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eating and drinking until the day that Noah entered the ark," I be lieve that neither flesh nor wine formed any part of the antediluvian banquet. Wicked enough they certainly were; but the sin of that violent and corrupt generation I have discussed at large in another place.*

The change of climate after the flood, and the suddenness of that change, are readily inferred both from geological discoveries and from the scriptural narrative.

The appearance of the rainbow for the first time to Noah, and the subsequent curtailment of human life, speak of some great change of circumstances in the lot of man; that the change had not begun to take place before the flood, we may infer from the long life of Methuselah, who died in the very year of the flood.-On the other hand, Prof. Buckland states, that "the occurrence of bones in caves, under such circumstances as those at Kirkdale in Yorkshire, is decisive in establishing the fact, that the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and hyæna, animals which are at present exclusively confined to hot climates, were the antediluvian inhabitants, not only of England, but of the polar regions of the north." Reliq. Diluvianæ. In another part of the same work he states that "the animals whose remains are found interred in the wreck of that inundation, were natives of high north latitudes, and not drifted to their present place from equatorial regions, by the waters that caused their destruction. One thing, however, is nearly certain, namely, that if any change of climate has taken place, it took place suddenly; for how otherwise could the elephant's carcase, found entire in ice at the mouth of the Lena, have been preserved from putrefaction till it was frozen up with the waters of the then existing ocean? Nor is it less probable that this supposed change was contemporaneous with, and produced by, the same cause which brought on the inundation."

Keysoe Vicarage, Beds.

W. B. WINNING.

BAPTISMAL SERVICE.

SIR,-In reply to the letter of "Rusticus" on the Baptismal Service, in your number for this month, requesting to be furnished with suggestions as to the best manner of proceeding in cases where children are brought to the font after the second lesson. . . some to be baptized, and some for public reception into the church after having already received baptism in private... I beg to offer a statement, not perhaps of the best manner of proceeding, but of my own practice in this case and this practice has been the result of the most careful consideration that I have been able to give to the difficulty, since it

"Essays on the Antediluvian Age;" to which little work I beg leave to refer your correspondent, "A Plain Reader," (No. 43, p. 48) for my opinion concerning the trees of life, as he says he cannot pass it over. In brief, I conceive with Kennicott not only that there were several, but that all the trees within the garden were trees of life.

was first pointed out to me, soon after I was admitted to Holy Orders, several years ago. I was obliged to exercise my own judgment in the case; because, I am sorry to say, none of my neighbours felt with me the necessity of adherence to the rubrics, which enjoin that baptism shall not ordinarily be administered, but upon Sundays and Holidays, after the second lesson.

My practice, then, has been this:-On ascertaining which of the children are unbaptized, I proceed at once to baptize them, according to the form prescribed for private baptism. This places all the children in the same position and I then go on with the service appointed for the public reception and obsignation of those who have been baptized in private, which is applicable alike to all. I think, in meeting the difficulty in this manner, I depart from the strict order of the church as little, and in as unobjectionable a manner, as possible: if, indeed, in a case thus unprovided for, I can fairly be considered as departing from strict order at all.

Neither, I trust, will it be considered objectionable, that I make one or two slight deviations from the prescribed office for private baptism,-1. By omitting the Lord's prayer, before baptism.-2. By omitting the thanksgiving which, in the office, stands immediately after the act of baptism; because both these prayers must be used afterwards, in that part of the service which is appointed for the public completion of the rite; and further, it will be observed, that the Lord's prayer is not appointed to precede the act of baptism, in the office for its public ministration. Again, I do not use, previously to the act of baptism, the short prayer [Almighty and Everlasting God, heavenly Father,] which, in the public office, is joined to the " Brief exhortation upon the words of the Gospel :" because this prayer also (with only the necessary alteration of the words, " that he may be born again, &c.," into "that being born again, &c., he may continue, &c.") is appointed to follow in the second part of the service. Further, I may observe that, though the rubric does not expressly enjoin it in private baptism, I am accustomed to preface the ministration of the sacred rite, in the case under our consideration, (as indeed I commonly do, when obliged to administer baptism in a private house,) with the short address to the congregation, which begins the office for public baptism, "Forasmuch as all men are conceived and born in sin," &c.

