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less in allusion to this crisis of his life, that the Bishop of Oxford says

"that he, like so many others, might have been to his dying day nothing more than an ornament of a drawing-room, or the favourite of some social circle ... he might have lived and died popular and blamelessly respectable, but with no depth of character, and having done no work for GOD or man."-Preface, p. xi.

It would seem, however, that he was speedily brought to see the peculiar dangers of such a position, and to lay down very strict rules for the direction of his conduct, and especially with respect to mixing in society; and to these he adhered in a most consistent manner.

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"It is the opinion of one of his relations who resided near, that the reading of the earlier Tracts for the Times,' and the studies to which they led, were the means which conduced to form or deepen that truer estimate of religious life, and his own responsibilities as a priest, as well as those definite views of doctrine, which afterwards characterized him. It would seem that the Church movement of that day, then in its vigorous infancy, was under GOD the means of giving a permanent direction to the powers and energies then expanding within him."-P. 22. And as "he became more separate from the world, and kept a strict watch over himself, his doctrinal views became far deeper, as well as more definite than they had been; the great and peculiar doctrines of Christianity filled his soul."

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The period of his residence at Clifton could not have lasted three years, and as early as 1841 he was appointed one of the priest-vicars of Exeter Cathedral. But a great change had evidently been wrought in his whole view of life, and those principles of self-distrust and devotedness were being matured, which afterwards displayed themselves in the many schemes of usefulness that marked his short but ever-active course.

At Exeter there was nothing to bring him forward. As priestvicar he was "in a subordinate grade and doubtful social position." And though in 1843 he became Rector of S. Paul's, a parish of Exeter of 1200 inhabitants, his congregation consisted almost entirely of the less wealthy shopkeepers and of the poor, and his church was in a remote and but little frequented part of the city.

Into the work of this parish he threw himself with an unsparing energy and ardent affection, and from this time he determined to withdraw himself entirely from society, that he might the more completely devote himself to his charge. About this period he married and made himself a home in the midst of his parish, (not

"Mr. Armstrong became priest-vicar just after the rule requiring them to have received a university education had come into force; previous to that time, they were little superior to the lay-vicars."-P. 23. :.

the invariable practice with town clergymen) in as much seclusion as possible, avoiding all general society, and both himself and his wife devoting themselves wholly to the care of the parish.

We now begin to get more copious notices of the peculiar traits of Mr. Armstrong's character, and of his practical turn of mind. He was one of the most active supporters of the Architectural Society of Exeter, and a member of the Committee of Lecturers. He was the chief originator of a Library for the middle classes, to which was joined a Literary Institute on Christian principles. He was also one of the original promoters of the Exeter School of Church Music for the working classes: his main wish being to supply by these plans a special need caused by the "early closing movement."

We recur with greater pleasure to the memorials that his flock give us of his intercourse with them. One writes:

"What especially struck one in Mr. Armstrong was, that he always threw himself so completely into each particular case of sickness or trouble. Though reserved on many points himself, others never seemed to feel reserved with him; and in a very special manner he carried out that great law of love, of weeping with them that weep, and rejoicing with them that rejoice."-P. 34.

Another relates

"His love and capacity for sympathy seemed inexhaustible. And yet while ever more and more expansive to the increasing requirements of his great penitentiary work, his heart lost none of its tenderness and susceptibility for entering into individual joys and sorrows. I never met with one to whom it was so impossible not to rejoice with those who were rejoicing, and to weep with those who wept. He quite carried by storm, and singularly retained, the affections of the parishioners, high and low, by the way in which he entered into our distress on an occasion of great trial to us.”—P. 34.

So another writes:

"The striking points of his character were, the delicacy, tenderness, and amount of feeling, so rarely combined with decision and promptness of action."-P. 35.

This warm, affectionate interest, that Mr. Armstrong took in the individual welfare of his flock, as well as his earnestness in discovering and meeting each spiritual want of his parishioners, had a very marked effect on their feelings at the time of the surplice riots, of which the best idea we can convey is, that they reached such a pitch of disorder and turbulence, that even the Bishop of Exeter was obliged to give in to the clamours of the populace.

"This unreasonable excitement was felt but little in S. Paul's. There was some disturbance in the vestry, but it appears to have been

met with firmness by the better-disposed parishioners, and it had the good effect of eliciting strong demonstrations of good feeling from many persons in the class of tradesmen, whose really firm Church principles, as well as personal attachment to their pastor, had been little anticipated."-P. 89.

But he was now called into another sphere; and in 1845 became Vicar of Tidenham, rather a large country village in Gloucestershire.

"Here he found a careful observance of the rubrics established, and some neglected portions of the Church's services revived. Daily prayers, weekly Communions (on all festivals also), the offertory collected from the whole congregation, catechizing in the afternoon service, -had all been introduced by his predecessor, who was a man of family and influence in the neighbourhood, but who in consequence of the introduction of these changes had left the parish in a very disturbed state." This was a gloomy prospect for the new Vicar of narrow means, and totally unknown in the place; "but he surrendered nothing, and by his gentle earnestness, perseverance, and considerate explanations, succeeded in a great measure in allaying the irritation; so that at the last but few dissentients remained, and the sympathy of by far the greater number of the parishioners was won.”—P. 124.

He soon became, as he had been, though in a less degree no doubt, at Exeter, the life of his parish; high and low quickly learned to look upon him as their spiritual adviser and friend.

