we halls; its endowments and prerogatives, belong to England; and as her free - born subjects, therefore regard all these things as part of our birth - right,the heir-looms which have descended to us from our fathers, respecting the application of which we have as good a right to utter our opinion as the proudest prince or prelate of the land. There is now an impression abroad, that something must be done to reform and amend the abnses which belong inherently, or have crept into the ecclesiastical establishment. As the friends of fair inquiry, and the enemies of corruption, we rejoice that attention is about to be directed to such things; and satisfied that truth and religion must be gainers from every such investigation, we are willing to assist in carrying forward the inquiry. Mr. Nihill is a fellow-labourer with Mr. Acaster; he writes in a serious style, and is evidently deeply impressed with the dangers to which he believes the church to be exposed, and with great earnestness and fidelity points out what he believes to be the true sources of those dangers. He reduces them to three heads, Politics, Polemics, and Providence. This is certainly neither the most logical nor intelligible arrangement that might be adopted; but as it is our object to let the writer speak, than to speak ourselves, we shall not Mr. quarrel with him about it. Nihill regards the passing of the Catholic Repeal Bill as a measure of great danger to the Church; he regards her chief protection as depending on Parliament; and, from his views of Parliament, his confidence in the security which it affords is evidently very low. "The dangerous situation in which parliament has thus placed the Church of England, is aggravated by her destitution of that kind of natural defence which other denominations enjoy. Under the name of conferences,' assemblies,' and similar terms, the Protestant Dissenters 6 are provided with means of watching over, cherishing, and advancing the interests of their several communities. The strict discipline, the subordination, the esprit de corps, which prevail in the Romish hierarch, secure for their church that species of protection which is congenial to its character and politics. But the Church of England, stripped of her Convocations, and unprovided with any substitute for those deliberative assemblies, possesses no corporate means of adapting her defence to an approaching danger. She is consequently cast upon parliament alone for protection; in other words, she is abandoned to the care and guardianship of a body whose composition forbids her reliance. For of what materials does that body consist? Of a vast number of men of the world, whose very method of procuring seats in the legislature demonstrates the absence of all sound principle and all pure religion! Of a number of political philosophers who habitually sneer at revealed truth!-Of an indefinite number of Dissenters, whose separation from the Church proves their unfitness to legislate for her! Of an indefinite number of Roman Catholics, now clothed with the same anomalous privilege! - Of, perhaps, a few really pious individuals, whose views are too unsettled, and whose consistency is too frail to warrant any confidence!--And, if we close the catalogue with a few staunch and faithful sons of the National Church ; their number is, alas! too small to shield, in the hour of danger, their venerable and afflicted parent! "The political danger arising from the character of parliament would be less, if the country at large were pervaded by a strong feeling of attachment to the na tional communion. But it is a lamentable fact, that the affection of the people for the Establishment has gradually declined, and is at present deplorably lukewarm. I am aware that the country may be said to have expressed its opinion by a great mass of petitions against the Roman Catholic claims; but that expression, after all, was forced and apathetic. Had the danger been felt in the degree pretended, the national movement would have been too strong for aristocratic power or ministerial influence. England would have raised her indignant voice in a strain incapable of being repressed. Petitions would have emanated, not from holes and corners, but from unanimous county meetings. The people would have rallied round their bishops and pastors, and not left it to a few zealots of party to fabricate their demonstrations of alarm,-to stir up their careless and reluctant support."pp. 3, 4. We of course differ with the author on the subject of Catholic Emancipation; but we fully agree with him in opinion that the great body of our legislators care nothing about the Church of England, but as it is an engine of government. In their views and hands, it is a mere secular institution; as much as the army or the custom-house, and they will not respect it more than these institutions, except in as far as their political designs may be promoted by it. But this is no new thing; it has been so from the Reformation; and it is this state of matters that renders evils so inveterate and incurable in the Church. It is not only connected with the state, but so entirely dependant on it, that it has no separate existence of its own. Among the polemical dangers of the Church, we are surprised to find that Mr. Nihill, who appears to be a well-informed man, reckon. ing the intercourse between Churchmen and Dissenters. Would he break up that intercourse? We are afraid this would create far greater danger to the Church, than any of those he has adverted to. "It cannot be denied, that the most popular and active members of the Church of England, have formed coalitions with their dissenting brethren, and