In this manner, it will be found, from first to last, the whole substance of the office for public baptism is preserved: the form and arrangement of the service is precisely that which the church herself prescribes in those cases of necessity when this sacrament is to be administered in private; and the expedient is resorted to only when absolute necessity requires that, with respect to some at least of the infants brought to the font, the stipulations be made subsequently to the act of baptism. The time occupied by this arrangement will very little exceed that which would be required for the regular public office, if all the infants were unbaptized.

Perhaps I may be permitted to add that, if the rule be acted on, that baptism be never administered without sponsors, except in cases

of necessity, it will not often happen in country parishes that the difficulty under consideration will arise. For eight years I had the charge of a parish with a population of 1200 souls; and, always scrupulously adhering to this rule, the occasions on which the difficulty occurred were very few indeed.

11th August, 1835.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant, J. R.

ON WEEKLY COMMUNION.

DEAR SIR,-Permit me to inquire what is the standard doctrine of our Church as to the frequency of the celebration of the holy eucharist? The practice, it is well known, is very various,-in some places monthly, in others fortnightly, and in some few weekly; so that, were we to judge from this, it might be supposed that the Church had left it, in a great measure, to the discretion of her ministers. It is to be feared, however, that our practice, in many points, does not come up to, but falls far short of our principles, and it becomes the duty of every sincere and attached member of our apostolic Church, in these days, to endeavour to ascertain what it is she expects, and, as far as circumstances will permit, to carry out her intention.

I have been led to make the inquiry chiefly from having lately perused a small work on the Lord's Supper,* by the Rev. William Dodsworth, of London, in which the weekly observance is strongly urged, both on the ground of primitive example, and because it is the "recognised principle of the Church of England that it should be so." It would appear, also, that the experiment has been tried in the author's own congregation, and, as he thinks, with most favourable results. With regard to primitive usage, I feel well persuaded that that is in favour of the practice, but as to the principle of our Church, and the practicability of bringing about a corresponding practice, I have some doubts. I am, dear sir, with best wishes, Yours truly, A COUNTRY READER.

August 15th, 1835.

PSALMODY.

SIR, The present state of parochial psalmody is, generally speaking, so indifferent as to afford ground for a good deal of remark and censure; and in the hopes that some of the numerous readers of your Magazine may read and benefit by them, I here put together a few hints on the

These discourses, I may venture to add, will be found well worthy of perusal, whatever views may be entertained on the above points, as they give an enlightened and scriptural view of the benefits to be derived from the devout observance of the ordinance.

