'The Admission of any one as DEACON before he 'shall have attained the age of three-and-twenty ' years complete; or as PRIEST before he shall have ' attained the Age of four-and-twenty years complete, 'is void in law; and the person so admitted is 'wholly incapable of holding any preferment, or 'enjoying any qualification by virtue of such admis'sion.' 44 Geo. III. c. 43. s. 1.

An exception, however, is made in sec. 2 of this last Act (44 Geo. III. c. 43.) in favour of a Faculty or Dispensation from the Archbishop of Canterbury, or the Archbishop of Armagh, who are allowed to admit at an earlier age persons possessing very extraordinary abilities.

If your Age exceeds thirty, certain of the Bishops will not admit you as a Candidate; who these Bishops are, you must enquire. They are subject to change, so that it is impossible to specify them here.

TITLE FOR ORDERS.

By Canon 33, No one shall be admitted 'into Sacred Orders unless he is provided

(1) 'Of some Church or Ecclesiastical preferment,

(2)

where he may attend the cure of souls:-or 'Of some Minister's place in a Cathedral, or Collegiate Church :- or

6

CONSIDERATIONS NECESSARY.

(3) Of a Fellowship in one of the Colleges in Cambridge, or Oxford :—or

(4) 'Of

a Chaplaincy in some College in Cambridge, or Oxford :-or

(5) Unless the Bishop shall himself engage to provide for him'; which in such a case he is bound to do, under penalty of suspension by the Archbishop, assisted by another Bishop, from the giving of Orders for one

year.

Being an M. A. of five years standing, and of independent means, was formerly allowed to be a sufficient Title, but is not so now.

Any one of the above provisions is called a Title for Orders.

It is presumed, if you are a University man, that you have taken your B. A. degree, attended the requisite Divinity Lectures, and passed the necessary Theological Examinations; and are therefore enquiring for a Curacy with a Title.

If you are not a University man, but merely a Literate, you must be provided with recommendations, and testimonials sufficiently high and indisputable in respect of your ability, spirituality of mind, and previous general pursuits, to answer for your fitness for the Holy Office into which you are desirous of entering.

Thus prepared, in your enquiries for a TITLE first apply yourself to your private friends: personal recommendation, and personal interest, always carry with them some degree of security for your seriousness at the present time, and your promise for the future. Do not be over anxious for a Title in the place of your birth, or where you have spent the days of your youth. It may seem to you very desirable; what you would even make many sacrifices to obtain. But trace these feelings honestly to their source, and it will be found in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, that personal comfort, or personal convenience, or family pride, are at the bottom. How can impulses such as these school you into the self-denying and arduous duties of a Christian Minister? How can you wean yourself from the habits and companionship of your early days, and become the example and the guiding star of a neighbourhood, where you so lately may have shown yourself, perhaps, a votary of pleasure, or a slave to the world? Can you uproot that prejudice which He of Nazareth found it no easy thing to do? Has experience ever gainsayed that memorable declaration of Our Lord, "A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his "own house?" (Mark vi. 4.). In the face of

CONSIDERATIONS NECESSARY.

9

this, be advised, and look elsewhere. The hundredth case, however, must speak for itself, and depend upon its own arguments, and its own

merits.

If the enquiries among your friends fail, you may then apply to the Authorities of your College, or to the Divinity Professors, or other leading men of your University, to whom you may have been introduced; for these have generally continual applications from all parts of the Kingdom, and if they find reason to be satisfied with you, may take pleasure in recommending you to notice. If you are disappointed here, then there is nothing left but to search the advertising columns of the Public Press, particularly the Ecclesiastical, and Church Papers. Possibly among the "CURATES WANTED" you may find something suitable to your views. Never advertise yourself, but as a ‘dernier ressort', for most Incumbents look shy, if they look at all, at Advertisements of this kind. With some, the fact of advertising argues a want of talent, or capability, or some other deficiency; with others, where 'caste' enters into the consideration, it is thought to argue a want of respectable connexions, and recommendation. Avoid, by all means, exposing yourself to suspicions of this kind. I speak now of their practical effects

without scrutinizing the motives. I would not however lead you to suppose, that all Incumbents hold such opinions in respect of advertising; because there are many, who, from long absence from College, or from the remoteness of their Parishes, have no other method of making known their wants in this respect, and no other means of getting those wants supplied.

If you are a man of sound health, and robust constitution, it will not perhaps be a matter of much concern what locality may offer itself for your consideration: whether the fens of Lincolnshire, the moors of Northumberland, or the mountains of Wales; or whether it be in the heart

With regard to WALES it is necessary that you have a competent knowledge of the Welsh Language before you can be ordained on any Title in that Principality.-By the 1 and 2 Vic. c. 106, which repeals the part of 6 and 7 Will. IV. c. 77. bearing on this subject,

It is enacted-'that within the several Dioceses of St Asaph, Bangor, Llandaff, and St David's it shall and may be lawful 'for the Bishop, if he shall think fit, to refuse Institution or 'Licence to any spiritual person who, after due examination and inquiry, shall be found unable to preach, administer 'the Sacraments, perform other pastoral Duties, and converse in the Welsh Language: provided always that any 'such spiritual person may, within one month after such ' refusal, appeal to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who shall 'either confirm such refusal, or direct the Bishop to grant 'Institution or Licence, as shall seem to the said Archbishop