the other is the flaring torch, which cannot be introduced into the mine without risk of explosion.

The position in which many of the leaders of the Church were placed, tended also to increase this general exasperation, disquietude, and alarm. The abolition of ancient sees, the suppression of prebendal stalls, the application of sinecure benefices to other, and as we conceive to much better, uses, had alarmed many of the clergy; and had exposed the prelates who acted on the Ecclesiastical Commission to much indignant reproach and many acrimonious revilings. They were told, in no measured terms, that they had forfeited the confidence of their clergy. The members of various chapters reminded their diocesans of the oaths which they had taken, to preserve inviolate the privileges of the cathedrals; with more of energy than of charity and respect, these ancient oaths were contrasted with the measures recommended by the Primate of England and his colleagues. It could not but have been felt by these very moderate and timid ecclesiastical reformers, that more than ordinary prudence was required on their part, to preserve, or rather to regain, their influence. Contenting themselves, therefore, with a mitigated and an apologetic defence of their own recommendations

Scared at the sound themselves had made,'

it became the most convenient mode of warding off unjust attacks upon themselves, to oppose, with misapplied vehemence, every measure, however just, to which they had not been specially pledged. These parties, therefore, in place of mitigating violence, have tended to increase it; and, far from dispelling unfounded alarm, they have rather countenanced the general panic; to justify themselves for their assault upon ancient institutions for the 'slashing hook' with which they had cut down the emoluments of deans and prebendaries, till Amen Corner, Paternoster Row, and Ave-Maria Lane, trembled to their very foundations-they placed their reverend persons in front of the gates of Newgate and of Giltspur Street Compter; and vowed that they would encounter the fires of Smithfield, or even surrender the best options at their disposal, rather than allow one dissenting chaplain to bestow heterodox consolation upon a Baptist felon, or a Roman Catholic pickpocket in custody of the Sheriff of London. We doubt whether this policy will succeed; and there is much less of shrewdness to be found in the occupants of the stalls of our cathedrals than we imagine those reverend persons to possess, if they can be reconciled to a loss of profit or of patronage, by any assurance that the licensed minister of the tabernacle or the conventicle is for ever excluded from the county gaol or the borough house of correction.

If political consequences only were involved in these strange exaggerations and misapplications of principle, our sorrow and dismay at such occurrences would have been less than they are at this moment. There is no risk of the free people of this country being permanently deprived of their civil rights and privileges, by means of any delusion like that which we describe and deplore. It may succeed for a time, and to a certain extent. But, fortunately, it has its limits. Within those limits, however, it produces grievous calamities. It cramps and fetters the just influence of the Church itself. It diverts the clergy from their primary and more sacred duties. Corruptio optimi pessima est. It makes the faith of a Church, however mild, tolerant, and comprehensive, appear ungracious and repulsive. It substitutes a sectarian for a catholic spirit; and those who seek to act as our guides, bring us back not the ripening clusters, or the milk and honey, but gall and wormwood, as the tribute of that promised land into which they invite us to enter.

This mischievous spirit retards all improvement: it interposes formidable if not fatal obstacles to the progress of salutary and necessary reform. It acted in the days of the Popish Plot, in the time of Sacheverell. It re-appeared amongst the fires of 1780, and the mobs of Birmingham. It destroyed the Government of 1806, under the appropriate guidance of his most constitutional Majesty the King of Hanover; but if we were called upon to select the most striking illustration of the mischief it has produced, we should at once refer to the proceedings of both Houses of Parliament, during the late Session, on the subject of the Education of the People.

If there is one subject on which, more than on another, we should have expected and desired that all benevolent persons- quei 'buoni che sono attivi,' *-would unite and co-operate, it would be the question of Education. To all parties the instruction of the young is gain. To those who may be disposed to consider the wealth of a nation as the surest measure of its wellbeing, we should present the comparison, or rather the contrast, of the intelligent well-informed artisan or manufacturer, with the idle and dissolute workman-the fit agent and instigator in strikes and combinations. We should contrast the depositor in the Savings' Bank with the customer of the gin-shop. We should ask the lovers of peace and order, whether Oastler, Stephens, and Feargus O'Connor, are more likely to find apt disciples among the well-instructed or among the ignorant; and whether the schoolmaster be not as essential a protector of life and property as the constable and the policeman. Does the high Conservative think, that it is among the neglected and depraved classes that he will discover the friends of the monarchy, and those who are obedient to authority? Can the advocate for popular rights dream of extending political franchises, except to classes who can justly appreciate and rightly discharge their public duties? And of the clergy of all persuasions we should fearlessly ask-how can you hope that your labour in the ministry will produce its glorious harvest, yielding one hundred, and one thousand fold, into your bosoms, if to the spiritual instruction which you deliver on the Sabbath you are not enabled to superadd the example and the counsel derived from written works of religion and morality; the perusal of which will extend the sphere of your usefulness, will open the minds of your flocks to your renewed exhortations, and will enable you to exercise a just and salutary influence, when your voice can no longer be heard, and where your eye cannot penetrate? All this will probably be admitted, because the time is gone by when the work of education could safely be opposed by the claimants to exclusive orthodoxy; but when men of various parties and conflicting opinions are called upon to unite in the accomplishment of this great work of Christian love and worldly wisdom, it has unfortunately been proved, that the biases and animosities which have distracted them in their other pursuits, interfere also with the question of education'dash their maturest counsels,' and divert them from the performance of their most imperative duties. there, then, no one sacred spot upon which contending factions will consent to lay down their arms; and to devote themselves to that most acceptable service to their Creator, which is to be found in improving the moral condition of their fellow-men? Party violence, disappointed ambition, and, above all, religious animosity, have left us no Elis in the land. We are led astray, but not by a light from heaven. The lamp burns blue.

