not that any considerable number of Dissenters has, on inquiry and conviction, become attached to the National Establishment, but that several individuals have-from an opinion hastily assumed, that the subject, is left at large in the New Testament, and that no importance is attached to it allowed themselves to desert the profession of religion to which they had been habituated from their childhood, and to join the Establishment, from a variety of secondary considerations. Worldly profit and reputation, which are generally on the side of a form of religion patronized by the State, have had their influence on some; the example of friends and relatives has been the motive with others; and a preference for the preaching of some good minister in the church, has been with a third class the determining point-while the question of scriptural precedents, and the aathority of the New Testament, has been scarcely adverted to.' p. ix, x.'

There is, we apprehend, another yet more fruitful cause of this indifference, for in very few cases does it amount to an actual dereliction of Dissenting principles. It is well known that there are not a few places of worship, which are, properly speaking, Dissenting Meeting-houses, and licensed as such, yet which in ritual and mode of worship, approximate very near to those by law established. A part at least of the liturgy is read; canonicals are worn by the officiating minister or reader; the walls and windows are decorated; and all external appearances seem intended to convey the opinion that the difference is very trifling, if any, between them and episcopal chapels. Members of Dissenting churches, from motives of convenience or some other cause, not unfrequently attend, with their families, at these chapels. Pastors of Dissenting churches frequently Occupy their pulpits, and even their desks, and the consequence is, as might be expected, that the younger branches of such families do not think it worth while, on so slight a ground of difference, to subject themselves to the reproach of being esteemed Methodists or Dissenters, and take refuge within the pale of the Establishment.

It is not to be expected, that in a series of familiar letters not exceeding eleven in number, the whole case should be made out, and the whole field of controversy traversed. Some of the prin cipal points are however stated and argued by the anonymous Author of these Letters, with candour, perspicuity, and talent. In the First, the design of the work is announced, viz. to excite young persons, who may not yet have considered the subject, to inquire what can be said in favour of the forms to which they have been accustomed, and what pleas can be instituted by those who deviate from them; and not to decide, till they have compared both with the Scriptures, and thus enable ⚫ themselves to judge which is most consonant with the inspired "testimony.

While I rejoice,” says this writer, that Churchmen and Dissenters are seen walking together in all those paths where they

think alike, I should be grieved to see that either you, or any other of my beloved young friends, desert, without full inquiry, a mode of professing the Gospel, which I am increasingly persuaded is founded on the plan of the primitive churches; and is more adapted, than any establishment whatever, to promote the great interests of the kingdom of Christ. A Churchman, enlightened in the knowledge of his own principles, will always be most libéral towards those who differ from him; and a Dissenter well acquainted with the true basis of his religious profession, will always be disposed to regard with! cordial affection those who cannot think precisely with himself. p. 14. In the Second Letter, the importance of the question is proved, and it is fully shewn

that it is the duty of every Christian to endeavour to arrive at a settled judgment as to the laws of Christ, in reference to the form and order and dis pline of his Church. It is not, indeed of such magnitude as to prevent me from giving the right hand of fellowship to one who conscientiously differs from me, or to hinder my union with him in all points in which we are agreed; but certainly it becomes me to inquire on which side the strength of evidence lies in those matters in which we differ.' p. 15, 16.

In the Third and Fourth Letters, the question of the constiturtion and government of a Christian Church, is discussed, both in opposition to those who contend that no scriptural model is furnished, by which our Churches are to be embodied; and those who conceive that the established hierarchy of this country best accords with that authoritative standard. Testimonies are collected from the pages of inspiration, to prove that the primitive Churches were congregational, and under the superintendence of their elected pastors. One of these Letters concludes with the following candid appeal to common sense. **

This is. I know, a very imperfect sketch of a subject, of which the discussion has filled volumes. But I mean simply to invite you to the unbiassed perusal of such parts of the New Testament as touch on the matter. Read the Acts with a pen and paper before you: mark down all the places, in which the forms and modes of professing the Gospel are noticed; review these passages; compare them fairly, accurately, and impartially; and let me know, as the result, whether you really think, that these descriptions are most applicable to such societies as subsist among the Protestant Dissenters in this country, or to the Church by law established.' p. 32, 33,

The Fifth Letter contains an impressive representation of the nature and design of the Institution of the Lord's Supper, and a comparative view is taken of the mode of administering this holy rite within, and without the pale of the Establishment. And here we are somewhat surprised, that the Author has not even glanced at the profanation, for we cannot employ a milder term, of this ordinance, which is sanctioned by law, and daily practised; and in which it is constituted a qualification to secular offices.

From this subject, the transition is natural, in the Sixth Letter, to the ordinance of Baptism, and after all the arguments that have recently been adduced to prove the contrary, the Author still affirms that the Church of England maintains, in her Articles, her Catechism, and her Formularies, the doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration.

If regeneration be that high and exalted blessing which it is repre sented to be in the New Testament, then, according to the Church, baptism is the means of effecting that which, according to the New Testament, is attributed to the operations of the Divine Spirit. Or, if the ordinance of baptism be considered simply as the token of a Christian profession, then the meaning of regeneration must be greatly sunk from the high importance annexed to it in the lively oracles In either case, the service is exceedingly inconsistent, and to a thinking mind, one should suppose, must be very unsatisfactory' p. 65, 6.

