"In England also Presbyterian opinions were disseminated by the followers of Calvin, and took root, but flourished later. The early Puritans were not, in general, anxious for organic changes in the Church; their main desire was to obtain relief from certain rites, and garments, and liturgical arrangements, which they deemed unscriptural and Popish. The stringency with which the rulers of the Church enforced conformity to these obnoxious ritual observances induced the Reformers, as already mentioned, to contemplate fundamental alterations in the structure of the Church itself. From 1570, when Cartwright first began to write against Episcopacy, Presbyterian sentiments continually spread throughout the land; until, at the time of the Civil Wars, the great majority of English people, of religious habits, were attached to these opinions. In the meantime, finding it to be impossible to worship in the Established Church, according to their inclinations, they, as early as 1567, began to meet for private devotion; and in 1572 a Presbytery was formed at Wandsworth. Efforts, nevertheless, were made, though ineffectually, to bring about a silent revolution in the discipline of the Church of England, by endeavouring to graft the Presbyterian upon the Episcopal system, so far as the two could be by any ingenuity combined. Churchwardens and collectors were to serve instead of lay elders; and districts were appointed, in which the clergy met in a sort of Synod or Classis, and, under the guidance of a Moderator, canvassed various subjects, chiefly theological. These Meetings, called from Scripture Prophesyings, were encouraged by Archbishop Grindal; but Whitgift, his successor in the primacy, suppressed them, and enforced conformity in general with greater rigor than before. His efforts were, however, unavailing, as were also those of Bancroft and of Laud, who followed. Presbyterianism rapidly advanced; the Parliament itself, before Elizabeth had ceased to reign, was more than favourably inclined towards the proposed innovations; and at length, in the time of Charles the First (1641), the party gained an irresistible preponderance - Episcopacy was abolished, and a Presbyterian system was established as the legal form of worship and of discipline in England. This success, however, was of short duration. The supremacy of the Independents in the army, in the time of the Commonwealth, prevented the enforcement of the systems universally and stringently; and when the restoration of King Charles the Second was effected, the entire Episcopal régime was re-established in its full integrity-the Presbyterians not being able to obtain, as a compromise, even that modified Synodical Episcopacy, as designed by Archbishop Usher, to which they expressed themselves not indisposed to yield. The Act of Uniformity was passed, and 2,000 ministers were forced to quit the communion of the Church of England.

"Thus deprived of all ability to organize their system, in connexion with the civil power; and seemingly not entertaining the idea that it was possible (even if loyally permissible) to organize without the State's assistance, Presbyterianism, in a few years, almost disappeared as a distinct religious system. All the Churches which were subsequently formed by those who held the Presbyterian opinions, were established in close accordance with the Congregational or Independent model.

"In 1691, a formal coalescence was accomplished between the Presbyterian and Congregational ministers of London, and at that time, and for nearly thirty years succeeding, it seems clear that the doctrinal tenets of the two bodies were the same, and thoroughly in harmony with the doctrinal portion of the Articles of the Church of England. But about a century ago, a most important alteration seems to have been silently effected in the doctrines held by English Presbyterian Churches; and instead of the Calvinistic tenets held so firmly by the Puritans, the latter Presbyterians began to cherish, most of them Arminian, many of them Unitarian, sentiments. Those who adhered to the standards of the Westminster Assembly are now either merged in Congregational Churches, or connected with the Scottish Presbyterians. The rest, possessing neither Presbytery, Synod, nor Assembly, and departing widely from the doctrines of the Westminster Confession, can be scarcely now denominated 'Presbyterians' at all,-their only point of concord with that body being the simple manner, common to nearly all Dissenters, of conducting public worship.'

The above extracts may be instructive to some, even of those connected with our congregations, who are little acquainted with the history of Presbyterianism in this and other countries.

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We shall now give, very briefly, a statement of the extent of ecclesiastical machinery connected with each of the principal denominations in England and Wales, so far as was ascertained by the census in 1851-The total number of sittings supplied by the 14,077 Episcopal churches was 5,317,915. The number of attendants on census Sunday" (March 30) was-morning, 2,541,244; afternoon, 1,890,764; evening, 860,543. The total income of the Church was estimated as considerably upwards of 5,000,000l. per annum. Above 400,000l. is raised annually for religious objects, out of which 250,000l. is supplied to foreign missions.

