and admiration at the fortitude with which the result has been borne by the clergy at large. Where all have suffered they have been unwilling to urge any exceptional claims, though the loss has undoubtedly weighed exceptionally on them. They have been content to share without complaint the misfortunes of their neighbours. I was of opinion that something should be done to help cases of genuine hardship; and the Diocesan Conference last year agreed to the formation of a Sustentation Fund to aid impoverished benefices. It would seem, however, that there is not much belief in the possibility of dealing with this matter by means of a central fund. It is, I gather, judged more advisable to deal with such cases either by the permanent augmentation of the endowment of small benefices, or by the union of two when their separate revenues are inadequate, or by providing for them by local effort. Anyhow, the contributions which have been received for the purpose are very slight, amounting only to £332, of which £200 comes from one source. I notice also that only twelve Churches in the Diocese have appropriated any part of their contributions to the Diocesan Society towards this object.

I can only infer that the clergy as a body are unwilling to plead exceptional poverty. I know that his clerical income rarely forms the entire maintenance of the clergyman, who generally gives his services without question of exact remuneration. I have been cheered by many instances of unworldliness, and of a single-hearted desire to find only a sphere for service. Men have told me repeatedly of acces

sions to their private means as reasons why they could afford to go to ill-paid parishes. Curates have voluntarily waived their stipends that more workers might be supplied in large parishes. Men labour on without repining, and ask for no recognition for work, which is to a large extent voluntary.

My clerical brethren will not be surprised at this, and may wonder why I mention it. I do so, because I think it is sometimes well that such facts should be recorded-that men should know how much quiet heroism is enlisted in the service of God's Church. That service has lost none of its attraction and none of its power; for it brings the soul into constant intimacy with other souls; it deals not with what is superficial and transitory, but what is eternal in the life of man. It reveals new signs of God's purposes, and of the operations of His Spirit; it shows the dignity and splendour, if it also shows the littleness and misery of humanity. The smallest sphere is infinitely large; and the training of a few in an outof-the-way village ranks with God as high and as holy as the wider activity of which the world takes note. Happy is he who in his country parish never forgets this truth, but, strong in the simplicity which comes from communing with God, walks amongst his people as in very truth a minister of life-life which begins here but lasts for ever; life whose power is increasingly perceived.

For be assured of this: a country parish is a severe test of a man's absolute reality. Powers of eloquence, of organisation, of business capacity, will avail nothing, unless they flow from a heart devoted to God. Criti

cism is keener in a country village than in a large town. Every part of your life is lived in public, is scanned and commented on. You belong entirely to your people, and can win them only by your absolute sincerity. You must be their friend before you can be their teacher. Such a work requires your best energies constantly employed. "All service ranks the same with God," and with Him "there is no last nor first". May He of his mercy write this lesson on the hearts of all of us, and enable us evermore to keep Him before our eyes in all that we do and say.

I AM glad to think that I have not yet been Bishop of this See long enough to have exhausted all possibilities of novelty. This is the first time that I have been privileged to welcome the Diocesan Conference at Peterborough; and I venture to think that there is an exceptional impressiveness attaching to our meeting under the shadow of the great Mother Church of the Diocese. Each of the centres at which we assemble brings its own lesson. Amid the busy industry of Leicester and Northampton we are admonished of the greatness of the work which is imposed in our generation on the activity of the Church of Christ. Here we are reminded of the achievements of the Church in the past, of its labours as a pioneer of civilisation, of the loftiness of its aspirations, and its power to express them in a form which is vocal throughout the ages. It is in the combination of these lessons that we find our strength. There is much for us to do: but much was done by those who went before us. The best work, and the truest in the past, was that which was unobserved by men, because it was done directly for God. What we do is useless, unless it sets before the consciences of men principles

and truths which come from above. The Church has no independent existence, no objects of its own to pursue. It acts in absolute dependence on its Master: it has nothing else to do save to set Him forward; it makes no claim save that of liberty to teach the truth entrusted to its care.

We all feel this; and I suppose that when we meet at such times as these, we look at the programme and wish either for more novelty, or for greater breadth, in the subjects selected for discussion. But how little are we, any of us, really responsible for the direction which our activities are compelled to take. We have to talk about matters, not because they are of primary interest, or it may be of usefulness to ourselves, but because they challenge our opinion and demand our action. Questions come and go, and we have to face them. There is a mischievous tendency in phantoms to clothe themselves with flesh and blood unless they be speedily laid to rest. We have to turn from what we would most wish to do to what is most needful to be done. We would wish to spend our energies entirely in making progress: we are compelled to spend them greatly in maintaining what has been already won.

I have had occasion to speak to you more than once on the maintenance of our National Church in its integrity. Our efforts have succeeded for the present, and we have occasion to be thankful. But I am convinced of the great need of continuing our efforts in a cause which was thrust upon us, and was not of our own seeking. I think that the attack upon the Church in Wales has done us a great deal of good.