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 A CHARGS 
 
 DELIVERED TO THE 
 
 CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF BOMBAY 
 
 IN THE 
 
 Cathenral Hhureh of St. Thomas, 
 
 ON APRIL 2np, 1861, 
 
 AT HIS THIRD VISITATION, 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN HARDING, D.D.,. 
 
 BISHOP OF BOMBAY; 
 
 AND 
 
 PRINTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE CLERGY PRESENT. 
 
 Bombay: 
 PRINTED AT THE 
 
 EDUCATION SOCIETY’S PRESS, BYCULLA. 
 
 L86l. 
 
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 ‘KON nt oe a ah ae, 
 
 _ waanraad avanavall yi 
 
 teagiol ont Yo oo to seolo oft ts vagraiagamed 
 Asan of esd seo00i7. etdlt to qodeill ont dotdw wot | 
 soit to seqs! ort yd .ballso Hozyer bavot oved I 
 nest NOY gainvva09 to yiub. gitizsoly ont ot a18oY . 
 
 Itedt bedeirw teomie bed 1 .ellsw seedd cidtin 
 109 lo sista s.10t ; -guiteonr wo sroqseoq siaiall 
 ot a ditw gaind tom escb inomevom enounit: - 
 ot nooo oved bluow f doidw tba eoonetemuoris Ht 
 
 (Taw soy gnizeotbbs rt anontistsqoig yar olson bes 
 - Mozart aan yibisd bigode I ted3 bogbus owed a 
 . ysl ot astorq o10lotedt I bas ; :solq eidt no woy oA 
 etdauodt odt to ono olds od ysor I as wor ototod 
 woqy bain yer dguotdt onieasq mood ovad dvoid * 
 ‘THOY M0 garyfot 20 of teo19tni mosamos to aooiian 
 996i! Ysmt OY anoitostraq fiti TOVOIGdW TOT salar ee 
 odT | -hoeas1qxs ots yout doidw ni r9ansen odd at -° 
 40 erslusitisq wot s ot .so6lq der? off? ni otelor (li | 
 i F000 19 gneoljecirp smo2 ot nox bas otosisils iso 5 ba 
 
 oa i - 
 
 va) 
 
 ~ 
 
CHARGE. 
 
 My ReverenD BRETHREN, 
 
 IMMEDIATELY at the close of one of the longest 
 tours which the Bishop of this Diocese has to make, 
 I have found myself called, by the lapse of three 
 years, to the pleasing duty of convening you again 
 within these walls. I had almost wished that I 
 might postpone our meeting; for a state of con- 
 tinuous movement does not bring with it the 
 circumstances under which I would have chosen to 
 make my preparations for addressing you. But | 
 have judged that I should hardly justify myself 
 to you on this plea; and I therefore prefer to lay 
 before you, as I may be able, some of the thoughts 
 which have been passing through my mind upon 
 subjects of common interest to us, relying on your 
 indulgence for whatever imperfections you may trace 
 in the manner in which they are expressed. They 
 will relate, in the first place, to a few particulars of 
 local character, and then to some questions of more 
 
4 
 
 general importance. May He who. ‘“helpeth our 
 infirmities’ not withhold His mercy from. us, but 
 be to us “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, 
 the Spirit of counsel and ghostly strength, the Spirit 
 of knowledge, and true godliness,’ for our Master 
 and Saviour’s sake. 
 
 And first, in reference to local topics. I am sorry 
 that I must correct a mistake into which I. was 
 betrayed in my last Charge as to the extent of. the 
 increase which had then been granted in our Eccle- 
 siastical Establishment. Thirty-two appointments 
 had been made, and I was under the impression 
 that this was. to be the permanent number. A 
 subsequent communication, however, informed me 
 that such was not the case; that the increase which 
 had taken place was for the most part only a 
 temporary one, and that the agregate number of 
 Chaplains and Assistant Chaplains assigned to us 
 was but thirty.. I need not say to you how 
 disappomted I felt at this intelligence; not only 
 because the insufficiency of the service to’ the 
 duties required of it is the occasion of ever recurring 
 dithculty to myself, but also because of the serious 
 inconveniences which it has at times imcurred upon 
 my brethren, to one and another of whom it has 
 happened to be removed from place to place with a 
 frequency, or an unexpectedness, which I sincerely 
 regret, but have been unable to prevent. Mean- 
 while, to some of our Stations the consequence has 
 
5D 
 
 been'\a deprivation of sacred ordinances for such a 
 length of time, as has given me the deepest concern. 
 Ewish Tcould say that I had reason to hope for a 
 better state of things. I submitted a plain and 
 urgeht statement of the case in the proper quar- 
 ter; and !am bound to acknowledge with much 
 gratitude ‘that on the part of’ this Government 
 nothing was’ wanting ‘to ‘@ive effect’ to ny repre- 
 sentations; but the’ Home Authorities do not ‘en- 
 courage me ‘to expect, ‘under present citeumstances, 
 any amelioration: 
 
 obrejoice again to'report, as at each’ previous Visi- 
 tation, an augmentation in the body of our Mission- 
 ary Olereyi' They are now’ twenty-two. Fifteen 
 of these have either joined’ us from’ Europe, or have 
 been ordained ‘here, since’ I entered’ ‘the’ Didcese, 
 between mine and ten years’ ago! © Let us’ ‘praise 
 God >for this-token; ‘as! we ‘trust it is! of his ‘good 
 willitoward ous.’Among’ the many ' many’ reasons 
 for isoheitude ‘in the! present ‘condition’ of India, 
 thé isteady» ‘advance! of thé? Missionary ‘¢aluse is" a 
 cheering sign tocevery” Christian eye. For’ when- 
 ever; Inany community, we Witness love expanding, 
 and especially that: highest form of love—the love 
 which is learned from Christ, and from’ his Cross 
 the: love of human’ souls, ‘must ‘we! not’ hope ‘and 
 believe ‘that it) shall be 'said | of ‘that ‘community,’ 
 ‘Destroy it) not,) for a ‘blessing is init?” At’the 
 same time, | must: own’ that [do not ‘think the 
 
 * 
 
6 
 
 aid which is lent to» missions in Western India 
 flows to the extent it ought to do from sources 
 on thespot. The Church Missionary Society, for ex- 
 ample, maintains twenty Clergymen, European and 
 Native, in this Diocese. What is a subscription list 
 to the amount of but eleven thousand’ rupees “ina 
 year as a response to the Society’s just expectations 
 from us? And let me add, as an eye-witness of its 
 work, that whether I look on sucha scene as that 
 which I have just enjoyed at Sharanpoor, with its 
 Orphanage, its Asylum, its Industrial Institution, its 
 Church, its Native village, and, thank God, I may 
 add, its continually multiplying converts ; or whe- 
 ther I follow labourers like those at Nasik and else- 
 where, itinerating systematically through a district, 
 till not a village, be it ever so small, is left, in 
 which the glad tidings of Redemption have not been 
 heard; or whether I watch the patient toil of bre- 
 thren like those in Sind, content to persevere day 
 after day, and year after year, in wearying conflict 
 with their subtle disputants, although reaping almost 
 no visible reward; I must say, I do consider the 
 right of the Society to our cordial co-operation to 
 be so well established, that I fain would ask ‘of 
 you, my Reverend Brethren of the Ecclesiastical 
 Service, to make its proceedings better known among 
 your flocks, and to aid in enlarging its resources to 
 a measure more commensurate with our obligations. 
 
 I take advantage of this allusion to the work of 
 
7 
 
 the Church Missionary Society to express my views, 
 derived as they are from observation, on a question 
 which has undergone: some discussion among its 
 friends... 1. mean: the expediency - of) Mission set- 
 tlements, suchas that at Sharanpoor, of: which 1 
 haye just made mention. It has been feared | by 
 some that the formation of these settlements will 
 not’ tend, to foster the healthiest form of Christianity ; 
 that at will. prove a. sort of hot-house system, 
 rearing plants of but a sickly character, and unfit, 
 after the tender treatment and protection of this 
 spiritual nursery, to live beneath the rough and 
 blighting blasts of a world into which sooner or 
 later they ought to be transplanted. And it has 
 been asked whether in the New Testament, and 
 especially in our great Missionary Text-book, the 
 Acts of the Apostles, any sanction is afforded to 
 expedients of this kind. Now, I am not quite sure 
 that when, at the beginning of the Gospel, and under 
 Apostolic. direction, ‘‘all that believed were to- 
 gether, and. had all things common,” there was 
 not seen in principle something not dissimilar 
 from. the Mission settlement, so far as it gathers 
 and shelters. the flock of Christ, while the 
 wolves are. many, and the sheep arefew. Nor do 
 I think that.a plan which proffers to the yet half- 
 taught and ill established Christian Native some 
 relief from trials which might be heavier than 
 he could bear, would be discountenanced by Him 
 
8 
 
 who refused to “ put new wine into old bottles,” 
 by calling his disciples to that for which),He 
 judged them scarcely prepared. Butitowiewsthe — 
 matter in another light. Granting that whatever 
 we find in the Acts of the Apostles,'sanctioned . by 
 them, may generally be considered as'ai pattern for 
 us to follow, 1 do not think it) isa corollary from 
 this that nothing but what is exemplified there may 
 be adopted now. The circumstances of differing 
 ages and countries may justify very different ,proce- 
 dures. And I cannot but think that: we. haye ,in 
 India a state of things so unlike: whatowas)known 
 in the Apostles’ times, and in-the lands they visited, 
 that we may be warranted to resort: to other, modes 
 of action than those which they employed...’ Where 
 was there any thing with which they had to con- 
 tend to be compared with that which is: the grand 
 antagonist to Christianity here, a tyrannous and 
 anti-social caste, holding millions upon millions in 
 one iron bond, and makine the man who inclines 
 his ear to the Gospel of Christ an alien, anda horrer, 
 and a pest, in his city, his village, and his home / ft 
 is this which seems to me to necessitate, at least ina 
 many districts, where caste is strong, and bigotry 
 runs high, some protection for-our infant Missions. 
 Nor is it protection only that is gained. With- 
 out a place of reception for the new. -disciple, it 
 is hard in most instances to give him the proba- 
 tion under which he ought to pass... Indeed, for 
 
