32. Under what similitudes is the ministerial office represented in Scripture? And what are the appropriate considerations to each?

33. Shew how the example of Christ is a pattern to christian ministers.

34. Point out, in some of its more prominent features, the fulfilment of our Lord's prophecy relative to the destruction of Jerusalem.

LONDON CHURCHES.-No. II.

ST. FAITH, under ST. PAUL'S.

THE church of "St. Faith under St. Paul's," has often been a fruitful subject of conjecture; and its peculiar designation has misled many persons to suppose that up to this time there existed beneath St. Paul's Cathedral a place of worship; and not a few country visitors have been, by way of joke, directed to the church in the vaults, as one which deserved a visit, not more from the singularity of its position than the distinguished talents of its ministers. If they found their way to the real church, we are satisfied that in the latter respect they would not be disappointed, but the glories of the "ecclesia in cryptis" are departed for ever.

St. Faith, or Sancta Fides, to whom this church was dedicated, must not be confounded with the other St. Faith, who with her sisters, Hope and Charity, suffered martyrdom in the time of Adrian. Our saint was (according to Mr. R. Smith's MSS.) a holy virgin and martyr of the city of Ajemme or Agen, in Aquitaine, and suffered under the Emperor Dioclesian, because, professing Christ, she would not offer sacrifice to idols. After enduring many tortures, she was beheaded, and buried at Agen, in the year 286. Her festival is still celebrated by the papists on the 6th of October, and many miracles are recorded of her, both living and dead, by the monkish historians.

The church was originally a distinct building, standing near the east end of St. Paul's; but when the old cathedral was enlarged, between the years 1256 and 1312, it was taken down, and an extensive part of the vaults was appropriated to the use of the parishioners of St. Faith, in lieu of the demolished fabric, which previously served as a parish church for the stationers and other inhabitants of St. Paul's Churchyard, Paternoster-row, and the parts adjacent. After this arrangement it was called "Ecclesia Sanctæ Fidei in Cryptis," or in the crowds, and, according to a representation made to the Dean and Chapter, in the year 1705, measured 180 feet in length, and 80 in breadth. In all probability this crypt was not used as a place of worship after the Reformation; for on the suppression of the Chapel of Jesus by St. Paul's, in the time of Edward VI., that place was bestowed, A.D. 1551, upon the parishioners of St. Faith's, as being "more sufficient for largeness and lightsomeness."

The church of St. Faith is a rectory, and one of the peculiars belonging to the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, where they are both

patrons and ordinaries, and is wholly exempt not only from the visitation of the Archdeacon, but also from the Bishop, except when he visits, "Tam in capite quam in membris."

In this church, or within the precincts of the Undercroft, there were four chantries: two founded by John de Everdon and William Say, Deans of St. Paul's; one by Alan de Hotham, prebendary of Sneating, and one by William Vale, citizen of London; and two guilds, one on the Festival of St. Anne, and the other on that of Jesus.

After the fire of London, this parish was joined to that of St. Augustine; and, on the rebuilding of the Cathedral, a portion of the churchyard belonging to the former was taken to enlarge the avenues round the east end of St. Paul's, and the remainder was enclosed within the cathedral railing. In 1723, the Dean and Chapter having caused a railing to be set up, by which the space of ground appropriated to the parish of St. Faith was considerably reduced, a long disagreement ensued, which did not terminate till 1757, when a deed was enrolled in Chancery, which set forth that "the parishes of St. Faith and St. Augustine shall be at liberty to bury their inhabitants and others in that part of the vaults under the said cathedral, containing 2600 square feet, be the same more or less, clear of walls and piers, which is separated from the other part of those vaults by a rail, and which they have been accustomed to bury in; but not so near the foundation of the said cathedral as may injure the same; paying for every such funeral the usual fees of 6s. 8d. to the Dean and Chapter, and 6s. 8d. to the clerk of the works, or to such person as the Dean and Chapter shall appoint:" and, "secondly, that the said parishes may and shall bury their inhabitants in all and every part of the north-east part of the churchyard adjoining to the said cathedral, paying the usual fee of 3s. 4d. to the Dean and Chapter for every burial.

In the course of the dispute, the ancient lease was referred to, which had been granted by the Dean and Chapter in 1552, to the parish of St. Faith, and which vested in the latter for "fourscore and nineteen years," at the yearly rent of twelve pence, all that part of the vault called the "crowds, or Jesus Chapel," together with an adjoining chapel on the south-west, called "the Chapel of our Lady and St. Nicholas," and "the entry to the same;" but reserving to the said Dean and Chapter, and their successors, "free ingress and egress through the said entry to their crowds, commonly called their storehouse or winecellar." By the same instrument the churchwardens of St. Faith made over to the Dean and Chapter, and their successors for ever, all that vault or crowds within the said church of St. Paul's, lately named, called, or reputed for the parishes, the Virgin,* lying within the same, and all the appurtenances of the same," &c.

