inquirers who are occasionally puzzled as to what ‘archidiaconal functions' are.

Duties of Archdeacon.

(a) Generally to be the 'eye of the Bishop' oculus Episcopi. 'Burn,' i. p. 93a, 96a, 96b.

To act universaliter' as Episcopi Vicarius in the Diocese (the Cathedral excepted).

(b) Particularly

(1) To present to the Bishop such as are to be ordained, having examined them as the Bishop's principal Chaplain (p. 96a).

(2) To put into possession such as are presented, instituted and inducted (Ib.).

(3) Jurgia ad ejus pertinent curam,' ib. p. 93 (Isidore Hispalensis at the beginning of seventh century). On his relations to the Dean, see ib. p. 97b.

The Charge of October 1890, though not the last delivered by the Bishop, was the last separately published. Besides dealing with the Cathedral, it enters at length into the work done by the General Synod. It may be convenient to the reader to know the principal points of what was done, drawn chiefly from the Bishop's summary. The question of the Communion Office was not discussed, nor that of Metropolitan; but the Primus was declared to have the title Most Reverend.' The General' Synod became 'Provincial,' but, unhappily, no rule was passed regulating its periodical convocation, although the Bishops had proposed that it should meet every five years. In Canon i. reference is made to the joining of Priests in laying on of hands on other Priests. In Canon ii. the title of the Primus is to be The Most Reverend the Bishop of , Primus of the Scottish Church'-an expression said to be equivalent to the Episcopal Church in Scotland.' In Canon viii. Visitations are ordered, and a Bishop's power to minister

and do everything belonging to the Pastoral Office in every church within his jurisdiction is made clear. Canon ix., as we have seen, recognises Cathedral Churches,' but provides that they must have a proper endowment. In Canon xix. the services of laymen as preachers are permitted to be used with the Bishop's license. It may be remarked that in these canons generally Incumbent' is changed to Rector.' In Canon xxx. the presence of adult communicants of either sex at Diocesan Synods' is provided for, males being permitted to speak, and notice of such Synods is made obligatory; but nothing was done here, or in Canon xxxii. ('Provincial Synods'), to give laymen a right to vote. Canon xxxviii., on 'Holy Baptism,' is not very clear, but seems more favourable to what may be called the liberal view of the validity of lay Baptism than the canon previously in force. Canon xl., 'Of Confirmation,' sanctions the prefix of the form 'N. I sign thee with the sign of the Cross and lay my hand upon thee' wherever the Bishop, with the concurrence of the clergyman,' shall think fit to introduce it. In Canon xli., 'Of Holy Matrimony,' it is ordered that all marriages, in ordinary cases, shall take place in church; but the clergy may, at their discretion, omit a part of the prefatory and of the concluding address. As regards the interpretation of the canons, it was declared that the canons shall be construed in accordance with the principles of the civil law of Scotland,' with an appeal, if necessary, to any generally recognised principles of Canon Law.

6

At the end of the year 1890, on Christmas Day, the Bishop caught a chill, which was followed by a severe illness which brought his life into danger. His weakness continued for the next half-year, during which his Episcopal duties were taken by his colleagues of Glasgow and Edinburgh, particularly the former. In the autumn he gradually regained

strength, and on Thursday, 1 October, 1891, he took part with Lord Lothian and Mr. Gladstone and others in the Jubilee of Trinity College, Glenalmond. A newspaper account of the proceedings' describes the Bishop's speech as far and away the best, and delivered with an eloquence that left Mr. Gladstone's far behind. . . . The words came away in strong and silvery tones, and without much effort. Every sentence was modulated with the skill of an accomplished orator; and when he ceased it was, as Longfellow says of the passing of Evangeline, the ceasing of beautiful music.' He had prepared a longer address, which was printed in the Scottish Guardian' (16 October).

On the same day (1 October) the first volume of his 'Annals' was published, and on the 21st of the same month he received a letter from the publishers saying that a second edition was called for-one of the best of tonics' to a literary man.

