corporation acts, convinced that their abrogation | would produce anarchy and confusion. Most strenuously, therefore, did he oppose the designs of James duke of York. When heir, that unhappy and unfortunate individual openly avowed himself a papist; and nothing could be more gloomy than the prospect of his ensuing reign. Hence the plan for excluding him from the throne commenced in 1668, and was revived in 1673; but the bill for his total exclusion was not brought into the Commons until May 15, 1679. When read the second time, it passed by a majority of 227 to 128. It was not finally agreed to, until Nov. 11th, 1680, when it was carried into the house of peers by lord Russel, where it was no sooner received than the members who attended | lord Russel expressed their joy by loud shouts. The lords rejected the bill by a majority of 30. On this occasion, sir John never desisted from exerting his best endeavours to ward off the imminent dangers which arose from the influence of popish counsels, dangers always to be shunned, for popery, itself being witness, is unchangeable, and recent events have too lamentably testified the evils which must necessarily result from popish interference. Would that the eyes of all protestants were fully open to these. Surely to distrust those whom experience testifies are not to be trusted is not a breach of Christian charity, but an exercise of ordinary prudence; and protestants require continually to be reminded of their privileges, and urged not to forfeit or forego them. Nor should it be forgotten, that at this period nonconformists were in general silent if not unconcerned spectators of the popish inroads of the monarch: if they did not band and league together with the adherents of the Romish see, as their successors have done in later times, they certainly did not sound the trumpet of alarm, or seek to prevent the encroaches of the foe*. While his health allowed, he constantly attended his parliamentary duties; and his name frequently occurs in the committees, to which matters of great public and private concern were referred. He is represented as a person of excellent understanding, sound judgment, and of great weight and authority. During the whole reign of James II., consequently, his mind was agitated with perpetual anxiety at the measures then adopted, and he rigidly adhered to a maxim laid down to himself as inviolable-that "he, who builds his greatness and his fortune by flattering and serving a prince The truth of the assertion respecting the supineness of the non-conformists will probably be questioned, but it is in strict accordance with the most unimpeachable documents. "It is remarkable," says Mr. Lathbury, "that the non-conformists were silent on the popish controversy, while the clergy were using the pulpit and the press with the greatest effect. During the reign of James II., and the latter part of that of his brother, two hundred and thirty distinct works were published against popery by members of the church of England. They were not mere tracts, but works of considerable size. Even the lists of the titles form pamphlets of no small bulk. During the same period two works only proceeded from the pen of non-conformists, who were most unaccountably silent at this critical moment. These writings were instrumental in the deliverance of the nation: yet the dissenters of that day, when the danger was imminent, were unconcerned spectators of the struggles between the church and the papists. It is admitted that the dissenters concurred with the revolution, when it actually took place; but it must in justice be stated, that they contributed nothing by their efforts towards its accomplishment. The men who first dared to oppose the illegal proceedings of the monarch were bishops; and by their efforts, seconded by those of the clergy and the members of the church generally, was that glorious event brought about" (State of Popery and Jesuitism). in his vices or designs of tyranny, is a traitor to God, to his prince, and to his country, and ought to be treated as such." Would that all those who at different periods have been the counsellors of kings had acted on this principle! The court of the second Charles might have been swept of its loathsome licentiousness, and the mind of the second James been fully opened to the impossibility of Britons ever yielding again as a people to the thraldom of Rome. But, in both instances, to gratify the wish of the monarch was the sure road to favour and aggrandizement; and there are always to be found multitudes of persons ready to barter eternal salvation for the vanities and pleasures of a passing world. When it is considered, indeed, that the influence of a court must necessarily be widely extended, that there are myriads to whom its smile is affluence and its frown destruction, needful surely it is that the utmost diligence should be exercised, by those who are in high places, to shun even the appearance of evil. There are