soners of hope to the strong hold which is in Christ; bear in mind that he was touched with the feeling of your infirmities, that he knows how to succour those who are tempted, that he will make your bed in your sickness, and give you "a happy issue out of all your afflictions; "-then will you find those lines suitable to you, In love I correct thee thy soul to refine, And make thee at length in my likeness to shine. If your health or circumstances are such as to permit you to labour a little in the service of that gracious God who has done so much for you -you have a wide field and many open doors before you in this place. There is much ignorance of even the common rudiments of education in old and young at Leamington, and a still greater of the knowledge that maketh wise unto salvation. Moral culture has by no means kept pace with the improvements which have been effected by human industry, excited by the love of gain. Do you, my brethren, exhibit your work of faith and labour of love by visiting the poor in their cottages, conversing with them in your walks, and distributing the Scriptures, prayer books, and religious tracts, as opportunities may be presented; thus you will avoid the idleness to which there are so many temptations at a watering place, be free from the lassitude which accompanies it, and redeem your time: thus will you return to your homes invigorated both in body and mind; you will leave a blessing behind you, and that blessing will be an instructive record that those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, like him go about doing good. Beware of sinful compliances: you have vowed allegiance to the great head of the church-swerve not from it to please those who are walking according to the course of this present evil world: show that you are on the Lord's side, and endeavour with meekness to instruct those who oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. The tongue of the reviler will soon be silent in the grave; the sneer of the scoffer will soon be exchanged for weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth; and then it will be found that they, and they only, are blessed, whose God is the Lord. Should I, to gain the world's applause, Or to escape its harmless frown, Refuse to countenance thy cause, And make thy people's lot my own; What shame would fill me in that day, When thou thy glory wilt display. There is one class of men whose conduct has a mighty influence upon society and to whom we may reasonably look for that deadness to the world, for that spirituality of mind, for that activity in doing good, for that desire to profit their fellow creatures, which should mark the character of messengers of peace to guilty sinners-I mean clergymen. The present is certainly a period of much inquiry and observation: and inconsistency in a minister of religion is calculated to bring contempt not only upon the whole body, but also upon religion itself. If it be true in general, that one sinner destroys much good,-it is doubly so in the case of a clergyman who, regardless of his solemn vows, of the dignity of his calling, and of the value of the immortal souls which are committed to his charge, is found at the theatre, the ball room, the billiard or card table, the horse race, the pugilistic combat, &c. who is among the first to promote what is foolish and unprofitable, and to raise or join in a laugh at some religious character. To such I would say, read the character of the minister of God as drawn by the inspired writers; then turn to Bishop Burnet's Pastoral Care, and the Ordination Service, more particularly to the charge given to the priests by the bishop, -and then ask yourselves, Are you taught and led by the Holy Ghost, under whose influence you declared your ordination vows to be made? Have you given up the study of the world and the flesh? Do you make the Holy Scriptures your daily study?-and do you by them endeavour to regulate both yourselves and your families? Are you, in short, able ministers of the New Testament-living epistles of Christ, known and read of all men? Wherever the clergy are, they have many eyes upon them; and it behoves them to live holily, and unblameably, and unreproveably to follow through evil report and good report the good Shepherd and Bishop of souls-and to convince the world that they have taken upon them their high office, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; not as being lords over God's heritage, but as being ensamples to the flock. Family prayer is a duty which ought never to be neglected by any professing Christian, but more especially by them; and if all observed it as they ought, both abroad and at home, very many, who now scarcely ever read a line of the Scriptures, would have the privilege of hearing their sacred truths every day. Wherever you are providentially placed, you should exhibit a daily proof that you are under-shepherds to the fold of Christ-you should be ensamples to the flock-you should be instant in season, out of season. The doctrines you have solemnly engaged to preach-the awful responsibility of the situation in which you are placed—the solemn voluntary engagements into which you entered at