The Bishop was permitted to deliver in person one more Charge, and that one of his best, on Modern Teaching on the Canon of the Old Testament,' at Perth, a few days after the Glenalmond Jubilee (on 7 October). Of this Canon Farquhar wrote in his Journal:

We had our Diocesan Synod at the west end of the Cathedral. Since the Dean had installed the Archdeacon as a Canon [which he had previously scrupled about doing] there was no business except the Bishop's Charge. He is a wonderful old man. I never expected to hear him deliver another Charge. It was on Old Testament criticism, and a very learned and helpful address he gave. . . . Is this the end of his great series of Charges? He has published his Annals volume I.

This Charge was printed at the end of the volume Primary Witness to the Truth of the Gospel,' published

1 Perthshire Advertiser.

early in the last year of his life (1892). It is remarkably vigorous, and struck out rather a new line of study on his part, showing the great freshness of his interest in questions of the day. It is characteristic of the two brothers that both their last publications were on the Old Testament; but, while my father's was intended for edification (How to Read the Old Testament,' addressed to his grandchildren), my uncle's was controversial, though controversial with the mellow wisdom of age and the confidence of long experience of God's Providence over His written Word. The most original argument is that drawn from the analogy of the fate of Wolf's theory of Homer, in which I cannot but think it a happy thing that he returned to sympathy with his old friend Mr. Gladstone, from whom, as a politician, he had long been alienated. He quotes largely from him as to the reaction against the theory of the late date of the Homeric poems, which Wolf supposed did not exist in their present form till the time of Pisistratus, four or five centuries after the date usually assigned to Homer, and which he also attributed to a number of unknown writers called Rhapsodists. The Bishop aptly compares Wolf's 'Prolegomena ad Homerum' with Wellhausen's Prolegomena to the History of Israel,' and draws an inference that the speculations of the latter are likely to meet with the same fate as those of the former. He ends this part of his argument as follows::

Upon the whole this at least may be fairly said: the collapse of the Wolfian theory in its attempt to dethrone Homer, notwithstanding the energy with which it was prosecuted, and the triumphant air which it assumed, may well teach us to be doubly cautious how we meet the advances of the new criticism in its attempt to dethrone Moses, however we may admire the ability, or may be staggered by the boldness and assurance it displays. I say 'to be doubly cautious how we meet.' We must not refuse to meet them. On the contrary we must welcome every honest

inquiry which promises to throw light upon subjects of such deep interest, and at the same time of such great difficulty and obscurity.

He then goes on to do justice to the general beliefs and motives of the main supporters of the new doctrine,' particularly Canon Driver, ending as follows:

May we all strive to live, and to induce others to live, in obedience to the Holy Faith once for all delivered to the Saints; and then, though we may fail to attain to the exact truth of which we are in search upon points such as those to which your attention has been directed, we may rest assured that our errors will be pardoned through the merits of the Saviour whom God has mercifully revealed to us in His inspired Word.

On Easter Eve, 16 April 1892, he received a present from the members of the Church in St. Andrews, which gratified him not a little from the manner in which it was given. The following was the address and the reply which he made to it:

To the Right Rev. Charles Wordsworth, D.C.L. Oxon., D.D. St. Andrews and Edinburgh, Bishop of St. Andrews, Dunkeld, and Dunblane,-Right Reverend Sir,-The congregation of St. Andrews Church desire to present you, in the 40th year of your Episcopate, with the Episcopal chair and pastoral staff which accompany this address. We offer them as a slight evidence of the reverence and affection we cherish towards you, not only as our Bishop, but also as our friend. In doing so we rejoice to know how much you are esteemed throughout the Diocese over which you rule, as well as by those in Churches different from our own who are acquainted with your character, your writings, and your long career of public usefulness. We pray that your life may be prolonged in order that by wise and just counsel you may help to remove misunderstandings which divide the Christian world and promote the spiritual union of all good men, however widely they may be separated in other matters. The chair and staff are made from oak, given for the purpose by the Very Rev. H. G. Liddell, D.D., the late Dean of Christ Church. Oxford;

T