But I must be careful what I say, for I once had a pamphlet sent me purporting to give Scriptural authority for some of these modern innovations. It maintained that the cloak, the φαιλόνη, which St. Paul left at Troas, was his chasuble, without which he could not celebrate mass at Rome; and that the many lights which sent Eutychus to sleep were the many candles with which the altar at Troas was adorned. If men believe that, it is vain to argue with them. But this much we may safely conclude,—that if these be the only arguments that can be produced, the men who urged them must have been very hard up for an authority. Our conclusion therefore remains untouched, that the whole of the New Testament is occupied by the great realities of the Gospel of Christ; and that, so far as Scripture is concerned, there is not even a hint as to ritual. And what is the grand conclusion? Is it not surely this,—that if we would keep to the proportions of truth we must not allow the thoughts to be led off by ritual, but must keep well in view the great realities of life and death, of forgiveness, of purification, new life, and everlasting salvation: the great things of the Gospel, the weighty matters revealed in the Word of God. Even when contending against innovation we must not allow the interest of the contest to draw our thoughts from great realities. And in our own peaceful and parochial work we must not disturb our people by needless changes, even though some of them may seem to ourselves to be improvements; and we must take good heed that, while all things are ordered as becometh the house of God, the great law of proportion is observed, and the minds of our young people not drawn off by the form and furniture of worship. I was deeply impressed not long ago by the importance of this principle in its bearing upon missions. In missions you have a great reality that fills the Scriptures. History, prophecy, biography, command, and promise, all unite in urging the sacred work of missions. I was anxious to ascertain to what extent the missionary spirit flourished in conjunction with costly ritual; and I thought the best test that I could apply was to ascertain how much was contributed to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel by some of those churches that are most renowned for ritual. I selected seven, with the names of which I happened to be familiar. {16} I then turned to the last report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in order to ascertain how much they gave for missions, and I found that the aggregate contributions by all seven together to the general fund amounted to the amazing sum of £7 13_s._ 2_d._ I ought to say that St. Albans added £5 13_s._ 10_d._ for a special fund for Honolulu. So that, taking into account the gifts to particular dioceses, as well as those to the general fund, the total contributed by the seven churches to foreign missions, through the Society for the Propagation of