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The records of the foundation of this church, and the list of Rectors, benefactors, &c. all perished in the great fire. We find, however, that Dr. Brown, the rector in 1636, was sequestered on account of his

* Brayley says, "Could this be the Virgin St. Faith, who is said to have suffered martyrdom during the persecution of the Christians under the Emperor Dioclesian, or a figure of the Virgin Mary?" Vol. II. p. 304.

loyalty, soon after the commencement of the infamous rebellion; that
subsequently Dr. Jackson was ejected for nonconformity, and Mr.
Brian Turner was collated to it by the Dean and Chapter in 1662, and
enjoyed it till its destruction. The monuments, both here and in St.
Augustine, were numerous; many of them are preserved in Stow.
The present incumbent is J. W. Vivian, D.D.

Of this church, whilst in the "crowds," it was wittily said,-
This church needs no repair at all,

For FAITH's defended by St. Paul.

Amongst the inscriptions on the monuments preserved by Stow and others, the following may prove interesting to our readers :

WILLIAM BABHAM, AND ALICE BULTON HIS WIFE.-ANN. DOM. 1577.

Lo here the certain end

of every mortal one,

Behold! alive to-day,

to-morrow dead and gone.
Live well, so endless life
(by death) you shall obtaine,
Nought lose the good by death,
since life thereby they gain.

Upon a brass plate fixed on a pillar :—

WILLIAM LAMBE,

so sometime was my name, Whiles I alive

did run my mortall race: Serving a prince

of most immortal fame.

HENRY the eighth,

who of his princely grace

In his Chappell

allowed me a place.

By whose favour,

from Gentleman to Esquire

I was prefer'd

with worship for my hire.

With wives three

I joyned wedlock band,
Which (all alive)

true lovers were to me,
Joane, Alice, and Joane,
for so they came to hand,

Beneath this was an injunction to the poor, who received weekly allowance on Fridays, from the Stationers' Company, to this effect :—

On a monument to Dame Katherine Lessieur, who died August 4, 1630, was the following quaint sentence :—

Quid aliud est Mors Vitæ hujus mortalis, quam finis mortis hujus vitalis, et janua

Vive diu, sed

Mortis opus

vitæ immortalis.

ERGO.

vive Deo, nam vivere Mundo
viva est vivere vita Deo.

ST. AUGUSTINE.

This church, anciently called "Ecclesia Sancti Augustini ad portam," because it stood near the gate leading out of Watling-street into St. Paul's Church-yard, was dedicated to St. Augustine, or Austin, first Archbishop of Canterbury, who was sent into England by Pope Gregory the Great, to convert the Anglo-Saxons. The parish is a rectory, the patronage of which appears always to have been in the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's; for it is mentioned in their books as early as 1181, when Ralph de Diceto was Dean. The present edifice

was erected, after the fire of London, on the ruins of the old church, and is built of brick, faced to the south and west with Portland stone, and is considered a very inferior specimen of Sir C. Wren's great architectural abilities.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO CHURCH SOCIETIES.

MR. EDITOR,-There is no one quality by which the enemies of the Church are more decidedly distinguished than their undisguised contempt of veracity. There is nothing they will hesitate to state, however open to immediate refutation, if they think it will serve their purposes, or increase their numbers. They take on themselves the risk of the detection, calculating on the chances that their assertions may be deemed too absurd for refutation, or, if answered, that those whom they hope to deceive will not see the reply, or, at least, that all will not, and, if they are exposed, they are anonymous, or have no character to lose. A bolder assertion, considering the facility of confutation from books at every one's elbow, could scarcely be ventured than one which was lately made, that the incomes of four Dissenting Societies outnumbered by two-thirds those of three Church Societies. One of these dissenting societies was the Wesleyan Mission, which was by far the richest on the catalogue; although what right the fabricator had to class the Wesleyans among the Dissenters, contrary to their own express declarations, it remains for him to explain. Allowing, however, the benefit of the Wesleyan Missions to the dissenting list, and taking the dissenting societies at their advocate's valuation, the St. James's Chronicle shewed, from the authentic Reports, that matters stood far otherwise, and that the income of the three Church Societies there specified exceeded by about the value claimed for the Dissenting Societies, the four which had been opposed to them. This exposure is only what occurs every day, and on it I should not be disposed to remark, were it not that it naturally suggests how little, after all, the true strength of the Church in public opinion is known. In the Report of the S. P. C. K., for instance, the income appears to be between sixty and seventy thousand pounds; whereas this is only the income of the Parent Society, while a still greater proportion of the people contribute to the District Branches. In the small parish in which I reside the subscribers to the Parent Society are two, to the Dictrict Societies, seven! and many who subscribe to the Parent Society, support District Branches also. The sums too collected at sermons, meetings, &c. never appear in the Society's Report. Yet they are fully entitled to do so, and were they reported, it would appear that the Christian Knowledge Society alone received from the voluntary support of the people no less a sum than £100,000 per annum. How much then is it to be regretted that returns are not made by the Diocesan Associations, whereby the Parent Society might be enabled to shew the world how deeply the Church is still rooted in the affections of the nation! Should this remark meet the eye of any whose exertions might secure so desirable an object, the end of what I have written will be obtained. I am, your obedient servant,

NUS

ANGLICANUS.