myriads in all classes to whom the fashion of a court is the ruling standard of good or evil; who regard every thing according to its etiquette to be lawful, and every thing contrary to that etiquette to be scrupulously avoided. Surely, the maxim referred to was that on which every right-minded man, placed under such circumstances as the subject of the present memoir, should act. Though, at the commencement of the reign, sir John, with many others, was inclined to place an almost unlimited confidence in the promises of the king, the conduct of that monarch became every day more offensive to his protestant subjects. To a right-thinking mind it is most painful to resist the authority of the supreme magistrate. But when that authority prescribes to itself no limits, when it attempts to subvert the laws and destroy the constitution of the state, the relation betwixt the prince and the subject is obviously dissolved; and this was now the case. The highest offices in church and state were conferred on or reserved for persons notoriously favourable to "the king's religion," as popery was called. The promise, solemnly made, was almost immediately broken on the part of the king, that he would "always defend and support the church of England, and that he would preserve the government both in church and state as by law established." The duke of Monmouth's rebellion was scarcely extinguished, when the king hesitated not to acknowledge his violation of the laws of the land; an offence which he dared to vindicate under pretext of exercising a dispensing power. "Let no man," said he, in his speech to both houses of parliament, "take exception, that there are some officers in the army not qualified, according to the late tests, for their employments. The gentlemen, I must tell you, are most of them well known to me; and, having formerly served with me on several occasions, and always approved the loyalty of their principles by their practice, I think fit to be employed under me. And I will deal plainly with you, that, having had the benefit of their service in such time of need and danger, I will neither expose them to disgrace, nor myself to want of them, if there should be another rebellion to make them necessary for me" (Journals of the House of Commons ix. 756). When no hopes remained of a change of be haviour in the king and his council; when popery | the mussulmans call them Sabians, which means "to change." Their dress is similar to that of the Arabs. They are well inclined towards Christians; but express hatred for the Jews, because of their circumcision. They eat neither with Christians, Mahommedans, nor Jews. They use nothing without its having been pre was not now secretly stealing in by jesuitical sophistry and priestly cunning, but boldly and unblushingly showing its form; when, as has been observed in the pages of this magazine, the mass at Windsor and at Holyrood had usurped the place of the liturgy, sir John Lowther was one of those to whom we owe the previously baptized, or dipped under water. They never servation of the protestant religion, and of every thing dear and valuable to us. He joined in inviting William to England; and was a member of that convention in which the crown was settled on the prince and princess of Orange. He had previously secured the city of Carlisle, and influenced Westmoreland and Cumberland to declare in favour of the prince. On the accession of William, he was immediately appointed a privy councillor, and vice-chamberlain of his majesty's household. In 1689, he was made lord lieutenant of the counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland; and, in 1690, first commissioner of the treasury. In 1694, the return of a disorder to which he was subject compelled him to decline his attendance upon parliament for some time. He therefore retired to his seat at Lowther, where he "his enjoyed that solitude which he called dearest companion and entertainment.' He took great pleasure in adorning his magnificent house* with paintings of the most eminent artists, and indulged his taste for rural elegance in improving the aspect of the whole country, in embellishing and enriching its noble scenery by extensive plantations, which he formed and nurtured with the tenderest care. Relieved from the toils and fatigues of public engagements, he experienced a never-failing source of gratification in the recreation of a garden. Upon this subject he thus expresses his sentiments in an address to his son : "Gardens have charms, indeed, that to me exceed all the pleasures of life. It was a garden that was the earthly paradise of our first parents in the state of innocence. It was in a garden that Epicurus taught his philosophy, who is said to have understood true pleasure the best of any man. But to enlarge on this subject would seem rather poetical and romantic, than suitable to the subject I am treating of. Suffice it to say, that, when you grow into years, when you begin to exercise the mind more than the body, as men before they grow old always do, then you will find the help of it to contemplation; then the walks, the solitude, the trees, the plants, the birds, the open air, all fellow-creatures of yours, made together with you for his pleasure that is the Author of all things, will please you indeed; when especially the innocence, calmness, and serenity of your thoughts make you fit for so divine and ravishing an exercise." *This noble mansion was nearly destroyed by fire in 1726. The present was erected by the late earl. Miscellaneous. THE SABIANS.