cified distance observed in England, and has, moreover, declared his determination to resist every applica tion, even within these limits, which should not appear to be conducive to the general interest of the church. It is contended by the Bishop, that neither could the incomes of the beneficed clergy be applied with advantage to the improvement of the situation of their curates assistant. The number of the beneficed clergy is about 1200, and that of their curates assistant about 600; and if the whole amount of the incomes of the benefices were divided equally among the whole number, the income of each would not be quite L.250, and but about L.187, if the number were made equal to that of parishes. Now, it is justly argued by the Bishop, that the great object is to en courage a sufficient number of well educated persons to offer themselves for the ministry, and that this object is more surely attained by an inequality of incomes, than by a unifor mity of provision so moderate as an equal distribution would afford.

In regard to the salaries of the curates assistant, the Bishop maintains, that every thing has been done five years ago which the law could do for their benefit. Ample provision has been made for them in the case of non-resident incumbents, and resident incumbents are bound to give the regulated stipend, it being, in this case, manifestly inexpedient to augment that stipend, as it might induce many incumbents, who now employ curates assistant, to undertake the entire discharge of their parochial duties. It is indeed remarkable, that the legislature has not made the regulations of the act applicable to lay impropriators, who accordingly have continued to pay their curates stipends much less than those allowed to them by the beneficed clergy. And here I must bear honourable testimony to the liberality of Lord Kilmorey, who, though not possessing the tithes of the church, but inheriting the lands and the exempt jurisdiction of the suppressed monastery of Newry, has liberally endowed the vicarage of that town

with a stipend of L.200, and two assistant curacies, each with a stipend of L.100.

The Earl has indeed combated the position of the Bishop, concerning the best encouragement to be offered to educated men, by observing that an expensive education is not necessary to the pious and the good; but the Bishop, in reply, has remarked, that the importance of education to a Christian minister is illustrated by the example of Paul, to whom "the care of all the churches" was intrusted, and by the character of the scribe, "instructed to the kingdom of heaven." I will add an observation, which may perhaps be deemed worthy of attention. Simple and illiterate men were first selected as apostles, because they were chosen chiefly to be witnesses, and the testimony of such men, in regard to facts, might best be trusted. But Paul, who was not of the number of witnesses, and was chosen to be the great leader and teacher of the Christian church, had enjoyed the best education which his time and nation afforded.

The third charge adduced against the church by the meeting, is, that the parochial clergy are inattentive to their duty. The proof offered is drawn from a consideration of the ignorant and depraved state of all classes of Protestants. This proof is repelled as to the imputation of the increase of ignorance, by pleading the attention which has been given to the education of the lower classes by the Association for Discountenancing Vice, particularly under the direction of the clergy, the schools being increased from three, to more than three hundred,* and the children attending catechetical and scriptural examinations, from a few hundreds, to nearly thirty thousand. It is repelled as to the imputation of the increase of crime, by alleging the very small number of Protestants executed in Ireland for capital offences.

The fourth charge, that the beneficed clergy are covetous and griping, is sufficiently refuted by simply stating, that it appears, from the operation of the statute for compounding for tithe, that the demands

of the beneficed clergy, instead of amounting to a tenth of the gross produce, do not amount to a tenth of the rent, so that they must have relinquished two-thirds of their legal and just claims.

Last, comes the very serious charge of general immorality-and never, perhaps, was a charge so serious, and so extensive, urged with so small a proportion of proof. In support of it, the Earl has alleged, that various petitions have been presented against the clergy for immoral conduct to both Houses of Parliament. It was stated in reply, that not one petition of this kind has been presented against any of the clergy of Ireland, and one only against any of the clergy of England; and that in a body, consisting probably, for the two countries, of 18,000,some irregularities must be expected. The Earl, in his answer, contended, that it matters not whether petitions be presented or not, if flagrant cases can be proved; and that cases are, from time to time, brought into the ecclesiastical, and other courts, which prove his assertions to be true, while the apathy arising from ignorance, bribery, and corruption, together with the expensiveness of legal proceedings, often hinder a crowd of other charges from being brought to light. This second position, however, was in its turn abandoned; and the final statement of the Earl, in support of this grievous and sweeping imputation of general immorality, is, that "if only ten clergymen in the United Kingdom are openly immoral, through defects in legal enactments,there exists strong ground for calling for a remedy." There is, says Touchstone, "much virtue in if" The witty clown, however, could only see, that it is a good peace-maker. It now appears capable of affording a last refuge to the beaten disputant. Unhappily, however, in the present case, this retreat has been cut off by the Bishop, who has reminded the Earl that no meeting was necessary for such a purpose, since, as a Peer of Parliament, he might himself propose the measure.

