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the Arabs of Mohammed advance so far as to threaten the very existence of Christendom, till they were stopped before the walls of Vienna: and so at last did most of these empires" rush by their own weight." How strikingly do these wonderful changes confirm the words of Job, "He increaseth the nations and destroyeth them he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again."

3. The history of the world shews that human nature is the same in all ages and all countries. It has been our object," says one writer, "to draw examples from a great variety of sources; from different countries in different ages and in different states of civilization; and to show that no particular virtues or vices have been inherent in any age or nation: believing that human nature and human passions are everywhere alike."* Conspiracies," observes another writer," bear in general an exact resemblance in history; everywhere the same foundation; everywhere the same passions, the same springs, and the same artifices; there is a still more perfect resemblance to be found in particular actionsmall appear framed upon the same model.+

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long intervals, remarks a third," the same startling facts which had already caused our forefathers to lift up their eyes in astonishment, return, like comets, from the darkest depths of history. There is a continual recurrence of the same snares, the same falls, the same treasons, the same shipwrecks on the same rocks: the names change, the things continue."+

The tyranny of the strong, the sufferings of the weak, meet us on every hand. The inhabitants of the earth, instead of confining their united efforts to warding off the inclemency of the seasons, and removing the many inconveniences attendant on human infirmity, are found ranged under the banners of those two great foes of our species, superstition and war, and engaged in almost continual contention. So similar in absurdity have been the religious rites of various *Historical Parallels, i. 9.

Life and Times of Rienzi, p. 1.
Le Rhin, par Victor Hugo, Lettre xi.

heathen nations, that philosophers have often attempted to trace them to one source: and perhaps we may safely admit that in all of them a few great truths may be found, distorted into hideousness by the perversity of man. The worship of ridiculous idols, useless austerities and selfmaceration sanctified immoralities -a fiery zeal against those of a contrary faith are they not reproduced in different shapes in every age and chime And war, that aggregation of mischiefs, has been, both with the civilized and the savage, the popular idol: while those advantages of body and mind, bestowed, we may suppose, for pure and lofty designs, are found prostituted to the basest urses, and effectuate a wider iniquity. A new world is, at length, discovered. "Surely," the philanthropist might have said, "in these regions sheltered from the vices of the rest of the nations, a purer race will be found." No; we hear that the very samé evils were dominant, the same prominent errors rampant. Even there, did the greedy altars of superstition ask for their victims, or a voluntary submission to torture, agonize the frame; even there, was man found the deadly enemy of man. 1(11)

It is deserving consideration how the monuments of other times, the embodiments, as it were, of historical facts, still remain on the earth's surface to bear testimony to the folly of man. Having outlived generations and empires, the Egyptian Sphinx is still couchant in the desert, and before her, hid beneath the sand, has been discovered an altar bearing the marks of idolatrous worship; the gigantic statues of the vast caverns of Elora though summoned in vain to tell the names of their sculptors, declare aloud their abounding superstition; at Anwick, in our own country, still stands the druidical stone with its artificial aperture, through which, probably, our ancestors passed their children or the victim to be sacrificed, that a kind of holiness might be imparted;§i and at Uxmal, in Yucatan, still are seen the ninety

§ See Dr. Oliver's Existing Remains of the Ancient, Britons, p. 28.

steps down which was kicked, by the priest, the bleeding carcass of the human victim.* From these widelyseparated monuments arises a significant voice distant ages and different characters of our species meet together in them as their representatives; but the declaration they make is uniform, their testimony agrees well together, that man is a fallen, sinful being, and very far gone from original righteousness. But they tell us more; they shew, too, that man has always confessed the necessity of an atonement of purification and regeneration. In acknowledgment of these truths, hecatombs have blazed, the purgations and discipline of the ancient Mysteries have been undergone, the beloved child has been sacrificed, and the frame has writhed under inexpressible tortures.

In

support of these truths, the philosopher and the savage agree: the Platonist lays down methods of cleansing defilements, and retrenching superfluities, by which the soul may be enabled to recover its wings; and the North American Indian offers his fingers, his favourite horse, or his most perfect arrow to the Great Spirit, or subjects himself to sickening cruelties, that he may receive an entrance into the beautiful hunting-grounds of heaven.†

Thus, the history of nations concurs in declaring that man has everywhere admitted, that as he is by nature, he is unfit for heaven. Something must be done by ourselves, or for us by another: " corruption cannot inherit incorruption" is the voice of mankind: these grovelling propensities, this fondness for self-indulgence, this easy yielding to the stream of every-day life-these cannot be the characteristics of a future denizen of eternity. "Old things must pass away, all things must become new,' before the soul can step forth into that loftier region whither its sighs are so frequently sent. Such have been the conclusions of the thoughtful in every age. Feeling its helplessness, the soul looked upwards, like a bird;

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*Stephens's Incidents of Travels in Yucatan, Vol. i. p. 317.

