MY DEAR FRIEND,

I said in my last, that there was something in the discipline of the Church of England adverse to its stability. You shall judge. The patronage of the bishoprics and of the higher dignities is vested in the government, who also have the disposal of a vast number of the inferior preferments. The remainder are shared between the bishops and the lay im propriators. Now, we may lay it down as a certain truth, that the condition of the Church will be determined by the manner in which the patronage is employed. If it be conscientiously used, the Church must prosper; if it be sacrilegiously abused, the Church must decay.

What, then, are the motives which influence the government in the choice of bishops? For, as are the bishops, so will be the Church. Are they appointed for political or for spiritual considerations? A man would here be laughed at who seriously asked such a question :-so notorious is it, that family connexion and parliamentary influence are the only passports to that lofty station! The consequence of this is, that in the Church of England real merit is overlooked, or scantily and inadequately rewarded; while individuals, by no means eminent either for learning, or piety, or talent, or eloquence are promoted, not only beyond their de serts, but despite their deficiencies, and without the slightest regard to those peculiar qualifications which can alone ensure a wise discretion in the management of ecclesiastical affairs. Now, the advantage which we derive from this is twofold. It

excites a just clamour against the heretical Church from without, and it weakens its defences within. The same arts which fill its high places with incapables, augment the hatred and strengthen the hands of its enemies.

The bishops, you may be sure, follow the example that has been set them, and do unto others as the government has done unto them. Their best benefices are seldom conferred upon any one beyond the circle of their kinsfolk or acquaintance. Thus, from the top to the bottom, a system of partiality and persecution pre

vails, such as, in the days of Luther, furnished the most plausible of the accusations which were levelled against our holy Church, and which, more than any thing else, contributed to the event miscalled the Reforma tion.

At present, when a man who is eminent either for learning, piety, zeal, or eloquence, begins to be professionally distinguished, the sons and relatives of the bishop, in whose diocese he is, immediately begin to take the alarm. They consider him as a kind of interloper, who is disposed to interfere with their legiti mate claims, and nothing is left undone, which petty artifice and ma levolence can accomplish, to injure him in the opinion of his diocesan, who, indeed, too frequently is dis posed to view him in the same light; so that, as Shakspeare says, "his vir tues are his enemies," and he soon begins to learn from experience, that "that which is comely" may nom him that bears it." He sees that the sycophant and the parasite thrive, while he is compelled to subsist upon a scanty pittance, scareely sufficient to ward off actual famine from his wife and children!

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It has, I know, been said, and it is thought by many sensible persons, that the lay impropriations are a great means of giving stability, and ensu ring permanency, to this accursed system. I never have thought so; and least of all can I think so now. Of all the English Church preferments, the lay impropriations are the most notoriously and scandalously abused. The government sometimes, even the bishops sometimes, have regard to merit in their choice of rectors. They become ashamed of being influenced in every instance by sordid and unworthy motives, and they endeavour to gull the public, and at the same time throw a sop to their conscience, by sometimes promoting an honest man; but lay impropriators never. I say, therefore, that the part of the system that is most objectionable can never permanently uphold the rest. No CHURCH CAN EVER BE PROTECTED AGAINST ITS OWN ABUSES;

and amongst the rottenest abuses of the

Church of England, I look upon lay impropriation. I have no doubt the

individuals to whom they belong would like well to continue possess ed of them, and must be blind indeed, if they do not see that their interest in this respect is linked inseparably with that of the Established Church. But if that Established Church be felt to be a public nuisance, not merely by us, but by Protestants also, from the manner in which its patronage is administered, to the neglect of those ends for which it was appointed, and to the scandal of true religion, the lay impropriators will find themselves in a miserable minority, if their temporal interests should inspire them with the hardihood to stickle for the continuance of such a system, in opposition to the judgment and the feelings of the community at large. Depend upon it, it cannot last; and the lay impropriators, so far from being a protection to it, are a dead weight, which must accelerate its downfall, and ensure its destruction.

