such congregations connected with the establishment, we would be the last to question. On the contrary, the progress which evangelical truth has made among the clergy and people of that establishment within the last half century, in the face of the greatest obstacles and in resist. tance to the corrupting influences inseparable from the establishment itself, is in our view one of the most striking illustrations which history affords of the intrinsic power of the gospel. We certainly have no disposition to deny the progress which that great revival, begun by the labors of Wesley and Whitefield the last century, has made, and is still making in England; the improve.

ment which it has caused in the standard of morals and of decency in society; or the effect which it has already had upon the character not only of the middling classes, but of the aristocracy on the one hand and of the lowest orders on the other, the two portions of society to which cor ruption most naturally adheres. In all this, however, we see evidence not of the excellence and usefulness of the establishment which Englishmen call the church of England, nor of its permanence as it is now organized, but of vital energies which will not cease to work till England is reformed and the church of England shall be, not Cæsar's church, but Christ's.

It is not often that we take up a pleasanter book of travels over a beaten track, than these two neat volumes from the pen of a Methodist minister. The Rev. John P. Durbin was a few years ago one of the chaplains to Congress. About the same time he attracted attention out of the sphere of his own ecclesiastical connections, by some well written articles, addressed to his Methodist brethren, in behalf of institutions for liberal education. Dickinson College in Pennsylvania passed into the hands of the Methodists, he has been made the head of that institution, which we believe is doing well under his administration. Two years ago he visited the old world. These volumes record some of his observations in those countries which thousands of Americans are continually visiting, and in which almost every one of our more con

Since

* Observations in Europe, principally in France and Great Britain. By John P, Durbin, D. D., President of Dickinson Colege. 12mo. 2 vols. New York, 1844.

siderable newspapers has its correspondents, either stated or occasional, or both. And yet the reader finds constant entertainment, as the author leads him along through places with which so many other travelers have already made him so familiar. The liveliness with which Dr. Durbin re presents his own impressions, is somewhat like seeing with our own eyes that which we have seen before only in description.

We notice these volumes, not with the purpose of tracing the author's voyages and journeys, or criticising his opinions on matters of taste or politics, but chiefly for the sake of his observations on the religious state and prospects of the countries which he visited. These observations com. mend themselves to attention not only as proceeding from one accustomed to take intelligent and manly views, but also as marked with much of a candid and catholic spirit towards forms of doctrine and of worship widely differing from those in which he was trained, and which he regards as the best. We find nothing

here of a captious, atrabilious temper. The traveler is evidently in a kind humor, quite disposed to see and to report the best side of every thing. He is easily pleased not only with the wonders of nature and of art, but with manners and with men. So much does this disposition predominate in his mind, that he seems almost ready sometimes to apologize for that system of superstition which, in the name of Christianity, teaches degraded millions to put their trust in priests and pictures, in amulets and dead men's bones and Latin incantations, instead of looking to the Lamb of God, and worshiping God in spirit and in truth.

The first cathedral into which he entered on the other side of the water, was the magnificent old Norman pile at Rouen, commenced in the year 1205, and completed in the sixteenth century.

"Let us enter the gloomy Gothic pile. Our sensations are indescribable. It is not admiration-it is not the religious sentiment, but a strange astonishment, not unmingled with awe, yet certainly not akin to reverence. The long ranges of lofty pillars; the countless sharp Gothic arches; the numerous chapels on either side, adorned with pictures and statuary, frequently with candles burning before the image of the Virgin with the infant Jesus in her arms, all seen in a flood of light poured into the church through more than a hundred windows, whose glass is stained with every shade of color, from fiery red to the soft tints fading into white, until nave, and choir, and aisles, seem magically illuminated; the silence that reigns in the vast space, broken only by the occasional footfall of a priest in his long black robe, flitting along the nave, or entering one of the numerous confessionals, followed by a penitent; with here and there the form of an aged and decrepit female kneeling in superstitious reverence before some favorite image; all taken together, overpower the eye and the mind of the Protestant traveler, unaccustomed to such scenes, with strange impressions and oppressive feelings, and he retires from his first visit confused and astonished. Such, at least, were my own emotions."Vol. I, p. 27.

At Paris, he makes the following remarks on the worship of the Roman Catholics. Neither John Knox Vol. II.

57

nor John Wesley would have spoken so liberally and respectfully of that pomp which the church of Rome has introduced in the place of the simple spiritual worship of apostolic Christianity.

