Green, is preparing for the Press a Work, to be entitled Unitarianism Abandoned, or Reasons assigned for ceasing to be connected with that description of Religious Professors who designate themselves Unitarians.--In a few days will be published, a Summary of the Laws affecting Protestant Dissenters, with an Appendix, containing Acts of Parliament, Trust Deeds, and Legal Forms. By Joseph Beldam, of the Middle Temple, Esq. Barrister at Law. --A Translation of the Second Edition of Niebuhr's Roman History, undertaken in concert with the Author, by the Rev. Julius Hare, and C. Thirlwall, Esq., Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge. This second edition will now be published in a few weeks in Germany in the mean time, the Author forwards the sheets as printed to England, and will himself contribute corrections and additions to the translation. The Author is anxious it should be known that this edition is not a reprint of the old work, with additions and improve ments, but absolutely a new work, in which few pages of the former have been retained.--C. A. Elton, Esq. the Translator of Hesiod, of Select Specimens from the Classic Poets, &c. who a few years ago joined the Unitarian Congregation at Bristol, has seen cause to renounce the connexion, and has sent to the press his reasons for so doing. This circumstance has excited considerable attention in the West of England, and in the religious world, as the gentleman alluded to is a man of family, a classical scholar, and has changed his sentiments, from the conviction that the opinions of the Unitarians are erroneous, and not defensible upon the correct interpretations of Scripture.--The Chronicles of Wesleyan Methodism exhibiting an Alphabetical Arrangement of all the Circuits in its connexion, the names of the Preachers who have travelled in them, and the yearly order of their succession, from the establishment of Methodism to the present time: accompanied by interesting plates of Autographs, &c., and numerous pleasing memorials connected with the Origin and Progress of Methodism. By John Stephens. Also a Comprehensive Statement of its principal Doctrines, Laws, and Regulations carefully compiled, expressly for this work, from the most authentic sources, by Samuel Warren, LL. D.-The Life, Voyages, and Adventures of " Naufragus:" being a faithful Narrative of the Author's real Life, and containing a series of remarkable Adventures of no ordinary kind. The scene of this work lies in Asia, of which interesting part of the globe this volume will contain many lively sketches: toge ther with a variety of information connected with the state of Society, and the Manners, Customs, and Opinions of the N.S. No. 28.

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Hindoos (particularly of the Brahmans). The whole related with precision, and such a strict regard to truth, as will, it is presumed, render the work one of utility, as well as of interest.-Four Sermons on the Priesthood of Christ. By the Rev. Theophilus Lessey, of Halifax.-Theology; or an attempt towards a consistent view of the whole counsel of God. With a preliminary Essay on the Practicability and Importance of this attainment. By the Rev. J. II. Hinton, A. M., of Reading.--The Rev. W. Hutchings, of Paradise Chapel, Chelsea, announces his intention to publish, on behalf of his mother and her family, a volume of Sermons by his late Father, the Rev. Thomas Hutchings, of Unicorn Yard. --A Volume of Plain Discourses on Experimental and Practical Christianity, by the Rev. William Ford Vance, M. A., Assistant Chaplain of St. John's, Bedford Row.-The Rev. J. Whitridge, of Manchester, has lately been delivering in that town, a course of Lectures on the Bibliography of the Sacred Scriptures, to auditories composed of persons of various denominations; and in compliance with request, is about to publish them under the following title: "A History of the Bible, comprising Literary and Bibliographical Notices of its Original Production in the East, and its subsequent Treatment, particularly in the British Islands, from the earliest to the present time." This work is to be published in two parts, separately, and at a moderate price, so as to suit the convenience of readers in general. It is remarked by the author, that notwithstanding the multitude of publications in the present age, and the increased attention now given to the pursuits of Biblical Literature, there is not any work expressly devoted to this interesting subject; that it is proposed to compress the most important information from a great variety of authors; but this course of investigation is decidedly separate from all sectarian peculiarities, and will therefore commend itself to the universal friends of the Bible, and that hereby a useful manual is contemplated for youth and families, as well as a valuable reference book for students, schools, reading, societies, &c., in choosing the best books connected with the Sacred Writings.-The Rev. J. Blackburn, of Claremont Chapel, Pentonville, and one of the Secretaries of the Society for Promoting Christian Instruction in London and its Vicinity, has in the press a Discourse, delivered at the opening of the Second Course of Lectures to Mechanics, under the patronage of that Society, entitled "Reflections on the Moral and Spiritual Claims of the Metropolis;" with an Appendix, containing statements illustrative of that important subject.

