238 STUDIES, SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL chap. 



sach a manner as, — Firstly, to retain all that is most 

 useful in the organization of the existing Church of 

 England ; secondly, to extend its sphere of usefulness 

 almost indefinitely ; thirdly, to remove all cause for the ill- 

 feeling with which it is viewed by Nonconformists, and by 

 the members of other religious bodies ; and lastly, to 

 create, without violent change, a great national institution, 

 which shall always be up to the highest intellectual level 

 of the age, and be a means by which the moral and social 

 advancement of the whole nation shall be permanently 

 helped forward. In order to show how these desirable 

 results may be obtained, it is necessary first to say a few 

 words as to the status of our existing clergy, and the 

 importance of the functions they fulfil. 



The Church of England, as a religious body, owes much 

 of its power and influence in society to its venerable 

 antiquity ; to its intimate association with our great 

 Universities ; to its establishment by law and its position 

 in the Legislature ; and to its possession of the cathedrals 

 and parish churches, which from time immemorial have 

 been the visible embodiments of the religion of the country. 

 The clergy of the Church of England owe their chief 

 influence for good in their respective parishes to their 

 connection with these permanent and often venerable 

 buildings ; to their being the official representatives of a 

 law- established religion, to their being the recognized 

 heads, either officially or by courtesy, of many local 

 organizations for charitable purposes, for education, or for 

 self-government ; and, though last not least, to their social 

 position, their intellectual culture, refined manners, and 

 moral character. It must, I think, be admitted that an 

 institution which provides for the residence in every parish 

 of the kingdom of a permanent representative of the best 

 morality and culture of the age — a man whose first duty 

 it is to be the friend of all who are in trouble, who lives 

 an unselfish life, devoting himself to the moral and 

 physical improvement of the community, who is a welcome 

 visitor to every house, who keeps free from all party strife 

 and personal competition, and who, by his education and 

 training, can efficiently promote all sanitary measures and 



