and their stalled assistants, as to be generally unfit for the bulk of the congregation. To be actually interested in singing, we must hear tunes in which we can join. Regular musical services are pretty nearly abandoned to the amateurs, who sentimentally parade the nave and cloisters, while, as they often repeat, now " —Through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault, The pealing anthem swells the note of praise." 3. A third cause is the interest taken by religious congregations in the operations and success of societies instituted for pious purposes. To forward these, they are in the constant habit of communication in private; where they arrange their modes of support. Collections are periodicallymade in their churches; and the sermons delivered on these occasions have, as they ought to have, a strong tendency to make their au diences compare their own privileges and hopes with the destitute condition of nations yet in utter darkness. This feeling alone might be termed, a strong spiritual cement. Their exertions, thus planned and matured by these private and public measeres, become a bond of union, which comes in aid of the grand principle that originally gathered the congregation. The familiarity of its members with the Reports of Missionary and Bible Societies, and the monthly details in magazines, is also part of the external machi nery, by which religious interest and curiosity are maintained in activity. Every month each person has subject for conversation new from the press; and the regular recurrence of this, twelve times in the year, renovates the sanguine; and on the more indifferent operates as water upon a rock. It is indeed obvious, that persons, judged by charity herself to be practically one with the world, may subscribe to institutions for the suppression of vice, and for the distribution of Bibles. They retain their own, vices, and neglect their own Bibles. But here also, a respect for other men's exertions in causes allowedly good, extorts sympathy. The very effects of this sympathy contribute to the modified popularity of evangelical preaching. They animate the congregation formed by such doctrine to continue their general system; which, as is already intimated, receives support from the measures out of doors; and unquestionably claims half its vigour from the cir cumstance of that doctrine being transferred from the Liturgy and the pulpit to the social converse of domestic life, and to the infusion of that doctrine into the regular acts of domestic devotion. The religion of individual families is reflected back upon the aggregate assembly. In the generality of congregations, there is none of this spiritual commerce. There is no esprit du corps: The external frame wants vitality; it is inert, rigid, and motionless. 4. I must now bespeak the reader's candour, by suggesting, as another reason, the difference between preaching nothing but what is properly evangelical, and preaching the whole of what is sc. In making this distinction to bear upon our subject, I refer to the many, many, instances, where ministers. contrive to be orthodox, and even spiritual, without leaving a sting in the consciences of their hearers. What they say may be, indeed, scriptural, and purely scriptural. They speak "the truth," and " nothing but the truth;" but not "the whole truth." This negative property may be one source of their popularity. Few men in the habit of attending them, will resent the most humiliating representations of human corruption, or refuse to verify the highest ascriptions of glory to Christ, so long as these two great subjects of evangelical instruction do not come too near their own sins and deficiencies. It is, however, one thing to own, generally, our hereditary and actual guilt; another to specify how we have 486 offended. The character of Mrs. allowed to be innocent. This T Ranby (in Cœlebs), who was all sin, great concession. It gives um : but with no faults, is a case in point, considerable influence over the neucommercial towns above mentioned, which, in the event of any dispute, Let a preacher, at any of the four tral party; and the party also ask some of his admiring followers, may find it necessary to weigh the if they mean to refund the five or moral merit of the combatants. I ten per cent. which, in certain bar will myself, however, offer much gains with incautious dealers, they more than this negative commendaSuperadded to the fair profits on tion; and assert, that as far as my their articles; let him tell them, own knowledge testifies, the moral that this dexterity does, indeed, purity of the evangelical class, geneplainly prove them to be "miser. rally, far exceeds that of their opable sinners;" and finally, let him ponents, and in many instances assure them, that unless they repent, seems to realize the practical godthey shall "all likewise perish ;" liness described in the lives of saints and I question, whether this teach. and martyrs. Their manner in pube er's popularity will long survive lic, even separated from all consi his faithfulness. Or, let him se derations of doctrine and personal riously advise certain of the "fairest character, must unquestionably preof creation," not to expose their possess the mass of disinterested atfigures and their vanity, by inde- tendants, I say, the mass; because corous and costly attire, and sink occasional deviations of earnestness the Christian--how dare I say it! into vehemence and wildness do in the woman; let him quote to not affect them, so as to make the the sparkling circle, original feelings of respect yield to Whereas, the contrary not unfre those of disapprobation and disgust. hearer makes pretensions to false, quently takes place, when the and sometimes to true, refinement, If a clergyman be practically in different to the effect of bis preaching, his manner will natu rally be spiritless. He will appear in the pulpit, as the generality of the people in their pews; he to read his