point or another that our faith is assailed. The enemy attacks us on all sides, and attempts from every quarter of the compass to breach the walls which separate between us and Rome. We have now, as the Jews of old in building their Jerusalem, while we work with one hand, with the other to hold a weapon. The old armour which was thought to have served its purpose has to be furbished up again. We cannot now sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, none making us afraid. Indifference plays into the enemy's hand. If the watchman sleep the citadel is soon forced. Lukewarmness is nothing less than the betrayal of the faith of our fathers. It may be that even we in this generation may see the old land-marks removed, and the days of violence and persecution dawn upon us. If so may God Himself give to His ministers grace in their very inmost hearts to feel His abiding Presence with them, comforting them and guiding them into all truth, and amid the clash of the contending forces may He who prayed for the Unity of His Church on earth arise with outstretched hands and say, Peace, be still! and immediately there shall be a great calm. A Prayer for Unity. O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Saviour, the Prince of Peace; Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions. Take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatsoever else may hinder us from godly Union and Concord; that, as there is but one Body, and one Spirit, and one Hope of our Calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may henceforth be all of one heart, and of one soul, united in one holy bond of Truth and Peace, of Faith and Charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify Thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. GEORGE HENRY SUMNER. TABLE OF CONTENTS. SUBJECT.-What principles of Ritual does the Bible give to the Church? I-The alleged principle, that "the Temple ritual is the directory for the Church." 1. Because "it represents the wor ship of heaven." An assumption-not suggested, not supported-sets aside the inspired interpretation. Futility of the appeal to "the Apocalyptic model." 2. Because "God ordained it, and never revoked it." Examination of this argument as presented in the Bishop of Vermont's Law of Ritual.' No abrogating legislation in the Bible. Organic growth of revelation. Temporary function of the Temple ritual. Its continuance in the Church an impossible idea to the first Christians. The Epistle to the Hebrews proves that it was unknown. The alleged principle negatived by the Bible. II.-The Bible yields only general principles for the guidance of the Church in the matter of Ritual. 1. Liberty. 2. Order and Fitness. 3. Edification. 4. Restriction. The Reformation of the English Ritual ruled by these principles. The right and duty of revising it, as historically developed:-1. Under associations of heathenism; 2. Under corruptions of doctrine. Conservative spirit of Anglican Protestantism the strongest condemnation of a retrograde movement. SCRIPTURE AND RITUAL. WE are now in full view of an organised and outspoken effort to change the received ritual of the English Church, and restore to it an aspect which ten generations have not seen. It is part of a doctrinal movement which aims at more vital change; and the most effective part, since it attracts, through natural tastes or the sensational temper of the day, allies whom no previous doctrinal sympathies would have secured, and is directed against a position, the occupation of which would be, not only the removal of a present barrier, but the acquisition of a strong basis for further advance. It would, indeed, be an inconceivable simplicity which could now regard the ritualistic movement as ending in outward and visible change, but even when so regarded it is seen to tend distinctly to the disruption of the Church. The matter is already carried into the two courts of Law and Opinion. The former may decide for the present, but the latter will decide in the end; for the sense of the Church when sufficiently formed and ascertained will have its way, and either by fresh legislation, or by interpretations put upon existing statutes, the Law will infallibly yield to Opinion. There are, then, two distinct questions-the one, What is the law of the Church of England in regard to the particular changes proposed?-the other, What are the principles which should govern .ritual, and shape the laws which regulate it? This Essay will have regard only to the latter inquiry (ultimately the more important of the two), and will deal only with one of its many branches (but that also the most important of them all). On the principles which should govern the form and order of worship the first authority is that of the Bible. To the Bible accordingly appeal is made; and principles alleged to be scriptural are laid before us. We have to consider (I.) whether these principles, and (II.) if not these, what principles, are really supplied by the Written Word. I. It is certain that the Bible contains one, and only one scheme of ritual; and if this be the general directory for Christian worship, we have but to adhere to it as closely as subsequent changes allow. It is alleged that this is the fact, that the Mosaic ordinances remain in force, and that the divinely given ritual of the Tabernacle is the perpetual directory for the Church. This view of the case is supported by two arguments, one derived from the supposed nature of the ritual, which would be an irresistible recommendation of its use: the other consisting in the divine enactment, which would be an absolute obligation for its observance. 1. The Temple ritual, it is said, must be the permanent form of worship, because it is the representation of the worship of heaven, the highest of which we can conceive, and that which we hope to share. Moses made all things according to the pattern showed him in the mount. That pattern was the heavenly worship which for that purpose he was admitted to see; so that the Temple and its ceremonial was an earthly copy of the same things in the world of glory: and this is confirmed by the Apocalypse, which shows us the heavenly worship itself marked by the same features of scenic ritual. This argument rests on an assumption which the words of Scripture neither suggest nor support. It is said to Moses, "Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them; according to all that I show thee after the pattern of the Tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof." And when the description of these objects has been laid before him, it is added, "And look that thou make all things according to the pattern which was showed thee in the mount." (Exod. xxv. 8, 9, 40). The things to be made are the holy tent and its mystic furniture;-the end is the creation of "a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them." them." What is there here about the worship of heaven? There is no intimation that Moses saw it; much less that he was directed to copy it. No word is spoken by God to him, or by him to Israel, representing the ritual under that character; nor is there the suggestion of such a character in the ritual itself which presents the divine. provisions for sanctification, access, and communion, as meeting an actual state of defilement, separation, and exclusion—a state |