subject. In the first place, in what state is sacred music in this country as compared with others? Music being such an essential part of the service of the Roman-catholic Church, it is not to be wondered at that, in their churches, particularly in large towns, they should be at great pains to make it effective. In Italy the people are naturally more musical than we are, but it must be remembered that this extends to the lower orders, in whose rudest songs we find abundance of harmony. Some voices are of course indifferent, but we seldom if ever find them out of tune or time. Proceed to Germany,it is much the same; they have in their towns musical societies which do much for the cultivation of music. Let us now turn to ourselves. Our cathedral service is beautiful, therefore the fault to be found is not in the music, but in the manner of its performance, and there are but few cathedrals or churches in which it is performed as it ought to be. One reason may be, the situations of choristers are worth something, consequently they are not always given away according to the merits of the voice: hence the miserable voices that you too frequently hear. Another reason is, that the choristers themselves are slovenly in their performance of the music allotted to them, often being observed talking, laughing, or taking snuff, all which detract from the solemnity of the performance; they seem to forget that there is any service, or prayers uttered. Another reason is, that no one of the canons understands or cares enough about the music to see to these minutiæ. In our metropolis there may no doubt be found instances of good devotional psalmody, as at Meter Chapel and the Foundling, but there are plenty of instances to the contrary. I cannot help mentioning the Temple church, where there is a beautiful organ, but wretched psalmody. At this church a voluntary is played after the Psalms, chiefly, I should imagine, to shew off the powers of the instrument and the execution of the organist, (a blind one,) but is this right? Why is any voluntary permitted to be played, as it is in many churches, (St. George's, Hanover-square, for instance,) in the middle of the service? Surely it forms no part of it, and if the clergyman is in want of rest, a psalm is the proper devotional exercise. In what organists call "playing people out of church," there can be no objection to a voluntary of some sort, but what good reason can be given for its being in the middle of the service? Such being the state of music in London, what is it in the country? How different from the Germans and Italians! In many places, it really would be a mercy to spare the ears of the congregation and not sing at all. But, say some people, the badness of the choir ought not to interfere with your devotions. How can it be otherwise, when you hear all sorts of instruments, all sorts of voices, knowing little of, and caring still less for, time and tune, each self satisfied and ambitious; moreover this said choir often choose to murder some of the most difficult compositions, (for murder it must be called,) when they cannot hardly sing one tune correctly. And yet how often we hear this; and how well is it known to every clergyman. Whence, then, the objection to improve or remove it? Not because such a noise as this really helps

devotion, but because the correction of these self-important gentry is a difficult matter, for fear they should indignantly withdraw their services altogether, and so the clergyman be left without any rest at all. Sooner than lose this slight rest from his duties, he often tolerates the most execrable singing. Often have I had the question put to me, "I don't understand music, and how am I to improve it ?" It is precisely in answer to these common queries that my hints may be of service. Erecting an organ is the best way to remedy these defects, but as there are several things that must be attended to in this, for the present I will not trespass on your time further, but give them in my next, if you think them worthy of insertion.

R.

ON THE NUMBER OF SCHOOLS IN UNION WITH THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN
SCHOOL SOCIETY; AND "ON THE EXTENT OF POPULAR IGNORANCE,"
AS STATED BY THAT SOCIETY.

SIR, It is strange that the British Society does not publish a list of schools on their "system," and their "principles;" it is strange that they cannot, at least that they do not, furnish an account of the places to which they have contributed money, or other aid; it is strange that they do not particularize even the objects of their annual outlay. We find in the abstract of last years' accounts, items of large amount, such as, "Grants of money and school materials, and other expenses incurred on behalf of schools in England and Wales, [equally] 6817. 15s. 10d." The National Society, in stating their annual "Grants," are always careful, besides the summary in the cash account, to specify and to publish "the place, population, existing provision, new schools," and the sum voted, in so many separate columns, so that the details of every vote may be ascertained at one view. Why does not the British Society do the same? And why do they not state the places and purposes in Foreign parts, to which they have voted the sum of 5331. 3s. 10d.? Where have they expended their money? How many schools, and children, and under what superintendence or regulation? Again; why do they not explain more fully the following item, to which there is nothing analogous in the accounts of the National Society? "Expenses attendant on formation of auxiliaries, agent's salary, travelling expenses, &c. &c., 3937. 10s. 9d." How many auxiliaries have been formed, and where? What are the travelling expenses? What are the particular duties of the Agent? Is he stationary, or itinerant? What is his object? and what is the distinction between his office, and that of the London Inspector, who also imposes a charge of 160/. 11s. 6d. upon the Society? Here is the sum of 5541. 2s. 3d. expended in exciting public attention, and in visiting about 140 schools. What is the duty of the "travelling agent," Lieut. Fabian? I do not perceive any report from him of the state of the Society's schools which he has visited. But why should there be any concealment? Men of "liberal" notions make mighty great denunciations against anything

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