9 
 
 want of |some,such; method ,by ..which to engage 
 inquirers in appropriate occupation, how often have 
 they’ become but eleemosynary..hangers-on upon a 
 Mission, and: ultimately a,blot and, discredit to its 
 name. Kishnaghur, once 50 promising, is, I fear, 
 ‘from what l-read,in, the last Report. of the Society, 
 ‘a’painful illustration of. this, At Sharanpoor, how- 
 ‘ever, as’ is well, known.among the, people round 
 about, itisan:established rule that, “if any will 
 not work, neither should he eat; and I ascribe not 
 alittle of the success which God has, given us there, 
 to the stern good’sense. which has guarded. that 
 place from becoming the resort of the indolent and 
 insincere!’ Such, if they have come thither, have 
 soon found that it was no home forthem. Nor, so far 
 as our experience has gone, do I think that we have 
 reason to count the Christians of Sharanpoor a sickly 
 erowth. Certainly the way in which the Word of 
 the’ Lord seems to have ‘“‘ sounded out” from among 
 them into the villages around, bids us hope for better 
 things. It is yet an early day with them; and we 
 would not speak too confidently... But 1 must own 
 that, having watched that settlement now for seven 
 years, and visited it twice, lam strongly of opinion 
 that where caste is violent, as it is in that neighbour- 
 hood, and the converts are few, we do well to give 
 them sucha place of refuge; provided that every 
 thing be ordered so as to prevent. abuse, and to foster 
 
 only a sincere, industrious, self-reliant and’ virtuous 
 . b 
 
10 
 
 community. Of course, we’ should ‘much prefer 
 to see our Christian converts abiding fromthe ‘first 
 wherever the Gospel found them, 'to ‘‘shine as lights 
 in the world.” But the next best thine we believe 
 to be the Mission settlement ; because, under certain 
 circumstances, the most practicable and most’ bene- 
 ficial mode of attaining our grand object,’ the 
 gathering together of a people for Christ. | 
 But I shall not do my duty if I fail to com- 
 mend, also on this - occasion ‘to your willing wel- 
 come the Incorporated Society for the Propagation 
 of the Gospel on its entrance again into the field of 
 Missions here. It is now nine years: since the last 
 clergyman who laboured in connexion with the 
 Society quitted the Diocese. Since that time the 
 Board at Home have not been able, until now, to 
 resume their work among us. I confess that I 
 always deemed it to be a cause for much regret that 
 the Society had never been in a situation to retain 
 more than one Missionary for any length of time 
 together at his post. The consequence was, that 
 the work was liable to frequent intermission, and 
 little was accomplished. I ventured to express to 
 the Board very decidedly my own persuasion that 
 it would be far better to postpone the resumption 
 of their Mission in this Presidency until they 
 could appoint at least two ordained Missionaries to 
 be workers together in the field. This, [ am glad 
 to say, has now been done. It is, moreover, with a 
 
1] 
 
 special object in view, that this appointment: has 
 been made. The Board have conceived that the 
 educated classes in. Bombay demand at this time 
 particular, attention; and the, Mission, as now 
 recommenced, will).be directed» more immediately 
 to them.) .;The step, 1 think, is wisely taken. We 
 know, indeed, that. the Gospel is a message to. 
 all, without respect of persons. But extraordinary 
 circumstances may at times constitute a very 
 sufficient reason for singling out one portion 
 of a: community for more direct address. Their 
 exigencies: may be special, and call for special con- 
 sideration..;; And. this, it has been thought, is the 
 ease with thoseof the Natives at this Presidency, 
 who, shaving now “participated largely in the’ edu- 
 cational advantages offered to them in the several 
 Government and Missionary institutions, are, we 
 know well, in) a condition of mind eminently cri- 
 tical., ‘Their ancestral creeds have lost their hold, 
 while} for the most part, nothing has replaced them: 
 So urge, then, on the intelligent but unsettled 
 youth: of this land, invan effort specifically directed 
 to them, the claims and blessings of the Gospel; 
 to show these seekers after wisdom that what they 
 really need is only:to be found in Him, ‘fin Whom 
 are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,” 
 -+this. surely is) an endeavour which deserves our 
 warmest: sympathy. I trust that the Venerable 
 Society will meet with that sympathy at our hands. 
 
Fz 
 We have of'late done little for it ; for the trutlitisy 
 that now-a-days every where; and certainly not less 
 in India than ‘elsewhere, men like to’see some prae- 
 tizal work woing on before they contribute liberally to 
 any cause: For some years past’ the Society, asol 
 have said, has had but little to show among us); ‘and 
 we ‘do not wonder therefore that the interest’ on! its 
 behalf has béen low. But it will now, we ‘trustjobe 
 otherwise.’ Our Diocesan Committee is not without 
 hope that the two Missionaries already appointed will 
 be’ followed before long by’ others, for other spheres 
 of duty inthis part of India’ And if only they 
 shall all go forward doing the work of true evange- 
 lists, and determining, by the grace’ of the: Holy 
 Spirit, simply “to teach and preach Jesus. Christ,” 
 neither they, nor the Society they represent, will 
 lack for friendly countenance, for willirg contribu- 
 tions, and for co-operating prayer. 
 
 Suffer me here to express my earnest desire that 
 no congregation in this Diocese should fail of having 
 at least an annual invitation to succour the sacred 
 cause of Missions by aiding either one or both of 
 our great Church Societies just noticed. No Chris- 
 tian community can be in a flourishing state in 
 which this holy enterprise finds no cordial sympathy. 
 No Christian Pastor can be doing his duty to his 
 flock, especially in this land, if he does not move 
 them to pity the millions sitting in darkness all 
 around them. Nor shall either Pastor or flock take 
 
13 
 
 part with real interest in Missionary works, and not 
 severally find the promise true that, in watering 
 others, they shall be watered also themselves. 
 
 lt may be:proper here to say that the correspond- 
 ence alluded to in my last Charge as having then 
 been opened with these Societies, with a view to con- 
 nect; our Diocesan, Additional Clergy Fund with 
 them, terminated |in, a: negative. reply from each. 
 Both Societies deem it;,as,a general rule, desirable 
 to fix the attention of their Missionaries from, the 
 first upon the natives only.as their care—a judgment, 
 which, long experience, we do, not doubt, enforces 
 from, them. 
 
 I have little to state under the head of Church 
 building. .Two of the structures -which were in 
 course of erection three years since—the commo- 
 dious and, I may say, handsome Church | at 
 Hydrabad, in Sind; and the little Chapel of 
 St. Peter at Mazagaon—have been completed 
 and consecrated. I have also had the gratification 
 during my late tour to consecrate a Church on 
 Mount Aboo. But since we last met the period 
 has not been favourable to the advancement of 
 works of this kind. The public treasury has 
 been almost wholly closed against them; while the 
 uncertainty of continued residence at any one place 
 in India, owing to the frequent removes necessi- 
 tated by the circumstances of the country, does not 
 encourage individual exertion. Still I am thankful 
 
14 
 
 for what is going forward. , At Aden a subscription 
 has been well sustained for the erection of a Church 
 at the Point; the Trustees of the Bombay Steam 
 Fand having, by their liberal donations, led the way, 
 and made the undertaking practicable. At Mathe- 
 ran a Church is in’ hand, for which again we. shall 
 be mainly, indebted to private contribution. At 
 Gorpoorie, in the Poona Cantonment, a Chapel for 
 the Soldiers is rising, the fruit of zealous effort on 
 the part of the Chaplain, in charge of that part: of 
 the camp, backed by the free-will offerings of the 
 community—those of the Soldiers themselves being 
 by, no means the least encouraging. ‘The same. zeal 
 is at work at Khandalla, and,likely to be crowned. 
 with similar success. At, Nusseerabad, deprived, of 
 its Church Bungalow during the mutiny, | found, 
 when I visited the Station afew weeks since,, the, 
 Assembly-room and Theatre was, the only place, of 
 Protestant, worship ; but I was gratified . before J) left 
 to see a subscription list begun, which., promises; 
 with the aid of Government, at least, to, secure,,ai 
 building to be exclusively set apart to sacred:uses, and, 
 capable of receiving a large European congregation, 
 At Neemuch, where again we lost, by reason, of the 
 mutiny, what had been our Station Chapel,,, the; 
 Government has authorised steps to be forthwith, 
 taken with a view to the erection of a Church. Non 
 will it be long, I trust, before the Churches now. for. 
 some years arrested in their progress in the Camps.of, 
 
1) 
 
 Aden and Belgaum will be resumed. | Meanwhile, 
 my Brethren, be it ours to bear in mind that the 
 Spiritual temple may advance even where the mate- 
 rial fabric still isnot. ‘ God’s building’ does not 
 depend on wood and stone. Only may “ the Lord, 
 the giver ‘of life,” be with us, and the true sanc- 
 tuary will prosper, “a habitation of God through the 
 Spirit.” Without this, the most magnificent of 
 edifices rise in vain. 
 
