in the Calendar." The words are evidently carefully selected. It is not said upon special occasions, which would have confined the relaxation to such seasons as Harvest Homes, Thanksgiving Days, or Days of Special Services. But while the Ordinary cannot give a general dispensation, he may give an occasional relaxation of the Calendar. At Missionary Festivals, Clerical Meetings, or occasions when some national or parochial event fills the minds of the worshippers, the liberty of selecting appropriate lessons is a great boon. But we learn from the debates in the Convocation, that this note had a special reference to relieve the consciences of those clergymen who object to reading the Apocryphal Lessons. The Dean of Westminster is reported to have said: "The special reason of that clause being put in was to meet the insurmountable scruples felt by very many clergymen of the Church of England (in which I do not in the least share) against reading the Apocrypha. It was felt that, in order to smooth the difficulty for these excellent clergymen, it was desirable to leave with the Ordinary the power of dispensing with the use of the Apocryphal lessons, and of substituting Canonical lessons in their place." We cannot say that the rule would extend to those clergymen who have daily prayers in their churches, but it certainly would cover those who have occasional week-day services. One application of this principle we hail with peculiar satisfaction. In the days of college life, many painful impressions were made upon the mind when the freshmen came up in the October Term, and had to listen for nearly two months to Apocryphal lessons, and when some other chapters occurred in the daily Calendar. Now, as the head of a college is the Ordinary of the Chapel, his permission alone will be required to remedy this undesirable state of things. We doubt not that this unobtrusive note will, in the end, work out the entire exclusion of the Apocrypha. No bishop can refuse to allow of the substitution in such cases as we have mentioned; and as the spiritual and Evangelical spirit, now happily extending throughout the Church, wins its way, the Apocrypha will gradually pass into the shade, and finally fall into desuetude.

It now only remains that we should notice the peep behind the scenes of the Jerusalem Chamber, which the discussions of Convocation have afforded us.

We learn that the revision of the Lectionary was entrusted, by the main body of Commissioners, to a Committee, consisting of ten Commissioners, of which the Bishop of Winchester was Chairman, and the Rev. W. G. Humphrey was Secretary; the Bishop of St. David's and of Gloucester and Bristol, and the Dean of Westminster, also announced themselves as members of the Committee, and Archdeacon Freeman stated that

Earl Beauchamp was the only layman on the Committee. We may take it for granted that the three Commissioners who are, or have been, Divinity Professors, were also appointed upon this Committee, namely, the Bishop of Chester, the Dean of Lincoln, and Dr. Payne Smith. We know, therefore, pretty distinctly the composition of the Committee. We learn also that the Committee held forty meetings from November, 1867, to June, 1869. The Dean of Westminster testifies that " every single chapter of the Bible was gone through; and gone through not once only, but twice, and in many instances three times." The Bishop of Winchester also states: "We agreed first of all to the general principle upon which change was to be made; secondly, in the great majority of instances an universal agreement was come to after discussion; thirdly, where it was possible, there was a thorough weighing of all the minority had to submit on the question. There was nothing like any difference or any disagreements. On the contrary, nothing could be more unanimous and more united than the discussions." The Bishop of St. David's ingenuously declared: "On several occasions on which there was a difference of opinion, I happened to find myself in a minority; but I can say with perfect conviction, that I believe the decision arrived at to have been relatively the best-that is, the best practical result under the circumstances of the case, and that, I believe, is as much as would be desired by any one in such a matter."

We learn also from the Convocation debates, that after the Sub-Committee had completed their labours, the result was submitted to the Commissioners. "The Commission did not

pass over the matter in a hurried manner. It gave several days' deliberation to the labours of the smaller Committee. It made several important alterations in what the smaller body had proposed; but they came to the unanimous conclusion that the Lectionary, as prepared, is a very great improvement upon the existing one." One of the changes made by the general body of the Commission was the substitution of Canonical Scripture for chapters of the Book of Tobit, which the Committee had put into their proposed Lectionary. "Dr. Jebb wished to know on what grounds the Commissioners had excluded Bel and the Dragon, Judith, and Tobit?" The Dean of Westminster interposed, " that he had had a hard fight for the Book of Tobit;" and on a subsequent occasion he stated, "I have said before that I pleaded earnestly for the retention of the Book of Tobit; but, at the same time, I no less acquiesce in the decision to which the Commission (N.B., not the Committee) came, that it was better to omit it."

We now return to the estimate to be formed of the new Lectionary. We think the retention of a single chapter of the

Apocrypha is to be deplored; but of the rest we feel bound to say, that after a very careful investigation of all passages omitted, and of all newly introduced into the Lectionary, we cannot charge the Commissioners with having acted unfairly; that we are satisfied that the great body of Churchmen will regard the new Lectionary as a great improvement upon our present Calendar. We acquiesce in the quaint statement of the Bishop of Llandaff With regard to details I can only say that I believe that if an angel from heaven were to draw out a Lectionary containing so many particulars, there would be individuals who would find objections to this or that principle; and we must on the whole, therefore, believe that which is placed before us is the best result that could be arrived at."

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE REV. T. A. METHUEN.

The Autobiography of Thomas Anthony Methuen, M.A. With a Memoir by his Son. London: Hatchards.

