think it a very important consideration for the clergy, whether or not their complaints and demands are just and reasonable. I remain, Sir, your obedient servant, JOHN THOMAS AUSTEN, Vicar of Aldworth, Berks.

GENERAL PRIVATE-PRAYER UNION.

SIR,-Upon a paper, headed as above, which appeared in the August number, I wish to make a few observations.

I cannot but be sincerely glad, in common with every one who values mutual prayer, that steps should be taken by which such practice may become general. But I would respectfully ask, Is it better to organize a new society, than quietly and obediently to follow the directions of the rubric? Our reformers were fully alive to the advantages of private and social prayer, and have provided for its observance in the following express direction :—

"All priests and deacons are to say daily the morning and evening prayer, either privately or openly, not being let by sickness or some other urgent cause."

The next rubric relates entirely to the public service in the church. But, surely, in this, provision is made for all that is aimed at in the proposed "union." The remarks of the Rev. J. H. Newman, in his Sermon on the "Daily Service," appear to me so good that I request permission to add them.

"Doubtless there are many reasons which may render the strict observance of these rules inexpedient in this or that place or time. The very disuse of them will be a reason for reviving them very cautiously and gradually; the paucity of clergy is another reason for suspending them. Still there they remain in the Prayer Book, obsolete they cannot become; nay, even though torn from the book in some day of rebuke (to suppose what should hardly be dwelt upon), they would still have power, and live unto God. If prayers were right three centuries since, they are right now. If a Christian minister might suitably offer up common prayer by himself then, surely he may do so now. If he then was the spokesman of the saints far and near, gathering together their holy and concordant suffrages, and presenting them by virtue of his priesthood, he is so now. The revival of this usage is merely a matter of place and time, and though neither our Lord nor his church would have us make sudden alterations, even for the better, yet certainly we ought never to forget what is abstractedly our duty, what is in itself best, what it is we have to aim at and labour towards."

I really cannot see what advantages the proposed "union" holds out beyond what may be obtained by a recurrence to the directions of the rubric. If anything, the advantage must be on the side of the latter; for not only will there be unity of time and subject, but actually of the very words. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, W.

QUERY RELATING TO EXTREME UNCTION.

SIR, I am desirous of obtaining, through the medium of your Magazine, a concise statement of the grounds upon which the Anglican church disavows the practice of extreme unction. The precept of St. James (verse 14) is surely very explicit, and the common pro

testant interpretation of the passage hardly satisfactory. It is usually said, that St. James's precept had exclusive reference to the age of miraculous gifts. Might not the rite of confirmation (as grounded upon apostolic practice) be disparaged by a similar argument? Confirmation was, no doubt, in the first instance, designed for the communication of special gifts. Are we not, again, apt to draw too strong a line of demarcation between the spiritual gifts of the apostolic and of a later time? And may not our want of faith in such gifts be a reason of our not participating in them? We are apt to talk about the "ordinary" gifts of the Holy Spirit, as if all his gifts were not miraculous; as if the distinction between the earlier and the later gifts were one of kind, not of degree merely.

I cannot think that the words of St. James (verse 15) by any means bear out the statement, that the apostolic anointing had reference to bodily healing alone. The expressions, "saving the sick," and "raising up," may well refer to a spiritual, and not merely a temporal, benefit. There would seem to be in these expressions a kind of mysterious ambiguity; and if they do not refer exclusively to bodily healing, then neither does their application cease with the cessation of the gifts of healing. Furthermore, St. James speaks of the forgiveness of sins (which is exclusively a spiritual benefit) as one of the effects of the apostolic anointing.

Again, St. James speaks in the same passage of the efficacy of prayer, and illustrates his doctrine by the case of Elias. It is true, that Elias' prayer had its return in a temporal result; but this does not prove that reference is made to temporal results only in the case which his example is designed to illustrate. St. James is proving the efficacy of prayer in general.

On the other hand, the expression oμotorals, as applied to Elias, seems expressly introduced to shew that results of a (strictly speaking) miraculous kind were not in the apostle's eye. That word ὁμοιοπαθὴς seems to involve an argument which, fully drawn out, would be as follows-that what Elias obtained by prayer, we, who differ not essentially from him, may obtain likewise. He prevailed in such and such instances we shall, in like manner (if we have faith), prevail in the instance before us. St. James's expression is not, "Elias was a man of like inspiration," but of like "passions" with ourselves. The apostle thus specifies a bond of union, which includes those of a later age. He seems to intimate, that not those special gifts which bound prophets with apostles merely, but much rather that common gift of faith which binds prophets and apostles with all Christians, was the instrumental cause of the blessing which attended the prayer of Elias.