 Tn’ connection with our Ecclesiastical buildings IJ 
 may advert to the letter addressed by the Right 
 Reverend the Metropolitan to his Clergy, and which 
 was not long since placed in your hands, as to the 
 occasional use of our Churches by the Chaplains of the 
 Church of Scotland, and their congregations. You 
 will have learned from that letter how greatly exag- 
 gerated were some reports which had been in circula- 
 tion as to the intentions of the Civil and Ecclesiastical 
 Authorities in the matter. On the legal question 
 J am aware that all minds were by no means agreed. 
 But, inasmuch as that question has now been 
 decided for us, and it has been ruled that here, in 
 India, the loan of our Churches for Presbyterian 
 worship is not illegal, we shall feel it, I think, 
 to be our part to facilitate the operation of the 
 measure so far as it is in our power. For myself, 
 I think it right to state that when the Government 
 asked me for my opinion on the matter, I gave it 
 to the effect that, if the law put no bar in the way, 
 
16 
 
 the concession was one which, under certain limita- 
 tions, I thought should be made. I pointed out, 
 indeed, some practical inconveniences and difficul- 
 ties, and urged the providing of separate places of 
 worship for separate congregations as ultimately the 
 better course; but, so long as these could not be 
 had, it did appear to me that a Chaplain of the 
 Established Church of Scotland, serving with troops 
 of the same persuasion, and having no place in 
 which to assemble them, should be viewed as an 
 exceptional case, and that the use of the Station 
 Church ought not to be refused ; provided that the 
 Kpiscopalian congregation had its two. services 
 morning and evening, without disturbance. This 
 has been assented to; and therefore, although I 
 cannot be ignorant that, upon Ecclesiastical grounds, 
 independently of legal considerations, the arrange- 
 ment is to some minds not an acceptable one, still 
 I trust we shall all be sensible that, as the case now 
 stands, our duty is clear; and that, whenever the 
 occasion arises, we shall be ready, from a principle 
 of Christian submission, to accept the interpretation 
 of the law which has been authoritatively given, 
 and willing, in a spirit of brotherly kindness, to 
 ‘look not every man on his own things, but every 
 man also on the things of others.” lt should, how- 
 ever, be distinctly understood by all parties, that the 
 Station Church is in the custody of the Chaplain; 
 
 and also that, before it can be opened for Presby- 
 > 
 
L7 
 
 terian worship, there must be an application made 
 to the Bishop of the Diocese, who will be at liberty, 
 however, to orant its use only for the purposes, and 
 under the conditions, expressed in the Notification 
 from the Government of India, appended to this 
 Charge. ihe | 
 Returning to our,own flocks, allow me here to 
 mention a subject which appears to press with erow- 
 ing force on our attention. _ I allude to the i Increase, 
 in certain localities, of a European community of 
 various but important character, arising from the 
 commercial and engineering enterprise which is now 
 sensibly advancing, itself in this Presidency. In 
 Bombay there is .an,almost daily addition going on 
 ito, what we are wont at home to designate by the 
 honourable name of ‘the working classes;”’ but which, 
 till of late, were not, numerous, among Europeans 
 ‘here... At; Kurrachee.it is much the same. And at 
 hoth,.these; places, as well as on the lines of Railway 
 sin the Deccan, Khandeish, Guzerat, and Sind, bodies 
 of; Europeans.are to, be found, inclusive of educated 
 ssuperintendents, intelligent artizans, and humble 
 labourers, all..of whom. become, so far as we can 
 reach,,them, part. of that. cure of souls which the 
 Providence of God, albeit. no, human authority, has 
 committed to our charge. The difficulty is that 
 the Chaplains at some of the stations to which my 
 remarks will apply, have their hands already almost 
 more than filled; and are little able to add to their 
 
 C 
 
Rede 
 
 engagements. Yet, I have a duty to discharge 
 toward these our fellow-countrymen, many of whom 
 stand peculiarly in need of a Pastor’s kind and 
 faithful word; and this I would earnestly bespeak 
 for them. If nothing more can be done, a lecture, 
 with a short religious service, might be offered, to be 
 statedly or only occasionally given, wherever they 
 can best assemble. This, too, would be sure to 
 open the way to other opportunities of useful 
 influence and intercourse. I know that I may 
 reckon on the charity and zeal of every faithful 
 Minister of Christ to do what in him lies in 
 this case. And his work will be rewarded. I cannot 
 forget what I saw in proof of this on the Baroda 
 Railway a few months since, the large gatherings of 
 English workmen whom I had the privilege to 
 meet, and the marked benefits resulting from the 
 earnest and benevolent exertions of the Chaplain of 
 Surat, supported as he has been most cordially by 
 the authorities on that line. 
 
 Allied to this topic is another. In Bombay, and 
 in all our large Stations, there are many persons, as 
 well of European as of mixed extraction, to whom 
 the Clergy do not, and cannot gain the access which 
 they would. And yet this class is one of great 
 influence for good, or for evil—alas! too much for 
 evil, must we not fear, so long as a large proportion 
 of them are what they are. Then again in our 
 Military Cantonments, how seldom can the Chaplain 
 
19 
 
 obtain that acquaintance with the soldiers indivi- 
 dually which he feels to be desirable. His varied 
 occupations, or his state of health, the climate, and 
 other causes, prevent him from carrying out so 
 complete a pastoral visitation of his charge as he 
 would wish. In all these cases, might we not, with 
 great advantage, invite to our aid that Lay help 
 which has now for many years proved so invaluable 
 at home? ‘The Scripture reader might surely be 
 as useful an auxiliary to the ministry of the Church 
 in India as heis in England. I do not feel prepared 
 to advise, as the best plan to be adopted, the engaging 
 of persons from home to act as Scripture readers 
 here. The risk is so great of the individual sent 
 out being not exactly adapted to his place and 
 duties, that it seems to me far better to endeavour 
 to find our Lay agency among ourselves. At Poona 
 this has been done, and, I believe, with the best 
 promise of success. And, as there, so | am disposed 
 to hope elsewhere, a fit agent being found, the 
 means for his support would be forthcoming to a 
 large proportion on the spot. But then, is there no 
 unpaid Lay assistance to be had? In our Presi- 
 dency town, and other large communities, are there 
 no Christian men to be searched out—none who 
 would willingly offer themselves, and that from 
 different ranks in society, to give an hour or two 
 every week, perhaps on every Lord’s day, to the 
 blessed work of winning their fellow-men to hear 
 
20 
 
 the words of eternal life ? I was exceedingly gratified 
 to be told by the Chaplain of Nusseerabad that a 
 goodly band of soldiers in that Cantonment were in 
 the habit of acting as messengers of truth and love 
 among their comrades, and as visitors of the sick 
 in the hospitals. I should count any Chaplain a 
 happy pastor who could organise for himself such a 
 company of “ fellow-workers unto the Kingdom of 
 God.” Let us hope that more of this voluntary 
 co-operation with the Clergy on the part of the 
 seriously minded of their flocks may be seen among 
 us. And if in our Camps a few ladies, in con- 
 cert with the Chaplain, will lend their aid in 
 visiting the wives and families of the soldiers, such 
 Christian efforts will be certainly followed by 
 results of the most beneficial kind to all parties. 
 Lay help from all persons willing to work with us 
 should be cordially accepted. In the first age of 
 the Church the Apostles, and Apostolic men, were 
 glad, as we read, to avail themselves of such assist- 
 ance. And why should not we ? 
 
 In alluding to the soldiers in our Cantonments 
 1 am reminded of a practice already resorted to in 
 some stations for the promotion among them of 
 personal piety, by opening the church as a place to. 
 _ which they may resort for private supplication, and 
 reading of the word of God. I should be glad to 
 see this more generally done. Whoever knows | 
 any thing of the interior of a barrack, must be 
 
21 
 
 sensible how painfully difficult it is for a religiously 
 disposed man to cultivate habits of individual 
 devotion there. I should rejoice if in every Mili- 
 tary station the Church could be made a sanctuary 
 in every sense of the word-~a place of safety, to 
 which any man might daily go at some appointed 
 time, and, far from distraction and interference, 
 there kneel down to pour forth his silent prayer, 
 and sit to read and meditate upon the sacred page. 
 A very little arrangement would secure the main- 
 tenance of necessary order ; and it should be always 
 laid down as arule, to be rigidly kept, that only 
 private prayers, and silent readings are to be per- 
 mitted. Any deviation from this rule would neu- 
 tralize the object for which the Church was opened, 
 and might lead to irregularities, against which the 
 best intentions would yet be no guarantee. Of 
 course, should the Chaplain find the Church to be 
 the most suitable place in which to meet a Bible 
 class, or other little assemblage for religious in- 
 struction, he is at liberty to use it for that purpose, 
 Sincerely do I rejoice to observe that meetings of 
 the Clergy with their people, and especially with 
 soldiers, for social edification, are on the increase. 
 I have been at some of these meetings, and have felt 
 refreshed and cheered in my own pastoral duties by 
 them. ‘They are auxiliary in the highest degree 
 to the great ends of our ministry ; not only knitting 
 together the Pastor and his flock, those of them 
 
22 
 
 especially who most need his help, in the best of 
 bonds, but also rendering his public preaching 
 intelligible and profitable to an extent which few 
 other methods will be found to do. 
 