"To see him, (writes one of his Curates,) rushing about the parish with heart and soul in what he was about, with a kind word and most taking look for every one, quite put vigour into oneself, and spurred one on to work."-P. 117.

Another Curate follows in the same strain :

"What must, I think, have struck any one who had the opportunity of observing his ministry, was the holy zeal which pervaded his life, and as I may say transmuted its commonest actions. He seemed always working, even when I have seen his natural powers flagging under the task. Nothing was to be omitted, and yet fresh fields of labour, both within and without his parish, were constantly opening and always taken in. Set down by the hand of GoD in a large straggling parish, in parts very wild, he found his work (and we suspect many other country pastors might find the same) quite a missionary one. I could never leave conversing with him, without a feeling of shame at one's own standard of effort for CHRIST by the side of such an example. All his thoughts seemed to flow into one channel, so that whatever was the topic, it soon gave place to considerations of parochial usefulness, and some practical improvement. He was always on the watch, as it were, to save souls."-P. 117.

To a man whose whole life and thoughts were devoted to parochial work, the storms that from time to time have disturbed the English Church would not cause any lasting uneasiness; but had

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it not been for this wholesome vent for the feelings of his warm sympathizing disposition, we can scarcely imagine a mind that would have been more easily unsettled by the Gorham decision or the agitation at the time of the Papal aggression. As it was, there was no uneasiness on his part as to the future effects of these now miserable transactions of the past. Neither would they have been alluded to at all, but that they were the occasion of some of the very few letters, that he wrote for other than mere practical purposes. It is curious to observe even in them the peculiar turn of his mind. Writing to a friend, who was unsettled in regard to the Church of Rome, especially at the joy felt by a recent convert, he says:

"The joy and enthusiasm

expresses is of course no sign whatever of her course being a right one; the same joy and enthusiasm have been often felt by those who have plunged into systems frightfully

erroneous.

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The point he seizes on as an instance of Rome's corruptions is characteristically the denial of the Cup to the laity :

"Our SAVIOUR says, 'Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, ye have no life in you.' You have read of and known these words from your youth; you cannot escape the responsibility of such knowledge. Now if by any wilful act of your own you place yourself in such a position that no more in this life will you ever drink of the cup, how will you make your defence on the day of judgment? ... A more perfect quibble I cannot conceive than saying, as Rome does, you take of the Blood when you take of the Bread; your own common sense shrinks from such a quibble. Why does the priest take the cup? If it is necessary for his life is it not for yours?" -P. 130.

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The second letter (there are only two) on these questions, breathes his calm and earnest confidence in the truth and great doctrines of the English Church, yet without concealing his conviction of the danger to be apprehended, though as he trusted to be overruled for good, in her present distracted state. We were particularly struck with one short passage in it:

"I think I can see a very high destiny for the English Church, as a preserver of those truths which the Church of Rome has obscured. . . . I believe that there will be a great struggle between infidelity and the Christian Church, but I also believe the Christian Church must purify itself for this struggle,-the English Church must correct what is erroneous and faulty, the Romish Church must reform.”—P. 137.

We have hitherto given an account of Mr. Armstrong in the most interesting of all relations, that of pastor towards his flock: the next step seems to bring us naturally to his labours as an au

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thor. The wonder is, that one whose whole soul seemed to have been centred in his parochial work, should have had any time for literary employment.

He was however an instance of what a thoroughly earnest mind could do as an author, in spite of his constant daily distractions as a parish priest and a father of a family. His first composition appeared in the British Critic, where he reviewed "Markland's Monumental Devices and Inscriptions." He next published his "Sermons on the Festivals," preached at Exeter Cathedral. Then an article in the English Review, in 1846, the subject being the "Englishwomen of the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Centuries." This paper, from which large extracts are given, is written for the purpose of showing "what elements of practical usefulness are lost, what energies wasted in the trivial round of polished society, and what an untold amount of sins of omission lies at the door of its votaries." With respect to the line he took, Mr. Carter remarks:

"that the same mind which so keenly perceived and so vividly portrayed the evil, had also perceived the true means of providing a remedy; and towards the close of the article he suggests what was then growing into shape in his mind, to be afterwards applied with such signal success in the cause of Church Penitentiaries.”—P. 93.

In 1847, he published "The Pastor in his Closet," a book of meditations on ministerial duties, from which we shall give an extract by and by. In 1848, Mr. Armstrong acted as Editor of the "Tracts for Christian Seasons," of which there were two series, concluding in Advent, 1850; and these were followed by "Sermons on the Christian Seasons," which were brought to a close in 1853. In the course of these last two years, he also edited "The Tracts for Parochial Use." As all of these serial publications came out in very rapid succession, the labour of overlooking the manuscripts, making corrections and additions, as well as of writing a very considerable number of the papers, must have been " an intense mental effort," and the burden and pressure of toil which these works involved must have told seriously upon his strength. Mr. Carter "remembers meeting him when he had just completed the last of the series, and was struck with his worn look and expressions of thankfulness and relief that the work was done." (P. 169.) Mr. Armstrong continued to write occasional articles in Reviews, and always on some questions touching the well or ill being of society, a class of subjects which seemed to be committed to him as a special mission.

1 All the proceeds of these publications were apparently expended on his Curates, the building of a district church, and of a schoolroom, which he used to call the Papier Maché School, because it was built out of the proceeds of the "Parochial Tracts."-P. 112.

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