A PRIEST, by the Bishop, and all the priests then present, placing their hands upon his head. The Bishop then draws the stole over his right shoulder, and crosses it upon the breast, invests him with a chasuble, anoints both his hands with the oil of catechumens, delivers to him a chalice of wine and water, and a paten, with the Host, saying-" Accipe potestatem offerre sacrificium tam pro vivis quam pro defunctis." Then the Bishop places both his hands upon the candidate's head, saying"Accipe Spiritum sanctum quorum remiseritis peccata," &c.; and lastly unfolds the chasuble.

A BISHOP is thus consecrated. The consecrating and assisting Bishops place the Book of the Gospels open upon the neck and shoulders of the elect; then all place both hands upon his head. The consecrator next anoints his head and both his hands, blesses the pastoral staff, and delivers it to him, and puts a consecrated ring upon his fourth finger, in token of his marriage to the Church. Next the consecrator takes the Book of the Gospels from the shoulders of the elect, and delivers it to him closed; and lastly, he and all the assisting Bishops place a mitre upon his head, and consecrated gloves upon his hands.

It was anciently the custom to observe carefully the passage upon which the Book of the Gospels might happen to open before it was placed upon the shoulders of the elect, as it was considered prophetic of his episcopal career.

The oath taken by every Romish Bishop binds him more firmly to the Papal see than ever vassal was to his feudal lord, and is plainly inconsistent with the allegiance due to his sovereign. It begins with an unreserved profession of obedience to the Pope and his successors; and he swears never to injure them directly or indirectly, never to betray their secrets, but to defend and uphold the royalties of St. Peter to the utmost of his power, and to preserve and augment the rights and privileges of the holy Roman Church. "I will observe, with all my strength, the mandates, reservations, and provisions of the Pope (apostolica), and to the utmost of my power I will prosecute (persequar) and oppose (all) heretics, schismatics, and rebels against our said Lord (the Pope). When called to a synod, I will attend, unless I am prevented by some canonical hindrance. I will, every three years, myself visit in person the thresholds of the apostles, and there render to our Lord (the Pope) and his successors, an account of my whole pastoral charge, and I will humbly receive and diligently obey the apostolic commands: but should I he detained by some lawful impediment, I will fulfil all the aforesaid duties by some special messenger."

When a person is degraded from any order of the ministry, the ceremonies lately described are, in a manner, reversed. He is solemnly deprived by the Bishop of the vestments and other insignia of his order, and all beneath it, in rotation. Then his head is completely shaved, he is divested of the surplice, and the Bishop says-"We give sentence that this degraded person, now deprived of every clerical order and privilege, be received by the secular court," adding the following exquisite piece of hypocrisy—" My lord judge, we entreat you, with the greatest

This ceremony is of modern date, and is not used in the Greek church. It had no place in the old Gallican Liturgy.

earnestness, that for the love of God, the dictates of mercy, and the intervention of our prayers, you will not inflict any description of death or mutilation upon this miserable wretch."

In connexion with Ordination, the Pontifical also contains an office, "De Scrutinio Serotino," being the ancient form of examining the Bishop elect before his Consecration; also the Benediction of an Abbot; of an Abbess; of a Nun; the form of conferring the Pall upon a Metropolitan; a curious form "de Barbâ Tondenda” (or the ceremony of shaving a clerk's beard for the first time after his ordination). Also the mode of appointing a Psalmist, or singer, which latter might be done by a simple Priest.

Want of space obliges me to reserve the third episcopal function, viz. the Consecration of Churches, &c. for my next letter.

I have the honour to be yours, faithfully,

RICHARD HART.

BURTON CHAPEL OF EASE.

In our Number for November, 1835, we published an interesting account of laying the foundation-stone of the new church at Dorking, with full details of the proper mode of proceeding, and an admirable "Service." We have now been requested to publish the subjoined Office, which, though more brief than the former, is very appropriate.

An Office used on laying the Foundation-Stone of a Chapel of Ease, to be erected in the Hamlet of Burton, in the Parish of Winfrith, Newburgh, Dorset. REV. G. J. FISHER, Rector. August 20, 1839.

THE SENTENCE.

The God of heaven, he will prosper us, therefore we, his servants, will arise and build. (Nehemiah ii. 20.)

THE COLLECT.

Prevent us, O Lord, in this and all our doings, with thy most gracious favour, and further us with thy continual help: that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in thee, we may glorify thy holy name, and finally by thy mercy obtain everlasting life: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

[After this Collect the Stone was laid.]

THE PSALM.

1. O how amiable are thy dwellings, thou Lord of hosts.

2. My soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

3. Yea the sparrow hath found her an house, and the swallow a nest, where she may lay her young: even thy altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

4. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be alway praising thee.

5. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee: in whose heart are

thy ways.

6. Who going through the vale of misery use it for a well and the pools are filled with water.

7. They will go from strength to strength: and unto the God of God' appeareth every one of them in Sion.

8. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer: hearken, O God of Jacob. 9. Behold, O God our defender: and look upon the face of thine anointed.

10. For one day in thy courts is better than a thousand.

11. I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of ungodliness.

12. For the Lord God is a light and defence: the Lord will give grace and worship, and no good thing will he withhold from them that live a godly life.