 And here I pass to a question which in some of 
 its aspects partakes of a more general character than 
 the points hitherto mentioned. J very much desire 
 to submit to my brethren in the ministry at this 
 time whether itis too much for us to hope for a 
 wider and deeper extension of true godliness in that 
 part of the Church of Christ which we are set to 
 serve. We areallaware of events having transpired 
 within the last few years under the designation of 
 Revivals in Religion, and which, whether in America 
 or Europe, have, it cannot be denied, resulted in the 
 conversion, properly so called, of many thousands 
 of individuals from a state of carelessness, or of 
 actual crime, to the fear and love of God; as well 
 as in a great increase of earnest and active piety on 
 the part of those who had already been walking in 
 the good and the right way. It has been an arrest- 
 ing phenomenon of our day... In the material 
 world, whenever any extraordinary events transpire, 
 our men of science would deem it to be a dereliction 
 of their duty did they fail to examine into all the 
 particulars and turn them to account. We, my bre- 
 thren, have todo with the moral world. And here, 
 then, surely is asubject demanding inquiry from us. 
 Make whatever deductions experience may dictate 
 
23 
 
 on the score of mere excitement, or of too sanguine 
 expectation; give all the weight which is due to 
 the charge of weakness and extravagance mingling 
 more or lessin much of these movements—a feature 
 in their history which can awaken in no conside- 
 rate mind the least surprise ;—still, on the evidence 
 of witnesses of every description, and not a few of 
 them possessed of the highest claims to respect for 
 their judgment, and reliance on their accuracy, the 
 fact Is as certain as itis cheering that multitudes 
 have been reclaimed from a life of wretchedness and 
 guilt. to peace and holiness ; or, to say the least, from 
 formalism and half-heartedness in religion to sin- 
 cere and energetic devotedness. Who of us, my 
 Reverend brethren, would not thank God, through 
 all time and eternity, could he be permitted to see 
 anything like this among the souls committed to 
 his oversight? Alas, am I wrong in saying that 
 there isa general lack of manifest conversions as 
 the fruit of our ministries? Are we not sensible that 
 we need most deeply some stirring of the conscience, 
 and awakening of the heart, and determining of 
 the character for God, in our several congregations ? 
 Doubtless there is among them a marked advance 
 in propriety of conduct, if we compare the present in 
 India with the past. Doubtless the growth of piety 
 at home has reflected beneficially on our communi- 
 ties here ; and there is a respect of Religion, yes, and 
 an amount of true Christianity around us, for which 
 
24 
 
 let us give our humble thanks and praise to Him 
 who is the Author of all godliness, Still, are we, as 
 a Christian people, what we should be? Can any 
 minister of Christ here present stand up and say 
 that he is satisfied? Do the majority of those who 
 are his charge come up to the Scriptural standard 
 of a truly Christian life? Is there not among usa — 
 felt deficiency of living faith in Christ, of ardent 
 love to Him, of unworldly behaviour, and of simple 
 zeal for God? Nay, taking our Christian commu- 
 nities in the mass, is there not an amount of irre- 
 ligion that well may sadden the spirit, and abase 
 the heart of every man of God who watches for 
 their souls? Why isit that our Mission agencies 
 have been wont to count the spheres which are 
 farthest removed from the influence of large 
 European stations the most favourable to their 
 designs? Alas, alas, is it not because the moral 
 atmosphere created by any great concourse of nomi- 
 nal Christians in this land has hitherto been found 
 for the most part prejudicial, and not auxiliary, to 
 the progress of the Gospel ? There is no escaping the 
 confession—we do want a revival, an awakening, a 
 visitation from Heaven to the souls of our people. 
 We want it for ourselves. Weall want quickening — 
 the dead, that they may live ; the living, that they 
 may have more life. And how is this tobe? I shall 
 not be expected in this place to discuss the various 
 things which are said to have been done in connec- 
 
25 
 
 tion with those religious awakenings to which I 
 have alluded. From some which have been re- 
 ported we all should instinctively shrink back. 
 Sober piety will not approve them. But in one 
 point we cannot be wrong in imitating any 
 Christian men, whoever they may be. I mean in the 
 cultivation of a spirit of earnest prayer. If, to use 
 the figure of the prophet Hosea, we are to ‘revive 
 as the corn, and grow as the vine,” then, as that 
 saine prophet teaches, we must take with us words, 
 and turn unto the Lord, and say unto him, “ Take 
 away all iniquity, and receive us graciously ; so will 
 we render the calves of our lips.” The blessing will 
 come in answer to such prayer—the prayer of those 
 who deeply feel their own and others’ need, and 
 who are driven to the throne of grace to cry mightily 
 unto God for the descent of His Spirit upon us. 
 The promise of the outpouring of that Spirit is for 
 them. Although in their own souls they be too like 
 the dry and barren ground, yet do they mourn their 
 parched and sterile state, and long for the windows 
 of Heaven to open, and pour them out a blessing. 
 It is written, “I will pour water upon him that is 
 thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground ; I will pour 
 my Spirit upon thy seed; and my blessing upon thine 
 offspring; and they shall spring up as among the 
 grass, as willows by the water-courses: one shall 
 say, | am the Lord’s, and another shall call himself 
 
 by the name of Jacob; and another shall subseribe 
 d 
 
26 
 
 with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself 
 by the name of Israel.’”” And who, my brethren, 
 ought to be the first to know the wants of others, 
 and their own wants, and to invoke these showers 
 of blessing ? Who, but they upon whom the Lord 
 has laid the high responsibility of tending his 
 “ husbandry,” as “ workers together with Him?” 
 Forgive me for urging this consideration upon you. 
 { know how ready we all are to recognise the duty 
 of intercession for Christ’s Church militant here on 
 earth, and especially for that portion of it in which 
 our own lot is cast. We do pray for it. But may I 
 press the question? Do we pray with all that 
 eagerness of desire which marks some strong and 
 affecting sense of a great necessity? Do we, like 
 Epaphras, “ labour fervently in prayer’ for our 
 Christian brethren, ‘that they may stand perfect 
 and complete in all the will of God?” And do we 
 also pray with a distinct and full persuasion of the 
 power of heart-felt, importunate petitions, offered in 
 the name of the great Intercessor? Are we not 
 often too feeble in our hold on his own most plain 
 and precious word of promise, ‘‘ Whatsoever ye shall 
 ask the Father in my name, He will give it you?” 
 Yet, if a revival of true religion is to be looked for, 
 ought it not to begin in the closets of God’s 
 ministers? And if only they were moved to some 
 far more solicitous and believing entreaties for the 
 souls around them than they ever yet have offered, 
 
27 
 
 would God dishonour their petitions? And why 
 should we not then pledge ourselves to one another 
 on this sacred occasion to commence a new effort 
 in prayer with this object in view? What more 
 appropriate to such a gathering as this — of 
 the Clergy of a Diocese—for our brethren who 
 are absent in the flesh are yet with us in the 
 spirit—than that they should make the increase of 
 living godliness in the entire flock which God has 
 given them a subject of special and primary consi- 
 deration? If we do not this, for what do we come 
 together ? If the promotion of saving piety through- 
 out the Diocese is not the mark before us, what 
 else is it? And to that end can there be anything 
 more acceptable to our Master in Heaven than that 
 we should first excite ourselves, as pastors of. his 
 flock, to call down upon those for whom He died, 
 by our own fervency of supplication in His name, 
 the gifts of the Holy Ghost? Has He not left us 
 an emphatic encouragement to this union in prayer, 
 expressly engaging that when we agree together 
 touching that which we shall ask, it shall be done 
 for us of our Father which is in Heaven? Then let 
 us come to this agreement now. Let us enter into 
 covenant this day that we will pray and plead, as we 
 never yet have done, for the effusion of the Spirit of 
 Grace upon the Christian people of this Diocese. 
 Let us do it not asso many isolated individuals ; 
 but, bound together as we are in the relations of 
 
28 
 
 one Communion, let us blend our aspirations in 
 sympathetic concord. We cannot, indeed, asa body, 
 meet for prayer; nor does our Lord make it neces- 
 sary that we should. It isagreement in what we 
 ask that He requires. Why not then consent, all 
 of us, all the clergy of this Diocese, say on every 
 Sunday evening, before we lay our heads upon our 
 pillows, to send up to Heaven one common, fervent, 
 "persevering, believing intreaty that the Holy Ghost 
 may, for Jesus’ sake, come down, and work through- 
 out our Diocese his own true work in such a way 
 that we may see a large increase of conversions 
 among the hitherto unconverted, and a manifest 
 erowth in grace among those who already are on 
 the Lord’s side. Our Sunday’s duty may well have 
 such a termination. For in vain assuredly is all our 
 labour, if it be not followed by that gracious rain 
 which alone can make the garden of the Lord to 
 thrive. “‘ Neither is he that planteth anything; neither 
 he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase.”’ 
 But, together with these our own intercessions, 
 individual and combined, ought we not to do 
 something to evoke like intercession on the part 
 of those in our several congregations who know > 
 what it is to pray? Special services, bringing to- 
 gether in the house of prayer all whose hearts are 
 ready to go with us to the mercy seat, are emi- 
 nently useful to this end. The Litany will often 
 be found very appropriate to these occasions. 
 
29 
 
 And if a short lecture from the pulpit be closed, 
 after the manner of some of our Homilies, with a 
 few petitions, expressive of the desires of all true 
 worshippers, and beseeching the Father of mercies, 
 for His dear Son’s sake, to revive His work in the 
 midst of our days, the service, though brief, will 
 have a character peculiarly its own. And special sea- 
 sons too will lend us their aid. We need not take 
 on ourselves to appoint them, for our Church 
 has already ordained them. What time, for ex- 
 ample, more fitting for her ministers and members 
 to be sending up in public and private their united 
 supplications for the enlarged bestowment of the 
 Spirit, than when, for at least ten days together, 
 from the Sunday after Ascension Day to the 
 Tuesday in Whitsun Week, we are bidden to be 
 constantly imploring that Heavenly Gift? Yet, we 
 may not confine ourselves to one season in the year. 
 Let us give the subject a greater prominence at all 
 times. Let us press it on our brethren frequently. 
 Let us exhort them to believe that the Holy Ghost 
 will assuredly be given in larger measure, if only the 
 people of the Lord shall agree to ask for It with more 
 importunity, and with more faith. Let us stir up 
 ourselves and them to a more definite and firm per- 
 suasion touching the efficacy of a faithful, fervent 
 wrestling in spirit with Him who loves to hear His 
 suppliant say, “‘ 1 will not let Thee go, except Thou 
 bless me.” So let us learn ourselves to pray—so let 
 
