250 EDITOR. 



significance, that it shall be a grain cast into the seed- 

 field of Providence to grow and bring forth fruit, 

 depends not upon its consequences being foreseen by 

 those who take part in it, but upon its being, at the 

 moment of its occurrence, true and right. It is the 

 branch which sheds its leaves timeously in autumn that 

 puts forth buds vigorously in spring. Sufficient unto 

 every day is the work thereof, and no generation ever 

 trod this world which could exactly measure the shoes of 

 the succeeding generation. It always happens that the 

 future is an 



' Offspring strange 



Of the fond Present, that with mother-prayers 

 And mother-fancies looks for championship 

 Of all her loved beliefs and old-world ways 

 From that young Time she bears within her womb.' 



We have already ceased to be particularly moved by the 

 watchwords of the Voluntary Controversy, or the Non- 

 Intrusion Controversy, and the Constitution seems to 

 have survived the disrespect shown to the Establishment 

 principle in recent legislation on the Irish Episcopal 

 Church : but the Disruption was a brave, resolute, and 

 honest piece of work, a triumph of veracity and pious 

 courage, and its fruits are following it. The principle 

 of the headship of Christ over His Church, which the 

 whole world heard it proclaim, may be slightly regarded 

 in its theological aspect, but reasonable men acknowledge 

 that, when interpreted into the right of Churches and re- 

 ligious denominations to manage their own affairs, it is 

 one which liberates the energies of statesmen and lawyers 

 for their proper duties, and is eminently conducive 

 to the welfare of the State. Not one man in ten 

 thousand knows or cares to know the exact difference 

 between the Voluntary principle and the Establishment 

 principle ; but the Eree Church has afforded the noblest 



