will be found as conspicuous as his charity; and that, while he sees recorded in print deeds which he never meant to travel beyond his own sequestered neighbourhood, he will feel how poor, how worthless, is human praise; but how infinitely important it is that all our motives should be simple and Christian, and all our efforts directed to the glory of our God and Saviour, who, though he needs not our services, is yet pleased to account even a cup of cold water given to one of the least of his disciples, in the name of a disciple, as an offering made to himself.

"The zeal displayed by good Mrs. Ferrar in the repair and decoration of the house of God at Gidding, as it is deserving of imitation, so is it not without at least one example of similar zeal and great disinterestedness in our day.

His

"The editor has been permitted to use a manuscript memoir of a living character, well known to him, and in his own neighbourhood, which will illustrate the subject. James D- was born at Grosmont in the county of M- ————————, A. D. 1770. original occupation was that of a pedlar and purchaser of rags for the paper mills. His acquaintance with the lower orders of people was consequently extensive, and all who knew him considered him a man of inflexible integrity, and unblemished conduct; added to which he possessed much observation, and an affectionare disposition. His exertions enabled him to lay up a little property, but he could not feel satisfied in living to himself alone; his heart was especially and sensibly alive to the wants of the children of the poor. One particular portion of the county, where whole families were living in the rudest and most uncultivated state, excited his deepest interest; it lay in the parish of N ; and from the peculiar circumstances of the place, the poor were in an extremely untutored situation.

"The nearest church to the spot in question was K- , in a ruinous state and literally used as a sheep-fold. It was prepared for divine service only a few Sundays in the year, and then a Bible and Prayer-book were borrowed from a neighbouring farmer; there was not even a surplice. Dobserved and felt the wants of the cottagers in this neighbour. hood, and his feelings did not evaporate in fruitless wishes, but he determined by the grace of God to acquire some little fitness for the work of educating the poor.

"After some preliminary instruction, he engaged as master of a school at U

A

and here his remarkable zeal, assiduity, and simplicity, gained him great approbation. He conducted this school for a few years, to the evident improvement both of children and parents; but he thought that the poor of a respectable town, surrounded by opulent people, were far better off than those who resided in country places; and he felt his affections much drawn to those forlorn people, who first excited his commiseration, and who always lay Somewhat before this near his heart. the curacies of Ntime the Rev. W. J- was appointed to and Kwith him D- had frequent communications on the subject of a school. His heart and purse were freely open. central spot on the summit of Dhill was selected, and after some difficulties, a commodious school-room, capable of containing one hundred and fifty children, was reared. "Here James D. received the little tattered flock. The more ample revenues of the school at U were cheerfully relinquished for the precarious stipend of this infant establishment. The ordinary business of the school is opened and closed with prayer; and it is delightful to observe the good man, with a simplicity peculiar to himself, pouring out his supplications at the Throne of Grace, his whole soul apparently engaged in the employment. The conduct of the children out of school, shew them to be a new race of beings; and their behaviour at church would seem to intimate that they are not engaged in the service of an unknown God. this is not the only object of Dattention, he finds out the sick, and administers to their bodily and spiritual wants. It is difficult to find a cottage which he has not visited. He has denied himself many a meal to bestow it on others; the very blankets of his own bed were transferred to a sick man in the piercing winter of 1811, and of his scanty wardrobe he is ever liberal. The pallid looks of his pupils often elicit the suspicion, that they have been sent to school hungry, and then a portion of his own meal is not unfrequently freely given away.

But

-'s

"With unremitting exertion he stirred up the parishioners of K- to repair, ceil, and new pew their little church, through the tiles of which the rain used plentifully to besprinkle the congregation. The church was often covered to a great depth with snow. Though not a parishioner, D- bore a considerable part of the expense. The communion table was without a railing, the pavement rough, the eastern window small and dark, the accommodation for the congregation extremely limited. Now the table is surmounted with a velvet cover, which alone cost five guineas; it is decently enclosed, supported by a pavement of Painswick stones, lighted by a large window; a gallery is erected the width of the church;

:

and these things were all done at the sole expense of D! "In May, 1820, it was proposed to raise a fund in aid of the Church Missionary Society, and Damong many others had the subject submitted to him; he seemed not to have turned his mind to it before his heart however soon caught the holy flame, and the day after receiving some addresses and quarterly papers, he came to St. A- in great delight, promising to give annually twelve shillings, to be also a subscriber of a penny a week, and to collect, if possible, from his neigh bours. His success among them, it is true, did not equal his fond expectations, but his exertions must not be underrated. When the first remittance was about to be made to the parent society, he brought his own twelve shillings, a collection from fourteen poor neighbours, and a few shillings from the children of the school; then added, I have brought a trifle more on my own account,' and he laid on the table a note of five pounds! Objections were made to receiving it, but he insisted on its being taken without any mention of his name, saying, 'I only regret that I cannot give a larger sum to this blessed work; but the little business at K- church

has abridged my power for this year.'

