By the Rev. Canon TV. H. Jones. 



269 



his presbyters, to judge concerning- defaulting clerks. It was just 

 as sacred a principle " Let the Bishop do nothing without his pres- 

 byters," as " Let nothing be done without the Bishop/'' To this 

 day, each Bishop of the Roman communion in England, thus 

 following ancient precedent, has a chapter of eleven canons, whom 

 he is bound to consult on certain matters connected with his diocese. 



(b) As regards the cathedral, a certain number were always re- 

 quired to be there, together with their Vicars (of whom we shall 

 presently speak) , for the purpose of maintaining its perpetual round 

 of services, as the model and example for the whole diocese. The 

 worship of the diocese was centred here ; as Bishop Benson describes 

 it,— u Here was the ceaseless supplication for grace, the perpetual 

 intercession, the endless praise — unbroken yet ever new — like nature 

 herself, — with daily- varying, never-changing majesty/' 



(<?) As regards the diocese at large, they had even more important 

 duties. They were to go forth as missionaries, to carry, as from the 

 fountain source, the blessings of one common faith to all in the 

 diocese, and especially to those living on the estates which the 

 liberality of benefactors had annexed as u prebends " to the Cathe- 

 dral. 



We may observe, therefore, at once, the great distinction between 

 the principle of the cathedral and of the parish — it is that of dif- 

 fusion, as opposed to concentration. The Canons were the ministers 

 for the spiritual good of the whole diocese ; and attendance on 

 cathedral worship was no more the whole duty of a Canon, than 

 the performance of divine service is the whole duty of a parish 

 priest. As has been well said, u The original foundations of cathe- 

 drals were all of a missionary character. The dioceses followed for 

 the most part the secular divisions of the country, and each cathe- 

 dral was the centre at which the Bishop took up his station or seat, 

 and from which he sent forth his clergy to evangelise the country- 

 round, at the same time that he maintained a theological school on 

 the spot. The cathedral was, then, truly the " mother church " of 

 the diocese. Her business was to teach, to preach, and, as time 

 went on, to persuade the owners of property to give lands, or the 

 tithes of lands on their own estates, which thenceforth became 



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