Nor is this all-as soon as the Church tumbles, the lay impropriations must cease. We are acquainted with every acre of Church property which has thus undergone sacrilegious alienation; and, think you, that we shall be slow to put in our claims when the day of retribution comes? No, truly. If what was appropriated to religious purposes may be resumed, -much more, what was misappropriated to secular purposes. If churchmen, who perform spiritual duties in consideration of the possessions which they enjoy, may yet be deprived of those possessions ;-much more those who perform no such spiritual duties. The lay impropriators reason right in saying, “our property is part and parcel of the property of the Church; let us, therefore, unite to defend it." But we, also, reason rightly when we say, 'you cannot defend the property of the Church; and, therefore, a fortiori, not your own possessions." They are an engrafted shoot, which all the care that can be taken of them will not enable to survive the extinction of the parent stock. So may we pronounce, with at least equal certainty, of those vested interests which have been acquired out of the patrimony of the Church, and the security of which cannot be greater than that of the property of which

they once constituted part and parcel, and which, if an heretical government had a right to alienate it for the support of heresy, the faithful may surely reclaim for the maintenance of true religion.

Now, compare all this with the practice which obtains among us in similar cases, and recognise our superiority. In our Church merit obtains its due reward. An able and efficient minister never is neglected. The curate, after a certain routine of service, if his conduct be approved of, is certain of becoming a parish priest;-and the parochial clergy, according to their merits, may entertain an equal expectation of being elevated to the mitre. But this is not all. We not only provide for our clergy according to their merits, but dispose of them according to their fitness. We endeavour, as far as in us lies, not only to give good things to good men, but to put proper men in proper places. This, as you may well suppose, gives us a prodigious advantage. It is a consideration which never enters into the mind of a Protestant patron, who only thinks of the living as a good thing for the favoured individual who is appointed to it. Now our only consideration is, whether the individual appointed is good enough for the living. Whenever a vacancy occurs, and before any promotion takes place in consequence of it, we consider all the circumstances of the case-the extent of the parish, its population, the different denominations of heresy that are to be found in it, what particular species at that time happens to be epidemic; how the people are divided into parties; the characters and abilities of the Protestant clergymen; the names and the dispositions of the principal Protestant gentry; it is unnecessary to tell you that we enquire very particularly into all those things, because you know that we are under obligation to make a regular return of them to the Holy See; and you may easily imagine the advantage which we possess, from the knowledge which we thus acquire, in choosing the individual upon whose conduct in his sacred charge so many important consequences may depend, and who may so considerably either promote by his discretion, or injure by his inca,

pacity, the cause to which we are all so earnestly devoted.

You may be sure, therefore, that our flocks are not "scattered like sheep not having a shepherd." They are well attended and carefully preserved. Is there a doughty controversialist, some scatterer of pestilent heresies, in the neighbourhood? We are not slow to depute the cause of the Church to some champion who has been trained in polemical warfare, and with whom, if he should presume to break a lance, he is sure to come off worsted in the conflict. Is the charge of the Protestant congregation committed to some incompetent person, who from ignorance cannot, or from heedlessness will not, be a guide or a pattern to his flock? We take good care that our own people shall experience a striking contrast in that particular, and learn to appreciate the watchfulness and the ability of learned and laborious pastors.

Indeed I may say, that if our adversaries were disposed to imitate us in these particulars, they could not do so; such are the deficiencies in their professional education. If the government were as earnest as they are indifferent respecting the choice of good bishops; and the bishops as earnest as they are indifferent respecting the selection of good rectors, they could not find them-at least not without remodelling the whole system of their universities.