† Catlin's N. A. Indians, Vol. i. p. 157.

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this is Plato's metaphor, and finely does it indicate the struggling of the spirit, held like a captured bird by the fetters of sin and ignorance, and yet longing to soar up to the blue, pure sky, hanging glitteringly above

it.

And so, when the Son of God came among us, he "brought to light” these glorious truths, after which mankind had so long been seeking, if haply they might be found. Jesus came to give his life a ransom for many, to offer the atonement of which the need was everywhere virtually confessed; and his voice pronounced "Ye must be born again." And in his lips it was not a barren doctrine : for the Speaker had power to infuse a quickening energy into his words; he pointed out the way of purification, and declared it to consist in that new birth which the Holy Spirit descends to bestow.

But, human nature has continued the same, when unchanged or checked by Divine grace. The professors of a religion whose God is "love," whose proclamation is " peace," have rivalled pagan tyrants in cruelty: war has raged as before: superstition has loaded with tinsel ornaments the simple form of true religion, and wresting from her hand the olivebranch or the cross, has replaced it with the sword: and contending sects, in whatever else they may have differed, have almost universally agreed in a fondness for strife. On this subject it is ungracious and painful to dwell let every lover of the truth hope and pray, that a growing spirit of concord may shew that the pages of history have not been so long accumulating in vain, but that at length one great lesson has been learned, which they have been written to teach, viz., " peace on earth, goodwill towards men."

4. In tracing the history of the world, we cannot fail to observe, how God has preserved the true religion amid the convulsions of nations. Philosophical systems have, in succession, played awhile like meteors, in the intellectual firmament: the eyes of the many have been fixed awhile upon each brilliant stranger as it appeared, mistaking it for a sun; but it

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"OH! if I were rich, how freely would I scatter my money in doing good," said a young girl, as she finished reading in a newspaper an appeal in behalf of a benevolent object. But she was not rich, and so laid the paper aside with a sigh. On that very day she had spent five dollars for a useless ornament.

"If I were rich"-how many regrets and lamentations has that phrase given birth to! What a

power does it possess to blind the eyes of thousands to their real ability to do good. I sometimes think that many use it, simply because they would feign an excuse for doing nothing. It is a miserable, puny plea. Did not God see fit to employ and bless the humblest instrumentalities, to push on his cause and promote his glory, then might those who have but little of this world's goods be despondent and indolent.

But so long as revelation, reason, and experience, prove that he does, even the poorest can have no excuse, for even the poorest can do much.

It is not the rich only who are selfish. I have heard a wealthy man charged with being mean by one in comparatively humble circumstances, whose daily life proved him to be the meaner of the two. The rich, it is urged, deny themselves nothing; but

is there self-denial on the part of large numbers in what may be called the middle class of society? The money to be devoted to the cause of charity, lies at the very bottom of many a purse, where it cannot be reached until all the wants of the body, both real and imaginary, are supplied.

"Oh! if I were rich"-say not so again, friend, but rather ask for a self-denying spirit, for in this you will have wealth. Then will you find yourself able to give much to every good thing. I say much, but I mean not that you will have hundreds of pounds, but the little you have to give will tell, for it will be the offering of a cheerful giver, whom the Lord loveth. Husband the trifles of money now expended on unnecessary

wants.

Remember the fact, that five shillings will place five copies of the word of God in the hands of as many destitute parents, or half a score of religious books in the library of a Sunday-school in a Missionary settlement. Remember, too, that when giving in such a spirit, you will be far more likely to supplicate the blessing of God to follow your offering. Think on these things. It is a pleasant thought, is it not, that even the humblest can do much good?

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called parishes. Now, according to prove that the spiritual wants of Eng-Hooker, the primary design contemland are very great-far greater we fear than many whom we might wish to be better informed, have any adequate idea of. Else, why the backwardness, frequently so painfully manifest, to assist in their alleviation? How is it that Societies whose object it is to aid the overburdened and devoted ministers of religion in this land, with helpmeets well qualified for the work, are so poorly supported? How is that it so much effort is required, to raise the small sums of money necessary to build a few additional churches in some overgrown parish, whose inhabitants are growing up in the grossest ignorance of everything connected with the salvation of their immortal souls?!

It is not that the nation is so poor that it cannot afford to give the means necessary for carrying on the work; whenever money, no matter how great soever the sum, is wanted to carry on some mercantile scheme that promises well, or some huge loan to government is to be contracted for, it has but to be announced, when wealthy capitalists are found not only ready, but even anxious to take part in it.

We must, therefore, look for the reason of this backwardness to other causes, and among these, we conceive that one, though by no means the chief, is the amount of ignorance that prevails upon the subject.

The subject naturally divides itself into three parts: I. The extent of the destitution. II. The consequences of it. And III. The best mode of alleviating it. We shall chiefly confine our remarks to the two former of these parts in the present paper.

