is going to be ready to seize fresh opportunities which are opening up in every part of the world?

Not a wild enthusiast who suddenly thinks of going as the furlough month opens. Not a sentimentalist who flies in the face of the best advice, medical and otherwise.

But the people who face it out before God as to which way the road leads, and who then give themselves to the real navvy work for anything up to two years' definite preparation.

With such leaders we shall, indeed, go on to victory, even though the road be marked with marks of suffering, uprooting, and drudgery.

And for the rest of us, who have to stay in England and do our work whole-heartedly here, have we no work in this splendid adventure?

The collection of funds for Missions, for the fourth worker in Joburg, or for anything else, is not an insuperable problem resting on frantic appeals and tiresome gifts of begrudged halfcrowns. Once we have our Sense of Responsibility, it is merely a matter of organization, and that means method and selfdenial. I am not here to dictate what way you give your money-there are many, from giving up a box of chocolates, or a new hair ribbon, or a theatre, or something once every weekbut in any case let us see to it that we let this Sense of Responsibility govern our money.

It is splendid not to be appealing to an unsympathetic audience, but merely to be the mouthpiece of the G.D.A. everywhere, which feels all this far more strongly than I can say it. That is why there is confidence in our hearts, for we know we are all determined to set out on a new stage of the Way, to bind to ourselves this Sense of Responsibility.

Carlyle in the Life of Frederick the Great speaks of these words put up at Cross Roads:

Others made roads for us,

We make roads for others,

Because Christ made a road for us all.

At the cross roads, on a plateau amongst the hills, we stand, grateful, triumphant for the journey so far accomplished, and the wonders which the Way has so far revealed. We turn anew to the shining City on the horizon and face the Way ahead, prepared to carve it out, to get down on our knees, and give all that others too may have a road; and lo! before us we find the Way marked with footsteps that bleed, and as we kneel and marvel comes the triumphant assurance, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life ";" Lo, I am with you all the days "; "I go before you to Jerusalem." DOROTHY MAUD.

Who follows?

MISCELLANEA

NOTES AND COMMENTS

Two of the four sections of "Papers for the Priesthood" are held over for various reasons until next month; and we publish in their place a communication on the Syrian Christians in South India. We have added to it a prayer used at the induction of Rev. W. E. S. Holland last autumn as Principal of the College at Kottayam, Travancore. It is opportune at this moment when the terms of the proposed union between the Anglican dioceses in Southern India and the South India United Church are before us (Report of Joint Committee on Union of the Church of England in India and the South India United Church, S.P.C.K., 6d. net).

The Report deserves careful study; for, though the Bishop of Madras warns us that "the conditions in India are very different from those in England," and that "what is done in South India will in no way commit the Church of England to a definite approval of the interpretation given to "the Lambeth appeal, we cannot be indifferent to the principles underlying the proposals.

Two important second editions have recently appeared. The volume of Essays on the Early History of the Church and Ministry (Macmillan, 15s. net), planned and supervised by Dr. Swete and first published four years ago, is now reissued with an additional Preface from Professor Turner. He insists on the strictly scientific aim of the book, and points out that the novelty in St. Augustine's doctrine of the Succession does not justify the conclusions which some modern scholars have tried to draw from it. The editor and his colleagues are to be congratulated again on a work which will be a lasting monument of Anglican scholarship.

The other work now reissued is the brilliant volume of Outspoken Essays (Longmans, 6s. net), by the Dean of St. Paul's; this also with a new Preface. The Dean generously notes that the "essays contain a few outbursts against the Germans which I now know to be unjust. His confident prediction that "the ultimate victory of birth-control. will be one of the most momentous changes in the history of morals and of civilization" may be verified in the event; but those who regard this prospect with complacency would do well to read Dr. McDougall's chapter on "The Family Instincts" in his Introduction to Social Psychology, and to weigh the judgments of the authorities there cited. Finally, the Dean's statement that "the Churches, especially the Church of England, have gone from bad to worse" will appear to many to rest on very inadequate diagnosis. The conditions of service have more to do with the shortage of clergy than intellectual difficulties over science and religion; and the Dean does little to retrieve the position by speaking of the pastoral vocation as parasitic. Still, it is a delight to read these Essays, even when we most disagree--they enlarge our mental horizon.

