tithes, and even more sometimes, to endow bishoprics, deans and chapters, colleges in both universities, grammar-schools, and all kinds of institutions. The first step, then, in Reform, ought to be the simple justice of restoration. Amazing benefits would arise to the Church from such an act of honesty. On the one hand, vast numbers of useless and cumbersome institutions, such as deans and chapters, would be entirely got rid of; and on the other hand, the restored funds, reverting to their proper channels, would fertilize and improve some of the largest and most destitute places in the kingdom, and allow Church extension to go on in its own proper course. Then, again, bishops would be reduced in their incomes, and would no longer be the over-paid hierarchy that they unfortunately are. Being brought down from their forced and unnatural position, where this wealth places them, and as a necessary consequence, relieved of their parliamentary duties and their lordly dignity and titles, there would be the less objection to an increase in their number, and a great advantage would be gained by having no longer a few prelates, but a goodly number of humble-minded and faithful bishops of our Church. How much and how frequently, parliamentary duties interfere with episcopal ones, I can testify to in my own experience; for on two occasions previous to the present year, the Confirmations that had been arranged, and all the young persons prepared for, throughout the diocese, were put off for many months, because the bishop had to be present in parliament; and at the time I now write, both Visitation and Confirmations are again delayed from the same cause. In fact, this secularization of the Church, by mixing up parliamentary duties with episcopal functions, is one of its worst banes; and requires, together with all other evils of the same kind, magisterial as well as legislative, to be redressed, and the true spiritual discipline and action of the Church to be restored. To effect this properly the Church's own deliberative powers require to be restored and purified. Our Church vestries, consisting as they ought to do, of their proper Church officers,the minister, the churchwardens, the questmen, the synodsmen, and their assistants, and having the spiritual supervision of the parish, the education of the poor and helpless, and the distribution of alms amongst the sick and needy, in true charity, not as the pauper's dole,-these primary assemblies of the Church demand to be set in action in every place, as drawing out the agency and activity of the people, and making the Church, that is the people, what it ought to be, an "help-meet" for the minister, of whom it may be truly said, as of the first Adam, "it is not good for him to be alone." Again, the ministers of every rural deanery should unite together with a certain number of laymen from each parish to discuss matters of interest to the whole vicinity in which they dwell,— as improvements in school management, the care and support of missionary and other proper Church institutions, and the like. So again,. should every diocese have its synod composed of clergy and laity; and, lastly, there should be a single house of convocation, assembling in it by popular choice, the elite spirit of the Church, both clergy and laity, whose province should be to watch over, to counsel, to aid, and to guide the whole body, of which it would be a main-spring or source of wisdom and of action. Thus would two of the greatest defects of our Church system, the want of deliberative assemblies, and the uselessness of the laity, be remedied, and new life and vigour be infused into the whole body. I am writing for statesmen, and to. direct them in the subject of Church Reform, rather than for the clergy themselves. I have therefore forborne to touch upon such most necessary, such important topics, as Revision of the Liturgy and amendment of the spiritualities of the Church. I have ever had, and I still have, the firm conviction, that no effective measures of reform in these particulars can be carried out, until the externals of our Church, if I may so term them, have been remodelled, and our con stitution have new life and vigour infused into it, by the removal of existing deformities, and the revival of those functions of the Church which can alone discuss, deliberate upon, and decide, respecting these most essential things. It is in vain for Prime ministers to denounce even the glaring errors of Puseyism, and for the Evangelical clergy to desire and hope for a correction of these defects, until the Church itself is outwardly purified from existing abuses, and faithfully freed from the shackles that at present bind it. When thus free, when thus capable of deliberation, and bound by its very constitution to maintain and to develope that noble body of scriptural truth contained in its Thirty-nine Articles, and which far exceeds, in its richness and excellency, all that even the three ancient creeds contain,-then will the Church arise like a giant refreshed with wine, even that of the Gospel, which maketh glad the heart of man, and putting forth all its best energies, approve itself as a faithful servant of God and of His Christ, and go on its course conquering and to conquer, because trusting to, rejoicing in, and glorifying the Lord its God. I am, Sir, yours faithfully, Enstone, Oxon. "THE MISSIONARY MASSA." A MEMOIR OF A SUNDAY SCHOLAR. WHEN admitted into our Sunday school, James B- was about twelve years of age. He had been an irregular attendant at several schools previously to his admission, and with that caprice which frequently seizes the youthful mind, he had on the persuasion of companions tried their schools, and his parents were altogether careless whether he attended or otherwise. James was an errand-boy to a grocer, and the only education he had obtained, from the time he had attended a dame school, was received from Sunday instruction. His father was a labourer, and unhappily a confirmed drunkard. His mother was greatly tried in finding sufficient support for her five children, of whom James was the eldest. They resided in a court proverbial for harbouring suspicious characters, and where the officers of justice frequently visited certain houses, of which several of the former inmates had been sent to a distant land as "convicts," or incarcerated in prisons for their crimes. A man given to hard drinking will often take a house in such a locality, so that his favourite indulgence may not be limited, by having to pay a higher