perfect or free from sin, but who have never fallen away from the state into which they were admitted by baptism; or who having fallen away, have been renewed and brought once more under the influence of christian principles; or lastly, who having, like the latter, fallen away, have never entertained a just sense of their sin, and return to a mere formal acknowledgement of the necessity of seeking God's face. The real difficulty of preparing candidates consists-first, in distinguishing these three classes of persons; and secondly, in so dealing with them, as shall by God's mercy, be most likely to lead them into the path of peace. But I cannot help believing that these difficulties are not insuperable, and that if we strive, God will enable us to produce a sensible effect on the flocks which he has committed to our charge. As far as the practical question of preparation is concerned, it will not be necessary to draw any line of distinction between the first two descriptions of catechumens. They who have fallen away will be more likely to feel the weakness and the wickedness of our nature, even than those who have never strayed; and they who have walked most constantly and most circumspectly, will be conscious of so many sins, weaknesses, and ignorances, that they will readily acknowledge the propriety of openly professing their obligation to renew and follow those promises which were made for them at their baptism, and the necessity of seeking God's grace that they may be enabled so to do. But when persons come to partake of this holy rite, merely out of a desire to comply with the wishes of their parents, or the custom of the country, it becomes an act of the greatest kindness on the part of a spiritual guide, to prevent them from falling into the commission of that which must be a great sin in the sight of the Most High: viz., of making a declaration, the most solemn which can be made, without any settled purpose of fulfilling that, which they thus openly confess to be their duty. It is from this reason, that I have requested you not to admit candidates at an earlier age than sixteen. Young persons who are walking in the way of godliness, may no doubt be wisely received at the Lord's table earlier than this age; but as from the smallness of the diocese I can easily offer to every catechumen an opportunity of being confirmed at that age, I conceive that on the whole, we shall do more good by waiting to a period, at which they will be better able to judge of the nature of that which they are going to do. And I cannot help believing that they, to whom the cure of souls has been committed, will exercise their functions with the greatest probability of success, if they repress rather than urge forwards the catechumens of their parishes.-Charge of the Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man, 1843.—APPENDIX. (To be continued.) Poetry. Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Since thee, our God, we cannot see, Thou settest here below Parents to whom, in place of thee, We may obedience shew. And holy pastors, too, there are, The church our mother is, whose care [Hymns on the Catechism. Burns, 1843.] *St. Matthew, ch. vi, v. 26. The Editor's Portfolio. HINT ON OPENING SUNDAY SCHOOL-ROOMS FOR WEEK-DAY INSTRUCTION. As to schools, although many have been placed in different districts where there have been great calls for them, they have still left immense spaces beyond the control of any school at all. I rejoice that an opportunity is now about to be afforded to break up these districts for school purposes. The best part of the plan, in my opinion, is to give support to schools already built, by wholly or partly supporting the masters for a certain time. In my own parish I found that it was impossible, for the want of extraneous support, to retain the services of a really efficient master. The National Society has made a liberal offer to give extraneous support to schools in the manufacturing districts, and the more the Society displays such a spirit the more good will be done. In many places there are admirable school-rooms that are only occupied on Sundays; but which, by a little aid for the support of a master, might be kept open during the other days of the week. I could in my own district name four or five consecutive parishes that are in this condition, and where the children attending the sunday school are left to pick up their education where they can during the week. I am quite aware, that in many instances schools would in two or three years be able to support themselves, which without extraneous help cannot exist at all-Speech of the Ven. Archdeacon Musgrave, at the annual meeting of the Ripon Diocesan Board. POWER OF THE VOICE OVER CHILDREN. It is usual to attempt the management of children either by corporal punishment, or by rewards addressed to the senses, or by words alone. There is one other means of government, the power and importance of which are seldom regarded; I refer to the human voice. A blow may be inflicted on a child, accompanied by words so uttered as to counteract entirely its intended effect; or the parent may use language, in the correction of the child, not objectionable in itself, yet spoken in a tone which more than defeats its influence. Let any one endeavour to recall the image of a fond mother long since at rest in heaven. Her sweet smile and ever clear countenance are brought vividly to recollection; and so also is