13. O Lord of hosts: blessed is the man that putteth his trust in thee.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be world without end. Amen.

THE PRAYER.

O Almighty God, we beseech thee graciously to look down upon us while engaged in rearing a building to be dedicated to thy honour. Grant that thy blessing and favour may rest upon our endeavours to promote thy glory, and the salvation of thy creatures. Grant that the house, here to be erected, may be filled with faithful hearers of thy holy word that acceptable prayers may be offered up to thee therein : that the preaching of the Gospel of thy dear Son may be faithfully delivered that the blessed sacraments ordained by him may be duly administered, and rightly received: and that this village and neighbourhood may experience unceasing benefit from the ministration of thy word and sacraments being brought among them. Vouchsafe to hear us, O God, and, of thy great mercy, bestow on us thy heavenly grace, for the sake of our Mediator and Redeemer, thy blessed Son, Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.

Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name: Thy kingdom come Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread: And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and Amen.

ever.

THE BLESSING.

The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord: and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you and remain with you always. Amen.

THE DIVINE PRESENCE PROMISED TO OBEDIENCE.

"Judas saith unto him, (not Iscariot,) Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."-John xiv. 22, 23.

GREAT are the privileges, and great the responsibilities, of all members of the church of Christ. By their conduct it now pleases God to manifest himself to the world. Having chosen them to himself, and taken them in baptism to be his children,-heirs with Christ of the kingdom of heaven,-if they grieve not his Spirit, and cause him to withdraw from their hearts, he works in them, and with them, in all the fruits of righteousness, and "purifieth them to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." He dwelleth in them, and thus purity and holiness pervade their bodies and souls, "increasing with the increase of God;" and by their steady adherence to the commands of Christ, by their devotion, their meekness, their charity, and their faith, he testifieth the truth and power of religion to those who make a mock at holy things. So let it be with us. Let us endeavour, each in our several stations and circumstances, to honour God by a life and conversation regulated by the words of Christ. By so doing, we shall both be blessed ourselves with clearer views of spiritual things, and with increased strength both to resist temptation, and to do the will of God; and we may, by God's mercy, be made instruments, in his hand, of good to others, who, seeing our "chaste conversation coupled with fear," may be led to infer, that "God is with us, of a truth." But if any one is inclined to rest content in the idea that those promises were confined to the days of the apostles, and that believers have not now the same interest in them, let me add that these promises are a comfort and an encouragement of which we may not deprive any individual member of the church of Christ. How it pleases Almighty God to fulfil them-in what manner he is present in the hearts of believers, and in those ordinances which he hath appointed for the communication of his grace, we presume not to determine; neither do we know how obedience to God's word is made efficacious in changing our wills and character. All we know is, that as we persevere in obedience, if God's word stands sure, grace grows stronger, and inward light grows brighter, and God manifests himself in a way which the world knows not of. Let us not, then, seek to explain away our own privileges, and to dwindle down the glorious promises of Christ to a mere rational standard, which man can comprehend; but rather let us cherish the belief, that our position, as members of the church of Christ, is mixed up with mysteries which we, at present, do not understand. One thing we know, God sees, and is not far from every one of us, and “the Lord whom we seek shall suddenly come to his temple." Let us labour, then, that he may find it holy and undefiled, that we may be counted worthy to be exalted into the real presence of God. There shall be no temple there, but the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb

are the temple of it."

The glory of God shall pervade the universe,faith shall end in reality, and "mortality shall be swallowed up of life!" -From "Plain Sermons,' by the Rev. C. B. Pearson.

D. I. E.

VALUE OF THE CHURCH'S CREED.

If we were to take up the buoys, and destroy the lighthouses around our coasts, and bid the deluded mariner find out for himself the shoals and rocks which endanger his course, or discover in the darkness of night "the haven where he would be," we should be acting as reasonably as those who, to the learner in the doctrine of Christ, would abolish all creeds or formularies which the Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has established, to warn from error, or to guide into truth.- Woodgate's Bampton Lectures, Lecture V.

ON IMAGE WORSHIP.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE CHRISTIAN REMEMBRANCER.

SIR, My inquiry of Anglicus in what tract, and its page, Imageworship is treated so lightly, was to ascertain whether he were one of many who have given their opinions on the Tracts for the Times, without examining them; and I still suspect that he has not done so, or I think he would have noticed whom Clericus quoted, viz. the pious Bishop Hall. I am not aware that the good Bishop was censured, at the time he wrote, for his use of words; and why should he now? Is this catching at words the "charity that thinketh no evil?" Does it not manifest a factious spirit, the cleaving to a party, right or wrong, by the misrepresentation rather than the fair criticism of an opponent ?

Admitting the word Image-worship to have been used by the Bishop and the Tract-writers, though it may, at first sight, appear incautious, yet they ought to have the advantage of explaining their own terms: and there is very high authority for such use. In our Lord's Parable, when enjoining a person to take the lowest room at a wedding-feast, he gives the reason that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee." Again, in the Form of Solemnization of Matrimony :-" With this ring I thee wed; with my body I thee worship." No one ever supposed that either the translators of the Bible, or the compilers of the Liturgy, intended more than honour or respect. And I do not remember that dóta is ever synonymous with προσκύνησις.

But Image-worship is not the word. The Bishop says, "The honour paid to images is dangerous in the case of the uneducated."