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HEXIEW OF LIT Eli A TUli E.

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HEXIEW OF LIT Eli A TUli E. "THE BRITISH MAGAZINE" FOR JANUARY.— J Turn 11 and T. Clerc Smith, Limdon- We have been much gratified in the perusal of this able publication, in which wp admire equally the excellent objects which it has in view, and the ability with which it is conducted. The British Magazine is a publication of recent origin, intended principally to concentrate, in unison with other in- teresting contributions, articles upon religious and ecclesiastical subjects. In this elevated walk of literature it has attained already a very high cha- racter and indeed no less can be expected irom the learning and talent of its numerous distinguished contributors. We regret that we are compelled at present to confine our extracts from it to the follow- ing, on Church Reform. After noticing a proposal of radical subversion of the Church Establishment, which is most impudently put forth by the "Christian Advocate," which is very obsequiously sanctioned by the Globe," and which afterwards Dr. Lush- ingtoB is represented at a public dinner to have said was in conformity to the views of his Majesty's Ministers, the Editor proceeds, with the following acute remarks These are subjects for serious consideration beyond all micsiion. The Standard, in one of those manv unasterjy | papers in which it handtes great questions, not on party, but on large philosophical views, pointed out the first of these extracts as all open declaration of war on the part ot the dissenters. It since states that it has received many disclaimers on the part of the respectable dissenters of the feelings expressed in the extract, and of all hostility to the established church The plain fact seems to be this this Magazine always maintained that there is a class of dis- 3enters who hold in entire abhorrence the violent and vulgar papers and societies which assume to be their re- presentatives—the Patriot, Christian Advocate, Society for Promotion of Ecclesiastical Knowledge,&c. &c. And from that class the letters in question came. Conscientious dis- senters cannot, if they love Christianity, at present wish for the fall of the church. There is one simple reason for this. Suppose the State church gone, and take the case of one of the many thousand parishes where there are only 'farmers, poor shop-keepers, and labourers living. Suppose the tithes gone from the clergyman, and disposed of in the most admirable manner which fancy can suggest, still they (under some other name) will be paid,—i. e. the farmer's expences will be just what they are now. Can he and the labourers afford, besides what they have to pay for, to pay for a minister'? It is notoriously impossible, or, in other words, whatever may be the case hereafter, to get rid of the church now wonld be to consign numberless parishes to itpin- tual destitution. Itcahnot, lie otherwise, simply because, let men be as disinterested as they wIH, amI, no doubt, hundreds of men would be found ready to suffer for their Master's they are men; and men who cannot eat must die, and food cannot be got without rtaoney. Now,conscientious dissenters know this, and whether they may thiuk a state church good or not, or whether they may entirely agree with the English church or nnt, they still allow that it teaches the truth in the main; and they had rather have the truth tatight by the church of England than not at all. But it is to be feared that this class is comparatively small. and the vulgar violence of the un-Christian Advocate Will find an echo but in too many bieasts. In a large por- tion of its realms di>sent is a political, not a religious busi- ness and even where it is not so, it is too often fanatical. From these two quarters, it cannot be doubted that we are to understand that year is declared! And we are told that it is to be war to the knife; that there is to be no rest till Babylon is destroyed, and pulled down utterly to the ground, And the admirable Morning Chronicle, of course, hounds on the d;>s of war, and is only too happy to hear its own Christian cry sounded from other mouths. But, let us ask, whence does it come ? It comes from a party who do not, when fairly brought to acccount, dare themselves to claim more than one-fourth of the population, and who, by very competent judges, are placed at one-sixth of it. But call them, as they call themselves, onefourlh, a calculation which comprises all the nominal as well as real partizans of dissent, what is it, then, that these moderate and decent persons say? Simply this, We, the fourth part, mean to dictate to yon the threo-Fourths You mean to have a church: we mean you shall not. To be sure this church has existed from time immemorial, and to be sure it gives Christian instruction to the people but we had rather they had none, and we have now got force enough (as you will be foolish enough not to stir yourselves or to act together, and we certainly shall) to beat you. By clamour and agi- tation, and by means of unhesitating falsehoods about our numbers and excellence, and your insignificance and base- ness, we shall persuade the country that we are the larger part, and that we ought to prevail." b Whether this eloquence and logic, as set forth by Messrs. Faithful, Gi;borne, Wilks, and Co iu the House of Com- mons, will prevail, remains to be seen. There is one point which it is a positive duty to bring before the friends of church, both there and elsewhere, which is, that they should beware of lightly passiug over details. The children of this world are wise, we know, in their genera- tion, and the dissenters know well enough that their tadies, at present, are to avoid all discussions in the gi-eat,beca-use direct motions to get rid of the established church just now would, probably, share the same fate as Mr. Faithful's. But when the Solicitor-General talks, as he did last session, of giving up church rates, did he talk in ignorance? Did he not know that this was really the question of an esta- blished church or not? And do not the dissenters know it too ? and do they not know, tb -At if they can get half-a dozen questions carried, really involving principles, tboti.11 people are careless enough not to notice it, the batds is fought?, If these things were in the minds of the friends of the Church, the danger would not be great, as far as the public or even the legislature (such as it is) goes; but when one considers certain other features of the case, the feeling is certainly not pleasant. Without imputing any bad motive at all, and, mostj of all, without accusing the government of any ill intentions towards the church, if left to its own dcvices, yet everyone knows the extent to which yielding to real clamour, and assuming the appearance of yielding to the popular voice, have gone. This is, indeed, a serious ground for apprehenrion. What Dr. Lusliington says is a matter of no sort of moment. Dr. L., no doubt, a humble rollover of the ministers, and 'nay talk about the radical reform of the church to please tnem t but, in the writer's opinion, they do Dr. h injustice, who, viwing his conduct with a very natural indignation, and feeling as every gentleman feels at the mixture of bad taste and in- gratitude which can induce a person who owes so much to the kindness of the church, to turn round and revile it, conceive that Dr. L. does all this because he knows that though the church has given much, the crown can give more. This is not the explanation. Any one who has watched Dr. L.*s speechis, will find in them always the same vehement tendency to extreme opinions, the same want of sober judgment. For many years his opinions, as given to the clergy, going upon fanciful theories, more than on precedent or experience, always led them to try ex- treme cases, and now the same Caste of mind (under the intlile-nee of dislike of the church) induces him to construe every act of Parliament, introduced toimprove the church, according to the theories to which his wish is father, so as to throw every possible impediment, in the way of those improvements. He was always a dangerous adviser of the church, and is now, in fact, one of its bitter, but, perhaps, least dangerous, enemies. This railing at the church, and this clamour for radical reform in it, however deplorable in taste end delicacy, is to be imputed to his impotence of temper and to his growing hatred of all institutions, and not to the wish to advance liizrself. 'J heS jlicitor-Generai's hostility, which is on calculation, looks far worse." ( To be continued.)

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