2 F

LETTERS FROM ITALY.

The inconvenience of stylish Travelling

Sketches of Italian Character - Verona-Amphitheatre Mantua-Fresco Painting - Genius of no School-Reported dangers in Travelling-Parma --The Works of Correggio--The Plains of Northern Italy - Travellers' Lodgings--The Results of the Journey as it relates to Art.

Whoever would enjoy travelling in Italy, must not be rich, or at any rate, he must give up the character of a rich man for the time being, and he shall have abundance to compensate him for the sacrifice. I travelled out to Venice with all the rights and privileges of riches, and what did I get by it? all day our time was spent in quarrelling with hostlers and postilions; at night we were lodged in the best inns, apart from the vulgar multitude; we saw nothing of the people, and little of the country; our only companion was a rogue of a waiter, or a still greater rogue of a valet-de-place; true, we were treated like gentlemen, that is, we were cheated to the tune of about a thousand per cent., and got little or nothing after all for our money. Venice once quitted, I was thrown pellmell amongst the people, and then, and not till then, did I begin to enjoy travelling. I was cheated sometimes, but then I made my own bargains, and I had my sport for my money. How shall I tell of the multitude of odd characters, who formed from time to time my travelling companions; my first starting was with a couple of young scholars from the University of Padua, fine ingenuous youths, beautiful in person, and full of every thing that is interesting in that age of budding manhood; they were delighted to have an Englishman for a companion, and asked a thousand questions respecting the customs, character, and institutions of that country, which seems to be quite the Utopia of the Italians; they were fresh from the study of statistics at College, and were pleased to have their book-learning confirmed by a living witness. I next got jumbled up with a parcel of tradesmen and shopkeepers, and had no small difficulty to understand their gibberish; these were succeeded by parish priests, advocates, professors, inerchants, in short all classes of people of the country, whose business carries them from town to town, and whose economy compels them to use the ordinary modes of conveyance. The beings of all the most dull and stupid, and the least desirous of being informed, seem to me the country parochial priests. I have met with most intelligent and interesting monks; with high bred and highly

learned professors of Universities; and wanting in good sense and information; with clerical men from large towas, not but your regular village curé, is a being who can absolutely do nothing but say mass and take snuff; and who seems as if be had never found out the qui bono of any thing else.

In this way did I visit Padua, Vicenza, Verona, and Mantua. I staid but little in the three first places, though still sufficient to see something of their beauties. Padua has much of early art that is interesting; Vicenza is remarkable for the splendour of its modern architecture, and Verona for its ancient amphitheatre, the most perfect (I believe) that exists. By a strange aberration of taste, the modern Veronese have built a little paltry day-theatre in the midst of its ample arena. At Mantua I made a longer pause, not because it was the birth. place of Virgil, but, because in this town Julio Romano spent the best part of his life, and here are still shown his principal works. They may say what they will of fresco painting, but I delight in it; it has many qualities which give it a high rank amongst the means of making impression on the imagination, and it possesses one peculiar to itself; it cannot be removed; a palace once decorated by the hand of a great man, preserves its pictures as long as it preserves its walls. There is something infinitely interesting in seeing works of art on the spot where they were produced, and the necessity of going in pilgrimage to this place is no small charm. Julio Romano, though considered Rafaelle's best pupil, was not Rafaelle. The more I see of art, the more I am convinced how entirely every thing depends on the mind of the individual. They may talk of this school and that school, but a man of real genius is of no school; he stands alone; his own mind is a little world, of which he is the all controuling sovereign. I was delighted to see in the tapestry of the Polazza del T. the two subjects of Rafaelle's, of which the originals are lost, and which are wanting in our cartoons at Hampton Court. They are the conversion of Paul, and the stoning of Stephen; both magnificent compositions, quite on a par with the finest that remain. Quitting Mantua, the classical, the interesting Mantua, I started direct for Parma, not without some yearnings for Cremona and Milan, but the objects I had undertaken to accomplish, would not admit of such a diversion. All the way to Casalemaggiore, the people with whom I travelled told me of robberies, and murders, and recent horrors of every kind; whether these things had any foundation in truth, or were only

