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is let down by this vile habit. I was there the first session after it was rebuilt; and as the magnificent and beautiful halls had been provided with splendid carpets, some of the senators appeared at first a little daunted; but, after looking about in distress, and disposing of their diluted tobacco at first with timidity and by stealth, they gathered by degrees the courage common to corporate bodies, and before I left Washington had relieved themselves pretty well from the dazzling brightness of the brilliant colours under their feet. It was mortifying to me to observe all this in an assembly whose proceedings are conducted with so much order and propriety, and in chambers so truly beautiful as the Senate and House of Representa tives--the latter the most beautiful hall I ever saw.

Another thing which has dis pleased me, is the profusion and waste usually exhibited at meals, Except in the very best society, the plate is often loaded with a variety of viands, which are dismissed half-eaten. An Englishman is shocked at the liberal portions allotted to the young ladies, till he finds they afford no measure of the appetites of those to whom they are sent, who appear to be as abstemious as his own fair countrywomen. Still this exhibition of waste is always displeasing; and when viewed in connexion with the sufferings of so many of the population of our country, is also distressing. But the necessaries of life are here produced in abundance, and, with very few exceptions, are within the reach of every one. I only recollect seeing three beggars since I landed.

After touching on these points, I do not feel willing to conclude my letter without reminding you of the kindness and hospitality, the good sense and intelligence, which I have every where met with; and of that frequent exhibition of phi lanthropic and religious feeling

which has given a peculiar inte rest to many of the scenes through; which I have passed. The Ameri can character, to be estimated correctly, must be regarded as a whole;: and as a whole it has been calum→ niated to a degree derogatory both to the intelligence and the genes rosity of my country. The Americans have been exasperated into unfriendly feelings by aur real jealousy and apparent contempt; and their very sensibility to our good opinion, which they cannot conceal, has rendered the mis representations of our travellers' and journalists the more irritating, Americans, have often asked me if we do not in England consider them a horde of savages; and when the question has been proposed to me by a fair lady, in a handsome' drawing-room furnished with every article of luxury which money could procure in London or Paris, I found no difficulty in acquiescing in the conclusion which she seemed to draw from a hasty glance around her, that such an idea would not be› quite just. On such occasions I have often thought how many of my candid and liberal female friends would blush, if they could be introduced for the evening, to find: how erroneous were their previous ideas of trans-Atlantic society. But it is when joining in religious worship with exemplary and eminent Christians, or witnessing the extent and variety of their benevolent efforts, that I most keenly feel the apathy with which in England we are accustomed to regard our American brethren. I really amnot without hopes, that it may yet become the fashion for ladies of the two countries to reciprocate visits across the Atlantic, Then, and perhaps not till then, will my' countrywomen learn to do justice to their Western sisters; and leav→ ing it to us, their knights-errant, to maintain their own superiority, as in duty bound, will begin to think it possible at least that intelligence, refinement, and piety

may combine, even on this side of the Atlantic, to form characters justly entitled to esteem and affection. The supercilious disdain with which, in many circles, the very idea of polished society in America is rejected, would be suppressed by a more correct estimate of American manners; and prejudice would be succeeded by candour and liberality. Christian sympathy also would be awakened towards those unknown distant friends, who, sprung from the same stock, and speaking the same language, profess also the same religion; and who, strangers and pilgrims on the earth, like their European brethren and sisters, are travelling a thorny road to that better country where all true Christians will be for ever united in one common family.

My very sensibility to the unrivalled excellencies of my fair countrywomen makes me additionally solicitous that they, at least, should be exempt from those unchristian prejudices, which some of my countrymen appear to regard as proofs of patriotism. The pleasure and exultation with which I have just been listening, in a large party, to warm eulogiums on Mrs. Hannah More and Mrs. Fry, and some other of our illustrious females, have rendered me at this moment peculiarly susceptible on this point; and you must excuse me if I write with corresponding earnestness.-The conversation afterwards turned on the signs of the times in both countries; and on our rambles in Canada, where many of the party had spent the summer. It was very pleasant to compare our adventures and impressions. Montreal and Quebec are so much like old European towns, and differ so widely from the airy, expansive cities of the United States, that an American feels as far from home on his first arrival in a Canadian city, as I did in the forests on the Mississippi. As he looks round him, he feels more and more in a foreign land; and the foreign lan

guage and gentle manners of the native Canadians confirm the im pression. The pomp of monarchy, even when dimly seen in the regalia of a viceroy; the aristocratical distinctions apparent even in a colony; the vestiges of the feudal system to be traced in the surrounding seignories; the nunneries, and the Catholic churches, with their vesper and matin bells; the Catholic clergy walking in the streets; and the, boards of plenary indulgence suspended from the walls, are all calculated to recal impressions con-nected rather with the old world, than with the newly discovered continent, where man still shares: his divided empire with the beasts of the forest. Here no grey towermeets the eye, to call back the ima gination to scenes and incidents of elder times; no monastic edifices, to revive the memory of aucient superperstitions; no regalia, transmitted through a line of kings; no feudal : magnificence; no baronial splendour; no sacred depositories of the ashes of generations who have slept with their fathers during a thousand years: all is new, fresh, and prospective; and if the mind will take a retrospective glance, it is but to expatiate in the regions : of fancy, or to lose itself in the clouds which rest on the early history of the aborigines. But I shall have tired you.

