishop's ordinary Committee for preparing the business to be brought before the Synod or Conference, as well as the executive for carrying out the deliberations of those bodies.

So much for the general principles which should regulate the constitution of fresh Chapters. Let us now, in accordance with them, construct a Chapter for some new Diocese, whose Bishop has been planted in a populous See town. If a church already exists important enough to be the Cathedral, so much the better-provided that the patronage of the living can be acquired and absorbed into the new organisation. If, however, no edifice can be found worthy of the distinction, I must urge very earnestly that the building of a Cathedral is not a matter of indifference, or merely the gratification of artistic taste. It is not a work that can be indefinitely put off on the plea of more pressing calls. It is simple idleness to allege, that in a community possessed of an Episcopal government and a Liturgical system of worship, the great church of the Bishop and of the Diocese is not an important element. I am exonerated from having to offer any suggestions upon the form and arrangement of this Cathedral, from having virtually travelled over the ground last year at the Brighton Congress in handling the building of a large town church. A Cathedral, no doubt, would require something more, but the general principles would be the same. Now for the Chapter. While securing to the Bishop a place and a voice in the Chapter very different from that which survives in mediæval foundations, I would not abolish the dignity of Dean. There will be plenty for him to do; and it is quite consistent with the highest respect for the Episcopate to say, that the presence in the Diocese of a presbyter of exceptional rank, next to the Bishop, is a good constitutional balance. There should be no question as to the Bishop's right to preside in the