In the Seventh Letter, some objections are made to parts of the Liturgy, while its general excellence is admitted; and the advantages of free, or as it is usually called, extemporary prayer, are asserted. In the Eighth and Ninth Letters, the question of edificution is discussed; and several reasons are assigned, why pre-arranged services, and services which do not admit of an adaptation to circumstances, are not likely to produce so lively an interest, or to awake so much of the spirit of devotion, as when, under the conduct of a well informed and spiritual ministry, those services are brought to bear upon existing circumstances and events. In the last two letters, a most valuable practical use is made of the preceding discussion, by shewing, that a revived attention to these subjscts, so far from tending to disunite, would induce a more cordial co-operation, by making the body of Dissenters firm, yet liberal, well informed, and highly devotional. We shall conclude this article with introducing a short extract on the last of these topics.

When Dissenters become worldly men, and the Nonconformist Society degenerates into a worldly sanctuary, it cannot be surprising that our congregations decline in numbers, and eventually lose their firmness, their candour, their zeal, their every commendable trait. Where the spirit of the world pervades one of our churches, it is followed either by a party bigotry, which will allow of nothing good or worthy out of its own inclosure; or by an undistinguishing and fallacious liberality, which considers every thing to be indifferent. In either case, the usual result is, that if the parents maintain the shew of Nonconformity, their children become members of the Establishment, not from conviction or inquiry, but because, having been taught that the difference is small and inconsiderable, they easily conclude it most desirable to associate with the majority. The conformity in these cases is usually of the most unedifying description. It is a conformity to the world rather than to the church, or to that side of the church which is most assimilated to the world.' p. 121, 2.

Austria, the Tyrol, Italy and Sicily, in the Spring of 1814. Small 8vo. Gale and Fenner. London, 1815.

is much to be wished, that travellers would preserve some proportion between the size and expense of their volumes, and the value of their communications. The inordinate desire of appearing in the dress and with the decorations of a quarto, has often, we suspect, tempted a writer to extend to an insipid and wearisome length, materials which, in a simple and com pressed form, might have commended themselves to general attention; and a similar taste for typographical bulk and magnificence, has seduced many a writer to stretch and colour his periods, till their native and more graceful plainness had entirely. disappeared, in order that his style might be more in harmony with the finery of its garb. Besides, it is always mortifying, and sometimes inconvenient to the purchaser, to be compelled to pay an extravagant premium for mere paper and press-work, while the substance of the book might be more advantageously read in a moderate octavo; and the just vexation of spirit thus awakened, may not unfrequently give a splenetic cast to his estimate of the work itself. These remarks have been suggested to us--mons a non movendo-by the plain and unpretending form in which the volume before us, presents itself to the reader.

The Author, aware that he bad but little to say, has had the sound judgement not to awaken expectations which he had not the means of gratifying. There is, in truth, a very slender portion of information to be found in this " Tour," even considered as a mere itinerary; nor is there much of that interest, which, in the absence of instruction, is sometimes to be found in vivid description and spirited narration. The Tourist now and then endeavours at reasoning and speculation; and occasionally intimates his familiar acquaintance with the classics. Of his success in the first of these, we cannot afford room for an example; but of the latter we find an eminent illustration in the motto to his journal: Virumque cano-words which na doubt have an application, though we have not been able to discover it; what man this "merchant" sings, or whether he sings at an, we must leave it to himself to ascertain. At the same time, the book is not altogether without merit.

Though the traveller moved rapidly, and both saw and reflected superficially, he neither falsifies nor exaggerates; he describes what he has actually heard and seen, precisely as the various objects presented themselves before him. The period, too, at which he travelled, was a very interesting one.

It was only a few weeks subsequent to the re-opening of the

continent of Europe, after a non-intercourse, both politically andYA commercially considered, without a parallel; so that several circumstances are described which have never been disclosed before, but which the author flatters himself, will not be uninteresting to the public.

J

Connected with this peculiar character of the season, were a number of little circumstanees which occurred during the route, and exhibited both the inhabitants and the scenery in no ordinary point of view. When the "merchant" reached Venice, of which he gives a somewhat better account than is usual with him, and visited the celebrated place of St. Mark,

⚫ an interesting ceremony was going forward. The inhabitants had made a vow, during the blockade, that if they were released from their sufferings in a given period, they would celebrate their deliverance by a public procession for ten days. This vow was made at a moment when many were perishing with famine, as no provisions could be got into the city, and the Austrians were besieging it very closely. After the procession had gone several times round the square, it entered the church of St. Mark; where, divesting yourself of any prejudice you might have with regard to the mummery then going on, you could not but feel with the public for the occasion which had brought them together. The slow music of the organ; the thousand lighted wax tapers reflecting upon the gilded vaults; the dresses of the women, whose faces were covered with white veils ; the liveries of the different religious communities; the solemn chaunt of the priests formed altogether a most impressive scene. As I left the church, hundreds of miserable creatures, who had spent all the little property they had during the siege, flocked round me, Women with five or six children lay on the ground imploring charity whilst some, who had seen better days, told me a pitiful tale, with their faces concealed in a veil. Their black dress proclaimed them to be of noble birth. I heard afterwards, that many men, whe before the French Revolution had been affluent, were now serving as valets-de-chambre, or in situations equally mean: indeed my cicerone was one of those unfortunate beings, and unhappiness seemed depicted upon his countenance. pp. 122-124.

At Florence, our Tourist met with a poet who laid him under contribution.

Just as I had taken coffee after dinner to-day, somebody rapped at the door. “Enter," said I. A meagre ill-dressed person walked in, with a letter in his hand. That cannot be for me,” said I. "Yes, it is," answered he: "look at the address," It was certainly directed to

"Monsieur

1 opened it hastily, wondering who could have found me out, particularly as I had seen no one whom I knew. My curiosity was soon