of this vast city into manageable districts, each with its place of worship, its schools, and its local institutions.

It is to this work that I earnestly entreat the prompt and liberal assistance of the Christian public. The examples of Glasgow and Manchester, where large sums have already been raised within the last year for a similar object, forbid me to entertain any doubt as to the success of this appeal. If this object be important any where, it is surely most important with reference to the metropolis; and I cannot forbear from indulging a sanguine hope, that an effort will be made for its attainment, commensurate with the breadth and depth of the evil which it is intended to cure. It is an object, in which not merely the inhabitants of this great city, but the people of the empire at large, are interested; for the influence of the metropolis upon all the towns of the kingdom, and upon the springs of the government itself, is every day increasing.

My desire and hope is, that by means of donations, much higher in amount than those which are usually given as annual subscriptions, or for temporary objects, a very large fund may forthwith be raised, for the purpose of building, or purchasing, and partly endowing, at least fifty new churches, or chapels, in the most populous parts of the metropolis and its suburbs. In many cases, opportunities will present themselves of purchasing buildings, which may be fitted, at a moderate cost, for the purpose of divine worship, according to the rites and usages of the Established Church.t

I would propose, that where donations to this fund shall exceed a certain sum, (say 100l.) they shall be paid by four equal yearly instalments.

Generally speaking, I should desire, that to every one of these new churches a district should be assigned, within the limits of which the minister might have, practically, the care of souls: but cases may perhaps occur, in which it will be advisable to build chapels of ease, to be served by curates, under the superintendence of the incumbent of the parish.

With respect to endowment, a certain fixed income should be secured to the minister, independent of pew-rents, the amount of which, in poor districts, must, of necessity, be small. Grants for this purpose may be made from the fund: but I have reason to expect, that considerable means will be afforded to me, for the endowment of additional churches, from the property belonging to the prebendal stalls in St. Paul's Cathedral, the suppression of which, as they shall become vacant, has been recommended by the Church Commissioners; and to some portion of the property of which I may fairly assert a claim, in behalf of those parts of my diocese which are in a state of spiritual destitution. The endowment, however, of these new churches will probably, in any case, be so small, that the right of nominating ministers to them will impose a task of difficulty, as well as responsibility, upon those who shall possess it. The opinion of the greater number of those friends of the church whom I have consulted on this matter, is, that where the right of nomination does not follow the course of law, as it would in the case of chapels of ease, it should be vested, generally, in the bishop of the diocese. If in any case it should be thought expedient to adopt a different arrangement, the patronage may be vested in individuals, or in official trustees; but I am desirous of avoiding the system of elective trusteeship. Where parties are willing to build and endow additional churches, they may obtain the patronage for themselves, or for trustees, under the existing law (1 & 2 Will. IV., c. 38.)

A sum exceeding 20,000l. was subscribed in a very short time at Glasgow, by contributors of 2001. each and upwards, in aid of a plan for the erection and endow ment of twenty new churches in that city. In Manchester, subscriptions to the amount of nearly 12,000l. were obtained in a few days after the first proposal of a

similar scheme.

In some places it may perhaps be practicable to make a part of the building available as a school-room, a plan which has been carried into effect in St. Peter's Church, Saffron. Hill,

Upon the whole, I appeal, with no inconsiderable degree of confidence, to the humanity, as well as to the Christian charity of my countrymen, to furnish the means, not merely of commencing, but of carrying on far towards its accomplishment, under the blessing of God, this most important work; the work of evangelizing thousands, and hundreds of thousands of their poor brethren; of reclaiming them from practical heathenism; of imparting to them the word and sacraments of God, through the ministry of his church; or placing them under the guidance and teaching of men, rightly appointed to the office, and duly qualified for its discharge; of gathering them together into Christian neighbourhoods, each round its centre of knowledge and godliness; of giving increased efficiency, and therefore increased stability to our church; and so promoting at once the cause of social order and pure religion, and bringing down a blessing from Him, who is the author of peace, and lover of concord, and the giver of national as well as individual prosperity.

It is my intention shortly to submit to the friends of the church more specific proposals for the raising and distribution of the fund; and in the meantime I shall gladly receive the suggestions of those who may be desirous of promoting the measure; and also such promises of support, as may enable me to accompany the proposals with a list of subscriptions, which may be an omen of final success.

