coming as it does from the most popular preacher of the day, should be diffused every where for the honour of the author, and for the good of all who read it. "But it is not the Dissenter alone who will find unpalatable truths in the following Discourse. The Churchman will meet with much that is opposed to popular opinion and practice. They who would shrink from being schismatics in the aggravated sense of separating from Church communion, think nothing, for the most part, of being schismatics in a lesser, but an actual sense that of separation from parochial communion. This matter is treated with great delicacy and faithfulness in Part II. ch. 1 of Sherlock's Discourse; and the temper of the times renders it specially needful that attention should be directed towards it. If a minister wish now-a-days to advance a hard saying,' one which will excite a more than common outcry, let him tell the multitude which is running hither and thither after preachers, that it is their duty, and would be vastly for their benefit, to be content with the instruction provided for each by his own parochial ministers. Yet if there be a truth, this, we believe, is one. The whole ordinance of an Established Church appears set at nought, if every man is to choose his own teachers; though teachers have been assigned to him by competent authority. The distribution of instructers cannot be regarded as a mere thing of chance by any one who acknowledges in Christ the Head and 'Minister of the sanctuary.' Rather must it be considered that Christ has to do with the assignment to every parish of its spiritual pastors, either appointing such as will be faithful to their calling, or permitting the appointment of others, because designing to overrule for good their failings and faults. And if it be said that there is no sufficient evidence of the excellence of the parochial economy, as thus understood and asserted, let it be answered that there is no sufficient trial; every man looks out for his own instructer, tries church after church till he has found one to his taste, and then settles himself for just so long as he may relish the provided instruction. Can this be a wholesome, a right state of things-a state in which the ordinance of God is virtually superseded, and the sheep wander to and fro in quest of a shepherd, not because no shepherd has been given them, but because they wish to meet with one who shall be better than their own? Indeed, we all know what answer will be made. Our own shepherd does not lead us to green pastures; he teaches error-are we to listen to error, when elsewhere we may find truth? This is a melancholy answer; for it is too often based upon fact. We may not deny-would to God we could! -that the statements of the Gospel heard in our churches are occasionally crude and imperfect. But there is no sufficient reason in this for abandoning the parochial ministrations. It must be an extreme case which justifies separation, whether from the Church to which we belong, or from the portion of that Church in which we are parochially placed. The prayers and the sacraments remain in their beauty and energy, when the sermons may be defective. And it were well, if men would more bear in mind, that it ought not to be for the preaching alone, nor even chiefly, that they go up to God's house: that house is a house of prayer,' though, alas! it is deserted almost as a matter of course whensoever it is opened for nothing but prayer. Besides, even so far as the preaching is concerned, a man is immeasurably more likely to be benefitted by meekly submitting himself to an ordinance, though imperfectly administered, than by constituting himself judge of the mode of administration, and refusing to attend unless his own standard be reached. The temper in which a sermon is heard has commonly more to do with its profitableness to the soul than the doctrine on which it insists. God may be expected to bless those most who use with most simplicity the appointed means of grace; and therefore are the ministrations of the parochial clergy, if attended by the parishioners on the principle that these men are their authorised teachers, far more likely to promote growth in knowledge and grace than those of any other clergy, however more eminent in learning, eloquence, or piety. Alas, that a truth, which ought to be self-evident to all who recognise God's institutions in the visible Church, should be almost utterly lost sight of! When the sermons are not what professors of religion think they should be, the church is abandoned; the minister whose power to instruct depends much on the prayers of his people, is forsaken by all but the careless and indifferent; and the deserters suppose that they have given their faithful testimony against error, when they have done their best to perpetuate it in their parish." BISHOP OTTER'S SCHOOL. September 28th. a per THE death of the Bishop of Chichester has been felt as sonal loss by all the Clergy, and by many of the Laity, in his diocese. There was a loveliness in his character which won every heart. At a meeting held at Chichester, immediately after his funeral, it was determined to erect a monument to him by a general subscription of the diocese, and that the most appropriate monument would be a building for the Training School at Chichester, to be called Bishop Otter's School. This was his latest institution, and one in which he took a deep interest; and his name will thus be handed down to future generations as the father of the improved system of education in the diocese, while every parish, and almost every family in it, we may trust, will have reason to be thankful for the benefits which, under God's blessing, may be expected to emanate from Bishop Otter's School. The following account of the late Bishop, extracted from a country newspaper, is written by one who knew him well, who has happily caught the chief features of his character, and whose reverential love for truth has withheld him from everything approaching to exaggeration : : William Otter, late Lord Bishop of Chichester, fourth son of the Rev. Edward Otter, was born at his father's vicarage, Cuckney Notts, on the 23rd of October, 1768. He was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, and