The disclosures which were made of the ignorance and semi-barbarity of the labouring classes in the South, during the recent proceedings, were as reproachful to the clergy and resident gentry, as they were disgraceful and injurious to their labourers. It is a palpable fact, that the clergy in that part of the kingdom are the chief instructors of the village population. Methodism, as appears from the statistical accounts which have been given, had comparatively little influence in the South, especially in Sussex, where the members of the Methodist Society are in the proportion of one, to two hundred and eleven. This has not arisen from any unwillingness on the part of the Methodist Conference, to send labourers to assist in the cultivation of that moral wilderness; but, I apprehend, from the influence of the clergy and the higher classes, exercised for the purpose of preventing the diffusion of the principles of Methodism; and thus deterring their dependent vassals from giving the slightest encouragement to its agents. Let the experiment be tried: let the Methodist Conference specially direct their attention to the South: let a few zealous, faithful, and laborious Methodist Preachers itinerate among the villages in Sussex let the resident gentry (I will not say contribute to their support, though that would be sound policy,) so far encourage them, as, at least, to allow their labourers to be instructed without reproachful intimidation: and the result in a very few years, or even months, will be highly satisfactory. Congregations will be collected; Societies formed; Chapels built; the ignorant will be instructed; the proffigate will be reclaimed; Sunday Schools will be instituted; Tract and Bible Societies will be established; and "the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose."' pp. 72-78.

It is utterly impossible to compute the quantum of evil which has been prevented, and the degree of good which has been produced, by the direct counteraction of infidel and revolutionary principles, by the system of Methodism. The spirit of loyalty and patriotism which has been infused into the very spirit of the system, and inculcated upon its members, has been in active and efficient operation, "in season and out of season;" and while many, who in common courtesy were called "their betters," and who either could not, or would not, understand their doctrines, with unblushing effrontery denounced them as "Jacobins ;" its Ministers, with a zeal which acquired a more powerful impetus from opposition, with a diligence which no obstructions could interrupt, and with a success which would have made their calumniators blush, had they been capable of shame, have promoted at once the stability of the Altar and the Throne. In 1792, a period the demoralizing and desolating principles of which have affixed a stigma upon the moral character of Europe, which time cannot expunge, the tendency of Methodism, and the spirit of christian patriotism which actuated its ministers, are demonstrable from the following question and answers of the Conference of that momentous year: "What directions shall be given concerning our conduct to the Civil Government? None of us shall, either in writing or conversation, speak lightly or irreverently of the Government under which he lives. We are to observe that the oracles of God command us to be subject to the higher powers: and that honour to the king is there connected with the fear of God." At

the Conference in 1793, similar sentiments of loyalty and patriotism were avowed, in the address to the members of the Societies.'

At a later period, when a political, if not revolutionary, mania had affected almost all classes of society, and when, in the madness of their folly, the infatuated populace in the West Riding of Yorkshire were instigated, by unprincipled demagogues, to acts of devastation, destructive of the property of their neighbours and employers, the hold which Methodism had upon the attention and affections of the population, was seized by the Pastors with patriotic avidity, for the purpose of securing the domestic peace of the county, and the general prosperity of the kingdom, and counteracting the pestiferous influence of those men who prompted others to acts of sedition and rebellion. At this season, (1812,) the Pastors of Methodism, in their collective capacity, at their annual Conference held in Leeds, though "men's hearts were failing them for fear," from that system of intimidation which was too successfully prevalent, addressed their Societies in the following terms:-"We must now turn from the contemplation of the benefits with which we are favoured, to the consideration of a state of society which has existed, and we fear still exists, in some of the northern counties. We look at the principles which have given birth to this state of things with the utmost horror; principles which are alike destructive to the happiness of the poor and the rich. And although we are well assured, that our Societies are uncontaminated with that spirit of insubordination, violence, and cruelty which has caused so much distress and misery, yet we cannot but dread the operation of its insidious and infectious nature, and the speciousness with which it aims to seduce the credulous and simple. We, therefore, as faithful Ministers, cannot refrain from sounding a solemn alarm, lest any of our dear people should be drawn away by the dissimulation of evil disposed men. We proclaim loudly and earnestly, Fear the Lord and the King; and meddle not with them that are given to change.""