rent in a respectable and honest neighbourhood. The influence of bad example, and the contagion connected with his family associating with the children of such characters, causes no uneasiness to the mind of a sot, so long as his selfish gratification can he kept up. James continued a regular attendant at the school for several years, and was looked on as the most promising boy in the class. The teacher was a decided Christian, and adorned his profession by a holy and consistent walk. He entered into the real design of Sunday school instruction; not content with his class merely going through the routine of reading and repeating lessons, but anxiously striving to lead the youthful mind to the Saviour of sinners. He was one who prayed for his scholars, and who truly felt that if he were made the honoured instrument in the hands of God, of leading his youthful charge to see the importance of religion, it would "keep them from ten thousand snares "whilst passing through life. James in his seventeenth year was made an assistant teacher to one of the lower classes. He had been for some time a member of a Bible class, which the minister had established, and gave every reason to hope that the Divine change had been felt in his heart. During the period which had elapsed from his first entrance into the school, his parents were often struck with the quietness of his manner when he had left work. Instead of assembling with the other boys in the court, he would be found reading some book belonging to the school library, or preparing Scripture and hymns for the following Sunday. To his mother he was a great comfort, and she frequently said to her neighbours, "she did not know what would become of her, if it were not for James!" Many a chapter of the Holy Bible would he read when the younger children were in bed, and the mother trying to obtain a few additional pence from plain sewing, which she took in to help out the miserable pittance that her thoughtless husband allowed her out of his wages for their united support. We now pass over a few years of James's life. He had in the inscrutable providence of God, been led step by step, during this period, through a variety of what would have appeared in the first instance insurmountable difficulties, into the sacred ministry; and in his twenty-fourth year was sent as a missionary to one of the West India islands. He was now an established Christian, remarkable for great judgment, and possessed fervid zeal in the cause of Christ, His preaching was of a very experimental character, his great theme being the "cross," and that amid life's greatest trials, temptations, and sorrows, the sprinkling blood could be applied, ratifying the covenant, and sealing the pardon of every child of God. His ministry made a great impression, and many were the seals of his mission among the descendants of Ham. Tears would glisten on their sable faces, whilst he proclaimed "the liberty with which Christ can make his people free." At that period the Emancipation Act had not passed; and though the "captive exile hasteneth to be free," yet the ministers of religion in the West India islands had to teach and exhort, that obedience should be rendered to the then state of the law, whilst hoping and praying that the time would arrive when sla very should cease to exist where Britain's empire reigned and ruled. The Rev. James B-, for by such an appellation we must now recognize him, was kept by his covenant God from thinking high things of himself. He knew it was of sovereign grace that he had been selected by the Head of the Church, from so obscure a station in life, and singled out from a neighbourhood and family, where there was not the least likelihood of one ever being raised up to bear wit ness for Christ in a public capacity. He felt indeed that it was all of God, and that he could not love Him too much for what He had done, in allowing one so unworthy to have such honour in bearing the glad tidings of peace to a lost and ruined world. Like the youthful Spencer, who was mysteriously cut off in the midst of so much usefulness, he lived in the spirit of prayer. From the closet James B- went to the pulpit, and then returned, bending his knee, exclaiming, "Who hath believed our report?" And humbly feeling that "It is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord!" James B had enjoyed uninterrupted good health, with the exception of a slight attack from fever soon after his arrival, and his constitution appeared seasoned to a tropical climate. The yellow fever was making deadly ravages, when he had just completed his sixth year of residence. Many of his attached friends and converts had been carried off by the epidemic, and, in spite of every remonstrance, he continued administering consolation to the sick and dying: but, alas! B-'s health gave way. One morning the news spread like lightning among his flock, that their pastor was seized with the prevailing malady, and at sunset he was laid in his grave. When sensible, he continued to exclaim, "Come, Jesus! come, Lord Jesus! take me to glory!" The memory of this man of God and truly devoted servant of Christ is greatly cherished; and many an aged negro will speak of the "pious massa" who caused him to love the Saviour, as he stands weeping over the grave of poor B-, who had to obey the summons, "Come up hither," and suddenly leave a disconsolate flock, who were in danger of making too much of the servant that had been lent them for a time by the Master of the vineyard. Notwithstanding faithful and zealous missionaries have trodden in the steps of their departed brother, yet even now the excellencies of the revered B- are dwelt on with so much feeling, that the young often wish they had been living before massa B-, ""the good missionary massa," went to heaven. 