"To the true Catholic in France, as in all other Catholic countries, the church is a sacred edifice, and his reverence for the consecrated house is far more profound than is usual among Protestants, especially in America. The rich adornments, the painting, gilding, marbles, sculpture, have not only their natural ef fect as works of genius, but are invested with an ideal sanctity as parts of the Temple of God. The services of worship, also, seem to be entered into with more

depth and seriousness than with us: each good Catholic believes himself assisting in the mass, which he understands to be a real repetition of the sacrifice of Christ for men. And when the priest elevates the Host so as to be seen by all the multitude, they adore it as the real body of Christ-as God. Especially impressive are the occasions when the Host is borne by a prelate at high mass. Three or four youths, dressed in white, and swinging silver censers, which diffuse clouds of incense around, precede the prelate, who is supported by four priests, bearing a splendid crimson canopy over his head, and attended by little boys, who scatter roseleaves profusely over the floor from their white aprons. A chasm is opened in the mass of worshipers as the Host advances, and crowds bow down in silent adoration as it passes by them. It is difficult for a Protestant, unaccustomed to the pomp and pageantry of the Catholic service in Europe, to conceive of its power over the imagination and feelings of the multitude, nay, even of cultivated minds, educated in the midst of these magical associations. Luther says of himself, that while walking next the Host in a procession, the thought that the Lord in person was present suddenly struck his imagination, and so overawed him, that it was with difficulty he went forward: a cold sweat came over him; he staggered, and thought he should die in the agony of his fear.' What, then, must the illiterate multitude feel, whose faith obeys implicitly the impressions made upon their senses? And in cultivated minds, in proportion to the natural feeling of the individual, and the depth of his belief in these representations, will be the intensity of his devotion under their influence. Nay, even for an enlightened Protestant, there is an elevation and majesty in many of these forms,

pressing into their service as they do the mighty influence of the higher arts, filling the eye with images of beauty, and the

ear with the richest tones of harmony, that enchain his attention, and captivate his imagination."-Vol. I, pp. 72, 73.

To the general reader, the most entertaining portion of the work is the first volume, containing the author's notes on the places which he visited in France, Switzerland, Holland and Belgium. The second volume, however, which treats of Great Britain and Ireland, is the most valuable. It is but little that an American, merely performing the customary tour in Europe, can learn by his own observation in respect to the state of morals and religion. He is every way a stranger in a strange land. But the moment he stands upon the soil of Britain or Ireland, his relation to things around him is entirely changed. There the language is his own mother tongue. The manners of the people are distinguished by only slight differences from the manners of his own countrymen. he Wesleyan or Congregationalist, Presbyterian, Baptist or Episcopalian, he finds himself immediately in communion and intercourse with men holding the same forms of doctrine and of worship with his own. Of course he is liable to an influence from the sectarian, partisan or local prejudices of those with whom his intercourse is most intimate; but his account of what he sees and hears in Scotland, in England or in Ireland, if he takes time to learn,

Be

and if he uses a reasonable diligence in collecting and recording facts, is more likely to give correct ideas to American readers, than account which could be written by those from whom he derives his information.

any

The two chapters on Wesleyanism in England are in some respects the most valuable part of the book. They give a more full, exact and authentic account of the state and position of the Methodist body in that country than we have seen before. The late revolution, if we may so

it, which has at last completed

the secession of the Methodists from the established church, and compell. ed them to become a free and independent church of Christ, instead of a despised, irregular and schismatic "connection" within the establish ment, and that in spite of their own intentions, and in spite of the cherished purpose of their great founder, is the most remarkable event in the ecclesiastical history of England since the commencement of the nineteenth century. The strength of the Dissenters has been more than doubled by this one accession; for though the Wesleyans still hold, in theory, the principle of the lawfulness of church establishments, the theoretic dogma will have as lit tle effect upon their position and influence in the strife of parties as it is likely to have in the case of the late secession from the Presbyterian es. tablishment in Scotland.

"A systematic plan appears to have been forined, and to a great extent carried out, to attack the institutions of Methodism, and to attempt a reduction, if not an annihilation of its power.