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The earliest account of the number of Independent congregations refers to 1812; before that period, Independent and Presbyterian congregations were returned together. In 1812 there seem to have been 1,024 Independent Churches in England and Wales. In 1838 an estimate gives 1,840 Churches; and the present census makes the number 3,244, with accommodation (after making allowance for 185 incomplete returns) for 1,063,136 persons. The attendance on census Sunday" was as follows:- morning, 524,612; afternoon, 232,285; and evening, 457,162. The estimated annual income for all religious objects (including 65,000l. for the London Missionary Society) is 96,6041. The Baptists in England and Wales are divided into seven sections (one, comprising 93 congregations, is Unitarian), belonging to which there are 2,789 places of worship, affording accommodation for 605,663 persons. The attendance was-morning, 352,461; afternoon, 219,407; and evening, 337,614. For the various Societies and Institutions supported by these various sections there is raised annually about 38,4077. The Society of Friends have 371 places of worship (in 1800 they had 413), containing 89,551 sittings; with an attendance of-morning, 14,016; afternoon, 6,458; and evening, 1,459. The Unitarians have 229 chapels, containing 63,770 sittings, and a morning, afternoon, and evening attendance of 27,612, 8,610, and 12,406 respectively. How far they have a right to all these 229 places of worship may be gathered from the following statement in the Report: "The ancient Presbyterian chapels and endowments have in great degree become the property of Unitarians, whose origin as a distinct community in England may be dated from the first occurrence of such virtual transfers, viz., from the period just subsequent to 1730." We are informed that the number of persons actually members of the Moravian "Unity" does not exceed 12,000 in the whole of Europe, nor 6,000 in America. The number of chapels in England and Wales was 32, with 3,305 sittings.

The Wesleyan Methodists are divided into seven sections, each having its own distinctive name. The Original Connexion has 6,579 chapels (954 of which are "not in separate buildings," and may therefore be considered as rooms and school-houses), with accommodation for 1,361,443; the attendance at morning worship was 482,753, and evening 654,349, Its members contribute, for the support of their religious institutions and societies, about 145,5587. annually. The other six "Connexions" have, in all, 4,428 chapels (1,201 of which are "not in separate buildings "), with accommodation for 671,332 persons. There are still six congregations of "Glassites" in England and Wales, with sittings for about 956 people; they had a morning attendance, in all, of 439, and evening 61. The Swedenborgians have 50 congregations, chiefly in Lancashire and Yorkshire, with 11,865 sittings; and at morning, afternoon, and evening worship, 4,652, 2,308, 2,978 respectively. They appear to expend very little in

disseminating their religious opinions. "The Brethren" have 132 places of worship, with a morning attendance of 5,613, evening 7,272.

After our island has been almost frightened from its propriety, of late years, by the unwarrantable pretensions and assumptions of the Pope of Rome, readers will be anxious to know what the census-officer tells us of the numerical strength (in England) of this refractory and dangerous sect. It is by no means formidable. The accommodation provided for the "children" of his Holiness-the "beloved sheep" of Dr. Wiseman's pasture-consists of 570 chapels: with sittings (after making allowance for 48 chapels, making no returns,) for 186,111. The number of attendants on the census-Sunday, was 252,783, 53,976, and 76,880, for morning, afternoon, and evening services respectively. And yet for this handful, the Protestants of this country must be subjected to continual agitations and exertions in order to keep them in check, and prevent our Government from making unwarrantable concessions to them, in direct opposition to the religious feelings of the country!

The "Irvingites" are said to have increased by a third, since 1846. They have now 32 chapels, with about 743 sittings; and had a morning attendance of about 3,176. The last entry of this nature we have to make reflects little credit upon the common sense and intelligence of the English people. It is not many years since a few weak and deluded men (but fired with a zeal worthy of a better cause) first began to promulgate, in England, the monstrous and immoral "revelations" of the Mormonite leader, Joe Now we have upwards of 222 places (rooms) for worship, and at least 30,000 persons belonging to this community. Nearly 20,000 have already, it is said, departed from this country, to become inhabitants of that territory of profanation and pollution on the Great Salt Lake!

