Far different is the position on which Mr. Spencer enters towards the close of 1832, from that which he was promoted to in 1825. Then he took the cure of souls with vague notions of his precise duty; now he took the cure of souls as a clearly defined duty, for the fulfilment of which he knew he should render a severe account. Then he received a large income from the bare fact of his being put in possession of his post; now he has to expend even what he has in trying to provide a place of worship for his flock. Then, there were eight hundred souls under his charge, most of them wealthy and comfortable, and all looking up to him with respect for being his father's son; now he could scarcely count half that number as his own, scattered among hovels and garrets; amid their more opulent neighbours, who mocked him for being a priest. He then dwelt with pleasure on his rich benefice, and on the rising walls of his handsome rectory; now he prayed the bishop to put him into the poorest mission in the diocese, and delighted in being housed like the poor. The life he led as a priest in West Bromwich is worthy of the ancient solitaries. He began by placing all his property in the bishop's hands, and his lordship appointed an _Econome_, who gave him now and again such sums as he needed to keep himself alive, give something to the poor, and supply his church with necessaries. He keeps an account of every farthing he spends, and shows it to the Bishop at the end of the quarter, to see if his lordship approves, or wishes anything to be retrenched for the future. His ordinary course of life was--rise at six, {221} Meditation Office and Mass, hear some confessions, and, after breakfast, at ten, go out through the parish until six, when he came home to dinner, and spent the time that was left till supper in instructing catechumens, reading, praying, or writing. He had no luxuries, no comforts, he scarcely allowed himself any recreation, except in doing pastoral work. He leaves two rooms of his little house unfurnished, and says he has something else to do with the money that might be thus spent. Much as he loved Mr. Phillipps, he did not go to see him after his marriage, because he thought it was not necessary to spend money in that way which could alleviate the poverty of a parishioner; and because he did not like to be a day absent from his parish work as long as God gave him strength. During the first year of his residence at West Bromwich he opens three schools; one of them had been a pork-shop, and was bought for him by a Catholic tradesman. Here he used to come and lecture once or twice a week, and is surprised and pleased to find a well-ordered assembly ready to listen to him. He says in a letter at this time: "I go to bed weary every night, and enjoy my sleep more than great people do theirs; for it is the sleep of the labourer." He is rather sanguine in his hopes of converting Protestants; but, although he receives a good many into the Church, he