-All the information I could gather at this time was, that they believe John the Baptist to be their mediator, and greater than Jesus Christ. I was subsequently informed by the Armenians, that they are subject to continual persecution from their enemies. Their proper name is Mandayi Yaha; but eat of any animal which is accounted unclean accord- A book of the same name is current among the Jews, but its tenor is different. London: Published for the Proprietors by EDWARDS and PRINTED BY THE parish of Stoke Poges, in Buckinghamshire, situated about two miles from Slough, is remarkable, not only for the retired beauty of its situation, but, in some measure, from its ancient manor house, and the. historical incidents connected therewith. The estate has borne its present name since the thirteenth century, when Amicia de Stoke brought it in marriage to Robert Pogeis, one of the knights of the shire under Edward I. It first descended to the Molins, by the marriage of sir John Molins, knight banneret, and treasurer to Edward III., with Egidia, grand-daughter of VOL. XVII. Poges; and, afterwards, to the families of Hun It was at Stoke that, according to Gray, the lord keeper, sir C. Hatton, "Full oft within the spacious walls, When he had fifty winters o'er him, His high crown'd hat and satin doublet, "The uncompromising adherence of Elizabeth to the principles of the reformation subjected her, as might have been expected, to many sarcastic remarks and unfounded accusations on the with many of her court, and among them with lord-keeper Hat part of her enemies. Of these one was that she was too familiar gerford and Hastings. The last house was built | some neat modern sculptures by Flaxman, Chanby Henry Hastings, in the reign of Elizabeth, and, being soon after seized by the crown for a debt, was given by James I. to sir Edward Coke, to whom there is a fine column, bearing a colossal statue, by Rossi, in the grounds, and who had held it for many years as lessee under the crown. His latter years spent here were passed, not only in comparative retirement, for he had lost court favour, but in much domestic affliction, arising from the gross conduct of his daughter, lady Purbeck. It subsequently passed through various hands, till purchased by Mr. Penn, chief proprietor of Pennsylvania, on the death of Anne viscountess Cobham. Queen Elizabeth was entertained here with great pomp, in 1601; and the unfortunate Charles inhabited it for some time while a prisoner, in 1647. The ancient manor-house, with the exception of one wing, was pulled down in 1789, and a new mansion erected in its stead. "The new mansion has a more commanding site; and is one of those pretty things which the age of George III. produced, having no characteristic of nation or agebad copies of exotic originals. But it gives us nothing that can compensate for the sweeping away of the fabric which told the story of one of the most striking periods of our annals, and of one of the really great men of a great age. It is gone. We have an old kitchen left, capacious enough for the hospitality of an attorney-general who had a queen for his guest, and the wide fireplace is still remaining, with its heraldic sculptures. In a small room on the second floor there are some rude paintings, also heraldic, on the plastered walls, with the initials E. R.: on another side are some quaint inscriptions, among which we decyphered 66 FEARE THE LORDE, SPEKE THE TRUETH, The first and most striking object which meets the eye on approaching Stoke, is the spire of the church, peeping from the thick verdure by which it is surrounded. It lies at some distance from the village, and is reached by crossing several fields. The ivy-mantled tower and the greater part of the church are built of large flints, the windows and angles being of stone. Some parts in brick, however, are of a comparatively recent erection, and the wooden spire has been rebuilt within a few years. In the interior are tombs of the Molins and Hungerford families, bearing dates in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; as well as ton. It is not to be maintained that the queen's court, or queen's conduct, indeed, was what could have been wished; nor was the lord-keeper's what might have been looked for, in a personage officially so grave. Being of a comely tallness, she took him into her band of fifty gentlemen pensioners; and