progress. Its success must teach us our defects. Let the establishment but be made the common concern of all, and its intrinsic superiority will soon make it master of the field. Let properly constituted means of association be provided for every village, and every sub-division of our towns; let them be endowed with large powers, and incorporated in a system adopted to the political constitution of the country, and be made vital by the admixture in its administration of all the forces of society, and then there need be no fear for the result. We should see no large bishops theoretically despotical, and yet virtually incapable of acting,-no powerful corporation without organs for exercising the most necessary functions of life, and without the power of adapting itself to circumstances, -no uncontrolled exercise of patronage, and irresponsible rectors destroying the people's affection for the church; we should no longer be without churches, without schools, without a host of graduated officers and teachers diffusing comfort and instruction to every portion of the nation. And thus at last we might hope to witness, if not the perfect realization, yet at least an approximation to that great perception of the relation between Church and State, by which, in the language of Hooker, "one society is both the Church and Commonwealth."

But is not this such a change in church government as amounts almost to revolution? And if the establishment is so strong that it can prevent the passing of any measure for so plain and urgent a duty as national education, and is also the strongest and most effective weapon with which the Tory party do battle, where is the use of proposing schemes that are plainly impracticable, and that rest on theories which sensible men will call visionary? We answer, there is great use. If it is true that the church can alone remedy the evils of our condition, then it is of the highest importance to know this. We may never be able to reach the end that lies before us, but by knowing what and where it is, all our steps will be taken in the right direction. And then, in the next place, people's minds are anxious and looking about for help. Their eyes are beginning to open. Old prejudices in a country like England must ever be strong; but riot, burning and slaughter are still stronger. The positive violence of the working classes,

and still more the doctrines that are taking hold of their minds, are making thoughtful men perceive that the old system must have some radical defect, and that something decisive and comprehensive must be done. The signs of the times speak in a voice that will be heard. At a period like this is the truth to be withheld because it may for awhile be ridiculed as wild and impracticable? Truth will convince men's minds at last, and history shows over and over again that what has been laughed at one day has become a mighty and energetic power the next-the creed and truth by which after generations have lived and worked. And we will not do the good sense of the people of England the injustice to suppose, that if they are once convinced that a true remedy is to be had, they will allow practical difficulties and prejudices to render its application finally impossible. But without going to such an extent of change, there are many valuable measures which the greatness of the emergency may have force enough to pass. The present system of making the number of clergymen dependent on churches is slow, difficult and expensive. Fifty new churches are talked of for London. They cannot be raised without a sacrifice of much time and money, and when built, what are they, or rather the fifty clergymen connected with them, for the wants of London? The church is not a company for stone and mortar buildings, but a society of living men. When men are destitute of spiritual instruction, there is at once a church for teachers to work in,-there is a vineyard which cries out for a labourer. If a room large enough to hold a congregation can be found, prayers and preaching can go on in it as well as in a church-building; and if a district or street is so poor as not to contain such a room, the greater is the urgency that the pastors should fulfil their mission from house to house. And here the question will probably be asked, “Where are the funds to come from to support such pastors?" In the first place we answer, clergymen can be obtained more cheaply than clergy and churches. In the next, to say nothing of the claims which a heathen population has to every possible sacrifice on the part of an establishment which is in the receipt of five or six millions a year, there is evidently a very ready disposition in the lay-members of the Established Church to contribute

to act on.