her voice; and blessed is that parent who is endowed with a pleasing utterance. What is it which lulls the infant to repose? It is no array of mere words. There is no charm to the untaught one in letters, syllables, and sentences. It is the sound which strikes its little ear, that soothes and composes it to sleep. A few notes, however unskilfully arranged, if uttered in a soft tone, are found to possess a magic influence. Think we, that this influence is confined to the cradle? No; it is diffused over every age, and ceases not while the child remains under the parental roof. Is the boy growing rude in manner and boisterous in speech? I know of no instrument so sure to controul these tendencies as the gentle tones of a mother. She who speaks to her son harshly, does but give to his conduct the sanction of her own example. She pours oil on the already raging flame. In the pressure of duty, we are liable to utter ourselves hastily to our children. Perhaps a threat is expressed in a loud and irritating tone; instead of allaying the passions of the child, it serves directly to increase them. Every fretful expression awakens in him the same spirit which produced it. So does a pleasant voice call up agreeable feelings. Whatever disposition, therefore, we would encourage in a child, the same we should manifest in the tone in which we address him.-Church of England Magazine. REPORT OF THE RIPON DIOCESAN BOARD OF EDUCATION. The Ripon Diocesan Board of Education fully sensible of the high and important objects for which it was originally established, and which have daily increased in magnitude and interest, present their second Annual Report with mingled feelings of satisfaction and anxiety. Although, when the board was first called into existence an unusual gloom, (not yet entirely dissipated,) pervaded the manufacturing districts of this diocese, the board nevertheless feel they may properly congratulate its inembers on a larger measure of prosperity, than under such untoward circumstances might perhaps have been expected. Discontent, engendered in too many instances by want of employment, and severe and long continued privations amongst the labouring classes, fostered and inflamed by disaffected and designing persons for sinister objects of their own, at last discovered itself in acts of open and daring outrage, spreading sudden terror and alarm throughout the more populous districts. These occurrences naturally led to an investigation into the character and habits of the persons betrayed into such illegal proceedings, the result of which has been to prove beyond all doubt, "That wherever means of church instruction were best provided, there the efforts of the disaffected were least successful, and that in whatever districts church principles predominated no outbreak took place, however griev ous the privations of the people, except in cases where the rightly disposed inhabitants were overpowered by agitators from a distance." These circumstances cannot fail to have impressed the board with a very anxious sense of the duties and responsibility assumed by it in its endeavours to provide these misguided persons, and the labouring classes in general throughout the diocese, with sound religious instruction-in a degree more adequate to their necessities than has ever yet been done. The future happiness and prosperity of this nation undoubtedly depends in a very great measure upon the care hereafter to be bestowed in the education of the rising generation, and therefore to provide the necessary machinery for so extensive an undertaking, is a debt of universal obligation, especially attaching to those to whom the Almighty, in the gracious dispensation of his gifts, may have intrusted the talents of wealth and leisure. The board does not doubt the alacrity of all wise and good men, to co-operate cordially with it in maintaining its training institutions, in which the more promising of our young people are intended to be educated, until fully qualified for the office of schoolmasters and schoolmistresses, as without some such provision it is in vain to attempt any system of Christian education, with any reasonable prospect of permanent success. The board under all the circumstances is disposed to recommend that it should, for the present at least, confine its expenditure mainly to the support of the Training Institution in York, conducted at the joint expense of the York and Ripon Diocesan Boards of Education. The sum advanced as its proportion of the expense of maintaining the institution since the last report is £550. The funds now at the disposal of the board are £2,174 15s 4d. The board is gratified in being able to report, that the training institution is already in a very efficient and prosperous condition. The pupils admitted for instruction have, with but three exceptions, conducted themselves with exemplary propriety, and invariably shown a most anxious desire to conform to the necessary discipline of the institution, while the progress made in their studies, as well as the improvement in their personal deportment, have given complete satisfaction to the reverend the principal, and have secured the deserved commendation of the managing committee, and of all who have visited the institution. At the end of the quarter just completed, there were 31 pupils in the training school, 35 in the middle school; in addition to these, not fewer than 10 masters of schools in agricultural