In reviewing this very remarkable correspondence, I have not noticed incidental discussions concerning the first fruits of clerical incomes, and the expediency of proportioning the number of the Protestant clergy to

the whole population of Ireland, Roman Catholics together with Protestants, because they do not bear upon the main question concerning the necessity of reforming the present esta

blishment. Neither have I entered into details of instances adduced by the Earl, to strengthen his positions, because it may be pronounced at once that these attempts, without a single exception, have proved only that the charges urged against the Established Church in the meeting, were framed without enquiry, and in opposition to facts which might easily have been ascertained. Above all, I have declined every allusion to those expressions of irritated feeling which unfortunately could not be suppressed in the discussion, but ought not to be retained in recollection, particularly by those who hold both the contending parties in respect; the one as a steady supporter of a Protestant constitution, the other as a powerful champion of a Protestant church.

Still, I would take the liberty of asking the noble Earl, not in the way of controversy, but in the way of remonstrance, Whether, in selecting this synod of reformers, care was employed to compose it only of persons who might justly claim credit with the public for more than ordinary interest in the advancement of religion, and for, if not a friendly feeling, at least an exemption from all hostility, in respect of the present establishment of the clergy? I would beg leave to ask the noble Earl, whether the number of these reformers of the church contains more than one other individual, besides himself, who even professes any zeal for religion, and whether that other individual is not, or has not very lately been, the self-appointed preacher in a conventicle? I would even ask, whether another of these reformers is not notc rious for a habit of profane swearing, and has not been also distinguished by his opposition to the incumbent of his parish, in regard to the application of the statute for compounding for tithe? I would ask, indeed, whether most of these reformers are not men who have had disputes with the incumbents of their respective parishes, in regard to their incomes? Nay, I would ask the noble Earl whether he has not himself been

WE are surprised that people do not follow our example in other things, and adapt their appearance and costume of body, at least, to the different seasons of the year, if they cannot, like us, change the shape and fashion of their thoughts. We beheld a man, the other day, fluttering along Prince's Street, with light jane trowsers, and a white straw hat. Has the animal no perception of changes in the atmosphere; or, as we rather suspect, has he only one pair of nether habiliments in the world? However it may be, he ought to be kept in solitary confinement; for the man who would outrage public decorum in this way, would have little scruple in murdering his nearest relation. We are offended every time we walk the streets, with a thousand instances of similar insanity. A person, in the heats of June or July, comes sweltering up to us buckled in a prodigious great-coat, which he probably terms a surtout; and carries his head tight on his shoulders by the aid of two or three neckcloths, which would smother an ordinary mortal in December. Another fellow hobbles past us in a pair of immense Wellington boots, or, at least, with his ankles thickly enveloped in prodigious gaiters-an article of wearing apparel which is at once the most snobbish and disagreeable. We ourselves are of a peculiar ly delicate constitution, and, above all, are liable to sore throats from the easterly winds. But what is the use of all the precautions we can use, if fellows will wriggle past us dressed so thinly that their own miserable bloodless bodies chill the air more completely than Eurus himself could do, with Leslie's freezing machine in his hand, and an iceberg in each pocket? We are convinced that our last cough, from which, indeed, we are scarcely yet recovered, was inflicted on us by a man in nankeen trowsers, who stood beside us several minutes as we waited for a friend by the Glasgow mail. These things ought to be looked to a little more closely; and if people would only have the sense to dress by a thermometer, it would shew more wisdom than we are at present dis

VOL. XXVII. NO. CLXI.

posed to allow them. There might, by a very slight change of the present style, be a graduated scale of dress. In summer, instead of having the thermometer at 80 in the shade, the mercury might be made to rise to the words silk stockings and nankeens-as it gradually descended, it might point to cotton stockings, boots, cloth trowsers, drawers, and jackets, till at last it sunk fairly down to greatcoats, worsted gloves, and Belcher fogles. As to the colour of the habiliments, that, of course, ought to be left to the taste of the individual; but all men should not wrap themselves in windings of exactly the same tints and shades. No sooner does some colour come down strongly recommended from some London candidate for the Fleet, than universal Edinburgh appears in the same hue. Say the colour fixed upon is greenforth stalks a writer's clerk, fresh from the Orkneys, with a back as broad as his desk, and whiskers as red as his sealing-wax, and struts about in a few days in the livery of Oberon and the Fairies. People with faces more lugubrious than if their aunts had recovered from a fever, make up, by the gaiety of their dress, for the funereal expression of their features. White hats are cocked up with a ludicrous jauntiness over grizzled locks on which a nightcap would be more becoming; and, in short, without reference to age, size, character, or profession, every man struts forth as nearly in the fashion as he can. But "what have we with men to do?" Let us advert to the ladies-Not unto thee, O thin-lipped and narrowshouldered virgin, blooming on, like the other evergreens, in thy fiftysecond winter, with a nose thin and blue as a darning needle, and a countenance with the amiable expression of a bowl of skim milk, are these observations directed; useless were any care upon thy toilet, unnoticed the elegance of thy head-dress, unremarked the beauty of thy gown. For thee the plainest and least distinguished garments are the most appropriate, and those,

