them; it was the accident of their office to preach and baptize, but of its essence to serve. Stephen and Philip were indeed highly honoured in the loftier duties entrusted to them; but we have no reason to doubt (I might rather say every reason to believe) that they were, equally with the other five, active in the discharge of their inferior duties as well. "And this idea of the Diaconate is most fully borne out by the Scriptural Service for the Ordering of Deacons in our National Church. But if we look for the reality of that order, we shall be painfully disappointed-while in theory we have recognized the true position of the Deacon, we have in practice almost obliterated the office. The Diaconate has been made a nere brief apprenticeship to the Priesthood, in place of being maintained as a living and distinct order-an order, the functions of which were intended to give energy and system to the great bulk of the Church, and sustain instrumentally her organic life and corporate existence, "To this practical neglect I believe it to be mainly attributable that the evil (may I not say the sin?) of separation exists so widely in this country. The power and truthfulness of the Church- not as a mere system, but as a real existence--has never been brought home to the great body of the people (especially in our commercial and manufacturing districts)--and hence, looking on the Church merely as an establishment, they have thought it no evil, but rather a praiseworthy deed, to 'heap to themselves teachers,' who should shew them, and those around them, the path of life! "And can we wonder at this?-nay more, can we blame them for this? Acknowledging, as some at least among us do, that voluntary separation from a true and living branch of the vine-which is the Church-of Christ, is sinful -can we call that a voluntary separation which has been all but forced upon them by our own coldness and indifference? Quis custodiet ipsos custodes !` was a question asked of old, and if the delegated authorities of the Witness and Keeper of Holy Writ have been true to their high deposit, must not they at least share the sin whereof others may have subsequently become the partakers. 6 "My reverend brethren, it is my deep and solemn conviction, that had the reviving spirit of religion-at different periods, but especially in the last century-been met in an honest and faithful spirit by the authorities of the Church herself, much of the wavering and doubtful mindedness and separation that now exists, would have been unknown: and even now, extensive as this has become, I believe a true and loving spirit, zealous, honest, and discreet, may do much to convert enemies into friends, opponency into co-operation. "Among the leading instrumentalities calculated to bring about this result, I believe the restoration of the Diaconate to its original intention to stand in the front rank. We want men like the early Deacons, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom'—the wisdom from above'-to labour among our masses from house to house, teaching everywhere that men should repent and turn unto the Lord Jesus Christ-We want men who shall multiply the ministrations of the Gospel, and carry the realities of the Church to the houses of the whole as well as the sick-We want men in sufficient numbers to visit every house, in every parish, with the offer of the Gospel-with sufficient zeal to do what is entrusted to them-with sufficient piety and love to leave an odour of sanctity wherever they tread-with sufficient humility to abide in the vocation wherewith they are called, "But we do not want for this, men who are qualified for the higher orders of the ministry-we do not want men who are so far removed from, as to have no sympathy with, the middling and lower classes, we do not want men who expect a license to preach with their order to serve,-we do not want men who think they are entitled to the Priesthood, because they have passed the initiatory threshold of the Diaconate!" This extract is inserted with the hope that this very valuable sermon may have such an extensive circulation as it so justly claims. The publishers are Smith and Elder, Cornhill, London. FROM THE LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF DR. ARNOLD. Late Head Master of Rugby School and Regius Professor of Modern History in the University of Oxford. "It seems to me that a great point might be gained by urging the restoration of the order of Deacons, which has been long, quoad the reality, dead. In large towns many worthy men might be found able and willing to undertake the office out of pure love, if it were understood to be not necessarily a step to the Presbyterial order, nor at all incompatible with lay callings. You would get an immense gain by a great extension of the Church, —by a softening down that pestilent distinction between clergy and laity, which is so closely linked with the priestcraft system,-and by the actual benefits, temporal and spiritual, which such an additional number of ministers would ensure to the whole Christian congregation. The Canon law, I think, makes a very wide distinction between the Deacon and the Presbyter; the Deacon according to it is half a layman; and could return at any time to a lay condition altogether; and I suppose no one is so mad as to maintain that a minister abstaining