that liberty in the sixteenth century when it abolished the Papal Autocracy, and accepted a national character. Our Reformers justified the retention of the Episcopal System by arguments which must be allowed to be considerable, and which we shall all agree to be sufficient. Without passing judgment on other Churches, which came to different decisions, we shall recognize in our threefold ministry a spiritual government organized according to the Will of GOD, and entitled therefore to our loyal and reverent obedience. On this point it is not necessary for me to dwell further, but the language of the Rubric would not tolerate an omission of all reference to it. I pass, then, to the last part of my prescribed task, and beg your attention to a few words on the point, how the people ought to esteem the clergy in their Office.

6. Here we come at once to the broad distinction which separates the Unreformed from the Reformed Churches. The English Clergyman is primarily a MENTS." That is the order of importance, which the Scripture authorizes and which the Prayer-book clearly and solemnly affirms. In CRANMER'S noble and moving description of the Priest's Office, which the BISHOP reads to the men whom he is about

MINISTER OF THE WORD AND SACRA

to ordain, there is no mention of any sacerdotal character or function. The emphasis is placed on pastorate and preaching. Similarly the only symbol of office which is given to the Priest at his Ordination is the Bible, not, as in the medieval service, the Chalice and Paten. The word "Priest" is etymologically identical with "Presbyter," and the fact was pleaded by ARCHBISHOP WHITGIFT as justifying sufficiently the application of the familiar word to the Christian Minister. The Laity, therefore, are to regard the Clergy, not as men clothed with sacerdotal powers in the medieval sense, but as "PASTORS AND TEACHERS." The words in which our great BISHOP LIGHTFOOT described the ideal of Christianity ought to be kept ever in mind by the English Layman:

The Kingdom of CHRIST

has no sacerdotal

system. It interposes no sacrificial tribe or class between GOD and man, by whose intervention alone GOD is reconciled and man forgiven. Each individual member holds personal communion with the Divine Head. TO HIM immediately he is responsible, and from HIм directly he obtains pardon and draws strength.1

The frank refusal to recognize any sacerdotal character in the Christian Minister as such must be conditioned by an equally frank recognition of his 1 Vide Philippians, p. 181.

true character as the executive officer of the Christian Society. As such he can rightly claim respect for his office, deference to his authority, a loyal support in his fulfilment of duty. He represents the social as against the merely individual aspect of Christianity. He symbolizes in the parish the sacred Order, which reigns in the spiritual Kingdom: he, as ST. PAUL said, "IS AN AMBASSADOR ON BEHALF OF Christ, AS THOUGH GOD WERE INTREATING BY HIM": he is charged in special measure with the redemptive Mission of HIM Who "CAME TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THAT WHICH WAS LOST": he "WATCHES FOR SOULS" and is the "SERVANT" of the people “FOR CHRIST'S SAKE." "WHO IS SUFFICIENT FOR THESE THINGS?" asked the great Apostle, and his question rises still more threateningly on our minds to-day. Surely, we may claim from our lay brethren something more than material support, or formal recognition. We can claim their sympathy, their counsel, the assistance of their prayers.

7. The words of ST. PAUL to his spiritual "CHILD" TIMOTHY may fitly be addressed to the man who in this difficult time receives Ordination to the Christian Ministry. The peril and the power of that high service are disclosed in them: "SUFFER HARDSHIP WITH ME, AS A GOOD SOLDIER OF

CHRIST JESUS. NO SOLDIER ON
NO SOLDIER ON SERVICE EN-

TANGLETH HIMSELF IN THE AFFAIRS OF THIS WORLD THAT HE MAY PLEASE HIM WHO ENROLLED HIM AS A SOLDIER." It is true that the old conditions of stress have disappeared. The modern clergyman need not look, like the contemporaries of ST. PAUL, "FOR BONDS AND IMPRISONMENTS." Nevertheless, the times that are coming will not be easy for the Christian Minister: and if he would play the man, he must brace his mind to sustain HARDNESS." He will almost certainly be poor: he will very probably be also obscure: he will scarcely be popular: he may be the victim of public obloquy. Yet, if he be loyal to the Commission he has received, he will assuredly be happy. In spite of its anxieties and disadvantages, there is no happier life than that of a parish clergyman, for his opportunities of service to mankind are without limit, and not rarely he is permitted to see the Power of GOD in his ministry. He will not be

unhelped in his work, if manfully and humbly he will strive to do his duty. His efforts and his sacrifices may be unmarked of men, but they will be seen of GOD. "AND WHEN THE Chief ShephERD SHALL

BE MANIFESTED, HE SHALL RECEIVE THE CROWN OF GLORY THAT FADETH NOT AWAY."

XI

RELIGION IN POLITICS1

EXCEPT THE LORD BUILD THE HOUSE, THEY LABOUR IN VAIN THAT BUILD IT: EXCEPT THE LORD KEEP THE CITY, THE WATCHMAN WAKETH BUT IN VAIN.-Psalm cxxvii. I.

I. RELIGIOUS men of every description and in every stage of spiritual development would speak thus. At the root of all religion lies the consciousness that behind the veil of phenomena are forces, dimly apprehended and never clearly perceived, which have the final determining of terrestrial fortunes. Men are incorrigibly religious because they cannot bring themselves to acquiesce in a total and sustained disregard of those unseen Powers, of whose presence and activity they are strangely assured. The history of Religion is the history of men's attempts to discover some tolerable theory which shall interpret their consciousness in harmony with their knowledge and experience. Those 1 Preached in Durham Cathedral on the second Sunday in Lent, March 4, 1917, at Evensong.