(To be continued.)

Wayside Chimes.

BY THE REV. E. H. BICKERSTETH, M.A., VICAR OF CHRIST CHURCH, HAMPSTEAD.

9

Na work

APRIL

THE STORY OF THE MONTH.

entitled "The Twelve

Months," published in 1661, April is
described with a glow of language
which recalls the Shakspearean era.
The writer says:-

The aged feel a kind of youth, and youth hath a spirit full of life and activity; the aged hairs refreshen, and the youthful cheeks are as red as a cherry. The lark and the lamb look up at the sun, and the labourer is abroad at the dawning of the day. It were a world to set down the worth of this month; for it is Heaven's blessing and the earth's comfort. It is the messenger of many pleasures, the farmer's profit and the labourer's harvest. In sum, there is much to be spoken of it; but, to avoid tediousness, I hold it, in all that I can see in it, the jewel of time and the joy of

nature.

"Hail April, true Medea of the year,

That makest all things young and fresh appear:-
What praise, what thanks, what commendations due,
For all thy pearly drops of morning dew?
When we despair, thy seasonable showers
Comfort the corn, and cheer the drooping flowers;
As if thy charity could not but impart
A shower of tears to see us out of heart.
Sweet, I have penned thy praise, and here I bring it,
In confidence the birds themselves will sing it."

Proverbial wisdom too takes a kindly view of
the flower-producing month. It asserts that-
"A cold April
The barn will fill."

Carries away the frog and his brood."
Or the more familiar,

"April showers

Make May flowers."

Nor is there any harm in the wind:

"When April blows his horn,,,
It's good for man and corn."

:

The solitary cuckoo now startles and pleases the rambler in the woods, and the nightingale is heard in several southern counties. Towards the end of the month the swallow, the martin, the swift, the redstart, and other birds of passage return to us. Let us not forget the lesson taught by the lark and the nightingale.

"The bird that soars on highest wing,

Builds on the ground her lowly nest:
And she who doth most sweetly sing,
Sings in the night when all things rest:
In lark and nightingale we see
What honour hath humility."

The month derives its name from the Latin aperio, I open, as marking the time when the buds of the trees and flowers open. Our Saxon ancestors called it Estermonth, after their goddess Eastre or Eoster. The name Easter is still retained, and denotes to us the Resurrection month. C. A. H. B.

Our Church Portrait Gallery.

XIII. THE VERY REVEREND DEAN VAUGHAN: XIV. CANON HOARE: XV. THE
REV. F. F. GOE: XVI. CANON BELL.

HE Dean of Llandaff is best known as Dr. Vaughan, Master of the Temple. He was born at Leicester, in 1816, educated under Dr. Arnold, at Rugby, and highly distinguished himself at Cambridge, where he became a Fellow of Trinity. He held the Vicarage of St. Martin's, Leicester, for three years, and was then appointed Head Master of Harrow. Here he laboured for fifteen years, exercising a remarkable influence for good in the school. In 1851 he was appointed Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen, and soon after he was offered the Bishopric of Rochester. He declined the offer, and a year later accepted the Vicarage of Doncaster. The grand old churchone of the largest and finest in Englandwas soon filled to overflowing; and his unceasing nine years' vigorous work literally re-organized the whole parish. His faithful protests against the evils of horse racing, his awakening and eloquent sermons, and his devoted interest in the well-being of his flock, were features of his ministry which will never be forgotten in Doncaster. As Dean of Llandaff, Dr. Vaughan exercises .much influence in the promotion of Christian work in Wales; and in the numerous volumes of his sermons which have been so widely circulated, he may be truly said, like John Wesley, to have "the world for his parish." Our portrait is from a Photograph by Mr. S. A. Walker, of Regent Street.

The name of the Rev. Canon Hoare is closely associated with the Evangelical revival of religion which, in a true sense, has made the Church of England a power in the land. Mr. Hoare was Fifth Wrangler at Cambridge in the year 1834. His first curacy was at Pakefield, under the venerated and beloved Rev. Francis Cunningham, in whose steps he has closely walked. In 1846 he was appointed to the incumbency of St. John, Holloway, but in the following year he accepted the Vicarage of Christ Church, Rams

gate. Here he remained till 1853, when he became Vicar of Holy Trinity, Tunbridge Wells.

Perhaps no clergyman in our Church has more thoroughly gained the affection of those amongst whom he has laboured than Canon Hoare. Simple, earnest, truly eloquent and tenderly persuasive, he has not only gathered crowded congregations, but, what is far more important, a spiritual influence manifestly pervades and characterizes the assembled worshippers, prompting them to take a selfdenying interest in every Christian work.