Messrs. Mowbray have published in the Alcuin Club Tracts Series A Directory of Ceremonial (2s. 6d. net) from the competent hands of Mr. Duncan Jones, Mr. Stephen Gaselee, and Mr. E. G. P. Wyatt. Based

on the Prayer-Book rite, the book sets forth with admirable clearness and simplicity the appropriate ceremonial which shall be both Catholic and English. Both town and country priests will find this book of great value.

PAPERS FOR THE PRIESTHOOD

A.-DEVOTION

BY REV. W. B. TREVELYAN, FORMERLY WARDEN OF LIDDON HOUSE

VII.-PROGRESS IN MENTAL PRAYER

A PRIEST, much experienced in ways of prayer, was saying lately that we are unquestionably passing through "an age of the Spirit," and that, as one result of it, the movement towards supernatural prayer is spreading. This fact is witnessed to by the large number of vocations to the religious life, especially to the contemplative orders. Such an experience seems to be normal in the period following a war. Nor is it confined to the leisured classes. It is by no means uncommon (so one is told) for hardworked people, who travel to their daily work in trams and omnibuses, to be spending their time on the way in mystical prayer.

If this is the case-and there seems to be no reason to doubt it—it is obviously incumbent on all priests, who have to hear confessions and to guide souls in ways of prayer, to be at least alert to the responsibility entailed on them, and the opportunities given for helping individuals and promoting spiritual growth in our midst. If they merely profess ignorance of the whole matter, and are unable to give guidance to those who ask for it, only urging their penitents to continue in the old ways and to follow the beaten path, repressing the desire for fresh light, it may not only tend to serious damage in that a great spiritual force is wasted, but to the loss of some of our best people, who will either fall into unbelief, or join some other Communion where greater sympathy and knowledge are to be found. The danger is obvious, and its results are seen in many cases of arrested development.

THE ESSENCE OF PRAYER.

Most of us who are conscious of our own shortcomings in the matter will probably admit that our conception of prayer has been too intellectual, stiff, formal; that there has been too little knowledge or desire; that the emotions and the will have had far too little place in it. Disciplined, indeed, these faculties must be, but not discouraged or choked. Nor does this involve the repression of the more intellectual side of the prayer life, but merely the fuller co-ordination with it of love and service, will and desire.

"Walk before Me, and be thou perfect." "Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield and thine exceeding great reward." This was what the call of Abraham meant-" a contribution, in its own time and stage, to the ultimate formation of the Christian character." This Dean Church calls "the special religious acquisition of Patriarchal times." And here, in this epoch-making call of the Father of the Jewish nation, we find "the type and figure of the religious man.... Abraham stands before us, in the

،

Old Testament and in the New, as the friend of God' (R. W. Church, Discipline of the Christian Character, pp. 7, 19).

If this personal, loving intercourse is what the life of prayer meant in the Patriarchal age, it certainly must, even more emphatically, mean this now. It may be that to the fuller recognition of this fact God is specially calling us to-day.

A PRIEST'S NEED OF GUIDANCE.

What, then, are we doing, what is being done for us, to help us to cherish and deepen these deeper religious experiences in others as well as in ourselves? One brief year, or little more, of a Theological College can do but little, and at present does practically nothing for us, and the busy life of an active parish priest is apt to crowd out such intangible

matters.

We cannot be content to accept this as a normal state of things. At least every priest can read some one standard book on the subject, such as, for instance, Fr. Baker's Holy Wisdom. It cannot be impossible for, at any rate, deacons and young priests to be gathered together-those who show special aptitude for such work-in conference with some priest experienced in the life of prayer. If nothing of the kind is done we shall blunder along; for mere safety's sake holding our people back to the familiar ways, when God is in all probability by their very difficulties hinting that He has other ways for them to tread, ways that may bring them to a far closer intimacy with Himself.