30 
 
 us call upon others to pray—even as those who believe 
 that God is indeed “‘the rewarder of them that dili- — 
 gently seek Him.” Let us put it to every praying 
 man to think how much his own individual urgency 
 may help to swell the flood of mercy when it breaks. 
 Will such appeals to any true Christian be in 
 vain? Rather, shall not heart after heart in many 
 a secret chamber be pouring out its felt petitions, 
 while all, in the sight of Him to whom those 
 hearts are open, ascending in one cloud of suppli- 
 cation, and mingling with the incense of the Great 
 High Priest before the throne, shall come up with 
 acceptance before Him. And if once we can attain 
 to something so blessed as this, a Diocese uniting 
 in the persons of its pastors and people to beg 
 of God a revival of His work among them, can we 
 doubt of the issue? Then let us set ourselves to 
 aim at this. I have suggested nothing but what, 
 as consistent members of our Church, it is eompe- 
 tent for us to do. I know what exalted devotion 
 that Church has, by God’s grace, been capable of 
 nurturing; and [am content, nay, constrained in 
 conscience to walk within the limits which, as it 
 seems to me, her spirit and intention have set. We 
 have no need to go beyondthem. Iam more and 
 more persuaded that the true way for us to do good, 
 and to gain good, is to work in consistency with the 
 constitution of our own Communion to the utmost 
 of our power; while towards, other Communions 
 
Jl 
 
 we strive to exercise the charity that comes “ of a 
 pure heart, and of a good conscience, and faith un- 
 feigned.’”’ Let us thank God for whatever blessing 
 He may grant to them; but, so long as they are 
 other communions, avowing by that fact a solemn 
 conviction that separation from one another is a ne- 
 cessary duty, and that to join each other’s Churél: 
 would be asin against conscience, if not against God, 
 I quite think that real love is promoted, not by 
 union without unity, but by concurrent action in 
 all good works as distinct from compromise. It is 
 surely a fallacy to argue for such compromise by 
 the use of texts from Holy Scripture which do not 
 _ apply to the case.. When those texts were penned 
 the body of Christ was one. The Apostles had no 
 thought of discrepant Churches, with opposing 
 governments, sectional ministries, and separate 
 congregations. ‘The whole thing was utterly foreign 
 to their views; as is sufficiently clear from the 
 strong hand with which they met the first tendencies 
 to division among Christian people. I am not 
 now at all touching the point—Who is to blame for 
 the present state of things? My belief is, we 
 are all to blame for it more or less. But what 
 I mean to say is this, that nothing which was 
 written as to the duty of union, when the whole 
 Church was yet unbroken, can be legitimately used 
 to justify, still less to demand, the compression 
 into a seeming alliance of different bodies who 
 
32 
 
 declare themselves.to be so seriously at variance, that — 
 they .must,.asa rule; conimunicate; apart. ‘The ; 
 Apostles contemplated no such union as! this.) In- 
 deed; the ‘relation in. which these: ‘bodies ‘stand 
 to one another among us, isa saddening proof of the 
 faultiness of our spititual condition; and of its) utter 
 repugnance to the principles of the Apostolic: model: 
 Disunited as we are, we may well wonder that: God: 
 grants ito us; thegrace we have. And if itishalb 
 please, Him: to, bestow on our: own, andon other 
 Communions more» grace, I fain: would hope 
 that at will be in order to. more concord 3: that 
 all good men will begin to ask, Why are we thus 
 divided ? Are these separations incurable? And so, 
 in. God’s own wonder-working providence, a‘ way 
 may be opened for real fellowship, for “ one body ” 
 as well) as ‘one spirit,’ as it was at the first;: and 
 as it will be again at the last, when our Lord shall 
 come, and the visible union of His elect with Him 
 in glory shall, as He has said, compel-the world to 
 believe, what it never will believe nor understand 
 till then, that Christ’s people are the loved of 
 God. “Meanwhile, my reverend brethren,’ for our- 
 selves and: our flocks, I would say, whatever we 
 can consistently do, let us do to bring the Church of 
 Christamong us, nearer and nearerto Him. “ Where- 
 to:we have attained, let us walk by the same rule, 
 “let us mind the same thing.” We may reason- 
 ably: doubt of some things, whether or no they are 
 
33 
 
 our duty. But of this we can have no doubt, that 
 to arise and pray, each of us in the place where 
 God has set him, for the down-pouring of His Spirit, 
 must be good and acceptable in His sight. “ God, 
 even otr own God,” let us be confident, “ will 
 bless us,” if soberly and devoutly using the means 
 which are available to us, we study to bring both 
 ourselves and our people under some far more 
 copious effusion of the Spirit than we yet have 
 seen. Let us honour that Blessed Spirit, dear bre- 
 thren, in all our ministrations. Let whatever we 
 do and say declare our habit of dependence on His 
 Almighty succour. And then may we not doubt, 
 but earnestly believe, that He will raise up His 
 power, and come among us, and grant us that 
 petition so often hymned in our solemnities—Would 
 that it were felt and meant as often as uttered ! 
 
 Revive Thy dying Churches, Lord, 
 And bid our drooping graces live ; 
 
 And more that energy afford, 
 A Saviour’s blood alone can give. 
 
 ( Hymn for the Holy Communion.) 
 
 There is another topic which has been brotight 
 very prominently forward at home since we last 
 assembled, and which bears directly on the edifi- 
 cation of our congregations here. I mean the revi- 
 sion of our Book of Common Prayer. One special 
 ground upon which the desirableness of such a 
 revision was urged, at least in the earlier period 
 
 ¢ 
 
34 
 
 of | the discussion, was. this, that our: Services; .as 
 commonly: celebrated, are too, long, and .thati-ia 
 liberty tioccurtail or re-adjust) then would be con- 
 ducive to:the general. good. Now here, im: India; the 
 liberty: of curtailment has long) been used.)> And 
 what so; reluctant.an;innovator as» Bishop Middle- 
 ton felt: compelled to allow, and)other Indian Pres 
 lates have: sanctioned, it is superfluous: for ais to 
 vindicate. Still, 1 think, that they must haveobeen 
 sensible; as well as we, how) advantageous it is that 
 such (things should: be done on the warrant): of 
 authority expressly) given to that end, and not 
 by. the assumption onthe part of either Bishops’ or 
 Clergy ofa discretionary power. If ever.ai:revi- 
 sion,of )the Prayer Book \shall:take place; this: will 
 doubtless; be» one» benefit to resulti:; Till othenjsl 
 presume that; we, must continue’ to:do as others 
 have! done before us. At) the, same time, F:must 
 confess how much I: regret the: loss to our people 
 of any portion of what the:-Church: has “provided 
 for them ; and I will express my hope that) nothing 
 will be withholden: from them, except when the 
 omission. is clearly for their benefit; or when, ‘from 
 infirmity, of health, the officiating minister has no 
 alternative... But. the abbreviation of our Services 
 has:now .become a minor argument altogether 
 with the advocates of revision. ‘They wish‘ for 
 alterations in the Services themselves. Their sugges- 
 tions are sometimes such asa large body of Chureh- 
 
35 
 
 men, of various complexions, would approve); as,' for 
 instance, whence they would modify in) the: Burial 
 Office certainexpressions which are commonly taken 
 to affirm inievery case/a favourable judgment on ithe 
 chatacterof the departed; and which it is almost 
 hopeless to expect that the: mass of our people ‘will 
 ever’ learn’ to interpret: aright, and) on the principle 
 of the ‘Church herself in her use of them. Other 
 suggestions wouldalso carry with them many reflect- 
 ing | minds:;0as, for example, when it is questioned 
 whether: the creed of Saint Athanasius is not of | too 
 elaborately theological a ‘character to be puti with 
 advantage into the lips of every promiscuous con- 
 eregation, and whether it would not be better to 
 retain it only as a symbol of faith which the Church 
 has: received, and an exposition of doctrine for the 
 Clergy to subscribe: Then, still other changes are 
 proposed,» with aview ‘to guard the Church’ from 
 being; misapprehended by some, or misrepresented 
 by others.-;;The Baptismal Services, the Catechism, 
 the Office for the Visitation of the Sick, and the 
 Form of Ordination of Priests, all contain passages, 
 thelanguage of which, it is urged by the advocates 
 of: revision, is; a stumbling-block to many, from 
 the difficulty they have in apprehending the sense 
 in which the, Church employs it; while to others it 
 affords; as they conceive, an opportunity of imput- 
 ing to. the! Church a: belief inconsistent: with her 
 Protestant. character’ and teaching, as elsewhere 
 
36 
 
 exhibited. Gut here, as well as in some other 
 instances, we come upon points not to be handled 
 but with exceeding delicacy. And if that delicacy 
 be not brought to the treatment of them, we are 
 better, far better, as we are. Neither you nor I, my 
 brethren, dream of attributing to our Book of 
 Common Prayer an incapability of improvement 
 which can hardly belong to any composition ‘short 
 of superhuman. But we shall all, I believe, be of 
 one sentiment in this, that to have our Formularies 
 touched by any but the tenderest, the most reverent, 
 and devout, and chastened minds, would only 
 be a grievous calamity. For myself, I believe our 
 Book of Common Prayer to have been one of 
 ieaven’s best gifts to our Church and nation. Its 
 history certifies me of it. For, whatever the 
 changes it hasundergone, and perilous as have been 
 the periods through which it has passed, it remains, 
 to this day a book which God is pleased to bless 
 with singular grace to Christian souls in all the 
 world. If, therefore, it is to undergo revision, | 
 humbly expect His hand to be in the transaction. 
 I would look for His Providence to bring it to pass, 
 and for His Spirit to give us the men to do it. Till 
 then let us wait. Meanwhile, there are many 
 considerations which may well sustain our patience. 
 That which has ministered now to the wants of so 
 many of the holiest men this earth has seen through 
 generations past, we surely may go on to use, 
 
o7 
 
 content to pray as |they -have prayed, and) tobe 
 attended in| our devotions by the same oguideowhich 
 they found cause, in. life and death, so» lovingly’ to 
 prize. Grant that here and there an:expression ‘is 
 employed which is capable of» being misunder- 
 stood, or of being perversely misapplied; yet, on all 
 essential points, we know well what was the inten- 
 tion of the. Church by evidence contemporaneous 
 with the compilation of these Formularies; and-we 
 are ;satisfied :that that intention was right: and 
 Scriptural; and therefore we need not be troubled 
 in, mind, as though there was error to: be: laid to 
 her charge. | It were a wonder indeed; in a world 
 like this, for any book to: be so written as to be 
 out of the: reach of all wrong constructions Is 
 the Book:of God itself secure from this? \More- 
 over, when we come to look into the alterations 
 which have been desired, we cannot fail to be 
 struck by the fewness of the instances of which it 
 ean be said that they involve very momentous in+ 
 terests. Doubtless this is true in some cases; but 
 examine the conferences of by-gone times, as collect- 
 ed. in Dr. Cardwell’s: most valuable work; or go 
 through the longest list of objections and recom- 
 mendations as furnished by revisionists of the pre- 
 sent day, and you will find the questions touching 
 ereat and vital truths to be a singularly small pro- 
 portion of the whole. For these reasons we may 
 surely feel that we need not be impatient of delay. 
 