"The following tables are abstracted from the Proposals;' only it must be borne in mind (what one is apt to forget in these tabular statements), that each unit represents a human soul; that one is not even speaking of the religious destitution of one generation, but of what has been, and what must (but for timely aid) be, and must increase, the continually repeated cycle of the spiritual starvation of so many thousand distinct, undying, human souls.

(These statements include only parishes exceeding 7000 souls.)

GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE PLAN AS AT PRESENT SKETCHED.

1. To build or purchase and partly endow 50 new churches. 2. Districts to be assigned to each church, if possible.

3. Nomination (as generally desired) in the bishop of the diocese. 4. In single cases (if desirable) patronage to be vested in official trustees. 5. Sums of 100l. and upwards may be paid in equal instalments in four years. (Thus, e. g., one who could only contribute 251. in any one year, might be a subscriber of 100%.; one who could give 50l. only in a single year, 2001.)

This abstract is a continuation of the observations in pp. 676, 677.

6. Endowment, in many cases, to be provided out of the minor stalls of St. Paul's.

The Right Rev. the Bishop of London expresses a wish “to receive such promises of support as may enable him to accompany the [more specific] proposals with a list of subscriptions, which may be an omen of final success."

A legacy of 50,0001., and a sum of 2000l., (ultimately 3000l.,) per annum, it is understood, will be applied to the relief of these wants of the metropolis; and the writer of this paper* has himself been enabled to hold out promises of contributions of above 9,600l., in the following sums :-one of 5,000l., two of 1,000l., one of 400l., two of 2001., fourteen of 100l., and (in sums under 100l.) 4131. Other sums were also immediately notified to the Lord Bishop of London, of 1,000l., 5ool., 400l., 300l., 2001., 100l., exceeding 9,000l.; the Bishop himself gives 2,000l., his Majesty 1,000l., her Majesty 300l.; in all, above 19,000l.†

On a large plan, it would be desirable to raise 500,000l.”

It is most cheering to be able to state, on the best authority, that the Proposal has met with the most flattering reception, and that the Bishop only waits for the restoration of his health to bring forward his specific plan.

TITHE BILL.

It is only necessary to say that the bill has gone through the committee, but is recommitted, as was stated publicly, for the sake of reconsidering clause 34-i. e., the most important clause in the bill, the clause of limits. The minister had a majority of eight only on this clause, and may therefore perhaps fear defeat, if he perseveres in trying to pass the bill, while the house feels thus towards this clause. Whatever may be the merits of the bill, surely when it seems certain that, either altered, (in order to get a more favourable feeling towards it,) or not altered, it will pass the Commons, the conservatives, the friends of the church, will not allow Government to be defeated on this clause, that is, in other words, the clergy (who are already pillaged enough) to be still farther pillaged to just as great an extent as the landed proprietors and radicals combining together against the Government may chuse. Would this be conservatism?

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS' THIRD REPORT.

THIS report cannot be given in the present number. It relates to the changes in dioceses, and varies in several important particulars from the first report. There have been several projects entertained and given up as to Bristol. It is said in the present report that Bristol and Gloucester are to be united. The plan for effecting all the alterations appears to be the bringing in a bill to give the King in council power to declare the limits &c. of the dioceses.

The petition from Durham against the abstracting the property of the bishop and chapter from the diocese has been signed by one hundred clergy, and deserves to be most attentively read.

* Dr. Pusey.

It may be mentioned, that one London clergyman, the Rev. W. Dodsworth, (one of whom too much cannot easily be said,) has distributed the tabular statement just given, with the sentence which precedes it, among his congregation, with the best effect.

The PLURALITIES BILL has passed the Lords, but it really seems fruitless to give any farther abstract of it till it has assumed a more permanent form. It is singular that it seems to have excited so little interest among the clergy that hardly one letter on the subject has been sent to this Magazine.

PRUSSIA AND ENGLAND.

