hurt.

Again: by _The Clerical Disabilities Act_ of 1870, a Priest may, by the
law of the land, execute a "Deed of Relinquishment," and, as far as the
law is concerned, return to lay life. This would enable him legally to
undertake lay work which the law forbids to the Clergy.[8]

He may, in consequence, regain his legal rights as a layman, and lose
his legal rights as a Priest; but he does not cease to be a Priest.
The law can only touch his civil status, and cannot touch his priestly
"character". That is indelible.

Hence, no securities can be superfluous to safeguard the irrevocable.

{138}

_Jurisdiction._

As in the case of the Bishops, a Priest's jurisdiction is
twofold--_habitual_ and _actual_. Ordination confers on him _habitual_
jurisdiction, i.e. the power to exercise his office, to Absolve, to
Consecrate, to Bless, in the "Holy Church throughout the world". And,
as in the case of Bishops, for purposes of ecclesiastical order and
discipline, this Habitual Jurisdiction is limited to the sphere in
which the Bishop licenses him. "Take thou authority," says the Bishop,
"to preach the word of God, and to minister the Sacraments _in the
congregation where thou shalt be lawfully appointed thereunto_." This
is called _Actual_ Jurisdiction.

_The Essence of the Sacrament._

The absolutely essential part of Ordination is the Laying on of Hands
(1 Tim. iv. 14; Acts vi. 6; 2 Tim. i. 6). Various other and beautiful
ceremonies have, at different times, and in different places,
accompanied the essential Rite. Sometimes, and in some parts of the
Church, Unction, or anointing the Candidate with oil, has been used:
sometimes Ordination has been accompanied with the delivery of a Ring,
the Paten {139} and Chalice, the Bible, or the Gospels, the Pastoral
Staff (to a Bishop),--all edifying ceremonies, but not essentials.

(III) DEACONS.

A Deacon is a server. The word comes from the Greek _diakonos_, a
servant, and exactly describes the Office. Originally, a permanent
Order in the Church, the Diaconate is now, in the Church of England,
generally regarded as a step to the Priesthood. This is a loss. But
it is as this step, or preparatory stage, that we have to consider it.

Considering the importance of this first step in the Ministry, both to
the man himself, and to the people, it is well that the laity should
know what safeguards are taken by the Bishop to secure "fit persons to
serve in the