While smokeless on the houses' height
The higher chimney gleams in light
Above yon reedy roof where now
With rosy cheeks and lily brow,
No watchful mother's ward within
The window sleeps for me to win." 1

1 “The Elm in home ground.”

CHAPTER VII.

OUR CHURCH.

How brightly our church, this sunny time,
Shows out on the hill its light grey wall,
Above the dark yew and leafy lime,
And flinging its merry sounds of bells
Out over the many-fielded dells.

Though I have my roof beside the spring,
And yours is beside the hollow oak;
And some by the street may send up smoke,
And others' lone doors by fields may swing,
Still there are the chimes that sweetly call
Us all to the house that stands for all.

For all, at our Lord's high call to go
To share of His graces glad but meek,
And hear the good words His love may speak

As unto His children high and low;
Our own to go up that He may bless
Our fast-wedded loves with holiness.

Our own where Our Lord in goodness takes
Our children to make them all His own;
And kindred, beneath cold earth or stone,
May sleep till their souls' bright morning breaks
Through every change of good and ill,

We there have our church beside the hill.

101

ORDINATION.

1847.

ON January 1st, 1847, Colonel Damer, of Came House, offered Whitcombe to William Barnes as a title to orders. This almost infinitesimal parish is neither a living nor a curacy, but what is called a donative. It is a tiny rustic hamlet which had been given before the Reformation to the Abbey of Milton, whence the little church had its pastor. Henry VIII. took it away from the monks and gave as curate's salary a kind of prescriptive stipend of thirteen guineas a year, and it then ranked as a separate parish. In the course of centuries, the 137. remaining nominally always the same, its material value was so much depreciated that the parish became a mere adjunct to the adjoining living of Came, being held and served by the rector of that parish. In accordance, however, with Colonel Damer's wishes the Rev. George Arden kindly ceded Whitcombe to the new candidate for holy orders, but as a deacon could not hold preferment he proposed that W. Barnes should be nominated as his curate. The Bishop of Salisbury, however, preferred to make

a special case, for he wrote to Mr. Arden

on

February 9th

PALACE, SALISBURY,
February 9th, 1847

REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,

I do not know whether you have yet done anything about Whitcombe-I mean whether you have received the gift of donation. If not, I think I should on the whole prefer that Mr. Barnes should present himself to me with this as his title for Holy Orders, rather than be nominated as your assistant. In any case there will be a departure from my general practice respecting Ordination, but I think the inconvenience will be least in this way.

I remain, &c.,

E. SARUM.

In pursuance of this desire of the Bishop, the candidate presented himself for examination at Salisbury in 1847, whence he wrote to his wife :

SALISBURY, Wednesday, February 24th.
Past Three o'clock."

I am just come back for a respite till 5 o'clock from the ordeal of the examination, which turns out to be rather severe. We had first to write a sermon off from a given text, and then to turn a long piece of English (from Hooker's works) into Latin. Both these exercises I hope I have done pretty well. In the evening I think we shall have Ecclesiastical History.

I have had a very satisfactory and encouraging interview with the Bishop.