Looking therefore to the terms of St. James's injunction, and to the nature of his argument in the passage, I think that the grounds upon which the practice of anointing the sick has been discontinued are not, at first sight, obvious; and I shall feel obliged to you, or your correspondents, for a solution of the question.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
A PRESBYTER.

GENUINENESS OF BISHOP TAYLOR'S "CONTEMPLATIONS ON THE STATE OF MAN."

SIR,--The following remarks relate to a communication which appeared in your Magazine a long time ago, but if you should think that they contain anything interesting to your readers, I shall feel obliged by their insertion.

In your number for August, 1837, a correspondent, whose signature is "E. C.," has displayed considerable research and ingenuity in an attempt to prove that the "Contemplations on the State of Man," which have hitherto been ascribed to Bishop Taylor, are a spurious production. Without undertaking in any degree the defence of the treatise in question, I beg to observe an inaccuracy in one of the arguments from internal evidence by which its authenticity is sought to be disproved. "E. C." has stated, that he is "not aware that Jeremy Taylor has any mention of the doctrine of guardian angels, in any of his writings." I do not profess to be deeply versed in the works of this great divine, but I cannot help thinking it remarkable that I have since accidentally met with the following passages in a single treatise, the "Life of Christ," which evidently prove that his sentiments upon this interesting subject were in unison with those of many other "burning and shining lights" in the Christian church :

"It is more considerable, which is generally and piously believed by very many eminent persons in the church, that at our baptism God assigns an angel guardian; for then the catechumen, being made a servant and a brother to the Lord of angels, is sure not to want the aids of them who pitch their tents round about them that fear the Lord; and that this guard and ministery is then appointed, when themselves are admitted into the inheritance of the promises, and their title to salvation, is hugely agreeable to the words of St. Paul, Are they not all ministring spirits, sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation?' where it appears that the title to the inheritance is the title to this ministery, and therefore must begin and end together. But I insist not on this, though it seems to me hugely probable.”—Of Baptism, p. 181. Edit. 1653.

"It were intolerable unkindnesse and injustice to our pretty innocents to let their crying be unpitied, and their natural misery eternally irremediable, and their sorrows without remedy, and their souls no more capable of relief then their bodies of physick, and their death left with the sting in, and their souls without spirits to go to God, and no angel guardian to be assigned them in the assemblies of the faithful, and they not to be reckoned in the accounts of God and God's church."— Of Baptizing Infants, p. 201.

"They that prevaricate the lawes of God are put out of protection; God withdrawes his special providence, or their tutelar angel.”—Of the Easinesse of Christian Religion, p. 410.

"JESUS discourses of the care GOD takes of little children, whether naturally or spiritually such; the danger of doing them scandal and offences, the care and power of their angels guardian."-History of the Third Year, &c., p. 432.

Your correspondent is with great reason amused at the portentous name of "Vencatapadino Ragium, king of Narsinga," and very naturally asks, “Is this rival to Chrononhotontologos a champion in some old romance?" I should have felt disposed to make a similar inquiry, until I happened a short time ago to meet with a passage in a book, where nobody would have dreamed of looking for such a thing, from which it appears, that even if this hero was an "airy nothing," notwithstanding his imposing and formidable" name," yet his "local habitation" once existed, and no doubt does so still, though I do not

know under what appellation it is now to be sought for. The context of the allusion which I refer to proves that it was in the vicinity of the once celebrated kingdom of Cambay, and the passage itself is as follows:-" Latè propagata ejus victoriæ fama impulerit Narsingæ regem ad ejus amicitiam, foedusque petendum." It occurs in a short account of the glorious actions of John de Castro, the fourth Portuguese viceroy of India, introduced in an old work on the planet Venus, entitled, "Hesperi et Phosphori Nova Phænomena." The relation of the death of this great warrior, notwithstanding a tinge of superstition, is so remarkable that I am tempted to extract it :

"Demum in complexu ejusdem Xaverii (the celebrated Francis Xavier) obiit piissimè 6 Junii, 1640. prorex Indiarum: cujus in thesauro domestico nihil repertum, praeter instrumenta pœnarum quibus corpus in servitutem redigeret, et argenteos nummos tres: erogato scilicet in pauperes sui muneris stipendio, omnique censu, si quid supererat usui frugali Ducis abstinentissimi ad vitae necessitates.' p. 52.