Is

Alas! for the specimens of poor human nature, as exhibited during the late session! Acting on the principles above pointed out, the Tory party judged rightly, that the proposition for the education of the people might advantageously be converted into a Church Question; and being convinced that it was only by the agitation of Church questions, and the active propagation of a most unfounded alarm, that party objects could be compassed, every engine was at once set in motion to counteract the intention of the Government;-to prevent, not only now but for ever, the establishment of a National System of Education, really deserving that name; and to array the various classes and denominations of Christians in fierce and unmitigated hostility the one against the other. To effect this purpose no efforts were spared; when all facts which were capable of being tortured into unfair inferences had been exhausted, invention was resorted to, and delusive statements, justly characterised by Lord Morpeth as ' mendacious,' were circulated; and this has brought forth not only a rich harvest of petitions, but has generated strife and contention and hatred, where brotherly love and benevolence ought alone to have existed; and hostile bands are drawn up composed of fellow-countrymen, who should, and who might, have been all combined in one righteous work.

Chi sono essi? Alle belle contrade
Qual ne venne straniero a far guerra?

In our party strifes, the cause of education has for a time been sacrificed; but we cannot but hope that calm reflection, and a juster appreciation of duty, may hereafter mitigate, if it cannot altogether remove the mischief, which the low and vulgar interests of party have so cruelly and wickedly produced. But to achieve this result, the truth should be told fearlessly and loudly; calumny should not be allowed to go without its punishment, nor falsehood to circulate without an immediate and a direct contradiction; and the dupes who have listened to the smooth and oily eloquence which endeavours to mislead them, should be undeceived, and encouraged to expel from their homes and places of counsel the modern Tartuffe,' even though he should wear a Mitre.

It is in aid of this good cause that the pamphlet entitled ' Re'cent Measures for the Promotion of Education,' has been written; and that the late excellent speech of the Marquis of Lansdowne on that subject, has been reprinted. We rejoice that the name of that nobleman should appear at the head of that Committee of Council, to which the distribution of the Parliamentary grants for education are proposed to be confided hereafter. The country has owed him much for his unflinching support of constitutional reform, and for his promotion of literature and the arts; but, giving to this great subject of education the authority of his char

* Manzoni; Il Carmagnola.

acter and the aid of his abilities, he has conferred a still greater boon upon mankind. May he, and his assistants in this good work, succeed in their attempt! - they must do so, if their efforts are directed by prudence and moderation, and the measures which they adopt and recommend are such as to refute the calumnies by which they are assailed, and the apprehensions which have been so absurdly raised.

The above-mentioned pamphlet is extremely valuable. It is written in a good spirit, and conveys much useful information of an argumentative as well as of a statistical character. For those details we refer our readers to its pages, which will amply repay the perûsal. We confess, however, that for practical purposes, we should have advised the author to omit many of his references to the systems of foreign countries. John Bull is an excellent animal in his way; but he is dogged, opinionated, and prejudiced. If you tell him what Prussia has done, his first impulse is to reject, not to adopt, the example of his continental ally. He loves the ancient Anglican mumpsimus; he leaves foreign affairs contentedly in the hands of Lord Palmerston; and he has no notion of substituting Victor Cousin, or his more attractive and interesting commentator and translator Mrs Austin, for the orthodoxy of the Vicar of Tything cum Boreham.' He would reject a Prussian system of Education as he would reject the cocked hat, leather breeches, and black boots of Frederick the Great; and, because a plan has been adopted and found useful abroad, John Bull argues that at home it must be at once impracticable and mischievous. He is swayed and governed by feelings the very opposite of those which influence our women of fashion. They would consider that the 'lamps 'burnt pale' even at a court ball, if they were persuaded that the lace which ornaments their persons was the work of the looms of Nottingham, and not of the cushions of Brussels. John Bull, on the contrary, has an antipathy to all foreign inventions. The importation of Polish wheat, and of Prussian schools, would be alike objects of alarm to the Lincolnshire cultivator of the heavy clays, and his agricultural associates. Call any system un-English, and it has but a poor chance of obtaining credit or currency. The author of this pamphlet should also have been aware, that he will be supposed to recommend for home adoption every thing which is historically described; and that the Government scheme, which he so ably defends, will be represented as including a compulsory system of instruction, carried on by the state-superseding the duties of parents and guardians, and sending into exile the more legitimate dynasty of godfathers and godmothers. We recommend to him and to the Govern