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is broad and vivid. In the Congress Churchmen of both parties meet to consider, how much real good may be done in the dioceses and parishes of the country, and also in the colonies and dependencies abroad; to discover how much community of sentiment there is among them, how much concurrence of ideas and sympathy of heart; and how much they may mutually learn from each other, when the great question is, How are the universally acknowledged and immediately pressing wants of the Church to be dealt with and relieved?

And then what ultimate result does this tend to produce? Naturally a return to unity. The love of God and of the souls redeemed by Christ, the deep sense of responsibility and the earnest desire to work together, if possible, by which they are thus brought to see each other influenced, must necessarily tend to promote that longed-for unity, and to extinguish the flame of party spirit. And this is one way in which there is hope, that all will come to see alike, how vital Christianity in this country is bound up with the principles of our Church, with Catholic tenets and Catholic reverence for ordinances, as distinct from Popery on the one hand and from Dissent on the other. There is more connection, perhaps, than some would suppose, between such practical subjects as have been discussed in the Congresses, and that theology of our Prayer-Book, which has been mistakenly stigmatized as Popish, instead of being rightly called Catholic; and who can tell, but that shaking hands over topics of a practical nature may be a beginning of agreement upon matters of faith? If this blessed unity of mind and judgment concerning Christian mysteries should ever follow from such co-operation in labours of Christian love, it will be impossible to over-estimate the utility of Congresses, or of any other expedients, by which such co-operation is promoted. There is no consummation more devoutly to be wished, than the reunion of those who have stood apart so long; and who, that heartily prays for it, will not rejoice at every movement and every undertaking, that tends in any degree to brighten the hope of it?

Another very obvious advantage of that kind of ecclesiastical assembly, which we have here under consideration, is its move

ableness. It is not fixed to one particular spot, like the Convocation of Canterbury or York: it moves about among the people; it is an itinerant representative of the Church's energy on the largest scale ; stirring up first this city, then that, with its august presence and living voice; calling simultaneous attention to a multiplicity of topics, almost every subject of a practical nature, with which the Church is concerned; and giving irresistible proof to all classes, high and low, that it is the Church in earnest, and the Church of the People. We may say, it is the light and warmth of the Church collected for awhile into one burning focus, as first in Cambridge, then in Oxford, then in Manchester, and so on, a vivid exhibition of what they have the power of doing when diffused throughout the parishes of the land. And, with a view to this concentration, the most favourable places are chosen for assembling, places where some lively interest has already been felt in the affairs of the Church at home and abroad. It is thus a body composed each time of different members, and, as it moves from place to place, all the foremost men, clerical and lay, are able in their own turn and their own neighbourhood to give expression to their minds, as well as to hear the minds of others who come from far, perhaps from the ends of the earth, about the one common cause. We may therefore ask, does not this powerfully tend to hold together in firmer coherence and union the different local centres of Church activity and intelligence, and to enliven their perception of the truth, that, though separate centres of separate circles, they are all within the one great circle, and revolving round one common centre of zeal and charity ?

Once more there is an advantage attaching to these Congresses, which can hardly be predicated of any other mode of discussing the affairs of the Church on a large scale. In whatever place the Congress is held, the whole city and neighbourhood are for the time being more or less full of it. With the intelligent and educated it is the topic of the day. Those, who have no part in its counsels, hear of it and talk of it in their own houses. The attention of people is thus awakened to subjects of the utmost importance relating to the Church and to themselves, as it never is by other means. Convocation and Parliament may sit, and their proceedings and debates be reported; but the full reports in London papers are

never read by thousands in Manchester and Bristol, that will spell every line of reports in the local papers of the doings of a Congress in their own city. A Bishop as President, with other Bishops his assessors, and Church Dignitaries of all ranks and titles, Noblemen and hundreds of parochial and academic or missionary Priests, Members of Parliament, and distinguished men of every profession, holding an august assembly for three days together in the midst of themselves, is an event in the course of the year, which cannot possibly transpire without exciting the curiosity and interest of numbers, who would otherwise probably never give to such matters so much serious thought. And this is just what we all so anxiously desire: that the people, the mass of the people, should think and understand more than they do of their interests and privileges and duties as Churchmen. So, again, may annual or occasional meetings be held in every city and county-town, sometimes perhaps large and influential meetings, to consider the claims of some one specific religious object; but what is the impression or effect produced by them compared with that, which is created by the imposing solemnity of a "grand, earnest-minded assembly" (to use the Bishop of Oxford's words) like that at Manchester, sitting for three consecutive days over the consideration of fifteen subjects at once, each handled first of all with a written preparation by men selected for their special fitness and experience, and then thrown open to general discussion ? A gathering on this scale is no ordinary thing: it rouses enquiry in every street; it has some errand or other for every citizen's house; and every man, that thinks of the Church at all, or of his own connection with it, must find a topic to engage his thoughts among the great variety of themes it offers to his attention. Nor is it into the Churchman's house alone that the awakening influence penetrates : it reaches into the Dissenter's also; and however loth they may be to confess it, we may rest assured, that these infallible signs of life and earnestness among us are not without their salutary effect upon the enemies of our National Establishment.