It is well known, that the emissaries of sedition and infidelity, have very assiduously and extensively called to their aid the power of the press; and by the circulation of Tracts and cheap publications, have done much to demoralize the people. The friends of Christianity, and the supporters of civil government and social order, have done much to counteract the influence of such mischievous publications, by an extensive distribution of Religious Tracts, inculcating the fear of God and the honour of the King. In this department of Christian labour, the Methodists have shared the toil, and have cheerfully supplied the means of carrying on the pious and patriotic warfare. With a regularity, and to an extent unequalled by their pious coadjutors of other denominations, they have, with a liberal hand, scattered abroad the seeds of divine truth; and by the distribution of tracts, many "souls have been saved from death, and a multitude of sins have been prevented." The system generally acted upon among the Methodists, is, not that of giving, but lending tracts. This mode of circulation recommends itself to general adoption, not merely on account of its economy, but because of the collateral advantages with which it is connected. It secures, so far as human influence can secure, the reading of the Tract, and a knowledge of its contents. The regular visits

of the distributors have an influence upon the domestic habits of the people. Cleanliness is frequently produced; the wicked are reproved and admonished; the aged and infirm become the subjects of religious instruction; the Sabbath is hallowed in habitations where it had been previously profaned; and many who have from their early days been estranged from the house of prayer, have been induced to frequent the sanctuary. These are facts and not fictions; and there are many living witnesses of their truth, associated with Methodism, who are "walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless."

It would be an inexplicable enigma, at variance with all the acknowledged principles of morals, politics, and religion, to suppose, that the sentiments of loyalty and patriotism, avowed in the pastoral addresses of the Conference to the Societies, and the principles of piety inculcated in the Tracts which are distributed, have had no influence upon the moral habits of the people, and have not contributed to the welfare and stability of the nation. Could such sentiments, avowed in such a seasonable manner, at such critical periods of national agitation, fail to produce the most important practical results? Could such a body of men as the Methodist Ministers, have pastoral intercourse with the societies and congregations, in the immense number of hamlets, villages, towns, and cities into which Methodism has been introduced, without counteracting, by their prayers, persuasions, and practice, the doctrines of sedition which were so assiduously disseminated in every part of the country by disaffected and unprincipled men? If it had not been for the powerful and pervading influence of Methodism, obtained, not by the countenance of the rich, the smiles of the clergy, and the approbation of the nobles, but positively in spite of their frowns and opposition, no physical force could have prevented scenes of anarchy and blood, by which our country would have been disgraced and deluged at various critical seasons of national agitation. Methodism has done much for the poor. It has done much for the rich. It has most efficiently contributed to promote the happiness of the people, the stability of the throne, and the moral glory of the nation. pp. 96-109.

Our limits will not allow us to continue the extract, or to advert to the influence exerted by Methodism in the melioration of Ireland. But we must transcribe one sentence, which speaks volumes.

It will, I believe, be found, on examination, that the only portion of the Irish population who have not mixed in the agitations by which that portion of the empire has been blighted, have been the Societies connected with Methodism and the evangelical Dissenters.' p. 111.

Whether the evangelical Dissenters have rivalled or fallen short of the Methodists in their zeal, their activity, and their success, we are not at present concerned to ascertain. They have not been idle; their resources are at least equal; and the average qualifications of their ministers, it must be allowed, are of a higher character. Their national importance will hardly be

estimated, by either the politician or the ecclesiastical partizan, as inferior to that of the Wesleyan body; and when this is thrown into the same scale, the opposite one will scarcely exhibit a very predominating weight. So great is the separate importance of Methodism and of evangelical Dissent, that the influence of neither could be spared, without the most imminent danger to the vital interests of the State. But, when we compare what they have achieved with the immense work that remains to be done, we cannot so boldly affirm as many have ventured to do, that the nonestablished communities, depending absolutely on voluntary exertions and contributions for support, would have been able to do, or are likely to be soon able to do, the entire work of the Establishment. As this is a point upon which we run some risk of having our misgivings imputed to that trimming and timeserving, or tenderness for the Church, with which we Eclectic Reviewers have of late been charged in certain quarters, we must cautiously approach the subject under the shelter of some popular authorities.

