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tion, which at this stage is left to the individual conscience.

Before proceeding further, let us briefly notice the various changes which this principle of the universal priesthood had undergone in its application. In the antediluvian age possibly every male born into the world was thereby ipso facto constituted a priest to God. In the subsequent age, which we may term the postdiluvian, the sacerdotal functions devolved upon the chief or head of each household and family. Under the Mosaic economy a more radical change was made in the application of our principle, when the first-born of each house were exempted from the duties of the priesthood, and the functions which they had hitherto discharged in virtue of their position were assigned to men who were especially called by God to perform them. And it is in this latter, the Mosaic economy, we may look for the type of that which was to develop into greater beauty and perfection under the New Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are, then, three stages before we arrive at this last, wherein at each stage it may be said the principle we have spoken of admitted of a different application from the preceding. At each stage after the first its application became more and more confined, and the duties and privileges of the sacerdotal order were restricted to a certain special class and family, to whom at length hereditary rights were granted.

And when we arrive at the fourth and last stage we find the principle still unaltered, but its application somewhat changed. It is no longer confined

to one special family with hereditary rights. It now receives a quasi-universal application; that is, any one, woman always excepted, may apply for admission into the sacerdotal order, and if he be possessed of the requisite qualifications, he may receive power for the office and work of a priest in the Church of God. No one, however, may arrogate to himself sacerdotal powers. He must still be called of God, as was Aaron, and be formally invested with the dignity of the priesthood, through the laying on of hands of those who have received authority from our Lord to confer the necessary orders.

The principle, though not universally applied, yet admits of so wide an application as to be all but universal. The restriction comes in when we consider the qualifications which must adorn the candidate for Holy Orders, and the necessity of winning the esteem and gaining the approval of the Church and those in authority therein, and that, above all, the call must come from God, the seal of which is received in the actual laying on of hands of apostolic men. Even in the stage immediately preceding this last, certain physical or other blemishes in the candidate were sufficient to shut him out from the sacerdotal office, although in every other respect he might be fully qualified, being by birth a member of the sacerdotal order. There were thus restrictions even in that restricted class. Reasonable it is, therefore, that restrictions should be imposed where the office is of such paramount importance, and only natural to expect in this world of imperfections that all should not be able to attain to the required standard.

And when we say this much we do not for a moment

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mean to claim for the sacerdotal order a monopoly of all the virtues among mankind; for, alas! we know to our sorrow, and have humbly to confess, that in many instances it is otherwise. Many saintly laymen, we candidly acknowledge, are as much called of God to abide in that state of life in which they move as others are to the office and work of a priest. But such noble exceptions only serve to prove the rule of the application of our principle, and to shew forth the nature of the restrictions, and that one especially that the call must come from God, whose seal consists in the laying on of hands. No one can boast of having been admitted into the ranks of the priesthood who is unable to prove he has received this imposition of hands from those possessed of lawful authority. This laying on of hands is the visible sign and seal of the priesthood, without which none may presume or pretend to discharge sacerdotal functions. This it is which gives them that peculiar character that marks them off from all other men, by which they are wholly and altogether dedicated to the service of God and His Holy Church.

CHAPTER IX.

THE METHOD OF RECRUITING THE PRIESTHOOD UNDER THE MOSAIC DISPENSATION FURTHER CONSIDERED; GREATER ZEAL AND LIBERALITY TO BE SHEWN IN THE PRESENT DISPENSATION BY THE HEADS OF CHRISTIAN HOUSEHOLDS, IN PROVIDING FOR THE SPIRITUAL NEEDS OF THEIR PEOPLE.

"The firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto Me."-Exod. xxii. 19.

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"Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest."-MATT. ix. 38.

"Then there were brought unto Him little children, that He should put His hands on them, and pray and the disciples rebuked them.” -MATT. xix. 13.

"From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures."

"That

the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."-2 TIM. iii. 15 and 17.

In the preceding chapter we have succeeded in tracing from stage to stage the application of the principle laid down in both the Old and New Testament of an universal priesthood among the people of God. But for all practical purposes it has been found expedient to restrict the power of discharging the functions thereof to certain men, who are formally set apart for this object by the imposition of hands. Under the New Testament dispensation no limit has been assigned to this number, so that, as has already been mentioned in one or two other instances, we seem to be returning, under this more perfect Christian age, to

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the application of first principles as they were taught and practised in Paradise in their primal strength and purity. To that purity of first principles we seek to return in this age.

Although, as I have mentioned, no limit is assigned to the number of those who seek the priesthood, yet at the same time no one is admitted into its ranks who has not been duly examined and proved, and in some measure trained, for the proper discharge of its sacred functions. The best men, therefore, are sought and invited for this purpose, but not in every instance do the best men, endued with the fullest qualifications, apparently present themselves. This is a defect that can only be remedied by the faithful laity themselves. I fear a full share of the blame in this matter must lie at their doors. And the fault of which they are herein guilty is due, doubtless, to a decay of that universal esteem and honour in which the sacred ministry was once held. To-day there are other various objects and aims in life, promising a more remunerative and lucrative result in a worldly sense than the priestly office, which afford openings to their ambition. These they fain would seize in preference to plodding on in the quieter walk of the ministry.

Certainly the work of the ministry is less exciting, and not so eventful, perchance, and withal not so remunerative in worldly gain as any other calling we might mention. Nevertheless, for these very reasons it is the duty of the faithful laity to see that the ranks of the priesthood suffer no diminution, but that they rather receive a steady augmentation; and, moreover, of such paramount importance is the work