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not leave it to mere chance. And it should be the duty of each family without exception to furnish its quota for the service of the sanctuary, and present to the Lord some one of its members to serve either as bishop, priest, or deacon, subdeacon, or as a minister in some one of the minor orders of the Church, and that either for the home or foreign service.

Or, again, a member of a family may have a vocation for the religious life, and we should welcome any such most heartily, and find room for them and their particular work or works within our Communion. These latter, no less than the former, do a great work for the glory of God, and are equally necessary for the life of the Church. Until within recent years the life of our Anglican Communion seemed to hang as it were upon the existence and soundness of one only of its lungs, and that for a long time appeared to be scarcely in a normal state of health; but in the present day we rejoice to think that our Church is taking, as it were, a new lease of life, inasmuch as she is able, not only freely to expand her right lung, by which we would mean her secular ministry, with the Breath of Heaven, the free Wind of God, but there are remarkable signs of the resuscitation of her left lung, by which we would figuratively indicate the revival of the religious vocation. And when both her lungs have attained once more to full robust health, her right lung (the secular ministry) and the left lung (her Religious Orders), we may expect that she will make admirable progress, and be the joy of the Lord in the midst of His earth.

But to return from our digression, it is, I repeat, the duty of the Church authorities thus to beg alms, as it were, from the head of each Christian family

alms of loving souls who shall fulfil the ministry of the Church. But, as we said, we are not under bondage in this matter, and the canon laid down in Scripture in respect of almsgiving in general must guide us in this matter equally. "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."

And how very appropriately come in the following words, if we but interpret them in the same spirit, and adapt them] to this kind of almsgiving of sons and daughters for the Lord's service, and there is nothing to forbid such interpretation, but on the contrary we see this same holy Apostle employing a similar interpretation with regard to muzzling the ox that treadeth out the corn; and so S. Paul proceeds to write, "For the ministration of this service not only filleth up the measure of the wants of the saints, but aboundeth also through many thanksgivings unto God." How truly it can be asserted that if we give of our sons and daughters to the Lord's service, we both supply the wants of the saints, and cause that many Thanksgivings, or Eucharists, be solemnly offered to God!

But in this sort of almsgiving there is one other most important rule which both those who ask for such alms and those who give must well and carefully ponder. We have it mentioned by Christ, for our warning, in S. Mark's Gospel (vii. 9-13). According to this rule we must beware of urging a son or a daughter to forsake an aged father or mother. It is God's evident call to such an one to abide in that position by the side of the infirm and aged parent,

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whose chief support or only stay the youth may prove to be. But where a son or daughter show an evident vocation for special work in the Lord's service, either as a Secular or Religious (these terms being used according to their conventional meaning), then it becomes the duty of the parent or guardian not to withstand but to assist and further his child's wish in every lawful way.

But as far as we apprehend the plain intimations of Holy Scripture, it is not necessary for the head of a household to wait until a member of his family manifests a desire to assist in the service of the sanctuary. But we would take broader grounds, and assert that, inasmuch as we have granted the truth of a universal priesthood existing as much in the Christian as in the Jewish Church, it becomes the duty of each head of a family to be prepared to give up one or more of its members for God's special service; that he should select one or more of them for this purpose, and provide that such be carefully trained for the special work for which they may be ultimately intended. The world might be inclined to kick at the proposition, but then we must not forget that we have no occasion to take into our consideration what the world may think or do in the matter. "My kingdom is not of this world," saith our Chief Bishop and Pastor.

Those who may be weak in the Faith, or who may fail to comprehend the nature of that power of God which operates with such marvellous results through His Holy Mysteries in His kingdom of Grace, may be inclined to doubt the efficacy of such a plan or its wisdom. But we have every faith and confidence

in the Grace of the Sacraments, and, in this instance, that of Holy Orders more particularly. To doubt the efficacy of His Grace were to question the truth of God's promises generally, or to believe that His Arm was shortened, and that He cannot save.

Where a child has been religiously and formally lent to God to be trained from his youth for the special service of God, we have every reason to believe that God will accept that loan, and will a thousand-fold repay the lender, and bestow His special blessing on that which is lent. It is not as though the child, after spending long years in the service of the world, were then formally transferred, somewhat against his own desire, to God's service after reaching manhood; we might expect in such cases vain wishes would be cherished for the world's joys left behind. Transient those wishes may be at first, but, if allowed to increase in strength and frequency, enough to poison the atmosphere in which that child (now grown to man's estate) may move, and render nugatory any service he may perform, and at length prove destructive to his soul.

But in the case of a child of tender years being offered for God's service, we behold his virgin youth, unspotted by the world, wholly dedicated to his Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. It is a sight which angels might desire to look upon. And it must be a gift of unspeakable value to the Good God, upon which He is permitted to work His gracious loving Will. Indeed, can we ever rightly and properly appraise such a gift, when we remember that it is He who hath said, "Suffer little children to come unto Me, forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom

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of God"-even the "kingdom of priests;""Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven"! There must be a beginning of our service to God, and the best beginning would seem to be that of a little child, both for old and young. With what pleasure, then, must God receive such a gift for His kingdom! The time of youth and innocence is indeed a precious time, and ever the fittest for the sowing of the seed of the Word of God, and an invaluable opportunity for the operation of God's Holy Spirit.

But, it will be argued, there is also the pang of parting with a dear child. But there need be no such parting as is commonly imagined. The child will naturally be reared and trained by his parents up to a certain age, until seven or eight years old, or for a shorter or longer period. He will have learnt to know something of home influences during this time; and this experience, gained beneath a father's roof, will doubtless more or less be useful to him in after-life. But to some parents it will be a pleasure to follow herein the example of the saintly mother of little Samuel, and to lend their child straightway to the Lord; that is, we presume, as soon as he is able to learn anything, and to be of any practical use. For we learn that the child Samuel, as soon as he was brought to the Tabernacle, was able to worship the Lord, and to minister unto the Lord before Eli, the high priest (1 Sam. i. 28-ii. 11).

And here we would draw attention to the sacred use of the word "lend," in connection with this giving to God's service. While we might almost say that

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