38 
 
 One. hasty step, one incautious change, one alteration 
 unhappily made so. as to disquiet any number: of 
 devout: and. godly minds, - or to narrow, without 
 cause, the ground on which so many’ men,’ loving’ 
 the Lord Jesus Christ in ‘sincerity, though varying 
 considerably upon details, have been’ able to meet im 
 one, Communion, may inflict’ on us an injury with 
 which nothing now complained of is fora’ moment 
 to be compared. Iwill own that! lam one ‘of those 
 who do think our precious Prayer Book “might be 
 rendered in some few particulars less open to’ mis- 
 take, But, until a body of calm, and learned) and 
 pious men, equal to the undertaking, shall show 
 themselves to be willing also tobe entrusted witlv it; 
 I think that we do well to take itvas a:sign | that our: 
 duty for the present is to abide as: we are, a be 
 most thankful for what we have. 
 
 There is, however, another subject on which, lam 
 disposed to believe that) revision is really needed; 
 and this not only for the good of the parent.Church 
 at home, but more. especially. for, the) well-being 
 of her. several, branches, here and. elsewhere, in; 
 foreign parts. I refer, to the, Canons,, Some, of 
 those Canons have indeed, as we. all know,,.irrevo- 
 cably fallen into disuse, on account of their incon- 
 sistency with the convictions to which; .by,an almost 
 universal consent, men have now, been brought, on 
 several points of Christian politics,and duty. ,., Who,, 
 
39 
 
 for example, would: ask the Church of England at 
 this:day to enact Canons such as the second and 
 ten) following,cor the sixty-fifth ?; We can’ account 
 for their adoption in the age which gave them birth, 
 because it was'a time when dissent in religion was 
 well, migh: identical in the eyes of all governing 
 authorities: with disaffection to the State. Conse- 
 quently, the exercise of men’s own judgment, if it 
 led) them to differ from the Church by law estab- 
 lished, was treated as a crime to be atoned for at 
 once by repentance and submission, or else to be 
 visited with the penalties of an ex-communication 
 involving no small amount of civil disabilities. 
 Laws of this kind have no foree now, because all wise 
 and good men are agreed that they are wrong 
 in principle, and therefore only detrimental to 
 the best interests of any Christian Church which 
 should attempt to carry them out. Many more, 
 however, of the Canons have lost their power, either 
 from their obvious inapplicability to the altered 
 circumstances of society, or else because they have 
 been actually superseded by subsequent legislation 
 in the Imperial Parliament. No Churchman, ! 
 think, can set himself to read the one hundred anc 
 forty-one deliberately through, and not be con- 
 scious of a certain feeling of annoyance and vexation 
 at the thought of so many enactments on the 
 Statute Book of his Church being manifestly out 
 of place in this day, or absolutely neutralised by 
 
40 
 
 the laws of the realm. The question will force itself 
 upon him, whether it is wise for any community, 
 and especially in days like these, to’ remain before 
 the world with a code in its hands which, by its 
 own acknowledgmént, is te so large an extent 
 obsolete and unobserved. On the ground. of mere 
 self-respect and policy, if not on far higher grounds, 
 it may well be inquired whether such a code ought 
 any longer to continue. States will not bear these 
 incongruities ; why shoulda Church? Still, ‘a ‘cer? 
 tain portion of the Canons are neither obsolete ‘nor 
 inappropriate to these times, but are highly salu- 
 tary and necessary In the objects at which ‘they 
 aim, and only require some few modifications °in 
 order to render them capable of an exact’ obser* 
 vance. Of these the principal are such as‘relate*to 
 admission into sacred offices, and to ‘the perform’ 
 ance of pastoral duties, than which nothing can “be 
 more important to the welfare of every Christian 
 Communion. Nevertheless, for lack of the’ modi® 
 fications adverted to, it would be ‘difficult,’ if not 
 impracticable, in the case of most of these Canons, t6 
 yield to them an implicit obedience. ' The wholé 
 book therefore, we may say without arrogance; 
 does require revision, if the Church is to ‘stand“as 
 we would wish her to do in the presence of” other 
 Churches, and in the face of the world, consistent 
 with herself, and in harmony with the circumstances 
 and requirements of the times. But if, upon these 
 
4] 
 
 grounds, and having regard to the welfare of the 
 Church at home, it is allowed that such a revision is 
 desirable, is it not even more desirable still in respect 
 to the various off-shoots of the parent stem springing 
 up in foreign lands? For when these Canons were 
 originally framed, nothing was contemplated beyond 
 the Church of England.in England. What we now 
 want. is, a code of laws for the Church of England 
 all. over the world. Or rather, perhaps, the real 
 desideratum is an enunciation of certain great 
 principles and rules, as few and as simple as may 
 be, to be every where applicable, and then some 
 ordinance by which, the Church in England being 
 provided with such other laws as are suited to her cir- 
 cumstances, the various Colonial Churches also 
 may be enabled to adopt regulations for themselves, 
 under the sanction of the See of Canterbury and of 
 the British Crown. The Church in India, however, 
 standsin)a position different from that of the Colo- 
 nial Churches generally. They are bodies created, 
 under the Providence of God, by the consent of their 
 respective) members in faith, worship, and order; 
 and\are becoming self-sustained. ‘Their internal eco- 
 nomy.. therefore seems properly a care of their own, 
 And an approach to this self-government is, in fact, 
 already being made. But we, English Churchmen 
 in India, have no such local standing as the Co- 
 lonial Churches have. We are simply so many 
 members of the Anglican Communion living awhile 
 
42 
 
 in this distant portion of the British Empire. Our 
 Ecclesiastical establishments are not our own, 
 but a provision made for us by Home Authorities. 
 They are avowedly limited to meet the wants of 
 only such members of our Church as are in the 
 service of Government, and are by no means in- 
 tended to be co-extensive with the demands of our 
 whole Communion here. Ours is therefore quite a 
 case per se. As we now stand, any thing like 
 internal action, in order to self-regulation, is out of 
 the question. Our position is irreconcileable with 
 such representative conventions as in the case of the 
 Colonial Churches are indispensable to their self- 
 government. Perhaps the right thing for us would 
 be,. so long as we remain in our present position, 
 that whatever be the rules for the Church at home 
 should be our rules also, all exceptional peculi- 
 arities being dealt with as the Metropolitan might 
 recommend, the Archbishop of Canterbury approve, 
 and the Sovereign allow. But then there is an- 
 other question which would arise, and it is one 
 which would affect the Church not in India only, 
 but in almost all other parts of the world. I mean 
 the adaptation of the Canons to our Missions. Mis- 
 sionary enterprises and Missionary cures formed no 
 topics in the deliberations which. issued in the 
 Canons of 1603. Thank God, a great and happy 
 change has passed, over us since then; and the 
 Church of Englandis at,thishour sending forth her 
 
43 
 
 bearers of glad tidings to every quarter of the globe. 
 Their work, however, is of exceedingly various 
 character, ranging through every phase of evangeli- 
 zation, from the breaking up of the fallow ground 
 of utterly unchristianised lands, to the fencing in of 
 fields white unto the harvest—yea, some of them 
 already yielding their thirty, their sixty, and even 
 their hundred-fold. Now, to insist upon the labour- 
 ers in all these various stages of Missionary toil, 
 and their converts with them, conforming to one 
 and the same rule, and that arule designed for a 
 Church notin its infancy but in its maturity, would 
 seem to be unreasonable indeed. Of course, in all 
 things appertaining to doctrine, every Missionary of 
 the Church of England can only teach as she teaches. 
 And every Missionary clergyman, labouring within 
 the limits of Episcopal jurisdiction, must own that 
 jurisdiction as any other clergyman would do. 
 But then I would have both the Bishop and the 
 Missionary as much as possible released from any 
 obligation, the one to enforce, the other to observe 
 such rules as, however suited to a Church regularly 
 organized, would only fetter operations which ought 
 to be as free as Christian liberty can make them. 
 The evangelist should be an untrammelled man, 
 with license to teach whenever and wherever he may, 
 and in whatever way he may find to be best fitted 
 to gain the ear, and win the confidence, of those to 
 whom he is sent. Unbending restrictions as to time, 
 
44 
 
 of place, or outward forms, are mere impertinences, 
 when the object is to: pourin on a dark world the 
 light of life. No doubt every faithful Missionary 
 of the Church of England would always keep in 
 view the annexation of his) field of labour. to the 
 pastures of that Church, as, ecclesiastically speaking, 
 the climax of his hopes. And while he is leading 
 his’ converts: onward)in the paths of Christian 
 truth and godliness, he will also be training them 
 to observances which, if wisely introduced, may 
 minister exceedingly to their geod, but, which, if 
 prematurely forced upon them, would be too likely 
 to produce either an unintelligent formalism, ora 
 reactionary dislike. I would leave him therefore 
 in all this preliminary work very much- to the 
 necessities of the occasion, and his own’ Christian 
 common sense. His'e¢reat business‘is to ‘* seek for 
 Christ’s sheep that are dispersed ‘abroad, that they 
 may be saved through Christ for ever.” This must 
 first be done ; subordinate arrangements will follow. 
 Yn all these aspects, however, of our beloved Church, 
 whether viewed at home, or in~ the colony, in the 
 Indian Empire, or in the Missionary field, it does 
 appear to me that the time is come when a/revi- 
 sion of her Canons ought not to be long: delayed. 
 The question, -I am aware,‘ may’ be! asked, How 
 this revision is to be \effected? And some will think 
 that question so difficult to’ answer, ‘that'they may 
 be prone to deemall disetission’ of ‘the: subject’as 
 
45 
 
 but useless speculation. I cannot take that. view. 
 Whenever a want is obvious and urgent, the remedy 
 is never to be despaired of in a day of freedom 
 and activity like this. If other methods seem 
 unpromising, a Royal Commission, if composed. of 
 men, clerical and lay, whose: names would concen; 
 trate all that the Church had a right to require, 
 might prove the simplest and most practicable expe- 
 dient. But, unti lsomething is done in this matter, 
 must we not own that, as a Church, our situation 
 is neither consistent in the eyes of others, nor 
 satisfactory to ourselves ? 
 
