the stall had
been restored to the chapter, or, in other words, into the hands of
the Government, before Tom Towers had twirled the fatal lash above
his head. But the manner of the twirling was as follows:--

It is with difficulty enough [said the article in the
_Jupiter_], that the Church of England maintains at the
present moment that ascendancy among the religious sects
of this country which it so loudly claims. And perhaps
it is rather from an old-fashioned and time-honoured
affection for its standing than from any intrinsic merits
of its own that some such general acknowledgement of its
ascendancy is still allowed to prevail. If, however, the
patrons and clerical members of this Church are bold
enough to disregard all general rules of decent behaviour,
we think we may predict that this chivalrous feeling
will be found to give way. From time to time we hear of
instances of such imprudence, and are made to wonder at
the folly of those who are supposed to hold the State
Church in the greatest reverence.

Among those positions of dignified ease to which fortunate
clergymen may be promoted are the stalls of the canons or
prebendaries in our cathedrals. Some of these, as is well
known, carry little or no emolument with them, but some
are rich in the good things of this world. Excellent
family houses are attached to them, with we hardly know
what domestic privileges, and clerical incomes, moreover,
of an amount which, if divided, would make glad the hearts
of many a hard-working clerical slave. Reform has been
busy even among these stalls, attaching some amount of
work to the pay, and paring off some superfluous wealth
from such of them as were over full; but reform has been
lenient with them, acknowledging that it was well to have
some such places of comfortable and dignified retirement
for those who have worn themselves out in the hard work of
their profession. There has of late prevailed a taste for
the appointment of young bishops, produced no doubt by a
feeling that bishops should be men fitted to get through
really hard work; but we have never heard that young
prebendaries were considered desirable. A clergyman
selected for such a position should, we have always
thought, have earned an evening of ease by a long day of
work, and should, above all things, be one whose life
has been, and theref