from all secular callings is a matter of necessity, seeing that St. Paul carried on his trade of tentmaker, even when he was an apostle Of course the Ordination Service might remain just as it is; for in fact no alteration in the law is needed;-it is only an alteration in certain customs which have long prevailed, but which have really no authority. It would be worth while, I think, to consult the Canon law and our own Ecclesiastical law, so far as we have any, with regard to the order of Deacons." FROM A LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING POST, Which appeared in that Paper of the 12th of Jauuary last. "In a pamphlet published a short time ago on 'The Wants of the Church,' being a letter to his Grace the Primate, by H. Kingscote, Esq., it was suggested that, in addition to a considerable increase of the number of the clergy, lay Scripture Readers should be appointed under the sanction of the Bishop of the diocese, whose duties should be to read the Holy Scriptures from house to house in the parish where they should be called to serve. Now, Sir, this employment of Scripture Readers in populous parishes has been adopted in the dioceses of London and Winchester ever since 1844, with the sanction of the respective Bishops; about fifty men are employed in some of the most populous parishes for the purpose above stated, and there cannot be the slightest doubt but that the labours of these devoted men have been attended with great success; many a child whose mistaken parent had supposed that registration was the same as baptism, has been brought to the sacred font, and there received the washing of regeneration; many a hardened sinner has been met by the rebukes of the Word of God, convinced of his evil doings, and brought with humility, penitence, and prayer to the House of God; and many sick and dying persons have received the ministrations of the Church, their cases being brought under the notice of the clergyman by the Scripture Reader. But, Sir, I have had an opportunity of observing that the usefulness of these men is much injured by the want of a sufficient identity with the Church to which they belong; they are strictly prohibited from saying or doing anything in the least degree ministerial, and the consequence is, that the people, finding the reader not recognized by the Church, are wanting in that respect for his office which they should entertain. In the primitive Church, the lector was allowed, in addition to his duty, to read the lessons in the Church, to purify women, and to bury the dead; besides which it was intimated that if he performed his office to the satisfaction of the Bishop, he should be advanced to the ministry of the Church (somewhat of the same description of persons were appointed at the Reformation), but the Scripture Readers of London and Winchester are not only prohibited from exercising any ministerial function, but not the slightest prospect is held out to them of advancement, though many of them have given up promising situations of business to devote themselves to the work, and the necessary consequence of this state of things is, that some of the most clever among them have either joined the ranks of dissent, or have gone back to the world, and the Scripture Readers' Association' find much difficulty in providing competent persons to undertake the work. What, then, should be done? Shall the men be allowed to practise certain ministerial offices by mere sufferance, or shall they be at once appointed to the office of Deacons in the Church? The latter at once appears to be the most proper course for the present distress; let the Scripture Readers and lay assistants in connection with the Church of England, in all parts of the country, be at once advanced to the order of Deacons, with the distinct understanding, that if, after a certain number of years, they shall have duly qualified themselves by literary attainment, and pious devotion to their work, they shall be further advanced to the holy order of Priesthood, and then when means of a pecuniary nature shall be provided, let the number of Deacons be increased to meet the wants of the population of our country." REVIVAL OF THE DIACONATE IN THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH. Ar the last convention of the American Episcopal Church, in 1845, the Diaconate was restored by passing a canon appointing Deacons to discharge those minor ministerial duties which their office was instituted to fulfil. The American Church had, previous to the above period, engaged Scripture Readers to perform the inferior ministerial functions, but finding the practice not answerable to the wants of the Church, resolved on the revival of the Diaconate. This has been effected by repealing all canons which required an educational course qualification for the office similar to that demanded for the Presbyterate, by which arrangement persons can now enter the ministry whose talents do not fit them for a higher sphere of activity than that of the Diaconate, and who, had it not been restored, would have been altogether excluded from the ministry. It must be a peculiar satisfaction to those who feel interested in the restoration of Deacons in our Church, to see that it has been accomplished in the American Church—a Church which owes her origin to ours, is in full communion