sermon, they to hear it; and then, every end of the two parties seems to be fully answered. Both leave the church; and on the succeeding Sundays, the physical act is repeated with the same con sequences. But if a clergyman view his public instructions as concurrent with other important agen. cies to bring about a most serious effect, and an effect which properly begins when he has finished his part; or an effect to be added to what is already produced, in order to mature a great design always tending towards perfection, but certain never to reach it; this ten dency, moreover, being subject to perpetual interruption if a mis "Together lie her prayer-book and her paint, At once to improve the sinner and the saint," and he must, I fear, resign himself to the forfeiture of such pleasant compliment and raillery as no man, be his vesture black or scarlet, can surrender without a pang. On this point, I formally appeal to all your clerical readers-if unmarried. The admiring followers abovementioned, will yet classify mi nisters, as themselves believe, with impartiality and precision. They will almost tolerate rudeness to instructors," both in and out of the establishment," unless accredited by their own party; and upon select few may be showered all that favouritism can collect, and selfcomplacency distribute. the 5. A far more worthy source of popularity is the personal character, and the manner of conducting divine service, which characterize the generality of evangelical instructors. To say the least, no man detects them in such offences as the current opinion of the world formally condemns. Their lives are answer. A religion which expressly "All faith beside or did by arms ascend, friend. This only doctrine does our lusts oppose, This ster of Jesus Christ thus look before and after," nothing that he says from the chair of instruction can be delivered without his affections acting upon his utterance. Not that all men, like the ancient father, thunder and lighten, while awakening the consciences of the impenitent, and confirming the souls of the elect. A feeble constitution, a mind naturally slow and unready, or a disposition incapable of approaching to any kind of fervid and impassioned emotion, will discover itself even in an eyangelist. But with every deduction, a teacher, formed on the Christian model, will, as opposed to others, lead the devotion, and appeal to the hearts, of his congregation, as with the energy of an informing spirit, from whom is diffused around And with a stubborn patience still aspires.” vitality and a principle of endur. ance, Now, I conceive, that the semblance, and much more, the actual possession and display of this character, must operate upon the irreligious themselves so far as to effect (while they are unconscious of the influence) this conviction. "If the man be mistaken, he is ne vertheless sincere!" Did this persuasion survive its immediate cause, the seed which falls by the way. side would spring up and bear fruit an hundred fold. As it is, it is trodden down, and the fowls of the air devour it. DRYDEN. Is this the religion, which is to furnish materials for the speculation of philosophers, and to flatter the physical appetites of the populace! Here I shall venture to express a difficulty I have in understanding that part of our Lord's appeal to his conduct, as proving who hears; namely, to the poor the Gospel is preached. If John's disciples were to understand by this, that Jesus, (contrary to the practice of the jewish hierarchy, who were "grieved" that he and his followers" taught the people") meant spiritually to equalize mankind, by opening the kingdom of heaven to all believers, to plebeian and Samaritan, as well as to a rabbi, or a Hebrew of the Hebrews, the difficulty is removed. But if, in correspondence to a common interpretation, he would instruct John that the poor would more gladly than their superiors in riches and station, receive the Gospel, I must then assert, that my experience, if it do not positively refuse this interpretation, certainly does by no means confirm it. I incline rather to think, that religion takes its station more frequently in the first and second ranks above the poor, than with po verty itself. Nor does this opinion militate against the calculations of a consummate judge (Mrs. H. More), who somewhere says, that the most exalted piety in individuals is to be found in the two extremes of society. This is not denying, that taken mass for mass, the middle classes morally excel both the highest and the lowest. How many cottagers, and abject paupers, could I name, whose souls seem to be embittered against the Gospel of Christ Jesus, to a degree which some persons suppose exclusively to exist in the minds of metaphysical infidels! Oh, I could tell them, that Christ appears to be crucified afresh by beggars loathsome with wretchedness, and dying by inches beneath the combined pressure of hunger, nakedness, and disease; and under all this misery have I heard them justify their crimes with the readiness and dexterity of a practised sophist, as though they were as tenacious of their sins as of their lives. for; to their pastoral visits; actr of charity; readiness to give as sistance, and protection, in cases where the unaptness and ignorance of the parties themselves expose them to losses; and, to their upright me. thods of transacting secular business. Could we look into men's hearts, how great a share of some clergy. men's local popularity would be seen to proceed (forgive this bluntness) from the attractions of halfcrowns, kitchens, cellars, and gar, dens! The objects of a pastor's bounty will swell the numbers of his congregation, and, with cheap and redundant expressions of gratitude, promise much; but (poor self-deceivers!) whatever they do, they will not return him the only thing he wants, namely, that they should "repent and be converted, that their sins may be blotted out." Little do they suspect, and no persuasion will