These, then, appear to me to be some of the arguments, with which we may answer persons who may ask us, what is the use of Church Congresses? If in addition to the above purposes another should be served also, that of conducing to influence those in temporal

authority and helping them to form a truer estimate of the necessities and interests of the Church, (and why should it not be so ?) we might have still more to say in reply, and might explain that one result we look for is more friendly legislation in Parliament. God grant it may be so, whether such a result be near or remote. Meanwhile let us be thankful for every manifest and indubitable sign of better things, every indication that we do already behold, of returning life and unity and strength. Congresses will not have been held in vain, and we shall have cause to bless the day when the idea of their formation first entered the minds of those who projected them, if they shall prove to be the means of furthering any one of the objects, for which their deliberations have been undertaken; if, for instance, they shall give an impetus and direction to the movement for Freedom of Public Worship, and thereby the recovery of what are called the "alienated classes ;" but if they are promoters, and at the same time examples, of the "effectual working” of a thoroughly religious spirit in the Church, which is now exerting itself more vigorously than ever it has done at any time since the Reformation, it is no rash prediction to venture, that they will accomplish more than that.

CURATE.

Homely Thoughts about Christmas.

Christmas good-will! World-compliments, away!
Let none receive, or give such worthless things;
When, hark! A choir of white-robed angels sings
"Heaven's peace on earth, and good-will reign alway,
For unto you is born, as on this day,

A Saviour, Christ the Lord, the King of kings,
O'er Whom our brightest spread their shining wings!"
Oh, still returning Christmas seems to say,

As centuries roll on,

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Be happy now,
But 'ere ye hang on high the mistletoe,

'Ere Church and house ye deck with holly bough,
Let soft-voiced peace-makers run to and fro,
And smoothe with gentle touch each ruffled brow,
That Christmas peace indeed may reign below.

H. B.

517

Double Love: or, The Twin Sisters.

BY WILMOT BUXTON.

"Utrum horum mavis accipe."

Latin Grammar.

Scarce a fortnight has past since I was saying good-bye, and taking a last shake of the hand from my old friend Percy Dalton, and his pretty young wife, as they stood on the deck of the vessel which was to bear them and their fortune (no inconsiderable one) to India. Dalton has always been my greatest friend, and had proved a delightful companion on all occasions, from his exuberant spirits, and well-stored repository of tale and anecdote; but none of his stories approach in excellence one which he told me shortly before his departure for India, and which same story was nothing more than the true narrative of his fortunate wooing and wedding.

I had accompanied Dalton to the former home of his wife, at Twickenham, and in the evening we were strolling in the garden together, when my friend said suddenly, "I have had something to tell you for some time, old fellow, and had determined to write you an account of it from India, but as the sight of your wondering face will be half the fun of the whole matter, I will tell you my story now, if you like; it is not very long, and has the advantage of being true."

"An advantage which all your stories do not possess, certainly," replied I, laughing "but let us hear it by all means, and here is the very arbour designed for such a moving narrative of real life as yours will doubtless prove."

"You may laugh," said my friend, as he lighted a cigar, "but for all that, my story is true, and is the history of my adventures in wooing Kate Morrison, who is now Mrs. Percy Dalton."

My friend then plunged into his narrative, which, though animated and vivid in its style, was somewhat broken by laughter and exclamations chiefly proceeding from his auditor; I shall therefore tell Dalton's story in my own way.

Some months before this period, my friend, while staying on a visit to some relations in Kent, had been introduced to Major Charles Morrison, who, with one of his nieces, was passing the autumn at Daleford House, a fine old country mansion belonging to the Major.

Dalton learnt in the neighbourhood that Major Morrison was a man of considerable wealth, and lived with two nieces, Kate and Mary, who were twins, both heiresses, and daughters of the Major's

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