What a militia or a yeomanry is, as compared with the regular service, they are as compared with us. There is amongst them no esprit du corps." Whatever zeal or ability, or professional devotedness they evince, arises out of the personal character of individuals, and not out of the training which they undergo. They are not content to act like our clergy, in due subordination to the interests of the system to which they belong. They are heady, violent, intractable, and wayward; and so absurdly violent in their attacks upon us, that I have often thought we were more indebted to the folly which thus exposes them to contempt, than to the controversial ability by which they are confounded.

But you will say, "these are all deficiencies so obvious that they must surely attract notice, and pro

duce a remedy." They do, my friend, attract notice, and they have caused the suggestion of a remedybut-a remedy worse than the disease!

The proposal which seems most popular at present is, a seizure of Church property, and the creation of a fund for increasing the stipends of the curates and inferior clergy; while those of the bishops, and of the clergy who hold the larger benefices, are diminished. Now this would only complete the ruin that threatens them from the evils already in existence. The only part of their system which works unexceptionably well, is that which is in the hands of the present race of curates and inferior clergy; who appear, indeed, to do them but justice, to have entered into the Church with single views, and who certainly do not owe their present appointments to secular considerations. As long as they subsist upon their present footing, there will always be a certain degree of activity and earnestness which keeps the system just alive, and compensates, in some measure, for the indolence and carelessness by which their more richly endowed brethren are distinguished. let their stipends be increased so as to average even two hundred a-year, and from that moment their appointments will become worthy of the notice of many who at present despise them; and, whenever vacancies occur, they will be filled up from the same motives which influence the appointment of their bishops; and by just the same description of men, which causes the higher preferments to be felt at present as an incubus upon religion. Was I not right, therefore, in saying, that their remedy will be worse than the disease? In fact, it is no other than the most miserable quackery. Instead of applying themselves to the removal of a complaint that is constituent, they are content with attacking one of the symptoms !—and that in such a manner, that, instead of relieving, they must only aggravate the general malady!

But

Remedies no doubt have been suggested which would indeed have a tendency to prop this tottering Church, and enable it to endure a little longer. But there is not the

slightest chance of their being adopt ed. One of these consists in the appointment of ecclesiastical commissioners, for the purpose of recommending persons fit for the episcopal office to the King. If the commissioners were efficient, they might in this way prevent notoriously bad appointments; and if they were so far successful as to ensure good ones, there is no saying how long the reign of heresy might not be perpetuated. But fear not; such a measure implies far too great an encroachment upon the patronage of the government ever to take place. The Church in this country has always been used for the convenience of the state, which, indeed, could not subsist without the wages of her prostitution. A measure, therefore, which would have any tendency to make her an honest woman, will never, for one moment, be seriously entertained. Promotions will go on for the future as they have gone on hitherto; until abuses accumulate to such a degree that the heretics themselves will feel them to be unendurable abominations.

You may suppose that the remedy above described may have a chance of being adopted, because there is an instance of its having been resorted to by William the Third, upon his accession to the sovereignty of these realms. He said that, as a foreigner, he was unacquainted with the merits of the several individuals who were candidates for clerical preferment, and that he required assistance in making his selections from amongst them. But this only proves his simplicity. In excuse for him, however, it must be said that he was at that time a stranger in the country, and unacquainted with the only proper use to be made of English bishoprics. He did not until afterwards learn their value as a means of securing parliamentary influence; and, to do him justice, as soon as he was so far instructed, the labours of the commissioners were dispensed with. There is no fear that William the Fourth will fall into such an error. He has been educated in a different school. He, during his whole life, has had before his eyes the edifying examples of English statesmen. Whatever, therefore, may be done, will not, be satisfied, interfere in the

slightest degree with the cherished abuses of the good old system. It is not rooted in affection. It is not based in knowledge. It is not maintained by a body of well trained and honestly chosen ecclesiastics. It is not regarded by the government with either reverence or love. It is not even at unity with itself;-while it is surrounded by active, powerful, and implacable enemies. Does it, therefore, require the gift of prophecy to say that it must fall; and that nothing but the memory of the miseries which it has occasioned will survive it?