districts, have been received during the late harvest, with a view to their own individual improvement, and to obtain a knowledge of the system of instruction pursued in the institution, with the intention of adopting it so far as might be practicable in their own schools. At the beginning of the present year, the want of an institution for training mistresses, urged itself on the attention of the board of management; and steps were taken to supply it. A house capable of accommodating twenty pupils was hired and placed under the management of the mistress of the Model National School in York, an individual whom the board has found equal to the trusts reposed in her. The terms of admission are 8s. per week, which sum covers every expense, except washing. During the year ten pupils have been received into the institution, of whom eight are still in it, one has taken charge of an infant school at Ripon, and one, who, being already in charge of a school, came for improvement during the harvest, has returned to her own school. All these individuals have been much improved, and some of them in a greater degree than could have been anticipated. This infant establishment is effectually performing the object for which it was begun, and preparing the way for that larger scene of operation which will supersede it when the plans of the board are more matured The board, while adverting with unfeigned satisfaction to the present condition of the training institution, feel they ought not to omit all notice of the valuable services of the reverend the principal, to whose zeal, discretion, and industry, aided by the assiduity and talents of the master, Mr. William Start, its present efficiency is mainly to be ascribed. The tact and judgment which have marked the proceedings of the principal in his management of the institution have been remarkable, nor has his firm but kind conciliatory manner, been lost upon the pupils themselves, who seem to be actuated by a generous rivalry, as to how and in what manner they can best second the efforts of their master and friend, and sustain the reputation of the institution. The applications for admission to the institution during the late harvest were so numerous, as to oblige the principal to impose some restrictions in this respect, until further accommodation shall be provided. The energetic steps now taking by the National Society, to erect schools throughout the mining and manufacturing districts, must still further multiply the number of applicants. These circumstances call loudly for corresponding exertions on our part, to secure a competent supply of able and zealous schoolmasters, prepared to take the management of such newly established schools. To do this effectually, the board would earnestly request the wealthier of their friends to found additional exhibitions, it being impossible, without them, to procure a sufficient number of young people suitable for masters and mistresses, whose parents are in a situation to pay all, or even a considerable portion of the moderate expenses of their education, during the period it is requisite they should remain in the institution. * * * The Lord Bishop has been for some time engaged in procuring returns, as to the state of education in the diocese, which when complete will no doubt afford melancholy testimony to its present inefficiency. Meanwhile steps must be taken to meet the existing deficiency, otherwise consequences hostile to the peace of society, and the general tranquillity of the nation, must be the inevitable result. The sense of this will naturally lead to an inquiry, how and in what manner our time, wealth, or influence, can be made serviceable in arresting the torrent of vice and irreligion, which thus threatens to loosen, if not to break up, our social system, and endanger the safety of the empire. It is in vain to look to any legislative enactments, however wisely framed, as a remedy for evils which have assumed so threatening an aspect, or to Parliament for any grant of public money, towards providing the requisite machinery, for thus effecting the moral and spiritual regeneration of our industrious population, now sunk in ignorance and vice, all but irremediable. All reliance on these external aids, must be now and for ever abandoned; the noble enterprize is reserved for the church; she alone is equal to the gigantic task; roused from her long slumber of apathy and indifference, she is now prepared to wage war against the powers of darkness; she shrinks not from the task, but nobly seeks to redeem her solemn pledges by providing for the spiritual and temporal welfare of the poor of Christ's flock, committed to her charge by the chief shepherd himself. Be it her endeavour, aided by this and kindred societies, and by the free-will offerings of her faithful sons, to bring back the scattered sheep within the fold, and thus build up again the walls of our spiritual Jerusalem. Let this but be achieved, and then, adopting the language of one of her best and wisest living sons, and looking to the glorious results of such well-ordered zeal and energy, we may well exclaim, "What an order of light and purity may arise out of the darkness and corruption of our mines and factories, what a restoration of peaceful and paternal rule, of dutiful and glad obedience, what a healing of intense and inveterate schisms, what a power of beneficence and of benediction, to the whole empire and to the world." |