chis, indeed, most awful. What immense spiritual bgifts are there bestowed on the newly-made priest! te Yet Scripture fully warrants all parts of the service, ,th and especially the Apostolical imposition of hands, for conveying the seven-fold gifts of the Spirit." he "Read aloud that part of the service," said the fa Warden; and Geraldine, opening the large Prayer er Book, which contained the solemn rite, read thus: heThe candidate kneels while the bishop solemnly io invokes on him the Holy Ghost, that this Holy Spirit

may impart to the new priest his seven-fold gifts!" He "But here," continued Geraldine, turning over the te page, "here is the part where there is nothing vague, and nothing that can be explained away. After the

be

bishops, with the other priests, have laid their hands de severally upon the head of every one who receives ch the order of priesthood, the receiver, humbly kneelkeing on his knees, the bishop says,- Receive ye the n: Holy Ghost, for the office and work of a priest in ng the Church of God, now committed to thee by the

imposition of our hands: whose sins thou dost fore give they are forgiven, and whose sins thou dost The retain they are retained; and be thou a faithful dispenser of this Holy Sacrament. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. -Amen.'

"When we had finished reading this awful service," continued Geraldine," with all the Scriptural references for which we searched, and then returned to the Visitation of the Sick,' I was no longer startled by the authority with which the minister pronounces".

"Read first," interrupted the Warden, "what the Rubric directs."

Geraldine obeyed. "Here shall the sick person be moved to make a special confession of his sins, if he feel his conscience troubled with any weighty matter. After which confession, the priest shall

absolve him (If he humbly and heartily desire it) after this sort: Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath left power to his Church to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in Him, of his great mercy absolve thee thine offences. And, by His authority committed to me, I absolve thee from all thy sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.-Amen.

"Now explain to me, uncle," said Geraldine, as she closed the Prayer Book, "why, if the Church of England has retained the power originally granted by Christ to his Church, her clergy seem to shrink from owning and using this delegated power, so that our laity are, for the most part, ignorant of the doctrine of their Church on this point; and, while they rail at the Catholic priests for usurping the power which belongs to God alone, are unconsciously condemning their own ministers?"

"Come! my dear sir," cried Katherine, "confess the truth, that the clergymen of the Church of England are all heartily though secretly ashamed of these remains of Popery in their half-reformed Church."

"Miss Graham," returned the Warden, "I repeat, that the Church, at the Reformation, was purified, not destroyed. These gifts, transmitted in ordination, are retained as verities by the orthodox ministers of the Church of England,-those whom you are pleased to call High Church;' but your friends, the Evangelicals, who disregard the authority which conveyed to them their sacred powers, entertain very loose opinions on the subject of priestly absolution."

"But, uncle," said Geraldine, "I cannot see why this confession and absolution, so plainly enforced by our Church, should be always deferred to the death-bed of the penitent? There must often occur, in the life of every one, difficulties, and trials, and

temptations; and if his conscience be in trouble too hard to endure, why can he not unburthen his labouring mind to his clergyman, and receive, if truly penitent, the assurance of pardon, without waiting for the hour of death, when the memory often fails, or becomes distorted, as in the case of poor Goodwin ?"

6

"Hand me your prayer-book, my dear," said Dr. Sinclair," and I will point out to you that which you ought, indeed, to have already known, that to those, who desire to attend the Holy Communion, there is an express invitation given, on the Sunday before, from the altar, to open their minds in private to their minister. Therefore, if there be any of you who cannot quiet his own conscience herein, but requireth farther comfort or counsel, let him come to me, or to some other discreet and learned minister of God's word, and open his grief, that, by the ministry of God's holy word, he may receive the benefit of absolution, together with ghostly counsel and advice, to the quieting of his conscience, and avoiding of all scruple and doubtfulness.'"

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"I am, indeed, ashamed," replied Geraldine, "not to have remembered this; for I believe I must have heard these words given out occasionally at Church. Never having, however, been led to a practical application of their meaning, I had forgotten them ; and accustomed as I have been, in my uncle Edmund's congregation, to witness the most kind and intimate intercourse between them and their pastor, still I am convinced, there is not one individual amongst them but would shrink from what they would term the unscriptural' notion of private absolution; while Edmund himself, in his humility, would never dare to confer it."

"Your uncle Edmund," cried the Warden, vehemently, "does more to pull down his Mother Church, by his dread or neglect of her holy obser

VOL. 1.-5

vances, his low view of the priesthood, and his condescensions to the Dissenters, than if he were a mere stick in office. The contents of his library proclaim the indecision of his mind, and are enough to distract the faith of an Apostle. Had those shelves been filled with the works of Barrow, Hooker, Hammond, South, Pierson, Mede, and Taylor, those glories of the Established Church, he would have been led by them to reverence antiquity; to consult, with them, the bishops, martyrs, and ecclesiastical writers of the first ages, and to shun these modern innovators, these Calvinistic levellers of the day!"

"Well, dear uncle," interrrupted Geraldine pleadingly, "we will not speak just now of Edmund. Holy and zealous though he be, I prefer, when in doubt, to apply to you. I think that all the warnings, and all the encouragements, given on the approach to the Holy Sacrament, are most beautiful and edifying; and I particularly like what you have just read. Still, I think it a pity that this previous communication with our appointed minister is only recommended, not enforced."

"It is not in the benevolent nature of our Church to force the mind," replied her uncle,-" she wins, guides, instructs; and, as I have before said, her ministers are the shepherds, not the tyrants, of their flock."

"But, if it were for my soul's good, I should wish to be compelled," said Geraldine. "I should feel it then to be no more tyranny than any other observance of my Church."

"As for private absolution," observed Miss Graham, "depend upon it, it has died a natural death, being too weak to live; and that public absolution is also in its dotage, may be very well perceived by any one at all acquainted with the tacit reform, which is gradually taking place, in these

more enlightened days, in the State Establishment of England."

"Miss Graham," said the Warden, gravely, "may I take the liberty to inquire, whether you are a member of the Established Church of England, or whether, as your Scotch name denotes, the National Kirk of the sister kingdom claims your allegiance?"

"Indeed, sir," replied the young lady, "you may well make that inquiry, after the warmth I displayed last night on the subject of Church authority, a warmth for which, perhaps, I think I ought to apologise, my words having been addressed to a dignitary of the establishment I condemned."

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Enough! enough!" said the Warden, holding out his hand in token of forgiveness; "I too was ruffled; yet I like freedom of discussion; for from the clash of opinions truth is elicited. And should you belong to a Church which has cut itself off from apostolic descent, and has thrown off the decent and venerable forms which we of England retain, I shall then argue with you more by reason, and less by authority, than I should employ, were you a member of my own respectable establishment."

"The truth is," replied Katherine, much amused by the Warden's high tone of treating both the Kirk and herself, "that I might belong to which community I pleased, either English or Scotch Church, without the guilt of change or schism. My father, and all my relations on his side, are Presbyterians, but I have been educated in the externals, I cannot call them the principles, of the Church of England." "And why not the principles, Miss Graham?” "Because, Dr. Sinclair, I really never knew what they were, till this evening."

"With your prayer-book in your hand, this is a strange confession," returned the Warden.

"But, uncle," interrupted Geraldine, “pardon me