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errand a catholic Bishop, to the Bishops and brethren of an elder branch of the one holy, catholic, and apostolic church." And in every Bishop, and in every member of that ancient household of the faith, I found indeed a brother. Of being a stranger and a foreigner in England, the thought was never present with me for one moment. Again and again, it was my privilege to be at Visitations, and at other gatherings of the Clergy, and with large assemblages of Clergymen and Laymen. Everywhere, the strife was, to do honour to the sister Church. Everywhere, the report of her stability in the old faith, of her adherence to the primitive order, of her participation in the Common Prayers, and of God's blessing on His own ordinances in her, was the one theme that filled all hearts. Everywhere, the peace and prosperity of the American Church gave interest to every sentiment, and unction to every prayer. And many, who had never before seen me, and could never see me more, thronged to embrace the sister Church, by grasping, as a life's remembrance, the hand of one of her Bishops.

So it was ordered, not as my expectation was, but better far, in all respects, that the immediate occasion of my visit did not occur, until I had quite fulfilled my catholic errand, in visiting the brethren, and taking from them their pledge. The gathering at Leeds, the venerable Archbishop and Metropolitan of York, the Bishops of three several branches of the Church, three hundred surpliced presbyters from every quarter of the kingdom, the living mass that filled that solemn temple; these, and the blessing from the Lord, which rested, as I trust, on that occasion, unexampled since the early days of Catholic intercourse, were, and were felt to be, the appropriate crown of this first act of perfect intercommunion between the Mother and the Daughter.

*

*

*

*

I was devoutly thankful, that, into the cup, now full to overflowing, no other drop was to be poured. I felt that the solitude and silence of the waste of waters was my most effectual refuge from the rush of feelings, that unmanned me, quite. And, with a prayer, that bore my heart up with it, for every blessing from on high, upon the Church of England, and the generous nation that lies sheltered in her bosom, I tore myself from friends and brethren, true and dear as ever God bestowed on man; and turned from my Mother Church and Father land, to this, my children's home, and you, the precious flock, which God has left with me to feed. Some think, that Oxford has within it elements, that must divide and rend the Church; and ask, in honest earnestness, is there not serious danger, from that controversy? Yes: just as much as from the breeze, that stirs the stagnant waters of the pool; or shakes, before their time, the dead leaves from the trees, upon the hill. I mean to say, without a word that can give just offence to any man, that, whatever is personal, and local, and occasional, in this question, (far less agitating in the Church of England, than you suppose,) is rapidly passing away. A year, or two, or three, will place it with the things that were, so far as its peculiarities are concerned. But, the appeal made, when wicked hands were laid upon the Church, to the princi

ples of Churchmen; the assertion of the Church's character and rights, as independent of, and far above, the state; the summons to the ancient faith, the ancient discipline, the ancient worship; the impulse given, in every quarter of the Church, to ancient piety, and ancient holiness, and ancient charity,-these will remain, as blessings to mankind, when every name that has been mixed up in this strife of tongues, shall be forgotten.

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In his Diocese, as to his parish, he offered the expression of his loving, grateful memories of England, in the Address to the first Convention after his return.

MY BRETHREN OF THE CLERGY AND LAITY,-The act in which you last engaged, was one of which my heart can never lose the record. At the call of catholic love, and for the testimony of catholic truth, I was about to visit the altars, where our fathers' faith was nourished, and to worship in her temples, whom their grateful hearts acknowledged, as THE MOTHER CHURCH. Unsolicited, and without the slightest expectation on my part, your generous action made the case your own. You poured the feelings of your hearts out, in such words of manly tenderness, as melted mine. You caught, as at a glance, the aspect of my errand; and, in the fittest words, gave it its true expression. You offered me the assurance of your affectionate interest and prayers. Under the protection of your faithful prayers, I went. In answer to them, met with every favour that heart could wish, or hand could give. And, by the blessing which they brought, am here with you again, to take "sweet counsel together," and to walk "in the house of God, as friends." Fervently, for these His mercies, to me, the least worthy of His servants, do I pour out my thanks to Him. Earnestly do I beseech Him, that this His goodness may inspire me with a better purpose to do all His will, and with the needful grace; kindle my heart with holy love, to be a whole burnt offering on His altar; and accept, for Jesus' sake, the worthless sacrifice!

Time would fail me, did I undertake to speak to you of the satisfactions of my catholic pilgrimage. There is the less occasion for it, as its chief results are made accessible in other ways. Suffice it to say, that in nothing was I disappointed. High as my thoughts had been of England, and the Church of England, they were more than realized. Whether our national or our ecclesiastical descent be thought of, the daughter has good reason to thank God for such a mother. And for the sympathy, the kindness, the heart-love, which everywhere was lavished on me, as a brother of the blood, and Bishop of the Church, which makes us one, in nature, and in grace, no words of mine can tell them, as no change or chance can weaken their remembrance. From the day when I first waited, as in duty bound, upon the venerable Primate, and put into his hands the resolutions which afforded him so much delight; until the day but one before my embarkation, when, with exulting heart, I stood before that mighty congregation, and rehearsed your words of love, one theme. fired every tongue, one thought filled every heart: the daughter land, the sister Church; peace with the one, all blessings upon both! Let

us reciprocate the feeling. Let us return the prayer. The Apostolic Church of England, the bulwark of the Reformation, the glory of all lands, the nursing-mother of our own-" peace be within" her "walls," "prosperity within " her "palaces!"

And ever after, more even than before, all interests of the English Church were personal to him.

