The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-12-07 00:00:00

TO A FRIEND WHO THREATENED TO
TAKE POT-LUCK WITH ME.
friend oan take pot-luck with me, 'Us clear,
If), luck has gone to pa this many a year.—Jori!,

THE BISHOP OF ROCHESTER ON
WOMEN'S WORK.
On Saturday (Sr. Andrew's-day), the Bishop of Rochester
preached at St George's, Bloomsbury, on behalf of the
London Deaconess Institution, in Burton-cresent Ills
lordship selects d fed his text St Luke x., 42-- Mary Seth
chosen that good part which shall not be taken away front
her." After an exposition of the passage, his lordship sold
to the deaeonne:ses—
" Daughters of the Church, you have chosen a good
part; your joy no man taketh from you. Who shall
separate you from the love of Christ ? No such joy in
any earthly service as in serving the Divine Master.
Persevere in the path that you have chosen in the full
assurance that the Lord's eye is upon you for good.
Count this service that you have chosen the most
admirable service of the profession. If the servants of
earthly masters take precedence one of the other
according to the rank and dignity of those whom they
serve, what must your place and pre-eminence strong
all others be, who wear the badge of the service, or
special ministry of the Lord himself? But there is
one thing which I would especially impress upon
you, viz., never to let the thought enter into your
minds that the dregs you wear, if you wear
• distinctivo dress, or the occupation you follow as
servants of the Church, is in itself any safeguard
against temptation. Rather it is certain that those
who wear that dress and are engaged in that work will
find Satan aim at them his fiercest assaults. St. Paul, in
his Epistle to Timothy, points out in unmistakable lam
gunge and with more than usual plainness the dringer•
which beset the young and inexperienced and enthusi-
astic women in pledging themselves to a course of
life and discipline of whirh they may not have counted
the cost. Ile recommends Timothy to decline the
services of such, lest, when the first fervour of their
self-devotion has abated, they should rebel and become
impatient of restraint. And most needful is it for you,
my dear daughters in the Lord, when you offer the
prayer of your commemorative day—St, Andrew's-day
—first called of the Apostle, a prayer so well adapted
for those following the example' of the prompt Moe-
dience, to look inward and examine yourselvt sclosely
and carefully, to consider what you have under-
taken, and what your strength is to undertake it,
judging by the experience of the past, lest it
happen to you as to the Church of Ephesus, that
after much labour she left her first love." Another
reason, the right rev, prelate observed, for great
watchfulness on the part of deaconesses was that when-
ever one who had given herself to the work, thought
more highly of herself than she ought to think she be-
came a stumbling-block to those who were weak among
her relatives and frien is. If excellent Holy Mary,
who sat at our Lord's feet, became a stumbling-block
in her sister's way, bow shall it be with many a
Martha and many a Mary in many a house where
there are others only too ready to speak scornfully.
Let your humility, my laughters, be that unfeigned
humility which oprings from real selfabasement,
from a deep sense of unworthiness, from frequent
contemplation of the glory and majesty and purity
of him whom we serve, from a frequent, but
not because frequent less careful, partaking of His
body and blood, morn much secret unobserved prostra-
tion of ourselves in spirit; not that marked and
visible prostrati n of ourselves in the reception of
' the Holy Sacrament, which, because it is marked and
ostensible, and is a thing unusual in our nation, is more
; than anything else which I know A stumbling-block to
the weak. In this matter I speak with all the authority
of my office, with all the conviction of a long minis-
! terial experience. But, above all, I speak with the
: distinct authority of St. Paul, who has laid down this
' naxim in things indifferent not to make our brother
to offend. I have thus spoken to you who are
labouring with no in the Lord in all kindness and
sympathy. If I have spoken sternly it is from a sense
of impending danger to the Church, which, from your
limited experience, you may fail to appreciate. Of this
I am sure, that if you walk wisely andlfirmly your
numbers will gradually increase till the grievous want
of ministerial assistance which we feel in our parishes
shall be in some measure supplied. And it is in a con-
fident hope that the Great Head of the Church will
bless this humble instrumentality that I appeal for a
house where deaconesses, under all dire superinten-
dence, shall enjoy mai society as is most needful for
those who are engaged all day long in such an anxious
and laborious duty, such repose as, after the fatigues
of the day, is needful for their bodily health. To the
bishop of this diocese, as a man of the greatest gravity
and sincerity, may be safely confided, with the appro.
bation and entire confidence of the citizens of this great
city, the regulation and ordering of such a home.