It is clear that without some such guidance we are sure to make blunders, perhaps serious ones. For there are in this work no obvious or easy methods. There must be the greatest care not to hurry souls, real insight into character, knowledge of the progress or healthy desires of those who ask our help. "By their fruits ye shall know them." For instance, it by no means follows that all those who fail to make progress with meditation are to be encouraged to give it up: such failure may be, and often is, the result of blameworthy sloth or tepidity, or it is quite possible that it is due to "dryness," by which God is in His fatherly wisdom training and deepening some soul. Or again, it is only too easy inadvertently to encourage people to be content with a vacuous state of inertia, or even to expose them to serious spiritual dangers, such as are common to-day. It is God Himself Whom we are seeking: that He may enter in we throw open the windows of our souls; and we throw them open, not as in spiritualism to let in any influence-good, bad, or indifferent that may come our way, but to Him alone.

B.-IN THE STUDY

BY REV. W. K. LOWTHER CLARKE, B.D., EDIT. SEC. OF S.P.C.K.

ADVICE ON BOOKS

If readers who require advice on courses of theological study or the choice of books care to write to the Editorial Department of S.P.C.K., an attempt will be made to give them the required information. Sixpence in stamps should be sent to cover the cost of the necessary correspondence. will frequently be necessary to refer the inquiry to an expert; a number of

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well-known scholars have consented to help in this way. Sometimes, especially in the summer months, there may be a little delay in answering. The Editor reserves the right to publish answers if they are of sufficient general interest. In such cases the initials of the correspondents will be given.

The notice printed above appears this month for the first time. I shall be glad to do anything in my power to make the scheme useful to such as require this kind of help. There are certain classes of students, however, for whom it is not intended. Members of a University or Theological College have a claim upon their professors and tutors, who can, as a rule, direct them to the best books in the course of a few minutes' conversation. Scholars no longer in residence, who are contemplating theses for University degrees, may fairly be expected to find out for themselves what other workers have done in their chosen subjects. Once you have seriously started to work, the difficulty is not to discover what has been written hitherto, but to master the multitude of authorities to which you are referred in the books with which you start. A third class of student is the member of the Central Society of Sacred Study. This excellent Society issues periodical lists of books which provide allperhaps even more than all-that is required. Members of the C.S.S.S. should, it is suggested, use to the full the facilities provided by their Society.

There remain in all probability students, both in England and abroad, who may be glad to take advantage of our offer. A magazine regularly taken in becomes a familiar companion, even a close friend. There must be thousands to whom the Church Times, for example, has become an inseparable part of their life. We hope that THEOLOGY, though it appeals to a far narrower circle, may within that circle become a valued friend, to whom it is natural to appeal for information and advice.

VII.-ONE BOOK OR MANY?

It is a safe rule always to have a book of the Bible on hand, perhaps chosen from Old and New Testaments alternately. But as regards other books, should we read one at a time, sticking to it until it is finished, or have several books on hand at once?

Probably the average priest would be better advised to adopt the latter alternative. The one book may be somewhat distasteful, and it frequently happens that he is not in the mood for it. True heroism would conquer the distaste and make the subject interesting by valiantly taking an interest in it. But our student has learned by experience that he does better work if he humours his moods to a certain extent. Gone for ever are the four hours of uninterrupted morning work which were his lot in college days. His task is to make a wise use of odds and ends of time and of his own limited capacities.

For example: One day he gives an hour in the morning to the Epistle to the Hebrews and Nairne's Commentary. He is then called out, and has no more time till 5 p.m., when he returns for a cup of tea. Evensong is at 6, and there is half an hour to spare. Much as he enjoyed Hebrews in the morning, he feels an invincible distaste at the idea of resuming where he left off. Like a wise man he does not attempt this, but takes up a book of controversial theology lying on the desk. A slip of paper