*The Church of England contemplates to signalize by special offices of devotion and extraordinary acts of charity, the third jubilee of that venerable Society, which, for one hundred and fifty years, has been doing the Master's work, in propagating His Gospel in foreign parts. A Society, whose prayers and labours have been so blessed, that, in a region, where, when she began her labours, hardly as many clergymen were to be found, as our dear Lord commissioned, on the Mount of his Ascension, the word of God, and His holy sacraments are now ministered to three millions of baptized persons, by two thousand seven hundred and fifty clergymen, under the supervision of fifty-seven Bishops. And the Missionary spirit, at this moment spreads, through all her colonies, like fire on a prairie. The Venerable the Primate of all England, by letters to our Bishops, wishes us to unite in this most evangelical commemoration. As the oldest daughter of her love, our whole communion will respond as with a single heart. I have assured him, in your name, of our most cordial co-operation; engaging to bring the subject before you, at this assembling of ourselves together. I am very sure that no word of mine is necessary to commend the adoption of this paternal request, for Christian communion and co-operation. To no other Diocese, was the hand of the venerable Society more constantly and freely opened, than to this. Everywhere, we walk in the footsteps of two of her earliest Missionaries, the Rev. Geo. Keith, and the Rev. John Talbot. Everywhere, we enjoy the fruit of their toils and of their prayers. Let us commemorate them with gratitude. Let us join hands and hearts, with the beloved Sister Church, which was once to us a Mother, in the Lord. Let our common prayers rise up, with hers, that "from the rising of the sun, unto the going down of the same," God's name may "be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense be offered unto His name, and a pure offering." And let the liberality of our gifts attest the sincerity of our prayers; that both may rise to heaven, a memorial to God, acceptable to Him, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

His heart warmed too, to the Bishops and Clergy of the Colonial Church, many of whom had been his friends, and one, the Lord Bishop of Toronto, in specially close and intimate relations. In one of his † Addresses, this indication of it occurs:

It was gratifying to me to have associated with us, in these sacred services, a reverend brother of the sister Church of England, from a colonial diocese. These portions of the Church, upon the Western Continent, have much in common with ourselves in their position and

*Conventional Address, A. D. 1851.

†A. D. 1846.

circumstances; and mutual edification, as well as mutual comfort, would be promoted by closer intercourse, and more frequent intercommunion. I have realized this myself, on more than one occasion. Happier hours I have seldom spent, or fuller of all good and holy thoughts and feelings, than when, not long since, I had the pleasure to entertain, for a space too brief, the self-devoted Bishop of Newfoundland. And when, at a period somewhat more remote, I spent a few days with my long respected brother the Bishop of Toronto and his Clergy, and with my reverend brethren at Montreal, and at Quebec, I was made to feel, at every turn, how closely and how tenderly the bond of faith and love knits into one the hearts in which it dwells. The only thing I could regret was the absence of my excellent brother, the Bishop of Montreal, on a long and arduous Mission, to a portion of the Indian tribes, within his diocese. I would that these fraternal interchanges might become more frequent; well assured that while they are delightful in themselves, as social opportunities, for mutual consolation and encouragement, they are most influential in their promotion of" the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace."

This brief visit to England was undertaken and enjoyed, in the true spirit of a pilgrim. Upon the altars of her glorious Cathedrals, and her lovely Churches, he laid the tribute of most earnest worship, and the full appreciation of the Communion of the members of Christ's undivided Body. And on the fireside altars of English homes, the hearths of English Parsonages, and the halls of England's noblest sons, he laid the offering of his heart's warmest affections, kindled by the glow of their loving hospitality. And his thoughts went constant pilgrimages to all these shrines, in prayers and remembrances, at the altar where he served; and in frequent letters and memorials of his work, at home. The incense of the offering came gratefully back to his heart, in messages and missives of unfailing interest, unfaltering confidence, unchanging love.

CHAPTER VI.

BISHOP; PASTOR; TEACHER; THEOLOGIAN; FRIEND; HOST; POET; PATRIOT. LETTERS; PERSONAL POINTS.

Ir was a great point in the character of my Father, as a Bishop, that he was called to the office, in the freshness of his youth. It was another greater point, that from his soul and heart and mind, almost from his whole self, in spite of the bent shoulders and the silvered head, the dew of youth was never dried away. Both in the planning of his work and in its execution, he laid out largely, as young men do, with years before them, and conscious strength within them, to bring it to its fulfilment. He began and ended with intense energy, with perfect fearlessness, with fresh heart, with no thought of policy, or expediency, or the favour of man, with the endurance of strong faith and great hope, with elasticity of spirits, that rose higher, than they had fallen low; with a capacity for sympathy, given, by his experience, to men of his own age; and by his fresh-heartedness and untiring energies, to the enthusiasm and sanguineness of boys. His strong and deep sense, of the responsibility of his office, gave him a strong sense of its authority. To the people, he was essentially the shepherd whose voice, the natural relationship would lead them instinctively to follow. To the Clergy, he was entirely the Father, expecting the natural and necessary obedience of sons. Little people, that looked superficially and made up their minds before they looked, mistook his shepherd's staff, for a tyrant's sceptre; and talked about tyranny and arrogance. But the sheep gladly obeyed the voice, that was so brave and strong in danger, so deep and earnest in its love, so cheery in all trials. And his sons, even if obedience was sometimes hard, so often found his will, the wisest, and shared the shelter of his Father's love, that they yielded gladly to an authority, whose exercise was oftener for their comfort, than for their compulsion. The consistency that magnified his office, was the complement of