ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



qualified by service as nonconformist ministers, Scripture readers or lay 

 assistants. ' If these figures,' he said, ' be compared with those of the 

 four years immediately preceding the enlargement of the diocese in 

 1856, it will be found that, while the number of candidates ordained 

 have been multiplied rather more than threefold since that date, that of 

 University men has been exactly doubled.' He further stated that a 

 comparison of his own episcopate with that of Bishop Villiers would 

 show to a slight extent a more favourable result. Bishop Waldegrave 

 was fully alive to the gravity of the problem, and was making earnest 

 efforts to grapple with it. ' Forty-seven churchless villages still cry out 

 for sanctuaries ; fifty-one pastors still have no home to call their own ; 

 ninety-six benefices still fall short of 100 per annum ; sixty-four of 

 them exceed that sum, but do not; attain to 150.' The supply of a 

 good class of clergy depended on adequate provision for their mainten- 

 ance. While life lasted, he would devote himself to this work. Be it 

 said to the credit of this amiable prelate that he kept his word. 1 



At no previous period in the nineteenth century had the church 

 in Cumberland made such rapid progress in its various spiritual and 

 philanthropic aspects than during the long and remarkable episcopate 

 of Bishop Harvey Goodwin, 1869-91. His fame as a mathematician 

 and man of science, his power as a preacher, his methodical habits and 

 almost exhaustless capacity for work, all combined to stamp the iron 

 energy of his will and character upon the diocese of which he was the 

 revered and honoured chief for over twenty years. The history of his 

 episcopate has been written by the bishop himself, and no description 

 by another pen can approach in completeness the narrative which he 

 has left behind him in his annual pastoral letters and triennial charges. 

 His efforts to improve the material condition of the clergy, to pro- 

 vide new districts with churches, to attract men of ability into his 

 diocese, and to raise the tone and stimulate the zeal of those already 

 at work, were but a small portion of his policy. The character and 

 frequency of parochial ministrations were never lost sight of. It was 

 his endeavour by counsel and encouragement to raise the religious 

 organization of every parish to a high standard. In 1872 the Holy 

 Eucharist was celebrated at least monthly in 158 churches ; in 1887 

 the number of churches had increased to 255, and in 1890 to 271. His 

 aim was to promote a celebration of the divine office in every parish 

 church on Sundays and holy days. In the same manner the observance 

 of Ascension Day, which had become almost obsolete in Cumberland, 

 the frequent advocacy of missionary enterprise in foreign lands, the 

 preparation of young people for confirmation and systematic teaching 

 in the parish schools were constantly urged upon the clergy. 



Cumberland has been singularly free from scandals among the 

 clergy either in their private lives or public ministrations. No instance 

 of ritual aberration has disturbed the ecclesiastical harmony of the 



1 Bishop Waldegrave, Charge at bis Second Episcopal Visitation (1864), pp. 23, 25-9. 

 II H3 15 