(To be continued.)

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To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

I FREQUENTLY hear both clergymen and students for holy orders mention that it is the intention of their parents or friends, instead of investing their property in the funds or elsewhere, to purchase for them an advowson, or presentation to a benefice. On expressing my surprise, and stating the direct illegality of being privy to such a proceeding, in the face too of a solemn oath, I am told in reply, that it is but the breach of a sta

tute, the observance and operation of which custom has set aside (witness the constant advertisements both of buyers and sellers in the public prints); and that, so long as the party to be benefited is not directly seen in the negociation, no offence is committed for which he needs fear being called to account. It is perhaps added, that where the motive is not the pursuit of gain, but the honest desire to obtain an enlarged sphere of permanent usefulness, the transaction is rather worthy of praise than of blame.

But, apart from its being legally wrong, I wish to inquire, whether such a transaction is not also morally wrong. However slight, or merely verbal, a connection, simony may have with the crime of Simon Magus, is not the practice in question evil in itself, and part of an essentially bad and corrupt system? if an individual, with means corresponding to his benevolence, has, perhaps ages ago, built and endowed a church, in consequence of which the right of presentation has been vested in his family, in order that pious, active, and exemplary ministers may from time to time be appointed; do not the family, by selling the presentation, retake what was freely given, and given for the express object of perpetuating the blessing of a faithful Christian ministry by men of piety and learning, whom it was intended to encourage, but who, unless possessed of private fortune, must now in most cases give way to mere capitalists, the best bidders for a benefice? Surely a sacrilege, of far more mischievous a description than stealing the church-plate, is committed, when the church is deprived of the ministrations of meritorious men, and left to the care of those who claim their tithe as a mere matter of personal and purchased right, rather than as a freewill offering at the altar at which they serve an offering which involves a corresponding obligation

on the part of the receiver, to be instant, in season and out of season, for the spiritual benefit of those who thus supply his temporal necessities. The greater sin in such cases may indeed be charged on the patron; but, as an honest man would not encourage thieves by buying stolen goods, so neither, I think, ought a conscientious Christian and churchman to countenance a system begun and concluded by perjury and dishonesty, and which leads to many evil consequences in its operation on religion and the spiritual interests of the people. The subject is certainly one of great moment; and I am anxions that the insertion of this paper should elicit the sentiments of some, who, from their experience, are capable of viewing the question in a just and comprehensive manner.

OXONIÆ COMMENSALIS.

TotheEditor of the ChristianObserver.

HAVING lately become a member of the "Society of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce,"-a society the very title of which renders any comment on its utility superfluous— I was much distressed at observing in their lecture-room, among the works of that celebrated British artist, Barry, a picture which exhibits a principle of a most latitudinarian and exceptionable nature. The motto affixed to this painting is, "Elysium, or the final State of Retribution." The motley groups of characters collected together consist of kings, statesmen, philosophers, literati, poets, painters, and architects: amongst whom I recognised heathens and unbelievers, whose infidelity, however, does not, it seems, preclude them from a blissful mansion in the world of "final retribution." Here may Pascal and Descartes, like men of congenial spirit, as well as intellect, enjoy sweet communion together. Here may the Mautuan bard quaff a cup of nectar with the Arch

public, depend on the cultivation and proper direction of the human faculties." Now, I would argue, that if this maxim, in its obvious meaning, be true, religion is false, and onght to be banished from the affairs of human life, as a useless and impertinent intruder. Could the apostles and martyrs have foreseen such an Elysium, they might have spared their blood; and a Greater than apostles and martyrs would never have come down from heaven, and have submitted to pain, and reproach, and an ignominious death, but would have left the human race to find their own way to life and immortality, each one according to his own fancy and inclination.

bishop of Cambray: indeed, the
one is actually drawn leaning on
the shoulder of the other. Here
the author of Peregrine Pickle,with
its accompanying novels, may enjoy
the reflection of having been the
instrument of diffusing much hap
piness to mankind. I was, how-
ever, disappointed at not being
able to descry the faces of any of
our celebrated Reformers (and sure
ly in this Elysium there was much
need of reform), or of any of our
great divines, except Bishop But-
ler. The author of the Night
Thoughts" has indeed a place;
but so have also the authors of
a Tale of a Tub, and the Senti-
mental Journey. It is a pity that
Luther could not have been here,
to shake hands with Erasmus and
Leo the Xth: they would have form-
ed a noble triumvirate. In another
corner of the canvas our eyes are
attracted by an exhibition of Tar- ON THE
tarus; the inhabitants of which,
however, are more appropriate,
being composed of the vices per-
sonified, though at first sight I ima-
gined that this place of condemna-
tion was set apart only for poor
and ignorant persons.

