no compulsory Church-rate to fall back upon for Church
expenses, yet in an harmoniously worked parish there really ought to be
no insurmountable difficulty in raising the sum necessary for the due
repairs of the Church and for the services of the Sanctuary. Offertories
and subscriptions can be made to supplement one another, and if what is
necessary in the way of repair is really honestly done year by year, it
will be much easier to raise the funds wanted than if by neglect and
postponement a large outlay is suddenly found to be absolutely necessary
in order to avoid some dreadful catastrophe.

In this general preliminary survey the state of the Churchyard will
naturally come under his notice. The Churchyard is the freehold of the
Incumbent, which he holds in trust for the service which it is intended
to subserve. Sometimes an arrangement is made by him with the
Churchwardens as to the keeping the Churchyard tidy. No doubt the
Churchwardens are bound to see that the proper measures for this purpose
are taken by themselves or the Incumbent. But although our Churches,
speaking generally, are in good repair, yet it seems to me that in many
cases sufficient attention is not paid to the keeping of the Churchyard
in proper order. The days are gone by when horned cattle were allowed to
find sweet pasture in the resting-place of the dead, but sheep still
linger in some country districts. And there is often a temptation not
always successfully resisted--when the Churchyard is large--that the crop
of grass during the summer months should be allowed to grow without
interference by scythe or machine, until fit to be cut for hay. But I do
feel strongly that the temptation _should be_ resisted. Nothing so
quickly awakens doubtful feelings in the breast of a passer-by as to the
zeal, energy and devotion of the Incumbent, as a Churchyard untidy and
unkempt, paths full of weeds, hedges untrimmed, grass long and
straggling. Nothing, on the other hand, is so grateful to all the
parishioners of a particular parish as the Churchyard well kept and
looked after, the graves neat and trimmed, the whole place by its very
appearance asserting its right to the title of God's Acre. I do not like
to see the Parsonage garden filled with lovely flowers, and in beautiful
order, while the adjoining Churchyard is starved. Let each receive the
attention which is its proper due.

With regard to closed Churchyards the obligations of the Churchwa