In the year 1703 a treaty was entered into, which was, at the time, celebrated as a master-piece of commercial policy; but, in the judgment of so great an authority as Adam Smith, was "evidently advantageous to Portugal, and disadvantageous to Great Britain." By the second article of this treaty, her sacred Royal Majesty of Great Britain, Queen Anne, was "(in her own name and that of her successors) to be obliged for ever hereafter to admit the wines of the growth of Portugal into Britain; so that at no time, whether there shall be peace or war between the kingdoms of Britain and Frauce, anything more shall be demanded for these wines by the name of custom or duty, or by whatever other title, directly or indirectly, whether they shall be imported into Great Britain in pipes or hogsheads, or other casks, than what shall be demanded for the like quantity or measure of French wine, deducting or abating a third part of the custom or duty. But if at any time this deduction or abatement of customs, which is to be made as aforesaid, shall in any manner be attempted and prejudiced, it shall be just and lawful for his sacred Royal Majesty of Portugal again to prohibit the woollen cloths and the rest of the British woollen manufactures."

The result was that, for more than a century, Port took the the place of Burgundy, which had heretofore been the favourite wine of the English nation. The treaty was in force until 1831, partly, no doubt, in consequence of the animosity so long prevailing between France and England, and its effects have only

recently been combated by modern legislation. In history it is known as the "Methuen Treaty." The statesman who negotiated it was Sir Paul Methuen, a man of ancient and honourable descent. The founder of his family was a Hungarian adventurer, who came over to England with Edgar (or as the fashion now is to spell it, Eadgar) Atheling, and subsequently shared his fortunes in Scotland; where, through the favour of Malcolm Canmore, he obtained the barony of Methuen in Perthshire. There the family continued, until, in the reign of Elizabeth, one of them caught a glimpse of what Dr. Johnson called the noblest prospect that a Scotchman ever sees-the highroad that leads him to England. After duly travelling it, he settled in Wiltshire; and his descendants throve there so much that, in the reign of Queen Anne, one of them, Paul Methuen, who was a most accomplished linguist, a distinguished virtuoso, and an eminent statesman, was employed in many important embassies. He is described by one of his contemporaries, as "a tall, black man, about fifty years old, in complexion and manners much of a Spaniard." A curious adventure befel him when he was preparing to go on shore at Lisbon to present his credentials to the king: a French ship entered the Tagus, and Sir George Rooke resolved upon attacking it. Thereupon Mr. Methuen would insist on taking part in the engagement; and eager to be the first to board the enemy, fell into the water between the two ships, to the no small detriment of his magnificent array. Swift pours upon him the vials of his bitterest wrath; but Voltaire praises him, and Steele, who dedicated the seventh volume of the "Spectator" to him, speaks highly of him as a man of parts. There is no mention of these matters in the book under review; perhaps to the subject of it they were amongst those things concerning which he would have said, "Vix ea nostra voco;" but it may be of interest to our readers to have such a slight sketch before them of the family history of Mr. Methuen when entering on the consideration of his own life; the more especially as, in one or two of the instances we have noted, there is a strong resemblance, in point of character, between him and his distinguished relative.

In reviewing this book, we may emphatically say, that we are bringing under the notice of our readers the life of a good man, in which they will find much that is profitable and interesting, and which we would wish to put before them with terms of hearty commendation, while we shall not scruple to animadvert upon what we may deem superfluous and illjudged. It consists of two parts-an autobiography, extending over nearly seventy years of the writer's life; and a supplementary memoir, written by his eldest son, which passes his character in review, and furnishes many additional particulars

of his career until its close, when Mr. Methuen had attained the great age of eighty-nine. Out of the two combined we must endeavour, as best we can, to present a description of this venerable servant of Christ.

Thomas Anthony Methuen was born in London in 1781; his parents, as we have seen, were of honourable descent and ancient extraction. At the age of thirteen he was sent to Eton; in due season the time arrived when he "fee'd" the Headmaster with twenty pounds, in return for which he received a magnificent folio Virgil, ceased to be an Eton boy, and was transplanted to Oriel. He subsequently, at his father's earnest desire, entered himself at Lincoln's Inn; but, after keeping one or two terms, followed the bent of his own inclination, and resolved on taking Holy Orders. It is a curious fact to record, that Mr. Methuen, well connected, estimable in character, and earnest in purpose, was ordained by the Bishop of Bath and Wells (Dr. Beadon), with whom he was by relationship connected, without any title; "he had repeatedly, but in vain, sought one. No curacy at that time could be found for him within a moderate distance of his father's house." His clerical neighbours were shy of him; the reproach of Christ was upon him. Once, however, ordained, he soon found employment. Two or three days after his return from Wells the vicar of his father's parish went away, leaving him in charge of it for a whole month, and he was occasionally asked to preach; but months elapsed before he found a curacy at Ickam, in Kent, which was his title for Priest's Orders. The following year he removed to Newnton, near Tetbury. Three years afterwards, he sought a larger sphere at Henbury, near Bristol. At the close of that year his father purchased for him the next presentation to the living of All Cannings, which fell vacant immediately. He shortly afterwards married the eldest daughter of the Rev. Henry Plumptre, and spent the remainder of his life in the pleasant rectory to which, a few days after his marriage, he took his bride.

Such is a brief record of the main events of a career which singularly fulfils the "callentis semita vita" of Horace. We must not be understood to mean that Mr. Methuen confined himself exclusively to the limits of his own parish. We hear of him taking an active part in religious affairs in Devizes and Salisbury, and other places in the diocese, especially as an earnest and laborious advocate of the Bible Society; and he may have extended his labours further, but there is no mention made of any noticeable effort of this kind. His main, if not his whole, strength was thrown into the fulfilment of his parochial duties.

Before we proceed further, we trust we may be pardoned for