and effectually. Most readily and gladly I admit that there have been several partial attempts, on a more or less limited scale, to form organized bodies of religious workers possessing all the needful conditions of a real corporate union. However, what I am especially desirous to point out is that such bodies are rare exceptions, whereas the principle (if it be a universal one) should be carried out wherever there is a congregation or parish affording lay helpers in such numbers as to admit of organization. On anything like a large or general scale there have been hitherto but few attempts to organize lay work.

Those few attempts seem now to claim some distinct notice :

They may, perhaps, be conveniently divided into two classes :-namely, associations which are formed on a Low Church model, and those which are moulded on a High Church type.

Of the former class, the only association which has happened to come within my own notice as claiming a real corporate life and unity, is the Association of Lay Helpers for the diocese of London. As a mere outline association (if I may use the expression)—as a bold sketch to be filled up in detail hereafter, it strikes me as being a most valuable scheme, which will, doubtless, some day gain bone, and flesh, and sinew, and will then acquire more of a corporate character than it now possesses. At present it may be likened to the skeleton of an army or of a militia which as yet has not a single regiment called out or embodied; it is like an atlas comprising nothing but a map of the world. From the founder and from the first organizer of this prospectively important Association-from the Bishop of London and from his active chaplain, the Rev. W. F. Erskine Knollys, I have made careful inquiries as to the practical working of this scheme : its main defects, if I may venture to criticise it, seem to be twofold :

1. It lacks the bond of cohesion supplied by a corporate feeling. There is little or nothing to create an "esprit de corps," among the members.

2. The tie binding them together, slight as it is, professes to be only temporary and occasional. The lay helpers do not seem to be expected, nor certainly are they required, to help each other by mutual counsel, instruction, and sympathy, in carrying out their allotted works; nor are they, individually, helped by the Association itself, except just so long and so far as may be necessary to procure for each of them, separately, some distinct employment. That object once attained, their connection with and benefits from the Association (excepting a chance lecture or address) virtually cease until the next occasion arises for their requiring fresh help to find out some new channel of work.

The London Association of Lay Helpers begins at the right end indeed, inasmuch as it attempts, however feebly, to organize the workers first of all. But it discharges only half, and that the least important half, of its mission. It organizes the skeleton of an army, but does not attempt to form regiments. Regiments can do without army organization better than a so-called army can do without its smaller bands of rank and file. What is a mere handful of men spread over the whole vast area of London from end to end? It cannot attempt to cope with the work clamouring to be done in the haunts of vice and ignorance and irreligion.

Passing on now to the other class of lay organizations—namely, those which assume a so-called High Church or Catholic form, I regret that on this head my information is almost entirely limited to the details of one

small association, in contact with which I have been recently brought by accidental circumstances.

This particular instance, however, strikes me as being a peculiarly illustrative one, helping to confirm my previous views as to the defects of the ordinary system of lay agency.

But, before proceeding to give in detail the results of my own small experience in this case, I wish to yield a hearty recognition of the genuine work which I believe is now being done, in London and elsewhere, by several guilds and brotherhoods, of whose constitution and working I have no personal knowledge whatever. It may be further necessary to premise (in order to obviate a possible misapprehension arising from the similarity of the names) that the small association which I am about to describe, although connected with the Church of St. Alban's, Holborn, has absolutely no connection whatever with the Guild of St. Alban's, which works in other and remote parts of London and the provinces, having been established for several years.

The younger and much smaller association with which I am connected, although itself of very recent origin, is an affiliated offshoot from the sisterhood of St. John Baptist, founded at Clewer, near Windsor, in the year 1852. Attached to it simply by the bond of common work with a common object, there have been associated with that sisterhood two entirely distinct bodies-the one consisting of men, the other of women. The small branch association at St. Alban's, Holborn, forms part of the larger body of men associates of Clewer. It was in the following manner that this very small body of lay helpers was formed. Last November I was asked (as secretary to the Clewer sisterhood) to help in organizing a small band of men, chiefly of the middle class, living in the world and engaged in the active duties of life, who were about to be admitted associates of Clewer, in connection with St. Alban's Church and congregation; many of them being already actively employed in the lay work of the district.

The ideal of such a body seemed to be something, on the one hand, approaching towards the compassionate and self-devoting zeal of the wellknown lay society at Florence, called the " Misericordia," and, on the other hand, borrowing some of the peculiar features of Christian-fellowship and unreserved religious intercourse between various social grades which distinguish the Wesleyan system of "class-meetings," carefully guarded, however, from the dangers of their morbid practice, of exposing to view their inner feelings and " experiences."