exhibited themselves on various occasions in reli. gious co-operation with them. Admitting that such individuals have never been so far led away by the eclat of liberality, as to lose sight of the ties which bind them to the Established Church, it may fairly be asked, whether the mass of the people are sufficiently enlightened to exercise the same discrimination ? Dissent implies an opinion that the Church is wrong. Religious co-operation with dissenters, implies some sanction of that opinion. There may be nice distinctions in the minds of the best-informed co-operators, but this is the practical impression. The least that can be said is that the people are betrayed into a persuasion that, whatever dark and mysterious ques. tions may originally have divided the Church and the dissenters, the conduct of the latter, so far from being an object of jealousy, is deserving of praise and imitation. If it be right to join with them they conceive, to unite with them on all; on one religious occasion, it is laudable, to mingle in their social worship, and to imbibe their sentiments. Is not this feeling, or something akin to it, extending itself even into the most obscure districts of our Church? and is not the minister who would check it regarded as an illiberal bigot? The consequence is, that, in the view of the people, a sort of parochial partnership is imagined between the Established Clergy and the dissenting ministers, to the dissolution of all pastoral ties. It is a partnership, however, applying only to that portion of the community which may be regarded as the property of the Church. The regular, confirmed sectarians, with laudable consistency, confine themselves to their own systems; and besides, the Established from the slightest intrusion into the folds Clergy, from various motives, abstain of their dissenting brethren. There is, consequently, no reciprocal proselytism : on the contrary, the sectaries have all the profit, the Church has all the loss. It is easy to say, in defence of the practices alluded to, that the Church of England can never suffer from moderation, liberality, and a Catholic spirit: it is no less easy to affirm, that the dissenters are, on their part, liberal in mixing and co-operating with the members of the Establishment. The truth is, that the Church of England, however superior in the abstract, is not in a condition to meet the dissenters on equal grounds. She therefore does, and cannot but lose by the kind of intercourse under consideration. And here lies the only objection which I make to it. I enter not into other topics. I confine myself to the danger which the Church encounters in her present state. Without order and discipline, without occasional revisions, without systematic co operation among her ministers, without any distinct understanding, on the part of the laity, of her characteristic features, or their obligations to her communion, she is in a state of languor unknown to dissenting institutions. If it was fitting to descend from her vantage ground and mingle in the level arena, her people ought previously to have been fortified against temptations to desert her. Let the abuses of the Church be first reformed; let her be fixed on a firm footing in the country; let her children be armed with an enlightened spirit of attachment to her refers to the system of patronage; communion; and then, perhaps, there but he seems to forget that this is may be no dread of their defection. But, the very thing which gives the until means be taken by the Church for these important purposes, her stability must ever be hazarded by promiscuous co-operation with seceders."―pp. 14-16. This we confess is very curious reasoning, but which we apprehend is adopted by many Churchmen; as the progress of the age, of late, does not seem to be growing on the side of liberality. Yet Mr. Nihill does not wish to be considered illiberal; nor perhaps is he so. "In adverting to the advantages possessed by the rivals of the Establishment, I trust I have not been actuated by any invidious feeling. My object has been to shew, that the polemical dangers which threaten our beloved Church are numerous, formidable, and increasing, in order that her best friends may be awakened to her real situation. Possibly I may not have succeeded in my endeavours to explain the nature and operation of those dangers; but I fear the fact is beyond dispute, that, amongst the most intelligent of the lower and middle classes, the cause of dissent is rapidly advancing. Witness the appearance of those strong holds of sectarianism, our manufacturing towns; and that a similar spirit is spreading fast into the agricultural districts, is evinced by the numerous conventicles which have sprung up and studded the face of the land. Far be it from me to recommend acrimonious feelings between Christians; (the sequel will show the reverse,) but when we are told that the promiscuous religious proceedings of modern times are not only deserving of all the general credit which they claim, but that they work no danger to the Church of England, I cannot help saying, that she would have far less to fear from any hostile attitude which the dissenters could assume, than from that species of conciliation which melts away the population from her. In the former case, she might be put upon the defensive, might be led to reform her errors, and to strengthen her system: in the latter, she is beguiled into a lethargy, while dangers thicken round her head."