The picture, I am aware, may be entitled to estimation as a work of art; and, in reply to my objection to it in a religious point of view, it may be urged that it is only an imaginary representation, not intended to exhibit a reality. I should certainly be disposed to put this interpretation on it myself, were it not for the seriousness of the inscription placed over it; and for the circumstance, that, in the catalogue of pictures circulated by the society, the false and mischievous principle which I am reprehending appears in print as well as on canvas, and is comprised in the following words, printed in larger letters than the rest of the page, as if with an intention of giving them greater publicity: "The attainment of man's true rank in the creation, and his present and future happiness, individual as well as

F. A. S.

For the Christian Observer.

LAWS AGAINST THE PROFANATION OF THE SAB

BATH.

IN every Christian country, especially where the mild and salutary influence of the Gospel has been permitted actively to operate, the observation of the Sabbath-day has been justly deemed of the greatest importance. "The profanation ofthe Lord's-day," says Judge Blackstone, in his invaluable Commentaries (vol. iv. p. 63), " is an offence against God and religion, punished by the municipal law of England. For, besides the notorious indecency and scandal of permitting any secular business to be publicly transacted on that day, in a country professing Christianity, and the corruption of morals which usually follows its profanation, the keeping one day in seven holy, as a time of relaxation and refreshment, as well as for public worship, is of admirable service to a state, if considered merely as a civil institution. It humanizes, by the help of conversation and society, the manners of the lower classes, which would otherwise degenerate into a sordid. ferocity and savage selfishness of

spirit; it enables the industrious workman to pursue his occupations in the ensuing week with health and cheerfulness; it imprints on the minds of the people that sense of their duty to God, so necessary to make them good citizens, but which would be worn out and defaced by an unremitted continuance of labour, without any stated times of recalling them to the worship of their Maker." The remarks of this celebrated man deserve regard, not merely from their intrinsic excellence, but from his known probity and wisdom.

Without entering into an historical view of the progress of Christianity in this country, and of the connexion between that progress and the enactment of laws for the regulation of this sacred day, I shall confine my remarks chiefly to those laws which are at present in operation, with a view to shew their inadequacy.

The laws of Athelstan (chap. 24) forbade all merchandizing on the Lord's-day, under very severe pemalties. It appears that such restrictions were then peculiarly necessary, and they were eminently useful.

In the 27th year of the reign of Henry VI., an act was passed, declaring that all fairs and markets upon feast-days or on Sundays (the four Sundays in harvest excepted) should clearly cease, on pain of forfeiture of the goods exposed to sale; and fairs holden theretofore on solemn festivals, should there after be holden three days before or three days after such festivals." In the reign of Queen Elizabeth three statutes were passed, which are still unrepealed, but which are wholly incompatible with those principles of religious liberty, which, hap. pily for this country, all parties unite to recognise, and under the benignant influence of which the cause of Christianity has rapidly advanced. I refer to the 1st of Eliz. c. 2; the 23d Eliz. c. 1, §. 5, 8, 11; and 29th Eliz. c. 6, §. 7. By the first of

these acts, it is declared "That all persons, not having a reasonable excuse, shall resort to their parish church or chapel (or to some congregation of religious worship allowed by law), on every Sunday, on pain of punishment by the censures of the church, or of forfeiting one shilling to the poor for every such offence." By the other two it is declared, "That every person above sixteen years of age who shall not repair to some church, chapel, or usual place of common prayer, being convicted thereof before the judges of assize, or justices in sessions, shall forfeit twenty pounds a month;-one-third to the King; one-third to the maintenance of the poor of the parish, and the houses of correction, and of impotent and maimed soldiers, as the Lord Treasurer, Chancellor, and Chief Baron of the Exchequer, shall order; and one-third to him who shall sue in any court of re cord." And the last of these statutes further declares, "That if the penalty be not paid in three months after judgment, he shall be imprisoned till he pay, or conform himself to go to church." The penalty imposed by these latter acts, it was also determined, did not dispense with the forfeiture of one shilling; and the shilling was declared to be immediately forfeited for absence on each particular day.

By the 29th Eliz. and 3d James, c. 4, §. 8, 9, the method of levying the payment of the penalties is specified; and the latter statute also declares, "That every person who shall retain in his service, or shall relieve, keep, or harbour in his house, any servant, sojourner, or stranger, who shall not repair to church, but shall forbear for á month together, not having reasonable excuse, shall forfeit ten pounds for every month he shall continue in his house such person so forbearing."-To these statutes reference is now seldom made. It is rightly admitted, that attendance on

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