the altar of Godthe worth of immortal souls, and their eternal duration either in hell or heaven, speak to you in language that ought not to be mistaken; and it is my earnest desire and prayer, that the blood of no human creature may be required at your hands. Rally round the standard which it is your business to erect; set forth the Lord Jesus Christ in your public and private ministrations, as the only way to the enjoyment of the Father's love, and to the place of eternal rest, where his presence will constitute his people's heaven. Hold forth in your whole conversation and deportment, the word of life, that it may be seen whose you are, and whom you serve; and that you may apply to yourselves individually the declaration of the apostle, I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. THEOPHILUS. ON THE RELIGIOUS STATE OF FRANCE.--LETTER I. Paris, May 1, 1826. MY DEAR SIR,-Your inquiry as to the religious state of the kingdom of France at the present moment is confessedly one of the highest interest. Whatever observations are offered in reply will I trust be received on your part with that indulgence, which is due to communications, which however wellfounded must be more or less defective, as well from the multiplicity of relations bearing on the subject, as from the varying character of the relations themselves. Perhaps it is not too much to assert, that at all times there is a certain delicacy necessary to be observed in reports of a religious nature, from which the narrator of merely secular events is in a great measure free; but in the present case, any peculiar difficulties attaching to such matters are increased by the ecclesiastical circumstances of the country being without parallel in European history. On one hand, a Romish dynasty is restored, and a Romish hierarchy re-established, in a country which had even been proud to take the lead in scepticism and infidelity; on the other, that very dynasty felt itself obliged from the state of popular feeling and the influence of protestant powers in its restoration, to grant most important immunities to the different members of the reformed communion. In considering the present condition of the Roman Catholic part of the population, which is professedly the great body of the people, I would divide them into The Ultras, The Moderates, and The Indifferents. The priority assigned to the Ultras in my classification does not arise from their superiority in numbers, for their amount is very limited. What they want however as a body in number, is made up in their claim to this distinction by the intensity of their feeling and the per tinacity of their action. They are composed of certain members of the royal family; of individuals attached to the old regime in church and state, being for the more part children of emigrants; and of members of a Jesuitical faction, who retaining the characteristic traits of the well-known society to which they belong, though in the nineteenth century, are making their way into every place of authority, situation of profit, or office of trust, which they find accessible. If report speak truly, the Chamber of Deputies, the very last place in which one would wish to find them, contains many adepts of the society within its walls. Let it however be remembered that all those who are Ultra in religion, are not so in politics; though undoubtedly there is a very natural connexion between extreme attachment to the Romish tenets, and an inclination to despotic measures in government. Some of this class too, while from conscientious feelings they would devote all their energies to the revival of the distinguishing features of Roman Catholic worship, and bring religionists back, if they could, to the age of Leo X. are yet tenacious of any encroachment of ultramontane principles on what they call the liberties of the Gallican church, and would resist the exercise of dispensing power in Leo XII. And further, there are probably persons belonging to this division who have no religion at all; and who are only making use of the sincere devotees to subserve their own interested views or political speculations. Some individuals of this class have formed themselves into a "Society for the distribution of good Books." If indeed their object were to counteract the mischievous tendency of free-thinking or licentious publications, one could not, making allowance for our dif " sermon was ference on certain points, but wish them good luck in the name of the Lord. But alas! the principal aim and endeavour of the Committee is to disseminate tracts in defence of the doctrines and practices of that holy, Roman, and Apostolic Church," out of which they profess to believe there can be no salvation; or giving accounts of the Legends of Saints, &c. This Society recently held its anniversary meeting in the church of St. Sulpice in Paris, when a preached by the Abbé Fayet, a distinguished preacher at court, and a man of great talent and eloquence. After showing that the Revolution had been principally produced by the writings of republican and infidel philosophers, he warned his congregation against heretical publications, and edified them with the information that