The only thing that gives me the least reason to doubt that matters will in all respects proceed according to our wishes is, the conduct of our friend, the Lord Brougham and Vaux, since he became Lord High Chancellor of England. Confound the knave, he seems resolved upon making a conscientious use of his own preferments. He has been promoting some of the ablest and the most dangerous of his own and our common enemies! What infatuation! It would not be half so bad if he were not the keeper of the King's conscience. He should have avoided such folly, not to call it by a harsher name, if it were only for the sake of the example. But he will find out his mistake by and by.

Well, there is one consolation at all events, that, act how he may, he cannot do much mischief while he is connected with the present administration. THEY ARE RESOLVED UPON MEASURES WHICH MUST ENSURE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE CHURCH:-and so fully convinced are we of the efficacy of their present plans for the effectual accomplishment of all our purposes, that we are minded for the present to suspend our active hostility to the established clergy, and suffer them to repose in peace for the brief term allotted to their existence. They are under sentence of death. And if my advice be attended to, we will not disturb the last moments of an expiring heretical establishment, by any unseemly triumph or unnecessary molestation. But we have difficult spirits here to manage, and I know not how far I may be successful. Time presses, and I must say adieu.

T. K.

It was late on the evening of a gloomy and bitter day in December, about the middle of the seventeenth century, that Carl Koëcker, a student of Goettingen University, having sipped his last cup of coffee, was sitting thoughtfully in his room, with his feet crossed and resting on the fender of his little fire-place. His eyes were fixed on the fire, which crackled and blazed briskly, throwing a cheerful lustre over his snug study. All the tools of scholar-craft lay about him. On a table by his side lay open various volumes of classic and metaphysic lore, which shewed evident marks of service, being much thumbed and fingered; sundry note-books, filled with memoranda of the day's studies, and a case of mathematical instruments. Two sides of the chamber were lined with well-filled book-shelves; on one side was the window, and the corresponding one was occupied by a large dusky picture of Martin Luther. All was silent as the most studious German could desire; for the stillness was, so to speak, but enhanced by the whispered tickings of an old-fashioned family watch, suspended over the mantel-piece. As for Carl himself, he was of "goodly look and stature." His shirt-neck lay open, with the spot less collar turned down on each side; his right hand lay in his bosom, and his left, leaning on the table, supported his "learning-laden" head. His brow was furrowed with thoughtful. anxiety, which, together with his sallow features and long black mustaches, gave him the appearance of a much older man than he really was. As for his thoughts, it were difficult to say whether, at the moment when he is presented to the reader, they were occupied by the mysterious pneumatological speculations of Doc

tor Von Dunder Profondant, which Carl had been attempting to comprehend in the morning's lecture; whether his fancy was revelling in recollections of the romantic splendours of last night's opera, or whether they were fixed, with painful interest, on the facts of a seizure made that day in Goettingen by the terrible myrmidons of the Inquisition, on the double charge of heresy and sorcery. The frightful tribunal alluded to was then in the plenitude of its power, and its mysterious and ferocious doings were exciting nearly as much indignation as they had long occasioned consternation. Carl was of a very speculative, abstract turn, and having been early initiated into the gloomy depths of transcendentalism, had begun latterly to turn his thoughts towards the occult sciences.

About the period when this narrative commences, it was generally understood that a professor of the Art Diabolic had visited the principal places of Germany, and was supposed to have made several con verts among the learned, as well as to have founded secret schools for

teaching the principles of his science. The lynx-eyed Inquisition soon searched him out, and the unfortunate professor of magic suddenly disappeared, without ever again being heard of. The present object of those holy censors of mankind, the principals of the Inquisition, was to discover the schools he had founded, and the disciples attending them. Several of the leading students at Goettingen had fallen under suspicion, and Carl Koëcker, it was said, among the number. He was cunning enough, however, to avoid any possible pretext for offence, by saying little-and even that little in disparagement of the objectionable doctrines.