afterwards, for his modest sweetness of manners, into the number of her privy chamber; made him captain of the guard, vice-chamberlain, and one of her privy council, and, lastly, lord chancellor. A man of pious nature, great pity toward the poor, and singular bounty to students of learning; for which those of Oxford chose him chancellor of that university' (Camd. Eliz., p. 406-7). He was, however, so attached to dancing, even after he had the seals, that upon his nephew and heir's marriage with a judge's daughter, he took off his official gown, and placed it upon his chair, saying, Lie there, Mr. Chancellor and then danced the mensure of the nuptial festivity" (Capt. Allen's Lett. in Birch, v. 56). • Penny Magazine, No. 617. try, and other artists. Sir Edward Hastings (lord Loughborough) built a chapel adjoining the church, for the interment of himself and family; and gave special direction as to his own tomb: no vestiges, however, of any such remain. In this chapel, however, there is a monument to Dr. Gregory Hascard, dean of Windsor, who died in 1708. The antique font, and the curiously carved seats and doorway, are also worthy attention. The principal object of attraction in the churchyard is the tomb of the poet Gray, near the western window, below which is a tablet pointing to the spot. His remains, according to his express desire, set forth in his will, were deposited in the same tomb on which he thus recorded his grief at the loss of his aunt and mother:-" In the vault beneath are deposited, in hope of a joyful resurrection, the remains of Mary Antrobus. She died unmarried, November 5, 1749, aged 66. In the same pious confidence, beside her friend and sister, here sleep the remains of Dorothy Gray, widow, the careful tender mother of many children, one of whom alone had the misfortune to survive her. She died March 11, 1753, aged 67.” The churchyard is surrounded with elms and pines, the only trees within the enclosure being an aged thorn and two yew-trees. In a field, or, more properly, garden, near the churchyard, is a monument to the memory of the poet, erected by the grandson of the founder of Pennsylvania. The monument consists of a sarcophagus, supported on a large square pedestal, on the sides of which are the following inscriptions from his writings. On the north face, from which there is a noble view of Windsor castle, are the lines from the "Ode on a distant Prospect of Eton College." "Ye distant spires, ye antique towers, That crown the wat'ry glade ! Ah happy hills! ah pleasing shade! Where once my careless childhood strayed, A stranger yet to pain! I feel the gales that from ye blow The west side looks over a wide and varied land- "Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn, Mutt'ring his wayward fancies, he would rove; Or crazed with care, or crossed in hopeless love. Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he." The east side bears the fine lines from the "Elegy:" "Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade, Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap, Each in his narrow cell for ever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, The paths of glory lead but to the grave.” The appearance of the churchyard from this point is striking. The pine trees by which it is enclosed finely contrast with the lighter verdure around; while the aged yews spread a still more solemn shade. It is generally admitted that Stoke churchyard was that referred to by the poet in his celebrated "Elegy ;" and, from this being the case, and that village his residence, where he spent many happy hours, as well as earthly resting-place, as much as from its manor-house, has the parish become an object of interest. His cottage, now much enlarged, is about half a mile from the church. The whole scenery is in perfect keeping with the description of the poem. Of the merits or demerits of that composition very different opinions have been formed. This, however, must be allowed, with a full admission of its beauties, that the subject is not treated as a true Christian would wish. Dr. Johnson, indeed, says, that it "abounds with images which find a mirror in every mind, and with sentiments to which every bosom returns an echo." So it may still there is nothing in it to mark that the talented author wrote as one deeply impressed with a sense of the value of those glorious truths of the gospel, which are the foundation of the believer's hopes of glory and immortality beyond the grave, though few have surpassed him in description of scenery. The poetry of sentiment is not necessarily the poetry of vital religion. Unquestionably the author cannot be ranked among our Christian poets. Perhaps these remarks are not out of place, as the poem is frequently referred to as indicating the pious feelings of the poet. Sir Howard Hastings founded at Stoke an hospital near the churchyard, in 1557, for the support of a chantry priest and four beadsmen. After the reformation