 I should trespass far too largely on your patience, 
 did I suffer myself to dwell on various other topics 
 of interest to the cause of Religion, and especially in 
 our own Church, at, this time, which may. seem 
 to invite some notice on occasions like the present. 
 But there is one which I regard with so much 
 seriousness, that you will bear with me if I venture on 
 a few remarks in reference to it. It is a lamentable 
 fact that there has sprung up in England of late.a 
 certain school. of criticism, whose treatment of the 
 Volume of Inspiration js likely to prove ensnaring to 
 many minds, and that no less in our European com- 
 munities here, than in corresponding circles at home. 
 Indeed, I. mention the, swbject,, because. 1 haye 
 my apprehensions that, the suggestions emanating 
 from this source, will find, if | they have, not, already 
 
46 
 
 found, some acceptance among us. There are two 
 directions in which the school alluded to is work- 
 ing most dangerously : first, by calling in question 
 the Divine origin of Scripture, and then adopting 
 a method of interpretation of the sacred text, under 
 which its narratives melt away into mythical tales, 
 and lose all their historical truth. Tendencies of 
 this kind have indeed been manifesting themselves 
 for some years past at home in various quarters; 
 but it is sad indeed for us to see them culminate at 
 length in the form of Essays and Reviews from the 
 pen of professed members of our own Church, and 
 all of them, with one exception, filling places of 
 more or less distinction among her Clergy. To 
 hear such men casting discredit on the evidence 
 from both Miracles and Prophecy; reproducing 
 arguments, which have been answered once and 
 again, with a view of divesting the Holy Volume 
 of its Divine authority; declaring it hard to de- 
 monstrate from Scripture any complete system of 
 doctrine or practice; disposing of what the Bible 
 relates for matter of fact, as but ‘ideal’ or ‘“ legen- 
 dary narrative,’ and leaving it to every reader’s own 
 ‘‘ consciousness,”’ or, as it is termed, his ‘“‘ verifying 
 to select what he shall believe—Is it not 
 distressing and alarming in the extreme? I am not 
 
 99 
 
 faculty, 
 
 here, my Reverend brethren, to. combat the errors 
 of this system, or to pretend to furnish you with 
 arguments against it. Your own reading and 
 
47 
 
 reflection will do this. But what I will take upon 
 myself is, to offer to your consideration some 
 thoughts as to our duty in respect to this peril of our 
 times. I cannot think it to be right that any of 
 our charge, whose minds may have come under 
 such injurious influences, should have reason to 
 deem of us as of men who know nothing of what 
 is going on in the world of intellect around them. 
 They should not be left to suppose that we either 
 do not know, or fear to notice, the existence of 
 notions so contrary to our own. And yet, on the 
 other hand, it would be a very grave and grievous 
 mistake on our part, did we leave our grand ab- 
 sor bing theme, “ the glorious Gospel of the Blessed 
 God,” to be setting before our congregations scep- 
 tical cavillings, and erroneous interpretations, in 
 order to refute them. These things cannot nurture 
 souls; and therefore we, who are charged to “ feed 
 the flock of God,’ must take heed how we touch 
 them, lest, while we are reasoning, that flock should 
 be starving. But is there no way of uniting 
 both objects—on the one hand, the indication of 
 dangerous error in such a way as to guard our hearers 
 against it; on the other, the exhibition of Gospel 
 truth so as to keep before them continually those 
 blessed realities whereby alone they live? I cannot 
 but hope there is. [believe that the pastor, whose 
 mind is vigilant, for his own sake and for his people’s 
 sake, against the errors of his day, whatever they 
 
48 
 
 may be, will almost always find, in the ordinary 
 course of his expositions of Scripture, openings for 
 all which he needs to say, if only he is skilful to 
 avail himself of them. For there is a marvellous 
 fecundity, if I may so call it, in the words of Inspira- 
 tion. ‘They teem with truth stretching out in every 
 direction ; and if we are but. on the watch for our 
 opportunities, we shall find, as we go on unfolding 
 text after text, that those opportunities are by no 
 means rare for dropping here and there the thought, 
 the fact, the argument, which, ina few. brief 
 sentences, may recall some waverer to forgotten or 
 unnoticed truth, and warn him of the dangerous 
 ground on the verge of which he was treading. | I 
 am disposed to think that such. incidental. touches 
 come more powerfully to the mind than elaborately 
 wrought and set discourses. ‘They fall more naturally 
 on the ear; they are less antagonistic, and ‘therefore 
 more likely to do good; and while they let.such as 
 need it understand that the preacher has his eyes 
 open to what is transpiring around him, they in, no 
 way divert the great body of his congregation from 
 the things most needful for their soul’s health. | I 
 once heard it said by a person of great intelligence, in 
 reference to clergyman of high standing in London, 
 now some years deceased, that any one listening to 
 him for twelve months together would find that 
 he had been carried well nigh over the whole circle 
 of Christian Evidences ; and yet that same clergy- 
 
49 
 
 man was one around whom men of the deepest 
 religious feeling gathered, simply because of the 
 power with which his preaching met the spiritual 
 wants of which they were conscious. There is, in 
 fact, no need to preach to the hearts of men as 
 though they had no intellects ; neither so to address 
 their intellects as though they had. no. hearts, 
 At all events, my brethren, it will not do for us to 
 forget that our hearers have intellects, and that 
 those intellects are lying open to suggestions cal- 
 culated to undermine ‘the very foundations of our 
 Christian faith ; and we must preach accordingly. 
 Above all, let us remember that there is one class of 
 evidences of the truth of Christianity which, while 
 most forcible to convince, are at the same time most 
 salutary to instruct, to comfort, and to confirm. 
 They are the evidences internal to the Gospel 
 itself. Would that we could see our hearers appre- 
 hending these, and we should have little cause to 
 fear lest they be borne away by the errors which assail 
 them. Only let them have that witness in them- 
 selves, that sense of the truth of the Gospel which is 
 derived from its own internal excellence, its suitable- 
 ness to their wants, and its power over their hearts, 
 and they would have “an anchor: of the soul, sure 
 and stedfast.” Let us pray God to make us such 
 teachers of His word, that, by the grace of His 
 Spirit, we may build up our brethren in this 
 experimental acquaintance with ‘the truth as it 
 J 
 
50 
 
 is in Jesus.’ It is, after all, the only sure defence 
 against either the insidious encroachments of a 
 sceptical philosophy, or the more overt aggressions 
 of avowed unbelief. 
 
 Let me pass from the interests of the Sacred 
 Volume among ourselves, to another question affect- 
 ing its position in India. I allude to its introduc- 
 tion, under certain conditions, into the Government 
 schools. The matter is one which may well be 
 thought to have been sufficiently debated ; but I will 
 beg permission to say a few words upon it, because 
 I find myself, the more that I reflect upon the point, 
 disposed to take a place with neither of the two 
 principal parties who are engaged in the discussion. 
 My belief is that, for the present at least, the ‘best 
 thing to be done is to allow of a voluntary reading 
 of the Scriptures, and no more; that is to say, Jet 
 the text be read, but no comment or instruction 
 given in the school. I fail to see any sufficient 
 reason why both parties should not meet on this 
 ground. So long.as the reading is voluntary, the 
 Government is free from all imputation of taking 
 a side, or of aiming to proselytise ; it will be merely 
 allowing its subjects to follow their own wishes. 
 On the other hand, those who are solicitous for the 
 institution of Native youth in the truths of Divine 
 Revelation, will gain, I believe, all which they can 
 reasonably ask the Government to grant. For when 
 
51 
 
 they press for religious instruction to be given in 
 Government schools, additional to the reading of the 
 text, they seem to me to forget the circumstances in 
 which we stand. In order to give this instruction, 
 there must be teachers qualified to impart it. And 
 whence are these to be obtained fora long, long 
 while to come ?°They must be Christian men ot 
 course; and, with but few exceptions, they must also 
 be natives of thiscountry. And how soon will these 
 be found in numbers adequate to the demand, and 
 of competency to the task? Moreover, there is 
 another consideration, which to a Government 
 would be an embarrassing one. These teachers, 
 when found, would necessarily be members of 
 differing communions + Episcopalian, Presbyterian, 
 Independent, Baptist;°Wesleyan... Now, if Govern- 
 mentsemploys: ‘them as? religious instructors at 
 all, it must let them teach according to their several 
 convictions. They will come, in their reading of 
 Scripture, upon passages which, if they are to give 
 explanations,: must call out) their’ differences ; and 
 can Government put its imprimatur on all these? 
 Yet me will do, if it employ this variety of 
 teachers It is not like the grant-in-aid system. 
 There the Government lends its assistance to schools 
 ‘of differing communions, avowedly ignoring their 
 religious tenets. But if it takes men into its pay 
 on the, understanding that they are to teach religion, 
 then it makes itself the propagator of their tenets, 
 