Protestantism was indebted for its success to mistranslation of scripture. The papal Nuncio sat in front of the orator, with a crucifix and tapers before him. A collection was made after the sermon; and an active member of the Society, with whom I conversed under the portico, informed me that several hundred thousand books had been distributed by it in the past year, and obligingly presented me, as a specimen of its labours, with a work entitled "A Manual for the Service of the Virgin." The zealous and energetic Abbé has since discoursed before a crowded audience on the necessity of seeking forgiveness of sins through the intercession of Mary; declaring that it became poor sinners to go with all humility, modesty, and reverence, to the mother of Jesus, who would use her powerful intercession with her Son, to whom it would be presumption immediately to address themselves. He then mentioned for their encouragement to this duty the gracious titles which she bore in the Church; and as some of your friends, my dear sir, may not be quite aware of their extent and variety, I beg leave to present 2. Holy Mother of God. The Ultras have been particularly active this year, on account of the celebration of the Jubilee. At such seasons the Diocesans have their pontifical power so far extended as to grant plenary pardons for venial transgression, and indulgences, or remission of penalties for a certain duration, to which individuals may be obnoxious in this life, or in purgatory. These grants are made on condition of repeating five Pater nosters and as many Ave-Marias at particular periods and places. The object on the part of the more bigoted religionists of Paris was to emulate, as far as possible, the pomp and ceremony of Spain and Italy, that the French church might in some degree redeem its credit with popish zealots, which had suffered by the cessation of processions, &c. under the reign of Napoleon. However the Moderates might regret the extreme to which others thought it necessary to resort, those among them who were in official situations, as for example the archbishop of Paris, could not avoid taking their share in the proceedings. On the first day of the processions eight hundred priests, chaunting penitential psalms or litanies went before a fine gilded shrine borne by four ecclesiastics, containing some relics of St. Peter and St. Paul, presented by the Holy Father for the edification of the faithful in the peculiar circumstances of France. The precious deposit was followed by the archbishop with his cross, crozier, &c. and a number of other prelates and high church dignitaries; while the train was closed by his Majesty and the different members of the royal family, with their principal attendants. Double files of military guarded the procession, which was beheld with all the eagerness with which the French regard a spectacle or pageant, To this other ex hibitions of a similar nature have succeeded with somewhat less display, either on the days when the king performs his stations, visiting different churches, or when the Nuncio, Prelates, and Sorbonnists make their processions. The Moderates, Anti-Jesuits, and reflecting politicians, consider these proceedings as likely to produce a revulsion in disfavour of the Roman Catholic religion. The burgesses, petty shopkeepers, and mechanics, so far from feeling any devout impression, amid the noise and bustle and show, were seen in many quarters smiling and shrugging up their shoulders; or else staring, with a kind of look that seemed to say, What meaneth this?" They in general feel no reverence for the priests, and consider all this as part of a system of jugglery, which idea is strengthened by the acquaintance of many of them with the works of Voltaire and Rousseau, the idols of their nation, however ignorant of the scriptures. Here and there devotees were seen with little prayer-books or Jubilee-directories, but their number was small, while some groupes of common people, evidently low and uninformed, were singing psalms in the rear of the procession. The Moderates are known to discourage the practice of auricular confession. Before the Revolution, the better sort of people were accustomed to discharge this duty to clergymen of a certain degree of respectability from birth or education; but of late years numbers of vulgar and uneducated men have entered into the priest's office, lowering the guarantee which formerly existed for secrecy and delicacy; while the questions which they are authorized to put to young and tender females in their printed instructions, added to others still more exceptionable which occur in the colloquial intercourse between the priest and the penitent, have rendered parents and guardians very shy of sending their children or wards to confession. It is hoped that many individuals of this division may be partially enlightened in the fundamental truths of religion. From the parochial clergy they occasionally hear evangelical doctrine, mingled with "wood, hay, and stubble;" but they labour under great disadvantage from their ignorance of the Scriptures, excepting portions of the epistles and gospels which they meet with in their books of devotion. They |