And now, my Reverend Brethren, I must ask kind attention to what I have to submit to you on this head.

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"With religion it fareth," saith Hooker, "as with other sciences, the first delivery of the elements thereof must be framed according to the weak and slender capacity of young beginners; unto which manner of teaching principles in Christianity, the apostle, in the sixth of the Hebrews, is himself understood to allude. For this cause, therefore, as the decalogue of Moses declareth summarily those things which we ought to do; the prayer of our Lord whatsoever we should request or desire,-so either by the apostles or at leastwise out of their writings, we have the substance of christian belief compendiously drawn into few and short articles, to the end that the weakness of no man's wit might either hinder altogether the knowledge, or excuse the utter ignorance of needful things. Such as were

trained in these rudiments, and were so made fit to be afterwards by baptism received into the church, the fathers usually in their writings do term hearers; as having no further communion or fellowship with the church than only this, that they were admitted to hear the principles of christian faith made plain to them."* What was done in the first age, in the case of adults, and in * B. v. § 18.

their case, must be done still, previously to baptism, in the case of persons baptized in infancy, must of course be done now previously to confirmation. I will not, however, detain you by producing authorities for this practice. In the tenth book of Bingham's Antiquities, in which he treats of catechumens and of the gradual exercises and discipline prescribed for them, you will find full information respecting the usages of the apostolic age, and of the times immediately succeeding, with reference to this matter: and the fifty-ninth canon, the office of baptism, the church catechism and the rubric at the end of it, which, if in some respects it qualifies the injunctions of the canon, does by no means abrogate them-I need not quote.

But I would be permitted to speak more at large of the nature of the work itself.

Our church in her catechism has herself provided a summary of the needful rudiments. And we have in it the general heads of instruction to which all that we need teach a child may be conveniently and properly reduced. This is of course to be committed to memory. But the use to be made of the formulary when it has been committed to memory, or how children are to be catechized out of it, is another thing. "Sure I am," says Bishop Law, " catechizing in its true and original sense, implies something more than

the bare running over of an old form, though that consists of proper questions and answers, and contains whatsoever is needful for faith and practice." Catechisms supply the teacher with matter to be amplified and enlarged upon, and the learner with such a condensation of things delivered to him in their particulars as he may lay up easily in his mind, so as to recollect, by means of it, what he has been taught. But no summary of this sort will suffice instead of the necessary exposition in detail. "For generals not explicated are of no practical use. They do but fill the people's heads with empty notions, and their mouths with perpetual unintelligible talk."* They must be explicated therefore; and it will be best done by some method or other of vivâ voce teaching; and somewhat of this sort seems, I think, to be required even by the rubric-for the expressions are-The curate shall diligently "instruct and examine" the children," in some part of this catechism;" which surely is not the same thing as merely hearing them repeat the words by rote.

I shall understand catechising, then, as it is commonly defined-namely, as signifying-instruction in the first rudiments of any art or science communicated by asking questions and hearing and correcting the answers. And if I

Bishop Taylor's advice to his Clergy, § xlii.

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may be allowed to put my meaning into very familiar phrase and to state plainly what I would recommend, it is this:-That the catechist, having taken for his basis, or the subject matter to be unfolded, either some portion of the church catechism itself, or some text which illustrates it, or both, should then first “instruct" his pupils by questioning the meaning into them, and then "examine" them by questioning it out of them. The first process, it is obvious, may most conveniently be attended to in the school, and the second in the church; or, in other words, in the school, where he has most time, and is in least fear of being tedious, he will naturally most apply himself to put those questions by which he means to conduct his pupils into knowledge of the subject; and in the church, those by which he would give them opportunity to produce their knowledge; but in neither situation will he confine himself to either mode exclusively. And then I say, when the meaning of any general head of faith or practice, as proved and illustrated by scripture, shall have been got out of the children in its particulars, or piece by piece, in answer to the questions put to them-those children themselves and the by-standers together will be a congregation, just in a fit condition to profit, under God, by exhortation or preaching: and there are two ways in which the minister may

address them with great advantage. He has the opportunity, whilst the catechetical instruction is proceeding, of interspersing, as he gets his replies, many brief remarks and practical observations in a natural and lively, and therefore attractive and affecting manner, or he may sum up the particulars afterwards in a short discourse, and ground upon them, with good effect, the admonitions which they obviously suggest.

But of this I shall have more to say presently. The practice recommended has, of course, its difficulties, and the method cannot be fully shown without more minute examples than can well be given in an address of this nature. I may possibly, however, explain myself in some degree. The thing to be done is to possess the minds of a number of ignorant and heedless children with the sense and meaning-we will say,-of one of our Lord's parables, and to bring them to perceive and consider the practical lesson which it is intended to convey. In order to this, their attention must in the first place be gained and fixed, and then there will probably be words and phrases to be explained, perhaps old customs also the literal story or similitude to be compared with the religious truth or doctrine which it is employed to illustrate, and other portions of scripture to be cited, and brought to bear on the point in hand, in a way of confirmation or further