fers from that of Deacons, dating in the present form from about the thirteenth century. The Priesthood is openly recognized as the normal order of the Ministry by the assent of the Priests present, testified to by their joining with the Bishop in the Imposition of Hands. The act would be valid without them, but their coördinate welcome is none the less impressive. The Bishop's words of Ordination are in alternative form, the first being generally used as a fuller expression of the truth and grace also conveyed by the second. The solemn Commission is couched in words which repeat those of the Great Head of the Church himself at the original establishment of the Apostolic Ministry. The gift of the Holy Ghost is bestowed through the channel of Divine appointment, and for the purpose of the faithful Dispensation of God's Word and of His Sacraments.

The charge to Priests to exercise the power of declaratory Absolution is unhesitatingly expressed in words which convey an implicit official sanction. While Absolution is ministerial alone so far as its dispenser is concerned, it is not officially conveyed except through the Christian Priesthood. There will be nothing "hard to be understood " here, if the analogy is applied of an official declaration to a condemned criminal of pardon granted by the State. Though hope may have discounted its approach and common rumour even familiarized its terms to him, yet the pardon is not distinctly appropriated by the criminal himself and made a personal right, until its formal promulgation to him by the Sheriff, whose function alone it is to make it.

As the New Testament is given to a Deacon, so the entire Word of God is bestowed upon a Priest, with the

authority to minister "where lawfully appointed thereunto." This phrase is a distinct limitation to proper and lawful jurisdiction, and confers no roving commission in a Church of law and order. As the gift of the Bible symbolizes the Word, so in the First Book a Chalice and Paten were here bestowed on the Priest to symbolize the Sacraments. The Priest's Stole may now be placed upon both his shoulders, and the full profession of the Christian Faith is made in the Nicene Creed. The Communion Office is then proceeded with, the newly-ordained remaining in their places until their own Reception thereof; and the final Collect is especially adapted to their needs. In the First Book the Service for the Ordering of Priests varied somewhat in its arrangement, and was longer than now; while both this Office and that for Deacons contained, before the Ordination Vows, the administration of the "Oath of the King's supremacy," which, in England, was retained in a modified form until 1865.

XXXII.

THE CONSECRATION OF BISHOPS.

"Then saith Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost."-St. John xx. 21, 22.

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: * * * * and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."-St. Matthew xxviii. 19, 20.

THE

HE Service for the CONSECRATION OF A BISHOP resembles the one for Priests much more than that for Deacons. None but Bishops take part in it, and at least three are always present to assure the succession, specific portions being assigned to this number. It differs from the other two Offices in that no part of it is prefatory to the beginning of the Communion Office, the Litany being said after the Nicene Creed and the Sermon. All arrangements for a Consecration are made by the Primate, who, if not present in person to act as chief Consecrator, deputes that duty to some other Bishop. The place of consecration is a matter of mutual arrangement, and is naturally either the candidate's former Parish Church, or else the Cathedral or some principal Church of his future Diocese.

If he is to be a Missionary Bishop to either a Domestic or Foreign field, his nomination lies entirely with the col

lective House of Bishops, to be confirmed or rejected by the House of Deputies of the General Convention if in session. If he is to be a Diocesan Bishop or his Coadjutor, the choice lies with the Convention of that Diocese (which is a representative body of both Clergy and laity), in which choice a majority of both Orders must concur. In either case his election is notified officially to all the other Dioceses, and before order can be taken for his consecration, confirmation must be made thereof by a majority of the Standing Committees (a body in each Diocese, generally of Clergy and laity, chosen by the Convention thereof as the Bishop's advisers, and which, when there is no Bishop, constitutes its Ecclesiastical Authority), and afterward by a majority of the House of Bishops. Standing Committees of Missionary jurisdictions, either Domestic or Foreign, are appointed by their Bishop, and have no power to confirm an election. If the Triennial National Council of the Church, called the General Convention, be in session at the time, the functions of the Standing Committees in this regard revert to the clerical and lay deputies from the respective Dioceses, therein assembled as the House of Deputies. Standing Committees exercise powers which in other National Churches are vested in various individuals; and they are not in all things responsible directly to the Dioceses that appoint them.

A Domestic Missionary Bishop may be chosen to the charge of a full Diocese, either to his own when it becomes such, or to another; though the intrinsic propriety of the second course may be doubted. This latter change is called Translation. But Foreign Missionary Bishops are not thus eligible except under stringent conditions. A resignation

of Episcopal jurisdiction requires the assent of the House of Bishops, and is looked on.with disfavour. Á Bishop is bound to his Diocese for life, and his Coadjutor, if there be one, succeeds him. The latter may be chosen when the Diocesan becomes unable to discharge his Episcopal duties and signifies his consent thereto. In the English Church, Bishops are unfortunately appointed by the Crown.

The special Collect is, with slight variations, that for St. Peter's Day, he being the leader of the Apostolic College. The Epistle and Gospel are both alternative, the latter doubly so, and Collect, Epistle and Gospel are each read by a different Bishop. The first Epistle has been used here from time immemorial, and both of them dwell on the duties of Episcopal oversight, in the words of St. Paul. The three Gospels declare respectively Christ's triple charge to St. Peter, His charge to all the Apostles (as in the Ordination of Priests), and His charge to His whole Church which is its charter and perpetual guaranty. After the Nicene Creed and the Sermon comes the Presentation of the Bishop-elect to the Consecrator "sitting in his chair," by two other Bishops his friends and associates. He has himself been previously "vested with his Rochet," a short, close linen Surplice, a modification of the Alb, with strait sleeves or sleeveless.

In the English Book the "Queen's Mandate for the Consecration" is here demanded and read, followed by the "Oath of due Obedience to the Archbishop." We substitute for these the reading of the official Testimonials, and the recital by the candidate of the Promise of Conformity to the doctrine, discipline and worship of the Church. The former certify as to the regularity of his election and con