"Like thine own planet in the west, When half conceal'd, are loveliest." So, beware of low necks, short

N

sleeves, or petticoats one inch above thy shoe. But to you, ye maids and matrons, from sixteen up to sixty, would an old man offer gentle and friendly advice; and, we beseech you, lay it seriously to your hearts, whether they beat in the gaiety and gladness of youth and beauty, behind the folds of a snowy muslin kerchief, or rest quiet and contented in married and matronly sedateness, beneath the warm Chinchilla tippit, and comfortable and close-pinned India shawl.

In the first place, let no one look, unless with loathing and contempt, at the fashions for the month. Let every one be her own pattern, and dress according to her figure, size, and complexion, and not according to the caprice or whim of another. If a great Leviathan, who happens to set the mode, chooses to envelope her acres of back and bosom in dra pery so wide as to make it impossible to discover where the apparel ends, and where the natural contour begins; why, oh why, our own dear Jane, should you hide the fall of your shoulders, or the symmetry of your waist, in the same overwhelming and fantastic habiliments? Why change the rounded elegance of your own white and beautiful arm for the puffed-out, pudding-shaped sleeves which the sapient in millinery call gigot de mouton? Consult your mirror only for one single moment, and ask yourself, if a stiff frumpt-up Queen-Mary frill suit with the laughing playfulness of your eyes, or the gay and thoughtless expression of your mouth. By no means. Leave that and all other stiff articles of apparel to the large hazel-eyed imperial sort of beauties; but let one simple string of pearls hang on your blue-veined neck, and a thin gauze handkerchief rest carelessly on your shoulders. Hast thou dark waving ringlets? Oh maid, whose eyes now cast a halo of their own light over our pages, let red roses and pale honeysuckle nestle amid their tresses! Do thy blue eyes shine, like stars of joy, beneath the fleecy clouds of thy lightfalling hair? Twine a green wreath to encircle thy brow, of the leaves of the lemon-plant, holly, or even the cypress-tree. But why should a gentle young maiden wear any ornaments in her hair at all? Far better, and far

lovelier, are her simple tresses. The days of diamond combs, and pearl circlets, have luckily gone by, and pure is the delight to behold a face, radiant with smiles and beauty, half hid, in its playfulness and mirth, be neath a veil of falling curls, loose, wandering, and unconfined. There are some figures which dress cannot spoil, but there are none which dress may not improve. We have before us now at the table on which we write, a girl, beautiful, indeed, in herself, but so plainly, and yet so tastefully dressed, as to add to her natural loveliness. She has light brown hair, clustering thickly down her cheek; her blue eyes are fixed intently on a book, while her rosy lips seem to move unconsciously, and her brow to assume an appearance of intense excitement under the inspiration of what she is reading. She wears a plain white gown; a pink-coloured kerchief in vain endeavours to conceal the heavings of her breast; no necklace is round her throat-and, above all, none of those revolting remnants of barbarity-ear-rings-destroying the chaste simplicity of her cheek and neck. And what is there in all that? A thousand girls dress simply and elegantly in white gowns, a thousand wear no ornaments in their hair, and thousands upon thousands submit to no manacles in their ears; and yet, with many, this unadorned style would not be the most becoming. Give bracelets on the wrist, and aigrettes in her locks, to the flashing-eyed flirt; dress her in gay. coloured silks, and let rings sparkle on every finger as she lifts it in playful and heartless gaiety to captivate some large-eyed, wide-mouthed spoon, who thinks she cares only for him;-but to the meek and gentle daughters of our hearts, the noiseless spirits of our homes, give drapery pure and spotless as their thoughts, and white as the snowy bosoms which it covers.

And yet, since truth must be spoken, the style of dress in the present day is certainly more becoming than the monstrosities we remember some years ago. The short waists were our utter abomination. Men's buttons took post exactly on the tip of their shoulder-bones, while the swallow-tails dangled their immensity of length till they tapered off below the