creatures of their imagination, I know not, but this I know, I got to my journey's end, without seeing any reason for alarm, entered a nice friendly home-like inn, with a motherly landlady, and a fine family of children all ready to contribute to my comfort, and quite delighted to wait on an Inglese who was a sort of raree-show in this out of the way town. In the morning, before the sun had well illumined the glassy surface of the Po, I was called to pursue my journey; and crossing this fine river we soon reached the high road, which conducted us in a few hours to Parma. After Venice, Parma was the great object of all my desires. The works of Correggio fully equalled my expectations. This is another genius of the first order. He shines out amidst the mass of mediocrity that surrounds him, like a sun in the midst of moons and planets. No man has ever got a great and lasting reputation without richly deserving it. I have been disappointed by individual pictures, but never by the mass of a great man's works. Some things have been immensely overrated; for instance, the Transfiguration in the Vatican, and the St. Cecilia, at Bologna, by Rafaelle, and the Peter Martyr, by Titian, at Venice, are amongst the works that the modern travellers and amateurs have agreed to elevate to the skies. There is an infinite deal of nonsense and quackery in all this. If people would trust to their own good sense and feeling, and not allow themselves to be guided by ciceroni's and valets-de-place, they would find much to admire that is not heard of in the common traveller's philosophy. There is a fresco, by Correggio, preserved in the library at Parma, of Christ crowning the Madonna, which nobody ever sees, and no critic ever talks about; a piece of such magic, that the artist who has been fortunate enough once to stand before it, will have it for ever haunting his imagination, and inspiring his hand. With Correggio my search after novelty ended. I had now only to retrace my steps back to Bologna and Florence, and so to Rome and Naples. But I cannot pass over the plain without telling you something of its character. I had been so long living in a volcanic country, amongst hills, and rocks, and yawning ravines, that the flatness of the north of Italy presented all the charms of novelty and contrast. Imagine verdant meadows, luxuriant foliage, in short every thing that is lovely in England, united to the charm of an Italian climate. Through the states of Parma and Modena, the vines are trained in festoons from the branches of fruit trees, and the apple, the pear, the pomegranate, and the grape, are seen growing together, and present to the eye a voluptuous mass of richness, which rivals the fairy productions of an Arabian tale. This plain is what has got Italy the

name of Europe's garden: here are no pestilential marshes, no malaria, no unhealthiness-all is cultivation, and all wears the appearance of smiling plenty. I know nothing equal to the pleasure of wandering alone over such a country as this. In case of sickness or accident, a companion is valuable, but to go alone is the real zest of the thing. People of all countries are pleased with a stranger throwing himself fairly and unsuspiciously on their hospitality. I find, now I have got accustomed to Italy, I can travel with much less danger to my health than in England. In England the cold damp beds destroy me. The English notion of good bousewifery is a destructive one to health and comfort. In Italy, instead of making the bed up directly you get out of it, they tumble it, and hang bed and mattrass, and blankets and sheets, out of the window, or across lines in the room; when they get thoroughly aired, and when the hour comes for rest, their freshness invites you to sleep; in truth, there is nothing to prevent you sleeping well in Italy, provided you have a good conscience, except bugs, fleas, and moschettos; sometimes a lizard makes his way into your chamber, or a scorpion is found crawling up your bedclothes, but neither one nor the other have any real intention to annoy you, and are very ready to get out of the way the moment they find themselves not welcome. The iron bedsteads of Italy, the English would do well to imitate; nothing can be so effective a preservative against vermin. If so many perils do caviron the man who meddles with cold iron," what chance will a poor bug have in the encounterhis case must be hopeless.

You may possibly ask what have I gained by all these wanderings? I will tell you. I have gained knowledge, and the consequence of knowledge, confidence. I have now seen all that art can do. I am satisfied that all the talk about modes and means is mere cant and nonsensethat our colours, our varnishes, our materials of every kind, are quite as good as those used by the Titians and Correggios of other days, and that there exists no Venetian secret, that the idea of such a thing has originated with quacks and impostors. These great men were above all secrets. Art, as they painted it, was the result of a fine mind working on the great school of nature, by which they were surrounded. Each one thought and acted for himself, and the means were of little importance, so the end were produced. Correggio, in some of his best pictures, has altered, painted in and out, botched and bungled, as much as any hero of these degenerate days, and yet the whole, when done, looks as if it had been accomplished by "quatre coups de pinceau,” as the Frenchmen say.