took the degree of B.A. in 1790; in the examination of which he attained the honour of fourth wrangler. He was ordained to the curacy of Helstone, in Cornwall; from which place he was recalled into a residence at Jesus College, having been elected fellow, and subsequently appointed tutor. In 1804 he became rector of Colmworth, in Bedfordshire; and the same year he married Nancy Sadlier, eldest daughter of William Bruere, Esq., formerly secretary to the Government, and member of the Supreme Court at Calcutta. After being removed successively to Chetwynd and Kinlet, in Shropshire, he accepted in 1825 the ministry of St. Mark's Church, Kensington; which last he resigned in 1830, on being appointed principal of King's College, London. In 1836, he was consecrated Bishop of Chichester. His death took place at Broadstairs on the 20th instant. To these leading facts of the late Bishop's life, we may add a slight sketch of his high and admirable character. The distinguished academical honours which he obtained in early life, and the important office of principal in King's College, London, from which he was removed to the see of Chichester, indicate no common intellectual endowments. His reading was extensive and various-he had a remarkable quickness of apprehension, and great correctness in the habits of thought and reasoning. His compositions are marked by the chastity and elegance peculiar to a classical scholar, and by a simplicity of style which seems to belong with exclusive propriety to natural goodness and singleness of heart. In the more public functions of the Episcopal office, his manner had a singular ease and a persuasiveness, which none who have ever heard him can forget. He had a largeness of hand that was never straightened by a selfish carefulness, and his alms were not only given with a cheerfulness, but with a sensitiveness of tact and delicacy which true charity alone inspires. The same nice regard of the feelings of others rendered easy the most difficult functions of the episcopate. His admonitions were weighty, because they were gentle. He disarmed opposition by forbearance, and won the reluctant by the equity and fairness of his injunctions. It may be said with the strictness of truth, that they who were brought to never so slight an intercourse with him, will retain a grateful recollection of his kindly condescension; and that they who either by the necessity of their duties or by the freedom which he permitted to them, were often about him, must for ever cherish an affectionate remembrance of his most endearing character. There was also another feature hardly less remarkable than the last-namely, a His mind seemed proof against this littleness most perfect absence of self-esteem. in all its forms. The kindness of his own heart, as it led him to form an unduly favourable estimate of others, so it produced an undue depreciation of himself. There was about him the true dignity of goodness, which put him above every kind of selfelation. It would be hard to find any one who ever possessed high mental qualities with more humility, or bore the honours of rank and station with greater meekness; so that in public he had the most natural and unconscious gravity, and in private life a fresh and playful mind. The piety which is between God and his departed servants, it becomes us rather to imitate with a reverent silence, than to commend with ordinary praise. The living fall more fittingly within the range of our commendation; but those that are taken, God has thereby gathered into the fellowship which is to be honoured by a reverent and thankful memory; of that aspect of their character, however, which is open and visible to us, we may more readily speak, and in the character of him whose loss we deplore, there was one signal and predominant feature, a deep and earnest benevolence. In his own family his affections were of the fondest kind, in his friendships he was warm and steadfast; to the young especially of his Clergy, he was as a father; for all who were brought to him by want or affliction, he had the keenest and liveliest sympathy. There is however, a better testimony to the excellence of this lamented prelate than any we can offer, we mean in the condition of the Diocese which he has administered, and the universal attachment of the clergy, and the flock over which he ruled. In his whole temper of mind he was a man of peace, and above all things he yearned after the unity of the Church. To this great end the unremitting labours of his episcopate were directed, and by God's blessing he was spared to see in no small measure the fruit of his labours. In the short space of four years he called into united action the clergy and laity of his diocese, inviting them to aid him in fulfilling his sacred misson, by multiplying the number of churches and of clergy, and by extending the means of education to the oor. His last public measure was to draw closer still the bonds of unity among his clergy, by restoring an organized system of mutual intercourse and co-operation, and by exhorting them to brotherly love and united action, in a pastoral letter of the most primitive and apostolic character. These institutions, together with a school for raising the qualification of parochial teachers, and a diocesan college to prepare young men for holy orders, planted by the side of his cathedral church, will stand as visible monuments of the piety and devotion of Bishop Otter. They who had the high privilege to be about him, know how often and how earnestly he desired that his life might be prolonged to see these works firmly and surely established. would seem that his desire was granted. It only remains for us to add, that throughout the whole diocese of Chichester there is but one accordant feeling of deep and affectionate sorrow. The whole flock over which he has presided, as they have been most persuasively drawn to act together by his example, so are they now united once He has bequeathed to them a pure example more in mourning together for his loss. and a work of peace among themselves, than which no man can bequeath a richer inheritance to the Church of Christ. And it City Press, 1, Long Lane: Doudney and Scrymgour, |