convince them, that the wis dom of winning souls is all the while exercising itself to gain their's. Some indeed are won; but the rest receive the Sunday sermon and the week-day donation with one and the same feeling; I mean, as far as the reception of either confers a spiritual benefit. Among the absentees from the church of such a clergyman, will be found men who cannot be allured thither by any bait save that of worldly interest. For ex ample, substantial farmers, who are constant hearers up to the Sunday immediately preceding the Tuesday or Friday when the tithes are to be finally settled; and who hope, by thus timing their attendance, to soothe a new incumbent into a low compo sition. As he seeks "not their's, but them," so they seek not him, but his. But no moderation on his part can draw these wanderers back again. The rocks will not smile when the Sabbath appears; the sound of the church-going will be heard without emotion in houses situated within a few grave's length of the church itself. Their inhabitants were perhaps found in their pews, not seldom in the new The supposed popularity of evangelical instruction has been argued from the circumstances usually consequent upon the residence of an evangelical minister in a parish, where the preceding clergyman spent the summer with his fishing rods, and the winter with his dogs. The new minister generally increases the congregation, because his doctrine meets the taste of the major part of the parishioners. Such at least is the current mode of drawing conclusions. I allow the increase of the congregation at first, as a thing arising, in the absence of other causes, out of the fourth and fifth causes above adduced. But in country parishes, particularly where the clergyman is in effect a squire, or a half-squire, you must take into your account the operation of the extra causes concurrent with such as are more properly spiritual. I refer to the interest taken by the evangelical ministers in the instruction of poor children, which they personally superintend and pay and bell" clergyman's first quarter's residence; but when it was found out that he really meant what he said; and seriously designed, under the agency of the Holy Ghost, to "convince anen of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment;" when the seceders saw that, according to his scheme, something was actually to be done, "a cup to be drunk of," and "a baptism to be baptized with," they would leave him to " go out into the high ways and hedges, and gather the poor, lame, and blind." Them he might "compel to fill his house;" but themselves "will not taste of his supper." There are certainly exceptions to this part of my statement, even at this day. The picture, however, which Addison painted of a country church*, like other originals of the great masters, is seldom well copied. I confess, indeed, that the only thing in the original which I ever admired was the number and external regularity of the congregation. All the rest is doubtless a passably faithful representation of nature; but nature has her deformities, and many of them sufficiently repulsive. Whatever there was in Coverley church, church-yard, and clergyman, there was no religion. Neither, it will be said, was there any evil. This is asserting a great deal. I want to know, whether Christianity allows the existence of a something which she can neither praise nor blame; and whether a clergyman can preach, and a layman hear, a sermon, which leaves them both precisely as it found them. Christ's words are," he that is not with me is against me." In the reign of Anne, the recollection of the Esta blishment's struggles, first with the Non-conformists, and then with the Spectator, No. 112. See also No. 106.-Either the character of the English yeomanry and peasantry is radically changed since the days of Addison, or his account of the chaplain's influence over the tenantry is a false picture. Mr. Crabbe seems to have characterized mankind with greater accuracy. Papists, and its outward triumph over both, was sufficiently fresh to cause, in the bulk of the people, such a predilection in favour of the church, as persuaded them to attend its services with a degree of personal interest. Victrix causa placuit. Yet of the rustics of Coverley it must be said, that they were either drawn to church by the baronet's influence, or they went thither because they went. A century is just elapsed since those days. The populace do not seem now to have a more natural prejudice in favour of religious observances than their superiors. How matters stand among the Dissenters, I know not; and I wish that some competent person among them would inform us, whether, in their congregations, the indigent members exceed in numbers or spiritual excellence the more affluent. You would not, Sir, I presume, refuse to admit his statement, bearing, as it would do, upon the great subject of our common salvation," and tending to ascertain the degree of acceptance which evangelical preaching now obtains in the various divisions of the Christian world, and specifically among the poor. However episcopalians may disapprove of the discipline of the separatists, yet all practical believers will range under one banner, when the Gospel itself, the acknowledged hope and consolation of all, is opposed, as such, to the craft and violence of the world at large.The matter is certainly very serious. Machiavel himself, I have been told, regarded the popular desertion of public worship, and the neglect of the Sabbath, among the marks of a declining empire; and, on this consideration, advised even atheist legislators to maintain the exterior forms of religion. Napoleon appears to have adopted the Florentine's policy. Should he become (as Mr. Walsh suggests) the prophet as well as the emperor of the west, this ultimate reach of despotism may be ventured with a view to secure the conquests of the sword by the firmer triumphs of a new faith. He may know, what |