first Ordination service, are greatly impressed. But when Mgr. Barton,

of West Drayton, saw the service at St. Edmund's, having only recently entered the Church while at Harrow, he surreptitiously took fountain-pen and paper and sketched a fellow-student kneeling at the feet of the Bishop to receive Le, the Diaconate. Then he presented
the finished work to the new Levite, suitably inscribed in Latin.
One of the differences between Mgr. J. M. T. Barton (D.A., L.S.S., F.S.A., F.R.S.A.), and many other priests, is that many of the others bear the visible impress of the Seminary that supplies with all the virtues and fully equips them for pastoral work. Mgr. Barton being a human being and not a mere type is not so universally perfect. He happens, however, to stand out-for his great-heartedness, for examplefor his learning, for another example. Note the letters after his name. And if anybody thinks that there is any cynically implied criticism of the seminaries in the above comments, let them remember that Mgr. Barton is also a product of St. Edmund's.
Mgr. Barton being, too, the formidable " defender of the marriage bond " in the Westminster Archdiocesan Matrimonial Courts, someone ought to go and tell the Archbishop of York it isn't all that easy to get marriages declared null and void at Westminster I TRACING a ligbt-Dcarted profile of Mgr. Barton is to take the shortest possible cut to a soul that is brimful of geniality and good humour. He towers in literature; he is a Tower of Babel in that he knows languages and can discourse pleasantly, wittingly, and with complete mastery of vocabulary in his mother-tongue; he literally towers with his six feet of massive physique. His assistant priest at his Ordination in 1921 as the diminutive Archbishop of Liverpool. Some one ought to have taken a picture of that event. Perhaps some ope did ! His features are those of Archbishop Mathew, his intellect as clear as that of His Grace, his conversation more rapid still. He will Jump up and down in his chair and laugh with catching gaiety at the "corniest " of jokes, told by himself or another. Mgr. Barton, a wise man in very many senses, does not repel; even a West Drayton urchin in Wellington boots is at home in his huge and distinguished presence. Unlike many a literary man who reads detective novels for relaxation, Mgr. Barton takes to his hobby of criminology and law with a serious frown upon his face. That is because, presumably, his father had been a solicitor and Official Receiver in Bankruptcy, and because through his mother he is related to Lord Chancellor Jowitt. When he really relaxes, and has no one by him to exchange yarns with, he motors.
And he loves dogs. While lecturing on Scripture to St. Edmund's students, where he was professor for some time, he would bring a dog into class with him. It quietly lay at his feet.
He held his own at a public examination at the Vatican before the Pontifical Biblical Commission, becoming Consultor of the same Commission and examiner ex-officio for the Papal degrees in Holy Scripture. When he came to West Drayton he built a parish hall to run dances to pay off a parish debt. To-day he holds his own with any jive-addict weighing the pros and cons of booking an expensive dance band.
iRt.rr though Scripture is the most serious of his studies, Mgr. Barton would be delighted to revive people's interest in yet another subject into which he threw himself heart and soul before the war, that is, Oriental Church affairs; he continues to be Vice-Chairman of the Society of St. John Chrysostorn, and when he recently heard bow the newly arrived Ukrainians were looking for a building in which to celebrate their Liturgy, at once offered his school hall for the purpose. Not quite fifty years of age, his enthusiasm and energy are at the service of any work that has A.M.D.G. for aim. In .1938 he translated Salaville's Introduction of Study of Eastern Liturgies, he has visited Arehirnandrites in the East, and has M.C.-ed Greek Catholic services in England. His work in the sphere of Scripturt and Theology studies includes not only the series of "Scripture Textbooks for Schools,' which he issued. but also the direction of the Correspondence Course aimed at a Diploma in Theology Examination, for which some one hundred nuns are now preparing. The scheme, begun in 1943, aims at imparting knowledge of Dogmatic Theology among non-clerical students, and is offered to layfolk as well.