First, then, its extent. The population of England and Wales amounted, according to the census of 1841, to 15,906,829.0

This country, as is well known, is divided into certain assigned districts

plated in this division of the country, Iwas that each parish (for the division was in the first instance made for ecclesiastical, and not for civil purposes,) should be of such size, that one pastor should be able to take charge of the spiritual oversight of all the inhabitants of the district allotted to him; and it is most probable, that this intention was fully carried out in the earlier stage of our parochial system, and a more excellent plan could not have been devised. But in after ages, places which at the period when the division took place were thinly peopled, gradually increased in size, both from the natural increase of the population, and from others from distant parts coming to reside in them, drawn thither by the peculiar advantages which they offered, either (as in the case of cities during the feudal times,) from affording them protection, or attracted by the pursuits of commerce. And with this influx of population, no corresponding increase was made in the number of parishes and ministers. Thus we find by a return made in the time of Edward I., A.D. 1288, that the country parishes were then nearly as numerous as at present, although in some of our larger towns the number has considerably decreased, e. g. in the City of London there are now 108 parishes (though they have not all ministers or churches,) though there were then 140. And so in the present day, we find the population of some of our large manufacturing towns more than doubling itself in a few years, while no proportionally extensive efforts are made to increase the amount of spiritual superintendance over such a vastly increasing population; and thus it is that we find parishes, which formerly contained but few inhabitants, now numbering populations of 10,000, 20,000, 40,000, 100,000, and even as

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*The substance of the following paper was read before a meeting of the members of the Church of England Young Men's Society, for aiding Missions at home and abroade

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many as 150,000 inhabitants; and the result is what we might naturally look for under such circumstances, that, left uncared for and untaught, the majority of the inhabitants have sunk into a state of practical heathenism and deep degradation. To prove this, we have only to read the Reports furnished by the chaplains of our jails by such societies as the Pastoral Aid, the Scripture Readers, and the London City Mission, o

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Only a short time since, the writer was informed by the chaplain to a prison within the walls of the city of London, that he had just been visiting the prisoners confined there, and that out of forty who were then confined in it, twenty-five were ignorant of even the name of Christ! The population of some of our so-called parishes actually exceeds that of many of the smaller English counties, as, for instance, the parish of St. Pancras, in London, which contains a population of above 140,000, being more than six times the population of Rutland, more than double that of the counties of Westmoreland and Huntingdon, and greatly exceeding the population of Bedfordshire and Herefordshire! and there is every probability that this number will continue to increase until the whole 2,600 acres which it contains are covered with buildings, and teeming with human life. And yet in this vast parish, I believe I am correct in saying, there are only twenty-five clergymen of the Church of England, and church accommodation for 17,000 souls..

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I might adduce many other such instances. The evil is also greatly aggravated in parishes of smaller dimensions, through the inadequacy of the means devoted to the maintenance of the clergy. There are above 3,000 parishes where the incumbent's annual income, derivable from the Church, is below £150 many of them where it does not exceed £50. Of those where the income is below £150, there are 1440 with a population exceeding 500, and 315 with a population exceeding 2,000, and some even 10,000. Let any one ask themselves, how it is possible for incumbents of parishes with a maximum income of £150, and some as low

as £50 or £60 to provide assistants or curates for their pastoral labours, however numerous or needy the population may be? Or how is it possible for a clergyman without private property to give himself up wholly to his parochial duties, when he only receives such a scanty pittance from the Church? expected, as all clergymen are, to maintain a proper rank and dignity. It would be manifestly impossible (without private property) for them to do so.

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Education.-If weturn to the rising generation, and look to the provision which is made for their instruction, we find the case, if possible, still worse. It was stated by Lord Ashley, in a speech made by him in the House of Commons some few years since, "That, taking one fifth of the population as the number capable of some education, it would give 3,181,365 deducting one-third as educated at private expense, there would still remain 2,120,910-making a further deduction for children supposed to be in Union Houses, of 50,000, and also deducting ten per cent. for casualties or absence, which would be 212,091, there would still remains 1,858,819 to be provided for at the public expense. Nowitiappears from Mr. Burgess, of Chelsea's, tables, that the total number of scholars in connection with the Established Church is 749,626, and with Dissenting bodies 95,000 the total number of daily scholars is then 844,626, leaving without daily instruction 1,014,139 persons capable of some education." 1 Pour

Since the time when Lord Ashley's speech was delivered, considerable exertions have been made to increase the number of schools both in connexion with the Established Church, and supported by Dissenters; but Í believe I am fairly within bounds, when I say that these efforts will scarcely meet the wants of the increase which has taken place in the population since that period.

In the Return presented to Parliament in 1833, and commonly known as Lord Kerry's Report, it is stated that there were then 2664 parishes or hamlets wholly destitute of schools; the number returned as possessing

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