Hoping that these remarks may not appear too irrelevant for your pages, I remain, Sir, yours truly,

Ꮎ.

GLOUCESTER MUSIC MEETING.

SIR,-I know that many excellent persons object strongly to the performance of oratorios in cathedrals, but I must say, with all due respect to superior and older minds, that I cannot subscribe to this feeling. They bid us look at the private characters of the performers; but it strikes me that we are not necessitated to look into them further than the spirit of the twenty-sixth article of our blessed church would guide us. But while I would humbly attend upon the performances of sacred music, I do feel great abhorrence at the idea of being invited afterwards to attend at a grand fancy dress ball. I think that the two things are so completely at variance, that if I was to attend in quick succession at both, I cannot see how I could escape the charge of being led away by excitement, and certainly, with the American revivalists, come under, very justly, the sore and vulgar lash of Mrs. Trollope. And yet advertisements have been going the round of the newspapers, to the effect that on the last day of the Gloucester music meeting (a charity for the orphans of clergymen) a grand fancy dress. ball will take place.

I only hope that clergymen who read your Magazine will have profited by the correspondence on the ball-room, which I believe I may say I was the means of introducing. That correspondence has been temperately and judiciously conducted, and I am rejoiced to find that the pen of "Clericus Felix" is about to give us a work entirely devoted to the subject.* There is much yet to be said, and surely it is a topic of uncommon interest, and great practical utility. I trust that no clergyman will attend the fancy ball at Gloucester, nor do I imagine that they will. I am, Sir, your humble servant,

Cheltenham, Aug. 11.

CLERICUS JUVENIS.

* On going into Wight's shop here, I find that the little work will be out long before your pages are before the public, or that the Gloucester meeting takes place.

ST. DAVID'S CATHEDRAL.

SIR, Three of the Welsh cathedrals, Llandaff, St. Asaph, and St. David's, are so much out of the way of travellers, that very little is known about them, and many people perhaps take it for granted there can be little in them worthy of their attention.

However, I trust that the following account of a late visit to St. David's may not be without interest to some of your readers; and I should be glad and thankful if some of your correspondents would be induced to let us know more of the other two, which I have never had the satisfaction of seeing, and probably may never see.

Any one who has noticed the situation of St. David's will probably form no very incorrect notion of the country about it. Exposed to the sea-winds on every side but one, it is (as one might suppose) almost without a tree. Nevertheless, the drive to St. David's from Haverford West, over sixteen miles of hilly country and indifferent road, is very far from being void of beauty. After passing an ancient ruin, called Roach Castle, standing on very high ground, of which little remains but one tower, I found a magnificent sea-view opening before me. There is another promontory of Pembrokeshire, that runs out nearly parallel to this, though scarcely extending so far into the sea. These opposite shores are of some height, and rugged, and they terminate in an island called Schoman, with projecting rocks, about which the sea seems to be always boiling.

Even before I reached Roach Castle, I perceived before me a very remarkable sharp-pointed ridge of hills, apparently of bare rock. I did not then know that these hills were very near to the cathedral which it was my object to visit.

One of the most remarkable features of the country is, the frequent recurrence of little valleys, sloping down to the sea, such as are called cums in Wales, and chines in the Isle of Wight. One of these which we passed was considerably wider than the others. Here the road runs along the sands for a short distance; and from hence we could see more of the shore, along the ridge of which we were to pursue our journey. They are apparently of a very hard rock, and rise to the height of three or four hundred feet; and here and there was a little islet which looked as if it had been broken off the shore. The day was very fine, and a little breeze made the view the more beautiful.

We passed afterwards a deep winding glen, with a little cove, into which the sea runs up at high-water. This place, which is called Solva, seemed to be a great harbour for fishing-boats; and the number of cottages built on the sides of the glen, mixed as they were with dissenters' meeting-houses, reminded me forcibly of some of the manufacturing villages in the most picturesque parts of Gloucestershire. This was the only place, as far as I can remember, where we saw more than two or three houses in the course of this stage, till we reached St. David's itself.

St. David's, though entitled by virtue of its cathedral to the name of a city, is in size and appearance merely a large, straggling village; but we had the comfort of finding the little inn a very pleasant place to stay at. I arrived on a Saturday evening, and went down very