have been originally defective in the authority intended to be conveyed by the Royal Letters Patent, has been repeatedly acknowledged, confirmed, and fully supplemented by Acts of the Provincial Legislature, and of the Synods acting under the powers given by some of those Acts. The Queen's Advocate, to whom I referred the whole question, writing to me sometime after the judgment in the Capetown case had been delivered, says, after having noticed that judgment and its effects,- "But the case of the Canadian Church is happily very different from that of other Colonial Churches ;" and afterwards: "I entirely agree with the opinions of Messrs. Bethune and Cameron; and you are at liberty to mention this if you please." These opinions of Messrs. Bethune and Cameron were published by me in a letter addressed sometime since to the Bishops, Clergy and Laity of the Church in Canada, in consequence of some objections which had been taken to the legality of the acts of our Provincial Synod. It may have been necessary and desirable that these questions should have been thoroughly discussed, and the real standing and position of the Church, not only in Canada, but in all the Colonies of England, ascertained; and wherever there shall be found to be anything defective, let it be set right. But with these assurances of the unquestionable legality under which we in Canada, at any rate, are acting, I earnestly hope that the Bishops will, by God's grace assisting them, be able to carry on successfully the work of the Church in their several Dioceses, with the hearty cooperation and affection of both the clergy and the laity; and that in the Provincial Synod, which will assemble, according to the Constitution, in September next, we shall find (to use the concluding words of my Letter to the Bishops, Clergy and Laity, referred to above)," that we can all meet together and work together, as we believe we have done on the two former occasions, under the influences of the good Spirit of grace, advancing the glory of God and the increase of His King dom. And that, instead of imagining, that all the labour and expense incurred by the Provincial Synods which have taken place, have been in vain, and that it is now necessary to begin de novo,' we shall rather see reason to thank God, that, amidst so many difficulties and so much uncertainty in these our early struggles for the establishment of our Ecclesiastical polity, we have been enabled, as in ancient days, to assemble in one body,' and have been permitted to lay a good foundation according to catholic usage." ། See House, Montreal, June 3, 1865. 6 CONTENTS. SERMON I.-The Holy Catholic Church a Visible Body,.. Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall II. The Interpretation of Law, and the Rule of Faith,..... 15 The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets; for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.-1st COR. xiv. 32, 33. And the house which I build is great; for great is our God But who is able to build Him an house, seeing the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I, then, that I should build Him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before Him?-2nd CHRONICLES ii. 5, 6. Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preach- ing to save them that believe.-1st COR. i. 21. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, accept- able unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many By their fruits ye shall know them.-ST. MATTHEW Vii. 20. Address to the Scholars of the United Sunday Schools, 1861,...... 187 Address to the Scholars of the United Sunday Schools, 1865,.. 195 Address to Candidates for Confirmation,... Statistics of five Triennial Confirmations,. 205 210 215 Speech at the opening of the McGill Normal School, Speech at the First Convocation of the University of Bishop's |