O2 
 
 however diverse or even contradictory they may be. 
 For these reasons I cannot see how the Indian 
 Government, as such, can undertake to give reli- 
 gious instruction in its seminaries. But if it limits 
 itself to the simple voluntary reading of the sacred 
 text, it escapes all these difficulties; and it may 
 employ at once as many Christian teachers as it can 
 find equal to the work. And even teachers, not yet 
 Christian, will be ready in large numbers to go so 
 far as to read the Scriptures with theirscholars, some 
 from mere intellectual interest in the Book, others 
 from a higher motive, and . because they think, and 
 think rightly, that its, morality must tend):to im- 
 prove their scholars’ minds. Meanwhile, if those 
 excellent men, some of India’s best friends, who are 
 urgent for) Christian instruction on the part: of 
 Government, would abate this point, and be content 
 with the Holy Bible simply read, J.am sanguine in 
 the belief that they would soon have reason) to be 
 satisfied. There isa wonderful power which: goes 
 with the word of God. when left. in its)solitany 
 dignity to speak for itself; and India has; witnessed 
 this abundantly... Only det the Bible be heard, and 
 inquiries will be excited, impressions made, and 
 solicitudes awakened, destined to'issue in’ the hap- 
 piest results. A moral tone, too, would be created, 
 preparmg the way for better things; anda sub- 
 stratum of Divine truth would be laid in thousands 
 of minds on which the’ Missionary preacher would 
 
3 
 
 hereafter build, without having to spend so much 
 time and toil as now in inculcating the first princi- 
 ples of the doctrine of Christ. The only objection 
 which has seemed to me to be alleged with any 
 weight against the voluntary reading of the Bible 
 in Government schools is this, that the greater pro- 
 portion of teachers must for a long period be unbe- 
 lievers ; and that, if we allow them and their pupils 
 to have the Holy Bible in their hands, we cannot 
 protect it agamst the insult which even by look and 
 tone might sometimes be cast upon it. I grant 
 that this might occasionally be the case. But still, 
 I do not ‘consider it a’sufficient argument against 
 ' the’ measure; for the same reasoning might be 
 brought against’ the distribution of the sacred Scrip- 
 tures generally: ‘Can'we be always sure that they 
 will’ meet with’ reverent use? »Even in our own 
 schools do'they never'experience the contrary? Must 
 we ‘not in all thege:cases cast’ our bread upon the 
 waters, and ‘trust; that, m spite ofall adverse cir- 
 cumstances, He who has said that His word shall 
 not*return’ to him: void, will make it to’ prosper in 
 the thing whereunto He has sent it? 
 
 But I must draw to,a‘elose. Not, however, with- 
 out: first tendering my best thanks to the Clergy for 
 the answers they have given to the Circular which I 
 addressed to them with a view to this Visitation. I 
 am greatly, indebted to them for the information 
 
o4 
 
 which they have furnished, and also for the opinions 
 and suggestions with which that information has, 
 in many instances, been accompanied. I need 
 not assure them that every thing which they have 
 written will be reviewed with all the interest and 
 attention which communications of such a.character 
 demand. | 
 
 And now, before we separate, I trust that I may, 
 without risk of misconception, allude to one feature 
 in the state of society around us, with which it 
 strikes me that you and I, my Reverend brethren, 
 may connect a reflection to work in our own minds 
 for good. Every thing in India is full of change; 
 and in all directions expressions are to be heard which 
 tell the unsettling and disquieting effect which,that 
 change is producing. We hear language now 
 which a few years since we were little used to. 
 Men say that they have lost heart ; that India is 
 not the place to them it was; that they have now 
 no interest in it; that, as soon as they can, they 
 will quit it. One cannot be surprised at this; per- 
 haps it is very natural, especially in those who have 
 lived long in the country. Whether itis right, is 
 another question which we need not now discuss. 
 But what occurs to my own mind is this—How 
 thankful the ministers of God in India may be for. 
 the advantage which, at such a time, they have 
 from the very nature of their work! It. is true 
 
Do 
 
 that changes are coming on, the issue of which 
 we cannot foresee. What the state of British India 
 will be a few years hence, the boldest prophet may 
 well hesitate to predict. But while with many this 
 operates too much for only disturbance, or even dis- 
 content, casting as it does over their pursuits and 
 prospects a disheartening uncertainty, with us it is 
 otherwise. With the Gospel in our hands, and the 
 souls of men about us for our charge, our work re- 
 mains unchanged ; and nothing of the kind to which 
 we have just alluded need éxercise any depressing 
 influence on our minds. Let us be on our guard 
 against it. Far be from us the downcast spirit which, 
 because of the incertitude that may hang about 
 public affairs, is ready to wrap itself up in a selfish 
 indifferentism, or perfunctory routine, and let all 
 zeal in duty die away. We hold a commission which 
 no mutations in the politics of this world can touch. 
 Our master rules in that world unseen with sovereign 
 sway; and only let us do His bidding, animated 
 by true love to Him, in full reliance on the Omni- 
 presence of His Spirit, and in all affectionate fidelity 
 toward those to whom He sends us; and, whatever 
 else may wax or wane, our ministry abides. His 
 word to us is this, ‘‘ Lo, I am with you always.” 
 Therefore be it ours to take our tone not from the 
 things which are seen, and which are temporal, but 
 from those which are not seen, and which are eternal. 
 Let us give ourselves to our calling not as hirelings 
 
56 
 
 for their day, but as men who have to deal with 
 immutable truths, and immortal spirits, and an 
 unchanging God. Let us keep our minds in the 
 presence of these eternal realities ; and so, banishing 
 from us the low idea of only getting through a task 
 with as little trouble as we may, we shall go to our 
 posts, wherever they may be, and labour there for 
 that reward which Christ has for us, and which, 
 when all things else decay, shall yet endure, even 
 souls for ever blest and saved, our ‘‘ crown of rejoic- 
 ing in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His 
 coming.” The Church in India has had bright in- 
 stances of this pastoral devotedness, and an unswetrv- 
 ing pursuit of the grand object of its ministry for us to 
 imitate. It is but a few days since the grave closed 
 over one known widely throughout India, and es- 
 teemed and loved wherever known, for the worth of 
 his personal character, and the cordiality of his friend- 
 ship, but to be remembered and emulated by his bre- 
 thren, most of all, for the abundance of his labours 
 —my late Right Reverend friend, Dr. Dealtry, Bishop 
 of.Madras. For many years a Bengal Chaplain, and 
 then Archdeacon of Calcutta, he had been distin- 
 guished throughout his course of usefulness for emi- 
 nent sedulity and zeal. And when promoted to the 
 See of Madras, these excellencies were only the more 
 conspicuous. Ardtous and trying as his duties often 
 were, his application to them never flagged, and he 
 was instant in them to the last, His European 
 
57 
 
 flocks, and no less his thousands and tens of 
 thousands of Native Churchmen, the glory of that 
 Diocese, had all his heart. Long will he be borne 
 in the memory of both as one who spent himself i» 
 their service with ungrudeing toil. |The summons 
 of his Lord found him‘ at his post in all his wonted 
 diligence, and he departed only lamenting that !e 
 had not done more for Christ, and for Christ’s cause. 
 May no'such example, my brethren, ‘be lost upow 
 us; but’ be it our holy ambition, each in his station, 
 to earn that greeting at the last which owr gracicrs 
 Master has’ forall who truly occupy their talents to 
 His praise——* Well done, good and faithful servant, 
 enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” 
 
 “Now the God of peace, that brought again from 
 the, dead our, Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of 
 the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting 
 covenant, make you perfect in every good work to 
 do His will, working in you that which is well- 
 pleasing in. His,sight, .through Jesus, Christ ; to 
 whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” 
 
58 
 
 Fort Witiiam, Home Department, 
 The 10th September 1860. 
 
 Her Majesty’s Government having expressed an 
 opinion that it 1s most desirable that the Ecclesias- 
 tical buildings in India should be made available for 
 the purpose of Divine Worship to the greatest possi- 
 ble extent, and having signified their desire that at 
 any stations where Chaplains of the Church of Scot- 
 land are appointed to officiate to Her Majesty’s 
 Troops of the Presbyterian persuasion, the use of the 
 Government Churches should be afforded to them, 
 subject to suitable regulation in each case, the follow- 
 ing are prescribed as general regulations under 
 which a Church consecrated for the service of the 
 Church of England may be used for Presbyterian 
 Worship, subject in every instance to such further 
 special regulations as the circumstances of the case 
 may appear to require. 
 
 1st.—It shall be necessary to obtain the consent 
 of the Bishop of the Diocese in each case. 
 
 2nd.—The Bishop, or the Church of England 
 Chaplain, under the Bishop’s instruction, shall fix 
 the hour at which the Church shall be made available 
 to the Presbyterian congregation. 
 
 3rd.—The Church shall not be used for the ser- 
 
59 
 
 vice of any other denomination, not being of the 
 Church of England, than Presbyterians, nor shall 
 any other Minister officiate in it than a Minister of 
 the Church of Scotland.. 
 
 4th.—The care of the Church and Church furni- 
 ture, and the expenditure and control of the Church 
 Establishment shall remain exclusively in the 
 hands of the Chaplain or Clergyman of the Church 
 of England. 
 
 5th.—The Bishop of the Diocese may withdraw 
 his assent to use the Church for Presbyterian Wor- 
 ship whenever he shall think fit. 
 
2 
 
 ca 
 
 Edu 
 
 dat the 
 
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