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tions; nor duly sustained by historical data, and supported by the indisputable authority of eminent ancient lawyers, historians, statesmen, and men of letters. The absolute denial of this vital principle, existing in the constitution, in popular works, without such adequate counterpoise, has long been felt; and many, otherwise well-intentioned citizens of the State, including Paley, have erred through an absolute want of knowledge of the ancient and true foundation of those institutions, which are the most valuable of our possessions; and not sufficiently furnished in any history of England, on a small scale, however ably conducted.

The beauty, and intrinsic value of the British monarchy, with its three estates, result from its having been founded on the principles contained in the Oracles of Truth; and by an attentive perusal of the succeeding pages, it will be found abundantly illustrated, both from sacred and profane history, of the best kind, that no system can be truly efficacious for the temporal comfort and moral improvement of man, whether considered with reference to his individual benefit and social felicity, or his eternal happiness, which is not founded on divine justice and authority,—the sacred fountain from which all moral obligation flows, and by the pure stream of which alone can it be sustained!

The continued improvement of our social benefits,-the sustenance of Religion in its State connexion, as a matter of Christian duty, and of love to our fellow-countrymen, are objects which should be held paramount in importance to every selfish or ambitious consideration,—the anxious endeavour has been to sustain them with appropriate support, drawn from sources which are inaccessible to the lash of

invidious criticism, or interested detraction, however unsavoury they may prove to the sceptic and designing leveller; but which are calculated to obtain the respect and the confidence of every reflecting Christian and sound Patriot, Churchman or Dissenter, who prefers the morality which is substantial, to that which is fallacious and ephemeral,-who, disdaining the applause of the world, unjustly obtained, seeks the approbation of a sound conscience, and the favour of Him whose rewards are eternal!

To avert the horrors of revolution is the duty of every good subject, whatever religious creed he may profess. The consequences of suffering extreme opinions to progress, under the aid of infidelity, in a neighbouring state, have been marked in the written opinions of one man, who, more than any other in modern times, possessed, in his own person and proximate resources, the opportunity and the mental competency to form correct conclusions. Independently of the fire of a vivid imagination, and the elegancies of literary composition in the French language, the judgment of the Napoleon of 1789 and 1793, who established an Empire for himself upon its foundation, stands pre-eminent for its originality of thought, and power of conception. Translations from original letters, in his own handwriting, to his personal friend and confidant, Monsieur D'Angeais, are inserted (pp. 144 to 160). These will repay for more than one reading. The description given of the proceedings of the States General-the sectionsreforming mobs and clubs of Paris, and the Conventiontogether with the trial and execution of the King—are altogether unique; and, in the words of his biographer, "the ideas he fixes, and the opinions he forms of them, give to

these events an air of novel interest, which makes us believe that we read of them for the first time: add to the great interest this inspires, the no less interesting circumstance of seeing Napoleon Buonaparte, who, at a later period, ascended the throne of Henry the Fourth, judge the abettors of a revolution, which was the very means of his acquiring that throne,”(vide Note, p. 153,) and we have indeed a subject for grave reflection, adapted to progressing events.

The reader is particularly invited to an attentive perusal of the Fifth and Sixth Chapters, where he will find the early foundations and principles of those institutions, which form the entire basis of our constitutional monarchy, abundantly explained from original sources, comprehending extracts from the coronation services of the earliest kings of England-the Laws of Alfred-the origin and application of feudal rights and Christian tenures-the establishment of a primitive Protestant Church in Britain, by a Roman British king, anterior to the Saxon conquest, sustained by the writings of Bishop Burgess, and other standard authorities; and its subversion by Augustin (not the primitive father), the missionary of Pope Gregory I. in the seventh century,--showing seven distinct periods or epochs, from the time of the Apostles. Also, the full establishment of the feudal order of nobility, by William the Conqueror, and his connexion of a state religion therewith; the important proceedings of the ancient baronial parliament, in the reign of Edward the First, in opposition to the Pope, relative to the Crown of Scotland; and the subsequent resumption of the Protestant reformed religion for the State, to the establishment of the third estate, or House of Commons, on its liberal or independent footing, confirmed by the revolution of 1688.

In the seventh and concluding chapter, the erroneous views of Dissenters from the Church of England, on the nature and objects of Christian government, or a Church sustained by human legislation, are pointed out; and the kingdom of Christ vindicated 1, in the office of the established Protestant Church, her venerated institutions. utility, and antiquity de jure ;-the prerogatives of the Crown-the privileges of the Peers, and the rights of the Commons, from their earliest foundation, are fully treated of; and the irreligious, injurious, and unprincipled character of the opposition, in the Commons' House, which has for a time deprived the nation of an efficient government, and the Sovereign of conservative counsellors, are shown in their objects and their consequences, with perfect independence of party considerations.

The condition of the sister kingdom, moral, political, and religious, has not been forgotten. Ireland, groaning under the oppression of a politico-spiritual despotism, from which, unaided, she is totally unable to extricate herself, is a subject of painful interest to the true Protestant heart; and whilst, as a people, we are exerting ourselves for the perfect removal of human bodily bondage, in our colonies, we should not neglect the sacred duty of mental Christian charity at home! A Christian government and people, are bound to make an effort, by the extension, not the diminution of Protestant instruction, for this portion of our domestic family,—to remove that bigotry and misrepresentation, which are the prolific source of civil strife; but we must remember the solemn injunction, which, commanding us to " do good to all men,"

'See notes, Chap. VII. and Appendix.

Human nature in its totality, is burdened with innumerable

ills, it is the duty of every man to lend a hand to lessen the
dreadful aggregate, proportionate to his means,-" casting
his bread upon the waters, that it may return after many
days." Leaving the issue in the hands of a generous and
discriminating Public, the Author refers for the rest, to the
Table of Contents; and, winding up in the pure sentiment
expressed by the great Roman statesman, bids his reader
farewell!

"Quoniam diu vixisse denegatur, aliquid faciamus quo pos-
simus ostendere nos vixisse."-CICERO.

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