(4.) _Sin against the Holy Ghost_. (See Article xvi.) What is the nature of this terrible sin which "shall not be forgiven, neither in this world nor in the world to come?" (Matt. xii. 31, 32.) The Church clearly teaches in Article xvi. that wilful sin after baptism is not, as some have taught, _the_ unforgivable sin, but it seems rather to be "obstinate, resolute, and wilful impenitence, after all the means of grace and with all the strivings of the Spirit, under the Christian dispensation as distinguished from the Jewish, and amid all the blessings and privileges of the Church of Christ." (Harold Browne on the Thirty-nine Articles.) This, in effect, is the teaching of St. Augustine, that the sin against the Holy Ghost is a final and obdurate continuance in wickedness, despite the calls of God to repentance, joined with a desperation of the mercy of God. In Matt. xii. 31, 32, it would seem that the unpardonable sin was committed by those who ascribed our Lord's miracles to the power of Beelzebub. SOCIETIES, CHURCH. It will be possible to mention a few only of the _chief_ societies, &c., connected with the Church, in a work like the present. They will be described under the headings (1) Charitable, (2) Educational, (3) Missionary, (4) Building, (5) General. 1. _Charitable_. Each diocese has charities of its own in addition to those which are not of limited area,-- _The Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy_. Founded 1655. Registrar, W. P. Bowman, Esq. Office, 2, Bloomsbury Place, London. Objects, assistance to necessitous clergymen, their widows and maiden daughters; education of children of poor clergymen, and the starting of them in life. _The Friend of the Clergy Corporation_, 1849. Secretary, Rev. H. Jona, 4, St. Martin's Place, Trafalgar Square, London. Objects much the same as above. _The Poor Clergy Relief Corporation_, 1856. Secretary, Dr. Robert Turtle Pigott, 36, Southampton Street, Strand. Objects, immediate relief, both in money and clothing, to poor clergymen, their widows and orphans, in sickness and other temporary distress. _The Cholmondeley Charities_. Treasurer, John Hanby, Esq., 1, Middle Scotland Yard, Whitehall, S.W. Class I., Augmentation of certain stipends. Class II., Much the same as above Societies. Class III., Exhibitions to sons of clergymen to the Universities. Class IV., Allowance for starting the children of clergymen in life. 2. _Educational Societies_. Each diocese has societies of its own in addition to the following:-- _Church of England Sunday School Institute_. Founded 1843. Sec., J. Palmer, Esq., Serjeant's Inn, Fleet Street, E.C. Objects, to provide educational appliances (Books, Lessons, &c.) both for teachers and scholars, and to assist teachers in the work of teaching by means of lectures, &c.