with our own, and whose ministers can now officiate in our sanctuaries. May the Church of England, who is the mother of the American Church, follow the example of her daughter in the faith of Christ; and thus will the restoration of the Diaconate in the American communion, prove an harbinger of what will follow in our own. Our Church has not difficulties in her way which the American Church had when she revived the Diaconate, she could not effect it without first repealing old canons and enacting new ones; but the English Church can revive the order without any canon interfering, for there are not any which would prevent the immediate restoration of the order of Deacon. We here insert the Canon of the American Church, which will doubtless be read with interest. "Of a discretion to be allowed in the calling, trial, and examination of Deacons in certain cases,' "Section I. It shall be lawful for any Bishop, upon being instructed so to do by a resolution of the convention of his diocese, to admit to the holy order of Deacons persons not tried and examined as prescribed in the canons 'of candidates for orders,' of the learning of those who are to be ordained,' and of the preparatory exercises of a candidate for Deacon's orders,' under the following limitations and restrictions, viz.— 1. Every such person shall have attained the full age of twenty-four years. "2. He shall have presented to the Bishop the certificate from the standing committee, required by section second of the canon of candidates for orders,' "3. He shall have remained a candidate for orders at least one year from the date of such testimonials. "4. He shall have presented to the Bishop a testimonial from at least one rector of a parish, signifying a belief that the person so applying is well qualified to minister in the office of a Deacon, to the glory of God and the edification of his Church.' "5, He shall have been examined by the Bishop, and at least two Presbyters, on his fitness for ministrations declared in the ordinal to appertain to the office of a Deacon. "Sect. II. A Deacon ordained under this canon shall not be allowed to take charge of a parish. "Sect, III. In every parish in which a Deacon, ordained under this canon, shall officiate, he shall be subject to the direction of the rector of the parish, so long as therein resident and officiating with the approbation of the Bishop. "Sect. IV. A Deacon ordained under this canon shall not be transferable to another diocese, without the request of the Bishop to whom he is to be transferred, given in writing to the person to whose jurisdiction he belongs. 'Sect. V. A Deacon ordained under this canon shall not be entitled to a seat in any convention, nor made the basis of any representation in the management of the concerns of the Church. 66 "Sect. VI. A Deacon ordained under this canon shall not be ordained to the priesthood without first going through all the preparatory exercises of a candidate for Deacon's orders, as required by the canon thereto relating, in addition to those required of a candidate for Priest's orders, nor without presenting all the testimonials, required by the canon of testimonials to be produced on the part of those who are to be ordained. “Sect. VII. In all respects not provided for by this canon, the Deacons who shall be ordained under it shall be under the same direction and control as other Deacons," INTENDED REVIVAL OF THE DIACONATE IN THE DIOCESE OF EXETER. WHEN this periodical was preparing for the press, the Editor heard with feelings of lively gratification and interest that the Lord Bishop of Exeter intended to revive the Diaconate in his diocese, by admitting young men to Deacon's orders who had been educated at St. Mark's training school, Chelsea, or at the Exeter training school. As this is the first formal announcement from the Episcopal bench of the restoration of Deacons, the Editor feels that so very important a fact should be early noticed in this periodical. The gratitude of Churchmen is due to the Bishop of Exeter for having thus nobly come forward, and avowed his sentiments on the necessity that there exists for reviving the Diaconate, and for having so frankly declared his intention of putting his opinions into practice. To the Bishop of Exeter the church at large owes an obligation, only to be repaid by following the example set by his lordship; and it is to be sincerely hoped that a measure so worthy of imitation will not be lost on those to whom the government of the church is committed. "At the annual meeting of the Exeter Diocesan Board of Education, held at the Chapter House on the 23rd ult. (Feb.), the Bishop of Exeter expressed his firm purpose of admitting to the Diaconate for an indefinite but long period any schoolmasters duly qualified and recommended to the training school. His lordship said that he should not bate in the least the theological qualifications of the candidates, but only Greek; Latin he should require, as it was required by the Canons. They must, after such ordination, continue to hold the office of schoolmaster, and in some large and important parish. He did not preclude them from the hope of admission to the Presbyterate. He commended the subject to the early consideration of the board, whom he recommended to enlarge their establishment, and requested to put the training |