66 SIGMA. Correspondence. [The Editors are not responsible for every statement or opinion of their correspondents; at the same time, their object is to open the pages of their Magazine to those only, who seek the real good of that Protestant Church with which it is in connexion.] To the Editor of the Christian Guardian. DEAR SIR,-Will you grant me space for a few remarks on the question of Liturgical Repetition, raised in the last number of your magazine, by "A Clergyman of the Established Church"? Without saying that no improvement could be effected in our Liturgy, by careful elision here and there, I must observe that your correspondent appears to me singularly unhappy in the choice of the matter which he would erase. variety in prayer, it seems rather to be want of spiritualness that makes that needful; for that we find not our affections lively in that holy exercise unless they be awakened and stirred by new ex pressions: whereas the soul that is earnest on the thing itself for itself, panting after the grace of God and the pardon of sin, regards not in what terms it be uttered, whether new or old; yea, though it be in those words it hath heard and uttered a hundred times, yet still it is new to a spiritual mind. And, surely, the desires that do move in that constant way, have more evidence of sincerity and true vigour in them than those that move them, and cannot stir without them." The subject of the communication is the Lord's prayer, the only depend upon new notions and words to form of petition which Christ has given us, the solemn utterance of Him who not only knew all the wants of man, but who, as the Son of God, knew also the Father's sufficiency and fulness. This comprehensive prayer, the standard and measure, for simplicity, of ali other prayers,your correspondent would wish to be "said but once, and that at the end of the service." You know, Mr. Editor, that repetition was one of Baxter's exceptions to the Common Prayer-book. In his Life of himself, he says,— "Lord, have mercy upon us: Christ, have mercy upon us: Lord, have mercy upon us,' seemeth an affected tautology, without any special cause or order here; and the LORD'S PRAYER is annexed, that was before recited, and yet the next words are again but a repetition of the aforesaid oft-repeated general, O Lord, shew thy mercy upon us.' Upon which passage Samuel Taylor Coleridge beautifully observes, "The spirit in which this and similar complaints originated has turned the prayers of dissenting ministers into irreverent preachments, forgetting that tautology in words and thoughts implies no tautology in the music of the heart to which the words are, as it were, set; and that it is the heart that lifts itself up to God. Our words and thoughts are but parts of enginery which remains with ourselves; and logic, the rustling dry leaves of the lifeless reflex faculty, does not merit even the name of a pulley or lever of devotion." With the views thus propounded by Leighton and by Coleridge, I have no doubt your excellent correspondent would at once concur; and if so, I do not see that the continuance of the repetition of the Lord's Prayer is so "amazing" as he conceives it be, "in an age of investigation and reason." The hallowed words of our blessed Lord serve in an admirable manner to recall the attention of the worshipper, if wandering, as they occur in different parts of our Service; and they may, I think, in each case, be made to bear some reference to that portion of the Liturgy with which they stand connected. Moreover, as Wheatley well observes, "the repetition of the prayer gives us this advantage, that, if we did not put up any petition of it with fervency enough before, we may make amends for it now, by asking that with a doubled earnestness.' And in this remark there is much force. For what sincere Christian, when he has offered up the prayer, can help regretting that he has not felt its power more, or help rejoicing when a renewed opportunity occurs for joining in the music of the Redeemer's words? the use over again of the same words can be called tautology, in respect of matters of prayer and praise. It is the ardent desire, and not the readiness of invention, to which God looks. Your correspondent speaks of "defects" as "creating dissent." But, dear sir, it is not such "defects" as he specifies, if defects they be, which swell the ranks of dissent, and narrow the pale of the Church of our Prayer-book. Nor is it, let me say, imperfections in the discipline of the Establishment, which chiefly keep honest nonconformists at a distance. It is rather such "defects" as the language of the office of baptism, which keep seceders still seceders, and cause bitter tears to many a LAY COMMUNICANT OF THE CHURCH. [We are sure that our excellent correspondent who has drawn the attention of our readers to the repetition of the Lord's prayer, and the "Lay Communicant " who has answered his letter, both equally agree in giving the highest honour to that perfect form of prayer which fell from the gracious lips of our Lord. It may be well for both to remember that the repetitions alluded to are caused by our mixing up the Services in which they occur, whereas they were intended to be used at different times in the daily service of the Church. It were much to be desired that these Services could be re-arranged, so that we might materially shorten our now too lengthy Morning Service, by having their different parts of Morning Prayer, Litany, and Communion Service, of the worshippers. Our correspondent, "a Lay Communicant,"will pardon us if we cannot agree with him as to the application of Coleridge's words to this question of the repetition of the Lord's prayer. A human arrangement even of inspired and Divine words may, in itself, be inappropriately made; and the use of the words themselves become, even to real worshippers, comparatively profitless, from their being brought in too frequently, or without a natural and easily sustained connection with the foregoing or the following parts of the service. That the arrangement of the service in our Prayer-book admits of no improvement I by no means wish to imply. The Lord's prayer, now under properly adjusted to the wants and conveniences consideration,might, perhaps be advantageously omitted in one or two places. But any change so extensive, as that advocated by your correspondent, could only be effected, in my view, on grounds subversive of the very principle of forms of prayer. The sense which your correspondent attaches to the term "vain repetitions,” used by our Saviour, would militate against the use of very much that is in our Service, beyond the Lord's prayer. I affix another meaning to the word vain. It would be no vain repetition for an awakened sinner, or indeed for a mature Christian, to cry repeatedly, "God be merciful to me a sinner," provided only the heart be engaged in the offering up of the petition. The Psalms are full of tautology, if votion.-ED.] The spirit which suggests alterations or omissions such as these,-having for their object the more perfect adaptation of our beautiful Services to the capacities and feelings of worshippers, does not and cannot tend to turn our prayers "into irreverent preachments" but rather into more flowing channels of pure de |