it was incorporated by the name of master and brethren. It was pulled down, and the present one erected in its stead by Mr. Penn, in 1765. M. character and conduct of a parish-clerk produces among certain classes a much greater degree of good or evil than may be at first admitted. And here the incumbent has much in his own power. He cannot, indeed, capriciously remove the clerk: it must be by a legal process, and it is well it should be so; but he has the appointment in the first instance in his own power. In him it is absolutely vested-a point which ought to be known; and most culpable is the incumbent who makes the appointment from any motive save one-the interests of religion in his parish. If the clerk is an ungodly man-and a man may be utterly ungodly, and yet not expose himself to ecclesiastical removal; if his conduct plainly testifies that he is destitute of anything approaching to religious feeling; if he is found amidst the social circle at the tap-room fire, its chief spokesman; if the "amen" uttered in the desk is a mere mockery of office-and I have known a peculiar solemnity attached to it on a Sunday, when the rector was in his pew, and the squire's family present, totally different from what was heard on a week-day, when the curate, "With naked surplice, lacking hood and band," read prayers to a scanty pauper audience-surely the office is desecrated. I do not wish to wage war against parish-clerks: their use, as prominently taking a lead in the service, is questioned; right or wrong, I presume not to say. I know, however, not a few whose example, conversation, demeanour, and anxiety to be useful, have proved an incalculable blessing to a parish, and an unspeakable aid to a clergyman. No other lay reader is likely to produce a better effect. I have known many who could conscientiously say, "I THE CHRISTIAN IN VARIOUS POSITIONS. will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with No. V. THE PARISH-CLERK AND THE SEXTON. the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also." and our assistants in the use of the liturgical help prepared for us, ought to be very watchful over our own minds, lest, being absorbed in the performance of a professional duty, we neglect seriously and habitually to care for our own per sonal edification and salvation. Our official em Much excellent advice is contained in the folIt will scarcely be credited, without an almost uni-lowing considerations :-"We that are ministers, versal impeachment of my common sense among those who may read this paper, when I declare that I was on one occasion deterred from accepting duty in a church chiefly from the known character and behaviour of the parish-clerk; a most important functionary in his own eyes, and regarded with becoming reverence by the rustics, as the orator of the village; in whom, unfortunately, the incumbent could see no fault; and who was most cringingly subservient, from the lurking hope that he might one day arrive at the possession of a verger's staff, the rector holding a high place in the chapter of a cathedral. In the estimation of this worthy, the poor curate was a very humble individual; indeed, scarcely occupying so high a situation as the butler at the rectory; who was, nevertheless, somewhat of an eye-sore, from a dread that the verger's staff might be conferred on him, especially as he was better known in the close. And those were the palmy days of cathedral adjuncts, when a stout lock and key excluded, save on the bestowal of a handsome gratuity, the multitude from entering the walls. Most gratifying it is to see that this evil is less and less prevalent. Having thus acknowledged my weakness, which I never, however, had cause to regret, I may state-and very many of my clerical brethren, nay, of the laity, can state the same-that the ployment in God's sanctuary is for the good of the congregation, and to assist their devotions. But we have another character to sustain in God's house, if we rightly consider the duty we owe to ourselves....We ought to feel that the prayers are as suitable to us, and as necessary for us, as for them; that, without a personal, active, influential faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as the atonement for our sins, and as our constant advocate with the Father, without a life and conduct directed by the peculiar principles of the gospel, without private daily prayer for the divine help and blessing, though we may officially have led the devotions of a congregation for many years, we are ourselves living without a lively hope, and, in an awful sense, without God in the world*." Nor do the above remarks hold less true with regard to the sexton; and sorry I am to say that I have too often met with persons occupying this office who were wholly unfit for it; unfit, from before the worshipful company of parish-clerks, by H. C. Watkins, M.A., rector of St. Swithin's." London: Stone. 1823, "Sermon preached in St. Alban's, Wood-street, London, |