"The second year his contribution was still more munificent; again he was reminded of prudence, moderation, &c., his only reply was It is the work of God, can I do too much for him? I thank him for putting it into my heart, and for giving me the ability to do it.' The third year witnessed his continued liberality, and evinced a growing attachment to this good cause. Besides this he was not unmindful of the distresses of Ireland, of the Moravians, or of the Jews.

"His little property has long been expended in charitable offices. His total present income is twenty pounds per annum from the school, and this fluctuates below fifteen pounds. He obtains a trifle more, by vending flour in small quantities to the poor, thereby ensuring to them an article of good quality, and honest weight, at a fair price, with an accommodation to their convenient times of payment. This he sells on commission for a person at C- -and may realize some years from four to eight pounds, but never more. The great spring of all his actions is love to God, and to his brethren, and a total disregard of personal indulgence. Selfdenial strongly marks his character. He possesses withal such an independent spirit that it requires some address to induce him to accept a few trifling necessaries, even when tendered in the most delicate manner. In short, had he thousands at his disposal, he would soon divide them among his fellow-creatures, and live himself almost a daily pensioner on the providence of his God.

"Thus far the manuscript; but perhaps

some further particulars connected with the history of D- may not be recounted without interest.

Briefly then; it has been long an object near his heart, that a place of worship, according to the forms of the Established Church, should be erected near his school; for the benefit of the increasing population in that neighbourhood. Not deterred by the manifest difficulties of such a plan, he had devised a scheme bywhich he thought, with God's blessing, he should himself, after a very few years, be able to contribute largely to this pious object. The attempt however entailed upon him more personal labour than he could well bear, and perhaps some disquietude of mind, which in some degree may have occasionally interfered with his usefulness in the duties of his calling.

; and

"At this time the parish of N was, for the first time, blessed by the presence of a resident clergyman, (the present young but diligent and devoted incumbent. He at once knew how to appreciate such a character as Dafter conferring with the Rev. W. J of St. A, the first mover, supporter, visiter, treasurer, and patron of the school; it was resolved to apply to the lord bishop of the diocese, to licence the school-room for divine worship. His lordship convinced of the propriety of this measure, and its probable beneficial consequences, readily acquiesced. Dwillingly took upon himself the entire expense of the outfitment of the room; he had it ceiled, whitewashed, and partially new-benched; he set up a handsome desk and pulpit. The Rev. W. J (before mentioned) supplied surplice, Bible, and Prayer-book, and on Wednesday, the 11th March, of the present year, (1829) the room was opened for divine worship. The young incumbent of N reading prayers, the Rev. W. J of St. Apreaching, and D- acting as clerk! "It was a solemn, affecting, and animating service. Many, of a crowded congregation, found it so. Since, then, the beautiful services of our church have been performed twice a week there, (Sunday and Wednesday evenings) and a sermon preached to a congregation sometimes exceeding two hundred persons; some of whom, from having absented themselves for years from every place of public worship, have become regular and attentive hearers at this little house of God, the scene of D- -'s exertions and usefulness, the place of his prayers and praises.

"As he had previously occupied a part of the school-room, the change of its occupation threw him out of his tenement; and it was then proposed by his friend the Rev. W. J-, to build him a small house in the school garden; and although funds for this purpose by voluntary contribution have only in part been raised, the house is nevertheless being built.

with the striking features of natural landscape which greet the traveller's eye as he winds his way to the spot, D. would perhaps have had to poor encounter as many visitors as have migrated to the tomb and cottage of the Dairyman's Daughter. But we are not tourists, but reviewers; and if we have been betrayed, for a moment, into a deviation from the legitimate habits of that gentle

craft, we must plead as our excuse, that we thought our readers might not be displeased at our verifying the statement of our anonymous author, or unedified by an allusion to the unknown unlauded annals of a retired English village, as illustrating what many of our rural clergy truly are, and, by the grace of God and for the benefit of mankind, all might be.

GREAT BRITAIN. WORKS preparing for publication, and in the press:-A volume of Sermons; by the Right Reverend C. J. Blomfield, D.D. Bishop of London ;-The Truths of Religion; by Mr. Douglas ;-The Histories of England, Scotland, and Ireland; respectively by Sir J. Macintosh, Sir W. Scott, and T. Moore, for Dr. Lardner's Cyclopædia; The Friends' Monthly Magazine. No. I.

The new General Post-office in London has lately been opened. It is a magnificent structure, and excellently adapted to the business of that extensive department. Various arrangements are in progress for affording greater convenience to the public in the receipt, dispatch, and delivery of letters.

The Edinburgh Relief Presbytery have decided, that" the Rev. J. Johnston, having introduced an organ into the public worship of God, which innovation the Synod are of opinion is unauthorised by the laws of the New Testament--contrary to the universal practice of the church, in the first and purest periods of her history -contrary to the universal practice of the Church of Scotland-contrary to the consuetudinary laws of the Synod of Relief, and highly inexpedient," his name shall be struck off their list; and all members of their denomination are prohibited holding any ministerial communion with him. We had hoped that in the nineteenth cen. tury such scruples, if not wholly banished, were at least too weak to give rise to persecuting ordinances. To rend the church of Christ for a surplice, the location of a font, or "a kist fu o' whistles!"