REPEAL OF THE TEST AND CORPORATION ACTS.

We are happy to have it in our power to call the attention of our readers, at last, to certain measures, which are about to be adopted to procure from the Legislature of the country the abolition of those unrighteous Acts, which have so long dishonoured our free and happy constitution. At present, we only invite them to consider the tenor of the following resolutions. In our next number, we hope to be able to state that some decisive measures have been adopted.

"At a General Meeting of the Congregational Board, consisting of the Independent Ministers in and about London and Westminster, held at the King's Head Tavern, on Tuesday, the 13th of March, the Rev. John Humphrys, LL.D. in the Chair, it was resolved,

"I. That the Protestant Dissenters of England are, from principle, devotedly attached to the civil constitution and government of their country; that they have never distracted its councils, or sought to injure its interests; but on the contrary, have frequently sacrificed their own interests to promote its security and happiness; and in times of difficulty have always proved themselves its warm, sincere, and faithful friends.

"II. That while they are thankful to Almighty God, and to the supreme authorities of the country, for the measure of protection and liberty which, as Dissenters, they enjoy, as Christians and Englishmen, they cannot but declare, that they consider the existence of the Test and Corporation Acts a foul blot in the statute-book of their country; the means of desecrating one of the most sacred ordinances of Christianity; and an unmerited and disgraceful stigma upon themselves,

as conscientious Dissenters from the religious establishment of the land.

"III. That it is now nearly thirtyseven years since this subject was fully brought before Parliament, during which time the Dissenters have hoped that the Legislature would, of its own accord, have rescinded those statutes, as an act of justice to the Dissenters, and as no longer deemed necessary for the security of the state, or of the church by law established.

"IV. That being disappointed in their hope, it is the opinion of this Meeting, that the present is a suitable and proper time for the Dissenting congregations, throughout the country, to make a firm, and respectfui, and united application to both Houses of Parliament, praying for the entire abolition of said Acts.

"V. That this Board, as a part of the Dissenting Ministers of the Three Denominations in and about London and Westminster, will at the next Annual Meeting

of the General Body, urge upon that Body the necessity of its taking a prompt and leading part in said application.

"VI. That the Secretary be authorised to address a letter to the Secretary of the Dissenting Deputies, and to the Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Religious Liberty, stating the opinion of this Board, and requesting to be informed, whether any and what steps are likely to be adopted by these Bodies, and assuring them of its cordial and effective support in the adoption of such measures as may be deemed necessary for the removal of the grievances of which the Dissenters have so long complained.

"VII. That for the information of our brethren in the country, these resolutions, be inserted in the various religious periodical works to which they may gain ac

cess.

"VIII. That the Committee be charged to carry these resolutions into effect."

We are happy to state, that a conference has been held with the leading members of the several bodies referred to, in consequence of these resolutions, and that measures are now in progress, which we doubt not, will terminate in some vigorous and united efforts to remove an unmerited

stigma from the Dissenting community.

PARLIAMENTARY DISCUSSION OF THE DIS

ABILITIES OF PROTESTANT DISSENTERS.

The following debate on Dissenting Disabilities arose in the House of Commons on Friday, March 23, when the annual Indemnity Bill was to be committed, and which we consider a most opportune occurrence, preparatory to a general discussion of the subject. Surely after the noble challenge of Lord John Russell, the Dissenters must consider it their duty to renew their claims to a full participation in the privileges of the constitution.

The Editors of this Magazine will present to their readers from time to time the earliest information of the progress of this subject.

Mr. W. Smith, before the Speaker left the Chair, observed, that he should not oppose the Bill, though he considered this annual measure as an instrument of great injustice to the Protestant Dissenters, of which body he was himself one. For that reason, he was unable hold any office, however insignificant, or sit as a Magistrate in any corporation, without violating his conscience. This was an exclusion hard, unjust, and unnecessary; and when he complained of it, he was told that he found his relief from all his grievances in this Bill of Indemnity. This Bill was a stalking horse, by means of which the Test and Corporation Acts had been continued in existence for a century. If this Bill had not been passed yearly, both those