The testimony of history', remarks the late Rev. J. Ballantyne, in his "Comparison of Established and Dissenting Churches"*, 'seems unfavourable to the general success of the voluntary system, how beneficial soever it may be on a limited scale. The primitive Church, for near three hundred years, acted under this system; and, all things considered, her success was certainly extensive; but there seems no reason to believe she had the means of instructing the great mass of the people, till established by law in the days of Constantine. The same remark is still more obviously applicable to the Churches of the Reformation. The zeal and talents of the Reformers of the sixteenth century have never been surpassed; and the energy of their characters bore down before it every opposition; but, until their churches were established by law, they never were able, and never pretended to be able, to afford instruction to the great body of the people. . . . . The principle on which the voluntary system is found

....

This work, the first edition of which appeared, anonymously, in 1823, was reviewed in the xxth Volume of our former Series, p. 350. It now appears in an enlarged form, with the name of its Author, (since deceased,) whose treatise on the Human Mind was reviewed in our last volume. (Aug. 1831.) Shrewd, ingenious, able, and conscientiously persuaded of the truth of his own views, he has produced a volume which demands the serious attention of the exclusive favourers of ecclesiastical establishments, who would find it difficult to evade the force of many of his reasonings. At the same time, we were sorry to notice in the first edition, and regret to see preserved in the present, an occasional boldness and broadness of assertion, a harshness and vehemence of language, and an unfairness of reasoning, quite unsuitable to a philosophical work; and many of the Author's statements and arguments, it would not be difficult to refute.

The

ed, has never yet obtained a fair trial. If the primitive Church ever entertained the idea of evangelising the world under the plan of voluntary association, she certainly did not adhere to it; for no sooner did an opportunity occur, than it was entirely abandoned. Churches of the Reformation never had the most distant intention of adhering to it; for their great object was, to be connected with the State; and most of our present voluntary Churches were, till very lately, merely supplements to the State religion, and quietly worshipped God in their own way, without attempting any efficient scheme for instructing the mass of the people. The Independents, if we mistake not, afford the only considerable exception to these remarks; and their mode of procedure seems rather too disjointed for an undertaking which obviously requires the most systematic and persevering energy.

The voluntary system can obviously succeed to a very considerable extent. In this observation, we pay very little heed, either to the deductions of theory or the records of ancient history, but to what is entitled to far more confidence-existing realities. It is useless to allege, that not one of the present denominations of Free Churches could give instruction to the whole population. There is no reason that it should; nor, until more correct views of the principles, and laws, and constitution of the Church shall generally prevail, would it be even desirable that it should. In the progress of society, and the advancement of ecclesiastical knowledge, the Free Churches that are substantially in the wrong, if they will not reform, will gradually die out; those that are substantially in the right, will gradually improve, and become more and more assimilated to each other, till, at last, they unite together. And then will be the time for one party-if party it may be called-to instruct the whole population. In the mean time, we have not to inquire, what one party can do, but what they can all do, taken together; and though it is not a century since any considerable number of them had a being, (for, a century ago, there were, comparatively speaking, but few Free Churches,) though none of them set out with any preconcerted plan to instruct the whole population, and though they have all along very seriously opposed one another; yet, by the mere vitality of the spirit which animates them, they have already advanced so far as to be able to give instruction to at least one third or one fourth of the whole population. This does not look like

great want of efficiency.' Ballantyne, pp. 257-260.

The admissions comprised in this Writer's fervent culogy upon the voluntary system, are certainly of an extraordinary kind, and, had they appeared in our pages, could not have failed to draw down upon our devoted heads the thunders of the Ecclesiastical Society. That the voluntary system can succeed to a considerable extent, that it possesses very high efficiency as far as it goes, is what few of the advocates of Establishments would think of disputing the facts are so plain, that it would be pure absurdity to contest the position. That it would have been adequate to the wants, and capable of adapting itself to the varying circumstances of society, in all past ages, neither the records of history nor the