Under the heading "Spiritual Provision and Destitution

we have a chapter of potent interest. The first question that meets us on this subject is, Suppose that of the 17,927,609 inhabitants of England, all who ought to attend public worship were in the habit of doing so, what accommodation in religious buildings would be necessary? This is answered by deducting (1) three millions of children, of whom there were in England and Wales, in 1851, 4,440,466 under ten years of age; (2) 1,000,000 lawfully away on the ground of sickness and debility; and (3), 3,278,039 persons (allowing one to each inhabited house) absent on account of household duties. These numbers make a deduction of 7,500,000 persons who will of necessity be absent at the same time from public worship, leaving a total to be provided for of 10,398,013, or about fifty-eight per cent. The number of sittings provided for these, in the total, does not show a startling deficiency. The returns from the 31,943 places of worship give an aggregate of sittings to the number of 9,467,738; and by including an estimate for incomplete returns, this is increased to 10,212,563. In the aggregate, therefore, we have no deficiency in church accommodation for the whole of our population. But owing to the unequal distribution of this provision, some country districts having accommodation for nearly 100 per cent., it follows, that an amount of destitution does prevail to a most alarming extent in nearly all our large towns. It is proved that for the work of church and chapel building in those places where the masses of our population are congregated, there is ample room, and need for all the energies and resources of every evangelical denomination in the land. There is no fear of the Committees of our own Home Mission, and Building Funds, falling short of employment

for many years to come. Would that we had zeal and energy to perform faithfully and promptly our quota of this pressing work!

In nearly all the ancient towns there is by far the highest proportion of church accommodation for the people. It therefore follows that the greatest amount of spiritual destitution, and practical heathenism, prevails in the great marts of commercial industry, the sources of our nation's wealth and power. As the subject must be one of very deep interest to every Christian reader, we extract from a list of seventy-two towns or boroughs, given in the Report, a number of the largest, showing the population, and amount of church accommodation, &c. for each :—

Here is a list of twenty-five towns, in which, if all the people who ought to do so were desirous of attending the public worship of God at the same time, no fewer than one million one hundred thousand of them could not have the opportunity of doing so. So far as spiritual provision is concerned, we have not the means of becoming a "Christian nation," even if we all desired it. It ought, perhaps, to be stated, that, although, for the sake of brevity, we have given the metropolis in the aggregate, in one of the tables it is subdivided into districts, some of which are much the lowest in proportionate provision; an excess of provision in the City brings it up to 29 per cent.

The next question that arises is, the extent to which the accommodation already provided is used: and here we are met with facts more painful than the foregoing. It turns out that, after every reasonable deduction is

made, of the 58 per cent. of the population who ought to attend Divine service at the same time, on the census Sunday no fewer than "5,288,294 persons able to attend religious worship once at least, neglected altogether to do so." Here is an evil of fearful magnitude, which cannot be cured by the mere erection of houses of worship. On this topic Mr. Mann says, and with his remark we leave the subject to the prayerful consideration of our readers, "Whatever impeding influence may be exerted by the prevalence of class distinctions, the constraints of poverty, or misconceptions of the character and motives of the ministers of religion, it is evident that absence from religious worship is attributable mainly to a genuine repugnance to religion itself. . . . . . It is not, perhaps, sufficiently remembered that the process by which men in general are to be brought to practical acceptance of Christianity is necessarily aggressive." And again: "Neglect like this, in spite of opportunities for worship, indicates the insufficiency of any mere addition to the number of religious buildings; the greatest difficulty is to fill the churches when provided, and this can only be accomplished by a great addition to the number of efficient, earnest, religious teachers, clerical or lay, by whose persuasions the reluctant population might be won."

With two other statements we conclude our remarks on this instructive and most important subject-one of general interest, and the other more specially interesting to ourselves as Presbyterians. At the time of the census there were upwards of 250,000 Sabbath-school teachers engaged in the instruction of 1,800,000 children. What may be the ultimate fruits of these labours, eternity alone will tell.

The following account of the dates at which the places of worship belonging to our own Church and the other two Presbyterian sections in England were erected, since 1801, may be interesting to some, as showing the comparative rate of progress. The effects will be seen, in the sixth column, of the formation of our own Synod.

Dates at which the buildings were erected.

improving these institutions; but the spirit and tone of them remained much the same, till a reformer, every way competent for the work, arose in the person of Thomas Arnold.

COWPER, with his usual vigour of language | effect, did somewhat towards externally and his customary moral earnestness, in his "Tirocinium, or Review of Schools," expressed what was generally felt by the more thinking classes of his countrymen as to the moral defects of the public schools of England. The controversy, which arose out of his remarks, and those of Wilberforce to the same

Born in June, 1795, at West Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, Arnold was educated, first at Warminster, in Wiltshire, and