On this conception of what was to be aimed at we have hitherto attempted to conduct our small working society, not, as it seems to me, without some encouraging success.

The distinctive features of our scheme are as follows :-

1. A corporate feeling created by a close religious tie, fastened at our entrance into the association by a solemn and cautious undertaking, but no vows, and afterwards strengthened and confirmed in various ways-a religious tie not intended to be severed by any change of time, place or circumstances.

2. Daily prayer at the same hour for each other, and for the whole community of sisters and associates.

3. A feeling of moral obligation to undertake, not merely this or that work, but any work that can tend to the glory of God or the good of our neighbour.

4. A thorough practical equality as regards our work, and especially at our meetings, although the associates belong to different social grades.

5. The elasticity of a body unfettered by mere parochial restrictions, with a plastic power of adapting itself to circumstances, like a sort of army staff corps, unattached, yet under the control of its own officers, and ready (so far as may be consistent with other duties) to work, if required, in any fresh field of labour.

6. Subordination to the clergy, and reference to them for advice and guidance in every difficulty.

7. Lastly, as being indispensable for carrying out our purposes, a common room near St. Alban's Church (open daily to the associates as a readingroom), where are held monthly meetings under the presidency of one of the clergy, at which meetings, in the perfect freedom and equality of brethren engaged in the same work, we confer together, and receive the counsels and instructions of the chairman. In this room, moreover, Sunday-classes for adults and boys are taught by associates, a weekly meat dinner is also given by them to twelve poor and sick children, and for various other purposes of charity and instruction the associates' room has been found most useful.

From the commencement one of our associates has acted as secretary and treasurer, in whose book of minutes and proceedings are entered rules embodying the above principles.

Such is a slight outline of our undertaking, which though certainly successful thus far, cannot, until it has stood the test of time, be looked upon as more than an exceedingly hopeful experiment, doing meanwhile a palpable amount of good in the district of St. Alban's.

Having necessarily had occasion to refer to the larger body of associates of Clewer, numbering upwards of 260 men and women living in different places, I may here mention that, for their use likewise, a set of rules similar to that of the St. Alban's subdivision has just been drawn up and approved by the warden, the Rev. T. T. Carter, of Clewer.

These general rules will shortly be printed, and sent for their guidance to all the associates.

The following is the substance of these new general rules for the entire body of Associates of the Community of St. John Baptist.

After stating the object of our Association to be "the diligent, faithful, and loving practice of spiritual and corporal works of mercy," there are regulations as to the mode of election and formal admission of associates ; then as to their duties, both in respect of their private and social life, and also in regard to their undertaking special works of mercy, various kinds of work being suggested for their free adoption. Then follow rules as to saying daily a prayer for the whole community; as to attending no services but those of the Church of England and Ireland; as to receiving the Holy Communion, if possible, on the first Sunday in the month, with special prayer for the community; as to observing in common an annual commemoration day.

It cannot escape notice that the whole of the above organization of associates of Clewer is framed on a distinctly Catholic, or so-called High Church type. This corporate union of our associates, or, to borrow and freely adapt the pregnant words of the noble sermon we heard on Tuesday, this " organic unity of an inner life" pervading the association, does amount in fact to a religious guild or brotherhood without vows. And, so far, it must needs be deemed essentially different from any merely Protestant or

so-called Low Church association, being, to that extent, in my opinion necessarily and greatly superior.

But the leading idea which influenced the formation of the St. Alban's branch of workers—namely, that of collecting together the workers first, and then helping them to find out, as well as to learn how to do, their work— this getting up (as it were) of the human steam first of all, and then carefully directing it into the right channels, so as to tell with full force upon the social machine-this peculiar and essential, yet by no means novel, principle appears to me applicable in a greater or less degree to all modes of lay work, whether so-called High, Low, or Broad Church.

Indeed it often astonishes me to find that so few of the working clergy seem to perceive this principle to be the very key to the solution of the problem of lay agency. Were each active incumbent in our populous towns to organize among his congregation such a body of lay helpers as Mr. Mackonochie has gathered around him at St. Alban's, Holborn, surely the problem would then be well nigh solved, at least so far as it admits of a merely human solution. The ordinary lay agencies, such as district visitors, Scripture readers, Sunday-school teachers, &c., would be far more efficient were they bound together by a definite organization, by personal intercourse, and by the communion of an inner life. At present there is only to a slight extent such a mutual bond of cohesion, for their fellowship is neither of a sacred, nor even of a closely corporate character.