A RETURN has been just made to parliament, of which it is necessary to give some account, as illustrating very happily the principles on which statesmen and would-be-statesmen are inclined to deal with the ministers of religion and religion itself. The Irish Commissioners of Public Instruction have been pleased to take these interests into their own hands. On going to Ireland, it seems, they were struck with certain remarkable analogies between Prussia and England in respect to religion and its ministers. Both countries have a Protestant and Romanist population, both have a separate and outlying part of their dominions (West Prussia and Ireland), and, in both, the main body in the mother country (so to speak) is Protestant, and in the outlying portion, Romanist. If things go on quietly in Prussia, as to religion, why should they not go on equally well in Ireland? It can only be requisite to go on exactly in the same way in one country as in the other. All this being so clear, the commissioners apply to Lord Palmerston; and Lord Palmerston, seeing that nothing could be more natural than that these Irish commissioners should point out the best modes of arranging the disputes and difficulties as to the condition of Protestants and Romanists, writes to the Prussian Government for their recipe, which is sent with great readiness, and is now laid before parliament. Before the reader is informed of its nature, it is necessary to do justice to the Irish commissioners in two respects,-viz., those of sagacity and prudence. They have hinted at certain close analogies between the religious condition and local circumstances of Prussia and Ireland, and stated their opinion that the means adapted to produce peace in the one are well calculated to produce it in the other. But if means are to be effective, there must be a power of applying them. Those means are, in Prussia, simple despotism; and by the use of that simple but effective force, the whole system works perfectly well. Protestant and Romanist clergy are alike mere mechanical tools in the hands of the despotic government, made or broken up, used by the dozen or two dozens, as they are wanted or not. On this the whole

working of the system, as will be seen, depends. Now the commissioners have obviously had too much sagacity to overlook this; and, with equal sagacity, they saw that the thing could not work elsewhere (any more than in Prussia) except by the same powerful machinery. Now we, in England, imagine that we are going in the direction exactly opposite to that of despotism, and walking or running in the road to pure freedom. The commissioners see a great deal further. As practical men, they saw that all their other analogies would have been perfectly useless, unless this one great analogy had subsisted also. They would not have given Lord Palmerston or them

selves the trouble of collecting information for Utopia. No! they see clearly enough that a pure democratic despotism is growing up in the House of Commons, which will deal with men and things exactly as all other despotisms do,-make them mere tools, and concern itself not one moment about their rights, wishes, or happiness. Every day presents fresh indications of the growth of this power; and such unequivocal exercise of it has already taken place in church matters that the commissioners saw very clearly that the means of working the system were already in existence. Credit is due to them for their sagacity in seeing this, and equal credit for their prudence in not noticing it publicly. Similarity of natural condition, and system and results—this is all that it was necessary to suggest to the public, which would be as yet scared with the suggestion that the system could not be applied, nor the results attained, except by arbitrary power. The commissioners therefore prudently suppress the name, being quite satisfied with the reality.

The whole matter of management lies in a very few words. There is no "Art of Cookery" exhibited in the simple dish here presented by the Irish commissioners to the House of Commons. It is simply a Rechauffée for the thousandth time-tough old despotism. "Je le veux" is all that need be said, and the thing is done. It is this:-If Romanists increase and Protestants decrease, put on so many more Romanist priests and strike off so many Protestant ministers! And vice .versa! What can be simpler and easier? Then, as the acting commissioner in this case delicately phrases it, the ecclesiastical system will be "adapted to the actual circumstances of each religious persuasion, and to its numbers on any given spot, and not arranged with reference to any hypothetical or possible state of things." How truly satisfactory! It requires, as was said, nothing more in the world than on one side pure despotism-and that we have, or very near it— and on the other, clergy who shall be mere slaves and tools, to be put on and turned off when the commissioners or the House of Commons require-and such clergy we are to have, or the commissioners and the House of Commons will know why! They have them in Prussia! There are a set of tools who are sent into the country parishes, are called clergy, put into possession, and paid for the time, kicked by the gentry and nobility, as is very natural for the one, and very pleasant for the other, and struck off exactly as "the real exigency decides," but (conceive how perfect a protection) "not without consent of government!!"

These remarks are not addressed to the commissioners. What they may know of the state of things in Germany, one cannot tell. Every one who does know anything, knows very well that the country clergy in the north of Germany are without influence, despised by the resident proprietors, and often compelled to farm for a maintenThe only German clergy of influence or learning are, as in Scotland, those in the universities. But suppose the commissioners had picked up this by profound reading, what difference would this have made? There are other things about which they know nothing whatever, and their total ignorance of which makes it wholly

ance.