of discharging his duties to the best of his power. He is perhaps sensible, that his discourses from the Pulpit are frequently feeble and little calculated to move the minds of his flock. Let him take comfort in reflecting, that by diligent application, he still may become an impressive Reader; and, by his edifying manner of discharging the duties of the Desk, may prove a good minister of Jesus Christ."

II. The importance of a good delivery will be still further evinced from considering some of the signs of the times.' It would perhaps be incorrect to say, that a disposition to undervalue the Liturgy belongs to the present more than to the preceding age; since to disregard the blessings which have been long possessed, is the common failing of our nature. But to consider the Sermon as infinitely more important than the Prayers, is an opinion which seems to be gaining ground at the present day among the members of the Established Church, and which appears not to be discountenanced even by some of its Ministers. It is not unusual to hear the Laity plead as an excuse for not attending the Afternoon Service, that there are only prayers.' Public worship appears to be a secondary object, and some congregations seem to consider the Church only as a house of

preaching *, little regarding its primary and most important character as a 'House of Prayer.' How far a dull, feeble, inaudible, or hurried mode of reading the Service, may have contributed to produce this erroneous notion, it would be difficult to determine; but that it tends very much to confirm and increase the mischief, cannot be denied. One method to which the young divine will resort for repressing it, will be always to use especial care in his manner of discharging the duties of Reader; thus affording a convincing proof of the great importance which he himself attaches to public worship, and the high estimation in which he holds the Liturgy of our own Church.

III. The present period is also marked by the agreement of various parties in trying every method of vilifying and degrading the Clergy. Some of our enemies appear to be influenced by the desire of overthrowing the Established Church; whilst others have a more

* The word 'preaching' is here used according to its modern acceptation. Formerly it included all the duties of the clerical office, except ministering the Sacraments. See Hooker's Eccles. Polity, B. 5. In this sense it is used in the twenty-third article of our Church. In the Litany it appears to comprehend all the ministerial functions, when we pray that the Clergy "may, by their preaching and living, set forth the word of God, and show it accordingly."

extended object, and aim at the subversion of Christianity itself. But whatever be their motives, all are sharp-sighted in spying out the least appearance of defect in our Clerical body; and they will gladly refer to an unmeaning or careless mode of reading the Service as a proof either of insincerity and hypocrisy, or of indolence and incapacity, and an inferiority to other classes in the very qualifications which the Clerical Office requires. Every Clergyman therefore must at the present moment feel himself impelled by more than the usual motives, to exert his especial care as to his manner of ministering in the congregation; so that, on this point at least, "the mouths of gainsayers may be stopped."

IV. Among the peculiarities of the present times it must likewise be mentioned, that the study of Elocution is daily becoming more general. In several large schools, especially in and near the Metropolis, professed teachers of Elocution are regularly employed. Several elementary treatises on this branch of education have been published, some of which have passed rapidly through many editions. The necessary consequence is, that the number of competent judges is every day increasing, and the difference between good and bad reading is more

generally perceived. The Clergyman must therefore strive to keep pace with this improvement in the public taste, unless he be content to incur the blame of being feeble and inefficient in a very important branch of his public duties. That a greater zeal prevails among the Clergy of the present day than existed thirty years ago, seems to be universally admitted; and that this will necessarily show itself in the discharge of every part of their Sacred Office, and therefore naturally produce some improvement in the style of reading the Service, must be readily and joyfully allowed, But zeal alone will not suffice to make a good Reader, without the knowledge of some of the principles of elocution. The most zealous may derive assistance from the rules of art, and be better enabled to redeem the Church from the obloquy under which it still labours, respecting the manner in which our admirable Ritual is generally delivered.

V. The importance of good reading as a clerical qualification is still further evident from the fact, that a deficiency in this accomplishment will often prevent a Clergyman from obtaining any opportunity of labouring in his vocation. At the present period, when the members of the profession are more than

usually numerous, it not unfrequently happens, that if a young man chances to lose the curacy on which he was ordained, though he may be unexceptionable in morals, possessed of much theological learning, and anxious to be useful in his calling, yet being inefficient in his manner of discharging the duties in the Desk as well as in the Pulpit, many years elapse without his being able to obtain any permanent professional employment. In the mean time, others, who are inferior to him in every respect except in the possession of a good delivery, never wait long before their services are sought.

The importance of a good elocution in the discharge of the ministerial duties, has not escaped the notice of our Prelates in modern times. It was felt most deeply by the late excellent Bishop Porteus, who was himself a modél of elegant and impressive delivery. Lamenting that no part of Academical education had any tendency to produce it, he instituted prizes for its encouragement, in Christ's College, Cambridge, in which he had been educated. The institution, it is thought, has been productive of some beneficial effect. Similar encouragement to good reading has likewise been held out in a few other Colleges of the same Univer