Moreover, there can be no reason why the principle of corporate unity (so far as it is attainable without a distinctly religious bond) should not be carried out to some extent, even by those among our clergy who object on principle to anything in the nature of a brotherhood. It is not for me to presume to suggest the modes in which this could be done; but, having touched on this point, I may be expected to give, for whatever it may be worth, my own opinion as to the form which such lay-associations might take in those places where the clergy conscientiously object to the machinery of religious guilds or brotherhoods. Almost the only question, I think, that would arise is this-whether the association should be congregational or parochial. In London, it seems admitted on all hands that the system of everyone going to his own parish church is now become impracticable; consequently, in London, lay associations must be more or less of a congregational kind. So also in nearly all the large towns. In the country, the parochial system not having yet become so overweighted as to have virtually broken down, a parochial plan of working together would seem preferable.

In conclusion, I would desire to recall our thoughts to the one main argument of this paper-namely, that the old and tried principle of a real corporate union between all available lay workers, is the principle which should be adopted in every populous parish and district of the land.

The EARL NELSON.-Before I say a few words upon the present subject, I must take exception to a too transparent allusion to myself yesterday, in the speech of my great friend, Archdeacon Denison, lest you might be inclined to believe, on such high authority, that, in my opinion, one of the authorized duties of a layman is, when on deputation work, to keep a sort of discipline over the clergy; for he said that when I go as a deputation for any society, I do not hesitate to give a rebuke to the clergy, who kindly receive me, if I find them negligent. I should never dream of doing such a thing. All I know is, that, notwithstanding the emptiness of the meeting,

I have always determined to deliver the message for which I have attended, as well as if it was a full one, and I have been often thanked by the clergy for so doing, and have been told that they would take care to have a better meeting next time.

The reason that I have ventured to send in my card as an intending speaker to-day, after the many papers you have heard read and speeches delivered on this subject is, that these Church Congresses do not die; and those who have taken a part in former Church Congresses feel that they have a sort of interest in watching those special questions which have been in some former Congresses confided to them. At the Congress meeting at York I had the honour of opening, or at least reading the second paper, if not the first one, on the question of lay agency; and I cannot help lamenting that, while so much has been said upon that question, so little has been done relative to it since then. I look upon it that all will allow that our Church is in great danger from the vast amount of infidelity among the masses in our great towns. History will tell us that this is not the first time that the Church of England has been in danger from a similar evil, though it has arisen from different causes. I was reading the other day, in Dr. Hook's Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, an account of the first rise and origin of the mendicant friars, who, when they were first instituted, did a great work of revival in England. The increasing infidelity of the masses of the people, caused by the devotion of the clergy to secular pursuits, first called them forth. And when we come to read the history of our reformed Church, we find that the increasing infidelity of the masses called forth the Wesleyan movement. The evil here arose because the clergy neglected their religious duties, not for secular work, but I am afraid, in very many instances, for secular ease and enjoyment. At the present time we have the same cry upon us again, but the cause of the evil is not the same. Happily-we may thank God for it-there is a living earnest zeal amongst the clergy at the present day. The cause of the infidelity now forcing its way upon us is not the neglect of their work on the part of the clergy of the present day, but the want of men to do that work. And, as in the former period the preaching friars, and in the later the Wesleyan movement, became the means, under God, for the revival of religion amongst us, so I do believe now, to meet the overgrowing amount of infidelity among the masses of our people, the organization and authorization of lay agency by the Church would have a similar result.

All

On the other occasion, the means adopted to meet the evil were opposed by the clergy of the Church of England because the evil itself had been caused more or less by their own neglect. In the present case it is not so caused and, therefore, there need be no fear whatever of opposition between the lay agent and the clergy. The advantages that, I believe, will accrue from the adoption of this remedy would be that there would be greater strength and power given to Church work as such, instead of our present individual and disconnected efforts in the carrying on of such work. the work of sects is reckoned for the benefit of that special sect from which it emanates, but a great deal of the work of members of the Church of England consisting of individual effort does not go before the nation as the distinctive work of the Church of England. I believe there would be a much greater efficiency resulting from this combined action, just as there is a superiority in the movement of an organized over those of an irregular army; and it is well-known that there are many people who, from various