large funds to promote its efficiency. In truth, the great difficulty is the forming of a regular and comprehensive system District visiting societies have been set on foot, but they can never be effectual until they originate from an authoritative body, and instead of depending for admission into a parish on the will or caprice of its rector, shall have been closely incorporated with the parochial clergy, and have become a regular and universal organ of church action. There can be no doubt, that if the civil and ecclesiastical authorities were once in earnest about the construction of such a plan, neither funds nor even disinterested zeal would be wanting to carry it into execution. Nor would it be very difficult to make an arrangement by which every rector should obtain a certain number of regular assistants. The want of will is the great impediment to overcome, or rather the want of an existing machinery for making safe and necessary changes in the establishment. But there are still larger resources which the church, if it pleases, can command. There are numbers of laymen of every degree whose religious feelings would delight in ministering to the spiritual necessities of their brethren. A system of reading and visiting could easily be established, only it must be carefully observed that the vitality of the whole will turn on its being a regular, positive and universal institution,-on each parish being provided with such a staff of spiritual officers, varying only in number, and really and truly responsible to a vigorous church government. We shall be told of the expense; but will the zeal and contributions which pious benevolence now so liberally bestows on disjointed and crude measures be diminished by their being engrafted on a system which shall make them efficient, and shall enable the church to accomplish the ends for which it was instituted? And do riots and burnings cost nothing? Are the hundreds of thousands of pounds, which are the annual spoil of thieves in Liverpool alone, an insignificant item? Are schools and teachers dearer than soldiers and policemen? But, in truth, liberal aid will not be wanting, provided the nation has a sufficient guarantee that it will not go to strengthen an exclusive class. And let the establishment be assured, that timely concessions to the laity, far from diminishing the weight and authority of the clergy, will obtain for them and the church,

honour, respect and affection from the whole people. Lastly, the time is come to lessen, if possible, the prodigious evil of dissent. On several occasions lately signs of approximation towards the establishment seemed to show themselves among the dissenters, particularly among the largest organized body of them, the Wesleyans. But the establishment has not made the slightest advance towards conciliation, and it is to be feared that it will persevere in refusing to treat of terms of reconciliation, until a severe pressure from without makes it impossible to stand still. Such a pressure has already begun to act in the state of the nation, and the thoughts which it is calling up in the public mind. The establishment should be wise in time. The question may be opened now, and many of the dissenters brought back into communion with the establishment on far more favourable terms than will probably be exacted hereafter. Let the Established Church but show herself thoroughly in earnest to regain her straying children, let her display a genuine spirit of kindness and fair dealing, let it be seen that she is ready to hear, and willing to grant what, upon discussion, shall be shown to be reasonable claims on the part of the dissenters, and thousands will return within her pale. Only here we meet again the same ever-recurring difficulty-the want of a deliberative and legislative body for the church. The clergy from their position and class prejudices will never be equal to dealing with such a question. It must be entrusted to an ecclesiastical commission. To appoint such a commission would be useless, until the establishment be ready to support it zealously and sincerely. But if the Established Church, under a deep sense of its responsibility to the nation, should honestly set herself to the task of carrying through such reforms in her constitution as shall adapt her thoroughly to the present condition of England, she would confer a blessing on the country which no other body or institution can bestow, and would dispense those services to the working classes, which they are entitled, in the name of religion and civilization, to claim from society in England.

ARTICLE II.

1. A Dictionary, Geographical, Statistical, and Historical, of the various Countries, Places, and principal Natural Objects in the World. By J. R. M'CULLOCH, Esq. London: Longman, Orme & Co. 1840.

Part 2.:

2. The Correspondence of the Morning Chronicle.-March 1840. Hungary and its Resources.'

66

It is now a year and a half since we drew our readers' attention to the treaty intended to facilitate the commercial intercourse between this country and the Austrian empire. We made no mystery of the many difficulties which threatened to impede its operation, while we indulged in the hope that the united exertions of the statesmen to whose guidance the destinies of the two most powerful nations of Europe were confided, would prove equal to vanquishing them. 'Have these difficulties proved greater than was anticipated, or has there been any relaxation of good will on the part of those whose duty it was to obviate them?' is a question which the nation is now justified in asking after a lapse of so many months, in which but little appears to have been done towards realizing the expectations which that treaty was calculated to raise. We believe that neither of these cases has occurred. That a still-stand has taken place, where a rapid increase of commercial activity was looked forward to by many, is indisputable, but it would be unfair to charge this check in the desired progress to a more intimate connexion with our natural ally, upon the treaty or upon its authors. The difficulty lies much deeper.

* According to the official returns the imports and exports of Trieste were as follows:

The (non-official) return published at the beginning of this year, for 1839, shows the trade to have been in round numbers,

The apparent increase is stated to be in the coasting trade, which was in

To which must be added the increase caused by the large shipments of wheat, on

which the treaty had no influence.