-PP. 23, 34. On the providential dangers of the Church, there are many things well deserving of attention. Many of the evils of the Church he justly state, or existing government, an interest in the church. Take it away, and what would they then care for the Church of England? Nothing. He is perfectly right in the following representation of the case. "But what is the fact? The patronage time being; that is to say, by a succesis exercised by the prime minister for the sion of men whose habits and pursuits disqualify them, in general, for the discharge of so sacred a trust. Devoted to politics, slaves to ambition, their minds circumscribed by mere worldly maxims, they seldom rise to that grand comprehensive view of what is really the best national, as well as the best ecclesiastical policy,-to uphold the state by strengthening the pillars of morality and religion, and, to that end, to seek out the purest, the most pious, the most disinterested men to fill the offices of the Church. A system directly opposite has long prevailed. The royal patronage has been reduced to an engine of state, and used merely in subserviency to party and political objects. Deviations may sometimes be seen, but the general current of nomination has been unquestionably of this description, and the effect upon our Church is stamped in characters too broad not to excite the apprehensions of every conscientious Churchman. How little, for example, are the qualifications which St. Paul requires in a Bishop, in the thoughts of the Premier when he is about to fill a vacant see! His reference is, not to the voice of inspiration, or to the lofty dictates of Christian policy, but to the list in which he registers the claims and importunities of his Parliamentary adherents. I do not deny that occasional homage is paid to our universities, by the elevation of their most distinguished scholars; and that, even in adopting the nomination of some powerful noble, the minister may expect the candidate to be unstained by any glaring reproach; but, warm piety, glowing charity, and self-denying zeal; meekness of wisdom, disinexperience; qualities so essential to the terestedness, energy, extensive parochial right discharge of the episcopal office, how rarely are they sought for, and drawn into the field of action! The stamp. Why are they not brought forward to sustain her reputation, to silence Church no doubt contains men of this her adversaries, and to convince the world that the mantles of her Cranmer, her Ridley, and her other primitive luminaries, have descended on succeeding generations? The policy which has prevailed in the highest appointments, has been no less faithfully pursued throughout the general range of royal patronage, and it has, in truth, inflicted an unsightly wound upon our Church. It excites the ridicule of her enemies, it paralyses the efforts of her most faithful sons, and how, let me solemnly ask, can Providence be expected to rega:d it?"-pp. 27-29. All this is true, most true; but how should it be otherwise? Can the man of the world be expected to act in a different manner? Mr. Nihill is a firm believer in Episcopacy; but he has evidently a very low opinion of the persons generally holding this office.. "The majority of the Clergy seldom see the face of their diocesan except at a triennial visitation; their intercourse with him by letter is limited to a few dry points of form. And with regard to the people --what is there to attach them to these high dignitaries? The fact is, that except in the immediate vicinity of an Episcopal residence, the people behold a Bishop about as often as they behold a Comet, and have as much notion of any benefit derived by the Church from the one as from the other. I say not this to give offence; I love and venerate the Episcopal order, and it is because I wish to see the people love and venerate it too, that I lament the infrequency of a bishop's appearance among them. It would be a goodly and profitable sight, to behold our Right Reverend Fathers in God, going forth continually to bestow their blessing, to make known their usefulness, and to enable every member of our Church to appreciate the advantage of their mild and paternal sway."-pp. 30, 31. of England, asserting in plain and reso- From the bishops, he descends to the inferior clergy; and as we must suppose, not only that his opportunities of judging are far better than ours, but that he is too much a party to bear false witness against his brethren, he is entitled to be heard with attention. We admire the honesty and straightforwardness of the following state ments. "It is no uncommon thing to hear a panegyric upon the ministers of the Church "With regard to learning, a very slender portion of divinity, engrafted on what may be termed a liberal education, will Indeed the modicum of theology is so suffice for admission into holy orders. slight, that a very short interval after a young gentleman has graduated at the university, is found sufficient for its attainment. The sacred office is consequently assumed under many serious disadvantages from crudity and carelessness, of ministerial acquirements exceedingly which are calculated to keep the standard low. Men who jump into the ministry by a sudden effort, instead of undergoing the course, are not likely to lay the proper probation of a regular and laborious foundation in after life, amid the calls of official duty and the amusements of a luxurious age. The great majority of submit to so much literary labour as is English clergymen do, in reality, never necessary to the composition of their own ing to prove the small degree of learning sermons; and, if another test were wantrequired, it might be found in the notorious fact, that where persons are somewhat beis frequently considered by their parents low par in point of intellect or exertion, it a reason for assigning