"This settled policy of the established church towards Methodists and Dissenters was adopted some eight or ten years since, particularly with respect to the Methodists, after the great struggle of the church against the simultaneous and combined attack of the Dissenters, in which contest the Wesleyans stood manfully by the church, and did her essential service, if, indeed, they did not save her: for the if the Wesleyans had joined the Dissenopinion in England is quite general, that ters at that time, the church would have been overthrown, or very materially modified in her constitution and powers. A calm suceeeded the struggle, and left the church at leisure to contemplate the dan gers through which she had passed, and, at the same time, to become sensible that she owed her safety, in a very great de gree, to the aid rendered her by the Wesleyan societies. The conflict and its consequences clearly established these two facts: 1. That the church had a deeper hold on the affections of the English people, and a greater power in the nation, than was expected, at least by her ene mies; and it was readily perceived that her influence would be much increased by an improvement in the morals, activi ty, and piety of her clergy. It ought to be conceded by every generous enemy to

the establishment, that in these respects it has vastly improved within the last ten years, and is still rapidly improving, gaining thereby an increased influence in the British government and with the British public, without a reduction, perhaps with an increase (also) in the interests and influence of Dissenters and Methodists. 2. That there existed in the nation a body of people of such numerical force, and so distributed in the manufacturing and mining districts, as to be of vast political consequence in church matters, and to whom the church was too deeply indebted to be easy under the obligation, which was a clear evidence of her danger; for if that people were very convenient, if not necessary to her safety in the hour of conflict, there could be no doubt but their weight on the side of avowed dissent might procure her fall. The reduction of this people became an object of anxious deliberation; but, as they had ever been friends to the church, the means of reduction must not be violent, or even clear to the common comprehension. It was necessary that the plan should be laid deep in divine authority, and then be followed up by a far-reaching and skillful legislation.

"This resolution, on the part of the master-spirits of the church, necessarily regarded the Wesleyans as Dissenters; and to destroy the foundations of both Methodism and Dissent at a blow, and to dissolve their hold on the religious affections and confidence of their people, the bold plea of the exclusive apostolic succession, and the gracious influence of the sacraments only when administered by the regularly ordained clergy, was revíved; and hence the Oxford Tracts, or Puseyism. Although it is well understood that there were long and anxious deliberations in high places, it was not deemed wise that the authority of the dissenting and Wesleyan ministers to preach God's holy word and administer the holy sacraments should be formally denounced by the church; but that the temper of the public mind should be tried by individual authority setting forth the plea, thus leaving the church to act as circumstances should dictate. In this way the shock on the public mind was not so violent; the leaven worked privately and on private responsibility, and was left to gain respectability and permanence by Episcopal charges, Episcopal appointments, and by the action of the government, if it were found that the public mind would bear it.

"In the early part of this movement another event drew attention to the Wesleyans, and increased the desire of the high church party to reduce them. This was the centenary collection, which produced a million of dollars, and showed

that this people, to whom the church had been so much indebted for her safety, was not only numerous, but had the command of more wealth than had been supposed.

"The plan for the reduction of Dissenters and Methodists, founded on the plea that they had no divine authority to preach the gospel or to administer the sacraments, worked slowly; and while it strengthened the church within herself, it did not carry conquest into the dissenting population; nor could it be made sufficiently to bear against the palpable and generally acknowledged good which the great mass of the poor people had receiv ed from their ministry and benevolence. It was necessary, therefore, for the church to extend her influence among the manufacturing and laboring classes; and the more so, as the right of suffrage was much extended to them, by which means they could influence Parliament; and hence the great and successful effort to increase the number of churches; partly by grants of money from government, and partly by private subscription. In the single parish of Shoreditch, London, ten churches have recently been built, chiefly by the influence of the Bishop of London. But churches would not recover the people; and they had been so long under the influence of the dissenting and Wesleyan ministers, that it was not likely they could be extensively withdrawn by the abstract, and to them, strange plea of the invalidity of the blessings they had so long enjoyed. It was necessary to make it their interest and their duty to come under the teachings and influence of the church; and to accomplish this, the agency of the legislature was essential, in addition to the influence which rich proprietors could exert over their tenants, and, through these, over the laboring people in their employ. This was the state of matters in 1842, when I wrote the follow ing paragraphs from the conference room in London:

"It is now beyond a doubt that the established clergy are intent on practically enforcing their divine and legal claim over every body within their respective parishes. They are beginning, aided by the wardens, to insist on all the parochial funds passing through their hands; they are visiting the proprietors of lands and masters of houses, and saying, 'We do not see your tenants or workmen at church.' They call on the tenants and say, We do not see your servants at church.' This is well understood. The power of the church is to bear against these delinquents, and the proprietor signifies his wish to the tenant, and the tenant to the servant; the heads of houses signify their wishes to those in their employ, and the poor are told they can not enjoy the benefit of the parochial funds,