The discoveries made by some of our periodical journals respecting the tenets of "the religious sects," are truly wonderful. Sylvanus Urban has found out, in the last number of the Gentleman's Magazine, that there are 66 parties of religionists among us," who treat or depreciate morals as unnecessary;-others, who think it indifferent whether men do good or evil; others, who preach that "people are stimulated by Providence to commit the most flagrant atrocities, in order that the punishment of death may excite a sudden conversion, and bring them to heaven." What some solitary knave or madman may profess, we know not, and care not; but such charges as these, applied to "parties of religionists among us," with an inuendo at the "Evangelicals," whom the Gentleman's Magazine so warmly lauds Mr. Irving for reprobating, are utterly devoid of common truth and justice. St. Paul, also, in his day was slanderously" reported to preach "Let us sin that grace may abound," because he maintained the freedom of our justification before God, through faith in Christ, in virtue of his obedience to death, and not by human works or merits. But did he therefore, or do those who follow his steps, inculcate the above atrocious doctrines? Is food unnecessary, because it is not clothing; or good works, because they are not good in that perfect sense which would entitle them to deserve our justification before God?

The tenures by which many lands and offices are held are not only absurd, but some of them are of such a character, that they ought to be promptly abolished. For example, in the church of Castor, a market town in Lincolnshire, on Palm-Sunday,

during the time of Divine service, the tenant of an estate at Broughton enters the porch, with a huge heavy whip ten feet long, which he cracks as loudly as possible three times while the minister is reading the first Lesson; and after some other ceremonies fixes a purse containing a small sum of money to the end of it, places himself in front of the reading desk, kneels upon a cushion, and waves the purse backwards and forwards over the clergyman's head like a bait at the end of a fishing lineduring the whole time he is reading the second Lesson, to the great merriment of the thoughtless part of the congregation. It is surely within the competency of the ordinary, the clergyman, or even the churchwarden, to prevent so absurd and profane an intrusion, without any legislative enactment for the purpose, or prejudice to any party. The house and service of God are not to be sported with by any person who may have seen fit to enjoin fooleries as the tenure for holding an estate. The custom in question has been referred to a grant of Vortigern to Hengest to hold as much land as he could encompass with thongs cut from one bull's hide; but in popular estimation it seems to be only a satirical ceremony; a sort of allegorical fly-fishing for a clergyman, with a purse for a bait.

In a history of Norfolk, lately published, are various extracts from the municipal archives of Norwich. One under date of June 26, 1568, says, "Ordered-that the Mayor's seal of office, which now is the picture of the Trinity [an emblem common to the present day in papal countries] which is not only contrary to God's word, but to her majesty's instructions, be altered, and from henceforth be substituted the arms of the city." Our ancestors dealt much in sumptuary laws; and we accordingly find "Edward Drewrye, was reproved by Mr. Mayor and brethren, and committed to prison with a block on his leg, for wearing such great hose contrary to law." The laws against drunkenness appear to have been more leniently enforced than those against preposterous shoes and stockings; for we find, anno 1569, one Robert Ringwood, on being commanded to leave off tippling, allowed to promise that "after this day fortnight" he will do

her story), her pain came again, and she wished for the renewal of the ceremony and of course another piece of gold. Our allusion in the preceding paragraph, to the ancient history of Norwich, leads us to notice a published passage in its modern history which we should be glad to see contradicted; namely, that at the recent opening of a Roman-Catholic chapel in that city the choristers of the cathedral were permitted to assist on the

occasion.

FRANCE.

There are in Paris 152 journals, literary, scientific, and religious, and eleven entirely political. About 151 are what, in England, we should call Whig or Radical; the other eighteen high Tory. There are only about seventy-five journals published in the provinces.

Several series of publications are proceeding in Paris, similar to those of the Useful Knowledge Society and Cabinet Library in England. One of the series includes the Gospels.

The Geographical Society of Paris has this year awarded its medal for important discoveries, to Captain Sir John Franklin. It is pleasing to witness, among learned and scientific men, so many honourable instances of the absence of that petty national jealousy which is equally unchristian and injurious to the general interests of society.

The conductor of the Courier Français was lately cited to answer for a paragraph, half absurd, half profane, in which the writer, speaking of the works of the great masters of painting, says, that the Madonnas of Raphael are still divine, though their altars are half overthrown; and that if the fragility of their materials would allow, the pictures of the communion, the transfiguration, and St. Jerome would remain "when Christianity itself shall be abolished." The court decided that this stupid tirade was "an outrage to religious morality, the religion of the state, and of all other Christian sects," and sentenced the conductor of the paper to three months' imprisonment and a pecuniary fine.