them to the church. "With regard to piety, how can it be imagined, where testimonials, the chief and almost the sole security for that qualification, are treated as mere forms, and where secular motives are so prevalent in raising up candidates for the ministry— how can it be imagined, I say, that warm personal piety should be, to any great extent, the attribute of the clerical profession? The ministry of the church of England is supplied, not from a particular of the community; and consequently, the tribe or family, but from the general body early spiritual advantages of our clergy must correspond with the general state of religion throughout the country. Unhappily, in this lax and luxurious age, there is little provision in private life for training up young persons in habits of deep and steady piety. The world takes early possession of the heart; and pride and selfishness find too much encouragement in parental indulgence and example. In the majority of schools, both public and private, religion is degraded into a secondary object, if regarded at all. Meanwhile the dispositions of the natural heart, inflamed by the high spirits of youth, and nourished by a variety of incentives, are moulded into a more settled character; a character, to say the least, far removed from the meekness, the purity, the tenderness, and the elevation, of which genuine piety is composed. The young candidates for holy orders next pass to the universities,-the resort, in modern times, of all the wealth and rank of the country; and here there is an unavoidable mixture, which, whatever may be its advantages in other respects, has a tendency to infect the clergy with the vices and follies of fashionable life. In truth, nothing appears more wanting than some intermediate institution between the university and the church, where persons intended for orders might devote themselves to professional study, shake off the vices of their previous education, and cultivate the graces which are expected in the minis ters of God. Assuredly some regulation is needed to check the precipitation with which young men are accustomed to rush into the sacred office; something required to beget more serious thoughts of its responsibility. But that we may better judge of the real character of our clergy, in regard to piety, it will be expedient to divide them into three classes. In the first, let us place those whose bosoms glow with sublime devotion to the Supreme Being, and who may in truth be said habitually to walk with God. This portion is, I believe, comparatively very small. In another, let us place ministers of an opposite description. It is notorious that improper persons are frequently admitted into holy orders, and that they find the path to ordination as open and facile to them as to others. The difficulty, in the present day, of finding situations in other walks of genteel life, occasions an unusual press of persons, actuated by low and selfish motives, into the church; and this, added to the facility of admission, renders the class under consideration much more numerous than the one with which we have contrasted it. Between the two, we may place an intermediate set of men, consisting of those whose demeanour bespeaks a respect for their sacred duties, and a kind of general reverence for religion. Yet of these it may be said, that their devotional habits hardly rise to that degree of spirituality, which is necessary to the existence of genuine and decided piety. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh;' and were the heart conscious of this celestial flame, the personal character and conversation of clergymen would be far more conducive to the glory of God, far less capable of compromise with the world, than we usually find them."pp. 33---36. To these statements we are dis posed to add nothing of our own; nor will we offer any remarks on them. They are made by a very honest man, who will be looked at with an evil eye by his brethren, for having too far exposed his parent's nakedness. In such a state of things we assuredly feel no pleasure. It is connected with much evil, and ought not to be perpetuated under the Christian name. It is this state of matters Mr. Nihill wishes to see reformed; but the remedy for such evils who can find? On this subject the following passage is important: it points out the almost insurmountable difficulties with which the business is encumbered. "If, however, judging from past experience, and from present appearances, there seems no prospect of so glorious an effort if our Bishops are determined to persevere in that passive system which has long sat as an incubus on the Establishment; to whom next are we to look for her defence? Seeing that there is a prevalent and a growing conviction, that something must be done with a view to Church reform, shall the Clergy step forth and declare that their peculiar office invests them with all the honour and responsibility of the work? Alas! the Clergy, as a body, are too far gone in apathy to make any great and united exertion! The individuals who, by station and property, possess the chief prominence among them, and are best able to excite local attention, are, moreover, interested in many of the abuses which it would be an object to remedy. But did no such obstacles exist: were the Ministers of the Established Church, in general, touched with a sense of her situation, and animated by a pious wish to repair her desolations, still, any exclusive attempt on their part to strengthen the nerves of discipline, would awaken lay jealousy, and be represented as a revival of priestcraft. Shall we then turn our eyes from the clerical body, and expect |