The speaker who followed allowed himself to utter words which in calmer moments he would never have said; it is hardly possible that one who rose, as he expressed it, “to pour oil upon the troubled waters,” could have otherwise stated that Canon Hoare’s friends would hold up as a very “mark of the beast such a frequent use of the Holy Communion” as Mr. Wood and his friends advocated; and this said to one who always had weekly Communion in his church, and who, when a young man at Richmond, had been the first in his diocese to institute an early celebration! “CROMER, _October_ 10_th_, 1882. (_After Church Congress at Derby_.) “I enclose you four letters received by this morning’s post, and now, as that speech to which they refer has manifestly made a great impression, I wish to put on record the Lord’s dealings with me in the matter, for they have tended very greatly to the confirmation of my faith, and, I hope, given me a lift for the remainder of my life. “When I was first asked to take part at the Congress the Secretary asked me to choose a subject from a list sent to me. I marked three, any one of which I should be prepared to undertake, one being the Liturgy, to which my attention had been directed at the Bible class and preparation for my Lent sermons. Thus God was preparing me then. “When the list came out I was disappointed that I had a speech and not a paper, and felt the responsibility of my position, as I was the only speaker on the list, and there were four papers to precede me, by Hope, Bickersteth, Wood, and Venables. “You all know what difficulty I felt in preparation. I did all I could to be prepared, and continually committed it to God, but I felt doubtful all the way through whether all my preparation would be of any value. “So we went on till the day came. I awoke very early under the sense that I had important work before me, and as I lay still in the dark I was able to cast the whole matter into the hands of the Lord. After breakfast I went to preside at the prayer-meeting, and spoke to them of the Lord’s love for the Church, in Ephesians v. The room was very full, and when we knelt down to pray I was solemnised more than I can tell you by all who prayed praying for me especially: I was the one subject of their prayers. “I never can forget the prayer of one of them that the Lord would make me His mouthpiece and put His thoughts into my mind. This was very delightful to me, but it made me think something was coming; so I left the morning meeting and went home for a quiet hour before luncheon. I then polished up my weapons, finished off my opening and conclusion, and spread it all out before the Lord, in happy remembrance of the good man’s prayer.