Canon Hoare has frequently spoken at Church Congresses, and has published several well known works, amongst which we may mention two valuable treatises on Redemption and Sanctification. Our portrait is from a Photograph by Mr. H. J. Robinson, of Tunbridge Wells.

The Rev. Field Flowers Goe, M.A., rector of St. George's, Bloomsbury, holds a leading position amongst the London clergy. He is an eloquent preacher and speaker, and his organizing powers eminently fit him for the arduous duties of the important parish over which he presides.

He was born in 1832 at Louth. His grandfather, the Rev. B. Goe, was for many years Vicar of Boston. He was educated at King Edward's Grammar School, Louth, and took honours at Oxford. He was ordained in 1858, and in the same year became first Curate and then Vicar of Christ Church, Hull. In 1873 he was nominated by the Bishop of Durham to the Rectory of Sunderland. In each sphere of labour he gained the warmest affection of his parishioners, and his ministry was greatly blessed. In 1877 the Ex-Lord Chancellor appointed him to the Rectory of St. George's, Bloomsbury, where his zealous and devoted labours are thoroughly appreciated. Mr. Goe has taken a deep and practical interest in Mission services, and his position in the metropolis is the more valuable on this account. Our portrait is from a Photograph by Messrs. Elliott & Fry.

The Rev. Charles D. Bell, D.D., Rector

of Cheltenham, and Hon. Canon of Carlisle,

is widely known as the author of many valu-
able devotional and practical works. The
Church of Christ at large has thus been made
his debtor. Amongst these works are:
"Night Scenes of the Bible and their Teach-
ings,"
"" Hills that bring Peace," "The Saintly
Calling," "Angelic Beings and their Minis-
try," "Henry Martyn, a Biography;" and
two volumes of poetry, "Voices from the
Lakes," and "Songs in the Twilight." An-
other volume is in preparation, entitled, "The
Christian Life, its Dangers and its Duties."
Canon Bell has also contributed to magazine
literature, as the readers of The Fireside and
Home Words, will remember. His works are
all characterized by deep thoughtfulness,
practical pointedness, and experimental piety.

Canon Bell entered Trinity College, Dublin, as a Queen's Scholar; took honours in classics, and won three Vice-Chancellor's prizes for English verse. He was ordained in 1843, and held curacies under the Rev. C. J. Goodhart, at Reading, and the Rev. Thomas Vores, at Hastings. In 1854, he was appointed to St. John's Chapel, Hampstead; in 1861, he accepted the Vicarage of Ambleside, where he remained eleven years. Since his appointment, as Rector of Cheltenham, in 1872, the Old Parish Church has been restored, and a new church, St. Matthew's, built at a cost of about £20,000. Canon Bell is "a tower of strength" in our Church, and is equally beloved as a pastor and a preacher. Our portrait is from a Photograph by Mr. M. Bowness, Ambleside. M. N.

The Rising Life: An Easter Motto.

BY THE REV. JAMES VAUGHAN, M.A., VICAR OF CHRIST CHURCH, BRIGHTON.

"Jesus saith unto him, 'Rise.'"-St. John v. 8.

UITE apart from the miracle, and quite apart from the context, I take this word "Rise" as our Easter Motto. For this is what seems to me the most appropriate thing we can do, and the best practical use we can make of the season,-that every one of us, wherever we may stand at this moment in the spiritual scale, should resolve that he will, this Easter Day, go up one step higher.

For this is religion: a continual series of small progressions. We are pardoned for Christ's sake, perfectly and freely pardoned; but we become holy, and get to heaven, by thousands and thousands of little risings.

And here is the difference between grace and nature. Nature gravitates: everything goes down by the law and force of its being; the attractive principle is from beneath. In grace, the drawing is from above; and, by a stronger law than gravitation, the new creation goes upward,

upward, always upward. But by many steps or degrees.

Or, to speak more correctly, as we are taught on Easter Day, the Risen Head draws up the members; and just as we see the sun, as it traverses the heavens, making every little opening leaf and bud to point and grow towards itself, so Christ is gone up for this very purpose, that by His influences, shed upon us from that higher world, every thought, and feeling, and desire, and act, of every; Christian life should be one constant ascension.

Therefore, the Saviour's opening grave says, "Rise."

And if you say, "I wish it, but I cannot;" remember, Jesus never gives a command, but at the same moment, as at Bethesda, a virtue is going out of Him to enable the obedience-however else impossible. "The Spirit quickeneth." "God worketh in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure." "All things are possible to him that believeth."

And let me add this. It is well to have