jects us in all things to the will of others, and so lessens our responsibility. There was perhaps in this answer something of an excessive fear of power and responsibility, for which a Christian will not seek, if God has called him to another state, but to which, if he be called, he will there abide with God, and use them as good gifts in themselves, although, like all other good things, liable to abuse through the corruption of man's heart and will. And yet this, if an extreme, was the extreme of a more wise and prudent and Christian feeling, than that into which men fall who eagerly desire political power as a good in itself, not as a talent to be used for God. Let us see then how we may best employ, for His glory and for the benefit of our brethren, the political influence which He has given us.
And first, there are some things which would strengthen and benefit the Church, for which nothing more than a legislative change is required. The repeal, for instance, of the statute of mortmain, as far as it applies to the Church, would do something. At this moment, should the impropriator of any church lands leave them by will to the Church from which they were taken, the bequest would be void; although the same property, if left to the London University, would, by virtue of its charter, be applied according to the intention of the testator. Provision might be made (should it seem needful) for
